overground scene

I cannot say with certainty whether the ongoing pandemic had something to do with the sheer volume of new albums throughout 2020, but it feels like the last year has been one of the most prolific and enjoyable – musicwise – years ever. As usual, many of my favourite bands released new albums, and these ended up being the ones I enjoyed the most for obvious reasons; the bands I love, I love them for a reason, and I am more likely to prefer them over others. From time to time, however, a new band will turn up – or I’ll find out about – and blow my mind, and this year was no different.

I’ll start with the albums I didn’t particularly like. Sinister‘s new album was, like everything they released after the band’s reformation with Aad taking over the vocals, something I cannot get on board with. This is not the Sinister I fell in love with, but even if I ignore the band name and legacy, I still can’t find it interesting. I tried listening to it as if it were a new band, not the once-best death metal band in the planet (I actually believe this up until Savage and Grace). Some of the riffs are cool, individual parts are enjoyable, but overall I didn’t like it. Void Rot is one of the modern brutal death bands from the US owing a lot to Incantation, who go for that super-heavy, swamp-like atmosphere, blackened aesthetics, without a single hook. I listened to their E.P. a couple of years ago, and now they released their debut full length titled Descending pillars. I feel like I cannot fairly comment on a band like this, as it addresses a generation different to mine, but in my ears they are more interested in style than content. One of the albums that received attention from underground music press is Bedsore‘s debut, Hypnagogic hallucinations. Once again this is an album I tried listening to but failed to enjoy. They sound like they were definitely influenced by Tribulation, Stench, Morbus Chron, as well as Horrendous, a band that copied and somewhat popularised the style created by those bands. There are moments in it that I like, such as the intro of “Deathgazer” which is reminiscent of Clandestine-era Entombed. But, as a whole this style is not for me, especially the blackened blast-beats and shrill vocals are elements I cannot get on board with. Brighton’s brutal youth is represented by Enslavement, and their debut Filth. The album showcases some good chops influenced by the usual suspects, namely Suffocation and its descendants. More blast-beats and skank beats than slam (phew!), so I enjoyed it for a while. This band could be representing a new generation of brutal death metal of men who question the generic norms they’ve inherited from their bloodline; here we have songs that instead of women being at the receiving end of brutal violence we have men and fascists (in an ironically fascist fantasy whereby they are violently forced to change their morals). My problem with most brutal death metal bands of the Suffocation bloodline is that Effigy of the forgotten came out in 1991, and I have yet to listen to a single band that comes close to the worst thing Suffocation came up with. Thanatos released a new album, and I listened to them for the first time in many years. I first listened to them in my teens, and I bought their first two albums as they were really easy to find really cheap back in the 1990s. I never loved them to be honest. I always thought they had awesome riffs, but as far as songwriting goes they didn’t appeal to me. I bought their comeback album (i.e. Angelic encounters) when it came out, and I thought it was exciting that they reformed, but that one didn’t change my opinion of them, so I gave up after that and never listened to them ’till now. They now sound to me even thrashier than in their heyday. Slayer has always been a big part of their sound. I liked some of the songs. Dephosphorus‘s new album, titled Sublimation, has been praised by a couple of my friends. Like other bands in this overview, it represents a new era in extreme metal where once more or less autonomous genres have been blended into a mix of black-death-hardcore. Melancholic and depressive chord progressions, arpegiated chords and riffs, blackened blast-beats, but also tremolo-picked deathy riffs and some D-beat, make up Sublimation‘s sound. Generally, this is not a genre I like much. There are elements here and there that I like, but not entire songs, maybe with the exception of “Into the glory of eternal orbit” which is my favourite on the album. The shrieking wails are not my cup of tea either, and this type of narration, as opposed to vocal patterning, I find tiring. Wombbath is a band I never liked, and their debut was quickly rejected in my days of youth as a third rate classic Swedish death album. Their new album is not that different I guess; classic OSSDM, but in my opinion without the quality of riffing, melodies, memorable vocals and compositions of the gods (Dismember, Entombed, Grave, Edge of Sanity, etc.). While I quickly lost interest after a couple of songs, I started enjoying it halfway through when it slows down a bit and there starts some cool melodies and atmospheric parts, but I doubt I’ll be revisiting it. Vader‘s new album continues down the thrash-death path the band’s been going down for a while now, albeit casting glances to the De profundis-Black to the blind era of the band. “Sanctification denied” is very similar to “Blood of Kingu”. I liked some of the songs, but I quickly got tired of it. 

Abyssal Ascendant

Moving on to albums I liked a bit more, Abyssal Ascendant is a new band I became aware of, and the first song I listened by them was very promising. The band rests on the Morbid Angel tree of death metal, on the Nile branch, alongside bands like Chaos Inception or Scarab. Generally, they favour slower, more swampy sounding compositions, where keyboards and choirs play a central role in producing the soundscape, as opposed to the super-fast blasting of Nile. On this album, I prefer songs like “Nilgh’ri…” and “Martyrs of Mortiggian“, the shorter and faster ones. Another song that stands out in my opinion is “The church of free-will”, a tune which could be on any post-1995 Morbid Angel album. Overall, I have enjoyed it, it has some interesting ideas, and I think there’s more to be discovered. British Lion‘s sophomore album was a nice surprise. I listened to it for a while and I really enjoyed some of the songs. “Legend” for example is such an earworm; such a signature Harris song. Most songs, however, sound very prosaic and, eventually, my interest waned after a few listens. Disrupted‘s new album Pure death is early Swedish death worship, similar to Grave (Into the grave era, but also the more recent times) more than any other early Swedish death band. It is super heavy and brutal, with simple compositions, sprinkles of grind here and there, and it has its appeal. I found out about Anthropic through The Growl, and their grinding death metal was enjoyable for a while. I find the vocals a bit monotonous, but generally this album brings into mind the early days of grindcore, and that cannot be bad. Fast, aggressive, no frills music that every extreme metal fan will enjoy. Sadly one of their founding members recently passed away, so my condolences to the band and his family. Gorified‘s Reeking mass of festering remains is a brutal gore-drenched death album, full of delicious doses of Disgorge (Mexico)-like razor-sharp riffs and melodies, and funnily enough there are loads of hooks amongst the madness. I listened to it a few times, but I’m not sure if I’ll be going back to it often. Mercyless returned with a new album, which sounds like it was recorded alongside Pathetic divinity (2016). Although I initially loved the latter, I haven’t been listening to it that much. Maybe losing interest on the band’s sound explains why I didn’t receive the new album, titled The mother of all plagues, very well. Nevertheless, all the ingredients for making a great American-sounding blasphemous death metal album are there, so I will return to it at some point, I am sure. Internal Rot‘s new album Grieving birth is well-played grindcore, with a very interesting sound, especially the guitar tone is super. Extremely fast tempos, played expertly makes this an easy and enjoyable listen.

Toxaemia

I’ll continue with albums that made an even better impression on me. Toxaemia‘s first full length Where paths divide emerges almost 30 years since the band’s inception. The first time I heard about this band was though Ekeroth’s book Swedish death metal. There is some deadly stuff here for sure. Tunes like “Black death”, “Buried to rot” (an old song) and “Six-fold revenge” are absolutely devastating. Slower numbers like “Psychotic pandemic” are also cool. Incantation‘s Sect of vile divinities was an album I was looking forward to, as usual. It feels like a bit simpler approach to songwriting, and at times it is very catchy. The first single off the album, “Propitiation”, is one of my favourite songs, a song that exemplifies Incantation’s art, an art which became quite popular all of a sudden with contemporary brutal death metal bands. Overall, I liked the album, but it’s nothing new. I know that McEntee considers The infernal storm (2000) his least favourite album, but for me, alongside Blasphemy (2002), it is my favourite, and the closest they ever got to reaching this level of perfection was with Alex Bouks in the band. Loudblast released a new album, titled Manifesto. This is a band I was never a fan of, although their first and third album passed by my hands during my teen years. This new album, however, is enjoyable, and some tracks, like “Relentless Horror”, are really cool. Desolator is another band I found out about recently, introduced to me by some algorithm. Old school American death metal has impressed its stamp on Sermon of apathy, mostly reminiscent of the European appropriation of that sound by bands lost in time like SoulReaper, Luciferion and Centurian. The blast-beats and more melodic moments also remind me of Behemoth. All of the songs are beautifully put together. The mood shifts between angry and melancholic. Overall, it is a very refreshing album, with a lot of things to offer. Death Vomit is another band I just discovered this year. The album Dominion over creation is one of the albums I enjoyed for a while. It is well-played old school death metal. Musically, and especially the singer, reminds me at time of Agressor. The stops and starts halfway through “Ancient spell of evil” sent chills down my spine; I hadn’t heard something so good since Sinister did it back in Creative killings (2001). The blast-beats are cymbal, snare, and kick all hit at the same time, reminiscent of Dimension Zero’s approach, but much less impressive. Because the blasts sound a bit awkward I find that the skank beat that usually follows provides a nice resolution. Insidious Disease‘s sophomore album was something I expected with appetite after listening to the fist single, “Enforcers of the plague”. I found their first album, upon its release, a very poor one. After death is a hundred times better than the debut, and I enjoyed it. The inclusion of Mark Grewe, and his unique take on vocals and vocal patterns, makes comparisons with Morgoth unavoidable. Nothing new here, but it is well-played old-school death metal. In my opinion, however, the first single off the album is the best song in there, so kudos to the label for making a sound promotional choice (in my ears, at least). 

Toronto

Toronto’s Under siege E.P. features Dag and Edvin (both ex-Morbus Chron) and Leo (Temisto), and is a speed metal throwback album. The band borrows ideas from an era foregone and bands like Tank, Venom, early Kreator, and especially the first Bathory LP, as well as Toronto’s contemporaries like Enforcer (in their fast moments). The second riff on “Fast and filthy” also brings Disfear into mind. Crystal-clear production, unrestrained energy and passion are the pluses. That riff half-way through “Bunker (Under siege)” is one of the top riffs of 2020. There is no pretense at originality; these are songs for headbanging and partying. Repulsive Vision is a band that came to my attention this year. Despite the brutal-sounding name, this is a death/thrash band that brings to mind Demolition Hammer and Japanese thrashers like Ritual Carnage and King’s Evil, and their sophomore album, titled Necrovictology, is very enjoyable. The pace is consistently fast underpinned predominantly by a cheat-beat (classic kick-snare beat with the high-hat on top of the kick-drum). Having said that, they are more diverse than the aforementioned bands, with Autopsy-inspired passages (listen to the middle of “Exterior of normality“). Overall, a really cool album, and although I find it a bit monotonous at times, I’m sure I’ll be revisiting it a lot. Deranged‘s Deeds of ruthless violence is very similar-sounding to their previous album. On the one hand, these are songs that continue the Deranged legacy, expertly put together, quite unique in their sound. On the other hand, I was not blown away by all of them. Wermen’s drumming is one of the highlights; he is for sure one of the great percussive orchestrators of his genre. Songs like “Level of lividity”, “I sent you half the kidney I took” are definitely among their best. Troops of Doom is the band by Jairo T., the guy who played guitar in Sepultura’s first two releases. The E.P. titled The rise of heresy is like listening to early Sepultura but with a professional production. The songs are really cool; it’s like they were written in the 1980s – two of them actually were… The blasting moments are so much like early Sepultura and Sarcofago; the snare is skull-crushing! I’ll be looking forward to a full-length album. Another E.P. came from Carcass, instead of their long-awaited new full-length. The E.P. titled Despicable contains four songs, apparently tunes that did not make the cut to the full-length. If this E.P. then says something about the quality of the upcoming album, we should be expecting another death metal monument. Especially “The living dead at the Manchester morgue” and “The long and winding bier road” are masterpieces exemplifying different sides of Carcass. I am the minority among my friends, but I find myself enjoying contemporary Carcass equally as much as the Carcass of my youth. Despicable is a welcome appetiser ’till the release of the new full-length. On a more annoyed note, Jeff was cheeky and put all the words from the lyrics in random order on the insert… Cadaver‘s return is not something I was particularly looking forward to. The couple of songs that the band released after its “reformation” last year I thought were very mediocre. The inclusion of Dirk Verbeuren (the go-to hired hand for drumming these days), did not make me want this more – although, to be fair, his drumming slays. Up to this point Cadaver was a very eclectic band, and released four quite different albums; the first one is Carcass worship, the second one Cancer worship, the third one Satyricon/Dodheimsgard worship, and the fourth one was a mix of the latter with some Morbid Angel-esque hints. As it turns out the new album is quite beautiful and closer to Necrosis (2004). “Morgue ritual” is, for me, the highlight of the album, although most songs are amazing. Two out of ten songs (i.e. “Deathmachine” and “Reborn”), however, are re-imaginings of two other songs from Discipline (2000, “Killtech” and “Primal” respectively), so that feels a bit awkward (especially because Discipline is so absolutely bone-crushing – impossible to be surpassed); not sure what Odden was thinking. Revolting have settled on the sound of their previous album, which is super catchy and straightforward mix of God Macabre, You’ll never see-era Grave and mid-1990s Hypocrisy. The new album is really enjoyable, and I have listened to it loads the last few weeks. The opening song starts with that “Hallowed be thy name” type melody that has been used to death by death metal bands. The second song is an “I saw them die” (Dismember) rip-off. … Overall, however, this is a real cool album, full of catchy melodies and choruses. The rebirth of old defunct bands continues, as EvilDead released a new album titled United States of Anarchy, which appears to have been in the making for more than a decade. I first listened to them in 1996, already years after they broke up, when a friend included a couple of songs at the end of a cassette tape containing Xentrix’s first two albums. To be honest, the song that opens their debut is my favourite song by them, and, although I like both their albums, I don’t think anything they did is as good as that song. The new album, however, comes real close to the band’s best moments; I did not expect it to be that good! All of the songs are well-written, catchy, and perfectly executed. “Napoleon complex” is one of the highlights; when it turns fast, there’s some amazing riffs and vocal patterns. “Blasphemy divine” is another perfect song taking the listener back to the late 1980s. The vocals are, for me, a bit cringey at times, but I think that has more to do with how the thrash aesthetic has aged than the singer himself. This one came close to be part of my trop-10 of the year. For the first time in many years I was somewhat excited about the new Six Feet Under album, on the basis of Jack Owen’s addition to the band. The first song released by the label was a very simple composition, unlike the more technical direction the band took in the last few albums, and the highlight was, surprisingly, Barnes’s vocals. Overall, I really enjoyed this album, some of the compositions are super catchy, they have Owen’s stamp of awesomeness. Some of Owen’s final songs before he left Cannibal Corpse, like “Nothing left to mutilate” or “Slain” were my favourite, and here he offers tunes in the same vein; slow, groovy, a bit bluesy, a bit punky, and always disturbing. I watched an interview between a poser and Kelly of Atheist, where both of them were making fun of Barnes’s vocals; I thought this was a bit shitty of Kelly, a person I have always looked up to, both as a composer and a human being. Barnes’s vocals have indeed lost their versatility and power, but this is something which has been happening gradually the last 15 years. Yet, his vocals still sound more sickening and unique than most death metal vocalists. Also, what is the standard for death metal these days? Are we supposed to listen to people who learned to play death metal in music colleges, or who learned to growl “properly” on a YouTube tutorial? Fuck that! Most death metal bands sound like they came out of the death metal factory. Tunes like “Dead girls don’t scream”, “Noose” and “Blood of the zombie” are fantastic, and the first of the album’s two up-tempo tunes titled “Amputator” is also uniquely constructed death metal, with a super catchy vocal pattern and great main riff. Jack’s solos deserve special mention; what on earth is this guy playing! Nightmares of the decomposed also came close to be part of my top-10 for 2020. 

Without further ado, the following are the 10 albums to which I listened non-stop over the last year. Between 2-5 there is no order, really – I love them all equally. The list is unapologetically “old school”, but the heart wants what it wants. All the bands (or band leaders) but one, have more than 30 years of music-making under their belts. What I will listen to when the time comes for these bands to call it quits, I don’t know:

1. Psychotic Waltz – The god-shaped void

As with most bands that decide to reform after many years, my attitude towards Psychotic Waltz was skeptical. The first single from the new album, “Devils and angels”, further fed that skepticism. Although the music and the verse melody took me back to the mid- to late-1990s, when I first listened to the band, the the first vocal line of the chorus shocked me, as it sounded like cheesy power metal. However, I suspended disappointment, as the other parts of the song, especially that middle section, were amazing. And that turned out to be a good thing, because the album is nothing short of a masterpiece. Although Buddy Lackey had many musical endeavours since the demise of the band, none of them sounded interesting to me. It is clear that Psychotic is one of these bands that what makes them unique is the chemistry of the band-members. The orchestrations are loyal to the sound developed in Bleeding (1996), where keyboards provide the backdrop to the psychedelic soundscapes created by the electric instruments, super catchy as opposed to the more technical arrangements and intense riffing and tempos of the first couple of albums. Buddy’s voice is predominantly on the lower register, although from time to time he visits the higher frequencies with which most of us associate him. His crooning during the middle section of “Sisters of the dawn” came as a surprise, a pleasant surprise though. The chorus of reminded me a bit of Saviour Machine‘s “Christians and lunatics”, initially a resemblance I couldn’t shake off, but now I hardly notice it. No metal band has used keyboards as tastefully as Psychotic, and “Back to black“, the way the keys come in when the singing starts, is a case in point. “All the bad men” is one of those songs that had it come out in the 1990s it would now be considered a classic. “Pull the string” is the only song that takes me to Mosquito (1994) territory with its grunge-y chorus, and the Sabbath-esque middle section. That fantastic middle eight on “While the spiders spin” is of the order of the middle section of “Haze one”. Dan Rock and Brian McAlpine’s collaboration is one of the album’s highlights, with breathtaking twin solos. The rhythm section is also fantastic. There is not a single mediocre moment in the album; I’ve been listening to it non-stop since it came out, and the more I listen to it, the more I love it.

2. Benediction – Scriptures

I cannot overstate how much I was looking forward to Ingram returning to the band. I have seen the band live twice, first in 2001 and then again in 2011, and both times it was with Dave Hunt. Ingram is an absolute ledge, and the new album is appropriately legendary. Perfect vocals and vocal patterns, great lyrics, awesome voice, plenty of grunts and vocal captions (e.g. Ingram growling “Sloooow” when the song slows down). Initially, I thought that the album would have benefited from a more prudent song selection. I still don’t like “Stormcrow”, which starts beautifully, but develops in an incoherent way in my opinion. “Scriptures in scarlet” is a good song, but the main riff is reminiscent of Terrorizer, and it feels a bit out of place on a Benediction album. The theme of the song, by the way, is based on the film Evil Dead, which the band first referenced back in Subconscious terror (1990) and the song “Artefacted irelligion”. There are other little references to the past. The laugh at the beginning of “Tear off these wings” is a throwback to “Subconscious terror”, and the vocal pattern when the tempo picks up is similar to “Grind bastard” (e.g. Debased! Revenge on those two-faced…). The previous singer penned the lyrics to three songs, one of which is “Rabid carnality”, one of the small miracles of this album! The ending of “Progenitors of the new paradigm” is what makes Benediction one of the greatest. The same goes for those brief Slayer-esque wedges at 2:43 and 4:16 that momentarily throw off the flow of the track. The mayhem at the end of “Embrace the kill“, another Hunt-penned masterpiece, is one of the most intense parts the band has ever written (here there’s a resemblance with the main riff of “Unfound mortality”). This is meat and potatoes death metal the way only Benediction can play it, fronted by one of the absolute best vocalists in the history of popular music. I think that if Ingram stays long enough in the band and they work on another album, that one would be even better. For a more detailed review of the album click here.

3. Napalm Death – Throes of joy in the jaws of defeatism

Before the release of this album I experienced the same uncertainty I did back when Pintado left the band. Before The code is red… (2004) was released I remember feeling unsure about the prospect of an album without Pintado’s amazing contributions. Now, it felt even worse, as the other main composer responsible for ND’s sound, Mitch Harris, was also gone (reportedly recording guitars BUT with no mention of contribution to songwriting), leaving Embury solely responsible for the music. Not that I ever doubted Embury’s abilities, if anything I consider him one of the most important songwriters of all time, but Mitch’s style cannot simply be done away with; he is also a genius. Anyway, the new album is classic Napalm, similar to the last two in terms of being a bit noisier than in the past. As I’ve said many times, Embury fell in the riff-cauldron as a baby. The first two singles were breathtaking; “Amoral” is already a classic in my book, and the same goes for the other single, “Backlash just because”. Some of my favourite moments are those instances where Embury’s bass is left alone in the mix, like in the end of “Fuck the factoid” and at the beginning of “Backlash just because”.  Embury’s influences are worn on his sleeve: “Amoral”, a fantastic song, is pure Pandemonium era Killing Joke, “A bellyful of salt and spleen” is pure Swans, the main riff of “Air’s turned foul in here”, a little gem that is a bonus track on the vinyl version, reminds me of Cardiacs (I’m thinking of “Nurses whispering verses”), and the ending of “Fluxing of the muscle” is classic Penis envy-era CRASS. The first vocal pattern of “Acting in gouged faith” reminds me of something Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth) would come up with. “Zero gravitas chamber” is a super-catchy hardcore track which eventually turns deadly. “That curse of being in thrall” is a sonic tornado which could have easily been written by Mitch. “Invigorating clutch” is a catchy, sludgy song which offers some breathing space amidst the speedy madness. The eponymous song starts with a shocking performance by Barney whose throat probably bled during the recording of the album. This song has some of the most powerful lyrics as well. Overall, lyrically, Barney seems to have further distanced himself from traditional formulas and went for words and structures alien to everyday discourse, making meaning hard to decipher, which is cool, and a pity at the same time, ‘cos his ability to deploy more orthodox writing techniques is one of his strengths. The only song I don’t really like, and I’ve removed from my MP3 folder, is “Joie de ne pas vivre”, and I’m not crazy about “A bellyful of salt and spleen” either.

4. Fake names – Fake names

The debut by the new band created by Brian Baker is, in my ears, an instant classic masterpiece. These days I usually listen to entire albums before I decide to buy them, but with this one, I bought a copy only having listened to three songs released for promotion by Epitaph. First of all, vocals are provided by Dennis Lyxzen, the frontman of Refused, a band I never particularly liked, except their first album which is pretty cool, but this guy is a legend! What a fantastic singer! His voice is perfect when he delivers lines melodically, in higher or lower registers, and his screams, which at times remind of Tony, of the Adolescents, are fantastic. Definitely one of the highlights of the album. The first, if I remember correctly, release from the album was “Brick”, an amazing tune, one of the fastest in the album with definite hues of Dag Nasty, especially on the chorus. “Weight”, an instant classic, has a rockabilly quality, almost Dead Moon-esque, and it definitely represents a lost art of song-writing. Absolutely beautiful. The appropriately titled “Darkest days” has an almost English post-punk quality to it, especially the verse melodies; the middle eight on this song is fantastic. The grungy “Being them” has one of the most awesome choruses of the album. To me it was so surprising to see Baker writing such a beautiful album, especially since his contributions in Bad Religion are few and far between, and in the latest album he wrote the song I liked the least (i.e. “Faces of grief”). To me, it looks like Baker does not see Bad Religion as the appropriate outlet for his creativity. Overall, a perfect album I can’t have enough of! Also, come on Brett man, we’re paying good money for albums these days, put a fuckin’ lyric sheet in the jacket.

5. Paradise Lost – Obsidian

I have said it before (several times) and I will say it again. Once again I anticipated that Paradise Lost will disappoint me, but once again they delivered a minor masterpiece. This time they came up with another album in which they further develop their sound, but at the same time taking it back to more conventional, catchier territory. Here we have more straight-forward metal songs, of the verse-chorus-verse-chorus type, with more conventional melody lines and fewer growling vocals than Medusa (2017) and The plague within (2015). Whilst in both those previous albums there was one song I didn’t particularly like (“The longest winter” and “Punishment through time” respectively), the new album is one masterpiece after the other. Nick’s voice is beautiful, but, although I came to terms that he can no longer sing as in his pre-One second days many years ago, I can’t help but think how much better the new songs would be if he had his old voice. Regarding the drums, it feels like Waltteri has adapted a bit more to the band’s sound, and is less concerned with showing off, which is great. For many of the songs he provides a solid and simple backbone reminiscent of old times, which I think serves the band better than engaging in percussive theatrics. I haven’t liked a Paradise Lost album opener as much as “Darker days” since Faith divides us (2009). Some of the more straightforward and less ambitious songs on the album, like “Ravenghast“, “Serenity” and “Forsaken” are absolutely killer! The undeniable genius of a song like “Hope dies young“, with the band’s trademark lead melody on top of a simple chord progression, the majestic intro and devastating chorus of “The devil embraced”, the variation in how the different verses are orchestrated (even if subtly, each song has a constant evolution), are why Paradise Lost occupy a special place in my heart.

6. Rage – Wings of rage

Rage released another beautiful album, which is the final one with the Peavy-Marcos-Lucky line-up, as Marcos announced his departure earlier this year. This line-up coincided with Peavy’s desire to revive the mid-1990s sound of the band, and they definitely managed to do just that over the least three albums. I suspect that Marcos started having an influence on the band that I didn’t particularly like. First of all, I find it hard to believe that Peavy would come up with the cheesy melodies of “Tomorrow”, the only song off the new album I skip. Secondly, as I understand it Peavy comes up with some beautiful melodies and chord progressions, and it’s up to the guitarist to come up with some amazing riffs to complement the compositions. In some cases I feel that Marcos failed to do that; is that the best riff he could come up with for “A nameless grave”? The main riff of “Don’t let me down” is pretty distinctive, but that’s because it kinda sounds like “Supersonic hydromatic”. Anyway, I don’t want to blame Marcos for what I consider minor shortcomings in this great album. “Blame it on the truth” (what a chorus!), “For those who wish to die“, “Chasing the twilight zone”, “Don’t let me down“, “Let them rest in peace”, “True”, are classic Rage tunes that are unique-sounding and timeless. I’m looking forward to hearing this band’s next chapter, and I hope the new members are fans and connoisseurs mainly of the pre-XIII era of the band.

7. Brave the Cold – Scarcity

Brave The Cold is the new band by Mitch Harris. It sounds like a mix of several of Harris’s bands, so for those familiar with Napalm Death, Defecation‘s second album, and Menace (the more ambient moments and the clean vocals), will find elements of all those in Scarcity. The variety of ideas, intensity, but also catchiness and craftiness of songwriting are undisputed. Mitch is such a genius musician, and I am happy to hear something new by him, even if it’s outside the Napalm context. The album kicks off with “Blind eye“, which is one of those rare songs that Mitch comes up from time to time that listening to is almost a religious experience; incredible chorus, with a chord progression that is anxiety-inducing, and the riff during the grinding bit is amazing. At times Mitch’s deeper vocals, on a song like “Apparatus”, remind me of Paul Speckmann. “Apparatus” is one of my favourite songs, and is equally Terrorizer and Master worship. “Shame and ridicule” is another highlight. The song starts in a way that is reminiscent of Napalm songs like “Warped beyond logic” but it throws off the listener who gets a mid-tempo, groovy beat instead of some kind of grinding madness (which is actually reserved for the last 10 seconds of the song). “Dead feed” is another impressive hardcore song, with a super intense and catchy grinding chorus; it eventually slows down to a choir, followed by a genius riff accompanied by blast-beats, before the choir returns. Most songs are complex and dynamic, not sticking to a specific recipe. It’s sad that some of these songs were not included in the new Napalm Death album, because they are brilliant and Barney would have taken them to new heights.

8. Sweven – The eternal resonance

The eternal resonance is an album released by Robert Andersson, the mastermind behind Morbus Chron. It is an album that was supposed to follow Sweven (2014) (Sweven topped my Best-of list back in 2014), but then sadly the band folded. Anyone familiar with this album will immediately feel the continuity in The eternal resonance. The bits and pieces of Autopsy influences that were still present in Sweven (hear for example the ending of “It stretches in the hollow”) or the Entombed-esque “Aurora in the offing”, are long gone. In fact, it feels like The eternal resonance continues where Sweven (especially the last few songs) left off. The compositions are more open, more ambient. The passion in Robert’s voice and the agony it conveys are spine-chilling. The opening and the closing songs, both instrumental, are two of the most fantastic moments there. “Solemn retreat” is an interesting song, which, in my opinion, becomes awesome halfway through during the solo section and all the way till the end. The most uptempo song on the album is “Visceral blight” and my favourite bit are the verses at the beginning, which are so catchy. The chords making up the main riff of “Mycelia“, another highlight, are very similar, if not the same ones, as Rage‘s “Baby, I’m your nightmare”. This is an album that will keep revealing new things to the listener the more one spends time with it. A minor thing I find a bit tiring is the repetition across several songs of this drum beat (a drummer friend explained to me that it’s called ‘eight note triplets’) that is first introduced on “The spark” (at 1:12). It’s just a personal thing; I hate this drum-beat.

9. Morta Skuld – Suffer for nothing

Morta Skuld is a band I’ve known since my teenage years, but I never liked much. Having said that, I found their comeback album (i.e. Wounds deeper than time) really good, and the new one, titled Suffer for nothing, is even better in my ears. Dave Gregor is the Ozzy of death metal, in the sense that he sings predominantly on the riff, which I think gives Morta Skuld its distinctiveness. The album kicks off with a super-classy drum intro. The song starts fast and goes places, and halfway through introduces melodies that could have been found in Death‘s post-Spiritual era, specifically James Murphy’s approach to chord progressions designed for soloing. The more melodic breaks, whether they are solos or riffs, in the midst of the more primeval sounds is an approach that Morta Skuld carry out very well. One of the big assets of the album is the really good and organic sound; there are no tricks, all instruments sound great, and the drums don’t sound over-produced. My favourite songs right now are: “Suffer for nothing“, “Dead weight”, “Extreme tolerance”, “Godlike shell“, “Machines of hate”.

10. Sodom – Genesis XIX

Sodom’s new album is the first one I liked by them in a while. The last Sodom album I loved was Code red (1999), which levelled me when it came out. Since then I haven’t listened to any albums that came close, although I did enjoy Sodom (2006) and Epitome of torture (2013). The new one is in many ways a throwback album, courtesy of Frank’s return. Don’t expect to listen to drumming of the order of Witchhunter (in his heyday), or riffs of the order of “Shellfire defense” or “The crippler” (this type of riffing wasn’t Frank’s thing anyway). But, some songs are devastating, like “Dehumanized”, “Waldo and pigpen“, “Harpooneer” and “Friendly fire“. “Waldo and Pigpen” showcases a brilliant riff progression when the tempo picks up, which is reminiscent of the vibe of “Nuclear winter” or “Blasphemer”. This song is a bloody masterpiece; the vocal patterns, the awesome bridge and the chorus are chilling. This is one of the songs that can be compared to the late 1980s period of the band. The same can be said about “Euthanasia”, whose vocal pattern reminds of “Tired and red”. The triplet riffing section around 1:42 could also be attempting a reference to another song off Agent Orange (1989), namely “Magic dragon” and the section starting at around the 4:35 mark. As in any Sodom album, the punk element is prominent. But this time there’s also a grind element, and some of the best moments of the album are those super fast sections (listen, for example, to the chorus of “Dehumanized”) which fit Tom’s vocal style so well! Tom’s vocals are, for me, the highlight of the album, as they are still so incredibly powerful and diverse. At this stage in his career I don’t really expect much from Tom, especially since he once set the foundations for extreme metal, but this was a nice surprise.

BEST OF 2020 PLAYLIST