This LP is somewhat of a departure from this band’s earlier works. Previously, Finland’s Shade Empire was more straight-forward Melodic Black/Death Metal with keyboards, sporting something of an Industrial edge, owing mostly to the “human doing his level best to sound like a drum machine” percussion. That was before. Now, the band has decided to instead focus more on the atmospheric and symphonic elements that they’ve always had, putting additional emphasis on the keyboards. The music is much more orchestral this time around, having a sound resembling a Death Metal version of Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir. The keyboard parts, while always prominent before, have gone beyond providing basic atmosphere. They’ve become more complex and layered. That goes for everything else the band does, too. The guitar playing is also more intricate and melodic compared to Shade Empire’s previous output. After going back and researching their older material, it’s almost shocking to see how different Omega Arcane is in comparison. If you want to know what the distinction is between Atmospheric Death Metal and Symphonic Death Metal, all you have to do is listen to any of Shade Empire’s previous releases and then listen to this album. The old stuff was Atmospheric Death Metal. This is Symphonic Death Metal. This is some seriously epic music. While I liked this band’s previous material, Omega Arcane is my favorite LP by a wide margin. I don’t know how much further these guys can push their sound, but I’m definitely down to see where they go next.

A friend of mine describes albums like Apnoe by using the acronym “NVM,” which stands for “Not Very Metal.” At one time, Germany’s Todtgelichter was a standard Black Metal band. Their music was pretty basic, mostly referencing old Bathory, Darkthrone and Burzum for the majority of their songs. I had their first album, 2005’s Was Bleibt…, but I found it to be generic and unadventurous. I’d pretty much written them off after that, skipping their next two LPs altogether. Apnoe sounds nothing like they used to. Compared to their old material, this LP is far more original and different. That being said, the change wasn’t for the better. A lot of the songs on Apnoe are so passive that they make Barry Manilow sound like Extreme Noise Terror in comparison. It’s like they decided that playing Black Metal was too mainstream, so they included a lot of limp-wristed lounge music to sound different. And it does make them sound different, but calling this Black Metal is insulting to Black Metal. Even calling this Post-Black Metal doesn’t really describe how un-Metal the bulk of the music is. I’ve honestly no idea which segment of the Metal market -or any other music market- that this album is aimed at. I don’t know which genre’s fans would like this, other than those oddball hipster people that listen to strange shit just because it’s outside the mainstream. As general music, this doesn’t suck, but it’s so far away from what I want to listen to when buying a record that, knowing what’s on here, I wouldn’t even think of picking it up. This album does literally nothing for me other than make me pissed off that I wasted so much time listening to it. I know a few people will want to check this out because morbid curiosity is a powerful force, but I’d advise against it. You were warned.

Svartsyn has technically been around since 1991, starting up under the name Chalice, but essentially having the same basic line-up. Ornias, currently the sole member of the band, has remained on the peripheries of the Swedish Black Metal scene for the better part of two decades. While this band has put out LP after LP (Black Testament is album number eight), mainstream recognition and acclaim has been elusive. In a scene as overcrowded and as saturated as Black Metal, getting recognized and breaking out from the pack is a tough thing to do. Still, Svartsyn has garnered a fair sized following over the years. Picking up where 2012’s Genesis of Deaths Illuminating Mysteries EP left off, Black Testament starts with your basic tuneless violin intro and things descend quickly into Hell from there. While the playing is sometimes choppy and the transitions between riffs are hit or miss, particularly in “Revelation in the Waters,” the general tone of the album is positively vile. Svartsyn has a sound that reminds me somewhat of old Marduk or maybe Triumphator in terms of speed, but with a more droning Black Metal song structure. While it isn’t musically all that original, the combination of Ornias vomiting forth some of the most rancid Black Metal vocals this side of Purgatory, and the dark and churning guitars makes Black Testament work. I swear, Ornias has a voice that is so evil sounding that he could probably make a One Direction cover into something dark and twisted. In spite of the obvious flaws, I find myself liking this LP anyway. This band reminds me a lot of old Beherit in that while the music may not be perfectly executed, it has an abundance of feeling and atmosphere. That more than makes up for the shortcomings on Black Testament. This is definitely one to check out.

When I’m in a Thrash mood, I reach for the ancient classics. I was going to mention a few, but I quickly realized how fucking long that list would have to be, and I’d like to think that we all know them, anyway. My point is that newer Thrash bands like Municipal Waste (yes, I realize that they started over a decade ago, but that’s new for Thrash) or whoever generally don’t do it for me, and over the years I’ve just ignored most of them, unless there’s some compelling, obvious reason to give one a chance, such as Hatriot (ex-Exodus singer Zetro and sons? That’s a must-hear, and their debut was very good, by the way). So, I almost missed out on Canada’s Mortillery, and that would have been a disaster. It makes me wonder how many amazing bands I’ve never heard. Too much music, not enough time! But, I digress… Origin of Extinction has an astonishingly clear and focused sound, with a flawless mix highlighting the intense vocal gymnastics of Cara McCutchen. She’s a total badass, seamlessly going from something like a better version of Overkill’s Blitz, to raspier (even growly) moments that guys like Chuck Billy (Testament) wish they could do, to various screams, shrieks, and tremendously well done melodic singing. Her voice is worth the price alone, but the music is excellent, too. I guess I’ll have to call it “retro Thrash,” because there is thankfully nothing “modern” here. There are zero bad riffs, zero stupid ideas, zero “Nu” and zero “Groove” influences, zero to hate. Every track is intense and instantly memorable, to varying degrees. You’ll be rubbing Icy Hot into your sore neck and singing along in no time! When an album is this granite-solid from beginning to end, it seems weird to mention any standout tracks, but “Creature Possessor” and “F.O.A.D.” (“Fuck all of your religions!”) are the most immediately unforgettable. The “Limited Edition” digipak has three bonus tracks, excellent covers of Razor (“Evil Invaders”), Anthrax (“Madhouse”), and Angel Witch (“Angel Witch”), that should not be missed at any cost. Origin of Extinction is an instant classic.

I used to see this band live on a regular basis. Back when Morbosidad was based out of Oakland, California, I would go to shows specifically to watch them perform. They were one of those bands that was always entertaining, particularly if you spoke Spanish. Even if you don’t, it doesn’t take too much brainpower to figure out what “Puto Cristo” and “Cojete a Dios por el Culo” mean. I think they were my chiropractor’s favorite band for a while. He didn’t listen to Metal, but they inflicted enough damage to my neck to give him plenty of business. Over the years, Morbosidad underwent a number of lineup changes. Thomas Stench, the band’s vocalist, is the only original member left, and while he was always the driving force, the newer guys don’t have the same skills as Chip N’ Death (guitars) or Raul Varela AKA Morthvarg (drums, who was also in Ghoul and Impaled at the same time). Still, they do deliver a potent brand of Blasphemy-influenced Black/Death Metal. Muerte de Cristo en Golgota, as you can imagine, hits you in the face like a shotgun blast as soon as the intro is over. Once they get going, Morbosidad pretty much steamrolls you under a barrage of blasting drums, grinding guitars and bestial vocals. Thomas is, as always, a never-ending fountain of blasphemous lyrics. Even if you don’t speak Spanish, you can understand enough to know that he’s spewing out some seriously vile invective against everything holy. If anything hinders this album, it’s the production. The drum sound, particularly the snare, isn’t the greatest, and the guitars are far too low, often buried underneath the drums. When S. Terror isn’t riding the snare, things aren’t so bad, but when he is, The Evil Onit (bass) and Vik Tormentor (guitars) sound almost like incoherent low-pitched rumbling in the background. Even with that, Muerte de Cristo en Golgota is a pretty potent album. If you’re a fan of Blasphemy and the other bands that worship at the altar of Fallen Angel of Doom…., you’re guaranteed to like this. My chiropractor sure appreciates it, too. I think the neck damage I got from Muerte de Cristo en Golgota is paying for his next trip to Cancun.

This wasn’t a first-listen record for me. Not at all. Maybe I was distracted, but after the initial play-through I didn’t remember much beyond the digipak-only final track, a re-recorded version of “Shellshock,” initially from the band’s 1989 In Search of Sanity LP, when someone (band? management? label?) thought that it would be a good idea to replace screamer Sy Keeler with Grim Reaper’s supposedly somewhat more mainstream-friendly singer Steve Grimmett. It didn’t work out to a catastrophic degree, and Sy came back when the band reformed in 2004. I’m not sure what it says about an album when the best song is nearly a quarter-century old and not even available on all versions. Don’t even get me started on how much I despise the concept of format-specific bonus tracks, but for fuck’s sake be certain to not miss this one. After a few more spins, I started warming up to the last half of VI, specifically “Slaughterize,” “66’Fucking’6” (although I do think that Arch Enemy already has dibs on being the “Chaos Legions,” however they misspell it), and “Cruci-Fiction.” They’re intense and memorable, exactly how I like my Thrash to be, and will get you up and moving around, whiplashing yourself, knocking shit over, and hoarsely yelling along with whatever lyrics you can understand (“We are the Chaos Legions / We fight with an iron fist / We play the Devil’s music / We are the union of the six, six, six! / Six, six, fucking six!”). Hopefully they’re also indicative of the future of the band, because I could do with some more like them. Eventually, the remaining songs, which for the most part are merely less memorable and not stylistic departures, started to make a bit more sense to me and worm into my brain to varying degrees. There are a very few not-awesome riffs here and there, and Keeler occasionally missteps vocally, if only momentarily. Also, the jury is still out on the modern production. Maybe try a little more organic sound on the next album? Just a hint of dirt and grime, perhaps? Minor issues aside, these savage sons of Satan have turned in their best work since main-man Nige Rockett decided to give this another shot almost a decade ago. Don’t deny your Thrash addiction.

Imprecation is a band that I’ve followed somewhat since I started listening to Death Metal back in the early ’90s. I say “somewhat” because their initial releases (all of which were compiled onto 1995’s Theurgia Goetia Summa) were kind of hard to get. They also disappeared, only to resurface again over a decade later and continue on as if nothing had happened. Twenty years since the unhallowed birth of Imprecation, they have finally released their debut album through Dark Descent Records. If you’ve never heard Imprecation before, the decidedly old-school Chris Moyen album art might fool you into believing that this is going to be a Blasphemy worshipping band. Imprecation’s influences are more in line with Incantation, though. I always described the band’s sound as Incantation meets Norse Black Metal. The band was never shy about including keyboards and atmospheric stuff where it worked. This is one of the things I always liked about them, and it is here but in a somewhat diminished form. I was expecting more atmospheric elements because that was what distinguished them from other brutal Black/Death Metal bands from their era. It also helped to break up the monotony. One of the issues folks out there have had with this LP is that it lacks diversity. This probably has a lot to do with the tonal range that Imprecation operates in. These guys are looking for brutality and that means that they have to operate in a narrow tonal range. You can only do so much in that range, though. Even if all of the riffs are different, they are all so tonally similar that they sound alike even though they aren’t. It’s still a solid effort, though. If you like Imprecation already, or you’re a fan of old-school Death Metal in the Incantation vein, Satanae Tenebris Infinita is an album that gives you what you want: brutal and Satanic Death Metal, no more and no less.

When a band releases a covers album, especially one like Veneration, it gives you some insight into their influences. What groups and songs are chosen can tell you a lot. Sometimes, though, albums like this throw you for a loop, which is the case here. Ares Kingdom has been around for a while. These guys have been in many cult underground Black and Death Metal bands, from Order From Chaos (Chuck Keller and Mike Miller) to Nepenthe and Vulpecula. As you might expect, the songs chosen for this are mostly from cult underground Black/Death/Thrash bands. There are covers of Slaughter Lord, Sacrilege, Mefisto and R.U.Dead?, which aren’t too surprising. Those songs are mostly Thrash or Death/Thrash in style to begin with and they fit in nicely with the way Ares Kingdom sounds. Also in with their influences are covers of Vulpecula and Nepenthe songs, which are nods to the other bands Chuck Keller and Alex Blume were in. What throws you for a loop is the final cover choice. Technically, it’s two separate tracks, but one is the intro to the other so I classify it as just one song. It’s “Without Warning/Tooth and Nail” by Dokken. Yes, that Dokken. The one with George Lynch. I don’t care how many people think that George Lynch is an awesome guitarist, Dokken isn’t exactly on my list of bands that I classify as Metal. Hard Rock, yes, but not Metal. It’s done in the style of Ares Kingdom (Death/Thrash Metal), but it’s still a song by fucking Dokken. I guess doing “Black Magic” by Slayer is too mainstream. Still, it isn’t as if there aren’t worthier bands to cover out there. What about Bulldozer or Vulcano or Possessed? I could name a dozen early Death or Thrash bands that I would’ve put on here before Dokken - and that’s not even getting to the most famous of them (Exodus, Metallica, Venom, Slayer, Megadeth, etc.). “Tooth and Nail” is easily the weakest track on this entire LP. If they had chosen a different band’s song, I would have rated this a nine, but the Dokken cover cost them a point. It didn’t fit Ares Kingdom’s sound or style, and I really felt that it didn’t work with the other tracks on this LP.

Incarnatus (the founder and sole member of Pagan Hellfire) is back again with yet another album’s worth of droning Black Metal in the Burzum vein. I’ve always had a soft spot in my blackened heart for this band. I’m not sure why, but even though I pretty much know what I’m getting from Pagan Hellfire, I always seem to have gotten some enjoyment out of everything that Incarnatus has put out so far. On the Path to Triumph is no different. It isn’t anything that I haven’t heard before from other bands in the genre, but I like it. The music is pretty standard repetitive power chord riffing with basic song structures. There are some change-ups in the style, but ultimately, like everything else the band has released, it points back to Burzum as the primary influence. There are bits of traditional Heavy Metal creeping in, like the main riff of “The Fire of a New Dawn,” which helps to give the song that additional boost that makes your head bang. Incarnatus does a lot to break up the basic “play the same chord fifteen times and then play another one fifteen times and then go back to the first chord another fifteen times, repeat until the song is over” format. He is good at his work, playing all of the instruments (even the drums) and doing the vocals. Over the years, he’s honed his craft, and while Burzum has languished in mediocrity since Varg was released from prison, Pagan Hellfire has quietly filled that niche pretty nicely.