Death Metal – Page 15 – Metal Eclipse Reviews

Feral – To Usurp The Thrones

Swedish Death Metal has been facing some challenges lately, largely due to how overexposed the niche has become. However, at MER, we have a soft spot for the genre—after all, this whole blog started with it! That’s why Feral is being met with a little extra mercy compared to other releases. Flesh For Funerals Eternal was a solid effort back in 2018, so now the question is whether To Usurp the Thrones will bet on change or stick with consistency. Enough with romantic intros—let’s crank up the chainsaw and get into it!

Swallow the Sun – Shining

Elased

Swallow the Sun is at a crossroads. The year 2024 marks the beginning of a new era for it. Just one glance at the cover of its new album Shining makes it unmistakably clear: everything is different from today! This is exciting and stirs curiosity, but it also has its downsides. So before we delve into the music, let me say a few words: Yes, I was also taken aback when I heard the first single for the first time—but I was even more shocked by the sometimes harsh and nasty comments that this and subsequent audio samples received from some “so-called fans”. Did Swallow the Sun deserve that? Absolutely not! Every musician has the right to artistic freedom and to express their own creativity—even if that means rethinking their previous style. Just think of bands like Anathema, Opeth, Katatonia, and so many others. And Swallow the Sun certainly hasn’t been treading water for nine albums either.

Gigan – Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus

Stop the social media machine for a second because we have an OG here! Yes, this has been the year when Disso-Death and Disso-Black have taken over Metal for good, but if there’s one band that was already melting flesh in this style before it was cool, it’s Gigan! The Order of the False Eye remains, to me, a classic that anyone in love with this inhumane style should have in their collection. Honestly, Gigan has always delivered quality, so my expectations for Anomalous Abstractigate Infinitessimus are gigantic (pun intended!). Let’s dive in!

Immortal Bird – Sin Querencia

Stargazer Scholar

Immortal Bird has developed an especially vicious brand of Death Metal. Seasoned with Black, Sludge, and Crust undertones, its music is as intricate as it is pummeling. That being said, listeners were left to conjecture about the next step in the band’s evolution, as its previous full-length had already reached the respectable age of five. Personally, I was favoring a more progressive, sprawling approach, being an ardent appreciator of the lengthier tracks from the prior releases. You can imagine my surprise, then, when I received the promo for the long-awaited Sin Querencia and discovered that, contrary to my expectations and hopes, Immortal Bird opted for concision.

Aberrator – Beckoning Tribulation

We keep giving chances to bands just starting their promising careers in this ruthless, kill-or-be-killed arena we call the Metal scene. I won’t sit here and pretend I knew who Aberrator was, or that I saw the album title Beckoning Tribulation and thought, “This is the next big thing!” But when I saw that beautiful and tasteful cover art, I thought: “Alright, that does it—this should at least be fun!” So, here we are, ready to taste another heavy meal.

True kvlt: Torrefy, Neocracy & Shadows Decay

Sunday is here! Which means it’s time for another 400-500 words to make the Metal world a bit fairer. We’re shining a light on releases that you’ve personally sent us or that deserve some love in this cold, heartless world. This week won’t be as rancid and tvre as usual, since we’re focusing on bands building their hype, but who don’t necessarily sound like they’re gargling hot sauce in a tunnel. For once, we’re expecting a certain level of production quality, but don’t get too used to it—it won’t become a trend.

Devenial Verdict – Blessing of Despair

In 2022, Devenial Verdict released Ash Blind, an album that was among the best I found that year. So, you can imagine that when I heard Blessing of Despair was coming out this year, I was more excited than the last time Transcending Obscurity did a “name your price” digital sale (I’m not hinting at anything for the future, of course! wink wink). Still, I also felt a bit nervous because we’ve had so much amazing Disso-Death this year that I started to wonder if there were any areas left to explore in the subgenre. Let’s see if Devenial Verdict has an answer for us!

Endonomos – Endonomos II – Enlightenment

It’s been a decent year for Doom Metal! We’re in the midst of a revival, particularly of the more melancholic aspects of the sub-genre. Endonomos may not have been on our radar for very long, but if I had to describe the project, I’d call it a mix of Pallbearer, Fvneral Fvkk, and Swallow the Sun. I know what you’re thinking: “I hate soft Death/Doom”. But hear me out—Endonomos II – Enlightenment seems to offer something different that could melt the coldest heart (this me reaching new levels of corny). It’s time!

Abramelin – Sins Of The Father

SonikGoat

It’s always great to see how many people are actively engaged in talking about, sharing, name-dropping, and posting new music. It’s part of what makes underground scenes so rewarding—the word-of-mouth aspect of how music finds its way to the most receptive ears. Especially in a fast-moving, worldwide scene like Metal, a band can quickly ascend from relative obscurity to cult status, propelled by the rapid, viral nature of word-of-mouth “promotion”. These days, it feels like a great album by a band I’ve never encountered lands on my radar at least once a week, if not more.

Ghostheart Nebula – Blackshift

Elased

VdB 141 is the astronomical designation for the distinctive Ghost Nebula in the constellation Cepheus.IC 1805, on the other hand, refers to the Heart Nebula in the neighboring constellation Cassiopeia. These two codes form the title of the intro to this album and at the same time explain the enigmatic name of the band, Ghostheart Nebula. In its musical vision, the band merges the two nebulae into a mystical collision of almost impenetrable soundscapes. It may seem an ambitious undertaking, but the name and the idiosyncratic symbol could hardly be more fitting. No one has ever captured the essence of void, loneliness, hopelessness, farewell, and loss in such astronomical dimensions of darkness, weightless spacelessness, and disembodiment.