Things are slowly getting back to normal now, I’ve seen a few shows and have gotten to hang out with friends more often now. Hopefully things keep heading in the right direction to getting fully back to normal! I’d like to finally be able to go to Maryland Deathfest next year! Been sitting on this ticket for two years now. Anyways, I’m trying to review as many as I can while working six days a week. Sorry to bring such a Death Metal heavy reviews but that’s what I love! So, here are my reviews of recently released albums that I think you should know about. Forget about these in-depth reviews, I’m bringing you quick reviews on multiple releases to help you guide your way through the METAL world today!
BASICALLY THIS IS JUST MY OPINION, LIKE IT OR NOT…
Ratings: [0(sucks) to 5(awesome)]
{Format: Band – album title = rating |label |style of metal. review}
KK’s PRIEST – Sermons of the Sinner = 2/5 |EX1 |Heavy Metal
I don’t know/haven’t looked up the full story on why JUDAS PRIEST kicked out KK Downing but, he has taken his stand by creating his own version of JUDAS PRIEST with KK’s PRIEST. Basically that’s exactly what you’re getting here. Sermons of the Sinners with Ripper Owens on vocals mostly sounds like left over/B sides tracks from JUDAS PRIEST during his era, a few are kick ass and a few suck. I think die-hard JUDAS PRIEST fans will enjoy this, and average fans may enjoy some of it, but honestly it’s nothing really special. The album starts off killer with the first few songs but then tanks hard till the end. I just recently saw JUDAS PRIEST with Glenn Tipton sidelined due to Parkinson disease with younger blood Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap handling the guitar duties and crushed it! It might be the age factor coming to play since KK is 69 years old. Sermons of the Sinners is an OK release at best. 10 tracks, 1 intro, 3 are killer and 4 are OK.
ffo: JUDAS PRIEST, ACCEPT, ARMORED SAINT, GRIM REAPER
BLOOD RED THRONE – Imperial Congregation = 3.25/5 |Nuclear Blast |Death Metal
Another one of those bands I was introduced to when I was DJing college metal radio in the early 2000s. I got their first album promo from Hammerheart records and was blown away! Their first four albums are really f’n good, then they kind of hit a streak of putting out OK but not great albums until Union of Flesh and Machine which was seriously great with over the top technical brutality! Their 10th album, Imperial Congregation takes their brand of DM into a slight change. This album is more mid-paced groovy heavy with some haunting atmospheric vibes. Now, don’t let that fool ya, because this is a monster of a head-banging album just a bit different then what you’d expect. They didn’t recreate the wheel here but just went with the old tried and tested head-banging grooves. With 10 albums in, BLOOD RED THRONE could’ve of phoned in an album, but finally back on a major label they’ve put one of their better albums out with Imperial Congregation! 10 tracks, 4 are killer and 4 are good.
ffo: CANNIBAL CORPSE, MALEVOLENT CREATION, SINISTER, GOD DETHRONED, DEICIDE
AEON – God Ends Here = 3/5 |Metal Blade |Death Metal
Formed out of the ashes of DEFEACED CREATION, which I loved even though people called them a DEICIDE clone. AEON hit us with their first album Bleeding the False in 2005 and quickly became a favorite to most DM heads! Wow, has it really been 9 years since the last album?!? God Ends Here just straight up hits you in the head with what AEON does best, blasting DM with tons of grooves packed in to wreck your neck while head-banging to this almost hour long opus! God Ends Here is a very strong album after a 9 year hiatus but it definitely doesn’t stack up to Aeon’s Black. When it comes to modern DM this is just solid meat and potatoes, no extra frills and no experimentation. Along the lines of what you’d expect from CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, MALEVOLENT CREATION, SUFFOCATION, etc… AEON doesn’t disappoint by bringing everything you’d want in a DM album with this monstrous head-banging platter! 16 tracks, 5 are instrumentals, 4 are killer and 5 are good.
ffo: CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, VITAL REMAINS, MONSTROSITY, DEFACED CREATION
NECROTICGOREBEAST – Human Deviance Galore = 3.75/5 |Comatose |Slam/Brutal Death Metal
DAMN! I thought their self-titled debut was f’n bashing brutal. Human Deviance Galore just raised the bar! This is just unrelenting riff-chugging caveman brutal slam beatdown! I was thinking the new KORPSE or ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY would take top album for brutal slam this year, but now I have to throw this release in the mix. NECROTICGOREBEAST seemed to tighten up their sound on this new album for the sole purpose to ruthlessly penetrate your ear drums with the most primitive debaucherously mauling that you’ll hear this year! Seriously track 5 “Excremental Hemorrhage Fisting” could be a slam anthem for the ages! This is an album for slam fans, not really recreating the wheel, but just delivering a very good album. Another album that will probably be in my top albums for 2021! Slam fans take noticed if you haven’t already, THIS IS A MUST! 10 tracks, 5 are killer and 4 are good.
ffo: KORPSE, KRAANIUM, ABOMINABLE PUTRIDITY, DERACINATED, GORGASM
HURONIAN – As Cold As A Stranger Sunset = 3/5 |Dolorem |Melodic Death Metal
I basically want to describe this as the Gothenburg sound to the utmost extreme. As Cold As A Stranger Sunset sounds like the Gothenburg sound to 100 on the extreme scale???? Featuring members of HATEFUL and VALGRIND, this Italian band is a breath of fresh air into this genre! I mean how many times can you hear the familiar AT THE GATES, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK vibe from these new bands? HURONIAN has unlocked the secret, more extreme! Now, it’s not recreating the wheel but there is also touch of melodic BM vibe on here that adds to their direction in sound. I really enjoy when a band can add or expounded to the normal genre sound and in this case it’s Gothenburg. HURONIAN is out here pushing the genre to the next level! I’ll even go on record to say this is what the new AT THE GATES reunion should be doing! Now this is not mind-blowing changes going on here but enough to help the genre proceed into the future. I highly recommend checking this out. 9 tracks, 1 intro, 4 are killer and 3 are good.
ffo: AT THE GATES, ETERNAL STORM, THE HAUNTED, SACRAMENTUM, DISSECTION
EXISTENTIA – Calculating Failure = 3.5/5 |Unsigned |Technical Brutal Death Metal
This Philly trio, EXISTENTIA are one of many new exciting projects coming out lately in extreme metal by combining old school vibes with relentless modern technicality to create their own brutal chaos. This 14-minute EP will straight pummel you in dust with tech and brutal grooves that they have mastered into their attack. The aggression doesn’t let up and gets close to the point of exhaustion, but never crosses over. If you dig modern tech DM and want some groove in there, this is a must! This definitely has my seal of approval for up and coming bands to check out! 4 tracks, 2 are killer and 2 are good!
ffo: HIDEOUS DIVINITY, BENEATH THE MASSARCE, ARCHSPIRE, OPHIDIAN I, COGNITIVE, REVOCATION
DEFORMATORY – Inversion of the Unseen Horizon = 3.5/5 |Unsigned |Technical Death Metal
A band that’s been flying under the radar for since they’ve started! Their first album In The Wake of Pestilence hit me like a ton of bricks, the brutality mixed with the sheer precision technicality was relentless. The follow sophomore album Malediction was solid but didn’t top the debut. Now five years later, third album Inversion of the Unseen Horror brings that viciousness of the first album back to the front for this attack! DEFORMATORY definitely has a strong mid-era CRYPTOPSY vibe going on but it’s far from a rip off. Inversion of the Unseen Horror hits you with a manipulated frenzy of technical mayhem but has a bit of melody and darker atmospheric moments to keep things interesting yet with a solid production sound it never gets overbearing. I’m totally amazed this is not signed to big or even a mid-sized label, DEFORMATORY just demolishes many bands that are signed! This album is as good as the debut album, a must for tech DM heads to check out! 9 tracks, 4 are killer and 3 are good.
ffo: CRYPTOPSY, ORIGIN, ABNORMALITY, ODIOUS MORTEM, GORGUTS
.357 HOMICIDE – Executed On Site = 3.25/5 |Vile Tapes |Brutal Slam Death Metal
A year after their debut EP finally comes their debut album and it’s an album for SLAM lovers, nothing really new, just pure slam! Executed On Site is just solid early to mid-90’s NY style slam DM! Even the guitar sound is reminiscent of those early albums. Slam lovers will eat this mid-paced beatdown up! .357 HOMICIDE is a newer Slam band from England featuring members of CAPITAL PUNISHMENT that mix that sound from NY slam bands from the 90s with a modern touch. Their debut EP was solid and now their debut full length is just solid! Slam, slam, and more pit inducing slam here! No need to think about complex riffs, just dumb your brain down to a caveman and lets kill everyone in the pit! I really enjoy this, brings back members of when this genre started back in the day. Slam lovers this is a must! 10 tracks, 4 are killer and 5 are good!
ffo: REPUDILATION, ENTORTUREMENT, DEHUMANIZED, VOMIT REMNANTS, SOILS OF FATE
REPLICANT – Malignant Reality = 2.75/5 |Transcending Obscurity |Avant-Garde/Dissonant Death Metal
If you love dissonant DM and GORGUTS Obscura album then you really need to check this band out! Basically taking that GORGUTS Obscura sound to the modern sound of DM nowadays. I’m really not a huge fan of this sub-genre but this band knows what I like to hear and masters it into this genre with tight precision skill! Packed with enough groove, technical riffage and progressive flourish this release mostly kept me fully entertained except for a few tracks in the middle of the album. Malignant Reality solidifies REPLICANT as one of today’s most interesting dissonant DM powerhouses and a force to be reckoned with! A must to check out! 10 tracks, 4 are killer and 2 are good.
ffo: GORGUTS, NEGATIVA, PESTILENCE, THE RED CHORD, ULCERATE, PYRRHON
MAZE OF TERROR – Offer to the Fucking Beasts = 3/5 |Xtreem |Thrash Metal
When it comes to South American thrash you never know what you’re going to get; if it be the clone rawness of very early SEPULTURA or the influence of the Bay Area thrash movement but MAZE OF TERROR delivers their sophomore album Offer to the Fucking Beasts with raw energy of old-school thrash and black/death infused chaos. This is a release for the old school thrash fans, even the production sound raw. These dudes are definitely skilled musicians and bring some well written with a touch of experimenting thrash. Offer to the Fucking Beasts is a powerful second offering that’s intense and throws being safe out the door with these adventurous sonic journey. This leaves me in high hopes that these Peruvian metal-heads can continue this intriguing thrash ride for their next album also. 10 tracks, 4 are killer and 4 are good.
ffo: SEPULTURA, POSSESSED, SARCOFAGO, SADUS, EXODUS, DESTRUCTION
HEIR COPRSE ONE – Fly The Fiendish Skies = 2/5 |DOC |Humorous Groove Death Metal
I’ve been saying it all year along, the busiest man in DM, Rogga Johansson puts out another album. Dude is seriously in 30+ active bands and he took full advantage of the Covid lock down and wrote many, many riffs for all his projects. I think, it’s his 13th or 15th album released this year featuring fellow band members from his other bands ECHELON, TO DESCEND and PAGANIZER. This is a concept album about flying on airlines with humorous and joking about dying airline related but honestly just delivers a very Swedish sounding DM/groove/death’n’roll type album. Fly the Fiendish Skies is not recreating the wheel as I like to say but just delivers a solid head-banging album from start to finish. If you dig Swedish DM, especially that groovy, death’n’roll style, this is a must or if you’re a big fan of Rogga Johansson and his 40 projects he does, check this out! 10 tracks, 2 intros, 2 are killer and 4 are good.
ffo: ENTOMBED, DEATH BREATH, GRAVE, DEBAUCHERY, RIBSPREADER, CONVULSE
ENSLAVED – Caravans to the Outer Worlds = 2/5 |Nuclear Blast |Progressive Black Metal
Now, I’m gonna start off with saying I’m not your to go guy for a proper ENSLAVED review, but I do listen and check out everything they do. Personally, I love them up to the Isa album, then everything after that is mediocre with just a few good songs here and there. This new EP almost fooled me. The first track is f’n great, not a return to old but brought enough back with some aggression that if I got a full length of this I’d be happy as hell. Then track 2 hit and the other 2 songs were just garbage. So, this got a 2 rating just for that first song. ENSLAVED, I need more of this from now on! 4 track EP, 2 instrumentals, 1 killer track.
ffo: IHSAHN, VREID, PRIMORDIAL, BORKNAGAR, OPETH
