LEILA ABDUL-RAUF : " Andros Insidium"

This solo album from Vastum's guitarist/vocalist is more experimental than her death metal band. It starts off with some orchestral grandeur that carries an almost ritualistic feeling. The vibe the album gives off is like if Dead Can Dance scored the soundtrack for another remake of "I Spit On Your Grave". The challenge this album is going to face with me, despite being dark enough for my tastes, and delving into the kind of ancient neo-folk that Dead Can Dance weilds, is that it is not as song-focused as what Lisa and Brendan do. The weave in belly dancing grooves. There is something sexy about it, rather than being an artistic statement about how sex is used against women. In fact, I have no clue what her thoughts would be on the subject because she just makes music. 

Granted, this narrative is not shouted in your face with a megaphone, and the lyrics are shrouded in the ambiance, leaving only an ominous mood. Her voice cuts through more clearly on "Eros Anima," which works better as a song, since the song before this ran together with the opening track. "Senex Rule" is more of an interlude with droning throat singing. You can discern the lyrics to "Fractured Body," giving the song more form and function amid its hypnotic atmosphere. The title track is more gothic and creates an interesting backdrop when she brings in some of her harsher vocal tones. It goes to show I am all for experimentation if it works as a song.

There are two minutes of what sound like a fugel horn, but might be synths, leading up to "A Requiem for Ishtar". Here is employs higher, more siren-like vocals with an operatic leaning to a haunting effect. Another more droning composition. The last song carries the same hypnotic drone that surfaces in various incarnations throughout the album; this time, there is a more haunting Switchblade Symphony-style vibe to it. I will give this album an 8.5. I enjoy the mood it creates, but if I am in the mood for this type of things will mroe than likely listen to Black Tape For a Blue Girl or Dead Can Dance. But if you want some haunting, cinematic neo-folk, this is worth a listen. Drops April 17th on 20  Buck Spin. 

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Black Metal History Month - EGREGORE : " It Echoes In The Wild"

This Canadian band gets it. They are bringing a blizzard of sound that is equally dark and heavy in its intensity when it hits your ears. The other strength Egregore find on this album is that the vocals should not be an afterthought, no matter how they are delivered. They draw from more than just black metal, with thrash hooks in the guitar riffs and the aggression of death metal in the way it hits. It almsot sounds like an album from the early 90s in this regard, and the production helps solidify this aspect. It's not underproduced like an old Mayhem album, but it sounds more organic than most of the stuff coming out these days. It is atmospheric without any post-anything. 

"Stair into the Votex" is not just a clever title; it is a ferocious attack that finds them connecting with Possessed-era metal. While it tries to bite your face off, what works is that it is different than the previous song. This makes the reckless element easier to digest, as they already gave you a dynamic contrast. "Craven Acts of Desperate Men" finds "Show No Mercy" era Slayer colliding with early Deicide. They are students of this era of metal and use this inspiration to form something that is convincing. There are some Mercyful Fate winks with the falsetto vocals not nailing the pitch that King Diamond does, but they are not trying to be the greatest singer here. 

They keep up the thrashing speed for "From the Yawning Cravasse." Wise enough to slow things down to create a hook where they chrosu would go if that was how they were approaching songwriting. Darker more melodic elements catch up with the razor riffs. At under two minutes, a mighty chug largely empowers "Cosairs of the Daath Gulf." The momentum begins to carry them away when it gets to "Nightmare Cartographer." This touches on death metal stylings and is propelled into "Six Door Guard the Original Knowledge," which has some pretty cool "Kill'em All" like riffs. 

By the time I get to "Servants of the Second Death," I am listening to things they have not already presented on this album. They close the album with the almost ten-minute title track. It winds around and finds guitar solos in more abundance. There are enough solid moments to keep it interesting. I will give it a 9 as I am normally a hard sell on this kind of retro affair since I was around to catch their influences on the first time around the block, but appreciate what is being done here and will see how it grows on me.Out on 20 Buck Spin March 20th.

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Ritual Mass : " Cascading Misery"

This death metal band from Pittsburgh gets their debut album started off with a very dark sound being summoned, which is enough to get me to stick around and listen to more. The vocals roar out from a cavernous hole behind the other instrumentation. It is a barrage of riffs that pummels you. This is common with extreme music, for it to stun the listener, and it is not until the second song that they can ask if the band can actually write songs. Such is the situation here. The patter of double bass and guitar solos breaking through the din makes it clear they can at least play their instruments. 

The second song finds them picking up the speed to create something that feels like Incantation covering  Morbid Angel. There is a fiery chaos and a wrasthful outpouring of ill feelings, that lets me know they can not only write songs, but pour their wretched hearts into them. They allow things to ebb into a creepy place, the way the chords ring out as the song progresses. I would talk about their drummer being impressive, but that is just what comes with being able to play in a death metal band."Looming Shapeless" feels more like they are roaring into the void. When the guitar slows to enjoy the gloom, things work best here. 

The title track is back to being more of an attack to your eardrums, but one that is more deliberate and finds its groove. This is give na call and response with blasts of feral speed.  The vocals are just an obligatory layer. Things improve as a hookier riff empowers "Frozen Marrow". The album closes with the fourteen and a half "Disquiet". Sure, it's at a doomier pace, but does that warrant it being twice as long as any other song on this album? Three minutes in, things switch up to a more aggressive pace, which you would think might cut the overall time down.

Midway into the song, they ride a deliberate chug before dropping everything out to a more delicate guitar being toyed with. I think this is where they should have started the seventh song, but they just decided to keep it rolling a the sith song. There is a lot of fat that could be trimmed from this song. After almost four minutes of playing around they build it back up, while it sounds cool from a songwriting perspective, it's a little bloated. I'll give this album an 8.5 as it's overall impressive, and I enjoy that it's dark and sonically heavy. Being released September 5th  by 20 Buck Spin 

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Corpus Offal : "s/t"

 

A gore-grind band that features members of Demoncy, Bell Witch, and Caustic Wound, will obviously have more depth than just being a lo-fi take on Cannibal Corpse like many of those bands are. There are the gurgled vocals that at times sound like a demon is being flushed down the toilet. Chaotic guitar solos appear as the riffs grind with a depraved stomp. The drumming is more blasty on the second song, but it still works ok as the song started with more of a groove. The vocals are a layer of gurgle rather than contributing lyrics you can understand. The production creates a very claustrophobic haunted house feel but instead of chainsaws the buzz of guitars is coming at you. 

"Esscene of Disolution" rumbles with a purpose, that you can nod your head to. They do speed into a more blasted verse, Though the song does run together a bit at this juncture of the album. The eponymous title track hammers at you before the shambling riffs lurch out from the grime. The guitar solos remind me of early 80s death metal. For a doom drummer, he can bring the thunder on this song. It does slow into a cool angular dissonance that casts a creepy mood. 

"Ripened Psychosis" is the most Cannibal Corpse-sounding song so far, as the verse riffs buzz with a similar tremolo-picked intensity. Midway into the song it slows to a more deliberate grind. Their song structures unfold with twists and turns as they do not just ride riffs for the bulk of the song. The last song pours from a primordial ooze, it gains momentum but does not get interesting until the 8-and-a-half-minute mark when it takes a more brooding break into ambiance. I will give this album a 9, though I am unsure how much I require something like this for listening as I normally go for Cannibal Corpse or Sanguissuggabog, when it comes to this sort of thing though fans of this corner of death metal will find this band does it better than most. Being released on 20 Buck Spin. 

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Neon Nightmare : "Faded Dream"

Spirit Adrift's Nate Garett does his best Peter Steel impersonation for this obvious tribute to the band, which might not perfectly nail down what the Brooklyn base metal legends did, but it's close enough to tell what he is going for. The sound, can all be dialed in. I am sure he was able to download the amp setting, and effects patches, not just on guitars, but the vocal effects especially on "It's All Over" which might as well have been a cover of "Red Water". 

Vocally his strength is being able to mimic Peter Steele's phrasing, allowing his voice to fall on the intervals Steele would have chosen. But where he falls short is his inability to belt out of his chest voice to emote like Steele. He also does not drop that far down into the lower more vampiric range Steele was known for.  There is a little more originality on "LATW2TG". He does make more of an attempt to capture Steele's higher belt on this one it feels like he tried to cram every idea from "World Coming Down" into this song. At almost eight minutes, he does capture the spirit of Type O, in how they wrote long almost progressive epics that sprawled out. 

The lead single "They Look Like Shadows" at least makes more of an attempt to do its own thing and dials the Type O tribute back to a more respectable level. Then they dial it back up for "She's Drowning"  as he emulates their use of harmonies on this one. This might as well have been a cover of "Blood & Fire" "Promethean Gift" is the last song which is over nine minutes long.  There is less of a direct narrowing from a particular song, rather he plays of the tropes Steele dealt in. There is less of a goth mood to these songs than what the band actually did. Granted when trying to imitate someone they just go for the easiest elements  Garett can capture. But a band like Type O is hard as they covered a wide range from more punk songs, to growing Sisters of Mercy moments that were still plugged into 60s psychedelic. This tribute is just stocking to the broad strokes. I will give this an  8.5,  due to the lack of originality, I already own the Type O albums , why listen to some one imitate them ? Out on 20 Buck Spin.

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Immortal Bird : "Sin Querencia"

 

The band's third album finds them hammering in a more blackened direction, along with Rae bringing in sun vocals rather than her more common rasp. The second song is more death metal, but it/s not really knocking my socks off in terms of originality, We can see what happens as we get deeper into the album, but I heard the chugging it's well recorded, but I am not feeling it. 'Consanguinity" has a little more emotion in the chords ringing out, and the rasp of her vocals is marginally more anguished, perhaps the previous song felt stiff without the nuance and just everything in your face. Though it does feel like dragging this song out for five minutes might be overkill. Less is more. If a metal band begins to bore you something is wrong. 

"Propagandized" makes the most of the urgent thrashing. The blasting sections could have been dialed back as the song feels rushed in those sections. But the main riff is strong as hell. At least the song does not run out of gas so well can call it an improvement. The more black metal throb to "Ocean Endless" works but then they try to keep up with a hyperactive drummer, and the spastic nature feels like they are tripping over their feet while running down a hill. There are more deliberate sections of the riffing that work but the song feels like a method out traffic jam.  There are sections of the song toward the end that might have worked better in another song. 

These kids are good musicians but that does not always equate to great songwriters. So this plays into my rule about sound vs songs. These are well-captured songs, but the arrangements could have been more thought. Just playing fast, does measure up to the darker where the chord is allowed to ring out, that has more feeling than just throwing shit at the wall at 100 mph and seeing what sticks. I can appreciate the angular and dissonant nature of the riffing. My preference is for it to be done more darkly and perhaps this dry midrange mix plays into that, but they heard the play back and said it worked so this is how they wanted it to sound. 

The syncopated parts of "Contrarian Companion" work for me. In fact as far as the songs on this album go it's one of the better ones. The last song finds a groove that works though it gets cluttered at times by the tech blasting around it.  Nothing groundbreaking here, the wheel is far from being reinvented. If you want technically sound blackened death metal coming from cool kids who would normally be playing grindcore, then you might have been clued into them by their first two albums, and likely a fan if you clicked this review. I will give this a 7.5, better than average thinking man's metal. They don't dumb it down but are not as smart as they think they are, but this might be your jam! It drops October 18th on 20 Buck Spin,

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Maul : " In The Jaws Of Bereavement"

 

This album clicked for me right away as it packs a powerful punch. Guitar melodies show they care about writing songs. North Dakota is not where I would expect this to come from but here we are. There is no shortage of head-banging grooves. This album makes a strong argument for having the bass prominent in the mix when it comes to death metal. The second song opens with a faster more technical thrashing riff, but they soon lock into the more deliberate attack that plays to their strengths. 

The vocals range from a gurgle to a more hard-core flavored spew. They also hit some breakdown-style riffs that show hard-core is certainly an influence. "Weaving Cerebral Horrors" starts with a good groove, but when they speed, it begins to sound like everything else. They return to the cool riff, which does lean in a more metal-core direction. I can hear Cannibal Corpse's influence in what they do, but they are not really paying tribute to the more expected forefathers of the genre like most bands do which is a relief. "Spontaneous Stigmata" runs off a powerful chug you can not resist headbanging to. The vocals are lower and more vicious. 

They relent and offer some creepy guitar to lead into "An Alluring Deciet' which is a little like one of Slayer's serial killer ballads. The growled vocals create more of their own sound with this. "Midwest Death" is a purposeful stomp. It's another head-banging essential. "Unbridled Delusions" rides a mid-tempo thrash riff for all its worth and manages to milk some more from it. There is more of a head-bobbing breakdown feel to "Stuck Stomped and Smeared". They gore grind into "With Each Voracious Lick:"  They maintain a relentless chug as the vocals go through a range of histrionics and growls. I will round this up to a 10 and see how it grows on me, I love how they cover such a wide range of death metal on this album.  It drops October 4th on 20 Buck Spin. 

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FULCI : "Duck Face Killings"

 

This is the 5th album by the Italian death metal band. Once again their obsession with horror movies dominates the lyrics. Musically the opening track feels like they are paying tribute to Cannibal Corpse. I hear more of who they are when it gets to the thrashing attack of "Morbid Lust". The vocals have more form and function on this one. At times his low growl reminds me of Dr Claw from Inspector Gadjet. "Morbid Lust' is even more deliberate than the hammering that preceded it on "Fucked With a Broken Bottle' which makes no attempt to hide the Cannibal Corpse influence. The main difference is some of the more melodic guitar lines layered about. These guys are very heavy but also care about songwriting which goes a long way with me. 

"Maniac Unleashed" chugs along more straightforwardly with less to set it apart. I am not sure why they had someone rap on the song "Knife' but that is what happens. The riff to 'Slasherality" steamrolls you with a more deliberate churning though it builds momentum until they are at your typical death metal hyper-aggressive tempo. The groove they lock into is very Slayer-inspired. These guys are pretty capable riff writers as they just toss around killer riffs like they have a surplus of them hanging around the practice space on "Human Scalp Collection". Though perhaps they blew their load on that one as the title track might have some melodic chord progressions, but is not as inspired.  

They take you back to the intersection of when death metal branched off from thrash on "Rotten Apple". The riff grooves a little more and is very head bangable. It does find its way into a breakdown-like riff that tips the balance on this one sending it into the pretty damn killer side of the fence. "Sadistic Murder" is a dense riff machine that chugs with magnetic motion. The aggression powering this song is a homage to the maniacs of the movies this album is a hymnal to. "Stabbed , Gutted and Loved" is another song that could almost be a tribute to Cannibal Corpse, it's the thrash influence that provides these guys with a sense of identity. The more melodic the better sense anyone can do brutal for the sake of being brutal. The last song is more of an outro since ambiance largely rules the day, I like the sax that appears here and think if they had worked this into the more straightforward death metal it would have been more of a game changer. I will give this one a 9, even though it follows the shadow of their influences down a dark alley, they emerge with their own blood-soaked take on things.This drops August 9th on 20 Buck Spin.  

Duck Face Killings by Fulci

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Death is June - LACERATION : " I ERODE"

 The first song by this Bay Area Death Metal band makes it clear this album hinges on how much restraint the drummer can muster. He will blast under perfectly good grooves, giving the song the rushed feeling I dislike. They are middle of the road falling into the late 80s Morbid Angel feel mixed with a bit of Incantation. Technically Aerin Johnson is a capable drummer, but to play death metal you have to be so, not winning any prizes there, but his playing is pretty solid on "Vile Incarnate" and he allows the riffs to groove making it the most impressive song of the album's front end. This makes the question for the rest of the album what are these guys going to do that will establish a personality for themselves and make them a worthwhile musical entity unto themselves and not just a tribute to Tampa death metal. 

You can spout all the bullshit you want about music not being a competition or judging songs say it's just a matter of taste, but there are so many hours in a day, what makes this album worth listening to when that time could be invested in listening to a band like Gatecreeper or 200 Stab Wounds , who are both bands that have established themselves as being death metal bands at the top of their game. The instrumental interlude "Dreams of the Formless" reminds me of Megadeth's "In My Darkest Hour".  'Carcerality" gets to the meat of the matter placing them in a more brutal Cannibal Corpse-like sonic space. The rules that apply to Cannibal Corpse, whose entire discography I reviewed this month, are that you can be brutal, but you still need things like groove and dynamics to make your music worth listening to. When it comes to this song it begs the question, what is this giving me that I am not already getting from the Cannibal Corpse albums I already own?

"Strangulation By Hatred" is another straightforward beat down to your ears. The vocals remind me of Obituary in that they are still articulate enough to understand the lyrics which I appreciate. This song works well enough the wheel is not being reinvented by any means, but for generic death metal, it's entertaining. At two minutes in length "Impaling Sorrow" is a blast fest that gets to the point, but is one-dimensional hyper-aggression. With a cool riff midway, though the rule here is ...cool riffs alone does not a good song make. The title track finds them pouring on the speed for yet another blast, with only the thrashing riff smarts making this worthwhile. A minute and a half into the song they hit you with a pretty cool riff, that is done in a way that is not an exception to the previously stated riff rule, but an example of how you can use cool riffs to enhance songwriting rather than a replacement for,  I will give this album an 8.5, it benefits from when they lean into the thrash minded egregore of their hometown to deviate from standard death metal tropes. This drops July 26th on 20 Buck Spin. 

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Civerous : "Maze Envy"

The album cover looks almost identical to "Domination" so how can I not go into this expecting this to sound like where slime might live? Morbid Angel might be an influence, but to this band's credit, they are taking things in a more dismal direction. The growls are lower and make no attempt to form hooks. The vocals exist only to create a perverse layer of humanity being defiled with each wretched utterance. It is more of a vibration than anything that really bears being paid attention to. The way the riffs are phrased does have a machine-like grind similar to the genre Morbid Angel helped create. But most death metal bands formed after 2000, have a hard time not admitting to a Morbid Angel influence unless they are an Entombed tribute band.  The sheer heaviness they hit you with makes it hard to no be impressed with what they are laying down here, so it is not until the second song that you can ask if they can actually write songs or if are they just sadists looking to beat the shit out of your ears with their riffs. 

Perhaps one of their weaknesses as a band is dragging things out for too long, rather than knowing when enough is enough rather than just beating you with redundancy. Over half the songs are over the eight-minute mark. The only two songs under three minutes are just interludes. The growls hold more purpose and authority in the second song. The riffing is more jagged as the song carries more of a stomp. Some parts do blast off into the abyss. At under five minutes, it might be the most accessible song on the album.It feels more like Post- Vincent Morbid, in how the riffs shift over each other.  By the time we reach  "Levitation Tomb" clean guitar tones are being used in actual songs and more melodic depth is introduced. This helps separate them from the death metal pack. They also creep in some more technical aspects, but without relying on wanky guitar. 

The title track is interesting, as it has a more angular feel. The term death doom gets thrown around in regards to these guys and this feels like the first song that warrants that comparison. Also, the first passages are dark enough to touch a similar sonic space as black metal bubbles to the surface of this song. They contrast this with clean guitar tones bathing in the atmosphere. This makes the more intense blasting of other passages more bearable. The last song keeps leaning into the more morose doom side. There is a wider range of emotional responses rather than the angry pounding that Death Metal is known for. They do make their way to the in-your-face kind of blasting that is obligatory for the genre these days.  In some ways, this feels like it owes more to funeral doom in this regard. I will give this album a 9, as it works much better than most death metal these days without having to compromise much of the heaviness. Being released on 20 Buck Spin. 

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Vastum : "Inward To Gethsemane"

 The longest-running death metal band on 20 Buck Spin, is releasing an album of thoughtful death metal. The full-on assualts are still there but they are mindful of creating a mood with darker depth. The second song digs deeper into a more old-school death metal influence, though it does have an odd syncopated touch to the riff, that keeps it from sounding like another Morbid Angel rip off.. The vocals are low and resonant, the chaos is very controlled and the songs flow well. There is more hook to the staccato riffing of "Still Born Enternity" I like the spoken chant at the chorus that breaks things up and adds a more nuanced touch. Lelia's sung vocals also echo in the background here. 

"Judas" is basically a separate track for what should have been just the intro to "Indwelling Archon" . They find their groove and are capable of keeping things at a more deliberate pace that plays to their strengths as songwriters, keeping a palm-muted tension buzzing under things. The guitar solo feels very Slayer-like on this one, which is fine with me. Slayer were the masters of using melodic guitar and still being fucking heavy so any band that takes notes from them is fine in my book, 

"Vomitous" works off the trademarks of death being a powerful chug and a pounding barrage of double bass. Though resisting the urge for speed to rush the song. This creates hooky riffs in a manner not unlike bands such as Gatecreeper. Dive bombs and frantic snarls accent this. The last song feels like those death metal trade makes are becoming formulated into a more commonplace trope. Slowly darker more sonic elements begin to creep in to create atmosphere. I will give this album a 9, it avoids the pitfalls many death metal bands fall into. 

Inward to Gethsemane by Vastum

Ruin Lust : "Dissimulant"

 We have reviewed this New York band several times. This time have are straying from black metal in favor of a blown sound that owes more to death metal, but played with the attitude of grind-core. When bands that this heavy get reviewed the heaviness normally impresses me so much that the first song blows by, then on the second song I have to ask if they can actually write songs? Since this is not our first stroll around the block , we know these guys are capable of more than just menacing your ears with sonic sadism, though the second song does not clue you in on this . "Clinamen" is marginally more nuanced, and offering a little more breathing room rather than just bashing your ears in the whole time. 

There is a more traditional death metal rumble to "Thrall".  The riffs ring out a little more. The drums are however unrelenting. Guitar solos dive bomb out from the feedback tinged corners. The title tracks blasts out at you with even more rage. This does begin to color the album with a rather uniform shade of angry. There is pounding and more pounding. The production is raw, yet every thing must have been recorded at maximum volume to capture this feel. I had to go back and give "Purge' another listen after the dust cleared to get a grip on what happened. They did not let up on the abrasive speed, the low growl of the vocals buried in the background is just another texture. Things collapse into a doomy more minimal passage they simmer their rage upon. The guitars could have taken this opportunity to explore creepier chord voicings, but what we get plays it safely into the black. 

"Infinite Regress" is aptly name as it  describes the sonic scope of the singular aggression infusing it. The buzz of "Chemical Wind" closes the album. There is a darker atmosphere haunting it which helps to set it apart from the rest of the album until they converge upon a blinding burst of razor cutting riffs. I will give this album a 7.5, it might be heavier than their previous work, but this sacrifices any nuance to the songwriting process. Almost to full of rage to head bang to. This is being released by 20 Buck Spin who is also releasing the new Gravesend, which is even more dense and angry, so I guess that is the direction the label wants to go cool grindcore with decreasing musical value.  

Gravesend : "Gowanus Death Stomp"

 This is the second album by the New York band who is aspiring to capture the dark underbelly of the city in their music. This trio bashes out crushingly heavy music that could be blackened death metal, with grind core tendencies. They lash out on the second song with a more feral fury than they did on the first song. It is a powerful sonic statement, but I am hoping that heavy is not the only tool at their disposal , because I will be bored by the next song if the dynamics do not shift. Most of these songs do not break the three minute mark so it is not like this kind of assault' is being dragged on. There is more of a death metal buzz to the riff leading into "Festering in Squalor". 

There is a more thrashing feel to "Code of Silence". The vocals stay at the same dry mid ranged rasp. It is produced in a raw that sounds like it's coming from a blown p/a speaker. When they let the riffs groove a bit it works in their favor. The title track kind of works off a similar groove, it almost sounds like the same song. It feels like a great deal of this album is about being homeless. "Streets of Destitution" finds more double bass hammered atop everything , but they attack you in a very similar manner as they did at the beginning of the album. "Make Bones" is another one that blasts at you in a more frantic grind core like manner than black metal. Though they do tap into a more blackened feel with the sonic charge of "Crown of Tar". Yes, it's intense, but not breaking any new ground in songwriting for the genre.

At this point in the album the rule around here that "cool riffs alone does not a good song make" hits hard, as that is all that really separates "30 Caliber Pesticide' from the previous song. Though it is more than the rush grind-core riff propelling "the Third Rail" has to offer. "Mortsafe" makes more out the riffs for the gut wrench death metal it offers. But the vocals are very monotonous at this point . They go into a blasting mode that forces me to go back and give another listen to "Lupara Bianca" in order to hear what happened. "Carried By Six" is another round of raw feral gnashing of teeth that explodes in another flurry of motion. Their drummer is a monster as someone playing this sort of thing would have to be, and is perhaps the most redeeming aspect of their sound. Things slow to a doomy pace midway into the song but it is too little too late.  I will give this album a 7, the vocal grate on me after time , but they have a impressive sound that is dense and dark. 20 Buck Spin is dropping this in late October. 

Tomb Mold : "the Enduring Spirit"

 

This band's 2019 album failed to impress. I gave it a 6, so chances are it focused on the math of riffs and not enough song writing. This time around they are putting more effort into the songwriting. They still throw a great deal at you , with the technical flair that might impress some. The key for me not matter how heavy you are or what style of music you play is if you are writing song I want to listen to again . The opening track, worked pretty well on the second listen, so that is an improvement. 'Angelic Fabrications" seems to work off more the standard death metal tropes, so not as much replay value.

The jazzy clean tones help set "Will of Whispers" apart from the other songs thus far. It injects the needed shift in a more melodic direction. Then they begin to break out the calculators in order to come up with the riffs to "Fates' Tangled Thread". The more deliberate riffs that should be hooky, fall flat in that department, and the guttural grunting seems to not have a real purpose to add to the song. There is a great deal of death metal where this is the case so it is not just a problem area for this band. "Flesh as Armor" places emphasis on the break neck speed they attack the song with . I guess if you are a guitarist who is under 30 years old, you might finds this style of playing interesting. The angular riffs dance around the core of the song, without giving it direction. There are some crunchy parts and the solo section seemed to make the most sense. Some of the guitar solos have a very cosmic feel to the chaos they bring, but I am not sure what it is even worth .

"Servants of Possibility' finds their bag of tricks beginning to wear thin. The riffs are not as catchy and lean more in the direction of the rule we have here that states... cool riffs alone does not a good song make. They close the album with the eleven and a half minute "the Enduring Spirit of Calamity" . Five minutes it winds down into the more jazzy clean tones that added melody earlier in the album,. and serve as a much more impressive display of guitar skills. I will give this one an 8, while it's not close to being a top death metal album of 2023, it's an improvement over the last album I reviewed. Being released on 20 Buck Spin.  

 

Death is June - Torture Rack : "Primeval Onslaught"

 

This month in focusing on death metal I am trying to hit every corner of the genre, including the sub-genres like Death Core and Grind Core than split off from Death Metal. I am also trying to not play it too safe and just cover the most easily defined tried and true death metal, even if it comes from younger bands like Portland Oregon's Torture Rack, who is shamelessly no frills death metal. Every city has a band like this , and  to be honest it is too straight forward for me , but I found myself two songs into the album so I had to press on. The vocals are a dry growl that sits back against the guitars. The guitars sound like they just plugged in and played. 

Influence wise Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse are the most obvious, and I do not listen to a great deal of death metal like this so if you said Deceased and Broken Hope are also bands these guys are into, I would agree, though if you say Cannibal Corpse do you even have to mention Broken Hope as those guys feel like Cannibal Corpse tribute band to me, more than these guys do. By "Forced From the Pit" everything is being to blur together in a soup of gutturals and double bass. My main complaint about this brand of death metal is all the sounds are colored by the same shade of  hyper aggressive blood red. The fifty second "Morning Star Massacre" is a brisk blast of compacted chugs that bury the vocals in their own remains. 

Then the blasting gives way to more memorable grooves thanks to the riffing of "Victims of Inquisitors" . The song titles are haphazard at this point as very few of the lyrics can be discerned. Despite this it might be the album's best song so far. "Bone Snare" plays to some of the same strengths , if they are able to resist pouring on speed. Spoiler alert , they are not. 'Fucked By Death' is a great song title and it carries a more punk feel to it. These guys also play in Witch Vomit, Were Goat and Skeletal Remains, so they raw , rough and tumble quality of sound from those bands still plays a role here. By "Impalement Storm" I am growing bored with this. They play it pretty safe and stick to the basics, in a manner than dulls the danger. 

They keep their foot on the gas and blast ahead for the last song, that does dig up a few Morbid Angel sounding riffs in places. I will round this down to a 7.5, as I have already head this done better back in the late 80s. These guys would do better to take more chances and find themselves rather than invest in a career that is simply a tribute to what bands before them accomplished. 

Voidceremony : "Threads of Unknowing"

 

This death metal band features the current drummer for Morbid Angel and Incantation, Charles Koryn. At 29 he is an all around session guy. He has the chops to sit on the throne for death metal with jazz leanings. The bass player has played in Mournful Congregation, though the music being thrashed out here has little to do with doom. Throw in the guitarist for Worm, and you have an idea of the direction you are heading in. The jazz elements could be more frequent. They are pretty much a death metal band with jazzy solos. The drums get loose and lose the stiffness that often haunts death metal. However for as creative as most reviews and press releases might try to color their sound it is pretty much just death metal with a more technical streak. The precision here is perhaps a side effect of the jazz influence. 

They rubbery bass flourishes at the start of "Entropic Reflections Continuum" give jazz more of a wink. They do grind things into more of a groove, which helps to separate this song from the kind of hyper aggression that dominates their sound. Plenty of homage is paid to the roots of old school death metal. If the mix was not so layered and dense they would sound like they came from the 90s in many places. The low growled vocals , do their job, to an almost obligatory level as this is what is expected from death metal. I can hear where guitar players might listen to this album with orgasmic glee when it comes to the solos. However they do not benefit the songs as much. A lot is throw at you in the jumbled chaos of the arrangements. 

I am not listening for how complex things are or the notes crammed into guitar solos. I listen for songs. Do they hook me in? What is this band doing that sets themselves apart for the pack? This is not answered on "At the Periphery of Human Realms" . It is just an instrumental that is more of an interlude as it really goes no where. The last song finds them revisiting themes already established earlier in the album, the part I found the most interesting where they few measures of spoken vocals run through a ton of effects. Three minutes into this eleven minute closer I am wondering where they hell they are going to go in order to summon another 8 minutes of song. Am I going to be forced to endure four more minutes of guitar solos? Will there be any melody or groove? It is pretty much more of the same, they are good at what they do and the wheel is not being reinvented here I will give this one a 7.5, no bad songs, just dense collections of riffs that hold their solos. However way heavier than most of the so called technical death metal. Dropping on 20 Buck Spin

Majesties : "Vast Reaches Unclaimed"

Here is much  hyped debut album by a band  comprised of members of Obsequiae and Inexorum. They are melodic death metal. Lots of guitar harmonies racing around. Often called melodeth it feels like a cross between thrash and methed out Iron Maiden when it comes to the intricate riffing. The speed and aggression has the most in common with death metal. The vocals stay at a mid range rasp, screaming more than growling.  I can hear where the appeal in what they do lies, but can assure you this does not merit the praised I have seen lavished on this band. They fall rather closely to the more technical days of Death. Though without the shredding solos. There is also some more feral about how they lash out.

The main problem is all the songs sound the same, The vocals bear a great deal of the blame, but also the band tends to play at one speed that creates a very monochrome dynamic. It is too the point that it makes it hard to review this album because you can never tell where one song begins and the other ends. Sure there are some epic riffs here and there and upon occasion they let things ebb down and create a melodic passage or two, but it is not enough to really make the songs stand out. It is not enough for me to take note and look up from what ever I am doing because something hooks my attention. All that's offered it a static wall of thrashing major key riffs washing over my ears. 

The next thing I know I am already at "Temporal Anchor" and I am thinking "Oh, Great this will be over soon! "The blur of riffing is monotonous and rarely finds the journey made worthwhile. "City of Nine Gates' is probably the album's strongest moments as it is held together by the most memorable riffs that captures more of a groove. I will give this album a 6.5 as it is well crafted and played but the songs remain the same. I guess some people are into it, I am not impressed . 20 Buck Spin must be since they are releasing it. 

Tribunal : "the Weight of Rememberance"

This duo from British Columbia kicks up a pretty big sound for two people. They crunch of their death doom, falls more on the doom side of the equation. i like how it is balanced out with clean female vocals. Their sound does not trudge the same graveyards. They are good about using a varied array of riffs, though the creeping chug that runs through "Apathy's keep" is more commonplace in doom. however they make it work pretty well. The female vocals being the more dominant force in the song also play to its favor. The tempo gradually evolves from the traditional doom march.

The song "Remembrance" is an interlude at under two minutes. There is a more uniform sound developing once we get to "a World Beyond Shadow". It begins to feel like they are playing off some of the genres more commonplace. They are still effective even if less fresh when dug up from their graves and paraded around in this song.  Things start off more dismal and darker on "Without Answer". This heavier song does benefit from the growls taking over the mic. The mood it creates is very effective even if this is not redefining the genre with any leaps of creativity in terms of bringing something new to the table. 

The last song sprawls out at twelve minutes. They have been good up to this point about keeping thing compact for the style of music they are playing, so this is acceptable given the tempo it is delivered at. Funeral doom is hinted at, but this is the first song with it's harmonized guitar melodies that really embraces it fully.  The vocal melodies glide along over the grinding rumble of the guitar's rumble, before fall into a more atmospheric chasm. Approaching the six-minute mark I do winder how the hell are they going to keep this going for another six minutes. Aside from some melodic instrumental passages and more of the same from them the answer is not very clear. Doom is off to a good start this year if this album is any indication, I will give it a 9. This one drops January 20th on 20 buck Spin.   

Worm : "Bluenothing"

 I really like the "Foreverglade" album these guys released. This EP is meant to introduce a guitarist who is a new edition to the band, and it does that well. There is a great deal of stelar guitar playing on the eleven-and-a-half-minute title track those kicks things off. However, despite being an opus of tremendous proportions, the songs writing is not as impressive as what they brought on their last album.  There are cleaner more pristine tones. There is more space, thus allowing for monks chanting in the background. In using these sounds, it is not as dark or oppressive as the previous album. The first song in its eleven and a half minutes wanders more than it pound the point home. The atmosphere so thick it never solidifies, but the mood and playing is still pretty spectacular, if not sterile in the clarity of the mix.  

"Centuries of Ooze 2" starts off with the kind of guitar solo that could just as easily been found on a Joe Satriani album, it takes the heavier darker middle section of the song to give things more direction. The chanting of the monks in the background replicates the kind of feel they started with on the first song. The interlude "Invoking the Dragon Moon" is more of an exercise is shredding and makes little attempt to be a song. This kind of guitar wizardry is what this album becomes fixated upon. It comes cross to me as more about a sound than a song. While the band themselves claim this shuts the door on what they were doing on their last album it can be a difficult pill to swallow if you are not here for the guitar solos. I appreciate the ability it takes to pull it off but feel if it does not work with the song and bring value its purpose is more masturbatory. 

The circular jerk continues on the last song, though the intentions are more obscured by ambiance. At times they seem to want to go in a black metal direction as the vocals rise from the lowed gurgle that dominated the album for more of scream. There are blast beats and everything. This shift does offer more possibilities in regard to song writing. While I am not as wowed as I was by their previous album, I can hear the talent here It might not be directed in the manner I prefer, but they did accomplish what it is they set out to do here, with that said I will give this album an 8. Being released on 20 Buck Spin.  

Death is June - Egregore : "the Word of His Law"

 

This album opens in a manner that impresses me with the ability to capture a sound from an era and make it their own. Granted the era here is 80s death metal.  They pray the most fervently at the altars of madness, which is not uncommon for this sort of thing, but go off into these more technical flourishes. They feel like they do not live and die by a sound but want to take into other places. Sometimes this enthusiasm might get a little carried away as the second song finds them pouring on the speed in a way that hits you with everything so fast there is not time to savor any of it. This is just on of the pitfalls of the genre. The second song does have a cool Slayer like riffs that rips out of the murk, but the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. 

The title track is more deliberate and slows down just enough for you to soak in the guitar riffs. The vocals are a mid-range rasp that capture a blasphemous anger not unlike the early days of David Vincent or in some passages Nocturnus. There is a feral energy that comes at you with raw abandon but is balanced out by atmosphere, so works for me where it might not in another context. Another factor that plays into their favor is their penchant for using razor sharp thrashing riffs . This is a forgotten art of early death metal for it came from the earliest days of thrash before bands wanted to be as big as Metallica. They are also really good at using creepy atmosphere which contrasts the more straight forward in your face moments of this album. The way singing is introduced as almost a distant monk's chant also adds a color to set themselves apart from their influences. 

With the last song "An Address to Abraxas" the delve even deeper into the dark of atmosphere and set themselves apart from their influences.  Clean melodic guitar tones abound here and it makes me wish they have blended this kind of thing in with their heavier stuff as it would have really set them apart. The song breaks into a Death in June like strum with whispered vocals serving as the spectral narration. The end just kind of drones out, but while they locked into the more surreal side it worked well. I will give this album a 9 it is pretty solid and their use of a wider range of sonics is impressive for death metal. Out on 20 Buck Spin.