Dawn of Disease - Worship the Grave

Artist: Dawn of Disease
Release Title: Worship the Grave
Year: 2016
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Worship the Grave
2. The Saviour's Tomb
3. Ashes
4. On Trails of Death
5. Prayer for the Dawn
6. Cult of the Fading Light
7. Through Nameless Ages
8. Outsourcing the Brain
9. Enwrapped in Guts
10. The Sky Is Empty

Following the success of their previous works, German death metallers Dawn of Disease have continued to hone their style and skill-set through intensive live-shows while new songs were written diligently throughout this process. Taking a three-year gap between releases, the groups’ third full-length effort will be released on June 24 via Napalm Records.

From the onset here, this one tends to reveal their dedication to the mixture of old-school death metal charges with plenty of impressive Swedish influences that has been present in their work. This one tends to feature a straightforward crunchy style series of riffing that whips along through the generally up-tempo series of patterns and features some utterly dynamic and twisting riffing that’s fully evocative of the rhythms prominently displayed by those groups. That is mixed together nicely with a much more American slant to the arrangements where the typical churning chainsaw-style patterns are replaced in favor of a more agonized, sprawling tone that offers a darker, more vicious bite to them than would be featured in the prototypical measure in that scene which is highly impressive here, especially with the inclusion of some solid melodic lines and harmonies popping up throughout here. Given that inclusion weaving throughout this one, it makes for a great balance of the more aggressive, up-tempo rhythms alongside the lighter melodic sections which gives this one some solid if really formulaic works in this approach. It tends to run along through the rather familiar and pretty similar patterns for the most part which comes from the tracks being in this same tempo and not really given much room for any kind of dynamic variations to off-set these changes. It’s really the album’s one main downfall as the majority of the work here follows the quite tight and explosive work.

Given a few minor and rather unimportant issues to contend with as the album rattles along through quite familiar processes in their particular approach, this one still manages to score well-enough in terms of energy and general aggression that there’s more than enough appeal for fans of Swedish-influenced death metal or those who can overlook the flaws for some crushing traditional death.

Score: 87/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:

http://www.emp.de/art_332195/

Evil Reborn - Throne of Insanity

Artist: Evil Reborn
Release Title: Throne of Insanity
Year: 2016
Label: Evil's Records/Satanath Records
Genre: Retro Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Black Dahlia
2. Evil Reborn
3. Adicción visceral
4. Possessed Angels
5. A Morbid Encounter
6. Destroying the Trinity
7. Throne of Insanity
8. Night Killer
9. Bendita malevolencia

Formed just in 2012, Venezuelan death metallers Evil Reborn have quickly set about taking their love of old-school death metal to their quickly-released first EP before taking a slight gap to deal with their lineup issues. With bassist/guitarist Armando Henriquez departing to let Alfredo Herrera join in on guitar while being the first-recorded output for bassist Jesús Maneiro, the debut full-length was issued as a co-release between Satanath Records and Evil’s Records on May 17, 2016.

Throughout here the group is dependent upon the old-school style of attack here which manages to run through a rather simplistic attack for the most part here. There’s a huge proficiency of deep, churning riff-work on display here which is carried along by the ravenous rhythms present which makes this one all the more tight and intense by making the riffing fly through the faster, up-tempo paces here. With this approach balanced along quite nicely by a hard-hitting, chugging intensity that gives this a charging, vicious attitude that owes to slight influences from the chug-heavy Deathcore scene which strangely still goes along quite nicely with the old-school swirling rhythms, the overall approach and design along the way here gives this one a lot to really like and really offers a lot to really enjoy about this one. This makes for some rather good times here though it does have a rather small factor involved here that brings it down somewhat. There’s a rather strong attitude here that’s really not that concerned with the more prominent death metal aesthetics throughout here as the chug-heavy riff-work keeps this one strangely mid-tempo for the most part. It’s mostly fiery and enjoyable enough, but the pacing here really could’ve been livened up by having more thoroughly atmospheric death metal patterns here, and it really does stand up here as the main issue for the most part.

Though there’s not nearly as much fiery and lively work here that really could’ve exploited the greatness of their attack to the fullest, there’s still more than enough on this one that works well that it becomes a curiosity piece for those who appreciate this kind of slow-churning death metal as a whole or those that enjoy Latin American death metal as well.

Score: 80/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:

https://evilreborn.bandcamp.com/album/throne-of-insanity

Necroven - Primordial Subjugation

Artist: Necroven
Release Title: Primordial Subjugation
Year: 2016
Label: Memento Mori
Genre: Retro Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Sacrificial Deliverance
2. The Pyre Cycle (Burn in Solitude)
3. Primordial Subjugation
4. The Ethereal
5. Esoteric Entropy (Gateway to the End)
6. Martyrs of Repentance
7. Serpents Crawl Stealthy

Continuing to honor their influences, Spanish death metallers Necroven have brought out a series of blistering, seething styles of death metal brought about by their unrelenting rage into a series of dark, festering cryptic music. Taking a four-year gap from their last full-length album, and only a two-year gap from their last overall release that sees mastermind J.R. joined by full-time bassist F.C,, the groups’ second full-length album was released October 24, 2016 on Memento Mori.

Almost immediately this here is basically centered around the idea of utilizing the old-school manner of attack throughout with plenty of explicitly enjoyable rhythms due to this. Firing off plenty of razor-sharp and churning old-school rhythms throughout here with a violent intensity, the main approach here with the riff-work is that semblance of stylized churning patterns that offer up plenty of strong sprawling patterns throughout here which come together with the series of darkened riffing to create a tight, nearly blackened atmosphere that’s wholly impressive and damaging when the band unleashes the full force of this assault. When coupled with the sparkling tremolo leads over the top this becomes all the more closely associated with the grand dark atmospherics and generates the kind of truly blistering setting for the band to really explore that to the fullest, yet it also highlights the first of the album’s few, barely negligible flaws. The main issue here is the fact that there’s just not a whole lot of opportunity for the band to readily explore many other elements here with the bands’ mostly straightforward approach running throughout the tracks not allowing it to really go anywhere else. This here is so strictly a single-minded assault of old-school influenced death metal that it doesn’t do anything really different here in the rhythms which are so steadfast in their determination to homage that style that it ends up dragging out the songs a little too long that, incidentally, is the other minor issue here in that there’s little reason for the songs here to be this long other than cover for the shorter run-time and especially running in the strict old-school manner as it does here. Still, these here are all that really crops up about the album.

While there’s not a great deal of innovation or variety here with the band blasting through their old-school worship in a relatively straightforward manner, the majority of this album works with a sense of dark, intense atmosphere that should make this wholly appealing to old-school fanatics or fans of this style of revivalist death metal.

Score: 84/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://www.discogs.com/Necroven-Primordial-Subjugation/release/9258361

Ceremony (Neth) - Tyranny from Above

Artist: Ceremony (Neth)
Release Title: Tyranny from Above
Year: 1993 (2016 reissue)
Label: Cyber Records (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
Original-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen

Reissue-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen
9. Essence of Alternation
10. Immortality of the Gods
11. Tyranny from Above
12. Humanity
13. Tribulation Foreseen

Formed in 1989 in South Holland, Dutch death metal legends Ceremony set out a path of destruction in their brief career with an absolutely astounding early release effort before disbanding for two decades and only reforming just recently. Still a stand-out album after all these years, the groups’ debut album was released in 1993 before a remastered reissue with bonus material September 16, 2016 on Vic Records.

At this stage of the genre’s evolution, it was quite obviously going to be a stylistically familiar assault to the American acts populating the scene, and that’s what becomes quite prominent here. The ravenous riff-work here comes through so clearly out of that primitive, dirty thrashing style while intertwined with churning, sprawling rhythms for that energetic burst of intensity and aggression typically found here while also formulating that anguished, churning sound. That this mixture can work well in either going through the varying tempos on display, as this one manages to go from the simplistic, straightforward sprawl that tackles the material at a slower crawl while letting the swirling rhythms take center stage, or blasting away quite viciously with a faster thrash-based series of rhythms that are given quite a prominent display here that makes for quite a stylized American bent to the material by tackling many of the various rhythms and patterns these approaches can bring out of their material. The rumbling charge present here due to these elements makes for a highly effective and enjoyable burst throughout here, yet the fact that it remains so vital and close-minded to the American structure at this stage is a tad disconcerting with there not really much variety here beyond the tempos as the display and attack is so focused on running through the American format that it becomes somewhat easy to forget their identity at times. That isn’t much of an issue here considering not only the time-frame of the release but also the sheer competency of the album in general, but it is something to take in consideration with this one.

Seeing as how this one doesn’t offer up much more than just a surprisingly competent and wholly enjoyable burst of old-school death metal the American way, that alone is more than enough to take this one into consideration here for stalwart fanatics of the genre with this here being quite easily the version of the album to get for those that do follow the genre as a whole.

Score: 93/100

Does it sound good? Order the reissue from here:
http://vicrecords.com/shop/index.php?id_product=81&controller=product

Kingdom (Pol) - Sepulchral Psalms from the Abyss of Torment

Artist: Kingdom (Pol)
Release Title: Sepulchral Psalms from the Abyss of Torment
Year: 2016
Label: Godz ov War Productions
Genre: Retro Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Sepulchlar Psalms
2. Monolith of Death
3. Forsaken Tribe
4. Kaplica Ducha Zgniłego
5. Abyss of Torment
6. Black Rain upon the Mountain of Doom
7. Whispering the Incantation of Eternal Fire
8. Cromlech (Darkthrone cover)

Keeping their old-school sound intact, Polish death metal veterans Kingdom have gained a loyal following for their die-hard adherence to a blackened old-school attack of churning death metal madness. With a three-year gap between records that sees the band employing new bassist STH and being his first recorded output for the band, their third full-length effort is originally released October 30, 2016 on new label Godz ov War Productions.

From the onset here this is quite obviously a grand old-school styled affair which wraps plenty of strong and impressive elements within. The main focus here is on the band's devoutly old-school style attack, from the swirling tremolo-laced patterns that are intertwined throughout here with the lurching, sprawling riff-work at the core of the band’s sound which manage to add a darkened, swampy attack to the slow, sprawling riff-work. This is highly impressive for the most part as this atmospheric displays reeks of the sprawling, deep churning vibe of the old-school scene which is then played at a variety of tempos that alternate from the ferocious up-tempo thrasher to a chugging mid-tempo outburst and a doom-riddled sprawl that offers plenty of crusty elements to the band’s signature swampy lurch with this series of deviations allowing for a wholly well-rounded outcome that gets melded together in competent, coherent fashion. It’s all tied together in lengthy, sprawling numbers that gel incredibly well together as this allows for the album to ebb and flow together while still remaining constant and charging to generate the required liveliness to make for a compelling effort. The fact that this all comes together so well yet still feels way too short is a great effort as well, but does highlight the one minor flaw here in that this does come off like it needs another track or two just to round itself off into a more complete form, as everything here works so well but does feel brief with only eight tracks, albeit seven originals with the fine cover at the end tying this up nicely so it does feel like another track or so would’ve pushed this over the edge what with the quality on display here.

Though this one does feel a bit too short and rather brief overall, the fact that the competency and utterly impressive displays found throughout here overcome that to quite a large degree that it becomes the main element holding this one back from further greatness as it should readily appeal to all revivalist death metal fans, old-school aficionados or most fans of extreme metal in general.

Score: 92/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/kingdom-sepulchral-psalms-from-the-abyss-of-torment

Chiral - Gazing Light Eternity

Artist: Chiral
Release Title: Gazing Light Eternity
Year: 2016
Label; Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Part I (The Gazer)
2. Part II (The Haze)
3. Part III (The Crown)
4. Part IV (The Hourglass)

Having adopted their new-found style, one-man Italian atmospheric/post-black metallers Chiral have settled into quite a groove with their switchover to this style after their initial formation as a black/doom project as this allows the band to incorporate more folk influences into the raw black metal. A concept album about the evolution and perception of the perpetual flow of time on men, places and memories, the second full-length album was originally self-released October 27, 2016.

As is to be expected with bands that employ this particular style, the main inference here is on the bands’ atmospheric black metal standings, which are placed at the forefront of the music in grand fashion. Centered upon swirling, highly-melodic tremolo patterns at a constant, repetitive style that sweeps along through the music in here which results in numerous passages of extended rhythms circling around the same central pattern from these arrangements interspersed with instances of fine keyboards and blistering, straightforward drumming that packs a great deal of rumbling double-bass motifs into the music. This ends up replicating the wholesale naturalistic vibe presented throughout that’s commonly associated with this particular subgenre of atmospheric black metal, and with the light ambient interludes placed along the way that bring about plenty of even more melodic intersections with this one managing to gain quite an invaluable degree of slow-burning simplistic rhythms that draw upon their exchanges of atmospheric works to give this quite an impressive outing from the start. At only four tracks, though, there’s bound to be a feeling of incompleteness to the effort as this one really seems to go for a series of the extended swirling rhythms for long periods of time with only a few chances to add to that due to the short running time. It’s really only the main thing wrong with this one otherwise.

Being just a touch too short for it’s own good, that’s the only real flaw for this album as the main factors for it being quite enjoyable and entertaining are much more prominent here which really propels this one quite nicely for fans of droning atmospheric black metal or fans of his past works.

Score: 82/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://chiral27.bandcamp.com/

Veilburner - The Obscene Rite

Artist: Veilburner
Release Title: The Obscene Rite
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Avant-Garde Black/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Postmortem Exordium
2. Necroquantum Plague Asylum
3. Vaterchen
4. Eucharist of the Breathing Abyss
5. Masquerade Macabre
6. Baphometic Catalyst
7. Dilemma Manifestation
8. In the Revelations of Bloodstained Void
9. Phainops

Marking the final part of their trilogy, Pennsylvania black/death metallers Veilburner chronicle their story about the occultist beliefs in transforming beyond mere humanity into a divine godhood by bypassing the notions of control imposed on the masses. Managing to take this lyrical concept to it’s complete end, the duo preps their self-released third full-length part of this trilogy on September 23, 2016.

Following their style quite nicely, the main impetus on the album is a highly-unorthodox variant on black/death metal which comes from their varied and discordant riff-work. This is featured with a strong series of discordant, jangly patterns that are strongly technical with near-progressive tendencies within the arrangements and maneuver within the utterly off-kilter tempos which give the tracks a highly offbeat appearance that’s quite intriguing. Mixed alongside these are some fine industrial flourishes that are full of truly psychedelic rhythms that are fully disorienting yet still all manage to swirl together into a fine mixture of black and death metal with these elements coming into play alongside these strong psychedelic and discordant rhythms. However much fun this approach is, it does present this one with a minor problem that does need to be addressed. This one is indeed quite experimental with it’s progressive-tinged approach and due to this it throws in quite a few elements into the tracks that are quite distracting rather than appealing. With the jangly riff-work and stuttering paces it really tends to develop a constant flow of rhythm changes filled with riffing that’s jarring and quite discordant with twanging arrangements and squealing noises that are highly at odds with the more black/death metal arrangements. This makes them seem to almost go on far longer than they really should with the progressive arrangements making this way quite bloated and challenging to get through with all the different elements coming together that are seemingly at odds with each other. Otherwise, this approach isn’t all that bad.

Despite a minor problem here with this one seemingly quite distracting and jarring for some looking for a more traditional and orthodox approach black/death metal, the fact that this overall approach is quite fun at times does make this a solid choice for more adventurous-leaning extreme metal fans or fans of the bands’ previous work.

Score: 86/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://veilburner.bandcamp.com/album/the-obscene-rite

Across the Burning Sky - The End is Near

Artist: Across the Burning Sky
Release Title: The End is Near
Year: 2016
Label: MDD Records
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. The Death March
2. Demons Rising
3. Towards The Sky
4. Sacrifice
5. Call of the Ancient Gods
6. The Fourth Deadly Sin
7. Shadows Embrace
8. Ashes to Ashes
9. Bloodlines
10. The End
11. The Final March

Formed just in 2014, Swedish melodic death metallers Across the Burning Sky have come together from a collective of scene veterans with nearly two decades of experience in the genre that have manifested themselves into the claim of old-school influences. With the group finally coming together to their first release, the debut full-length was originally released October 28, 2016 on MDD Records.

From the outset this here is pretty apparent and forceful about the old-school influences in their melodic death metal stylings by offering a charging variant on the style. There’s a strong simplicity inherent in this one by going for the generally energetic mid-tempo pacing while letting the more furious and pounding rhythms lead along into the more frantic sections that add a nice balance and energy to this one. Though it’s mostly simplistic, there’s a driving energy by meshing that within the melodic firepower of the main riff-work featured here which creates a wholly melodic and blistering sections here with the sweeping patterns firing off the melodic prowess in these frantic sections. That is a perfect display of their professionalism in their seasoned experience which comes off well here, but does manage to draw up the one small facet on display here in that the tracks are so straightforward and simplistic that it never offers up any kind of variation to enable the tracks to generate any kind of length here as this one is so short and over so quick that there’s the very likely possibility that this one turns into a shortened burst of material but then is just over and it really seems as though the tracks could’ve been expanded a bit more beyond just three-minute blasts of effective melodic death metal. Still, it’s the only real issue to have with this one.

With the fact that it’s just so quick and over so soon due to a real lack of variation within itself which makes this come off so short, there’s not much else really wrong here that really drops this one down as the main problematic issue here so that all fans of melodic death metal are encouraged to check this out.

Score: 85/100

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

Division Vansinne - Dimension Darkness

Artist: Division Vansinne
Release Title: Dimension Darkness
Year: 2016
Label: Black Lion Productions
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Första terror pergamentet
3. Goathorns Rising
4. Helt åt helvete med allt
5. Sadistic Love Session
6. Ändlöst jävla galenskap i blod
7. Ritual
8. Flyende under solens pest
9. När allt har brunnit ner
10. Dimension Darkness
11. Outro

Originally formed in 2008, Swedish black/death metallers Division Vansinne have come together with the idea to keep the old spirit of early 90’s black/death metal alive through their desire to build their work around those old-school aesthetics. With their line-up finally being solidified around mainmanTortureXvidian on vocals and guitars, a returning Likh on bass and Ljusebring Terrorblaster on drums, the groups’ debut album was released September 20, 2016 on Black Lion Productions.

Once the group gets going, there’s a highly prominent and devastating old-school tone throughout here that’s quite prevalent in the different attempts to display their riffing prowess. This is mostly evident in the fact that there’s quite a feverish and prominent outpouring of traditionally deep, churning riffing present that adds a nice selection of tempo variation throughout here, ranging from a series of tight blasting patterns to majestic, sprawling rides. This not only allows for the album to deftly switch styles here but also manages to include the darkened swirling tremolo patterns to the rhythms which is quite impressive and wholly dynamic as a whole that gives this the ability to mesh those styles together into a strong whole so that the darkened, crawling old-school atmosphere gets a chance to be more prominent and present in the overall album’s feel. While there’s a lot to enjoy about this one, there’s the one lone factor here in that the album’s rather overlong length here stemming from way too many tracks dwelling in the  mid-tempo range when it really could’ve stayed more in the faster blasting sections that are far more lively and energetic here. Due to the tracklisting that enables more of these to be featured in order to reach that length, it highlights those even more and leads to a tide of rhythms throughout here rather than a consistent tone, though being a debut offering this is somewhat less of an issue than expected.

Despite featuring a few moments here and there that aren’t all that enjoyable, there’s more than enough elements at work here that is impressive and exciting that it manages to overcome a lot of it regardless of this being a debut that gives this a great appeal for fans of old-school death and black metal as well as fans of Scandinavian extreme metal in general.

Score: 89/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://divisonvansinneblp.bandcamp.com/album/dimension-darkness

Detonation (Neth) - Reprisal

Artist: Detonation (Neth)
Release Title: Reprisal
Year: 2011
Label: Self-Released/Independent (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Enslavement
2. There Is No Turning Back
3. Feeding on the Madness
4. Ruptured
5. Absentia Mentis
6. Washing Away the Blood
7. Falling Prey
8. Insults to My Heritage

Having returned from their hiatus, Dutch melodic death metallers Detonation have put their self-imposed break to use with a continuation of their tried and true style of melodic death and thrash metal accents together into a solid whole. Following a four-year gap between releases, the group originally releases their fourth full-length independently April 2, 2011 before a reissue September 16, 2016 on Vic Records.

For the most part here this one is a rather dynamic and impressive offering of their style which is still quite prominent even after the layoff. Dwelling in plenty of ravenous swirling riff-work and charging patterns that add a nice quality of energetic material to the proceedings, there’s a melodic bent to these rhythms by placing a series of lighter rhythms to the main patterns here. Dragging plenty of choppy thrash-style riffing along the way and using that to augment the rather prominent melodic dirges, there’s a solid energy present here which is all balanced out by the rather strong mid-tempo plodding paces featured here which manage to generate the kind of solid, workable features needed to accent the melodic firepower to it’s greatest degree by keeping the atmosphere at a consistent tone to be able to introduce it’s melodic accents at finely-chosen levels. This does result in the album feeling way too simplistic and one-dimensional at times, negating a lot of these positives in order to keep this one at a rather constant placing so that it can keep the melodic accents firmly in tune with the rest of the album’s rumbling rhythms. Likewise, there’s a lot of rather rudimentary riffing and simplistic patterns that are prominent in the first half here which are thankfully improved upon in the later half which are much more enjoyable overall with a better sense of dynamics, and these here hold this one back somewhat.

Though there’s a lot to really like overall here, there’s a couple of minor problematic issues which are found throughout this one which does lower this one enough here which causes this to come off mostly for the most devout proponent of melodic death metal or fans of the bands’ previous work as well.

Score: 78/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://vicrecords.com/shop/index.php?id_product=84&controller=product