Reviews: Allegaeon, Destinity, Benthos, Vulvectomy (Pete J, Mark Young, Matt Bladen & GC)

Allegaeon - The Ossuary Lens (Metal Blade Records) [Pete J]

Just to get this out of the way; Tech-Death Metal is most certainly not my favourite style of music. To me it started and ended with those Floridian masters Death, no one has come close to Chuck's utterly sublime art. Now lets see what Colorado-based Allegaeon 7th album is all about

Well its certainly brutal, the throbbing bottom end rumbles like a battalion of tanks off to war, as the 7 string guitars of Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel interlock wonderfully creating intricate patterns that bewilder as much as much as they brutalize. 

When they bring it down, done with gorgeous interludes actually in the songs themselves, the sheer emotion is toxic as it infects you just enough so you let your guard down leaving you unprepared for when Allegeaon launch back into their complicated fury, it simply devastates you.

Dark Matter Dynamics (featuring the acoustic talents of Adrian Bellue) brings all these aspects together in a wonderfully paced song that powers along on Jeff Saltzmans dextrose drums. It has to be said that Bellues exquisite acoustic guitar is mesmerizing. Ezra Haynes puts in a stellar vocal performance, shrieking and spitting his philosophies out like his life depended on it. 

When this all comes together, as on the aforementioned Dark Matter Dynamics or the furious brutality of Imperial, Allegaeon transcend being simply a 'band'. They become omnipitent, dictating how Tech-Death will be forever more.

For a style I am not really a fan of, The Ossuary Lens blew me away and converted me to exlore the style more and especially the back catalogue of Allegaeon. The mind-blowing dexterity of these complicated songs truly astound, making you think how they manage to remeber it all! 

Each and every member being on top of their game with Burgess and Stancel lighting up the genre with performances that defies words. Stunning. 9/10

Destinity - Ascension (Crimson Productions/Season Of Mist) [Mark Young]

Ascension is the latest release from Destinity, the French melodic death metallers who look to bring their own take on all things melodic. 

It’s a fairly decent start too, with Ascension / Light Up Your Sky forming the blueprint for the songs that follow. Its energetic with the heavy lifting coming from the drums via Florent Marzais who enables the remainder to drop the heavy bombs whilst keeping the song on an even keel. 

The lead breaks have just the right balance of technical ability without going over the top and even early on you get a good sense on what the rest will sound like. Basically, there are no surprises from them, its just straight in with effective guitar lines that combined with the drums drive everything forward. 

Dying Light is another example of this medium done right – lightning-fast drumming, inventive guitar work with a rich sound that comes through so well. I think a shout out is required for Mick Caesare who contributes some truly brutal vocals, they have that speed of delivery pitched just right so it flows with the music behind it. 

The one issue that I have with melodeath is that at some point the spectre of repetition makes an appearance and its no different on here. Crimson Portrait is whips along at a rapid pace but when held against the two that preceded its apparent that it is following the same set up. It must be difficult to continue to come up with new ways of saying the same thing, at least in a musical fashion that still provides a buzz for the performer and sound new for the listener. 

Which is where Children Of The Sun comes in, with a dual vocal that sees the cleans and growls delivered by Steva from Deathless Legacy. The song has a completely different vibe to it and I would describe it as being ‘bright’ in its sound. The whole arrangement is at odds with those before it and it just doesn’t sit right. 

Possibly knowing that they need to reset, Final Fiction does exactly that and is an exercise in tightly wound riffing and aggression that was definitely needed to bring the energy back and they keep that horse running with Silver Shades which has more than a little At The Gates to it, which again must be unavoidable, and it’s the same on Hollow Intent but its such a raging piece that I think you can forgive them for it. 

Hollow Intent does everything right but does it in a focused manner and there is a feeling now that they have found their range and are now bringing out the big guns in an effort to finish strongly. Over these last three there is some fabulous melodic lines, played at speed and with a clear understanding of we the listener want to hear. 

It’s a shame that on Everdark it goes down a route where they have what I call a ‘twee’ guitar line that pops up and just doesn’t work within the main build of the track. But just as they did with Final Fiction, they come back with an absolute stormer in The Wolf Within that just rages. Ok, there is a ‘widdly solo’ but it flies along so quickly and with such aggressive intent that building keys near the end don’t affect how the song comes across. 

Its fingers crossed for the final track, will they go for the throat or head for the bright sound again? Well, In Thorns is a bit of both and it is a shame really. When its in the zone it runs like Usain Bolt but the lighter parts overshadow it for me. That’s not to say its without merit, it is a decent closing statement but for me they should have switched this with The Wolf Within, but that is just personal opinion. 

Ultimately this is a very strong release which does what it needs to do very well. Melodeath can be excruciating sometimes, but Destinity try to add their own stamp on it and for the most part deliver music that tears along with a savage intent. There are missteps but on balance there is enough to warrant your attention! 7/10

Benthos - From Nothing (InsideOut Music) [Matt Bladen]

Italy has a very wealthy pedigree of experimental prog. 

The biggest being Goblin, Premiata Forneria Marconi and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso but Benthos, from Milan in Italy are different beast, much more inspired by Between The Buried And Me and At The Drive in, their frenetic, breathless changes in pace and style are rampant throughout this second release.

The main tracks are often split by short interludes or segue into one another to keep a flow of a consistently shifting musical journey. The band say they have "poured our hearts and souls" into From Nothing and it's evident that they are trying to cement who they are as a band.

Every moment of volatile beating such as Athletic Worms or Perpetual Drone Monkeys is often cut through with some atmospheric bliss and while you may get Leprous from the As A Cordyceps they quickly shifts back into the mathcore uber-angular sound on Fossil.

With From Nothing, Benthos have an explosion of noise crafted by some technical excellence, it's maybe an acquired taste but the weirdness is deliberate. 7/10

Vulvectomy - Aberrant Vaginal Gestation (Comatose Music) [GC]

Hello everyone, my name is GC and I’m an addict. I am addicted to reviewing brutal death metal releases even though it never goes well! 

It’s the thrill that maybe just one time it might actually be good and not just a mess of an album full of ‘’controversial’’ song titles and ‘’edgy’’ lyrics. My latest addiction comes in the form of Vulvectomy’s Aberrant Vaginal Gestation and from what I can see this has all the hallmarks of a classic!!

We begin with the charmingly titled Maggots Infested Clit, winning before we’ve even got going! This starts well enough with a nice slow swampy riff and some good drums backing it up, then in come the incoherent vocals as expected and it’s all fairly decent if not spectacular.

The midpoint introduce some blasty section that then fall back into the early slower and then they mix it up a bit add intertwine between slow and fast parts, Conceived In Vaginal Sores follows up and it’s a carbon copy of the opener but its fast first THEN slow! 

Messing with us there lads, well done! We get all the usual expected BDM standards in this song the only thing missing is the usual pig squeals which is a relief as they usually sound awful, anyway another component if not mind-blowing track. 

Analsphyxiation is another ‘‘classic’’ look how wacky and brave we are title and there are PLENTY more to come believe me, musically there is no deviation from the set pattern, some slow chugging guitars follow the drums and the vocals just grunt and bark along as expected, and honestly I’m glad I cant make out what the lyrics are as what benefit would that offer with song titles like this? 

It does make me wonder who these types of albums are aimed at and Scrotal Abscess Drainage really makes me think because, this is the 4th track and it sounds identical to the first 3, there is zero variety on this record and of course there is only so much you can do with this style, but it is becoming very tedious very quickly. 

Geriatric Ass Fucker is probably the least offensive title so far but is still something a 13-year-old would write and guffaw at, unfortunately this is a band full of grown men! And there’s really no surprises in what you get sound wise, it’s all done perfectly well and played expertly as expected but it is just so one dimensional and in all honesty, boring. 

Subcuntaneous Cumshots did you read that title correctly? They subtlety put cunt in the title! Madmen this lot! Sound wise, it’s probably the best song so far as it keeps the slow sections to a minimum and ramps up the pace to inject some life into proceedings but again.

I’ve heard it all before and done so much better this just stands out as it has a bit more than the rest of the album, its when I hear Choked With Menstrual Drippings that it clicks what is going on here, this is just an early era Cannibal Corpse tribute act that has gone too far and decided to pass old CC songs off as their own.

Don’t get me wrong early CC is still some of the best death metal ever but this just has none of the shock value of originality of the masters, By now I have just really lost the will to live and the last 3 tracks Greedy Fetal Discharge, Molesting Dislimbed Whore & Rectal Electroejaculation offer up absolutely nothing new or veer away from the whole sound and feel of this album and once it’s all finally over I’m glad because I’m not sure how much more I could be bothered to listen to.

Another day another pointless brutal death metal album. I wanted to not let the stupid song titles bother me and to an extent they didn’t that much, but I still can’t get over just how childish and stupid they are and what it takes for an adult in the year 2025 to write something like this and think it is acceptable or funny, to be 100% clear it’s not. 

Oh, and not to forget the main part, the music, it was all totally predictable and overall, very boring, if this is your sort of thing then good for you and I hope you get the help you need but if you have any braincells or common sense I would probably steer well clear. 3/10