Vomit Forth – Seething Malevolence – Album Review

Artist: Vomit Forth

Album Title: Seething Malevolence

Label: Century Media Records

Date of Release: 8 July 2022

We’ve all been there – you wait for someone to pass you in the supermarket, and they blank you; you’re cut up by another driver on the road; someone acts in an antisocial manner on public transport. Well, instead of stooping to their level and acting inappropriately, I suggest you get hold of a copy of ‘Seething Malevolence’ because it is the utterly perfect soundtrack to help channel your rage in a much more constructive manner. Lay back on a sofa in a darkened room and with headphones or start a one-person mosh pit in your living room, whatever floats your boat. Either way, it’ll help with that pent up anger inside I can tell you. Your neighbours might not agree, especially with the latter option, but I think it’s a splendid idea quite honestly.

Hailing from Connecticut on the US East Coast, Vomit Forth is comprised of vocalist Kane Gelaznik, bassist Tyler Bidwell, drummer Nick Herrmann, and guitarist Ricky Bravall. They have built up a name for themselves in the death metal underground since their reasonably recent inception, releasing two EPs, ‘Inherent Laceration’ in 2018, followed by ‘Northeastern Deprivation’ the following year. Bookended by a couple of demos, their name and reputation caught the attention of Century Media Records and so we’re now presented with the quartet’s debut full-length album, ‘Seething Malevolence’.

The title of the record is well-placed too, because this album is about as disgustingly vile and malevolent as it is possible to be whilst still plundering the genre of death metal. Mind you, Vomit Forth are intent on demonstrating that they are more than just a brutal, uncompromising death metal band, as they lace their music with other influences and sounds in order to create something just a little bit different. To the casual observer, and me on a first listen, you could be mistaken for thinking that ‘Seething Malevolence’ is a 29-minute slab of thunderously heavy, bruising, and menacing riff-obsessed death metal, where there’s no space for frills, bells, or whistles, just cranium-busting aggression and groove. To an extent, that’s true and when you’re in the mood for it, there is definitely nothing wrong with that.

But, if you’re prepared to be constantly battered by repeated spins of ‘Seething Malevolence’, you begin to realise that there is more going on than you first thought. I’m not sufficiently well acquainted with the East Coast death metal scene to name drop bands at will, but the music here seems to fit the mould pretty well whilst adding a few nuances for good measure. For a start, I hear forays into grindcore ferocity at points, as well as deathcore slams and breakdowns, plus the band aren’t afraid to utilise electronic sounds on occasion too. And whilst I’m not normally a fan of the ‘core’ elements, it seems to work here, perhaps just because the music overall is just so filthy and violent.

To underline the band’s desire to try a few new things within their music, the opening track, ‘Untitled’ is an unnerving piece of brooding noise/ambience, composed by Vatican Shadow’s Prurient (Ian Dominick) after he reached out to Vomit Forth personally. It both fits well with what’s to come, and acts as a surprising beginning to the record. Either way, I have grown to quite like it, as brief as it is. And happily, there is a continuation of the opener which closes out the last couple of minutes of ‘Pious Killing Floor’ and indeed the entire album. In so doing, the album is bookended by the minimal sounds of what feels like a suspenseful horror film.

In between though, Vomit Forth deliver nine and a half blistering tracks of savagery that essentially bash my skull in with a meat cleaver, beginning with the ultra-sadistic and weighty slab of death entitled ‘Eucharist Intact’. The guitars sound like slabs of granite being thrown at your ears, whilst the drums and bass shake the foundations with a thunderous, yet dextrous attack. The guttural vocals meanwhile, gurgle and growl impressively, occasionally plummeting to depths that feel like they should be impossible to reach. The song manages to sound unbelievably extreme, but also groovy as hell, with some haunting sounds at the death to increase the sense of unease.

The groovy riffs continue from the outset of ‘Pain Tolerance’, as it lurches forward with all the subtlety of a hand grenade thrust down your trousers. The slams that I’d normally bemoan here actually enhance the track, whilst the sounds of agonised screams in the background towards the end only add to the evil nature of the music that I find myself listening to here.

Pinched harmonics and an increased pace signal the onslaught of ‘Tortured Sacrament’, although once again, we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of a stomping behemoth as the foot is applied effectively to the brake pedal to completely alter the dynamics of the song. The only thing that devalues the composition is the slightly lazy fadeout at the end.

‘Unrecognizable’ is a personal favourite as it is a little longer, nearly hitting the dizzy heights of four minutes. In that time, the quartet once again toy with the listener by mixing up the frenzied, speedy charge with sections of slower groove. We’re even treated to a gloriously dirty and vaguely melodic lead guitar solo which I thoroughly enjoy but then find myself bemoaning the lack of solos elsewhere. Double-edged sword.

The title track offers something a little different, as Kane Gelaznik experiments with higher-pitched, black metal-esque rasps, as well as a slightly cleaner tone where you can almost hear the words that he is spitting out with feverish intent. The song also offers a little more by way of overt melody, or at least a slightly more immediate hue, as ‘melody’ seems completely the wrong descriptor here.

Meanwhile, ‘Severely Wounded’ is a two-minute blast of sheer unadulterated power that sees the vocals veering into grindcore ‘pig squealing’ realms, whilst ‘Carniverous Incantation’ has a twisted, almost progressive feel to the off-kilter riffing unless I am gravely mistaken.

I still get the feeling that there is more to come from Vomit Forth in the years ahead, that perhaps the material on this debut album is merely scratching the surface. Only time will tell on that front. In the here and now, it is very difficult for me to reach anything other than a positive conclusion. It may last for less than half an hour, but there is so much packed into ‘Seething Malevolence’ that you never feel short-changed. And given how extreme the music undoubtedly is, any longer and the effect and intensity of the output may have suffered. As it is, I feel wounded and violated, but in a good way thanks to ‘Seething Malevolence’, the debut long-player from Vomit Forth.

The Score of Much Metal: 89%

Check out my other 2022 reviews here:

Greylotus – Downfall

My Soliloquy – Fu3ion

Pestilent Hex – The Ashen Abhorrence

Porcupine Tree – Closure / Continuation

Conjurer – Páthos

Ironflame – Where Madness Dwells

Horizon Ignited – Towards The Dying Lands

Municipal Waste – Electrified Brain

Paganizer – Behind The Macabre

Philosophobia – Philosophobia

Darkane – Inhuman Spirits

Exocrine – The Hybrid Suns

Fallen Sanctuary – Terranova

Deathwhite – Grey Everlasting

Charlie Griffiths – Tiktaalika

Seven Kingdoms – Zenith

Brutta – Brutta

White Ward – False Light

Winds Of Tragedy – As Time Drifts Away

Tim Bowness – Butterfly Mind

Denouncement Pyre – Forever Burning

Truent – Through The Vale Of Earthly Torment

Wind Rose – Warfront

Kardashev – Liminal Rite

Artificial Brain -Artificial Brain

Seventh Wonder – The Testament

Kreator – Hate Über Alles

All Things Fallen – Shadow Way

Def Leppard – Diamond Star Halos

Lord Belial – Rapture

Buried Realm – Buried Realm

Stiriah – …Of Light

Remains Of Destruction – New Dawn

Crematory – Inglorious Darkness

IATT – Magnum Opus

Iris Divine – Mercurial

Decapitated – Cancer Culture

Bekmørk – The Path Nocturnal

Septic Flesh – Modern Primitive

Blut Aus Nord – Disharmonium – Undreamable Abysses

Drift Into Black – Earthtorn

Spheric Universe Experience – Back Home

Outshine – The Awakening

Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge For The Blessed Ones

Zero Hour – Agenda 21

Scitalis – Doomed Before Time

Morgue Supplier – Inevitability

Visions Of Atlantis – Pirates

Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)

OU – One

Haunter – Discarnate Ails

Aara – Triade II: Hemera

Pure Reason Revolution – Above Cirrus

Demonical – Mass Destroyer

I Am The Night – While The Gods Are Sleeping

Haunted By Silhouettes – No Man Isle

Delvoid – Swarmlife

LionSoul – A Pledge To Darkness

Watain – The Agony And Ecstasy Of Watain

Dischordia – Triptych

Dragonbreed – Necrohedron

Audrey Horne – Devil’s Bell

Vanum – Legend

Stone Broken – Revelation

Radiant – Written By Life

Skull Fist – Paid In Full

Hurakan – Via Aeturna

Incandescence – Le Coeur De L’Homme

Imminent Sonic Destruction – The Sun Will Always Set

Monuments – In Stasis

Soledad – XIII

Viande – L’abime dévore les âmes

Credic – Vermillion Oceans

Postcards From New Zealand – Burn, Witch, Burn

Darkher – The Buried Storm

Treat – The Endgame

Bjørn Riis – Everything To Everyone

Destruction – Diabolical

Et Moriemur – Tamashii No Yama

Angel Nation – Antares

Wolf – Shadowland

Denali – Denali EP

Centinex – The Pestilence EP

Meshuggah – Immutable

Chapter Of Hate – Bloodsoaked Decadence EP

Ancient Settlers – Our Last Eclipse

Tranzat – Ouh La La

Playgrounded – The Death Of Death

Father Befouled – Crowned In Veneficum

Abbath – Dread Reaver

PreHistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter 2)

Kvaen – The Great Below

Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 2

Dark Funeral – We Are The Apocalypse

Carmeria – Advenae

Agathodaimon – The Seven

Moonlight Haze – Animus

Hellbore – Panopticon

Konvent – Call Down The Sun

Idol Of Fear – Trespasser

The Midgard Project – The Great Divide

Threads Of Fate – The Cold Embrace Of The Light

Arkaik – Labyrinth Of Hungry Ghosts

New Horizon – Gate Of The Gods

Cailleach Calling – Dreams Of Fragmentation

Tundra – A Darkening Sky

Sylvaine – Nova

Hath – All That Was Promised

Sabaton – The War To End All Wars

Kuolemanlaakso – Kuusumu

Oh Hiroshima – Myriad

Godless Truth – Godless Truth

Shape Of Despair – Return To The Void

Eight Bells – Legacy Of Ruin

Embryonic Devourment – Heresy Of The Highest Order

Serious Black – Vengeance Is Mine

Allegaeon – Damnum

HammerFall – Hammer Of Dawn

Immolation – Acts Of God

Veonity – Elements Of Power

Nightrage – Abyss Rising

Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One – Revel In Time

Pure Wrath – Hymn To The Woeful Hearts

Dagoba – By Night

The Last Of Lucy – Moksha

Arð – Take Up My Bones

Embryonic Autopsy – Prophecies Of The Conjoined

The Devils Of Loudun – Escaping Eternity

Cult Of Luna – The Long Road North

WAIT – The End Of Noise

Abysmal Dawn – Nightmare Frontier

Amorphis – Halo

Nordic Giants – Sybiosis

Persefone – Metanoia

Vorga – Striving Toward Oblivion

Mystic Circle – Mystic Circle

Nasson – Scars

Burned In Effigy – Rex Mortem

Silent Skies – Nectar

Celeste – Assassine(s)

Abyssus – Death Revival

SOM – The Shape Of Everything

Ashes Of Ares – Emperors And Fools

Beriedir – AQVA

Lalu – Paint The Sky

Nocturna – Daughters Of The Night

Battle Beast – Circus Of Doom

Lee McKinney – In The Light Of Knowledge

Descent – Order Of Chaos

Aethereus – Leiden

Toundra – Hex

Ilium – Quantum Evolution Event EP

Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel

Necrophagous – In Chaos Ascend

Infected Rain – Ecdysis

Wilderun – Epigone

You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:

2021 reviews

2020 reviews

2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Morgue Supplier – Inevitability – Album Review

Artist: Morgue Supplier

Album Title: Inevitability

Label: Transcending Obscurity Records

Date of Release: 13 May 2022

After a run of reviews towards the more melodic end of the heavy metal spectrum, it is time to dive deeply into something altogether heavier and nastier with this, my review of the latest album from death metal/grindcore band Morgue Supplier, entitled ‘Inevitability’. I’d never crossed paths with this US outfit before and I hadn’t intended to do so in 2022 either. However, I took a cursory listen and to my surprise, I found some ingredients that I piqued my interest. So, one quick listen turned into a few, and here we are with a review coming your way.

Despite being in existence since before the turn of the Millennium, Morgue Supplier’s 23-year career has only seen two previous albums brought to fruition, as well as three EPs. Prolific is not an adjective to be correctly applied to the band or, more accurately, the duo. Paul Gillis and Stephen Reichelt, both of Drug Honkey, are the protagonists here, with Gillis handling guitars, vocals, and programming, and Reichelt the bass. I assume therefore, that the drums are one of the programmed instruments alongside the occasionally strange or disconcerting sounds that emanate at times during certain songs.

Whilst the music is loosely labelled as a mix of death metal and grindcore, there is a lot more than that going on within the music on ‘Inevitability’. In fact, it was the doom/sludge aspect of one of the tracks, ‘Empty Vacant Shell’ that acted as the hook to get me sufficiently interested in sticking with the album. The song opens up with a ferocious tirade of aggression that verges on cacophony at points, with strange discordant sounds accenting the repetitive, disconcerting feel of the incessant riffs, the barrage of drums, and a bass that seems to do literally whatever it wants, either flitting from note to note independently, or supporting more closely the drum attack. It’s not a sound for the faint hearted, especially when you add the gurgling, depraved growls of Gillis into the recipe.

However, almost without noticing, the grindcore-heavy song slows down to deliver some crushing riffs, around which the drums dance. I have to say that I love the guitar sound here, and I really enjoy the mix of screams and growls that accompany the muscular riffs. The song continues to get slower until it is literally slithering along the floor, at which point, a tornado is unleashed, of frantic blastbeats, discordance verging on noise, and instrumental dexterity that’s impressive if not completely enjoyable per se.

As much as I’m not always a lover of the instrumental interlude, there’s something sinister and compelling about ‘Departure’, the mid-album hiatus from the uncompromising bludgeoning, as well as the closing title track, its companion piece. Both can hardly be described as ‘songs’, instead they are more like atmospheric composition pieces that are comprised of evil, dark sounds with an industrial, dystopian edge to them, dominated by what I assume is the double bass of Reichelt that reaches notes so low that they could probably shake hands with the Devil himself in Hell.

Everything on this album is designed, I’m sure, to be as uncomfortable, challenging, and confrontational to the listener as possible. Then again, isn’t that what extreme metal of this kind is ultimately all about? Take ‘My Path To Hell’ as just one example of this. It may not be the fastest and most aggressive track on the album, but it is dominated by an incessant, dissonant lead guitar line that becomes hypnotic and rather sickening as it continues for large chunks of the song’s five-minute run time. There are moments when the pace is increased, but it is the tortuous lead notes that do the most damage as far as I’m concerned.

By contrast, there’s an argument to suggest that ‘Existence Collapsed’ is almost melodic and catchy, at least in comparison to what’s gone before of course. It has an abundance of technicality, particularly where the bass playing is concerned, but there’s also plenty of groove too, making it arguably my favourite song on ‘Inevitability’. And then there’s the small matter of ‘Thoughts Of Only Darkness’, the album’s behemoth composition that stretches over eight minutes in length. In that time, the duo delight in creating something that is repetitive, bordering on the monotonous, whilst playing around with the tempo, thus flitting from slower, lumbering passages, to bursts of real pace and ferocity. For my money, it’s a little too long, but I like the ideas within it.

When all is said and done, I have to compliment Gillis and Reichelt for what they have achieved here on ‘Inevitability’. It won’t be for everyone – in fact, I suspect that their fanbase might be quite a niche one overall. But there are some moments within what is deliberately an ugly, sadistic, and generally uncomfortable album, that I genuinely like. Plus, you have to admire the sheer power and relentlessness of some of the music, as well as the musical abilities of the duo. I’m not altogether sure how often I will return to ‘Inevitability’ in the future, but I am glad I have experienced what they have to offer the extreme metal world.

The Score of Much Metal: 75%

Check out my other 2022 reviews here:

Visions Of Atlantis – Pirates

Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)

OU – One

Haunter – Discarnate Ails

Aara – Triade II: Hemera

Pure Reason Revolution – Above Cirrus

Demonical – Mass Destroyer

I Am The Night – While The Gods Are Sleeping

Haunted By Silhouettes – No Man Isle

Delvoid – Swarmlife

LionSoul – A Pledge To Darkness

Watain – The Agony And Ecstasy Of Watain

Dischordia – Triptych

Dragonbreed – Necrohedron

Audrey Horne – Devil’s Bell

Vanum – Legend

Stone Broken – Revelation

Radiant – Written By Life

Skull Fist – Paid In Full

Hurakan – Via Aeturna

Incandescence – Le Coeur De L’Homme

Imminent Sonic Destruction – The Sun Will Always Set

Monuments – In Stasis

Soledad – XIII

Viande – L’abime dévore les âmes

Credic – Vermillion Oceans

Postcards From New Zealand – Burn, Witch, Burn

Darkher – The Buried Storm

Treat – The Endgame

Bjørn Riis – Everything To Everyone

Destruction – Diabolical

Et Moriemur – Tamashii No Yama

Angel Nation – Antares

Wolf – Shadowland

Denali – Denali EP

Centinex – The Pestilence EP

Meshuggah – Immutable

Chapter Of Hate – Bloodsoaked Decadence EP

Ancient Settlers – Our Last Eclipse

Tranzat – Ouh La La

Playgrounded – The Death Of Death

Father Befouled – Crowned In Veneficum

Abbath – Dread Reaver

PreHistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter 2)

Kvaen – The Great Below

Michael Romeo – War Of The Worlds, Part 2

Dark Funeral – We Are The Apocalypse

Carmeria – Advenae

Agathodaimon – The Seven

Moonlight Haze – Animus

Hellbore – Panopticon

Konvent – Call Down The Sun

Idol Of Fear – Trespasser

The Midgard Project – The Great Divide

Threads Of Fate – The Cold Embrace Of The Light

Arkaik – Labyrinth Of Hungry Ghosts

New Horizon – Gate Of The Gods

Cailleach Calling – Dreams Of Fragmentation

Tundra – A Darkening Sky

Sylvaine – Nova

Hath – All That Was Promised

Sabaton – The War To End All Wars

Kuolemanlaakso – Kuusumu

Oh Hiroshima – Myriad

Godless Truth – Godless Truth

Shape Of Despair – Return To The Void

Eight Bells – Legacy Of Ruin

Embryonic Devourment – Heresy Of The Highest Order

Serious Black – Vengeance Is Mine

Allegaeon – Damnum

HammerFall – Hammer Of Dawn

Immolation – Acts Of God

Veonity – Elements Of Power

Nightrage – Abyss Rising

Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One – Revel In Time

Pure Wrath – Hymn To The Woeful Hearts

Dagoba – By Night

The Last Of Lucy – Moksha

Arð – Take Up My Bones

Embryonic Autopsy – Prophecies Of The Conjoined

The Devils Of Loudun – Escaping Eternity

Cult Of Luna – The Long Road North

WAIT – The End Of Noise

Abysmal Dawn – Nightmare Frontier

Amorphis – Halo

Nordic Giants – Sybiosis

Persefone – Metanoia

Vorga – Striving Toward Oblivion

Mystic Circle – Mystic Circle

Nasson – Scars

Burned In Effigy – Rex Mortem

Silent Skies – Nectar

Celeste – Assassine(s)

Abyssus – Death Revival

SOM – The Shape Of Everything

Ashes Of Ares – Emperors And Fools

Beriedir – AQVA

Lalu – Paint The Sky

Nocturna – Daughters Of The Night

Battle Beast – Circus Of Doom

Lee McKinney – In The Light Of Knowledge

Descent – Order Of Chaos

Aethereus – Leiden

Toundra – Hex

Ilium – Quantum Evolution Event EP

Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel

Necrophagous – In Chaos Ascend

Infected Rain – Ecdysis

Wilderun – Epigone

You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:

2021 reviews

2020 reviews

2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Carcass – Despicable – EP Review

 

Artist: Carcass

Album Title: Despicable

Label: Nuclear Blast

Date of Release: 30 October 2020

It is fair to say that over their lengthy career, Carcass have explored one or two avenues musically, beginning life as a deathgrind band, but ending up as something quite different. They evolved from a band delivering an uncompromising and technical extreme metal sound to one creating more and more melodic and accessible material, culminating in the classic ‘Heartwork’, released in 1993. To their credit, many still consider ‘Heartwork’ as one of the very first incarnations of the melodic death metal sound. After releasing ‘Swansong’ in 1996, Carcass went on an indefinite hiatus, only to reform in 2007 to go on tour. They eventually released a new album, ‘Surgical Steel’ in 2013, an album of which I am extremely fond.

Apparently, the purpose of ‘Despicable’, a four-track EP, is to whet the appetite of fans ahead of a full-length release in the near(ish) future. With tracks taken from the writing process of this new album, one hopes that these songs that didn’t make it onto the record are a portent of things to come. And that’s because these songs are out of the top drawer.

What I like about modern-day Carcass, today comprised of Jeff Walker (vocals, bass), Bill Steer (guitar, vocals), Daniel Wilding (drums) , and Tom Draper (guitars), is that they somehow manage to blend the best of both worlds into their music. Think heavy, dirty, and cunningly technical, with lots of grown-up and arresting melody to infiltrate the extreme fare. Oh yes, it is good, Very good.

Within seconds of opener ‘The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue’, I knew I’d like this release. A slow and ponderous riff kicks it off, but then in come the drums and rumbling bass, showing off a little, before we are treated to one of the grooviest and dirtiest death riffs I’ve heard for many a year. On top are some well placed lead guitar notes and Walker’s voice cuts through the molten music to great malevolent effect. Then, over the course of the next four or so minutes, Carcass take delight in mixing things up, from lightning fast, brutal aggression that calls to mind Nile at their most intense, to doom-paced churning, sludgy goodness. All the while, the technical proficiency is up there with the very best, whilst those melodic leads and flourishes just add something extra to proceedings. It has, dare I say it, an air of progressiveness to it, such is the way in which the track weaves this way and that with seeming ease.

‘The Long And Winding Bier Road’ is a much more straight-forward track, if such a statement can be levelled at Carcass. Generally at a pleasing mid-tempo stomp, it contains a winning groove, with understated technical prowess, just to remind us of what these guys are easily capable of delivering. I hear a ‘Heartwork’ vibe to this track, especially in the catchy-as-hell lead guitar work, particularly towards the end of the song. The same kind of vibe is present on ‘Slaughter In Soho’, in that it is technical, but ultimately a mid-tempo delight, full of heaviness, spite, and power. The dual guitar riffs from Steer and Draper are immediately memorable, the cheeky lead guitar leads come with a classic hard rock swagger, whilst Walker spits his venom all over the musical soundscape wonderfully.

That leaves ‘Under The Scalpel Blade’ as the final piece to uncover on ‘Despicable’. Again, the pace is generally a mid-tempo stomp, but at points, it hits the fastest pace seen on this EP; when it lets rip, it literally threatens to rip my face off, I’m not kidding. And, in my book, that’s a hugely positive trait, I can tell you. If that wasn’t enough, the song also opens up in the latter stages to deliver something more melodic and almost anthemic, although it is short-lived and could have been explored just a little more for my tastes.

As I alluded to earlier, if this EP does contain songs that failed to make it onto Carcass’ next full-length, I can only begin to imagine just how good that’ll be. The musicality on ‘Despicable’ is insane, and it demonstrates a band that are not even close to losing their edge. On this showing, Carcass are hungry, Carcass are determined and, on this form, you’d not bet against them to conquer the extreme metal world once again. All hail Carcass!

The Score of Much Metal: 94%

Check out my reviews from 2020 right here:

Mors Principium Est – Seven

Cult Of Lilith – Mara

Helion Prime – Question Everything

Soul Secret – Blue Light Cage

Enslaved – Utgard

Dynfari – Myrkurs er þörf

Amaranthe – Manifest

Kataklysm – Unconquered

Structural Disorder – Kingdom Crossing

Skeletal Remains – The Entombment Of Chaos

Prehistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter One)

Ihsahn – Pharos

Hinayana – Death Of The Cosmic
Oceans Of Slumber – Oceans Of Slumber
Okyr – Premorbid Intelligence
Manticora – To Live To Kill To Live
Pain Of Salvation – Panther
Vanishing Point – Dead Elysium
Unleash The Archers – Abyss
Veonity – Sorrows
Nyktophobia – What Lasts Forever
Ages – Uncrown
Awake By Design – Awake By Design
Black Crown Initiate – Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape
Gaerea – Limbo
Buried Realm – Embodiment Of The Divine
Navian – Reset
Selenseas – The Outer Limits
Quantum – The Next Breath Of Air
Ensiferum – Thalassic
Long Distance Calling – How Do We Want To Live?
Airbag – A Day At The Beach
Re-Armed – Ignis Aeternum
Atavist – III: Absolution
Frost* – Others EP
Darker Half – If You Only Knew
Atavistia – The Winter Way
Astralborne – Eternity’s End
Centinex – Death In Pieces
Haken – Virus
Pile Of Priests – Pile Of Priests
Sorcerer – Lamenting Of The Innocent
Lesoir – Mosaic
Temnein – Tales: Of Humanity And Greed
Caligula’s Horse – Rise Radiant
…And Oceans – Cosmic World Mother
Vader – Solitude In Madness
Shrapnel – Palace For The Insane
Sinisthra – The Broad And Beaten Way
Paradise Lost – Obsidian
Naglfar – Cerecloth
Forgotten Tomb – Nihilistic Estrangement
Winterfylleth – The Reckoning Dawn
Firewind – Firewind
An Autumn For Crippled Children – All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
Havok – V
Helfró – Helfró
Victoria K – Essentia
Cryptex – Once Upon A Time
Thy Despair – The Song Of Desolation
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black
Igorrr – Spirituality and Distortion
Nightwish – Human. II: Nature.
Katatonia – City Burials
Wolfheart – Wolves Of Karelia
Asenblut – Die Wilde Jagd
Nicumo – Inertia
The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous
Omega Infinity – Solar Spectre
Symbolik – Emergence
Pure Reason Revolution – Eupnea
Irist – Order Of The Mind
Testament – Titans Of Creation
Ilium – Carcinogeist
Dawn Of Ouroboros – The Art Of Morphology
Torchia – The Coven
Novena – Eleventh Hour
Ashes Of Life – Seasons Within
Dynazty – The Dark Delight
Sutrah – Aletheia EP
Welicoruss – Siberian Heathen Horde
Myth Of I – Myth Of I
My Dying Bride – The Ghost Of Orion
Infirmum – Walls Of Sorrow
Inno – The Rain Under
Kvaen – The Funeral Pyre
Mindtech – Omnipresence
Dark Fortress – Spectres From The Old World
The Oneira – Injection
Night Crowned – Impius Viam
Dead Serenity – Beginnings EP
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic
Deadrisen – Deadrisen
Blaze Of Perdition – The Harrowing Of Hearts
Godsticks – Inescapable
Isle Of The Cross – Excelsis
Demons & Wizards – III
Vredehammer – Viperous
H.E.A.T – H.E.A.T II
Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void
Into The Open – Destination Eternity
Lunarsea – Earthling/Terrestre
Pure Wrath – The Forlorn Soldier EP
Sylosis – Cycle of Suffering
Sepultura – Quadra
Dyscordia – Delete / Rewrite
Godthrymm – Reflections
On Thorns I Lay – Threnos
God Dethroned – Illuminati
Fragment Soul – A Soul Inhabiting Two Bodies
Mariana Semkina – Sleepwalking
Mini Album Reviews: Moloken, The Driftwood Sign & Midnight
Serenity – The Last Knight
Ihsahn – Telemark EP
Temperance – Viridian
Blasphemer – The Sixth Hour
Deathwhite – Grave Image
Marko Hietala – Pyre Of The Black Heart
SWMM – Trail Of The Fallen
Into Pandemonium – Darkest Rise EP
Bonded – Rest In Violence
Serious Black – Suite 226
Darktribe – Voici L’Homme
Brothers Of Metal – Emblas Saga
A Life Divided – Echoes
Thoughts Factory – Elements

You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:

2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Cult Of Lilith – Mara – Album Review

Artist: Cult Of Lilith

 

Album Title: Mara

Label: Metal Blade Records

Date of Release: 4 September 2020

I’m mega late to the party with this record and for that, I apologise. Partly, it was due to my unexpected September hiatus. But partly, it is down to the fact that until about a week or so ago, I had absolutely no intention of reviewing this record. The mention of ‘metalcore’ in various press releases put me right off, because anyone who knows me, will know that anything with ‘core’ in the descriptor will put me right off. Except a little smidgen of grindcore, which I’ve grown to rather like in the last few years.

However, having heard some fine things said about it, I became tempted to hear what all the fuss was about. That, coupled with the artwork from the incredible artist Eliran Kantor, meant that this debut record – yes, debut full length, on Metal Blade – became something I felt I had to hear.

Given I’m over a month-and-a-half late, I’m not intending to go into the kind of detail that I would normally. Let’s face it, if you are interested in this release, you’ve probably already bought it or dismissed it. Nevertheless, there are some of you poor souls that seem to like my reviews, so if you’re one of them, thank you. And, if you remain on the fence with Cult Of Lilith, and this debut, ‘Mara’, maybe I can help sway you one way or the other.

Thankfully, upon listening to ‘Mara’ for the first time, it is clear that there is much more to the band than 100% pure metalcore. In fact, to my delight, it is primarily in the vocal department where the metalcore influences can be heard; vocalist Mario Infantes Ávalos has an aggressive shriek that the genre would be proud of. But, as will become clear as you delve further into the record, there’s more in common here with tech/progressive death metal than anything else on ‘Mara’. That, and a desire to inject a plethora of unexpected and generally welcome ideas into the extreme mix. It’d probably be fair to say that no two songs within the eight on offer are truly alike, and that’s an impressive feat for a fledgling band.

To underline my point, the opening track begins with a harpsichord melody before crashing headlong into a brutal face melting blend of progressive death metal, with a thrash element. At times, it recalls Darkane, especially when the vocals momentarily depart from such a caustic attack to something a little more ‘epic’. The lead guitar embellishments are excellent, but then so are all of the performances within the Icelandic five-piece band, a band that began as a one-man project at the hands of Daniel Þór Hannesson.

From there on, we’re treated to a smorgasbord of variety, ranging from the sublime to the almost ridiculous. There’s a strong neo-clasical bent throughout much of the material, but it’s the embellishments that emerge from what would normally be relatively standard prog death fare that are the most arresting. Take, for example the random organ solo slap bang in the middle of ‘Purple Tide’, a track that is oddly book-ended by bold electronic synth sounds. Or the plethora of pinched harmonics that litter ‘Enter The Mancubus’, within the strong neo-classical riffs and rough-sounding clean vocals within the violent growls.

They can mix up the music in terms of tempo and intensity too, as ‘Atlas’ demonstrates their more nuanced side from the outset. ‘Comatose’ is clearly ironically-titled because there’s no chance of being unconscious during a song that lurches and grinds as only an extreme metal band of this nature can do. And there’s room for some weird atmospheres and vocal effects to provide a moment of eye-raising material. But it’s the insane drumming from Kjartan Harðarson that catches my ear most of all.

I know what you’re thinking: this is all very well, but prog death isn’t prog death without a little Latin flair. Well, worry not, because ‘Profeta Paloma’ duly obliges with a flamenco-esque sequence that strangely fits like a glove. And, if you’re missing a little operatic influence, worry not, because the final track, ‘Le Soupir du Fantome’ duly obliges, ably assisted by some lovely acoustic guitars. It’s incredible just how well it all works together and how smooth everything feels; this kind of experimentation should be a clunky, disjointed affair, but nothing could be further from reality.

Genuine kudos must be given to Cult Of Lilith because their ambition has been matched by their ability and skill. Yes, there are a few rough edges here and there, but given that this is a debut release, you’d expect that. It provides space into which Cult of Lilith can grow further, as their experience and ability increases over time. I’m rather shocked by how much I enjoy this album, so all I can say is this: if you haven’t already, leave any prejudices you might have at the door, and check out ‘Mara’ as soon as possible. I can’t imagine that you’ll be disappointed.

The Score of Much Metal: 86%

Check out my reviews from 2020 right here:

Helion Prime – Question Everything

Soul Secret – Blue Light Cage

Enslaved – Utgard

Dynfari – Myrkurs er þörf

Amaranthe – Manifest

Kataklysm – Unconquered

Structural Disorder – Kingdom Crossing

Skeletal Remains – The Entombment Of Chaos

Prehistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine (Chapter One)

Ihsahn – Pharos

Hinayana – Death Of The Cosmic
Oceans Of Slumber – Oceans Of Slumber
Okyr – Premorbid Intelligence
Manticora – To Live To Kill To Live
Pain Of Salvation – Panther
Vanishing Point – Dead Elysium
Unleash The Archers – Abyss
Veonity – Sorrows
Nyktophobia – What Lasts Forever
Ages – Uncrown
Awake By Design – Awake By Design
Black Crown Initiate – Violent Portraits Of Doomed Escape
Gaerea – Limbo
Buried Realm – Embodiment Of The Divine
Navian – Reset
Selenseas – The Outer Limits
Quantum – The Next Breath Of Air
Ensiferum – Thalassic
Long Distance Calling – How Do We Want To Live?
Airbag – A Day At The Beach
Re-Armed – Ignis Aeternum
Atavist – III: Absolution
Frost* – Others EP
Darker Half – If You Only Knew
Atavistia – The Winter Way
Astralborne – Eternity’s End
Centinex – Death In Pieces
Haken – Virus
Pile Of Priests – Pile Of Priests
Sorcerer – Lamenting Of The Innocent
Lesoir – Mosaic
Temnein – Tales: Of Humanity And Greed
Caligula’s Horse – Rise Radiant
…And Oceans – Cosmic World Mother
Vader – Solitude In Madness
Shrapnel – Palace For The Insane
Sinisthra – The Broad And Beaten Way
Paradise Lost – Obsidian
Naglfar – Cerecloth
Forgotten Tomb – Nihilistic Estrangement
Winterfylleth – The Reckoning Dawn
Firewind – Firewind
An Autumn For Crippled Children – All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
Havok – V
Helfró – Helfró
Victoria K – Essentia
Cryptex – Once Upon A Time
Thy Despair – The Song Of Desolation
Cirith Ungol – Forever Black
Igorrr – Spirituality and Distortion
Nightwish – Human. II: Nature.
Katatonia – City Burials
Wolfheart – Wolves Of Karelia
Asenblut – Die Wilde Jagd
Nicumo – Inertia
The Black Dahlia Murder – Verminous
Omega Infinity – Solar Spectre
Symbolik – Emergence
Pure Reason Revolution – Eupnea
Irist – Order Of The Mind
Testament – Titans Of Creation
Ilium – Carcinogeist
Dawn Of Ouroboros – The Art Of Morphology
Torchia – The Coven
Novena – Eleventh Hour
Ashes Of Life – Seasons Within
Dynazty – The Dark Delight
Sutrah – Aletheia EP
Welicoruss – Siberian Heathen Horde
Myth Of I – Myth Of I
My Dying Bride – The Ghost Of Orion
Infirmum – Walls Of Sorrow
Inno – The Rain Under
Kvaen – The Funeral Pyre
Mindtech – Omnipresence
Dark Fortress – Spectres From The Old World
The Oneira – Injection
Night Crowned – Impius Viam
Dead Serenity – Beginnings EP
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic
Deadrisen – Deadrisen
Blaze Of Perdition – The Harrowing Of Hearts
Godsticks – Inescapable
Isle Of The Cross – Excelsis
Demons & Wizards – III
Vredehammer – Viperous
H.E.A.T – H.E.A.T II
Psychotic Waltz – The God-Shaped Void
Into The Open – Destination Eternity
Lunarsea – Earthling/Terrestre
Pure Wrath – The Forlorn Soldier EP
Sylosis – Cycle of Suffering
Sepultura – Quadra
Dyscordia – Delete / Rewrite
Godthrymm – Reflections
On Thorns I Lay – Threnos
God Dethroned – Illuminati
Fragment Soul – A Soul Inhabiting Two Bodies
Mariana Semkina – Sleepwalking
Mini Album Reviews: Moloken, The Driftwood Sign & Midnight
Serenity – The Last Knight
Ihsahn – Telemark EP
Temperance – Viridian
Blasphemer – The Sixth Hour
Deathwhite – Grave Image
Marko Hietala – Pyre Of The Black Heart
SWMM – Trail Of The Fallen
Into Pandemonium – Darkest Rise EP
Bonded – Rest In Violence
Serious Black – Suite 226
Darktribe – Voici L’Homme
Brothers Of Metal – Emblas Saga
A Life Divided – Echoes
Thoughts Factory – Elements

You can also check out my other reviews from previous years right here:

2019 reviews
2018 reviews
2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Widow’s Peak – Graceless – EP Review

Artist: Widow’s Peak

Album Title: Graceless EP

Label: Independent Release

Date Of Release: 27 April 2018

I’m not normally one for shorter reviews but on this occasion, I thought it was apt. You see, this EP from Canadian quintet Widow’s Peak is just as brief, weighing in at under 20 minutes spread across six blistering tracks of brutal and uncompromising death metal.

The band refer to themselves as technical death metal and that’s perfectly accurate, for there is definitely a high difficulty rating to much of the instrumentalism here. I’d throw in a smidgen of grindcore too, such is the ferocity and unrelenting nature of the material. In fact, if you’re a fan of the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus or perhaps even Cattle Decapitation, you might be pleasantly surprised by this all-too-brief release.

Vocalist Matt Yeomans spends much of his time delivering his diatribes in deep, guttural tones, occasionally mixing it up with a higher-pitched approach that does literally sound like a squealing pig. Mind you, it’s just as well because having been privy to the lyrics, you’re probably better off not knowing what’s being said.

‘…Bleeding from the genitals there is no other way
Aligning the instruments of hate
Bashing of the testicles, emasculated
Rotting absolution and decay
Castrate victims, ultimate dismay…’

And I thought that Canadians were nice, polite people!

I jest of course and it’s all for effect however, as this sentiment matches the brutality of the music that’s laid before us on ‘Graceless’ perfectly. For a debut EP, I must admit that I find myself being rather impressed by what I hear. Not only is the music technically adept and furiously-paced for the most part, the compositions also offer plenty of well-placed groove and even, shock horror, some melody.

I really wasn’t expecting that. But take a listen to the lead guitar solo towards the end of the closing title track, which ironically shows a fair amount of grace and elegance within an otherwise intense and pummelling track. Then there are the final moments of ‘CBT’ to contend with. Having delivered an enormous slab of groove-heavy death metal intermingled with blistering speed, it opens up at the finale in fine, epic style. It might only be about 20 seconds long, but it’s a nice touch and a great way to demonstrate the fact that this band isn’t just a one-trick pony.

I didn’t expect to be writing this review at all, so the fact that I am is testament to the impact it has had on me. Occasionally, I like to listen to something savage and disgusting and when I’m in that kind of mood, music like this from Widow’s Peak’s short, sharp attack will do the job very nicely indeed.

The Score Of Much Metal: 7.75

If you’ve enjoyed this review, you can check out my others from 2018 and from previous years right here:

2017 reviews
2016 reviews
2015 reviews

Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik – Hugsjá
Frequency Drift – Letters to Maro
Æpoch – Awakening Inception
Crematory – Oblivion
Wallachia – Monumental Heresy
Skeletal Remains – Devouring Mortality
MØL – Jord
Aesthesys – Achromata
Kamelot – The Shadow Theory
Barren Earth – A Complex of Cages
Memoriam – The Silent Vigil
Kino – Radio Voltaire
Borealis – The Offering
W.E.T. – Earthrage
Auri – Auri
Purest of Pain – Solipsis
Susperia – The Lyricist
Structural Disorder – …And The Cage Crumbles In the Final Scene
Necrophobic – Mark of the Necrogram
Divine Realm – Nordicity
Oceans of Slumber – The Banished Heart
Poem – Unique
Gleb Kolyadin – Gleb Kolyadin
Apathy Noir – Black Soil
Deathwhite – For A Black Tomorrow
Conjurer – Mire
Jukub Zytecki – Feather Bed/Ladder Head
Lione/Conti – Lione/Conti
Usurpress – Interregnum
Kælling – Lacuna
Vinide – Reveal
Armored Dawn – Barbarians In Black
Long Distance Calling – Boundless
In Vain – Currents
Harakiri For The Sky – Arson
Orphaned Land – Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs
Tribulation – Down Below
Machine Head – Catharsis
Bjorn Riis – Coming Home EP
Twilight’s Embrace – Penance EP
Bloodshot Dawn – Reanimation
Rise of Avernus – Eigengrau
Arch Echo – Arch Echo
Asenblut – Legenden
Bleeding Gods – Dodekathlon
Watain – Trident Wolf Eclipse

My Top 10 Songs of 2015

Bearing in mind how strong 2015 was for heavy metal – at least in my opinion – what better way to keep that year alive a little longer by taking a look at my favourite ten individual songs of the year? As with last year, this post is coming a bit late but hopefully you can all forgive that.

My Top 30 of 2015 was a mammoth undertaking but hopefully this will be a little more digestible for those looking for an instant recommendation or two.

The following list is in no particular order – there’s no rating from one to ten. The order is purely arbitrary and no notice should be taken of it; all of these songs deserve their place in this list and should be treated equally for the purposes of this blog post.

And, with that, I give you my ten favourite tracks of 2015…

Riverside – Found (The Unexpected Flaw Of Searching)

On an album full of great music, there was only ever going to be one winner when it came to a representative on this list. Riverside can do melody, they can do atmosphere and they can also do lyrics. In the case of ‘Found (The Unexpected flaw Of Searching)’, the album closer, this song has all three. But primarily, as good as the melodies are, it is the simplicity of the track and the lyrical content that has had the biggest impact upon me. In a year where I’ve wanted to throw in the towel many times, this was the song that kept me going and gave me the motivation to keep going. ‘It’s a lovely life, you have gone so far don’t give it up’ – sends shivers down my spine and brings tears to my ears every time I listen.

From the album: Love, Fear And The Time Machine

Kingcrow – If Only

Italian progressive metal band Kingcrow delivered a stunning album in 2015 in the shape of ‘Eidos’ and top of the tree in terms of individual songs has to be ‘If Only’. It begins quietly with the most beautiful and strangely moving melody before building slowly through to a majestic crescendo to end the album in an energetic and scintillating manner. I love the initially gentle acoustic guitars and the quietly-delivered vocals; as the track opens up to include drums and the other instruments, the layered vocals are brilliant as is the lead guitar solo that ushers in the powerful and compelling crescendo. It is, in some ways, a song of two halves but they both work so well and together combine to create a track that is arguably one of Kingcrow’s best creations to date.

From the album: Eidos

Earthside – The Closest I’ve Come

To be honest, I could have chosen any track off Earthside’s debut album for inclusion in this list, such is the consistent quality of their debut album, ‘A Dream In Static’. However, I have plumped for ‘The Closest I’ve Come’ for a few reasons. To begin with, it was the first sounds that I ever heard from the band and opened my eyes and ears to a whole new musical experience. Secondly, I love the progressive nature of the mid-section, as it plays around with several different ideas but with positive intent. And then there’s that melody. Spine-tingling, majestic and beautiful, it serves as a powerful audio metaphor for the entire album, my overall number one for 2015.

From the album: A Dream In Static

Klone – Nebulous

On a very solid album, ‘Nebulous’ stood out for me head and shoulders above all the others. It begins quietly with those gravelly vocals and then the track delivers the chorus. And what a chorus. It is completely and utterly addictive to the point where I have been known to listen to it on repeat perhaps five or six times in one go. The vocals are stunning, full of passion and power and they sit atop a hook-laden melody that gets lodged in your head far too easily. I also love the bass work which acts like the song’s pulse throughout whilst around it, magic happens. What a track.

From the album: Here Comes The Sun

Abnormal Thought Patterns – Nocturnal Haven

‘Nocuturnal Haven’ is my choice from a stellar album from the Tipton brothers and Co. in the guise of Abnormal Thought Patterns. The track boasts guest appearances from Between The Buried And Me’s vocalist Tommy Rogers and Arch Enemy guitarist Jeff Loomis but this only enhances what is an already killer song. Running the gauntlet from quiet and introspective to all-out blood and thunder extreme metal, it also contains some of the most emotionally intense and beautiful music that the prog genre has ever created. The atmospherics are on point, the drama is palpable and it features some of the most spine-tingling lead guitar work I’ve ever heard. It’s the song that proves beyond doubt the fact that when a guitar truly sings, there are few sounds on this Earth that are better.

From the album: Altered States Of Consciousness

Soilwork – Enemies In Fidelty

The Swedish melodeath stalwarts Soilwork are always capable of delivering a tune and their 2015 effort ‘The Ride Majestic’ is no different. There are a few serious contenders but I have to plump for ‘Enemies In Fidelity’, primarily because of the vocals. On this track, the peerless Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid delivers some of his best work to date. The sheer range and the gentle sophistication with which he nails the chorus is magnificent. It helps of course that the chorus is a thing of beauty, brilliantly contrasted by a blast beat underneath, but it’s taken to a new level by Speed. And the fact that it is surrounded by some properly frenetic, heavy and muscular metal, only enhances the excellence. Will Soilwork ever stop writing memorable songs?

From the album: The Ride Majestic

AudioPlastik – Bulletproof

Another album that featured in my top 30 of 2015, Audioplastik delivered many contenders for this list within ‘In The Head Of A Maniac’. However, it has to be ‘Bulletproof’. On this track, their wonderfully rich blend of melodic progressive rock, metal and pop with cinematic overtones never sounded better. The opening riffing is busy, the rhythm section is hectic and the overall feel is of a slightly heavier composition than most other songs on the album. However, juxtaposing this is the chorus which grabbed me from the first time I heard it. It is gorgeous; warm, powerful and hook-laden – a real earworm that never lets go.

From the album: In The Head Of A Maniac

(this isn’t the song in question but it’s better than nothing!)

Cattle Decapitation – Manufactured Extinct

It’s not often that a properly brutal track makes it into my top 10 songs of the year but Cattle Decapitation are worthy of such an accolade. In particular, I’m thinking of the opening track of ‘The Anthropocene Extinction’. Beginning quietly, ‘Manufactured Extinct’ soon builds to a stomping riff before exploding in a flurry of insane drumming, lightning fast riffs and vocals that sound like Travis Ryan is gargling bitumen six feet under. But then, the track opens out into a surprisingly groovy and melodic chorus of sorts complimented by an unsettling ‘clean’ vocal. I’m a sucker for a blast beat-driven groove and this track delivers this in satisfying fashion. Unsettling, brutal and uncompromising it may be, but it’s also brilliantly compelling.

From the album: The Anthropocene Extinction

Moonspell – Medusalem

Portuguese metallers Moonspell came screaming back into my conscious this year with an excellent album ‘Extinct’ that harked back to their very best. On that album, they created one of my favourite tracks of the year in the form of ‘Medusalem’. It channels the spirit of Orphaned Land with traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation and melodies but this is fused with Moonspell’s overt Gothic overtones, led by the unmistakably deep croon of Fernando Ribeiro. It is an up-tempo track that delights from start to finish, featuring within it an amazingly powerful and addictive chorus that still has me hooked to this day.

From the album: Extinct

Swallow The Sun – Lost And Catatonic

No-one does heavy, emotional and melodic quite like Swallow The Sun and with ‘Lost And Catatonic’, they have once again hit musical gold. Blending some rich and grandiose orchestration with extreme death/doom metal and some sublime melodies, this song is a winner in every possible way. The brutal guitars and double pedal drumming pummel, the orchestration gives an air of the grandiose and the chorus is beautiful. It is also sorrowful and full of exquisite melancholy in the way that only Swallow The Sun can convey. The vocals flit between growling and a hauntingly subtle clean delivery and the whole thing is pulled together with real majestic style and panache.

From the album: Songs From The North I, II & III

Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction – Album Review

Artist: Cattle Decapitation

Album Title: The Anthropocene Extinction

Label: Metal Blade

Year Of Release: 2015

If you’re looking for a way to make an impact with your music, I suggest you take a listen to Cattle Decapitiation. In a world where extreme music seems intent on getting ever more extreme, many of the protagonists would also do well to take a listen to Cattle Decapitation. Why?

Because here is a band that make brutal and extreme music into something of an art form. Where others may up the complexity in an effort to become more extreme or even add strings to guitars for more bottom-end rumble, Cattle Decapitation just effortlessly blend everything together to create a genuinely unsettling aural experience that’s just about as good as anything I’ve heard for a long time in this particular scene. It’s not extreme for extreme’s sake; it is music that uses it’s extremity as a tool or a potent weapon to make a statement.

You want technicality? You want groove? You want aggression? You want heaviness capable of shaking the very ground you walk on? Then you need ‘The Anthropocene Extinction’ in your life.

On a first listen, I was, I must admit, a little thrown by this, the seventh record from the San Diego-based quartet. I’m not the biggest out-and-out extreme metal fan and my only real exposure to Cattle Decapitation was via their debut ‘Homovore’ and, to a lesser extent, the follow-up ‘To Serve Man’. Both of these were all-out unmitigated grindcore, albums chock full of quick-fire extremity in bite-sized chunks of around one-to-two minutes in length. As a newbie to the grindcore scene, I rather liked the output because within each frenzied assault was a snippet of real groove, something to latch onto. It was enough for me when what I was yearning for was some unmitigated savagery to cleanse my mind and rid me of pent-up frustrations. The fact that I kept coming back to the debut meant that there was definitely something special about it.

Pic: Zach Coroner

Having missed the intervening four albums however, I was initially surprised to discover a slightly different approach on ‘The Anthropocene Extinction’. Cattle Decapitation circa 2015 is undoubtedly a more refined, more structured and, dare I say it, more accessible proposition. They’re still brutal as all hell of course, but with a modicum of added subtlety, which I personally welcome with open arms. Theirs is now best described as an extreme metal hybrid where death metal influences for example, are apparently as much a factor as those of grindcore. It’s also an album that sees the band focusing on the ‘less is more’ principle and, as such, the songs seem to take precedence over the individual performances; another example of the increasing maturity of the band.

Opening track ‘Manufactured Extinct’ begins very quietly and ominously before launching into a slow-paced and measured riff at the hands of Josh Elmore. The vocals of Travis Ryan are almost indistinguishable from Derek Engemann’s bass rumble but, as the track suddenly picks up pace launching the track into a brief tumult of ferocity, so does the voice into a more discernible growl. What I wasn’t necessarily expecting was the ‘clean’ vocal delivery that emerges to compliment the chorus of the song. To call it clean is wrong though; when I first heard the almost demented but contained shriek I wondered what on earth I was listening to. It’s genuinely harsh, disturbing, uncomfortable and I love it.

If the opener was surprisingly melodic and mid-paced at times, follow-up ‘The Prophets of Loss’ goes on all-out attack from the off. Bringing in a Behemoth-esque quasi black metal feel to the track is a master stroke that works to great effect. The pace is significant, as it the utterly ridiculous drumming courtesy of Dave McGraw which absolutely pummels with relentless power and precision.

To pick out all of the good bits on this album would be a futile exercise given that there are so many. Instead I’ll mention the irresistible stomp and majesty of ‘Plagueborne’, the shifting tempos of ‘Clandestine Ways (Krocodil Rot), the out-and-out grindcore-meets-mid-tempo-groove workout that’s ‘Mammals In Babylon’ and the contemptuous snarling within ‘Not Suitable For Life’. The latter is venomous and it has that aura to it – no messing, just genuine revulsion and disgust put to music.

Referring back to the ‘relentless’ adjective I used earlier, that’s the overwhelming feeing I get when listening to this album – it may display a surprising amount of variety given its brutal nature but the content of ‘The Anthropocene Extinction’ is exhausting. But then that’s exactly how it should be. For all the groove, all the melodic flourishes and the brief moments of relative quiet, there’s no possibility at any moment to forget that you’re listening to a properly extreme metal record that is designed to pummel and test the listener’s endurance as much as it is intended to entertain.

The one thing I’ve yet to mention thus far is the lyrical content. Cattle Decapitation are an angry band, that’s for sure. Whether it be animal cruelty, politics, the general state of the world, Cattle Decapitation are open to explore it; they’re not what you could class as an ‘activist’ band but it is refreshing to hear a band that has such strong views, airing them without fear of the repercussions. It all adds yet another layer of authenticity to what is, unquestionably one of the best extreme metal records that I have heard for a long time. It has everything that I could ever ask for and more besides.

The Score Of Much Metal: 9.0

If you’ve enjoyed this review, check out my others right here:

Between The Buried And Me – Coma Ecliptic
Cradle Of Filth – Hammer Of The Witches
Disarmonia Mundi – Cold Inferno
District 97 – In Vaults
Progoctopus – Transcendence
Big Big Train – Wassail
NightMare World – In The Fullness Of Time
Helloween – My God-Given Right
Triaxis – Zero Hour
Isurus – Logocharya
Arcturus – Arcturian
Kamelot – Haven
Native Construct – Quiet World
Sigh – Graveward
Pantommind – Searching For Eternity
Subterranean Masquerade – The Great Bazaar
Klone – Here Comes The Sun
The Gentle Storm – The Diary
Melechesh – Enki
Enslaved – In Times
Keep Of Kalessin – Epistemology
Lonely Robot – Please Come Home
The Neal Morse Band – The Grand Experiment
Zero Stroke – As The Colours Seep
AudioPlastik – In The Head Of A Maniac
Revolution Saints – Revolution Saints
Mors Principium Est – Dawn of The 5th Era
Arcade Messiah – Arcade Messiah
Triosphere – The Heart Of The Matter
Neonfly – Strangers In Paradise
Knight Area – Hyperdrive
Haken – Restoration
James LaBrie – Impermanent Resonance
Mercenary – Through Our Darkest Days
A.C.T. – Circus Pandemonium
Xerath – III
Big Big Train – English Electric (Part 1)
Thought Chamber – Psykerion
Marcus Jidell – Pictures From A Time Traveller
H.E.A.T – Tearing Down The Walls
Vanden Plas – Chronicles Of The Immortals: Netherworld