Month: June 2021

2021

Album Review: No Living Witness – “Cosmic Simulacra” 7.5/10 (Melo Death)

June 30, 2021 Kep

No Living Witness is one of those bands that doesn’t hold its sound to a single subgenre. Throw a death metal base in the pot to start, and then start chucking in every ingredient you can think of that pairs with it. A meaty hunk of melody gets things really going, and then add several hearty spoonfuls of black metal, a few slices of technicality, and couple dashes of prog. Season with a pinch or two of brutality. Let that simmer together so the ingredients create layers of style and flavor. Now start dishing that tastiness up. That heaping helping in front of you is Cosmic Simulacra, No Living Witness’ new album* […]

2021

Album Review: Sxuperion – “Auscultating Astral Monuments” 5.5/10 (Black/Death)

June 23, 2021 Melinda (Carcassbomb)

Cosmic blackened death metal is always a tricky proposition. That specific kind of genre melding most often consists of an oppressive and at times aggressive sound filled with repeating patterns leading to complete thrall on the part of the listener. Sxuperion, a one-man entity (Matthew) from Mammoth Lakes, CA has been channeling this feeling for the greater part of two decades now albeit sporadically. […]

2021

Album Review: Beleth – “Silent Genesis” 5.5/10 (Death/Groove)

June 19, 2021 Kep

During the death metal renaissance that’s been happening over the last couple of years it feels like a few other related styles have all but fallen by the wayside. Groove metal is one of these, with releases hitting here and there but all being overshadowed by a particularly strong stretch for the big brother subgenre. Maybe that’s due to a lack of notable new blood, or the fact that the titans of groove metal are all in their senior years in the scene now […]

2021

Album Review: Thūn – “Thūn” 9/10 (Death Doom)

June 16, 2021 Kep

I’m a sucker for a concept album. I love it when a band writes a damn good story. I worship Coheed and Cambria, I eat up everything that Hideous Divinity releases, Opeth’s My Arms, Your Hearse is one of my favorite records of all time, and what metalhead hasn’t listened to King Diamond’s Abigail and adored every second? I’m also a huge fan of Bull Elephant, the anonymous UK-based collective that has released two amazing progressive doom epics, the first two of a planned trilogy. The story is basically this: Indiana Jones flavored with Lovecraft, plenty of Nazi bad guys, and necromancy. It’s a hell of a fun time.  […]

2021

Album Review: Hannes Grossmann – “To Where The Light Retreats” 8.3 (Prog Death)

June 13, 2021 zaxrecordreviews

Going into this record, I knew there was no way I wasn’t going to love it. The reason for that comes in knowing who Hannes Grossmann is, and if somehow you don’t, let me tell you! Hannes Grossmann is a legendary death metal drummer, having been a part of Necrophagist, Obscura, Hate Eternal, and Triptykon to name a few. He also has some great production credits under his belt, like the last Gomorrah album, or most recently, the fantastic new Mother Of All album. With a pedigree that stacked, my expectations are always sky high for his work. […]