Mini Reviews From Around The Bowl (4/23/26)
Hoaxed – Death Knocks
Relapse Records | February 13, 2026
I really liked Hoaxed’s 2022 album Two Shadows for its big hypnotic hooks and organic production. I was looking forward to hearing what they’d do next, especially after adding bassist/vocalist April Dimmick with the possibility of bringing a more traditional metal influence. After sitting with Death Knocks for a bit, I’m afraid to say that I feel Two Shadows is still the better of two efforts for Hoaxed, although there were a few positive things to note. I like the production and the overall witchy vibes here. There’s a lot of headroom in the mix and it perfectly suits Hoaxed; the album sounds great. I also like the modest addition of harsh vocals this time around and would hope that they continue to bring them even more into the mix. “The Family” and “Killing Stone” are the best two songs on the album, although they come pretty late in the sequence. What knocks me about Death Knocks is that many of the vocal hooks are similar throughout a song like “Where the Seas Fall Silent,” and even from track to track. Some songs seem to run together and feel like going from one bridge section to the next without a big payoff moment, which is something that I couldn’t say about Two Shadows. Nevertheless, there was enough that I liked to make me hopeful that the next one will be great. – Voided Grimace
Melechesh – Sentinels of Shamash
Reigning Phoenix Music | April 10, 2026
I’ve always maintained that black metal, by virtue of being inherently iconoclastic and anti-religious would be stronger in religiously dominated countries, and that certainly applies to Melechesh, the infamous black metal band originally from Israel, of all god damned places, but in their defense they’ve long since left that place and founder and front man, Melechesh Ashmedi has made his Assyrian-Armenian cultural background and spiritual leanings known. At any rate, this band has long been celebrated for combining a thrash-oriented style of black metal with Near Eastern music and mythology, and that particular style has remained very consistent over the years despite sporadic releases. This new EP, Sentinels of Shamash, is the band’s first brand new material in 11 years and despite the very long time the band hasn’t lost any of their sonic venom, if anything in 3 songs and over 20 minutes the band sounds rejuvenated and so alive, and each song sounds distinct from each other while keeping the overall sound consistent, and the excellent production really makes the riffs and Middle Eastern instrumentation jump at you. Overall, a brief but very substantial release and a very appreciated change of pace from what’s admittedly a predominantly Eurocentric style of metal. – Falxifer
Deathraiser – Forged in Hatred
Xtreem Music | January 22, 2026
I don’t know if it’s the logo, the art, or the fact that there’s an instrumental track in the back half of the album, but before even hitting play, I felt taken back to a time some 12 to 15 years ago when bands like Ripper and Besieged, among others, were very explicitly harking back to the golden era of Sepultura and early teutonic thrash – i.e. a time that was then about a quarter century ago. That was the heyday of Unspeakable Axe Records, a brief window where old school death/thrash hybrids seemed all the rage, and fittingly, the time when Brazil’s Deathraiser released their debut. Now, more than a decade down the line and, again fittingly, alongside a new album from grandfathers of this style, Kreator, these guys are back at it to remind us that your music should be as pointy as your logo if you wanna do this right. Fast riffs, fast drums, zero clean vocals, zero ambition beyond delivering head trauma in the most direct way possible. That also means roughly zero surprises, but they are more than competent enough to make this entertaining nonetheless. Yes, I’m slightly bummed to be old enough to witness the rehash of a rehash, but I love this style so much that I’ll likely be on board for round 3 as well (ca. 2040, if the pattern holds). Get thrashed, idiot. – Hans
Goatsmoker – E.R.I.S.
Independent | March 20, 2026
Even if you’re unfamiliar with Goatsmoker’s debut, the cover art should give you a good idea of the ballpark they’re in. We’re talking Conan, we’re talking Bongripper, we’re talking slow-as-molasses stoner doom with harsh vocals. The Danes kick things off with two competent, if not exactly mind-blowing tracks of just that, marred slightly by some puzzling tempo changes and occasionally iffy vocal performance, but overall enjoyable. “Gods of Gunzilla” and quasi-title track “Entropy Reigns in Silence,” however, display a slightly less by-the-book approach, developing slowly from minimal beginnings into grand climaxes, pulling you in by letting ideas develop for as long as they need to rather than moving on for the sake of moving on. The closer goes back towards more standard fare, but at least the high-pitched wails of “luuuucifeeer” are hilarious (non-derogatory). I think if Goatsmoker could hone in more on the post-metal sensibilities they toy with in the middle of the record, the next one could be a truly colossal, immersive experience with big payoffs. – Hans
