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
Anachronism - Meanders
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Release Date: 27-01-2023
Label: Avantgarde Music
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a popular parlor game within cineast circles. The goal is to trace back a path from a randomly chosen actor to Kevin Bacon, connecting them to another actor via a film that both actors have appeared in together until the chosen path leads to Kevin Bacon. Ultimately, as entertaining as it is, the game highlights that these connections are tenuous at best and don't really showcase much about the actors portfolios or their careers at all. The further away you get from Kevin Bacon, the less likely it is that any connection exists at all.
Unlike with an actors Bacon number, metal genres do not necessarily dilute the further they get away from the source. Metal as a genre has flanderised himself for the last decade and longer and a lot of what is popular right now coasts on some degree of nostalgia. As we move away from the source, artists try to cling to the most hardened of tropes. Meanders by Swiss Tech Death Outfit Anachronism manages to avoid this issue. While I can trace most of the bands creative choices back to some formative act, they never drift into an outright pastiche. Groovy, percussive guitars recall Gojira or Domination-era Morbid Angel at times, but the emotional content of it is decidedly different. The guitar solos remind of the post-punkified 80s prog of King Crimson or the hyperdriven Prog Metal of early Animals as Leaders, but the ultimate goal seems not to impress, but to express. The slimy, angular guitar work of a band like Demilich gets transformed into something that is as much texture as it is riff, something that is as dense as it is gripping. All of it held together by a Post-metal influence that is never overbearing or sacirificing aggression, never giving up actual material in the pursuit of faux-cinematic atmosphere.
That Meanders is a quality record is pretty obvious from the start. Taking and weaving their influences into something cohesive and unique is no small feat. One must only compare Meanders to Mithridatums latest offering, which took the tropes and didn't have the bravery to either subvert them or make them their own. How good Meanders is is a different question though. It hits me on an emotional level, but I admit that as a musician myself, there is an intellectual bias to an album like this. Either way, Meanders is the album that the metal scene desperately needs more of - the rare act that can possibly bridge the gap between those that believe metal has gotten stale and those that are afraid it might lose its identity.
Rating: 8/10
Sanguisugabogg - Homicidal Ecstasy
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 03-02-2023
Sanguisugabogg are very representative of the usual life cycle of an internet hype band: When the band released the grimey and somewhat unique demo Pornographic Seizures (which I myself championed heavily at the time), they grew too fast for their own good. A flurry of memes, propagated often by the band itself on their facebook page and a signing to Century Media sealed the deal and the band released an underwhelming debut record in Menstrual Envy. The band overcommitted to the most flanderised aspects of their sound and ultimately didn´t survive the shift to full-length. Luckily, Homicidal Ecstasy handles this shift a bit better and it seems like the band learned from past mistakes.
Where Menstrual Envy seemed like the Demo stretched and smeared to reach full-length, Homicidal Ecstasy realises that variety is necessary to make the length work. I still would not say that the 'Bogg now have a diverse style, as all of it will still be brutish and simplistic. But where the debut sat too heavily in the slow midpace with not enough tempo variation, Homicidal Ecstasy has tracks that at least lean into either extreme. At the same time, it seems like a lot of the murky production choices that gave the past albums the "Down Tuned Drug Death" feel is now gone in favor of more fuzzier (and probably more marketable) production choices. The drums sound good though and have the typical low-grade feel imported from the BDM. Sanguisugabogg made some good decisions in improving their sound, but I honestly would still prefer if the band stuck to EP´s. Acts like Bodybox, Snuffed on Sight or Jarhead Fertilizer have a similarly "urban primitive" sound, but they know when to cut their albums for maximum impact. Ironically, The Bogg probably can´t do this because they are on a major label. Too big for their own good.
Rating: 6/10
Metalligatorrr's Chomping Commentaries
Grief Symposium - ...In the Absence of Light
Genre: Death Doom Metal
Label: Independent
Release Date: 27-01-2023
...In the Abscence of Light took me by surprise at first, by starting in typical Death Doom fashion but then suddenly opting to up the Death Metal intensity. While the pounding drums keep the intensity going throughout most of the album, a lot of the songs lean on tremolos to color the songwriting which gives them a Black Metal flavor. The songs vary in scope and length, making it hard to predict what comes next, yet there's always a headbanging moment around the corner. The album slows down a few times to provide some atmosphere and the cryptic way the songs are written remind me of Headshrinker's phenomenal 2021 debut. But unlike Headshrinker's confident songwriting, Grief Symposium make a few missteps along the way. It is hard to notice as the album starts out strong with two songs shock full of aggressive riffs and great builds. Shorter riff-fests "Temple of Decay" and "Veil of Transformation" keep things from getting too drawn out, leaving room for the longer songs to explore.
"In the Shadow of the Sleeping Monarch" starts with a one and a half minute long sample that sets the tone well even if it is a bit long. The sample leads into a huge Doom moment that blooms into a Melodeath riff that is interrupted by straight Death Metal, providing for some grim contrast. Leading out the song is three minutes of piano led atmosphere with some soulful choral vocals that sounds like something off Anathema's The Silent Enigma. Unfortunately, like some of the material on that album, this decision is odd and does not tie the song together properly. The more the album progresses, the more I get this feeling that the songwriting is not quite coming together. Apart from "Descent Into Pandemonium", this second half feels less thought out and fails to keep my attention. "Esoteric Mirrors" is a dirge that leads out with, again, three minutes of ambient guitar playing and leads into the most baffling decision on the album. Namely, to end things on an 18 minute song of synth led ambiance that could belong on Krallice's Crystalline Exhaustion. The sound and feel of these softer parts are great, don't get me wrong, but the length of them and the way they are integrated into the album pulls down my score for an album that I would gladly call a good and impressive debut. It is only based on the strength of the other elements that I don't pull it down further. Let's see some better editing from these guys next time.
Rating: 6/10
Bizarrekult - Den Tapte Krigen
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist Underground Activists
Release Date: 27-01-2023
I suspected something about Bizarrekult when I heard the debut, Vi Overlevde, last year: That they are Black Metal in form but not in heart. Some will read this as an insult but it really is not as I simply mean to say that the band colors outside of the lines. Still, as interesting as I found Vi Overlevde I had problems getting into it fully as it felt slightly undeveloped and erred a bit much on the straight Black Metal side for my taste. Not so much this time, as Den Tapte Krigen expands on the already idiosyncratic sound of the debut. The band's new album is defined by taking more risks and sounding very melodic for a Black Metal album, without veering into cheese or cheap epics. On the contrary, something I appreciate about Bizarrekult in general is how emotional the music is even while sounding harsh at the same time. A great example of this is "Kjære Barn", a song that starts out with some Swallow the Sun sounding Doom riffs that sets up a fantastic quiet/intense bait and switch finished off by clean vocals by the second vocalist in the band simply credited as Dina. She appears on a few songs throughout the album and is undoubtedly an asset to the sound, most clearly in the memorable chorus of "Du Lovet Meg". The more I listen to the album the more I come to appreciate the ubiquitous Doom influence and sense of tragedy that rests over these songs.
Another thing I find worth highlighting is that Bizarrekult seems to approach each song as a separate entity, something that is true for the debut as well. I never feel like I am listening to a "Bizarrekult template song", something that a vast amount of artists struggle with. Other influences I can spot (guess at) are some Goth like guitar playing and attention to leaving room for the bass in songs like the title track, and "Løslatt" as well as an almost Post Rock drive in "Himmelen er Utilgjengelig". Yet the band never feels like they are slaves to their inspirations and make the influences work within their sound well. As for the overall structure of the album, I feel that it mostly flows well with the exception of the middle tracks slowing things down a bit much. "Hvis Jeg Bare Kunne..." is the most guilty of this but "Midt I Stormen" takes a long time to reach any kind of payoff, making the roughly 12 minutes a suspension between the halves that sometimes loses my attention. This is a minor fault as Den Tapte Krigen is a work that leans heavily on atmosphere. In all, I would probably have liked to see some of the heavier parts be a bit more creative instead of only providing a harsh contrast. I realize that I'm criticizing Black Metal for relying on tremolos but bands like White Ward have recently shown that you can get the same blistering effect from the Black Metal while still working in more creative Death Metal influences. The band seems to work better with the non metal side of their sound, but to their credit they also know how to bend a simple set of chords in creative ways. Maybe these are personal nitpicks that won't bother most enjoyers of the frosty arts but my suggestions aside, I enjoy Bizarrekult's latest work and it keeps growing on me.
Rating: 7/10
Cosmo's Chaotic Curveballs
Frozen Dawn - The Decline of the Enlightened Gods
Genre: Melodic black metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Release: 10-02-23
There is no one who works harder to bring light to underground gems than Kunal Choksi, who runs Transcending Obscurity. I would never have discovered bands like Veilburner, Devenial Verdict, or now Frozen Dawn without them being put on such a strong label. Frozen Dawn plays melodic black metal, akin to the olde greats of the 90s (Dissection, Sacramentum, Necrophobic) with a small dose of modern darlings Stortregn. In fact, my first reaction upon pressing play was “man, these guys sound like better Necrophobic.”
The worship continues throughout the entirety of the album, even including a cover of a Necrophobic song at the end. Normally, I would be concerned of such blatant band worship, as it can lead to a band not having a defined sound of their own, but fear not with Frozen Dawn here. Fierce, icy riffs are the order of the day, and they don’t hesitate to shred your face off on songs like “Spellbound” or “Cosmic Black Chaos.” Solos abound as well, and they’re executed quite tastefully. An important distinction is that the band never falls into the trap of becoming soulless, unlike many modern melodic black metal acts. I find many new bands that play melodic black metal lean too heavily into already established tropes and never expand or innovate into something modern that’s worth listening to, which begs the question "why should I listen to bands that sound the same, when you can listen to a more interesting band that sounds better?". In a year still so early on, I am confident that Frozen Dawn will be in my rotation more and more as time progresses. The only criticisms I have for the band are to tighten up some of the longer songs, as they can seem a bit meandering at times. Meandering moments aside, this is a must-listen for any fan of melodic black metal.
Rating: (high) 7/10
As is tradition on The Goat Review, every January Scuttlegoat commits to listening to every album with the Slam tag released to Bandcamp during the month. This tradition has been going for one (1) year.
Galactorrhea - Demo 2023
Genre: Brutal Death Metal / Grindcore
Release Date: 16-01-2023
A clear giveaway at the bands inspiration is the included Dying Fetus cover. Galactorrhea indeed have a lot of similar feel to Fetus if Fetus was a goregrind band and not quite as good at everything they are doing. Galactorrhea is nonetheless shockingly enjoyable, if you can get over how low-grade it is, especially in regards to production. If I could sign one band from Slamuary, it would probably be Galactorrhea.
Rating: 6/10
Cocksmack - Devoured in the Womb
Genre: Slam
Release Date: 25-01-2023
Riffs that make no sense, off-kilter natural harmonics without rhyme or reason and not managing to groove even a single time: Cocksmack are a classic Slamuary band. I have done projects in the past where I programmed a drum track and then just improvised random riffs over it and somehow, they sounded better than this. Not to mention that every track has different production on the album, with the last one miraculously being labelled a Demo Track, despite not even qualifying as such as it is merely drums.
Rating: 2/10
ScumRot - Midwest Misery
Genre: (Brutal) Death Metal
Release Date: 23-01-2023
ScumRot play Brutal Death Metal with a classic tone that settles into slams when it needs to. The production and the weak vocal performance doesn´t help the album at all and the runtime is a bit overcommitted, but for Slamuary, ScumRot is very digestible. ScumRot ironically brings the perfect midwest flavor by not being particularly eventful.
Rating: 5/10
Suffer no More - Wodlwide Division EP
Genre: Groove Metal with Goregrind Vocals
Release Date: 01-01-2023
See the genre descriptor up there? That is your review. Barely serviceable riffs that any guitar beginner could come up with without the necessary heavyness or bonkers attitude to support them. The guitar tone is very thin for anything goregrind and this comes off more like Groove Metal. Turning a So-Bad-Its-Good Genre into a Bad Genre is really not my thing and I don´t think it is the thing of any groove enthusiasts, either.
Rating: 3/10
Ungraceful - Artificial Aberrations
Genre: Slam
Release Date: 25-01-2023
Overcommitted both in length and to slamming exclusively, Ungraceful is shockingly enjoyable nonetheless. The vocals that are somewhere between the proverbial pig and the proverbial cricket do a lot to carry the album and to make it groove. Tracks like 'Fuck Around And Kill a Tweaker' could really use more variation, though, as 3 minutes of basically the same riff can really become grating after a while. This is a rare case where I would have appreciated some sampling, especially of the dumb variety.
Rating: 5/10
Cathinone / Cadaver Decomposition - Split
Genre: Gorgrind / Gorenoise
Release Date: 26-01-2023
I am grateful that this year saw fewer of those nonsensical Gorenoise splits. There really is not a lot to say when the album lacks any structural element whatsoever. For Cathinone, it seems like the issue is mostly incompetence and the sections where I can´t figure out what is going on is mostly audio peaking and the result of a bad mix. CxDx is hyper repetitive and has an enjoyably stupid snare. Thats about it, as songs on either side are indistinguishable.
Rating: 3/10.