Noble Beast was alright with a cool singer and no faggy keys and all, but they seem to have confused "catchy" with "majestic" and have bloated the living shit out of some songs, no way are they capable of pulling off 7 minute plus songs.

This.

There haven't been too many releases that have completely blown me away yet, but I think Sabbatory's Endless Asphyxiating Gloom is going to be loved by a lot of death metal fans once it's out. Really crushing death metal, and I'm not even a fan of much modern death metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHjIRj9SME

The new Winter of Sin, Violence Reigns Supreme is some pretty kick ass stuff. They mostly play Melodic Black Metal but they also branch out into Blackened Death Metal and Forefather-like Black/Viking Metal (epic melodies as well as themes). For those unfamiliar with the band, it's got Michiel van der Plicht and Henri Sattler from God Dethroned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnBWEB-HZAQ

EDIT: I seem to have missed that Hastein45 also recommended them.

That Winter of Sin sounds awesome, definitely going to check it out!

Just picked up Vinteroffer by Vredehammer. Very modern black metal with death and some industrial influences, the album as a whole is very good but the title track is fucking jaw-dropping.

That's the next album i plan to check out. Just listened to a brief preview of a song, sounds pretty tight.



Dude, just listened to this face ripper last night. Have to say that i was seriously impressed. Obviously you can make comparisons to Opeth and Agalloch, but these guys forge their own path using those influences as a template. Lots of variety in style and vocal delivery. The shouted vocals were the only aspect that i didn't care for.

finally got around to listening to the new kriegsmaschine after hearing a lot of good things about it, and i must say it is really, really good. enjoying it immensely

Kriegsmaschine was ok, kinda like somewhere between Mgla and... fuck... Aborym? Nope... not that. It's like a chunkier, cleaner Mgla with quite a processed sort of punchiness to it. I found the songs were pretty long feeling given the way the riffs were largely held back to give M. a better chance to do his awesome lower range Satanic preaching over, so it served a point. But I'm a highly one track brain when it comes to my metal so no riff focus means no win to me.

.

I've listened to the Noble Beast record a couple times (in full) on their Bandcamp page, and it is pretty good stuff. Cheesy, sure, but having such a powerful sound helps make up for that.

New Sonata Arctica, Edguy, Triptykon, Anubis Gate and Delain are good so far. SA is probably their best album ever and the others are all at least very good to me so far - more listens will reveal more. Delain may be their best album too, though there isn't a lot of difference in quality between any of their albums.

None of it has topped Slough Feg's outstanding new album yet, but it's too early to tell yet and I haven't heard enough 2014 albums! Been out of the game for a while.

Yeah, 2014 is shaping up to be a damn good year for the stuff I like, anyway. New Persuader, Iron Savior, Cyntia, Slough Feg, Freedom Call, Delain, Sonata Arctica, Noble Beast, Ogre, and Edguy have been pretty much excellent.

Hell, even the more underwhelming entries from Dawn of Destiny, Diabulus in Musica, Within Temptation, and Anubis Gate are still nice to hear every now and then.

By the way, I wasn't really wowed by Anubis Gate. Not even those albums you mentioned. They're cool and all, but not super amazing like you told me they'd be. D:

Wow, this is pretty great. Contrarian, kinda experimental death metal, very spacey vibe, has their first material out, a 3 song EP out, "Predestined". Leon Macey from Mithras and George Kollias from Nile are aboard, so yeah, quality. I'm just sad it's only a 3 song release, I kinda hate the really short EPs. Anyway, check it out

https://contrarianmetal.bandcamp.com/

I'm going to consider that Persuader a 2013 release (since I bought the Japanese pressing and it was released on Dec 25th).

This year has been kinda slow so far, but MinstreliX, Albion, Voice of Divine Children (not sure I'd call this metal though), Dragon Guardian & Knights of Round, and Odin are my top 5 so far. Cyntia's new one I can't fully get into for some reason (its still pleasant though) - it better grow on me because I spent like $30 US on it! .

Slough Feg and Iron Savior were solid. That Anubis Gate I'm still digesting, but its pretty enjoyable so far. Alchemy Crystal's debut MCD I like a hell of a lot - one of my more pleasant surprises this year.

I'm holding off on hearing that Triptykon until my CD arrives (I ordered the Japanese pressing and it should ship sometime next week). I have fairly high expectations for that one.

Persuader and Freedom Call were definitely solid, but not really stuff that blew me away at all.

That Persuader I should like more than I do - I can't quite pinpoint why it isn't blowing me away. Freedom Call, on the other hand, I couldn't get into that one at all (despite finding that one preview song pretty good). Its like they did all the right things, but it still didn't do anything for me. Not sure why either. Maybe I lost interest in the band or I'm completely burnt out on that style? Dunno...

I loved the new Freedom Call since I haven't listened to them in probably 6 years and it sounds just like I remember; silly, high-energy, and fun as hell.

I loved the new Freedom Call since I haven't listened to them in probably 6 years and it sounds just like I remember; silly, high-energy, and fun as hell.

The two new albums that have been absolutely dominating my listening time:

Howls of Ebb - Vigils of the 3rd Eye
For me to conjure up what I deem to be substantial and satisfactory analogies to describe the music would require enough effort that I might as well right a final fleshed-out review. Basically it sounds like a maddened black/death... like the band and subsequently the listener are entering a state of irreversible insanity. Lightning tremolo chords, intertwined dissonance of the most infectious variety, and crawling breaks that slowly chant themselves back into the swirling descent. I would highly rec to people who like extremely "twangy" music (of the Gorguts - Obscura kind) and highly suggest all fans of the modern black/death bands at least give it a try.

Morbus Chron - Sweven
First time listening to this band and was completely surprised. Went in expecting total generic swedDeath, and came through extremely satisfied and proven oh-so wrong. I mean it's only part DM, but I'll be the last one to say that this is a flaw. The sound of this is so surreal at times, caused by lofty instrumentals and softer breaks in the music. To me this truly sounds like something I would call avant-garde. It doesn't attempt to push or break the boundaries, it simply questions the existence of said boundaries as it proceeds to another dimension. Invigorating.

Anyways, new Teitanblood and Corpsessed didn't really do anything for me unfortunately. Artificial Brain's album is kinda cool and the BAN EP was satisfying.

Far now the 2014 albums that surprised me are:

Astral Dominae - Arcanum Gloriae
Diabulus In Musica - Argia
Freedom Call - Beyond
Iron Savior - Rise Of The Hero
Melodius Deite - Episode II : Voyage Through The World Of Fantasy
Noble Beast - Noble Beast
Qantice - The Phanonauts
Suncrown - You Are Not Alone

Freedom Call pretty good, but not as exciting as their old works. I do like how it affirms to their old, better style though.

Cold Grey Dawn - Occulture

This is something I am interested in checking out myself.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3PoP7cOVOs

New Aborted is every bit as good, if not better than Global Flatline. Love the Hobo with a Shotgun opener, thank god these guys went back to the deathgrind stuff. 2014 is really starting to make up for the shitfest that was 2013

I utterly cannot comprehend how anyone is seeing 2014 as an improvement on 2013.

I just listened to the new Electrocution (ITA) album (it's called 'Metaphysincarnation' and it's only their second album in 21 years!), I really like this one. I thought i read somewhere that they were going to head for a more technical approach, but I don't seem to notice much of that on the new album... Sounds pretty old school and straightforward if you ask me...

New Aborted album 'Necrotic Manifesto' is decent, but they don't really seem to surprise me anymore. It's still decent for what it is; a logical follow-up to Global Flatline.

The Autopsy album 'Hacksaws, Tourniquets etc..' is very enjoyable actually, maybe even a little more than their last album, the album seems to be a little bit more uptempo too...

The new Massacre album 'Back From Beyond' is ok, though not so surprising in the end... Need to get used to those vocals... It's basicly very standard caveman death metal, so if you like Jungle Rot, you'll probably dig this ;p

I'm currently on my third playthrough of Black Monolith's newest, Passenger. They aren't on the archives, I think because their demo was mostly punky. This record is basically atmospheric/post-rocky black metal (the guy behind the project has played guitars for Deafheaven I believe, and I think it's their label who've put this out) with a strong d-beat punk influence. There are a couple of short, punky, aggressive tracks, a mostly ambient album closer, and the remainder contain a nice mix of the various genre elements combined in the album. I really like this- the guitar sound is chunky, vocals a good mix of shrieks and lower roaring, the drums get to rage a few times, and there are some sweet solos and leads scattered amidst the battery. Very much recommended.

http://blackmonolith.bandcamp.com/album/passenger

Am digging Vredehammer's "Vinteroffer" and Woe Unto Me's "A Step into the Waters of Forgetfullness"

Thanks for the tip.

Anyway, I've got to say that one spin on this album is pretty much all you need to know what it's like. Which is the same to say it's generic horseshit. Seriously, this sounds like it could've come out anywhere during the early 2000s. Utterly samey and simplistic throughout its eleven tracks.

This is a staple for "unneeded reunion albums".

I feel like the majority of the bands I keep tabs on mostly released stuff in 2012, I tried shuffliing through music databases on my computers and came up with nothing that came out above average for me last year.

I'm really liking the new Carnifex album, can't say I've been a big fan of their other stuff but there's a lot of really cool melodies and riffs in Die without Hope so far, plus, all the really bad breakdowns are at the end of the songs, so I can just skip those without having to sacrifice any of the good parts.

2014 doesn't have anything as good as last year's Atlantean Kodex yet, but three of my favorite bands have albums out already and we're only in April. Good year so far.

I enjoyed a lot of stuff in 2013 that I was surprised by. Bands I never listened to much (or brand new bands) ended up being my favorites. A lot more death metal than I'm used to. Which hasn't happened at all so far this year.

Impossible for me to judge 2014 until the heavy hitters drop their albums - Priest and Accept.

Desecresy - Chasmic Transcendence crushes. The riff variance and overall song construction is incredibly interesting yet straightforward. They keep things subtly changing and building highs and lows. A lot driving riffs that just make you want to headbang. I think it's excellent.

I'm surprised people are unsatisfied, I feel like it's an absolutely insane year for metal. Can't remember so much good stuff coming out in such a short period. Behemoth, Kampfar, Persuader, Freedom Call, Opeth, Insomnium, Hail Spirit Noir, Cynic, Slough Feg, Woods of Desolation, Gridlink, Morbus Chron, Noctem, Noble Beast, Sonata Arctica, Cormorant, Vredehammer, Lantlos, Ifing, Vallenfyre, Agalloch... it just goes on and on and on and there's something for everyone.

And we don't even know what the second half of the year is going to look like!

I'm still catching up with 2012.

Its only 4 months in, so I'm not too worried. This year has been ok for me so far, but there's still some highly anticipated titles of mine that haven't been released yet.

I read some good things about the album so I had strong expectations and I agree with you. I find the whole thing very bland and unmemorable. Not a fan of the production which is a bit too clean or something and the riffs are unmemorable for the most part. The vocals are kind of bland as well. I'll stick with Inside the Unreal.

I am nervous about hearing that one, Gorelust let me down so severely just a few weeks ago, and I discovered both bands just a few weeks apart, it feels like an ill omen.



Haven't heard all those albums yet, but Noble Beast is the best of the ones I have there, and it's still just pretty ok to me.

Wait, what do you mean by Gorelust letting you down?! Is the new album already out there???

Leaked weeks ago... unless I got something fake/misnamed... MA doesn't have an album title up which has me concerned.

You must have... According to their FB page and to PRC's page it only comes out in the second half of this year. They started recording the drums on April's 11th so it must be a fake surely.

https://www.facebook.com/gorelustband?group_id=0
http://prcmusic.bandcamp.com/album/comi ... -undead-cd

Well that's good then haha.