All reviews below are written and executed by Drako
Endseeker – Coffin Born (EP)
Endseeker bow out with a decent final EP to say goodbye.
So, I have got a total of 5 new reviews for you all again and I apologize for not doing them yesterday, as I joined in a live stream. Anyways, this is the German Death Metal outfit that’s named Endseeker with their sophomore EP that’s called “Coffin Born” and this is the band’s final piece of material before they hang up their instruments and this shorter piece of material has that awesome buzzsaw tone that’s dialed back slightly, it opens up with groovy riffs and alternate picked power chords with a lead in that happens afterwards that sounds creepy. They then start thrashing with killer blast beats for a short time and you can slightly hear the bass at points on this and then, they isolate that guitar tone and it’s always filthy, next, they do crushing palm-muted chugs and these sound massive and they just absolutely surround you. They put in some absolutely sick breakdowns that will make you curl your bottom lip, as they’re filthy; they put in diminished harmonies that sounds eerie also and then, they do these bouncy groove segments to get you moving and the guitarists add harmonies under some of these riffs and a few are tremolos.
This is FFO: Angerot, Bloodbath and I’d add the likes of Entrails too.
Some of these tremolos reminds me of At The Gates straight up and they use these start, stop chugs and harmonic sections in-between isolated tong hits. They use sound effects like sirens and air raids too for the title track and this starts out with bouncy grooves and they include string bends and pinched harmonics in here also, then, they put in some trilled parts before going back to riffs where they let the guitars ring out and there’s some nasty squeals being added in too. My favourite song on this EP is called “Life Breeds Death” and it starts out with diminished harmonies that sounds eerie, there’s chuggy riffs all over this that crush, they add in diminished power chords, there’s tremolos again towards the end of the song before they switch to an awesome breakdown that’s doomy towards the end of it. The vocalist, Lenny does these Death/Hardcore style growls, he does a few high screams and on the last track, which is a cover from the soundtrack of a film, he has some cleans and musically, this track is a melodic mid-paced banger. If you love HM2 Death Metal, then get on this!
Rating: 7.85/10
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Violence System – The Hollowing (EP)
Tasty Symphonic Deathcore that reminds me of Shadow of Intent!
On my list next, is another EP and this time, it’s from Violence System with their fourth EP overall that’s called “The Hollowing.” This band was formed in Georgia, US and this latest EP of there’s has the likes of a creepy piano that opens to my favourite track on here already, as my favourite is the opening song, called “Endmother” and this piano turns into xylophone passages, then, when the guitars come in, they do so with massive open chugs and tremolo harmonies and I love the syncopation of the synths and drums, as they’re groovy. They put in blisteringly quick tremolo riffs and a tasty breakdown that’s brief enters the frame for a couple of seconds before the big one starts and they put pick rakes and pinch harmonics in-between this one; you have a few tapping parts and they for a time isolate the synths until these diminished clean passages happen that sounds eerie and haunting and I like how they blend the synth with the breakdown. You have melodic harmonies that come in and next, they include pummelling thrashy tremolos behind the synths and at times the riffs do get buried behind them unfortunately.
This is FFO: Lorna Shore, Shadow Of Intent and I’d add some FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE in parts.
In standard Deathcore fashion, they build-up big to the breakdown before they go back to thrashing; the drums on this fvcking crush and they put some pick slides on here at times. Some of the orchestrations sound wintery on occasion here and there; you also have these ascending and descending spiraled riffs, you have isolated bass sections on here as well when they drop out the drums and guitars. The guitar solos that are on here are melodic, mid-paced and shreddy, there’s some thrashy and quick riffs. They then switch to these chimey passages as well; there’s acoustic guitar segments that appear in this too and the last track has melodic keyboard parts that reminds me of bands like Kalmah and this is more appropriate, as John does some cleans in it and it’s the only one that has them in. This is a sick Deathcore EP that has brutality and a rich sense of melody, check this out!
Rating: 8.2/10
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Murder of Life – Visions of Justice (EP)
This is top tier Brutal Death in the name of justice!
On my list next, is this Russian Brutal Death act that formed in 2023 and this band have released their brand new EP that’s named: “Visions of Justice” and this brutal band have released their sophomore EP overall and it features brutal chugs and drum rolls with a couple of bouncy harmonies, then this goes into crushing tremolos alongside blast beats. There’s some sick grooves in here too to get you banging your head and they even isolate them; they include some pinched harmonics into this as well and the breakdowns slam and they don’t always slow them down to do them. They put in a couple of trills too on here; some of these grooves are heavy as balls and the band is called Murder of Life. They do chuggy palm-muted riffs that are heavy as shit and sone of these are done in triplets or are syncopated, next, the bands adds a couple of brief harmonies on occasion, but these are very quick and brief.
This is FFO: Devourment, 7.H. Target and I’d add moments from Defeated Sanity too.
This gets even more aggressive in terms of speed and brutality and when they pause and slow down for the breakdowns, they hit just right. You get one or two whammy bar accents and dive bombs thrown in on here and my favourite song on here is called: “Nonexistence” and it starts with a Russian soundbite before it goes straight into chugging grooves that are mid-paced in tempo and they just stick with these for a while and they pummel and at times, the vocalist Mark sounds like Corpsegrinder and other times, Frank Mullen of Suffocation fame. Fast harmonies return in the form of tremolo riffs and there’s a shreddy guitar solo that sounds eerie on this song, then, you will be able to faintly hear the bass at a point in here and some of the drums are doing gravity blasts at one point and they’re crushing. Some of these tremolos are catchy on occasion also, next, when they let these riffs and chugs ring out, they’re absolutely filthy. If you’re into Brutal Death like Suffocation, Devourment and Defeated Sanity, then get on this sick EP!
Rating: 8.35/10
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Temple of Dread – Dreadspawn Dominion
Almost as good as Hades Unleashed!
On my list now, is this OSDM band that I’ve covered at least three times on here and they’ve released a new offering. This is the German Death Metal band called Temple Of Dread with their fifth full length offering and this is the fourth album by these dudes that I’ve reviewed and this new one is called “Dreadspawn Dominion” and just like the band Werewolves, this band is one of the busiest Death Metal bands in the scene along with NunSlaughter. Anyways, this new album by them has a clean guitar intro that sounds eerie and melodic with an acoustic guitar behind it and when we get to the actual music, it opens up with groovy riffs. There’s that Death influence and you can hear it right away, this then goes into thrashy sinister tremolos and the drums are doing blast beats behind these galloping riffs and trem riffs and these will definitely get you to headbang; tremolo harmonies happen to for a short time before they return on here. They have written some absolutely savage riffs this time around with chuggy ones and they add in trills and power chords between them; the harmonies on some of these are eerie, diminished and spooky sounding.
When they slow things down, they do it with these massive open palm-muted riffs and there’s some huge sounding power chords happening in this as well. There’s more of these massive sounding tremolo riffs that sounds ugly and sinister; they slow things right down to get doomy and they isolate the ride cymbal before bringing the guitars back in and these doomy sections are disgusting. They include some harmonic trills for a time before returning to thrashing; my favourite song on this full length is named: “Death March” as the intro/outro riff and harmony do this blackened groove that sounds sick.
This is FFO: Death, Revocation (early) and I’d add Obituary to that list also.
This has killer groovy riffs that are fun to headbang to, as they’re very catchy and they remind me of Kadaverficker’s ‘Sadomatic Rites’ same key and tone. Anywho, they put in tremolo harmonies and dissonant sections that straight up sounds sinister and eerie; the band add in a massive, but brief breakdown. There’s some surprising melodic sections added too on here before they return to the grooves, then, they do melodies with pinch harmonics in-between them and there’s a couple of alternate picking going on with the power chords also the few guitar solos on this are mid-paced, shreddy with whammy bar accents added in them. The drumming is absolutely awesome on here too with isolated ride hits, turnovers and blast beat chaos that’s all performed by Jörg; then, there’s the sound of feedback going on at least one occasion on here. There’s some slight synths added in too for atmosphere and some tracks are straight up Death/Thrash in this offering and you have some really sinister and evil moments on this; they even isolate a couple of sick ass riffs and there’s some parts where they allow the bass to breathe too. This killer album is a treat to listen too, but I personally prefer their third album to this, but they almost topped it. Definitely check this out if you love Death, Death/Thrash and killer riffs; check this out!
Rating: 8.5/10
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Absolute Darkness – Witness To A Dying World
One of my favourite underground bands are releasing a new full length!
PR/Review: Now, I know that I’ve been away from reviews for a couple of weeks due to needing a break and regret, but anyways, I now return with a total of five brand new reviews for you all tonight and first up is a band, a Death/Thrash act that I’ve known for a few years. This is Absolute Darkness with their upcoming fourth full length offering that’s titled “Witness To A Dying World” and these guys formed in California, US and this upcoming offering features the sounds of soldiers marching and war, the guitars and blast beats fade in behind these and then, they go straight for the throat with aggressive tremolo riffs that slow down gradually. Some grooves briefly kick in and then, after this, some brief harmonies come in, before they add to the grooves with awesome ones that will make you bang your head. Some gunfire and bomb soundbites come in with scream; bouncy grooves come in with a few harmonies thrown in over the top of them, then, there’s mid-paced grooves put in between lead sections before they transition back to them. These grooves are all over this offering by the way and you have these alternate picked power chord sections show up in-between a couple of riffs and some quick fire chugs are also on here.
This is FFO: Vader, Sinister and add some Kreator influences too.
The drums do blast beats occasionally on this, but their mostly fills and groovy rhythms that are performed by Scott; there’s a few diminished clean passages going on in here and chugs follow over them. There’s thrashy energy on most of this with fast riffs and tremolos and surprisingly, some d-beat moments on occasion, also, they add in some bass moments too that sounds killer and there’s some palm-muted harmonies happening on here in addition to the standard ones. Groovy tremolos they add in also in here and you have some flair put in with hammer-ons/pull-offs before they go back to tremolo harmonies; some slow, looming grooves that are pummeling come next and these absolutely slam and this is on my favourite track called: “Loyalty To Me” and the solo in it is slow, melodic with some shreddy bursts. There’s some more creepy soundbites of a guy talking to children about them being on the streets and crying; the solos on this are slow, melodic and shreddy at times. You have some fast legato done on ‘I Guess I Die’ and some seriously neck breaking thrashy riffs, then, you have sick creepy harmonies show up and these show up a little often; Ron, the vocalist sounds just like Piotr from Vader on here and the last track is a cover of Vio-lence ‘World In A World’ and it’s sick. Drops in October; If you’re a huge Death/Thrash fan, then check this out!
Rating: 8.15/10
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BrainBath – HeadHunted
UK Review Diary 62: Blistering OSDM made in Scotland!
So, my next review entry is this OSDM outfit that’s based in Glasgow, Scotland. This is BrainBath with their brand new debut offering that’s titled “Headhunted” this Death Metal outfit formed in 2020 and this debut has creepy synths from the get go that progresses into groovy riffs right before a lead in comes in and it sounds ominous. They go straight for the throat with vicious tremolos and pummeling blast beats when the vocals come in, they add in a couple of tasty grooves to bang your head to in-between these and some of them are nasty chugs and when these meaty power chords come in, they do evil laughs to make it sound even more sinister. These power chords are drawn out and a bit doomy, then, they put in a couple of quick fire legato and pinch harmonics for flair and technicality; a filthy breakdown is then put in that will make you go “bleeeghh! That’s filthy” this is pretty much straight up crushing Death/Thrash at this point and some of these tremolos are aggressive as fukk and show no mercy! There’s some sick D-beat elements as well on occasion and the drummer, Blooter absolutely wails on his kit at times, but he also does slow doomy pockets and rhythmic stomps too.
You get crackling sounds of fire and distant thunder as soundbites before they kick into doomy riffs and that guitar tone is absolutely filthy. Some nasty chugs are also included on here and stompy riffing that sounds like a war march; they then add in some fast power chord riffs and there’s more killer breakdowns happening again on this too. Now, we get to my favourite track: “Terror Has No Shape” this has high pitched sound effects before going into grooves and tremolo harmonies and these are definitely palm-muted on this. Oh, they let a pinched harmonic ring out on this song and it sounds sick, next, they keep the grooves going and you can slightly hear the bass behind the mix, which is a nice touch; they increase the speed a bit just past halfway through the track.
This is FFO: Bolt Thrower, Warscythe and add in bits of Kadaverficker in there also.
They finish the song off with a creepy, doomy vibe and they’ve put in some creepy, crawling tremolo riffs that they isolate briefly and they do the disgusting palm-muted slide thing and they isolate these creepy vocals at times too. They then throw in bouncy groovy harmonies alongside some open palm-muted chugs after an isolated shreddy lead and then some industrial style synths happen and they do more creepy sounding ominous riffs and then, they harmonize them and they really like to go for the fast, groovy Bolt Thrower style riffs. They also do that slide effect thing with the guitars that always sounds cool; the vocalist, Warmaster Kwondo has this dry low raspy growl that reminds me of Martin Van Drunen from Asphyx, but he also does higher registers that sounds twisted. The solos are mostly shreddy and chaotic with tapping sections in them. This is some absolutely awesome Death/Thrash from Scotland that you must give a spin.
Rating: 8.55/10
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Astriferous – Atavistic Unravelling
Hail to Lovecraftian Supremacy!
Last here that I have for you guys is this Death Metal act that’s based in Costa Rica, this is the cosmic and Lovecraftian band Astriferous. This band formed in 2018 and this is their sophomore full length overall, I reviewed their debut when it dropped and thought that it was pretty solid, but they’ve really outdone themselves here with their new one called “Atavistic Unravelling” and this album is comprised of absolutely sinister sounding tremolo riffs to kick things off, they then go for your throat and use them for thrashy bursts, they then slow things down a bit and add pretty sick grooves that they stick to for a period of time before they go back into aggressive riffs and killer blast beats. They put in a couple of tremolo harmonies as well and then come these filthy palm-muted chugs as well as some slides; there’s bouncy grooves going on too and briefly, they pepper in a couple of ascending and descending riff sections and next, the drumming that’s on here that José does on here is nothing short of obliterating.
There are isolated riffs on this that they bring back, and the riff reminds me a lot of Black Curse, and they only make this riff faster. Then, surprisingly, some synths come into the mix and these sound eerie and sci-fi in style, which obviously fits; chuggy harmonies are put on here too and these are catchy too when they’re utilized, then, they add in just damn right evil and sinister spiraling chuggy riffs like they’re trying to summon Cthulhu himself. They put in quickfire riffs also my favourite track on this is named “Dissolution of Eternity” and it has these spiralling riffs that move up and down; it’s got sick tremolos that are catchy running through it.
This is FFO: Mitochondrion, Incantation and don’t forget Black Curse too!
They slow this really creepy harmony down when they do it at full speed first, then they make it doomy for a brief period until they transition to doing Morbid Angel style riffs and chugs that are just absolutely nasty; they then go full caveman and do a Brutal Death style breakdown or Hardcore like Tombstoner while the vocalist, Felipe does those really guttural lows. There are tasty and sinister bouncy and groovy harmonies all over here and they sprinkle in a couple of diminished passages onto the album; there’s some off time string bends in-between these spiraling riffs and there’s a couple of pick slides in this also. I love the triplet tremolo groove that they do all over this, next, they put in a couple of drum rolls that José does at the start of track five and when the guitars kick in, they do classic catchy thrashy riffs that sounds sick too; they put in these slower, giant lurching tremolos and it’s even more filthy and nasty when they get all doomy and take note on this later. The guitar solos on this are chaotic, sinister and straight up shreddy as hell and they put in a couple of pinched harmonics; there’s a progressive side to this throughout here and that makes this even more badass, then, we get to the nasty as slime closure on this absolutely disgusting and technical offering, as the last track is a constant droning, looming and lurching Death/Doom track that doesn’t let up one bit at all. If you’re into absolutely filthy and retching Death Metal with a doomy and proggy side, then definitely don’t sleep on this belter of a release!
Rating: 8.9/10
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Carnal Desecration – Ancient Malediction
One of the best OSDM releases of 2026.. so far!
Next up on my list, is this OSDM release from this Death Metal outfit that formed in Belgium, this is their upcoming sophomore full length offering that’s titled “Ancient Malediction” from Carnal Desecration and these dudes formed in 2018 and the album has the likes of drum rolls slightly to kick things off, before they go straight for your throat and strangle your eardrums with blistering tremolo riffs and pulverizing blast beats. They slow these down for a time to introduce killer grooves, before diving straight back into chaos, then, they add some palm-muted grooves and then some face melting tremolo harmonies come in; a couple of hammer-ons and pull-offs come in too, which are quick fire and speedy. A breakdown is happening behind a pretty solid lead section, but I would have loved for the breakdown to be isolated personally; bouncy grooves come back in with some palm-muted notes, and some very fast riffs are for a short time, isolated on this awesome sophomore full length. Tremolo harmonies make a quick and brief appearance and after these, they throw some pinch harmonics in before going back to thrashing; the drums are very blast beat heavy and are of course laced with those furious double kicks.
This is FFO: Pestilence (official) (older), Gruesome and there’s definitely elements of Skinless in this.
When they slow things down, they do so to mid-paced harmonies, tremolos and they isolate a few too; they even do the sliding guitar effect behind them before adding in doomy sections before they get back to chugging. They throw in diminished chords and harmonies with black metal style chords as well and they add these in-between tremolo runs; they throw in these ripping chugs alongside these tremolos and they put in a couple of legato in here at points. Bouncy blackened harmonies happen next they include some demonic backwards voices over a couple dongs of bells as soundbites, then, they unleash thrashy, d-beat energy that’s laced with groove and thrashy bursts and you get these big drawn out riffs before some brief palm-muted harmonies happen and there’s an interlude on here called ‘Apophis’ and it’s just full of diminished passages and clean tremolos with some creepy winds closing it out and sounds of thunder. You have a small shreddy solo in track six ‘Under Cosmic Command’ and this is the track where they have sick riffs and audible bass grooves too! They add in some eerie guitar slides and there’s a tremolo lead on this song too towards the end.
Eerie tremolos come back in, and they take a break from these and go back into chuggy riffing and they do these huge isolated drawn-out riffs that just sounds pleasant and ominous, as they get all doomy with them. Some lush sounding harmonies come in for a time and my favourite song on this upcoming ripper is named: “Nocturnal Blood” this is thrashy, groovy, full of blast beats, it has fast harmonies, fukking mean riffs, killer riffs with slides added in them at the end, tremolo and pummeling bursts, and the sliding riffs repeat at the end of this track. They throw in eerie diminished clean passages again on the last song on here and they put in a tremolo lead after these too, as well as some diminished harmonies. If you’re a certified OSDM fan, then don’t miss this. It drops on the 15th of October, this is a MUST listen, get on it!
Rating: 9.0/10
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Burial Ruthless – Held By Evil
Absolutely stellar Spanish Tech Death debut.
Last review for the time being is this absolutely jaw-dropping debut from this Venezuelan quartet tech death act that’s named Burial Ruthless and they’ve recently released their absolutely stellar debut that’s titled “Held By Evil” this band originally formed in Venezuela, but they then relocated to Spain sometime recently. They formed in 2015 and the album has the likes of an intro that’s comprised of synths and the likes of violins too, some choirs come into it and marching drums behind them. When the music hits, they go straight to palm-muted chugs and tremolos before putting in fast, quick-fire harmonies and then, there’s some sweeps being added into this straight away; this is fast and thrashy with killer bouncy riffs going on and at a point, they isolate the bass for a short time. They do these stop-start riffs under the rumbling of the bass, next, they put in more symphonics like violins and more orchestrations that sounds haunting and this is of course another instrumental; they begin the next track with a sweep before going into slow lumbering grooves before putting in tremolos and the fast harmonies they do are catchy as fukk.
They isolate the tremolos for a short time, and they then groove with them and they put in quite awesome techy bursts with arpeggio runs and they add in some catchy riffs along with the bass too. They do a few bouncy harmonies and they include an evil laugh in addition to the vocals, then, they put in more creepy synths before they go straight for more shreddy leads and they end it with a whammy bar accent; slow lumbering harmonies appear once more on this absolute stellar full length. There’s bouncy riffs being added in it too and harmonies as well, which these will make you bang your head; there’s chugs, tremolos and lots of sweeps being added in more too, then, they put in tapping melodies before going for more chugging and letting the bass breathe.
This is FFO: Revocation, Flub and there’s influence of later Death sprinkled in.
There’s a proggy riff in here that reminds me of the breakdown to ‘The Outer Ones’ that they build-up to after the first part of it and in this part, they throw in pinch harmonics and in that section too. I would say that this is my favourite track; it’s called: “Groove, Plastic and Antropophagist” they include more bouncy harmonies for it and when they hit another breakdown, it’s just absolutely filthy. They go faster then with those thrashy bursts that they do, and fast tapping is on this track as well. More synths are put in with these clicky drums before they get to the actual music, which they add in more speedy chugs on it; some clean passages appear on track eight and these have bass behind them. The guitar solos on here are wizardry, as there’s shredding, sweeping as well as some tapping sections too, but the small issues that I had with this at times, were the clean vocals, as to me, they just didn’t fit some of the transitions/sections. There’s three instrumental tracks too, two would have been fine, but they could have put the acoustic medley before an actual track for it to transition with… having said that, I still really enjoyed this Tech Death release, it’s stellar, but I really didn’t want to give it a ten because of its minor issues, but having said that, definitely do check this awesome debut out!