Mortillery – Shapeshifter (Review)

MortilleryMortillery are a thrash metal band from Canada. This is their third album.

Mortillery play old-school thrash metal, influenced by the Bay Area scene and with an aggressive hardcore undertone.

The singer swings between rabid shouting screams and powerful cleans, somewhere between that of Kreator and Death Angel. Her voice has quite an individual quality to it and she ably Continue reading “Mortillery – Shapeshifter (Review)”

Psycho Scream – Gnosis (Review)

Psycho ScreamThis is the début album from this Italian death/thrash metal band.

Gnosis mixes the death and thrash styles and adds a bit of progressive metal into the mix as well.

The songs merge their thrash and death metal heritages together, taking aspects from both and adding some progressive structures into the gritty mix. There are some classic metal Continue reading “Psycho Scream – Gnosis (Review)”

Inculcator – Void Abecedary (Review)

InculcatorInculcator is a one-man UK black metal project. This is his début album.

With roots firmly growing out of the distant 80s, this is black metal with thrash influences. Or thrash metal with blackened influences. Who cares; turn up the volume, press play and revel in the ridiculously OTT 80s nature of this thoroughly endearing release.

The recording has a wonderfully cosmic edge, surely influenced by Continue reading “Inculcator – Void Abecedary (Review)”

Omnicide – Constants and Variables (Review)

OmnicideThis is the second album from this Swiss death metal band.

This is 34 minutes of modern death metal that effectively combines speed and groove.

Cannibal Corpse-esque riffs mix with elements of deathcore and bands like The Kennedy Veil and Origin, as well as sprinklings of thrash metal here and there. The resultant music sounds like none of the above bands too much, although you can hear where their influences come from. That the band can clearly acknowledge Continue reading “Omnicide – Constants and Variables (Review)”

Area – Obsolete Flesh – Part I (Review)

AreaArea are a death metal band from Poland. This is their début release.

This new band have travelled along the 90s death metal route, it seems. At only 18 minutes in length, this is a good calling card for their take on the genre, and showcases their obvious passion for the style.

They’ve even got a bit of the Continue reading “Area – Obsolete Flesh – Part I (Review)”

Destruction – Under Attack (Review)

DestructionThis is the 14th album from this prolific German thrash metal band.

For a band that have been around for over 30 years(!), describing Destruction as veterans of the thrash metal scene, or something like that, is an understatement. Considering both their longevity and considerable output since that time, I imagine there are few in the metal world who are unfamiliar with the band in some capacity or other. Well, unless all you listen to is Continue reading “Destruction – Under Attack (Review)”

Sarcoptes – Songs and Dances of Death (Review)

SarcoptesSarcoptes are a black metal band from the US. This is their début album.

This record makes me feel nostalgic. The band play a classic style of black metal that incorporates elements of the 90s symphonic style alongside a few thrashier bits here and there. It really does take me back to the early days of bands like Cradle of Filth, Emperor, Bal-Sagoth, Hecate Enthroned, Dimmu Borgir, etc.

The singer has Continue reading “Sarcoptes – Songs and Dances of Death (Review)”

Arallu – Geniewar (Review)

AralluThis is the fifth album from this Israeli black metal band.

Ever since I first heard Satanic War in Jerusalem back in 2002, it was immediately apparent that there was something different, something special, about Arallu’s music. Sure, it was black metal and contained recognisably black metal components, but there was also something extra that the band had. They’ve nurtured and developed it over the years, and every time I hear them I’m reminded of just how individual they are.

So basically, we get black metal in the recognisable format, but twisted with Continue reading “Arallu – Geniewar (Review)”

Devildriver – Trust No One (Review)

DevildriverThis is the seventh album from this US metal band.

I’ve always enjoyed Devildriver’s combination of modern metal, melodic death metal, thrash metal, NWOAHM, classic metal, nu-metal and crushing groove metal. Sure, they’ve had their ups and downs over the years with some albums being noticeably stronger than others, but they’ve always had enough meat on their metal bones to make me happy to listen to them in some capacity or other.

This moves us onto Continue reading “Devildriver – Trust No One (Review)”