This is the fifth album from Swedish metal band Orbit Culture.
I enjoyed 2020’s Nija, 2021’s Shaman, and 2023’s, Descent, so Death Above Life is well-received. If you’re unfamiliar with Orbit Culture, check these previous releases out if you’re a fan of bands such as Gojira, In Flames, Lamb of God, Meshuggah, Metallica, Slipknot, Soilwork, Static-X, Sylosis, Thy Art Is Murder, and Trivium. Continue reading “Orbit Culture – Death Above Life (Review)”
This is the third album by Norwegian mathcore band Agabas.
How could you not see a band described in the promo blurb as a “brutal heavy deathjazz metal/mathcore quintet” and not want to check them out? Although, I note in the band pics there’s six people, so no idea what that’s about. Regardless, Hard Anger is a 36-minute melting pot of ideas and influences, so strap in tight and get ready for mayhem. Continue reading “Agabas – Hard Anger (Review)”
This is the debut album from Estonian modern metallers Pridian.
Venetian Dark is a 44-minute contemporary metal album that ably showcases Pridian’s skillset. The band’s music is an amalgam of metalcore, nu-metal, djent, and progressive metal. Think a mix of acts such as Meshuggah, Tesseract, Mnemic, Spiritbox, Gojira, and Make Them Suffer, as a rough starting point. Continue reading “Pridian – Venetian Dark (Review)”
This is the debut album from German progressive death metal band Changeling.
Changeling is brought to us by current/ex-members of Alkaloid, Belphegor, Defeated Sanity, Fear Factory, Obscura, Vipassi, and Virvum. It’s supported by an army of guests, who perform everything from guest solos, vocals, and choirs, to cello, flutes, horns, piano, tuba, violins, viola, and much, much more. The music combines progressive and technical death metal, with jazz fusion, progressive rock, and world music. It’s a lot, and it’s all packed into 60 minutes of compelling material. Continue reading “Changeling – Changeling (Review)”
This is the second album from Belgian progressive metal band Hippotraktor.
Stasis contains 47 minutes of material that combines elements of the technical, groove, djent, and post-metal styles into a contemporary progressive metal framework that’s asborbing. Continue reading “Hippotraktor – Stasis (Review)”
This is the third album from US death metal band Aseitas.
2020’s False Peace was a mammoth album, brimming with ideas, boasting 11 tracks, and lasting 72 minutes. On Eden Trough Aseitas trim down to a more manageable 5 tracks and a much-shorter 30 minutes, leading me to wonder if their experimental death metal is still as multifaceted and layered as it was previously? Continue reading “Aseitas – Eden Trough (Review)”
This is the third album from French sludge metal band Love Sex Machine.
When the promo blurb states that this is for fans of Meshuggah, Intronaut, Amenra, LLNN, Sumac, and Herod, you know it’s gonna be a heavy one. And it is. Trve is 36 minutes of heaviness wrapped in an expressive outer coating. Continue reading “Love Sex Machine – Trve (Review)”
This is the fifth album from US death metal/deathcore band Enterprise Earth.
2020’s EP Foundation of Bones was a solid introduction to the band for me, but I really enjoyed 2022’s The Chosen. Yes it was too long, but I really liked the band’s ability to combine deathcore and death metal with a range of different ideas and influences to create something above the norm for the style. Two years and a new singer later, and Enterprise Earth have returned with Death: An Anthology, which delivers 59 minutes of new material. It has not disappointed. Continue reading “Enterprise Earth – Death: An Anthology (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Alluvial, a modern death metal band from the US.
Following on after 2021’s Sarcoma, Death Is But a Door contains four new songs and has a total duration of 17 minutes. Strap in, it’s gonna get heavy. Continue reading “Alluvial – Death Is But a Door (Review)”
This is the third album from US progressive metallers The Gorge.
Mechanical Fiction contains 45 minutes of modern, heavy music. The Gorge are an interesting band, in that they are ostensibly a band you’d give the tags of progressive metal and technical metal too, but they also incorporate avant-garde and jazz elements into their style, as well as having an underpinning hardcore/sludge influence that’s formative. Continue reading “The Gorge – Mechanical Fiction (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 