Ulcerate

Noctambulist – Atmospheres of Desolation Review

By Kronos on January 18, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Blood Harvest Records, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, Death Metal, Technical Death Metal, 49 comments

“No, Noctambulist do not sound like Blood Incantation, Sulphur Aeon, Immolation, or Gorguts. Or at least, they don’t sound more like Immolation or Gorguts than Ulcerate do. How the press kit missed Noctambulist’s most prominent and obvious influence—not to mention one of a much higher profile than either of the more modern bands mentioned—might never be known. Did Ulcerate become uncool? I doubt it on the grounds that (1) Noctambulist like them enough to try to sound almost exactly like them, and more importantly, (2) that I, as the sole arbiter of brutality both here and in the universe at large, am the only force with the power to decide if and when Ulcerate could ever become uncool.” Kronos knows.

The Ridiculous Year o’ Death Metal Round-up, Part 2 [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

By Ferrous Beuller on December 28, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Austrian Metal, British Metal, Canadian Metal, Danish Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Swiss Metal, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2018, 128 comments

“2018 has been undeniably kind to death metal. So kind that it became impossible to pay the necessary attention to every release worthy of note. So, possessed of tyrannical temperament and iron resolve, Kronos and I have enlisted the help of the staff to cover those bands that went so unjustly overlooked.” – Even MORE death metal we missed!? Wow, we’re bad at this job.

Noise Trail Immersion – Symbology of Shelter Review

By Kronos on November 5, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Italian Metal, Mathcore, Moment of Collapse Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Mathcore, 39 comments

“In the past couple of decades, metal has generated extremity along both rhythmic and harmonic paths, but the two have been largely insulated from another. Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan meticulously machined immensely complex rhythms, while Deathspell Omega and Ulcerate twisted strings to wring out sickening chords and chilling melodies. And while accusing Meshuggah or Dillinger of harmonic simplicity would be as absurd as dismissing Ulcerate or Deathspell’s considerable rhythmic weight, the approaches of the two schools are rarely invoked at once. That’s where Noise Trail Immersion come in.” New maths.

Psychotomy – Aphotik Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on September 26, 2018 in Death Metal, Everlasting Spew Records, Italian Metal, Death Metal, 55 comments

“Italy’s Psychotomy is a new band with an old vision. Aphotik is a death metal record which is made of three main ingredients, like a cheese pizza. Our dough is Incantation, specifically their material after Diabolical Conquest; this is the foundation for the rest. Our sauce, perhaps the least important part, is the Immolation-isms of Ulcerate represented on The Destroyers of All. The sauce is not slathered on, but plays its part nonetheless in making it a pizza instead of cheesy dough.” Excuse me, there’s death in my pizza.

Aethereus – Absentia Review

By Kronos on August 12, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Progressive Death, Reviews, Technical Death Metal, The Artisan Era, Technical Death Metal, 61 comments

“Since the label’s inception, The Artisan Era has been edging into Unique Leader’s territory like it’s the South China Sea. With Inferi, Augury, and a slew of up-and-coming tech-death acts under its thumb, the label has established an ear for quality in an overindulgent niche. And as much as The Artisan Era’s output tends towards the frilly, keyboards-and-synth-orchestra side of the genre, I’m still keen to hear from their bands, and Washington’s Aethereus have my attention.” Absentia makes the heart grow brutal.

Atavisma – The Chthonic Rituals Review

By Master of Muppets on July 31, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Doom Metal, French Metal, Memento Mori, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Sludge Metal, 148 comments

“Get your shitkickers on and nightlights ‘n Prozac at the ready, yo, today we’re going somewhere filthy and utterly devoid of light or joy. France’s Atavisma will be dragging us pleasantly by the throat through a subterranean and sinister network ov nightmares which they call The Chthonic Rituals. I’m just here to narrate the whole ordeal and giggle as you lot wail and bump into each other in the dark.” Bumping in the night.

Gaerea – Unsettling Whispers Review

By Master of Muppets on June 29, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Portuguese Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sludge Metal, Transcending Obscurity, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Sludge Metal, 284 comments

“A black metal Transcending Obscurity release with monochrome artwork: who could have ever foreseen this one falling into my velvety grasp? Portugal’s Gaerea certainly put their Muppet-est foot forward when casting Unsettling Whispers into the Angry Metal Promo Sump, and yet I was wary. Black metal is the best metal, ov course, but it’s also everywhere and lately sounding too similar to itself. Sure, a few vague details got my attention, but I’m a poseur and all the Muppet love in the world can’t make an album innovative or objectively meritorious; did I perhaps build my hopes too high only to find yet another band trying to be either Ulcerate or Agalloch?” Black metal art.

Erdve – Vaitojimas Review

By Master of Muppets on February 18, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Lithuanian Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Sludge Metal, Black Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 0 comments

“If your home country only has a whopping 172 bands documented on The Metal Archives, with roughly half of them split up or otherwise disbanded, there’s a decent chance that relatively few people have ever heard your particular take on metal before. Such is the case for Erdve, a fledgling four-piece emerging from the enigmatic Lithuanian underground.” Small scene, big sound.

The Negative Bias – Lamentations of the Chaos Omega Review

By Master of Muppets on December 8, 2017 in 2017, ATMF, Austrian Metal, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Death Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 64 comments

“Oh, December. That special time of year, when the masses try to buy their way out of SAD, supermarkets become more unbearable than usual thanks to seasonal saccharine soundtracks, and even the AMG promo bin transforms into a smoldering heap of nope. Some blind themselves to the solstice’s sadness with festive lights, others drown it in nog, but let me assure you: there will be no happiness.”

Devangelic – Phlegethon Review

By Kronos on November 9, 2017 in 2017, Comatose Music, Death Metal, Italian Metal, Reviews, Death Metal, 31 comments

“In what is sure to be a heart-stopping shock to readers, I’m embarking upon a mid-length review of a brutal death metal album from Italy that I’m not terribly fond of. Gasp and swoon though you may, if you survey recent examples of Italian brutal death metal reviewed in this august publication, the Kronos name is not too thick in the ground, and that’s intentional. I’m a devout opponent of the style of brutal death pioneered by Hour of Penance and copied by so many of their Mediterranean peers and do my best to avoid reviewing death bands who play in the style simply because it’s a lose-lose situation.” Death in Venice (or nearby).