The Great Metal Debate Podcast Gomthog

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we’re reviewing the latest release from Indian heavy thrash veterans Kryptos titled Decimator, which is released on July 5th through AFM Records. Founded back in 1998, Decimator is their 7th full-length album. Let’s check out this new album Decimator and see how it stacks up.

The tracklist begins with “Sirens Of Steel” which debuts in epic fashion before transitioning into galloping riffs. There’s a touch of thrashy-ness here, but is more like thrash-influenced true metal than a thrash band that wears its trad metal roots on its sleeve. The guitars are very forward in this one, with lots of lead accents throw in throughout, sometimes more and sometimes less successfully. The vocals are thrash-ish, with the lyrics rasped out in lightly goblinesque fashion by singer and guitarist Nolan Lewis.

“Fall To The Spector’s Gave” sets a rollicking sonic core with strong riffing and a sing-songy verse. There’s some good stuff – I really enjoyed the guitar lead break as well as the vigorour climax. I just could’ve used a bit more variability in the vocal melody, which is extremely repetitive in its presentation. A small change up there could have improved the song immeasurably.

A cheesy 80s metal intro transitioning into a generic 80s metal riff is what greets us for “Turn Up The Heat,” the next track in the listing. That comes across as harsher than I mean – in some ways I’ve giving a compliment. This is every bit as engaging and dynamic a track as one might routinely find on an Accept or Metal Church album back in the day when those bands were fresh and relevant.

Similarly constructed albeit a bit different in the details of its execution is “Electricity.” This is perhaps a cautionary tale to artists that when you give a song such an energetic title you’d better be certain the music delivers in like manner. It is a fine song – a mid-paced rocker that has the nostalgic feel of some metal anthems of oldGood riffs, but an underwhelming chorus structure.

Track 5 “Solaris” is a soft guitar piece that is only slightly past a minute and a half in length, segueing into the title track “Decimator.” I get some definite Painkiller-era Judas Priest vibes on “Decimator,” with the pulsating double bass and plunging sonic guitar dives. Unfortunately, the riffing is somewhat stale and repetitive. There’s no progression or twists here – a minute in and you basically can predict how the remainder of the song will sound.

With “In The Shadow Of The Blade” we find one of the album’s most compelling melodies and some nice interplay between the rhythm and lead guitar lines. It’s somewhat paint-by-numbers in the song construction, but the simple approach works well here. Yet again I yearn for a bit more variability in the vocal presentation. If the singer could have gone up even half an octave on the final verse it would have truly made the track explode.

Next up is “Pathfinder” which has a pleasant if predictable primary riff and some nice, timely tempo changes. However, I thought the composition missed opportunities in the transitions between verses, choruses, and breaks, with those changeovers seeming to happen somewhat ham-handedly. Another track that was fine for what it is, but could have been better.

The album concludes with “We Are The Night,” a mid-paced track that almost has a 70s rock mood to it, or at least NWOBHM feel. The lead break is really tasty, and the riffing throughout is enjoyable. This might be my favorite track on the album, leading me to wish the band had given me more of this approach and, by inference, gone with less of what I’d heard earlier.

Ultimately I’ll say that Decimator is worth checking out. You won’t hate what you hear, but I don’t know if many will love it either. I’m giving Decimator a 5 out of 10 rating. You can purchase Decimator from AFM Records. Follow them on social media

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we are talking about the fourth full-length studio album by the New York brutal tech death band Malignancy titled ...Discontinued, which was dropped on June 14th through Willowtip Records.

This is the band's first album in 12 years so this certainly calls for celebration. For a band that has been around since 1992, you would think that they would have much more albums in their discography but, I guess some bands like to really take the time with their craft.

Before diving into this new record track by track, I'm going point out a major similarity that I've always noticed about this band. Particularly with the vocalist Danny Nelson having a nearly identical sounding voice to Ross Dolan from Immolation. I had often wondered if Malignancy was a side project band, which would make a lot of sense seeing as how both bands are from Yonkers! The answer is no, Danny and Ross are two different people. However, Danny had done vocals for Mortal Decay's 2013 album The Blueprint For Blood Spatter.

When I looked up the names of the band members, I had to do a double take when I saw the bass player. At first I thought it said Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse, but nope, the new bass player is Alex Weber. Haha, not Webster.

Coincidentally enough, guess where Cannibal Corpse originally started. You guessed it, New York. Except they formed in Buffalo. According to Metal-Archives, Alex Weber has played live for Defeated Sanity and Obscura. Guitarist Ron Kachnic has also been in Pyrexia, Demolition Hammer and Mortician! Mike Heller has been the drummer for multiple bands including System Divide which is Sven from Aborted's side project band. Despite not advertising as such, Malignancy IS a super group.

Kicking things off we have the first track titled "Existential Dread". As you listen to this album, you can feel Danny's lips press against the microphone as he delivers his powerful vocals. You can tell he definitely uses his diaphragm to produce such a monstrous tone. Watch a few live videos of them and you can witness for yourself Danny's commanding stage presence too.

"Purity of Purpose" was the first single released for this album about 2 months beforehand. I remembered as soon as I heard it, I immediately looked up the full-length release date and album title just to add it to my list. Judging from that track alone, I knew I had to review it.

The second single "Biological Absurdity" was uploaded a month later and it of course blew me away. Both of these songs were aired on YouTube as official tracks but we haven't been treated to a music video yet.

I have found myself jamming this album front to back since its release a little over a week ago and I gotta say, I'm impressed! I mean, Malignancy never disappoints. This album is absolutely killer and one of the finest examples of your standard death metal.

Bad ass death metal albums without an overly unique pizazz quality about them are still more than capable of getting a good rating out of me. This is definitely one of the better straight forward death metal albums I've heard in 2024 so far. With that being said, I'm feeling a nice 8/10 rating.

Malignancy has been kickin around in the underground scene since I was a 1-year-old. They've gone through a few line-up changes here and there but have held strong as a band for the past three decades. Their popularity may not be up on the same level as many other bands but they deserve a lot of credit, respect and most of all support.

You can buy their merch ... at pretty much any online metal merch outlet. The most obvious choice would be bandcamp, but they also have merch at primitiverecordings.com, hellsheadbangers.com and indiemerch.com. Of course, if you get lucky enough to see them live; they definitely have a merch table and I hear that they are usually at their stand before and after a show. So don't be shy, go say hi and if nothing else, throw them a few bucks in their tip jar.

Review of "D'Muata" by Perchta (Prophecy Productions, 2024).

Intro music by CONTRA; intro voice by Greg Kyle (RIP).

Xander checks in with Nashville black metal unit Lenax during a recent video shoot to get the low-down on the band's past and future!

Excerpts from the Lenax track "Beneath The Chapel (Symphonic Version)" (2024) used with permission from the artist.

Welcome back to another metal album review. Today, we have an atmospheric/melodic black metal band from Murfreesboro, Tennessee called Oubliette and this is their third full-length studio album titled Eternity Whispers released through The Artisan Era.

The album begins with the first single which had a music video two months ago. It is of course the song "Primordial Echo". It starts with some softly played guitar, calmly bringing you the short and sweet intro for 48 seconds before the rest of the band fires on all cylinders immediately kicking things into high gear. The whole song is a groovy cacophony of shred riffs, pinch harmonics, yelling and blast beats. At the 3:40 mark, there's a soothing middle riff that I quite enjoyed which mixes in a brief shred. All three guitarists: Mike Low, Andrew Wampler and Chris Austin have perfected the art of working together and sharing similar ideas when it comes to the overall tone of the genre.

"With Death's Shadow" was the second single released for Eternity Whispers and it also happens to be the next track. How convenient. It's what I would consider to be that classic Oubliette style. Many things about the speed and pacing of this track remind me of the Apparitions debut. I'm proud of this band for not straying too far from what made me like them so much in the first place. On the other hand there's this ambient clean singing which can be heard after the halfway point during the track which is definitely a nice touch. It brought me back to the song "Elegy" from the previous album The Passage.

Drummer Spencer Moore is a fucking machine gun on the kit. Especially throughout the song "Consumed By The Void". The entire track is an unrelenting orgy of blast beats. It all makes perfect sense because he's also the drummer for Inferi. Also, whoever mixed and mastered this album did some fantastic job by keeping the drums loud but not so much that it overpowers the other instrumentation. Oddly enough, there's this quiet little tune played at the end of the track which ties in with the beginning of the following track titled "Desolate Path".

Now I'm not entirely sure which of the three guitarists is behind the acoustic sounding guitar but great work. Or maybe it could've simply been an electric just without the foot pedal. I'm not sure. Either way, I love that shit. That sweep picking moment at the 5:22 stamp really caught my attention but didn't last too long.

A bonus credit for Spencer is that every beat of each drum has a resounding thud to it. Every whack of the snare packs a punch. This is proven once more in the next track "Dreams of Nevermore". But let's shift our focus for a moment to the vocalist Emily Low. She has so much power in her lungs to keep going on for long periods of time on the microphone. It truly sounds as though she's given all she's got into the recording of this record.

But then the album slows down for a bit, we get a real treat for the ears. A lovely instrumental track called "Ember's Embrace". It's a beautiful track with keyboards, audible bass and drum cymbals. Of course the guitarists are a stand out and ... wait a minute, was that a violin I just heard or was that just a part of the synth work? Whatever that sound was, I want more. It is definitely my favorite track on the album due to the wonderful musicianship.

"Vanish" serves as the perfect conclusionary track for the record. Everything you have heard throughout this album comes together in one masterfully crafted track with an impeccable structure.

But what do I rate this? If I'm being real with my audience, I'd obviously recommend this album to anyone who is into this particular subgenre of metal. I will be as fair as I can by giving them a solid 8/10. So definitely don't sleep on this upcoming release. I can more than assure you it will be worth your while. All of their music and merch is available exclusively on Bandcamp.

Welcome The Great Metal Debate podcast, bringing you another release straight from the underground. Today, we will he talking about the debut album Ex Umbra In Lucem from the symphonic blackened death metal band Lamentari. This Denmark based band has released 3 EPs and 2 singles before dropping their first full-length record and I'm going to say straight from the get-go, this is exactly the type of metal I crave. It was a little over a month ago when I discovered this band on YouTube. The music video for the song "Dolorum Memoria".

The album opens with an angelic choir in the intro track "Spiritus Noctus" before pummeling you with the song "Tenebrae". It's a bombastic track that will give you a small taste of what's to come. The choir continues throughout this track and returns during many moments throughout this whole album.

"Tragoedia In Domo Dei" has thunderous opening double bass blastbeats which goes straight into the symphonic sound. The element of brass instrumentation, strings and choir make it a near perfect listening experience. Once it passes the 2:50 mark in the song, we get an acoustic guitar moment with a bass riff that sounds just like something straight out of technical death metal. It reminded me so much of Obscura and Beyond Creation that I checked to see if Jamie de la Sencerie had an 8 string fretless. But no, he is making that sound with a regular 4 string. The tempo picks back up again at around 4:30 stamp. The harmonizing choir is hypnotic and easily rivals what Septicflesh has been doing all these years but with a more melodic black metal style. At the same time, none of Lamentari's music sounds derivative. Instead it all feels fresh and original. I love how Thomas' drums sound both loud in the mix but at the same time it doesn't over power the rest of the music.

"Intra Muros Mentis" immediately begins with some electric guitar sweeps for the first 30 seconds before exploding into that somewhat traditional black metal sound. Except the rhythm guitar remains audible without the obnoxious buzzsaw riff, all thanks to the shredding by guitarist Michael Møller. The lead guitarist Emil is also another standout member of this impressive band.

Onto a very upbeat track we have "Appugno" which continues on that path to greatness. To me, Lamentari is a real treasure of band who knows how to be simultaneously fast but melodic in the most symphonic way possible. It's truly rare to get real talented musicians like this who are new to their craft but seem to be master composers.

Then we get to the song "Dolorum Memoria" which is the music video I mentioned at the start of this review. This whole album is a very strong contender for Album of the Year but if for some reason it doesn't end up being #1, this song is definitely song of the year. I absolutely adore these acoustic guitars and whisper vocals. This 8 minute long masterpiece will make you close your eyes and really listen and relax.

The calmness continues into this album's 2nd instrumental which serves as a soothing prelude to the final track. "Spiritus Diurnus" has the church-like choir once more but has the perfect classical music violin strings which turn into what can be best described as a Hans Zimmer score for a Christopher Nolan film. Too bad its only 1:27.

the closer to this breathtaking album is a 7 in a half minute long track titled "Arcanum Ignis Animae". I will say as a very minor critique, I feel like Daniel Lønberg's vocals could use just a little bit of work. If he could maintain the deeper style more often like he did in the song "Dolorum Memoria", I could enjoy this record even more than I already am.

I'm going to score Lamentari - Ex Umbra In Lucem with a glorious 9/10 rating. Be sure to follow Lamentari on Facebook. All of their music is on bandcamp but their t-shirt and vinyl record is available at merchcity.com