Reviews – Page 38 – Metal Eclipse Reviews

Cerebral Hemorrhage – Exempting Reality

With a band name like Cerebral Hemorrhage, you’d be inclined to think that Exempting Reality isn’t about being a teen trying to find your place in the world while dealing with your angst. You’d be right because this act is all about bringing old-school Death Metal to its real roots. I’m not talking about the retro-Death Metal we’ve had over the last 10 years. I mean Death Metal from the era before computers—when the USA and Sweden were battling to see who could produce the most poorly recorded piece of violent music. Enough with the history lesson!

The Halo Effect – March of the Unheard

Looking for trivia for this review, I came to the obvious fact that The Halo Effect only has two albums (counting March of the Unheard), which honestly is shocking given how seasoned some of its members are. I always wondered if The Halo Effect would just follow whatever Dark Tranquillity or In Flames were doing and if it’d even be capable of competing with the OGs of Swedish MeloDeath. But not everything is about competition; sometimes you create a band to hang out with your friends, right? Sometimes, you just want to dive into music with the same excitement you once had for life, back when you were too young to own your mistakes.

True kvlt special: Krafthur – Acenando aos Pesadelos do Passado

Ixone

For every Black Metal listener with a preference for ferocity over coldness, this album might just be right up your alley. Judging by the album cover alone, it might not seem that way, but the second the second track (the first one is, of course, an intro) kicks in, you’re in for a wild ride. Having been in production for over four years before finally seeing the light of day, it’s easy to (rightfully) assume that this is a carefully written and well-executed record.

Am I in Trouble? – Spectrum

Two thoughts crossed my mind when I got the promo for Am I in Trouble? – Spectrum. First: “Oh wow! There’s so much color here that there’s no way this is just a Black Metal album”. Second: “That’s one of the weirdest band names I’ve ever heard”. For an extreme Metal band, the name feels a bit… problematic (ooof, I know I’m getting punched for that one). And I’ve received promos with band names I can’t even post here! But I was intrigued, because I love albums that subvert expectations, and at least in its presentation, Spectrum was doing just that. But was it more than just a striking look? Let’s find out.

Patriarkh – ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ

I’ll spare you all the now-old drama surrounding the creation of Patriarkh (such a feminist name!). My job is to focus on the music; it’s yours to eat up the gossip. Anyway, in ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ, Patriarkh continues its quest to craft the most blasphemous mockery of Slavic Orthodox traditions. Full disclosure: yours truly might speak many tongues but has no clue what’s being said in this album from start to finish. Still, I assume it’s something evil and unholy, but, you’re not reading this for the lyrics. Let’s go!

Best Doom Metal Albums of 2024

Metalcatto

Here we are, about to start the countdown I’ve been dreading. Many of you voted on IG for a more comprehensive list instead of just a top 10 from me. Well, I owe everything to our readers, so here I am. Not every Metal subgenre will get its own list—doing that would take weeks—but I’ve chosen the ones that had the biggest impact this year. Sadly, no Thrash for 2024, but Doom’s incredible diversity makes it a perfect place to start. Doom is as broad as it gets, but every band in the genre follows one rule: play slow most of the time. That means Crypt Sermon’s excellent The Stygian Rose belongs in a Heavy Metal top instead. With that out of the way, let’s dive in!

Druparia – The River Above

It’s that time of the year when everyone in our deranged community swallows a pack of stimulants and tries to assemble an end-of-year list. Because why not? Why not put yourself through this absurd stress right when you’re (hopefully) on holiday? Anyway, in another attempt to procrastinate this thankless task, I’m reviewing Druparia’s The River Above. I’m feeling generous, and a unsigned band releasing a debut at the end of the year feels fitting for the season. Let’s go—I have a Christmas dinner to eat!

Morbus Dei – The Wold We Left Behind

Ixione

There are very few things on this planet that go together as well as Black Metal and Germany. As much as this may reflect my personal bias, I have yet to find a German Black Metal band that isn’t good—Morbus Dei is no exception. Its latest effort, The World We Left Behind, undoubtedly succeeds in delivering a freezing cold, razor-sharp sound that feels like a misanthrope’s greatest fantasy. At first glance, it may not seem like anything overly ambitious, but that is precisely where its strength lies.

SonikGoat’s Top Albums of 2024

SonikGoat

There are a couple of observations I can make about the albums I’ve chosen for my end-of-year lists. One relates to that most nebulous realm of terminology: the “progressive”. What this term means seems to vary from person to person and album to album, but the differences manifest in interesting ways. Take everyone else’s album of the year, Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere. The progressive element here lies largely in its bold combination of two distinct styles, blending Death Metal with what I’ll broadly call “vintage-flavored synth-driven Prog Rock”. Another album that adopts a progressive approach is Ontology of Nought by Ingurgitating Oblivion, but the results are markedly different. More on that below.

The other theme in my list this year is that several of the bands are well-established acts with multiple albums under their belts, yet I was either unaware of them or only barely familiar. I’m forever humbled by the sheer number of great musicians and bands I have yet to discover! Finding a band partway through their discography often feels like stumbling upon a treasure trove of musical riches.

Enough! On to the list. Eternal hails to the artists!

Lost in the Riffstorm 2024: Part 4

It’s hard to tell if we’re in the middle or near the end of our 2024 Lost in the Riffstorm saga, because let’s face it—there are always more albums to forget. This time is special, though. I asked people on Instagram if there were any albums they wanted us to talk about, alongside some direct reminders from the bands themselves (yes, we’re cool enough that bands actually mail us stuff personally). Alright, let’s get into it!