IMPERISHABLE - Come, Sweet Death (2023)

Raging Swedish death metal pitted with some surprisingly exquisite lead work.  Coming from Sweden, there will be the usual comparisons and rightly so, but what makes Imperishable a cut above their contemporaries, is that the standard HM2 'buzzsaw' guitar, although evident, doesn't saturate the overall sound, making Come, Sweet Death  sound leaner and even more brutal than the likes of Dismember and Entombed who are obvious influences.

CENOBITE ~ Torment Your Flesh And Explore The Limits Of Experience (2023)

 HM-2  enshrouded  in the destructive, rampaging force of Hail Of Bullets and Bolt Thrower and consumed by the gloomy morbidity of Asphyx. Cenobite wallows in your pain and celebrates your abhorrence.

VOUL ~ Concrete Cult (2023)

 A new Spanish band comprising of members of Moho, Adrift and Looking For An Answer. Steaming sludge filth slopped onto the butchers block and mauled into six tracks of  clotted groove that harkens back to the golden days of Eyehategod and Bongzilla. There is constant heaving churn throughout Concrete Cult adding layers of dissonant crust but the Bongzilla influence gives the album a degenerate charm laced with more than a trace of toxic doom. 

IRON VOLTAGE - Devastation (2022)

 Finally let loose digitally, wide eyed, rabid and foaming at the mouth, we have Indonesian thrashers Iron Voltage. These guys come from the Exodus school of thrash, you know the type, extra crunch, extra riffs and some exceptional headbang inducing slower breakdowns. 

PRONOSTIC ~ Chaotic Upheaval (2023)

Highly complex, technical Canadian death metal and that description just scratches the surface because this quality album reaches for the throat in all directions. I normally try to make my reviews short, almost 'blurb' like, but there's so much going on in Chaotic Upheaval that its going to be an impossible task, but here goes anyway. 

There are many forms of death metal and the Cannibal Corpse strain this is not, but fear not because Pronostic takes brutality, chops it up, dices and slices it then puts it back together into a pummelling extreme metal jigsaw, the top notch production enabling the listener absorb the various components that make this album sound exceptional. There are so many facets of  Chaotic Upheaval that would normally turn the Neanderthal in me away. I don't normally listen to symphonic death metal, keyboards in death metal switch me off especially classical piano and don't mention saxophone in any metal album unless its Hawkwind's 'Space Ritual' but I found myself enthralled by how Pronostic managed to combine all of these elements, propelled by a Gojira like mood of savage aggression, without the album falling apart into complete chaos.

Give yourself plenty of time to fully appreciate the musicianship that has gone into this album, then go listen to it again and again in order to appreciate it even more each time.

DEMON & ELEVEN CHILDREN ~ Demon Demo

I don't know much about this Chinese band but I can only assume the name comes from the title of a Blues Creation album. Indeed, although from China, Demon & Eleven Children is obviously influenced by the Japanese and early Italian doom sound, drizzled with acid  and fried in a 70's proto doom sauce until dry and crispy. This demo ep crackles with lo fi attitude and is an absolute delight.

DEATHRATTLE PODCAST ~ Dirty Dozen April 2023 ( My Contribution To April's Doom Charts )

 My picks for April's Doom Charts

April continued the abundance of excellent new stoner/doom releases which reflects the higher amount of my monthly contibutions to the Doom Charts that made the top 40 and there were several more of that genre that were really close. 

CENTER OF THE EARTH - MARS  #16 April Doom Charts

".. the band’s 2nd studio album channels the menacing riffage and imposing voice of King Buzzo’s “Stag” era through a heavy psychedelic rock jam" ~Desert Vulture

https://centeroftheearth.bandcamp.com/album/mars?from=embed

FAERIE RING - WEARY TRAVELER  #5 April Doom Charts

"Musically, it reminds me of Seventh Star-era Sabbath, great riffs coming in waves supported by memorable melodies." ~ The Mighty Decibel

https://faeriering.bandcamp.com/album/weary-traveler

VOID KING - THE HIDDEN HYMNAL  #9 April Doom Charts

"...situations and events that we can all readily relate to with those stories being told in powerful grave tones over a backdrop of dank dark refrains and thundering rhythms." ~ Desert Psychlist

https://voidking.bandcamp.com/album/the-hidden-hymnal

RED EYED CULT - UNIT 61 #26 April Doom Charts

https://redeyedcult.bandcamp.com/album/unit-61

CANNABUS - THE MAPLE SPLIFF SESSIONS #25 April Doom Charts

"On hearing the opening track ‘Cannabust’ I felt I was drifting in a Hermit Mage’s meandering, psychoactive dream of weed, acid and fuzz. The next track, a bluesy number called ‘Feeling Alright’ was more scathing but still couldn’t escape the acidic, fuzz knotted sound and I have to tell you, these knots are pulled TIGHT all through THE MAPLE SPLIFF SESSIONS. Seething licks that sizzle and pop as hard as any of the Japanese freak out bands, bite and scratch their way out from the clutches of fuzz leaving each track scarred and pitted. It’s been a while since I’ve heard an album as tight as THE MAPLE SPLIFF SESSIONS, even my tinnitus broke out in an acid sweat." ~ Deathrattle Podcast

https://cannabus.bandcamp.com/album/the-maple-spliff-sessions

RUNEMAGICK - BEYOND THE CENOTAPH OF MANKIND

https://runemagick.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-cenotaph-of-mankind-2

EXTERMINATION ORDER - THE SIEGE OF ASCALON

https://war-anthem-records.bandcamp.com/album/the-siege-of-ascalon

SMOULDER - VIOLENT CREED OF VENGEANCE  #28 April Doom Charts

https://smoulder.bandcamp.com/album/violent-creed-of-vengeance

LARVAE - ENTITLED TO DEATH

https://larvae.bandcamp.com/album/entitled-to-death

MILANA - MILVUS #6 April Doom Charts

"A record rife with cunning and awe, it is a triumphant milestone for a band swiftly ascending Spain’s hierarchy of heaviness." ~ The Motor Fuzzin Ibex

https://milanaband.bandcamp.com/album/milvus

ENFORCED - WAR REMAINS

https://enforced.bandcamp.com/album/war-remains

THE CROOKED WHISPERS - FUNERAL BLUES #14 April Doom Charts

"A+ mix of sludgy, dark and evil riffs and a great variety of vocal styles. This had me from the start and I cant get it out of my rotation." ~ Black Throne Productions

https://thecrookedwhispers.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-blues