Buried Realm – The Dormant Darkness Review

By Owlswald

Colorado’s Buried Realm, the technical melodic death metal project of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Josh Dummer, has built a steady following since 2017’s The Ichor Carcinoma. This is largely because— alongside his role as the primary writer and producer of Buried Realm’s music— Dummer is one hell of a guitarist. Additionally, he enlists a prominent cast of guest musicians for each album, adding another layer of proficiency to his progressive soundscape.1 While Dummer’s talent and networking ability are compelling, 2020’s Embodiment of the Divine received a mixed reception from AMG’s own Twelve. Since then, Dummer has made notable upgrades through the addition of drummer Heikki Saari (Fintroll, ex-Norther) and the outsourcing of post-production duties, resulting in a heavier and more polished sound on Buried Realm’s 2022 self-titled third album. With these refined elements and the promise of further evolution, I was eager to delve into The Dormant Darkness to see what I would find lurking in the shadows.

What I found was a great album. Building upon the foundation of Buried Realm, The Dormant Darkness finds Dummer taking the next step in his power-tinged melodeath assault. The opening barrage of “Bloodline Artifice,” with its relentless blasts, tremolo onslaught, and visceral screams, channels the power of tech-death giants like Allegaeon. At the same time, the album’s overall melodicism is indicative of The Living Infinite-era Soilwork. Guest appearances include the likes of Per Nilsson (Scar Symmetry) and Christopher Amott (ex-Arch Enemy), who fortify tracks like “Human Code” and “Futuristic Hollow Nation” with sweeps, dives, and wails galore. Saari’s intricate rhythms and colorful accents amplify Buried Realm’s dazzling riff craft. Additionally, Dummer’s Laiho-esque rasps intertwine with Bjorn “Speed” Strid’s (Soilwork) roars and Christian Älvestam’s (ex-Scar Symmetry) soaring choruses to add sophistication and depth. With a well-rounded mix that delivers plenty of punch and low-end heft, The Dormant Darkness features a concentrated and layered sound that is rich, heavy, technical, and a ton of fun.

For those who crave virtuosity, Buried Realm will not disappoint. Guitar wizardry is delivered in droves, with memorable solos, melodic leads, and powerful shredding across the record’s eight tracks. Nilsson’s dynamic fretwork at the heart of “Human Code,” Amott’s dive-bomb acrobatics within “Futuristic Hollow Nation,” and Daniel Freyberg’s (ex-Children of Bodom) blazing solo on “A Futile Endeavor” stand out as particularly jaw-dropping moments.2 Dummer and Saari’s merciless grooves— shredding and hammering with precision— strengthen the album’s star-studded guest list, constructing Buried Realm’s tech-heavy compositions. Contrasting Buried Realm’s unyielding virtuosity are Älvestam’s uplifting serenades on songs like “Jaws of the Abyss” and “Futuristic Hollow Nation” which present striking melodies and refreshing hooks that draw me back again and again. Ultimately, while the constellation of guest musicians warrant attention, The Dormant Darkness is filled with highlights that will appeal to a wide audience.

With its intensity and compositional depth, The Dormant Darkness could have easily become overwhelming. Indeed, the songwriting periodically suffers from overly dense passages and abrupt transitions. The disjointed vocal exchange between Dummer and Strid before the chorus in “Human Code,” for example, is jarring, as is the song’s mid-section where a whirlwind of blasts and leads stutters and starts erratically. That said, while occasional missteps somewhat detract from the album’s pacing and flow, they are minor quibbles in a record rife with strong songwriting. Furthermore, Francesco Ferrini’s (Fleshgod Apocalypse) poignant orchestral arrangements on tracks like “Ophidian Dreams” and “Where the Armless Phantoms Glide, Pt. II” provide atmospheric grandeur and emotional depth, mitigating aural fatigue and upholding sonic balance.

Overall, The Dormant Darkness is a blast. The album is the culmination of Buried Realm’s evolution and proves that Dummer’s persistence and dedication have paid off handsomely. It’s full of highlights and genuinely impressive moments, blending technical prowess with memorable melodic hooks, exceptional guest contributions, and compositional maturity. Despite the occasional minor slipup, the album’s technical and charming melodeath personality seizes my attention from the start and maintains its spectral grasp until the record’s final notes fade into the ether. With The Dormant Darkness, Buried Realm has established itself as a formidable force— one that melodeath fans won’t want to miss.

Rating: Great!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: buriedrealm.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/buriedrealm
Releases Worldwide: April 4th, 2025

#2025 #40 #Allegaeon #AmericanMetal #Apr25 #ArchEnemy #BuriedRealm #ChildrenOfBodom #DeathMetal #FleshgodApocalypse #MelodicDeathMetal #PowerMetal #ProgressiveDeath #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarSymmetry #SelfReleased #Soilwork #SpaceMetal #SymphonicMetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #TheDormantDarkness

In the Woods… – Otra Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier

Oh, yay, I get to review In the Woods…!! How I haven’t reviewed them before is beyond me. I must have been in the bathroom or something. I’ve been jamming to these guys forever, which led me to another favorite band: Green Carnation. As stated before by Z and Ferox, these Norwegians are an odd bunch that can’t quite figure out what they want to be, like gender confusion but genre confusion. After almost four decades in business, they’ve tinkered with everything from black to doom to progressive metal. As of 2022’s Diversum, In the Woods… has pretty much combined all their genre influences into one. In some cases, it works; in other cases, it’s a touch messy. That said, I think I liked Diversum more than Ferox because I thought the individual songs came together nicely to create the album, though there were obvious issues with some of the tracks. Some of it might be the new singer on staff. Or, it could be the songwriting as a whole. But Fjellestad is a solid addition to the crew, returning once again for this year’s Otra. The question is, will we see another side of In the Woods…, or will they finally reel in their influences to release something stunning?

One thing I can say that should please those who weren’t quite thrilled with the new vocalist on Diversum is that Fjellestad and the band have come quite a way since 2022. I’m not saying the vocals are better (because he’s a good vocalist), but the performance and songwriting are stronger on Otra. It might be because this time around, the album has a theme that connects the songs. Personifying the Otra river in Norway, the album flows through tumultuous rapids and sputtering streams, bringing the water molecules together for a forty-five-minute rafting trip. Now that we are in a boat instead of the forest, will Otra supply a soothing mist to my face or give me… wood? Wait.

“The Things You Shouldn’t Know” begins right away with gentle guitars and soothing vocals before it erupts into harsh vox and a grooving black metal lick. As this eight-plus-minute beauty builds, it alternates between Green Carnation-like passages and Borknagar/Vintersorg-esque black metal blasts. You’ll also find passionate guitar leads here (and elsewhere on the album) that push the vocals to soaring heights. The bigness only gets bigger when a second voice partners with Fjellestad in the final chorus. “The Crimson Crown” is another biggun that opens with pleasing keys that morph into a blanket of atmoblack riffage before cruising into a bass-led verse. Then, the song explodes into a Borknagar-ish chorus with alternating clean and harsh vox that works so damn well. One of the song’s coolest sections involves a calmness over the water, where Fjellestad adds subtle movement to his voice that adds layers to the music.

Other stellar tracks are “Let Me Sing” and the closing number, “The Wandering Deity.” The closer expands on that vocal wizardry of “The Crimson Crown” by hypnotizing the airwaves with vibrato. This slick addition makes the song’s final chorus that much more impactful. Being less than six minutes in length, this song sure as hell does a lot. Using a Green Carnation foundation, it slithers its way through dark, black metal riffage, gorgeous melodies, and even some black ‘n’ roll a la Carpathian Forest. “Let Me Sing” begins as an innocent piece, introducing it with muffled keys. That’s until the sinister mid-paced chug comes in, accompanied by a surprising vocal arrangement that brings to mind Type O Negative and The Vision Bleak. This song is one of the better tracks at alternating between clean and harsh. I also can’t move on without mentioning the bass work. Not only is it more prominent than other tracks, but nothing quite gets me erect like a bass slide.

The track that does not do well at alternating between the soft and hard sections is “The Kiss and the Lie.” While not a terrible track, its transitions feel forced and awkward, making it difficult to enjoy compared to the other pieces. “Come Ye Sinners” almost suffers the same fate, but the performances make up for it in the back half to save it. While Otra would do better with a more dynamic master, I can’t deny that the songwriting and vocal performances are some of the best in this new era of In the Woods… Taking what they learned from Diversum and polishing it up, this outing is a tight, seven-track affair and one of my favorites of theirs. Though, it’s damn near impossible to achieve what they did in the past, Otra is a pleasing listen and well worth a spin for In the Woods… enthusiasts.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: in-the-woods.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/inthewoods
Releases Worldwide: April 11th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Apr25 #AvantGarde #BlackMetal #Borknagar #CarpathianForest #GothicMetal #GreenCarnation #InTheWoods #NorwegianMetal #Otra #ProgressiveMetal #ProphecyProductions #Review #Reviews #TheVisionBleak #TypeONegative #Vintersorg

Tómarúm – Beyond Obsidian Euphoria

By Kenstrosity

Over the past three years, I’ve come to appreciate Tómarúm’s surprising, mature debut Ash in Realms of Stone Icons at a deeper level than I had hoped to reach in the mere two weeks provided at the time. While I stand by my overall score—and by my critiques—my relationship with that record grew more meaningful and rewarding with time. Tómarúm’s spiritually charged, introspective point of view speaks volumes of suffering and strife, while the complexity of their musical compositions reflects in uncompromising clarity the fluid order that governs a turbulent chaos of the soul and of the heart. With this fresh in mind, I approach follow-up Beyond Obsidian Euphoria with great curiosity and equal anticipation.

Occupying a niche of progressive metal most commonly associated with acts like Ne Obliviscaris, but also connected to newer groups such as Amiensus, An Abstract Illusion, and Dawn of Ouroboros, Atlanta quintet Tómarúm boast an especially fluid and emotive sound. Progressive structures and ever-shifting phrases abound, yet never intrude, obstruct, or interrupt. Technical prowess reminiscent of Fallujah and Lunar Chamber creates additional dynamics most noticeably felt in the bass guitar, lead guitar, and drum performances. And, to my great delight, a new twist of machine-gun burst riffing pulled from Warforged‘s I: Voice playbook grants a palpable, terrifying presence. Beyond Obsidian Euphoria takes all of these elements, intrinsic to Tómarúm’s identity, and implements them with the same finesse and refinement of the last record, but with an altogether more hopeful tone. While still dealing with subjects of profound anguish and emotional turmoil, Beyond explores further the catharsis borne of dedicated, dogged persistence against those internal demons which would otherwise have your singular light extinguished from this mortal coil.

Nothing better exemplifies this shift in tone than the one-two punch of standout duo “Shallow Ecstasy” and “Shed This Erroneous Skin.” Epic sweeps of ominous shadow collide with shimmers of brilliance as menacing pummels advance their campaign against soaring leads and righteous solos. Those blackened rasps that voiced past work join the fray again as crooning cleans provide motivating counterpoint to fuel the flame of continuing life. A vivid chiaroscuro of composition personifies every moment across this 16-minute span, but the surrounding environs offer just as many dynamic moments of beauty and beastliness. The remarkably short and savage “Blood Mirage” deals massive damage to the cranium as it executes a brutal assault of riffs and tech-y oscillations, while “Halcyon Memory: Dreamscapes Across the Blue” evokes an Hail Spirit Noir-esque airiness that belies its double-bass propulsion and quasi-bluesy harmonized solos. The gamut of sounds, styles and textures malleate as soft putty in Tómarúm’s talented fingers, which allows their unfaltering focus on story and character to shine ever brighter on Beyond’s second immense suite of epics, “Silver, Ashen Tears” and “The Final Pursuit of Light.” Any impression of bloat falls to the wayside in the face of such nuanced and well-realized musical design, as melody, pace, substance, and technicality find a kaleidoscopic harmony striking in its multifaceted vibrancy.

At just under 70 minutes, Beyond Obsidian Euphoria daunts any audience with a monumental investment. The dividends, however, more than make up for the sacrifice. That is, if the listener is willing and ready to dig deep and find those moments most intimate and vulnerable. That delicate pluck of the string in a phrase flanked by vicious scrapes; the contrabass frequency that stimulates the spine as starry tremolos dot the sky; the desperate howl of pain and of shattered spirit that preludes an epiphany of truth and of healing; the miraculous congregation of hook and sophistication moving in tandem towards a shared apex of sound and story; all find a place in this wonderful piece, and each piece has its place. Unlike my experience with Ash in Realms, my experience with Beyond is one of complete and utter immersion. There is hardly a moment I would change, barely a segment I would cut—save for the fluffy interlude “Introspection III,” appearing too early on to leave a lasting mark by the close.

Occasionally, I find myself unable to dedicate the time necessary to engage with Tómarúm’s latest opus. I expect that others will experience the same unfortunate circumstance. While that certainly poses a question to the value statement of an album this long, specifically because its individual chapters can’t be separated without compromising the integrity of the whole, Beyond Obsidian Euphoria feels like a rare record that needs every second it consumes. The passion and personality Tómarúm exude in this work demands the price of time to bloom. If you give it the space to do so, what awaits can only be described as euphoric.

Rating: Excellent!
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Prosthetic Records
Websites: tomarum.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/TomarumBM/
Releases Worldwide: April 4th, 2025

#2025 #45 #AmericanMetal #Amiensus #AnAbstractIllusion #Apr25 #BeyondObsidianEuphoria #BlackMetal #Cormorant #DawnOfOuroboros #DeathMetal #Fallujah #HailSpiritNoir #LunarChamber #MelodicBlackMetal #MelodicDeathMetal #NeObliviscaris #ProgressiveBlackMetal #ProgressiveDeathMetal #ProgressiveMetal #ProstheticRecords #Review #Reviews #TechnicalDeathMetal #Tómarúm #Warforged

An Evening With Knives – End of Time Review

By GardensTale

At the start of the year, I pledged to pick as many promos as I could from those sent to us directly through the contact form, as a way to lift up the smallest of underground acts. But as this week is rather barren, I got to have my choice from the remainder, the label-backed colossi who have all their tedious marketing hubbub taken care of. One band name jumped out at me: An Evening With Knives. A name I’ve seen on plenty a concert bill around here, usually in a supporting capacity. Lo and behold, the lads are local, or rather, they were formed in the next city over. It’s always nice to see geographical peers making waves. But it appears that dear Dear Hollow did not hold the last Evening’s record too dear. Has the trio improved since Sense of Gravity, or is End of Time the end of its 15 minutes of fame?

The review for Sense of Gravity complained of unbalanced songwriting with too many sudden turns, but no such problem arises on End of Time. The songwriting is concise and approachable, shirking most of the languid post-metal trappings for a style more akin to Baroness with early parts leaning punk-hardcore and later leaning fuzzy doom with a progressive slant. It suits An Evening With Knives rather well. The lead guitars braid sinewy hooks atop the heavy twang of the rhythm section, and excel at the emotive solos that dot the running time (“End of Time” and closer “S21” are the best examples). The bass has a pulsing melodic flair, the drums are sharp and energetic. Within this scope, the band carves out a lot of wiggle room, shifting gradually from concise cannon blasts to more long-winded material. It makes for an even-handed album that weighs depth with digestibility.

But my issue with An Evening With Knives is the vocals. Their technical application is not bad, per se; overall it’s middle of the road, somewhat versatile with passable core-style screams yet some pitch problems when skewing cleaner (most noticeable on “End of Time”). However, technique is only one side of vocals; emotional pull and projection are at least as important, and that aspect is largely shot by how strained the vocals sound. When belting, strain is expected; here, though, it’s a constant, even on smaller and quieter passages. Especially in the front half, this results in a likely unintended faux-aggression, even machismo, that completely falls flat. “All They Need” unironically and repeatedly uses ‘That’s how you do it’ with a cringe-inducing swagger, and “Death” doesn’t fare much better. It’s akin to overacting and it undermines the earnestness of the music, to the detriment of the whole package.

But as End of Time goes on and the compositions shift from concise to expansive, the vocal problem becomes less and less pronounced. “Voices” combines panicked wailing guitars and intelligent tempo changes with a more genuine anxious performance on the mic. “The Mistake” packs a fuzzy main riff that sounds like it was borrowed from King Buffalo, and through the patient build-up of the proggy “S21” we even get a few more subdued stanzas that dodge the worst of strain city central. Furthermore, the production is solid. Though the mix is a tad vocal-centric, I love the placement of the bass, and the guitar sound has a lovely buzzing edge that supports both the riffs and the solos quite nicely.

End of Time is not the easiest to score. An Evening With Knives is clearly getting better at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their line-up, and the songwriting is tight without fully sacrificing a dynamic and exploratory aspect that keeps each song lively and interesting. But the exception seems to be the vocals, and it’s a damn shame how it prevents me from enjoying the front half of the album as much as I’d like. As a result, End of Time is an interesting but heavily backloaded album that holds itself back from becoming something greater. If you like this sort of style, though, give it a spin anyways, because that back half is teasing a diamond in the rough.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Argonauta Records
Websites: aneveningwithknives.bandcamp.com | aneveningwithknives.com | facebook.com/aneveningwithknives
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025

#2025 #30 #AnEveningWithKnives #ArgonautaRecords #Baroness #DutchMetal #EndOfTime #KingBuffalo #Mar25 #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #Sludge #StonerMetal

Tiktaalika – Gods of Pangaea Review

By sentynel

I must admit, after being really impressed last time, my initial reaction here was “oof.” The last was pretty, subtle, layered with hidden details, and referential yet retaining its own originality. This is much more immediate, heavily retro, and honestly, kinda ugly. I am of course talking about the album art. Compare the award-winning cover of Charlie Griffiths’ previous album Tiktaalika to the art on the newly rebranded Tiktaalika’s Gods of Pangaea. Album art is nothing if not an advertisement of the musical contents, so what does a cover from an 80s thrash band with some detailing referencing the previous record’s theming portend?

If you said “Gods of Pangaea will sound like an 80s thrash band with some light prog stylings from the previous record,” congratulations to both you and the artist1. This is explicitly an homage to the melodic end of 80s thrash and proto-thrash. The sound is exemplified by Peace Sells-era Megadeth, with some proggy influences a la Mercyful Fate. The riffs go chugga chugga twiddly twiddly and then there’s an even twiddlier guitar solo. The vocals, from a selection of talented guest vocalists, span melodic cleans, shouty thrash vocals, and some harsher styles.2 If you like that sort of thing, it’s done very well here and this album is for you. Griffiths is clearly having fun and it shows.

If you want to stand out from all the other retro bands, and the historical catalogs of all the bands you’re actually referencing, you need some sort of differentiating factor. Fellow purveyors of retro-styled tripe The Night Flight Orchestra have got away with it for so many albums through a mixture of exuberance, stellar songwriting, and developing an identity despite the references. On Gods of Pangaea, the mixture of vocalists works against Tiktaalika, making it difficult to claim any sort of identity. The result feels like a collection of covers of 80s B-sides nobody quite remembers. And while the songs are good, they’re not quite that good. In particular, the guitars dissolve into a primordial soup of thrash genre conventions. It colors so consistently within the lines it’s hard to pick standout riffs or even identify the songs from the guitar parts. The exception is highlight “The Forbidden Zone,” with a slower tempo and more of a driving, insistent feel to the riffs.

I mentioned last time that Griffiths is a really good vocal writer/director, and that’s still true here… to a point. The thrash influences have led to some of the singers (particularly Daniël de Jongh) aping Dave Mustaine’s style (“Tyrannicide”, “Give Up the Ghost”), and, look, I like Megadeth, but not for the vocals. When it’s good, though (“The Forbidden Zone,” “Mesozoic Mantras,” both with Vladimir Lalić), there are some excellent choruses. “Fault Lines” (with Rody Walker) is an odd example where, though his mixed and harsh vocals are technically very good, the majority of the song falls a bit flat… but the “suddenly I stand on hallowed ground, and I am waiting for the divine”3 chorus is by far the catchiest thing on the entire album.

Gods of Pangaea successfully does what it sets out to do. It sounds like Megadeth. The songs are good, and occasionally great. There are intensely catchy choruses. It sounds like the band are having fun. It’s an enjoyable listen; I just find it very hard to get excited about something so nakedly backward-looking. The thrash genre conventions in the guitar writing leave me unable to pick any favorite guitar moments, and that’s not a great look for a guitarist’s side project. It’s not rethrash in its most cliched form – there’s more melody and songcraft here than that – but it’s far closer than I’d like.

Rating: Mixed
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Inside Out Music
Websites: insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/charlie.griffiths.guitarist
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025

#25 #2025 #BritishMetal #CharlieGriffiths #GodsOfPangaea #InsideOutMusic #Mar25 #Megadeth #MercyfulFate #ProgressiveMetal #Review #Reviews #ThrashMetal #Tiktaalika

Yer Metal Is Olde: Enslaved – Isa

By Dolphin Whisperer

Not a single band out there really sounds like Enslaved—arguably modern Enslaved records included, many of which have landed mixed in these halls. But one thing is consistent in the Angry Metal Guy message: Enslaved’s peak period produced timeless records that should sit atop the rankings of many a list. For many, myself included, that run extends from 2003’s Below the Lights to 2008’s Vertebrae, each incorporating different progressive and psychedelic ideas into Enslaved’s already idiosyncratic black metal approach.

Isa sits at a crossroads. Under the tutelage of Dennis Reksten, who had teamed up with Enslaved at the ripe age of 50,1 the past few albums received a smattering of spacey synth ambience that allowed Enslaved to explore a new dimension in their craft, culminating in 2003’s Below the Lights. But for Isa Enslaved looked to the electronic and crooning talents of Herbrand Larsen, a young audio engineer who had helped those same albums animate and glisten. The shift in personnel brought with it a shift in drama. Not to say that prior works had lacked that kind of tension, but with lesser Viking swagger,2 Isa rolls in its atmosphere through alien soundscapes and vicious harsh vocal cut-ins, with Grutle Kjellson’s inimitable, phlegmy rasp sitting dead center between twisting guitar lines and Larsen’s background counterpoint. No matter how strange and beautiful, Isa remains rooted in the brooding nature of Enslaved’s wintery, black metal identity.

In a manner that eludes many who play for Enslaved’s crown, Isa boasts a brilliant and otherworldly sense of guitar tone that provides and slice and crunch to heroic compositions. Bolstered frequencies lift the snarl of creeping tremolo runs with the weight of Kjellson’s crackling howls into reckoning rolls of Heimdall-weighed power (“Lunar Force,” “Violet Drawing”). Harmonic, heavy-handed, trv metal chords crash down with a classic, grooving beat to swirl a patterned Norse fury among pained wails and into resplendent, progressive modulations (“Bounded by Allegiance,” “Return to Yggdrasil”). Still Enslaved finds a firm footing in black metal, forging Bathory-infused riffage with anthemic tension and classic head-stacked energy to break up any lull in mood that Isa’s narrative lilts present (“Isa,” “Secrets of the Flesh”). And when fresh-at-the-time axe-slinger Ice Dale (Audrey Horne) slips loose with treble-knockin’, tricky blues solos (“Bounded…,” “Neogenesis”), his free and flamboyant style oozes with charisma.

Isa’s breakout and break-though progressive escapades give it the full life force for which Enslaved had been aiming with their earlier experimentations. Though never quite as out there as Norwegian neighbors Borknagar or Arcturus, Enslaved sense of cinema expanded through Isa via bookend atmospherics (“Intro,” “Outro”) and similarly-toned chord reprisals that reinforce the empyrean vibrations throughout every track. The gentle piano punctuation on “Lunar Force” gives shimmering, moonlight assist to the already gothic allure of its foremost stride. You can feel the arena swing that the now legendary, leaned-back Dale supplies to “Isa” and “Bounded by Allegiance” part in reverence to chorus breakaways, harmonized chants, and fluttering acoustics, only to return with additional amplified impact—crushing and unified attack. Isa lives on the edge of crescendo, with its first potential peak (“Bounded…”) ending in a hard stop before yet another catastrophic riff climb, which allows its twelve-minute epic “Neogenesis” the proper environment to build, to soar, to entrance with the majesty that it should. While no strangers to epic narrative, Enslaved used Isa to cement their legacy as masters.

If you ask a dozen Enslaved fans who find their aughts work to be their pinnacle, you may not always hear Isa come out as the dominant choice and for good reason. Much of the songwriting flex that Isa showcases presents in different fashions on many of this celebrated band’s works in that time frame. Whether the stronger gallop of Below the Lights, the heavier-handed psychedelia of Monumension or Ruun, or the near pure progressive romp of Vertebrae, Enslaved has many faces that they’ve worn well and better than other bands. But Isa stands alone for me as the balance of collective visions in the form of a well-armored black metal warrior—an album worthy of adoration from diverse angles of metallic enjoyment.

#2004 #2024 #BlackMetal #Enslaved #Isa #NorwegianMetal #ProgressiveBlackMetal #ProgressiveMetal #TabuRecordings #VikingMetal #YerMetalIsOlde

Dissocia – To Lift the Veil Review

By Carcharodon

Dissocia is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Daniel R Flys (of Persefone and Eternal Storm) and drummer Gabriel Valcázar (Wormed and Cancer). On their debut, To Lift the Veil, the duo set themselves a challenge: blend extreme metal with synthwave and dreamwave elements to create a catchy, yet unpredictable, blend of genres that come together into a progressive package. Were these two complete unknowns presenting that vision, one would rightly expect a horrifically unlistenable car crash. However, given Flys and Valcázar’s pedigree with their other outfits, I had somewhat higher hopes (albeit with expectations carefully managed) for Dissocia. I’m not entirely sure what dreamwave is, and synthwave is not my go-to, although it has its place1 but, mixed with extreme metal, I envisaged some sort of off-the-wall Devin Townsend craziness happening.

Straight out of the gate, the dancing arpeggio-like guitar line and swelling synths that open “Existentialist” make clear that To Lift the Veil is going to be a wild ride. And so it proves. Across a chaotic 41 minutes and change, Dissocia lurch between progressive melodeath, something that approaches deathcore in a few places (“He Who Dwells”), symphonic synth movements, dreamy Unreqvited-esque sequences and more, the whole often set to weirdly discordant, pulsing rhythms that border on industrial groove. All in all, the album’s structures have the same levels of predictability as the movements of a severely inebriated person crossing an ice rink. This need not necessarily be viewed as a bad thing though. Flys is both a talented guitarist and a versatile vocalist, his harsh vox often recalling Gojira’s Joe Duplantier (“Existentialist”), while his surprisingly delicate cleans, which occasionally wander into Caligula’s Horse territory (“Evasion”), offer a much-needed extra dimension. Similarly, Valcázar’s work on drums is stellar and the sheer unpredictability of this record is part of its charm.

The challenge for Dissocia is to somehow tie the numerous threads of To Lift the Veil into a cohesive tapestry, rather than a ball of yarn. At its strongest, they manage this well. There’s a rabid groove to “Samsara” that it’s almost impossible not to enjoy, while the slow build synth opening to “Zenosyne” gradually unfolds itself, the tension building, before the Flys’ guitar lets loose progressive death riffs and Valcázar unleashes overlapping broadsides behind the kit. This flows well into “The Lucifer Effect,” which similarly shifts between soaring moments of chaos and more reflective passages. While the turn-on-a-dime nature of the craziness does in some ways recall Devin Townsend, it’s not until the heavily distorted screams at the midway point of closer “Out of Slumber” that Hevy Devy really shows through in the vocals.

Not everything on To Lift the Veil works though and, at times, it feels like Dissocia are losing their grasp on the myriad elements of the record. “He Who Dwells” is the most obvious example of this, as the progressive extreme elements, which often mirror opener “Existentialist,” stray into deathcore territory, particularly in Valcázar’s drumming. This simply doesn’t gel with the rest of To Lift the Veil. Equally, the drifting moods of “Evasion” seem rather aimless at times, while Flys’ vocals rather get away from him on closer “Out of Slumber,” which by its end feels like someone desperately trying to claw themselves out of slumber and into wakefulness. The production, also handled by Flys, doesn’t always help, with the drums sometimes seeming to disappear down a hole (middle of “He Who Dwells”) before roaring back to the front of the stage, and the whole thing feeling loud and slightly flat, despite the DR6.

You have to admire the vision and ambition on show on To Lift the Veil, which in other hands would likely have been a hot mess. Far from easing themselves into things on their debut, Dissocia have thrown everything at this record and some of it’s really good (“Samsara” and “Zenosyne”). The stunning artwork by Rein Van Oyen (Haken) gives a sense of the surreal, expansive journey you can expect, but perhaps not the chaotic nature of the ride. I hope Dissocia have a second album in them because, with just a little more refinement and focus to iron out some of the inconsistencies, as well as improve the production a little, there is a helluva lot of very interesting potential here.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Willowtip Records
Websites: dissociaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/to-lift-the-veil | facebook.com/dissociaofficial
Releases Worldwide: March 21st, 2025

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Aversed – Erasure of Color Review

By Dolphin Whisperer

Melodeath is an old, reliable friend for many a metalhead. Ever since the In Flames and Arch Enemies of the World took an anthemic and accessible version of the Gothenburg sound to the masses throughout the ’90s and ’00s, countless acts and other regional sounds have emerged from rollicking riff and less-than-deathly vocal inclusions. But combined with the right personal flair—a modern melding of blackened, jazzned, and altned influences much like contemporary wildcards Dawn of Ouroboros or Vintersea—melodic extreme metal forms have a growing presence in the hands of those who came of age with this musical history as their guide. Imitation breeds iteration, and, combined with adoration, the heart hopes to find a path alongside its infatuations, not just in shadow. Aversed walks the walk and Erasure of Color talks the talk.

As yet another product of a Berklee pedigree, in part, the Massachusetts-hailing Aversed displays a technical polish across their languished and rifftacular displays that saturates Erasure of Color far beyond mere hero worship. Rather than use these exemplary qualifications to noodle and sweep songs to oblivion, guitarist and primary songwriter Sungwoo Jeong runs with his talents through a gamut of heavy metal influences, from the Jeff Loomis-indebted (Nevermore, ex-Arch Enemy) squeals and scale runs (“Lucid Decapitation,” “Burn”) to a classic heavy metal strum and wail (“Departures”) that shade the languid messages sewn through Erasure. Of course, Jeong can shred and does so in flashes of neoclassical brilliance once cutthroat chords and rattling bass runs build tension enough to will an electric clearing (“Cross to Bear” and “Departure” having the wildest solos). Compared to the full-length debut, 2021’s Impermanent, the structures here are tighter, darker, and loaded with an expedited drama.

Emotion comes first, whether at Jeong’s nimble articulations or new vocalist Sarah Hartman’s vast array of screeching, tearing, and slithering harsh and clean vocal techniques. And through languishing cry, soulful croon, and whammy-kissed solo, Aversed builds a world through Erasure that’s as detailed as it is immediate. Churning riffs pave the way for Hartman to unleash laryngeal assaults of growing intensity, equally likely to find feral shrill (“To Cover Up the Sky,” “Lucid Decapitation”) as they are full-chested clean belting (“Inexorable,” “Departure”). It may seem that Hartman’s ferocious and elegant climbs drive the growth of each of Erasure’s numbers, but Jeong’s blend of Björriff to bright metalcore chase, and thrashy groove to swaying treble dive guitar action, carries just as much the energetic arc. Covered in echoing arpeggios (“Lucid Decapitation”), scorching bends (“Burn,” “Erasure of Color”), and unstoppable charges (“To Cover…”) Erasure wears a guitar identity that’s toothsome and exhilarating.

However, as strong as the pull of Aversed’s fervent rhythms and dreamlike melodies are on the best cuts from Erasure, its back half finds a more tepid momentum. It’s hard to say where a song like “Solitary” belongs on an album like this as its ballad-like nature neither swells with grandiosity of similar closer “Departures” nor slams, at its conclusion, with the level of thuggishness of the preceding “Burn.” And with the burst of speed that the title track injects after “Solitary” and before the acoustic interlude “Yearning,” the inherent tempo jostle that succeeds within many tracks feels bumpy at the macro level—really, Aversed has an exacting feel for acceleration and easing within the confines of each individual piece. Erasure doesn’t have a higher-level concept to spin, though, so any dip in quality or overall flow—even if no song is ever bad—is to its slight detriment.

Alas, it’s easy to love the best of what Aversed has to offer with Erasure of Color, its clanging rhythms and finessed guitar weeping sticking readily to memory with its most careful hooks. Finding contemporary touchstones adjacent to the blackened melodic tech of Australia’s Freedom of Fear, the hypnotic whammy abuse of the frenetic Fallujah, and accessible progressive aim of Vintersea, Aversed emboldens the forward-thinking melodeath scene to make an effort to be more riff-driven, more hook-wielding, and more vocally distinct. Erasure of Color does everything but paint Aversed as a one-trick pony. And in time, I’m certain1 that Aversed, in their impassioned and empathetic lashings, will find even more weaponized and wide-reaching aggression.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: M-Theory Audio | Bandcamp
Websites: aversed.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/aversedmetal
Releases Worldwide: March 21st, 2025

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Kerberos – Apostle to the Malevolent Review

By Saunders

Symphonic death is a tricky subgenre to nail. While there are skilled exponents, bands peddling the dramatic style tread a fine line in balancing the ornate orchestral elements and heavy-hitting metal, without diminishing one or the other of the fused components. Such as the symphonic elements feeling tacked on or the metal edge blunted. Overall, it’s a mixed formula for yours truly, though I am certainly not opposed to the style when executed well (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Zornheym, Septicflesh, Dreamgrave). Hailing from Switzerland and sporting a bombastic, prog-infected symphonic death sound, unheralded act Kerberos aim to make their mark on the scene with their second album, Apostle to the Malevolent. Not one to do the style in half measures, Apostle to the Malevolent jams a multitude of orchestral elements and symphonic flair to otherwise traditional metal instrumentation, creating a colorful sound that on surface levels ticks all the boxes for a good time for enthusiasts of the style. Kerberos manage to cram all their sophisticated ideas, choirs and orchestra into a lean runtime, clocking in a shade under the half-hour mark. But can Kerberos back up the bombast and efficiency with gripping songwriting?

The first couple of the five tracks comprising Apostle to the Malevolent will likely weed out the non-believers. Opening instrumental “Praeludium in H Moli” plays into the band’s flair for orchestral dramatics with mixed results, setting the scene for first proper track, “Near-Violence Experience.” Apostle to the Malevolent credits a Kerberos choir and orchestra in addition to the core foursome. The elaborate nature of the band’s vision is reflected in the song’s crunchy riffs, busy arrangement, densely layered instrumentation, and dueling male-female vox; ranging from operatic female contributions and a strange mix of deep male clean singing and harsher growls. It’s an ambitious tune, if a little scattershot. The impressive musicianship, countered by the overstuffed and convoluted nature of the arrangement, prevents it fully lifting off.

Vocally, the male cleans come across as melodramatic and more than a little cheesy. However, Ai-lan Metzger’s stirring vocals and accompanying choirs lend the album a vibrant voice to match the swelling orchestral touches. When traded off with the harsher variations, the impact is more forceful. On the other hand, Félicien Burkard (who also handles guitars and fretless bass) clean vox are an unwelcome distraction. Kerberos lean further into the goth-tinged symphonic dramatics on “Alpine Sea,” another example of the band’s solid skills and exuberant talents, marred by a longer than needed runtime and questionable vocal transitions. The most successful example of Kerberos’ talents resides in mid-album cut “Liar Within.” it doesn’t greatly deviate from the rest of the album. However, the ingredients flow with greater fluency, while the increased aggression, speed and thrashy urges lend some extra punch to the soaring vocal hooks and lush symphonics.

Song length remains a recurring issue. As previously stated, the album is short and sweet, though several individual tracks struggle to maintain interest across their heftier lengths (including nine-minute closer “Apostle to the Malevolent”). On the plus side, some tasty material is scattered throughout, flashing the potential for Kerberos to deliver something more substantial and fully formed down the track. Importantly for any symphonic metal project, the orchestral elements don’t sound like tacked on afterthoughts, bolstered by a bright, dynamic production. However, occasionally the instruments seem to fight and jostle for space, creating a clunkier feel to certain sections, leading to some overkill and awkward results. This may present a case for Kerberos and their additional friends to refine and declutter their sound to more potent effect. The mixed bag vocals also require some work, the attempts at deeper growls and Burkard’s questionable cleans could use some tuning up.

Symphonic metal can go either way for me, and I am often especially selective with what floats my boat. Kerberos deliver an intriguing LP, featuring enough positives to find a solid audience on board with their particular brand of grandiosity and gothy-drama. Unfortunately, Apostle to the Malevolent is a messy affair, which feels unnecessarily bloated and convoluted despite its scant length. When they hone their songwriting focus into more aggressive, urgent realms and let the riffs do the heavy lifting, the band’s potential shines brightly. There remains some solid material and classy elements, with ample room for growth and refinement for Kerberos to match their ambitious vision with tighter songwriting chops.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 14th, 2025

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