Month: June 2019

2019 Albums

Album Review: Archivist – Triumvirate 10 (Post Metal)

June 29, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

The raw emotion and peaks from the debut LP returns here in a big way, the goosebumps are back. The third and most recent album from Archivist offers a continuation of a running story, what appears to be a story of macro transformation. Look at the artwork (all by Alex CF) and you can see the transition from human, to machine and now to some kind of cosmic being no longer resembling a humanoid at all. The lyrical themes have followed the same transition, from emotional struggle of humanity, to the mechanical malady and now finally the emotional weight of the cosmos and confronting god. Perhaps a man made god, a literal and physical manifestation of the idea made real through circuits and programming. As always these are my own ignorant interpretations based on no research, something I like to do as an exercise. […]

Carcassbomb's Reviews

Album Review: Archivist – Construct 8.9 (Post Metal)

June 29, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Immediately I’m hearing some differences from their debut LP. Namely the posthardcore direction I mentioned seems intensified with Construct. Certainly not a bad thing but the faster more chaotic opening didn’t quite have the effect of the delicate creeping opener on their self-titled LP. The cleans also come in much earlier and often. As the album progresses I get a sense of the hardcore side of things being upped a bit which I am all for. There’s less of the black vibe and more of the heart-wrenching cracking voice you expect from Birds In Row. When the death vocals come they tend to be used to accentuate the heavier moments by intensifying the deeper vocal range closer to GOOD metalcore/mathcore than black metal. I feel they are a lot heavier now. […]

Carcassbomb's Reviews

Album Review: Archivist – Archivist 10 (Post Metal)

June 29, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

It started so quiet and gave me little idea and yet I felt oddly emotionally attached to the artwork during this time, which intensified as the calm guitar came in. Still not giving anything away. Then the first punch of the record… the vocals, I love these vocals. It reminds me so much of early hardcore/mathcore like Botch in a lot of ways, it’s not a typical death/black vocal. It emotes more and takes his time with each lyric – Something else I’ll have to discuss because there’s some depth to the words. Currently I’m reading The Southern Reach Trilogy (First one, Annihilation, became a lesser film), so these science fiction themes tied to dramatic events and emotions really resonates at the moment. The consideration of the ideas and then the execution, there’s a lot of levity here. This will serve as suitable preparation for their newest release. […]

Carcassbomb's Reviews

Album Review: Dr. Colossus – “The Dank” 9/10 (Stoner Doom)

June 26, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

I’m glad that after a year of this I’m still getting super excited by new discoveries, this year has been filled with conceptual albums and high art themes. Lovecraft, mental illness and Dark Souls. Now for something entirely different tasting, Simpson metal presented with the levity of something serious and from Australia of all places. These guys are committed to the image with full Stonecutters costume for live shows and promotional shots. Paired with a dark and groovy stoner doom/hard rock sound, it feels complete and fleshed out – not gimmicky. They have newer stuff out in 2019 as well. […]

Carcassbomb's Reviews

Album Review: Hela – Death May Die 9.2 (Doom Metal)

June 12, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

A far darker opening than I was expecting. Apparently the opener track is based on the story “The nameless city” by Lovecraft (read). The song titles alone say to me that this is a chronological story starting with a horrible discovery, The Gateway. There’s some kind of mythical figure and perhaps the revelation of evil, Mothers Of Monsters and Touched By Evil. Then that touch of evil infests or takes hold in the form of the Dark Passenger – possibly analogous of mental illness or possession. This passenger causes chaos and unnatural acts, resulting in Repulsion – of self and externally. The Gateway inevitable leads to Bodies Burning In Hell – The end destruction, death or suicide from madness and hell because of the corruption. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Full Of Hell – Weeping Choir 8.8 (Grindcore)

June 11, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

I’m developing a fondness for this balls deep heavy kind of sound. Since hearing their previous release I’ve explored more of what the Grind tag has to offer, from the classics recommended to me by the community to the newer bands like Iron Eagle and Ampallang Infection. I’m definitely getting a feel for it now but still have a way to go. What I am finding is that across all the grind styles are some pretty wild decisions made about album composition and song presentation. It’s like extreme metal wasn’t cutting it so people have tried to condense it’s heaviness into the smallest frame possible. To be the loudest the fastest without ever compromising brutality… well, they do comprise a little on this record and it’s quite eloquent when it happens. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Everest Queen – “Dead Eden” 8.7/10 (Death Doom)

June 10, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Dead Eden is a stoner tinged death doom album. There’s also a healthy dose of Neurosis and Melvins inspiration that gives it an overall vibe resembling a combination of Conan and Isis. It rumbles when it’s heavy and it’s fanciful when it spreads out, never losing traction in between. It was released in April and the band still have a pretty small following, this should definitely change asap, some solid stuff here. The UK produces the world’s most trustworthy doom. […]

2018 albums

Album Review: Iron Eagle – Audio Nasty 9 (Grindcore)

June 10, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

It’s been a while since I’ve heard some good punk influenced death metal. Deathgrind, grindcore, whatever you want to call this, It’s pretty fucking rad and definitely some dirty shit through and through. It’s not as simple as you’d expect though, with many tasty treats hidden beneath a repulsive outer layer. The name is based on an old movie, Iron Eagle, if that gives you any insight into their more playful influences, humor and old films have always been effective within the genre. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Hellripper – Black Arts & Alchemy EP 9 (Speed Metal)

June 6, 2019 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

At this point I’m covering so many one man bands and it’s crazy the level of quality an individual can put out now. This guy has a bit of a history having released a slew of recordings over the past few years, a lot of which are well received. He’s clearly onto something. I’ll definitely be going back to check out the LP which holds a whopping 89% at the Metallum. This has 91% with less reviewers. Just for context, most of the time fully fledged and veteran bands get worse scores than this every day. There’s plenty of blackened speed metal here with zero compromise to the sound or intensity. Definitely check this one out. […]