LIK : "Necro"

 When I hear the term Swedish Death Metal, I used to think of something more in line with At the Gates, but now it seems like the phrase is code for 'we love Entombed', and by the band's own admission, they wanted the opening track to sound like Entombed. They succeeded. I dig Entombed, not really a band I listen to as much now as I did in the 90s, but they have a distinct sound. Hopefully, the rest of this album finds this band showcasing their distinct sound and not becoming an Entombed tribute band. Though the guitar melodies seem to convey they are paying tribute to a wider range of Swedish death metal, as it is more At the Gates, in its aggressive delivery. Truth be told, I might like the first song better. Around the two-minute mark, a pretty killer riff comes in, but they just solo over it. Even then, the rule here is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make". 

"They" is more deliberate and marginally darker. It hits a pretty solid "Wolverine Blues" era groove. It might be the best song so far. This is the band's fourth album, so they know what they are doing production-wise and have a sound dialed in, even if it is not the world's most original sound. One thing that plays to the band's favor is their economic songwriting that finds them keeping things around the three to four minute mark. With a song like the rapid fire "Worms Inside" they got straight for the throat and leave little time to fuck around and let things sprawl out. Their formula at this point seems to be to throw the best riff in at the two-minute mark to switch it up. The growl of the bass leads the way into the grind of "Morgue Rat". It's a darker, more throbbing song, which is a sound I prefer over feeling like things are being rushed by momentum.  Granted, this drags things out into the five-minute mark, but it's time well spent, and not a droning jam. 

They pour on the speed for "Shred into Pieces".  In doing so, it pretty much turns into a rumble that sounds like everything else in this vein. Their drummer is a beast, but you have to be to play death metal. They cast a doomy shadow on things with "In Ruins", though step on the gas once they are into the verse. Nik Holmes from Paradise Lost lends his voice to the song. But he is pretty much buried in the layering of vocals, until they break things down enough for him to give a goth mumble over it. The overall vocal performance on this song seems more intentional than most. The rushed thrashing of "the Stockholm Massacre" finds interesting lyrics lost in the frantic delivery. 

"Fields of Death" is another speed fest, that at this point is getting dynamically tiring, as it feels like you are being hit with the same blunt force straight to your eardrums. There are some who are going to be a fans of this sort of thing. The last song is doomier, and works better to establish a mood than the thrashing ultra violence they kept hitting us with. For this reason I will round this down to an 8, they are skilled at what they do which is a specific flavor of death metal that is not always my thing. This drops on Metal Blade. 

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Death is June - Wretched Fate "Carnal Heresy"

 

Ok here is some death metal from Sweden. It might have an overdriven guitar sound that is pretty dense, but I am hearing no other indications that these guys are into Entombed. The yare not fucking around and hit you full force from the beginning. This works for the first song, but it is not going to work if that is all they do for the rest of the album, so I guess we are going to take a listen and hear what happens. Three songs in an the straight forward go for the throat style of song writing , begins to find all their songs starting to sound the same., The growls are phrased identically and the chaos around the guitar solos seems to be the lone place for experimentation and melody in the songs. 

Sure their drummer has skills, but that should go without saying in a death metal band.  The more deliberate moments that open up "Cry From Beyond" make it more interesting than the technical chaos it devolves into. The use of the brief glimpse of atmosphere is also an improvement. "Umbilical Suffocation" is another more straight forward death metal rager, that is a little more nuanced on the second listen, but not a hug shift in dynamics. The drummers relentless need for speed playing against them. It is not until half way into the song that the arrangement shifts into something different with the syncopated riff. 

"Harlots For Suffering' finds them bashing out the same brand of crusty chugs. "Upon the Weak" works  better as the mood is a little darker thanks to the melody line of the guitars. "Morbid Testament' settles for just being hyper aggressive with little of the mood set in the previous song. The last song finds them trying harder in the song writing department and not just sufficing with pummeling you with heavy, though they do that as well. Overall this is well done, and sounds good, so time was invested in the production, so despite this being more sonically monochrome than I prefer my death metal , these guys did make the album they set out to make, so I will give it an 8. 

In Flames : "Forgone"

 

Having been into metal for almost 40 years, I have watched the trends ebb and flow and the bands who spurned them rise and fall. I have never considered myself a fan of In Flames, but when this Swedish band came on the scene, they were filling a necessary void left by the thrash bands who came before them who had begun to doubt themselves when grunge shook things up. Now 14 albums deep into their career, there are not a great deal of surprises. This is the first album to feature former Megadeth guitarist Chris Broadrick. The first song is an example of what I am not too crazy about when it comes to this band. A charge of twin guitars harmonizing over melodic death metal at a breakneck speed. I like my death metal to sound darker and uglier.  However, the second song displays what I do like about these guys, which is catchy song writing. It works off of groove rather than trying to keep up with the drums. 

The title track is broken up into two song a first and second part. The first part is the more aggressive side that races away with the song. Granted there are melodic moments in this that are catchier and some smart riffs. The guitar solos are too shred focused and what I do not like about the about this kind of playing. No one is ever going to question the caliber of the players this band employs, the execution is precise, perhaps too much so. When the guitar melodies are not so rapid fire you can enjoy them more, this is the lesson learned by the second part of the title track which is more of a power ballad.  Normally when the singer plays good cop / bad cop going from harsh yells to clean singing one is stronger than the other, but his voice is well balanced. Not enough to have made my top 200 greatest rock singers list, but impressive for what this band does. "Pure Light of Mind" is another power ballad of sorts. 

They prove they can play aggressive metal with the best of them and not be stuck in their typical formula on "The Great Deceiver". There is a section that speeds up to their standard mode of attack, but it works best off the more steadfast thrashing.   They slow down even more on "In the Dark". The hook is kind of poppy for metal, but effective. There was a one point a moment where In Flames went nu-metal, the closest they get to that is on " a Dialogue in b Minor". The vocals are largely responsible for this. I like it better than when they are in the melo-death formula. "Cynosure" picks up off the more melodic alt rock vibe. There is more of a Tool feel than I recall them having before. The last songs is also not too far from this. I will give this album an 8.5, they are great at what they do, with some decent songs on here, but despite their legacy and proficiency they are not blowing me away. But the same came be said of their more classic material, this seems like a slicker more polished version of that., 

October Tide : "In Splendor Below "

This Swedish band features two members of Katatonia, the Norrman brothers holding down a twin guitar attack for the band's 6th album. It starts off as melodic death metal not far removed from say Bloodbath, taking on a more original sound that holds more in common with earlier Katatonia on the second song. They are generally a pretty straight forward affair. Not relying on speed, but heavy on the double bass. The album sounds good and the guitars are well layered. There is obvious thought put in the construction of the songs/ Granted with the growled vocals they are more reliant on the guitars providing the melodies . This is done adequately , though far from ground breaking.   Despite this the songs do grow on me with each listen . I see this as a sign of good song writing.

There is a touch of blackness to the snarl of the vocals. Katatonia had some doom tendencies early go and they resurface here.This is felt on "Our Famine". This leans them in the direction of being death doom. This song also has more feeling to it , or at least the illusion of that persists since the lyrics are also more discernible. At times the drums have a more accessible hard rock sound. The growled vocals are the main thing that gives it an edge. They are darker and more deliberate than Dark Tranquility. "Seconds" shows how they have not forgotten how to write an actual song even with growling replacing the vocals.

On the last song it feels like they are going to the well too many times with the same formula. The power chords are very deliberate. This keeps them firmly planted in a more melodic version of death doom. It does end with a pretty cool riff, but the rule around here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make. I will give this album a 8.5, despite many of the songs having a similar feel, it's catchy song writing which is more than the bulk of death metal you hear these days and I suspect this album will continue to grow on me . If you are already a fan of this project then it will not let you down. I never given these guys that solid of a listen, but I am impressed at how well done this is.

the Crown :" Cobra Speed Venom"

Well as far as Swedish death metal goes, this is not a total rip off of  Entombed or At the Gates so that is a surprise. Of the two bands it is in more of the At the Gates vein. Three members of the band have been around since it's 1998 inception. So for twenty years they have been about the head banging. The frequently meet at the intersection of death metal and thrash. You can hear the Slayer influence on "Iron Crown" .  At one point thrash was called speed metal and as metal heads would have there was debate in line at concerts (since the internet did not exist) as to the difference between the two. Speed metal was cleaner and thrash was rawer with more of a punk influence. This would be speed metal. It is very refined. Some of this is due to the fact these guys have been doing this for 20 years. The arrangements are very fine tuned. Live this guys would likely be tight as a damn bastard.

 The solos have plenty of shredding for those of you into that kind of thing. There is more density in the driving riff to "We Avenge". It doesn't really grab me. The notes are all the right place, but I am not compelled to listen to this song more than once. The title track seems more of a show case for guitar wanking, with a few riffs that sound like warmed over System of a Down clustered around it. By "World War Machine" the album is beginning to get mired down into the kind of single minded aggression that hampers the bulk of death metal. "Necrohammer" is in more of an Entombed mindset, but it's an improvement. The chug is more powerful. More Slayer-isms can be heard hear as well.

There is a little more groove to "Rise in Blood" despite it's more hammering pace. The vocals drop into a lower death metal growl as opposed to the more mid ranged thrash rasp. "Where My Grave Shall Stand" is more melodic , but and instrumental meant to show case some guitar solos. It ends with more of the same that we have heard earlier in the album, just with a few more blue notes carrying over from the instrumental. Some of the bonus tracks might be better than the album tracks , but for the sake of this review I am just going to review the normal album tracks, which brings this album to a 6.5. Very meat and potatoes. If you want heavy, but no real sense of adventure and everything in your face all the time then this is for you.

USURPRESS : "Interregnum"

This proggy death metal band out of Sweden, is what you are looking for if you want the emphasis on the metal when it comes to your prog metal. I don't listen to as much of this kind of thing as I once did , but if this was 2003, I would have been all over this. Despite the fact that is asks me to go back to the place when I was really into Opeth, there is no denying these guys excel at what they do. The first sign of them defaulting in the the need for speed most death metal bands succumb to, doesn't occur until the fourth song "Late in the 11th Hour". It's not until the last two minutes of the song that it ebbs back down into more progressive ambiance, leaving the bulk of the song straight forward death metal .

The clean vocals in "Ships of Black Glass" are well preformed and produced. The effects give the somewhat creepy baritone a darker slant and break up the more death tinged tone the song opens with. It wanders off into a more jazz inflected place before getting heavier. "Gates of Iron" starts off as a more non-descript form of death metal. The sung vocals take on a more goth tone for "the Vagrant Harlot". Not the most powerful vocal performance, but I appreciate the sentiment.There are hints of a more Enslaved like accent to this song.

I like where these guys are going with this. Some of the sung vocals get an e for effort and then some really work. The jazz influence is one of the best elements as it feels very natural and not forced. Even when they are in more of a straight forward death metal mode , they are still better than the bulk of death metal albums sitting in my in-box. I'll give this one a 9, it's great for when I venture out in the "snow-covered landscape" that is now Atlanta. Just joking I am done bigger lines than what has shut this city down.

Witchery : "In His Infernal Majesty Service"

They have come back in a powerful way after the 2010 "Witchkrieg". The album features features new vocalist Angus Norder. The rest of the band features members of the Haunted , Grave, Seance, and Arch Enemy, There is more of a punk touch to the second song. "Netherworld Emperor" returns to to kind of deathly thrash that colored the opener, though it might not be quite as tightly coiled of an attack. There is a catchier Slayer like feel to "Nosferatu". This is fine with me since Slayer has not sounded like Slayer in a decade.

It's not until "the Burning of Salem' that feel feels like the band is playing at a speed too fast for the song. Considering the brand of death metal these guys are coming at you with that means they used some restraint up until this point. One of this album's strengths is the production. The guitars sound mean as fuck, like they could slice your neck right off your god damn shoulders. The additional dynamics of "Gilded Fang" help it to stand out of the blurred blitz of the other songs, even if such lapses in intensity are only momentary. There is a more Motorhead like rock punch to the opening of "Empty Tombs". This one is fast and feral, but doesn't hold my attention as well until it gets to the Slayer like breakdown. There is more punch to the thrashy groove of "In Warm Blood" . It's almost impossible to no nod your head to this one.

There is a more traditional  thrash metal riff to "Escape From Dunwich Valley". I always preach about our rule here "Cool Riffs alone do not make a good song" these guys get it and show you how you can have the best of both worlds more often than not. When they do not adhere to this rule the result is something more in lines with "Feed the Gun" and the riff just is too straight forward and not cool enough to apply in the first place. You can finally here the bass on "Oathbreaker". Things song races along and meets up with a slightly more melodic part. There is a fucking awesome tempo change in riff to "Eye For an Eye". The vocals even switch up here, which is what the album needed, the end result is something that sounds like it could have come from Entombed's "Wolverine Blues" album. They close the album with "Cloak and Dagger" which is  too straight forward that made me wonder what happened to the burst of creativity on the previous song. Sure there is a cool gallop at the end, but it's too little too late. I'll go ahead and around this one up to a 9 not sure how many listens I would get around to as far as this album as whole goes, but for death metal it's pretty awesome.This album comes out November 25th,

Dark Tranquility : " Atoma"

Well right from the opening song I did not go into this confused as to if this was Killswitch or not, so that is a good sign. Granted these guys are often to At the Gates in terms of what I personally want from death metal, as At the Gates to me is more of a thrash band, I want my death metal to be a little darker. The title track starts off sounding like a H.I.M song and keeps tapping that vein during the verse, though the sung vocals are not as dramatic. This song doesn't have any surprises hiding behind them corner and is pretty much late 90's dark metal. They get a little darker on "Forward Momentum", but are more much of the hard rock coming out of Europe in the late 90s. It ramps up to about Kataonia speed before the 2nd verse.  I kind get lost on the two songs after this as they blend into on another, "Force of Hand" is the better of the two and is more dynamic causing me to focus back in and not relegate this to background music.

'Faithless By Default" reminds me a little of Samael. The lyrics are a little on the cheese heavy side. This is better than what the "the Pitiless" offers me which is boredom. "Our Proof of Life" is still pretty middle of the road, but more engaging even with the sung vocals. There is a cool galloped section in this song. The intro to "Clearing Skies" sounds like it could be a Lacuna Coil song. It does get heavier, the snare is a little stiff on the verse. The go into almost a break down like section while you are waiting for a big chorus that doesn't really come, which at least means they are breaking from the formula. Even though it is more driving "When the World Screams" just blandly passes me by. When I go back to try and figure out why it didn't make more of an impact, the second listen isn't much more inspiring. There is a darker intro to "Merciless Fate". The sung vocals are really well used for a change here.

"Caves and Embers" is ok, melodic in the right places, but not as focused as some of the album's stronger moments. This is better than their last album, but far from perfect, but the band is heading in a better direction even in their more middle of the road moments I'll round this one up to a 7.5, but don't feel the need to listen to it again.

Amon Amarth : "Jomsviking"

If you make so called "viking metal" and consistently leave me feeling luke warm about what you do then there is a problem. This Swedish band who now finds themselves on their tenth album is not the only offender when it comes to this. It's not unlike how I felt when I went to the Norway exhibit at Epcot, they would leave you to believe there is nothing more to the culture than sweaters, trolls and Frozen. Granted of all the Scandinavian cultures the Swedes often come across as if they are overcompensating for birthing Abba and are the most welcoming of western culture. This album doesn't remedy that problem, but they continue to fine tune what they do.

What Amon Amarth does is use the twin guitar attacks makes up for the vocals by carrying the weight of the melodies . Amon Amarth also makes me feel like what they do has already been done by Unleashed, just with bigger production and a tad more Iron Maiden in the guitar harmonies. They also have a sense of hooks that appeals to kids who grew up on Lamb of God. "First Kill" is well written and executed it just doesn't give him the empowering feeling that really good metal normally bestows upon me when it touches my ears. They come off very arena rockish on "Wanderer" The vocals are the only thing that keep them firmly planted in death metal rather than power metal. As the song begins to live up to its title and wander it also loses my attention until the melodic breakdown that gets ruined by the spoken word section.

"On a Sea of Blood" picks up the pace, meeting  at the cross roads of thrash and death metal.When the vocals dip into the lower growl to join the more chugged groove the results are rather impressive. "One Against All" has some powerful riffing, but loses it at the chorus even with the gang vocals.Lyrically it's all Dungeons and Dragons foolishness. The vocals are well produced and I like it when he goes into the deeper growls. "Raise Your Horns" is equally parts 80's cheese and catchy modern metal. The accents adding by the layers of backing vocals are the songs' strongest quality.  When the speed up into the chorus it turns into the more typical viking metal drinking song. I can hear it going over big at festivals like Wacken.

"the Way of the Viking" feels like filler to me.  It's well played and they are hitting the right punches, but it's like LARPing vs a real battle. No manner of shredding solos can convince me otherwise. There is more of a thrashing attack to "Dawns First Light". The guitars sound bigger than they are heavy. The fact that there is more aggression to their sound than darkness is one of the x-factors that sets these guys in the middle of the road."One Thousand Burning Arrows" benefits from a more melodic backdrop and offers a little more emotional depth. These guys are no doubt riff machines many of them sound similar, but the chug always falls in just the right place. "A Dream That Can Not Be" is a little darker, touching on some meatier intervals with the lower growls helping to lower the mood before the female vocals come in. It's not Maria Brink, but the vocals have a similar quality.

In someways this album is an improvement for the band, but it's really splitting bear hairs as they are not really doing anything differently than they have before, unless we are talking their earlier work, as they now sit firmly in the middle of the road for where mainstream metal is at today.I'll give this one a 7.5.

Entombed AD : " Dead Dawn"

Petrov is on the mic and the guitar tone is intact all the things that would make this band Entombed, but it appeared due to Alex Hellid they put and AD after it. This is their second album under the AD. The opening track carries and impressive rumble , but does not come close to capturing the grooves of Wolverine Blues, not is this the same kind of death metal that was Left Hand Path". Fans of pre-and post"Wolverine Blues" alike will still find plenty to like here. The first hint of melody surfaces in the darker "Down to Mars to Ride" which takes off at a big thrashing chug. They are at their most convincing here. There is more weight behind the chug of "As the World Fell" . Petrov comes as close to singing here as he does on the "Wolverine Blues " album. "Lefthand Path" seemed like more of a death metal album to me than any of their albums that followed and this album is not changing my on that , "Total Death" feels more like "Chaos AD" era Sepultura , just without any of the Neurosis" worship that colored that album. The guitars are thick as hell, but this one is more like Motorhead powered rock n roll.

Things get into a harder and darker thrash on " The Winner Has Lost" which reminds me of many of the things that attracted me to this band on their first two albums. Many so called heavy bands have taken inspiration from these guys , but many more could learn that their is nothing technical or flashy going on here , it's the intention they attack their instruments with that makes it this heavy, even though I do not think this is death metal, it's heavier than many death metal bands.They are back to the stiffer Sepultura like chug on "Silent Assassin". I know both bands are into hard core punk so I'm not sure if that is where this is derived from or not, as some early hard core had a militant stiffness to it. This is not their most interesting side. Clean guitar opens "Hubris Fall" which sets the stage for a more melodic current to sweep through the song. This brings the vocals to have more of a Neurosis feel to them. Petrov doesn't sing but comes closer to it. Even tough there is more of an old school thrash feel to it "Black Survival" feels like this is being done by way of Soulfly. The darker melodic creep ends the album with more of what I want from this band. They manage to avoid the rule of cool riffs alone do make a good song, by adding just enough around the edges while churning the most they can out of the riffs. Overall I'll accept this version of Entombed , wish the would shed some of the more Soulfly like moments , but I'll round this up to an 8.5, because the moments they nail they kill.

Grave : " Out Of Respect For the Dead"

It's the eleventh album from the Swedish Death Metal vets. Along with Entombed they helped hone as sound that bands have been trying to emulate ever since. Its not until they slow down for "Flesh Before My Eyes" that they really get my attention. Its good old school death metal, no doubt but I caught the best of that back in the day, so I want to hear where a band is going from there. Granted I was listening to more Entombed than Grave then, so these guys are newish to me. They are fairly straight forward. Where most bands hit you with every thing they got on the first song then you are waiting to see what they have from their Grave drags this out into the second song, though the third has the most powerful groove yet. "Plain Pine Box" doesn't dig into any new subject matter, but they have a great guitar sound and the riffs to this one make the most out of it and the drums sound like they are right in your living room.

They get into the same old grind at times and seem to work better at mid paced gallops or slower. They lyrics change from dead to undead as they growl about haunted houses on "The Ominous They".  The lumbering doom laden moments are of course in my opinion going to be some of the better ones. There is not a whole lot of what gets called d-beat. At times they have more in common with Obituary than with Entombed. This is obvious on the more pounding sections of "Redeemed Through Hate" which also has the first guitar solo that stands out. If there were others they must have been buried in double bass.

When the groove drops down into the bass line of "Deified" this is the album hitting its high point.Even when the storm of double bass roars in the keep the groove until the blasting end section. 'Trail of Ungodly Trades" is just run of the mill death metal. They are good at it , but it's nothing special until they slower breakdown where he is chanting "Summoning the dead". They close the album with "Grotesque Glory" is has a very deliberate stomp, which finds the band in their best form. This song seems to be about zombies. There is a lot of groove to this album at time which keeps it's dark and grisly vibe moving forward. If you are a fan of the band I can only imagine that this is what you want from them, and it's an impressive display of power and at times even songwriting so I'll round  this one up to an 8. It comes out October 16gh on Century Media.

Entrails : "Obliteration"

The Swedish death metal band Entrails has some buzz around their new album"Obliteration" so lets see if it lives up to the hype. Right from the onset of the opener, it sounds like fairly run of the mill death metal so they really need to show me that they are not a one trick pony. Sure some of the grooves have a tad of Entombed. The vocal get a little more gut wrenching when they dig into a meaner riff. They do hit songwriting with more nuance on "Epitome of Death". I do like the guttural stomp of "Beyond the Flesh" where the band sounds like they are just as influenced by Obituary as they are Entombed. It's too bad the straight ahead "the Grotesque" is not as engaging . There are a few good chugs here and there but the hard and fast rule around here is cool riffs alone do not make a good song. However "Obliterate" takes a stab at breaking this rule. It's the stiff blast like beats that hold it back in the long run.

"Skulls" is aided by the power of the chug and the gang like vocal on the chorus to exalt it above most of the album. The winning streak continues on "Midnight Coffin". Around "Bone Storm" the album started to loose me. It got to entrenched in straight up death metal for it to do much more than fade into the back ground it was not until mid way through the last song that I  got back into it. Even going back and listening to these songs "Re-animation of the Dead" is the only one that stand out when it comes down to the final three. So I will give this album a 6. It has it's moments , but is not the best death metal album out at the moment. If you are a fan go ahead and round it up another point, before going out and buying some Entombed albums and educating yourself.

Lest We Forget : Take Over and Destroy: "Vacant Face"

This came out last august but is too awesome to not have on here, so for instances where we missed the boat and it's still in the harbor we have our "Lest We Forget" column. The first song throws in almost every element I like in music and metal, there is a darkly ambient intro that vomits up some metal with hardcore and death metal leanings, yet manages to bring Celtic Frost to mind.At the end this song even employs gothy clean singing that would make Atriarch proud. Haven't keened in on the lyrics there is something about a complacent stare. They have synths accenting the riffs to the goth soaked "Summer Isle". Some times his goth voice reminds more of Bella Morte or 69 Eyes rock n roll vein of death worship rather than the more hipster Ian Curtis take. It's not what you would expect to be haunting the deserts of Arizona.


Only two songs break the four minute mark, yet these guys managed to cram a lot into every song, with out sounding bi-polar like Mr. Bungle and they are less sprawling and bouncy than Sleepy Time. There is a Swedish metal feel to "Glance Away" with more owed to In Flames than At the Gates. There is an intangible element that keeps this from having that mall metal cheese to it. They adhere to more conventional parameters of metal in almost a Goatwhore like manner on "Split Screen"  That Swedish influence I heard earlier is not clearer to me as the Wolverine Blues era Entombed rears it's head. This hammered harder into place before the goth creeps out of the casket on "Terminal Burrowing". They also rip into some rowdy rock n roll in a spastic manner not too far removed from Kvelertak. And then some melodic guitar begins to please my ears as they put their vampire teeth back in. A pick slide kicks up the dust on "Deep End" the Entombed influence here marries Venom before the more melodic side is invoked by the synths and the spooky vocals aren't far behind.

There is some dark nasty goodness in "Dominance Shifts" but until the goth part comes up some of the metal becomes a blur of blasts and bellowing. There is some old school "NWOBHM" riffing that jumps up onto the monitors on "Battle  Moon". Which might be my favorite song that holds a powerful enough chug so the goth parts don't steal the show. One first listen it didn't hit me how much they went into the darker sound until I sat down with some head phones and began picking this apart. At the same time when the goth side of the band is the predominant sound on "Where Seasons Lay" it doesn't have the same impact, I think they are a metal band first and a goth band second or third. After a synth interlude the album closes on an even darker note with the ominous "Attrition". The guitar has tons of punch, the bass is largely buried and the drums have a raw room sound them. The lyrics to this song jump out as they roar about gouging out their eyes. The clean guitar solos that slide into place around the four and a half minute mark show these guys can really play. Some of the more roaring Entombed moments became a blur in places, but I think this album deserves a 9.5  and look forward to hearing more from them.

Tribulation : " The Children of the Night"

While I liked the band's last album, but  found them much more fascinating of a creature on stage when I saw them open for Watain, so I am hoping some of those more progressive and wandering qualities have carried over from the road and right from the first few chords of the opener it seems like they have. There is an almost Opeth like lushness to the sound. They don't use the traditional metal crunch, instead just going for an organic tone that they are playing loudly. The vocals are more intelligible. The guitar work continues to impress on this one. They entrench the songs with dark melodies. Enslaved comparison are sure to abound here as well, but there is some more sinister lurking under the surface, where Enslaved sails their prog power long boats into Norse lore. They do hit a similar vibe to Enslaved when the pace picks up on " Melancholia" as the guitars have the brighter epic metal tone.

This journey they take you on is painted in a wide spectrum of guitar tones. The band very much has a sound that they have embraced and this doesn't stray to far from that they are just painting it with different colors. Some of these are more  trippy than others. The drums and vocals  take the most traditional metal roles allowing the guitars to venture out into the fringes. This is not to say they do not have bite to them, as a song like "Winds" finds a balance of attack and sonic wonderment.  Some of the punches are in a more Iron Maiden vein of metal than death metal. Aside from the rasp of the vocals you would not think of this album as being death metal, even in the most progressive sense of the genre. The bass player makes some interesting choices as he ventures higher up the neck. This traditional NWOBHM approach returns on the melodic "the Motherhood of God". The vocal rasp has much more in common with black metal than death metal here.

The first really dense metal tone is when "Sjalaflykt" kicks in. It doesn't take long before the song is bathed in atmosphere. The expand and contract nature of the arrangements gives ample room for them to play around with. These guys do this without boring you with 10 to 15 minutes songs, instead the very concise. Sometimes they do allow a song to reach close to the half way mark before bringing the vocals in, which seem to have less emphasis placed upon this this time around, sometimes they omit them altogether. The dive deep into the darkness with "Strains of Horror". If you wondered what it would have sounded like if DeepPurple had written the soundtrack to the Exorcist, here is a pretty good stab at it. I enjoy a good guitar solo as much as the next guy but its rare that they really add as much to an album as they do here. It carries classic rock flare , but maintains it's own voice. There is a stronger sense of metal majesty to the guitar duel that is "Holy Libations" that is a guitar players wet dream. After the interlude  "Cauda Pavonis" Tribulation brings the album so a pounding finale with " Music From the Other". This has a very Watain pummeling to until they back off and let loose the dreary melodies.  This is another step forward for the band that continues to grow with every album, they blend the more classic metal elements in with their more ethereal colors with ease earning a 9.5.

At the Gates: "At War With Reality"

At the Gates are back doing what they do best. It opens with the twin guitar attack chugging out what at one time might have passed for death metal, but by today's standards just aggressive thrash. There are elements of hardcore around it's sharp edges, they can still grind out some riffs that are impossible to not head band to, and the longer this album plays the more you hear how they have influenced so many bands.

It's the hunt for the angriest riffs that draws me into some of these songs. Sure there is some excellent guitar work, which is the albums strong point, but that could be said about their earlier work as well.By the third song, the battering is starting to carry to similar a feel. The riffs stay pretty epic , but the pacing is like an action movie with no plot or dialogue. Some of the more melodic guitar harmonies on this album seems like they are indulgent in a way that "Slaughter of the Soul" still held sharper teeth while doing.

The intro to "Heroes and Tombs" breaks things up , but it also reminds me of In Flames until the powerful chug comes in.It's at "Conspiracy of the Blind' where it starts to bleed together for me."Order From Chaos" is a slightly darker bent from the more straight forward thrashers. Things stick to a similar course with "The Book of Sand", but it's almost midway into before I realize it's a new song. "The Head of Hydra" takes a more melodic tone and stands out more so for doing it.

It's  "Eater of Gods" that causes the album to roar back to life in the most powerful manner. The In Flames like spoken part in the middle doesn't even bother me or come across as mall metal. "Upon Pillars of Dust" tries to keep up a similar attitude, but lands on that straight forward snare tap that is kinda punkish.It has more of a metal core like feel to it, and by that I don't mean the kids with the hair cuts , but the trend they pretty much started and bands like Darkest Hour followed.They end things with the very melodic "

Needless to say this album doesn't have the impact that "Slaughter  of the Soul" has It certainly has it's moments, but nothing really blows me away here. There is enough of their tradmark sound here to please fans , but as far as come backs go this is kind of tepid considering how long of a wait it has been, if I was a die hard fan of these guys I would take this a little bit of a disappointment and I know these guys are capable of more so I will give this a 7.5.

Catching Up With 2013 : Agrimonia's Rites of Separation

This Swedish band's 2013 release marks their 3rd album and my friend in metal Grim Kim , listed them as her number one metal album for the year, so I had to see what they fuss is about. They are much more melodic,. butcoming from Gothenburg its expected. It is far from the poppy Dark Tranquility /In Flames styled stuff, that I am not a fan of, nor do I think is death metal. I am not sure these guys are death metal, but they are closer than In Flames, but who isn't if they are at least heavier than Korn.

The ten minute opener has enough stuff to justify its length. Its not pure Entombed worship like you might expect. The vocal's are harsh and delivered in a somewhat At the Gates manner, but they don't rely on the twin guitar thrash attack.The majority if the opener is quickly paced aside from some of the more deliberate half time grooves, that are not what I would call d-beat . There is a good gallop to the bulk of the song, clean vocal chime off in the distance underneath the riffs.

Two of the albums songs are 15 minutes one of them being the second song " Hunted" that opens with an interlude like piano piece. The band falls in behind keeping it things at an almost deary pace, before exploding into things, with an almost hard core fervor. The vocals get a little more throaty here, shifting into lower growls to accent the riff. After listening to this song all the way through for the purpose , of this review I then paced myself and digested it in five minute increments. The alternating vocal theme carrying over into the second section of the song that is divide by a groove like break down, that borders being on progressive but not overtly as the assumption comes with the fifteen min mark looming. The vocals take on a more hateful rasp that is where the black metal labels comes from, but the music doesn't have the dark dissonance of black metal so I would not label it as such.

Sure it's pretty sprawling and even massive in its sonic scope, but even being a fan of progressive music I can't say  I am often in the mood to listen to 15 minute songs. But the band are talented arrangers more than they are song writers , these are more movements and compositions than they are songs, it more of an experience in some sense, but it still invokes the old school metal sense of fun, as the riffs are generally pretty catchy.When it comes to these massive epics they don't let time go to waste and they seem to fill the spaces very naturally.

Their is a subtle intro that build like an Agalloch song with sludge leanings on "While Life Lasts" which at ten minutes flows like a pop song. It is more sonically dense though it goes into the more care free gallops into the Swedish hills. They close the show down with the other 15 minute monster. This one they make artsy noise for the first two minutes, then kick in with a hefty riff and blasting double bass rolling in like a storm cloud beneath it. It loses some of the winds in its sails after the first five mins ends with it drifting down the lonesome fjrod. It flows int variations of a despondent gallop until it floats into a drifting trippy whispering section.

I'll round it up to an 8 as in some ways these guys seem like a thinking man's Moonsorrow, it does the gallop into battle variation but with doses of experimentation surrounding it like Agalloch, but with the pagan romps in the woods to get there.  


   

Tribulation: "The Formulas of Death"

This album came out way back in March and I didn't give the band a lot of thought until I saw they were billed as openers for Watain this fall, so I checked them out and found their newest effort a more evolved work . Truth be told I had to check and make sure this was the same band as the packaging was so different, the name written in normal font rather than the ghoulish drip of normal death metal logos and the cover art seemed pretty minimal as well.

The opening instrumental serves as more of an intro for "Wander in the Outer Darkness", the most noted change from what I have heard of their earlier work is this has less of the raw "Altars of Madness" early death metal feel to it and they have adopted more of an early Dissection sound. The production is crisper , the vocals are more refined rasp, with less maniacal gurgle to them. Like most bands of the ilk the sheer velocity of what they do always impresses in the first song and then falls on can the make it interesting and keep you listening.

"Spectres" is at a similar thrashy pace, the Dissection influence also causes them to sound a little like their tour mates Watain here, in the way they let the chords ring out. Then there is an unexpected muted  break down where the drums fall out for a breather. They come back in for an odd tempo groove before building back up into the double bass blast. The vocal approach begins to make me think of Erik from Watain in their phrasing at this point.

The ten minute epic "Suspira De Profundis" opens with a creep of reverb soaked clean guitars before they crunch into what might be heard as the chorus. While I suppose comparisons could be drawn to Watain's "Waters of Ain" it does hold more of it's own identity, than any blatant mimicry. There restrained chugs are part of their own identity, this is a drama step away from being just a retro death metal band and I am sure in some circles there are cries of sell outs.  This song goes on a jammy exploration that eventually builds up into a metal chug.

The roll drums leads right into " Through the Velvet Black" before they keep at a tense blast for a moment and leap into a gallop, so the drums on this album are killing it all over the place and perhaps this is where the most growth has taken place as there is the old saying a band is only as good as their drummer. By the two and a half minute mark this feels much more like thrash. The Dissection elements do make this blackened what ever we want to label this. Though in the more straight ahead element of what they do I'm ready for more melody by this point in the album.

"Randa"changes the pace, lets the chords ring out with more dissonance.  The chuggas that come in are very Dissection in their execution, but they do keep things up until now switched up enough to avoid being Thulcandria. I do find myself having to listen harder to find something that engages me, which is where I find myself with a lot of death metal and less experimental black metal these days. There are guitar solos but they aren't reinventing the wheel.  I can say to do steer clear of going to the guitar harmonies that annoy me with a lot of swedish death metal.

There is a trippy Pink Floyd shimmer to the intro of  " When the Sky is Black With Devils" and is the first song that returns to a more Morbid Angel sound.  Though not devoid of Watainism, it has a frantic march of "Total Funeral" , the clean break down at the end sparing it of coloring to safely in the lines , though it is a fun song.

The break neck pacing returns on "Spell", it finds the band back to the altar of Dissection/Watain. The big galloping chug saves this song, from boring me. The guitar solos on this album are a welcome addition but don't add a lot. The more sonic section that develops at the four minute mark is more what I need from them . Just playing fast doesn't equate dark to me, their needs to be some depth and Tribulation shows they are capable of finding it and not being just big dumb death metal.

The moodier clean guitar returns on " Ultra Silvam" .  The guitar tone through out the album is impressive, on the more effected sections it has the space to resonate to a greater extent.  This song proves to be the one instrumental that doesn't come across as just a transitionary piece and had the potential to be developed into something more fully realized but it's fine for what it is.

The album closes with the 13 minute  "Apparitions" that returns to their  death metal roots. The more hooky Morbid Angel riff, tags in when the song seems like it is off to bland start. The Dissection chords charge in after them, followed by a solo that puts them in Watain's neighborhood, so all the elements gather for the big finish. Approaching the five minute mark the song begins to shift into dark space, but only for a minute before charging back in. They break back down into moodier clean guitar, each time I find my self hoping for them to turn the corner into something less tedious, than the chug which we got the memo on. They do begin to introduce more exotic scales to wander around, but it's heading into the final ten minutes.

I do appreciate the direction this band is growing in and find this is a fun listen even if the influences are worn on their sleeves, I'm probably more forgiving of this because they are influenced by three of my favorite bands so will round this down to a 8.5 only because some of the pounding monotony could have give way to their more ambitious side.