Mar 292021
 

(Our man Andy Synn has been busy recently, but not too busy to help catch us up with a bevy of new (or new-ish) albums from the first quarter of 2021)

We’re now at the end of March and I can officially say that the stream of new releases, re-releases, and surprise releases, has finally gotten the better of me and I have fallen well behind on my “to review” list.

Sacrifices will, inevitably, have to be made, and some things I intended to write about will either have to wait until an opening appears in my schedule somewhere down the line or, in the worst case scenario, have to be content with appearing in one of my year-end round-ups.

But I’m not going to give in to the inevitable without a fight, which is why, in a desperate effort to provide some interesting coverage, commentary, and – in some cases – criticism about a bunch of records (some dating back to January, some only just about to hit the streets) I’ve decided to pen a few thoughts about six different albums – three Death Metal, three Black Metal – which I’ve been meaning to write about for quite some time.

So, without further ado…

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Feb 112021
 

 

2016 was the year in which Boston-based Aversed released their last record, an EP named Renewal, which followed the band’s 2011 self-titled EP. In the years since then the band’s members focused primarily on their other projects and live performance opportunities, including Seven Spires, a member playing live for Begat The Nephilim and another for Allegaeon/Continuum, and spending time as members of Solium Fatalis and Unflesh previously. But now Aversed are about to return in a big way.

On March 19th they will release their debut album, Impermanent. While the band haven’t jettisoned their progressively inclined take on melodic death metal, they’ve expanded their palette to include elements of blackened and orchestral metal in ways that make their sound even more difficult to succinctly summarize. Still at the forefront are the remarkably varied vocal talents of Haydee Irizarry, again backed by the both hard-hitting and sophisticated instrumental approach of guitarists Sungwoo Jeong and Alden Marchand, bassist Peter Albert de Reyna, and drummer Jeff Saltzman.

Two songs from the album have already surfaced, and today we’re bringing you a third one — “Abandoned“. Continue reading »