“Carnal Forge managed to carve something of an identity by qualifying their ubiquitous melodeath with Germanic thrash rhythms. After a twelve year hiatus, these melodeath thrashers have returned with some new blood intent on riffs aplenty.” Gun control.
“Japan probably isn’t top of the list of countries responsible for propagating the most volatile of technical death metal. Desecravity clearly don’t care for the geographical rank and file, however, as their hyper-proficient assault takes absolutely no prisoners. Anathema is the band’s third foray into profuse precision and exhibits a startling standard of musicianship. But, as with all overtly technical genres, there lingers an elephant in the room… What good is inimitable skill without commensurate song writing? I’ve lost count of the amount of bands I’ve heard over the years who exist, seemingly solely, as an extreme guitar clinic. No attention to structure, no time spent on foundation. Fortunately, Desecravity seem to be aware of this to some degree, but they aren’t entirely out of the woods yet…” Killed by tech.
“When I was a boy, busy putting my beleaguered vertebrae through a heavy metal crash course in brain surgery, there were a few records that would stay with me forever. On the death metal spectrum, my friends and I loved nothing more than realigning the atoms of our necks to the dulcet tones of Consuming Impulse or Realm of Chaos. Malevolent Creation’s first two albums, The Ten Commandments and Retribution, were also prime influences in our quest for spinal reconfiguration. I even rather enjoy the much-maligned Stillborn, despite its horrendous production. But, of course, this isn’t a retrospective of death metal’s classic era, it’s a review of Malevolent Creation’s newest offering and the first since the untimely passing of frontman Brett Hoffmann.” Altered beasts.
![The Ridiculous Year o’ Death Metal Round-up, Part 2 [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/dmwm-list2-facebooksplash-768x403.png)
“2018 has been undeniably kind to death metal. So kind that it became impossible to pay the necessary attention to every release worthy of note. So, possessed of tyrannical temperament and iron resolve, Kronos and I have enlisted the help of the staff to cover those bands that went so unjustly overlooked.” – Even MORE death metal we missed!? Wow, we’re bad at this job.
Ferrous Beuller and GardensTale need to unburden themselves and share all their picks for the best of 2018. Be polite and sit quietly until they’re done, then you can go outside and get a cupcake.
![Convulsing – Grievous [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/730574.jpg)
“Convulsing might just command one of the best combinations of atmospheric black and death metal I’ve ever heard. Sloan has a rare ability to fuse dense death metal riffing with a suffocating black metal fluidity. Grievous somehow manages to bludgeon yet persuasively menace in one fell blow.” Death spasms.
![Convocation – Scars Across [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/a2655692844_16.jpg)
“In November of 2017, Finland’s Desolate Shrine released Deliverance From the Godless Void, an album so full of death and depth it would have been my AotY had it not released so late. While this year has furnished us with a selection of stirring doom albums, it still falls to Desolate Shrine mastermind L.L to concoct the most immersive and crushing of them all. Convocation is a project that balances L.L’s multi-instrumental talents with the vocals of M. Neuman of fellow Finns Dark Buddha Rising. The resulting debut, Scars Across, is a remorseless trek through tortured terrain that never departs from its impending pace.” Doom to the world.
“It’s always sad when a band has an internal branding dispute of such magnitude that it gives rise to two separate, but identical, entities. In this case, UK legends Venom are now forced to share a moniker with Venom Inc. and it may not be such a bad thing. Last year I reviewed the corporate crusher’s debut, Avé, where I waxed pompous over its unremarkable, but undeniably decent, content. Now, the black metal originals have returned with no less than their fifteenth studio album Storm the Gates.” Sounds of a poison fading.
![Construct of Lethe – Exiler [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/a2465526153_10-768x768.jpg)
“It would appear that technicality and dissonance have won out over traditional structures in death metal this year. Highly ranked amongst these unconventional victories is Exiler, the second album by Virginia’s Construct of Lethe. Exiler exudes a grim atmosphere by occupying an awkward position only fractionally removed from comfort.” Comfort is for hipsters.
“As I write this, I’m locked into a bitter war with an uncommonly potent cold. The irony of being as mucosal as the everyday gland isn’t lost on me while I sit and cogitate on the importance of nomenclature during another play-through of Ravaged Spleen Outburst’s debut. Many bands can trace their humble beginnings through a youthful yet indelible moniker, even in the face of unmistakable growth. This is something the one-man Serbian slaughter machine responsible for Ravaged Spleen Outburst likely knows something about.” You’ve got some spleenin’ to do.
