Entrails - The Tomb Awaits (2011)

Band: Entrails
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Preview: Myspace

Here it is, one of the most anticipated OSDM releases of 2011 and it absolutely slays. The Tomb Awaits is chock-full of massive, overwhelming riffs as well as incredible production and mixing (again, by Dan Swanö), and it is every bit as good as their debut, if not better. This is a must have for 2011.
The Tomb Awaits [Full-length](2011)

Desultory - Counting Our Scars (2010)

Band: Desultory
Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden


Counting Our Scars [Full-length](2010)

Atheist - Jupiter (2010)

Band: Atheist
Genre: Progressive/Technical Death/Jazz Metal
Country: United States


Jupiter [Full-length](2010)

Beyond Hell - The Sleeper Awakens (2010)

Band: Beyond Hell
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: United States


The Sleeper Awakens [Full-length](2010)

Hail of Bullets - On Divine Winds (2010)

Band: Hail of Bullets
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Netherlands


On Divine Winds [Full-length](2010)

Diocletian - War of All Against All (2010)

Band: Diocletian
Genre: Black/Death Metal
Country: United States


War of All Against All [Full-length](2010)

Sodom - In War and Pieces (2010)

Band: Sodom
Genre: Thrash Metal
Country: Germany


CD 1:
01. In War And Pieces
03. Through Toxic Veins
04. Nothing Counts More Than Blood
05. Storm Raging Up
06. Feigned Death Throes
07. Soul Contraband
08. God Bless You
09. The Art Of Killing Poetry
10. Knarrenheinz
11. Styptic Parasite

CD 2 (Bonus Live At Wacken Open Air 2007):
12. Blood On Your Lips (Live At Wacken 2007)
13. City Of God (Live At Wacken 2007)
14. Proselytism Real (Live At Wacken 2007)
15. Christ Passion (Live At Wacken 2007)
16. One Step Over The Line (Live At Wacken 2007)
17. Abuse (Live At Wacken 2007)
18. Sodomy And Lust (Live At Wacken 2007)
19. Ausgebombt (Live At Wacken 2007)
20. The Saw Is The Law (Live At Wacken 2007)
21. Outbreak Of Evil (Live At Wacken 2007)

In War and Pieces [Full-length](2010)

Father Befouled - Morbid Destitution of Covenant (2010)

Band: Father Befouled
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: United States


Morbid Destitution of Covenant [Full-length](2010)

Malevolent Creation - Invidious Dominion (2010)

Band: Malevolent Creation
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: United States


Invidious Dominion [Full-length](2010)

Deathchain - Death Gods (2010)

Band: Deathchain
Genre: Old School Death/Thrash Metal
Country: Finland


After their last two lack-luster releases, Deathchain returns to form in 2010 with their fifth full-length, Death Gods. While the sound isn't quite as gritty or thrash-laden as on their past albums, sometimes sounding a bit like NMF-era Bloodbath, it's still a death metal album well-worth your time and it shows they haven't lost the ability to release quality material.

Death Gods [Full-length](2010)

Decrepit Birth - Polarity (2010)

Band: Decrepit Birth
Genre: Brutal/Technical Death Metal
Country: United States

Polarity [Full-length](2010)

Axis Powers - Marching Towards Destruction (2009)

Band: Axis Powers
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Sweden

Marching Towards Destruction [Full-length](2009)

Pestilence - Consuming Impulse (1989)

Band: Pestilence
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Netherlands

Consuming Impulse [Full-length](1989)

Encoffination - Ritual Ascension Beyond Flesh (2010)

Band: Encoffination
Genre: Old School Death/Doom Metal
Country: United States

Ritual Ascension Beyond Flesh [Full-length](2010)

Soul Devour - Apocalyptic Anti-Human Annihilation (2010)

Band: Soul Devour
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: Singapore

I'll admit, the Singapore death metal scene has never been a focus for me outside of a handful of bands like Rudra and Wormrot. It just seems to be one of those countries that shows a few promising acts but is so far behind the rest of the world, it could barely register a blip the size of a pigeon on the global death metal radar. Soul Devour is a relatively new death metal trio, having formed in 2006 and released one demo in 2008 before this, their full-length debut. They state their main influences lie mainly in American death metal bands, specifically Massacre, Monstrosity, and Morbid Angel which sounds very accurate when you listen to them (especially In Dark Purity-era Monstrosity).

Devoured and Daemonoz handle the vocal duties, one performing a low scream (in the vein of Deteriorate) and the other, a slower, deep guttural growl. This combination fits well with the varying tempo of the music which changes from mid to fast paced throughout the album. Even with the apparent revival of old school death metal that's been going on for the last two years or so, there are few new bands that I'd be comfortable putting in the American death metal scene in its hay day and saying that, not only would they survive, but flourish as well. With Apocalyptic Anti-Human Annihilation, Soul Devour proves that they deserve to be one of those select few bands and that they could turn a pigeon-sized blip into one the size of a small plane.

Apocalyptic Anti-Human Annihilation [Full-length](2010)

Severe Torture - Slaughtered (2010)

Band: Severe Torture
Genre: Brutal/Technical Death Metal
Country: Netherlands

Severe Torture redeem themselves with Slaughtered, their latest follow-up to 2007's relative disappointment Sworn Vengeance. Brutality isn't exactly the main priority here, as there is a greater amount of focus on melody and solos than their previous albums. Sure, there are a few more conventional Severe Torture tracks like "Unholy Misconception" or "Grave Condition", for example, where the music is about as unrelenting as possible and there isn't a moment's rest. This is, most certainly, a welcome improvement over their last album which didn't provide for too many distinguishable moments and, instead, relied on a technically sound but technically boring assault on the listeners' ears. With more lead guitar fills and more memorable solos, Slaughtered may be Severe Torture's most balanced work yet and one that should prove to be one of the top brutal death metal records come the end of the year.

Slaughtered [Full-length](2010)

Deteriorot - The Faithless (2010)

Band: Deteriorot
Genre: Old School Death Metal
Country: United States

Deteriorot is back with their second full-length, The Faithless, which has been a long wait for the cult following the band developed in the 90's and then bolstered with their debut, In Ancient Beliefs, in 2001. While the album does has some killer riffs, both standard, mid-paced death metal and slower, death/doom riffs, I still have the same problem with this album as I did with their last: the vocals. Don't get me wrong, I've always had a great amount of respect for Zavaleta as a guitarist, but the vocals are very similar to that of the half-clean, half-growled, not-quite-deep-enough style of Dave Ingram-era Benediction which is one I've just never found particularly appealing. Personal gripes aside though, The Faithless is well worth more than a few listens and proves that, even after eight plus years of inactivity, Deteriorot can still get it done.

The Faithless [Full-length](2010)

Chronicle of Tyrants - Nemesis MMIV (2004)

Band: Chronicle of Tyrants
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Country: Germany

It's rare to see a modern melodic "death metal" band actually pay homage to one of their supposed influences like Carcass or At the Gates without castrating the sound and making metalcore in the process. While telling them that their music, in no way, reflects what the original bands of the Gothenburg and Swedish death metal scenes brought to the table but, on the contrary, makes a mockery of them, might provoke a look of utter disbelief, there is, or was, at least one band out there that hadn't misplaced their sense of modern musical interpretation: Chronicle of Tyrants. Having never been signed and splitting up after releasing just one full-length, Chronicle of Tyrants isn't exactly a well-known name in the melodic death metal community but it should be. Putting the death metal back in melodic death metal, Chronicle of Tyrants does justice to many bands like Hypocrisy and Dismember, to name a few, by combining their subtle melody and relentless brutality all in one album. In every sense, Nemesis MMIV is a vastly overlooked, melodic death metal diamond on the rough.

Nemesis MMIV [Full-length](2004)