Metal Blade

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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.

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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.

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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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    Tribulation - Where the Gloom Becomes Sound (2021)

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    Delivering one of the early surprises of 2021, today we have Tribulation and their latest release “Where the Gloom Becomes Sound”. While we have never been huge fans of the band, the maturity and darkness of this release is highly addictive. The band’s Gothic/Dark Metal sound of later years has evolved very nicely, unleashing over 48 minutes of intricately crafted music that is both catchy and engaging.

    Opening with the sinister “In Remembrance”, the mood instantly turns bleak thanks to Johannes Andersson’s characteristic snarl that perfectly adorns layered guitars and moody tempo changes. The band’s sound is not immediately straightforward as you get a mixture of Doomy Heavy Metal with Gothic undertones, but the band makes it quite accessible and distinct from what others are doing, a testament to this are songs like “Hour of the Wolf” and its crafty intoxicating guitars, the warm and fuzziness of “Leviathans” with some Psychedelic Metal/Rock elements, to the playful darkness of pieces like “Dirge of a Dying Soul”.

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    Trial - Sisters of the Moon (2021)

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    Showcasing their new vocalist, Arthur W. Andersson, today we have Sweden’s Trial and their EP “Sisters of the Moon”. Featuring two cover songs, one from Fleetwood Mac and another from Black Sabbath, these tracks feature the band firing on all cylinders while paying tribute to some excellent tracks.

    Opening with “Sisters of the Moon”, the twin guitar attack of Alexander Ellström and Andreas Johnsson perfectly frames the songs as Arthur’s talented vocals make their appearance. As you can expect, the band makes the song their own, filling it with attitude and crafty musicianship. Proper homage to the mighty Black Sabbath is hard to do, but Trial achieves it with their dramatic and engaging rendition of “Die Young”, including killer guitar leads and vocal antics.

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    Six Feet Under - Nightmares of the Decomposed (2020)

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    In the last few years we stopped writing bad reviews, as we receive more promos than we can write about, we pick our battles and only write about the good stuff. However, sometimes, there comes a release so terrible that we are just pissed about having listened to it, and want to vent about it. Today the honor belongs to Six Feet Under and their latest ‘effort’ “Nightmares of the Decomposed”. While we loved the band in their heyday… like 10-15 years ago, their quality of their latest albums has gradually decreased.

    The album starts with one of the salvageable tracks in this release with “Amputator”, while nothing revolutionary, it captures the band’s old-school ferocity and catchiness. The sluggish “Zodiac” delivers some of the most dubious vocals in this release as they just sound completely uninspired alongside grungy riffs. The album continues on a downward spiral until the terrible “The Noose” comes along, delivering one of the most boring and badly crafted songs we have heard in quite a while, even though it has some nice heavy riffs, Chris Barnes sounds completely bored in an attempt to rhyme.

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    Anaal Nathrakh - Endarkenment (2020)

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    Unleashing what is their most mature and yet completely devastating release to date, Anaal Nathrakh returns with the relentless “Endarkenment”. Featuring a more focused and equally crushing sound, this album delivers over 41 minutes of balls to the wall aggression mixed with interesting vocal arrangements and the band’s signature chaotic style. If you liked the band’s previous releases, you will love the brutality and craftiness behind this one.

    Opening with the album title track, we are instantly flooded with the band’s superior aural abuse thanks to waves of guitars, blistering drums, and completely chaotic (and yet quite soothing) multiple vocal styles. There is an underlying level of melody that we haven’t seen before, allowing the band to create more ‘breathing’ passages between brutal onslaughts. As the duo continues to pummel through this release, songs like “Thus, Always, to Tyrants” and “The Age of Starlight Ends”, keep the intensity to the max, while unleashing some interesting vocal theatrics on this last song.

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    The Ocean - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic (2020)

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    Unraveling part two of their cinematic masterpiece “Phanerozoic”, today we have Germany’s The Ocean (Collective) with 50-plus minutes of captivating music. Split in eight gargantuan tracks, this release keeps the same dramatic and larger-than-life vibe from the previous release while introducing a few new elements into the fold. If you like the band’s previous releases, you will instantly enjoy this blistering release.

    Opening with “Triassic”, we are immediately immersed into the band’s subtle instrumentation with calming guitars and a very mellow and hypnotic pace. The first thing that stands out is Loïc Rossetti’s use of different vocal styles, in this track using some effects to add versatility to his already signature style. This is actually one of the biggest differences in this release as there is a lot more use of clean vocals (“Jurassic | Cretaceous” and “Eocene”) and

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Cult of Lilith - Mara (2020)

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    Crafting one of the richest and most unique musical experiences of 2020, today we have Iceland’s Cult of Lilith with their debut full-length release “Mara”. Surrounding their Death Metal with tons of unique atmospherics, different instruments, and weird thematic elements in some songs, this is one of those Extreme Metal releases that are hard to classify, but very familiar to enjoy. If we had to name a similar band, we could say that this band is a Death Metal version of Fleshgod Apocalypse with some additional folky/baroque elements.

    Opening with the brutal “Cosmic Maelstrom”, the listener quickly gets a Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore vibe thanks to the screams/growls combination and the intense riffing, but the atmospheric elements quickly set the band apart. As the album progresses, the Stranger Things-esque opening of “Purple Tide” and dreamy opening to “Atlas”, show the band’s unique ability to craft intricate and aggressive pieces with lush contrasting elements and still deliver their signature brutality.

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    Ensiferum - Thalassic (2020)

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    Delivering a perfect balance of speedy Epic Power/Folk Metal ballads and and folky moody pieces, Ensifeum returns with “Thalassic”. Adding extra depth to their signature sound, the band hedges a bit more into Power Metal territories while keeping their lively and upbeat style for nearly 50 minutes. Perfectly in sync with their earlier releases, this album propels the band’s sound into new territories and pleases fans with intense and engaging songs.

    Setting a very epic mood with “Seafarer's Dream”, the band goes full speed with the intense “Rum, Women, Victory”, which features a bit of a Children of Bodom-esque sound mixed in with their traditional blistering melodies and crafty instrumentation. The clean vocals on “Andromeda” really give it a slighter Power Metal edge, greatly elevating this catchy and awesome song to new levels. The same can be said for “The Defense of the Sampo”, which has a certain Stratovarius meets Ensiferum vibe.

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