RUTHLESSThe Fallen Fireflash (2024)Rating: 8/10 Los Angeles, California-based metallers Ruthless may not be familiar to everyone but their 1985 debut EP Metal Without Mercy, followed a year later by full-length album Discipline Of Steel, were cult gems. The band formed in 1982 and original frontman Sammy DeJohn remains. The combo has certainly had its ups […]
MASTICATED CADAVERProgression Towards Total Maceration Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 Now, I’ve never spent time in the depths of a sewer system and neither have I ever eaten pond algae, but after listening to Masticated Cadaver I feel like I’ve experienced both. Despite having reviewed the band’s debut 2023 demo Necrotic Mutation, I still know very little […]
IRON FRONTHooked Creator-Destructor (2024)Rating: 7/10 It’s good to see that these Oakland, California-based youngsters have crafted a second album in the form of Hooked, and comes after the decent 2022 debut Left Out To Rot. The five-piece started out in 2016 as Dire Wolves, before morphing into Iron Front in 2019. I do think the […]
SACRILATORMaximum Execution Self-released (2024)Rating: 7.5/10 If you missed the two demos – Infernal Old Force (2009) and From Hell (2011) – from this cult Chilean thrash act then I’d advise you pick up this compilation. I’m glad someone has put this out because Sacrilator were such a cool, old school styled act, as many Chilean […]
NITHENight Of The Ghoul EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 8/10 Just how many more quality extreme metal bands can Norway keep vomiting out! Kristiansand-based Nithe is the latest dank and dismal metal act to crawl from the pits with a debut EP that writhes in its own organic waste. Steeped in atmosphere, this four-song release channels old […]
ATAVISTIC DECAY Demo MMXXIV (2024) It might be too soon to say, but I really do think this could be one of the best demos released this year. Cosmic death-doom is what is causing the heavens to shake here as Indianapolis, Indiana-based Atavistic Decay serves up four staggeringly heavy tunes that not only blot out […]
MORGUE TERRORMorgue Terror EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 6.5/10 Here is a new gruesome twosome which hails from Buffalo, New York. The splattery spidery logo and the cartoon horror track titles like ‘Broken, Beaten, Beheaded’ and ‘Chopped Up Chum’ suggested to me a rather slammy vibe, but what you get is a horror-obsessed (particularly with the Terrifier […]
TORTURED CORPSEBurial Mounds EP Self-released (2024)Rating: 7/10 Why not start the New Year with some simple, raging death metal to blow away the blues. This Polish outfit was busy in 2023 releasing two EPs and a live opus and now they have returned with this four-track outing that comes equipped with a standard but enjoyable […]
DUNWICH RITUALThe Weird Tapes Sessions Jawbreaker (2024)Rating: 7.5/10 When I first saw the cover and band name I thought this might be another of those dull sludge stoner fests, but imagine my surprise when I pushed play and was introduced to a zipping French speed metal act. The vocals of fiery femme fatale Věga are […]
DECONSEKRATEDAscension In The Altar Of Condemned Iron, Blood And Death Corporation (2024)Rating: 8/10 The Chilean scene has another worthy addition to its roster as four-piece Deconsekrated unleashes its rather short (28 minutes) debut album. The effect here is something akin to a glut of howling winds as the combo rattles windows, bows doors and snaps […]
