“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.
“December falls upon us, each day the sump pumping less, but to my surprise, out flumped Extirpated Mortal Process, a glut of death metal excess. Alas, spit-roasted and splattered, tired and tattered, I no longer urge for any of this expired mess. You see, I tried Stabbing on a plane and Stabbing in a car. I tried Stabbing in my office and Stabbing while afar.” Better to shiv than receive.
“Good brutal death albums ruin your day. You swing your fists and frown, letting the caveman slams and moist leads saturate your eardrums in a coat of red mist as the mosh-pit hysteria results in a few too many lost brain cells. Astral Tomb does just that, featuring all the hallmarks of a good slam/goregrind/brutal death album: opener “Transcendental Visions” fitting this to a tee, the thirteen-minute opener reeks of Carcass-meets-Devourment-meets-Blood Incantation gore in its brutal emphasis on excess.” Star tombs, raw wounds.
“Time WAITs for no sponge. This apparently holds true for my unfortunate green friend to my left, the sands of time quite literally gushing out of his be-hourglassed noggin. The oddly disturbing artwork depicting this surreal injury translates to the weird and wacky, grungy prog-death stylings of Baltimore’s WAIT (short for We are in Transit). A supergroup of sorts, the trio pulls from the pool of live performers who jammed for acts ranging from Cynic to Defeated Sanity to Obscura, so it comes as no surprise to me that debut album The End of Noise promises to be a twisted and technical affair.” Difficult commute.
“Look, you know as well as I do that this is going to be brutal death metal. The cover, the band name, the label, and the album title all definitively point in that direction. No amount of clever misdirection can draw anyone who’s spent even twenty minutes listening to some “intro to brutal death metal” playlist astray from this fact. Even the biography of Exterminated – two members, one doing all the guitars and programming the drums, the other doing vocals – screams brutal death metal.” Generic genocide.
Kronos and Grymm prove their mettle as their Top Ten(ish) of 2020 hit the interwebz.
El Cuervo and Diabolus in Muzaka want in on this whole Top Ten(ish) thing that’s going around. Let them have a turn.
GardensTale and Ferrous Beuller uncork their best spirits of 2020 and share iron libations with everyone. Cheers!
TheKenWord and Carcharodon join the fray with tastes ranging from good, bad, and unfathomable.
Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow have their big boy lists. Did they use that great power responsibly?
