Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
It’s time again! Your submissions are starting to pile up, and I should take a look before my patience runs out and I click “delete all” in my inbox—but for now, one can only dream. Believe it or not, there’s no Black Metal this week. People are actually coming up with other things to show me. Anyway, let’s get to it!
Metalcatto
Hi there, my beautiful music degenerates. Here I am, back with another section of low‑budget and unpredictable releases from the dungeons of my email inbox and personal DMs. What can I say? You people reach out in all sorts of creative ways that would probably cross more than one legal boundary. Anyway, I’ll talk to my lawyer later and focus on this random selection of bands again.
Metalcatto
I can’t speak for my fellow reviewers here, but I’ve gotten a lot of stinkers lately — oh, sorry, is that not diplomatic? At least I’m giving no names! However, there was something about Drouth that made me think there might be hope for something fresher this time. The Teeth of Time had all the signs of apparent validity: long tracks, but balanced between Black and Death Metal; cool art and title; but mostly, the band is from Portland, Oregon — a place Extreme Metal owes a lot to. But I’m under no illusion about how badly expectations can betray you. Let’s go!
The Teeth of Time has that raw, organic production that’s become part of the Portland scene. However, you can still appreciate everything that’s going on, so for those of you who like authenticity and actual dexterity, you’ll have a blast — assuming being swallowed into a tornado of anguish and anxiety is your definition of fun. Drouth is a band that takes itself seriously and has no problem staying in a place that would make the average Metal noob very uncomfortable. Yet this is all balanced with bleak details that add emotional depth to the journey.
The vocals are wild, jumping between growling and shrieking. It’s hard to put a single label on The Teeth. Sometimes, it felt like I was listening to Downfall of Gaia mixed with Fall of Rauros and Spectral Wound; other times, it leaned more into old Tomb Mold territory — and yet, there are moments of Melodic Death Metal here too. Don’t let its primal first assault fool you: Drouth has crafted something that genuinely defied my expectations. It’s not often you find an album that sounds evil and tragic at the same time. I believe a lot of that comes down to the diverse guitar work throughout, which resists being pinned to just one idea or formula.
I usually don’t enjoy this kind of basement Metal as much as I’ve enjoyed The Teeth. However, if you’re not paying close attention to its detail, it won’t be all that engaging. The album isn’t long, but the tracks are — especially when the high-pitched shrieking comes in, things can feel particularly jarring. So while the pacing has its bumps, it’s not a major issue. Still, I’d like to see Drouth explore more of its melancholic side, especially when opening tracks. The intros, particularly around the middle of the album, are a bit too conservative.
The best albums are the ones that surprise me in some way. Or maybe that’s just the opinion of someone who’s reviewed hundreds of records and is dying for a little sugar in their bland porridge. Either way, that’s what we’ve got here. It might not be for everyone, but Drouth is clearly trying to catch us off guard — and for once, I’m all in.
Label: Eternal Warfare Records
Release date: 16 May, 2025
Website: https://drouth.bandcamp.com/album/the-teeth-of-time
Country: USA
Score: 3.8/5.0 and maybe I’ll upgrade it later!
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.
Metal Eclipse Reviews 