REVIEW: Bloodscrawl--Catatonic Rot (CS) (2026 Independent)

bloodscrawl.bandcamp.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Hailing from Spokane, WA is Bloodscrawl, a mighty fine example of 1990s-worshipping death metal that stylistically lands somewhere between old Cannibal Corpse, Death, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy, and Mortician. They're content to sit in a heavy-ass groove until a section of grind makes sense and serves to elevate the song. The songwriting is truly superb and the riffs are particularly pernicious in their catchiness. I've made it pretty clear in these pages about my warm and fuzzy feelings for the new bands playing in this venerable style, and I'm ecstatic about finding this particular band. Here's to hoping they continue to make music after this fine record, well into the future. One thing that truly helps this record is the natural, almost understated drum sound. Too often in death metal the drums are over-emphasized and they just sound noisy. Not here, not at all. Another thing I really found enjoyable was the mid-album '70s/'80s horror film-style musical interlude to break up the albums progression and to provide a rest for the ears. It's wonderfully executed and suitably Goblin-esque. I also hereby gift Bloodscrawl a "clever wordplay award" for the track they titled "The Bile Belt." Excellent work gents!

Review: Ninth Realm--Damnation's Veil (CD/LP) (2026 Transcending Obscurity Records)

tometal.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

A lot of folks first hear the thrash and hardcore in Ninth Realm's influences, but I hear and feel the death metal in their sound more than anything. For me, this is a death metal record. I can detect exactly what the other reviewers are hearing, there is plenty of both thrash and hardcore in Ninth Realm's repertoire, and I love that aspect of them, but this album is pissed off in a way that only death metal will allow. Take a song like "Imbued in Hellfire," or "Rituals in Thar'amath," for example. These are pure death metal epics with thrashing riffs! The band defies easy classification, to be sure, and that's what I like so much about them. It's just good, aggressive heavy metal. The guitars really shine during the solo work. There's some real talent in this band, to say nothing of their songwriting chops. This is quite the accessible album for being an extreme metal record, with hooks galore and catchy riffs everywhere. It's just a record that all metalists need to hear, and I'm giving it perfect marks.

Review: Vilifier--Skullthrone (Digital) (2026 Independent)

vilifier.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Now, I know it says digital in the title line above, but there should be a physical release of this coming at some point. The promo for this release was sent to me on a hand numbered cassette, which reminded me wistfully of the old days of the scene. Until an official release is out, you can grab the digital version on Bandcamp. Vilifier deliver some seriously sickening metal of death on this EP, properly ancient sounding and filthy. The band makes a show of saying this was recorded "under abysmal conditions," but the sound isn't bad at all, just quite raw. I can still hear all the instruments well, and everything sounds like it should. It doesn't take away from the heaviness, no, it adds to the atmosphere! Gone are the days when recording quality could give a band a specific atmosphere, but hats off to those bands like Vilifier who remember this and do something about it. Stylistically there's plenty of war metal influence, but also 80s and 90s death metal and black metal. The riffs are simpler, the arrangements are catchy, and the axiom "only death is real" applies. I truly enjoyed this material, as I generally do with most of the scene in Australia! There's just something about bands from that country, a certain grittiness in the sound that truly satisfies my metal tapeworm. This is worth tracking down, get thy ass to Bandcamp now.

Rapidfire Review: In Obscurity Revealed--Chaotic Maelstrom (CD/CS) (2026 Personal Records/Night Terrors Records)

personal-records.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

In Obscurity Revealed comes from Mexico and play an interesting dark death metal perhaps a little like Sadistic Intent. There is some excellent guitar solo work on this record, which really helps to distinguish the band. The vocals are low growls with force and power behind them, and they're produced perfectly for this style. This is another solid release from Personal Records, who have really found some interesting bands recently.

Rapidfire Review: Azatoth--Carnal Lust of Blasphemy (CD/LP/CS) (2026 Extremely Rotten Productions)

extremelyrottenprod.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Azatoth hail from Finland and play catchy, dark, filthy death metal. Their darkness reminds me of Incantation, but their catchy songwriting reminds me of Grave. Vocally we get near-guttural low growls with the occasional pitch-shifted measure mixed in to make it ultra grimy. This should be an album to buy for those of you who want death metal that's sick and filth-ridden.'

Review: Abyssal Evisceration--Bleeding Through (Digital) (2026 Obscurity Records)

obscurityrecords1.bandcamp.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

The Archives tells me next to nothing about this band, other than they're signed to Michigan's Obscurity Records and that they're from Colorado. They're a complete mystery, and that's interesting to me. Their music is a vicious hybrid of death metal styles, half the material being firmly rooted in groove-oriented, almost 1990s style brutal death metal, and the other half being vicious deathgrind. I can't figure out if the drums are programmed or there's just heavy trigger use. If this is a real drummer, he's a fucking beast, a grinding god. The blasts are super-tight, even on the gravity blasts, and the double bass is inhuman. Vocally we get mostly mid- to low-range growls, and they're aggressive, which is nice to hear on something this brutal instead of the typical gurgles. Some of the riffs are straight out of the 1990s Florida camp, and there are slower, heavier Dying Fetus-style transitions and breakdowns. The grind influences mixes with these two things to form incredibly brutal death metal the way it ought to be played, and the nice part is they're not actively playing in anyone else's style like happens so often with brutal bands. This is totally original sounding. So far, no sign of CDs or LPs, but you can get a digital copy at the label's Bandcamp site. I think this deserves a physical release, so hopefully someone will step up and make that happen.

Desecresy--The Secret of Death (CD/LP/CS) (2026 Xtreem Music)

xtreemmusic.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

When Desecresy first hit the scene back in 2010 or so, I knew it was going to be a special and important band. Now we're on the ninth full length album with no signs of stopping! I was a big fan of Slugathor, which Desecresy mainman Tommi Gronqvist also played in, and the bandsw have a similar feel to them at times. It's that ancient, slower style of death metal that is both obscure and crushingly heavy. That's not to say all the material is slower, it's not. There are indeed faster moments and the tempos vary quite a bit sometimes, but a lot of time is spent in mid-tempo territory. What this band does best is stuff like at the beginning of "Crypthymn" with the slow fade-in with horror sounds. Then comes the crushing opening riff, then on into the meat of the song. It's these sorts of transitions that I listen for in Desecresy's music. I'll never understand how one man can play all these different instruments with such proficiency. I can't play a damn thing besides using my throat to make evil noises, and it seems so wild to have mastered even three different instruments plus singing as Tommi does in this band. I'm always impressed by this. Overall, this is definitely worth a few listens, and the effort to track it down will be rewarded.

Morgarath--Onward to Extermination (CD) (2026 Independent)

morgarath-dt.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Morgarath from Poland play a delightfully rough and morbid mixture of black, death, and thrash metal, bringing to mind comparisons to Protector, Messiah, Necrodeath, Sarcofago, and early Sepultura. The production is raw yet all the instruments are quite audible and there's some real talent here. This is not a band using a raw production to hide any deficiencies in their playing. No, they can play. For some reason I really like the flat bass drum sound, it just sounds great to me along with the natural sound of the rest of the kit. The vocals are mixed a bit high compared to the other instruments, and they're a bit noisy, but you get used to it just like with the demos of old. This is excellent material overall and I highly recommend it to fans of the old South American scene in the late 1980s. It has the same feel to it, and it's quite a satisfying listen in a world of perfect productions and sterile atmospheres. Slick recording has made all metal sound the same, and it's a tragedy. It's nice to hear a raw production once in a while.

Feretro--The Mortuary Destiny of Flesh (CD) (2025 Nihilistic Holocaust Records)

nihilisticholocaustrecs.bandcamp.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Feretro have finally delivered a full length after a long stretch of demos and splits going all the way back to 2008, and it was worth the wait. This is death metal in the old way, reminding me of Mortuary, old Sepultura, and old Death. They have a doom-influenced side as well, evidenced by how many times they slip into a slower tempo. Thankfully they don't dwell on those riffs long, as it might put me to sleep. As they are, they add dynamics to the album, used sparingly. The guitar tone is rather satisfying on this album, being thick, crunchy, and clear. It reminds me a lot of the tones Schuldiner used to use. Vocally we get all sorts of growls and screams, from near-gutturals to high-pitched shrieks, and everything in between, but with a marked predisposition toward sounding as morbid as possible. There aren't terribly many blastbeats, as they style here is more toward '80s death metal, but the double bass is constantly at work providing a lot of forward motion for the songs. I fully recommend this record, and it's absolutely worth the trouble to track down.

Obstruktion--The End Takes Form (LP) (2025 Suicide Records)

suiciderecords.se

6/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Obstruktion from Sweden play an absolutely seamless melding of death metal and metallic, dissonant hardcore. The hardcore strips down the death metal to the absolute basics and leaves the riffs and heaviness intact. The vocals remind me of the intensity of The Haunted's original vocalist, with his frantic delivery and wound-tight-as-fuck presence in the mix. The same thing is going on here, as the vocals resemble hardcore vocals more than death metal, most times, although growls do make several appearances. The riffs are an even match between hardcore and death metal, with the guitarists welding hardcore to the death metal like it was just a bunch of spare parts to a motor that gets even more powerful as you add to it. Some of the material is an instant hit for me, and some is an instant miss (the more dissonant riffing). This is highly original material stylistically and avoids the trap of "this is just hardcore with death metal vocals" that some bands fall into. No, this is a more deft combination of the two styles without falling into the deathcore trap, either. They're death metal enough that I'd welcome their presence on a death metal show, but they would easily fit into a modern hardcore show as well. Not bad, not amazing, yet definitely original.

Chaos Inception--Vengeance Evangel (CD) (2025 Lavadome Productions)

lavadome.org

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

I've been a fan of Chaos Inception for a long time, and of their predecessor Fleshtized before that, so when a new Chaos Inception record was released, it went on my rather lengthy review list and I'm just now getting around to reviewing it. Since this site is more of a journal of my listening journeys and adventures and less about promotion, I'll often review things that are a bit older. If you're not familiar with this band, it's ok - it's been thirteen years since their last record graced our ears with its sounds. They're still hyperblasting death metal that reminds me of Hate Eternal and Morbid Angel with a touch of older Krisiun. The occasional weird sludgy riff rears its head like in the beginning of "10,000 Dead by Pincer," which especially reminds me of Morbid Angel. I'm fine with this since Morbid Angel themselves can't be bothered to play good death metal these days. This whole song is like an ode to proper Morbid Angel-style death metal. I like that they wear their influences on their sleeves, these guys always have, and their musicianship is top notch as well, with all the instruments giving us a clinic of proper death metal playing in a classic style. Vocally we get a quality performance that hearkens back to the best of the 1990s, with excellent rhythmic patterns and a good mid-range tone to the growls. This is an album that death metal fans cannot go wrong with, so give this band some support and track this down.

Protrusion--The Last Suppuration (CD) (2026 Sevared Records)

www.sevared.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

A new band comprised of scene veterans, Protrusion explodes from the Indiana underground with this new release on Sevared, and it's a mighty release! The band have current members of Human Filleted in its ranks, and other bands they are or have been in include Sarcophagy, Sadichist, Between the Killings, Gorgasm, Emulsified, Found Hanging, and many more, according to the Archives. This album reminds me of the classic Midwest sound, and in the best of ways, from the largely mid-paced approach to the writing of actual songs with catchy riffs. It reminds me of the mid-1990s specificially, and the material coming out of the area then. The album as a whole completely blew me away. The vocals are all guttural but are done using actual discernable vocal patterns that elevate them beyond mere background noise for the sake of having vocals. They are important and are given a proper bit of thought in the writing process. So many bands don't care about the vocals when they're doing gutturals, but this band is a huge exception to that rule. They prove that even gutturals can be expressive and well-planned like any other style of vocal. If you want straight forward and brutal death metal the way it used to be played when all the bands had a different sound, then this is for you. Everything about it is perfectly executed, right down to the production, and I could listen to this over and over again. This is one for the true deathmaniacs and deadbangers! 

One Day in Fukushima--The Shameful Eighteen (CD/LP) (2025 Global Help Records/Jungle Noise Records)

globalhelprecords.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

One Day in Fukushima play furious grindcore that borders on deathgrind at times. They manage to write in plenty of hooks and catchy moments into these brisk songs. They do have one of the funniest song titles ever, "Conan, Destroyer of Incels," which makes me chuckle every time I read the words. This is grind, so the songs are socially aware lyrically, and critical of our current world order, as they should be. I never took this band seriously before because of the name, but after seeing the awesome cover of this LP, I was tempted into checking them out, and I'm glad I did. My favorite thing that they do is when they drop a Terrorizer-style riff into the midst of their furious punk-based grind, it truly metalizes this material. Vocally, this is about what you'd expect them to sound like, with low growls mixed with high screams, often in the same verse or measure, but the performance is powerful and should be commended for tone and vocal patterns. The blastbeats are steady and precise, as well as energetic, and they focus the intensity of the music. I find often that grind succeeds in being much more intense than death metal due to the urgency with which it's played. Overall, this is a fine record, and one that belongs in every grind freak's collection!

Horrid Mass--Nauseating Ecstatic Degeneration (CD/LP) (2026 Memento Mori Records/Night Terrors Records)

memento-mori.es

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the first full length from Milwaukee's death merchants Horrid Mass, following up a demo from three years ago. They sound like a bastard combination of Autopsy and Incantation, but with perhaps some influence from the gasmask metal set with stiff blastbeats and string scrapes. The vocals are cavernous, sounding like they were recorded in an old well after the rest of the band gave up trying to save the singer after he fell down it. I like the raw edge to the recording - it's just this side of noisy, but tempered perfectly with proper levels and a natural drum sound. This is another band that uses textures to add to the songwriting, and it's often the bass guitar adding a layer of grit overtop the rest of it all. I usually don't like this style very much, but there's something about this band that is just a little different, and I can't really pinpoint what it is so that I can tell you dear readers. Suffice it to say that this is a satisfying listen of dark and noisy death metal, and if you like that style, you'll love this record.

Wharflurch--Mycodeath and Rebirth in the Outer Clusters (CD/LP/CS) (2026 Personal Records/Gurgling Gore Records)

personal-records.com

gurglinggore.com

10/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

After a remarkably prolific several years (2020-2024), this is the first new Wharflurch material in two years, which seems like an eternity for them. From what I understand an entire lineup left the band, leaving them to rebuild from basically nothing, but rebuild they have, and this album is a resounding success. Their style is largely unchanged, being the same Wharflurch we all know and love (that's a huge assumption on my part, but how could you not like this fungi-obsessed, doomed-out death metal?!).  This is even more musically accomplished than their previous work - this band has become even better somehow. Their use of textures on this album doesn't disappoint. The album itself feels like the cover looks, all technicolor and ugly yet somehow clean and wondrous. The synth interludes are amazing, and they add dimension to the death metal that would otherwise be lacking on this record. This is unique stuff, requiring unique sounds. They're a highly song-focused band, writing catchy ear-worms that you won't easily forget, all the time textured by those evil-sounding synths. It's a masterclass in metal songwriting that transcends subgenre. This is just excellent heavy fucking metal in general and deserves recognition as such. This album is a triumph and a high water mark for the year.