MALEVOLENCE - WHERE ONLY THE TRUTH IS SPOKEN (Nuclear Blast Records)
Given all the accolades, it would hard to file 2022's Malicious Intent as anything other than a breakout effort from Sheffield standouts, Malevolence. While the album and subsequent touring campaign would vault the band new heights, their foruth studio album in Where Only the Truth Is Spoken solidifies their position atop heavy music's food chain (the band's recent triumph at Download offers prove of such). Teaming with producer Josh Wilbur, the album asserts a metallic brawn that levels up the band's powerful songwriting and showcases pummel executed with precision. Alex Taylor's command up front is among the best in the game, charging through an 11-track collection that bridges hardcore grit with metal dexterity for a thoroughly dominant album.
CRYPTOPSY - AN INSATIABLE VIOLENCE (Season of Mist)
The pairing of the unparalleled talent of drummer Flo Mounier and the guttural bellow Matt McGachy makes the veteran technical death outfit Cryptopsy an extreme music treasure by any metric. The band's ninth studio effort, An Insatiable Violence, was intended to be a more approachable record all while creating a dizzying, disorienting experience for the listener. Even with an emphasis on heavier grooves, bigger melody and extended musical interludes to create pause between the chaos, Cryptopsy's onslaught only proved more dramatic with the added song dynamics. Incredibly exact aand equally extreme, An Insatiable Violence is a death metal marvel as the Juno-award winning band thrives more than three decades into their tenure.
HAGGUS - DESTINATION EXTINCTION (Tankcrimes)
California purveyors of DIY grind punk, Haggus, perfect belligerence on their latest full length, Destination Extinction. Bridging the repugnance of goregrind with the scathing social commentary of crust, the ski-masked horde have long been champions of the underground for good reason. Compiling ten track of uncompromising venom, entries like "Lobotomize Compliance" and "Malignant Boomer" take aim at the status quo and two-step on the splattered remains. heavy, hostile and effectively catchy in a way that makes extreme music revelrous, Haggus will always be underground heroes, but are now landing on heavy music's wider radar.
EN MASSE - newviolenttrends (Fever LTD)
Nourished and influenced by gamechangers in Deftones, Glassjaw and Poison the Well, En Masse offer an articulate approach to aggressive post-hardcore with newviolenttrends. Zack Santiago delivers convincing vocal range, backed by sturdy riffs and big percussion on what amounts to concise presentation of well-constructed songs. More importantly, the EP asserts the band's obvious self discovery - battling the uncertainty of line-up changes, emerging no worse for wear and finding their stride in the process. Connecticut delivers a post-hardcore prospect with real potential.
IMHA TARIKAT - CONFESSING DARKNESS (Prophecy Productions)
The German black metal band with Turkish roots unlocks something personal and profound on their fourth full length, Confessing Darkness. Defined by the musical wherewithal of Kerem Yilmaz, the visceral quality and unrelenting intensity of the album pays homage to the ethos of black metal. Lyrically however, Yilmaz strives for a much more personal outlet, one that pools unbound passion and self-destructive volatility into song. The fourth full length from the project and arguably their finest, Imha Tarikat emerge as black metal for the modern age.
