Release date: 11/10/2023
Origin: Austin, TX
Personnel: Casey Hurd-vox/guitar, Erik Shtaygrud-guitar, Matt Bius-bass, Michael Anstice-keyboards, Daniel Vieira-drums
Well, it looks like some of the best Scandinavian melodic death metal in 2023 was crafted by a band in Texas. Shatter and Fall is right up there with the best albums put out by Insomnium, Scar Symmetry and the like. It’s not the kind of metal that you think about coming out of Texas. I like to think of these guys as spiritual brethren of North Carolina’s Daylight Dies. For whatever reason, these guys have managed to craft something frosty and dark in a place more known for 100+ degree weather and drought-like conditions.
5 flip flops out of 5
The list so far:
5. Hinayana-Shatter and Fall
6. In Flames-Foregone
7. Soen-Memorial
8. Panopticon-The Rime of Memory
9. Mutoid Man-Mutants
10. Enslaved-Heimdal
11. Thron-Dust
12. Harboured-Harboured
13. Herod-Iconoclast
14. Insomnium-Anno 1696
15. Spirit Adrift-Ghost At the Gallows
16. Church of Misery-Born Under a Mad Sign
17. Primordial-How It Ends
18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 