Nightmarer

Hecatoncheir – Nightmare Utopia Review

Hecatoncheir – Nightmare Utopia Review

“The journey begins by following a dark silhouette, each installment describes surreal and dreamlike landscapes, strange characters, and objects—with monolithic importance attached in the strange way that dreams do. In the latter tracks, ever-vigilant eyes watch from the stars and assume a more horrific face as they emerge from the darkness as the cruel pelagic and empyrean deities and monsters among Lovecraft’s multitudes. Hecatoncheir’s uniquely dreamlike take on chthonic horror, balanced by its ambitions in liminal spaces, set one hell of a precedent for the music contained herein.” Fear and loathing in Slovakia.

Stuck in the Filter: January’s Angry Misses

Stuck in the Filter: January’s Angry Misses

It’s becoming apparent that our filtering systems work quite well! The crew has done a fine job pulling filth from the workings and releasing the pressure to the system. A second too late and the toilets would have backed up.

Omnerod – The Amensal Rise [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

Omnerod – The Amensal Rise [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

“Sometimes a record takes its sweet time worming its way into my brain. Other times, a record drills into me with the immediacy of a bolt of lightning. Omnerod’s sophomore full-length, The Amnesal Rise, did a little bit of both to me in 2023. Released back in May, this immense, intense slab of dramatic progressive death metal slowly crept into my skin, but the infection it carried was virulent. I found myself feverishly affected by its horrific tale, and while it took me a while before I returned, once I did, there was no escape.” Bugs on a balloon.

Omnivortex – Circulate Review

Omnivortex – Circulate Review

“Since snatching my AotY crown in 2020 with their awesome Diagrams of Consciousness, Finland tech-death juggernauts Omnivortex have been hard at work on follow up Circulate. Needless to say, I’ve been at the edge of my seat. Remembering the indelible hooks and brutal heft of their explosive debut, I have no idea what Omnivortex need to do in order to top it.” Spinning on, spinning up.

Fleshvessel – Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed Review

Fleshvessel – Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed Review

“What is prog metal? At times, it’s too easy to slap the label onto anything different and call it a day—I myself am guilty of using the phrase “progressive melodic death metal” as if it’s a thing. But every once in a while comes a record that’s so very prog, there’s just no way around it. Fleshvessel, who hail from the US of A, releasing their debut record Yearning: Promethean Fates Sealed is one such record. I’ve seen this called “experimental death metal,” but let’s be honest with ourselves here, when there are more than four times as many instruments as band members, we can call it progressive metal and then call it a day.” Prog the skin and flesh out the death.

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift Review

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift Review

“I didn’t know what to expect with Deformity Adrift. Although I knew it’s rooted in the inherently unfriendly style of dissonant death metal, I wasn’t sure which breed: perhaps the scathing apathy of Mithridatum, the sun-bleached Altars, the occult mumblings of Mitochondrion, or the twisted technicality of Asystole, to name a few. I shrugged and thought, “I’ve seen it all” and pushed play on Nightmarer. What tormented me about the Berlin/Portland quartet is that, despite my best efforts to describe it with bands of similar ilk, I cannot put words to its latest foray. It rides the line neatly between the haunting devastation of its influences and a tantalizingly listenable quality that defies the need for abstraction. Nightmarer has created a unique dilemma.” DilemmaER!