Reviews – Metal Eclipse Reviews

Ethereal Rot -Ethereal Rot

Thechopstickdrummer

A TECHNICAL DEATH METAL BAND FROM MAINE! I REPEAT, A TECHNICAL DEATH METAL BAND FROM MAINE! How merry can I be! If each of the 50 states contested to see which was most lucrative for extreme Metal music, Vacationland would run sobbing to the nearest blueberry field as California, Florida, and New York fill the podium, all hosting greatly influential Metal movements. To demonstrate the unexpectedly bloodthirsty nature of New England’s northernmost region comes Ethereal Rot, a dissonant Death Metal collective from Portland. Ethereal Rot is releasing their debut full-length record next month, presenting a refined group shaped by on-the-road seacoast slaughterfests and combinations of the bandmates’ past stylings–almost every member hails from former projects spanning power Metal to Metalcore. This debut marks an exploratory thematic shift for the group, demonstrating that Ethereal Rot can withstand the harsh climates of both their state and their industry.

Iron Slaught – Metallic Torments

Metalcatto

There are days when I wake up and actually don’t feel like putting myself through the most disgusting, inhumane, or nihilist music you people drop on our mailbox. Sometimes I want to feel life has a purpose—even if it doesn’t. So how about a Speed Metal band like Iron Slaught? Metallic Torment should be everything I find cheesy, but this is a French band, and you know Metal is the only thing where we don’t hate on them. In fact, we love their work. So let’s see if we can keep that going—the love, I mean, not the hate.

Arise From Worms – A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction

thechopstickdrummer

A Bleeding Tree Hanging Self Destruction is a long, almost nonsensical name for an album, but Arise From Worms is a trio built on extravagant displays. Their supergroup foundation is not one to be messed with under any circumstances: Sonny Lombardozzi of Fleshtized tackles guitars and bass, Steve Tucker of Tampa’s own Morbid Angel handles vocals, Derek Sherinian tickles the electronic ivories, and Cryptopsy’s Flo Mournier mounts the drum kit. This trio founded Arise From Worms in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but only recently have they set their malicious technical sights on a full-length endeavor. And what an endeavor it was…

Saidan – FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist

Metalcatto

In our never-ending quest for originality, shocking things become more and more difficult to find. So imagine my surprise when Saidan proposed to mix Black Metal with Visual Kei. That’s just so wild it could work. FANGDRILLER: Scars Beneath Memory’s Wrist is supposed to come as a Gothic and charming tale—something harsh, but somehow comforting. Can the album strike a balance between these two worlds, or will it all become unbearably sentimental? Hopes are high.

Ripper – Towards Rebirth

Metalcatto

Sometimes I wonder why we don’t have more Death/Thrash bands. It makes sense—why wouldn’t you mix chocolate with cream? It’s the killer combo. But then I realized: finding the balance between those two is freaking hard. Ripper is more Death than Thrash, or so a superficial listen will lead you to believe. However, we’re not here to only make fart jokes and laugh at our penniless existence. We’re also giving Towards Rebirth a deeper dive.

Double Mute – Corporate Culture CEO Edition

Metalcatto

Let’s face it: in our current social and political climate, satire has lost its purpose. Reality is just funnier than anything else. Double Mute has done two things: brought us one of the strangest concepts for a band and shown one of the most heinous cover arts in MER history. Anyway, if Corporate Culture CEO Edition delivers what it promises, I might once and for all punch that intern who keeps messing up the printer at work.

Khemmis – Khemmis

Metalcatto

At this point, you know I like Doom, but I’m not Pegah, so my level of fanaticism is relatively sober. However, if there’s one Doom band that makes me feel like a cat on catnip, it’s Khemmis. Sure, the band still has yet to surpass its first two albums, but everything afterward has been nothing but quality. That’s why you’d expect Khemmis to be a display of the band’s experience and maturity, right? You know, these guys know the game. Or so I hope.

Aetere – Théogonie

Pegah

Théogonie is the debut album by the French Doom Metal duo Aetere. Its title refers to Theogony, the epic poem attributed to Hesiod, recounting the origins of the Greek gods. Rooted in a Greek term meaning “the birth of the gods,” it serves as one of the foundational texts of Greek cosmology.

Véhémence – Assiégé pour l’éternité

Metalcatto

Here we go again. More French Black Metal that sounds like it was recorded in a fridge by people who should have gone to therapy instead. That’s the cliché, at least. But Véhémence is doing something strange with Assiégé pour l’éternité. It’s a remake of its own first album, with new production, new tracks, and new lyrics. It’s almost as if they said, “This is the way we wanted to debut, but back then we didn’t have the budget.” So how good can this be? I’m completely primed by previous Antiq releases, so you could say I’m pretty neutral about it.

Temple ov Ahriman – Heretics of Consensual Reality

Metalcatto

In our not-so-long career, we have reviewed bands with all sorts of quirky names. Temple ov Ahriman isn’t that weird, but who the heck names an album Heretics of Consensual Reality? I’m old school. I read Durkheim. Reality is what opposes the individual will. This title makes no sense! Anyway, you’re here for the Metal, not for the snobbery. So let’s see if this is more than just average Black Metal.