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Winterfylleth "The Hallowing of Heirdom"

Okay, so I will admit that the prospect of an acoustic only Winterfylleth album didn't exactly fill me with joy.  The pagan, black metallers have long existed on the fringes of my radar but never somehow managed to make much more than a fleeting blip historically.  The fact is that this is one of the most heartfelt records I have listened to in quite a while.  I have more than once found myself stood stock still, completely captivated by the atmospheric beauty of what I have heard on this r

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Watain "Trident Wolf Eclipse"

Watain's last album "The Wild Hunt" got slated on one internet review for being "Nu-Dark Funeral with the heart of Bon Jovi".  Whilst a certain amount of butthurt contributed the scribe of aforementioned review choosing such a frankly ridiculous statement, it was unfortunately indicative of the direction change of the album that saw the raw and ferocious nature of the band be trimmed back to make way for more melodic, progressive and accessible aspects. "Trident Wolf Eclipse" is a return to

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Vltimas 'Something Wicked Marches In'

2019 is slowly unveiling some fine releases.  With Altarage, Overkill and Candlemass all making me grin thus far in the past three months, despite a slow start and some disappointments (Venom, Queensryche and Legion of the Damned).  Naturally, your ears prick up when you hear Flo Mounier, Rune Eriksen and David Vincent have decided to get together and make some unholy communion.  Straight away I thought we had potential AOTY material right here given the obvious talent and experience present on

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Venom "Storm The Gates"

So, my first review of 2019 is of the latest offering from UK legends Venom.  37 years after the debut full length and the band are still active, albeit as a much changed line up from that which recorded "Welcome to Hell".  I'll be honest, I haven't bothered with Venom beyond "At War With Satan", so I really had a blank slate in terms of expectations when I put "Storm The Gates" on this afternoon.  To say it is generic is something of an understatement.  Each track just morphs into the next

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Ulcerate "Stare Into Death And Be Still"

It is no secret by now that I have a lot ( i mean a fucking lot) of time for Ulcerate.  I have been listening to metal for over 30 years now and I am sadly at a time now were very little excites me in the way of new releases.  I have over-indulged in the past, trying to consume as many new releases as possible in a given year and just ended up stuffed with underwhelming music that makes no impact on what little hunger of mine still remains for the pursuit of new releases.  If I look at the music

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

The King Is Blind "We Are the Parasite, We Are the Cancer"

Essex, England is famous on Brit TV for reality TV shows portraying residents of the county as being sufficiently lacking in educational merit to be able to answer pressing questions like, "Which way is up?" without a significant pause for thought.  Whilst the British TV watching public clearly enjoy watching the blissful ignorance of the beautiful but frankly thick as pigshit youth of Essex, the same masses are no doubt equally blissfully unaware of the mighty monolith of metal that is The King

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Summoning "With Doom We Come"

I call false album title.  There's no doom on here folks.  Any flare-wearing readers can stand down at this point of the review.  I imagine the doom aspect of the title refers to the medieval threat of some Tolkien inspired fictitious army that Summoning have kindly recorded a soundtrack for.  If you are familiar with Summoning there's little in the way of anything new here as the Austrians again bring their own brand of epic/atmospheric black metal to 2018.  I would be interested to know what @

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Spectral Voice "Eroded Corridors of Unbeing"

The thing I like about Death Metal is that it is not something that (to my ears at least) always needs to be evolved/done differently/combined with the chants of Goatherders.  Don't get me wrong I like - what my old English teacher in High School would call - "a plethora" of DM styles/genres/sub genres/other neat pigeonholes and nicely labelled boxes, but motherfuckers a lot of the time I just want my DM rammed straight down my fucking throat by a large boot. In this instance I am talking D

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Soulfly "Ritual"

Surprises are nice aren't they?  I mean, not socks for Xmas type surprises.  Not even tax rebate on your birthday-esque proportions either.  I am more concerned with those times in your life where you tell yourself you will hate something before you even get round to trying it, convincing yourself in the process this unheard, untasted, unseen or unfelt thing would be a waste of your time.  When you eventually throw caution to the wind and give it go you find no repulsion, no bile in your throat

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Shining "X - Varg Utan Flock"

Two album reviews in one day today.  Boy, will I sleep tonight.  Although perhaps not as easily as I might think.  "X - Varg Utan Flock" has a bit flustered, a bit confused yet in a good way - like when I saw a magician at my friend's wedding and he wasn't just counting cards even though he didn't walk through a wall either. Shining's latest album twists and turns as it unfolds in front of you like some venomous snake.  Depressive tone? Tick.  Demented vocals? Check!  Sad piano track?  That

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Sacred Reich "Awakening"

Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little too comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Rotting Christ "The Heretics"

Last Rotting Christ album I enjoyed?  "Triarchy of Lost Lovers".  Last Rotting Christ album I bothered to listen to upon release?  "Aealo".  It is fair to say that the Greek stalwarts of the Black Metal scene now have a sound that rarely ventures into the territory so well tread on "Thy Mighty Contract" and "Non Serviam" but it is also fair to say that "The Heretics" sounds from start to finish like a band who firmly stamp themselves on the metal map for 2019.  What album number thirteen from Ro

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Review - "Hyaena" by Sadist

I’ve been watching a bunch of nature documentaries recently. Dangerous animals only, for the most part, because I refuse to devote an hour of my life watching turtles mosey around the deep blue. Additionally, I’ve sought out very in-depth material so I can appreciate the animal being analyzed. As a result I’ve been able to watch a decent amount of material closely scrutinizing the habits of predators, and that’s given me a particularly good context for understanding Sadist’s 2015 album “Hyena”.

Iceni

Iceni

Portal "ION"

One of my favourite urban myths is that you will go blind if you masterbate too much.  Listening to Portal might make you go blind as you ears frantically take resource from your brain that was needed for mundane tasks such as vision and bladder control as they try to cope with the relentless auditory assault of "ION", however pulling your pud won't affect your eyesight boys.  Science bit over, on with the review. "ION" seems instantly more refined than previous outings.  Don't get me wrong

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Overkill "The Wings of War"

Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Ossuarium "Living Tomb"

When it comes to death/doom, variety is not necessarily top of the average listener's appeal list.  Usually when I review such a release I find myself typing "doesn't reinvent the wheel but does the genre justice with this solid offering" or words to that effect.  Ossuarium's debut full length falls under that banner most definitely.  Nobody is fucking around here with a saxophone to make the offering standout with some eclectic and unnecessary deviation from tradition.  If you like your death m

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Obsequiae - The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings

Obsequiae established a very well-defined style on their first record, and they've stuck with it ever since. The Palms Of Sorrowed Kings is their third album, and much like the second one, it offers subtle refinements and expansions of their sound, but no big surprises. If you haven't heard them, it's a great place to start; if you have, you know what to expect. That's not a bad thing at all. If you like what they do, you'll like this album. It's chock full of flowing, triumphant medieval-E

FatherAlabaster

FatherAlabaster

Morbid Angel "Kingdoms Disdained"

Is there any success in avoiding failure?  I mean there are no bones to make about it, Morbid Angels last offering was fucking terrible.  In comparison to that "Kingdoms Disdained" is an absolute triumph with all hints at "experimental" (or just downright "shite" bits) thankfully lost to the annals of catastrophic album releases from 2011.  But is it enough to improve on one of the worst releases ever by harking back to what you know with such totally that, inevitably, you risk judgement of bein

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Mizmor "Cairn"

Up until two weeks ago, I hadn't even heard of Mizmor.  One look at that cover and I had this record in my ears within thirty seconds.  Good album artwork should pull you into a record, give some promise of what lies beneath but then also not give everything away.  The songwriting, like the artwork, follows this thesis perfectly.  I have listened to this everyday since discovery and I am still learning more and more about it. 'Desert of Absurdity' sets the tone perfectly with its acoustic p

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Ministry "AmeriKKKant"

No matter how much you dislike Donald Trump, Ministry's overt and constant attack on his administration doesn't mean that "AmeriKKKant" is actually a good album.  I mean it isn't entirely a terrible album either but you will struggle to remember much of it after even a couple of listens, beyond the endless stream of frankly confusing and almost barrage like snippets of Trump audio bites that is, they are the only really memorable part. It isn't really an industrial metal album either.  It s

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Memoriam "Requiem For Mankind"

Okay, I am going to be honest.  This is my first taste of Memoriam, albeit the release that is purportedly their best; according to the internet at least.  Things start well, on the riffing front at least.  'Shell Shock' motors like a fucking tank, being driven with precision through its destructive and relentless path.  Similiarly, 'Undefeated' with it's groovy as fuck riff and chopping rhythm continues in a full on attack of the senses.  The sophistication and poise both come up a couple of no

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Malevolent Creation "The 13th Beast"

There's life in the old dog yet it seems.  In terms of original members only Phil Fasciana remains in the ranks of Malevolent Creation now and after the passing of Brett Hoffman last year you could almost forgive fans for thinking the curtain had fallen on Malevolent Creation.  The fact is that whilst "The 13th Beast" reinvents no wheels it does exhibit the sound of a band in the throes of something of a regeneration phase.  There's nothing tired sounding here, no dull interludes to build unnece

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Machine Head "Catharsis"

Fucking hell.  Where to start really? Nu-metal is apparently alive and well in 2018 and I don't like Nu-Metal, so the prospects for positive words in this review are slim.  It is not that I don't like Machine Head.  I mean I am not one of the mindless internet troll brigade who respond to every release with "These guys made "Burn My Eyes" and listen to this!".  Get over it bell ends, there's no more "Burn My Eyes" nor is there anymore "The Blackening" left to come.  Whilst I will openly adm

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Legion of the Damned "Slaves of the Shadow Realm"

Variety is the spice of life, so they say.  Someone might want to mention this to Legion of the Damned.  Picking up right were Venom left off last week in the the generic stakes, "Slaves of the Shadow Realm" churns out largely unvaried, unremarkable and unmemorable thrash metal with the odd splash of death and black metal smatterings here and there.  To give you some idea of how hard going this is I have to wait three whole tracks to here a lead guitar!  I love good chug fest as much as the next

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

Khemmis "Desolation"

I have heard a lot of metal over my 29 years of listening to little else genre wise.  I have seen the birth and death of genres and sub genres and even witnessed things come back full circle as the twenty teens (?) churn out the likes of Visigoth with their traditional take of heavy metal that was the audible catalyst for me at 13 years of age to go down this route as a fan. Khemmis are a band that embrace that "older" or more "traditional" feel to metal in 2018 that has been popular over t

MacabreEternal

MacabreEternal

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