#atthegates — Public Fediverse posts

Record(s) o’ the Month – April 2026

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #ADarkPoemPartII:Sanguis #Apr26 #AttheGates #AU #Australia #descent #Entertainment #GreenCarnation #Immolation #Record(s)o'theMonth #TheGhostofaFutureDead
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/799737/

Record(s) o’ the Month – April 2026

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #ADarkPoemPartII:Sanguis #Apr26 #AttheGates #AU #Australia #descent #Entertainment #GreenCarnation #Immolation #Record(s)o'theMonth #TheGhostofaFutureDead
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/799737/

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

April breezes are blowing across the AMG estates even though the summer heat reigns supreme. With several big-ticket releases and a collection of killer platters from lesser-known acts clogging the April voting sheets, it was a pretty fat month for extreme music. This caused consternation among staffers as loyalties to iconic bands clashed and lengthy histories of excellence were rehashed, compared, and contrasted. In the end, hard decisions were made, office furniture was hurled, and curses were invoked. This is the AMG way. Welcome back to April!

If one band exemplifies death metal majesty, decay, and consistency over 30-plus years, it’s New York’s own Immolation. Since launching their crusade of brutality way back in 1989, the band have become one of the most influential acts in the genre, with a sound that evolves and mutates but is always recognizably Immolation. April brought us the 12th installment in their legacy of ugliness, and Descent [out April 10th from Nuclear Blast (Bandcamp)] is another statement on what death metal should be. Wickedly heavy, technical as hell, and ugly as fook, it’s the kind of album that feels like a tanker full of anvils. It highlights the inventiveness of Immolation even as it revisits past eras of the band’s enormous catalog. As a well-impressed Steel Druhm pointed out, “Immolation remain a rare, altered beast among other repellent horrors, painting their uniquely disturbing soundscapes across history and time.” An equally gobsmacked Kenstrosity added, “This twelfth album, soon upon us, perpetuates that standard and may even prove, with time, to have elevated it once again.” Strong words for the Grand Titans of Death. All hail Immolation.

Runner(s) Up:

At the Gates // The Ghost of a Future Dead [April 24th, 2026 | Century Media | Bandcamp] — It’s very difficult to review an album that you know will be the last for a metal luminary. It’s the end of a life, an era, and a musical companion you’ve traveled with for years, even decades. Such was the dilemma facing Grymm when The Ghost of a Future Dead was released in the aftermath of the tragic passing of legendary vocalist Tomas Lindberg. At the Gates have had plenty of genre-defining moments over their career, and fortunately, what Tomas left us with here can stand proudly among their very best. It’s a vicious, face-melting slab of thrashy melodeath with hooks and fangs aplenty, showcasing the classic At the Gates sound and the caustic, corrosive vocals of a brave and ever-defiant Tomas. As Grymm astutely summarized, ” If this ends up being At The Gates’ swansong, this is a hell of a way to go out, as they dropped another classic on our sorry asses. Awesome job to all those involved. Rest in power, Tompa.” Journey on, metal brother.

Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis [April 3rd, 2026 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Successor act of Norway’s In the Woods..., Green Carnation traveled a strange musical path since 2000, passing through death and Gothic metal to eventually arrive at a kind of progressive metal-lite. A Dark Poem Part II: Sanguis finds them continuing their Poem trilogy, offering hard-edged moments alongside plenty of sad, sullen set pieces sure to bring the feelz to the coldest of hearts. Musically, Sanguis explores some older Green Carnation sounds while also pushing their style forward into new spaces, always with quality songcraft at the forefront. There are some genuinely tear-jerking moments here if you like to feel unhappy. As the usually jaded, cynical, and cranky-assed Doc Grier gushed, “For those who need something in these trying times to bolster their spirits or tear them apart (if only for a moment to reset), Sanguis is here for you.” Flower power!

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

It’s been a long time since Stormhammer dropped 2019’s epic Seven Seals. Having snuck its way into my top ten that year, Seven Seals proved to be one of the band’s best records, and one of the best power metal records of 2019. With a diverse vocal range, Matthias Kupka lent his voice to that record better than the other eighty vocalists mic-ing it for Stormhammer. It helps that the band put together a fluid record for a change, merging the blasty with the powery and the epic with the sappy. So, what have these German cheese grinders been up to for the last seven years? Oh, you know, hiring a new vocalist. Oh, and an entire new lineup around founding bassist Horst Tessmann. So much for dynasties.

Now that we, once again, have to start all over with Stormhammer—learning the ranges of its new vocalist, how the songwriting will adjust to those strengths and limitations, and fuck all else we need to pay attention to—let’s see what apple Horst has plucked from the Power Metal Singing Tree to wail their way through this year’s Wrath of the Hammer. Let’s see… M. Nox? Is this fucking Kamelot? How can I judge the hiring skills of a band that’s been around for over thirty years? More like, how can I Nox, amirite? OK, I’ll stop.

The epic “Beware” comes crashing down on your head with pounding drums, big choirs, and a massive orchestral element that builds and builds as it progresses. Then the title track powers up, delivering a thrashy lick that I haven’t heard from the band before. With burly backing vocals in play, Nox’s voice rises through the Blind Guardian-esque pre-chorus before soaring into the hooky chorus. It’s a strong piece of work, with killer soloing and a massive conclusion. For more of the thrashy bits, skip ahead to “Veil of Fire.” While it’s not their best, its At the Gates-meets-The Haunted Swedethrash is eyebrow-raising. But as with all tracks of this caliber, it always swings back into power metal territories, utilizing the tired intro-verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-someothershit-solos-repeatingchorusthatneverseemstoend.

The best of the bunch are the back-to-back “Light in the Dark” and “Wheels of Eternity.” Both are standard Stormhammer power metal, with Dream Evil vibes in the first and Dragonforce wankery in the latter. “Light in the Dark” is a passionate number that checks all the power metal boxes. It’s also an interesting addition because it was previously released on 2022’s Never Surrender – 30 Years of Power compilation. But now it has an official home. “Wheels of Eternity” is one of the more ambitious tracks, mixing chugtastic verses with movie-soundtrack orchestrations. And the chorus is massive as fook.

The best quality of Wrath of the Hammer is its digestible runtime, making it far shorter than anything else in their repertoire. The other surprising quality is the thrash elements—something they talked a lot about in their promo materials. What doesn’t fare well is the one-dimensional vocal approach. For years, there has always been diversity galore in the throat department. Wrath of the Hammer is about as typical a power metal performance as you can get. Don’t get me wrong, Nox gives a good performance. But it just feels like a step backward compared to Seven Seals. Wrath of the Hammer has good energy and a handful of solid tracks, but it completely ignores the hard work laid before it by its predecessor.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Rock of Angels Records
Websites: stormhammer.de | facebook.com/stormhammerband
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

Spread the Disease – The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. Review

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-…
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https://www.newsbeep.com/us/757040/

Spread the Disease – The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. Review

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Music #2.5 #2026 #AnaalNathrakh #AttheGates #BlackMetal #BlackenedMetalcore #CanadianMetal #Entertainment #hardcore #HypaethralRecords #Jul26 #Metalcore #review #reviews #SpreadTheDisease #TheDarkness.TheDread.TheSuffering. #Zao
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/757040/

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-heavy, screamo-adjacent murder music laced with electronic and black metal influences. Their 1998 debut, We Bleed From Many Wounds, is something of a classic among chaotic metalcore devotees, while 1999 follow-up The Sheer Force of Inertia is respectable in its own right. Yet life has a habit of getting in the way of intense musical pursuits, and after those two albums, the band called it quits. Years later, Spread the Disease has reunited and returned with an intimidating slab of aural annihilation: the ominously titled The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., which purports to expand upon the black metal elements of their earlier work. Can this cohort of Canucks recapture the caustic vitriol of their youthful output?

The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. is less of a maximalist, mathy affair than Spread the Disease’s previous work. Instead, the band opts for a more straightforward merger of second-wave black metal frostbite and 2000s metalcore beef, a combination that works largely because everybody involved seems determined to play it as angrily as humanly possible. Opener “Light Opaque” establishes a formula much of the album follows, its five-plus minutes alternating between meaty tremolo passages and classic At the Gates “0-7-5” riffing over syncopated chugs. “Gods and Politics” weaves blackened leads and tried-and-true blast sections into classic hardcore moves, including a tom-led pullback and satisfying d-beats, while lead single “Indoctrinated” unleashes a blistering array of icy riffcraft that recalls Anaal Nathrakh with the occasional punky power-chord section. For the most part, this is plenty effective. The songs carry an exciting sense of momentum, the individual parts are competent if somewhat expected, and each transition feels natural. I only wish the longer runtimes yielded more genuinely standout moments.

Spread the Disease does make some considerations for album flow, placing short interludes between the main tracks and slightly shifting its blackened hardcore milieu on the B-side. “Intermezzo I” is a brief harsh noise piece that breaks up the onslaught of the opening tracks, while “Intermezzo II” takes a more ambient approach, propelled by chime-like clean guitar. “Outro,” meanwhile, closes the album with a somber sound collage. The final two “main” tracks also put a different spin on the band’s established formula. “Summer Wanes” leans into a more Zao-like, rollicking metalcore assault accented by bursts of blackened tremolo, while the seven-minute “The Blight in Their Eyes” opens up into a sludgy second half, transforming what could have been a typical breakdown into an effective, atmospheric conclusion.

There are a lot of impressive elements to The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., but for me, the pieces never quite coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. Spread the Disease knows how to pack these songs with well-constructed, pissed-off riffs that blur the line between metalcore and black metal, but despite the variety on display, some ideas linger just a tad too long. Certain riffs feel like boilerplate black metal or cliché metalcore, and their juxtaposition doesn’t necessarily elevate them. With each main song passing the five-minute mark, the propulsive energy that fuels the record can occasionally dwindle, especially when a repetitive tremolo riff overstays its welcome. On a brief, 30-minute album with only five non-interlude tracks, these moments stand out more than they otherwise might. Despite this issue, the individual performances are consistently strong, and tracks like “Summer Wanes” and “Gods and Politics” demonstrate a well-considered take on this particular sound.

With The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., Spread the Disease has delivered an intriguing piece of blackened hardcore. There are plenty of fun ideas throughout the record, and it certainly isn’t lacking in aggression, but it’s missing a certain oomph and the considered songwriting needed to tie everything together. Fans of the band’s early material curious to hear its black metal tendencies dragged further into the foreground, should not be dissuaded, and it is undeniably cool to hear Spread the Disease sounding this venomous after so many years. Yet, beneath the frost, blasts, and nonstop riffing lies a record that strikes me as merely average. A nasty reunion, certainly. Just not quite a triumphant one.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypaethral Records
Websites: spreadthedisease.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/spreadthedisease_official
Releases Worldwide: July 10th, 2026

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-heavy, screamo-adjacent murder music laced with electronic and black metal influences. Their 1998 debut, We Bleed From Many Wounds, is something of a classic among chaotic metalcore devotees, while 1999 follow-up The Sheer Force of Inertia is respectable in its own right. Yet life has a habit of getting in the way of intense musical pursuits, and after those two albums, the band called it quits. Years later, Spread the Disease has reunited and returned with an intimidating slab of aural annihilation: the ominously titled The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., which purports to expand upon the black metal elements of their earlier work. Can this cohort of Canucks recapture the caustic vitriol of their youthful output?

The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. is less of a maximalist, mathy affair than Spread the Disease’s previous work. Instead, the band opts for a more straightforward merger of second-wave black metal frostbite and 2000s metalcore beef, a combination that works largely because everybody involved seems determined to play it as angrily as humanly possible. Opener “Light Opaque” establishes a formula much of the album follows, its five-plus minutes alternating between meaty tremolo passages and classic At the Gates “0-7-5” riffing over syncopated chugs. “Gods and Politics” weaves blackened leads and tried-and-true blast sections into classic hardcore moves, including a tom-led pullback and satisfying d-beats, while lead single “Indoctrinated” unleashes a blistering array of icy riffcraft that recalls Anaal Nathrakh with the occasional punky power-chord section. For the most part, this is plenty effective. The songs carry an exciting sense of momentum, the individual parts are competent if somewhat expected, and each transition feels natural. I only wish the longer runtimes yielded more genuinely standout moments.

Spread the Disease does make some considerations for album flow, placing short interludes between the main tracks and slightly shifting its blackened hardcore milieu on the B-side. “Intermezzo I” is a brief harsh noise piece that breaks up the onslaught of the opening tracks, while “Intermezzo II” takes a more ambient approach, propelled by chime-like clean guitar. “Outro,” meanwhile, closes the album with a somber sound collage. The final two “main” tracks also put a different spin on the band’s established formula. “Summer Wanes” leans into a more Zao-like, rollicking metalcore assault accented by bursts of blackened tremolo, while the seven-minute “The Blight in Their Eyes” opens up into a sludgy second half, transforming what could have been a typical breakdown into an effective, atmospheric conclusion.

There are a lot of impressive elements to The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., but for me, the pieces never quite coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. Spread the Disease knows how to pack these songs with well-constructed, pissed-off riffs that blur the line between metalcore and black metal, but despite the variety on display, some ideas linger just a tad too long. Certain riffs feel like boilerplate black metal or cliché metalcore, and their juxtaposition doesn’t necessarily elevate them. With each main song passing the five-minute mark, the propulsive energy that fuels the record can occasionally dwindle, especially when a repetitive tremolo riff overstays its welcome. On a brief, 30-minute album with only five non-interlude tracks, these moments stand out more than they otherwise might. Despite this issue, the individual performances are consistently strong, and tracks like “Summer Wanes” and “Gods and Politics” demonstrate a well-considered take on this particular sound.

With The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., Spread the Disease has delivered an intriguing piece of blackened hardcore. There are plenty of fun ideas throughout the record, and it certainly isn’t lacking in aggression, but it’s missing a certain oomph and the considered songwriting needed to tie everything together. Fans of the band’s early material curious to hear its black metal tendencies dragged further into the foreground, should not be dissuaded, and it is undeniably cool to hear Spread the Disease sounding this venomous after so many years. Yet, beneath the frost, blasts, and nonstop riffing lies a record that strikes me as merely average. A nasty reunion, certainly. Just not quite a triumphant one.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypaethral Records
Websites: spreadthedisease.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/spreadthedisease_official
Releases Worldwide: July 10th, 2026

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-heavy, screamo-adjacent murder music laced with electronic and black metal influences. Their 1998 debut, We Bleed From Many Wounds, is something of a classic among chaotic metalcore devotees, while 1999 follow-up The Sheer Force of Inertia is respectable in its own right. Yet life has a habit of getting in the way of intense musical pursuits, and after those two albums, the band called it quits. Years later, Spread the Disease has reunited and returned with an intimidating slab of aural annihilation: the ominously titled The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., which purports to expand upon the black metal elements of their earlier work. Can this cohort of Canucks recapture the caustic vitriol of their youthful output?

The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. is less of a maximalist, mathy affair than Spread the Disease’s previous work. Instead, the band opts for a more straightforward merger of second-wave black metal frostbite and 2000s metalcore beef, a combination that works largely because everybody involved seems determined to play it as angrily as humanly possible. Opener “Light Opaque” establishes a formula much of the album follows, its five-plus minutes alternating between meaty tremolo passages and classic At the Gates “0-7-5” riffing over syncopated chugs. “Gods and Politics” weaves blackened leads and tried-and-true blast sections into classic hardcore moves, including a tom-led pullback and satisfying d-beats, while lead single “Indoctrinated” unleashes a blistering array of icy riffcraft that recalls Anaal Nathrakh with the occasional punky power-chord section. For the most part, this is plenty effective. The songs carry an exciting sense of momentum, the individual parts are competent if somewhat expected, and each transition feels natural. I only wish the longer runtimes yielded more genuinely standout moments.

Spread the Disease does make some considerations for album flow, placing short interludes between the main tracks and slightly shifting its blackened hardcore milieu on the B-side. “Intermezzo I” is a brief harsh noise piece that breaks up the onslaught of the opening tracks, while “Intermezzo II” takes a more ambient approach, propelled by chime-like clean guitar. “Outro,” meanwhile, closes the album with a somber sound collage. The final two “main” tracks also put a different spin on the band’s established formula. “Summer Wanes” leans into a more Zao-like, rollicking metalcore assault accented by bursts of blackened tremolo, while the seven-minute “The Blight in Their Eyes” opens up into a sludgy second half, transforming what could have been a typical breakdown into an effective, atmospheric conclusion.

There are a lot of impressive elements to The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., but for me, the pieces never quite coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. Spread the Disease knows how to pack these songs with well-constructed, pissed-off riffs that blur the line between metalcore and black metal, but despite the variety on display, some ideas linger just a tad too long. Certain riffs feel like boilerplate black metal or cliché metalcore, and their juxtaposition doesn’t necessarily elevate them. With each main song passing the five-minute mark, the propulsive energy that fuels the record can occasionally dwindle, especially when a repetitive tremolo riff overstays its welcome. On a brief, 30-minute album with only five non-interlude tracks, these moments stand out more than they otherwise might. Despite this issue, the individual performances are consistently strong, and tracks like “Summer Wanes” and “Gods and Politics” demonstrate a well-considered take on this particular sound.

With The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., Spread the Disease has delivered an intriguing piece of blackened hardcore. There are plenty of fun ideas throughout the record, and it certainly isn’t lacking in aggression, but it’s missing a certain oomph and the considered songwriting needed to tie everything together. Fans of the band’s early material curious to hear its black metal tendencies dragged further into the foreground, should not be dissuaded, and it is undeniably cool to hear Spread the Disease sounding this venomous after so many years. Yet, beneath the frost, blasts, and nonstop riffing lies a record that strikes me as merely average. A nasty reunion, certainly. Just not quite a triumphant one.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypaethral Records
Websites: spreadthedisease.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/spreadthedisease_official
Releases Worldwide: July 10th, 2026

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-heavy, screamo-adjacent murder music laced with electronic and black metal influences. Their 1998 debut, We Bleed From Many Wounds, is something of a classic among chaotic metalcore devotees, while 1999 follow-up The Sheer Force of Inertia is respectable in its own right. Yet life has a habit of getting in the way of intense musical pursuits, and after those two albums, the band called it quits. Years later, Spread the Disease has reunited and returned with an intimidating slab of aural annihilation: the ominously titled The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., which purports to expand upon the black metal elements of their earlier work. Can this cohort of Canucks recapture the caustic vitriol of their youthful output?

The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. is less of a maximalist, mathy affair than Spread the Disease’s previous work. Instead, the band opts for a more straightforward merger of second-wave black metal frostbite and 2000s metalcore beef, a combination that works largely because everybody involved seems determined to play it as angrily as humanly possible. Opener “Light Opaque” establishes a formula much of the album follows, its five-plus minutes alternating between meaty tremolo passages and classic At the Gates “0-7-5” riffing over syncopated chugs. “Gods and Politics” weaves blackened leads and tried-and-true blast sections into classic hardcore moves, including a tom-led pullback and satisfying d-beats, while lead single “Indoctrinated” unleashes a blistering array of icy riffcraft that recalls Anaal Nathrakh with the occasional punky power-chord section. For the most part, this is plenty effective. The songs carry an exciting sense of momentum, the individual parts are competent if somewhat expected, and each transition feels natural. I only wish the longer runtimes yielded more genuinely standout moments.

Spread the Disease does make some considerations for album flow, placing short interludes between the main tracks and slightly shifting its blackened hardcore milieu on the B-side. “Intermezzo I” is a brief harsh noise piece that breaks up the onslaught of the opening tracks, while “Intermezzo II” takes a more ambient approach, propelled by chime-like clean guitar. “Outro,” meanwhile, closes the album with a somber sound collage. The final two “main” tracks also put a different spin on the band’s established formula. “Summer Wanes” leans into a more Zao-like, rollicking metalcore assault accented by bursts of blackened tremolo, while the seven-minute “The Blight in Their Eyes” opens up into a sludgy second half, transforming what could have been a typical breakdown into an effective, atmospheric conclusion.

There are a lot of impressive elements to The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., but for me, the pieces never quite coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. Spread the Disease knows how to pack these songs with well-constructed, pissed-off riffs that blur the line between metalcore and black metal, but despite the variety on display, some ideas linger just a tad too long. Certain riffs feel like boilerplate black metal or cliché metalcore, and their juxtaposition doesn’t necessarily elevate them. With each main song passing the five-minute mark, the propulsive energy that fuels the record can occasionally dwindle, especially when a repetitive tremolo riff overstays its welcome. On a brief, 30-minute album with only five non-interlude tracks, these moments stand out more than they otherwise might. Despite this issue, the individual performances are consistently strong, and tracks like “Summer Wanes” and “Gods and Politics” demonstrate a well-considered take on this particular sound.

With The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., Spread the Disease has delivered an intriguing piece of blackened hardcore. There are plenty of fun ideas throughout the record, and it certainly isn’t lacking in aggression, but it’s missing a certain oomph and the considered songwriting needed to tie everything together. Fans of the band’s early material curious to hear its black metal tendencies dragged further into the foreground, should not be dissuaded, and it is undeniably cool to hear Spread the Disease sounding this venomous after so many years. Yet, beneath the frost, blasts, and nonstop riffing lies a record that strikes me as merely average. A nasty reunion, certainly. Just not quite a triumphant one.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypaethral Records
Websites: spreadthedisease.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/spreadthedisease_official
Releases Worldwide: July 10th, 2026

Once upon a time, Spread the Disease was a frenetic Canadian metalcore band playing a brand of skronk-heavy, screamo-adjacent murder music laced with electronic and black metal influences. Their 1998 debut, We Bleed From Many Wounds, is something of a classic among chaotic metalcore devotees, while 1999 follow-up The Sheer Force of Inertia is respectable in its own right. Yet life has a habit of getting in the way of intense musical pursuits, and after those two albums, the band called it quits. Years later, Spread the Disease has reunited and returned with an intimidating slab of aural annihilation: the ominously titled The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., which purports to expand upon the black metal elements of their earlier work. Can this cohort of Canucks recapture the caustic vitriol of their youthful output?

The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering. is less of a maximalist, mathy affair than Spread the Disease’s previous work. Instead, the band opts for a more straightforward merger of second-wave black metal frostbite and 2000s metalcore beef, a combination that works largely because everybody involved seems determined to play it as angrily as humanly possible. Opener “Light Opaque” establishes a formula much of the album follows, its five-plus minutes alternating between meaty tremolo passages and classic At the Gates “0-7-5” riffing over syncopated chugs. “Gods and Politics” weaves blackened leads and tried-and-true blast sections into classic hardcore moves, including a tom-led pullback and satisfying d-beats, while lead single “Indoctrinated” unleashes a blistering array of icy riffcraft that recalls Anaal Nathrakh with the occasional punky power-chord section. For the most part, this is plenty effective. The songs carry an exciting sense of momentum, the individual parts are competent if somewhat expected, and each transition feels natural. I only wish the longer runtimes yielded more genuinely standout moments.

Spread the Disease does make some considerations for album flow, placing short interludes between the main tracks and slightly shifting its blackened hardcore milieu on the B-side. “Intermezzo I” is a brief harsh noise piece that breaks up the onslaught of the opening tracks, while “Intermezzo II” takes a more ambient approach, propelled by chime-like clean guitar. “Outro,” meanwhile, closes the album with a somber sound collage. The final two “main” tracks also put a different spin on the band’s established formula. “Summer Wanes” leans into a more Zao-like, rollicking metalcore assault accented by bursts of blackened tremolo, while the seven-minute “The Blight in Their Eyes” opens up into a sludgy second half, transforming what could have been a typical breakdown into an effective, atmospheric conclusion.

There are a lot of impressive elements to The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., but for me, the pieces never quite coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts. Spread the Disease knows how to pack these songs with well-constructed, pissed-off riffs that blur the line between metalcore and black metal, but despite the variety on display, some ideas linger just a tad too long. Certain riffs feel like boilerplate black metal or cliché metalcore, and their juxtaposition doesn’t necessarily elevate them. With each main song passing the five-minute mark, the propulsive energy that fuels the record can occasionally dwindle, especially when a repetitive tremolo riff overstays its welcome. On a brief, 30-minute album with only five non-interlude tracks, these moments stand out more than they otherwise might. Despite this issue, the individual performances are consistently strong, and tracks like “Summer Wanes” and “Gods and Politics” demonstrate a well-considered take on this particular sound.

With The Darkness. The Dread. The Suffering., Spread the Disease has delivered an intriguing piece of blackened hardcore. There are plenty of fun ideas throughout the record, and it certainly isn’t lacking in aggression, but it’s missing a certain oomph and the considered songwriting needed to tie everything together. Fans of the band’s early material curious to hear its black metal tendencies dragged further into the foreground, should not be dissuaded, and it is undeniably cool to hear Spread the Disease sounding this venomous after so many years. Yet, beneath the frost, blasts, and nonstop riffing lies a record that strikes me as merely average. A nasty reunion, certainly. Just not quite a triumphant one.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hypaethral Records
Websites: spreadthedisease.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/spreadthedisease_official
Releases Worldwide: July 10th, 2026

Formed in 2014 in the wake of the success of Arch Enemy, Spain’s Bloodhunter joined the ranks of melodeath bands featuring attractive leading ladies who snarl and growl rather than sing like Disney princesses. Lokasenna favorably reviewed their sophomore record, The End of Faith, writing that while it wasn’t particularly innovative, Bloodhunter sounded promising enough to give them a potentially bright future. The nine years since have sown significant changes, with a new bassist and drummer, as well as an additional guitarist; founding guitarist Dani Arcos and vocalist Diva Satanica serve as the only common links between these two albums. Sons of the Abandoned, their fourth, seeks to live up to the bright future Lokasenna prophesied.

Sons of the Abandoned proves a highly energetic affair, having a melodic bent in the vein of At the Gates or In Flames. Tracks waver between high octane (“The Devils Own,” “Human Insecticide”) and mid-tempo (“The Outspoken,” “Ephemeral Youth”). While plenty heavy, Bloodhunter fall just shy of brutal, with a much lighter intensity than the comps listed above, though they do occasionally ramp things up. “The Devils Own” gets the album off to a nice start, with its gentle melodic lead jumping into some of the record’s most brutal cuts. It’s a really good song that reveals a melodic side underneath that tough exterior. From there, tunes largely shed the brutality and drop to a slightly slower tempo before ending on another fast and brutal high note on the thrashy Annihilator cover, “Human Insecticide.” The mid-tempo stuff allows Bloodhunter to dive more deeply into their melodic side, though with mixed results.

Lokasenna’s critique about a lack of innovation still applies, as Bloodhunter stick to pretty standard riffs, but they do flash some impressive melodies here and there. Bloodhunter save their most memorable melodies for the choruses. The best comes from “Sons of the Abandoned,” transforming a pretty standard song into something more rewarding thanks to a lead I find myself frequently whistling. Not all leads successfully push the bar, however. “Ephemeral Youth” similarly features a pretty good lead, but the tune ultimately grows a bit tiresome thanks to too much repetition. Sadly, the mid-album tracks lack the hooks to stir any interest. Even a rather elaborate solo on “No One Beats Death” does very little to resuscitate the record’s earlier vitality. Bloodhunter invite Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches) to handle cleans for a rather disappointing chorus on “The Path that Never Ends” in yet another unsuccessful bid to spruce up this stretch of songs.

Sons of the Abandoned sounds really good, thanks to some great production values and solid performances. While the guitar parts don’t always wow, the addition of guitarist Guillermo Starless opens up space for a heftier, more interesting guitar presence. It’s true that Arcos and Starless could inject a little more creativity into their riffs, but they still have plenty of really good stuff. There’s a lead on “Masters of Deceive” that has a smooth jazz vibe that displays their ability to get creative, and an instrumental interlude has some lovely arpeggios that I can’t help but think could have gone to more use throughout Sons of the Abandoned. The mix also allows Fabian Tejeda’s bass to breathe, with some gentleness on the quieter interlude and then some hectic noodling on “Human Insecticide.” Finally, Diva Satanica serves the record well as frontwoman. She has some capable growls, switching to Trevor Strnad-like snarls now and then, even if she lacks the brutality of some of her contemporaries.

While Sons of the Abandoned does scratch that melodic itch here and there, it also gives me a better appreciation of the creative riffs that At the Gates recently displayed. I’m a sucker for a good melodic lead, so I’m willing to overlook some shortcomings if the record has enough of them. Bloodhunter meet this criteria a little more than half the time. There are plenty of songs I’d be happy to put into a playlist, but unfortunately, too many are forgettable. While LP number four hasn’t yet delivered on Lokasenna’s hope for a bright future, Bloodhunter certainly has it in them to deliver a killer record.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: ROAR! Rock of Angels Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026

Formed in 2014 in the wake of the success of Arch Enemy, Spain’s Bloodhunter joined the ranks of melodeath bands featuring attractive leading ladies who snarl and growl rather than sing like Disney princesses. Lokasenna favorably reviewed their sophomore record, The End of Faith, writing that while it wasn’t particularly innovative, Bloodhunter sounded promising enough to give them a potentially bright future. The nine years since have sown significant changes, with a new bassist and drummer, as well as an additional guitarist; founding guitarist Dani Arcos and vocalist Diva Satanica serve as the only common links between these two albums. Sons of the Abandoned, their fourth, seeks to live up to the bright future Lokasenna prophesied.

Sons of the Abandoned proves a highly energetic affair, having a melodic bent in the vein of At the Gates or In Flames. Tracks waver between high octane (“The Devils Own,” “Human Insecticide”) and mid-tempo (“The Outspoken,” “Ephemeral Youth”). While plenty heavy, Bloodhunter fall just shy of brutal, with a much lighter intensity than the comps listed above, though they do occasionally ramp things up. “The Devils Own” gets the album off to a nice start, with its gentle melodic lead jumping into some of the record’s most brutal cuts. It’s a really good song that reveals a melodic side underneath that tough exterior. From there, tunes largely shed the brutality and drop to a slightly slower tempo before ending on another fast and brutal high note on the thrashy Annihilator cover, “Human Insecticide.” The mid-tempo stuff allows Bloodhunter to dive more deeply into their melodic side, though with mixed results.

Lokasenna’s critique about a lack of innovation still applies, as Bloodhunter stick to pretty standard riffs, but they do flash some impressive melodies here and there. Bloodhunter save their most memorable melodies for the choruses. The best comes from “Sons of the Abandoned,” transforming a pretty standard song into something more rewarding thanks to a lead I find myself frequently whistling. Not all leads successfully push the bar, however. “Ephemeral Youth” similarly features a pretty good lead, but the tune ultimately grows a bit tiresome thanks to too much repetition. Sadly, the mid-album tracks lack the hooks to stir any interest. Even a rather elaborate solo on “No One Beats Death” does very little to resuscitate the record’s earlier vitality. Bloodhunter invite Laura Guldemond (Burning Witches) to handle cleans for a rather disappointing chorus on “The Path that Never Ends” in yet another unsuccessful bid to spruce up this stretch of songs.

Sons of the Abandoned sounds really good, thanks to some great production values and solid performances. While the guitar parts don’t always wow, the addition of guitarist Guillermo Starless opens up space for a heftier, more interesting guitar presence. It’s true that Arcos and Starless could inject a little more creativity into their riffs, but they still have plenty of really good stuff. There’s a lead on “Masters of Deceive” that has a smooth jazz vibe that displays their ability to get creative, and an instrumental interlude has some lovely arpeggios that I can’t help but think could have gone to more use throughout Sons of the Abandoned. The mix also allows Fabian Tejeda’s bass to breathe, with some gentleness on the quieter interlude and then some hectic noodling on “Human Insecticide.” Finally, Diva Satanica serves the record well as frontwoman. She has some capable growls, switching to Trevor Strnad-like snarls now and then, even if she lacks the brutality of some of her contemporaries.

While Sons of the Abandoned does scratch that melodic itch here and there, it also gives me a better appreciation of the creative riffs that At the Gates recently displayed. I’m a sucker for a good melodic lead, so I’m willing to overlook some shortcomings if the record has enough of them. Bloodhunter meet this criteria a little more than half the time. There are plenty of songs I’d be happy to put into a playlist, but unfortunately, too many are forgettable. While LP number four hasn’t yet delivered on Lokasenna’s hope for a bright future, Bloodhunter certainly has it in them to deliver a killer record.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: ROAR! Rock of Angels Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Site
Releases Worldwide: June 12th, 2026

Sarcasm – Lifeforce Omnibound Review

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #3.5 #Analepsy #AttheGates #CA #Canada #DarkTranquility #Dismember #Entertainment #Feral #HammerheartRecords #LifeforceOmnibound #LIK #May26 #Pestilence #review #reviews #Sarcasm #SwedishDeathMetal #Vomitory #Watain #Wommbath
https://www.newsbeep.com/ca/718102/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1008284/ Sarcasm – Lifeforce Omnibound Review #2026 #35 #Analepsy #AtTheGates #DarkTranquility #Dismember #Entertainment #Feral #HammerheartRecords #LifeforceOmnibound #LIK #May26 #music #Pestilence #Review #Reviews #Sarcasm #SwedishDeathMetal #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vomitory #Watain #Wommbath

Sarcasm – Lifeforce Omnibound Review

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #3.5 #Analepsy #AttheGates #DarkTranquility #Dismember #Entertainment #feral #HammerheartRecords #LifeforceOmnibound #LIK #May26 #Pestilence #review #Reviews #Sarcasm #SwedishDeathMetal #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vomitory #Watain #Wommbath
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/623604/

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds like a thankless task, and no one is going to submit an album telling us that it’s a smidgen above mediocrity.1 No, everything death has to be the most moldy, blackened, the most evil, stoner the most groovy, and power the most disposable and ignored album we’ve ever heard in our life. Imagine my eyebrows raising, then, to discover a new offering from Swedish mainstays Sarcasm, who simply described themselves as being more than just Swedeath. Few genres in metal have such imposed and strict limitations, from guitar tones to riff stylings, and one second sampling Feral or Lik and their ilk make the expected sound clear from the get-go. Consequently, such a bold claim of genre transcendence stands out in the face of a sea of self-aggrandizement, and all I could think was the most un-sarcastic “Sold.”

In order to be “more” than Swedeath, you still need the foundation to build on, and Sarcasm drapes their meat and lifeblood on the bones of great fossils of olde. Lifeforce Omnibound kicks off with a balls-out assault sounding composed by Vomitory but with a grasp of leads that seek to Dismember listeners far and wide. The path of the album is one that unfurls its more progressive tendencies the deeper you go, starting like a high-grade tribute to their 90s selves but getting more curious as it unfolds. “Altering the Perception” is a key example; starting off like a cut off of At the Gate’s At War With Reality, and featuring vibrant leads and a Gothenburg flavored stomp in its perpetual revolving assault. Suddenly, bursts of color reminiscent of Dark Tranquility emphasize transitional passages, and an overreliance on the stereotypical snare-and-bass drumbeat plaguing much of Swedeath is mercifully absent, instead featuring sudden aggressive riffing styles more reminiscent of New York-style brawl.

The whole of Lifeforce Omnibound is riddled with such flourishes, working hard to buck genre expectations. “The Reward of Adversity” offers listeners a relaxing Wombbath with a full piano and violin break, which slots excellently between the 6/8 violence, while “Plunged Into a Paradox” channels the more progressive melodic tremolos from Analepsy’s Quiescence.2 Speaking of tremolos, much of the album comes with a distinctly blackened edge, especially with Jesper Ojala’s Watain-influenced drumming style, and vocalist Heval Bozarslan features a much higher range and sneering shriek compared to the genre’s usual guttural fare. “Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility” flirts briefly with slam tendencies before collapsing into an absolute BOP of a china-and-high-hat centric dissonant riff modern Pestilence would be proud to sign their name to, only to rush into well executed melo-death shred prowess. Sarcasm have offered up an album which is loyal to its genre roots, but under no circumstances allows itself to sit still and be confined to its labels.

All of these names and influences sound like this album could be an unfocused disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. Compositional excellence allows Sarcasm to slide between moods like they were headbanging between the raindrops, and few elements detract from the overall experience. True, Lifeforce Omnibound does have more than a few spoken word sections, which halt the momentum as all spoken word sections in albums do. Regretfully, it also sounds like Sarcasm ran out of different ideas near the end, coasting to the finish line with a concluding track which is the most traditional sounding song on the album, albeit a quality one. Still, there’s always room for MOAR Swedeath in life, and for an ending to be merely anticlimactic is hardly the worst sin an album can commit.

To my delighted surprise, Sarcasm did it. Lifeforce Omnibound is nominally Swedeath, and yet the sheer glut of sounds I hear pouring through my headphones shows a band not content to spin their wheels and live on the laurels of vintage sounds of yore. An excellent approach to disparaging elements and a seamless fusion of neighboring ones, Sarcasm have created an album that transcends the sum of its parts to be something truly enjoyable. If you’re one of those who have turned away from Swedeath due to a lack of growth in the sound, hop on this immediately. Yes, really.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds like a thankless task, and no one is going to submit an album telling us that it’s a smidgen above mediocrity.1 No, everything death has to be the most moldy, blackened, the most evil, stoner the most groovy, and power the most disposable and ignored album we’ve ever heard in our life. Imagine my eyebrows raising, then, to discover a new offering from Swedish mainstays Sarcasm, who simply described themselves as being more than just Swedeath. Few genres in metal have such imposed and strict limitations, from guitar tones to riff stylings, and one second sampling Feral or Lik and their ilk make the expected sound clear from the get-go. Consequently, such a bold claim of genre transcendence stands out in the face of a sea of self-aggrandizement, and all I could think was the most un-sarcastic “Sold.”

In order to be “more” than Swedeath, you still need the foundation to build on, and Sarcasm drapes their meat and lifeblood on the bones of great fossils of olde. Lifeforce Omnibound kicks off with a balls-out assault sounding composed by Vomitory but with a grasp of leads that seek to Dismember listeners far and wide. The path of the album is one that unfurls its more progressive tendencies the deeper you go, starting like a high-grade tribute to their 90s selves but getting more curious as it unfolds. “Altering the Perception” is a key example; starting off like a cut off of At the Gate’s At War With Reality, and featuring vibrant leads and a Gothenburg flavored stomp in its perpetual revolving assault. Suddenly, bursts of color reminiscent of Dark Tranquility emphasize transitional passages, and an overreliance on the stereotypical snare-and-bass drumbeat plaguing much of Swedeath is mercifully absent, instead featuring sudden aggressive riffing styles more reminiscent of New York-style brawl.

The whole of Lifeforce Omnibound is riddled with such flourishes, working hard to buck genre expectations. “The Reward of Adversity” offers listeners a relaxing Wombbath with a full piano and violin break, which slots excellently between the 6/8 violence, while “Plunged Into a Paradox” channels the more progressive melodic tremolos from Analepsy’s Quiescence.2 Speaking of tremolos, much of the album comes with a distinctly blackened edge, especially with Jesper Ojala’s Watain-influenced drumming style, and vocalist Heval Bozarslan features a much higher range and sneering shriek compared to the genre’s usual guttural fare. “Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility” flirts briefly with slam tendencies before collapsing into an absolute BOP of a china-and-high-hat centric dissonant riff modern Pestilence would be proud to sign their name to, only to rush into well executed melo-death shred prowess. Sarcasm have offered up an album which is loyal to its genre roots, but under no circumstances allows itself to sit still and be confined to its labels.

All of these names and influences sound like this album could be an unfocused disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. Compositional excellence allows Sarcasm to slide between moods like they were headbanging between the raindrops, and few elements detract from the overall experience. True, Lifeforce Omnibound does have more than a few spoken word sections, which halt the momentum as all spoken word sections in albums do. Regretfully, it also sounds like Sarcasm ran out of different ideas near the end, coasting to the finish line with a concluding track which is the most traditional sounding song on the album, albeit a quality one. Still, there’s always room for MOAR Swedeath in life, and for an ending to be merely anticlimactic is hardly the worst sin an album can commit.

To my delighted surprise, Sarcasm did it. Lifeforce Omnibound is nominally Swedeath, and yet the sheer glut of sounds I hear pouring through my headphones shows a band not content to spin their wheels and live on the laurels of vintage sounds of yore. An excellent approach to disparaging elements and a seamless fusion of neighboring ones, Sarcasm have created an album that transcends the sum of its parts to be something truly enjoyable. If you’re one of those who have turned away from Swedeath due to a lack of growth in the sound, hop on this immediately. Yes, really.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds like a thankless task, and no one is going to submit an album telling us that it’s a smidgen above mediocrity.1 No, everything death has to be the most moldy, blackened, the most evil, stoner the most groovy, and power the most disposable and ignored album we’ve ever heard in our life. Imagine my eyebrows raising, then, to discover a new offering from Swedish mainstays Sarcasm, who simply described themselves as being more than just Swedeath. Few genres in metal have such imposed and strict limitations, from guitar tones to riff stylings, and one second sampling Feral or Lik and their ilk make the expected sound clear from the get-go. Consequently, such a bold claim of genre transcendence stands out in the face of a sea of self-aggrandizement, and all I could think was the most un-sarcastic “Sold.”

In order to be “more” than Swedeath, you still need the foundation to build on, and Sarcasm drapes their meat and lifeblood on the bones of great fossils of olde. Lifeforce Omnibound kicks off with a balls-out assault sounding composed by Vomitory but with a grasp of leads that seek to Dismember listeners far and wide. The path of the album is one that unfurls its more progressive tendencies the deeper you go, starting like a high-grade tribute to their 90s selves but getting more curious as it unfolds. “Altering the Perception” is a key example; starting off like a cut off of At the Gate’s At War With Reality, and featuring vibrant leads and a Gothenburg flavored stomp in its perpetual revolving assault. Suddenly, bursts of color reminiscent of Dark Tranquility emphasize transitional passages, and an overreliance on the stereotypical snare-and-bass drumbeat plaguing much of Swedeath is mercifully absent, instead featuring sudden aggressive riffing styles more reminiscent of New York-style brawl.

The whole of Lifeforce Omnibound is riddled with such flourishes, working hard to buck genre expectations. “The Reward of Adversity” offers listeners a relaxing Wombbath with a full piano and violin break, which slots excellently between the 6/8 violence, while “Plunged Into a Paradox” channels the more progressive melodic tremolos from Analepsy’s Quiescence.2 Speaking of tremolos, much of the album comes with a distinctly blackened edge, especially with Jesper Ojala’s Watain-influenced drumming style, and vocalist Heval Bozarslan features a much higher range and sneering shriek compared to the genre’s usual guttural fare. “Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility” flirts briefly with slam tendencies before collapsing into an absolute BOP of a china-and-high-hat centric dissonant riff modern Pestilence would be proud to sign their name to, only to rush into well executed melo-death shred prowess. Sarcasm have offered up an album which is loyal to its genre roots, but under no circumstances allows itself to sit still and be confined to its labels.

All of these names and influences sound like this album could be an unfocused disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. Compositional excellence allows Sarcasm to slide between moods like they were headbanging between the raindrops, and few elements detract from the overall experience. True, Lifeforce Omnibound does have more than a few spoken word sections, which halt the momentum as all spoken word sections in albums do. Regretfully, it also sounds like Sarcasm ran out of different ideas near the end, coasting to the finish line with a concluding track which is the most traditional sounding song on the album, albeit a quality one. Still, there’s always room for MOAR Swedeath in life, and for an ending to be merely anticlimactic is hardly the worst sin an album can commit.

To my delighted surprise, Sarcasm did it. Lifeforce Omnibound is nominally Swedeath, and yet the sheer glut of sounds I hear pouring through my headphones shows a band not content to spin their wheels and live on the laurels of vintage sounds of yore. An excellent approach to disparaging elements and a seamless fusion of neighboring ones, Sarcasm have created an album that transcends the sum of its parts to be something truly enjoyable. If you’re one of those who have turned away from Swedeath due to a lack of growth in the sound, hop on this immediately. Yes, really.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds like a thankless task, and no one is going to submit an album telling us that it’s a smidgen above mediocrity.1 No, everything death has to be the most moldy, blackened, the most evil, stoner the most groovy, and power the most disposable and ignored album we’ve ever heard in our life. Imagine my eyebrows raising, then, to discover a new offering from Swedish mainstays Sarcasm, who simply described themselves as being more than just Swedeath. Few genres in metal have such imposed and strict limitations, from guitar tones to riff stylings, and one second sampling Feral or Lik and their ilk make the expected sound clear from the get-go. Consequently, such a bold claim of genre transcendence stands out in the face of a sea of self-aggrandizement, and all I could think was the most un-sarcastic “Sold.”

In order to be “more” than Swedeath, you still need the foundation to build on, and Sarcasm drapes their meat and lifeblood on the bones of great fossils of olde. Lifeforce Omnibound kicks off with a balls-out assault sounding composed by Vomitory but with a grasp of leads that seek to Dismember listeners far and wide. The path of the album is one that unfurls its more progressive tendencies the deeper you go, starting like a high-grade tribute to their 90s selves but getting more curious as it unfolds. “Altering the Perception” is a key example; starting off like a cut off of At the Gate’s At War With Reality, and featuring vibrant leads and a Gothenburg flavored stomp in its perpetual revolving assault. Suddenly, bursts of color reminiscent of Dark Tranquility emphasize transitional passages, and an overreliance on the stereotypical snare-and-bass drumbeat plaguing much of Swedeath is mercifully absent, instead featuring sudden aggressive riffing styles more reminiscent of New York-style brawl.

The whole of Lifeforce Omnibound is riddled with such flourishes, working hard to buck genre expectations. “The Reward of Adversity” offers listeners a relaxing Wombbath with a full piano and violin break, which slots excellently between the 6/8 violence, while “Plunged Into a Paradox” channels the more progressive melodic tremolos from Analepsy’s Quiescence.2 Speaking of tremolos, much of the album comes with a distinctly blackened edge, especially with Jesper Ojala’s Watain-influenced drumming style, and vocalist Heval Bozarslan features a much higher range and sneering shriek compared to the genre’s usual guttural fare. “Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility” flirts briefly with slam tendencies before collapsing into an absolute BOP of a china-and-high-hat centric dissonant riff modern Pestilence would be proud to sign their name to, only to rush into well executed melo-death shred prowess. Sarcasm have offered up an album which is loyal to its genre roots, but under no circumstances allows itself to sit still and be confined to its labels.

All of these names and influences sound like this album could be an unfocused disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. Compositional excellence allows Sarcasm to slide between moods like they were headbanging between the raindrops, and few elements detract from the overall experience. True, Lifeforce Omnibound does have more than a few spoken word sections, which halt the momentum as all spoken word sections in albums do. Regretfully, it also sounds like Sarcasm ran out of different ideas near the end, coasting to the finish line with a concluding track which is the most traditional sounding song on the album, albeit a quality one. Still, there’s always room for MOAR Swedeath in life, and for an ending to be merely anticlimactic is hardly the worst sin an album can commit.

To my delighted surprise, Sarcasm did it. Lifeforce Omnibound is nominally Swedeath, and yet the sheer glut of sounds I hear pouring through my headphones shows a band not content to spin their wheels and live on the laurels of vintage sounds of yore. An excellent approach to disparaging elements and a seamless fusion of neighboring ones, Sarcasm have created an album that transcends the sum of its parts to be something truly enjoyable. If you’re one of those who have turned away from Swedeath due to a lack of growth in the sound, hop on this immediately. Yes, really.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

We get a lot of bold claims in the promo pit. It’s understandable; writing advertisements for music sounds like a thankless task, and no one is going to submit an album telling us that it’s a smidgen above mediocrity.1 No, everything death has to be the most moldy, blackened, the most evil, stoner the most groovy, and power the most disposable and ignored album we’ve ever heard in our life. Imagine my eyebrows raising, then, to discover a new offering from Swedish mainstays Sarcasm, who simply described themselves as being more than just Swedeath. Few genres in metal have such imposed and strict limitations, from guitar tones to riff stylings, and one second sampling Feral or Lik and their ilk make the expected sound clear from the get-go. Consequently, such a bold claim of genre transcendence stands out in the face of a sea of self-aggrandizement, and all I could think was the most un-sarcastic “Sold.”

In order to be “more” than Swedeath, you still need the foundation to build on, and Sarcasm drapes their meat and lifeblood on the bones of great fossils of olde. Lifeforce Omnibound kicks off with a balls-out assault sounding composed by Vomitory but with a grasp of leads that seek to Dismember listeners far and wide. The path of the album is one that unfurls its more progressive tendencies the deeper you go, starting like a high-grade tribute to their 90s selves but getting more curious as it unfolds. “Altering the Perception” is a key example; starting off like a cut off of At the Gate’s At War With Reality, and featuring vibrant leads and a Gothenburg flavored stomp in its perpetual revolving assault. Suddenly, bursts of color reminiscent of Dark Tranquility emphasize transitional passages, and an overreliance on the stereotypical snare-and-bass drumbeat plaguing much of Swedeath is mercifully absent, instead featuring sudden aggressive riffing styles more reminiscent of New York-style brawl.

The whole of Lifeforce Omnibound is riddled with such flourishes, working hard to buck genre expectations. “The Reward of Adversity” offers listeners a relaxing Wombbath with a full piano and violin break, which slots excellently between the 6/8 violence, while “Plunged Into a Paradox” channels the more progressive melodic tremolos from Analepsy’s Quiescence.2 Speaking of tremolos, much of the album comes with a distinctly blackened edge, especially with Jesper Ojala’s Watain-influenced drumming style, and vocalist Heval Bozarslan features a much higher range and sneering shriek compared to the genre’s usual guttural fare. “Wayward Fragments of Infinite Divisibility” flirts briefly with slam tendencies before collapsing into an absolute BOP of a china-and-high-hat centric dissonant riff modern Pestilence would be proud to sign their name to, only to rush into well executed melo-death shred prowess. Sarcasm have offered up an album which is loyal to its genre roots, but under no circumstances allows itself to sit still and be confined to its labels.

All of these names and influences sound like this album could be an unfocused disaster, but nothing could be further from the truth. Compositional excellence allows Sarcasm to slide between moods like they were headbanging between the raindrops, and few elements detract from the overall experience. True, Lifeforce Omnibound does have more than a few spoken word sections, which halt the momentum as all spoken word sections in albums do. Regretfully, it also sounds like Sarcasm ran out of different ideas near the end, coasting to the finish line with a concluding track which is the most traditional sounding song on the album, albeit a quality one. Still, there’s always room for MOAR Swedeath in life, and for an ending to be merely anticlimactic is hardly the worst sin an album can commit.

To my delighted surprise, Sarcasm did it. Lifeforce Omnibound is nominally Swedeath, and yet the sheer glut of sounds I hear pouring through my headphones shows a band not content to spin their wheels and live on the laurels of vintage sounds of yore. An excellent approach to disparaging elements and a seamless fusion of neighboring ones, Sarcasm have created an album that transcends the sum of its parts to be something truly enjoyable. If you’re one of those who have turned away from Swedeath due to a lack of growth in the sound, hop on this immediately. Yes, really.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: May 29th, 2026

Missed a few weeks of New & Noteworthy? Catch up on releases from April 17 through May 22, featuring everything from Foo Fighters, At The Gates, and Sevendust to Dimmu Borgir, The Amity Affliction, Armored Saint, and many more.

Link: https://metalinsider.net/columns/new-noteworthy-columns/new-noteworthy-grand-serpent-releases-5-22-2026-4-17-2026

#NewAndNoteworthy #MetalInsider #NewMusic #Metal #Rock #DimmuBorgir #FooFighters #AtTheGates #Sevendust #TheAmityAffliction #ArmoredSaint

Atavistia – Old Gods Awaken Review

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer,…
#NewsBeep #News #Music #2026 #3.5 #Aephanemer #AttheGates #Atavistia #Aversed #BlackMetal #BuriedRealm #CanadianMetal #ChildrenofBodom #Ensiferum #Entertainment #FolkMetal #Kalmah #May26 #MelodicDeathMetal #OldGodsAwaken #review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #Self-Releases #UK #UnitedKingdom #VikingMetal #Vittra #Wintersun
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/605623/

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?

For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.

Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.

While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.

Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?

For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.

Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.

While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.

Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?

For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.

Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.

While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.

Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?

For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.

Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.

While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.

Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?

For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.

Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.

While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.

Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026

Endlich Zeit gehabt, die letzte At The Gates in Ruhe zu hören. Tolle Scheibe, ich liebe vor allem „In Dark Distortion“, aber auch der Rest - ein würdiger Abschluss. Hach, und es ist so tragisch … 🥺 #atthegates #swedishdeathmetal

Endlich Zeit gehabt, die letzte At The Gates in Ruhe zu hören. Tolle Scheibe, ich liebe vor allem „In Dark Distortion“, aber auch der Rest - ein würdiger Abschluss. Hach, und es ist so tragisch … 🥺 #atthegates #swedishdeathmetal

Musical Sunday with the new #AtTheGates album 🤘

#PlayingNow #NewMusicAlert

Musical Sunday with the new #AtTheGates album 🤘

#PlayingNow #NewMusicAlert

Musical Sunday with the new #AtTheGates album 🤘

#PlayingNow #NewMusicAlert

Musical Sunday with the new #AtTheGates album 🤘

#PlayingNow #NewMusicAlert

Musical Sunday with the new #AtTheGates album 🤘

#PlayingNow #NewMusicAlert

Farewell Tompa!!!

AT THE GATES - 'The Ghost Of A Future Dead' by @atthegates_official & @centurymediarecords

#linsedunemanninen
#deathmetal
#swedishdeathmetal
#atthegates
#vinyl
#harzhikingmetalpunk
#vinyllovers
#lieblingsharz
#melodicdeathmetal

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXji95JjAMJ/?igsh=MWpqcWJyd2Nldmk2Zg==

https://www.europesays.com/at/121963/ Die Metal-Alben der Woche vom 24.04. mit At The Gates, The Amity Affliction u.a. #Alben #AT #AtTheGates #Austria #Entertainment #Music #Musik #Neuerscheinungen #Österreich #Releases #TheAmityAffliction #Unterhaltung #Veröffentlichungen

Seit 35 Jahren höre ich Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg zu. Heute seinem allerletzten Release. Macht traurig. Danke, Alter
#deathmetal #grotesque #atthegates #RIP

Seit 35 Jahren höre ich Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg zu. Heute seinem allerletzten Release. Macht traurig. Danke, Alter
#deathmetal #grotesque #atthegates #RIP

Seit 35 Jahren höre ich Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg zu. Heute seinem allerletzten Release. Macht traurig. Danke, Alter
#deathmetal #grotesque #atthegates #RIP

Seit 35 Jahren höre ich Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg zu. Heute seinem allerletzten Release. Macht traurig. Danke, Alter
#deathmetal #grotesque #atthegates #RIP

Seit 35 Jahren höre ich Tomas "Tompa" Lindberg zu. Heute seinem allerletzten Release. Macht traurig. Danke, Alter
#deathmetal #grotesque #atthegates #RIP