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.
