Death Metal

Worm – Necropalace Review

Worm – Necropalace Review

By Thus Spoke on February 16, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Doom, Death Metal, Dungeon Synth, 118 comments

“Worms are rich fodder for metal band names, and it’s not hard to see why. They’re gross, alienlike, and carry connotations of death and decay; and that’s before you start spelling it with a ‘v’ and thereby reference dragons, sea monsters, and the Devil himself. While sharing the collective imagination, this Worm definitely distinguishes themselves. After a shaky start, it was Foreverglade that first saw Worm realize their potential with a lean towards doom-death that retained just enough synth-forward black metal and balanced a murky soundscape with syrupy sweet guitar solos.” Worm turning?

Scythe – Boiled Alive Review

Scythe – Boiled Alive Review

By Grin Reaper on February 13, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 55 comments

“In the midst of a recent metal deep-dive, Romania’s Scythe skulked out from a Bandcamp back alley and bludgeoned me with the flat side of their blade, knocking me senseless with scuzzy shenanigans. We weren’t graced with a promo for Scythe’s self-released debut, but Boiled Alive packs in so much grimy panache that after my first listen, I had it shortlisted as someThing You Might Have Missed. Rather than wait several months before bringing attention to Boiled Alive, though, I volunteered to burn some midnight oil and write about this quartet from Constanța.” Get in the pot!

Slaughterday – Dread Emperor Review

Slaughterday – Dread Emperor Review

By Tyme on February 13, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 25 comments

“Longtime readers of AMG may remember the last time German OSDM stalwarts Slaughterday graced these digital pages. It was long enough ago that EPs were still getting the full-on review treatment, which enabled Slaughterday’s second release, Ravenous, to land a respectable 3.0/5.0 rating. What I was surprised to discover was the lack of any additional coverage, despite Slaughterday dropping three subsequent long players since then. Whether this fact boils down to a lack of promo or a lack of interest is irrelevant, considering I was able to wrestle Slaughterday’s newest offering of odorous offal, Dread Emperor, from the murkiest depths of the sump.” T.G.I.S.

Swords of Dis, Serpent Ascending, Ôros Kaù, Midnight Odyssey – From the Waters of Death – A retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh Review

Swords of Dis, Serpent Ascending, Ôros Kaù, Midnight Odyssey – From the Waters of Death – A retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh Review

By Thus Spoke on February 12, 2026 in Reviews, Ambient, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, 40 comments

“In case you’re unfamiliar, The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian poetic narrative, whose first complete form is dated to approximately 1800 BCE. It follows a story of King Gilgamesh and his dealings with gods and other mythic monsters, culminating in a journey for the secret of immortality. What better way could there be to consume this rich, literary epic than have it interpreted by the collection of artists behind From the Waters of Death? Obscure black/doom duo Swords of Dis; death metal veteran and experimenter Serpent Ascending; Neptunian Maximalism’s darker, heavier incarnation Ôros Kaù; and ambient-black dreamer Midnight Odyssey.” Gil Ga Mesh, the perverted son, the holy man!

Fossilization – Advent of Wounds Review

Fossilization – Advent of Wounds Review

By Steel Druhm on February 11, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 0 comments

“Back in 2023, Brazilian death crew Fossilization dropped their Leprous Daylight debut on the unsuspecting world below, impressing Cherd
in the process with its Incantation-esque blend of ghastly cavern crawling and 5-ton doomy digressions. He even went so far as to suggest it was superior to Incantation’s then-new platter Unholy Deification while generally singing the praises of preserved beast bone recovery. Fast-forward a few years, and the band’s sophomore release, Advent of Wounds, falls to me as Cherd has gone missing in a very nonsuspicious way that does NOT require police involvement or any half-assed internet sleuthing of any kind” Digging for cave bones.

Bloodred – Colours of Pain Review

Bloodred – Colours of Pain Review

By Mark Z. on February 10, 2026 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, 26 comments

“Seeing an album described as “blackened death metal” almost always gets my juices flowing. The problem with that tag, however, is that it can mean anything from weird avant-garde blackened dissodeath (yuck) to Christcrushing necronuclear Blasphemy-worshipping goat metal (fukk yeah!!). But Bloodred are neither of those things. This German band is technically a duo but is really more like the solo project of vocalist, guitarist, and bassist Ron Merz, who’s been enlisting the talents of drummer Joris Nijenhuis (ex-Atrocity, ex-Leaves’ Eyes) since the band’s first releases back in the mid-2010s. I admittedly hadn’t heard of these guys when I saw their name crop up in our promo bin, but I decided to give their back catalog a whirl when I saw Amon Amarth was tagged as a similar artist on Encyclopedia Metallum. MOAR blood for the Blood Gods?

Dyed in Grey – Harbinger Review

Dyed in Grey – Harbinger Review

By ClarkKent on February 5, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Progressive Metal, 27 comments

“For progressive death metal acts, the shadow of the masters, Opeth looms large. Yet some recent progressive death acts, like Iotunn, Tómarúm, and Dvne, have carved their own paths in the genre. When Dyed in Grey released their debut, The Abandoned Part, in 2013, Opeth was charting a course into pure prog sans death metal. I only mention Opeth because Dyed in Grey’s brand of prog death sees clear influences in the titans of the genre, though with a more technical, improvisational imprint.” Grey and fancy.

Backengrillen – Backengrillen Review

Backengrillen – Backengrillen Review

By Tyme on February 3, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Punk, 28 comments

“As this new year has gotten off to a right proper, lunacy-fueled start, I scoured the sump pit in search of something to pen my first review of 2026 on. As I poked through the pickens, slim as they were, I spied one of my favorite tags: ‘Steel says review,’ sitting unclaimed. Self-described as ‘free form death-jazz,’ Umeå, Sweden’s Backengrillen play music that is a paean to chaos and destruction. The basic idea is to take a death/doom metal, or noiserock riff and play it until it loses meaning and then break it apart like a ravenous cat would a tiny forest mouse. Okay, I thought, I’ll bite.” Business in the front, grillen in the back.

Defaced – Icon Review

Defaced – Icon Review

By Kronos on February 2, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, 45 comments

“Icon, the third record form Switzerland’s Defaced, comes wrapped up in a characteristically Olofsson-ey work and, much like the cover, is decidedly human, if a bit unambitious. Defaced have re-emerged more than a decade for good reason; a record’s worth of carefully-crafted death metal.” Re-Defaced.