#recordsothemonth — Public Fediverse posts

Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2025

By Angry Metal Guy

I said last month (well, last week, but who’s counting) that everything had been leading to that point. That’s true, because I was so stoked to make Calva Louise the Record o’ the Month for July in a somewhat relevant fashion that I did a mad dash to get that out before they were off to their tour in the USA. And then I was left there, feeling empty. I had worked so hard. I had come so far. But in the end, I wondered if it really even mattered.1 In my malaise, I turned to August releases. And realized something: «No, Doctor Metalero Enojado», me dije, «aún no todo está perdido. Ahora puedes subir el/los Disco(s) del Mes a tiempo. Y así les cierras la boca a todos esos progres llorones de los comentarios para que sepan quién manda.»2 Said differently…

WE DID IT! WE’RE #1! WE’RE #1! USA! USA! USA! USA! BOOORTLES!!!

Angry Metal Guy didn’t yet exist when I got into In Mourning. In 2008, I got caught in the hype machine for a little record called Shrouded Divine. Following its release in 2008, the band went through a period when it felt like they were still establishing an identity, but in recent years, In Mourning has been on a low-key tear. While both 2019’s Garden of Storms and 2021’s The Bleeding Veil were very good records, In Mourning has outdone themselves on The Immortal [Bandcamp], which was released August 29th, 2025, from Supreme Chaos Records. Without mincing words, The Immortal is clearly the band’s best record since its debut, and I would submit that it’s the best melodeath record since Insomnium’s Winter’s Gate.

When faced with an exceptional record, it can sometimes be difficult to explain exactly why it’s exceptional.3 The melodies are beautiful and rich, hitting you right in the feels whether carried by voice (“Silver Crescent”) or on trem-picked guitars (“As Long as the Twilight Stays”). The riffs are punishing with a good balance of chug (“The Sojourner”) and trem (“Staghorn”), resulting in something that alternates between death and black in feel, if not in orthodoxy. These slight evolutions of sound help to keep In Mourning’s approach fresh, but it’s here that the dark matter of composition can be deduced, but not directly observed. None of this is totally novel in the band’s sound. But sometimes shit just works. There’s a lot of work that goes into writing. And no matter how good you are, not every minor key melody you write is going to be a tear-jerker, not every chunky riff is going to be quite as hooky or head-bangable as others, not every closer is going to be a Song o’ the Year candidate like “The Hounding”. But sometimes, you just keep rolling natural 20s.

The Immortal feels like one of those records blessed by the Metal Gods. Things that aren’t so different from what has gone before, but it all just hits a little harder. This makes The Immortal unquestionably one of the best records released in 2025, and everyone around here agrees with Kenstrosity’s eminently reasonable—arguably even understated—take that “with The Immortal, In Mourning further solidifies its status as an elite act in the melodeath pantheon.” The Immortal is on par with the best records in the genre,4 and “you owe it to yourself to hear it.” I think he underrated it.

Runner(s) Up:

Blackbraid // Blackbraid III [August 8th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Black metal is not an easy genre to make vital in the Year of Angry Metal Overlord 2025. But Blackbraid has a sound that feels vital. There’s a no bullshit intensity that Sgah’gahsowáh brings with III’s blast beats, croaks, and the trem-picked wall of sound that brings me back to falling in love with Emperor. Like the very best black metal, however, Blackbraid is not afraid of dropping into groove and synchronized-guitar-swing-friendly riffing that makes the blasts hit harder. There’s also something undeniably slick about Blackbraid. Digging through the potential standout albums from August, I kept coming back to III, because it gives me the things that I love about black metal: the intensity, the feel, the Ulveresque atmosphere without the obvious plagiarism. And it accomplishes this while avoiding the traps of so many modern black metal bands. As Doom_et_al so aptly summed it up: “Blackbraid III is everything a fan of either the band or this style of music could want. Like the land that inspires it, it is infused with violence and beauty and complexity. But it’s the ability to combine these disparate concepts with epic scope and intense vulnerability that sets it apart.” Say what you will, Blackbraid III is a real accomplishment.

Farseer // Portals to Cosmic Womb [August 22nd 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Farseer has its roots in stoner and sludge, and my eyes just shut of their own accord while I wrote that. So, it should come as no surprise to you that a self-released stoner/sludge release didn’t exactly jump off the page at me when reading about it. But thanks to some fine writing by Tyme and a well-placed bundle of cash in my freezer, I gave Portals to Cosmic Womb another listen. And another listen. And another listen. Turns out, these cats have some riffs in them. When their soupy riffs hit, they hit with the kind of splat that kills. Portals to Cosmic Womb has a drive that adds life to the thick guitar sound and the not-particularly-complex riffs, and for 39 minutes, it holds the listener in its grip without breaking a sweat. Our very own Tyme waxed poetic about Portals to Cosmic Womb, writing, “Farseer basting in their creative juices over the past six years has resulted in a vastly improved product, as Portals to Cosmic Womb shatters any notions of a sophomore slump. As if constructed from a blueprint of Opethic design, Farseer crafted Portals to Cosmic Womb with a near effortless flow. Its six songs—spanning a very manageable forty minutes—find Farseer merging the best parts of meandering instrumentals into rock-solid compositions that, like spring and neap tides, rise and fall with dramatic intensity.” Yeah, he’s saying it’s really good, y’all. Keep up!

Anchorite // Realm of Ruin [August 1st, 2025 | Personal Records | Bandcamp] — Anchorite is one of those bands that I shouldn’t be expected to like. The blues-infused doom roots here are strong, and yet, Realm of Ruin makes a surprisingly convincing case for itself. As is often the case when working with doom metal, the vocalist tends to drive whether a band is good or bad. In this case, Leo Stivala does a great job of balancing the aesthetics of Metal Voice™ and actually being able to sing with power. He’s got a pretty keen sense for melody, and his performance stands out. With that in place, Anchorite’s riffmeisters get to work writing a solid post-Candlemass doom that hits a place in my sadboi soul when I listen to it. And yet, part of what makes Realm of Ruin work is that it’s also surprisingly immediate at times. There’s a vibe like US power metal or thrash metal that suffuses the whole album, and with its unique production—that snare drum actually feels punchy, guys, so that’s weird—and its idiosyncratic songwriting, it all starts to feel special. Serial overrater and all-around softy Steely D put it like this: “Realm of Ruin is one of those albums you enjoy on the first go-through, and with each spin, it reveals more of itself until you’re fully submerged in the band’s craftwork. Anchorite has writing chops, and Realm of Ruin is an immersive stroll through the ruins with moments of genuine brilliance and grandeur.” So, there’s that.

#2025 #Anchorite #Aug25 #Blackbraid #BlackbraidIII #BlogPosts #Farseer #GardenOfStorms #InMourning #Insomnium #PortalsToCosmicWomb #RealmOfRuin #RecordOTheMonth #RecordSOTheMonth #RecordsOfTheMonth #TheBleedingVeil #TheImmortal #WinterSGate

Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2025

By Angry Metal Guy

I said last month (well, last week, but who’s counting) that everything had been leading to that point. That’s true, because I was so stoked to make Calva Louise the Record o’ the Month for July in a somewhat relevant fashion that I did a mad dash to get that out before they were off to their tour in the USA. And then I was left there, feeling empty. I had worked so hard. I had come so far. But in the end, I wondered if it really even mattered.1 In my malaise, I turned to August releases. And realized something: «No, Doctor Metalero Enojado», me dije, «aún no todo está perdido. Ahora puedes subir el/los Disco(s) del Mes a tiempo. Y así les cierras la boca a todos esos progres llorones de los comentarios para que sepan quién manda.»2 Said differently…

WE DID IT! WE’RE #1! WE’RE #1! USA! USA! USA! USA! BOOORTLES!!!

Angry Metal Guy didn’t yet exist when I got into In Mourning. In 2008, I got caught in the hype machine for a little record called Shrouded Divine. Following its release in 2008, the band went through a period when it felt like they were still establishing an identity, but in recent years, In Mourning has been on a low-key tear. While both 2019’s Garden of Storms and 2021’s The Bleeding Veil were very good records, In Mourning has outdone themselves on The Immortal [Bandcamp], which was released August 29th, 2025, from Supreme Chaos Records. Without mincing words, The Immortal is clearly the band’s best record since its debut, and I would submit that it’s the best melodeath record since Insomnium’s Winter’s Gate.

When faced with an exceptional record, it can sometimes be difficult to explain exactly why it’s exceptional.3 The melodies are beautiful and rich, hitting you right in the feels whether carried by voice (“Silver Crescent”) or on trem-picked guitars (“As Long as the Twilight Stays”). The riffs are punishing with a good balance of chug (“The Sojourner”) and trem (“Staghorn”), resulting in something that alternates between death and black in feel, if not in orthodoxy. These slight evolutions of sound help to keep In Mourning’s approach fresh, but it’s here that the dark matter of composition can be deduced, but not directly observed. None of this is totally novel in the band’s sound. But sometimes shit just works. There’s a lot of work that goes into writing. And no matter how good you are, not every minor key melody you write is going to be a tear-jerker, not every chunky riff is going to be quite as hooky or head-bangable as others, not every closer is going to be a Song o’ the Year candidate like “The Hounding”. But sometimes, you just keep rolling natural 20s.

The Immortal feels like one of those records blessed by the Metal Gods. Things that aren’t so different from what has gone before, but it all just hits a little harder. This makes The Immortal unquestionably one of the best records released in 2025, and everyone around here agrees with Kenstrosity’s eminently reasonable—arguably even understated—take that “with The Immortal, In Mourning further solidifies its status as an elite act in the melodeath pantheon.” The Immortal is on par with the best records in the genre,4 and “you owe it to yourself to hear it.” I think he underrated it.

Runner(s) Up:

Blackbraid // Blackbraid III [August 8th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Black metal is not an easy genre to make vital in the Year of Angry Metal Overlord 2025. But Blackbraid has a sound that feels vital. There’s a no bullshit intensity that Sgah’gahsowáh brings with III’s blast beats, croaks, and the trem-picked wall of sound that brings me back to falling in love with Emperor. Like the very best black metal, however, Blackbraid is not afraid of dropping into groove and synchronized-guitar-swing-friendly riffing that makes the blasts hit harder. There’s also something undeniably slick about Blackbraid. Digging through the potential standout albums from August, I kept coming back to III, because it gives me the things that I love about black metal: the intensity, the feel, the Ulveresque atmosphere without the obvious plagiarism. And it accomplishes this while avoiding the traps of so many modern black metal bands. As Doom_et_al so aptly summed it up: “Blackbraid III is everything a fan of either the band or this style of music could want. Like the land that inspires it, it is infused with violence and beauty and complexity. But it’s the ability to combine these disparate concepts with epic scope and intense vulnerability that sets it apart.” Say what you will, Blackbraid III is a real accomplishment.

Farseer // Portals to Cosmic Womb [August 22nd 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Farseer has its roots in stoner and sludge, and my eyes just shut of their own accord while I wrote that. So, it should come as no surprise to you that a self-released stoner/sludge release didn’t exactly jump off the page at me when reading about it. But thanks to some fine writing by Tyme and a well-placed bundle of cash in my freezer, I gave Portals to Cosmic Womb another listen. And another listen. And another listen. Turns out, these cats have some riffs in them. When their soupy riffs hit, they hit with the kind of splat that kills. Portals to Cosmic Womb has a drive that adds life to the thick guitar sound and the not-particularly-complex riffs, and for 39 minutes, it holds the listener in its grip without breaking a sweat. Our very own Tyme waxed poetic about Portals to Cosmic Womb, writing, “Farseer basting in their creative juices over the past six years has resulted in a vastly improved product, as Portals to Cosmic Womb shatters any notions of a sophomore slump. As if constructed from a blueprint of Opethic design, Farseer crafted Portals to Cosmic Womb with a near effortless flow. Its six songs—spanning a very manageable forty minutes—find Farseer merging the best parts of meandering instrumentals into rock-solid compositions that, like spring and neap tides, rise and fall with dramatic intensity.” Yeah, he’s saying it’s really good, y’all. Keep up!

Anchorite // Realm of Ruin [August 1st, 2025 | Personal Records | Bandcamp] — Anchorite is one of those bands that I shouldn’t be expected to like. The blues-infused doom roots here are strong, and yet, Realm of Ruin makes a surprisingly convincing case for itself. As is often the case when working with doom metal, the vocalist tends to drive whether a band is good or bad. In this case, Leo Stivala does a great job of balancing the aesthetics of Metal Voice™ and actually being able to sing with power. He’s got a pretty keen sense for melody, and his performance stands out. With that in place, Anchorite’s riffmeisters get to work writing a solid post-Candlemass doom that hits a place in my sadboi soul when I listen to it. And yet, part of what makes Realm of Ruin work is that it’s also surprisingly immediate at times. There’s a vibe like US power metal or thrash metal that suffuses the whole album, and with its unique production—that snare drum actually feels punchy, guys, so that’s weird—and its idiosyncratic songwriting, it all starts to feel special. Serial overrater and all-around softy Steely D put it like this: “Realm of Ruin is one of those albums you enjoy on the first go-through, and with each spin, it reveals more of itself until you’re fully submerged in the band’s craftwork. Anchorite has writing chops, and Realm of Ruin is an immersive stroll through the ruins with moments of genuine brilliance and grandeur.” So, there’s that.

#2025 #Anchorite #Aug25 #Blackbraid #BlackbraidIII #BlogPosts #Farseer #GardenOfStorms #InMourning #Insomnium #PortalsToCosmicWomb #RealmOfRuin #RecordOTheMonth #RecordSOTheMonth #RecordsOfTheMonth #TheBleedingVeil #TheImmortal #WinterSGate

Record(s) o’ the Month – August 2025

By Angry Metal Guy

I said last month (well, last week, but who’s counting) that everything had been leading to that point. That’s true, because I was so stoked to make Calva Louise the Record o’ the Month for July in a somewhat relevant fashion that I did a mad dash to get that out before they were off to their tour in the USA. And then I was left there, feeling empty. I had worked so hard. I had come so far. But in the end, I wondered if it really even mattered.1 In my malaise, I turned to August releases. And realized something: «No, Doctor Metalero Enojado», me dije, «aún no todo está perdido. Ahora puedes subir el/los Disco(s) del Mes a tiempo. Y así les cierras la boca a todos esos progres llorones de los comentarios para que sepan quién manda.»2 Said differently…

WE DID IT! WE’RE #1! WE’RE #1! USA! USA! USA! USA! BOOORTLES!!!

Angry Metal Guy didn’t yet exist when I got into In Mourning. In 2008, I got caught in the hype machine for a little record called Shrouded Divine. Following its release in 2008, the band went through a period when it felt like they were still establishing an identity, but in recent years, In Mourning has been on a low-key tear. While both 2019’s Garden of Storms and 2021’s The Bleeding Veil were very good records, In Mourning has outdone themselves on The Immortal [Bandcamp], which was released August 29th, 2025, from Supreme Chaos Records. Without mincing words, The Immortal is clearly the band’s best record since its debut, and I would submit that it’s the best melodeath record since Insomnium’s Winter’s Gate.

When faced with an exceptional record, it can sometimes be difficult to explain exactly why it’s exceptional.3 The melodies are beautiful and rich, hitting you right in the feels whether carried by voice (“Silver Crescent”) or on trem-picked guitars (“As Long as the Twilight Stays”). The riffs are punishing with a good balance of chug (“The Sojourner”) and trem (“Staghorn”), resulting in something that alternates between death and black in feel, if not in orthodoxy. These slight evolutions of sound help to keep In Mourning’s approach fresh, but it’s here that the dark matter of composition can be deduced, but not directly observed. None of this is totally novel in the band’s sound. But sometimes shit just works. There’s a lot of work that goes into writing. And no matter how good you are, not every minor key melody you write is going to be a tear-jerker, not every chunky riff is going to be quite as hooky or head-bangable as others, not every closer is going to be a Song o’ the Year candidate like “The Hounding”. But sometimes, you just keep rolling natural 20s.

The Immortal feels like one of those records blessed by the Metal Gods. Things that aren’t so different from what has gone before, but it all just hits a little harder. This makes The Immortal unquestionably one of the best records released in 2025, and everyone around here agrees with Kenstrosity’s eminently reasonable—arguably even understated—take that “with The Immortal, In Mourning further solidifies its status as an elite act in the melodeath pantheon.” The Immortal is on par with the best records in the genre,4 and “you owe it to yourself to hear it.” I think he underrated it.

Runner(s) Up:

Blackbraid // Blackbraid III [August 8th, 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Black metal is not an easy genre to make vital in the Year of Angry Metal Overlord 2025. But Blackbraid has a sound that feels vital. There’s a no bullshit intensity that Sgah’gahsowáh brings with III’s blast beats, croaks, and the trem-picked wall of sound that brings me back to falling in love with Emperor. Like the very best black metal, however, Blackbraid is not afraid of dropping into groove and synchronized-guitar-swing-friendly riffing that makes the blasts hit harder. There’s also something undeniably slick about Blackbraid. Digging through the potential standout albums from August, I kept coming back to III, because it gives me the things that I love about black metal: the intensity, the feel, the Ulveresque atmosphere without the obvious plagiarism. And it accomplishes this while avoiding the traps of so many modern black metal bands. As Doom_et_al so aptly summed it up: “Blackbraid III is everything a fan of either the band or this style of music could want. Like the land that inspires it, it is infused with violence and beauty and complexity. But it’s the ability to combine these disparate concepts with epic scope and intense vulnerability that sets it apart.” Say what you will, Blackbraid III is a real accomplishment.

Farseer // Portals to Cosmic Womb [August 22nd 2025 | Self-release | Bandcamp] — Farseer has its roots in stoner and sludge, and my eyes just shut of their own accord while I wrote that. So, it should come as no surprise to you that a self-released stoner/sludge release didn’t exactly jump off the page at me when reading about it. But thanks to some fine writing by Tyme and a well-placed bundle of cash in my freezer, I gave Portals to Cosmic Womb another listen. And another listen. And another listen. Turns out, these cats have some riffs in them. When their soupy riffs hit, they hit with the kind of splat that kills. Portals to Cosmic Womb has a drive that adds life to the thick guitar sound and the not-particularly-complex riffs, and for 39 minutes, it holds the listener in its grip without breaking a sweat. Our very own Tyme waxed poetic about Portals to Cosmic Womb, writing, “Farseer basting in their creative juices over the past six years has resulted in a vastly improved product, as Portals to Cosmic Womb shatters any notions of a sophomore slump. As if constructed from a blueprint of Opethic design, Farseer crafted Portals to Cosmic Womb with a near effortless flow. Its six songs—spanning a very manageable forty minutes—find Farseer merging the best parts of meandering instrumentals into rock-solid compositions that, like spring and neap tides, rise and fall with dramatic intensity.” Yeah, he’s saying it’s really good, y’all. Keep up!

Anchorite // Realm of Ruin [August 1st, 2025 | Personal Records | Bandcamp] — Anchorite is one of those bands that I shouldn’t be expected to like. The blues-infused doom roots here are strong, and yet, Realm of Ruin makes a surprisingly convincing case for itself. As is often the case when working with doom metal, the vocalist tends to drive whether a band is good or bad. In this case, Leo Stivala does a great job of balancing the aesthetics of Metal Voice™ and actually being able to sing with power. He’s got a pretty keen sense for melody, and his performance stands out. With that in place, Anchorite’s riffmeisters get to work writing a solid post-Candlemass doom that hits a place in my sadboi soul when I listen to it. And yet, part of what makes Realm of Ruin work is that it’s also surprisingly immediate at times. There’s a vibe like US power metal or thrash metal that suffuses the whole album, and with its unique production—that snare drum actually feels punchy, guys, so that’s weird—and its idiosyncratic songwriting, it all starts to feel special. Serial overrater and all-around softy Steely D put it like this: “Realm of Ruin is one of those albums you enjoy on the first go-through, and with each spin, it reveals more of itself until you’re fully submerged in the band’s craftwork. Anchorite has writing chops, and Realm of Ruin is an immersive stroll through the ruins with moments of genuine brilliance and grandeur.” So, there’s that.

#2025 #Anchorite #Aug25 #Blackbraid #BlackbraidIII #BlogPosts #Farseer #GardenOfStorms #InMourning #Insomnium #PortalsToCosmicWomb #RealmOfRuin #RecordOTheMonth #RecordSOTheMonth #RecordsOfTheMonth #TheBleedingVeil #TheImmortal #WinterSGate

Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2024

By Angry Metal Guy

The middle of summer is rarely the best time for the metal release schedule. While there have been some notable July releases over the years, it seems like labels tend to fit their highest-profile releases into the Autumn. Still, for July of 2024, there was a slate of solid recommendations from the staff and readers, making this one of those months when it’s both good and hard to be the king. It’s been tough to choose, honestly. So rather than wasting your time crafting a long, comical intro, I’m just going to cut right to the chase.

Wormed released its fourth full-length entitled Omegon [Bandcamp], the first in eight long years, on July 5th from Season of Mist. In response, our Maddog wrote an epic that lifted my experience of Omegon even further. Omegon and its review share a feature in that they are both exceptional art. What differentiates them, however, is that Wormed’s long break finds the Spaniards having honed their unique brand of technical, chaotic, and deeply brutal death metal into something particularly caustic and effective. Both chaotic and gripping, Omegon assaults the senses and excites the imagination. And aside from any individual component in the music, Omegon succeeds, as Maddog explained, “because it flows so well, allowing its headbangability persist even through its stupefying time signature changes. Wormed’s irresistible blend of Stone Age brutality and Space Age technicality launches them into the ranks of Gorod, Archspire, and Revocation, despite sounding worlds apart from those bands. Throughout its 41 minutes, the spectacle of Omegon holds you rapt.”

Runner(s) Up:

Octoploid // Beyond the Aeons [July 5, 2024 | Reigning Phoenix Music]1 — Every time I write an Amorphis review, I comment on how nobody sounds like Amorphis except Amorphis (er, and Barren Earth). Well, I guess we need to add another band to that list: Octoploid. The reason why is obvious, written by bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, Beyond the Aeons has the characteristic sound he’s dragged with him wherever he goes. His particular tendencies—that psychedelic vibe from Elegy-era Amorphis mixed with an energetic melodic death metal that rests comfortably in 6/8 swings—make Beyond the Aeons both immediately recognizable and an addictive listen. With instantly memorable melodies, a host of guest appearances, and a 38-minute run-time perfectly suited for the music, Octoploid’s debut is an instant success and most definitely in my running for end-of-year considerations. Kenstrosity, who weirdly underrated something and doesn’t appear to know who Olli-Pekka Laine is, was still “unreasonably excited by Octoploid’s debut” because “it represents a side of the melodic and progressive death metal scenes that I don’t hear often, and I want so much more.” Should I tell him about classic Amorphis or nah?

Assemble the Chariots // Unyielding Night [July 22, 2024 | Seek & Strike Records | Bandcamp] — Back when deathcore was just tough guys who challenged me to fights in the comment section because I don’t like run-in-place breakdowns, it was easy to know what the genre was and it was fairly easy to ignore. Assemble the Chariots is apparently a deathcore band, but I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read it. To these Olde Metal Guy ears, they sound mostly like a mashup of Fleshgod Apocalypse, [(Luca) Turilli(’s) / Lione] Rhapsody [of Fire], and ’90s symphonic black metal. And yeah, I guess there are enough chug riffs, the drums sound heavily replaced, and the production is a brickwalled nightmare. Still, none of that stuff is enough to stop me from fully embracing the bombastic majesty that is Unyielding Night, which marks Assemble the Chariots’ debut platter. The unreasonably productive Dear Hollow is on the same page as me.2 He summarized it well when he wrote: “Subtlety is not a priority in Unyielding Night, and Assemble the Chariots offers an album whose intensity and pomp align impressively with the grandiosity of the tragedy of Aquilegia. As such, it’s long, over-the-top, constantly intense, and likely too much for some listeners. However, Unyielding Night is a powerful, energetic bombast that tastefully includes deathcore’s signature brutality without diving headlong into stagnation. Assemble the Chariots is something special.”

Seth // La France des Maudits [July 14, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Seth’s La France des Maudits should help cement the band as a defining force in black metal, delivering an album that surpasses even their 2021 comeback La Morsure du Christ. With a blend of fierce trem-picked riffs, dynamic vocals, and rich atmospheres Seth captures both the rage and sorrow of revolution. The album’s intricate layers of melody and powerful emotional range elevate it beyond a standard black metal album, weaving themes of defiance with melancholic introspection. Seth masterfully balances aggression with poignant beauty, creating an experience that feels cinematic in its scope and affecting in its intensity. Every element, from the dramatic chorals to the blistering guitars, contributes to a soundscape that is both expansive and clear. From this fawning enthusiasm, you can tell that Thus Spoke was the unbridled lover of black metal behind this review. And it was obvious by the end of it, that she would go to the barricades for Seth when she declared: “Experience for yourself the phoenix-like rise in all its vitriolic, pathos-soaked glory, and join the revolution. ‘Tous, Marchons sur le monde!’” I can only imagine that got her landed on some watchlist. But she wasn’t wrong that La France des Maudits is worthy of our attention!

#2024 #AssembleTheChariots #BeyondTheAeons #Blog #Jul24 #LaFranceDesMaudits #Octoploid #Omegon #RecordSOTheMonth #SeasonOfMistRecords #Seth #UnyieldingNight #Wormed

Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2024

By Angry Metal Guy

The middle of summer is rarely the best time for the metal release schedule. While there have been some notable July releases over the years, it seems like labels tend to fit their highest-profile releases into the Autumn. Still, for July of 2024, there was a slate of solid recommendations from the staff and readers, making this one of those months when it’s both good and hard to be the king. It’s been tough to choose, honestly. So rather than wasting your time crafting a long, comical intro, I’m just going to cut right to the chase.

Wormed released its fourth full-length entitled Omegon [Bandcamp], the first in eight long years, on July 5th from Season of Mist. In response, our Maddog wrote an epic that lifted my experience of Omegon even further. Omegon and its review share a feature in that they are both exceptional art. What differentiates them, however, is that Wormed’s long break finds the Spaniards having honed their unique brand of technical, chaotic, and deeply brutal death metal into something particularly caustic and effective. Both chaotic and gripping, Omegon assaults the senses and excites the imagination. And aside from any individual component in the music, Omegon succeeds, as Maddog explained, “because it flows so well, allowing its headbangability persist even through its stupefying time signature changes. Wormed’s irresistible blend of Stone Age brutality and Space Age technicality launches them into the ranks of Gorod, Archspire, and Revocation, despite sounding worlds apart from those bands. Throughout its 41 minutes, the spectacle of Omegon holds you rapt.”

Runner(s) Up:

Octoploid // Beyond the Aeons [July 5, 2024 | Reigning Phoenix Music]1 — Every time I write an Amorphis review, I comment on how nobody sounds like Amorphis except Amorphis (er, and Barren Earth). Well, I guess we need to add another band to that list: Octoploid. The reason why is obvious, written by bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, Beyond the Aeons has the characteristic sound he’s dragged with him wherever he goes. His particular tendencies—that psychedelic vibe from Elegy-era Amorphis mixed with an energetic melodic death metal that rests comfortably in 6/8 swings—make Beyond the Aeons both immediately recognizable and an addictive listen. With instantly memorable melodies, a host of guest appearances, and a 38-minute run-time perfectly suited for the music, Octoploid’s debut is an instant success and most definitely in my running for end-of-year considerations. Kenstrosity, who weirdly underrated something and doesn’t appear to know who Olli-Pekka Laine is, was still “unreasonably excited by Octoploid’s debut” because “it represents a side of the melodic and progressive death metal scenes that I don’t hear often, and I want so much more.” Should I tell him about classic Amorphis or nah?

Assemble the Chariots // Unyielding Night [July 22, 2024 | Seek & Strike Records | Bandcamp] — Back when deathcore was just tough guys who challenged me to fights in the comment section because I don’t like run-in-place breakdowns, it was easy to know what the genre was and it was fairly easy to ignore. Assemble the Chariots is apparently a deathcore band, but I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read it. To these Olde Metal Guy ears, they sound mostly like a mashup of Fleshgod Apocalypse, [(Luca) Turilli(’s) / Lione] Rhapsody [of Fire], and ’90s symphonic black metal. And yeah, I guess there are enough chug riffs, the drums sound heavily replaced, and the production is a brickwalled nightmare. Still, none of that stuff is enough to stop me from fully embracing the bombastic majesty that is Unyielding Night, which marks Assemble the Chariots’ debut platter. The unreasonably productive Dear Hollow is on the same page as me.2 He summarized it well when he wrote: “Subtlety is not a priority in Unyielding Night, and Assemble the Chariots offers an album whose intensity and pomp align impressively with the grandiosity of the tragedy of Aquilegia. As such, it’s long, over-the-top, constantly intense, and likely too much for some listeners. However, Unyielding Night is a powerful, energetic bombast that tastefully includes deathcore’s signature brutality without diving headlong into stagnation. Assemble the Chariots is something special.”

Seth // La France des Maudits [July 14, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Seth’s La France des Maudits should help cement the band as a defining force in black metal, delivering an album that surpasses even their 2021 comeback La Morsure du Christ. With a blend of fierce trem-picked riffs, dynamic vocals, and rich atmospheres Seth captures both the rage and sorrow of revolution. The album’s intricate layers of melody and powerful emotional range elevate it beyond a standard black metal album, weaving themes of defiance with melancholic introspection. Seth masterfully balances aggression with poignant beauty, creating an experience that feels cinematic in its scope and affecting in its intensity. Every element, from the dramatic chorals to the blistering guitars, contributes to a soundscape that is both expansive and clear. From this fawning enthusiasm, you can tell that Thus Spoke was the unbridled lover of black metal behind this review. And it was obvious by the end of it, that she would go to the barricades for Seth when she declared: “Experience for yourself the phoenix-like rise in all its vitriolic, pathos-soaked glory, and join the revolution. ‘Tous, Marchons sur le monde!’” I can only imagine that got her landed on some watchlist. But she wasn’t wrong that La France des Maudits is worthy of our attention!

#2024 #AssembleTheChariots #BeyondTheAeons #Blog #Jul24 #LaFranceDesMaudits #Octoploid #Omegon #RecordSOTheMonth #SeasonOfMistRecords #Seth #UnyieldingNight #Wormed

Record(s) o’ the Month – July 2024

By Angry Metal Guy

The middle of summer is rarely the best time for the metal release schedule. While there have been some notable July releases over the years, it seems like labels tend to fit their highest-profile releases into the Autumn. Still, for July of 2024, there was a slate of solid recommendations from the staff and readers, making this one of those months when it’s both good and hard to be the king. It’s been tough to choose, honestly. So rather than wasting your time crafting a long, comical intro, I’m just going to cut right to the chase.

Wormed released its fourth full-length entitled Omegon [Bandcamp], the first in eight long years, on July 5th from Season of Mist. In response, our Maddog wrote an epic that lifted my experience of Omegon even further. Omegon and its review share a feature in that they are both exceptional art. What differentiates them, however, is that Wormed’s long break finds the Spaniards having honed their unique brand of technical, chaotic, and deeply brutal death metal into something particularly caustic and effective. Both chaotic and gripping, Omegon assaults the senses and excites the imagination. And aside from any individual component in the music, Omegon succeeds, as Maddog explained, “because it flows so well, allowing its headbangability persist even through its stupefying time signature changes. Wormed’s irresistible blend of Stone Age brutality and Space Age technicality launches them into the ranks of Gorod, Archspire, and Revocation, despite sounding worlds apart from those bands. Throughout its 41 minutes, the spectacle of Omegon holds you rapt.”

Runner(s) Up:

Octoploid // Beyond the Aeons [July 5, 2024 | Reigning Phoenix Music]1 — Every time I write an Amorphis review, I comment on how nobody sounds like Amorphis except Amorphis (er, and Barren Earth). Well, I guess we need to add another band to that list: Octoploid. The reason why is obvious, written by bassist Olli-Pekka Laine, Beyond the Aeons has the characteristic sound he’s dragged with him wherever he goes. His particular tendencies—that psychedelic vibe from Elegy-era Amorphis mixed with an energetic melodic death metal that rests comfortably in 6/8 swings—make Beyond the Aeons both immediately recognizable and an addictive listen. With instantly memorable melodies, a host of guest appearances, and a 38-minute run-time perfectly suited for the music, Octoploid’s debut is an instant success and most definitely in my running for end-of-year considerations. Kenstrosity, who weirdly underrated something and doesn’t appear to know who Olli-Pekka Laine is, was still “unreasonably excited by Octoploid’s debut” because “it represents a side of the melodic and progressive death metal scenes that I don’t hear often, and I want so much more.” Should I tell him about classic Amorphis or nah?

Assemble the Chariots // Unyielding Night [July 22, 2024 | Seek & Strike Records | Bandcamp] — Back when deathcore was just tough guys who challenged me to fights in the comment section because I don’t like run-in-place breakdowns, it was easy to know what the genre was and it was fairly easy to ignore. Assemble the Chariots is apparently a deathcore band, but I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read it. To these Olde Metal Guy ears, they sound mostly like a mashup of Fleshgod Apocalypse, [(Luca) Turilli(’s) / Lione] Rhapsody [of Fire], and ’90s symphonic black metal. And yeah, I guess there are enough chug riffs, the drums sound heavily replaced, and the production is a brickwalled nightmare. Still, none of that stuff is enough to stop me from fully embracing the bombastic majesty that is Unyielding Night, which marks Assemble the Chariots’ debut platter. The unreasonably productive Dear Hollow is on the same page as me.2 He summarized it well when he wrote: “Subtlety is not a priority in Unyielding Night, and Assemble the Chariots offers an album whose intensity and pomp align impressively with the grandiosity of the tragedy of Aquilegia. As such, it’s long, over-the-top, constantly intense, and likely too much for some listeners. However, Unyielding Night is a powerful, energetic bombast that tastefully includes deathcore’s signature brutality without diving headlong into stagnation. Assemble the Chariots is something special.”

Seth // La France des Maudits [July 14, 2024 | Season of Mist | Bandcamp] — Seth’s La France des Maudits should help cement the band as a defining force in black metal, delivering an album that surpasses even their 2021 comeback La Morsure du Christ. With a blend of fierce trem-picked riffs, dynamic vocals, and rich atmospheres Seth captures both the rage and sorrow of revolution. The album’s intricate layers of melody and powerful emotional range elevate it beyond a standard black metal album, weaving themes of defiance with melancholic introspection. Seth masterfully balances aggression with poignant beauty, creating an experience that feels cinematic in its scope and affecting in its intensity. Every element, from the dramatic chorals to the blistering guitars, contributes to a soundscape that is both expansive and clear. From this fawning enthusiasm, you can tell that Thus Spoke was the unbridled lover of black metal behind this review. And it was obvious by the end of it, that she would go to the barricades for Seth when she declared: “Experience for yourself the phoenix-like rise in all its vitriolic, pathos-soaked glory, and join the revolution. ‘Tous, Marchons sur le monde!’” I can only imagine that got her landed on some watchlist. But she wasn’t wrong that La France des Maudits is worthy of our attention!

#2024 #AssembleTheChariots #BeyondTheAeons #Blog #Jul24 #LaFranceDesMaudits #Octoploid #Omegon #RecordSOTheMonth #SeasonOfMistRecords #Seth #UnyieldingNight #Wormed