Review by Alex on August 16, 2022.

Coming out of the ever scorching Tampa Bay Florida is a four piece called Carnal Ruin with their debut titled Soulless I Remain. My take, it slays, has a crushing presence and dominates throughout its playtime. Death metal is in good hands I could say with gems such as this. Set to be released through Redefining Darkness Records on September 2nd 2022, Soulless I Remain harvests some of death metal's finest bits and presents them in a somewhat fresh way.

From the opener 'The Evening Redness In The West', the stage is set for what follows and turning out to be a mystical yet altogether raging death metal song, 'Epoch Of Dread'. Utilizing melodic passages and soaring guitar licks fused with the tremor of boulder-heavy vocals, this song takes the listener on a groovy ride through the genre all the while retaining the sparkle of the mid to late nineties Swedish death metal sound. Greater emphasis of this is placed on 'Immortalis' with thrashing mid tempo sections being used carefully, as sprawling, ominous and melancholic melodicism is introduced to support the ongoing flow of the music.

The sound overall is Swedish (to me), though Carnal Ruin may or may not have used HM-2 pedals, their style takes quite a few pages out that sector of death metal and even black metal (vocally), yet simultaneously incorporating a mystical overtone. 'Barren Lands' for example uses a cool groovy temperament to amplify the crushing sound then traverses into an acoustic closing that casts a tranquil blanket over the material. The way Carnal Ruin handles these diverse components all the while being able to keep the essential elements of death metal well molded cannot go unrecognized even if you tried to, you'd be compelled to acknowledge this merge of dynamics.

Soulless I Remain is a card well played by the Floridians, following a few EPs and a demo, it seems as if Carnal Ruin have nailed the sound they have been aiming for, however in doing so, they have also managed to create one of the better albums within the death metal genre. A true prize and ear-catcher of 2022; Soulless I Remain anoints itself in the trench of glorious death metal fluids.

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Felix on January 20, 2024.

Let’s say it this way, Azaghal’s discography does not suffer from a narrow range of quality. On the one hand they have released fanatic works like “Omega” or “Nemesis”, on the other hand a few of their outputs are simply perplexing in view of their lack of class. The “Suicide Anthems” belong to the second category. They are no lukewarm material, Azaghal attack with full force. But in particular the both songs at the beginning fail to present strong guitars or clear structures. To make matters worse, the rumbling, blurred sound lacks transparency and clarity. I appreciate the fact that the bass guitar is audible, but all in all, this noisy mix cannot convince.

The hammering, merciless start of “Käärme ja avain” marks the first interesting part of Azaghal’s contribution. This song does not have the substance to be called a classic, but its guitar lines are coherent and the entire number is well structured. The devil at the microphone spits out throaty insults (at least his Finnish lyrics sound insulting) and the high-speed approach (including a calm break) wipes away the first signs of boredom. Thus, this song delivers the “Demonic Energy” the second title already promised, albeit with some delay. The second and simultaneously final good song is “Kill Yourself”, but firstly, it does not leave a lasting impression and secondly, S.O.D.’s eponymous neckbreaker was much better. 50% and a big question mark for Azaghal: what went wrong here?

The production of Beheaded Lamb’s tracks sound different, but not better than that of Azaghal. It’s just another kind of ill-defined rumbling. Nevertheless, they show a more passionate performance here. Okay, they do not deliver the smallest sign of Spanish identity; they are highly influenced by Scandinavian role models and a little bit of “Transilvanian Hunger” is one of the components that form songs like “Across the River”. Cold, rapid guitar lines and a seemingly desperate lead vocalist know no clemency, not to mention the constantly insane drumming. Given this fact, they do not add a Spanish note, but compared with Azaghal, they are the better Finns. It’s somewhat sad that they finished their project pretty soon, although the four tracks leave room for improvement during some run-of-the-mill sections. Anyway, Beheaded Lamb showed a solid first performance (66%) and the fact that they continued their unholy activities in the infamous Körgull the Exterminator makes it easier to accept their early end. However, I cannot recommend this split whole-heartedly.

Rating: 5.8 out of 10