Obituary

Wharflurch – Psychedelic Realms ov Hell Review

By Steel Druhm on September 9, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 23 comments

“I had Florida-based doom/death/mushroom farmers Wharflurch in my sights for a review last week, but life dragged me off to the salt mines to toil for actual pay. This had the unintended consequence of giving me more time to absorb the weird dish Wharflurch served up on full-length debut Psychedelic Realms ov Hell, and more time was definitely needed. This is a strange act delivering unusual music that runs across several clearly labeled genre boundaries like an outlaw on the run from the normality police.” Wharf arts!!

Cathexis – Untethered Abyss Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 23, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 20 comments

“Cathexis is a death metal band from Texas. How to further classify them is up to the listener, but to me their sound is that of a TXDM band playing a mix of Obscura, Negativa, and Hate Eternal. Untethered Abyss is ambitious in that it tries to find the sweet spot between TXDM brutality, the creative dissonance of Obscura and Negativa, and the propulsive and aggressive death metal of Hate Eternal.” Texas knows brisket and abysskit.

Becerus – Homo Homini Brutus Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on May 5, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 14 comments

“Cavemen have become popular again, and this time they’re not trying to sell you insurance. No, a wave of bands are doing something I appreciate and embracing the simpler elements of death metal. Bands like Frozen Soul, Sanguisugabogg, Celestial Sanctuary, and Gutless are associated with our cave-dwelling ancestors and they have one important thing in common: big, dumb riffs. What type of big dumb riffs? Mortician ones.” Welcome to Club Dead.

Akiavel – Væ Victis Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on April 29, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 60 comments

If you’re about my age, you probably remember being a teenager and being rather surprised by Arch Enemy’s “Nemesis” video. For those unfamiliar, a speedy melo-death riff kicks the song off and we see a girl dressed like a Hot Topic version of Britney Spears in the “Oops, I Did it Again” video. She lets out a scream, and everyone watching goes “whoa, I can’t believe a girl can make those sounds!” The novelty wore off quickly despite my efforts to like the band because I liked Michael Amott’s work in Carcass. The Angela Gossow version Arch Enemy was inoffensively boring, and the band has since deteriorated into being offensively boring in the current Alissa White-Gluz iteration. The takeaway here is that Arch Enemy at their most popular is bland and uninspiring, and I’m lost as to who would take musical inspiration from that sound. Enter French death metal band Akiavel.” Archetypes.

Sanguisugabogg – Tortured Whole Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on March 28, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 33 comments

“Unlike what appeared to be three-quarters of death metal internet, I wasn’t truly amazed by Sanguisugabogg’s debut EP Pornographic Seizures. It sounded like brutal death metal with a penchant for thuggish “caveman riffs,” which is contemporary shorthand for “riffs which show an appreciation for Mortician.” Nevertheless, I’m a sucker for pageantry; when the ‘bogg premiered a music video produced by Troma I was firmly committed to hearing their debut full-length Tortured Whole.” Ecelectic Boggaloo.

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2020

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 2, 2021 in Blog Posts, Lists, 111 comments

Doc Grier has a Top Ten(ish) of 2020 worthy of fear. Grab a beer and peer into the unknown.

Necrot – Mortal [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]

By Ferrous Beuller on December 14, 2020 in Things You Might Have Missed 2020, Death Metal, 66 comments

“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.

Undergang – Aldrig i livet Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on December 3, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 26 comments

“Back in 2011 when Indhentet Af Døden dropped, Undergang got onto my radar because they were described as a mix of Obituary and Demilich, which is obviously a winning combination. I couldn’t wait to get my grubby mitts on that record, and when I did, they got even grubbier because Undergang plays filthy, sewer-dwelling death metal exclusively.” Septic mesh.

Six Feet Under – Nightmares of the Decomposed Review

By Ferrous Beuller on September 29, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 144 comments

“They say the best things in life are free. They also say honesty is free, but it’s not. In fact, it usually comes attached to a very high price. That moment you have a few too many and tell your partner what you really think of their mum. Explaining to your brother that you sold his son’s spleen on the black market just so you could buy more vinyl. Or the crushing fact that not all death metal is created equal. The genre’s favorite whipping boys Six Feet Under are living proof of this.” Six Feet Underwhelming.

Bedsore – Hypnagogic Hallucinations Review

By Ferrous Beuller on August 20, 2020 in Reviews, Death Metal, 29 comments

“What’s in a name? Everything and nothing. Death metal has always flirted with the ridiculous in an effort to conjure distasteful imagery. However, Rome’s Bedsore seem to be walking a fine line between punishment and parody. But at a glance, the legendary Gorguts hardly suggests unnatural excellence. Now, their name simply reminds us of humble beginnings. Similarly, if you glanced at Bedsore‘s moniker, rolled your eyes and moved on, then, to quote the immortal Ronnie James Dio: fool, fool.” Don’t fear the seeper.