The very title of Malevolence’s new record should tell you all you need to know about what to expect.
Malicious Intent (Nuclear Blast) is the third full-length release from the groove-meets-metalcore five-piece outfit hailing from the UK and follows up 2017’s Self Supremacy. Boasting all original members, Malevolence has returned with a vengeance, though one that is tempered.Continue reading
I love it when something new and different comes down the pipeline. Tlazcaltiliztil (20 Buck Spin), the new offering from Tzompantli brings much to the proverbial table. To start off I really dig the tribal vibe. Their approach blends some killer death metal and doom with awesome ambiance and tasty instrumentation. Continue reading
Death Metal can be presented in various iterations: grimy and old school; melodic, and technical; symphonic and gothic. Each offshoot augments further exploration and daring.
Leaning on everything from horror movies to medical science and general human nastiness, New York death metallers Undeath return with the much anticipated follow-up to their 2020 debut Lesions of a Different Kind. Using the lockdown period during the pandemic to (de)compose new material, the band pays homage to the past as well as mining from the present on murderous second full-length release It’s Time… To Rise From The Grave (Prosthetic Records).
This is the most New York show I’ve been to in a long while. It felt like one big local show. That’s what happens when all five bands come from here. That being said, this show started earlier, doors at the renovated Irving Plaza were at 6 pm. or 1800 for non-Americans. Every few steps you ran into someone you knew. I saw a lot of faces that this was their first show since you know what. It’s rare to see in metal shows nowadays but this show had a host! Bassist extraordinaire, Dan Lilker from Nuclear Assault and Brutal Truth fame. MCed the whole night.
Musicians are masochistic creatures. Never truly happy unless their schedules are recklessly overstuffed with writing, studio work, live shows and promotion, guest appearances and side-projects are just two more ways to ensure life outside of music consists of nothing but eating, sleeping, the occasional TV show and visits to the pub.
The guitars are mud caked in a morass of molasses. The vocal performance is, dare I say, a clinic on how to spew the wretched filth that is old school Death Metal. The omnipresent drums never interfere but simply carve out the route for the rest to follow. Stir all that up in a cauldron with a hint of disgust and a touch of revulsion and the end result is Genocide Pact’s newest self-titled album (Relapse Records), and with it, eight tracks of nineties-era muck and grime.
South Shore of Massachucetts-based Death / Thrash metal band Cetragore has released theri debut EP “Chancellors of Death”. Recorded from August to September 2021, the EP shows off their penchant for crushing riffs and killer grooves. The impressive young band ranges from Old-school Death Metal to thrash influences and will find fans from bands such as Obituary, Immolation, and Jungle Rot, as well as more modern sounds. Stream the EP here!
While it seems strange to refer to a sound that has been around for over two decades as “modern”, it feels completely accurate to describe the sonic barrage of Aeon as Modern Death Metal. Renowned for keeping the intensity levels up – backed by a production to level small towns with its ripped, lean torso – for their fifth release Swedish violence-dealers have shown no relenting despite lockdown, No extra inches have been added to their waist-bands, and no sign of flabbiness added to their carb-free sensory assault.
Getting fully back into concert mode has been fun, but also scary on some levels as a fan. I need live music in my life, bad, but I am nervous around small clubs and tons of people right now, since the pandemic is still a thing. Nevertheless, I got the opportunity to cover legends like Black Label Society, Obituary, and Prong all at the same show, no less, and so I had to handle my emotions and nerves (I have pretty bad anxiety on the reg) and trooped out to Sacramento’s respected Ace of Spades club.