Since I found my way to the Horde and I finally got to grips with death metal, Immolation have been a band that stood out to me as being something a bit special. Not special in an innovative, envelope-pushing way, but in a truly-getting-it, well-oiled machine kind of way. Their songwriting chops are unbelievably good and although they don't strive to break new ground, they always manage to make their tracks interesting and vital and seem to unerringly hit the spot with me. It often feels like they tap into an earthiness that feels redolent with the iron scent of spilled battlefield blood and which has the ability to make this old man feel properly alive and alert to the endless incoming of lethal death metal riffs and the hot shrapnel of searing solos. They are also incredibly consistent and while some of their releases may be genuine standouts, I haven't yet heard an Immolation album I didn't enjoy. The last couple, "Atonement" and "Acts of God" were really solid efforts that once more gave me enough of a fix to carry me through until the next one came out, but in "Descent" I think they may have turned in their best work for quite some time, an album able to sit comfortably beside "Close to a World Below" or "Unholy Cult".

The production is crisp and clear and allows the band to showcase how tight they are, allowing perfect expression of the brutality of the riffs and rhythm section. The drums in particular seem really well recorded, the kicks, snares, toms and cymbals all perfectly distinguishable and seeming to come at the listener from all angles, surrounding them in a percussive straightjacket that holds them in place while the riffs pummel the shit out of them. I love filthy-sounding, abyssal, old-school shit above almost all other styles of death metal, but Immolation achieve a similar effect on me with a clarity and precision normally employed by more technically-focussed acts that speaks volumes for their ability to generate a brutally evil atmosphere by sheer skill, not having to turn to production tricks to achieve it or to hide technical deficits.

So, a question I am sure many will ask is "do Immolation do anything new on "Descent"?" Well, no, but what they do do they do better than virtually anybody else, so does that mean you should listen to this? Abso-fuckin'-lutely it does. Is it better than their first five albums? No, not really, but if they aren't to hand or you now know them so well you can replay them in your sleep, then "Descent" will give you a fresh take on an old friend and should satisfy your craving for quality no-frills death metal.

Pretty much every band nowadays has to be kind of a hybrid of sorts. Even when standing by one or two genres, there are many different influences from bands old and new. And that's a good thing for some bands and fans because variety is a spice of life. 80s-style thrash and more modern heaviness and technicality mixed together can make something fresh and unique. Revocation have put a deathly spin to technical thrash metal, resulting in a style of chaos and fury. And this is around the time when the thrash revival is beginning to take the spotlight occupied by the melodic metalcore scene in America...

In terms of the band's usual deathly tech-thrash sound, Chaos of Forms has given it progressive/experimental elements. The technicality/progressiveness ratio is close to that of the 1989 albums by Atheist and Coroner that hint at those two bands' prog glory in the masterpieces that would follow those albums. A lot of that mix can be heard in the rapid soloing and drumming. You would expect some long tracks in a prog-ish tech-thrash album, but every full song is actually 3 to 5 minutes long. With compositions that can get you hooked by its progressiveness in a short song length, they seem to have adapted that aspect from a band like Into Eternity. And in between the often-used repeated choruses are mind-f***ing bridges that can easily make a short song structure so complex.

Bluesy melodies occasional appear in "Cretin" while still being a fast heavy ripper. Then we have straight-on thrashy guitarwork in "Cradle Robber" that's practically Megadeth on steroids. Next up is the short "Harlot". It's only under 3 minutes in length, yet there are a lot of progressive changes that you would often hear in a song twice as long. The more progressive side shines in "Dissolution Ritual". The riffing groove starting things off and the strong chorus lead to a smooth bridge nearly two minutes in.

"Conjuring the Cataclysm" is OK yet not really what I was hoping for in this album. Probably would've been better as one of the later tracks maybe. "No Funeral" has more killer impact to impress me. "Fractal Entity" is a quick dissonant interlude that ends up coming out as filler. The kick-A title track absolutely makes up for that mess. Remember when Cynic started off as a tech-death/thrash band before their 1993 debut Focus? That is what that band would sound like if they stayed with that style. Especially when the occasional clean singing and soft section roam around. Still the vocals and instrumentation are in Revocation's usual stylistic ground.

"The Watchers" is probably the most Atheist-like track here. Not just from the intro riffing but also in the structure later on. See, throughout the last minute, you hear a horn section and organ solo, complete with cowbell, before some tasty neoclassical shredding to close things off. "Beloved Horrifier" continues the pumped up Megadeth approach and marks another thrashy standout recommended for Pit fans. The prog-ish tech-thrash reaches its height in "Dethroned". In saying that though, it's somewhat draggy in the more progressive parts when they try to sound like Dream Theater. That kinda surprises me because I enjoy long epics, and this band can tackle what makes a great epic in just a straight 5 minutes. Nonetheless, they know their limits and stand by them easily. Then we end it all with pleasant deathly tech-thrash in "Reprogrammed".

As much as I enjoy the heaviness and progressiveness in these compositions, there are a few times when the complexity becomes too eclectic and the melody is a little off-putting. I've recognized that more after giving this Chaos of Forms a revisit. So while it's not the modern thrash classic I thought it was, the chaos can still come in forms....

Favorites: "Harlot", "Dissolution Ritual", "No Funeral", "Chaos of Forms", "The Watchers", "Beloved Horrifier"

Trying to make a sequel to a classic from decades prior is a risk that sometimes pays off and sometimes doesn't. Texas-based speedy US power metal band Helstar decided to make an album that would continue the vampire themes of their breakthrough album Nosferatu. When fans first heard about that, they feared it would end up falling flat like the 2006 Queensryche album Operation Mindcrime II. As it turns out, Helstar are still in the game! Since their late 2000s reformation, the band was building up where they left off. Here we have clearer production for more of the guitar heaviness to be heard. James Rivera maintains his vocal range from clean melodies to high shrieks.

I think it's not just the vocals that help this release out very well but also the guitars. The riffing is often fast and crushing while also adding harmonic arpeggios. I can almost think of this as neoclassical thrash. Although we can never deny the guitarwork by founding member Larry Barragan, new guy Andrew Atwood can throw in some great shreds too. The end result is an excellent example of Helstar's new era.

Some of the best variety can be found in the first track "Awaken unto Darkness". If you really wanna hear the guitar duo in action, check out "Blood Lust". You can also hear James Rivera belt out his vocals that have made great use throughout the past few decades, considering how long he's been in Helstar and other projects. He has sick aggression, almost coming close to deathly territory. The guitar fury doesn't end there, as "To Dust You Will Become" makes another speedy banger of a highlight. "Off With His Head" leans towards the tech-thrash of Vektor and Revocation, right from the breakneck beginning and speedy verses. The chorus helps make it another standout.

"From the Pulpit to the Pit" pushes the speed and intensity further. Then "To Their Death Beds They Fell" mellows out a bit while making room for more of that neoclassical shredding fire. It leads to the virtuous instrumental "Malediction", 4 minutes of fast neoclassical Malmsteem-isms.

Having more theatrical impact is the wicked "Repent in Fire". I'm fine with having the doomy "Abolish the Sun" shake up the flow a bit. Earth-shattering vocals and depressive pacing helps add to the variety. Then the slowness is brushed aside towards the end for some more of those fast leads. "Black Cathedral" is the album's progressive epic filled with guitar melodrama to make the ultimate representation of all that was experienced. "Dreamless Sleep" is a somber acoustic outro with the last of Rivera's vocals.

The 2010s really was the decade where thrash was being slowly built back up by bands of that genre or close to that genre. Helstar continues bringing forward their melodic speedy sound with some modern touches that may turn away some fans but win a lot more of them. A stronger force has awakened than The Force Awakens!

Favorites: "Awaken unto Darkness", "To Dust You Will Become", "Off With His Head", "Malediction", "Repent in Fire", "Black Cathedral"

I remember it’s late ’99 and I’m a recently converted 12 year-old metal fan. I was into bands like Metallica, Megadeth and KISS, but there was a band that a few other metal kids at school were digging, that were heavier and way more aggressive than the bands I liked. They were listening to ‘Slipknot’, the self-titled major label debut by American nu metal band, Slipknot. 

Admittedly, I wasn’t really a fan back then. Not for any particular reason, I’d just never gotten around to giving the ‘Knot much of a chance. I knew all the stories about them… how they pissed on the floor and rolled around in it before gigs. How they’d decapitate goats and flaunt the heads around backstage. How they’d physically fight each other to get psyched up for gigs. The absolute nonsense you’d believe as a kid was unreal! 

But here I am now, it’s 2026 and I’m nearly 40 years-old. Am I too old for this nonsense now? Well, no. I’m not. 

The music is still aggressive as hell, and the band are incredibly tight with their playing. This was in nu metal’s heyday, so there wasn’t much in terms of guitar solos etc. Just riffs galore and constant shouting. I’ve always thought Slipknot’s earlier releases did sound a bit muddy and unpolished, but I guess that just adds to the intensity. Overall though, there’s a number of highlights, but the album (like a lot of nu metal releases) does tend to get a bit repetitive towards the end. 

Regardless, songs like ‘(Sic)’, ‘Wait and Bleed’, ‘Surfacing’, ‘Eyeless’ and ‘Spit It Out’ still hold up well today. While the band would go on to release better albums, this was still a pivotal moment in nu metal history, especially if you were a kid growing up during that era. It feels like a lifetime ago that Slipknot were the “heaviest band in the world”, but this is angry, angst-ridden nostalgia at its finest. 

If you’re going to essentially name your band “fossilized faeces” then you darn well better had make sure that your sound is some heavy shit. I can assure you dear reader, that box is firmly ticked on Putresence. Canadians, Coprolith waste absolutely no time whatsoever on their debut full length, coming straight out of the stocks fully armed with all manner of limbs, torn from previous unsuspecting listeners, being brandished like weapons and trophies at the same time. Ranging somewhere between the near crawl of death doom and the more mid-paced muddiness of modern acts like Fetid, Coprolith tread a consistent path in terms of quality yet are unafraid to stretch just enough to show that they have varied influences also.

Except you don’t pick up records such as this to find dashes of progressive wankery or lightning-fast solos. You pick up albums like these because they have ghastly artwork (a modern Altars of Madness take is what jumps to mind here) and even nastier, in fact fucking filthy, contents. Riffs carry weight and groove in equal amounts. The vocals are cavernous, reverberating around the room as you listen. The bass motoring along as but a distant rumble in the background whilst the drums chart a solid yet varied path across the tracks. Pacing and tempo ease down through gears seemingly effortlessly and just when you think we can’t go any lower you come back into consciousness face down on the floor of the bowels of Hades itself.

‘Defiling Incantation’ is a real standout track for the overall journey it takes you on as it shifts effortlessly in front of your very ears and eyes. Yet ‘Birthed by Remorseless Flames’ is straight out for the jugular, coming immediately afterwards with an almost jaunty, bouncy rhythm being deployed. Putresence is almost like a lesson in controlled ultra-violence, pitching that the speed of the attack is no more or less important than the intensity you generate in building into the offensive. In a way, you could argue that there is a bit of a loss of identity, or more likely a lack of clarity in some regards as the album does make changes regularly. However, to my ears at least, Coprolith have made a fantastic debut. It is a clear and believable statement of intent. Bring on the sophomore folks!