Phlebotomized – Clouds of Confusion (Review)

Phlebotomized - Clouds of ConfusionPhlebotomized 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)”

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Rejecting Obliteration (Review)

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods - Rejecting ObliterationThis 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)”

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)

Nightmarer - Deformity AdriftNightmarer are an international death metal band and this is their second album.

Featuring current and ex-members of Alluvial, Convulsing, Gigan, The Ocean, and War from a Harlots Mouth, you know that Nightmarer have a lot of diverse experience to offer. In this instance, they collectively offer us 32 minutes of discordant death metal in the warped and disjointed shape of Deformity Adrift. Continue reading “Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)”

The Eating Cave – The Miscalculation (Review)

The Eating Cave - The MiscalculationThis is the second album from US death metallers The Eating Cave.

Hot on the heels of Ingurgitate from last year, The Eating Cave have already returned with 36 minutes of new material. Their previous album made a very good impression on me, so it is great to hear some new songs from The Eating Cave so soon. Their brand of modern technical death metal hit the spot for me on their debut, and the same is true with The Miscalculation.

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Voidceremony – Threads of Unknowing (Review)

Voidceremony - Threads of UnknowingThis is the second album from US death metallers Voidceremony.

Featuring members of Decrepisy, Cauldron Black Ram, Mournful CongregationAtramentus, 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)”

Ignominy – Imminent Collapse (Review)

Ignominy - Imminent CollapseIgnominy are from Canada and play death metal. This is their debut album.

Ignominy are not a standard death metal act, and Imminent Collapse is not your run-of-the-mill death metal album. Rooted in the dissonant style, theirs is an avant-garde expression of dissodeath that incorporates blackened textures, technical flourishes, chaotic intensity, and atmospheric proclivities. Continue reading “Ignominy – Imminent Collapse (Review)”

Leprethere – Tarnished Passion (Review)

Leprethere - Tarnished PassionLeprethere are a death metal/mathcore band from Belarus and this is their debut album.

Tarnished Passion delivers a 34-minute smack to the face. Leprethere play a form of hybrid death metal/mathcore that’s dissonant and harsh, yet not without nuance or depth.

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Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light (Review)

Maze of Sothoth - Extirpated LightThis is the second album from Italian death metallers Maze of Sothoth.

Featuring a member of Beheaded, Maze of Sothoth deliver a scathing brand of death metal on Extirpated Light. Following on from 2017’s Soul Demise, this new material is a 36-minute journey into dark realms of brutality and horror. Yep, this is the stuff right here. Continue reading “Maze of Sothoth – Extirpated Light (Review)”

Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah (Review)

Contrarian - Sage of ShekhinahThis 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)”

Gorod – The Orb (Review)

Gorod - The OrbThis 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)”