six stacker

The Six Stacker: Mikael Stanne Edition

Every fifty-something I know is acting like they’re half their age. Going to more gigs than me, taking on night shift jobs to make extra cash, and riding from Melbourne to Adelaide like it ain’t no thing. Mikael Stanne has just moved the needle to that ripe old age and is rocking in no fewer than four internationally-touring bands: his OG Dark Tranquillity, the DT-In Flames hybrid The Halo Effect, Gothenburg old school death metallers Grand Cadaver, and Scandi-goth rockers Cemetery Skyline.

The man himself.

His daughter, Marillion (click here for some Marillion-ception), is all grown up and demands to be home are likely non-existent. Why not heap more of what you love on your plate? It makes sense. This Six Stacker has three new Stanne-led cuts on, so without further ado…


Dark Tranquillity - Endtime Signals

Century Media (2024)

I was fortunate enough to see Dark Tranquillity in concert this month and they absolutely blew me away, being my favourite band of all time. That’s despite Mikael (arguably) being the only original member left. If Soilwork can put out great stuff void of OGs, surely DT can too? Yes, in the same way The Simpsons latest seasons are good compared to their legendary Season 2-10 run in the 1990s.

The Simpsons, of late, have returned their character-driven humour and heart-centric story roots. That is, Homer isn’t just a mean-spirited idiot actively trying to ruin things, dubbed ‘Jerkass Homer’ in the fandom. Instead, he’s a well-meaning buffoon, and the primary victim of his own flaws. Lisa is a know-it all, but is still an eight-year-old. Bart is a prococious ten-year-old brat again; they’re not mere vessels for shoehorned in gags and tired lines hawked during the Zombie Simpsons era. It’s thoughtful, tightly-scripted, laugh-out-loud Simpsons. But nowhere near as good as the original.

In a way, that’s what Endtime Signals represents; just like Iron Maiden can’t make The Number of the Beast again, DT can’t make Projector or Damage Done again. It’s a great, guitar-oriented DT fusing old school death metal (c.f. the tremolos on Unforgivable) and new-style Gothenburg goth-melodic death, the kind DT invented in the first place (the weepy One of Us Is Gone, led by electronics.) Some new twists are introduced, such as the panned hard-to-the front drumming (a nugget in Neuronal Fire.)

As a die-hard DT fan and just like a die-hard Simpsons fan, I’m extolling the merits of this record as a return-to-form. If anyone actually listens is anyone’s guess.


Cemetery Skyline - Nordic Gothic

Century Media (2024)

As I said in my best of 2024 post:

In a way, it was inevitable. We should be grateful for its inevitability. Spearheaded by Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, Grand Cadaver, The Halo Effect) and featuring members of Insomnium, The Man-Eating Tree, Dimmu Borgir, and Amorphis both past and present, this is like the Nordic (and gothic) Power Station, featuring Robert Palmer plus Chic and Duran Duran members in. Ever since 1999’s Projector, Dark Tranquillity embraced goth wholesale via Martin Brandstrom’s Depeche Mode electronics. Freed from shackles of melodic death, Nordic Gothic is pure pale light reflected in nightime clouds electro-goth beating with a blue and yellow Scandinavian heart.


The Halo Effect - March of the Unheard

Nuclear Blast (2025)

When I was a kid, melodic death metal was cool and edgy; it’s borderline dad rock now. As I mentioned earlier, Mikael is an actual dad of an adult daughter, for fucks sake. March of the Unheard is further away in time to The Gallery than that was to The Number of the Beast. Cynical types could level this as Dads getting the band back together to relive the glory days. Because in a way, it is.

All band members were part of In Flames at one point and could lay claim as the One True In Flames™. Jesper Strömblad is one half of the In Flames sound and pushes it twice as far, fingers crawling up and down the guitar as his rhythm section pounds big fuck off chords out underneath (Conspire to Decieve). It’s In Flames, baby! Fuck me, Detonate is all sorts of headbanging Colony/Clayman action brought back to life (notably Coerced Coexistence.) It’s the In Flames album we wish we’d gotten instead of Reroute to Remain. (Except 60% of this band wrote Reroute to Remain.)

It’s difficult to lend itself a distinct identity, being steeped in In Flames marinade. Does it matter? Not really, no. As a melodeath album its a cut above what’s usually produced today, and an A-tier In Flames album that just happens to have Mikael singing. I ain’t complaining.


Ulcerate - Cutting the Throat of God

Debemur Morti Records (2024)

Dissonant death metal is a genre now. Isn’t all death metal dissonant? I guess. However there’s something otherworldly about NZ’s Ulcerate, as if it’s coming in from a dark dimension parallel to our own. That feeling of alienation is palpale on this disc, like the liminal space of Sanctae Noctis at Dark Mofo. It was a nondescript shipping hall, draped in black curtains with a lone stage at the far end. It evoked that feeling of Twin Peaks’ Black Lodge - real and unreal all at once. Building on textures not unlike Agalloch or Pallbearer but as heavy hitting as soul-tearing riffery from Serpent of Old or (their arguable rivals) Devenial Verdict. If this is the furthest frontier death metal can reach, I’m glad we got there. Choice, ey.


Undeath - More Insane

Prosthetic Records (2024)

Whipping one’s head back from dark and brooding to borderline mosh-inducing fun is NYC’s Undeath, resurrecting the old school back from the … undead. Dead From Beyond showcases all their influences up front: Morbid Angel’s undulating lead breaks, Cannibal Corpse’s meaty bass, and Malevolent Creation’s freewheeling double-ass kicking drumming. Though they verge on Atheist or Death-like tech levels, they keep everything pretty grounded, with CC-style big fuck off riffs dominating tracks like Disputatious Malignancy (fuck writing that out for a joke) or almost kinda sorta Gothenburg pre-melodeath style (Dismember, Entombed, et. al.) creepy beef ala Sutured for War. It’s a genuinely fun listen.


Royal Blood - Back to the Water Below

Warner Records (2023)

Running a band as a two-man operation (think Death From Above 1979 or DZ Deathrays) means near total rock ‘n’ roll freedom these days. Fewer egos to stroke, fewer royalties to divide, and only one manager to pay off. Back to the Water Below is fuck music like Jane’s Addiction is fuck music. It’s music you fuck to, because it itself fucks. A high kicking back beat atop Mountains at Midnight anchors a silky, devil-may-care sliding riff. It heats up like desert rock and adds in all the leather jacket-wearing sleaze rock ‘n’ roll should still be notorious for. These days it really ain’t, but these lads are doing their darnedest to bring it back (sorry, Danko Jones.) It’s right proper English when you hear slight piano returns to britpop (Pull Me Through) and funk-inspired bops like Triggers. Pop it on, grab your girl, and feel the Gs.

The Six Stacker - Recycled, Revivalist

Sorry boys and girls, but from now on it’s going to be revivals until the end of time. Genre revivals, that is. That isn’t to say there isn’t any creativity left in the ol’ dogs, but anything new is pretty much off the table. This comes down to technology. In the 1980s and start of the 1990s, one could hear “new” sounds, thanks to advances in additive synthesis and digital sampling. Crude 8-bit approximations of guitars and violins would flow through speakers in crisp digital perfection - until humanity gained the power over Pulse Code Modulation in their own bedrooms. When a CPU could crunch 16-bits per sample at 44.1kHz, it was all over. We can produce any sound we want in real-time, provided we fiddle with enough virtual knobs. Instead of shelling out thousands for a Yamaha DX7, you can patch a DAW to emulate it. Pair it with a LinnDrum and all manner of filters and you can churn out your own synthwave revival record. UK-based New Retro Wave Records is killing (it) in the name of 80s revivalism; and its even seeped into the hallowed world of metaldom. Bands like Host (named after the core members’ controversial Paradise Lost album that went decidedly dancehall), Unto Others, Tribulation, Cemetery Skyline, and a whole bunch of others are going full Depeche Mode on our asses because… well, why the fuck not. Not that I’m complaining. Just… noticing.


Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition

Nuclear Blast Records (2024)

Watching Gatecreeper wreak havoc on a small outer-suburban stage in Melbourne’s south-east earlier this year, my good friend Rob turned to me as these Sonoran deprivators debuted a new song. His Encyclopedium Metallum senses were twitching. “Man, this sounds a lot like Dismember,” he said with an air of authority. Entombed, Carcass, Grave… take your pick. It’s definitely HM-2 pedal death n’ roll alright. You could slot opener Dead Star into Purgatory Afterglow by Edge of Sanity and none would be the wiser. Not even Dan Swanö. Lifted greatly with the thick and meaty production courtesy of Kurt Ballou (Converge, High On Fire, Kvelertak, Four Year Strong) it’s a mid-90s death n’ roll feast for the senses. Mainly ears, but you get the idea.


Tribunal - The Weight of Remembrance

20 Buck Spin (2023)

Sad Vancouverites Tribunal are also a revival band - funeral death/doom the way My Dying Bride used to do it. Still kinda does it? They have a cello player and a warbly chick singer/lamentation machine, so I’ll leave that up for you to decide. Lace and daggers and fake vampire canine teeth abound. I mean there’s a song called Of Creeping Moss and Crumbled Stone, which desperately captures the centuries-old decay of Some Old Castle™. I’m kind of underselling it here. It’s dialed to eleven pomp and paganism, slowed down to a crawl thanks to a stiletto slipped between crucial vertebrae. Maddening and unforgiving stuff, in the best way possible.


Frozen Soul - Glacial Domination

Century Media (2023)

Black metal, death metal, progressive female-fronted fantasy metal… cold metal? Whatever it is, it’s neck-snappingly brutal. It’s also like The Love Boat for death metal (and even darksynth) musos. You get Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium, also producer) pop in a solo or two, John Gallager of Dying Fetus gurgle atop flesh-ripper Morbid Effigy, along with Creeping Death’s Reese Alavi and Power Trip’s Blake Ibanez (no, he uses Jacksons) shred up a tornado (of SOULS) on Amon Amarth adjacent Arsenal of War. Duology Frozen Soul/Assimilator featuring Gost is the ultimate death metal tribute to The Thing, feeling like something Floridian death metal nascents would come up with around its release. For the old schoolers who love a bit of a twist and turn, you can’t really go past it.


Oceans of Slumber - Oceans of Slumber

Century Media (2020)

Just like the man in the cover art, I too am in awe of the sheer beauty and power of what metal-punk-folk-gospel band Oceans of Slumber can come up with. Recommended to me (not personally of course) by Dark Tranquillity’s (and Grand Cadaver’s, and The Halo Effect’s, and Cemetery Skyline’s) Mikael Stanne, the brightest of gems being the sublime voice of Cammie Gilbert; velveteen, mournful, and gripping in every song on this (and every) album. Their depth and breadth of ideas hasn’t felt so engrossing and novel since Pain of Salvation turned prog on its head over 20 years ago - proof you don’t need 22/7 time signatures to convey real emotion. Like A Return to the Earth Below, five and a half minutes of rage giving way to despair; equal parts Katatonia and Evergrey and as close to a perfect prog track if there ever was one. Speaking of…


Evergrey - Theories of Emptiness

Napalm Records (2024)

This album blows me away every time I listen to it. Evergrey have achieved pop-prog apotheosis on Theories of Emptiness, right from bombastic opener Falling from the Sun, sadboi arena rocker Misfortune, and the duet we’ve all wanted (well, I have) since forever, Cold Dreams featuring Jonas Renkse (Katatonia). It lends off 80s power ballad vibes while maintaining an icy grip on bleak, barren soundscapes. Everything they approach, they nail; Queensryche-ian crunch, Pink Floyd-like leadwork, and soulful gospel choirs. It’s Evergrey done up to 11, much like their breakout Recreation Day. Outstanding work.


Vredensal - Sonic Devotion to Darkness

Soul Seller Records (2023)

Sometimes I think black metal sounds best when it doesn’t really sound like black metal at all. Let me explain. One of my favourite black metal bands of all time is Dissection. They are blacker than the blackest black times infinity, but god DAMN were those riffs classic as they were tasty. I’m talking delicious banquets of NWOBHM fat and Ameri-thrash grease-licked middle fingers thrust to the sky. Just like Mikael Vredensal (yeah, I know!) busts out large and wide solos fit for arena stages and fireworks to pop off. If it’s all about “do what thou wilt” then Sonic Devotion is the epitome of Satanic self-indulgence. Ave! Or whatever.

The Six Stacker - Cold Bones

It’s cold. It’s cold, yet I refuse to believe it. I strut around in t-shirt and jeans, a lone beanie to stop all my body heat from escaping. I don’t feel it, because the crushtor compound™ could be used for meat and perishable storage during winter and not break any OH&S laws. Also, gives me licence to blast music real loud. Here’s what’s been in my six stacker:


Vanishing Kids - Miracle of Death

Aural Music (2023)

I tend to buy anything Angry Metal Guy puts in a top whatever list, so this went into my shopping cart without a thought. Yeah, it’s doom, but not as we know it. The slow crawl of first track Spill the Dark walks a line between 70s Hammond-drenched stoner anthem and murder ballad, amplified by Nikki Drohomyreky’s trance-inducing vocals. It’s a throwback without being all tassled jackets and flares, a fresh take on a well-worn genre. I’d try to pin them down as doom metal, but that’s like pigeonholing Hammers of Misfortune, something I refuse to do. It’s a weird one, but a good ‘un.


Suldusk - Anthesis

Napalm Records (2024)

After being blown away by their set prior to Katatonia this year (was it this year?) and sacrificing a meal or two to buy their prior album Lunar Falls, these Aussies knock it out of the gloomy moor with Anthesis. Plucking bits of the darker end of metal, neo-folk, and atmospherics, carried on the back of vocalist (and multi-instrumentalist) Emily Highfield’s sublime voice. It’s like the reincarnation of The Gathering rinsed in black, a majestic and ethereal follow-up to Green Carnation’s Light of Day, Day of Darkness in tone and musicianship. Album of the year contender, for sure.


Judas Priest - Invincible Shield

Columbia/Epic (2024)

I’m going to cheat a bit since I already reviewed this:

Is Invincible Shield as earth-shattering as its predecessor? Not quite. Does it live up to their legendary canon? Absolutely. It’s proof positive you can teach an old God new tricks, and then some. Horns up, metalheads. Priest rides once again!


Spirit Adrift - Ghost at the Gallows

Century Media (2023)

Nate Garrett has feet in two worlds - that of the leather vest and big fuck off mo’ wearing Spirit Adrift and the gory t-shirt clad three-day-growth crustiness of Gatecreeper. Spirit Adrift is definitely a throwback to late-70s big arena band rock n’ roll, a time mere seconds before Maiden, Priest, and Mötorhead would dominate stages and airwaves. It’s eminently listenable and groove-heavy, and it was stuck inside my six stacker for ages. When it came around again, I was all too pleased to hear Garrett and co. trade licks and bellow bear-like harmonies into a green, smokey void. Recommended.


Vorga - Beyond the Palest Star

Transcending Obscurity (2024)

Sci-fi? In my black metal? Where do I sign up? Exploring dark regions beyond where Vektor or Imperialist have ever gone, Vorga propels toward relatavistic speeds, that being their compositions are compelling no matter whether they’re death marches (Voideath), Dimmu Borgir style mini-symphonies (Magical Thinking) or straight up old school headbangers (The Cataclysm.) If metal survives into the age of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, it would be illogical that musicianship of this quality wouldn’t be a prime directive on their 24th Century Spotifies.


Rotting Christ - Pro Xhristou

Season of Mist (2024)

Rotting Christ, as far as I’m concerned is (groan) God tier black metal. Not much else comes close, and their latest platter Pro Xhristou was as eagerly awaited in the crushtor house like Christmas is in a spoiled kid’s. Rotting Christ have an innate talent for capturing the sublime within the depraved, grand choirs of damned souls lifting dirty, diabolical riffs to strike the cloisters of heaven itself. AMG hated it, but I think they doth protest too much; in a world of black metal clones, Rotting Christ at least stand on their own two feet like Colossus(ses) that bestrode the world. Can’t please everyone.