This is the debut album from The Last of Lucy, a progressive/technical death metal band from the US.
This is technical death metal, with flaming riffs and a predilection for chaos. Mixing in grindcore, mathcore, jazz, progressive, electronic, and classical influences, this is a complex and lethal strain of modern death metal. Continue reading “The Last of Lucy – Ashvattha (Review)”
This is the third album from Pyrrhon, an extreme metal band from the US.
Pyrrhon are not your standard band. I first encountered them on their 2014 album The Mother of Virtues, and even then they were a distinctly atypical and genre-breaking proposition. Continue reading “Pyrrhon – What Passes for Survival (Review)”
Grizzly are a grindcore band from Canada and this is their debut album.
Clocking in at just under 17 minutes, this is slightly deceptive as almost a third of the time is devoted to a surprisingly faithful cover of Pantera’s Mouth for War. Continue reading “Grizzly – Reaper (Review)”
Onryō are an Italian grindcore band and this is their debut EP.
Described in the press blurb as a mix of deathgrind and mathcore, Mūto is pretty much exactly that. It’s good stuff. Very good stuff, in fact. Continue reading “Onryō – Mūto (Review)”
Bear are a Belgian metal band and this is their third album.
Okay, so the album cover and band name pretty much sum up what this sounds like – you’re gonna get mauled.
This is a balanced offering of complex technical math metal and muscular, taut modern metal. It’s Continue reading “Bear – /// (Review)”
Ion Dissonance are a Canadian hardcore/mathcore band. This is their fifth album.
As one of the leading lights in the hardcore/mathcore/whatever scene, Ion Dissonance’s new album certainly has a lot of expectations attached to it. Of course, as you would expect, the band Continue reading “Ion Dissonance – Cast the First Stone (Review)”
Coma Cluster Void are a death metal band, (of sorts), and this is their debut album. They have an international lineup, with members from Canada, Germany and the US.
This album features not one, but two ex-Cryptopsy singers. You heard that right. To be fair, one of them, (Lord Worm), is only a guest vocalist on a couple of tracks, but still. The other, (Mike DiSalvo), is only one half of the vocal attack, the other half being provided by Continue reading “Coma Cluster Void – Mind Cemeteries (Review)”
This is the debut album from The Sound That Ends Creation, a one-man grindcore project from the US.
This is grindcore with a strong technical aspect that takes inspiration from many sub-genres in addition to its own, including elements of hardcore, sludge, mathcore, death metal and black metal. This, though, doesn’t really prepare you for what happens when you listen to We Are the Burden.
With 10 songs in 21 minutes, this is Continue reading “The Sound That Ends Creation – We Are the Burden (Review)”
This split is made up of two bands from the UK. Irk play Noise Rock and Wren play Post-Metal/Sludge.
Irk are first with four tracks totalling 13 minutes.
This is angular, Mathcore-style Noise Rock. The bass has a good, heavy presence and drives the music forwards. It maintains a constant, prime position throughout the recording.
The vocals are impassioned and kind of fall halfway between shouting and some form of demented pseudo-singing. It’s an acquired taste yet works well juxtaposed against the solidly-constructed, almost mechanistic music.
The band have the feel of a DIY punk band only with edgy grooves and a detached riffing style.
They remind me of a cross between Hawkeyes and Association Area with a bit of Sultans of Ping FC mixed in. It’s a good, jagged ride they take the listener on and it’s certainly a memorable one. I think the vocal style won’t be for everyone but if it works for you then there’s a lot to enjoy here.
After this it’s now down to Wren to play us out. They offer up 3 tracks totalling 16 minutes.
Theirs is a murkier, slower sound than Irk. Wren take the Post-Metal/Sludge template laid down by Neurosis/Isis/Cult of Luna and make their own mark on it with impassioned playing and heavy riffs.
Walls of heavy guitars mix with transcendent Post-Metal melodies and a Sludgy core. There’s a high level of emotional content to a band like this and it’s all powered along by the relentless heaviness of the guitars.
Shouted vocals make an appearance on the second song and seem to merge with the guitars, providing pointed highlights to the aural onslaught of the six-stringers.
These are very enjoyable songs and if you’re a fan of the heavy Post-Metal style then Wren deliver in spades.
This split is a little unusual when compared to a lot that get released as the bands involved are quite different from each other. It’s a recommended listen for sure though, featuring two bands that show a lot of promise for the future.
Favourite Track: An Approach by Wren. The best is saved for last. Driving, heavy riffs, emotive violence and reflective chaos. Class.
Atoj are from Italy. This is their latest EP and they play Hardcore.
Atoj’s music is a combination of abrasive Hardcore and 90’s Mathcore. It’s a gritty and dirty EP that showcases a band who have found a sound they’re comfortable with.
The songs are dynamic and interesting, never allowing the listener to slink into complacency, assuming that they know what the next bit will sound like.
This self-titled EP is well-recorded and even on the rare occasions when the band calm down there’s still a palpable intensity to the tracks.
They remind me of a compendium of the heavy parts of older Poison the Well, the aggressive, angular chaos of some of Zao’s work, the Hardcore know-how of Nora, a smidgen of some older bits of The Dillinger Escape Plan and the angry, non-singing parts of Letlive.
An enjoyable rage. Check them out.
Wonderbox Metal 