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.
Disquisition On An Execution surpasses the confines of being a meager release. It’s The Last Ten Seconds Of Life’s eighteen-minute soundtrack to accompany a lecture on the best way to snap a victim’s neck in one fell swoop. The four-track EP – courtesy of mammoth label Unique Leader – is an inescapable assault – a hodge-podge of dense, declarative deathcore. Fits and starts of feral madness fuel the Pennsylvanian foursome.
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.
These days, with technology readily at our disposal, music isn’t always created directly by humans. Programming has significantly widened the plains of the musical landscape, for better or worse.Continue reading
There is a powerful being that has arrived with one goal in mind: wreak havoc over everyone and everything until existence itself is all but wiped out. But it’s not a pandemic, it’s Praenuntius. The South-African six-piece Vulvodynia is responsible for this entity, and they’ve told its story via Praenuntius Infiniti (Unique Leader Records) in the form of crushing Deathcore and downright nightmarish lyrics.
As we previously reported, a tribute and benefit concert for late Deeds of Flesh and Unique Leader Records co-founder Erik R Lindmark, who passed away last month will be held in California tonight. Now a second event has been announced for February 2nd at Saint Vitus Bar, in Brooklyn, NY. Unique Leader artists Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia, Cognitive, and Afterbirth with all proceeds from the show going toward his daughter Bella’s fund. Continue reading
Recently we learned of the passing of Deeds of Flesh guitarist and Unique Leader Records co-founder Erik R. Lindmark, who passed away on November 29th following a battle with sclerosis. Now a memorial concert and fundraiser has been booked, celebrating Erik’s life and supporting his family at this time. Taking place on December 20th at Sweet Springs Saloon in Los Osos, Ca and features performances by Crypolith and Stone Mountain. Donations will be accepted to benefit his wife and daughter. If you can’t attend, please consider donating to the GoFundMe campaign, which is supporting Erik’s wife and daughter. According to a press release by the label, more benefit shows are being planned. Continue reading
In a blow to the heavy music community death metal musician and Unique Leader Records CEO & Founder, Erik Lindmark has passed away following a long illness. He was 46 years old. Erik built the label from scratch after his 1990s death metal band Deeds Of Flesh and his bandmates founded the essential label which has put countless death metal bands on the map. Unique Leader is planning to continue, but will not make any new releases in early 2019 to make a transition. A GoFundMe has been set up for Erik’s wife and child. We send our sympathies out to Erik’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time. Continue reading