Dr. A.N. Grier delivers the goods with a Top Ten(ish) of 2021 to shock and awe the unwashed masses. Experience it.
Autopsy
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.
Expunged – Into Never Shall Review
“What would you do if you came into possession of a functioning time travel device? Some would undoubtedly set out to right great historical wrongs. Noble stuff that. Unlike these do-gooders, the three low-life bastards in Expunged would blast back to 1990 and make Left Hand Path way more raw, ugly and unpolished. Also a noble endeavor if you ask me.” Violent revision.
Stress Angel – Bursting Church Review
“Brooklyn is many things, with a strange hodge-podge of peoples and cultures, but it isn’t what one normally thinks of as a hotbed of throwback mega-retro death metal. The duo behind Stress Angel are out to change that with their gritty, scuzzy debut platter, Bursting Church. Featuring a member of Natur and a mysterious co-conspirator, Stress Angel deliver a heaving, hacking old school death sound that’s like vintage Autopsy slammed into Toxic Holocaust with crustcore stuffed in all the gaps like maggot-ridden grout.” Burst a move.
Cerebral Rot – Excretion of Mortality Review
“I love death metal that pushes its own boundaries but, ironically, it’s the old school that feeds my education. That disgusting urge to claw and crush that transcends all common decency and hearkens back to a time when “fully-functioning adults” didn’t learn to speak via fucking Reddit. Cerebral Rot know a little of what I’m talking about. Their primal death-breath is one I can stand to gasp any day of the week. Debut album Odious Descent into Decay hit my schedule in 2019 and, although well executed, there was noticeable room for improvement. Now, Excretion of Mortality looms large on the devolutionary chain and one thing is clear, this Seattle four-piece are out for blood.” Brains!
Sněť – Mokvání V Okovech Review
“Sněť is a concise little moniker for a death metal band, and their Mokvání V Okovech debut, clocking in at just over 28 minutes, is also concise. Name dropping Autopsy, Carcass, and Undergang as prime influences, this upstart Czech Republic act had me dreaming of septic tank quality old school death reeking of foul, repugnant things, and to an extent these things are delivered with additional nods to Incantation and Morbid Angel. With such a list of greats functioning as Hellish muses, you would hope for something as toxic as a Super Fund site on double secret probation.” Short stack death.
Cadaveric Incubator – Nightmare Necropolis Review
“In The Beyond, Italian director Lucio Fulci’s second film in what’s commonly referred to as the “Gates of Hell Trilogy,” an entombed carcass is exhumed and, before an autopsy is conducted, is hooked up to a brainwave machine thanks to a lab tech with a sense of humor. Thankfully the room had a “Do Not Entry” sign so the fellow had some privacy. In Nightmare Necropolis, the second record from Finnish death metal band Cadaveric Incubator, the band takes influence from Entombed, Carcass, Exhumed, and Autopsy. A tree with breasts, a puking skeleton, and what looks like a very sad frog atop a tombstone adorn the cover thanks to an illustrator with a sense of humor. Let’s ignore the sign(s) and entry into the necropolis.” Make way for the Incuba-TOR!
Ischemic – Ischemic Review
“As 2021 continues to be the DLC to 2020 that absolutely nobody asked for or wanted, bands are using the downtime due to lack of touring and promotion to work diligently on their musical output. Some bands, such as Toronto’s Ischemic, are even going as far as to record and mix their own music, further driving home the fact that DIY can’t, and won’t, be stopped. Not by pandemics, not by lockdowns, not by lack of touring. It’s this admirable and, quite frankly, necessary approach that will eventually separate the diehards from the pack, and on the band’s self-titled second full-length, they didn’t let the pandemic get in the way.” Crisis management.
Celestial Sanctuary – Soul Diminished Review
“There’s little I enjoy more than boastful, vain-glorious chest thumping in a young band’s promo package, and the U.K.’s Celestial Sanctuary delivered just that, proudly proclaiming themselves the forerunner of a New Wave of British Death Metal. Strong words for such a young act with nary but a demo and single to their name, but can they back it up on their full-length debut, Soul Diminished?” Diminishing soul returns?
Altered Dead – Returned to Life Review
“After the overwhelmingly putrid scent of sweet death delighted the senses of genre enthusiasts in 2020, can death metal in 2021 piggyback off the momentum of a banner year for the genre and keep the brutality rolling in 2021 with similar levels of quality? Canada’s Altered Dead throw their bones in the ring of death on the follow-up to their self-titled debut from back in 2016.” Reanimatdead.
