The February Filter is all clean and tidy.
Progressive Death Metal
Exist – Hijacking the Zeitgeist Review
“Following the uniquely progressive death(ish) trend of increasing Hippietude, Exist has slowly morphed over the years from a spacey, Meshuggah-ish prog act in the vein of Intrinsic-era The Contortionist to a Pink Floyd-ian tricky-rhythm rock, primarily, outfit.” Evolve, mutate, Exist.
Apparition – Disgraced Emanations from a Tranquil State Review
“As I get older and hopefully wiser, I find myself wanting life to become simpler and less cluttered. When it comes to my death metal, I want more caveman idiocy with a greater emphasis on scuzz, murk, and swamp. Based on these sage guiding principles, Apparition’s sophomore opus Disgraced Emanations from a Tranquil State seemed a safe flyer for me to grab out of the promo sewer. Hailing from the City of Angels, their sound is anything but heavenly, ripe as it is with the ghastly cavern creeping of Incantation and early Tomb Mold.” Swamp n’ pomp.
Defect Designer – Chitin Review
“Where do you even start with a band like Defect Designer? Part Trollfest, part Diskord—one fewer part now that bassist Eyvind Wærsted Axelsen has moved on since his brief participation on 2022’s blasting EP Neanderthal—and three parts weird, this eclectic Russian-by-way-of-Norway export hasn’t defined one singular sound for itself over the years.” Genre inwasion.
Eternal Storm – A Giant Bound to Fall Review
“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.
Engulf – The Dying Planet Weeps Review
“New year, new sponge, same gig. What a better way to kick off 2024 than with some brutal, slightly proggy, slightly technical death metal! How serendipitous it was, then, that Engulf finally dropped their debut LP The Dying Planet Weeps upon my eager lap. Complete with very nice artwork and a remarkably rich and warm production, The Dying Planet Weeps aims to make a mockery of my scoring average as early in the year as it possibly can.” Engulfed by overratings.
![Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/lunar-chamber-shambhallic-vibrations-01.jpg.webp)
Lunar Chamber – Shambhallic Vibrations [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]
“If you were to describe “things that are up El Cuervo’s tree,” progressive death metal with Buddhist themes running for only 30 minutes would be quite high up. Such was the promise of Shamhallic Vibrations by Lunar Chamber. Fortunately, the quality matched – even exceeded – my expectations. I had thought this was a full-length but it was only as I was preparing this article that I noticed it is pitched as an EP. Given its place on my AotY list and a longer-than-Reign in Blood duration, I was only too happy to prepare a proper write-up.” Up the tree and into the cosmos.
![Omnerod – The Amensal Rise [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Omnerod_TheAmnesalRise_01-2048x2048.jpg.webp)
Omnerod – The Amensal Rise [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]
“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.
Afterbirth – In But Not Of Review
“It took Afterbirth more than two decades to launch their first deep space probe with 2017’s The Time Traveler’s Dilemma. The Long Island gurglers were worth the wait, as that album and 2020’s ingenious Four Dimensional Flesh sketched out the band’s vision of prog-enhanced brutal death metal. Kronos deemed Four Dimensional Flesh “one of the most charismatic and original death metal albums you’ll ever hear,” and in the wake of that triumph a new Afterbirth slab qualifies as a full-fledged Event.” Strong Islands birth strong sounds.
Essence of Datum – Radikal Rats Review
“Belarusian instrumental tech death duo Essence of Datum did what many have tried and failed to do: help me enjoy of deep instrumental metal. For me, there’s something missing in metal that lacks a vocal element. Part of that is surely rooted in the fact that I almost never listen to purely instrumental music anymore. Nonetheless, the core problem I encounter is that so little instrumental metal excites me, either because of fluffy songwriting with no real backbone, or because it’s simply an excuse for a solo artist to wank all over me without my consent. Not so with Essence of Datum or their last effort, Spellcrying Machine, which was a thoughtful, detailed, and compelling instrumental piece. Can its follow-up, the strange and wacky Radikal Rats, keep that trend running?” Rats in the tech.
