Written by Sam Hughes
So far in the year 2021, there haven’t been too many worthwhile death metal albums, but there have been a few. 2021 has put out some pretty good albums so far which we will be looking into today, from classic bands like Cannibal Corpse and Asphyx to newcomers like Frozen Soul and Sanguisugabogg, we’ll be looking over the best albums put out so far, starting from worst to best.
5.) Swampbeast – Seven Evils Spawned of Seven Heads
Brand new crust/death metal outfit Swampbeast have released a few EPs and demos, but their latest release is a big step up from everything they released before. With slow, gloomy parts mixed with fast, blasting segments, this band knows how to make an album diverse and keep an audience interested. The band creates a very dark and evil-sounding atmosphere with their music, it sounds foreboding and ominous. A must-listen for any underground death metal fan.
4.) Asphyx – Necroceros
Asphyx has become a household name in death metal, and these guys aren’t slowing down. After the good reviews from 2016’s “Incoming Death”, the band took a few years to put out Necroceros. Overall a very strong album, with their trademark simplistic drums and riffs with Martin Van Drunen’s classic death metal vocals. Although it’s not The Rack or Last One on Earth, it’s still a very strong album to put on their discography.
3.) Cannibal Corpse – Violence Unimagined
Classic death metal savages Cannibal Corpse are back again with their new full-length album, Violence Unimagined. With Vince Locke’s extremely gruesome and distinguishable art, Cannibal Corpse came back from their 2017 flop “Red Before Black”, with a much stronger, tighter, and more technical record. It’s full of complex riffage, simple drums, and inhuman vocals from George Fisher, this new album was a big step up from their previous album. Although the drums are not as percussive, fast, and technical as their previous albums before 2017, Paul Mazurkiewicz still shows that he can play some gnarly death metal drums. Overall it’s a very good album, a big comeback from their last release.
2.) Sanguisugabogg – Tortured Whole
Newcomers to the death metal scene, Ohio’s Sanguisugabogg showed that they were more than another death metal band with the first demo they released back in 2019. Now in 2021, they released their debut album, “Tortured Whole” and blew away the entire death metal scene. Downtuned, slow, heavy, and full of crushing riffs, this album shows that this band is not messing around. The drums are perfectly tuned, with a nice popping snare and heavy-sounding kick drum, and the vocals are just as disgusting as the last one. The songwriting has improved as well, showing that they can be heavy and crushing, while knowing how to keep a solid song structure. Although Sanguisugabogg is a very new band, death metal fans from all around the world have taken a liking to this nasty, slow-sounding death metal band.
- Frozen Soul – Crypt of Ice
Although Frozen Soul is a relatively new band to the death metal scene, this band from Texas showed the world that they were a force to be reckoned with. Their demo Encased in Ice blew the death metal world away, and now that their debut album is out, people were loving it. With great production, extremely low vocals, and nasty, slow, crushing riffs, Crypt of Ice is easily the best death metal album of 2021 so far. Everything about the album is so dark, cold, and heavy. This mid-paced album is perfect for anyone who wants to listen to music that is pure evil.
The Claw 