WOLFBASTARD - Satanic Scum Punks review

 

WOLFBASTARD - Satanic Scum Punks

Apocalyptic Witchcraft Recordings

After a few years England's Blackened Crust punks are back with their fourth full length. Now before I continue on about this album there's a few facts to be put forth about the term "crust". Back in the late 80's / early 90's you had leftists in the Hardcore scene who didn't want to be associated with the crop of bands which were coming out under that label. They didn't like the term Anarco Punk and they liked DISCHARGE so the term "Dis - bands" first came into play. Then "Crust" came out to be the official descriptive term.

Basically the bands / fans were hippie punks with leftist ideas.Their bands and record labels all went broke. Fast forward to the present and for over a decade now you've got bands using that DISCHARGE sound and infusing it into Death Metal or Black Metal. What's even funnier some bands are made up of skinheads. LOL! Oh yeah I have to laugh at that since the skinheads hated Metal back in the day as well.

With all of that said I like WOLFBASTARD simply because they fill that vacuum of what decent 1980's HC use to be like to a point while not going into late 80's / early 90's Metal-core. As far as the whole satanic thing goes I'm sure they have their tea at noon and a beer at the pub at five without stopping to worship the horned one. I like their kick ass attack with these eleven cuts. It's all slam dance style material which I wish I could participate in.

 

Yeah after a four year wait these wanna-be Scum Punks are back. I doubt the cover artwork really means serious intent. You can scream "Hail Satan" all you want because the Christian faithful believe in freedom of speech. But if you talk bad about another religion, which is infecting your country,  then you would be called bad and your government would come after you. I'm just pointing out the obvious there Englishman.

Great release even though the obvious is there to be viewed.  

https://apocalypticwitchcraft.co.uk/

LISTEN HERE:

https://apocalypticwitchcraft.bandcamp.com/album/satanic-scum-punks

VEILBURNER - All That Glimmers Is Gloam review

VEILBURNER - All That Glimmers Is Gloam

Transcending Obscurity Records

I first became a fan of this US Blackened Death metal act back in January of 2019 after hearing their fourth full length, A Sire to the Ghouls of Lunacy, which came out at the very end of 2018. Since then I think every full length that's followed is some of the greatest Extreme Metal in this modern era. It's not that they continue a cool sound. Instead they progress, experiment and produce changes to their sound which makes em unique as well as damm good.

There's not many Extreme Metal acts out there who push things to a crazy level more with album after album. In all honesty I like my comfort level when it comes to Metal. But once in a while I appreciate acts who just go berserk and VEILBURNER are the top one of them. I mean listening to this new one you get an infection of blood thirsty Black Metal (especially in the vocals) meets KING CRIMSON with the crazy riffs / song structures.

I mean something I had said before and that's this is a perfect example of total filth and hatred meeting beauty in a hellhole of shit. VEILBURNER are a two piece act hailing  from somewhere in Pennsylvania. The two individuals are David Moody who's responsible for all instruments and Chris Sheppard on vocals. I lived in Pennsylvania many years ago and I could not come up with this must hatred and despair. 

This new album is nine cuts of mostly hate filled anthems based on insanity. There's one cut, "Dis Obedient Woe", which slows things down to a Gothic Doom level. But the rest is far more insane. After listening to the latter half of this album I wanna say "My name is Lucifer and where's my medication?"

The bottom line is that VEILBURNER have put out another amazing album. As always it's a listening experience as opposed to just a cool release. And again hard to find something better than this out there. David Moody, aka: Mephisto Deleterio, is an amazing songwriter. The song craft he creates is blackened chaos which somehow works. Add to that vocalist Chris Sheppard, aka: Chrisom Infernium, who in the past I refereed to as a drunken priest suffering from rabies. Vocally his style is inbetween MAYHEM's Attila Csihar and FUNERAL MIST / MARDUK's Mortuus. Which is why I think this is the most exciting album I've heard in 2026. Call it Black Metal (which I'm leaning to) or Blackened Death. For me it's the best.

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://veilburnerband.bandcamp.com/album/all-that-glimmers-is-gloam

 

DRUDKH - Thaw EP review

 

DRUDKH - Thaw EP

Season of Mist 

As far as Black Metal bands who started out in the 2000's go DRUDKH is one of my favorites. I say that because obviously I own everything they've released. With that said I'd say 70% of it is damm good. So yeah they've had some duds in their career in my opinion. Another thing worth mentioning is that their EP releases for the most part come across as extra tracks that couldn't fit on a previous full length. 

Once again I see Thaw in the same way as tracks which did not make it on their last full length Shadow Play from 2025. Thaw is three cuts, two of which are semi long meeting at the seven minute mark and one is an instrumental. Collectors, like me, head it if you're not there.

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7saLvmGPw2A

ISKALD - Curse of the Mind review

 

ISKALD - Curse of the Mind

Dusktone

I've been a fan of Norway's ISKALD ever since I checked out their second full length Revelations of Reckoning Day which came out in 2008 on Indie Recordings. In fact whenever we get our first snow down where I live here in North Carolina I play that CD in order to feel grim and frosty. I've followed their career buying all of their full lengths and enjoyed em all. 

But their last album, Innhostinga, came out in 2018. So here we are now some many years later with the band's sixth full length, Curse of the Mind. The band is now on Dusktone after many years on Indie Recordings. Also the line-up has gone through some changes. The studio duo of Aage Andre Krekling (drums / vocals) and Simon Larsen (vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards) is still in tact. Except now Krekling has given up drumming and is the main vocalist.

The band has added guitarist Ben Hansen who plays with em live. On bass there's Tobias Aubert and Isak Larsen has taken over on drums. Something else new is that Curse of the Mind is the band's first concept album. To me that's a shocker because I considered all of their albums to be based on concepts. Mainly the whole grim, frosty atmosphere of Norwegian heritage. 

For years I've always considered ISKALD to be heirs of a Black Metal heritage from Norway that conveyed with a melodic tone the nature, history and inner feelings of the region. This new one is like a cold day in hell and it's all Norse inspired. The territory is called Helheim and it's more than a mythological place. It's actually a state of mind which ISKALD deliver in four blackened revelations.

Musically Krekling does a great job on vocals. The song structures are not as carried away as you would guess. I say that mainly because Simon Larsen has always been a great song writer. His riffs are icy and tremolo based with a hint of technical touches. Plus his use of keyboards is always in a subtle back ground manner.

All in all I like this release. It's good as well as a big chance for the band. Hey concept albums always are. Hopefully they go back to that run, previously from years ago, when it was cool album every few years.  

https://www.dusktone.it/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/curse-of-the-mind

DIMMU BORGIR - Grand Serpent Rising review

 

DIMMU BORGIR - Grand Serpent Rising

Nuclear Blast Records

Well there's a lot to unpack here so let's go for it. The last album by this Norwegian Symphonic Black Metal act that I use to like and still own a copy of is 2007's In Sorte Diaboli. I hardly ever listen to it. In fact I believe it was around this time that the band influenced too many copycat acts who just followed their style because they had become mainstream metal. 

Obviously if you're a hardcore BM fan then you hated DIMMU BORGIR before 2007 and called em sell outs. Be that as it may when the band released Abrahadabra in 2010 I was like fuck you. To me that was Blackened Power Metal and utter bullshit. That was I wrote DIMMU BORGIR off. I never heard 2018's Eonian nor did I want to. 

So here we are many years later and I figured let's check it out. First off a big shocker to me is that only vocalist Shagrath and guitarist Silenoz are still in the band. Everyone else is new. As far as this, the band's eleventh full length goes I'm definitely sitting on a fence figuring it out.

For anyone to say this is a return to form for DIMMU BORGIR I'd say you're an idiot or a liar and maybe both. A return to form would really mean going back to the days of the original Stormblast or Enthrone Darkness Triumphant which I still think is their best album. This return to form is more like In Sorte Diaboli except that the cool sounds are part of the second half of the album. 

With the exception of "Ascent" the first portion of this release blows. "As Seen in the Unseen" starts out cool with an atmospheric opening, an aggressive point middle but ends poorly. That seems the be the total theme which predominates this release. Bad keyboard themed atmospheric parts with common guitar riffs. "The Exonerated." is another perfect example of a good song destroyed by Shagrath's insistence on almost Power Metal keyboard back drop.

 

The bottom line is that this album sucks. I gave it a serious chance and it's another disappointment. Nuff Said!

https://www.nuclearblast.com/de/#gbaid74159

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnR1cRin3Dw

ARMORY - Echoes of the Astrolith review

 

ARMORY - Echoes of the Astrolith

Dying Victims Productions

When you get old, and trust me that'll happen to some of you. There will come a time where comfort means a fucking lot. As far as music goes it'll be like wearing your old leather jacket. It's the main reason why I really like Germany's Dying Victims Productions. Their releases are by bands who for myself remind me of the 1980's Metal scene, both mainstream and underground. 

Back then, if you were into Metal, you had the mainstream stuff as well as the cool underground material. And if you were into the latter then you were the coolest motherfucker around. Plus you sported a nasty ass grin because you had crazy songs in your head. Case in point here we have Sweden's ARMORY who hail from Gothenburg and there's no Melodic Death Metal on this release.

Musically this, the band's fourth full length, is traditional Euro Speed Metal which eventually turns into Power Metal over time. But ARMORY do have an EXODUS influence. I mean vocalist Chris Rostoff (actually new vocalist since he joined the band this year) comes off like Steve "Zetro" Souza. Albeit Chris Rostoff does have a better vocal range but still. 

Add to that musically the twin guitar duo of Gustav Sundin and Niclas Mendahl Ingelman is exciting as fuck. The rhythm section of bassist Jesper Lundin and the amazing drummer August Holmstrom is just kick ass. The songs on here are killer. So yeah in the end this is an amazing album. But it's more of a stand out release. I mean ten or twenty years from now people should look at this as being a fuckin classic. Nuff Said. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/echoes-of-the-astrolith

RUNAWAY DEVILS - Blood Must Be Shed to Enchant Your Head review

 

RUNAWAY DEVILS - Blood Must Be Shed to Enchant Your Head

Godz ov War Productions

This label, Godz ov War Productions, has always been known for great Black and Death Metal. Trust me because I write about their great releases. What we have here is something so out of the box that I'm shocked, shocked I say that this label released this. 

What we have here is a four piece all female band who are musically producing a sound that's basically Blackened Punk. The first time I listened to this my first thoughts were it's the PANDORAS (an all female Garage Punk act from Los Angeles, California in the late 1980's) doing Black Metal. 

I'm gonna take a guess and say this is the band's original cassette release put out on CD by the label. In all honesty it's horrible. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/blood-must-be-shed-to-enchant-your-head

MORGUE - Herald the Dawn review

MORGUE - Herald the Dawn

Godz ov War Productions

This is the sixth full length by France's MORGUE. I first got into this two piece Death Metal act back in 2022 with their fourth album, Lowest Depths of Misery. Since then they've been consistent with releasing a new album every two years. That's pretty good considering the fact that the band first started out in 1997 and had a sporadic timeline on releases. 

Be that as it may when it comes to Extreme Metal I consider MORGUE to be France's best export since their nation's 1990's era of Black Metal. And they've just gotten better with each album. This latest one just takes what MORGUE has done before and pushes it to a better level. The band is still Max Lobier on vocals, guitars and drums with Jerome Blandino on bass. On here they've got a couple of guests on vocals and a guitarist supplying some lead work. 

Musically I've always called MORGUE's sound a cavern of hate. You've got your brutal beat-downs plus atmospheric touches. It's like Blackened Death Grind with creep filled horror movie touches. Add to that the band kicks in melody which ends up falling into a fuckin diabolical pit of disgusting Blackened hate. 

Max Lobier's vocals are a combination of having a burnt Satanic throat and smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. The guy is an amazing drummer to say the least. Plus the way he kicks in with the riffs makes him more of a composer than a simple musician. 

Many years ago I said Black Metal musicians were the present day composers as in classical music. So you listen to a band like MORGUE (yes they're Death Metal but with some blackened touches) and think it's more than quality Extreme Metal. It's more of a grand experience going on while listening to this release. For me MORGUE are just getting better over time which makes this latest release a winner. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/herald-the-dawn

THRONEUM - Love Is the Law But Death Is the Frame review

 

THRONEUM - Love Is the Law But Death Is the Frame

Godz ov War Productions

Here we have the eleventh full length by Poland's THRONEUM. This Black Metal act released their first demo in 1998. For some of you reading this that was when your parents were into Black Metal. Of course that's if you had cool parents. I know my son told his friends years ago that his dad was into Black Metal, Death Metal, etc.They all thought that was cool.  

Anyways when it comes to Black Metal, THRONEUM are weird. Seriously decades ago I thought ABRUPTUM from Sweden were the weirdest act in Black Metal. But no THRONEUM has em beat. I learned that back in 2020 with their last album, Oh Death Oh Death Determinate, Preach and Lead Us Astray. I was gonna go back and find some of their earlier material but that never happened.

So why is this album weird? Well first off it all sounds like a sick sermon. I mean mainman and vocalist Tomasz Hanuszkiewicz (aka: The Great Executor) sounds like a drunken priest who's given up the faith. Oddly enough he's joined by a guest female vocalist who sounds like a nun who got into the wine as well.

Sound-wise this album sounds like a blackened musical ritual. I mean should go out back into the yard, kill a goat and toss it into a burning pit of fire? I can't wait for my neighbors seeing me do that. Which is all of what you got here musically. Given all of that there's creepy sounds, some cool Black Metal stuff and a touch of Death Metal. 

Like I said earlier THRONEUM are weird and for fans only.  

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/love-is-the-law-but-death-is-the-frame

STRICKEN - From Dark Dimensions An Unspeakable Presence Awakens review

 

STRICKEN - From Dark Dimensions An Unspeakable Presence Awakens

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

While listening to this release I was checking out the band line-up. So I see that their drummer is Chris Wozniak who's also in LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR from Chicago, Illinois. Just for the record I'm a huge fan of LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR's early albums. But their comeback album this year was not that good in my not so humble opinion. . 

So getting into this release was at first like thinking it's gonna be LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR minus one. And it's something different. STRICKEN are a Sludge Metal band hailing from Seattle, Washington. And what they are doing is not YOB or anything from the NOLA side of the genre. 

A few months ago I was checking out a local NC band who were Sludge Metal but were pushing a more sonic approach to the sound. I mean the old school is there to like but the genre needs to be improved not in a stupid way but in a Metal way. And this local band was doing so.

STRICKEN are doing the same thing and I like it a lot.

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/from-dark-dimensions-an-unspeakable-presence-awakens

BEHEMOTH - I, Scvlptor review

 

BEHEMOTH - I, Scvlptor

Massacre Records

Before I even touch an opinion upon this release I'll just point out the obvious. Most modern BEHEMOTH fans were once GHOST fans because BEHEMOTH has better videos. Look if you're a modern day BEHEMOTH fan then I doubt you ever heard "Wolves Guard My Coffin" or "From the Pagan Vastlands". Hell the first album I got into em was Grom from 1996 and it took years to get into all of their previous material while the band was putting out new material. 

Be all of that as it may yeah I'm a BEHEMOTH fan and own all of their full lengths plus other stuff. So I look back on all of their releases as fuckin amazing, damm good or decent. Their last one, The Shit ov God, was decent. In other words that CD will gather dust upon it before I play it again. So it's not a big surprise that this EP came out. Hey let's keep old fans like myself interested. OK ya got me so what's on here.

First off you've got two cuts from The Shit ov God album which are outtakes but still are not that good. "Lord of the Horizons" is supposedly a new track but I doubt that. It's a throwaway cut from their last sessions. The good stuff comes next when the band brings back demo songs from their Black Metal days. We're talking about "The Return of the Northern Moon" from a 1993 demo. "Pandemonic Incantations" from 1998 is not so good. 

That brings us to the cover songs.Yeah BEHEMOTH were so cool to do a bad version of a VENOM cover that they invited Shagrath from DIMMU BORGIR to sing on it. At least their live version of BATHORY's "The Return of Darkness and Evil" sounds great. It's my favorite cut on here. The final cut, a rough mix of "Lord ov the Horizons" is forgettable. 

In the end this release, like previous EPs and live albums by BEHEMOTH, are for completists only. 

https://massacre-records.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://behemoth.bandcamp.com/album/i-scvlptor

MISOTHEIST - De Pinte review

 

MISOTHEIST - De Pinte

Terratur Possessions

So here we have the fourth full length by Norway's MISOTHEIST. This is a one man Black Metal act. The one man is Brage Krabol who sings and performs everything. Although there are reports that it's actually a real band but until I see evidence then I'll go with what I know. Brage Krabol also has a one man BM act called ENEVELDE. As far as opinions go ENEVELDE put out a killer full length in 2024 titled Pandemonium. The CD version came out in 2025 and on this label. I highly recommend you check that one out.

As far as my experience with MISOTHEIST goes I didn't care for the self titled debut from 2018 nor did I like the follow up, For the Glory of Your Redeemer, from 2021. Which is probably why I never bothered checking out the third album, Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh, from 2024. But I do like this release. On this album MISOTHEIST can best be described musically as a Black Metal act with one foot firmly planted in BM's 2000 era with the other in the modern day. 

De Pinte is just four cuts with the first three being of average length while the fourth one is a twenty-plus minute opus. I'm gonna start with the opus which is also the title cut. To me this is Brage Krabol's laying open his soul to Black Metal. The influences are all there. You've got the creepy ambiance, the haunting atmosphere and then comes the blitzkrieg of fury via guitar and drum work. Yes the great wall of blackened noise from Norway in all it's tormented beauty. I've said for years that Black Metal is the only Metal genre that can project beauty and rage in the same vein and here it is in one amazing track.

Going back to this album's beginning the first two tracks on here, "Unanswered Thrice" and "Blinded and Revealed" are the best material MISOTHEIST has ever done. First off Brage Krabol is an amazing BM vocalist. He's got that bestial barritone working for him which works perfectly in this recorded in a cavern sound. Take away the atmospheric parts which come through these songs. And just concentrate on the BM fury, especially on "Blinded and Revealed". The third track, "Kjetterdom" is more like a bridge to the final cut which comes across as blackened doom with Brage Krabol sounding like a drunk priest denouncing his faith.

If you're an old school fucker who believes over the past bunch of years Black Metal has been on zombie land status, corrupted by hiptards or just can't achieve greatness in this modern era. Well every once in a while a release will come out that will change your mind. I know they're few of em out there but hey this is one of em.    

https://terraturpossessions.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/album/de-pinte

COSCRADH - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld review

 

COSCRADH - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld

20 Buck Spin

COSCRADH are an Irish four piece Blackened Death Metal act who I've been into ever since I checked out their self titled demo from 2016. That release came out on Invictus Productions out of Ireland. The band followed that up with a couple of EPs. But in 2022 the band finally released their full length debut Nahanagan Stadial which also came out on Invictus Productions. 

So here we are a few years later on a different label but the band's sound is far more ferocious. COSCRADH are standouts when it comes to modern day Blackened Death Metal. First off the vocals are chaotic as in they run the gambit of being every type of hate filled vocal style in Extreme Metal. 

That's works perfectly well since the song structures are violent guitar passages with amazing drum fills and power blasts. To me it's like Hell's version of blitzkrieg with a possessed guy on vocals and a horned demon ripping out guitar solos. This is what you want to hear after a hard night's work especially if you've been subjected to crappy music at your place of business. 

All in all what COSCRADH did on their first full length was just a taste on how insanely corrupt they could be. I've said many times that the modern day sound of Blackened Death Metal is generic. COSCRADH are far from that which may be why they're on this record label as opposed to another one who puts out generic sounding shit these past years. 

Anyways this might be one of my favorite listening experiences of the year. I mean the name coscradh is  translated into “triumph in slaughter”. So hell fuckin yeah!

https://www.20buckspin.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://coscradh.bandcamp.com/album/carving-the-causeway-to-the-otherworld

HECATE ENTHRONED - The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried review

 

HECATE ENTHRONED - The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried

M-Theory Audio

Here we have the seventh full length by this English Symphonic Black Metal act. I don't want to get too bogged down in this band's history. I'll just say that bassist Dylan Hughes and guitarist Nigel Dennan have kept this band going since 1995. I also give credit to guitarist Andy Milnes who joined in 1997. Other than those three this act has gone through plenty of members especially when it comes to vocalists. 

The skinny on HECATE ENTHRONED has always been that they are CRADLE OF FILTH's better or worse twin. Since I only owned two full lengths by em my opinion on that point doesn't matter. I have the band's 1997 debut, The Slaughter of Innocence, a Requiem for the Mighty, because you have to. It's part of black Metal history so you have to own the originals. The other HECATE ENTHRONED full length I have is 2019's Embrace of the Godless Aeon. 

Present vocalist Joe Stamps (who joined the band in 2015) debuted on Embrace of the Godless Aeon. I really like this guy's vocals as far as Symphonic Black Metal goes. He's got the harsh screams down as well as the baritone vocals and that whispering thing really nails it. I think he's more influenced by Ihsahn as opposed to Dani Filth. In the end he does this band well.

Something else I like about this album is that the compositions are pretty cool. I mean if you go back twenty years ago Symphonic Black Metal was kind of a joke. I'm not pointing fingers but when DIMMU BORGIR got big you had plenty of copycats following their lead. Thankfully this album is not like that. 

I liked 2019's Embrace of the Godless Aeon but it needed to be better. Half a decade later we have that type of release which is harsh as fuck but also melodic as well as majestic for a cool late night blast. HECATE ENTHRONED just put out a decent album which Black Metal fans should like. Hey HECATE ENTHRONED don't wait half a decade or change your line-up before you release your next album. 

https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hecateenthroned.bandcamp.com/album/the-corpse-of-a-titan-a-lament-long-buried

UNBOUNDED TERROR - Through the Dark Desperation Compilation review

 

UNBOUNDED TERROR - Through the Dark Desperation Compilation

Abstract Emotions

File this one under the title; For Collector Scum Only. But first I need to explain a few things. So last year I checked out the newest album by one of Spain's oldest Death Metal acts UNBOUNDED TERROR. That album was Something Is Rotten in Humanity which was the band's fourth full length since starting out in the early 1990's. The release came out on the Xtreem Music label and it was fucking great. I highly recommend you pick up this album. 

Now when writing about this band and seeing their history I wondered how cool it would be to hear some of their early demo stuff. Boom baby because here it is to a point. Through the Dark Desperation consists of their Growing on Sorrow demo from 1992 plus their Through the Dark Desperation (Evil Laughs Stronger) demo from 1993. 

Also on this release there's live stuff from 1992 and 1993. Ok sure that's cool and it all sounds good. And oh hell yeah I wish I was at those shows. But for me the demo stuff rules. Also if you hear it then you'd realize it's easily equal to more familiar DM acts from the 1992 / 1993 era. 

Which brings up the question from the asshole in the room who thinks he knows it all. That asshole will say so how come I didn't know about em? The answer is that the record labels mainly focused on Death Metal from Sweden and the US back then. Anything else was secondary or third tier. The fourth realm, which I think a ton of bands were at, was overlooked. 

Thankfully, if you're an old school fucker like me who enjoys this stuff as if it was brand fuckin new, then here ya go. 

https://abstractemotions.com/en/

LISTEN HERE:

https://unboundedterror.bandcamp.com/album/through-the-dark-desperation

NUNSLAUGHTER - Satanic Chaos Legions review

 

NUNSLAUGHTER - Satanic Chaos Legions

BLKIIBLK Records

So last year I was all excited because NUNSLAUGHTER was playing downtown on my off night from work. But then we had a weather problem. A Winter storm hit with snow and ice typical of North Carolina Winters the day before. Our boss came into work that night and shut us down early. He even gave a few of us a ride home in his four wheel drive vehicle. 

The next day our city closed the roads because of ice. I figured the NUNSLAUGHTER show was cancelled so I stayed home. But I was wrong because the Kings of Devil Metal did play that night and I missed it. And all I got was to watch their set on Youtube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWfZZbgsUhc

Be that as it may I thought NUNSLAUGHTER's previous full length, Red Is the Color of Ripping Death, from 2021 was damm good. This one basically continues where that one left off. NUNSLAUGHTER are more into Death Thrash with ferocious riffs that pummel the fuck out of ya. Don of the Dead's vocals are better than ever. 

Once again ya gotta give credit to new drummer, Joe Lowrie, who took over the sticks after longtime drummer Jim Sadist passed away. A big seat to fill he has done well. Also new bassist Mike Jochum, who joined in 2022, is an amazing asset to these songs. 

Yeah I'm an old school NUNSLAUGHTER fan. My favorite album by em has always been Hells Unholy Fire from 2000. Mainly because I love the album cover but damm the songs were great too. Right now, Satanic Chaos Legions is my favorite. Fast and furious Devil Metal rules! 

https://frontiers-us.shop/pages/blkllblk

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrkJ_Qm8BQ

EXUMER - Death Mask Messiah review

 

EXUMER - Death Mask Messiah

Metal Blade Records

There's a bunch of stuff to unload here. First off I'm an EXUMER fan. I think their first two albums from the late 80's are classic. With that said EXUMER came out with their fifth album, Hostile Defiance, in 2019 and it was damm good. Add to that they were always considered fifth tier as far as German Thrash goes. 

Now in my not so humble opinion in 2019 EXUMER were better than their contemporaries. I mean KREATOR blew. I don't remember TANKARD doing anything cool. And SODOM and DESTRUCTION were just repeating generic albums. So yeah EXUMER were cool as fuck and leading the charge of German Thrash. 

But then that was it for a while as in seven years later with this latest release. On this one old blood meets new blood to keep the influences on your sleeves act alive and kicking ass. Of course there's Mem von Stein on vocals with Ray Mensh on guitar keeping the early original line-up and sound alive. Guitarist Marc Brautigam, who joined in 2013, completes the older line-up. 

On board now is a radical rhythm section consisting of bassist Alex Voss, who joined in 2024 and new drummer Jerome Reil who joined in 2025. Basically they're the new blood keeping things exciting. Which means overall I don't care about influences worn on sleeves especially in 2026. 

We're talking about Thrash here in an era where sounding like something that doesn't exist anymore is cool in my book. Let the naysayers, who weren't even around back in the day, cry and criticize. For me I hope EXUMER doesn't take a half of a decade to put out their next album.

https://www.metalblade.com/us/

LISTEN HERE:

https://exumerofficial.bandcamp.com/album/death-mask-messiah

VIANDE - Monument aux morts review

 

VIANDE - Monument aux morts

Transcending Obscurity Records

This is the second full length by VIANDE a four piece modern Death Doom act from France. A few years back I really liked their debut full length, L'abime devore les ames. that came out in 2022 and on Transcending Obscurity Records. Now as regular readers of this blog know (and frankly who isn't) over the past couple of years I've been brutally negative in my opinion of modern day Death Doom. I think it's become over-saturated. 

So why did I like VIANDE as a standout amongst the generic a few years ago? Maybe it was because their band name translates into English as "meat". Maybe it sounded like it was recorded in an hellish abattoir. Then again it could've come in for review on a good fuckin night. either way VIANDE's debut was damm good. 

So how do you surpass that? Well on here the band sticks with the basic modern Death Doom formula aka: GRAVE meets INCANTATION and adds PORTAL to the mix. But then injects enough horrific atmosphere as if this was recorded in the Paris catacombs. The overall sound comes across as putred barbaric filth with a stench of disemboweled things. 

In the end yeah VIANDE's second full length is a winner. You've got the bestial vocals as well as horrific screams. There's the guitar dynamics which are a combination of rich doom riffage and sometimes chaotic time changes meets dissonance darkness. The rhythm section is amazing especially the drum work. All in all it's an amazing album.

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://viandeband.bandcamp.com/album/monument-aux-morts

CRYPTORIUM - Through the Bowels of Ceaseless Dissonance review

 

CRYPTORIUM - Through the Bowels of Ceaseless Dissonance

Transcending Obscurity Records

The tagline on this release is old school Swedish Death Metal. OK sure but they might be the grand children of DISMEMBER. In all honesty they're cousins to FERAL and CRAWL. They're two bands who, were on this label, ripped the shit out of the whole old school Swedish DM style with some cool Hardcore influences. 

CRYPTORIUM is basically following through with the obvious progression. I mean the intro on here is not my type of thing but then I hate bad intros. After that it's cool as fuck rip roaring hate. Whether it's the blitzkrieg of riffs that'll punish your face, the hate fueled vocals or the whole amazing tempo of extreme meets atmospheric craziness. 

It's 2026 and with extreme metal we're at the death of creation. So let's check out new bands again who love the old ways but have fire in their belly. On this their second full length CRYPTORIUM are far more than a band with the right patches on the battle vests. To me this sounds like a great representation of the new with old stuff clinging on like webs. 

Yeah this is one of the best Death Metal albums of the year. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://cryptorium-label.bandcamp.com/album/through-the-bowels-of-ceaseless-dissonance

F.A.M. - Pleasure Of Torture review

 

F.A.M. - Pleasure Of Torture

Selfmadegod Records

Just for some clarity F.A.M. stands for Furor Arma Ministrat. They are a Brutal Death Metal act hailing from the great Extreme Metal nation of Poland. The band has been around since 2005 and here's a shocker. I know about em. 

So yeah a decade ago I learned about this band because they had an album out, Human Cargo, which was billed as Brutal Death Grind from Poland. As an Extreme Metal fan knowing that Poland has great Grindcore and great Death Metal so why not a combination of the two plus tossing in the Brutal aspect or what we here in the states call "Brootal". 

Unfortunately Human Cargo had no Grind at all. Sure it was Brutal DM but on an average scale. Whichs brings us to now with this their fourth full length. Obviously I missed one or two but anyways I'm pissed because there's really no actual Grindcore on this album even though it was billed as Brutal Death Grind (again). 

As far as the positive points go F.A.M. are good at producing some decent low brow punishing Brutal Death Metal which any sub-genre loving neanderthal will like. I mean chaotic riffs abound with sick pig squeal / bestial vocals. Plus the beating on tupper-ware or pickle barrel drum sounds are evident. Yeah average for this sub-genre but hey if you're a knuckle draggier then here ya go.

https://selfmadegod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/pleasure-of-torture