Metal Release Radar: February 7, 2020
Those with their eyes on the extreme scene have undoubtedly heard the gathering roar of the new Svart Crown — one of several noteworthy releases this week. The Gallic metallers introduce a new lineup for their fifth album, Wolves Among The Ashes. If the first few singles represent the very best of the album, then fans might greet Wolves with muted appreciation; fairly generic death metal stylings buffeted by driving waves of blastbeats and the guttural howl of JB Le Bail.Sylosis are generating a feverish buzz with Cycle Of Suffering, their first album since 2016's abrupt hiatus. This fact undoubtedly fuels the chattery anticipation surrounding the release; after all, Sylosis had notched new highs with 2015's Dormant Heart and on the back of a successful support tour, they called it quits indefinitely. The new album sees not so much a return to form as a succession beyond standards previously set. Lyrically, Josh Middleton turns in some of his most evocative writing to date and musically, the band deliver the sort of tree-felling riffs that earned them their first thrashy salutes at the turn of the millenniumOf course, Sepultura are not to be overlooked and God Dethroned continue their ten-album reign of death-blackened terror with Illuminati.