Review: Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, Abberation are the latest in a new breed of abyssal depth dwellers plumbing the cavernous realms of extreme metal to provide the type of sonic horror more in line with Lovecraftian cosmic terror than, say, slasher movies. Following on from their punishing 2021 self-titled EP, the band's debut album Refracture weaves hyper-dense, virtuoso technicality with avant-garde compositional approaches, in order to audibly concoct the musical equivalent to falling endlessly through the void. Featuring members of Void Rot, Suffering Hour and Nothingness, their fluid cohesion marks a triumph for the modern scene of USDM, and implores listeners to surrender rather than mosh and allow the insidious sonic meanderings to enlighten and horrify in equally transcendent measure.
Review: Relapse Records welcome Absent In Body for a label debut. The metal collective is made up of musicians such as Iggor Cavalera, Scott Kelly and former members of acclaimed metal-ers such as Amenra, Sepultura and Neurosis. Plague God is an adventurous record that is fearless and uncompromising in its approach with a real lucidity of expression and collective coming together that reaches new heights. It might be a terrifying listen filled with hellish left turns and sublime subversions but it is all held together well.
Review: Following on from 2021's excellent Too Mean To Die, German proto-speed/thrash metal pioneers Accept return with their highly anticipated 17th full-length Humanoid. Marking their sixth overall LP with former T.T. Quick frontman Mark Tornillo handling vocal duties (who has been with the group since their third reunion in 2009), the material here espouses genuine concerns over the increase of AI in modern technology and its careless displacement of artists from varying fields. Emboldened by frenetic, anthemic riffage and soaring melodious hooks, Accept are back to remind all of their vital influence and put every band who've come since back in their quiet little place atop the band's giant shoulders.
Review: Following on from last year's critically acclaimed self-titled debut album, Los Angeles-based self-described "ecstatic black metal" outfit Agriculture return with a new EP titled Living Is Easy. Expanding their wall-of-sound sonics even further to conjure a form of saccharine abrasion with barrages of tremolo guitar-picking, blast-beating triumphant fury that echoes the likes of Deafheaven or Liturgy in their most epic moments, this is a form of metallic extremity crafted to help espouse negativity, not through negative sonics but by re-channelling said sonics through dexterous and uplifting cataclysms of audible euphoria. This 12" pressing is also coupled with the band's 2022 debut EP The Circle Chant, which has never been available on vinyl before now.
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