#personalrecords — Public Fediverse posts

You’ve likely never heard of him, but Mauricio Guerrero has been a busy man of late. I hadn’t either, until Peruvian stoner-doom band Illwind, featuring lead guitar from Guerrero, dropped their debut album in early July. Clarkkent’s positive review of The Unfolding at the End of Light drew my attention to this ‘chill record with some outstanding moments,’ many of which arrive via Guerrero’s transportive solos. Not two months later, Guerrero returns with another stoner/doom debut: Argul’s Soledad & Orgullo (‘Solitude & Pride’). In Argul, Guerrero shares guitar and vocal duties with Jose María Venturi, both of whom formed the band in 2014. Filling out the lineup are Peruvian scene veterans Jian Holmes (bass) and Alonso Guerrero (drums).1 In snatching Soledad & Orgullo from the promo bin, I was quite curious whether Argul’s debut would continue Guerrero’s hot streak or flood Peru’s stoner-doom market with middling/subpar wares.

Argul build their musical edifice on doom and stoner cornerstones, old and new. Based on Soledad & Orgullo’s cover art alone, you wouldn’t be wrong in guessing that this Peruvian quartet primarily channels early Black Sabbath. While its sylvan visual aesthetics scream ‘self-titled debut!’, Argul’s debut more closely parallels the tones and riff-work of Master of Reality. Indeed, M. Guerrero and Venturi generally keep the guitar lines dark, slow, and bluesy (“Ritual”), but they also bust out some livelier boogies that get the head boppin’ (“Hor Hodin”). The duo frequently melodicize in funerary modes (“Animal Dog”), sure to bring joy to those wallowing in sorrow at the extinction of old Pallbearer. And in their droniest moments, Argul recall Matt Pike’s minimalist axe-work in Sleep (“Engendro”). Soledad & Orgullo’s artwork perfectly portends its open, earthy music; the production is spaciously organic, and the interplay between the guitars, Holmes’s exploratory bass runs, and the backbeat drumming feels refreshingly present. You can hear minor deviations during rhythmic shifts, which is not a criticism—the album sounds like a well-curated live band.

Vocally, Argul avoid the bombast frequently found in doom and the coarseness often favored in stoner metal/rock. Instead, M. Guerrero and Venturi utilize not quite reverb-drenched ethereal lilts, frequently harmonizing with one another. This isn’t to say that Argul are peerless in how they drape voices over doom/stoner metal. Their approach reminds me of the way bands like Windhand and REZN summon ghostly atmospheres through singing, emphasizing the somber, resigned aesthetics of the genre. Soledad & Orgullo doesn’t deal out memorable hooks like the above-mentioned acts, but M. Guerrero and Venturi stitch a warm vocal blanket that’s enchanting in its own right. Other than the occasional sound clip,2 which took me out of the album’s aura, Argul have a compelling vocal duo on their hands that could be further enhanced with more attention to memorability.

Soledad & Orgullo plays as a consistently enjoyable album, though it suffers from some issues. For starters, the album can be divided into stronger/weaker cuts. Epic opener “Ritual” sits in the stronger category, itself opening with an instantly striking descent that’s harmonized to Pallbearian heights. “Hor Hodin,” a shorter track, also triumphs, developing absolutely delectable Iommian shuffles. Meanwhile, “Engendro” and closer “Animal Dog” are comparatively weaker tracks, though they aren’t bad by any means. Soledad & Orgullo can also be knocked for its occasionally overdone songcraft. While “Ritual” mostly succeeds as a long song, “Animal Dog” definitely drags at times. Nevertheless, this four-track album runs for a reasonable 31 minutes, if you don’t count the concluding bonus track. With “Kamog,” Soledad & Orgullo clocks in at 45 minutes. Yes, that’s right—the bonus track (which could be trimmed) adds a whopping 15 minutes to the runtime.3

On the whole, though, count Soledad & Orgullo as another solid stoner-doom offering from Mauricio Guerrero. He and Venturi are a talented duo that know how to dress irresistible riffs in morose guitar melodies and gossamer vocal harmonies. While Argul’s songwriting is a bit hit-and-miss, they possess a captivating sound out of the gate that bodes well for the future. Argul should be proud of this debut, which fans of doom and stoner metal should certainly sample.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: August 21st, 2026

Considering I was hired 3000 years ago by the Almighty AMG Himself to be the “power metal guy,” I sure do end up reviewing a lot of moldy death metal. Toss Norway’s Horrifier on the rotpit next as I tackle their sophomore slab of purulence, Revelations of Gore. With cover art straight from the early 90s, Horrifier regale you with tales of body horror, serial killings, and unlawful graveyard carnal knowledge. Their core sound measures in at 79.5% Autopsy worship, with 12.3% Obituary and 8.2% early Pestilence influence. That means you get hammered with old school, cesspool-ready shitfun with a heavy emphasis on scuzz, crust, and scabs. Is it newfangled? Fuck no. Is it going to stain your carpet and leave a lasting stench? Absofuckinglutely! Let’s see what’s behind the gore.

After an appropriately creepy intro, Horrifer get medieval on your ass with “Compelled to Slaughter” as evil, ominous riffs and a skronky bass set the coroner’s table for you. It’s very much in the vein of early Autopsy and Adrian Risøy’s disgusting and disturbing vocals are a dead ringer for the legendary Chris Reifert. It’s a big intestine sandwich that leaps from d-beating to slow, doomy segments, and it sounds as infectious as an Ebola ward. You’ll want a shower after to disinfect, and that’s the sign of effective death. “Human Butchery” keeps the rancid times rolling, and I swear this one could have appeared on any of the first 4 Autopsy albums. Go ahead and deny that the piece starting at 3:50 wasn’t ripped directly from Chris Reifert’s diseased brain. You can’t. It’s entertaining without reinventing any wheels, and the band’s commitment to excess and a horrific atmosphere is to be commended. When this formula clicks, it works quite well. “Body Hoarder” is an especially fun bit of unhinged death with plenty of textures and moods splattering the walls. Parts even remind me of Leprosy-era Death.

Unfortunately, the writing is a bit inconsistent as the album grinds along, with some songs feeling less essential than others. “Rejoice, Children of the Flesh” reminds me of the loopy but lovable days of early Carnivore where they lurched between thrash and bombastic doom willy-nilly, and the tempo changes don’t always work in their favor as segments drag on too long. I do love that fat, clanging N.M.E.-styled bass though! “Morbid Lust” is aggressive and angry but feels fairly generic, and it also runs past its expiration date and meanders weirdly. “The Final Oblation” is even longer and feels more bloated and overstuffed, despite cool moments. Revelations of Gore does finish strong with longest track, “Blood for Ascension,” however. It puts a vaguely Voivodian spin on a ragged d-beat and makes everything feel jarring, unsteady, and exciting. The classic Autopsy asswax and maggot garden vibe is present, but with a strange new edge. There’s even a massive doom segment that feels like classic Saint Vitus, so that’s pure Steel bait. At 38 minutes, I hesitate to say Revelations of Gore feels longer than that, but it does drag at times. The production is masterful for a caveman death slab such as this. The guitars have force, the bass is fully unleashed and everything feels dangerous and murky as fook. Kudos!

Adrian Risøy and Sander Halvorsen do a very respectable job pummeling and abrading with nasty, corrosive riffs and horror movie harmonies. They hurt when they must, and torture when they like, and there’s a creepy, unsettling vibe that flashes through the material. Erik Krokan’s bass is large, in charge, and right in your face. It thumps, twangs, and bangs all over the place and adds a delicious layer of low-end extremity. Risøy is a great death croaker and brings a repulsive and inhuman stink to the coffin orgy. He’s the kind of vocalist this style of death needs, and boy does he go all in. Last but certainly not least, Andreas Langås lays the lumber hard and mean, shifting from bedragled doom trots to d-beat gallops and straight-up blastbeatery.

Horrifier live in death metal’s infamous past and evince no sign of evolutionary tendencies. Revelations of Gore could have dropped in 1990 and been a genre touchstone. Since it drops in 2026 instead, it’s entirely olde but still well worth a trip down its greasy gutslide into the body fluids. I think Horriffier could do big things in the future. Until then, play this loudly as you carve a rare and bloody roast over a public toilet. Bon Appétit!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Websites: horrifiermetal.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/profile.php | instagram.com/horrifier_official
Releases Worldwide: August 7th, 2026

Sometimes a new band starts up and chooses a godawful name—like Illwind. I’m not just referring to associations with flatulence either—though that certainly doesn’t help. It’s just a difficult name to research, especially for a band with such a small web presence. Google will direct you to the Radiohead song, “Ill Wind,” or a 1960s psychedelic band from Boston called Ill Wind, among other surprisingly numerous use cases for the term “ill wind.” In fact, I began to have some doubts the band was real, but further research shows they do have a label (Personal Records) as well as a list of band members who have a history in Peruvian bands like Arcada, Argul, and Cobra.1 Having established this as a legitimate act with some experienced musicians, the final piece of the puzzle to solve is whether Illwind’s debut album, The Unfolding at the End of Light, is any good.

Illwind is a stoner doom outfit that creatively blends genres in some pretty groovy ways. Epic opener “Crimson Skies” gives you the first hint that things aren’t what they seem on the surface. After the song opens with the slow, plodding pace of funeral doom, vocalist Marcos Coifman’s baritone upends expectations by calling to mind the epic tones of Sorcerer and Visigoth. The funeral doom transforms into classic stoner doom with hints of Black Sabbath before ending on a series of elaborate guitar solos that have the spirit of ’70s rock acts like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the psychedelia of Pink Floyd and Blood Incantation. That The Unfolding at the End of Light ends on a cover by The Stooges, “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” tells us that Illwind doesn’t exactly have modernity in mind, and yet what they have crafted sounds fresh and sometimes exciting.

At heart, this is a work of stoner doom, with a plodding, relaxed pace and enough reverb on the guitar to give off the genre’s usual chill vibes. Illwind aims for exploration, falling securely in the school of Windhand, YOB, and Black Sabbath. They’re in no hurry, but they also don’t hold back the hooks. The guitars from Mauricio Guerrero hit all the right notes, providing distinctive stoner riffs from one song to another. And just when the tracks are about to hit their quota of stoner, he and fellow guitarist Andrés Rhor get creative with solos that transport you to another time and place like Bill and Ted stepping into a magic phone booth. It’s no hallucination if you see their solos come to life—they breathe and grow and take over a tune in a way that can be exhilarating.

How much you enjoy this depends on your level of tolerance of the stoner doom genre itself. Illwind are at their best when they go off the stoner script. The main issue is their stoner stuff can be a bit generic. This is especially true of some of the longer songs, like “God of Sleep” and the thirteen-minute “Lucifer’s Mule,” which grow repetitive. It works best in smaller doses: “Portal” and “Wanderer,” both around five minutes, provide the perfect amount of stoner riffs before breaking into the classic-sounding solos. Coifman’s voice, similarly, is good in doses, but over time his monotonous delivery adds to a feeling of stagnancy. Admittedly, though, when he opens up “Lucifer’s Mule” by singing “Tell me Lucifer” in his best impression of Ozzy, it’s a highlight of the record.

The Unfolding at the End of Light proves a good debut for a band whose members have experience in a mix of genres, from black metal to heavy metal to stoner doom. As innovative as Illwind proves to be in blending several old school genres, they’re not quite so innovative in their base genre of stoner doom. They write and play some good stuff, and with some refined songwriting, they could perfect their blend of genres or even give their stoner riffs a little more pizzazz. In the end, though, I think Illwind achieve success. This is a chill record with some outstanding moments that will have you stop and just say, “Whoa.”

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: July 3rd 2026

I did the math. I‘m only 1 or 2 days short of reaching the 10,000 kms mark this year. 😳 That’s some crazy shit! And I‘m still going to do my one full marathon. This might really be working. Gosh! #RunningGoals #applewatchultra3 #goals #PersonalRecords

Stuck in the Filter: August 2025’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

The heat persists, but now the humidity comes in full force as storm systems wreak havoc upon the coasts. I hide in my cramped closet of an office, lest I be washed out once again by an unsuspecting deluge. However, I still send my minions out into the facility, bound by duty to search for those metallic scraps on which we feast.

Fortuitously, most all of those imps I sent out came back alive, and with wares! BEHOLD!

Kenstrosity’s Galactic Gremlin

Silent Millenia // Celestial Twilight: Beyond the Crimson Veil [August 26th, 2025 – Self-Release]

Have you ever seen such a delightfully cheesy cover? Probably, but it’s been a while for me. I bought Celestial Twilight: Beyond the Crimson Veil, the second raw symphonic black metal opus from Finnish one-man act Silent Millenia, on the strength of the artwork alone. Little did I know that what lay beyond this crimson veil was some of the most fun melodic black metal this side of Moonlight Sorcery. The same low-fi roughness that personifies Old Nick’s work grounds Silent Millenia’s starbound songwriting as it traverses the universe with an energetic punch reminiscent of Emperor or Stormkeep (“Awaken the Celestial Spell,” “Daemonic Mastery”). To help differentiate Silent Millenia’s sound from that of their peers, a gothic atmosphere ensorcells much of this material to great effect, merging eerie Victorian melodies with galactic adventurism in an unlikely pair (“Enthrone the Spectral”). Swirling synths and sparkling twinkles abound as well, creating blissful moments of interest as frosty tremolos and piercing blasts take full advantage of the false sense of security those entrancing clouds of synthetic instrumentation create (“Benighted Path to Darkness Mysterium,” “Reign in Cosmic Majesty”). Simply put, Celestial Twilight is an unexpected gem of a symphonic black metal record, bursting with killer ideas and infinite levels of raw, unabashed fun. You should hear it!

Kronos’ Unexpected Unearthments

Street Sects // Dry Drunk [August 15th, 2025 – Self Release]

Dry Drunk sticks to your inner surfaces, draining down like cigarette tar along paralyzed cilia to pool in your lungs until the cells themselves foment rebellion. Once it’s in you, you feel paranoid, wretched, and alone. So it’s the proper follow-up to Street Sects’ visionary debut, End Position. Like that record, Dry Drunk plumbs the most mundane and unsavory gutters of America for a cast of protagonists that it dwells in or dispatches with a mixture of pity and disgust, with vocalist Leo Ashline narrating their violent crimes and self-hatred in a mixture of croons, shrieks, and snarls that cook the air before the speakers into the scent of booze and rotten teeth. And like that record, Shaun Ringsmuth (Glassing) dresses the sets with a fractal litter of snaps, squeals, crashes, gunshots, and grinding electronics, caked in tar and collapsing just as soon as it is swept into a structure. And like End Position, Dry Drunk is a masterpiece. The impeccable six-song stretch from “Love Makes You Fat” through “Riding the Clock” ties you to the bumper and drags you along some of the duo’s most creative side-roads, through the simmering, straightjacketed sludge of “Baker Act” to the chopped-up, smirking electronica of “Eject Button.” Swerving between addled, unintelligible agony and unforgettable anthems, Dry Drunk, like End Position before it is nothing less than the life of a junkie scraped together, heated on a spoon, and injected into your head. Once you’ve taken a hit, you will never be quite the same.

Thus Spoke’s Frightening Fragments

Defacement // Doomed [August 22nd, 2025 – Self Release]

There’s music for every vibe.1 The one Defacement fits is an exclusively extreme metal flavor of moody that is only appreciable by genre fans, made tangibly more eerie by their persistent idiosyncratic use of dark ambient interludes amidst the viciously distorted blackened death. Audiences—and reviewers—tend to disparage these electronic segments, but I’ve always felt their crackling presence increases the analog horror of it all, and rather than being a breather from the intensity, they prolong the nausea, the sense of emptiness, and the abject fearfulness of head-based trauma. This latter concept grows more metaphorical still on Doomed, where the violence is inside the mind, purpose-erasing, and emotionally-detaching. The ambience might be the most sadly beautiful so far (“Mournful,” and “Clouded” especially), and the transitions into nightmarish heaviness arguably the most fluid. And the metal is undoubtedly the most ambitious, dynamic, and magnificent of Defacement’s career, combining their most gruesome dissonance (“Portrait”) with their most bizarrely exuberant guitar melodies (“Unexplainable,” “Unrecognised”). Solos drip tangibly with (emotional) resonance (“Unexplainable,” “Absent”) and there’s not a breath or a moment of wasted space. Yes, the band’s heavier side can suffer from a nagging sense of homogeneous mass, but it remains transporting. While I can appreciate why others do not appreciate Defacement, this is the first of their outings I can truthfully say mesmerised me on first listen.

ClarkKent’s Heated Hymns

Phantom Fire // Phantom Fire [August 8th, 2025 – Edged Circle Productions]

While I waded through the murky depths of the August promo sump, Steel implored me to take the eponymous third album from Phantom Fire. “The AMG commentariat love blackened heavy metal,” he said. I disregarded his advice at my peril, and while I ended up enjoying what I grabbed, it turns out this would have been solid too. Featuring members from Enslaved, Kraków. Hellbutcher, and Aeternus, Phantom Fire play old school speed metal that harks back to the likes of Motörhead and Iron Maiden’s Killers. Thanks to healthy doses of bass and production values that allow the instruments to shine, each song is infused with energetic grooves. The music sounds fresh, crisp, and clear, from the booming drums to Eld’s “blackened” snarls. Early tracks “Eternal Void” and “All For None” show off the catchy blend of simple guitar riffs and a hoppin’ bass accompanied by energetic kit work. While placing a somewhat lengthy instrumental track in the middle of a record usually slows it down, “Fatal Attraction” turns out to be a highlight. It tells a tragic love story involving a motorcycle with nothing but instruments, an engine revving, and some police sirens. The second half of Phantom Fire gets a bit on the weirder side, turning to some stoner and psychedelia. There’s a push and pull between the stoner and Motörhead speed stuff on songs like “Malphas” and “Submersible Pt. 2,” and this blend actually works pretty well. It turns out that they aren’t phantom after all—these guys are truly fire.

Burning Witches // Inquisition [August 22nd, 2025 – Napalm Records]

With six albums in eight years, Swiss quintet Burning Witches has really been burning rubber. While such prolific output in such a short time frame generally spells trouble, Inquisition is a solid piece of heavy/power metal. Burning Witches dabbles in a mix of speedy power metal and mid-tempo heavy metal, often sounding like ’80s stalwarts Judas Priest and Def Leppard. With Laura Guldemond’s gruff voice, they produce a more weighty, less happy version of power metal than the likes of Fellowship or Frozen Crown. While the songs stick to formulaic structures, tempo shifts from song to song help keep things from growing stale. We see this variety right from the get-go, where “Soul Eater” takes a high-energy approach before moving into the more mellow “Shame.” There’s even a pretty solid ballad, “Release Me,” that grounds the back half of the record. Songs of the sort that Burning Witches write need catchy choruses, and fortunately, they deliver. “High Priestess of the Night” is a particular standout, delivering a knock-out punch in its delivery. It helps that the instrumental parts are well-executed, from crunchy riffs to subdued solos to booming blast beats. Anyone looking for a solid bit of power metal that’s not too heavy on the cheese will find this worth a listen.

Deathhammer // Crimson Dawn [August 29th, 2025 – Hells Headbangers Records]

Celebrating 20 years of blackened speed, Deathhammer drop LP number six with the kind of energy that exhausted parents dread to see in their children at bedtime. This is my first foray with the band, and I am in awe of the relentless level of manic energy they keep throughout Crimson Dawn’s 39 minutes. If science could learn how to harness their energy, we’d have an endless source of renewables. The two-piece out of Norway channels classic Slayer on crack and even has moments reminiscent of Painkiller-era Judas Priest. They play non-stop thrash cranked to 11, with persistent blast beats and some dual guitar parts that leave your head spinning from the rapid-fire directions the riffs fire off in. The heart of the mania is singer Sergeant Salsten. His crazed vocals are amazing—snarling, shouting, and shrieking in a way that took me back to the manic pitch Judge Doom could reach in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? He sings so fast that on the chorus of “Crimson Dawn,” it sounds like he says “Griffindor,” which had me searching confusedly for the Harry Potter tag. This was probably my favorite song, not just because of the Griffindor thing, but because that chorus is so catchy. Either way, it’s tough to pick a standout track because they all grip you by the throat and don’t let go. Crimson Dawn is a ton of fun and a must listen if you like your music fast.

Grin Reaper’s Bountiful Blight

Kallias // Digital Plague [August 14th, 2025 – Self Release]

Machine gun drumming, spacey synths, Morbid Angel-meets-Meshuggah riffing, Turian-esque barking and Voyager-reminiscent vocal melodies…what the fuck is going on here? The only thing more surprising than someone having the moxie to blend all these things together is how well they work in concert. Kallias doesn’t hold back on sophomore album Digital Plague, and the result is a rocket-fueled blast through forty-four minutes of eclectic, addictive prog. The mishmash of styles keeps the album fresh and unpredictable while never dipping its toes in inconsistent waters, and staccato rhythms propel listeners through eight tracks without losing steam. As with any prog metal worth its salt, Kallias brandishes technical prowess, and their cohesion belies the relatively short time they’ve been putting out music.2 The mix is well-suited to spotlight whoever needs it at a given time, whether the bass is purring (“Exogíini Kyriarchía”), the drums are being annihilated (“Pyrrhic Victory”), or a guitar solo nears Pettrucian wankery (“Phenomenal in Theory”). The end result is three-quarters of an hour filled with myriad influences that fuse into a sound all Kallias’s own, and it’s one I’ve returned to several times since discovering (also, credit to MontDoom for his stunning artwork, which helped initially draw my attention). Check it out—you’ll be sick if you avoid this one like the Plague.

Luke’s Kaleidoscopic Kicks

Giant Haze // Cosmic Mother [August 22nd, 2025 – Tonzonen Records]

Whereas many of my colleagues are bracing themselves for cooler conditions and harsh winters to come, in my neck of the woods, things are warming up. While my own wintry August filter proved scarce, there was one particular summery gem to lift moods with burly riffs and fat stoner grooves. Unheralded German act Giant Haze seemingly emerged out of nowhere during a random Bandcamp deep dive. Debut LP Cosmic Mother channels the good old days of ’90s-inspired desert rock, featuring grungy, doomy vibes via a groovy batch of riff-centric, hard-rocking and uplifting jams, evoking the nostalgic spirit of Kyuss, Fu Manchu, Clutch and perhaps even a dash of Danzig. Punching out raucous, groove-soaked hard rockers with skyscraping hooks (“Geographic Gardens Suck,” “King of Tomorrow,” “Panic to Ride”), summery, funk–psych jams (“Sunrise”), and bluesy, punk-infused fireballs (“Crank in Public,” “Shrink Age”) Giant Haze get a lot of things right on this assured debut. The songwriting is deceptively diverse and punchy, bolstered by solid production, tight musicianship, and the swaggering, ever so slightly goofy vocal charms and powerful hooks of frontman Christoph Wollmann. Inevitably, a few rough spots appear, but overall Cosmic Mother showcases oodles of budding potential, an impactful delivery, cheeky sense of humor, and infectious, feel-good songcraft.

Spicie Forrest’s Foraged Fruit

Bask // The Turning [August 22nd, 2025 – Season of Mist]

Last seen in 2019, Bask returns with fourth LP, The Turning, a concept album following The Rider as she and The Traveler traverse the stars. They still peddle the unique blend of stoner rock and Americana Kenstrosity reviewed favorably in 2019, but 2025 sees them looking up for inspiration. The Turning incorporates a distinct cosmic bent (“The Traveler,” “The Turning”) and post-rock structures (“Dig My Heels,” “Unwound”). These augmentations to Bask’s core sound are enhanced by the masterful pedal steel of new official member Jed Willis. Whether floating through the firmament or tilling earthly pastures, Willis creates textures both fresh and intensely nostalgic. The infinite shifting vistas of The Turning’s front half coalesce into singular timeless visions on the back half, supporting its conceptual nature in both content and form. Like a combination of Huntsmen and Somali Yacht Club, Bask weaves riffs and melodies heard across the plains and through the void above with an unguarded authenticity felt in your soul.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Disseminating Discharge

Plasmodulated // An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell [August 1st, 2025 – Personal Records]

Stinky, sticky, slimy—all adjectives that define the ideal death metal platter. Myk Colby has been trying to chase this perfect balance in a reverb-wonky package with projects like the d-beaten Hot Graves and extra hazy Wharflurch, but vile death metal balance is hard to achieve. However, An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell contains a recklessly pinched Demilichian riffage, classic piercing whammy bombs, and spook-minded synth ambience that places Plasmodulated with an odor more pungent than its peers. With an infected ear that festers equally with doom-loaded, Incantation-indebted drags (“Gelatinous Mutation ov Brewed Origin,” “Trapped in the Plasmovoid”) and Voivod-on-jenkem cutaways to foul-throated extravagence (“The Final Fuckening”). An air of intelligent tempo design keeps An Ocean from never feeling trapped in a maze of its own fumes, with Colby’s lush and bubbling synth design seguing tumbles into hammering deathly tremolo runs (“Such Rapid Sphacelation”) and Celtic Frosted riff tumbles (“Drowning in Sputum”) alike, all before swirling about his own tattered, trailing vocal sputters. Steady but slippery, elegant yet effluvial, An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell provides the necessary noxious pressure to corrode death metal-loving denizens into pure gloops of stained-denim pit worship. Delivered as labeled, Plasmodulated earns its hazardous declaration. We here at AMG are not liable for any OSHA violations that occur as a result of Plasmodulated consumption on the job, though.

#2025 #Aeternus #AmericanMetal #Americana #AnOceanOvPutridStinkyVileDisgustingHell #Aug25 #Bask #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BurningWitches #CelestialTwilightBeyondTheCrimsonVeil #CelticFrost #Clutch #CosmicMother #CrimsonDawn #Danzig #DarkAmbient #DeathMetal #Deathhammer #DefLeppard #Defacement #Demilich #DigitalPlague #Doomed #DryDrunk #DutchMetal #EdgedCircleProductions #Emperor #Enslaved #Fellship #FinnishMetal #FrozenCrown #FuManchu #GermanMetal #GiantHaze #Glassing #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #Hellbutcher #HellsHeadbangersRecords #HotGraves #Huntsmen #Incantation #Inquisition #IronMaiden #JudasPriest #Kallias #Kraków #Kyuss #MelodicBlackMetal #Meshuggah #MoonlightSorcery #MorbidAngel #Motörhead #NapalmRecords #NorwegianMetal #OldNick #PersonalRecords #PhantomFire #Plasmodulated #PowerMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #SilentMillenia #Slayer #Sludge #SludgeMetal #SomaliYachtClub #SpeedMetal #StonerRock #Stormkeep #StreetSects #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2025 #SwissMetal #SymphonicBlackMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheTurning #TonzonenRecords #Turian #Voivod #Voyager #Wharflurch

Infernal Thorns – Christus Venari Review

By Kenstrosity

You may ask if the world needs yet another Satan-worshipping, demon-loving, God-forsaking metal band. The rational answer is probably a resounding no. And normally, I would agree. But I recognize that moving away from those themes is a lot to ask of the metalverse. Chilean thrashy death metal imps Infernal Thorns certainly aren’t inclined to stop reveling in hellish delights just because it’s a stereotype. They’ve been doing it since 2003, after all, and doing it quite well. So well, in fact, that after spending two weeks with third tome Christus Venari, I hope they never listen to me and keep churning out killer tunes from the nine circles for all eternity.

Evoking the same raucous debauchery that made icons like Goatwhore famous, Infernal Thorns prioritize riffs, fun, and blistering energy above all else on Christus Venari. A veritable smorgasbord of thrashy outbursts, squealing solos, demonic growls and banshee rasps, and pummeling percussion awaits listeners as they venture through 38 minutes of all-out destruction. With full-bodied tones, serrated distortion, and a clear—but not overly polished—mix, Christus Venari is as pleasing to the ear as it is threatening to the spine. It’s a classic, no-nonsense approach to scorched death metal that honors what made the genre the phenomenon it is today, but with a little bit of infernal magic to keep it fresh and exciting.

Christus Venari is a record capable of overriding the critical thinking process, replacing all higher functions with mindless headbanging and stank-face grimacing. It does this primarily by invoking an endless horde of memorable motifs, thoughtful transitions, and risky songwriting choices that pay dividends. From the outset of pounding opener “Death Chants” to the relentless call and response of “Implore Me,” Infernal Thorns embody the sounds of hell with a salacious enthusiasm sure to infect the minds of millions. This is where those memorable motifs and buttery transitions shine best, especially highlighted by the tremolo-spiced flourish of “Christ Distressed,” the Incantation-ized stomp of “Black Flesh,” the charred one-two knockout of “Finis Incipiet” and “Officiate Lapidation,” and the regal brutality of “Desde El Infierno.” When possessed, “Profane the Mass” comes close to its final throes, Infernal Thorns throw a daring vocal trick into the mix. Modulating death growls into an arpeggiated melody—complete with a pitch shift three repetitions in—Infernal Thorns creates an outright terrifying effect. Another big swing, epic eight-minute closer “Illuminated by the Flames” forges a spine-tingling guitar melody that persists in various forms throughout, drilling its form into my brain for an age, but convincing me of its worth with remarkable consistency.

Considering every song earned mention in a paragraph dedicated to Christus Venari’s virtues, it’s natural to wonder, “What are its sins?” The truth is, Infernal Thorns crafted this record so well that most of its sins are minor, and all are disguised by the sheer amount of fun and the endless vitality it exudes. With time and very focused listens, I found that as successful as closer “Illuminated by the Flames” is, it’s still about two minutes too long with most of its bloat manifesting in an overly extended fade out. Additionally, albeit strong tracks like “Black Flesh” and “Death Chants” are liable to recall influences more strongly than they are to strike a novel chord. Put another way, Infernal Thorns rely on established tropes and beloved genre conventions to hook listeners in with some of these numbers. Consequently, there’s less room to showcase more of the creative songwriting choices that make the most compelling material here (“Profane the Mass,” for example) stand out.

These are but minor quibbles. In sum, Christus Venari is a high-energy, high-reward record, blazing the sky with killer songwriting. It’s been difficult to put down, and with each new spin, I grow fonder of it. It’s not the most creative example of the style, nor will it challenge the status quo of hell-centric death metal. However, it’s the most fun I’ve had with the subject in this style since Nexorum’s incredible Death Unchained, and that’s high praise. Miss this at your own peril.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Personal Records
Websites: infernalthorns.bandcamp.com | infernalthorns.com
Releases Worldwide: September 12th, 2025

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Supposing I get at least one stream in the next 18 hours or so, I will hit another cool milestone today: 100 days in a row with at least one stream! So literally the next person who clicks play will set that record for me.

https://etherdiver.bandcamp.com

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