The Horde

I really enjoyed this one, been going back to it quite a few times this month and that'll probably continue. I've found that I have a very thin vein of Tech-Death that I really like, and Martyr hits that spot pretty well. Even though I respect what Gorguts did for the genre after finally going back and listening to them to figure out why they were so influential, their style of Tech-Death is a bit too dense and overwhelming for me to constantly want to go back to it. Martyr is able to condense some of the more drawn out and complex Tech-Death normalcies into an extremely addicting experience that wasn't ever overwhelming for me. Lotta good stuff in here. 

Plus I'm a big fan of the more Progressive era of Death as Daniel alluded to, so this whole thing was right up my alley. The vocals are extremely Death-like through and through and while I didn't absolutely love this as much as some of my other highly rated Tech-Daeth albums, this one is definitely joining the well above average roster. 

4/5

I still think these playlists should start with a quick brutal introduction then a few melodic songs, so it would be a good starting point for anyone new to death metal or metal in general to begin with the more melodic stuff before digging deeper into death metal's gory brutality. However, switching back and forth between brutality and melody might catch them off-guard. If it was up to me, the Cryptic Shift song probably should've been track #2 before the Scar Symmetry one, then after that, the Septic Flesh song should've been track #4 before the Dark Tranquillity one. Despite its original odd position, this playlist would be a great journey for Horde members from melodic to brutal and I approve of that track listing. They'll like it!

Well to be fair mate, it's my experience that a good half of the death metal fanbase finds melodeath to be fairly easy-listening &, no offence intended to fans of melodeath, but if you lump all of those tracks together at the start like I did a couple of times early on then you risk boring people before they've ever gotten into the meat of the playlist. I actually had a couple of people tell me that I should mix the playlists up more after originally starting all melodic & I have to admit that I agree with them as I find the playlists more enjoyable since making the change. It's also worth noting that these playlists are made for death metal & grindcore fans, not for converting people who might be scared off by the brutality of over 80% of the subgenres The Horde entails.

In general these days I try to start our playlists with three reasonably intense tracks that cover the most popular subgenres of the associated clan (for The Horde that's your conventional, melodic & technical varieties of death metal) so that the listener gets a good understanding of what they can expect & we grab their attention right from the start while also giving a hint at the variety that might be in store for them. Then I drop things down a bit & go with a more structured approach after that. It seems to work for the most part but please bare in mind that I can't possibly listen to 18 hours of playlists every month so you shouldn't expect perfection & obviously won't agree with every choice I make.

I would be lying if I didn't admit to being a little bit intrigued by this record; a death doom album with heavy emphasis on the "death" aspect. As many of you know, my background in this genre is heavily catered towards the atmospheric side, and I have been desperately looking for the Yang to my Ying (Swallow the Sun, My Dying Bride, etc.).

The first thing I thought of when I heard this record was how much it reminded me of Ulcerate. But whereas Ulcerate used this sound to create something that was... ethereal and dripping in post-metal, this record is a straight up death metal assault that is unforgiving with its intensity. There will be no soaring melodic guitar passages here. Everything is tuned down and the closest thing we get to a melodic lead is a mid range guitar solo, such as the one on "Quintessence Maligned". The way in which the ensemble is able to effortlessly transition back and forth between high octane death metal riffing/blast beats to painfully slow doom metal passages is super impressive. The transitions almost never feel rushed and the attention to detail on both is impeccable.

The sound of this album is pretty great. Being a death metal album, there is a certain unpolished level that persists throughout and it does make this quite interesting. The riffing, as mentioned before, is very low and is quite tepid about traversing anything higher than twelfth fret. I found that the bass is surprisingly dense and the kick drums are produced like ass; that is to say, they do not pierce over the rest of the mix. If I had to critique this in any way, it would be the lack of attention to the guitars when doing a "solo". They typically feel drowned by the rhythm guitars, which was a little disappointing.

But overall, add me to the list of people on MA pleasantly surprised by this. I understand that this isn't my forte, but I recognize talent when I hear it, and Dead Congregation are really good at creating claustrophobic, hellacious atmosphere.

8/10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Gp3odd4VIptvUn3Hgpc9h?si=AH1TSDpZQWWMqxkHOdznPw

Tracklisting:

01. Frozen Soul – “Crypt Of Ice” (from “Crypt Of Ice”, 2021)

02. Into Eternity – “Splintered Visions” (from “Buried In Oblivion”, 2004) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Anna Pest – “Ambivalence” (from “Dark Arms Reach Skyward With Bone White Fingers”, 2021)

04. Bubblegum Octopus – “Telephone Numbers” (from “Perfect Life & Other Stuff”, 2019)

05. Mefitis – “The Witherways” (from “Offscourings”, 2021)

06. Entombed – “Say It In Slugs” (from “Uprising”, 2000)

07. Protector – “Kain & Abel” (from “Misanthropy” E.P., 1987) [Submitted by Daniel]

08. Carcass – “Incarnated Solvent Abuse” (from “Necroticism: Descanting The Insalubrious”, 1991) [Submitted by Ben]

09. Garden Of Shadows – “Twilight Odyssey” (from “Oracle Moon”, 2000)

10. Morta Skuld – “Devoured Fears” (from “Dying Remains”, 1993) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

11. Undergang – “Rødt dødt kød” (from “Aldrig I livet”, 2020)

12. Death – “Zombie Ritual” (from “Scream Bloody Gore”, 1987) [Submitted by Daniel]

13. Asphyx – “The Nameless Elite” (from “Necroceros”, 2021) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Baphomet – “Streaks Of Blood” (from “The Dead Shall Inherit”, 1992) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

15. Napalm Death – “Contagion” (from “Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism”, 2020)

16. Pathologist – “Vomitory Corporal Dysfunction” (from “Putrefactive & Cadaverous Odes About Necroticism”, 1992)

17. Sadistic Drive – “Ferox (Victim of Anthropophagous Tribe)” (from “Anthropophagy”, 2020)

18. Mortiferum – “Abhorrent Genesis” (from “Mortiferum / Hyperdontia” split E.P., 2020)

19. Gatecreeper – “Emptiness” (from “An Unexpected Reality”, 2021)

20. Asterisk* - “Furniture” (from “Dogma I: Death of a Dromologist”, 2000)

21. Ulcerate – “Stare Into Death & Be Still” (from “Stare Into Death & Be Still”, 2020) [Submitted by Ben]

22. Hate Eternal – “Lake Ablaze” (from “Phoenix Amongst The Flames”, 2011) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

23. Excoriation – “Art Of Torture” (from “Excoriation”, 2014)

24. Pustulated – “Pathognomonic Purulency” (from “Pathognomonic Purulency” E.P., 2002)

25. Pig Destroyer – “Rotten Yellow” (from “Phantom Limb”, 2007)

Click Track Click Track Click Track CLICK TRACK!!!

I wanted to like this more. The Death Doom hybrid on display is drastically different from the far more ethereal and atmospheric stuff that I am accustomed to. But the poor death vocal timbre from a guy in his fifties and a truly awful percussion mix that desperately needs a click track make this album far more of a chore than I would have liked. 

6/10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jlWUG3u3AYtIdDrUWSebs?si=GelaleCMTIyrd8J4yX1Qfw

Tracklisting:

1. Immolation – “Under The Supreme” (from “Here In After”, 1996) [Submitted by Daniel]

2. Mors Principium Est – “A Day For Redemption” (from “Seven”, 2020)

3. Death – “Lack Of Comprehension” (from “Human”, 1991)

4. Enshine – “Stream Of Light” (from “Origin”, 2013) [Submitted by Ben]

5. Insomnium – “Bereavement” (from “Since The Day It All Came Down”, 2004)

6. Necrophagia – “Ancient Slumber” (from “Season Of The Dead”, 1987) [Submitted by Daniel]

7. Morbid Angel – “Angel Of Disease” (from “Abominations Of Desolation”, 1986) [Submitted by Daniel]

8. Gates Of Ishtar – “At Dusk & Forever” (from “At Dusk & Forever”, 1998)

9. Entombed – “Chief Rebel Angel” (from “Morning Star”, 2001)

10. Obliteration – “Churning Magma (Outro)” (from “Black Death Horizon”, 2013)

11. Grave – “Into The Grave” (from “Into The Grave”, 1991)

12. Pathologist – “Putrescence” (from “Grinding Opus of Forensic Medical Problems”, 1993)

13. O.L.D. – “Colostomy Grab-Bag” (from “Old Lady Drivers”, 1988)

14. Fuck The Facts – “Pleine noirceur” (from “Pleine noirceur”, 2020)

15. Horrendous – “Soothsayer” (from “Idol”, 2018) [Submitted by Ben]

16. Anna Pest – “Skyward” (from “Dark Arms Reach Skyward With Bone White Fingers”, 2021)

17. Frozen Soul – “Wraith Of Death” (from “Crypt Of Ice”, 2021)

18. Skeletal Remains – “Tombs Of Chaos” (from “The Entombment Of Chaos”, 2020)

19. Wormrot – “Hollow Roots” (from “Voices”, 2016)

20. Necrophobic – “Mirror Black” (from “Dawn Of The Damned”, 2020)

21. Napalm Death – “Silence Is Deafening” (from “The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code”, 2005)

22. Suffocation – “Catatonia” (from “Human Waste” E.P., 1991)

23. Curse Of The Golden Vampire – “Parasite” (from “Mass Destruction”, 2003)

24. Drawn & Quartered – “Under The Chainsaw” (from “Extermination Revelry”, 2003)

25. Lost Soul – “Personal Universe” (from “Immerse In Infinity”, 2009) [Submitted by Ben]

26. Deeds Of Flesh – “Alyen Scourge” (from “Nucleus”, 2020)

27. Ecchymosis – “Aesthetic Devotion Towards Coprocraniotomy” (from “Ritualistic Intercourse Within Abject Surrealism”, 2020)

28. Benighted – “Obscene Repressed” (from “Obscene Repressed”, 2020)

"Here In After" is of course a very solid slab of traditional death metal although it's not without its flaws. There's not a huge amount of variety on offer but I can accept that from a band whose primary focus is on brutality & the creation of dark atmospheres. My main concern is with the performances as Immolation do tend to sound a little sloppy here at times, particularly in the drumming department which causes several sections to break down into a bit of a mess. Thankfully the previously mentioned atmosphere is always evident & the consistency of the tracklisting allows the band to hold my interest throughout. Besides, I can't deny that I love the death metal sound in its purest form & the interesting guitar solos always get me with their unique approach to melody & phrasing. "Here In After" is a clear step down from my favourite Immolation record in 2000's classic "Close To A World Below" but you can't really go wrong with it if you're a fan of Incantation, Morbid Angel & early Gorguts.

4/5

NO!! Children of Bodom was one of the first melodeath bands I've enjoyed where the vocals are almost entirely growls. I admired his growls and guitar shredding so much. Now I feel bad for leaving my interest in this band during my escape from my earlier epic metal taste. Children of Bodom had already ended over a year ago and Alexi Laiho started a new project Bodom After Midnight. Now it's uncertain whether or not that project will go on. This is awful. Party on in metal heaven, Alexi... RIP );

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3Pa4HX0iOV27Z2ZeCc8jFp?si=Tu2VxVVXRn6BhRwe1LcP6Q

Tracklisting:

01. Incantation – “Unto Infinite Twilight/Majesty Of Infernal Damnation” (from “Diabolical Conquest”, 1998) [Submitted by Daniel]

02. Countless Skies – “Summit” (from “Glow”, 2020)

03. Afterbirth – “Black Hole Kaleidoscope” (from “Four Dimensional Flesh”, 2020)

04. Insomnium – “One For Sorrow” (from “One For Sorrow”, 2011)

05. Sacrilege – “Sor” (from “The Fifth Season”, 1997)

06. Atheist – “Air” (from “Elements”, 1993)

07. Genghis Tron – “Arms” (from “Cloak Of Love” E.P., 2005)

08. Intestine Baalism – “Banquet In The Darkness” (from “Banquet In The Darkness”, 2003)

09. Sepultura – “Mayhem” (from “Morbid Visions”, 1986) [Submitted by Daniel]

10. Possessed – “Holy Hell” (from “Seven Churches”, 1985) [Submitted by Daniel]

11. Macabre – “Fritz Haarmann The Butcher” (from “Gloom”, 1989)

12. Gorod – “Transcendence” (from “Transcendence” E.P., 2011)

13. Sore Throat – “Truth” (from “Disgrace To The Corpse Of Sid”, 1989)

14. Haemorrhage – “I’m A Pathologist” (from “Anatomical Inferno”, 1998)

15. Black Breath – “Black Sin (Spit On The Cross)” (from “Heavy Breathing”, 2010)

16. Interment – “A Descent Hell” (from “Conjuration Of The Sepulchral”, 2007)

17. Nasum – “Detonator” (from “Human 2.0”, 2000)

18. Napalm Death – “Next On The List” (from “Enemy Of The Music Business”, 2000)

19. Brutal Truth – “Choice Of New Generation” (from “Need To Control”, 1994)

20. !T.O.O.H! – “Kali” (from “Order & Punishment”, 2005)

21. Internal Rot – “Sex Everywhere” (from “Mental Hygiene”, 2014)

22. Incenerated – “Tortured” (from “Lobotomise”, 2017)

23. Caustic Wound – “Ritual Trappings” (from Death Posture”, 2020)

24. Ecchymosis – “Cephalic Ingestion Of Newborn Chunks” (from “Aberrant Amusement In Cadaveric Vomitplay”, 2016)

25. Dying Fetus – “Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)” (from “Destroy The Opposition”, 2000)

26. Pig Destroyer – “The Octagonal Stairway” (from “The Octagonal Stairway” E.P., 2020)

27. Miasmic Necrosis – “Apotheosis Of A Malodorous Procedure” (from “Apex Profane”, 2020)

28. Of Feather & Bone – “Sulfuric Sodomy (Disintegration Of Christ)” (from “Sulfuric Disintegration”, 2020)

29. Katalepsy – “Those Who Rot The Souls” (from “Terra mortuus est”, 2020)

Just read your review Daniel and it absolutely nails it as to what makes this album so f***ing awesome and expresses it far more eloquently than I ever could. Your quote "The intentionally sludgy & mossy production, the gorgeously muddy guitar tone, the monstrous bass tone, the loose-ish performances that ooze of underground credibility, the ultra-deep & repetitive vocals" sum up exactly what I love most when I do listen to death metal. Unlike yourself, I am not a dyed-in-the -wool death metal fan, being more attracted to doom and black metal for my extreme metal fixes, but this is exactly the sort of record that appeals to what I do love about the genre and it's looser, filthier side. 

This one was a bit too grindy for me this time around and so I didn't really pick out too much to explore off the back of it.  Will be listening through Despise The Sun again though as I have never given it much attention for some reason before now.  I did get through the Entombed track and quite enjoyed it which is bolt from the blue as I have no time normally for Clandestine, so perhaps time for another spin of that too.

I have to thank you once again Daniel for recommending some modern metal in the featured clan challenges. It is a great reason for me to explore places I don't necessarily visit. Such as mid 90s tecch death circa Immolation/Cannibal Corpse. And while I will admit that it certainly isn't my cup of tea, there is a lot of promise that someone who really appreciates that sound will enjoy more than myself. This is some clean sounding death metal; some of the best I've heard in years. However, the compositions are pretty jarring in their transitions. Also, the lack of guitar/bass independence makes for some pretty uneventful instrumentals throughout.

In addition, the general consensus surrounding this album is that it's "not really reinventing the wheel". I don't mind worship of a time once passed, but if their is nothing that distinguishes it from those early Immolation and Cannibal Corpse records, why would I not just listen to those instead? Undeath needs to do... something to make them stand out in the future. Otherwise, bands like Tomb Mold will run circles around them.

6/10

Appreciate it Daniel. I sometimes wish my review style was a bit more freeform so I could crank them out more often instead of needing to wait for the creative juices to build up, but I'll always prefer quality over quantity.

_{(Shakes fist at 1st wave Black Metal Clan Challenge that I swear I'll finish eventually)}

Oh man, that is one horrible album cover... but it is a pretty amusing title all the same!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DW7q6RJgHXO45AySdJT2w?si=13X6J7TzQ4yU-rFzC2y0Qw

Tracklisting:

01. Blood Incantation – “Vitrification Of Blood (Part 1)” (from “Starspawn”, 2016) 

02. Soilwork – “Chainheart Machine” (from “The Chainheart Machine”, 1999) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Nocturnus – “Possess The Priest” (from “Nocturnus” E.P., 1993) [Submitted by Ben]

04. Napalm Death – “Multinational Corporations” (from “Scum”, 1987) [Submitted by Daniel]

05. Entombed – “Serpent Speech” (from “Hollowman” E.P., 1993)

06. Omnium Gatherum – “New World Shadows” (from “New World Shadows”, 2011)

07. Amon Amarth – “Cry Of The Black Birds” (from “With Oden On Our Side”, 2006)

08. Dark Tranquillity – “Hours Passed In Exile” (from “Damage Done”, 2002) [Submitted by Ben]

09. Carcass – “Genital Grinder” (from “Reek Of Putrefaction”, 1988)

10. Regurgitate – “Bullous Impetigo” (from “Effortless Regurgitation Of Bright Red Blood”, 1994)

11. Xysma – “Cranial Cradle” (from “Above The Mind Of Morbidity” E.P., 1990)

12. Contrastic – “War Laws?” (from “Contrastic”, 2000)

13. Draghkar – “An Erosion Of The Eternal Soul” (from “At The Crossroads of Infinity”, 2020) [Submitted by Daniel]

14. Sepultura – “Necromancer” (from “Bestial Devastation” E.P., 1985)

15. Bolt Thrower – “The Killchain” (from “Those Once Loyal”, 2005) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

16. Excruciating Terror – “Divided We Fall” (from “Divided We Fall”, 1997)

17. Obituary – “Chopped In Half” (from “Cause Of Death”, 1990) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

18. Death Toll 80k – “No Escape” (from “Harsh Realities”, 2011)

19. Deicide – “Dead By Dawn” (from “Deicide”, 1990) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

20. The Black Dahlia Murder – “Dawn Of Rats” (from “Verminous”, 2020)

21. 200 Stab Wounds – “Maggot Casket” (from “Piles Of Festering Decomposition” E.P., 2020)

22. Insect Warfare – “Human Trafficking” (from “World Extermination”, 2007)

23. Agoraphobic Nosebleed – “Kill Theme From American Apeshit” (from “Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope”, 2002)

24. Delusional Parasitosis – “Gluttonous Consumption Of Prenatal Malformation” (from “Ingurgitating Intestinal Rot”, 2014)

25. Last Days Of Humanity – “A Portion Of Pulpified Leftovers” (from “In Advanced Haemorrhaging Conditions” E.P., 2005)

26. Benighted – “Implore The Negative” (from “Obscene Repressed”, 2020)

27. Suffocation – “Liege Of Inveracity” (from “Effigy Of The Forgotten”, 1991) [Submitted by Daniel]

28. Kronos – “Colossal Titan Strife” (from “Colossal Titan Strife”, 2003)

29. Defeated Sanity – “Engulfed In Excruciation” (from “Chapters Of Repugnance”, 2010)

30. WVRM – “Thorn Palace” (from “Colony Collapse”, 2020)

31. Molested Divinity – “Unearthing The Void” (from “Unearthing The Void”, 2020)

32. Wormed – “Agliptian Codex Cyborgization” (from “Krighsu”, 2016) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

I tried, I really tried.  My ongoing battle with melodeath still leaves me cold and empty after most listens.  It’s not that the album is terrible by any means.  It is consistent and obviously delivered by a band accomplished in their field, but this is also the problem for me because largely the album sounds the same throughout and as a result I get bored really quickly.  I have heard these riff structures on virtually every Amon Amarth record and if they were going to grow on me they would have done so by now.

2/5

Great list Daniel.  New bands I picked up on were Nails, Defeated Sanity and Illdisposed.  Planning to revisit Pyrexia who I think were a Bandcamp fave of mine a few years back who I have drifted away from.  Did not get on with that frog stuff at all.  Confirmed my dislike for Soilwork and my under-appreciation of Necrophagist.  Certainly a list that captures the spectrum of the Horde as a whole.  Looking forwards to October’s list.

I recently revisited this album and this time around it stayed in my stream although just how many visits it will get is an uknown if honest.  It is certainly full of hooks that probably helped it retain a fingerhold in my library but it is big step away from the Left Hand Paths of this world that it is unlikely to leave me with any overarching desire to reach for it with any regularity.

I'm sure Daniel loves seeing my name pop up in these Horde Feature Releases by now, and this classic Goregrind album will be no exception. I will say though that guys do have a killer tone and killer riffs, at least occasionally when I can pick out any differences between the songs. The drumming was impressive as well, with it being surprisingly clear without losing any of the aggression. Personally I end up thinking of the less than 2 minute grind song structures as "riff exhibits", and there are definitely some good ones in here. It didn't even really feel like 38 minutes had passed when I was done, which is a testament to...something, considering that's pretty long for something like a Goregrind release. The aspects that make up the Goregrind genre still strike me with a feeling of complete indifference though, with extremely heavy and vulgar Metal like this only causing me to think "that's cool I guess". 

2/5

That's some scathing commentary there Xephyr. Very enjoyable indeed! 

I think I would have a similar response to it, so I won't even bother with this one.

Nocturnus "The Key"

Nocturnus AD "Paradox"

Obscura "Diluvium"

And the winner of part 2 is... Spheres, three to one!! Pestilence wins the tournament!

Entombed - "Clandestine" (1991)

Just revisited this old favourite from 1991 & it's still my favourite release from the whole Swedish death metal movement. My review may be one of my biggest ever but I just started talking & I couldn't stop. Probably because this album came at such a key time in my musical development. For fans of Dismember, Grave & Carnage.

4.5/5

I originally had this album at a 3, being very surprised at how much I enjoyed its unique blend of super heavy extreme metal with legitimately beautiful atmospheric sections with a flourish of electronic Breakcore thrown in for good measure. As I went back to the album to write my review, I felt the need to bump it up to a 3.5 just because I realized how seriously unique this album is. 

Don't get me wrong, it has a ton of stuff I still dislike just because extreme metal is a difficult pill for me to swallow just due to certain elements that make it extreme, but I was very, very interested by this album nonetheless. Pound for pound, this 30 minute album doesn't even have that much Grindcore in it. Maybe 15 minutes maximum. The rest is a cool blend of atmospheric, electronic breakcore, and actually good riffs and grooves that are intelligible and not just playing some riff so fast that it blends in with the electronic drum sounds in the background. 

I think this album is a fantastic example of moderation. This "Cybergrind" album could have easily been what the genre is alluding to, which is just Grind with crazy electronic melodies thrown in there for who knows what reason. But Genghis Tron really tried to experiment and made a legitimate album that is more than just anger, aggression, and yelling. Even though I'm only giving it a 3.5, a 3.5 is incredibly high praise from me regarding anything with "Grind" in the description. My full review is on the album page.

Any of you heard of the gorenoise subgenre before? Well if not then look out for my upcoming review of this record which sees me investigating what it's all about.

Phyllomedusa - "Desiccation in Progress (Version II)" (2011)

Incredibly short & abrasive blasts of grinding electronic noise from Maryland, USA for fans of Vomitoma, Anal Birth, Menometrorrhagia.

3/5

Wow. This goes hard. 

I think this is the first Brutal Death Metal release I've been able to enjoy, since the riffs and beats are so well written and heavy. It takes all the foundations of Death Metal riffing and just cranks it up to 11 with insane drumming, disgusting chord and scale progressions, and compositions that have a ton going on but are still clear and headbang-able. The album definitely loses me when it dips into the brutal side of things with certain vocal passages just sounding random and thrown together with no real structure, but those are surprisingly few and far between.

I still have a really difficult time getting into this kind of stuff, and the brutal sections I mentioned before really ruin the experience for me overall, but this is a new high for me in a genre I normally can't stand. 

3/5, which is high praise considering the average Brutal Death Metal album for me is a 2/5.

Well that was too easy. At that rate, Slaughter of the Soul would remain on top, so I declare Slaughter of the Soul the winner of part 1, three to none!

Look, I definitely understand what you're saying because I agree with you but "Consuming Impulse" would be in the top few most celebrated death metal albums of the 80's & was released in the same year as "Altars Of Madness" so it was as close as I could get. I do think it's unfair not to mention that Pestilence took the sound of Death's "Leprosy", added additional complexity & sophistication & presented it all with a thicker & heavier production though. It wasn't sending death metal careering to new heights in the same way that Morbid Angel were but it was still giving it a fair nudge forward. It's a great death metal record in its own right. Just not a genuinely classic one in my opinion. "Altars Of Madess" on the other hand is the best death metal album ever recorded. Every fucking track is a classic (with the possible exception of "Lord Of All Fevers & Plague" which was omitted on the vinyl version anyway).

Altars Of Madness 2 - Consuming Impulse 0

Although I will agree that I prefer this over other Deathgrind/Grindcore stuff since it has some nasty riffs and actually decent song structure, I still can't get too far into it. The genre itself just melts together into something that sounds exactly the same at all points in time for me and I like my aggression to be delivered in a slightly different way than what Grindcore presents. If you're looking for absolutely mental shredding and insanely technical drums then this album is definitely the way to go, but as a package it still doesn't bring me over to the Grind side yet. Still glad I checked it out, classic Deathgrind is just a better put together product than the randomness that the genre has seemed to turn into in modern days. 

I'm glad I waited a year before checking this out, since I listened to Scream Bloody Gore and Spiritual Healing at the beginning of 2019. I don't think I would have appreciated Symbolic as much as I did today if I didn't have to wade through an entire year of newer Death Metal releases. Ben's review pretty much sums up my thoughts, with this album just being exciting to listen to in general. The riffs aren't necessarily super fast like modern Death Metal tends to be, but they are still super technical and the abrupt melody changes still add that Death Metal flair to an otherwise very Progressive album. I had zero problems with the vocals, since apparently that's a sticking point for some. 

I do wish that modern Death Meal, especially modern Tech Death, would look to its roots a little bit more. This album that came out 25 years ago feels more technical and virtuosic than any I've listened to in the recent Tech Death scene, and maybe that comes back to clarity. The Death Metal crunch of the guitars and the overall aggression and chaos is still there, but everything is perfectly clear and set up in a way that highlights the actual notes of the riffs rather than just the muddy, dark rhythms and chug that modern Death Metal tends to lean towards. 

4.5/5 for me, I'll be going back to this one for sure. 

(Also I'm with Daniel, Crystal Mountain wasn't as impressive as I was led to believe)

I've not listened to a huge amount of death metal this year, especially if you don't count death doom, which I don't as that is covered by my Fallen list. Still despite that, here goes:

#1 Blood Incantation - Hidden History of the Human Race

#2 Coffins - Beyond the Circular Demise

#3 Vastum - Orificial Purge

#4 Exhumed - Horror

#5 Minenfeld - The Great Adventure

#6 Pulchra Mortem - Divina Autem et Aniles

#7 Immortal Bird - Thrive on Neglect

#8 Gatecreeper - Deserted

#9 Ossuarium - Living Tomb

#10 Tomb Mold - Planetary Clairvoyance

Since my review was short I'll just copy and paste it here for discussion sake:

A Molten Foundation

Bestial Devastation shows the remarkable beginnings of a young Sepultura as they recorded this fiery but disheveled EP in just two days. While obviously messy and laden with performance issues, the amount of ideas and concepts for an even darker and more aggressive take on Thrash Metal is ambitious and impressive. I think their ambition got the best of them as they struggle to keep up with the intense tempos and compositions that require the band to play perfectly on time together, but the messiness on an already lower quality EP adds that classic grime that early Death Metal thrives on. It's raw, furious, and somewhat exciting even by today's standards. Certain parts and melodies sometimes just end out of nowhere and could have been written better and expanded more, but for what Sepultura had to work with at the time the riffs and solos that come out of Bestial Devastation are more than sufficient. Not to mention the drummer goes absolutely nuts on the entire album, showing that Thrash style drumming can be expanded upon to hit even harder than it already did. A fun but definitely dirty EP that shouldn't be skipped over when looking at the classics of Death Metal.

I think most metal fans go through a similar transition. I took to the likes of Metallica and Slayer quite quickly, but Sepultura were initially too much for me due to Max's gruff style. Once I accepted his vocals I quickly found myself loving them, and it wasn't long before Morbid Angel, Death and Deicide were banging out of my speakers.

I found this article to be really interesting. I love it when bands cite more unusual sources of influence & you certainly won't see anyone else championing these. Perhaps that's what makes Fleshgod Apocalypse so unique?

1. Yngwie Malmsteen – "Live with the Japanese Philharmonic Orchestra" video (2002)

"This was fucking fantastic. It was like Paganini with a orchestra but in the modern days. It's unbelievable how he could do that. When I saw that for the first time I was like man, I want to do something like this. We'd end up like doing a band, but we never had the chance to play with a big orchestra so far. It's in the planning. We just did the DVD recording where we used the quintet, which was cool. But you know that the dream remains the same.When we saw Yngwie Malmsteen it was fucking crazy."

2. Metallica – "S&M" (1999)

"S&M"live with Metallica was big for us, because in some way it was the moment where this mix with the symphonic thing became in some way mainstream. I read that the already happened in the past with Deep Purple or Black Sabbath doing some stuff like that back in the days. But I think this was the concert when it became really a mainstream thing you know, something that all the metalheads can accept. This symphonic orchestral world in some way is not mixed with metal. But it's a normal thing. It's not just a strange thing."

3. Dimmu Borgir – "Forces of the Northern Night" video (2017)

"One of the best performances we ever saw is Dimmu Borgir on the DVD Forces of the Northern Night which is the live video that they did in Osolo in 2011 I think. It's just a highlight for one of the bands we liked most. And it was crazy. They had like super huge choir, and it sounds great. The DVD is fucking awesome."

4. Rhapsody

"There are two main bands that inspire us the most. One is the Italian Rhapsody (now known as Rhapsody of Fire). I know it might sound weird because they're power metal but it's one of the best. Even if they didn't do it like with a real orchestra, they worked around it like us, and back in the days the sounds were a little bit more unprofessional I will say. But still the ideas behind them … this Italian vibe they have and the melodies It definitely influenced us a lot."

5. Septicflesh

"Septicflesh were hugely influential, and are good friends of ours. They are pioneers of this thing as well, in the more obscure Gothic, you know, dark sort of way."

Those that know me well will probably be aware that Suffocation have been my favourite metal band since the mid-90's & that I've been following them obsessively since their debut "Human Waste" E.P. was released in 1991. So the news that vocalist Frank Mullen would be permanently retiring from the band was not something that I got much pleasure in reading when I was perusing an online article on the topic a couple of days ago. Suffocation have been touring without Frank sporadically during periods of unavailability for 6 or 7 years now with Disgorge drummer Ricky Myers, Dying Fetus front man John Gallagher & Pyrexia vocalist Kevin Muller all handling the microphone duties at various times but Frank had always returned for the studio albums. But I'm afraid I'm now going to have to come to terms with a Suffocations without Frank The Tank & his signature hand movements. Ricky Myers is apparently the most likely candidate for a full-time replacement & while I have nothing against Ricky, it's certainly a sad day for death metal with one of the scene's most charismatic & influential figures bidding farewell to the scene that he helped build.

*runs off to infect a crypt*

Bad news