“Ageless Violence is a death metal album. You know the deal. Glorious Depravity is the band. There are a bunch of guys in it, cool guys, some of whom are in some other good-to-killer bands that don’t play this style. It’s 2020, they’re doing old school death metal like everybody else because it’s fun. Nothing wrong with that. Plus, they’re quite good at it, and Ageless Violence is an undeniably tight, well-made record. The “but” awaits.
“Many metal bands do not have drummers. This is not because drummers are cantankerous, unhygienic, or otherwise objectionable people – though of course you may have evidence to that effect. No, the value of a drummer is so great that bandmates will tolerate even the worst tendencies of the percussively inclined, and in fact seek out kit-kickers like the jilted seek closure. The reason is scarcity; there are just not enough drummers out there. Which makes it especially rare for a band to contain two.” Kit cats.
“Though a combative Al Kikuras rightfully panned the group’s debut, this sophomore record introduces a more fleshed-out Skelethal offering something beyond buzzsaw revivalism. After the departure of founding drummer/bassist Jon Whiplash, the band’s other half, Guillaume Zeller, pieced Skelethal back together at twice the size.” Bone collecting.
“Just the other day, it occurred to me that I wanted to hear a very specific type of album. In exploring this desire, I began to understand exactly what type of album that was. I wanted to hear an experimental and progressive album influenced by Fredrik Thorendal’s Special Defects solo project that combined angular rhythms and flowing jazz-fusion with spacey atmospheres and a sci-fi concept about alien contact. I wanted the record to feature great drumming, perhaps by Defeated Sanity’s Lille Gruber, and adventurous guitar and bass playing from musicians with a brutal death metal sensibility, maybe the guys from Cerebric Turmoil.” Speak of the Devil…
“You won’t be blown away by their virtuoso performances or brainy lyrics, but your speakers will suffer some such fate if they play an Ingested record at full blast. In fact, most of the love or hate for Ingested comes down to their production; extremely loud drum samples, very polished presentation, and a ton of vocal layering.” Indigestion.
“Sometimes you know within seconds that an album is going to absolutely rule. I knew it when I heard the chimes in Desolate Endscape. I knew it when I heard the first riff of “Cognitive Sedation Butchery.” This time I knew it when I heard three notes – guitar, bass, and snare – and fell into a tetanic stupor, fists clenched in ecstasy, tongue projected out to the state line. Faceless Burial just made a modern classic in old school death metal.” Endangering species.
“Is black metal good? The answer is no. Or at least, I would have said no when I started writing here. Flippantly, sure, but I was a different man and back in 2013 black metal was a different beast. Most of the mass clogging the drain of the promo sump was of the two-waves-one-man variety, and with the exception of luminary avant-garde acts like Sigh and Dodecahedron, it seemed like the only alternative to reliving the early Norwegian days was playing blast beats over Slowdive.” Time changes a man.
“The Last Semblance is the second Alizarin album, and the first that is not instrumental. That’s an important note, because Alizarin is the passion project of a one Josh Kay, who wrote the songs, played the guitar parts, made the album art for, and mixed The Last Semblance.” One man army.
“Aseitas are the Northwest’s death metal answer to the Northeast’s black metal alchemists in Genevieve, twisting the most experimental threads of metal into sleeker, stronger songs. The Portland quintet’s eclectic experiments began with 2018’s Aseitas, a record that seemed woven from every strand of extreme metal’s experiments in the decade before it.” No brutality, no peace.
“With heavyweights like Tomb Mold and Blood Incantation drowning in the love of the underground, proggy OSDM has never been so widely celebrated or practiced. If you’re a player in the death metal underground, that makes it an ideal time to switch focus from your nasty death metal band to your proggy death metal band and release your inscrutably titled debut album.” Void where prohibited.
