2020 Albums

Album Review: Afterbirth – Four Dimensional Flesh 8 (Brutal Death)

At first I thought this was just bad lofi death but as the album progresses, the more intrigue is revealed. There’s a strong The Chasm influence here and the premise seems to be a modern version of that with some newer, brutal ideals brought into the cosmic mix. They do well to achieve the atmosphere but the more straightforward heavier segments fall a bit flat beneath the intentionally muddy production. It works better in some places than others. The underlying thesis is solid however, something refined from decades of being a band and also having members experienced in other bands. Overall it’s one of the more interesting albums on the Unique Leader roster that you can listen to for yourself when it’s released on Friday the 13th. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Viscera – Obsidian 8 (Deathcore)

I’m a huge sucker for cool genre crossovers, I’m also a huge sucker for Unique Leader Records, so basically this record was made for me. Viscera are a new outfit formed just last year consisting of members from Heart Of A Coward, Martyr Defiled, and Nervecell. So, while the band is new, these guys definitely know what they’re doing! Their debut album “Obsidian” comes out on March 6th. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Krosis – A Memoir of Free Will 8 (Deathcore)

Hey guys, I’m back from my short break from Noob Heavy, and I’m coming back with a bang, and by a bang, I of course mean the new Krosis record! Krosis is a technical deathcore band that formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2014. On February 7th they are releasing their brand new record A Memoir Of Free Will on Unique Leader Records. As someone who had the privilege of hearing the record early, trust me when I say this isn’t one you’re going to want to miss. […]

2020 Albums

Album Review: Xenobiotic – Mordrake 7.8 (Deathcore)

Here’s the perfect storm of pre-release bait for me – it’s an Australian tech death release featuring the artwork of Mariousz Lewandowski (I know how we all feel but this one’s really good). Xenobitoic are a tech deathcore band from Australia’s new metal mecca, Perth. Take a look at my Top 25 Australian Metal Releases article and drink every time I wrote Perth, then just drink recreationally. Mordrake releases on the 21st of February and features a couple of guests vocals that really make their tracks for me. Expect more of a scifi prog approach than a bunch of breakdowns – we’re telling a story here with an album of a higher brow. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Humanity’s Last Breath – Abyssal 9.5 (Deathcore)

This album came out of nowhere and slapped me across the face. Prior to this being released, I had never even heard this band before. But over the past week or so since it came out, I’ve been listening to it nonstop and it has quickly skyrocketed to the top of my favorite albums from this year so far. I can’t see anything else topping it as the unexpected favorite of this year for me. […]

2019 Albums

Album Review: Disentomb – “The Decaying Light” 9/10 (Death Metal)

I was surprised by the opener to be honest, I was expecting some pretty standard death with an emphasis on being as “hard af”. There’s quite a bit of motion and emotion to this introduction, leading into some down-tuned guttural grind with often complex and excited guitars. The aggression feels genuine and sometimes even wounded. My exposure to Disentomb is entirely live and local from some time ago, so I’ll have to go back and check out previous releases. This easily stands up to a lot of the work of Full Of Hell or Unique Leader label-mates Ingested, which seem to be the death grind kings at the moment. […]