Just 4 days ago on the 24th of November death metal/core act The Modern Age Slavery released their third studio album called ‘Stygian’ via Innerstrength Records. Coming from the widely praised 2013 album ‘Requiem For Us All’ and starting with their 2008 debut album ‘Damned To Blindness’ they have really shown to step up their game every single time, especially this one. Check it out!
I am in a lot of facebook groups and I have seen a bunch of bands while scrolling through them but A Scarlet Gospel instantly stood out from the others. Their ability to combine deathcore with blackmetal is something I haven’t seen before and when I found out that they will be releasing their first EP ‘A Speaker Of Damnation’ I got even more excited. It will be available via Putrescene Records on the 30th of September but 2 tracks have already been out for a while and they are top notch!
Welcome back to a brand new State Of The Art, we decided to pick Alaska this month due to the crazy scene going on so let’s get started!
Awaken Antagonist is the very first band to be featured this month and it is a blend of the greatest parts of deathcore and metal. They have only released their debut (which is self titled) and recently they have released their first full album which goes by the name of ‘Shepherd Of Plagues’. It got out via bandcamp on the 28th of July and on their official youtube page on the 5th of September. The transition between the 2 music pieces are fenomenal, the debut is one of the best I have heard but their full album blows me away. They matured so much just after their first piece that it is almost unbelievable. Check the album art below (made by Art and Layout by Soul Asphyx Arts), it is violent!
When you are talking deathcore you are talking about Thy Art Is Murder, they have been called the deathcore kings by many and with the latest release of ‘Dear Desolation’ they proved that they are worthy their throne in the deathcore scene.
Australian death core legends Thy Art Is Murder released the first part of a trailer for their upcoming album ‘Dear Desolation’ on the 14th of July, their full album will get out on the 18th of August via their record label Nuclear Blast. It is scary and it even has some references in it as well, check it out!
Decapitated has been reigning since the year 2000, that year they also released their first full-length album ‘Winds Of Creation’. But, 1 album wasn’t enough for them so the album ‘The First Damned’ came to claim its righteous spot. After that they have released 4 beautifully dark albums, ‘Nihility’, ‘The Negation’, ‘Organic Hallucinosis’ and last but certainy not least ‘Carnival is Forever’, this album created a spot on the record label Nuclear Blast for these guys. The 2014 album ‘Blood Mantra’ is for sure one of my favorite releases from that year, this album marked their sound’s turn around. Roughly 3 years later they came back with another crazy fast album ‘Anticult’. It got out today, on the 7th of July. If you love their old sound combined with fast riffs then this is the album for you!
The Acacia Strain is a deathcore band from Conneticut, US with some dark yet clear downtempo influences. The band started out really heavy with its first release ‘3750’ in 2004. Albums like ‘The Dead Walk’ and ‘Continent‘ pushed forward the heavy death core, almost death metal, sound the band originally had. The band took a big turn in its sound with the release ‘Wormwood’. The downtempo influences really started to break through on this album. This is also the first album that features the famous ”Bird” on the cover art. Just 2 years later The Acacia Strain let us know that they were still capable of making some kick ass music and so they did with the release of ‘Death Is The Only Mortal’. Latest and maybe even their best work yet, ‘Coma Witch’, gave us everything we loved about the band. Last year the band collaborated to create ‘The Depression Sessions’ with death core pioneers Thy Art Is Murder. This isn’t all of it yet, Fit For An Autopsy also worked hard on this Split. They are one of the best upcoming death core bands at this very moment, check them out HERE! The long awaited upcoming album ‘Gravebloom’ will release via Rise Records in just 3 days, 30th of June. A new The Acacia Strain is just what we needed in a world full of disappointments!
Oceano is THE band you need to listen to when you are in love with lows as much as I am. This band uses almost only low vocals and damn it sounds brutal. This band is really fighting with Enterprise Earth over the most brutal album at this moment yet they are very different from them. Adam Warren makes the difference because this guy has vocals straight from the pit of hell and to make it even better he goes straight against the metal stereotypes being a black vocalist. I mean, how awesome is that? Finally a black vocalist in one of the top deathcore bands from this moment, I absolutely love when people break stereotypes. We shouldn’t forget about the other band members though because without them Adam wouldn’t be anywhere. Chris Wagner is the bassist of the band and I have a strong feeling that he finally found his spot in the band, he fits the dark message perfectly. Besides that we have drummer Andrew Holzbaur and guitarist Scott Smith, both are really underrated because they mean so much for the band. Without the drum line or the dark and fierce guitar riffs the band would sound dull and boring. They have always released songs and albums via the record label Earache but times have changed so they went with Sumerian Records which their latest album ‘Revelation’ is featured on. Oceano has been known as a grindcore band after their debut album got released which is called ‘Depths’ but after that album they choose to go with brutal deathcore. Albums like ‘Contagion’, ‘Incisions’ and ‘Ascendants’ have all been brutal deathcore and what I like the most about the change in genre is the transition, you can clearly hear some grindcore influences on the albums after their debut album ‘Depths’.
Aversions Crown is a death metal band from Brisbane, Australia. The 4 piece consists of vocalist Mark Poida, bassist Steve, drummer Jayden Mason, guitarists Chris Cougan and Kevin Butler. They first started out really strong with their debut album called ‘Servitude’ back in 2011. 3 years later they released their second album ‘Tyrant’. From this point on their releases come via Nuclear Blast. This has been a really big deal for the band because this is one of the top labels out there. It really stepped up their game big time. Beginning this year they released their third album ‘Xenocide’. This album features a new vocalist and he fits the band perfectly, the album theme is really important for the band so that has to show in the vocal style and I can assure you that he is doing a great job on it.
One of my favorite death core bands, Fit For An Autopsy, have a split album coming out tomorrow, August 12. In anticipation of this release, they have graced us with one of the two tracks that they have recorded for the split “The Depression Sessions“, which also features tracks by The Acacia Strain and Thy Art Is Murder.
It’s a pretty killer track and sits strongly alongside the tracks already released by TAS and TAIM. If you like it, make sure to snag a copy HERE.
Sonic Temple
