Dissonant Death Metal

Acausal Intrusion – Seeping Evocation Review

By Dear Hollow on October 10, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, 12 comments

“Nulitas was one of the most promising debuts of 2021, its otherworldly atmosphere and outrageous replay value adding up to a lurching and lumbering beast with spines of searing dissonance cutting through the thick slogs of slimy riffs. While this soundscape is certainly not uncommon among the melody-hating hordes of masochists and self-flagellants, Acausal Intrusion injected a meditative quality that contrasted lethally with its hell-scraping gutturals and slam-esque pong snare. As such, upon its announcement, followup Seeping Evocation is easily one of my most anticipated releases of the year.” Seeping expectations.

Warforged – The Grove | Sundial Review

By Kenstrosity on September 7, 2022 in Reviews, Deathcore, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 64 comments

“It took an unprecedented length of time for me to appreciate Warforged’s debut I: Voice back in 2019. In fact, I was so moved by the record once it finally clicked that I awarded it an enthusiastic 1.5-point upgrade. Naturally, that puts a lot of pressure on the follow-up, entitled The Grove | Sundial. Upon learning that Adrian Perez—who was in charge of lead vocals, keyboards, sampling, piano, and lyrics on I: Voice—separated from the project, I balked.” Forging a new weapon.

Hissing – Hypervirulence Architecture Review

By Thus Spoke on July 20, 2022 in Reviews, 23 comments

“To non-metal listeners, all metal sounds hostile. Stray far to the edges of the dissonant and avant-garde in the genre, and you’ll find a breed that even experienced acolytes can struggle with. One’s first Portal experience is a conceptual case in point. From out of this dark corner of disturbing and unfriendly sounds, Hissing has emerged.” Crawling dread and slithering heads.

Altars – Ascetic Reflection Review

By Dear Hollow on July 8, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 73 comments

“Beyond its cover’s deceptively pastoral mountain scene, Altars offers something lurking underneath. On paper, the trio deals in a collision of dissonant death metal name-drops we’ve come to expect, and it would be easy to stop there. But we won’t, because there’s something else. Ascetic Reflection’s unique take settles in the negative spaces between lurching and punishing with clarity and nimbleness, allowing its meditative lurch to burrow into listeners’ skin. Holding mirrors of the self and the divine and the futility therein, the aptly named Ascetic Reflection deals in shredding pain.” Altars of radness.

Heaving Earth – Darkness of God Review

By Maddog on May 30, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 31 comments

“While I usually avoid harming animals, I had to chase a certain Abbathian cat up a tree to get my hands on this promo. My feline colleague gushed about Czechia’s Heaving Earth in 2015, calling Denouncing the Holy Throne a shamelessly uncreative but satisfying slab of vintage death metal. The band is back with its third record Darkness of God, but the seven intervening years have seen its sound evolve. Much like the latest Golgothan Remains, Heaving Earth’s newest offering adorns old-school death metal with speckles of dissonance and malice, and influences from across the death metal universe.” Darkness before divinity.

Cosmic Putrefaction – Crepuscular Dirge for the Blessed Ones Review

By Thus Spoke on May 9, 2022 in Reviews, Technical Death Metal, 31 comments

“Also a part of underground phenomena Vertebra Atlantis and Turris Eburnea, Gabriele’s output to time ratio is staggeringly high. So is the quality thus far. Does Cosmic Putrefaction’s third LP continue this winning streak, or does he need to take a break?” Fresh creepsicles!

Dischordia – Triptych Review

By Dear Hollow on April 29, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 39 comments

“A crucial aspect of my death metal enjoyment comes from the mood it invokes. I feel plain cold with OSDM stuff, but the oft-maligned dissonant death offers a spectrum of atmospheres and environs: Portal’s gates of madness, Ulcerate’s apocalyptic meditativeness, and Ad Nauseam’s croaking caverns, for example. Sinister intent and apathies to our suffering are a given in the dissonant stylings, but what if we could make it fun?” Devil-may-care and discord.

Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Nightmare Withdrawals [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]

By Dear Hollow on February 7, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2021, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 21 comments

“Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, is a band from New Zealand with a bit of a storied past. Originally starting off as a humor-centric deathcore group with bizarrely titled offerings like Armed to the Teeth with Jellybeans or My Vaseline Diaries, the song “Atop the Wings of a Magpie” changed everything. Dissonant interplay, ominous tempos, speedy riffs, and even a guest spot from Nile’s Karl Sanders replace mindless breakdowns and Psyopus-inspired wankery. Nightmare Withdrawals may not be their debut, but it’s their breakout album, and for good fucking reason.” Deliverance to quality.

Vertebra Atlantis – Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss

By Dear Hollow on November 24, 2021 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 24 comments

“Mastermind behind such acts like Summit, The Clearing Path, Cosmic Putrefaction, and Turris Eburnea, G.G. or Gabriele Gramaglia’s resume is vast and varied, and sets a pretense for new project Vertebra Atlantis. Working with drummer/vocalist R.R. from Homselvareg and Vrangr from Spells of Misery, debut Lustral Purge in Cerulean Bliss offers a fusion of dissonant death metal and atmospheric black metal, not unlike labelmates Prometheus’ debut.” Dissonance dissidents.

Sunless – Ylem Review

By Saunders on October 29, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, Progressive Death, 56 comments

“Back in 2016 I stumbled across the promising demo from Minnesota’s Sunless, a fractured example of violent, dense and dissonant death. Urraca, their 2017 debut LP, expanded on the promise of the demo in appealing ways, firmly placing Sunless on the radar. Now they return, fittingly backed by Willowtip Records for their anticipated sophomore album, Ylem, dubbed the second part of a conceptual trilogy.” Dark and dangerous days.