Inferi

Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives Review

Chronicle – Where Chaos Thrives Review

“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.

Catalyst – A Different Painting for a New World Review

Catalyst – A Different Painting for a New World Review

“I completely forgot about French tech-death upstarts Catalyst. That seems to be happening to me more often lately, and it’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, I get the privilege of experiencing sudden bursts of excitement whenever announcements for a band I haven’t heard from in a while catch me by surprise. On the other hand, it feels like a betrayal by my own mind when a band I was interested in slips out of memory. Nonetheless, Catalyst’s debut The Great Purpose of the Lords was a cool slab of epic tech death, as recent revisits these past couple of weeks confirmed. Let’s see what the follow-up, A Different Painting for a New World, has in store.” Forget me not? Knot?

Tómarúm – Ash in Realms of Stone Icons Review

Tómarúm – Ash in Realms of Stone Icons Review

“We as a community speak often of defining and categorizing genres, but sometimes a promo comes along that legitimately challenges those definitions. Atlanta, Georgia’s Tómarúm received a generic “black metal” tag from Prosthetic Records’ PR team, and it falls short as a descriptor for what Tómarúm play. As you’ll surely deduce after giving debut album Ash in Realms of Stone Icons even just one spin, this nascent two-piece perform forbidden alchemy with myriad metallic ores, smelting a writhing, metamorphic amalgamation. It’s that very transmogrification that not only makes this album difficult to categorize but also exciting and satisfying to experience.” Pigeon holes don’t come easy.

The Devils of Loudun – Escaping Eternity Review

The Devils of Loudun – Escaping Eternity Review

“Hailing from Seattle, and featuring members of Aethereus—who themselves released a stellar album just a few weeks back—The Devils of Loudun specialize in death metal of the melodic and symphonic variety. The band’s debut full-length Escaping Eternity finds neoclassical guitar leads and keys soaring over a foundation of thick, grooving riffs, while the powerful vocals of Aethereus’ Vance Bratcher dial the heaviness quotient up to critical levels.” Devil be Loud(un).

Aethereus – Leiden Review

Aethereus – Leiden Review

“In his mostly positive review of their 2018 debut Absentia, Kronos pointed out that Aethereus treads the middle ground between flashy tech-death and death metal’s more dissonant realms. Not much has changed in this department, but where Absentia had a tendency to feel a bit disjointed because of the band’s stylistic duality, sophomore effort Leiden cashes in on the potential inherent in Aethereus’ chosen sound palette.” Technical ecstacy.

Summoning the Lich – United in Chaos Review

Summoning the Lich – United in Chaos Review

“I’ve always felt like I sort of missed the boat on The Black Dahlia Murder. They were bursting onto the melodic death metal scene just as Amon Amarth was finding a wider audience with the now-classic With Oden On Our Side. I personally ended up falling down the Scandinavian melodeath rabbit hole, neglecting to pay attention to the American brand of melodeath that The Black Dahlia Murder was actively pioneering. In turn, I never fully appreciated the sound of the countless bands they’ve inspired; artists like Inferi are great for one-off listens, but nothing about that specific sound triggers compulsive returns. Summoning the Lich is built different.” Lich pins.

Malice Divine – Malice Divine Review

Malice Divine – Malice Divine Review

Malice Divine is the brainchild of classically-trained Toronto musician Ric Galvez. The self-titled record finds Galvez handling the entire creative process and all of the performances with the exception of the drums. Known primarily as a lead guitarist in the Toronto scene, Galvez was excited about the opportunity to indulge in a solo project. But old habits die hard, and Malice Divine glistens like a guitar fan’s wet dream. Galvez combines the melodic blackened death sounds of Necrophobic and Dissection with the emotive soloing and progressive song structures of Death and the technical majesty of Wintersun.” Malice in Meloblackland.