Acrid Death "Abominable Presence of Blight" (Review)

Acrid Death Abominable Presence of Blight

2024 Rising Nemesis Records

This one brings the heavy. Full-on Swedish worship in the guitars and riffs, but with an edge of brutality a lot of those bands never really had outside of Grave. The chainsaw guitars are well-done and not too overbearing, and the drums are tight and easy on the ears. The bass growls along underneath it all, and the vocalist delivers highs, lows, and in-betweens. Up-tempo is the name of the game here, with double bass everywhere rumbling the songs to their completion, but not before they take your head right off with some of the most aggressive riffing in this style I've heard in a long time. Sure, the melody is there, but so is unrepentant brutality with riffs to match heaviness with any American-style band out there. Everything about this album is just big, from the production to the flawless performances. Angry riffs, angry vocals, and excellent songwriting are all delivered in a huge way. If you're a fan of chainsaw guitars, this is a can't miss record, and fuck the naysayers who always complain about this style not needing new bands. This is one nasty bastard of a record, and it's good death metal regardless of their sound. If you can't get into this you just don't like death metal as much as you say you do.

Vulvectomy "Aberrant Vaginal Gestation" (Review)

Vulvectomy Aberrant Vaginal Gestation

2025 Comatose Music (CD)

BADASS SONG TITLES: Conceived in Vaginal Sores, Choked with Menstrual Drippings, Greedy Fetal Discharge (yes, the songs are all this goddamn sick and worse - kudos to the band for managing to actually gross me out)

Vulvectomy is a band I steer people toward who ask me what an actual good slam-oriented death metal band sounds like. They're definitely part of the modern template for this style, building on the monstrous grooves of Internal Bleeding and Devourment and older bands that featured killer breakdowns like Malevolent Creation. Along with bands like Analepsy and Kraanium they have moved brutal death metal forward, kept traditional elements that need to be there, like blasts and thrash riffs, but heavied up the slam riffs to their maximum potential without the entire album becoming the same damn riff, which is always a danger with bands that like to slam. The death metal here is top notch, and every bit of it will move your body along with the infectious grooves offered. Technical death metal fans and goregrind fans will find plenty to enjoy here as well, with the top-notch playing on offer, and the sick subject matter that's almost always about something beyond nasty. It doesn't get much better than this for brutal slamming death with musical chops, so seek this out and get your head banged. This is the real brutal stuff. Ignore the trends!

Starvation "A Vast Devouring Infestation"

Starvation A Vast Devouring Infestation

2024 Independent (Digital)

2025 Unholy Domain Records (Cassette)

www.facebook.com/UnholyDomainRecs

I’m not sure what went wrong during the vocal recording session, but they’re far too flat and out front, but I got used to it after about the second song. That’s my only problem with it – stylistically they made me think of very early Sepultura and early Deicide, which is excellent. There’s even well-placed reverb, and there’s quite a bit of echo on them. In fact, this entire record gives off that ancient feel, and it reminded me of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s for sure. It’s very much influenced by mid-period Death and Cannibal Corpse and very early Suffocation in the riffing department, which is also a plus for me. I’ll want to see what this Italian band does next for sure. This is their debut, and I’m sure they’re capable of a great record.

Ignominious "400 Million Tons of Flesh" (Review)

Ignominious 400 Million Tons of Flesh

2025 Independent (Digital)

ignominious.bandcamp.com

I’ve always liked the word ignominious – in fact I used it prominently in a song or two – and when I saw this band, I had to check them out. I didn’t expect too much since it looked like this effort had some silly song titles, and that’s a fact that it does. Just look at the cover. However, the old adage of not judging a book applies here. The music is very good – a solid death metal effort that’s heavy on the groove but not in a boring-ass slam riff way. They work the grooves into their well-crafted compositions of solid death metal in a way that captures my ear, and they don’t over-do it. They’re also from Ohio, which is my former home state, adding to Ohio’s ever-impressive roster of death metal bands. I’m happy to have stumbled onto their material. It’s worth a listen if you like heavy-ass death metal with groove like Kataklysm, Gutted, or Illdisposed’s groovier material. Here’s hoping they keep it underground and sick for a long time to come.

Master "40 Years and Still Killing" (Review)

Master 40 Years and Still Killing

2025 Independent (Digital)

master.bandcamp.com

I believe a CD of this exists as a tour-exclusive bit of merch, but I could be mistaken, so I listed this as digital. It is comprised of two studio tracks which I believe appear as bonus tracks on a version of Saints Dispelled, their last studio effort, along with four live tracks recorded in 2011 in Italy. Either way, it’s a new Master release, and I’m paying attention! I have long revered Paul Speckmann’s musical projects, and Master is one of my favorites of all time. In fact, when I met him on the US tour with Solstice in Detroit, I made sure to mention to him that Master’s music has helped me through some hard times. When I get a Master album, I always know what I’m getting and I know I won’t be disappointed. I can trust that he’ll not stray from what the core sound of the band has always been. That’s worth a lot to me. This is by no means an essential release since at least the studio tracks appear elsewhere, but it’s worth supporting the band to pick it up from their Bandcamp site.

Mind Snare "33 Curses at the Nazarene" (Review)

Mind Snare 33 Curses at the Nazarene

2025 The Spew Records

www.punishment18records.com

This is one band that’s been around forever that I’ve always given a once-over and not really paid much attention. Hailing from Italy, their sound is much more like the American bands from Florida in the 1990s. This is not a bad thing! The heavy thrashing death metal on offer here is quite pleasing to these metalized ears, and the blasts are fast and vicious like Malevolent Creation. The vocals are delivered rhythmically with distinct patterns, overtop fine songwriting and hellacious riffs. This is their fifth full length since 2000, with demos going all the way back to 1992, but it’s their first full length since their last one in 2014! That’s a long time to fester, and these rotten compositions were worth the wait. I fully recommend this one to death metalists that want that 1990s sound.