Shrine of the Serpent - Shrine of the Serpent (2015)

   Shrine of the Serpent debuted with a stunning EP (the basically could be a full-length album by its nearly 30 mins of duration if it wasn't death/doom), that served as an accurate introduction for the band's (unfortunately) short career. 
   While the music definitely reflects the traditional aspect of the style, that focuses on absolute hopelessness, strongly demoralizing tone, and completely lacks aesthetic or romantic features; the crystal clear sound that was picked is usual at the more popular form of death/doom. At one hand it's advantageous, cause it's also a way to highlight the music's rumbling heaviness, and to show the endless depths of desperation, but a noisier, dirtier sound could have been more effective if that was the goal. Anyways, the EP includes everything why death/doom could be preferred. It's ominous, down-pulling and includes such a dark atmosphere, that would be difficult to compete with in any other styles. During the 3 extended songs the band did a great job by keep building up the songs slowly step by step and avoiding monotony meanwhile. The compositions are simple, nothing unexpected happens, it's high quality death/doom in its raw simplicity. Could be a potential favorite for the fans of the genre.

Ravens Creed - Ravens Krieg (2015)

   Ravens Creed had an interesting journey since its formation in the late '00s. The band started to play crossover/thrash, and according to the that time actual tendencies in the main metal scene, their full-length debut "Albion Thunder" sounded pretty vintage and refreshing the same time. 
   By their second album the band took a confident step into a more aggressive thrash/death direction, and the third record "Ravens Krieg" was like a fulfillment of this style switch. The great sound quality had advantageous role by highlighting the pure wild aggressiveness, that still relied on intense thrashing. The band also had a new frontman since 2011 (Al Osta), and his death metal fitting vocal style also increased the more savage main impression. In fact, "Ravens Krieg" isn't far from becoming a death metal album, only the strongly old school oriented thrash metal basics keeping the music on the border of the two styles. The compromise-less spirit and limitless anger based approach makes the album comparable to "Pray" by Solstice, that's probably one of the wildest and most aggressive thrash/death albums until this day. And to reach or earn a similar status is no small thing after decades of extreme metal history. By the final song of the album the band also made clear, that even in case of extended song length (over 13 mins long), they're able to thrash till death and to do it without turning monotonous or unifacial. It's probably the most challenging and most enjoyable song on the album, and it's pretty sure that not many fellow thrash metal bands could do this after them. In total, "Ravens Krieg" is an excellent record, strongly recommended for both the fans of thrash and death metal.

Invocation Spells - Descendent the Black Throne (2015)

   When it's about thrash/black metal, Invocation Spells should be definitely among the first names that comes to mind. Not because they would be an old or classic name for the genre. But because simply they're among the few top bands who are able to catch the feeling of the style in the rawest, dirtiest and most vile way.
   The band of course didn't figure out the whole thing by themselves, their music relies on the traditional basics of South American extreme metal, and when it comes to thrash/black, there are simply no better basics for that. What Invocation Spells did the best is mastering their influences and focusing on the core essence of the style. This of course also means a strongly vintage/old school approach, with the inevitable touch of '80s-like sound and spirit. But since lots of bands (mainly from Sweden) have shown up since the late '00s to restore the feeling of the '80s by a very familiar sounding, but in truth never existed direct transition from pioneer bands like Celtic Frost and Venom to black metal, this counts as an alternative (probably a better alternative) for the same endeavours. But while Northern and other European bands involving speed and heavy metal influences, mainly inspired by the British heavy metal scene (and meanwhile others, mainly in Eastern Europe desire to play black metal, but they're simply not enough skilled for that, therefore they ending up as thrash/black), in South America the rawest, more aggressive form persevered and rules still. In total Invocation Spells is strongly recommended for thrash/black fans. 

Blasfemia - Ancient Occult Wisdom (2015)

   "Ancient Occult Wisdom" is the second full-length album by Blasfemia, a one man band formed in 2010.  The productiveness of señor Mr. Nicolás Fariña (the man behind the project) is quite spectacular according his past presence of various other bands as drummer, and more importantly, because Blasfemia's music is far from  being unifacial.
   The album offers quite decent thrashing black metal that recalls the spirit of the '80s in the well known dirty, ancient South American way. This approach is definitely more related to the traditional local scene, therefore it might sound pretty nostalgic. This means, musically thrash metal influences are dominant, and the atmosphere has very reduced role by being subordinated to dirty, echoing sound. This sound (on the side of the main concept of course) therefore also follows the already vintage basics on the line of Sarcófago, Pentacrostic or old Sepultura. From the thrash metal side, except the quite evident influence of Slayer, German thrash metal bands like Sodom, Kreator and Necronomicon could be mentioned as possible inspirational factors. "Ancient Occult Wisdom" is a quite diverse album by themes despite being thrash/black, even some old heavy metal (in this raw and aggressive context melodic death) are involved, extending the '80s touch. For the fans of old school sound it's definitely a potential favorite. 

Sadistic Murder - Butcher of Rostov (2015)

   By seeing a reference album title and a stylized drawing of serial killer Andrei Chikatilo on a cover of a band called Sadistic Murder, there are no doubts that it's not going to be some new waved stuff.
   And indeed, Sadistic Murder was the same way self-dedicated to traditional death metal than to gory concept. Which is at least partly based on real life events, and partly on classic random brutality/gore lyrics, cause even though the album seems like dedicated to Chikatilo, not all songs are about his reign of terror. However, the reality factor gives a more serious background for the whole thing. The music is also partly old school death metal rooted, and partly brutal death influenced. The sound, the strict insensible song compositions and the main impression are responsible for the latest, but the music isn't too technical and intense for ordinary brutal death. The band kept trying to play slightly melodic riffs and to combine them with short, catchy solo themes, and this counts as old school endeavours. This catchy but brutal approach might remind to old Cannibal Corpse. The concept is clear, the album is smoothly unified and enjoyable, new wave of old school death metal at its best so to say. Strongly recommended for the fans of the genre. 

Evil Bitch - Sin and Pleasure (2015)

   Evil Bitch's "Sin and Pleasure" demo which was their second one, originally came out in 2014, but in the following year it had a CD release. And this version also includes a live song attached to the end of the album.
   The female duo basically sounds like an early '80s nostalgia band mainly inspired by Motörhead, but the influence of the that time slowly awakening darker perspective of metal also could be sensed in their music. Their simple, basic themes referring to the core essence of the genre, and some riffs quite reminding to bands like Hellhammer and Venom. Even though demos nowadays could sound pretty good, Evil Bitch seemed to prefer the old school way, even by sticking with poor sound quality. And this had two advantages for them. First, this way the amateur '80s garage band feeling could be reached effortlessly, while most bands trying to recreate vintage sound in studios and many times they're still able to fail. And second: poor sound quality could also cover their mistakes both on guitar and in the vocal performance. Like in case of a raw, amateur sound, not many would bother if the band also playing as amateurs. In total, their music reminds to Oral, a short lived, also Motörhead influenced female band from the UK. But while Oral (probably not surprisingly after their name) focused on pleasure-based '80s rock'n'roll dirtiness, Evil Bitch is all-round dirty in a bit darker way. Their music is mainly recommended for those who are enjoying the feeling of live music experience in already intoxicated state in small rock pubs where hygiene is an unknown word, the toilets are in ruins, the floor is covered with the mix of beer, dirt and piss, and the air grew heavy from cigarette smoke.

Marilyn Manson - The Pale Emperor (2015)

   Officially the 2003 released "The Golden Age of Grotesque" was Marilyn Manson's last commercially successful album and the band have been at their peak of success being played as frequently as never before (though it was pretty much a forgettable album). Over a decade long silence came after that basically wasn't silent, since 3 albums came out meanwhile, only they've been completely inostensible. And unexpectedly Marilyn Manson have returned with "The Pale Emperor", a record, that brought back exactly that kind of music what used to make people liking their music so much. However, a few things have been changed meanwhile in general.
   Even though the music was able to bring back what so many have been waiting for, and the album also included the same spirit, that insulted every good hypochristian American back then, Mr. Manson didn't become a common scapegoat like how he used to be back then (which also meant no free commercial). The world has changed meanwhile. Rough social criticism didn't reach people's unjustified oversensitivity in the mid '10s like 15 years ago, such as Mr. Manson's androgynous appearance. First the emo subculture, later the rainbow cult turned the whole thing as a trend, therefore the shock rock factor didn't work like before, and this definitely had effect on the sales. However "The Pale Emperor" was able to reach the quality that was long lost after "Holy Wood" by including plenty of catchy songs that are both reflecting some actual and plenty of good old features. The band's darker, more ominous tone with raw social criticism wasn't new, but long time missing, and its return proved to be the best step that the band have made in the past 15 years. It worked well even being combined with the softer and more chilling tone, that have been completely usual during the forgettable period. This way the music became catchy, easy to go into and a bit more diverse too, though diversity in Mr. Manson's music was never a sensible factor during exact albums. Probably the endeavours of creating unified sound have been responsible for the homogeneity of each Marilyn Manson album. For most old fans "The Pale Emperor" finally wasn't disappointing and could have been nostalgic too, cause it recalled the feeling why they've become Marilyn Manson fans back then.

Relentless - Night Terrors (2015)

    As it was previously mentioned, Relentless was formed as a strongly doom influenced heavy metal band. Their music had such old school touch that was long lost from the main metal scene, and their second album, "Night Terrors" gave a slightly different perspective for the same ancient, and therefore very familiar concept.
   Even though the doom metal influence still could be sensed, it was restricted to the lyrical concept and vocal style, while from the music it was nearly gone. Only for one song ("Ancient Realm") it have returned similarly like on the debut, bust still without doom metal riffs. Basically intense heavy metal themes are dominant during the whole album, slow tempo isn't usual anymore, but still the ominous, vintage doom feeling is there, thanks to Miss Carlee Jackson's impressive vocal performance. Even if vocals alone are basically not used to be enough to determine the style of the music, they're definitely enough to give another tone for it. "Night Terrors" also have excellent themes, that doesn't make ordinary heavy metal to seem retired like most who are tryings to bring back the style (not if there would be many bands trying), but it's quite refreshing to hear something vintage and great the same time in nowadays metal scene. "Night Terrors" might be pretty enjoyable for both the fans of  '80s heavy and doom metal. 

Holocaustum - In the Fields They Bled (2015)

   By their returning album, Holocaustum continued the musically diverse path of their debut with some great improvements. 
   The role of the atmospheric sound decreased, and cleaner, heavier sound took its place. This turned out to be an advantageous step, cause therefore the catchy, melodic themes gained more focus. The album's musical wealthiness is pretty impressive, it's way more diverse than an ordinary death metal album, but at the other hand the themes are enough unified and the song structures having enough evident continuity, to not switch on progressive field. If not basically heavy/power metal with growling vocal style would cover the term melodic death metal, Holocaustum's music could serve as a more accurate definition. It's melodic and didn't lose the death metal musical features, unlike most bands sorted to the melodic death subgenre. The guitar themes also having even more blackened touch than before, which are responsible for the remaining atmospheric impression. Combined with the intense drumming style, many of their compositions could fit into black metal too. This also made the band kinda exceptional, since similar theme selection isn't usual at American bands in general, and they definitely did it better than most Americans who claimed to play black metal. In total "In the Fields They Bleed" is an excellent, quite diverse and enjoyable album, could be a potential favorite for the fans of death, black/death and melodic death metal.

Seraphic Disgust - Altarcunt (2015)

   Seraphic Disgust's short, kinda EP length, and stunning debut includes more surprises and diversity that used to be expected from a black/death band. 
   The album's imagery strongly reminds to how war metal covers used to look like, but the band's music is way more diverse than how war metal used to be. "Altarcunt" starts with a pretty heavy and intense song that's definitely sounds like black/death metal at its best. But as the album goes on the measure of old school death themes are slowly increasing, and the songs becoming more '90s old school death oriented. And meanwhile slower themes showing up too, leaving behind some strong death/doom impression. If this step by step switch wasn't intentional and it's just the consequence of the band member's various influences, it could be taken as the raw, experimenting approach of a young band trying to find their own style. If it was intentional, the combination of black, death and doom metal instantly reminding to Goatlord, not to mention the mixed influenced music of  '90s South American extreme metal bands. The assistance of two different vocal styles (deep growling and black metal styled cawing) also showing orientation for black/death or to death metal the same time. Whatever could be the case, by "Altarcunt" Seraphic Disgust left open various possibilities how to continue their musical journey, and all possible options (black/death, death/doom, or even the combination of both) could sound quite promising. 

Gruesome - Savage Land (2015)

   Similar to Skeletal Remains, Gruesome also formed as band self-dedicated not only to recall the feeling of the early '90s death metal the most accurately, but also to imitate Death's "Spiritual Healing" era the most accurately as possible. 
   The production, the sound, and the themes are all great as they are, and the music probably wouldn't be so annoying for those who never listened to Death, but if individuality and genuineness does have any importance for the listener, the charisma of "Savage Land" would probably vanish in the moment when "Spiritual Healing" would get introduced. How does it make sense to basically recreate a classic album by the same themes only to put them together in different order and into different songs? Probably an ordinary tribute album with cover songs would make it better. Even if it's clear for everyone that they intended to tribute to the legacy of Death in their own way, or that it's just a fun made thing, where the only sign of creativity comes in the form of riffs and themes taken from other Death albums. This is something that nowadays AI could do as well, and probably in 2015 it wasn't the case, but still, it was basically a useless effort to create something valueless. But the most entertaining paradox was the positive welcome by many music critics, who used to pull down most extreme bands by marking them as nothing new, cause their stimulus-threshold could be crossed mostly by hipster music. But when they hear something that could serve as the most accurate definition of a rip-off, the antithesis of vision or imagination, they actually digging it. Or maybe was it the importance of the concept again? If it's announced and stated at the very beginning, that the concept is copying a classic band, it makes the performance more enjoyable for some than whole genre or style based influences could be?
   However, Gruesome's music is mainly recommended for hipster metal journalists/music critics and their followers, for everyone else: just keep listening to Death instead. 

Nervous Impulse - Time to Panic (2015)

   True to their name, Nervous Impulse have placed quite high standards by their debut if it's about intensity and musickness. Therefore probably it wasn't easy to exceed the first album, but by looking at the details, "Time to Panic" could be marked as a successful attempt.
   The suddenly switching song structures are as insane as ever, and by this step diversity and a constantly frustrated tone is given. But still, some improvement could be sensed in both the themes and the song structures. It's still not the easiest music to go into, but everything comes somehow better organized than before. There are still plenty of unexpected switches that are keeping up the listener's attention and increasing the enjoyability the same time, but this time it's a bit more than pure chaos somehow. And this is proved to be an advantageous improvement. The sound is also heavier than previously, and probably this is responsible for the impression, that this time the band might have focused more on brutal death influenced features. But in truth it's just the side effect of the sound preference, that highlighted heaviness a bit more than on "Enough for Dementia". In total, "Time to Panic" is another excellent death/grind masterpiece, strongly recommended for the fans of the genre. 

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. 

Coffinborn - Beneath the Cemetery (2014)

   Coffinborn debuted with a pretty stunning EP. Considering that it's a Hungarian band playing high quality death metal and seemingly showed up from nothing by an Xtreem Music release, it doesn't seem like an everydays event. The imagination that a tiny, normally forgettable metal scene like this is about to go through a very promising metamorphosis, might serve as a reason for enthusiasm for the local fans of the genre, but the reality is a bit simpler. 
    The band is bonded to two musicians who are originally from the city of Szeged, Hungary (Lambert Lédeczy - drums, and Tibor Hanyi - guitars, vocals) and who also played in Tyrant Goatgaldrakona. One of them or both of them also played in a few other impressive death metal bands located in the same area, such as Gravecrusher, Rothadás, Cryptworm, not to mention some black metal bands (Fagyhamu, Ahriman) or bands that no information could be found about, but the analogy seems clear (Tomb Portal). Some of them will be mentioned in details in the future. Unlike in the case of side projects, Coffinborn isn't the same like the member's previous death metal band. It could be easily distinguished from Tyrant Goatgaldrakona by its more old school, thrash influenced touch. The song structures are simpler, the basic essence of the old school aspect of the genre is in focus. Thrashing intensity, short, fast solos, putrid sound and down pulling filth. Nothing extraordinarily new, but quite a novelty in its local scene, and enjoyably refreshing compared to the actual trends in the main metal scene. The only evident analogy with Tyrant Goatgaldrakona is the great quality and production that also rarely could be heard in this region.
   Old school death metal at its best, a potential favorite for the fans of the genre!