Deus Otiosus: "Rise"

Unadventurous, yes, but highly addicting

Deus Otiosus from Denmark showcase just how important real songwriting chops are in metal. Death metal truly isn't just death metal - It takes riffs, devotion and skill. From the release of their critically acclaimed debut album Murderer in 2010, the seasoned group have toured extensively before signing with Deepsend Records. For those unfamiliar with the band, their prime objective has always been returning to the roots of thrashy death metal with a modern sound and approach. The individual members' involvement in various other prolific Danish metal bands has yet ensured a tormentingly high quality of ruthless content.

2016 Top 10 - Part III: The EP Top 5

Arguably I haven't listened to that many EPs in 2016 - And the best ones seem to have been classified as demos, which is another Top List entirely! For a relatively short list there is still something for everyone. A little metal, a little funk, a little something-something. The choices for Top 5 EPs of 2016 are as follows:

Bone Fragments: "Blood Spatter Bone Scatter"

The gimmick is the worst, and the music is almost as terrible. Spoilers.

Through a career spanning eight years Bone Fragments from moonshine country Virginia have produced a few albums of black metal with the theme of... Clowns and carnivals. I could scarcely believe what my eyes beheld in the promo material; A bunch of youngsters in varying degrees of clown-like get up, synth-based metal melodies washing ashore somewhere in the borderland between eerily cheery and creeping melancholy. With an initial reaction something along the lines of "you have got to be kidding me", the circus was on.

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.

2016 Top 10 - Part II: The Non-Metal Part

Here is the second Top 10 for 2016 - The non-metal part. Again, there has been several worthy contenders, and some must be left out. After all, there's not much sense in the end of the year list if you're not forced to make some choices. And in 2016, these choices are as follows:

Sporadic Slaughter: "Thoughts On Our Significance"

Technical enthusiasm and deathly disruptions

Though most bands aim to distinguish themselves from similar groups or from any obvious trends, whether they're following them consciously or not, but Sporadic Slaughter from Yorkshire, England, seem hellbent on shoehorning themselves in right among the rest of the half-technically alligned modern death metal bands of today.

Rozamov: "Of Gods and Flesh"

Destructive and heavy, just the way it's supposed to be

Atmosphere ranks highly on the list of elements that define American stoner/doom metal band Rozamov's second EP Of Gods and Flesh. With massive walls of distorted guitars, gigantic monoliths of bass and drums, the quartet form a solid core of doom with mood-setting gusts of ethereal vapors around it.