This Brazillan death metal band Fossilization throws you into the grinding grooves of their sound right from the very first riff of “Once Was God”. Leprous Daylight (Everlasting Spew) is their debut full-length so they obviously feel like they must prove the crushing might of their sonic brutality.
Distortion and volume alone do not equate to heavy. Heaviness is the feeling these sounds invoke. Sonic alchemy can be oppressive, horrifying, depressing, creepy or somehow unsettling; Gateway finds themselves touching on all of these feelings on their new album Galgeendood (Transcending Obscurity Records). Belgium is not at the top of my list when it comes to places I might expect this kind of subterranean death doom to emerge from, but here we are. This album is the follow-up to Robert Van Oyen’s 2015 debut, under the Gateway moniker.Continue reading
Vomitheist. It’s a band name that you hear or see and know exactly what you are in for. What exactly is a Vomitheist? Is it an instrument or a profession? Is it like an Atheist? Do they not believe in vomit, or do they worship it? Perhaps they are well-versed in all things regurgitation. Regardless of how or why they came up with their band name, what I can assure is that Vomitheist can write some sick ass and filthy Death Metal.
Fires In The Distance do not do anything halfway.
Since 2021’s debut Billboard-charting opus Echoes From Deep November, the melodic doomsters set out on a course to carve out their colossal identity. As a response, Air Not Meant For Us transcends music. With larger-than-life compositions and stunning atmospherics, the Prosthetic Records release averages nine minutes a song and impressively builds on FITD’s earlier success.
When an EP is presented, it’s easy to cast it off as a minor installment added to a band’s overall body of work. But Dirge composed four independent, uniquely structured tracks that makes their self-released, self-titled opus bigger and more complex than what the runtime would suggest.
The cutting room floor after a Worm brainstorming session must be quite the sight to see!
Without hampering the quality of the record, Tomb Of Finland pile layer upon layer and meticulously interspersed elements of doom, black metal and good ol’ death metal on the quartet’s third full-length, Across The Barren Fields (Uprising! Records). Continue reading
I love it when something new and different comes down the pipeline. Tlazcaltiliztil (20 Buck Spin), the new offering from Tzompantli brings much to the proverbial table. To start off I really dig the tribal vibe. Their approach blends some killer death metal and doom with awesome ambiance and tasty instrumentation. Continue reading
It’s staggering that a city supposedly renowned for everything that is good in life produces such harrowing music in abundance. Maestus’ sophomore album Deliquesce (code666), the full-length extension to their 2017 demo of the same name, is the latest slab of darkness to emerge from Portland, Oregon, and it paints a picture of bleak desolation.Continue reading
I think it’s fair to say that no-one expected Karl Willetts to journey too far outside his musical safe zone. That Memoriam bear more than a passing similarity to Bolt Thrower is so obvious that pointing it out feels like bad journalism, but it’s worth noting because the very factor that makes The Silent Vigil (Nuclear Blast) so worthwhile is how masterfully it captures its chosen style. Continue reading