Album Reviews

Following the release of the debut album 'Ominous Seep of Putridity' in 2021 Finnish death metal trio Morbific returns with a new album titled 'Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm', out via Me Saco Un Ojo Records (Vinyl), Memento Mori (CD) and Headsplit Records (Tape) on October 24th, 2022. Since its formation in 2020, Morbific has brought an intriguing style of Finn death metal which made them a rare example in this sub-genre. Musically, 'Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realms' feels like these Finns have got into a time machine and went way back in time to transport us to the early years of 90s death metal. While the 10 tracks in the album convey plenty of heavy parts, the music is backed by grimy guitar distortion.
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Aussie black/thrash metal stalwarts Deströyer 666 has been showing true grits and now the quartet returns with all guns blazing, the sixth album “Never Surrender” out via Season of Mist on December 2nd, 2022. Fronted by K.K. Warlust (vocals, guitars), the band’s lineup includes Felipe Plaza Kutzbach (bass, vocals), Kev Desecrator (drums), and Kez (guitars). After the reformed change in the style of black metal from the early albums such as "Unchain the Wolves", and "Cold Steel... For an Iron Age", Deströyer 666 later pursued the spheres of blackened thrash metal with their 2016 album “Wild Fire”.
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35 years now and the Norwegian duo Gylve “Infidel Castro” Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have perceptively been tackling various styles within the spectrum of metal. Even with their 20th album “Astral Fortress”, Darkthrone goes beyond the spectrum of black metal, their sound now takes inspiration from heavy/doom metal. While the duo’s songwriting remained steeped in the throwbacks bringing nuances to Celtic Frost and Manilla Road on the new album, Darkthrone marked a remarkable shift from the early days with the 2013 album “The Underground Resistance”, it was clear that the duo had to wear new gauntlets. Apparently, since the band’s 2019 album “Old Star”, Darkthrone found its musical inspiration from classic 70’s hard rock and the 80’s muse of classic doom metal.
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Hailing from Zürich, Switzerland Ateiggär is a black metal outfit that belongs to the Helvetic Underground Committee and features members of Kvelgeyst and Ungfell. The band was formed in 2019 as a side project founded by Fauth Lantav (drums) and Fauth Temenkeel (vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards) and the duo showed a distinctive aptitude for a unique flair of songwriting on their debut EP “Us d’r Höll chunnt nume Zyt”. They managed to weave some ancient magic of the 90’s black metal, where the composition is defined by the variety of atmospheres and moods.
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Philadelphia’s blackened thrash metal act Daeva unleashed its first studio album “Through Sheer Will and Black Magic” on October 14th, 2022 via 20 Buck Spin. Formed by the members of the U.S. heavy/doom metal group Crypt Sermon, the lineup includes guitarist Steve Jansson, vocalist Edward Gonet, bassist Frank Chin and drums Enrique Sagarnaga. Daeva emerged seamlessly in 2017 with their debut EP “Pulsing Dark Absorptions” and took major inspiration from the 80’s black metal bands like Nifelheim and Bathory.
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At the release show a few weeks ago, I got the chance to see and hear this album live. This performance got me ready to listen to the studio version and see if it’s just as good as the live performance. Lets find out!
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Norway’s Djevel remains a major stronghold in our contemporary age. Their musical style has evoked the raw trademarks of Norwegian black metal for well over a decade. Djevel's past albums like “Blant svarte graner” and “Ormer til armer, maane til hode” were considered the magnum opus for conjuring up cold winters images of forests and this brings us to the band's newest effort “Naa Skrider Natten Sort”, which is more of a continuation of the 2021 predecessor “Tanker som rir natten”. The album has many epic songs and introspective dark passages that show the refined work of the guitars in providing brooding moods throughout the one-hour listen.
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Finland has been a world purveyor in the black metal genre and if you have been digging into the Suomi black metal underground you would find many great acts like Mooncitadel, Vargrav, Aethyrick, and Ymir. Formed in 1998 by the guitarist/keyboard Varsjarn who has been the mastermind behind writing music, the band’s self-titled first studio album clearly showed the classic style of pagan melodic Finnish black metal. With its frosty themes and soaring melodies, Ymir gave the fans an exceptional quality, now the band has released its sophomore release “Aeons of Sorrow” on October 12th via Werewolf Records.
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After disbanding his former death metal band Vallenfyre in 2017, guitarist and vocalist Gregor Macintosh (Paradise Lost, ex-Vallenfyre) succeeded in laying the sonic groundwork for his blackened death doom band Strigoi. With the second album “Viscera” now released via Season of Mist since September 30th, the veteran opens a new chapter in setting up a direction in the sub-genre of death/doom metal. From the ashes of Vallenfyre, Strigoi boldly exploits the element of modern doom, Gregor Macintosh is a master of conjuring a whole realm of foreboding darkness and that’s exactly how “Viscera” fulfill the crusade.
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The most anticipated return this year comes from Floridian phantom horde Worm who found a way to summon ancient inspiration from the realm of black/death/doom. Just one year after releasing its phenomenal album 'Foreverglade' mastermind, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Phantomslaughter reveals the uncanny nature of his composition. With guitarist Nihilistic Manifesto and Wroth Septentrion A.K.A. Philippe Tougas (Atramentus, Chthe’ilist, VoidCeremony, and Funebrarum) he weaves a cosmic tapestry that redefines the sonic direction of Worm’s music. The newest EP 'Bluenothing' features 4 cuts offering an epoch of transition. There are also several guest musicians like bassist Necreon, L. Dusk (drums) and Charlie Koryn (drums).
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