Metalcatto
Today, I feel like trying something different. I’m going to expand on our latest IG post and see if that does any good. As a reviewer, you get to hear many hidden jewels that nobody cares about. Maybe because the algorithm isn’t pushing them down your throat on every reel or short. But I’m here to try to do some justice in this indifferent world.
Scald – Will of the Gods Is Great Power: I know what you’re thinking. Did they just Google-translate that title from Russian? No, kid, they didn’t have that tech back then. So they just messed up with style. Scald‘s debut is Epic Doom that takes you to the Viking age without so many gimmicks or clichés, and yet it has that old school unpolished production that gives it an even more realistic touch. Maybe that’s why, despite how melodramatic everything feels, it never becomes corny. I’m just happy the band came back not long ago.
Dan Swanö – Moontower: It’s a real mystery to me why Dan never made more solo records. Moontower is perhaps the most underrated album on this list. Melodic Death Metal with Prog—something that only in the last ten years has become a thing with bands like In Mourning or In Vain (granted, they’re old too, but also underrated). This was supposed to only be a Prog album, but Dan got so frustrated with his clean vocals that he started screaming. The writing is just stellar here, and the production—I mean, the man should produce all the Metal records in the world.
Rippikoulu – Musta Seremonia: Since someone in the family could accuse me of doing Swedish propaganda, I’ll add a Finnish classic so they feel seen. Many people only see Finland as the land of cute Melodic Death Metal and Power Metal, but there was also disgusting Death Metal that flirted with Doom all the time. This is like 90s Bolt Thrower, but even slower and dirtier. The production borders on Black Metal territory, but everything together is so raw and primal that it will change your perception of the Finnish old days. Like, what’s going on with those drums? They’re absolutely disgusting.
Pan.Thy.Monium – Khaooohs And Kon-Fus-Ion: I’d never get tired of rambling about this album. It’s simply so ahead of its time. In the last fifteen years, we’ve seen an Avant-Garde revolution in extreme Metal. Bands are pushing the musical limits of the genre more and more, but way back in the 90s, someone already did this. Sax, impenetrable vocals, cellos, background noises, the heaviest riffs followed by the grooviest solos. It will take decades for our music to produce something this schizophrenic, and rarely has it been this enjoyable.
Sumac – What One Becomes: Not everything on this list is an ancient album. Some are only ten years old. I still think What One Becomes is Sumac‘s peak. You’re going to tell me the band has done much more experimental work after, and I’ll say sure, but the level of songwriting focus and utter heaviness has yet to be replicated. The amount of compressed anguish and anxiety this album portrays is unique. If you ever wonder what Post-Metal would be if it had a more Death Metal sound and vocals, then this is it. You get an album that is literally heavy metal on the periodic chart. An emotional journey with nothing but catharsis at the end.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 