Havok - Conformicide

Artist: Havok
Release Title: Conformicide
Year: 2017
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Retro Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. F.P.C.
2. Hang 'Em High
3. Dogmaniacal
4. Intention to Deceive
5. Ingsoc
6. Masterplan
7. Peace Is in Pieces
8. Claiming Certainty
9. Wake Up
10. Circling the Drain
11. String Break
12. Slaughtered (Pantera cover)

Trying to lead the charge for the genre, Colorado thrashers Havok have been at the forefront of the revivalist scene since their formation a decade ago as they set out to carry the ideals and intensity of their forefathers to the current trend of thrashers. With the addition of new bassist Nick Schendzielos to replace Mike Leon, the group springs forth it’s fourth full-length effort March 10, 2017 on new-label Century Media Records.

Much like their previous efforts, this one tends to dwell incredibly heavily in the realm of worshipping the old-school classics of the genre with a more modern touch. The riffing here is a direct touch on the original forms of the genre, from the raucous high-energy affairs that bring along the tight, rapid paces they follow through, and with the blistering rhythms carried along quite nicely. With these in fine array throughout here already, the album’s penchant for slowing down into a crushing mid-tempo style brings about a nice variety to really balance out the furious and intense blasters throughout here, and with the album as a whole carrying on between these distinct styles as it ranges from the furious, massive thrashers to the spindly, mid-range grooves there’s a nice degree of separation and distinction to the tracks that can be found here. That said, the album generally doesn’t come off as intense or sharp as it could when it’s not focused on the rousing thrash-work featured and staying more on those mid-tempo efforts here as they’re simply dry, mechanical and meandering far more than they really should be. It could be due to these making the album feeling more stretched out than it really should, but whenever the album isn’t bringing the speed and ferocity the song dips as a whole whether it’s the whole track or just a snippet. That is somewhat disappointing but considering the fact that it’s vicious far more often than not it’s not terribly crippling as is expected.

While it’s not as vicious and hard-hitting as expected due to the rather disappointing nature of it’s less ferocious material, the fact that the majority of the album tends to remain nicely on point in regards to its rather frantic energies makes this a solid choice for all revivalist thrash fanatics or fans of the previous work in general.

Score: 84/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://www.indiemerchstore.com/item/44086

Saille - Gnosis

Artist: Saille
Release Title: Gnosis
Year: 2017
Label: Code666 Records
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Benei ha'Elohim
2. Pandaemonium Gathers
3. Blôt 04:44
4. Genesis 11; 1-9
5. Before the Crawling Chaos
6. Prometheus
7. Thou, My Maker
8. Magnum Opus
9. 1904 Era Vulgaris

Continuing their mark into ever-more expansive realms, Belgium symphonic black metallers Saille have taken the mold of their former mastermind Dries Gaerdelen into utilizing these darker, more intense settings the way the band initially sounded on their earlier efforts. With Dries stepping down to focus on the bookings, the newly-christened five-piece version offers their fourth full-length effort March 13, 2017 on Code666 Records.

Despite the loss of a prominent figure, the band still retains a quite competent and effective showing of their trademarked brand of material. This is effectively bombastic symphonic-styled black metal, full of ravenous up-tempo tremolo-picked rhythms with plenty of explosive, over-the-top symphonics which generate those furious paces throughout here. The riffing is still pretty much the support here, offering that specifically polished, crimson-accented riff-work with the full-on outbursts of melodic harmonies scattered throughout here to make for an intriguing mixture of bombastic and symphonic when mixed with the keyboards. Taking on the grandiosity of their past efforts by layering tons of frantic tinkering and virtuoso tendencies to add to the blistering riffing and blasting drum-work throughout here, and with the album featuring this work for a vast majority of the time it’s expressive and dynamic offering. This does end up with the rather frustrating part of letting the album segue into itself way too frequently here, making for a hard time to tell where you are with all the songs pretty much blending into a veritable sea of keyboards and brimstone-accented guitars for a large portion of the time. It doesn’t become all that detrimental due to the intensity and energy featured throughout here, but it does lower it somewhat.

While it’s not a highly original offering with the repetitious nature of so many of the tracks rendering this one into a bit of a blur at times, there’s still a lot to really like with this one in terms of enjoyable material here which makes this an easy selection for fans of their past work or symphonic black metal in general.

Score: 87/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://saille.bandcamp.com/album/gnosis

Fabulous Desaster - Hang 'Em High

Artist: Fabulous Desaster
Release Title: Hang 'Em High
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Retro Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Death Is Loud
2. Faster than Light
3. Warsaw
4. Thrash Bang Wallop
5. Midnight Fistfight
6. Wellness in Hell
7. R.I.P. (Rest in POWER)
8. Thrash Metal Symphony
9. Toxic Nuclear War
10. Customized

Formed just in 2010, German thrashers Fabulous Desaster have quite quickly run wild through the crowded thrash underground in their homeland by adopting the most direct and unflinching brand of retro thrash homage in the whole of the album. Now, seven years later the band is finally able to come together to produce their self-released debut album on November 19, 2016.

All factors considered here, it should be no surprise what kind of thrash is present throughout here with this one being wrapped so tightly in the 80s. This here is all built around the typical Bay Area-style crunch with the riff-work as the tight, controlled patterns are essentially mid-tempo chugging that was a hallmark of that scene, and appear as the main driving force of the album. When this one switches gears and goes for the frantic up-tempo charge, there’s a lot more to like here with the spindly rhythms and wild patterns kicking the energy up nicely in addition to the albums’ distinct crunch. These two combine together into creating a thick, vibrant burst of thrashing madness throughout here, and with the energetic tempos this contains even within the more mid-tempo sections it creates a rather fun and enjoyable effort although it does contain a rather prominent and noticeable flaw due to this set-up. There’s just no escaping the fact that this one is so devout and unyielding in its old-school influences that it really doesn’t offer up much in the way of original work here, running through the revival thrash playbook and keeping straight on with that style throughout here. That ends up leaving this one mostly mired in repetitious fashion around the same style rhythms and patterns as most others in this set-up, and it’s what really holds this back even though it’s not as detrimental as expected.

Despite having way too many issues of familiarity that strike so many of the revivalist scene thrash acts, there’s plenty of enjoyable elements peppered throughout this one that it will surely please any fan of revivalist thrash or those who specifically enjoy this crunchy Bay-Area style of thrash.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://fabulousdesaster.bandcamp.com/album/hang-em-high

Immolation - Atonement

Artist: Immolation
Release Title: Atonement
Year: 2017
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. The Distorting Light
2. When the Jackals Come
3. Fostering the Divide
4. Rise the Heretics
5. Thrown to the Fire
6. Destructive Currents
7. Lower
8. Atonement
9. Above All
10. The Power of Gods
11. Epiphany

One of the genre’s biggest institutions, New York death metal legends Immolation have always had a defining and overwhelming influence on the scene with their dark, churning atmospheric take on the death metal scene that has earned them quite a deserved fan-base. Entering their third decade of active duty in any form, the groups’ tenth full-length effort was released February 24, 2017 on Nuclear Blast Records.

Coming through in fine fashion, the band wastes no time here displaying the prototypical dark and churning sound that’s typically associated with the band. Firing off that ever familiar sense of dark, blasting rhythms and churning, swampy riff-work that generate the kind of oppressive, heavy-handed atmosphere that the band is famous for, and when kept to a wide array of tempos and rhythm shifts the music comes off even more dynamic. That goes in conjunction with the atonal arrangements spread throughout here in adding another layer to the thick, murky atmosphere by changing up the tempo into more lethargic sprawling filled with these atypical squealing patterns that keep this one on such a varied offensive charge due to the ability of letting the thick, churning patterns generate another avenue of attack that keeps this one bristling with a plethora of dark and dingy rhythms. This attack is carried throughout here to such extremes that it’s entirety is taken up with this back-and-forth approach and the album maintains a viable engaging atmosphere due to this tactic. It really only makes this one feature one real flaw in that it’s still the same-old approach throughout here that the band has come to utilize, and there’s little new to be found in here that can’t be found in other efforts by them. That doesn’t make much of a difference for some, and it’s overwhelming power still holds this one up overall.

With such a large amount of positive work here and just so few flaws that many might not really care about, there’s quite a lot to like with the group who have released another stand-out offering that should greatly appeal to all fans of the bands’ past work and both death metal and old-school death in general.

Score: 96/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.nuclearblast.de/en/products/tontraeger/cd/cd-digi/immolation-atonement-mailorder-edition.html

Gravebreaker - Sacrifice

Artist: Gravebreaker
Release Title: Sacrifice
Year: 2016
Label: Gates of Hell Records
Genre: Traditional Heavy Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Overdrive
2. Sacrifice
3. Gravebreaker
4. At the Gates of Hell
5. Violent City
6. Kill and Kill Again
7. Road War 2000
8. Pray for Death
9. Spellbound
10. Messenger of Death

Formed back in 2011, Swedish heavy metallers Gravebreaker has taken their time perfecting and honing a stylistic homage to the classic, blazing old-school heavy metal that makes up their overall approach as they’ve gone about building this love affair to the style. Finally, at the point of getting to their debut release, the power trio originally self-released the effort August 22, 2016 before a vinyl reissue December 16, 2016 on Gates of Hell Records.

Given their pedigree, the bands’ infectious approach to the genres’ old-school tendencies is given quite a prominent display on here. Graced with plenty of tight, chugging riffing swirling around the ravenous melodies driving along throughout the efforts, their mid-tempo charge lets the appropriately simplistic riff-work and clubbing drumming bounce along quite energetically to these rhythms in fine fashion. When they get balanced along by the addition of stellar keyboard melodies, this becomes all the more stylistically and enjoyably more 80s-inspired affairs building that classical level of melody alongside the generally metallic riffing that continually charges throughout here. There’s a few rather noticeable factors against this, though, which namely comes from the albums’ incredibly weak and punchless production which tends to hold this one down to nearly unlistenable levels. The guitars just lifelessly swirl around throughout the mix, getting lost in the rumbling bass-lines, battering drumming and high-pitched, gravelly vocals that drown out the riffing it comes off so light. Likewise, it tends to drain a lot of life from the album during the middle sections where it’s more mid-tempo cruisers in terms of tempo rather than just going for the most energetic and engaging efforts elsewhere, causing this to dip into some bland efforts during that section which holds it up. The fact that it’s so adept at homaging the past that it really doesn’t come off really original at all, and it’s obvious about it, which hold it down.

Despite filling itself up with some rather prominent and noticeable flaws, the fact that there’s some good stuff to enjoy about the reasonably energetic affairs here which does get a pass with this being a debut album that overall makes this one worthwhile only for the most devout fans of old-school classic metal genre only.

Score: 70/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://gravebreaker.bandcamp.com/

Morta Skuld - Wounds Deeper Than Time

Artist: Morta Skuld
Release Title: Wounds Deeper Than Time
Year: 2017
Label: Peaceville Records
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Breathe in the Black
2. Hating Life
3. My Weakness
4. Against the Origin
5. In Judgment
6. Wounds Deeper than Time
7. Scars Within
8. Devour the Chaos
9. Becoming One Flesh

Finally coming back into the fold, Wisconsin death metallers Morta Skuld have been toiling away in the underground ever since the beginning of their career and especially once they reformed several years back for a nice reunion that’s still on-going. With a new lineup with second guitarist Scott Willecke and bassist AJ joining the fold, the groups’ first post-comeback and fourth full-length overall effort was released February 17, 2017 on Peaceville Records.

Despite the long layoff, it’s quite clear the band hasn’t lost their step at all as there’s plenty of life left for the group to explore based on this one. Pumping out such classic-sounding material filled with plenty of charging mid-tempo riffing and pummeling rhythms that keeps the material tight, intense and straightforward much in the same way that they usually offered in the past, making for a slew of crunchy, highly-impressive efforts. Due to the chaotic nature of these efforts, there’s plenty to work with here once this manages to get the majority of the albums’ running time with these rhythms, so when it changes over into it’s more mid-tempo elements there’s a natural balance between the ravenous, crunchy patterns and more mid-tempo, straightforward work that still slogs through the same general intensity and savageness which is what makes for the more cohesive and engaging type of work throughout here. As this is all quite common and expected with the band, that they’re able to reproduce this type of influence and clarity in this day and age makes for quite an impactful time here as this one keeps their old-school tone intact here with a great deal of their changing tones that was quite apparent throughout their catalog. While that’s all good, there’s a decidedly more modern feel and tone in the production that sounds way too clean and processed for such an old-school vibe from the arrangements of the tracks, and that does stick out throughout here quite apparently rather than the murky old-school feel. Still, that’s the only thing really wrong here.

Filled with a lot of great moments and a few minor flaws with the more modernized sound, the fact remains that there’s quite a lot of highly-enjoyable work to be found here as the guys come back into the fold with a dynamic effort that will greatly please fans of their past work or old-school death in general.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:

https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/collection/516/add/8164/

Inquiring Blood - Morbid Creation

Artist: Inquiring Blood
Release Title: Morbid Creation
Year: 2016
Label: Kernkraftritter Records
Genre: Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Japanese Knife Assassin
2. Hell Commander
3. Death Row
4. Three Feet to Carnage
5. Death and Decay
6. Voices
7. Suffocation
8. The Horsekiller
9. The Swarm
10. Stabbed by Mirror Shards
11. Nuclear Massacre
12. Faceless

Offering their sound at it’s fullest, German death metallers Inquiring Blood have had their careers shaped mightily by their ravenous live assault that has brought their grooving brand of classic death metal inline with the scene giants of the past. With a six-year hiatus between releases, the quartet finally releases their sophomore full-length December 16, 2016 on new label Kernkraftritter Records.

Coming together with a furious assault, the band launches into their attack quite evidently as it’s immediately apparent they’ve not lost their touch in the half-decade silence. Filled with tight, churning groove-styled riff-work throughout here, the overall attack simply revels in simplistic mid-tempo rhythms that are straightforward and ravenous which creates a solid, cohesive sound to their attacks. When added together with a solid balance of melodic flurries and patterns, the album creates a rather reasonable atmosphere that comes off as a great fit to what’s being attempted here. Given that this leaves the material generally upbeat and lively, there’s a lot to really like about the style of attack this creates, although it does leave the album feeling quite one-note and simplistic for the vast majority of the time here. There’s very little deviation or dynamic qualities about the music within, regardless of the intensity or quality of the performances which makes for a rather troubling route here as this one tends to just go through the motions of its chosen style and not really offering anything to change it up and it can become highly monotonous as a result. That becomes much more prominent here as it goes along since this one really doesn't need to go for as long as it does here, as there's a few too many tracks for this kind of ultra-simplistic style doing the same thing to really make any sense for why it went that long. Still, this doesn’t really lower the album that much as it still gives this a lot to like overall.

While still somewhat troubled by its simplistic nature and overall attack, the fact that this one goes for quite a strong showcase of this rather one-note style does give this one enough to be able to overcome that enough to be a fine if unessential selection for death metal aficionados or fans of this simplistic style.

Score: 80/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.kernkraftritter-records.de/product_info.php?info=p142_inquiring-blood---morbid-creation.html

Hyperion (Swe) - Seraphical Euphony

Artist: Hyperion (Swe)
Release Title: Seraphical Euphony
Year: 2016
Label: Black Lion Productions
Genre: Melodic Black/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Remnants of the Fallen
2. Novus Ordo Seclorum
3. Flagellum Dei
4. Seraphical Euphony
5. Moral Evasion
6. Primal Cosmic Ascendancy
7. Zephyr of Grace
8. Empyrean Yearning
9. Blood of the Ancients

Formed in late 2007, the Swedish melodic black/death metal outfit utilizing Hyperion have always been quite adept at featuring their old-school black and metal influences carried through their ancestral country-mates that cultivated their sound in the early 90s. With the group rounded out to a sextet with the addition of third guitarist Joel Hagroth, this sophomore album was originally released February 6, 2016 on Black Lion Records.

Once the album gets going, it’s really easy to see where the band has taken its influences from as there’s a rather obvious attack surging throughout here. This one goes for a pronounced and distinctive element of striking tremolo-pitched riffing and deep, swirling chugging, giving this the atmospheric and blistering take founded in the early days of the genre where the sparkling melodic leads over the thumping patterns created a heavy and yet still highly melodic attack. Given that majority of the album utilizes these efforts to oftentimes epic stature here, it’s all nicely balanced out by the fine addition of more relaxed, charging mid-tempo paces which go for a streamlined, swirling tremolo attack and sterling keyboard work which carries this one along into the melodic realm rather than the faster, more frantic efforts which is quite appealing. This dueling approach gives it a fine mixture of both charging, fiery intensity as well as breath-taking melodic interjections featured alongside each other, and the end result is inherently dynamic and well-crafted material. This does result in several tracks where it really feels it’s length and the epic quality does run against it, though since it’s a rare occurrence this isn’t all too detrimental and doesn’t really hold this one back all that much.

Without a whole lot of really big, detrimental issues to be found here, the fact that this one comes out of the gate with such a strong, impressive attack makes this a worthwhile act to follow in the future and is heartily recommended for all fans of the old-school melodic black/death sound or melodic black metal in general.

Score: 92/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://hyperionblacklion.bandcamp.com/album/seraphical-euphony

Cellador - Off the Grid

Artist: Cellador [audio and buy now]
Release Title: Off the Grid
Year: 2017
Label: Scarlet Records
Genre: Power/Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Sole Survivors
2. Break Heresy
3. Shadowfold
4. Wake Up the Tyrant
5. Off the Grid
6. Swallow Your Pride
7. Shimmering Status
8. Good Enough
9. This Means War
10. Running Riot

Tormented by an insanely-troubling past, Colorado-based power metallers Cellador have seen themselves beset by label and lineup turmoil that has stunted and very nearly halted the promise shown by their initially-appealing debut work just over a decade prior. Attempting to carry on with a new, solidified lineup, the long-awaited sophomore album was originally released March 10, 2017 on Scarlet Records.

Considering the long layoff, it’s entirely possible to forget what the band was about and to fix that the group manages to fly right out of the gate with what made them so promising in the first place. There’s plenty of tight, fast and frantic thrashing patterns laced with strong melodic accents flowing throughout here, generating the kind of explosive up-tempo power metal rhythms full of aggressive attacks in the rhythm. That goes hand-in-hand with a more stripped down, simplistic approach that generates plenty of fiery, engaging material without the long-winded and aimless approach of their past, streamlining the best tactics into a more substantial and cohesive style of attack that still brings out their best work in propelling plenty of speed and intensity out while displaying top-notch melodic interlaced together for a spectacular and energizing style. Though the epic approach to their past material gave them a somewhat more unique and individualized identity in the field during their initial appearance in the field, the fact is the intervening years and their stripped-down style has now come back against them as it’s turned them into a slightly rehashed and formulaic style without really doing much else about it, but being not only an engaging approach to the material and given the turmoil within the break it’s commendable to be this fiery and enjoyable all things considered.

Already a strong Comeback of the Year contender, this was quite a surprising tactical change in their style that now comes off like a condensed version of their style that will greatly appeal to fans of their original work or the curious to see how they’ve managed to hold up considering their troubles.

Score: 95/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://scarletrecords.bandcamp.com/album/off-the-grid

Fairytale - Battlestar Rising

Artist: Fairytale
Release Title: Battlestar Rising
Year: 2017
Label: Art Gates Records
Genre: Melodic Heavy/Power Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Face the Truth
2. Battlestar Rising
3. Cain
4. Man or Machine
5. Scar
6. The Weird & the Mad
7. Viper Pilots
8. New Caprica
9. Final Five
10. The Opera House
11. The Admiral's Speech
12. Colony (The Final Battle)

Heading deeper into the cosmos, German heavy/power metallers Fairytale have continued to propel their futuristic sound through a variety of strong, energetic work amongst the live scene that has supplanted their melodic sounds against the science fiction-heavy lyrics detail. Finally coming back into action after five years, the groups’ sophomore effort was released February 24, 2017 on Art Gates Records.

Furthering their sound into tighter, more mature realms, there’s still plenty of the bands’ familiar elements present here as this one utilizes those elements quite well. There’s plenty of stellar trademarked blend of fiery riffing and plenty of vibrant, energetic melodies coming out in full-force all wrapped together with the swirling power metal rhythms running throughout here which is quite an effective launching pad for this one. Utilizing these bright rhythms and melodies for the vast majority of the album manages to work incredibly well at keeping this one up-tempo and lively with the tight power metal chugging riff-structures keeping this one built around a highly engaging framework for tacking on the melodic outbursts that also are featured throughout here. When the band shifts away from this style, this opts for for a series of simplistic one-note chugging styles that show off their material in a less-than-enthusiastic outpouring that really doesn’t offer up much of an enjoyable setting since these are far more lethargic and plodding with the melodic lines straining to mesh with the similarly-plodding chug riffing alongside these rhythms and the whole affair seems to crash down during these times with the lack of energy. Likewise, that becomes even more of an issue with the overlong running order that features a few too many filler tracks to really stretch this one out, and it can lead to a somewhat draining experience when listened to as a whole. It’s still good enough even with these issues, though.

Although there are some minor issues to be had here, the fact that there’s still more than enough to really enjoy here makes this one quite a solid enough offering for die-hard fans of science fiction-themed power metal or this style of heavy/power metal while those that don’t appreciate such flaws should heed caution.

Score: 83/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.artgatesrecords.com/store/index.php?id_product=47&controller=product&id_lang=5