#sep24 — Public Fediverse posts

Stuck in the Filter: August and September 2024

By Kenstrosity

I am a stubborn bitch. I work my underlings hard, and I won’t let up until they dig up shiny goodies for me to share with the general public. Share might be a generous term. Foist upon is probably more accurate…

In any case, despite some pretty intense setbacks on my end, I still managed to collect enough material for a two-month spread. HUZZAH! REJOICE! Now get the hell away from me and listen to some of our very cool and good tunes.

Kenstrosity’s Turgid Truncheons

Tenue // Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos [August 1st, 2024 – Self-Release]

Spanish post-black/crust/screamo quartet Tenue earned my favor with their debut record, Anábasis, back in 2018. Equal parts vicious, introspective, and strangely uplifting, that record changed what I thought I could expect from anything bearing the screamo tag. By integrating ascendant black metal tremolos within post-punk structures and crusty attitude, Tenue established a sound that not only opened horizons for me taste-wise but also brought me a great deal of emotional catharsis on its own merit. Follow-up Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos deepens that relationship. Utilizing a wider atmospheric palette (“Distracción”), a shift towards epic song lengths (“Inquietude, and a greater variety of instrumentation (observe the beautiful horns on long-form opener “Inquietude”), and a bluesier swagger than previous material exhibited (“Letargo”), Tenue’s second salvo showcases a musical versatility I wasn’t expecting to complement the bleeding-heart emotional depth I knew would return. This expansion of scale and skillset sets the record apart from almost anything else I’ve heard this year. Even though one or two moments struggle to stick long-term (“Enfoque”), Arcos, bóvedas, pórticos represents an affecting, creative, and ridiculously engaging addition to my listening schedule. And for the low low price of NYP, it ought to be a part of yours as well.

Open Flesh Wound // Vile Putrefaction [August 28th, 2024 – Inherited Suffering Records]

Thicc, muggy slam with a million pick scrapes. Who could ask for anything more? Not I, and so it is with great pleasure that I introduce to my AMG fam Pennsylvania’s very own Open Flesh Wound and their debut LP Vile Putrefaction. Essentially the result of Analepsy’s and Devourment‘s carnal lovemaking, Vile Putrefaction is a nasty, slammy, brutal expulsion of chunky upchuck. Only those with the most caved-in craniums will appreciate the scraping swamp-ass riffs showcased on such slammers as “Smashed in Liquids” and “Cinder Block to the Forehead,” or the groove-laden thuggery of death-focused tracks like the title track, “Fermented Intestinal Blockage” and “Body Baggie.” Vile Putrefaction’s molasses-like production is an absolute boon to this sound as well, with just enough gloss to provide a deliciously moist texture which imparts an unlikely clarity to especially gruesome details in “Stoma Necrosis” and “Skin Like Jelly.” It’s dumb as hell, and isn’t doing anything new, but is an overdose of good, dirty fun. Simple as.

The Flaying // Ni dieu, ni ma​î​tre [September 5th, 2024 – Self Release]

I’ve been singing Canadian melodic death metal quartet The Flaying’s praises for almost six years now. And still to this day not enough people choose to sing with me. Why? Because they wouldn’t know sickeningly fun death metal if it hacked their faces right off. That’s okay, because The Flaying do hack faces right off regardless, and it feels so good to watch the faces of those who don’t heed my call get hacked right off. Third onslaught Ni dieu, ni ma​î​tre proves that once again, The Flaying are an unstoppable force of bass wizardry, riff mastery, and hook-laden songwriting. Opener “Le nécrologiste” perfectly encapsulates The Flaying’s particularly addicting brew of Cannibal Corpse, The Black Dahlia Murder, and De Profundis influences, shaken and stirred until the resulting cocktail blooms with a flavor all its own. Technical and brutally fast, follow-up track “L’enclave” continues the deadly rampage, featuring noodly bass lines guaranteed to elicit stank face in the even most prim and proper elite. A trim twenty nine minutes, spread over ten tightly trained tracks, Ni dieu, ni ma​î​tre boasts unbeatable replay value. Highlights “Ni dieu, ni ma​î​tre,” “Les Frondes” “La forge,” and “Noyau sombre” seal the deal by providing sharp hard points and memorable landmarks to which any listener would look forward. Simply put, this record rocks my socks and further proves that I am right about The Flaying, and those who ignore my recommendation are wrong.

Dolphin Whisperer’s All-Seeing Affirmations

Eye Eater // Alienate [August 1st, 2024 – Self Release]

In a post-Ulcerate world, the modern output of atmosphere-minded death metal has grown exponentially. With ringing dissonant chords and slow post-informed builds taking center stage, bands like New Zealand’s unheralded Eye Eater borrow plenty from the Destroyers of All sound. However, while many acts would be content to dial in the space or ramp up the dissonance to try and put their own twist on this growing post-death movement, Eye Eater looks to the laser-precise melodic tones of progressive, core-borrowing names like Fallujah and Vildhjarta to carve an identity into each of Alienate’s album eight sprawling tracks. Swinging sustained brightness in one hand about the grizzly chug-crush of the other, burly bangers like “Other Planets” and “Failure Artifacts” find churning, djentrified grooves that amplify the swell of the blaring melodies that swirl above the low-end clamor. And though the main refrains of “Alienate” and “Everything You Fear and Hope For” sound like loving odes to their Kiwi Forebears, the growth into sonorous and lush-chorded peaks lands much closer to the attraction of turn of the 10s progressive death/metalcore luminaries The Contortionist had they stayed closer to their heavy-toned, hefty-voiced roots. As an anonymous act with little social presence, it’s hard to say whether Eye Eater has more cooking for the future. With their ears tuned to the recent past for inspiration, it’s easy to see how a band with this kind of melodic immediacy—still wrapped in the weight of a brooding, death metal identity—could easily play for the tops of underground charts. To those who have been following the twists and turns of both underground and accessible over the past decade or so, Eye Eater may not sound entirely novel. But Alienate’s familiarity in presence against its quality of execution and fullness of sound makes it easy to ensnare all the same.

Dissolve // Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness [September 20th, 2024 – Self Release]

From the sand-blasted, monochrome human escaping the floor of Polymorphic Ways’ cover to the tags of technical, progressive, death that adorn the Bandcamp tags, it’s easy to put a band like Dissolve in a box, mentally. But with the first bent guitar run that sets off “Efficiency Defiled” in a run like Judas Priest more than Spawn of Possession, it’s clear that Dissolve plays by a different set of rules than your average chug and run tech death band. Yet true to their French nature, the riffs that litter Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness possess a tangible groove following the footsteps of lesser-known tricksters Trepalium and Olympic titans of metal Gojira (“The Great Pessimistic,”1 “Polymorphic Ways of Unconsciousness,” “Vultures”). And while too Dissolve finds a base in the low-end trem assault of Morbid Angel (“Ignorance Will Prevail”), there’s a thrash and bark energy at play that nets a rambunctious and experimental sound recalling the warped Hetfield-ian (Metallica) scrawl of Destroy Erase Improve Meshuggah, right down to the monstrous bass tone that defines Sonny Bellonie’s (Sanctuary, ODC) growling, extended range performance. As a trio it’d be easy for guitarist Briac Turquety (Smerter, ex-Sideburn) to rely on overdubs for saturation of sound and complexity of layers—and for solo cut-ins he definitely does—but equally as often his choice to let certain chords and notes escape a thrashy muting to ring in distorted harmony against snaking bass lines. And speaking of solos, Turquety’s prowess ranges from bluesy shred (“The Great Pessimistic,” “Ropes of Madness”) to noisy, jazzy explorations (“Polymorphic…,” “Shattered Minds of Evolution”) to Satriani on Slayer whammy abuse (“Bonfire of the Vanities”)—a true treat to lovers of tasteful shred. Turquety, Bellonie, and Quentin Feron (on drums, also of Smerter) sound as if they’ve been playing together for much longer than the year that Dissolve has existed. With a debut this polished, it’s anyone’s guess as to what kind of monster will emerge from the talent that appears so effortless in assembly.

Obsidian Mantra // As We All Will [September 27th, 2024 – Self Release]

Sometimes, a tangled and foreboding cover sits as the biggest draw amongst a crowd of death metal albums alight with splattered zombie remains, illegible logos, and alarm-colored palettes. And in the case of Obsidian Mantra, it doesn’t hurt that lead single “Cult of Depression” possesses a devastating, hypnotic groove that recalls the once captivating technical whiplash of an early Decapitated. However, rather than wrestle with tones that incite a pure and raw violence like that cornerstone act (or similar Poldeath that has followed in its legacy like Dormant Ordeal), Obsidian Mantra uses aggressive and bass-loaded rhythmic forms to erupt in spacious and glass-toned guitar chimes to create an engrossing neck-snapping (“Slave Without a Master,” “Condemned to Oppression”). Whether we call these downcast refrains a dissonant melody or slowly resolving phrase, they grow throughout each track in a manner that calls continual reinforcement from a rhythm section that can drop into hammering blasts at a dime and a vocal presence that oscillates between vicious snarl and reverberating howl. In its most accessible numbers (“Chaos Will Consume Us All,” “Weavers of Misery”), Obsidian Mantra finds an oppressive warmth that grows to border anthemic, much in the way like beloved blackened/progressive acts like Hath do with their biggest moments. As We All Will still never quite reaches that full mountainous peak, though, opting to pursue the continual call of the groove to keep the listener coming back. Having come a long way from the Meshuggah-centered roots where Obsidian Mantra first sowed their deathly seeds, As We All Will provides 30 minutes of modern, pulsating, and venomous kick-driven pieces that will flare easy motivation for either a brutalizing pit or a mightily-thrusted iron on leg day.

Thus Spoke’s Cursed Collection

Esoctrilihum // Döth-Derniàlh [September 20th, 2024 – I, Voidhanger Records]

We complete another orbit around the Sun, and Esoctrilihum completes another album; such are the inalterable laws governing each 365.25 Earth day period in our Solar System. Possessed by some mad, restless spirit, it seems they cannot be stopped. Ever the experimenter, sole member Asthâghul now picks up an acoustic guitar, a nickelharpa, and warms up his throat for more clean vocals to further bizarre-ify his avant-garde black metal. As we travel into the cosmos for Döth-Derniàlh, Esoctrilihumisms abound in the see-sawing strings and echoes of chanted singing and throaty snarls. The addition of more acoustic elements does bring some weird delicacy to moments here and there (“Zilthuryth (Void of Zeraphaël),” “Murzaithas (Celestial Voices)”), and it adds layers of beauty in addition to those already harmonious passages. it’s striking how well these new instruments blend with the overall sound: so well, in fact, that it almost feels like Esoctrilihum hasn’t evolved at all. This isn’t even a bad thing, because Döth-Derniàlh still feels like an improvement. Past albums have always had at least sections of perfection, where the scattered clouds of self-interfering chaos or repetition blow away and the brilliant light of the moon shines strongly. Döth-Derniàlh has more of these than ever, some extending to whole, 16-minute songs (“Dy’th Eternalhys (The Mortuary Renewal),”).2 If you have it in you to listen to one (more) album over an hour long, and you don’t already know you hate Esoctrilihum, sit down with a drink, and maybe a joint, and go where Döth-Derniàlh takes you.

Show 2 footnotes

1. Remember, they’re French, not English majors. ↩
2. This sounds like a horrible backhanded compliment, but when you’re making music this esoteric and long-winded, it’s unironically impressive. ↩

#2024 #Alienate #AmericanMetal #ArcosBóvedasPórticos #AsWeAllWill #AtmosphericDeathMetal #Aug24 #AvantGarde #BlackMetal #BrutalDeathMetal #CanadianMetal #CannibalCorpse #DeProfundis #DeathMetal #Decapitated #Dissolve #DormantOrdeal #DöthDerniàlh #Esoctrilihum #EyeEater #Fallujah #FrenchMetal #Gojira #GrandMagus #GrendelSSÿster #Gygax #HarcorePunk #IVoidhangerRecords #InheritedSufferingRecords #JethroTull #JudasPriest #MelodicDeathMetal #Meshuggah #Metallica #MorbidAngel #NewZealandMetal #NiDieuNiMaîTre #ObsidianMantra #ODC #OpenFleshWound #PolishMetal #PolymorphicWaysOfUnconsciousness #PostDeathMetal #PostMetal #postPunk #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Punk #Sanctuary #Screamo #SelfRelease #Sep24 #Sideburn #Slam #Slayer #Smerter #SpanishMetal #SpawnOfPossession #StuckInTheFilter #StuckInTheFilter2024 #TechnicalDeathMetal #Tenue #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TheContortionist #TheFlaying #ThinLizzy #Trepalium #Vildhjarta #VilePutrefaction #WishboneAsh

The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude Review

By Angry Metal Guy

The Black Dahlia Murder lost a giant on May 11th, 2022, with the death of co-founding member Trevor Strnad, who had penned the lyrics and fronted TBDM across its nine-record discography. The question of how you replace someone as well-loved and well-respected as Trevor must have been a matter of some discussion internally. The solution from the veteran melodeath outfit was to keep the job in-house. Rather than bringing in a new face, guitarist and co-founder Brian Eschbach picked up the microphone, while he was replaced by Ryan Knight—who previously slung the six-string from 2009’s Deflorate to 2015’s Abysmal. Even though I appreciated this solution, it was still difficult to press play on 2024’s tenth The Black Dahlia Murder LP, Servitude. It felt strange to know that our affable, bearded, and dad-bodded metal nerd was no longer going to be screaming at me about lycanthropy. I wondered whether I could enjoy a Strnadless TBDM record or if it would change their sound irrevocably.

You know how The Black Dahlia Murder sounds. Giving strong Gothenburgian vibes, Servitude still deals in the bounce of the Björriff (like “Panic Hysteria” or “Asserting Dominion”), but with the post-Ritual light chaos and groove that helped to transform and mature their sound (“Evening Ephemeral,” “Mammoth’s Hand”). The guitars anchor Servitude’s sound, held firm by sick riffs at breakneck speed, accented with unexpected melodies (“Servitude”), stadium solos (“Mammoth’s Hand”), Gorodian gymnastic harmonies on an Obscura vault track (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and even 29 seconds of Opeth (“An Intermission”). While Ryan Knight and Brandon Ellis give a master class in metal guitars from neoclassical to thrash, the rhythm section of bassist Max Lavelle and drummer Alan Cassidy1 rumble and blast, driving the sound forward with an intensity that stems from Florida rather than Sweden.

Over the flurry of guitar gymnastics and blast beats, Eschbach’s growls and screams pace a familiar path. At first, my brain didn’t want to accept what it was hearing. When listened to actively, however, I recognized the lower screams and throatier gutturals. And then suddenly, Eschbach was just the vocalist; barking lightning (“Panic Hysteric,” “Evening Ephemeral”), working both his slightly condensed upper and lower ranges in the trademark style of which Trevor was master. While familiar, Eschbach’s approach to rhythm feels like a guitarist doing vocals. He works in lockstep with the groove being carried by the band to create staccato punctuations (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and syncopated swings (“Asserting Dominion”) that make his performance stand out.2 While Trevor was freer with rhythm and expression, Eschbach’s performance is percussive and precise. The weakness in his performance can be found in the guttural vocals, which don’t reach as deeply or hit as hard. But when all is said and done, Eschbach’s performance sounds like The Black Dahlia Murder.

Servitude seems like an album written to succeed or fail based on the execution of a well-established sound. The devil is, therefore, in the details: the songwriting, the riffs, and especially the guitar solos. And in those places, The Black Dahlia Murder isn’t taking risks. The writing isn’t suddenly progressive, “Aftermath” starts in 7, but they revert to 4/4 and never change time signatures again for the rest of the album.3 There is no revitalization of Ritual‘s or Everblack‘s adventurous arrangements. Where the songs surprise is when they sound chaotic, giving Carnosus (who gives TBDM) or euro-tech and straying further from the Björriffs that propelled them to prominence (see “Evening Ephemeral,” “Utopia Black” or “Mammoth’s Hand”). And Knight and Ellis drop killer solos. “Cursed Creator” hits with shred and harmony, “Transcosmic Blueprint” gives jazz fusion, while “Evening Ephemeral” starts Servitude off on the guitar heroics that made Ryan Knight one of my favorite guitarists ever. Oddly, though, there are a couple of duds as well (“Asserting Domination” is bland, while “Servitude” is fine).

The core of The Black Dahlia Murder hasn’t changed, so the core of Servitude was going to be good. At 35 minutes of riffy, guitar-driven melodic death metal, it’s easy to surmise that The Black Dahlia Murder couldn’t fail on Servitude. And yet, there is a risk inherent to releasing a record following the tragic passing of one of the scene’s most beloved personalities. In a way, you could criticize Servitude for playing it too safe. It hits all the notes you expect it to hit with its Industry Standard Mastering Job™. The Brandon Ellis and Mark Lewis production is functionally indistinguishable from previous albums. And there’s a familiar-but-not-quite feel to certain riffs or melodies. Yet, as a whole, Servitude succeeds at both being very good—hitting extra hard on those last three tracks—and feeling like an honorable way to continue the legacy of one of melodic death metal’s premiere acts.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3s
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Abysmal #AtTheGates #Carnosus #DeathMetal #Deflorate #Everblack #Gorod #Melodeath #MelodicDeathMetal #MetalBladeRecords #Obscura #Opeth #Review #Reviews #Ritual #RyanKnight #Sep24 #Servitude #Slugdge #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TrevorStrnad

The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude Review

By Angry Metal Guy

The Black Dahlia Murder lost a giant on May 11th, 2022, with the death of co-founding member Trevor Strnad, who had penned the lyrics and fronted TBDM across its nine-record discography. The question of how you replace someone as well-loved and well-respected as Trevor must have been a matter of some discussion internally. The solution from the veteran melodeath outfit was to keep the job in-house. Rather than bringing in a new face, guitarist and co-founder Brian Eschbach picked up the microphone, while he was replaced by Ryan Knight—who previously slung the six-string from 2009’s Deflorate to 2015’s Abysmal. Even though I appreciated this solution, it was still difficult to press play on 2024’s tenth The Black Dahlia Murder LP, Servitude. It felt strange to know that our affable, bearded, and dad-bodded metal nerd was no longer going to be screaming at me about lycanthropy. I wondered whether I could enjoy a Strnadless TBDM record or if it would change their sound irrevocably.

You know how The Black Dahlia Murder sounds. Giving strong Gothenburgian vibes, Servitude still deals in the bounce of the Björriff (like “Panic Hysteria” or “Asserting Dominion”), but with the post-Ritual light chaos and groove that helped to transform and mature their sound (“Evening Ephemeral,” “Mammoth’s Hand”). The guitars anchor Servitude’s sound, held firm by sick riffs at breakneck speed, accented with unexpected melodies (“Servitude”), stadium solos (“Mammoth’s Hand”), Gorodian gymnastic harmonies on an Obscura vault track (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and even 29 seconds of Opeth (“An Intermission”). While Ryan Knight and Brandon Ellis give a master class in metal guitars from neoclassical to thrash, the rhythm section of bassist Max Lavelle and drummer Alan Cassidy1 rumble and blast, driving the sound forward with an intensity that stems from Florida rather than Sweden.

Over the flurry of guitar gymnastics and blast beats, Eschbach’s growls and screams pace a familiar path. At first, my brain didn’t want to accept what it was hearing. When listened to actively, however, I recognized the lower screams and throatier gutturals. And then suddenly, Eschbach was just the vocalist; barking lightning (“Panic Hysteric,” “Evening Ephemeral”), working both his slightly condensed upper and lower ranges in the trademark style of which Trevor was master. While familiar, Eschbach’s approach to rhythm feels like a guitarist doing vocals. He works in lockstep with the groove being carried by the band to create staccato punctuations (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and syncopated swings (“Asserting Dominion”) that make his performance stand out.2 While Trevor was freer with rhythm and expression, Eschbach’s performance is percussive and precise. The weakness in his performance can be found in the guttural vocals, which don’t reach as deeply or hit as hard. But when all is said and done, Eschbach’s performance sounds like The Black Dahlia Murder.

Servitude seems like an album written to succeed or fail based on the execution of a well-established sound. The devil is, therefore, in the details: the songwriting, the riffs, and especially the guitar solos. And in those places, The Black Dahlia Murder isn’t taking risks. The writing isn’t suddenly progressive, “Aftermath” starts in 7, but they revert to 4/4 and never change time signatures again for the rest of the album.3 There is no revitalization of Ritual‘s or Everblack‘s adventurous arrangements. Where the songs surprise is when they sound chaotic, giving Carnosus (who gives TBDM) or euro-tech and straying further from the Björriffs that propelled them to prominence (see “Evening Ephemeral,” “Utopia Black” or “Mammoth’s Hand”). And Knight and Ellis drop killer solos. “Cursed Creator” hits with shred and harmony, “Transcosmic Blueprint” gives jazz fusion, while “Evening Ephemeral” starts Servitude off on the guitar heroics that made Ryan Knight one of my favorite guitarists ever. Oddly, though, there are a couple of duds as well (“Asserting Domination” is bland, while “Servitude” is fine).

The core of The Black Dahlia Murder hasn’t changed, so the core of Servitude was going to be good. At 35 minutes of riffy, guitar-driven melodic death metal, it’s easy to surmise that The Black Dahlia Murder couldn’t fail on Servitude. And yet, there is a risk inherent to releasing a record following the tragic passing of one of the scene’s most beloved personalities. In a way, you could criticize Servitude for playing it too safe. It hits all the notes you expect it to hit with its Industry Standard Mastering Job™. The Brandon Ellis and Mark Lewis production is functionally indistinguishable from previous albums. And there’s a familiar-but-not-quite feel to certain riffs or melodies. Yet, as a whole, Servitude succeeds at both being very good—hitting extra hard on those last three tracks—and feeling like an honorable way to continue the legacy of one of melodic death metal’s premiere acts.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3s
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Abysmal #AtTheGates #Carnosus #DeathMetal #Deflorate #Everblack #Gorod #Melodeath #MelodicDeathMetal #MetalBladeRecords #Obscura #Opeth #Review #Reviews #Ritual #RyanKnight #Sep24 #Servitude #Slugdge #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TrevorStrnad

The Black Dahlia Murder – Servitude Review

By Angry Metal Guy

The Black Dahlia Murder lost a giant on May 11th, 2022, with the death of co-founding member Trevor Strnad, who had penned the lyrics and fronted TBDM across its nine-record discography. The question of how you replace someone as well-loved and well-respected as Trevor must have been a matter of some discussion internally. The solution from the veteran melodeath outfit was to keep the job in-house. Rather than bringing in a new face, guitarist and co-founder Brian Eschbach picked up the microphone, while he was replaced by Ryan Knight—who previously slung the six-string from 2009’s Deflorate to 2015’s Abysmal. Even though I appreciated this solution, it was still difficult to press play on 2024’s tenth The Black Dahlia Murder LP, Servitude. It felt strange to know that our affable, bearded, and dad-bodded metal nerd was no longer going to be screaming at me about lycanthropy. I wondered whether I could enjoy a Strnadless TBDM record or if it would change their sound irrevocably.

You know how The Black Dahlia Murder sounds. Giving strong Gothenburgian vibes, Servitude still deals in the bounce of the Björriff (like “Panic Hysteria” or “Asserting Dominion”), but with the post-Ritual light chaos and groove that helped to transform and mature their sound (“Evening Ephemeral,” “Mammoth’s Hand”). The guitars anchor Servitude’s sound, held firm by sick riffs at breakneck speed, accented with unexpected melodies (“Servitude”), stadium solos (“Mammoth’s Hand”), Gorodian gymnastic harmonies on an Obscura vault track (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and even 29 seconds of Opeth (“An Intermission”). While Ryan Knight and Brandon Ellis give a master class in metal guitars from neoclassical to thrash, the rhythm section of bassist Max Lavelle and drummer Alan Cassidy1 rumble and blast, driving the sound forward with an intensity that stems from Florida rather than Sweden.

Over the flurry of guitar gymnastics and blast beats, Eschbach’s growls and screams pace a familiar path. At first, my brain didn’t want to accept what it was hearing. When listened to actively, however, I recognized the lower screams and throatier gutturals. And then suddenly, Eschbach was just the vocalist; barking lightning (“Panic Hysteric,” “Evening Ephemeral”), working both his slightly condensed upper and lower ranges in the trademark style of which Trevor was master. While familiar, Eschbach’s approach to rhythm feels like a guitarist doing vocals. He works in lockstep with the groove being carried by the band to create staccato punctuations (“Transcosmic Blueprint”) and syncopated swings (“Asserting Dominion”) that make his performance stand out.2 While Trevor was freer with rhythm and expression, Eschbach’s performance is percussive and precise. The weakness in his performance can be found in the guttural vocals, which don’t reach as deeply or hit as hard. But when all is said and done, Eschbach’s performance sounds like The Black Dahlia Murder.

Servitude seems like an album written to succeed or fail based on the execution of a well-established sound. The devil is, therefore, in the details: the songwriting, the riffs, and especially the guitar solos. And in those places, The Black Dahlia Murder isn’t taking risks. The writing isn’t suddenly progressive, “Aftermath” starts in 7, but they revert to 4/4 and never change time signatures again for the rest of the album.3 There is no revitalization of Ritual‘s or Everblack‘s adventurous arrangements. Where the songs surprise is when they sound chaotic, giving Carnosus (who gives TBDM) or euro-tech and straying further from the Björriffs that propelled them to prominence (see “Evening Ephemeral,” “Utopia Black” or “Mammoth’s Hand”). And Knight and Ellis drop killer solos. “Cursed Creator” hits with shred and harmony, “Transcosmic Blueprint” gives jazz fusion, while “Evening Ephemeral” starts Servitude off on the guitar heroics that made Ryan Knight one of my favorite guitarists ever. Oddly, though, there are a couple of duds as well (“Asserting Domination” is bland, while “Servitude” is fine).

The core of The Black Dahlia Murder hasn’t changed, so the core of Servitude was going to be good. At 35 minutes of riffy, guitar-driven melodic death metal, it’s easy to surmise that The Black Dahlia Murder couldn’t fail on Servitude. And yet, there is a risk inherent to releasing a record following the tragic passing of one of the scene’s most beloved personalities. In a way, you could criticize Servitude for playing it too safe. It hits all the notes you expect it to hit with its Industry Standard Mastering Job™. The Brandon Ellis and Mark Lewis production is functionally indistinguishable from previous albums. And there’s a familiar-but-not-quite feel to certain riffs or melodies. Yet, as a whole, Servitude succeeds at both being very good—hitting extra hard on those last three tracks—and feeling like an honorable way to continue the legacy of one of melodic death metal’s premiere acts.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3s
Label: Metal Blade Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #35 #Abysmal #AtTheGates #Carnosus #DeathMetal #Deflorate #Everblack #Gorod #Melodeath #MelodicDeathMetal #MetalBladeRecords #Obscura #Opeth #Review #Reviews #Ritual #RyanKnight #Sep24 #Servitude #Slugdge #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TrevorStrnad

Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse Review

By Cherd

I’m always surprised by what a hotbed for underground metal Denver, Colorado is. As a casual visitor, it’s such a clean, outdoors-oriented kind of place. It’s a place you go on your way to a mountain ski resort or to watch your sports team beat one of theirs. But beneath the clear Rocky Mountain air, the craft breweries, and the cannabis boutiques, something grimy stirs, belching forth established and ascendant underground darlings like Blood Incantation, Khemmis, Primitive Man, and Wayfarer. Meanwhile, bands like Doldrum come out of seemingly nowhere with records that land in my year-end top five.1 Denver death metal-ers Glacial Tomb have been plying their trade in the Mile High City since 2016. Their eponymous debut didn’t leave much of an impression around here,2 Will we see the light in sophomore follow-up Lightless Expanse?

Glacial Tomb’s brand of death on Lightless Expanse is brutal, somewhat blackened, sludgy, and sometimes toes the line just this side of tech death. The black comes mostly from vocalist Ben Hutcherson’s delivery, which falls into the now-standard contemporary death metal trope of half brontosaurus rumbles, half pterodactyl shrieks, but tremolo riffs also crop up, as on “Worldsflesh.” The sludge comes through in the viscosity of guitar tone built between Hutcherson and bassist David Small (both also of Khemmis), but there are also times, such as the midsection of “Voidwomb” and late in “Abyssal Host” when the band will drop their more technical death metal chops to fully embrace sludge metal structures. Songs like the excellent “Enshrined in Concrete” lean so hard this way they end up in beatdown hardcore territory. Lightless Expanse will at times call to mind Carnosus (“Stygian Abattoir,” “Seraphic Mutilation”), at others Warcrab (“Abyssal Host”), but ultimately they bring their own flavor to the ever-branching death-metal-plus genre.

Lightless Expanse is a record that gets better the more you marinate in it. That doesn’t mean it lacks immediacy. The surefire gym playlist addition “Enshrined in Concrete” struck me hard on first listen and has quickly climbed up my favorite songs of 2024 list. Meanwhile, opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me. Not because it’s a bad song, but because the three that follow it are so good that it’s hard to imagine making that the intro to the album. This is an album with two huge peaks surrounded by thankfully shallow valleys. The first peak, from the stomping “Voidwomb” to the deceptively melodic “Abyssal Host,” is tall enough to be littered with the corpses of those arrogant enough to attempt the summit. It’s a world-beating three-song stretch of brutality and tasteful songwriting. The second peak runs from the majestic “Seraphic Mutilation” to “Worldsflesh,” a song built for headbanging sure to get necks wrecked when played live, to “Wound of Existence.”

I mentioned above that opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me a bit, and the same can be said for the closing title track. It’s less immediate than the considerable high points elsewhere on Lightless Expanse, but Glacial Tomb were ultimately smart putting it last because it ends on a soaring guitar solo and breakdown that could have been the album’s pinnacle if sequenced in the middle. Instead, it closes the proceedings in a way that leaves you wanting more and helps you realize that the last 36 minutes have been spent in a very agreeable manner. If there’s one song that doesn’t quite live up to the standards set around it, it’s the album midpoint “Sanctuary,” but even that contains a memorable bass solo, and when played in sequence barely registers as a speed bump in an otherwise hard charging record.

I haven’t gone back to listen to Glacial Tomb’s debut, so I’ll trust Dr. Wvrm‘s assessment that it had its issues with integrating multiple genres and with songwriting. Whatever those might have been, I’d say they’ve thoroughly come out in the wash on their follow-up. This is a gem of brutality that I’ll be revisiting frequently, and another win for the Denver metal scene.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: glacialtomb.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/glacialtomb
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #Carnosus #DeathMetal #GlacialTomb #LightlessExpanse #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #Warcrab

Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse Review

By Cherd

I’m always surprised by what a hotbed for underground metal Denver, Colorado is. As a casual visitor, it’s such a clean, outdoors-oriented kind of place. It’s a place you go on your way to a mountain ski resort or to watch your sports team beat one of theirs. But beneath the clear Rocky Mountain air, the craft breweries, and the cannabis boutiques, something grimy stirs, belching forth established and ascendant underground darlings like Blood Incantation, Khemmis, Primitive Man, and Wayfarer. Meanwhile, bands like Doldrum come out of seemingly nowhere with records that land in my year-end top five.1 Denver death metal-ers Glacial Tomb have been plying their trade in the Mile High City since 2016. Their eponymous debut didn’t leave much of an impression around here,2 Will we see the light in sophomore follow-up Lightless Expanse?

Glacial Tomb’s brand of death on Lightless Expanse is brutal, somewhat blackened, sludgy, and sometimes toes the line just this side of tech death. The black comes mostly from vocalist Ben Hutcherson’s delivery, which falls into the now-standard contemporary death metal trope of half brontosaurus rumbles, half pterodactyl shrieks, but tremolo riffs also crop up, as on “Worldsflesh.” The sludge comes through in the viscosity of guitar tone built between Hutcherson and bassist David Small (both also of Khemmis), but there are also times, such as the midsection of “Voidwomb” and late in “Abyssal Host” when the band will drop their more technical death metal chops to fully embrace sludge metal structures. Songs like the excellent “Enshrined in Concrete” lean so hard this way they end up in beatdown hardcore territory. Lightless Expanse will at times call to mind Carnosus (“Stygian Abattoir,” “Seraphic Mutilation”), at others Warcrab (“Abyssal Host”), but ultimately they bring their own flavor to the ever-branching death-metal-plus genre.

Lightless Expanse is a record that gets better the more you marinate in it. That doesn’t mean it lacks immediacy. The surefire gym playlist addition “Enshrined in Concrete” struck me hard on first listen and has quickly climbed up my favorite songs of 2024 list. Meanwhile, opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me. Not because it’s a bad song, but because the three that follow it are so good that it’s hard to imagine making that the intro to the album. This is an album with two huge peaks surrounded by thankfully shallow valleys. The first peak, from the stomping “Voidwomb” to the deceptively melodic “Abyssal Host,” is tall enough to be littered with the corpses of those arrogant enough to attempt the summit. It’s a world-beating three-song stretch of brutality and tasteful songwriting. The second peak runs from the majestic “Seraphic Mutilation” to “Worldsflesh,” a song built for headbanging sure to get necks wrecked when played live, to “Wound of Existence.”

I mentioned above that opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me a bit, and the same can be said for the closing title track. It’s less immediate than the considerable high points elsewhere on Lightless Expanse, but Glacial Tomb were ultimately smart putting it last because it ends on a soaring guitar solo and breakdown that could have been the album’s pinnacle if sequenced in the middle. Instead, it closes the proceedings in a way that leaves you wanting more and helps you realize that the last 36 minutes have been spent in a very agreeable manner. If there’s one song that doesn’t quite live up to the standards set around it, it’s the album midpoint “Sanctuary,” but even that contains a memorable bass solo, and when played in sequence barely registers as a speed bump in an otherwise hard charging record.

I haven’t gone back to listen to Glacial Tomb’s debut, so I’ll trust Dr. Wvrm‘s assessment that it had its issues with integrating multiple genres and with songwriting. Whatever those might have been, I’d say they’ve thoroughly come out in the wash on their follow-up. This is a gem of brutality that I’ll be revisiting frequently, and another win for the Denver metal scene.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: glacialtomb.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/glacialtomb
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #Carnosus #DeathMetal #GlacialTomb #LightlessExpanse #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #Warcrab

Glacial Tomb – Lightless Expanse Review

By Cherd

I’m always surprised by what a hotbed for underground metal Denver, Colorado is. As a casual visitor, it’s such a clean, outdoors-oriented kind of place. It’s a place you go on your way to a mountain ski resort or to watch your sports team beat one of theirs. But beneath the clear Rocky Mountain air, the craft breweries, and the cannabis boutiques, something grimy stirs, belching forth established and ascendant underground darlings like Blood Incantation, Khemmis, Primitive Man, and Wayfarer. Meanwhile, bands like Doldrum come out of seemingly nowhere with records that land in my year-end top five.1 Denver death metal-ers Glacial Tomb have been plying their trade in the Mile High City since 2016. Their eponymous debut didn’t leave much of an impression around here,2 Will we see the light in sophomore follow-up Lightless Expanse?

Glacial Tomb’s brand of death on Lightless Expanse is brutal, somewhat blackened, sludgy, and sometimes toes the line just this side of tech death. The black comes mostly from vocalist Ben Hutcherson’s delivery, which falls into the now-standard contemporary death metal trope of half brontosaurus rumbles, half pterodactyl shrieks, but tremolo riffs also crop up, as on “Worldsflesh.” The sludge comes through in the viscosity of guitar tone built between Hutcherson and bassist David Small (both also of Khemmis), but there are also times, such as the midsection of “Voidwomb” and late in “Abyssal Host” when the band will drop their more technical death metal chops to fully embrace sludge metal structures. Songs like the excellent “Enshrined in Concrete” lean so hard this way they end up in beatdown hardcore territory. Lightless Expanse will at times call to mind Carnosus (“Stygian Abattoir,” “Seraphic Mutilation”), at others Warcrab (“Abyssal Host”), but ultimately they bring their own flavor to the ever-branching death-metal-plus genre.

Lightless Expanse is a record that gets better the more you marinate in it. That doesn’t mean it lacks immediacy. The surefire gym playlist addition “Enshrined in Concrete” struck me hard on first listen and has quickly climbed up my favorite songs of 2024 list. Meanwhile, opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me. Not because it’s a bad song, but because the three that follow it are so good that it’s hard to imagine making that the intro to the album. This is an album with two huge peaks surrounded by thankfully shallow valleys. The first peak, from the stomping “Voidwomb” to the deceptively melodic “Abyssal Host,” is tall enough to be littered with the corpses of those arrogant enough to attempt the summit. It’s a world-beating three-song stretch of brutality and tasteful songwriting. The second peak runs from the majestic “Seraphic Mutilation” to “Worldsflesh,” a song built for headbanging sure to get necks wrecked when played live, to “Wound of Existence.”

I mentioned above that opener “Stygian Abattoir” had to grow on me a bit, and the same can be said for the closing title track. It’s less immediate than the considerable high points elsewhere on Lightless Expanse, but Glacial Tomb were ultimately smart putting it last because it ends on a soaring guitar solo and breakdown that could have been the album’s pinnacle if sequenced in the middle. Instead, it closes the proceedings in a way that leaves you wanting more and helps you realize that the last 36 minutes have been spent in a very agreeable manner. If there’s one song that doesn’t quite live up to the standards set around it, it’s the album midpoint “Sanctuary,” but even that contains a memorable bass solo, and when played in sequence barely registers as a speed bump in an otherwise hard charging record.

I haven’t gone back to listen to Glacial Tomb’s debut, so I’ll trust Dr. Wvrm‘s assessment that it had its issues with integrating multiple genres and with songwriting. Whatever those might have been, I’d say they’ve thoroughly come out in the wash on their follow-up. This is a gem of brutality that I’ll be revisiting frequently, and another win for the Denver metal scene.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: glacialtomb.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/glacialtomb
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #40 #AmericanMetal #Carnosus #DeathMetal #GlacialTomb #LightlessExpanse #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #Warcrab

Krilloan – Return of the Heralds Review

By Steel Druhm

As I began my listening sessions with Sweden’s Krilloan and their second album Return of the Heralds, I reflected on how rarely I review power metal.1 That’s partly because we don’t get much of it in the promo sump these days apart from grizzled olde dawgs like Hammerfall and Powerwolf. It seems to be a genre in decline with fewer bands stepping forward to hoist the yellow banner of Cheese Whizardy. That’s a shame too, because as much as we mock power metal for its frilly, sugary excesses, it can be among the most embiggening metal styles when executed properly. Now comes Krilloan with badass Castlevania-esque cover art and a style blending classic Euro-power with traditional and trve/epic elements. At times you’ll hear traces of the early Euro-power stalwarts, late wavers like Lost Horizon, and even grandiose operators like Blind Guardian. Ambitions may be king-sized, but a lot can go wrong when you reach for the stars. What fate awaits the starry-eyed Krill-Monger?

With a shocking lack of over-the-top intro nonsense, Return of the Heralds leaps directly into the fray with “Atlantean Sword,” which is the most standard-issue Euro-power tracks on offer here. It smacks of the bombast of Italian cheddar warriors Domine and also bears a strong similarity to the early days of Sonata Arctica, in no small part due to Alex VanTrue’s Tony Kakko-adjacent delivery. It’s a lively song full of galloping, sword-swinging energy with a Conan the Barbarian theme, though it suffers from sounding like a million other power metal nuggets. After that, Krilloan start to play with outside influences. “Kings of The Iron Hill” dials up the traditional metal influence for a more muscular sound, and “Blood & Fire (Born on a Battlefield)” goes even further, bringing trve metal aesthetics into play for a rougher, meaner approach that suits the Conan storyline. Heavy riffs drive the attack forward as war chants punctuate the storytelling in a Manocentric way. I especially appreciate how Krilloan borrows from the immortal soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian for maximum glory riding.

As Heralds unspools, Krilloan get heavier and more aggressive and this is when they’re at their best. “Hammer of Wrath” is like Domine mixing DNA with Paragon, making for a more impactful sound and the chorus is righteous. “Avenging Sun” goes even harder, channeling trve acts like Ancient Empire and Ironflame for added machismo. The Blind Guardian worship gets real on the folksy “The Kingkillers Tale” as VanTrue pulls off a scary accurate Hansi Kürsch impression, and late album cut “We Burn” seasons Amorphis-like guitar bits throughout a wild battle anthem full of piss and vinegar. While the writing is a bit uneven, no song is bad or disposable. The performances are impressive and the band wisely keep the songs short and tight with only one reaching the 5-minute mark. This along with a tight 40-minute runtime makes Return of the Heralds an easy spin with some high points.

Talent abounds in Krilloan and I’m especially impressed by Alex VanTrue’s vocals. The man is a chameleon with a big range, channeling any number of notable power metal luminaries. He can hit the high notes but does so sparingly and has a good ear for hooky vocal lines and patterns. He sells the material well and keeps the listener involved. Steve Brockmann and Klas Holmgren are talented guitarists capable of driving a song with solid riffs and soaring when solo time is nigh. Marco Ignacio Toba’s bass is present and involved, and Christoph Brandes powers the music with booming double-base runs and thundering kit work. Krilloan possess the ability needed to rock the power genre and when their writing is at its peak, good things happen.

Return of the Heralds is a good power metal album that sometimes threatens to become more. With more consistent writing and a drift away from the generic elements of the Euro-power sound, Krilloan have real potential. I’ll be watching to see what they do next since good Euro-power is pretty scarce these days. Worth a loud spin with sword held high.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet
Websites: facebook.com/krilloanofficial | instagram.com/krilloan_official
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlindGuardian #Domine #HeavyMetal #Krilloan #LostHorizon #PowerMetal #ReturnOfTheHeralds #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Sep24 #SonataArctica

Krilloan – Return of the Heralds Review

By Steel Druhm

As I began my listening sessions with Sweden’s Krilloan and their second album Return of the Heralds, I reflected on how rarely I review power metal.1 That’s partly because we don’t get much of it in the promo sump these days apart from grizzled olde dawgs like Hammerfall and Powerwolf. It seems to be a genre in decline with fewer bands stepping forward to hoist the yellow banner of Cheese Whizardy. That’s a shame too, because as much as we mock power metal for its frilly, sugary excesses, it can be among the most embiggening metal styles when executed properly. Now comes Krilloan with badass Castlevania-esque cover art and a style blending classic Euro-power with traditional and trve/epic elements. At times you’ll hear traces of the early Euro-power stalwarts, late wavers like Lost Horizon, and even grandiose operators like Blind Guardian. Ambitions may be king-sized, but a lot can go wrong when you reach for the stars. What fate awaits the starry-eyed Krill-Monger?

With a shocking lack of over-the-top intro nonsense, Return of the Heralds leaps directly into the fray with “Atlantean Sword,” which is the most standard-issue Euro-power tracks on offer here. It smacks of the bombast of Italian cheddar warriors Domine and also bears a strong similarity to the early days of Sonata Arctica, in no small part due to Alex VanTrue’s Tony Kakko-adjacent delivery. It’s a lively song full of galloping, sword-swinging energy with a Conan the Barbarian theme, though it suffers from sounding like a million other power metal nuggets. After that, Krilloan start to play with outside influences. “Kings of The Iron Hill” dials up the traditional metal influence for a more muscular sound, and “Blood & Fire (Born on a Battlefield)” goes even further, bringing trve metal aesthetics into play for a rougher, meaner approach that suits the Conan storyline. Heavy riffs drive the attack forward as war chants punctuate the storytelling in a Manocentric way. I especially appreciate how Krilloan borrows from the immortal soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian for maximum glory riding.

As Heralds unspools, Krilloan get heavier and more aggressive and this is when they’re at their best. “Hammer of Wrath” is like Domine mixing DNA with Paragon, making for a more impactful sound and the chorus is righteous. “Avenging Sun” goes even harder, channeling trve acts like Ancient Empire and Ironflame for added machismo. The Blind Guardian worship gets real on the folksy “The Kingkillers Tale” as VanTrue pulls off a scary accurate Hansi Kürsch impression, and late album cut “We Burn” seasons Amorphis-like guitar bits throughout a wild battle anthem full of piss and vinegar. While the writing is a bit uneven, no song is bad or disposable. The performances are impressive and the band wisely keep the songs short and tight with only one reaching the 5-minute mark. This along with a tight 40-minute runtime makes Return of the Heralds an easy spin with some high points.

Talent abounds in Krilloan and I’m especially impressed by Alex VanTrue’s vocals. The man is a chameleon with a big range, channeling any number of notable power metal luminaries. He can hit the high notes but does so sparingly and has a good ear for hooky vocal lines and patterns. He sells the material well and keeps the listener involved. Steve Brockmann and Klas Holmgren are talented guitarists capable of driving a song with solid riffs and soaring when solo time is nigh. Marco Ignacio Toba’s bass is present and involved, and Christoph Brandes powers the music with booming double-base runs and thundering kit work. Krilloan possess the ability needed to rock the power genre and when their writing is at its peak, good things happen.

Return of the Heralds is a good power metal album that sometimes threatens to become more. With more consistent writing and a drift away from the generic elements of the Euro-power sound, Krilloan have real potential. I’ll be watching to see what they do next since good Euro-power is pretty scarce these days. Worth a loud spin with sword held high.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet
Websites: facebook.com/krilloanofficial | instagram.com/krilloan_official
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlindGuardian #Domine #HeavyMetal #Krilloan #LostHorizon #PowerMetal #ReturnOfTheHeralds #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Sep24 #SonataArctica

Krilloan – Return of the Heralds Review

By Steel Druhm

As I began my listening sessions with Sweden’s Krilloan and their second album Return of the Heralds, I reflected on how rarely I review power metal.1 That’s partly because we don’t get much of it in the promo sump these days apart from grizzled olde dawgs like Hammerfall and Powerwolf. It seems to be a genre in decline with fewer bands stepping forward to hoist the yellow banner of Cheese Whizardy. That’s a shame too, because as much as we mock power metal for its frilly, sugary excesses, it can be among the most embiggening metal styles when executed properly. Now comes Krilloan with badass Castlevania-esque cover art and a style blending classic Euro-power with traditional and trve/epic elements. At times you’ll hear traces of the early Euro-power stalwarts, late wavers like Lost Horizon, and even grandiose operators like Blind Guardian. Ambitions may be king-sized, but a lot can go wrong when you reach for the stars. What fate awaits the starry-eyed Krill-Monger?

With a shocking lack of over-the-top intro nonsense, Return of the Heralds leaps directly into the fray with “Atlantean Sword,” which is the most standard-issue Euro-power tracks on offer here. It smacks of the bombast of Italian cheddar warriors Domine and also bears a strong similarity to the early days of Sonata Arctica, in no small part due to Alex VanTrue’s Tony Kakko-adjacent delivery. It’s a lively song full of galloping, sword-swinging energy with a Conan the Barbarian theme, though it suffers from sounding like a million other power metal nuggets. After that, Krilloan start to play with outside influences. “Kings of The Iron Hill” dials up the traditional metal influence for a more muscular sound, and “Blood & Fire (Born on a Battlefield)” goes even further, bringing trve metal aesthetics into play for a rougher, meaner approach that suits the Conan storyline. Heavy riffs drive the attack forward as war chants punctuate the storytelling in a Manocentric way. I especially appreciate how Krilloan borrows from the immortal soundtrack of Conan the Barbarian for maximum glory riding.

As Heralds unspools, Krilloan get heavier and more aggressive and this is when they’re at their best. “Hammer of Wrath” is like Domine mixing DNA with Paragon, making for a more impactful sound and the chorus is righteous. “Avenging Sun” goes even harder, channeling trve acts like Ancient Empire and Ironflame for added machismo. The Blind Guardian worship gets real on the folksy “The Kingkillers Tale” as VanTrue pulls off a scary accurate Hansi Kürsch impression, and late album cut “We Burn” seasons Amorphis-like guitar bits throughout a wild battle anthem full of piss and vinegar. While the writing is a bit uneven, no song is bad or disposable. The performances are impressive and the band wisely keep the songs short and tight with only one reaching the 5-minute mark. This along with a tight 40-minute runtime makes Return of the Heralds an easy spin with some high points.

Talent abounds in Krilloan and I’m especially impressed by Alex VanTrue’s vocals. The man is a chameleon with a big range, channeling any number of notable power metal luminaries. He can hit the high notes but does so sparingly and has a good ear for hooky vocal lines and patterns. He sells the material well and keeps the listener involved. Steve Brockmann and Klas Holmgren are talented guitarists capable of driving a song with solid riffs and soaring when solo time is nigh. Marco Ignacio Toba’s bass is present and involved, and Christoph Brandes powers the music with booming double-base runs and thundering kit work. Krilloan possess the ability needed to rock the power genre and when their writing is at its peak, good things happen.

Return of the Heralds is a good power metal album that sometimes threatens to become more. With more consistent writing and a drift away from the generic elements of the Euro-power sound, Krilloan have real potential. I’ll be watching to see what they do next since good Euro-power is pretty scarce these days. Worth a loud spin with sword held high.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet
Websites: facebook.com/krilloanofficial | instagram.com/krilloan_official
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #30 #BlindGuardian #Domine #HeavyMetal #Krilloan #LostHorizon #PowerMetal #ReturnOfTheHeralds #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Sep24 #SonataArctica

Invocation – The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) Review

By Mark Z.

Chile has given us some great records in recent years, with Mayhemic’s Toba and Inanna’s Void of Unending Depths being two notable examples of fantastic albums that have earned a spot in my collection. Thus, when I saw a new Chilean black-death metal band were releasing their debut album via Iron Bonehead Productions—the ever-reliable purveyors of all that is raw and trve—my interest was piqued. With their previous demo and two EPs, Invocation showcased a dark and atmospheric style that earned them comparisons to the musty music of Grave Miasma. Now nine years since their formation, this trio are truly coming into their own with their first proper album, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures).

When I first listened to Invocation, they sounded quite a bit different than I expected. Whereas Grave Miasma conjure an archaic atmosphere with extended groaning tremolos, Invocation maintain a similar vibe with a more immediate approach. Upon hitting play on opener “Ecstatic Trance,” the onslaught of riffs begins and—for the next 34 minutes—never truly ceases. These riffs gyrate and jab, moving deftly and sometimes violently, at times escalating into layered chords or suggestions of emotive melody, but never acting without purpose. The album has a restlessness about it, and that feeling is only furthered by the drumming. Contrary to what one might expect, the tempos never approach anything remotely doomy, instead shifting fluidly between blast beats and confident mid-paced rhythms. Sometimes these rhythms are even the highlights themselves, as with the snappy beat that helps make “Metamorphosis” one of the catchiest tracks on the record.

Given that these eight tracks average four minutes, the sheer quantity of riffs here could have easily made this album a mess. Instead, the band’s compositional maturity helps these songs stay focused and captivating. Each track progresses naturally and fluidly from one great moment to the next, giving each riff its time in the light yet rarely lingering on one idea for too long. Invocation have a brevity not often embraced by their peers, with many of these songs feeling like eight-minute epics that were trimmed tighter and tighter without ever losing their inherent sense of mystery. Yet while the band love crafting nooks and crannies within these songs, the tracks often return to a core idea, keeping them anchored and helping them stand on their own. Penultimate track “Venus of Laussel,” for instance, stands out with a big and terrific main riff that sounds like temple walls being forcefully rearranged by some immense subterranean creature.

Other aspects of the band’s sound are equally notable. Guitarist “Sense of Premonition” also serves as the band’s vocalist, and he delivers a manic and guttural holler that sounds like he’s striving as hard as possible to keep his inner madman under control. The approach is a perfect fit for the band’s lyrical themes, which center on “ancestral techniques of self-hypnosis and possession.” Yet ultimately, the guitars and drumming are the real standouts here. From the wailing grandeur of “Opium Tebiacum (Somniferum)” to the ascending tremolos of closer “Hypnosis” to the more measured approach of “The Serpent of Faardal,” Sense of Premonition consistently delivers one great idea after another, skillfully navigating his fretboard as the guitars contort in ever-interesting ways. Drummer “Sense of Clairaudience” likewise feels both tight and utterly natural with his smooth and dynamic performance. The production is also fantastic. Everything has plenty of space to breathe, and yet the riffs still hit hard enough to leave a mark.

Simply put, The Archaic Sanctuary is a triumph. From the compositions to the performances to the atmosphere, this is the rare album that excels in almost every way. The band’s knack for combining a musty ambiance with restless riffing reminds me of Throneum or Mystifier, yet Invocation just feel a notch above both them and almost everything else in the style. Here, the riffs are stronger, the songs are more focused, and the overall effect is simply captivating. As a result, The Archaic Sanctuary is a record I’d heartily recommend to any fan of extreme metal, regardless of how often you tread the types of shadowy underworlds that this record creates. For me, Invocation is a band to watch, and this is an album I’ll be revisiting for a long time to come.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Websites: invocationtemple.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/invocationchile
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #45 #BlackMetal #ChileanMetal #DeathMetal #GraveMiasma #Invocation #IronBoneheadProductions #Mystifier #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #TheArchaicSanctuaryRitualBodyPostures_ #Throneum

Invocation – The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) Review

By Mark Z.

Chile has given us some great records in recent years, with Mayhemic’s Toba and Inanna’s Void of Unending Depths being two notable examples of fantastic albums that have earned a spot in my collection. Thus, when I saw a new Chilean black-death metal band were releasing their debut album via Iron Bonehead Productions—the ever-reliable purveyors of all that is raw and trve—my interest was piqued. With their previous demo and two EPs, Invocation showcased a dark and atmospheric style that earned them comparisons to the musty music of Grave Miasma. Now nine years since their formation, this trio are truly coming into their own with their first proper album, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures).

When I first listened to Invocation, they sounded quite a bit different than I expected. Whereas Grave Miasma conjure an archaic atmosphere with extended groaning tremolos, Invocation maintain a similar vibe with a more immediate approach. Upon hitting play on opener “Ecstatic Trance,” the onslaught of riffs begins and—for the next 34 minutes—never truly ceases. These riffs gyrate and jab, moving deftly and sometimes violently, at times escalating into layered chords or suggestions of emotive melody, but never acting without purpose. The album has a restlessness about it, and that feeling is only furthered by the drumming. Contrary to what one might expect, the tempos never approach anything remotely doomy, instead shifting fluidly between blast beats and confident mid-paced rhythms. Sometimes these rhythms are even the highlights themselves, as with the snappy beat that helps make “Metamorphosis” one of the catchiest tracks on the record.

Given that these eight tracks average four minutes, the sheer quantity of riffs here could have easily made this album a mess. Instead, the band’s compositional maturity helps these songs stay focused and captivating. Each track progresses naturally and fluidly from one great moment to the next, giving each riff its time in the light yet rarely lingering on one idea for too long. Invocation have a brevity not often embraced by their peers, with many of these songs feeling like eight-minute epics that were trimmed tighter and tighter without ever losing their inherent sense of mystery. Yet while the band love crafting nooks and crannies within these songs, the tracks often return to a core idea, keeping them anchored and helping them stand on their own. Penultimate track “Venus of Laussel,” for instance, stands out with a big and terrific main riff that sounds like temple walls being forcefully rearranged by some immense subterranean creature.

Other aspects of the band’s sound are equally notable. Guitarist “Sense of Premonition” also serves as the band’s vocalist, and he delivers a manic and guttural holler that sounds like he’s striving as hard as possible to keep his inner madman under control. The approach is a perfect fit for the band’s lyrical themes, which center on “ancestral techniques of self-hypnosis and possession.” Yet ultimately, the guitars and drumming are the real standouts here. From the wailing grandeur of “Opium Tebiacum (Somniferum)” to the ascending tremolos of closer “Hypnosis” to the more measured approach of “The Serpent of Faardal,” Sense of Premonition consistently delivers one great idea after another, skillfully navigating his fretboard as the guitars contort in ever-interesting ways. Drummer “Sense of Clairaudience” likewise feels both tight and utterly natural with his smooth and dynamic performance. The production is also fantastic. Everything has plenty of space to breathe, and yet the riffs still hit hard enough to leave a mark.

Simply put, The Archaic Sanctuary is a triumph. From the compositions to the performances to the atmosphere, this is the rare album that excels in almost every way. The band’s knack for combining a musty ambiance with restless riffing reminds me of Throneum or Mystifier, yet Invocation just feel a notch above both them and almost everything else in the style. Here, the riffs are stronger, the songs are more focused, and the overall effect is simply captivating. As a result, The Archaic Sanctuary is a record I’d heartily recommend to any fan of extreme metal, regardless of how often you tread the types of shadowy underworlds that this record creates. For me, Invocation is a band to watch, and this is an album I’ll be revisiting for a long time to come.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Websites: invocationtemple.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/invocationchile
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #45 #BlackMetal #ChileanMetal #DeathMetal #GraveMiasma #Invocation #IronBoneheadProductions #Mystifier #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #TheArchaicSanctuaryRitualBodyPostures_ #Throneum

Invocation – The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) Review

By Mark Z.

Chile has given us some great records in recent years, with Mayhemic’s Toba and Inanna’s Void of Unending Depths being two notable examples of fantastic albums that have earned a spot in my collection. Thus, when I saw a new Chilean black-death metal band were releasing their debut album via Iron Bonehead Productions—the ever-reliable purveyors of all that is raw and trve—my interest was piqued. With their previous demo and two EPs, Invocation showcased a dark and atmospheric style that earned them comparisons to the musty music of Grave Miasma. Now nine years since their formation, this trio are truly coming into their own with their first proper album, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures).

When I first listened to Invocation, they sounded quite a bit different than I expected. Whereas Grave Miasma conjure an archaic atmosphere with extended groaning tremolos, Invocation maintain a similar vibe with a more immediate approach. Upon hitting play on opener “Ecstatic Trance,” the onslaught of riffs begins and—for the next 34 minutes—never truly ceases. These riffs gyrate and jab, moving deftly and sometimes violently, at times escalating into layered chords or suggestions of emotive melody, but never acting without purpose. The album has a restlessness about it, and that feeling is only furthered by the drumming. Contrary to what one might expect, the tempos never approach anything remotely doomy, instead shifting fluidly between blast beats and confident mid-paced rhythms. Sometimes these rhythms are even the highlights themselves, as with the snappy beat that helps make “Metamorphosis” one of the catchiest tracks on the record.

Given that these eight tracks average four minutes, the sheer quantity of riffs here could have easily made this album a mess. Instead, the band’s compositional maturity helps these songs stay focused and captivating. Each track progresses naturally and fluidly from one great moment to the next, giving each riff its time in the light yet rarely lingering on one idea for too long. Invocation have a brevity not often embraced by their peers, with many of these songs feeling like eight-minute epics that were trimmed tighter and tighter without ever losing their inherent sense of mystery. Yet while the band love crafting nooks and crannies within these songs, the tracks often return to a core idea, keeping them anchored and helping them stand on their own. Penultimate track “Venus of Laussel,” for instance, stands out with a big and terrific main riff that sounds like temple walls being forcefully rearranged by some immense subterranean creature.

Other aspects of the band’s sound are equally notable. Guitarist “Sense of Premonition” also serves as the band’s vocalist, and he delivers a manic and guttural holler that sounds like he’s striving as hard as possible to keep his inner madman under control. The approach is a perfect fit for the band’s lyrical themes, which center on “ancestral techniques of self-hypnosis and possession.” Yet ultimately, the guitars and drumming are the real standouts here. From the wailing grandeur of “Opium Tebiacum (Somniferum)” to the ascending tremolos of closer “Hypnosis” to the more measured approach of “The Serpent of Faardal,” Sense of Premonition consistently delivers one great idea after another, skillfully navigating his fretboard as the guitars contort in ever-interesting ways. Drummer “Sense of Clairaudience” likewise feels both tight and utterly natural with his smooth and dynamic performance. The production is also fantastic. Everything has plenty of space to breathe, and yet the riffs still hit hard enough to leave a mark.

Simply put, The Archaic Sanctuary is a triumph. From the compositions to the performances to the atmosphere, this is the rare album that excels in almost every way. The band’s knack for combining a musty ambiance with restless riffing reminds me of Throneum or Mystifier, yet Invocation just feel a notch above both them and almost everything else in the style. Here, the riffs are stronger, the songs are more focused, and the overall effect is simply captivating. As a result, The Archaic Sanctuary is a record I’d heartily recommend to any fan of extreme metal, regardless of how often you tread the types of shadowy underworlds that this record creates. For me, Invocation is a band to watch, and this is an album I’ll be revisiting for a long time to come.

Rating: 4.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Websites: invocationtemple.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/invocationchile
Releases Worldwide: September 20th, 2024

#2024 #45 #BlackMetal #ChileanMetal #DeathMetal #GraveMiasma #Invocation #IronBoneheadProductions #Mystifier #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #TheArchaicSanctuaryRitualBodyPostures_ #Throneum