DISCOG DISSECTION: Miscreance, "From Convergence to Reminiscence"

🔱 Artist: Miscreance (Italy) 🇮
⚙️ Genre: Technical/progressive thrash-death metal
💿 Studio albums ranked: 2
 
📝 This is a personal deep dive into Miscreance's catalogue following the release of “Reminiscence”, their second full-length album on the 28^{th of} August 2026 via Season of Mist.

 

For the uninitiated, Miscreance occupy the space between technical thrash metal and death metal, drawing heavily from classic acts such as Death while incorporating progressive songwriting and unusual rhythmic ideas that give their music a distinctive identity.
 
The one thing I remembered from first hearing Miscreance was a drive home from Newcastle to Sheffield a few years ago. At the time, the music struck me as off-kilter and somewhat incongruent. For me, the riffing and vocals didn't quite seem to fit together naturally and, while I found it interesting, it never fully clicked. I eventually moved on and largely forgot about the band.
 
Given that experience, I was somewhat sceptical about spending time with “Reminiscence”. Thankfully, I did.  My immediate reaction was that it sounded like classic-era Death filtered through Miscreance's own technical and progressive approach. The more I listened, the more hooked I became.
 
Admittedly, I only really got into Death last years, so revisiting Miscreance's catalogue after spending more time with that style of metal made me hear the band very differently. A lot of the influences and ideas that had previously passed me by suddenly became obvious. What once sounded awkward or unusual now felt purposeful and incredibly well-crafted.  As a result, I found myself appreciating both albums far more than I expected.
 
The listening statistics below provide some additional context, although the extra time spent exploring newer releases will inevitably be reflected in the play counts. Honestly though, Miscreance are an incredible band, and “Reminiscence” is firmly in contention for one of the best metal albums of the year. I'd strongly recommend checking them out, and I enjoyed the record so much, I even bought a cd.

 

📊 Ranking

 
 
💿 2 — “Convergence” (2022)
💿 1 — “Reminiscence” (2026)

🎧 Miscreance listening stats during this deep dive (since the release of "Reminiscence":

 

• Total plays: 168
 
• “Reminiscence” (2026) — 107 plays
• “Convergence” (2022) — 61 plays
 
🔥 Top tracks:
 
• Oracle's Rift (“Reminiscence”) — 12 plays
• Alchemy (“Convergence”) — 8 plays

 

 
❓ Are you a fan of this band?
💬 How would you rank these?
👇 What's your favourite?

DISCOG DISSECTION: Death - "A Legacy in Death Metal"

 

Often considered as the first “true” death metal band  and the early pioneers of the genre, Death was formed in Orlando, Florida under their original guise of Mantas by the legendary Chuck Schuldiner. Creators of what is (widely considered) the first “true” death metal album, 1987’s debut “Scream Bloody Gore”, Chuck Schuldiner remained the band’s driving force, sole consistent member, and principal songwriter until his untimely death in 2001.

Schuldiner's vision and musicianship not only helped shape the band (from their raw and more primal beginnings) but evolved the genre itself into something more technical and progressive, utilizing different time signatures and incorporating his varied influences into the mix. 

With each subsequent release following their debut, each album would evolved and with it brought about line-up changes (seemingly the more technical it became, the talent needed to fit the style) until their final release of their final album and (arguably their best) “The Sound of Perseverance (1998)”

Admittedly, when I started to get into metal (back in the early nineties) when Death were beginning to establish themselves, I was very much stuck in one lane in terms of musical tastes and perhaps my ears just weren't ready for death metal at the time and so almost 40 years later since “Scream Blood Gore”, I have rectified my error and can only reinforce what is already widely known, Death are indeed true pioneers and it is testament to the brilliance of Chuck Schuldiner that his discography sounds as fresh and unique today as it did back in the day.    

Check out my favourite Death albums below, let me know your thoughts, do you agree and how would you rate them?

7).
 
⚔️”Leprosy” issued November 16th, 1989

🩸Stand out track(s) “Leprosy”, “Forgotten Path”, “Left to Die”, “Open Casket” “Primitive Ways”

6).
 
 
⚔️ “Scream Bloody Gore” March 25th, 1986

🩸Stand out track(s) “Infernal Death”, “Zombie Ritual”, “Denial of Life”, “Sacrificial”, “Mutilation”, “Regurgitated Guts”, “Baptized in Blood”, “Torn to Pieces” “Scream Bloody Gore”

5).
 
⚔️ “Spiritual Healing” issued February 16th, 1990

🩸 Stand out track(s) “Living Monstrosity”, “Altering The Future”, “Defensive Personalities”, “Within their Mind”, “Spiritual Healing”, “Low Life”, “Genetic Reconstruction”, “Killing Spree”

4).
 
⚔️ “Symbolic” issued March 21st, 1995

🩸”Symbolic”, “Zero Tolerance”, Empty Words”, “1,000 Eyes”, “Without Judgement” “Crystal Mountain”, “Misantthrope”, “Perennial Quest”

3).
 
⚔️” The Sound of Perseverance” issued September 15th, 1998

 
🩸 Stand out track(s) “Scavenger of Human Sorrow”, “Bite The Pain”, “Spirit Crusher”, “Story To Tell”, “Flesh and the Power it Holds”, “A Moment of Clarity”

2).
 
⚔️ “Individual Thought Patterns” issued June 22nd, 1993
 

🩸 Stand out track(s) “Overactive Imagination”, “Inhuman Form”, “Jealousy”, “Nothing Is Eveyrhing”, “Mentally Blind”, “Destiny”, “Out of Touch”

1).
 
⚔️ “Human” issued October 22nd, 1991

 
🩸 Stand out track(s) “Flattening of Emotions”, “Suicide Machine”, “Together As One”, “Secret Face”, Lack of Comprehension” “See Through Dreams”, “Vacant Planets”

DISCOG DISSECTION: Gojira - "The Evolution of a French Metal Titan"

Whilst admittedly, I am not the greatest fan of their output over the last decade, Gojira (hailing from Bayonne, France),  certainly carved a lasting impression upon my metal DNA during their 3 album run of “From Mars to Sirius”, “The way of all flesh” and “L’Enfant Sauvage”.  Indeed, over the subsequent years, Gojira have forged an amazing career for themselves, carving a unique niche in the world of heavy metal since their formation in 1996 and are arguably France’s greatest musical export.

As my musical tastes shifted, Gojira’s evolution and artistic ambition grew. Once revered for their intricate musicianship, environmentally conscious lyrics, and progressive style, over the last decade, we have seen Gojira shed their death metal skin in favour of melody and even accessibility, resulting in  what we see today, “The Evolution of a French metal Titan”. 

Check out my favourite Gojira albums below, let me know your thoughts, do you agree and how would you rate them?

7).

⚔️ “Fortitude” issued April 30, 2021

🩸 Stand out track(s) “Born For One Thing”, “Another World”, “New Found”, “Sphinx”, “Into The Storm”

6).
 
⚔️ “Terra Incognito” issued March 19th, 2001

 
🩸 Stand out track(s) “Clone”, “Lizard Skin”, “Deliverance”, “Rise”, “Fire is Everything”, “Love”

5).
 
⚔️ “Magma” issued June 17, 2016

🩸 Stand out track(s) “The Shooting Star”, “Silvera”, “The Cell”, “Stranded”, “Pray”, “Only Pain”

4).
 
⚔️ “The Link”, issued 18th April, 2003

 
🩸 Stand out track(s) “The Link”, “Death of Me”, “Remembrance”, “Embrace The World”, “Inward Movement”

3).
 
⚔️ “L’Enfant Sauvage” issued June 26, 2012

🩸 Stand out track(s) “Explosia”, “L’Enfant Sauvage”, “The Axe”, “Planned Obsolescence”, “Mouth of Kala”, “The Gift of Guilt”, “Pain Is a Master”

2).
 
⚔️ “The Way of all flesh” issued 10th June, 2008

🩸 Stand out track(s): “Ouroboros”, “Toxic Garbage Island”, “A Sight To Behold”, “Yama’s Messengers”, “All The Tears”, “Adoration of None”, “The Art of Dying”, “Esoteric Surgery”, “Vacuity”, “Wolf down the Earth”, “The way of all flesh”,

1).
 
⚔️ “From Mars to Sirius”, issued 27th September, 2005

🩸 Stand out track(s) “Ocean Planet”, “Backbone”, “From The Sky”, “Where Dragons Dwell”, “The Heaviest Matter of the Universe” “Flying Whales”, “In The Wilderness”, “To Sirius”
 

SONIC SELECTIONS O))): 10 Essential albums released in May, 2025

Artist: low before the breeze
Album: “A whole beneath the home we shared”
Release date: May, 30th 2025

genre: blackened hardcore, chaotic hardcore, sludge, post hardcore

Artist: Rivers of Nihil
Album: “Rivers of Nihil”
Release date: May, 30th 2025

genre: progressive death metal

Artist: Obstruktion
Album: "The End Takes Form"
Release date: May, 30th 2025

genre: death metal, hardcore

Artist: Vildhjarta
Album: “där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar”

Release date: May, 30th 2025

genre: thall, djent

Artist: Coldsblood
Album: "Obscured into Nebulous Dusk"
Release date: May, 30th 2025

genre: black metal, funeral doom, death doom

Artist: Unmerciful
Album: “Devouring Darkness”
Release date: May, 22nd 2025

genre: brutal death metal

Artist: …And Oceans
Album: The Regeneration Itinerary
Release date: May, 23rd

U

genre: symphonic black metal, death metal

Artist: Graverealm
Album: "Betrayer"
Release date: May, 23rd 2025

genre: brutal death metal, technical death metal

Artist: Lastima
Album: “A Pain Bloomed from my Lungs”
Release date: May, 16th 2025

genre: black metal, screamo, post hardcore

Artist: Telos
Album: “what they built”
Release date: May, 9th 2025

genre: blackened hardcore, mathcore, chaotic hardcore, screamo

ALBUM REVIEW: Nile, “The Underworld Awaits Us All”

By: Richard Maw
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released:23^rd August, 2024
Label: Napalm Records
 

 
“The Underworld Awaits Us All” CD//DD//LP track listing:
 
1    Stelae of Vultures
2    Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down on a Stake in the Underworld and Made to Eat Feces by the Four Apes
3    To Strike with Secret Fang
4    Naqada II Enter the Golden Age
5    The Pentagrammathion of Nephren-Ka
6    Overlords of the Black Earth
7    Under the Curse of the One God
8    Doctrine of Last Things
9    True Gods of the Desert
10    The Underworld Awaits us All
11    Lament for the Destruction of Time
 
The Review:  

Five years after “Vile Nilotic Rites”, Karl Sanders (and George Kollias et. al.) blast back with this capable and muscled offering. “Stelae of Vultures” may start slowly, but it soon blasts off- or down- into the underworld which apparently awaits all who listen to this album. The vocals are impossibly low, the drums impossibly fast, the solos impossibly fluid the album overall is… improbably good. It’s over twenty years since “In Their Darkened Shrines” and thirty since Nile started out, but their mix of brutal death metal, Egyptian themes and middle eastern musical motifs is still as irresistible as ever.
 
“Vile Nilotic Rites” was a fairly immediate listen- and so is “The Underworld Awaits Us All”. It’s both familiar territory and wide enough in scope so as to bring the listener in. Truthfully, I loved this one as soon as I heard it. It’s sonic carnage in its most precise form and I still marvel at the musicianship on EVERY Nile album. It’s simply astonishing how far the boundaries of death metal have been pushed since the likes of “Seven Churches” or “Scream Bloody Gore” first dropped jaws in the metal world.
 
“Chapter for Not Being Hung Upside Down On A Stake In The Underworld and Made To Eat Faeces  By The Four Apes” not only pads out this review’s length, but is also both a ridiculous song title and an excellent track- lightning fast and with some hooks in the riffage. Elsewhere, there is not much let up-“The Pentagrammathion of Nephran Ka” may be a lovely instrumental interlude (echoing some of Sanders’ solo work) but as soon as “Overlords of the Black Earth” kicks in, the band simply lays waste to the listener. It’s fast, brutal and effective, with a creeping slowness introduced after the frenetic first act.
 
The dissonance of “Under The Curse of the One God” is different again, with excellent time changes between very slow and hyper fast, plus a female backing vocal on the chorus and a kind of middle eastern acoustic outro. I like the fact that Nile broaden their sound out on each album, it brings unexpected moments and provides an aural break to the metallic brutality. At 53 minutes in length, it’s not like this is an easy listen, exactly, but it’s so uniformly good, that the playing time flies by. “Doctrine of Last Things” may be buried in the track list running order, but it’s strong- with experimental vocals and percussion- and as such represents another worthwhile entry into the band’s catalogue.
 
The album manages to keep my attention all the way through- “True Gods of the Desert” is just superb; a slithering viper of a track that mixes clean vocals with slow tempos to excellent effect. It’s only at the penultimate point of the record that the title track is deployed and it is worthy of the honour bestowed upon it. Epic in length, while musically, it displays most of what Nile can do- the insane speeds, the crazy time changes and the excellent riffs. The production and mix, I note, are excellent. Tight and punchy, crystal clear- exactly what music of this pedigree deserves.
 
By the time the album finishes with the morose and atmospheric “Lament For The Destruction of Time”, Nile have assuredly done what they set out to do- they’ve made another excellent technical and brutal death metal album; another classy entry into their discography. With Karl Sanders now 60 years of age, how much longer this can continue is anyone’s guess, but on this evidence, the band are not ready to be interred into the pyramids yet. Essential for all fans of the band and genre.
 
“The Underworld Awaits Us All” is available HERE

Band info: facebook 

ALBUM REVIEW: Fractal Generator, "Convergence"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/06/2024
Label: Everlasting Spew Records

 
“Convergence” CS//CD/DD//LP track listing:
 
1. Cryogenian
2. Convergence
3. Askesis
4. Ancient Civilizations
5. Obelisk
6. Ciphertext
7. Xiphoid
8. Algorithmic Pathways
9. Encephalon
 
 
The Review:

Fractal Generator return for a blackened tech death encounter of the third kind here. Much like the first two albums, this is of the sci-fi themed variety of the genre. The Canadian members, known only by binary code, have created a concept piece about new planets arriving in the current solar system and the album explores this idea.
 
There are some quirky elements here- choral vocals on “Ancient Civilizations”, synths here, there and everywhere- but there are also the expected elements; death growls, warp speed drums and a distinctly dystopian atmosphere. Since Pestilence introduced atmospheric instrumental link pieces, other bands in the death metal genre have followed suit with mixed results- but things are done very well here.
There are no separate instrumental tracks, but the band does set the tone for each track with interesting intros and a surprisingly lush palette of sounds features across the songs- as mentioned.

“Cryogenian” sets the tone- fast and furious, all other tracks offer sinister creeping dread, along with  the blasting- such as “Obelisk”. The passages of riffs in “Ciphertext” are sublime and elsewhere on the album, things are just as impressive. Once again, Fractal Generator have delivered an excellently written, played and produced example of how this type of extreme metal should be done.

This is for fans of the genre- of course- but is strongly recommended because of this fact. You won’t hear better this year.

“Convergence” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook