All reviews below are written and executed by Drako
Fuming Mouth – The Ringing Bell
Pretty aggressive and melodic Hardcore!
Ok, so I have five brand new reviews here for you guys and this is my first one, which this album is by Fuming Mouth and this band is from Massachusetts, US and this is their third full length that they’ve released overall and this one is titled “The Ringing Bell” and this Death/Hardcore band formed in 2013 and this starts off with a screech of feedback before this goes into groovy buzzsaw riffs and chugs, there’s a couple of gnarly string bends added in, along with some pinch harmonics too. I would say that I’m not the biggest fan of the vocals on here to be honest, as they’re very raw sounding and throaty; you get drum rolls and a few isolated bass riffs that shine through; there’s some bouncy grooves put into this, along with some sick sounding chugs too. There are even a few killer breakdowns added here and there that they get slower and nastier as they go along; you have these quick, fast riff transitions from open string to power chord sections all over this and these songs drop for a breakdown at the right moments.
This is FFO: Creeping Flesh, Asphyx and add in some Frozen Soul too
They bring back the bass on here for a time and we get these little sinister sounding harmonies on occasion too, then, this gets quite thrashy with fast riffs and hammering blasts, they put in feedback from their guitars to be a part of the atmosphere. You have these sinister power chords and tritones happening on a few parts and there’s some really scary sounding moments in this with children singing; there’s a few tremolo riffs in this offering that they add in a bit to give it some variety. Next, my favourite track on this full length is named: “Hidden In The Moor” and it starts out with a brief, sorrowful melody and this is where the melody begins to shine, from the middle to back half of this. There’s these big drawn-out buzzsaw riffs and they let that filthy tone breathe, then, this has a really sick breakdown at the end of it, and you have more melancholic harmonies that come into this towards the back half of this and there’s catchy eerie harmonies being added in. In addition, they add in some faster blast beats and groove, the title track sounds beautiful and sad with lush harmonies, a choir is thrown into it also and the solos on this are melodic, mid-paced, shreddy and are at points quite beautiful too. There are some doomy elements on this full length thrown in too and some chiming synths even come forward that’s isolated with the bass and some melodic riffs then come through. This is definitely an improvement to their last one, and I do like Mark’s lows growls, but I’m not a fan of his highs, like I said; anyways, if you’re into sick riffs, breakdowns and melodies, then absolutely check this out!
Rating: 8.15/10
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram
Lord Gryphus – Summoning The King of Death
Killer Texan Death Metal Debut!
Next up, I have this Death Metal band from Texas, US who are named Lord Gryphus with their debut offering that’s titled “Summoning The King of Death” this band’s album has an intro track of creepy sci-fi synths and acoustic guitar passages with the sound of cawing crows over them and the scraping of blades and these build into bongs of drums and the dongs of bells before ending with some Indian melodies. This then transitions into slower, lumbering grooves of chugs and power chords in-between, tremolos then come in and this then gets considerably more aggressive and thrashy with blistering tremolos and machine gun blasts. In addition, they also incorporate fast gallops and legatos into the slower sections in this; then, they end with faster tremolos and drawn-out power chord riffing and next, they include some d-beat elements and you can hear the fast rumbling and clunking of the bass behind the riffs in the mix. They even put in a pretty sick and brief breakdown or two as well and sometimes the guitar and bass do this really sick riff that’s syncopated.
This is FFO: Massacre, Cannibal Corpse and add a few influences from Thanatos too.
They add in a couple of awesome and eerie tremolo harmonies over the riffs and they add in some eerie harmonies alongside the tremolo ones as well, then, they add in a couple of galloping riffs again and they briefly let them ring out before returning to thrash and my word, that bass is fast and speedy as all behind the riffs. They do some pick slides on occasion too even, next is my favourite track that’s called “Sharpening The Guillotine” and this starts off as thrashy, it then goes into galloping riffs and trem bursts and you can hear the Cannibal Corpse influence all over this and they repeat a pretty fast breakdown on it too and there’s a tremolo harmony that just sounds like the one on ‘Inhuman Harvest’ before the solo. Then, they go into a nasty chuggy breakdown that sounds huge with whammy bar accents and tremolos added in-between them before it fades out; there’s a few melodic riffs put in and the vocalist sounds exactly like Corpsegrinder and nothing much is known about this band on the metal archives to be honest. There are doomy sections added in at a point, and they even make these groove riff wise too, then, they put in more chugs with harmonies in-between them and this sound absolutely killer. There’s even a Sepultura cover that’s pretty badass on this album; there’s no solos on this, as it’s more riff focused and aggressive, this is a killer debut that you guys need to check out.
Rating: 8.4/10
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram
Grim Legion – Harbingers of Death
This is truly an OSDM hidden gem!
Now, what do we have here? This is another OSDM outfit that formed in the US and these guys formed in New Jersey and this is a band that’s named Grim Legion and these dudes formed in 1988, they disbanded in 1991, they reformed in 2011 and this is the band’s sophomore full length that’s called “Harbingers of Death” and the album features the soundbite of a woman screaming and a drill over them, then a thick guitar comes in and does tremolos to start out with and this is so thrashy for a short time before they put in doomy riffs and that guitar tone sounds brutal and thick as fuck and the drums are absolutely focused on pummeling you time and time again. Then, in-between these grooves, there’s some sneaky pinched harmonics added in and some doomy sections too and there’s some absolutely skull-crushing thrashy sections in this that’s merciless and doesn’t stop and some of these tremolos just sounds straight up sinister as shit. There’s a couple of doomy style grooves and they put in some bouncy grooves in here as well; you have more eerie and doomy riffs with hammer-ons/pull-offs thrown in.
This is FFO: Morbid Angel, Cryptorium and there’s hints of Cianide in here too.
There’s plenty of groovy gallops in this all over and they even add in a pretty killer breakdown in a couple of parts also, then, they switch to drum rolls and there’s some very sinister Morbid Angel style tremolos and then, they return to a couple of bouncy grooves and there’s quite a lot of doomy influence on here as well too. There’s even a riff that reminds me on here of Petrification’s ‘Arachne Exsanguine’ and some bits in sections of tracks are mid-paced also, then, they bring back a couple of gnarly breakdowns; the band isolate the bass with a ride cymbal at one point and the harmonies sound very haunting too, not just the tremolos. There’s a lot of relentless chugging done on here and they’re designed to pummel you and to get your heads banging and next, the band let this groove go to the end of track five; the title track is my favourite track on here and it’s called: “Harbingers of Death” and it starts out with nasty power chord grooves with tremolos behind them, these turn into chugs, then they go back to them for the chorus, this gets faster when they get to the final chorus line. The solos on this full length are eerie, doomy and at times shreddy on here and you get one or two d-beat moments on here towards the back half of this and they include some string bends also; there’s plenty of doom on this like I said and this album has been 12 years in the making since the last one. If you guys love Death/Doom, then you should absolutely check this one out!
Rating: 8.75/10
Bandcamp // Facebook
Hypaethral – Odyssean
New Hypaethral is absolutely fast, precise and crushing!
Well, I have a promo to go over with you guys and this is the upcoming album from the Tech Death band, called Hypaethral with their upcoming sophomore full length that’s called: “Odyssean” this outfit formed in Missouri, US and this upcoming offering is going to drop sometime at the end of the year and it features very fast riffing, pounding machine gun-like drumming with fast harmonic bursts in-between and at a point, they’ll take a breather before they put in diminished chords and tritones. There’s some pretty sick quick fire grooves put into this now and again too, then, the harmonies on this just get faster and there’s a very fast arpeggio run happening in-between all of this and like a review that I did last week, it’s rare for my favourite track to be the first one and it’s called: “Ire of The Gods” they put in a couple of eerie diminished passages underneath these killer riffs. There’s some bouncy grooves near the end of the track and they add in a sick breakdown that they fade in and they transition to more thrashy riffs and pounding blast beats and the drum snare has a good boom to it and a bongy one as well; you have some tasty harmonies happening and these get higher up the fretboard as they go along.
There’s some pretty sick chugging going on and at the end, the breakdown they add is absolutely fvcking filthy and some of the harmonies in this contains sweeps and arpeggio runs and a few that are diminished; there’s some really fast groove sections and these are on the most of this and the guitar solos on this are shreddy, technical with fast sweeps in them and tapping sequences and at times, the bongy snare blasts relentlessly along to the faster sections; you get a few pick rakes once or twice in-between all of the chaos too.
This is FFO: The Zenith Passage, The Faceless and definitely hints of the likes of ARKAIK also.
You get these very fast crawling riffs and they also include fast chugging too, along with harmonic ones; then, they put in slides and there’s this diminished chord progression in-between the chugs that’s topped off with whammy bar dips and they return to the fast grooves and sweeping harmonies for a time. The band added in these bouncy groovy melodies to get you banging your head and they descend before another kickass breakdown comes in before a solo; ‘Abyssal Hymn’ 1 and 2 are straight up thrashy technical bangers with tremolos, sweeped arpeggios and fast, diminished groove with fast tremolos and gallops, these have brutal death elements in them as well; then, you get these very fast technical harmonies again too and they’re everywhere and that’s not a bad thing at all, next, they put in a couple of clean passages and they let the bass come in underneath them. This is an absolutely precise, brutal and awesome Tech Death album that you guys definitely will want to get stuck into, releases September 18th!
Rating: 8.8/10
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram
Cipher System – Torn Between Realities (EP)
Crappy AI Art, but the music is great.
Alright, so, I’ve got a total of five brand new reviews for you guys today and first up on my list here is this Swedish Melo Death outfit that’s called Cipher System and this is an EP review, as this band had formed in 1995 originally as Eternal Grief, they then changed their name again to Eyecon in 2002, then shortly after, they changed to their current band name. They’ve released their debut EP overall that’s titled “Torn Between Realities” and this features a guitar harmony that fades in and then you have a brief moment of blast beats, and these come back in. You get a couple of doomy elements happening on occasion and plenty of lush harmonies, but seriously, the artwork is lazy, as unfortunately it’s AI; back to the music, there’s chuggy grooves and synth harmonies added in-between these at some points as well. There are little bursts of lead sections that aren’t solos in-between these big powerful choruses and there’s some sci-fi style synths that’s been added in; you also have clean guitars being played after them too and some bouncy synth sections come in again and this is loaded with synth harmonies.
This is FFO: In Flames, Mors Principium Est and add the likes of Kalmah too.
There’s fast riffs and groovy palm-muted riffs in some of this, then, this gets quite groovy for a few seconds and this is more peaceful, as we have a ballad on the EP and this track is the third one and it’s beautiful, somber and it doesn’t have distorted guitars in it that much; there’s a short solo that’s atmospheric on it also. There’s more groove on here with diminished power chords with these massive chugs added in-between, next, there’s this electronic drumbeat put in and then, the guitarist who does the leads adds in some tapping melodies. The choruses across this are epic and some chimey synths appear for a brief moment and the solos are mid-paced, atmospheric and shreddy too and are very melodic as well; my favourite track on here is called “Ravaging Dawn” as it’s got lots of groovy riffs and chugs, lush harmonies, tapping, trills, isolated synths and drums, arpeggio sweeps and even a synth solo that’s rather short. The solo on this song is melodic, mid-paced and shreddy too and it has sweeps at the end of it, the outro is very sci-fi influenced with a lot of futuristic sounds. If you guys like In Flames, early All That Remains and Soilwork, then definitely check this out!
Rating: 8.15/10
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram
Hexorcist – Crucificial Imprecations
This is some absolutely annihilating Death Metal!
Next up on my list is this Floridian based OSDM act that’s named Hexorcist and this outfit formed in 2019 and this here is their sophomore full length offering that’s named “Crucificial Imprecations” and this full length is comprised of a slight bong, then some violins come in that sounds eerie and haunting to start with and these get grander, until the riffs come in, these are thrashy and groovy with a few bouncy riffs put in and these riffs only get faster with catchy ones and tremolos; you can also hear what the bass is doing in the mix also. They slow down the groove for a time before returning to the thrashy chaos, the drums are absolutely fucking crushing on here with plenty of blast beat fury and double kick action, next, the dong of bells return and some eerie organ piece appears too and catchy power chords get thrown in and more very ferocious tremolos, drumming and blasts come back in. For the most part, this is absolutely savage and aggressive as shit, bouncy grooves return, also, the guitar solos on this appear mostly more than once in a track and these are shreddy, chaotic, Trey Azagthoth inspired with a lot of tapping and whammy bar action thrown in and there’s a few melodic ones too.
This is FFO: Perdition Temple, Angelcorpse and definitely and obviously some Morbid Angel worship too.
There are as well some tremolo harmonies that are eerie as balls and these are quite catchy actually; they even isolate them too. Next, they do more furious blast beats and HEXORCIST IV is a fvcking beast of a drummer and some of the solos contains tremolo sections on occasion too, in addition, you have some sick riffs happening behind the solos too; the guitars and drums do syncopated stompy rhythms and after this, there’s sounds of monsters and creatures making sounds and some of this goes straight for your throat when they play at a million miles an hour, the riffs return and are definitely will get you to headbang and there’s some fast trills going on in spots and fuck, some of the drums are tribal and marching on certain sections. Some are just straight up thrashy rippers on this crushing offering and they don’t let up either; my favourite song on this is named “Unconsecrated Offerings” and it has got thrashy tremolos, syncopated guitars and drumming stomps, groovy tremolos and power chords that go a hundred miles an hour, bouncy harmonies and sick riffs behind the sqwarky solos and some have string bends too. These killer riffs get faster too, and the track gives way to a soundbite, a voice talking about black magick and they end the album with whammy bar dive bombs, absolutely blistering speed that’s merciless and Gene’s vocals sounds vicious and killer as ever. If you’re big on Perdition Temple, Morbid Angel and Black Curse, then absolutely spin this!
Rating: 8.5/10
Bandcamp // Facebook
Embodiment – Cryptomorph (EP)
UK Review Diary 62: One of the best EP’s of the year!
On my list next, is this Technical Death/Deathcore outfit who is based in Bath and Bristol, it’s Embodiment with their debut EP that’s called “Cryptomorph” this band formed in 2013 and this has bouncy riffs with a bass groove to start out with, they then add trills and quick fire melodies into this, the drumming is absolutely relentless and crushing with a lot of blistering double kicks happening, as well as blasts right out the gate and they put in some really fast grooves in this and next, they add some really bottom heavy riffs in here and these bloody slam! There’s tapping melodies that sounds exotic and eerie, almost locrian sounding, they put in some diminished blackened chords too; they continue with bouncy grooves and these get faster as they keep going. There’s this eerie feedback that comes in before they start thrashing again and they add in lots of tremolo harmonies along with these fast, blistering riffs.
This is FFO: INFERI, The Black Dahlia Murder and I’d add some Rings of Saturn as well.
There’s plenty of chugs too and there’s this diminished tapping harmonies that show up and you can hear some brief bass noodling too. Vocally, Harry does these deep guttural lows and mid-ranged highs and he can even sing quite brilliantly on here, next, they add a breakdown that’s quick and brief, they include a few pick rakes and pinches into it also. Then, we get to my favourite track on this EP that’s titled “Beneath The Skin” and this has cool fast harmonies, fast diminished grooves and runs with an odd pinch squeal or two, these riffs are killer and they will get you to headbang and briefly, do I hear a synth in there along with the guitar harmonies? You even have a few spoken word sections before a pretty killer breakdown comes in and the guitar solos on here reminds me of Bloodshot Dawn (god, I miss that band) they’re shreddy and technical with tapping moments and there’s an awesome catchy chorus to this track also. The last track is melodic and has a melo death vibe going on with palm-muted grooves and diminished chords added in-between them, then they isolate the guitars until the guitar solo comes in and they finish with a brutal death moment with low burped gutturals over a ripping breakdown. If you’re into bands like Bloodshot Dawn, Inferi and The Red Chord, then absolutely check this absolute stellar EP out!
Rating: 8.7/10
Bandcamp // Facebook
ÆNIGMATUM – Infinitude’s Passage
This passage is dissonant and is a trip.
Up next on my list is this Portland, Oregon based Progressive Black/Death band that’s called ÆNIGMATUM and this is the band’s third full length that’s called “Infintude’s Passage” and this Blackened Death outfit formed in 2017 and the album by these dudes features eerie fading in tremolo harmonies and then the sinister tremolos come in and right off the bat, this is fast and you have a lot of snare hits and double kicks early on. This gets more groovy as it goes along and then some dissonant string bends appear in-between a few riffs, then, they transition to diminished chord progressions that’s known a lot in black metal and these are quite bouncy and catchy also and then they include chuggy palm-muted harmonies that will make you slowly nod your head to them; they put in a couple of pinch harmonics that are always nasty. There’s diminished tremolo runs on here as well and they put in tapping moments on a intro lead in the second track, they go to groovy alternate picking power chords and add tremolos once again alongside these; you at times will even be able to hear the bass on this full length.
This is FFO: Ulcerate, Vitriol and add the likes of Mitochondrion.
There’s some parts that reminds me of Morbid Angel and later Revocation too. The drummer, Pierce does these syncopated stomps with the guitars and among the groovy harmonies, there’s a cleverly hidden bass solo in here too; there’s some quick fire trills and tapping happening and you hear more of the bass here and some things do get kinda buried vocally and guitar wise at certain points. They do some very fast riffing on this too in bursts and next, there’s some very diminished catchy interludes going on in this full length; there’s a few triplet tremolos that are straight up Morbid Angel worship and there’s hints of the dissonant tremolos that’s clearly a reference to Incantation, this on occasion sounds spiralling, it’s definitely a trip and then they do sick riffs once again and these definitely shall get you moshing. The vocals on this are an onslaught of death growls, screams and even some occasional shouting and my favourite song on here is named “Nocturne of Ageless Reverie” because it’s fast, blistering, with more tremolos, thrashy drum grooves and turnovers, fast grooves, it has got colder and bleak tremolo harmonies that are faster than the others, palm-muted harmonies, there’s eerie feedback and screeching guitars. The solos on here are shreddy, eerie and diminished, the drums can be absolutely blistering on here, then, they put in clean guitars and super blistering thrashy bursts too; this is some sick dissonant blackened death that you have got to check out!
Rating: 8.3/10
Bandcamp // Facebook // Instagram
Eaten By Sharks – The Undertow of Hate
Metal’s version of JAWS!
Last up on my list is the shark band – just kidding… anyways, this band is another Tech Death/Deathcore outfit that formed in Canada back in 2012; this is Eaten By Sharks with their sophomore full length offering and since 2013, they went on a nine year hiatus between their debut EP and their debut album and their sophomore is called “The Undertow of Hate” and this sophomore effort features lush and melodic harmonies that gets increasing dissonant as they go along, then chuggy riffs come in along with bursts of techy harmonies; they put in a few tremolos as well before they return to palm-muted chugging and they add in some arpeggio runs and tapping sequences. You get a couple of sweeps that’s going on, there’s eerie diminished riffs that are done slower on this and there’s a couple of blackened melodic sections going on from time to time. They’ve added some slight tremolo bursts among with some sick groovy riffs done straight after; in addition, they then put in a fucking killer breakdown too, then, you hear people screaming before they go into another one too!
This is FFO: Devil’s Reef, Cognizance and I would add hints from Revocation also.
We’re already at my favourite track that’s called “In Tidal Chaos” as it has fast riffs, tapping sections that happen in bursts, a fucking ripping breakdown and nasty slow, lumbering riffs. You have sick and pummelling chugs with and the drummer does some crushing blast beats on this and they’re done by Luka. They once again end with another absolutely nasty breakdown that just keeps going before the solo on here and we will get to those later; there’s sounds again of people screaming and running, followed by a splash, next, they do some pinches alongside these brutal riffs and some tasty harmonics come in over some more open palm-muted chugs. The vocalist, Brady Allen who I’m friends on Facebook with sounds like Nathan Explosion when he doesn’t go too low, as he definitely can and his highs reminds me of the old Vale of Pnath vocalist, Reece Deeter; there’s some fast groove thrown in aside from breakdowns at times and some eerie dissonant passages appear and Brady’s cadences can be as fast as Ollie from Archspire and you can hear heavy breathing and the sounds of waves at the beginning of track five and you can briefly hear the bass on here from time to time.
Tremolo riffs appear briefly in moments and there’s more soundbites on this too for atmosphere, then, they add in a couple of pick rakes and those always sound sick; some string bends and pinch harmonics happen some more too. Eerie riffs that are isolated show up and it makes this full length even creepier and it definitely is when they do melodies in that mode; a few melodies have hooks in them that you can bang your head to. Then, a fucking nasty palm-muted breakdown with string bends come in that will make you do a pure stank face and they return to these at the end of the song. The guitar solos in this are melodic, shreddy and very much technical with an odd sweep in them and there’s some trills being put in as well from time to time here and the outro track on this is diminished and creepy. This is a fucking crushing Tech Death/Deathcore offering that’s got plenty of crushing breakdowns, catchy riffs and eerie harmonies, if you’re into Tech Death, then definitely check this one out!
Rating: 8.75/10
Bandcamp // Facebook// Instagram
Destruction of The Healer – A Universe Bereaved
One of the best Melo Death albums of the year! But… there’s a bit of bloat.
This is my final review that I have today and finishing up here with this Australian Melodic Death Metal project that’s named Destruction of The Healer and this new band formed in 2020 (a shit year for many) anyways, this is the sophomore full length offering by this Melodic Death Metal act and their new offering is named: “A Universe Bereaved” and it starts off with cold winds blowing and a classical guitar passage that’s brief before these groovy riffs come in and I like how audible the bass is straight away, then they go straight into thrashy territory with grooves and fast riffs. There’s killer blast beats and we get to hear a few choir-like chants, these grooves then switch to having palm mutes in-between them and some of the harmonies ascend and descend too; they bring the bass back for a time. They put in these alternate picked power chords alongside these riffs, then, they definitely don’t stop thrashing and they put in more sick harmonies; some of the riffs are wicked fast and they do these little runs and there’s stuff on here that will make you headbang.
There’s dive bombs and whammy bar accents in a few harmonies, there’s these huge riffy hooks in it that makes it sound huge; my favourite song on here is named “Taste of Blood” and this has groovy riffs and harmonies, it’s got triplet tremolos, palm-muted chugs in-between trem riffs, blistering drums and pounding blast beats and they sneak harmonies in-between some of these as well. You can hear the bass in the background on this song as well and there’s a pretty killer breakdown at the end of this particular track. There’s even some black metal influence with cold, diminished tremolos and harmonies happening on this offering on occasion and these continue for a little while as well.
This is FFO: At The Gates, Enfold Darkness and add elements from the likes of Dark Tranquillity too!
Some of these blackened tremolos obviously have a melodic flavour to them and there’s an interlude track on here that’s comprised of clean guitar passages almost all the way through and gradually, some lush synths come in over the top of them and even some awesome violin too and this gets progressively more pretty and lush as it goes on and at the end, the guitars come in. The groove gets at its most aggressive point towards the back half of this and they bring back a couple of synth harmonies to be included into more of this stellar album and even some piano sneaks in too. You get a couple of stompy riffs and a few tracks have really fast and thrashy blackened tremolos too and some of the drum work is absolutely blistering, next, the guitar solos on this beautiful and aggressive offering are melodic, mid-paced, a little shreddy with technical tapping sections put in them at a point and you get some tapped harmonies and arpeggio runs again too. This is a fucking awesome Melodic Death Metal album that’s just stellar, yes, there’s a little bit of filler on the first track and the interlude, but this is just absolutely amazing. I absolutely and definitely recommend in giving this a spin, don’t sleep on it!