I have to admit that I hated the first couple of albums from Norway's Dimmu Borgir when I first encountered them during my mid-90's trade trading days & nothing has changed much in that respect. The experience left me feeling far less than enthused about continuing to follow the band through their creative evolution, however I believe it was Ben that alerted me to the drastic change of musical direction with their third full-length "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" & it tempted me back to see what the fuss was about. I wouldn't say that my initial listens saw my interest doing a swift u-turn as I still found myself struggling to connect with the band's brand-new & significantly more symphonic approach, however I certainly found it to be more palatable than the clumsy, incompetence of records like "For all tid" (1.5/5) or "Stormblåst" (2/5). It's only now though, that I've realised what my main issue with "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" was & started to finally come around to its charms.

Whereas Dimmu Borgir's early releases took an intentionally lo-fi & primitive approach to melodic black metal, "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" is an altogether different beast, this time going for a huge symphonic sound full of gothic romanticism & grandeur. The lineup had changed a little with bassist Brynjard Tristan (Old Man's Child) being replaced by Nagash (The Kovenant/Troll/Carpe Tenebrum/Chrome Division/Covenant) while the other core members who recorded Dimmu Borgir's 1994 "Inn i evighetens mørke" debut E.P. were all still present. The prestigious Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy/Pain/Bloodbath/Lindemann/Lock Up/The Abyss/War) would be charged with engineering & mixing the album & had begun to make a name for himself as a talented producer over the previous 4 or 5 years. This would appear to have been a good decision as he certainly played a role in presenting Dimmu Borgir as a more exciting yet also more accessible option for extreme metal fans.

Upon revisiting "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant" for the first time in decades this week, I was immediately challenged in the same way that I was back in the day, only this time I feel that my increased patience allowed me to overcome an obvious failing that had previously tainted my vision of the overall album. You see, "Embrace Darkness Triumphant" begins with the three tracks that contain by far the most challenges for my personal taste & it had previously been hard to overlook them when assessing the holistic package. It's only with several repeat listens that I've come to this realisation & discovered that the remainder of the record is really pretty decent. The use of Stian Aarstad's keyboards in those earlier songs tends to veer into overblown & cheesy spaces while there is a lot more brutality & substance to the other seven songs, particularly the blast-tastic "Relinquishment of Spirit & Flesh" which very quickly drags things back out of the abyss after the disappointment of the opening trio & is easily my pick of the bunch. All of the remaining tracks are worth hearing although none of them quite reach essential status, generally being let down by a weaker section here or there. It's hardly surprising that the general consensus seems to be the complete reverse of my position on the tracklisting as I'm simply not the target audience for a record like this one. 

The vocals of front man Shagrath (Chrome Division/Fimbulwinter/Nocturnal Breed/Ov Hell/Ulver) are a highlight along with the more frenzied drums parts of Tjodalv (Abyssic/Susperia/Old Man's Child) while the riffs of rhythm guitarist Erkekjetter Silenoz (Insidious Disease/Nocturnal Breed) often draw upon the influence of symphonic black metal godfathers Emperor during their stronger moments. Those keyboards rarely reach a level where I find them to be more than tolerable however they don't often leap over the borderline into theatrical shenanigans outside of those first few tracks, generally staying within spaces that I can at least deem to be acceptable even if I would prefer that they weren't there at all a lot of the time.

There's no doubt at all that "Embrace Darkness Triumphant" was Dimmu Borgir's best release to the time & took their careers to an entirely new level. For me though, their finest hour would not come until the early 2000's with records like "Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia" & "Death Cult Armageddon" when they'd toned down the theatrics a bit. It's easy to see how some of your more elitist black metal fans might claim Dimmu Borgir as "gateway" act off the back of a release like this one but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, we all needed an entry point & it doesn't immediately mean that Dimmu Borgir are entirely bad. They're not, They're just not the same animal as your Mayhems or Marduks.

For fans of Old Man's Child, Cradle of Filth & Carach Angren.

Counting Nostalgia Points

I never liked the earliest Bring Me the Horizon albums. Not until There is a Hell... [et al.] did I ever start to notice anything of value in this bands music. Once they kicked the deathcore out of their sound, their songwriting dramatically improved. So twenty years after the release of their debut LP, Count Your Blessings, BMTH (Bring Me the Horizon) re-recorded it and published it to the world. For what reason I have no idea!

The deathcore days of BMTH are long behind them and this blatant display of nostalgia farming is disappointing. I get it; the online metal spaces cannot shut up about how "bRiNg mE tHe hOrIzOn wERe sO mUcH bEtTeR wHeN tHeY wERe dEaThCoRe". But if you wanted to make a deathcore album in 2026, why the fuck was your first thought to re-record the old albums instead of just making a new deathcore album? It would have been just as bad as the old stuff sure, but that would have least required effort.

This album is not just performed bad, with all of the same tired tropes I've complained about in modern metalcore for years, but it's also performed with the atrocious songwriting techniques that made Myspace deathcore (i.e. Job For a Cowboy, Suicide Silence, Chelsea Grin, etc.) so unbearable twenty years ago! The guitar mixing is sloppy, the percussion has been amplified, mostly in the bass drum, creating that terrible wave effect in my speakers. Oli's harsh screams might be the best part of the album since they haven't shown too much rust in two decades (I was expecting them to be much worse). As for the songwriting, you know the drill; songs that cannot figure out what they want to be as they modulate in-and-out of motifs and riffs like a kid in a candy store, whiplash tempo changes, irritating use of the pinch harmonics and shout out breakdowns that you can predict from three songs away. 

I guess to wrap up the review I should probably talk about the actual new song here. "Dehumanized" proves my point. It still not very good, but because BMTH actually had to write a new song, it does have some modern trends from the band, as they try to weave their way through both the past and present. It sounds like a song that Make Them Suffer would write if they were still a deathcore act.

I see no purpose as to why this album exists. If a band wants to fully embrace the nostalgia and revert back to a sound that initially made them popular that's fine, but at least prove to me you're going to put in some effort for it. My review of Survival Horror: Nex Gen stands when I said this band is playing catch-up to the rest of the metalcore world. Except now, BMTH aren't catching up, they're falling backwards.

Best Songs: A Lot Like Vegas, Dehumanized

For Fans Of: Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, Despised Icon

The sophomore release by Brazilian based progressive/post-metal/death doomers Loneshore is a confusing record. That's not to say that I don't like it; the quality of the songwriting and unconventional structure sucked me in and would not let me go for the entire fifty-plus minutes of runtime. However, Nothing Left to Deconstruct is an album that feels more like an amalgamation of the sum of its parts instead of a cohesive unit. When the album begun with "Straylight" and "To Stride the Black Earth", I could hear the influence right away. Imagine if Tool wrote more heavy songs, with seven string guitars and more death metal howls from Maynard, something closer to that of The Ocean. And I really enjoyed it; "To Stride the Black Earth" in particular with its unconventionally short runtime. "Of Lost Waters" starts off with a neat riff that sounds influenced by "Windowpane" by Opeth. "Birth of a Mountain" and "Parhelion" are both good as well, and even have segments that feature Mastodon-esque sludge metal grooves. The main issue I felt was that even though these influences were indeed influential and not blatant rip-off's, I still felt myself getting sucked out of the experience. I really enjoyed the variety found within this album, but it kind of felt like too much at some times, which was odd. 

If the mixing of this album was worse, I would probably view this record in a far less positive light. The production is splendid allowing every note and word to be performed with expert precision. As the album shifts between styles and influences, so does the mix. Clean guitars on "With Nothing We Part" sound weighty even beyond their lowered tuning, while tremolo guitar leads are balanced with the vocals, creating some great counterpoint. The percussion is tight and draws the album forward even during its more contemplative and slower sections. The vocals of Luiz Felipe Netto take some getting used to, especially his death metal howls. They don't sound particularly dense here. A healthy dose of reverb and bass boost could have done wonders. The clean singing on the other hand is well done; Luiz shows a great vocal range and dynamic variety.

I wanted to enjoy this album more, but something about it just irks me. I can tell immediately that these guys have chops and their approach to songwriting is unique and very interesting. But as a whole, Nothing Left to Deconstruct also has the feeling of an identity crisis. Perhaps giving it more time will really bring it home, but I don't really want to have to deconstruct this album for another eight years to find out!

Best Songs: Straylight, To Stride the Black Earth, Parhelion

For Fans Of: Tool, The Ocean, Spirit Adrift

Welcome to Greeley Estates, a metalcore neighborhood where not many people have stayed for a full decade, all except two guys; Ryan Zimmerman (vocals) and guitarist Brandon Hackenson. Well, no matter the lineup changes, Greeley Estates have managed to make their initial career last 5 albums. The Death of Greeley Estates (same title as their 2005 live DVD) is high on ambition and in perfect consistency despite the amount of tracks, similarly to Trivium's In Waves released the same day!

The album is filled with metalcore heaviness and some background symphonic keys, in contrast to the emocore sound of their earlier material. Bright melodies are still around to counterbalance with the darkness, making a fantastic blend that I enjoy in other bands of a similar style.

The first track "Straitjacket" is just straight-on heaviness in the riffing and drums. The cleans and screams are in great balance, along with some guitar harmonies here and there. Next up, "The Last Dance" delights me even more. The chorus is so beautiful, especially when the clean singing leads you in. Of course, the track strikes hard with the furious verses and gives you an emotional breakdown. Absolutely precious! "Friendly Neighbourhood Visit" has occasional background choir to level up the experimentation. Within the fast rhythm is an ethereal chorus. They really know how to get experimentation in metalcore right. "Bodies" stands out with dark organ and symphonies, alongside clean singing and pummeling drumming. A haunting highlight! Then "The Medic" continues the massive sound with soaring symphonics, guitars, and vocals.

"Thousand Burning Forests" builds up to powerful soloing. "Broken" is a brief interlude in which not a lot of happens though it helps set the mood for the next track. "Leave the Light On" sounds quite sharp in the guitarwork. "Circle the Wagons" has the melodic/heavy blend heard in other metalcore bands like 36 Crazyfists and Oh Sleeper. In fact, Oh Sleeper lead vocalist Micah Kinard guest appears here to give that song a raging punch. "The Reaction" is another relentless highlight with screaming energy. Midway through is an electronic-sounding bridge, and the song ends by reminding you of its dark glory.

"Tonight" continues the darkness in a more accessible pop-ish direction. Despite that, the heaviness is what matters here. "The Postman" is more chaotic while having some groove, similar to Every Time I Die and Harm's Way. Same thing with "Mouth to Mouth" with some TDEP-esque experimentation. Then we have another interlude, "Repaired". It segues to the emotional "December", starting off soft before the instrumentation expands in the buildup then ends on a haunting note.

Greeley Estates made an ambitious album with lots of heaviness and a small bit of softness. The occasional cinematic synths are what makes this masterpiece impressive with its experimentation. Although The Death of Greeley Estates may seem aptly titled for their breakup, they've recently reformed. I say it's their ultimate death and rebirth!

Favorites: "Straitjacket", "The Last Dance", "Bodies", "The Medic", "Circle the Wagons", "The Reaction", "Tonight", "December"

Goatess were formed in 2009 as Weekend Beast by guitarist Niklas Jones and Chritus (Christian Linderson), veteran vocalist of Count Raven and Lord Vicar. They changed their name to Goatess in 2012 and released this debut album the following year. If you are famiiar with Chritus' previous bands then you will be on pretty firm ground here as Goatess have one foot firmly planted in the traditional doom camp of those bands, although the other is very much rooted in the stoner tradition of acts like Sleep and Kyuss. Chritus said after the album's release that the songwriting was done by jamming in the rehearsal room and I think you can feel that approach manifested particularly in Jones' trippy guitar leads which feel a lot like the more jam-oriented stoner grooves of those acts. The tracks are quite lengthy, generally from seven to eleven minutes, so there is ample scope for the laid-back six-string flights of fancy to weave their spells. 

The riffs are still mostly derived from the trad doom template, although a track like "Full Moon at Noon" is much groovier and more rooted in stoner metal and even desert rock than actual doom metal. Meanwhile the two-part "The Oracle" begins with its first section sounding like latter-day, psychedelia-obsessed Cathedral, although the second part is one of the heaviest and doomiest tracks on the album with the forceful drumming of Kenta Karlbom playing a significant role. Closing track "Tentacles of Zen" even features an extended eastern-flavoured instrumental breakdown that wouldn't sound out of place on "Sgt. Pepper". The result of this trade-off between heavy riffs and trippy guitar leads brings to mind 90s Electric Wizard, albeit without the dark edge I associate with Jus Osborne's crew and with Chritus sounding so unlike Osborne the comparison doesn't entirely hold up successfully, although I still feel it is valid. Overall I like how this dynamic between the heavy and the trippy works and it has produced an album that comes across as a little bit different and a band that has a definite and particular vision for how they want to sound.