“Where do you even start with a band like Defect Designer? Part Trollfest, part Diskord—one fewer part now that bassist Eyvind Wærsted Axelsen has moved on since his brief participation on 2022’s blasting EP Neanderthal—and three parts weird, this eclectic Russian-by-way-of-Norway export hasn’t defined one singular sound for itself over the years.” Genre inwasion.
“International supergroup Vltimas crashed upon the Earth early in 2015, dropping their well-received debut roughly four years later. Comprised of Morbid Angel’s very own David Vincent at the mic, Cryptopsy’s Flo Mounier manning the kit, and Aura Noir’s Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen slinging axe, the project deals in grooving, swaggering blackened death metal singing Satan’s praises and glorifying the destruction of all the world. You know, the usual.” Super epic?
“I cannot claim familiarity or history with Romanian death metal act Necrotum, but the promo sump was shallow in January and an album title like Defleshed Exhumation was sure to catch the eye of Steel even in more target-rich environs. This is the band’s third full-length effort and it features a sound sitting at the crossroads of tech/prog/OSDM.” Right in the Necrotum!
“When our resident death metal professor, Ferrous Beuller, covered To Bathe from the Throat of Cowardice, the debut full-length from Portland’s Vitriol, he was struck by the sheer heaviness that dominated the record. And while he noted the enormous potential displayed by the band, he bemoaned the lack of balancing contrast, a lack that prevented the monstrous material from making the intended impact.” Impact is imminent.
“Well, here’s one filthy wallow–roll around in this shit and I promise the stench will linger. The brutal death mongers of Necroticgorebeast return with Repugnant, their third blitzkrieg of bletches, blearghs, and blurgles. On their self-titled debut and its followup Human Deviance Galore, these Québecois killers established themselves as the state of the “art” when it comes to IQ-obliterating slammy death metal. They “distinguish” themselves from their peers with a kind of lizard-brain instinct for making slam that sticks.” Pearls before slam.
“Few death metal acts have a run of albums as divisive as Cryptopsy. Starting life as an uncompromisingly brutal tech-death act, they took the world by storm with 1994s Blasphemy Made Flesh and 1996s iconic None So Vile. Their hyperkinetic blend of speed, technicality, and heaviness set them apart from every other death outfit save Gorguts and Suffocation. Sadly, these epic albums proved hard to top and the subsequent years were not so kind to Cryptopsy.” Crypt skeptics reunion.
“Spurred into action by Dear Hollow’s aggressive maneuvering towards my station as the Sole Arbiter of Brutality, I’m forced to toil in the less productive shafts of the criticism mines. This week sees me stumbling through the murk of the promo sump like a common probationary writer, grasping towards anything familiar and grabbing hold of Deformatory. The Ottowans’ last record, Malediction, was less than remarkable, but the basic conceit – ‘90s and ’00s Cryptopsy combined without all the wacky stuff – is worth more than one try.” Crypt lickers.
“I’m not sure how everyone got their start with metal, but there had to be a bit of a transition to the more extreme stuff, unless you eat nails for breakfast while listening to Cryptopsy’s None So Vile. Unlike you sausage or oatmeal or vegemite shippers who are descended from the yesteryears of heavy, thrash, or doom, I enjoy my eggs with my bacon: my origins of Christian metalcore a la Demon Hunter, Haste the Day, and Oh Sleeper stick with me. While metalcore has not been the kindest to me thus far in 2021, I’m always rooting for any that may wander across my lap like a feral kitten. Is Nothing Noble available for adoption?” Dismay Day.
“Anthropophagus Depravity is a brutal death metal quintet from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and 2021’s Apocalypto is their debut. While undoubtedly committed to bludgeoning listeners over the head with gore-splattered riffs, tar-thick grooves, and hell-scraping gutturals, Apocalypto is also dedicated to Mayan civilization and its emphasis of human sacrifice.” Sacrifices must be made.
“I’ll forever have a soft spot in my wrought iron heart for Dutch death act Pestilence. Their 1989 magnum opus Consuming Impulse blew my mind all over the wall with its gnarly death metal assault and I still play it regularly. I haven’t completely loved any of their second career stage releases however, as their style has parked somewhere between OSDM and prog-death with jazz elements, making things a bit too awkward for my tastes. That said, 2013s Obsideo was good if weird, and 2018s Hadeon was a respectable shift toward more straightforward death metal. Ninth album Exitivm is now set to drop with an almost entirely new lineup from last time, with founding guitarist Patrick Mameli the sole survivor.” Prog infection.
