Cabal - Everything Rots (Nuclear Blast) [Matt Bladen]
Heavy as the heaviest thing you can think about Cabal have been slaying stages and bulldozing crowds for a few years. Brash, uncompromising metallic hardcore with synth powered industrial thud these Danes do not make music to smile too.They've had a lot of the media in raptures over their previous records and you can hear why on this fourth release, from the opening track to the last there's a severe heaviness in the instrumentation and in the lyrics, songs dealing with suicide, depression, addiction, abuse and how things are generally fucked.
I mean with a title such as Everything Rots, it wasn't going to be a bed of roses but it's a surprise just how dark this record is even if you've listened to the band before. The initial crush of Become Nothing is a enough to show you that Cabal means business as Redemption Denied erupts with that intense metalcore/industrial hybrid.
A style that features focus on the raging vocals, huge percussion strikes and down tuned and fuzzy guitars. Everything Rots is 13 tracks of ferocity, as Cabal beat, batter and bludgeon. 7/10
Daevar - Sub Rosa (The Lasting Dose Records) [Rich Piva]
To me it has felt like Cologne, Germany’s Daevar have been around for a long time, but as I look back on their discography their first record dropped in 2023 and have had one release each year, with 2025 bringing their third, Sub Rosa. If I had to throw some tags on the band, I would include grunge and doom, but what you get from the band on Sub Rosa is much deeper than that, as this is chock filled with killer tracks, making their third record their best so far.
The opener is thankfully not a cover of the Gn’R Chinese Democracy track, but Daevar’s Catcher In The Rye is killer doomy grunge, with a crunch and a fuzzy wall of sound right out of the 90s. The haunting female vocals bring an almost heavy shoegaze feel to the song and I am certainly here for it. Siren Song reminds me of the 90s band Belly, but if they decided to fuzz it up, put their heads down, and just rock out. Love the psych-tinged solo on this one. There is a certain pop sensibility to Daevar, and it comes across strong on the track Wishing Well.
Daughter (not a PJ cover) reminds me of the band Wytch and we know that is great. That female led 90s band thing is all over Sub Rosa, which is fun to write here given the track Mirrors is like a doom Pixies song. Forgotten Tale is the heaviest track on Sub Rosa and the most traditional doom that the bad gets over the eight tracks, while still having some MBV and Slowdive vibes all over the place. FDSMD closes out the record with a slow burn over almost eight minutes and doubles down on why Daevar is an excellent band.
Sub Rosa flies by; at just around 30 minutes it is a quick and fun listen. Daevar leans heavily on the 90s here and that sure works for me. Doomy 90s influenced Shoegaze goodness is what this record is all about. 8/10
Pillars Of Cacophony - Paralipomena (Teratogen / grazil Record) [Thomas Megill Jr]
We enter the mind of Dominik, the mastermind behind the one man technical death metal project Pillars Of Cacophony. Inside, is a cavernous labyrinth of caves with the sounds of his new album Paralipomena echoing off the walls. With scientific themed lyrics and masterfully difficult and complex structures and guitar parts, even the most hardened death metal gatekeepers would be hard pressed to find issue within.
Dominik, from Graz, Austria is credited with quite literally everything that went into the creation of Paralipomena. From composing the music, on all instruments, guitar, bass, vocals, and drums, to performing said instruments, to recording, mixing and mastering. Recording an album completely alone is an awesome feat in itself, the fact that the album is really good is just an added bonus. The guitar and bass tones are perfect and are mixed extremely well. I wonder if the drums are programmed or not. If Dominik played the drums on this record as well, I'd question if he were really human, or a being from an alternate dimension of death metal mastery.
Paralipomena is a masterclass in technical death metal with hints of Prog and jazz fusion, such as the section of smooth jazz in the song Mitosis. I may even be forced to use the forbidden "Djent" word for certain parts of infectious groove such as the end of Retina and parts of the closing track Maps Of Disintegration. This album ebbs and flows like a heart monitor. Running at a steady pace with high peaks and valleys, it should keep listeners engaged for its' entire 41 minute duration. Pillars Of Cacophony have delivered an excellent record of unapologetic, yet listenable technical death metal. It's like Soreption meets Animals As Leaders meets Meshuggah. 8/10
Sub Rosa flies by; at just around 30 minutes it is a quick and fun listen. Daevar leans heavily on the 90s here and that sure works for me. Doomy 90s influenced Shoegaze goodness is what this record is all about. 8/10
Amammoth - Distant Skies And The Ocean Flies (Electric Valley Records) [Mark Young]
Now, its time for a touch of sludge with an Australian slant to it as Amammoth bring us their second full-length slice with Distant Skies And The Ocean Flies, a title that promises a trippy and groove-ridden journey over 40 minutes and 8 songs.
Intro is exactly that, a slow and fully laden scene setter that gives you notice of what is to follow. Regular readers will know that intro’s get on my nerves but Amammoth get a pass because it sounds mental and makes sure that you are full invested in what happens next. At least for the next song, which is a lot to be said for a track that lasts just under three minutes.
Now, its time for a touch of sludge with an Australian slant to it as Amammoth bring us their second full-length slice with Distant Skies And The Ocean Flies, a title that promises a trippy and groove-ridden journey over 40 minutes and 8 songs.
Intro is exactly that, a slow and fully laden scene setter that gives you notice of what is to follow. Regular readers will know that intro’s get on my nerves but Amammoth get a pass because it sounds mental and makes sure that you are full invested in what happens next. At least for the next song, which is a lot to be said for a track that lasts just under three minutes.
Among Us lumbers into view as they now hit us with a guitar tone that is just filthy and a tempo that could be described as ‘unhurried’. Its as if they thought ‘right, we will do one dragged out song, get it out of the way and see what happens’ so when the vocals do come in, they are coated in an almost palpable bleakness.
The background organ sounds add to the trippy vibe with riffs ringing out for days and whilst it doesn’t really go anywhere, they succeed in delivering what I feel is classic sludge, which is found in the attitude of those bringing it. This made perfect sense typing it and I’m hoping that once you listen to the song it will become clear. What I loved is that it segues into Chosen without missing a (slow) beat and it just rumbles on and on, that guitar tone laying waste as you might expect it to.
The muted opening to So High So Numb gives way to an arrangement that sees them taking a run at knocking the earth off its axis with a descending pattern with the drums building around it. Sink Or Swim starts off from the end notes of So Numb, and by now you are either onboard with their consistent form of attack or being driven mad by it. They do change up the sound on this one, with the use of Wah but it doesn’t alter the overall leaden feel.
I think if you approach this from an angle of it being one song that has been split into chapters then I believe it will make more sense to you, instead of it just feeling like the same content repeated over and over. I can’t fault their commitment to this style of music, but I have got to say that by Satellite I had mentally tapped out and skipped forward to Ashes Remain, which resulted in the feeling that I had missed nothing apart from that deliciously gnarly guitar tone. They bring the weird-out on last track Interstitial which is just an exercise in noise with nothing else to say and then, done and good-night.
Sludge, doom, psych, either on their own or as a hybrid can be devastating and I know that I’ve reviewed some bands in the last year that do it incredibly well. This ultimately disappointed because the early promise falls away to what is effectively an exercise in repetition. It isn’t without merit though, because this for me feels like a pure distillation of what sludge is about and for the attitude that is required in actually doing it.
Sludge, doom, psych, either on their own or as a hybrid can be devastating and I know that I’ve reviewed some bands in the last year that do it incredibly well. This ultimately disappointed because the early promise falls away to what is effectively an exercise in repetition. It isn’t without merit though, because this for me feels like a pure distillation of what sludge is about and for the attitude that is required in actually doing it.
I’ve already mentioned that it feels like one song chopped down to suit but that is just my opinion and I’m probably wrong about that. I do feel that it will appeal to fans of the genre because of what it does well and that a 7 is a fair score. 7/10
Pillars Of Cacophony - Paralipomena (Teratogen / grazil Record) [Thomas Megill Jr]
We enter the mind of Dominik, the mastermind behind the one man technical death metal project Pillars Of Cacophony. Inside, is a cavernous labyrinth of caves with the sounds of his new album Paralipomena echoing off the walls. With scientific themed lyrics and masterfully difficult and complex structures and guitar parts, even the most hardened death metal gatekeepers would be hard pressed to find issue within.
Dominik, from Graz, Austria is credited with quite literally everything that went into the creation of Paralipomena. From composing the music, on all instruments, guitar, bass, vocals, and drums, to performing said instruments, to recording, mixing and mastering. Recording an album completely alone is an awesome feat in itself, the fact that the album is really good is just an added bonus. The guitar and bass tones are perfect and are mixed extremely well. I wonder if the drums are programmed or not. If Dominik played the drums on this record as well, I'd question if he were really human, or a being from an alternate dimension of death metal mastery.
Paralipomena is a masterclass in technical death metal with hints of Prog and jazz fusion, such as the section of smooth jazz in the song Mitosis. I may even be forced to use the forbidden "Djent" word for certain parts of infectious groove such as the end of Retina and parts of the closing track Maps Of Disintegration. This album ebbs and flows like a heart monitor. Running at a steady pace with high peaks and valleys, it should keep listeners engaged for its' entire 41 minute duration. Pillars Of Cacophony have delivered an excellent record of unapologetic, yet listenable technical death metal. It's like Soreption meets Animals As Leaders meets Meshuggah. 8/10
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