“Let’s talk about blood, baby. Hemoglobin and me. Let’s talk about all the blood things and the bad things that may bleed. Death metal and that hideous ichor that courses through us all are as synonymous as editors and intimidation… Swedish supergroup extraordinaire Bloodbath have made a career out of celebrating the genre’s twisted tenets and once pulsed at the very center of the classic scene.” Your bath is ready.
![Necrot – Mortal [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Necrot-Mortal-3000x3000-1-scaled-1-768x768.jpg)
“People are never satisfied. They are saturated with options, and with choice comes entitlement. Corpulent technicality and aimless dissonance have somehow convinced people that songwriting isn’t necessary. Fucking die. Whatever happened to the basics? But not just the basics, the fucking basics. Evolution is key, but nothing can replace those original elements that, when correctly combined, elicit such a chemical crush. Oakland’s Necrot have been descanting the insalubrious since 2012 and boast members of Mortuous, Vastum and Acephalix”. Death be simple.
![Plague – Portraits of Mind [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Plague_Portraits-of-Mind-01-768x768.jpg)
“I suppose there’s a certain dark irony to the fact that death metal had one of its best years during a global pandemic. It’s a double irony that in a year fraught with so much outstanding death metal, it’s Plague’s unsung debut Portraits of Mind that keeps drawing me back as the days (and plague) drag on.” Portraits of 2020.
“Temple of Dread play a style of death metal that is fervently faithful to the old school version of the genre. Worshiping at the throne of Pestilence and early Death, the band wastes little effort on trivialities like atmosphere or innovation, but instead takes pleasure in beating you across the face over and over with their thrashy riffs.” The world had it coming.
“A peculiar thing happened when I downloaded the promo for 0160, the sixth release from German instrumental post-metallers BLCKWVS. Upon opening the folder containing the album and accompanying photos, I noticed that there were two copies of each and every song on 0160. Thinking it was a simple flub-up, I deleted the second copies of each song, saving precious space on my phone. Immediately after doing so, I read online that this was no ordinary screw-up on the label’s end. Rather, 0160 is a “double-album,” actually, and the quotations are there to signify that it’s actually just one album, but with two versions: one with vocals from various contributors, and one purely instrumental. It’s good to see an instrumental band give vocals a go.” Doubled over.
“According to the inexhaustibly kvlt amongst our readership, we don’t review death metal. This is, of course, rubbish, mostly because, musically speaking, death metal is just about my favorite thing, and while I enjoy all of its increasingly technical incarnations, a platter of the traditional riff-beast is always certain to set my chops salivating. Cardiac Arrest are a band after my own heart — perhaps literally — serving the kind of classic cruelty the northern peak of my decades compromised vertebral column can freely enjoy without having to break out the algebra function of my old calculator.” Death for the olde.
“Australia’s Cemetery Urn describe themselves as ‘barbaric Australian death metal,’ and one gets the feeling listening to their self-titled third record that they’d welcome ceaseless barbaric bloodshed.” Commence the hacking.
“Darkrypt was helpfully labelled as an Indian “dark death metal” band when I got the promo, which is great to know because I really thought a band named after a portmanteau of darkness and a dark underground tomb was going to be bright, poppy stuff in the vein of Carly Rae Jepsen.” I heard they’re doing a split.
“Undead are the next logical step in “unknown” bands. Undead throw us a small curveball by not referring to any member as anything, not revealing their location, and generally keeping tight-lipped about everything online.” Mystery is in the air and it smells like…death.
“The art of the comeback is tough to master, and the odds are against any band who decides to return to the fold after years of inactivity; the weight of nostalgia, expectations, and respecting an artistic legacy make for a heavy burden. Germany’s Morgoth have returned, bearing the burden to bring the unwashed masses a full LP of death metal after teasing us with two new songs last year on the God is Evil EP.” Everything gets a return, and it’s time for Morgoth to get their just returnage.
