If there’s one style of extreme metal that I vibe hard with, it’s what I like to call “hell sounds”. At its roots black metal, death metal, or a combination, this soundscape also is also heavily infused with ambience to craft a nightmarish atmosphere. Brand new band Sacrificial Vein are fine purveyors of this blend of haunting music on their debut album Black Terror Genesis. It seems this spine chilling genesis has really enraptured our Cosmo, but by which trickery?
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Apogean – Cyberstrictive Review
Wasting no time with an intro piece, this album kicks off with “Bluelight Sonata”, which does a good job showcasing what Apogean does correctly: hooky, catchy riffs. Unlike their contemporaries in the tech death scene, this band focuses more on writing riffs than writing wanksterpieces. But is that enough to get a high score from the eggplant bat?
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Griffon – De Republica Review
Taking a decidedly anti-authoritarian and perhaps even antifascist perspective, each song here is about a different time period in history, with the prime focus being French history. Every track takes on a melancholic tinge, and can be considered laments, because nothing feels triumphant. What a Monday pick-me-up!
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Hulder – Verses in Oath Review
It’s safe to say Hulder exploded in popularity since signing to 20 Buck Spin in 2022 for their EP release, The Eternal Fanfare. Their debut album, released in 2021, Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry, didn’t leave a huge desire for Cosmo to revisit, though. As for this newest Verses in Oath… Hulder your horses, it’s about to get saucy!
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Drowned – Procul His Review
Drowned play a blend of primarily death metal mixed with some doom metal elements that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Spectral Voice or a Mortiferum album. But how does this all come together? Semi-drowned?
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Vitriol – Suffer & Become Review
I wasn’t too impressed with Vitriol’s debut full length in 2019, as it lacked memorable songwriting, and the production sounded off. The glow-up this band has had in the nearly five years since has been immense, as the sophomore album not only defies the dreaded sophomore slump, but kicks it to the ground, punches it in the face, and kicks it a couple more times for good measure. Suffer & Read This Review & Become.
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Spectral Voice – Sparagmos Review
Sparagmos is the Dionysian rite of tearing something asunder, be it animal or sometimes human, followed up by the consumption of the flesh. It’s fitting that Spectral Voice, the thicker, meaner counterpart to Blood Incantation, return after seven years with their sophomore full-length designed to tear you apart and leave you a mangled corpse. Pick yourself up love, it’s really not that bad.
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Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites) – Παραμαινομένη (Paramainomeni) Review
Hoplites is a one-man Chinese black metal/hardcore band that emerged out of nowhere and proceeded to release three full lengths over the course of 2023. I thought each release was slightly better than the last, but none of them really had memorable moments, instead feeling like an aimless jam session each time that threw elements at the wall to see what stuck. Where does that leave the new album? Find out in this review…
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Sovereign – Altered Realities Review
I am not normally a thrash fan. Usually, I think of it as nothing more than a wild government conspiracy theory, but when a thrash album manages to get me to take off the tinfoil hat, it’s real special. Have Sovereign actually managed to alter Cosmo’s thrash perception?
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Crypts of the Unknown: Bergraven – Det Framlidna Minnet
