…rumblings of new Dethklok and Metalocalypse material was surfacing back in 2021. But here we sit in 2023 with a movie soon to be released (Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar), a tour with Babymetal this fall, and not one, but two albums on the horizon (one of which being the soundtrack to said movie). Dethalbum IV is the subject of this review, and it carries with it the distinguished pedigree of the Dethalbums before it. The knack that Dethklok…
…ut any auditions. We didn’t want to audition someone else. His playing – in 2021 the last album we brought out was the live album, which was Jogi on the bass. The Hellish Joyride is the first album to feature Tobias on bass. It was really cool to work with him. On the one hand, we have six songwriters now in the band. He contributed the song “Stay the Fool” for which he wrote the music. His playing – he’s a real heavy metal bass player. He has a l…
…ex-Soil), and while they formed in 2018, it was the ‘rebirth’ of the act in 2021 (Glass is the only initial member remaining) and subsequent signing to label Noble Demon that initially grabbed some deserved attention. Also featuring Product of Hate vocalist Adam Gilley, the group’s first EP Volume 1: Reborn set the tone for their vicious yet melodic template. To that end, The Process of Human Demise provides an energetic romp through thrashy yet c…
…rowth or differences in this record compared to your self-titled debut from 2021? Laz: I think one of the main differences is we had much more time to rehearse. Before the first record, we had one show. That’s the most important difference between the two albums. Nihil: At least this is how I feel about this – the main difference is how the drums sound. Not the style of playing but the sound of the drums. We more or less stuck to the same formula…
…lbum, I started at 1970 and wrote my ten favorite albums of each year until 2021 at the time. The worst year ever for me in music was 1997, I don’t know why, but there were three good records that came out that year. And I think the second worst year in music for me personally was 2022. All the stuff that is hyped up now because of false nostalgia like people who didn’t even exist when this shit was popular. Nu-metal and all that is my least favor…
…terms of the material and the overall final product, especially compared to 2021’s Absolvere? Bobby Crow: I would say this record feels a lot more natural. We did a lot more trusting of our guts. We wrote this record very quickly. Most of the records we would write at my house and have tons of time, years to work on them and go over parts. We wrote most of this album, 75% of this, in the studio. We would go through a song, like it, make little cha…
…across the Atlantic, it’s amazing. When I started my Twitch stream in April 2021 and Madeleine started hers in June 2021. A bundle of game changers and highlights of our careers. Dead Rhetoric: How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success in life? Or do you have a favorite failure of yours that happened when it comes to your music career, and how did you end up pushing through? Ekberg: A failure can mean so many things to a…
…an death metal quartet Crypta as they made quite a first impression through 2021’s Echoes of the Soul debut. Switching out second guitarists as Sonia Anubis steps aside for fellow Brazilian Jéssica Falchi, Shades of Sorrow continues the brutal assault of death metal that these ladies stand for, featuring a bevy of aggressive to semi-technical tracks, plenty of riffs/hooks to capture one’s headspace, plus tempos that range from tribal-like maneuver…
…f Sorrow is the second Crypta album – a strong follow-up to your debut from 2021 Echoes of the Soul. How do you see the evolution of the band in terms of the songwriting and performances between the two records? Luana Dametto: Well, I think on the first record we were very much breaking the ice amongst each other. Fernanda and I of course had played together before in Nervosa, but we didn’t really know Taina and Sonia at the time, it was like gett…
…gain. [Laughs] It’s been great. Of course, I got this break during 2020 and 2021 from Covid, so it was a good time to recharge my batteries and find new things and approaches. The lockdown wasn’t all bad. Before that, I was doing 200 gigs a year with both bands. I needed the break. Now, it’s all good. Both bands are starting to tour a lot again. Everything is cool. I wrote a lot of music during lockdown and have put out two EPs and full-lengths wi…
…domestically and abroad. Previously under this scribe’s listening radar for 2021’s V EP, the follow-up VI – Molten Rainbow is a nine-song platter that continues an energetic blend of traditional riffs, savage vocals, plus heavy tempos that flies firmly in the camp that the trio will not compromise to achieve purity in the conquest for the cause. Performing double duty at bass/guitars, Jordan Rhyno layers his riffs plus bottom end support with this…
…that maybe differed from your last effort Creatures of the Dark Realm from 2021? Patrik Selleby: We have been working in the same way as we have over the past five albums. Myself, Fredrik and Tomas are the main songwriters in the band. The writing process is an ongoing process all the time. If I have a riff, I record it and save them in the vault for later. When we start to talk about things at the time to do an album, we start to send each other…
…igning with Ván Records and issuing a debut album for Moonlit Cross in late 2021 that won them top three rankings in major domestic metal magazines. Now the highly anticipated follow-up Fatale arrives, another hypnotic, catchy affair for those who love a mix of 70’s/80’s guitar-driven heaviness along with gothic/haunting vocal melodies that conjure up a wide array of darker, thoughtful influences. The mesmerizing riffs swirl around equally intoxic…
…ere do you see the major differences between this album and your debut from 2021 The Fragments of Wonder? Were there any surprises, obstacles, or setbacks to overcome during this process? Lunesu: I already had some songs from the new album during the promotion of the Wonders’ debut album, the last songs I wrote at the end of the promotion of the debut album. Compared to the debut album everyone worked at home because of the many commitments of eac…
Vexed made a pretty massive splash with their first effort back in 2021 with Culling Culture. Mixing elements of modern metal, vicious deathcore and metalcore, as well as electronic elements, they had a sound that hit the sweet spot of being heavy, angry, and memorable. Two years later, the band have recorded the follow-up in Negative Energy. Ramping up the heaviness and insightful social commentary from the previous effort, Negative Energy is in…
…gs. Take Montreal’s Serpent Corpse – following a debut demo release in late 2021, they signed with Temple of Mystery Records and issue their first full-length, Blood Sabbath. Close your eyes, open your ears, as you’ll succumb to a sound and style familiar to those who loved the early to mid-90’s development of this scene – especially of the UK/Swedish variety, with some North American attitude / groove thrown in for good measure. The low-tuned gui…
…nger and longer, and we didn’t end up practicing until the following summer 2021. I personally did not feel inspired, even though I know a lot of people were very prolific. I just was not, I was working a lot, partially working from home and then fully working from home. I was exhausted, and with the state of things I didn’t feel like playing or writing. Once the vaccine came out, we felt comfortable enough to get together again and it was amazing…
…as new releases hit the marketplace. Following up their previous album from 2021 Decimator, Massachusetts act Oxblood Forge continue to deliver their special brand of heavy metal with stoner, doom, and classic rock inflections on their latest EP Cult of Oblivion. Getting their collective feet underneath them with live gigs on an East Coast tour with Spiral Grave and Mourn the Light plus opening for acts like Manilla Road, Anvil, and Magic Circle,…
…ving unexpectedly recorded a brilliant new song titled “The Final Storm” in 2021 for the vinyl re-release of the band’s landmark album Deadlight featuring Eikind, the possibility of him potentially joining up again on a permanent basis certainly was a novel idea. When the previously mentioned single “Downhearted” and subsequent comeback album Stormbringers cemented the band’s return, Eikind not being involved was indeed a surprising development. H…
Vexed came storming in with their Napalm debut in 2021 with Culling Culture. A brutal assault for sure, but still captured a catchy, melodic side at times that helped it blur the lines between modern metal, deathcore, djent, and more. Regardless of the labels, it was a visceral listen that grabbed you with aggression and grooves, occasionally stopping to soothe you with some melodic elements. Two years later, we are treated to the band’s return,…
…honic metal-oriented international band who released a self-titled album in 2021. What was the response like for this record – and are there plans in the works for a follow-up effort down the line? Weingarten: Yeah, we got a good response to our debut album. We are in the process of working on our second album now, and the drum tracking starts in three weeks. Stylistically, I am taking more of a hand in the songwriting this time. It’s going to be…
…em oriented. Beyond the Mirage is the second studio album, the follow-up to 2021’s steady debut offering The Fragments of Wonder – pushing the tempos a bit more into classic European power metal molds while accentuating tremendous vocal-harmonies/choir possibilities. Bursting with energetic power chords and uplifting, heroic melodies, songs such as “One Million Miles” and “Coming Home” breathe comfortably in that spirit which pushed early Sonata A…
…ith the tracks. It’s well-balanced, very well-structured, I think the EP in 2021 was more of a trial thing. Our approach to this album has been much more serious, and I hope that people can hear this in the final product. Dead Rhetoric: Were you working on the album independently before signing with Uprising! Records? Rasmussen: We really wanted to keep this old school – we did record the album independently and then circulated it around. Target/M…
…Mental Cruelty really went into a stronger direction with their last album, 2021’s A Hill to Die Upon. It greatly improved their deathcore formula by adding in more black metal influences, allowing them to keep the brutal deathcore slamming in play but not be overly reliant up it. With symphonic black metal as well, there’s only so many ways you can play it, in keeping the album from being too synth-driven and losing that metallic component. As Me…
…metal for a decade now, with an EP and three full-lengths, culminating with 2021’s booming Norden. Showcasing the band at their most focused, the follow up was going to have quite the act to follow. Suffice to say, fourth LP Det Österbottniska Mörkret equals, and in some ways surpasses, the band’s most accomplished works. The style of black metal employed falls firmly into the second wave, though opting for a robust and meaty production, instead o…
…ssolving after drummer Evan Diprima parted ways in 2018 and it wasn’t until 2021 that the trio mended things and got the band back together, so to speak. With six years now between releases, Royal Thunder come back with something to prove with Rebuilding the Mountain, their second release for Spinefarm Records. It seems the band’s somewhat bluesy and rock-oriented grooves carry just as much melody and emotion, and serve as an excellent welcome bac…
…st time we got together as a band was 2018, and the debut album came out in 2021. We had to face a new situation sight unseen on the market in the worst time ever for the music industry. It was not a problem for the debut album, because that album was written before the pandemic. Church of the Scream was all written during the pandemic. I’m really proud on how we were able to manage that. It was a very crazy period, when we were forced to stay in…
…ing an incredible ambiance. If any future Star Trek series wants to have a theme song, this would be perfect. On that note, a metal cover of Enterprise’s theme “Faith of the Heart” needs to happen. When the “Jenny of Oldstones” single was released back in 2021, the band stated “We’ll show you the dark side of songs you thought you knew!” Clearly they have, and based on social media posts, it seems this isn’t the last we’ve heard, and this scribe i…
…nder their belts as teenagers from 2006-08, Danish band Avarice returned in 2021 – delivering the Reborn in Blood EP that impressed the media as well as Uprising! Records who would sign these musicians to a label deal. The follow-up self-titled debut album is the payoff – a fusion of melodic death/thrash that has savage strength in its collective grasp of both genres. Combining riffs and tempos that obliterate while delivering key groove/hook sequ…
…at piqued more than a few ears. A single “Eidolon in the Flames” dropped in 2021, further whetting the appetite. Arriving at long last is the release of their debut album At the Eye of Chaos, and the inevitable query of ‘was the wait was worth it’ awaits an answer. Yup, this jerk is going to make you wait for it. Alright, the delay won’t be long; patience indeed does pay dividends in this case study. Olkoth perpetuates a fierce helping of black/de…
