Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death, now playing a hybrid of death metal, grindcore, and indie rock as they have for the past two decades, launch their Spring North American Tour 2020 with tourmates Aborted (April 17-May 16), The Locust (April 9-April 15), Nastie Band (April 9-April 15), Tombs (April 24-May 16), and Wvrm (April 17-May 16) for select dates.
21 CommentsTags: emo, Grindcore, napalm death, sonic youth
It is commonly assumed that the most unique album in death metal is Nespithe and while there is a very strong case for such a claim, Supuration’s The Cube has a stronger claim to such a title. Demilich have a large number of failed imitators while Supuration have none at all. The first listen to Demilich immediately shows the band’s intentions and dizzying whirlwinds of ideas in elaborate riff mazes. Supuration sounds like a rock hybrid that borders on modern metal but with much depth and just as unique but requiring many more listens to dig past the highly accessible aesthetics. Here are a few tools that Supuration used to create the most unique album in Death metal.
21 CommentsTags: death metal, supuration, the cube
Hammerheart Records opened pre-orders for the first Master album with several versions of the same songs, making this both a collector’s item and an impossible listen for the casual fan.
13 CommentsTags: abomination, death metal, deathstrike, funeral bitch, hammerheart records, master, speckmann project
Like most of the death metal crowd, Nicke Andersson reverted to his hard rock and 70s stadium rock roots after participating on a few classic death metal releases. Once you have said the vital portion of your worldview in musical form, you are forced to articulate it, which is less fun than the unformed but emerging image.
8 CommentsTags: 1970s, hard rock, lucifer, Nicke Andersson
MMA is now a mainstream sport consisting of highly paid athletes, large organizations, specialized doctors and strict rules governing all aspects of the sport. During the sport’s formative years, this was not the case as fighters didn’t fully comprehend the rules, the pay was minimal and the risks weren’t fully understood, creating situations that were wild and uncontrolled. This lead to some fights that had a feral quality that has mostly been lost in the sport barring a few exceptions. Here are some fights that showcase the brutality of the sport.
27 CommentsTags: fighting, hessian lifestyle, mma, ufc
While it is not a surprise that the Metal Archives forum readers would vote for some terrible albums in their yearly list. It is however shocking that these albums were all well received instead of being left in the bin where they belong.
18 CommentsTags: a dawn to fear, caletonia, cattle decapitation, Cult of Luna, death atlas, elson complex, when a shadow is forced into the light
Hate Eternal’s Conquering the Throne is a fairly mediocre album plagued by the symptoms that were spreading across the Death metal universe at the time. The need for even more brutality was visible on one side of the spectrum while the need to rival the more overground and Rock derived bands on their terms dominated the other side of the spectrum. Erik Rutan had finished his second stay with Morbid Angel who had just failed at accomplishing any of the objectives with the juvenile Gateways to Annihilation and would then form Hate Eternal who simplified everything Ripping Corpse had done into music that attempted to be memorable and punishing but ended up being predictable and flat. Though three songs stand out on this album, showing at times a level of composition far beyond anything that Rutan could ever dream of conceiving. These would become Doug Cerrito’s last contributions to Death metal.
18 CommentsTags: conquering the throne, doug cerrito, Erik Rutan, Hate Eternal, suffocation
Sometimes for no actual logical reason, terrible metal bands become adored despite not having a gimmick like satanic Abba songs or a mentally deranged topless DJ as a vocalist. These bands offer nothing of interest even on initial listens and should be actively mocked for their pretentious unsubstantiated claims.
7 CommentsTags: baest venenum, seigneur voland, to bathe from the throat of cowardice, vitriol
It is customary to begin a new year with the setting of goals towards accomplishment and growth in view of the experiences had during the previous period. The present writing aims at putting forth some works that may enrich the serious would-be Hessian in their struggle to embrace an ever more complete vision of reality. As Brett Stevens has pointed out, an interest in the occult is part and parcel of the Hessian outlook as he searches for logical patterns everywhere, not allowing himself to be circumscribed by any authority. Of necessity, this interest in the occult goes beyond Judeo-Christian conceptions, even if for historical reasons a poisoned landscape of Judaized misconceptions and moralistic admonitions has to be tread through or around. Mythos, its relevance to human psychology and possibility, must be embraced, and for it to be embraced, its import must be studied through pre-history and the whole of civilizations. While the scoffers will decry what they cannot allow themselves to rationally accept, they will remain in the grips of one or another mythos. Such is the curse of the atheist, the rationalist and those who belong to the democratic crowds. Allow mythos, vision, and hunger for life unite a distant past, the present and a distant future. The way is forward, paved by the billions of skulls of the meek who would inherit this planet, ascending to the heavens, beyond the stars and into far off galaxies.
10 CommentsTags: desecresy, Finnish Death Metal, friedrich nietzsche, the mortal horizon, towards nebulae
While 2019 has shown that home studios are only getting better with the release of better emulators and cheaper “ready to record” prepackaged setups, the increase of quantity has not shown a proportionate increase in quality across the music spectrum. Metal has been in a particular weak state despite the best releases of the year being better than those of previous years, the overall quality was so low that even the present editor had to explore non-metal underground music in hopes of finding something of great quality. While such “expeditions” have been for the most part fruitless, the best of the year can only leave the metal listener with a sense optimism of what the new decade has to offer. Without any further ado, here is the best underground metal of 2019.
28 CommentsTags: angel of light, Angel Witch, best of, best of 2019, diplodocus, hatred prayer, sadistic drive, sammath, slow and heavy, trench warfare
