Phlebotomized are a progressive death metal band from the Netherlands and this is their fourth album.
Phlebotomized play a creative form of death metal that combines progressive structuring and ideas with melodic grace, technical skills, and moments of outright brutality. Across 47 minutes they craft a journey of texture and detail on an unconventional death metal canvas. Continue reading “Phlebotomized – Clouds of Confusion (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, a death metal band from New Zealand.
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods play a modern form of death metal that combines progressive, technical, and avant-garde elements together into a savagely impactful package. Rejecting Obliteration is 45 minutes of surprisingly rich extremity. Continue reading “Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Review)”
This is the second album from US death metallers Voidceremony.
Featuring members of Decrepisy, Cauldron Black Ram, Mournful Congregation, Atramentus, Worm, and First Fragment, it’s clear a lot of talent and experience has gone into Threads of Unknowing, and this is reason enough to check out Voidceremony. Then the promo blurb goes and tells me Continue reading “Voidceremony – Threads of Unknowing (Review)”
Asystole are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Siren to Blight contains 29 minutes of death metal that the promo blurb says is influenced by bands such as Gorguts, Virus, Krallice, Cryptopsy, and Anata. Continue reading “Asystole – Siren to Blight (Review)”
This is the fifth album from US progressive death metallers Contrarian.
New Contrarian! Cast your mind and ears back over Polemic, To Perceive Is to Suffer, Their Worm Never Dies, and Only Time Will Tell, and you’ll find a band that has never released a bad album. I have a long-running soft spot for this band, but one that’s well-deserved. Contrarian are the sound of pure satisfying enjoyment in progressive death metal form. Continue reading “Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah (Review)”
This is the seventh album from French death metal band Gorod.
It has been a while since I caught up with Gorod, (2015’s A Maze of Recycled Creeds), which is definitely my loss. Now that we have The Orb, it’s time to rectify that. Across 42 minutes, (including a cover of a song by The Doors), Gorod showcase exactly what they’re made of and why they are so highly regarded in technical and progressive death metal circles. Continue reading “Gorod – The Orb (Review)”
Entheos are a progressive death metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Entheos play a technical and progressive form of modern death metal. Time Will Take Us All offers 40 minutes of complexity and intricate delivery. This is then melded with the melodic strands of modern death metal as well as the Continue reading “Entheos – Time Will Take Us All (Review)”
Anachronism are a death metal band from Switzerland and this is their third album.
Meanders combines elements of the dissonant, progressive, and technical styles into a 33-minute behemoth of brutal exploratory soundscapes. If you’re a fan of bands such as Gorguts, Ulcerate, Artificial Brain, and Ad Nauseam, then this is for you. Continue reading “Anachronism – Meanders (Review)”
So here we are again. It’s December, and year end lists are flying around like shrapnel. Due to the inherent subjectivity of music it’s always interesting to see what people have made of the preceding year.
For me, I made a concerted effort to drag myself away from the depths of black metal’s always-enticing abyss to spend some more time with other genres and styles that I also love. I said something similar last year, but I feel this year I was more successful in achieving that end. Of course, I still love black metal, still listen to it constantly, and you’ll still find some great examples of the blackened arts in the list below.
2022 was a strong year for death metal for me, and I enjoyed more death metal bands in a deeper way than I have done for some time. In every year there are standout releases, but I felt this year the standard was raised throughout. Possibly I was simply more receptive to it. Either way, you’ll find more death metal-related acts, and in higher spots, in this selection than you’ll have seen in my lists for a while.
As with last year, grindcore was largely absent from my year, disappointingly, as was hardcore. Additionally, the sort of lengthy, ugly, abyssal doom that I love so much has been largely lacking too. It’s all probably out there somewhere, but I didn’t catch it.
The top two spots this year are both claimed by albums/bands/styles that I simply could not have predicted would be at the pinnacle of my list by the year’s end, (one of the bands I hadn’t even heard of in January). I hope you enjoy these excellent records even half as much as I do.
Lastly I just want to say a big thank you to any and all that might read this site. It’s only a small endeavour, and I do it purely for the love of all things METAL and to support bands that I enjoy in whatever minor way I can, but if this is you, a heartfelt thank you for enduring my scribblings.
On to it! Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2022”
November has a track record of producing some very strong metal records, and it seems that the November of 2022 is no different. Bask in the glory of the below metallic offerings! Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of November 2022”
Wonderbox Metal 