It must have been 25 years ago to the month that I first heard US death/doom icons Winter for the first time. I remember it clearly: spring was already turning warm, the end of school was just a few weeks … Continue reading From the Vaults #10: Into Darkness/Eternal Frost
SORROW: Death Of Sorrow Release year: 2023Label: Xtreem Music Sorrow who, I hear you ask. That’s a fair question – there are a number of acts named Sorrow we could cover over here, from Death In June collaborator Rose McDowall’s … Continue reading Sorrow dying
UNCREATIONIST: Whirlwind In The Ashes Release year: 2022Label: Insurmountable Rex There’s a case to be made against the stereotypical, generic judeo-christian imagery so common in extreme metal. I say this as a fan of both black and death metal, and … Continue reading Whirlwinds in the ashes of uncreation
DECREPID: Endless Sea Of Graves Release year: 2020Label: Xtreem Music According to the bio that came with the promo, UK death metal outift Decrepid are “among the small band of groups around the world who decided to take a stand … Continue reading A decrepid sea of graves
GRIM FATE: Perished In Torment Release year: 2020Label: Xtreem Records Heavy, lurching old school death/doom is a well that never seems to run dry. The classic sound, which seemingly forever plays second fiddle to the speedier brutal death metal of … Continue reading A grim fate to perish
PHANTASMAL: Ansaan syntyneet – Ansaan kuolleet Release year: 2019Label: self-released During the noughties, there evolved in Finland a somehow quite distinct form of extreme metal which was neither black, death nor doom, but instead a weird amalgamation of all of … Continue reading Phantasmal trappings
NECROPSY: Exitus Release year: 2020Label: Xtreem Records Necropsy are one of the often overlooked chapters of Finnish death metal, one of those bands there’s a big chance you don’t know unless you’ve really done some digging into the scene. The … Continue reading Necropsy taking it slow
DYSEMBLEM: Autotomy Release year: 2019Label: III Damnation/Immortal Bytes Death metal is a rotting grave filled with worms of every kind. It’s all too easy to get lost in a particular approach to the genre and lose sight of how much … Continue reading Death sabbaths with Dysemblem
So, Only Death Is Real has witnessed the first year-end, and it is time to jot down some thoughts as summary for 2019 and a plan of action of sorts for 2020. The site was created in mid-May, and since … Continue reading A year in summation: 2019
APOCRYFAL: Crushing Black Death Release year: 2019Label: Mara Productions With an title such as Crushing Black Death, it’s impossible not to harbour quite a lot of expectations as to what an album should sound like. You’d expect black metal and … Continue reading The doomed black death of Apocryfal
Only Death Is Real 