Wormhole - Almost Human (2023)

Listened a lot to their previous album, The Weakest Among Us, and am definitely not disappointed by Wormhole new album Almost Human, and am also listening to it a lot. It's a brutal confirmation that they are one of the best modern death metal bands right now. They excel at being both brutal and technical, with heavy slam parts as well as more melodic / prog parts. I'm usually more into old school death metal, but when modern/new school death is as finely done as this, I succumb to it with pleasure.

 

The BC page.

My favourite grindcore from 2023

Well, the title says it all... find below the list, in alphabetical order, of my favourite grindcore albums from last year. Click on it to go to my review.

Chepang - Swatta

FesterDecay - Reality Rotten To The Core

Gridlink - Coronet Juniper

OrganDealer - The Weight of Being

 Sea of Shit - Sea of Shit

 Shitstorm - Only in Dade

SonicPoison - Eruption

Boris & Uniform - Bright New Disease (2023)

Bright New Disease is a collaborative album from Uniform (industrial metal) and Boris (from metal to drone/doom to psych rock and many things in between). It's more abrasive than Boris and more melodic than Uniform, no big surprise so far, but overall the pace is faster than what I expected. And it works fine. I really enjoy the album, and it turns out it's more than just an average mix of both bands. One of the good musical surprises of last year. Recommended!

The BC page.

 

Realize - Two Human Minutes (2023)

On their third album, called Two Human Minutes, Realize are still mostly doing Godflesh worship, but they sure know how to do it well. And maybe they're introducing a bit more beats that are a bit different, either with a trap/hip-hop or more EBM feel. Godflesh fans will steel feel definitely at home though. Unless you're not looking for originality, this is good stuff.

The BC page.

 

Deathgrave - It's Only Midnight (2023)

Second album from Californians Deathgrave. It's Only Midnight keeps the old school death and grind elements but this time they focused more on their slower death-doom side (note that their guitarist plays bass in Autopsy, and used to play in Graves at sea), and the hardcore meets heavy and slow riffing also gives it a somewhat Black Flag feel at times. Keeps being good in any case.

The BC page.

 

Goat - Oh Death (2022)

Goat might not be the greatest band of all time, but they definitely are a strange and intriguing beast. The music of this Swedish band is mixing heavy rock psychedelia with elements of afrobeat, folk, free jazz and whatnot. And each of their albums have a different twist. They release "Medicine" in 2023, one of their more traditional psych/folk album, a good album, nicely trippy, but more classical than the rest of their discography. That's why I prefer reviewing the previous album Oh Death, my favourite Goat album. Oh Death could be described as their "Voodoo bayou funk rock" album, an addictive mix of Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Dr John and The Meters. Shorter song, more rocking, funky and nervous than their usually more progressive stuff, but with a dark and mystic feel. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page.

 

Autopsy - Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts (2023)

Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts is the tenth album from death metal pionneers (their demo was released in 1987!) Autopsy. And its name says it all. Disgusting old school thrashy death metal with the usual doomy twists à la Autopsy. And still Chris Reifert on vocals. When death refuses to die (and t's a good thing because we want some more!). 

The BC page.