THE SYNN REPORT (PART 123): DESCEND

 Album Reviews, THE SYNN REPORT  2 Responses »
Jul 312020
 

 

(We’ve reached the end of July, and for this month’s edition of THE SYNN REPORT Andy Synn has prepared reviews of all the albums released by the Swedish band Descend, including their latest full-length released on June 26th by Aftermath Music.)

Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Ihsahn, Disillusion

Stockholm stunners Descend have been quietly making a name for themselves in the more progressive circles of the Death Metal underground for a while now, developing a well-deserved reputation as a reliable source of intricate instrumental arrangements and rock-solid riffs that deliver all the primal punch you desire while also engaging your higher brain functions with every dynamic twist and turn.

But, for whatever reason, the Swedish quintet have never really broken through into the wider Metal consciousness in the same way that a number of their peers and predecessors have managed to.

All that might just be about to change however, as their recently released third album, The Deviant, is both a major step up for the band and a potential contender for multiple “Album of the Year” accolades.

Before we get to that, however, I invite you all to come with me on a deep dive into the group’s discography, where you’ll find that there’s also a lot to love in the band’s back-catalogue too. Continue reading »

OVERFLOWING STREAMS (PART 3): BLACK CROWN INITIATE, DESCEND, PYRRHON, SKELETON, THE PHANTOM CARRIAGE, TORTURE TOMB, VOLTURYON

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jun 082020
 

 

If you’re seeing this before seeing the first two Parts of the round-up, I hope you’ll check out Part 1 and Part 2. After a lot of singing in Part 2, we’re moving back into music that’s more in line with the site’s name.

BLACK CROWN INITIATE (U.S.)

The kaleidoscopic opening track in this collection moves from mystical and mesmerizing sounds into the embrace of humming low tones and head-hooking beats (and singing), and from there into a grim, ravaging, bullet-spitting attack, augmented by doses of vocal ferocity (as well as flaring melody and soaring song). Skittering, darting, and delirious fretwork and blaring chords propel the song to fiery heights, and the singing becomes spine-tingling. A welcome return from these talented dudes…. Continue reading »

DESCEND: “WITHER”

 Album Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 232014
 

(Here we have TheMadIsraeli’s review of the new album by a Swedish band named Descend.)

Progressive death metal is in an odd place right now. You either have to dive into borderline avant-garde territory that’s not always (and is usually rarely) successful, you dive into the alien and strange like Martyr or Anata, or you have to turn to the more melodic, more methodical sort like latter-era Death, Carcariass, or Opeth. The first school is often unsuccessful, the second school has monumental names behind it that make it hard for a band to make their own way, so the third nowadays is often the best option. At least from my perspective.

Descend are a band I was not familiar with, although they have multiple releases. They fall into that third category I mentioned. Shades of Opeth, In Mourning, Carcass, and Death are mainly what come to mind here. I’ve never checked out Descend’s previous full length Through the Eyes of the Burdened, so I don’t know if there’s been any evolution in sound or not. I do know, though, that their new record Wither kicks a fuck ton of ass. Continue reading »

MORE 2011 SICKNESS (PART 4)

 Forthcoming Albums  15 Responses »
Apr 022011
 


Technically, we should have posted this yesterday, but yesterday was April Fool’s Day, and people might have thought we were making up some of this shit. But it’s all true, and nothing happens on April 2 to plant doubt about truth. Except for what causes doubt to be planted about truth on any other day of the year.

Here we are at the beginning of the second quarter of 2011 — the time when for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is supposed to spring.  Where I live, spring has apparently been victimized by a brutal street mugging and is hospitalized at the moment.  A few plants have been deluded into thinking it’s spring, but for the rest of our local world, it’s still fucking winter.

Fortunately, the change of the seasons have fuck all to do with the release of metal. What we do with these installments of METAL IN THE FORGE is collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last 30 days (or in this case, the last 31 days) about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know them yet. And in this post, we cut and paste the announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

This isn’t a cumulative list, so be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming New Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported in previous installments. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. There’s some awesome shit on the way. Dive in after the jump. Continue reading »