All reviews below are written and executed by Drako
Arise From Worms – A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction
Sonny, Steve and co. have done it again!
Next up on this list of mine is this Technical Death Metal outfit who have released their debut offering and this is the band named Arise From Worms and this debut offering by them and it’s called: “A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction” this outfit formed in Canada and the US and they share members from the mighty Morbid Angel with the legendary Steve Tucker. This album starts off with a slight rumbling, until tremolo riffs come in and then there’s a few power chords too; Sonny comes in with his sweeping arpeggios before they return to the riffs, then, there’s some slight grooves happening and they transition to these start-stop hammer-ons and pull-offs and the harmonies on this are comprised of tapping, there’s a few synth sections too and you will hear a few nasty chugs now and then there’s a slight synth solo, then, there’s some grooves added in. There’s some galloping riffs put in too to make it groovier and nastier, there’s thrashier riffs and slightly more trem riffs put in here as well and then Sonny’s sweeps are absolutely nuts, Flo’s drumming is absolutely relentless and he has a couple of groovy outro sections.
Necrophagist, Beyond Creation and definitely some definite Morbid Angel influence too.
There’s some guitar sliding effects on here that sounds sinister and they put in some thrashy sections in addition to the tremolos and then, Sonny puts in these ascending and descending guitar patterns. You will hear some absolutely awesome grooves, there’s plenty of blasts on this album too and some groovy double kicks; they put in some well drawn out riffs in-between some sections, as well as solos and the solos are very shreddy, neoclassical and they’re full of sweeps too. There’s some eerie and creepy synths at the start of my favourite track on here that’s named “Nine Walls” and when the guitars come in, it does with wailing ominous notes, shreddy passages and a couple of brief sweeps, there’s some brief grooves and chugs after a meaty thrashy section that was badass and it could have been built on or been longer; this is an instrumental track and towards the end of this, there’s a sick mini breakdown section before the synths become more grander. Some violin even shows up on a segment in this killer debut alongside ominous synth passages. This absolutely mind-blowing debut full length is just full of thrashy riffs, neoclassical sweeps and shreddy mayhem; if you’re into Morbid Angel and Necrophagist, then you definitely should not sleep on this!
Rating: 8.7/10
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Nuclear Tomb – Epoch Inhumane
Nuclear Tomb return with another great album!
Next up on my list is this Progressive Death/Thrash Metal outfit that formed in 2011, they formed in Maryland, US and this is Nuclear Tomb with their sophomore full length offering overall and this is called “Epoch Inhumane” and this starts off with a voice from some kind of broadcast telling you to keep watching the skies and at the end, they put a synth effect on them, then they transition to a groovy thrashy riff and the harmonies come in and they sound eerie and ominous, you can hear the bass behind them too; then they go to absolutely pummeling drumming and fast riffs, they add in some blazing tremolos, then, these fast grooves come in that will make you headbang and they throw in some pinch harmonics in-between these quick, thrashy riffs. There’s some diminished riffs along with some cold and bleak blackened dissonant harmonies also and then, they transition to groovy riffs that get faster and the vocal hooks dueled with them sound fucking sick; you won’t want to stop banging your head. There’s a couple of these huge sounding drawn out riffs that sounds haunting and quite eerie also.
They put the bass in sections and they let feedback bleed into the atmosphere, then, they go to clean acoustic harmonies for a time and then, they put in these back to back pinch harmonics before more diminished sections come in. They add in palm-muted chugs along with the pinched harmonics as well and they transition then to a couple of bouncy grooves that they add more in too and when they let that tone breathe, it sounds absolutely filthy and thick. There’s some fast harmonies going on in this album and the riffs in this just slam!
This is FFO: Revocation, Replicant and there’s influence from the likes of Atheist as well.
There’s a couple of galloping riffs in here as well and there’s some clean guitar strums and passages and there’s quite a lot of diminished riffs into it; these blast beats are lethal and some of the guitar playing on here have a wah effect on them and some of the solos on here are diminished, shreddy and at times haunting as well. My favourite track on here is called “Lifeless Transformation” and this track is so groovy, the riffs are nasty to make you headbang; the drumming in this are syncopated and then, they transition to some thrashy sections into this track also. The back half of this is more riffy and groovy than the rest of it and they even isolate the guitar and bass at a time in here now and then; there’s a track on here that’s instrumental. The vocals on this at times reminds me of Dave Davidson and Darren Lavery too quite a bit and this is just some straight up blistering, thrashy and haunting Progressive Death, if you like Cryptopsy, Revocation, Atheist and Replicant, then definitely spin this crushing offering!
Rating: 8.55/10
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Haserot – Advent of Suffering
Haserot’s debut is quite killer!
This is a Death/Thrash Metal outfit that’s from Texas, US. This is my first review of four and this is Haserot with their debut offering that is titled “Advent of Suffering” and this debut from them features the likes of an eerie harmony right from the start, then they transition into absolutely thrashy tremolos and blazing double kicks and blasts in-between these harmonies and when they slow down a bit to add these groovy riffs and these repeat quite a bit too. They formed in 2020; they slow down with the harmonies and they even isolate a couple as well, then, they put in these nasty fast chugs too and then they write some thrashy and blasty riffs, the drums are absolutely unmerciful. There’s plenty of chugs put in here also and next, they add in very ominous sounding sections too; this is such an aggressive and thrashy offering all around with lots of tremolos. Next, they put in a few chuggy harmonies in addition to their other ones.
This is FFO: Death, Massacre and there’s some hints of Grave also.
My favourite track on this is named “Tears In Bethlehem” and it has sick harmonies, chuggy grooves and riffs with a few tremolos in-between them and the growls on here have this raw and dry quality to them that reminds me of Chuck mixed with Martin Van Drunen from Asphyx. This has some acoustic guitar passages appear in this also and this is just an interlude track; next, they put in a couple of meaty tremolo harmonies and the guitar solos on here are melodic, shreddy and atmospheric with a few sweeps added in surprisingly too and the back half of this offering is much slower paced with more grooves added in and some bits straight up reminds me of Monstrosity as well on occasion. These dudes even add a crushing breakdown in this full length on an occasion or two. This is some absolutely ferocious and killer OSDM with plenty of thrashy bursts and influences; if you’re into bands like Monstrosity, Death, Cannibal Corpse and Massacre, then definitely check this out!
Rating: 8.45/10
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Nothingness – Godslaughter
Nothingness never disappoints!
Up next that I have for you all, is this OSDM outfit that formed in Minnesota, US and this is Nothingness with their brand new album that’s titled “Godslaughter” this is their third full length offering overall and I reviewed their last one. These guys formed in 2018 and this new full length by them features groovy chugs right out the gate with some power chords and pinched harmonics thrown in, then, they put in some nasty pick rakes and they get more thrashy on here too with faster chugs. They chug more riffs and a couple of harmonies as well; they put in tremolo riffs for intensity and extremity next to add more bite. They do slow down a bit to add in doomy drawn out riffs and there’s a slower breakdown going on too at times, next, they then go to groovy chugging, grooves come back in with fast bouncy riffs designed to get you moving in the pit and also, they at points let the bass breathe too. They increase the thrashy tremolos to pummel you and they for a time isolate a slight groove before bringing everything back in and they do these syncopated drum and guitar stompy rhythms also that sounds cool.
This is FFO: Hideous Divinity, Abysmal Dawn and add elements of Nile also.
There’s some filthy breakdowns and straight up doomy elements that are catchy; they put in these eerie diminished harmonies now and again as well and some of these slower riffs can be quite bouncy and catchy too. Some tremolos sound straight up eerie and drumming wise, there’s double kick mayhem and syncopated gallops all over this, along with thrashy blasts also; there’s some absolutely pummeling thrashy moments on this too that reminds me of Hideous Divinity and Belphegor straight up, as well as my band Smarag (shameless plug.) These riffs can at points have a buzzing effect on them and my favourite track on this pretty awesome offering is named: “Divine Irresponsibly” it has eerie doomy riffs to start it off and this builds to a thrashier tremolo section that gets faster overtime and they sneak in some blackened harmonies under these riffs also.
They then slow right down to isolate these sinister riffs and then, this progressively gets quite doomy and melodic too before they transition back to the tremolos; this starts to end with a killer doomy breakdown with pinch harmonics put between the notes. They add in some sinister and ominous synths in here and there’s only one solo on this and it’s melodic and mostly mid-paced with a little bit of diminished notes and whammy bar action thrown in towards the end of it. A few of the tremolos are groovy and there’s a couple of clean diminished passages and there’s this dinging sound on the last track on this killer offering, which is kinda surprising, then, there’s a droning synth solo on this too. If you’re into bands like Hideous Divinity, Aborted and Nile, then definitely check this killer offering out!
Rating: 8.4/10
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Enfrenzied – Parasite Chamber
Saw this being posted on the TBDMS group and my god, this rips!
This is my final review on here for now and my last one is by this brand new Tech Death act that’s named Enfrenzied with their absolutely killer debut offering that’s titled “Parasite Chamber” and this band hails from Virginia, US and this debut starts off with tremolo riffs and harmonies from the get go and a couple of these riffs are so fast and pummeling too, the drumming straight away is nuts and it has that brutal death style of bong to the snare; they then transition to grooves that only get faster as it goes on. There’s groovy power chords in this too and they include a couple of chuggy riffs every so often in addition as well and then, next they have the drummer Shane blasts does some ripping blast beats; the harmonies on this are super technical with sweeps put in and there’s a couple of fast galloping sections in here too, next, there’s a couple of bouncy grooves put in for extra oomph. There’s quite a few proggy sections put in and there’s a couple of sweeps and tapping moments in some of the harmonies here and you have a couple of diminished blackened chord progressions and there’s some awesome melodies that are catchy too.
This is FFO: Spawn of Possession, Necrophagist and add hints of Beyond Creation too.
They put in these huge sounding doomy riffs in-between faster sections on occasion and some of the thrashier sections get progressively more groovy in here too and some of these will definitely want to get you to headbang. They then add in some ominous sounding power chords and they do this pretty evil sliding chug thing that sounds absolutely filthy and they rarely happen too and then, they put in several pinched harmonics. These riffs are super fast and these dudes hardly slow down at all and they put in a quite ripping and filthy sounding breakdown in the track named ‘Shadows of Supremacy’ and breakdowns become more common towards the back half of this and the guitar solos on this are atmospheric, melodic with sweeps added in them and they’re not in every song either and there’s a few whammy bar dives and a solo can appear more than once in a single track and I like that. My favourite song on this absolutely devastating and techy banger is the final track named: “Path of Suffering” and it has a sick key all the way through that they play in, it of course has tremolos, sick harmonies, pinched harmonics, fast grooves, chuggy riffs, blackened and dissonant quick fire chords, as well as chuggy gallops, bouncy tremolos and the outro solo is absolutely sick. This is an absolute ripper of a Tech Death offering, you dudes need to get on this if you haven’t already, get on it!
Rating: 8.85/10
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Rumination – Maelstrom of Epithelium (EP)
UK Review Diary 61: Upcoming brutal EP is pretty rad!
Ok dudes, I have got a total of four more reviews for you here today and we’re starting out with a Brutal Death project that’s outta Hartlepool, UK. This is Rumination with their upcoming sophomore EP that’s titled “Maelstrom of Epithelium” this band formed in 2024 and this EP has voices that starts it off and then, we go straight into blasting tremolo riffs and annihilating blast beats, this then goes to very brief groovy riffs that could have been drawn out more and instead they go back to thrashing and tremolos. They then include a couple of pinched harmonics and they let the bass breathe for a few seconds before going straight into a killer breakdown and the bass returns under the riffs; they put in these nasty chugs every so often as well and the drumming is relentless and straight up punishing at points. The breakdowns are absolutely nasty and crushing with lots of chuggy madness thrown in them too, then, it goes into my favourite track on here, which is called “LED”.
This is FFO: Devourment, Dying Fetus and there’s hints of Pathology as well.
This favourite track of mine starts off with highly aggressive and blistering riffs and pummeling double kicks, my buddy on lead guitar Liam Wales adds in a couple of sweep picked harmonies in-between these crushing riffs and after this section, they include groovy riffs and then they do a breakdown, which is the purest stank faced inducing filth you’ll hear. There’s some groovy harmonies added in as well, not just the sweeping ones and then, they transition to the groove riff again and this track fukking bangs! There’s some flavored jazzy bass lines going on in here too, then, they do these fast grooving riffs to get you moving and for the whole EP, they barely slow down at all and the syncopated guitar and drum lines are badass. I’m not really a big fan of slam vocals, but for the most part, I didn’t really mind these that much (a huge compliment) and Liam’s solos are shreddy, short and technical with tapping moments and whammy bar accents thrown in. This is an upcoming decent EP that’s relentless, punishing with plenty of nasty breakdowns; check this out and it drops on the 25th of August, in two days time.
Rating: 7.75/10
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Besotten – Eye of The Monolithicrypt
An old band that I found are releasing a banger!
So, this is a band that I found when they released their demo and I’m talking about the rancid Death/Doom band named Besotten, pretty band name. Anyways, this band formed in Oregon, US in 2021 and they’re ready to release their debut that drops in November that’s called “Eye of The Monolithicrypt” and this upcoming offering has a creepy and droning clean guitar to start things off, then when the distortion kicks in, there’s filthy string bends before the sick groovy riffs and these are kinda chuggy too and they will make you headbang as well as the bouncy grooves too that are designed to get you moshing. There are creepy harmonies added in that sounds ominous and then a breakdown comes in and it’s absolutely fukking ripping, then, the drumming on here is absolutely blistering at times with killer blast beats, as well as slower tong hits too. Some of these riffs are just straight up filthy and you get occasional pick slides on this and there’s galloping riffs and tremolo harmonies now again that happens as well in here.
This is FFO: Disma, Incantation and add elements from Cerebral Rot also.
There’s plenty of creepy harmonies going off in here and they put in some sick and ominous tremolo harmonies in addition to these other ones, next, they do these string scrapes that sounds very ominous for atmospheric purposes and they kinda isolate them; before bringing in these riffs that sound huge and these are so ominous and doomy as well. There’s some clean passages happening that they occasionally add in as well before they add in a few surprisingly pleasant melodies and my favourite song on this full length that drops this autumn is called “Cruentation” as it has groovy tremolos, chuggy riffs, catchy power chord intervals, doomy riffs and atmosphere, they add in tremolo harmonies and isolated riffs and the drumming on it can get absolutely ferocious with blast beats too.
Some of this can be as fast as Hideous Divinity and Belphegor at points with explosive drums and tremolos, then, there’s quite sinister and synthesized guitar harmonies that are isolated, they then let the bass rumble doomy notes behind them. A few more guitar slides happen and the guitar solos on this album are shreddy, atmospheric and quite melodic on occasion; there’s some pretty sounding clean guitar passages happening and the vocals across this is done by ‘GP’ and he adds deep cavernous roars, occasional high screams and even whispers and spoken word sections too. If you’re into Tomb Mold, Disma and Incantation, then definitely add this to your lists to be on the lookout for; drops on the 6th of November! It absolutely fukking slams!
Rating: 8.6/10
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Fires In The Distance – Circadian Promise
This is some absolutely beautiful and outstanding Melodic Death/Doom!
Saving the best for last, this is the absolutely astonishing and amazing Melodic Death/Doom outfit that formed in Connecticut, US. This is Fires in the Distance with their absolutely amazing third full length that’s named “Circadian Promise” this band formed in 2016 and this starts off with some droning synths that builds-up to a mournful violin section with drums behind it, then comes in these beautiful and melodic guitar harmonies and when the riffs kick in, they’re groovy and chuggy and this opening track is my favourite and it’s rare that an album opens up with my favourite track on it and this is called “Of Radiance and Levitation” and some of these harmonies can be catchy also when the guitars drop out, they isolate these chimey synth sections that sounds pleasant and beautiful as well; there’s some audible bass riffs, then, some power chords that are alternate picked come in before a couple of palm-muted tremolos happen and this song ends with the beautiful chimey synths. Then, they put in some Melo Death style harmonies and a couple of sweeps on occasion too.
This is FFO: Swallow the Sun, Insomnium and I’d add in some Opeth as well.
The vocals in here aren’t just growls or screams, as Craig does sing cleanly on a few tracks and they add grooves into these tracks to make you bang your head and there’s some clean guitar passages, then, there’s some slight woodwind thrown in here at times as well and it makes it more beautiful and surprising. There’s some absolutely thrashy sections on occasion happening too to add some intensity and then, they have a few alternates picked power chords thrown in; there’s some fast tremolo riffs in this and a couple of harmonies too and then, they put in some quite haunting harmonies dueled with the bass. This has sci-fi style synths added in as well and you have clean guitars put in this on occasion and a voice comes in on track four; there’s a quite meaty and haunting track on here though with ominous synths and riffs, as not every track is pretty, it doesn’t have to be, melancholic is a better term and there’s this chuggy palm-muted riff that happens in track five and Craig’s growls reminds me of Goatwhore a bit and there’s some industrial droning synths happening and they include several slides too on occasion. Now, the last track is an epic, heroic and groovy closure and it has killer blast beats and double kicks for days! Dudes, this is some straight up amazing and beautiful Melodic Death/Doom, and I want to thank Xander C. Jones for telling me about this on its release, it’s absolutely stellar, don’t sleep on it!
Rating: 9.75/10
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Elvenking – Rites of Disclosure (EP)
Elvenking return with a cracking new EP!
So, this is a Power Metal band that I’ve reviewed last year with their awesome newest album and now, they’ve released an EP earlier this year that’s called “Rites of Disclosure.” This band formed in 1997 in Italy and this EP by them is their debut and the first one that they’ve ever done in their discography. This is Elvenking and this short piece of material from them has beautiful clean guitar passages and lush harmonies from the get go and then this goes into an instrument that sounds like a banjo for a time before the synths come in behind them and then, they put in grooves and quite a bit of chugs and straight away, they go into a big epic chorus and you have synth passages and then we’re into my favourite track on this EP that’s called “Rite of Passage” and it starts with a syncopated synth and guitar melody, then, they do big power chords in-between harmonies and chugs. There’s some lush synth harmonies and they then fade everything out to clean acoustic passages and synth sections and there’s actually a bass solo happening, which surprised me and this suddenly goes into blast beats and fast alternate picking.
This is FFO: Dragonforce, Twilight Force and add in some ORDEN OGAN as well.
There are some folky harmonies and bouncy melodies going off in this too at times and the chorus is very catchy and there’s a harmonica in a bit of this too, then, they let the synth do a little solo thing now and again. They have chuggy harmonies and pinch harmonics as well, next, they add in eerie sounding harmonies on occasion and then, they switch to these sick ass groovy riffs and the guitar solos on this are melodic, shreddy and have sweeps and tapping in them; they include a choir-like vocal style on this EP as well and back to the solos, there’s whammy bar accents thrown in on occasion and there’s some blackened/speed oriented riffs added in and then, they put in this absolutely sick groovy riff in the track ‘Arrival.’ There’s a pretty sick cover of Bodom’s ‘Children of Decadence’ and as I’m a die-hard COB fan (sucks that they reformed by the way) I heartily approve; there’s an acoustic ballad on here that’s got the sounds of crows and crunching leaves on it, along with bird sounds and choirs. There are some thrashy Death Metal elements on the last track that sounds sick and the vocals on this that is done by Damna and Aydan do a back-and-forth duet of clean vocals (Damna) and Aydan (harsh.) This is once again, a sick release from Elvenking, a solid debut EP, absolutely check this one out!
Rating: 8.35/10
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Yoth Iria – Gone With The Devil
Yoth Iria are back with an absolutely awesome full length!
So, this is a band that I’ve reviewed before as well in the past and this is the Black Metal outfit that’s known as Yoth Iria and this band formed in 2019 in Greece. This is their third full length offering overall and it’s titled “Gone With The Devil” and it opens up with a folky vibe with violins, a hurdy-gurdy and some folkish choirs; the guitars come in slightly behind them and these then change to harmonies that gets more catchy as this goes on. You have a couple of galloping riffs going on before they add in the hurdy-gurdy over the top of them and this is incredibly melodic right from the get-go and this has lush harmonies happening in quite a lot of this full length; you have dark and epic sections with choirs and then, they add in a few pinched harmonics repeatedly and they then transition to tremolo harmonies. There’s some synth moments added and blended in also they put in some isolated hurdy-gurdy and woodwind sections on here as well and then there’s some chuggy harmonies put in in addition to the other melodies; there’s female choirs happening too and behind these are catchy little grooves, then, they speed things up with absolutely blistering, pummeling blast beats for a time.
This is FFO: Rotting Christ, Dissection and add influences from the likes of SEPTICFLESH as well.
There’s big drum hits and choirs behind them and they then switch to lush harmonies once more and then they do some alternate picked power chords before putting in filthy chugs and then, these diminished, bleak harmonies come in before they put in some tremolo riffs and crushing blast beats with a few harmonies behind them. Then, this gets melodic and groovy with diminished riffs on the track “3AM” which is one of my favourites and these continue for a while, until it’s just the harmonies and the drums playing; they bring the rhythm guitar back in and then, they isolate the guitars a little more. They do a couple of harmonic gallops and some of the harmonies on here are just damn right beautiful sounding and there’s groovy alternate picked sections happening too and then they put in some slight acoustic harmonies also; there’s some groovy chugs on this that they add in and there’s some groovy harmonies in it also. Furthermore, there’s some groovy tremolo sections put in this too and my favourite track on here is titled “The End of The Known Civilisation” as its the grooviest track on the album with alternate picked riffs, palm-muted grooves with power chords in-between them that sounds stompy and crushing, it has more lush harmonies, the solos across the entire album are shreddy, melodic and atmospheric. You can hear the bass being slapped towards the end of this song as well; the vocals in this are comprised of black metal shrieks, death growls, even some cleans, whispers and spoken word elements. If you’re into melodic and symphonic black metal, then absolutely give this absolute melodic banger a spin!