This is the second album from Polish deathmetallers Eteritus.
Sucker for Scandinavian-styled death metal that I am, I really enjoyed 2016’s Following the Ancient Path, so when I saw this new slab of filth appear I knew I had to give it a listen. Continue reading
Lik are a Swedish death metal band and this is their second album.
Carnage is aptly named, containing 37 minutes of old-school destruction and dirty brutality. Featuring members of Continue reading
Earth Rot are an Australian blackened death metal band and this is their second album.
As Earth Rot’s last EP Chthonian Virtues was one of my favourite releases from 2016, I was very excited to hear Renascentia.
If you haven’t encountered Earth Rot Continue reading
Warcrab are a death/sludge band from the UK and this is their second album.
There aren’t too many bands that mix death and sludge metal together, but those that do tend to be pretty notable. The Dead and Tides of Sulfur are two that spring instantly to mind. I can now add Warcrab to this short list too. Continue reading
This is the debut EP from this international, (Swedish/Spanish), death metal band.
Inert play old-school/Swedish death metal, taking influence from the likes of Dismember, Grave, Bloodbath and Entombed.
Dark growls sound as if something monolithic is being dragged through the earth. The singer Continue reading
This is the third album from Dawn of Disease, a German death metal band.
Dawn of Disease seem to have honed their songwriting skills and are now channelling the spirit of 90s song-based death metal. It’s catchy, memorable and there’s more than a few twisting melodies and riffs that will stick in your head long after it’s stopped playing. Continue reading
Hellsworn are a death metal band from the UK. This is their debut EP from a few years ago, re-released with a bonus track.
This may be from the UK, but it has SWEDISH DEATH METAL stamped all over it in giant, ugly letters. It’s raw, filthy and has enough chainsaws to keep any fan of the style happy.
Yes, yes, I know; do we really need another band playing this kind of thing? Well, as I sit here listening to it at the moment, I can only conclude that we do, as they’re currently Continue reading
This is the début album from US death metal band Witch Vomit.
This is 31 minutes of old-school death metal that sounds as if it was torn straight out of the 90s.
Witch Vomit take the Swedish death metal sound and add Continue reading
This is the fourth album from Swedish Death Metallers Entrails.
Upon pressing play you’re greeted with some ominous bells. What follows is authentic Old-School Swedish Death Metal, and everything that this much-loved/maligned sub-genre offers.
Obliteration has a crushing sound and features the full compliment of chainsaws, as is normally expected from the style. Everything sounds great and the music immediately sucks you in.
I do have a soft-spot for this type of Death Metal it’s true, but this is such an honest style of brutality that it’s hard not to be captivated by it.
The band write good songs and good riffs. That alone should be enough to endear them to most metalheads in my opinion. Add to this the strong production and vocals that sound like they’ve been dredged up from the deepest pit and Obliteration is a very well-rounded album.
The best thing, though, is the songs themselves. They have an energy to them that cannot be denied and it’s clear that the band still have a healthy passion for the style even though this is their fourth full-length outing.
Coupled with the quality riffing is the Swedish Death Metal melody that we know and love. Then there’s the catchy songs with decent choruses; this is a recipe for a winner, not to mention what I can only imagine is a phenomenal live show.
A very impressive album. Entrails demonstrate once more why they’re at the top of the heap when it comes to Swedish Death Metal.
For fans of Grave, Dismember, Unleashed, Entombed, and the like.
This is the third album from Greek Death Metal band Soulskinner.
Soulskinner play Old-School Death Metal with plenty of heaviness and atmosphere.
Very early on the band establish that they are extremely proficient at recreating that raw, elemental feeling that you used to get when you were first getting into Death Metal and you were discovering new things all of the time; Soulskinner delve back into that bygone era when Death Metal was young and vibrant and it’s a joy to hear it.
The album is aptly named as it seems as if the band have discovered a crypt of ancient Death Metal know-how and the songs here strike an immediate chord with the listener. This is primal, atavistic Death Metal at its best, recalling the very early days of bands like Bolt Thrower, Entombed, Gorefest, Grave, Hypocrisy, Septic Flesh, Asphyx, etc.
The songs are full of graveyard atmosphere, rotting brutality and ancient intelligence. Quality riffs are thrown around like they’re going out of fashion and the level of songwriting skill is through the roof.
I love the small, but important, little details they add in. Whether this is a riff here, a drum fill there, a small piano part here, a malevolent melody there…it all adds up and these songs are just great.
This is a exceptional collection of songs. Fantastic riffs and occult melodies combine to create atmospherically brutal tracks of classic Death Metal.
As is fitting for a band like this, the vocals are flawless; deep, guttural, cavernous growls that sound inhuman and timeless.
It’s very easy to get bored of Old-School bands who just want to relive the past but add nothing to it. Soulskinner are different though, as they seem more like forgotten relics from a time gone past that have recently been unearthed to spread their plague anew. It may be old and rotten but it’s still as fresh as the dawn of the scene.
A very highly recommended listen. Soulskinner will rekindle your love of probably the first Extreme Metal genre you ever got into.
