“Foretoken take a particularly aggressive approach to melodic death metal, much like The Black Dahlia Murder do. Yet, this duo also share considerable affinity with more opulent acts such as Brymir, Mongol, Ephemerald, Stormlord and Aephanemer. Symphonics play a support role exclusively, however, as vicious riffing and ripping leads take charge and guide the record through battlefields of speedy tech-death percussion.” Wictory or death!
“The concept Of Existential Distortion intrigues me. Does it imply some horrifying limbo state of being? A twisting and defilement of existing things? Úlfúð—pronounced “Ool-wooth” and meaning “animosity”—confirm at least the sentiment of dread with their sinister blackened death. Hailing from the remote and starkly beautiful Iceland, one has a preconception that the music will be likewise harsh and cold, infusing an already bleak subject matter and musical style with extra grimness. Úlfúð don’t necessarily make good on this assumption.” Icelandic warping.
“The infinite expanse. Oceans above. Stars whose light is a glimpse into the ancient past. Physics. Astrophysics. Space: the Final Frontier. Space odysseys are great unless you’re beaten to death with a bone by your ape bud or gaslit by your own computer – super awkward. Plenty of black metal has ventured beyond the firmament for some ethereal goodness, but do any of them chronicle creation?” Omega men.
“Walking the line between old school death metal and blackened speed-thrash, Atomwinter are barely fucking around. I say ‘barely’, rather than ‘not’, because there is the obligatory one-minute instrumental opener to skip on Sakrileg. The album would’ve opened far stronger had the band just ripped straight into “Ov Blood and Flesh,” which tells us immediately that these guys have listened to a lot of early Incantation and taken that as their creative starting point.” Up and Atom.
“Act of ImpalementPerdition Cult offered each of their influences like a charcuterie board, Infernal Ordinance streamlines them for a maximum punishment platter.” Poke-e-man.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here. I liked the title – I thought it sounded cool. Belarus is fun to say. You all know by now that I am not a brutal death kinda guy, so this will be a learning experience for everyone. Slams, crunchy riffs, sticky production, and a vocalist from hell combine for maximum vitriol, and I have never felt so bewildered in my life. How did we end up in track eight? We were just listening to track two. I’ve got my work cut out for me.” Death in effect.
“Greece. The Hellenic Republic. Land of gods and titans. Home of turquoise seas, moussaka, ouzo, and … a surprising number of death metal bands. New kid on the block, Wothrosch is looking to tap into that scene on its debut album. The three-piece out of Athens dropped two singles in 2022, both of which now appear on Odium, the band’s full-length debut.” Death in the isles.
“Last time we met Cursed Excruciation, we were smack-talking sole member Trance of the Undead for his creatively titled main project Trance of the Undead. Blackened death to the core, it boasted just enough tasty dungeon synth-inspired keyboard abuse to add a flavor of old-school kvltness. On paper, it all sounded great; the problem was it just wasn’t, uh, good. Lack of variety met monotonous guitar tone with the same riff repeating ad nauseam for seven tracks. Aside from a serious bite that initially hit like a crowbar to the knees, the hype very quickly died out. Well, imagine if Trance of the Undead thought brutality was soooo last week, removing all teeth and energy in favor of something sounding “ominous.” Let me introduce you to Cursed Excruciation.” Cursed and damned.
![Verberis – Adumbration of the Veiled Logos [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Verberis-Adumbration-of-the-Veiled-Logos-01.jpeg.webp)
“I’ve probably banged on before about how much I love Ulcerate. Luckily for me, mastermind Jamie Saint-Merat has his fingers in quite a few other death metal pies. Verberis is one of them. The wordily titled Adumbration of the Veiled Logos takes the twisting disso-death that was the band’s staple, and ramps the atmosphere up to 11.” That’s a lot of ulcers.
“Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull was my 2021 Album o’ the Year. It should’ve been Ferrous Beuller‘s as well, though I suppose it’s easier to forgive him his transgressions since he did award Imperative Imperceptible Impulse his crown. In any case, Lurkers was another installment in an almost unfuckwithable string of killer material from Pennsylvania mind-flayers Veilburner. Their sixth record in a mere eight years of existence, the too-poor-for-vowels VLBRNR, has big shoes to fill to live up to the standard set by Lurkers.” Veils yet unburned.
