This is the fourth album from Pyrrhon, an extreme metal band from the US.
Over the years Pyrrhon have built up a very well-respected discography, including 2014’s The Mother of Virtues and 2017’s What Passes for Survival. Now, on Abscess Time, the the band have returned with 57 minutes of music to challenge and terrify. Continue reading “Pyrrhon – Abscess Time (Review)”
This is the sixth album from New Zealand death metal act Ulcerate.
After 2016’s colossal Shrines of Paralysis, this exceptional band have now returned with a new 58 minutes of imposing material. If you’re unfamiliar with Ulcerate, then loosely stated they play an atmospheric brand of technical death metal. Continue reading “Ulcerate – Stare into Death and Be Still (Review)”
Monotheist are a progressive death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
I first heard of Monotheist man many moons ago, and due to reasons that escape me, I thought they were on about their fourth album by now. So, when I picked up this for review, I thought it would be a great time to finally hear what they sound like; imagine my Continue reading “Monotheist – Scourge (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)”
Exist are a progressive/technical death metal band from the US and this is their second album.
Exist have taken the torch from forerunners such as Atheist, Death, and Cynic, and are truly running with it. This means we get an old-school influenced version of the progressive/technical death metal style, as laid down by the aforementioned masters, despite the modern veneer and sparkling production. Continue reading “Exist – So True, So Bound (Review)”
This is the debut album from Ulsect, a death/black metal band from the Netherlands.
Ulsect specialise in technical/avant-garde/dissonant death metal, with heavy atmosphere and blackened aesthetics. Continue reading “Ulsect – Ulsect (Review)”
Ulcerate are a death metal band from New Zealand and this is their fifth album.
Ulcerate personify atypical progressive/technical death metal. They incorporate enough other styles and influences to be termed post-death metal in some respects, although they still have the requisite amount of aggression Continue reading “Ulcerate – Shrines of Paralysis (Review)”
Dementia Senex are an Italian Death Metal band and Sedna are a Blackened Sludge band. They have teamed up to create Deprived – one track from each band, designed to complement each other, sharing a similar space but from a different perspective.
Dementia Senex are up first with their track Blue Dusk. After their interesting début EP Heartworm demonstrated their atypical take on Progressive/Doom/Sludge-infused Death Metal, I’ve been keen to see how their style has developed over the last couple of years.
The song starts gently, almost tentatively, before crushing guitars land like a ton of bricks. The band impress again with their Gorguts-inspired take on Progressive Death Metal, and seem to be slowly moving away from the core aggression of the genre and more and more into Post-Metal territories. Post-Death Metal? Pretty much. Aggression is still here though, just done in a non-standard way, with even the blast beats surrounded by off-kilter chaos.
After this it’s Sedna’s turn to shine with their track Red Shift. Prior to this split I was not familiar with Sedna, although it seems that this has been my loss as this song is the equal of the previous one.
In contrast to the Death Metal-based heaviness of Dementia Senex, Sedna are more firmly in Black Metal-influenced Post-Metal/Sludge territory. Red Shift has the trademark Post-Metal build/release mechanic down to a fine art, with the track gaining momentum slowly but surely throughout the playing time, only to periodically explode with Blackened Post-Hardcore violence. It’s a good combination of slow burning tension and vicious aggression that nicely builds atmosphere with harsh shouts and screams being unleashed over the ever building and expanding music.
This is an exemplary split between two quality bands. I highly recommend giving this one a shot.
Wrvth, (otherwise known as Wrath of Vesuvius), are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their third album.
Well this is a little different. Progressive/Technical Death Metal is always a pleasure to hear when it’s done well and Wrvth pull all of the right moves on this release.
Although it has its fair share of fretboard wizardry and crazy, complicated playing, there’s a lot more here than is the norm for Technical Death Metal. This release also features a melodic edge and a good groove when it wants to. Add to this a keen Progressive edge that borders on the Post-Metal, (Post-Death Metal?), in places and this album is a stormer. Oh, a saxophone also makes an appearance too.
Mixed in with the chaos and carnage are some introspective moments of calm that largely seem to be there just to make everything else sound heavier and crazier. It works, of course, and the songs on this release are a complicated melange of Progressive restraint and chaotic mayhem.
The musicianship is first-rate and these songs expertly combine Progressive elements into a Technical Death Metal framework that allows the band to steal the best from both worlds. Technicality is apparent but the Progressive elements keep the songs focused and allow for emotive passages rather than just a procession of impressive riffs and time changes.
It’s like a strange cross between Protest the Hero, Pyrrhon, Gorguts and The Faceless. The reality is that Wrvth sound every bit as good as that mash up sounds. The only thing missing is the clean vocals.
Speaking of vocals, the singer does his best impression of someone attempting to destroy their throat. He screams himself almost hoarse and when that’s been accomplished he switches to hostile growls and roars.
This is an innovative and impressive release from a band who are clearly not content to be average. I love releases like this. Here we find a winning combination of aggression, restraint, feeling, depth, chaos and outright passion.
Wrvth have just become one of my new favourite bands.
Wonderbox Metal 