Metal Blade

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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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    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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    Downfall Of Gaia - Silhouettes Of Disgust (2023)

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    It has been a while since we heard from Downfall of Gaia and their uniquely devastating mixture of Atmospheric Black/Post-Black Metal with some Crust and Sludge elements. With “Silhouettes of Disgust” the band marks their return and they are thirsty for blood. Featuring 45 minutes and eight tracks of crushing music, the band creates a very hectic and demoralizing atmosphere with waves of punishing riffs, blistering drumming, and hellish vocals.

    Opening with the powerful and melodic “Existence Of Awe”, the band sets on a crushing path with their signature Atmospheric nature alongside crafty aggression. The Punkish drumming of the opener and “The Whir of Flies” nicely gives that Euro Crust vibe, while perfectly blending in with the more traditional Black Metal elements. We particularly enjoy the band’s relentless tempo changes as they weave between high-octane sections to more introspective and melancholic passages.

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    Kardashev - Liminal Rite (2022)

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    Completely blowing us away with their EP “The Baring of Shadows”, earlier this year, we now have Kardashev’s sophomore full-length release and it is even more grandiose than their EP. Featuring almost one hour of music, this release delivers the perfect balance between aggression, technical proficiency, atmosphere and melancholy, in one very unique and explosive package.

    After setting a very mysterious and imposing mood with the spoken words and atmospherics of the opener, “Silvered Shadows” shows the band at its element with a lush mixture of Progressive/Death-core/ and Post-Metal. This amalgamation of styles creates a very sublime and dreamy atmosphere, nicely bleeding into pieces like “Apparitions in Candlelight”, “Lavender Calligraphy”. Which nicely combines a mix of dreamy clean and crushing growls.

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    Midnight - Let There Be Witchery (2022)

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    Unleashing waves of intensity and playful catchiness, Midnight has always stood out from the rest thanks to their bizarre lyrics and brilliant delivery. With “Let There Be Witchery” the band takes their sound to new levels with ten pummeling tracks filled with devilish sleaziness. Perfectly blending old-school Speed Metal elements with Black Metal undertones, this band is one that no Metalhead should miss out on.

    The release kicks off with the blistering pace of “Telepathic Nightmare”, a solid piece with crafty guitars and extreme catchiness. Building up momentum, ravaging tracks like “Frothing Foulness”, “In Sinful Secrecy”, and “Nocturnal Molestation”, perfectly transmit that sleazy old-school vibe that the Athenar masterfully crafts thanks to the stripped-down sound and funky lyrics.

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    Hate - Rugia (2021)

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    Led by Adam Buszko, Hate is one of Metal Blade’s heaviest bands and they have returned with a vengeance with “Rugia”. Unleashing nine tracks and nearly 40 minutes of devastating music, Hate features a sound similar to Behemoth but with its own brand of aural poison and intensity. If you are a fan of Blackened Death Metal, and bands like Belphegor and Azarath, this is one release you can’t miss.

    Opening with the album title track, the band makes a vicious statement with crushing riffs, devilish snarls and tight drumming. The band’s sound is quite refined and vicious, allowing them to introduce melody alongside their superbly brutal and swift onslaughts, evidence of this are songs like “The Wolf Queen”, “Exiles of Pantheon”, and one of favorites “Awakening the Gods Within”. Not just blasting the listener away with sheer brutality, the band systematically attacks with their musicality and execution.

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    Fractal Universe - The Impassable Horizon (2021)

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    With the Progressive/Technical Death Metal scene getting crowded, it is hard to find releases that are both excellently crafted and technically proficient. It takes good musicians to do the latter, but an excellent band to do first. France’s Fractal Universe have been slowly refining their trade and with “The Impassable Horizon” the band reaches new heights. Rivaling cohesive albums from bands like Between the Buried and Me and Obscura, this release is brilliant in all its aspects.

    Opening with “Autopoiesis”, we instantly get blistering onslaughts of crafty drumming, intense guitar solos and a wide variety of crushing vocal arrangements. Not stopping at just awesome, “A Clockwork Expectation”, “Interfering Spherical Scenes”, and “Symmetrical Masquerade” perfectly blend virtuosity with excellent songwriting skills. With influences ranging from more traditional Tech Death Metal, to Jazzy and even Groove/Djent Meshuggah-esque elements, each track is a unique and expansive musical journey.

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    Cannibal Corpse - Violence Unimagined (2021)

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    Unleashing one of their most crushing and ravaging releases of their long career, today we have the legendary Cannibal Corpse and their latest effort “Violence Unimagined”. Clocking in at 42 minutes over 11 tracks, with the addition of Erik Rutan as lead guitarist, the band sounds refreshed and ready for blood. Rarely disappointing over the years, Cannibal Corpse manage to blow past expectations due to the sheer brutality and effectiveness of this release.

    As “Murderous Rampage” kicks off this release, we immediately see the fantastic interplay of Corpsegrinder’s signature growls alongside blistering guitar work, including some intense leads. With tracks like “Necrogenic Resurrection”, “Inhumane Harvest”, and “Condemnation Contagion” featuring the traditional meaty hooks, crafty tempo changes, and violent drumming, we found ourselves furiously headbanging most of the time.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Kardashev - The Baring of Shadows (2021)

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    Creating a very unique and distinctive sound, today we have Kardashev and their latest EP “The Baring of Shadows”. Self-proclaimed as “Deathgaze”, the band’s music merges elements from bands like Deafheaven and Alcest with proggy Deathcore elements. We have to say that this mixture is quite excellent as it delivers over 25 minutes of lush and melancholic music, while keeping a nice dose of heaviness.

    Opening with “A Frame. A Light”, we instantly got the Deafheaven “Sunbather” chills as the track starts with very dreamy guitars. Slowly building momentum, we get lush clean vocals and sweeping guitars to serenade you into submission. The tempo changes are subtle and nicely contrast the harsh vocals and more distorted parts with richly atmospheric clean vocals and mellow passages. Right after the first song, “Snow-Sleep” shakes things up delivering a more traditional Deathcore aggression with nice mellow interludes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Cult of Luna - The Raging River (2021)

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    Still suffering PTSD from remembering that our last in-person concert was exactly 11 months ago, watching Cult of Luna, Intronaut and Emma Ruth Rundle, today we have Cult of Luna and their latest EP “The Raging River”. As a great intermediate step between their 2019 opus “A Dawn to Fear” and what is next to come, this release showcases the band firing on all cylinders and delivering their highly refined atmospheric brand of Sludgy Post-Metal for over 38 minutes.

    The band instantly set their captivating atmosphere with the crafty “Three Bridges”, a slow moving piece that quickly delivers massive layered guitars and lush percussions. The more signature-styled “What I leave Behind” features high-octane melodic passages alongside the cathartic moments we all know and love from Cult of Luna. The harsh vocals are something that we always enjoyed from this band as they perfectly juxtapose the band's aggression alongside their elegant arrangements.

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