The Death Metal Thread

Six Feet Under - "Haunted" (1995)

I picked this debut album up from Neuropath vocalist Mark Wangmann shortly after it was released. The whole band was looking forward to it at the time given the star-studded lineup. Six Feet Under comprised of Cannibal Corpse/Torture Killer front man Chris Barnes, guitarist Allen West (Massacre/Obituary), bassist Terry Butler (Inhuman Condition/Left to Die/Obituary/Death/Massacre) & future Nasty Savage drummer Greg Gall so it was a bit of a who's who of the Florida scene. Now, Six Feet Under get universally slammed these days but I have to admit that I quite liked this one back in the day, even though I haven't felt the urge to return to it since. It sounds very much like Barnesy singing over Obituary's instrumentation but that can't be such a bad thing. Unfortunately, it's very, very simply in its structure & execution & Barnes' higher register vocal stuff has never offered me much appeal but there's enough groovy graveyard shit here to keep me interested, particularly the very solid "Lycanthropy" & my personal favourite "Remains of You" which might as well have been taken straight from Obituary's "World Demise" album. In fact, I'm gonna suggest that "Haunted" is still Six Feet Under's best album all these years later.

For fans of Torture Killer, Obituary & Jungle Rot.

3.5/5

Fossilization - "Advent of Wounds" (2026)

This one is getting some praise on the internet and it is not hard to see why.  Full of the best bits of Dead Congregation, Incantation and a selection of death/doom acts to boot this is pretty intense stuff from these two Brazilians.  Justin Stubbs of Encoffination fame makes an appearance to provide additional vocals on track three.  It's right up my street this one is as I have been finding a renewed interest in death metal this year and this one has made a real splash after three spins.  Might get around to a review at some point.  Also reminds me of early Altarage (opening to 'Scalded by His Sacred Halo', especially). 

I was a fan of Fossilization's debut album, "Leprous Daylight", albeit with a couple of reservations, so I will definitely check this out soon to see if they have ironed the wrinkles out and turned in the top-knotch OSDM album that I am sure they have got in them.

I've quite liked all of Fossilization's releases to date & I'm hearing great things about this one so I certainly have it on my radar.

I'm done with it.  Due to the praise, I expected it to make 8-9/10, but not quite.  The instrumentation of Leprous Daylight was very cool at first, but the same tricks were rehashed, so I gave that one about a 78.  This one seems less technical and is largely relying on heaviness to do the work, although I admit it's extremely difficult to find more heavy music than this.  Even Blood Incantation can learn something from this heaviness.  And that can be said about the last album, and this album's a little heavier anyway.  I'm gonna give this a 75.

Incantation - "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse" (1995)

While I really dug 1992's "Onward to Golgotha" debut album, it was New Jersey death metallers Incantation's 1994 sophomore full-length "Mortal Throne of Nazarene" that really made me into a full-blown worshipper, so much so that I bought 1995's "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse" CD blind upon release without realising that it was in fact a different mix of the same album. The band apparently hated the previously released mix of "Mortal Throne of Nazarene", preferring an earlier rough mix to the one that eventually saw the light of day. "Upon the Throne of Apocalypse" shows why & in no uncertain terms too because it's an absolute beast of a record, highlighted by one of the most punishing & cavernous bass-heavy sounds the metal world had heard to the time. The slower material is taken to another level here while the faster sections sometimes lack the intelligibility of its predecessor so I'd suggest that it's really just a matter of taste as to which version of the album you prefer. Personally, I've always preferred this one but both are genuine classics as far as I'm concerned with songs like "The Ibex Moon", "Iconoclasm of Catholicism", "Demonic Incarnate" & incredible opener & clear album highlight "Abolishment of Immaculate Serenity" sitting amongst Incantation's finest work.

The incredibly deep death growls of guitarist Craig Pillard (Disma/Methadrone/Evoken/Goreaphobia) are an absolute masterclass in monstrous atmosphere while Jim Roe's (Disciples of Mockery/Goreaphobia) battering yet precise drumming is also worth mentioning. Bassist Dan Kamp (Crucifier) & guitarist John McEntee (Funerus/Goreaphobia/Mortician/Revenant) chime in beautifully throughout too with some of the best down-tuned tremolo riffing you could ever wish for. If only it was possible to make out those more blasting sections where the percussion becomes a little over-powering... Oh well... you can still take solace in the fact that the doomier parts of the album are utterly mind-blowing. 1998's "Diabolical Conquest" may always be my favourite Incantation record but this one is a pretty close second & should be essential listening for all members of The Horde.

For fans of Immolation, Dead Congregation & Disma.

4.5/5

Behemoth - "Demigod" (2004)

I quite liked the first couple of mid-1990's releases from Poland's Behemoth but they went through somewhat of a lull after that &, in doing so, managed to lose my interest during that 1996-98 period for the most part. It wasn't until my return to metal in 2009 & that I'd reconnect with these guys & I've generally checked out everything that they've put out since. I know a lot of people will place 2014's "The Satanist" record up on a pedestal as Behemoth's finest work but I've always felt that their 2004 seventh full-length "Demigod" had a slight edge personally, mainly because I really don't like the very popular "Ora pro nobis Lucifer" from "The Satanist". Other than that, the two releases are of a pretty similar standard although I'd suggest that there is slightly less of a black metal component to "Demigod" which is more of a straight down the line death metal release with the occasional hint at black metal. There are no weak tracks included while front man Nergal's vocals are aggressive & sinister & talented drummer Inferno's blast beats are savage & precise. I will say that the clicky drum sound doesn't work as well when Inferno goes for a standard blast beat but the alternating ones are both powerful & spectacular. Check out the underrated "Before the Æons Came" which is my personal favourite. "Demigod" is a very solid death metal record that should satisfy most of our The Horde members. 

For fans of Hate, Belphegor & Sulphur Aeon.

4/5

Teitanblood - "From the Visceral Abyss" (2025)

I've enjoyed all of these Spaniards proper releases to date so I jumped straight onto their fourth full-length "From the Visceral Abyss" as soon as it hit the shelves last year. I've now had a bit of time with it so I feel reasonably well positioned to assess where it sits in Teitanblood's very solid back catalogue. Well, these guys have done a great job at tip-toing along the boundary between death metal & war metal for most of their careers & they do so again here, although they've definitely leant further over to the death metal side on this occasion with the vocal delivery, psychotic guitar solos & general ferocity being the main links to war metal. The production job has been kept intentionally murky which adds to the atmosphere but can make it a little hard to pick out the guitar solos & vocals at times. I love the relentless blast beats though & the quality of the song-writing is very consistent throughout too. There's a punky Swedish death metal influence on display at times with early Entombed seemingly being the source of inspiration there. Looking at Teitanblood's past glories, I definitely place 2019's "The Baneful Choir" on a pedestal as their finest full-length album to date & I'm also gonna give 2014's "Death" sophomore record a slight edge over "From the Visceral Abyss" but this is still a great example of its type & I'd comfortably take over Teitanblood's 2009 debut album "Seven Chalices" which I quite like but don't think I've ever fully committed to.

For fans of Proclamation, Pseudogod & Sadistik Exekution.

4/5

Desecrator - "Subconscious Release" (1991)

I fucking love early Autopsy and so too did Desecrator, apparently. Hailing from Nottingham, Desecrator was formed in 1989 by brothers Mike and Steve Ford (bass / vocals and guitars respectively) alongside drummer Lee Hawke. After listening to "Subconscious Release" I have no idea, but I am guessing they formed after hearing Autopsy's debut "Severed Survival", released in Spring of '89, deciding that was what they wanted to play. Now, obviiously, this isn't as good as any of the Californian's early releases, but it is a decent stab at reproducing their style in a British context. Bear in mind that at this time the big UK death metal bands came at the genre from a grindcore background, Napalm Death, Carcass and even Bolt Thrower played a blasting, high tempo version of death metal, so Desecrator, looking towards the hulking, often slower-paced, abyssal-sounding death metal of Reifert and Co. were swimming against the tide somewhat. Even more atypically, the album boasts several quite long tracks with four exceeding seven minutes in length, the band unafraid to drop into a slower, doomier tempo to add variation and atmosphere during the longer track lengths. They don't completely turn their back on the prevailing winds though, with the quick-fire medley of "Insult to Intelligence" and "Deadline" on side 2 clocking in under two minutes they give a nod to the deathgrind brigade.

To be honest the album is front-loaded with the title track kicking things off and being, by quite some way, the best track on the album - think "In the Grip of Winter" or "Gasping for Air" level good. Second track "Nothing Changes Anything" is also pretty great with a hot opening riff and a gothicky, atmospheric mid-track break, but the rest of the album struggles to live up to the promise of these two opening salvos. Don't misunderstand, the rest is fine for what it is, but a faint tinge of disappointment is inevitable after such a promising start. I am no musician myself, but I get the feeling that the band are a little limited technically, as illustrated by the generally lacklustre guitar solos and the d-beat drumming not always cutting it, leaving the listener yearning for a good old blastbeat to shake things up and hit the gas pedal. Whilst I acknowledge that the band had technical limitations, these probably don't bother me as much as they do some metalheads, I am quite partial to a slab of loose-sounding deathly carnage and when the band are in full flow I am happy as a pig in shit. However, the uninspiring solos and the odd clunky transition do pull me out of the moment, fourth track "Repressive Acceptance" for example has a couple of instances where the leadwork is quite poor and ruins a good headbang as the main riff is decent and gets me nodding along quite effectively up until that point.

In 1992 the band changed their name to Consumed and went off in a more punk rock oriented direction, leaving us with this remainig as the only testament to a promising, if technically limited, early UK death metal act. It is interesting if ultimately inessential UK death metal release that even a Dan Seagrave cover couldn't save from relative obscurity. 

3.5/5