Top 15
Krypts-Cadaver Circulation
Cadaver Circulation is a murky, oppressively dark and dense death metal album that is totally suffocating in its heaviness. Finndeath riffs collide with doom paces, slowing at times to almost funeral doom levels. Whatever the pace, the songwriting is top notch throughout. Finland has a knack for producing putrid death with shades of doom, and Krypts is the latest iteration of that. This is my favorite death metal album of the year and it comes from a band that has been nothing but consistent to this point.
Witch Vomit-Buried Deep in a Bottomless Grave
This is one of the cornerstone releases for 20 Buck Spin in 2019 and a large part of the reason why many death metal fans hyped the label so much this year. It’s totally filthy, as is expected for death metal from the Pacific Northwest these days. There are shades of all kinds of classic death metal here-the sewer atmosphere of Undergang, the raw intensity of vintage Autopsy, and some early Swedeath influences too. It’s all blended seamlessly in a total old school death metal package that should not be missed.
Nucleus-Entity
Here’s one from my neck of the woods. Chicago’s Nucleus plays a blend of weird Timeghoul/Demilich death metal mixed with classic Morbid Angel. It’s spacy and tonally abrasive in the best way. If you’re into the odd side of old school death metal that just sounds like it was written by aliens, Entity is for you and forms a nice companion piece with the new Blood Incantation, to which it was compared by many. And while that comparison is largely apt, I found this a more jarring and difficult listen but also ultimately a more rewarding one.
Blood Incantation-Hidden History of the Human Race
Blood Incantation’s second album, Hidden History of the Human Race, arrived with a massive amount of hype. So much so, in fact, that I feared it would be a disappointment. Hidden History of the Human Race is far from a disappointment however, and can proudly stand by the band’s debut album, Starspawn, which is already hailed as a modern-day classic of OSDM. Hidden History of the Human Race has everything Blood Incantation did so well on their first album with gut-churning rhythmic pieces, technical flourishes that simultaneously expand and melt the mind, proggy moments that hint at hidden depths revealed by multiple listens, and superb musicianship. There’s even a guest appearance by Antti Bowman, which is fitting considering how big of an influence Demilich is on Blood Incantation. Hidden History of the Human Race cements Blood Incantation’s reputation as one of the best modern OSDM bands and is sure to garner a lot of attention on year-end lists.
Superstition-The Anatomy of Unholy Transformation
In what will be a recurring theme, here’s another very impressive release from 20 Buck Spin. The Anatomy of Unholy Transformation is a brilliant debut album. Stylistically, it’s heavily indebted to early ripping death metal like Necrovore but with a heightened sense of melody, coming from some South American thrashy influences. It’s short, but packs a lot into those 34 minutes and the atmospheric interludes are really great at setting the stage for the violence to come. “Highly Attuned Beasts of the Dark” is one of my favorite individual songs of the year. Love the cover art too, which reminds me a bit of Hooded Menace.
Encoffinized-Chambers of Deprivation
Upstart label Maggot Stomp had a very good year, thanks to a slew of awesome demos. But Maggot Stomp also put out some full-length this year, including Encoffinized’s debut Chambers of Deprivation. This album was a little polarizing, but I really liked it. It’s a no-frills approach to brutal death that occasionally flirts with grind and has some elements that it executes especially well. One such element is the vocals, which are an extremely low grunt in the vein of Demilich. The drums are also really effective on this album; they’re wonderfully blunt and provide plenty of groove.
Altarage-The Approaching Roar
Well Altarage sure got 2019 started off on the right foot. The Approaching Roar came out in January and I’ve revisited it periodically ever since. It’s easily one of the darker, moodier albums you’ll find here, with a sense of suffocating hypnotism to it as well. It’s a brilliant release from one of my favorite black/death bands.
Asphodelus-Stygian Dreams
Katatonia has long been a favorite band of mine. And while they’ve influenced plenty of doom/death bands, these often fall flat to me. Stygian Dreams is straight up Dance of December Souls worship done right, with melodic doom/death that is slightly blackened around the edges.
Ares Kingdom- By the Light of their Destruction
For their fourth album Ares Kingdom wanted to take things in a more primitive direction and the result is that album’s songs are more compact, but still vicious. The riffs are still heavily indebted to trad and pack a ton of melody along with manic intensity, plus a little Bolt Thrower-esque rumbling. Perhaps due to the unrefined direction the band was aiming for, the drums are a little tinny and the production is in general muddy, but it’s a testament to the strength of Ares Kingdom’s riffs and songwriting that the album doesn’t suffer much for it. By the Light of their Destruction may not hit as hard as Incendiary, but it’s still a mighty impressive release in its own right.
Weeping Sores-False Confession
If I told you Weeping Sores was doom/death with a violin you may get the impression that they’re a gothic-influenced, melodic version of the genre. They’re not. This very impressive debut (featuring members of Pyrrhon and Tchornobog) is much more Immolation or Morbid Angel than My Dying Bride and the violin is incorporated seamlessly. Like most releases on I, Voidhanger, it’s unorthodox in approach but it totally works.
Fluids-Exploitative Practices
You ever wonder what Mortician would sound like if they weren’t so cartoonish? Fluids is the answer to that question. Exploitative Practices has the low-tuned guitars, heavily distorted bass, drum machine, and cavernous growls like Mortician. Where they differ is in the use of samples, opting for more realistic-sounding footage, including a disturbing one of a police shooting. This gives Fluids a sense of gritty realism their influence never had, and it has some massive riffs too.
Cerebral Rot-Odious Descent into Decay
Here’s another 20 Buck Spin release of foul, stinking death metal. Cerebral Rot sound a lot like Fetid, with whom they share members, but of the two Cerebral Rot had the better release in 2019. Odious Descent into Decay is exactly what the album title promises-rotting death metal fresh from the grave. It has a really impressive list of influences; I hear bits of spacy weird Finndeath along with more straightforwardly disgusting acts like Autopsy.
Mortiferum- Disgorged from Psychotic Depths
What’s this? A young death/doom from the Pacific Northwest that isn’t signed to 20 Buck Spin? Strange it may be, that’s the case of Olympia’s Mortiferum. And what a crushing debut Disgorged from Psychotic Depths is, consisting of 36 minutes of foul, lurching more-death-than-doom. It seamlessly blends some Finnish influence with the raw depravity the Pacific Northwest has been spewing forth of late. File this one for fans of Rippikoulu, Cianide, and Spectral Voice.
Cosmic Putrefaction–At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm
As a general rule, if it’s on I, Voidhanger it’s going to be weird and Cosmic Putrefaction is certainly an example of that. Formed by Gabriele Gramaglia (mainman behind The Clearing Path) At the Threshold of the Greatest Chasm offers the mind-bending, spacey death metal associated with bands like Demilich, Timeghoul, and Blood Incantation. It’s a very impressive debut and I certainly hope to hear more from this band in the future.
Tomb Mold-Planetary Clairvoyance
The prolific Toronto-based band is back with their third album in as many years. Planetary Clairvoyance doesn’t leave quite the crater that either of the two proceeding albums did in my opinion, but it is still a very good album. Tomb Mold breaks the mold (sorry) a little bit on this album too, straying a little from their patented Finndeath worship and working from a broader death metal palette, with some notable American influences creeping in here and there.
But wait there’s more! Turn to the next page for 15 more excellent death metal albums.
