Эпизоды
-
Welcome to another episode of The Great Metal Debate podcast, talking about the Dutch blackened death metal band God Dethroned with their 12th studio album The Judas Paradox. While this band certainly has its slight black metal vibes, I've always seen them as more of a melodic death metal band. Their guitar riffs have always been calm and groovy.
Two years ago, God Dethroned announced they had switched record labels to sign with Rising Phoenix Music for their next full-length. Fast forward to about two months ago when they released another new song titled "Rat Kingdom". This time around I became very excited because the new song seemed to be leagues superior to the previous single they dropped two years ago. The 2nd single released happens to be both the album title track and the first song on the album. I gotta mention the use of choir in the mix. It's a fantastic addition and sounds completely new.
"The Hanged Man" is a song that kicks some serious ass with its Deicide vibes. The layered vocals make it sound extra demonic and it even reminds me of the song "Conquered By Sodom". There's also an old school sounding guitar solo on this one. It's one of the shorter songs but it's definitely a standout.
Moving on we have an interlude track labeled as "Black Heart" which is only 51 seconds long. It's a dissonant choir practicing their vowels with church bells ringing. But it leads straight into that song that I mentioned earlier called "Asmodeus".
This time I really paid attention to this song so I could absorb every note being played. I wanted to really study this one to see if my opinion of this song would change. The results? When I compared this album version of the track to the music video, there weren't any changes made in the sound mixing. It still sounded like the one and only stale track this band has ever made. It felt soulless compared to every banger this band has produced in the past 27 years. I guess a dud was bound to happen sooner or later, although it did sound better than I remembered. Maybe because this time I had a clear head.
"Kashmir Princess" is another song where I remember the riff. As monotonous as it was, I was slightly reminded of one of their earlier works. Not saying that Dave Meester had recycled any riffs but I did get the "Rusty Nails" feeling, albeit, not as heavy.
The next track really picks up the pace again to the God Dethroned we all wanted. "Hubris Anorexia" begins with three long screams that are layered in succession. It's here where I have to give both Henri and Dave credit for their winding guitar efforts. Dave also continues to show off his skills as a shredder in "The Eye of Providence".
"Hailing Death" is another banger that will make you shout "Hailing Death" every time they say it throughout the song's first minute. This one has another gorgeous guitar riff at the halfway point of the track. Too bad it doesn't last long. It does make a very brief return towards the end of the song which fits as a neat little outro.
"Broken Bloodlines" wastes absolutely no time going hard and fast from the first fucking second! The speed of the guitar chugs are aggressively heavy and will make any Taylor Swift fan's head explode.
And finally we come to the last song on the album "War Machine". When I saw this song title, I automatically assumed it was a Black Sabbath cover but then I thought, wait a minute, Six Feet Under already did a cover of that. As I listened to this song, I figured out right away that this is an original song by God Dethroned that simply has a name that has been used before. The song is okay, but not their best work. I feel like "Hailing Death" should've been the last track because it had the audio fade out at the end. I feel like it would've worked a lot better.
So what's the verdict? God Dethroned has never had a bad album and The Judas Paradox isn't their first. It is not a disappointment by any means. I'm going to rate The Judas Paradox a 7.5/10. -
The podcast is joined by frontman Shaughnessy McDaniel of power metal upstarts Siege Perilous to talk the band's new EP "Creation's Call" the evening before their performance at the inaugural Mile High Power Fest!
Credits: excerpts from the Siege Perilous track "Brothers Of The Five" (Creation's Call, 2024) used with permission from the artist. -
Пропущенные эпизоды?
-
Welcome back metal heads to another album review here on The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we will be talking about a German black metal band called Eisregen with their ... Holy dog shit! This is the band's 16th full-length studio album? What the fuck? How come I'm just now finding out about these guys. Ohhhh, that's why. Its because its their first album to be released through Napalm Records. Gotcha.
But damn, these guys have been busier than a one armed machinist. According to Metal-Archives, they have consistently released new music roughly once or per year or once every two years since 1995. In 1998 they released both their debut AND their second album.
I have heard from Gomthog that these guys are controversial in their home country. I'm not sure what for but their band bio says that they have been banned in their own country and aren't allowed to play certain songs live. People under the age of 16 aren't allowed to buy their physical media from entertainment stores.
For now, lets focus on their newest full-length titled Abart. Not to do a completely half-assed job on this review but I've decided that I'm not going to try to pronounce any of the song titles or names of the band members. Sure, it might be lazy but I received the press release for this album a full week in advance and here we are a few days past the release date of August 16th, so I kinda need to hurry the fuck up.
My cause for the delay? I was busy with another review. A review that will never see the light of day. I was gonna do one for the new Mushroomhead album before I realized that it was just me rambling on about my personal nostalgia for the old material only to give Call The Devil a 5/10. There, you got two reviews in one! Looks like y'all got more than you bargained for.
Back to Eisregen, the only reason I got the promo from something on Napalm Records is because the distribution for the American copies were being released through Massacre Records. Lucky me.
I have another extremely hot take so you might want to get your oven mitts on. Many people would call me a poser for being a Rammstein fanboy but ... I love the industrial metal phase that the black metal band Samael went through during the mid-2000s. I think it's Samael's best work. I know, I know, gather your torches and pitchforks to run me out of the metal community. I don't give a shit.
What does that have to do with Eisregen? Eisregen sounds like Samael's 2004 masterpiece Reign of Light album raw dogged it with Rammstein's 2003 masterpiece Sehnsucht. Eisregen has that harsh flavor of German dialect. The band's native language spoils the listener with the continuous rolling tongue accent.
Okay, I lied. I'll pronounce this one for you. The opening track "Am Abgrund" had a music video that was dropped a few weeks ago and its how I discovered this band in the first place. I thoroughly enjoyed the combination of the sandpaper voice over the calming piano keys.
The entire album mixes the traditional black metal style with softer moments. The fusion of polar opposites give off the perfect blend of a musical Yen and Yang. That's what the overall structure provides, a balance that is easy listening. At least in my personal opinion, I find this 1 hour and 2 minute composition to be flawless. I have zero critiques which means only one thing.
Eisregen - Abart is the only album I have reviewed all year that I award a 10/10 rating. It's fucking fantastic! What this band lacks in melodic guitar riffs, it more than compensates with plenty of symphonies.
Eisregen's music is not on bandcamp and I have no clue where to obtain physical merch but their music is on all other streaming platforms. If you liked this review, be sure to like and subscribe to our platforms and share our links everywhere. -
Xander checks in with extreme metal aficionados Dead Reckoning at their performance in Tampa FL as they tour the US in support of their newest album "Red".
Excerpts from the Dead Reckoning track "Break Me" (Red, 2024) used with permission from the artist. -
Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we have another Metal Debate album review, looking at the new one from epic metallers All For Metal titled “Gods Of Metal.”
Before we dive into specific tracks, I will highlight the aspect which really differentiates All For Metal, which is their use of two male vocalists who provide two different singing approaches. Antonio Calanna who gives traditional a power metal to hard rock vocal output along the lines of a David Bassin or Sozos Michael. Tim Schmidt gives us a baritone clean voice with false chord technique along the lines of what we’ve come to expect form Joakim from Sabaton.
The album begins with an intro piece titled “Cry For Help” which has some building instrumentation and epic-sounding spoken words. The band ramps up the metal bluster to 1,000% on the second track and first full song, “Gods Of Metal.” The guitars are up front in the mix and provide some nice flourishes, although occasionally the keys push above them in the sonic spectrum. Track two is “Year Of The Dragon” and I freaking love this song! Maybe because I wasn’t expecting to hear this approach, it really resonated with me. As with the previous track the synths are a touch heavy throughout, but this helps dampen the effects that otherwise might have been too jarring It’s just a fun, upbeat track with verses that build and a singable chorus.
“The Way Of The Samurai” didn’t work quite as well for me. Despite this Calanna’s voice is exceptional, and here he carries most of the vocal load with Schmidt coming in at points for emphasis. I especially liked Calanna’s brief falsetto accents in place. The guitars throughout are strong and display some good riffs, or perhaps they aren’t as diminished by keys as in the previous track.
Everything builds to the chorus on “Temple Of Silence,” another strong guitar track. Schmidt’s voice is dominant for this song with Calanna giving brilliant accents. In contrast, on “When Monsters Roar” Calanna takes the first verse and Schmidt the second, with the two splitting duties including some fantastic harmonizing on the chorus.
“Path Of The Brave” gives a classic power metal-ish ballad. Calanna’s singing is superb, but I wasn’t a fan of the orchestral melody. Just a touch too sugary for me. This was followed by “Like Thor And Loki,” which on first listen it struck that I hadn’t even notice we’d transitioned from an east Asian to a Norse aesthetic somewhere in the past few songs.
The next one up is the synth-heavy “Valkyries In The Sky” featuring a strong vocal contribution from Laura Guldemond from Burning Witches. Guldemond is an insane singer and hell of a frontperson, and this song is constructed perfectly to highlight her voice. “Welcome To The Wasteland” returns to more standard All For Metal style with more trade-offs throughout by Schmidt and Calanna. But the chorus on this one is stellar – just a great melody and then with the double-bass kicking in a just the right time for extra emphasis and energy.
Track 11 is “Who Wants To Live Forever” which features some great effort by both singers, outstanding orchestrations, and the twin guitars making it all work without overstepping their bounds. The album ends with “The Journey Will Not End” that matches the feel of the intro track.
I really like how the band utilized Schmidt and Calanna’s voices in a variety of ways, mixing and matching them as was appropriate for each track. The songs were extremely well-written and every element of each track seemed to have some purpose to it. I have one critique: this album is way too overproduced and slick, at least for my taste. There’s no feel of rawness to the guitars, and even the sound of the orchestration is fat and soft.
“Gods Of Metal” surprised me in a pleasant way, and the overproduction can be excused given the competent and engaging writing and performances. I’m giving “Gods Of Metal” an 8 out of 10 rating. -
Welcome to another Great Metal Debate podcast review. Today we got a special one. Maybe you don't know this band but you've definitely seen the horrific album cover for their 2007 debut Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies. This band is Cephalotripsy and this is their sophomore album titled Epigenetic Neurogenesis.
Gee, if only we could get Vital Remains to finally release their first album in 17 years that has been allegedly completed for 8 years ...
Here's a not so fun fact for you listeners. A cephalotripsy is a procedure that involves crushing the head of a stillborn fetus in the womb to facilitate delivery.
Obviously this album cover is a lot more family friendly than the former. But let's get into the music. The first single that was released two months ago was the album title track which has Matti Way from Abominable Putridity/ex-Pathology as a guest feature. Speaking of Pathology, the first few seconds of this song reminded me of the same guitar chugs in the beginning of the song "Tyrannical Decay". But that album had Johnathan Huber from I Declare War on vocals.
Matti on the other hand, usually has a very distinct vocal tone but I honestly could not tell when he was on the mic. Both Angel and Matti gurgle and pig squeal their way through this whole track and I can't tell you whose who. Despite this song being accompanied by a lyrical video, it does not sound like they're saying any of those words. But hey, who the fuck listens to brutal death metal and expects to hear words? I listen for the brutality and the more disgusting it sounds, the better.
"Alpha Terrestrial Polymorph" and "Induced Primordial Regression" were the next two songs I heard and ... Geez, what's the deal with every band I've been reviewing lately having the word Primordial in their song titles? That's just a little phenomenon I've noticed over the past few months. But then I heard the song "Excision of Self" which has another guest feature, this time with Ivan Tyulkin from the Russian death metal bands Insect Inside and Nauseating.
"Entrenched In Fluids Of Enigmatic Predation" was yet another heavy hitter along with "Ulcerated Mass Of Pestilent Engorgement" which features Clayton Meade from Condemned. I have been a long time fan of Condemned but I also couldn't tell when Clayton was on the mic either. All I know is that it sounded every bit as brutal as the rest of the record.
There are no duds on this album and "Lo Tech Non Entity" continues to prove my point. Each track is guaranteed to stomp a mudhole in your eardrum's ass. Don't believe me? Then check out the track titled "Arcane Rites Of The Transdimensional Progeny".
What do I think of this entire album as a whole? It's definitely sick as fuck! Was this album really worth the 17 year long wait. No it wasn't, and I'll tell you why. See, this album suffers from the same issue as the newest Torsofuck album that came out last year. The reason why Uterovaginal was so good was because it was some of the heaviest shit that money could buy back in 2007. There wasn't any over saturation in the genre at the time. Bands like this back then were hard to find. Sure, Guttural Engoregment existed but there wasn't 100 zillion Cephalotripsy copycats yet.
if I'm being real, this album just sounds like everything else out there. Aside from it just being balls to the wall, there's nothing overly special about it now in the year 2024. The niche for this type of brutality seems to only be original if its old. I know, it sounds like a weird critique but I'm sure someone out there understands what I'm trying to say.
Its still really good for what it is though. But, I can't really rate it higher than a 7/10.
As I mentioned at the start of this review, you should be able buy Cephalotripsy's merch from the website Reality Fade. But they of course have some things on Brutal-Mind and their Bandcamp page. -
The podcast is joined by Lucas, Brad, and Sarah from US symphonic power metal clan AfterTime prior to their performance at The Cobra in Nashville TN.
Excerpts from the AfterTime track "Sons Of Fenrir" (Arcane Horizons, 2024) used with permission from the artist. -
Welcome metal heads from around the world to another episode of The Great Metal Debate podcast. Its Xander with another back to back album review. Today we will be checking out the debut full-length album by Crown of Anguish from Preston, UK. The album is titled Stalker At The Midian Gate which was released July 9th through Brutal Cave Records.
I first heard of this band about 3 weeks ago when I heard the single "Radiant Moon of Aphos". I instantly looked up the album name printed on the cover and found nothing anywhere. I looked up Metal-Archives, nothing. Bandcamp, nothing. Their Facebook, nothing. All I knew from the video description was that it was set to release in July but with no official date. So I had to keep periodically checking to see if it was out and I didn't know about it being dropped on the 9th until the 10th. Fuck me right?
Anyway, I knew I wanted to talk about it. But first, its worth noting that they had released an untitled EP last year and that there's no repeats, remixes or remasters of old songs on the LP.
The first track on the record "Gathering Stormfires of the Perilous Want" might sound like an ordinary death metal song, but give it time. After a minute there will be one of my favorite uniqides about the genre. The inclusion of acoustic guitar. This one however has an ancient oriental sound as if its meant to sound old. After this break in the song, another tempo change happens where both the music and vocals have a groove.
"Radiant Moon of Aphos" as I mentioned earlier has a great sounding main riff which perfectly fits the rest of the overall instrumentation. The guitarist, Matt Gornall has provided us with mostly chugs although his brief melodic moments shine very bright.
"Limbless In Rapture" continues the heaviness and its time to bring up the vocals. While he might sound like any other front man, what separates Ali Lauder from everyone else is that he has a lot more power in his delivery than most.
Next we have a calming interlude track titled "Tribute To The Ashen King". It's a peacefully way to bridge the gap that leads to "From The Embers to the Catacombs". Straight away the drums blast your eardrums further into your skull.
"Sidereal Rites" starts off with another quick ancient sounding instrument before exploding back into the same hard hitting death metal we've been getting pummeled with from the get-go.
And then there's a track like "He Who Bears The Key". Now with this one, its obvious that the band intends on keeping us listening with the interesting middle eastern sounding beginnings. This one also has it infused towards the middle of the song.
If you want some straight forward death metal without all the extra jazz to spice it up, "Graven Challengers to the Rift" is your song. Nothing but unyielding death metal.
"Vengeful Eye of the Magi" obviously has to have a desert tune. If the word Magi is in the title, the first thing that will come to most minds of millennials like myself who grew up watching The Mummy.
The final track is "Gates to Eternity" but it only serves as a conclusionary instrumental consisting of an ancient sounding drum beat as if an army is marching to war.
Now is this a perfect death metal release? No. Is it entertaining and worth your time? Absolutely. Is it enough to keep listeners engaged? I'd sure say so. I feel like this band is for fans of Hour of Penance or Hate Eternal, minus the constant Erick Rutan shreds.
I'm going to give this debut a 7/10 rating. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on this band over the next few years to see what they do next. I'm sure they'll find new ways to improve upon music that is already good. Show your support by buying their digital album and EP on bandcamp because this full-length debut is not currently on amazon music. I'm not sure if they're on Spotify yet but you can check for me. -
The podcast joins up with Paul and Chelsea from US death metal predators Voraath following their performance at The End in Nashville TN as they tour North America with Gorgatron and Casket Robbery.
Excerpts from the Voraath track "Sirenhead" (Volume 1: The Hymn Of The Hunters", 2024) used with permission from the artist. -
Welcome metal freaks, to a new episode of the great metal debate podcast. Today, we will be talking about the new album from Cemetery Rapist - From My Puddle Phillic Drip. This calls for celebration as Clay, the one man menace has dropped his first new record in 10 years!
Many of us underground metal fans have at least stumbled upon Clay's work through side-links on YouTube. I know that's how I personally discovered Cemetery Rapist way back in 2009.
One minute your metalhead friend will tell you about a band like Devourment. Then a related video in the algorithm will pop up for a band like Putrid Pile. Then that video will lead you to Torsofuck, then that video will lead you to Sperm Swamp, then that video will lead you even further down the rabbit hole until you get to something like Cemetery Rapist.
Its crazy how Clay has been making these tree frog noises for over 20 years. Its even crazier that we live in the United States of America where we have an essential freedom of speech, and yet ... in the 2020s, online censorship has been a major obstacle for Clay over the past few years. He has vented many times on Facebook about how frustrating it is that: bandcamp, soundcloud, amazon, spotify and other media platforms have given him too much trouble.
In fact, the only reason its on bandcamp now is because it was released under the name of his own label Awful Goodness Records.
Clay has also had many recent shows canceled over his band name alone. I truly feel bad for the guy. He's just trying to share his musical art with his cult following of fans who are deep into the underground scene. We praise him for his cricket sound abilities that were almost hindered about 5 years ago.
I remember when he posted this scary picture of himself with a huge bulge in his neck. He said that he may never be able to do vocals again and many of us felt bad for him. Luckily he made a full recovery from whatever that was but I have definitely noticed the change in vocal pitch. His signature amphibious mating call now sounds like it has more bass to it and he honestly sounds better than ever! Also, the programmed poppy snare drums that remind us all of the band Echymosis hasn't changed a bit so that's good.
I'll always love his classics such as: "Herpes Injection", "Death By RuRu", "Bent Over And Butt Dozered", "Wake Up to Bake Up", "Retarded Rectum Ripper" and "Midwest Cop Killer" to name a few. I even enjoyed the Putrid Pile cover he did for the song "Food For The Maggots". But this new record is my favorite.
The tracks I enjoyed the most were: "Craving Cunt That Needs No Shaving", **laughing** sorry, it's hard to read these song titles without laughing. "Addicted To Poverty Pussy", "Pregnancy Taste Test" and "Face Raped On The First Date". That's not politically correct at all!
Most bands in the pornogrind genre are only good in moderation but Cemetery Rapist is one of the few exceptions. I could listen to him any time. I can't wait to get lucky enough to see him live one day. Who knows, maybe Tampa Bay can host him at The Brass Mug. Too bad I didn't see him on the line-up for Florida Extreme Metal Fest.
Anyway, if you're into this explicit type of music with riskay audio clip intros and you aren't easily offended by gruesome album cover art, then by all means check this out.
I won't give this one a rating due to the lack of variety for the entire sub-genre. If you like pornogrind, you pretty much already know what you're getting yourself into. This type of music is definitely not for everyone but it might be an acquired taste for some. Anyway, check it out if you're interested.
Just as a reminder, you can hear thia new album on bandcamp but just make sure you search for Awful Goodness Records to find it. The only places you can hear his old material is through YouTube but he also has his website onemanmenace.com which is where you can listen to full albums including his other projects and its where you can buy his merch. -
Welcome to another episode of The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we will be talking about the fourth full-length studio album from the German melodic death metal band Nyktophobia titled To The Stars. Lets dive into this album track by track.
We're gonna do this slightly back asswards though because the first two singles they released for this new record happen to be the last two songs on the album. That's sort of a bold choice if you ask me. The first of which was "Millenium". I figured the song would eventually grow on me but after about 4 more listens, I still couldn't tell you what the song even sounded like. Nothing seemed to really stand out about it. It's not a bad song, it just wasn't memorable. I felt underwhelmed. But then I thought okay, not their best work but its alright. Let's hear that new song titled "Voyager 1".
When I opened the file for the opening track, I had mixed feelings over the fact that I had to sit through a minute of obligatory intro track "The Gateway" but on the other hand, it was at least a peaceful sounding intro with the piano keys. I can forgive an intro track as long as its a good intro track.
In fact, it fits seamlessly into the first real song which happens to be the album titled track "To The Stars". Now this song, got me nodding my head in approval! I love the soaring guitar winding up over the blast beats which continued throughout the rest of the track. Not a whole lot of variety but it still sounds okay. At least it had a short lived but calming break.
Next we have "Farewell". Here instead of the Greek mythology that this band is known for, it appears that they've gone into the topic or interstellar travel. Which is cool, sometimes change is good and I'm a huge science fiction fan. This song in particular definitely has a good enough guitar riff to stick the landing.
I would go as far to say that the song "Charon Gate" compliments the former as a great precursor. Not that these two tracks go hand in hand but I do get the feeling of a build-up to a superior musical composition. I quite enjoy this one, it really reminds me of their earlier work. Tomasz' layered vocals go great with that soothing main riff played by guitarists Michael and Phillip. I also like how this one brings back a chorus.
"The Fall of Eden" lifts off with a slower tempo but kicks into high gear once Michiel's galloping drumming style picks up a speedy rythmn. The guitars once again wind up with the sharp long notes. The problem with this is that when you hear the first 30 seconds of the song, that's you begin to realize that this is how the rest of the song will play out. The same unchanging simplistic riff.
"Progenitor" has the most relaxing intro to any song on the record by having us hear birds chirping over piano and cellos for 1:27. That time stamp of course brings us back to the world of good old fashioned melodic death metal and its probably my favorite track thus far.
But then we come to "Behind The Stars Exists No Light" which honestly sounds pretty good. I like that moment when Tomasz says ... There is no light, behind the stars
And I already talked about these last two songs but I need to revisit them. After listening to the whole album I can now provide a much better analysis. Starting with "Millenium", I'll say that it still doesn't fully grab my attention but its okay. In conclusion "Voyager 1" is a perfect closer to the album as the first half of the track is instrumental. A somber piano has keys being pressed down hard in a dramatic way but later on we get a very weird, almost alien-like sound. It's hard to describe so you'll just have to check it out for yourself.
My final thoughts on this record is that I love this band but my go-to albums will always be Fallen Empire and Fate of Atlantis. So I'll give Nyktophobia - To The Stars a 8.5/10 rating. Show your support for Nyktophobia by streaming their music on all platforms and their merch is on their Bandcamp page. -
Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we’re reviewing the latest release from Indian heavy thrash veterans Kryptos titled Decimator, which is released on July 5th through AFM Records. Founded back in 1998, Decimator is their 7th full-length album. Let’s check out this new album Decimator and see how it stacks up.
The tracklist begins with “Sirens Of Steel” which debuts in epic fashion before transitioning into galloping riffs. There’s a touch of thrashy-ness here, but is more like thrash-influenced true metal than a thrash band that wears its trad metal roots on its sleeve. The guitars are very forward in this one, with lots of lead accents throw in throughout, sometimes more and sometimes less successfully. The vocals are thrash-ish, with the lyrics rasped out in lightly goblinesque fashion by singer and guitarist Nolan Lewis.
“Fall To The Spector’s Gave” sets a rollicking sonic core with strong riffing and a sing-songy verse. There’s some good stuff – I really enjoyed the guitar lead break as well as the vigorour climax. I just could’ve used a bit more variability in the vocal melody, which is extremely repetitive in its presentation. A small change up there could have improved the song immeasurably.
A cheesy 80s metal intro transitioning into a generic 80s metal riff is what greets us for “Turn Up The Heat,” the next track in the listing. That comes across as harsher than I mean – in some ways I’ve giving a compliment. This is every bit as engaging and dynamic a track as one might routinely find on an Accept or Metal Church album back in the day when those bands were fresh and relevant.
Similarly constructed albeit a bit different in the details of its execution is “Electricity.” This is perhaps a cautionary tale to artists that when you give a song such an energetic title you’d better be certain the music delivers in like manner. It is a fine song – a mid-paced rocker that has the nostalgic feel of some metal anthems of oldGood riffs, but an underwhelming chorus structure.
Track 5 “Solaris” is a soft guitar piece that is only slightly past a minute and a half in length, segueing into the title track “Decimator.” I get some definite Painkiller-era Judas Priest vibes on “Decimator,” with the pulsating double bass and plunging sonic guitar dives. Unfortunately, the riffing is somewhat stale and repetitive. There’s no progression or twists here – a minute in and you basically can predict how the remainder of the song will sound.
With “In The Shadow Of The Blade” we find one of the album’s most compelling melodies and some nice interplay between the rhythm and lead guitar lines. It’s somewhat paint-by-numbers in the song construction, but the simple approach works well here. Yet again I yearn for a bit more variability in the vocal presentation. If the singer could have gone up even half an octave on the final verse it would have truly made the track explode.
Next up is “Pathfinder” which has a pleasant if predictable primary riff and some nice, timely tempo changes. However, I thought the composition missed opportunities in the transitions between verses, choruses, and breaks, with those changeovers seeming to happen somewhat ham-handedly. Another track that was fine for what it is, but could have been better.
The album concludes with “We Are The Night,” a mid-paced track that almost has a 70s rock mood to it, or at least NWOBHM feel. The lead break is really tasty, and the riffing throughout is enjoyable. This might be my favorite track on the album, leading me to wish the band had given me more of this approach and, by inference, gone with less of what I’d heard earlier.
Ultimately I’ll say that Decimator is worth checking out. You won’t hate what you hear, but I don’t know if many will love it either. I’m giving Decimator a 5 out of 10 rating. You can purchase Decimator from AFM Records. Follow them on social media and be sure to watch for the band going out on tour soon to support the release. -
Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we are talking about the fourth full-length studio album by the New York brutal tech death band Malignancy titled ...Discontinued, which was dropped on June 14th through Willowtip Records.
This is the band's first album in 12 years so this certainly calls for celebration. For a band that has been around since 1992, you would think that they would have much more albums in their discography but, I guess some bands like to really take the time with their craft.
Before diving into this new record track by track, I'm going point out a major similarity that I've always noticed about this band. Particularly with the vocalist Danny Nelson having a nearly identical sounding voice to Ross Dolan from Immolation. I had often wondered if Malignancy was a side project band, which would make a lot of sense seeing as how both bands are from Yonkers! The answer is no, Danny and Ross are two different people. However, Danny had done vocals for Mortal Decay's 2013 album The Blueprint For Blood Spatter.
When I looked up the names of the band members, I had to do a double take when I saw the bass player. At first I thought it said Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, but nope, the new bass player is Alex Weber. Haha, not Webster.
Coincidentally enough, guess where Cannibal Corpse originally started. You guessed it, New York. Except they formed in Buffalo. According to Metal-Archives, Alex Weber has played live for Defeated Sanity and Obscura. Guitarist Ron Kachnic has also been in Pyrexia, Demolition Hammer and Mortician! Mike Heller has been the drummer for multiple bands including System Divide which is Sven from Aborted's side project band. Despite not advertising as such, Malignancy IS a super group.
Kicking things off we have the first track titled "Existential Dread". As you listen to this album, you can feel Danny's lips press against the microphone as he delivers his powerful vocals. You can tell he definitely uses his diaphragm to produce such a monstrous tone. Watch a few live videos of them and you can witness for yourself Danny's commanding stage presence too.
"Purity of Purpose" was the first single released for this album about 2 months beforehand. I remembered as soon as I heard it, I immediately looked up the full-length release date and album title just to add it to my list. Judging from that track alone, I knew I had to review it.
The second single "Biological Absurdity" was uploaded a month later and it of course blew me away. Both of these songs were aired on YouTube as official tracks but we haven't been treated to a music video yet.
I have found myself jamming this album front to back since its release a little over a week ago and I gotta say, I'm impressed! I mean, Malignancy never disappoints. This album is absolutely killer and one of the finest examples of your standard death metal.
Bad ass death metal albums without an overly unique pizazz quality about them are still more than capable of getting a good rating out of me. This is definitely one of the better straight forward death metal albums I've heard in 2024 so far. With that being said, I'm feeling a nice 8/10 rating.
Malignancy has been kickin around in the underground scene since I was a 1-year-old. They've gone through a few line-up changes here and there but have held strong as a band for the past three decades. Their popularity may not be up on the same level as many other bands but they deserve a lot of credit, respect and most of all support.
You can buy their merch ... at pretty much any online metal merch outlet. The most obvious choice would be bandcamp, but they also have merch at primitiverecordings.com, hellsheadbangers.com and indiemerch.com. Of course, if you get lucky enough to see them live; they definitely have a merch table and I hear that they are usually at their stand before and after a show. So don't be shy, go say hi and if nothing else, throw them a few bucks in their tip jar. -
Review of "D'Muata" by Perchta (Prophecy Productions, 2024).
Intro music by CONTRA; intro voice by Greg Kyle (RIP). -
Xander checks in with Nashville black metal unit Lenax during a recent video shoot to get the low-down on the band's past and future!
Excerpts from the Lenax track "Beneath The Chapel (Symphonic Version)" (2024) used with permission from the artist. -
Welcome back to another metal album review. Today, we have an atmospheric/melodic black metal band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee called Oubliette and this is their third full-length studio album titled Eternity Whispers released through The Artisan Era.
The album begins with the first single which had a music video two months ago. It is of course the song "Primordial Echo". It starts with some softly played guitar, calmly bringing you the short and sweet intro for 48 seconds before the rest of the band fires on all cylinders immediately kicking things into high gear. The whole song is a groovy cacophony of shred riffs, pinch harmonics, yelling and blast beats. At the 3:40 mark, there's a soothing middle riff that I quite enjoyed which mixes in a brief shred. All three guitarists: Mike Low, Andrew Wampler and Chris Austin have perfected the art of working together and sharing similar ideas when it comes to the overall tone of the genre.
"With Death's Shadow" was the second single released for Eternity Whispers and it also happens to be the next track. How convenient. It's what I would consider to be that classic Oubliette style. Many things about the speed and pacing of this track remind me of the Apparitions debut. I'm proud of this band for not straying too far from what made me like them so much in the first place. On the other hand there's this ambient clean singing which can be heard after the halfway point during the track which is definitely a nice touch. It brought me back to the song "Elegy" from the previous album The Passage.
Drummer Spencer Moore is a fucking machine gun on the kit. Especially throughout the song "Consumed By The Void". The entire track is an unrelenting orgy of blast beats. It all makes perfect sense because he's also the drummer for Inferi. Also, whoever mixed and mastered this album did some fantastic job by keeping the drums loud but not so much that it overpowers the other instrumentation. Oddly enough, there's this quiet little tune played at the end of the track which ties in with the beginning of the following track titled "Desolate Path".
Now I'm not entirely sure which of the three guitarists is behind the acoustic sounding guitar but great work. Or maybe it could've simply been an electric just without the foot pedal. I'm not sure. Either way, I love that shit. That sweep picking moment at the 5:22 stamp really caught my attention but didn't last too long.
A bonus credit for Spencer is that every beat of each drum has a resounding thud to it. Every whack of the snare packs a punch. This is proven once more in the next track "Dreams of Nevermore". But let's shift our focus for a moment to the vocalist Emily Low. She has so much power in her lungs to keep going on for long periods of time on the microphone. It truly sounds as though she's given all she's got into the recording of this record.
But then the album slows down for a bit, we get a real treat for the ears. A lovely instrumental track called "Ember's Embrace". It's a beautiful track with keyboards, audible bass and drum cymbals. Of course the guitarists are a stand out and ... wait a minute, was that a violin I just heard or was that just a part of the synth work? Whatever that sound was, I want more. It is definitely my favorite track on the album due to the wonderful musicianship.
"Vanish" serves as the perfect conclusionary track for the record. Everything you have heard throughout this album comes together in one masterfully crafted track with an impeccable structure.
But what do I rate this? If I'm being real with my audience, I'd obviously recommend this album to anyone who is into this particular subgenre of metal. I will be as fair as I can by giving them a solid 8/10. So definitely don't sleep on this upcoming release. I can more than assure you it will be worth your while. All of their music and merch is available exclusively on Bandcamp. -
Welcome The Great Metal Debate podcast, bringing you another release straight from the underground. Today, we will he talking about the debut album Ex Umbra In Lucem from the symphonic blackened death metal band Lamentari. This Denmark based band has released 3 EPs and 2 singles before dropping their first full-length record and I'm going to say straight from the get-go, this is exactly the type of metal I crave. It was a little over a month ago when I discovered this band on YouTube. The music video for the song "Dolorum Memoria".
The album opens with an angelic choir in the intro track "Spiritus Noctus" before pummeling you with the song "Tenebrae". It's a bombastic track that will give you a small taste of what's to come. The choir continues throughout this track and returns during many moments throughout this whole album.
"Tragoedia In Domo Dei" has thunderous opening double bass blastbeats which goes straight into the symphonic sound. The element of brass instrumentation, strings and choir make it a near perfect listening experience. Once it passes the 2:50 mark in the song, we get an acoustic guitar moment with a bass riff that sounds just like something straight out of technical death metal. It reminded me so much of Obscura and Beyond Creation that I checked to see if Jamie de la Sencerie had an 8 string fretless. But no, he is making that sound with a regular 4 string. The tempo picks back up again at around 4:30 stamp. The harmonizing choir is hypnotic and easily rivals what Septicflesh has been doing all these years but with a more melodic black metal style. At the same time, none of Lamentari's music sounds derivative. Instead it all feels fresh and original. I love how Thomas' drums sound both loud in the mix but at the same time it doesn't over power the rest of the music.
"Intra Muros Mentis" immediately begins with some electric guitar sweeps for the first 30 seconds before exploding into that somewhat traditional black metal sound. Except the rhythm guitar remains audible without the obnoxious buzzsaw riff, all thanks to the shredding by guitarist Michael Møller. The lead guitarist Emil is also another standout member of this impressive band.
Onto a very upbeat track we have "Appugno" which continues on that path to greatness. To me, Lamentari is a real treasure of band who knows how to be simultaneously fast but melodic in the most symphonic way possible. It's truly rare to get real talented musicians like this who are new to their craft but seem to be master composers.
Then we get to the song "Dolorum Memoria" which is the music video I mentioned at the start of this review. This whole album is a very strong contender for Album of the Year but if for some reason it doesn't end up being #1, this song is definitely song of the year. I absolutely adore these acoustic guitars and whisper vocals. This 8 minute long masterpiece will make you close your eyes and really listen and relax.
The calmness continues into this album's 2nd instrumental which serves as a soothing prelude to the final track. "Spiritus Diurnus" has the church-like choir once more but has the perfect classical music violin strings which turn into what can be best described as a Hans Zimmer score for a Christopher Nolan film. Too bad its only 1:27.
the closer to this breathtaking album is a 7 in a half minute long track titled "Arcanum Ignis Animae". I will say as a very minor critique, I feel like Daniel Lønberg's vocals could use just a little bit of work. If he could maintain the deeper style more often like he did in the song "Dolorum Memoria", I could enjoy this record even more than I already am.
I'm going to score Lamentari - Ex Umbra In Lucem with a glorious 9/10 rating. Be sure to follow Lamentari on Facebook. All of their music is on bandcamp but their t-shirt and vinyl record is available at merchcity.com -
Welcome metal fans to The Great Metal Debate, its Xander bringing you all a new album review. Today, we will be discussing the brand new album from Canadian power metallers Unleash The Archers and their 6th full-length studio album Phantoma. I made a prediction that the next record would be their worst. Turns out that nearly 4 years later in 2024, I was correct. This new Phantoma album ... Sucks!
Let's talk about the guitar work. Andrew Kingsley and Grant Truesdell are usually guitar gods! To me, they have had some of the best riffs, melodies, harmonics and solos. But this album in particular makes it sound like they weren't even trying. Every song has a generic sounding main riff that is bland and falls flat. Its almost like they were just trying to make mediocre background music just so Brittany had something to sing to. The only song on this album that actually had a solo that stood out to me was in their first single "Green & Glass". Everything else is boring. Compare the best solo on Phantoma with literally any other solo from any other album and the former will blow it out of the water. Want an incredible guitar solo from Unleash The Archers? Check out the album title track on Apex.
While were on the subject of "Green & Glass", lets address the controversy. Remember last year when Cattle Decapitation put out an AI generated music video for "Scourge of the Offspring" and nobody cared? But now that Unleash The Archers decides to get permission from an actual artist that they paid to draw the band members but then only use AI for movement animations, they're the ones who get shit on. I will defend Unleash The Archers for this because they're taking all the heat for using AI correctly. The internet is attacking the wrong people here.
Another thing to poke fun at is the album cover. When Unleash The Archers shared a close up picture of the new album art before showing the whole picture, we got an image that looked promising. Two people next to a tree which gave off the Adam & Eve vibes. But when you zoom way out, it's small compared to the futuristic city behind it. The city scape depiction is atrocious. Yeah, yeah, don't judge a book by its cover but damn. This could've been so much better.
Moving onto the singing. Brittany is an amazing singer who can really belt out those high notes. But it truly feels like she's not even trying on this album at all. One day before the album dropped, the band released another single for a song called "Blood Empress" and I only made it a minute and 30 seconds before I turned it off. Like seriously Brittany? You have so much natural vocal range but you felt like you need electronic enhancers? It sounded almost as if she was using auto-tune.
I forced myself to listen to the rest of the album and nothing truly stood out about it. Maybe in 10 years from now after they release 2 more lame albums they'll finally want to do that thing that a lot of other bands try to do. They'll try to re-catch lightening in a bottle by "returning to their roots" and old fans like me will get excited for a song that sounds ... Almost as good as their early days as a band.
Will this album later grow on me too? I don't know. But what I do know, is that it hurts my heart to give this such a scathing review. As it currently stands, I'm only going to rate this album a 4/10. Its not the worst thing out there in the world of metal. I'd still rather listen to this than the new Six Feet Under album that was released on the same day.
Maybe with the continued support of the band, they could potentially redeem themselves within the next few years. As usual, their music is available on all streaming platforms and the majority of their merchandise can be purchased either through indiemerch.com or at their live shows. They will be on tour opening for Powerwolf this September but get your tickets now. The Atlanta show has already sold out. -
Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we’re reviewing the new release from US symphonic/cinematic metal act AfterTime titled “Arcane Horizons.” To somewhat give my summary thoughts first, I truly love the original feel and overall aesthetic of this album and the band generally. AfterTime are somewhat unique in their clean and airy vibe, with great if not exceptionally catchy melodies, highlighted by the outstanding vocals of frontwoman Sarah Wolf. The presentation is actually somewhat minimalistic for a symphonic band, where one might expect every bit of the sonic spectrum to be filled with noise. But with AfterTime, less is often more, and I broadly applaud that philosophy.
I’ll touch on a few of the songs to give some insight. “Lament D’Morgan” is a 6 ½ minute epic track that leans heavily on the strength of Wolf’s singing. “By The Tavern’s Light” brings a bouncy, folkish quality to the table with, in my opinion, the strongest melding of choruses with Wolf’s sweet vocals. I did think, though, that this one also showed some weakness in the guitar mix, with the trade-off lead break between folk-instrument and guitar evincing much dynamism and color in the former and a too muted sound in the later. “Under A Midnight Sun” is a brief instrumental/choral – choral-mental? – arrangement, which would be at home on a Nightwish album.
One of my favorite songs on the album is “Armored Heart”, as I think this one best melds the power of Wolf’s voice and majesty of the orchestrations. Those symphonics aren’t cookie-cutter as with so many melodic metal bands; there seems to have been real thought put into their application within the context of each song. And this is good, because they are integral to every song on the album.
The guitar lead breaks are often very understated in their execution – you won’t find yourself bombarded with a riptide of notes but rather a considered light mist elicited from the fredboard. And this approach works well on tracks like “Armored Heart” and “Amongst The Trees.” Other songs such as “Sons Of Fenrir” and the Epica-esque “Goddess Of Dark Horizons” in my opinion could have used a little more punch in this area. The track “Of Lust And Rust” has a beautiful vocal melody, and I really enjoy the structures as contrived within each verse. But the whole effect becomes a bit repetitive. Just a little additional change-up would have gone a long way here, including making the abrupt ending seem less so.
In my estimation, the vocals are the highlight of the album, and I’d especially recommend this to fans of high-range clean singing. Wolf’s voice is crisp and fresh throughout. She is an incredible talent, and I’m frankly excited for what future years hold for this young artist who surely has not come close to the apex of her abilities. The compositions on Arcane Horizons allow her to shine – the production giving plenty of space for her vocals to be heard. You’ll never hear other instruments come close to overlapping her voice’s position in the mix.
Did I mention the backing choirs? They are perfectly added in all the right places and alongside the orchestrations provide a foundation of melody that truly enhances the music on Arcane Horizons. Kudos to the composer for integrating these so well.
Looking now at two full albums of material, to my mind AfterTime do a lot of things well. They have a beautiful, distinct sound overall that includes some amazing melodies, and that has translated into some excellent songs… even if they don’t always quite reach the heights they’re reaching for, it’s still worth the journey. I’m giving Arcane Horizons an 8 out of 10 rating.
You can purchase Arcane Horizons as well as other music and merchandise from the band’s website Aftertimeofficial.com. And be sure to check them out live touring the US this July alongside Helion Prime. -
James and Andrew from Canadian power metallers Lycanthro join the show from Madison WI following their first US performance the previous evening at Legions Of Metal Fest in Chicago IL!
Excerpts from the Lycanthro track "Enchantress" (Mark Of The Wolf, 2021) used with permission from the artist. - Показать больше
