Album Reviews

Everlasting Spew Records is one of the underground labels that I trust when it comes to death metal. Although I had little knowledge about the Minneapolis-based death metal five-piece, Nothingness had recently released their sophomore 'Supraliminal' on January 20th, 2023. The band was formed in 2018 by guitarist Alex Walstad (Aberration) and vocalist Barclay Olson (ex-The Following) and released their debut album 'The Hollow Game of Death' in 2019. There have been some lineup changes in the past three years with Jon Grandel (guitars), Xen Hartzell (bass) and Erik Christianson (drums) joining the fold.
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The Vancouver doom/gothic duo Tribunal is a newcomer to the realm of doom and their debut full-length album 'The Weight of Remembrance' released via 20 Buck Spin on January 20th, 2023 has everything to offer to the fans of this genre. The duo Soren Mourne (cello, bass, vocals, songwriting, and lyrics) and Etienne Flinn (vocals, guitars, songwriting, and lyrics) maintain a gloomy backdrop between the beautiful cello segments and the trudging guitars, but what Tribunal truly covers on the seven tracks is the range of the dual vocals. The line-up also features Julia Geaman (drums), Jessica Yang (guitars) and Dallas (keyboards).
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Swedish black metal Grá took time in refining its sound to modern standards of black metal. For those who are not acquainted with the band, Grá is fronted by Heljarmadr vocalist of Dark Funeral, and Dimman (drums), Vediger (bass guitar) and Niklas (guitars). The band has released three albums in the span of thirteen years and now the quartet returns with their fourth album “Lycaon”. Grá brings plenty of aggression and a variety of riffs the album somehow eschews the style of Dark Funeral, and Marduk therefore it focuses on heavy-driven guitars with the drums restraining from blast beats.
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British death metal supergroup Memoriam returns with the fifth album “Rise To Power” released on February 3rd via Reaper Entertainment. Over the past six years Karl Willetts (vocals), Scott Fairfax (guitars), Frank Healy (bass), and Spikey T. Smith (drums) had laid the groundwork for becoming the true heirs of Bolt Thrower. “Rise To Power” delivers the utmost precision from these veterans who have continued to maintain the signature sound quality by fortifying their place amongst the best death metal acts today.
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Ohio-based death metal act Sanguisugabogg is back with the sophomore release “Homicidal Ecstasy” out via Century Media on February 3rd, 2023. Only two years after delivering their first full-length album “Tortured Whole” the quartet evolved as a cohesive unit. The 12 tracks reek of aural filth and gore-infested vocals and despite what critics may think of the band for sounding mediocre or generic the songs prove otherwise but don’t let the album cover fool you.
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In the last couple of years, we’ve seen a surge of U.S. black metal bands that play a conventional style of melodic black metal. Much like atmospheric bands like Chaos Moon, Ringarë, and Skáphe, Häxanu is a fine example of the brilliant talent of the multi-instrumentalist Alex Poole. Returning after three years of relative silence, “Totenpass” is the band’s second album which also features vocalist L.C. Musically the newest effort seamlessly tackles the Scandinavian modality. Even though “Totenpass” is a continuation of the same musical concept as the debut album “Snare of All Salvation”, the seven tracks are more fluid. And this is probably because the rhythm guitars and the furious drums deliver an emotional intensity.
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Having gone through innovative changes, the Greek black metal outfit Thy Darkened Shade has set the bar high for its third studio album 'Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya' released via World Terror Committee on January 10th, 2023. Consequently, the duo Semjaza (guitars, vocals, bass) and The A (vocals) along with session musicians HG (drums) and Herc (Choirs) offers an outstanding mélange of modern and avant-garde black metal. The new album was mixed and mastered by V. Santura with Semjaza at Woodshed Studio, Thy Darkened Shade proves that their groundbreaking performance formulates the nature of their craft.

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Ten56. is a france metalcore band that releases their second EP called Downer Part.2, the follow-up of the earlier released EP called Downer Part.1. Putting those two together you get enough material worth one big release, so I was curious about the difference between the two.
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Pittsburgh punk rockers Anti Flag have released their 13th album 'Lies They Tell Our Children.
The unusual aspect of this release is that it is a “conceptual” album concerned about the state of the world that we currently live in and that 7 out of the 11 tracks feature guest artists.
The band, who are no strangers to railing against corporate greed, governmental authority, war and social injustices said;
“This is an important moment in history and demands an urgent response, but we thought it was also important that we retrace our footsteps to the beginning of these issues. In order to better understand how to eradicate climate devastation, imperialism, war-based economics, systems predicated upon racism, and the increasing belief that these things do not even exist."
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I’m going to start the first review of 2023 with an album of 2022. Why? Because The New Roses create the nicest feel good Rock 'n Roll. The previous album' Nothing But Wild' that was released in 2019, was one that made you feel like you were driving a car with the sun on your face and the wind through your hair. Let’s see what 'Sweet Poison' has to offer us.
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