Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Please read the following scenario carefully. A discussion will follow. Scenario One: Andrew Lee is an American of Chinese descent. He has a death metal band called Ripped to Shreds. Ripped to Shreds were booked to play a gig with a much older death metal band called Master, who were in the middle of a... Continue Reading →
Gruwelijk OnthaalOut 18th September on Folter Records It’s been ten years since Kaeck’s debut ‘Stormkult’. Where that album consolidated an austere reading of early second wave black metal into an aggressive, tight, yet atmospheric celebration of the genre, subsequent releases have – at least aesthetically – dramatically deviated from this foundation. 2021’s ‘Het zwarte dictaat’... Continue Reading →
Coronation of the GrotesqueOut 15th August on Dark Descent Records Modern death metal is often guilty of running away from itself. Either gesturing at lofty, pseudo esoteric avant-garde affectations, or else leaning so aggressively into its own cliché that it begins to behave like novelty music. Castrator’s latest offering is something of a breath of... Continue Reading →
Incinerated: The Epitome of TransgressionOut 14th July on BlackSeed Lifts the clustered melodic density of late second wave black metal (think Cirith Gorgor or Gorgon) with a thread of fatalistic lamentation, topographically similar to modern dissodeath but pivoting more toward traditional melody, rendered abrasive by the freneticism of the performances. The strained emotion, and indeed... Continue Reading →
Vomitum TempestasOut 30th June on Nuclear War Now Productions Texan death metal engages in a distant but often proactive dialogue with the genre’s macabre roots. Blaspherian, Condemner, Imprecation, all are muscular, direct, energetic iterations of death metal. But on closer inspection it becomes apparent that their raw physicality is a façade, a delivery mechanism designed... Continue Reading →
Understanding Sacramentum I was as shocked as anyone to hear of the tragic passing of Nisse Karlén. Sacramentum were a very formative band in the development of my taste. I was lucky enough to catch them at the London Deathfest in 2022, and was looking forward to seeing them at Cosmic Void Festival in just... Continue Reading →
Lord of Two HornsOut 27th June on Nuclear Winter Records Drawn and Quartered remind us that – despite my growing cynicism – you should never write anyone off before their time. 2021’s ‘Congregation Pestilence’ was a tight but forgettable iteration of dark American death metal. One that led me to conclude that we could expect... Continue Reading →
Grog: Sphere of AtrocitiesOut 13th June on Helldprod A collection of generic brutal and semi technical death metal furniture, delivered with the random freneticism of grindcore. Swirling between ideas, Grog are just as liable to hack up the momentum with abandon as they are to repeat themes and riffs in order to hammer them home.... Continue Reading →
I’m back! After a brief hiatus to process what I’m told were “feelings”. What’s changed since I’ve been gone? Well, nothing…obviously. Except the world’s first AI band finally managing to extract the artist from the artwork. A slow march toward technological homogeneity continues apace, something everyone agrees is bad whilst actively embracing it at every... Continue Reading →
Sacrosanct DemonopathyOut 16th May on Werewolf Records Reminiscent of Gnipahålan for its filling and oftentimes recklessly dense concoction of Nordic black metal leftovers. The result leaves a similar residual feeling of being over sated. All the moving parts work, but at times their simultaneity threatens to collapse the music into incoherence. Given how safe 2021’s... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 