Death Metal – Alive and Kicking in 2013

With new albums from some of Death Metals finest, it’s hard to believe death metal ever died. Let’s begin with Chris Reifert’s horror themed Autopsy and their new album The Headless Ritual. It is incredible that Chris pulls double duty drumming and vocals, especially with such a fast paced band. The album has some great riffs throughout, but what makes this album stand out for me is the fact that they go from break neck speeds to full on doom metal. An example of how they do this is in the album opener “Slaughter at Beast House”. About half way through the song it slows down to an almost sludge pace and some incredible doom vocals follow, only to pick up speed again towards the end. With song titles like; “Coffin Crawlers” and “When Hammer Meets Bone” you know they mean business. I was not too familiar with the band prior to this album, but once I started to look them up, I was excited to find out Chris was the drummer for Death’s Scream Bloody Gore album and you can tell he brought his Death influences with him when he left the band. The album is great and I would suggest it to any death or doom metal fan.

Another great death metal released this year was Immolation’s Kingdom of Conspiracy. The album is straight up 10 songs of unrelenting, unforgiving death metal. The album itself is a political album which singer/bass player Ross Dolan is quoted from a Metal Blade interview stating the theme is “ about real conspiracies, it’s about people conspiring every day to do very bad things, evil things in the name of greed and self-preservation”  Finer, Sam (14 May 2013). "Immolation (Ross Dolan) Interview". Metal Blast. Retrieved 2 June 2013.

Now to move onto one of my personal favorite death metal albums of 2013; Suffocation’s Pinnacle of Bedlam. No matter how many times you listen to this album, you cannot escape the raw energy and intensity. I like how the guitar sound varies throughout and even how the beginning of “Sullen Day” starts off a bit slower, and then kicks in. Frank Mullen’s vocals are just brutal and Terrance Hobbs just nails the guitar parts. The version I bought came with a short making of DVD which showed the album making process and what went into getting this album to where it needed to be. It was a great addition to an already great album. As brutal as this album is, the slow breakdowns add character to the songs that just top off the album. Get this album; it will defiantly be worth it.

 

 

Finntroll Bring A Whole New Meaning To Horns Up With New Album Blodsvept

Finntroll’s new album Blodsvept is a cross between metal and evil circus music. They combine classic death metal vocals with instruments that range from the traditional guitar, bass and drums to a horn section and whistles, keyboards. The band itself is from Finland, but all the lyrics are sung in Swedish, which does not at all take away from the album. It adds to the mysticism of the songs, which on this album range from evil troll beast to witches. The title track which in English translates to “Shrouded in Blood” opens with an evil beast growling, and then the song kicks into action. Vreth, the vocalist, reminds me a lot of the singer from Rammstein, I don’t know if that’s because I don’t understand a word they sing or their approach is similar, but regardless it works. Songs like “Rosetts Kung (King of the Cairn)” and “Hyxbrygd (Witch’s Brew)” are just two examples of standout tracks on this album. When “Rosetts Kung” starts you’re not sure if you want to dance or mosh and “Hyxbrygd” has a video that just exemplifies how out there and crazy this band is. The album as a whole is great and I would highly suggest it. They will be touring in the US and Canada in November and December, so hopefully I can experience the live version of many of these songs.