Carrion Vael – Abhorrent Obsessions (Review)

Carrion Vael - Abhorrent ObsessionsThis is the third album from US death metallers Carrion Vael.

Carrion Vael play a modern form of death metal, and within this they combine the technical and melodic styles into a 39-minute juggernaut of an album. Continue reading “Carrion Vael – Abhorrent Obsessions (Review)”

Aronious – Irkalla (Review)

Aronious - IrkallaThis is the second album from Aronious, a death metal band from the US.

I listened to and enjoyed 2020’s Perspicacity far more than I expected to, so when Irkalla appeared I was keen to explore it. Two things struck me about the band’s new release before I’d even pressed play – the first was the difference in length, (Irkalla‘s 41 minutes/8 tracks vs Perspicacity‘s 59 minutes/13 tracks), and the second was the significant lineup changes, including a new Continue reading “Aronious – Irkalla (Review)”

Psycroptic – Divine Council (Review)

Psycroptic - Divine CouncilPsycroptic are an Australian technical death metal band and this is their eighth album.

Following on from 2018’s As the Kingdom Drowns, Divine Council is a very accomplished record. Psycroptic have a sound pretty much all of their own, and on their latest release the band have executed their vision with passion and professional expertise. Continue reading “Psycroptic – Divine Council (Review)”

Label Roundup: Grind to Death Records – Belarus Beaver, Eldprov, & Beyond the Catacombs (Reviews)

Wonderbox Metal gets sent a lot of new music, (which is great), but there’s no way that everything can get covered unfortunately, (which is not so great). This column hopes to redress this balance, if only slightly, by taking a look at a handful of releases that a record label has recently sent out that might have otherwise slipped through the cracks.

In this edition of this column we’ll take a look at Swedish label Grind to Death Records. It’s not a label I’m familiar with, so how better to get a good look at what they do than this? Besides, how could I resist a grindcore album about beavers… Continue reading “Label Roundup: Grind to Death Records – Belarus Beaver, Eldprov, & Beyond the Catacombs (Reviews)”

Cerebral Extinction – Escape from Illusion (Review)

Cerebral Extinction - Escape from IllusionThis is the third album from Italian brutal death metallers Cerebral Extinction.

Escape from Illusion delivers a punishing technical assault across 47 minutes of brutal material. Continue reading “Cerebral Extinction – Escape from Illusion (Review)”

Organectomy – Nail Below Nail (Review)

Organectomy - Nail Below NailOrganectomy are a death metal band from New Zealand and this is their third album.

Both 2017’s Domain of the Wretched and 2019’s Existential Disconnect were brutally good fun, so it was with high expectations that I approached Nail Below Nail.

Delivering 45 minutes of Continue reading “Organectomy – Nail Below Nail (Review)”

Bekor Qilish – Throes of Death from the Dreamed Nihilism (Review)

Bekor Qilish - Throes of Death from the Dreamed NihilismThis is the debut album from Bekor Qilish, an extreme metal solo act from Italy.

Across 28 minutes the artist behind this band delivers his vision for extreme metal – a complex and layered avant-garde assault on the senses. Blending the technical and progressive strains of black and death metal into an experimental extreme metal framework, Throes of Death from the Dreamed Nihilism is a jarring and unfriendly piece of work, that nonetheless rewards connoisseurs of esoteric underground extremity. Continue reading “Bekor Qilish – Throes of Death from the Dreamed Nihilism (Review)”

Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns (Review)

Exocrine - The Hybrid SunsThis is the fifth album from French death metallers Exocrine.

Exocrine have a good reputation around these parts, (see 2018’s Molten Giant and 2020’s Maelstrom), so I’m pleased to say that on new platter The Hybrid Suns the band have done nothing to tarnish this. Quite the opposite, in fact. Continue reading “Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns (Review)”

The Eating Cave – Ingurgitate (Review)

The Eating Cave - IngurgitateThis is the debut album from US death metallers The Eating Cave.

Taking influence from a mix of bands such as Archspire, Origin, Beneath the Massacre, The Faceless, and Infant Annihilator, The Eating Cave spend 39 minutes terrorising, battering, and demoralising the listener with the sort of punishment that is as well-delivered as it is startlingly brutal. Continue reading “The Eating Cave – Ingurgitate (Review)”

Soreption – Jord (Review)

Soreption - JordSoreption are a Swedish death metal band and this is their fourth album.

I thoroughly enjoyed 2014’s Engineering the Void, so Jord was high on my list of albums to check out. Clocking in at a lean 31 minutes Jord doesn’t mess around. Rarely have the gods of technical groove found such a fitting outlet as Soreption. Continue reading “Soreption – Jord (Review)”