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.

Homicidal Funeral "Gates of Doom" (Review)

Homicidal Funeral Gates of Doom

2025 Independent (Digital)

homicidalfuneral.bandcamp.com

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the second EP from these Spanish death merchants. They play competent death thrash that isn't the most intense, but instead relies on killer grooves and heaviness. There is some very unique riff work in some of these songs, with little flourishes that a lot of bands wouldn't think to include. The vocals are a bit like Asphyx with the same mid-range growl that has an element of anguish. I hear a lot of promise in this young band, and I hope they keep making music. If they would focus more on making songs like "Dawn of Desolation," I think they'd be truly interesting. This is their best song by far and it has it all - hooks, grooves, and a compelling solo to start the song. It's quite a dynamic effort and one that instantly stand out among the other songs here. This isn't bad for an EP, and I want to see what this band can do with a full length. The artwork is absolutely fantastic as well.

Nasty Surgeons "Gangrenous Symphonies" (Review)

Nasty Surgeons Gangrenous Symphonies

2025 Base Record Production (CD/LP)

www.baserecordproduction.com

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the fifth full length from these Spaniards. Nasty Surgeons, image and all, fits right in with Carcass, Exhumed, and Haemorrhage, but they have plenty of influence from the Floridian scene as well. I haven't heard their earlier material, so I can't expound upon any stylistic changes, but I am assuming this is more of a diverse effort than in the past. I can hear the Carcass influence in certain riffs and in the solos, which are quite talented and always welcome in the songs. The vocals are mostly a breathy mid-ranged snarl, with good vocal patterns. They're clearly obsessed with medical topics, and that's par for the course with bands like this. If you're looking for a Carcass-worship band, this isn't it, but if you want some of that influence in what you listen to, then Nasty Surgeons is for you.

Plague Master "Frozen Tomb Annihilation" (Review)

Plague Master Frozen Tomb Annihilation

2025 Independent (Digital)

plaguemaster1.bandcamp.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

I cannot fathom why certain bands haven't been snapped up by a label, and Plague Master is one of them. They play a furious mixture of grind and death metal that never fails to be as intense as possible on every track. Each song has fierce breakdowns with chugging, groovy riffs that are made for the pit. It's total violence in the best way. They're supremely heavy and extraordinarily tight, and are clearly masters of their craft. The vocals are in a higher register, due to being female fronted, and this makes them stand out nicely from the morass of death metal in the scene. Catchy riff after catchy riff hits the listener's ears, with hooks aplenty, and the vocals provide plenty of hooks on their own with top notch vocal patterns. This is truly brutal material, and it out-heavies most death metal in the scene today. This is absolutely worth getting. Get your ass to Bandcamp.

Hellknife "Flames of Damnation" (Review)

Hellknife Flames of Damnation

2025 Phobia Records (CD/LP)

phobiarecords.net

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Hellknife plays d-beat crust punk melded to death metal, bringing the obvious comparisons to very early Bolt Thrower, since they were the first to do the same. However, Hellknife belongs much more in the conversation with bands like Extinction of Mankind and especially Nuclear Death Terror, who they are quite similar to, but with longer songs, leaning into their death metal influences. Lyrically it's pretty standard d-beat fare about the destruction of the world and war, but they pepper in some more death metal style material about hell as well. It's crust punk seen through death metal glasses. I wish there were more labels devoted to this music, as a huge hole was left in the US market when Profane Existence closed up and I don't know who really took over since I'm only tangentially involved in this scene. However, if Hellknife is any indication, this music is alive and well, and coming for us all.

Extinguished "Foul Stench Adoration" (Review)

Extinguished Foul Stench Adoration

2025 Caligari Records (CS)

www.caligarirecords.com

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Extinguished sound much like old Autopsy but with a bit of Carcass thrown in. The vocals are the currently fashionable "recorded in a cave" type. Overall this isn't terribly exciting material, it just sort of plods along at mid- and slow-paced tempos. Material-wise, we get three songs plus a musical intro and outro. At least the intro and outro are performed by the band and not the typical drivel we get for intros in this style of music all the time. I have little else to say about this honestly, it just doesn't inspire me, but isn't bad. If you like Autopsy, you may like this.

Forced Starvation "Forced Starvation" (Review)

Forced Starvation Forced Starvation

2025 Regurgitated Semen Records (CD/LP)

www.rsr-hateape-shop.de

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Grindcore from New Zealand is what's on order here. Blending catchy riffs and hooks into relentless grind is not easy/ The constraints of the medium - speed, blastbeats, screamed and growled vocals - do not lend themselves to diversity of sonic application. However, Forced Starvation has done the difficult task of creating memorable songs out of pure grindcore. They do this by interjecting strategically placed slower riffs and changing tempos often, as well as using samples and catchy vocal patterns. Fourteen tracks rip by in eighteen minutes, and their longest song clocks in at 2:14. This is absolutely crushing material, and grindcore freaks as well as death metal devotees should give this a solid look if what you desire is nonstop sonic devastation.

Dogtag Remains "Forgotten Battlefields" (Review)

Dogtag Remains Forgotten Battlefields

2024 Satanath Records (CD)

www.satanath.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is high-quality death metal from Greece. Sonically they're a mixture of Entombed, Incantation, Asphyx, and especially Hail of Bullets. The remind me a lot of Hail of Bullets. They also share the military obsessions of Bolt Thrower, if not the melodicism. The vocals are the of the currently fashionable cavernous style with tons of echo. They're not afraid of blastbeats, peppering them in liberally throughout the record, and it goes a long way toward keeping the intensity high. This band is as much about a dark atmosphere as they are about brutality, not shying away from slower riffs to create different textures. This is better than average death metal and well worth a look even from grizzled veterans of the death metal scene.

Bone Storm "Daemon Breed" (Review)

Bone Storm Daemon Breed

2026 Independent (Digital)

wearebonestorm.bandcamp.com

4/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is just average death thrash from this Connecticut outfit. First, the good: the playing is excellent, right down to the perfectly timed drums and talented guitar solos. The production is perfect, with each instrument audible. However, the songs fail to get me excited. They blend right into each other with a lack of variation in the riffs. The tempos of all the songs are similar and the riffs and vocal patterns aren't good enough to really differentiate them. It's just a lackluster affair, overall, one you can honestly skip.

Decedent "For Those in Shallow Graves" (Review)

Decedent For Those in Shallow Graves

2025 Iron Fortress Records (CD/CS)

ironfortressrecords.com

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This record fits nicely in the current crop of up-and-coming death metal bands in the US, melding both the sounds of old and newer sounds like slam. You could put them on a tour with Sanguisugabogg with no problems. They're downtuned and dirty, and don't truly remind me of anyone specific. Sure, there are passages that remind me of Cannibal Corpse, and the vocals have a hint of the gruffness of 200 Stab Wounds, but that's where the similarities stop. They have a penchant for doomy riffs, slowing their tempo considerably at times during many of their songs. They may rely on slam riffs a bit too much, but they get in and out of them quickly enough that they're not terribly monotonous. This isn't an album I'm likely to revisit any time soon, but it's a tolerable listen overall.

Cancer Void "First Metastasis" (Review)

Cancer Void First Metastasis

2025 Iron Fortress Records

ironfortressrecords.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Here we have solid 1990s style death metal with a penchant for big doomy riffs in some of their songs. I hear Death influence at work as well as Incantation and possibly Asphyx and Entombed. The synth intro sets the morbid mood mighty fine, and going back to this on the fourth track, "Interlude," was a wise choice - they cave up the four studio tracks here nicely into two halves. I can just imagine all the nasty alien creatures visiting horrors upon any who witness them with these intros. It's a perfect fit with the album cover. I normally hate intros, so this is a triumph in itself. There are catchy hooks all throughout the songs to accentuate the monolithic riffage, and they consistently kept my attention with their songwriting. Cancer Void is as much about atmosphere and feeling as it is brutality, and I think that's why I like it so much. It reminds me of the early Swedish death metal bands, even though their sound is not similar. This is absolutely worth picking up, and I intend to do so.