A far more seriously progressive group, in a good way, is Vale Of Pnath. The Prodigal Empire is the band’s inaugural full-length, and it’s a winner. A complex and tightly wound mechanism full of high-velocity death metal and laser-guided technicality, the album breathes and flows with organic agility, and the dual vocals manage to be deeply melodic and inhumanly vicious without falling...Read More

The Prodigal Empire is the first full-length effort from Colorado technical death metal outfit Vale of Pnath. Newly signed to Willowtip Records, the band have a back catalog of one self-titled EP, released via Tribunal records. This album doesn’t ease you in, doesn’t gentle you to its presence gradually. It begins with a blast of intensity and stays there, battering the listener...Read More

Speaking of Willowtip, you always can expect the Pittsburgh-based (Zelienople, to be more accurate) label to scrape the underground for new bands you may not be aware of yet but who ultimately have insane chops and ferocious hunger. I’d go out on a limb and say Willowtip’s roster may be the most talented in metal from a musician standpoint. When you hear their bands, you never think...Read More

This release came out of nowhere for me, and damn, am I glad it came my way. Out of all the would-be albums getting promoted to hell and back in the metal world, the awesomely named Vale of Pnath (inspired by the pit in H.P. Lovecraft’s underworld) came to me with little background. There is a brilliant combination of brutal death metal, melodic, tech and other nuances on this album that...Read More