Deamonolith - The Monolith Cult of Death (2024)

   By the complexity of Deamonolith's full-lenght debut, it's evident that the band members having a longer past in the metal scene, since the album just doesn't sound like the debut of newbies. 
   Their music in general could fit next to the '00s progressive brutal death bands, except they laid way more importance on unified sound and song compositions. Therefore the experimenting ambitions are limited, and progressive and other mixed influences are easily distinguishable from brutal death hammerings (usually they come by slow downs). Probably the sound went through the most widest spectrum of experiments. While the brutal death parts having a more modern, but the same time noisy, rumbling impression, the softer parts are varying from classic progressive metal themes supporting sterile sound to late '90s third wave black metal atmosphere. The clear separation of death metal and progressive parts turning the contrast between the two directions quite evident, and basically making the music easier to go into than in case of  '00s progressive brutal death bands. The whole thing also might have a more old school oriented, "respect the classics of the genre" perspective, and somehow it seems like as a necessary step to keep the most identifying style features clear. By their intensity and complex themes, bands like Dying Fetus, Vital Remains, Kataklysm and Vader could be named as their possible influences. "The Monolith Cult of Death" might become a potential favorite for the fans of the modern sound of death metal. 

Goatpenis - Flesh Consumed in the Battlefield (2014)

   It was mentioned before that Goatpenis might have the most diverse discography if it's about war metal bands. And "Flesh Consumed in the Battlefield" was probably something that most didn't see coming, cause it was like a complete style switch compared to the previous tendency of the band.
   If their intention was to keep balancing between the extreme metal styles like how old school South American bands did, switching to crossover thrash/death might seem as a reasonable decision. But from the perspective of a black/death or war metal band it's difficult to see why was it an advantageous decision. If they wanted to extend their audience by making an album compatible with hardcore fan audiences, the switch might have been successful, but the same time their music not only got simplified but dummified as well. If this album came out a decade earlier, when hardcore/metalcore was on the rise, it could have become the most brutal record that hardcore/crossover thrash audiences could have got, and it definitely could have became an influential album. But the timing and the band's past making this step questionable. It sounds more like a what if... like experiment, that includes all styles the could have influenced the band members (even black metal is there, but only for the final song), but this time their lesser known influences are mainly represented. It's like a reverse Goatpenis album (could be Goatvagina then?), that doesn't lack catchy themes, has better sound quality and production than usual, but the same time it's far different than what should be expected from the band. 

Diocletian - Gesundrian (2014)

   Some used to say that third albums are often determining in the life of a band. They could serve as a turning points because the band's style gets fully developed, or a turning point because their style is about to go through some changes. In war metal, when diversity or change is not an option partly because of the strict rules of the subgenre, and partly because it's simply not an expectation, this rule might seem irrelevant. But in truth this style is no exception either.
   Diocletian's third full-length album became slightly different from what previously have been heard from the band. The chaotic atmosphere and noise based sound turned a bit more clear, and at this point it's important to note, that it's still pretty far from sterile sound in general, the sound and song compositions became more clear compared to the previous albums. Insane intensity has still absolute dominance, and their music is as devastating as always, but from this slightly different perspective, the main tools of the devastation (the intense hammering, the themes and the vocal style) are more revealed, as the chaotic noise having reduced role. In this form the core basics of Diocletian's music are getting revealed as well, and the analogy with older classics (such as Abominator) is more evident. This slight change had advantageous effect by giving an extra enjoyable factor to another masterpiece of musickness by Diocletian.

Dig Me No Grave - Cosmic Cult (2014)

   Similar to Grond, Dig Me No Grave's lyrical concept also reflects their Lovecraft enthusiasm, and musically they also prefer mainly simple and basic themes, but they're more on the old school death metal field. And by implementation they also prefer great production and good sound quality.
   Compared to groove death metal, their songs are more complex and diverse of course, but on the side of the style or subgenre differences, some moderate experimental ambitions also making this complexity more evident. The band seemingly preferred various and unexpected switches not only by themes and tempo, but in forms of small surprises, like short, sometimes catchy, sometimes noisy solos. The song structures aren't unified either, cause they seemingly tried to come up with something slightly different each time. It did have an advantageous result, since their experimental endeavours getting clear pretty soon, and they never crossing through the imaginary border to turn too technical. The interesting factor comes mainly from their seemingly unusual solutions. Their main influences might have been rooted in bands whose music sounded more developed since the beginning than their fellow old school death metal coetaneous bands, like for instance Morbid Angel, Tiamat, or Paradise Lost. Even if Dig Me No Grave's musical toolbar could be still limited compared to capabilities of  the mentioned bands, their full-length debut might be quite enjoyable for the fans of old school death metal. 

Deus Ignotus - Procession of an Old Religion (2014)

   Similar to most Mediterranean and Greek black metal bands, Deus Ignotus also sounds way more heavier and brutal than usual. Even though they've been sorted as a black metal band, it wouldn't be a big mistake to call their music as black/death metal. And most probably it would be more accurate that way.
   On the side of a frequently returning blackened lead, the structures of their songs are also reflecting the basics of black metal, but their sound is just as heavy and noisy as death metal supposed to be, not to mention the deep growling vocal style. Even if this combination is not intentional, but more like the result of an experiment to sound wilder and more aggressive than how ordinary black metal sounds like, or to give an easily distinguishing feature to their local scene - since it's a common enough to call it as a specific local trend -, the whole thing ends up exciting and interesting enough to catch the listener's attention. Probably the fans of the the traditional blackened sound might not find their countings in Deus Ignotus' music, since atmosphere has reduced role, and instead overwhelming heaviness is in the band's focus. However, by the black metal basics the music is easier to go into, since it's more melodic than if it was ordinary death metal, and this combination is pretty enjoyable in general. 

Soulskinner - Crypts of Ancient Wisdom (2014)

   Soulskinner was formed and debuted in the early '00s, in an era, when death metal didn't only lacked any attention or popularity, but the genre was nearly forgotten. The band's first 2 albums included the typical features of '00s death metal bands from modern sound to strong brutal death and splatter topic orientation. By their third record "Crypts of Ancient Wisdom" the band switched to a slightly different perspective.
   The analogy with their previous works is that "Crypts of Ancient Wisdom" also followed the actual trends of the underground. Since the second album old school death metal had a Renaissance, and the band have returned with way more basic and filthy themes than usual. By tempo their songs also slowed down so much, that some are just a step away from death/doom. This album also became way more diverse, cause on the side of nearly death/doom-like slow downs and old school death hammering, melodic death features also showing up, and as the album goes on, they slowly taking the lead. If the first 2 albums reflected the actual trends of their time, the third one is like a summary of the band's early influences. The slow downs and the melodic death switch are like references to the late '90s, when bands like Paradise Lost, Sentenced, Tiamat, Moonspell or Katatonia lived their golden age. The thrashing death basics are still there, and in higher amount than at the mentioned bands, but their dominant influence left their mark behind. In total, "Crypts of Ancient Wisdom" is like a late '90s album embedded into the early '10s. Could be sorted to old school death, but it's something way more complex than how first it seems (or sounds) like. 

Gravecrusher - Morbid Black Oath (2014)

   By the previously mentioned line-up analogy, Gravecrusher had similarly sudden and unexpected appearance like Coffinborn. High quality death metal, a debut EP released by Xtreem Music, and fortunately their music also had their distinguishable character.
   If Coffinborn was more on the old school path, Gravecrusher pushed it further by focusing more on thrashing basics. If Coffinborn's debut sounded dirty and putrid, compared to that Gravecrusher sounds pretty clear. The songs are focusing on the core essence of old school death, therefore they're not only simpler, but shorter as well. Instead of oppressing heaviness, thrashing intensity and fast, noisy, short solo themes forming the main impression. Two same rooted and therefore strongly related, but still quite different perspectives and qualities. Both are quite enjoyable in their own way. This could serve as a great example how and why the importance of seemingly tiny or secondary features, such as sound, atmosphere and distortion rate became so determining since the late '00s. A different sound could mean a different world, and even if the possibilities in themes are limited and exhausted, by sound they seem limitless. Thanks to its more traditional approach, "Morbid Black Oath" is easier to go into, and could be a potential favorite for both the fans of thrash and death metal.