Hyperdontia - Deranged (EP, 2023) Review

For some bands, it is the case that you’re simply happy they’re around. Such is the situation with Danish / Turkish death metal powerhouse Hyperdontia, who have been consistently offering gruesome, top-notch material for the last five years and the debut Nexus of Teeth in 2018. Their second work Hideous Entity from 2021 was an evenly pleasing jewel of the genre, and finally there’s some more material with the new EP, titled Deranged. 

Four tracks and a little bit more than 20 minutes of music (apart from being the ideal duration for this physical format) can go a long way when they’re so well executed as Hyperdontia keep on grinding on the formulas they excel at. This mini-album is like a protein boosted power bar, it contains all the best qualities of death metal at the ideal dose and purest form, just enough to cleanse the thirst for the listener and smash the surroundings. 

Guitars hammer down colossal riffs and furious solos constantly, the tempos change as often as needed, bass lines are perfectly audible and the vocals are impressive, constituting to a fantastic EP release by Hyperdontia, who is a death metal tour de force currently. Deranged strongly reminds of 90’s classic US death metal and gives out some Deicide hints sometimes, it is void of filler moments and simply doesn’t slow down, except for the more middle-paced introduction of the last track “Degradations of the Flesh”.

“Nauseting Hallucinations” and “Deluded” are both flawless bangers and the band gets more adventurous with soloing in “Gagging in Convulsion” through different tempos, as Deranged has excellent song structure across all compositions. The EP is also highly repeatable and the excitement doesn’t wear out after a few listens, working wonderfully for Hyperdontia as a truly remarkable mini-release for the year. More amazing material added to an already amazing back catalogue.

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DAMAGE: 4/5 [Excellent]

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Release date: 15 Mar 2023

Release label: Dark Descent Records / Me Saco un Ojo Records

Website: Facebook

Listen: Bandcamp

Suicide Silence - Remember... You Must Die (2023) Review

Things have not always been smooth throughout the career of Suicide Silence, with the death of  their original frontman Mitch Lucker being a clear point of division of the pre- and post- era of the band. Even while being one of the most influential names in the deathcore scene, their discography always floats around the average mark with some extremely weak points and only a handful of notable moments. 

The new record Remember… You Must Die comes after a couple of generally skippable (or worse) previous releases of the last five years and finds the band still deep in the struggle. Tracks feast on constantly ongoing chugging, down-tuned grooves, with an actual riff making an appearance here and there throughout a streamline of breakdown after breakdown as if the band is on complete autopilot and doesn’t have to think anymore for new material. It amazes me how the current singer Hernan Hermida, always sounds much worse than the times when he was in All Shall Perish, a fairly respectable deathcore band. 

As the vocals in Remember… You Must Die are mediocre, it is painfully annoying in terms of it textual work. This album title, most of the track titles, as well as the lyrics are dull, superficial and of seriously low quality, as are bits and bytes of the compositions too, apart from the obvious breakdown abuse. Slightly interesting is the middle paced, baleful part of “God Be Damned” which gives a slightly different note but unfortunately only last some seconds. Other than that, all the rest of the music in the record is poorly made, unimaginative, it fails to achieve essential heaviness even when the band tries to be even more intense (for example in “Endless Dark”). 

It might just be that the fate of Suicide Silence is like that, and coming from someone who once listened to the band a lot, I enjoy some of their work while acknowledging that it can’t reach the bar compared to serious-minded extreme metal artists. Remember… You Must Die doesn’t have tracks even to serve as guilty pleasures, it carries all the sins of its genre and can’t seem to escape its own formula, by now re-chewed and served to you as fresh. The last song this band wrote was “Human Violence”, and that remains true for now.

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DAMAGE: 1.5/5 [Bad]

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Release date: 10 Mar 2023

Release label: Napalm Records

Listen: Spotify

Full of Hell & Primitive Man - Suffocating Hallucination (2023) Review

Through different practices of establishing oppressive darkness, it is not unreasonable to consider Primitive Man and Full of Hell were actually churned out of the same furnace. The main distinction is of course the speed of each band's material, the former stomps an overwhelmingly heavy and slow doom metal palette, while the latter skins sound to its extreme with fast paced grindcore. Common ground is found - which is also what distinguishes both from the larger part of the aforementioned genre families - in the excessive use of noise and power electronics. 

Once noticing a collaboration album between these two artists, it feels like such an act was just bound to happen eventually, especially among such like-minded individuals. Suffocating Hallucination is characterised by a thick, impenetrable, ugly and intimidating atmosphere, as it is met in the works of both bands. 

It is a record that features both their capabilities under the same blanket, yet each respective identity somehow stays intact, and you can be pretty sure of what material was written by which of the two. The vocals also swap between Primitive Man’s growls and Full of Hell’s screaming, but in terms of tempo compromises, most of the record is middle to slow paced with a few distinct faster moments. 

The listener gets what was promised with Suffocating Hallucination, as it ticks boxes for: an ultra speedy, 25 second track “Bludgeon” as the stamp of Full of Hell, a dark ambient / noise texture interlude “Dwindling Will”, a painfully decelerated Primitive Man anthem “Trepanation of Future Joys” and the clearest amalgam of the two projects, “Rubble Home”. At the longest piece, the closing “Tunnels to God”, it is the first time we witness these otherwise gruesome bands adopts more melancholic nuances through the fog and the noise, as the song slowly progresses and deconstructs itself. 

Such attempts substantiate the inspirational drive behind the creation of Suffocating Hallucination and save the record from being obsolete, as all the pieces are here, hideously refreshed and promptly served on a plate. As a follower of Primitive Man and Full of Hell by now, I see merit in both sides and acknowledge this work, as one of the better collaboration examples lately.

DAMAGE: 3.75/5 [Great]

Release date: 03 Mar 2023

Release label: Closed Casket Activities

Listen: Bandcamp

Enslaved - Heimdal (2023) Review

The previous decade mostly had me hooked with Enslaved and all of their recent records, maybe except the admittedly quite solid Utgard in 2018, which was received warmly by the fans despite my own final verdict. All of the band’s works have a lot to discover when engaging with them, and while the same goes with the latest offering Heimdal, it is also a quick eye catcher regardless. The familiar blend of black metal, 70’s progressive rock and slight psychedelia, still resonates all across this album, but they gratefully cater heavier and more unconventional (even jazzy) patterns here and there, showing the everlasting calibre of the band. 

Grutle’s vocal work is impeccable, with excellent clean voice parts in chorus-like sections or in forms of narration, and powerful screams when the tracks dictate so. The gallery of melodies in Heimdal is vast, taking trips to prog directions through the lens of the band and not the genre, with a rhythmic complexity that is apparent but still easy to comprehend and enjoy as the album unfolds. 

Enslaved also employ little recurring elements in the compositions, like the use of synth keys in a few instances especially in “Forest Dweller”, which features keyboards similar to “The Sacred Son” from the album E and texture-like synth sounds similar to “Forsaken” from the album RIITIIR. 

The band’s more combative nature lies in parts of “Kingdom”, which also has instant attention grabbing guitar work in the introduction, the wondrous and intriguing highlight “Mongolia” and in “Caravan to the Outer Worlds” and towards the end of “The Eternal Sea”. Heimdal opens with the sound of water flowing, and a deep sounding horn, executed Eilif Gundersen from Wardruna, which ensures everyone of us that these guys are real vikings. Even though that opening track “Behind the Mirror” would be on the less aggressive side of Heimdal, it sets the tone perfectly as a starter and sets the foundation of this wondrous album. 

Enslaved still marches forward after thirty years of activity in the scene, with a firm background and interesting innovative touches that would attract metal and non-metal fans alike. Heimdal’s musical quality is indisputable, what’s left is only for the listener to appreciate it.

DAMAGE: 4.75/5 [Brilliant]

Release date: 03 Mar 2023

Release label: Nuclear Blast

Listen: Bandcamp

Total Hate - Marching Towards Humanicide (2023) Review

It's been 15 years since the debut full length album of German hatemongers Total Hate and the animosity still boils within the veins of this band, as it is obvious from all textual stimuli of their material and the latest record Marching Towards Humanicide. All things considered, they continue serving traditional, polished black metal with their latest release, one that does not diverge from previously tested formulas but is still exciting to experience when executed correctly. 

The album has eight tracks and is 37 minutes long, mostly consisting of sharpened, furious guitar riffs where tremolo picking is king and drums blast fast but clearly. Its energy is radiated through the epic guitar lines and it's by no means a down-tuned, draining record that will snatch you of your stamina while listening to it. All tracks move at similar, fast paced tempos, are quite consistent with each other and the band manages to keep the interesting going even while presenting something standard. 

Marching Towards Humanicide makes a really clean cut of black metal and you will hear a lot of patterns you yearn for if you are a fan of the genre, while it is equally anti-religious, hateful and misanthropic in its lyrical theme, as expected. While Total Hate decided to add some color to their artwork this time (front cover done by Misanthropic-Art), their mindset hasn't brightened at all and the depiction of Marching Towards Humanicide perfectly fits its concept and title, making this aesthetical choice quite fitting for me in this case. 

There's not a specific highlight but not a filler track either, and if there was a drawback to be mentioned, it would be the slightly monotonous vocals, which hardly vary from their typical high pitched screaming. It feels that they are also a bit distorted in post-processing with an effect that gives them a more sonic and less natural sound, yet the result doesn't ruin the overall result except if you are a really picky eater. Total Hate fire another well rounded shot with Marching Towards Humanicide, a record that keeps their quality to the same level and is meant for the followers only.

DAMAGE: 3.5/5 [Great]

Release date: 24 Feb 2023

Release label: Eisenwald

Listen: Bandcamp