Pyrexia: Unholy (2025)

I picked up this album when I saw Pyrexia in concert in November opening up for Abysmal Dawn and Krisiun.  Pyrexia has been covered a few times on this blog primarily due to their influence on the slam death genre.  They never really were a slam band themselves, but they share some characteristics and are cited as an influence on the genre, much in the way that fellow New York death metal band Suffocation.

I have a few Pyrexia albums, with their debut Sermon of Mockery being a particular favorite.  This one is a pretty straight-forward brutal death metal release.  It's typically heavy and intense with some standout moments.  I was particularly impressed with "Wrath" which starts off with a clip from The Shining, specifically the moment in which Jack Torrance confronts the ghostly Mr. Grady about killing and butchering his wife and daughter.  I haven't been able to find lyrics for the song to determine if the song is about the book/movie.  That song also features guest vocals from Sanguisugabogg growler Devin Swank.

This is a quality release by Pyrexia, but it doesn't reinvent the wheel.  It's short, which helps because it makes it easier to sit down and just listen all the way through.  There are no soft moments, no relenting on the intensity, so the brevity is a relief.  Pyrexia doesn't do anything new, but continues to put out fun, brutal death releases.  The band should also be experienced live.

Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 9

ACCEPT: TOO MEAN TO DIE

I have developed a greater appreciation for Accept over the last several years.  I think they are a highly underrated band that was extremely important not just to the German metal scene, but the metal sound in general.  They should be considered a formative band.  The band is deep in their second life at this point since their return after a 15-year hiatus in 2010.  This is their fifth album since the return, and though Udo Dirkschneider has long since left the band, they still sound just as fresh and vital as they did when they returned.  The formula is mostly the same, but they are still capable of "Balls to the Wall"-style fist-pumping true metal anthems.   

CRYPT DWELLER: THE FORBIDDEN DARK ARTS

I remember being sort of underwhelmed by this release the first couple times I heard it.  This is one I bought because of the album art.  I am not sure what the issue was before because I really got into this when I was listening in preparation for this blurb.  The band this reminds me most of is Acid Witch.  It's death/doom with absolutely disgusting riffs and decayed and rotting vocals.  The horror vibes are loud and clear.  There are samples from various movies that add to the atmosphere.  The songs do tend to sound a little too much the same and it makes it kind of a difficult listen for nearly an hour, but this has grown on me.

CURSE: THE AWAKENING...AND THE OLD

I am a big fan of blackened thrash metal, and so of course I am going to grab something that I come across, especially one from Sweden, the country that brought us Nifelheim.  And that is definitely the starting point for comparison's sake.  This is a fairly short six-song EP.  The band is at its best when they are playing fast, most notably on the title track.  There are a couple of slower tracks which are not nearly as impressive.  I was hoping to hear something more from this band, this is a very promising EP, but they have yet to release anything else.

RUIN LUST: CHOIR OF BABEL

Ruin Lust is the sound of chaos.  The band does an excellent job of building up this atmosphere of complete and utter annihilation.  There is nothing pretty here between the rampaging riffs, thunderous drumming and sepulchral vocals.  These are not songs, they are anthems to violence.  This is not a release for the weak of heart.  It is not a particularly enjoyable listen, but it hits on a primal level.

MIDNIGHT: REBIRTH BY BLASPHEMY

After nearly 20 years toiling in the underground, Midnight managed to achieve attention by Metal Blade Records and Decibel Magazine.  This did not come at the expense of their sound thankfully.  Raised on an unhealthy diet of Venom and Motorhead, Midnight retained their fast as hell, blasphemic style.  And with song titles such as "Fucking Speed and Darkness" and "Devil's Excrement", their rise to the sort-of-big-time hasn't softened their edge either.  Longtime listeners (and I am one) know what to expect from a Midnight album and this absolutely delivers.  

Catching Up: 2020 Pt. 8

Yeah, yeah, been a long time.  Shut up.

COLLISION: THE FINAL KILL

Longtime readers of this blog (I suppose there might still be a few of you out there) know that I generally am not a big fan of metal genres fused with hardcore.  I have never been the biggest metalcore fan, outside of a few bands, even in the mid-2000's.  Very little deathcore has caught my attention.  The only one that I am a big fan of is crossover, and that's mainly because thrash already had a major hardcore influence.  I haven't done a major deep drive into the genre, but I have enjoyed Nuclear Assault, the relevant Corrosion of Conformity material, and the Power Trip.  That brings me to this EP.  The riffs are undeniably more on the metal scale, but played with a punk ferocity.  The only issue is that the shouted vocals are a bit too far on the hardcore side for me.  Occasionally, it gets switched up with more death metal-esque growling, but those moments are not real common.  It's a short EP though, so it doesn't wear out it's welcome. 

BENIGHTED: OBSCENE REPRESSED

This is the French brutal death metal band's ninth release, but the first one that I have heard.  I have been aware of Benighted, I just never really bothered to check them out.  Not sure why.  It's not an anti-French bias.  I enjoy Gojira and Yyrkoon, and particularly the black metal scene.  Yet here we are.  This is a blasphemic and gory good time.  The music easily matches the album art, absolutely grotesque.  There is nothing pretty here and the lyrics are just as grimy and foul.  This one is largely considered one of the band's best, so I am getting in at the right moment.  I will probably look into more of this band's discography.

WITCHY: WITCHY

This is kind of a fascinating, short little EP.  Witchy appears to be a one-man doom metal project with next to no information out there about its sole member.  The sound is traditional, slow-moving doom metal with an occult atmosphere, some heavy use of organs and hypnotic vocals.  Think Pentagram for a reference point.  Witchy doesn't reinvent the wheel here, it's just good, old-fashioned doom metal.  Thus far this is the only release by the band.

RIPPED TO SHREDS: LUAN

Ripped to Shreds is a band I have been in on since the beginning.  They are an old-school-sounding death metal band with an emphasis in Chinese history and folklore.  Their influence is clearly out of the old Swedish death metal scene, groups like Dismember and Entombed.  Most of their album titles appear on the covers written in Chinese.  I will not speculate as to whether it is Cantonese or Mandarin, or possibly something else, that's not an area I have any knowledge in and I don't want to get it wrong.  There are moments the band incorporates Asian melodies into their sound, which is overall an incredibly caustic and violent one.  Ripped to Shreds lives up to their name because that is exactly what they do.  I will be continuing to follow this band.  They should be more well-known by now. 

AFKSY: OFTE JEG DRØMMER MIG DØD

Saving the best for last today. I love this album.  If I ever get my shit together and do Best Albums posts for the last few years, it is likely this album takes the top spot, or maybe second to the Testament album.  Afsky is another one-man band, this time a black metal band from Denmark.  This is one of the most emotional black metal albums I have heard in years.  The riffs and drumming, while thunderous, have a warm feeling to them that conveys a deeply somber atmosphere.  The vocals are intense shrieking wails that are at the same time powerful and forlorn.  This is an absolutely incredible album and I highly recommend it.  

I Listened to the 2026 Metal Grammy Nominees So You Don't Have To

What a stupid fucking move that was.  

Anyway, so my distaste for the Grammys has been pretty crystal clear from day one of this blog.  They have absolutely no idea what to do with heavy music.  Most of the time, if there is a readily identifiable band in the category, that's who wins (Metallica has won seven times).  Sometimes, they make decent decisions, such as last year when Gojira won for the song played at the Olympics.  I understood that one.  Other times, they seemingly throw a dart and go with what comes up (Deftones, Tenacious D, Rage Against the Machine).  That's what happened this year.  First of all, I don't even understand how they came up with these nominees.  For Best Metal Performance, you would think at least a couple of the nominees would be metal songs.  Not this year.  I suppose I will give my thoughts.

1.  Turnstile: "Birds".  This was the winner this year and I am not sure I am listening to the same song.  Turnstile came up through the hardcore and punk scene and then became this weird mix of those genres with alternative rock.  Note, I did not once mention metal.  This is a little bit more of a straight-up hardcore song.  It's fine, but it is not a metal track.

2.  Spiritbox: "Soft Spine".  This band has been jammed down the throats of listeners to Liquid Metal on Sirius XM for years.  I occasionally listen to that in the car and I think I hear a song by them at least once when I do.  This song is fine, I guess.  But again, Spiritbox is not really a metal band, more of an alternative/electronic/industrial rock band.  Heavy, but the metal influences are minimal.  I would say they have more in common with nu-metal.

3.  Sleep Token: "Emergence".  I discussed this band on my Bands I Hate post awhile back.  I listened to this song, and what the fuck?  I know they have rather disparate influences slapped together like an amateur chef trying to be experimental, but this is one of the least metal songs I have ever heard from this band.  There's occasionally some power chords.  That's it.  Otherwise it's a mix of soft rock and R&B and some electronica thrown in.  And then there's a saxophone solo.  What the hell were the people that put together the nominees thinking here?  They're not the most metal of bands most of the time, but this is seriously the farthest away I have ever heard this band.

4.  Ghost: "Lachryma".  I thought this was going to win honestly.  Ghost has won in the past and that is a sure sign of winning again.  Even though they are not really a metal band anymore.  This song comes at least close at times.  This is not a bad song, but again, it's not really metal.  Much more of a straightforward hard rock track.

5.  Dream Theater: "Night Terror".  Here is the only metal track in the category.  I haven't really cared about anything Dream Theater has done since their album Awake back in the mid 1990's.  This is a decent song, but it's almost ten minutes long, which is way too long to expect the people that vote on these things to actually pay attention.  It's not a great song, but at least it's a metal song, something I would think would be the primary qualification for nomination.  I guess Dream Theater has won this before as well.  Still, I didn't think this had a chance at winning.   

I don't think any of these should have won.  Time to listen to something to cleanse the palate.  I am going to put on some Satan's Hallow.

Krisiun at The Reverb Lounge Sometime in November

I waited a very long time to make this post.  Well, waited is not the right word for it.  I have been pretty busy over the last several months.  As usual.  Anyway, that is the last concert I have attended, so I probably better get something out on it.  

Krisiun is a band I haven't spent a lot of time listening to.  I have a few of their albums, and I definitely enjoy them, but they are not a band I usually rush to pick up when a new album is released.  The support bands were Abysmal Dawn, Pyrexia and Gorgatron.  I am about as familiar with Abysmal Dawn and Pyrexia as I am with Krisiun.  Gorgatron was new to me.

Gorgatron is a death metal band out of North Dakota and one of their guitarists was previously in Omaha black metal band Ungoliant.  The drummer is also in Pyrexia, which explains how Gorgatron got on this bill in the first place.  They were a lot of fun live, their singer was very funny, and they seem like a bunch of guys who just love what they do.  That came across well in their set.  I will be seeking out something from them.

Pyrexia is a band I have been semi into for awhile, primarily due to their influence on the slam death metal subgenre.  Their music has always been more closely tied to the brutal death metal genre than slam, but their use of breakdowns helped foster the development of slam.  Their songs were all short and very brutal.  I picked up their new album from their merch stand.  

Up next was Abysmal Dawn, one of the more interesting pure modern death metal bands that have come about in the last quarter century.  It's kind of strange, but they have not released a new album since 2020.  So, it is kind of unusual that they were on the bill.  Maybe something is coming soon.  I was extremely impressed with their set though.  I will definitely have to dig back into some of their stuff again.

Finally, we came to the Brazilian death metal band Krisiun.  Brazil has an impressive history with metal music, starting with Sepultura and Sarcofago and spreading from there.  Krisiun fits in well with the earlier bands.  Their music is sharp and intense and they were firing on all cylinders this night.  

All told, this was a hell of a show.  Unfortunately, this is the only concert I attended all year.  Hopefully I will get to more this year.