“Since snatching my AotY crown in 2020 with their awesome Diagrams of Consciousness, Finland tech-death juggernauts Omnivortex have been hard at work on follow up Circulate. Needless to say, I’ve been at the edge of my seat. Remembering the indelible hooks and brutal heft of their explosive debut, I have no idea what Omnivortex need to do in order to top it.” Spinning on, spinning up.
“Acausal Intrusion verged on greatness with 2021’s Nulitas, touching the lip of the void but never quite accomplishing the swan dive into the darkness. Uncompromisingly complex, dissonant, and brutal through Nythroth’s unhinged axework, alongside more brutal elements like vocalist Cave Ritual’s subterranean growls and his tasteful pong snare, it was an album loaded with potential – uniquely accomplished through a strangely counterintuitive meditative quality.” Pardon this new Intrusion.
“Death metal, for all its vast influence, can be a chore. Walls of distortion, thick riffs, and roars all on the same plane of the low and gurgle assault the ears with reckless abandon, and I have long needed breathing room to fully appreciate it. While The Gorilla God Himself prefers it putrid and slimy and the gone-but-unforgotten Kronos prefers it layered and intricate, I prefer a death metal experience that takes me places. Saskatchewan five-piece Augurium is willing to throw their crusty platter of death metal into the ring.” Death on the road.
The boys of Summer were stuck ungunking the Filter for months. Salute them with pumpkin spice things as they emerge into a chilly Fall.
May Day is upon us, in July! Join us as we demonstrate what focused spring/early summer Filter cleaning can accomplish when you have motivated technicians.
“There’s something about atmospheric death metal that just gets me. Something about the deep urgency of the guitar tones, the echoing, sinister riffing, the cavernous vocals, the restless dance of the drums, and the metallic chime of the cymbals. It elevates an already hostile and confrontational musical style to a kind of arresting profundity, when done well. Seeing Ulcerate, Gorguts, and Devenial Verdict—among others—name-dropped in the promo material for Ensemble Under the Dark Sun had me yanking it out of the bin faster than you can say “disso-death.” This was no clickbait. Turkey’s Serpent of Old play the kind of dark, ferocious haunting blackened death emblematic of these bands, and their shared conceptual genre, at their most intense.” Snakes in the pain.
“Sammath’s style isn’t my usual cup of tea, but Godless Arrogance still wowed me nearly a decade ago. Avoiding any pretense of variety, the Netherlands’ Sammath played war metal in the truest sense. Monotony can be hit-or-miss, but Sammath made it work through the emotive power of their music. Godless Arrogance both sounded and felt like being in the trenches during a losing battle. Its successor Across the Rhine Is Only Death shattered the underpaid Score Safety Counter in 2019, leaving me with high expectations for 2023’s follow-up Grebbeberg.” Back to the front!
“A Hill to Die Upon represents the steepest improvement between two albums that I encountered during my overextended employment at AMG Torture Racks and Surgical Paraphernalia. After the disappointing sophomore slump that was Inferis, I assumed the German troupe responsible for the mighty Purgatorium, a veritable clinic on killer slam riffs and technical prowess, burned too brightly too soon. But A Hill to Die Upon gained a well-deserved rating upgrade and remains one of my most revisited albums in the entire deathcore pantheon.” Hill kills.
We cleaned the Filter back in March, but it’s taken a while to process the objects we pulled from the webbing. We apologize for the crud.
“Burial Hordes seems to be familiar with me, and also with you… and for some reason, they hate us both. The band has been releasing blackened death metal at odd intervals since 2001, living in the shadow of the members’ estimable other gigs. With Ruins, Burial Hordes makes their claim on the spotlight. Are you willing to expose yourself to what Burial Hordes has been up to for the past two decades… and how the fuck have we all stayed safe from this unit since the turn of the century?” Sinister plots available in your area!
