Don’t call it a comeback.
After dispatching a certain troublesome vocalist, South African Deathcore titans Vulvodynia did the only thing they know how: returned with Entabeni (Unique Leader Records), a rapturous, bites-your-head-off full-length that only furthers the outfit’s comfortable position atop the genre.Continue reading
Delving into No Name Graves (Unique Leader), a constant quickly becomes evident.
The majority of the songs on the latest effort from Deathcore outfit The Last Ten Seconds Of Life feels introductory. Which is to say the tracks routinely edge listeners by delivering about seventy percent but never really breaks the surface.Continue reading
It’s inevitable: the world will one day cease to exist, and mankind will be relegated to the pages of history like everything that’s come and gone beforehand. How or when that happens is anyone’s guess. But Humanity’s Last Breath gives us quite a glimpse of what the apocalypse might sound like.
Crown Magnetar does deathcore the right way.
Forgoing the oft-used technique of blubbering legitimately incoherent nonsense, the titans of the industry insert vulgar, spiteful lyrics all over Everything Bleeds (Unique Leader Records). The record comes fresh off the heels of 2022’s EP, Alone In Death, signaling a need for the Coloradans to constantly wreak havoc.
Following 2019’s Global Warning debut, Deathcore visionaries To The Grave continue their activist-minded foray with Director’s Cuts (Unique Leader Records), a forty-four-minute escapade that builds on the band’s mission to “expose a societal and environmental hell on earth,” per the press release.
The nut to crack that is Obvurt is a tough one.
On the one hand, the Quebec-based tech-death trio hold their own with bombastic, forceful drumming; chaotic, thrashy elements; and call-off-the-dogs brutal vocals. On the other hand, the majority of Triumph Beyond Adversity (Unique Leader Records) is mired in mediocrity, relying too much on formulaic tropes while falling prey to a surplus of empty space. A portion of the songs inexplicably feel out of place, though not due to the band’s inability. Instead, the record plays as the personification of a college student who boasts a 3.0 GPA while coasting through the four years without engaging in much of any extracurricular activity, content with being uncompromisingly normal.
Imagine being a child and your buddy informs you that an outfit known as Bonecarver has a new album titled Carnage Funeral on Unique Leader. What do you do with that information? That’s like the most metal collection of words ever assembled. Carnage Funeral? Bonecarver? What in the world is a Bonecarver and why does anyone need it? So many questions trying to keep up with a rushing imagination.
For what it’s worth, there seems to be quite the shift in a certain corner of the Melodic Death Metal camp as bands are increasingly shying away from the vintage, glossy (as glossy as death metal can get) vocals in favor of more biting, explosive intensity that prioritizes grit over rudimentary formulae.
Strap yourselves in, folks.
Exocrine, the progressive technical death metal goliaths hailing from France have penned an absolutely earth-shattering colossus that redefines the term “heavy” and wholeheartedly challenged this author to find enough synonyms to accurately depict the sheer destructive chaos The Hybrid Suns (Unique Leader) leaves in its wake.
Tonight is a busy day for Metal in the Capital, with the dreaded evening of multiple gig clashes, within a few stops of the Northern Line alone. One stop down from tonight’s proceedings in Tufnell Park sees the Cerberus-like bill of Behemoth, At The Gates and Wolves In The Throne Room, whilst Camden Town sees Toundra for those seeking something more mellow, and Obscura for some who, well, aren’t. This goes someway to explaining why The Dome looks tonight to be, at best, around half capacity for much of the night. Not that this seems to dampen anyone’s mood, as all night the crowd are on fine form, showing the bands plenty of love and movement as well as respect to one another. Continue reading