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)”
Carnosus are a Swedish death metal band and this is their second album.
Carnosus play a technical form of death metal that’s riven with melodic highlights and fitted with thrash metal prosthetics. Across 35 head-spinning minutes Visions of Infinihility blends the old-school with the new to produce a ripping journey into idiosyncratic tech death. Continue reading “Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility (Review)”
Anthronomicon and Helionomicon are the third and fourth albums from US death metallers Ulthar, following on from 202o’s Providence. Released on the same date, this review will cover Anthronomicon – see the review for Helionomicon here. Continue reading “Ulthar – Anthronomicon (Review)”
Anthronomicon and Helionomicon are the third and fourth albums from US death metallers Ulthar, following on from 202o’s Providence. Released on the same date, this review will cover Helionomicon – see the review for Anthronomicon here. Continue reading “Ulthar – Helionomicon (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)”
This is the debut album from US death metal band Mithridatum.
Harrowing is a 35-minute slab of blackened dissonant death metal that contains ex-members of Abhorrent and The Faceless. Continue reading “Mithridatum – Harrowing (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”
This is the debut album from US black metal band Skythala.
Boreal Dispair offers discerning listeners 57 minutes of avant-garde black metal, which is a really simplistic way of describing a work that’s the complete opposite of simple. Continue reading “Skythala – Boreal Despair (Review)”
Dysgnostic are a Danish death metal band and this is their debut album.
Do you remember the band Defilementory who released the 2014 album The Dismal Ascension? The question is relevant because Dysgnostic are Defilementory’s reincarnation. Apparently the band have changed their name to indicate a fresh start, but whatever the reason, Dysgnostic are now here, and they mean business. Continue reading “Dysgnostic – Scar Echoes (Review)”
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