Written by: Beaston Lane The term “gothic metal” has been loosely applied to uniquely dramatic and dark bands over the past few decades, but its existence as a genre has always remained unclear. In 2021, however, there’s one band that immediately comes to mind when gothic metal is mentioned: Tribulation. Drawing from anthemic, melodic hard rock as well as melodeath, black metal, and doom, the band has charted an intoxicating course during the 2010's, seemingly improving with each release. The questions that have surrounded Where the Gloom Becomes Sound since its announcement weren’t regarding its quality, rather whether or not it would meet the astronomical bar set by its beloved predecessors. Hot streaks are bound to end, but as WTGBS proves, Tribulation’s is far from over.
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Written by: Lord Hsrah Torture, pain, cannibalism, gore, evisceration, murderous psychopaths are all entities done, brushed, bruised and dusted in death metal and all its various derivative forms over the years. But Pune, India based trio Dead Exaltation bring forth their debut album, Despondent, in progressive/technical death metal flavors, and with it an interesting story of innocent civilians picked off the streets straight into prison, for no rhyme or reason (well, that's a rhyme), left at the mercy of a psychopathic jail warden and his sadistic, cannibal guards who show them what it feels like being hell's very own citizens living in God's created world. Dead Exaltation took birth in 2015 as a five-piece band, but flowing in the daily course of the river of life, bassist Anish Poulose and second guitarist Sourjya Mukherjee separated as tributaries, leaving vocalist Satyajit Gargori, guitarist Mradul Singhal (who also recorded the bass, now deceased, R.I.P), and drummer Aditya Oke to record this since-long composed concept album.
Written by: Blackie Skulless
For a while, I had a hard time grasping Carcinoid and their bone-crunching style of doom/death. Released on my birthday in 2019, we’re about a year and a half past Metastatic Declination’s release, and it has since grown on me. Here, the Aussies boast a brooding and freezing brand of the style meant to hold you underground as long as it can, giving the sensation of a cold, desolate wasteland covering endless decay. Seeing that that’s how the current weather in the Northeast has me feeling, there’s no better time to talk about this. The selling point is the brutally intense layering of the bass against the guitars, allowing both of them to act as the leads. Explosive outbursts from the latter act like a massive gust of wind meant to blow over the listener, bringing the sheer heaviness to peak levels. On the other hand, the guitar parts are so raw and abrasive that they sand away some of the thickness and give off small hints of rhythmic consistency. Together, they’re pretty unstoppable, and while not atypical of this style, I have yet to encounter a band that does it better.
Written by: The Voiceless Apparition
Chaos reigns within the heart of man. It always has. Ever since the dawn of time, humans have been at war with each other. For whatever reasons, I don't know. There is constant turmoil and savagery afoot, which brings us to our review. Swampbeast are a new band within the underground extreme metal scene. They blend a highly potent mixture of death metal, black metal, grindcore and a tinge of hardcore, satiating the beast within us all. On their debut album Swampbeast have a lot to prove. Do they deliver...or do they not? The first thing you'll notice about this album is the atmosphere. No, it's not atmosphere in the sense of calming and beautiful; quite the opposite. Opening track "Orcs Anvil" is a barrage of savage and unhinged vocals, buzzing and noisy guitars, and unrelenting blast beats. What an absolute face-fucking of a beginning song. Completely unrelenting all the way through. The album is split into two different styles. The main style being an absolutely chaotic and visceral attack of grinding blackened death metal, and the second being a hardcore-leaning death doom style. Written by: Beaston Lane 2020 was my first year delving into the obscure and current side of heavy metal, leading me to listen to a seemingly infinite amount of artists including critical darlings like Haken and Imperial Triumphant. However, one band that seemed to fly under the radar far too often--Black Crown Initiate--endlessly commanded my attention with their third album, Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape. Having dropped on August 7th, this magnum opus has steadily gained momentum through the beginning of 2021, but I’m here to put it in the spotlight again. Artists who released albums during 2020 took a big risk with touring on hiatus, and they deserve all the attention they can get. Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape is my favorite album of the year--intoxicating, refreshing, poignant, and above all, beautiful. Interview with the band in question to follow shortly! Stay tuned, dear readers. -Ed. Written by: The Voiceless Apparition So here we are. Another year, another opportunity to spotlight up-and-coming bands. 2021 is going to be an extremely busy year for myself, and for all of the other villagers too, I presume. 2020 may have fucked everything up, but this year will be bringing A LOT of new music. But we'll get to that another time. Today, I'm really happy to be able to review the debut album from Texas death metal heavyweights Frozen Soul. It's amazing how far they have come for literally only forming two years ago. They released their critically acclaimed debut demo Encased in Ice through the always stellar Maggot Stomp back in 2018. They toured the U.S. a few times in 2019, and while 2020 may have put a stop to their touring, they managed to sign to fucking Century Media Records! When I heard that they had signed with them I actually screamed. It makes me so happy to see the love and support that they have been receiving since they formed and that praise only continues to grow with the release of their debut album Crypt of Ice.
Written by: Blackie Skulless
Anthropophagy: (noun) the eating of human flesh by human beings. So in other words, I’m reviewing an album that’s just a fancy word for cannibalism. It should come as no surprise that Sadistic Drive are a death metal band that explore the gore and stench to extreme levels. Hailing from Finland, they’re quite fresh off the grid, taking formation in 2018, and dropping Anthropophagy last year. Just from that and looking at the sleeve, you’ll get exactly what you’re thinking. Chaotic blasting with slamming features and guttural growls take a heavy precedence, filling the proverbial chalice with nothing but slime and grime. An obvious love of horror fills the cracks, as bodily sounds, screams, and samples ooze over to blend some songs together. But surprisingly, the riffing is pretty concise and doesn’t sound as sloppy as it could.
Written by: Blackie Skulless
Not far from my hometown comes a compilation that dropped late last year consisting of two releases from the Philadelphia-based band Alement. One side consists of the EP Onward, which dropped in 2019. The other bears The Hunter from two years prior, thus the two smashed together as Onward / The Hunter. Caligari Records was swell enough to drop both onto one compact tape, as they fit a lot into a quick six-track listen. Across the board, you get a sense of punky riffs and attitude that pass through thrashy territory, creating lots of sweaty angst and hard rhythms. Painted atop due to harsh soundscapes and production comes a crust-drenched tint. This works well with the use of build-up and suspense, thanks to noisy gradients. Moreover, bass takes a very high precedence here, teaming up well with the raspy and grunt-like vocals. Written by: The Voiceless Apparition Hello everyone! So we are finally in the homestretch of 2020. This has been an absolutely insane year, no denying that. Even with all of the struggle and division, we still had new music to get us through it. Let's just hope that next year will be better. Having said that, it's time for Album of the Year lists, and I'm excited to see many of my reviewing friends lists. But for now, I suppose it's my time. This was a difficult list to order. There were SO many stellar albums, so many in fact that I've had to leave off of the list. First I will give my honorable mentions list. Then: onward to the Top 10! Written by: The Voiceless Apparition Here's an interesting question for you fine folks: think back to what you were doing 16 years ago. What were you doing? 16 years ago the underground enigma known as Anders Odden was releasing what was the "last" Cadaver album, Necrosis. But sadly, not a lot of people know who Cadaver is, and that's a damn shame. Cadaver are arguably the first death metal band to have ever come from Norway. They released two stellar albums in the early 1990's before abruptly disbanding in 1993. After reforming, changing their name twice, and releasing two more albums, Cadaver have returned with Edder and Bile. Anders Odden is the sole remaining original member (a lone wolf if you will), but this time around he is joined by one of the best drummers in all of extreme metal, and one of my personal drumming influences, Dirk fucking Verbeuren! So what has this 16 year hiatus done for Cadaver? Let's dive right in... |
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We provide thoughtful reviews of music that is heavy, gloomy...and loud enough to wake us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry!
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