Look, the intent and aesthetic of what you are trying to do is faultless. The delivery here (bearing in mind this is a demo) is a fair crack but really there's a lot of inconsistent structures that mix the bad and the good.
Some of your riffs are great (if not really BM) like the start of "Uncover The Ruins" but then on "Frostbitten In The Norwegian Forest" it genuinely sounds like the acoustic is there just because the track is called what it is and we need an acoustic interlude - we don't it just doesn't fit. Your strength seems to be the raw/necro feel so just fucking do that man, develop your songwriting skills before attempting to mix things up even just a bit. You have a wide and varied metal palate from your postings on here so you'll get there with the atmospherics when you're ready.
Your vocalist I don't like, to be frank despite obviously trying to be necro I am reminded more of a frog with a sore throat most of the time. The style isn't working for me but that may just be me and for others it might not be an issue.
I am harsh but honest so no apologies, keep at it and best of luck.
Look, the intent and aesthetic of what you are trying to do is faultless. The delivery here (bearing in mind this is a demo) is a fair crack but really there's a lot of inconsistent structures that mix the bad and the good.
Some of your riffs are great (if not really BM) like the start of "Uncover The Ruins" but then on "Frostbitten In The Norwegian Forest" it genuinely sounds like the acoustic is there just because the track is called what it is and we need an acoustic interlude - we don't it just doesn't fit. Your strength seems to be the raw/necro feel so just fucking do that man, develop your songwriting skills before attempting to mix things up even just a bit. You have a wide and varied metal palate from your postings on here so you'll get there with the atmospherics when you're ready.
Your vocalist I don't like, to be frank despite obviously trying to be necro I am reminded more of a frog with a sore throat most of the time. The style isn't working for me but that may just be me and for others it might not be an issue.
I am harsh but honest so no apologies, keep at it and best of luck.
So very sorry for your loss. I dread this day coming with either of mine but all we can do is give them the best life possible. Take heart from knowing you did your absolute best for her and she had a great life thanks to you guys.
I think we're about overdue for another round of these, since it's been a year and a half since my last addition. This is the one that seems to be getting the most attention lately, so I'll start here:
Maveth - Coils of the Black Earth:
Maveth is a newer Finnish death metal band that uses a more blackened approach than many of their contemporaries. It still falls more toward the death metal side of the black/death equation, so I'm placing them here instead of in the black metal section. This doesn't have much in common with the classic bestial black/death sound that Finland is known for, rather occupying similar ground to bands like newer Behemoth. There are lots of blast beats and aggression on display, but also murky depths to explore within their compositions, so it's not the snooze-fest that bands like Belphegor would employ. Finland has made quite the comeback in the death metal world in recent years, and this band is a great example of how their scene is expanding and churning out lots of great material. They split up after a subsequent EP release, so we likely won't be hearing more from Maveth, but Coils of the Black Earth is a great modern black/death album that fans of the style should enjoy.
Misery Index - Traitors:
Misery Index is a band that was born from former members of Dying Fetus, but their sound is less brutal/slam influenced and has a heavier influence from grindcore in their death/grind formula. Taking their name from the Assuck's final album, they still balance death metal and grindcore well and belong in discussions of both. Unlike Dying Fetus, where their focus on overt heaviness and chugging detracts from the music itself, Misery Index writes pretty catchy and memorable songs for a death/grind band without sacrificing any intensity. I don't usually like modern albums in this style, but Misery Index delivers with great songs and plenty of punch where most bands fail to capture the fury they attempt to display on the surface.
Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil:
Mithras is a UK death metal band that hasn't been making as many waves as I feel they should, based on their expansive and original take on the genre. If you were to try to briefly characterize the band, a good description would be that Mithras sounds like Morbid Angel's Covenant recorded by aliens, but there's more than that going on here. That influence is pretty easy to hear, but the band has a much larger emphasis on elongated atmospheric passages and expansive and major key melodies in many places. The feeling here is more triumphant than brutal, despite the staggering speed at which it's played, painting quite the grandiose picture throughout the run-time of the album. This is a must hear for fans of adventurous death metal such as Lykathea Aflame and !T.O.O.H.!, and fans of the heavier side of melodic death metal would probably find this enjoyable as well. A bit over the top and hard to swallow at first, but give it time to sink in and it will transport you to other planes.
Mitochondrion - Parasignosis:
Mitochondrion is one of the brightest stars in the modern black/death metal constellation as far as I'm concerned. While they channel a lot of the staggering brutality of the early Canadian scene from which they hail, they also progress the sound into the deep and experimental recesses also explored by the likes of Portal and Ulcerate, creating a sound that's as punishing as it is chaotic. There are a lot of layers to peel through with this one, their sound cascading as a storm that is difficult to navigate as it pummels your senses while you try to find your through it. Allowing yourself to be swept up in the tempest of Mitochondrion is quite the rewarding experience, especially as you unfold further layers on repeat listens. Highly recommended.
Molested - Blod-Draum
Molested is but one of many Norwegian death metal bands forgotten to the annuls of history because of being overshadowed (in terms of popularity anyway) by their black metal scene. I'm not sure why most fans can't just enjoy both scenes, because they were both incredible, with Molested's Blod-Draum being among my favorite albums that the country ever produced. You will recognize the name Oystein Brun because he founded the much more popular band Borknagar, but as much as I enjoy many of that band's albums, this is Oystein's best work to me. His style that he developed in Borknagar can still be found here, with some folky progressions buried beneath an absolutely suffocating barrage of guitars and drums. Their subtlety may be their strength, never overbearing and detracting from the nasty death metal on the surface, but providing a cool subtext that sets them apart. This is fantastic material that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, if you like dark European death metal, you absolutely have to hear this.
Monstrosity - Millenium:
Monstrosity seems to serve as a footnote for most supposed "death metal fans" as the first band of one George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, but they're so much more than that. After debuting with the devastating and professional Imperial Doom, they refined their craft to embody more of an early technical death metal sound on their second album Millenium. As this was before the advent of modern wank-death, this is technical without being overly indulgent and relies on the strength of their riffs and compositions, simply using a more elevated and proficient musical style to achieve their brutal ends. This is a precision assault on all fronts, with Corpsegrinder sounding better here than anywhere else IMO, and a rhythm section that is swarming with killer guitar and drums lines. One listen to this, and you'll be saying "Cannibal who?"
Morbus Chron - Sweven:
Morbus Chron is quite the interesting new Swedish death metal band. Their first album was steeped in the retro glory of the old-school Swedish death metal trend that is still fairly popular since its initial resurgence, but it was still forward thinking compared to their compatriots. With the second album Sweven, Morbus Chron embraced those forward thinking elements to create a psychedelic progressive death metal masterpiece that doesn't really sound like anyone else. The name Sweven meaning "slumber", this album does seem to explore the space between our waking minds and the wild world of our dreams, masterfully bouncing from delicate to haunting and heavy sounds seamlessly. An impressively mature offering from such a young band, it's unfortunate that they disbanded recently and probably won't be granting us a followup. At least they went out on quite the high note, I can't fault them for their departure since they gave us Sweven before they left.
Morgion - Gods of Death & Disease:
(moderator's note: I couldn't find a video to replace the original which was removed from youtube)
Morgion is one of the most recognizable names within the world of US doom/death, and rightfully so with the small, but sterling discography that they left us. Before they developed a taste for stunning atmospheric compositions on phenomenal albums like Solinari, they were a killer straight up death metal band in their early days. Dark Descent Records was nice enough to collect these recordings onto a compilation for us, which is very much their style, and I'm grateful for it. I don't think this will ever take the place of Morgion's definitive recordings, it is a great look into their early days and what might have been had they stayed this course. They were really great at playing death metal before adding doom to the proceedings, with a style that sounds much more Swedish or Finnish than American, and I'm not complaining about that. If you want to hear where this band was before they changed sounds, or if you just enjoy dark and heavy death metal, this is well worth your time to hear.
Necrovation - Necrovation:
Neuraxis - Truth Beyond...:
Neuraxis is one of the longer running technical death metal acts from Canada, a second generation band that clearly owes a great deal to the likes of Cryptopsy and early Kataklysm. They're a lot more progressive and melodic sounding than either of those bands though, with their debut album almost qualifying as a brutal/melodic death metal album, and their musicianship and intricate songwriting approach has only grown from there. Truth Beyond... is probably my favorite album of theirs, being quite punishing and also quite memorable and catchy. I think if more technical death metal bands from this era could capture this kind of quality without getting lost in a sea of mostly unrelated riffs, we would all be better for it.
Motorcycle fest 2 months ago. This was the first day, at the very beginning, thus so few people were present. Once the mosh pits started forming I basically haven't left any of them. That's why for the following three days I had muscle-ache (?) in my arms and legs. Great bands, great time.
PS: I'm the guy in the camo shirt btw.
Just went back through Darkthrone's "Total Death" and unfortunately I found it less interesting than I remember. I like the sound and the occasional melodic moments, but something about it feels restrained.
NP: Darkthrone - Ravishing Grimness
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