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MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month - November 2021
Welcome to the second to last "best album of a month in 2021" list. As we gear up for year-end lists, there's noticeably fewer new albums that pour out in November, with a lot of the releases featured being last-minute big pushes from heavy hitter type labels such as Nuclear Blast, Napalm, Century Media, and all those familiar friends.
We've got one more of these and then we're gonna do a big year-end round-up, so get ready for that in December. We've got the same three guys (myself, Michael and Benjamin) curating this November list, but hopefully we get some thoughts from more MetalBite scribes for the big one.
-Nate
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Benothing - Temporal Bliss Surrealms
Everlasting Spew
As is the norm from Everlasting Spew these days, we've got versatile, oldschool-tinged death/doom that throws in thrash/speed influence in the frenzied riffing and soloing, hints of psychedelia in the atmosphere, and a seemingly loose, but focused delivery that hits you right in the gut but always leaves room to go in different directions. I've already praised Fractal Generator and Diabolizer enough this year, but you best not be sleeping on some of the more low-key releases on this roster as you put your "best of 2021" list together.
Dauþuz - Vom Schwarzen Schmied
Amor Fati Productions
I don't have much to say about this, but you should still listen to it - very no-frills German black metal with historical mining themes and a workmanlike touch to the steady plodding and robust construction of the songs. Does what it does well. I've been following these fellas for a couple of albums now and they got a good thing going.
Unleashed - No Sign Of Life
Napalm Records
The adored Viking death metallers are back with a hell of an album. Fortunately, they didn't reinvent their sound or songwriting - it's a good thing for me, at least, if they did change I would have found it irritating. Johnny Hedlund and the same three guys he's played with since 1995 give us 11 more tracks of solid death metal - it's even a little bit tighter than on the previous albums. No songs with unnecessary riffs, just streamlined, hard-hitting songs. Right from the start, you can hear the quartet was eager to record new music and the enthusiasm sustains through the album. There are no real filler tracks, a rare sight for a band on their 11th release in 26 years. If I had to pick standouts, though, 'Midgard Warriors For Life', 'The Shepherd Has Left The Flock' and 'Did You Struggle With God?' are my personal recommendations to listen to first.
In Aphelion - Luciferian Age
Edged Circle Productions
Shortly after In Aphelion released their first demo, Luciferian Age is just an EP to get you ready for the full-length coming in March 2022, but it is a great appetizer for "Moribund" and shows the musical skill and potential of these Swedes. That being said, this isn't a project of newbies: Vocalist / guitarist/ bassist Sebastian Ramstedt and guitarist Johan Bergebäck are already well-known from their involvement in Necrophobic. Others might know their drummer Marco Prij from Cryptosis (formerly Distillator).
You can find fast, icy black metal riffs on this EP that often lead into atmospheric, melodic cascades. 'Draugr' is a beast of a track in the vein of Bathory, and the title track is a very catchy song with a stomping rhythm and a hypnotic pace. 'Wrath Of A False God' is another fast and malevolent song and the very well performed cover of 'Pleasure To Kill' shows a major influence of the band. That's it - 22 minutes and hardly a weak point to be found.
Stillbirth - Strain Of Gods
Unique Leader Records
I was previously unfamiliar with this group, but after hearing the unfortunate news of Dominik König's passing, I decided to give a listen to the band's forthcoming material. German brutal deathcore with cannabis themes and Black Sabbath influences isn't something I've heard a lot of, so that was interesting enough of the hop. It sounds and looks pretty ridiculous at first - two bassists, the sudden random influences in the songs, the general vibe that they like to fuck aroudn a bit - but when you investigate it further, you realize that the wonky, varied songwriting mixed with surprising technical aplomb is similar to a modern version of stoner deathgrind legends Cephalic Carnage. It's a joke until it isn't, and then it's just a boatload of intricate, multifaceted riffs played with charisma and zeal.
The production on Strain Of Gods is disgusting and massive, somehow sounding like even more of a waveform-brick to the forehead than most deathcore does while still giving room for the bass(es) and drum subtleties to breathe. Dominik will surely be missed, and he was kind enough to leave the world this EP as a swansong of sorts. Rest in Peace.
Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Noktvrn
Season Of Mist
When are more people going to recognize Tobias Schuler is one of the best drummers in black metal? Will it be this album? This guy's got speed and stamina like the guy from Marduk, the atmospheric touch of Jamie St. Merat, and fills that are just straight fucking cash money. I've been singing this guy's praises since at least Finisterre, but pretty much everything he's on is great, mostly by virtue of him being there.
DWEF have expanded their range of motion with this album even more - they've always been about the big crescendo, incorporating a post-rock styled build over multiple tracks that slowly turns into minutes of sustained blasting, but on Noktvrn, Nikita Kamprad went more into the depths of the layered, minimal atmosphere he was toying with as intros and transitions. Songs like 'Immortal' almost give off a post-punk vibe, and despite this having a bit less of Schuler's tasty speed demon skinwork, he's equally as capable when dialing things back, and the band does a good job of interspersing the ambient moments with flurries of speed so no one goes too long without being satiated. In a deep, consistent German black metal scene, these guys have now consistently maintained their position near the top of the atmo-black pile for the last few albums. I do think that I prefer the previous album just a bit more, but anything this band does has the potential to grow on me over time.
METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH
10: Mors Verum - The Living
Total Dissonance Worship
Any time I get the chance to rep local homies, I'm gonna chomp at the bit - but I only do it if the music genuinely has enough going on to snap me to attention. That was never an issue with Mors Verum, who have always been one of my favorite local bands to listen to on record, with a level of craftsmanship a notch or two above local contemporaries. On their new EP, they've taken bigger steps and have truly come into their own. This would have blown me away regardless of when and where I heard it.
I had been crying for ages for them to find a human drummer, as it was perhaps the only area of the music where there was noticeable room for improvement, and they answered my prayers with one of the most skilled hired guns in the scene - the ubiquitous Greg Carvalho, who also plays in prog-death group Aepoch, black metal outfit Stolos, and a handful of other projects, in addition to doing a live stint with Bloodshot Dawn. It's safe to say they found the right guy for the job. His tight blastbeats, clever cymbal placement and almost mechanical synchronicity with the pulsing note changes in the guitars (check out the beginning of 'Inside' to see what I mean) give the guitars the proper foundation to really wander.
Compared to their previous release Deranged, this is a much more dissonant, repetitious, chord-infused affair. There's still flashes of Mrudul Kamble's dextrous fretwork, such as the midpoint of 'Purge', and they bring to mind a more esoteric and focused version of Nile. However, the majority of this plays in a harrowing and tense, yet lush and atmospheric ground that could be compared to a more riff-oriented version of Blut Aus Nord albums (mostly 777 era), with a dash of modern death metal a la early Ulcerate and perhaps a bit of Disentomb as well. It's hard to find a direct comparable, because they've found their own niche and identity, underlined by the wet, cavernous growls of Lyndon Quadros, darting around the fringes of the music, almost so buried in the background that you lose sight of them...yet they're always there, like a shadow that seems to move only in your peripheral. Blut Aus Nord themselves gave this a shout out on their Facebook page, how much else do you need to know to check this out?
MetalBite's Rating: 8.1/10
9: Exodus - Persona Non Grata
Nuclear Blast
Exodus take no prisoners on Persona Non Grata. It doesn't seem like they've been silent for seven years. No disease can stop them - I haven't heard such a furious album by them for a long, long time. Even the title-track (and opener) is brutal as fuck and Exodus doesn't let up. Most of the tracks are the blistering old-school thrash metal you are used to – the typical Hunting riffs, the characteristic voice of Souza - but in some tracks there are some slight changes. You can find a western-style acoustic track ('Cosa Del Pantano') and hints of traditional heavy metal influences. Most of the time, though, Exodus do what they do best - beat the shit out of your head by playing brutally catchy thrash.
-Michael
MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10
8: Concrete Winds - Nerve Butcherer
Sepulchral Voice Records
Infinite varieties of extremity have been explored by extreme metal since the NWOBHM revolution of the early 1980s devolved into the key sub-genres that make-up the modern pillars of underground music in 2021, and as a result, one occasionally gets the impression that for some bands, the creation of grating noise and frightening velocity is a contrivance, designed to position themselves as a cult band. Concrete Winds remind us of a time when bands like Bathory, Venom and Hellhammer played the way that they did because it was the only way that they could play, teetering on the edge of the limits of their abilities at the time; the unavoidable result of their instinctive response to the music that inspired them. As their skills improved, each of these bands expanded their vision and ambition accordingly, or in the case of Hellhammer, transmogrified into something else entirely. Concrete Winds have more technical ability that the teenage Quorthon, or Tom G. Warrior, but listening to their savage second album, and endearingly wonkily-titled Nerve Butcherer, one is immediately struck by the sense that their sound is the only logical outcome of the way that the band approach their instruments. The result is a blitzkrieg of treble-heavy velocity, that is simultaneously thrash, death and black metal, while also being not quite any of them. A little like Portal's Ion, stripped of the murk and churn, Concrete Winds attack the listener from seemingly every possible direction, with a bewildering flurry of tremolo lines and strangely catchy riffs, while all the while, the rhythm section produce a never-ending clatter which propels the music forward in a slightly uneven and therefore completely organic way. Each song blasts past the listener in a 2 minute blur of aggression, and as such, there is little time to think. All we can do is to surrender ourselves to the thrillingly visceral experience of Concrete Winds' utterly maniacal sound.
-Benjamin
Absolute fucking madness. In a genre where everyone tries to sound savage and visceral, Concrete Winds are one of a rare few who exude that manic, unhinged vibe constantly, feeling like the fringe of extremity and chaos in a realm where that frenzy is an essential component. To put it another way, this sounds like Pissgrave on meth. There's a higher degree of musicianship than you typically get out of a war metal band, which only underscores the barbaric pummeling even more. The singular focus on feeding your hands into a paper shredder of riffs can hold your attention for impressive stretches of time - usually I get bored by monotone bursts of extremity, but Nerve Butcherer will slightly alter their angle of attack to create variety while maintaining the tension, and they also have incredibly concise songwriting. The new Archgoat is boring as shit - listen to this instead.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.2/10
7: Plebeian Grandstand - Rien Ne Suffit
Debemur Morti Productions
In an already discordant, noise-infused, inaccessible French black metal scene, Plebeian Grandstand consistently defy its already-broad boundaries. They are one of very few bands who has properly replicated the dissonant, overwhelming chaos of Deathspell Omega, and they fuse that with even more adventurous forays into screeching, harsh droning, stark industrialized rhythms, and expansive, drastic shifts. All of this is pieced together via a desperate, strained vocal performance that fully explores each fringe of extreme emotion - the song 'Tropisme' is a good example, since the shrieks and wails are the main feature and do the heavy lifting.
It's hard to properly execute that uncomfortable vibe in music, because there's only so long you can listen to nightmarish, atonal sounds before you long for a degree of musicality, but Rien Ne Suffit does a fantastic job of letting those moments last long enough to make an impact without letting them linger for too long. They're broken up by sections of spirited, manic fury in black metal form, with some surprisingly tasty riffwork hidden in all the banging and clamoring. The stamina displayed in the drum work is impressive, even for someone like me whose musical taste is basically "stuff with blastbeats in it". For all of the debate surrounding whether or not Deathspell Omega's beats are played by a human or programmed, Ivo Kaltchev sure does play similar material with ease. This group exemplifies what Debemur Morti is all about more than any other band on the roster.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10
6: Gold Spire - Gold Spire
Chaos Records
This self-titled effort is the debut release from Gold Spire, a Swedish progressive death metal act, rising from the ashes of the well-regarded Usurpress, and their first effort immediately marks them out as a band with enormous potential. The opening instrumental is utterly intriguing, acoustic guitars, keys and somewhere in a dense mix, a saxophone burbling away suggests that the listener is in for something a little out of the ordinary, and that is exactly what we get. Although tonally, there are some similarities with the kind of note choices that have bewitched Opeth fans for a couple of decades, Gold Spire are a more avant-garde proposition than their compatriots, stretching unusual but captivating melodies over unconventional instrumentation, before dissonant and crushing doomy guitars shatter the serene soundcapes with a sound that reeks of despondency. The continual presence of the aforementioned saxophone is much more than simply a texture - at times, the way in which it becomes the central instrument of the band's sound, purposefully weaving in and out of the guitars and drums, adds a noirish quality to the band's attack, which variously recalls Ulver circa Perdition City, some of Yakuza's less frantic output, and Ihsahn's After, all references points that any progressive band should be pleased with. Gold Spire switches effortlessly between the lengthy instrumental passages and slightly more up-tempo death-doom, such as on the excellent 'Skull Choirs', where the gothic melodicism combines beautifully with brief snatches of tremolo riffing, layering satisfying crunch over the kind of lush and gloomy metal at which Tiamat once excelled. Gold Spire feels very much an album that fits neatly into a burgeoning progressive extreme metal scene, providing something of interest to fans of Imperial Triumphant, Gorguts, and Rivers Of Nihil, for example, without sounding too much like any of them, and for their first album to display such class means that we can be truly excited about what comes next.
-Benjamin
MetalBite's Rating: 8.4/10
5: Darkwoods My Betrothed - Angel Of Carnage Unleashed
Napalm Records
I never believed that this would happen! Darkwoods My Betrothed, one of my favorite Finnish black metal bands from the 90s, released a new album, their first since Witch Hunts in 1998. Angel Of Carnage Unleashed offers quite a lot – harsh, icy and hateful riffs, shrill vocals blended with very melodic, epic sections underlined by a sonorous voice. After some spoken word overtop of a keyboard (performed by Tuomas Holopainen from Nightwish...huh) the inferno starts. With their style, I doubt anyone would expect such a fierce opener and hateful vocals - the closest comparison would be their 1994 demo (Dark Aureoles Gathering) which was a bit more fast n' grim. On the other hand, there are also songs like 'In Thrall To Ironskull's Heart' that start off more like a ballad and gradually become more epic in scope. Angel Of Carnage Unleashed is Forrest Gump's box of chocolates in musical form, you never know what you're gonna get and it's pretty much always good!
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10
4: Hyperdontia - Hideous Entity
Dark Descent / Me Saco Un Ojo
Everything that Mustafa Gürcalioğlu is involved in turns to riffs. It's gotta be Newton's fourth law of physics or something. The man has four different bands and they're all great, with a bit of a different flavor to each of them. Hyperdontia has always been the project with the most old-school death metal influence of the four (though it's never absent from Mustafa's writing completely), and new album Hideous Entity adds some extra bit of that Danish bounce, no small thanks to the other guitarist, Mathias Friborg, as well as drummer Paweł Tunkiewicz. You might recognize those two names, as they just put out an album together last month in Sulphurous that appeared on MetalBite's previous top 10 list. If you liked Nexus Of Teeth, this is the same thing but with more little groovy appendages and infectious, chunky riffing, with clear strides being made to give this project a fuller and more well-rounded form. 'Grinding Teeth' has a riff in it that is easily a top 5 contender for "catchiest hook of the year". I'm not even going to tell you where it is in the song because you'll know it when you hear it.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10
3: Swallow The Sun - Moonflowers
Century Media Records
I'm not sure these Finns are capable of releasing a bad album. They truly pace the melodeath/doom realm with each new release, and Moonflowers is another worthy addition to an incredibly consistent back catalog. The album is a grandiose 40-minute build into a powerful climax, with each track being a great self-contained song in its own right. Every new movement gets a bit busier and more tense in switches between somber, enchanting arpeggios to warm, thick chords that have either the second guitar or a violin bringing out the lead melody. The album moves back and forth, like a wave, or perhaps a heartbeat given the lyrical themes. Each burst is more vibrant, until finally it lurches into a black metal-esque explosion that can barely be contained. The way vocalist Mikko Kotamäki can keep you dialed into very simple, elegant melodies is, as usual, unparalleled in the genre, and Moonflowers maintains an incredible balance between being accessible while still having the appropriate amount of emotional weight.
I don't usually like to rank "heavy hitter" type albums high up this list, as I'd prefer to give more attention to the up-and-comers that would benefit more from the recognition and exposure (plus Michael tends to hit more of the big name stuff), but I will always make an exception for Swallow The Sun. You've either already heard this album or you need to get around to it, so this is just another reminder for long-time fans that are wondering if they've still got it: they still got it.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.7/10
2: Hypocrisy - Worship
Nuclear Blast
After years of Peter being busy with his other project, Pain, on top of his involvement in Lindemann, I wasn't sure if he would come around with another Hypocrisy album. That surprised me, and in addition, the album is killer! The trio performs the typical melodic death metal stuff they know so well, but that didn't go great on the last albums, which were a tad uninspired and bulky. The time off has allowed Hypocrisy to return to their strengths. A lot of the songs (for example 'Children Of The Gray' and 'Worship') remind me of their magnum opus Abducted, with the big, epic space hooks and Peter's snarling highs really taking me back to the past. Some more brutal tracks like 'Dead World' or 'Brotherhood Of The Serpent' found their way in there as well, so you also get some nods to albums such as Into The Abyss or The 4th Dimension. Get your copy right now and worship Worship!
-Michael
MetalBite's Rating: 9/10
1: Stormkeep - Tales Of Othertime
Ván Records
The "symphonic" tag almost caused me to skip this because I rarely find something in that realm that doesn't make me gag, but I didn't, and man am I glad. I should have known any better than to doubt a project that Isaac Faulk is spearheading, though. He is one of the most versatile and distinct extreme metal drummers right now, excelling at two very disparate styles in atmospheric black metal (Wayfarer) and cosmic death metal (Blood Incantation). He also has an excellent sense of melody as a guitarist and makes that his focus in other projects, such as black/doom group Stoic Dissention, and this newer project. It initially appeared to be a solo venture, but for their first full-length Tales Of Othertime, they've fleshed it out with a full group.
Anything with a "medieval" tinge is tough to pull off without sounding too corny, especially when mixed with the theatricalism and overt presentation qualities of black metal. However, the dungeon synth-y parts of this album might actually be some of my favorite, with great pacing that keep you interested and subtleties that paint a full picture without having to make it too obvious, letting your mind fill in the blanks of a vast landscape being traversed by knights on horseback. The actual metal components are no slouch, either - there's actual Emperor influence, not just because this is symphonic black metal, but because the riffs have that particular discordant cadence that the 90s Norwegians had - lots of melody, yet always sinister enough to avoid any saccharine qualities. Taake and Whoredom Rife are two good musical parallels.
Even with the notable references to older artists, though, Stormkeep immediately has an allure and identity on their own, which is a big feat with a debut album. It makes sense when you consider that most of the musicians involved have been around the block before, but nonetheless this is still a standout within the black metal sphere for this year. It might be a side-project for now, but shit, if they keep putting out stuff this good I might actually end up coming back to this band more than I do Wayfarer, and Old Souls was one of my top 10 albums of the year when it came out!
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 9/10
As always, thank you for using these lists as the source for all the good shit in metal these days. Check out previous lists for some more stuff!
Entered: 11/30/2021 7:37:09 PM
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MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month - August 2021
Welcome back to MetalBite's Top 10 Albums of the Month! This month, I (Nate) received fewer contributions from my fellow MetalBite writers than I usually do, so you get a double helping of my bizarre and nonsensical music taste in August. Fortunately, there were some big releases that were unquestionably going to be on this list the second they were announced, so there wasn't much room for me to fuck up. Enjoy, and let us know what we might have missed in the comments to flex your superior music knowledge!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Korrosive - Kaustic Hordes
CDN Records
I'm not usually a thrash guy, but I can acknowledge a ripper when I see it, and as a bonus Korrosive are local boys for me, hailing just a couple hours' drive away. As is necessary for a work in this style to stick in my head, Kaustic Hordes takes an appropriate amount of extreme metal influence and informs the base of Kreator/Slayer inspired riffing with modern conventions. The vocals of Rad Zarei have a full, hearty rasp that gives a sharp edge to the clean but meaty guitar tone, and apart from the midpaced breaks such as 'Terminal Violence', the album retains a gripping intensity and volatility through multiple tracks. Korrosive understands that the point of thrash is to beat you over the head with riffs until they're senseless, and although their ballad-esque moments don't hit me quite as hard and could benefit from some refinement and expansion, all the other songs understand their purpose and deliver the goods in spades.
-Nate
Ruin - Spread Plague Death
Nameless Grave Records
Fucking R I F F S and lots of em. Big riffs, little riffs, fast riffs, slow riffs, all gently eased in with the force of a cement mixer unloading on your head. Only reason this isn't further up the list is because I only heard it for the first time a couple days ago and I need to get more familiar with it before I'm comfortable rating it, but I'm definitely giving this more spins.
-Nate
Wormwitch - Wolf Hex
Prosthetic Records
These guys are frustrating for me because I want to love them so much, they have all the elements that put them right on the cusp of greatness, they make subtle tweaks to their formula as if they acknowledge they haven't yet struck the perfect mix, and every time it once again has potential but it falls short. Strike Mortal Soil has a great base black/crust sound, but was a bit too samey and underdeveloped. The follow-up album Heaven That Dwells Within, which spliced in a bit of Dissection-esque melodic black metal, has some hooky moments but overall was easy to overplay and burn out on, feeling a bit thin and bereft of substance when all was said and done.
Wolf Hex sees the band strip it down once more, with hints of folk and even some 80s speed metal woven into their upbeat black metal-by-way-of -hardcore. There's some moments of powerful entrancing atmospheres backed by catchy, driving riff sections, and then there's moments that are just flat-out uninteresting, and sometimes the transition from the former into the latter can be sudden and rapid. I will say that this is a very uneven album, but I'm still including it on this list because the moment that do hit are excellent, and I can just feel that Wormwitch is about to break out and make something that goes hard 100% of the time instead of the 60-70% range they're flirting with right now.
-Nate
Arcane Sanctuary - Astraios' Callingstrong
Self-released/Independent
I got one riff in and was like "yeah I gotta include this". This year has been absolutely flooded with tech death and it's getting to the point where it's overwhelming and if the up-and-comers don't hit right off the bat, they're not going to stick. This does not have that problem. Conrad Meyer's sense of melody is effortless and natural, Kevin Paradis (Benighted) provides some thoroughly efficient and professional session work, and the occasional expanded range and progressive flirtations a la Beyond Creation allows the songs to breathe and sustain over multiple listens. Don't overlook Arcane Sanctuary, as this stands out even in a year of great tech-death releases.
METALBITE'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE MONTH
10: Woman Is The Earth - Dust Of Forever
Init Records
While people continue to ponder over whether or not Deafheaven's new direction is worth your time, invest your music listening minutes into a band that formed in the wake of Sunbather's popularity explosion that still keeps the riffs around. The name suggests an approach somewhere along the lines of Wolves In The Throne Room if they leaned more into their new-age side, but Dust Of Forever isn't what I expected at all going in - the riffs are powerful and varied, the melody isn't too over-saturated, and there's a tinge of underlining dissonance that lends weight and gravity to even the more uplifting sections. It seems like post-black metal has been fading out of prominence for the last little while after a popularity swell, and that void has left a space for the second and third-stringers of the genre like Woman Is The Earth to flourish. Not only that, but it seems like WitE are actually leaning more into the meat of their music than the atmospheric side, which, paradoxically, actually makes the music more lush and hard-hitting.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 7.8/10
9: Burial In The Sky - The Consumed Self
Rising Nemesis Records
The first time I listened to this, I turned it off less than halfway through the first track. There were just too many odd choices in a row. Anthemic clean vocals overtop of staccato guitar chugging, occasional technical flourishes used in a different kind of way, a random ass saxophone... I just could not make sense of it at first. It was only during about my third playthrough of the album that I realized something was actually going on.
Really, you won't get much out of one track off The Consumed Self, but about midway through you begin to realize there's a bigger progression - it just takes longer to develop. Many of the songwriting choices are very unconventional, they're not the first thing that you think of and it almost turns everything into a jumbled, ill-fitting mess, but they balance the technical with the atmospheric and mix them together in a very complex and nuanced way, similar in approach to Warforged (though the end results do sound quite different). The Consumed Self will grow on you and it's an incredibly unique, powerful and rewarding listen, but only if you put the work into it.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 7.8/10
8: Oxygen Destroyer - Sinister Monstrosities Spawned By The Unfathomable Ignorance Of Humankind
Redefining Darkness Records
Oxygen Destroyer made a moderate splash with 2018's Bestial Manifestations Of Malevolence And Death, turning a few heads with a black/death/thrash mix that draws comparisons to Destroyer 666 with an extra helping of war metal spliced in. It's fast, bouncy and riffy, with an energy similar to Californian death/thrash outfit Ripped to Shreds. It's also got a fresh lyrical theme. Godzilla metal (or "brutal thrashing Kaiju metal" as the band calls it) is a pretty untapped well of potential - its aesthetic fits metal like a glove, being just a tad cartoonish and over-the-top while still retaining a menacing character.
The production on this is a bit thinner and quieter on this follow-up, but that's just the price of creating a more full and multifaceted sound. Despite the punch these songs have when they're thrust upon you, there's a quirky depth to Oxygen Destroyer that comes through in the choppy screeched verses, the thrash influence integrating itself in a way that stimulates the songs instead of holding them back, and just the general way in which this grows on you over time and reveals a few extra tricks during the fourth or fifth go-around.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 7.9/10
7: Devoid Of Thought - Outer World Graves
Everlasting Spew Records
Lately, there seems to be an abundance of new death metal that likes to crawl, but isn't quite at death/doom speeds. It's like all the actual death/doom bands realized that little to nothing set them apart from one another, so they spliced in some fast riffs to break up the monotony. Either that, or everyone just realized how much Autopsy's janky Frankenriffs rule and how more bands need to take cues from their first two albums. Whatever the actual reason is, there's a lot of newer bands that flirt with drawing out the ambiance and atmosphere within an OSDM revivalist framework, perhaps in order to expand a sound that was in danger of becoming a gimmicky niche (remember how retro-thrash fell off hard in the 2010s?).
I say all this preamble only to make the point that Devoid Of Thought are definitely not an ordinary band in this selective "death/doom adjacent metal" category, mostly because the range of motion on Outer World Graves is absolutely massive. Usually what happens is a band will like the smell of Spectral Voice's panties too much and all the payoff riffs are midpaced, chuggy grooves. Devoid Of Thought has frantic Vektor-esque guitars leading some verses, hints of clanging, blackened doom with stripped-down blast beats, and some minimalist atmospheric gaps that can feel downright unsettling and turgid all taking center stage at different times. There's something in here for everyone!
The appeal of Outer World Graves is not only in the incredible variety Devoid Of Thought brings to a style where the sameness of bands is considered a weak point, but in how they weave all the disparate elements into a unified fabric. No matter what sub-style and odd refinings this band adds to their music and how drastically they sometimes shift into one another, it always feels smooth and like it's contributing to the mood and atmosphere the album quickly establishes. Even if you normally pass on bands in this style, these whacked-out Italians deserve an extra look.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 7.9/10
6: Fleshbore - Embers Gathering
Innerstrength Records
The vocal mixing and general production on this album almost turned me off of it, but there were enough cool ideas going on to make me stick around, and I'm glad I did. It sounds like there's some lingering deathcore influence from bands these guys were in during high school, but there's way too much going on in the guitars and the drumming is pure, untainted tech. Embers Gathering isn't quite a slam album, either, although it does flirt with the genre at times.
The meat of Embers Gathering is dextrous, clinical riffs mixed with hollow groove and flourishes of dissonance. It reminds one of Warforged, Beyond Creation, Inveracity and even draws comparisons to Archspire in the more dextrous vocal sections. This has a very realized and polished execution for a new band, and the range of motion in the riffing is almost certain to surprise you as time goes on. Don't overlook this one - with the abundance of wack ass tech death coming out this year, it's easy to let Fleshbore blow under the radar, but you could very well miss the sleeper hit of 2021. It keeps a certain immediacy and force while still numbing your mind with the sheer note volume, and above all else it's just hella brutal.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8/10
5: Killing - Face The Madness
Mighty Music
Face the Madness is definitely one of the thrash metal standouts of 2021. This debut by the Danish quartet offers uncompromising old school thrash in the style of old Kreator, Slayer or Destruction without feeling like a second-rate copy. The guys know how to write convincing songs that use little unique touches to stay in your mind. Everybody who is looking for some nu metal influences will be heavily disappointed because listening to Face the Madness takes you right back to 1986. Titles like 'Kill Everyone', 'See You in Hell' and 'Legion of Hate' speak for themselves concerning the lyrical content. Every thrash metal maniac should give this album a listen, it's really worth it!!!
-Michael
MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10
4: Diskord - Degenerations
Transcending Obscurity Records
Oh look, another Transcending Obscurity album on a MetalBite top 10 list. They really gotta send me some free shit soon with all the unsolicited PR I give them (hint hint, Kunal).
In all seriousness, though, Diskord is excellent and even among a really strong Transcending Obscurity roster, this is one of my favorite things the label has put out this year. For the uninitiated, these Norwegian bizarros have a loose, scatterbrained approach to death metal - think along the lines of the wandering, vaguely progressive death metal like Morbus Chron amped up with clanging dissonance, bumbling bass lines, and a playful noise rock approach and delivery. It's an album that carefully walks the line between having enough meaty riffs to ground it while also taking ample time to relish in their unusual quirks. If Ad Nauseam had a grindcore-themed jam session, Degenerations is the end result.
Diskord has an impressively full sound for a three piece. Every musician consistently contributes vocals, which only serves to enhance the untethered diversions with more unusual chaos. Where most of the enjoyment stems from though, is the incredibly creative and intricate rhythm section. The bass/drum tradeoffs, the ever-evolving tempos and the synchronicity maintained between them (even when the timing is practically linear) brings forth music that keeps you engaged with its weirdness, instead of using it as a crutch to bridge ill-fitting riffs.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.5/10
3: Wolves In The Throne Room - Primordial Arcana
Relapse/Century Media
Are we past the point now where people just care about the music these guys put out and not about anything else? I seem to recall a time when people hated on this band for no reason, but it's honestly been years since I've seen much of it. Perhaps everyone ignored the plaid shirts, sat down and listened to a couple of their albums, and finally realized these hermetic Cascadians actually make some pretty damn fine black metal.
That being said, they were in a bit of a career plateau prior to Primordial Arcana coming out. Thrice Woven was a solid return to form after the failed experiment that was Celestite, but it didn't feel challenging compared to their earlier albums, which were overflowing with ambition. They sounded more comfortable, their sound more realized and in turn less adventurous, solid as the music was.
Primordial Arcana progresses the sound and vision of Wolves In The Throne Room by taking cues from their forefathers. Normally, a "back to the roots of our style" release would be a safe, calculated move by a band to retain their core fanbase, but these fellas have never operated in the typical realms black metal does. No matter how much they directly crib from Enslaved and Burzum, the post-rock elements always seem to butt in line and carve their way into the foreground. Even with this being the band's most "traditional" album, most of the time it still feels like metal-adjacent post-y stuff.
As a result, the mild touch of classic black metal elements in the band's signature style works incredibly well to expand the band's sense of scope. No longer do the Weaver brothers seem inhibited by their pursuit of cathartic crescendos. These songs breathe, ebb and flow, and shift in directions you're not always expecting. The band actually sounds excited for what future directions hold for their sound, which you do not expect from a group on their seventh album. Where most touring acts are phoning it in by this time, it's possible Wolves In The Throne Room may be establishing a completely new era of their sound and I am excited to hear what they do with it.
It's not just me that took notice either, with fellow MB denizen Fernando giving Primordial Arcana a perfect 10/10 review earlier this month. It's time we start considering WITTR to be a true black metal heavyweight.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 8.8/10
2: Wormwood - Arkivet
Black Lodge Productions
The end is near! That's the conclusion you'll come to if you have a look at the news lately, anyway - and you'll also feel it when you listen to the new Wormwood release. The Swedes wrote a very captivating album with great melodies and arrangements that show on one side clear melodic black metal influences like Borknagar or Naglfar, and on the other side some traditional Swedish folk. If you've heard the other two albums by Wormwood, you'll know what I mean (and check them out if you haven't!).
Lyrically Wormwood try to focus on the destruction of our Mother Earth through mankind and they display this theme in their music quite convincingly. Just listen to the spoken part in 'The Gentle Touch of Humanity'. If you care about the environment, goose bumps are guaranteed, but not because all is well. If you don't care, this will definitely get you thinking about it.
-Michael
MetalBite's Rating: 9/10
1: Ænigmatum - Deconsecrate
20 Buck Spin
I’m still not sure where I stand with 20 Buck Spin. By and large their roster is cluttered with bands that have a super cool aesthetic and album art but musically fall flat in comparison to their far more memorable contemporaries. They’ve got a lot of second and third-rate type artists if you know what I mean. So far, 2021 hasn’t been a strong year for the label either, with new releases by Witch Vomit, Ghastly and Wode failing to grab me in any way.
But then, just when I think I’ve completely fallen out of favor with the label, they bust out an instant classic that immediately goes in my regular rotation and gets me singing the label’s praises again. It happened before with Tomb Mold, Spirit Adrift and VoidCeremony, and this year they’ve once again pulled a fast one by releasing what may turn out to be my 2021 album of the year.
Ænigmatum’s second full length shows stunning growth on what was already a developed and engaging core style. Like all good metal should, the star of the show is the riffs, and Kelly McLaughlin makes a serious case for becoming a household name in American metal with Deconsecrate. The free-flowing dissonant approach that incorporates multiple metal subgenres brings to mind prog death contemporaries such as The Chasm, StarGazer and early At the Gates, but the riffs still have a hearty punch that hits you in the gut courtesy of the incredible drum performance laid down by Pierce Williams. The skinsman enjoyed a rapid ascent into metal notoriety in recent years for his guitar work in Lord Gore and Torture Rack before switching to drums and quickly being scooped up by death/thrash juggernauts Skeletal Remains, just to give an idea of his pedigree. The best part is, he was holding back in those past bands to fit their respective styles. Ænigmatum is where he gets to go all out with extended drum fills and relentless, bubbling speed, and the end results are tight, catchy and complex all at once.
The only other release this year that has the same power and originality to their riffing is Suffering Hour, but their style was more focused and less expansive, and also has the disadvantage of not having Brian Rush on bass. After being thoroughly enthralled and mind-boggled by the lead guitar and drums for a few spins of Deconsecrate, you’ll eventually notice the bass creeping in and how it seems to create a different harmony with each new repetition of a riff, locking several more moments on Deconsecrate straight in to your memory. It’s hard to identify a weak point on this album, as the parts where you’re not jamming out to the riff usually have something different going on that require further focus and inspection. As a connoisseur of various extreme metal styles myself, this has everything I want out of a new album in 2021. Ænigmatum is here, and they deserve to be recognized as the force they are.
-Nate
MetalBite's Rating: 9.2/10
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Entered: 8/30/2021 7:59:53 PM
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