Slam

Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh Review

By Kronos on March 10, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Slam, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Slam, 61 comments

“Welcome to my ass. We won’t be long. I’ve gathered us here today before my review of the brilliant new Afterbirth record because I didn’t want to drag you through here in the middle of it. Suffice it to say that my critique of Afterbirth’s The Time Traveler’s Dilemma has proven unassailably correct: Afterbirth should get right back on the horse, they should keep exploring their progressive tendencies, and they absolutely should record with Colin Marston. Probably no thanks to my scolding they have. Four Dimensional Flesh is a triumph, one of the most charismatic and original death metal albums you’ll ever hear.” Ass above, so below.

Schizogen – Spawn of Almighty Essence Review

By Grymm on February 19, 2020 in 2020, Death Metal, Reviews, Slam, Ukrainian Metal, Willowtip, Death Metal, 27 comments

“I try to keep an open mind when it comes to music, seeking out new forms of our favorite genre in hopes of unearthing a new, unpolished gem that, with some sanding down, can shine radiantly on the eyes in the ears of those who will listen. So when a promising new death metal band from a land not known for promising new death metal gets hyped up, I’m going to fixate my ears upon it and give it a listen. Hence, Ukraine’s Schizogen.” Hype and tripe.

Gorevent – Fate Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on February 5, 2020 in 2020, Comatose Music, Japanese Metal, Reviews, Slam, Slam, 39 comments

“In popular music, the West Coast is known for the smooth, extravagant, and maximal productions of Dr. Dre, while the East Coast is known for the grimy, gritty, and dusty productions of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. I prefer the latter, and when it comes to slam, travelling further East gets me the grotesquery I crave.” Slam of the rising sun.

Death Metal We Missed: 2019 Edition

By Diabolus in Muzaka on January 18, 2020 in 2019, American Metal, Canadian Metal, Czech Metal, Danish Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, Mexican Metal, Slam, Things You Might Have Missed, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, 83 comments

“Whether we missed it digging through the promo sump or it wasn’t deposited in there to begin with, the reflection commensurate with the end of a year makes us remember records that weren’t featured on the blog that nonetheless deserved to be. This little post is an effort of some of us here to put a dent, however tiny, in that issue.” Death gets a second chance.

Wormhole – The Weakest Among Us Review

By Kenstrosity on January 12, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Death Metal, Lacerated Enemy Records, Reviews, Slam, Technical Death Metal, Slam, Technical Death Metal, 45 comments

“Karen, Plankton’s computer wife, defines ‘seaweed’ as, and I quote, ‘50% sea, 50% weed.’ I define Wormhole as ‘50% worm, 50% hole,’ where ‘worm’ represents tech-death and ‘hole’ represents slam. I rarely encounter genre-blending bands who can evenly balance the weight each constituent style bears upon their respective sounds, but Wormhole might be the first to find a perfect 50/50 distribution.” Numbers, worms and holes.

Strappado – Exigit Sincerae Devotionia Affectus Review

By Kronos on August 12, 2019 in 2019, Comatose Music, Death Metal, Reviews, Slam, Spanish Metal, Death Metal, Slam, 24 comments

“Torture. As essential to death metal lyrics as it is to oppressive regimes the world over, the simple desire to exact pain has spawned countless obscene and horrific technologies. Strappado take their name from one in which the hands are tied behind the back and the victim is then suspended by them. There’s a lineage of bands out there named after torture devices that – as far as I know – starts with Iron Maiden, but Strappado are pretty far down the line from these forebears musically, instead acting as a sibling to the departed but influential Brodequin.” Welcome to the rack.

Vulvodynia – Mob Justice Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 29, 2019 in 2019, Lacerated Enemy Records, Reviews, Slam, South African Metal, Slam, 17 comments

“Vulvodynia’s 2016 monstrosity Psychosadistic Design joined Ingested’s Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering at the top of the relatively accessible slamming deathcore pile. Upon its release, it sold a boatload of copies due to its mixture of self-aware ridiculousness and a charmingly cavalier attitude towards everything but riffs. Both records were great ‘gateway slam’ records — their production was friendly to ‘core ears and the riffs were unfairly catchy. Structurally, both took the general deathcore idea and replaced breakdowns with slams and both were a lot of fun for it. Both toed the line between excess and parody expertly, which made them easy to like and laugh along with. Three years later, Vulvodynia have returned.” Flash slam.

Organectomy – Existential Disconnect Review

By Kenstrosity on June 17, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, New Zealand Metal, Reviews, Slam, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Slam, 78 comments

“The Summer of Slamcore and Other Slammy Things™ continues for this guy right here. So far, my choices from the promo bin failed to impress or rapidly soured after the initial bout of Shiny New Thing Disorder lifted. But there must be light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as I saw New Zealand’s very own modern slam juggernauts Organectomy peeking out from under all of the mediocre black metal dreck littering the place, I knew I had found that light.” Wham, bam, thank you, slam!

Distant – Tyrannotophia Review

By Saunders on June 15, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Deathcore, Dutch Metal, Reviews, Slam, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Deathcore, Slam, 25 comments

“Distant is a curiously subtle and vague moniker for a deathcore band with slam death leanings. Describing themselves specifically as downtempo deathcore, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean, the Netherlands outfit bring their down-tuned grooves and pig squealing brutality in typically boneheaded style with the subtlety of their chosen name certainly not translated into their musical template. That’s all good and well, yet with an increasingly stacked year of quality metal releases, does Tyrannotophia deliver to the expected standards of brutality and songcraft on their debut full-length?” Short armed.

Mental Cruelty – Inferis Review

By Kenstrosity on May 18, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Deathcore, German Metal, Reviews, Slam, Unique Leader, Death Metal, Deathcore, Slam, 25 comments

“Well, I guess the Pope is a zombie now. Admit it, you all saw that coming. A religious leader, let alone one that wields as much influence as the head of the Catholic Church? Come on. Whatever, that’s a tangent for another time. For now, let’s talk about the second full-length album by Mental Cruelty, named Inferis.” Popecore.