I have listened to this English Black/Death Metal album over and over, trying to figure out what to say about it. The difficulty is because Spearhead doesn’t combine Black and Death Metal so much as try to play both styles at once. The repetition of these simple Death Metal riffs doesn’t help, and borders on annoying at times, but this seems to be somewhat less of an issue at the rare slower tempos. Barghest’s vocals are decidedly on the Black side of the Metal spectrum, and while serviceable, are possibly too understandable. Maybe more rawness and/or low-end would help, but a bigger issue is how the vocal patterns fit with the music, which often feels a little odd. It’s like he’s screaming for a straight-up Black Metal band, but these guys only know how to write Death Metal riffs, and try to play them as Black Metal as possible, which the production certainly highlights. This may all sound like Theomachia is a bad album, and it’s absolutely not. But the skill is clearly displayed for this to be better. The Melechesh-esque riff and drumming at the beginning of “Prey to the Conqueror” is a highlight, as is the instrumental final track, “Aftermath.” Hopefully those are signs of greater things to come.

Holy hell, Deviser is back! The last new material from this Greek Black Metal horde was 2002’s Running Sore album (a CD reissue of the band’s 1996 demo followed the next year), so I was surprised to see this, but very pleasantly so. There is more than a little experimentation to be found on Seasons of Darkness, both vocally and musically. The album intro, “MMXII,” is kind of Techno/Industrial, and there are hints of that sprinkled very sporadically throughout the album. Matt’s normal vocal strategy is raw and raspy, but he also uses a… I guess I’ll say “Gothic Metal” clean voice sometimes, that is generally deep and depressing. At times I’m reminded of Cemetary’s Godless Beauty album, although this isn’t that Rock-oriented, except some guitar solos. There is also somewhat of an almost subliminal Katatonia influence occasionally, and it would probably be impossible for a Grecian band to not be inspired by the dark gods of the abyss, Rotting Christ and Varathron, to at least some degree. From the very beginning, Deviser has always known how to write haunting riffs and create baleful atmospheres, which is essentially perfected here, but every now and then the clean vocals get in the way. A prime example is the beginning of the song “I Die.” The first 45 seconds or so are absolutely beyond belief, and then the clean vocals kick in. It isn’t that they’re executed poorly, because they’re not at all; it’s just a sudden, jarring change. Repeated listens help, but that was quite a shock the first time through. A better use is in the double-tracked clean/whispered-raw vox of “Angel of Darkness,” which really add a disturbing quality to the ominous song. Rare vocal imperfections and even rarer musical quirks aside, Seasons of Darkness is a complex, impressive return for Deviser.

One of the most highly anticipated musical endeavors in the history of mankind here. Four tracks/ten minutes of noisy forgettable slop. The band sounds like a 10th-rate Converge doing a 10th-rate job of covering Eyehategod songs that weren’t good enough to make any albums. Or, just imagine if The Abominable Iron Sloth had no talent or good riffs. Not liking this actually made me cooler and smarter. I’m guessing since 234,654 bands that already sound identical to this just formed today, a 14-album/$9.8 billion deal is already in the works with either Southern Lord or Relapse. And of course a 364-day tour with similar Safe Metal bands like Isis, Howl, Baroness, Mastodon, Neurosis, Cough, Kylesa, and The Atlas Moth, called the I’m Just Going to Eat Something and Go to Bed Fest. Feedback isn’t that hard to achieve, people.

I don’t know how these things happen, but Illdisposed managed to drop off my radar a decade ago, after 2000’s all-cover-songs CD, Retro. Since then I’ve missed five full-length albums, and a live DVD. Fuck. I suppose that it only makes sense that There Is Light… sounds more “modern” than I was expecting, with a very crisp production and keyboard embellishments. I’ve unintentionally skipped too much of the band’s work to say with any authority that this is Illdisposed’s best album, but it would be tough to beat. Musically this is perhaps somewhat Thrashier than I remember (which is not a complaint), but the riffs are better, and Bo’s vocals are perfectly savage and throat-maiming, although it does sound as if he has a little effect/multi-track help (once again, not a complaint). The keyboards and other f/x provide additional nuance, giving these Danish Old Schoolers exactly what I wasn’t expecting from them: a 21st century version of Death Metal that I actually like. Now to go track down the half of their back-catalog that I’m missing…

Unfortunately I missed out on Sect’s 2008 debut, WWIII, so I’ll probably have to pay a small fortune on eBay to own it. But after experiencing the moody, intense Russian Black Metal of Doomsday, I’ll do whatever is necessary to track it down. The excellent production of this album lets the songs’ black light shine, and the balance between melancholy and vehemence is expertly maintained. There is a decided edge to the sound even in the less-extreme moments, but some assholes somewhere may say that this recording is too polished and should be more raw. I, on the other hand, appreciate being able to actually hear the complexities in these many-layered, yet still memorable, compositions. The vox of the singer, who is known only as D., are tortured and tormented wails that compliment the music perfectly. There are also scarce female vocals, such as in the beginning of the 10+ minute, album-closing masterpiece, “The Revelation,” that only add to the evil atmosphere, and secure Sect’s unique identity. 2011 is shaping up to be a fucking amazing year for Black Metal!

It’s apparent that all of the Metalcore/Deathcore bands are going to have to step their game up to appease the 8-second attention span of the soulless, empty-headed trendfuckers who can be followed on Twitter when they upgrade to Blu-ray. What worked in ancient underwater civilizations aeons ago (2009) simply must be modified. That is why you’ll find many new intricacies on The Discovery, which by no coincidence is almost longer than their two previous releases combined. Slight changes in atmosphere that some guy who’s been laid twice will undoubtedly label as Progressive. If it sounds like I’m mad at the band, I’m not. The skeleton of their animal is still that lovable Sumerian Core juggernaut of palm-muted Meshuggah-tuplets and brutal vocals. I can just sense that they felt pressure to progress, and what has this produced? Lots of Portishead-style segues, more keyboard ambiance, longer solos and more of them, Electronica tinkering, Rap beats, and clean vocal experimentation. None of this makes the album any better, just longer. It’s called filler… Google it. A ham-fisted breakdown is still a ham-fisted breakdown, even if there is xylophone over it. Having said all that, homosexual critics across the universe will still hail this as the band’s coming of age and their finest work to date. Rest assured they are lovers of sounds, not songs. It is a solid, brutal listen, played to perfection across the board, but it’s completely void of any trace of an anthem. Something their first two were loaded with. So we have a 4-year old band whose crowds at shows are already going to be begging for the “old” stuff. Bet on it. Thanks a lot, forced progression.

It seems like a sign of progress that there are Extreme Metal bands from the Middle East. In this case, Nervecell is from Dubai, in the UAE, and the group’s form of Death Metal is very precise and modern, especially the phenomenal drumming of session skin-pounder, Psycroptic’s David Haley. The Behemoth influence is a little hard to miss, which is more a compliment than anything else. Not that these guys need the help, but Nile’s Karl Sanders contributes guest vocals on the track “Shunq (To the Despaired…King of Darkness),” which is supposedly the first Death Metal song to ever have both Arabic and English lyrics. That’s cool and all, but I’m not really sure how much it matters without a lyric sheet in front of you. What is more important (to me, at least) are the riffs, the monstrous vocals, the aforementioned drumming, and how well they all come together with a nearly flawless recording and production, to make songs as intense as they are memorable. Psychogenocide is truly an impressive work of Death Metal art.

Interview with Amon Amarth guitarist and founding member, Olavi Mikkonen, before the band’s live set on April 14, 2011, the first day of the new tour at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago.

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New Mexico’s Kryoburn is just one of those bands that doesn’t really deserve love or hate. They’re okay at what they do, which is aping Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad and Mnemic to the point of near copyright infringement. The problem for them is no target market. It’s not quite brutal enough for Death Metal fans, not fast or filthy enough for Thrashers or Grind freaks, way too digital and false for Black Metal misanthropes, not enough breakdowns for the junior high Tai-Bo moshers, and nowhere near Industrial enough for the guyliner clientele. So, that essentially leaves relatives and friends. To Kryoburn’s credit, they can write a decent tune. One-two punch album openers “Broken Hero” and “Burning the Doubt” are heavy and catchy with just enough saccharine in their Pop-Metal choruses to stick in the craw. But the heavy verse, slick chorus, break, repeat pattern is about all they can do, and by album’s end you’ve had about enough. Only other standout cuts: “Introspective” and “Suicide Season.”