Written by: The Administrator

When ye olde Sleeping Village is pillaged and plundered in typical fashion--a frequent occurrence, if we're being honest--the inevitable spoils of the marauders feels fairly obvious: livestock, gold, artifacts, leather-bound tomes containing alchemical secrets. However, we were recently targeted by a new kind of thievery as an HM-2 afflicted crew graced us with their boisterous presence, demanding not the usual fare, but rather the bile from our rotten guts. After a messy and putrid passing of the collection plate, Vomitheist left us, erm, vomit-less. Lacking a certain subtlety, it was a little too noisy to be considered a heist per se, but rather than stew in the unfairness of it all, we slumbering scribes simply decided to give their tunes a spin.

​As it turns out, Vomitheist's debut album is a remarkable first outing, an absolute beast of a release. Straddling both a classic buzzsaw Swedish death metal muscularity and a putridity that distinctly reeks of a butchered Autopsy, NekroFvneral nails that delicious cadaver-licking foul factor while remaining a highly listenable--dare I say infectious--affair. This is a dominating debut performance, and Vomitheist have declared themselves a name to watch in very short order indeed.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

​This year hasn’t really seen a whole lot in the realm of standout death metal, probably a personal take of mine due to the massive influx of it in recent times. This would change with the U.S. death metal act Kommand dropping their second full-length (not to be confused with the black/thrash act Kömmand). Entitled Death Age, this sees a continuation of their first album a couple years ago. Terrorscape was already pretty tight, but here is where we gain an even higher jump in quality.

Despite being such a short release of only six tracks (also like the previous album), this passes before us rather quickly, but they pack a lot into a small container. Chunky, marshy riffs that carry loads of weight are pulled by compelling leads, some with a bit of a catchier ring to them. This is aided by production that gives it an echo-effect without overdoing anything, as well as a cleanliness level that brings everything forward without sanitizing what’s supposed to be filthy. Pacing is executed well for all of this release, letting the slower grooves swing into eruptive blasts with ease. “Chimera Soldiers” has a particularly strong ear for this, with opening leads that lay down strong dual-guitar layers.

Written by: The Administrator

I undoubtably speak for everyone here: sometimes we all just need our craniums caved in with a boulder the size of a small boulder. When you require such necessary service, I highly recommend looking no further than Denver's Cronos Compulsion. Just take a gander at the appropriately burly and bloody album artwork for this (very good) five track EP and let me know what Malicious Regression sounds like. Your suspicions are undoubtably correct.

Cronos Compulsion wield a truly neolithic approach to the model of simple but bluntly effective riffcraft, alongside a rumbling doomy density. The vocals are as bestial and cavernous as ye might expect. At times, ambient harsh noise serves to break up and/or intensify the abyssal soundscape. Bludgeoning atmosphere is the general rule, and when the riffs encounter peak sludge, a notable sense of despair prevails. Personally, I find these slower and gloomier moments to be some of the strongest. While there are certainly no weak songs, the lumbering "Consumed By Malignant Spirit" is an absolute crushing track, and, by extension, one absolute hell of a closer.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

The classic Florida death metallers Obituary have remained pretty constant over their several decade existence, whether or not their albums actually hold up. Being an outfit that plays things a bit too safe sometimes, their discography can certainly be spotty, but the bright side is that it leaves little room for outright failure. Their 2017 self-titled album was a solid slice of their business as usual displays, and six years later we get Dying Of Everything. The only difference is, they actually stepped out of their comfort zone more than they have in a very long time.

It admittedly takes little to expand upon Obituary’s brand of death metal, but them doing it to themselves worked wonders. For the most part, Dying Of Everything touches on a lot of what the more varied outings have given us in the recent decade. Using modern production tactics to the advantage of echo and haunting effects beside buzzing riffs made a world’s difference, rather than cleaning everything so much. The end result is a disc that boasts all of the sludgy, dense characteristics that made Slowly We Rot incredible with a refreshing new personality.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

In 2018, the Italian act Thulsa Doom caught my attention with the EP Realms Of Hatred, but for the longest time, I got no follow up. Last year, it slipped past my radar, because the debut full-length entitled A Fate Worse Than Death delivered exactly what I look for in the death metal genre. While this is a bit of a continuation of what was offered up before, the execution here is splendid. Nothing really reinvents the wheel, but comprehension and strong riffage take the throne.

For the most part, this is reflective of the old school Florida sound, using chunky but concise playing patterns, held up with an extra boost from the bass. It’s hard to not notice the refined nature in the production, letting go of the raw insides that the previous effort gave, but I see this as an improvement, and nothing is too over the top. The constant weaving of blasting drum avalanches between harder kicks and bright solos create a steady contrast. Matter of fact, the drum and bass combos play a noticeable enough role here to share the spotlight with everything else.

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Following a short career consisting of two demos and a full-length that have all gotten solid praise from me, Conjureth are back with a second full-length. While not changing too much, there’s enough here to get whiffs of exploration that feel just a little scared to move that direction. The Parasitic Chambers certainly maintains everything that made the band’s coarse, yet simple and furious nature stick the first time. As such a style can run dry quickly, it’s good that there are some signs of other ideas.

For starters, the focus on advanced rhythms and lead guitars is propped up a bit. Album one may have had a little bit of this, but it was hardly the focus. On The Parasitic Chambers, drastic swings from more traditional playing to intense, panic-stricken breaks take precedence. What’s really maintained is the louder atmosphere, which admittedly makes some of this harder to realize unless you’re playing on an incredible sound system. The outro of “Dimensional Ascendency” is the first spot that this nuance becomes quite clear, particularly with the small solo.

Written by: Maddie

Dissonant death metal, a tradition that while anchoring its roots as far back as the mighty Gorguts and their seminal Obscura, has really been summoned as a force within the broader death metal scene within recent years. Disso-death may be my favorite interpretation of the extreme metal branch, a style that can be felt from recent aberrations bestowed upon us by acts such as Convulsing, and Ad Nauseum. It is a sound while circling around death metal conventions, lures you into a suffocating and hostile atmosphere through oblique songcraft and harrowing production. It presents a certain technicality, but not a virtuosity meant to entice a listener onto a singular instrumentalists’ shred capabilities, but instead utilized to smother the listener into a bewildering decay.

On their debut effort Harrowing, US-based Mithridatum offer up a formidable entry into the dissonant death metal catalogue. Featuring members of The Faceless and Abhorrent, the band’s proclivities towards technicality can easily be understood. The three-piece, through five compositions of cavernous rot, allow this album to envelop and fester, patiently allowing their tracks to develop with care.

Written by: The Administrator

Here in the ivory tower of our dusty scriptorium, we slumbering scribes often get caught up in our own machinations and obsessions. The other residents of Ye Olde Sleeping Village find us aloof, at times, and in the interest of furthering their musical opinions, a little intervention is rightfully required. Take this morning, for instance, when the guy who rubs cow brains on cow skin shouldered his way through our door and demanded that we leave the highfalutin horseshit behind and set our quills to a death metal review for once. I, for one, am not prepared to argue with anyone drenched in cow brains, let alone a burly tanner, so here we are, presenting a death metal review. Extensive intro aside, let's get bloody, shall we?

Every Friday, a wagon arrives at the Sleeping Village’s crumbling gates, stuffed to the brim with our sustenance. Today is the day we must offload all this new music, and so, in the process, we thought it would be worthwhile to share some of our choice picks from this veritable mass of fresh meat. This is what we’ll be--and have been--listening to today here at the Village HQ. We hope you join us in doing so! 

On the docket for today, June 24th, 2022:
PAGANIZER, Horned Wolf, Tabahi, and 10,000 Years

Written by: Blackie Skulless

Since the band’s earliest demo at the crack of 2019, I’ve been following every Undeath output that gets tossed out at a close range due to the band’s immediate ear for outstanding writing in the death metal genre. 2020’s Lesions Of A Different Kind would take the structural brutality of the demos and bring them to a refreshing light. This quickly cemented the New York quintet as one of my favorites in modern death metal. There’s no sign of this discontinuing with the latest, entitled It’s Time…To Rise From The Grave. 

Fitting the imagery of the name and artwork, Undeath sees their second full-length as a step forward in technical tactic while strongly maintaining their ground in memorable riffing. Never is the muddy and unforgiving bottom lost with harsh and disgusting tones that draw the guitars as deep as the guttural vocals.