“I think it’s in my job description to just steal promos from Kronos for the rest of my writing career. Autokrator is no exception, as a casual perusal through the promo bin revealed this little gem, one that elicited a reaction not unlike from beloved Christmas movie Elf: “I know them!”” Thieving in the house of death.
“Antichrist Siege Machine paints the gates of metal with the blood of Christendom. Subtlety is not their strongest trait. Berserk and bludgeoning attacks, void of humanity, are at the core of this Virginian duo’s battering ram. Antichrist Siege Machine’s debut full-length, 2019’s Schism Perpetration, kick-started their brainless siege against nuance. The record is 28-minutes of celestial warfare fetishization. Blazing chariots rip through flesh, worshipers are disemboweled on altars, Satan opens up his fiery pit wherever he pleases, and a general state of empyrean slaughter is captured through deep, churning metal. The war against Christendom is unrelenting and Antichrist Siege Machine has spotted another chance for carnage.” Blade in full.
“Remember when you “cleaned out” your basement and swept a pile of concrete, paint chips, and earwig corpses into the corner? Malthusian broke into your house, snorted it, and recorded Across Deaths there while you were at work. This album will give you an asthma attack and reduce your children’s IQ by ten points.” Population control metal.
“I will award no prizes for guessing what kind of music Abythic play. A name like that is tell-tale enough, and releasing their debut on Sweden’s Blood Harvest, a label perhaps best-known for their work with bands like Impetuous Ritual, Triumvir Foul, and Tomb Mold, doubles down on any preconceptions you might have. The order of the day is doomy, dirty death metal, an ever-welcome houseguest at the home of Kronos. Keep your coat on and track mud all over the place, I don’t give a shit so long as you brought riffs to the potluck and are prepared to serve them. Judgment comes after the meal.” Filth buffet.
“Much like their countrymen countrypeople fellow Austral beings in Portal, the only thing Grave Upheaval cherish more than cavernous production is their own obscurity — though this could be because Portal, Impetuous Ritual, and Grave Upheaval are the cast of a half-dozen or so shadowy musicians. Call them kvlt, call them private; the result is the second Grave Upheaval album once again untitled and once again filled with indecipherable moaning, squealing terrors, and suffocating doom-death.” In a cavern, no one can hear you spelunk.
“We don’t know what “progressive” truly entails anymore, what is or isn’t really black metal seems to always be up for debate, and through the salt and the flames I’m still confused as to how “brutal death metal with hardcore breakdowns” somehow isn’t deathcore. Eyes already glazed over?” Incantation worship…again.
