Nik you did it again, next time take vocations and give a pen pr keyboards to someone else.
Now it go whit some other guy who like bear and his sin confession story.
3 strong bands thus tine.
No vote again

Desdemona had excellent vocals but I wasn't too convinced by the sound just yet. But that Candlemass cover is probably the best cover of that song.

Ismere, Glora and Even If We Lose were the most professional half of the bunch. Very skilled all of them but the last of them stood out the most. I think that Even If We Lose deserves to win (funny how that sounds) based on the overall product, But I'm gonna vote for Get Me The Knife anyway. Those 7 minutes were the most memorable of them all for me simply because of how disgusting it sounded. It was shocking and obscene. We need more deathcore that picks up the production values of vile goregrind acts and Get Me The Knife are doing just that.

Thryce just gets me when it comes to deathcore.

I agree with the seven minutes being most memorable - they seemed to me as long as the 30 minutes of Black Miasma before, probably because of the density of experience. To me it sounded like trying to make music (or something) without pitch and only sounds. They had about one chord per song, and I don't know how to describe the rest. .... What is the frame of mind or occasion to listen to such music when you know what you're in for? Or: how exactly do you listen in order to enjoy this? I'm not trying to be flippant, this is an earnest question. I can imagine putting this on as a sort of antidote if I had had to endure two hours in a mall with Christmas tinkle music or something.

I like Desdemona best - the vocals were expressive in an undemonstrative way. And - not factoring into the vote, just appreciated - the references in the description for further exploration. The sound felt slightly off, in a good way.

Everything else was fine in its way and sounded very nice but failed to touch me, probably I was not in a receptive mood.

E.g. Even If We Lose reminded me of Amenra, which is certainly not a bad thing. But after a while I felt a bit manipulated: now we want to build intensity, and now we release, now we repeat. The vocals were strong and felt sincere. All very nice to listen to, but it felt like following a blueprint most of the time.
Similar experiences with Ismere and Glora, though different styles. (I wonder if the Tombs of Resolve have anything to do with Quitters Day.)

Black Miasma: style-wise it was a little bit of everything, and tone-wise the equivalent of painting with only one hue each of each red, blue and green, and that a very muddied brownish hue.

Desdemona - 7.5

Just by the Master Of Reality-like cover-art I kinda had an idea of what to expect from this, but it's a bit more expansive than just a typical Black Sabbath clone. Just like the write-up says there's a touch of Electric Wizard, Katatonia, and Candlemass so it sits across a broader range of the doom spectrum. A very strong candidate, this one, I find her vocals eerily impressive most of all and the fuzzy tone and raw stripped back approach is certainly to my taste.

Ismere - 7.5

Meloblack is one of my most appreciated genres and this ticks all the necessary boxes for me to enjoy. It's quite raw and atmospheric and has an emotional touch to it. Like you say, the vocals are positioned further back in the mix, maybe a touch too far for my liking though as they're barely audible behind the instrumentaion which is generally impressive. The last song, as you pointed out is clearly the highlight, such great riffs and drumming on that song.

Even If We Lose - 8.0

This is probably the most mature and professional sounding of the bunch. It feels far too complete and refined to be a debut EP so hat's-off to them. Some very impressive post-metal that contains everything the genre is known for and more. The production is almost immaculate and the songwriting is brilliant for a debut effort, there's an impressive structure behind each song with so much emotional depth and intensity. Some exceedingly good post-metal here, especially from the songs "Marching Blue Giants" and "Xenos".

Black Miasma - 7.0

Blackened death in its most raw and brutal form, Easily the most vile and sinister here. The vocals are beyond menacing, the tone is crushing, and the flow is relentless. It's not one of my favorites here but there's a lot of variety to choose from and it all depends on what my personal preference is, however I still very much appreciate it for what it is.

Get Me The Knife - 7.0

Deathcore is generally a hit and miss genre for me and although it's by no means a comfortable listen it's certainly not a wayward shot. It's ferocious and from beginning to end with brutal slam after brutal slam and relentless breakdowns, and the vocals drive you insane. It makes you want to punch a hole or destroy something, I wouldn't recommend listening to this if you feel an anger or hatred already brewing in you as you could do some serious damage to something or someone. So for that it does the genre of deathcore justice, a more than solid effort.

Glora - 7.0

This is perhaps the least Australian music to come out of Australia, sounds more like it should originate from one of the Scandinavian countries, so that's how good it they've managed to make it sound. Really solid melodeath with blackened elements, very well executed and produced, I find it quite diverse with the clean singing softer sections breaking up the ferocity. Very well made despite not being one of my favorites on this issue.

Certainly one of the most consistent issues this year, I'm impressed with each edition but Even If We Lose is the clear winner for me here, boy is that one good!

Written by X-Ray Rod on 23.12.2025 at 16:04

simply because of how disgusting it sounded.

Get Me The Knife dropped a new single... and it's an absolute slam dunk.

Written by Thryce on 25.02.2026 at 11:03
Get Me The Knife dropped a new single... and it's an absolute slam dunk.

The track is bonkers for sure. The production is a better but remains filthy. I really hope they don't polish their sound any more than this because otherwise they might lose that nasty, rabid goregrind vibe I enjoyed from the demo.
Kudos for the 2000s found footage style of the video too.

Really looking forward to a full length of this.

Shoutout to Desdemona for that great sounding doomy EP.