“India’s deathgrinding powerhouse Gutslit took me by surprise on 2017’s accomplished and wildly enjoyable sophomore album, Amputheatre, marking a sizable leap forward from their rough around-the-edges 2013 debut, Skewered in the Sewer. On reflection, I was shocked to learn it had been six years or so since being blindsided by Amputheatre, and thus stoked to delve into the latest platter from this gifted quartet, mauling their way into underground recognition.” Sex criminals.
“It’s slammin’ time! Yes, the often divisive brutal death variant can seem at times difficult to do exceptionally well. The quality versus quantity ratio does seem a tad out of whack, and while I prefer my slam with other intriguing stylistic or compositional elements, it certainly has a bludgeoning, base-level appeal when the mood strikes and the execution is on point. Unheralded Finnish act Enragement are hardly a household name, however, the quartet have been bouncing around the underground since forming in 2006 and have two LPs under their belt prior to dropping this third slab of chunkified slammy death, entitled Atrocities.” Rage intensifies…
“There’s no such thing as a truly objective review so let’s get one thing straight: I fucking adore Aborted. Their brand of pulverizing death metal appeals to me on a primitive level and I’ve followed these Belgians for years. For the most part, I have enjoyed being reduced to DNA and endorphins every few years. And it’s that time again. 2018’s TerrorVision was good but it had some issues. Or rather it had one big issue. It just seemed to ramble on too long, which, for a band with grind sensibilities, isn’t optimal. ManiaCult is the definitive younger model.” Culted nuts.
GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller uncork their best spirits of 2020 and share iron libations with everyone. Cheers!
L. Saunders and Mark Z. unveil the kvlt, savage, and unusual. They also give us their Top Ten(ish) of 2020.
“Through impressive early career highs to the middling mehs of some of their later material, Lamb of God have remained committed to their craft amidst tides of turmoil, persevering through some sizable obstacles. Now following a five-year gap between albums, Lamb of God return with their anticipated eighth LP, a self-titled effort.” Lamb-fisted.
“A late primer guaranteed to keep you up later (try “Fritzl”). Welcome to the craziest crazies brutal slamming death metal has to offer.” Taste the French dread.
“With a career spanning over 20 years, French deathgrind wrecking crew Benighted are very much in the veteran class. This perennial favorite continues delivering top notch material, showing no signs of tempering their gnarled, awesomely potent, and over-the-top formula of brutal deathgrind, replete with oddball treats, technical mastery, gut-busting grooves and tasteful lashings of melody.” Own the Benight!
“Abbath needs no introduction, but Outstrider does. In the three years after his well-received eponymous solo debut dropped, Abbath has replaced his entire band and recorded a new record, which comes to us in the form of Outstrider. Predictably, this does little but change the window dressing of the record, as Abbath dominates the proceedings here as before, both visually and musically. Outstrider feels even more like an Abbath record than Abbath did. Abbath!
“Everyone loves a good horror movie, and for years Aborted have given us the musical equivalent. Since vocalist and Belgian native Sven de Caluwé began the project in 1995, he’s taken everything from goregrind to Carcassy death metal to melodic groove experimentation and bludgeoned it into his grotesque sonic mold. If you want to know what Aborted sounds like, shove your fist into a jar of old mayonnaise while watching the grossest horror film you know.” Special sauce and TerrorVision.
