Inferi

Killitorous – The Afterparty Review

Killitorous – The Afterparty Review

By Kenstrosity on May 20, 2020 in Reviews, Technical Death Metal, 33 comments

“Yep. That’s a band name. Killitorous. Say it a couple times and soon you’ll see what they did there. Tasteful, right? I’ll be honest, it took me way too long to find it (ayyyy), but by that point I was already four listens into the Canadian supergroup’s sophomore record The Afterparty and was having too much fun to care about the silly double-entendre anymore. After all, we did give high marks to bands with such respectable names as Fvneral Fvkk and Shitfucker, right? So who am I to judge?” Tech-deathicus for the rest of us.

Symbolik – Emergence Review

Symbolik – Emergence Review

By Twelve on April 10, 2020 in 2020, American Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, The Artisan Era, Uncategorized, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, 29 comments

“I’ve always preferred melodic death metal to plain death metal. While I appreciate the skill involved in well-crafted brutality, I generally insist on having some kind of melody to follow along with or atmosphere to get lost in. I remember when Archspire hit the Angry Metal world through Relentless Mutation, and I could not understand the appeal. One day, not too long ago, it just… clicked. The technical skill, the expert neoclassical weavings, the sheer unmatched power of the thing — I’ve loved the album ever since. And ever since, I’ve been hungry for more. Symbolik are the next tech-death group to take a shot at winning my heart with Emergence, their debut full-length.” Heart clicks.

Singularity – Place of Chains Review

Singularity – Place of Chains Review

By Kenstrosity on October 8, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, The Artisan Era, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, 25 comments

“Remember back in March, when I brought up the subject of musical complexity? Well, here we go again with the things and the words and the stuff. But this time, my choice of symphonic technical death metal perfectly exemplifies the opposite side of the coin. Originating from the hot, dry hell that is Arizona, tech-death quartet Singularity specialize in restraint. Rather than inundating their sophomore record, Place of Chains, with layer over layer over layer of rich instrumentation, this newly-signed band chose to strengthen their compositions by dispensing with excess entirely.” Wank-free zone.

Video Premiere and Interviews with Stevie Boiser and Trevor Portz of Ashen Horde

Video Premiere and Interviews with Stevie Boiser and Trevor Portz of Ashen Horde

By Holdeneye on July 1, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Blog Posts, Interviews, 40 comments

“Back in March, I reviewed Ashen Horde’s latest opus of black metal fury, Fallen Cathedrals. I heaped an unhealthy amount of praise its way back then, and I’m still spinning it a ton now. In fact, I would be very surprised if it were to fall outside of my top 5 albums come year’s end. My review may have been riddled with factual errors, but founder, songwriter, instrumentalist, and clean vocalist Trevor Portz showed up in the comments and revealed himself to be a gracious and enormously cool guy. So, when the opportunity to do an interview presented itself, I couldn’t resist.” We’re already off to a better start than last time.

Ashen Horde – Fallen Cathedrals Review

Ashen Horde – Fallen Cathedrals Review

By Holdeneye on March 21, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Extreme Metal Music, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Rockshots Records, Black Metal, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 151 comments

“2018 saw my tastes begin to shift. The power metal that brought me to the dance — while still producing some gems for the year — had to watch as blackened death metal swept me off my feet and took me home once the music had stopped. A full half of my top ten for the year — and all of my top four — could have been tagged (arguably) with both “black” and “death.” While I enjoy albums of each genre on their own, there’s something about the two being combined in interesting ways that really gets my juices flowing (this is your cue to don eye protection). Hence, my interest in Los Angeles’ Ashen Horde, the proggy black/death project of multi-instrumentalist Trevor Portz and Inferi / Equipoise vocalist Steve Boiser.” Ash Hoarders unite!

Equipoise – Demiurgus Review

Equipoise – Demiurgus Review

By Kenstrosity on March 8, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Epic Metal, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, The Artisan Era, Technical Death Metal, 252 comments

“Enter Equipoise, based out of Pittsburgh and made up of a veritable who’s who of the death metal spectrum—Sanjay Kumar of Wormhole and Perihelion on guitars; Chason Westmoreland (ex-Hate Eternal, ex-The Faceless) manning the kit; Jimmy Pitts from Eternity’s End and The Fractured Dimension setting the ivories ablaze; Hugo Doyon-Karout (Beyond Creation) decapitating the fret from his bass; Virulent Depravity’s Nick Padovani on guitars both electric and nylon, along with Phil Tougas (Chthe’ilist, Serocs, Zealotry) playing the same; and finally Stevie Boiser (ex-Vale of Pnath, Inferi, Tethys) taking hold of both lyrical and vocal duties. And that’s not even scratching the surface, what with the ELEVEN guest spots included within. What in the actual heck is happening over there in Pittsburgh?” Friendtality.

Enblood – Cast to Exile [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

Enblood – Cast to Exile [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

By Mark Z. on December 18, 2018 in 2018, Melodic Death Metal, Miasma Records, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2018, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 47 comments

“I’ve always thought that tech death and melodeath are more similar than most people realize. Both mainly use riffs comprised of individual notes played in succession, the difference is that tech death is faster, more complex, and typically has better T-shirts. I used to be quite interested in music which fused the two styles, namely early Arsis, early Revocation, and Vornagar’s sole album. These days I typically veer toward the blacker and thrashier realms, which is why I found it so surprising that Enblood’s Cast to Exile appealed to me as much as it did.” Tentacles in your face.