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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Dissimulator – Lower Form Resistance Review
It riffs. The amount of times an album has been explained to me with just these two words is staggering. The quality of “having riffs” is enough for many a metalhead, thrashers in particular, to fall in love with an album. That said, Dissimulator riffs. But is that all?
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Madder Mortem – Old Eyes, New Heart Review
We’re lucky to have Norway’s Madder Mortem, as they embody the word progressive to a fault, never doing the same thing between any of their albums. You can always recognize a Madder Mortem song, yet not point to a stale formula in its construction. This is the mark of a band that writes progressively rather than chasing trends. Be the change you want to see!
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This Week In Metal, 2024 Week 5
Another week, another round of metal reviews in the bag. Words are tough, so we assembled the highlights. And if you want to read the latest reviews for the new offerings from Unsouling, Massa Nera & Quiet Fear, Caligula’s Horse, Sovereign, and Hoplites, you can do that too!
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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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Caligula’s Horse – Charcoal Grace Review
For Caligula’s Horse, Charcoal Grace is a return to the kind of songwriting that attempts to develop a lot over their runtime of extended-length songs. This band is very adept at their vocal hooks, so it’s no surprise that they lean into the vocals for this newest album. This is NOT a horse of a different color. But it is prog!
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Massa Nera & Quiet Fear – Quatro Vientos // Cinco Soles Review
Are you impatient when it comes to finding new albums at the start of a new year? To be fair, we haven’t gotten particularly far into 2024—but out of everything that has passed through my ears so far, post-hardcore release Quatro Vientos // Cinco Soles has come the closest to scratching that new-music-itch. Quatro comezóns // Cinco rascadors.
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Unsouling – Vampiric Spiritual Drain Review
Unsouling describe their personal style as broadly death metal, but they are eager to highlight influences from darkwave and gothic music. Frankly, they might be right about their influences, but in cases like these, the promo blurb also sets expectations. So just how well do Unsouling practice what they preach?
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Crypts of the Unknown: Animosity – Animal
