Melodic Death Metal

Vehemence – Forward Without Motion Review

Vehemence – Forward Without Motion Review

“Gather round, I have a story for ye. Back in 2002, a Phoenix-based death metal group called Vehemence released an album called God Was Created, a work that escaped widespread popularity to essentially become the little engine that could – a cult classic of the genre, if you will.” As snobbish metal elitists, we like cult classics.

Horrendous – Anareta Review

Horrendous – Anareta Review

Horrendous caught many off guard when they dropped last year’s sublime sophomore opus, Ecdysis. The album blew away my modest expectations and cemented Horrendous as far more than your typical old school retro death act they appeared to be on their solid debut. Putting an innovative spin on their old school formula and heaving a weighty sack of delicious riffs, Horrendous took some gravity defying leaps forward to complete one of the more astonishing evolutionary strides I’ve had the pleasure of hearing in recent years.” Adapt or die. That is the credo.

Melted Space – The Great Lie Review

Melted Space – The Great Lie Review

Melted Space. A project with more vocalists than Avantasia and more guests than a free beer and sex party. An ambitious metal opera, Pierre le Pape draws together myriad musicians and vocalists in depicting his epic vision on this debut, The Great Lie. It’s a monumental work….” And off to Finishing School we go to get some much needed culture.

Enshine – Singularity Review

Enshine – Singularity Review

“Winter is coming, and when the cold reaches my home and hearth, it’s time to break out the top-shelf sad boy melodic doom-death and spin it until Odin renews the world and grants primacy to the sun once more. As the low winter sun encroaches, one of the first bands into the depressive breach is the long defunct but truly excellent Rapture. A close second is the even longer defunct Slumber. The latter released but one brilliant album (Fallout) before imploding, and said album went on to be tragically overlooked.” The Sleeper of Slumber has awakened!

The Black Dahlia Murder – Abysmal Review

The Black Dahlia Murder – Abysmal Review

“Like every reviewer on the face of the planet, my first thought when seeing the title of The Black Dahlia Murder’s latest full length was Wayne’s World: “Shitty Beatles? Are they any good?” “They suck.” “Then it’s not just a clever name.” To be honest, in the case of Detroit’s finest, I had a hard time believing that this was any kind of In Flames-esque “naming this record based on its meaning for the band” logic. That’s not really TBDM’s style, and well, let’s be honest, even at the very worst these guys have always put out very good music that I consistently get into fights over.” And said fisticuffs shall continue for the foreseeable future.

Windfaerer – Tenebrosum Review

Windfaerer – Tenebrosum Review

“Despite operating out of a state best known for metrosexual men wearing fake tans and engaging in post-modern mating dances for sultry females, Windfaerer prizes the mythology of the Iberian Peninsula and pays homage to such ancestry. Tenebrosum is derived from the Latin for “darkness” and with Spanish song titles, they certainly target a higher-brow audience than the aforementioned gentlemen.” New Jersey has turned out some classy music over the years, and it never stops surprising folks.

Wolfheart – Shadow World Review

Wolfheart – Shadow World Review

“By now we all know Tuomas Saukkonen is a force of nature. He’s Finland’s metal juggernaut as surely as Rogga Johansson is Sweden’s, and over the decades he’s created some brilliant music with Before the Dawn, Black Sun Aeon and Dawn of Solace. Several years ago and for reasons unknown, he folded all his bands and started fresh with Wolfheart.” The leader of the Finnish pack is back with more sadboy melo-death.

Soilwork – The Ride Majestic Review

Soilwork – The Ride Majestic Review

““You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Conventional wisdom or Will Rogers, no clear date. “We play melodic death metal with metalcore elements and tons of hooky choruses!” – Soilwork via Stabbing the Drama, 2005. Combining these two quotes explains the position from which I’ll tackle Soilwork’s tenth full-length The Ride Majestic.” When we start quoting Will Rogers, the poo usually hits the oscillation device.