Ancient Torment – Follow the Echo of Curses Review

By Spicie Forrest

“Between grief and nothing, I will take grief.” –William Faulkner, The Wild Palms

How do you grieve? Do you cry? Do you seek comfort in familiar places? Perhaps you bury yourself in busy work, hobbies, or your career. However you grieve, it is a deeply personal and taxing process. I suspect, though, that many reading this blog turn to music. And thusly grounded, I introduce Ancient Torment’s debut, Follow the Echo of Curses. Forged in the crucible of Finland’s gloom and Quebec’s triumphant misery, these Rhode Island black metallers offer an introspective journey through suffering and sorrow to the threshold of death’s doors. Nothing will ever cure grief, but this might help the darkest nights pass a little quicker.

Ancient Torment is firmly rooted in the second wave. All the standard hallmarks appear. Zealot (Witch King) provides a foundation of furious blast beats upon which Tormentum (Witch King) and Apparition (Cruciamentum) build walls of haunting tremolo. The occasional well-placed lead breaks free of the mortar, adding texture and tension (“Hanging by a Dead Star,” “Rotting Temperament”). Czarnobóg’s bass isn’t all too noticeable, but in this house of black metal, that wall is rarely load-bearing anyway. Decorating the interior is left to vocalist Stygal, who peddles in howls so tortured and haunted that even without a lyric sheet, his anguish is clear. It is around these despairing vocals that Ancient Torment builds their ode to suffering.

If Follow the Echo of Curses were just trve black metal, it would collapse in the first summer storm, but that’s not the case. Each successive spin unveiled hidden rooms and secret passages I had missed at first. On my second visit, I discovered choral arrangements building anticipation (“Spectre at the Crossroads”) and dissonant vistas crafted by microtonal variance between guitars (“Dejected Dreams Molested in Purgatory”). My third listen revealed the Bathory-worship of “Under the Guise of Virtue” and the Fate of Norns-adjacent opening riff of “Sorrow Verses.” A week spent in these halls highlighted the Ancst-flavored crust—evinced in plentiful d-beats and matching guitars—that adorns the baseboards. My favorite hidden treasure was found on “Rotting Temperament,” where Ancient Torment alters a recurrent riff throughout the track. What starts as an urgent and hectic melody slowly rots away to a simple four-note riff by the midpoint and settles there, a mere shell of its former self.

At this point in the tour, you might be tempted to look for mold under the floorboards or cracks in the windows of this coastal cottage Ancient Torment has built. The bass could be more forward in the mix, as could the lower end of the drums.1 You might pause at an average track length of seven minutes and ask about bloat. But each of Follow the Echo of Curses’ six songs is dynamic and energetic, keeping me engaged from start to finish. Longest players and closing pair, “Under the Guise of Virtue” and “Rotting Temperament,” fly by with an urgency which makes me doubt that nearly 17 minutes have actually passed. My only major complaint is the spoken word passage in “Under the Guise of Virtue.” It’s awkward and atonal, and its timing almost ruins the song. But flaws notwithstanding, after the album closes, I feel satisfied with my time spent here.

Follow the Echo of Curses grew on me. My initial impressions were of safe, boilerplate black metal, but I was mistaken. With each listen, I found more to enjoy. For those willing to dig in, Ancient Torment adeptly augments their core sound to create something uniquely their own. This house has faults, but it’s no fixer-upper. It stands confidently on its own. Like a home that screams the absence of a loved one in every unswept corner and every silent hallway, Follow the Echo of Curses is indeed the journey through suffering that was promised.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s CBR MP3
Label: Eternal Death
Websites: Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: August 1st, 2025

#2025 #30 #AmonAmarth #AncientTorment #Aug25 #Bathory #BlackMetal #Cruciamentum #DefeatedSanity #EternalDeathRecords #FateOfNorns #FollowTheEchoOfCurses #Review #Reviews #WitchKing

Adorior – Bleed on My Teeth Review

By Mark Z.

Somewhere along the way, Adorior got angry. When this English group released their 1998 debut Like Cutting the Sleeping, they sounded like a pretty traditional black metal band, albeit with occasional experimental touches in the form of cleanly sung segments and moody atmospheric passages. I don’t know what happened after that record was released, but when the band returned with 2005’s Author of Incest, they sounded ready to take up arms against the entire human race. Author of Incest is, simply put, one of the most incendiary albums ever recorded. With its scalding guitars, pummeling drums, and enraged vocals, the record showed Adorior infusing a hefty amount of death metal into the proceedings, ultimately resulting in a napalm bombing in musical form. The album’s opening track, “Hater of Fucking Humans,” is easily one of the most vicious blackened death metal songs of all time, and vocalist Melissa Gray’s performance on that track remains one of the most furious and unhinged I’ve ever heard. Now, after years of dormancy, the group are finally back with their third album, Bleed on My Teeth. Does it continue the band’s diabolical conquest of humanity?

It’s obviously been a long time since the last album, and in the interim Adorior lost all prior members except Melissa1 and drummer “D. Molestör.” Thus, one would understandably be concerned about whether Adorior could maintain their aggression. Fortunately, Mr. Molestör seems to have selected a suitably angry cadre of newcomers from other projects he’s been involved with, including current or former members of Grave Miasma, Cruciamentum, and Qrixkuor. Opener “Begrime Judas” shows that these new recruits have just as much pent-up rage as their predecessors. With explosive riffs, fiery tremolo runs, and surging rhythms, the song is livid and combative, making it sound like no time has passed since Author of Incest. As if to further drive home the band’s militant nature, the track even features a ruthless half-time thrash break overlaid with samples of automatic gunfire. Such intensity rarely subsides until the title track concludes the album with wailing notes approximately 50 minutes later.

Just like the last record, Bleed on My Teeth matches the scorching fury of Impiety while sounding blunter, heavier, and looser. Señor Molestör is an absolute madman on drums, moving furiously between blast beats, frantic thrash drumming, and pummeling breaks that hit like artillery strikes. The guitars ejaculate a nonstop stream of hostility, veering wildly between whiplashing tremolos, searing chords, and even some more rhythmic ideas. Songs like “Ophidian Strike” and “Moment of Mania” may sound chuggier than the others, but they don’t lose one drop of intensity because of it. Likewise, “L.O.T.P. – Vomit Vomit Vomit Bastard” is one of my favorite tracks here not just because of its title, but also for how it swells with gigantic mid-paced riffs that give rise to a triumphant aura and an obscene yet strangely catchy refrain (“He likes to make them cum & then revel in their shame… He likes to make them say his name…”).

If there’s one hangup I have with this album, it’s the vocals. After almost two decades since the last album, Melissa’s raspy shout still sounds pissed off, but she occasionally sounds strained, and her loose sense of timing sometimes feels at odds with the music. Nonetheless, her wild approach ultimately won me over, and her occasional air siren screams only add to the maniacal energy. The chanted gang shouts in songs like “Scavengers of Vengeance” further propel the rampage and are a nice callback to similar moments from Author of Incest. Production-wise, the album is hefty and hot. While it sounds louder than its DR8 would suggest, everything remains clear while swarming together in a way that’s fiery and forceful, but never exhausting. The record’s dynamic drumming, superb sequencing, and occasional moments of brief ambience only further stave off fatigue.

Ultimately, Bleed on My Teeth is a paragon of extremity. It leaves no orifice unfucked. It is an expulsion of hostility, a firestorm of fury, a fist in the ass of decency. Above all, it is a glorious return for Adorior, and a surefire treat for those bloodthirsty cretins who have been waiting so long to finally hear more of what these maniacs have to offer. Close your eyes, open wide, and let them bleed on your fukkin teeth.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Labels: Dark Descent Records | Sepulchral Voice Records
Websites: adorior.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/adorior
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#2024 #40 #Adorior #BlackMetal #BleedOnMyTeeth #Cruciamentum #DarkDescentRecords #DeathMetal #EnglishMetal #GraveMiasma #Impiety #Qrixkuor #Review #Reviews #Sep24 #SepulchralVoiceRecords

Abysmal Winds – Magna Pestilencia Review

By Mark Z.

In the last few years, one of my favorite strains of death metal has been the “dark” variety. It’s not really a subgenre or even a wave, but more of a feeling that certain bands exude. I’m thinking specifically of groups like Cruciamentum, Mortem, Sadistic Intent, Grave Miasma, and other bands of their ilk. These are groups that offer a musty and ominous approach to death metal, groups whose atmosphere makes it feel like no matter how many times you listen to them, there is always something black and slimy lurking undiscovered in some hidden corner of the world they create. Thus, when I saw that Abysmal Winds describe themselves as “dark death metal” and count both Sadistic Intent and Grave Miasma among their influences, I couldn’t wait to check them out. Formed in 2020, this Swedish group brings experience from a whole host of obscure metal bands, with Avsky, Corpsehammer, and Omnizide probably being some of the bigger names. Following their 2022 demo Doom Prayer, the group are now releasing their debut album, Magna Pestilencia.

Listening to Magna Pestilencia, it’s obvious that Abysmal Winds have a particular affinity for Grave Miasma. Like that British group, these Swedes use a lot of groaning tremolos that writhe and hum beneath gruff growling vocals and steady driving rhythms. Things never get too aggressive, with the band instead focused on creating malevolent and cavernous compositions that still manage to have discernible riffs. In keeping with their origins, the group also have a distinct Swedish death metal flair, though that influence surprisingly comes from the drums rather than the guitars. Often, these songs are propelled by the same punky Swedeath beats used by Dismember, Entombed, and the millions of Swedeath bands that came after those two. They also throw in the occasional blast beat or slower moment, though things never get particularly fast or doomy.

The biggest problem with Magna Pestilencia is that it sticks very rigidly to its formula. Most of these songs simply cruise forward on mid-paced Swedeath beats, and the occasional blast beat or slower moment simply does not offer enough variety to make for a wholly engaging listen. By the album’s second half, I’m practically begging for some sort of crawling doom break, sinister melody, or big crunchy riff that will get my noggin moving. Interestingly, the intro song “Incantation” is actually the most distinct track here, with its basic cavernous melody at least offering something different. Perhaps because of the album’s rigid adherence to its formula, the record also never seems to feel as atmospheric or threatening as the band’s influences.

Fortunately, Magna Pestilencia does some things right. The 31-minute runtime keeps the record from overstaying its welcome, and many of these songs still manage to work in some pretty distinct riffs. Early highlight “Obliteration” shows just how effective the band’s formula can be, with its slow and strained chords sure to earn the appreciation of Grave Miasma fans. “Blood Prison” and “A Slumbering God” feature a faster pace, with “Blood Prison” especially standing out due to its winding main tremolo riff. The closing title track also ends the record well with its particularly harrowing riffs, as if you’ve finally reached the lowest point of some deadly cavern. Finally, the production works well, with splashy cymbals and a smooth sound that still manages to have a raw edge.

When I submitted my application to write here over a decade ago (!!!), the review I included as part of my application package was for Nunslaughter’s Angelic Dread, which I gave a 2.5/5.0. Today, I love that fucking record and would easily score it a point higher. I hope Magna Pestilencia enjoys the same fate. Even though I can’t heartily recommend this album to anyone who isn’t already a huge fan of the style, there’s something genuine about it that keeps me wanting to come back. While the score below reflects how I feel about it today, I have a nagging feeling that this could be the type of album that insidiously grows on you for years to come. If nothing else, it still leaves me very curious to hear what Abysmal Winds will give us next.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: I Hate Records
Website: facebook.com/abysmalwinds
Releases Worldwide: June 21st, 2024

#25 #2024 #AbysmalWinds #Cruciamentum #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #GraveMiasma #IHateRecords #Jun24 #MagnaPestilencia #Mortem #Nunslaughter #Review #Reviews #SadisticIntent #SwedishMetal

🇬🇧 I think I should have checked out Cruciamentum far earlier than I did. This is _really_ good stuff.

https://cruciamentum.bandcamp.com/track/charnel-passages

#Cruciamentum #DeathMetal #UK #US #Bandcamp

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THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From FUTURE STATIC, CRUCIAMENTUM & More Out Today 11/24
Plus releases from Birdmask, Helga, Future Static, Laang, and The Breathing Process.

https://metalinjection.net/upcoming-releases/heavy-new-releases/the-weekly-injection-new-releases-from-future-static-cruciamentum-more-out-today-11-24

#FutureStatic #Cruciamentum #MetalRelease #MetalNewRelease #MetalInjection #MetalMusic #HeavyMetal #11_24_17