The Horde

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Horde has been nominated by myself. It's 2018's "Within a World Forgotten" debut album from US death/war metal outfit Infernal Coil, a record which royally ripped my face off at the time through its sheer ferocity.

https://metal.academy/releases/13675

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=39a8716e43f344ce

Tracklisting:

01. Sadist – “Perversion Lust Orgasm” (from “Crust”, 1997)

02. Amorphis – “On Rich & Poor” (from “Elegy”, 1996)

03. Adramalech – “The Book Of The Worm” (from “Psychostasia”, 1996) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

04. Edge of Sanity – “Crimson, Pt. 1” (from “Crimson”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Godgory – “In Silence Forever” (from “Sea of Dreams”, 1995)

06. VoidCeremony – “Forlorn Portrait: Ruins of an Ageless Slumber” (from “Threads of Unknowing”, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

07. Hypocrisy – “Roswell 47” (from “Abducted”, 1996)

08. Baring Teeth – “An Illusion of Multiple Voices” (from “Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins”, 2014)

09. Pestilence – “Malleus Maleficarum/Anthropomorphia” (from “Malleus Maleficarum”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Blind Equation – “Fade Away” (from “Death Awaits”, 2023)

11. Immolation – “Burn With Jesus” (from “Here In After”, 1996) [Submitted by Sonny]

12. Vader – “Blood Of Kingu” (from “De Profundis”, 1995) [Submitted by Sonny]

13. Deicide – “They Are The Children Of The Underworld” (from “Once Upon The Cross”, 1995) [Submitted by Sonny]

14. Leng Tch’e – “Derisive Conscience” (from “The Process of Elimination”, 2005)

15. Torture Rack – “Forced From The Pit” (from “Primeval Onslaught”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]

16. Nile – “I Whisper In The Ear Of The Dead” (from “In Their Darkened Shrines”, 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Oni – “Creature of Chaos” (from “Incantation Superstition”, 2023) [Submitted by Sonny]

18. Necrophobic – “Nailing The Holy One” (from “Darkside”, 1997) [Submitted by Sonny]

19. Gorerotted – “Dead Drunk” (from “A New Dawn For The Dead”, 2005)

20. Cryptopsy – “Pathological Frolic” (from “Blasphemy Made Flesh”, 1994) [Submitted by Sonny]

21. Birdflesh – “Coffinfucker” (from “Night of the Ultimate Mosh”, 2002)

22. Exumed – “Clawing” (from “Horror”, 2019) [Submitted by Sonny]

23. Abyssal – “I Am The Alpha & The Omega” (from “Antikatastaseis”, 2015)

24. Altarage – “Cataract” (from “Worst Case Scenario”, 2023) [Submitted by UnhinderedbyTalent]

25. First Days of Humanity – “Chainsaw Dripping With Cum” (from “Atrocities” E.P., 2020)

26. Circle of Dead Children – “Destiny Of The Slug” (from “Human Harvest”, 2003)

27. Last Days Of Humanity – “Garbagebag With Human Waste” (from “Last Days of Humanity/Lymphatic Phlegm” split, 2004)

28. Phyllomedusa – “Covered With Slime As Decoration II” (from “Desiccation in Progress (Version II)”, 2011) [Submitted by Daniel]

29. Napalm Death – “Morbid Deceiver” (from “The Curse” E.P., 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

30. Ozigiri – “Girl At The Grave” (from “おじぎりなら死にましたけど?” E.P., 2020)

31. XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX – “Gore” (from “Gore” E.P., 2016) [Submitted by Daniel]

32. Disgorge – “Womb Full Of Scabs” (from “She Lay Gutted”, 1999)

33. Regurgitation – “Acid Enema” (from “Tales of Necrophilia”, 1999)

34. Coprocephalic – “Concrete Exhumation” (from “Gluttonous Chunks”, 2013)

35. Vulvectomy – “Abdominal Ectopic Pregnancy” (from “Abusing Dismembered Beauties”, 2013)

At least some of the material on "The Sound of Perseverance" was originally intended for Chuck's clean-sung progressive metal project Control Denied so it's hardly surprising that it doesn't sound like death metal.

Here's my review from a year or so back:

As most diehard extreme metal fans will know, there’s a rare & highly desirable brand of metal that is destined to forever bubble away beneath the service of the underground scene, leaving its blackened mark on only a chosen few who share knowing nods in dark, smoky dungeons of metal worship without ever daring to give up their unholy secret to those deemed to be unworthy. This particular brand of metal isn’t about glossy production jobs, technical prowess or pushing genres into previously untraversed territories. It’s about presenting extreme metal in it’s most evil & primal form & generally resides within the confines of the unholy trio of extreme metal subgenres i.e. thrash metal, death & black metal. The exact ratio of an artist’s composition isn’t important but it dare not step outside of those three. Additionally, there needs to be an element of mystery about the artist in question with much left to the listener’s imagination. It also helps a lot if these artists have never released an album but existed for just a relatively short time, releasing only a few crude demos, 7 inches or limited edition EPs so that the audience can always be left wondering what could have been & if the most pure realization of metal should stay in the underground forever. Sadistic Intent is one of these acts & I love them all the more for it.

I first discovered this underground Los Angeles death metal outfit back in the early 1990’s through the tape trading scene. From memory I found their 1990 “Impending Doom…” E.P. to be pretty interesting but it wouldn’t be until their 1994 “Resurrection” E.P. that they’d really get me raising an eyebrow or two with their talent for creating raw, dark & authentic old school death metal falling right in line with my musical preference at the time. I followed them onwards in the hope that I’d eventually see a full-length album being released at some stage. I’m glad I didn’t hold my breath because that’s still yet to eventuate but they did manage to release another excellent E.P. before drifting out of my sight in 1997’s highly regarded three-track effort “Ancient Black Earth”.

To cut to the chase, Sadistic Intent are a pure death metal band in the traditional sense of the term. They don’t provide a good imitation of late 80’s death metal here. "Ancient Black Earth" IS late 80’s death metal. It’s just that it was written, recorded & released in 1997. See what I’m getting at? These dudes simply get it. They understand what’s required to create a genuine old-school death metal atmosphere as they’ve clearly lived it. This sort of approach has become somewhat of a trend over the last decade or so & has seen lesser bands elevated to much higher levels of acclaim & fandom than Sadistic Intent can ever hope to achieve. They really are their own worst enemies as not releasing a full-length is never a great marketing ploy but one gets the feeling that they don't really care. The quality of their material however is very hard to deny.

It won’t take you long to figure out who Sadistic Intent were listening to around 1989. I’ll give you a hint. They start with “M” & end with “orbid Angel”. Ya with me? The short 16 minute duration of the “Ancient Black Earth” E.P. sounds almost exactly like “Altars Of Madness” & “Blessed Are The Sick” at times which certainly can’t be a bad thing now, can it? Are they as good as Trey & co? Well… in a word no but then who is? I mean “Altars Of Madness” is the still the greatest death metal release of all time in my opinion so I’ll take whatever I can get. Very few artists have been able to accurately replicate the riff structures that Trey Azagthoth created back in Morbid Angel's hey day but Rick Cortez & Vince Cervera make a really good fist of it here & even do a pretty decent job at the insanely chaotic guitar solos too even though they’re not in the same league as far as technical ability goes. The blast beats at the start & end of the title track (my personal fave) sound like they’ve been torn straight from Morbid Angel’s “Blasphemy” & I frankly lose my shit when that happens. Then you toss in some super-evil yet easily intelligible Dave Vincent-style death growls of pure darkness & I’m 100% in… hook, line & sinker. There are also a few riffs tossed in that remind me more of the early 90’s Swedish death metal sound but they’re very well done & still manage to maintain a blasphemous & undeniably evil atmosphere.

If you’re a fan of 80’s & early 90’s death metal then you probably owe it to yourself to give this E.P. a spin or four. “Ancient Black Earth” provides categorical proof that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make high quality extreme metal. Sadistic Intent deliver on their promise with passion, substance & an unquestionable pedigree & in doing so prove themselves worthy of standing alongside their idols. This is underground death metal of a very high quality.

For fans of Morbid Angel, Repugnant & Mortem.

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=ffc0c97f8f9a4361

Tracklisting:

01. Ceremonial Oath – “The Day I Buried” (from “Carpet”, 1995)

02. Nightfall – “Ishtar (Celebrate Your Beauty)” (from “Athenian Echoes”, 1995)

03. Quo Vadis – “Legions of the Betrayed” (from “Forever”, 1996)

04. Pyrrhon – “The Mother of Virtues” (from “The Mother of Virtues”, 2014)

05. Morbid – “My Dark Subconscious” (from “December Moon” demo, 1986) [Submitted by Sonny]

06. A Canorous Quintet – “Through Endless Illusions” (from “As Tears” E.P., 1995)

07. Sarmat – “Formed From Filth” (from “Determined To Strike”, 2023) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. FesterDecay – “Rotten Fester Decay” (from “Reality Rotten to the Core”, 2023)

09. Nile – “Wrought” (from “Festivals of Atonement” E.P., 1995) [Submitted by Sonny]

10. Necrophobic – “Unholy Prophecies” (from “The Nocturnal Silence”, 1993) [Submitted by Sonny]

11. Obituary – “Intoxicated” (from “Slowly We Rot”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Gorguts – “Condemned to Obscurity” (from “The Erosion of Sanity”, 1993) [Submitted by Sonny]

13. Frozen Soul – “Atomic Winter” (from “Glacial Domination”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. Celestial Sanctuary – “Biomineralization (Cell Death)” (from “Insatiable Thirst For Torment”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Defleshed – “One Grave To Fit Them All” (from “Grind Over Matter”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Tribal Gaze – “Cold Devotion” (from “The Nine Choirs”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Brutality – “These Walls Shall Be Your Grave” (from “Screams of Anguish”, 1993) [Submitted by Sonny]

18. As The Sun Sets – “Untitled One” (from “7744”, 2002)

19. Aevangelist – “Hosanna” (from “Writhes in the Murk”, 2014)

20. Internal Bleeding – “Inhuman Suffering” (from “Voracious Contempt”, 1995) [Submitted by Daniel]

21. Suffocation – “Rapture of Revocation” (from “Pinnacle of Bedlam”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

22. Goemagot – “Too Decomposed to Rape” (from “Eradication of Insignificant Beings”, 2013)

23. The Red Chord – “Fixation on Plastics” (from “Clients”, 2005)

24. Disgorge – “Deranged Epidemic” (from “Cranial Impalement”, 1999)

25. Archagathus – “Drunk As Fuck” (from “Dehumanizer”, 2014)

26. Full of Hell – “Burning Myrrh” (from “Weeping Choirs”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

27. Napalm Death – “Sometimes” (from “From Enslavement To Obliteration”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

Following my immediate purchase on CD of VoidCeremony's debut album in 2020 after just a couple of streams online, I was keeping an eye out for the follow up for what felt like an eternity. With its bass-heavy presence the debut took the prog element of prog-death and put it on a plinth all of its own before surrounding it with some great OSDM vibes to ground proceedings nicely. Some three years later and Threads of Unknowing picks up essentially where Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel left off. Damon Good's bass still commands a lot of attention (and rightly so) and that OSDM vibe is still present also, thankfully.

The main immediate difference to note this time is that production job that makes the drums sound like the are incredibly brittle. Despite the obvious hard work of Charles Koryn, his efforts are stifled somewhat by knob-twiddler, Gabriele Gramaglia. The leads shine well enough though. Soaring and uplifting, they do a quality job of expanded the soundscape of Threads... without giving us any pretentious traits to get annoyed over, These, cleaner, more progressive elements are the strongest part of the album for me and I agree that VoidCermony do work better as a progressive outfit as opposed to a technical/prog-death band. I do not have a problem with the vocals actually. I can see where the aversion comes from but I find them perfectly acceptable.

Whilst I am not as instantly blown away by their sophomore album, I still find Threads of Unknowing to be a solid record and one that does grow with each listen. Yes, it is bottom-heavy, with the second half of the record easily outstripping the first half, but this is still a mighty fine album, delivered by some very professional sounding individuals. Drums aside, I have no real issue here.

4/5

XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX - "Gore" E.P. (2016)

I’d suggest that most Metal Academics are probably fairly aware of the fact that subgenres like slam death metal & deathcore are unfairly treated on most other metal websites. In fact, this was one of the major reasons for Ben & I even starting to discuss the possibility of a Metal Academy site in the first place. In saying that though, there are some pockets of the subgenres I mentioned that are more maligned than others & it's hardly surprising that South Africa’s XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX (short for Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated by Mass Amounts of Filthy Fecal Fisting and Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside the Infected Maggot Infested Womb of a Molested Nun Dying Under the Roof of a Burning Church While a Priest Watches and Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus) fit into that bracket now, is it? I mean, you could be forgiven for making the immediate assumption that they’re a novelty band because the reality is that they clearly are, not only because of their ridiculous moniker & completely absurd logo but also because they also seem to want to showcase & highlight all of the commonly criticized traits from both genres. While that may be true though, sometimes I just find that I like what I like & how cool I may appear is not something that I've ever been too concerned with.

2016’s “Gore” E.P. was the Durban duo’s first release with Kris Xenopoulos (Vulvodynia) handling all of the instrumentation & Duncan Bentley (Vulvodynia/Wormhole) taking on all vocal duties. The sound you can expect to hear sits somewhere between slam death metal & deathcore with a slightly stronger emphasis on the former even though the breakdowns often tend to angle a touch more towards the other direction. Kris’ performance behind the drum kit is worth mentioning as he possesses some impressive chops for someone that’s presumably more of a guitarist based on his prior experience. The blast-beat sections are amongst the strongest components to the band’s sound & are accentuated by a bright & crystal-clear mix that brings the kick drums right to the front. It’s a really well produced little E.P. actually which admittedly isn’t all that uncommon for groups that tackle these sort of niche subgenres these days.

Duncan’s vocal performance offers a bit of variety. He’ll no doubt annoy those who can’t stand a pig-squealed “BBBBRRREEEEEE” or two because he seems to be consciously trying to highlight the absurdity of that technique here. He also displays some level of hardcore pedigree at times through some more aggressive beatdown-style deathcore rants. Another element that might piss of the purists out there is XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX’s tendency to indulge in a bit of humour, both lyrically & instrumentally. You won’t understand the lyrics but I’m led to believe that they’re particularly silly (see the weakest inclusion "Dicks Out For Harambe" for example) while the random u-turns into disparate musical genres like djent, groove metal or even jazz require an open-mind but are well-executed nonetheless.

Look, I’m not gonna suggest that any non-believers try “Gore” on for their very first slam or deathcore experience but it’s not half bad when taken on musical value alone. I love me some brutal death metal & there’s certainly some brutality about this stuff. I’m also a bit of a sucker for decent production jobs in my extreme metal & it ticks that box too. I can’t see myself giving this twelve-minute release too many revisits in the future but fans of artists like Acrania, Ingested or the previously-mentioned Vulvodynia will no doubt find some appeal in this unfairly maligned piece of over-the-top extreme music.

3.5/5

So, my first time checking out the Horde playlist as a bona fide member of the clan. Top discoveries for me this month were Horrendous and the unpronouncable Sanguisugabogg with their charmingly-titled Testicular Rot. Others that caught my ear were 200 Stab Wounds, Splatterhouse and Torture Rack.

Immolation, Bloodbath, Tzompantli, Atheist and Teitanblood are familiar already and were represented by great tracks.

I didn't really care for Fleshvessel, Geryon, The HIRS Collective, Waking The Cadaver and Aborted - but I still have much to learn!

All in all, great fun and an enjoyable listen.

So now that I have (finally) completed the Death Metal the 1st Decade clan challenge, I think I will put this thread to bed now. I have thoroughly enjoyed this time travel back to the late 80s / early 90s via the early releases of death metal and have found some absolute corkers to keep me going for many a year. As a bit of a death metal skeptic going in, it just goes to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks! I have discovered plenty of new favourites and believe I now have a much better understanding of a genre I had merely scratched the surface of before. This is not the end of my death metal exploration, not by a long shot, but I don't need this thread to log it any more and so will bring it to a close now. Thanks for indulging me and for joining me for the ride...

For all the influence and respect that Suffocation (rightfully) receive across the extreme metal community, their game plan is not particularly a difficult one to follow. With the talent in the band it seems almost effortless for them to take the depths of brutality and the fast flowing torrents of technicality and combine them into this vicious and yet measured assault that I have come to enjoy over the years. Whether it is the frenzied attack of the debut album some fifteen years before this or the tangible and tactile structures of Pierced From Within or Effigy of the Forgotten, the band have medals of honour littered throughout their discography. Yet, at the same time they have "the rest of their discography". The likes of Despise the Sun, Blood Oath and indeed this month's feature release never get anywhere near the same levels of rotation as the aforementioned releases do. Within minutes of listening to the self-titled it is clear that this most certainly is not Pierced from Within, but then again I would not want it to be in all honesty. Despite not living up to that standard, Suffocation is by no means a bad or even mediocre death metal album.

The album feels restrained in its delivery yes, but by no means is this at the expense of entertainment and most certainly is not Suffocation going soft. Instead, the record feels like it is simply exploring all the good parts of the bands sound in glorious detail. By varying the pace across the record, the band create a celebration of themselves. They leave themselves completely exposed in some regards but the quality of the song writing is so high that there is little to no threat here for them. Tracks like Bind Torture Kill explore the full gamut of their range and you can hear the old school roots of their existence shining through very clearly. As we have come to expect, Hobbs' guitar laying is nothing short of exemplary and original guitarist Guy Marchais supports well also. Mullen, of course, can do no wrong as we already know and puts in a consistent and entertaining performance throughout with his clear yet still inherently extreme vocals providing their grim and scathing attack as always.

I feel like there are times when the drums of Mike Smith get a bit of a poor representation in the mix (opening track Oblivion springs to mind as being a noticeable point of this issue for me) but there is still enough weight to them to make them an integral part of the overall experience. With so much quality on show, I guess mixing the record to let all parts shine is a challenge I personally would not want to take on so Joe Cincotta has my sympathy on this. But there is nothing here to take away from this self-homage that Suffocation create on a record that needs a lot more attention from me than it has had to date. Bangers like Entrails of You are evidence that there is more than just shock value to the content of Suffocation, their brand of extremity has thought and feel behind it.  

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=604056b7251a4b8a

Tracklisting:

01. Nocturnal Graves – “Beyond The Flesh” (from “An Outlaw’s Stand”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Phlebotomized – “Bury My Heart” (from “Clouds of Confusion”, 2023)

03. Contrarian – “In Gehenna” (from “Sage Of Shekhinah”, 2023)

04. Sadist – “Escogido” (from “Tribe”, 1996)

05. In Flames – “Stand Ablaze” (from “Subterranean” E.P., 1995)

06. Balmora – “July, Unending” (from “With Thorns Of Glass & Petals Of Grief” E.P., 2023)

07. Hellwitch – “Delegated Disruption” (from “Annihilational Intercention”, 2023)

08. Torture Rack – “Morning Star Massacre” (from “Primeval Onslaught”, 2023)

09. Creeping Death – “Intestinal Wrap” (from “Boundless Domain”, 2023)

10. Apparition – “Unequilibrium” (from “Feel”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Bandit – “End Of The Rainbow” (from “Siege of Self”, 2023)

12. Ulcerate – “Confronting Entropy” (from “Vermis”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Gigan – “Electro-Stimulated Hallucinatory Response” (from “Multi-Dimensional Fractal-Sorcery & Super Science”, 2013)

14. Houkago Grind Time – “Bakyunsified (Moe To The Gore)“ (from “Saving The World By Overloading It With Mincecore Brigade“ E.P., 2019)

15. Cavalera – “War” (from “Morbid Visions”, 2023)

16. Blind Equation – “BXE666” (from “Born To Die” E.P., 2020)

17. Aevangelist – “Veils” (from “Omen Ex Simulacra”, 2013)

18. Crisis Sigil – “Skybox” (from “God Cum Poltergeist”, 2023)

19. Septage – “Of Gangrene Limbs” (from “Septisk eradikasyon” E.P., 2021)

20. Atavistia – “Cosmic Warfare” (from “Cosmic Warfare”, 2023)

21. Burnt By The Sun – “Buffy” (from “Burnt By The Sun” E.P., 2001)

22. ZOMBIESHARK! – “Idiot Machine” (from “Born From A Wish” E.P., 2022)

23. Cattle Decapitation – “Humanure” (from “Humanure”, 2004)

24. Deeds of Flesh – “Summarily Killed” (from “Path of the Weakening”, 1999)

25. Tithe – “Demon” (from “Inverse Rapture”, 2023)

26. Disfiguring The Goddess – “Black Earth Child” (from “Black Earth Child”, 2013)

27. Inhume – “Incineration Of The Body By Own Will” (from “In For The Kill”, 2003)

28. Suffocation – “Translucent Patterns of Delirium” (from “Suffocation”, 2006) [Submitted by Daniel]

29. Acranius – “Life Sustainment Will Continue Mutilation” (from “When Mutation Becomes Homicidal”, 2013)

30. Katalepsy – “Lurking In The Depth” (from “Autopsychosis”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

31. Devangelic – “Which Shall Be The Darkness Of The Heretic” (from “Xul”, 2023)

I don't recall hearing a bad release by Bloodbath to date and Unblessing the Purity keeps this consistency going nicely. It is a nice break from the more traditional Swedish sound you would associate with the band and shows the bands versatility well.  If there was ever any doubt in anyone's mind around the ability of the reknowned artist that comprised the band at this time then this EP would immediately dispel them.  I note the references to Polish death metal which is not one of my preferred styles of death metal with me having very little time for Vader in all honesty.  However, there is a real bite to the riffing on this release that is so superbly tied into the percussion and vocal delivery that I find it exceeds those relevant comparisons pretty quickly.

This is Åkerfeldt at his very best for me.  No clean singing and throaty as that wolf in the main part of the great album artwork probably would be.  The guitar work, as well as being rhythmically superb, also generates fantastic atmosphere on tracks such as album opener Blasting the Virginborn.  Those urgent and stabbing riff sections really driving the tension of the track.  With its huge sound and tight performances, Unblessing the Purity is probably as perfect a 15 minute blast of raging death metal that you could ask for.

4/5

Sorry Vinny, but I'm struggling for time at the moment, so won't be making or taking part in review drafts for a while. If anyone else wants to participate, feel free to create one without me.

Was just about to post the same mate.  No activity here for me this month at least.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=057fda8307e24890

Tracklisting:

01. Ascended Dead – “Abhorrent Manifestation” (from “Evenfall of the Apocalypse”, 2023)

02. Amorphis – “The Four Wise Ones” (from “Under The Red Cloud”, 2015) [Submitted by Daniel]

03. Violent Dirge – “Craving” (from “Craving”, 1995)

04. Helltrain – “Helltrain” (from “Route 666”, 2004)

05. Kalmah – “Red & Black” (from “Kalmah”, 2023)

06. Flourishing – “The Petrifaction Lottery” (from “Intersubjectivity” E.P., 2012)

07. Blindfolded & Led To The Woods – “Hallucinative Terror” (from “Rejecting Obliteration”, 2023)

08. Scar Symmetry – “Chrononautilus” (from “The Singularity (Phase II – Xenotaph)”, 2023)

09. Haggus – “Mince The Meat Monger” (from “Plausibility of Putridity”, 2018)

10. Carcass – “Fermenting Innards” (from “Reek of Putrefaction”, 1988) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Gorguts – “An Ocean of Wisdom” (from “Colored Sands”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. The Sawtooth Grin – “Good Touch Bad Touch” (from “Cuddlemonster”, 2001)

13. Rippikoulu – “Ukuinen piina” (from “Musta seremonia” demo, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Rotborn – “Praise The Downfall” (from “On The Perspective Of An Imminent Downfall”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

15. Frozen Soul – “Glacial Domination” (from “Glacial Domination”, 2023)

16. Entrails – “Crawling Death” (from “The Tomb Awaits”, 2011) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Vomitory – “All Heads Are Gonna Roll” (from “All Heads Are Gonna Roll”, 2023)

18. Immolation – “Close To A World Below” (from “Close To A World Below”, 2000) [Submitted by Vinny]

19. Plague Bearer – “Rise Of The Goat” (from “Summoning Apocalyptic Devastation”, 2023)

20. Outer Heaven – “Rotting Stone/D.M.T.” (from “Infinite Psychic Depths”, 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Cannibal Corpse – “Infinite Misery” (from “Kill”, 2006) [Submitted by Daniel]

22. Teitanblood – “Black Vertebrae” (from “The Baneful Choir”, 2019) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. Mortician – “Chainsaw Dismemberment” (from “Chainsaw Dismemberment”, 1999)

24. Impetuous Ritual – “Lecherous Molestation” (from “Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis”, 2023)

25. Soilent Green – “Hand Me Downs” (from “A Deleted Symphony For The Beaten Down”, 2001)

26. Fear Factory – “Flesh Hold” (from “Soul of a New Machine”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

27. Caustic Wound – “Invisible Cell” (from “Death Posture”, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

28. Disfiguring The Goddess – “Deaths Head Mask” (from “Deprive”, 2013)

29. Hate Eternal – “Nailed To Obscurity” (from “Conquering The Throne”, 1999)

30. Devourment – “Babykiller” (from “Butcher The Weak”, 2006) [Submitted by Daniel]

Oh, yes, nice one Vinny!

This is most definitely centred right on my death metal g-spot! The instant it's gloriously downtuned, cavernous riffage infested my earbuds, I was hooked. OK, it's Autopsy worship does absolutely nothing original, but is so well executed and is just so much to my taste that I don't intend to criticise it for not diverting from the template set down by Chris Reifert and company more than three decades ago now. Although the album as a whole is somewhat generic, in that they don't try to do anything unexpected, the band have a genuine grasp of what this corner of the death metal world requires.

The riffs are massive with some real killers amongst them, although they don't push the needle much beyond medium-paced with very little blasting even on the pacier sections, the beginning of Perpetually Altered probably marking the album's peak velocity. The subsonic vocals even rival Reifert's growls for sounding like the ravings of some infernal, abyssal demon and are a big part of the draw of Feel for me. The downtuned riffage and generally cavernous atmosphere make it feel more doomy than it actually is, as they don't stray into purely death doom territory as much as you think, slowing the pace to a crawl only for a short time during most tracks. Each of the tracks are artfully constructed and the variety in pacing throughout is worked very well. An extra layer of atmosphere is supplied on the most doom-laden track, Nonlocality, with the inclusion of thin but atmospheric keyboards that reminded me of the keys used by Thergothon on their classic Stream From the Heavens with the thinness of the keys' sound being in marked contrast to the meaty heft of the guitar sound.  The production is very effective with a cloying thickness to the atmosphere, whilst still possessing sufficient clarity to do each of the instruments justice and never descending into an indiscernable morass.

This is most definitely the kind of release I can revisit time after time as I live for this kind of cavernous sound, absorbing it like plants absorb sunlight. Consequently a vinyl copy is winging it's way from Amazon to Sonny's crypt-on-the-hill as we speak!

4.5/5

Yeah, I can't blame you for struggling with those gorenoise & cybergrind tracks (or the subgenres in general really) Sonny. I don't include those subgenres every month as they're just so niche. I only toss in the occasional tracks here & there to ensure a consistent coverage of all The Horde subgenres. I'm not sure that I can believe that there are people out there who claim one of those as their favourite subgenres but I recently had a bunch of people on Twitter getting very passionate & heated (read: condescending & aggressive) when I criticized a cybergrind release so you never know. I think I might be the only Metal Academic that can tolerate slam death metal. I can easily understand why people might not find it appealing though so let's just call it a guilty pleasure.

Blood Duster are nothing short of an Australian metal institution. It's against the law not to like them over here. Their sense of humor is stereotypically Australian so it wouldn't surprise me if some outsiders simply don't get it.

Blasted the playlist whilst out on an extended morning dog walk and enjoyed it immensely... well at least three quarters of it. I must admit that, much like last month as it seemed to end with more brutal death metal, it kind of lost me a bit. The Drumcorps track intrigued me as it almost sounded like a kind of cyber-sludge - I don't think I could listen to a whole album of it, but as a single track on a playlist it stood out as an interesting anachronism. I will also have to check Misery Index out - a band whose name I have seen around for what seems like ever, but never listened to before.

I'm thinking I've got a bit of an easy gig with the Fallen playlist as 15 or 16 tracks usually covers the two hours but Daniel (and Vinny on the Pit playlist) have to come up with twice that number of tracks to fill two hours - well done lads for your admirable perseverance.

A nasty little burst of abrasive and aggressive grindcore that will give your ear'oles a good pummelling with most of it's ten tracks. It isn't exactly relentless, however as the two longest tracks are delivered at a more considered pace, but it is generally speaking an exercise in nothing less than aural violence. There is blasting aplenty and drummer Taylor Young is given a pretty intense workout, but luckily he seems more than up to the task. The guitar tone is brilliant, aided I believe by Kurt Ballou of Converge who was producer on "Abandon All Life", and maintains a terrific clarity despite it's thick crunchy sound.

The two slower tracks, that is " Wide Open Wound" and closer "Suum Cuique" are, unsurprisingly I suppose, the ones that appeal to me most, as they deliver more on the atmosphere front with looming, menacing riffs rather than just trying to blow your balls off! I guess grindcore records have to be taken as an overall package and the adrenaline-fuelling effect of the majority of the genre's output is the main thing as most of the songs display only minor differences in a lot of cases, and that is the case with some of the faster material here, but those slower tracks do give the listener a foothold into the tracklisting and "Suum Cuique" is actually a very effective, slower and brooding end to the record.

Where it loses marks for me, in what has become a bit of a theme with this month's features, is the vocal department. I prefer grindcore with a vocalist whose vocals are a bit more OSDM sounding like Barney Greenway or Terrorizer's Oscar Garcia and although Todd Jones doesn't actually hit "shouty toddler" level, he still sounds a bit metalcore-ish for my taste. The vocals aren't bad enough to be a deal breaker, though, and on the whole I did enjoy this a lot, it's variation in pacing and generally excellent instrumentation being huge plusses.

4/5

Well, the weather's getting better here in the UK, so I can spend more times outdoors and the monthly playlists are excellent company whilst working in the garden or whatever. As a result I managed to squeeze this month's Horde playlist in and got a lot from it. I didn't have the actual tracklist in front of me while listening, so I'm not too sure who played what, but it was an enjoyable listen nonetheless. Yes, there were some tracks that weren't up my alley, the cybergrind of Whourkr (I think it was) is something I don't think I will ever come round to. Similarly some of the slam death towards the back end of the playlist wasn't really for me. Other than that, though, there was plenty of great stuff, the first ten tracks were a brilliant start and one in particular I checked out later was the Benediction track, a band I have heard a lot about, but not listened to much, but will definitely do so going forward. So nice work Daniel and hopefully I will try to check out the Horde playlist every month.

It's unanimous then - this one's a real winner for the features feature!

This change has now been completed. There are obviously a lot of releases that have both technical death metal & dissonant death metal subgenres attached. I'd encourage everyone to assist in correcting that by voting on the subgenre tagging on the associated release page after listening to these releases.

Thanks for your feedback guys. The associated database changes have now been completed so we officially have a new subgenre in The Horde.

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

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

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

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

Disma - Earthendium

Spectrum Mortis - Bit Meseri

Jungle Rot - A Call to Arms

Rejoice! The Light Has Come - Untitled EP

Abstract Illusion, An - Woe

Origin - Chaosmos

If you want to contribute and rate some covers, the easiest way is to go to The Gallery and select The Horde and 2022.

https://metal.academy/gallery?cid=4&type=overall_cover_rating&myRating=&fromYear=2022&toYear=2022&exclude=0

I look forward to seeing which release gets up for the win!

Monstrosity sort of passed me by in the 90's. I do not recall that I even heard anything by them until last year when I went through Millenium over a number weeks, purely because I had only just cottoned on to the fact that George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher started out in the band before he got in Cannibal Corpse. At the time of releasing In Dark Purity, three years had passed and George was gone having exited the band in late 1995. Replacement Jason Avery however was more than up to the job and I feel he filled the vocalist vacancy really well. His vocals bring Cannibal Corpse to mind a lot in all honesty which is ironic. Any fear of a lull in quality amongst fans of the band, having seen their long standing vocalist defect I would imagine were instantly quashed. Avery's bellows are just as demented as you like and accompany the horrifying backdrop of the instruments perfectly.

Musically, if you think of the fury of Deicide coupled with the sonic swarms of Morbid Angel, you could pitch In Dark Purity somewhere in between the two. Tony Norman certainly knew his way around the six strings he had slung around his shoulders, igniting tracks with an Azagthoth-esque sonic intensity whilst at the same time being able to give us a fair share of Hoffman-esque pacing and the riffing rhythm of a Jack Owen or Rob Rusay. The drumming of Lee Harrison is functional enough without him getting Pete Sandoval in ability at any point.

In Dark Purity is probably one of the most underrated death metal albums from the 90's. It is an improvement on Millenium, its predecessor, which is no mean feat and one that shows there was a lot more to Monstrosity than just their original vocalist. Whilst it may not be a lot different to most of what else already came out in the heyday of death metal it is well crafted and agile in its performance. There are occasional time changes and obscure signatures that herald the opening of a new section or sound that show this was a band with something extra in the tank to keep them slugging it out with the big shots of the scene. I would not go as far as to describe it as technical death metal but there is certainly some depth to it.

4.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=5304166f597a4ea3

Tracklisting:

01. Carcass – “Ruptured In Purulence” (from “Symphonies of Sickness”, 1989) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Aeternam – “Beneath The Nightfall” (from “Heir of the Rising Sun”, 2022)

03. Miscreance – “Flame of Consciousness” (from “Convergence”, 2022)

04. Oppressor – “Seasons” (from “Solstice of Oppression”, 1994)

05. Soilent Green – “Her Unsober Ways” (from “Sewn Mouth Secrets”, 1998)

06. Autopsy – “Severed Survival” (from “Severed Survival”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

07. Amorphis – “Vulgar Necrolatry”, (from The Karelian Isthmus”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Acephalix – “Postmortem Punishment” (from “Theothanatology”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Edge of Sanity – “The Sinner & The Sadness” (from “Purgatory Afterglow”, 1994) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Asphyx – “M.S. Bismark” (from “Last One on Earth”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Gored – “Pathogenes & Symptoms” (from “Human”, 2008)

12. Tchornobog – “The Vomiting Choir” (from “Tchornobog/Abyssal” split, 2022)

13. Ulcerate – “Abrogation” (from “Shrines of Paralysis”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

14. My Dying Bride – “God Is Alone” (from “Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium” E.P., 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

15. Altarage – “Rift” (from “Endinghent”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Pig Destroyer – “Frailty In Numbers” (from “Orchid/Pig Destroyer” split E.P., 1998)

17. Diocletian – “Antichrist Hammerfist” (from “Doom Cult”, 2009) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Divtech – “Occupied Decolonized” (from “Stasis Confines, Action Conditions”, 2016)

19. Napalm Death – “The Icing On The Hate” (from “Order of the Leach”, 2002)

20. Exhumed – “Drained of Color” (from “To The Dead”, 2022)

21. Visceral Disgorge – “Skullfucking Neonatal Necrosis” (from “Ingesting Putridity”, 2011)

22. Pathology – “Dissected By Righteousness” (from “Awaken To The Suffering”, 2011)

23. Deranged – “Razor Divine” (from “High on Blood”, 1998)

24. Dying Fetus – “Killing On Adrenaline” (from “Killing On Adrenaline”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

"Shrines of Paralysis" is (& was always going to be) another superbly composed & sublimely dense & complex piece of work from one of the true stars of the death metal stage. There's not a track included that doesn't remind you of their class & ambition. Unfortunately though, I can't quite seem to appreciate it as an album in the same way as I do some of their more revered works like "Stare Into Death and Be Still" or "Everything Is Fire" & there are a couple of reasons as to why that is. The first is that differentiating between the individual tracks is not as easily achieved as it was on those records as they have more of a tendency to sound quite similar, even after three or four active listens. The second (& most obvious) is the awful triggered snare drum sample which is totally over the top & sees me being frustrated during each blast beat section. When you have the world's best extreme metal drummer in your ranks & he's pulling off some truly sublime percussion work it would seem to be to be such a shame to taint his performance with such an over-powering snare that makes each blast-beat sound like your CD is skipping. Apart from those flaws though "Shrines of Paralysis" is an imposing & inaccessible piece of art whose complexities require your total attention in order to open up but will ultimately reward your efforts.

For fans of Gorguts, Portal & Baring Teeth.

4/5

I've been seeing that Pharmacist album everywhere for the past few months and finally decided to give it a shot. What a weird and funky sounding album. Definitely not my thing but I'm starting to understand the hype, the fact that they're able to weave some random Progressive Metal passages in with everything else is very impressive. I think the base is a little too "disgusting" sounding for me, as a lot of my complaints stem from the vocal performance, but all the grooves and riffs they're able to accomplish are really cool. Hopefully I'll get a few more listens out of it to see if it edges anything out on the list. If anything, this is definitely a more impressive album than something like Undeath's record this year, despite me probably preferring that record for casual listening over something like Pharmacist. 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=c97439a4291545a2

Tracklisting:

01. Chaotian – “Gangrene Dream” (from “Effigies of Obsolescence”, 2022)

02. Desultory - "Life Shatters" (from "Bitterness", 1994)

03. Heaving Earth – “Flesh-Ridden Providence” (from “Darkness of God”, 2022)

04. Amorphis – “Moon and Sun Part II: North's Son” (from “Black Winter Day” E.P., 1994)

05. wecamewithbrokenteeth – “Crack Heads Run Into Wallz” (from “We’re Packing Are You?”, 2006)

06. Blind Equation – “:reconnect:” (from “Life Is Pain”, 2021)

07. Merciless – “The Land I Used To Walk” (from “Unbound”, 1994)

08. Coffin Mulch – “Septic Funeral” (from “Septic Funeral” E.P., 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

09. Ripped To Shreds – “Peregrination to the Unborn Eternal Mother” (from “劇變 (Jubian)”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Cloud Rat – “12-22-09” (from “Threshold”, 2022)

11. Faceless Burial – “Dehiscent” (from “At the Foothills of Deliration”, 2022)

12. Necrot – “The Blade” (from “Blood Offerings”, 2017) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Gigan – “Still Image Symphony” (from “The Order of the False Eye”, 2008)

14. Pharmacist – “Cadaveric Osseous Stalactite” (from “Forensic Pathology Jurisprudence”, 2020)

15. Phobophilic – “Nauseating Despair” (from “Enveloping Absurdity”, 2022)

16. Ulcerate – “There Is No Horizon” (from “Staring Into Death & Be Still”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]

17. Morbid Angel – “Thy Kingdom Come” (from “Blessed Are The Sick”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Triumvir Foul – “Presage” (from “Onslaught to Seraphim”, 2022)

19. Vacuous – “Voluntary Immurement” (from “Katabasis” E.P., 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Mortuous – “Carve” (from “Upon Desolation”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Haggus – “Plastic Mince” (from “Straight From The Slaughterhaus”, 2020)

22. Sepsism – “Surgical Atrocity” (from “Purulent Decomposition”, 1998)

23. Deicide – “Revocate The Agitator” (from “Legion”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. Misery Index – “Manufacturing Greed” (from “Overthrow” E.P., 2001)

25. Skinless – “Tampon Lollipops” (from “Progression Towards Evil”, 1998)

26. Phyllomedusa – “Postmortal Cophixalus (Choking on Super Worms)” (from “Molesting The Frog Eater”, 2010)

27. Vulvectomy – “Gangrenous Testicular Deformity” (from “Post-Abortion Slut-Fuck”, 2010)

28. Cryptopsy – “Carrionshine” (from “Once Was Not”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]

29. Abaddon Incarnate – “I Will Nail You In” (from “Nadir”, 2001)

30. Antigama – “Debt Pool” (from “Whiteout”, 2022)

Here's my review:

For someone that’s built such a long & passionate history with the death metal genre, I have to say that my relationship with Swedish melodic death metal outfit Edge of Sanity has never been anywhere near as strong as that of most of my extreme metal loving peers. I first became aware of them very early on in their recording career through their 1991 debut album “Nothing But Death Remains” & continued to be kept up to date as they continued on their musical journey via an Aussie tape trading colleague of mine who was utterly obsessed with the Swedish death metal phenomenon. Edge of Sanity’s 1996 fifth full-length “Crimson” (a forty minute single track progressive affair) would obviously become their pièce de resistance & I do have some time for that particular release but I still can’t say that I regard it as anything particularly special so I think it’s fair to say that Edge of Sanity’s true value has always managed to elude me, even though I’m across pretty much their entire back-catalogue to some extent. I was reminded of this fact a couple of weeks ago while contributing to a conversation with a couple of very enthusiastic fans on Twitter & that encounter got me wondering if it might be time to take another crack at Edge of Sanity’s highly regarded 1994 fourth album “Purgatory Afterglow” as it certainly seems to have grown in stature over the years & I can’t say that I’ve listened to much from the band in the last decade or so outside of “Crimson”. This month’s The Horde feature release seemed like a good way to open up some healthy discussion with listeners who will inevitably have differing opinions too so here we are.

The production job on “Purgatory Afterglow” is full & bright which gives the album every chance to impress the listener right from the offset. It’s interesting that Bathory mastermind Quorthon’s father Börje Forsberg is credited as the executive producer & it begs the question as to whether band leader Dan Swanö took any significant learnings away from his time with Börje given the long & illustrious production career that Dan's created for himself since. The sound of the album is quintessentially Swedish as it straddles the two major strands of death metal the country is known for with the melodic death metal sound of At The Gates & Hypocrisy being offset by glimpses of the classic Dismember/Entombed crunch. The use of clean vocals seems to draw influence from gothic rock legends Sisters of Mercy in their phrasing (although admittedly nowhere near as deep) while there are several rockier beats employed across the tracklisting. We even see the band tackling an alternative metalcore sound on closer “Song of Sirens”. Despite the attempts at creative variation, I’m not sure I hear too many signs of the progressive direction that Edge of Sanity would employ in the near future although I've admittedly been known to question how progressive a record like "Crimson" really is at times.

As with so many melodic death metal records, I unfortunately find myself struggling with the more melodically inclined & accessible material included here. I’m kinda used to this with the melodeath subgenre after all these years & it’s no surprise at all that I find the most popular tracks like “Twilight” & “Black Tears” to offer the least appeal while the songs that steer closer to the conventional death metal model (see “Of Darksome Origin” or album highlight “The Sinner & the Sadness”) got my ears pricking up the most. The better melodic moments offer hints at the quality of a record like Amorphis' classic "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" album from the same year but these glimmers of hope are sadly nowhere near as consistent as the Fins were able to achieve. The length of the album seems appropriate at 44 minutes & there’s definitely enough variety on offer to see the individual songs owning their own unique character but the whole thing just seems to feel a little bit short of the final product due to a lack of focus & perhaps the subsequent existence of “Crimson” has proven that statement to be true. It doesn’t explain the significant following that “Purgatory Afterglow” seems to enjoy these days though & I have to wonder whether that would be the case if “Crimson” had never eventuated. I suspect not but then this album was always going to see me being dragged from my musical comfort zone kicking & screaming so what would I know.

For fans of Hypocrisy, At The Gates & “Tales From The Thousand Lakes”-era Amorphis.

3/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=c97439a4291545a2

Tracklisting:

01. Deathsiege – “Throne Of Heresy” (from “Throne Of Heresy”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. At The Gates – “The Swarm” (from “Terminal Spirit Disease”, 1994)

03. Nocturnus – “Possess The Priest” (from “Nocturnus” E.P., 1993)

04. Brujeria – “Marijuana” (from “Marijuana” E.P., 1997)

05. Cynic – “Celestial Voyage” (from “Focus”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. Genghis Tron – “Thing Don’t Look Good” (from “Board Up The House”, 2008)

07. An Abstract Illusion – “In The Heavens Above, You Will Become A Monster” (from “Woe”, 2022)

08. Autopsy – “Stab The Brain” (from “Morbidity Triumphant”, 2022)

09. Drumcorps – “Botch Up & Die” (from “Grist”, 2006)

10. Pharmacist – “Gardening On Human Soils” (from “Medical Renditions Of Grinding Decomposition”, 2020)

11. Demilich – “When The Sun Drank The Weight Of Water” (from “Nespithe”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Rotten Sound – “Dominion” (from “Under Pressure”, 1997)

13. Hypocrisy – “Reborn” (from “The Fourth Dimension”, 1994)

14. Rectal Smegma – “Hitler Only Had One Ball” (from “Keep On Smiling”, 2009)

15. Metrorrhagia – “Animalistic Defecation of Partially Digested Human Remains” (from “Metrorrhagia”, 2020)

16. Tribal Gaze – “And How They Wept For Eternity” (from “The Nine Choirs”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Celestial Sanctuary – “Trapped Within The Rank Membrane” (from “Perilaxe Occlusion/Fumes/Celestial Sanctuary/Thorn” split E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Portal – “Omnipotent Crawling Chaos” (from “Outre”, 2007)

19. Negativa – “Chaos In Motion” (from “Negativa” E.P., 2006)

20. Houkago Grind Time – “Bakyunsified (Moe To The Gore)“ (from “Bakyunsified (Moe To The Gore)”, 2020)

21. Mortuous – “Graveyard Rain” (from “Upon Desolation”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

22. Short Bus Pile Up – “Ball-Peen Beating” (from “Repulsive Display Of Human Upholstery”, 2010)

23. Brutal Truth – “Stench of Prophet” (from “Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses”, 1992) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. 1 Body 6 Graves – “Cleaved In Half” (from “1 Body 6 Graves” E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

25. Dying Fetus – “Ideological Subjugation” (from “Wrong One To Fuck With”, 2017) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Pathology – “Code Injection” (from “Legacy Of The Ancients”, 2010)

27. Mortician – “Zombie Apocalypse” (from “Zombie Apocalypse” E.P., 1998)

28. Deeds of Flesh – “Feeding Time” (from “Inbreeding The Anthropophagi”, 1998)

29. Extreme Noise Terror – “One Truth, One Hate” (from “Being & Nothing”, 2001)

30. Inhume – “Gargling Guts” (from “Decomposing From Inside”, 2000)

31. Nails – “No Surrender” (from “Abandon All Life”, 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

32. Fluids – “Hounded” (from “Nunslaughter/Fluids” split E.P., 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

Okay so this is an album that I appreciate more than I flat out love. For starters, the technicality that is on display is robust and calculated; a place where much technical music loses me so much. Almost every piece of this record is included in order to compliment previous and future sections which allows even the albums longer tracks to feel cohesive instead of a hodgepodge of smaller ideas laced together to extend runtime.

That being said, it has already been pointed out by both Daniel and Xephyr that Void of Unending Depths can be too much of a good thing at times. Extended runtimes only intend to highlight how much weaker the slower and atmospheric tracks feel in comparison to "Mind Surgery", which is the albums best track. And the attempts to capture atmospherics as Blut Aus Nord did on Disharmonium earlier this year fall by the wayside very quickly. I would not even say that these tracks are bad; they just take me out of the experience when the technical death stuff is this good. Perhaps this is a backhanded compliment, but this record could have a stronger emphasis on the tech-death. As someone who does not partake in this style of death metal very often, I would have liked to hear more of it.

7/10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=cb56889115e74ea5

Tracklisting:

01. Bloodbath – “Zombie Inferno” (from “Survival of the Sickest”, 2022)

02. Soilwork – “Övergivenheten” (from “Övergivenheten”, 2022)

03. Revocation – “Diabolical Majesty” (from “Netherheaven”, 2022)

04. Xysma – “I Feel Like Lou Reed” (from “Deluxe”, 1994)

05. The Chasm – “Vault To The Voyage” (from “Farseeing The Paranormal Abysm”, 2009) [Submitted by Daniel]

06. In Flames – “Behind Space” (from “Lunar Strain”, 1994)

07. Gorguts – “Nostalgia” (from “Obscura”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Miasmatic Necrosis – “The Putridarium” (from “Apex Profane”, 2020)

09. Master – “Pledge of Allegiance” (from “Master”, 1990) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Jungle Rot – “A Burning Cinder” (from “Jungle Rot”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Sedimentum – “Krypto chronique II” (from “Suppuration morphogénésiaque”, 2022)

12. Consumption – “Suffering Divine” (from “Necrotic Lust”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Portal – “Sunken” (from “Seepia”, 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Carnal Diafragma – “Human Monster” (from “Space Symphony Around Us”, 2006)

15. The Zenith Passage – “Deus Deceptor” (from “Solipsist”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Cephalic Carnage – “Hybrid” (from “Exploiting Dysfunction”, 2000)

17. Fallujah – “Embrace Oblivion” (from “Empyrean”, 2022)

18. Belphegor – “Blackest Sabbath 1997” (from “The Devils”, 2022)

19. Hissing – “Meltdown” (from “Hypervirulence Architecture”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Fleshgrind – “Burning Your World” (from “Destined For Defilement”, 1997)

21. ZOMBIESHARK! – “Keyboards For Insects” (from “I Will Destroy You, Myself, and Everything I've Ever Loved.”, 2020)

22. Exhumed – “Necromaniac” (from “Gore Metal”, 1998) [Submitted by Vinny]

23. Cryptopsy – “Emaciate” (from “Whisper Supremacy”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

24. Amputated – “Slam Pig” (from “Wading Through Rancid Offal”, 2009)

25. Waking The Cadaver – “Beyond Cops” (from “Beyond Cops. Beyond God.”, 2010)

26. Aborted – “Drag Me To Hell” (from “ManiaCult”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

27. Vermin Womb – “Rot In Hell” (from “Retaliation”, 2022)

28. Nails – “Friend To All” (from “You Will Never Be One Of Us”, 2016) [Submitted by Daniel]

29. Atka – “2xs{:777ll.}4xs{/:\}5xs{:j7::}4xs{ll}3xs{//}” (from “Untitled Album 1”, 2018) [Submitted by Daniel]

Here's a review I wrote over 10 years ago. I really should check the album out again to see if I'm still this passionate about it, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was.

I can't say I like grindcore all that much (or deathgrind for that matter), but this is plain awesome! Brutal Truth managed what so many other grindcore bands have failed to achieve, and they did it way back in 1992. They made a consistently interesting album filled with variety in a genre known for being fairly one dimensional. Of course, there are heaps of grindcore clichés all over the place, with combined guttural and screaming vocals, tracks that go for about 5 seconds, lyrics about politics etc. etc. But then there are also stacks of great doomy riffs and tracks like Time, which contains 6 minutes of extremely well-structured song-writing as opposed to endless blasting.

Brutal Truth know exactly how to get you pumped up. They're happy to dwell in the dark and heavy depths before pumping into full on battering chaos. Kevin Sharp's vocals are perfect for this style with his death growls being the epitome of awesomeness. Scott Lewis' drumming is just about inhuman. But it's Brent McCarthy's riffs that really float my boat. Check out Birth of Ignorance, Denial of Existence, Time, Walking Corpse and Wilt for simply cracking deathgrind. If you're even slightly interested in the more extreme side of metal, go get this album. You won't regret it!

4.5 stars

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=dff7c6023810495a

Tracklisting:

01. Immolation – “Noose of Thorns” (from “Acts Of God”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

02. The Halo Effect – “Shadowminds” (from “Days Of The Lost”, 2022)

03. Pestilence – “Soul Search” (from “Spheres”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

04. Xysma – “One More Time” (from “First & Magical”, 1993)

05. Desultory – “Silent Suffering” (from “Swallow The Snake”, 1996)

06. Alien Fucker – “Arabic UFO Party” (from “The First Rape In Space”, 2014)

07. Amon Amarth – “The Serpent’s Trail” (from “The Great Heathen Army”, 2022)

08. Suffering Hour – “Crawling Embers” (from “Time’s Withering Shadow”, 2022)

09. Duma – “Angels & Abysses” (from “Duma”, 2020)

10. The Chasm – “Travelling Through Chaos (I, The Pastfinder II)” (from “Conjuration of the Spectral Empire”, 2002) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Torture Killer – “Forever Dead” (from “Swarm!”, 2006) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Arch Enemy – “Deceiver, Deceiver” (from “Deceivers”, 2022)

13. Psycroptic – “A Fragile Existence” (from “Divine Council”, 2022)

14. Imperial Triumphant – “Merkurius Gilded” (from “Spirit of Ecstasy”, 2022)

15. Asphyx – “Forerunners of the Apocalypse” (from “Incoming Death”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]

16. Katakomba – “Embalmed in Concrete” (from “Katakomba”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Brutal Truth – “Birth of Ignorance” (from “Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses”, 1992) [Submitted by Vinny]

18. Jarhead Fertilizer – “Product Of My Environment” (from “Product Of My Environment”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

19. Bölzer – “The Great Unifier” (from “Aura” E.P., 2013) [Submitted by Daniel]

20. Go-Zen – “Goronyaaaan” (from “Hitoshizuku”, 2012)

21. Internal Bleeding – “Prevaricate” (from “The Extinction of Benevolence”, 1997)

22. Suffocation – “Anomalistic Offerings” (from “Breeding The Spawn”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

23. First Days Of Humanity – “Fashioning Weapons Out Of Bones & Sinew” (from “Caves” E.P., 2019)

24. Phyllomedusa – “Gulf Inertia” (from “Fijian Fantasies”, 2019)

25. Nasum – “Scoop” (from “Helvete”, 2003) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Terrorizer – “Storm of Stress” (from “World Downfall”, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

27. Wormrot – “Hatred Transcending” (from “Hiss”, 2022) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Knoll – “Callus of the Maw” (from “Interstice”, 2021) [Submitted by Vinny]

29. Cerebral Incubation – “Gastrointestinal Rape” (from “Asphyxiating On Excrement”, 2009)

30. Devourment – “Unleash The Carnivores” (from “Unleash The Carnivore”, 2009)

Not a million miles away from Daniel's description here.

On paper there is a fair old bit for me not to like on this record. A heavy instrumental stake in proceedings, all manner of influences from progressive through to black metal incorporated into tracks that rarely drop below six and a half minutes in length and a not always very tidy performance either. Most of these things in isolation can kill an album for me. Give me consistently long tracks and you must keep them interesting, but at the same time do not just throw shit everywhere that comes as influences from multiple sources just to mix it up especially if you do not have the necessary ability with your instruments to carry it off.

Fact is though, that for the most part at least, I enjoy Farseeing the Paranormal Abysm a fair old bit. There is an undeniable charm to the rough edges that are so obviously on show. Whether this is a conscious effort or not I would not be able to even guess but they give the album a feel of a band showing true heart in trying to expand their horizons beyond their current prowess as musicians. Admirable though this is, I can see how this is a curse to the ears of some listeners as it is a gift to mine.

Although not normally my bag the instrumentals here do bristle with energy and create a tangible sense of texture. They do not stray into the realm of being simply “showy” or grandiose (the limits to the artistry sorts that) they feel more robust and vaguely mechanical. This description probably does not do them sufficient justice as they are most definitely not boring, they are too charged with spirit for that, but they are almost like captures from a rehearsal or jam session thus giving them organic appeal.

As such I do not see the album as a regular release. It plays more like a compilation with some similarly themed tracks slotted besides each other that did not make the cut on previous releases. Not being the biggest fan of compilations, this again is a risk that somehow pays off here as I can comfortably sit through the album in one sitting. It is an album that carelessly arrives at success despite a few stumbles along the way (what the fuck is that title track about?) and the shifts of tempo on occasion sounding more like lurches. Structure of the Séance, ironically, lack’s structure and just feels like a relentless gallop with several time-changes thrown in. They might not have been the most capable musicians at this stage in their career but the gusto with which they approached this album is worth at least a nod of recognition, even if the overall product has more than obvious flaws.

3.5/5

I had an unusually quiet Monday at work and so I got to listen to the whole The Horde playlist today.  Highlights for me were undoubtedly those tracks from Nightfall and The Chasm.  Had been unimpressed by the initial listens to the new The Chasm album but this track really grabbed me.  The same can be said for that Altars track as I had dismissed that album also but the track here has made me rethink and revisit.  Other standouts were the tracks from Origin, Skinless and Entombed A.D.

Less enamoured with the Six Feet Under track (WTF, Chirs Barnes - what has happened to your throat??) and Imperial Circus Dead Decadence were too melodic for my tastes.  Not feeling new Esoctrilihum either I am afraid.

i managed to get through the playlists this month for all 3 of my clans, finally getting onto The Horde playlist today.  Highlights were Blood Incantation, Haunter and Decapitated (considering I hated the other track I heard from the new album).  Always good to have some Obituary and Dying Fetus on here although I really could not get on with that track from The Chasm.

The success of the first three tracks on Spheres is their ability to constantly apply layers atop of each other for a real tense death metal experience. Although upon first listen, the stabs of synths were not a popular inclusion, they soon cemented their relevance on repeated listens. Likewise, the undulating leads need some attitude adjustment also to understand the relevance of them.

Multiple Beings has an almost jaunty tempo with enough jazzy interludes and atmospheric keys to keep things interesting. Blooping and looping leads over an audible bass line truly mark an album highlight. Vocally, the record is a total match for Schuldiner and there are a lot of comparisons to drawn with Death overall across Spheres. The synths add a level of majesty that is not present on Death’s Human or Individual Thought Patterns though. The depths they plunge proceedings to is a really refreshing angle on most progressive death metal of the time.

The tracks have a great sense of space to them, like a conscious effort has been applied to ensure that all parts have the room to contribute. Although there are many things going on at any given time things never sound muddled or conflicted. Unfortunately, after the first three tracks I start to get problems with Spheres. I am not a fan of interludes on most albums in all honesty and although there is an argument to say that the interludes on here are far from out of place, they just break up any sense of cohesion for me.

The arrangement of Soul Search is not the best to my ears either and for the first time those synths are starting to grate a bit. The palette-cleanser that is Personal Energy, is an interesting if not altogether enjoyable concept. By far the most jazz-influenced of all the tracks, this brooding piece deploys some odd chanting vocals alongside the raspy death metal ones whilst fully exploring the bands repertoire of musical talent. Clearly, there is some effort by use of the interlude that precedes and then follow Personal Energy to make a statement on Spheres. In all honesty, I am not sure what the intention was, but it ruins the album for me.

After the middle section I sense a dip in quality and the synth solo on the title track – the standout moment on an otherwise very dull track – is a push too far me. Penultimate track Changing Perspective (final track proper) is a relevant title for how I feel about this album from track four onwards. It starts so strongly but fades away quickly.

2.5/5

The crashing and bashing tendencies of some death metal bands is not something that is always done to a reasonably high enough standard. When I hold such bands as Gorguts in the highest of regard then the bar is already set pretty high for avant-garde death metal. I will go on record as saying that Flourishing never hit the dizzy heights of Obscura on The Sum of All Fossils yet at the same time they do make a thoroughly entertaining record in the process. The urgency of the tempo that is set by album opener Thimble's Worth manages to set out a consistent taster for what is to come across the rest of their 2011 offering. What the band do particularly well is vary the pacing and tempo to give the album a real sense of dexterity.

The post-hardcore elements do not always work I admit and can lead to a sense of confusion or a rush of ideas all coming to a head in one place in particular. That being said I do get a real sense of there being a lot of thought behind the album, like time has been taken in the main to measure content and space it really well in terms of the arrangements as opposed to always pile tings on top of one another. The production job both helps and hinders this I feel. For the majority of the record there is a sense of a thin layer of murk just suppressing the content a little and not perhaps letting everything breathe as organically as the band may like based on their arrangements but at the same time the slower parts are given lots of room to build and present their more subtle nuances.

Flourishing could play though and there is very little on here not to get your head around as the band vary things up more than enough. It is not exceptionally technical overall and in fact relies on some quite simplistic repetition to provide build and crescendo in all honesty. Their playing just contains a solid amount of consistency that avoids sloppiness without ever becoming overly impressive. Whilst there are no weak tracks, there are many tracks that end up at the same place making track-blur a real problem. For an album that is weighted with the opportunity to rip up the rulebook to some degree it seems to somehow set its own limitations still on far they can actually take things. In so many ways I am torn between the comfort of the familiarity of it but also the lack of full-on bat-shit-crazy, spazzing that they never quite hit. The guitar flurries that open Momentary Senses are intriguing but do not play a big enough part in the track overall to realise that initial promise. Bits of The Sum of All Fossils tend to dominate other parts all too easily and those vocals cannot always keep up with everything that is going on, despite the measured approach and the obvious sense of arrangement there is still work to be done here. Interesting but not essential.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=c9d4403fb9594f56

Tracklisting:

01. The Chasm – “Conquerer & Warlord” (from “The Spell Of Retribution”, 2004) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Eucharist – “Greeting Immortality” (from “A Velvet Creation”, 1993)

03. Nocturnus – “Arctic Crypt” (from “Thresholds”, 1992)

04. Entombed A.D. – “Digitus Medius” (from “Back To The Front”, 2014)

05. Artificial Brain – “Celestial Cyst” (from “Artificial Brain”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

06. Brutal Truth – “Dementia” (from “Kill Trend Suicide”, 1996)

07. Nihilist – “Severe Burns” (from “Drowned” demo, 1989) [Submitted by Vinny]

08. Unanimated – “Fire Storm” (from “In The Forest Of The Dreaming Dead”, 1993)

09. Massacra – “Enjoy The Violence” (from “Enjoy The Violence”, 1991) [Submitted by Vinny]

10. Inhuman Condition – “Recycled Hate” (from “Fearsick”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

11. Malignant Monster – “Old Corpus Delecti” (from “Foul Play”, 2005) [Submitted by Daniel]

12. Massacre – “Eldritch Prophecy” (from “Resurgence”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

13. Corpsessed – “Relentless Entropy” (from “Succumb To Rot”, 2022)

14. Cephalic Carnage – “Jihad” (from “Conforming To Abnormality”, 1998)

15. The County Medical Examiners – “Casper’s Dictum” (from “Olidous Operettas”, 2007)

16. Undeath – “Necrobionics” (from “It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

17. Focusrights – “Next Level Cheating Whore” (from “Ew, Music!”, 2020)

18. Behemoth – “Furor Divinus” (from “The Satanist”, 2014) [Submitted by Daniel]

19. Exhumed – “Deathmask” (from “Gore Metal”, 1998)

20. Cosmic Putrefaction – “Sol’s Upheaval Debris” (from “Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones”, 2022)

21. Pharmacist – “Accelerating Suppuration” (from “Flourishing Extremities on Unspoiled Mental Grounds”, 2022)

22. Mortician – “Necrocannibal” (from “Hacked Up For Barbecue”, 1996)

23. Wormrot – “Behind Closed Doors” (from “Hiss”, 2022) [Submitted by Vinny]

24. Dying Fetus – “Beaten Into Submission” (from “Purification Through Violence”, 1996)

25. Decapitated – “Day 69” (from “Organic Hallucinosis”, 2006) [Submitted by Daniel]

26. Cannibal Corpse – “Dead Human Collection” (from “Bloodthirst”, 1999) [Submitted by Daniel]

27. Sinister – “Diabolical Summoning” (from “Diabolical Summoning”, 1993) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Analepsy – “Locus Of Dawning” (from “Quiescence”, 2022)

29. The Amenta – “Erebus” (from “Occasus”, 2004) [Submitted by Daniel]

I'm no expert on the Polish death metal scene and I'm not sure if it has a sound all of it's own, but I am quite well-disposed to both Vader and Behemoth without being an out-and-out fanboy and I hear a lot of similarity to both bands here. There's the same dense guitar tone and faintly militaristic rhythms and the vocals are very similar to both Nergal and Piotr Wiwczarek. It looks like the careers of all three bands run adjacently so I don't suppose that there is any plagiarism involved they have just developed similar styles within a common scene. I think I probably sit on the fence a bit with this one, I do like it quite a bit, but after four or five listens it hasn't really got it's hooks into me like The Satanist or Back to the Blind did and whilst it's great while it's on, after it's over I have trouble recalling any of the songs in much detail and they certainly aren't running through my backbrain for half the day. As we have established previously, I still have much to learn about death metal and the band do sound incredibly accomplished to me, it's just that the tracks don't have that memorability to drag me back for repeated listens.

3.5/5

I've taken my new, growing confidence with death metal and dared the rigours of an entire Horde playlist for the first time and I've got to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I must admit that there are probably some tracks that work better for me within the context of a varied playlist, whereas I am not sure if I would enjoy a whole album of said style, but as a short burst they work very well. Those fitting into this category include Orbit Culture, Haemorrhage, Disgorge, Enemy Soil, Golgothan Remains and Dying Fetus.

Oldies but goodies: Napalm Death, Akercocke, Sarcofago and I'm obviously familiar with the Vastum track which I enjoyed from their Horde March feature and the Desolate Shrine album which I gave a few spins to recently.

There were quite a few new discoveries for me, particularly Rotten Tomb and Aeviterne which were real standouts, also Sentenced, Astral Tomb, Cryptworm and Infernal Coil were great.
However, if the Thotcrime track is cybergrind then it is obvious that that sub-genre isn't for me as that was horrible and was the only track I really didn't like at all, although the grunting pig vocals of Waking the Cadaver and Katalepsy are a tough ask for me too. I guess these are slam death are they?

As for Macabre - what the fuck is going on there? A song about a child murderer with a chorus that sounds like it's the theme song to a Saturday morning kid's adventure show!

Another early death-doom album! Just like the Sempiternal Deathreign album, it has mostly the best examples of death-doom but not without a couple duds. My thoughts:

For the sole album from Delirium, Zzooouhh (wow, that wacky title sounds like some kind of snore), we have the smashing guitar, growls, and groove of death metal that then collapses into the slow monstrous doom metal, a captivating mix also done by Winter the same year. It's strange how this style barely caught on as much as other genres like thrash metal. With that said, Delirium's Zzooouhh sounds so fresh and inspiring, with the harsh guitar, riff variation, and tempo changes pleasing heavier metalheads who want more. It's obvious how much the fast-doom ratio has been influenced from other bands like Celtic Frost and Death. The later tracks (from track #5 onward) are prime examples of early death-doom, but a couple ones (track 4 and before), range from slow and doomy to fast and furious, but do not have the same potential as the other category. Still this is essential death-doom for fans of the subgenre and Celtic Frost. Pretty neat if you just start at track 5 and not think too much of the strange album title....

4/5

After one more important early death-doom album that only resides in The Fallen, tomorrow I'm going to continue my rediscovery journey in a much different genre that I know more of and wish to know the most (NOT doom). You can probably guess, but now...that's all in my rediscovery of death metal thread, folks!