Eradikal Insane - Mithra

Artist: Eradikal Insane
Release Title: Mithra
Year: 2015
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Death Metal/Metalcore
Tracklisting:
1. A Perpetual Nothing
2. Initium
3. Sediments of Misconception
4. Consciousness Alight
5. Abrasive Harbingers
6. Mithra
7. Intrinsic Propensity
8. Archetypes
9. Harvest
10. Universal Spine
11. Metanoia

Founded back in 2004, French death metal/metalcore fusioners Eradikal Insane have certainly seen their share of struggles over the years and have honed the anger and intensity into a fine package. Finally making it to their debut effort, the group brings aboard several notable guests to join in the occasion as it’s independently released September 7, 2015.

Managing to take on several extreme subjects as a whole, this whole affair is really centered around it’s tight, grinding riff-work that offers plenty of enjoyable elements, fast, razor-sharp and filled to the brim with intense patterns, this is a furious hard-hitting assault that really works quite well at generating the kind of savage baseline to incorporate plenty of other extreme elements into their sound. The faster tempos at play here and technically-challenging riff-work featured with this also works in connection to that savagery, and when put together that gives this the kind of savage approach that’s buffered quite nicely by the album’s propensity to introduce breakdowns into their tracks. Played with the typical hardcore approach where it’s all about the stuttering start/stop approach that comes slamming to the forefront of the tracks, it takes plenty of hard-hitting action to the forefront of the tracks and manages to make for a much stronger and fully enjoyable offering with all the brutality present here. The fact that the album does manage to stumble slightly with it’s riff-work as the album appears way too one-note at times where it’s running through pretty similar patterns which tends to cause this one to get into rather familiar territories quite quickly especially during the middle portions where it’s run through numerous repetitious patterns already by that point and it’s quite obvious retreading on familiar ground. Likewise, the bands’ inclusion of breakdowns into their music might be a cause for concern for some as there’s a decided backlash against that kind of element mixed into their extreme metal, though it’s not all that bad overall.

Though there’s some minor flaws to be had here, some of it worthwhile and some of it due to personal preference, there’s still enough positives to be found here that there’s more than enough appeal to be had for those that can overlook the flaws to enjoy the extremity offered while those that aren’t in the slightest brought in by that nature should heed caution.

Score: 82/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://eradikalinsane.bandcamp.com/

KZOHH - Trilogy: Burn Out the Remains

Artist: KZOHH
Release Title: Trilogy: Burn Out the Remains
Year: 2016
Label: Ashen Dominion
Genre: Epic Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Panoukla DXLII
2. Crom Conaill
3. H19N18

Becoming one of their country’s better exports, Ukrainian black metallers KZOHH have brought a pestilent-style ritualistic approach to the genre as the group has continued on throughout this style throughout their work. A loaded concept album about the history of the flu throughout history, the supergroups’ third album in three years was initially released with a bonus live DVD September 30, 2016 on Ashen Dominion.

For the most part this here is remarkably consistent in that it simply consists of epic arrangements with plenty of long, meditative passages throughout here. That leaves this one with a long, droning nature that’s melded onto the overlong tracks with plenty of exceptionally drawn-out sections that take those meditative elements to the forefront quite easily. There’s little else on display with the minimalist music offering up no real deviation at all here with the album going for that meditative mood for the most part here and the minor elements added into the arrangements which give it a rather heavy Middle-Eastern vibe manage to bring about a slightly different element to it while still engaging in that minimalist, droning meditation-style series of rhythms. It does break out into ravenous blasting black metal at select occurrences that feature those traditional tremolo-picked riffing and energetic rhythms that are featured here, though this one doesn’t put them as much of a priority as others would which tends to make this seem like a rather overlong exercise without much payoff. It’s clearly obvious the traditional black metal segments aren’t the main focus here, but they are the most enjoyable and energetic as the rest of the music comes off as bland background-sounds found in a relaxation spa with a few whispery rasped vocal shouts thrown in and it’s not entirely engaging with the exhaustive lengths found here which makes them even more challenging to get through.

Though this one isn’t all that great at what it does since the specialized nature of their appeal isn’t that dependent on themes and issues relevant to the target audience, this one really leaves the group to appeal mostly to fans of this sort of relaxing meditative chamber music only while more traditional black metal fans should heed caution.

Score: 55/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://www.kzohh.com.ua

Abandoned by Light - Broken Mirrors to the Stars

Artist: Abandoned by Light
Release Title: Broken Mirrors to the Stars
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Depressive Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Broken Glass Trail
2. Seven Tears Are Flowing to the River (Nargaroth cover)
3. Frost Tinted Rose in the Sleeping Fields
4. Nackskott (Lifelover cover)
5. Death of a Silent God
6. Sterile Nails & Thunderbowels (Silencer cover)
7. The Eternal Sleep of the Dead
8. Don't Go (Happy Days cover)
9. Tearing Away the Veil of Night...
10. ...to Expose the Face of the Deep
11. Broken Mirrors to the Stars
12. .M.K.
13. Violating the Soulless Shrine of Failure
14. Nostalgia (Nocturnal Depression cover)
15. Abandoned by Light
16. Lost Wisdom (Burzum cover)
17. The Shimmering Radiance of the Dawning Horizon

One of the scenes’ more prolific artists, UK-based one-man depressive black metal act Abandoned by Light have carried on the style of their forebearers by pumping out numerous releases throughout the calendar year. Placed alongside several splits already, the groups’ second full-length of the year and eighth overall in just three years of existence is independently released September 10, 2016.

As is part of their heritage, the fact that this one here is such a cold, raw experience is the album’s main selling point as it offers up plenty of the genres’ typical output. This is typified by the excessively long, drawn-out riffing that utilizes ultra-simplistic plodding tremolo patterns that go about in many slight variations of the same tempo which creates an overall feeling of sameness throughout the album. This goes alongside the cold, plodding rhythms that are featured here which enhance the experience even more by leaving a lonely feel to the riffing and letting it carry on throughout a repetitive cadence that truly makes for an enhanced feeling of sorrow and despair in the arrangements. With the low-level vocals and drumming in the overall mix of the album letting the swirling riff-work at the forefront to be the biggest contributor to the album’s prevailing theme of sadness and loneliness. Still, that doesn’t take into account several other determining factors present in the album, too of which come together just simply by looking at the tracklist. The number of tracks comprising this official release is a gaudy amount that offers up severe resist from most simply on that scale along as the total number of just under twenty tracks is a daunting challenge to undertake. Even greater is the fact that a vast majority of these tracks challenge the ten-minute mark and several actually cross over into even greater lengths which together make this one of the most exhaustive listens in the genre as this is a near-impossible album to sift through in one sitting. Taking into account the droning, repetitive nature of the material which is so utterly effective at generating that type of sad, introspective experience here makes this an album that really struggles to remain listenable throughout it’s entirely as the two-and-a-half hour running time. Likewise, the need for so many covers on here is a slightly questionable choice as the possibility of removing several of them would help quell that somewhat, but still this is a very effective but daunting album to undertake.

Setting out to accomplish what it wants to manages to earn this one some rather strong marks, yet the other underlying factors present here in which the sheer draining, exhaustive nature of the album as a whole both in volume and concept of the material makes this one strictly for the most devout depressive black metal fanatics only.

Score: 64/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://perpetua.bandcamp.com/album/broken-mirrors-to-the-stars-4th-lp

Grave (Swe) - Out of Respect for the Dead

Artist: Grave (Swe)
Release Title: Out of Respect for the Dead
Year: 2015
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Swedish Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Intro / Mass Grave Mass
2. Flesh Before My Eyes
3. Plain Pine Box
4. Out of Respect for the Dead
5. The Ominous "They"
6. Redeemed Through Hate
7. Deified
8. Trail of Ungodly Trades
9. Grotesque Glory

Living through the ups and downs of the genre, Swedish death metal legends Grave have persevered through the trenches of the scene and have persevered for the most part to have now survived close to three decades of existence. Now after a three-year gap between releases bridged by a compilation EP, the powerhouse four-piece offers their eleventh full-length effort October 16, 2015 on Century Media Records.

This one is quite an easy and refreshingly simple release to get a handle on as it’s once again a simplistic take on the Stockholm death metal sound brought to life by one of the genre’s inventors. This is full of the prototypical approach and style found throughout the genre with this one going for the blaring buzzsaw-style grind so heavily popularized here with the swirling riff-work throughout with the pummeling thrash rhythms keeping this one fast, vicious and thoroughly intense which gives the band it’s staying power. There’s a loudness and immediacy to these tracks that makes for a highly enjoyable section on the album letting the striking rhythms taking centerstage with it never really deviating much from this style under only a few select circumstances. These minor variations are where the group drops out of the relentless bashing to deliver more of a swirling mid-tempo grace to the tracks that offer up a strong, plodding pace and more dynamics in the riff-work which makes for a more dynamic attack by meshing the viciousness with the cool-down periods. It’s a highly-familiar and unoriginal approach yet here’s it’s not that big of an issue as this is a band that started it all and is in fact among the bands being imitated. The fact that they’re one of the groups that launched this particular style and have given rise to dozens upon dozens of other bands not only in their home country but also abroad must be taken into account so it’s not all that big of a detriment here with the familiar ring blaring throughout this one.

Still going strong and still churning out top-notch, high-quality Swedish style death metal the old-school way, this is still one of the strongest bands in the scene and with this legacy still has the final word on the matter when all is said and done which not only makes this a strong release for those into the Swedeath style but also old-school death in general.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:

Sin of God - Aenigmata

Artist: Sin of God
Release Title: Aenigmata
Year: 2016
Label: Satanath Records/Murdher Records (co-release)
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. The Emerald Tablet
2. Phosphorus
3. Ignis Infernalis... Illuminate Us
4. Loss Leads into Impiety
5. Aenigmata
6. Altered States of Chaos
7. Deus Metamorphosis
8. The Great Lion Devours the Sun
9. The Human Worm

Taking their sound to it’s fullest extent, Hungarian old-school death metallers Sin of God have fully explored their devastating blend of traditional old-school death metal and a more technically-challenging grind to become one of the fiercest groups in their homeland. Now after four years of intense touring that has taken their work to a new level, the group prepares it’s second full-length effort September 23, 2016 on a co-release with Satanath Records and Murdher Records.

Carrying on from their previous releases, the group’s main attack here is a predominantly old-school approach that brings about the hard-charging chugging characterized by the US scene with a slew of ravenous, deep swirling riff-work that effectively evokes the churning atmosphere found there. As the tight, densely-packed riffing is given a rather blistering tone here with the full-tempo series of pounding drum-blasts and the charged, fiery technical riffing packed into it that manages to bring about the dynamic intensity along through the rhythms. The way this changes up between the tight, frantic and utterly blistering rhythms while still maintaining a strong, ominous mid-tempo lurch along throughout the tracks here while still managing that heavy, vicious energy is where this one really scores incredibly well here by offering up the burning technicality that charges along while still keeping the old-school tones present in utterly dominating fashion as the variety here is incredibly dynamic and manages to give this such a dynamic charge that there’s very little about the bands’ attack to dislike overall. The only issue that crops up within this one is the fact that the album’s got a remarkably low tone in which the guitars are recorded in, and though it’s dynamic, tight and crunchy there’s places where it tends to turn into a rather indecipherable blur of heavy buzzing rhythms that doesn’t become a detriment but is somewhat distracting with the way it causes them to come off. Still, there’s little else about this release to really cause an issue with.

Frankly this turned out to be quite the impressive and wholly dynamic offering that brings about many great positives and not a whole lot of issues here which are mostly just brought up by the production rather than any part of the music itself which really makes this such an intriguing choice for fans of old-school technical death metal or just old-school death in general.

Score: 95/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat158-sin-of-god-aenigmata-2016

Kausalgia - Dreamquest

Artist: Kausalgia
Release Title: Dreanquest
Year: 2016
Label: Saarni Records
Genre: Atmospheric Black/Dark Metal
Tracklisting:
1. The Call
2. Thorns
3. Sarastus
4. Stagnation
5. Dreamquest
6. Vihamiehet
7. Moss
8. As the Curtain Falls

Initially formed in 2004, Finnish atmospheric black/dark metallers Kausalgia spent numerous years as Hypotermia until a moniker change in 2010 as well as a style change from a rawer form of black metal into their more common atmospheric sound. As they’ve taken their time to hone this set-up, after three years in the studio the group finally prepares it’s full-length debut to be released July 18, 2016 on their own label Saarni Records.

From the beginning there’s a rather heavy blend of atmospheric and rather melodic blend of black metal that seems to be built around the tight, frantic series of swirling tremolo riff-work. That wraps into a mostly dynamic attack with the strong swirling patterns taking up plenty of rather impressive tempos here as the straightforward approach keeping the riffing rather frantic and furious. That atmosphere is allowed plenty of leeway to work with the album’s main penchant for utilizing long, drawn-out simplistic dark metal rhythms that bring these to a grinding halt with their rather plodding paces and a dropping of the atmospheric rhythms for more melodic tones that just really doesn’t offer up much in terms of generating the necessary energy to keep the black metal elements in check throughout here. From the soft, near-romantic rhythms that are accompanying the drawn-out, plodding paces alongside it all together in one package to the simple riffing patterns, there’s not a large amount of enjoyable elements present in these sections to keep this one interesting and they tend to grind the album to a halt with their bland rhythms. Frankly, the fact that this is still a debut album does mean this gets somewhat of a pass due to the group still trying to find their sound but it’s far more enjoyable without those elements present.

Though it does have a few problems here with the dark metal rhythms being rather bland at times, there’s still some rather enjoyable elements present here to provide enough of a launching pad as they go about their career in the future that they are a quite intriguing group for those who prefer this type of effort for the most part.

Score: 74/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://kausalgia.bandcamp.com/

Far Beyond - A Frozen Flame of Ice

Artist: Far Beyond
Release Title: A Frozen Flame of Ice
Year: 2016
Label: Aeterna Records
Genre: Symphonic Gothic/Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Evernight - Part I
2. The Song Remains the Same
3. A Frozen Flame of Ice
4. Last Farewell
5. Unrelenting Force
6. Evernight - Part II

Finally returning to his main project, German one-man symphonic gothic/black metal project Far Beyond marks the full return of the group following a decade of silence with mainman Eugen Dodenhoeft coming back after working on other groups in the meantime. Now recharged and more focused than ever with solid session musicians, they release the second full-length effort September 1, 2016 on Aeterna Records.

From the onset here this one is pretty heavily stepped in the symphonic air as the keyboards are given a dominant presence here with plenty of work-outs throughout here which gets this one involved in a grand, epic soundscape quite easily. There’s numerous amounts of bombastic keyboards going throughout here alongside the album’s mostly straightforward riff-work that goes for a more Gothic-tinged atmosphere here with the way in which it goes for the incredibly simply speed-metal passages filled with brimming melodies and slow, plodding rhythms that flow throughout the majority of the work here. While the way it goes for the main rhythms are pretty much unyielding in that manner as it generates these elements for the main part of the album and weaves those bombastic keyboards into these sections with gusto as it’s a heavily symphonic charge that generates that majestic sweeping atmosphere perfectly alongside the album’s preponderance of clean vocals that gives it a wholly warm and bombastic atmosphere. Even when it goes for the fun of the ravenous drumming and explosive up-tempo melodies this one still gets in a lot of work to really like about it, with the album’s one main departure here coming in the form of it’s rather epic nature that makes this a challenge to sit through at times. It’s just a touch too long for some and really offers up plenty to like with the epic song-structures but is such a massive epic that it might be a challenge to get into. It’s not a big detrimental, though, and doesn’t come close to overcoming the remaining enjoyment found here.

While it’s a pretty hefty album on the surface of it all, that’s not nearly enough to dispell the fact that there’s just so much rather fun and enjoyably massive arrangements here that whip together the Gothic and black metal movements that it serves as a fine choice for aficionados of that style or just symphonic black metal in general.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://farbeyond.bandcamp.com

Chine - Immament

Artist: Chine
Release Title: Immament
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Cephalophore
2. Floating
3. Behind the Vivid Light
4. A Thousand Cuts
5. I Forgive You
6. Tid for hämnd
7. Sky
8. Immanent

Furthering their own independent voice, Swedish melodic death metallers Chine continue to make inroads in the scene since their change-over into a technical and aggressive blend enriched with dark harmonies that were introduced into their sound. With the group now joined by bassist Tommy Erichson, guitar virtuoso Jokke Petterson and extreme singer Ola Svensson, their third full-length effort was independently released July 1, 2016.

Once this one gets going, this one tends to run through the more melodic, mid-tempo series of styles associated with the melodic death metal genre which manages to incorporate the album’s penchant for stuttering, chug-heavy metalcore-influenced riffing quite dominantly throughout here. There’s a heavy incorporation of thumping heavy breakdowns and even industrial-flavored keyboards added into that riffing style which is infused with those chugging riffs which is then played at quite a few varied tempos and paces which gives this somewhat a semblance of variety as there’s a bit of something for all fans of these particular styles that’s covered throughout here. Though that does leave this with a highly simplistic melody-heavy sound, there’s not much else working here for the band as this presents the album with several flaws. The biggest issue here is the fact that the album never really presents much of a dynamic at all within this one as it’s mostly just a solely simplistic take on the style which really continues on without much change throughout that’s really obvious here. Even more to the point, it’s all pretty simplistic-styled chugging that’s not all that popular anymore with the short-changed, stuttering rhythms coming off as part of the metalcore scene from about a decade previous which makes the album sound far less original than it really should. That sounds far less interesting as well with the industrial keyboards charging away with the melodic harmonies as well, keeping them prominent in the rhythms though there’s some rather troubling nature with that style. Even still, there’s not a whole lot elsewhere beyond this factor.

Despite the fact that there’s some rather bland work here that comes from it employing uninspired riffing with some pretty overdone keyboards that turns this into rather rudimentary work, there’s still some rather decent material on display that makes this somewhat appealing only for the most devout fan of melodic death metal/metalcore.

Score: 71.100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2pkAOKMiCMGu2ONsIyQLsy

Megascavenger - As Dystopia Beckons

Artist: Megascavenger
Release Title: As Dystopia Beckons
Year: 2016
Label: Selfmadegod Records
Genre: Swedish Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Rotting Domain
2. The Machine That Turns Humans into Slop
3. Dead City
4. As the Last Day Has Passed
5. The Hell That Is in This World
6. Dead Rotting and Exposed
7. Steel Through Flesh Extravaganza
8. The Harrowing of Hell
9. As Dystopia Beckons

One of the numerous bands in his resume, Swedish death metal project Megascavenger are part of multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire Rogga Johansson’s never-ending series of bands dedicated to keeping the flame alive for the original wave of Swedish-flavored death metal. Again gathering a horde of accomplished scene vocalists to join his instrumental assault, the projects’ third full-length album was released March 1, 2016 on Selfmadegod Records.

As is usual with Rogga’s trademark style, the main focus of the album is atmospheric Swedish death that whips the familiar churning buzzsaws through the blazing tremolo-accented riffing and plenty of flowing buzzsaw grooves that make for the ever-present Stockholm-style brand of Swedish death metal. Rumbling along with plenty of tight rhythms and the occasional burst into the charging mid-tempo chug patterns that make for quite a stylish burst of old-school Swedish death metal, and with the different vocalists present do give the songs a somewhat different vibe here with the different growling and shrieks generating a wholly varying atmosphere. This goes along with the album’s main drawback in the enhanced usage of industrial keyboards. This is so prominent in the second half of the album that it really derails the intensity and savageness of the first half and drags the album down considerably. It sounded so good and pummeling with the traditional Swedish-accented riffing and pummeling rhythms throughout here, yet this blaring, one-note keyboard work that just barges in on numerous tracks and drowns out the riffing or merges itself alongside these patterns causes it to really suffer from a sense of conflicting tones too great to really get the most out of what’s presented with the fun-if-derivative riffing providing this with some fun tracks yet this clanging intrusion really saps a lot of that out. It works on a few tracks as backing accents, but it really goes down when it overtakes the music which causes it to suffer.

Though it’s got a rather big and glaring problem to really overcome here in the hopes of getting to really like this one, there’s more than enough positives to like about it when it’s on that this one really seems to be in a strange middle-ground where Swedish-styled death fanatics who can stomach the industrial might like it while it might not have enough to please industrial fans, though any fanatic of Rogga’s work in general is advised to check it out.

Score: 79/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/as-dystopia-beckons

Acrania (Mex) - Fearless

Artist: Acrania (Mex)
Release Title: Fearless
Year: 2015
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Experimental Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. People of the Blaze
2. Poverty Is in the Soul
3. I Was Never Dead
4. Blinded by Power
5. Overflow
6. En el puerto
7. Hypocritical Conflict
8. Man's Search for Nothing
9. Point of Collision

Honoring their commitment to their genre, Mexican experimental death metal explorers Acrania are continuing to fuse their extravagant Latin roots with charging death metal rhythms, and the group’s full potential is quite a unique experimental side. With their full compliment of musicians again providing this one with fantastic work all around, their third full-length album was independently released April 25, 2015.

As is to be expected here considering their origins, the band is really all about exploring the connection between their latin hometown and more traditional metal roots with a fiery display of mainly Latin percussion and rhythms in their arrangements as the dominant factor here. Offering up such non-traditional death metal instrumentation here from the trumpet, saxophone and other discordant jazz percussion amongst their rhythms with plenty of fiery death metal riff-work thrown into the mix, the result is incredibly dynamic and offers up plenty of strong dissonant and utterly schizoid arrangements that recall more of a freeform Latin-influenced jazz band than traditional death metal. The strongest point here is that this works for the bands’ favor as this bizarre mixture is strongly performed while giving them a truly unique and original voice in the genre by combining two seemingly disparate elements that shouldn’t come together at all sound quite fun together and even with the challenging nature of the arrangements it’s still a highly listenable and enjoyable effort with plenty of enjoyable elements about it. Though it does work quite often, it does stumble at times where it’s plodding Latin rhythms and percussion here end up causing this to slow down into samba or salsa-styled tempos that are so far from traditional metal-works that it might turn off fans here looking to see this infusion work as it reminds the avantgarde nature of this mixture too much. Still, there’s too much to really love about this one that it’s barely a detriment and not all that impactful all that much.

Graced with plenty to like here with a strong, unique voice with their strong and enjoyable mixture of work that’s truly one of the most dynamic attacks in this style, there’s plenty of enjoyable elements on display for fans of adventurous Latin-flavored metal music to get into this one or those inquiring about the potential of the fusion on display.

Score: 90/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://acraniaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/fearless