Vomitory

Morta Skuld – Creation Undone Review

Morta Skuld – Creation Undone Review

“Wisconsin’s Morta Skuld have been dragging their nasty cave knuckles for so long, even their fingerprints have worn off. In existence on and off since 1990, these old school warriors have been a fairly reliable if not super prolific source of no-frills, beefbrained death metal. Their early works exuded an oily, swampy charm with a sound ripped from the classic Necrophagia and Obituary playbooks. Later albums like Wounds Deeper Than Time and 2020s Suffer for Nothing were much more furious, pummeling affairs, with elements of Vader, Malevolent Creation, and Jungle Rot in their flavor profile.” Come (violently) undone.

Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions Review

Cruciamentum – Obsidian Refractions Review

Cruciamentum may not be especially prolific or productive, having managed only one full-length from 2008 to 2015, but their Charnel Passages debut put them on the map with its massive, monolithically atmospheric caverncore sound. It was the kind of statement album presaging a successful career, but they failed to follow it up in a meaningful way as years drifted by with nary a peep save an EP in 2017. Nearly 8 long years later they finally offer up their sophomore long player, Obsidian Refractions. Crucial momentum.

Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll Review

Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll Review

“It’s been a good, long time since we’ve heard from Swedish death metal royalty, Vomitory. From 1996 through 2011 they regularly assaulted the metalverse with high-quality material adroitly blending vintage Swedeath ideas with American death of the Floridian persuasion. It didn’t break barriers but it sure as hell busted skulls, and ghastly platters like Blood Rapture and Carnage Euphoria stand the test of time. Their last album, 2011s Opus Mortis VIII, was a great parting shot full of ripping riffs and bashing brutality, and they were sorely missed when the silence settled. Now 12 years later the beast arises.” Assume the hurling position.

Lik – Misanthropic Breed Review

Lik – Misanthropic Breed Review

“Critic-bait comes in two forms: pretension and novelty. Critics are often a special mixture of jaded and self-important, so something that appeals to an inflated sense of one’s own intelligence or to that jaded sensibility which dismisses the familiar reflexively, respectively, is what sets the critical heart aflutter. Lik is not critic-bait, but they’ve got this particular critic hook, line, and sinker.” Dismember tomorrow.

Cut Up – Wherever They May Rot Review

Cut Up – Wherever They May Rot Review

“Workmanlike is an adjective we can use to describe a whole host of things, some good and some bad. On the flip side Cut Up represent its positive usage well. When I say that Wherever They May Rot, the follow-up to their well-received debut Forensic Nightmares, is a very workmanlike record, then, it’s most assuredly a compliment.” Death is a dirty job.

Amon Amarth – Jomsviking Review

Amon Amarth – Jomsviking Review

“The first man I killed was the earl’s right-hand man / When he came to take her away / I ran his own sword straight through his throat / And then I stood there, watching him fall!” Amon Amarth’s Jomsviking wastes no time reminding you to whom you are listening. Of the Swedish metal scene of the 1990s—a scene so legendary and influential that it became almost cliché after incessant imitation—Amon Amarth is one of the very few who has continued strong. While not every record has been a Lindesfarne, their discography is like a series of profitable raids that have raised their profile so high that Jomsviking isn’t being released on Metal Blade in Europe. Amon Amarth is officially a major label band now, having signed to Sony in the three years since Deceiver of the Gods was released in 2013.