Misery Index – Wonderbox Metal

Ancst – Culture of Brutality (Review)

This is the fourth album from Ancst, a shapeshifting German metal band.

You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get from Ancst. Black metal, crust, hardcore, death metal, dark ambient – these are just genres to play with for the band, using and discarding styles and influences at will, depending on the needs of any given release or song. Which brings us to Culture of Brutality, a 35-minute, 20-track album that fuses deathgrind, metalcore, and hardcore into a monster of brutal heaviness. Continue reading “Ancst – Culture of Brutality (Review)”

Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (Review)

Convocation are a funeral doom band from Finland, and this is their third album.

Having been impressed with Convocation’s colossal doom offerings on 2018’s Scars Across and 2020’s Ashes Coalesce, the arrival of No Dawn for the Caliginous Night is a welcome one. Continue reading “Convocation – No Dawn for the Caliginous Night (Review)”

End Reign – The Way of All Flesh Is Decay (Review)

This is the debut album from US metallic hardcore band End Reign.

The Way of All Flesh Is Decay is a 37-minute fist to the face that features current/ex-members of All out War, Exhumed, Integrity, Lock Up, Misery Index, Noisem, Pig Destroyer, and Scour unleashing sonic fury on the listener. Continue reading “End Reign – The Way of All Flesh Is Decay (Review)”

Man Must Die – The Pain Behind It All (Review)

This is the fifth album from Scottish death metal band Man Must Die.

Man Must Die play technical death metal and The Pain Behind It All is a 41-minute assault of vicious riffs, sharp technical blows, and blunt force extremity. If you’re a fan of bands such as Decapitated, Dyscarnate, Cattle Decapitation, Beneath the Massacre, and Misery Index, then there’s much here to enjoy for you. Although, as we’ll see, there’s more than just death metal here. Continue reading “Man Must Die – The Pain Behind It All (Review)”

Escuela Grind – Memory Theater (Review)

Escuela Grind are a grindcore band from the US and this is their second album.

I love me some grindcore, but what Escuela Grind give us is actually more interesting than just that. This is grindcore by way of huge metallic hardcore groove. Memory Theater takes the strengths of both worlds to produce a monstrous collection of tracks that cut a swathe through the opposition. Continue reading “Escuela Grind – Memory Theater (Review)”

Sensory Amusia – Breed Death (Review)

Sensory Amusia are an Australian death metal band and this is their second album.

I was impressed by Sensory Amusia’s 2020 EP Bereavement, so I definitely wanted to check out whatever they did next. This turned out to be Breed Death, which scratches my modern death metal itch very nicely indeed. Continue reading “Sensory Amusia – Breed Death (Review)”

Misery Index – Complete Control (Review)

Misery Index are a death metal band from the US and this is their seventh album.

Complete Control is the follow up to 2019’s Rituals of Power and contains 34 minutes of death metal carnage. Yep, Misery Index can always be relied upon to deliver some crushing grind-laced death metal. Complete Control is a masterclass in death metal with a hardcore edge and grindcore intensity. Continue reading “Misery Index – Complete Control (Review)”

Lock Up – The Dregs of Hades (Review)

Lock Up are an international grindcore band and this is their fifth album.

Lock Up contain members of bands such as Napalm Death, At the Gates, The Lurking Fear, Brujeria, Brutal Truth, Misery Index, and Pig Destroyer. Yep, here’s a band that have a lot of experience with extreme music. The Dregs of Hades is a ferocious collection of tracks that showcases the band members’ expertise well. Across 38 minutes we get Continue reading “Lock Up – The Dregs of Hades (Review)”

Y-Incision/Treasonist – Mechanical Perdition – Split (Review)

Both hailing from the US, Y-Incision and Treasonist each play variants of grindcore.

Y-Incision open the split with 10 minutes of material – 6 songs, one of which is a Treasonist cover. Continue reading “Y-Incision/Treasonist – Mechanical Perdition – Split (Review)”

Misery Index – Rituals of Power (Review)

Misery Index are a death metal band from the US and this is their sixth album.

Playing furiously brutal death metal with aspects of grindcore added for savage flavour, Rituals of Power contains 36 minutes of raging aggression. Continue reading “Misery Index – Rituals of Power (Review)”