Greetings, Decibel readers!
It’s an important day for metal, as we’re given the last At the Gates album featuring Tomas Lindberg. Lots to say about that below. But it’s also a day to be grateful for the other releases on this list, especially if you want to hear the future of the melodic death metal as well (scroll to the bottom).
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At the Gates – The Ghost of a Future Dead
The end of life has its own soundtrack for every person, but there’s a tempo that’s common for a certain set of people. As the force of existence reaches its final ebb, some individuals experience a last renaissance. For some, this comes as an explosion of social activity or family gatherings, while others crack open a hidden bottle of creativity and defiance. Although Tomas Lindberg must have gone into his cancer treatment with hopes of remission and recovery, his contributions to this excellent album mark a fitting tribute to his life’s work with At the Gates (and Skitsystem, Disfear, and so many others). At the Gates is a top-tier favorite band of mine, across all styles of music. And I think most fans will agree with me that, even absent the context of its production, The Ghost of a Future Dead is a real triumph.
The post-reunion albums have all had their moments, perhaps three or four songs that stand among the classics of the 1990s. But as an end-to-end listening experience, this album is the best of the bunch. The songwriting is tight, like on At War With Reality, but the hooks are more memorable and varied. The sound has a contemplative and mature character, like that on To Drink from the Night Itself and The Nightmare of Being, but it’s more focused and doesn’t go on as many reflective tangents. In other words, it hits with the thrashy, melodic force of Slaughter of the Soul, but is still haunted by the ghost of the early records.
Oh, and speaking of those early records, next month, Peaceville will be issuing remastered versions of The Red in the Sky is Ours, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness and Terminal Spirit Disease — a real treat for longtime fans, and long overdue (especially in the case of the first album).
Stream: Apple Music
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Demon Spell – Blessed be the Dark
Yes, Demon Spell openly play a style that’s derivative of Mercyful Fate. No, I don’t care — because it’s so cool. Plus, you can tell when comparing this to Evil Nights that the band is beginning to come into their own in terms of songwriting, which makes them a band to watch closely in the coming years. This many years into its lifespan, it’s hard to conjure originality in metal right from the jump. So I think Demon Spell is onto something in directly borrowing from a legacy style and pushing forward from there.
Stream: Apple Music
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Drouth and Nixil – Toward Dead Temples
Dark and violent split from two purveyors of iconoclastic despair. Nixil brings more of a moody atmosphere, while Drouth brings the storm with a powerful surge of death metal thunder.
Stream: Apple Music
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Pig’s Blood – Destroying the Spirit
An uncompromising, bestial blackened death metal assault. Don’t get the wrong idea from that description, though. Once you get a few songs in, it’s clear these guys have a dynamism to their sound that’s absent from many similar acts. Also, none of the song titles reference goats. That already sets them apart. The riffs help too.
Stream: Apple Music
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Volcandra – Beyond the Will of Mortals
Every once in awhile, you see a band at a smaller venue that immediately makes you think, “These guys should be huge!” That was definitely the case when I saw Volcandra last year with Saidan and Viserion. They’re the kind of band that brings an epic, theatrical flair to their music while still retaining an immediate and brutal edge. Required listening for fans of melodic blackened death metal and early Black Dahlia Murder, but also for devotees of bands like Windir, Kampfar and Falkenbach.
Stream: Apple Music
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