Tag: death metal
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Mayhem & Dragged Into Sunlight (2017 tour diary)
Heavy metal’s grandfathers Black Sabbath set the genre’s tone of darkness with their music, visual aesthetic and energy, and it seems that the acorns haven’t fall from the tree at all. Their fellow countrymen—as varied as Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Cradle of Filth—have followed suit and branched off while remaining true to that ominous core.…
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Spirit Adrift – Curse of Conception
Not to be confused with German band Spirit Descent, Spirit Adrift is a side project from the Phoenix sludge and death metal scenes, with members also doing time in outfits like Goya, TOAD and Gatecreeper. Their first album, Chained to Oblivion, was a solo effort, with one guy playing all the instruments—but they’ve since expanded…
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Madrost – The Essence of Time Matches No Flesh
Throw those horns, whip your locks and hail the dark lord himself… or at least that’s what Madrost‘s latest crusher, the appropriately titled The Essence of Time Matches No Flesh will have you doing halfway through track one. Having already released two other albums in the last half decade these guys seem pretty on point…
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Virulent Depravity – Fruit of the Poisoned Tree
Climbing, spiral riffs that seem to ascend into the heavens are what greets you, the listener, upon first hitting play on Virulent Depravity‘s latest output, the excellent and epic Fruit of the Poisoned Tree. Possibly the only band that is capable of being compared and contrasted against the sadly now-defunct Spawn of Possession, Virulent Depravity…
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Contrarian – To Perceive is to Suffer
Contrarian is a four man wrecking crew, a technical quartet who weave epic songs in the vein of late-era Death albums (with the help of drumming phenomenon George Kollias, known for his role in the infamous Nile) and Cynic. The epic masterpiece The Sound of Perseverance comes to mind when I sit down and start to…
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Usnea – Portals Into Futility
Portland post-doomsters Usnea are getting all literary on us with their second album, with a suggested reading list that includes Dune, The Handmaid’s Tale and Demon Haunted World. You’d certainly be able to polish off a few chapters in the time it takes to listen to Portals Into Futility, a five-track, 55-minute effort. The album…
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Downcast Twilight – Under the Wings of the Aquila
Hailing from Russia, but with lyrics in English, Downcast Twilight are most accomplished musicians and could compete on any international stage. Their song-writing is strong, the tracks all cover various periods in history, and clearly a lot of work has gone into their production. It is death metal with folk influences, but really it has…
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Decrepit Birth – Axis Mundi
Axis Mundi is certain to become a staple of the death metal genre and a classic of the scene, I have no doubt about this. Decrepit Birth‘s 2017 output is very possibly the best death metal album of the year and without question it is undoubtedly my favourite release of the year. After the awesome…
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No Funeral / Livid split
From the frozen tundras of Minnesota comes a spiritual successor to that Noothgrush/Corrupted split from 20 years back (which was recently reissued by 20 Buck Spin). Though I’ve never heard of either act before, both No Funeral and Livid both play sludge metal the bad ol’ fashioned way, stretching just three songs over 37 minutes…
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Decapitated – Anticult
Decapitated‘s career has encompassed major ups and huge downs, including the tragic death of original drummer and founding member Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka. Kieltyka was only 23 years old when he passed away due to serious head injuries caused by a severe accident that involved Decapitated’s tour bus and a large transport truck carrying wood on…