This week’s Heavy Music HQ reviews include releases from Abduction, Acid Magus, Aitheer, Dirty Honey, Killswitch Engage, Marrowomb, Mean Mistreater, Morax, Scare, Scumripper, Sinner Rage, Sin Of God and Wren.
The ratings are on a 5-star scale.
Abduction – Existentialismus (Candlelight)
Abduction explore a familiar formula on Existentialismus — one I like to call “black metal from the highway.” However, the band manages to create an interesting balance between the aggressiveness of Spectral Wound and the emotional depth of Groza. The album demonstrates a great balance between these two styles, which don’t always see eye to eye. Despite the length of the tracks, there’s enough here to keep even the most distracted listener engaged.
If you’ve been into black metal long enough, you might not find this album particularly novel, but I believe its strength lies in the details that start to reveal themselves after a few listens. So, if anything, the album does demand a certain degree of patience — a quality not commonly found in similar albums. However, I think if you stick with it, you’ll be rewarded!
Rating: 4
(Calos Tirado)
Acid Magus – Scattering Empire (Mongrel)
Scattering Empire, the third full-length from the South African band Acid Magus is a post-metal album with influences from groups like Mastodon and Baroness. Acid Magus perform an exciting blend of post-metal with some stoner influences. Their sound is vibrant and colorful and creates a good amount of groove, creating a unique sound.
The musicianship is solid and creates the ethereal atmosphere with crunchy guitars that play the most prominent role of the music. Vocals are appropriate for the groove the band creates, as is the drumming. There aren’t many flaws to be found, as Scattering Empire has the appropriate amount of stoner grooves to catch your attention.
Rating: 3.5
(Adam McAuley)
Aitheer – The Serpent (Rockshots)
The Serpent is progressive in every meaningful way, judging by the multitude of instrumentals Aitheer include on their debut album. Four of the seven tracks are minimalistic, relying on the guitarists collaborating on either electric ambience or classical acoustics. Though all the tracks aren’t tied together, it’s clear that’s how the group wanted to construct this.
Though the instrumentals might be serene, the other three tunes bring a crunchier sound to The Serpent. There’s not much melodic about the 10-minute “The Dance Of Twins,” not even with the use of saxophone. “Law” relies on keyboards, as well as a back-and-forth between different vocal styles, to paint the band as versatile. That’s really the most accurate word to describe Aitheer on The Serpent.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Dirty Honey – Mayhem & Revelry Live (Dirt)
L.A. hard rockers Dirty Honey exploded on the scene in 2019, when they became the first unsigned band to top the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart with “When I’m Gone.” After and EP and two studio albums, they are releasing their first live album, Mayhem & Revelry Live.
In addition to the album, there’s also a companion four-part video documentary that was recorded during their “Can’t Find The Brakes” tour. The 16 songs on the live album are energetic, with frontman Marc LaBelle channeling the attitude and swagger of ’80s Sunset Strip bands. They play all their hits, from “Rolling 7s” to “Won’t Take Me Alive” and of course “When I’m Gone.” The album and video documentary give an entertaining look at Dirty Honey onstage and offstage.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
Killswitch Engage – This Consequence (Metal Blade)
It has been a quarter century since metalcore stalwarts Killswitch Engage released their self-titled debut. All these years later they still display the passion and energy that have made them one of the genre’s most beloved bands. After a five plus year span since Atonement, they emerge with their ninth studio album This Consequence.
The album has all the hallmarks of Killswitch Engage: crushing riffs, catchy melodies and passionate vocals. Songs like “Aftermath” and “Forever Aligned” have singalong choruses, but also throat-shredding harsh vocals from Jesse Leach. Most tracks have a fairly even balance between brutality and melody, but that balance tilts more toward the extreme on songs like “Broken Glass” and “Where It Dies.” There’s not even a hint of filler on This Consequence, which gives notice that Killswitch Engage are as vital and relevant now as they’ve always been.
Rating: 4
(Chad Bowar)
Marrowomb – Phisenomie (Self)
Marrowomb is the creation of musician Frank Lato, who handles all the instrumentation on Phisenomie outside of guitar solos and session drums from the prolific Kevin Paradis. The album maintains sinister blackened death metal with an influx of industrialized synths. There are songs that seem to take from the Strapping Young Lad playbook, with layers of noise invoking instability.
It isn’t until halfway into Phisenomie with “Inner Ring” that Marrowomb takes a more calculated step, letting the tempos fall back for something only on the verge of implosion. It’s a song where its six-plus minutes are used to grand effect. The same can’t be said for the almost 12-minute closer “Despairloom,” which has its high spots tampered down by an outro that could’ve had a few minutes trimmed from it with little recourse. It doesn’t ruin Phisenomie, but does show Marrowomb have room to evolve.
Rating: 3
(Dan Marsicano)
Mean Mistreater – Do Or Die (Dying Victims)
Austin, Texas’ Mean Mistreater’s sophomore record Do Or Die is the right kind of retro styled hard rocking, heavy metal with a mean edge. The album is a thoroughly bite-sized affair, clocking in at under half an hour, but the band’s hit and run plan of attack is executed well with the 1-2 punch of “Killer Red” and “On Survivor” to kick things off.
This record reminds me quite a bit of Christian Mistress’ debut album Agony & Opium in its simplicity and structure being heavily guitar focused with powerful vocals from Janeice Gonzalez to complement the mix properly. Harmonics run wild on “Walk With Fire” before giving into the galloping guitars that brings more muscle to their attack while adding a bit of variety. Mean Mistreater play the hard rocking role well using their no frills approach to punch you in the mouth and keep you coming back for more. Do Or Die is a blast!
Rating: 4
(Tom Campagna)
Morax – The Amulet (High Roller)
While musician Remi A. Nygård tears through blackened thrash metal with Inculter, his new project Morax goes traditional with its retro heavy metal. It’s easy to spot his fandom for the late ’70s/early ’80s era of metal on The Amulet, like the lead bass guitar on the rugged “Seven Pierced Hearts” calling back to the days of Black Sabbath’s Heaven And Hell.
Nygård has full creative control over Morax, with him being the lone member, so there’s a personal appeal to this album. He seems to be having a blast when he rips out an audacious guitar solo or layers guitars with harmonious fanfare. There’s no shame in the callbacks to a bountiful period of metal music with The Amulet.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Retromorphosis – Psalmus Mortis (Season Of Mist)
Retromorphosis is the rebirth of Spawn Of Possession by a different name, as four-fifths of that former band have realigned for technical death metal supremacy on Psalmus Mortis. Thirteen years have passed since Spawn Of Possession’s final album Incurso, and Psalmus Mortis comes off as the long-awaited follow-up to that phenomenal record.
This is fluid, jaw-dropping tech death; something Spawn Of Possession did so well, and Retromorphosis lives up to that legacy. It’s hard not to get giddy when vocalist Dennis Röndum barks out 100 words a minute without taking a breath like it’s the late 2000’s all over again. Psalmus Mortis is not a reinvention, but a restart that is justified.
Rating: 4
(Dan Marsicano)
Scare – In The End, Was It Worth It? (Self)
In The End, Was It Worth It? isn’t just the title to Scare’s second album, but a thought that the foursome seems to have on their minds the whole way through. Their music’s starting point is poisonous metallic hardcore, though they also turn in sludgy riffs on “Doomynation,” which is split into two tracks placed in the middle and end of the record. Even at their most lumbering, neither reaches the three-minute mark.
Only a few songs hold that distinction on In The End, Was It Worth It?, as Scare aren’t timewasters with what they want to get out. Guitar solos are commonplace and they add piano to put a surreal aura over the introduction to “Jeanne Dark.” Metallic hardcore like this has broader appeal than expected, as long as the forceful screams can be tolerated.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Scumripper – For A Few Fixes More (Dying Victims)
Blackened thrashers Scumripper add move of a mean streak to Finland’s usual metallic output with For A Few Fixes More, drawing some serious comparisons to Joel Grind’s outfit, Toxic Holocaust. “I Am The Trash of Evil Men” could fit well within the context of a Midnight record, given the black and thrash influences contained herein.
“Early Embittered Twilight” features chugging riffs and more evil rasps with more of that Venom-like lack of polish, acting as a complement to their approach. Scrumripper touch on exhumations, sexual depravity, drug use and being generally disgusting, not much of a surprise when the album art and title hit you right in the face. If you need a quick hit of adrenaline with under 30 minutes to spare, you could do far worse than this Suomi slab of high-octane energy.
Rating: 3.5
(Tom Campagna)
Sinner Rage – Powerstrike (Dying Victims)
Sinner Rage arrive with their debut Powerstrike, a power/heavy metal record with tons of energy. The sections of chants of “woah-oh-oh” fit in as an ode to European metal crowds that live for those moments on the self-titled opening track. “Fire’s On” shows the band hitting those 1980s themed heights with soaring vocals that help the band to up the ante.
Pounding drums serve as the foundation for the track, beating your head in while vocalist Aritz Martinez buoys the guitar attack making for a solid overall song. Powerstrike is a time capsule of an album that could easily have been from an up-and-coming European band some 40 years ago. While they don’t tread any new ground here, this is a decent heavy metal record for fans of the genre who can’t seem to get enough from the genre.
Rating: 3
(Tom Campagna)
Sin Of God – Blood Bound (Exitus Strategem)
An album six years in the making, Hungarian black metalers Sin Of God have brought us their third offering, Blood Bound. Despite a global pandemic and several rounds of band member changes, they have managed to release this album and managed to surpass their 2016 album Aenigmata.
The title track wastes no time opening the album with the guttural screams of lead singer Tamás Schupkégel compounded with the blast beats of drummer Balázs Botyánszki. Blood Bound wastes no time and could easily be a new modern staple in the annals of black metal. “Diabolical Agitation” stands out as the only track to be a bit clunky with a sudden but brief tone shift about half-way through the song before picking back up to the rest of the album’s tempo. Blood Bound is a welcome return for the band and it is interesting to see what they do moving forward.
Rating: 3.5
(Dalton Husher)
Wren – Black Rain Falls (Church Road)
Nearly five years after their last release, the London experimental sludge/post metal band Wren are unveiling their third album, Black Rain Falls. As you can probably gather from the album title, the subject matter is bleak. It’s about navigating the grief after the death of a close friend of the band.
The nearly eight-minute opener “Flowers Of Earth” moves at a deliberate pace, with lengthy instrumental sections alternating with cathartic harsh vocals. “Toil In The Undergrowth” has an extended intro and a glacial tempo, while “Betrayal Of The Self” has a brisk beginning before pumping the brakes. Closer “Scorched Hinds” is perhaps the most straightforward song on the album, but still has some twists and turns. Black Rain Falls is a dynamic and constantly shifting album of intense emotions.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
