This has been my first time listening to a full length by Melechesh, with the band having only ever managed to previously float on the periphery of my black metal listening taste. You see, I have never really been possessed by the urge to explore Melechesh in depth and off the basis of this record I doubt that this will change very much moving forwards. Despite some early promise on The Epigenesis it falls some way short for me in being a complete experience. Which seems like an odd statement given just how much is going on during the hour and eleven-minutes duration of the record. Somehow though, it just doesn’t all fit together for me.

I am not surprised to hear the musical influences on the record. The band bill themselves as Sumerian/Mesopotamian themed extreme metal and this certainly shows on this album. Those black metal roots are obvious underneath all the middle eastern sounds and the potency of technical death metal and the swarming sounds of progressive metal each get turns to take the steering wheel at times during the album also. For the first five tracks of the album, I don’t really have much of a problem. Tracks like ‘Grand Gathas of Baal Sin’ are absolute romps, full of pace and energy. Regrettably though, this is an album of two halves, and the second half is a very lost sounding and directionless affair to my ears.

The middle eastern influences just seem to take over after the instrumental track, ‘When Halos of Candles Collide’ and the tracks seem to lose a large portion of their metal credentials along the way and my attention starts to fade, badly. Whereas the non-metal instruments seem to blend relatively well with the more standard fare for the first part of the record, they seem to almost take over the longer the record goes on for. Add to this there is a definite accessible edge to tracks such as ‘Sacred Geometry’ which has a really irritating chorus section, which is not how I like my black metal I am afraid. Fair play to them for trying and I can see this works for other members, based on comments on the site already. However, this is a bit of a bugger’s muddle to me overall.

I will be honest, when I saw this record put forward for a feature release this month, I groaned inwardly. Having tried to understand the hype around this album on many occasions previously, I could never quite fathom its cult status. For me personally, it has always been Empire that is my go-to Queensrÿche album. A factor in my opinion of Operation Mindcrime has always been its arrangement. Metal/rock operas are tedious affairs to me, often where songs get snarled up in acts at various points in the record, completely disrupting the flow of the album usually. Here on this record, there is the double whammy of two, largely non-musical intro tracks to open proceedings, so my irritation soon becomes difficult to control.

Arrangement challenges aside, this outing with album has been much more fruitful than I expected. If I divert my attention away from the actual storytelling, I can acknowledge that there are some fantastic tracks on this record. I recalled that I had always liked ‘I Don’t Believe in Love’, but on this outing the class of ‘Suite Sister Mary’ shone through. I am confident that with future listens I will be able to expand on the list of standout tracks as some made a more subconscious impact this time around.

There are still some gripes, however. I struggle to describe much of this as metal in all honesty. The extravagance of the leads perhaps is all that keeps the sound this side of the hard rock style that I recognise as being more prevalent. I don’t really buy the progressive tag either. I doubt if it were all that progressive, I would have found as much positivity in the album as I have. However, let’s try to keep those positive vibes coming and end on a high note. This has been a successful revisit for me, albeit an unexpected one. I have a feeling if I edit the track listing myself on this, I could even get a higher rating for this album in the future.

At this point in their thirty-eight-year reign, Immolation can almost do no wrong. Whilst they may have had periods of inferior output (Kingdom of Conspiracy, Majesty & Decay), I can think of few bands of such long-established activity who’s output I look forward to. Descent continues this tradition of the Yonkers crew once again creating another distinctive sounding record that is immediately identifiable as their signature sound, backed up with their deft song writing skills and seemingly undying passion for this artform that they have epitomised for so long. It would be very easy for Immolation to sound a little jaded if not downright tired by now. However, whilst not a flawless record, their twelfth studio album shows no lack of energy and no signs of the battery levels even starting to diminish.

Perhaps one of the most consistent death metal legends of recent years, Immolation have made another assured sounding album. The line up of Ross, Robert, Alex and Steve has been stable now for three records now and you can almost feel the unity across these tracks. Great production also helps of course, and the mix here is kind to all elements of the instrumentation with Steve’s drums coming off best in my experience. Those dancing, swarming, and urgent riffs perform their dizzying deeds as always, with that keen ear for marauding melody getting a lot of room to shine also. Ross’ vocals are satisfyingly beastly, without suffering from the artificial edge to them that haunted the bands previous album, Acts of God. Indeed, the only element that is lost here is the bass, which is hardly rare in death metal anyways. Dan Lilker makes another guest vocal appearance on a couple of tracks, just as he did on the previous album.

Once again using the striking artwork of Eliran Kantor, the image that adorns the album cover of an angel immolating into the fiery depths of Hell (perhaps) is a good representation of the content that lies in the album itself. The sacrifice she appears to be making (or be forced to make) appears to have the perfect soundtrack in the instrumental track, ‘Banished’. For once, I find an instrumental track that is not overbearing and is placed in a sensible position on the record as the palate cleanser before the title and closing track. If you have enjoyed any album from Immolation in the last nine years, then Descent will not disappoint you. Whilst there is always an element of predictability to an Immolation record, for now that still presents as familiarity and I still find their sound to be one of the more unique in death metal still.

Okay, so I really tried to like the new Archspire album, even though it should be no surprise that it sits well outside my comfort zone of death metal. Dave Otero, the albums main producer, is an absolute beast here and has found his niche; producing several of the most recent releases by Cattle Decapitation and Allegaeon. Like those bands, this album is super clean and precise. Every single note in the guitars, bass and percussion is delivered with pin point accuracy and the bass carries a lot of the records intensity forward. 

Where the album falters is in its lyrical presentation. I'm just gonna come out and say it: I think that early Tom Arraya is ass, so why the hell would anyone want to try and replicate him? I can give Slayer a little bit of credit here, since Tom balanced it out with a few slower passages as well as dueling guitar solos. Archspire have taken the word vomit from Reign in Blood and put it on steroids! Shawn's vocals just sound like gargled mush. In a genre where the intention of the vocals IS to sound like gargled mush, why waste your energy? If it was meant to be a novelty/comedy album then maybe, but this is meant to be taken dead seriously, and the vocals are very technical and flowery. It seems like a poorly thought out idea to me.

Best Songs: Red Goliath, Carrion Ladder, Limb of Leviticus

For Fans Of: Cattle Decapitation, Shadow of Intent, Rings of Saturn

Moody, atmospheric shoegaze that should satisfy on those grunge, hazy filled days during the summer months. It's well performed, has a strong foundation and low end, which really emphasizes the style on display. Vocals have a carefree presentation that is reminiscent of Hum and their 2020 revival album Inlet. Besides that though, True Blue is lacking heavily in substance; a common issue that persists throughout the shoegaze genre of music, but this one is extra dazed. This sounds like Deftones on autopilot. However Deftones have proven that they can still make quality music when they are on autopilot into the 2020s so to be a step below that has to be concerning.

Best Songs: Levitate, Summer Skin, True Blue

For Fans Of: Deftones, Teenage Wrist, Astronoid