Metal

REVIEW - Flame: Ignus Spiritus

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Fans of blackened thrash are more than likely aware of the smaller two-piece based out of Finland called Flame. The band has been active since 1998, but their discography is fairly small. Thankfully that doesn’t represent the quality of their releases. Much of their legacy is composed of demos, eps and splits. However, two full-lengths have emergenced, spaced quite far from one another. Into the Age of Fire dropped in 2005, and March Into Firelands in 2011. The duo find themselves still working with Primitive Reaction, unleashing their latest EP Ignis Spiritus in August of 2020. Is it one worth the lengthy wait, or is this new session better left in the depths of obscurity?
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REVIEW - Six Feet Under: Nightmares of the Decomposed

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Six Feet Under have not had the best of receptions from many over recent years, and justifiably so in some cases. It’s been thirty-five years now since Haunted, their debut outing, had dropped. If the band has been anything it’s been consistancy in maintaining relevancy by putting out new material in a timely manner. That said, we’re looking at their seventeenth full-length effort Nightmares of the Decomposed through Metal Blade Records to round out 2020 and, of course, the bandwagon of tearing the album apart was in full force once again. However, is this new effort one worth the hate, or is it something much more promising than most are willing to let on?
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REVIEW - Black Pestilence: Hail the Flesh

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Calgary, Canada’s Black Pestilence formed back in 2008, and the three-piece has been lurking and evolving through the underground ever since. What initially started as a noise black metal trio with their 2009 debut Vice has evolved with each new album, branching out to various other styles including (and primarily focusing on) punk and crossover. They also have remained independent as of late, issuing each release on their own as opposed to putting their faith in a label following the release of their 2013 effort In Defiance through Fungi Records. This tradition continues with their sixth studio album, Hail the Flesh. Has the group continued to grow, or is this just more of the same old blackened punk we’ve been subjected to since the style’s revival a number of years prior?
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REVIEW - Cryptworm: Reeking Gunk of Abhorrence

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The UK death metal duo Cryptworm have been slithering in the depths since 2014, but haven’t released too much from the studio. It’s no surprise given the activity of drummer Joe Knight (Haunted Sanity, Swarost) and Tibor Hanyol (Coffinborn, Morbid Carnage) on bass, guitars, as well as handling vocal duties. Their self-titled demo dropped in 2017, the Verminosis EP a year later, then a split with Archaic Tomb in 2019. For 2020, they find themselves working with Me Saco Un Ojo Records for a second EP titled Reeking Gunk of Abhorrence. But how does this four song effort stack up?
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Review - Kły: Wyrzyny

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Polish atmospheric black metal trio Kły formed way back in 1997, but it wouldn’t be until 2017 that we’d see anything from them out of the studio. Their first demo, Taran-Gai, was unleashed independently on CD and picked up by Pagan Records for digital distribution with a vinyl pressing in May of 2020. This would become their home for their 2018 debut full-length Szczerzenie, as well as their follow-up Wyrzyny. But does this new outing offer anything different after all this time of being an active outfit, or is more of the same solid material as before?
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