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Ablaze My Sorrow – Among Ashes & Monoliths
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Naitaka – Naitaka
Despite debuting this month, Canadian 4 piece Naitaka have started killing it straight off the bat with straight fire out the gates on their first release. The Naitaka EP takes punky thrash and raw NWOBHM styled sounds and fuses them into furiously melodic ragers, with the icing on the cake being a characteristically enraged vocal pummelling from Cara McCutchen of Mortillery. One to watch going forward.
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Forhist – Forhist
Vindsval has stricken once again with another project outside the realm of Blut Aus Nord after 2019’s fantastic Yerûšelem record. Forhist (named after the Blut Aus Nord track of the same title) is nothing sort of an infectious ear worm of a record. Despite being born purely out of the traditional black metal movement of the early to mid 90s the album does not sound as a regurgitation of past ideas, in fact Vindsval conjures some of the most haunting riffs he has ever recorded, especially in the first three tracks and most importantly in the mind bending album closer. It is a great feat to be able to release a traditional black metal album of that scope in 2021 but what is an even greater feat for Vindsval is being able to capture the same passion and dedication 26 years into his career, reminiscing the rabid feeling of Ultima Thulee and The Eye’s Supremacy. This is one of the highlights of the year already for me and I certainly hope that this project has more albums down the pipeline.
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Epica – Omega
Dutch symphonic metal legends Epica have returned with their long awaited 8th full-length album Omega. Easily living up to the hype, this 70 minute monster brings out everything that makes Epica one of the greatest symphonic metal acts out there. There’s a great balance between formulaic song-writing and unexpected intricacies, duality between Simone Simons’ operatic voice and Mark Jansen’s brutal grunts and the majestic joining of lush orchestration with beefy high tempo metal riffage. But apart from the well-known elements that comprise the iconic sound of Epica, Omega has a few unexpected tricks in store, namely guest appearances from Zaher Zorgati (Myrath) and Vicky Psarakis (The Agonist). The album also shows a more organic guitar and drum texture and a slightly higher affinity for folk elements as well as some striking hints of death/black metal riffs and drum work in the epic journey “Kingdom of Heaven Part 3 – The Antediluvian Universe”. This album is a must-hear for any true symphonic metal fan!
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Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist
Just a few days back, these British metalcore giants dropped their 9th full length in For Those Who Wish to Exist (ain’t that a fancy title?). It’s been a long time coming, and this bunch of rather talented individuals have a pretty solid recipe that hardly ever fails to catch your ear. It’s metalcore, so it’s hooks, breakdowns and blerghs all the way. Architects are masters of infectious grooves, heavy riffing and ever-growing levels of energy and adrenaline. The new record may not be the heaviest and the band pushes further their use of clean vocals and contrasts that so vividly characterized 2018’s “Holy Hell”. I can nitpick about the poppy influences, but for the most part, the Brits really have everything together. This album is just banger after banger after banger… after banger. And lyrically, of course it’s not short of Biblical and climate change references either. But what just might be the highest asset is the band’s skill in delivering intense emotion, that, to me at least, feels generally more believable than that of the metalcore average.
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Evergrey – Escape Of The Phoenix
I’m a relative newcomer to the Evergrey fandom, having only followed them since 2014 so there’s a little bit of shall we call it newbie bias. I loved the sound of Hymns for the Broken and the albums that followed it, but I never expected this. For me Evergrey finally delivers on being a grand mix of darkly emotional progressive metal with flairs of power metal. It always seems to me like Evergrey is just a little short on the faster songs, instead relying on mid tempo romps; which is fine, but I’ve always been waiting for Evergrey to really blow me away and this album finally did. Most importantly they finally figured out how to end an album properly! Run is easily the best final song on any of their albums. Escape of the Phoenix is a grand mix of all the styles they’ve spent their career delving into and finally an album that I think delivers from start to finish with nary a bump in between. It’s not a perfect album, but it’s definitely become my favorite Evergrey album.
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Suffering Hour – The Cyclic Reckoning
Every once in a while, an album comes along that is very difficult to accurately describe. Minnesota-based Suffering Hour’s sophomore album, The Cyclic Reckoning, is one such album. It’s psychedelic, slightly proggy, atmospheric, melodic, and hypnotic all at the same time. It’s also an incredibly abrasive take on blackened death metal, with one of the most unique and unsettling guitar tones I’ve ever heard. But the brilliance of The Cyclic Reckoning isn’t just how weird it is; it’s how the album can be all of these things and also still be very catchy and immersive. Comparisons can be made to Deathspell Omega, Oranssi Pazuzu, Ulcerate, and The Chasm, and while those are all accurate to some extent, Suffering Hour are brilliant songwriters in their own right. Black/death albums like this don’t come around very often and The Cyclic Reckoning is already a strong contender for my album of the year.
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Magic Opera – The Golden Pentacle
If I had reviewed this album after my first listen, it probably would’ve gotten a 7/10. But…damn! There’s some kind of super-addictive component to Marco Garau’s new symphonic power metal project that’s akin to cocaine. It brings me right back to the early 2000s and the original halcyon days of the European power metal explosion. It takes me away to a fantasy world, ably penned by Garau himself, with an absorbing original narrative about wizards and swords and magic ‘n’ shit. When the music is this rooted in neo-classical traditions, the fusion of it with the cheesy fantasy theme is a perfect combination. The musicianship is flashy and virtuosic, the artwork is excellent, and it just burrows right into your brain like a brain-burrowing thing. Currently my favourite album of 2021.
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Carcolh – The Life And Works Of Death
A morose affair languishing in the gloom radiating from its stone-cold heart The Life and Works of Death casts the grimmest of shadows over the living. With its spectral clutches dragging even the most jovial of denizens down through miles of barren soil, Carcolh’s sophomore record spares no one as it hammers down each nail into their coffins with masterful tenacity. Their melancholic cacophonies resonate throughout the land with timeless riffs, harking back to a time when death stalked the city streets, feared yet revered by all. Carcolh command this same level of reverence on odes like harrowing opener ‘From Dark Ages They Came’ and the monumental monolith ‘The Blind Goddess’; even when the heaviness is stripped back on ‘Aftermath’ the pernicious atmosphere can be cut with a blade. A powerful harbinger of doom if ever there was one, this is a record not to idly slip through the cracks, for it must claim you for its own.
