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
Dehumanizing Itatrain Worship – Otakuslam♡Animecide
Genre: Brutal Death Metal / Slam
Label: Stillbirth Records
Release Date: 09-06-2023
The injection of anime samples and deliberately cringe-inducing memery is nothing unusual for Slam. During my Slamuary project, I encounter it quite well and I have partaken in such tomfoolery myself in the past to worrying results. But most of those acts either make no attempt at actually sounding good or are actively serving up something unlistenable on purpose to, yet again, induce cringe in the listener. Dehumanizing Itatrain Worship sticks out from the crowd by actually making not only listenable, but enjoyable Slam and doing it in a way where the irony enhances the experience. The band injects Japanese idol and anime music into their Brutal Death Metal. The unusually bright, hopeful and uplifting chord progressions and simple major melodies are a stark contrast to the sonic palette of Slam and the band always manages to transition between them in ways that might be abrupt, but are logical and executed in a humorous way. I suspect that a lot of those are quotes from actual anime openings, but I am not knowledgeable enough about the matter to know.
I have been a fan of Itatrain for a while and if the only thing the band had was a well executed gimmick, I likely would have lost interest a while ago. One of the band's main strengths is that the core sound would hold up even if the gimmick was taken out. This band knows how to construct every possible section from the Brutal Death Metal playbook and they do so exceedingly well. Every song slams, but every song also has moments that are unique towards that song. Fast scale runs are present in the first song, as there are trems or strangely rock-oriented bits throughout the rest of the album. I would be remiss to not mention the guest vocalists on the album. I wasn't aware that Dehumanizing Itatrain Worship had this much pull and were this well know, but they were able to land guest features from artists from Kraanium, The Dark Prison Massacre and even Vulvodynia – an inclusion likely decided on before the recent allegations were well known. Most guest vocalists frankly don't stick out – a common problem when the technical proficience is this high. The one that does stick out (a Rap Feature) unfortunately is the only real blemish on this album, as it ruins the otherwise flawless pacing. If you can stand – or even on some level enjoy the cringe, as I do – then Itatrain is among the best Slam of the year.
Rating: (low) 7/10
Nithing - Agonal Hymns
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: New Standard Elite
Release Date: 16-06-2023
Nithing is a side and solo project by Vitriol's drummer, Matt Kilner. Vitriol's style of all out, one-gear barbarity should appeal to me, but somehow never clicked. The trouble is that, if you want to be constantly pushing forward, you got to have the variety and the raw supply of ideas to fill a whole album without losing the listener. Nithing could fall into a similar category, but it seems like Kilner knows how to draw from the Brutal Death Metal playbook endlessly - and beyond.
The core sound is reminiscent of abstract Brutal Death Metal acts like Wormed, but also reminds me of early Brutal Death Metal forerunners Devourment in regards to sound, and Disgorge in how constantly amorphous and disorienting the album is. Other bands would call this Avantgarde - and dare I say, were the sound more trebly and slathered with a Black Metal coating, likely more appealing to the hipster crowd. The breadth of techniques within the "always fast, always brutal" framework is quite impressive and even shows an interesting approach to texture: There is contrast between sections not only in how they're played but what area of the frequency spectrum they occupy. I am unsure if the album is sample enhanced to produce a more extravagant guitar tone sometimes or if this sound is reached via guitar pedals, as sometimes there are odd reverberations and frequency shifts within the guitar tone. Seemingly disconnected, those leads will often be layered over the barbaric instrumental performance below, making the album occasionally sound otherworldy - not unlike the gigerian flesh abomination on the cover. Make no mistake though: This album is dense and complicated and far from easy listening. Compared to a more fun oriented and groovy offering like Itatrain Worship, this is quite the opposite end of the BDM spectrum.
Rating: 7/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
The Anchoret - It All Began With Loneliness
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Willowtip Records
Release Date: 23-06-2023
I always keep an ear out for new Progressive Metal bands in the hope that I will find a band that takes interesting risks yet knows how to construct a cohesive whole. It is baffling to me that this hope often is in vain as a lot of the bands that form to make Progressive music decide on taking on an established sound of how this genre "should" sound like - breaking the rules by sticking to them as close as one can is a fruitless effort. What I am getting at here is simply that my enjoyment of the debut album by The Anchoret is squandered by the fact that they sound too much like Opeth and at the same time do not sound enough like Opeth. The guitar leads on It All Began With Loneliness sounds a lot like Mikael Ã…kerfeldt's style of riffs while some of the tracks' breakdowns with mournful clean guitars and choir like synth melodies could be ripped straight from Damnation. But this is fortunately not the only trick The Anchoret have up their sleeve. They also make use of some saxophone playing that occasionally hits the mark, like in standout song "Forsaken". There are some moments here and there when It All Began With Loneliness impresses with an interesting idea or a heavy transition.
Sadly, the way the songs are constructed often pales in comparison to the genre greats. This band takes a page from the stagnated Progressive Metal genre's tendency to make songs long to provide the individual players ample space to show off their skills, allocating focus away from constructing complete songs where these moments would happen naturally. The songs progress in a linear fashion, often trying to build a swelling tension or tragic feeling across their runtime. Breakdowns to quiet often lands at places where it feels like the song has stayed in the same mode for too long rather than adding something. The Anchoret seem to favor moments of tension built by the guitars and occasionally intense drums while the vocalist tries to sing something depressing or soulful above it. It is a trick that gets old fast and it is not helped by the album stopping a minute short of an hour. In all, I find myself unable to remember the songs properly after the album stops spinning and I wish The Anchoret would develop song ideas that give us a clear idea of who they are. I can find the wailing guitars, saxophone, directionless songwriting and softly tragic breakdowns in a lot of other bands in the genre. Why should I pick this over anything else?
Rating: 5/10
Thy Catafalque - Alföld
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Release Date: 09-06-2023
Following up Prog with some more Prog this week, I have been trying out Thy Catafalque's work since 2018's Geometria without much success in finding something to like. I have found elements of the music enjoyable but never felt like the albums come together as a whole and while Vadak came close, this scattershot approach again prevented me from enjoying it fully. My expectations had turned low at Alföld's announcement but the promise of Thy Catafalque diving into heavier territory piqued my interest. The band is not a stranger to heavier moments but an album full of that is something I wanted to hear. As it turns out, Alföld starts out as such but cannnot keep it going throughout the entire runtime. This is fine, as I find that this focus on one direction, even with its detours, makes for a more cohesive album than I have heard from this project before. Meant to be played from top to bottom, Alföld is like a charred sandwich with savory middle, sticking its more intense moments at the bookends and leaving space for the Progressive and Folk aspects of Thy Catafalque's sound to shine in the middle.
The first track starts things off with an almost OSDM vibe to it while the second track has moments that sounds like they could have fit in an Enslaved song with its groovy Rock riffs. Being Progressive Metal, the sound is lush and the production leaves a lot of room for the various kinds of Metal and Folk-infused Progressive Rock alike. A lot of the songs change between a basic Rock/Heavy Metal groove to Thrash Metal or Death Metal at the drop of a hat. The most successful songs utilise this mix of elements in a great way, like "A földdel egyenlo" with its intense Thrash groove mixed up with Progressive Rock leadwork that culminates with a swinging drum rhythm, a Sigh like vocal moment and dual guitars harmonising like they escaped from an Iron Maiden song. The title track meanwhile starts out with foreboding Doom and Death Metal riffs complemented with horns and a synth line that could have come from a Dead Can Dance song. This song transitions from the harsh beginning to Heavy Metal, then to soft Progressive Rock with the usual guest feature of Martina Veronika Horváth's beautiful vocals before competently transitioning to an acoustic break that recalls Opeth to play things out. The title track starts a string of songs that sound more like Progressive Rock and Folk moods and herein lies my one criticism of the album. None of that material is bad but the songs lack the same kind of direction as what came before. The structure of the album is not bad by any means but the sustained trapeze jump Alföld does between its bookends threatens to derail the album. Fortunately, the album call it quits at 43 minutes with a heavy song that has a strong chorus, making this easy to forgive. I might finally have found the album that convinces me that Thy Catafalque is for me and I remain intrigued to find out what direction Támas Kátai will take next time.
Rating: 7/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Undergang/Spectral Voice - Split
Genre: Death Metal / Death Doom Metal
Label: Dark Descent Records / Extremely Rotten Productions
Release Date: 09-06-23
Caveman Death Metal is quite the dime a dozen nowadays, with many up and coming bands deciding to pursue this filth-encrusted style. But none of them do it quite as well as the filthy Danish kings themselves, Undergang. A band which has been slinging their particular brand of slime since 2008. Here they've teamed up with American modern Death Doom cave-dwellers Spectral Voice in a surprise shadow-dropped split release that turned the heads of many in the underground Death Metal community. A split is best used to show off the particular strengths of each band that contributes to it and can sometimes over-highlight one band in a way that makes the other feel underwhelming – as was the case with Suffering Hour and Malthusian last year, where Suffering Hour outshone their Irish split partners. I can safely assure that this is not the case with this particular split.
The sounds of an entity shoveling dirt onto something are your only warning before Undergang kicks off the split with riffs that embody the term "unga bunga". I'm pleased to say that the sound that first drew me to them on Misantropologi and further held my interest on Aldrig i livet is still there, and vocalist David Torturdød is still producing some of the most inhuman growls in the game. The guitars are what really shines on the three Undergang tracks and the leadwork is particularly impressive, adding a touch of wank to the otherwise nasty ooze. Spectral Voice's contribution to the split is another one of their long form Death Doom songs that reaffirm why they are so highly regarded in the first place. There's a Funereal heft to "Craving Final Impasse" and the images it evokes are the earth opening up to swallow you whole. No wank is to be found here, only the pure ugliness that this band conjures up. In an ideal world, this is the sign that a new Spectral Voice album is on the horizon, but given how enigmatic this group is, we won't know until it's imminent. This split is fantastic, and will more than likely enter high into my top EPs of the year. It will crush you under its weight, and I keep coming back for more.
Rating: 8/10
Arkona - Kob'
Genre: Blackened Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Release Date: 16-06-23
Arkona have certainly undergone a notable style change throughout the years. Originally a pure Folk Metal band, they now primarily play Black Metal with notable Folk elements thrown in. Regardless, they've been around for over 20 years now, and while I wasn’t fully onboard with them at first, their 2018 album Khram really impressed me. Now, 5 years later, they return with Kob'. It's always a challenge for bands to release a worthy followup to a smash hit, so has Arkona done it with this one?
It's immediately apparent the same sonic palette from Khram is back on Kob'. This album feels more a continuation of the previous one than anything else, which is a good thing. Arkona have upped the use of synths here, and they work quite well, especially on standout tracks "Ugasaya" and "Razryvaya plot' ot bezyskhodnosti bytiya". Both of these tracks showcase this band's talent for long-form song writing, with the latter incorporating some gorgeous piano in the beginning before eventually culminating in blackened fury to close out the last proper track on the album. That being said, while I do like this album, it feels almost a bit of a step down from the previous. The songs don't stick quite as well, and there's more incorporation of spoken word bits here that detract from the flow of the album as a whole. While this album may not be the follow up to their magnum opus I was hoping for, I think Arkona should continue to explore this blackened tinge to their Folk Metal in the future, because when it's done correctly, not many bands can pull it off better than them.
Rating: 6/10