Melodic Death Metal

Darkest Hour – Perpetual | Terminal Review

By GardensTale on February 24, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, 35 comments

“How deep is your backlog of albums you intend to give a full spin sometime, but you never get round to it? I couldn’t even begin to tally mine. One of the albums that has languished in this limbo is Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora, the previous release from melodeath veterans Darkest Hour. I remember liking the slice I tried, but with so much to listen to and so little time I failed to give it my full attention. Grymm sure loved it, though, and in his absence, I was more than happy to step up and finally give the band the attention they deserved from me.” In the darkest hour, we cried more, more, MOAR!

Eternal Storm – A Giant Bound to Fall Review

By Cherd on February 16, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 137 comments

“I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: unless you make funeral doom, you probably don’t have a great reason for making a 70+ minute metal album. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule, like the Spectral Lore/Mare Cognitum double album a few years back. That one worked because A) the material, against the odds, kicked ass throughout, and B) the concept was to write an album about the whole goddamn solar system. It was cosmic in scale, literally. But for every Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine, there are 10 more Esoctrilihum records that I will never listen to, at this point on principle. In completely unrelated news, Spanish melodeath-ers Eternal Storm grace us this week with their highly anticipated second album, A Giant Bound to Fall. Thankfully, they keep their album length to a reasonable (checks notes)…oh dear.” Giant-sized Storm front.

Blood Red Delusion – Ruthless Behaviour Review

By Kenstrosity on February 12, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 31 comments

“Riff-focused yet stuffed to the gills with exuberantly melodic leads, Blood Red Delusion’s second salvo strikes me as something fans of classic melodic death metal albums by In Flames and At the Gates—along with more modern records like Parasite Inc.’s Time Tears Down—might flock towards. Ruthless Behavior’s no-frills, no-nonsense, and aggressively death-metal-forward approach to the genre forgoes all traces of the sweeter and smoother caresses of lushly adorned modern melodic death metal records.” Blood and poor behavior.

Abyssius – Abyssius Review

By Thus Spoke on January 26, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 44 comments

“First things first, that artwork: a hulking antediluvian fish bearing down with spread fins and tangled tentacles on the tiny figure illuminated in the depths. If that doesn’t indicate musical magnitude I don’t know what does. Abyssius, on their debut, self-titled LP, explore the concept of one overcoming the confrontational nature of life’s meaninglessness—just as that behemoth looms, so does the bleak and hollow void.” Fish and nothingness.

Cariosus – Will, Until Beauty Review

By Dr. Wvrm on January 21, 2024 in Reviews, Deathcore, Melodic Death Metal, 27 comments

“Autopsying deathcore-inclined melodic death metal rarely turns up anything of note. The cause of death is obvious — a yawning void in the cranial cavity, with ink poisoning in the neck as a contributing factor. What reviewer could be blamed for assuming the obvious of Will, Until Beauty, the debut full-length from Chicago duo Cariosus? What a surprise then that further inspection has turned up a record that not only has grey matter intact, but has half a heartbeat too!” Heartcoreworks.

Stuck in the Filter – October’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on January 12, 2024 in Stuck in the Filter, Black Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, Doom Metal, Grind, Hardcore, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 63 comments

The October Filter Report is here and we have some interesting things to break down for you. Get stuck!

Sea of Consciousness – Sea of Consciousness Review

By Eldritch Elitist on January 11, 2024 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 23 comments

“Credit where credit is due: Sea of Consciousness might be the first band outside of Napalm Records-core to don color-coordinated robes, and I think that’s just kinda neat. It’s further refreshing to see this band releasing their unsigned debut in January, rather than in the slaughterhouse of the autumn pre-awards season. I’d like to think Sea of Consciousness realizes that an early-year release gives them a larger platform by default.” Into the depths of metaldom.

Kalmah – Kalmah [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Maddog on January 3, 2024 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 39 comments

“I’ve seen surprisingly little hype about Kalmah’s self-titled album. It hasn’t popped up on mainstream end-of-year lists. Alongside bands like Children of Bodom, Kalmah held the reins of Finnish melodic death metal in the early 2000s. Blending blistering melodic riffs with prominent synths, Kalmah defined their sound twenty years ago and has reveled in it ever since. Emerging five years after Palo, Kalmah’s self-titled shows them doing what they do best.” Kalmah down!

Massen – Gentle Brutality [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Kenstrosity on December 24, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Black Metal, Death Metal, Grind, Hardcore, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 43 comments

“If you know me—and most of you should by now—you know that I love bands who fearlessly combine multiple genres into one pot. I want to be blown away by their exploratory vigor, dismissing all pretense of genre loyalty with gusto. Give me something that challenges my advanced ability to categorize and compartmentalize, and you are likely to garner an instant fan. Enter Massen, a Belarusian/German Frankenstein monster who unleashed one of the best records of the year, Gentle Brutality.” Polite hooligans.

Omnerod – The Amensal Rise [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]

By Kenstrosity on December 15, 2023 in Things You Might Have Missed 2023, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 47 comments

“Sometimes a record takes its sweet time worming its way into my brain. Other times, a record drills into me with the immediacy of a bolt of lightning. Omnerod’s sophomore full-length, The Amnesal Rise, did a little bit of both to me in 2023. Released back in May, this immense, intense slab of dramatic progressive death metal slowly crept into my skin, but the infection it carried was virulent. I found myself feverishly affected by its horrific tale, and while it took me a while before I returned, once I did, there was no escape.” Bugs on a balloon.