2025 is fading in the rearview, but the Filters still need scrubbing. See what was left over after all the holiday debauchery.
SepticFlesh
Plague Curse – Verminous Contempt Review
“We’ve all been told, once or thrice, not to judge a book by its cover. As a species, we’re pretty good at doing it anyway. In metal circles, band logos and album art often follow certain tropes that let us quickly identify what we’re about to hear and set expectations accordingly. Except when they don’t. When I first saw the cover art for Verminous Contempt, I thought I had it pegged. I mean, rats? Green mystery fluid? Skulls? This was sewage-drenched death metal for sure. I was, of course, wrong. For their debut, Plague Curse instead offers a highly polished platter of blackened death metal.” Cess is MOAR.
Nightfall – Children of Eve Review
“Greek oddballs, Nightfall have always been unpredictable and difficult to pigeonhole to any one genre or scene. Though they came out of the same scene as Rotting Christ and SepticFlesh, their style wandered over the map much more, flirting with Goth rock, melodeath and various shades of blackened traditional metal. Every time a new album appears, you go in not knowing what to expect. 2021’s At Night We Prey was a dark, brooding affair borrowing from Moonspell and SepticFlesh without fully abandoning their quirks and intrinsic weirdness. Children of Eve stays more or less in the same general vicinity, adding more Goth broth to the pot as they walk the edges of multiple styles.” Night moves.
Euphrosyne – Morus Review
“Death is an omnipresent theme in metal, and art in general, but the subject matter is especially poignant when approached by survivors of its trauma. Post-black quartet Euphrosyne tackle the loss of a loved one, in this case songwriter Alex Despotidis’ mother, on their debut LP, Morus. Post-black seems an appropriate style for the Greeks, with a focus on atmosphere, melody, and stillness to balance black metal fury. While the lyrics are credited to frontwoman Efi Eva, all the music was composed by Despotidis, an unenviable but hopefully cathartic duty for someone who just lost a parent.” Healing through music.
Kerberos – Apostle to the Malevolent Review
“Symphonic death is a tricky subgenre to nail. While there are skilled exponents, bands peddling the dramatic style tread a fine line in balancing the ornate orchestral elements and heavy-hitting metal, without diminishing one or the other of the fused components. Such as the symphonic elements feeling tacked on or the metal edge blunted. Overall, it’s a mixed formula for yours truly, though I am certainly not opposed to the style when executed well. Hailing from Switzerland and sporting a bombastic, prog-infected symphonic death sound, unheralded act Kerberos aim to make their mark on the scene with their second album, Apostle to the Malevolent.” Symphonies of slickness?
Stuck in the Filter: March 2024’s Angry Misses
March Filters bring April POWERS.
ACOD – Versets noirs Review
“How I’ve never known about France’s ACOD is beyond me, and I heartily apologize to them because I’ve been having a hella good time with many of their releases. Beginning their career as a black/thrash outfit with metalcore tendencies, they began to explore Mephorash-meets-Septicflesh territories around the time of their 2018 release, The Divine Triumph. While there are thrashy moments, the songwriting is now predominantly massive string atmospheres, marching drumbeats, cranked-up bass work, and riff after motherfucking riff.” ACOD AOK.
Deception – Daenacteh Review
“Daenacteh is a melodeath record at it’s core, but augmented with so many other elements it’s become it’s own unique monster. The orchestral accompaniments, which are both omnipresent and superbly executed, seem of the Italian neo-classical school of Septicflesh and Fleshgod, but MENA-tinged like Aeternam.” The many sounds and flavors of the desert.
Genus Ordinis Dei – The Beginning Review
“One can’t credibly accuse Genus Ordinis Dei of a lack of ambition. Predecessor Glare of Deliverance used bombastic symphonic death metal to weave a tale of religious prosecution and witchcraft. The entire storyline was accompanied by a series of self-produced music videos. A big project, but the album itself was undercut by bloat and failed to impress me as much as 2017’s Great Olden Dynasty had done. Now, as the year draws to a close, the Biblical story-weavers bring us The Beginning, another religion-themed concept album accompanied by videos, but with only 4 videos and a pared-down running time, I felt hopeful the Italians would not be making the same mistake twice.” Big religion.
Augurium – Unearthly Will Review
“Death metal, for all its vast influence, can be a chore. Walls of distortion, thick riffs, and roars all on the same plane of the low and gurgle assault the ears with reckless abandon, and I have long needed breathing room to fully appreciate it. While The Gorilla God Himself prefers it putrid and slimy and the gone-but-unforgotten Kronos prefers it layered and intricate, I prefer a death metal experience that takes me places. Saskatchewan five-piece Augurium is willing to throw their crusty platter of death metal into the ring.” Death on the road.
