IDOL THRONEThe Sibylline Age Stormspell (2022)Rating: 6.5/10 Slightly hindered by the vocal croons of Jake Quintanilla, Highland, Indiana -based thrash-cum-power metallers Idol Throne march on post-pandemic with their debut full-length album. It’s a record emblazoned with Teutonic fire and striding with golden crispness, but is marred by Quintanilla’s at times tuneless commands which at don’t […]
INFECTED ALIVE Rotten And Tortured Flesh (2022) Infected Alive is a twosome – Christian (vocals) and Javier (guitar) – from Guatemala and this is their first release, a three-track demo that’s very much grisly death metal to the maximum. Opening track ‘Punished And Tortured In The Abyss’ combines some excellent heavyweight doomy moments with speedy […]
KEEPTORRobots Of Death EP Self-released (2022)Rating: 7/10 São Paulo is the setting once again for the ferocious return of dynamic Brazilian thrash posse Keeptor. Robots Of Death is the second EP from the five-piece who successfully blend the speed of old Slayer and Nuclear Assault with the hardcore spit and feel of D.R.I., particularly in […]
EXULPath To The Unknown Self-released (2022)Rating: 6/10 Out of Poland come this solid thrash metal act and their debut full-length album Path To The Unknown. I’d not been familiar with these guys previously and on first listen I wasn’t too impressed by the vocal shouts of guitarist Bogdan Sroka which seem to overwhelm and dominate […]
DOMINIOTu ser EP Sepulcro (2022)Rating: 6/10 Chilean metal always grabs me by the balls and throws me around the room in whatever guise it takes. There’s always something so organic and authentic about the vibe and so make no exception for Dominio, a talented act that has returned nearly three years after their second demo […]
TRAITORExiled To The Surface Violent Creek (2022)Rating: 6.5/10 Exiled To The Surface is the fourth full-length album from this German thrash attack, and the follow-up to 2018’s Knee-Deep In The Dead. In today’s climate it’s rather standard to hear this sort of stuff as the combo rattles its way through a bunch of snappy retorts […]
SEEPHymns To The Gore Extremely Rotten Productions / Gurgling Gore (2022)Rating: 8/10 American one-mand act Seep is the sort of sickening scrapyard one would imagine a serial killer into death metal would construct. From its garish cover to the foetid music contained, Seep brainchild Vomitus is more than just the founder of record label Gurgling […]
FINAL SUMMONParalyzed Reality Self-released (2022)Rating: 7/10 There’s no doubting the very strong Slayer influence here as this Los Angeles act delivers its debut full-length outing, but it’s a homage I can accept when executed correctly. Final Summon is a trio consisting of Parth Shah (vocals and guitar), Yash Gokhale (guitar) and Aniket Shenoy (drums). It’s […]
CRONENBERGUnmake What They’ve Made EP Blackened Death (2022)Rating: 7.5/10 BrainBath, Coffin Mulch, Putrid Fate, Rancid Cadaver, Trench Foot, Gouger, Gore Shriek et al, and now another UK-based death metal act, this time being the brainchild of Nova Scotia, Canada-born multi-instrumentalist Grandmaster Flush who comes chugging out the traps on this one with the rhythmic instrumental […]
WANTEDChain Reaction Self-released (2022)Rating: 9/10 I know very little about this young American band from Michigan, and feel guilty for it because they have produced a superb melodic metal album that sounds like it was issued in the late 80s due to its strong melodious streaks and effortless hooks. There’s some solid metal on here […]
