Nervosa - Victim of Yourself (2014)

   For Nervosa it didn't take too much time after their formation to get a contract from Napalm Records and to become the second biggest worldwide known metal band from Brazil after Sepultura. 
   Their success lied on two factors. First of all, thrash metal was pretty much forced into the background since decades, and there was a tendency in the underground since the late '00s to bring back the style of the early '90s, that was mainly focused on old school death metal, but eventually black and thrash metal were slowly involved as well. Later this tendency infiltrated into the mainstream too in strongly restricted form, mainly by the return of bigger bands of the '90s. Of course ordinary thrash metal couldn't have much chance to gain wider attention, it had to be more aggressive, and Nervosa's death metal influenced thrashing proved to be as a great style pick. Their lyrics also reflected the same social issues and rebelling attitude that have been so usual for thrash metal back then in the '80s, but as the world have changed in some level in the need for more aggressive music, from another perspective the world didn't change at all, for such lyrics didn't lose from their validity. And soon it became evident that Nervosa wasn't joking, they've been impressively active and productive, by playing live literally anywhere they could, and they did their best no matter if they had to play before a few dozens or thousands of people. This is the main thing that could give real authenticity for a band. Also, in the '90s it wasn't new, but still it counted as extraordinary in the underground to see female members in a metal band, but a full female lineup was something else. The whole thing wasn't rare anymore in the '10s, not even in the mainstream, but nearly demanded by the audience, thanks to bands like Arch Enemy and several metalcore bands. And even though their musical approach wasn't so feminine by growling female vocal style, their music in general was still mainly for sissies so to say. Also the whole thing strongly relied on their sexualized appearance like in pop music. And then came Nervosa with their high quality old school thrashing and wilder appearance, that proved to be way more credible and evergreen the same time. It's still strongly improbable that a band with male lineup playing the same music could run the same career as Nervosa did, but that couldn't reduce their self-dedication and efforts to bring back thrash metal for wider audiences in a world that seemingly became more opened and accepting, but the same time maybe even more superficial and ignorant than ever. As in case of evolution and biology it used to be said: "life will find a way", for the mainstream scene it could be converted as: "metal will find a way". 

Masacre - Brutal Aggre666ion (2014)

   Masacre is one of the not so many good examples for how a band could renew its style with time and to not disappoint their old fans meanwhile. Like if "Reqviem's" Masacre and the "Total Death's" Masacre (their 4th full-length album) were 2 different bands. And if we're looking at the line up changes that occured meanwhile (guitarist Juan Carlos Gómez as the only constant band member), they are.
   It might be interesting to compare Masacre's case with Massacre, if the analogy by style, band name, and cultic underground status wouldn't be enough. Both bands had lineup changes, both tried to change their style, but while Massacre tried it earlier in a drastic way led by the changing tendencies of the main scene and failed, Masacre's music changed in small steps album by album as a continuity and succeeded. More importantly they didn't try to abandon their old style, but to renew it. In 2014 Massacre came back from nothing and released a great album that was more brutal than how their early music was, but something was missing. Like if it was made by any other death metal band. A soulless mass product without any genuine features. In 2014 Masacre released a great album that was that was more brutal than how their early music was, and also sounded as a fulfillment of their musical development. Cause they haven't been gone meanwhile. That album was like if it was made by another band compared to their early period, but their music still had intense spirit. It was a different flame than in the old times (by different musicians it's understandable), but the flame was there, and it didn't just burn, it was incinerating. "Brutal Aggre666ion" isn't about trying to play something that certainly could be sold, cause there are well proven samples how to do it. It was about to enjoy being as brutal and compromise-less as the genre could offer cause that's why it was made for. An excellent record, strongly recommended for the fans of death metal!

Remains - Angels Burned (2014)

   If  someone's encounter an album design made by Mark Riddick, usually 2 things could be taken as granted: 1. it's most probably a death metal album, and 2. it's not going to disappoint. The same are correct about "Angel's Burned" by Remains.
   The band dedicated their music completely to old school death metal, and mainly to the Swedish scene. Grave and Unleashed should be mentioned in first line as their most possible influences. And it's definitely not weird from a Mexican band, since the audiences there are strongly into European bands. From the '10s the number of European metal inspired Mexican bands have increased, and even if most of them cannot offer any different or interesting perspective, they're quite good as fan-made projects, not to mention their impressive self-dedication. Also since the '10 Swedish death metal styled bands could be found literally in every country where's mentinable metal scene, if the nearly endless amount that Sweden keeps providing since the early '90s haven't been enough. If it's about themes, Remains' debut "Angel's Burned" definitely sounds like any death metal album from Sweden, except the typical "Swedish buzzsaw" sound was missing - at least on this album. But in the followings even this tiny "aesthetical issue" was avoided. 
   Strongly recommended for the fans of Swedish death metal!

Baphomets Horns - Atomik Warfuck Extermination (2014)

   Bathomets Horns had a stunning debut in 2008, but by the compilation "Atomik Warfuck Extremination" was released "posthumously" so to say, since the band did split-up already in 2010. 
    It was mentioned previously plenty of times, that American black metal is a pretty rare thing to find, since the genre didn't spark much attention there, and the great majority of American black metal bands are basically playing war metal, and those who aren't, are usually not free from death metal influences either. Therefore Baphomets Horns' approach of black metal also wasn't ordinary either of course. The concept, spirit and imagery definitely reflected the features and the strong influence of war metal, and the compilation introduces the band's short but swift journey. Their first demo "Satanic War Fucking metal" gave the first half of the record, that despite its title wasn't as intense as war metal used to be, and it was closer to ordinary black metal in themes. So close, that it was nearly free of death metal features, and sounded similar to raw black metal. But the atmosphere was still missing, and the focus completely lied on the rawness of the music. The second half of the compilation includes some songs on their full-length album "Perpetrators of Genocide", and a few rehearsal songs, that are unquestionably having all required exaggerated features of war metal. 

Alekhine's Gun - ...and Kings Will Fall (2014)

   When it comes to the combination of death and groove metal, most might first think about bands like Obituary or Six Feet Under, since their music defines groove/death the best. But there's also a worrying second thought bonded to these big names that leads to features like long, completely homogenous and eventless discographies full of monotonous groovy bouncing played by nearly retired musicians, that eventually might make the audience feel retired as well. Fortunately Alekhine's Gun are able to scatter these worries immediately, since they've proved that it's possible to play groove/death metal differently and even to make it diverse. 
    However, their music is also more mixed than what should be expected from similar bands. There are hardcore and even blackened elements to find. The first is mainly represented in the vocal style (by actress Jessica Pimentel by the way), in the music the hardcore features are merged into the groovy themes. The blackened touch getting revealed in the drumming style, but occasionally it shows up in the leading guitar themes as well. By turning back to groove/death, it's important to mention that by adding more intensity to the music, it seems like Alekhine's Gun took the death metal part more seriously than most bands in this style, and this new perspective could even redefine how this subgenre could or should sound like. Most importantly: despite the band having various influences, their music is pretty unified. The songs are well composed, the sound is great, and the only weak point of the EP is its short duration. In total, Alekhine's Gun has quite high potential, and  probably by being a hobby or side project of the band members, they aren't as productive as it might be needed to become a big name in the metal scene. 

Massacre - Back From Beyond (2014)

   As Massacre had to wait for their debut back then in the early '90s despite being one of the earliest death metal bands; so they had to wait for a while for their return decades later when the style had its Renaissance by the New Wave of Old School Death Metal. The band also had a less fortunate style changing intention in '96 after the collapse of death metal by their second album "Promise", that not only most fans, but also the band wishes to forget about. Though the kinda Pantera-like groove metal experiment with private life drama based lyrics basically wasn't a bad idea, especially compared to the lately formed nu metal scene. But it definitely wasn't the cup of tea of the band's old audience and it would have been better if it was released under a different name. 

   However, even though if the delayed retun didn't impress the audience as much as it was expected, "Back From Beyond" was a decent album with great songs, excellent sound and production. Except the album art and the old logo, the presence of Terry Butler and Rick Rozz from the original lineup are referring to the old times, and many probably had right if they didn't find this sufficient for a real continuity. Cause basically the music wasn't different from what any other death metal bands were doing at the time. Like anyone else could have done this album under a different name. The old logo, the album art, and Mr. Rozz's short noisy solos just didn't seem enough, though Edwin Webb's vocal style also did fit well. Their concept was also definitely better than what most old bands used to do after their return by trying to imitate what they did 20+ years ago and becoming their own tribube bands (what actually did happen with Massacre later on and the band was also photocopied by Inhuman Condition thanks to Terry Butler). And in case of radical style change the audience becomes unsatisfied again, so big returns are always difficult, and not many bands can find their countings if they expect more than some nostalgia led by the side effects of midlife crisis. Anyways, "Back From Beyond" was a good direction, not an intention to remake everything exactly how things have been back then, and also no drastic changes were included. Only one thing was missing. That tiny plus that's always pretty difficult to describe. That something that gave Massacre its own identity back then, and despite everything else was at its place, this tiny something proved to be enough to not receive the welcome that was desired. Except that "Back From Beyond" is quite enjoyable as a Massacre album or even as a random death metal album, and still it could be a potential favorite for the fans of the genre.

Serpentine Path - Emanations (2014)

   Serpentine Path debuted with their self-titled album in 2012, that despite its unified, simple and obscure form, showed mixed influences.

   On the side of death/doom and sludge/doom features there have been features frequently appearing that are more common in stoner/doom, or in the mix of stoner, sludge and doom metal to be more accurate. Serpentine Path did a pretty good job by using these related features and forge them into unified sound. "Emanations" strictly continued this line, and similar to the first album, it was again an excellent heavy, noisy and down-pulling record. Since the band preferred to keep the same slowly rolling heaviness, that could express well endlessly lasting agony without any hope of relief, the album might sound be monotonous after a while, but the great production made it sure that for the lovers of stoner/sludge/doom and death/doom metal it's a potential long term favorite.