Over the past decade, thrash has rebirthed itself as general resentment toward not just the system but the mentality of modernity has expanded, and Solanum bring us a thrash album straight from middle period Corrosion of Conformity crossed with Agnostic Front and Stormtroopers of Death.
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Maybe you wish that Sodom had kept cranking those nice mature metal albums like M16 that had less emotion, but also more focus, so you could follow one ripping tune after another, and maybe recruited the guys from Vader to execute this vision. Militaria steps into this void.
4 CommentsTags: militaria, Speed Metal
Two members of Enslaved and one from Theatre of Tragedy played in this early attempt at death metal, an enjoyable listen for old school fans because it both showcases the ingenuity of the best of that era, and shows why bands launched into black metal instead.
2 CommentsTags: Black Metal, death metal, Enslaved, phobia
At its core, this release has good bones, but its rhythmic approach emphasizes the time of incessant speed of bands like Damnation or later Vader and the focus on repeated trudging vocal emphasis like Hate Eternal or Six Feet Under, which mars what would otherwise be a top-notch release.
1 CommentTags: cancerfaust, death metal
Progressive rock has a tendency to crawl up its own navel, and Bastian Per fix that with a “lite prog” approach like Camel or Rush but with the instrumental approach of Yes or Genesis, focusing on driving guitar riffs and use of harmony to allow these songs to expand themes gradually.
No CommentsTags: bastian per, progressive rock
Carrying forward the old school energy with an idiosyncratic voice of its own, Sépulcre aims for a mid-paced, shifting texture of riffs which culminate in the expansion of melody, producing both a bounding exuberant energy and a dark ambiguous mood which swallows up the rest of each track.
1 CommentTags: death metal, sepulcre
Attempting to use Carnage/Nihilist style d-beat old school death metal as a sponge in which to absorb melodic metal influences, Symbtomy achieve the first stages of the holy grail of death metal, namely songs where all the parts relate to each other and a general theme emerges.
No CommentsTags: death metal, symbtomy
Welcome to that odd point, thirty years after the genre formed, when your favorite music has become if not universally socially accepted at least recognized as part of the landscape, which means that you, too, can go to expensive festivals in far-off urban wastelands.
9 CommentsTags: concert, live, mass destruction, metalfest
Exploring a modern side of metal that keeps one foot in the past, the latest Pestilence will draw comparisons to Testimony of the Ancients, but to my mind goes back to Malleus Maleficarum even more, balanced with metalcore, progressive metal, and jazz fusion.
No CommentsTags: metalcore, pestilence, Speed Metal
Listening to the review queue, it strikes me how few bands write songs with any unifying patterns to them. Most piece together riffs around a form, like those paper cut-outs seamstresses use to make dresses, and when it all seems to work, cut tape and call it a day.
No CommentsTags: assault, Melodic Death Metal, Speed Metal
