Ossuary "Abhorrent Worship" (Review)

Ossuary Abhorrent Worship

2025 Me Saco Un Ojo (LP) / Darkness Shall Rise (CD/Cassette)

www.mesacounojo.com / darknesshallrise.de

BADASS SONG TITLE: The Undrownable Howl of Evil

From the land of Wisconsin comes this band with their first full length, preceded by two demos and an EP. I'm not familiar with their efforts before this, so I went into this review blind. Heavy-ass death/doom met my ears when I pressed play, and a particularly nasty and raw variety of it. I'm not a huge doom-head, but this isn't bad and is mostly slower to mid-tempo stuff.

The vocals are cavernous, as is a modern trend for this style, but it's not overdone, and it works for this band. The reverb is actually tasteful here, and it accentuates their style and helps give them their own sound. I like it. The reptilian vocals the singer uses are truly excellent and morbid-sounding, almost sounding like he's being strangled when he drags out a scream. It has to be hell on the vocal chords, but we'll assume he knows what he's doing and won't strain himself! 

One other thing I liked is that, unlike most death/doom, the songs don't just stand still like a dick in a yard - they have forward momentum and more interesting riffing than most bands in this style. If I'm listening to this style, I'm definitely going to gravitate more to this band than many of the others out there. I'm not falling all over myself to go buy it with my aforementioned distaste of death/doom, but I'm not turning it off, either.

Ancient Necropsy "A Mass Grave Under the City" (Review)

Ancient Necropsy A Mass Grave Under the City

2025 A-N Records (CD)

ancientnecropsy.bandcamp.com

BADASS SONG TITLES: The New Era of Witch Hunting, Agents of Decease, Garbage Pail Beings

This is the first full length from Ancient Necropsy in 10 years, their 6th overall. They've been around the block, having albums released on Nice to Eat You, Goregiastic, and Mutilated. That's not a bad pedigree. I remember hearing them around the turn of the century and I remember them being quite loose in execution (I keep saying "they," but it's really a one-man band).

They still have the oddball riffs and pingy snare but the songwriting is miles better than what I remember. There's even surprisingly melodic passages, like in "The New Era of Witch Hunting." There are a lot of guitar harmonies utilized on the record, especially during more technical riffs. Ancient Necropsy has fully developed their sound, and it's quite distinguishable. It doesn't blend in with all the other bands out there in the scene. Other bands could also get a lesson in how to slam properly with the track "Tectonic Shift." That's a heavy bastard.

Overall, this album is a huge improvement from what I remember. There could perhaps be a bit of a better flow to some of the riffs - they can get a little too weird, but I'll take originality where I can get it. The vocals are the strongest part of the record by far, being varied and interesting. They elevate the record above "just another brutal death metal album." The tones and patterns the vocals use are thoughtful, precise, and sick as fuck. Highs, lows, and in-betweens are shown off, and it's a masterful performance in that regard.

Detest "A World Drowning in Detest" (Review)

Detest A World Drowning in Detest

2024 Emanzipation Productions (CD/LP)

emanzipation.dk

This is a solid death metal release. Plenty of everything you would expect in a death metal record is here, with excellent riffs that chug when they need to, sickly solos, and plenty of up-tempo thrash beats. The vocals are very strong, deep, and enunciated with satisfying patterns. Heavy breakdowns get inserted at just the right part of the song, and the heaviness gets turned up just at the right time. There are even melodic sections, but only when they accentuate the heaviness. I recommend this one highly if you like how death metal was performed in the 1990s in Europe, even down to the melodic solos, but with a heavy American-style edge. I wasn't familiar with their past work, but the history of the band is fairly lengthy, going back to 1991 for their first demo. They have the pedigree, and they deliver the goods. What more could you ask for?

Malignant "1001 Ways to Die" (Review)

Malignant 1001 Ways to Die

2024 Independent / Digital

malignant607.bandcamp.com

Here we have some dead basic death metal with a technical edge. Stylistically it reminds me a little of the modern wave of death metal that's pounding about the scene right now, like 200 Stab Wounds or Sanguisugabogg, but with some tech-death flair and a few oddball riffs. However, that's the most interesting part of this record. The songwriting is simple, which is normally a good thing, unless you combine it with uninspired slow dissonant breakdowns that hearken more to deathcore than anything else, and I cannot stand most of that stuff. The band also tries just about every death metal trope that exists on the record, right down to pig squeals here and there, and jumbly tech riffs, to thrash parts, to hardcore breakdowns, but they haven't developed their own sound. Granted, some of the riffs are good, but the songs aren't constructed in an interesting way at all. Shockingly, this is their third full length, and I would have assumed these guys would be a bit more cohesive at this point. Stick to the fast shit and it'll be much better, gents. You start to shine when you speed up and don't try to sound superficially heavy.

My daughter Liv Parrish also drew this killer Nunslaughter logo

My daughter also drew this killer Nunslaughter logo that I'm going to have handpainted onto some patches for me and for the band, so they can have something special with their logo on it. Again, if you want logo work like this, you can get hold of her through this site by getting in contact with me.

Logo by Liv Parrish 2025

 

New Logo

Finally, here it is. My daughter Liv Parrish drew this. If you want to contact her for similar logo work, you can contact me through this site.

Logo Copyright Liv Parrish 2025