Brymir

Battle Beast – Steelbound Review

Battle Beast – Steelbound Review

By Grin Reaper on October 17, 2025 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 71 comments

“Steelbound,, Battle Beast’s seventh full-length album, struts forth boasting bubblegum choruses and sticky refrains that, upon contact, are sure to plague your showers and commutes for days afterward. For the uninitiated, the sextet from Helsinki, Finland, plays pop-infused power metal with anthemic, uplifting gusto and broad appeal. Battle Beast simmers with talent, but it’s singer Noora Louhimo that steals the show with her powerhouse range and grit, the perfect voice to broadcast the positivity and pluck that Battle Beast engenders. After years of snacking on sweetmeats, though, has the candy coating left this Beast’s fangs riddled with cavities, or are the teeth still mighty enough to bring the pain?” Steel or cotton candy?

Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht Review

Mental Cruelty – Zwielicht Review

By Kenstrosity on June 22, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Slam, Symphonic Metal, 51 comments

“A Hill to Die Upon represents the steepest improvement between two albums that I encountered during my overextended employment at AMG Torture Racks and Surgical Paraphernalia. After the disappointing sophomore slump that was Inferis, I assumed the German troupe responsible for the mighty Purgatorium, a veritable clinic on killer slam riffs and technical prowess, burned too brightly too soon. But A Hill to Die Upon gained a well-deserved rating upgrade and remains one of my most revisited albums in the entire deathcore pantheon.” Hill kills.

Foretoken – Triumphs Review

Foretoken – Triumphs Review

By Kenstrosity on March 16, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, 47 comments

“Foretoken take a particularly aggressive approach to melodic death metal, much like The Black Dahlia Murder do. Yet, this duo also share considerable affinity with more opulent acts such as Brymir, Mongol, Ephemerald, Stormlord and Aephanemer. Symphonics play a support role exclusively, however, as vicious riffing and ripping leads take charge and guide the record through battlefields of speedy tech-death percussion.” Wictory or death!

Brymir – Voices in the Sky [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

Brymir – Voices in the Sky [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Dr. Wvrm on December 18, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Melodic Death Metal, 24 comments

“Sometimes, the music doesn’t click. On paper, it should be halfway up your alley before the first song is over. It’s the right genre, right ideas, right pace, but the shit thrown against the wall still slides off into the ooze of a thousand less-deserving records. Heretofore, that was Brymir. I wanted to like them; I should have worshiped them. But their first three entries of symphonic melodic death escaped me like self-awareness from your favorite black metal band. So why, oh why, should a tired wvrm limp out of the doldrums of exile to dump on a band he doesn’t really like?” Early Brymir gets the wvrm.

Shade of Hatred – Reflection on Ruin Review

Shade of Hatred – Reflection on Ruin Review

By Kenstrosity on October 6, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 13 comments

“In my mind, there are two strains of melodic death metal. There is the kind that focuses on beauty (like the recent Eternal Storm) and the kind that focuses on raw energy (I would argue Brymir fit in this category). Both strive to infect the masses with sing-along-worthy tunes, but they take different approaches to the goal. Shade of Hatred, a melodic death quintet from the Netherlands, aim for the latter category on their debut full-length Reflection on Ruin.” The melodeath resistance grows.