This post collects the reviews posted to Instagram for the week. They cover mostly metal, but other genres might be considered. Blog exclusive reviews from other writers are featured, as well.
Scuttlegoat's Curmudgeonly Critiques
Sarmat – Determined to Strike
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Release Date: 16-06-2023
After Sarmat's debut EP surprisingly contained a Pokémon theme cover (and low-key blew my mind in the process), I had high hopes that the full-length would repeat this in a similarly sneaky way. Would other video game themes be covered, possibly similarly obscure ones? After a couple spins, I can say that this isn't the case. Sarmat still made a very good album, but nothing showcasing the trend of New York's Jazz scene to incorporate video game music into the Jazz canon, at least as far that I can tell. Yet, I remain pleased, as I get some pretty unique vibes from Determined To Strike. The blurb highlights the science fiction concept, with this album apparently being the first in an epic science fiction trilogy. The cover showcases abstract, almost gigerian cyborgs or robots in an act of war. Yet, the album isn't as abstract as it could be and rooted much stronger in the Death Metal realm than the Debut or some of the musicians other projects, most notably Imperial Triumphant. Instead, we get Progressive Tech that seems rather classic in a way. Particularly, it reminds me of Ron Jarzombek's work and Blotted Science in particular.
The fascinating part of this is how the same feeling is reached with a different approach. It is clear that Sarmat is inspired both by Jazz, particularly fusion like Weather Report, and Progressive Rock from the 80s. A lot of it reminds me of the late New Wave experiments of a King Crimson, maybe intermingling with their industrial metal phase in the 90s. The melodic phrasing in the soli in particular reminds me of Adrian Belew's wonky approach to melody, maybe amplified by the round and surprisingly gentle lead guitar tone guitarist Cotter Champlain settles on. The Music is further enhanced by a couple guest performances which showcase the Jazz side of the album the best. "Arsenal of Tyranny" has a wonderfully skronky trumpet performance evoking a futuristic battlefield as much as it reminds me of the urban hellscapes of Imperial Triumphant or early modernist composers like Charles Ives. This song in particular is a wonderful display of how the band melds extreme metal history with the one of the Jazz discipline and Progressive Rock. The briefly appearing vocoder vocals recall Cynic, the guitar work recalls King Crimson and the trumpet recalls wild urban Jazz freakouts a lá John Zorn. While the EP didn't set me up for this album at all, it is probably still one of the best things you can get in this style this year.
Rating: 7/10
Goblin Priest - Cryptic Monochrome Maze Crawl: a CALCULATOR PHANTASY in 1-BIT AUDIO
Genre: Raw Chiptune
Label: Independent
Release Date: 24-03-2023
As I get older, I question the appeal of the raw aesthetic more and more. The appeal of the aesthetic seems to be self-serving, as any consideration if it fits the work at hand seems to be completely thrown out of the window. Labels like Grime Stone Records served us with Raw Skate Punk, Raw Dungeon Synth and other absurd and unfitting ideas. Only so much humor can be derived from the juxtaposition and we have reached the point where it is clever quite a while ago. Also, I am not always sure how much of it is irony and how I am supposed to take all of it. Goblin Priest is a raw chiptune artist, who "enhances" his relatively pedestrian Chiptunes with said raw aesthetic. Simple melodies get bitcrushed and seem more and more broken as the album goes on.
A big part of the appeal of Chiptune is nostalgia, but I cannot say that my retro consoles ever sounded like this. Beyond the raw, bitcrushed aesthetic, Goblin Priest doesn't really serve up anything that reminds us of dungeons or Black Metal at all. The heavy bass lines are often more reminiscent of broish electronic music styles and his decision to imbue the bass with the most volume a lot of the time pushes the bleeps and bloops that serve as melodies to the back. Most of the tracks are below two minutes, which I am thankful for as there is very little to enjoy about the material as is, considering how generic Goblin Priest's sense of melody is. The longer his "Ultrazone" trilogy keeps playing, the more I wonder what the purpose of it is. The breakdown of the material seems to accelerate and the bitcrushed distortion pushes more and more of what I could actually enjoy to the back. Maybe this is supposed to be a symbol for the breakdown of the artist and the end of an artistic project - Cryptic Monochrome Maze Crawl was supposedly meant to be the project's last album at some point, even if the artist has since released another ep. Or maybe the artist just makes bad decisions. Either way, this isn't for me.
Rating: (low) 4/10
Tombstalker - Age of Darkness
Genre: Death Metal / Crust Punk
Label: Boris Records
Release Date: 29-05-2023
Recently, the neoclassical style artwork has become more and more popular. The downside of this otherwise pretty neutral trend is that looking at a cover of classicist old greek people cowering in fear doesn't tell me anything about the music anymore. From the cover I would have suspected something more menacing and that probably takes itself a little more seriously. Tombstalker's main mode seems to be light enjoyment and, for lack of a better word, fun. The band plays Oldschool Death Metal, mixed up with Swedish style Crust Punk and the surprisingly melodic approach that comes with it, and is somewhat enjoyable for what it is. The melodic lead guitar is apparently a new addition, but it fits the style the band has chosen very well and I couldn't imagine how the band would sound would it be missing.
Generally, I think that if a band goes simpler and more approachable at the same time, they need to be masters at their songcraft and present me with some material that makes me get over my grumpy disposition and my need for musical misanthropy. I can't say Tombstalker quite managed the task. As simple as the songs are, they all go a little long and are all damn linear. None of them manage to be particularly catchy and I think the vocal performance, rather squarely rooted in oldschool Death and sometimes Black Metal tropes, could use some more anthemic or pseudo-melodic growling to make the material more memorable. Better phrasing would also go a long way here. The length combined with the decision to eschew a more song-driven structure makes the EP sit awkwardly between the two things it could be. Age of Darkness is not a shreddy kind of melodic, not in need of any epic song structures, and would probably play better if it was more straightforward and have songs that curve out at 3 minutes. As it stands the only song on the album that does is an acoustic interlude - which the EP likely shouldn't have.
Rating: 5/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
Nightmarer - Deformity Adrift
Genre: Technical / Dissonant Death Metal
Label: Total Dissonance Worship
Release Date: 05-5-2023
Most Dissonant Death Metal has the unfortunate effect of making me want to fall asleep but keeping me awake with cutting squeaky noises, this makes for an angry Gatorrr usually. Nightmarer sidestep this completely on Deformity Adrift by opting for a somewhat softer (dynamic) production that allows for its most percussive moments to hit like a brick. Good, now I can fall asleep? Not so fast, because while this album is mostly uniform in its warm sound, repeat spins reveal a lot of small intriguing details. The songs on here are built up to be texturally the same, with abundant use of palm mutes (or potentially half-palm mutes) that gives the riffs a choppy, falling effect. But unlike the way this technique is regularly used in Djent, the result is a massive sound that is injected with the flavor of dissonant leads - not taking the place of the main course. Lead in track "Brutalist Imperator" shows that this approach works by being equally bludgeoning and smart in how it erases any monotony by lurching into a groove at just the right moment.
As the album barely passes half an hour, most of the songs only have time enough to focus on a single solid idea: "Baptismal Tomb" leads with winding riffs and glides into a subdued moment with a well placed bass solo, "Suffering Beyond Death" has a very active drum performance and leaves space for the vocals to join in the percussive fun and "Taufbefehl" uses a sample and carries a pounding military rhythm that inserts just enough variety to make the album flow, to name a few. Some of the material also slows down enough to make this Death Metal band reach slightly into Doom infested ground, just enough to complete the dour atmosphere. While not perfect ("Throe of Illicit Withdrawl" and "Endstadium" can feel like they add very little), even the instrumental lost-ghost-tune of "Tooms" hints at an ear for pacing. Deformity Adrift is much like its well done album cover: warm and comfortable to take in, while you ponder which of its limbs go where.
Rating: 7/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Profeci - Ubóstwo
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Godz ov War Productions
Release Date: 12-05-23
Very rarely during my weekly trawls through the Metal Archives does an unknown Black Metal band impress me, but that's exactly what Profeci have done with their third studio album Ubóstwo. A relatively unknown band from the Polish scene, they have a similar sound to bands such as Odraza and Deus Mortem (but without the sketchiness). Truth be told I did not know what to expect coming into this album, but this band gets going very quickly, with no real faffing about in terms of a pointless intro.
Many interesting sonic moments appear throughout the album, but one in particular stood out to me above all others: the third track "Jedność wielości" with its facsimile of a theme song from Elden Ring: the nomad merchant's song the player character listens to when traversing the area underneath the Shunning Grounds. It's incredibly bleak, and this track easily makes what is already a dark album even darker. I love when bands take adaptations of video game themes and transform them into their own styles while still keeping the original essence of what made the theme, much like what Sarmat did on their debut EP earlier in the year. Album closer "Dytyramb" is another highlight, bringing more Deus Mortem-isms into the mix. This track is perfect as a closer, and I come back to this one a lot due to the way vocalist Piołun spits fury. This record has some of the best vocals in the Polish Black Metal scene I've heard in a while, and are definitely a highlight of the entire performance.
This is not perfect, however, and "Bez niej byłbym niczym" is the weakest track of the bunch, but it is in no way a bad track. It seems more of a bridge between "Głód" and "Dytyramb" than anything else, but it does break up the unrelenting aggression well enough that I don't want to skip this song. I absolutely recommend Ubóstwo, and will be keeping my eyes on the future of this extremely promising Polish act. Definitely give them a listen, as they are worth your time.
Rating: 7/10