The Horde

Ben, please add the new Insomnium album Anno 1696.

Inanna - "Converging Ages" (2008)

Last year’s “Void of Unending Depths” album from Chilean progressive death metal outfit Inanna (my 2022 The Horde Release of the Year) tended to surprise a lot of metalheads as the band had drifted under most people’s radars for the vast majority of their sixteen year existence to the time. However, off the back of their much hyped third album’s success we’ve seen the underground becoming aware of Inanna’s earlier material too with their 2008 debut album “Converging Ages” being the recipient of just as much (if not more) praise & adoration. In fact, it’s currently sitting right at the top of RateYourMusic’s Top Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time list which has left me intrigued as to whether the record has the goods to validate that bold title. Let’s have a look, shall we?

One thing that “Converging Ages” has going for it is its underground street credibility. Fans just love an unheralded gem in this scene, don’t they? And you’ll rarely find one that fits the bill better than this one with it’s production job being just the ticket given that it’s dirty enough to draw in the death metal purists but clear enough for all of the band’s intricacies to be fully discernible. Inanna have always been a talented bunch of dudes too as this is an ambitious debut by anyone’s standards with some very complex & lengthy arrangements covering a vast scope of musical ideas. It’s interesting that the album is unanimously tagged as being a progressive melodeath record though because I don’t buy it. There’s no doubt that it’s a progressive record & belongs in The Infinite but I don’t think it fits the bill for melodic death metal to be honest with only the eighteen minute closer fitting that description well. The rest of the album sits much better under the regular death metal banner that “Void of Unending Depths” also resides, a fact that has no doubt pleased me given my general apathy for most melodeath releases.

It's a bit of a shame that “Converging Ages” opens with its least ambitious & probably weakest track in “Doom of Mankind” which tries its best to harness both Morbid Angel & Slayer in what could only be described as a death/thrash outing that is reasonably entertaining but unfortunately doesn’t meet its potential due to some average drum beats & a general lack of suitability for the production job which works significantly better with the rest of the album. Things go from zero to one hundred very quickly afterwards though with the truly amazing “Gilgamesh” which is as good an example of the progressive death metal model as you’re ever likely to hear. The vocal delivery & atmosphere are nothing short of devastating. There are some other strong inclusions in the remaining six tracks too (particularly “Beyond Time & Memory” & “The Lighthouse”) but sadly Inanna don’t manage to meet those transcendent levels again, even though there are no real failures.

Thankfully, there’s enough class in Inanna’s delivery to keep me satisfied here though. “Converging Ages” isn’t quite as strong as “Void of Unending Depths” but it’s not far behind in terms of skill & execution. It frustrates me that people want to lump releases like this one into the melodeath camp along with any other releases that hint at melodic intellect. To my ears Inanna sound most like a slightly more progressive version of fellow South Americans The Chasm with the techy parts taking cues from Aussie tech deathsters StarGazer in that they never sound overly clinical, no doubt being helped in that endeavor by the dirtier production.

Is ”Converging Ages” the best melodic death metal release of all time? Definitely not but it’s a strong example of the progressive death metal sound nonetheless & will no doubt satisfy most fans of underground extreme metal.

4/5

Strangely, neither "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" (3.5/5) or "Left Hand Path" (3.5/5) have ever struck me as being anything terribly special & I came into both in real time. If pushed I'd probably take "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" over "Left Hand Path" by a slim margin but I find "Clandestine" (4.5/5) to be miles ahead of both.

Totally agree with this.

From a highly essential developing album of melodic death metal:

Good review, Daniel! Amorphis is known as one of the most well-praised metal bands around, and I've been trying to get back into the melodeath zone lately, so I knew I had to give it some listening and a review. It's actually my second attempt at reviewing this album. The first time was a few years ago and I couldn't appreciate it enough, and a few more years prior, I tried listening to some songs from there, but they weren't for me at that time. But now, I finally get the glorious beauty of this atmospheric masterpiece I can recommend for many metalheads out there. I guess the moral here is, if the first listen doesn't work out for you, give it some time then try again. Let it grow and glow! Thank you, Daniel, for that indirect reminder for me to test out something so essential for my (and most metal fans') collection.

Xibalba - Años en infierno (2020)

This is my first experience with U.S. band Xibalba. They appear to have been a metalcore outfit at one point, but this latest album is very much a death metal release with a couple of doom metal tracks tacked onto the end. As that description suggests, the album has a strange flow to it, having a heavy pummelling death metal approach for the most part, before changing gears entirely for the rest. I actually the enjoy the production, and when I focus on individual moving parts, Años en infierno seems to have all the ingredients to be a rewarding experience. The issue is really in the songwriting though, with all the chopping and changing resulting in several tracks that lack any sort of identity. It's a bit sad when the most memorable tracks are an instrumental, that admittedly has very cool tribal drumming throughout, and a lengthy doom metal track that's somewhat tarnished by sub-par clean vocal sections. I have a feeling these guys could do something that really hits home, but they haven't got their crafting sensibilities in order at this point.

3 stars

I bought this Children of Bodom live bootleg CD earlier today, and it's quite killer. Though the original 2001 edition had 9 tracks, the edition I bought that was apparently from two years later (2003) adds 4 more live tracks not heard in any other available edition; "Downfall", "Needled 24/7" (probably their first time performing that track), "Children of Bodom", and "Everytime I Die", all of which are really kick-A. I still miss this amazing guitarist/vocalist Alex Laiho. RIP

4/5

Suffocation - "Souls to Deny" (2004)

Most people associated with Metal Academy for any sort of period will already be aware that New York brutal/technical death metal legends Suffocation are my favourite band & have been for many years. There are certainly releases from other bands that have matched or even surpassed the masters of muscular death metal extremity but there is no one whose style better fits my concept of what metal should aspire to be or who ticks all of my creative boxes as regularly. I was totally obsessed with the band from the very start of their career & throughout the 1990’s but Suffocation’s unfortunate demise after their classic 1998 “Despise The Sun” E.P. would signal the beginning of a six year hiatus that would come to an end during my own self-imposed decade-long exile from metal. You can bet your life that they were the first band I checked in on upon my return to metal in 2009 though but I have to admit to being a touch disappointed with 2004’s “Souls to Deny” fourth album at the time. It’s been many years since I’ve revisited it though so it’ll be interesting to see whether anything’s changed in that regard.

Upon pressing play on “Souls to Deny”, one of it’s Achilles Heals becomes immediately obvious. As with 1993’s heavily tarnished “Breeding The Spawn” sophomore album, the production gods have not been kind to Suffocation here although the impact is nowhere near as severe as it was with that unfortunate release. This time we get a noticeably bass-heavy mix where the rhythm section sounds full & beefy but the rhythm guitars are hamstrung by a muddy mix that lacks brightness & articulation. The guitar solos sound very thin too & struggle to cut through the mix while Frank Mullen’s monstrous vocals lack depth & power. The real winner in this battle is returned extreme metal drumming superhero Mike Smith who puts in a stellar performance with his light-speed blast-beats coming at you with the weight of a thousand giants. In fact, this may well be his best performance to the time which is saying something. The other thing that I feel may have limited my scoring in the past is the programming of the tracklisting with the album opening with what I consider to be its two most melodic & least intense tracks, both of which are pretty entertaining but lack the unbelievable intensity of Suffocation in their prime. Things pick up significantly after that though with the two best inclusions on the album hitting you in quick succession in the title track (my personal favourite & possibly the most brutal of the eight songs) & the very popular “Surgery of Impalement”. The B side is extremely solid & rarely puts a foot wrong but I think I’ve found it hard to look past those opening two tracks in the past which has caused me to score “Souls to Deny” a touch lower than it deserved.

At the end of the day this is another high-quality death metal release from a band whose class is unparalleled in the brutal death metal scene. The production issues certainly see this record being restricted to the also-rans of Suffocation’s back-catalogue but it’s by no means a failure. In fact, I found it to be really enjoyable & I think the fact that my listening habits don’t touch on brutal death metal as much as they used to helps to enable a record like this one to have the impact it rightfully deserves. There’s no doubt that Suffocation are guilty of a bit of self-plagiarism though. You shouldn’t go into one of their releases (or any BDM release for that matter) expecting them to reinvent the wheel but there are some pretty obvious references to past glories here & very few elements that you haven’t heard before. In fact, the more melodic approach to those first two tracks may well be the most significant change-up & I’ve already pooh-poohed that so maybe I’m a part of the problem.

At the end of the day I simply love Suffocation. I love their sound. I love their lyrics. I love their look. I love their girlfriends. I love their dirty socks. Yep, everything about them. So, while “Souls to Deny” may not compete with their best work, it certainly deserves credit for reigniting their flame in a scene that still had a big hole where this band used to sit. There’s only one Suffocation after all. Thousands have tried to match them & failed dismally over the years & brutal death metal MVP Terrence Hobbs puts them all to shame with very little effort here as he's the absolute master of the super-charged death metal riff, whether it be a fast & complex up-tempo blaster or a gutt-wrenchingly slow breakdown chugger. It’s just a shame that all of the hard work wasn’t rewarded with a more appropriate production job to better highlight how strong a death metal album “Souls to Deny” really is.

P.S. I'd never noticed that the final track fades out with the same riff that the opening track fades in with before now. It's kinda cool when you play the album multiple times back to back.

4/5

My take is a bit different to Vinny's in that I've always thought of "Nihility" as a very high quality example of the tech death subgenre. There's plenty of technicality on offer but it's never at the expense of the song-writing & the riffs are always memorable. The performances are astounding for such a young group of dudes too, particularly the drumming & the beautifully composed guitar solos which are both highlights. There's obviously some strong Vader/Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse style classic death metal influences going on here but the technicality in the riff structures sees Decapitated playing more in the Nile or particularly Psycroptic space. The death growls are pretty standard but well executed & suitably aggressive. I know this album is often criticized for sounding too clinical due to the heavily triggered drum sounds & scooped 90's guitar tone but I think that's being very harsh as the whole thing just comes off as being a really classy extreme metal record to my ears. No complaints from me.

4/5

This sh*tty composition has nothing to do with the glory of its heavier more furious counterpart:

So, inspired by Vinny's assault on The Fallen, I have got my arse in gear and decided to continue my attempt to complete The Horde's Death Metal - The 1st Decade clan challenge and secure myself that coveted fourth clan (after only four years on the site!) So here we go:

Obituary - Cause of Death (1990)

Obituary's debut Slowly We Rot was an exceedingly solid slab of death metal and was a decent calling card for the Floridians. However, the improvement from that album to Cause of Death is marked. With this Obituary made their most significant contribution to the development of death metal and in so doing laid down a stone-cold classic.

Cause of Death retained the things that the debut did well - John Tardy's vocals remained equally as evil-sounding and depraved and the guitar tone that dominated Slowly We Rot, derived as it so obviously is from Celtic Frost's classic sound, was honed to virtually the perfect death metal guitar sound that, for me, defined what OSDM riffs should sound like. On top of those good things from SWR, this time round Obituary upped their songwriting skills and the tracks on Cause of Death are far more memorable than those found on the debut, Body Bag and the title track, for example I find still rolling round my head long after the disc stops spinning. There aren't as many doomy, slow sections, but when the pace drops, I would say they are better done and are more effective for their sparseness. The most obvious upgrade from Slowly We Rot is the addition of transformative lead guitarist James Murphy whose contributions here, similarly to those he made on Death's Spiritual Healing from the same year, made an enormous difference, his solos being far more skillfully executed and interesting than those of his predecessor, Allen West. I don't think the improvements his involvement entailed can be underestimated as he is obviously an exceptionally gifted axeman and he managed to bring the soloing style of classic heavy metal gods like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest into the gnarly and foetid world of death metal without it sanitising the filthiness of the band's death metal sound but instead celebrating and bestowing it with a classiness it previously lacked. Drummer Donald Tardy also seemed to have upped his game and the addition of new bassist Frank Watkins solidified the rhythm section and they seem more on point with the pacier material of Cause of Death.

Once more, however, the band were determined to include a Celtic Frost cover and even though their version of Circle of the Tyrants is actually pretty awesome, it seems kind of redundant when you think that the band were one of the pioneers of a newer, more brutal style of metal, so why did they feel the need to reference back to earlier material that they had usurped and superceded? This is the only negative I can think of with regard to Cause of Death though and even that is kind of half-hearted because, as I said, the cover is actually excellent. I've not heard a lot of Obituary after this release, but consensus seems to be that they were never this good again, but to have been this good even once is an achievement not to be sniffed at.

5/5

April = 

Languish - "Failed State" (from "Feeding the Flames of Annihilation", 2022)

Memoriam - "All Is Lost" (from "Rise to Power", 2023)

Ripspreader - "Slasher's Night Out" (from "Crypt World", 2022)

Autophagy - "Becoming" (from "Bacteriophage", 2022)

Deicide - "In Hell I Burn" (from "Legion", 1992)

Bolt Thrower - "Zeroed" (from "Mercenary", 1998)

Benediction - "Nightfear" (from "Transcend the Rubicon", 1993)

March 2023 

01. Bloodbath – “Like Fire” (from “Resurrection Through Carnage”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. In Flames – “State of Slow Decay” (from “Foregone”, 2023)

03. Decapitated – “Babylon’s Pride” (from “Nihility”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

04. An Abstract Illusion – “Tear Down This Holy Mountain” (from “Woe”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Memoriam – “Total War” (from “Rise To Power”, 2023)

06. Obituary – “Without A Conscience” (from “Dying of Everything”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Mithridatum – “Mournful Glow” (from “Harrowing”, 2023)

08. Intoxicated – “Watch You Burn” (from “Watch You Burn”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Monstrosity – “Perpetual War” (from “In Dark Purity”, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Qrixkuor – “Zoetrope (Psychospiritual Sparagmos)” (from “Zoetrope” E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Ulthar – “Saccades” (from “Anthronomicon”, 2023)

12. Artificial Brain – “A Lofty Grave” (from “Artificial Brain”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Corpsessed – “Profane Phlegm” (from “Succumb To Rot”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. Immolation – “Let The Darkness In” (from “Acts of God”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Nothingness – “Horrendous Incantation” (from “Supraliminal”, 2023)

16. Anachronism – “Meanders” (from “Meanders”, 2023)

17. Cannibal Corpse – “Pit of Zombies” (from “Gore Obsessed”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Conjureth – “Smothering Psalms” (from “The Parasitic Chambers”, 2023)

19. Cephalic Carnage – “Black Metal Sabbath” (from “Lucid Interval”, 2002)

20. Combatwoundedveteran – “My Spine! My Spine! My Spine!” (from “I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos”, 1999)

21. Sanguisugabogg – “Pissed” (from “Homicidal Ecstasy”, 2023)

22. Nile – “The Blessed Dead” (from “In Their Darkened Shrines”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=a43364d5583f4519

Tracklisting:

01. Bloodbath – “Like Fire” (from “Resurrection Through Carnage”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. In Flames – “State of Slow Decay” (from “Foregone”, 2023)

03. Decapitated – “Babylon’s Pride” (from “Nihility”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

04. An Abstract Illusion – “Tear Down This Holy Mountain” (from “Woe”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Memoriam – “Total War” (from “Rise To Power”, 2023)

06. Obituary – “Without A Conscience” (from “Dying of Everything”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Mithridatum – “Mournful Glow” (from “Harrowing”, 2023)

08. Intoxicated – “Watch You Burn” (from “Watch You Burn”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Monstrosity – “Perpetual War” (from “In Dark Purity”, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Qrixkuor – “Zoetrope (Psychospiritual Sparagmos)” (from “Zoetrope” E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Ulthar – “Saccades” (from “Anthronomicon”, 2023)

12. Artificial Brain – “A Lofty Grave” (from “Artificial Brain”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Corpsessed – “Profane Phlegm” (from “Succumb To Rot”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. Immolation – “Let The Darkness In” (from “Acts of God”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Nothingness – “Horrendous Incantation” (from “Supraliminal”, 2023)

16. Anachronism – “Meanders” (from “Meanders”, 2023)

17. Cannibal Corpse – “Pit of Zombies” (from “Gore Obsessed”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Conjureth – “Smothering Psalms” (from “The Parasitic Chambers”, 2023)

19. Cephalic Carnage – “Black Metal Sabbath” (from “Lucid Interval”, 2002)

20. Combatwoundedveteran – “My Spine! My Spine! My Spine!” (from “I Know A Girl Who Develops Crime Scene Photos”, 1999)

21. Sanguisugabogg – “Pissed” (from “Homicidal Ecstasy”, 2023)

22. Nile – “The Blessed Dead” (from “In Their Darkened Shrines”, 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

Indeed it has, Daniel. That suffering experience made me realize what cybergrind really is, so I might vote YES in your Horde removal Hall entry for that Genghis Tron EP after all. Interestingly though, the one track in the EP to qualify as cybergrind, "Ride the Steambolt" is solid enough to be a highlight for me, and one of the bands I started listening to recently, The Red Chord has a technical mix of deathcore and deathgrind in their releases that I enjoy, especially their first couple albums. So while I do hate grindcore as a release's entire genre, if it's just for one or two tracks in a release, or if elements of the genre appear in an album with a different primary genre, whether or not a grindcore subgenre is also a primary genre for that release, then it is, for my taste, acceptable.

Well, The Ending Quest must be a specially kept secret of the death metal cognoscenti, because this sole full-length from Sweden's Gorement is an absolute classic of nineties death doom and it's various ingredients are like sonic vitamins that ensure the listener's mind and ears will grow strong enough to withstand the onslaught of extreme metal, yet I have never even heard of it before which is a shame because this is most definitely up my particular strasse and I am super-stoked to finally have made it's acquaintance, so thanks Daniel for nominating it. On reflection it is unfortunate that I dropped out of metal circles in the nineties because there was no end of underground-ish shit coming out that I would have lapped up if life had been a little kinder and this is absolutely one of those. It is an absolutely filthy-sounding record with some authentic sloppiness to the playing that reminds us we are listening to human beings and not machines which I always find far more endearing than absolute precision.

I agree that this feels more like a genuine death doom hybrid rather than a "death metal album with slow bits" from the likes of Autopsy and early Asphyx, rather it is more of a "death doom album with fast bits". They successfully combine the brutality of that Autopsy-like death metal with some really quite catchy doom-like melodies, but the primitive production never makes it actually feel that catchy, until you find yourself humming along to it that is!

Vocalist Jimmy Karlsson has a great line in sounding like an extremely irritated abyssal demon and the riffs are absolutely dripping with effluvium which is precisely the flavour I love in death doom metal and I will take it over that poncy, gothic-flavoured stuff any day. I joke of course and, in fact, there are times when this feels heavily influenced by Paradise Lost, such as on the excellent (but possibly too short) Silent Hymn (For the Dead). I know I am no death metal (or musical) expert and the genre has thrown out loads of precision-driven and technical masterpieces and I enjoy many of them, but this filthier, more primitive-sounding version of death metal is where I feel most comfortable and which fulfills something inside me that the more modern stuff doesn't touch.

Now I need to get my hands on one of those re-release copies. [Edit] Yay, Amazon have got if for £15, so should be arriving tomorrow!

4.5/5

We got a date.


https://7htarget.bandcamp.com/album/yantra-creating

February 24.  I've been waiting over a year for news about their fourth album, and now I only have to wait three weeks for the release.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=e634bbd671294245

Tracklisting:

01. Atrocity – “Defiance” (from “Longing For Death”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. Blood Stain Child – “Unlimited Alchemist” (from “Epsilon”, 2011) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Pavor – “Total Warrior” (from “A Pale Debilitating Autumn”, 1994)

04. Blood Duster – “Metalasfuck” (from “Str8 Outta Northcote”, 1998)

05. Cenotaph – “Soul Profundis” (from “Riding Our Black Oceans”, 1994)

06. Fleshgod Apocalypse – “The Forsaking” (from “Agony”, 2011) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Thotcrime – “There Will Come Soft Rains…” (from “D1G1T4L_DR1FT”, 2022)

08. Paradise Lost – “Drown In Darkness” (from “Drown In Darkness – The Early Demos”, 2009) [Submitted by Daniel]

09. Abnegation – “Hopes of Harmony” (from “Verses of the Bleeding”, 1998)

10. Equilibrium – “Final Tear” (from “Renegades”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Ulcerate – “Extinguished Light” (from “Shrines of Paralysis”, 2016) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Monstrosity – “Manic” (from “Millenium”, 1996) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Autophagia – “Postmortem Human Offal” (from “Postmortem Human Offal” E.P., 2003)

14. The Red Chord – “Dreaming In Dog Years” (from “Fused Together In Revolving Doors”, 2002)

15. Mortuous – “Defiled By Fire” (from “Upon Desolation”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Entombed – “Severe Burns” (from “Clandestine”, 1991) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Plasma – “Observed Observer” (from “Creeping! Crushing! Crawling!”, 2007)

18. Obituary – “Torn Apart” (from “Dying Of Everything”, 2023)

19. Abyssal – “Antechamber of the Wakeless Mind” (from “Tchornobog/Abyssal” split, 2022)

20. Archagathus – “Intoxicating Aroma” (from “Canadian Horse”, 2011)

21. Cattle Decapitation – “Chunk Blower” (from “To Serve Man”, 2002)

22. Sintury – “Disgorging The Dead” (from “Disgorging The Dead”, 1998)

23. Ὁπλίτης [Hoplites] – “Ὁ τῶν δακρύων ἄγγελος” (from “Ψευδομένη”, 2023)

24. Exocrine – “End Of Time” (from “The Hybrid Suns”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

25. Abnormity – “Shattered To The Bone” (from “Irreversible Disintegration”, 2011)

26. Scalp – “Endless Relapse” (from “Black Tar”, 2023)

So with the start of a new year it's once again time to have a look at the covers for all the releases for each clan. I personally like to rate a whole stack of covers all at once, rather than doing them one at a time throughout the year, as it allows me to get a better feel for where each cover sits in comparison to others. With that in mind, I've just rated every cover for releases in The Horde in 2022.

Here are the releases that are currently competing for the prestigious 2022 The Horde Cover of the Year Award (i.e. they have 3 or more ratings) :

Exocrine - The Hybrid Suns