Tag Archives: Obituary

ALBUM REVIEW: Autopsy – Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts

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Autopsy is a band that understands itself. Like spiritual death metal brethren Cannibal Corpse, the band has core musical, thematic and visual staples you can almost always depend on (the poo-chomping album cover of Shitfun being an outlier). Think Autopsy, think the evil, Black Sabbath-inspired tri-tones, pulverising percussion, slow, menacing crawls blended with charging gallops, malevolent guitar lines, bowel-loosening bass, squealing bursts of lead guitar and rasping vocals, all tied up in a bloody bow of bodies being monstrously torn to pieces.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Festival 2023 – Part 1

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A lot has changed in the twenty years since my first Bloodstock. What began as a relatively small indoor gathering in the middle of Derby city centre now welcomes around fifteen thousand metal fans from around the world annually. From two days, two halls, a signing room, and a “Metal Market” to four days, four stages, a signing tent, art gallery, gaming zone, and curiosities such as Viking battles and even early morning Heavy Metal Aerobics sessions, the changes to Bloodstock have been gradual but necessary.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Horrendous – Ontological Mysterium

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2023 continues to prove itself as a year of strong death metal as Horrendous drops their fifth album Ontological Mysterium (Season of Mist) and the Philly headbangers might have the year’s best death metal album on their hands, perhaps a bold statement given the fine releases the year has seen from the likes of Obituary, Frozen Soul, Creeping Death, Cattle Decapitation and Outer Heaven.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Incantation – Unholy Deification

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Incantation is one of the most influential death metal bands of all time. This legacy rests on the shoulders of guitarist John McEntee, who is the sole original member. To his credit, McEntee has been playing with the rest of the band long enough to build the kind of chemistry to make this feel like Incantation even in the absence of Craig Pillard, who went on to form Disma.

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EP REVIEW: Dead Heat – Endless Torment

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“Drinking beer, smoking marijuana, listening to Judas Priest…” stems from a shoddy news report detailing the Judas Priest lawsuit trial from 1990. But for those in the know, the sample from the said report was the awesome opening touch that Nails went with on the Among the Arches of Intolerance/In Pain single from 2015. If you don’t own the Decibel Magazine flexi, do yourself a favor and give it a listen on your preferred streaming platform. The same beer-swilling, reefer madness slogan would make perfect sense paired with another Oxnard, California standout in Dead Heat.

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EP REVIEW: Inhuman Condition – Panic Prayer – Listenable Insanity Records

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Inhuman Condition released just Fearsick last year and are already back with a brand new EP. Color me fuckin’ stoked! Fearsick was on my shortlist for the album of the year in 2022. When it comes to old-school slick and sick Death Metal, few do it better.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Static Abyss – Aborted From Reality

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To be perfectly frank, the biggest issue with Static Abyss’ Aborted from Reality (Peaceville Records) is that they decided to release the album the same year as Obituary’s recent destroyer, Dying of Everything. It’s been a consistent thorn on the side of Chris Reifert and Greg Wilkinson for quite some time as Obituary has always outshined their most well-known project, Autopsy, as well.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Creeping Death – Boundless Domain

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For a band named after one of ‘tallica’s finest songs from their early vintage period, you might be forgiven for thinking that Boundless Domain (MNRK Heavy) is a record full of modern Thrash Metal bangers … but you’d be wrong. Creeping Death purvey pure and unadulterated Death Metal, taking in all forms of the gory art with splashes of old-school, blackened, and doom thrown in the mixer.

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FESTIVAL REVIEW: Milwaukee Metal Fest 2023 Live at The Rave – Eagles Club

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The Rave/Eagles Club is an acclaimed live entertainment complex located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is a one-of-a-kind spot to catch a heavy metal show. The multi-stage and multi-floor building has a fascinating history and many music groups consider playing there a “rite of passage” as performers. The Milwaukee Metal Fest was launched in 1987 by music enthusiast and promoter Jack Koshick, which became one of the most renowned festivals for the heavy genres in the 1990s and early 2000s. All the greats from Slayer to Meshuggah to the Misfits were all part of the impressive lineups throughout the years until it shut down in 2004. After being absent for nearly twenty years, the fest has been brought back to life by Hatebreed‘s Jamey Jasta. He bought the rights in 2022 and put together a fest to take place on Memorial Day weekend at The Rave with some of the scene’s biggest bands. Continue reading →