TesseracT - RADAR O.S.T. (KScope)
The wildly ambitious concert film and accompanying live soundtrack documents the sold-out 2024 performance from TesseracT at Radar festival in Manchester. The stunning 12-track collection submits a career achievement for the modern prog metal specialists, preserving not only a magnificent live showing but underscoring the band's artistic prowess - a project more than two years in the making. Along with superb live sound and top tier song writing in revisiting the songs from the band's 2023 coup in War of Being, RADAR is TesseracT unlocking a new level of artistry - sight and sound.
UPON A BURNING BODY - BLOOD OF THE BULL
Texas-made aggressors Upon A Burning Body return with the follow-up to their 2022 full length, Fury. The band's heavy assault of metallic groove, metalcore polish and death metal-influenced aggression results in a collection of tracks that land with serious intention. The arrival of the album also marks the band's 20th year - which points to their ability to continue to produce at such a high level all while still exploring new levels of hostility. On Blood of the Bull, Upon a Burning Body present sturdy, well-built heft while emphasizing their fire sears strong as ever.
ENTHRONED - ASHSPAWN (Season of Mist)
Belgian black metal stalwarts Enthroned have submitted a powerful, personal document with the twelfth full length in the cannon. A presentation some six years in development, the album was written in close collaboration with occult author Gilles de Laval - speaking to the narrative merit such a brutalizing effort. Combining black metal liturgy with pangs of death metal blunt force, the combination of blast beats, progressive arrangements and scorching solos is pure sonic fury backed by a level of poignance that substantiates such power. More than three decades in, Enthroned have submitted an album that both reaffirms the underground and achieves wider reach simultaneously.
GUTTURAL SLUG - ULCERS IN THE FLESH THOUGHT (Unique Leader Records)
Denmark's slam exports in Guttural Slug set out to eviscerate everything in their path on their latest EP and achieve just that in all of six songs of sonic devastation. Bone-crushing breakdowns, that signature death metal snare and unrelenting metallic heft play out in a 20-minute wallop that never lets off the gas. What proves especially telling about Ulcers In The Flesh Of Thought is the EP marks the band's first outing as a touring collective, transitioning from an online collaborative project to a sweating, breathing, bulldozing live entity - which suggests the surface has only just been scratched.
BLOOD RED THRONE - SILTSKIN (Soulseller Records)
Norwegian death metal veterans Blood Red Throne draw finely sharpen steel on their latest, Slitskin. Pairing classic sensibility and stylistic signature with modern production and a rich, lush sound, the band's ability to assert brutality and melody results in a masterclass of extreme music songwriting. Sourcing various elements of heavy music subcategory the band's precision and intensity make for an offering of songs that are laser-sharp, expertly executed and mercilessly brutal - a trifecta of death metal dominance.
