Dissonant Death Metal – Page 8

Label Roundup: Transcending Obscurity – Heads for the Dead, Replicant, Norse, & Noltem (Reviews)

Wonderbox Metal gets sent a lot of new music, (which is great), but there’s no way that everything can get covered unfortunately, (which is not so great). This new column hopes to redress this balance, if only slightly, by taking a look at a handful of releases that a record label has recently sent out that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

Transcending Obscurity is an excellent record label that has released some phenomenal music over the years. If you have the time I highly recommend going back through the label’s multifaceted back catalogue as there are some true gems there. Let’s have a look at a selection of their more recent output below… Continue reading “Label Roundup: Transcending Obscurity – Heads for the Dead, Replicant, Norse, & Noltem (Reviews)”

Sunless – Ylem (Review)

This is the second album from Sunless, a death metal band from the US.

2017’s Urraca was a very notable and enjoyable release for me, even making it into that year’s end of year list. Progressive, technical, dissonant, avant-garde, psychedelic, and many other high-brow-esque appellations, Urraca was a multidimensional gateway to forward-thinking heaviness from a band who clearly knew their art well. Continue reading “Sunless – Ylem (Review)”

Atræ Bilis – Apexapien (Review)

This is the debut album from Canadian death metal band Atræ Bilis.

Across 32 minutes of brutal darkness, Atræ Bilis explore various expressions of heaviness via roaring death metal. Continue reading “Atræ Bilis – Apexapien (Review)”

Defacement – Defacement (Review)

Defacement are a blackened death metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.

Featuring members of Earth and Pillars and Cryptic Shift, Defacement contains 41 minutes of material, but only four of the eight tracks are actual songs. The remaining four are intro/interludes that I was expecting to dismiss as pointless as most of their ilk are, but I was Continue reading “Defacement – Defacement (Review)”

Beyond Grace – Our Kingdom Undone (Review)

This is the second album from UK death metallers Beyond Grace.

2014’s Monstrous showed buckets of promise, which 2017’s debut album Seekers delivered upon. It’s now 2021 and Beyond Grace have returned with 47 minutes of new material. Is the time well spent? Continue reading “Beyond Grace – Our Kingdom Undone (Review)”

Sermon of Flames – I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive (Review)

This is the debut album from Sermon of Flames, an Irish blackened death metal band.

This is an album that offers the listener twelve portraits of extremity and harsh soundscapes. It contains 39 minutes of horror, so if you can stomach the band’s violent darkness for that long, then this is for you. Continue reading “Sermon of Flames – I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive (Review)”

Headshrinker – Callous Indifference (Review)

Headshrinker are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Headshrinker play old-school death metal that incorporates in varying doses, crushing doom, dark black metal, and intricate technicality. Theirs is an atypical approach to death metal, yet one that still benefits from the raw visceral nature of the style. Imagine a cross between Tomb Mold and Ulthar on one hand, and Pyrrhon and Imperial Triumphant on the other, and you’ll be on the right lines for a decent idea of what this album’s 38 minutes hold. Continue reading “Headshrinker – Callous Indifference (Review)”

Qrixkuor – Poison Palinopsia (Review)

This is the debut album from Qrixkuor, a death metal band from the UK, (who also feature from New Zealand a member of Temple Nightside/Vassafor).

Although you can rightly call Poison Palinopsia death metal, Qrixkuor’s music is definitely not your average incarnation of that venerable style. For starters, Poison Palinopsia contains only two tracks, but each is 24 minutes in length. Apart from this, it’s the type of death metal that Qrixkuor play that’s bound to turn some heads. Or turn them inside out, at least. Continue reading “Qrixkuor – Poison Palinopsia (Review)”

Noctambulist – The Barren Form (Review)

Noctambulist are a blackened death metal band from the US, and this is their second album.

Featuring the drummer of Cordyceps, Noctambulist play a blistering form of extreme metal. Formed around a core of brutal death metal, the band then expand on this with elements of black, dissonant, technical, and post-metal, making for songs Continue reading “Noctambulist – The Barren Form (Review)”

Seputus – Phantom Indigo (Review)

This is the second album from US death metallers Seputus.

Here we have 48 minutes of psychedelic extreme metal. Combining elements of black metal, death metal, and grindcore into meaty, substantial tracks, this album is not your standard extreme metal album. Continue reading “Seputus – Phantom Indigo (Review)”