Dystopia Nå – Dweller On The Threshold (2015)

Author: Crono

Artist: Dystopia Nå!

Album: Dweller On The Threshold

Label: Avantgarde Music

 

Dystopia Nå! What a band name! This is (obviously) Norwegian for Dystopia Now! Dweller on the Threshold is Dystopia Nå’s second album. This band has such an interesting approach to the style of music they are attempting to do, which is apparently depressive black metal, but with so many other elements pushed into it that you couldn’t be blamed for calling this a progressive black/death album.

Sigh – Graveward (2015)

Author: Bloodshot Grub

Artist: Sigh

Album: Graveward

Label: Candlelight Records

This is an album that’s been out for a while, but I was so stunned by it–even having listened to Sigh since I discovered Hail Horror Hail in the late 90’s and having an idea of what to expect–that I had to talk about it. Graveward, album number ten from these Japanese avant-black metal stalwarts, was released all the way back in April to a very lukewarm critical reception. The mixed response is what caused me to leave it on the shelf for so long, and now I find myself both perplexed by the criticism and remorseful for the three months during which this phenomenal album was unjustly absent from my listening rotation.

Dynfari – Vegferð Tímans (2015)

Author: Dave

Band: Dynfari

Release: Vegferð Tímans

Label: Code666 Records

With the recent glut of atmospheric black metal bands that have come out in the last few years, I feel like there’s a bit of a saturation effect going on here. I do enjoy listening to the genre, but for whatever reason I get the feeling that it’s an “easy” genre in that any time the composition can take a back seat to atmosphere and reverb, that there are likely going to be corners cut and shortcuts taken. Now whether Dynfari are guilty of that or not I won’t say, but I feel like that sort of preface is important when reviewing any album of this genre.

Barbarian Fist – The Whorelord Cometh (2015)

Author: Goldensundown

Band: Barbarian Fist

Release: The Whorelord Cometh

Label: Independent

Any Doom band that opens an album up with a sample of the famous “What is best in life?” quote from Conan and calls themselves Barbarian Fist comes with the expectation of crushing, heavy doom. Luckily Barbarian Fist cater towards this expectation on The Whorelord Cometh; a 4 song/40 minute affair of stoner rock and doom.

Wicked Inquisition – Wicked Inquisition (2015)

Artist: Wicked Inquisition

Album: Wicked Inquisition

Label: Tridroid Records

Reviewer: Gabriel

Wicked Inquisition. When I heard the name, my expectations for the band skyrocketed. It just fit the kind of music they supposedly played: no-nonsense doom metal; the stuff you’d expect to hear opening for Pentagram. Although their name alone certainly has promine, the members of this four-piece from Minnesota haven’t made a name for themselves yet. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – more often than not, a band’s best material is from their early releases. They knocked it out of the park with what they call themselves, but the question as to how good their music is still remains. I’m happy to say that Wicked Inquisition produced some rock-solid throwback doom that never strays too far from bands that laid out the foundation of the genre such as Black Sabbath and Trouble.  

Amiensus – Ascension (2015)

Author: Crono

Artist: Amiensus

Album: Ascension

Label: Independent

Amiensus is a progressive metal band that blends a mystery cocktail of black, death, doom, and post-metal, sprinkling in melodic bits, atmospheric chunks, and the tiniest drop of wankery. They are a collection of many individuals, and many of the duties appear to be shared between different people. Suffice to say, there is a lot going on with Amiensus.

Author & Punisher – Melk en Honing (2015)

Author: Bloodshot Grub

Artist: Author & Punisher

Album: Melk en Honing

Label: Housecore Records

The first time I heard Author & Punisher, specifically sole member Tristan Shone’s 2012 album Ursus Americanus, I was reminded of a scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. During the climactic fight scene, the sash of the Thuggee mine’s overseer is caught by the slow-turning wheel of a rock crusher and the overseer is slowly pulled under. An Author & Punisher album is very much the auditory equivalent of that, stretched over 40-50 minutes.

Vargnatt – Grausammler (2015)

Author: Crono

Artist: Vargnatt

Album: Grausammler

Label: Eisenwald

 

Grausammler is the debut album from German-based black metal outfit, Vargnatt. It is essentially a one-man band, although Evae has brought on some session musicians to fill in on areas as needed. So we get some solid drumming and a huge amount of texture added from the addition of some viola and choirs, but it is mostly a guitar and vocals driven album, all provided by Evae.

Some News – Double Reviews

So, it has been a long time coming but we at Fetid Dead have switched to posting two reviews a day. We plan on keeping this up for as long as possible.

To kick this off this Monday we’ve got below this post: Dave’s Armored Saint review and Jan’s Skeletal Remains review!

Keep updated guys!

Armored Saint – Win Hands Down (2015)

Author: Dave

Artist: Armored Saint

Album: Win Hands Down

Label: Metal Blade Records

Armored Saint have been in the business for a long time, with the full-length debut March of the Saint coming out in 1984, just more than thirty years ago. During their early career, they released some great classic heavy metal albums which means that their latest in a string of reunion albums has a lot to live up to. But first off, if you’re expecting eighties-era Armored Saint, just stop right there. No sense in getting all excited for nothing.