Anata - The Infernal Depths of Hatred

Artist: Anata
Release Title: The Infernal Depths of Hatred
Year: 1998 (2016 reissue)
Label: Season of Mist (KaosKvlt 2016 reissue)
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Released When You Are Dead
2. Let the Heavens Hate
3. Under Azure Skies
4. Vast Lands/Infernal Gates
5. Slain upon His Altar
6. Those Who Lick the Wounds of Christ
7. Dethrone the Hypocrites
8. Aim Not at the Kingdom High
9. Day of Suffering [Morbid Angel cover]

Having formed in 1993, Swedish technical death metal powerhouse Anata have taken their name from an Egyptian goddess of war and secured people from animal attacks and was brought to Egypt from Syria by Hyksos in the beginning of 17. century B.C., which matches the intensity and power of the bands’ attack. Following up a pair of highly-acclaimed demos, the bands’ debut full-length was originally released October 4, 1998 on Season of Mist before a vinyl re-issue October 21, 2016 on KaosKvlt.

From the outset, this here is patently dynamic and charging death metal of the highest caliber as it focuses quite heavily on its genre leanings to generate plenty of enjoyable elements. This mostly focuses on bringing along the challenging traditional death metal patterns and furious rhythms that inject copious amounts of speed and energy into the works while offering spindly leads and driving chunks of meaty riffing to great effect. That these here generate the kind of complex, utterly schizoid brand of technical death is the greatest virtue for the record, offering that kind of material with remarkable skill yet still featuring a rather heavy charge that grounds the whole album in a great weight that’s more in keeping with the traditional varieties on display throughout here. This really makes for a dynamic and impressive effort alone of the fact that there’s the added bonus of enhanced melodic elements interspersed alongside many of these driving rhythms. Though it’s quite predominantly rooted in the frenzied side of the genre, this one can place lighter riffing into extended sections and even introduce twinkling rhythms all mashed together into a strong, stylish whirlwind that’s immensely pleasurable and creates a strong, cohesive attack throughout here. The melodies on display shore up the savage, driving rhythms even better while focusing on the technical skillset needed to wrap these disparate elements together so as not to let any part of the album overwhelm the other, which makes this one of the finest to accomplish this and works so well for the album as a whole.

On the whole this here is one of the genre’s most revered and enjoyable albums for a reason as there’s a little of something for every part of the genre’s fans to enjoy about it, whether it be the technical showmanship, the driving energetic rhythms or the sparkling melodies and leaves this a solid purchase for fans of the style in general.

Score: 96/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue here:
http://shop.season-of-mist.com/anata-the-infernal-depths-of-hatred-lp

Sepulchral Curse - At the Onset of Extinction EP

Artist: Sepulchral Curse
Release Title: At the Onset of Extinction EP
Year: 2016
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Envisioned in Scars
2. In Purifying Essence
3. Gospel of Bones
4. Disrupting Lights of Extinction

Advancing leaps and bounds, Finnish death/black metallers Sepulchral Curse have not entirely left behind their old school death metal past to incorporate Scandinavian black metal influences, merging it with their irrepressible Finnish brand of death metal. Taking a two-year gap to get the release out, the groups’ second effort is released December 16, 2016 on Transcending Obscurity Records.

As befits their newfound influences, the group displays a rather damaging and utterly impressive attack within here that brings their work together into a cohesive whole. Still raging through the old-school death metal realm, the dominance of the deep, churning rhythms and swirling patterns throughout here keeps this one barrelling forward with the utterly dominating atmosphere that’s helped along tremendously by the mainly furious, up-tempo attack featured. That high-speed attack makes the churning riff-work all the more impressive here, and with the newfound influences of melodic tremolo-picked rhythms that are interspersed along the way it creates a nice balance to these raging rhythms by allowing the tempo to drop into sprawling melodic sections that still retain a dense bite while owning to the charging ferocity displayed. This does strike as a minor point of annoyance as there are only four tracks on the release and it strikes as leaving it wanting more in that regard but as a primer for an upcoming album it’s quite impressive overall.

Without a whole lot of real flaws in the music and charging along with plenty of positive points gleaned from their rather impressive introduction of enjoyable elements to their sound, this is a wholly worthwhile effort for any fan of their past work, old-school death metal fans or the style in general.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://sepulchralcurse.bandcamp.com/album/at-the-onset-of-extinction-blackened-death-metal

Toxic Ruin - Subterranean Terror

Artist: Toxic Ruin
Release Title: Subterranean Terror
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Submerged in Chaos
2. Immolation
3. Seat of Corruption
4. Subterranean Terror
5. The Human Condition
6. Rampage
7. ...of What Lies Beneath
8. Lord of Pandemonium
9. Alcoholocaust
10. Toxic Ruin

Formed realistically in 2014, Wisconsin-based thrashers Toxic Ruin formed from the ashes of heavy metal cover act The Ruin and took several members of the last remaining lineup into the new harder, faster version of the band. Shifting away from the heavy metal sound into this thrash-based variety, the group is finally able to offer their self-released full-length debut August 11, 2016.

For the main part of the album, there’s very little about this one that displays anything less than a galloping thrash assault. Fully utilizing the bands’ heavy metal past as the framework their riffing style, the band implements more of a simplistic chugging for the majority of the attack which is what makes for a somewhat bland general attack here with the band not really offering up anything overly dynamic or impressive here beyond spindly leads and dexterous drum work which can be found on dozens of others out there. It’s when the band drops that ploy in favor of more furious, charging elements here that this one really picks up nicely as it lets the riffing drop the plodding chug-based rhythms in favor of a more fluid thrashing style that’s a lot more vibrant, full of energy and offers even more twisting, churning patterns here that are far more enjoyable than their plodding mid-tempo style. Unfortunately, this isn’t a dominant factor through enough of the album to really generate the kind of impressive overall feel and tone it could’ve had since the blander stylings take center stage here for far more sections of the album and leave this only to selected pieces of tracks which make it all so frustrating when it features pieces of enjoyable sections on parts of the tracks. Granted, this is far better accomplished in the second half where that takes much more precedence than the first half yet is still a problem on the album overall.

Although there are a few problems found here that come from the album’s really bland sections taking up a rather large part of this one, the fact that there’s enough ravenous work on display to counter that does leave this one to be a rather curious piece worthwhile only for the most undiscerning thrash fanatic.

Score: 69/100

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

Perpetual Demise - Arctic

Artist: Perpetual Demise
Release Title: Arctic
Year: 1996 (2016 reissue)
Label: DSFA Records (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Doom/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Of Confusion and Brutality
2. The Lord Paramount
3. Arctic
4. The Observer
5. Pyramids
6. Fall
7. Triangle Eye
8. The Tower
9. Upon Dark Grounds
10. On the Edge
11. Denial & Faith

Reissue tracklisting:
1. Of Confusion and Brutality
2. The Lord Paramount
3. Arctic
4. The Observer
5. Pyramids
6. Fall
7. Triangle Eye
8. The Tower
9. Upon Dark Grounds
10. On the Edge
11. Denial & Faith
12. Where the Ancients Remain
13. Cynical Control
14. Scarred by Silence
15. Awaiting the Unexpected
16. Conspiracy of Fear
17. Massacre to Be

Founded back in 1989, disbanded Dutch doom/death metal band Perpetual Demise quickly rose through the ranks of the underground on the strength of several strong demos and finally got their debut release out before ultimately disbanding. Having gotten to the last stage of their set-up, the groups’ sole full-length album was originally released in 1996 before getting a remastered reissue with bonus tracks November 25, 2016 on Vic Records.

This here manages to come off rather nicely in being quite an impressive and frankly engaging aspect of merging old-school influenced doom and death metal. The riff-work here is the greatest aspect of this one, managing to keep this one going along quite nicely with plenty of tight, churning patterns here recalling the type of death metal elements prominent at the time while still maintaining the kind of backbone required to gallop along at a few rather random spots with the uptempo rhythms and plenty of pounding rhythms blaring away, yet the vast majority of this one still carries with it ravenous doom metal characteristics in the plodding, sprawling tempos and addictive atmosphere. Given that this is furthered augmented by the use of clean vocals during a few select passages to further enhance the melodic quotient of the material throughout here, and overall this one manages to contain quite a varied and wholly appreciative cross-section here with the variety. The main problem with all this though is that there’s not a great deal of interesting work done here as the album generally resorts to rather repetitive means here to generate the vast majority of its death metal leanings by carrying on the same style of churning patterns throughout here for the duration of those segments. This leaves the album feeling really familiar by the time it’s over by going through the same overly-familiar rhythms and feelings here which is only enhanced by the rather curious decision to include the stuttering melodic rhythms throughout here which are wholly out-of-place and just sound like discordant clanging without any definitive direction. These here tend to drag the score of this one down.

Though this may very well be the definite version of this release due to the greater artwork, the enhanced sound, and spectacular bonus tracks, the fact that the music, on the whole, doesn’t really stand out a great deal overall here makes this one solely for the most devout and hardcore followers of Dutch death metal or doom/death metal in general.

Score: 78/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue here:
http://www.hrrshop.de/PERPETUAL-DEMISE-Artic-CD_1

Narvik - Ascension to Apotheosis

Artist: Narvik
Release Title: Ascension to Apotheosis
Year: 2016
Label: Folter Records
Genre: Old-School Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Invokation II
2. Wounds of Aspiration
3. Geist zu Scherben
4. Psychotic Redeemer
5. Fecundity of Death
6. Berstende Säulen
7. The Shore
8. BarrenSemen

Continuing to offer a fine account of their style, German black metallers Narvik have taken the clear and refined focus of their previous releases and are embracing their darkened melodies and disharmonic vision into a tighter and clearer whole than ever before. Joined by bassist Nox and rhythm guitarist Agreas for their first recorded output with the group, their second full-length effort was released May 27, 2016 on Folter Records.

Embracing their core sound to the fullest, this here is quite the impressive variation on their particular attack with this one focusing on their traditional sound. This one mostly goes for that familiar second-wave inspiration in jangly tremolo riffing and plenty of cold, freezing riffing that makes for a rather impressive attack here with the band going for that cold Scandinavian-inspired feel while generating the kind of melodic tangents in the slower tempos to generate the kind of steady attack throughout here which is built on that swirling series of riffing patterns. When this one goes for a more mid-tempo assault, this really results in plenty of charging and wholly frantic series of rhythms accompanied by the fine introduction of melodic accents which becomes all the more apparent against the chaotic blasts featured elsewhere throughout here. It readily follows the school of attack throughout this from numerous other second-wave-worshiping acts to such a degree that it becomes a strength in how powerful and professional it is in this variation while also displaying the one lone downfall in how clearly it demonstrates this fact to such a wholly unyielding degree of worship as to make its own output nearly unimportant by comparison. It’s so close in fact that it really undoes itself somewhat even if that’s only slightly compared to the utter savageness of the attack here which does manage to overcome a lot of the familiarity found here.

Though this here is a mostly enjoyable and engaging slice of traditionally-flavored black metal, the fact that it’s so close in design and spirit to those acts limits it enough for this to really be knocked down only enough to have a real appeal to fans of the bands’ previous works or the most devout and hardcore old-school fanatic.

Score: 87/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.folter666shop.de/de/CD/CD-4/NARVIK--Ger----Ascension-to-Apotheosis--DigiCD.html

Afterlife Symphony - Moment Between Lies

Artist: Afterlife Symphony
Release Title: Moment Between Lies
Year: 2016
Label: Revalve Records
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Half-Moon Night
2. The Abyss
3. Under the Sleeping Tree
4. My Existence to You
5. Broken Breath
6. Dreamer's Paradox
7. Seventh
8. Last Hope
9. Novembre, Pt. 1
10. Novembre, Pt. 2
11. Genesis of Eternity

Finally making their mark on the genre, Italian symphonic metallers Afterlife Symphony added the last segment to the name yet still keeping their blend of orchestral grandiosity with the strong sense of progressive riffing which strikes as quite the impressive overall attack. With the re-branded group finally prepared to unleash their pleasing sound, the groups’ second full-length album was released September 9, 2016 on Revalve Records.

Even with the name change, it’s still quite obvious the band has still kept up their glorious sound in full force throughout here which really goes for the grandiose and the symphonic throughout this one. The riffing in particular keeps itself aligned mostly in the mid-tempo chugging realm while still being draped in harmonious melodies and mesmerizing symphonic rhythms throughout here which makes for a much lighter and immersive experience here by bringing in plenty of the orchestral elements not to add bombastic grandiosity but more of an operatic approach here which goes hand-in-hand with those chugging mid-tempo rhythms in the riffing. This offers up the kind of challenging, swirling rhythm-work throughout here that gives it a progressive tinge to the music while still offering up that lighter atmosphere to give this the kind of near-Gothic approach that mixes in the warmer melodies rather than enhanced speed, leaving this one quite dramatic and emotional which goes so well with the professional arrangements and the gorgeous female vocals. Indeed, the fact that this one is at it’s fastest in the mid-tempo realm might be seen as a detriment to some by keeping this one solely devoid of the main element in favor of it’s appeal here with the gregarious power and over-the-top grandiosity, as the heavily emotional feel derived from the rhythms here aren’t that typical style and highlights this factor somewhat throughout here. Still, that’s clearly not the main aim here and there’s quite a lot to really like here.

Offering up plenty of enjoyable elements here even though the album’s main focus on going for the mid-tempo style leaves this one feeling quite sluggish at times if the focus is clearly kept away from their assumed intentions which makes this one quite enjoyable for fans of Gothic-tinged power metal or emotional symphonic metal in general.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://revalverecords.bigcartel.com/product/afterlife-symphony-moment-between-lives-preorder-start-29-08-2016

Booby Trap - Overloaded

Artist: Booby Trap
Release Title: Overloaded
Year: 2016
Label: Firecum Records
Genre: Crossover Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Bring It to the Mosh Pit
2. Overloaded
3. Fuck Off and Die!
4. Bloody Mary
5. Nightmare (Go Away)
6. Vulgar Display of Semen
7. One of Us Is Dead
8. Von Beer
9. Drunkenstein
10. Booby Trap 2.0
11. Carved in My Bones
12. Beber até Morrer (Ratos de Porão cover)
13. The Boat Is Full
14. Time for My Meds
15. Manifesto

Continuing to lead their country’s charging scene, Portuguese crossover legends Booby Trap have steadily built their legacy and reputation on the intensity and aggression of their youth as they continue to display their old-school influences. Taking a three-year gap that marks the recording debut of new drummer Hugo Lemos, the group’s second album was released October 17, 2016 on Firecum Records.

Still utilizing their old-school sound here, the bands’ still quite adept at managing to perform their rather frantic and engaging brand of material. Full of raucous and truly gripping thrash-style patterns alongside the hardcore influences still at play throughout here, this one manages to really generate the kind of high-energy style that remains quite prominent of the crossover style while working the tight, frantic rhythms into generally vicious runs of static, swirling hardcore patterns with the thrash connecting it all, which lets this one get in the usual feature of the genre with the vibrant, charging tracks and shorter running time usually featured here. Still, even with all this great work, there’s still the main issue here that manages to get attached to almost all crossover acts in that the influence of the hardcore riff-work here generally makes for quite a scattershot and generally haphazard series of attacks here that comes off far sloppier and much more amateurish than expected. Though it captures a raw, raucous energy quite well, that doesn’t really translate well into a professional-sounded tone or approach here which gives this one the kind of approach and appeal that doesn’t really serve it all that well. Likewise, the fact that this one features way too many pointless interludes to break up the tension which consists of lame sound-collages or skits from sampled soundbites that really aren’t that funny and only serve to showcase that amateurish side even further which is all mainly included simply because of the crossover influence. It’s really the biggest obstacle holding this one back.

Though it does fall victim to a large amount of structural issues that plague so many crossover bands, this one still has more than enough to like about it’s wild, raucous high-energy affair that it should be quite the enjoyable and appealing effort for fans of the bands’ past or the style in general.

Score: 70/100

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https://www.facebook.com/firecumrecords

Wolf's Hunger - Bež'te živi vraćaju se mrtvi

Artist: Wolf's Hunger
Release Title: Bež'te živi vraćaju se mrtvi
Year: 2016
Label: Symbol of Domination Productions
Genre: Thrash/Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Bež'te živi vraćaju se mrtvi
2. U vatri sazdan
3. Gvozdeni puk (Kult rata)
4. Vostani Serbije
5. Rusija
6. Slava Gromu
7. Lešinari će slaviti moje ime
8. Egzekutor
9. Rod

Continuing to struggle against the odds, Serbian thrash/black metallers Wolf’s Hunger have taken their love World War I, Serbian history and Slavic heritage to the fullest as the group presents another hellish uncompromising and merciless attack. With a nine-year gap having a slew of line-up changes as guitarists Rastko and Milan left, former member Dovla returned as the second guitarist was filled by Igor Marić, drummer Milos Stanic left and was filled by Ivan Gašpar, the group’s second full-length was released September 9, 2016 on Symbol of Domination Productions.

Immediately from the start, it’s apparent throughout here this one goes for the type of explosive, raging rhythms that’s become quite apparent in their discography. Leaning so heavily on the thrash stylings for their work here, this one readily features the tight, bouncy riff-work that generates the style and tone of those earlier stylings quite nicely which comes from the generous ability to shift between the ravenous, full-throttle rhythms or the sprawling, meandering riff-work that keeps it all contained in a cohesive, dynamic state. Rarely deviating from these styles makes this one quite the impressive and truly immersive album by allowing a series of generously-padded elements to function within the exploits of the album’s penchant for fiery riffing and ferocious patterns that come from the occasional introduction of frosty arrangements and tremolo-picked riffing that denotes it’s black metal pedigree. While that leaves the attack here for the most part exceptionally fun and enjoyable, it can lead to a lot of overly stale and repetitious writing here as the bands’ determination to remain in these patterns keeps this from really exploring that many altogether different realms of their sound being so stuck here utilizing so many repeat performances of their admittedly-fearsome full-throttle rhythms or tight mid-tempo chugging patterns which are well in appearance here. Overall, it’s all that really holds this one back.

Not really offering up much of a problem that’s all too damaging and detrimental here, this one comes off a little repetitious but still fierce and fiery enough that the fans of the genre’s stylings or those that can appreciate the bands’ localized flavor will wholly enjoy this one.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://symbolofdomination.bandcamp.com/album/sodp068-wolfs-hunger-be-te-ivi-vra-aju-se-mrtvi-2016

Solitude (Jap) - Beneath the Sky

Artist: Solitude (Jap)
Release Title: Beneath the Sky
Year: 2015 (2016 reissue)
Label: Spiritual Beast (Test Your Metal Records reissue)
Genre: Traditional Heavy Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Venom's Angel
2. Blow
3. Reach for the Sky
4. Don't Need Mercy
5. Escape for the Crime
6. You Got My Mind
7. On the Edge of Sorrow
8. December

Finally reaching US shores, Japanese metallers Solitude have worked long and hard to make inroads on this side of the Pacific as they’ve managed to create quite a name for themselves in their homeland being the base label for many foreign releases in the Japanese market. While taking a nominal six-year gap between releases, the group releases their second album originally June 17, 2015 on Spiritual Beast before a US release November 25, 2016 on Test Your Metal Records.

Immediately blasting forward with an impressive charge, the group offers up a furiously intense and engaging blast of modern-sounding old-school heavy metal. The tight, crunchy riffing is the album’s greatest highlight, giving this one the fine ability to withstand a solid mid-tempo chug that gets featured throughout here or fire away on intense, nearly thrash-style rhythms such is their speed and ferocity. That, in particular, generates a raucous, energetic sheen over the whole section utilized with the efforts stylized and highly-appealing dynamics in the riffing which creates quite a fun time throughout here as the album manages to highlight quite effectively within enjoyable elements. Even when featuring thoroughly engaging work here with the explosive soloing on many of the tracks as well as the ability to dip into melodic accents to the riff-work when the group employs their mid-tempo style, the album is quite consistent and carries itself incredibly well while still being able to give itself a great sense of variety throughout here. About the only real issue here could come from the album’s raw vocal display which seems to be a much more personal issue here as on the whole it’s not terrible but the gruff style might not be all that enjoyable to some as it takes some getting used to that style in order to really enjoy it. Once it happens, though, that’s really all that really holds this one down.

A truly enjoyable and engaging blast of furious heavy metal thunder, there’s not a whole lot of really detrimental elements found here to hold this down and gives this one the overall kind of appeal awarded for fans of traditional heavy metal, Japanese variants of the style or generally ripping classic metal in general.

Score: 95/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.testyourmetalrecords.bigcartel.com/product/solitude-reach-for-the-sky-pre-order

Red Cain - Red Cain EP

Artist: Red Cain
Release Title: Red Cain EP
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Melodic/Progressive Heavy Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Guillotine
2. Dead Aeon Requiem
3. Hiraeth
4. Unborn

Born as an industrial/gothic act in 2012, Canadian heavy metallers Red Cain quickly moved away from this style into a more melodic metal act inspired by the European acts in the style following the introduction of orchestration guru William Lancaster and multi-instrumentalist Rogan McAndrews into the groups’ core ranks. With the line-up solidified and ready to go, the groups’ self-released debut EP was originally released November 25, 2016.

From the outset, the band sets up a rather intriguing mix of molten progressive rhythms and tons of charging melodic rhythms that make for quite an intriguing and enjoyable time here. There’s plenty of incredibly fun and enjoyable riff-work here with the main focus on driving progressive rhythms that contain plenty of challenging patterns skillfully interwoven with bright melodic outbursts, featuring plenty of tough rumbling underlying rhythms and a sense blend of dynamics throughout here with the intervening symphonic orchestrations providing this one with the backbone upon which the fiery mid-tempo grooves produced by the progressive-tinged riff-work balances out quite nicely. It works as a fine set-up for the bands’ proper introduction here with this one really exploring all facets of their work quite nicely, and with the lengthy tracks allowing for these to come through it gives off quite an impressive feel and tone throughout here though the band still employs one minor piece that does come out here. There’s quite ample evidence here that the group is much more comfortable and able in the stronger, more vibrant sections of their sound and really haven’t tackled the slower, more dragging tempos yet as these are much more of pain to get through when the band stops and attempts to go for the plodding sections that just drag on endlessly and stretching this one out more than it really should, and even this isn’t that bad due to being a debut offering here. Otherwise, there’s not much to dislike here.

With only a minor stumbling block and not even that detrimental of one anyway, the album’s much greater enjoyable factors here with the stronger sense of melodies interwoven with progressive rhythms make this one quite a worthwhile and appealing act to watch for fans of melodic or progressive heavy metal.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://redcain.bandcamp.com/album/red-cain-ep