Prosthetic Records

Phobophilic – Enveloping Absurdity Review

By Maddog on September 27, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 36 comments

“After hearing the first few seconds of “Survive in Obscurity,” I knew I wanted to review Enveloping Absurdity. Infectious death metal riffs, raw energy, palpable fuzz – the song had everything I could ask for. Enveloping Absurdity is a debut, but Phobophilic has an EP and a split with Sedimentum under its belt, getting picked up by Prosthetic in the process. These Fargo natives play death metal that is as gruesome as Fargo but much less distinctive, preferring to dwell in the darker corners of old-school death metal.” Death from the cold.

Slugcrust – Ecocide Review

By Felagund on September 26, 2022 in Reviews, 10 comments

“Ecocide, the debut from Slugcrust, was a difficult album to write about. The brevity, genre and unrelenting frenzy made for a somewhat complicated but altogether illuminating reviewing effort. Not only was I called to deliver a verdict on the quality of the album, but I found myself asking some very basic questions about the nature of reviewing itself: should I base my conclusions on my personal views without taking into account the context of the style of metal in question? Or should I instead grade on a curve, remembering that one of the album’s shortcomings is perhaps also one of the genre’s founding principles? All these questions and more went through my head as I spun Slugcrust’s Ecocide,” Surviving the critical grind.

Psycroptic – Divine Council Review

By Kronos on August 14, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 63 comments

“Though they arrived too late to take part in the birth of tech-death in the 1990s, Tasmania’s Psycroptic made a big mark on the genre just after the turn of the century, and by now they’re something of a legacy act. Eight albums in, Psycroptic have managed to retain their core sound, wrapped around Joe Haley’s long, eclectic riffs, for more than 20 years. The band augmented that thrashy tech death with gospel choirs for their most recent record, As the Kingdom Drowns, nearly escaping the debt of expectation set by the classic The Scepter of the Ancients back in 2003. Four years later, Divine Council nods towards the Kingdom, but doesn’t rely on past successes to make its mark.” Psy-ops.

Molder – Engrossed in Decay Review

By Kronos on July 11, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 27 comments

“I cannot understate the futility of attempting to introduce this record more accurately than its album art does. For the learned among us, it leaves not a single note in question. But for those of us impaired in the fields of vision or death metal knowledge, I’m compelled to at least give it a shot. Engrossed in Decay, the debut record from Joliet, Illinois’ Molder, is a triumph of slime. Coughing up spores from mycetozoic muck, Molder exhume ten tracks from very recent, very shallow burials in a graveyard that’s been filled to the brim for thirty years.” Mold strategy.

Werewolves – From the Cave to the Grave Review

By Kenstrosity on June 24, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 38 comments

“I’m surprised we never covered Werewolves before on this blog. Their debut record, The Dead are Screaming—picked up by Prosthetic Records one month into the pandemic in 2020—fucking rulez. To my surprise, I somehow missed the follow-up they dropped less than a year later. Thankfully, I had my eye trained closely enough on this band to catch third outing, From the Cave to the Grave, before Werewolves slipped by undetected once more.” Pack attack.

Yatra – Born into Chaos Review

By Maddog on June 14, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 10 comments

“Some bands insist on pushing envelopes, demanding listeners’ attention by challenging genre norms and breaking new ground. Yatra is not one of those bands. These Maryland natives had a prolific first few years, releasing a stoner doom debut in 2019 and following it up with two sludgy riff-fests in 2020. Their last album All Is Lost earned praise from our very own GardensTale, establishing Yatra as a lean mean sludge machine without reinventing any wheels. Its follow-up Born into Chaos promises a shift in sound, from the band’s stoner origins to no-frills death metal. As an avowed death metal lover, I couldn’t help but be intrigued.” Yatra, Yatra, Yatra…

Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on June 2, 2022 in Reviews, Thrash Metal, 37 comments

“Thrash that brings something new? So much has happened in this year of 2022 that I’ll believe about anything. Alas, my hopes remain high despite our resident shusher, Dr. A.N. Grier, willfully relinquishing the right to this curiously spiked morsel of raucous riffs. Though neither a fan of hugs nor happiness, D.A.N.G. found himself mildly enthused with the last output from these Atlanta-based thrashers, even if they sounded a lot like Kreator. Well, I’m here to say that these guys still sound like Kreator, but blackened a degree further and doused graciously with echo-inducing, signal-tripping pedal-work—psychedelic thrash.” Coma of bowls.

Tómarúm – Ash in Realms of Stone Icons Review

By Kenstrosity on May 2, 2022 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 69 comments

“We as a community speak often of defining and categorizing genres, but sometimes a promo comes along that legitimately challenges those definitions. Atlanta, Georgia’s Tómarúm received a generic “black metal” tag from Prosthetic Records’ PR team, and it falls short as a descriptor for what Tómarúm play. As you’ll surely deduce after giving debut album Ash in Realms of Stone Icons even just one spin, this nascent two-piece perform forbidden alchemy with myriad metallic ores, smelting a writhing, metamorphic amalgamation. It’s that very transmogrification that not only makes this album difficult to categorize but also exciting and satisfying to experience.” Pigeon holes don’t come easy.

Undeath – It’s Time… to Rise from the Grave Review

By Eldritch Elitist on April 21, 2022 in Reviews, Death Metal, 182 comments

“I want to make one thing immediately clear: It’s Time… to Rise from the Grave fucking rocks. For several spins, however, it left me severely confused. I realized that Undeath was certain to evolve. While a retread of Lesions of a Different Kind would have been completely enjoyable, the band’s knack for effortlessly folding together countless influences of classic death metal, while also crafting an unmistakably distinct sound, meant that a retread would be disappointing by default. Indeed, Undeath’s slick, slimy grime continues to coat every riff and permeate the band’s compositional bedrock.” Slaves to the grave.

Without Waves – Comedian Review

By Felagund on March 17, 2022 in Reviews, Experimental Metal, Progressive Metal, 39 comments

“Cover art can be make or break. Despite that old axiom, I do indeed judge a book by its often horrific cover. I tend to avoid the intentionally bad (looking at you, Voivod’s Target Earth) and the unabashedly anatomical (I’ve already seen The Reek of Putrefaction, thank you very much.) However, there’s plenty of room between the two extremes to play, and you can always count on a few quality covers lurking around the primeval AMG promo sump; the kind that just begs for a spin or three. Such was the case with Comedian, the latest from Chicago-based progressive metalers Without Waves. Their fortuitous choice to immortalize a moment in the life of one very unlucky flamingo has earned them one whole review.” Flightless.