Spooktober culminates with another set of incredible releases
Benediction – Scriptures
Both the return of the band after a long hiatus, and the return of their main vocalist throughout their run, the masterful Dave Ingram, Scriptures doesn’t just restate Benediction’s relevance as an old school death metal act, it basically carpetbombs the entire scene. This is easily one of the most exciting, unexpected and not to mention, irresistably headbangable records to drop this year. Don’t sleep on this record. Get it yesterday.
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Scardust – Strangers
If you’re looking into ever-evolving progressive metal acts, hardly anything compares to Scardust. Blending classic and modern progressive metal styles with symphonic influences, bombastic, dramatic choirs and orchestrations and one of the most powerful and versatile voices in metal, this band delivers a sound that is unique, theatrical and dynamic unlike anything I’ve come across. The latest album “Strangers” comes with a clever concept that really fits our current global situation and also allows for many different compositional and emotional traits to emerge. Adventurous, impactful, virtuous and engaging, “Strangers” will take the progressive metal world by storm. One of the strongest, if not the strongest candidate for album of the year. 2020 is not so bad after all!
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Necrophobic – Dawn of the Damned
Necrophobic is one of those rare bands with a signature sound that still hasn’t gone stale despite remaining mostly unchanged since the early 90s. Their latest, Dawn of the Damned, is an excellent showcase of what makes the band so good. Throughout the album, the band straddles the line between old-school Swedish death metal and melodic black metal as gracefully as ever. The songs have a dark, sinister quality that outclasses the work of countless competitors. An elegant grandiosity permeates the band’s extremity as they weave strong melodies and a true sense of epic growth and progression into these ten malevolent songs (and yes, that includes the atmospheric album opener).
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Skeleton Pit – Lust to Lynch
With only their second album, the German trio (yes, you read that right – trio!) encapsulate the direction I want the new wave of thrash metal to go. Yes, the artwork is delightfully cheesy. Yes, the attitude is one which goes for the jugular. Yes, there is enough palm-muted chugging to fill up the grand canyon. But, by god, do these guys know how to groove! Littered throughout the high-speed thrash maelstrom are massive breaks where SP’s riff-writing credentials prove themselves and then some. Lust To Lynch was exactly the thrash album I needed at just the right point in time. From the batshit vocals of Patrick Options, to the hammering production quality, this is how to thrash 21st-century style.
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Draconian – Under a Godless Veil
Sweden’s Draconian have been in the forefront of gothic doom/death metal for years and their latest album does not disappoint either. Building on their very solid foundation of atmosphere and heavy guitars, they are introducing some gothic rock and on one song even post metal influences, but do so in a very evolutionary way instead of just jarringly add new elements to their sound. Another of the band’s strengths is the interplay between soprano Heike Langhans and growler Anders Jacobsson, who still has one of the strongest intelligible growls of metaldom, who together manage to add to the intensity and versatility of the album. The strongest songs are “Sorrow of Sophia”, “Lustrous Heart” and “Ascend into Darkness”.
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PreHistoric Animals – The Magical Mystery Machine Part One
Progressive metal is a heavily saturated genre and only like half of it is actually good. At first I thought this album would end up being one of those “good, but it’s missing something”, then I got to the last two songs and discovered what it was missing. Let’s Go to Mars and Into Battle (Like My Father) make a nice little duology, and they give the album a wonderfully epic sound it was kind of missing up to that point. Into Battle really closes out the album on a great note and has me coming back for more every time!
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Greg Puciato – Child Soldier: Creator of God
The first full length from the former Dillinger Escape Plan Vocalist is a lot to unpack. With a long run-time, and tracks that can vary in style and feeling, this album is not easily digestible. However, it is one hell of an interesting listen. There’s some dark moments here that invoke ideas of Nine Inch Nails or other industrial or goth acts, and there’s stuff that the math metal fans would still enjoy too. Greg really lets it all out on this debut, giving us all a challenging yet rewarding listen.
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Persefone – Truth Inside The Shades (re-recorded)
Persefone have given us the surprise of the year with the leveled up re-issue of their debut album. As they are now veterans in the arts of progressive metal, the original “Truth Inside The Shades” record was the only one not quite fitting with the band’s style and superb quality standards. It was raw and primal, with a murky sound, and the most akin to classic death metal. The new version offers a clear professional production quality bringing the truth out of the shades if you will, and gives the beast some extra elegance and style, however not compromising the ominous dark feeling of the record. And of course, the music itself offers long, creative progressive journeys with multiple moods and amazing solo sections.
