Greetings, Decibel readers!
It’s a week of new releases you can rely on. You can rely on Bloodbath to create high-quality death metal, no matter what. You can rely on Fallujah and Revocation to play impressive but approachable technical extreme metal for their legions of devoted fans. You can rely on Vermilia to craft the best folk-black metal out there (and it’s not even close). And you can rely on Necrambulant to cbemsagjksafcuykeesykcfesffeyad ::blast beats ensue:: … you get the idea.
Enjoy!
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Bloodbath – Survival of the Sickest
Everyone’s favorite death metal supergroup is back to issue another masterclass in brutality. This time around, the band returns once again with Nick Holmes from Paradise Lost but with a slightly different approach than the last few albums. The record’s sound is highly reminiscent of modern Cannibal Corpse and similar bands, with a punchy, tight-sounding guitar tone and a generally “big” production. It’s not my favorite form of Bloodbath, but its still worth a swim.
Stream: Apple Music
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Fallujah – Empyrean
After about 2012 or so, metal and its audience began to fragment and disperse into several niche scenes and groups. This tracks with developments further upstream in popular culture. Since this time, it’s been very difficult for any band to galvanize the attention of the majority of metalheads. But Fallujah and Revocation both came pretty close in the mid-2000s with a series of technically impressive but accessible records that carried the attitude of the metalcore-era of the previous decade, but with a deeper dedication to technical mastery. Empyrean is very much a continuation of that legacy, embodying a sound that plays like a cross between The Human Abstract and the Sumerian Records crew.
Stream: Apple Music
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Necrambulant – A Feast of Festering Flesh
That snare sound. lol. lmao.
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Revocation – Netherheaven
Speak of the devil! Here’s the latest from Boston’s hometown heroes of modern tech-deaththrash. I was pretty impressed by The Outer Ones, but apparently some of the band’s dedicated fans were disappointed that the band’s thrashy edge had been ground down by a strict adherence to pure death metal. Those fans should take heart, as there’s plenty of thrash energy to be found here, along with all the other traits that make us so proud of these dudes. Even if the band isn’t totally “your thing,” you can’t help but root for these guys. (Also, the album they did as Cryptic Warning low-level RULES.)
Stream: Apple Music
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Vermilia – Ruska
I was a huge fan of Vermilia‘s 2018 album, Kätkyt, and wrote about her ecstatically when she emerged on the scene in the spring of that year. On her latest album, Ruska, Vermilia continues to dominate the world of folk-laden atmospheric black metal, merging excellent riff-work, a blend of harsh and clean vocals, and well-crafted song structures. It may sound like hyperbole, but in a crowded field of bands slapping trees on their album covers, Vermilia stands almost alone in delivering music of this quality.
Stream: Apple Music
