| Aenaon Cendres Et Sang | 4.0 |
| TrenchRot Necronomic Warfare | 3.5 |
| Seduced (AT) The Proclamation | 4.0 |
| Carnality Dystopia | 4.0 |
| Septicflesh Titan | 4.0 |
| Origin Omnipresent | 4.5 |
| Hour of Penance Regicide | 4.5 |
| Wretched (USA-NC) Cannibal | 4.0 |
| Whitechapel Our Endless War | 2.5 |
| Carnifex Die Without Hope | 2.0 |
| Deicide In the Minds of Evil | 3.5 |
| Hell:On Hunt | 4.5 |
| All Pigs Must Die Nothing Violates This Nature | 4.0 |
| Lycus Tempest | 3.0 |
| Circle of Silence The Rise of Resistance | 4.5 |
| Circle of Silence The Blackened Halo | 3.5 |
| Azure Emote The Gravity of Impermanence | 1.0 |
| humanity defiled circling the drain | 4.0 |
| Attic The Invocation | 3.0 |
| Exhumed Necrocracy | 4.0 |
| ArchiTorture Spare No One | 3.5 |
| Now this is a fuckin' thrash record. ArchiTorture, from Finland, chucked their first full-length out the window during a practise session where they proceeded to cover every Slayer song ever, and it landed on some PR guy's beard while he was walking through the forests of V?sterbotten (he lost his horse again, I reckon). That PR guy of course sent that shit to me, and since I like PR and thrash, I gave it a whirl. I wasn't disappointed, but I had no expectations anyways, so I guess that doesn't count for shit. Anyways, this is pretty much a case of a thrash outfit trying to match every oldschool thrash outfit (when they were good, that is), and while I certainly have heard "Spare No One" over and over again, it's a nice bit of nostalgia where I can reminisce about the days of yore when thrash metal was just coming out. Or rather, I can hypothesise about what those days were like, since I was only born in '94. Those days must have been the actual shit, especially if most bands out there sounded like ArchiTorture. If you're in need of a dose of oldschool thrash, which the band so kindly labeled themselves as, then definitely take a listen to this record. Otherwise, leave "Spare No One" with the rest of the Sodom clones and get off the pot. I need to take a shit. |
| Sophicide Perdition of the Sublime | 4.5 |
| Rabbits Bites Rites | 3.0 |
| I'm not much of a sludge fan, and I certainly can't claim to have heard a lot of shit in that genre, so it's fair to say that "Bites Rites" was a new experience for me. The Oregon-based sludge band, Rabbits, released their latest LP in 2012, and it's definitely got teeth to it. The production quality on the record is decent, and the sound is very reminiscent of southern rock. A dirty, grungy guitar tone helps set this kind of mood, and the vocals run straight through the mix like a football player runs through a cabbage patch. It might be a little hard on your ears at first, especially if you're new to the genre like I am, but its hodgepodge of high-energy, high-speed, high-volume sounds has its charm to it. The vocals are a mix of not-so-sober shouts and middle-pitched screams that don't carry the rest of the album's sound as much as they bludgeon it to death with a horse head, except in a good way. The drum fills are composed predominantly of snare hits, but have enough variety to keep me interested, and they're certainly loud enough to be heard over everything else. In the end, "Bites Rites" is a fun little journey into the world of sludge metal (or 'stoner rock', as some seem to call it), and to those who would label it as "just a buncha noise"... Well, I agree. It's probably not for everybody. It's still fun to listen to, and Rabbits clearly have a lot of energy and passion for their music. |
| Eternal Gray Your Gods, My Enemies | 2.5 |
| Here we have a pretty standard slab of technical-leaning death metal from Eternal Gray, a now-disbanded four-piece from Israel's Tel Aviv. While "Your Gods, My Enemies" has its moments, it's largely plagued with two major flaws: generic instrumentation and lack of real song direction. The structure of the songs feels very recycled, because you've either heard it before on another album, or you've heard it before on this album, and I don't like shit that repeats itself. The guitar tones are pretty decent, but the actual notes and chords played are rather typical of the genre. The high notes are pretty much technical death metal riffs in a nutshell, except without the required proficiency, and the lower notes sound an awful lot like some metalcore bands I've had the displeasure of hearing. The vocals sound decent but lack variety, and much the same can be said for the drums. If you just want to thrash your head around and enjoy blisteringly-fast speeds and mindless execution, by all means give Eternal Gray's last full-length a spin, but if you're looking for more depth... you won't find it here. |
| Sad Eyes 9H0B1A | 4.0 |
| Forlorn Path Man's Last Portrait | 4.5 |
| Entrails (SWE) Raging Death | 4.0 |
| Amon Amarth Deceiver of the Gods | 4.0 |
| Tempel (USA-AZ) On the Steps of the Temple | 4.0 |
| Bloodshot Dawn Bloodshot Dawn | 4.5 |
| Head Takers Beyond the Shades | 3.5 |
| Blinded in Bliss Constancy | 1.5 |
| Murder Construct Results | 4.0 |
| Aeon Aeons Black | 4.0 |
| Only a Shadow Remains Premeditated | 3.5 |
| Chaos Divine The Human Connection | 4.5 |
| Beneath (IS) Enslaved by Fear | 4.0 |
| Meridian Meridian | 2.5 |
| Oral Fistfuck Demo 2011 | 4.5 |
| Odium (CAN) At the Bottom | 2.5 |
| God Dethroned Lair of the White Worm | 4.0 |
| Wretched (USA-NC) Son of Perdition | 4.5 |
| Eye of Minerva Spherical Perdition | 4.5 |
| God Dethroned Under the Sign of the Iron Cross | 4.5 |
| Hour of Penance Sedition | 5.0 |
| De Lirium's Order Veniversum | 4.5 |
| Curimus Realization | 3.0 |
