Diabolus in Muzaka

If you're not into Live in Leipzig, you are not his friend.
Whoredom Rife – Winds of Wrath Review

Whoredom Rife – Winds of Wrath Review

“Let me start off on the right foot with some honesty: I had, for the longest time, no idea what to say about the latest Whoredom Rife record. If it was a boring record, I’d call it Boredom Rife and be proud of that pun, but I can’t in any honesty do that. Winds of Wrath isn’t a boring record. It isn’t a great one either.” Rife in the middle.

Outre-Tombe –  Abysse Mortifère Review

Outre-Tombe – Abysse Mortifère Review

“With plenty of death metal nowadays being extremely technical and polished for the sake of technicality and polish – or perhaps for YouTube playthroughs people can show their friends to “prove” that metal is “serious music” – it’s nice to have bands like Quebec’s Outre-Tombe around to push in the opposite direction. No, the consistently killer French-Canadian crew haven’t devolved into Hellhammer levels of un-technicality – awesome as that would probably be – but they have been getting filthier with each release.” Tomb caper.

Waking the Cadaver – Authority Through Intimidation Review

Waking the Cadaver – Authority Through Intimidation Review

Waking the Cadaver is a few things to a lot of people. The first and most obvious one is them being the “Shredded Wheat” band from what was arguably the first popular metal meme. It was also the most memorable and probably the funniest, rivaled only by the Trivium “Boat Rudder” one and some gems from that page which dealt exclusively in Mortician memes. The second one, almost equally obvious, is that Waking the Cadaver traffic in a somewhat…controversial take on extreme metal which is often offensive to the ears of normies and metalheads alike. Third, Waking the Cadaver has some vitriolic bad reviews on Metal Archives. My favorite album of theirs, Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler, sits at a kingly 25% average – a firm 1.0/5.0 on the AMG scale.” Respect the dead’s authoritah!

Order – The Gospel Review

Order – The Gospel Review

“It’s no secret that I like Mayhem. Since Slayer disbanded, they’re my favorite active metal band. Each of their “eras” has offered something unique, special, memorable, and great. I’ve been listening to the legendary Deathcrush a lot lately, and I’ve never found anything quite like it. Imagine my surprise, then, when I learned that Norway’s Order existed and featured Manheim (drums on Deathcrush) and Messiah (some vocals on Deathcrush).” Crushing.

Vulvodynia – Praenuntius Infiniti Review

Vulvodynia – Praenuntius Infiniti Review

“When Vulvodynia put out Psychosadistic Design all the way back in 2016, it served as an intro to slam for a great number of people. It was up there with Ingested’s Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering for entry-level stuff that would eventually lead the listener to bands like Ecchymosis, Gorevent, and Kraanium. It had a modern sheen, plenty of obvious hooks, and an obnoxious sense of humor, but it also had enough in common with slam to draw the listener down the rabbit hole.” Death, where is thy slam?

Summoner’s Circle – Chaos Vector Review

Summoner’s Circle – Chaos Vector Review

“Describing themselves as “theatrical metal,” Summoner’s Circle is a swirling morass of influences that, peculiarly, leaves little lasting impression. Chaos Vector takes the most accessible parts of mainstream death metal and mainstream black metal and mixes them with the accessible melodies of modern progressive metal. Given that the vocals are largely blackened rasps a la Rimfrost, the guitars pull double duty in trying to make the proceedings overtly heavy and melodic. Progressive is definitely used in the catch-all way here.” Chaos and design theory.

Karloff – The Appearing Review

Karloff – The Appearing Review

Karloff is a “metal punk” band, a phrase that doesn’t mean much to me. Military Shadow is “metal punk” too, but they sound nothing like Karloff. What does The Appearing sound like, then? To me, this is firmly in the Swedish realm of metal, specifically what post-Wolverine Blues Entombed was doing, including and especially Entombed A.D..” Coffin punk.

Galvanizer – Prying Sight of Imperception Review

Galvanizer – Prying Sight of Imperception Review

Galvanizer play some olden death metal, specifically “grinding death metal.” If you’re having AMG-themed déjà vu, you probably remember Cadaveric Incubator’s Nightmare Necropolis from earlier this year. Both bands are similar in sound, having much in common with Entombed and Carcass but neatly avoiding typical Swe-death production values. While not entirely lacking in obvious melodiousness, Galvanizer really counts on the listener enjoying Symphonies of Sickness which, if you like death metal, is a safe bet.” Prying old coffins open.

Dungeon Serpent – World of Sorrows Review

Dungeon Serpent – World of Sorrows Review

“When you read “melodic death metal,” what do you think of? If your answer is “thrashy power metal with more chugging and harsh vocals” you’re not alone. I frequently avoid bands with the melo-death tag because that niche of the subgenre has a shallow well of inspiration and grows old quickly. Too often do I forget that Kataklysm is a melo-death band, and Sorcery is a melo-death record, likewise with At the GatesWith Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness. Both of these are the furthest thing from the cheesy version of melo-death. Thanks to The Nightmare of Being I’ve been on somewhat of a melo-death kick lately, which prompted me to take a chance on Canadian one-man band Dungeon Serpent and their debut record World of Sorrows.” Snakes in the Sorcery room.