BOTY 2018
- Great Tech/Brutal DM (though labeled on MA as Melo DM) with some nice twists and surprisingly groovy at times.
Abysmal Torment (MLT) The Misanthrope
- Another excellent release from these guys. A bit more melodic (at times) as their previous stuff. The cover is rather awkward, but this ain´t no beauty contest, right?!
Astringency (USA) Sanguinarium
- Very good Tech/Melo DM with heavy 90´s era aesthetics (musically and artwork-wise). The funny thing about that is that most of them were only just born when that sound was established. Lots of melody in here, but never cheesy!
- AB imho has always been criminally underappreciated. It´s probably the very harsh blackish vocals that turn some people off, but I like them. Starting as a Black/Death band they evolved to a very tight slightly technical DM outfit with very intriguing concepts to their lyrics. Absolutely worthy of checking out and delving into!!!
- Great DM from Iran with some interesting rhythms and techy/proggy elements. Very well crafted. Hope to hear more from them.
Daging (IDN) Nafsu
- No BOTY-list without Indonesia! Daging play oldschool NY-style DM and they do it exceptionally well. No more to say!
- Technical/Brutal DM in the vein of Defeated Sanity and Disgorge with Paolo Chiti from Antropofagus and Devangelic (among others, that guy´s really prolific!) on the vocals.
- This might be my favorite album by them so far. They contained the ferocity of their Thrash-EP and integrated it into their signature blend of Tech/Prog/Whaddayaknow. SUPERB!
- If it wasn´t for CarlG, I would have probably missed that one - oh what a shame that would that have been! GTK has some serious Pungent Stench vibe to them, only with considerably more technical prowess to them. Rumbling old-school DM with some weird riffs and fills thrown in, blls bigger than Mt. Fuji, Samurai themed songs and Japanese Chuck Norris wearing a Kimono on the bass and the vox, just how could you not love them?
- If Leprosy/Spiritual Healing-era Death is your thing, you either love or hate it. Is it a rip-off, a tribute? I don´t care, it flipping kicks ass!
Hate Eternal (USA) Upon Desolate Sands
- Not much to say about that one. Equally good as their last release.
Krisiun (BRA) Scourge Of The Enthroned
- Finally Krisiun is back to form! Surely the best since the almighty Southern Storm.
Monstrosity (USA) The Passage Of Existence
- If I had a ranked list, this one would surely be number 1. It´s got it all, speed, heaviness, technicality, the trademark Monstrosity-sound, great production and most importantly awesome songs!
- I was really surprised to see another album by them so quickly. Well, their 2017 release made my BOTY and this one is not any worse thus here they are, again.
Psycroptic (AUS) As The Kingdom Drowns
- Somehow this reminds me a bit of Gorods latest album. I can´t judge whether Psycroptic developed towards the latter or vice versa (or maybe I´m just full of crap), but I love the two equally and accordingly, voila.
- Excellent Brutal DM one man band from East-Java. The songs are all very short, but in my book that´s a good thing!
- Another band that´s quite sure to have a place in my BOTY whence they release an album. Sadist have a very unique sound, throwing a lot of strange synth stuff in the mix, which usually don´t like very much, but surprisingly, here it works just fine for me. As I said the synths tend to be very corny, but that just adds up to the very eerie atmosphere.
- Considering I saw this one on a couple of your lists, I suppose I don´t have to tell you how awesome this album is! For those who missed it, check out the links.
- This one was a favorite of mine (and a few others, if I remember correctly) from the moment I discovered it. I can´t remember who brought them up in the CBox, but thx a lot! Ferociously blasting DM in the vein of Hate Eternal and almighty Krisiun, just my cup of tea, as the romans say.
- Excellent Brutal DM in the vein of Inherit Disease and the likes. This is a one-man project and his 3rd release already, though I never heard of him before…guess I will have to change that.
Honorable Mentions:
Aborted (BEL) Terrorvision
- Not much to say about them anymore. It feels like there´s hardly one year passing without a release from Aborted. IMO they are just too prolific for their own good. This one is as good as always, only not much more.
P.s. I believe it was Defleshed asking in the CBox which would be our favorite album by them. Mine will always be “Goremageddon: The Saw And The Carnage Done”!
Agony Face (ITA) CXVI Evolving Discharge
- Very interesting Tech/Prog DM with a slight BM touch. Worth checking out, if you´re into that kinda stuff.
Ahtme (USA) Sewerborn
Anaal Nathrakh (UK) A New Kind Of Horror
- Another great release of AN. The only thing that prevented this from being on my BOTY is the fact that they stick a bit too firmly to their approved “formula”, not that this would be a bad thing in general, in fact, I love bands like Cannibal Corpse or Immolation for essentially that fact, but they used to be more “avant-garde” earlier in their career, and it suited them just fine.
Anachronism (SUI) Orogeny
- Technical DM with an emphasis on rather atonal/arrhythmic riffing like Gorguts or Ulcerate, very good!
Bloodbath (SWE/UK) The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn
- After the rather disappointing last album I was really surprised how good that one was! Nick Holmes´ vocals have a very morbid, blackish feeling and fit quite well to the overall tone of the album. Not quite as good as their classics but an enormous step up from the last one, and in the end really good, in deed.
p.s. And the cover art is just sofa king awesome!!!
Centaurus-A (GER) Means Of Escape
- Pretty good TDM, spoiled only by the overabundance of cheesy choruses, which just don’t fit the otherwise rather erratic (and at times brilliant) riffing.
Cosmic Atrophy (USA/CAN) The Void Engineers
- Phil Tougas, again. This guy seems to be just as restless as old Rogga is. Tech/Prog DM in the vein of Demilich and Chthe´ilist (of course).
Cronaxia (POR) Collapsing The Outer Structure
- Relentlessly blasting DM with not much “frills”. Very entertaining!
Deadborn (GER) Dogma Anti God
- The more straight forward approach suites them quite well, I think. Though their best release yet still is their debut EP this one is absolutely worthwhile, becoming better with every subsequent listen.
Enblood (POR) Cast To Exile
- This is one of the discs that might have easily been among the top, if only I have paid it a bit more attention, ´cuz it´s a real grower (and it is pretty damn good to boot!). The fact that Linus Klausenitzer of Obscura, Alkaloid and Noneuclid fame is doing a gguest appearance should give you a hint of what to expect. They are a lot more brutal than the aforementioned, though.
Exocrine (FRA) Molten Giant
- This surely is not for everyone. They play a rather frantic style of Tech/Prog DM with lots of sweepings, frills and wee-del-dee.
Gory Blister (ITA) 1991.Bloodstained
- Excellent Melodic/Tech DM, with a lot of 90´s Euro DM influence. The vocals are a bit reminiscent of good old God Dethroned.
Hate Storm Annihilation (USA) Following The Path To Eternal Fire
- I do understand that some people have a problem with their “epic” song-lengths. TBH I was skeptical at first, too. But as it turns out they can handle it quite well. The songs actually work, however I liked their debut better.
Hellhound (IDN) Θεϊκo Συμπλεγμα
- Indonesia is growing stronger with every year! This is some serious Tech/Brutal DM shit. Again, if this year hadn´t been so jam-packed of great releases and I would have found more time to listen to this, it might have ranked much higher. And yes, I had to copy/pate the title.
Ichor (GER) Hadal Ascending
- Very good Tech/Melo DM. Labeled as Deathcore/DM on MA, I don´t know their older stuff, but I don´t hear any core on this release.
Immense (IDN) Slaughter Of Brutality
- Another slab of Indonesian Brutal DM excellence. They have a nice old –school touch, no burpy vocals here. And certainly another victim of circumstance, as it´s a true grower, as well.
Karpathian Relict (UKR) Forever Not Yet
- From the name of the band, I was expecting some cheesy BM stuff, but it turns out, they play some very good old-school Tech/Melo DM with heavy classical influences.
Lecherous Nocturne (USA) Occultaclysmic
- Blasting Black/Death (though labeled Technical Brutal DM on MA) with a heavy emphasis on the “Black” part, especially sound-wise.
Mass Infection (GRE) Shadows Became Flesh
- I think ´nough has been said about that one. Very solid D f*** M. Why is it not higher in the list, don´t have a clue, probably the same as above.
p.s. I see they have one review at MA, and it´s 100%. Carl, was that you?
Molested Divinity (TUR) Desolated Realms Through Iniquity
- Technical Brutal DM very much (maybe too much) in the vein of Defeated Sanity. Not quite at the same level as the latter, but absolutely not bad, at all. Only, I´m not a big fan of Batu Cetin´s vocals.
Orator (USA) Kallipolis
- Very intriguing Tech/Brutal DM that suffers bit from the rather lackluster production. But as soon as you can get past that, there´s quite something on offer. Did I mention the drummer is a monster!
Pestilent Reign (GER) Pyres
- There´s quite some Dying Fetus-vibes in the grooves and the vocals, too. But there´s so much more to it. Another grower, that deserves some more spins than I had given it, yet.
Replicant (USA) Negative Life
- Dissonant/arrhythmic Tech DM in the vein of Gorguts and Ulcerate (I feel I start repeating myself…).Needs some time to get in to and maybe not suitable for every mood/situation, let alone every taste, but if you´re into that shit it is very good.
Repton (IDN) The Book Against Catastrophy
- The Indonesians seem to have a similar affiliation to old-school-NY-DM as I do.
Skinless (USA) Savagery
- This is Skinless and they sound like… well, Skinless!
Sleep Terror (USA) El Insomne
- Ultra-fast instrumental Tech Death with a lot of Flamenco, Jazz and other stuff thrown in. Not his best to date, but still kicking the asses of all the other instrumental bands/projects out there!
Soreption (SWE) Monument Of The End
- This is a very good album, but I can´t yet figure out why they never resonated with me the way I would expect them to do. Despite all the ingredients being present, they never rose above “good” in my book…
Spectral (ROM) Neural Correlates Of Hate
- Another great old-school Tech Death album, even the cover-art is pure old-school brilliance. Keeps getting better with every minute I listen to it…if I ´d listen to it a couple more times I might have to rearrange to whole damn list, so I´ll just quit.
Terrorizer (USA) Caustic Attack
- A bit more DM than Grind on that one, but it suits them just fine. Sandoval alone would be enough to make it worthwhile, but the songs are really good, too.
Unbirth (ITA) Fleshforged Columns Of Deceit
- Well, it´s freaking Unbirth, of course this is a good album, only not outstanding (enough).
EPs
Chthe´ilist (CAN) Passage Into The Xexanotth
- It´s a shame it is only one new song plus a Crematory cover but it´s damn good, anyway!
Cryptopsy (CAN) The Book of Suffering - Tome II
- Together with the 1st Tome, this might be my favorite release by them, definitely since Once Was Not.
Fetal Decay (RUS) Becoming The Immortal
- This EP is dedicated to Bill Tolley, the former drummer of Internal Bleeding, who died in 2017 on duty as a firefighter. Very good brutish DM with some Dying Fetus vibes here and there.
Oppressor God (USA) Mechanical Manslaughter
- Very good Tech DM that makes me hope for a full-length release soon.
Quantum Hierarchy (ITA) Neutron Breed
- Same as above, only even higher hopes.