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The Official Death Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was initially thinking of doing thrash next, but decided to change gears and hit up another round of death metal first. I've been listening to a lot of it lately, so maybe it's just something about the mood I'm in. 

Nihilist - When Life Has Ceased:

Nihilist was the first incarnation of Entombed, and one that I would think would be more well known due to that fact. You won't hear much different from prime Entombed here, but a bit more rawness and aggression does give many of these original versions of their songs an edge to the album tracks. Sure, the guitar tone isn't as awesome, but there are some great performances on these demos, which have been conveniently repackaged a couple of times. Not only is this great on its own, but it's a part of history for being some of the first death metal recording in the hallowed Stockholm scene. Few demos are more essential than these IMO.

Nirvana 2002 - Disembodied Spirits:

Immediately following Nihilist, we'll move on to one of their peers from the early Stockholm scene, the often forgotten Nirvana 2002. You'll be able to hear plenty of similarities between the two bands, which is not uncommon considering their proximity, but the big difference was in the vocal department. Where LG Petrov sounded more cavernous and roaring, Orvar Safstrom sounds unhinged and ravenous. You might recognize him from his performance on Entombed's Crawl EP, but I feel that he's at his best with his own band. Nirvana 2002 never managed to release an album, but did leave us with some killer demos, which were all repackaged in this Recordings 89-91 comp. What the band lacked in quantity of material, they made up for in quality, as these demos are just as good as almost any album from the bigger Swedish names, if not better.

Nocturnus - Andromeda Strain:

Nocturnus was one of the first technical death metal bands in the world, and also famously the first death metal band to fully integrate keyboards into their sound as a central instrument. Founded by Mike Browning after quitting Morbid Angel when Trey Azagthoth had sex with is girlfriend, Mike took a very different direction from what his former band would end up doing. This still feels like 80's death metal, very much rooted in thrash metal in the guitar and drum departments, but with some very noodly and advanced melodic embellishments. The guitars are almost always doing gymnastics, with the keyboards complimenting them for a feeling that can be a bit overwhelming at times, but that's part of their appeal for me. Very clearly an inspiration on many technical and melodic death metal bands that would pop up over the next few years, this is a fantastic early Floridian death metal release that is quite different from what you would have expected from that scene at that time.

Nuclear Death - Bride of Insect:

Nuclear Death was one of the earliest and sickest ever examples of death/grind. The production here isn't great, lending a more mysterious and obscure air to the music, which is a constantly shifting, yet always horrifying mess of insane drumming and guitar work. They're far from the most insane sounds you'll hear on the album though, as vocalist Lori Bravo sounds completely depraved in a terrifying way. Everything about this produces a feeling of sickness that almost infects the listener in its festering glory, in a way that few other albums could ever compare to. This is noisy chaos, not for anyone expecting clean death metal, but amazing for those looking for something different and repugnant in their death/grind.

Old Funeral - Devoured Carcass:

Old Funeral represents one of many early Norwegian death metal bands whose lineups would be comprised of members who would abandon death metal to jump on the more (in)famous Norwegian black metal band wagon. Featuring members that would go on to form the likes of Burzum, Hades, and Immortal (though most wouldn't be in the band at the same time), Old Funeral was like many early Norwegian death metal bands in that they were as excellent as they were short-lived. Thankfully, due to these connections to more famous black metal bands, compilations of their demos were released for completist fans, and also those who acknowledge how great the death metal coming from this country was at the time. Nasty and oozing with greatness.

Phobocosm - Deprived:

Phobocosm is a newer Canadian band with a murky and discordant take on death metal, but one that doesn't include much black metal unlike countrymen Mitochondrion. You might hear some similarities between them and the aforementioned Mitochondrion in their dark and chaotic delivery, but to my ears this has more in common with the Immolation, Ulcerate, and the drove of new Finnish death metal bands that have been helping to bring dark and downtuned death metal back into the view of the metal community. This is crushingly heavy, alternating between trudging and slogging mid-paced grooves and brutal uptempo blasts, all while retaining a dark and introspective atmosphere that is quite professional for a debut album. I'm looking forward to hearing where they take it from here, because this is quite the promising debut.

Portal - Outre:

Portal has been making a name for themselves as the new purveyors of weird and twisted extreme metal for the last 10+ years. It would be cliche to say that this doesn't sound like anything else, but even with all of the traction that they've made and all of the influence they've had upon modern death metal, there's still really nothing else like this out there. Sure, it has lots of tremolo riffs and blast beats that you might hear from from other black/death metal bands, but (in addition to using some bizarre chords that I can't make heads or tails of even after seeing them live) the way that they assemble it is almost too weird to describe accurately. Pained, amorphous excursions through unnatural and lugubrious realms, feeling as surreal and dark as the artwork would suggest, and highly worth your time to explore.

Putrevore - Macabre Kingdom:

Putrevore is something of an interesting cross-section for me. The band is made up of two well known death metal musicians, those being Dave Rotten of Avulsed, and Rogga Johansson of a million faceless retro Swedish death metal clones. While I haven't enjoyed anything that the two have created before, they really knocked it out of the park when they teamed up with Putrevore. This manages to carve out its own path in the modern death metal climate, not sounding totally old school nor totally modern, but crafting a crushing and groovy slab of slime that is surprisingly memorable and well written. If you like your death metal heavy and mid-paced, look no further, as Putrevore is what you need.

Rhadamantys - Labyrinth of Thoughts:

Rhadamantys was a really unorthodox Dutch death metal band that you might recognize from my post in the prog thread about them. This is bizarre progressive death metal that occasionally reminds me of Cynic and Disaffected, but this takes those influences way further into left field with adding elements from new age and world music, which doesn't make much sense together even when you hear it. With how inaccessible this is, it's no wonder why it isn't discussed much, Rhadamantys certainly isn't for everyone. This even gets to be a bit much for me at times, and I prefer my death metal to be weird and unique, but it's still very much worth listening to if you're into exploring the more bizarre sounds of metal.

Ritual Necromancy - Oath of the Abyss:

Ritual Necromancy is one of many newer bands paying homage to the mighty Incantation. I'll readily admit that this style is becoming a bit played out, with droves of retro death metal bands worshiping at the thrones of Entombed, Incantation, and Death, but I'm of the opinion that there's nothing wrong with that if the style is played well. That is certainly the case for Ritual Necromancy, as while you won't hear anything new with them (though they do add a bit of blackened fervor to the usual Mortal Throne of Nazarene tropes), they do sound appropriately dark and cavernous for the style and have a great energy about them that makes this sound more genuine than, say, all of the carbon copy retro thrash imitators out there. 

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Whilst BAN has a breather from his most excellent work in this (and many other) thread I have a couple to throw into the mix.

 

Altarage made me piss my pants last year when they dropped their debut album "Nihl", I just love it's murky, chaotic and oppressive atmosphere. That artwork sets up the contents perfectly. The riff that opens the track above is one of the nastiest things I have ever heard.  Vocally a challenge for a few of my peers (FatherA from memory wasn't a fan) but I just thing this is some quality challenging death metal.  The Spaniards will release their second album later this year.

Sticking with the Spanish theme we have Cruz who came onto my radar the same time as Altarage as they both had releases out on Sentient Ruin.  So many different reference points from early Bolt Thrower to early Dismember/Entombed to crust/punk/d-beat too.  Nasty stuff.

 

Encoffination are a death/doom band from the US.  Fuck me do they churn with their at times agonisingly slow delivery and murky reverb.  Punishing listen.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/19/2017 at 10:53 PM, Vampyrique said:

Can anyone recommend some oldschool death metal that has a funereal atmosphere to it, achieved through the use of synth or organs. Early death-metal-era Cradle of Filth but with decent production would be a prime example. 

However, I'm not looking for funeral doom or anything too slow. 

Thou Shalt Suffer comes to mind, I have a video of theirs posted on page 4 of this thread.

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On 8/22/2017 at 10:27 AM, BlutAusNerd said:

Thou Shalt Suffer comes to mind, I have a video of theirs posted on page 4 of this thread.

I happen to already own the compilation Into the Woods of Belial. But I agree with you, they were definitely a great band with an interesting sound. 

Have you heard of Sinoath? I have a CD of theirs, an EP called Still in the Grey Dying. It's sort of along the lines of what I am looking for. 

(moderator's note: The video which was originally included here could not be recovered)

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39 minutes ago, Vampyrique said:

I happen to already own the compilation Into the Woods of Belial. But I agree with you, they were definitely a great band with an interesting sound. 

Have you heard of Sinoath? I have a CD of theirs, an EP called Still in the Grey Dying. It's sort of along the lines of what I am looking for. 

 

Other than the My Angel demo from Arcturus, I can't think of much like Thou Shalt Suffer. I'll have to think on that to see if I can come up with anything else, there isn't a lot of keyboard heavy death metal with a morbid sound like that.

As for Sinoath, I hadn't heard them before, but the first completed minutes of that smile sounded good.

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16 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Other than the My Angel demo from Arcturus, I can't think of much like Thou Shalt Suffer. I'll have to think on that to see if I can come up with anything else, there isn't a lot of keyboard heavy death metal with a morbid sound like that.

I've got that one too and I consider it to be fantastic! I actually like it more than Arcturus' later works. And you're right about it being a rare thing in death metal, I haven't had much luck finding anything. 

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Death metal is my favorite subgenre, so I usually try to keep myself updated on both old and newer releases as well. Since I have some spare time to write, I can suggest you some albums that I like. I'll try to keep away from this list the most known bands, because at this point I guess most of you are already aware of them.

 

Morbius - Sojourns Through The Septiac

Not to be confused with the namesake vampire created by Marvel Comics, Morbius is an american death metal band which seems to unfortunately fly under the radar of most listeners. Despite their spacey lyrical themes and aesthetics, Morbius barely use any synths/electronic keyboards to enhance the atmosphere, in fact their approach is quite completely the opposite, and would be easily compared to bands like Arghoslent, Corpus Rottus or Morpheus Descends rather than Nocturnus or Mithras. They indeed play an amalgamation, a sort of progressive touch to death metal, while at the same time retaining much of the sound a USDM band should have. As a a whole I feel like this album is very enjoyable and never fails to keep you entertained, although the only issue could be its inacessibility, due to the scarcity of online material.

 

 

Perdition Temple - The Tempter's Victorious 

(moderator's note: The video which was included here could not be recovered)

Pretty good blackened death metal band founded by ex-Angelcorpse bassist Gene Palubicki. Although we aren't near to Angelcorpse's levels of quality at all, this is still some nice worship with an handful of great riffs. It' could be possible to compare The Tempter's Victorious to a "Of Lucifer and the Lightning" V.2, mostly because each song follows the same structure, songwriting-wise, and the production job is strangely clean for an old-school inspired blackened death metal band, but these are just minor considerations that, upon reflecting a little bit, probably don't do any harm to the album itself. Give it a spin.

 

 

Uncanny - Splenium for Nyktophobia

Uncanny was a fairly underappreciated Swedish death metal band, that never got a fair amount of recognition despite sharing a similar sounds with more known bands such as Dismember and Edge of Sanity.  Even though guitars aren’t the strongest nor the most menacing you could possibly hear from a Swedeath band, they still pack a strong punch, even behind the melodic leads that frequently change tempos from furious assaults to downright melancholic passages. With time I actually managed to dig this album even more than ATG's early material... this just sounds like a great continuation and improvement of the already enstabilished Gothenburg scene, and it's quite of a rarity to find a death metal band which churns out great riffs and melodies at the same time. I'd recomend this album for any melodeath fan out there. 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

I have mentioned the last 3 in this thread before, but they're still excellent choices. I know the first 2 by name, but haven't actually listened to them. Thanks for the links.

Sent from my HTCD160LVW using Tapatalk
 

Yeah, I unintentionally mentioned the same Goreaphobia EP (sorry for that). And about those links, no problem! Unfortunately I couldn't find that Morbius full-lenght album on youtube, there are just a couple of songs. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, I'm kind of surprised that I haven't added anything to this section in the last 8 months. I don't know why that is, but I'll rectify that mistake now.

 

Sacrificial Slaughter - The Great Oppression:

Sacrificial Slaughter is a newer death metal band that was introduced to me by KSmash, but I didn't actually get into them until I saw them live when they opened for Master a few years back. All I can remember is the band members talking shit about each other and other bands, and them laying out a pretty savage death/thrash assault. Regardless of their dickish behavior, the music here is pretty solid, so I'm not sure why they're not more well-known, at least here in their own country.  

Sadistic Intent - Resurrection of the Ancient Black Earth:

Sadistic Intent is something of an underground legend here in the US. They've been around for at least as long as most of the prototypical death metal bands from our shores, but for one reason or another, have never managed to release a full-length album. However, the demos and EPs that they have released are among the best in their style, that being dark, blasphemous mid-late 80's death metal. This has a lot of parallels with early Morbid Angel and Possessed, with only a few modern updates in melodies and polish to make this sound like it is actually from its era. If you're into the riff-driven, minimally blasting kind of death metal, you have to hear this, it's fucking excellent.

Sarcofago - The Laws of Scourge:

"Hey BAN, WTF is Sarcofago doing here in the death metal section?", you might be asking yourself. Well, Sarcofago changed up their game a bit with their 3rd album, mostly stripping out the black metal from their sound, and unleashing a pretty wild technical death/thrash salvo, and it's every bit as nuts as their unhinged black metal albums. To hear them go from sloppy to precise should be surprising enough, but to change their sound and be every bit as good at what they do is almost more impressive to me. I can still see fans of their black metal albums getting into this, as could fans of technical thrash metal and early technical death metal. Just give it a listen, you won't be disappointed.

Sarpanitum - Blessed be my Brothers...:

Sarpanitum isn't necessarily a newer UK death metal band, but rather one who seems a bit sluggish with their output. As long as they put out albums as good as this one though, I don't personally mind the wait. Many of the members throughout the band's history have played in Mithras, which should be obvious to fans of that band as soon as you press the "play" button on this link, but whereas Mithras goes for something otherworldly and spacey sounding, Sarpanitum takes their hyperspeed blasting and riffing into ancient, eastern sounding territory. This could certainly appeal to those who love the high speed and eastern melodies of Lykathea Aflame, Behemoth, or Nile, or for those looking for something brutal with an epic composition style and a keen ear for a catchy lead. Highly recommended.

Septic Flesh - Mystic Places of Dawn:

Septic Flesh is pretty well known and adored by most of the metal community, seeming to occupy the upper echelon of Greek metal in the minds of most metal fans that I know. Some seem to be more enamored with the band's more recent symphonic death metal output, which reminds me of a more engaging and brutal Dimmu Borgir or Therion, but their early albums are the ones that shine the brightest for me, especially this brilliant debut. Not even a drum machine could drag down the sound of sheer ambition and creativity here, merging the punishing mid/fast paced sound of Greek death metal with melodies that draw heavily on the gloom and beauty of Paradise Lost is quite the feat, and the result is almost surreal in its ability to turn on a dime from crushing to dreamy. As good as the Greek metal scene is, Septic Flesh may well be the most essential band of the country, and I feel that they're totally deserving of that high honor.

Shub Niggurath - Blasphemies of Nether World:

Mexico isn't a nation that most people seem to associate with metal, despite being loaded with legions of rabid metal fans. I guess the music produced by its bands just don't make it into the hands of enough people, but I have long been an advocate for their early death metal bands. Shub Niggurath is one such institution, being one of the first bands to feature the guitar talents of the criminally underrated Julio Viterbo, later of my very favorite death metal band (from Mexico or anywhere else), The Chasm. This is savage and vicious stuff, not atmospheric and melodic like The Chasm at all, but it's loaded with fantastic riffs and killer drumming. If you're into relentless death metal like early Morbid Angel, Sinister, or Deicide, this should be right up your alley.

Sorcery - Arrival at Six:

Sorcery was always a pretty underground band, even by Swedish death metal standards, so I don't think I was the only one that was surprised to see a comeback from them after all of these years. And what a comeback it was, Arrival at Six is a perfect example of how an old band can return and totally crush without sounding dated or like they're just trying to cash in on the trend. The huge riffs are accentuated by the fat production, and roaring vocals are as potent as the pummeling drums. This should be a great match for anyone after Swedish styled death metal, new or old, or even those looking for some crushing mid-paced death metal hell like Bolt Thrower, Gorefest, or Hail of Bullets. 

Speckmann Project - Speckmann Project:

Speckmann Project is essentially just Master, but has a bit of history associated with it. When Master was signed and went to record their debut album, Nuclear Blast didn't like it, so Paul Speckmann suggested recording it again at a different studio with a few different tracks. The band had a different lineup at the time too, so it does sound quite different from the other recording. However, Nuclear Blast wasn't happy with this recording either, so they opted to release the original, and the re-recorded version was later released as "Speckmann Project". As this does have a few different tracks from the Master debut, there's no reason why a Master fan shouldn't own this as well, despite the seemingly redundant nature of its existence. My version also has the legendary 1985 Master demo, making it even more worthwhile to possess. Master are easily the most underrated of death metals founding fathers, so I don't mind making another entry for them anyway. 

StarGazer - A Great Work of Ages:

Australia's StarGazer are something of an anomaly in the metal world. Their method for playing black/death metal isn't really anything like anyone else's, so it's a bit difficult to describe them. It's certainly technical and avant-garde, but not in a way that I've ever heard attempted (let alone pulled off) by anyone else. The songs themselves are introspective and somewhat amorphous, with fretless bass meanderings and chilling guitar melodies cascading in and out of control, taking the atmosphere from relaxed to claustrophobic almost instantaneously. It can be a lot to keep up with, especially since it's not really catchy in the classic sense, but anyone up for something mind-bending and original in the world of death metal would do well to hear this.

Sthygma - Act 2: Khalimäa:

Well, if the band name and album name don't elude to how strange this album would sound, the artwork certainly gives it away. Sthygma is a fairly obscure French band that I actually learned about from a user on this site (thanks Midi), and I'm glad that I tracked down a copy. The sound here is really dense and discordant, in a way that would later be picked up by a large number of modern death metal bands, so it's safe to say that this was a bit ahead of its time. The howling vocals and chaotic passages also remind me a bit of Gorguts' Obscura, making this a great listen for fans of challenging death metal. Really cool stuff that I wish they would have continued with, but sadly, this EP and the prior demo are all the band managed to release.

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10 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Wow, I'm kind of surprised that I haven't added anything to this section in the last 8 months. I don't know why that is, but I'll rectify that mistake now.

 

Sacrificial Slaughter - The Great Oppression:

Sacrificial Slaughter is a newer death metal band that was introduced to me by KSmash, but I didn't actually get into them until I saw them live when they opened for Master a few years back. All I can remember is the band members talking shit about each other and other bands, and them laying out a pretty savage death/thrash assault. Regardless of their dickish behavior, the music here is pretty solid, so I'm not sure why they're not more well-known, at least here in their own country.  

Sadistic Intent - Resurrection of the Ancient Black Earth:

Sadistic Intent is something of an underground legend here in the US. They've been around for at least as long as most of the prototypical death metal bands from our shores, but for one reason or another, have never managed to release a full-length album. However, the demos and EPs that they have released are among the best in their style, that being dark, blasphemous mid-late 80's death metal. This has a lot of parallels with early Morbid Angel and Possessed, with only a few modern updates in melodies and polish to make this sound like it is actually from its era. If you're into the riff-driven, minimally blasting kind of death metal, you have to hear this, it's fucking excellent.

Sarcofago - The Laws of Scourge:

"Hey BAN, WTF is Sarcofago doing here in the death metal section?", you might be asking yourself. Well, Sarcofago changed up their game a bit with their 3rd album, mostly stripping out the black metal from their sound, and unleashing a pretty wild technical death/thrash salvo, and it's every bit as nuts as their unhinged black metal albums. To hear them go from sloppy to precise should be surprising enough, but to change their sound and be every bit as good at what they do is almost more impressive to me. I can still see fans of their black metal albums getting into this, as could fans of technical thrash metal and early technical death metal. Just give it a listen, you won't be disappointed.

Sarpanitum - Blessed be my Brothers...:

Sarpanitum isn't necessarily a newer UK death metal band, but rather one who seems a bit sluggish with their output. As long as they put out albums as good as this one though, I don't personally mind the wait. Many of the members throughout the band's history have played in Mithras, which should be obvious to fans of that band as soon as you press the "play" button on this link, but whereas Mithras goes for something otherworldly and spacey sounding, Sarpanitum takes their hyperspeed blasting and riffing into ancient, eastern sounding territory. This could certainly appeal to those who love the high speed and eastern melodies of Lykathea Aflame, Behemoth, or Nile, or for those looking for something brutal with an epic composition style and a keen ear for a catchy lead. Highly recommended.

Septic Flesh - Mystic Places of Dawn:

Septic Flesh is pretty well known and adored by most of the metal community, seeming to occupy the upper echelon of Greek metal in the minds of most metal fans that I know. Some seem to be more enamored with the band's more recent symphonic death metal output, which reminds me of a more engaging and brutal Dimmu Borgir or Therion, but their early albums are the ones that shine the brightest for me, especially this brilliant debut. Not even a drum machine could drag down the sound of sheer ambition and creativity here, merging the punishing mid/fast paced sound of Greek death metal with melodies that draw heavily on the gloom and beauty of Paradise Lost is quite the feat, and the result is almost surreal in its ability to turn on a dime from crushing to dreamy. As good as the Greek metal scene is, Septic Flesh may well be the most essential band of the country, and I feel that they're totally deserving of that high honor.

Shub Niggurath - Blasphemies of Nether World:

Mexico isn't a nation that most people seem to associate with metal, despite being loaded with legions of rabid metal fans. I guess the music produced by its bands just don't make it into the hands of enough people, but I have long been an advocate for their early death metal bands. Shub Niggurath is one such institution, being one of the first bands to feature the guitar talents of the criminally underrated Julio Viterbo, later of my very favorite death metal band (from Mexico or anywhere else), The Chasm. This is savage and vicious stuff, not atmospheric and melodic like The Chasm at all, but it's loaded with fantastic riffs and killer drumming. If you're into relentless death metal like early Morbid Angel, Sinister, or Deicide, this should be right up your alley.

Sorcery - Arrival at Six:

Sorcery was always a pretty underground band, even by Swedish death metal standards, so I don't think I was the only one that was surprised to see a comeback from them after all of these years. And what a comeback it was, Arrival at Six is a perfect example of how an old band can return and totally crush without sounding dated or like they're just trying to cash in on the trend. The huge riffs are accentuated by the fat production, and roaring vocals are as potent as the pummeling drums. This should be a great match for anyone after Swedish styled death metal, new or old, or even those looking for some crushing mid-paced death metal hell like Bolt Thrower, Gorefest, or Hail of Bullets. 

Speckmann Project - Speckmann Project:

Speckmann Project is essentially just Master, but has a bit of history associated with it. When Master was signed and went to record their debut album, Nuclear Blast didn't like it, so Paul Speckmann suggested recording it again at a different studio with a few different tracks. The band had a different lineup at the time too, so it does sound quite different from the other recording. However, Nuclear Blast wasn't happy with this recording either, so they opted to release the original, and the re-recorded version was later released as "Speckmann Project". As this does have a few different tracks from the Master debut, there's no reason why a Master fan shouldn't own this as well, despite the seemingly redundant nature of its existence. My version also has the legendary 1985 Master demo, making it even more worthwhile to possess. Master are easily the most underrated of death metals founding fathers, so I don't mind making another entry for them anyway. 

StarGazer - A Great Work of Ages:

Australia's StarGazer are something of an anomaly in the metal world. Their method for playing black/death metal isn't really anything like anyone else's, so it's a bit difficult to describe them. It's certainly technical and avant-garde, but not in a way that I've ever heard attempted (let alone pulled off) by anyone else. The songs themselves are introspective and somewhat amorphous, with fretless bass meanderings and chilling guitar melodies cascading in and out of control, taking the atmosphere from relaxed to claustrophobic almost instantaneously. It can be a lot to keep up with, especially since it's not really catchy in the classic sense, but anyone up for something mind-bending and original in the world of death metal would do well to hear this.

Sthygma - Act 2: Khalimäa:

Well, if the band name and album name don't elude to how strange this album would sound, the artwork certainly gives it away. Sthygma is a fairly obscure French band that I actually learned about from a user on this site (thanks Midi), and I'm glad that I tracked down a copy. The sound here is really dense and discordant, in a way that would later be picked up by a large number of modern death metal bands, so it's safe to say that this was a bit ahead of its time. The howling vocals and chaotic passages also remind me a bit of Gorguts' Obscura, making this a great listen for fans of challenging death metal. Really cool stuff that I wish they would have continued with, but sadly, this EP and the prior demo are all the band managed to release.

Thanks for mentioning Sadistic Intent, Sarpanitum and Shub Niggurath, these are all great bands. I have yet to check out Shtygma though

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  • 11 months later...
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  • 2 months later...

Maggot Stomp label has a plethora of bands any DM fan needs in their life:

Malignant Altar Retribution of Jealous Gods - I was put onto this by @Thrashman in the listening thread.  Essentially a 3 track demo that fucking rips from the off.

Mortal Wound Forms of Unreasoning Fear - full on yet full of melody also right here folks:

Church of Disgust - Veneration of Filth - put your name down for a bit of blackened DM right here:

Gutless - Mass Extinction - more demo madness with Australia's Gutless sounding off some sick and brutal shit:

 

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    • 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 to 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 Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
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    • 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 levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
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