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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

Stuck in the Filter: October 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Never fear, the blog’s penchant for deep lateness punctuality persists! It is likely the new year already by the time you see this post, but we’re taking a step back. Way back, into October. I was deep in the shit then, and therefore couldn’t do anything blog-related. And yet, my minions, those very laborers for whom I provide absolutely no compensation whatsoever, toiled dutifully in the metallic dinge that is our Filter. Unforgiving though those environs undoubtedly are, they scraped and scoured until, at long last, small shards of precious ore glimmered to the surface.

These glimmers are the same which you witness before you. Some are big, some are small. Some are short, some are tall. But all are worthy. Behold!

Kenstrosity’s Belated Bombardments

Cosmic Putrefaction // Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains [October 4th, 2024 – Profound Lore Records]

I was originally slated to take over reviewing duties for Cosmic Putrefaction this year, as Thus Spoke had a prior commitment and needed a buddy to step in. Unfortunately, I was rendered useless by a force of nature for a while, so I had to let go of several items of interest. But I couldn’t let 2024 go by without saying something! Entitled Emeral Fires atop the Farewell Mountains, Cosmic Putrefaction’s fourth represents one of the smoothest, most ethereal interpretations of weird, dissonant death metal. The classic Cosmic Putrefaction riffsets under an auroric sky remain, as evidenced by ripping examples “[Entering the Vortex Temporum] – Pre-mortem Phosphenes” and “Swirling Madness, Supernal Ordeal,” but there lurks within a monstrous technical death metal creature who rabidly chases the atmospheric spirits of olde (“I Should Great the Inexorable Darkness,” “Eudaemonist Withdrawal”). While in lesser hands these distinct aesthetics would undoubtedly clash on a dissonant platform such as this, Cosmic Putrefaction’s particular application of sound and style coalesces in devastating beauty and relentless purpose (“Hallways Engraved in Aether,” “Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains”). Were it not for some instances wherein, for the first time ever, Cosmic Putrefaction threatens to self-plagiarize their own material (“Eudaemonist Withdrawal”), I would likely consider Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains for year-end list status.

Feral // To Usurp the Thrones [October 18th, 2024 – Transcending Obscurity Records]

Another one of my charges that I unfortunately had to put down against my will, Swedish death metal fiends Feral’s fourth salvo To Usurp the Thrones deserves a spotlight here. Where Flesh for Funerals Eternal impressed me as my introduction to the band and, arguably, my introduction to modern buzzsaw Swedeath, To Usurp the Thrones impresses me as a singularly vicious record in the style. Faster, meaner, more varied, and longer than its predecessor, Thrones offers the punk-tinged, thrashy death riffs you know and love, with bluesy touches reminiscent of Entombed’s Wolverine Blues adding a bit of drunken swagger to the affair (“Vile Malediction,” “Phantoms of Iniquity,” “Into the Ashes of History”). Absolute rippers like “To Drain the World of Light,” “Deformed Mentality,” “Decimated,” and “Soaked in Blood” live up to the band’s moniker, rabid and relentless in their assault. In many ways, Thrones evokes the same bloodsoaked sense of fun that Helslave’s From the Sulphur Depths conjured, but it’s angrier, more unhinged (“Spirits Without Rest,” “Stripped of Flesh”). Consequently, Thrones stands out as one of the more fun records of its ilk to come out this year. Don’t miss it!

Sun Worship // Upon the Hills of Divination [October 31st, 2024 – Vendetta Records]

Back in 2020, our dear Roquentin offered some damn fine words of praise for Germany’s Sun Worship and their third blackened blade, Emanations of Desolation. It’s been six years since that record dropped, and Upon the Hills of Divination picks up right where Emanations left off. That is to say, absolutely slimy, post-metal-tinged riffs bolstered by dense layers of warm tremolos and mid-frequency roars. Opener “Within the Machine” offers a concrete encapsulation of what to expect: bits and pieces of Hulder, Gaerea, and Vorga melding together into a compelling concoction of hypnotic black metal. Using the long form to their utmost advantage, Sun Worship craft immersive soundscapes liable to scald the flesh just as quickly as they seduce the senses, leaving me as a brainwashed minion doing a twisted mystic’s bidding unconditionally (“Serpent Nebula,” “Covenant”). Yet, there roils a sense of urgency in these songs, despite many of them occupying a mid-paced cadence, which unveils a bleeding heart willingly wrenched from Sun Worship’s body (“Fractal Entity,” the title track, and “Stormbringer”). This is what sets it apart from its contemporaries, and what makes it worthy of mention. Why it’s gotten so little attention escapes me. It is with the intent of rectifying that condition that I pen this woefully insufficient segment.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Duty Free Rifftrocity

Extorted // Cognitive Dissonance [October 16th, 2024 – Self Release]

You don’t need to read this review to know that the Kiwis of Extorted plays pit-whipping death/thrash. Though not adorned with other obvious symbols, like Vietnam War paraphernalia or crushed beer cans, the Ed Repka-penned brain-ripped head figure screams “no thoughts only riff” all the same. With snares set to pow and crashes set to kshhh, Cognitive Dissonance finds low resistance to accelerating early Death-indebted refrains. Vocalist Joel Clark even plays as a dead ringer for pre-Human Schuldiner or Van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence) as the torture in many lines grows (on “Infected” and “Ghastly Creatures” in particular). And in a continued tour of Van Drunen-associated sounds, Extorted’s ability to find a push-and-pull cadence that twists the fury of thrash with the cutting drag of death hits that hard-to-nail early Pestilence pocket with studied flair (“Deception,” “Limits of Reality”). Though a considerable amount of the Extorted identity rests in ideas borrowed and reinterpreted, a modern tonal canvas gives Cognitive Dissonance’s rhythms a punchy and balanced low-end weight that doesn’t always present itself in the world of old. Couple that with hooks that reach far beyond the limits of pure homage (“Transformation of Dreams,” “Violence”), and it’s easy to plow through the thirty minutes of tasteful harmonies, bending solos, and spit-stained lamentations that Extorted offers with their powerful debut.

Bríi // Camaradagem Póstuma [October 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With Camaradagem Póstuma we enter the hazy, folky world of Caio Lemos’ unique vision of what experimental electronic music can be colored by the underpinnings of atmospheric black metal and jazz fusion. Using terraced melodies like baroque music of old and distant breakbeats like the Bong-Ra of recent yesteryears, Brazil’s Bríi represents one man’s highly specific melding that rarely occurs in this space. The guitar lines that do exist play out as textural, slow-developing passages. On tracks “Aparecidos” and “Baile Fantasma” this looping and hypnotic pattern shuffle resembles ambient Pat Metheny or King Crimson colors, the kind where finding the end of nylon pluck into a weaving, high-frequency synth patch feels not impossible but unnecessary. And on the more metallic side of things, Lemos cranks programmed blasts that carry his tortured, panning, and shrouded wails as a guide for the melodic evolution of each track, much in the same way a warping bass line would in a progressive house track. But maintaining the tempo of classic drum and bass, Camaradagem Póstuma wisps away in its atmosphere, coming back to a driving rhythm either via pummeling double kick or glitching break. Despite the hard, danceable pulse that tracks “Enlutados” and “Entre Mundos” boast, Bríi does not feel built for the kvlt klvbs of this world, leaning on a gated, lo-fi aesthetic that makes for an ideal drift away on closed cans, much like the equally idiosyncratic Wist album from earlier this year. And similarly, Camaradagem Póstuma sits in an outsider world of enjoyment. But if any of this sounds like your jam, prepare to get addicted to Bríi.

Thus Spoke’s Rotten Remnants

Livløs // The Crescent King [October 4th, 2024 – Noctum Productions]

Livløs are one of those bands that deserves far more recognition than they receive. With LP three, The Crescent King, they might finally see it. Their punchy intriguing infusion of Swedish and US melodic death metal—though the band themselves hail from Denmark—has a pleasing melancholia and satisfying bite. Here in particular, there’s more than a passing resemblance to Hath, to Cognizance, and to In Mourning. Stomping grooves (“Maelstrom,” “Usurpers”) slide in between blitzes of tripping gallops, and electrifying fretwork (“Orbit Weaver,” “Scourge of the Stars”). Mournful, compelling melodies woven into this technical tapestry—some highlights being the title track, “Harvest,” and “Endless Majesty”—turn already good melodeath into great melodeath; melodeath that’s majestic and powerful, without ever feeling overblown. With its relentless, groovy dynamism, the crisp, spacious production seals the deal for total immersion. If this is your first time hearing about Livløs, you’re in for a treat.

Sordide // Ainsi finit le jour [October 25th, 2024 – Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions]

And So Ends the Day, whilst another begins where I rediscover Sordide. I know not how I forgot their existence despite the impression that 2021’s Les Idées Blanches made upon me, yet all I could recall was the disturbingly simple, melty art.1 Ainsi Finit le Jour arrives with a hefty dose (53 minutes no less) of punky, dissonant black metal that’s even rawer and more pissed-off than their usual fare. “Des feux plus forts,” “La poesie du caniveau,” and the title track stand out as the most vicious, near-first-wave cuts the trio have ever laid down, with manic, group wails, and chaotic, jangling percussion. But as is so often the case with Sordide, perhaps the truest brutality comes in the slower discordant crawls of “Sous Vivre,” “Tout est a la mort,” and the particularly unsettling “La beauté du desastre,” whose creeping, half-tuneful teasing and turns to eerie spaciousness get right under your skin. It is arguably a little too long for its own good, given its intensity, but its impressiveness does mean that, this time, Sordide won’t be forgotten.

Dear Hollow’s Droll Hashals

Annihilist // Reform [October 18th, 2024 – Self Release]

What Melbourne’s Annihilist does with flamboyant flare and reckless abandon is blur the lines of its core stylistic choices. One moment it’s chugging away like a deathcore band, the next it’s dripping away with a groove metal swagger, ope, now it’s on its way to Hot Topic. All we know is that all its members attack with a chameleonic intensity and otherworldly technicality that’s hard to pin down. An insane level of technicality is the thread that courses throughout the entirety of this debut, recalling Within the Ruins or The Human Abstract in its stuttering rhythms and flailing arpeggios. From catchy leads and punishing rhythms (“The Upsend,” “Guillotine”), bouncy breakdowns, clean choruses, and wild gang vocals (“Blood”), djenty guitar seizures (“Virus,” “Better Off”) to full-on groove (“N.M.E.,” “The Host”), the likes of Lamb of God, early Architects, Born of Osiris, and Children of Bodom are conjured. Lyrics of hardcore punk’s signature anarchy and societal distrust collide with an instrumental palette of melodeath and the more technical kin of metalcore and deathcore, groove metal, and hardcore. As such, the album is complicated, episodic, and unpredictable, with only its wild technicality connecting its fragmented bits – keeping Reform from achieving the greatness that the band is so capable of. As it stands, though, Annihilist offers an insanely fun, everchanging, and unhinged roller coaster of -core proportions – a roller -corester, if you will.

Under Alekhines Gun

Theurgy // Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence [October 17th, 2024 – New Standard Elite]

In a year where slam and brutal death have already had an atypically high-quality output, international outfit Theurgy have come with an RKO out of nowhere to shatter whatever remains of your cerebral cortex. Channeling the flamboyancy of old Analepsy with the snare abuse and neanderthalic glee of Epicardiectomy, Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence wastes no time severing vertebrae and reducing eardrums to paste. Don’t mistake this for a brainless, caveman assault, however. Peppered between the hammiest of hammers are tech flourishes pulled straight from Dingir era Rings of Saturn, adding an unexpected technical edge to the blunt force trauma. The production manages to pair these two disparaging elements with lethal efficiency. Is it the techiest slam album, or the wettest, greasiest tech album? Did I mention there’s a super moldy cover of Devourment‘s “Molesting the Decapitated”? It slots right into the albums flow without feeling like a tacked-on bonus track, highlighting Theurgy’s commitment to the homicidal odes of brutality. Throw in a vocal performance that makes Angel Ochoa (Abominable Putridity) sound like Anders Fridén (In Flames), and you’re left with one last lethal assault to round out the year. Dive in and give your luminescence something to cry about.

GardensTale’s Great Glacier

Ghosts of Glaciers // Eternal [October 25th, 2024 – Translation Loss Records]

Ghosts of Glaciers’s last release, The Greatest Burden, was a masterclass of post-metal flow and has become a mainstay in my instrumental metal collection since my review in 2019. Dropping in tandem with several other high-profile releases, though, I could not give its follow-up the kind of attention it deserves. And make no mistake, it absolutely deserves that attention. The opening duo, “The Vast Expanse” and “Sunken Chamber,” measure up fully to The Greatest Burden, though it takes a few spins for that to become clear. Both use repetitive patterns more than before, but closer listens reveal how subtle variations and evolution of each cycle build gradual tension, so the release becomes all the more satisfying. I’m a little more ambivalent on the back half of Eternal, though. “Leviathan” packs a bigger punch than more of the band’s material, it lacks the swirling and sweeping currents that pull me under and demand full and uninterrupted plays every time. Closer “Regeneratio Aeterna” is a pretty but rather demure piece that lasts a bit longer than it should have. But despite these reservations, the great material outstrips the merely good, and Eternal is a worthwhile addition to any instrumental metal collection.

#AbominablePutridity #AinsiFinitLeJour #AmericanMetal #Analepsy #Annihilist #Architects #Asphyx #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #BongRa #BornOfOsiris #BrazilianMetal #Bríi #BrutalDeathMetal #CamaradagemPóstuma #ChildrenOfBodom #CognitiveDissonance #Cognizance #CosmicPutrefaction #Death #DeathMetal #DeathThrash #Deathcore #Devourment #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Electronic #EmanationsOfUnconsciousLuminescence #EmeralFiresAtopTheFarewellMountains #Entombed #Epicardiectomy #Eternal #ExperimentalMetal #Extorted #Feral #FrenchMetal #Gaerea #GermanMetal #GhostsOfGlaciers #GrooveMetal #Hardcore #HardcorePunk #Hath #Helslave #Hulder #InFlames #InMourning #InternationalMetal #ItalianMetal #KingCrimson #LambOfGod #LesActeursDeLOmbreProductions #Livløs #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #NewStandardElite #NewZealandMetal #NoctumProductions #OSDM #PatMetheny #Pestilence #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #ProfoundLoreRecords #Reform #RingsOfSaturn #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #Slam #Sordide #SunWorship #SwedishMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheCrescentKing #TheHumanAbstract #Theurgy #ThrashMetal #ToUsurpTheThrones #TranscendingObscurityRecords #TranslationLossRecords #UponTheHillsOfDivination #VendettaRecords #VertebraAtlantis #Vorga #Wist #WithinTheRuins

Stuck in the Filter: October 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Never fear, the blog’s penchant for deep lateness punctuality persists! It is likely the new year already by the time you see this post, but we’re taking a step back. Way back, into October. I was deep in the shit then, and therefore couldn’t do anything blog-related. And yet, my minions, those very laborers for whom I provide absolutely no compensation whatsoever, toiled dutifully in the metallic dinge that is our Filter. Unforgiving though those environs undoubtedly are, they scraped and scoured until, at long last, small shards of precious ore glimmered to the surface.

These glimmers are the same which you witness before you. Some are big, some are small. Some are short, some are tall. But all are worthy. Behold!

Kenstrosity’s Belated Bombardments

Cosmic Putrefaction // Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains [October 4th, 2024 – Profound Lore Records]

I was originally slated to take over reviewing duties for Cosmic Putrefaction this year, as Thus Spoke had a prior commitment and needed a buddy to step in. Unfortunately, I was rendered useless by a force of nature for a while, so I had to let go of several items of interest. But I couldn’t let 2024 go by without saying something! Entitled Emeral Fires atop the Farewell Mountains, Cosmic Putrefaction’s fourth represents one of the smoothest, most ethereal interpretations of weird, dissonant death metal. The classic Cosmic Putrefaction riffsets under an auroric sky remain, as evidenced by ripping examples “[Entering the Vortex Temporum] – Pre-mortem Phosphenes” and “Swirling Madness, Supernal Ordeal,” but there lurks within a monstrous technical death metal creature who rabidly chases the atmospheric spirits of olde (“I Should Great the Inexorable Darkness,” “Eudaemonist Withdrawal”). While in lesser hands these distinct aesthetics would undoubtedly clash on a dissonant platform such as this, Cosmic Putrefaction’s particular application of sound and style coalesces in devastating beauty and relentless purpose (“Hallways Engraved in Aether,” “Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains”). Were it not for some instances wherein, for the first time ever, Cosmic Putrefaction threatens to self-plagiarize their own material (“Eudaemonist Withdrawal”), I would likely consider Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains for year-end list status.

Feral // To Usurp the Thrones [October 18th, 2024 – Transcending Obscurity Records]

Another one of my charges that I unfortunately had to put down against my will, Swedish death metal fiends Feral’s fourth salvo To Usurp the Thrones deserves a spotlight here. Where Flesh for Funerals Eternal impressed me as my introduction to the band and, arguably, my introduction to modern buzzsaw Swedeath, To Usurp the Thrones impresses me as a singularly vicious record in the style. Faster, meaner, more varied, and longer than its predecessor, Thrones offers the punk-tinged, thrashy death riffs you know and love, with bluesy touches reminiscent of Entombed’s Wolverine Blues adding a bit of drunken swagger to the affair (“Vile Malediction,” “Phantoms of Iniquity,” “Into the Ashes of History”). Absolute rippers like “To Drain the World of Light,” “Deformed Mentality,” “Decimated,” and “Soaked in Blood” live up to the band’s moniker, rabid and relentless in their assault. In many ways, Thrones evokes the same bloodsoaked sense of fun that Helslave’s From the Sulphur Depths conjured, but it’s angrier, more unhinged (“Spirits Without Rest,” “Stripped of Flesh”). Consequently, Thrones stands out as one of the more fun records of its ilk to come out this year. Don’t miss it!

Sun Worship // Upon the Hills of Divination [October 31st, 2024 – Vendetta Records]

Back in 2020, our dear Roquentin offered some damn fine words of praise for Germany’s Sun Worship and their third blackened blade, Emanations of Desolation. It’s been six years since that record dropped, and Upon the Hills of Divination picks up right where Emanations left off. That is to say, absolutely slimy, post-metal-tinged riffs bolstered by dense layers of warm tremolos and mid-frequency roars. Opener “Within the Machine” offers a concrete encapsulation of what to expect: bits and pieces of Hulder, Gaerea, and Vorga melding together into a compelling concoction of hypnotic black metal. Using the long form to their utmost advantage, Sun Worship craft immersive soundscapes liable to scald the flesh just as quickly as they seduce the senses, leaving me as a brainwashed minion doing a twisted mystic’s bidding unconditionally (“Serpent Nebula,” “Covenant”). Yet, there roils a sense of urgency in these songs, despite many of them occupying a mid-paced cadence, which unveils a bleeding heart willingly wrenched from Sun Worship’s body (“Fractal Entity,” the title track, and “Stormbringer”). This is what sets it apart from its contemporaries, and what makes it worthy of mention. Why it’s gotten so little attention escapes me. It is with the intent of rectifying that condition that I pen this woefully insufficient segment.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Duty Free Rifftrocity

Extorted // Cognitive Dissonance [October 16th, 2024 – Self Release]

You don’t need to read this review to know that the Kiwis of Extorted plays pit-whipping death/thrash. Though not adorned with other obvious symbols, like Vietnam War paraphernalia or crushed beer cans, the Ed Repka-penned brain-ripped head figure screams “no thoughts only riff” all the same. With snares set to pow and crashes set to kshhh, Cognitive Dissonance finds low resistance to accelerating early Death-indebted refrains. Vocalist Joel Clark even plays as a dead ringer for pre-Human Schuldiner or Van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence) as the torture in many lines grows (on “Infected” and “Ghastly Creatures” in particular). And in a continued tour of Van Drunen-associated sounds, Extorted’s ability to find a push-and-pull cadence that twists the fury of thrash with the cutting drag of death hits that hard-to-nail early Pestilence pocket with studied flair (“Deception,” “Limits of Reality”). Though a considerable amount of the Extorted identity rests in ideas borrowed and reinterpreted, a modern tonal canvas gives Cognitive Dissonance’s rhythms a punchy and balanced low-end weight that doesn’t always present itself in the world of old. Couple that with hooks that reach far beyond the limits of pure homage (“Transformation of Dreams,” “Violence”), and it’s easy to plow through the thirty minutes of tasteful harmonies, bending solos, and spit-stained lamentations that Extorted offers with their powerful debut.

Bríi // Camaradagem Póstuma [October 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With Camaradagem Póstuma we enter the hazy, folky world of Caio Lemos’ unique vision of what experimental electronic music can be colored by the underpinnings of atmospheric black metal and jazz fusion. Using terraced melodies like baroque music of old and distant breakbeats like the Bong-Ra of recent yesteryears, Brazil’s Bríi represents one man’s highly specific melding that rarely occurs in this space. The guitar lines that do exist play out as textural, slow-developing passages. On tracks “Aparecidos” and “Baile Fantasma” this looping and hypnotic pattern shuffle resembles ambient Pat Metheny or King Crimson colors, the kind where finding the end of nylon pluck into a weaving, high-frequency synth patch feels not impossible but unnecessary. And on the more metallic side of things, Lemos cranks programmed blasts that carry his tortured, panning, and shrouded wails as a guide for the melodic evolution of each track, much in the same way a warping bass line would in a progressive house track. But maintaining the tempo of classic drum and bass, Camaradagem Póstuma wisps away in its atmosphere, coming back to a driving rhythm either via pummeling double kick or glitching break. Despite the hard, danceable pulse that tracks “Enlutados” and “Entre Mundos” boast, Bríi does not feel built for the kvlt klvbs of this world, leaning on a gated, lo-fi aesthetic that makes for an ideal drift away on closed cans, much like the equally idiosyncratic Wist album from earlier this year. And similarly, Camaradagem Póstuma sits in an outsider world of enjoyment. But if any of this sounds like your jam, prepare to get addicted to Bríi.

Thus Spoke’s Rotten Remnants

Livløs // The Crescent King [October 4th, 2024 – Noctum Productions]

Livløs are one of those bands that deserves far more recognition than they receive. With LP three, The Crescent King, they might finally see it. Their punchy intriguing infusion of Swedish and US melodic death metal—though the band themselves hail from Denmark—has a pleasing melancholia and satisfying bite. Here in particular, there’s more than a passing resemblance to Hath, to Cognizance, and to In Mourning. Stomping grooves (“Maelstrom,” “Usurpers”) slide in between blitzes of tripping gallops, and electrifying fretwork (“Orbit Weaver,” “Scourge of the Stars”). Mournful, compelling melodies woven into this technical tapestry—some highlights being the title track, “Harvest,” and “Endless Majesty”—turn already good melodeath into great melodeath; melodeath that’s majestic and powerful, without ever feeling overblown. With its relentless, groovy dynamism, the crisp, spacious production seals the deal for total immersion. If this is your first time hearing about Livløs, you’re in for a treat.

Sordide // Ainsi finit le jour [October 25th, 2024 – Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions]

And So Ends the Day, whilst another begins where I rediscover Sordide. I know not how I forgot their existence despite the impression that 2021’s Les Idées Blanches made upon me, yet all I could recall was the disturbingly simple, melty art.1 Ainsi Finit le Jour arrives with a hefty dose (53 minutes no less) of punky, dissonant black metal that’s even rawer and more pissed-off than their usual fare. “Des feux plus forts,” “La poesie du caniveau,” and the title track stand out as the most vicious, near-first-wave cuts the trio have ever laid down, with manic, group wails, and chaotic, jangling percussion. But as is so often the case with Sordide, perhaps the truest brutality comes in the slower discordant crawls of “Sous Vivre,” “Tout est a la mort,” and the particularly unsettling “La beauté du desastre,” whose creeping, half-tuneful teasing and turns to eerie spaciousness get right under your skin. It is arguably a little too long for its own good, given its intensity, but its impressiveness does mean that, this time, Sordide won’t be forgotten.

Dear Hollow’s Droll Hashals

Annihilist // Reform [October 18th, 2024 – Self Release]

What Melbourne’s Annihilist does with flamboyant flare and reckless abandon is blur the lines of its core stylistic choices. One moment it’s chugging away like a deathcore band, the next it’s dripping away with a groove metal swagger, ope, now it’s on its way to Hot Topic. All we know is that all its members attack with a chameleonic intensity and otherworldly technicality that’s hard to pin down. An insane level of technicality is the thread that courses throughout the entirety of this debut, recalling Within the Ruins or The Human Abstract in its stuttering rhythms and flailing arpeggios. From catchy leads and punishing rhythms (“The Upsend,” “Guillotine”), bouncy breakdowns, clean choruses, and wild gang vocals (“Blood”), djenty guitar seizures (“Virus,” “Better Off”) to full-on groove (“N.M.E.,” “The Host”), the likes of Lamb of God, early Architects, Born of Osiris, and Children of Bodom are conjured. Lyrics of hardcore punk’s signature anarchy and societal distrust collide with an instrumental palette of melodeath and the more technical kin of metalcore and deathcore, groove metal, and hardcore. As such, the album is complicated, episodic, and unpredictable, with only its wild technicality connecting its fragmented bits – keeping Reform from achieving the greatness that the band is so capable of. As it stands, though, Annihilist offers an insanely fun, everchanging, and unhinged roller coaster of -core proportions – a roller -corester, if you will.

Under Alekhines Gun

Theurgy // Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence [October 17th, 2024 – New Standard Elite]

In a year where slam and brutal death have already had an atypically high-quality output, international outfit Theurgy have come with an RKO out of nowhere to shatter whatever remains of your cerebral cortex. Channeling the flamboyancy of old Analepsy with the snare abuse and neanderthalic glee of Epicardiectomy, Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence wastes no time severing vertebrae and reducing eardrums to paste. Don’t mistake this for a brainless, caveman assault, however. Peppered between the hammiest of hammers are tech flourishes pulled straight from Dingir era Rings of Saturn, adding an unexpected technical edge to the blunt force trauma. The production manages to pair these two disparaging elements with lethal efficiency. Is it the techiest slam album, or the wettest, greasiest tech album? Did I mention there’s a super moldy cover of Devourment‘s “Molesting the Decapitated”? It slots right into the albums flow without feeling like a tacked-on bonus track, highlighting Theurgy’s commitment to the homicidal odes of brutality. Throw in a vocal performance that makes Angel Ochoa (Abominable Putridity) sound like Anders Fridén (In Flames), and you’re left with one last lethal assault to round out the year. Dive in and give your luminescence something to cry about.

GardensTale’s Great Glacier

Ghosts of Glaciers // Eternal [October 25th, 2024 – Translation Loss Records]

Ghosts of Glaciers’s last release, The Greatest Burden, was a masterclass of post-metal flow and has become a mainstay in my instrumental metal collection since my review in 2019. Dropping in tandem with several other high-profile releases, though, I could not give its follow-up the kind of attention it deserves. And make no mistake, it absolutely deserves that attention. The opening duo, “The Vast Expanse” and “Sunken Chamber,” measure up fully to The Greatest Burden, though it takes a few spins for that to become clear. Both use repetitive patterns more than before, but closer listens reveal how subtle variations and evolution of each cycle build gradual tension, so the release becomes all the more satisfying. I’m a little more ambivalent on the back half of Eternal, though. “Leviathan” packs a bigger punch than more of the band’s material, it lacks the swirling and sweeping currents that pull me under and demand full and uninterrupted plays every time. Closer “Regeneratio Aeterna” is a pretty but rather demure piece that lasts a bit longer than it should have. But despite these reservations, the great material outstrips the merely good, and Eternal is a worthwhile addition to any instrumental metal collection.

#AbominablePutridity #AinsiFinitLeJour #AmericanMetal #Analepsy #Annihilist #Architects #Asphyx #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #BlackMetal #BongRa #BornOfOsiris #BrazilianMetal #Bríi #BrutalDeathMetal #CamaradagemPóstuma #ChildrenOfBodom #CognitiveDissonance #Cognizance #CosmicPutrefaction #Death #DeathMetal #DeathThrash #Deathcore #Devourment #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Electronic #EmanationsOfUnconsciousLuminescence #EmeralFiresAtopTheFarewellMountains #Entombed #Epicardiectomy #Eternal #ExperimentalMetal #Extorted #Feral #FrenchMetal #Gaerea #GermanMetal #GhostsOfGlaciers #GrooveMetal #Hardcore #HardcorePunk #Hath #Helslave #Hulder #InFlames #InMourning #InternationalMetal #ItalianMetal #KingCrimson #LambOfGod #LesActeursDeLOmbreProductions #Livløs #MelodicDeathMetal #Metalcore #NewStandardElite #NewZealandMetal #NoctumProductions #OSDM #PatMetheny #Pestilence #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #ProfoundLoreRecords #Reform #RingsOfSaturn #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #Slam #Sordide #SunWorship #SwedishMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheCrescentKing #TheHumanAbstract #Theurgy #ThrashMetal #ToUsurpTheThrones #TranscendingObscurityRecords #TranslationLossRecords #UponTheHillsOfDivination #VendettaRecords #VertebraAtlantis #Vorga #Wist #WithinTheRuins

Stuck in the Filter: October 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Never fear, the blog’s penchant for deep lateness punctuality persists! It is likely the new year already by the time you see this post, but we’re taking a step back. Way back, into October. I was deep in the shit then, and therefore couldn’t do anything blog-related. And yet, my minions, those very laborers for whom I provide absolutely no compensation whatsoever, toiled dutifully in the metallic dinge that is our Filter. Unforgiving though those environs undoubtedly are, they scraped and scoured until, at long last, small shards of precious ore glimmered to the surface.

These glimmers are the same which you witness before you. Some are big, some are small. Some are short, some are tall. But all are worthy. Behold!

Kenstrosity’s Belated Bombardments

Cosmic Putrefaction // Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains [October 4th, 2024 – Profound Lore Records]

I was originally slated to take over reviewing duties for Cosmic Putrefaction this year, as Thus Spoke had a prior commitment and needed a buddy to step in. Unfortunately, I was rendered useless by a force of nature for a while, so I had to let go of several items of interest. But I couldn’t let 2024 go by without saying something! Entitled Emeral Fires atop the Farewell Mountains, Cosmic Putrefaction’s fourth represents one of the smoothest, most ethereal interpretations of weird, dissonant death metal. The classic Cosmic Putrefaction riffsets under an auroric sky remain, as evidenced by ripping examples “[Entering the Vortex Temporum] – Pre-mortem Phosphenes” and “Swirling Madness, Supernal Ordeal,” but there lurks within a monstrous technical death metal creature who rabidly chases the atmospheric spirits of olde (“I Should Great the Inexorable Darkness,” “Eudaemonist Withdrawal”). While in lesser hands these distinct aesthetics would undoubtedly clash on a dissonant platform such as this, Cosmic Putrefaction’s particular application of sound and style coalesces in devastating beauty and relentless purpose (“Hallways Engraved in Aether,” “Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains”). Were it not for some instances wherein, for the first time ever, Cosmic Putrefaction threatens to self-plagiarize their own material (“Eudaemonist Withdrawal”), I would likely consider Emerald Fires atop the Farewell Mountains for year-end list status.

Feral // To Usurp the Thrones [October 18th, 2024 – Transcending Obscurity Records]

Another one of my charges that I unfortunately had to put down against my will, Swedish death metal fiends Feral’s fourth salvo To Usurp the Thrones deserves a spotlight here. Where Flesh for Funerals Eternal impressed me as my introduction to the band and, arguably, my introduction to modern buzzsaw Swedeath, To Usurp the Thrones impresses me as a singularly vicious record in the style. Faster, meaner, more varied, and longer than its predecessor, Thrones offers the punk-tinged, thrashy death riffs you know and love, with bluesy touches reminiscent of Entombed’s Wolverine Blues adding a bit of drunken swagger to the affair (“Vile Malediction,” “Phantoms of Iniquity,” “Into the Ashes of History”). Absolute rippers like “To Drain the World of Light,” “Deformed Mentality,” “Decimated,” and “Soaked in Blood” live up to the band’s moniker, rabid and relentless in their assault. In many ways, Thrones evokes the same bloodsoaked sense of fun that Helslave’s From the Sulphur Depths conjured, but it’s angrier, more unhinged (“Spirits Without Rest,” “Stripped of Flesh”). Consequently, Thrones stands out as one of the more fun records of its ilk to come out this year. Don’t miss it!

Sun Worship // Upon the Hills of Divination [October 31st, 2024 – Vendetta Records]

Back in 2020, our dear Roquentin offered some damn fine words of praise for Germany’s Sun Worship and their third blackened blade, Emanations of Desolation. It’s been six years since that record dropped, and Upon the Hills of Divination picks up right where Emanations left off. That is to say, absolutely slimy, post-metal-tinged riffs bolstered by dense layers of warm tremolos and mid-frequency roars. Opener “Within the Machine” offers a concrete encapsulation of what to expect: bits and pieces of Hulder, Gaerea, and Vorga melding together into a compelling concoction of hypnotic black metal. Using the long form to their utmost advantage, Sun Worship craft immersive soundscapes liable to scald the flesh just as quickly as they seduce the senses, leaving me as a brainwashed minion doing a twisted mystic’s bidding unconditionally (“Serpent Nebula,” “Covenant”). Yet, there roils a sense of urgency in these songs, despite many of them occupying a mid-paced cadence, which unveils a bleeding heart willingly wrenched from Sun Worship’s body (“Fractal Entity,” the title track, and “Stormbringer”). This is what sets it apart from its contemporaries, and what makes it worthy of mention. Why it’s gotten so little attention escapes me. It is with the intent of rectifying that condition that I pen this woefully insufficient segment.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Duty Free Rifftrocity

Extorted // Cognitive Dissonance [October 16th, 2024 – Self Release]

You don’t need to read this review to know that the Kiwis of Extorted plays pit-whipping death/thrash. Though not adorned with other obvious symbols, like Vietnam War paraphernalia or crushed beer cans, the Ed Repka-penned brain-ripped head figure screams “no thoughts only riff” all the same. With snares set to pow and crashes set to kshhh, Cognitive Dissonance finds low resistance to accelerating early Death-indebted refrains. Vocalist Joel Clark even plays as a dead ringer for pre-Human Schuldiner or Van Drunen (Asphyx, ex-Pestilence) as the torture in many lines grows (on “Infected” and “Ghastly Creatures” in particular). And in a continued tour of Van Drunen-associated sounds, Extorted’s ability to find a push-and-pull cadence that twists the fury of thrash with the cutting drag of death hits that hard-to-nail early Pestilence pocket with studied flair (“Deception,” “Limits of Reality”). Though a considerable amount of the Extorted identity rests in ideas borrowed and reinterpreted, a modern tonal canvas gives Cognitive Dissonance’s rhythms a punchy and balanced low-end weight that doesn’t always present itself in the world of old. Couple that with hooks that reach far beyond the limits of pure homage (“Transformation of Dreams,” “Violence”), and it’s easy to plow through the thirty minutes of tasteful harmonies, bending solos, and spit-stained lamentations that Extorted offers with their powerful debut.

Bríi // Camaradagem Póstuma [October 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With Camaradagem Póstuma we enter the hazy, folky world of Caio Lemos’ unique vision of what experimental electronic music can be colored by the underpinnings of atmospheric black metal and jazz fusion. Using terraced melodies like baroque music of old and distant breakbeats like the Bong-Ra of recent yesteryears, Brazil’s Bríi represents one man’s highly specific melding that rarely occurs in this space. The guitar lines that do exist play out as textural, slow-developing passages. On tracks “Aparecidos” and “Baile Fantasma” this looping and hypnotic pattern shuffle resembles ambient Pat Metheny or King Crimson colors, the kind where finding the end of nylon pluck into a weaving, high-frequency synth patch feels not impossible but unnecessary. And on the more metallic side of things, Lemos cranks programmed blasts that carry his tortured, panning, and shrouded wails as a guide for the melodic evolution of each track, much in the same way a warping bass line would in a progressive house track. But maintaining the tempo of classic drum and bass, Camaradagem Póstuma wisps away in its atmosphere, coming back to a driving rhythm either via pummeling double kick or glitching break. Despite the hard, danceable pulse that tracks “Enlutados” and “Entre Mundos” boast, Bríi does not feel built for the kvlt klvbs of this world, leaning on a gated, lo-fi aesthetic that makes for an ideal drift away on closed cans, much like the equally idiosyncratic Wist album from earlier this year. And similarly, Camaradagem Póstuma sits in an outsider world of enjoyment. But if any of this sounds like your jam, prepare to get addicted to Bríi.

Thus Spoke’s Rotten Remnants

Livløs // The Crescent King [October 4th, 2024 – Noctum Productions]

Livløs are one of those bands that deserves far more recognition than they receive. With LP three, The Crescent King, they might finally see it. Their punchy intriguing infusion of Swedish and US melodic death metal—though the band themselves hail from Denmark—has a pleasing melancholia and satisfying bite. Here in particular, there’s more than a passing resemblance to Hath, to Cognizance, and to In Mourning. Stomping grooves (“Maelstrom,” “Usurpers”) slide in between blitzes of tripping gallops, and electrifying fretwork (“Orbit Weaver,” “Scourge of the Stars”). Mournful, compelling melodies woven into this technical tapestry—some highlights being the title track, “Harvest,” and “Endless Majesty”—turn already good melodeath into great melodeath; melodeath that’s majestic and powerful, without ever feeling overblown. With its relentless, groovy dynamism, the crisp, spacious production seals the deal for total immersion. If this is your first time hearing about Livløs, you’re in for a treat.

Sordide // Ainsi finit le jour [October 25th, 2024 – Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions]

And So Ends the Day, whilst another begins where I rediscover Sordide. I know not how I forgot their existence despite the impression that 2021’s Les Idées Blanches made upon me, yet all I could recall was the disturbingly simple, melty art.1 Ainsi Finit le Jour arrives with a hefty dose (53 minutes no less) of punky, dissonant black metal that’s even rawer and more pissed-off than their usual fare. “Des feux plus forts,” “La poesie du caniveau,” and the title track stand out as the most vicious, near-first-wave cuts the trio have ever laid down, with manic, group wails, and chaotic, jangling percussion. But as is so often the case with Sordide, perhaps the truest brutality comes in the slower discordant crawls of “Sous Vivre,” “Tout est a la mort,” and the particularly unsettling “La beauté du desastre,” whose creeping, half-tuneful teasing and turns to eerie spaciousness get right under your skin. It is arguably a little too long for its own good, given its intensity, but its impressiveness does mean that, this time, Sordide won’t be forgotten.

Dear Hollow’s Droll Hashals

Annihilist // Reform [October 18th, 2024 – Self Release]

What Melbourne’s Annihilist does with flamboyant flare and reckless abandon is blur the lines of its core stylistic choices. One moment it’s chugging away like a deathcore band, the next it’s dripping away with a groove metal swagger, ope, now it’s on its way to Hot Topic. All we know is that all its members attack with a chameleonic intensity and otherworldly technicality that’s hard to pin down. An insane level of technicality is the thread that courses throughout the entirety of this debut, recalling Within the Ruins or The Human Abstract in its stuttering rhythms and flailing arpeggios. From catchy leads and punishing rhythms (“The Upsend,” “Guillotine”), bouncy breakdowns, clean choruses, and wild gang vocals (“Blood”), djenty guitar seizures (“Virus,” “Better Off”) to full-on groove (“N.M.E.,” “The Host”), the likes of Lamb of God, early Architects, Born of Osiris, and Children of Bodom are conjured. Lyrics of hardcore punk’s signature anarchy and societal distrust collide with an instrumental palette of melodeath and the more technical kin of metalcore and deathcore, groove metal, and hardcore. As such, the album is complicated, episodic, and unpredictable, with only its wild technicality connecting its fragmented bits – keeping Reform from achieving the greatness that the band is so capable of. As it stands, though, Annihilist offers an insanely fun, everchanging, and unhinged roller coaster of -core proportions – a roller -corester, if you will.

Under Alekhines Gun

Theurgy // Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence [October 17th, 2024 – New Standard Elite]

In a year where slam and brutal death have already had an atypically high-quality output, international outfit Theurgy have come with an RKO out of nowhere to shatter whatever remains of your cerebral cortex. Channeling the flamboyancy of old Analepsy with the snare abuse and neanderthalic glee of Epicardiectomy, Emanations of Unconscious Luminescence wastes no time severing vertebrae and reducing eardrums to paste. Don’t mistake this for a brainless, caveman assault, however. Peppered between the hammiest of hammers are tech flourishes pulled straight from Dingir era Rings of Saturn, adding an unexpected technical edge to the blunt force trauma. The production manages to pair these two disparaging elements with lethal efficiency. Is it the techiest slam album, or the wettest, greasiest tech album? Did I mention there’s a super moldy cover of Devourment‘s “Molesting the Decapitated”? It slots right into the albums flow without feeling like a tacked-on bonus track, highlighting Theurgy’s commitment to the homicidal odes of brutality. Throw in a vocal performance that makes Angel Ochoa (Abominable Putridity) sound like Anders Fridén (In Flames), and you’re left with one last lethal assault to round out the year. Dive in and give your luminescence something to cry about.

GardensTale’s Great Glacier

Ghosts of Glaciers // Eternal [October 25th, 2024 – Translation Loss Records]

Ghosts of Glaciers’s last release, The Greatest Burden, was a masterclass of post-metal flow and has become a mainstay in my instrumental metal collection since my review in 2019. Dropping in tandem with several other high-profile releases, though, I could not give its follow-up the kind of attention it deserves. And make no mistake, it absolutely deserves that attention. The opening duo, “The Vast Expanse” and “Sunken Chamber,” measure up fully to The Greatest Burden, though it takes a few spins for that to become clear. Both use repetitive patterns more than before, but closer listens reveal how subtle variations and evolution of each cycle build gradual tension, so the release becomes all the more satisfying. I’m a little more ambivalent on the back half of Eternal, though. “Leviathan” packs a bigger punch than more of the band’s material, it lacks the swirling and sweeping currents that pull me under and demand full and uninterrupted plays every time. Closer “Regeneratio Aeterna” is a pretty but rather demure piece that lasts a bit longer than it should have. But despite these reservations, the great material outstrips the merely good, and Eternal is a worthwhile addition to any instrumental metal collection.

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