ACRANIUS – MERCY DENIED

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Feb 162022
 

(Andy Synn lays down the gauntlet with the new album from Germany’s Acranius)

Sometimes, to really understand how a band got to where they are, you have to take a close look back at where they came from.

In the case of Germanic brutes Acranius this is particularly revealing, as in hindsight it’s clear that 2017’s Reign of Terror marked a major turning point away from their more Slam-influenced early work towards what’s best described as more of a “Brutal Deathcore” sound.

Sure, there were still several recognisable elements still hanging over from their first two albums – especially the slamtastic snare and the largely unintelligible gurgling monotone of the vocals – but it was clear even then that the band were in the process of becoming something else… something which has finally achieved its final, fearsome form on Mercy Denied.

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FADING AEON: “THE VOICES WITHIN”

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Feb 152022
 

 

(This is DGR‘s review of the new second album by the German melodic death metal band Fading Aeon, which was released last December.)

Many, many, many moons ago in a long forgotten time I reviewed the debut release by German prog-melodeath act Fading Aeon. The group’s first release was a solid hybrid of the mass of genres that melodeath has become over the years, including pulling in influences from folk metal bands to the more long-form and journey-minded groups like Be’Lakor.

Debut releases hold a lot of potential and Fading Aeon’s A Warrior’s Tale was one style of ‘promising’ release, with much of it feeling like it was the group laying a foundation for things to come. While they had already solidified in a sound for that release, it still hinted that the group had more ideas toying with them than what had initially been put down. Where the group would head in their followup was an interesting prospect at the very least, so while it may have landed in a quieter time of the year in the opening weeks of December 2021, Fading Aeon saw fit to act upon that with their sophomore album The Voices Within. Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): THOUGHT TRIALS — “FULL OF SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING NOTHING”

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Feb 142022
 

 

What is it that is “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”? In the words of Macbeth after learning of his wife’s death, it is life itself — “a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more… a tale told by an idiot….”

There may be no speech in all of Shakespeare that is more laden with pessimism and despair than that one in Act 5, scene 5 of the great tragedy. That this phrase was chosen by Thought Trials as the title of this Buffalo band’s new album signifies something. As described by Thought Trials‘ sole creator Josh Martin, the album “is a study of the fragile human psyche and how our journeys are shaped by trauma and misadventure. Each song explorers a different facet of mental health, sometimes from a place of optimism – and sometimes not”. Continue reading »

LIFESICK – MISANTHROPY

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Feb 142022
 

(Andy Synn gets bruised and bloody with the new album from Denmark’s Lifesick)

Here’s a question for you – are Danish misanthropes Lifesick a Death Metal band playing Hardcore, or a Hardcore band playing Death Metal?

It’s ok, you don’t have to answer straight away. Just give their new album (which was released last Friday) a listen and let me know once you’re done picking your teeth up off the floor.

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AUTHOR & PUNISHER: “KRÜLLER”

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Feb 112022
 

 

(This is Wil Cifer‘s review of the new album by California-based Author & Punisher, which is being released by Relapse Records today.)

It would have been easy for Tristan Shone to have just coasted for the rest of his career by being known as the dude who makes music with these machines he built. His early work consisted of very aggressive and dense slabs of industrial steamrolling that droned you into submission.

It was a very powerful-sounding juggernaut. Just creating a sound was something he was content with, and by Women and Children” he added more atmosphere and melody, writing songs that stuck with you and placed him alongside any of his peers. This earned him a spot on my list of most anticipated albums of this year. He has exceeded my expectations with his newest release. It is not likely this album is going to convert you into a fan of industrial music, but will at the least endow fans of heaviness with respect for what is being done here. Continue reading »

KONTUSION: “KONTUSION”

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Feb 102022
 

(This is Todd Manning‘s review of the self-titled debut EP of Kontusion, which will be released on March 25th.)

For many, the tidal wave of old school death metal bands that have saturated the scene for the past decade or so has been an embarrassment of riches. My formative musical teeth were cut from ‘89 to ‘95 or so, meaning that I can listen to this stuff all day long. Admittedly, this means that if a band nails this sound, even if they are pretty average, they will easily grab my attention. But when a band is really freakin’ good, rising above the hordes, well then I’m all in. Such is the case with Kontusion, These guys absolutely rip. Continue reading »

CULT OF LUNA – THE LONG ROAD NORTH

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Feb 092022
 

(Andy Synn takes a journey with Cult of Luna on The Long Road North, out Friday on Metal Blade)

Like I said in my review of the new Immolation album yesterday, writing about a band with a long and much-loved career comes with several inherent complications.

In the case of Cult of Luna, the band are so beloved by their fanbase that it’s hard to get people to admit that they’re not infallible, as I found out when I suggested that both their last two releases, 2019’s A Dawn to Fear and last year’s The Raging River EP, had some significant (although not insurmountable) flaws.

The thing is, I’ve always tried to be as honest and objective as I can be with all my reviews – while acknowledging, of course, that true objectivity is an impossible goal – which means providing as clear and as complete an impression of the music, its highs and its lows, its good points and its bad points, and it seems to me like it would be doing the band a disservice to treat them any differently than anyone else.

So let me state this clearly – The Long Road North is not a perfect album. Nor is is “the best album of the band’s career”, as I’ve seen it described elsewhere (in some cases seemingly before they’d even heard it). But it is still, for all that it occasionally loses its way, a road well worth taking.

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AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): CORRUPTER — “DESCENT INTO MADNESS”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  1 Response »
Feb 092022
 

 

Only hindsight gives us the ability to speculate about why a band or their label chooses one particular song as the first single from a new album. In the case of Corrupter‘s full-length debut Descent Into Madness, that chosen song was “Darkest Light“.

The opening riff of that song, which has a dismal and diseased aura, seizes attention quickly, but no more so than the eruption of thunderous battery, miasma-like riffing, and gory, gargled vocals that follow it. The guitar work has a dense and writhing quality that’s frightening, and even when the drumming slows and Corrupter send off grand but deeply disturbing fanfares of sound it’s enough to put a cold sweat on the back of your neck.

The second time the music explodes in violence, propelled by a crazed solo, might be even more exhilarating than the first time, an experience in ferocity and fear, madness, and malignancy that’s not soon forgotten. Continue reading »

PERSEFONE: “METANOIA”

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Feb 092022
 

 

(This is DGR‘s review of the new album by the Andorran extreme progressive metal band Persefone, which was released on February 4th by Napalm Records.)

We’ve been following the progressive metal group Persefone for a very long time now. If you’re curious just how long, we dedicated time for both a Synn Report and a review of their album Aathma, which has resulted in us covering nearly everything the band have done up to this point.

There’s been almost a five-year gap between Aathma and the group’s newest release Metanoia, which hit last Friday via Napalm Records, yet it seems as if there’s been no time at all between them; Metanoia picks up right where Aathma let off, which was itself an album that continued walking down the same path that 2013’s Spiritual Migration took. That specific path, in a roundabout way, brings us back to Metanoia. Continue reading »

MASS WORSHIP: “PORTAL TOMBS”

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Feb 082022
 

(We present Gonzo‘s review of the new album by Sweden’s Mass Worship, which was just released by Century Media.)

If there’s an award somewhere out there for “best music to listen to while using an industrial-strength sandblaster,” then I think the new album Portal Tombs from Stockholm’s Mass Worship would be a top contender. Continue reading »

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