Written by: Blackie Skulless

After Midnight Assassin cemented Sadistic Force as a true, *ahem* force to be reckoned with, and not just another decent black/thrash outfit that checks all the boxes, it does make one wonder how much more they can evolve. If sticking to the same dynamic formula is the move, then the truth is not too much. This didn’t stop the Texans from attempting several steps forward, and if anything, their recent EP of last year is a testament to that. Titled Morbid Odyssey, they’ve taken a similar general idea and cleaned it up a bit, all the while injecting some pretty extreme fervor in several ways.

Before even noting the differences in execution, the production alone would have felt like a pivot elsewhere, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t make things sound bigger. Sneaking in melodies and nods to more traditional metal influence is still present, but the drums feel far more ferocious this time around, and the riffs far thicker and marshier. Thus, while I’d still call this a black/thrash effort at its core, Sadistic Force made themselves sound heavier, with more might behind the kicks. It’s like what would happen if you asked a death metal artist to play this genre instead.

​Sadistic Force is clearly hinting at potential technical evolution that’s admittedly awkward at times, as I feel the several directions reveal a lack of clarity, but is mean and hostile otherwise. The band has long proved its ability to stand out, and I find myself wondering how things would fare if the whole EP followed the aesthetic of “Abnormal Cruelties.” Sometimes the method is to not fix what isn’t broken, but Morbid Odyssey feels like a look at what to expect. Given some fine-tuning and perhaps letting off the drum domination a bit, they’ve easily got another full-length in them that could rival their previous one.

Sadistic Force - Morbid Odyssey was released Aug. 22nd, 2025. Find it here!

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Upon a simple look, Leatherhead is one of those bands you can almost immediately predict what you’re in for; campy, horror themed traditional metal. By this point, this style is kind of a dime a dozen, but if it only costs a dime then perhaps its worth it. The Greeks’ second record is the one that snagged my attention, titled Violent Horror Stories, in case you needed yet another indicator of the subject at hand.

More importantly is the fact that as straightforward as this outfit is, there are some distinguishing features that made me actually want to revisit. For one, there’s a heavy emphasis not only on speed metal construction, but a certain oomph that hearkens back to the USPM movement of the ‘80s, complete with thick layers coating the speedy riffs and a powerful falsetto frontman. Moreover, despite the shorter runtime, there’s a decent ear for hook placement and variation that prevents any stagnance. Thus, as predictable as you were expecting an album that looks like this, and an opening track titled “V.H.S.” to sound, you may be a little surprised yourself.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Worm are an outfit that I find extremely fascinating, for nothing more than the way they took the doom/death style that I often credit to having a one-to-two album shelf-life and breaking that precedent entirely. 2019’s Gloomlord was the album that put them “on the map” (and on my radar), but it wasn’t until Foreverglade that they became a force I felt worth reckoning with, and to this day I get little out of the first two records. When that record dropped, I could only surmise moving forward that maybe the North Americans had one more worthwhile disc in them, which then came in the form of Bluenothing, an EP that could pass for a full-length to some bands. Having established themselves as an oddball black/death/doom hybrid, I really couldn’t imagine what more could come. I say this not only because that’s a lot to swallow as is, but realizing the latest effort Necropalace crossed the hour long mark made me think even more that this would just be more of the same stuff but longer.

But good lord man, here we are! I can’t in full honesty claim the “doom” aspect of this sound on album number four has gone away, as it’s packed with stomping crawls of fury, and “space between the space” caveman-isms that tend to define the doom/death world. Yet, I do think we’ve reached a point where that’s now simply a facet and no longer a base ingredient, and the death metal traces are more distant, other than in sheer feel. 

Worm can be found at Bandcamp and Instagram marschall-arts.com/
Cover art by: Andreas Marschall

Written by: Blackie Skulless

​As what tends to happen, I’ve headed into the early parts of a new year discovering things I missed the year prior. Even labels that I follow closely like Caligari are no exception, as one of their American outfits swung in from out of nowhere late last year. Burning Death are a black/thrash outfit somewhat born out of label-mates Act Of Impalement, sharing two members. Their debut dropped following zero lead-up releases, simply being titled Burning Death.

The album art may suggest something different, but the fact of the matter is that this band is pretty straightforward, avoiding any bells and whistles or intricate fluff. Definitely residing on the thrashier end, things stay fast and loose without getting overly chaotic nor feeling underproduced. The clearer delivery under a still blackened hue and gritty vocals definitely gives things the meaner flavor, allowing some room for punk-oriented stomps to fill in the gaps. Such a style wrapped into only eight tracks naturally makes for a pretty short full-length, coming and going before our eyes.

So yeah. I (and you!) have no shortage of favorites to pick from. I really enjoy the bombastic intro "Lead Poisoning," which has an odd catchiness that builds after repeat listens. It feels like it references a variety of universal motifs--there's something so familiar in particular about the cadence of the vocals. A few tracks later, we're treated to the furious one-two punch of the barn-burning "250," which features the kind of meaty grooves that you want to throw your entire skeleton into, and the following "Miscreant," which is simply fun as hell. This track truly cranks the energy to the boiling point. It fires things off with an excitable riff that feels ripped from an alternate universe where thrash, rather than slamming brutality, informs the grindcore zeitgeist (if, uhhhh, such a thing exists.) And then "Kirkified" is punky and profoundly badass. It's a song designed to make you move, and it is over far too quickly. Which, arguably, means it is the perfect length. Later, "Inflammatory" feels like the heart-pounding final moments of a bossfight--it legitimately gets me hyped and primed to throw fists, and is over in 40 seconds. Perfection, frankly. And the penultimate "Paradox, Oh Paradox, Tolerant No More" somehow finds a whole 'nother level of blunt force that juxtaposes nicely with the closing "An Alarming Number of People Have Normalized the Taste of Leather," which feels like a reaffirmation of the album's central thesis, both sonically and thematically. But! At the end of the day, Grindcore Is Dead...Long Live Grindcore is not a listening experience that merits from discussing tracks on isolation. If you're listening to one track, you best be listening to 'em all. The diversity of sounds represented here makes it a thoroughly engaging listen.
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Aberrant Extermination Impulsion has released a lot of music as of late, full stop. Three albums this year alone is nothing to scoff at, particularly when considered in the context of multiple releases crammed into the last few days of 2025. When faced with a display of prolific songwriting, I'm always tempted to wonder when inspiration will evaporate, when the vein will run dry. Not today, apparently. Grindcore Is Dead...Long Live Grindcore confirms that Aberrant Extermination Impulsion is as fresh and energetic as day one. I'm also very willing to assert that this is Matthew's best work under this moniker to date by a significant margin, which was frankly surprising how much I have loved (and hyped) previous releases. 

My lack of brevity is unbecoming; I'll wrap it up here. If this sounds enjoyable, and/or if you have enjoyed the embed, hit that preorder over on Ampwall. I also highly recommend checking out the entire Aberrant Extermination Impulsion discography. It is well worth the very small time commitment, and it's quite invigorating to see the sonic development play out in near-real time. Good stuff. 'Nuff said.

Aberrant Extermination Impulsion - Grindcore Is Dead...Long Live Grindcore will be independently released March 13th, 2026. Find it here.

Aberrant Extermination Impulsion is on Ampwall and Bluesky

"Kärrhäxan" also sports a  delightfully unique visual aesthetic, featured in the (very cool, and profoundly disturbing) video animated by Triumvir Kaleido, who is also the project's songwriter, vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. Said video is embedded below. I highly recommend giving it your full attention--heed the content warnings. The world and fleshed-out narrative here demonstrates an additional layer of intention behind the project, and process of watching the video after already having familiarized myself with the song itself made for quite the jolting experience.
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Written by: The Administrator

On one level, I feel like my work here is already done, simply by benefit of typing the band name in the header. It kinda sells itself, no? With a band name like that--so visceral! so evocative!--what use is my humble endorsement?

On another level, however, I like this album, and when I like an album, I like to write about it. And so here I am, bloated wordcount in tow. We slumbering scribes are excited to premiere today, in its entirety, Blood & Oil. This is the sophomore LP from Simon Bryant's "filthy" and "punishing" sludge metal/noise rock/crust punk/etc. project, and serves as the follow-up to Blunt Knife Castration's 2025 debut Live Fast Die Slow. 

And yes, the mere phrase "blunt knife castration" is enough to describe exactly what Blunt Knife Castration is all about. Sonically, thematically, and perhaps spiritually, the band is as grim and bloody and dark as you are likely imagining. This is gnarly stuff; sludgy and bituminous, filthy and snarling. Less-than-surgical and surprisingly experimental. Noisy and chaotic. Dark and often deliberately uncomfortable. If music can be described as ugly, Blood & Oil may very well be the poster child. Complimentary, of course. As a body of work, it ups the ante on noisy weirdness, and ultimately paints a pretty dark picture.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I must encourage you to give Blood & Oil a listen below! As always, we'll meet you on the other side.

This album sounds utterly nasty. Everything feels coated in a grimy patina. Rust and concrete dust mixed with the titular blood and oil. The guitar grumbles and growls with a mean severity, sometimes sounding almost industrial in terms of sheer stomping impact. The drums are quite dynamic, at times massive and hollow, at times claustrophobic and sharp. And yet, much of the music's inherent aggression comes from the vocal delivery. The vocals are snarling, dry, and hoarse, and frequently erupt into a level of bombast I would comfortably classify as a roar. Some tracks utilize a vocal effect that is more distant and slightly ghastly, which allows an intermingling with the instrumentation in a way that feels unsettling in a way I can't quite put my finger on. The application of frequent long-form vocal samples littered throughout the tracklist helps break up and/or intensify the intensity--in terms of subject matter, they are often quite dark, but paradoxically allow the listener to take a breath without the full weight on their lungs. And, all the while, substantial noisy elements permeate, filling the cracks with humming ambience or skittering intrusions.

While I was expecting Blunt Knife Castration to spend a lot of time plodding through the murk and the mire, there's a surprising sense of forward momentum rearing its head across the album. Third track "Degeneration" is downright driving, with a riff that palpitates urgently. These fast-paced elements let the low 'n' slow moments hard that much harder--take, for example, the imploding outro of said "Degeneration." Following track "Lone" keeps the energy high, indicating that the thrust will be maintained. I was expecting a single cranium-crushing knockout blow, but instead took a flurry of jabs directly to the gut. Not, y'know, that I'm complaining.

With all that said, however, Blunt Knife Castration never lose the plot when it comes to delivering good songs. There's a coiled and writhing groove running across the tracklist, and many riffs on an individual basis are absolute knockers. First track proper "Gunshot Selfie" is crusty and vicious, and absolutely slathered in the promised filth. After listening, I feel like I need a crime scene cleanup crew to sanitize my earholes. The aforementioned "Degeneration" is a highlight, along with "Guilt Pig," which rides the line between squirmy, creepy, and punky inordinately well. It is a song defined by its masterful molding of noise and fury. Another highlight, "Swallow," leans into weird extremity, blending a wide range of sounds into a dreary and oddly entrancing 6 minutes. Later on, the churn of "Menial Mutt" gets the ol' head a-nodding. The girthy and slow-burning closer "Skinny Fingers" spends substantial time in the world's of creepy static atmospherics, which ultimately reinforces the impact of those sludgier elements.

I'll be the first to acknowledge that a deliberately punishing and despondent auditory experience is not everyone's cup of tea, but if you like your sludge dark and grimy, Blood & Oil makes for a very rewarding listen. It will be released tomorrow, Feb. 27th, via Remorseless Records. Find it on Bandcamp here! In the meantime, give it a listen (or two!) via ye olde embed.

Wicked Leather can be found on Linktree
Cover art by: Mikhael Feliks