SLAUGHTERSUN has released a playthrough video for their song “Ready Cell Awaits”.
Vocalist Justin Hillman comments:
“‘Ready Cell Awaits’ takes the listener on the journey of sitting in a cell, awaiting execution and searching desperately for anything spiritual to cling to in order to relieve the anguish.”
Watch the lyric video here:
The band has also just announced their first show at the Lucky 13 Saloon in Brookyln.
About SLAUGHTERSUN: Drawing musical, lyrical and creative influences from the likes of DEMILICH, GORGUTS, CANNIBAL CORPSE and AT THE GATES, to name a few, SLAUGHTERSUN create their own take on the death metal subgenre. Band founder Ben Karas (WINDFAERER) initially began writing for SLAUGHTERSUN back in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Karas was able to fully dedicate time and energy into the band. The band’s line-up soon came together comprised of Karas’ THANK YOU SCIENTIST band mate Cody McCorry, along with Jason Quinones (TOMBSTONER) and Justin Hillman (CRANIAL DAMAGE). In 2023, SLAUGHTERSUN began to rehearse and record in their full form and soon turned to preparing their debut “Fall of the Firmament”.
SLAUGHTERSUN is: Justin Hillman – Unearthly Wails Ben Karas – Treble Strings Cody McCorry – Bass Strings Jason Quinones – Hammer Battalion
Today, Chicago death metal institution Cardiac Arrest stream the entirety of their highly anticipated eighth album, The Stench of Eternity. Set for international release on May 17th via Hells Headbangers on CD and cassette tape formats – the vinyl LP version will follow on June 14th – hear Cardiac Arrest‘s The Stench of Eternity in its entirety here:
Formed in 1997, Chicago’s Cardiac Arrest continues to assault the death metal underground with their horror-inspired death metal. Never catering to the trends, Cardiac Arrest have remained a force to be reckoned with and show no signs of compromise. With numerous releases, festival appearances, tours in the US, Canada, and Europe, and respect of peers and fans alike, Cardiac Arrest proudly carries the flag of true DEATH METAL.
Newly allied with Hells Headbangers, Cardiac Arrest saw the reissue of their second album (and favorite), 2008’s Cadaverous Presence, on vinyl for the first time ever during the summer of 2023. Continuing this blood pact is the long-awaited release of The Stench of Eternity, their eighth album overall. Cardiac Arrest‘s preceding album, The Day That Death Prevailed, was released during the cursed year of 2020, and the following years were even more difficult for the band. Nevertheless, all that darkness and bitterness positively spill over on the ever-aptly-titled The Stench of Eternity. Sticking to their guns but firing ’em uglier and nastier than ever, Cardiac Arrest kick into their characteristic sound with sickly aplomb: gallop, blast, mix ’em up, and repeat as necessary until the listener is either possessed or decimated! A no-nonsense approach to be sure, but to do it this convincingly – and, after all these years, without rehashing the same ideas – is a skill elusive to most. Couple that with Cardiac Arrest‘s catchiest and most varied songwriting to date, as well as a production that manages to be both crystal-clear and exceptionally dirty simultaneously, and The Stench of Eternity becomes essential huffing for the sickest fucks. Timeless and trend-free, for over 25 years now: ONLY DEATH METAL IS REAL!
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Cardiac Arrest (Chicago)’s The Stench of Eternity 1. Maggot This One 2. Victims to the Blasphemy 3. Beg, Plead, Crawl 4. Means to an End 5. Bullets are the Only Cure 6. In the Name of Suffering 7. Born to be Buried 8. No Human Will 9. This is How You Die 10. From Civilized to Sadistic
For the first time ever, Darkness Shall Rise Productions releases a compilation gathering the three demos from Swedish melodic death metal pioneers Desultory. Titled Darkness Falls (The Early Years), the compilation will be released on CD and three-tape box on June 6th while the vinyl version will be released on July 4th.
Commonly cited and appreciated as one of the trailblazers of melodic death metal, Desultory‘s roots are deeply buried in thrash metal. Wearing their influences on their sleeves, their first demo From Beyond features songs in the vein of Kreator, Testament, and Merciless. Apart from Klas Morberg’s every howling, which bear semblance with early Tiamat and the fact that the demo was recorded in the legendary Sunlight Studios in 1990, From Beyond is basically a thrash metal demo, albeit a very enjoyable and strikingly well-played one.
It was with Death Unfolds from 1991, the rabid pack’s second demo, that Desultory really came into their own as far as style and sound are concerned. Again recorded by Tomas Skogsberg in his renowned Sunlight Studios, the demo showcases most of the band’s typical trademarks they would go on to be admired for. Bangers like “Passed Away” and “The Chill Within,” both of which would end up being re-recorded for Desultory‘s debut album, are top-tier Swedish death metal with downtuned guitar riffs in abundance and a particular sensitivity for melody.
Simply titled Visions, the third demo again recorded in Sunlight Studios in 1992, logically continues Desultory‘s trajectory. Building on the fundament laid out on Death Unfolds, some of the ingredients only hinted at previously are extended and fine-tuned on tracks like “Forever Gone” and “Depression.” Aided by the strongest production of their demos, giving the songs that certain extra punch, this demo is victorious on all fronts and a must-listen for anyone into Swedish death metal of the highest order.
A long interview with Klas Morberg was specially conducted for this demo compilation.
In the meantime, stream Darkness Falls (The Early Years) in its entirety here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Desultory (Sweden)’s Darkness Falls (The Early Years)
On July 5th internationally, Abstract Emotions is proud to present Inerth‘s highly anticipated new mini-album, Hybris, on 12″ vinyl format.
Inerth was born in Madrid in early 2019 just after the dissolution of their previous band, the acclaimed grindcore act Looking For An Answer. Formed by veteran musicians with 25 years of touring and recording experience, Inerth‘s main idea was to create an amalgam of harsh-but-pondering music designed to reflect a lifelong passion for sounds ranging from death metal to sludge as well as incorporating doomed and industrial soundscapes. After a self-titled EP debut, Inerth released their debut album, Void, in 2022 through Abstract Emotions, receiving great reviews worldwide and being included on the best albums list at such outlets like Mondo Sonoro, Rock Zone, Aversionline, Ritvual and Metalitalia among others. Taking inspiration from such bands as Godflesh, Napalm Death, Neurosis, Celtic Frost, Amebix, and Killing Joke, on their first full-length did Inerth reclaim the spirit of the 1990s’ most extreme & transgressive sounds.
With Hybris, Inerth show an evolutionary leap for the band. Unafraid of experimentation and going beyond boundaries, the four new songs here are full of strength and spirit. Inerth are clearly influenced by Godflesh, a band with which they recently toured, but Hybris equally shows their own idiosyncratic style in even-more-powerful form.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Midlife Wasteland”
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, Canadian death-maniacs Reversed premiere the new track “Hungry Graves”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Wildly Possessed, set for international release on May 24th via Invictus Productions. Hear Reversed‘s “Hungry Graves” in its entirety here:
Arising from Vancouver’s potent extreme metal mire, Reversed initially materialized in 2015 through a dedication to the spirit of real death metal and a rabid obsession with death. Guided more by passion than execution, this collection of well-honed ghouls quickly fell into a sepulchral trance to channel a singular form of necrotic, razor-lined heavy metal devilry.
Dying to crack open the tomb, Reversed harnessed and released the Widow Recluse demo tape into the wild in 2018 via Muerto En La Cruz and the recently closed Temple of Mystery. Showcasing the band’s gestating lunacy, the demo revealed shades of black, death, and thrash violently assembled into a refined vision of chaotic mayhem – a runaway train barely remaining on the rails. Due to wild demand, this was immediately followed by vinyl and CD versions on Temple of Mystery in 2019.
Afterward, a string of live shows displayed the wretched results across Western Canada and the USA, playing alongside Aura Noir, Morbid Saint, Antediluvian, Witch Vomit, and more. What followed was a period of cloistered writing and conspiring while the world writhed in torment by the festering plague.
Two rough tracks destined for the eventual debut album were recorded in the Reversed ritual space and released on limited tape by Bent Window Productions. This was to be fully realized on the Reversed debut LP, Wildly Possesed, heralding the dawn of a more aggressive and voracious worship of the ultimate extreme metal essence – 1986 – where labels of death, black, speed, and thrash were interchangeable.
The album was recorded at the infamous Fiasco Bros. Studios where Blasphemy recorded their legendary albums, mixed and mastered by Marco S. Vermiglio at The Forge Music Productions, and set to unleashed by infamous Irish underground devotee Invictus Productions in Spring 2024.
Also see & hear the previously revealed video “Final Death” HERE at Invictus‘ official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Reversed (Canada)’s Wildly Possessed 1. Wildly Possessed 2. Maelstrom Juggernaut 3. Hungry Graves 4. Beneath Evil Eyes 5. Final Death 6. Rusted Breath 7. Black Seed
Today, Turkish death metallers Engulfed stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Unearthly Litanies of Despair. Set for international release on April 19th – Me Saco Un Ojo Records will handle the vinyl release while Dark Descent Records will handle the CD and tape versions – hear Engulfed‘s Unearthly Litanies of Despair in its entirety here:
Formed in 2010 and with two EPs and a full length of supreme death metal under their belts, Turkish masters of brutality Engulfed return with their sophomore album.
Atmospherics, savagery, technicality, and morbidity. These four words should all spring to mind if you know Engulfed, and if you do not, get acquainted. Surging forth impenetrable waves of ferocity, this band spawns from the hotbed of extreme music that is Turkey. Their unfaltering bouts of blasting drums and convulsive riffing should have any fan of true death metal gripped from the get-go of this monstrous offering. Warped vocals and even-more-contorting instrumental work conjoins in malformed excellence to present some of the band’s fiercest tracks to date. If tremendous but hostile and savage music is what you seek, then read on and be a part of these Unholy Litanies of Despair, an album title promising exactly what is delivered.
Every second of this ruthless offering is a feast of vitriol, pulverizing all in the path of Engulfed’s unforgiving music: a rare example of a band whose technicality is not their downfall, relying on claustrophobic atmospheres and gargantuan levels of malice while playing superbly. The showmanship is tasteful and the songs never suffer for it, rather leaving you in awe of their undeniable talents which span the whole lineup. Moments of mournful gloom inject some dynamic into the total battery and mayhem, while the drive of this album is infallible and never loses momentum for a second, building tension and mood with its formidable and forceful delivery. Right until its dying breaths, Engulfed‘s new offering is a lesson in visceral death metal magnificence that must be learned by all. [text by Jørgen Sven Kirby, Nattskog webzine]
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Engulfed (Turkey)’s Unearthly Litanies of Despair 1. In the Abyss of Death’s Obscurity 2. Voidwalker’s Dominion 3. Echoes of Suffering 5. Blasphemous Despair 4. Infernal Desolation 6. Cursed Eternity 7. Ancient Abyssal Conquest 8. Occult Incantations
Today, nasty metallers Torturers’ Lobby premiere the new track “Reptilian Hide”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Deadened Nerves, which is now set for international release on June 14th: Caligari Records will release the CD and cassette tape versions while Ixiol Productions will release the vinyl version.Hear Torturers’ Lobby‘s “Reptilian Hide” in its entirety here:
Hailing from Tampa, Torturers’ Lobby began as a three-piece band with Tim Anderson on drums, Ryan Conway on bass, and Evan Dawson, on guitar/vocals. After the Again debut demo in 2021, Adam Shaw joined as a dedicated vocalist. With this lineup, the band recorded the Crisis of Faith Rehearsal, which was released later in 2021. The following year, the 7″ EP Man in Zwugzang was released, and Anderson left the band after the subsequent Kinetic Disapproval rehearsal, which featured some early versions of songs that would be on Torturers’ Lobby‘s eventual debut album, Deadened Nerves. Dwane Nihiser replaced him, and that debut album is the first release with him playing drums.
Now at last here and their lineup firm, Deadened Nerves announces Torturers’ Lobby‘s arrival with devastating punctuation. A metal record for metal people, the band’s first full-length doesn’t kowtow to genre conventions – death metal, black metal, thrash, and even juiced-up traditional metal all get diced and sliced into their cranky cauldron – nor does it get overly “clever” and pay lazy lip service to a please-everybody middle ground. No, Torturers’ Lobby simply go for the throat quickly and without compunction, rushing forth with an urgency of approach and physicality that’s tangible – truly, this is a whole band playing together instead of punched-in parts – but soon twist the knife in myriad ways. And that’s perhaps the trump card of Deadened Nerves: violent and off the rails it might often be, but there’s a diabolic logic to the angular shapes Torturers’ Lobby throw, a strive to elevate songwriting to something at once palpitating and mind-bending, careening and in control. RIFFS are aplenty, and the production’s thick and scuzzy yet fully pro, and Shaw’s vocals keep apace with acerbic annunciation.
“Truly, we just wanted to create unique music we haven’t heard, yet want to listen to,” state the band. “It’s very difficult to nail down what we play, and we like it that way. We worship no specific style, as the greats have already done it, so there is no sense in recreating some watered-down parody of it. We just wanted to be different and pursue something new, a different direction in violent ‘underground’ music. We have jokingly referred to our sound as ‘Florida shitkicker.'”
Still, there’s no joking around on Deadened Nerves. The lyrics match the severity of its music, focusing on actual events and societal ails. “We do not write silly songs about juvenile notions of ‘evil,’ the ‘occult,’ or fictitious gore,” the band continue. “We strive to turn humanity to face its grotesque reflection and reconcile with its own evil and misguided obsession with cruelty, morbidity, and lack of independent thought. This is a real reflection of the decaying world around us, though we are not seeking to advocate for it.”
Nasty, authentically underground, but not bogged down by too-cool borders, Torturers’ Lobby shitkick past, present, and future with Deadened Nerves.
Also hear the previously revealed “Reaper’s Impunity” HERE at Caligari‘s Bandcamp, where the CD and tape versions can also be preordered. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, New Zealand dreadnought Heresiarch stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Edifice. Set for international release on April 12th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Heresiarch‘s Edifice in its entirety here:
For over 15 years now, New Zealand’s Heresiarch have patiently crafted a body of work that has come to transcend their early influences. Though lineups have shifted during that time, led by founding vocalist N.H. and enhanced by guitarist C.S. in 2013, Heresiarch have wisely taken their time with recordings and prized quality over quantity. The band’s debut album, Death Ordinance, arrived in 2017 after a trio of savage short-lengths. A new rhythm section took root following that album’s release, and a couple splits in the ensuing years honed their doomed ‘n’ barbaric sound into something more molten and ominous.
And now arrives that megaton payload of devastation, Heresiarch‘s second album, elegantly titled Edifice. If there were any doubts that the band were but yet another toneless ‘n’ tired “war metal” troupe, the New Zealanders trounce any and all trepidation with exceptionally seismic songwriting. Here on Edifice, the parameters of Heresiarch‘s sound – death metal muscle, black metal atmosphere, grindcore aggression – are all in devastating harmony, creating a hydra-headed beast that betrays a wealth of true-yet-twisted ideas. More than just safely evading easy categorization (which is often mere doublespeak for “pleasing all constituents”), the quartet lay bare a landscape of texture titanic in its heft and foreboding in its effect, seamlessly winding through minefields both sonic and psychic and eventually culminating in a grandiose two-part finale in the equally compellingly titled “Hubris and Decline” and “Militate Pyrric Collapse.” For sure, Heresiarch sound as martial as ever, but the lava now flows in palatably unique ways, all without compromising their core aesthetic. Indeed, one could say they’ve finally found order through chaos.
The possibilities of life’s destruction are endless for those who wander before Heresiarch‘s Edifice.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Heresiarch’s Edifice 1. Forged Doctrine 2. Manifest Odium 3. Noose Above the Abyss 4. Gloryless Execution 5. Tides of Regression 6. A World Lit Only By Fire 7. Swarming Blight 8. Mystic and Chaos 9. Hubris and Decline 10. Militate Pyrrhic Collapse
Today, American black/death institution Crucifier stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Led Astray. Set for international release on April 12th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Crucifier‘s Led Astray in its entirety here:
One of the longest-running entities in the American underground, Crucifier was formed in 1990 by vocalist/drummer Cazz Grant. While myriad lineups would come and go – and the band’s eventual debut album, Stronger Than Passing Time, wouldn’t be released until 2003 – Crucifier have kept consistent to their blasphemous, blackened death metal style steeped in the truly ancient and most underground ways.
Now, two years after their weird & wild Say Your Prayers mini-album, Crucifier align with Iron Bonehead once again for the release of their third full-length, Led Astray. Taking the wandering yet fully locked-in songwriting of that mini to its ultimate conclusion, Led Astray is a masterclass in memorable, METAL riffing and twisted rhythmic thrust. As is their signature, Crucifier sound positively primal here but never primitive; while these nine screeds of blasphemy might confuse or insult normcore listeners, there’s an extremely considered & calculated delirium behind their blackened devilry. As such, the “tight looseness” that’s characterized Crucifier‘s work to date gets sharpened to an enviable degree as these nine labyrinths surge and storm with a paradoxical / perverse sense of class. Credit the latter largely to the jaw-dropping dual lead-work across Led Astray: an element that’s been bubbling in the Crucifier cauldron for years, but which really reaches a superlative level here. Of course, Grant’s vocals are as diabolic as ever, seemingly coming from every direction and hackle-raising in their articulation.
Crucifier hereby have delivered a modern classic of blackened death metal in Led Astray!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Crucifier (USA)’s Led Astray 1. Smite… 2. Feed the Furnace 3. In Hircine Splendor 4. Biers of Catholic Bones 5. With Cornu and Peccant Breath 6. Trafficking with the Devil 7. Serenaded by the Angels’ Shrills 8. Harbingers of Apollyon 9. An Endeavour of Rats
On April 4th internationally, Chaos Records will release a reissue of Degraved‘s Whispered Morbidity & Exhumed Remnants on CD format. Hear Degraved‘s Whispered Morbidity & Exhumed Remnants in its entirety here:
With roots in the dismal and damp soil of the Pacific Northwest, the members of Degraved are not newcomers to the sordid landscape of death metal. Originally a recording project of members of Cavurn, the duo found themselves needing an outlet for faster downtuned riffs in the harrowing American tradition.
In 2020, Degraved released their first demo, Exhumed Remnants. Absolutely gutsfucking, this four-song salvo conspicuously nodded to the gods of downtuned DM – Cianide, Funebrarum, and early Necros Christos – but did so with the feral force and gutter-drenched ritualism. That gutter-ward descent continued with the band’s second short-length offering, 2023’s Whispered Morbidity. On this EP, the band doubled in size to a quartet, and their base barbarity received a razor-sharpened refinement, somehow becoming heavier and more heaving in the process. Still old-school to the bone, eerie synth lurked between slabs of guitar and guttural onslaught, proving Degraved‘s intent to desecrate the tarnished earth. Now compiled onto one convenient CD, both Whispered Morbidity and Exhumed Remnants will together entrance the listener with their more-than-fanit call of death beckoning.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Degraved’s Whispered Morbidity & Exhumed Remnants
1. Crematortured 2. Compulsory Bloodletting 3. Reduced to Bone and Ash 4. Whispered Morbidity 5. Exhumed Remnants 6. Corpse Fermentation 7. Incinerated
