Coffin Curse--The Continuous Nothing (CD) {2024 Memento Mori Records}

www.memento-mori.es

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Chilean band Coffin Curse has been around since 2012, and this is their second full length. I can hear a myriad of influences in their sound, but most notably Autopsy, Morbid Angel, and Deicide. If I had to guess, I might also accuse them of having Sadistic Intent and Possessed as influences! I can hear it in the riffs and the drumming. The guitars are quite bright on this recording, and the record is rightly focused on them, but all the instruments are audible and the mix is perfect for death metal. The rhythm section gets a real workout, with the bass and drums working in tandem to create a rumble to rival any band, and sticking tightly to one another. The vocals are a deep growl with some serious power behind it, with a rich tone and a chesty sound with excellent vocal patterns. There are some really catchy songs here, with the most catchy probably being "Reeking Filth of Ages," with its stop/start beginning. Plus, that song title kicks ass. This entire record is worth hearing, and this is indeed a bit of an older release so it might be harder to find, but it is indeed worth it.

Orbstruct--Ostracism (CD) {2025 Paragon Records}

www.paragonrecords.org

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This death squad hails from Ukraine, and has delivered their third full length, this time for Paragon Records. They play extremely heavy death metal with a decidedly old-school leaning. I can hear influence ranging from Incantation to Vader in their sound. The vocals are guttural growls and they make extensive use of layering on the recording for both emphasis and effect. They may be slightly high in the mix, but this is nitpicky. They use quite a bit of groove to make their riffs catchy, and it works like a charm on tracks like the eponymous "Ostracism," a clear stand-out track on the album. The guitarists are riff masters, with badass riff after badass riff emanating from their cabinets. They use varying degrees of technicality, and are clearly masters of their instruments. Their songs tend toward being a bit long, with most in the four to five minute range, and they balance their compositions in such a way that the songs don't seem to take that long at all. The CD itself deserves a note: it's a digipak, which I like, and the lyric sheet doubles as a band photo poster, which is a great idea and sets this release apart a bit. Usually it's a booklet stuck in there, but a poster is top notch. This is one the real death fiends should hear, and while it didn't completely blow me out of the water, it got pretty damn close, and that's a feat that shouldn't be ignored. I'll be watching for more from this band. It's got to be hard to create music while a war is going on in your country, and I wish them luck and success.

Recidivist--Madness Malformed (LP) {2024 Creator-Destructor Records}

www.creator-destructor.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Sometimes, when death metal and hardcore meet, a beast is formed that is both catchy, crushing, and aggressive. That's the case here with Recidivist. Weaved in and out of the more typical death metal riffing are riffs that are very hardcore-oriented, with that bounce we all associate with the genre. However, here they're positioned in such a way that it elevates the music to something more than hardcore masquerading as death metal, and turns it into just good, hard death metal with simpler, catchy riffs. I'm a huge fan of certain bands like Jungle Rot and Mutagenic Host who do the same thing, and it works so well here. Some people have compared this band to Gatecreeper, and I guess I can see that at a basic level, but they're really nothing alike to me once you really get into what the bands do. Recidivist keeps their music mostly in the mid-tempo range, focusing on the heavy and aggressive guitars, with the drums' driving beats inflicting violence behind them, in much the same way as the first couple of Grave records accomplish. The vocals are deep, strong, powerful death growls, and they perfectly mirror what the music itself is trying to accomplish: violence. I'll be attempting to hunt down this LP now that I've heard this record, and I encourage deathmaniacs who are into simpler, easier-to-digest death metal to seek this out. It's catchy as fuck, and I can't put it down. They get bonus points for the Night of the Living Dead sample at the beginning of the record, too.

Ranzer--Leidkultur (Digital) {2025 Independent}

ranzer.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for d-beat crust punk. It's another musical love of mine, even though I haven't been involved in that scene much. I stick to my metal scene, but welcome the crossover potential of different bands, and Ranzer is one of them. They play a mixture of death, thrash, and crust, heavy on the crust on the musical side and heavy on the death metal on the vocal side. They bring a punk sense of melody to their material while the d-beats hammer away behind the music. Because all the songs are in German, I can't say what their songs are about but if I had to venture a guess it would be war, the misery it brings, and capitalistic exploitation. The cover screams it with some very Warhammer 40K-ish imagery, reminiscent of what we expect of crust and of death metal both, and has a very crust aesthetic with mohawked demons and industrialized human zombies. This is honestly as pure a blend of crust and death metal as you'll find, being evenly balanced, and it's not pretentious, it's just what these gents happen to play.

Lay Waste--Lay Waste (Digital) {2025 Independent}

laywaste2.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Lay Waste play harsh HM-2 powered deathgrind that reminds me a little bit of Nasum at their best. They also have quite a bit of anarcho-punk influence in the music and lyrically, as their views and topics skew left of center. The cover is very cool - it's a collage of chaos, of recent events, and of confrontational imagery. That fuckface Elon Musk is on the cover, and just looking at that fucker gets me in the mood for grind this violent. The blastbeats are like a machine gun when present (and they're present a lot), steady and with a heavy snare sound. The guitars are sludgy when they slow down to give us a catchy riff, and they maintain the violent atmosphere perfectly. The more times you listen to this record, the more distinct the songs become, which I find is true of all good deathgrind, because you're able to see past the lightspeed compositions and hear the catchy parts more. I recommend this highly for grind freaks and deathmaniacs alike.

Slaughterday--Dread Emperor (CD/LP/CS) {2026 Testimony Records}

facebook.com/testimonyrecords

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This death metal machine from Germany is releasing their fifth full length, and the first in four years, in February. I've only had limited exposure to them before, so I'm coming into this review blind, so don't expect an analysis of the changes in their sound. To me, these guys sound like a mixture of Autopsy and Grave, dumped into a blender, and minced up slow. The vocals, however, remind me a lot of Vader, due to the tone the vocalist uses and his cadence and patterns. The guitar solos really stand out - they're remarkably like classic heavy metal solos, yet fit the music and mood perfectly, and there are plenty of them. In fact, we get impeccable playing from all the instruments, turning out a perfectly played record. I had a little trouble getting into this, outside of the solos, because the band does focus on slower tempos a lot of the time, but that's just my taste. While not doomy all the time, doom freaks would do well to check this out since it does have many doom-filled moments throughout the record. It's not a bad album, just not exactly to my tastes overall. I give it a higher rating based on the solid vocals, which are a pleasure to hear.

Barbarous--Initium Mors (CD/LP) {2025 Creator-Destructor Records}

www.creator-destructor.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Following up 2024's EP Coup de Grace, Barbarous bring us their first full length. Their name is an apt description, as I could think of no better way to describe their sound. They play powerful, strong death metal with killer vocal patterns and truly heavy-ass riffs. Some of the riffs used remind me of Malevolent Creation with that super-tight riffing they utilize, but they don't necessarily mimic their sound - they're quite original sounding. I love the sound of the toms on this record, too, being big, thumpy, and resonant. I can tell they focused on getting the right drum sound. Now, let's move on to the vocals, which are the real gem here. I could listen to this vocalist all day. Some of the vocal patterns remind me of Glen Benton, being very rhythmic and well-planned, but his tone is untouchable and surpasses many of the other death metal vocalists out there. He also has incredible diction - the vocals are almost entirely understandable, which is no mean feat when growling like this, especially with the power this singer uses. It's so easy to lose diction, and he manages to turn in a spotless performance. Overall, this is the real deal, reminding me of the best Florida has ever offered us, and fitting right in with the new wave of death metal without being derivative.

Jaundice--Infernal Demise (CS) {2025 Crypt of the Wizard Records}

cryptofthewizard.com

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is heavy 1990s style death metal from the UK, their first full length. I can hear little bits of Bolt Thrower and Carcass and Autopsy, but also little bits of Cannibal Corpse and Entombed. They're an amalgamation of influences that comes out just sounding like themselves, like Jaundice. There's a looseness to their playing that really makes this recording sound human and organic. The production is big and spacious, with the guitars enveloping everything but not drowning out the other instruments. They have echoing vocals but not nearly to the point some bands take it to these days - it's not recorded in a cave ten thousand feet under the earth, in other words. You can hear the reverb on the vocals but it's not distracting. Jaundice has a truly morbid atmosphere at times, the way death metal like this should have, and this album is as much about atmosphere as it is about heaviness. I think this band is on to something here, and I'll look forward to their next release.

Grindfection--Infeksi Dendam (Digital) {2025 Independent}

grindfection1.bandcamp.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Hailing from Indonesia, this is the first EP and debut release from this grindcore outfit.  They play heavy-ass grind mixed with crossover thrash and feature crushing breakdowns. It's nice to hear a brutal band from this country that plays in a different style than the usual brutal death metal. The band is extremely tight and they stick to the rhythm section like glue. The album is sung entirely in their native language, so I can't tell you about the subject matter, but the language is every bit as effective as English for metal, with lots of hard edges. The vocals are sung in a hardcore snarl with just a tinge of death growl, and it fits the music absolutely perfectly. We get only ten minutes and five tracks here, but it's enough to say that I want to hear more, and I want a full length. 

Dehydrated--Victims: Over 30 Years of Sickness (DCD) {2026 Paragon Records}

www.paragonrecords.org

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

If you are familiar with underground death metal, Dehydrated is a name you should at least have stumbled upon in the past. This release catalogs their discography, and is a wonderful starting point for the uninitiated. Included are six entire releases, three on each disc. They play death metal, straight up, with plenty of musical ability and sickness, and this is a band that should be heard by those who haven't. Since I am assuming a baseline familiarity with the band, I'm going to talk about the release itself, and a crucial problem I see with it. The tracklisting provided simply lists the releases on each CD, and not the individual song names. This made it impossible for me to follow along without going to Metal Archives and checking the track names. There are lyrics included, but without knowing exactly what track was what, it was very difficult to follow. I have to wonder at the wisdom of this approach. I get what they were trying to do, and found it an interesting choice to simply list off the releases on the discs, but it simply makes it difficult for anyone not familiar with the band to follow. I can recommend this release to those who are willing to do the legwork on the tracks who don't have or missed the previous releases by this band, as it's a great place to become familiar with their work, but the missing tracklisting is a real problem. This will be coming out on February 20 on Paragon Records, so make sure to get your copy quickly if you are a fan of the band.

Cryptworm--Infectious Pathological Waste (CD/LP) {2026 Me Saco Un Ojo Records}

www.mesacounojo.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Hailing from the UK, this is the third full length from these bruisers, for the indomitable Me Saco Un Ojo Records. Stylistically, they're somewhat similar to Undergang, Demilich, and Autopsy. The vocals are seriously guttural, using tones normally reserved for the most brutal of brutal death metal bands. It instantly sets them apart from the rest of the pack that play in this Autopsy-like style. There appears to be some Carcass influence, or perhaps Haemorrhage, if only for the medical subject matter at times. There's some truly catchy material here, like the beginning of the song "Drowning in Purulent Excrementia," which immediately gets the attention of the listener. The production is perfect, and this sounds like a death metal record should, with thick guitars and crisp drums. This is an album to look foward to, and the real maniacs should plan on buying it at the end of March when it comes out.

Melting Rot--Infatuation with Premeditation (CD/LP/CS) {2026 Hells Headbangers Records}

www.hellsheadbangers.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Melting Rot play absolutely furious deathgrind that takes no prisoners and gives no fucks. The vocals are ultra-guttural most of the time, but some different styles of growls present themselves from time to time. It's a masterful performance from the vocalist, overall. The guitars are down-tuned into hell and blown out, and they fill out the record nicely, taking up a lot of real estate with the mammoth distortion. The riffs are devastating, and at times incredibly catchy, with a real sense of hook. Grind is difficult as far as writing catchy songs since everything goes by so quickly, but these boys have pulled it off, and every song here is memorable. Some more so than others, but they have a baseline of being catchy overall. This is a band that would be at home on a death metal show as well as a grind show, and they truly straddle that line. I'll be buying this one, and all grind freaks should do the same!

Symphobia "Hideously Traumatic" (Review)

Symphobia Hideously Traumatic

2025 Comatose Music (CD)

www.comatosemusic.com

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the first full length from this Indonesian band. It's Indonesian-style (obviously) brutality with Disgorge-style gutturals. In fact, they remind me quite a bit of Disgorge overall, but with a more precise attack. The biggest problem with this album is the problem I have with so many brutal death metal albums today. It's impeccably performed by skilled players, and with well-written songs, but it's not anything that I haven't heard before a thousand times in the history of this music. I desperately wanted to give this a better review since I love this style, but I couldn't get past the fact that I've heard so many bands doing this lately that I just can't let this one pass without saying something about it. However, there is one thing they do that some of these bands do not: they occasionally find a brutal riff and slow to a groove and it's instantly catchy. However, they never return to these grooves and they blow right back into blastbeats. Spend some time on what works, guys. Catchiness is not a bad thing. Don't mistake my review for a terrible one, because this is perfectly good brutal death metal. It's just really not doing anything interesting, and at this point brutal death metal bands should want to stand out from the pack, not be a part of it.

Intubation "Hallucinations" (Review)

Intubation Hallucinations

2026 Independent (Digital)

intubation.bandcamp.com

4/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is a very young death metal band from Finland. The production is the first thing that makes an impression, being quite raw, but all the instruments are audible. The mix is off, however, as the vocals are far too much out front. Their compositions are rather simple, but they're effective enough, with proper songwriting and the occasional good riff. This is mid-paced stuff, with no real blastbeats in sight. These guys can definitely play, though, as the surprisingly good guitar solo in the first song indicates. Unfortunately a lot of their material sounds similar from song to song, and it's not very catchy at all, which I will chalk up to the band being so young. I think with a bit more experience under their bullet belts they should mature into a decent band, so I'll keep my eyes on them just in case.

Scythe "Boiled Alive" (Review)

Scythe Boiled Alive

2026 Independent (Digital)

scythegash.bandcamp.com

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the first full length from this Romanian outfit. It's musically competent death thrash that leans very heavily to the death metal side of the equation. This is a young band, and they display quite a bit of musical talent for such a young age. They remind me a bit of a thrashier Asphyx, but their arrangements are simpler. The vocals are fairly standard death growls, ranging from low to mid-range in tone. The production is quite clean, but natural sounding, and the mix is perfect. The guitar tone is more in line with thrash metal, which actually makes quite a bit of sense for this band. Overall, though, I just didn't think this album was all that special, and found it to be just ok. It's not something I'm racing to track down, unfortunately, but I definitely see a lot of promise if this band keeps making music.