My first world problems are many. Today’s is how to categorize STRESS ANGEL—First Wave Black Metal; Death; Thrash; Deathrash; all of the above; none of the above? I am sorely vexed. On March 15, 2024, the Brooklyn extreme metal duo dropped their sophomore album, “Punished by Nemesis,” via Dying Victims Productions and Stygian Black Hand. Defying the expectations of their curious name and their otherwise bland album cover, STRESS ANGEL delivers a complex and yet brutally raw album with “Punished by Nemesis.” As far as subgenre classification—who knows, who cares? The band is heavy as fuck.     

“Punished by Nemesis” comprises nine tracks with a full runtime of almost 40 minutes. Vocals are of the hellish, back-of-cellar variety; riffs are largely tremolo—sometimes melodic, sometimes frenetic; rhythm and tempo are furious but deliberate, just barely reined in. Production values are well polished but still visceral. Lyrics are more descriptive than narrative, depicting deep meditations on death, destruction, and decay.

Each track winds through wide range of movements, pushing past the one motif to one track ratio that many bands rely on. From the Atmospheric intro of “Punished by Nemesis” to the Doom-laden “Missionary Zeal” to the Black-n-Roll opening of “Ministerial Road” to the sinister choral flourishes in “Ridicules of Death,” track by track, the album is impossible to predict. One minute you’re pondering the spheres of the diabolus, the next you’re inciting a mosh pit in your living room.

My selection of standout tracks includes “Ritual Debt,” which sounds like at least three different tracks and all of them superb; “Ancient Weakness” for its mid-track deconstruction into its component elements; “Jericho’s Trumpet,” a FWBM gem featuring a luscious bass performance; and “Ministerial Road,” a track too infectious to ignore.  

It seems odd to characterize an extreme metal album as refreshing. Call it getting back to basics, call it an inoculation against the watered down, mainstream bullshit that is flooding so many metal streams, but “Punished by Nemesis” revitalizes through its sheer will to destroy. Extreme metal fans of all stripes—Death, Thrash, Black—will appreciate this one.