“I was never a big fan of Replicant. The New Jersey quartet’s sophomore record Malignant Reality earned a high score on this here blog, but it failed to resonate with me at all. It featured solid enough tunes with big grooves and chunky riffs, but for one reason or another nothing stuck. However, every advance single for third LP Infinite Mortality struck a chord, so I snagged the promo in hopes that Replicant were about to turn the tables on me this time around.” Busted furnikits.
“Slimelord employ a twisty, sticky kind of death metal, fusing the hallucinogenic swampiness of Worm or Tomb Mold, with the colder more surgical brutality of acts like Replicant or Asystole. Whether it drags itself along like a primordial monster or comes at you with flailing, slimy limbs at breakneck speed, Chytridiomycosis Relinquished is consistently bonkers and brutal.” Where the slime rule.
“With a name that translates roughly to “The Savage End,” Saevus Finis aim to live up to their moniker with their equally-ominously-titled debut Facilis Descensus Averno (An Easy Descent into Hell). Exercising a particularly gnarly blend of dissonant death and black metal, this plays out in the expectedly extreme metal fashion, amelodious odes of cavernous, claustrophobic cacophony. And it’s pretty cool. In a funny coincidence, it turns out the vocalist of Saevus Finis—Mortvorvm— also provides pipes and guitars for Wells Valley, which received the TYMHM 2023 treatment from yours truly.” Black birds of a feather.
![Wells Valley – Achamoth [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Wells-Valley-Achamoth-01.jpeg)
“When was the last time something supposedly dissonant and avant-garde really gripped you? Maybe it was one of this year’s releases from Blut Aus Nord, Thantifaxath, or Rorcal. Or perhaps you’ve been bored since Obscura. Whichever the case, Achamoth, from Portugal’s Wells Valley has got to rank highly as one of the more arresting examples of extreme metal in recent times.” In the valley of the dark things.
“New York certainly produces some tasty, technical, twisted music. Home to glittering Artificial Brain, soundscape-warping Pyrrhon, and jazzy Imperial Triumphant, among others. Asystole follow in the footsteps of this pedigree in both origin and sound with hyper-dissonant death metal that grabs some of the harsher elements of black metal and grind along the way.” Taste the Pig Apple.
“Here is a sheer cliff face of an album; if you’re hardy enough to attempt the climb, please sign this waiver absolving AMG Industries of responsibility for injury or death. Mithridatum debuts with Harrowing, five tracks of dissonant death metal that dare the listener to keep pace as the trio scrambles ever upward. If any album demands artwork from the late, great Lewandowski, it is Harrowing.” Disso-dares.
“Beyond its cover’s deceptively pastoral mountain scene, Altars offers something lurking underneath. On paper, the trio deals in a collision of dissonant death metal name-drops we’ve come to expect, and it would be easy to stop there. But we won’t, because there’s something else. Ascetic Reflection’s unique take settles in the negative spaces between lurching and punishing with clarity and nimbleness, allowing its meditative lurch to burrow into listeners’ skin. Holding mirrors of the self and the divine and the futility therein, the aptly named Ascetic Reflection deals in shredding pain.” Altars of radness.
“Good brutal death albums ruin your day. You swing your fists and frown, letting the caveman slams and moist leads saturate your eardrums in a coat of red mist as the mosh-pit hysteria results in a few too many lost brain cells. Astral Tomb does just that, featuring all the hallmarks of a good slam/goregrind/brutal death album: opener “Transcendental Visions” fitting this to a tee, the thirteen-minute opener reeks of Carcass-meets-Devourment-meets-Blood Incantation gore in its brutal emphasis on excess.” Star tombs, raw wounds.
![Blindfolded and Led to the Woods – Nightmare Withdrawals [Things You Might Have Missed 2021]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Blindfolded-and-Led-to-the-Woods-Nightmare-Withdrawals.jpeg.webp)
“Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, is a band from New Zealand with a bit of a storied past. Originally starting off as a humor-centric deathcore group with bizarrely titled offerings like Armed to the Teeth with Jellybeans or My Vaseline Diaries, the song “Atop the Wings of a Magpie” changed everything. Dissonant interplay, ominous tempos, speedy riffs, and even a guest spot from Nile’s Karl Sanders replace mindless breakdowns and Psyopus-inspired wankery. Nightmare Withdrawals may not be their debut, but it’s their breakout album, and for good fucking reason.” Deliverance to quality.
Kronos and Grymm deliver artisan Top Ten(ish) lists for 2021. Just look at that craftsmanship!
