The Death Metal Thread

Entombed - "Crawl" E.P. (1991)

The Swedish death metal gods continue to show improvement as musicians & song-writers with this this three-song E.P. which acts as somewhat of a stop-gap between Entombed's first two albums. It includes a remake of "Bitter Loss" which featured on 1990's "Left Hand Path" & also a sneak peak at 1991's wonderful "Clandestine" record via an early version of the title track "Crawl". Unfortunately the vocals of Nirvana 2002 front man Orvar Säfström aren't the best & the production is a little lacking too which places a cap on the potential of this record but I still prefer it to "Left Hand Path" if I'm being honest so it's still a fun listen, particularly the title track which was already showing signs that Entombed could be something genuinely special. If you're a Swedish death metal nut that goes crazy for bands like Dismember, Grave & Carnage then you'll probably wanna check out "Crawl" although I doubt it'll make any top ten lists.

3.5/5

Revenant - "Prophecies of a Dying World" (1991)

New Jersey death metallers Revenant & I first crossed paths when I discovered their video clip for "The Unearthly (A Quest)" on a 1992 Nuclear Blast video compilation called "Death Is Just The Beginning" & was immediately blown away. That experience would lead me to chase down Revenant's 1991 debut album "Prophecies of a Dying World" through the tape trading scene, a record that I'd be well impressed by & which has received repeated return visits over the years. I have to say that it's always surprised me that Revenant didn't go onto bigger & better things based on this first-up effort because it shows a hell of a lot of promise. Not to mention the links to John McEntee (Incantation/Mortician) who was their guitarist from 1987-89 which one would have thought might drawn them a little attention too.

Perhaps I was always going to relate to a band like Revenant because they seem to have grown up with the same records that I did (i.e. "Reign in Blood", "Altars of Madness", etc.) & go about their craft in a way that I have the utmost respect for. I'd describe their sound as being thrashy death metal that sits somewhere between the death/thrash of Ripping Corpse & Massacra & the death metal of 1980's Morbid Angel. The production job on "Prophecies of a Dying World" isn't perfect but I feel that the slightly messy feel gives Revenant a little more authenticity & street credibility at the same time in that the record simply "feels" like an underground gem even before you discover that it is one from a quality perspective. Revenant are wonderful exponents of the "riff" too with the song structures being quite complex with a lot of changes but they always leave enough space to give them a touch more accessibility. The vocals work in a similar way with Henry Veggian's delivery being possibly the most intelligible death growl you'll ever find. The lyrics are very mature & sophisticated too so they're well worth hearing while the very capable dual guitar solos go ballistic in a similar fashion to the great Slayer combination of Kerry King & Jeff Hanneman.

There's not a weak track to be found on "Prophecies of a Dying World" with the quality levels ranging from decent to mind-blowing on "The Unearthly (A Quest)" which is still a definite favourite of mine. There's perhaps not enough genuine classics included to be commanding the elite scores but one gets the feeling that Revenant may well have created a few more had they been given the chance. Unfortunately, fate would see them splitting up in 1995 with this being their only release of any note. As it stands though, I'd strongly encourage all members of The Horde to check this sole testament to an underappreciated band out as it's unlikely to disappoint.

4/5

Pungent Stench - "Been Caught Buttering" (1991)

My awareness of Austrian death metallers Pungent Stench first kicked off around 1990 through their first two proper releases in the 1989 split album with fellow Austrians Disharmonic Orchestra & their 1990 debut full-length "For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh". I quite liked the split album but it was really the latter release that saw me being convinced as to Pungent Stench's credentials as anything more than a novelty act & my dubbed cassette copy received quite a few spins that year. My positive impressions of that album would lead me to purchase a cassette copy of the band's 1991 sophomore album "Been Caught Buttering" (I'm guessing a take on Jane's Addiction's hit song "Been Caught Stealing") shortly after release & I found it to be even more enjoyable than "For God Your Soul... For Me Your Flesh". It was also so shocking in its graphic lyrics & imagery that it made for a fantastic talking point with my non-metal-loving school mates who thought it was simply hilarious so there was definitely some added value for a young chap like I was at the time. My parents? Well, they found it a little less amusing but let's not talk about the fun police now, ok?

"Been Caught Buttering" offers some of the more notorious cover art you're ever likely to encounter & certainly makes the desired impression. The production is fairly muddy but that kinda suits a band like Pungent Stench now, doesn't it? I mean, you're not exactly looking for a super-clinical display of technical prowess when you listen to bands that represent the more fun side of misogynistic serial killing, are you? And that's very much what Pungent Stench were about. They were there purely to shock the listener into laughing & they did a very good job at it too. Song-titles like "Happy Re-Birthday", "Shrunken & Mummified Bitch" & "Splatterday Night Fever" are self-explanatory in their blatant disregard for your moral compass but what about their quality from a musical perspective? Well, I would argue that "Been Caught Buttering" showcases Pungent Stench at the peak of their powers in that regard as I still find it to be a captivating listen all these years later, despite the novelty having worn off decades ago.

The sound Pungent Stench were pushing back in 1991 contained a few different components, the first of which is a grimy old-school death metal sound that forms the basis for the record & reminds me very much of California's Autopsy. The band throw in a few moments of humor to break up their debauchery with the dead though & to remind you that this is all in name of good fun. There's a clear deathgrind influence on tracks like "Happy Re-Birthday" & "Sputter Supper" which are a little more savage in their assault on the senses & remind me of bands like Impetigo & Macabre. I tend to think of these moments as being a touch less appealing than the rest of the album as they seem a little more disposable than the Stench's more significant offerings. Some of these can be found in the two lengthier doom/death numbers "Games of Humiliation" & "And Only Hunger Remains" which showcase a clear Black Sabbath influence & sit amongst the album's highlights along with death metal ditties like "Shrunken & Mummified Bitch" & "Splatterday Night Fever". The three-piece lineup works very well for this sort of material with the treble-heavy guitar solos of front man Martin Schirenc (Hollenthon/Kreuzweg Ost) lacerating your ear drums over a solid rhythm section that offers as much groove as it does brutality.

It's easy to treat "Been Caught Buttering" primarily as a novelty release but there's a lot more to it than that in my opinion. Pungent Stench clearly knew the art of catchy song-writing & I think you'll find that a bit of dedicated attention will see your mean-&-nasty extreme metal walls coming down once the hooks dig their teeth in. The final track "Splatterday Night Fever" is a prime example of this as the guitar melody has no place on a death metal song yet it somehow manages to seep into your pores & has since become my favourite track on the record. It's moments like that that make "Been Caught Buttering" my preferred Pungent Stench release these days as it seems to overachieve no matter how hard I fight against its silly immaturities. It certainly helps that the highlights tracks are the most significant inclusions on the tracklisting too as it's those that I find myself recalling when I think of the album which encourages my urge to return for another round of raunchy graveyard shenanigans.

4/5

Morgoth - "Cursed" (1991)

I first came into contact with German death metallers Morgoth through late-night underground metal radio programming around 1990 when their early “Resurrection Absurd” & “The Eternal Fall” E.P.’s received the occasional airing. I really liked what I heard too so I’d quickly investigate the full releases & had no hesitation in chasing down Morgoth’s debut album “Cursed” through the tape trading scene as soon as it hit the shelves as well. “Cursed” offered a sound that was very much in line with my tastes at the time which saw it enjoying a whole bunch of repeat plays in my Walkman over the next six months or so. I honestly don’t know why I haven’t returned to it more often in more recent times but it’s time to find out so let’s see how it’s held up.

“Cursed” presents Morgoth as the professional, modern death metal outfit of the time with the cover art being superbly dark & the production job being spot-on. Stylistically, we see the band setting their sights on the Florida death metal model but giving it a slightly dirtier European edge. In fact, the obvious comparisons are with 1988-90 era Death & the first couple of Obituary albums as a lot of this material seems to jump from one to the other for inspiration. Chuck Schuldiner probably has the upper hand from an instrumental point of view but the vocals are exactly what you’d get if you combined Chuck’s rasp with John Tardy (Obituary) & Martin van Drunen’s (Asphyx) monstrous growling. The Obituary/Asphyx influences are clear in the doomier riffs & they represent a clear strength for the band while the occasional use of progressive riff structures has been very well received too. I have to admit that the lead guitar work is pretty primitive but the rest of Morgoth’s sound is dark, chunky & full of everything your average death metal nut looks for with the amazingly powerful vocals of front man Marc Grewe being the clear focal point. I absolutely love him to be honest. He’s quite simply one of the best in the business. 

“Cursed” certainly didn’t muck around in reminding me of why I enjoyed it so much back in the day as the first two proper songs “Body Count” & “Exit To Temptation” are absolute belters & the best tracks on the record in my opinion. The quality drops a little from there but never gets below a really solid level that resides primarily in the top of the second tier of the death metal ranks. Put simply, “Cursed” is a high-quality conventional death metal record in the classic early 90’s style & if that sounds like you then I have no hesitation at all in recommending it to you.

4/5

Fossilization - Leprous Daylight (2023)

I had a few reservations about Fossilization's 2021 EP, He Whose Name Was Long Forgotten, going into it with the feeling that it was definitely something that should really appeal to me. It was from members of a band I really enjoy (Brazil's Jupiterian) and they were playing my favourite style of death metal, the cavernous old-school version, so it should have been a no brainer, yet I felt there was sadly something lacking. Maybe my expectations for a couple of members of Jupiterian were misplaced, anticipating a more doom-filled approach to their death metal that didn't really transpire.

So, two years on and I am going into their debut full-length with my eyes much more wide open and my expectations held in check. Initial impressions were that little has changed and I still felt a bit short-changed, yet... As exposure to it increased with additional playthroughs, I am beginning to overcome my reticence and am actually really starting to enjoy this M-F. Although there are a number of doomier moments during the runtime, this is far more effective when it is pummelling the loving shit out of you, such as during the faster sections of the title track or The Night Spoke the Tongue of Flames, where it feels like you have thrust your face in front of a sandblaster! The guitar sound is a real down and dirty old cavernous sound that has been dug up from some music production graveyard, ably boosted by thundering basslines and infernal blastbeats whilst Vakka's hoarse growling roars threaten to strip away your sanity with tales of demonic delight at the destruction of the world we know and the advent of hell on Earth.

The album is quite short, it's eight tracks only amounting to a 36 minute runtime, but this is to it's credit as it doesn't outstay it's welcome, which I think a longer album of this intensity would. The band wield a consummate savagery that evidences their South American lineage, no one quite does metal viciousness like the South Americans do they? Ultimately, through sheer adrenaline intensity and technical adroitness, the duo have won me over and I take back all my earlier misgivings.

4/5

Gorguts - "Considered Dead" (1991)

Canadian death metal monsters Gorguts hit my radar in a pretty major way when I was thoroughly blown away by their track "Disincarnated" which appeared on a 1992 R/C Records compilation CD I'd picked up called "Rock Hard Presents Monsters of Death". It was a rip-roaring compilation album from memory so the fact that Gorguts were able to stand out amongst such illustrious company was a major feather in their caps. I'd subsequently go about picking up their debut full-length "Considered Dead" on CD at my earliest convenience & was immediately drawn to Gorguts' purist death metal sound.

"Considered Dead" is often overlooked in the star-studded Gorguts back catalogue, mainly because it's such a simple record in comparison to the more experimental & technical releases that followed. Here we see Gorguts sporting a very similar sound to records like Death's "Spiritual Healing", Immolation's "Dawn of Possession" & Pestilence's "Consuming Impulse" & making a very good fist of it too it has to be said. The production job is perfect for this style of music with the guitars having that thick death metal tone & Luc Lemay's death growl sounding as potent as it ever has & representing the focal point of the band. The level of musicianship was already very high although there was still a little room for improvement in the overall tightness at times. I particularly enjoy the guitar solos & the occasional use of progressive riff structures which were very accomplished for a debut album in 1991.

What holds "Considered Dead" back though is the feeling that you've heard it all before. In truth, I slightly prefer it to records like "Spiritual Healing" & "Consuming Impulse" but it's simply come a little too late in the game to have the same sort of impact on the wider extreme metal scene. As it stands, "Considered Dead" has been relegated to the bench with the other also-rans & I feel that's a little harsh to tell you the truth as there's an awful lot of quality here. Perhaps the tracklisting could have done with a couple more standout tracks like the afore-mentioned "Disincarnated" or techy closer "Inoculated Life" but there's a clear class & consistency to it which makes it an essential part of Gorguts' back catalogue nonetheless. Hell, I'd even take it over 2000's ultra noisy & experimental "Obscura" album if I was forced to choose between the two which is probably a representation of my personal taste profile more than anything else. Classic death metal fans are unlikely to be disappointed with "Considered Dead" but it's also unlikely that it'll change their worlds like the greatest releases of the genre.

4/5

Massacre - "From Beyond" (1991)

Florida death metal outfit Massacre have always maintained somewhat of a legendary status within death metal circles, primarily off the back of the undeniable pedigree that their list of current & former band members holds as well as the stories around front man Kam Lee having been the inventor of the death metal vocal tool we so lovingly refer to as the "death growl". This makes it a little more interesting that I’d honestly never heard of them prior to their 1991 debut album “From Beyond” hitting the streets. I’d quickly rectify that oversight by purchasing a copy of “From Beyond” on cassette shortly after it was released & giving it repeated return visits in the hope of discovering the true magic that many people claimed it to contain. I’m not sure I ever quite stumbled over the full breadth of Massacre’s appeal though & “From Beyond” has kinda been one that I’ve remembered as a pretty fun release that’s lacking a bit in the depth department. This week’s revisit has been about rekindling my fire for the album & seeing if it really has what it takes to compete with Florida’s finest.

The production job & artwork certainly don’t hurt Massacre’s chances of drawing the attention of your average old-school death metal fan as the record looks & sounds like something that’d appeal to the target audience with a shredtastic rhythm guitar sound & an attractive & gnarly (even if it is pink) cover image. A lineup including ex Mantas/Death drummer & current The Grotesquery front man Kam Lee, former Mantas/Death & current Left To Die guitarist Rick Rozz, former Death/Six Feet Under & current Obituary/Left To Die/Inhuman Condition bassist Terry Butler & former Death drummer Bill Andrews certainly doesn’t hurt Massacre’s cause either as they clearly possessed a strong death metal pedigree, even more so when you consider that Obituary/Six Feet Under axeman Allen West was a former member too. But if you look at that lineup with an unbiased & impartial magnifying glass, you can also see the limitations that stop Massacre from achieving a higher position in my Florida death metal hierarchy.

Hhhmmmmm... it's sounding like ol' Daniel's gonna pull out some constructive criticism here, isn't it? But let’s not paint Kam Lee with that brush as his vocals are excellent on “From Beyond”. Lee really proves a point here with a muscular & aggressive performance that I'd suggest is the clear highlight of the Massacre sound. It’s more in the instrumental contributions that we find the limitations I was referring to. You see, Massacre opt for a VERY straight-forward brand of death metal indeed. There’s no doubt that they do it exceptionally well but I do still find myself craving a little more… I dunno… class perhaps? Rick Rozz’ riffs are certainly tightly performed but I do have to say that they’re very basic in their makeup & would sound a lot like generic thrash metal if given a traditional tuning & a different guitar tone a lot of the time. As with former band mate Allen West, Rozz’ guitar solos have always been built around the heavy (over)use of whammy bar histrionics rather than any sort of melodic composition too & you’ll rarely find a better example of that than we do here. And then, the rhythm section of Butler & Andrews have never been known for their musicality either, have they? Both have pretty much built their careers on providing simple yet rock solid beats that accentuate the riffs of the guitarist(s) & that’s what they do here too.

Now, that might sound a little negative but in truth the tracklisting on “From Beyond” is completely blemish-free. It’s the lack of any truly mind-blowing death metal anthems that’s the limiting factor here. Only opener “Dawn of Eternity” & the very solid “Succubus” come closest to meeting a top tier Florida standard but both see their potential capped out by their sheer simplicity. The song-writing is certainly catchy as the structures are quite traditional & the choruses usually just repeat the song-title so I find myself enjoying the ride but rarely feeling like the music is commanding me to go all in. The potential for those sort of feelings is perennially curtailed by just how meat-&-potatoes “From Beyond” is to tell you the truth. I can’t see that being a significant issue for a lot of the death metal fanbase (& it clearly isn’t based on the general feeling on “From Beyond”) but it appears to be for me.

Don’t get me wrong, “From Beyond” is a more than decent representation of the death metal model. It’s just not a great one in my opinion so I don’t place it on the same lofty pedestal as the work of Massacre's main competitors of the time (see Death & Obituary who both did this sound much better). Instead, I feel like we're destined to eternally see "From Beyond" sitting in the middle rows with the Cancer’s & Benediction’s which isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. It’s perhaps just not in line with Massacre’s reputation, that’s all.

3.5/5

Sadistik Exekution - "The Magus" (1991)

I can still vividly recall the first moment I became exposed to legendary Sydney extreme metal establishment Sadistik Exekution. It was 12th August 1992 & I’d arrived super-early to the Morbid Angel show at the Enmore Theatre so that I could achieve the greatest vantage point for the band that I regarded as being probably my favourite act at that point in time. Surprisingly, I’d managed to situate myself right in the middle of the front row of seats so I was literally only a metre away from the stage. Melbourne deathgrinders Necrotomy opened proceedings & did an admirable job at warming me up for what was my very first international death metal show. What they didn’t prepare me for was the band the followed immediately after them though with Sadistik Exekution giving me a new appreciation for what an extreme metal stage show could be. I’d never experienced anything so completely over the top & it was very hard for a young guitarist like myself not to be left in awe of the pure bad-assery of notorious top hat-wearing shredder Reverend Kriss Hades when he was so close that I could almost touch the blood dripping down his forearms due to the line of bobby pins he’d inserted through them prior to the show, his axe neck looking more like a skeletal spinal chord than an instrument & his fingers flying over the fretboard at previously unrecorded speeds. I’d very quickly realise that the Sydney audience had a love affair with these four nutters that I didn’t fully understand at the time but I’d certainly get my chance to understand it over the years that followed.

Shortly afterwards, buoyed by my experiences at what I still regard as the greatest metal show I’ve ever witnessed, I’d start my very own death metal band & we’d go about building a repertoire & a presence in the local scene. It would be a couple of years before we’d be mixing it with the in-crowd of Sydney metal but I'd eventually find myself being introduced to the Sadistik crew a their entourage of rabid worshippers. You see, Sadistik are an absolute enigma in this country with their music playing second fiddle to the circus sideshow of antics & personalities & young metalheads just seem to lap it all up. Sadistik shows were few & far between but when they did take place you would see all of the old faces coming out of the woodwork with most of them getting completely shit-faced along the way. It was at one of these early-to-mid 90’s Sadistik shows at the Lewisham Hotel that I’d meet bassist Dave Slave for the first time & he’d present me with a copy of “The Magus”, Sadistik Exekution’s debut full-length which was supposedly recorded around 1988 but failed to see a proper release until 1991. It was a release that I’d find was all around me over the next five years given its significance to the Aussie scene &, looking back at it from the outside, it’s perhaps a little easier to see why. My relationship with Sadistik Exekution would become closer during the middle of the decade once I started a three-year relationship with one of Dave Slave’s close friends & I can recall many a drunken conversation with the various band members over the years that followed. They were mostly gentle, lovely guys who were almost unrecognisable from the pure insanity of their music & (particularly their) stage shows.

So... this brings us back to “The Magus” which, if it really was recorded back in 1988, would have to have been some of the most extreme metal music in the world at the time. The production job is generally of demo quality & there’s a fair amount of variation in sound quality between the various tracks so it would seem to be pretty likely that it was recorded in multiple sessions. That aesthetic definitely suited Sadistik’s attack though so I wouldn’t see that as a negative. As with most of the extreme metal of the late 1980’s, the material crosses over between the full gamut of extreme genres with death metal, thrash metal & black metal all playing their part in a result that I think is best described as blackened death/thrash. The remnants of iconic Sydney demo band Slaughterlord are still easily visible in the muddy riffs & rapid-fire lead guitar work of Sandy Vahdanni while Dave Slave’s light-speed bass playing is given plenty of room in the mix to cause devastation. Sloth blasts away on his kit with a rare intensity for the time as the consistent use of blast beats within death metal was still yet to be seen in 1988. It’s ring-leader & front man Rok who steals the show though with his vicious delivery making for the perfect foil for the rough-&-ready Sadistik Exekution instrumentation.

“The Magus” jumps around a bit from a stylistic point of view. The tracklisting opens with a well-executed dark ambient piece entitled “Transneobathasaurikaldelusionsoftheunknown” before hurling itself into a full-on death/thrash frenzy via the very solid “Cautness Darling Blood”. The title track lifts the intensity even further & is one of the best tracks the band ever produced in my opinion. I’d even suggest that it traverses similar sonic territory to war metal bands like Blasphemy & Bestial Warlust which is significant when you consider that Blasphemy’s legendary “Blood Upon The Altar” demo was still another year from seeing the light of day when/if this was recorded back in 1988. “Agonising The Dead” sees Sadistik adding a blackened atmosphere to their death/thrash attack but the quality takes a step back at that point with the production turning a bit thrashier & the band’s death/thrash sound being a little more traditional, if not for the greater emphasis on blast beats. I consistently find myself reaching for comparisons with Brazilian black/thrash metallers Sarcofago during a lot of that material but things take a drastic turn for the final two tracks though with both taking the form of doomy black metal dirges. Interestingly, it’s the hidden track “Spirits Are Coming” that I find to be my favourite on the entire album as it presents an unhinged darkness that seems a little more serious than a lot of Sadistik’s more ridiculous material & leaves me feeling a strangely pleasant & transcendent feeling of squeamish uncomfortability.

There’s little doubt that the 35 minutes duration of “The Magus” is quite an experience for even the more seasoned extreme metaller with a lot being crammed into the relatively short run time. Some of the performances can get pretty sloppy at times but this can easily be forgiven when you consider the sheer intensity on display. The faster tracks leave me feeling like my hair is flying back behind me as my face is attacked by a tsunami of extremity which gives even the less significant material through the middle of the tracklisting more weight than it might appear to have on the surface. All of this amounts to the best Aussie metal album to see the light of day up until 1991 in my opinion & I don’t think that position is being impacted by any past relationships or experiences I may have had with the band as a young, starry-eyed youth. I've often seen the music of Sadistik Exekution playing second fiddle to rumours & legend but, even if many of the stories are true, their music has enough meat on its bones to justify your attention in its own right.

4/5

Sadistik Exekution - "Suspiral" demo (1991)

I can't remember who gave me my copy of legendary Sydney death metallers Sadistik Exekution's 1991 second demo tape "Suspiral" back in the early-to-mid 1990's but I assume it was either Dave Slave or Reverend Kriss Hades. My copy was printed on green paper rather than the blue one shown above & I know there was a few other colours like purple & red floating around too. It offers just the two songs, both of which also featured on their 1994 sophomore album "We Are Death Fukk You". This demo sees Sadistik dropping a fair bit of their thrashier 80's roots for a more consistently brutal & blasting assault that hits you like a swirling maelstrom. The tape would represent the first Sadistik release for notorious top hat-wearing guitarist Reverend Kriss Hades who is about as iconic as any personality in the Sydney metal scene. Both tracks are worth hearing too although I personally prefer the lengthier "Ipsissimus" which seems to have a slightly better production. "Suspiral" is another high-quality release from Sadistik that once again sees them standing above all comers as far as the overall Australian scene goes. I slightly prefer their debut album "The Magus" over it but there's not a lot in it so it's definitely worth tracking down.

4/5

Malevolent Creation - "The Ten Commandments" (1991)

Buffalo death metallers Malevolent Creation were a pretty big band in my household back in the early-to-mid 1990's. Both of the band's first two albums were very positively received by both Ben & myself & I feel that I perhaps even rated them a little more highly than many of my peers did due to their very close stylistic alignment with my own personal taste profile during that period. 1991's "The Ten Commandments" was certainly a little thrashier than 1992's wonderful "Retribution" sophomore record but the production & general feel fall firmly into the Florida death metal bracket with some polished performances, sophisticated arrangements & an aggressive tone which perhaps isn't too surprising when you consider that the album was recorded with legendary Florida death metal producer Scott Burns at the iconic Morrisound Studios.

While "The Ten Commandments" is unquestionably a death metal release, the thrash influence I mentioned is obvious throughout & it gives the record a slightly different vibe to Malevolent Creation's more dark & deathly sophomore album. The vocals of front man Brett Hoffmann aren't quite as deep as other death growlers & wouldn't sound all that out of place on a Sadus record to tell you the truth but they're extremely effective nonetheless & are one the album's clear strengths in my opinion. The instrumentation is often pretty thrashy too & sees Malevolent Creation combining the death metal of Deicide & Cannibal Corpse's 1990 debut full-lengths with some of the more brutal thrash metal releases like Dark Angel's classic "Darkness Descends" or Demolition Hammer's first couple of albums. As many of you would likely know, I'm a big fan of well-executed blast-beats & drummer Mark Simpson does a stellar job at producing a super-tight battery of flailing snare-drum hits here which appeals to me greatly. He doesn't overdo it though which gives each blast-beat section added weight & emphasis. The guitar solos of Jeff Juszkiewicz are pretty accomplished for such a young band too so Malevolent Creation were a highly professional act for the time.

"The Ten Commandments" is a very solid release that should please all fans of US death metal. It's only lacking a few more genuine classics with the savage "Premature Burial" being the only cut that I'd place into that category. The rest of the material is consistently strong though so it's hard to be too critical, particularly for a debut release. "Retribution" would see Malevolent Creation stepping up to the next level though & it's always been my pick of their back catalogue. Regardless, "The Ten Commandments" comes highly recommended from this ol' death metal nut.

4/5

It's fucking Meow Mix.

Septicflesh - Communion

Genres: Death Metal, Symphonic Metal

I avoided Septicflesh for a long time during my early days in discovering music because my Christian behavior was more fear-oriented at the time.  These days I'm less and less afraid and don't really treat these things as things that'll kill me.  Thing is, I never really got into "symphonic death metal" as a thing, so I ignored these guys and Fleshgod Apocalypse for a while.  Now I'm slowly getting back into metal and music thanks to a whole new year of albums ahead of us: 2024, the last year of the first half of this decade.  Hell, Ryan Adams gave us four new studio albums on New Years.

This is my first Septicflesh album, and I knew they made a point of diversity since their early days from the genre tagging of their debut on RYM.  But seeing this one only tagged as "symphonic metal and death metal" made me weary about the possibility of this being another monotone and potentially overrated album.  But if there's gonna be a genre passed around called "symphonic death metal," then I'm gonna explore it.  And thankfully, this album gave me everything I could ask for.

This whole album is about as unpredictable as an art film, but it never once breaks the character the band gives this release.  We have moments that are just brutal, murderous and terrifying to an otherworldly extreme, such as on the title track, but we also have room for some of that Children of God mindfuckery, like the progressive violin interludes on Persepolis.  We even have some of that Nile-style mysticism on Anubis, which favors atmosphere over death heaviness, but transitions effortlessly from the edgy opener.  "We the Gods' is practically a black death hybrid, something that was amiss on this album despite the variety.  But the real clincher here is its progginess and catchiness.  And Sunlight/Moonlight has a slower, higher and more melodic sound which might have the feel of the album fully intact thanks to its unpredictability, but also sounds like something off of Dark Tranquility's Damage Done, except better.  The same foes for our closer, Narcissus, although it's much catchier.  And let's take Sangreal's deathcore breakdown paired with the rhythmic melody that between two instruments starts out in the background and switches to the front before switching to the vocalists taking turns.  Brilliant usage of simplicity and quirkiness.  Brilliant.

On top of this, we have two different singers switching between one impressively deep vocalist and another with clearer and higher-pitched singing, both of which bring out the best of the songs they sing.  This can be compared to the works of System of a Down with their singers, and both singers are absolutely perfect, and is most blatantly present on Sunlight/Moonlight.  Seth Siro Anton might have the best death metal voice I've ever heard.

About our title track... I just gotta say it... that vocal riff?

It's the Meow Mix theme song.  It's literally the fucking Meow Mix theme song with maybe a slightly higher pitch in note at the end.  But I don't really know if I can take off points for that, because as much as I don't want to say this, the riff works perfectly with the song, and it doesn't change the fact that this album is still giving me everything I asked for.

Septicflesh boasted a level of creativity that I beg for every time I hear an album, especially in genres loaded with posers.  And boy, is metal full of them.  But Septicflesh are anything but.  They are composers of the highest metallic form and have committed the rare achievement of perfecting symphonic metal, overcoming it cheese and relying on whatever menace may be found in traditional classical or even movie soundtracks.  This album switches between the lighter influences of prog, doom, black with just enough behavior to incorporate into a different type of death metal song.  In fact, in essence they're like the death metal band I myself would form if I wanted to form one: cover a couple loosely connected genres with even balance while incorporating other influences and a couple singers.  Although, even if I did, what are the chances I'd be as good at it as Septicflesh?

100

Septicflesh - The Great Mass

Genres: Death Metal, Symphonic Death Metal

Having been completely taken in with Communion, I had to check out more Septicflesh as quickly as possible.  It's rare that I find a metal band that makes a point of variety.  Even though many claim that Communion was their high point, I wanted to make that call for myself.  I might end up on a death metal kick, so I have to be careful, considering that I'm still trying to maintain a general balance of multiple genres on my albums log.  But Septicflesh did something legendary for me, and I wanted more.

I turned this on immediately after finishing their previous album, Communion, and suddenly I was blasted with a wave of heaviness and disturbing violins that were just loud enough to echo through the wall of sound created by the blasting.  I was face-punched with the words "what the fuck just happened" playing in my head constantly.  Here in The Vampire from Nazareth, the violins and the female backing singer are just fucking surreal.  It's like listening to death metal from another world.  This weirdness and heaviness combo is as present as ever in the more brutal and tribal title track.  It's slower and more dramatic than before, like it's a surreal ballad or a funeral dirge for a pharaoh.  And suddenly, it gets louder and louder until an army of zombies and spirits declares war on your earlobes.

I was taken by surprise when the mid-tempo behavior of songs like Narcissus and Sunlight/Moonlight came into play on Pyramid God, which takes the melodeath route.  Of course, halfway through it takes the surreal route again to make sure its main riff doesn't get overused.  This was the best decision as it helped the song feel more in place.  Five-Pointed Star is where the band shows off the three biggest angles of the album by switching between them: guitar-lead blasts, hyperactice symphonic melodies, and slower funeral dirge instrumentals.  But a complete different element arises in Oceans of Grey, where industrial repetition and even tremelo-picking take their place in between serene backdrops and djenty composition.  Unlike the other songs which were largely excellent pairings between the two focal genres that make up the band, Oceans of Grey is a catchy and yet ever-mutating experience of organized stability and metal chaos acting as two sides of the same coin.  Up to that point, I decided it was my favorite Septicflesh song, bearing a vibe that deeply reminded me of my own zombie horde from my debut novel, as cinematic metal played a heavy part in writing battle scenes.

Halfway through it, I was more than eager to see what The Undead Keep Dreaming held in store for me.  I was very happy with its dissonant / blackened guitar style switching with Devourment drumming paired with a deep-voiced male choir in the back.  This song's honestly hard to peg down genre-wise.  It's obviously prog, but it has elements of slam death, deathcore, black, symphonic, funeral doom, all switching through a spinning wheel of experimentation.  I suppose this is the song where Septicflesh proved they could literally do anything.  No matter what direction the band took in that song, I found myself eager for more and more directions and randomness.

We go back to accessibility on Rising, which is more riff-oriented.  The symphonic sounds take a big step backward to allow the guitarists to do the work, which I think is perfectly fine considering that the symphonic genre had a heavier say on this album already than it did on Communion.  And this song is also shorter, so while it fits the melodeath sound of Pyramid God, maintaining the album's balance, it doesn't feature the avant-garde second half which connected Pyramid God to the two before that, so it's a wecome, simple addition that's good while it lasts.  Apocalypse, however, goes back to those classical sirens and gothic weirdness that the album made a point of, and even feells like something out of a Tim Burton movie at the begginning.  It becomes a combination of extremities, symphonies and progginess much like half of Emperor's final album, Prometheus.  As that is my choice for the number 1 black metal album, I welcome this as ithis direction is both consistent with the album's behavior and reflects why I gave Emperor's album that position.  However, the experimental side of the violin interludes rings of Blut Aus Nord's recent album, Disharmonium Nahab, which is practically the scariest album I've ever heard and is also a welcome ingredient.

Next comes mad Architect, which features a wacky and maybe even dorky cabaret intro of piano and violin that proves that Septicflesh aren't afraid of the dorkier side of their chosen influence.  But the brutal and monotone blastbeats find their way into the song before combining with the dorky side on occasion, delivering something absolutely gothic in spirit and menacing in sound, as if I just walked into an abandoned circus where a clown is waiting to kill me.  So now their brilliance found its way into Pleasure Island.  As the lyrics represent going through a labyrinth, I find that this decision to go both menacing and quirky to be a perfectly artistic one.  And finally, we have Therianthropy, which starts Sotoris V. singing before we get to a good and energetic power-riff which leads us to the death metal we know the band for.

Most people favor Communion, and I know why: this album is less accessible than Communion, and as such it even rings a little of the avant-garde behavior we know Blut Aus Nord for.  But the way I see it, that's a very healthy step forward. Septicflesh improved on everything that made Communion so brilliant and special, being heavier than ever before, reaching heights in that vein that have rarely been met by a select few, and delivered a cinematic experience that no one had created before.  The most important thing, however, is that Septicflesh not only improved on their brutality, but found a stronger balance between their own death metal sound and the classical genre by relying on the spirit of war songs and funeral dirges.

Every one in a while I find that one album that makes me question my standards for a genre.  The Great Mass is the next album to do that.  I'm gonna cement this here as my new choice for my number one death metal album, and I may go back to Morbid Angel to see if I still feel the same way about them.  This is now my new number one death metal album and my number four metal album.

100

It's fucking Meow Mix.

LOL! I just checked out this song and Meow Mix, and that vocal riff really does sound identical to a minor-key variation of the latter. Now I can't unhear that... Let's take this to the "Influence or Coincidence, Inspiration or Plagiarism" Thread and see what the others think.

Ribspreader - Reap Humanity (2024)

I am unfamiliar with Ribspreader, but am acquainted with main man Rogga Johansson, particularly through one of his other bands, his death doom outfit, The 11th Hour. It seems that Rogga has acquired a reputation for producing predictable and uninspiring death metal, but as I am unfamiliar with the vast majority of his output, I will consider Reap Humanity on it's own merits. With the band hailing from Sweden, I was fully expecting an Entombed / Dismember sounding album and whilst it isn't as heavily distorted as many of the band's compatriots, it does retain that Swedish wall-of-sound production that results in the riffs sounding exceedingly dense and doesn't depart hugely from the long-established template of Swedeath. As far as the riffs go, it is fair to say that there is nothing here that truly stands out as exceptional, yet by the same token there is nothing particularly terrible either. I do like Rogga's vocals, they have that gruff, caustic edge to them that sounds quite vitriolic and threatening, although at times they seem to get muscled out of the way by the riffing which sees them taking a bit of a back seat, where personally I would have liked to hear them pushed more to the fore.

The leads are handled by guitarist Taylor Nordberg and are well executed, although once more there isn't anything particularly outstanding to behold and you can pretty much predict the way the solos will play out. Drummer Jeramie Kling, who is also a member of Inhuman Condition with Obituary and former Death bassist Terry Butler, also puts in a creditable performance behind the kit with a lively exhibition of powerful death metal skinsmanship that helps to turbo charge the velocity of the riffing.

Overall, I would have to agree that the criticism of the band is valid and Ribspreader bring little to nothing new to the table, having turned in a solid, meat-and-potatoes-flavoured album of pretty standard Swedish death metal that is perfectly fine. The drumming and vocals were the big takeaways for me, but I suspect more seasoned fans of death metal than I will be largely unimpressed. The cover art is pretty cool though and may still see the album getting a look-in at next year's Academy awards, if only for it's artwork!

3/5

Massacra - "Enjoy The Violence" (1991)

My initial experience with French death metal outfit Massacra came through their 1990 debut album "Final Holocaust" back in the day, a release that I really enjoyed & that encouraged me to keep abreast of the band's subsequent releases. I'd eventually give up on Massacra after their suitably titled 1994 fourth album "Sick" but there's certainly some quality to be found in Massacra's first three full-lengths, particularly the debut & their 1991 sophomore album "Enjoy The Violence" which is regarded as their finest work.

Massacra seem to have built a reputation as being a death/thrash hybrid in some parts of the internet but "Enjoy The Violence" doesn't offer much in the way of thrash. Instead, you can expect on authentic 1990's brand of death metal that earns its keep more from its atmosphere than it does technical proficiency. The performances are a touch loose at times (particularly that of drummer Chris Palengat whose chops weren't exactly brilliant at the time) but they do enough to provide the listener with the image of a dark & grisly world that doesn't lose face when compared with the Florida troop of the time. 

The tracklisting is rock solid with no weak tracks included but the quality levels do start to fade a touch as you make your way towards the end of the album with the last three songs being the least impressive pieces overall. It almost sounds like Massacra were struggling to fill out the record & rushed a few tracks together in order to see things to a swift outcome but it's not a major problem as I really like the band's sound so those inclusions are still acceptable in the grand scheme of things. They do however see "Enjoy The Violence" only just managing to achieve my fourth full star which would have seemed like a foregone conclusion during the first half of the record.

Still... I can't see "Enjoy The Violence" not leaving the majority of the death metal community more than satisfied, particularly those that are always on the hunt for that highly celebrated early 90's sound. Dutch death metallers Thanatos, "Seven Churches"-era Possessed & fellow Frenchmen Agressor are some pretty decent points of comparison & if that sounds like your bag then "Enjoy The Violence" should be essential listening.

4/5

Grave - "Into The Grave" (1991)

1991's "Into The Grave" debut album was my introduction to major Swedish death metal players Grave when I was only a young chap & I quite enjoyed it at the time. It's fair to say though that, as with most of the Swedish Boss HM-2-pedal worshipping death metal crew, I never saw it as the classic release that so many did. You see, other than Entombed's wonderful "Clandestine" album from the same year, that sound simply doesn't offer me as much appeal as the more sophisticated & complex Florida death metal model so, while I'd inevitably gain a fair bit of enjoyment out of the better Swedish releases, I rarely found myself returning to them all that often & the same can be said of "Into The Grave". For that reason, I didn't find myself rushing out to purchase Grave's sophomore album "You'll Never See..." when it was released the following year but a dubbed copy I received from Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann shortly afterwards would see me finally giving in to Grave's slightly weightier take on the Swedish sound & I've always thought of it as the superior Grave record. It's been decades since I revisited "Into The Grave" though so it's time I reassessed that position.

"Into The Grave" is very much the signature Swedish death metal record as it showcases all of the key attributes that made those early Entombed & Dismember records so popular. I'd suggest that the guitar tone isn't quite as over the top but it's still fairly immense & serves its purpose well. The drumming of Jensa Paulsson often takes that punky 1-2 style but also includes the occasional use of blast beats although they aren't particularly well executed & he pales in comparison to someone like Entombed's Nicke Andersson for overall chops. Front man Jörgen Sandström's vocals are a little more deep & deathly than most of the other Swedish exponents though & I think Grave benefit from it too.

The tracklisting kicks off beautifully with one of the highlight tracks "Deformed" leaving me with great hope for an improved impression of the album overall but the quality dips immediately after that & doesn't return to its earlier level until the B side which includes the other two clear highlights in "Extremely Rotten Flesh" & "Day of Mourning". There are no weak tracks included though so it's a pretty consistent listen but the majority of the album feels more acceptable than it is impressive. I guess by that point in time I'd already become well aquainted with the Swedish sound through records like "Left Hand Path", "Like An Ever Flowing Stream", "Dark Recollections" & "Where No Life Dwells" so Grave's take on the same sound would perhaps seem a little too similar to make a lasting impression, even if it is a touch more deathly than some of those releases.

While "Into The Grave" may not convince me of its classic status, it is a pretty decent quality example of its type & should offer appeal to most fans of the old-school Entombed/Dismember sound that led to bands like Bloodbath down the track. "Clandestine" is still head & shoulders above the rest when it comes to Swedish death metal in my opinion but I'd suggest that "Into The Grave" sits just behind Dismember's debut album "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" in terms of overall class & quality. In fact, I'd definitely take it over Nihilist/Entombed's iconic pre-"Clandestine" work or Carnage's highly praised 1990 debut "Dark Recollections" which would have to be regarded as somewhat of a feather in its cap, wouldn't it?

3.5/5

Asphyx - "The Rack" (1991)

My introduction to Dutch death metallers Asphyx would come through their 1991 debut album "The Rack", a release that was highly praised within underground death metal circles at the time. I enjoyed it too, enough to explore their 1989 demo tape "Crush the Cenotaph" which was also quite good but I can't say that I ever found enough premium quality to see me lumping Asphyx in with the more elite artists in the thriving death metal scene of the early 1990's. Their 1992 follow-up "Last One On Earth" left me feeling fairly similarly & to this day I've always felt that Asphyx was more of a third tier death metal player that's largely built its reputation off the back of the pedigree of their illustrious front man Martin van Drunen whose prior exploits with fellow Dutchmen Pestilence & subsequent contributions to bands like Grand Supreme Blood Court & Hail of Bullets have seen him placed up on a grisly pedestal of blasphemy & decay by many. I can't say that I've ever rated his vocals as highly as some but I've never had a problem with them either so I guess I'm in a good position to make an unbiased judgement on a record like "The Rack" where Martin also plays bass guitar.

"The Rack" comes from the rawer side of the death metal spectrum with the performances being noticeably unpolished & the song-writing pushing the musicians to perform at a higher level than they were capable of delivering at the time. The guitar work of Eric Daniels (Grand Supreme Blood Court/Soulburn) is pretty basic & lacking in subtlety while drummer Bob Bagchus (Grand Supreme Blood Court/Soulburn) stays well within himself for the most part. These technical limitations are perhaps the reason why the slower, doomier parts of the record work best & it may not be a stretch to suggest that the success of those elements on their early releases may have contributed to the musical direction that Asphyx have chosen to take with their music over the decades since. You see, Asphyx have built their reputation around their ability to incorporate crushing doom riffs into their grimy European death metal sound & there are some very clear examples to be found here on "The Rack". In fact, it's the doom component that I find most attractive about Asphyx with my album highlights inevitably being the doomier inclusions.

While I don't think "The Rack" offers anything terribly life-changing in terms of genuine classics, it's also a very consistent record with no obviously weak songs. Most tracks suffer from the occasional dud riff or two which sees all of the band's best intentions brought back to the pack but none of their creative missteps are drastic enough to warrant you reaching for the skip button. "Diabolical Existence" (my personal favourite), "Ode to a Nameless Grave" & "Pages in Blood" are my picks for the stronger examples of Asphyx's sound but I'd suggest that others might pick alternative tracks given how compressed the quality band is across most of the album.

If I was to provide some points of reference for the early Asphyx sound I'd probably reach for acts like Obituary, Morgoth & Celtic Frost who are all obviously crushingly heavy bands who utilize(d) elements of doom metal within the context of extreme metal. The technical limitations of a young Asphyx do cap the potential for them to reach to upper echelons of the death metal pile for me personally but there's definitely enough here to keep me interested nonetheless & I'd have to say that "The Rack" appeals to me slightly more than 1992's "Last One on Earth" does, mainly because I think it offers one or two more highlights. If I'm being completely honest though, I'd actually take Asphyx's last record "Necroceros" over either of them but none of the three are records I reach for all that regularly.

3.5/5

Convulse - "World Without God" (1991)

I can still recall the buzz that Convulse's debut album "World Without God" caused in the underground scene back in the early 1990's but I also remember that I found the reality to be a little... well... underwhelming., especially when compared with the magnitude of the praise being heaped on it. I didn't see the album breaking out into the realms of the more successful death metal bands though which I've always thought of as some sort of justification for my feelings on the record. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy "World Without God" though as it certainly has its moments but they didn't make a big enough impact on me to see me returning to the album until now, more than three decades later, if only to check my own homework given the steady increase in opinion on the album in more recent times.

As a die-hard atheist, the idea of a record entitled "World Without God" is most certainly an attractive one & it's fair to say that Convulse do a good job at sounding as death metal as death metal can be. The album sits very much on the filthier side of the genre where the requirement for technical proficiency is cast aside in favour of that authentic graveyard atmosphere. The ultra-deep vocals of guitarist Rami Jämsä are the clear focal point & give Convulse an additional layer of appeal for those that appreciate that sort of thing with fellow Fins Demilich being a reasonable point of comparison in that regard. Musically though, we get a very similar style of death metal to grisly US gore-masters Autopsy with the use of some pretty similar harmonized doom metal riffs being one of the stronger elements of the album. Despite those comparisons though, "World Without God" still sounds decidedly Finnish & brings to mind artists like Demigod, Abhorrence & Funebre although the more educated listener will also be able to decipher the influence of the Swedish crunch of Entombed, Dismember & co. There's a clear difference in quality between "World Without God" & a record like Demigod's 1992 debut album "Slumber of Sullen Eyes" though & this results in Convulse's debut sounding a little less essential.

Besides the very ordinary dungeon synth introduction piece which was a clear mistake, "World Without God" is still a very consistent album with no real blemishes amongst the proper tracks. It's weakness is its lack of genuine highlights though with the better material (my personal favourite "Incantation of Restoration" & "Godless Truth") still capping out before Convulse manage to reach the upper echilons of the extreme metal spectrum. There's plenty for your average death metal nut to grab onto but there's not anything here that's gonna drag you into the stratosphere, instead seeming comfortable to have your flesh gnawed off your bones at a less transcendent level. There may never be a question about the credentials of "World Without God" to saw your body in half but I wouldn't say that it does it as efficiently as most other supposedly classic death meal bands of the early 1990's did. It would, however, represent Convulse's career high point by a significant margin in my opinion. I would investigate the band's early "Resuscitation of Evilness" demo as well as their next three full-lengths before deciding that only the band's first couple of releases offered me much in the way of consistent appeal.

3.5/5

Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Häxan Sabaoth (2024)

Released 2nd February on  Iron Bonehead

Well I must admit up front that this one has been a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Big fan as I am of the chilean metal scene, I have never encountered Unaussprechlichen Kulten before, despite their 25+ years on the scene, so I am unable to comment as to how typical a release for the band this is.

Häxan Sabaoth takes a long-established style of death metal and incorporates a number of other styles within that framework to construct something a little beyond the norm. The most striking aspect of the album is the lead guitar work, which often has a jangling, chiming tone and which leaps off into shred-like guitar soloing at the drop of a hat. There are certainly some killer riffs, such as the very first one you hear after the occult-sounding intro ends, which is an absolute beauty that serves to draw you into the album's meatgrinder of mayhem. This mayhem and chaotic atmosphere is where those almost demented-sounding guitar leads come in. The neo-classical-adjacent excesses of the soloing when laid down over the archetypal death metal riffs has a similar effect to my ears as disso-death, with the leads sounding out of kilter and at odds with the riffing and blasting that is going on down below. The guitars are certainly the main event here with the deeply growled vocals and, to a certain extent, the drums, being pushed down into the mix where they feel like they are acting merely as support to the six-string depravity going on in the upper echelons of the mixing board.

I have detailed the challenges I face with a lot of dissonant metal and the same issues rear their head here again in this slightly different context, making it an uncomfortable listen at times as I struggle to reconcile the lead and rhythm work. That said, this does seem to be an interesting way to insert some dissonance into a standard death metal framework, although, due to my limited knowledge of death metal, I am unsure of how rare this approach is and I would be interested to hear what true disso-death fans think of it. It could be that a release like this needs more time devoted to it than I feel able to commit to, but for me this is an album where I respect the intentions more than I enjoy the result. Don't get me wrong, it occasionally drops into a riff I can really get a hold of and then it is a really cool blast, with the later tracks such as "Dho hna formula" and "Die teufelsbucher" being the ones where this happens most often and as such providing an album that I personally feel is back-loaded.

3/5

Immolation - "Dawn of Possession" (1991)

The debut album from these New York death metal legends would not only represent my introduction to the band but would also be a pretty big record for me at the time, particularly given that this was the period when death metal was completely taking over my life. That dark & dense Immolation sound is already well in effect here with the most notable component being the unusual rhythmic complexity that I've always found to be very exciting. The performances aren't super-precise but then that was never really Immolation's bag, instead going for a swampier sound that benefits from a bit of looseness in the musicianship. The drumming has always been Immolation's weak spot but here we see Craig Smilowski (Disma/Goreaphobia) putting in much better performance than we'd hear from later Immolation drummers & arguably being the MVP from an instrumental point of view. There's a truckload of Morbid Angel influence on display here which can only be a good thing, particularly when combined with bass player Ross Dolan's monstrously devastating death growls which are some of my favourite in the entire genre. I'm often reminded of Incantation & Gorguts' debut album "Considered Dead" in the way Immolation go about their craft too.

So, if all of the ingredients are here for an elite death metal experience then why haven't I scored "Dawn of Possession" any higher than I have? Well, it comes down to consistency. The A side is most certainly pretty classic, particularly the three-track run of "Despondent Souls" into the title track into "Those Left Behind" which is the album highlight & one of Immolation's very finest works. However, the B side simply offers a very solid run of death metal tracks without any genuine classics amongst the five songs on offer. In saying that, I do regard "Dawn of Possession" more highly than some of the band's more widely celebrated releases like "Here In After" & "Unholy Cult" & it's still my second favourite Immolation release behind the magnificent "Close To A World Below" which is a top five death metal record for me overall. I can't see too many fans of the classic death metal sound not getting some seriously jollies out of this album to be honest as it simply ticks all of the boxes.

4/5

Comecon - "Megatrends in Brutality" (1992)

I first came across Swedish death metallers Comecon at Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann's house way back in 1993 when I noticed a cassette copy of their debut album "Megatrends in Brutality" sitting on his bedroom side table. Upon questioning him about it I was advised that the album featured Entombed/Nihilist/Firespawn/Morbid legend L-G Petrov behind the microphone which tweaked my interest & I ended up borrowing the tape so that I could create a dubbed copy for myself. Upon getting home & whacking it into my tape deck I found that Comecon offered a crust punk-infused brand of death metal that was built around the guitars of band leaders Pelle Ström (also of Swedish thrashers Agony) & Rasmus Ekman with the drums appearing to have been programmed. It sounded OK but wasn't something that offered me a lot of long-term appeal so it didn't receive too many return visits after the first few days. We're now over thirty years down the track & I just noticed that the "Megatrends in Brutality" is still yet to receive a rating at the Academy so I've committed to breaking that drought with my first revisit since I was just a teenager.

The production job on "Megatrends in Brutality" isn't too bad which gives the riffs enough weight to offer full value for money. I will say that the drum machine sounds come across as pretty clicky & primitive though which does detract from the enjoyment a bit, particularly given that the programming itself isn't exactly the most sophisticated you'll find with fills & rolls being kept fairly minimal. Blast beats are utilized sporadically across the tracklisting & usually match up with the more hardcore influenced riffs of which there are plenty on offer, so much so that I feel that the album is deserving of a dual tag with deathgrind. I can't say that I've ever thought that Petrov's vocal delivery was anything particularly special but he does a reasonable job here without ever really threatening to create anything worthy of a highlight reel.

The tracklisting begins quite well with three of the stronger inclusions kicking off proceedings before things start to go down hill through the middle of the album. There are a couple of decent numbers towards the back end of the record (particularly album highlight "Omnivorous Excess") but it's not quite enough to save "Megatrends in Brutality" from the abyss as it simply doesn't deliver consistently enough to be worthy of a mention in a period when death metal was at its absolute peak, both creatively & commercially. There's nothing too awful included but one feels that if not for Petrov's contribution then Comecon would likely not have registered the slightest blip on the extreme metal radar. As a result, I'd suggest that "Megatrends in Brutality" is for Entombed superfans only.

3/5

Skeletal Remains - Fragments of the Ageless (2024)

I am unfamiliar with californian death metallers, Skeletal Remains, but a quick glance at the ratings for their five albums on RYM reveals that they must be quite a consistent band, certainly in respect to their recorded output. The opening track is titled "Relentless Appetite" and you'd better have one for brutal-sounding, aggressive old-school death metal worship because that is what you get here, unapologetic and unrelenting, in-your-face death metal, torn straight from '90's Florida and dropped onto the opposite coast thirty years later.

There is little subtlety or innovation here, but I found myself swept along on a tidal wave of relentlessly pummelling riffs with no time (or inclination) to ponder anything deeper than just hanging on for the ride. Chris Monroy's vocals are of the excoriating, sand-blasting kind, the solos are energetic and chaotic and drummer Pierce Williams is a busy man behind the kit, all of which contribute to the dynamism and sensation of being actively propelled through the album rather than being a passive spectator. It is the riffs that are king here, however, and they come thick and fast in a dizzying maelstrom of thundering power, boosted by a meaty production that gives them an unstoppable forward momentum.

Skeletal Remains are obviously influenced by the older death metal stalwarts and are equally obviously uninterested in the modern tendency in death metal towards pushing the envelope ever further with greater technicality, dissonance or whatever is flavour of the season, but instead their only desire seems to be to lay down brutal riffs that promote the lost art of headbanging, rather than the modern obsession with chin-stroking artisitic micro-analysis. It may not be the most artistically demanding, but this is exactly my kind of death metal - aggressive, thick-sounding, heavy as fuck, no-nonsense, unpretentious old-school worship that will leave you with a stiff neck and a feeling of having had a good forty-five minute workout.

4/5

Sorrow - "Hatred & Disgust" (1992)

New York four-piece Sorrow are an act that was first brought to my attention back in my 1990's tape trading days with their debut album "Hatred & Disgust" entering & exiting from my life relatively quickly. I didn't find a lot to grab onto as far as I can remember so I don't recall giving Sorrow a lot of time before placing them firmly into the "none of my business" basket. My recent explorations of my youth have seen me wondering if I might have been a little harsh on "Hatred & Disgust" though, particularly given the points of comparison that are most regularly raised when discussing the album, so I decided to give it another chance this week & boy am I glad that I did too.

I'd describe the sound that Sorrow go for on "Hatred & Disgust" as a particularly doomy example of the old-school death metal model with the production possessing that classic graveyard feel. The album is often tagged as doom/death which isn't all that far off the mark but I feel that this is a little too strong in the death metal component to warrant dual primaries. The musicianship is fairly primitive but Sorrow's sound is well-defined & maximizes the limited skill sets of the individual contributors quite nicely. The lead guitar work of Billy Rogan & Brett Clarin is probably the only area that I'd criticize with their solos generally representing the weaker moments on the album. It's the vocals of bassist Andy Marchione that are the main focal point though with his tone sitting somewhere between a less powerful "Blessed Are The Sick"-era Dave Vincent (Morbid Angel) & the whispery delivery of Revenant's Henry Veggian. Marchione's phrasing & accent is heavily influenced by Death's Chuck Schuldiner though & you can also pickup the impact of that band in some of the tremolo-picked riffs & more complex rhythms on "Hatred & Disgust".

The tracklisting kicks off beautifully with doom/death opener "Insatiable" being the clear highlight & the only genuine classic of the six cuts on offer. Death metal stomper "Forced Repression" & epic closer "Unjustified Reluctance" are also very strong & provide great support. "Separative Adjectives" is a bit disappointing but it's not enough to taint what I've found to be a thoroughly rewarding forty-minute death metal experience that fans of Cianide, Cruciform & early Paradise Lost should consider to be required listening. I honestly have no fucking idea why I couldn't see the appeal in this stuff back in the day & would have to suggest that "Hatred & Disgust" is one of the more underrated releases from death metal's heyday.

4/5