2025 Iron Blood and Death Corporation (CD / Cassette)
ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com
I was intrigued by this one for some reason, when it hit my promo "pile" (meaning: digital file hoard awaiting review). The name of the band was curious, and I was thinking maybe it was some sort of sludge or doom metal band, but based on the label I thought perhaps not. And indeed, I was right - it was not. This is serious death metal from Singapore with plenty of originality yet enough nods to the styles of the past so that it's rooted in tradition. Think of Repulsion, Impetigo, Master, fast Autopsy, early Death, Celtic Frost, Slayer, Angelcorpse, Nunslaughter, and any other band that frequently gets lumped in with them. You'll be reminded of the styles they represent, but Ursula holds their own with originality, and is easily one of the best albums so far this year. Every song stands apart from the others, and nothing blends together. All the riffs are great, and the guitar solos are nicely structured and enjoyable, and there's one in almost every song. Their songwriting is traditional verse/chorus/verse songwriting for the most part, using the traditional metal approach (and it makes sense since two members of the band played in a thrash metal band prior to this one). The song that stood out the most for me, and is my favorite, is "Slave Driver," with its almost Dream Death style main riff. It's slower, pounding, and evil-sounding. I'll be buying this one at some point in the near future, for sure. If this album is the benchmark of how this year in death metal will go, we're in for a great year. The true death metalists reading this should take note, and take a listen.
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