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.

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.