Abiotic – Ikigai (Review)

Abiotic - IkigaiThis is the third album from US death metallers Abiotic.

Abiotic play modern death metal that takes influence from the technical and progressive strains of the style, as well as from some elements of deathcore. The promo blurb states that Ikiagi is for fans of bands such as Continue reading “Abiotic – Ikigai (Review)”

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List EXTRA! – Best Non-Reviewed Metal of 2020

I’ve decided to do something new for 2020 – a second End of Year list. If you’ve missed it, my standard, definitive best of 2020 list can be seen here, and is made up of albums I was lucky enough to get to review. However, this year I want to also highlight some of the many albums that I’ve enjoyed listening to, but for one reason or another never had the chance to review. So, consider this a complementary list of sorts to the main one. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List EXTRA! – Best Non-Reviewed Metal of 2020”

Pillory – Scourge upon Humanity (Review)

Pillory - Scourge upon HumanityThis is the third album from one-man US death metal band Pillory.

Across 64 minutes, the artist behind Pillory batters and bewilders the listener with an onslaught of technical death metal. Scourge upon Humanity clearly won’t be for everyone, even just from that description alone, Continue reading “Pillory – Scourge upon Humanity (Review)”

Depravity – Grand Malevolence (Review)

Depravity - Grand MalevolenceThis is the second album from Australian death metallers Depravity.

Depravity’s 2018 album Evil Upheaval was a fearsome slab of devastating death metal, so listening to their new slab of aggression was a must. Continue reading “Depravity – Grand Malevolence (Review)”

Contrarian – Only Time Will Tell (Review)

Contrarian - Only Time Will TellContrarian are a progressive/technical death metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.

I wasn’t expecting a follow up to last year’s Their Worm Never Dies so soon, but I’m not complaining. Along with 2015’s Polemic and 2017’s To Perceive Is to Suffer, I’ve really enjoyed all of Contrarian’s material so far. Continue reading “Contrarian – Only Time Will Tell (Review)”

Spectrum of Delusion – Neoconception (Review)

Spectrum of Delusion - NeoconceptionThis is the second album from Spectrum of Delusion, a death metal band from the Netherlands.

Neoconception features 44 minutes of technical/progressive death metal. The promo blurb states that “Neoconception will strongly appeal to fans of groups such as Spawn of Possession, Suffocation, Obscura, Defeated Sanity, The Faceless, Blotted Science, and Nile“. Hard to argue, although I’d also add groups like Gorod, Beyond Creation, and Aronious. Continue reading “Spectrum of Delusion – Neoconception (Review)”

Cult of Lilith – Mara (Review)

Cult of Lilith - MaraCult of Lilith are a death metal band from Iceland and this is their debut album.

After a decent wait, we finally have the follow up to the early promise of 2016’s Arkanum. Between the two releases the band have picked up a new singer and filled out to an entire band, so that only one member remains from that first EP. Mara is largely the sound of a new entity. Continue reading “Cult of Lilith – Mara (Review)”