Progressive Death Metal

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    Octoploid - Beyond the Aeons (2024)

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    Being huge fans of Amorphis, we always wondered what would they sound like now if they would have kept the core style behind “Tales from the Thousand Lakes” and just made refinements over time. Luckily for us, Olli-Pekka Laine, former and again current bassist from the band, unleashes Octoploid and their debut release “Beyond the Aeons”. For eight tracks and around 45-minutes, this release delivers excellent proggy Melodic Death Metal music with a very familiar style and a whole lot of catchiness.

    Opening with “The Dawn in Nothingness”, we are quickly treated to playful riffs, enthralling keyboards and Mikko Kotamäki handling the vocal duties. “Coast of the Drowned Sailors” and the opening track will quickly bring back the days of early Amorphis as it has a mixture of elements from “The Karelian Isthmus”, “Tales..”, and “Elegy”, particularly because Tomi Koivusaari handles the growls on this second song.

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    Persefone - Lingua Ignota: Part I (2024)

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    After their very impressive 2022 release “Metanoia”, expectations were sky-high from Andorra’s Persefone. Since that release, the band went through a major change, losing vocalist Marc Martins Pia. However, one would imagine with the main core of the band that this EP, “Lingua Ignota: Part I” wouldn’t be too far from a departure from their original style.

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    Linus Klausenitzer - Tulpa (2023)

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    Delivering over 52 minutes of intricate Technical/Progressive Death Metal, today we have German virtuoso Linus Klausenitzer. As one of the best 6-string fretless bass guitar players (the other has to be Jeroen Paul Thesseling), Linus manages to craft ten very engaging, and diverse tracks, that while they always highlight his staple instrument, they are very well rounded with tons of guest guitar solos, variety of vocal styles, and Hannes Grossmann on drums. If you like proggy/jazzy extreme metal, and are a fan of bands like Obscura, Obsidious, etc. this release will blow you away.

    Opening with acoustic guitars and quickly jumping into incisive riffs, “King of Hearts” sets the stage for a very engaging and crafty release. The bass guitar lines are superb, as to be expected, but instead of just banking on this ability, Linus has composed very intricate tracks like “Axiom Architect”, and the extremely catchy “Our Soul Sets Sail”, which has a certain Soilwork-esque vibe. Other pieces like “Sister in Black” are quite playful and exploratory, creating a sultry atmosphere, while delivering insane technical proficiency.

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    Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (2023)

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    With a highly polished and equally crushing Progressive Death Metal/Grindcore sound, today we have Cattle Decapitation and their latest demoralizing release “Terrasite”. Unleashing 50+ minutes of music in 10 tracks, the band unravels their most punishing release to date. Aging like a fine wine, this outfit has constantly evolved their sound to be a great balance of brutality with technicality and atmosphere, creating some of the nicest sounding imposing releases in the scene.

    Opening with the dramatic “Terrasitic Adaptation”, we get some chilling atmospheric keyboards, courtesy of Dis Pater, aka Tony Parker, alongside imposing riffs and the insanely dynamic vocals of Travis Ryan. We particularly love how the band goes from 0 to 100 in seconds, unleashing hellish drumming, diverse vocal styles and an overall sense of brutality unlike no one else. Perfect examples of this devastating style are songs like “We Eat Our Young”, the more traditional DM “The Insignificants”, to the extravagant bombasticness of “A Photic Doom”.

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    Vintersea - Woven Into Ashes (2023)

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    There are few albums that span almost every possible genre of Metal, in a cohesive and creative way. Today, Vintersea manages to achieve the near-impossible with their latest opus “Woven Into Ashes”. Further expanding their Progressive Death/Black Metal core, the band throws in some Doom/Djent/Goth elements to the nearly 50 minutes of music split in eight tracks. If you liked the band’s previous effort, “Illuminated”, you will certainly love this one.

    Opening with crafty guitars and very lively tempo changes, “Unveiling Light” gives us that Into Eternity vibe from their “Buried In Oblivion/The Scattering of Ashes” days. Things get quite heavy, in a very Death Metal way on “Devil’s Churn”, with quite brutal and intense opening that suddenly waves back and forth melodic clean-vocal sections. Avienne Low is a very talented vocalist that perfectly transitions between hypnotic clean vocals and powerful harsh screams as the blistering “At the Gloaming Void” and “Lonesome Tide”.

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    Obsidious - Iconic (2022)

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    Spanning back in 2020 out of ex members of Obscura, Obsidious is one of those bands that perfectly combines technical wizardry with solid songwriting to craft unique songs that are brilliant in both departments, not just one of the two like tons of other bands. Unleashing over 53 minutes of music, some might expect just another version of Obscura, but the band is far from this as it feels more like a mixture of Scar Symmetry, older Soilwork, some of the pace of Persefone, with some Cynic sprinkles. If you are a fan of the genre, you should better keep an eye out for these guys.

    The release opens with the imposing “Under Black Skies” and its pretty brutal delivery of multiple styles of harsh vocals alongside punishing riffs and crushing drums courtesy of Sebastian Lanser. The mood quickly changes and becomes more dynamic as the soaring clean vocals change the tempo a bit. The band’s sound is quite well crafted as it is never too linear and keeps throwing things at the listeners to keep them guessing as one can appreciate from tracks like “Sense of Lust”, “Iconic” and “Bound By Fire”.

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    Lamentations - Passion of Depression (2022)

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    Delivering a hefty dose of high-octane Progressive Death Metal, today we have Lamentations and their sophomore release “Passion of Depression”. We particularly enjoy proggy/technical releases that actually have well structured and enjoyable songs and are not just a self-wanking fest of technical proficiency. Luckily for the listeners the band unleashes seven excellent songs filled with crafty tempo changes, moody arrangements and excellent musicality.

    From the lush opener “Prodigal”, we get a very engaging Cynic-meets-Persefone vibe, perfectly balancing proggy interludes with some heavier and more complex sections. All band members this time around are basically the same guys behind Monotheist, and it shows that the music is quite cohesive and well integrated, with each instrument shining at different stages but never overpowering the general flow of tracks like “Anew” and “Shiver”. These tracks deliver excellent melodic passages, dreamy vocals and a pulsating bass guitar line.

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    Catalyst - A Different Painting for a New World (2022)

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    Hailing from France, today we have a very engaging and technically proficient outfit with Catalyst and their sophomore full-length release “A Different Painting for a New World”. With a very catchy and crafty Tech/Prog Death Metal sound, reminding us of a mixture of Scar Symmetry, Persefone, and Into Eternity, this band delivers nearly one hour of neck-snapping music that will immediately please any fan of the genre.

    After building momentum with the opener, the band wastes no time to unleash their riffing onslaught with the pummeling “To Unleash Thy Heinous Fate”, a track that is both blistering and crafty. The band’s style is very well balanced as they expertly mix harsh grows and tempo changes with virtuosity as we can hear in pieces like “The Last Warning”, “Worms and Locusts”, and “Arise of the Anathema”. This last track is one of our favorites thanks to how dynamic and explosive it is.

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    Fallujah - Empyrean (2022)

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    After changing vocalists on the last two albums, against all odds, Fallujah has come on top in both occasions. In “Empyrean” the band welcomes Kyle Schaefer, while continuing to dabble even more in Progressive Death Metal territories. The band’s transition over the years has been quite interesting and for over 50 minutes they unleash a very crafty combination of Progressive elements and Technical Death Metal wizardry.

    Delivering a blistering and swift opening, “The Bitter Taste of Clarity” hits the listener hard with punishing riffs, inhuman growls, and a crafty tempo changes, reminiscent of a mixture of bands like Persefone, Obscura, and Hour of Penance. The technical wizardry continues with excellent pieces like “Radiant Ascension”, the proggy and moody “Embrace Oblivion” with some dreamy clean female and male vocals thrown into the mix, and one of our favorites with the highly melodic “Into the Eventide”.

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    Persefone - Metanoia (2022)

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    Over four years have passed since Persefone’s last release, and with “Metanoia”, the band shows the wait was more than worth it. Unleashing nearly one hour of high-octane Melodic/Progressive/Technical Death Metal, this Andorran outfit delivers ten expertly crafted songs filled with intricate details and superb catchiness. If you thought their previous releases were awesome, you are in for a treat with this one.

    After the title track atmospheric opener, “Katabasis” shows that if you didn’t think the band’s sound could get any better, you are completely wrong as Einar Solberg’s vocals fully elevate it to new dimensions. Apart from the epic guest vocals, the perfect balance of musical wizardry and harshness is front and center on tracks like “Architecture of the I”, the quirky “Aware of Being Watched”, and the album's first single “Merkabah”.

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