Cemican – U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj Review

By Kenstrosity

Hailing from Guadalajara, Mexico, folk-death septet Cemican caught my attention way back in 2019 with their third record, In Ohtli Teoyohtica In Miquiztli. Boasting strong riffcraft and a penchant for chimeric songwriting, Cemican’s unique style and compelling subject matter challenged what I expected from the death metal scene at the time. Focused on bringing to the fore the sounds, rhythms, and even the language of pre-Mexican indigenous peoples (specifically, Mayan), Cemican’s mission serves a cultural spirit lost to time colonialism. Depicting tales of ancient Mayan gods and legends, and based on the mysticism and ideology of Mayan culture, upcoming fourth outing, U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj, quickly earned my undivided attention.

U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj sees Cemican at their heaviest and most adventurous yet. Pounding drums of various disciplines hit with the impact of a titan’s fist on sacred ground, as roaring growls and ethereal chants swirl amongst stomping riffs and tempestuous tremolos. Soaring atop these storming pyrotechnics, an assortment of flutes (played by no fewer than five of Cemican’s seven musicians) sing ancestral melodies, sometimes in lockstep with the modern metallics, other times as an uplifting counterpoint. A rebellious heavy metal spirit influences a fair portion of Cemican’s songwriting this time around, going so far as to step boldly into the spotlight and overwrite the record’s death metal core entirely, twice (“El Niño que Contemplaba a las Estrellas,” “¿Dónde estás?”). Regardless of what corporeal form it takes, though, Cemican’s sound is epic, ancient, and massive.

At an hour and seven minutes, U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj sounds like a bloated mass desperate for self-editing on paper. Yet, six years of careful attention to detail result in 12 songs that all have something interesting and memorable to take home, and a wealth of ideas that support and even elevate those takeaways. Killer riffs in “Yóok ‘ol kaab Maya” work in tandem with wild flutes, squealing solos, and a somewhat unsteady chorus that feels natural in context with the composition, where it would feel clumsy elsewhere. Brutal speed intensifies “Los Guardianes de la Tierra” as blackened winds chill companion piece “Hun-Came” to the bone, creating a thrilling but well-timed shift from the chunky grooves of earlier bangers like “Tán tí le Xibalba” and powerful opener “Kukulkán Wakah Chan.” Even Cemican’s long-form excursions, which build sturdy bridges between tribal instrumentals, deadly heft, and ethereal melodicism, boast a compelling multitude of ideas, buttery-smooth transitions, and rich textures that easily justify their protracted runtimes (“Viaje Astral del Quetzal de Fuego,” “Horizonte de Almas”).

Of course, with so many ideas stuffed into one work, there are bound to be some kinks. For Cemican, those hiccups largely surface when they shift styles with no telegraphing. Such outliers as “El Niño que Contemplaba a las Estrellas” and “¿Dónde estás?” are good songs on their own. In particular, it’s surprising how successful “El Niño que Contemplaba a las Estrellas” is as a heavy/power epic. However, there’s very little connective tissue—right down to the lighter and cleaner guitar tone—that explains its existence in the album context, other than subject matter. “¿Dónde estás?” damages album cohesion in much the same way, and with somewhat less success than its album-mate due to less memorable writing and ballad-like wistfulness. Without these tracks, not only would U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj clock in at a more reasonable 56 minutes total, but it would feel more consistent and smooth. That said, “El Niño que Contemplaba a las Estrellas” would’ve made an excellent bonus track or even just a separate single that I’d happily recruit for playlist duty.

In sum, Cemican solidify their status as one of the more interesting acts in the death metal universe. Their adoption of indigenous music as part of their formula goes a long way towards setting them apart from their peers sonically, but it’s their fearless songwriting and meticulous detailing that seals the deal. U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj represents their most refined and compelling work to date, and while it has its missteps, even those would find purchase on another record better built to support them. It just goes to show how talented and skilled Cemican are. With this in mind, I look forward to spending more time enjoying U k’u’uk’ankil Mayakaaj, a qualified, but unique triumph.

Rating: Very Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: M-Theory Audio
Websites: cemican1.bandcamp.com/album/u-kuukankil-mayakaaj | facebook.com/pages/CEMICAN/320421353267
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025

#2025 #35 #Cemican #DeathMetal #FolkMetal #HeavyMetal #MTheoryAudio #MelodicDeathMetal #MexicanMetal #Oct25 #Review #Reviews #UKUUkAnkilMayakaaj

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Kalaveraztekah – Nikan Axkan

By Dolphin Whisperer

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”

The Rodeö is full of surprises. Today’s potential riff trap hails from the arid lands of Aguascalientes, Mexico, known most famously for its array of hot springs and National Museum of Death. Yes, in death Kalaveraztekah revels, and not just in a death metal groove indebted to the jagged scrawl of Morbid Angel or the destructive howl of early Behemoth. With a healthy inclusion of pre-Hispanic, indigenous instrumentation alongside their chunky and pinch-addled drive, Nikan Axkan churns and tumbles through chants and thunderous drum roll to shine a light on the Mexica culture and history of sacrifice and spirit world. To excavate the wonders that the adventurous Kalaveraztekah holds hidden in the underground, we’ve assembled a crack Rodeö crew, including an appearance from The Man, The Myth, The AMG Himself. Surely that means that everyone followed the word count, right? – Dolphin Whisperer

Kalaveraztekah // Nikan Axkan [May 2nd, 2025]

AMG Himself: Kalaveraztekah’s Nikan Axkan represents hopes and dreams that I have harbored for years. When will we finally get the seminal piece of Aztec-influenced extreme metal that will whet my appetite for both death metal and Mesoamerican history?1 With aplomb, these astonishingly unsigned Aguascalientes-ites2 do the fine job of balancing two equally vital parts of a single sound. Kalaveraztekah hits like a ton of bricks, dealing in death metal that’s neither old nor school, it’s just brutal and grindy, tempered only by peyote-fueled excursions into the netherworld. The core of their sound is brutal Mexican death metal replete with blasts and machine gun kicks, neck-damaging riffing, pig-squealing guitars, brutal growls (and occasionally less-brutal screamies) synced with the snare, and an intensity that I associate with writing reviews of bands like Vomitory or Crypta. It’s got the riffs and intensity with just a touch of melody, and I bask in its brutality and shreddy, squealy solos. Kalaveraztekah’s particular innovation in this sphere is the successful inclusion of traditional folk elements from the indigenous people located throughout Mexico, but which is today used almost exclusively for the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan (which is modern-day Mexico City).3 Kalaveraztekah’s focus on “Aztec Cosmogony” lends itself perfectly to the second part of their unique sound: dreamy folk soundscapes that they adapt seamlessly—and convincingly—when they shift gear. Driven by reverb-soaked soundscapes, Spanish guitars,4 and what I assume is a tlapitzalli (flute), the band lends atmosphere and dynamics that are necessary to offset a style of death metal that at times can risk monotony. And when they meet, these two sounds crash into each other like storm fronts, creating something beautiful and terrible to behold, simultaneously brutal and thoughtful, grindy and melodic, atmospheric and immediate. I fuckin’ love this shit.

Next up on my befolkened death metal bucketlist: the Olmecs! 4.0/5.0

Dear Hollow: What’s great about Kalaveraztekah is their ability to channel their heritage into an homage to the Mexica that sounds ancient, cosmic, and brutal. Featuring a blend not unlike the formidable shaman-themed Hell:on, the lethal fusion of cutthroat death metal and folk instruments offers balance: wild guitar solos, haunting flutes, terrifying death whistles, and ritualistic drums shine amid the no-frills Sulphur Aeon-esque riffs. While similarities to other Mexico-based Aztec- or Mayan-themed groups are unavoidable, Pre-Hispanic folk instrumentation is not mere novelty like it is for Ocelotl or Eunoë, nor is it an atmospheric saturation of bloody sacrifice in the manner of Aztlan or Cemican – rather, Kalaveraztekah uses ritualistic and ceremonial elements to amplify the cyclical cosmic grandiosity of the Five Suns in an album of both creation and devastation. Nikan Axkan offers riffs galore (“Tlazolteotl,” “Xiuhtekuhtli Weweteotl”), haunting overtures with spoken word that recall sacrificial ecstasy and the vast rotting realms of the gods (“Yowaltecuhtli,” “Illwikatl Meztli”), and just enough techy flavors of soaring intensity and dissonant menace to warrant diversity and complexity (“Xolotl Axolotl,” “Xiuhmolpili”). While the album is a tad overlong at nearly fifty minutes, Kalaveraztekah’s approach straddles the line between violently visceral and gloriously colossal – truly “el amanecer del nuevo sol” indeed. 4.0/5.0

Iceberg: I love it when an album requires me to do some research to unwrap its mysteries. Before I came across Nikan Axlan I had precious little knowledge of Aztec mythology. But now, thanks to Aguascalientes natives Kalaveraztekah, I can confidently tell my Xolotls from my Axolotls. Kalaveraztekah’s sonic template skews more groove than death metal, but the inclusion of a host of traditional instruments keeps the music refreshing and thoroughly unnerving. The tribal drums and wind instruments maintain a constant otherworldly atmosphere, and the extraneous vocal additions are excellent (the frantic spoken word of “Yowaltekuhtli” and the Wilhelm screams of “Xolotl Axolotl”). Kalaveraztekah aren’t content to sit in any one corner with their instruments either. The trebly blues tone of “Yowaltekuhtli” feels ripped from a Los Lonely Boys album, and the sweeping neoclassical riff that forms the backbone of “Xiuhmolpilli” screams symphodeath BOMBAST.5 The biggest drawback for me here is that in leaning so far into the groove metal style, the BPM goes stale in its mid-paced swagger. Given everything else that Kalaveraztekah unleashes on Nikan Axkan, I’m left wondering what this band would sound like if they really stepped on the gas and hit that NOS button (although the opening riff of “Wewekyotl” gets pretty damn close). That quibble aside, Nikan Axkan is a compelling and replayable record, and a great trip into the dark, bizarre world of Aztec mythology. I highly recommend this album for those looking for some tasty groove metal with a bit of strange on the side. 3.5/5.0

Alekhines Gun: Move over Tzompantli, there’s a new band in town. Channeling the instrumental flourishes of Nechochwen filtered through something adjacent to The Zenith Passage in production,6 Kalaveraztekah have presented a slab of agave scented folky melodic death so meticulously constructed and well produced that I’m actually stunned it’s an independent release. From the triumphant flourishes dotting the leads in “Yowaltekuhtli” to the thunderous tribal percussion-laced breakdowns in “Xiuhtekuhtli Weweteotl”, Nikan Axkan never wants for a variety of gripping moments. A sense of propulsion flows through the album, rendering the occasional interludes atmospheric rather than momentum-killing. Songs like “Xolotl Axolotl” feature heaps of skronk and tawngy tech only to instantly be offset by indigenous instruments and melodic atmospherics in equal measure. True, each individual track feels a bit long in the tooth and seem as though they could benefit from some editing, and I wish the bottom end didn’t sound so artificial. Nevertheless, every time I found myself thinking such thoughts I was suddenly blown away by some excellent new riff or lovely melody from wood instruments or percussion, slotting neatly into the album’s reasonable runtime. Nikan Axhan is an album with a remarkably matured and well-executed vision, and has been a gripping, engaging listen with each spin. Support this album. 3.5/5.0

Thyme: Most bands continually seek ways to bring originality into their work. For Aguascalientes, Mexico, five-piece death metal outfit Kalaveraztekah, that originality comes in the form of heaving helpings of Mesoamerican folk instrumentation, expertly woven into the deathly fabric of their sophomore album Nikan Azkan. Right off the bat, I felt transported to the middle of a Mexican rainforest as tribal drums and folkish guitar lines cede their delicate grip to Behemoth-like death riffs and a hellish vocal attack that rivals Nergal’s (“Nikan Axkan (El Aquí y El Ahora)”). When Nikan Azkan isn’t channeling Demigod levels of viciousness, its hybrid form of folk death conjures Roots-era Sepultura with sludgily dirty riffs, primitive death chants, and a plethora of indigenous instruments ranging from ocarinas to Aztec death whistles (“Xiuhtekuhtli Weweteotl (El Fuego Ancestral),” “Wewekoyotl (El Coyote Viejo)”). Kalaveraztekah brings loads of atmosphere to Nikan Axkan, especially on “Yowaltekuhtli (Un Sueño En La Oscuridad),” with its haunting instrumentation—the guitar work is top notch here—and the desperate, breathless pleas of the narrator conjuring tons of dramatic tension. On repeated spins, the magic within Nikan Axkan continues to unravel. While the meshing of Kalaveraztekah’s death metal—standard as it may be—with its folk-forward instrumentation tends to blur tracks together, enjoyment didn’t dissipate the more I listened. Fans of what Tzompantli are doing would be hard-pressed to miss this, and I suggest they don’t. 3.0/5.0

#AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2025 #Aztec #Behemoth #Crypta #DeathMetal #FolkMetal #GrooveMetal #HellOn #IndependentRelease #Kalaveraztekah #LosLonelyBoys #May25 #MexicanMetal #MorbidAngel #Nechochwen #NikanAxkan #ProgressiveDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #SelfRelease #Sepultura #SulphurAeon #Tzompantli #Vomitory

Phantom – Tyrants of Wrath Review

By Tyme

Vampires and castles and axes, oh my! In addition to a love for the video game Castlevania, these are some of the favorite things for Guadalajara, Mexico’s Phantom, reflected in the cool Meagan Lemay cover art. I had a fair amount of fun with Phantom‘s 2023 debut album, Handed to Execution. It’s a tasty little slab of thrashy speed metal that took me back to the halcyon days of Kill ‘Em All Metallica and Show No Mercy Slayer. When I saw Phantom‘s follow-up, Tyrants of Wrath, floating around in the sump pit, I waded into Castle de AMG’s mucky moat, battling tentacled meanies and dodging Grier‘s skid mark-ruined speedos to retrieve it. I was eager to find out if Tyrants of Wrath would fill me with war lust and have me storming the gates or leave me non-plussed and in my cups, lazily slumped next to a fire.

Tyrants of Wrath sounds straight out of 1985 and finds Phantom tweaking the more straightforward formula used on Handed to Execution. Carryover traces of early Metallica and Slayer, with some Kreator and Razor bits thrown in for good measure, remain intact as forays into trad-metal, second-wave black metal, and atmospheric organ/piano interludes attempt to expand Phantom‘s overall sonicscape. JC Necrohex and Harel Mortem fly across fretboards in flurries of furious riffs and chaotic lead work, imbuing early tracks like “The Tower of Seth” and “Violent Invasion” with raw, thrashy, speed metal intensity that lands just this side of completely unhinged. The chorus to the Midnight-fueled banger “Thunderbeast” will have you pounding your chest, eager to make war, not love. JC’s vocals remain on point for the style, pairing blackened growls ala Kreator‘s Endless Pain-era Ventor mixed with high-pitched screams that would put a smile on Tom Araya’s face. Rair Tavizon provides pounding bass lines, and JP Alatorre rounds out the rhythm section, turning in a serviceable drum performance that mostly corrals Phantom‘s chaotic acrobatics, but not always. With more expansive songwriting and experimentation, Tyrants of Wrath is the product of a young band broadening its musical horizons.

The ambition of Phantom‘s vision exceeds the resources available to execute it successfully. While the front edge of Tyrants‘ sword does positive damage, holes in the castle’s defenses start to show when “Nimbus” rolls around. Meant as a traditional nod toward old-school influences like Manilla Road and Heavy Load, the track suffers from weak instrumentation—its strongest pulse some Maiden-esque dual guitar leads—and clean vocals that never stretch from their narrow baritone range, hobbling with broken wings, a track meant to soar like an eagle. Add in the amateurish, Egyptian-tinged “Lost in the Sands,” where the guitars and drums fall entirely out of sync and distract rather than charm, to the very awkwardly performed, ill-flowing piano interlude “Nocturnal Opus 666,” and it’s clear Phantom is unable to stretch far enough to fulfill Tyrants of Wrath‘s intended goal.

With a runtime of just over forty-eight minutes, Tyrants of Wrath is far from the brevity of Handed to Execution, which is disappointing because the unrealized gains of Phantom‘s experimentation lead to this bloat. That’s not to say every experiment fails, as the spooky intro, spunky-punk bass, and tremolo strumming of “Dance of the Spiders” works in a mostly non-Phantom way, and closer “Dark Wings of Death,” an excellent amalgamation of speed-thrashy chugs and trad-heavy, war horse galloping riffs make for a trver representation of what an evolved Phantom is capable of. I’m happy my active listening of “Dark Wings of Death” allowed me to reach that conclusion since, sadly, the fatigue I felt during my initial, traditionally linear listening sessions left me apathetic to this last song’s successful charms.

Phantom is a fun and very young band, which works in their favor as they continue to evolve and find their footing. Handed to Execution was a nostalgically compelling and raucously promising debut. While I think Tyrants of Wrath, despite its expansive intentions, sees Phantom take a step back, there’s a lot to look forward to as well. I commend these youngsters for having the courage to look beyond the relative success of their previous effort to do something exactly as they want. There are glimpses on Tyrants of Wrath of what a more mature third Phantom outing could sound like, and you can bet I’ll be there to listen to it.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320kbps mp3
Label: High Roller Records
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: April 25th, 2025

#25 #2025 #Apr25 #HighRollerRecords #Kreator #Metallica #MexicanMetal #Phantom #Razor #Review #Reviews #Slayer #SpeedMetal #ThrashMetal #TyrantsOfWrath

Something crushing and heavy I've been enjoying, for this week's #ThursDeath - Mexico City's REVERENCE TO PAROXYSM and their killer LP 'Lux Morte' that I somehow missed in 2023. Brooding, dark, dynamic stuff with doomy spots and an old school feel. Really digging this one, will be playing it more and watching these guys.

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lux-morte

#metal #DeathMetal #Mexico #OSDM #MexicanMetal #MexicoCity #doom #ReverenceToParoxysm #DoomMetal @wendigo @HailsandAles @BlackenedGreen @umrk @Kitty @rtw @lola

Didn't know if I'd have a #GrindayFriday ready this week but at the last minute, spotted this. This is Adrian from Stenched, another amazing project of his called IMPENDING ROT, also from Mexico (obviously) - an EP called 'Anatomical Discorporated Aberration' from 2023. This is some quality deathgrind. Maybe even more deathy than grindy. Cool riffage. You can hear some STENCHED in it.

https://impendingrot.bandcamp.com/album/anatomical-discorporated-aberration

#grind #deathgrind #ImpendingRot #Mexico #MexicanMetal #MexicanGrind @vanessawynn @HailsandAles @wendigo

Fumes – Skeletal Wings Threshold Review

By Alekhines Gun

As we slide from the snow-filled January to the rainy and fog-laced February, the mission remains the same: Checking out young hopefuls and their debut releases. This time on the roulette wheel of analysis is Fumes, a Mexican black metal band founded a mere three years ago. With sole EP Stellar Murders Upwards under their bullet belts,1 they’ve wasted no time in preparing their first full-length Skeletal Wings Domain. Is this the album to finally give Mexico a defined sound on the global scene, or do these wings need more meat on their bones?

Rejecting the stereotypical frosty Norwegian sound, Fumes present the listener with an album with a degree of weight to the compositions. Guitarists Henri and Alanis slather the album in meaty tones more adjacent to modern Ragnarok or Hades, with much more emphasis on bottom-end boom than trebly terrorizing. This gives a bounce and bite to the punky riffs, with songs constantly switching from obligatory melodic trems to Immortalized walk-in-place marching tempos. Moments like the outro of “Suppuration Tunnels” conjure up a genuinely evil mood, and solos litter the album with melodic flair while drummer Minos reliably blasts away in place. The sound is pleasing, immediate, and relatively accessible, with Alanis’s vocals echoing menacingly across the space with an expressive, enunciated bellow.

Where Skeletal Wings Threshold fails is in its memorability, and it fails in grand style. Things start well enough, true; “Stellar Ascension Infernal” wastes no time in going straight for the listener’s throat, but all too quickly Fumes suffer a startling dip in quality and album pacing. “Carrier of Venenifyer” doesn’t have enough interesting riffs to justify its six-minute run time, and multiple songs begin to fade into each other from bloat and pacing. Fumes try their best to offset this with heaps of solos, many of which are excellent (“Dead Morning Star” being a real highlight), but the end of such virtuosity leads right back to okay-tier riffing. Attempts at expected tempo assaults invariably give way to tired, slower passages, sounding less like tonal diversity and more like an album that refuses to commit to a mood. This inconstancy undermines the more impactful moments, reducing a full listen to far less than the sum of its parts.

Compounding this issue is the back half of the album, where Fumes saw fit to place no less than three interludes. These interludes are meandering, with no sense of flow or beauty, and seem to only pad out the album’s length. One of them is re-recorded from Stellar Murders Upwards, and still another ends the album in an outlandish attempt at post-auditory assault calm. There’s no need for three separate pauses in the music, and there’s certainly no need to stack them all in the back half of the album one after another. On top of that, the “real songs” from the EP were also re-recorded, stripping them of the raw charm the original production offered. Removing the re-recordings and two new interludes leaves us with five songs of descent to disposable black metal, and suggests the material would have best been served as a second EP. As it stands, songs replete with boilerplate hooks and bizarre track listing order give a sense of overwrought listening to an otherwise reasonable 38-minute runtime.

This is frustrating because I think Fumes can be a good band. Returning to “Suppuration Tunnels” in particular shows creative riffing, some deliciously dark-sounding moments, and a sudden grasp of good composition. But when taken as a whole body of work, Skeletal Wings Threshold doesn’t have the immediacy to stand next to its peers, let alone in the shadow of its influences. With their old material used up in re-recording, the real test will come at their next release. An extra tablespoon of blackened brutality, more immediate riffing, less interludes, and keeping those solos will do well in helping them carve a more memorable identity. For now, this is easy-listening black metal, from a threshold entirely disposable.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Personal Records
Websites: Album Bandcamp | Official Facebook Page
Releases Worldwide: February 7th, 2025

#20 #2025 #BlackMetal #Feb25 #Fumes #Hades #Immortal #MexicanMetal #PersonalRecords #Ragnarok #Review #Reviews #SkeletalWingsThreshold

Fair warning, this is a weird, gross one for #GrindayFriday (not that ALL bands I feature on GrindayFridays aren't weird and gross). GOEYCHIVO is a mincing powerviolence (read: goregrind, basically) band from Mexico. Heavy, bizarre, everything good grind should be. This is GoeyChivo's ridiculous LP 'Sed de Sangre Primitiva' from 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm4p-KN1rng

#GoeyChivo #powerviolence #MinceCore #mincing #grind #goregrind #Mexico #MexicanMetal #MexicanGrind #MexicanBands #Mexico @vanessawynn @HailsandAles @wendigo

Stenched – Purulence Gushing From the Coffin Review

By Steel Druhm

In the week when Rotpit makes their revolting return to the death metal sweepstakes, I also signed up to cover the debut by the unheralded one-man Mexican death metal project Stenched. All my enthusiasm was focused on a particular hole in the ground full of decay so thusly, I approached Purulence Gushing From the Coffin not expecting much. That’s until the bucket of week-old pig organs got dumped over my head by the abhorrent sounds Stenched brought to the corpse buffet. This is one extremely unpleasant and toxic cesspool full of the most horrible poo-goo the mind can imagine, and with zero sanitation protocols in place, even a few minutes with this scum-muck might make you feel like you’ve contracted a loathsome disease. In fact, you should count on it. But does rancid and offensive equal good in the death metal metrics employed by AMG Industries? Let’s sup the cess together.

Mere seconds into opener “Morbid Mass of Repulsive Purlence,” your initial instinct will be to recoil in terror. The sound features fearsome pustules of early Carcass and Disma, and there’s a heavy dose of Demilich floating in the managed waste too. This makes for a rank and fetid soundscape through which founder and sole occupant “Adrian” drags us kicking and screaming. Riffs slither moistly with great menace and Adrian’s vocals emanate from somewhere south of the sub-sub-basement near the sewer vent. If music ever felt mucilaginous, this does. But beyond sounding hideous, the song grabs hold of you with biting suckers and refuses to let go. It’s a freakishly compelling sound and once it gets hooks in, you’re truly fucked. When it’s over and you disentangle yourself from the tentacles of some unknown horror, you get slimed by “Mucus, Phlegm and Bile.” Yes, that’s the title and yes, it accurately conveys what’s coming for you. It’s like something off Carcass’ Reek of Putrefaction taken a few weeks past maximum decomposition and it’s fooking gnarly. I love it and am sickened by my love of it.

The album gets better and better as it pulls you deeper into the gunk and gloop. “Suppurating Cranial Cavity” is at a whole other level, harnessing a world-breaking mid-tempo plod that pulverizes everything and everyone you ever loved As Adrian wretches and vomits his guts over the bloody spectacle. The riffs are oily and noxious and leave scum trails everywhere. This may well be my Death Metal Song o’ the Year and I can’t get enough of this foul-tasting stuff. But wait, there’s more! The riffs on “Death Manical Obsession” are aces and turn an already effective tune into a raving flesh golem. Mr. Stenched does well to balance creeping doom with OSDM tropes and Swedeath d-beats in a way that keeps things unpredictable and fresh. “Eye Socket Pus Emanation” does this bait-and-switch especially well as it cycles through tempos and kicks your face completely apart in the process. At just under 32 minutes, Stenched pack a lot of sickness into a short symphony window and the writing keeps the individual tracks moving and gore-grooving. The production is full of murk, with Adrian’s guttural croaks and godawful noises buried in the mix, rising like some eldritch abomination through the blood and mud. The guitar tone is satisfyingly wet and punctures the brain stem in all the ways I love.

I can’t say enough about how well Adrian assembled this panoply of pestilence. His riffage is great and always grimy and scab-encrusted. You can almost picture the leads slithering under locked doors to get at you. His ability to jump tempos from funeral doom-esque to punky thrash and mid-tempo crushing is admirable and every time a song threatens to grow tedious, he makes something happen to hold interest. His vocals are often not much more than deep, indecipherable spoken words but they work very well and his little vomit accents are spun gold. He’s clearly a student of all things death and he uses every genre trick and trope to get his compositions across the finish line. It’s his writing that shines the brightest, as this style could easily end up sounding too one-note and muddy, but it never does here.

Purulence Gushing From the Coffin is Plato’s ideal form of a death metal album, and Steel is with that old toga-wearing bastard on this one. It combines everything I love dearly about Incantation, Carcass, Demilich, and Chthe’ilist into one savory mouthful, and brother, it is toothsome! This shit makes Rotpit seem entirely hygienic by comparison, and that’s no easy feat. Did I mention this album smells like feet? Olde, rotting hobo feet. Now smell the agony of dem feet and get fully Stenched.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Me Saco Un Ojo
Website: instagram.com/stenchedmetal
Releases Worldwide: November 26th, 2024

#2024 #40 #Carcass #CtheIlist #DeathMetal #Demilich #Disma #MeSacoUnOjoRecords #MexicanMetal #Nov24 #PurulenceGushingFromTheCoffin #Review #Reviews #Stenched

Stuck in the Filter: April 2024’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity

The heat persists. Intensifies, even. We’re not even to the dead center of summer, where pavement melts and sinew sloughs off of bones. And yet, we toil. Endless trudges through the slime and grime of sharply angled ducts and beveled sheet metal characterize an average workday for my filtration minions, who do my bidding without question as I sip a piña colada in these run down and ragged headquarters. Alright fine, we don’t have piña coladas here, but a sponge can dream! A sponge can dream…

What was I saying? Oh, right. After many months of constant pep talks and gentle reminders with a cattle prod, my team of hack crack sifters managed a respectable haul from our April buildup. Dive in at your own peril!

Kenstrosity’s Sooty Slab

Exhumation // Master’s Personae [April 26th, 2024 – Pulverised Records]

Indonesian blackened death duo Exhumation never would’ve made it to my queue were it not for our burgeoning Discord server. Rollicking tunes, produced with a charming rawness that tingles my spine, task themselves with the summary destruction of that same spine and waste no time getting started. From the onset of opener “In Death Vortex,” Master’s Personae eviscerates with rabid teeth gnashing through my flesh. Ghoul (guitars) and Bones (vocals) display their respective talents vomiting souls out of their body and concocting sickening infernal riffs with aplomb—and made damn sure their session musicians could do more than just keep up on bass (Sebek), drums (Aldi), and lead guitar (J. Magus). With songs that kick as much ass-tonnage as highlights “Pierce the Abyssheart,” “Chaos Feasting,” “Thine Inmost Curse,” and late bloomer “Mahapralaya,” the only thing that could possibly stand in between you and total metallic indoctrination is the record’s gritty, extra-crunchy production. For some, that might even be its greatest selling point. Either way, Master’s Personae is, at its core, just a nonstop demonic party. Ipso facto, if you like fun, you like this. If you don’t, leave the Hall!

Thus Spoke’s Chucked Choices

Alpha Wolf // Half Living Things [April 5th, 2024 – SharpTone Records]

Aussie gang Alpha Wolf have always had an “angry” sound, but until now, they remained quite firmly smack dab in the middle of modern metalcore. With Half Living Things,1 however, the band move as far as they ever have into beatdown hardcore, albeit, a very glossy, and very metalcore interpretation of it. While many, myself included, think they sound better with a little bit of intrigue, a little bit of mournful melody and atmosphere, there’s no denying that this album does contain several bone-fide bangers. Opening run “Bring Back the Noise,” “Double-Edge Demise,” and “Haunter,” are a groovy set of smacks upside the head, and later cuts “Feign,” and “A Terrible Day for Rain” echo the same menace, safely keeping your head bobbing and your mean face on. The aggression can veer into the realm of cringe at points, not least on single “Sucks 2 Suck,” which includes the wild misstep of a thuggish rap bridge courtesy of ICE-T. But on the other hand, Alpha Wolf do show they have a heart, with surprisingly sadboi “Whenever You’re Ready,” and closer “Ambivalence.” It’s all pretty angsty, but questionable decisions aside, Half Living Things is worth at least the time it takes you to hear one or two of its best tracks. I’ll always be here for a little bit of adolescent ennui anyway.

Sarcasm // Mourninghoul [April 12th, 2024 – Hammerheart Records]

Whilst still a n00b, I reviewed Sarcasm’s previous album, Stellar Stream Obscured, and, to my initial surprise, really rather liked it. It was simply a quirk of circumstance that I didn’t pick up the promo for Mourninghoul. And looking back on that week, I wish I had. This thing is just as fun, just as furious, and once again the perfect balance between odd and straightforwardly blistering. Once again, they lace creepy organs and synthwork into death doom (“Withered Memories of Souls We Mourn,” “No Solace From Above”) to add a little mystique. Once again, they display some brilliant, beautiful, melodic black(ened death) metal riffery to lead refrains (“Lifelike Sleep,” “Dying Embers of Solitude,” “Absence if Reality”), not only soaking the listener in the nostalgia of the golden years of Dissection and Necrophobic, but memorable and moving in their own right. Overall, the album is a little slower and more atmospheric than its predecessor, but in this light perhaps a little more thoughtful. One to check out for anyone who dug Stellar Stream Obscured.

Dear Hollow’s Loudness Lard

Lord Spikeheart // The Adept [April 19th, 2024 – Haekalu Records]

Lord Spikeheart is the alias of Martin Kanja, one-half of grind/noise duo Duma, whose sole self-titled LP was received warmly back in 2020 by the gone-but-unforgotten Roquentin. Now a solo act, Spikeheart fully embraces the manic in his debut full-length The Adept, a fusion of noise, industrial, trap, grind, and hip-hop and tinged with native Kenyan instruments. – guaranteed to scare off unwanted listeners. Featuring a bevy of featured artists, The Adept is as jerky and unpredictable as you might expect from its laundry list of sounds. Including all, but not limited to, Author & Punisher-level of manufactured brutality (“Sham-Ra”), layers of jagged hip-hop a la Skech185 (“Emblem Blem,” “Djangili,” “33rd Degree Access”), and outright metal guitar solos and blastbeats (“Nobody”), as well as outright bananas explosive Igorrr-esque breakcore seizures and Kenyan percussion (“TYVM”) and ominous sprawls of haunting humid ambiance over manic beats (“Rem Fodder,” “Verbose Patmos,” “4AM in the Mara”), and there is little that is predictable about The Adept. Throw on Lord Spikeheart’s incredible charisma, shocking vocals, and evocative primal songwriting, and you’ve got yourself a tastefully insane and impressively uncomfortable slab of experimentation that feels dangerous and unrelenting in the right ways.

Whores. // War. [April 16th, 2024 – The Ghost is Clear Records]

Sometimes you just need a good concussion and drool out your brains to the curb because you got dinged around so much. Atlanta four-piece Whores. will provide mightily in more ways than one. Professing a riff-heavy noise rock/sludge metal combo reminiscent of Chat Pile or Iron Monkey, each of the tracks in War.’s 34-minute runtime is a thick-ass spanker with thick-ass riffs, bad-ass cymbal abuse, and mad-ass yells, and you’d be a fool to miss this broken-tooth abuse. Groove is embedded in the marrow of each bone, and the swill of riffs and noisy leads will get your head bobbing before you can learn how to pronounce opener “Malinches.” From the outright onslaughts of “Imposter Syndrome” and “Sicko,” to the bass builds and guitar squonks of “Quitter’s Fight Song” and “Hostage Therapy” or punky rhythms of “Hieronymous Bosch was Right” and “The Death of a Stuntman,” you don’t need to get all academic to abuse the drywall, and Whores. will set their teeth behind your bruised knuckles. The message is clear: get unga-bunga with riff.

Spit on Your Grave // Arkanum [April 12th, 2024 – Self Release]

You always run a risk when you change up your sound, even slightly. Mexican death metal peddlers Spit on Your Grave are familiar with it. Formerly bringin’ the slamz and gooey brutal shit to your court with unhinged insanity, Arkanum keeps the core sound while incorporating more tempo and nimbleness, making a blazing death metal album with some Behemoth-esque experimentation that keeps the album from falling into gnarly monotony and injects a necessary regality reflected in its art. Subtle plucking motifs grace opener “The Infection” and closer “The March of the Innocents,” chanting and choirs spruce up limper portions of “Into the Devil’s Realm,” and dancy rhythms and melodeath noodling kick up “Broken Hourglass.” In spite of the levels of experimentation, the riff reigns supreme throughout, made most plain in the no-holds-barred death metal assaults of “The Heretic,” “Dark Lullaby,” and “Self Sacrifice.” It’s somewhere between Behemoth’s wicked conjuration of crowns and Hate Eternal’s blazing scorched earth campaign, and while imperfect, Spit on Your Grave’s new direction is tantalizing.

Dolphin Whisperer’s Crossed Up Casting

Nuclear Tomb // Terror Labyrinthian [April 12th, 2024 – Everlasting Spew]

Filthy, frothing, furious, Nuclear Tomb embodies all that fueled the origins of the thrash and death movements, which actively rejected the tonal shift toward “pleasing” that pop-leaning forms of heavy metal were taking at the time. So, yes, it’s unsurprising to hear a punky and driven bass identity reminiscent of the overdriven pummeling of Dan Lilker in Nuclear Assault or Stéphane Picard in Obliveon. But though thrash rings true in the speed-needing assaults of “Fatal Visions” or “Vile Humanity,” death—the gnarled yet precise riffcraft you would heard in an early Pestilence summoning—feeds ugly and foul this acts hefty ambitions. Terror Labyrinthian gives exactly what its name promises: a sense of profound encapsulation and isolation in the density that Nucleur Tomb conjures alongside a sci-fi-informed fear and terror. Its ambition is such that it can fly off the rails a touch when it gets too moody (“Dominance & Persecution”), and its level of discordance can leave tracks feeling like intangible pulps of sick and snarling riffage (“Manufacturing Consent,” “Parasitic”). Despite these minor concerns, Labyrinthian Terror shakes enough to leave a worthy, full-length mark after two promising EPs. And with members of Nuclear Tomb floating around in their small scene with oddball grinders Ixias and the avant-minded Genevieve, it’s all but a promise that what comes next will be weird, frightening, and demanding.

Steel Druhm’s Rancid Requiems to Rotpitting

Engulfed // Unearthly Litanies of Despair [April 19th, 2024 – Me Saco Ojo]

Straight outta Turkey comes the vicious, face-melting death metal assault of Engulfed. Featuring members of Hyperdontia and Diabolizer and bearing hallmarks of both, Engulfed are a nasty savage on a war march to destroy all that lives and breathes. With a highly seasoned lineup and a lethal mission statement, Unearthly Litanies of Despair is a “not fucking around” kind of death platter full of blazing speed, thunderous blasts, and more sub-basement croaks and roars than you’d find in an illegal Balrog mining facility. All the old school legends get sound checked, with plenty of Vader, Morbid Angel, and Incantation-isms to be unearthed, but to my ears, Engulfed sounds most like brother band Diabolizer. That’s certainly not a bad thing, as anyone who heard 2021s Khalkedonian Death will attest. There’s not much subtly on display on Unearthly Litanies, and Engulfed are happy to blast away at Mach 9 for the bulk of the album’s runtime, only slowing down long enough to let slithery riffs do their tentacle things. It isn’t until the closing stanza “Occult Incantations” that they opt to get down and doomy, and though it runs way long at nearly 8 minutes, it digs up some nicely dark, gloomy textures. All in all a brutal trip to the belly of the beast feaster!

Coffin Curse // The Continuous Nothing [April 22nd, 2024 – Memento Mori]

The sophomore offering from Chile’s Coffin Curse is 100% military grade old school death with enough rot and pus to win over any genre fancier. The Continuous Nothing is really a continuous something, and that something is gnarly, thrashing death goodness in the varicose vein of Autopsy with some Deicide and Morbid Angel in the gore batter. There’s absolutely nothing new here, but the enthusiasm with which Coffin Curse comes at the classic death style is refreshing and invigorating. You’ll be smiling early into opener “Thin the Herd” due to its oh-so-righteous blend of Autopsy and vintage Morbid Angel, and it’s tough to blast “Bacchanal of the Mortal” and not want to throw your BarcaLounger out the fucking window. This is meat n’ tatters gutter death that could have come out in the late 80s or early 90s, but that doesn’t lessen its vitality and impact since these cats know how to write a ripping tune. I’m especially enamored with the disgusting vocals of Max Neira who gives even the hideous Chris Reifert a run for his scuzz-vomit money. This thing is just good, gross fun!

Tombstoner // Rot Stink Rip [April 26th, 2024 – Redefining Darkness]

Staten Island-based death thugs Tombstoner came back to kill with second album Rot Stink Rip, showcasing a whole lotta New York attitude. With a sound mixing mouth-breathing caveman brutality with New York hardcore undertones, the menu items all come with brass knuckles and steel-toed boots to your fat face (no substitutions!). This is street-level tough guy death with a Biohazard/Pantera-level IQ and anything remotely intellectual is tossed in the dumpster like a carpet-wrapped corpse. Songs like “Sealed in Blood” will rot your brain stem as it curb stomps your skull, and the beefy death grooves are ugly, stupid, and dangerous. Internal Bleeding-isms rebound off Skinless idioms amid the brainless forward momentum of the title track, and the groove-busting, barroom-bullying nastiness of primal cuts like “Metamorphosis” and “Reduced to Hate” are made for Roids Appreciation Day at Planet Meathead. The riffs are hella weighty and the overall approach is lead pipe brutality. Don’t bother spinning this if you’re one of those fancy-dancy tech types. This one is strictly for the gashouse gorillas and pimpanzees.

Saunders’ Slimy Selections

Satanic North // Satanic North [April 19th, 2024 – Reaper Entertainment]

Featuring members of Ensiferum, Finnish black metal troupe Satanic North ripped out a seething slab of old school black metal on their self-titled debut. Although the album seemed to drop with minimal fanfare or notice, having been clued into its existence, Satanic North has since provided a helluva fun time. Satanic North pull no punches and dispense with flash or bombast, adding modern beef to an endearingly old school formula that stomps hard. Harnessing the raw, punky, Venom-esque attitude of ’80s black metal, along with distinctive second-wave elements, and dashes of Darkthrone and Goatwhore, Satanic North is a varied, aggressive and utterly addictive opus. Regardless of the mode of destruction the band chooses at any given time, the songwriting quality generally maintains the rage. Grim, icy atmospheres envelope blasting, viciously executed songs, loaded with a bevy of badass riffs and pissed-off attitude. The relentless, hammering blows on opener “War,” sit comfortably alongside the crawling, sinister melodies and infectious hooks of “Village,” while expert pacing and builds highlight epic later album gem, “Kohti Kuolemaa.” Satanic North throw down some awesomely thrashy barnburners for good measure on powerhouse nuggets of black gold in the shape of “Wolf” and closer “Satanic North.” One of 2024’s underrated gems.

Iron Monkey // Spleen & Goad [April 5th, 2024 – Relapse Records]

UK veterans Iron Monkey’s 1998 opus Our Problem is a sludge classic that I’ve held in high regard for many years. Sadly, the untimely death of raw-throated vocalist Johnny Morrow, a distinctive, glass-gurgling beast behind the mic, saw the band dissolve, until reforming and crafting a solid comeback with 2017’s 9-13. Stripped own to a trio in their second coming, with long-serving guitarist Jim Rushby doing an admirable job taking over the vocal slot, Iron Monkey sound as though the piss, vinegar, and hatred still flows in their veins. Spleen & Goad offers few surprises, continuing the trend of its predecessor while maintaining the signature Iron Monkey sound. And although Iron Monkey cannot quite match the esteemed heights of their early days, this modern, well-trodden incarnation of the band still bludgeons, grooves and seethes with sledgehammer force and infectiously diseased riffs. Channeling the bluesy Sabbathian meets NOLA mode of sludge, with a side of Grief, and a shit ton of spite, the Iron Monkey lads deliver the goods again. Noisy, feedback-drenched bruisers rule the day; as swaggering, drunken grooves, surly riffs, and feral vocals drive this unhinged hate machine. Spleen & Goad is victim to some creeping bloat, however overall, it’s a stellar return and addition to their storied catalog, as rugged, bludgeoning cuts like “Misanthropizer,” “Concrete Shock,” “Rat Flag” and “Lead Transfusion” attests.

Mystikus Hugebeard’s Filthy Finding

Diabolic Oath // Oracular Hexations [April 5th, 2024 – Sentient Ruin Laboratories]

Oracular Hexations is a blast. It is a chaotic, colossally dense album of what can ostensibly be called blackened death metal, but the music is just so fucking filthy it might as well be sludge. The fun thing here is that the guitar and bass are completely fretless; the riffs aren’t hard to parse but the guitars feel almost slippery. It allows the brutal riffage of a heavy track like “Serpent Coils Suffocating the Mortal Wound” to become borderline hallucinogenic, while still hitting like a truck. The slower, oozing riffs of “Rusted Madness Tethering Misbegotten Haruspices” and “Winged Ouroboros Mutating Unto Gold” have a real viscosity to them that always reminds me of the stoner doom stylings of Conan. This album is definitely a lot, but it’s an extremely satisfying listen. The fretless imprecision paired with the music’s intensity, the delightfully disgusting guitar tone, and the vocalist’s tectonic gurgles all give Oracular Hexations a ritualistic atmosphere so thick you can practically sink into it. There’s plenty one could say about the musicianship—the drummer deserves praise for his diverse, technical performance—but trying to dial in on any one ingredient is like trying to appreciate the subtle flavor undertones of sheep stomach in a plate of haggis. Just cram the whole thing in at once, man, because this is the kind of sensory brutalization that you’ve gotta just let happen to you.

Iceberg’s Singular Surfacing

Venomous Echoes // Split Formations and Infinite Mania [April 05, 2024 – I, Voidhanger Records]

Extreme metal’s penchant for horror and destruction never ceases to amaze me. It doesn’t matter how I came across Venomous Echoes second album Split Formations and Infinite Mania, one look at that album cover and the curtain rise of squelching music within had me transfixed. Brutal Floridian death metal meets the dissonant disintegration of Portal meets the crushing weight of funeral doom and they all come together in the unrated cut of a Cronenberg flick. One-man-band Benjamin Vanweelden takes the listener inside his own personal hell as he wrestles with body dysmorphia, making for an experience not unlike recent cuts by An Isolated Mind or The Reticent. This is challenging, highly uncomfortable music, abandoning pitch and rhythm at will, bending and twisting notes and smothering the listener with oppressive atmosphere. From the sickening stomping sound effects of opener “Ocular Maltosis ov Schizophrenia” to the ultra-dissonant ostinato and DSBM wailing of closer “Split Formations and Infinite Mania,” this album is the definition of the car crash you can’t look away from. Far outside any zone of comfort is exactly where Vanweelden wants his listeners, and I have to say this makes for a sickly impressive, revolting, yet mesmerizing experience.

#AlphaWolf #AmericanMetal #AnIsolatedMind #Arkanum #AustralianMetal #AuthorPunisher #AuthorAndPunisher #Autopsy #Behemoth #Biohazard #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BlackenedDeathMetal #BrutalDeathMetal #ChatPile #ChileanMetal #CoffinCurse #Darkthrone #DeathMetal #Deicide #DiabolicOath #Diabolizer #Dissection #Duma #Engulfed #Ensiferum #EverlastingSpewRecords #Exhumation #FinnishMetal #FuneralDoom #Genevieve #Goatwhore #Grief #Grind #Grindcore #HaekaluRecords #HalfLivingThings #HammerheartRecords #Hardcore #HipHop #Hyperdontia #IVoidhangerRecords #Igorrr #Incantation #IndonesianMetal #Industrial #InternalBleeding #IronMonkey #Ixias #KenyanMetal #LordSpikeheart #MasterSPersonae #MeSacoUnOjoRecords #MelodicBlackMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #MementoMoriRecords #Metalcore #MexicanMetal #MorbidAngel #Mourninghoul #Necrophobic #Noise #NuclearAssault #NuclearTomb #Obliveon #OracularHexations #Pantera #Pestilence #Portal #PulverisedRecords #RawBlackMetal #ReaperEntertainment #RedefiningDarknessRecords #RelapseRecords #Review #Reviews #RotStinkRip #Sarcasm #SatanicNorth #SelfRelease #SharpToneRecords #Skech185 #Skinless #Slam #Sludge #SludgeMetal #SpitOnYourGrave #SpleenGoad #SplitFormationsAndInfiniteMania #StuckInTheFilter #SwedishMetal #TerrorLabyrinthian #TheAdept #TheContinuousNothing #TheGhostIsClearRecords #TheReticent #ThrashMetal #Tombstoner #Trap #TurkishMetal #UKMetal #UnearthlyLitaniesOfDespair #Vader #Venom #VenomousEchoes #War #Whores_

And because it’s so F I N E, another one from Tuna Massacre ‘Exotic Hunger’ for #MittwochMetalMix.

There may only be two songs by them, I will need to dig deeper.

https://song.link/s/4aHzpHHs8PN0S2CcTtxcHR

#AqiIsNowPlaying
#DragoTreasures
#MexicanMetal
#GrindCore
#Music