Album Reviews

Canadian brutal technical death metal quartet Cryptopsy released their eighth studio album “As Gomorrah Burns” on September 8th, 2023, via Nuclear Blast. Cryptopsy had a huge fan base in the early nineties and even the band captured the attention with their second full-length album “None So Vile” in 1996, the Canadian lads pioneered the extreme metal scene. The later albums such as “Whisper Supremacy” and “Once Was Not” were unable to overshadow the success of the sophomore. Despite the band had gone through multiple lineup changes over the past two decades, drummer/backing vocals Flo Mounier (Vltimas) was at the helm as the last remaining original member.
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The bloody history of the Hungarian noblewoman Erszebet or Elisabeth Bathory has inspired countless artists – be it in literature, movies or music. Where you have obviously the Swedish legendary band Bathory itself of course, next to Cradle of Filth’s classic concept album ‘Cruelty and the Beast’ to name but two of the most immediately recognizable ones. It is also the chosen moniker of a one woman project headed by one Rachel Bloodspell Moongoddess, although I doubt that’s actually what’s printed on her driver’s licence.
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U.S. death metal titans Cannibal Corpse are back with their sixteenth album “Chaos Horrific” out on Metal Blade Records on September 22nd, 2023. Following the previous installment “Violence Unhinged” which combined a solid aural splatter of gore-themed death metal, featuring guitarist Erik Rutan (Hate Eternal) who makes his second appearance on this record. The lineup put in a visceral performance with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, bassist Alex Webster, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher to deliver old-fashioned brutality.
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Once more, my favorites Swedish gunslingers have crawled out of their shallow graves from the northern prairies of Scandinavia. How should one describe you the music of the Coffinshakers? Imagine Johnny Cash on Halloween and you’re halfway there.
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Scotland and England based death metal five-piece Ageless Summoning debuted their first studio album “Corruption the Entempled Plane” on July 21st, 2023, via Dark Descent Records. Having the notion of sounding raw and otherworldly in the way of the early wave of Finnish and U.S. death metal, Ageless Summoning aptly invokes the themes of atmospheric death metal. The band's lineup consists of Derek Wright (bass guitar), Hamish Mackintosh (drums), Gregg Cowell (guitars), Ali Lauder (vocals) and Rory Strachan (guitars).
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Guess who’s back? Danko Jones - Motherfucker(s)! For more than 25 years, actually 27 years to be precise, this band is and has always been a guarantee for straight, mean, sleazy rock’n roll. 'Electric Sounds' is the 11th long-layer from the Canada based trio.
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Listening to Roots of the Old Oak takes you right back to the early nineties, to the time when the Peaceville triumvirate of My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Anathema ruled supreme as masters of misery. Hailing from those same shores of Albion, this outfit’s debut album ‘The Devil and His Wicked Ways’ is a celebration of those hallowed times.
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Baltimore, Maryland-based brutal/grindcore death metal act Dying Fetus finally returns after a six-year hiatus with a brand-new album “Make Them Beg for Death” out on Relapse Records on September 8th, 2023. Led by the founder guitarist/vocalist John Callagher, bassist/vocalist Sean Beasley, and drummer Trey Williams, the ninth album cements the extreme brutality and technical prowess of the band.
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Sao Paulo-based death/doom act Fossilization returns with its first full-length album 'Leprous Daylight' on September 8th, 2023, via Everlasting Spew Records. Founded in the year 2020 by the members of the Brazilian sludge death/doom band Jupiterian, the duo continues to mold their own niche into a morbid death metal style. These Brazilians demonstrate a hefty, colossal structure of atonal tremolos by creating a sinister and oppressive theme of cavernous riffs.
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International black doom metal collective The Rite is back with sophomore album “The Astral Gloom” released on August 11th, 2023 through Iron Bonehead Records. In the last couple of years, the German underground label has introduced some interesting releases from various bands such as Abhor, Furis Ignis, Musmahhu, and The Rite is another great example of the expanding roster. Founded in 2017 by guitarist/bassist and keyboardist A.Th (Black Oath) and vocalist Ustumallagam (Denial of God). While the other members are based in Italy, the lineup includes guitarist Gabriel (Black Oath, Morbus Grave etc.…) drummer War. D (Morbus Grave) and, guitarist M. Desecrator (Black Ejaculation).
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