Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
In reviewing—like in science—we should disclose any conflicts of interest (you think Big Pharma pays me/us to promote meds? I wish…), but I digress. The point is that after I reviewed Bragging Rights‘ previous outlet—which, of course, I forgot to include in our list of best cover arts of the year—we’ve developed a friendly rapport that could ruin my objectivity as a reviewer. Which is why this review is going to be a satirical endeavor.
Metalcatto
Cancer needs no introduction. It’s been here since the dawn of Metal, and with a name like that, it really limits my ability to make sick jokes—more limited than your insurance coverage (laughs in European!). Anyway, the OG is known for being what I like to call a “missing link” band—as in, it feels like the evolutionary step between Thrash and Death Metal. It’s impossible to forget classics like To the Gory End or Death Shall Rise, but how does Inverted World compare to those? Stay with me to find out!
Pegah & Metalcatto
It’s that time of the week again—you’re all still out there, busy sending me material left and right, which means the review queue is slowly getting longer. But don’t despair, my junior musicians—we’ll get to you one day. Then again, maybe today is your lucky day. Anyway, I brought Pegah to help me with the mountain of work we always seem to have here at MER. Let’s get to it!
Metalcatto
It’s been a while since we reviewed something darker than your credit score. Dormant Ordeal has already been flirting with glory before. The band isn’t just some other pointless, bashingly heavy act. If anything, it reminds what Behemoth would sound like if it truly embraced Black Metal and stopped the edginess. Hence, Tooth and Nail comes with the difficult task of putting the band where it should be, the top of the Metalsphere. Let’s see if the music fits the art quality.
To me, it’s always been a mystery how Arch Enemy became the big band it is today. There was nothing particularly different in what it did back in the early 2000s (granted, it had a frontwoman growling, but was that really new then?). Yet, it had a solid formula that was immediately recognizable. They gave us a few classics, and I’d be lying if I said Wages of Sin and Doomsday Machine aren’t childhood staples for me. Ever since, the band has felt washed—there, I said it. So, with zero expectations, I enter Blood Dynasty, hoping it’s at least better than Duke Dynasty (my worst joke to date, yay!).
Hi there, my corpse-painted children. I’m not saying much today because the MER crew has way better things to say. This is a special True Kvlt edition, so let’s get to it!
It’s been a bit of a slow year for Doom so far (hehe!), but maybe that’s about to change – because when you see Structure‘s Heritage cover art, you know there are only two ways this can go: breathtaking and unforgiving Death/Doom, or just a bloated, pretentious mess. There’s next to no middle ground when it comes to releases that take themselves this seriously, where everything feels personal and built through time and pain. There’s not much else I can say to introduce a project that promises so much from the start, yet we all know how full the world is of disappointment. So let’s see what we have here.
Vicky & Metalcatto
The time has come for me to let the fresher blood take care of an entire True kvlt article. Don’t cry—I’ll probably be back to do most of the heavy lifting next week. It’s not my fault that you readers and musicians have made a habit of directly contacting my writers to cut the line (it doesn’t work that way!). I don’t mind; it means I get to work less. So, without further ado, Vicky has some opinions today.
I discovered Wombbath the way many of us have gotten into old-school Swedish Death Metal in this digital age—through a Bandcamp sale! I checked out a few of their albums and decided they were worth a shot. Needless to say, Wombbath is a pinnacle of consistency. To me, all its albums sit at least at a solid 3.5/5.0. However, there are only so many times you can pull off the chainsaw trick before it chops your arms off. And Beyond the Abyss is here to prove that the band can keep juggling familiar sounds without losing a limb.
Vicky
I have to mention that I’ve listened to this album about twenty times in the past week or so, which means that I’ve had time to view it from various different angles. The first thing you may notice is the album cover, which resembles something you might see in The Lord of the Rings. However, you probably understand from the beginning that we are talking about something that Frodo Baggins probably wouldn’t listen to on his way to Mordor.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 