2024 by UnhinderedbyTalent

Once again, Ulcerate have delivered. I can think of no higher praise to heap on this record other to say that once it starts, I never want it to stop. As someone who is rarely moved emotionally by music nowadays, I find Cutting the Throat of God to be a welcome sensory wrench and a deeply stirring and fervent emotional experience at the same time. The expansive complexity is there as I have come to expect (although for me it sounds a little more dialled back overall – more on that later), yet the sense that there is a titanic shift within my very being ongoing is far more disorientating than the technical aptitude of the musicians and their songwriting.

This is a well-written black metal album. Even taking to one side the clear Emperor-style synths, the grim yet majestical tropes of Satyricon and the cold fury of early Immortal, there is plenty of other elements to sink your ears into. Deploying choral arrangements, animal noises and an operatic interlude even, Verses in Oath haunts the listener instead of opting for the more constant, frenzied attack of so many other peers. This is an album that has thought behind it, a nefarious intention though it may be, I for one welcome it with open arms.

For performing with sheer abandon alone, Black Curse get a five-star rating. The wall of noise that underpins their sound is a swarming entity that envelopes all in its path. The whole record sounds like it was recorded in the bowels of the earth itself, erupting from its core like volcanoes spewing utter despair and blatant disregard for life. The chaos is so tightly contained it borders on being overwhelming. The music swirls around your head like taunting demons, undertaking pretty much the same dizzying exploits as they fly into your ears, disorientating your senses.

To infer that Burning in Celestial Poison is nothing more than pure, blunt-force trauma to the head metal is unfair a reflection as this feels a very calculated level of clawing stealth. These five tracks make for a complete experience. Without checking the lyrics, I would go as far as to say there is something of a concept at play here (technically tracks 4 and 5 are one song – according to the booklet anyway). If it is a rampant blackened death metal journey you are after to close out 2024 then look no further folks. However, do not think this as simple an offering as you might first think.

You cannot fail to be sucked into this record if you like Cryptopsy, Demilich or Adremalech. In an age where death metal suffers from endless regurgitation of the old school sound, it is not always sufficient to simply extend the already well-established bloodline that started in the 90’s. Unless, you are super tight at playing your weapons of choice, which Noxis most certainly are. Enter current Nunslaughter drummer Joe Lowrie. Described in an interview as being a “cyborg” by his bandmates, he gives a strong performance across the ten tracks that make up the record. Now, he is no Saint Merat (we even get straight up d-beat drumming on the title track), and he doesn’t need to be given that this is a very different sound to the expansive soundscapes of Ulcerate. However, when coupled with Kirsch’s bass work (which is top notch) the two instruments become a singular unit almost, pulling and pushing tracks in different directions. This creates lots of opportunity to put those riffs front and centre, something that Dylan Cruz manages to achieve fantastically. That groovy riff that opens Torpid Consumption is real “get your eyes back on the road” moment, and the album is simply littered with such occasions (such as the title track) that make you stop whatever you are doing and put more of your attention onto Violence Inherent in the System.

Showing an ability to play some more conventional and battering death metal amid their expansiveness, Replicant can deliver Demilich style, frenzied pace alongside pounding rhythms that would not sound out of place on a Pestilence record. All the while the depraved sounding vocals (which match Mr Lemay perfectly) spread this ethos of utter hopelessness and despair. Replicant’s view of things is certainly bleak to say the least.

At a base level, this is some perfectly well executed death/doom. The slow, agonising sections that link together a track like Gut-Brain Axis are essential listening for fans of the sub-genre. They brilliantly map the relationship between the gut health and brain health of a truly terrifying sounding creature. Where this album starts to impress beyond the confines of its core sub-genre traits are with the sonics that surround the guitar work though. Creating atmosphere is clearly one of Slimelord’s better qualities and between Alexander Bradley and Krystian Zamojski they use their combined string prowess to really lift the whole sound out of that familiar death/doom dirge. When combined with some of the off-kilter time signatures (Splayed Mudscape, as an example), I soon found myself mightily impressed with what the duo could achieve.

Clearly put together by accomplished artists, the contributors to this album come from a varied palate of metal experience. The drums from a brutal death metal background, the guitars are more deathcore (yet Steve Jansson of epic doom outfit, Crypt Sermon fame guests on track three) with supremo Kyle Rasmussen showing his agility on leads and riffs alike. That is not to say that the experience of the riffs on the album is them being deathcore sounding. Whilst there most certainly is a hint of it somewhere, as a band Vitriol have a huge amount of Hate Eternal influence here alongside the grindcore sounding aspects of Cattle Decapitation (thankfully minus the horrible vocals of the latter band). With nods to Nile, Morbid Angel and Cryptopsy, the group allow a healthy platform of death metal staples to shape Suffer & Become. The solo work is some of the best I have heard in a long time. I have lost count of how many death metal albums I have heard over the last five years alone that are sadly redundant in the lead work department. Rasmussen and Ellis are fucking beasts though. Think Morbid Angel at their Altars… or Blessed… best (minus a lot of the swarming chaos) and you are on the right track.

I have skipped a couple of Gatecreeper releases since I reviewed their Sonarian Depravation release from 2016. Reading their write up on this latest album they encourage the listener to view Dark Superstition as their Wolverine Blues or Massive Killing Capacity moment, promising that like the artists on these albums, Gatecreeper have become tighter and are "doing their own thing". If I am honest they sound exactly like I remember them the last time and even after four listens I am still no nearer to finding any dramatic nuances to what I already find to be a very endearing sound to begin with. Where Dark Superstition does draw influence from Entombed and Dismember is definitely still obvious though as those crunchy riffs keep hacking away at the listener with a relentless intensity, accompanied those spewing and gruff vocals that so perfectly capture the old school (Bolt Thrower-like) roots of the band.

Going back to the positives, the musicianship is top notch across the album. The guitar work standing out as the obvious highlight for me. I cannot comment how much Glenn Tipton contributes to the album given his Parkinson’s condition, but he and Faulkner are still a superb combination. Halford’s voice continues to hold up well even though it is not necessarily at the same quality level of old. Only the drums and bass come off poorly in the mix (not that Hill has ever really had a huge presence on any JP album of old) with the drums sounding muted in the mix overall, notwithstanding that they do have to compete with two strong guitarists and a legendary vocalist of course.

I find this album to carry a very organic style to it. Nothing here sounds forced; to the point, in fact, where it all sounds like it just comes so darn naturally to Dakkar and Vindok. At six albums in to their career, you could argue that they fucking well should know what they are doing by now. Fact is, they create this rich and luscious tapestry without sounding like they are even breaking sweat in doing so. Far from being just a melodic bm album, this record is an album that knows how to embrace melody without doing so at the expense of darkness. Harnessing a maturity in their songwriting, Narbeleth add depth without looking to experimental techniques or sound. Instead they present variety to pace and tempo perfectly and I think this makes the album sound more melodic than it actually is.