Afgrund
Vid Helvetets Grindar
Willowtip (2009)
Grindcore is tough genre to single most bands out of. There are standouts like Napalm Death and heirs to the throne like Misery Index (I know not just a grind band). Still beyond the few acts that truly stick themselves out above the scum there is little definition within the ranks. So in a way this makes any band doing … Read more
An Abstract Illusion
Woe
Willowtip (2022)
At a chance recommendation of one of my best friends, I was introduced to An Abstract Illusion some three years or so ago. I was immediately hooked, as it would be obvious for someone with such an inclination for death metal. More particularly though, the melodic and progressive edge of their music was the actual selling point for me. Illuminate … Read more
Defeated Sanity
Passages Into Deformity
Willowtip (2013)
I feel the need to preface this review by declaring that I am a fan of death metal. I like the idea of any music that challenges the average listener and in the early 90’s, death metal bands were doing just that. Bands like Cannibal Corpse, Death, and Obituary were leading the charge to push heavy metal to its most … Read more
Defeatist
Sharp Blade Sinks Deep into Dull Minds
Willowtip (2009)
I really hate bringing up the ex-members of thing when talking about records. No, seriously I do. Defeatist is the perfect example as to why. When doing research for this album I found a pedigree of underground metal. Members of Anodyne and Kalibas join forces to create a grindcore band indebted to early Napalm Death and Repulsion. To someone like … Read more
Illogicist
The Insight Eye
Willowtip (2007)
Similarities define genres, right? You can take a group of musicians, cite some sort of common threads through their records, and coalesce those into a genre. But when there are too many bands in a certain genre, things just get stale. And I feel this way about "technical/progressive death metal." Unfortunately, Illogicist's The Insight Eye is another entry into this … Read more
Malignancy
Inhuman Grotesqueries
Willowtip (2007)
a) "Neglected Rejection" b) "Benign Reabsorption" c) "Predicated Malformations" d) "Embryological Teratomas" Okay, here's how it works - you guess which ones are actual titles of songs by the band Malignancy, and which songs were created by me, inebriated after a night of Jäger-bombs using a thesaurus opened randomly to two different pages. Give up? All the titles are songs … Read more
Maruta
Forward Into Regression
Willowtip (2011)
The saying goes "the good ones always leave too soon". When it comes to the world of music usually the reverse is applicable. Most times bands hang on way too long after their supposed peak and tend to try doing everything they can to sound modern or artistic and thereby leavi9ng whatever made them special in the wake. For either … Read more
Odious Mortem
Cryptic Implosion
Willowtip (2007)
Odious Mortem's website describes their sound as employing "technical, dark, and experimental aspects of the death metal genre." When I think death metal I think Nile, Suffocation, maybe even Slayer. Odious Mortem are what Slayer might sound like if you replaced Kerry King with a jet engine. Vaguely reminiscent of early Fear Factory and Dillinger Escape Plan, for the most … Read more
