Obliteration - Black Death Horizon (2013)

   Until the third full-length Obliteration record it's got clear that the band didn't intend to create too homogenous discography. There are some exciting changes to discover on each album, and those are of course committed inside the borders of old school death metal. By "Black Death Horizon" the band kept showing that those borders aren't so strict as they're believed so.

   Similar to "Nekropsalms", the third album also gives a nice rotting taste of old Autopsy, and this very familiar, slow and endlessly sick feeling hits hard already at the beginning. However, "Black Death Horizon" isn't so complex like the previous album was. And the same time to express overwhelming sickness isn't in the main focus anymore. The song compositions are still great, and to operate with partly taken themes and to insert them into another perspective definitely needs skills. Maybe this method might sound familiar by thinking about bands like Skeletal Remains or Gruesome, but in fact those are bands who are perfect examples of how to not do the whole thing. Taking exact themes from another band and putting them together randomly over and over again like if it was some AI mix, is kinda far from writing own themes strongly influenced by another band, and pasting them into a new perspective each time. Despite the less complex song structures, on "Black Death Horizon" the band's own way of self-expression also had higher importance. Therefore it might be easier to go into, but to describe the exact motivations in details by grabbing the essence of the album isn't an easy task. This means the complexity also wasn't gone completely, and similar to "Nekropsalms", "Black Death Horizon" is also an album worth to listen to many-many times. Another masterpiece by Obliteration.

Infant Death - War (2013)

   Infant Death's debut could sound pretty nostalgic for those who are missing the feeling of '80s metal the most. It's kinda subjective and up to the listener to decide if "War" counts as a thrash/black or thrash/death metal album, and this is exactly the reason why was it a quite successful intention to recall the '80s.

   Since extreme metal subgenres haven't been fully developed back then, and basically most extreme music were just called collectively as thrash metal, it's pretty accurate to stay on the borders. On the side of the quite evident Slayer influences, Infant Death of course had more exaggerated tendencies, and it was not only needed for effective nostalgia. Ordinary thrash bands hardly could seem so extreme now like they have been for '80s audiences back then, and this is also the reason why those few thrash bands that have been able (or allowed) to break into the nowadays mainstream metal scene are basically playing thrash/death. Infant Death also took up the long lost "the faster the heavier" competition concept, and their speed and tempo is comparable to Sadus. The combination of their mixed style and aggressive tone reminds to South American bands like old Sepultura and Sarcófago. For old school fan audiences "War" might become a potential favorite. 

Bonesaw - The Illicit Revue (2013)

   For the most obsessed fans of Autopsy there have been plenty of bands to fulfill their never ending (and reasonable) hunger, while Autopsy had a long inactive period. Anatomia, Funeral, Mausoleum, just to mention a few. One of these bands was Bonesaw. 
   But in the list of evident Autopsy rip-off bands, maybe Bonesaw was the most genuine one, thanks to the previously mentioned imaginary sound and style-related obligations of their origin, the United Kingdom. Fortunately the sound isn't so dull as usual like in case of British metal bands in general, but also not the same what could be expected from a strongly Autopsy influenced band. It's somehow in the middle way between the two, and it turned out to be way more advantageous in this form, than just having any of the two. Also, it might be possible to compare it to the sound of the "Acts of the Unspeakable", but fortunately it's far from being that bad. The production was great, the themes haven't been put under a thick layer to lose their intensity, and their rawness was put into focus. It was kind of a different way to hear Autopsy styled riffs, and it just worked perfectly. The band also didn't follow the well known old sample in themes and atmosphere so specifically as usual, therefore it was possible look at them as a band being more ambitious than just recalling 'early 90s nostalgia by their number one favorite death metal band. In the form of some punk references, this feeling gets confirmed again if the listener had any doubts previously. Similar tiny, but in total determining differences were also responsible  for the themes and the song compositions being great, and for "The Illicit Revue" offering more than just early '90s death metal nostalgia. 

Uncoffined - Ritual Death and Funeral Rites (2013)

   Since the British metal scene have a long and glorious past in doom metal, it's not really surprising if great doom metal or doom related bands are showing up from there. And if it's about the extreme underground, it seems like the best possible outcome happens in case of doom related bands. 
   Somehow British death/doom always works better than British death metal in general, and for this only the sound is responsible. For instance it matters less how great and intense themes could be heard by bands like Bolt Thrower or Benediction (and by their follower younger bands), if the sound is so dull, that it completely pulls back the intensity and the raw spirit that supposed to be exposed in the genre. And it seems like a local style feature or trademark like the so called buzzsaw sound in Swedish death metal. However, this is not an issue if it's about death/doom, since the "dull" sound fits way better to slow, monotonous themes. In case of Uncoffined, the whole picture is more evident than ever, cause by high singing vocal style and just a slightly softer sound, "Ritual Death and Funeral Rites" would be an excellent doom metal album. The themes are basically the same like what could have been heard from '80s doom metal bands. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's death/doom without death metal themes, but the combination of the growling vocals and some barely noticeable differences have been enough to not look at the record as some '80s nostalgia, though it definitely is. Even though the same could be said about almost the whole British metal scene in general at some point, it doesn't always seem disadvantageous, and some bands (Uncoffined also) even embracing the whole thing by adding further vintage references. So there are some specific sound and style features that have been created in the '80s, and like a copy/paste sample further used during the following decades in almost every metal styles on some level. Sometimes it turns out pretty good, sometimes less advantageous (like in case of death metal). Maybe this perspective shows the whole British scene less diverse or experimenting and way more monotonous than how it seems for most, but probably it's not too far from reality. However, Uncoffined's debut might be a potential favorite for both the fans of doom and death metal by their vintage style and similarly ancient horror based concept. 

Nekrofilth - Devil's Breath (2013)

  Nekrofilth took a slightly different path than most late old school death metal inspired bands formed in the late '00s. They went back further to the past by adding punk influences into their music, and similar style combinations always giving new dimensions to musical minimalism. But despite their unusual methods, their music definitely fits to the new waved old school bands as some genuine gem in a more or less homogeneous pile. 

   If it's about punk combined with death metal, in this way it definitely works better than Impetigo back then and it's also way more enjoyable. The ancient, '80s-like spirit the band recalled is mostly reminding to Nunslaughter, thanks to it's simple but raw approach. But on the side of simplicity, by the nearly narrative vocal style, old Necrophagia might also come to mind. The production and the sound makes it evident, that "Devil's Breath" isn't some mysteriously long lost old school classic. The freshness and intensity of the album is comparable to newer thrash/death bands, who intending to recreate the core of musical extremity by focusing on it's possible cross-roads. The main tone is quite aggressive and that gives a lot to the music's effectiveness. Compromise-less, dirty, blackguard and explicit. The best possible implementation for a combination of thrash/death and hardcore punk. Strongly recommended for the fans of the filthiest old school musickness! 

Dead Rooster - Midnight Special (2013)

   It is (or should be) widely known, that since the early '90s no real metal styles or genres have shown up, only the mix of already existing ones. And since then it's also impossible to make anything new, no matter how much the mainstream scene is struggling to introduce new "perspectives" (the hipster way) or made up genres (weird style mixes), or styles that simply haven't been known yet for mainstream audiences. However, to make something good and impressive is still possible, though it's also challenging to not do it as an exact rip off (like how nowadays most commercial extreme bands do). From this approach Dead Rooster was definitely one of the most impressive and most interesting bands in the early '10s underground scene. 

   They've debuted in 2012 with "Witches of Belial", a strongly drone influenced sludge/doom EP. It was quite an actual style pick at the time, when the importance of sound - and to be exact, mainly noisy, heavy sound - grew, and plenty of new bands experimented with something similar. But for their full-length album they didn't continue the same line, instead they switched to something way more intense, by releasing a thrash / punk influenced record. It was literally the opposite of what anyone could have expected from a drone/doom band. And it seems like the band felt to be at home in both styles, since both "Witches of Belial" and "Midnight Special" were just excellent. The drone-ish, sludgy influence made the simple punk /thrash riffs sound way noisier and dirtier than usual. Also the same sound and rusty-shouting vocal style turned the basically punk themes less punk-compatible and more thrash-like. This step was advantageous in two ways: first, immediately it switched in analogy with the currently also quite actual old school / vintage tendencies in the underground, and second, it was like a remake of the transit from punk and heavy metal to the birth of thrash metal. Like a modern, rough reintroduction of the early '80s, from a band that switched from the modern pathfinder way to a vintage, old school, but also quite actual direction. And to hear a quote from Venom while listening to the album is just the tip of the iceberg. Two songs from their previous EP also could be found here as slightly more intense, re-recorded versions. The contrast of the mainly determining fast intensity and the down-pulling, apocalyptic tone is also golden. Despite its short length and raw simplicity, "Midnight Special" became a quite impressive and energetic album. An underrated masterpiece that highlighted a long time missing piece and spirit from the main metal scene.

Slaughtbbath - Hail to Fire (2013)

   Before their full-length debut Slaughtbbath have been around since a decade and pad plenty of demo and split-album appearances. Even though their music sounded very promising and impressive in this long lasting early period already, it was definitely worth to wait for "Hail to Fire".

    While traditional black metal themes had high role in their early music, it could have been continuously sensed that there's something more, some deviant intention in the background. And by "Hail o Fire" basically one of the most intense and devastating war metal albums was released. By focusing on the tiny differences the subgenre allows, it's possible to distinguish their style and sound from the American-Canadian classics. Slaughtbbath have a slightly more old school approach, that's more related to their local scene. The combination of insane intensity and the excellent sound might remind to Grave Desecrator. And this means enjoyability in the traditional way had the same importance for them as overwhelming brutality. Rehearsal sound quality might result raw impression, could build on making the music harder to go into, could let the atmosphere to gain role, and it's even able to hide performance failures. It's also possible to explain that the sound is bad cause it's intended to be like that, while in practice lower investment just led to higher profit as it has happened plenty of times in black metal. But if it's about the effectiveness of extremity, nothing could beat a sound that exposes the competence of the musicians and assists the style to show its best the same time. "Hail to Fire" is not only a black metal or war metal masterpiece, but an outstanding record in the extreme scene in general.