Author Archives: Old Disgruntled Bastard

Death Metal Battle Royale Round 2: Sinister’s Cross The Styx vs Deicide’s Legion

Posted on March 25, 2019

  This Round 2 battle pitches two albums similarly intense in death metal rhythm guitar playing. Sinister, and Dutch death metal in general, were inspired by genre developments in North america, and perhaps in no small portion by Deicide themselves. … Continue reading →

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Ugra Karma – Mountain Grinders (2015)

Posted on March 20, 2019

Ugra Karma – Mountain Grinders This brief EP from foundational Nepalese death metal band Ugra Karma is so elementary as to seem out of place in the current time. That might read like an inconsistent statement; after all, a good … Continue reading →

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Zealotry – At the Nexus of All Stillborn Worlds (2018)

Posted on March 20, 2019

Zealotry‘s first two albums are fine case studies in modern, technical death metal. The Charnel Expanse combined influences from Demilich and Immolation in groove and chord shape without being as firmly rooted in the concise song format of either band. … Continue reading →

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Abigor – Höllenzwang: Chronicles of Perdition (2018)

Posted on March 11, 2019

On Höllenzwang, Abigor continue to dabble on the fringes of experimental dark metal while also making a conscious effort at including references to traditional black metal aesthetic. The result is an uneasy alliance and an exhausting listen, where mood and … Continue reading →

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Jack London’s Sea Wolf and the Luciferian spirit

Posted on March 6, 2019

Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy; will not drive us hence; Here we may reign secure; and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell: Better to … Continue reading →

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Why *not* take metal seriously?

Posted on March 3, 2019

In Hindu esoteric thought, Avishkara – a word which in regular parlance indicates invention – is used to describe the process through which a spirit, be it deity or another form of ethereal being, takes up residence inside a foreign … Continue reading →

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Thy Feeble Saviour – And Darkness Fell (2018)

Posted on March 2, 2019

Texan death metal represents the most uncompromising face of the genre today. Dark, gritty, and relentlessly confrontational, this is not music for those perpetually seeking new thrills or those satisfied with shapelessness masquerading as innovation. Rather, a band like Thy … Continue reading →

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Undersave – Sadistic Iterations…Tales of Mental Rearrangement (2018)

Posted on February 14, 2019

Undersave play Anxiety Inducing Death Metal. There is no such thing of course, but if a death metal band was to make a feast of transcribing what someone in the middle of a panic attack feels like, then this would … Continue reading →

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Retrospective: Afterlife – Surreality (1992)

Posted on February 12, 2019

Afterlife was yet another in a slew of death metal bands from the American Midwest of the early 90s specializing in an eccentric, DIY aesthetic. In stark contrast with the more renowned and professional sounding music from the coasts, these … Continue reading →

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Mefitis – Widdrim Hymn (2018)

Posted on February 9, 2019

Mefitis – Widdrim Hymn This short EP from black-death band Mefitis reinjects the potency of narrative sorely gone missing from modern black metal, calling to mind the emotionally layered tapestries of such classics as Dissection and Dawn. Where your garden-variety “orthodox” … Continue reading →

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