Below - Upon a Pale Horse [2017]

Doom takes some skill to do right. So much of what goes around my ears traverses fledgling attempts at sucking the listener's emotional valves through sustained, meandering, heavy music for the sake of being heavy and morose, that I'm not surprised that the genre is so often berated for being 'slow'. Especially past a certain classic era which ended somewhere in the 90's, I find it difficult to counteract these enduring doom myths, but thankfully bands like Atlantean Kodex, Grand Magus and Crypt Sermon have proven to be persuasive arbiters of the best which their genre has to offer, combining the groove-laden moods of Candlemass, Count Raven or Pentagram which juicy, unbarred traditional heavy metal riffcraft, creating a riveting fusion of pace, melody and earthly sensation. Both the artwork and thematic plateau of Below's Upon a Pale Horse suggests something more in line with a King Diamond disc, but the assured quality and content is rather on a par with the aforementioned masters, something which only serves to further boost Sweden's retinue for streaming such excellent old-school metal from its bloodline.

To be frank, Below's effort here does not stack up an exceeding height to a body of already impressive recent heavy/doom offerings from bands I've already laid out, chiefly memorable among which I would cite the dazzling Crypt Sermon debut. The band gets the 'epic doom' tag from Metallum, a curious intimation with the original specters of the sub-genre, such as Candlemass, and one that I can't entirely agree with. The opener ''Disappearing into Nothing'' showcases a strong tact for tasteful riffing and harmonious, atmospheric choruses that explode with moving momentum; similarly, much of the rest of the songs follow such a course, whereby the sheer and dark Candlemass-esque pulsations are curtailed with a more pronounced proclivity for melancholy, injected through occasional arpeggios and low-ebb verses. All this, however, is not at all to detract from the band's capacity to churn out strong crafts of melody and musical narrative. There is also a fair bit variety in the pacing. ''Suffer in Silence'', my favorite from the album, begins with a harried diminished chord attack, and come chorus unveils with another killer, moving chorus the band seems to have such a knack for. ''The Coven'' could certainly have been a cover for Mercyful Fate, with its somber leads and Gothic vibe. Despite the evident comparisons, Below doesn't have the same saturnine weight as the Swedish legends Candlemass, because the compositions sail more elegant, albeit still convincingly poignant, waters, and the augmented fleshes of melody and harmony certainly serve as ear-catchers on the mast of the ship.

Vocalist Zeb is no virtuoso, but he does a fine job in reconstructing the Bruce Dickinson timber, sometimes sporting this grainy haughteur that's more reminiscent of some of Bruce's creepier moments, with the early Maiden records or as on some of his solo records, and the choruses and chants are nothing if not vibrant and memorable. Production is close to perfect: the drums cling on loosely but patiently in the background like sleepwalking candle-bearers in an abandoned attic, witnessing a sacrificial ceremony, the guitars, both while clean and distorted, hover with organic, if slightly sinister precision above the dim lights, - here's where the Candlemass comparisons really get their due - and the vocals, all told, are sufficiently resplendent to carry out the emotional wave of the record forward. The riffs never offer a copious endless variety of funereal meatiness, but as far as I'm concerned they're groovy and crushing enough to elude the caveat of 'bored metal' for the good +45 minute duration of the album. Tip to toe, I'm happy to say this is an accessible record, a fairly delectable 21st century yarn for Candlemass fans like myself, perhaps not the most forward thinking piece of music you're likely to hear in 2017, and certainly not an impregnable morass of lugubrious horror a la Esoteric or Skepticism, but a highly listenable, inspiring gauze of melodic doom nonetheless. Retro and maudlin, a luminous contender in a sea of colorless mourning.

Highlights:
Suffer in Silence
Disappearing into Nothing
The Coven

Rating: 77%

Terra Tenebrosa - The Reverses [2016]

There is something distinctly unnerving about Terra Tenebrosa even as you glance at their various cover arts. Slanting, oblique figures in masks that look like they were stolen from a hellish carnival around the whereabouts of Chernobyl, set against a grainy, black-and-white bucolic landscape as though something out of a modern indie horror movie. But even the cover of their albums - among which their third, The Reverses, I find the most visually frightening - does not begin to encompass the integument of the aural and parasitic trance which these Swedish obscures have no offer, a kind of digestible, if not lacking experimentation, configuration of grating, otherworldly senses which seems to liaise between highly industrialized, bogged down venture, and a more cohesive palette of instrumentation akin to Deathspell Omega, Samael, Neurosis at their most unhinged, Blut Aus Nord, Red Harvest, and the Dutch hopefuls Dodecahedron. While most of the time I'm accustomed to slab the label 'unusual' or 'strange' onto bands, the classification does not help much here. In fact, the only way to rectify the crawling insanity of such a band as Terra Teneborsa should require a deep dissection of the band's style and music.

How exactly to go about this? The Swedes are frightening, theatrical, capricious and dissonant. Predictability is completely out of question, with the band employing such a rich mixture of dense, broiling industrial guitars, cavernous murmurs intermingling with chants, and the production value is simply off the chain, pummeling and bombastic, it's oddly yet titillatingly loud which gives the parasitical quality of the riffs a great deal of punch and energy. Truly, production is at the helm of the sheer momentum of this music. Had the band opted for a grainier, lo-fi production the aural experience, while no less unnerving, might have come off as underwhelming and appropriately downsized, but the magnitude of sound here enhances the claustrophobia and atmosphere, much like the Swiss Samael, especially after their 1996 masterpiece, Passage, only instead of the cosmic, ethereal aura they manifest so endearingly, the Swedes meticulously fabricate the auditory equivalent of a industrial nightmare doll-house, with charred pieces of plastic and piled masses of doll's heads lying about. Ambient sounds textures and multitudes of creeping voices fill in the almost mindless discomfiture they strew in between tracks or passages, and these as freakish and harrowing as a lengthy shot from a Tarkovsky or Kubric opus, dragging in the listener for several minutes with terrible anticipation until a load of jagged, heavyweight riffs are unburdened.

This is very noticeable with the final, overarching megalith, ''Fire Dances'', some 16 minutes long, which not only has a terrific set of crushing, grooving riffs but a totally immersive center section with long, drudging currents of sound and discord enveloping the listener with minutes at an end. But besides the band's obvious stylistic merit in cultivating such shadowy, implosive chaos, I was surprised at how many of these songs which I felt like coming back to, even with actually memorable riffs and sections I could pick out across the board. ''Ghost at the End of the Rope'' is like a titular, cadaverous Leviathan track, with one guitar chugging out huge rhythms and the other plodding at a terse, repetitive melody; the band's mastery at experimental black metal is apparent from the unusual timing and signatures, the explosive drums and the few, narrow moments of pureblood Scandinavian dynamics which they employ, making for a delicious kind of escape for the bedraggled black metal outlaw. ''The End is Mine to Ride'', with its more traditional structural approach and mid-paced gait, is also very good. Intensity is never a problem for Terra Tenebrosa when they are so apt at picking paces and tempos apart, diverging and converging into varying structures and patterns, which they equally reveal on ''Exuvia'', a forlorn industrial metal piece utilizes a single riff for its entirety, building upon the soundscape around it. Granted, there is some repetition with the riffs but overall the sound sustains itself and the album never yields to musical equanimity, which means I was rarely disinterested throughout. The Swedes have not quite deracinated black metal as others, like, say, Arcturus or Sigh, have. Instead, black metal remains an element of the recipe which in itself is, beyond just 'unusual', mortifying and creepy as fuck. Tribal and nightmare-inducing, this is the kind of album you definitely don't want to give a spin at 2-3 in the morning, not in the least if you're living in a wooden cabin, with the closest scrap of civilization being a petrol station located 20 km away. You've been warned.


Highlights:
Where Shadows Have Teeth
Ghost at the End of the Rope
Fire Dances

Rating: 80%

Megascavenger - As Dystopia Beckons [2016]

Imagine if Rogga Johansson were a heavy metal DJ. He could slip in at least half a dozen of his own tracks, culled from a pool of releases spanning, over a decade, a veritable compendium in the finesse and artistry of Swedish death metal, and not a soul would notice. Regardless of what he owes his creative and productive force to, the man is to praised for the sheer size and scope of his output, so much so that even I've reviewed more than a couple of them, though it is very difficult to keep up with all his works. Of course this comes with the principal issue of having to beat around the bush excessively, since his brand of 90's, Entombed/Dismember-influenced death metal, however well and tactfully executed, falls short of enticing most of the time with so many of his riffs being xeroxed from a grisly, brutalized melting pot of the aforementioned bands, plus a few regular nasties like Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Incantation and whatnot. Nor is his umpteenth project, Magescavenger, an alien to that formulaic chasm of gruesomeness and gore, but the interesting fact about the third album under the Megascavenger guise, As Dystopia Beckons, is not only a thematic digression from the Lovecraftian concepts of the previous records, but also minute breakthrough - an animosity in this case - with its odd integument of industrial and electronic influences blending into the seamless old school death metal formula Rogga is so keen on reaping.

This comes as a shocker to me as well, considering the organic and fleshy quality of the majority of his releases, and although this daring repose offers a few breaths of comfort for the seeker of experimentation, Rogga, unfortunately, doesn't implement the stylistic shift with as much meticulousness as you would have liked. The introductory tracks, ''Rotting Domain'' and the gimmicky ''The Machine That Turns Humans into Slop'' explode with fierce, bulbous guitars accompanied by whizzing electronic feedback and tingles, moving into casual industrial breakdowns redolent of Godflesh or Samael at their more experimental, but the riffs retain their trademark simplicity throughout. There is even considerable clarity on this disc, as if somehow Rogga had rectified the gravel and grime of his traditional crusty Swedeath guitar tone with a few buckets of water to wash the mud and cake off, almost as an homage to the development of slightly cleaner melodic death sound. But be sure that the songs rage with uncompromising carnality and hefty slog of chainsaw-heavy guitar work we are so fond of. ''Dead Rotting and Exposed'' is another one of those industrially-tinged bulls that stampede with generic chugs and patronizing spells of industrialized distortion, almost at an attempt to redeem the lack of fresh, sticking riff work on the record. 

Kudos to Rogga for channeling a distinctly 'dystopian' feel, or at least trying to, through the use or reverb, robotic vocal syntheses, and mechanized d-beat rhythms that fluctuate around creepy tremolos and and chord-driven bevies. Force your imagination, and songs like ''Steel Through Flesh Extravaganza'' might just cloud your mind with the image of a gigantic, malicious, electrical saw-wielding cyborg chasing you down the streets of Detroit circa 2025, but at best these songs leave something more to be had, certainly in that they feel inchoate, and most likely because other, excellent death metal bands with industrial influences like The Monolith Deathcult have already played this weird, perfunctory sound to near-perfection. The oddballs across the record, like the Timat-esque ''The Harrowing of Hell'' (with Kam Lee on vocals) and the moody, stringently melodic ''As the Last Day Has Passed'' with its clean vocals and lumbering monotonous chords hardly contribute to the overall quality of the record; if anything, they should be hung up as addendum on a 'bonus material' disc. Fact is, Rogga has proven many times that he is a great songwriter. Peek into an album by Revolting, Humanity Delete, Paganizer, or the fantastic Putrevore and you'll see that my claims are justified. As Dystopia Beckons may be our gateway to a newer, more refined, maturer Rogga, one keeping tabs on occasional experimentation and versatility, but employing naked industrial synths into the traditional formula with guest vocal appearances on every track is almost like proselytizing the listener. It shouldn't come as a surprise that he's running out of material. At any rate, I would love to see him at the helm of another great, pummeling bastion of a brutal, sordid pummeling death metal machine, doted by the sounds of the late 80's and early 90's that we so love, not something as lackluster as this. Decidedly, Rogga needs his gusto back. Prescription: hard-boiled baby Cthulhu tentacles, blood syrup, and 5 hours of mandatory death metal listening every day.

Highlights:

Rotting Domain

Steel Through Flesh Extravaganza

Dead Rotting and Exposed

Rating: 63%

Enforcer - From Beyond [2015]

To be frank, I wasn't too enamored by Enforcer's ''Death By Fire'' simply because it didn't click with me the same way ''Diamonds'' did, as if their slippery grasp on maintaining quality 80's speed/heavy traditionalism in the 21st century was finally going astray. In retrospect, it's amazing that the Swedes had the guts and aplomb to full of such a feat in the first start. Pulling off a sound hearkening 25-30 years back to the genre's more formative years with some actual sturdiness beyond the simple speed/thrash cliches in no easy task, folks (although the fact the guitarist/front man Olof was an ex-member of Tribulation definitely helps) and with ''From Beyond'', the Swedes' latest export through Nuclear Blast, I found a suitable amount of reconciliation of the deficiencies of the previous record, while still keeping things crystal-lucid with that irresistible old school flavor.

One might appreciate the over-the-top image that Enforcer is trying to fit into; with hairy flare and hair sprays galore, plenty of tight jeans and even a logo beckoning the 80's - depending on whether you're appreciative of the whole hair metal scene. Enforcer appeals to a little more than just Angel Witch and Judas Priest since there's a fuck ton of proto-thrash or speed/power like Jag Panzer and Liege Lord to go around, and of course a more than enough dosage of ''Kill 'em All''. Bands like Enforcer and their counterparts White Wizard seem perfectly tailored toward the roiling audiences with evident 'sophisticated metal' acalculia, but I'd like to think that Enforcer stretch those boundaries slightly furthered than the majority of generic speed/heavy/thrash junkies in a way that they actually feel like a genuine part of the 80's scene (except with less muscular guitar tones). To be sure, the Swedes cultivate a sound that's been processed by bands like RAM, Steelwing, Skullfist, Katana and the like for the last decade or so,and while this by no means serves as a major deviation from their source material, it does give the music a somewhat fresh edge.

The titular opener ''Destroyer'' is easily one of the best songs on the album, with a classy speed/thrash verse riff, a head-pounding chorus as well as a follow-up of excellent thrashy rhythms roving effortlessly, and the second track ''Undying Evil'' is arguably even better, unfolding instantaneously with a harmonious barrage of banshee vocal duties and overall texture that reminds me of songs like ''Midnight Vice'' on ''Diamonds''. There album is also bedecked with a superb slew of frenetic solos, and, if anything, the emulation of melody seems more prominent than anything else in the band's backlog. The title track narrows down the mood to a drowsier, somber, almost ballad-esque flavor, with its misty chorus and luring melody hooks that plod on a slower pace than usual: it's obvious that by now Enforcer is trying to cast a wider net on an overripe niche which they've been plodding for the last 6 years, if not downright experimenting with alienating atmospheres or effects like the most recent offerings by Swedish pros Trial and In Solitude. That said, there's no denying that much of this record is still crafted for a specific demographic - and they're certainly not shamed about it.

Olof's vocals are fiery and youthful as always, and on that I have zero complaints. Enforcer is far too mature and commercially successful at this point to be scrutinized as another vulture feasting on the same diseased carcass, even if most new bands wind up being given more or less similar labels, though didn't tickle my nostalgia as much as ''Diamonds''. One could argue they were trying to 'darken' their sound with slightly more ambitious ambiance (the title track plays some role in this) or the 6-minute finisher ''Mask of Red Death'' which doesn't just add some intuitively Gothic Poe charm into album (especially with its folksy melody licks) but resonates as the moodiest song in the whole platter; but no matter how serious Olof's crew is going to get they're going to be 80's-bound as long as they're still high on track titles like ''Destroyer'', ''Hell Will Follow'' or ''Hungry They Will Come'', and their transition in the same vein as those of Trial and In Solitude is still one which I'm titillating over, if we're ever to witness that transition. Overall, some exceptions, namely the 'Poe' track, but the trencher is generally loaded with dishes straight out of the 80's, big hair, leather, and campy themes for all the geezers out there. It's Enforcer: it's still pretty awesome; headbang away.

Highlights:
Destroyer
Undying Evil
Hell Will Follow

Rating: 75%

Trial - Vessel [2015]

Trial's criminally underrated debut offering ''The Primordial Temple'' became one of my favorite records of 2012, being merely a few slivers away from perfection, yet raging against widespread indifference the album is also one of the prime products of what traditional heavy metal dichotomy has brought upon the 21st century. While the split between NWOBHM- and King Diamond/Mercyful Fate-worship appears to be very blunt, forming the essential compounds of traditional metal revisited, Trial's sophomore effort took as such a versatile and off-bouncing record that it feels like an almost immediate departure from the occult, doom-laden fanaticism of the debut: it's clear that the band is pulling off an In Solitude here - who grabbed traditionalists by the throat and bludgeoned them to aesthetic submission with ''Sister'' in 2013 - or, to move away from one genre, basically what newish, cult death metal bands Morbus Chron and Tribulation are doing. And the fact that this weird new trend of tarnishing customs is confined mostly to Sweden doesn't surprise me one bit...

Long story short, ''Vessel'' is a vastly different experience than the marvelous debut. The 2013 ''Malicious Arts'' Ep was merely a taste of things to come, as even that couldn't fully prepare me for the technical heavy metal extravaganza of this laborious titan. To be sure, ''Vessel'' was not an easy album for me to get into, especially when I realized most of the swerving, melodious double-guitar leads and accessible choruses were swapped for intricate chord patterns and full on emotional catharsis. From the moment the album commences with the huge looming tides of mournful melody and the ebbing chord dispersion on the brief title track, ''Vessel'' is narrated with brooding assemblage and desolate earthen pipes running through the marrows of a haunted human. The guitars have an unmistakable black metal feel to them, occasionally churning with dark lead tremolo segments redolent of early Fates Warning. The amount of diversity the they retain is immense, even if not necessarily 100% of them are compelling, blending the realms of speed, heavy, thrash, progressive and black metal almost seamlessly, moving back and forth through emotional discharge. Quite obviously, the new sonic realization is still nothing too south of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate (although it certainly does deny any craving of Maiden, Priest, Angel Witch and the like) but the compositions feel fresh enough to suck any avid guitar nerd within seconds.

At which point, I must agree, that the riffing does not equate to the blatantly harmony hooks of the debut. Trial's atmospheric cognizance unfortunately drowns some of the rather cheap, catchy thrill of simplistic yet furious riffing. ''Ecstasy Waltz'' is a monolithic tune that scales both the upper and lower ends of the frets with freakish progressive melodicism and grandiose, mid-paced choral sequences, even with an odd interlude of spacey bass lines entailing the finale, but it doesn't necessarily feel like the song you'd blast out on your stereo. That said, Linus Johansson's translucent vocals easily forefront the guitars when they're around (it's hard to be on constant display with most of the songs ranging at 6-8 minutes) but far from being a cheap Bruce Dickinson trill he literally stretches the sonic size of the record. Songs like ''To New Ends'' or ''A Ruined World'' are glazing gems thanks to his soaring lines; indeed, the dude sounds like a howling occult priest delivering his sermons by a smoldering pyre, more often than not.

So it clearly the ante is upped. ''Vessel'' is bizarrely complex, with more emotional depth than a pocketful of samey traditional heavy metal lookalikes hooked on the same recycled riffs from the heydays of the genre. It's certainly a lot to take in: the mercurial riffs, the vocals lines, the thundering drums which haven't fallen one snippet short of brilliance,  and even the bass lines which I usually don't care much for - they're all spot fucking on. My one big gripe was that I felt utterly alienated during my first spins, because the songs were simply too long for casual listens, and certain instances still haven't grown legs on me. Despite the fantastic variation, there can be dull moments within, when they're too involved with the 'black metal effort' to be actually producing something more memorable; naturally, I usually opted for some of the shorter songs when it came to revaluation, but even so every song here is uniquely enjoyable. The riffs are a compendium where you'll lose yourself as though in a maze. It didn't resonate with me as much as ''The Primordial Temple'' but so what? It's so much better than a potential 'Temple Vol.II' and has earned its accolades, and easily destroys anything released by In Solitude, Portrait or any other advocate of the occult heavy metal niche, except ''Sister''. We owe it to guys like these. Defenders of the faith. Thinking man's heavy metal. The cross is burning for your acquisition.

Highlights:
Where Man Becomes All
A Ruined World
To New Ends

Rating: 88%

Soen - Tellurian [2014]

It might seem unrealistic considering how lowly it was received last year, but Soen's ''Tellurian'' manages to simultaneously break boundaries and stray from a shadow which was cast upon the band with its 2012 debut ''Cognitive''. The band had been blamed for being too much of a Tool drone, but the sheer memorability of this album and its vivid albeit contained ambition to debunk the band's formative curse as a clone band shines through almost perfectly, catapulting it into the very top of my end of the year list. Even for a guy who finds most progressive metal prosaically obsessed with inner complexities, I found new pleasures to be sought with this record. While there can be little doubt that the band's expose owes its greatness to the existence of heavy metal master bassist (Steve DiGorgio, with whom you should be familiar enough), Martin Lopez at the drums and Joel Ekelöf's haunting clean voice, its real quality lies in the fact that it's so good without actually being too divisive...

''Tellurian'' pushes the very limits of emotional conjuration through the power of Ekelöf's poignant tone and excellent performance and especially with the progressively melodious current running through the singular guitar work. There is a sound adherent to Tool - the fat guitar tone and semi-progressive touches flirting with the emotive atmosphere of the album - but the relative simplicity of the riffs strikes me as artfully powerful; and there's no lack of clean interludes either: the subtle, mournful accompaniment of the guitars is what makes songs like the beautiful ''The Words'' such majestically crafted pieces. That said, the drums are wonderfully percussive but in no way overdone, with some superb fills here and there, and the dynamics range of the record creeps rather momentously with its variation of rhythms, riffs and percussion. I love how Ekelöf's mystifying cleans contrast with the bulky outings of the guitar. And, let's admit it, while Ekelöf doesn't particularly enlarge the boundaries vocal performance, with one very akin to Mikael Akerfeldt's with Opeth's ''Pale Communion'', - especially with the multifarious acoustic and clean interludes and diving in and out of the songs - he does make this record an incredible joy to revisit countless times.

Perhaps the mastering could have handled with greater care, though. Indeed, much of Tellurian's dynamic qualities stem from its delicacy and moody swings from riff to riff, melancholia to overwhelming choruses, from dainty pieces to hard-hitting discharges - and the loudness of the record fails to do these aesthetics complete justice. The record seems confined, but it's so full potentials and fresh sounds - yet the guitars and drums in many respects are simply too loud. Still, there's much fun to be had. For one, the quartet masterfully craft exhaustively good choruses, bustling with beauty and atmospheric splendor. It might seem too much to ask for a progressive metal record, but Soen pull through marvelously. By substituting the mathematical intricacy of Dream Theater-turned-Cynic record, Soen transcend needless complexities and baffling convolutions into musical greatness and overcome technically leprous syllabic patterns. Sure, they may have been one or two occasions where the riffs felt repeated, but in general the vocal work is unbelievably varied (also thanks to arbitrary backing vocals) and the guitar riffs represent sufficient diversity in granular outbursts and melodious patterns to hook the uninterested listener.

And the groove! From the verse riff of ''Tabula Rasa'' with its 70's feel to the utter headbanging pleasure one would derive from ''Void'', ''Tellurian'' is abound with groovy, moody momentum.
Soen stop at nothing; employing a diverse range of pianos, symphonic sequences and other instruments especially during the slower sections of album and it's just phenomenal. They might be a little short on outings, but the album is so damn good that it might just as well transform Soen into a progressive metal act to whom I would pay lip service to - and that, folks, is not a regular occasion when it comes the genre in particular. There's not a track I didn't enjoy, from my first loves (''Tabula Rasa'' and ''Kuraman'') to the ballad and crowning track of the album (''The Words'') to ''Pluton'' to the almost avant-garde epic and finale ''The Others' Fall'', even though, all told, there may have been 3-4 minutes on the album that didn't completely overwhelm me. Understandably, ''Tellurian'' made it to few end of the year lists, possibly because it isn't extreme or directly appealing to a lot of people. Or fresh. But I would have to disagree. The unlikely contrast between the music and the grotesquely awesome cover art (A rhino having shish and curled up humans with chopsticks for fuck's sake!--something Japan's Sigh would have fancied, I imagine) is just a strange addition to the list of things I love about this album. It beckons with ebbing reverb of the final track, luring us inside it, one chopstick-full of listeners at a time.

Highlights:
Everything

Rating: 92%

Avatarium - Avatarium [2013]

It comes as a surprise that seasoned musicians who showed their real flair with astonishing 80's masterpieces (in this case being Candlemass) can show similar if not equal proficiency with their resurrection as artists in the 21st century. Hence Avatarium. A five-piece from Sweden for which the legendary Lief Edling of Candlemass serves as the bassy powerhouse. All things considered, Avatarium's existence as band risen from the ashes of an old master, its hasty linkage with mainstream label Nuclear Blast, and the general outlook of its style make it terrible prone to suffer from becoming just another face in the crowd, another meager contemplation of modern doom metal which one could not help but adhere to sheer tripe. Yet the band almost masterfully steers away from such a detainment of skill. It refuses to be clouded with a lack of motivation, to be trod down by the rueful overtones that typical doom bands implement oh so recurrently, and their self-titled debut doesn't quite reinvent the wheel, it does manage to buy itself a parole from mediocrity.

Despite its relatively modern texture, I found this album to be one of the most fluent and enjoyable doom metal records I've heard in some time. The Candlemass influence is evident, even with some appreciation of early doom a la Witchfynder General and Black Sabbath, but the main story here is the percussive, and, most importantly, gothic sound put into the record that pervades into every square inch of the steady, concussive riffs that work their way to the listener's cranium like firm, gradual hammers slamming into a slab of half-molten steel, eventually creating a successful forgery. And what I mean by this is basically a more contemporaneous, forgiving approach to what Tiamat and its followers scraped up in the 90's as more personal, emotive alternative to the booming melodic death metal tradition of the time - not that this has to do a deal with the Swedes, but it's impossible not to make note of the soaring orchestral voluminousness of ''Moonhorse'', or the occasional acoustic interludes obtruding the crushing finesse of the grand, polished guitars. Indeed, in a firm elucidation of its desires and confrontations, ''Avatarium'' seems to encompass both traditional doom metal values with the inherent Candlemass sound, and a more accessible tone that belongs to its age.

Yet the band owes much of its awesome, crushing balance and clarity to the powerful, soaring female vocals of  Jennie-Ann Smith; but she in now way proves a hindrance for the record. In fact, the wonderful eloquence of her pitch is a terrific thing to behold not just because it helps excavate the band from strict simplicity to epic panache, but it also refuses to be a pretentiously maudlin in its delivery. yet the band simultaneously achieves the sort of poignant fragility that so many others flounder at. This album is not just a pointless bridge of riff upon megalithic riff, either; you can feel each pounding veracity of each chord, a sublime metallic resonance, but keep in mind that a progressive touch that's heavily redolent of early Dream Theater spikes the atmosphere with sufficient technicality and mournful psychedelia to push the pastoral dream even deeper into the listener's emotional sanitarium. The magnitude of the riffs, the patterns and the melody, intertwined with blatant but effective chorus tropes is amazing. And the lush, yet strangely moving aesthetic is only coupled with the fantastic imagery of the poetic lyrics, like the unforgettable title track, making each track really, really fucking count despite the sheer length.

And what about the flawless modern-goth doom/rock tune ''Boneflower''? Its simplistic mid-paced verse riff, married with the impeccable adroitness of the vocalist make it one of the most memorable tracks of the year, and I'm not even biased. It's, as it melodiously proclaims, ''a one way trip to the promised land''. True, not all the songs hold up with the same rambunctious delicacy, and being essentially a melding of slow, lurching power chords, the album does get a tad redundant at times, but who the hell can blame you? For fans of Tiamat, (both early and late) Lake of Tears or Katatonia, this a reckoning that ought not be missed, a minute wonder of elegiac strength that has the strange ability to elevate the youthful spirit of a ''Clouds'' fan as magically as a sorceress resurrecting the souls of the doleful. It's jam-packed with 80's Candlemass and 70's nostalgia (thanks to the stupendous keyboard work) and while still no maverick in a market loaded to the tits with anything that's utterly uncanny and audacious, its still holds up splendidly. Give yourself in, spin it, savor the elegance and spin it again.

Highlights:
Moonhorse
Avatarium
Bird of Prey
Boneflower

Rating: 85%

Persuader - The Fiction Maze [2014]

With so much jostling going up front with the black and death metal genres, one quickly forgets that the reviewing business is more than just a bunch of cadaverous ghouls and satanic grimoires. Given their tumultuous nature, it can sometimes be something of a problem to keep your auditory nerves constantly inclined to this kind of music, so every now and then the ear yearns for something both more pleasant for the ear and the nose (believe me, dealing with ghouls and zombies all the time is some pretty putrescent work). When I come across Sweden's Persuader, I'm left in something of a dilemma: I don't know quite what to expect, not being acquainted with the band, but on the other hand the rather generic cover art song titles testify to a modern simplicity which for some reason obliged me draw comparisons with Sonata Arctica, Edguy and Gamma Ray prior to the actual listen - not exactly an inaccurate comparison. But if I had to cut a long story short I'd say that Persuader offers a dynamic, proggy and damnably solid power/thrash album that, despite being quite enjoyable, doesn't do much to break into the realms of originality.

To be fair I initially thought I would hate Persuader's lack of guts, but there's more juice and flavor to this damn thing than an average power/thrash recording. Besides the aforementioned similarities drawn up from more notorious acts, ''The Fiction Maze'', the group's fourth full-length, is actually on par with the latest Hellstar record, both in terms of technical prowess and thrash-oriented edginess. The production on this thing is pretty professional and well-done, giving plenty of space for the guitars, but that's not to say the drums are drowned out; they ring on their percussive dominion as a superb accompaniment to the ballistic riffs. Yes, Persuader is principally a power metal band, and a very modern one, at that. The melodies could easily attest to that dogma, with their lightspeed accuracy and viscous flow on the brickwalled guitars, but Jens Carlsson's vocals are soaring and opaque with a traditional banshee's high, though heroic voice. So, as you may imagine, the Swedes are in no shortage of epic, peripheralizing chorus sequences; memorable moments in the ''The Fiction Maze'' are in abundance. And the Swedes aren't just good ol' power. They try add as many intricacies as possible, but I still thought the progressive components of this record weren't being strained to their human limits.

That said, Persuader sounds a lot like Angra as well. In fact, ''Aqua'' was a pretty vivid representation of the roller-coaster of riffs going on here. And the list of these fuckers still don't end because in addition to all the mumbo-jumbo about epic, atmospheric choruses these guys can make some fucking awesome songs, and I'm not biased when I say that. Sure, they're generic, as though Havok and Warbringer got together in a gang fight and pounded the crap out of Dragonforce for being a bunch of tech-wanking weiners, especially with tunes like the title track or ''InSect'', but their persuasive (excuse the pun) savvy is unquestionable in forging some rocking songs. Their enticement, fortunately doesn't stop there. As I said, the Swedes try every now and then to confound the listener, and they figure, if riffs can't bludgeon 'em, is banshees can't shatter 'em, we'll use something else. And it's well that they do: ''The Fiction Maze'' flirts with modern, gimmicky power metal keyboards and synthesizers more frequently than you'd expect. Granted, these auxiliary employments do provide a bit of freshness to the schtick, like on ''InSect'' where the guitars and keyboards intertwine, but they don't have a spellbinding magical resonance to them, which probably wasn't the band's aim anyway. The album is coated with 21st century production values and modern power metal aesthetics, but the pervading emotion is straight out of the 80's, a Manowar or Crimson Glory seeking revenge in a new epoch.

No matter what you say, ''The Fiction Maze'' is catchy (though not absurdly so) and in its singular pursuit is successful in raising spirits. Not exactly a triumph of technicality and intricacy, but who would care? Certainly not me. In fact, with every listen I felt elicited deeper and deeper into the humbleness of the band against a predominant army of guitar-lickers and cheesy show-offs, so, the way ''Son of Sodom'' likes to unabashedly proclaim from the rooftops, ''all I see is what I believe''. A solid fucking effort.


Highlights:
War
InSect
Son of Sodom
Worlds Collide

Rating: 82%

Soreption - Engineering the Void [2014]

Remember the last time overdone tech-death wankery was actually fun? I think it was about 1995-1996 when a joint of Suffocation/Cryptopsy releases ended that phase. Remember the last time death metal wasn't about how many strings you could pluck in 5 seconds or how many vocal chords you could abuse, but about the actual quality and flow of your riffs? Well, that must have been a long time ago. Granted, I understand that as an angry, frenetic teen it's hard to deprecate the brutality and the seamless conjunction of myriad guitar riffs that brutal/technical death metal has so unabashedly spoon-fed us, but so many of these bands have been hamstrung by their deliberate attempts at sounding as ornate and elliptical as possible that it's difficult to enjoy even a fraction of such material after a fair amount of spins. Double-bass drums. Pernicious, endless streams of guitar technicality. Growls deeper than powder barrels. And this is just the more ''considerate'' side of thing, folks. I haven't even mentioned the bombastic djent lovers and the whole rotten deathcore movement that allegedly (and rather unfortunately) gained its momentum from the stream of 90's tech-death masterworks...

So, based on what I just said, one might think that I'm demeaning Sweden's Soreption on their sophomore, ''Engineering the Void''. Quite on the contrary.  What attracted me to it - even if I wasn't spellbound throughout - was decisive, cohesive construction (''engineering'', if you will) of riffs that sounded a manifold times better than any random tech-death cripple unburdening its riff barrages that had been stocked ever since the guitarists could play a decent riff and the drummer an audible beat. Yes, Soreption is not redefining the optometry of technical death metal as we know it, but there's some much brilliance and adroitness to be found in the quality of the album that's nearly impossible not to bob your head in eager accord. Soreption is, not surprisingly, fueled by Decapitation, Necrophagist, Cryptopsy (though not so much by Suffocation) among a handful of other culprits, but unlike so many other attempts at aping and ripping off ubiquitous sounds their awesomeness is not confined to an initial excitement at the clobbering drums and the textured guitar explosions. The riffs here are played not just with ridiculous accuracy but with with a simultaneous grasp of the ''song'' concept; meaning they're not strewing bits and pieces of virtuoso tricks here and there - they're making a coherent, fully functioning mecha-feast of gears perpetually rolling and keeping the album's flux in motion, and with startling sordidness and raw power at that.

Unquestionably, the guitars are the leaders of this album. The moment ''Reveal The Unseen'' unfolds, sans any ambient effects whatsoever, Soreption makes its statement pretty fucking blatant. Tremolos upon tremolos leading up to semi-harmonious melody patterns leading up to further tremolos leading up to mazes of cavorting, acrobatic chug rhythms akin to Decapitation's masterful ''Winds of Creation'' form a miraculous set of riffs that, in the end, leave the listener dazzled, if not utterly awed. Soreption's guitar tone is not so unfamiliar, but it's something of an alternative to more polished textures; sounding like a rusted, vituperative collision of metallic surfaces. And yet the drums are also fully capacious to fuel the percussion of so dense a riff-maze, and there's no denying their significance. But don't the Swedes give any space for anything else? Of course they do. Tracks like ''Monumental Burden'' have injections of guitar solos as well as random atmospheric interludes. Indeed, the leads rock like hell (something Muhammed Suiçmez of Necrophagist would be proud of), but I shouldn't go without saying that Soreption's main focus is rhythm.

With tracks like ''I Am You'' or the excellent ''Breaking the Great Narcissist'', I found myself revisiting this record more than just a few times. The sheer intensity and determination of ''Engineering the Void'' makes it one hell of a juggernaut of tech-death in the year 2014 - surely one of the front runners of the genre this year. Sure, in that momentous struggle to retain balance Soreption may have undergone a few inconsistencies, and a occasional plunge into redundancy is inevitable these days, especially when you're practicing such a dexterous sub-genre of metal, but otherwise I really had no major complaints. Even the vocals of Fredrik Söderberg shine with durability and psychosis. In short, while those in favor of old school death metal will probably toss this away as a mere piece of junk, this is more than solid choice for modern death metal aficionados. So stop what you're doing right now and enter that fucking void.

Highlights:
Reveal the Unseen
Breaking the Great Narcissist
I Am You

Rating: 87%

Trial - Malicious Arts [2013]

Of all the new traditional heavy metal bands emerging from Sweden, Trial is my absolute favorite. ''The Primordial Temple''dropped last year and was an instant winner, installing itself as one of 2012's top releases, hands down. The initial splash of sound may leave little to deduce from, especially for the harsh critique, and many questions arise when year-ends lists are surveyed: ''is this band really suited for the top 10 of the year?''. The answer unquestionably varies, and usually, people are accustomed to underrate such minor and emergent acts just because their mainstream impact does not even equal that of larger, commercially successful bands. Here's my answer to that - fuck big bands and big labels. One of the last things a promising, virile act needs is sweltering pressure from mainstream labels, and I think we've witnessed a goodly amount of bands who underwent the same change, morphing into a commercial outfit before they even get the chance to release a third album, and I thank the heavens that Trial is mettlesome enough to keep true to its underground complex,  while still managing to move forward. Nuclear Winter Records, one of my favorite underground imprints, is prudent to sign a deal with the young Swedes, because this shows not only that the band is progressing in quality but also that they've proved not to be some transient group, and I'm eager on getting my hands on whatever releases they spurt in the future.

For now, we're confined to this mini album, ''Malicious Arts'', with the logo back in full archaic splendor, and the same raging, traditionally-oriented heavy metal motifs of ''The Primordial Temple''. Their sonic foundation is completely redolent of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, sprinkled with Maiden and Priest, but anyone with experience of the debut knows that they're into more than simple, generic rehashing. ''Malicious Arts'' is a queer name for the EP, because despite harboring interest for some of the darker, occult-themed accumulations of heavy metal, there is nothing particularly ''malicious'' here, but the increased doggedness of the riffs, spewed forth via a primal powerhouse of traditional values ignites a certain abysmal aesthetic that seems to be enlarged since the debut. I honestly wasn't expecting any changes at all here, but I was surprised to hear sheer volubility and articulateness rushing through the veins of the melodic riffing, with not a moment of feckless uncertainty or banality during the absorbing 12 minutes of ritualistic heavy metal bliss. Seriously, I think I may as well say that Trial are even better here than in the full-length, but the paucity of proper run time drains some of the elements of complete engulfment, ultimately failing to hit the bull's eye.

The beautiful, harmonious melodies whirl and whistle around like bullets flying through a godforsaken battlefield with reckless abandon, matched only by the memorable slew of gushing rhythm patterns that form a path of primordial carnality. Linus Johansson's vocals are even more spiritual than before, though in no way does he exploit falsettos, but chooses to plod on along with the speed/heavy riffs in a simpler manner of timbre, but his performance on ''Of Sinister Seed (The Madness Within)'' is just spectacular, fronting the roaming guitars with an incinerating range of inflections. The more technical guitar riffs collide with his brilliant high-pitched screams and form something of a dream-like ritual, as though you were being the center of a blood-painted pentagram with a choir of hooded acolytes singing psalms for the devil. The fluent leads promptly form an incandescent arch of serenity, and the drums are strikingly effective, spiking as they are somehow shadowed by the abyss of the guitars and the mesmerizing vocals. The overall sound is titular, from start to finish, and the echo-dowsed consistency of the instrumentation never proves to be a hindrance. Even  the lyrics constantly sold me:

Through the mist I trembled forth in solitude
To seek the dark depths once again!
And unveiled were hidden plains leading out of time
That will erase all restrictive thoughts of mine!

Receive the power to build the world anew
Your own reflection will no longer stare back at you
Like flesh and bone suddenly ripped apart
Heed to the fire that burns within your heart

One thing that's definitely more prominent on ''Malicious Arts'' is the fact that Trial are becoming more and more ambitious and adventurous. Sure, only on very few occasions does the EP work against the pinpointed influences that it aspires to be like, but shovel a patch of earth with ''Malicious Arts'' written all over over it, and you're bound to find a few different artifacts from that of a King Diamond coven. It's obvious that the Swedes are working with pure dedication and the music here, as noted before, is not a cheesy reevaluation of traditional Danish or NWOBHM aspects, it's rich music packed with intriguing densities and subtleties, yet so rarely do the Swedes show their lassitude while working with such swelling compositions that the listener, finds himself entangled with diligent, thoughtful riffing and frivolity at once. Perhaps I may have exaggerated a slight bit when I said that there wasn't a single moment of banality, because there are some rare sequences in these 12 minutes that I felt the band ventured a little too deep into the abyss, leaving the listener in a somewhat bleak, aimless attic, but the overall quality is good enough to make me listen to this over and over again. Thus, I like to think of Trail as a better model or revitalized heavy metal than many others in the same spectrum, such as In Solitude and Portrait, and I have no doubt that the upcoming full-length will continue to kick asses in the same manner.

Highlights:
To Dust
Of Sinister Seed (The Madness Within)

Rating: 82,5%

Pest - The Crowning Horror [2013]

You could well say I was tedious when I approached Pest's ''The Crowning Horror'' for the first time as I was uncertain of what to expect; the cover suggested some sort of inbred of Witchery circa 1999, war metal pundits Blasphemy and Archgoat, Venom and some early Bathory records, though my apprehension was not too great since these gentlemen were Swedish, and believe me, Sweden seldom fails to deliver. Pest are indeed one of the most evil bands to come from Sweden, since the majority of the scene now seems to plagued with Swede-a-likes, bearing some resemblance to the phenomenal black/speed/thrash act Antichrist, but potent in being able to conjure something distinctly more sordid, cunning and evil. Given the band's sound and primacy, its devoutness towards the archaic roots of black metal, and their jumpy, percussive attitude, I didn't feel all too interested in Pest initially, but after channeling a handful of other, relatively derivative black/thrash acts, I concluded that the Swedes were actually better than I thought they were, as I they elicited some kind of growth policy upon me.

My estimations were roughly accurate; Pest tussle back and forth to bring back the black metal sound of the late 80's, although their sound is only remotely associated with war metal acts of Blasphemy's sort, and you could say that instead of directly snatching the aesthetic inclinations of Bathory, Venom and Celtic Frost, they throw in primordially dominated riffs into thrash and NWOBHM-like patterns, making the riffs all the more intriguing. Don't let this fool you though. The moment ''The Crowning Horror'' inaugurates, the listener is instantaneously drawn into a hybridized trajectory with countless bumps and crevices lurking along the path where the listener is hammered with some of the most flexible black metal riffs I've heard this year, but Pest somehow manage to draw an immense measure of vitriol into their mixture. The guitars are undoubtedly the unsurpassed superiors of this record, as with all of Pest's albums, I imagine; they're a multitude of strings confronting the unready listener with melody, and regular sessions of bludgeon, all meshed into a wonderfully filthy production level that, while negating any kind of obfuscation, permeates with guitars with a beautifully sodden ichor, and the drums are also crisp, a guaranteed trip to stimulating horror for old schoolers and more ''intellectual'' metalheads.

Perhaps the main trick that the Swedes have somehow managed to accomplish is filtering different genre progressions and patterns with the default formula, and nearly every track has something different in store for you, be it speed, NWOBHM, thrash, death or just a more caustic focus on traditional first wave black metal, and on any level, Pest are able to bring a viable product to the table. The entrenched barks of Necro imbue the rest of the music with further obscurity and menace, a dark, sinister timbre that mingles randomly around the concave path that the guitars keep flirting at. Indeed, one characteristic that draws a clear line between Pest any other band willing to exercise the predilections of first wave black metal is that no matter how haunting they are, the Swedes always leave a whiff of ridicule behind that's supposedly a byproduct of the music as a whole. Maybe it's just me, but whatever songs they play, the clash of the focal guitars with the wretched vocals creates an almost cheesy texture. ''Demon'', for example, is excellent with clear melodies underpinned with solid rhythm sections, but when the vocalist intervenes, the hymn of mockery begins, and the quality thankfully goes higher instead of dropping. ''Volcanic Eyes'' is even better, perhaps my favorite piece here, with stark speed/heavy riffs eventually morphing into heavier black/thrash motifs, the puerile barks of Necro once again joining the choir. ''Thirteen Chimes'' builds up with near-immaculate precision, like a reflection of the band's doom-inspired tenacity; a feast of chugs and gnawing horror.

The Swedish duo is spot-on on ''The Crowning Horror'', though I wouldn't go as far as to say they're spotless, as certain minute problems of redundancy did stain the shirt a little. Nevertheless, I was, in the end, pleased to find a band that craved for a sound that may not be original, but was desperately needed in today's metal universe, inserted in the right amount to the band's unique texture. ''The Crowning Horror'' would really have been a good finding if it were uncovered in the late 80's, a perfect band that would arguably influence second wave Swedish black metal mavens Arckanum, Mork Gryning, and so forth. This is an album that vitalizes horror and morbidity through its use technical and less dark, melodic motifs, but it's still haunting as fuck, embracing the meaning of its title as fully as possible.

Highlights:
Volcanic Eyes
Demon
Holocaust 

Rating: 88%

Tormented - Death Awaits [2013]

Tormented is essentially a composite of Robert Karlsson and Dread of Edge of Sanity, who decided to hire another guitarist and a drummer to revisit the olden landmarks of their homeland, such as Dismember, Entombed and Grave, instead of going for another, technically imbued modern Edge of Sanity album. Their debut ''Rotten Death'' was such a crafty, nostalgic record that quickly became a rather popular release among other Swedish death metal mavens, and it was popularized partly because it came just in the right time, when the old school death metal steak was nearing a well-cooked, juicy thing of flesh and bones that any purist at the time would eagerly and voraciously devour, but it seems now that the band has blundered with the advent of their sophomore offering, ''Death Awaits''. Simply put, that deliciously pungent well-cooked stake is now overcooked, and it ain't so tasty anymore. Truth be told, I somehow saw this coming. Amid myriads of bands taking the same, ghoulish, chainsaw-beaten trajectory that promptly arrived after Tormented's debut, how could the band possibly find a way to elude vexation and repetitiveness, and find salvation through a newly attached array of artillery? There have been a couple of bands who have successfully defeated the plaguing tenuousness of this disease, but many have succumbed to their destiny, bowing down to the ancient masters and forfeiting the same prognosis, and Tormented is unfortunately one of these bands...

''Rotten Death'' was never an original record, and it was in fact one of the most generic of its kind, even in 2009, but it was fun, memorable and it payed importance to the individual strengths and twists of the riffs, unlike ''Death Awaits'' which fails to appease the listener with genuine riffs and nihilistic openings, thus instantly smothering the listener with a load of festering chainsaw riffs. The same production quality is there, the massive, lurching guitar riffs that erupt into frenzied d-beat excursions are there, the L-G Petrov inflection is there, so why the fuck is ''Death Awaits'' not on par with its predecessor? Here's why. While the overall sound may roughly add up to the same sum, Tormented aren't lacing their musical preferences with intrigue and menace, and you can't depict the image of a fiendish demon-skeleton chasing you with a scythe in the middle of the graveyard half as vividly as ''Rotten Death'', and secondly, the guitars feel battered and exhausted, (although your ears are probably just as berated from hearing an excess of this stuff) with hardly a tinge of excitement to them, rumbling along soullessly. I'll confide that the vocals still sound fresh, a demonic zombie creeping between gaping holes in the guitars, which makes them audible but still muffled and cavernous, but the drums are just as jaded as the guitars, and this time they're upfront, nakedly displaying their lack of variation, and as if that wasn't enough, they're spiky and nettling, to the listener's dismay.

The basic thing that drowns ''Death Awaits'' is not its lack of focus but in fact its over-dedication towards focus. The hinges of the album are screwed so tightly that it leaves little or no breathing space for the listener, and this is certainly not the kind of music you'd want to the immersed in. There some fairly strong tracks though, like grindcore-paced ''Black Sky'' that's narrated by a haunting wisp of melody while the guitars erupt outrageously above, and the opener, the title track isn't so shabby either, an introductory discourse of raging, warlike riffs that could easily belong to ''Rotten Death'' itself. Of course, beyond the level of redundancy here, I'm sure the song lengths contributed considerably to Tormented's degradation in quality here, because songs like these are meant to be no longer than 3-4 minutes, and the majority of the songs clock at some 4-6 minutes. An unremitting orgy of decrepit, rotten riffs is what Tormented allegedly aimed to do here, and while they succeeded in achieving this goal, ''Death Awaits'' holds as little plausibility as any other Swedeath drone out there, because hell, even the lyrics have expired in originality. I would have loved to see the quartet expanding their retinue and casting a wider net whose reach would not only grant them the same amount of attention they sought but would have also raised their status in the metal underground. Yet, despite all its flaws, this is still some solid old school death metal that fans of Horrendous, Skeletal Spectre, Zombiefication and Necrovation would do well to get their hands on.

Highlights:
Death Awaits
Insane With Dread
Black Sky

Rating: 65%

Desolator - Unearthly Monument [2013]

Sweden's Desolator is nothing but a fresh addition to the tirelessly growing old school Swedish death metal compendium, and yet, despite being highly aware of this fact, for some reason I found myself pursuing their debut full-length which much greater avidity than I would have imagined. The cover art might have been a factor in inducing my boner-of-metal here; a generic yet entertaining caricature depicting a gigantic, ghoulish skull trapped between the two contours of an archaic crypt entrance of some sort, the huge, heaving mass slowly sinking into a morass of blood. Although I'm certain recurring listens of the promo song ''Gravefeast'' that the band uploaded prior to the album's release also had an impact on my increasing anticipation. Needless to say, Desolator's origins are overly blatant - they use up the most popular aesthetics of the classic Swedeath sound - though I was surprised to hear that their simple trajectory was adorned with sprinklings of spurious thrashy fun, making for a listen only marginally disparate than its peers such as Miasmal, Tormented, or Entrails, but still relatively entertaining and rarely memorable.

Listeners will probably sense the great irony in the album's title right away. ''Unearthly Monument'' is actually a pillar built with copious candor and unabashed dexterity, displaying an absolutely earthen sound to say the least. This is not to say that they've gone completely soft with their tone and influential representations, but the guitar raunchy, crunchy miasma has been replaced by a simpler, and still quite primordial aesthetic. The album is a barrage of fluent tremolos interwoven with simple chord ruptures that flow in a fairly simple manner, often resembling some of the less abusive death metal acts of the early 90's like Bolt Thrower, or sometimes even the more narrow-minded and straightforward death/thrash acts of the 1988-1992 time period, a pulsating stream of gore and muscular incursions similar to that of  Epidemic, Solstice or  the Slovakian rarity Gladiator. There was also a number of creeping riffs that resembled Autopsy's ''Severed Survival'', but for the most part, the album makes it clear that it does not have any underlying messages, but a brutal set of seasoned, crazed death metal riffing fit for purists.  The band's broad pattern of riffing and rudimentary interpretations will undoubtedly earn them an audience of old, but folks who are looking for innovation won't find anything particularly entrancing here, I'm afraid.

Thankfully, most of tracks are kept nice and short, and with a certain amount of devotion concerning the individual riffs, not to mention the way the guitar has been smoothly fleshed out of the other instruments, you're not bound for another mundane cavern hike where the swooshing guitars swirls with the rest of the murky instruments, making an incomplete and irrelevant mess. I love the honesty of the production, especially that of the guitars and drums, the former being, as I mentioned, plain and bare, like the tones of Cancer and Obituary during their less refined days, and the latter having a sharp, crispy and spiky tone that renders it discernible from the rest of the mix. My favorite track here was ''Bludgeoned, Beaten And Berated'', which name-wise resembles Cancer's ''Hung, Drawn and Quartered'', and Cannibal Corpse's ''Striped, Raped and Strangled'', plus a few more gory pieces of the death metal universe, and it perfectly lives up to its name, smothering the listener with a bombard of chugging death/thrash excursions, followed by a tempest of tremolos. The vocals are hardly a novelty, your basic low guttural growls that echo with ferocity, as are the leads, which are a collection of sly little solos randomly dispersed across the album. Indeed, ''Unearthly Monument'' is nothing much more than a loyal homage to the death metal gods themselves, but despite its simplicity, it has the potential to bludgeon the fuck out of any listener, voluntary or involuntary, and is a pretty good improvement from their earlier composite of demos and splits. Old school purists need only apply to feel the booming, rancid bliss.

Highlights:
Bludgeoned, Beaten and Berated
Gravefeast
Mass Human Pyre

Rating: 77%

Ghost - Infesttisumam [2013]

Since releasing their debut album “Opus Eponymous” in 2010 there has been no bigger hype band than Ghost. Maybe it was because they were on a tour with Mastodon and Opeth (who, for some reason, are two of the biggest metal bands today), because they never revealed their identities, or because of their strange brand of occult rock. Regardless of how they got popular, the good news is that their debut was an enjoyable record. It definitely had quite a few metal leanings, and could probably best be described as Mercyful Fate meets Blue Oyster Cult. With “Infestissumam”, Ghostcontinues that trend, but definitely sound like a band that has bought into their own hype.

The second the record opens, you are hit with the sound of huge, ancient choirs. This is nothing new for Ghost, and it actually builds into something quite atmospheric in the intro; however, it would later be used again on other tracks to the record’s detriment. The choirs definitely fit Ghost’s image, but they really aren’t necessary beyond the great intro. Luckily, the first full song opens with one ofGhost’s hardest hitting riffs, before the guitars give way to Papa Emeritus’ ghastly vocals. In general, the songs on “Infestissumam” aren’t that different from the debut; there are hard rocking songs (“Per Aspera Ad Inferi”), as well as more simplistic tunes (“Body and Blood”). Where this record sometimes gets off track is in its use of strange melodies. For example, the single, “Secular Haze”, has a carnival feel to it, which is unnecessary and takes away from the rest of the song (it does however, have some great bass guitar work). Likewise, “Year Zero” has some moments that make you think that this band could really be doing something better. This is what I mean when I say they’ve bought into their own hype; they are emphasizing new and weird elements to the band in order to push their image into more mainstream territory. Granted, it seems to have worked, but the average metal fan is likely to be able to handle the strange combination of Ghost’s music and their aesthetic. Getting back to the music, the highlight is definitely “Jigolo Har Megiddo”, which has a stomping rhythm to it. The interplay of drums and guitars almost sounds like disco meets swing. It’s got a four-on-the-floor feel, but still has a jumpy, unrestrained character. The more experimental “Ghuleh / Zombie Queen” has its moments as well, but is more likely to be a grower. The remainder of the songs don’t stand out, but that works to Ghost’s favour as they’re simply enjoyable occult rock tunes.

“Infestissumam” is likely to be a conflicting record. Had the band stayed a bit more consistent and less experimental, I would certainly enjoy it more. With that said, they didn’t simply rehash their previous record. While I’m afraid of their likely future downfall, Ghost have created an enjoyable, albeit flawed follow-up.

Highlights
"Per Aspera Ad Inferi"
"Jigolo Har Megiddo"
"Body and Blood"

Final Rating
3.9/5 or 78%.

Written by Scott Dorfman

Originally written for Skull Fracturing Metal Zine.

Enforcer - Death By Fire [2013]

Not only is Enforcer one of the top acts to emerge from the new wave of Swedish heavy metal revival, but they're also the perfect dose of awesome to take in every time you find yourself frustrated in a fit of rage or anytime you feel all the intricacies of modern metal seem like too much of a drivel. I suppose there's no need to state the redundancy of Enforcer's aesthetics; this is not to say I dislike their eager and undoubtedly frivolous confrontation of speed/heavy metal, but I think by now we all know that you need not put too much ambition in songwriting to muster something in Enforcer's kin. As an incessant, suitable continuation of their past efforts, Enforcer at their spurious best; keeping the over cluster of speedy-as-fuck riffs at the ready, and the Swedes obviously have their roots inclined towards Maiden, Priest, Attacker, Saxon, Diamond Head, etc, and their latest endeavor, ''Death By Fire'', which provides with the perfect, unmitigated title for its spasmodic, kinetic energy, another practice if lightweight levity and one-dimensional, but nonetheless crisp 80's heavy/speed/power.

Enforcer are hardly perverse in their attitude - no matter how zealous they are about exhibiting their blatantly lined influences. It's nice to get acquainted with a few bands - including the Swedish RAM, Steelwing, Cauldron, and of course the matter of this subject - that are not directly and unashamedly ripping off their masters but are actually putting some compassion into their mixes, and the Swedes have done more than enough to show their avidity to fully batter the listener into a delightful 80's craze; the clothing fit for a maniacal mosh-dance, the erupting, eager leads that sprout out of nowhere, the unhinged bevy of riffs, and the harmonies vocal outings that help bring a power metal splash upon things, something redolent of, say, Blind Guardian, Running Wild or Riot, even though it's taken to a lesser degree than the hugely pummeling, pulsing speed/heavy influence. Enforcer's sole route of flashing energy and meting out melodies in throughout that congealment of thrashed-up speed metal riffing and they more melodic, more focused moments that brusquely interrupt the combo in a suitable way, much like the fairly complex structural patterns we see in ''Sacrificed''.

Indeed, and unfortunately, Enforcer's focus on the shell is far more prominent than that of the innards which contain the actual substance, so we're left with little more than a cherry to contemplate while through just a smidgen more of work they could achieved a much greater finesse of both infrastructure and actuality. But I was quite grateful that Enforcer could stick to their typical gyrating parameters and were able to deliver what was expected of them, and I felt that they were still above the subpar in terms of ambition. The vocals weren't strained, and in fact quite natural in their blazing ruptures, and riffs were marginally more than solely frivolous, condensing in a froth of both vividness and semi-complexity, sharp enough to successfully find its way through more than a couple of spins, the overall quality of the output is still high considering the sea of aping mosh-maniacs, and the guitar tone here deserves an extra accolade from me; for its beautiful, crystal-clear sound. I can't see how purists won't be worshiping this.

Highlights:

Satan

Mesmerized By Fire

Silent Hour/The Conjugation

Rating: 75%

Sorcery - Arrival At Six [2013]

One might hold a million gripes against the newest storming debut by the Swedes Sorcery, another practice in clamorous chainsaw processions and grinding flesh and bone, no doubt something quite less meticulously plotted when compared to the band's more technical forerunners, but one should also bear in mind that Sorcery were a strong, if not mandatory addition to the death metal movement of the late 80's-early 90's which took place is Sweden, having released their cult classic and a personal favorite favorite of mine, ''Bloodchilling Tales'' back in 1991. It's undeniable that with their long-awaited debut, ''Arrival At Six'', which has a strange horror-themed flamboyance to it - not unlike the debut - the Swedes are more keen on actually flushing the residual anger and corpulence that was left unreleased, because of their brusque separation, with the booming standards of higher, more vivid production, rather than actually applying some ambition and dexterity into the mix, like those of Horrendous, Necrovation or Putrevore.

Though I thank the heavens the Swedes haven't lost their touch, as their compositions suggest, and in fact have gotten a smidgen sharper. ''Arrival At Six'' is still at the core of that antique, blunted Swedish sound that so many seem to ape these days, but the production is so massive the excursions are so continual with their bombardment of raucous carnality, that the record feels as if it took a step up in modernity, fleeing from the cave that sheltered their unrelenting, haunting sound, but in fact the Swedes' approach to death metal has only differed marginally. They still seem to relish bombastic breakdowns and prolonging equations formed with the crude edge of the blunted chainsaw; a murderous barrage of monstrous tremolos that quiver as they burst, and I also enjoyed the subtle avidity for creating somber ambiances - resuscitating nostalgia in an instant. One more thing that's probably noteworthy is the actual durability the record has. Normally, you'd have to fluctuate wildly for a draining 42 minutes, but without fidgeting a mere morsel from the same meaty formula, these veterans are able to suck you in over 5 minute compositions effortlessly, all thanks to the accentuated punch of the forefront guitar lines.

As Sorcery's oldest and sole vocal power, Ola Malmstrom also has a good deal of experience under his fluttering vocal chords. Instead of getting lost in the crashing haze of the guitars; a huge, wallowing timbre of chords and tremolos, his vocal delivery seethes through the bludgeon with a withered contrast that leaves a stronger mark in the ear than many in the same guttural field. Taking into account their entire discography of demos, compilations and another full-length, Sorcery are their paramount in ''Arrival At Six''. The Swedes have vaguely exhibited another way of presenting the same megalithic butchery tone; by simply encompassing the listener in a wealth of titular spikes, thus sucking in the listener in a vortex of craze and blood. Especially such tracks as ''Beyond The Wall'' bear some of the most battering Swedeath contents I've heard to date, a finesse that can only be surpassed by the masterful engineers of the sub-genre. There is already an endless stockpile of Swedes churning up the same kind of grime and bone, but even so, if you ever feel like 1989-1993, Sorcery's sophomore is more likely to entertain you than many of its kin.

Highlights:
 Beyond The Wall
Warbringer
United Satanic Alliance

Rating: 81%

Overtorture - At The End The Dead Await [2013]

Overtorture is another entree of the overly prodigious aping contest that is old school Swedish death metal that spawned more minions into the world in five years than any other sub-genre. Overtorture's debut ''At The End The Dead Await'' is, of course, nothing of a novel, but instead a steady, chainsaw-borne contraction of the fundamentals that were originally based by Grave, Entombed, Unleashed, etc, made robust by the experience behind the veteran band members, who had previously earned their spurs while dwelling in other, similar projects of death. With the heaving heft of the band members' seasoned acumen in place, Overtorture, fortunately brings about more swerving, cadaverous pleasure with the single impact of the album's meaty hammer than man of its peers, and through an undoubtedly luring, pendulous feast of generic riffs and huge bombards of fixated melody, they certainly deliver what they ought to deliver.

Another thing that makes this album the derivative source of entertainment it is, is wider spectrum of influences that help garnish the momentum. Sure, there isn't really a heap of interpretations you can pensively opt from, but they've still got a more extensive catalog than most other acts in this field; some Autopsy for the unforgiving, ghastly reek that the riffs let out as they're ushered into slower tempos, a dose of combustive Floridian death, giving the meaty slab of he guitar an even more corpulent, tremolo-faceted impulse, and some Bolt Thrower that acts pretty much the same way the Autopsy influences do. The group is also fairly agile, keeping things fluent with busier riffs that are highly reminiscent of Floridian tech death/thrash assaults or Dutch madness, all strewn upon a graveyard of corpses and ominous undertones, glittering morbidly as the band unleashes undercurrents of bombastic chainsaw action.

The melody department may not be the most invigorating of elements, but when thrown into a vortex of cavernous bludgeons, it certainly stands out with quivering, tremulous contrast. Even the vocals, in their chubby resonance, sound genuinely horrendous enough to keep up with the blasting of riffs, with a thick growl and presence that's strong enough to wake the dead. As I explained, Overtorture's musical eminence comes not from their matrix of ripping crunches, but their versatility in constructing relatively busier entanglements, which all sink down into a morbidly edgy murk, quite compelling when we take into account that the band's real goal is only to tear things (particularly necks) down here. So in all, it was a brazen contrast that made ''At The End The Dead Await'' that made this good, and yes, it was hardly a work of shrewd excellence, but still probably more pummeling and radioactive than many others who venture the same path as these Swedes.  A competent enmeshing of belligerence and melody - a far more pleasant surprise than the cheesy cover art.

Highlights:
Suffer As One
Black Clouds Of Dementia
The Strain

Rating: 78%

Humanity Delete - Never Ending Nightmares

The promise of grinding, corpulent Swedish death metal is still quite the appetite for many seeking only bare-bones aggression and simplistic glance at this nefarious sub-genre of death metal, and those who truly enjoy these redundant aesthetics should look no further then 'Rogga' Johansson's countless projects which have now literally thrown the world in  a state of heavy metal imbalance. Rogga's probably served more fuzzy, bulky Dismember-esque death metal more than any other individual artist over the last decade, yet, shamefully, only few of his projects really had an impact on the metal universe; the long-lasting horror-themed Revolting, Paganizer, the almighty Putrevore and a couple more. Amid procession of riffs, Rogga is still able to find time to come up with yet another act, something that people who are not so fervent about the idea of crushing repetition will only condone.

Humanity Delete, like all of Rogga's previous projects (except Putrevore) merely alters the grinding, thrashy kick of Swedish death metal, and ultimately consists of twelve brief grind/death ghouls that rend their way through the basics. Rogga is handling all the instruments on this record, and if I had to comment of his musicianship I would call him a strong, seasoned and potent musician, with probably the largest riff artillery among his fellow Swedish musicians, but in truth, his style is not providing thousands of headbanging fans with anything entirely refreshing, he's only, as mentioned, rehashing these obscene ruptures and presenting them in different colored ribbons, the content same. ''Never Ending Nightmares'' has a slightly stronger grindcore impulse than Rogga's other abominations: the songs are always abridged into 2-3 minute convulsions, the tone is grand and vile, the drums keep the listener bobbing his head wildly no matter the simplicity, Rogga's vocals are his classic type, harsh, bulbous gutturals imbued with a tinge of darkness, and he'll also throw in a few classy leads here and there to make a little bit of change.

''Never Ending Nightmares'' is not a bad album. But we've been spoiled so exclusively to the tenets of similar groups over the decade that it's only natural that we seek for a good deal of contrast, and a relatively good record in the least from Rogga, especially after his nightmarish assembly of riffs on ''Macabre Kingdom'', and sadly, this doesn't offer that huge measure of differentiation. But even so, if ''Clandestine'', ''Like An Everflowing Stream'' or ''Dark Recollections'' are among your top old school death metal releases and you have a frantic kick for modernized, primal brute force, and if you've already encountered half a dozen of Rogga's albums, then I can't see why this won't add up to your repugnant collection. Solid stuff.

Highlights:
The Eight Fire Narakas
Necromantic Sorcery
Dismal Corridors

Rating: 77%

Daemonicus - Deadwork

Daemonicus are just another group aiming to emulate their countless peers and components, who, like themselves have committed entirely to the now culminated fashions of Swedish death metal. With a fairly large history in the background, Daemonicus possess certain experience, and moreover, after channeling the borders of Swedish death on their previous thread of simplistic compositions, they now in expectancy of better, augmented results with their ravenous melodious rage, ''Deadwork''. In all its non-encompassing glory and primordial frenzies, ''Deadwork'' is not a record set to enlighten the band's impoverished burden, nor is it made to thrill hardcore fans of Swedish death metal, but it's rather made to deliver what has already been delivered, in gore-soaked bombastic melodic boombox of pain.

Perhaps it is a conjecture, but I can scarcely imagine that this group will ever reach stupendous heights. This is something concerning the band's desire than potency, because, after all, the group has projected a professional sound robustly, especially by using modernized, crushing Swedeath furnaces, and the band is quite potent throughout their crazed, inimical anger, but I feel that if the band really wanted to do something different, they would have already flourished the basis of such a formula by the sophomore; yet, this is the result. I can still be quite content with this semi-melodious attachment and immense tone, shattering my spine though, and although there are a few hooks that might not quite get hold of you, within its massive circulation, Daemonicus sounds damn fine. The chord conjunctions sound squeky clean, as is the modernization polished the entire plethora of riffs, the melodious are fluent, abrupt but follow into each other logically, and the dual guitar harmonious are spewing fourth tangible despair, good enough for me.

Even the vocals, while still far from excellent have a subtle cavernous edge to them which provides a substantial boast for aggressive energy. ''The Hymn Of Ubo Sathla'', example, is where the vocals shine in my opinion, along with plenty richly textured riffing stretched upon mournful clean guitar arpeggios, growling out an obscure, guttural murkiness into the heaving chugs, so clearly, these bastards have gotten a good grasp on that Swedish formula. This, while offering absolutely nothing renowned, has got to be one of the more vigorous ejections we've come across this year, all thanks to its bulbous tone and explosive mechanism, but even so, I can't say any death metal fan will disdain this. After all, throughout the whole thing you feel as though some cannibal is about to pounce out of its unknown whereabouts and gobble you up ravenously.

Highlights:
A Deadwork Of Art
We Feast On Your Flesh
The Hymn Of Ubo Sathla

Rating: 76%

Mortalicum - The Endtime Prophecy

Now, I'm exceedingly content with the bands Sweden is mustering today. There's a wide range of death metal barbarians whom precede to pen songs with the aesthetics of their primal countrymen and forefathers, a score of traditional heavy metal acts, who, actually don't even sound like throwbacks even though rehash the monumental, mournful tendencies of Mercyful Fate and Maiden, dozens of metal variants who all excel in their own territory, and finally, great number of heavy/doom bands, who, I think was born of the lower, more  down tuned and despairing branch of the already common heavy metal treeline, leading to a prodigious array of bands that amalgamate the semi-drowning tendencies of the Mercyful Fate worship with hunky, monolithic guitars, and drowsy, trudging dynamics. Mortalicum  are one these so called congealments, fusing heavy and doom together, and adding kicky rock n' roll spice to get things pumping.

Mortalicum are chiefly a hard-rocking heavy metal aspect, but their style is always reminiscent of some less ponderous doom, especially when the bands decides to travel by the light of mid-paced riffs. The hard rock element is really quite an interesting element to throw in because, there always seems to be grooving slam and unavoidable catchiness in the music, and with these bluesy overtones gulping up more than half of the album's brazen inclinations, much of the music is invigorated with a bright, gleaming flame, and thus, deep, suffocating doom sequences scarcely stomp. One other thing that boasts the eloquent propensity and efficiency of the record is the hefty tone. Well, it's not exactly as corpulent or dabbling as a funeral doom tone, but the band has worked out a sublime, bulky heft with semi-bluesy undertones and a strong 70's Black Sabbath vibe underpinning its monotony, so the tone works both as an indulgent implement and a somewhat ponderous narrator.

The riffs aside, there are obviously other things on this album that makes it as good as it is; the vocals being the most momentous. Henrik Högl's vocals are immense, even more megalithic than the guitar stream going under it, and he travels proficiently in high and low notes both, and especially in ''Ballad Of  Sorrowful Man'' he exceeds and raises the point of poignancy to a new, escalated level, aplomb and secure with talent and experience. ''The Endtime Prophecy'' has its flaws of course, one being the subtle repetitiveness of the riffs. Yes, even though they have a brisk and catchy efficiency, if you behold their anatomy they really have few traits worth praising, and even fewer that stand out. This, comes from the singular focus on the heft of the tone and the delivery of the highlighted vocals, and therefore the album becomes devoid of variation and proper punishment (though I doubt that was their purpose) through its potent, visceral guitar barrages. Ultimately, though, Mortalicum did a very solid job here, and fans of heavy metal, traditional doom or bluesy metal in general should give this a try for sure.

Highlights:
When Hell Freezes Over
Dark Night
Ballad Of A Sorrowful Man

Rating: 81%