“If you read our latest Record(s) o’ the Month post for…August[1. Is that right? Wow, that’s fookin’ late.], AMG Himself opined that we’re in the midst of a melodeath revival of sorts. With impressive releases by Eternal Storm and Disillusion already on the books, and In Mourning’s new one getting some early high marks, perhaps Angry Metal Dad is onto something. Insomnium’s eighth full-length Heart Like a Grave won’t be undercutting his hypothesis either.”
“I’ve heard it said many a time that In Mourning carry the torch that Opeth “abandoned” with the release of Heritage. I don’t happen to agree with that statement. Sure, superficially the Swedish prog-melo-death-doom quintet share something in common with Blackwater Park-era Opeth, but it was clear to me from the first minute of the indelible Monolith that In Mourning were an entirely different collective, a point that each subsequent release reinforced.” Mourning frost on the Great Pumpkin.
“With the annual pilgrimage to dead leaves and perpetual darkness underway, an appropriate soundtrack is imperative to survival; I need something that will simultaneously sonically augment the surrounding scenery as well as shield me from its scheduled sadness, something which will bring this death to life and save me from it. Such a savior has arrived in the form of Vorna’s Sateet palata saavat, and though I am loathe to share such splendor with the likes ov you, the urge to babble about said greatness has temporarily overtaken my selfish recalcitrance: you’re welcome, yo.” The autumn wind smells like Muppet.
“For any band to assume their audience has the attention span to stick with them through a feature film-length ditty, let alone want to return for repeat listens, shows a certain amount of moxie. When it comes to single song marathons, 33-minute The Man Behind the Sun, Italian band SednA’s third full length, isn’t so much Avengers: Endgame level as it is standard sitcom episode, but it’s a bold move nonetheless.” Bigly.
“The first day of fall, my favorite season of the year, is just around the corner. That means the Seattle drizzle has made an appearance, advertisements for Oktoberfest litter the streets, and the most basic of drinks (step aside White Claw), Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte, has already been available in stores for almost an entire month. Coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers alike, including those who consider pumpkin spice a season and not just a drink, came in droves to get their first PSLs on August 27th this year, the earliest launch ever. Thankfully, mid-September also means the release of Arctos’ highly anticipated debut full length Beyond the Grasp of Mortal Hands.” The blackness is on the pumpkin.
“I’ve gushed about the astonishing debut album from Germany’s Disillusion before, and consider 2004’s Back to Times of Splendor to be one of melodic death metal’s finest post millennium offerings. Following-up their phenomenal masterwork was always going to be difficult, so rather than repeat themselves Disillusion took a significant and questionable stylistic detour on 2006’s ambitious but underwhelming Gloria. Now, following a Tool-length break from the studio, Disillusion make their long-awaited and highly anticipated return via their third LP, entitled The Liberation.” Under no illusions.
“My recent hankering for a melodeath fix came via a healthy binge of Edge of Sanity. And for what it may have lacked in innovation, Rogga Johansson’s latest solo venture also hit the nostalgic sweet spot of the heftier qualities of vintage melodic death. Throw in the impressive debut LP from Eternal Storm and my sometimes dormant hunger for melodeath has been reinvigorated. Enter Sweden’s Pandemonium, a long running yet unfamiliar act returning with their fourth full-length album and first since way back in 2008. A veteran outfit returning to the game after a decade long hiatus creates an interesting proposition.” Long absences and tragic works.
“Today, our case involves a patient who came in contact with Amanita Virosa — a deadly, basiodiomycete fungus. No, Dr. X, it’s not the same thing we isolated from Dr. Druhm’s paw the other day. And it’s not contagious. No, Dr. Holdeneye, I would not feed it to your daughter, no matter how much it resembles those portobello mushrooms she so clearly likes. Its nickname is ‘The Destroying Angel’ and this baby is full of amatoxins and phallotoxins… Stop sniggering, Dr. Wvrm. We’re supposed to be professionals here.” Do mo harm.
“Surround myself as I might with dissonant blasts and angular minimalism, all it takes is the first few notes of a melodic lead by Insomnium or mid-era ,b>Amon Amarth and all of my weirdo-cred moves to the back burner. There’s something about that mix of primal aggression and soaring emotion that scratches an itch no other genre can reach, so whenever I happen upon a new melodeath record of exceptional quality, it’s almost a religious experience. Come the Tide, the incredible debut album from Spain’s Eternal Storm, is just such a record.” Seize the tidal.
“The concept of the virtual band is hardly a novel one anymore. The first was arguably Alvin and the Chipmunks all the way back in 1958, though it was Gorillaz who popularized the concept. Metal has dipped their toes in the idea a few times as well, most notably with Dethklok from Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse cartoon. Yet something just feels different about Belzebubs, a new virtual band formed around the webcomic of the same name by Finnish author JP Ahonen. The comic is high quality in and of itself, mixing black metal tropes, an Adams Family theme of a dark and weird yet loving family, and a Calvin & Hobbes sense of adorable bubbly slapstick. But comics and music are extremely different media. How serious can we take an actual album by the bumbling ink-drawn band?” Anime to the Nightside Eclipse.
