Musicians: Aborted Fetusan Album Title: The Art of Violent Torture Genre/ Subgenre: Brutal Death Metal Label: Comatose Music Release date: April 28, 2017
The Russian death metal monster known as Aborted Fetus is a brutal and gore drenched delight. Their upcoming release The Art of Violent Torture is filled with pummeling and crunching brutality that is backed by unrelenting bursts of blast beats by drummer Hammer and undecipherable guttural vocals by frontman Alexander "Meatgrinder" Andreev.What he have here is pure and unquestionably brutality.
The aural assault from the album is fast and pulverizing with moments of crunching that slows it down. What is consist is the interest in brutalizing the listener with a consistent sonic barrage and the utter heaviness of it all.
The album opens with the instrumental ''The Art of Pain'', which serves as the perfect set-up for the savage and pounding ''Boiled Alive''. The sound of ''Blinded by the Flame'' feels like lightning fast cuts made by a blade as it eviscerates flesh and destroys its victim. ''Axe Decapitation'' has face smashing veracity. Perhaps my favorite track on the album is ''Buried Alive''. It has this beautiful and haunting intro that returns every so often and plays in marvelous counterpart to the unrelenting music. Speaking of which, there are moments of peaceful and almost beautiful sounds in instrumentals like "Awaiting" which serve as a calm break between it all. Only to then, have the next track punch you multiple time right in your fucking face.
There is a shit load of talent and unquestionable brutality in Aborted Fetus. As such, The Art of Violent Torture, with its gore obsessed lyrics and low growling vocals, is a great choice for Cannibal Corpse fans who love complete and utter brutality. Not for the weak-hearted, this one puts the extreme in extreme metal. 3.5 out of 5
Another great year for heavy rock music draws to an end. This year marked a return of many thrash metal legends, including releases from the 3 of the big 4. The other band from The Big 4, Slayer, released an album last year, marking this the first time in many, many years since all four bands had released an album within a one year period. In fact in many ways, 2016 is the year of thrash metal.
As the music section of this site has grown exponentially, I have expanded my annual list from 10 to 20. This gives more bands and albums a chance to shine and considering how many I got my hands on, this year, it was the only right thing to do.
Anyway, let's not waste anymore time and get to it!
But, first let's start with some:
Honorable Mentions: Witchery- In His Infernal Majesty’s Service Vektor- Terminal Redux Brujeria- Pocho Aztlan Walls of Jericho- No One Can Save You from Yourself Metal Church- XI Epica- The Holographic Principle
20. Whitechapel- Mark of the Blade- While, I think this is definitely not as great an album as the one that proceeded it, Our Endless War, it's a very solid and crunching release, nonetheless. Pummeling with breakdowns and filled with anger, the album stands as a strong example of what deathcore done right sounds like. Songs like "The Elitist Ones" and the powerful "Bring Me Home", which showcases a new level of maturity and change for the band, rank among my favorite tracks of the year.
19. Death Angel- The Evil Divide- I've like Death Angel for many, many years, however, I never loved them. The Evil Divide, though, ranks not only as their best album in the last couple of years, but one of their best overall. It might, in fact, be their actual best album. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Mark Osegueda is one of the best vocalists in all of thrash metal, and his vocals really shine this blistering ass kicker.
18. Aborted- Retrogore- This brutal and unrelenting release from Aborted serves as splatter worshiping death metal at it's most awesome. With songs like the title the track and "Whoremaggedon", it's really hard to stop listening to Retrogore. As the title implies the lyrics are filled with love for old-school gore flicks. This is accompanied by blastbeats and head smashing crunch, delivering a must own album for fans of blood drenched genre movies and extreme metal. Extra points for having one of my favorite album covers of the year!
17. Korn- The Serenity of Suffering- I haven't cared or particularly liked a Korn since probably See You on the Other Side. Enough so that I had mostly written the band off. So call me beyond pleasantly surprised when I heard this album. It really captures the classic Korn sound and reminds why I used to be obsessed with the band, and their music when I was in college. Filled with catchy hooks and the dark, introspective lyrics that define their best output, this album truly brings back the popular late 90s metal sound.
16. Periphery- III: Select Difficulty- Definitely one of the most talented mainstream metal bands out there, Periphery sum up the best elements of the more popular sounds in heavy rock today. The instruments are played to perfection, while their signer Spencer Sotelo ranks as one of my personal favorite vocalists in modern metal. III: Select Difficulty captures a lot of this with a variety of sounds including really heavy tunes, longer more progressive songs, and softer more emotional tracks. "Marigold" and "Catch Fire" ranks among my most listened to songs of the year.
15. Darkthrone- Arctic Thunder- Another band, I had long written off, black metal legends, Darkthrone returned with not only their finest release in many years, but one of their finest ever. It's a true return to old school black metal with lo-fi production and a distant, cold sound throughout. The title is perfect to describe the album as the feel right the right thing to listen to during these cold winter days. Here then is another album that really brings back the 90s, only in a more underground aspect and does it awesomely.
13. Dark Funeral- Where Shadows Forever Reign- Unholy fuck, what a fuckin' album!! One of my most played black metal releases of this year, this dark, heavy, and deliciously evil album is one of the finest and outright listenable recordings Dark Funeral have ever put out. My full review: http://themastergio.blogspot.com/2016/07/dark-funeral-where-shadows-forever.html
12. The Agonist- Five- I've been a fan of The Agonist since their debut album, however, as much I love their old signer, they have really hit their stride with their current signer, Vicky Psarakis, and the last two albums that they recorded with her. A great mix of the driving and pounding, with more melodic elements, and very catchy hooks, Five is an infinitely playable album that gets me pumped up each and every time that I listen to it.
11. Carnifex- Slow Death- Slow Death is unarguably THE best deathcore album of the year. It showcases a band, Carinfex, that is willing to grow and mature as time passes. Incorporating more death metal elements than many of their counterparts, as well as other influences, like black metal in the amazing track "Drown Me in Blood", this album is a heavy and pissed off blast of pure fury. Carnifex are truly leaving many of their peers in this style of metal in the dust.
Musician: Dead Conspiracy Album Title: Dead Conspiracy Genre/ Subgenre: Death metal/ Thrash Label: Self-released Release Date: Nov. 15, 2016
Dead Conspiracy is Portland's first ever death metal band. This self titled album is their first full length release. It features chainsaw guitars and blindly fast sounds that dominate this awesome slice of old-school death metal with thrash elements.
The band excel at fast as fuck music. And, this evident from the very first track, the blistering "Blood Is Everywhere". Vocally there is an almost hardcore/ thrash crossover style married with cookie monster vocals for a particularly vicious delivery that is accompanied by chainsaw guitar riffs that would make Leatherface proud. The saw like shredding guitar is even more prominent in the next track: "In the Wake of the Butcher". Here the vocals sound particularly brutal and angry. A haunting and beautiful intro builds and builds into utter pummeling brutality for "Anthietam- Vulture Feeding". The clear vocals allow this tale of of ancient and bloody battle a more fun and catchy feel to it. The super fast "Paralyzed with Fear" closes off the album quite supremely well.
The band has a clear love for old school death metal. Their fondness for gore and death filled lyrics is happily representative of this. I mean just read the titles I mentioned before if you are need proof of this! Fans of bands like Death, Massacre, and Gruesome should take special note. But, I also like the thrash metal tendencies that lurk in their music too, as the influence of German thrashers like Kreator and Sodom are also present.
Old school, fast, and heavy this self titled album from Dead Conspiracy is truly kick ass! Rounded off by solid musician and a fun and changing vocal style it further satisfies. If your looking for gore and violence filled death metal to fill that 90s void, this is the band for you! 3.5 out of 5
Musician: Face of Oblivion Album Title: Cataclysmic Desolation Genre/ Subgenre: Technical Death Metal Label: Comatose Music Release Date: Nov. 11, 2016 This is the second release from Minnesota technical death metal monster, Face of Oblivion. And, it is a crushing and brutal at that. It unleashes its assault from the very first second and does not let up till the very last second. The band is now fronted by Incinerate vocalist Jesse Watson. He presides over fast, merciless, and brutal music. The sound is complex, technically amazing, and filled with tempo shifts. Every instrument is played at a fever pitch and the sounds are filled with anger and viciousness. While, most of the songs are under three minutes long, they pack a lot in that short time period giving them a more epic feel than they are.
The album opens with one of its' best tracks in the crushing "Embracing the Damnation". The machine gun like attack of the title track decimates everything in its path. The drumming, by Eric "Ogar" Baumgard, on "Futility" is a fucking monster, an unrelenting, devastating monster, thjat is. "Walls of Flesh" not only sounds like a classic death metal track, but it kills as it alternates between speed and blast beats and little bits of outright crunching. Speaking of classic death metal, you gotta love the cover. Fast, brutal, and seemingly angry as fuck, Cataclysmic Desolation is highly recommended. In short, Face of Oblivion have put out an album that is sure to please fans of savage technical death metal.
Musician: In Death... Album Title: The Devil Speaks Genre/ Subgenre: Technical Death Metal Label: Self Released Release Date: TBA
Holy. Fucking. Shit!!! That is what I said the moment that I heard this upcoming indie debut from Australian death metal act In Death... Mostly because it is so fucking badass and awesome, that just listening to the first couple of minutes of the album made me love it!
The band have a truly technically strong quality to them that really shows off their awesome musicianship. What really drives the songs forward, though, is the fucking killer groove. It hooks you in and then just fucking crushes you. Some of the more close-minded metal fans might decry something about it being to close to deathcore. Fuck that. Mixing it with their tech-death style gives it a heavy as fuck and refreshing, different feel from so many other bands that tend to do a more straight forward style of one or another.
I love every track on here, as they are all solid bits of destruction. Like I said earlier, from the get go this album drew me and that's cause it started out with the crunching and groovetastic (is that even a word? Fuck it. It is now!) opening to the searing "Malignancy Eradicated". The speedy "Bow to Your Master" will utterly pummel you. "Every Burial" is so fucking badass that might be my favorite track here and that's saying something. I mean come on, they have an awesome song called "Godzilla"! How can this horror and monster loving dude not love that? Speaking of horror the kick ass instrumental and title track, "The Devil Speaks" (which really shows off their talented chops) has a sound-bite from Al Pacino from The Devil's Advocate playing over it. By the time the final song, "King of the Deadpool" kicks in, your neck will have snapped from headbanging so hard!
I simply can't say enough good things about In Death... The Devil Speaks. These guys have impressed the fucking hell out of me, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for them! For now, pay close attention to them and be sure to pick up this highly recommended album when it comes out. And, be sure to follow them on their Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/indeath) to be up to date on that and more!
