Marche Funèbre - Into the Arms of Darkness

Artist: Marche Funèbre
Release Title: Into the Arms of Darkness
Year: 2017
Label: BadMoonMan Music
Genre: Doom/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Deprived (Into Darkness)
2. Capital of Rain
3. Uneven
4. Lullaby of Insanity
5. The Garden of All Things Wild

Working to further their sound, Belgium doom/death metallers Marche Funèbre have sought to expand and warp traditional views of the genre with longer song structures and plenty of dissonant work alongside the more familiar work available here. Putting their work to the fullest point after a four-year break, the bands’ third full-length effort was originally released February 20, 2017 on BadMoonMan Music.

Going for the grandiose segment of their sound, the band brings out plenty of familiar elements featured throughout here that make for a rather impressive outing. This one mainly goes for the extended, slow-churning sprawl that’s typically famous in the genre with plenty of exaggerated rhythms and running times here allowing for the band to access the full range of their influences. Those sprawling rhythms are accompanied nicely by loose swirling riff-work that gives this a melodic touch alongside the stylish plodding patterns driving this one along, giving it a warmth and atmospheric touch that’s quite pleasing throughout here. As this generally works out rather nicely for the album, giving it plenty of solid overall work here, there’s still the small annoying factor here of this one feeling just way too bloated in terms of its structures. This is felt in the second half where the tracks go for even more extended segments that do include slightly more vicious attacks but are still focusing on incorporating plenty of excessive elements to make them last far longer than really necessary here. The band was quite capable in the first tracks that containing plenty of enjoyable elements yet still had a solid sense of keeping it contained and organized, which is lost in the later half which is why those are nearly double the length and just makes the album drag on a little too much. Beyond this, though, there’s not a whole lot really wrong here.

It may suffer a touch by being just slightly too overlong for its own good by going for some extra arrangements and patterns that don’t really need it to be that way, but the enjoyable work elsewhere throughout here makes this one quite the appealing and enjoyable effort for any fan of doom/death in general.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://marchefunebre.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-arms-of-darkness

Aborted - Retrogore

Artist: Aborted
Release Title: Retrogore
Year: 2016
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Dellamorte Dellamore
2. Retrogore
3. Cadaverous Banquet
4. Whoremageddon
5. Termination Redux
6. Bit by Bit
7. Divine Impediment
8. Coven of Ignorance
9. The Mephitic Conundrum
10. Forged for Decrepitude
11. From Beyond (The Grave)
12. In Avernus

As has been the case for a while now, Belgian brutal death machine Aborted has been one of the most consistent and impactful bands in the genre with a slew of impressive releases and full-lengths that continues here. The group’s ninth full-length release, which sees Ian Jekelis join in on second guitar to round out the group to a quintet now, follows up the anniversary EP with an April 22, 2016 release on Century Media Records.

With what has been released so far in their catalog, it’s pretty easy to tell what’s going to be at play on the groups’ albums. What we get here is the same utterly frantic riffing full of dynamic razor-wire technical rhythms that generate a flurry of tight, mechanical-sounding patterns that simply ooze forth with brutality that comes off all the more impressive when added alongside the surgical rhythms and lasting drumming raging along at inhuman speeds that continues throughout here. That technicality extends beyond the main rhythms into the jagged, slicing soloing on display which helps to make for a more complete, encompassing display of complexly-played rhythms and charging brutality that makes the group so potent and destructive. Still, what makes the band so engaging is when it drops the technicality in favor of more traditional death metal patterns coming complete with dramatic sprawling sections offering melodic buffers between the utterly frantic patterns featured within here, slowing the tempo down into a mid-tempo chug that breathes a little extra life into the proceedings which then only makes the brutality stick out even further. This mix of brutality filled with hyper-speed rhythms with the more traditional elements alongside a slower, more melodic side is a highly impressive display that’s expected of the group when they’ve been at this for that amount of time, coming across with a sense of professionalism and competence that’s engrossing and impressive. There’s not much really wrong with this type of attack, as it’s mostly down to a listener’s endurance matter on this kind of effort about how much can be taken before it tends to descend into the same guttural noise that signals the end of it all that does creep up here, as once it gets to the second half the album’s already displayed all it’s tricks and can bring the material into an overly familiar route where it just blends into the same guttural noise which is the only real problem here.

Considering the professionalism and competency on display with this one, it’s not much of a surprise that it’s as good as it is here with this one really managing to only be too quick to pull out the same tricks for its only real flaw making this one a wholly worthwhile addition to any fan of brutal death metal or those of the bands’ past work.

Score: 94/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://www.cmdistro.com/item/39305

Aborted - Terminal Redux EP

Artist: Aborted
Release Title: Terminal Redux EP
Year: 2016
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Liberate Me Ex-Inferis
2. Termination Redux
3. Vestal Disfigurement upon the Sacred Chantry
4. Bound in Acrimony
5. The Holocaust Re-Incarnate

Continuing their reign of slaughter, Belgian brutal death machine Aborted have been on fire ever since they decided to adopt a more ferocious and unrelenting charge into their music nearly a decade ago. To mark the 20th anniversary of the group’s founding, they present this ravenous assault with three new tracks plus a re-recorded bonus effort released January 8th, 2016 on Century Media Records.

For the most part this here is simply just a short, blistering account of the band’s signature sound in celebration of its big anniversary, and in this case, it certainly works quite nicely. The tracks are the usual blistering, short and hyper-frenetic bursts of vomitous-sounding death while managing to add a touch of technicality and mechanical-sounding drum-blasts to simply enhance the chaos. This is accomplished in a short-form manner which works well at showcasing the group’s sound while allowing the significance behind its origins to play out quite well. As a short primer for the upcoming full-length and a special anniversary present for fans, this succeeds exceptionally well while also managing to sound a little short for its own good as if it could’ve gone for more tracks here which is a common complaint about this type of release but doesn’t detract it too much.

With nothing really wrong with it from a technical standpoint and the historical matter behind its release serving as a proper explanation for the brevity of its overall length, this here is a perfectly suitable entry point for fans who are new to the group, longtime fans needing to soothe their appetites between releases or those simply looking for a slice of brutal death metal carnage.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://www.cmdistro.com/item/37785

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