As summer is reduced to a memory, the last of hot sunny days have left us with another selection of equally hot releases
Megascavanger – Songs in the Key of Madness
At this point Rogga Johannson probably needs his own subgenre within Swedish metal. He’d be completely deserving of that as his output is never less than well put together and on point, but this new rager from his Megascavenger project stands as one of his best to date. Full of grotesquely catchy, grease-thick swedish-style riffage from beginning to end and with a huge sound, this is easily his best drop in 2020 so far.
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Humavoid – Lidless
Finnish odd-time headbangers Humavoid dropped a strikingly expressive djent fest with their latest release. For an album that displays amazing technicality and complexity, “Lidless” doesn’t fall flat on hooks or grooves either. Both challenging and engaging at once, this album is a spectacle of ebb and flow between tension and relief, clarity and dissonance. Ongoing fast tempos, swift changes in pace and moments of dissonance amplified by various forms of yelling and screaming evoke an infectious yet very unusual energy. Topped up by a superb keytar sound and rich jazz influences, “Lidless” becomes one of the most surprising and refreshing progressive metal releases of the year.
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Töxik Death – Sepulchral Demons
When I was reviewing this one 2 months ago, I wrote “Sepulchral Demons is a very interesting piece of Norwegian thrash metal that marks a big step forward in Töxik Death’s career. It consists of creatively written and impressively performed songs, but due to the production, they are hard to get into. One needs many spins to fully embrace this record, but it’s worth it. It’s not free of disadvantages, some parts could be in my opinion written better, but it’s really satisfying and can be addictive.” Now you can wonder, why did I decide to put an album that I rate this way as my album of the month? It’s not only because there weren’t many releases in August that I was interested in, but also because this is one of the records that I enjoy way more than I rate them. Sepulchral Demons despite having some disadvantages, carries a lot of pure, ugly black thrash fun that I won’t forget in a long time.
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Self Hypnosis – Contagion of Despair
A new project formed around the duo of Kris Clayton (Camel of Doom, Esoteric) and Greg Chandler (Esoteric, Lychgate) with Tom Vallely (Acherontas, ex-Lychgate) on drums, Self Hypnosis play a warping, crushing version of industrial doom with heady progressive tangents thrown in. Grinding through odes to Godflesh and Meshuggah, the gargantuan songs on this debut album should bodily smoosh all listeners while also freeing their minds. Let your inner eye open and your thoughts roam.
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Pain of Salvation – Panther
Pain of Salvation are a band known for releasing music that pushes boundaries, and their 11th studio album Panther is no exception. Heavily influenced by electronica, Panther is probably their most daring sonic experiment to date, falling into an uncharted territory at the border between metal, electronic music and alternative rock. The album will no doubt divide fans, yet Pain of Salvation deserve praise for managing to write music that bends genres and defies expectations, while at the same time maintaining their own unmistakable voice. Brimming with fresh musical ideas and beautiful dark melodies, Panther is one of the most creative and exciting albums that I have listened in 2020 so far.
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Black Crown Initiate – Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape
After a considerable gap since the last effort, and a challenging time in the band, prog-death unit Black Crown Initiate returns with a monster of a record in “Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape”. The album is a mature and refined offering for such an intense genre, making clever use of clean vocals and clean guitar passage among the maelstrom of death metal ferocity. And ferocity might even be an understatement. It’s the balance of aggression and expression that allows for this record to be a lot more creatively colorful than most technical records released this year, further offering a strong sense of structure over the hectic chaos that often blames technical music. For those who like their heavy sounds extreme, this record is a must.
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Veonity – Sorrows
After three albums among the stars, the Swedish power metallers come down to earth with Sorrows, an initially disappointing effort due to the mournful imagery and overall melancholy tone. But after just one full listen, the genius of this record is made clear. Admittedly, it helps if you’ve been through relationship struggles because you’ll find every variation of mood on this LP to be super relatable. Otherwise, you’re in for a joyous European power metal romp with a little more grit than we’re used to hearing from Veonity. There’s the surprisingly heavy likes of “Acceptance” mixed in with the shameless Sabaton tribute “War” and the frankly stunning “Where Our Memories Used To Grow” which must be one of my favourite songs of 2020. Thank you, Veonity, for making me care about melodic power metal again this year.
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Flesh Megalith
August was a very solid month for death metal, with new releases from Necrot, Incantation, Siege Column, and Terminal Nation. While all of those albums are very good and could also easily serve as album of the month, it’s Australia’s Flesh Megalith that struck me the most. Solo project of the same guy responsible for Burier, Flesh Megalith’s self-titled debut is a violent collision of bare-bones cavernous death metal with gut-wrenching, crushing doom. These are crude, sparse songs with a pitch black atmosphere. Highly recommended for fans of caveman filth.
