By all that is unholy and brutal, we finally have the follow up to the 2015 slab Savage Land by the throwback titans, Gruesome! Keeping with the influence of the early Death sound aesthetic, Gruesome slays this album with riffs, sick leads, and a sonic hammer to the kneecaps as they sink their teeth into your yielding flesh!
It has constantly been discussed that the 80’s were a prime time for heavy metal music. The entirety of the decade saw new genres spawn left and right in the forms of thrash metal, death metal, prog metal, and first-wave black metal, and many albums released in that time period have been heralded as classics. No one can argue the impact felt by Slayer’s Reign in Blood, or the importance of Venom’s Black Metal. Even extending into the 90’s, Carcass’ Heartwork, Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell, and Dream Theater’s Images and Words have all lasting impacts felt on the entirety of metal today.
Folk metal titans Eluveitie announced this morning a major shift in their lineup, and one that is no doubt about to shake up their fanbase. As a result of the departure of drummer Merlin Sutter, vocalist/instrumentalist Anna Murphy and rhythm guitarist Ivo Henzi have followed suit. The band has released a lengthy statement, which is attached below, as well as a look into what the has been going on in the Eluveitie camp internally. They will be playing the next few shows with the current lineup, but will soon be undergoing these changes.
Everyone keeps saying that djent bands are the ones taking direct influence from Meshuggah, and that the band in question was no doubt ahead of their time. The latter is true, without a doubt, but bands like Periphery, TesseracT, and Vildhjarta only show so much of an influence before venturing into more progressive directions, as opposed to the mathematics and brutality Meshuggah offers. It’s not an insult, but the truth, as every band ultimately has become something unique instead of cloning their idols.
About six years ago, Richmond, Virginia doom-metallers Cough came into the spotlight of the underground metal scene. Ritual Abuse was a dark, twisted, and sickly forray into a drug-induced wasteland, and the reception for it only backed it up that this was a titanic album. Between the massive riffs and the haunting atmospheres, Cough became a behemoth among doom metal bands and not one to be taken lightly.
Amon Amarth don’t have much left to prove to the world at this point in their career. Within the nearly three years since Deceiver of the Gods was released, the band have grown exponentially beyond an overseas sensation, into a juggernaut worldwide. Taking that opening slot on the Mayhem Festival main stage proved to go a long way, as the band embarked on two headlining North American tours the following year, each time growing larger than before.
Sweden’s traditional death metal is very much alive and well. With bands like Bloodbath, Entombed, and Entrails keeping the tradition of the “buzzsaw” guitar tone alive, it’s easy to forget Sweden made the antithesis of it with melodic death metal. Even though films like Metal: A Headbanber’s Journey lumps bands like Grave and Arch Enemy into one genre, simply dubbed “Swedish Death Metal,” it’s more evident that the bands that follow the likes of Entombed and the such are a different breed than even the traditional death metal bands from the rest of the world.
I’ll be the first to admit that I never expected much out of Fear Factory when I first listened to them. To my surprise, they became a group of musicians who I respected for their in-your-face albums with the chops to back them up. Nobody could argue that while you knew what you were getting into with Fear Factory, you wouldn’t end up disappointed. With that said, I’ve always been wary of anything associated with industrial metal, in the sense that it can be so computerized and clean, at times, that the thrill of actually seeing an industrial band live would not be able to replicate that.
