![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Fallujah-Xenotaph-01-500x500.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAs we inch inexorably closer to relevance and timeliness, we must first cross the fallow fields of June. A weird month, June was differentiated by the sheer number of recommendations that I received from the staff. Some months will see the Groupthink kick in, and everyone will vote for the same three albums. But June had no clear standout. Instead, it had a raft of yeah, I like that! That said, the longer I\u2019ve spent with the records that were released in June, the more I have enjoyed almost all of the recommendations. Some of them unexpectedly. That there were so many recommendations has meant that I have had to take my time. But at last, the time has come\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You guys remember that time when we had a big kerfuffle with the guy who produced The Flesh Prevails<\/a>? That\u2019s the last time that I can clock that a Fallujah<\/strong> record really hit home for me. As much as I adored their debut<\/a>, Fallujah<\/strong>\u2019s post-gettin\u2019-big material has largely left me cold. I\u2019m not even sure I remember listening to 2022\u2019s Empyrean<\/a> until prepping for this. Xenotaph<\/a>\u2014out June 13th, 2025, from Nuclear Blast Records [Bandcamp<\/a>]\u2014is different. With a vibe that screams Traced in Air, but with a willingness to push into the realms of death metal that made Fallujah<\/strong> a household name, Xenotaph hits genuinely different. Sounding something more akin to reunion-era Cynic<\/strong> works for them because it\u2019s technically appealing, it\u2019s melodically sexy, and it doesn\u2019t undermine their strengths. It enhances them. While The Harvest Wounds did have a vaguely atmospheric backing, the guitars and drums had bite, and the whole album didn\u2019t have the dreamlike quality that came to define their follow-ups. While the increasingly atmospheric vibe undermined the band\u2019s sound for me, Xenotaph\u2014which features more guitar attack than any record of theirs since their debut, probably\u2014benefits from the dreamy qualities, giving it a surreal, progressive feel that flows with the album art, the dynamic vocal performances, and interesting composition. Yet, the reintroduction of attack on the guitars and the more consistent compositional dynamics make Xenotaph feel heavier and more immediate than anything I\u2019ve heard from these Bay Area death metallers in a long time. The deeper I dig into Xenotaph, the stronger it feels. Dolphin Whisperer<\/strong> noted\u2014in a newborn baby-induced fugue state\u2014that the album benefits from borderline-conceptual interlinkages between songs and \u201cendless and lush guitar layers that scaffold the composition on Xenotaph and make it a rewarding, repeatable listen.\u201d That\u2019s unusually understated for a Record o\u2019 the Month review. So let me hyperbolize: Fallujah<\/strong> has achieved a conceptual evolution on Xenotaph that feels true to their origins and yet develops their sound in ways that make it accessible, and yet, truly unique. Said differently, Fallujah<\/strong>\u2019s sellout has been well executed, and I\u2019m here for it.<\/p>\n Runner(s) Up:<\/p>\n \n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As we inch inexorably closer to relevance and timeliness, we must first cross the fallow fields of June.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":153669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1444,89872,89873,89874,89875,89876,89877,171,89878,89879,89880,24057,975,89881,89882,89883,89884,67,132,68,89885],"class_list":{"0":"post-153668","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-1444","9":"tag-an-insatiable-violence","10":"tag-angry-metal-guy","11":"tag-blog-post","12":"tag-chasing-the-dragon","13":"tag-cryptopsy","14":"tag-empyrean","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-fallujah","17":"tag-helms-deep","18":"tag-insania","19":"tag-jun25","20":"tag-music","21":"tag-records-o-the-month","22":"tag-records-of-the-month","23":"tag-the-flesh-prevails","24":"tag-the-great-apocalypse","25":"tag-united-states","26":"tag-unitedstates","27":"tag-us","28":"tag-xenotaph"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115045352388572405","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/153669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Insania-The-Great-Apocalypse-Cover-350x350.jpg\")
Insania<\/strong> \/\/ The Great Apocalypse<\/a> [June 13th, 2025 | Frontiers Music<\/a> | Stream on Tidal<\/a>] \u2014 I was surprised when I started listening to Insania<\/strong>\u2019s The Great Apocalypse and found myself increasingly invested in it. At first, it was the kind of record that felt familiar\u2014a solid Good! on the rating scale, something that scratched an itch and amused me\u2014but with time, I came to see so much more. Too much of the response to this album has been to write it off as either derivative or rote power metal, but a deep dive tells a different story. The Great Apocalypse finds a band that\u2019s developing its sound, using decades of experience, and branching out slowly but surely. This becomes increasingly true as the album continues. A bit like T\/L\u2019s Rhapsody<\/strong><\/a>, this record starts in the familiar and becomes increasingly adventurous and interesting as it goes on\u2014with particularly elevated guitarwork throughout. But I don\u2019t need to justify my love for The Great Apocalypse by saying it\u2019s more than it is perceived to be. Because it is also a very good Europower record from a band that cut its teeth decades ago and has reawakened full of piss, vinegar, and addictive hockey rock choruses that you won\u2019t forget for days. To quote an earlier, extremely excited version of AMG Myself<\/strong>, \u201cby playing to form and yet resisting predictability, The Great Apocalypse finds Insania <\/strong>sounding like a band that knows the rules so well that they don\u2019t have to break them; they subvert them. While earlier albums felt a bit paint-by-numbers, added nuance and increasing sophistication have propelled Insania<\/strong> into a different tier: one that\u2019s ambitious, confident, and, at times, even profound.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/904813-350x350.jpg\")
Cryptopsy<\/strong> \/\/ An Insatiable Violence<\/a> [June 20th, 2025 | Season of Mist<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a>] \u2014 Remember when a Cryptopsy<\/strong> release was the biggest deal in the metal scene since the last Cryptopsy<\/strong> release? It\u2019s been a while. And yet An Insatiable Violence is a reminder that Cryptopsy<\/strong> is still very sorry for whatever it was they tried to do, and actually, they\u2019re still really fucking good. Maybe they\u2019ve gotten better. At first pass, An Insatiable Violence feels like a continuation of 13 years of Cryptopsy<\/strong> paying penance for an album no one liked while proving they can still rip with the best of them. But the longer you sit with An Insatiable Violence, the more it comes into focus as something greater: 38 minutes that deliberately weave together every era of Cryptopsy<\/strong>, from the bone-grinding grooves and whirwind savagery of their early days to flashes of melody and subtle nods to avant-garde detours. As some fucking guy who I\u2019ve never heard of before (Alekhines Gun<\/strong>?) wrote with an obvious excess of pathos that makes me wonder whether he\u2019s a fit for what we do around here: \u201cFor the last decade plus, Cryptopsy <\/strong>have enhanced their skillset, honed their compositions, and fine-tuned their performances into the giants they used to be. An Insatiable Violence is engaging, bloodthirsty, frantic, and most importantly, an excellent release from a granddaddy band who are here to remind any that there truly is none so vile.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Helms-Deep-Chasing-The-Dragon-01-350x350.jpg\")
Helms Deep<\/strong> \/\/ Chasing the Dragon<\/a> [June 20th, 2025 | Nameless Grave Records<\/a> | Bandcamp<\/a>] \u2014 American power metal was on a lot of lips in June. Alas, everyone was talking about one band with great music, but who struggled to stick the landing. On the other hand, not enough people were talking about the album that literally has a dragon with a fucking jetpack on the cover, as well as a vocalist who can both cheese and hit notes when doing his US Power Metal Obligatory Falsetto Wail\u2122. Whether evoking M\u00f6tely<\/strong> Cr\u00fce<\/strong> (\u201cCursed\u201d) or Rata Blanca<\/strong> (\u201cCraze of the Vampire\u201d), Helms Deep<\/strong> does it all with the kind of charm and pizzazz that is undeniable. Chasing the Dragon exudes a certain charisma, what the kids would call \u201crizz,\u201d but also has a righteously old school production job\u2014in style, if not in DR Score\u2014that makes me feel like I\u2019m listening to a dubbed tape that my brother\u2019s buddy\u2019s older brother recorded for us. But all of this is window dressing on a record that is chock full of genuinely good guitar work, fun writing, and the kind of Drinking a PBR and Headbanging with My People energy that metal has increasingly lost as listeners and practitioners have become invested in Being Taken Very Seriously as Artists. As a-guy-who-definitely-is-not-Superman<\/strong> wrote, unchecked by journalistic ethics or a desire to be circumspect and humble in his opining: \u201cWithin the belly of this dragon is a great album. I immensely enjoyed my time with Chasing the Dragon, which has a modern sound that is clearly dedicated to its influences without ripping them off. Sciortino has created a magical project. If Helms Deep<\/strong> can combine their balls-to-the-wall energy with some discipline, their next album could be a monster.\u201d Point taken, it\u2019s long, but Chasing the Dragon is already a monster. A winged, armored, fire-breathing monster wearing a fucking jet pack<\/strong>!<\/p>\n