Year: 2025Label: SharpTone Records US act Psycho-Frame’s debut is one of those albums that doesn’t beat around the bush. From the very first seconds of the first song, it plays with an open hand: this is deathcore. Of the stupidly … Continue reading PSYCHO-FRAME: Salvation Laughs In The Face Of A Grieving Mother
Year: 2025Label: Awakening Records Death metal is one of those genres where originality is sometimes a curse. Sometimes – oftentimes! – it’s better to stick to the established blueprint and not go out of one’s way to be original. Because … Continue reading DEFAMATORY: Path Of No Return
Year: 2025Label: Out Of The Dungeon Finnish Geatkihaukr opt for a heavy dose of obscurity in their black metal. The name itself is entirely mysterious, and the font used in the booklet will give anyone who tries to decipher especially … Continue reading GEATKIHAUKR: Varjaeger
Year: 2025Label: Rebellion Records/Cosmic Key Creations Metal and punk have never had a harmonious coexistence, though they have always cross-pollinated each other. Metalheads have sneered at the crudeness and perceived lack of musicianship in punk, and conversely punks have mocked … Continue reading STORM OF STEEL: Storm Of Steel
Year: 2025Label: Xtreem Music Some two years ago, we reviewed Colombian death metal act Funeral Vomit’s debut album (here). Our conclusion was that the band had nailed the style, but lacked the songs to carry their sonic aesthetic home. Now … Continue reading FUNERAL VOMIT: Upheaval Of Necromancy
Year: 2025Label: Obelisk Polaris Productions Death/doom is a wide spectrum, ranging from Winter’s crust/hardcore influenced lurching heaviness, to Coffins’ Hellhammer-style boneheaded heaviness, to beyond. In the larger spectrum, an odd sort of outlier is the romantic, gothic style of death/doom … Continue reading SOLUS REX: Scenes From Yonder Life
Year: 2025Label: Rot ‘Em Records To set the context of this review, I’m going to quote what the promo sheet says about this EP. Here goes: “Reincarnation is a tribute to old school death metal, while at the same time … Continue reading HELLWALKER: Reincarnation
Year: 2025Label: Prophecy I’ll be honest: prior to this album, I’d heard maybe one song by Hexvessel, so this review isn’t exactly based on an in-depth knowledge of their past discography. But then again, up until recently, the band played … Continue reading HEXVESSEL: Nocturne
Year: 2025Label: Dark Descent Records There’s a bit of a death metal revival going on in Finland. A lot of new bands are popping up, many of them with young musicians; some are still in their teens, some are in … Continue reading SEPULCHRAL CURSE: Crimson Moon Evocation
Finnish The Chamberlain’s debut album Draconian Magick (review) came pretty much like a bolt out of the blue in early 2025. We admit, perhaps to our own detriment, that here at ODIR we’d never even heard of them. All of … Continue reading Talking elitism and appeal with The Chamberlain
Only Death Is Real 