Author Archives: Old Disgruntled Bastard

Argus – From Fields of Fire (2017)

Posted on May 26, 2019

They say swans are some of the only creatures to choose a lifelong partner and that when one among them dies, the other doesn’t live long after. How does either member of a couple that has grown old together cope … Continue reading →

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A Sinister trek through the last fifteen years

Posted on May 25, 2019

One of the most rhythmically expressive of all death metal bands, Sinister‘s career trajectory is widely assumed to have flatlined after classics like Cross the Styx, Diabolical Summoning, and Hate in the 90s. Frequent line-up changes, to the extent that … Continue reading →

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Distant calling and the musical soul

Posted on May 22, 2019

A feeling, more a sense of awe-struck bewilderment, that I have never been able to shake off while listening to some of my favorite metal is just how can such an abrasive form of music be at times so innocent … Continue reading →

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Am I evil? Are you good?

Posted on April 18, 2019

Someone somewhere said to his flock in perfectly self-serious tones that bad folks aren’t taking a break from making the world a worse place, therefore neither should they, implication naturally being that they and only they are good and on … Continue reading →

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Consume The Forsaken, a tour de force of brutality

Posted on April 17, 2019

Having talked about brutal death metal in less than glowing terms previously, I am now about to plump for what is widely considered as the quintessential brutal death metal band. Disgorge from California pushed the Suffocation template to its extreme, … Continue reading →

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

Posted on March 28, 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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