overground scene

The year 2017 is marked by some fantastic musical releases. This year it was more difficult than usual to come up with only 10 favourite albums, and amongst those 10 albums it was difficult to say which ones I liked best. There are many albums that did not make my top-10 list but I also enjoyed quite a lot. Due to the sheer volume of releases by bands I already like I avoided opening up to new bands which I am more likely to dislike. I will start my review of the year with the albums I liked the least.

The initial reaction to Cannibal Corpse‘s new album was one of disappointment. After a couple of listens I started enjoying the album, but then quickly got tired of it. In my mind CC’s discography is organised in two periods, the Barnes and the Corpsegrinder period, and the latter is further broken down to the Owen period and the Barrett period. The Barnes period is my favourite, I consider it very distinct, and I think that his departure marked a huge stylistic change for CC. I think that Barnes’s way of singing, vocal patterns and lyrics defined to a large extent CC’s style. I never took the Corpsegrinder era too seriously, as I have always thought that the band became a bit cartoonish. This doesn’t mean that I don’t like CC post-Barnes. Both periods offer some excellent albums  (maybe with the exception of Gore obsessed). The current post-Owen era, is probably my least favourite, although I think all offerings are consistently good. The new album is enjoyable although the thrash approach to riffing and song structures that appeared in most recent releases is even more prominent now. It is also much less frenetic to their previous album (there’s not a single pure attack similar to “High velocity impact spatter”), and sonicaly, well lets just say Rutan is not my favourite producer. “Code of the slashers” has a cool slow section, but when it becomes fast it feels lazy to me. The structure, tempo changes, melodies and beating of “Shedding my human skin” represent the CC that I prefer. Other stand-out tracks include “Corpus delicti“, “In the midst of ruin”, “Destroyed without a trace” (great post-chorus blastbeat sections) and “Hideous ichor” (the intro riff is straight out of Kreator’s Coma of souls). Overall, it is a quite easy-listening album, and in a sense their least death metal album yet. Vallenfyre‘s Fear those who fear him has some really cool grinding songs (e.g. “Kill all your masters” and “Nihilist”), but in my opinion in lacking standout slow melancholic hymns. I listened to it a few times and I like it, but I would never compare it to the brilliance of their debut. Similarly, I liked Firespawn‘s sophomore album, although I don’t think I will ever consider it amazing, and I prefer their debut. Some songs I liked more than others (“The general’s creed”, “Full of hate” and “Serpent of the ocean” are my favourite), there are some nice melodies and Fredrik’s leads are enjoyable as usual, but I found the song structures and riffs forthcoming and repetitive, in many cases reminiscent of the simpler forms of early thrash. Warwound‘s Burning the blindfolds of bigots is an enjoyable hardcore-crust album made by members of Sacrilege and Discharge.

Moving on to albums I liked a bit more, Evocation‘s The shadow archetype kept me nice company for quite a while. I listened to the first couple of Evocation albums when they came out but I was not impressed. I didn’t bother with them again after that. However, recently I saw the new album on YouTube and the impressive cover art attracted me. I realise that it is a derivative album, but songs are well-written and well played, so I have enjoyed it. Evocation seem to have taken good elements from the two great traditions of Swedish death metal, mixing Entombed and At The Gates in equal measure. The main riff of “Modus operandi” and the drumming feels a bit too familiar (listen to At The Gates song “Unto others” – the riff before the break in the middle), but overall it is good. Blood Feast‘s The future state of wicked is a satisfying and entertaining old-school thrash album, full of catchy choruses, riffs that made me air-guitar, and cool vocal patterns. It could have easily been released in the mid-1980s. Broken Hope‘s Mutilated and assimilated is enjoyable, I listened to it quite a few times but I cannot say that I enjoyed it as much as the previous one. The input by the relatively new members is quite obvious as there are quite a few more “modern” elements. The end of “Malicious meatholes” is reminiscent of Atheist. Although I did not love this album I have no doubts that I will eventually revisit it and discover interesting things about it. On Swine plague, Dead Head offer excellent thrash in the vein of Slayer and Demolition Hammer. The band members are seasoned veterans and this album definitely surfaces in the disappointing swamp of new wave of traditional thrash bands. Kreator released an album that does not stray from the band’s post Violent revolution (2001) style, namely a more melodic and anthemic Coma of souls style of thrash. Although I am not a big fun of this style – and I wouldn’t expect Kreator to ever reach the heights of their 1985-1995 non-stop progress and brilliance – I do like all the albums of this period (Enemy of god (2005) and Phantom antichrist (2012) a bit less). I highly respect Mille and I definitely enjoy the riffs, vocals and speed of this album, but I could do without all the anthemic moments. Expulsion‘s Nightmare future E.P. is awesome and it stinks off Repulsion. Listening to Olivo’s uniquely insane compositions is a pleasure, and I cannot resist thinking how awesome it would be if he collaborated with the guys from Impaled. It is only an E.P. and it’s over really quickly, but what an awesome ride! Over the years Haemorrhage have evolved to one of the most recognisable and credible grindcore bands on this planet. On We are the gore they offer their well-known brand of awesome grindcore, albeit currently devoid of the sick carcass-inspired melodies of their gore-grind days. Their new album is catchy, like their previous full-length, with a good production and some surprising elements, such as the Dismember-sounding riff and the rock’n’roll solo on “Miss Phlebotomy”. “Intravenous molestation…” is a brief delicacy. The chorus of “Bathed in bile” could easily be in a Lock Up album. I liked it but I prefer their mid-90s – early 2000s period. Mastodon‘s Emperor of sand is in the vein of their previous two albums, that is, poppy, melodic, progressive, aggressive, sludgy and well-played metal. There are some songs that have stood out for me, including the fantastic “Ancient kingdom”, but also “Steambreather“, “Roots remain”, “Word to the wise”, the catchy “Show yourself”, and the very dynamic “Jaguar god“. I have enjoyed it quite a lot, but I will refrain from including it among my favourite albums this year because history has shown that I usually get bored with their albums after a while, and, additionally, there are so many other albums I enjoyed more. The Lurking Fear is another band in the long list of projects where established musicians join forces to pursue a shared musical vision. The main reason I became interested in them is due to the inclusion of Andreas Axelsson, one of the masterminds behind Edge of Sanity, and more recently Tormented. From the looks of it Tormented have folded and Andreas has moved on. Axelsson has written some of my favourite songs on the album, including “With death engraved in their bones”, “Upon black winds” (in which Axelsson shows off his talent of composing authentic old-school death metal), and “Tongued with fowl flames”. Two other really good songs on the album, however, turns out were not written by him. “The starving Gods of old” (my favourite on the album) and “Winged death” are two minor masterpieces, and Lindberg’s performance especially in the former is mind-blowing. The Slayer-esque beginning of “Tentacles of blackened horror” is cool. The blatant rip-offs from Autopsy are not impressive, especially since they’ve been done to death over the last 15 years or so. The lyrics are inspired by Lovecraft’s strange universe of abominations. The sound of Cthulhu snoring in-between songs is a good touch. My initial reaction to Suffocation‘s new album, …Of the dark light, was laden with disappointment. The production, the plastic drum sound, and the monotonous vocals alienated me and it took me a while to revisit the album for a second listen. To be honest my expectations were low, as a result of the lackluster listening experience associated with the previous two Suffocation albums. Just like with Pinnacle of bedlam (2013), I thought that Frank sounded disinterested and his voice was over-produced. Nevertheless, after a few more listens I started overcoming some of those elements that I found disappointing, and I realised that most of the riffing is excellent, and that overall I prefer this album to the previous two. “Return to the abyss” is a masterpiece in the true Suffocation style, with Hobbes’s manic riffing, twisted melodies and super-heavy break-downs on fire. In my book this song is inducted in the Hall of most awesome Suffocation tunes. Moreover, both in this song and in “Caught between two worlds” the band is trying a couple of things that could be considered novelties in the entrenched style of the band. The elements to which I am referring are the melancholic tremolo-picked riff in the last part of the latter, and the weird melody in the end of the former, which reminded me of the melody at the end of “Axeman” by Amebix. Another new element is the inclusion of Suffocation’s live-session-singer in some of the songs, which I think is a good move. Another problem that I have is that some changes lack cohesion. The ending of “The violation” is one example and the end of “The warmth within the dark” another; in both cases it feels like the song has ended before it resumes with a brief section that feels random. Incantation‘s Profane nexus is another high quality release by Incantation. In my opinion the sound is more primitive than on the previous album, and Alex Bouks’ absence is noticeable. I haven’t paid to much attention to it, and this relative absence of interest explains its position out of the top-10 list, but I suspect I will eventually love this album. Not many bands can write songs of the quality of “Incorporeal despair” and “Lus sepulcri”.

The following 10 albums are my favourite from this year. Between the second and the seventh albums in the list I cannot say with certainty which one I like the best, and the ordering has changed several times over the last few months. In my opinion they are all brilliant albums, reflecting a fantastic year in popular non-mainstream music.

1. Neocaesar – 11:11

Neocaesar’s debut is the undisputed album of the year. I cannot overstate how happy this release has made me. Neocaesar is a band composed of four ex-Sinister members. These are not any ex-Sinister members though. We’re talking about Mike, the absolute death metal vocalist who contributed some of the most breathtaking performances in three classic albums (Cross the Styx (1992), Diabolical summoning (1993), Hate (1995)), Bart, one of the absolute composers, who wrote unprecedented masterpieces for four classic albums (Diabolical summoning (1993), Hate (1995), Aggressive measures (1998), Creative killings (2000)), Erik, who sang on the magnificent Aggressive measures (1998), and Michel, who played bass on the classic Bastard saints E.P. (1996). Here, Erik plays the drums, and he is an absolute beast at that too! This album is unique and perfect from beginning to end. It contains eight astounding songs plus two dark instrumental pieces. The introductory instrumental song is dark and brooding; such a classy way to start an awesome album! Each song is craftily put together. Amazing melodies, spell-binding riffs, and infernal vocals by a truly genius vocalist. Bart moves within chord progressions that make every riff sound evil and monumental, and he has never strayed from this approach throughout his career. The way he combines different riffing techniques is also amazing; palm-muting, triplets, tremolo-picking, accented dissonant chords, are craftily used, each riff a genius combination of different techniques, to articulate unique sounding musical sentences. The production is awesome, the guitar and bass tones are fantastic, the drum sound is real (and, as opposed to Erik’s work with Warfather, his drumming here is fantastic and much more focused), and the contributions of all band members are equally audible. THIS is death metal. For a more detailed review of the album, please read this.

2. Desultory – Through aching aeons

After their remarkable comeback album in 2010, Counting our scars, I have been thirsting for new music by one of Sweden’s most awesome bands that defined melancholic death metal. It took seven years for new music to surface, I imagine due to day jobs and other non-music related responsibilities that non-mainstream musicians like the members of Desultory probably have. Through aching aeons feels like a fiercer Counting our scars, as there is a complete absence of entirely slow songs. Instead here we have more blasting sections, weirder riffs, less conventional song-structures, more frequent tempo changes, and a more growled approach to singing, in what might easily be Desultory’s best album. “Beneath the bleeding sky” is a monster, in a way similar to “This broken halo” in that it is a fast song full of awesome riffs, and has a very catchy melancholic chorus (the first time around followed by an emotive guitar solo). It is a song beautifully crafted, from the dark menacing first riff to the beautiful acoustic outro. This one along with “Divine blindness”, “Slither”, and “In this embrace”, are my favourite songs on the album, although every song has awesome things to offer. Generally, songs structures are complicated and, at times, might sound a bit incoherent but this can be a good thing; it means that the listener has to invest more time and effort connecting the various parts in order to perceive each song as a coherent whole. Johnsson’s manic style of drumming elevates the songs to a new level of awesomeness, although, in my opinion, the constant alterations between the kick-drum and the snare in leading the beat can get tiring. The band decided that this is their final album, and in a way it feels like they have come full circle. They will be sorely missed.

3. Propagandhi – Victory lap

Propagandhi’s previous masterpiece, Failed states (2012), had its own space in the best-of list of that year. Victory lap is another masterpiece in the classic Propagandhi tradition. Comparing it to their back-catalogue I would say that it is not much different to Failed states, but it is definitely less intense and heavy compared to Today’s empires… (2001), Potemkin… (2004), and Supporting caste (2008). The new album is mellower sonicaly, with lighter distortion, and some clean riffing (on “Lower order”, one of my favourite songs off the album). It is a beautiful album and it contains everything that is great about Propagandhi. The progressive instrumental end of “Cop out of frame” is sheer perfection, the refreshing speed and vocal pattern of “Letter to a young anus” are awesome, Todd’s classic depressing tunes and lyrics in “Nigredo” and “When all your fears collide” (the latter also including some intense hardcore moments) are extremely emotive, and the list goes on. I bet they got the riff in the middle of “Tartuffe”, a genius song, from Iron Maiden‘s last album (I’m thinking the intro riff of “When the river runs deep”). There’s really not much else to say about a band whose inspiration, but also kindness and love for each other and the world shine through their music. Listening to Propagandhi is humbling.

4. Rage – Seasons of the black

Having experienced the several ups-and-downs of Rage’s career over the 22 years I’ve been listening to them, I have grown skeptical of anything new by this seminal heavy metal band led by one of my all-time favorite song-writers, Peavy Wagner. Although I decided to attribute the dramatic deterioration of Rage’s sound to the compositional takeover by Victor Smolski, I cannot ignore that Peavy had something to do with it as well. Given that Rage’s beautiful previous album (i.e. The devil strikes again) is only one year old I was unsure whether Peavy and co., would be able to repeat the feat. I was then pleasantly surprised, as Seasons of the black is an album chock-full of excellent songs. I would have to say that Seasons and The devil are equally good. Overall, whilst The devil strikes again is reminiscent of the Black in mind-End of all days era, Seasons – even faster and even more melodic – goes even further back to the Trapped-Ten years period. Peavy has come up with some of his best melodies ever, and I find hard to believe how Peavy’s potential to write this wonderful stuff was dormant for those last years with Smolski. Marcos has kept the riffing at a high level (check out the furious beginning of the album, the main riff of “Time will tell”, and the awesome guitar work on “Justify”), and his solos beautiful, to the point, and only when needed. The same goes for Lucky, whose drum patterns, awesomely executed fills, and perfectly situated double bass serve perfectly serve each song. “Time will tell” is perhaps the song that best represents Peavy’s unique style of song-writing; a true masterpiece with an unorthodox chorus typical of old Rage (Peavy makes me so happy…). The same goes for “All we know is not” (the first few seconds hint to “No sign of life” off Ten years in Rage), another frenzied headbanger in true Rage style with a genius chorus. “Septic bite” is another cool song that – for those who like comparisons – stinks off The missing link-era melodies (and that bass-drum count near the end). “Serpents in disguise” is an immaculately put together song, with a beautiful chord progression, chorus, and great pace. Another straightforward, super-heavy song with an infectious chorus, “Walk among the dead”, could have easily been in 10 years in Rage. “Justify” is another brilliant song, but the intro melody, in my opinion, feels a bit out-of-place in a Rage album (too anthemic). The last song is reminiscent of something that could be found in XIII or Soundchaser, and I like it but is my least favourite song on the album. This is the true Rage, insofar as Rage is Peavy’s band and his vision should be what guides songwriting. This album is a gift to all those Rage fans who loved the band in the early-mid 1990s.

5. Memoriam – For the fallen

The news of a new band by Karl Willetts, Andrew Whale, and Frank Healy was very welcome, as both Benediction and Bolt Thrower are unique and two of my all time favourite bands. I have to admit that when I found out that the main composer is Scott Fairfax, a younger musician lacking a noteworthy record in death metal songwriting, I kind of lost interest. All skepticism disappeared when I listened to the opening song, i.e. “Memoriam”, a wonderful song, I assume a memorial to Martin Kearns, with incredible lyrics and performance by Willetts. The second song, “War rages on” is an incredible assault on the senses. The  sample in the beginning is haunting, and the way it bleeds into the intro of the song is genius. The main riff is devastating, and paired with the massive drumming produce the sonic equivalent of an earthquake. I haven’t heard something that powerful in a long time. Each song deserves its own special mention because all of them are amazing. “Reduced to zero” is another massive epic, its different parts weaving a beautiful musical narrative. Whale’s off-beat playing during the first part of each verse is perfectly complementing the tension of the riff, and the double-bass during the second part is monumental. The more manic sections on songs like “Surrounded by death” and “Resistance” send chills down my spine, and the closer is another epic tour de force. It is worth noting that the chilling ending is narrated by Lynda Simpson from Sacrilege, a band to which both Bolt Thrower owe at least 50% of their sound! It is clear that even though our famous musicians are not the main composers, Whale’s awesome drum patterns and Karl’s unbelievable singing and lyrics make what those songs are. Without those two musicians, Scott’s songs wouldn’t have been what they are. A masterpiece.

6. Skyclad – Forward to the past

I cannot know if Satan’s reunion has something to do with the freshness and power of Skyclad’s new album, but that could be the case. Forward to the past feels like it’s been put out by a new band filled with the excitement and zest of youth. The thematic orientation of the album I guess plays on both the band’s interest in tradition (folk) but also on the tendency of the world to go backwards to scary things like nationalism (as opposed to cosmopolitanism) and fascism (as opposed to not being an utter piece of shit). The song move between the more traditional tunes (“The queen of the moors”, “Starstruck?“) and the more in your face thrashy tunes (“State of the union now”). The ballad titled “Words fail me” is a standout track. The beautiful (and literal) instrumental “Unresolved” (a song one might think was composed by Georgina and Steve, but is actually one of Dave’s compositions) is a nice break from the more up-tempo, festive atmosphere. Another song that stands out and is sure to become a live favourite is “The queen of the moors”, a catchy folk tune based on a poem by John Keats. “Change is coming” is another beautiful fast paced song, with awesome lyrics and infectious main riff and chorus. The only part of the album I disliked was “A heavy price to pay”, a song with fantastic music but lame lyrics. Overall, this is an inspired album that made me appreciate Skyclad even more, and urges me to discover the period after Prince of the poverty line (1994) which I have neglected. 

7. Morbid Angel – Kingdoms disdained

I was really looking forward to listening to the new Morbid Angel album, as it is a band that I’ve worshiped since the days of my youth and it’s never disappointed me. Up until Formulas fatal to the flesh (1998) Morbid Angel had been evolving, capturing the attention and colonising the imaginations of thousands of musicians and fans around the world. I remember that by the late 1990s I would discover a new Morbid Angel clone per week, and that included both new bands (e.g. Poland’s Devilyn, and Holland’s Centurion) and old bands (e.g. Poland’s Vader, and Canada’s Gorguts). In my opinion, the only one time Morbid Angel did not offer something terribly new was with Gateways to annihilation (2002). The new album continues down the same path that Trey went after Vincent left in the mid-1990s. After the two really good Warfather albums I was curious about what Tucker could contribute. As it turns out, Tucker gives astounding vocal performances on the new album and contributes some amazing music and lyrics too. Kingdoms disdained is a new unique addition to the Morbid Angel list of unique sounding albums. The album is extremely brutal and swampy, like FFTTF, although this time around Trey’s compositions are even more noisy and discordant, and the overall sound and production darker. I would imagine that for many people the loss of classical musicality of the classic Morbid Angel period (which includes the Covenant-sounding Heretic) will be missed, but this “new” approach still has things to offer. As usual there is a variety of structures and no two songs sound similar. In “Garden of disdain”, one of the more monolithic songs on the album, what stands out is the darkness evoked through Tucker’s infernal voice and the nuances of background noise. On the opposite end of the compositional spectrum, “Architect and iconoclast” is a complex, majestic, breathtaking song, at the moment my favourite on the album. The absolute genius end of “The pillars crumbling” can only be composed by Trey, and can only be heard in a Morbid Angel album. Songs like “From the hands of kings”, “For no master” and “The fall of idols” stand out for their sheer brutality and speed. “The righteous voice” is another relentlessly brutal song where at times the more classical musicality of Morbid Angel can be heard. “Paradigms warped” is a classic swampy monster of a song. The opener, “Little piles of arms”, is already a classic in my opinion; awe-inspiring vocal patterns, unique riffing, and complex structure.  Overall, this is another album from the master of the death metal art (Trey that is) that once again separates the leaders from the followers.

8. Lock Up – Demonization

I have said it before and I will say it again: Embury fell in the cauldron of riffs when he was a baby. The addition of Anton since the previous album has made Lock Up‘s sound a bit more thrashy; grindcore with a good dose of Slayer in the mix. Kevin Sharp’s inclusion is genius, as he contributes his rare brand of furious and insane vocals to the mix. The vocal patterns on “Void” sounds like something off Need to control (1994). Once again, those weathered grind craftsmen give lessons in fury and brutality. At times groovily uplifting (“Desolation architect”), at other times sluggishly heavy (“Demonization”), or moshingly mid-tempo (“Foul from the pure”, “Void”), or harcorely powerful (“The plague that stalks the darkness”), but mostly grindingly fast (“Secret parallel world”, “Locust“, “Demons raging”, etc.). I can say with conviction that this is a brilliant album.

9. Paradise Lost – Medusa

Paradise Lost has satisfied my need for excellent music album after album without fail for many years. The arrival of their new album, Medusa, did the same. This album feels even darker, slower, more brutal, and less melodic, reminiscent of Lost Paradise and Shades of god. The band suggested that it is reminiscent of Gothic, but I would disagree; nothing can ever come close to the style of Gothic. It was a one-off and I don’t think even Greg knew what he was doing when he created that masterpiece. Once again Nick makes heavy use of his growling vocals, and, as opposed to The plague within, he sounds confident. The only two songs where he predominantly uses his normal voice are the haunting “The longest winter” and the melancholic “Medusa”, maybe my favourite song on the album. “Fearless sky” is a long song that goes through various transformations, embracing different facets of Paradise Lost’s style. “Blood and chaos” is an instant hit, an extremely catchy song. “Until the grave” is another great song with a memorable chorus. “No passage for the dead” has some amazing dissonant moments reminiscent of the Shades of god era. “The longest winter” and “Gods of ancient” are two songs I am not particularly loving right now. In my opinion it would have been so much better if either of those songs were replaced by the magnificent “Shrines”, a bonus track I cannot believe was left out of the standard version 0f the album! Although this album feels at times a bit lazy to me, there are some real gems in there.

10. Immolation – Atonement

Immolation’s new album follows the well-trodden path that Immolation has paved over the decades. It is a unique and majestic style that doesn’t get boring. I have to admit that what distinguishes this album from the two previous ones, is the ridiculously heavy “Lower”. This song is really catchy, and relatively conventional, compared to Immolation’s usual unorthodox compositional style. Immolation is not known for its catchy songs, but, in my opinion, “Lower” is as close to writing one it can get with them (in the past they have come close with songs like “The weight of devotion” or “Dead to me”). I cannot have enough of this song! Of course there are numerous other great songs in this album, including “Fostering the divide”, “Above all”, “Epiphany” and another extremely catchy song, “Destructive currents”, whose tempo also reminds of Immolation’s earlier days. “When the jackals come” is another song that stands out, as it has this weird trill in one of the  main melodies, and a catchy chorus. Nothing terribly new here, but Immolation’s style is always welcome, and in my opinion the production and drum sound are not as annoying as in the previous two albums.

2017 PLAYLIST