New shortcuts to the underground!
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Venomous Echoes – Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars
[Jaibanà Records | Vargheist Records]
Here is a discovery I made just yesterday: Venomous Echoes! This is the first full length of the one man dissonant death / black metal band hailing from Ohio / USA. Luckily the dissonance is not too dominant here so I gave the full thing a listen. Super solid stuff for fans of oldschool as well as newschool (not too new though) death metal. Song structures are often different and off kilter but you can hear there is a lot of thought behind it all. The combination of some nice and melodic intros / interludes and those chaotic, almost blurry black / death passages is really interesting and probably exactly what the artist wanted to achieve with this release. So, if you’re into chaotic black and death metal with an oldschool feel but still like cleaner production, please go and check out Writhing Tomb Amongst the Stars. I have to point out that album title… it could easily be a mean boss in Elden Ring or something!
FFO: Burial in the Sky, Carrion Vael and Inanimate Existence
Sodomisery – Mazzaroth
[Testimony Records]
Oh, this one came out of nowhere for me and just like the beginning of the first song on this record, it came with a blast! It came out of nowhere, blasting and it refused to leave my playlist for a looong, long time. I was hooked with that artwork which is actually nothing groundbreaking but as a fan of all things space and nature, it’s totally up my alley, so I had to listen. The album title means “constellations” in hebrew so the art definitely makes sense. To the music: the base of the music is pretty much “classic” melodeath but with a fantastic blackened and dramatic twist to it. While all that sounds like nothing special, trust me, it is badass! The changes in pace and song structure in some songs are simply perfect and add a slight progressive feel to the whole wonderful package. A storm without a wind is a good example (probably my fav song), so is Demon in heaven as well. So, if you like your death metal melodic, epic and a little blackened, please enjoy Sodomisery’s Mazzaroth!
Dripped – Rituals of the Red Sun
[Ungodly Ruins Productions]
This record has basically everything I like in brutal music. I mean brutal as brutal death metal. Dripped totally stepped up their game with this one… Their previous one wasn’t bad at all, dont get me wrong, Rituals of the red sun is just better in every way possible. The production is perfect, crystal clear bass loaden, warm modern brutal death sound. Every instrument is played on a high technical level, the gutturals are punishing, the blast beats wont stop… what else do you need!? In my opinion, this is one of the very best brutal death metal releases of 2023. Go get some aussie brutality.
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