Things you might have missed.

Written by Kevin Page.


Punishing French flamenco death metallers return with a 2 song EP, along with a new lineup. If you enjoyed their debut as much as I did (2010's La Iglesia del Odio), then you will surely find lots to love here. Without losing an ounce of their brutal death metal approach, they smartly integrated even more flamenco aspects, which can only help separate them from the countless hordes of bands these days. Let's hope this is a sign of even more new music from them in 2014.

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Whiplash has been plugging away with their brand of thrash since 1984. Their third album, 1990's Insult to Injury, is my personal favorite thrash album of all time. So naturally I've been anxiously awaiting some new material, as their last release was in 2009. Finally we are graced with a single from the upcoming EP, Old School American Way, Volume 1. Sword Meet Skull, Skull Meet Sword was released back in June with no mention of when the EP is actually due (or how many songs it will have). So in the meantime we just have to enjoy a basic, catchy, quality Whiplash tune.

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While we await a new full length in 2014 from these Canadian masters of swirling death metal chaos, we at least have a two song EP to wet our appetite. Picking up right where 2011's Parasignosis left off, its 12+ minutes of brain dizzying madness barbarism. Does this sound even more sinister than they usually do? I think so.

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I love death/doom as much as the next guy, but let's face it, each day brings a seemingly a new band into the fray with a 60+ minute album. My real life commitments prevent me from really absorbing too many of those types of ditties these days (especially since I need repeated listens to accurately judge the product). So it's completely refreshing that Orlando, FL's Druid Lord eschew that notion. They have yet to write a song longer than six minutes. It's death/doom but it gets to the point. After releasing their debut album, Hymns for the Wicked in 2010, they have been busy with three splits and now their second EP, Baron Blood. Featuring their slowest material to date (yet not treading as far into funeral doom as you would imagine), these two songs are the perfect soundtrack to a horror film torture scene. It truly does feel like a rotted corpse has crawled from the earth to terrorize the living [Note: The two songs on the EP are not available together, they must be bought separately].

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]