Best of Brutal Death Metal 2021


It’s all in the name: brutal death metal. Brootal! That’s what I want from my BDM: riffs that punch me in the face, drums that gravity blast my boding into a black hole, and a stiff neck. Sure, you might find some progressive and technical death metal in that category, they sometimes cross over each other, but points will be given for pitiless riffs here. If it has the St. Anger snare, that’s bonus points! So let’s jump right in!


Number Five: Purulence – Xenarch


This is a new name for me, and they legitimized their place on this top … Read more

Bangladeafy – Ribboncutter

The Music

The Words

New York-based mathcore duo Bangladeafy made waves as early as 2011 with their debut release, This Is Your Brain on Bugs, and kept surprising and impressing with each successive release. This month, the drums-and-bass band releases Ribboncutter, a twenty-two-minute EP showcasing the culmination of their years of experience and experimentation.

Adding to their more natural-sounding beginnings, bassist John Ehlers now shamelessly uses a multitude of pedals to enhance the sounds that can only come from his bass guitar. Besides the to-be-expected overdrive and distortion, there are certainly a few other ones: reverb, echo, delay, … Read more

Palm – To Live Is to Die, to Die Is to Live

The Music

The Words

Japanese grinding hardcore outfit Palm—not to be confused with their New York counterparts, will soon release To Live Is to Die, to Die Is to Live, a relentless album that’s there to remind you that punk is not dead.

In fact, it’s even more lively than ever, despite its drastic transfiguration. The hardcore and grindcore elements fuse perfectly together, as do the death metal influences here and there too. The result of this is an incredible album that’s here to kick you in the teeth for a little less than forty minutes. Honestly, … Read more

NOT MUSIC 001:
Potmos Hetoimos – Vox Medusae

Drumroll please!

I am more than pleased to announce the first release under our brand new Not Music label! And it’s Potmos Hetoimos‘ eleventh album: Vox Medusae, coming out on September 12. I started Not Music with the intention of further supporting and promoting music that I love, beyond what the blog alone could manage to do, and I’m proud to put my name behind that album as a proof that I support it completely and entirely.

When Matt, the sole member of Potmos Hetoimos, sent me early mixes of his new album, I was just blown away! … Read more

Morrow – Fallow

This British septet just released their sophomore album, Fallow. The band’s raucity is most apparent in their folk-influenced, blackened hardcore sound, which covers most if not all of the playtime of this album. The most entrancing moments of this forty-five-minute album are present in its opening and closing acts; “Auguries of Menace” and “Crown in Red” respectively. Although all the songs played here reek of a sense of doom and impending destruction, the two aforementioned acts push it one step further and develop this feeling over the course of twelve minutes. Morrow‘s use of violin is genially implemented … Read more