Unearthly Rites are a new kid on the block in Finnish death metal, with only an EP to their name prior to the release of debut full-length, Ecdysis.1 Formed by scene vets with time spent in Sink, Hexhammer, and Fuck-Ushima, they bring plenty of experience to the party. What Unearthly Rites offer is a ghastly amalgamation of raw old school death, grind, and crust, curated and designed to cave in your face with the resulting unnatural sound profile. This is nasty, fetid reptile shit that sticks to your ribs and cakes your lungs with toxic fumunda cheese. It also features the most inhuman death v ..read more

Something you might not know about me is that I struggle with anger issues. While that’s perfect for my career with Angry Metal Guy for all kinds of reasons, it quickly becomes problematic in meatspace when a majority of my negative emotions—and even a few positive ones—express themselves as anger instead. Therapy helped me build new bridges to a healthier state of emotional regulation, but that well-worn beeline to rage still gets the better of me some days. On those days, it’s good to have something tangible on hand that I can use to funnel my dysregulated brain into. Enter Swedish death/cru ..read more

How I’ve never known about France’s ACOD is beyond me, and I heartily apologize to them because I’ve been having a hella good time with many of their releases. Beginning their career as a black/thrash outfit with metalcore tendencies, they began to explore Mephorash-meets-Septicflesh territories around the time of their 2018 release, The Divine Triumph. While there are thrashy moments, the songwriting is now predominantly massive string atmospheres, marching drumbeats, cranked-up bass work, and riff after motherfucking riff. Each song is a rollercoaster ride, continuously rising and falling th ..read more

Little explanation is required for why I chose Beneath the Blazing Abyss for review. From artwork and title alone I was promised a fiery, hellish heavy metal experience, while Baron’s one sheet informed me this would be of the doom/death variety. I even initially thought that the art depicted an interpretation of the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. However, closer inspection reveals a decapitated head offered to demonic spirits; altogether too X-rated for the famously conservative Christian Tolkien. While these Finns have released a smattering of EPs and demos previously, this album offers their debut f ..read more

It’s been almost exactly five years since Inter Arma’s last full-length, not counting their album of cover songs, Garbers Days Revisited. Not that the vicious take on Neil Young’s “Southern Man” wasn’t a welcome addition to their catalogue, but after the gut-churning aural ruination that was 2019’s Sulfur English, you could hardly blame fans for hoping the band would follow it up in short order. A global pandemic and personnel turmoil intervened, so here we are in 2024 just getting our ears around the band’s fifth LP, New Heaven. It seems Inter Arma used that time to do the most Inter Arma thi ..read more

The men of Glen are back! Long-running Barons of Floridian death metal, Deicide return for their lucky number 13 full-length. With a legacy of brutality running back to 1990, Deicide and controversial founder Glen Benton were instrumental in defining the sound of American death metal. Albums like Legion and The Stench of Redemption loom large in the Pantheon of Death, and though they’ve had a spotty track record over the years, a new Deicide platter will always earn attention from yours Steely. 2018’s Overtures of Blasphemy was a surprisingly vicious album and a significant step up from the re ..read more

If you don’t know ACxDC, then what are you doing with your life? Like listening to actually good metal? Too bad for your sorry ass. The LA natives are back in black for their own highway to hell, and it’s too good to be true. For the woefully uninformed and uncultured, don’t even think alternate or direct current and Brian Johnson, you swine. It’s Antichrist Demoncore, and the peanut butter cup moniker of divine apathy is so sweet and gummy. ACxDC’s EP The Second Coming was introduced when I first got to college, and if I’d had my way, debut full-length Antichrist Demoncore would have been bla ..read more

Ah yes, February. Wait, what? It’s almost MAY!!! Who approved this two-months-late bullshit? Oh… right, that would be me. Shit. Well, you know, sometimes life gets in the fucking way, you know? It’s been rough days, and I know I’m not the only one struggling. With 2024 on such a rocky start, it should come as no surprise that we grasp desperately for media to help us escape and find solace in the art of others. Unfortunately for my Filter minions, they don’t get to escape from the mire and muck of the neglected filtration system from which we find what could be generously described as “art ..read more

Have you ever wondered what modern melodic death metal might sound like if these up-and-coming bands would take a moment to find a sound that isn’t pure pastiche? Now, I know that might seem critical—and it is. But with so many bands out there that are variations on At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and whatever other big name you can think of, pure worship of these bands, who wield extended discographies and active tour schedules, just isn’t enough. That kind of retread with a tinge of mix-up can be good, of course. Just look at our latest rodeö for the proudly olde-reaching Veriter ..read more

When I happened across one of the singles for Adon, I recall thinking it sounded, quote, “impossibly good.” Adon formed in 2019 and has thus far released one EP, Arkane, in 2020. They currently maintain a humble online presence; unsurprising for a relatively new band, but from what I’d heard I couldn’t help but believe they deserved better. When I got the chance to review their self-titled debut I felt excited at the prospect of potentially helping their following grow… but that depends on the music, doesn’t it? And so I dug in, hoping the potential I saw in their pre-release material would b ..read more