The spookiest releases of the week!
Survival Protocol is some spirited brutal death released on Reigning Phoenix by German act Stillbirth. The band spends the entire album abruptly and jaggedly doing whatever the hell they want. Sometimes that’s floating under a blast beat as they squeal their way through a chunky riff, sometimes that’s completely changing their sound for about four measures before returning like nothing ever happened.
The surprising variety doesn’t overwhelm the brightness of the album. Stillbirth play with precision and with heat. Irreverence does lead to smiles in some of the goofier songs, but never gets in the way of tight songwriting and never threatens to devolve into gimmickry. Entertaining riffs drive the album, as it should be.
This distressingly-long-titled album from Runemagick was released on Hammerheart Records. On their newest record, Runemagick sounds like a blend of Hooded Menace and the Peaceville Three. I found myself getting lost in the guitar tone, which the rest of the music does not at all deserve. The vocals here are fascinating, existing somewhere between death/doom dogma and more blues-oriented vocals depending on the song.
Runemagick‘s tracks are quite long, and they do stretch patience at times. But the band creates interesting tension by doing so. There is plenty of ground covered, and the album’s payoffs and moment-to-moment songwriting are satisfying.
Vurias was released on Listenable Records. The German band’s black metal builds off of orthodoxy, adding just enough spice to the second wave sound to keep things interesting. The blues tones on a solo, the moments before a verse that sound jammed in from another genre, the frantic blast beats that turn into a stuttering fill.
But this shouldn’t distract too much from Thron‘s excellent writing, or their amazing performances. The core of Vurias is simply engaging and fresh riffs. Thron have made one of the most memorable black metal releases of the year.
The Vinyl Store-released Symphony of Chaos continues Black Soul Horde‘s run of catchy throwback heavy metal. The album would sound right at home next to Mercyful Fate or Eternal Champion. Black Soul Horde play all-octane all the time. The songs are high tempo, the riffs move all over the place, and the band constantly pulses with well-controlled energy.
The vocals on Symphony of Chaos are likely to be divisive. I find them emotive and think they add to the style, but the more nasally sound might turn people off. At least the guitar solos are pure righteousness. In any case, Black Soul Horde have created groovy, catchy songs that are just pure good fun.
Alienated hits you right away. The expressive vocals do not fit at all in the modern metal scene, sounding more like an art pop album than anything else. Eventually the uniquely colored music backs into a chant about hellfire that belongs somewhere on a compilation with a bunch of dad rock tracks. That being said, my god can The Other write a chorus. Alienated was released on Massacre Records.
The Other don’t fit neatly into any category I want to jam them into, despite their retro sound. In any case, the expressiveness and vulnerable passion in the music is a breath of fresh air. The band’s songwriting is fine, if leaning a bit heavily on the big moments to cover up their difficulty connecting different musical abilities, but they play with such flair that Alienated is infectious and heartwarming fun anyways.
Blasphemy Perpetuated is one of those independently released albums that make me wonder where the labels have all gone. The production is rough at times, and there’s a lot going on, sometimes a bit too much. But Damned By The Pope can write interesting death metal. The band borrows from Septicflesh and Children of Bodom to create a unique sound that caught me off-guard and pulled me in from the moment I first hit play.
I do wish that Damned By The Pope had cleaned up some of the little things, such as the moments where the guitars and drums come slightly disconnected from each other, but even with that blemish there’s just such a kaleidoscope of well-written death metal styles that are all expertly performed. Blasphemy Perpetuated kept me hooked as the band all slam down on a riff together and pull back into silence, it kept me hooked through wailing solos, through chaos and through straightforward slam. Overall, a great time.
