Trephining "Cranial Offerings" (Review)

Trephining Cranial Offerings

2025 Fucking Kill Records (LP)

trephiningdeathmetal.bandcamp.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Switzerland's Trephining give us a monster of a record with their first full length, of which I hope there are many more to come. They play solid 1990s style death metal with a distinctly European flavor, and more than a few Swedish-tinged riffs. The riffs themselves are big, memorable, and aggressive. The vocals are unique - their vocalist sounds like no one else, helped out by the fact that she is female, so her tones are different. She manages to sprinkle in some gutturals but mostly sticks to the middle register, and the patterns are great. She has plenty of personality. Perhaps there's a little Asphyx influence to her style? I seem to hear some. All the performances here are tight and powerful, spiked with an almost Celtic Frost-like punked-up atmosphere. The recording is perfectly raw, rough around the edges in just the right ways, giving the record a distinct feel, but also maintaining clarity. This is comfort food death metal - a tried and true formula done extremely well and with a genuine love for the music. Go fucking find it or die in ignorance.

Blast Agony "Cradle of Brutality" (Review)

Blast Agony Cradle of Brutality

2024 Rapture Records (CD)

rapturerecords.com.br

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Brazil's Blast Agony has given us their first full length, and it's a great one. It's a twisted, brutal amalgam of older Suffocation- and Krisiun-style death metal with more than a little of the South American brutal death metal sound. The stiff blasts and double bass never let up, and that's not a defect or a way of hiding anything - these guys can fucking play. The bass is high in the mix, prevalent and rumbling away, mimicking the riffs for the most part. The vocals are viciously growled, but some of it is slightly muffled like on the first couple of Suffocation albums. Little technical flourishes abound in all the brutality, like the interplay between the bass and cymbals or the wicked-ass gravity blasts. It really separates these guys from the crowd. Elements of grind really raise their head in the fast-as-fuck "Out of Control," which is aptly named. Each of their songs is quite different even if their speed pigeonholes them a bit - multiple listens or a particularly astute ear, however, reveal all the little hooks in the music that at first glance may appear not to be there. This album has layers. The vocals become more diverse as the album progresses, from the muffled gutturals to growls to roars to higher-register snarls. The vocalist does everything, sometimes in one song (at least I assume this is all done by a single vocalist). Here and there the band does slow down and give us some groove, like on the title track. This is powerful and honest brutal death metal, and worth tracking down if you're into the sick shit.

Groaning Retch "Cathemeral Bloodshed" (Review)

Groaning Retch Cathemeral Bloodshed

2025 Iron Fortress (CD/CS)

ironfortress.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Iron Fortress Records does it again and brings us yet another top-notch death metal act. I heard half of the first track and bought this immediately. This is groove-heavy death metal, occupying a sort of middle ground between the older death metal sounds and modern slam, and it's incredibly heavy. The singer has strong, deep, growled vocals that excel at carrying the violent atmosphere. In every song are memorable riffs and room-thrashing breakdowns of monumental heaviness. The guitar tone is super-heavy and full of crunch but also very clear. There are elements of hardcore here, but they manifest themselves as good songwriting and incredibly powerful breakdowns that are seamlessly interwoven into the death metal. It reminds me of the '90s bands I love but with an added dimension of heaviness, and is 110% attitude, extremely aggressive. Just do yourself a favor and check it out.

Corpus Offal "Corpus Offal" (Review)

Corpus Offal Corpus Offal

2025 20 Buck Spin

20buckspin.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is excellent death metal from Texas that has one foot firmly in the sickest of old-school death metal sounds, and the other foot firmly in the brutal death metal arena. This wouldn't be out of place beside acts like both Imprecation and Devourment at a show, nor would they be out of place playing with the likes of new bands like 200 Stab Wounds. There's some goregrind influence at work here as well to go along with the heavy grooves, with a little gurgling toilet bowl action in the vocal department. Alternating blasts and grooves, Corpus Offal keeps your interest with quick and adept changes, and wonderful arrangements. The drummer elevates this with his rapid blasting style and interesting little fills. There are about a million tons of heavy-ass riffs on this record, one after another, and I immediately bought this album after hearing it. If you like sick underground death metal, you can't go wrong.

Difuntor "A Butchering Monolith of Mystical Damnation" (Review)

Difuntor A Butchering Monolith of Mystical Damnation

2025 Headbanger's Behavior (CD)

difuntor.bandcamp.com

4/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is the fifth (!) full length from this Brazilian death metal crew. First off - what in the fuck is a Difuntor? It sounds like a bad Dungeons & Dragons villain. The song titles are a goddamn mouthful just like all their album titles, too. Musically, the riffing is a wandering, ponderous mixture in between blasts. The drumming reminds me of Krisiun, but not as vicious. This band is so much more interesting when they blast - they should really speed up more and stay further away from the slow stuff. The vocals are growled, but not powerfully - they're almost regular speech in strength. Overall this just lacks intensity and truly interesting riffs. There are a couple here and there, but overall this is just boring.

Festergore "Constellation of Endless Blight" (Review)

Festergore Constellation of Endless Blight

2024 Personal Records (CD) / Iron Fortress Records (CS)

www.personal-records.com / ironfortress.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is this New York band's first full length after some singles, EPs, and a split. They play thickly produced death metal with classic riffs that will snap your neck halfway through the first verse! They have almost Massacre- and Autopsy-style riffs at times, and a similar atmosphere to those masters, but with a real nasty edge and some seriously heavy grooves. There's just a bit of looseness in their playing that gives the record a really unique sound. The songwriting is top notch, and the guitar player isn't afraid of solos, dropping fierce divebombers from time to time. The vocalist, at times, reminds me of Bolt Thrower's singer. This is real death metal for real metalists, doing nothing groundbreaking but just playing solid original death metal. I love that so many new bands are looking to the past for inspiration and coming up with good albums that would absolutely have a place at the table in the 1990s had they been released back then. It's inspiring and I hope it continues.

Violent Scum / Cambion "Cults of Black Death (Split)" (Review)

Violent Scum / Cambion Cults of Black Death (Split)

2024 Iron Blood and Death Corporation (CD)

ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Violent Scum (Chile) come first on this split, giving us bestial South American death metal clearly influenced by Deicide. It's not Deicide worship, but all the nuts and bolts are there and you can hear the influence clearly. This is fine by me - all bands are influenced by others, and why not the masters of Satanic death metal?! They can write a fucking song, too, which is excellent to hear. The performance is wild but tight enough, with slightly fuzzy guitars and a solid rhythm section. The drums and bass in particular are well-performed and they stick to each other like glue. Their four songs on this split are a pleasure to hear, especially when the solos kick in. A talented bunch, here.

Next up is Cambion, an international project between Texan and German metalists, if Metal Archives is correct. These gentlemen give us Angelcorpse-style thrashing death metal, fast, blasting, and furious, with plenty of black metal influence but with a death metal core that drives it all. The vocals are rapid-fire, which I always like, and in a higher register reptilian growl like a lot of black metal today. Actually, they remind me a bit of Legion on Panzer Division Marduk, which is great.. They give us three songs that are equally as good as the Violent Scum half of the split but in a much different style, but just as vicious. They also give us a cover of Slayer's "Evil Has No Boundaries" worked up in their style.

This is a split worth tracking down as an introduction to each band - they both are exceptional, and it should be a proper introduction to both of their sounds.

General Fibrosis "Crossbreed Generation" (Review)

General Fibrosis Crossbreed Generation

2024 Coyote Records

coyoterecords.ru

3/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

All the staples are here: pristine production, (annoying fucking) bass drops, clear and crunchy guitars, heavy bass tone, lots of slams, and brutal vocals. But it's all for naught. This band has appropriated every trend in the brutal death metal scene right now, and could be called a stereotypical slam band. The one thing they do well is lean into their death metal side when they're not performing a slam riff. That part of their sound is different from the pack, but then it's right back into a typical slam at the first chance they get. Even the artwork has jumped on the recent trend of sci-fi album covers. I will say that they're genuinely talented musicians that are performing their chosen style perfectly, it's just not a style that I enjoy at all. When too much slam gets involved I tend to take a powder, because it's just not interesting at all, and that's exactly what I did with this one. Not for me. The bass drops alone get this one a low rating. 

Cryptual "Convulsing Above the Ground" (Review)

Cryptual Convulsing Above the Ground

2025 Iron Fortress Records (CD/CS)

ironfortress.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is almost Desultory-styled death metal mixed with Floridian death metal from Milwaukee. Cryptual is purposefully old-school, and authentic in its mission to bring the metal of death to your ears! One thing I've never heard a band do is combine normal distortion on one guitar with HM-2 style distortion on the other. That's a first for me. It's truly a unique sound, and I think it pays off. The atmosphere of the record is reminiscent of the masters I noted before, with the ambiance of the Swedish scene and the balls of the American scene. It's as seamless a blend of these two styles as I've heard, and combined with the excellent songwriting, a very worthwhile listen. Vocally, the singer reminds me a lot of LG Petrov, back when he actually growled on the early Entombed material. This all adds up to a unique record with an interesting sound, and I'll be tracking this down.

Infernalivm "Conquering the Most High" (Review)

Infernalivm Conquering the Most High

2025 Sentient Ruin Laboratories

www.sentientruin.com

8/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is Infernalivm's first EP, and only release to date. They play a Morbid Angel, Krisiun, & Behemoth-style of Satanic death metal with relentless double bass and militant blast beats. This is neck-snapping intensity at its finest, relentlessly pounding the listener. Solid, sludgy riffs swirl over top the blasts with zero remorse, only slowing to inject a little morbid atmosphere into the music. I don't always like triggered kick drums, but here it makes sense, adding significant levels of brutality to the sonic stew they've managed to cook up. The stop-start kicks in "Ashes of the Saints" in particular are incredible. This is how dark death metal ought to be played - fast, in your face, and evil, using slower tempos only to provide a break in the volcanic speed. The vocal patterns are interesting and rhythmic when fast, sickly when slow. The doomed-out sections where the band does slow down are a welcome break from the speed, but quickly whip back into a frenzied state, and this is their strength. They seem to build each song to a sonic climax by mid-way through. The songwriting is just impeccable. Based on the power of these four songs, I cannot wait to see what they can do with a full-length, and what other satanic secrets their music holds.

Cranial Disorder "Congenital Depravity" (Review)

Cranial Disorder Congenital Depravity

2024 Lethal Scissor Records (CD)

www.lethalscissor.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

I first reviewed this in a rapid-fire review a while back, and upon a second listen, some things really changed in my perception of the album. Here's the new review:

Indonesia strikes again with another brutal band of outstanding quality. It has the relentless blasting that Indonesian bands are renowned for, but the vocals and guitars are a little different in tone and riffage, which sets them apart. They're probably closer to older American brutal death metal bands than current Indonesian acts. They repeat more riffs more often with less variation - this helps their songs stand apart. They're still technical, fast, and tight, but with more songwriting chops. Actual verses and choruses appear in these songs, more of an old-school approach. They prove hooks can exist in the most brutal music on earth. They also have some seriously effective breakdowns without developing into typical slam riffs. They seem to write songs like my old bands did, deciding by feel what should come next and for how many measures it should repeat. I enjoyed this one immensely, and I wish more brutal bands would take a hint from this band and start penning real songs instead of just brutal compositions.

Malformed "Confinement of Flesh" (Review)

Malformed Confinement of Flesh

2025 Dark Descent Records (CD/LP/CS)

www.darkdescentrecords.com

9/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

Dark Descent has given us quite a few good releases over the years, but not many stand head and shoulders above the rest like this one. Taking influence both from the Scandinavian (Finnish specifically) and the 1990s Floridian scene (where it wouldn't sound out of place if released back then), Malformed has created an opus of death metal to rival the best. Top notch playing and vocals are on display, with excellent songwriting and vocal patterns. Their solos remind me of the best of Obituary's, with a morbid feel and style. The singer has excellent pronunciation and diction, and his voice is aggressive with loads of personality. He reminds me a little of David Vincent in his cadence, which is rhythmic and sharp. The songs themselves are musically diverse and entertaining, reminding me a little of early Malevolent Creation or Deicide. The bass player is doing all sorts of interesting things behind the music, and is a pleasure to hear. It amazes me that guys this young are playing at this level of proficiency - they're clearly dedicated to their craft. All the references I made above to other bands is not to say that Malformed sounds like anyone specific - they don't. They just do small things that remind me of those other bands. I recommend this highly if you're looking for original-sounding death metal that hearkens back to the sounds of the past. This is badassery of the highest order.

Disrupting "Conceive to Obliteration" (Review)

Disrupting Conceive to Obliteration

2024 Coyote Records

coyoterecords.ru

5/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This Brazilian death cult plays brutal death metal with a tinge of technicality. They focus on simpler, chunky riffs, but there are a lot of interesting little embellishments that enhance the music all over the place. There's interesting cymbal fills, bass playing that stands on its own and doesn't just follow the riff, and weird little guitar parts that are somewhat outside the norm for this style. Unfortunately, the songwriting could be better. The songs blend together quite a bit and get to be very similar sounding after a while, even with all the cool musical flourishes. The guitar solos in the songs that have them are interesting and offbeat. This band just doesn't seem to have enough to differentiate their songs, and some of that is a roadblock of this style of death metal (there's only so much you can do and remain brutal), but some of it is just a lack in the songwriting, plain and simple. I can't recommend this, but your mileage may vary if you like the brutal shit.

Repulse "Carnal Bliss" (Review)

Repulse Carnal Bliss

2025 Independent (Digital)

repulse-death.bandcamp.com

7/10 CRUSHED FUCKING SKULLS

This is excellent death metal with crust punk elements. It reminds me slightly of Nuclear Death Terror or Extinction of Mankind mixed with hard-charging death metal of a simpler variety. Overdriven production distorts the drums and adds a filthy layer of noise like a lot of crust productions do. This punk-fueled mixture really helps the intensity of the record, never relenting once in this EP's short duration, 6 songs in under 15 minutes. The breakdowns are crushingly heavy, and they're hard-hitting with big, tough riffs. I want to hear a full-length from this band to see what else they can do. I can even hear hints of Nunslaughter in their sound, but this may be from the punk influence. They have great songs and atmosphere, and this is the sort of death metal I prefer.