Bolt Thrower - Honour Valour Pride

Genre: Death Metal

Country: United Kingdom

Year: 2001

Label: Metal Blade Records

Big, chunky, muscular death metal from the UK is the order of the day. These Brits truly worship The Riff. That's what Bolt Thrower is all about. This isn't technical or 'brutal' stuff; rather, Bolt Thrower chooses to steamroll over your blasted corpse with the iron weight of a Leman Russ Demolisher. Every single song on this album has these huge, monstrous riffs that rumble like the thunder of gauss-cannon fire, absolutely annihilating everything in their path. Due to their being one of the most consistent and long-lived death metal bands kicking, it's tough to choose a favourite Bolt Thrower album, but Honour Valour Pride would definitely be a top contender were I forced to do so. I just love the pummeling feel to the entire ordeal, the music really feels like the killer Warhammer-themed Games Workshop cover artwork. These guys (and gal) are masters at their craft, and will always be one of the coolest death metal bands in existence. If you're looking for a heavier-than-lead death metal album that relies on mid-paced anvil-crushing riffs to deliver the mortal blow, look no further. Crushing.

For fans of Benediction, Runemagick, Unleashed, and Cianide.

Honour Valour Pride

Just For Fun

A friend sent me a screenshot of this and I just couldn't resist posting it:

Hahaha, thanks for reading, everybody! Here's to 666 more!

Carnage - Dark Recollections

 

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Sweden

Year: 1990

Label: Narcosis Records

Carnage was an early death metal outfit that included musicians who would go on to play in some of the biggest names in the genre (Entombed, Dismember, Carcass, and a handful of others). Basically, this, their only full-length release, completely fucking kills. It's heavy, dark, and menacing, with a production job that is very much a foreshadowing of what would come to be the staple Swedish sound. It was all here - that thick, leaden guitar tone that crushes your skull as it stomps away above drums that hit your chest like a warhammer and never give you a chance to catch your breath. This is the real deal, and one of the earliest bands in the scene. As with many classics, there's not much I can say that hasn't been said before, so I'll leave it at that. Mandatory.

For fans of Dismember, Grave, early Entombed, and early Hypocrisy.

Dark Recollections

Deviser - Transmission to Chaos

Genre: Atmospheric Death/Black Metal

Country: Greece

Year: 1998

Label: Mascot

Deviser is an obscure Greek band playing an interesting blend of death metal and atmospheric keyboardy black metal (the good kind, not the lame kind). The cover artwork is incredibly cool, and is actually what drew me to this album in the first place. The music within is also incredibly cool, characterized by a mystical, arcane atmosphere that really makes Transmission to Chaos a treat to listen to. Some songs have a more black metal vibe, while some are a bit more on the death metal side of the fence, making the overall sound difficult to describe. It doesn't sound disjointed as that might imply, however, as the overall album has a very cohesive atmosphere. This is a work of art forged in the depths of the underground. Awesome.

Transmissions to Chaos

Desultory - Into Eternity

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Sweden

Year: 1993

Label:

Here we have some truly fantastic old-school Swedish death metal. I don't it them mentioned much when the topic comes up, which is a shame, because this is really a gem of an album. Into Eternity offers a surprisingly diverse music palette, churning though thrashy riffs, epic melodic passages, and all-out death metal assault, often across the breadth of one song. There is a very big, sprawling feeling to the album, and the production is spot-on, being raw enough to remain visceral and retain a dark atmosphere but clean enough that all the instruments are very clearly audible and, when the music demands it, very heavy. Unfortunately, none of their other albums can hold even a semblance of a candle to this one (and their last release was an abominable groove metal abortion - we're talking Pantera-meets-Shadows-Fall stuff...), but Into Eternity stands as a forgotten classic, and definitely one of my favourite death metal albums.

Into Eternity

Keen of the Crow - Hyborea

Genre: Doom/Death Metal

Country: U.S.A.

Year: 1997

Label: Garu Records

Keen of the Crow was short-lived American doom metal band that unfortunately only brought us one full-length before splitting up. It was formed by two ex-members of Morgion following their split, and in my opinion, the music on this album is cooler than their original band's later output.  This is a truly spectacular death/doom monument, featuring epic, heavy riffs, diverse and well-executed vocals, and a big, fat production job that suits the music perfectly. Lyrically this is all Robert E. Howard stuff (as you undoubtedly noticed from the title), and it's really cool to see a band successfully taking a different musical approach to such topics. With Hyborea, Keen of the Crow has forged an epic, heavy, dynamic beast of an album, and it's really a shame we won't be hearing more from them.

For fans of Morgion, Mourning Beloveth, Runemagick, and Novembers Doom.

Hyborea

Runemagick - Enter the Realm of Death

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Sweden

Year: 1999

Label: Century Media

I love the dark, arcane feeling of this band. Runemagick plays a unique brand of death metal (and doom/death later on in their career) that incorporates a very obscure, occult atmosphere and crushingly heavy riffs, relying on memorable guitar hooks rather than blasting and technicality. This is one of their earlier albums, and also one of my favourites, so it's much more in death territory than doom. Every song on Enter the Realm of Death has cool riffs in it. You'll find yourself banging your head uncontrollably at many points during its 54 minute runtime, a condition made all the better by the thick, fat, moon-consuming guitar tone and fantastic heavy-as-hell drum production. Prepare to enter the realm of death!

For fans of Cianide, The Chasm, and Desultory.

Enter the Realm of Death

Merciless - Merciless

 

Genre: Death/Thrash Metal

Country: Sweden

Year: 2003

Label: Black Lodge

Merciless is a Swedish death metal band who injects a healthy dose of thrash into the mix and crushes your skull with it. They've been around since 1990, and were actually the fist band to sign to Deathlike Silence Productions. This is heavy, catchy death/thrash metal with no gimmicks - just good riffs and good songs. This album really doesn't have any weak points, and remains high-energy for its entire length. This is definitely one of my favourite death metal bands, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another album (it's been 7 years since their last release, but apparently they're still active). All of their albums are guaranteed to make you bang your head, so grab a copy and prepare to thrash!
 

Merciless