This week’s Heavy Music HQ reviews include releases from The 69 Eyes, August Burns Red, Belushi Speed Ball, Converge, Dead Void, Ditheist, Evergrey, Godless, My Own Will, Together To The Stars, Vithial and Voivod.
The ratings are on a 5-star scale.
The 69 Eyes – I Survive (BLKIIBLK)
It’s only been three years since the last release for Finnish goth rock icons The 69 Eyes, and now they have returned with I Survive, their latest EP in their decorated thirty year history.
For those familiar with the works of The 69 Eyes, this EP is a nice little pick me up with all the usual feelings of darkness and glamor till a possible new album. For the uninitiated, I Survive is a four track powerhouse with haunting yet powerful riffs provided by Bazie and Timo-Timo and matching vocals made iconic by Jyrki 69. Though there are only four tracks, the timeless work of The 69 Eyes is still ever present and only gets better with age.
Rating: 3.5
(Dalton Husher)
August Burns Red – Season Of Surrender (Fearless)
Having maintained a stable lineup for two decades, August Burns Red have established a rapport with their legions of fans. Season Of Surrender is their latest exercise in heavy-duty metalcore fare bustling with seismic-shifting breakdowns and guitar solos. There’s no casual kick-off to proceedings here. It’s aggressive from the get-go; “Legions” infuses tech-death flourishes and a guest spot from The Devil Wears Prada’s Mike Hranica.
Much of the record is the band channelling their origins with a heavier and rawer attack that sometimes flirts with deathcore. For instance, “The Nameless” boasts a proudly mid-to-late ’00s metalcore sound and intensity. At times the approach can feel repetitive, without sufficient memorable moments to differentiate the cuts. But there are winners to be found. The heavy yet melancholic “Cerebral Malfunction” (featuring Make Them Suffer) offers a sense of groove and vocal dynamics that set it apart, while bruising “Whispers Like Splinters” also possesses an understated sense of melody. August Burns Red haven’t taken any major creative risks via this record, but it feels honest and energetic, and should satisfy devotees.
Rating: 3.5
(Brendan Crabb)
Belushi Speed Ball – Toxic Waste Was Everywhere In The ’80s (Self)
Kentucky crossover thrashers Belushi Speed Ball have had some lineup turnover since 2024’s Stellkira. Bassist Justin McClure (The Revenants) and drummer Ben Cotton (Rose Funeral, Order Of Leviathan) have joined for the band’s fourth full-length, Toxic Waste Was Everywhere In The ’80s.
They follow the template established on earlier albums with blistering riffs, breakneck tempos and plenty of humor in their lyrics. The album flies by in a blizzard of groovy guitars, flailing drums and catchiness. Most of the tracks are streamlined, but a few are more expansive, such as the nearly five-minute “I’m Not Your Buddy, Guy.” With Toxic Waste Was Everywhere In The ’80s Belushi Speed Ball aren’t reinventing the wheel, continuing to deliver fun, retro thrash goodness.
Rating: 3
(Chad Bowar)
Converge – Hum Of Hurt (Epitaph)
Releasing their second album this year are Converge with Hum Of Hurt. Immediately the album beats you over the head with “Slip The Noose” in a more direct way than Love Is Not Enough did. Pivoting on a dime, “Doom In Bloom” slows things down substantially allowing for Ben Koller’s drums to be more expressive without the need for blast beats.
Even on tracks like “It Only Gets Worse” and “Detonator,” Jacob Bannon can fix his natural attack without the need for the overt power and jangly riffs. Instead, some dissonant power electronics vary the song, allowing for a catchiness not often seen in a Converge song. Converge had gone a long time between proper albums, nearly nine years (Bloodmoon not withstanding), but now it has barely been four months. This isn’t a bad thing at all as Converge sound revitalized and maybe even a bit toned down (by their standards). If you want a Converge record that rocks without having to be an over-the-top wrecking ball of an album, trading that for some great hardcore played by world class musicians, look no further. Hum Of Hurt is Converge at their most fun.
Rating: 4
(Tom Campagna)
Dead Void – Cranial Devastation (Dark Descent)
Dead Void are death/doom metal that goes to the furthest limits on both styles, and the duo from Denmark proudly shows that off on Cranial Devastation. Their sophomore album goes one of two ways: death metal caked in mud and guts and doom metal stripped to the bone. They carefully occupy those spaces in a back-and-forth tug, unfazed by the slightly shorter song lengths compared to their 2022 debut Volatile Forms.
That gives extra urgency to the callous start to “Isolation’s Hold,” while the bass guitar in opener “Regurgitation Of Ancient Manifestations” is the way to a nagging migraine. The title track, the closest song to get to the 10-minute mark, is bleak enough to dim the sun itself. “Phantosmial Stench Of Decay” directly references an odor that Dead Void seem to thrive in on Cranial Devastation.
Rating: 4
(Dan Marsicano)
Ditheist – Cosmic Liar (Self)
It has been over a decade since Ditheist’s last album, and that length of time has changed the band in small increments on Cosmic Liar. Originally starting out as brutal death metal, complete with clanky snare drums, their second album shows the group now residing in an old-school/technical space. Brutality is still on the menu, yet the varied riffs and quick digressions from death metal are compelling.
The title track starts the record with a throwback to the days of Eternity Of Nothingness before the acoustic intro to “Evil To Live” upends that assumption. The oud and Irish low whistle used in the opening to “Nyarlathotep” has nods to the group Nile, though the second half of Cosmic Liar doesn’t break away from Ditheist’s uncompromising metal.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Evergrey – Architects Of A New Weave (Napalm)
After 30-plus years, the musical template of Swedish titans Evergrey is well-established: melodic progressive/power metal with potent and emotional vocals from Tom S Englund. Even so, the band still manages to sound fresh with each new release, the latest being Architects Of A New Weave.
They amp up the heaviness this time around, evident from the first proper track “The Shadow Self.” Bombast, melancholy and catchy songs abound, with minimal filler. The quality remains high throughout, with some standouts including the varied “The World Is On Fire,” the driving “Leaving The Emptiness” and the epic “Call Off Your Lions.” Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity guests on “A Burning Flame,” an album highlight, and Englund’s vocals are outstanding throughout the record. The bar is always high for Evergrey, who have issued consistently good albums for decades, and Architects Of A New Weave meets and often exceeds the high expectations.
Rating: 4
(Chad Bowar)
Godless – Adversus Parousia (Nuclear Winter)
Some names carry their intent without ambiguity. Godless, forged in the Chilean underground in 1997, have never required elaboration on where they stand. Adversus Parousia, translated from Latin as “Against the Second Coming,” makes that opposition explicit, framing the record as a direct rejection of the Christian Parousia the prophesied return of Christ to judge humanity at the end of days. It is less an album than a ritual conducted in defiance of everything sacred.
Arriving nine years after their last EP Omega Omnipotens, the record wastes none of that accumulated tension. Compositions crawl and coil with pitch-black intensity, rooted in the old school traditions of Immolation and Morbid Angel, yet entirely their own ceremonial, trance-like, and shot through with a genuine sense of transgression. The track list reads like a liturgy in reverse; Latin titles twisting sacred language into instruments of negation. V.D.A. Irrenemidis commands with conviction, SS constructs riffs of dark, deliberate precision, and the rhythm section locks in with suffocating, unwavering force. Pure hostility, perfectly refined.
Rating: 4
(Jeanetta Briski)
My Own Will – Misery (Blood Blast)
Misery is the first release from My Own Will since 2022’s Left To The Flies (aside from a cover of Static-X’s “The Only” put out earlier this year). This four-track EP is deathcore at its most rudimentary, with breakdowns tailor-made for windmill kicks in the pit. Some of them are introduced by the vocalist yelling out an expletive, an ancient move that seemed passe in 2010. “Rorschach” raises the pulse with an upbeat start, but that’s snuffed out quickly by yet another extended breakdown.
Though Left To The Flies followed a similar template, there were fleeting uses of moody guitars to break up the hard-headed rush. That is missing from Misery, which is as subtle as a cement block thrown at a listener’s face. There’s no doubt these songs will kill it in a small, packed club but can’t match that appeal in recorded form.
Rating: 2.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Together To The Stars – Iridescence (Self)
For their fourth album Iridescence, the Swedish post black metal band Together To The Stars decided to go the independent route. In addition to self-releasing the record, the band also produced, mixed and mastered it themselves.
Together To The Stars’ brand of extremity mixes in screamo and blackgaze to their core post black metal sound. The songs are varied and dynamic, shifting from quiet melodies to dense black metal. The vocals from Rafael are mostly throat-shredding and harsh, but he varies the timbre and utilizes some spoken word moments as well. Iridescence flows very well, and despite the sonic diversity is remarkably cohesive.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
Vithial – Awakened Ancient Spirits (Self)
The spirits that Vithial stir to life on their debut album, Awakened Ancient Spirits, are representatives of melodic black metal. Mix in some death metal that could’ve come from the swamps of Florida to this solo project, and the result is music that could be slotted into any time period with no issues. Haunting atmosphere via dungeon synth introduces and concludes most of these songs, with “Soul Incarceration, The Covenant Of Blood” using them more frequently.
Vithial doesn’t lose the plot when it comes to melodies, as the lead guitars spin out effective solos through the buzzsaw riffs. These six songs are consistent in their execution, leaving the same way they came in. Awakened Ancient Spirits conjures up demonic apparitions onto mankind, sweeping through the land with natural disasters and spiritual warfare left in their wake.
Rating: 3.5
(Dan Marsicano)
Voivod – Symphonique (Century Media)
I’ve never been a big Voivod fan despite their mix of thrash, prog, and space madness. Symphonique is a greatest hits album with an orchestra, which adds drama without ruining the punch. The orchestra enhances the experience, but mostly in details rather than dramatic changes. It makes Voivod sound more civilized and less weird, which might not be what fans of dirty thrash want.
Symphonique delivers exactly what it promises — no surprises. Hardcore fans will appreciate this chapter, but I’m left wanting a new direction. The album cleans up the rawness that made Voivod distinctive. It’s fine, even good, but I like my artists broken. Something gets lost in the polish. Your mileage may vary.
Rating: 3.5
(Carlos Tirado)
