The Sons of Metal Podcast

It's Doug's last show ever and the final B-Side. CHR opens the show with the blackened folk of Finland's Havukruunu and Doug closes things out with the tech-death onslaught of Canada's Beneath The Massacre.

The Albums:

Havukruunu : Uinuos Syömein Sota (2020) 5:02

Havukruunu is a Finnish duo who plays blackened folk metal very much in the vein of mid- to late-career Bathory, Rimfrost, and similar bands. Their music is grand in scope with multiple movements, choral elements, and other forms of bombast.

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Beneath The Massacre : Fearmonger (2020) 21:57

Beneath The Massacre is a Canadian technical death metal band from Quebec. They play extremely fast, and although the songs are relatively short, they pack a lot of material into just a few minutes.

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It's Doug's last main episode, so CHR gifts him the ursine onslaught of Chicago's Bear Mace, while Doug opts for the heavy groove of Sweden's Orbit Culture. CHR picks a conceptually unusual indie pick with South Africa's Incarnate Deity, and Doug uses his final Valhalla pick to feature one of his favorite albums of all time, Opeth's 2005 album, Ghost Reveries. Additionally, CHR talks about the future of the show.

New Releases:

Bear Mace : Charred Fields Of Slaughter (2020) 9:06

Hailing from Chicago, IL, USA, Bear Mace describe their sound as "planet crushing death metal". What started out as a cross between Bolt Thrower and Dethklok now incorporates more dynamic elements, such as those from later Pantera and mid-career Death.

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Orbit Culture : Nija (2020) 21:36

Orbit Culture are a Swedish melodeath/groove metal act who mix in some thrash and progressive elements into a unique sound.

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Local/Indie Band:

Incarnate Deity : Theodicy (2020) 34:39

Incarnate Deitiy is a conceptually unusual one-man act from South Africa. It's symphonic blackened death metal, but with Christian undertones. Even if you don't subscribe to the religious philosophy, the music should appeal to fans of SepticFlesh and early Dimmu Borgir.

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Doug opens the show with a semi-posthumous release from Static-X while CHR keeps it simple with some death/thrash from Sweden's Vampire.

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The Albums:

Static-X : Project Regeneration, Volume 1 (2020) 3:14

Static-X is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, and was influental in the late-1990s/early 2000s nu-metal movement. After frontman Wayne Static's death in 2014, they found a significant amount of unreleased material that the remaining original members of Static-X put together into this new album.

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Vampire : Rex (2020) 15:47

Hailing from Gothenberg, Sweden, the anonymous quintet known as Vampire have been releasing a vicious combination of thrash and death metal since 2014.

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The show opens with Doug dropping two bombshells, and follows it up with some slammy Russian death metal from Katalepsy. CHR slows some things down with some "jammy" doom metal from Pale Divine. In the indie segment, they listen to some punk-laden death metal from Argentina's Medium, and in Heavy Metal Valhalla, CHR brings back the Teutonic thrash with Sodom's third album.

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New Releases:

Katalepsy : Terra Mortuus Est (2020) 10:55

Katalepsy is a Russian death metal band from Moscow. The group formed in 2003, and have lyrical themes centered around gore, violence, murder, and perversions.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify

Pale Divine : Consequence Of Time (2020) 24:15

Pale Divine are a Pennsylvania-based doom metal band that has been around since 1995. Their sound invokes shades of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, and Trouble with some progressive elements reminiscent of Yes and Uriah Heep.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • CD Universe • Spotify

Local/Indie Band:

Medium : Medium (2018) 36:18

Hailing from Argentina, Medium present their own take on the grind/crust styl...

CHR opens the show with female-fronted blackened thrash from France while Doug indulges his drunken, stupid side with some Scottish pirate metal.

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If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

The Albums:

Witches : The Fates (2020) 3:35

Formed back in 1986, Witches, known as the first French band in France with female guttural vocals, has been an on-again/off-again project with the vocalist being the only original member.

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Alestorm : Curse Of The Crystal Coconut (2020) 11:38

Scotland's Alestorm is possibly the most-recognized pirate-themed metal band today and are responsible for bringing the keytar back into vogue.

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IT'S EPISODE ONE HUNDRED! This turns out to be a non-event (Thanks, COVID!), but still manages to be a fun show. CHR opens with some crossover/hardcore from the Cro-Mags while Doug indulges his "chugga-chug" side with Lamb Of God's newest. CHR gets slow and grimy in the indie segment with WeedWizard, while Doug highlights a forgotten band from the 1990s with Corrosion of Conformity's fourth album.

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If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

New Releases:

Cro-Mags : In The Beginning (2020) 6:48

The Cro-Mags are a crossover thrash/hardcore band from New York City. With a Hare Krishna background, they were among the first bands to fuse hardcore punk with thrash metal and were associated with the birth of a tougher attitude within the hardcore scene in the late 1980s, related to the world of martial arts.

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Lamb Of God : Lamb Of God (2020) 17:53

Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the band is considered a significant member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement.

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Local/Indie Band:

WeedWizard : Closed Eyes... Open Mind (2020) 32:12

WeedWizard started somewhere in Germany back in 2013 to worship the heavy, fuzzy riffs of stoner metal, doom, and sludge. Their sound employs Black Sabbath style riffing with gravely vocals, and an excessive amount of downtuning.

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Doug opens the show with some mythological doom metal from Indiana with Wolftooth's sophomore album, while CHR goes a more metal-adjacent route with Wailin Storms's third release.

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If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

The Albums:

Wolftooth : Valhalla (2020) 3:32

Hailing from Richmond, Indiana, Wolftooth are a pack of well-seasoned musicians combining influences from the 1970s and early 1980s NWOBHM with thrash and doom-laden riffs.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

Wailin Storms : Rattle (2020) 13:21

Wailin Storms, from North Carolina, play a mix of doom-punk and swampy rock with vocals reminiscent of bluesy masters like Howlin’ Wolf and Samhain with emotive nods to Destruction Unit, Bauhaus, and Jesus Lizard.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

Still apart, but united in metal, CHR and Doug close out the double-digit episodes with some nü-hardcore from Code Orange and tech-death from Killitorous. In the indie segment, Doug introduces us to Hyborian's imaginatively-named sophomore album, and in Heavy Metal Valhalla, CHR opts for some classic English death metal with Benediction's third album.

This episode is sponsored by YOU

If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

New Releases:

Code Orange : Underneath (2020) 3:56

Formed under the name "Code Orange Kids" in 2008, Code Orange started out playing straightforward punk, but would eventually take their music in a heavier direction. They now describe themselves as "doomy, abrasive" hardcore punk similar to Black Flag, Converge, or Integrity.

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Killitorous : The Afterparty (2020) 15:50

Killitorous is a three-guitar technical death/grind supergroup from Canada that features endless blast beats, non-stop screaming, and relentless 1990s movies references.

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Local/Indie Band:

Hyborian : Volume II (2020) 27:40

Hyborian are a Kansas City quartet who drop immense, neck-snapping riffs while espousing tales of mythology based on the works of Robert E. Howard.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon •

CHR opens the show with some blackened death metal from Vredehammer while Doug throws some groove in his death metal with Abysmal Dawn.

This episode is sponsored by YOU

If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

The Albums:

Vredehammer : Viperous (2020) 2:08

Vredehammer was originally conceived as Per Valla studio solo project, formed after his departure of Elite and Allfader. He later teamed up with other musicians and Vredehammer became a full functioning band in early 2013 with the release of an EP and the band's first concert.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

Abysmal Dawn : Phylogenesis (2020) 14:46

Hailing from Los Angeles, Abysmal Dawn plays an aggressive mix of modern death metal, blending the hooks and technicality of early '90s American death metal with the atmosphere, melody, and brutality of their contemporaries.

Get this album: Bandcamp • Amazon • Apple Music • Spotify

As the hosts practice social distancing, CHR opens the show with the densely-produced death metal of New Zealand's Ulcerate while Doug opts for some Michigan melodeath from The Black Dahlia Murder. In the indie segment, CHR ventures to Bangladesh to check out the debut from Nawabs of Destruction. In Heavy Metal Valhalla, Doug looks at one of the most popular industrial albums from the 1990s with Nine Inch Nails' sophomore release, to mixed results.

This episode is sponsored by YOU

If you would like your name here, please consider supporting us on Patreon. If you enjoy independent, honest reviews of heavy metal albums and can spare a dollar or more a month, we would appreciate your support. More information→

Links Of Note:

* COVID-19 and Cancellations: How You Can Help/Support Your Favorite Bands

New Releases:

Ulcerate : Stare Into Death And Be Still (2020) 5:44

Ulcerate is a New Zealand-based extreme metal band formed in 2000. The band's sound is characterised by extremely technical death metal with extensive use of dissonance, time signature changes, and complex song structures.

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The Black Dahlia Murder : Verminous (2020) 19:12

The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Influences for the band include heavy metal bands such as Carcass, Dissection, Darkthrone, Morbid Angel, The Haunted, In Flames, Judas Priest, and Megadeth. Vocalist Trevor Strnad has cited on many occasions that he is primarily influenced by Carcass in his vocal technique.

Get this album: Amazon • iTunes • CD Universe • Spotify