Just under a decade into their career, and Belgian Gore gods Aborted have unleashed what is sure to be their breakthrough opus. I haven’t seen a piece of press on this release yet that did not make reference to Carcass’ Heartwork album (it’s funny, I distinctly remember being the only one on the planet who had anything nice to say about that record when it came out, with everyone screaming sell out, and the band even being barraged with beer bottles and booed off stage in Chicago for not playing anything from their first two albums, but now it’s cool), and I can’t really disagree. Huge steps have been taken towards melody, feel, and groove, and they’ve apparently fallen in love with the breakdown, but the band still manage to retain nearly all of their relentless Gore-soaked brutality. Vocally, Sven De Caluwe has incorporated a crispy, more understandable, Jeff Walkeresque snarl to compliment his guttural growls, and I think that’s where a lot of these Heartwork comparisons are coming from. The production is fucking immaculate! In fact, listening to this disc, I’m tempted to say this is the best overall production an Extreme Metal album has ever featured. I understand your skepticism, but I’d sure like to hear your arguments. In short, believe all the hype. While I’m still partial to the classic Engineering the Dead album, time will most likely reveal The Archaic Abattoir to be Aborted’s finest moment.

Musically, A Farewell Fire remind of three different styles: Metalcore, Radio Rock, and Nu-Metal. I know that sounds scary, and it is, but in all honesty, my beef with this self-financed disc is not the music at all. It’s these fucking American Idol vocals that ruin it for me. It’s not like Billy Moros can’t sing either, he has a better voice than the fags from Nickelback, Staind, Hinder, or whatever band braindead pieces of shit listen to this month, but it just doesn’t fit right or sound good at all. What sucks is when the Hardcore backing vocals kick in (“Design”), you get a glimpse of how good this would be with a more abrasive style. The lyrics aren’t too bad, either. If they could just stop trying to be an even more pussified version of Disturbed for ten minutes and embrace their aggression, they’d be kickin’ your dick in. With this strained Pop crooning, they’re just sucking it.

You know, buying an Unleashed album is kind of like buying an AC/DC album. You know what you’re going to get as soon as you see it. Unleashed is Unleashed. Nothing more, nothing less. You’re going to get Thrashy Swedish Death Metal with riffs that make you bang your head. You’re going to get lyrics that you can sing along to when the chorus part hits. It’s going to be heavy, the songs are going to be under four minutes long (except for one, but you’re not going to notice nine seconds) and you’re going to fucking like it. It doesn’t take a degree in rocket science to figure out what Johnny Hedlund and the gang are up to. Sworn Allegiance kicks ass in all the right places and has done a great job of keeping me entertained. If you’re looking for progression, technical excellence or groundbreaking originality, go buy the new Uli Roth album instead - it has all that and more. If you’re looking for an album that will have your head banging from the first song to the last, Sworn Allegiance does that in spades.

After a couple of, umm, let’s say, less than perfect albums, Unleashed has truly returned to form this time. I was happy enough with the opening song, “Winterland,” and ready to embrace this as the great album I wanted it to be, but then The Lord of the Rings-inspired “Destruction (of the Race of Men)” started up and when the chorus hit with its blast beat, I just shit my pants, jumped up, started banging my head and slamming myself bodily into the walls. I’d mention some of the other songs, like “Insane for Blood” or “To Miklagard,” as really standing out, but then I’d really have to just list them all. After listening to the new albums from Unleashed, Grave, and Dismember, I think that a new golden age of Swedish Death Metal is upon us!

Finally, the highly anticipated new album from the cream of the Razorback crop, the infamous Lord Gore. Gore-drenched, ultra-guttural Death Metal with some of the sickest Death growls known to man. Lord Gore’s finest attribute is that they can absolutely crush at any speed. Mostly attacking at a headbanging-friendly mid-pace, but fully capable of going all-out dirge, or at full blast, as this is probably among the fastest material they’ve ever recorded. In all honesty, this isn’t quite as memorable or as rhythmically dynamic as their breakthrough masterpiece, 2002’s The Autophagous Orgy, but it is Lord Gore and I’ll sure as hell take it. Highly recommended for Gore enthusiasts or just plain old Death Metal purists.

Those familiar with the extreme Black/Death Metal of Hate will be very happy to know about this DVD, which features a live show (shot in 2004) of about 75 minutes, in widescreen and 5.1 Dolby Surround sound, as one would expect from Metal Mind. Plus all the usual bonus features, such as a band biography, photo gallery, interview, and so on. It’s very impressive all around. So much so, in fact, that it might well convert some new fans to the Hate cause, which is difficult for a live recording to do.

Chimera is an album that really shows the weaknesses of a one-guitar band. The sound on this album is good, yet the guitar seems to be a little weak. It just doesn’t have a full enough sound to get out of the shadow of the percussion section. The riffs are audible for the most part, but this album really suffers when the speed is high, which is a lot of the time. When Mayhem slows things down, they are generally at their best. The riffs are more memorable, have a bit of an atmosphere and don’t sound like a wall of white-noise buried somewhere between the snare and the bass drums. When the speed kicks up, the riffs lose their clarity and it gets a bit tough to hear just what Blasphemer is playing, particularly when Hellhammer decides to ride the snare and blast away. I was a bit leery about getting this album as I really didn’t like the way Mayhem had decided to progress with Grand Declaration of War, but Chimera is much more akin to Wolfs Lair Abyss in terms of sound. Personally, while I thought that Chimera was an okay album, I really, really prefer De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas to anything the newer version of Mayhem has released since.

Extremely guttural US Death/Grind! The playing is tighter than a kike’s ass, the production is solid, and the vocalist is fucking amazing. I am totally reminded of the band Devourment, and that’s a good thing.

Krisiun just keep getting better. By continuing to experiment with the groove and dynamics introduced on 2003’s Works of Carnage, they have completely revitalized their sound and given their inhumanly fast, insanely technical Death Metal assault vibrant new life. Slowing things down a bit and adding breakdowns with diabolically wicked start-stop riff action makes their demonically potent attack that much more energetic. If you liked Works of Carnage, you will worship at the altar of Bloodshed, as it is more of the same evil goodness. All that keeps this “EP” from perfection is the addition of four tracks from their long out-of-print debut, Unmerciful Order, which even the band themselves would probably admit is not their finest hour, and an excessive amount of slightly uninteresting instrumentals. Perhaps they were forced to beef up the length to fulfill contractual obligations? The inclusion of the older material does serve as a great measuring tool to show just how far this band has come.