Growth are an Australian death metal band and this is their debut album.
This is essentially modern progressive death metal, but with a distinctly personal slant. That’s a bit too simplistic a description though. The promo blurb mentions bands such as Opeth, Gorguts, Black Crown Initiate, and Fallujah, and I can see why. To Continue reading
Bear are a progressive metal band from Belgium and this is their fourth album.
I really, really enjoyed 2017’s ///, and it grew on me over time more and more. Well, I haven’t had years to absorb the true nature of Propaganda yet, but damn does it seem just as good, if not better than ///. Continue reading
The Ditch and the Delta are a sludge metal band from the US and this is their second album.
This band combine Neurosis-style post-metal sludginess with energetic riff-worship and a surprisingly technical delivery to produce 38 minutes of abrasive nastiness. Mix Neurosis, very early Mastodon, Today Is the Day, and Meshuggah, and you’ll have a Continue reading
Based in the US, Irist are a modern metal band and this is their debut album.
Irist’s recipe is one that takes a wide range of influences and works them into a comprehensive modern metal framework. Loosely stated, Irist take elements of hardcore, thrash metal, and progressive/post-hardcore/metal, and hone them into song-based packages of metallic heaviness. Continue reading
Neorhythm are a Russian metal band and this is their second album.
Here we have 45 minutes of progressive metal that takes elements of groove, technical, and death metal into its make-up. The band know how to handle the style, and Terrastory is effortless to digest and enjoy. Continue reading
This is the debut album from US death metallers Aronious.
Aronious play non-typical progressive/technical death metal, and on Perspicacity they have gifted us with 59 minutes of the stuff. Continue reading
Viscera are a deathcore band from the UK and this is their debut album.
Featuring ex-members of Sylosis, Heart of a Coward, Martyr Defiled, Nervecell, Surfaces, and Abhorrent Decimation, Obsidian contains 36 minutes of modern brutality. Continue reading
This is the second album from Krosis, a deathcore band from the US.
Here we have the follow up to 2018’s Solem Vatem, and it’s a damn good one. While Solem Vatem was a solid, enjoyable release, A Memoir of Free Will finds the band levelling up in pretty much every area as far as I’m concerned. Continue reading
This is the third album from Swedish death metallers Humanity’s Last Breath.
Well, Abyssal is not what I expected. Although I’d heard of Humanity’s Last Breath prior to listening to this album, for some reason I had it in my head that they were a metalcore band. No idea why. I’m also very, very wrong. What we have here is some individually-played death metal; it seems that Humanity’s Last Breath have carved out their own niche in the crowded death metal landscape, and then filled it with mechanised horror. Continue reading
This is the debut album from Barús, a progressive death metal band from France.
Although we’ve met the mysterious entity that is Barús before on 2015’s self-titled EP, I’ve only just recently been privileged enough to listen to Drowned, despite it being released in 2018. Well, I’ve missed out, and I can’t help but feel that Drowned would have graced my end of year list for 2018. Continue reading
