Tag: progressive death metal

chapel of disease - and as we have seen the storm...
Vinyl

Chapel of Disease: …And As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)

Day 17 of the #mayvinylchallenge asks us to imagine if the Pandemic was a record, what record would it be? The best response I saw was this one, so I’ll take the more common road and use the opportunity to talk about a record whose name has at least a passing connection to Our Year(s) of COVID. I wasn’t familiar with Chapel of Disease before the release of their 2018 record ...And As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye, but their unique take on progressive death metal immediately hooked me and helped to further clarify what it is I really look for when it comes to my “favorite” metal albums.

Continue reading “Chapel of Disease: …And As We Have Seen the Storm, We Have Embraced the Eye (2018)”
ChrisLeave a comment
behold the arctopus - nano nucleonic cyborg summoning
CD

Behold…The Arctopus: Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning (2006)

Behold Behold…The Arctopus!  See their shimmering and gnarly cacophony of sound as they summon forth nano-nucleonic cyborgs on their EP/later expanded to full release with live cuts Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning.  If that sounds like a mouthful, well it perfectly encapsulates the music, a frenetic prog/noise/thrash-jazz hybrid instrumental execution courtesy of Colin Marston and Mike Lerner.  Continue reading “Behold…The Arctopus: Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning (2006)”

ChrisLeave a comment
becoming the archetype - terminate damnation
CD

Becoming the Archetype: Terminate Damnation (2005)

2005 was the year I really dove back into what was happening in modern metal.  Over at Nine Circles I ran a series of articles about the many albums I had relegated to binders, and over the course of 3 entries and almost 30 albums I think there were over a dozen just from that year.  One of the bands I didn’t cover was Becoming the Archetype, and that’s that’s because their 2005 debut Terminate Damnation was never pushed to binder status.  This is epic thrashing modern metal that holds up ridiculously well, bridging progressive and technical death metal with elements of metalcore wrapped in a strong, unyielding Christian ethos.  God approves, and so do I. Continue reading “Becoming the Archetype: Terminate Damnation (2005)”

ChrisLeave a comment
atheist - unquestionable presence
CD

Atheist: Unquestionable Presence (1991)

Call it “death jazz” call it innovative, call it whatever you want…there was an unquestionable feeling that metal had evolved when Atheist released their second album Unquestionable Presence.  Metal had always been known for its technical chops, but the lengths to which Atheist contorted those chops to encompass so many style, including – yes – jazz, were quite frankly unknown.  Today it stands as a monument to the pinnacle of technical death metal: dazzling without being too overwrought, fast and frenetic and still cohesive as a death metal album. Continue reading “Atheist: Unquestionable Presence (1991)”

ChrisLeave a comment
akercocke - antichrist
CD

Akercocke: Antichrist (2007)

I knew the second the chaos of “Black Messiah” burst from my speakers Antichrist wasn’t an album I was going to come back to.  This was a clear case of sequencing killing an album for me.  Never mind that the 2007 album from Akercocke was (outside of the opening track) for the most part similar to the progressive death metal I loved on Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone.  I had just discovered that there are some bands I didn’t need to follow throughout their career.

And that’s totally okay.  Continue reading “Akercocke: Antichrist (2007)”

ChrisLeave a comment
akercocke - words that go unspoken, deeds that go undone
CD

Akercocke: Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone (2005)

Oh, fancy lads of Akercocke.  You do the dress up thing, you sing of Satan and blasphemy, and you play a beguiling progressive death metal that would make many upstarts weep with jealousy.  I am not always taken with you, particularly when you go lower than “large pig swallowing another pig” in your vocal range, but damn if the music on Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone isn’t some of the best death metal in the last 15 years. Continue reading “Akercocke: Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone (2005)”

Chris1 Comment