Daniel's Forum Threads
Chelsea Wolfe - "Birth of Violence" (2019)
I've intended on exploring some of Wolfe's solo material in more detail for a long time now (ever since falling in love with her collaboration with Converge "Bloodmoon: I" back in 2020 actually) but haven't gotten around to it until now, although I have skipped through her 2015 "Abyss" record on occasion. "Birth of Violence" is Chelsea's ninth full-length & sees her combining gothic country & dark folk to brilliant effect. Her voice is incredibly powerful yet super-sweet at the same time & I have to admit that I've somewhat fallen in love with her talents over the past week. This record is dark & introspective yet still devastatingly emotive & dynamic & I can't help but feel that it's been heavily underrated as I consider it to be nothing short of classic.
For fans of Emma Ruth Rundle, Jay Jayle & Darkher.
4.5/5
Hecate Enthroned - "Upon Promeathean Shores (Unscriptured Waters)" E.P. (1995)
I picked up the debut release from these British black metallers through my Neuropath circles at around the time of release & quite liked it. "Upon Promeathean Shores" was originally released as Hecate Enthroned's second demo tape "An Ode for a Haunted Wood" but ended up getting a proper release through the Blackend label shortly afterwards. There is really no doubt as to the artist that Hecate Enthroned most admire because this is very much an attempt to clone Cradle of Filth's 1994 debut album "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" but it's not a bad effort as the quality level is quite close, even if the musicianship is not quite there yet. Future Cradle of Filth bassist Jon Kennedy's high-pitched shrieks are uncannily similar to Dani Filth's actually & one would imagine that he'd spent a fair bit of time in front of his bedroom mirror while staring at a poster of Dani. The tracklisting does tend to fade over the last couple of tracks but there's still enough decent material included here to justify a couple of listens.
For fans of Cradle of Filth, Anorexia Nervosa & Graveworm.
3.5/5
Just finished season 10 of "The Walking Dead" &, while I did enjoy it, I think it was a little poorly structured & a bit long. They should never have ended it with an historical episode that really didn't do anything to leave me hanging for season 11 either. It's one of the show's weaker series in my opinion.
Dark Tranquillity - "The Gallery" (1995)
I wasn't much of a fan of this Swedish melodeath pioneer's 1993 debut album "Skydancer" but was impressed enough by their follow-up "The Gallery" to purchase it on CD upon release. It's interesting that I thought it was pretty great at the time but haven't felt like giving it a revisit in decades which is telling really. It shows that I had perhaps overrated the album's appeal & that was proven this week as it can't compete with the most elite releases from the subgenre in my opinion. It's certainly very consistent in its quality with no week tracks included & the compositional & structural work is quite ambitious. It's just that I don't connect with the more overtly Iron Maiden-inspired melodeath as much as most extreme metal fans (at least not in modern times) & "The Gallery" is a prime example of that sound.
For fans of In Flames, At the Gates & Insomnium.
3.5/5
Here's my adjusted Top Ten Melodic Death Metal Releases of All Time list:
01. At The Gates – “Slaughter Of The Soul” (1995)
02. Stortregn - "Finitude" (2023)
03. Carcass – “Heartwork” (1993)
04. Sentenced – “North From Here” (1993)
05. In Mourning – “The Weight Of Oceans” (2012)
06. The Breathing Process - “Odyssey (un)Dead” (2010)
07. Unanimated - "In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead" (1993)
08. Amorphis - "The Karelian Isthmus" (1992)
09. Amorphis - "Tales From The Thousand Lakes" (1994)
10. At The Gates - "Terminal Spirit Disease" (1994)
https://metal.academy/lists/single/147
I have been on an exploration of The Fallen clan releases from 2010 and sound found myslef back with Wolvserpent also:
Wolvserpent - "Blood Seed" (2010)
In terms of my exploration of The Fallen clan, one sub-genre that is noted as “not for me” is drone metal. Unable to fathom the appeal of Sunn O))), Earth or Khanate despite numerous attempts, I soon got to the opinion that this was never an area of music that I was going to gel with. Then I remembered Wolvserpent. I recalled how I had become lost in the ethereal beauty of their Perigaea Antahkarana and Aporia:Kala:Ananta releases from over a decade ago. How the haunting strings of violins played by a seemingly melancholy soaked set of troubled spirits had soothed my frantic thoughts before a crashing riff came in to wipe away any lingering fears in my soul.
As soon as I put Blood Seed on recently, I quickly found myself in the exact same space. This is the debut from the now defunct duo, from back in 2010 when the pair had been around for five years prior as Pussygutt. Brittany McConnell handled the drums as well as that tormented violin sound and Blake Green covered guitar and vocals. Not that vocals play a big part in the debut (or indeed any other release from Wolvserpent), the band have always been about the music, and this was set out very clearly on their first release. Side A is a single track, ‘Wolv’ and the ‘Serpent’ track makes up side B. I can imagine a wolf or two padding around some dark forests, hunting for prey, searching for signs of life to take from unsuspecting animals to the first track. The choral style howls and guttural gurns perhaps imitating the language between the menacing pack of predators (or maybe the screams of the victims?). At over twenty-two-minutes long, this track requires attention to fully embrace the magic of it, yet I find this a very easy ask to comply with.
‘Serpent’ lands a little shorter in duration at the eighteen-minute mark. Straight out the blocks, I can envisage a coiled snake, slowly unfurling itself to the nightmarish atmospheres that open the track. Brittany’s violin is accompanied by some distant howls (the ‘Wolv’ I suspect) courtesy of the guitar of Blake and a tense atmosphere permeates between the instrumentation. You may have noticed by now dear reader, that for someone who opened this review by remarking how little they like drone metal, I have managed to wax lyrical about a drone metal release for over two paragraphs thus far. In my defence, I think Wolvserpent are a different offering to any of the other bands that I mentioned above. They have more obvious “sections” to their tracks, incorporating varied elements of sludge (around the six-minute mark of track 2), doom, dark folk, chamber music as well as drone also of course.
Although repetition is still a mainstay here, there is enough going on at any given time to keep me focused entirely on Blood Seed, which is the similar experience that I have of their other releases I am familiar with. In short, all of drone may well not be a write off for me after all.
4/5
Another month of feature releases and I managed all of them again (although I had already listened to The Pit, The Infinite and The Gateway offerings beforehand).
It was a solid month from the site members, although I struggled to get much from most of my non-clans. The pick of the bunch (as I knew it would be) for me was the Swallowed album from The Horde that I nominated. I actually pegged it back from a perfect score though as it did push me a bit too far in the end.
Converge - Love Is Not Enough (2026)
Genre: Metalcore
Considering that I'm trying hard to diversify my 2026 chart more and I've already heard a good deal of metal for the year, there aren't many metal bands I'd break the rule for. But this year's got a couple banger bands I'm already huge on. This: it's a CONVERGE album. Even this late in their career, are we to expect disappointment? It's doing surprisingly well with the metalcore community, even nine years after their last studio album (not counting that collab in 2021). Having said that, this album is made up of many of the same elements that many previous Converge albums are driven on. We get the sludge, the crossover, the mathcore, and it manages to be some of the heaviest shit you'll ever hear without going into black or death, yet again. With every song feeling different from the last, this short and sweet album delivers the full Converge experience, which means the band is still in good form. However, what is the SONGWRITING quality in comparison to like albums from the past? Still good. Inspiring even, but like The Dusk in Us, it's more simplistic and less surprising overall. Of course, one interesting surprise was that 2.5 minute dark ambient track in the middle, which stands out from the choice of genre alone but is relatively just a somewhat interesting midtro to the album and intro to the track Amon Amok if anything. But despite this, all other aspects of Converge, including the ability to write completely different songs with the same identity, as well as their indomitable heaviness, remains the same. In their efforts to remain Converge, they've lost none of their identity. I may even put this in EXACTLY the same league as The Dusk in Us.
92
Roland Kayn - "Tektra" (1984)
Now, this release was a serious challenge given its enormous 292-minute run time which takes up 6 LPs or 4 CDs. It's taken me a full week (or more) to get through three full listens but the effort was thoroughly rewarded with one of the most forward-thinking, ground-breaking releases I've ever encountered. If you like drone then look no further because most of this material is utterly transcendent. I find it to be utterly ridiculous that "Tektra" was released way back in 1984.
For fans of Bernard Parmegiani, Eliane Radigue & Alvin Lucier.
4.5/5
Black Lodge - "Covet" (1995)
Ben & I jumped onboard with this one-off album from an obscure Norwegian doom/death outfit back around the time of release & both really enjoyed it. Black Lodge were a six-piece band that included female clean vocalist Monica Pedersen (Sirenia), bassist Halvor Larsen (Ljå) & drummer Frode Gundersen (Twin Obscenity) among others. Their sound was quite dirty & authentic while offsetting that filthiness with the beautiful vocals of Pederson whose contribution reminds me quite a bit of The 3rd & the Mortal. My Dying Bride were clearly an influence but Black Lodge give "Covet" their own unique flavour which is contributed to by the production job which features a guitar tone that wouldn't have seemed out of place on an Autopsy record. Highly recommended.
For fans of Paradigma, Unholy & Mindrot.
4/5
Oh it's a rabbit hole for sure there's an entire gigantic iceberg chart dedicated to it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IcebergCharts/comments/1466qe1/experimentalavantgarde_metal_iceberg_500_entries/#lightbox
Damaged - "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" E.P. (1995)
While I quite liked 1993's "Do Not Spit" debut album from Ballarat extremists Damaged, I'd suggest that it offered more potential than it did class. It would be their second noteworthy release "Passive Backseat Demon Engines" from two years later that would see that potential finally coming to fruition as it's a better-produced & generally more exciting effort. The E.P. is simply better able to harness unadulterated violence of a Damaged live show in my opinion with Matt 'Skitz' Sanders' insane drumming & Jamie Ludbrooke's ultra-abrasive vocals being the main focal points. The signature Damaged sound from that period is a unique blend of death metal & grindcore with a noticeable groove metal component (that's obviously been borrowed from "Far Beyond Driven"-era Pantera) & an industrial edge to the guitar work. Forget about the links with metalcore/deathcore because they're totally misguided. This is the sound of a psychotic, out-of-their-mind, mullet-wearing ice-addict ripping through a porn shop in search of their next fix.
For fans of Blood Duster, King Parrot & Fuck...I'm Dead.
4/5
Dying Fetus - "Purification Through Violence" (1996)
I picked up the debut album from this legendary Maryland-based brutal death metal act through the tape trading scene at the time of release after quite enjoying (not to mention being influenced by) Dying Fetus' two early 90's demo tapes "Bathe in Entrails" & "Infatuation with Malevolence". "Purification Through Violence" offers more of the same (as does pretty much the entirety of Dying Fetus' recording career to tell you the truth) & suffers from the same limitations & failings which contribute to me awarding every one of their successive releases the same middling rating. Yes, the silly sweep-picking flourishes are here... so are the excellent hardcore-inspired slams... & don't forget those over-the-top dual vocals. Still... I'll always have time for this band, even in this more primitive form where their technical prowess is still clearly a work in progress. These boys played a big part in developing the brutal death metal sound that I was doing my best to replicate at the time, although I'd argue that I may have been doing it a little better than they were at this point if I'm being completely honest. Regardless, "Purification Through Violence" isn't Dying Fetus' worst record. It's not close to their best either but there's so little between their best & worst that it doesn't really matter too much. If pushed, I'd probably take "Purification Through Violence" over records like 2007's "War of Attrition", 2003's "Stop at Nothing" & even 1998's highly regarded "Killing on Adrenaline" sophomore record, not to mention the "Bathe in Entrails" demo tape.
For fans of Suffocation, Misery Index & Skinless.
3.5/5
Rammstein - "Herzeleid" (1995)
I've quite enjoyed the three Rammstein albums I've explored up until this point but I can't say that any of them are likely to receive a return visit. I simply don't think I can connect with the band on a stylistic level enough for that but it's enough of a connection to see me venturing back to their well-respected debut album for the first time this week & the results have been very similar. There's perhaps a stronger dance music influence on this material than on Rammstein's later releases which really cements their Neue Deutsche Härte crown while some of their thrashiest riffage adorns the stronger material on the tracklisting, even if it's still astoundingly basic in its construction. There are a couple of flat moments included here (see "Du riechst so gut" & "Laichzeit") but these are offset by two clear highlights in "Weisses Fleisch" & "Rammstein" which gives "Herzeleid" the same middling feel that I've found with records like 1997's "Sehnsucht", 2001's "Mutter" & 2004's "Reise, Reise". "Mutter" is still my pick of the first four Rammstein records but I've been pleasantly surprised to find that "Herzeleid" has now positioned itself into second position, mainly off the back of slightly greater consistency. Can I see myself venturing further into the Rammstein back catalogue? Yeah, probably.... but I'm also well aware that it's more of a box-ticking exercise than one that leaves me with genuine hope of finding anything that offers me anything longer-term.
For fans of OOMPH!, Megaherz & Eisbrecher.
3.5/5
Kreator - Krushers of the World (Released 13/01/26)
Since the turn of the century Kreator have taken to releasing a new album every four or five years and here we are at the beginning of 2026, with the world turning to shit, and the Teutonic Titans delivering full-length number 16. With Mille and Ventor both turning 60 this year, it would be overly optimistic to expect that they will ever reproduce the bile and venom that they unleashed with their classic period which spanned from "Pleasure to Kill" to "Coma of Souls". Indeed, they haven't really issued anything essential since 2005's "Enemy of God". This does not, however, mean that a new Kreator album deserves to be ignored. No, far from it because, although "Krushers of the World" is inconsistent and patchy, occasionally a brief glimpse of former brilliance does shine through.
There are riffs a-plenty and there is a decent energy to the album, but on the whole this latest is a little too groove-laden for my particular taste with choruses that often seem to have been written with optimum catchiness in mind and, as such, it lacks the biting venom of the band's best work. Some of the best moments come from the guitar solos which are deployed more sparingly than I would like, but when they are used, such as during "Barbarian and "Combatants"," they elevate the tracks with a level of intensity that the riffs and vocals don't quite encapsulate. For my money, the clear highlight of the album is "Psychotic Imperator". It sounds the closest to classic-era Kreator with an added choral section and a searing guitar solo that elevate it to head and shoulders above the rest of the album.
I guess that "Krushers of the World" delivers pretty much what you would expect from a Kreator album at this stage of their career, being cast into shadow by the monumental magnificence of their best and trying a little too hard to capture listeners with sometimes overtly catchy choruses. I am sure there are many who couldn't wait to tear this apart and I have no wish to join them as nothing here is actually poor but, apart from the aforementioned "Psychotic Imperator" I can't hear too much that will keep me returning to this either.
3.5/5
I am pleasantly surprised by this album if I am honest. I was so pissed off by their last studio album that I gave it a 2.5 rating, and it fucking deserved it. This one is a different beast to my ears, the melodeath elements combine with the thrashing intensity we have come to expect of Teutonic thrash almost perfectly. I cannot say the record is absent of filler and I am not a fan of the track with the singer from Hiraes on it either, but album number sixteen is a solid affair, well played, memorable and carrying some thankfully familiar levels of intensity.
Basic Channel - "Q 1.1" E.P. (1993)
The second E.P. from this legendary German techno duo is almost as impressive as their first but is perhaps a touch less consistent. It sees the dub techno godfathers veering away from their dubbier sound towards more of a traditional techno one that offered me just as much appeal. I can vividly remember playing A1 & B1 (my personal favourite) in my club DJ sets & receiving very strong responses while I also took A2 along with me on occasion but are not sure I ever got around to dropping it. I love the organic drum machine sounds of old & they're masterfully layered over smooth synth stabs here which ensures that "Q 1.1" E.P. should be essential listening for any aspiring techno nuts out there.
For fans of Maurizio, Cyrus & Porter Ricks.
4/5