Botanist: "Collective: The Shape of He to Come"

Difficult to enjoy, but more than just haphazardly composed black metal

Not being familiar with the works of Botanist, you'll have to excuse me for expecting something a bit different than what Collective: The Shape of He to Come is. In a way you could easily argue that the cover for this 2017 album is indeed very fitting of the obscure, yet oddly naturalistic sounds found on the disc. Whatever it was I originally had thought this album would sound like, that notion was blown to bits and pieces.

Slamophiliac: "Slam Rehab"

Underwritten solo-slam for beginners

In a year where several newcomers and oldies have already released absolutely insane albums, Slamophiliac faces a tough situation. Darryn Palmer, slamophiliac extraordinaire and lover of the loathesome, is one of those types of musicians who may have bitten off more than he can chew. He has dozens of similar bands going simultaneously, most of them in the brutal death metal spectrum. The fact that Slam Rehab sounds like a hackneyed surgery could very possibly be due to his busy release schedule - Slam Rehab is already his second album in 2017 with Slamophiliac.

Panikk: "Discarded Existence"

Hits and misses from Slovenia

The worst thing a band can suffer from is being part of the dime a dozen crowd. At least if you're absolutely terrible you'll still stand out. Nothing is more taunting and antagonistic than a band that is just boring. During my first run through Discarded Existence, the second album from Slovenia's Panikk, this was my immediate concern with these thrashers.

Frozen Realm: "Frozen Realm"

A closed fist in the face of their own heroes

Once the acoustic guitar intro to Frozen Realm's debut EP of the same name breaks into an orgy of flashy guitar melodies, there can be no doubt as to the nature of the Swedish band. Balls deep in the long-standing tradition of the Gothenburg sound, Frozen Realm break into full-fledged melodic death metal, complete with every element that the definition entails.

John Garcia: "The Coyote Who Spoke In Tongues"

Better stick with Kyuss and Vista Chino

If you're even superficially interested in stoner rock, you should know who John Garcia is. He is the legendary voice of stoner rock, having lent his gruff singing to the likes of Kyuss, Unida, Slo Burn, Hermano and Vista Chino over the course of his 30 year career.

Lord Impaler: "Babylon Whore"

Many repeat offenses which would have, ironically, been more enjoyable in a more brief format.

Since 1998 the Greek group known as Lord Impaler have unleashed grueling black metal through several demos, finally culminating with severe force in 2011 in the form of the album Admire the Cosmos Black. 2013 saw them continue in the vein of smaller releases with the Babylon Whore EP; With a mere two songs to show, they make up for the short play time with immediate and unrelenting explosions of blast beats and tremolo riffs going the speed of a circular saw.

Cvinger: "Monastery of Fallen"

Corpsepainted, thunderous black metal - Melodies not allowed

Traditionally schooled, Slovenia's Cvinger weighs in with a heavy reliance upon the old customs of second wave black metal. Monastery of Fallen confidently builds on a foundation of cascading torrents of furious blast beats set to the cold moods created by the dogma of ruthless tremolo riffing, lead singer Lucerus' vocals chiming in with the raw doctrines of every black metal curse in the book.

Countess: "Ancient Lies and Battle Cries"

This album is the very definition of hit-and-miss

Countess from the Netherlands has released an almost unbroken line of black metal albums since the early 90s, each being met by the band's cult following with enthusiasm. The band has for the most part been a one man project by songwriter Orlok, but the release of Ancient Lies and Battle Cries in 2014 marks the return of Countess as an actual band with the return of guitarist Zagan to the lineup, who had previously played on a 1997 EP.

Subscale: "The Last Submission

Depthless heaviness made for the masses

Subscale - Birthed in 2012 - represents just about every cliche and trend from the last 15 years of mainstream heavy metal. With computerised nu-metal-core, each member of the band's plentiful staff proudly lays down their heavy groove-laden offerings.

Fetid Zombie: "Grotesque Creation"

Grave concerns for the future of one of death metal's most prominent artists

Mark Riddick is by most considered a stable in black and death metal artwork, having made logos and artwork for more bands that you could count. His visual output is iconic and appalling in its stark white-on-black style, and while his main musical project Fetid Zombie has had a steady output since its inception - much like his drawings - the quality of which has shown to be of a quality more varying than his other endeavours.

Tormentstorm: "Into the Ominous Door"

Huge improvements that ultimately end up stranded in shallow waters

Most would probably agree that Tormentstorm's earlier outing, the Up From the Grave demo from 2012, was a misbegotten mess of black-thrash instrumentation. The demo was poorly received because it was poorly conceived. Tormentstorm's driving force, Malice, however, does not let himself sway easily, and as such returned the year after with a full length album.

Dying Inside: "Dystopia"

Surfin' Nicaragua on waves of melody and groove

As is the current trend, the melodic death metal outfit from Nicaragua, Dying Inside, has more emphasis on the melodic part than the death part. While they are certainly taking cues from the original Swedish scene, their sound is not as close to the traditional Gothenburg sound as one would expect.

Heavy use of powerful drumming, courtesy of Ronal Arroliga, makes for some equally powerful metal, and there are indeed times when the headbanging factor on the band's debut album Dystopia reaches critical mass. Simple processions of guitars, bass and drums drive the music forward in a headbanging-friendly style, but at the same time the quintet's compositions never fully take off and reach their full potential. The melody is there, and the groove likewise, but the climax is either premature or completely absent.

Bloodwraith: "As Above, So Below"

Slighty below par, and highly unadventurous

With bands like Sarcófago and Hellhammer having already explored the thrashiest reaches of dirty black metal by the late 80s, Wargoat has his work cut out for him if he wants to stand out among the throngs of imitators with his Bloodwraith project.

Born out of the ashes of his previous project Shadows of Sin, Kevin Wargoat remains the driving force. As Above, So Below from 2012 marks the debut of Bloodwraith as a new band. Donning the mantle of first wave black metal in all its gritty, unrefined familiarity, the album aims at a sound easy to do but difficult to master.

No Peace of Mind: "Purify the Hope"

Instrumentations rule over vocals in this mix of old and new

No Peace of Mind, a hardcore band from Istanbul, Turkey, of all places, belongs to the segment of the genre where a strong rhythm section reigns supreme. With clean and harsh vocals alike, the band explores the shallow depths of melodic hardcore with a few different twists and turns along the way.

Six in Line: "U Shud Hev Invtd Me"

A bit too fun without too much thought about substance

Metal doesn't have to be serious business all the time, but it helps when the music doesn't have to be held up by a gimmick like comedy and humour. Seriousness about your craft and ideals can often be misinterpreted as self-importance and arrogance, or come off as goofy. Most comedic bands, however, are too caught up in their own inside-jokes to worry about the actual quality of their music. Everything in moderation.

Black Chalice: "Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour"

Perhaps a bit too esoterical for its own good

Today we revisit Patrick Hasson's Black Chalice. The last review - of the Black Chalice 2011 demo Years of Flame - yielded a 6/10 score, and now the time has come to get acquainted with the Maine one-man project's debut demo, Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour - Unleashed upon mainkind earlier in 2011. As mentioned in earlier reviews, Hasson is a busy man, also being involved in the black metal outing Auspicium.

Durvasag: "Pure Fucking Thrash!"

Tempers run high in the garage it seems

Thrash and black metal have gone hand in hand more or less since the beginning with Venom's "Black Metal" and Hellhammer's thrashy proto-black metal style. The Canadian band Durvasag follow up on this early trend with their first release, the 2011 demo "Pure Fucking Thrash!".