Immolation

Fall of Seraphs – From Dust to Creation Review

By Felagund on November 7, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 32 comments

“According to the Book of Isaiah, a Seraph is an angel that has “six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Seraphs are known as “the burning ones” and are recognized as the highest-ranking angels amongst the heavenly hosts. According to me, these winged warriors serve as a great inspiration for a death metal band name, especially if you’re referring to their tragic collapse. Enter Fall of Seraphs, a death metal quintet hailing from Bordeaux, France boasting a quality handle (as I overexplained above), and a keenly-honed, DM sound that also incorporates elements of tech, thrash and black metal.” Angel grinder.

Autophagy – Bacteriophage Review

By Felagund on October 12, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“After unrelenting, fruitless sojourns reviewing doom, grind and epic metal, I have finally returned to my one true love: death metal of the old school variety, caked in grime and crusted over with unspeakable muck. Enter Bacteriophage, the first full-length release of Portland, Oregon-based death dealers Autophagy. Spotted gurgling during a late-night promo sump dive, this one appears to have it all: an indecipherable logo, predicable themes of rot and decay, buzzsaw guitars, crushing riffs, guttural vocals not even fit for the gutter, and plenty of muddy bombast to spare. After spinning and reviewing several recent releases outside of my usual musical hunting grounds, Autophagy’s latest felt like coming home.” Home sweat home.

Altars Ablaze – Life Desecration Review

By Kenstrosity on September 15, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 31 comments

“Metal fans are stupid, mindless idiots just looking for their next fix, demanding MOAR of the same exact shit they’ve heard a billion times over. That includes me, and that most certainly includes you. Especially you. With this powerful knowledge in hand, bands who tailor their music for themselves rather than for their fans are free to produce some of most unique and compelling metal around. On the other side of the same coin, some bands with this same knowledge often phone it in, delivering a fan-servicing slab of decent material without a lick of personality in the name of album sales. Czechia’s Altars Ablaze, a blackened death metal quintet formed from members of Heaving Earth, Supreme Conception, and others, explicitly refuse to cater to the unwashed masses.” Fan service or fan sacrifice?

Bones – Sombre Opulence Review

By Saunders on September 13, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“I have been in a weird space with death metal in 2022. While quality releases have trickled in at a reasonable rate, not much has really blown me away and shaken me to the core. In fact, I’ve spent ample periods revisiting the past, leaning on old favorites, while the latest dominating platter from reliable legends Immolation has remained in solid rotation. Yet as the last chunk of 2022 dawns upon us, optimism is high due to the often-fruitful later-year riches. Belgium’s Bones intend on bludgeoning their way into focus on their debut full-length, Sombre Opulence.” Lovely bones?

Maul – Seraphic Punishment Review

By Steel Druhm on July 15, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 61 comments

“There’s a certain level of scummy purulence I crave in my death metal. I want it to sound filthy and vile, toxic and infectious. When the style is performed too cleanly, it feels almost like a PC version of death and it loses its dangerous edge. Fargo-based scuzz merchants Maul speak my offensive language, and on their Seraphic Punishment debut, they set out to dunk you in pus and coffin slime before applying a powder coat of poo-crust. This is the recipe for a bad skin rash and good music.” Enter the chopping Maul.

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.

Record(s) o’ the Month – February 2022

By Steel Druhm on March 26, 2022 in Record o' the Month, 138 comments

The Record(s) o’ the Month for February are here to be weighed, measured, and judged. We don’t see the point though, as we already did all that scut-work for you. Enjoy the rotten fruits of our labor.

Desolate Shrine – Fires of the Dying World Review

By Ferrous Beuller on March 25, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 23 comments

Desolate Shrine forge big death metal with black and doom elements, so we felt it necessary to get two staffers to do some heavy lifting. Maintain minimum safe distances at all times.

Immolation – Acts of God Review

By Ferrous Beuller on February 17, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 111 comments

“As any fan of death metal will attest, Immolation need no introduction. Their contorted take on riff and rhythm has informed the extreme pursuits of an entire generation. To call them influential would be to willfully undermine, not only their legacy, but the fact that their discography is almost spotless. Indeed, back in 2017 I reviewed Immolation’s tenth album, Atonement, and awarded my first ever 4.5. The record captured my attention with its assured sense of self and continues to impress to this day. Now, five years later, I am once more tasked with a brutal burden as eleventh album Acts of God prepares to dip its hand right back into that everlasting fire.” No God, one Master.