Bossk : " Migration"

 The post rocky instrumental they open with is cool and the pleasing sounds were good background music but not as compelling of a song as "Menhir" that follows. While the vocals are your typical sludge gruff bark, they bring things together with the needed narrative, The rest of the song is woozy and atmospheric so they serve as a guide post and ground the song to give a more emotional layer. They have refined their songwriting, yet expansion of their sonic scope is still felt on "HTV-3" when there is more of a rock n roll feel to the swagger of the hazy groove. Not unlike Kylesa. Josh from Palm Reader lends his voice to the track which is a more subtle sung croon in the vein of say the Deftones. 

The problem with this album is when it gets lost in it's own atmosphere, and the songs are almost not even there. To me they are more like interludes. The only problem with a piece like "Kibo" is it is over four minutes long and does not really go anywhere. Normally I exclude these sorts of things when scoring them for a review, but this band obviously thinks they are songs so I will count it.  If you are going to do an instrumental then "Lira' is the way they need to do it. It goes from a shoe gazing rock into a sludged out head banging groove. I am not opposed to instrumentals just make sure they rock enough to keep my attention.  

The do not close out the album in an as epic manner, though there is a shift in dynamics to " Unberth" there is a Pink Floyd like smoothness to the guitar playing that reminds me of something from "Obscured By Clouds" . The electronic drums are a nice touch and the guitar tones on this song are unreal. I think I am being generous and open minded enough to give this album a 9. I have been clear in my thoughts as to what keeps it from being their best work , but they are not just a sludge band or perhaps have expanded what you can do as one, fans of the bands will welcome this return. 

Mayhem : "Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando"

The first three songs on this album are leftovers from their last album . The first of these is pretty effective and finds the band going back to something more closely related to their earlier black metal days than the bulk of what was on that album. In some ways the same could almost be said for " Black Glass Communion". I am not sure why these songs were left off the chopping block for the last album as they might even be better than what I remember of it. The riffs are a little catchier in places.  The drumming is outstanding. In some ways these songs are a little more straight forward in their aggressive intentions , though far from being blasty mc nasty, almost closer to what Behemoth does riff wise. Charles or Ghul wrote the second song which might explain some of this. 

There is a similar chilling throb on "Everlasting Dying Flame' that remains true to what this band does .Attila continues his signature croon and shifts around into different creepy voices, while not as extreme as say King Diamond in the versatile nature of what he does it is better than his peers who stick to a more straight forward scream. The drumming is very frantic , but the song is not as memorable as the first two as it drones on the riffs a little too much. The drumming does try to switch it up. Granted this is Hellhammer we are talking about who at 51 continues to prove himself as one of metal's best drummers.   Then come the punk covers. They start off with Discharge's " In Defense of Our Future", which as far a punk goes , is one of the better bands, but compared to what they normally do this is still dumbing it down.     

"Hellnation "is well done and he nails the vocals. The only problem I have with this is lyrically it kind of conflicts with the normally bleak message that Mayhem normally carries ,because the tone is do something to save them world rather than ...fuck you you deserve death and destruction . Tonally the Rudimentary Peni song aligns more with the nihilistic perspective, though musically is a step backwards though they are just working with what was written, Asa song I think this is where the Ramones prove themselves as the better songwriter when it comes to their punk peers as it is the highlight . "Commando" is lyrically neutral. I will give this a 9 as it works well lyrics aside when stacked against their other work . Not an album I am really going to listen to a great deal , but works for what it is. 

ESSES : " Bloodletting for the Lonely"

After a month of death metal I am ready for something not metal, but still heavy and this album fits the bill with it’s stormy foreboding tension. Oakland must be goth as hell these days as this is where the bulk of this revivalist death rock seems to be coming from. Ok this is a little more on the Siouxsie side of things, perhaps a bit less manics than Miss Sioux’s more punk days. The bass is driving and more over driven which owes more to Bauhaus. The vocals are more aggressive than your typical Siouxsie worship. I normally want more post than punk in the equation, but there is less pretense . It feels like a very natural progression of where there sound wants to go rather than the band trying too hard to capture an era they were not even alive during. 

The more brooding and eerie melody of “Four Corners” helps set itself apart from the other songs, but as we get into the meat of the album the more upbeat frantic pace begins to give everything a more uniform soun, which finds me having to go back and give it a second listen. Despite the more unique mood of “Four Corners’ the melodies are more caught up in their creep rather than forming a hooky melody like Siouxsie did back in the day. But so far I would say these kids are doing a better job than most of their peers..” Infinite Void” is more punchy and punk, but I like how she keeps things varied with the vocals. It is not until “Before the Blight” that things begin taking on more of a uniform sound.

They break away from the punk thing on “Faceless Past” which proves to be far more interesting when the vocals are given more space to breathe in the blackness. They circle the same brooding shadows on the more bass driven “Caged Beasts” . The more hushed coo of the vocals emote from a similar place.  With “Schism” they continue along the same hypnotic path the previous two songs set them upon ,but this one might be the most compelling of the 3. I will give this album a 9 despite the formulas they work off this is more dynamic of a listen then their peers are producing. 

Gost : "Rites of Love and Reverence"

 In the past I have been more into what this project seeks to do than what is executed, here the execution seems to have been given time to come to fruition in the studio. The songs do tend to grow on me and I am not sure I have spent enough time with this album yet. I have concluded a few things abou8t this album so far though. One of them being it is at it's best when things come out of left field instead of playing it safe as dark wave. Aside from the reverb heavy guitar "Fleeting Whisper" is color by number revivalist dark wave. It does not couple it self with  industrial to pack more of a punch . Nor does it layer the synth melodies like the second song.  The second song also uses elements of dub step that play to it's favor as the song progresses 

The steamier groove to "We Are the Crypt' is another example of how it  grows on me when I pay more attention to what is going on here. I like the song but feel like it could benefit from a better sound when it comes to the programming of these drums. "Blessed Be" might thump a little harder than some but does not have the greatest range when it comes to dynamics. The late night bat cave throb of "November is Death" works for what they are doing, however I am a firm believer that you should never say 'Oh this is good for dark wave or insert any genre there as , good music should be good music, if it is a part of a genre that makes excuses for itself then it sucks.

I guess the rough guitar mix in "Embrace the Blade' is an attempt at the death rock sound, the song does get credit for having a more expansive range of sonic twists and turns. The vocals come closer to establishing a hook at the chorus. "Coven' has a little more weight to it's thump. Not industrial but looking in that direction. It does get heavier as it goes though is still not the albums most memorable song. Things come to a close with "Burning Thyme", it's a more dramatic folk tinged ballad. While the limitations of his vocal style can be felt, it still works as a song  Not a perfect album , but it is an easy listen and I can listen to it on repeat so I will give it a 9.  

At the Gates - "the Nightmare of Being"

 The Swedish death metal pioneers are back for their 7th album. Granted this band has a 30 year history behind them. I respect this career, but I am not the hugest fan as they seemed more thrash to me half the time and their twin guitar harmonies work better for Iron Maiden. Entombed is just better at sounding dark and meaner, so if I have to pick between the two I go with them. The second song works mainly off speed but less on the guitar harmonies and more on a mighty chug so it works better for me. While both songs so far work well off the things that made them legends are they really doing anything new ? They almost answer this is the more melodic intro to the title track, which I prefer over anything they do on the first two songs. It is more accessible but not really hooky. 

It is the "Garden of Cyrus" where they bring a sax in to enhance the smolder factor of the groove that shows they still have some life in them and care about making music. Synth intro aside "Touched By the White Hands of Death" might have  big riffs, but sounds like dialed in a typical metal. Well produced ? Yes. Well executed? Yes.  I need more inspiration from songs than just that, though they are good at doing that. The riff to "the Fall into Time". is more interesting though I can do without the dramatics. When they get into the more Opeth like jam of the song at the bass break down things really take off in the best direction yet. "Cult of Salvation " splits the difference has some jamming, but feels like it is not as natural of a turn as the previous song. 

The are back to full thrash ahead on "the Abstract Enthroned" which feels like the song is just a book end for the guitar solo. The more rock n roll vibe to "Cosmic Pessimism " is more interesting. It venture away from the predicable thrash guitar tone that has dominated the album.  When they do crank it there is a more dynamic perspective. There are some cool riffs in the last song, but it runs on one mood, over all this album is well done, for that I will round it up to a 9 as they did what they set out to do and their fans will appreciate this. 

82

Death is June -The Top 10 Best Live Death Metal Bands

Live death metal, sounds like an oxymoron. Of all the sub genres of metal this has been the one that has been a trickier balance to obtain. Most of these bands play smaller to mid size venues, I am only seen perhaps one death metal band do well in an arena , they made it onto this list, and happened to be opening for Ozzy at the time. Often becoming boring due to the one track nature or not transitioning well to stage due to either too much volume or not enough. I have seen both issues plague bands. Most recently Incantation underwhelmed at my last pre -Covid concert due to low volume. Too loud is a more common problem as they then become a slushy wall of noise. Some of these bands used to be death metal bands and grew away from it into something else so I am referring to when I saw them back in the day as a death metal band . Including clips from the tour I saw the on

  10-Obituary

 I want to give these guys another shot , as I was not blown away but have been listening to them more in recent years and it could have been an off night for me as I just went with friends.

 

 9-Unleashed

These guys might be headliners now , but I saw them open up for Morbid Angel on the "Blessed are the Sick" tour.

   

 8-Skeleton Witch 

 With some of these it is just a clip from the tour I saw them on this is the exact show. These guys were a lot of fun.

   

 7- Fear Factory 

 Things began to change for them at this time, but they came on ajnd crushed it really hard in the smaller club setting I saw them in .

 

6-Sepultura

 Another band who was

   

 5-Tribulation 

 I was impressed how these guys did their own thing with little attempt to conform to what death metal should be and went off into long jams

   

 4- Goatwhore 

 These guys were very powerful yet also a great deal of fun,,, 

      

 3- Morbid Angel 

 As long as these guys have Pete they are hard to beat.

   

 2- Opeth

 They used to be such an incredible band until they got too proggy for their own good and quit playing metal

.

  1-Carcass

Some how I did not catch these guys back in high school, I do not remember them touring a lot then, but I did catch them on the first reunion tour.

 

Death is June - Cerebral Rot :"Excretion Of Mortality"

 The last album for Death Metal month ! Circling the drain around death doom , more often than not , at first I assumed this Swedish band's sophomore album was going to be solely focused on heavy. They play a slower and crushing for of death metal that pays homage to the classics, without directly citing anyone band, though Incantation might be the core influence if you were really to dissect it. The vocals are the kind of low gurgled growl you want from death metal. The guitar solos have the kind of chaos that might being Morbid Angel or Slayer to mind, thought they are not emphasized. You are going to remember this album for weighing on your ears , not for the guitar solos.

While the drumming is top notch as death metal often demands , the bass player might be the unsung hero here. His rumble cuts through and adds another layer of density to what is going down here.  The bass makes it self know even more on "Spewing Purulence". The vocals come across more like a Chris Barnes thing where they are not really being projected from the guts, but growled up on the mic. An almost breathy quality haunts them. It is not until "Bowels of Decrepitude" that they fall into the same trap most death metal bands to where it becomes too single minded in it's aggression and a heavy wall of sound. 

It is not until the bass break down in "Drowned in Malodor" that it sets itself apart from the color by numbers death metal . There is a little more of a groove.  Though I think the density was more impressive on the first listen through to this album. "Retching Innards" has am almost Entombed like sludge to it's groove. Yeah I know Entombed is not a sludge band but there guitar tone is sludgey. Their vocals are not as memorable as Entombed's.  What is more memorable on this song is the drummer's Lombardo like use of the ride cymbal. The last song is the most sprawling . At four minutes in they are still farming out riffs to jam on before a guitar solo comes in. While I am not sure the vocals contribute a great deal but waiting six minutes for them to come is , makes me think editing could have been more helpful here. I will round this up to an 9, as for being so brutally heavy it is one of the better death metal album's this year. Being released on 20 Buck Spin.