Chiral - Abisso (2015)

  "Abisso" was basically Chiral's second demo record from 2014, that also had a limited CD release one year after with two extra songs, that extended the demo to decent full-length duration. And it was definitely worth to make such a release, since the demo was in various ways pretty interesting.
   A wide range of influences could be discovered in Chiral's music, that was in this current state the mix of atmospheric black metal and black/doom. The latest always counts as something extraordinary to find, partly because black/doom is quite rare in general, and also the two styles aren't too easy to combine. Therefore not many can manage to create something enjoyable and impressive out of them. In case of Chiral the black/doom features were a consequence of experimenting, that came from atmospheric approach. This is usually not really supporting the heavier sound that doom metal themes might require, but the atmospheric sound and effects are also including epic elements, that are strongly related to classic doom metal. The sound still didn't become as heavy as it supposed to be, but the thick, misty melancholic atmosphere worked out pretty well with the slow themes. In the two longest songs of the record this solution was well applied. In the rest of the songs drastic switches from soft melodies to intensity are common. This might remind to some death/doom classics of the early '90s, cause the way of experimenting was somewhat similar at the heralds of the subgenre. It's another question how intentional the whole thing was from Chiral, but the results were exciting indeed. The involvement of doom features opened further depths for the atmospheric blackened melancholy, and made the album more diverse than what could be expected in this style. Strongly recommended for the fans of atmospheric black metal and blackened doom.

Surge Assault - Lust & Misery (2015)

   Surge Assault debuted with "First Division" a raw, but promising blackened thrash EP, that wasn't too refined yet, but the band's imagination about what they wanted to do was clear.
   By "Lust & Misery" their full-length album they have returned as a band who mastered black/thrash metal completely and whose name could be mentioned among the heavy hitters of the style. Also the black/thrash they played was strongly related to the '80s nostalgia based trend that keeps frequently appearing at Swedish bands, such as Bewitched, Mordant, or early Paganizer. The only difference is that Surge Assault didn't intend to sound exactly like a long forgotten band from the '80s. They focused on thrashing intensity instead and for this an advantageous sound was picked. Thrashing black at it's best so to say, and by this quality their intensity is comparable to what many South American bands do in this style. The same spirit and the same overwhelming energy. Catchy and wild riffs combined with punk rooted thrashing beats, probably it's the best and most effective combination for an old school concept like this. And the biggest advantage is that it's pretty difficult to fail in this style. For the fans of thrash and blackened thrash "Lust & Misery" is a potential long term favorite. 

Mass Burial - Soul's Necrosis (2015)

   Mass Burial debuted in 2012 with "Of Carrion and Pestilence". It was a stunning album that followed the Swedish style of old school death metal. If we shoo off the thought that the death metal scene definitely suffers from Swedish death overdose in general only by bands from Sweden already (that leads to boredom), and things not getting better if similar bands keep forming in every other country with somewhat worthwhile metal scene, then this endeavor could seem promising. 
   However, Mass Burial's debut was a bit more experimenting and therefore less unified, and more diverse. Their return by "Soul's Necrosis" took the Swedish path more consistently. Excellent sound quality gave the well known "Swedish buzzsaw" sound more advantageous basics, and it was brought into highlight. The song structures also became more unified. The band had great and catchy riffs even on the previous album already, and they really did their best this time. But for the cost of less freedom if it's about experimenting and creativity, since the music had to fit into the strict rules of their preferred direction. And it turned out to be so good that it would be impossible to tell without and background information that they're not a Swedish death metal band. For those who dig the style and never can get enough of it, "Soul's Necrosis" might be a potential favorite.

Human Waste - Harvest Remnants (2015)

   "Harvest Remnants" is an excellent compilation that includes the early '90s demos of Human Waste. The band had a unique style and approach that despite had pure '90s old school death metal touch, it was more complex than usual.
   By the involvement of various other influences on some level, such as goregrind, technical and progressive elements, their music could be compared to Necrophiliac's style. Except instead of the expression of endlessly sick impression and feeling by melodies, Human Waste tried to rely on technicality and a huge pile of catchy and diverse riffs and frequent tempo and theme switches. However, some level of sick impression was reached by their different toolbar anyway. In fact their early demo period had such musical diversity that rarely could have been heard even on debut albums. Even if it was probably the result of experimenting methods, like when bands are trying to find common ground, and a chaotic pile of songs getting created. But even in this chaotic form, their music was characteristic and unified enough, proving that the band members had similar and determinate imaginations about what they wanted to do and how. It might be difficult to name any other early '90s death metals who created enjoyable and unified compositions from disharmony with such ease. Despite being unworthily underrated, Human Waste definitely had  and easily identifiable style. "Harvest Remnants" is strongly recommended for the fans of early '90s death metal musickness gems.

Bodybag - Predominance of Insanity (2015)

   After the Renaissance of grindcore in the late '00s, Bodybag's old school approach was pretty refreshing and counted kinda extraordinary among the numerous porn grind and goregrind releases of the '10s. Their debut EP "Predominance of Insanity" takes back the listener into the late '80s, when grindcore was just freshly defined by bands like Napalm Death and Terrorizer.
   The EP starts with a song that definitely sounds like an old, long lost and somehow mysteriously reappeared Terrorizer song (this is how Terrorizer's return should have sounded like in 2006 by the way, and maybe then it didn't disappoint so many fans), but in the followings the band demonstrates various approaches to death/grind. And all are sounding pretty impressive. Similar to Terrorizer, death metal themes or at least intense thrashing could be heard in the "resting" parts of the songs instead of punk themes, but in case of thrashing some slight punk-like touch could be sensed. The unifying analogy in the contrast between the insane grinding and fast hammering is in raw primitiveness, that also adds some savage charm to the EP. For the fans of old school grinding Bodybag's music might be extremely enjoyable, a potential long term favorite. 

Urania - Hieros Gamos (2015)

   "Hieros Gamos" by Urania could be described shortly as death/doom or funeral doom at its best. The appearance of such excellent albums seemingly from nothing became more frequent from the late '00s. Compared to the '90s trends this tendency keeps forming the subgenre to a heavier direction, that's basically its core essence.
   Urania's music includes a lot of funeral doom influences, that are represented in very long heavy riffs, extremely extended song lengths and strong atmosphere. Esoteric, Thergothon and Skepticism should be mentioned first of all if it's about possible direct influences. However, the songs are heavy and noisy on death/doom level, and the themes are often switching to death/doom as well, therefore the atmospheric sound couldn't take over. The role of instruments and atmosphere are balanced. The combination of rough sound and melancholy is overwhelmingly effective how it should be, and able to guide the listener through on "Hieros Gamos" seemingly with ease, though the album doesn't really count as the easiest album to listen to. And this is exactly where the excellence of this record lies: making such a heavy journey smooth and not falling into miserable monotony meanwhile. Strongly recommended for the lovers of funeral doom and death/doom!

Amputory - Ode to Gore (2015)

   Amputory's debut and so far one and only album by style is on the crossroads of Swedish and Finnish death metal. "Ode to Gore" includes the characteristic features of  both, and this is one of the most typical directions that a Finnish death metal band could take. 
  The song structures, the riffs and the vocal style are all evidently Swedish influenced, while the well known repetitive leading melodies on the side of more diverse themes spicing it all up. Occasionally even some "Finnish gloom" (or happiness for others) shows up by the short involvement of atmospheric effects. The tempo switches are effectively applied and they strongly increasing the album's enjoyability. The role of the mentioned melodic and slightly more diverse parts are more reduced than usual, therefore if the "Swedish buzzsaw" sound would have been picked for the album, nobody could have been able to distinguish "Ode to Gore" from any other old school Swedish death metal release, cause it would completely neutralize the minor presence of Finnish features. These might seem pretty tiny and seemingly completely secondary or even unimportant differences, but these hardly discoverable or identifiable features are able to give character for a death metal album (especially if it's about old school death), and even though for first listening "Ode to Gore" might sound nothing special, since it all sounds very familiar, there are definitely more to discover in this album. For the fans of the Northern death metal scene, it's a potential favorite.