“It’s safe to say that The Lyricist is the closest Susperia has come to the sound first set by Tjodalv, et al. in 2001. This time, though, it’s without longtime vocalist Athera. After seventeen years with a single voice, how will this new record fare?” A new voice in the thrash chapel.
“If there’s one problem with today’s metal scene, it’s that there’s not enough Infernal War in it. As heard most recently on 2015’s Axiom, the Polish blackened-death troupe are possibly the fastest, angriest, and most captivating band ever recorded, all of which make their lack of productivity that much harder to endure. Fortunately, all their rage couldn’t be contained in just one project, and thus War guitarist ‘Zyklon’ and vocalist ‘Warcrimer’ formed Voidhanger in 2010 to further their main band’s hate crusade against humanity.” Careers in hate.
“Consistency is a virtue, most of the time. Oftentimes, it is vital for a band’s recognizability, allowing only for incremental growth and change, both within an album and across several. But it can be taken too far with a sound growing stale, or eschewed completely for avant-garde whiplash effects (see Igorrr). Usurpress love mixing different genres into their Swedish death metal, risking consistency issues but aiming for the reward of diversity and unpredictability.” Overthrow the expected.
“I hadn’t paid much attention to France’s Aosoth until they dropped the captivating IV: An Arrow in Heart LP in 2013, a dark and crushing affair of malicious, dissonant black metal. Admittedly I have only flirted with the remainder of their back catalog since, with nothing much, to my ears, standing up to the colossal An Arrow in Heart. The album’s hefty production and outside elements almost made it sound like Aosoth were a black metal band, in a particularly evil and hulking death metal body, with the songwriting smarts to craft an equally punishing, challenging and addictive opus. Now, after four years, Aosoth return hellbent on continuing their twisted conceptual mission and hammering home the fact that no-one does black metal quite like the French.” Black arrows ov death.
“Five years ago, another metal blog referred to As I Lay Dying’s Awakened as “the world’s first retro-metalcore album.” While that same not-to-be-named blog was also recently guilty of authoring one of the most idiotic self-serving shitposts I’ve ever read, in the case of Awakened they were actually right. With its melodic Gothenburg riffs, gang vocals, soaring clean choruses, and pummeling breakdowns, the record hearkened back to mid-00s metalcore at a time when the rest of the scene was too busy being balls deep in whatever Periphery was doing.” Old core, new core. At this point, what does it matter?
“Blaze of Perdition is a Polish band, and Poland is a largely Catholic country. Conscious Darkness, their follow-up to the solid Near Death Revelations, is a black metal record, which in the vast majority of cases entails irreligious or fervently anti-religious content. This is black metal fused with death metal, but not blackened death; the Polish, along with the Germans, are particularly good at this!” Poles of blackened fury.
“Forgotten Tomb’s recent output has taken on a chunkier form – thick chord patterns becoming the prominent mode of expression. Their depressive black metal escapades of the early 2000s eradicated: the icy sheen of their stabbing tremolo making way for swampier humidity.” King of the Swamp or merely soggy?
King Parrot make grindcore great again. At least that’s what I thought after first hearing the Australian quintet’s 2012 debut Bite Your Head Off, which bucked genre norms by fusing groovy aggression with honest-to-God vocal hooks and a “hip slumdog” attitude. In my review of 2015 follow-up Dead Set I referred to the band as the “Die Antwoord of grindcore,” and that remains one of my favorite analogies I’ve made at AMG to this day.” King for a day, grind for 12 minutes.
“First, there was Ofermod’s new record, Sol Nox. A solid outing from a band with a notoriety tied directly to the quality of their releases. Though the band shares many connections to “larger” bands in the Swedish black metal scene, Ofermod is a wholly underrated gem. But, Ofermod aren’t the only ones. No, there are others. Many of you may not know them, so let me introduce you to Svartsyn; one of my favorite black metal acts of all time.” Lick the Devil.
“I make it a point to never judge a band by the musical contributions of its members. Case in point: Azarath. This Polish death metal behemoth boasts in its ranks Inferno from, well, Behemoth. As such, I know that many people are going to draw comparisons between this act and Poland’s favorite Satanic sons. Doing so shortchanges Azarath’s five vicious full-lengths and their own standing among Poland’s influential scene.” Poland Springs…evil.
