Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
The Last SuppurationOut 13th March on Extremely Rotten Productions/Unholy Domain/Sevared Records Protrusion punt for a mix of early 90s Floridian death metal and early Gorguts (who were to be fair, also a Morrisound alumni). This results in a pleasingly authentic rerun of percussive death metal as it augments the choppier elements of thrash into a... Continue Reading →
A Monument I Shall Raise in FlameOut 20th March on Werewolf Promotion Poland’s Deathlike Dawn continue the direction set by their previous album ‘Noc czarna czerniÄ… otchÅ‚ani’, extending their tendrils further into semi-chromatic, dissonant territory for this latest release, sacrificing the hazy atmosphere coating 2024’s ‘Among the Graves of the Archetypes’ for a more stripped... Continue Reading →
Diabolus, Mecum Semperterne!Out 20th February on Terratur Possessions Dark, fluid, minimalist black metal creates a sense of grandeur by bolstering the near constant tremolo riffing with keyboard accompaniment. That, and the thick reverb covering the mix gives the music a degree of inertia, forcing it into rather simplistic themes that gain greater currency from the... Continue Reading →
Three Faced Trinity for a Two-Faced WorldOut 13th February on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions The obscurantist curveball that is Moonchapel continue their output apace. Following their harrowing debut ‘Chasms of Ash and Inequity’ in 2025, they have since put out two more albums, ‘Famine Weaponized’ released the same year, and now we have this... Continue Reading →
Goat at SunsetOut 1st February, self-released Croatia’s Petrale add to their significant run of releases with another subtle shift in direction. Where 2024’s ‘The World Down There’ was technically dense but experientially a stripped back, nocturnal journey of dissonant surrealism, ‘Goat at Sunset’ wrests this project in a more playful and melodically typical direction. Typical,... Continue Reading →
Metal Archives got itself into a bit of a state recently over its poll for album of 2025, seeing an Italian goth/prog/yacht rock/grunge album make the top spot by quite a significant margin. Many were quick to point out the irony of a site like MA, with a reputation for being highly selective about what... Continue Reading →
Una Lama D’ArgentoOut 12th December on Time to Kill Records Bracing, fluid death metal achieves a sense of power through ambient riffing that weaponizes repetition as a tool of malevolence. The album is defined by a wall of guitar noise that monolithically frames the parameters through which riffs can work, limiting them to basic, dry... Continue Reading →
This World we Live in…Out 12th December on Dolorem Records Mechanical death metal combines elements of clinical industrialism and prog informalities paced out in oddly pulsing sequences. Cryoxyd leverage repetition as an important compositional tool, creating a meditative, almost hyper fixated flow, only to lurch into soaring waves of melodic euphoria. This creates a sense... Continue Reading →
Benediction, Part IIOut 5th December on NoEvDia The second instalment of the Benediction series sees this Polish entity expand on their torturous, laboured brand of black metal ritualism, pitching a mood somewhere between depressive black metal and second wave Norwegian trademarks. Mayhem stands as an obvious influence through clever manipulation of ringing, open strings to... Continue Reading →
Malign ApotheosisOut 28th November on Hells Headbangers What ‘Malign Apotheosis’ lacks in fresh ideas it makes up for in just how tight and focused the music is. Vintage Tampa style riffing – most obviously Morbid Angel, but vestiges of fellow Morrisound regulars Malevolent Creation make their voice heard – collide with modernist percussive death metal,... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 