Thought that Necromantia album was terribly generic and unmemorable. None of the old spirit and mysticism that made Necromantia unique is present. Hardly any emphasis on bass guitar too.

Bouncing here from the Aeon thread to report again and with regrets that the new Blood Red Throne album is terrible.

None too popular or revered, their early career has nevertheless been a stalwart companion to me whenever i've just needed straight DM aggression and riffs. I've listened to Monument of Death, Affiliated With the Suffering and Altered Genesis hundreds of times over the years, and I love those riffs more than ever, so it's sad to have felt their music go so downhill since MrHustler, Tchort and Erlend left.
With a band like BRT, it's all down to the riff quality, and how well it all flows and punches. And man do the riffs suck on Imperial Congregation. Track 3 "Conquered Malevolence" is a legit banger that reminds me of their mid-era, but by and large the songs lurch awkwardly around stock, lethargic chugs and bland picked note and tremolo DM melodies you've heard a thousand times before. It isn't merely unmemorable, it's actively lame to listen to.
Was initially excited when Fit to Kill was coming out because the original drummer Freddy Bolsø returned, but his work couldn't really elevate the riffs of that one either.

Vildhjarta - Måsstaden Under Vatten



Yeah, djent and all that. But still, it's Vildhjarta. And well, if nothing else, it's heavy.

New band The Silver is the Horrendous brothers mixing their playing style with blackened goth and it fucking rules: https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/ward-of-roses

Did not see this one mentioned yet.

Malignament - Hypocrisis Absolution


Black metal from Finland released on August 16th, on Primitive Reaction. This is the band's first album so far, and it is fairly atmospheric, melodic, yet fairly harsh as well. This will probably be on a lot of people's lists for black metal of the year.

Then it would have to be my album of the year and I really don't see that happening, seems decent, nothing that special.

Black metal of the year is probably more likely to be Panopticon, Mare Cognitum, Ruins of Beverast, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Spectral Wound I suspect. He might be speaking more that it will be on, but not necessarily topping it though.

True but I also don't see it being on a top ten list, seems pretty mundane.

Speaking of recent black metal releases, at the moment the new Profeci sits on the top of my list. if you like Odraza (I loved their album from last year), this is not far off.

This is pretty fantastic, majestic black metal from Chile.

https://solsistere.bandcamp.com/album/sol-sistere

Decibel's hosting the full album stream for the new Worm album Foreverglade. Needless to say it's one of the best death/doom releases of the year and will most likely end up on a lot of year end lists:

Nice! I like the blackened funeral doom approach they're taking.

Sounds great...so far I think it's on the same level as Gloomlord though.

Still need more listens to compare it with Gloomlord, but the sure thing is that any new death metal band who writes decent solos, is worthy of my most profound respect. Amazing emotional buildup on this album, too!

Thanks for pointing this out--I'm really enjoying it. And I had no idea they were still active.

https://primevalwell.bandcamp.com/album ... in-spirits

Well this is just utterly addictive. Black metal bluegrass, no idea if these are the same fields plowed by Panopticon -- and if so I really need to check out that band, which for some reason I've not done as years have gone by. All I know is this shit rules. Lo-fi, rumbling, roaring, alive, cavorting with the ghouls and wraiths on an Appalachian hillside, full of ... I dunno, moonshine and psychedelics?

Don't make the mistake I almost made, which is to get through the intro and second track (first proper song) and think, well, I don't really hear anything noteworthy here. Oh boy does it pick up with "She Flies Undead." And tracks 5, 6, and 7 are likewise out of this world.

edit: jesus there's like 3 other related bands, StumpTail, Vile Haint, and Arcane Marrow; I have some studying to do

Also even though I ordered the CD it seems it's not officially out yet. Or something.

I did not expect the leads, let alone this whole album to be that good. Holy shit I wish I could get stoned and hear this, someone do this for me on their first listen.

Grand Cadaver's Into the Maw of Death is a supergroup done right. Swedish death with Mikael Stanne on vocals, Daniel Liljekvist on drums, and Stefan Lagergren on guitars. Lots of cool bass highlights throughout, Stanne is savage, and Liljekvist gets to show a level of aggression he isn't usually known for.

Lucifer's IV is fantastic. Such badass riffs on this track and some of the others. This one in particular sounds like something that Nicke had left over from the first couple Entombed albums and repurposed for some retro occult rock. "Bring Me His Head" is another superb cut.

Lots of new stuff released today that I'll eventually have to get into - Be'lakor, Ophis, Archspire, and Jerry Cantrell to name a few. But this album grabbed my attention. Black Metal with Folk elements and some "Deathened" passages. I am not much of Black Metal aficionado but this album immediately pulled me in.

I'm pretty impressed by how this album turned out. It's just some straight-up solid, catchy death metal. Parts are sorta bangin' death n' roll, elsewhere it's fast and aggressive. Also really cool to hear Stanne go full-on beast at this stage of his career -- he sounds fantastic. Comparing his vocal performance on this to Thomas Lindberg's on the new At the Gates is honestly embarrassing.

Yeah, as much as I'm kind of a Lindberg fanboy, his vocal shredding is finally catching up to him. I like the ATG album, but he isn't the strongest part of it. I'm worried about The Lurking Fear album next month too. Of course Friden was never great to begin with, just serviceable, and fell off the rails decades ago. Stanne is really impressive how he's maintained his voice. Strid too, though in a very different way.



Yeah, this has been one of the biggest release days of the year, at least for me, especially when you factor in all of the non-metal. I'm just churning through them today. Currently on Be'lakor, it's quite competent and I'm sure fans of theirs will dig it. I'm just not as into the Finnish melancholic style (I know they're Aussies, but they're closer to Insomnium and such than the Swedes or others) as many are. Archspire is just too much for me. It's impressive as hell technically, but very little was memorable. At least Inferi had a bit more to latch onto. I've heard mixed things about Cantrell, I'll probably wait 'til I've heard a bit more buzz before investigating it myself, too many other more piquant releases still in the cue. There's also First Fragment, Kayo Dot, Mastodon, Running Wild, and Whitechapel as potentials. I also liked Ad Infinitum's, and will probably post about it later after a second listen.

Interestingly enough, Stanne just posted a photo on his instagram account that includes him alongside a bunch of ex-In Flames guys (Jesper, Peter, Daniel and Niclas) and it looks like he's started another band called The Halo Effect with them.

Anyway, there's been some pretty solid death metal releases out this week. The new Sulphurous in particular is really good:

Color me intrigued. The Resistance was a cool idea, but not executed as well as it could have been, and part of the problem was picking the wrong vocalist. But Stanne would be perfect.

The debut album of Italian death/doom band Burial came out on Everlasting Spew yesterday. I have been following the band for a couple of years since their EP The Forgotten which came out in 2019. Their sound has changed a little bit since then but it's still death/doom with the HM2 guitar sound. For fans of Mortiferum, Krypts, Spectral Voice etc.

https://everlastingspewrecords.bandcamp ... -of-cosmos

Speaking of Mortiferum, their new album leaked a couple of days ago and it's top notch.

Stormtides newest album is incredible. The pinnacle of symphonic death metal.

If you're looking for some new death/thrash, the debut from Frightful is one of the best releases I've heard this year.

I'm also enjoying the debut from Californian black metallers Feral Season.

Yeah, I meant that I would expect it to be in people's lists though not at the top. Maybe, I just have not heard too much black metal this year.


Burial (Ita) - Inner Gateways to the Slumbering Equilibrium at the Center of Cosmos

This is some very fine death/doom that came out a few days ago. They knocked it out of the park with this one.


I also posted Worm, which is some very good death/doom as well, but I see someone else already linked it. .

The debut EP from In Aphelion (featuring members of Necrophobic and Cryptosis) is pretty good.

Heard this recently and I'm rather impressed. Features some obvious nods to Sarcófago's early stuff, but also features a lot of thrash-y riffing that hardly turns unmemorable. Definitely one of the most fun metal albums that I've come cross of this year.

Being streamed right now. Holy shit, what a banger

I've been listening to the new Outre-Tombe record Abysse mortifère the last couple of days and have been enjoying it a lot. Heavy Autopsy vibes.

Additionally Cult of Eibon - Black Flame Dominion is fucking fantastic. They're one of the true heirs to the traditional hellenic black metal throne.

Also, good call on Force of Darkness. They're such a great band. Hoping this newest release gives them more traction and notoriety.

I was wondering recently if Cult of Eibon was ever going to release an album. I really liked the EPs but it had been a while. I had no idea they put an album out so this is a welcome surprise to me. The vocalist Nyogtha also did an album with Caedes Cruenta earlier in the year. It's more Greek BM goodness.



Also, an unrelated note but I like this Suffering Sights - When Sanity Becomes Insanity album. Death/thrash from Chile that sounds like sounds influenced by 80s South American death and thrash bands.

New Abysmal Grief rules. Dare I say it's their best one yet. Same graveyard atmosphere as always, but stronger guitar riffing than usual.

The new Sarke album is really great. It's cool to hear Nocturno Culto on some Enslaved-esque progressive black metal.

More great death/thrash came out recently in the form of the debut Mortal Vision full length.

Listening to Burial's album right now, almost done. One of the best releases of 2021 so far!

For traditional metal The Night Eternal's debut album came out today, and it is awesome.