GHOST OF MIRACH: “SOL REGEM”

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May 292022
 

 

(This is DGR‘s review of the debut EP by the Dutch death metal band Ghost of Mirach, which was released in April 2022.)

Taken at face value Ghost Of Mirach‘s debut EP Sol Regem is a weird fucking entity. There is no groundwork laid and no explanation provided within the songs of what exactly is happening here. The group just launch you right into the deep end and from there you either pick up what’s happening or it whips right past you, given that Sol Regem is only twenty minutes long.

However, given this website’s tendencies to pull bands from nowhere and place them in front of you, at the very least we should explain what the hell the Ghost Of Mirach project is. Continue reading »

DEMIRICOUS: — “III: CHAOTIC LETHAL”

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May 272022
 

(We present DGR‘s review of the latest album by the Indiana metal extremists Demiricous, which was released a couple weeks ago by Post. Recordings.)

What a wild world we live in when there’s a third Demiricous album out. The group were something of a fixture of the underground in the early-to-mid 2000s, with a combination of relentless touring and albums that skirted around on the death-thrash line/full-blown Slayer worship at a relentless pace.

The band put out two albums and then activity would become increasingly sporadic from about 2010 on. Outside of a demo release, Demiricous even went into full-hibernation mode for a while, which was a bummer for those who saw promise in both the Hellbound and Poverty releases.

However, once you’ve reached the ‘fifteen years between releases’ statistic, that is when you have people going ‘what a world we live in’, because it wasn’t that long ago that Demiricous released their third album Chaotic Lethal. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: GALUNDO TENVULANCE — “TENVULANCY”

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May 272022
 

 

(For his latest review, DGR decided to time-travel back into this time a year ago. What did he find?)

Yes, gaze upon the cool album art and embrace the fact that this EP hit in June of last year when we were all busy trying to brainwipe 2020 from our heads.

At last count my private review archive had 14 releases that were hitting this year that I’ve meant to keep an eye on and look at. I assure you, none of your favorite bands are in there nor is the latest and greatest underground phenom. Don’t panic, we’ll get to it eventually… maybe. But, there are a few that have been sitting here for a very long time and there’s a very mischevious part of me that just wonders ‘well what if we tackle it now in the midst of a lot of high profile releases hitting all at once?’

Japan’s mouthful of a name symphonic melodeath/deathcore project Galundo Tenvulance is one such group. Because their four-song EP Tenvulancy hit in June of last year, it’s highly likely that by the time this review runs on the site this EP could very well be *gasp* a year old. Since we’re known for being the most up to date and recent with everything, you can imagine how much this is going against the grain here. Continue reading »

DARKENED: “BLACK WINTER”

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May 252022
 

 

(We present DGR‘s review of the second album by the international death metal band Darkened, which will be released on May 27th by Edged Circle Productions.)

Truly, death metal knows no bounds and as the swede-death revivalist trend reaches critical mass so too do the bands reach further and further out. The last few years especially have seen more and more projects popping up as musicians found themselves locked inside, and much like many writers have one good book in them, so too does it seem that every musician has one real fuckin’ caveman hitting rock stupid style death metal disc laying in wait.

Darkened already have an impressive collection of music since their founding in 2018 – we ever premiered one! – and four years later are now on their second album after two EPs and a previous full-length. They cover some serious ground among them, uniting musicians out of the UK, Sweden, and Canada in the latest permutation of chainsaw guitar worship, and the group’s newest album – their sophomore release – The Black Winter seeks to add to that body pile. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): THRALL — “SCHISMS”

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May 242022
 

 

A dozen years have passed since the release of Thrall‘s debut album, Away From the Haunts of Men. Two more albums and an EP followed in relatively quick succession from this Australian band, but then came a near-seven-year interval that left a gap in new recordings, a gap that’s about to be filled in eye-opening fashion. The pandemic brought doom to millions, but renewed life to Thrall, and now their new album Schisms is ready for release.

The band’s founder Tøm Vøid has been its only steadfast member, with the recording line-up in constant flux from release to release. The new album features a big array of contributors around the founder, including current or former members of Gatecreeper, Noose Rot, Mar Mortuum, Myotragus, Cult of the Night, Ruins, and Dead River Runs Dry.

What has this collective accomplished on Schisms? There have been a couple of early clues via the release of the songs “Tyrant” and “Hollow”, but now’s the day when all will be revealed in full. Continue reading »

ORIGIN: “CHAOSMOS”

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May 242022
 

(Death metal icons Origin have a new album set for release on June 3rd by Nuclear Blast and Agonia Records, and today we bring you DGR‘s review of it.)

Despite being one of the genre-forebears, Origin have always been in such a weird spot in the world of technical death metal. They’ve never been prone to follow trends within the style and since the group have such a long and storied career – over twenty years at this point – they’ve become an oddly transitory act, with one foot planted in the world of tech-death and another that has always hovered above the world of ’90s-era death metal.

Even with the breakthrough of Antithesis in 2008, Origin have remained so recognizably Origin that you can even pick out when members of the crew appear in other projects. In spite of how much of the genre has embraced technology and studio production over the years, they have also always sounded like a four-piece band. They’re one of the more straightforward tech-death groups out there, which is what makes their newest release Chaosmos such an interesting one in their discography. Continue reading »

HYRGAL – HYRGAL

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May 232022
 

(Andy Synn brings you a review of the new self-titled Hyrgal album)

In my experience, self-titled albums can often make or break a band’s career.

Let’s face it, evidence suggests that there’s about a 50/50 chance that such albums either serve to truly define a band’s distinct identity, or symbolise a total lack of ideas.

Thankfully, Hyrgal is a triumphant example of the former, and serves as a perfect jumping on point for anyone unfamiliar with the French foursome’s particularly blistering brand of Black Metal.

Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): MALIGNANT AURA — “ABYSMAL MISFORTUNE IS DRAPED UPON ME”

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May 232022
 

Sometimes an album title alone deserves a round of applause. So often they’re ho-hum hum-drum variations on well-worn tropes, other times they’re so unintelligible as to be word salad without the dressing, and perhaps worst of all they might provide understandable clues — which turn out to be all wrong after you listen to the music. When a title nails the music and does so with flair, that’s when the clapping ought to begin…

…which leads us to the title of Malignant Aura‘s debut album: Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me.

When you listen to this jaw-dropping new album of death/doom in its entirety — and you’ll have a chance to do that right now — you’ll understand just how fitting and evocative the title is. Continue reading »

SADIST: “FIRESCORCHED”

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May 232022
 

(We present DGR‘s review of the latest album by the long-running progressive death metal band Sadist, just released last Friday by Agonia Records.)

If nothing else over the course of Sadist‘s career, you could say that every one of their album releases have always been interesting events. What other groups out there have not only been through multiple waves of the tech-death craze but also themselves have jumped genres so many times that even to this day they’re a difficult group to pin down?

Exceedingly proud of their jazz influences and keyboard usage over the years, Sadist have always been more than a pack of incredibly talented musicians, and who else can say that their previous four releases have dealt in realms of spirituality, African mythology, horror movie soundtracks, and as close to a haunted Christmas album as you’re going to get until Make Them Die Slowly expand upon their Silent Night, Murder Night influences?

Firescorched is the newest release from the Italian prog-death crew and one that is also interesting for the massive lineup shift that took place between this album and 2018’s Spellbound, wherein the entire rhythm section wound up bowing out of the spotlight. Longtime drummer Alessio Spallarossa stepped down and prolific drummer Romain Goulon took over, but even more interesting was who the band would grab on bass — Jeroen Paul Thesseling, whom many will recognize from his time in Obscura. Continue reading »

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