The Horde

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June 2026

1. Deteriorot - "The Bataan Death March" (single, 2026) [submitted by Karl]

2. Immolation - "Attrition" (from "Descent", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Monstrosity - "Veil of Disillusionment" ( from "Screams from Beneath the Surface", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Brodequin - "Theresiana" (from "Harbinger of Woe", 2024)

5. Cephalic Carnage - "The Isle of California" (from "Lucid Interval", 2002) [submitted by Sonny]

6. Oppressor - "Genocide" (from "Solstice of Oppression", 1994) [submitted by Karl]

7. Blood Incantation - "Slave Species of the Gods" (from "Hidden History of the Human Race", 2019) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Epitaph - "Engraving the Epitaph" (from "Seeming Salvation", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

9. Intestine Baalism - "Banquet in the Darkness" (from "Banquet in the Darkness", 2003)

10. Gibbeting - "The Cursed Fortress" (from "Execution Rampage", 2026) [submitted by Karl]

11. Discordance Axis - "Radiant Arkham" (from "The Inalienable Dreamless", 2000)

12.Foetorem - "Oozing with Pustulent Fluids" (from "Incongruous Forms of Everlasting Rot", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

13. Deathwards - "In Death I Become" (from "Towards Death", 2018) [submitted by Sonny]

14. Casket Grinder - "Celestial Devourment" (from "Trip to Oblivion", 2016) [submitted by Karl]

15. Drumcorps - "Cut & Grow" (from "Creatures", 2022)

16. Decapitated - "Mother War" (from "Nihility", 2002) [submitted by Vinny]

17. Wailing - "Crushed by Eons of Inequity" (from "Oracles of Devastation", 2026) [submitted by Karl]

18. Vacuous Depths - "Worshippers of Death" (from "Humiliation", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]

19. Malthusian - "Telluric Tongues (Roaring Into the Earth)" (from "Across Deaths", 2018)

20. Goemagot - "The Ethics of Omnipotence" (from "Eradication of Insignificant Beings", 2013)

21. Fluids - "Humanity Reviled" (from "Not Dark Yet", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]

22. Misery Index - "Plague of Objects" (from "Heirs to Thievery", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

23. Vital Remains - "Dawn of the Apocalypse" (from "Dawn of the Apocalypse", 2000) [submitted by Karl]

24. Gates of Ishtar - "Where the Winds of Darkness Blow" (from "A Bloodred Path", 1996)

25. War Därmen - "Sector Alpha" (from "Colonization", 2022) [submitted by Karl]

26. Frozen Soul - "Wraith of Death" (from "Crypt of Ice", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]

27. Eye Eater - "Other Planets" (from "Alienate", 2024)

Acheron - "Deprived of Afterlife" E.P. (1991)

This relatively unknown Aussie death metal act was the precursor to a much more well-known artist in Melbourne's Abramelin with both of those names playing a very strong role in my development as a death metal musician in the early 1990's. This two-song 7" single was Acheron's only proper release (along with two demo tapes) but it's a bit of an underground Aussie classic in my opinion & made a significant impact on me as a kid. Those that are familiar with my brutal death metal band Neuropath should easily be able to pick that up too as the riff structures are put together in much the same way here, although there's a very clear "Symphonies of Sickness"-era Carcass influence at play here too. I absolutely love the monstrous vocals of front man Simon Dower who is the clear focal point of the band & sounded like no one else in the scene at the time. While this release might be a little more primitive, I actually prefer "Deprived of Afterlife" over Abramelin's 1994 debut E.P. "Transgression from Acheron" these days as it embraces the filthier side of the death metal scene a little better in my opinion. Highly recommended.

For fans of Carcass, Neuropath & Abramelin.

4/5

In Flames - "Come Clarity" (2006)

Most of our regulars would probably be aware that I've never been a fan of In Flames' most celebrated 1996-2000 period with albums like "The Jester Race", "Whoracle", "Colony" & "Clayman" doing very little for me. The Swedes' 2006 eighth full-length is a bit different to those records though & offers me just enough appeal to see it reaching a more acceptable rating. This isn't your standard melodic death metal release though. In fact, it's a little hard to argue that it's a death metal release at all, although they never fully pull away from their roots either.

With "Come Clarity" we see In Flames embracing the melodic metalcore sound that was making waves in the underground metal scene at the time & combining it with their signature melodeath riffage & alternative metal song-structures to create a more accessible record that aims to win a new fanbase over with more of a stadium sound. When they manage to nail that combination, it works really, really well, as evidenced by the classic alternative metal anthem that is the title track or the very solid melodic death metal burner "Vacuum". The vocal performance of Anders Fridén is worth mentioning as it never feels like a death growl, instead sitting closer to a psychotic metalcore scream during the more extreme sections while making a decent fist of the clean chorus melodies too. It's worth noting that there are just as many failures as there are wins here though but, thankfully, those wins are comprehensive enough to overcome the losses & leave me with a more positive feeling than I can recall having with In Flames' more unanimously praised albums. As with a lot of releases like this one though, a song's potential to capture the listener all comes down to the quality of the chorus melody & your experience will ultimately depend on whether you can connect with those enough to get onboard with "Come Clarity" or not. I've been surprised to find that I can these days so perhaps there's hope for me yet.

For fans of Soilwork, Darkest Hour & Avatar.

3.5/5

Mortal Decay - "Forensic" (2002)

I discovered this New Jersey brutal/technical death metal outfit back in the second half of the 1990's through 1997's "Sickening Erotic Fanaticism", Mortal Decay's highly regarded debut album that I really enjoyed. This led me to explore their sophomore record once I returned to metal in 2009 but I haven't returned to it since for one reason or another. Listening back now, "Forensic" has plenty to offer but I don't think it pulls it all off well enough to demand consistent revisits from me. They've added a greater level of complexity to the riff construction but that doesn't necessarily make for really memorable riffs. Instead, we get serviceable (& fairly brutal) US death metal with a multi-vocal attack that's highlighted by a really deep delivery that reminds me of Neuropath front man Mark Wangmann. There's some pretty decent stuff here (see "My Mind Bleeds Tragedies", "Beyond Forensic Knowledge" or my personal favourite "Brutalized & Defiled") but it hasn't quite sealed the deal in my opinion.

For fans of Dehumanized, Malignancy & Nuclear Remains.

3.5/5

Thanks for that Vinny. One of the big advantages of a small membership of enthusiasts like we have here is that there is no judgment made on people's individual tastes. Comments are only made on the things being discussed and / or reviewed and nobody is arrogant enough to claim absolute authority on the merits of what is essentially a very subjective and personal medium. I think we are also all mature enough to know that any divergence of opinion is also only about the subject and is not in anyway an attack on the person with whose opinion you may not agree. Unfortunately this isn't the case on the internet as a whole where all manner of assholery is rife and seemingly tolerated. That is one of the main reasons that the Academy is my main site for online musical interaction and I hope that level of integrity and respect long continues here.

What I meant was that "World Extermination" is about as grindcore as grindcore gets with the dial wound firmly up to eleven so if you're not all in with the genre then you may struggle with it.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

1. Deteriorot - "The Bataan Death March" (single, 2026) [submitted by Karl]

2. Immolation - "Attrition" (from "Descent", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Monstrosity - "Veil of Disillusionment" ( from "Screams from Beneath the Surface", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Brodequin - "Theresiana" (from "Harbinger of Woe", 2024)

5. Cephalic Carnage - "The Isle of California" (from "Lucid Interval", 2002) [submitted by Sonny]

6. Oppressor - "Genocide" (from "Solstice of Oppression", 1994) [submitted by Karl]

7. Blood Incantation - "Slave Species of the Gods" (from "Hidden History of the Human Race", 2019) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Epitaph - "Engraving the Epitaph" (from "Seeming Salvation", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

9. Intestine Baalism - "Banquet in the Darkness" (from "Banquet in the Darkness", 2003)

10. Gibbeting - "The Cursed Fortress" (from "Execution Rampage", 2026) [submitted by Karl]

11. Discordance Axis - "Radiant Arkham" (from "The Inalienable Dreamless", 2000)

12.Foetorem - "Oozing with Pustulent Fluids" (from "Incongruous Forms of Everlasting Rot", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]

13. Deathwards - "In Death I Become" (from "Towards Death", 2018) [submitted by Sonny]

14. Casket Grinder - "Celestial Devourment" (from "Trip to Oblivion", 2016) [submitted by Karl]

15. Drumcorps - "Cut & Grow" (from "Creatures", 2022)

16. Decapitated - "Mother War" (from "Nihility", 2002) [submitted by Vinny]

17. Wailing - "Crushed by Eons of Inequity" (from "Oracles of Devastation", 2026) [submitted by Karl]

18. Vacuous Depths - "Worshippers of Death" (from "Humiliation", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]

19. Malthusian - "Telluric Tongues (Roaring Into the Earth)" (from "Across Deaths", 2018)

20. Goemagot - "The Ethics of Omnipotence" (from "Eradication of Insignificant Beings", 2013)

21. Fluids - "Humanity Reviled" (from "Not Dark Yet", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]

22. Misery Index - "Plague of Objects" (from "Heirs to Thievery", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

23. Vital Remains - "Dawn of the Apocalypse" (from "Dawn of the Apocalypse", 2000) [submitted by Karl]

24. Gates of Ishtar - "Where the Winds of Darkness Blow" (from "A Bloodred Path", 1996)

25. War Därmen - "Sector Alpha" (from "Colonization", 2022) [submitted by Karl]

26. Frozen Soul - "Wraith of Death" (from "Crypt of Ice", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]

27. Eye Eater - "Other Planets" (from "Alienate", 2024)

Napalm Death - "Death by Manipulation" (1992)

This 1992 compilation popped up in my Spotify feed while I was driving this week & it has been a while since I last checked it out so I decided to give it another crack. "Death by Manipulation" compiles a number of Napalm Death's early singles & E.P.'s & falls very much in line with my feelings on 1987-1992 era Napalm Death in general in that I find it to be generally enjoyable but fail to really connect with it to a point that I feel like reaching for it for future revisits. I sit very much in the camp that feels Napalm's best work was still to come through records like "Utopia Banished" & "Fear, Emptiness, Despair", although I do really dig 1988's "The Curse" E.P. & their 1989 split with S.O.B. (admittedly due to the S.O.B. material). It's handy to have all of these records collected together on the one release but I don't think it's as essential as people seem to think.

For fans of Terrorizer, Brutal Truth & early Carcass.

3.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Deathgrind Releases of All Time list:

01. Napalm Death - "Utopia Banished" (1992)

02. Cattle Decapitation - "Monolith of Inhumanity" (2012)

03. Brutal Truth - "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses" (1992)

04. Full of Hell - "Weeping Choir" (2019)

05. Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)

06. Brutal Truth - "Need to Control" (1994)

07. Exhumed - "Dissecting the Caseated Omentum" demo (1992)

08. Lock Up - "Necropolis Transparent" (2011)

09. Cephalic Carnage - "Misled by Certainty" (2010)

10. Napalm Death - "Harmony Corruption" (1990)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/223

Hate Eternal are another of those bands whose name I have seen all over the place, but which I have never knowingly listened to. Basically "I, Monarch" is pummelling and brutally relentless 2000s death metal - and that is it really. It is unremittingly aggressive and possesses a certain degree of tech-death influence on the songwriting. They don't do anything new with that formula, but what they do they seemingly do very well. Unfortunately this isn't really the sort of death metal that lights my fire, I much prefer a looser, grimier style and whilst this isn't the most constipated-sounding of the brutal death metal albums I have heard, it leans a bit too much towards the rigid intensity end of the death metal spectrum for me to ever fully embrace it.

Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike it as such, in fact there are a couple of real highlights, such as when "To Know Our Enemies" drops into the expansive guitar solo with the didgeridoo playing in the background I think it hits an atmospheric high point. The vocals are great too, Erik Rutan having a suitably brutal-sounding bellow akin to an enraged bull looking to eviscerate a wayward matador. The production is very nice too, clear enough to hear what everyone is up to whilst not becoming too clinical and it is mercifully free of the crazy over-compression ruining a lot of more recent death metal releases. On the whole, however, it is an album I can play, nod my head to in a few places then forget about when it has finished with very little of it sticking with me for long afterwards. I have no idea how this stacks up within the wider Hate Eternal discography and whilst I have no especial aversion to exploring them further, neither am I in any hurry to jump into their back catalogue. Sometimes we just have to say "This is perfectly fine, but not really my bag" and so without it setting a fire in my belly I am never going to award it better than middling marks.

3/5 (on another day it could have been a 3.5, but I am happy to go with the lower score at the minute).

"The Time Before Time"

The great spirit descended from the Heavens, carrying we, the ones called the Matoran to this island paradise.  We were separate and without purpose, so the great spirit illuminated is with the three virtues: Unity, Duty and Destiny.  We embraced these gifts, and in our gratitude, we named our island home Mata Nui after the great spirit himself.

I kinda had to.

Sorry, Rex, I have no idea what this means.

I was gambling on it, anyway.  Bionicle, old franchise my brothers and I were into as kids.  Saw the movie enough times to have that opening embedded in my head.  Bionicle stories always started with, "In the time before time."

Ah, OK. I don't think I have ever heard of it.

Thanks a lot guys. Much appreciated.

Deeds of Flesh are a blast. Anyone who admires the technical brutality of Suffocation, Decrepit Birth Dying Fetus or Defeated Sanity would struggle to find much to dislike with the quartet who put together Path of the Weakening. Released at the end of the 90s, this album is played with the vigour of a band releasing their debut album in 1989 or 1990 when the world was just warming up to the wonder of death metal. It is a record that has aged well too, still managing to sound relevant nearly three decades after its release. The band are still active some thirty-three-years after their inception and run Unique Leader Records, the label ran by the late vocalist/guitarist for the band Erik Lindmark.

With my interest in death metal starting to pique again, it is records like this one that remind me of just why I was drawn to this style of music nearly forty years ago. There’s something to be said about bands who can take an already arcane form of music and not only squeeze every drop of brutality from it whilst also keeping things interesting at the same time. On Path of the Weakening, Deeds of Flesh make no attempt to provide any accessibility to proceedings, however. Yet there is a clarity to those riffs. Even though the listener will experience multiple changes to tempo and time throughout the album and individual tracks even, they remain prominent, not being allowed to get lost in the mix or indeed the listeners experience either. Given the barrage of percussion that is going on at times here, this is even more of an achievement. I can see there was a returning drummer on this record and Joey Heatley managed to make an impact on his return without going overboard and dominating proceedings.

There is underlying groove toa lot of these tracks also, again this is something which helps the interest levels for me. Vocally, we are treated to consistent death metal fare. Cruel shrieks dash out at you from seemingly out of nowhere, yet we are never to far away from the guttural gurns that dredge up untold hells from the underworld itself. I am unsure why I have not tapped into Deeds of Flesh before this feature release. I could see as I streamed the record that I had saved one of the tracks (‘Summarily Killed’) to my Liked Songs, which could also easily mean this was a nomination for me in The Horde playlist at some point in the past. Either way, I am glad I have completed the full listening experience now as I may well have found a new cult favourite.

4/5

Went through this today.  Although I am still not massively as in to death metal as I was I still took some recs in that Solstice album and Rotten Sound.  Good mix of classics and more modern stuff here which kept me listening whilst I was working.

Imperial Triumphant - "Goldstar" (2025)

Another high-quality record from this unusual New York trio, possibly their finest work actually. Guitarist Zachary Ezrin (Folterkammer) does a great job behind the microphone with his deep death growls being both powerful & well phrased. I really enjoy the drumming of Kenny Grohowski (John Frum/Secret Chiefs 3/Titan to Tachyons) too while Sarmat bass player Steve Blanco also provides us with a capable performance. The black metal component of the Imperial Triumphant's 2010's era is long gone by this point with "Goldstar" sitting more comfortably under an Avant-Garde/Experimental Death Metal tag in my opinion. Even the dissonant elements are probably not consistent enough to call this full-blown dissonant death metal. There's a lot of progressive metal & tech death influence here though too. Unsurprisingly, I find "Goldstar"s best moments to be when the boys simply go hell for leather with the more frenetic & aggressive phases being the most effective & often marrying up with the simpler sections of the album but that's not to say that the more experimental parts of "Goldstar" aren't impressive as they're very smoothly incorporated for a record that jumps around so much. If you exclusively like your death metal of the old school variety then you'll wanna steer well clear of this release but those that like a bit of ambition & creativity should find it to be universally interesting because there's no doubt that it's a classy effort by a forward-thinking extreme metal outfit.

For fans of Pyrrhon, Ad Nauseam & Portal.

4/5

Baphomet released this in 1992 then changed name to Banished to avoid confusion with the german death thrashers of the same name before promptly splitting in 1993. They did reform in 2013, but so what. Luckily they left The Dead Shall Inherit as their legacy and this is a great example of Nineties' death metal that sits between the cavernousness of Autopsy or Asphyx and the brutality of Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation and that really hits the mark for me. There is no technical wizardry or songwriting complexity on show here, this is unadulterated OSDM filthiness and menace that appeals to the animal, not the cerebral. Now that isn't enough for some metalheads I am sure, but when a band does these things right then there isn't much better in the death metal world as far as I am concerned - and Baphomet most definitely do it right here.

4.5/5

An initial listen to Swallowed's "Lunarterial" left me somewhat dumbfounded and confused I must admit. From Vinny's effusive description of the album in the feature thread's introduction this was apparently right up my street, yet I really wasn't feeling it. The disconnection was so pronounced that I really doubted my own ears and my interpretation of what I had heard. Determined to get to the bottom of this, I persisted and have now clocked up four or five listens over the last few days, both through intently concentrated listenings and as background whilst doing other tasks. Whilst my initial reticence has been alleviated somewhat, the truth is, I am still not completely sure how I feel about this, or even if I will ever be able to make a definitive judgement on my appreciation of it. I think this is one of those albums where there are moments that make me think "OK, right. Now here we go" when things click and fall into place and show glimpses of the album I envisioned getting at the beginning, but on the flipside there are also parts of seeming random chaos that literally make me want to turn it right down in order to lessen the discomfort I am feeling.

Anyway, this is an album that draws on a number of extreme metal influences, old-school death metal, death doom, disso-death, war metal and even drone metal, all combining to produce an, undoubtedly intentional, disconcerting feeling that all is not well or right with the world. To this end, at least with me, this was inordinately successful, although the effect was to alienate me from what I was hearing rather than drawing me into its aural maelstrom. The transitions from doomy oppressiveness to outright blackened violence overlayed with jagged shards of dissonance just overwhelm me I am afraid. At times the band sound a lot like Mayhem at their most experimental, a phase of the norwegian black metal legends that I have never been a big fan of. In an inversion of Vinny's view it seems, my favourite track is actually the 25-minute closer, "Libations" which appeals to the doom and drone fan in me and within the drone-y confines of which the band's tendencies towards dissonance makes more sense to me and if it had been released as a stand alone EP I may even have toyed with the idea of purchasing it.

I would claim to be a fan of extreme metal, but I guess an album that really pushes deeply into unconventionalism such as this, makes me question whether that is truly the case. Things still have to make sense to me and for many stretches "Lunarterial" really doesn't. "Libations" aside, which is actually really growing on me, I can't in all honesty say that I would return to this in the future.

3/5

Sonny has been on form this month.  I am rediscovering some appetite for death metal after the last 12 months has been dominated by black and doom metal.  The playlist in The Horde this month has only added fuel to that flame.  I found it easier to run at the list in thirds this month and took time to check out the releases that individual tracks came from where they jumped out at me in the list.  Nefarious, Broken Torso, Knoll, Embalmer and the absolute find of the list, Ceremony of Silence all fell into this category.

I revisited Altars but still cannot get on with that record despite the featured track here being a banger.  You can’t go wrong with a Macabre track in my opinion though. Here is a band who manage to take the true macabre essence of people at their worst and put a comedy slant on it without sacrificing the quality of the music.  Good to see Angelcorpse getting a run out to alongside some of the more household names like Incantation and Morbid Angel.  Speaking of which, Karl’s selection of that track from that album not only led me to discover a great album I had somehow never listened to until this month but it also put me on a Morbid Angel trip for two days solid whilst I was away working and spending a couple of nights in a hotel.

Ahright my turn.

Top 10 from the RYM charts

1. Death - Symbolic (300)

2. Gorguts - Colored Sands (393)

3. Athiest - Unquestionable Presence (547)

4. Death - The Sound of Perseverance (674)

5. Death - Individual Thought Patterns (823)

6. Morbid Angel - ALtars of Madness (851)

7. Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (862)

8. Immolation - Close to a World Below (891)

9. Suffocation - Human Waste (957)

10. Gorguts - Obscura (1008)

Top 10 of All Time

1. Septicflesh - The Great Mass (Symphonic)

2. Nile - In Their Darkened Shrines (Brutal, Tech)

3. Blood Incantation - Starspawn (Death)

4. Napalm Death - Throes in the Jaws of Defeatism (Grind)

5. Death - Symbolic (Tech)

6. Edge of Sanity - Crimson II (Melo, Prog)

7. Gorguts - Colored Sands (Tech, Dissonant)

8. Shadow of Intent - Primordial (Melo, Deathcore)

9. Cabinet - Claustrophobic Dysentery (Blackened)

10. Disfiguring the Goddess - Deprive (Slam)

I didn't expect my top 10 of death to practically be a new subgenre for each entry.

Carcass - Reek of Putrification (1988)

Genres: Goregrind

In an earlier review for Carcass's second album, Symphony of Sickness, I mentioned that there was less of the melodic strength that made the third and fourth albums so beloved.  In this early goregrind release, as well as their debut, there's even less of that.  This is one of those somewhat common examples of early 80's metal albums compensating for lack of creativity with absolute brutality, the way earlier movies by Wes Craven were.  "Mature" content over substance.  Now the funny thing is, like Wes Craven, the band grew as their career progressed, so by the mid-90's this was basically nothing more than a historical example of how much they grew.  Despite a few cute tricks here and there, I predicted how the whole album would go after listening to Symphony of Sickness.  Now there may be some charm to have in the lo-fi production.  It's certainly a heavy piece.  But the production also muddles things that shouldn't be muddled, which cements yet another weak point in comparison to future works.  Basically, this overly "adult" album amounts to little more than an imitation album made by a bunch of children who think all it takes to be the best is to be different and "true to yourself" by "not giving into radio capitalism" or some shit like that.  Fortunately, this was the last time they ever sounded like this.  With 22 short tracks, they found a way to make a 37-minute album way too damn long.

52

Reading various reviews of Mercenary online, I soon found myself looking at two factions of opinion. Group one, believe that this is a perfectly respectable Bolt Thrower record. Group two, believe the production job killed this one entirely. Although I would also add that most of either camp seem to acknowledge that this is the weakest album in the discography. As I have listened through over the weekend, I can see both camps arguments as being valid. The production on Mercenary is muffled, although I have heard much worse, and it is unclear even after multiple listens whether the album lacks power in the performance or whether it is robbed by the production job. I am finding myself in the production camp at this stage of my experience of the record, based on the belief that there is enough classic Bolt Thrower in the sound still, all with some prowess and heft behind it too, but there is an obvious dulling of the absolutely unstoppable force that came across on the previous two albums.

Therein lies another topic of contention of course. After two absolute bangers in The IVth Crusade and …For Victory, could anything match the standard set by those two records? I suspect not, certainly given that of the three albums that followed …For Victory, only the final Bolt Thrower album, Those Once Loyal stands out as being a highlight. When all is said and done, 1994 was very much the band’s peak. Much is also made of the fact that Karl Willets left the band after Mercenary, citing a lack of commitment and financial pressures. I cannot say that there’s anything about Willet’s performance on Mercenary that makes me think his heart was not in it though. My belief is in fact that he was just as potent as ever, the production job for me is the guilty party in any perceived shortfall in this aspect of Mercenary.

If I had to pick the weakest album from the Bolt Thrower back catalogue, it would not be Mercenary. Yes, there are better albums in the band’s kitbag, but it is my fundamental belief that Mercenary suffers from poor (not terrible) production. I prefer it to Realm of Chaos which if I recall correctly suffers from the same affliction. My choice for the worst Bolt Thrower album would be Honour Valour Pride, notwithstanding that Bolt Thrower on a bad day could still produce death metal that most other bands still could never hold a candle too. I have increased my rating of Mercenary based on this revisit by a whole half a mark, albeit the performance I suspect is at least a further half a mark on top that gets robbed back by the production.

3.5/5

The perfect song for anyone up for a lot of aggression with some melody here and there:

Legendary death doom outfit, Cianide are one of my criminally underrated bands with them rarely getting anywhere near as much spin time as they deserve. This EP coming up in the feature release section this month has been a timely kick up the arse to remedy that for a few hours at least. Unhumanized is only a shade under twenty-six-minutes long and perhaps is not the Chicago trio at their absolute best, yet it is still a bruising and entertaining affair to listen to.

Coming out thirty-one-years after the band first got together, Unhumanized has the hallmarks of an established and mature band. The riffing sounds perfectly crafted and richly performed to accentuate the crunch and groove of the guitar of Scott Carroll. For a band with only one guitarist, he is clearly more than enough, and the mix lets him sit front and centre in proceedings alongside the barking of vocalist Mike Perun. The percussion is less prominent than the guitar and vocals but still does a fantastic job in the background. Check out the punky vibes on the title track for an example of how this is not just a standard death metal release.

Offering some of the best in extreme metal that the underground has to offer, Cianide give a decent enough acquittal of themselves on this release to pique the interest of any fan wanting to go and look at their earlier work. With a discography going all the way back to 1992 when their debut record dropped, this taster of the modern Cianide has enough of their familiar sound to tie it back to their earlier releases. Love me a short EP every now and again to whet the appetite for some further death metal listening afterwards.

3.5/5

I have paid so little attention to death metal in 2025 that it was a struggle to find a release to feature when my turn came around for November. If I recall correctly, I only found Mortual from a previous The Horde playlist as I made some semblance of effort to try and create a “to do” list of anything that I heard on the monthly playlist that piqued my interest. I had already rated the release as 3.5 stars and to be honest, further visits have not altered that score.

For pretty much all the reasons stated in the other review by Sonny, Altar of Brutality is to some extent an album that celebrates the death metal artform, doing so incredibly well I might add. However, it is hard to get too excited over meat ‘n potatoes death metal nowadays, especially after over thirty-years of me listening to this music. Props to Mortual for doing such a fine reflection of such an established style, but the longevity and memorability factors for this one are not all that high.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

1. Sadistic Intent - "Dark Predictions" (from "Resurrection", 1994) [submitted by Vinny]

2. Ritualhammer — "Devoid of Grace and God" (from "Grand Pestilential Flame", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

3. Proscription - "Behold a Phosphorescent Dawn" (from "Desolate Divine", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Atavisma - "Sacrifice unto Babalon" (from "The Chthonic Rituals", 2018) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Immolation — "God Made Filth" (from "Failures for Gods", 1999) [submitted by Karl]

6. Revocation - "Confines of Infinity" (from "New Gods, New Masters", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

7. Abraded - "Menticide" (from "Ethereal Emanations From Chthonic Caries", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

8. Inanna - "Mind Surgery" (from "Void of Unending Depths", 2022) [submitted by Sonny]

9. Disgorge — "Manipulation of Faith" (from "Consume the Forsaken", 2002) [submitted by Karl]

10. Carcinoid - "Morbid Curse" (from "Encomium to Extinction", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

11. Brutal Truth — "Walking Corpse" (from "Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

12. Mercyless — "Abject Offerings" (from "Abject Offerings", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

13. Baphomet - "Valley of the Dead" (from "The Dead Shall Inherit", 1992) [submitted by Sonny]

14. Imperishable — "Bells" (from "Swallowing the World", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

15. Kontusion - "Endless Horror" (from "Insatiable Lust for Death", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

16. Magrudergrind - "Martyrs of the Shoah" (from "Magrudergrind", 2009)

17. Meth Leppard - "Idiocracy" (from "Gatekeepers", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

18. Anata — "Released When You Are Dead" (from "The Infernal Depths of Hatred", 1998) [submitted by Karl]

19. Night in Gales — "Towards a Twilight Kiss" (from "Towards the Twilight", 1997) [submitted by Karl]

20. Ataudes - "La Desgracia" (from "Tempus edax rerum", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

21. Gigan - "Square Wave Subversion" (from "Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus", 2024)

22. Diphenylchloroarsine - "Asphyxiating on Hazardous Pollution" (from "Post Apocalyptic Human Annihilation", 2017)

23. Imprecation — "Daemonium" (from "Vomitum Tempestas", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

24. Benediction - "Eternal Eclipse" (from "Subconscious Terror", 1990) [submitted by Sonny]

25. Deteriorot — "Horrors in an Everlasting Nightmare" (from "Awakening", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

26. Décryptal - "Flétrissement" (from "Simulacre", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

27. Grenadier — "The Swine of Mount Cashel" (from "Wolves of the Trench", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

28. Iniquitous Deeds - "Abstract Vibrations Compressed" (from "Incessant Hallucinations", 2015)

29. Disma - "Of A Pasat Forlorn" (from "Towards the Megalith", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

Just useless jazzy guitar noodling that breaks the flow of the album by appearing so early:

I finally got around to revisiting "Resurrection" this week & found that I still really enjoy it. Sadistic Intent clearly came from the same roots as I did (i.e. classic Morbid Angel & the more extreme thrash metal like Slayer, Kreator & Dark Angel) so we share a common understanding of what extreme metal should be. Their sound is so heavily invested in the underground tape trading scene that it gives them an even greater appeal to me than they perhaps have any right to command too. I really love the psychotic guitar solos & blast beat sections. The hardcore component of "Condemned in Misery" was possibly a mistake but, apart from that, "Resurrection" is a really solid death metal record. I slightly prefer 1997's "Ancient Black Earth" E.P. over it but there's not a lot between them & both should be essential listening for our The Horde members.

For fans of Necrovore, Mortem & Repugnant.

4/5

Also if any of the tracks above encourage you to check out more of those bands and come up with some ideas for the monthly Spotify playlists, here's a thread to add in your playlist suggestions: https://metal.academy/forum/10/thread/480

So, I finally got around to revisiting this old favourite & there's no doubt that it's a really solid piece of death metal. It kinda sounds like a dirtier version of the conventional death metal of James Murphy's Disincarnate project which would make sense from a timing point of view. I dunno why people tend to slap "Serenadium" with a brutal death metal tag because there's really very little BDM included. Perhaps it's the ultra-gutteral vocals (think Grave meets Seance) & the clear Suffocation influence that pops up from time to time. I could be entirely mistaken but I also hear a fair bit of Neuropath here, especially on the closing track "Retorn" which has an almost identical riff to one of mine. The tracklisting is extremely consistent (almost a flat line in fact) but I don't think there's anything that I regard as being "classic". Still... I maintain my position that "Serenadium" is Iniquity's finest work & it should satisfy the requirements of all but the most selective of Horde members.

For fans of Swollen, Serocs & Vengeful.

4/5

Got on to this tonight and there's some good stuff on here again  Great tribute to Tomas, I had no idea he was in Lock Up until tonight.  Fuck the Facts and Ecchymosis were a real treat and I will be checking out both albums off the back of this list.  Glad to see my favourite Brujeria release represented as well.

Never been a fan of Fallujah really but that track was okay actully, but that Warmen track got skipped more or less as soon as those keys started (sorry Andi).  Highlight of the list was without question that Replicant track, I am already familiar wih that album, and think it is a bonafide banger.  Good to see Abhorrence in there as well as something obscure in Byatis. Not so much a fan of Vale of Pnath it should be said.

I've always quite liked "Mindloss" since first picking it up through the tape trading scene during the early 1990's. I think I probably reach for the 1992 follow-up "False" a little more regularly when I feel like a Gorefest hit but both are certainly worth a listen.

Totally devastated that I couldn't revive this old Suffocation long-sleeve due to the size of the holes in the elbows. Oh well... it means I get the chance to replace it with something equally cool now. ;)

Ad Nauseam - "Live at Roadburn" [Italian avant-garde/dissonant death metal]

Impetuous Ritual and Portal on the same night, Kevin and Brad will be busy.

Next Horde playlist will be October, so suggestions by 15th September please.

I discovered an activity like this in a subreddit and thought we could have some fun with it in this site. Who do you think would make the ultimate Horde band? Can be members from any bands you want, not just from bands of the same clan. You can even come up with your own name and specific genre for the band if you'd like. Have fun! Here's my example:

Björn "Speed" Strid – lead vocals

Jani Liimatainen – guitars, additional clean vocals

Michael Amott − guitars, backing vocals

Ted Lundström − bass

Shannon Lucas – drums

Janne Wirman – keyboards, backing vocals

Band name: Imperial Storm

Genres: Melodic death/power metal in a similar vein to Children of Bodom, Mercenary, and Skyfire

Checked this out as it is one of Andi's two 0.5 star rated releases. In truth I don't really know what to make of an album like this. I am probably very wrong, but this doesn't seem like a very serious release and its heavy reliance on samples, despite the whole album only being 25 minutes long, seems like a low-effort affair. Cybergrind really ain't my thing and even though this is far from the worst example I have heard, my in-built aversion to too much chaos is stretched beyond its limit here. Strangely, I think that some of the "riffs" if replicated by a capable grindcore band with some real vocals attached would be pretty good. So I would say the guy can write grindcore riffs, but can't execute them very well... and there is just too much going on for my brain to deal with.

2/5

This month it falls to me to nominate the feature for The Horde and I have gone with a recent discovery which is the 2011 debut album, "Harsh Realities", from Finnish grindcore crew Death Toll 80k. Twenty-three tracks in 25 minutes gives you an idea of what to expect.

If you do check it out then we would love to hear your thoughts, either down below or as a review (or both!)

https://metal.academy/releases/12145

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

1. Deicide - "Trifixion" (from "Legion", 1992) [Submitted by Karl]

2. Suffocation - "Seraphim Enslavement" (from "Hymns From the Apochrypha", 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

3. Dismember - "9th Circle" (from "Indecent and Obscene", 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

4. Nile - "I Whisper in the Ear of the Dead" (from "In Their Darkened Shrines", 2002) [Submitted by Vinny]

5. Caustic Wound - "Blood Battery" (from "Grinding Mechanism of Torment", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

6. Death Toll 80K - "Taught To Consume" (from "Harsh Realities", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Arch Enemy - "Dream Stealer" (from "Blood Dynasty", 2025) [submitted by Andi]

8. Acephalix - "Mnemonic Death" (from "Decreation", 2017) [submitted by Sonny]

9. Shub Niggurath - "Abominations of Ancient Gods" (from "The Kinglike Celebration: Final Aeon on Earth", 1997) [Submitted by Karl]

10. In Vain - "At the Going Down of the Sun" (from "Solemn", 2024) [submitted by Saxy]

11. Obscureviolence - "Refuting the Flesh" (from "Refuting the Flesh", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

12. Deeds of Flesh - "Execute the Anthropophagi" (from "Path of the Weakening", 1999) [Submitted by Karl]

13. Putridity - "Conceived Through Vermination" (from "Ignominious Atonement", 2015) [submitted by Sonny]

14. Devourment - "Autoerotic Asphyxiation" (from "Butcher the Weak", 2006)

15. Atheist - "Unquestionable Presence" (from "Unquestionable Presence", 1991) [submitted by Sonny]

16. Masacre - "Imperio del Terror" (from "Barbarie y Sangre en Memoria de Cristo", 1993) [Submitted by Karl]

17. Adramelech - "Heroes in Godly Blaze" (from "Psychostasia", 1996) [Submitted by Karl]

18. Flourishing - "Summary" (from "The Sum of All Fossils", 2011)

19. Wombbath - "Malevolent" (from "Beyond the Abyss", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

20. Vacuous - "Stress Positions" (from "In His Blood", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

21. Massacra - "Eternal Hate" (from "Final Holocaust", 1990) [Submitted by Karl]

22. Asinhell- "Inner Sancticide" (from "Impii Hora", 2023) [Submitted by Vinny]

23. Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "Her Despair Reeks of Alcohol" (from "Honky Reduction", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

24. Misery Index - "Fed to the Wolves" (from "Heirs to Thievery", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

25. Unleashed - "Land of Ice" (from "Shadows in the Deep", 1992) [Submitted by Karl]

26. Dark Throne - "Sempiternal Sepulchrality" (from "Soulside Journey", 1991) [Submitted by Karl]

27. Cancer - "Enter the Gates" (from "Inverted World", 2025) [Submitted by Vinny]

28. Oni -"Seppuku Blade" (from "Incantation Superstition", 2023)

29. Intestine Baalism - "A Place Their Gods Left Behind" (from "An Anatomy of the Beast", 1997)

I have always loved the early works of Carcass, with Symphonies of Sickness being my favourite, sitting as it does in a sweet spot between the grind of the debut and the more conventional death metal approach of Necroticism. However, I have never been much of a fan of Heartwork. In truth I have only heard it a couple of times and not in a while, so I am going to go into it once more with a clean slate.

Well, initial (new) impressions are that Heartwork is more brutal than I remember it being. Sure, Carcass introduced more melody into their death metal, but whereas previously that had overshadowed the album for me, it is now abundantly clear that the melodic aspect is relative and Carcass being Carcass this still has the ability to give you a damn good beating round the head, albeit in a more refined and elegant manner!

One big change on Heartwork is that vocal duties are solely performed by Jeff Walker. Although this gives the album a greater consistency of sound, I actually miss the three vocalists approach, it providing some interesting contrasts. I guess that as the songs themselves varied more here than previously the band felt the use of several different vocal styles may become a bit too much. The songwriting has obviously become a bit more refined, but guitarists Steer and Amott can still summon powerful riffs, even without the blastbeats and searing tempos of yesteryear. The soloing is one of the areas where Heartwork really grabs my attention with both guitarists absolutely nailing it and shredding the hell out of it, sounding more like Tipton and Downing or Smith and Murray than King and Hanneman. Ken Owen is on fine form behind the kit and without having to provide a constant stream of blastbeats he is allowed to exhibit a more creative approach to his timekeeping duties. That Heartwork sounds so tightly performed whilst being more open and expansive than previous Carcass releases is testament to the development of the band and their technical expertise.

In summary, I have got to admit to having been wrong about Heartwork all these years. OK, so Symphonies of Sickness still tops my list of Carcass releases, but this is an accomplished piece of work indeed and is heading towards becoming one of my favourite melodic death metal releases. That an album can still sound so damn heavy and brutal whilst also being melodic and refined is a brilliant musical trick and a fantastic indictment of all four members' musical abilities. I have rarely been happier to say "I was wrong".

4/5 (up from 3/5)

It's my opinion that a large portion of the releases tagged as tech death on other websites are mistagged as the understanding of the genre is pretty atrocious these days. For example, the biggest names in tech death are all much better served by the progressive death metal tag (Death, Cynic, Atheist, Pestilence, etc) & the dissonant death metal tag has made the tech death tagging on bands like Gorguts & Ulcerate redundant too. The same can be said of the more brutal acts we're referring to here as labelling Cryptopsy's first couple of releases or the vast majority of Dying Fetus' back catalogue as tech death is stretching the friendship as far as I'm concerned. I'd even extend that to some of the earlier Nile releases like "Black Seeds of Vengeance" & "In Their Darkened Shrines" which only seem to receive the tech death tag due to the speed & brutality of the drumming which is inherent in all brutal death metal so I can't see the need to go there personally. I'd prefer it if the tech death tag was reserved for genuinely technical yet non-progressive bands like Suffocation or Spawn of Possession. 

Personally, I find dissonant death to be its own subgenre rather than an offshoot of death.  Some of it is structured a bit too conventionally.  I mean, Gorguts can keep both, but if it ain't tech it ain't tech.  Now I'll keep the Nile tag, considering that they're my current favorite of this so-called category because of their outlandish elements, incorporating some crypt-crawling doom into the mix.  My review of Darkened Shrines was about as glowing as any review I'd give a good Coppola.  I guess instead of a "subgenre," it's more like a "niche offshoot," though I'd still consider it a bit more relevant than something like "downtempo deathcore."  And of course, most of the brutal stuff only has mild tech to it if any at all.  Can't expect much from the majority of slam, so it's a fine line, especially when some albums by the same acts will be either more tech or more brutal than others.

Here are some bands and releases that have the melodic death metal tag, but the melodic side is overshadowed by the deathly side:

Allegaeon (technical/melodic death metal but their 2010s material and earlier is less melodic)

Becoming the Archetype's 2010s material (much less melodic than their surrounding works)

Dethklok (melodic death metal yet focused less on melody in many songs, especially in Dethalbum IV)

Obscura (technical/melodic death metal but their 2010s material and earlier is less melodic)

Stortregn - Finitude (technical/melodic death metal in the same ratio as the 2010s material of Allegaeon and Obscura)

How's it going, fellas, as it is my turn to nominate the featured release for The Horde, I've decided to select the 1993 E.P. from Colombian death metallers Masacre, "Barbarie y sangre en memoria de Cristo". Lately, I've been spending a shit-ton of time with the Medellin legends' discography to cure myself of the burnout I've experienced after spending a big chunk of 2024 challenging myself to explore mostly new music (something very out of character for me). 'Twas a nice challenge and I cannot say I haven't found some gems along the way, but on the risk of weakening the fire of my metal passion I had to retreat to the comforting sounds of my beloved late 80's-early noughties era, although one thing that stood out to me while digging through the '24 stuff was the relative strength of the Latin American releases, which made me hungry to explore more of the earlier music from the continent.

I've selected this particular E.P. as I think it's a great entry point into the Colombians' catalogue, striking a nice balance between the untamed rawness of their 1991 debut LP, "Requiem" (my absolute favourite from them), and the more polished death metal sound of 1996's "Sacro". If you are interested, I recommend you seek out one of the re-release versions containing bonus live tracks - the sound quality is surprisingly good, and it's an opportunity to experience even more of Alex "Trapeator" Oquendo's absolutely demonic vocals, which are a big highlight for me personally. Let me know what you think & happy listening!

https://metal.academy/releases/11981

My review is short and sweet, like the EP itself (well, maybe not so sweet!):

Morbid were a death/thrash/black metal band from Sweden who never had an official release before splitting in 1988, a couple of it's members going on to form Entombed (guitarist Ulf Cederlund and drummer Lars-Göran Petrov who was vocalist for Entombed). This demo is (in)famous for featuring legendary Mayhem vocalist Dead and features four tracks with a runtime of 17 minutes. I have loved this from the very first time I heard it, so much so that I managed to get a copy of the Reaper Records 2000 version a couple of years ago that set me back a ridiculous amount, but I felt it was worth it. It's death metal is very thrashy in execution and, mainly because of Dead's contribution, has quite a black metal sound, at least vocally. The production is very good for a demo, there is a hefty bottom end to it that contributes to the deathliness of the riffs and the playing itself is very good indeed with the band sounding like an inordinately tight outfit for a bunch of guys who had only been together a couple of years and had never put out a studio album. The songs are brilliant and easily rival the early stuff from the German thrashers on whom a lot of their material seems to be based. Similarly to the Poison demo this is probably more important to the black metal historian than the death metal antiquarian but either way it is a fantastic snapshot of a band who I wish could have produced more because if they were this good on a demo then we can only guess how fucking great they could have been had they put out a proper album or two.

Phlebotomized - "Immense Intense Suspense" (1994)

I picked this unusual Dutch debut full-length up through the tape trading scene after hearing the outstanding album highlight "Dubbed Forswearer" on a compilation record back in the mid-1990's & found it to be pretty decent. Phlebotomized were a seven-piece band that championed a symphonic death metal sound complete with full-time keyboardist & violinist. They sound very much like a more up-tempo version of My Dying Bride here so I'd imagine that the Englishmen were a major influence. The production isn't amazing & neither is the majority of the song-writing but Phlebotomized have enough about them to keep me well & truly interested. Ben fucking loves this release so perhaps they'll offer more appeal to some of our more open-minded members of The Horde. Boy, that cover art is crap though, isn't it?

For fans of My Dying Bride, Pan.Thy.Monium & Disharmonic Orchestra.

3.5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi

If you happen to check it out, then let me know what you think below.

1. Just Before Dawn - "Intro: Paths of Armor / To the Last Tiger" (from "An Army at Dawn", 2020) [submitted by Karl]

2. Blood Red Throne - "Revocation of Humankind" (from "Union of Flesh and Machine", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

3. Unmerciful - "Ravenous Impulse" (from "Ravenous Impulse", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

4. Pyre - "From the Stygian Depths" (from "Where Obscurity Sways", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

5. Phrenelith - "Stagnated Blood" (from "Ashen Womb", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

6. Darkthrone - "The Watchtower" (from "Soulside Journey", 1989) [submitted by Sonny]

7. Threnody - "The Elder" (from "As the Heavens Fall", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

8. Analepsy - "Witness of Extinction" (from "Atrocities from Beyond", 2017) [submitted by Vinny]

9. Excruciating Terror - "Don't Care Who You Are" (from "Divided We Fall", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

10. Nuclear Death - "Place of Skulls" (from "Bride of Insect", 1990)

11. Stenched - "Mucus, Phlegm and Bile" (from "Purulence Gushing From the Coffin", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

12. Garden of Shadows - "Citadel of Dreams" (from "Oracle Moon", 2000)

13. Shadowspawn - "Sacrament of Deceit" (from "Blasphemica", 2023) [submitted by Vinny]

14. Necrophagist - "To Breathe in a Casket" (from "Onset of Putrefaction", 2004)

15. Desecresy - "Shattered Monuments" (from "Chasmic Transcendence", 2014) [submitted by Karl]

16. Gatecreeper - "Patriarchal Grip" (from "Sonoran Depravation", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]

17. Noxis - "Horns Echo Over Chorazim" (from "Violence Inherent in the System", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

18. Tormentor Tyrant - "Heavy Death Bombardment" (from "Excessive Escalation of Cruelty", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

19. Deteriorot - "Endless Hauntings of Demons and Despair" (from "In Ancient Beliefs", 2001) [submitted by Karl]

20. Upon Stone - To Seek and Follow the Call of Lions (from "Dead Mother Moon", 2024) [submitted by Saxy S]

21. Death Toll 80k - "Cycle of Misery" (from "Harsh Realities", 2011) [submitted by Sonny]

22. Nails - "Obscene Humanity" (from "Unsilent Death", 2010) [submitted by Sonny]

23. Putridity - "Repugnance Enshrined in Deformity" (from "Ignominious Atonement". 2015)

24. Waking the Cadaver - "Blood Splattered Satisfaction" (from "Peverse Recollections of a Necromangler", 2007) [submitted by Vinny]

25. Putred - "Inscripții antice" (from "Megalit al putrefacției", 2025) [submitted by Karl]

26. Obscura - "Silver Linings" (from "A Sonification", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]

27. Iniquitous Deeds - "Infinitive Putrefaction" (from "Incessant Hallucinations", 2015)

28. Twilight Glimmer - "Fate of Mankind" (from "Indignation", 2013) [submitted by Vinny]

29. Infernal Conjuration - "In the Presence of Another World" (from "Infernale metallum mortis", 2019) [submitted by Karl]

30. Sepsism - "Dissection" (from "Purulent Decomposition", 1998) [submitted by Sonny]

31. Engulfed - "Occult Incantations" (from "Unearthly Litanies of Despair", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

Collating the five Death studio albums lists gives us a Metal Academy ranking of their discography that looks like:

1. Human - 28pts

2. Symbolic - 27

3. Leprosy - 20

4. Individual Thought Patterns - 18

5. The Sound of Perseverance - 17

6. Spiritual Healing - 14

7. Scream Bloody Gore - 13

Here is my review:

This is the debut album from Cleveland's Noxis and is an album of quite brutal and occasionally technical death metal. I love the guitar tone, it sounding thick and meaty with a marked weight to it. The production pushes the bass to the fore quite often, deliberately I am guessing because the basslines provide a point of emphasis in a number of places, especially early on. The playing is very tight, with an impressive crispness and precision as all three of the instrumentalists are in lockstep and never seem to lose a beat nor drop a note. And therein lies a bit of the downside for me. I am not advocating sloppy playing or messy production as such, but it is no secret that I am an old-school fanatic and I often find death metal that is very tight and precise comes off as a bit sterile to my ears. Noxis do counter that to some extent by veering towards a visceral brutality, which I often find to be a mitigating factor that can balance out overt technicality, at least to a degree. The vocals are, in the main, an aggressive and bullish, bellowing roar, which I like, but they do occasionally drop into "stuck-pig" mode, on second track "Blasphemous Mausoleum for the Wicked" for example, which is a style that is a particular bugbear of mine.

So there are a number of factors that work against Noxis, at least based on my normal taste profile. The technical shifts and flourishes, the very precise nature of the instrumentation and overly crisp production that often leaves me cold and the resorting to a vocal style I am not a fan of all suggest I am in for an unsatisfying experience. Yet, somehow Noxis manage to keep me onboard, probably due the suggestion of brutality they maintain throughout the runtime. This gets me through the early part of the album, which is where I think there is a greater concentration of the problematic elements for me, and sustains me enough to reach the second half which feels less technical and more in-your-face brutal. Then there is the crazy "Horns Echo Over Chorazim" which isn't only one of the most brutal-sounding tracks on the album, but also has a crazy solo section that seems to be performed by a large selection of wind instruments, such as oboe, saxophone and so on, each following the other to perform a single solo. Weird, yet strangely compelling.

The four tracks from "Horns..." onwards are more to my liking than the earlier parts of the album, with less emphasis on the technical aspects making the band sound freer, looser and more relatable for me at least. The title track, which follows "Horns.." is a formidable beast and sees the band hinting at an old-school desire to sound as intimidating as they can. There are still some interesting moments in this latter part of the album, the off-kilter guitar solo and especially prominent basswork in the middle section of "Emanations of the Sick" as well as the previously mentioned wind instrument solo in "Horns..." are inspirational and really stand out during these more brutal tracks, more so than I feel they would in the more overtly technical earlier material.

So, ultimately this was, for me, an album which started off OK without especially wowing me, but which kept me sufficiently engaged to persevere and find the buried gems that are the final four tracks. These are the motherlode of the album as far as I am concerned and would have made a killer EP, but as it is, this is a decent album of pseudo technical and brutal death metal with a killer final 22 minutes.

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0R0a3qxSe1XkOMxBN6gkwi?si=2dae8e2f5eab47eb

Tracklist:

1. Burn Down Eden - "Fake News for Breakfast" (from "Epiphany", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

2. Dismember – “Fleshless” (from “Indecent & Obscene”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

3. Nile – “The Underworld Awaits Us All” (from “The Underworld Awaits Us All”, 2024)

4. Gorguts – “The Erosion of Sanity” (from “The Erosion of Sanity”, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

5. Siderean - "The Sacred Sea" (from "Spilling the Astral Chalice", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

6. Bolt Thrower - "Celestial Sanctuary" (from "The IVth Crusade", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

7. Coffin Curse - "Reeking Filth of Ages" (from "The Continuous Nothing", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

8. Dissection - "Retribution" (from "Storm of the Light's Bane", 1995) [submitted by Karl]

9. Revocation - "Lessons in Occult Theft" (from "Netherheaven", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]

10. Blood Incantation - "The Stargate [Tablet III]" (from "Absolute Elsewhere", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

11. Vitriol - "Flowers of Sadism" (from "Suffer & Become", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

12. Diabolic Oath - "Oracular Hexations Leeching" (from "Oracular Hexations", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

13. At the Gates - "Windows" (from "The Red in the Sky Is Ours", 1992) [submitted by Karl]

14. Avulsed – “Morgue Defilement” (from “Dead Flesh” compilation, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

15. Mortician – “Brutally Mutilated” (from “Brutally Mutilated” single, 1990) [submitted by Daniel]

16. Exhumed – “Oozing Rectal Feast” (from “Dissecting the Caseated Omentum” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]

17. Pathologist – “Progression of Putrefaction” (from “Forensic Medicine & Pathology” demo, 1992) [submitted by Daniel]

18. Eucharist - "Floating" (from "A Velvet Creation", 1993) [submitted by Karl]

19. Black Curse - "Ruinous Paths…" (from "Burning in Celestial Poison", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

20. Atomic Aggressor - "Faceless Torment" (from "Sights of Suffering", 2014) [submitted by Sonny]

21. Slaughter Lord – “Die by Power” (from “Taste of Blood” demo, 1987) [submitted by Daniel]

22. Antagonyze - "Deadly Sorrow" (from "Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness", 2024) [submitted by Karl]

23. The Fallen Prophets - "Beneath the Veil of Flesh" (from "Beneath the Veil of Flesh", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]

24. Illdisposed – “When You Scream” (from “1-800 Vindication”, 2004) [submitted by Daniel]

25. Embalmer – “Rotten Body Fluids” (from “Rotting Remains” demo, 1993) [submitted by Daniel]

26. Invocation - "Hypnosis" (from ""The Archaic Sanctuary" (Ritual Body Postures)", 2024) [submitted by Sonny]

The next Horde playlist will be published at the beginning of March, so suggestions by 15th February please.

Fantastic choice, Daniel! The power metal-ish melodeath of Skyfire is a grand treat for any fan of Children of Bodom, Norther, and early Eternal Tears of Sorrow.