Doomed For Metal Reviews

Malthusian is an Irish death/black metal band that formed in 2012.  Their latest album, “ The Summoning Bell ,” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo, a split, and an EP.   This album is terrifyingly great. And it's terrifying in general!  The band's brand of blackened death is, on the surface, straightforward with no frills.  But multiple listens reveal a band that thrives on the essence of a true extreme, underground sound. The tone of the instruments, the vocals…it is all played with such conviction that it becomes an exciting frill within itself. At times, the tempo is slow and withdrawn–definitely some doom elements within the songs. The ferocity in which they swing back towards a faster paced tempo is like a tree being exploded into pieces by a bolt of lightning. I really like the atmosphere of the album and its as impressive as the songwriting. The air of hopelessness among stark, bleak monolithic tones is present among the bru...

I’m very confused.  The press release for this album said this is the Swedish band Lommi ’s most aggressive album to date and it’s been 10 years in the making.   Why is that confusing?  Because I can’t find ANYTHING on this band.    They don’t have very little digital presence and even their record label has zero information about them.  I can’t find any evidence they have ever released an album other than this one, the oddly titled “ 667788 .” But, confusing musical history aside, this is a goddamn burner of an album.  It’s rooted in old-school doom/metal but far more aggressive than most vintage bands I come across these days.  The bass guitar and double bass are really powerful and thick in the mix—earth shattering!  Speaking of the mix, this album sounds fantastic!  It’s loud and boisterous but those adjectives work in its favor because it lets the riffs shine. The riffs.  My god the RIFFS.  This album is like Christmas mor...

Signs of the Swarm is a deathcore band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who formed in 2014.  Their latest album, “ To Rid Myself of Truth ,” is their sixth full-length album. I’ll be honest: Deathcore isn’t the first genre I would choose to listen to.  But it has a number of decent to great bands.  Sings of the Swarm is definitely in the great category for me and I’m excited to be reviewing this one.   The band’s musicianship has always impressed me.  Sure, they have breakdowns like any other deathcore band, but their songs have always seemed more and focused.  “ To Rid Myself of Truth ,” carries that further alongside a very uncompromising sound.  Deathcore tends to be much more mainstream sounding than its more extreme cousin, death metal, but this album is pretty goddamn intense. Michael ’s bass just might be the MVP of this album.  His tone is beastly and it’s so powerful that it’s never buried by the very dense guitars or drums.  He s...

Mors Principium Est is one of the most underrated bands on the scene today, melodic death or otherwise.  Their music is fantastic and in my humble opinion they deserve to be mentioned alongside the greats.  They have been kicking it for 25 years and “Darkness Invisible ” is their 8th full length album.   I know there has been some drama around line up changes but that isn't my business. I'm here for the music. Plus, the original guitarists Jarkko and Jori have returned so this album speaks to me since I discovered the band way back during “ The Unborn ” era. Mors has always had an unique sound to me, especially compared to some other melodic death bands.  “ Darkness Invisible " channels that uniqueness very well. It has an epic, sweeping atmosphere to it while also being fast and aggressive.  Furthermore, the album retains the band's signature sound of catchy melodies with a hint of sorrow and melancholy.  The production/mix is shiny and bright. That ...

I was a fan of Cult Burials ' previous album, 2023's “ Reverie of the Malignant ,” and have been looking forward to a new one ever since. It doesn't disappoint. The atmosphere across the album is incredible. I've said this before in other reviews but as much as I love death metal I feel like sometimes it's not as extreme as it should be, if that makes sense.  Obviously by default death metal is extreme but what I mean is a lot of the danger that made death metal so infamous in the first place seems to be missing in these modern times now.  One could argue that's because of a lot of influence from the modern side of metal or it could just be simply be caused a lot of the original death metal bands or just getting older. There is nothing wrong with that per say but I always appreciate it when I hear a new death metal album that feels deadly dangerous and dark. "Collapse of Pattern Reverence of Dust," at least for me, is one of those albums that truly fee...

Last Retch is a death metal band from Canada who formed in 2021. Their latest release, “ Abject Cruelty ” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo and an EP. This album is sick as hell and twice as brutal and whatever punishment one’s imagination might conjure about that place. Considering the album’s themes and lyrics are inspired by real life decay and desperations, the subject matter is very raw so it needs an album like this to match it musically.  I love that it’s no-frills, no pretense too. This is straight up old-school death metal but the band’s disgusting and grimey sound is all their own. It has a ton of groove and riffs for days but it’s wrapped up in a putrid package of gross vocals (compliment) and an atmosphere somewhere between “dead bodies rotting in a swamp,” and “100 car pile up that was also hit by a bunch of asteroids.”  It’s also catchy, far more catchy than music this abrasive has any right to be. But it earns that right th...

Azell is a doom/sludge band from Louisville, Kentucky that formed in 2022.  Their latest album, “ Astralis ,” is their second full-length album.  I was a fan of their debut, “ Death Control ,” but didn’t review.   I’m happy I’m able to review this second effort of theirs because HOLY SHIT it is a magnificent beast.  If someone put you inside a barrel full of acid spitting super piranha then rolled you off a cliff, that ordeal still wouldn’t be as quarter violent or extreme as the doomed-out sludge contained within this album’s 11 track, 55-minute runtime. Azell is actually a duo consisting of Courtney and David Napier, a husband and wife who decided that playing extreme doom is the true American thing to do.  It isn’t but it goddam should be if this album is any evidence to the matter.  Both of them supply the vocals but Courtney plays the bass while David handles the guitars and drums. In their skilled hands, each of these instruments are a bludgeonin...