Metal Blade

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    Kardashev - Alunea (2025)

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    Showing their breakthrough release “Liminal Rite”, was not a fluke, North American outfit Kardashev returns with the brilliant “Alunea”. Perfectly blending genres and creating totally unique aural experiences, this outfit delivers eight tracks of crushing melancholy. Taking their “Deathgaze” genre to new heights, the band showcases extra maturity and polish in one of our early candidates for album of the year.

    Opening with the dreamy “A Precipice. A Door.”, the band embarks on a very ethereal journey that is perfectly flanked by completely crushing Deathcore onslaughts. Mark Garrett’s vocals are some of the most exhilarating in Metal music, as they go from dreamy cleans to insane growls and harsh shrieks, creating an extremely contrasting and yet satisfying experience, through tracks like “Reunion”, “Seed of the Night” and “Speak Silence”.

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    Messa - The Spin (2025)

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    Facing the herculean task of following up to their ground-breaking release “Close”, Messa returns with “The Spin” and manages to shake things up enough to create awe and excitement. After heavily touring the world after their previous release, the band took a different approach when recording this album, and managed to deliver another Doomy/Jazzy/Proggy offering with a few interesting surprises.

    Quickly turning heads, the release opens with “Void Meridian”, a mysterious track that while having some of the band’s signature elements, it also introduces some intense Darkwave/Goth Rock vibes. With an eerie The Sisters of Mercy meets Tribulation meets Soror Dolorosa, the opener and “At Races”, and “Fire on the Roof” showcase the band’s on a different light, making them more dynamic and perfectly complementing their already hypnotic style. Sara Bianchin’s vocals are a perfect fit for such a style and are as haunting as ever, particularly on the solemn “Immolation”.

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    Allegaeon - The Ossuary Lens (2025)

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    Continuing their crushing onslaught to the top levels of Technical/Melodic Death Metal, today we have Allegaeon and their latest opus “The Ossuary Lens”. Featuring ten tracks and nearly 45 minutes of blistering music, this release further refines the band’s high-octane sound, while infusing some new elements and marks the return of their original vocalist Ezra Haynes. With a focus on creating engaging songs and delivering maximum brutality, the band manages to unleash their finest release to date.

    After the atmospheric “Refraction”, the band instantly means business with the punishing “Chaos Theory”. This track sets a very hectic pace thanks to its insane riffing and crafty drumming. The band has never focused on creating complex tracks just for the sake of it, like others in the genre, but rather deliver a perfectly balanced mixture of musicianship, melody and brutality, as “Driftwood”, “Dies Irae” and “The Swarm” showcase.

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    Whitechapel - Hymns in Dissonance (2025)

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    Unleashing a crushing Deathcore master class, today we have Whitechapel and their latest opus “Hymns in Dissonance”. With over 43 minutes of total brutality, the band’s eight full-length release delivers ten tracks of vicious music that is quite brutal and yet some melodic hints shine through to keep things interesting and more dynamic. As one of the most consistently good Deathcore bands in the scene, Phil Bozeman and company continue to induce pain with their crushing music.

    Opening with the ravaging “Prisoner 666” the band quickly escalates things with their crafty guitar work, crushing breakdowns and the insane vocals of Phil Bozeman. Steamrolling the listener with the extreme brutality of tracks like “Diabolic Slumber”, “A Visceral Retch”, and the album title track, this outfit showcases their pedigree and experience with crushing onslaught after crushing onslaught. Particularly when things go from 100 to 120% when the growls and shrieks seem to add extra punishment.

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    Ensiferum - Winter Storm (2024)

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    Reigning kings of Epic Folk Metal, Ensiferum, mark their return with “Winter Storm”, a ten track release filled with the band’s signature high-octane music perfectly blanched with folk elements and soaring vocal melodies. As anybody could expect, this release delivers 45 minutes of some of the finest music the band has ever produced. The band has been improving their style over nearly three decades and they are getting darn near perfection.

    After setting the mood with an instrumental opener, “Winter Storm Vigilantes” quickly jumps at the listener with the band’s signature catchiness, and Petri’s harsh vocals. This track is quite lively, immediately shifting the mood into all-out-battle mode. The band’s use of multiple vocalists, both on cleans and harsh vocals, allows the tracks to be more dynamic and have some extra depth, keeping things fresh and exciting, like on the magical “Long Cold Winter of Sorrow and Strife”, and the playful “Fatherland” and its folky passages.

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    Iotunn - Kinship (2024)

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    If you thought that Iotunn’s debut release was impressive, wait until you hear how epic “Kinship” is. Taking their lively Progressive Melodic Metal sound to new heights, this release delivers eight highly emotional tracks that clock in at nearly 70 minutes of music. Perfectly surrounding Jón Aldará with excellent musicians and song-writers, this release is a testament on how retooling of traditional/progressive Metal elements and styles can work wonders with the right talent behind the vocals.

    Opening with the dreamy and emotive “Kingship Elegiac”, the band rapidly sets a very melancholic vibe that brilliantly fits the emotion of Jón Aldará vocals. As the distorted guitars and weeping leads come into play, this track has hooked anybody that likes melodic/melancholic music, and it is just the beginning of this 13-minute piece. The proggy nature of the band’s music keeps things dynamic and very different from your run-of-the-mill Melodic Death Metal band, focusing more on creating epic moody melodies than on headbanging passages, as “Mistalnd” powerfully delivers.

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    Six Feet Under - Killing for Revenge (2024)

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    It’s been a while since we have liked anything that Six Feet Under has released and with “Killing for Revenge”, it looks like this will not change yet. Chris Barnes and company unleash thirteen songs of highly uninspired ‘Groovy’ Death Metal that while not as bad as some of their previous releases, it is still a stinker. If you are looking for the good old times of Chris Barnes in CC, or even some of the band’s earlier releases, this is definitely not for you.

    Opening with “Know-Nothing Ingrate”, we see the main change is that the vocals sound a bit different, albeit better, than on the previous release. They are deep and snarly and constant, which is an improvement and there seem to be no attempts at doing squeals as “Accomplice to Evil Deeds”, “Ascension”, and “When the Moon Goes Down in Blood” roll in. It is also notable that some tracks are over four minutes and have a few interesting riffs and hooks here and there.

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    Blaze of Perdition - Upharsin (2024)

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    There must be something in the water in Poland that produces excellent Black Metal bands like Mgła, Kriegsmaschine, Behemoth, and Blaze of Perdition to name a few. On the subject of the latter, today we have their latest opus with “Upharsin”, a 41-minute beast filled with five tracks of punishing and hateful music. If you like intensity and nerve wrecking atmospherics, this release will satisfy your cravings.

    Opening with the monster “W kwiecie rozłamu”, the band unleashes eight minutes of uncompromising brutality and harshness. While not as clinical as outfits like Mgła, Blaze of Perdition compensates with sheer intensity and crafty sinister melodies, as the powerful “Przez rany” slowly builds its momentum and creates dissonant soundscapes. The band’s execution is immersive, as tracks like “Niezmywalne” perfectly deliver blistering drumming, alongside incisive guitars and engaging tempo changes.

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    Hamferð - Men Gu​ð​s hond er sterk (2024)

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    As one of the most expected releases of 2024, “Men Gu​ð​s hond er sterk” marks the return of Hamferð and their highly melancholic and fatalistic Melodic/Death Doom Metal. Featuring eight tracks and nearly 45 minutes of heartbreaking music, this release oozes waves of melancholy and misery. Perfectly blending emotive clean vocals, doomy riffs, and deep growls, this release is the perfect medicine for those of us that don’t want winter to be over.

    The release quickly sets a powerful atmosphere with the piercing riffs of “Ábær”, immediately followed by deep growls and a punishing sense of aggression that suddenly transitions into melancholy thanks to the clean vocals. Perfectly balancing light and darkness in their songs, pieces like “Rikin”, “Marrusorg”, and “Glæman” masterfully weave fast paced passages with more melodramatic interludes of minimalist percussions and weeping lead guitars.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Primordial - How it Ends (2023)

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    Always consistently good, Primordial releases are special happenings that take a few years to materialize and a more than several dozen spins to really digest. With “How it Ends” the band continues their ritualistic ways of Doomy and Blackened Celtic Metal. Featuring sixty-five minutes of music spread out in ten tracks, the band shows great refinement and direction with their music. Enchanting and fully immersing the listener since the first minute, this release is another excellent addition to the band’s storied career.

    Opening with the album title track, we get a very doomy and decadent mood. Ciáran MacUiliam’s guitars create the distinctive Primordial sound while also having some elements of bands like My Dying Bride baked into the mix. However, we all know that the soul of the band has to be the melancholic vocals of Alan Averill, which perfectly craft a very moody vibe as tracks like “Plougs to Rust, Swords to Dust”, “We Shall Not Serve”, and “Traidisiunta” perfectly mix styles and genres.

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