Album number three from the anti-war black/death metal band is set to drop on Friday, and I couldn’t be more excited! We loved their last album, to our surprise, so when we saw this one come across our emails there was no way we weren’t doing a deep dive! Join us in checking out all the glorious heaviness!
The album opens in a pretty punk way, with a marching drumbeat over the top of what I assume is some sort of old war speech. It all builds perfectly, the screams exploding into the chorus alongside some insanely fast drumming. The same break-neck pace keeps up through the verse, staying heavy and feeling like the perfect blend of death, black metal and hardcore punk. The pre is low and menacing too, building perfectly back into that massive, surprisingly catchy chorus. And, while I have no idea what is being said, I do like the concept of the band using its music to commemorate all those who have fallen in wars, outlining the true horrors of them. A particularly poignant message in these current worrying times. It’s a really excellent track to open the album on, and definitely a big early highlight for me!
‘Heizer Tenner’ once again builds masterfully in its intro; some ambient stuff and a low guitar riff running before it explodes into the massive black metal stuff. It’s very in-your-face I’m the best way and sounds pretty epic, almost giving off Rotting Christ vibes. I love the more straight-forward verses too, going more death metal and then adding in the black metal stuff for the choruses. The dynamics throughout are incredible, dropping down and building back up throughout, keeping it constantly interesting. That scream on its own near the end is incredible too, having so much emotion and anger in its delivery. It’s another damn good song!
After a brief interlude track, we get the AWESOME, stomping riffing of ‘Kampf und Sturm’. It almost feels industrial, adding yet another great element to their sound. Of course it then heads quickly into the chaotic black metal stuff, but that riff was a really great, unexpected addition. And that slower almost-breakdown in the middle is AMAZING, too! This is another incredible song, and one that easily makes it onto our playlist!
Starting sinister with that riff, ‘Die Havarie’ keeps a slower pace, once again reminding me of the newer Rotting Christ stuff. It sounds awesome, again setting a brilliant atmosphere as it builds and builds. Once again, we get plenty of heavy black-punk afterwards, but the scene the intro sets is amazing. The heavy, slower pace still returns for the pre-choruses too, bringing it back in an awesome way! Then we get an almost power metal-infused chorus, which is also excellent! It’s a real epic song throughout, drawing in so many different sounds and influences yet sounding like nothing else really around today. Yet again, it’s another fantastic heavier metal song!
The two part ‘Der Füsilier’ is a masterclass of all things heavy. The main vein of black metal is plenty present, but it has a lot of death, hardcore and noise (pun intended) throughout too! It’s 10 minutes of epicness, and both parts fit together perfectly. I imagine the story being told is really cool, and I’m going to have to track down the lyrics and translate them! The two parts are definitely worth a listen together, and are once again high points of the album.
The final two tracks on the album, ‘The Yankee Division March’ and ‘Die Fastnacht der Hölle’ are both awesome heavy songs again, and the perfect way to cap off an album like this! I liked the little Rammstein nod in the latter track, it definitely being my favourite song from that band. Both songs are amazing, and while their sound did get a little similar this late into the release, it was hard not to still love it. The closer is honestly one of my favourite songs on the release, though all of them are amazing!
Overall: This is a damn good, damn heavy album. The band are such incredibly talented musicians, and Noise is such a fantastic songwriter, that they really keep going from strength to strength. As much as I loved their last release, this may even inch ahead of it into my favourite! If you are at all a fan of the heavier side of metal, do yourselves a favour and check this out immediately! I need to see them live soon!
The lucky thirteenth album from the Polish death metal quartet is set for release this coming Friday, bringing the bands particular brand of brutality back to the scene. I’ve been at least semi-familiar with them for years now, knowing the name and the odd earlier song alongside their previous album, which we reviewed! So, I’m pretty excited to check this out, four years on from their last release. Join us in checking out my second full foray into the world of Hate!
The title track opens things with a suitably ominous, dark acoustic guitar chord progression. The strings and extra bits do such a good job of building up the tension before the heaviness explodes in with a MASSIVE scream and some huge riffing and drumming. It honestly feels pretty black metal from the get go, which is never a bad thing and was kinda expected! It’s immediately heavy, the instrumentation and the screams through the verse being crushingly so. I can’t help but immediately notice how fantastic the production is on it too, everything sounding huge and it being a far-cry from a lot of other death metal bands in the scene. It makes it sound incredible, and as someone who has a weird relationship with death metal, it has certainly eased me into loving this! I love that it drops back to the lower bit with the spoken word too, giving the track some great dynamics. And to follow it off with a mind-blowing guitar solo was also a great choice! And I love the final couple of minutes of the track, it almost feeling proggy in the amount of parts it has. It’s a really awesome way to open up the album, setting the stage perfectly!
‘Iphigenia’ continues the epic feel and heaviness awesomely. And again, it kicks off with more blackened metal riffs, which sound fantastic! The riffing throughout this entire track blew me away, to be honest, with the clean and heavy contrast bit after heading into the chainsaw-like work in the verses all being phenomenal. And the epic, blackened death metal vibes throughout the song are incredible. It reminds me a little of Rotting Christ, and y’all know how much I loved their last album! Again it’s on the longer side so it gets to really give everything chance to breath and meet the most out of each part. It’s a huge highlight of the album for us, and one that easily makes it onto our playlist!
Tracks like ‘The Vanguard’, ‘A Ghost of Lost Delight’ and ‘Alfa Inferi Goddess of War’ all share a similar feel to the aforementioned tracks. None of that is a bad thing at all, as it’s all such awesome music, and this style is sometimes hard to deviate from and feel natural. But it’s a struggle to talk about this style over and over without it reading really boring or like I’m a massive fangirl. All three tracks are awesome and well worth checking out if you like the genre!
‘Perun Rising’ has a bit of a different vibe to it, but that may be because of the tribal intro track, ‘Rite of Triglav’. The riffing feels a bit more open though, it still being heavy but having a different atmosphere. It’s a nice (slight) change of sound and another easy highlight of the album for me!
The closing couple of tracks, ‘Prophet of Arkhen’ and ‘Ageless Harp of Devilry’ are two more awesome, blackened death metal tracks. Again, both songs are awesome, with the former being another solid highlight of the record. But again, they somewhat sadly sounded pretty similar to almost all the rest of the album. It’s all fantastic, but I would have liked a slight bit of variety, even if to help me spice up the writing somewhat!
Overall: This is a damn good, heavy, atmospheric death metal album. There is plenty to love on the release, especially if you are into the genre, and my slight complaint around the similarities shouldn’t stop you from checking this one out. The band are an absolute powerhouse of riffs, lyrics and heaviness, and have proved why they are one of the most respected in their style over and over, and again here. Again, I’s highly recommend if you are into anything on the heavier side of metal. It’s an incredibly solid album from a band that have such a consistently great output!
Another mega release week for albums, with some incredible collections across most genres! Let’s go ahead and dive right in!
The Darkness: Dreams on Toast
The British hard rock royalty are back with album number eight. I’ve always been a fan of the band; Permission to Land was one of the soundtracks to my childhood, and I really enjoyed Motorheart when it came out. Having said that, I do feel like this is on a whole new level to the latter. Opening on the one-two punch of the surprising ‘Rock and Roll Party Cowboy’ and one of the best singles they’ve put out in ‘I Hate Myself’, it’s a damn strong start. Then you have the band almost embrace this recent country resurgence with tracks like ‘Hot on my Tail’ and ‘Cold Hearted Woman’. Both feel completely genuine though, and very Darkness despite the change in sound a little, and even some fiddle in the latter. All are huge highlights of the album, but then so are the likes of the foot-stomping ‘Mortal Dread’, the EOL-like ‘The Longest Kiss’ and the beautiful ballad ‘Walking Through Fire’.
Considering the album is only 10 tracks long and I’ve already named seven of them, that should really show just how fantastic this release is. And guess what… the other three songs are great too! The band have felt like they’re on a bit of a resurgence in recent years, and this album has really capped off that feeling in a huge way. As Justin says in this ‘we never stop making hit albums’. That is very true, and this is very much another HUGE hit from the band. It may be too early to call this, but this may be my favourite Darkness album since One Way Ticket, if not Permission to Land itself! I’d recommend it to absolutely any music fan out there, and I can’t give it any less than 10/10!
Arch Enemy: Blood Dynasty
The melodeath legends are back with another album, a followup to 2022s Decievers. We really enjoyedthat album when it released, and I’ve been a fan of the band since my teens when I first got into the genre. Heck, we even reactedto the lead single from this when it dropped. So, safe to say anticipation for the album was pretty high here at Overtone.
If you’re a fan of the band, at very least their modern sound with Alyssa, you’ll know exactly what to expect with this, and will surely love it. It’s all big, heavy riffs, some great melodic leads, incredible powerful screams and stellar drumming throughout. ‘Dream Stealer’ is of course a massive highlight, as is ‘March of the Miscreants’, the more old-school ‘Don’t Look Down’ and the beautiful, surprisingly clean and almost symphonic power metal ‘Vivre Libre’. Honestly, the range demonstrated with the inclusion of the latter track is incredible, not only breaking up the album perfectly, but it being a true highlight of the bands discography, in my opinion, due to the musicality and lyrics fitting so well together. A good portion of the die-hard fans will hate it, but I love it!
Honestly, it’s an incredible album from start to finish. I found myself adding more and more of it to my personal playlist with subsequent listens; there isn’t a bad track on it. I loved Decievers, but they’ve really hit their post-Loomis stride with this release, and it does feel a step higher. It’s heavy and epic in all the best places, encapsulating not only what’s best about the genre, but the European scene in general. It gets another incredibly solid 9/10 from us!
Buster Shuffle: Together
We’ve already checked out this awesome album! Read the full review here!
CJ Wildheart: SLOTS
This is a damn interesting release for us. We covered his former brother-in-arms’ latest album a couple of weeks back, so it’s very hard not to compare this to that album. However, both are great in their own right, and honestly feel and sound pretty different! This one is a lot more old-school punk and skater, as opposed to Ginger’s heavier sound. Both have their place in the scene, and I found myself having a lot of fun listening to this thing. ‘Beg’, the classic Wildhearts-sounding ‘Baddest Girl in the World’, ‘The Kids’ and ‘You Got the Best Part of Me’ are all personal highlights but, honestly, the album is packed full of them. Heck, the title track even goes heavier, feeling more like a modern Wildhearts song, but it’s awesome and I love it! The ten tracks go by in a flash, being under the 30-minute mark, but it feels like the perfect length for a punk record. If you’ve ever been a fan of the Wildhearts, CJs solo stuff or his vague yet particular brand of punk, I cannot recommend this enough. It’s certainly going to be a release that I’ll be revisiting plenty this year and probably beyond. It’s yet another phenomenal album from this week, and a massive 8.5/10!
Mumford and Sons: RUSHMERE
The British modern-folk legends are back with their first album in seven years. They were a bit of a guilty pleasure band in my youth, but I have openly been a big fan of them for years now, and I’m so glad they’re back. And it helps, of course, that this is an absolutely stellar album. I love this style of music, and their sound definitely gives me some nostalgia from my teens, but this is also a well-crafted, great-sounding album in its own right. Songs like ‘Caroline’, the title track, ‘Truth’ and ‘Surrender’ are all fantastic and huge highlights, but there isn’t a bad song out of the collection of 10! It’s a chilled-out, catchy release that is perfect for sitting back and relaxing to. It’s not going to be for everyone, but it was a very nice change of pace for me to listen to this week, and is honestly one of the best things the band have put out, in my opinion. If you’re a fan of the band or folk music in general, this is well worth checking out! It’s a damn solid 8.5/10 from us!
Memphis May Fire: Shapeshifter
I clearly have a tiny memory and attention span. When I went to add this entry to our list, I was like ‘I know the name, I remember my friends being into them back in the day, but am not sure who they are. We’ve covered them before.I reviewed their last album. I clearly enjoyed it too, it just clearly wasn’t very memorable. But, while I have a couple of similar issues with this release from them (80% of the album as pre-release singles is too damn much!), I am happy to say I definitely feel like this is a better album than their last! ‘Chaotic’ is a fantastic, upbeat and surprisingly fun opener, and sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the release. It gives off a bit more Set it Off or From Ashes to Newvibes to it than metalcore this time round, which I love, and really channels that mid-2000s US alt rock energy. Tracks like the Electric Callboy-like ‘Overdose’, ‘Necessary Evil’ and ‘Shapeshifter’ are all big highlights, but the whole album is pretty good! If you’re into any of the bands or styles I’ve mentioned already, it’s worth giving this a listen, especially when it’s only half an hour long. It’s certainly better than their previous album, and gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Envy of None: Stygian Wavz
For something featuring the legendary Alex Lifeson, this is kinda boring. It’s not bad, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t my sort of thing at all. It’s slow, shoegazy indie rock, and I found myself struggling to get through it all in one sitting. I’m sure there will be plenty of big fans of this album and this band, but I am sadly not one and didn’t enjoy it a whole lot. It all sounded pretty similar, and for what it was it wasn’t great to begin with. The band are at least clearly talented, and I’m clearly a fan of their individual stuff as I love Rush and enjoy what I’ve heard of Andy Curran’s Coney Hatch. ‘Under the Stars’ was probably my favourite track on the album, as it felt like the most interesting and it suited Maiah’s vocals perfectly. If you’re into this sort of thing I’d certainly recommend checking it out and giving it a listen. For me though, sadly, I’mma have to give it a 3.5/10
Alien Weaponry: Te Rā
Oh look, another full review! You know the drill, check it out here!
Deafheaven: Lonely People With Power
I clearly no fucking clue who Deafheaven were before now. I went into this expecting an indie-like band, not black metal! Especially not vaguely emo-infused black metal, to boot. However, given my up-and-down interest in the genre, I quite enjoyed this! The riffs were a major highlight; like hot-damn what talented writers and players. And even the screams were pretty good, fitting the music perfectly and sitting a little further back in the mix so they weren’t as grating as some extreme screams. And of course the drumming is stellar throughout, but I’d expect nothing less. The atmosphere created is awesome, too; setting the perfect gloomy, epic tone. Shockingly, the band do even venture to more of an indie/shoegaze instrumental style on songs like ‘The Garden Route’, which makes it hugely impressive that it still feels rather grounded in black metal and feels right at home on the album.
Honestly, if nothing else, it’s a fascinating listen that’s taken me a couple of listens to really ‘get’. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still not really my sort of thing, and I think I’d struggle to revisit all hour plus of it too regularly, but I did find myself enjoying it and hugely appreciating the work that went into crafting such a release. Though not your typical black metal, if you like the genre give this a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. 7/10
Stone Foundation: The Revival of Survival
The big ol’ soul band released their whopping 11th album this last Friday. While it’s not the sort of thing we often check out here at Overtone, I’m a fan of a few of the band’s songs and we got sent over a review copy, so there was no way I wasn’t letting y’all know what I thought of it!
Honestly, like with most albums or music in general, the moment I heard that sexy, sexy saxophone I was hooked. The opener starts low but builds perfectly, ending up being a pretty epic, almost rock track by the end. That is followed by the catchy, funky title track, a big highlight of the album. It sets the tone perfectly too, as stuff like ‘Cut Me Loose’, ‘2 Die 4 U’ and ‘When Worlds Collide’ continue that energy fantastically and are highlights in their own right. However, the whole album is pretty damn good! It’s easy listening at its very best, and combines elements of soul, funk and jazz perfectly. It certainly won’t be for everyone reading this, but I had a real good time listening to this and will certainly be doing so again in the future. It’s the perfect album to just stick on and relax to; et all your worries and stress to ebb away. The band are insanely talented, and if you want something a little different I cannot recommend this enough. The fact that this sort of music is still being put out, and to this standard and quality, in 2025 is frankly awesome! It’s a solid 8/10!
Underoath: The Place After This One
The Floridian post-hardcore band are back with a follow-up to 2022’s awesome Voyeurist, and are pulling no punches with this album. They pick up where they left off with their last album in terms of the heavy, electronic-laced sound and style, and the opener sets the stage perfectly. ‘Devil’ goes for a bit more of their classic sound, but still fits perfectly with ‘Generation No Surrender’ and is another highlight. Then you have tracks like ‘Loss’, ‘And Then There Was Nothing’ and the Troy Sanders featuring ‘Vultures’ that are all also big highlights for me! If you’re a fan of the band’s recent stuff or the scene they fit into you’ll know exactly what to expect. It’s not bad by any stretch, but I went into this known exactly what to expect, and that’s very much what I got. It combines the sound that made them famous with a more modern metal/industrial edge, and does so to perfection. Think Spiritbox, Poppy, Bad Omens etc. However, overall I feel like I enjoy this more than any of them, there’s a bit more to it and it’s more consistently heavy. It’s a damn enjoyable album and worth a listen, if you’re into this sort of thing. A very solid 8.5/10; I’m sure I’ll be listening to a lot of it again in the coming weeks!
Circus 66: Elements
The sophomore album of the NWOCR rising stars is a damn solid release. It’s packed full of incredible riffs, soaring, powerful vocals and some catchy melodies and harmonies. It instantly gives me Thundermother vibes in all the best ways. It’s a foot-stomping, sleaze-tinged hard rock album that’s impossible not to have a fun time listening to! Honestly, it’s really hard to pick highlight tracks too as it’s all so good. In a rather saturated sub-genre currently, Circus 66 have found a way to stand out and produce something high quality and truly memorable. From the powerful hard rock likes of the opener to the almost country ballad of ‘Love on the Other Side’, I love it all! Plus, the album was put together perfectly; the dynamics between the faster and slower songs keeping everything interesting and making for a very easy nearly 50-minute listen. The band are clearly incredibly talented players and songwriters, and have taken a lot of inspiration from their contemporaries but built on it all fantastically. I cannot recommend this album enough, check it out immediately! I can’t get enough of it already, and hopefully this release finally pushes them to the level they deserve to be at! It’s a solid 9/10 from us!
HIGHSOCIETY: DATAMOSH
The bass soloist has been gaining a lot of momentum and hype recently with his interesting genre combinations, fun guests and intriguing writing. From dubstep to alt metal to hard rock, he blends it all together seamlessly, and has crafted, at very least, and incredibly fascinating album. It’s very much a combination of Prodigy, Linkin Park and the modern metalcore scene (think Bad Omens or BMTH). Tracks like the opener, the heavy ‘Echos’ with BVLVNCE and the Daedric-featuring ‘Dead By Dawn’ are all personal highlights. However, every song on this release is worth a listen, and it doesn’t feel like it’s as long as it is at all. It’s an incredibly modern sound that will go over well with fans of the likes of Poppy and Spiritbox and the aforementioned Bad Omens. However, it’s also different and creative enough to keep it interesting, and honestly won me over just as much as any of them. He works so well with every single artist that features here, and it could very much be a massive, breakout year for the musician. He’s definitely one to watch, and worth a listen if you’re into a modern style. 7.5/10
Alison Krauss: Arcadia
The country-folk star and her band, Union Station, are back with their first album together in nearly a decade and a half. It’s a welcome return of the band, as outside of her collaboration with Robert Plant, her last album was a solo one, and even that was eight years ago now! For someone who’s been releasing music for nearly 40 years, the fact that she is still such an interesting songwriter, and that her vocals are still so effortless beautiful and incredible, is a true testament to her talent. And that shouldn’t at all take away from the band either, who are just as talented. It’s a chilled out, Americana/bluegrass leaning album, and is great to just sit back and relax to. Songs like ‘The Wrong Way’, ‘Richmond on the James’ and ‘North Side Gal’ are all personal highlights, but if you’re into this sort of music you’ll enjoy the whole album! While not strictly my sort of thing, I had a lot of fun listening to the slightly more upbeat songs, and a couple of the ballads were incredible too. While I don’t think I’ll revisit the whole album much, I’ll certainly be listening to some of this again, and it gets a solid 7/10 from us!
Jumping back into the EP for a the first time in 2025, we have two incredible metal release for us to sink our teeth into. Let’s do this!
Sypha: Borderland
The modern metal Brits are set to release their debut EP this coming Friday, and the world is in for a treat! We’ve already had two of the three tracks released already, with closer ‘The Afterparty’ being a new addition. It’s just as good as the other two, and that’s saying something! The band certainly wear their inspiration on their sleeves, it having very much a City of Evil-era Avenged feel, but more in line with the more modern metal scene, akin to Phoenix Lake and even South of Salem. All three tracks are incredible in their own right, and all feel pretty individual and unique, yet all fit perfectly together for this release. The plodding, epic opener is incredible, and Alicia’s harsher vocals heading into that breakdown are amazing. Then you have the faster, heavier ‘Limbo’, an idea choice for a single thanks to the catchy chorus, and the awesome, balls-to-the-wall closer.
This is an absolutely amazing release. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone into a more modern metal style, it really does have a bit of everything! The band are clearly insanely talented and excellent songwriters, and it’s easy to see them being a massive name sooner rather than later. If anything, as excellent as this release is, it’s just made me want a full album from them. I need more! However, this easily gets a 9/10 from me!
Corroding Soul: Self-Titled
The third EP from the post black metal project of David Lovejoy is nothing if not an epic affair. I have to admit, I’m very up and down with the genre, but I really liked this. Somehow, it almost felt uplifting; the atmosphere feeling positive and epic despite the insanely heavy vocals and riffing. There was more than a smattering of power and folk metal in there in the instrumentation, which was awesome. I’ve not quite heard anything like it before, and I was intrigued as much as loving it. Just the opening track is enough on its own, but all four songs on this release are pretty fantastic. And while all being pretty similar, they all click together perfectly and form one fantastic release. It’s a little long so could border on album territory, but I feel like even with long tracks, if it’s just four it’s an EP. It certainly won’t be for everyone, but if the genre scares you give this a try, you may be pleasantly surprised! David is an incredibly talented songwriter and player. It’s a solid 8/10 from me!
The first week of 2025 sees three awesome new, heavy albums being released. Let’s check them out!
Paleface Swiss: CURSED
This feels like the 2020s answer to Iowa, modernising it and heavying it up but still keeping that same feeling and anger and attitude. I LOVE it. It also reminds me a lot of fellow modern deathcore titans Slaughter to Prevail, blending slight nu-metal influences with the otherwise demonically heavy sound. As the first new album of the year for me, this has set an absolutely insanely high standard. I’m honestly struggling to pick highlight tracks from it as they are all so good. Don’t get me wrong, it is certainly heavy so not for everyone, but between the huge riffs, brutal breakdowns and Zelli’s hugely impressive growls and screams, it’s absolutely phenomenal. I was only really familiar with them by name and by Zelli’s feature on the Left to Suffer album last year, but this album has made a huge new fan out of me! If you’re into the heavy stuff I cannot recommend this enough, it’s certainly going to be up there in the album of the year discussion at the end of the year! It’s an easy 9.5/10
Only the Righteous: Hikikomori
The Manchester-based metalcore band returned with their sophomore album last Friday, over half a decade after their debut. They are certainly taking no prisoners on their return, as this is another awesome album! I definitely hear the early Architects inspiration they tout, but also hear plenty of hardcore in the screams, and almost some In Flames-style melodeath in there too. Tracks like the opener, the title track, ‘Day After Day’ and ‘Modern Hell’ are all huge personal highlights! The band perfectly blends an early 2000s style with a more modern sound, and it’s really awesome to hear. If you are at all into metalcore, I cannot recommend this enough. The band have a bright future ahead of them if this album is anything to go by, and it gets a solid 8/10 from us!
PATRIARKH: PROPHET ILJA
I’ve gotten really into the epic, hymn-folk-tinged side of black metal (arcane black metal apparently, which I’m down with!) recently, and this Polish band deliver that to fantastic effect! The former (ish) Batushka are on album number three, but the first alongside the mighty Napalm Records, and it is quite easily their best yet, for me. The concept album follows Prophet Ilja, an illiterate peasant who was the leader of the Orthodox Grzybowska Sect, based around a true story from the band’s home area of Podlasie back in the 30s. It’s one hell of a journey, incorporating plenty of folk instruments alongside the black and doom metal that the band are known for. It’s 40-minutes of interesting, heavy epicness. From the instrumentations to the screams to the operatic female vocals and chanting, it’s all awesome! It’s not for the faint of heart, those who aren’t into the heavier side of metal probably won’t be hugely into it. However, if you are, this is well worth checking out, and all in one listen-through, too! It’s another that gets a solid 8/10 from us!
Though not a huge week in terms of the size of releases, there is still so much amazing stuff to be sinking our teeth into. So, let’s do just that!
Skam: From the Depths
The midlands trio have been a stalwart of the NWOCR scene since it’s inseption, over 13-years old at this point and now on album five. Somehow, this may be their best work to date, too. ‘Rising Fever’ is the perfect scene-setter; showing off the band’s grungy, swampy rock sound yet still having plenty of great hooks. Then you have tracks like the doomy ‘Fate of the Souls’, ‘Travesty’ and the painfully relatable ‘The Grind’ which are all huge personal highlights. However, every track on the album is pretty fantastic; there isn’t a bad one on it! It somehow feels both old-school NWOCR while feeling completely modern and new and interesting. I was already a pretty big fan of the band, but this somehow made me an even bigger one. I’d recommend it to anyone, whether you’re into their hard rock style or not. And it’s insane to me that we’re getting so late in the year and are still having such incredible albums being released. This easily gets a 9/10!
Beans on Toast: Wild Goose Chasers
I’m clearly out of the loop, because I had no idea this was gonna be a piano-based album. I’m certainly not complaining though, as this year’s annual release from the Essex singer-songwriter is incredible! It’s half an hour of beautiful, emotion-filled piano-rock ballads, with his signature pop-folk twist. I fell in love with the album from the very first verse and chorus of ‘Faith in the Moon’ and I couldn’t not adore every single second until the last note of ‘Fairy Tale Ending’. Beans is such a fantastic storyteller and songwriter, providing us some incredible, heartfelt lyrics throughout over some really great boogy-woogy piano. Tracks like ‘Boring Dystopia’, ‘Variety’ and ‘The Glorious Fool’ are all huge personal highlights, but there really isn’t a bad track on the album! I enjoyed his last album or two, but this honestly feels like almost a return to form for him, at least from a writing standpoint. It’s crazy that an album so simple is this good, but it gets an easy 9.5/10 from me!
Ice Exiled: Reset the Sky
The debut album of the Finnish prog-power metal band is an absolutely amazing introduction to the band. The clean, folky intro of opener ‘Open Fire’ confused me a little, but we then got some huge screams, technically excellent riffing and some massive, catchy vocal melodies. Then you have awesome tracks like ‘Civilisation Zero’, the epic, folky ‘Bloodfeud’, the almost Melodeath-at-times ‘Reapers Feast’ and ‘Anthropocentrum’ that are all absolutely fantastic. It’s insane that all these different styles blend together so effortlessly, but it’s a true testament to just how talented this band are. They’re honestly up there with Dream Theatre/Periphery in that regard, yet I like it even more as they play more my style of metal! And, given the combination of genres, I’d say eight tracks and 42-minutes is pretty reserved; it went by in a flash and I’d have happily had more!
I’d never heard of this band before I got them emailed to me but damn, they have a new huge fan in me! The talent and songwriting is off the charts, and I especially love the clean, almost flamenco-like guitars, the bass throughout is sick, and the screams are so excellent that I NEED them more often in whatever the band release next. Much like the previous entry into this list, I’d recommend this album to any readers, and if you’re a fan of any of the genre’s I’ve mentioned previously, you’ll surely love it as much as I do. I can’t not, this can get no less than a 10/10!
Fire Action: Until the Heat Dies
Another debut Finnish offering, this sounded like a more AOR Painkiller, and I’m all of the way here for it! Adding synth to the heavier side of NWOBHM is always done to varied results, but the result here is certainly positive. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, and I imagine it’d be even more incredible to hear live! ‘No Drone Zone’ and the more Queensryche-esque ‘Dark Ages’ are personal highlights, but if you’re into this sort of style like I am, you’ll enjoy it all! My only slight issue is that there’s been a lot of great 70s and 80s revival-metal like this this year, and I’m not quite sure this does enough to differentiate itself from the pack. Still, it’s a damn fun listen, and well worth it for fans of the style. It’s also a really fantastic debut release. It’s an easy 7.5/10!
Voodoo Circle: Hail to the King
Oh look, more AOR! Alex Beyrodt once again channels his love of Whitesnake and Deep Purple, yet heavies it up a little, into a seventh album. It took a little growing, but honestly, I really enjoyed this album! The opener didn’t hook me in much, but ‘Let it Rock’ into ‘On the Edge’ won me over fully and I was sold completely by the end of the latter. Then you have tracks like ‘Castles Made of Glas’ and ‘Strangers in the Night’ that are also clear album highlights. Every album is pretty great though, especially if you like this darker AOR style. My only issue with the album is that it’s over an hour long, a little too long for 12 tracks that all sound pretty similar. However, that’s kinda how AOR has always gone, so it wasn’t unexpected. Still, I’d recommend this album to anyone with even a passing interest in 80s rock music, as it’s all written and performed incredibly well! 8/10
Grave with a View: Raw Illumination
This straight-up slab of, you guessed it, Finnish, black metal is certainly not for the faint of heart. It’s yet another debut release, but this one is certainly more niche. Even in my more-into-black-metal state these days, this was a lot for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly talented stuff, and as far as straight-up black metal goes, it’s very well done. Heck, the production is even pretty damn good, which is usually not the case with the genre. ‘Wrest’ was probably my favourite track on the album that, while clearly good, I simply couldn’t get into. Live though, I imagine this would SLAP. This is certainly one for all the real heavy fans reading this, but I sadly can’t give this any more than a 5/10. It is personal preference too, after all!
King Mûmakil: Self-Titled
The debut album of a rising metal band close to us, I’ve been friends with them for years so couldn’t not check this out! And damn, I’m glad I did, it’s awesome! It’s doomy, stoner goodness from start to finish, and I loved it. The riffing is amazing, like the perfect blend of Mastodon and QOTSA, while the drums are solid behind. And the vocals fit so perfectly over the top of the instrumentation, too! It has a real old-school, early 2000s feel and sound to it that I really love. That’s in large part to the amazing Tom Platts and Daniel James for recording, mixing and mastering it too, so shoutout to them! Tracks like ‘Civil War’, ‘Locust of Man’ and the closing track are all big personal highlights. However, if you’re a fan of fuzzy, heavy metal music, this is very much the album for you, and you’ll love it all! It’s an incredibly solid debut album, and gets an easy 8/10 from me!
WARPSTOMPER: Self-Titled
Describing themselves as stoner-thrash, this London quartet not only get props for having maybe the coolest artwork of the year, but also for releasing a fucking incredible album! It takes all the good parts of early Mastodon and turns them up to 11, arguably (and controversially) doing it better. The riffing is phat and incredible, the drumming compliments it perfectly and the harsh-ish vocals are amazing, fitting in with the rest fantastically. It’s so hard to even pick highlight tracks as they’re all awesome and it flows together so masterfully; it begs to be listened to as a whole album, cover-to-cover. And, at only seven tracks and under 40-minutes, it’s incredibly easy to do that and goes by in a flash. I can’t recommend this enough for fans of the stoner side of music, and this is easily one of my favourite releases in the genre recently. It gets a solid 8.5/10 from us!
Wolvencrown: Celestial Lands
This is more my sort of black metal. Atmospheric stuff is my jam, and the folky and proggy elements added to the heaviness make for a really interesting listen. I feel like even if you aren’t a fan of the genre, you’ve at least gotta appreciate the art that something like ‘A Spell Nature Cast’ or ‘Ths Path of Life’, right? Like sure, it’s long. It’s an hour spread between six full tracks and two interludes, but that’s part of what makes the album great. It’s epic in every sense of the word, and the band squeeze everything possible out of every idea. It of course isn’t going to be for everyone, but it’s worth a try if you like stuff heavy! 6.5/10
P.S. That artwork is fucking gorgeous!
Denigrate: To the Goddess Unknown
This album is all over the place, and I’m in two minds as to whether I ‘get it’or not. It’s a truly mixed bag too, as sometimes I greatly prefer the slower, blackened-death heavy stuff, while other times I do like the Jeffery ‘Nothing’ Hatrix-style clean vocals. There are times where I don’t like one on a track but like the other, and vice versa. And the almost jump-cutting between the styles throughout makes it rather hard to form a solid opinion on the album as a whole. I think my favourite track, and the one that combined both the best, was ‘The Apparition of One’, but the opener was also pretty good, as was ‘Sesame and Lilies’.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not saying this is a bad album. It was growing on me slowly the more I listened as I wrote this out, too. But it’s certainly quirky and made it a little harder to get into overall. I think it gets a cautious 7/10, but it could easily go up or down at any moment!
Another week, another collection of awesome EP releases in the rock, metal and country world. Let’s look at some!
Delain: Dance with the Devil
Okay, I’mma have to stop ragging on country now, this is easily the longest EP I’ve checked out! I completely get where they’re coming from though, with the three studio tracks and then the live releases. It’s a way of underlining and highlighting the band’s still-new vocalist, adding her voice to the old tracks in a legacy, yet inventive way. And while there are a whopping 15-tracks on this thing, I’m really only going to focus on the three studio tracks at the start. However, the live tracks are also fantastic, demonstrating how tight the band are and how well Diana has fit in. Also, the instrumental tracks to close were a fun addition.
Now, I have to admit that when the band returned with a new singer and album last year, I wasn’t blown away. I thought it was good, but lacked the spark and intrigue that the band had with Charlotte fronting. Whatever that spark was, they’ve found it here. The opener and title track I’d put up there with any of the band’s prior hits, it really is that good. And honestly, ‘The Reaping’ isn’t hugely far behind it! And while I question the intention behind the re-recording of ‘Sleepwalkers Dream’, there is no denying Diana pulls it off fantastically. All three tracks combine together to breathe new life into the power metal band, and sure proved me wrong from my thoughts last year! This is easily an 8/10!
Georgie Nevada: The Bright Side of the Dark
The debut EP of the rising UK country star is an absolutely amazing listen, and a must for any fans of the genre. Or for any rock or blues fan, for that matter! It’s five excellently-written radio-rock tracks with a country twang to them, and draws from plenty of different sounds and inspirations. I heard everything from The Cadillac Three and Kyle Daniel to Miranda Lambert to Bad Touch to even a bit of Highly Suspect at times, and I can’t complain about any of that! Whether it’s the boot-stomping rock of the opener/title track or the slower, more acoustic-ballad of ‘A Day that Makes Sense’, there is plenty of variety and plenty to love. Honestly, there isn’t a bad track on the EP, it’s impossible to pick specific highlights! Georgia has got a huge future in the burgeoning UK country scene, and this release further proves that! I’d check this out if you are in any way into country, rock or even pop! 9/10
Verbannt: Falsche Versprechen
Another change of pace again in the article as we check out the London black metallers debut EP. It’s rather full on, let me tell you that much! It’s full-on, even for a black metal album, and definitely took me some getting into. However, the band are all insanely talented, both as players and songwriters, and it’s a damn good release in the genre, that’s for sure! I also feel like the timing of an EP detailing the racism immigrants still face in a country they weren’t born in when our brothers across the pond just had that election result is horribly perfect. It’s certainly not gonna be for everyone, and was a lot for even quite a seasoned black metal listener like myself at times, but if you like the genre it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s one hell of a debut release, and shows the sky is the limit for the band 7/10
Sol Invicto: Loosely Aware
This release has been a pretty long time coming, and is highly anticipated at this point! The love-child of Deftones’ Stephen Carpenter and Eric Bobo of Cypress Hill have been teasing something for years, making this announcement just over a month ago, and it’s finally here! Rounding out the lineup is Sikth’s Dan Foord on drums and Sean Plague of Plague to Pyres offering his scream.
And honestly, if you’re into quirky-heavy alt-death metal, it is certainly worth the wait! I definitely hear the Deftones and also the Sikth in there, and it also has heavy elements of Mr Bungle I feel. Sadly, outside of Sikth neither band is really my sort of thing, and I didn’t get that much out of these three tracks. I completely get the appeal of it, and I imagine I’d love it live, but I’ve listened to the tracks multiple times and something just isn’t clicking for me. The band are super talented, but I almost feel like it’s not the combination of members of the bands that I’d actually want to hear together, if that makes sense? Still, it’s not bad by any stretch, and gets a 6.5/10!
The Finnish melodic, blackened death metal band are back with their sophomore album, and anticipation is pretty high. Following up from their more folk-infused 2022 EP is going to be a rough task, but if anyone can rise to the task, it’ll surely be these guys. Let’s dive right in with our review!
After the intro track brilliantly builds through the use of various ancient folk instruments, ‘Mani’ explodes in immediately with the death metal. The crushingly heavy wall of a riff sets the rest of the tone for the album, providing just enough melody on top of the heaviness. It’s clear to hear their black metal influences with the tremolo lead too, which is a fantastic touch. The screams are low and growled at times, refreshing as I’d expect it all to be extreme, Dani Filth style vocals given the instrumentation behind them. We even get some clean, almost spoken-word vocals that are awesome too, and fit the tone of the track so well! It all combines perfectly to form something heavy, dark and yet with plenty of melody and depth behind it. It’s an awesome way to open the album!
Single ‘Fenrir’ is up next, having an almost symphonic edge to the sound at times. Don’t get me wrong, it is still heavy and death/extreme metal for the most part, but it does have an ever so slightly catchier feel to it, making it a fantastic choice for a single. Heck, the chorus even borders on catchy, which is almost unheard of in music this heavy. The screams throughout are incredible, be them growls or higher, and they fit the quick, brutal backing instrumentation perfectly. And that drop down to the folky stuff in the middle was really awesome too, building back up perfectly. I really loved this song, and it was one that easily made its way onto our playlist!
The pace picks up even more for ‘Suden Hetki’, it being a true death metal song through and through. However, it still has elements of melodeath in the chorus, including some more amazing, surprisingly fitting clean vocals. We also get a ‘bleh’ in here, which is never a bad thing! My only complaint for the track is that it arguably ended too soon, I’d have happily taken another minute or so with a bridge and final chorus etc. Still, it’s another excellent song, and the second in a row to make the playlist.
The transition between the previous track and single ‘Creator of Abyss’ is a tad jarring, the end of the former building the tribal instruments again before that immediately disappears as a single, rather far-back-in-the-mix guitar riff comes in. It’s a damn good riff, especially when the rest of the band join in, but didn’t fit after ‘Suden’ very nicely. The stop-gaps in the verses are incredible; so well written and performed and a real highlight of the whole album, honestly. And while another insanely heavy song, it does lean into more of the theatrical extreme metal side of things around the 1:40 mark, sounding like the perfect blend of Cradle of Filth and Wednesday 13. It was awesome! It’s another all-round fantastic song on an album so far packed full of them!
‘Waves’ was where I started to feel the length of the album just a touch. Yes, we’re only six tracks in, and it is another fantastic, slightly more black metal-esque song. However, the album is 14 tracks long in total, and songs like the aforementioned one, the title track, ‘Ghost from the Past’ and ‘Rahku’ are all at a pretty similar level. It’s an awesome level for sure, and the occasional interlude tracks breaking up the heaviness were a nice touch. They were honestly the most interesting parts for me as, while the full tracks were also amazing, they kinda started blurring together a bit by the end. If the band could find a way to incorporate the two elements together slightly more, I may have kept my attention span a little longer. Still, again, don’t let this take away from the songs, each is amazing in its own right. It’s just this humble writer’s opinion.
The track in the second half that did stand out to me, however, is the epic ‘Sòl’. It’s the one full track that feels different to the rest, being more of a ballad than any other song on the release. It almost has a gothic edge to it; the low vocals and the clean guitars sound awesome! And then it builds to a still heavy, screamed yet catchy chorus. And that throat singing at the end, I have no idea where it came from but it was AWESOME. Another amazing song, and yet another that makes it onto our playlist!
Overall: This is a fantastic album still, despite my slight gripes with it. There is so much great death, black and folk metal on this album, and so many tracks that stand out. It also has a pretty decent flow through the album, with plenty of cool folky interludes and stuff. I just felt a slight lul in the middle after such a strong first few tracks, and the incredible closing 10 minutes or so. Still, this is how you return with your second album, it’s amazing and something that I will certainly be listening to in full a fair bit in the coming weeks and months. If you are into the heavy stuff at all, check this out, I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did!
A MASSIVE week of New Music Monday this week, with plenty of massive albums being released. Let’s waste no time and dive right in to check them out!
Bring Me the Horizon: POST HUMAN: NeX GEn
Though this album has been know about and delayed for months at this point, it was almost still a surprise release, with the date being announced just the day before. 16 tracks, (six of which we’ve already heard) totalling nearly an hour of music. That’s a lot of meh! As much as I want to be a BMTH fan, and as much as I try to be, I simply cannot get into it at all. I give them all the props in the world for their sound reinventions and pioneering the style that has since become this post-Deftones ‘baddie-core’, but I’m certainly not it’s target audience, and it certainly isn’t for me.
If you’re a fan of the band’s modern sound, especially over the last five years or so, you’ll most likely love this. I don’t mind a few of tracks from their Sempiternal/That’s the Spirit era, so when they replicate that sort of sound I don’t mind it. They also have a couple of breakdowns that go pretty hard. But, and it may be a controversial opinion (especially when I’m not a fan of them), I think Bad Omens simply do the electronic/pop metalcore thing better these days.
It’s not a bad album; don’t get me wrong. Songs like ‘DArkSide’ and ‘AmEN!’ are personal highlights, being at least built on the same foundation of their earlier stuff. However, most of the rest ranges from average to, in the case of ‘DiE4u’, outright cringy. As I said, fans of the band’s current sound will love this, and it isn’t terrible. But I’m already seeing people GUSHING all over it, and, in this personal writer’s opinion, it’s going to be a very overrated album. It’s a ‘metal’ album for people who don’t like metal. So, for that, it gets a 3.5/10
Twenty-One Pilots: Clancy
Fun fact: Twenty-One Pilots’ last album was one of two reviews that came out on this site when we started up. You can find it here. As you can tell, we didn’t enjoy it all too much. Was this one an improvement over that, three years later?
Lol, no.
Is it necessary a bad album? No. Is it what I want out of the band? Also no. I got into them at Vessel and the sequel, which both feel demonstrably different to their current sound. However, after three albums of this now, I think I have to come to terms with the fact that this is Twenty-One Pilots now. If you liked Trench and Scaled and Icy, you’ll most likely love this. Again, it’s not a bad album, but I also wouldn’t call it a good album. It’s just kinda there. It’s fine for moody background music if you want to throw something on while you cook or drive. But not a thing, moment or track stood out to me to mention here. It’s just meh alt-pop music. And for that, it gets another 3/10
Lenny Kravitz: Blue Electric Light
The rock singer/guitarist is still going strong, over three decades after his breakout hit. Bring his first album in six years, and 12th overall, you’d be let off for assuming the nearly-60 year old is doing this as a cash grab or just putting out music for the hell of it because he’s written what he wants to. While both may be true, it’s also a good album.
Touching on everything from rock, blues and psychedelic to pop, electro and easy listening, the man’s songwriting and creativity are both still off the charts. And his vocals are still just as flawless as they have always been, fitting perfectly over the effortlessly interesting instrumentation. There’s a lot of 90s nostalgia packed throughout this album, and it’s anything but a bad thing. And yet saying that, it still has a modern edge to it. It doesn’t feel outdated, like some acts going 30+ years do sometimes. There are tonnes of highlights, from the song with the most jealousy-inducing music video of all time, ‘TM421’, to album tracks like ‘Human’, ‘Stuck in the Middle’ and ‘Bundle of Joy’.
The more I was listening to this, the more I was adding almost every song to my playlist. I’ve been a big fan of his since my childhood, but no way was I expecting an album this late in his career to be this good. It almost has magnum opus vibes. I’mma be listening to this a lot going forward, and I’d recommend the full album to absolutely anyone. The only slight issue is that it’s nearly an hour in length. However, when it’s this good, it’s hard to see that as an issue! It’s an easy 9.5/10 from me, damn!
Rotting Christ: Pro Xristou
The Greek metallers put out album number 14 last Friday. Given my questionable relationship with the genre to this point, I had sadly never really given this band a chance. I was certainly wrong not to though, as I loved this! Right from the album’s opener/title track, I was hooked, and that was cemented by the end of ‘The Apostate’. The epic feel throughout was amazing; the symphonic/operatic sound added to the heaviness being perfect and massively (Sorry blak metal fans) improving on the normal base formula of the genre. It probably helps that the production is excellent, too, and doesn’t sound like it’s been recorded on a potato like some of their peers. It’s like the perfect blend of Powerwolf and Behemoth, and I really dig it. Songs like ‘The Sixth Day’ and ‘The Farewell’ are also massive personal highlights, but I honestly enjoyed the whole album. It’s certainly one to listen to from front to back, and I’d recommend it to just about any metal fan! It’s an easy 8.5/10 from me!
Collateral: Should’ve Known Better
The UK sleaze-infused NWOCR band are back with their sophomore album. I’ve been a fan of the band for a few years now and have been pretty hyped for this album. It’s certainly not a let down either, it’s packed full of awesome songs. However, it does feel like something is missing. I don’t think it’s anything with the band either, more rather it’s a production issue. Even blasting it through my headphones, it felt like there was something missing in the mix. The songs remind me of the newer Those Damn Crows stuff, as much as old school Skid Row or Bon Jovi stuff, and I think a mix similar to all of that may have done better. The choruses don’t feel anywhere near big enough; the bass needs cranking and maybe some synth or something in the back just to really make it all sound massive. It sounds thin at times.
Having said all of that, it’s still a damn good hard/glam rock album. Songs like ‘Teenage Dreams’, the opener and the AOR-y ‘No Place for Love’ are all awesome songs, amounts an album full of them. I’d love to hear this whole thing played live, I think it’d translate perfectly to that setting and I’d get even more out of the tracks. Also, the mixing seems to work a lot better on ballad ‘On the Long Road’, the acoustic nature of the song fitting the powerful, multi-layered vocals perfectly. The album will probably grow on me more with subsequent listens, and I certainly love a lot of the infectiously catchy songs. But for now, it gets a tentative (but still good) 7.5/10
Travis Denning: Roads that Go Nowhere
The debut album of a sure-to-be future country megastar is a pretty huge release. Not only is it 15-tracks long, but features guest slots from the likes of HARDY and Josh Ross, and the singles from it so far have amassed millions of streams already. So safe to say, pressure is on this album!
It opens perfectly, with the Chris Stapleton-esque acoustic ballad ‘Why I’m Drinking’. It then heads into a more HARDY/Brantley Gilbert southern rock stomper in ‘I Know How it Sounds’. Songs like the HARDY featuring ‘Southern Rock’ and ‘Strawberry Wine and A Cheep Six Pack’ also follow this sound throughout the album. Then you have songs like ‘Better at Leaving’, ‘Going Places’ and ‘Things I’m Going Through’ that are slower, more radio-country feeling. ‘Someone that Isn’t Me’ is also a beautiful, heart-wrenching ballad, and another massive highlight of the album.
You may be saying to yourself ‘Joe, that’s awesome’, but you’ve only brought up the first two thirds of the album?’. You would be right, dear reader, and there is a very good reason for that. This album’s length hit me like a mac truck when I reached ‘Add Her to the List’. The song itself isn’t bad, but is a cheaper copy of ‘Someone that Isn’t Me’. The other five songs are slower-paced and okay (and the rather cringy Josh Ross-featuring track), but don’t live up to the first nine, in my opinion. It’s another awesome album, but one that could be perfect if it wasn’t for record label greed and stream-farming. I’ll still listen to a lot of this a hell of a lot moving forward, for sure, and I’m enjoying it more and more with each listen. I’d recommend it to any country fans reading this, but it does certainly start to drag by the end. It’s an 8.5/10 for now, but it may score higher with subsequent listens!
Evildead: Toxic Grace
I’ve said it multiple times on this series, but we truly do not cover enough thrash on this channel. However, it does mean when some excellent music in the genre comes along, like this, it makes it even more enjoyable. Heck, I didn’t even need to listen to it or be told that it was thrash, the name and artwork alone screamed it to me, both fitting perfectly with the music. The classic thrash band reunited for a second time in 2016, finally releasing their highly anticipated comeback album in 2020. Since then they have been not only touring, but plugging away at new music, and have finally put out their fourth record this last Friday.
It’s a very old-school feeling thrash album too, in the best way. It reminds me a lot of Anthrax’s early albums. Heck, opener ‘F.A.F.O’ gives off massive ‘N.F.L’ vibes. It’s also one of the many highlight tracks of the album. Others include ‘Subjugated Souls’ and the slower, evil-sounding ‘Bathe in Fire’. The riffing is incredible and it and the drums keep a stomping, thrashing pace throughout. And it also has some of the best guitar soloing I’ve heard all year, at least in metal. A couple of the lyrics are just a touch cringy, but they fit with the general thrash attitude well. My only slight issue with the album is that it’s so rooted in the 80 sound that they started with that it hasn’t really evolved at all. If you’re into that old-school sound religiously, like I know a lot are, you’ll love this a lot. Heck, I still think it’s great, but if they had taken a risk or two or evolved at all, it could be a truly unforgettable record. For now, it doesn’t quite measure up with the top echelons of metal over the last few years.
Still, it’s a damn solid album that I’d more than recommend listening to in full at least once for anyone into thrash. Heck, I’ll certainly be listening to it more moving forward, both individual tracks and the album as a whole. It’s an easy 8/10!
The Finnish death metal band Saasta are following up their critically acclaimed 2022 album with the release of this EP, out tomorrow! I remember having checked out a track or two from the band before, so am excited to dive right in and see what this is like!
The EP begins with an atmosphere setting intro track, ‘Stygian Grey’. You immediately get a sense for all three genres and styles just from the brief 1:17 track. That alone should speak volumes about the bands impressive songwriting talents, and what sort of awesomeness is to come.
And it leads perfectly into the title track. A HUGE, brutal riff and scream makes it all feel almost hardcore as well as deathy and doomy. Especially with the song structure; short verses and call-and-response choruses. Though, having said that, we also get a brutal second half of the second verse. It’s almost a breakdown and fuck does it go hard. It somehow makes the following chorus feel even heavier, too. There are definite elements of black metal throughout too, though. Little atmospheric riffs to make everything just sound more evil. It’s an amazing track, short, sweet and contains everything you’d want from the band. And that scream at the end, *chef’s kiss*. It easily makes our playlist!
There’s no rest for the wicked, as we head straight into more brutality from ‘Sickness’. Another huge, but more groove/doom paced, riff kicks you in the face. Surprisingly though it drops down to a clean guitar part after, feeling the perfect mixture of black metal and Slayer. The pace and distortion picks back up before the verse, but it all does have a rather modern thrash feel to it. The vocals are straight up death still, though. It kinda gives off Amon Amarth vibes, which is great. I love the dynamics of the track, keeping it constantly interesting. It’s another awesome track to make it onto the playlist!
We then reach the final track of this all too short EP, ‘Murhattu’. It opens very dark and black metally, before picking the pace up into more death metal. The track goes hard throughout, the chorus being somehow both heavy and catchy in equal measure. The alternating between the two styles was a lot of fun, and made for a really awesome track. I love the final twenty seconds or so too. I feel like it would go down an absolute storm live.
Overall: This was awesome! As I said above, my only complaint is that it was over far too soon. I’m going to have to go back and give the album another listen, because if it’s anything like this I’ll love it. I’m really hoping this EP was something to keep the fans going until another album, because I need to hear more of this immediately! The band are phenomenal performers and songwriters, and have crafted one hell of an EP here. I’ll be listening to it a lot in the coming weeks and months, I’m sure!
