Willowtip

Seputus – Phantom Indigo Review

Seputus – Phantom Indigo Review

“If tasked to write a glib introduction for Seputus, one could hardly do better than “Pyrrhon with 25% less Pyrrhon.” With a lineup entirely drawn from the noise-death icon (missing only the inimitable Dylan DiLella), that’s mathematically true, and with their second record, it’s likewise stylistically accurate. With Phantom Indigo drummer/guitarist Stephen Schwegler, bassist Erik Malave, and vocalist Doug Moore give in to their experimental instincts, livening their dense deathgrind with nauseous psychedelia and stretching their compositions to the breaking point.” Colors of the Septrum.

Odious Mortem – Synesthesia Review

Odious Mortem – Synesthesia Review

“Yeah baby, a new decade! Everything we did wrong last decade, we’re gonna fix that, you know what I mean? Flannel — it’s gone. Outta here, goodbye. Washington, you’re done. We’re basing the Zeitgeist outside of the Pacific Northwest. New people, new places. It’s gonna be sick! We’re gonna have war in the Middle East predicated on total fabrications! Let’s hear it for world inaction on climate change! Every tech-death band will be from California for some reason! Let’s go, baby, I’m ready to start the 2000s off right! I… Oh.” Mortem and pestilence.

Ceremony of Silence – Outis Review

Ceremony of Silence – Outis Review

“I’ve always considered myself very fortunate in my taste in metal. Mostly because I’m eclectic enough that I don’t easily bore. I can while away many an hour poring over platters of traditional and retro fare. On the other hand, conceptually opaque music has always fascinated me because it represents an opportunity to learn. Slovakia’s Ceremony of Silence know a little something about the esoteric and are more than willing to share their expertise on debut Oútis.” Learning through brutality.

Hath – Of Rot and Ruin Review

Hath – Of Rot and Ruin Review

“Pure originality is overrated. I mean, yeah, it’s nice when something newfangled pops up and smacks you in the kisser. However, I would much rather see an already existent construct improved upon, re-imagined or perfected in some way. I don’t care if it takes three iterations or four trillion, five-hundred billion, three-hundred-forty-seven million, twenty-thousand-and-two iterations to get there.” If it ain’t broke, improve it!

Gorod – Æthra Review

Gorod – Æthra Review

Æthra, which is being released from the band’s new home at the French label Overpowered Records, is Gorod’s sixth slab of techy goodness. Through all of it, Gorod has yet to release a bad album. Therefore, the question I wanted the answer to when I finally got a chance to pop the album on was ‘will Æthra be good or, like, really good?'” Fanboy ahoy?

Sarpanitum – Blessed Be my Brothers… [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Sarpanitum – Blessed Be my Brothers… [Things You Might Have Missed 2015]

Sarpanitum is now over a decade old, which is terrifying because it seems like only yesterday that I first stumbled on them in Zero Tolerance magazine’s Death Metal Special Part II (featured alongside yours truly, believe it or not). That was in 2006. Identified as promising UK death metal hopefuls, both they and I have since amply justified that tag with our prolific outputs of… one full-length record each.” Slow and steady wins the death race.

Baring Teeth – Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins Review

Baring Teeth – Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins Review

Ghost Chorus Among Old Ruins is the last album out this year that I expect to give a shit about, and what a loose, worm-riddled mass that shit is. Baring Teeth’s first offering, Atrophy, is a must for those who want to understand the future of death metal – discordant, abstract, disturbing and forward-thinking as a Rodin sculpture strapped to a freight train. If that intro didn’t get you reading, there’s nothing else we can do.

Wormed – Exodromos Review

Wormed – Exodromos Review

“It is brutal, rather technical and it has its roots in death metal. But is Exodromos a pure brutal technical death metal album? A lazy, complacent answer would be: yes. A more elaborate response – and one you would expect to read on these respected pages – is: not quite.” Alex Franquelli reviews the new Wormed record, in all its brutal, technical glory and asks “What next?”

Sophicide – Perdition of the Sublime Review

Sophicide – Perdition of the Sublime Review

Technical death metal was the darling of the death metal scene about 5 or 6 years ago, but since the ever-growing retro-death craze has begun to take over the number of quality technical death metal releases that I’ve gotten my hands on has dramatically decreased. Still, that didn’t stop the now 22 year-old Adam Sazslo from writing a bunch of pretty fucking sweet techy songs and getting himself a worldwide deal with Willowtip. Perdition of the Sublime is Sophicide’s debut record and one can see why this record – produced by someone who can’t tour to support it – is being released by a label of this quality: because it’s a truly elite technical death metal experience.