Ruinous Power – EXTREME DANGER: Prototype Weaponry Review

By Kenstrosity

As I get older, I grow ever more tired of labels. Yes, it’s helpful to have a baseline frame of reference for what something is, but lately, I find myself abandoning these kinds of single-use terms in favor of something more substantial and descriptive. So, when Canada’s Ruinous Power entered my review rotation, I allowed myself more room than ever before to interpret what they craft outside of the multitudinous boxes in which they could fit. A newer outfit comprised by members of Egregore and Mitochondrion (among many other bands) in 2021, Ruinous Power incubated their debut record EXTREME DANGER: Prototype Weaponry until its inevitable escape from the confines of twisted minds into meatspace, where it corrupts all who would encounter it.

Based on the lore and aesthetics of the Warhammer 40k franchise, Prototype Weaponry takes what on the surface sounds like blackened death metal, endows it with a raucous thrall of thrash, and imbues within it an eerie, synth-woven atmosphere. Comparisons to both Mitochondrion and Egregore are apt, placing Ruinous Power comfortably inside that family tree of skronked-up up blackened death pedigree. However, that extra dose of mutated thrash allows a twist of The Outer Limits Voivod to pulse beneath the skin, while Ulthar‘s unearthly, necrotic limb hovers just over Ruinous Power’s writhing flesh. Juggling long-form excursions into the murky abyss with violent expulsions of a much more expeditious nature, Ruinous Power embodies Prototype Weaponry with a restless, anxious energy and equips it with lethal armaments liable to destroy us all.

Prototype Weaponry wields those armaments with aplomb despite its unpredictable nature, expertly balancing impenetrable discordance with highly accessible rhythms and infectious repetition. Ten-minute opening epic “But What of Sacred Mars?” takes tumbling, scraping riffs in stride, sticking the landing with a proggy companion motif that ripples with lean power. Pumping that momentum for five minutes, this track takes its rest and allows a bass-led, Mare Cognitum-esque second act to immerse the listener with lush instrumental developments. In doing this, Ruinous Power prepare the listener for what’s to come, and what’s to come is unchecked destruction. “The Long Game,” “Kneel,” and album highlight “+++ Engine Kill +++” represent Prototype Weaponry’s most vicious salvos. All three toss the listener clear across a dystopian battlefield with tearing leads evoking a sooty and scrawled Portal-ish visage (“The Long Game”), relentless riffs that refuse to adhere to either death metal or thrash metal conventions while still inheriting many of their physical traits (“Kneel,” “+++ Engine Kill +++”), and an uncanny sense of melody that defies Ruinous Power’s inhuman lust for aural obliteration (“The Long Game”). So as to not deprive the listener of a cohesive experience, Ruinous Power stitches these divergent anatomies together with strange, but never unfamiliar, connective tissue in such a way that transitions between seemingly incompatible segments provide the context necessary to justify their positioning at every joint.

In this way, Prototype Weaponry proves that Ruinous Power’s experience with the weird and wild pays dividends even when crafting more straightforward material than their more notable main projects. However, a few nagging concerns remain. Though its myriad riffs and motifs feel fresh and vital in the context of the greater metalverse, Protoype Weaponry also toys with self-plagiarism a little too closely in its album-wide microcosm. “The Descent of the Host” inherits an assortment of its constituent building blocks from the motifs introduced by “But What of Sacred Mars?” and “+++ Engine Kill +++,” and some of the arpeggiated wiggles and runs featured on “Cerebrum Malefice” feel all too familiar to those on earlier cuts like “Kneel.” On a separate note, with an album as tight as Prototype Weaponry—a mere thirty-one minutes, rounding up—instrumental interludes like the title track provide very little outside of superficial atmosphere, taking away from the whole rather than bolstering it.

As the dust clears and the bodies are counted, Prototype Weaponry stands strong and victorious, but the battle left a few weak points exposed. Not to be deterred by mere flesh wounds, Ruinous Power used their extensive past experience crafting dense, oppressive extreme metal to make a bold statement inside a more accessible framework. Thus, Prototype Weaponry earns my overall recommendation. Its riffs break necks as easily as they invite spirited imagination. Its dynamic structures immerse as readily as they immolate. Its presence enthralls as deeply as it terrifies. If that entices you even in the slightest, and you crave EXTREME DANGER, secure yourself some Prototype Weaponry today!

Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Website: Too Kvlt for Webz
Releases Worldwide: February 28th, 2025

#2025 #35 #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #DeathMetal #DissonantBlackMetal #DissonantDeathMetal #Egregore #EXTREMEDANGERPrototypeWeaponry #Feb25 #I #MareCognitum #Mitochondrion #Portal #Review #Reviews #RuinousPower #ThrashMetal #Ulthar #VoidhangerRecords #Voivod

Stuck in the Filter: November and December 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

Seeing as how it’s already almost February, you must be wondering why we’re still talking about shit from 2024. Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I didn’t give my minions grueling tasks just so that I could not take the glory for their labors. That wouldn’t embody this blog’s continual aspiration of being terrible capitalists! And so, we press on, searching and rescuing worthy—but not too worthy—pledges for the barbaric, Hunger Games-esque event that is Stuck in the Filter.

BEHOLD! Gaze upon these late-year candidates with the appropriate levels of awe, ye ov little consequence!

Kenstrosity’s Wintry Wonders

Caelestra // Bastion [December 13th, 2024 – Self Release]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For this sponge, I know something is beautiful when it ensnares me into otherworldly environments unlike those which mirrors terrestrial mundanity. UK post-metal one-man act Caelestra specializes in such ethereal worlds, with debut record Black Widow Nebula catching my attention under its blazing miasma of Countless Skies lushness, Astronoidal optimism, and Dreadnought-esque compositional vibrancy. Follow-up Bastion treads much the same path, but with an added emphasis on cathartic spells of intensity reminiscent of current Irreversible Mechanism (“Finisterre”), Kardashev (“Soteria”), or Devin Townsend (“The Hollow Altar”). Balancing these potentially disparate references, mastermind Frank Harper’s compositions flow with an uncanny smoothness without falling into a pit of homogeny. Bastion thereby represents a varied and textured affair built upon compelling guitar leads, unexpected riffs, multifaceted vocal techniques, and athletic percussive movements (“Finisterre,” “Lightbringer,” “The Hollow Altar”). Choosing the long form as Caelestra’s primary vehicle for this musical journey only deepens the experience, as each act offers a wide spectrum of moods, a rich tapestry of characters, and a lush layering of story to enrich any listener’s journey through Bastion (“Lightbringer,” “Eos”). Yet, the whole coheres tightly into a memorable and accessible forty-eight-minute span, easily replayable and effortlessly enjoyable. That, more than anything, makes Bastion a neat little triumph worth checking out.

Earthbound // Chronos [November 26th, 2024 – Self Release]

I have the honor of claiming this find all to my own—something that hasn’t occurred as often this past year as it has in those preceding. Bristol’s Earthbound offer a particular brand of melodic death metal that I want to love more often than I actually do, but they checked all my boxes here. Occupying a space somewhere between Amorphis, Countless Skies, and Dark Tranquillity, Earthbound’s style is simultaneously effervescent, introspective, and crushing on debut record Chronos. Boasting chunky riffs, soaring leads, classic melodeath rhythms, and buttery-smooth baritone vocals, Chronos throws blow after blow for forty-nine minutes of high-engagement material. Looking at standout tracks “A Conversation with God,” “The Architect,” “Cloudburst,” “Aperture,” and “Transmission,” Earthbound’s compelling songwriting tactics and knack for a killer hook recall underappreciated gems by modern contemporaries Rifftera and Svavelvinter. Some of their most accessible moments almost, but not quite, veer into pop-levels of accessibility, further accentuating Earthbound’s infectious energy (“Change,” “Flight,” “Transmission,” “Chasing the Wind”). This works marvelously in Earthbound’s favor, not only making Chronos a joy to listen to in its own right but also impressing me with how polished and professional the band is with only one full-length under the belt. Don’t let this one fall through the cracks!

Flaahgra // Plant Based Anatomy [November 15th, 2024 – Self Release]

WWWWOOOOOORRRRRRMMMHHHHHHOOO… wait, what? Oh, no, this is Flaahgra. But, the riffs sound like my beloved Wormhole! What’s going on? Oh, well this explains it. Sanil Kumar of Wormhole fame is responsible for Plant Based Anatomy’s guitar work. Rounded out by Tim “Toothhead” Lodge (bass), Chris Kulak (drums), and Anthony Michelli (vocals), this Baltimore quartet concoct a fast-paced, riff-burdened blunderbuss of gurgling vegan slam meatier than the fattest flank this side of Texas. It may be based around plants (and Metroid), but there are enough muscular grooves, neat lead work, and boisterous percussive rhythms here to keep even the most ravenous death fiend stuffed to the stamen (“Blood Flower,” “Toxic Green Fluid,” “Solar Recharge,” “Plant Based Anatomy”). Oversaturated with killer hooks, Plant Based Anatomy feels every bit as headbangable as this group’s pedigree indicates, but their application is delightfully straightforward, allowing Sanil’s standard-setting slams to shine brightest (“Plant Based Anatomy,” “Garden Cascade,” “Venom Weed Atrocity”). At a lean twenty-five minutes, Plant Based Anatomy rips through my system as efficiently as any grease-laden, overstuffed fast-food chimichanga, leaving just as vivid an impression in its wake. If there was ever a quick and easily digestible example of what differentiates really good slam from two-buck upchuck, Plant Based Anatomy is it. FFFLLAAAAHHHHGGGRRRAAAA!

Tyme’s Time Turners

Solar Wimp // Trails of Light [November 15th, 2024 – Self Release]

The richly dense knowledge and tastes of the commentariat here at AMG are a marvel. And despite the long hours of hard work the staff put in writing and keeping Redis at bay, not to mention the gut-wrenching task of pumping the n00b sump pit every Friday1 we continue to scour tons of promo to bring you the best and the rest of all things metal(ish). Invariably, some things trickle up from our most precious readers that deserve more attention than a few rando comments and respects. Such is the case with L.A.’s Solar Wimp. It was during my most recent stint in2 continued n00bdom that I scoped one of our commenters pimping the Wimp‘s who released, sadly to me now, their last album, Trails of Light, in November. As my ears absorbed the immediately quirky dissonance of the opener, “Entwined with Glass,” I was reminded of how blown away I was upon hearing Jute Gyte for the first time, this more due to my un-expectations than anything else. What followed was a journey I happily embarked on through fields of saxophonic freedom (“Strand and Tether”) and forests of long-form avant-garde brilliance (“Shimmer”). The black(ish) metal vocals and tech-jazz guitar histrionics of Jeremy Kerner, combined with Justin Brown’s bassinations and Mark Kimbrell’s drums, imbue so much passion into the music on Trails of Light, it has me guessing Solar Wimp may have very well saved their best for last. While I’m sure you’re ready to move on from 2024, I’d encourage you to dip back into last year’s well for a bit and give Solar Wimp’s Trails of Light a listen or five.

Thus Spoke’s Fallen Fragments

Yoth Iria // Blazing Inferno [November 8th, 2024 – Edged Circle Productions]

Yoth Iria’s sophomore Blazing Inferno arrived with little fanfare, which is a shame because they’re very good at what they do. Their brand of Hellenic black metal even charmed a 3.5 out of GardensTale with their 2021 debut As the Flame Withers. The new album very much picks up where its predecessor left off, in musical content as well as the fact that Yoth Iria clearly have a thing for giant demonic figures dwarfing human civilization. In a refreshingly to-the-point format, the group3 serve up some solid, groovy Satanic triumphalism that belies the relatively diminutive breadth of the songs that contain it. With thundering drums (“In the Tongue of Birds,” “We Call Upon the Elements”), spirited guitar leads (“But Fear Not,” “Mornings of the One Thousand Golds”), and a collection of classic growls, ominous whispers, and cleans, Yoth Iria craft engaging and very enjoyable compositions. Tracks manage to hold atmosphere and presence without detracting from the dopamine-producing tremolo twists and wails of drawn-out melody (title track, “Rites of Blood and Ice,” “Mornings…”) that draw it all together. This is black metal that makes you feel good about allying with the light-bringer. Not in any highbrow way, of course, just with great riffs, the right amount of tension and nuance, and convincingly massive compositions that steer away from the overwrought and cringe-inducing. It’s just plain good.

Botanist // VII: Beast of Arpocalyx [December 6th, 2024 – Self-Release]

Though recorded all the way back in 2016, the music of Beast of Arpocalyx has not seen the light until now. The seventh installment in the esoteric, botanical saga, VII: Beast of Arpocalyx focuses on plants with mythological animal associations. In comparison to last May’s Paleobotany, this is the solo work of founder Otrebor yet the heart of Botanist’s music has never been compromised. The distinctive tones of hammered dulcimer, make the black metal ring—literally and metaphorically—with playful mysticism when they engage in chirruping and cheerful refrains (“Wolfsbane,” “The Barnacle Tree”) and a weird eeriness when they stray into the dissonant (“The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary,” “Floral Onyx Chiroptera”). Nothing is substantially different here, but Botanist’s style is an enjoyably quirky one that I, at least, am always happy to indulge in. In many ways, this is not far removed from raw black metal, with the prominent chimes of (not always tuneful) melodicism wrapping snarls and rasps in an iridescent veil that makes the psychedelic turns from whimsical peace to urgent and barbed blastbeat aggression (“The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary,” “The Paw of Anigozanthos”) very compelling, pleasant even. Yeah, it’s kind of weird to hear chorals or synths under blackened rasps and clanging drums, while a dulcimer warbles along. But when the weirdness nonetheless succeeds in developing an atmosphere and inducing a desire to garner a similarly obsessive knowledge of flora, I can’t really complain.

Killjoy’s Atmospheric Attractions

Nishaiar // Enat Meret [December 5, 2024 – Self-Release]

2024 may technically be over, but there were a few releases in December that keep dragging my attention back to last year. First up is Nishaiar from Gondar, Ethiopia, whose sound resides at the unlikely intersection of traditional Ethiopian music, post-black metal, and Enya-style New Age. Coming off an arduous release schedule that yielded an EP and 5 full-lengths in only 4 years, Nishaiar took some extra time to recharge since Nahaxar in 2021. The results are readily apparent–Enat Meret features some of the punchiest material the band has written to date. “Yemelek” combines folk instruments, vibrant male chanting, and rending screams. An important element that elevates Enat Meret is the addition of a full-time female vocalist, whose moniker also happens to be Enat Meret. Her voice ranges from ethereal (“Idil”) to wistful (“Enat Midir”) to commanding (“Beheke”). There is some bloat—intro track “Semayawi” repeats itself for too long and “Awedal” through “Alem” leans too hard into atmosphere to be suitable for active listening. Even so, this is an album unlike any other you’re likely to hear anytime soon.

Atra Vetosus // Undying Splendour [December 20, 2024 – Immortal Frost Productions]

Next up is Atra Vetosus, who came to me by way of rec-master TomazP. Undying Splendour is a captivating work of atmospheric black metal that tempers the wanderlust of Skyforest with the melodic trem-picked fury of Mare Cognitum. It’s stuffed with triumphant, uplifting guitar melodies that contrast compellingly with mournful, anguished shouts and screams. Like a flowing stream, the graceful orchestrations smooth out any rough edges in their path, pairing exceptionally well with the rhythm section in the intro of “Forsaking Dreaded Paths.” The brawny bass lines throughout the album add satisfying oomph and the drumming is constantly engaging with lots of fleeting tempo shifts (“This Fallow Heart”) and expansive tom rolls (“Elysian Echoes”). Atra Vetosus have perfected the difficult art of long-form atmoblack—all the proper songs on Undying Splendour are between 7 and 11 minutes long and, crucially, feel purposeful without meandering. Though atmoblack is often maligned, I’ll happily get behind Atra Vetosus as one of the new standard bearers of the genre at its very best.

Skagos // Chariot Sun Blazing [December 21, 2024 – Self-Release]

They say that good things come to those who wait. Skagos makes an excellent case for this expression with Chariot Sun Blazing, an appropriate title given the tremendous glow-up that the atmospheric black metal group underwent since releasing Anarchic in 2013. While their woodsy black metal has always maintained similarities with the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room (who are also based in Olympia, Washington), this time around the music is infused with a real live string quartet and a two-horn section4. The effects of this additional instrumentation run way more than skin deep; Chariot Sun Blazing feels and flows like an actual symphony. For instance, the combination of the Wagner tuba with guitar plucking in the beginning of “Which in Turn Meet the Sea” evoke a misty morning which gradually warms up with guitar and string crescendos to thaw the leftover frost. The compositions are introspective and intimate, which is refreshing when compared with the usual grandiosity and bombast of symphonic music (metal or otherwise). While there’s nothing wrong with the raspy vocals, this is a rare instance when I would be completely okay if this were an instrumental album. This is an experience absolutely not to be missed.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Late-Blooming Bustles

Alarum // Recontinue [November 8th, 2024 – Self Release]

So many bands in the progressive and technical lanes forget to have fun. Not long, unheralded Australian prog/thrash/jazz fusion-heads Alarum, though. Truth be told, I had forgotten this band existed sometime before their 2011 release Natural Causes all up until about September of 2024 when I caught wind of this new release, Recontinue. Their oddball, heavily Cynic-inspired 2004 opus Eventuality… had stood the test of time in my archives plenty for its wild fusion antics woven into a riff-tricky, bass-poppin’ technical platform. And here, twenty years later, little has changed at Alarum’s foundation. A few things have shifted for the better, though, namely Alarum finding a more balanced resonance in production brightness and clarity, which helps highlight the flirtatious bass play of tracks like “The Visitor” and “Footprints” come to life. Additionally, this crisp and cutting mix allows the joyous neoclassical shredding escapades to carve a blazing path toward textures and alien warbles with a Holdsworth-ian charm (“Zero Nine Thirty,” “Awaken by Fire”). But, most importantly, Alarum continues to bring an ever-shuffling thrash energy similar to early Martyr works (“Imperative,” “Unheard Words,” “Into Existing”) while continuing to remember to toss in off-the-wall detours, like the funk-wah intro of “A Lifelong Question” or the bossa nova outro of “The Visitor.” Recontinue, as a late-career release from a continual dark horse from the land down under remains a consistent joy for the ears. If you’ve never heard Alarum to this point, and you’ve always wished that a jazzy, Cynic-inspired band would come around with a more metal attitude than the current trajectory of their inspirations, get Recontinue in your ears as soon as possible. And if, like me, you’ve fallen of the righteous path, know that time can correct all sorts of silly mistakes.

Gorging Shade // Inversions [November 11th, 2024 – Self Release]

With a sound that is as otherwordly and looming as it is terrestrial and bass-loaded, Gorging Shade has taken a vigorous and shaking progressive death metal form. The proficiency with which every performer weaves disparate melodic lines through echoing, ghastly samples and chaotic, witchy background chatter does not come entirely as a surprise, as the entire roster consists of the members of instrumental progressive act Canvas Solaris. Mood, atmosphere and a bellowing howl, though, separate this incarnation of Georgia’s finest. But the eerie space that Inversions inhabits too has manifested as a collective of talents on display with another offshoot from this act, the dark industrial Plague Pslams (composed of bassist Gael Pirlot and drummer Hunter Ginn, who also currently plays with Agalloch). As an experience layered between the history of sounds these tech wizards have created, Inversions lands dense and challenging. At its core, a rhythmic stomp propels each of its tracks alongside percussive riffs that echo the constant motion of Cynic, the blackened scrawl of Emperor, and the melancholy triumph of Ulcerate swells. But in a package uniquely Gorging Shade, a world emerges from each carefully constructed narrative. Sometimes energy rushes forth (“Disease of Feeling, Germed”). At others, noises creaking and crawling lay teasing grounds for careful exploration (“Ordeal of the Bitter Water,” “A Concession of Our City to Modernity”). Whatever the mode of attack, Gorging Shade delivers in a classic and meticulous wall of sound—perhaps a touch too volume-loaded on occasion—that hits first in waves of melodic intrigue, second in aftershocks of plotted and studied efforts. Its later in the year released may have kept Inversions’ treasures more hidden than I would have liked. The beauty of music, of course, is that we may sit with it as little or as long as we wish to parse its tireless arrangement.

#2024 #Agalloch #Alarum #AmericanMetal #Amorphis #Astronoid #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AtraVetosus #AustralianMetal #AvantGardeMetal #BlackMetal #BlazingInferno #Botanist #Caelestra #CanvasSolaris #ChariotSunBlazing #Chronos #CountlessSkies #Cynic #DarkTranquility #DeathMetal #Dec24 #DevinTownsend #Dreadnought #Earthbound #EdgedCircleProductions #Emperor #EnatMeret #Enya #EthiopianMetal #Flaahgra #GorgingShade #GreekMetal #Holdsworth #ImmortalFrostProductions #Inversions #IrreversibleMechanism #JuteGyte #Kardashev #MareCognitum #martyr #MelodicDeathMetal #Nishaiar #Nov24 #PlaguePsalms #PostBlackMetal #PostMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Recontinue #Review #Reviews #Rifftera #RottingChrist #SelfRelease #Skagos #Skyforest #Slam #SolarWimp #StuckInTheFilter #Svavelvinter #TechDeath #TechnicalDeathMetal #TrailsOfLight #UKMetal #Ulcerate #UndyingSplendour #VIIBeastOfArpocalyx #WolvesInTheThroneRoom #Wormhole #YothIria

Labyrinthus Stellarum – Vortex of the Worlds [Things You Might Have Missed 2024]

By GardensTale

Black metal and outer space are an excellent match, playing off the cold, cruel, and distant properties they both share. Bands like Arcturus, Mesarthim and Mare Cognitum have explored the reaches of the galaxy in their own ways. But the newest forerunners of this particular niche come from an unlikely background. Brothers Alexander and Misha Andronati, 24 and 17 years old respectively, launched Labyrinthus Stellarum back in 2021 and have persisted through the rain of bombs and shrapnel that’s since descended on their hometown of Odesa, Ukraine. Vortex of the Worlds is their second album, and it has made weekly returns to my spaceship comms ever since I first heard it back in April.

Labyrinthus Stellarum plays a brand of melodic black metal infused through and through with synthesizer magic, piping futuristic trance through aggressive metal assaults. Taking care of lead melody and atmospherics alike, the versatility of the keys and their expert implementation are the shining stars here. There are traces of pre-hiatus …and Oceans, as well as Mesarthim. But Vortex of the Worlds is more organic and atmospheric than the former, yet more concrete and grounded than the latter. Abandoning the screams and guitars would still leave you with an awesome science fiction soundtrack, something that would not be amiss in a Metroid game or No Man’s Sky. But the rhythm guitar, intelligently programmed drums and Alexander’s raw scream combine with the bleep-bloops into a more sinister spectacle, ready to summon unknowable beings from across the universe.

The addictiveness of Labyrinthus Stellarum is down to a level of songwriting far beyond the founders’ years or experience. Every single hook is an absolute banger, from the bouncy blips of “Transcendence” to the quirky split-ascending hook and explosive hard trance of “Interstellar Wandering,” and the lonely echoing melody that sketches a deep space melancholy of the title track. Each of the 6 tracks feels wholly unique, even if some compositional tricks lean towards overuse (the ‘nothing but the synths with an underwater filter’ bridge occurs at least once per song). “The Light of Dying Worlds” is grand and ominous, the soundtrack to Elder Gods tearing down reality, which contrasts with the pulsing nightclub vibes of “Downfall” which outlines an unholy combination of cyberpunk and cosmic horror.

With a tight 37-minute runtime, the album is devoid of fat, even in the longer compositions. The production is slightly woolly, but once I got used to this, it actually feels fitting for an album on the suffocating horrors of deep space. With every spin, Labyrinthus Stellarum amazes me more. The artists are young, their circumstances are harsh, yet the sophistication, eye to detail, and compositional excellence are absolutely out of this world. Vortex of the Worlds leaves you wanting more as soon as the last note fades.

Tracks to Check Out: ”Transcendence,” “Downfall,” “Vortex of the Worlds”

#AndOceans #Arcturus #LabyrinthusStellarum #MareCognitum #MelodicBlackMetal #Mesarthim #SelfReleased #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed #ThingsYouMightHaveMissed2024 #TYMHM #UkrainianMetal #VortexOfTheWorlds

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#MetalInjection
10 Extremely Underrated Black Metal Albums

https://metalinjection.net/lists/10-extremely-underrated-black-metal-albums

#BestialSummoning #Dawn #Fleurety #MareCognitum #ObtainedEnslavement #Parabellum #Profanatica #SpectralLore #Trom #Windir

Liminal Shroud – Visions of Collapse Review

By Carcharodon

It’s nice when an old friend comes to visit. You know, that friend who you don’t sit down with very often but, when you do, it’s easy and fun, and you remember why you were friends in the first place. Sure, they’ll have some news, they’ll be a little bit older (so will you, buddy boy!) and, who knows, they might have even matured a bit. But fundamentally it’s going to be a low-effort, really good time. That’s how I felt when I saw that British Columbia’s Liminal Shroud were dropping third record, Visions of Collapse. The trio’s debut, Through the False Narrows, caught my attention with its crushing, organic, almost Agallochian brand of atmoblack, and squeezed a(n obviously very correct) 4.0 out of me, late in 2020. Upping the atmospheric quotient, their sophomore record, 2022’s All Virtues Ablaze, was another great album, scored as such. Still recognizably Liminal Shroud, it refined their sound, adding complexity and melodicism to the pitch-black misery. Quietly confident I’m going to love it and score it highly, I press play on Visions of Collapse.

“Yeeesssss,” croons my inner me, wriggling a little deeper into my armchair, as the sonorous chords of opener “Nocturnal Phosphorescence” wash over me. I can physically feel the build, as Aidan Crossley’s guitar collects deft cymbal touches and light percussion, like a snowball gathering pace downhill. It duly rips into me, as Drew Davidson’s kit blasts into life, and Rich Taylor’s bass line adds that organic fluidity that defines Liminal Shroud. On Visions of Collapse, adorned in that gorgeous cover art, the band absolutely nails the opening to each of the record’s five songs, which sound like they were lab-grown to appeal to me. From the opener, through the lithe, shimmering guitar line that dances its way into life on “Nucleonic Blight” and the doom-laden menace of “Resolve”‘s opening salvo, to closer “The Carving Scythe”‘s drum solo start (during which I flashback to Death’s “Scavenger of Human Sorrow”), each track gets a little frisson of excitement going as it starts.

For those who have followed the band to date, Visions of Collapse is closer in tone to All Virtues Ablaze, than it is to the debut. The songwriting, described by the band as “serpentine,” prioritizes flow and progression, over all-out assault, a feeling emphasized by the scattered non-harsh vocal passages. That’s not to say that Liminal Shroud has abandoned black metal, but the blazing front end of “Nucleonic Blight” gives way to a closing third that is decidedly ponderous and introspective, recalling the two-part closer from All Virtues Ablaze. Similarly, the soaring guitar melody that rears up around the 3-minute mark in album highlight “Malaspina,” and carries that track beautifully to its close, feels like it could have been ripped, screaming out of Mare Cognitum’s Solar Paroxysm.

However—and I’m afraid there is a “however”—Visions of Collapse doesn’t quite land for me. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good album, with some top-tier material (“Malaspina” and the front half or so of “Nucleonic Blight” are as good as anything the band has written to date), but the album as a whole lacks bite. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why but I think the fault is shared between songwriting and production. While only 44 minutes long, which to my mind is just about perfect for this style, the record feels longer. Liminal Shroud’s description of the material as serpentine is spot on: fluid, and elegant but lacking any real peaks or spiky edges. It’s not that the harshness is missing—the rasping vocals are wrapped in crushed glass, Davidson’s beats blast, Crossley’s tremolos are subzero—but, other than the track openings, those epic, fist-clenching moments or riffs that demand your attention are largely missing. This is compounded by the production, which, despite the DR rating, sounds a bit flat and one-dimensional, stripping the guitars in particular of their bite.

Alright, it may also be that Visions of Collapse doesn’t quite meet my very high expectations but, while I try not to review albums simply by reference to a band’s previous efforts, it’s impossible not to draw comparisons. And, when one does that, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that, although this is undoubtedly good, Liminal Shroud haven’t matched either the raw, organic edge of Through the False Narrows, or the epicness of cuts like “Transmigration II – The Cleansing Ash” from All Virtues Ablaze. Three albums into their career, this is the first thing approaching a misstep from Liminal Shroud and it only qualifies as such by reference to their excellence to date.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: liminalshroud.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/liminalshroudofficial
Releases Worldwide: July 5th, 2024

#2024 #30 #Agalloch #AllVirtuesAblaze #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #Death #Jul24 #LiminalShroud #MareCognitum #Review #Reviews #ThroughTheFalseNarrows #WillowtipRecords

Cutterred Flesh – Love at First Bite Review

By Kenstrosity

Czech brutal tech hash-slinging slashers Cutterred Flesh ought to hold a seminar on pairing cheeky artwork with equally cheeky album names. Three years ago, the five-banger released the whimsically titled Sharing is Caring and paired it with imagery befitting its title and the brutality it contained. Today, Cutterred Flesh prepare their sixth assault, entitled Love at First Bite, and with it another gruesome but tongue-in-cheek slab of paint. Needless to say, just like before, this combo instantly makes this artwork one of my favorites of the year so far. The question remains, then, whether the album’s content can enamor me the same way as does its cover.

Cutterred Flesh chose not to fix what ain’t broken. Love at First Bite remains a brutal tech death record at its core, continuing right where Sharing is Caring left off. If you aren’t familiar with their work, Cutterred Flesh’s current sound starts with a strong Deeds of Flesh and Suffocation backbone, warped by the crushing bounce and swagger of Abysmal Torment. Using this concoction as a starting point, Cutterred Flesh routinely carve out a distinct approach time after time. In 2021, the Czech troupe accomplished this by using mournful melodies to create moments of unlikely beauty that belied their gory grit. Love at First Bite makes a lateral move from that space into environs more atmospheric, eerie, and oddly uplifting. Subtle and restrained use of bright (perhaps even major key in one spot) tremolos and airy atmospheric black metal lines trace fine streaks of drama and grandeur to songs which otherwise fit standard brutal death and tech molds (“Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding,” “The Last Supper”). Armed with these gentle touches, Love at First Bite creates an intriguing brutal death experience that might grab a wider audience than your standard fare.

Even if I focus solely on the sections of Love at First Bite that fall solely under the typical brutal tech architecture, a fair portion of Cutterred Flesh’s material feels more engaging than the norm. Examples such as “Xenomorphic Annihilation—Earth Ravaged,” “Human Protein Concentrate,”1 and “Descent into Torment of Abyssal Whispers” do absolutely nothing new or novel. Nonetheless, they stand out as quality pieces in the medium thanks to extremely hooky riffs and mighty grooves. Late album cuts like “The Last Supper” succeed as well in part because Cutterred Flesh apply fresher techniques to the standard blueprint for slammy brutality, making its main themes extra memorable and impactful. That said, there’s still no ignoring the fact that these otherwise strong numbers lack enough novelty to elevate them as much as Cutterred Flesh certainly could have.

On the flipside, Love at First Bite’s more explorative tunes—such as the deceptively interesting “Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding” and the rip-roaring triumph that is “Amanda”—make a strong case for the direction Cutterred Flesh ventured. By integrating atmospheric black metal twists and more uplifting melodies into their gruesome gruel, an unlikely synergy ascends. The spine-tingling final third of “Repeated Intersexual Misunderstanding” transforms what would otherwise be a bog standard brutal beatdown into a minor epiphany, its major harmonies striking a rare nerve that this genre never sets out to interact with in the first place. Meanwhile, “Amanda” draws from the cosmic well from which Mare Cognitum‘s epic majesty springs and reformulates it to fit a more violent, explosively energetic mission. Other tracks accomplish similar transmutations to a lesser extent, of course (see “Descent into Torment of Abyssal Whispers” and “The Last Supper”), but none are as successful as the aforementioned. Unfortunately, as Cutterred Flesh massage and flex newly acquired songwriting muscles, they tend to leave their brutal tech core somewhat atrophied in spots, weakening critical moments that required meteoric impact in order for this pairing of aesthetics to work best (“Code of Zuurith,” “Sarkam’s Wrath Unleashed”).

Consequently, Love at First Bite represents a record of several great moments amidst rock-solid material, but only a few wholly great songs. If listening with a non-critical eye, Cutterred Flesh’s latest offering possesses ample goodies to sate anyone’s bloodlust. I, however, want to see Cutterred Flesh push harder going forward. I believe they have something truly unique and unusual to offer the brutal tech-death scene, and at this point all I want is for this Czech cohort to really let me have it!

Rating: Good.
DR: 4 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Websites: facebook.com/CutterredFlesh | cutterredfleshband.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: May 24th, 2024

#2024 #30 #AbysmalTorment #BrutalDeathMetal #CutterredFlesh #CzechMetal #DeathMetal #DeedsOfFlesh #LoveAtFirstBite #MareCognitum #May24 #Review #Reviews #Suffocation #TechnicalDeathMetal #TranscendingObscurityRecords

Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star Review

By Kenstrosity

Ah, space. How little we know of thee. How awestruck we are by thine crushing beauty. It’s no surprise, as I noted in my review for Vorga’s debut record, Striving Toward Oblivion, that artists across various fields and mediums draw inspiration from the immense, unknowable thing that is space. With such a deep well to draw from—as much in terms of raw data and information as in fiction and imagination—I doubt even the relative microcosm of black metal could ever exhaust this rich and ever-expanding resource. Picking up right where they left off in 2022, German melodic black metal quartet Vorga blast off into the deepest reaches of inky blackness, dotted with brilliant stars, pillowy but fearsome nebulas, and countless worlds untouched. To infinity and Beyond the Palest Star!

Last time we checked in on Vorga, they adopted a greater focus on melody and atmosphere than exhibited on early EP’s, and to great effect. Combing the great expanse using tools similar to those of Mare Cognitum, Hoth, and Imperialist, the fledgling explorers carved out a distinctive voice and crafted some of the most engaging new melodic black metal I had the pleasure of reviewing during my tenure at AMG. After two years, Beyond the Palest Star offers more contemplative material to offset surges of adrenaline, evoking a greater sense of ebb and flow than before. While this does soften some of their new material more than many might want or expect, choosing this methodology imparts the faster and more fervent passages greater impact. Indeed, there’s part of me that initially pined for the consistent rush of Striving Towards Oblivion’s enthusiastic riffs and inspirational melodies. Yet, with time, I’ve come to appreciate Beyond the Palest Star’s more restrained and observant character.

Unlike previous outings, Beyond the Palest Star takes a moment to get going. As opener “Voideath” leans on atmospheric and gentler melodic elements to nudge the record carefully forward, the more energetic double-bass-led “The Sophist” ignites, propelling listeners with a sense of urgency felt as much as heard. Using its six-and-a-half minutes to evoke a deliberately extended chase through perilous deep-space worlds, “The Sophist” naturally justifies follow-up “Magical Thinking” taking the time to observe a new sector—beautifully blooming and creatively layered melodies coalescing against a backdrop of delicate sci-fi synth effects—with eager eyes. While the song isn’t especially immediate and won’t find many friends amongst those hordes of riff-fiends populating the metalverse, it is undoubtedly affecting and worthy of appreciation. The respite from unrestrained velocity it affords, in turn, maximizes the cratering impact of album highlight “The Cataclysm.” A violent, riff-focused piece with a shorter runtime, this number blasts off into hyperspace so powerfully when put in such proximity with “Magical Thinking” that I can’t help but feel my skin peel against mighty gravitational forces. Consequently, the second half of the record gains the necessary context to warp and intertwine ominous atmosphere with action-packed guitar work until the journey’s inevitable conclusion. That brings us to closer “Terminal,” which deals the album’s chunkiest riffs and weariest melodies in concert to conjure a final rest point after what was undoubtedly an equally taxing and awe-inspiring journey.

Ultimately, the way Beyond the Palest Star tells its story marks Vorga’s greatest strength. Beyond musical ability and taste level in style, Vorga’s main accomplishment on Beyond the Palest Star is album arrangement and pacing. Smart packaging decisions and brilliant composing form a dynamic, richly textured experience that doesn’t offer the immediacy of past works, but rather exhibits a compelling depth and maturity that belies the band’s youth. It’s a crying shame, then, that this record’s production represents a massive downgrade from previous works. Crushed, cluttered, and noisy, Beyond the Palest Star begs desperately for the clarity and breathing room of the last record. Especially considering Vorga’s gorgeous application of melody and atmosphere, I expect them to prioritize mixing and mastering choices that complement and support the immersive soundscapes they create. This production, sadly, works strongly against that goal.

Beyond the Palest Star is musically on par with the standard Vorga set for themselves two years ago, but listening to it presents a greater physical challenge. Such conflicts made Vorga’s sophomore LP more difficult to grade than I would’ve liked. At the end of the day, it’s the record’s unsuitable loudness that brought my score down from what I wanted to award. Nonetheless, Beyond the Palest Star is another compelling entry in Vorga’s annals of final frontier black metal, and I highly recommend giving it a whirl.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 51 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Websites: facebook.com/vorgaband | vorgaband.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: March 29th, 2022

#2024 #35 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BeyondThePalestStar #BlackMetal #GermanMetal #Hoth #Imperialist #Mar24 #MareCognitum #MelodicBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #TranscendingObscurityRecords #Vorga

Acathexis – Immerse Review

By Kenstrosity

At the risk of making light of a serious situation, I’ve been on the struggle bus as of late. My mental health nosedived somewhere in late February, for what reason I still don’t comprehend, and it’s been a trial and a tribulation to claw my way back out. Needless to say, during this difficult time, I haven’t been the best person to be around—lashing out against even the smallest jest, forgetfully neglecting my friends when they message to check on me, and isolating myself from everyone and everything out of shame and embarrassment. You’d think that, in the midst of all of this, I would reach for something uplifting to compensate. Instead, I cling to emotionally dour and violently depressive material, as it brings me a specific and rare kind of catharsis. Serendipity bore a cosmic kindness to me, then, when it delivered international depressive atmoblack project Acathexis’ long-awaited sophomore record, Immerse, into my clutches.

After the immensely affecting self-titled debut released at the end of 2018, Acathexis rapidly became one of my more closely watched new acts. A dream team of Mare Cognitum‘s Jacob Buczarski (drums), Déhà (guitars, bass), and Los Males del Mundo’s Dany Tee (vocals, lyrics) comprises the talent, and melancholic black metal rife with weeping melodies and misty atmosphere makes up the content. Long-form epics are the band’s bread and butter, with expansive, tremolo-laden tidal waves crashing down on the listener with devastating impact. If you’re looking for straightforward riffing and pumping rhythms, you won’t find them here. You will, on the other hand, find a trove of soaring leads, smooth blasts and double-bass runs, and a cavalcade of soul-rending wails, heart-wrenching rasps, and subterranean roars.

Over the course of these four songs, spanning across fifty minutes, the wonderfully collaborative nature of Immerse becomes crystal clear. At every turn, a gorgeous, shimmering lead blooms from the record’s core, bearing a conjoined Déhà/Mare Cognitum imprint that lights up the spine (“Dreams of Scorched Mirrors”). Coursing through the record’s veins, an undercurrent of Silver Knife‘s scathing character coalesces with Slow‘s woeful melody that, in tandem with the aforementioned shimmers, forms a lush and deeply immersive soundscape which handily lives up to the album’s title (“Adrift in Endless Tides,” “A Slow, Weary Wind”). Dany’s simply unhinged delivery not only marks him as one of the best vocalists in the style, but also often elevates these songs to a higher tier, particularly when unleashing high-pitched howls that seem to contain the tortured cries of a thousand haunted spirits (“Dreams of Scorched Mirrors,” “The Other”).

Much of my critique for Immerse falls under the same umbrella as that garnered by the majority of atmospheric black metal: overly strict adherence to limited songwriting formulas. Primarily invigorated by Jacob’s brilliant rhythmic pacing and percussive creativity (note the cymbal acrobatics in “Adrift in Endless Tides”), Déhà’s uncanny merger of each player’s respective sounds into deeply affecting melodies and sweeps, and Dany’s haunting voice, a lot of this material unfortunately presents a generic interpretation of the genre. Songwriting frameworks that challenge the genre standards or move the field into new territory just don’t occur over much of Immerse’s runtime. Instead, Acathexis banked on emotional immersion, immaculate detailing, and expressive delivery from each performer to bolster material that otherwise feels homogenous (“The Other”) or sounds repetitive (“A Slow, Weary Wind”). This is a risky move when playing a style maligned for its lack of dynamics or creativity, and while Acathexis just pulled it off this time, I worry that future efforts won’t fare so well without more concerted effort allotted to robust, evolving songwriting approaches.

Despite my misgivings regarding the continued application of a well-worn set of songwriting structures in this genre, there are precious few I trust more to build it well than those in Acathexis. Immerse doesn’t challenge any standards, and certainly won’t convert any naysayers. At the same time, I consider this record a beautiful, harrowing piece of depressive music. Moreover, it came to me at just the right time to strike at the heart. So, even though Immerse isn’t the game-changing record it could’ve been, that tempered bond I formed with it ensures that even after the fog lifts and the sun shines again, I’ll come back to Immerse without reservation.

Rating: Good!
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Labels: Amor Fati Productions (Physical) | Extraconscious Records (Digital)
Websites: facebook.com/acathexisband | acathexis.bandcamp.com
Releases worldwide: March 20th, 2024

#2024 #30 #Acathexis #AmericanMetal #AmorFatiProductions #ArgentinianMetal #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BelgianMetal #BlackMetal #Déhà #DepressiveBlackMetal #DSBM #ExtraconsciousRecords #Immerse #InternationalMetal #LosMalesDelMundo #Mar24 #MareCognitum #Review #Reviews #SilverKnife #Slow

Volcandra – The Way of Ancients Review

By Kenstrosity

My roommate and good friend once got to meet Kentucky melodic black metal troupe Volcandra at work while I was stuck doing something infinitely less fun, I’m sure. I know this because she, familiar with how deeply entrenched I am in the metal scene, messaged me to ask, “Hey, do you know this band called Volcandra?” I, of course, responded, “Yeah, they’re pretty good! Why?” She replied, to paraphrase, “Yeah, I just got to meet them, and they seem really cool and nice.” Imagine my thinly veiled jealousy as I came back with, “Oh that’s super cool!” She then told me that upon informing them I liked the cut of their jib.1 They said that that “made their day.”2 Now that I have their follow-up, The Way of Ancients, in my grasp, I can keep the good-vibes train rolling, as it has made my week!

The tags list “melodic black metal.” While that is accurate, Volcandra’s style isn’t your garden variety, cookie-cutter, toothless shlock. Fans of high-energy, potently venomous metal akin to The Black Dahlia Murder, Frozen Dawn, Carnosus, and Skeletonwitch should find much to love in The Way of Ancients’ deathly blend of thrashy, riffy, emotive black metal. As much as River Jordan’s and Jamie DeMar’s exciting guitar work evokes great beauty, so too does it wreak total havoc upon the Earth (“Birth of the Nephalem”). Whether pummeling the ground with blistering speed or ambling forward with relaxed grace, drummer Mike Hargrave performs with aplomb as the acrobatic driving force behind the album’s propulsive momentum (“Fouled Sanctity”). In his quest for compelling counterpoint and maximal heft, bassist Andrew Casciato weaves and wefts in and out of riffs and rhythms to create a consistent thread of interesting low-end fancies (“The Blackened Temple”). Atop it all, vocalist Dave Palenske runs the gamut of harsh styles, providing dynamics to best characterize these well-written stories of our hero, fighting valiantly against unknowable forces and horrid creatures (“Seven Tombs”).

If that all sounds enticing, that’s because it is. Throughout its tight forty-three-minute runtime, The Way of Ancients rips and roars relentlessly through eclectic melodic black metal soundscapes. While many of its best riffs populate pit-ready bangers, like “Birth of the Nephalim,” “Fouled Sanctity,” “Seven Tombs,” and “The Blackened Temple,” other strong offerings, like “Maiden of Anguish,” channel an ethereal thread of Mare Cognitum-esque beauty through affecting tremolos—creating a wonderfully engaging contrast. This particular approach, which already worked well on the debut, Into the Azure, integrates more smoothly into the whole this time around—transitioning between intensity and introspection, becoming almost seamless. For example, note how well the closer, “The Way of Ancients,” blends into the tender opening of “Birth of the Nephalem”. As a result, The Way of Ancients simply melts into your brain and blinds you to the passage of time, making revisits effortless and highly rewarding.

That leaves very little to criticize at first, but with more time and more focused spins, certain small quibbles arise. Loath though I am to speak on production most of the time, I do wonder if The Way of Ancients suffers at the hands of a strangely inconsistent bass kick tone. It sounds unnatural in some spots (“Seven Tombs”), but perfectly organic in others (“Not Even Death”), which occasionally disrupts my immersion. With Dave’s capable vox so far forward, certain sections of tremolo-heavy or cymbal-centric music clutter the soundstage slightly, especially noticeable after repeat spins (“Not Even Death” and “The Way of Ancients”). Additionally, there is one—but only one—song featured here that fails to make a memorable impact. “Nemesis Confession,” despite being competently written and fervently performed, stumbles just enough to derail album flow. I think the underlying issue is that, despite valiant attempts to blend swaths of eerie atmoblack with thrashy hints of dissonance, the result doesn’t mesh nearly as smoothly as The Way of Ancients’ best numbers.

Nonetheless, Volcandra is a very capable band writing highly compelling melodic black metal for those who want a beast with their beauty. The Way of Ancients is that beast. While it’s not perfect, it will more than satisfy fans of the style and could even bring in a few new converts. Don’t miss it!

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: volcandra.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/volcandra
Releases Worldwide: March 1st, 2024

#2024 #35 #AmericanMetal #BlackMetal #Carnosus #FrozenDawn #Mar24 #MareCognitum #MelodicBlackMetal #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #Skeletonwitch #TheBlackDahliaMurder #TheWayOfAncients #Volcandra