The Barren Throne

I first discovered this band with the release of last year's Ephemeris, but really, this one from 2014 is much better. Beneath are a hammering, brutal Death Metal band from Iceland, and this was their second full-length album of crunchy savagery. There's nothing revolutionary about this, the band just gets a good guitar sound and leans harder on riff-oriented songwriting rather than going for sheer speed. There's a bit of Scandinavian crunching here, as well as a bit of Bolt Thrower-styled groove, but overall this band just keeps the energy up and rips through it. A highly enjoyable slab of Death.