Reviews: Tormentor Tyrant, Plasticdrop, Sacrifice, Belle Morte (GC, Dan Sierras, Chris Tsintziras & Matt Bladen)

Tormentor Tyrant - Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty (Everlasting Spew Records) [GC]

I know its mid-January and everything, and I keep telling myself to explore new things including music but honestly? I can’t be arsed with that as January is depressing enough as it is so with that my first review of the year is of course a death metal review, shock horror!! Tormentor Tyrant has been around for 4 years and have 1 EP released so far, will Excessive Escalation Of Cruelty really push them on or introduce them softly? Let’s get into it and find out!?

It starts annoyingly enough with Intro - Upheaval Of Tyranny which doesn’t really give much away or get the excitement levels racing, Capital Of Pain however is a completely different story it absolutely smashes out of the blocks with a blizzard of riffs and thundering drums it is a pure rage filled attack and reminiscent of Deicide at the peak of their powers, its really that good! Now the cobwebs have been thoroughly blown away Torture Divine continues with the pummelling and the way the song just instantly hits and keeps on going without so much as a second of wasted time you just wonder how this will come across live because if they can pull off something as imperative as this live it’s going to be mind-blowingly good! 

Tartarean Grip slightly lengthens the run time of the song to a full 3 minutes as opposed to the 2 minute attacks so far but it does not dull the force of the music and just gives you more time to really sit back and just be engulfed by sonic violence, when death metal sounds this good there is nothing in the world that can match it, this is truly stunning stuff, and the groove riff towards the end of this song needs to be studied for years to come, unbelievable stuff. 

Crueler Tomorrow finally takes a bit of a breather at the start and is lead by just echoing bass and adds a creepiness not yet heard and when it does kick in the slower pace continues but is interspersed with plenty of blastiness and as expected it doesn’t stay slow for long and about a minute in all hell breaks loose in the best possible way but they also manage to mix in a nice groove infused mid-section and the whole mix of sounds just gets me smiling form ear to ear again, Pit Of Anguish feels a bit deathcore-y for me it has the familiar speed and furiousity that has always been there but is does have a bit more of the ‘core feel to proceedings and while I don’t hate it I feel it’s probably the weakest track so far but on the other hand it’s a track most bands would kill to able to write, so y’know can’t complain too much!?? 

With Cosmic Wild Hunt we get another mix of equally savage death metal and scathing black metal-tinged riffing with some downright filthy drum rhythms and in places you get a bit of a thrash era Sepultura darkness which means it all just adds up to yet another outstanding track! On album closer Terminal Revelation its back to the unrelenting speed and fury of the opening tracks, with not a single second wasted on melody or anything stupid like that and it’s just a gloriously violent way to end this tremendous record.

Well Bugger me, first review of 2025 in the bag and its absolutely floored me with how good it was, I wasn’t really expecting much when I pressed play, but Escalation Of Cruelty is an absolute worldie of an album and I feel I may have put myself and 2025 death metal releases on a back foot already because believe me, it is going to take a lot to top this! Furious, violent, invigorating, passionate, and most of all crushingly heavy this album has everything a death metal fan could want and more! A truly breathtaking album that you need to make it your business to listen to RIGHT FUCKING NOW!!! 10/10

Plasticdrop - Life, Death & Miracles (Octopus Records) [Dan Sierras]

Following Phoenicopter, their 2019 debut EP, Paolo Pani (lead vocals, guitar), Martina Manca (bass) and Alessandro Brundu (drums) of Plasticdrop return with their first full length LP Life, Death & Miracles. A solid alt-rock, hard rock offering.

Plasticdrop pull no punches starting on the first track, I Want You To See Me. A fast paced opener that sets the tone for the rest of the album. The next track Nothing To Share has heavy Foo Fighters vibes to it. Followed up by Not For You (not to be confused with Pearl Jam’s 1994 hit). Manca really brings the low end with some nice bass riffage throughout. Simply Beautiful has a later-Candlebox sound to it, that would definitely be heard all over FM radio (if radio stations played music nobody’s heard before).

Overall, Life, Death & Miracles is an album full of radio friendly rock. Had Plasticdrop came out in the era of 90s MTV, they would’ve been huge. But in today era of streaming, they’ll probably be lost in the sea of other hard rock bands. 7/10

Sacrifice - Volume Six (High Roller Records) [Chris Tsintziras]

Sacrifice is a Canadian thrash metal band from Toronto and played an important role in forming the underground metal scene in Toronto in the 80s. Band’s history is divided into 2 eras (1983–1993 & 2006–today). The 13-year hiatus wasn’t at all discouraging from continuing their legacy. Clear evidence is their forthcoming, brand-new album Volume Six. Their anticipated release consists of 11 Canadian thrash statements. 

The album was recorded and mixed at Phase One Studios in Toronto between September 2023 and May 2024 with engineer Darius Szepaniak. Each song gives the listener the opportunity to travel in classic speed and thrash landscapes but with the touch of something new and not another thrash album. It is perfectly clear that the band is in great shape. For example, Your Hunger For War will give “C4 explosive” impact on thrasher’s ears. 

It is loud! It is Canadian Thrash!!!!! Something that is important to underline, is that the members of this album consist of what we call “original line up” which is depicted to the following comments of the vocalist/guitarist Rob Urbinati. “We are very fortunate that we are all still into doing this. Sacrifice is the last of the classic thrash bands with the original lineup intact.” Metal thrashers around the world behold of The Sacrifice! 8/10

Belle Morte - Pearl Hunting (Wormholedeath Records) [Matt Bladen]

If you’re a fan of Nightwish, Xandria and Sonata Arctica, then Belle Morte’s Pearl Hunting could be your album of the year already, the band based in Minsk have released a conceptual album before this one but with Pearl Hunting they gather tales from all over the world and as such they use countless traditional instruments to bolster the soundscapes of these tracks.

Whether it’s the pan pipes on Losing Faith, or Blame Me which is an Argentinian tango that shifts into modern djent riffs, they move from Belarusian/Slavic folk into Celtic themes, Oriental flavours and music from the South American mountains. 

Put with these traditional instruments are of course the normal metal instruments such as guitars, bass, drums etc so when they go into the early 90’s goth/symphonic sound on Wintersleep they do so very well. Much of the mystique around this record are the operatic/theatrical vocals, soaring one moment and whispered the next, regaling you with these stories from across the globe.

Pearl Hunting flips a well-worn genre around with the inclusion some interesting instrumental choices. It’s also got some really good symphonic metal on it too! 8/10