Chapel of Disease - ...and As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)

The third Chapel of Disease full-length (don't expect me to type out the whole title) is probably a smaller stylistic transition than what we got between the first and second, but instead a further refinement of their dedication to crafting atmospheric and melodic material. They really dig in here with the songwriting, making the tracks slightly more varied and developing more emotional impact, while adding a few more hard rock or heavy metal touches (the bluesy lead in "Null"). The production on pieces like "Song of the Gods" or"Oblivious/Obnoxious/Defiant" is chef's kiss awesome, with more polish and layers to soothe the stereo-seeker, but at the same time, the vocals are quite consistent with The Mysterious Ways... and thus it stays mired in that underground death metal aesthetic they cultivated on the prior releases...I am once again reminded of Tribulation had they taken an alternate path from the weirdly proggy The Formulas of Death and not gone quite as goth.

I do love that band and all their directions, mind you, so I also love this one, and this is the record that I would first recommend anyone check out; it's the wealthiest in terms of riffs and pacing, with lots of escapism created through the guitar-work that matches up with the swirling skies of the cover art. The melody here might be too engraved into the band's skeleton for passionate advocates of the debut, but it's so tasteful and transformative that you can't imagine tunes like "Null" or "The Sound of Shallow Grey" without it. The bass playing also steps up a little, it's a little less frontal than the other guitars or vocals, but there are loads of little grooves that enrich the rest of the band, where I felt on the previous album it took a slight backseat. There are some who will probably find the vocal performance to hinder the rest, surely at this point most bands would incorporate a lot of clean singing to match the direction of the writing, but I actually respect that they held back and gave us the same raucous grunts as before.

Previously, I would have cited the sophomore as my favorite in the Chapel of Disease catalogue, only ...and As We Have Seen the Storm (still not typing it all) has been the one to grow upon me over the years and it's another of those sublime, thoughtful mutations on death metal that I'll spin with a similar anticipation and wonder as Opeth, Stargazer, Horrendous, Tribulation, or other bands that have spun out their roots into something captivating, where they might not have contributed as well to the genre if they had stuck more with the fundamentals. This one is well worth tracking down if you just enjoy great guitar work and adventurous, unpredictable songwriting, even if it's not ultimately creating the most unique riffs at every step of the journey. Underrated for sure.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/ChapelOfDisease

Skeletal Remains - Devouring Mortality (2018)

While I enjoyed the first two Skeletal Remains records as competent entries into the death metal throwback machine, it wasn't until their third outing, Devouring Mortality, that I was truly impressed. They haven't exactly dropped the obvious influences that informed them, but taken those and transmuted them into a more modern context that can run toe to toe with a lot of the more technical and brutal death metal acts of the 2000s and beyond. Yes, somewhere in the skeleton of this music you'll find the DNA belonging to Chuck Schuldiner and Death, or Patrick Mameli and Pestilence, or perhaps a little Suffocation, Malevolent Creation, Deicide, Cannibal Corpse, the list goes on, but here it's all canvased over with a fresh, punishing coat of paint, and plants itself into the more brickwork-like production of a lot of the 21st century peers.

It doesn't hurt that they kick off with some of the better songs, riffing storms like "Ripperology" which integrates some excellent leads that never seem as forced or excessive as some on the previous album, but probably occupy the same-sized chunk of the tune. Or a "Seismic Abyss" which seems like a brutal mixture of Death and Pestilence carrying the 2010s torch towards another decade. You hear a few other elements from classic bands, like the title track opening volley that sounds like a more intense Bolt Thrower until it curves over to an Asphyx/Pestilence verse. The rhythm guitar here sends that of the prior two albums home on a stretcher; sure you can write it off as being too 'polished' but it definitely gives me a potent meatgrinder vibe that perfectly matches up with the clinical vibes of the riffing. I also think the songs are just generally stronger, something like "Torture Labyrinth" or "Ripperology" I'm often heading straight for without necessarily visiting the entire album, yet none of it is weak at all, and even into the bowels of the closer "Internal Detestation" I'm still hanging on to my seat because it's fucking awesome.

I realize I said the band had come unto its own and then name dropped so many of the usual suspects, and I guess I do think that more than anything, it sounds like a potential successor to both Mallevs Malifecarvm and Consuming Impulse SIMULTANEOUSLY, if it had been put out instead of Testimony of the Ancients, but then thrust forward 30 years in terms of studio wizardry. The writing, structure, lyrics are all improved, the Dan Seagrave artwork definitely gives the impression that the band were mentally moving into the more brutal territory of the 90s and 00s bands, but despite that they keep a lot of the core values of death metal intact. To make it a bit frightening, menacing, rather than just an exercise in pummeling and moshing and vapid technicality. They clearly mapped out these 11 tracks very well, and there's always something special...some lead, some melody, nestled into the formula that appeals. I think this album also hits a creative peak for the Californian trio, but that's not to say they can't capture this lightning in a bottle again.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/SkeletalRemainsDeathMetal

Aura Noir - Aura Noire (2018)

The eponymous Aura Noire follows a fairly similar trajectory to its predecessor Out to Die, a faster and uglier callback to their early records that maintains the stronger and more memorable composition of the 2000s material. But there's a tonal shift here which brings out a little more of that old1 1984-87 Voivod influence I've been mentioning over a couple of their releases. This is largely achieved through the mix: the bass has a louder and chunkier voice to it, perhaps more important than on any of the prior albums, the guitars are produced with a boxed-in tone that feels slightly off-putting and alien without obfuscating them from the listener, and the nihilistic vocal barks are spit out very clearly but with some resonance and a bit of reverb that helps engrave them into the more affected sounds of the instruments.

This is consistent through the whole record, which again clocks in about 32 minutes to never wear out its welcome, and while some might prefer the mix of The Merciless or Out to Die, I kind of enjoy the quirk this decision gives to the record, it becomes more distinct among their catalog. Song-wise, this is another of my favorites, with coherent ideas translated into earworm riffage, absolutely evocative and killer lyrics (long a trademark of this band), and a genuine sense of creepiness and bleakness that is created through the note progressions and vocals. I remember Deep Tracts of Hell had a similar effect on me, but while this one isn't as abrasive as that I feel it's somehow more atmospheric. All of the songs are bangers, but I'd specifically point out "Hells Lost Chambers" with its steady trot and eerie atmospheric ending with the cleaner guitars and scarce bass, or "The Obscuration" where they spit forth a tremolo-picked intro more akin to some psychologically piercing black/death metal, or "Mordant Wind" which applies a little more of that Voivod structure to their post-Hellhammer grooves that became so prominent on Hades Rise.

But this is another album I almost always plow straight through, with other amazingly direct thrash numbers like the catchy "Shades Ablaze" and the swaying "Grave Dweller". Every one of the Nocturno Culto-adjacent vocal lines is riveting, pissed off and effective, like a tether to my corroding soul. And there's a special 'surprise' waiting at the end, a brief two-minute instrumental with a slightly brighter, yet still evil disposition due to the siren-like higher-pitched guitars they pitch over the rhythm riff. This is somewhat new for Aura Noir and foreshadows some potential ideas they might one day explore for the future, but it's also brief and might have been some unfinished track that they just slapped on there. Nevertheless, this s/t quickly became one of my favorite records they've done besides Hades Rise, and it definitely puts me in this weird blackened thrash trance when I'm listening. Even the weird, vague, minimalistic artwork by Kristian Valbo (drummer of bands like Obliteration) captures the imagination quite well. The trio split up for a spell some years after this disc released, but pretty quickly reformed, so I hope it's not too long to hear what they've been up to next.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/auranoirofficial

Creeping Death - Specter of War EP (2018)

Specter of War, the sophomore EP from Texans Creeping Death, has another of those cover images that doesn't necessarily match up to its musical content, but looks pretty badass nonetheless. The reaper riding, the hounds, the evil castle and bridge, the sunlight filtering through the ominous, evil clouds...all adds up to what might be a very sinister thrash, black or death metal effort. I won't say that the music itself avoids all such classifications, but here I felt like the alleged hardcore side of the band manifest itself a little more clearly than on the prior release. You could easily listen through some of the breakdowns on this and imagine Madball or Biohazard having a particularly dark day and dipping into their own crossover death metal influences for some similar inspiration.

Still, this stuff reeks of old Pestilence, Asphyx, and even some Bolt Thrower with the more tank-rolling sorts of rhythms that develop. Chugging intensity balanced off against the tremolo riffs you'd more equate with the classic DM sounds, and frankly these guys were one of the most seamless to blend together the styles into something that feels like a coherent entity and not just bouncing back and forth between the extremes. The bass tone on Specter of War is more prominent, like its bouncing around the cargo hold of some oil tanker, and the vocals, still in that Schuldiner/Grewe/van Drunen style, are a bit less pronounced, but also more ghastly sounding than the last time. Rhythm guitar riff quality is around the same, they try a few different techniques, and still offer the scarce lead or two, but what I can't deny is just how effective the tone is, it simply carves out the listener's flesh in huge chunks, with big, deep chords and caustic chugging that will entertain you even if it's not exactly unique or nuanced.

If you could combine these two short-players, you'd probably have my favorite Creeping Death record, it was just so fun and sincere and set in a style I'm not capable of getting bored with. There is nothing genius about any of this, it's just a band wearing its influences well, playing within its own parameters and evoking just the right amount of nostalgia and atmosphere while keeping it all real for the mosh pit crowds that will likely appreciate it the most. Angry, hungry, and worth hearing, especially those awesome bridge/breakdowns in "Salvation" and "New Agony", or the great opener "Revenge".

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.creepingdeath.net/

Satan - Cruel Magic (2018)

Maiden thrives off its live legacy, while releasing overblown, overlong albums whose qualities are distilled and desperately in need of an editor, someone to tell them 'no' once in awhile. Judas Priest is on an upswing, granted, but only by emulating their 1990 breakout Painkiller. Saxon is rock solid, and have always been other than a handful of albums in the 80s and 90s. Tank is a clusterfuck turned tragedy. Grim Reaper, we lost you bro, and that sucks. Diamond Head is trying. Angel Witch is succeeding. Raven has kicked ass on the last two albums with the new drummer injecting some real power and contemporary extremity to the Gallagher brothers' estimable talents. But they're the only one that can even come close to the win streak that Satan has embarked on ever since their 2011 formation, and that's quite a compliment, because Brian Ross and company have a skill-set that leaves almost all of their peers from the 80s completely in the dust.

They might not have arena tours paying them hundreds of thousands per night, or VHS-1 documentaries galore; in fact they don't get attention commensurate to the amount of talent and effort they put into every recording. But Satan is the best NWOBHM band of the 21st century, and though it might be hard to pick amongst four such awesome new albums, one of those almost unparalleled runs in their sub-genre, Cruel Magic is my favorite Satan album. The masterpiece that has always been waiting beneath the wig of their demonic, grim reaping barrister mascot. This 10 tracks and 50 minutes of content compacts together all of the strengths of the band's career into some of their most intense, impressive, and immediately memorable material, and it represents the summit of a job done right, a reunion era that offers no fucks given for simply rollicking in nostalgia, laying down on their laurels. This is a record that punches as much forward as it punches back, and I don't mean through the use of electronics or cybertechnology, but by proving that their brand of musically-intensive, melodic heavy metal has so much more to offer than those who have given up on it as some relic of the past.

This one sunk its horns into me with the thundering "Into the Mouth of Eternity" and just never let me off the hooks. It's not always as frenzied as some of their other material, it actually keeps pretty tight reins on itself, and offers a good versatility of tempo and riff structure, but there's hardly a single note throughout this that ever felt misplaced. From the winding, blue-collar street grooves of the title track, to the eerie, mystical melodies of "Ophidian", this is an adventure cast in that organic, warm mix that the band has clung to throughout this new era. All instruments are absolutely clear, with rhythm guitars that feel punchy but never overdriven, bass lines that plod along with atmosphere and finesse of their own, and some very genuine drumming that feels like you're in the room with it. The leads are brilliant without being saturated in too many effects, they can create multiple dimensions just by the excellence of the note patterns, and Brian Ross has a great performance here which is often showing some more theatric elements as in "My Prophetic Soul". Italian producer Dario Mollo deserves a ton of credit for how well he framed the band's style on these first three reunion albums, an unsung hero of the band.

Every song is so good that you would never find me skipping any on a playthrough, but this is also one of the rare cases where a single/video is my favorite, "The Doomsday Clock", which has some of the most amazing, endless streams of riffs I've ever heard, drawing a lot from their Pariah years when they dazzled with tunes like "Puppet Regime". This is that busy, but fronted with those brief, beautiful acoustics, and those the classical guitar influence threaded through the faster hooks. Brian's vocal arrangements are absolutely bananas, with a little operatic counterpoint. Even the lyrics are great, here and elsewhere through Cruel Magic; they show some effort rather than dabbling in dumb metal stereotypes, and though I wouldn't call them poetic necessarily, they posit sensible and serious prose that can match the gravity and impressiveness of the musicianship. And when this tune transitions into the raging speed-metal piracy of "Legions Hellbound"...I'm a straight man, people, but goddamn do I whistle and catcall like a construction worker stereotype when this album struts on by.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.75/10]

https://www.satanmusic.com/

Cryptopsy - The Book of Suffering - Tome II EP (2018)

The 2010s were not a super busy period for Canada's Crytopsy, with just the decent s/t album in 2012 and this pair of Book of Suffering EPs which were self-releases that didn't stir up a ton of attention. With only four tracks to follow up Tome I's four, it didn't seem like the band was engaged in a lot of creativity. That's not to sell the material here short, because this EP possesses all the intensity and technicality you'd expect from one of the most brutal bands in the genre's history, and there are a few fresh ideas to round out the songwriting, but it's over in a flash, and so concussive that it can give you a headache or disappear amongst all the other output in this very style that has flooded a dozen or so labels these last two decades.

The band still leans heavily on Flo Mounier's almost inhuman, mechanical drumming, but Christian Donaldson's guitars are also a highlight, leveling out a myriad of riffs all over the fretboard, some more clinical and melodic ("Sire of Sin"), others just sort of driving along in rapid succession to the grooves and blasts, but either way you'll certainly be listening through the tracks numerous times to catch onto everything. Olivier Pinard's bass is also intimidating, as dizzying as the guitars, but also laying out some fat plunking moments like the breaks in "The Wretched Living" or just lines that feel appropriately complex if we were to isolate them from the rest of the mayhem. As for Matt's vocals, I still find them incredibly generic, he doesn't have the character of some of his predecessors, and all the gutturals and snarls do feel interchangeable with countless other acts in the genre. That said, he's not lacking in the actual energy and percussive nature of his delivery, and over the year he has certainly fit into the formula so that he's nowhere near a detriment.

Like a lot of technical/brutal death, there's a modular sense of construction which seems like pieces could be swapped between songs and nobody would know better, meaning it's quite consistent in execution but also a bit indistinct. They definitely try a little innovation, like the choppy little extreme Voivod bit in "Fear His Displeasure" or numerous other progressive sequences, but the nature of how harried and busy they write doesn't let you linger on any of the catchier, striking moments, instead barreling headfirst into another blasting clusterfuck. It's all very precise, don't get me wrong, it's not sloppy by any means, but they are in such a rush to dazzle that I just can't get too absorbed into anything. It's the nature of the sub-genre, perhaps, but I actually think Crytopsy would be stronger if they focused in on the more adventurous material, and just gave us the blasting when it really counted or when they could support it with a better quality riff. Tome II is calamitous, crazy and I'd say both superior to its predecessor, worth a few spins, and loyal to the Cryptopsy trajectory at large, but it often falls prey to its own short attention span.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://linktr.ee/Cryptopsy

Metal Church - Damned If You Do (2018)

XI might have benefited a bit from the 'look who's back' factor, but with Damned If You Do, Metal Church pull up their sleeves and put in the hard work with a record that sounds angrier, more confrontational, and decidedly more USPM than its forebears. In fact, this is one of the band's heaviest efforts to its day, due not only to the riffs and structures, but also Mike Howe had really settled back into his vocal role, and he dishes out one of his most vicious performances. It's this charisma and confidence that seeps through even the simpler of passages on the record, like the verses of "The Black Things" with their clean-tinted guitars, and makes even this track a beast. But he's not alone in this, because the guitars continue to spit out riffs that feel fresh for the band's catalogue, and this is clearly riding the wave of newfound creativity that the band had plunged itself into just a few years before.

That's not to say it's totally out of the ordinary for a veteran band that inhabits the hinges between heavy, power and thrash metal, but if you only had the first few Metal Church albums to go buy, you might not even think this was the same band outside of Howe's resemblance to David Wayne's style. These songs sound like the ravings of much younger men, brisk and savage yet still capable of integrating some more thoughtful uplifting melodies ("Revolution Underway"). The guitars and drums are really busy, and like a lot of their albums they've got a corpulent but cruise-controlled bass presence to support them. Leads aren't overly developed, they just sort of burn out bluesy progressions where appropriate, and in general I felt like this album wasn't as glossed up as XI was in the mix, so there's more of an appreciable level of power at their control. Just a little ugliness to complement the hostility and augment its authenticity. The record sounds great whether it's trotting along at a rapid pace ("Guillotine", "Out of Balance", "Into the Fold"), which it does ably and often, or if they chug along with a moderate headbanging ("Rot Away").

Damned if You Do is bittersweet, of course, because it would be Mike Howe's last record before taking his own life in 2021, which for an underground metal nerd like myself, who had been worshiping his work on Heretic's Breaking Point since that album came out over 30 years prior, was pretty devastating. For my money, though, he left us with one of his most intense records, easily the best I'd heart him sing on in all that time, and arguably his best technical performance, with a lot more catchy harmony hooks and screams than I might have expected from XI before it. This is one pissed off and effective record, and for my money the best Metal Church material outside of the first two discs. It might not achieve masterwork level, and let's face it, the band probably won't ever grace us with an Operation: Mindcrime, Hall of the Mountain King or Master of Puppets, but you can't ever question their persistence and loyalty to the genre that broke them...persistence that would outlive even the aforementioned tragedy.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://metalchurchofficial.com/

Minneriket - Anima Solis (2018)

If I didn't know better, and saw only this raven-haired beauty hanging in her corset, I'd have thought that Minnerket went full out Goth or something, but Anima Solis is instead another incremental evolution of the industrial/ambient black metal style that was started on Vargtimen. If anything, this album is even more accessible than the sophomore, but probably only because it is better produced and somewhat stricken through with more traditional black metal concepts in its construction. There is still that element of edgy, mechanistic-driven noise, the vocals are quite grimy and hostile, and plenty of the guitars produce a splatter of sinister, dissonant, droning lines above the central thrust of the beats, but it's a fraction easier on the ears.

It's also very weird, with a fair dynamic range between cuts, and arguably as experimental as anything the guy has written before. Take "When Life Gets Sick the Dead Grow Strong" with its weird, broken industrial rhythms, constant atmospheric roiling and trolling, and some of the most impish vocals he has committed to an album yet. Evil shit, and he gets the vocals to sound even more ridiculous on other tunes like "Between Infinity and Melancholy" with its cacophony of industrial clatter, or "I Am the Serpent Son" and its dash between gruesome, protracted growls and a snarl so ludicrous it sounds like its being performed by small, wounded mammals. I don't want to accuse the album of having a sense of humor, but it's certainly willing to go as far over the top as needed to make the listener lose his/her nerve.

It's pretty good, though, I mean there aren't really enough of these sorts of experimental and industrial black metal spinoffs out there, or at least not as weirdly absorbing as this one. Just when you think you've got it figure out, then he gets you with the hugely atmospheric "Alle hjerter banker ei" and its deep, narrative vocals and dreamy, dissonant guitars. This is weirdly creative, terrifying stuff, though it runs the risk of coming off a bit too childish or churlish when it goes full into its zanier passages.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.minneriket.com/

Unanimated - Annihilation EP (2018)

In 2009, Unanimated had...animated itself from the dead and given us In the Light of Darkness, arguably their strongest album to date, but the idea of a productive, new phase of their career seemed to fold as the years rolled forward without much happening. Thankfully, this wasn't the sign of a new break from the band, and nine years after that damn solid effort they returned with a new EP in Annihilation, which shows no loss of energy or momentum from where they had been prior. There's a subtle air of modernity to the material on this, still a brazen hybrid of death and black metal, but they incorporate some different tones and melodies, and a little bit of atmosphere through the synths in the close of "Adversarial Fire", helping to round this new material out so that it sums up to something more than a blasting slugfest.

The production is virile and fresh, the performances on point, I believe they had just one new guitar player different than on the last album, and he fits seamlessly with their collection of blackish chords and evil melodies. Ander Schultz of Unleashed continues to hammer away behind the kit, and the trio of veteran members sound as invigorated as you're going to get, considering they were all playing in the 80s and early 90s. It's a shorter recording at around 20 minutes, with one of its four tracks an instrumental with lots of atmosphere, acoustic guitars, and such, but as a proof that the band was still very much alive, this would certainly tide us over, even if it's not their best. Song-wise, they remind me a lot of Necrophobic here, although not as catchy as that band's last two full-lengths, but if you're a fan of the one, or of Diabolical, this is directly within that category, and if you're somehow familiar with In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead, or your interest in Unanimated stopped there, treat yourself to everything they've done since.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/unanimatedofficial/

Cultes des Ghoules - Sinister, or Treading the Darker Path (2018)

I can confidently state that Cultes des Ghoules are one of the finest bands out there at channeling the primitive essence of black metal into something truly nightmarish and fresh, even if that 'something' requires a degree of patience for its occasionally languid plot and pacing. They offer a parallel to the conventional, a funereal escapism that reeks of ritual and authenticity, and Sinister, or Treading the Darker Path is one of the most evil records in their discography. Granted, not all of their output sits equally with me...their debut album and some of their shorter form releases still evade my attention span, but when they're on, like with 2013's Henbane, or this latest album, they offer an experience like few others can, some of the better primitive metal you'll ever encounter.

Raw, glacial paced riffs trudge along repeatedly here in "Children of the Moon", glazed in ominous if sparse organs that add much to the weight and creepiness without needing more than a single chord or two. The drums are played with a hypnotic, basic groove to them that will leave the draw the listener in despite their criminal simplicity. The vocals of Mark of the Devil can only be compared to Big Boss of Root, only here they are intonated as more of a pure aural ritual, like a tormented specter creeping through an abandoned manor or church, warning all of the woe at their own ends. But the Polish band is just as comfortable with the shoe on the other foot, picking up speed with "The Woods of Power" or the excellent riffing "Day of Joy" that shifts between the two. They can also twist this into something even stranger as in "Where the Rainbow Ends" with its truly ominous vocals, slim but catchy bass grooves and proggy structure that grows quite psychedelic and ritualistic in its depths.

Like many 'experiential' metal albums, you'll want to set the mood for this one...as dark as possible, your only light by moon or candle, at your most downcast and foul, and just breathe it all in, its sanguine and opaque haze of atmospheric cruelty. It's depressive, frightening and almost sounds like something you ought not to have stumbled across...whether in the woods, or in an alley, or a cellar being used for something unspeakable. A formidable offering from one of the few bands out there that truly sounds like it doesn't give a damn about letting any trends or joy rub off on it, and for me this is their second strongest effort to date.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://cultesdesghoulesofficial.bandcamp.com/

Hooded Menace - Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed (2018)

Judging by the intro "Sempiternal Grotesqueries", you'd think that Hooded Menace were continuing to pursue the ponderous, slow path they laid out through Darkness Drips Forth, albeit with a less weighty and burgeoning guitar tone. And that funereal touch certain plays a part on this album, but at the same time, Ossuarium Silhouttes Unhallowed does wheel back a little to the sounds of Effigies of Evil and Never Cross the Dead. I don't wanna say it's back to the 'fun' of the Finns formative horror death/doom, the lyrics and atmosphere here are quite brooding and despair-drive, but the way the songs are structured offers a bit more variation and covers a broader network of doom influences. In fact, after the opening track, which is over 10 minutes in length, the rest are cut down to a more manageable length.

Of all their works, this one has some of their strongest traditional doom metal riffs, I mean there's a lot of stuff here that sounds like the death metal equivalent to Candlemass or Solitude Aeternus, and I for one think that is fantastic. Same deep rhythm tones, same eerie, lower guitar harmonies, but with a cleaner production than the last album, one that services both the sluggish architecture and the peppier riffing. The vocals are fucking great, really resonating off the lamentations felt through the guitar melodies, and the drums rumble and thunder like a subterranean space of collapsing rubble. Yes, the whole album conveys a 'cavernous' atmosphere much like the beautiful cover artwork implies, and there is certainly a streak of Incantation running through here, but where most of the bands copying that stuff become insufferably claustrophobic and cluttered, Hooded Menace serenade you with beautiful, elegant melodies that just drift about the cavern space ("In Eerie Deliverance"), occasionally remembering to crush your spirit, as they do so well within a "Cathedral of Labyrinthine Darkness".

The five 'main' tracks on this one are just beastly, among the better the band has written, and then they close it out with a shorter instrumental in "Black Moss", which nicely segues into some crisp acoustics that also stick around in the ear for awhile. At that point, you get the impressive you've just been whisked away from some dark, oppressive nightmare, so it's a nice touch. Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, with its tongue-twister title, is further proof that Hooded Menace have transformed into, for my money, the most reliable death/doom band in the world. From the art and concepts, to the lyrics, to the delivery of the music, the massive production, and the willingness to toy around with their tunes just enough to keep them interesting and eschew the danger of monotony and repetition that is common in this niche. EVERY album they've put out is worth your coin, just save a few for the ferryman that will loom large over you as you're listening.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (lay waste and command)

https://hoodedmenace.bandcamp.com/

Lucifer II (2018)

Lucifer II does mark a partial change of direction from the debut, but it does so without neglecting the bands roots and initial premise to catapult the qualifies of 70s hard rock and proto doom metal into contemporary times. Immediately more accessible, rockin' and shufflin' than the doomier gloom of its older sibling, its a memorable and inspirational introduction to what would become the more stable Lucifer line-up. And that would of course involve the legendary Nicke Andersson of Entombed, The Hellacopters, Imperial State Electric and Death Breath fame, a musician that excels in numerous genres and instruments, the now-husband of Johanna, and an addition whose presence is felt in the excellent craftsmanship of these tunes. Add another one-shot member in Robin Tidebrink, and they're off to the races, because while I was IMPRESSED with the first album, as I am with a lot of quality doom and retro metal, it was Lucifer II that really transformed me into the slobbering fan I am today. This one went into regular rotation when I was doing landscaping in the summer of 2018, and it hasn't left.

Lucifer II is a hit generator. Tracks like "California Son", "Before the Sun" and "Reaper On Your Heels" jab you with all the right grooves, a blend of Sabbath, Heart, maybe even a little Cream or Zeppelin in the riffage, but not limited to that, and Johanna's creamy crooning just dripping all over the smooth punch of the guitars. This is where they really started to load in the small atmospherics like pianos, bells, organs (as in "Reaper...") that only serve to enhance the songs without taking them over, and unlike the debut, there are no points where I felt there was an abrupt transition or a tune that needs further polish. This is all so well written and makes perfect sense, from the opening licks, to the escalating bridges where they'll burst into a more controlled freak-out groove. And those who think the doom is no longer strong with them, guess again, because half the tracks here have some notable, darker passage or underpinning groove that lets you know just what direction they've come from, and it ain't heaven. Nick is a phenomenon here, every tone carefully chosen, every bluesy swagger perfectly inserted, every beat so organic and fresh and interesting that you could almost listen to that alone.

There are no tracks here I dislike, but perhaps one or two that I'll skip from time to time (usually "Dancing with Mr. D" and its slide guitars and cooing backup vocals), so this one doesn't reach the ranks of the two after it, but what a goddamn set you could create from all three, and maybe add a couple in from the debut for good measure. When they get down and dirty as on "Faux Pharaoh" it just feels so badass, that contrast between the ditch-digging rhythm guitar and the melody of her voice feels so unique even when compared to similar groups. Not to dump on popular groups like Witch Mountain, Brume, Windhand  or Sabbath Assembly, all of whom put out some good stuff, but Lucifer just tramples it all. There is so much more to this, and it brings together so many influences that were formative also to my own metal history, that I cannot resist. It's like a spell being cast every time they put out an album, and I keep failing my fucking saving throw.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/luciferofficial

Cauldron - New Gods (2018)

New Gods is by far the best-produced of the Cauldron albums, and I can only imagine if most of the prior full-lengths had been given the same treatment. Bright, clear and powerful enough to carry the strength of the rhythm guitars and Jason's vocals, any of the small and annoying flaws of the past are history, and this is the new standard by which they should record. As with the album before it, In Ruin, this one also sticks to their strengths at writing mid-paced, classic heavy metal with a bit of a punch to it when necessary, and almost a laid-back mood to the writing which gives it an atmosphere it might not otherwise possess if it were firing on all cylinders. Clearly rooted in the mighty 80s, the Canadians seek to smother you with quality hooks and memorable vocals, and while I don't know that I like the songs as much as those on its predecessor, the added richness of the production really goes a long way towards compensating, because even that one was a little too washed out in moments...this suffers nothing of the sort.

The formula is simple: take basic heavy metal chord structures of times past, add the distinct vocals, and profit. Worked well enough for all the hairspray, fishnet stockings and leather skirt-lings of the past, but Cauldron isn't burdened by any such lame fashion sense, they're just cultivating the strengths of accessible, occasionally AOR-worthy metal music that is pleasant on the ear. I admit that the Lovecraftian cover artwork is a bit of a throw-off, but the band has sadly not excelled in this department with the one exception of their 2012 album Tomorrow's Fortune. But the lyrics and music here really don't give you any such horror impression other than the strong associations that heavy metal and hard rock always had with that genre, especially in the 80s when band like this one's heavy influence Dokken were tapped to do. So there is a clear aesthetic mismatch that does the music no service at all, but if we can ignore that, then New Gods is a damn tight album with a timelessness about it that easily thrusts it to the forefront of their catalogue alongside its direct predecessor and the original Into the Cauldron EP.

I mean if we got this album in 1985-1987, this would be one of those 'respectable' sorts of metal records that might see a little rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, mainstream enough for the hair metal crowd but also satisfactory for those into the heavier shit who were just waiting for that potential glimpse of an Armored Saint or King Diamond video at half-past midnight. Similar to a Bonfire or an Accept, maybe. Jason's vocals have never sounded more refined as this, and the guitar tone just smokes every previous Cauldron record. The drums aren't doing anything special, but they also sound great, and tunes like "Never Be Found" and "Letting Go" are among my favorites in their catalogue. They don't include any lame ballads, which you'd think they might flirt with, but they do have the very mainstream sounding "Together as None" which definitely sounds a little bit like a prom song from that glam era, but it has some warm chugging and a good chorus at least, and hell Saxon has done this a number of times (like "Hold On"), and well, so I can forgive it.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Revocation - The Outer Ones (2018)

There are times I've got to temper the pride I feel when a cool group of local guys goes on to international metal stardom with a critical ear, and I think I've done so pretty fairly throughout the Revocation catalog; but it's heartwarming to see acquaintances the world over pick up on the Boston band, and several more did with this 2018 effort The Outer Ones, their seventh full-length (not counting their time as Cryptic Warning), and for me the best once since 2009's Existence is Futile. This is the consummate death thrash band, combining the technical instincts of both into a proficient, efficient, punishing excursion into the realms of cosmic horror...always a great topic, although the cover art (their best yet) and lyrics probably highlight it more than the music itself.

You're getting intense, rapid fire riffing sequences that exult the group's worthiness to compete alongside acts really known for that like Obscura or Inferi, mixed with some concrete moshing thrash riffs which help keep them grounded for the pits at their tours and festivals. For me, though, it's the lead work and melodies here that shine, some of the best they've ever constructed, always elevating the songs to a level beyond the mundane, because while the guys can fire off a million riffs a minute, not a lot of them really stand out on their own. It's the flood of technique and incessant aggression that forms them into a patchwork that holds the attention, because you always feel the aural equivalent of 'blink and I might miss something'. But there are some decent rhythm guitars here or there, and I noticed that the more clinical and evil they get ("That Which Consumes All Things"), the better, and the more brick-like and Pantera, the worse off. But the latter doesn't happen enough to really bring down the whole effort, and there's enough variation across all these tunes that it'll soon fade from memory when you encounter the more musical, ambitious stuff.

As for the vocals, I've not always been a huge fan, and they're still a little generic, but there are a few varying degrees of guttural grunts and snarls here to at least mix that up too, and in terms of patterns and delivery they all sound effective over the music below. The main vocal is like a Chuck Schuldiner growl only more blunt, and I still can't imagine how much better they'd be with some more charisma and pain in them. That said, these are adequate enough for a lot of the audience that probably encounters this band among a bunch of lesser deathcore or brutal death acts and obviously aren't so picky. The music is also so polished in the mix that it does feel a bit too mechanical and soulless, a common symptom within this tech death niche. But I don't wanna seem too down on this, because when The Outer Ones shines, it really comes together into some exciting moments that make the heart quicken. It's not perfect, but it's really consistent with their other recent efforts like Great is Our Sin and Deathless, and if you miss bands like Atheist, Hellwitch or Cynic during their heavier phases, here are some successful successors.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.revocationband.com/

Tribulation - Nightbound EP (2018)

The Nightbound EP was another skimpy little fan EP that arrived with little fanFARE, available in two versions, of which the digital was the more substantial by one track. This is really just multiple versions of the same song, and while I like "Nightbound", and LOVE Tribulation, I don't really think there's enough of a deviation between the separate incarnations that it warranted any sort of additional product. Now, that's not to say that any of the three are BAD, but usually if you're going to release something 'extra' you throw the audience a bone or something, maybe include a cover, a rarity, something that makes them feel as if they've locked ears on something exclusive and interesting. In fact, this very band has done such before with singles. I'm going ot hazard a guess that this 7" and digital EP probably wasn't entirely the band's idea...

Now, all three of the "Nightbound" tunes included are fine...the studio track we already know off of Down Below, but the live recording certainly sounds pretty good in that context, with bright guitars, vocals and rhythm section all mixed quite well, and arguably this is the most energetic deliver of the track on the EP. Lastly, there's the instrumental demo, and while it's not a song that truly benefits from the lack of vocals, it's fine for mood music. I'm covering the digital edition myself, but if you go for the 7" I'm pretty sure it doesn't even include the studio version, so it's another reason you're just buying it for that minimal artwork and to have another 7" record sitting on your bloated shelves that might not ever even be listened to again...but hey, maybe will be worth something? Doesn't seem like the content to this is even historically worthwhile as a collectible. So the bottom line, I love the band, the song itself is cool, and I love their albums as I've written about numerous times, and the Nightbound EP is entirely skippable.

Verdict: Fail [3/10]

https://www.tribulation.se/

Sonja - Nylon Nights/Wanting Me Dead (2018)

Melissa Moore is best known for her work in more extreme metal acts like Absu (as Vis Crom) Rumpelstiltskin Grind and XXX Maniak, and in particular I really enjoyed her writing and playing on the 2011 album Abzu. But if I'm being quite honest, and if these two tracks are a reliable measuring stick, I think she's found her calling with this retro heavy metal act Sonja, which has only produced this single to date, but goddamn is this excellent material. It's the sort of riffy, memorable and exciting heavy metal which is, yes, largely a throwback to the 80s style, but like some of the better bands doing that today, also feels like it is actually taking that style forward into the future rather than relying entirely on aesthetics of the past. The two tracks here are so well done that I've been slavering for a full-length ever since...

The vocals are excellent, higher pitched without being screamy, and echoing with resonance in both the studio and emotional departments. I guess a good comparison would be Canada's Cauldron, in how she uses sustain and notation, but she's just a fraction or two higher. There also hooks for days going on in these cuts, especially "Nylon Nights", and I love that springy, organic tone she uses, which is one thing that absolutely sets this apart from a lot of the more direct 80s imitator bands. When she's just diving into those guitars in the bridges it feels so fresh and adventurous even if technically it's not novel. It's almost like High Spirits if you really ramped up the memorable and pounding on the guitar. And it doesn't hurt that she's got Grzesiek 'Gunslut' Czapla of Woe laying down the beats, and ex-Tombs bassist Ben Brand with some bass lines that anchor the tone of those vocals and guitars perfectly. Fantastic stuff that fans of Haunt, Traveler, Night Demon, Pounder, Enforcer, Spell and the bands I already named should track down this instant. If they'd put out an entire full-length of this quality in 2018 it might have made my AOTY.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Sonjabooking/

Powerwolf - The Sacrament of Sin (2018)

There was nothing inherently 'wrong' with Blessed & Possessed, the band's previous album, but it felt like a clear case of diminishing returns, Powerwolf writing more or less the same types of songs with only an arbitrary amount of variation. Plenty of fodder for the live sets, where most of these fist pumping horror-tinged power metal anthems can tend to run into one another, but just not a lot that was standing out in my mind even a half hours listening to it. Its follow-up, The Sacrament of Sin, doesn't exactly thrust the band back into the thundering graces of their first three albums, which for me remain the pinnacle in terms of songwriting ideas and truly catchy hooks and choruses, but there is something slightly more subdued and mature about this one that just ever slow slightly gets the Transylvanian express back on the tracks.

If you still want your mug-swinging, organ hymnal critiques of the Church of the past, you know the naughty Christians that hunt all those benevolent critters like vampires, werewolves and witches, and catching a lot of innocents in the crossfire, then you've got a tune like "Killers with the Cross" which is basically like Sabaton, the Haunted House edition, and it's not the only case here. "Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend" is probably one of the breakout singles here, a little naughty but busting out a nice chorus flow that surely gets a lot of folks singing along at the shows. There's also the big, sweeping "Where the Wild Wolves Have Gone", which is more of a lighter flicker, operatic escalation wrapped in power ballad aesthetics; it just comes across as the band spreading its (gargoyle) wings to try something marginally different, and that one also hits a satisfying chorus. The title track, "Fist by Fist (Sacralize or Strike)" and "Nightside of Siberia" are also a couple of favorites here which give a steady ass kicking even if they're not quite so memorable as some of the amazing things they've written in the past. The latter has a little melodic chugging pattern similar to Amon Amarth's stuff, ironic since Powerwolf covers one of their tracks on Metallum Nostrum. It works.

Production and performance are at the same high standard the band always sets for itself...even though this is not the 'classical' version of this album, it still gives that impression with a lot of the bombast created through the backing vocals, organs and synthesizers, all accompanied by simpler, driving guitars that make the band sound like its constantly on the march. Attila stretches himself pretty far with a couple of the howls here, and he's not doing anything too unique in terms of advancing or innovating his style, but the guy just sounds good whether the band is hammering away behind him or he's belting out some pompous lines to the accompaniment of only the organs or choir. In the end we're talking about an album which doesn't stand out too far above the rest, but matches up with Preachers of the Night or Blood of the Saints, dependable and slightly more inspired than Blessed & Possessed, but not much. And full disclosure: I actually think The Symphony of Sin is quite a lot better than this, you might be swapping out the metal, but those orchestrated versions are just more interesting, and alternatingly dark and glorious. Compared to that surprise, this sacrament feels a mite insipid.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://www.powerwolf.net/

Ill Bill/Ghoul EP (2018)

I have not kept up with the horror rap or 'horrorcore' subgenre of hip hop since the concept was introduced to me by groups like Flatlinerz or the Gravediggaz back in the 90s, so artists like Necro or Ill Bill have been entirely off my radar, until I saw this amusing idea for a split between the latter and Creepsylvania's death/thrash champions Ghoul. It's not the sort of team up you experience every day, and the hope for me was that the two acts would integrate one another's styles and make this splattery looking collectible a memorable trip to gory excess and some streetwise badassery, but the fact is that couldn't be further from the truth...this is just two entirely different groups doing their own thing with little regard for how it matches up as a product with the other, and the result is all too lopsided and obviously not in the favor of the rapper...

Ill Bill's track (featuring 'Goretex', and really, every fucking hip hop track these days has to be a 'feature' of some sort) is basically a mix of El-P sounding lyrical flow with beats and atmosphere that sounds a lot like the Wu-Tang Clan. It starts out with a pretty cool sample, and the production also seems like it'll be decent, but after about a moment it loses its luster and the rhyming just feels repetitive. It does sort of give off a horror in tha hood vibe with the synthesizers and effects, but the lyrics don't really hone in on the subject all that much and so one wonders why nobody told him to make it a little scarier. On the other hand, Ghoul's contribution, "Splatterthrash 2: Thrash Damage", is quite an excellent and explosive tune with a lot of energy behind it, a good sense for melody and I'd run it up against any single song on their most recent album Dungeon Bastards. Gang shouts, thrashing, jerking rhythms and the tune utterly beats the rap into a bloody pulp and it's not even funny. You'd might as well thrown a Boyz II Men track on the A-side and it would have the same effect. 

Really, to make this work you'd have needed a pretty sinister sounding rap artist with a heavier cut, and maybe even some samples from Ghoul riffs or whatever. I appreciate that the two acts are friends or just mutual admirers and wanted to show their love for horror and splatter but it just feels like a gimmick. If this was a 7" with two great new Ghoul tracks I would have liked it infinitely more, but as it stands I can really only award most of the points here to the Creepsylvanians and hope that they'll toss this tune on the next full-length as a bonus track so most people can experience it in a superior environment.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

http://www.creepsylvania.com/
https://illbill.bandcamp.com/

Beastmaker - Windows of Evil (2018)

If you thought Trevor William Church's output with the heavy metal throwback Haunt has become prolific, you haven't experienced his purely doom metal outlet Beastmaker, which has released over a dozen EPs and several full-length efforts in the last half-decade. To his credit, while I've always gotten the impression that slowing down the level of productivity might result in more memorable recordings, nothing has ever felt lazy or mediocre. Most of the Beastmaker EPs, simply titled with the number of their chronological release, have been digital releases with a limited cassette run, but lately the band has taken to putting out compilations, generally merging two of these short format efforts into an album length, and Windows of Evil represents the first two such numbered EPs from 2018. Not necessarily their formative material, since the full-lengths Lusus Naturae and Inside the Skull predate this, as well as a few other recordings, but certainly a preview of what this EP series was about.

The style here is Sabbath-driven, chunky traditional power trio doom metal with the guitars bold and up front, and a strong emphasis on lead placement and building up a cool chorus. Not cool as in you're going to remember it 20 years later, but certainly a payoff to the verses leading up to it all. The songs are quite taut for the genre, generally no more than 3-3/12 minutes long, and for that reason they tend to lose a little of their potential power and structure. Not that I'm expecting ten minutes or more per track, but here you're only getting a few requisite riffs, usually just one to set up the chorus, and Beastmaker is good enough to earn more of our attention. Granted, that might have been the point of the constant barrage of 2018 EPs, to go with brevity and consistency, but it does give the music a bit of a 'doom assembly line' vibe to it which makes it little better than competent and passable. In their defense, the riffs on exhibit here do show enough variation that they don't end up sounding too samey apart from some of Church's vocal payloads.

I guess you could sort of imagine this as a St. Vitus or Pentagram with a more contemporary production, a real love letter to the niche without ever eclipsing its influences. Church has a decent voice, clearly inspired by the usual suspects like Ozzy but with far less of an interesting range or distinctive personality. He's good enough at what he does, but never reaches for the sky, and that's alright, because by and large Windows of Evil is a fun listen if you're the type that enjoys this traditional 70s-based doom metal template. The bass sounds voluminous, the drums are decent, the lyrics are one of the strongest components, samples are well used, and it's quite clear that Church and friends are inspired by all manner of cool horror films from classic black & white/Gothic horror flicks to eerie Italian giallos. In fact, the music does just as much of a service to those as it does to its inherent style. Again, this is restrained, almost like a pop mentality approach but within the doom metal parameters, but Beastmaker knows how to entertain you by reaching deep into your nostalgia and pulling out a few old ghosts, and the material off these two EPs is streamlined together into a consistent-sounding album.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Beastmaker

Machine Head - Catharsis (2018)

While on some level Catharsis pretended to continue the increased level of musical proficiency and effectiveness Machine Head had begun to achieve with a few of the albums before it, on almost every other level it's a dumpster fire. When I first put this record in, I got the impression that it was some group of 14 year old metalcore kids who had picked up a copy of The Blackening and decided to pay it tribute along with with a little Killswitch Engage and maybe a handful of their favorite melodeath bands. The cover art looks exactly like something they would think of. The lyrics are beyond dumb, puerile translations of whatever Robb could look up on the news to become outraged that morning, and the music, while fast and often fairly adept in technicality alone, rings hollow on almost all fronts and is immediately forgettable. Whatever steps towards maturity and memorability the Californians had taken with their material starting the previous decade seemed to have now been sidelined for what is worth little more than soulless dreck. I bet Nuclear Blast was pretty thrilled when their lucrative new contract shat this one on their second outing.

For whatever reason, Machine Head seemed to bring back a little too much of the pure nu metal nonsense on cuts like the titular "Catharsis"? No matter how much you try to dress it up with that emotional soft pop side, once that groove comes out I feel like I'm stuck in a room full of dead air and ideas that were never that interesting the first time this band failed at them. The Pantera influence is also here in full force once again, and it's even funnier when they mix in their rap metal stuff as with the track "California Bleeding", one of the dumbest fucking songs I've heard while writing this blog, which no dirty rock & roll chorus is going to save. Other songs like "Triple Beam" are just dumb pandering grooves with bad hip hoppy verses and then tasteless early 00s alt rock chorus parts which the band must think is going to help them sell records. And maybe that's what happened, and I'm a grumpy old dude who is out of the loop, but personally I've never met anyone with a single positive thing to say about Catharsis. One other irritant here is that the band clearly had a hard on for the pop-infused hardcore & metalcore we were hearing out of both the US & UK 5-10 years ago, and you can tell by the light synth touches they throw into cuts like "Catharsis" and "Kaleidoscope". Say what you will about those bands, they pulled it off better than this one can.

Of course, Robb had to spread his bleeding & beaten wings a little further here with "Behind a Mask" or "Bastards", which sound like some dopey acoustic track Aaron Lewis of Staind would right...but what the latter grows into, some weird anthemic fusion of The Dropkick Murphys and the Beatles, in which Robb tries to embrace minorities into the Machine Head fanbase while dropping sarcastic slurs at them, is the sappiest 'what the fuck' moment I've probably heard from any of these high profile nu metal bands. 'NO NO NO, NO NO FUCK NO, NO NO NO!' Do you want a Machine F**king Head High Five for your pedestrian protest anthem? 'GET YOUR MIDDLE FINGERS IN THE AIR AND SING, THEY CAN'T IGNORE US ANYMORE.' Reading these lyrics makes me feel like I'm in the midst of the rave scene in that Matrix sequel, only with worse music and surrounded by a bunch of edgy caricatures of cartoon PSAs with their capes flapping around in Robb's posterior wind. I'm all for people expressing social and political opinions that they feel strongly about, don't get me wrong, but try to do it with a little tact and nuance rather than overt cliches, condescension and reductionist stereotypes that do nobody any good.

To be fair there are other themes here being tackled with more personal, less obnoxious lyrics, but even then you're guaranteed to have some extremely weak musical idea fouling up whatever rare catchy bit they might have accidentally stumbled upon. There is approximately one song here, "Heavy Lies the Crown", which would actually be a half-decent mid-paced Swedish melodeath tune if it didn't have Robb's vocals or lyrics anywhere near it. The production is fine, the boys can still play, but ultimately, Catharsis is just one goofy, convoluted mess that feels half Midlife Crisis and half I Wrote These Songs in My Garage While Inhaling Carbon Monoxide Because I'm Too High to Realize That I Left the Engine Running. It is, for my wallet, the worst Machine Head studio album, and I'd rather have all my body hair peeled off with masking tape while being forced to endure The Burning Red and Supercharger before ever listening to it again.

Verdict: Epic Fail [1.25/10]

https://www.machinehead1.com/