TOP 16 ALBUMS: The Sour 16 (July 2017)

Olde

Yes, it is that time again O ye lover of riffs, “THE SOUR 16” returns.  You know the drill by now, each month you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal.  Is it not a chart, in which reviewers or contributors extol their opinion about their favourite music.  To put it simply, “THE SOUR 16” are the records that have been trending the most at THE SLUDGELORD Headquarters.

The results are compiled based on the amount of page views the reviews have received and are then calibrated into the list below.  All reviews can be viewed by clicking the artwork and we have included album streams wherever possible. (Total views since their publication are highlighted in the red)

16). Entrails - “World Inferno” (370)

I can't find any fault with this album from intense opener to epic closer of “The Blood Breed”, the band don't put a foot wrong. This is raging death metal, plain and simple

15). Viscera/// - “3: Release Yourself Through Desperate Rituals” (373)

"If one were forced to classify the band’s current sound, post-metal might be the safest category, but even that vaguely defined subgenre does not quite do the band justice, as it fails to mention the strains of psychedelia, black metal, hardcore, death metal and the band’s grind roots to are still very present in VISCERA///

14). Eternal Black - "Bleed The Days" (374)

The sheer weight of the riffs will indeed threaten to pull you under, as they deliver just the right amount of menace to go with the fuzz. There is a hefty dose of soul in the music here, along with a pervading blackness.

13). Norska - "Too Many Winters" (393)

“Too Many Winters” is a captivating collection of powerful doom steeped in Norska’s unorthodox and compelling personality.

12). Cloud Rat/Disrotted - "Split LP" (413)

This is an awe-inspiring release from two incredible bands who can seemingly do no wrong at the moment and continue to deliver an embarrassment of heavy riches in 2017.

11). Goatwhore - "Vengeful Ascension" (458)

“Forsaken” jumps out of your speakers and down your throat and suffocates and entertains the listener in the best way possible. There’s nothing quite like what this band can deliver – the riffs, vocals and drumming is first class and unique

10). God Dethroned - ‘The World Ablaze’ (466)

If you’re a longtime fan like me, this album is everything you’d want and then some. ‘The World Ablaze’ is all of the best elements of the God Dethroned’s entire discography amalgamated into a single album.

9). God Root - "Salt and Rot" (518)

God Root have managed to craft one of the most ambitious, progressive, and emotionally harrowing offerings of 2017.  The cosmic journey of “Salt and Rot” is one that will leave you shaken to your fleeting, human core.

8). Voivod - "RRRÖÖÖAAARRR", "Killing Technology", "Dimension Hatröss" (Reissues) (534)

7). Wounded Giant - "Vae Victis" (581)

there are moments of majestic riffing and an impressive amount of variation on offer

6). Owlcrusher - "Owlcrusher" (697)

With three tracks spread across 45 minutes, each song embraces sprawl and space: the reverb heavy drum tone pounds like the pulse of a leviathan.  The low end guitar tone crackles with fuzz, while the bass rumbles so menacingly that, with the right sound system, you may get your guts churning like you’ve just been forced to smoke a whole pack of unfiltered cigarettes – you’ve got the cold sweats, your insides feel poisoned, and you’re probably gonna puke, but god damn it you’re hooked

5). Destroyer of Light - "Chamber of Horrors" (719)

I will have to say that this album falls into an epic category for its great compositions, the honest heart involved in creating such a journey of ebb and flow, the range of emotion that continues what true music is about; music that continues what early St. Vitus and Trouble were doing, but DoL are creating it their own way.

4). Cirith Ungol - "King of the Dead" (Ultimate Edition) (724)

It's a very engaging listen, 33 years on and is an absolute must have for any fan of doom- or anyone looking at how the genre started to really form into something (along with the work of Vitus, Trouble et al).  An essential album and a worthy reissue. Enrich your record collection and your life by buying it!

3). Melvins - "A Walk With Love & Death" (727)

On “A Walk with Love and Death”, the Melvins do both things that their cultish fans love about them, and do them both damn well.

2). Venomous Maximus - "No Warning" (731)

In some places on the album, those qualities are phrased in the same ways that fans have come to expect, and so admirably, but in other spots on “No Warning”, Venomous Maximus explore new ways to do that which they’ve always done: create infectiously and wonderfully diabolical music.

1). Olde - "Temple" (866)

Olde’s “Temple” is doom metal done the way it should be. It is well-crafted, forward-thinking, and a contender for one of the best records of the year.

A big thank you as always to our amazing writers, your dedication knows no boundaries and for that I am truly grateful.  July 2017’s “SOUR 16” features reviews by:  Richard Maw, Daniel Jackson, Charlie Butler, Ben Fitts, Mark Ambrose, Mark Tremblay, Jay Hampshire, Jack Taylor & Eric Crowe.

ALBUM REVIEW: God Dethroned - ‘The World Ablaze’

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 5/5/2017

Label: Metal Blade

If you’re a longtime fan like me, this album is everything you’d want and then some. ‘The World Ablaze’ is all of the best elements of the God Dethroned’s entire discography amalgamated into a single album.

‘The World Ablaze’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. A Call to Arms

2. Annihilation Crusade

3. The World Ablaze

4. On the Wrong Side of the Wire

5. Close to Victory

6. Konigsberg

7. Escape Across the Ice (The White Army)

8. Breathing Through Blood

9. Messina Ridge

10. The 11th Hour

The Review:

Please bear with me as I do this. I know reviews should never center around the person writing them, and as such, this won’t be a proper review. I will definitely get to the music, but with the album having already been out for more than a month now, and given other circumstances I’ll get into shortly; I want to explain why this album has the deep resonance with me that it does.

For metal fans over a certain age, getting turned on to a band via compilations was a pretty common occurrence. In this case, the compilation in question ‘Metal Blade’s ‘Deathmeister’ compilation, released in 1998. This comp was my first exposure to bands like Dark Funeral, Defleshed, Lord Belial and more, and all are bands I still listen to regularly.

The God Dethroned song featured on that comp was the title track from 1997’s classic ‘The Grand Grimoire’. It was absolutely ferocious. Combining Floridian death metal’s love for blazing, Slayer-loving tremolo with European death metal’s remarkable knack for melody, God Dethroned had a depth and range that I hadn’t really heard from a death metal band at that point. Before too long, the cassette I’d used to dub the comp for my Walkman was worn and warped from overuse, and God Dethroned was a big part of why that happened.

I’m grateful to have seen God Dethroned live on the ‘Death Metal Massacre 2000’ tour with Cannibal Corpse. Their set included songs from ‘The Grand Grimoire’ as well as their then new album ‘Bloody Blasphemy’. But it’s what happened prior to this show that leads me to essentially make this review about my experience and history with the band.

At the time of the show, I hadn’t yet turned 18 and didn’t have a car. My dad took me to the show and, as he often did, made sure to threaten my utter embarrassment at every turn by sticking around after dropping me off. He liked some metal, but only at a very surface, mainstream level. While I was waiting in line, he went to walk around and have a smoke. When he returned he explained that he’d happened to have a very quick chat with someone from one of the bands. That person turned out to be Henri from God Dethroned.

I can’t remember exactly what he said or what they talked about, other than him asking about what the name meant, and I remember feeling the earth crumbling beneath me and dread pounding through every vein in my body. But, to my surprise, my dad seemed to be happy with how the conversation went and even opted to stick around and listen to what he could from outside once the show started. From that point forward, God Dethroned was sort of his reference point for anything else I listened to:

“Oh, these guys aren’t as fast as God Dethroned.”

“This singer doesn’t have a powerful scream like the guy in God Dethroned.”

Every once in a while, even more than 15 years later, he’d ask about the band and what they were up to. He’d always bring them up as a way to mention him getting to talk to Henri. He was never one to pass up an opportunity to talk about something that made him sound cool, even if he’d talked about it before. As luck would have it, Dad had asked about God Dethroned in April, and I told him about the upcoming album, ‘The World Ablaze’, which was all he needed to launch into a conversation we’ve had dozens of times over the last 17 years.

At the end of May, my dad died of a heart attack brought on by long term health problems at the age of 64. At first, I was hesitant to listen to this album, for obvious reasons. But as time passed my apprehension gave way to something like warm nostalgia. As I went back and listened to the band’s earlier albums, I smiled to myself. I imagined the site of my painfully uncool dad talking to Henri, one of the great death metal vocalists of all time. What an absurd couple of minutes that must have been.

I know nothing about the afterlife, and I doubt there’s one at all. But if there is, I’ll be glad to tell him how good this album was, just to give him a reason to tell that old story again.

When I finally listened to ‘The World Ablaze’ for the first time since my dad’s death, that warm feeling washed over me, just as it had with the early albums. While I’ve enjoyed everything the band have put out—to varying degrees—the albums released after ‘Into The Lungs Of Hell’ felt like they were missing something. A minor “something”, but something nonetheless. With this album, they’ve gained all of it back in a big fucking way.

God Dethroned is at their best when they keep a balance between riveting viciousness and gut-wrenching melody, and this album hits both of these touchstones as well as one could hope. ‘The World Ablaze’ is an inspired work from a band at a new creative peak. All of the raw emotional energy of ‘The Grand Grimoire’ and ‘Bloody Blasphemy’ are present and strong. The infernal catchiness of ‘Ravenous’ and the added heft and sonic power of the band’s mid 2000s material is here as well, and it’s been improved after the band’s long break between albums.

If you’re a longtime fan like me, this album is everything you’d want and then some. ‘The World Ablaze’ is all of the best elements of the God Dethroned’s entire discography amalgamated into a single album. There’s a personal connection I have to this album that probably won’t exist for other people, but this is an album that stands proudly on its own musical merits.

“The World Ablaze’ is available digitally here and a CD/LP copy here.

Band info: Facebook || bandcamp

FFO: Necrophobic, Behemoth, Hail of Bullets, Unleashed