Suffering so you don't have to!
Metalcatto
If you thought Highgate‘s Prophecies of Eternal Doom was a Speed Metal album, then I don’t know what you’re doing with your life. However, if you thought it sounded like Doom, then you figured out something ridiculously obvious. Good for you. Anyway, how about we dive into this pool filled with pee and despair? You first.
Metalcatto
A name like Hating Life can’t inspire too many hugs. The real question is whether Revenge From Beyond is going to make me miserable the right way or the boring way. There’s little room for exploration in Death Metal, especially if you want to cook it the traditional way, which is why I approached this album with some legitimate stomach discomfort. I’m fed up with the same stuff over and over. But let’s hope again.
Metalcatto
Hrob isn’t for people who want to have a good time. What do I mean by that? Well, if you listen to thirty seconds of Brána Chladu, you’ll understand right away that the band is trying to inflict as much emotional damage as possible. Just like your parents. Anyway, I wasn’t ready for this sorrowful ride, but that doesn’t mean I was going to chicken out.
Metalcatto
We have a special one today. Hessian Firm sent us the physical album again, and though I’m later than a German train, Desolation Manifest by Execrari offers cosmic and Brogressive Black Metal. No, you actually read that right. This almost never happens, so I’m allowed to have some expectations for once. I just really hope by Prog the band doesn’t mean: “I play 20 minutes of the same riff.” Fingers crossed!
Metalcatto
With a band name that would make you think of Stoner Rock or your last visit to the dentist, Lord of Confusion sounds nothing like either. Their album The Weight of Life is in principle an eclectic work trying to live in that space between Doom and Post-Metal, which means things are going to move slowly, but toward the most comforting kind of anxiety one could have. That made no sense, so let’s get to it.
Metalcatto
There are many bands named Worm, Wormed, or something like that. I can’t keep track. They also don’t tend to have artwork that looks straight out of 1995. To make matters more difficult Foreverglade is a hard act to follow. Hence, I was ready to skip Worm. However, you people online, with your unqualified hype, convinced me to give this album a chance even if I’m late. So here I am, trying to see if your taste changes my mind.
Metalcatto
I was planning to review some Thrash to bring balance to the force, but no, I didn’t feel like it. Transilvania‘s new Black/Thrash album, Magia Posthuma, will have to do then. It has everything needed to deliver that killer combo many bands attempt but few pull off with real success. It’s hard to balance aggression with nasty production without sacrificing writing quality, but let’s get to it and hope for some headbanging.
Metalcatto
Necrogore arrives on our doorstep bearing one undeniably edgy album title: Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena. If you happen to be a committed materialist like me (and yes, this is my genuine epistemological position), then this name reads as utterly ridiculous, hilarious nonsense. If you’re a normal, well-adjusted adult, your eyes probably rolled hard into the back of your skull at first glance. But I’m here to answer a more important question: does the album deliver something as heinously depraved and unhinged as its title promises? Let’s keep our fingers crossed and find out.
Metalcatto
You could certainly argue that my Doom Metal bias leans heavily toward the most depressing and suffocating end of the spectrum. I don’t cover enough Epic Doom, and that’s a fair criticism. But let me pose a question: what if you didn’t have to choose between crushing depression and epic grandeur? What if an album could be simultaneously brutal and majestic? Can that even work? I honestly didn’t know, but that was precisely the proposition Mammon’s Throne put forward with its new album, My Body to The Worms (an uplifting title, right?). My only real hope was that this wouldn’t simply be a carbon copy of Hooded Menace—I mean, just look at that artwork!
Metal Eclipse Reviews 