“Royalty and Roman numerals. It was for these reasons that I chose III by Royal Deceit for review from the pit of despair where other promos reside. Metalcore with delusions of grandeur? Count me in! Sadly I was misled; III is actually Ill. Rather than deluded grandeur, I would be analyzing ailments.” Turn your head and core.
“The niche within a niche label I, Voidhanger often scrapes the fringes of underground styles for acts embracing the weird, the strange, the vaguely musical—curious but rarely captivating for me. Par for the course, I’d never heard of Denmark’s Tongues before snagging up Formløse Stjerner, but something about the tumultuous landscape of the nihilistically nautical cover called to me like a Danish white whale, a hvidhval, if you will. Feel the Willies!
“But since the departure of Summer and Kiilerich, each new album finds the band with a wholly rebuilt lineup around bassist/keyboardist Michael Enevoldsen. And, as one can predict, the outcome is not always the best. Especially because fans have to get used to a new death metal vocal approach and the inevitable debates if this new drummer is as good as Kiilerich. And, for Panzerchrist’s eighth record, Last of a Kind, everyone is out, and a new group of players is here to deliver.” Panzer attacks change people.
“2023 sees Danish prog-power juggernaut, Pyramaze return with their 7th album, Bloodlines, and what a long strange trip it has been. Starting out as a highly melodic, polished power metal band, they released two excellent platters with Lance King at the mic. Legend of the Bone Carver in particular was a sick beast of a platter that should get far more attention than it does.” Blood and glitter.
“Has it really been 11 years since Saturnus last surfaced to drop a crushing doom album upon our bare naked toes? Though these perpetually depressed Danes were not part of the Peaceville movement in the early 90s spearheaded by My Dying Bride, Anathema, and Paradise Lost, they were right behind them, effectively covering much the same ground on albums like Paradise Belongs to You and Martyre. Talented but unproductive, they managed just three albums between 1997 and 2006 before taking 6 long years to drop 2012s Saturn in Ascension. More than a decade later, I’d written off the prospect of getting another Saturnus opus.” Reborn in the storm.
“Now nine albums along a slow and steady career, Anubis Gate returns after six years of radio silence with Interference, teasing a new level of sonic diversity. With great prog, comes great power—or at least that’s what I want! So take your pills and put your helmet on cause Anubis Gate’s cosmic aspirations hope to launch you pleasantly into the great unknown.” Prog in a gated place.
“An unheralded young act from Denmark, I tackled Chronicle’s third LP, Where Chaos Thrives, without previous experience with the band’s material. Nevertheless, that may be my own unfortunate oversight, as Chronicle play a bouncy, raging style of thrashy melodeath meets technical death shreddery that can certainly fit neatly in my wheelhouse if the songwriting goods are up to scratch.” Chronicles of anger.
“Last month, Steel Druhm graced us with the absolutely filthy and chunky Rotpit. Since that day, Let There Be Rot hasn’t yet left my almost daily rotation. Grimy, thick riffage met with gonzo groove to form this mountainous, ugly thing that stomps my skull flat, and I love every second of it. Without a doubt, I was sure I wouldn’t see the likes of it again for some time. And yet, fate allowed me no rest, as it unceremoniously plopped an equally massive Bloodgutter upon my already overburdened back.” Blood for the Blood God!
“Look, I get why some metalheads don’t like black metal. Repetitive riffing, washed-out production, monotonous snarls and shrieks. In the right hands, this baseline style can be thrilling, epic, and beautiful—or so I believe. Lotan, however, are not going to change any minds. Their self-titled debut cleaves about as close to the modern hybridized trve template as a seven-headed dragon around a Leviathan Cross.” Black for blackness’ sake.
“This Danish quintet is back to massage your thighs with melodic coconut butter before headbutting you in the junk with their signature combination of groove and thrash. After taking longer than usual between albums, HateSphere has stripped back all those orchestral interludes and sprinklings of clean vox to deliver the back-to-basics Hatred Reborn to you. And new vocalist Mathias Uldall (from the metalcore outfit Royal Deceit) is along for the ride.” Touch the anger orb.
