Today some people are celebrating what they believe to be a victory over death. I’m more in the mood to celebrate the victory of death (metal). And so I’ve rounded up a selection of new songs from bands whose names begin with V — and the first two have resurrected themselves after long absences from the scene, with roots that go back into the early ’90s.

VALGRIND

Valgrind are an Italian death metal band who (according to Metal Archives) released four demos and an EP between 1995 and 2002 — and then seemed to go into hibernation until the appearance of their debut album, Morning Will Come No More, ten years later. Another four years have passed, but Valgrind’s new album Speech of the Flame was recently released by Lord of the Flies Records.

I learned of the new album through a Facebook friend who described their music with references to bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide. Although I haven’t heard the whole album, the two songs that are available for streaming sound damned good. Continue reading »