Gang. It’s been a minute. But death metal never sleeps, and we’re back to bring you the stankiest, filthiest, most brutal selections of the bunch. Oh yeah, baby. It’s Death’s Door.
2024 has, in my opinion, been a fantastic year for the genre. Some truly great releases have graced our bleeding ears in the first half of the year, and looking at the calendar it looks like there will be plenty more where that came from. This edition of DD will be focused on releases from the last few months, as most of our time in July was spent finishing up our mid-year round-up. I can personally vouch for the absolute magnitude of each of these releases, and we feel confident your headaches will scream as loudly as ours after repeat listens.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy once more the Death’s Door experience. Let us know what releases from the past few months slapped you across the face in the comments
Death metal. Forever.
-JA
Cream of the Crop
Wormed - Omegon
If you’re on this website, reading this specific column, then Spain’s Wormed truly need no introductions, but for the sake of SEO and PR quote bait, we’ve got to play along anyway: Wormed are easily one of the most important active bands in technical death metal. Active for over 25 years now, the band are one of the driving influential forces in the brutal and technical death metal cutting edge, pushing the boundaries of songwriting and production in the process, all while building a conceptual sci-fi world across that informs their aesthetic. Basically, Wormed is to dudes in camo shorts what Coheed and Cambria is to reformed emos, and as someone who is firmly in both camps, I mean that as a compliment.
Despite the quarter century of activity, we’re only at the fourth proper full-length from the almighty Wormed, so it’s a momentous occasion for death metal. Against all odds, Wormed haven’t slowed down in the slightest. Their ability to capture the percussive, reptilian groove of brutal death metal and slam with their almost industrialized and sleek take on tech death have helped shape an entire subgenre that thrives to this day. Neck snapping breakdowns and fight riffs emerge in zero gravity, with the gravitas and precision of the avant garde elevates the extremities to artful highs. On Omegon, they’re as brutal and technical as ever, often meeting halfway in Gorguts territory with textural guitar playing informing a dense, chaotic atmosphere. Colin Marston at the boards, no less.
Omegon, as anyone could hope, is challenging and often catchy for the genre. Sure, there’s a rare moment of melodic wizardry, as in the defining second half of the space rager “Virtual Teratogenesis,” but a slippery guitar riff here and an infectious groove there is enough to slide the band into earworm territory through all the blasts, palm mutes, and gutteral croaks. It’s smart, it’s a little campy, and most of all, it’s a fun death metal record. You’re slamming in zero gravity. You’re getting WORMED.
-Jimmy Rowe
Best of the Rest
Summoning the Lich - Under the Reviled Throne
It’s been a fantastic month for guys who go “I’m not really into the heavier side of death metal but these albums kick ass” AKA me. Both Wormed and Summoning the Lich are probably just a few shades heavier and more brutal than I would usually go for but they also meld that brutality with excellent compositions and an overall “light” feeling that is hard for me to explain. Let me try anyway: my problem with the heavier side of death metal is that it often feels one noted to me - even if the music itself is many-noted and complex, the themes are always oppressive and like the contrast that I like. But the two bands cited above are able to make incredibly punishing death metal while always keeping things fresh and exciting. Under the Reviled Throne, Summoning the Lich’s latest, is a fantastic example as it sees the band unfurl their canvas further than ever before, creating one of 2024’s most expansive death metal releases.
Opening track “Return To The Soil” is all the example you need; no one can say this track doesn’t go hard. Its vocals are punishing and deep, its riffs blistering and robust, and everything about its tempo just screams aggression. But there’s also a lot of variety happening at the bass level, flourishes of sound filling in the death metal with technicality and tonal expression. The structure of the track also assists with that, ducking and weaving in and out of the central guitar ideas to always keep you guessing as to what is going on next. Unlike Wormed, who baked immense amounts of groove and layers of sound at the core of their sound, Summoning the Lich feel heavy here in the overwhelming, fragmented, and expansive sense, as their sound goes in so many directions at the same time.
In short, if you’re looking for technical, aggressive and, yes, thrash-y death metal, Under the Reviled Throne has you covered. It’s scratching this very specific itch for me and slotting very neatly into exactly what I want from my death metal these days.
-Eden Kupermintz
Laceration - I Erode
It needs to be stated that 20 Buck Spin is on an absolute tear in 2024. If you’re unfamiliar with their impact on the current state of the old school death metal revival you’ve either been living under a rock or just don’t care for the genre. For those who don’t fall into either of those categories, it’s becoming more readily apparent that any band releasing material on the label automatically cast themselves headlong into the metal blogosphere hype machine. The label’s reputation speaks for itself, with releases from Dissimulator, Witch Vomit, Civerous, Slimelord, and Atræ Bilis making plenty of waves with death metal aficionados. Their latest and greatest entry in their ridiculous hot streak, Laceration’s fantastic sophomore release I Erode, serves as another gross and brutal feather in their bloody cap, and may end up being one of the crown jewels for the genre in 2024.
While Laceration’s debut record, 2021’s fun as hell Demise, made minor waves in the death metal scene and was generally well received, I Erode serves as an obvious step up and forward in every regard. The riffs here feel reminiscent of the earliest and ugliest Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse tracks while also displaying a sense of songwriting refinement. “Vile Incarnate” feels like the perfect blend of intense and chaotic classic death metal nastiness and clarity of songwriting vision, with Matt Harvey’s production bringing out a beautifully balanced medley that never sacrifices nastiness for clarity, but also never falters in bringing to the forefront the best of each instrument in any given arrangement. “Dreams of the Formless” feels like something one might hear in an late career Death record in both style and audio execution, with each instrument feeling perfectly blended into the mix.
But all the quality production in the world can’t save a death metal track if the riffs aren’t excellent. In the case of Laceration, one need not worry about any watering down of the principal product. These fuckers know exactly how to construct an absolutely filthy riff, and exercise those skills with diabolical precision. “Carcerality” and “Strangled by Hatred” are absolute bangers that are nearly impossible to sit still while listening to. The guitar work in particular is feral and violent, recalling the best of Immolation in speed and technical execution. At a lean 32 minutes I Erode fills in the perfect amount of space for a record of this intensity, never allowing a track or sequence of riffs to feel stale or overly repetitious. It’s all bangers, all the time, followed by an appropriately abrupt and unceremonious fade to black.
In the end, Laceration’s I Erode presents some of the best elements that the old school death metal revival has to offer. It’s a distillation of classic genre motifs constructed with care and manic attention to detail, highlighting how vital and essential this music can be when thoughtful production and excellent songcraft combine. I Erode is an essential death metal record of 2024, and one of my favorites of the year. Expect to hear a lot more about this one in the months to come.
-JA
Obscene - Agony & Wounds
I was somewhat late to the Obscene party when The Inhabitable Dark dropped back in 2020. While not the earliest adopter of Obscene’s bleak and insane old school death metal stylings, I can definitively state in the four years since their magnificent debut they have built for themselves a sterling reputation as one of the best and brightest of the new crop of worshippers of death metal’s formative years. Three records in, and not a solitary dud in sight, Agony & Wounds continues the trend of excellent records the band have released with what might be both their most intense and intricate to date.
One of the aspects of Obscene that has always struck me as unique and interesting is their style of vocals. While the music itself is kinetic, frenetic death metal of the old school variety ala Obituary and Deicide, leading man Kyle Shaw has a hardcore-adjacent bark and howl delivery that is going to be a key feature or huge turn off for most listeners. If you find yourself like me in the former “Bryan Garris is the best part of Knocked Loose and actually good” camp, Shaw’s performance here will be a jolt of electricity to your feeble brain. Each track here is elevated by his thoroughly unhinged performance, and while each performance on the record is stellar, his is a particularly notable one.
But most are here for the riffs, and good god almighty those on the hunt for a good sequence of death metal face blasters will find examples aplenty. “Breathe the Decay” (complete with a perfect sample of Michael Shannon’s deranged monologue in “Take Shelter”), “Death’s Denial”, and “Dressed in Corpses” are absolute bangers that showcase clearly what the band is capable of achieving on a technical level. Guitarist Mike Morgan is an absolute machine, churning out riff after riff with an uncanny level of anger and focus, making each track feel like a death metal upheaval of epic proportions. His skills, while obvious in a death metal sense, become all the more impressive in the nuanced and doom-laden finale, which is essentially a straight up melodic doom track that sends the album off on an unexpected and high note. A fitting and unique end to an explosive record.
While there are certainly a great many old school death metal bands clogging up an already overcrowded scene, Indianapolis’ finest dm peddlers certainly deserve their place as one of this musical spaces most electric and promising working bands. Obscene are well on their way to forging a sterling and long career, and Agony & Wounds stands shoulder to shoulder with their other excellent releases. A record that comes with a strong recommendation, and one that I’ll be listening to regularly for months to come.
-JA
Defacement - Duality
Dutch dissonant black/death experimentalists Defacement have firmly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the world of extreme music. Yet every new album carries the thrill of the unknown, as each mutation of their mind-warping sound finds terrifying new realms to explore. 2019 debut Deviant, like its eerie cover art, delivered a cavernous descent into blistering blackened death metal madness that echoed with heft and brutality.
Their self-titled followup in 2021 further upped the ante with even denser songwriting and psychedelic dissonance, pummeling listeners with a wall-of-sound effect that channeled the meaty bludgeoning of death metal into the esoteric darkness of black metal. Their sound always contained the same cosmic terror, but twisted into even darker shapes. The same nightmares, but different monsters.
Duality births yet another version of Defacement, this iteration intertwining electronics into their signature sonic assault. Like Deviant, this new album feels like a descent into the void, drawing listeners towards their bloody fate with alternating spells of eerie electronics, atmospheric dissonance, and face-melting brutality. Drawing on the foundation of both Deviant and Defacement, Duality delivers equal measures of cavernous madness and wall-of-sound chaos while expanding Defacement’s musical palette.
Softer, often glitchy, tracks juxtapose themselves against monstrous slabs of psychedelic death, lulling the listener into a false sense of comfort before they’re dragged down another rabbit. But unlike their earlier works, Duality teases with moments of triumph, with masterful riffs arcing across “Barrier” in a hint at the hero’s journey. Hope finds a way to flicker, even in the depths of the void. Unlike many bands that throw electronic tracks into albums as filler, Defacement embrace them as critical pacing moments throughout Duality, delivering a sense of grandeur that further expands the horrifying universe of Defacement.
-Bridget Hughes