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Encirclement
comes out of California's extreme UG scene with ’Vacio Sepulchral’,
which is this young bands debut recording. This release features
eight tracks totaling twenty minutes of savage and brutal black
death metal at it's finest. The guitars are a mix of powerful, heavy
mid paced guitars and some faster more chaotic guitar passages. The
guitarist does a great job performing both the faster and more
controlled patterns with equal intensity and ferocity. The vocals
are powerful deep death metal growls and some raw black metal
screams that are used in a few of the songs. The drums are performed
with extremely fast blasting drum passages that are done with power
and skill. This is recommended for fans of barbaric brutal
primordial war metal should definitely check out Encirclement
today. - Patrick
https://encirclement666.bandcamp.com/
https://bornforburning.bigcartel.com/
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This veteran
band from Memphis, Tennessee returns with their fourth album, and
the first full-length in 17 years! I say veteran band as they reach
back to early ‘90s under different names before unleashing their
first recording, in the form of a demo tape way back in 1994! As
near as I can gather by doing a little reading up the band never
officially ended, just was put on hold while other life priorities
were focused upon. I must admit I almost passed up even listening to
this when I seen the band described as “melodic black death metal”,
the melodic part I was immediately imagining lighter works of Dark
Tranquility, Children Of Bodom, Soilwork, In Flames and the like.
But no, in my view Epoch Of Unlight is much more from the school of
the brutality, where death metal is the most dominant element over
the melodic ala Dissection, Swordmaster, Aurora Borealis,
Necrophobic, Sacramentum type bands. Having said that, there was one
sequence that was very Maiden-esque, but I loved the way they did it
and it was quickly swallowed up again by extremity. The overall
brutal nature and extreme speeds for me make the melodic side of
things stand out stronger and have impact. While I would not call
them a techno oriented band, their level of technicality nonetheless
is a strong element in their sound and showcases the high talent
level and songwriting prowess Epoch Of Unlight possess. I am really
into the vocals of Scott Baggett, he has a deep charismatic growling
voice with various acidic and higher accents, familiar sounding yet
have this unique edge to them. Those main growl vocals is like a
mixing of the vocals of Dave Ingram (Benediction), David Vincent
(Morbid Angel days), and Karl Willets (Bolt Thrower). I am not the
biggest fan of melodic death or melodic black death metal, so you
know this must be a strong album to win me over and make me a fan.
- Dale
https://epochofunlight.bandcamp.com/
https://www.darkhorizonrecords.com
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This is the solo
album from the mighty Eric Wagner of the legendary doom band Trouble. It
is amazing that this album which was four years in the making had
been finished just weeks before Wagner’s untimely death in August
2021 at the age of just 62, due to complications from Covid-19
(apparently as I hear it he was opposed to getting vaccinated and
that created tensions with an old Trouble band mate). As it turns
out this sort of feels like a tribute to himself and/or a final gift
to his many fans out there. It appears Wagner and his former band
mate in Trouble Dave Snyder wrote the bulk of this album with
various contributions from a cavalcade of guest musicians. Actually
it is impressive with so many contributors that this album feels and
sounds so cohesive in performance and even sounding stylistically
too. This album in sound, atmosphere and execution is classic
Trouble all the way, especially when they sort of entered that
period where they took their great traditional doom metal style and
incorporated a bit a of stoner doom vibe ala “Manic Frustration” and
”Plastic Green Head” albums era. Well okay, not the song “If You
Lost It All”. Which is a meandering moody somewhat ballad-y song,
but with prominent violin, it is the weakest song on here for me,
but still a pretty good song (and the shortest) nonetheless. Eric
Wagner is still in fine form with those amazingly elegant, haunting
and magnetic pipes combined with his supreme talent of feeling for
the best range and manipulation of his vocal timing, resulting in
maximum emotive impact is still fully intact. There are some
excellent, memorable songs on this record. It does feel like a lost
Trouble album, but is it as good as those old classic records? Well,
no it is not but it is damn good and would not be out of place
quality wise with those great albums. A must for fellow diehard
Wagner / Trouble diehards like me. - Dale
https://cruzdelsurmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/
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Holy shit!
Eternal Evil bust out of my headphones like a caged beast set free,
hopped up on adrenaline rush and driven by extreme hate. You had
better hold on to something or strap yourself down when you listen
to this album, or it may possess you to tear apart your entire home
in a headbaning whirlwind fury. I mean this is some excellent and
ferocious black thrash metal, despite the lightning attack
everything is steeped in an evil and dark aura that creates an
atmosphere that I found spellbinding. I think all fans new and old
will like Eternal Evil’s brand of thrash, but there is no denying
they worship and produce metal that pays devoted homage to the early
releases of bands like Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, Slayer, Dark
Angel, Razor etc… I hope you are okay with metal that does not give
you breathers, does not give you brooding emotion and the like
because Eternal Evil never lets up from start to finish, take that
to the bank. Despite this there is some excellent musicianship on
here on here, even at those blitzing speeds, it is controlled chaos
and the riffing and rhythms on here will wreck your neck through
violence and finesse. With only one demo and an EP single under
there belts, this you band have produced one hell of a debut album
that will be sure to please old school fans of the genre that can
not get enough quality thrash in their collections. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/eternalevil666/
http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/
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Coming out of
Peru's old school death metal scene is Evil Damn, who were formed
back in 2004 and has released quite a few demo's, ep's and splits
over the years. ‘Necronomicon’ is the bands debut full length
featuring nine songs of well crafted and performed old school death
metal that is both well executed and uncompromising in it's intense
delivery. The music is played with skill and intensity; the guitars
are done with fast and aggressive patterns. The guitarist does write
some memorable guitar sequences with a mix of fast crazed passages
and some calmer mid paced patterns. The vocals are a mix of gruff,
raw old school death metal growls and some screams are used in a few
songs. There are some deeper demonic growls used during a few of the
songs. ‘Necronomicon’ is a great debut if you have liked the bands
previous releases then be sure to check out this album when it is
released you won't be disappointed. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/evildamn
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/
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This is a
re-release of this now long defunct Massachusetts bands 2005 & 2006
demos combined together for seven tracks and about twenty-one
minutes of music. The band features the heart of what was the
December Wolves, with all three members being part of that band.
They play straight up ferociously fast and ripping, heavy mid to
late ‘80s thrash metal that showcases some exquisite skill and craft
some memorable songs. The riffs on here are massive and this band is
a great riff machine. The drum works is superb as well, and the
vocals of Scott Iconslaughter is excellent quintessential hoarse and
gruffly yelled and sung vox that I found really infectious to listen
to. Some bands that will surely spring to mind, in my opinion is
early Exodus, old Kreator, Razor, Destruction, Infernal Majesty,
early Slayer, Sacrifice, Dark Angel and other similar legend bands
in the genre. Cheers to Visceral Circuitry Records for digging these
demos back up and re-releasing them. I was around in the scene
during this time (and long before that too haha) and still somehow I
missed out on these killer releases. Thrash diehards who missed out
like I did need this! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/visceralcircuitryrecs/
https://visceralcircuitryrecs.bandcamp.com/
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Coming to us out
of Finland's old school death metal scene is the new force known as
Extinguished that was formed in 2020 by members of Sadokist and
Obscure Burial. The debut demo ‘Vomitous Manifestations’ contains
four tracks of well delivered and executed heavy traditional death
metal. The guitars are played with a great deal skillful writing
with a mix of heavy mid paced guitar passages though the guitarist
does speed up to a fast pace in a few of the songs. The guitars also
feature some really well written and performed guitar solo's all
through the songs. The vocals are done with ferocious heavy death
metal growls and some gruff old school style growling is mixed into
a few songs. This debut demo is a masterpiece of primitive and
barbaric death metal that should please all fans of this genre -
highly recommended by me. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/CaligariRecords
https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/
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I am new to this
Texas band that is a relatively fresh band releasing just their
third output on the heels of a demo and split disc with
Phantasmagore. The band play dirty, grimy and crushingly heavy death
metal with just enough pounding and rolling riffs to induce you into
headbanging, whether you want to or not. There is also small
flourishes of rhythmic finesse that briefly rears it’s head from
time to time in the songwriting, even through all the filth and
brutality, thankfully just enough and not over done. I really dig
the guttural growling vocals of Phil Graham that often have this
deadly gurgling and maniacal undercurrent to them. I think Fleshrot
would probably slide in nicely into the, in my opinion, killer
movement of death metal bands combining key elements of classic
American, British, Finnish and Swedish metal from the days of yore
into one deadly sound. Some of the influences that pop to mind (and
repeat themselves consistently in this style) are the earlier works
of bands like Incantation, Immolation, Cianide, Timeghoul, Autopsy,
Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Demilich, Rippikoulu, Abhorrence,
Convulse, Demigod, Dismember, Grave and the like. They often have a
production sound in this style similar to mixing the early US bands
I mentioned with the Swedish guitar sound of the early to mid ‘90s.
As I mentioned there are many newer bands doing this now and that
movement of bands I see Fleshrot fitting into are bands such as
Funebrarum, Disma, Cerebral Rot, Undeath, Church Of Disgust, Tomb
Mold, Undergang, Anatomia, Disfuneral, Haalbuaer and more. I
absolutely love it and just can not get enough of it, clearly! My
only one minor complaint on this release is it seems like this is
being seen as an album at just a hair over twenty-five minutes. I
think personally the EP or mini-album tag is much more appropriate
and just wanted those interested in buying know that. Because
otherwise there is nothing to complain about here as this is a
fantastic release by this young band that you really should check
out! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/fleshrottx
www.mesacounojo.bandcamp.com
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Just to be
clear, when you see two labels it sometimes means they are splitting
the release straight up in all ways, other times like this one it is
sort of a parent label that does all the distribution and promotion.
The third reason is one label is releasing one format and the other
another format, which is the case here Everlasting Spew is doing the
CD and Me Saco Un Ojo is handling the vinyl version of this Finnish
bands sophomore album. Galvanizer generate down ‘n dirty death metal
bathed in darkness yet also dripping with filth and grindcore
accents. They have a lot of that old Swedish death metal sound in
their base, which I know a lot of bands are doing that sunlight
sound these, but you know what I don’t fucking care I worship this
shit and if it is done well it is right up my alley! As mentioned
Galvanizer do mix into that Repulsion (American I know but a huge
influence on those early Swede sound), Carnage, Grave, Dismember dm
approach with some grimy sounding deathgrind influences as well ala
stuff like early Impetigo, Carcass, General Surgery. The resulting
wave of suffocating dark gutfuck riffs of sadistic grinding violence
is a lethal combination that I found quite satisfying to listen to,
and to mentally bathe in it’s audio gore. The vocals via the bassist
Vili and guitarist Aleksi are fantastic, despite all being extreme
it is a varied arsenal of growls deep and guttural, as well as high
and nasal growling with a smattering of various other gurgles, yells
and screams mixed in. There are also some succinct classic guitar
sequences every now then, which add a touch of class to the overall
sickness and depravity of this album. This release has certainly
converted this listener into a Galvanizer fan. - Dale
https://everlastingspew.com/
https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/music
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Coming out of
Belgium's death doom scene is Gateway with their newest EP. ‘Flesh
Reborn’ contains a intro and three full length songs. ‘Hel’ starts
off this release with a two minute intro to ease you into things; it
is very well written and performed with some excellent musicianship.
The first song is ‘Slumbering Crevasses’ which combines both heavy
mid paced passages and some faster more aggressive drum and guitar
patterns. This one man band delivers some serious intensity and
shows mature writing abiliity. ‘Rack Crawler’ is up next and this
song is more on the extremely fast realm side again with showcasing
skill and good songwriting. The music does slow to a heavier mid
tempo pace throughout the song, but this song is definitely the
fastest on the release. ‘Flesh Reborn’ finishes off this release and
is the bands slowest and heaviest track. The guitars are done with a
mix of slow heavy mid tempoe guitar chords. The drums are in same
vein with heavy slow drum patterns, mixed with some mid to faster
paced drums used. It is hard to believe this was written by one man
(Robin Van Oyen), who did a great job of combing death and doom
metal together to create a massive release. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/gatewaydeathdoom
https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/
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Goatthornsskullbonecrusher is a two man band rising out of Germany's
abundant and strong death metal scene. ‘Fallen Tyrant’ is this duo's
newest EP and third release overall as a band. It features four
songs of barbaric and chaotic death war metal. Sgt. Jones handles
the vocal duties, which are old school death metal growls that are
done with a powerful and imposing vocal. There are some black metal
screams that are used throughout a few of the songs. Machosias (Birkabein,
Bunkerkrieg, Old Pagan, Thodtgehoelz, ex-Beyond Serenity, ex-Pagan
Winter…) handles writing the music for the band which is primarily
played with intense and extremely fast guitars and drum passages.
There is some heavier mid paced guitar and drums used throughout the
songs. This is my first encounter with Goatthornsskullbonecrusher,
but if you are a fanatic for extremely chaotic death metal with some
elements of war metal intertwined into the storm then be sure to
pick up a copy of ‘Fallen Tyrant’ today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/Plaguedemonrecords.net
https://plaguedemonrecords.bandcamp.com
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This is Gore
Brigade’s debut release yet it’s members are anything but new to the
UG scene. This band from Umeå, Sweden appears to be the brainchild
of Ludvig Johansson from the thrash metal band Defiatory, he
recruited his Defiatory bandmate Jon Skäre on drums and great dm
vocalist Jonny Pettersson (Massacre, Wombbath, Berzerker Legion,
Gods Forsaken and many more!) to help bring Gore Brigade to life.
The music on here while it pays slight nod toward the old Swedish
bands I adore, it also pays more attention to the sound on classic
releases like Carcass’ “Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious”,
General Surgery, Napalm Death, Benediction, Exhumed, Ghoul and the
like. The energy level is ultra high ala the Carcass album I
mentioned, just a raging juggernaut of intensity and adrenaline
smashing all in it’s path. The vocals are varied with some great
deep brutal growling that has a lot of different inflection within
those growls with some cool higher pitched nasal screaming accents.
As the bio points out the recording on here feels more modern crisp
and clean yet still retains that heavy crushing edge. Honestly the
on here does feel more like a modern thrash metal album production
to me, and I personally love the old dirtier style recordings, but
they still pull off this sound and style pretty well despite that.
It does sound a bit like you may assume from the background above
like a modern thrash band trying their hand at old school death
metal – it is so well done and with obvious affinity for it’s
inspiration that it does work. Give it a listen you will probably
dig it. - Dale
https://gorebrigade-se.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/
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This is my first
time listening to this young Canadian band, who presents here their
debut album after releasing two demos in recent years. Grave
Infestation produce dirty and grimy death metal that harkens back to
times of old that I tend to worship and have a lot of nostalgia for.
There are sections of songs on this record that I found myself
almost involuntarily nodding my head to and even slipping into a
headbang, when they give some catchier shit that picks up the pace a
little. Some of the influences I hear are Autopsy, Repulsion, early
Morbid Angel, Possessed, Pentacle, early Grave, Nihilist and as the
bio rightly points out Necrovore and early Carcass also seems pretty
spot on. I can not shake early Autopsy as a definite influence for
this band, and even some of the vocals remind me to Chris Reifert,
in a very good way of course. Yeah, those foul roiling growl vocals
fucking rule on here! It is a real varied mix on here pacing wise,
there are fast steam rolling flourishes, brutal hypnotic pounding,
gloomy doom laden sequences and just eerie haunting slower to
moderate segments that feel like an evil occult movie soundtrack or
something. It is an extremely interesting mix, the band transitions
between seemingly disparate stylistic elements well done and quite
seamless way. There are even some cryptic yet brief haunting solos
and fills on here that accentuate the music perfectly. This is for
fans of the hallowed ancient bands mentioned above, as well as newer
fans that just love filthy and oppressive brutal and dark death
metal sickness. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/graveinfestation
https://invictusproductions.net/
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The Finnish
Grieve are like a meteor ablaze in the ink black northern night sky,
hot and bright spitting hellfire leaving their mark and burning out
almost as quickly as they appeared. I use that analogy because put
out a 12” vinyl EP and a split w/Morketida in 2020, and now in the
first month of 2022 they now present us their third and final
recording before splitting up. This horde is made up of the demonic
duo of Werwolf on Guitars, Vocals & Bass (Gestapo 666, Knife,
Orlok, Satanic Warmaster, The True Werwolf, Vargrav,
Vritrahn-Werwolf, ex-Incriminated, ex-Horna, ex-White Death plus
more) and V-KhaoZ on Drums & Keyboards (Druadan Forest, Olio
Tähtien Takana, V-Khaoz, Vargrav, ex-Oath, ex-Azaghal plus more).
They play explosive, driving and harsh early to mid ‘90s second wave
black metal that produces a freezing cold evil atmosphere. You can
definitely hear influences from the classic early albums of
Darkthrone, Immortal, Horna, Judas Iscariot, Satyricon, Graveland
and the like. It is very well done here though; the music is filled
with so much energy, venom and spite. The vocals of Werwolf are
biting and ruthless, throat ripping rasps that I could feel the
audio daggers stabbing into my ears repeatedly. They may already be
gone as a band, but Grieve left a memorable mark in a short period
of time. Worshippers like myself who can not get enough of second
wave early nineties black metal need a copy ‘Funeral’ in their
collection. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/thetruegrieve/
https://www.facebook.com/werewolf.rex
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This is my very
first foray into the world of the Canadian band known as Gutvoid.
The band formed in 2019 and thus far has released an EP, a digital
single, and another single song on a 4 way split. This young band
features members of Fumes, Grotesque Mass, Intestinal Hex, Wexler’s
Prime and Exsanguinate. The band plays a brutal yet quite meandering
style (I mean that in a positive way), that is quite emotive and at
times kind of introspective. They also create an atmosphere that is
dark and suffocating yet despite drawn out nature of a lot of their
material is, to me it never gets boring. It is not driving or direct
music in an aggressive way yet I still feel a simmering barbarity
emanating from it nonetheless. Despite how slow a lot of it is,
despite how long the songs are (ranging from 7 to 15 minutes!), I
don’t know that I would call their style doom death, but it would
not be right off the scent to do so either. I like the growling
vocals on here, they mimic the music wonderfully, drawing out the
vocalist’s growls and at the same time injecting an inflection to
his voice that draws out and reflects the reflective, poignant
aspects of the slow moving gloomy aura that makes their style so
imminently enticing and an absorbing listen for me. When I listen,
despite Gutvoid taking their own spin on them, I hear a lot of
influence from bands like Bolt Thrower, early Incantation, Demilich,
Timeghoul, Gorguts, Blood Incantation, Tomb Mold and bands in that
vein. This album is an impressive debut and has me interested, even
eager, to see what comes next for them. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/gutvoidofficial
https://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/
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It is a true
pleasure for an old underground metal bastard like me, when I find
bands with young members who worship old metal and old school death
metal in this case! I mean look at these guys they are so young, and
one guy has an Infester shirt on, fuck yeah! This trio play
primitive filthy death metal in the traditional vein on the early
works of bands like Autopsy, Infester, Demilich, Repulsion,
Incantation, Rippikoulu, Funebrarum. Some newer comparisons for them
may be countrymen like Obliteration or Undergang. I hold all of
those bands in high esteem, so it is probably little surprise I like
the pounding, trance inducing audio brutality and suffocating
atmosphere produced by Haalbuaer so much. Those chunky grinding
guitars are so damn barbaric and those hammering drums are wrecking
my neck listening to this, it brings back nostalgia for the early
days when I put on a classic “Mental Funeral” album when it came
out! The vocals of Stian “Masticator” Hjertvik (also editor of the
new print fanzine Black Blood) are such great obscured shadowy
growls, they add an aura all by itself and remind slightly me to
again early Autopsy or maybe early Grave too – excellent. It all
combines into a massive horrifying wall of sound that permeates
everything with it’s darkness. I see this EP (or mini-album) at most
listed in multiple places as an album. I mean call me an old goat,
but 21 minutes is at least ten minutes short of the bare minimum of
what I would class an album. I just wanted throw that out there so
you know what you are getting. But do not let that deter you from
getting this killer release! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/haalbuaer
https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/
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Hautakammio
comes from the supremely fertile Finnish black metal scene. This
band is a triumvirate made up of guitarist/songwriter Grim666 (Grimirg,
Kalmankantaja, Lathspell, Order of The White Hand, Seal of Beleth),
lyrics & vocals by Vritrahn (White Death, Infernal Darkness,
Vritrahn-Werwolf) and drummer Lima (Amberian Dawn, Azaghal,
Lathspell, Wyrd) and as you can see they are very experienced men in
the UG scene. The band has been in slumber after releasing two
albums in ’13 & ’14 shortly after forming, but now have returned
with their long awaited third full-length. Hautakammio have managed
to skillfully marry old second wave black metal’s raw darkness and
hate with the newer epic sweeping bm style to excellent effect.
There are some really affecting rhythms that are serpentine-like as
they slice through the cold audio fog, and run in between many
sections of put your head down burst forward blazing speed sections.
No worries there is no folk-y or progressive shit here, it is raw,
forceful and hate filled black metal all the way. The vocals of
Vritrahn are very much like his vocals in the band White Death. They
are absolutely freezing cold classic black metal rasps that are so
powerful and as smooth as a sharp dagger across flesh. If you are
into relentless, icy black metal that also has a real depth and
scope to it then you should give ‘Pimeyden Kosketus’ a listen
immediately, if not sooner. - Dale
https://hautakammio.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.purity-through-fire.com/
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This is the
third album for Heads For The Dead, which for those who do not know
is one of those international bands with four members spreading
across the globe from the US to the UK, Germany and Sweden. Their
ranks feature members of well known UG bands like Sentient Horror,
Just Before Dawn, Wombbath, Revel In Flesh, Massacre, Gore Brigade,
Human Harvest and a bunch more actually! Their music is very active
and high energy yet always with a mind towards horror movie
soundtrack dramatics (almost like a death metal version of King
Diamond, minus those diverse high pitched vocals of course) woven
into the heavy brutality of their malevolent style. It is a real
balance between those emotive creepy elements and the crushing
barbarity/speed and the band seem to have really struck that balance
very well on the majority of this album. I should probably mention
the guitar work as well, as there is some excellent fills and some
short smoking guitar solos along the way. The vocals of Ralf Hauber
is another feature of this band I enjoy from his excellent deep
mainstay growling vocals, to the cool array of accent vocals
flourishes that include rasping screeches and disturbing
spine-chilling howls. Despite them being in different countries and
I am sure sending files back and forth, the music while not perfect
in this area is more cohesive and flows better than you would think.
This is for death metal fans that are really into bands like
Entombed, Grave, Dismember, Bolt Thrower and similar sounding bands
mixed with a love of horror movie soundtracks atmospherics and
histrionics. It is a smooth ride until the last couple songs where
they go off script and suddenly throw in some punky thrash crossover
bits, which in my opinion stunts the flow of the good momentum they
had built up on this album to that point. If you are more into just
straight up death metal, you should still find plenty to like here,
but things may get a little dramatic with a bit too much going on
for your liking. It is a mixed bag at times, but still definitely
worth checking out. - Dale
https://headsforthedead.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/transcendingobscurityrecords
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This is the new
band of vocalist Dave Ingram of the mighty Benediction. Something
you may know already about me is that I am a big Benediction fan and
I consider Dave Ingram to be one of the very elite vocalists in the
history of death metal! So you might say I am coming into this
review on a brand new band more than a little biased. Because of
Ingram’s vocals it is hard for me at times not to think of
Benediction. But besides the fact Hellfrost And Fire also play old
school death metal, the music on here is fairly different than his
main band. The music here is a little more groove oriented, a little
more lively and energetic in the song construction yet still heavy
and hard hitting. There are some great, tasty guitar solos on here
courtesy of guest musician Scott Fairfax (Memoriam UK, As The World
Dies) that add some depth to the proceedings. Then there is the
vocals and they are as you might expect absolutely magnificent, such
deep growling with good range and dripping with supreme charisma. It
is a joy for me to repeatedly listen to a master applying his craft
with such skill and conviction. I like the music, not nearly to the
level of Benediction, but it is still really solid enough and
enjoyable death metal. The vocals alone are worth the price of
admission my friend – come for the music and stay for the vox. -
Dale
hellfrostandfire.bandcamp.com/
transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
https://tometal.com/
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It is always a
pleasure to get my hands on a new release from one of the true
legend bands in the black metal scene! This Finnish horde regale us
with their 10th full-length album (plus of course demos
and countless splits and EPs in their 25+ year history) of musical
majesty, which clocks in at over one hour of music. I got into Horna
fairly early on in their existence with their second demo “Hiidentori”,
and then I did my first of two interviews with the band shortly
after their debut album was released in 1998. I am a bit of a bm
purist at times and think bands should stick to their roots (or
change their name if they want veer off in a completely different
direction), and you can point to a band like Horna as a shining
example of this. I mean sure they vary their patented second wave bm
sound from time to time, from release to release, but they always
keep that evil core as their anchor point. "Kuoleman Kirjo" while
still the cold hateful black metal they have always been known for,
it has a bit more of an epic feeling to it with free flowing
melodious riffs that sweep across your mental landscape like a
rapidly creeping fog. The main vocals are classic bm rasps with a
slight ominous sounding husky undertone to them, vocalist Spellgoth
does pull from his arsenal at times to accent that main vocal with a
myriad of yells, hollers and the like. There are often some subtle
guitar nuances going on here, if you are paying close enough
attention that are quite enjoyable for me. Second quick one is while
I enjoy the drumming on Horna releases, I rarely focus upon them or
truly notice them specifically, but the drums and performance from
LRH on here is a strong element on this album. This release is a bit
less aggressive than some of their past material; it instead focuses
on taking you on an all-encompassing melancholic and crepuscular
cerebral journey. The main man, only founding member and chief
songwriter & lyricist Shatraug just keeps endlessly marching along,
prolifically creating great freezing black metal for Horna (among
other bands he is involved with) for going on three decades! He has
my utmost respect and admiration, hail Horna! - Dale
www.facebook.com/HornaOfficial/
https://wtcproductions.bandcamp.com http://www.w-t-c.org
|
Ohio's one man
black metal band Howling returns with their debut full-length
release. ‘Altar Of Depravity’ contains eight tracks of brutal and
hateful black metal at it's finest. Musically the band mixes both
extremely fast black metal and some slower more controlled musicial
passages into it’s songwriting. The guitars are played with some
memorable patterns and feature skillful writing. The drumming is
played with hyperspeed blast beats that are forceful, intense and
violent in it’s delivery. The vocals are harsh, demonic black metal
screams and stabbing screeches. Their are some gruff growls and
screams also mixed in throughout some of the songs. If you are a fan
of Howling's previous releases (demos or EP) then do not miss out on
this massive debut album. - Patrick
https://plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com/
https://bchrecords.storenvy.com/
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Hudler is a one
woman band from Oregon, but that woman who also goes by the same
name as the band Hudler (aka Marz Riesterer) is originally from
Belgium. She conjures up evil tremolo picked black metal that has
that raw metal edge to it, which for me, puts it’s influences in the
early ‘90s second wave of black metal. But it is more akin to the
other side of the coin from that era, which means it is not the
Scandinavian second wave, but rather the bm movement and sounds
brought forth in the early works by bands like her countrymen
Ancient Rites, as well as Varathron, Master’s Hammer, Kawir, Root,
Mortuary Drape, Grand Belial’s Key, Kampfar etc… There are brief
passages and an entire song like “Purgations of Bodily Corruptions”
where there is more prominent melody mixed in than you would
normally except from a band playing this sort of harsh style. I must
admit that is my least favourite aspect of the Hudler sound, but it
is not overused, so it is not a real problem either. The music as
mentioned while raw and caustic, also mixes in a healthy amount of
eerie synth as an adjunct whispering in the darkness throughout the
album. Hudler’s vocals are most often a coarse yelled growling hiss
mix, but is almost always accompanied with a freezing undercurrent
of classic black metal rasp. I quite enjoy those vocals. This is a
really impressive piece of work to come from one person, and I can
see / hear clearly what enticed a great label like Iron Bonehead
into wanting to release this enjoyable piece of dark musical art.
- Dale
https://www.hulder-official.com/
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/
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Ifrinn are
apparently from Scotland and for all I know a one man band even, it
is one of those deals where we are not allowed to know anything
about the band member(s). I am not a fan of this practice, but it is
their choice. So this is the bands second EP and second release
overall, the first self-titled EP came out five years ago. This
extended player at hand consists of three songs and runs about
twenty-five minutes. The music on here is hateful and aggressive yet
woven throughout that odious emotion is a concurrence of majestic
and memorable rhythms and sweeping riffs. It would seem those two
things would be like oil and water, but here they melt together very
well into one freezing conglomerate of black metal musical ceremony.
The vocals themselves are one of the biggest elements of the enmity;
as they are coarse rasping yells with a growling undertone that also
occasionally reflect the more emotive side of the musical sorcery. I
am not sure if we will wait another five years, but you can
contemplate that while you enjoy listening hypnotically to
‘Caledonian Black Magick’ repeatedly. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/IfrinnOfficial/
https://sinisterflame.bandcamp.com/
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The return of
Impaled Nazerene! My experience with this legendary UG band goes
back to almost to their very beginning. Impaled started out by
releasing demo tapes way back in 1991. I had my first encounter with
them when in late 1992 I purchased their “Goat Perversion” 7” EP,
which believe it or not still resides in my collection all these
decades later! That EP is one of my fave EP’s all time, it is so
amazing and showed the band turning up their audio sickness,
extremity and darkness to whole new levels that would be continued
with their debut album the next year on Osmose Productions. Around
this time frame I also tape traded for both of their ’91 demo tapes
as well and bought their first album straight away. So you can see
how much I am invested in this band since the early days. Yes okay,
stop reminiscing and move on to more recent times now. ‘Eight Headed
Serpent’ is the bands thirteenth full-length album, a new record
from Impaled has become more of an event in the more modern history
of the band, as this is just their second album in the last ten
years. While other veteran bands of the scene have matured or
expanded horizons or spread their wings and shit, or even got more
progressive and/or sold out for a period of time or for all time.
That is not Impaled Nazerene, not even for a minute, they only go
one direction and that is fucking intense, dark and diabolical! They
still play their patented brand of lightning speed black metal with
some of the most severe accents of raunchy punk and dark death
metal. It is an audio cacophony / tsunami if you will of violence,
and caustic sadism that dismantles, destroys and brutalizes
everything in it’s path! You know despite how barbarous their
musical blitzkrieg is, it has this memorable and infectious quality
to it still. This aspect is furthered through the main man and main
force behind I.N., which is Mika Luttinen (aka Slutti666) through
his amazing throat ripping and shredding vocals. Those vox manage to
convey unforgettable yet lecherous debauched cruel lyrics that
tattoo themselves to your brain like a creeping virus. He even still
employs (much to my delight) some of those same screeches and
bellowing beast growls I fell in love with in 1992 when I bought
that seven inch. As an extreme metal devotee going way back, how can
you ask for anything more than a band 30 years later that has stayed
so true to their roots and still deliver that fatal musical stab to
your heart?!! I say you can not ask or expect nothing more from this
legend band. I stand in reverence of Impaled Nazerene and worship at
their altar of darkness and evil. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ImpaledNazareneOfficial
https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/
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While not all
things created by or out of the pandemic, and the ensuing lockdowns
(which Italy was well known for early on) are necessarily bad. As in
this case with In Grief, that sudden shutting out of the world and
lack of movement helped create this interesting band. They are a
trio that is very active in the UG scene as their ranks features
members currently or formerly of bands like Necro, Congenital
Deformity, Yakisoba, Vulfehrie, Profanal, Black Oath and more. In
Grief produce some excellent, emotive and heavy death doom metal
straight out of the early to middle ‘90s. The guitar work and
songwriting is extremely poignant and they get that classic guitar
sound down perfectly, not just sound but tuneful intonation of it
all. The vocals are excellent and just reek of early nineties Nick
Holmes, and that is good thing because I love his vocals from that
period. In fact, I was just listening to the “Gothic” album while
grocery shopping yesterday by timely coincidence. There is no
denying the heavy influence of The Peaceville Three (Paradise Lost,
My Dying Bride & Anathema), especially the early works of all three
bands, with Paradise Lost’s first few releases weighing in the
heaviest. The bio also mentions the classic “Clouds” album by Tiamat
and that is spot on reference as well with a lot of the emotional
notes and cadence of the music and vocals. On the song “Demons” they
suddenly employ clean vocals throughout the majority of the song,
and they are decent but... Now I know this is just my personal taste
and hang ups, as I love doom death and I also worship classic clean
doom metal with clean vocals (you know ala Sabbath, Candlemass,
Solitude Aeturnus etc…). But, I am not a fan of either style mixing
in growled vocals or clean vocals outside of a maybe a line or two,
once in a while. As once you start doing that you move more into the
category of the later works of Katatonia, Novembre or hell once
again the Peaceville Three, but the later albums, it starts to feel
like doom goth, ‘and I don’t like that’ as the Grandpa said in Lost
Boys about his TV guide labels ripping the cover hehe. Okay I got
that little nitpick out of the way, it did not however manage to
affect how much I enjoyed this album. If you enjoy or even
borderline worship like me, those classic death doom bands mentioned
then you will love this, it is so well done and dripping with
talent. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ingrief/
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com
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Innana is yet
another band from the plentiful South American UG metal scene and as
with the band Suppression I just reviewed originates specifically
Chile. They present to us their third full-length album, and I
believe their first release with Memento Mori. The band produces
some top shelf death metal that displays superb musicianship and
well seasoned songwriting. The lyrical content seems often center
around the great writer H.P. Lovecraft and his intricate fascinating
lore, which seems to rightly provide a fertile breeding ground for
metal lyrical inspiration. It feels like this album has some of just
about everything and it all is done with a high skill level and a
true penchant for strong, memorable musical composition /
construction. I mean do you want breakneck speed brutality, do you
want headbang riffs, do you slower moody sections, do you
technicality and creative songs, do you want smoking guitar solos?!!
If any or all of that is what you crave then in the immortal words
of a infamous rock band ‘if you want blood, you got it’ with this
album. It will make your ears and your mind bleed! It is no mean
feat to include all those stylistic elements and not come across as
convoluted, too cluttered or just be a musicians wankfest. Yet
Innana has an ability to bring you all of these things without it
sounding too busy and impressively everything has good flow to it,
which is kind of everything to me, when attempting to combine a
seeming dichotomy of elements. I am honestly kind of blown away at
how good this album is, this band deserves more attention, so buy a
copy and I am confident you will be singing the bands praises just
as I am. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/inannametal
http://www.memento-mori.es/
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California's
Isataii return with their second full length release, one of two
this year alone for this prolific band. The album features nine
songs of savage and brutal black metal at it's finest. Wvlfgar
handles all the composing and writing the music for the band. For
the most part the music is played with extremely fast and raw
guitars that are done with a skillful writing ability. There are
some slower, mid paced guitar passages intertwined within the songs.
The drumming is done with hyperspeed blast beats that are performed
with real intensity and some violent patterns. Lord T handles the
vocals which are a mix of harsh and evil black metal screams and
screeches. There are some gruff screams and growls used in a few of
the songs as well. Isataii with “Invoking In Darkness” have
unleashed a great full length release that should please all fans of
chaotic and brutal black metal. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/Isataii/
plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com
bchrecords.storenvy.com
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Intonate rise up
from the province of Quebec, which has a long and storied death
metal scene history going back to the early days of the genre.
Thusly producing some of it’s classic bands like Gorguts, Cryptopsy
and Kataklysm (the tape trading nerd and patriotic side of me wants
to throw in bands on that list like Dislocation, Gorelust, Lord
Mortis, Necrotic Mutation, Neuraxis, Purulence and more! Haha).
Intonate pick up this mantle and in some ways I can hear influences
from all three of those heavy hitting bands I mentioned above, yet
they put it all together and come away a slightly different sounding
death metal style of their own. Intonate also form time to time,
like to mix in slower and more atmospheric brooding sections into
their usually epic length songs (ranging from 6 to 10 minutes each).
It is actually a really nice juxtaposition to their mainstay of
speedy brutality and intricate song structuring. There are so many
little inventive nuances going on especially with the guitars that
it will probably take you a bunch of listens for your ears and your
cerebral cortex to drink in and absorb it all. I enjoy how guttural
and abrasive the growling vocals are, as for me they add that bit of
needed grit to all the polish and refined skill of the rest of the
instruments on display. I have not mentioned the drumming yet, but
if you are going to pull off a diverse technical death metal record,
you need powerful and commanding drum work which Dominic Nucciarone
brings all of to his kit. If quality techno death metal that is also
deep and varied is your cup of tea, then you should look into
getting a copy ‘Severed Within’ in your collection as soon as
possible. Also keep a sharp eye on this promising young Canadian
band, they are bound to really make a name for themselves going
forward. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/intonateofficial
https://intonate.bandcamp.com/
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I had heard this
Florida bands name many moons ago, but I figured this is probably a
different, newer band now under this name as well. You can imagine
my surprise when I found out this is the same band! Intoxicated
started out in 1992 (!!!) yet did not put out any recordings until
their 1996 demo tape, followed by a full-length self-released
recording in 1997. I have not been able to find anything on them of
them ever breaking up, but all the same they did not release any new
recordings for 23 years! Most of the members were in a band called
Pain Principle during this time who were somewhat active during that
period, so that likely had something to do with it. Yes, if you read
my reviews very often, you know I am really into band histories and
cross pollinations and the like. Another bit of my endless trivia is
this album was recorded in Morbid Angel’s old rehearsal studio,
which was “rehabbed and converted into a state-of-the-art studio” to
record this great sounding album. I know, finally on to the music,
Intoxicated manufacture old school deathrash with a smattering of
crossover thrash tendrils that weave in and out of their music at
times. With the experience level of it’s members it is no surprise
that the well thought out songwriting sounds very mature and smooth.
It is catchy and memorable times yet always keeping it’s eye on the
chugging heaviness of it all. Despite my talk above of maturity,
adept song construction and skillful playing, make no mistake this
album at times just flat out rages and you can headbang like a
maniac to it! Being from Florida that is where I hear a lot of
influences from with bands like Death, Malevolent Creation,
Obituary, Monstrosity, Brutality with hints of the aforementioned
crossover stuff like early Nuclear Assault, early COC, DRI, Cryptic
Slaughter and the like. Vocalist Erik Payne puts in a whirlwind
performance on the mic, with a fiery and forceful display of classic
death and thrash vocals of the storied days gone by. I am not sure
if all readers know the man behind Seeing Red Records is also behind
the great Redefining Darkness label, but he has been hitting it out
of the park lately and has great taste in music, as evidenced by
this killer record. Check it. - Dale
https://intoxicatedflorida.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.seeingredrecords.com/
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Katakomba is a
new band out of Stockholm, Sweden having in the last few years of
their existence released an EP and a couple single songs on digital
download. They now make the jump from that to a full-length album,
which can be a lot for a young inexperienced band formed right out
of high school. But let me tell you these Swedes are up to the
challenge. The riffs on here are massively heavy, fuzzed out cruelty
that batters and crushes you. This is backed superbly with some
creative song construction that really kept my interest up; as well
underneath the brutality they manage to intertwine sometimes brief
yet always infectiously catchy melodies that do not to take away
from the heaviness of it all. The growling vocals of Fabian Brodén
are killer and inject a certain level of emotion and charisma to the
sound that draws me to them and enjoy the hell out of them. Those
vocals remind me slightly of Nicke Andersson’s on the classic
“Clandestine” album. So speaking of influences I definitely hear
some Bloodbath and Dismember with a strong dose of Entombed on here,
but the secondary guitar work and some of the songwriting reminds me
of old US death metal bands like Possessed, Morbid Angel, and Death.
Speaking of that secondary guitar work above, it is in the form of
some interesting nice fills and short but smoking solos. There is a
cavalcade of guest spots on a few of the songs featuring either
vocals or guitar solos from people like Mats Andersson (Skam &
Wretched Fate), Adrian Selmani (Non Divine Sun & Wretched Fate),
Niklas Sandin (Lik & Katatonia), and Tomas Åkvik (Nale, Lik &
Bloodbath). For me this is a strong debut for this young death metal
band, a band to keep an eye on in future, until then you should get
your mitts on this. - Dale
https://katakomba-se.bandcamp.com/album/katakomba
http://shop.redefiningdarkness.com
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The bio states
Kill Division’s mission statement is to tear down and cut through
the elements that divide us as people. It would appear with their
album cover this task is focused mainly on America, but I am sure it
can apply to other places as well. They make sure to say they oppose
both the left and right politically, religion and other areas of
society that seek to divide and pit us against one another. The band
is made up of some really heavy hitters in the metal scene with
members that include the drummer of Megadeth, the guitarist of
Gruesome, as well as the former guitarist and vocalist of Malevolent
Creation. The final member is interestingly Jeramie Kling on bass,
which for those unaware he is the drummer for a number of bands like
Goregäng, The Absence, Ex-Dio, Inhuman Condition, Ribspreader and
Venom Inc. Okay, my fascination with metal band & scene lineage
satisfied, finally on to the music itself which is raging fucking
grindcore! The band is clearly big fans and want to keep the
traditions going from old grindcore and deathrgrind bands of yore
like Terrorizer, ‘90s Napalm Death, Repulsion, Brutal Truth and the
like. You can imagine with this line-up of musicians that everything
is top shelf from the performance to the execution and songwriting.
The vocals courtesy of Kyle Symons (ex-Malevolent Creation, ex-HatePlow)
are absolutely commanding, in-your-face and brutish growls that give
Vincent with Terrorizer and Barney Greenway a real run for their
money. Obviously you will have to love the bands mentioned above,
and turn classic deathgrind and grindcore in general to want to get
this release. But, if you do fit that bill as a grind devotee then I
can not imagine you not having a mental world bending downfall, as
you thrash about sending yourself straight into utopia banishment.
- Dale
https://killdivision.bandcamp.com/
http://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/
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This bands name
is the German word for Shell Shock, for those curious. I should get
this out of the way, despite Kriegszittern only having released one
full-length, this is a compilation release that contains said debut
album “Yellow Cross”, as well as their recent “Stratofortress” EP
plus a few unreleased songs recorded live. The sounds this German
horde produce are very much old school death metal, somewhat
primitive and convey a feeling of subterranean claustrophobic gloom.
The music is generally middle paced, but does fluctuate often into
slightly speedier realms, as well as down tempos into doom death
territory. The whole thing has this aura to it I love; it reminds me
to the atmosphere of the demos and early albums of the almighty
Grave. I can definitely hear other influences besides Grave in here
though, like strong smatterings of Bolt Thrower, Benediction, Morbid
Angel and early Autopsy. The vocals here are great roiling growls
and sound like what I imagine a disturbed demon would emanate
upwards from deep down in the pits leading to hell itself. The
production on the EP is so fucking thick and heavy! The guitars will
reverberate in your chest! I love that sound, not that the sound on
the album is not great in it’s own way, but damn it does hit you
when that “Stratofortress” EP kicks in. The live song recordings
sound good and fit in more seamlessly with the studio material than
I anticipated it would. Yeah man this is my kind of fucking brutal
death metal, the sort that has that old school flavour with an
atmosphere of suffocating darkness along with a necrotic audio
cocktail of purely sinister pernicious intent. - Dale
https://kriegszittern.bandcamp.com/
https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/
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Kuupyr is a solo
project coming out of the Michigan black metal scene. ‘Black Forest
Path’ is the debut demo that was originally self released, but has
now gotten a cd release through Plague Demon Recs. and Blasphemous
Creations Of Hell. The first track "Black Forest Path" is fast,
raging song with extremely fast guitars. The guitars, despite being
played at such a lightning fast pace features some well executed
patterns. The vocals are raw and grim black metal screams. "Blood
Moon Arcana" is up next and continues the aggressive style with
hyper speed blast beats. The guitars in this song are played with
some blazing and crazed guitars, but there is some calmer mid paced
guitar passages later in the song to give it a nice mix. "Taikuus"
is the final track and is a little more calm and not as aggressive
as the first two songs. But the music is raw and brutal in it's
delivery. Musically Kuupyr plays raw and primitive black metal, but
main man Oleh knows how to write and create some really
devastatingly evil bm music that l for one look forward to hearing
more of very soon. - Patrick
https://bchrecords.storenvy.com/
https://plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com/
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Lord Mortvm is a
new one man band from Norway and it is an interesting one. When I
say new, I mean really new as this full-length is their debut
recording and already a record deal. The music on here is heavy dark
doom metal with stoner doom touches that is mixed with black metal
and occult influenced metal in general. Yes, I know on paper and in
theory mixing those genres together should result in an absolute
musical train wreck. It is mildly shocking to me that this not only
works, but it works really well. I guess in the right hands, with
the right vision, and keeping the core roots of each of those genres
seems to be the right modus operandi to create something quality.
Some of the guitar on here features some fantastic classic doom
licks and appetizing guitar fills that won me over. I would say
traditional doom metal is the prominent base layer, but the stoner
sound and the black metal atmosphere alongside sinister vocals is
all well represented in the songwriting. Lord Mortvm is talented at
creating an aura of audio darkness while at same time also
expressing strong emotive feelings of oppressive sorrow and bleak
gloom that is a hallmark of doom metal. I can definitely picture the
listener in a dark room with reddish glow from a far off lamp,
smoking a joint, chanting an incantation and welcoming Satan’s
embrace. ‘Diabolical Omen Of Hell’ for me was a pretty satisfying
mental journey that combines some of my favourite sounds, styles and
eccentric dark feelings. I would have to recommend this to those who
are possessed by the music of bands like Black Sabbath, Pentagram,
early Mayhem, old Darkthrone, Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin, St.
Vitus and the like. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/lordmortvm
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/diabolical
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The shadowy and
dangerous sounding Lvcifyre rise once again like dark fog out of the
United Kingdom with their third album. This searing dyad is made up
of active UG musicians guitarist/bassist/vocalist T. Kaos (Death
like Mass, Sodality,
ex-Hödur,
ex-Sons of Serpent) and drummer Menthor (Bestia Arcana, Death like
Mass, Enthroned, Epping Forest, Nightbringer, Voz de Nenhum).
According the bio songwriter and main man Tom Kaos, despite some
other releases along the way by the band, this album was seven hard
fought years in the creation process and ‘the biggest mountain to
climb so far’ in his many years as a musician. It is easy in
some aspects to describe the bands sounds and in other aspects not
so easy. The nucleus can be described as blackened death metal, but
there is such a free flowing, spacious yet incredibly suffocating
atmosphere and aura to the music. It is sort of like being covered
in a huge wet audio blanket, shutting out all light and invoking a
feeling of no escape. There is so much space for that gloomy
ambiance to float, and wind its emotive self in between the
simmering brutality that will suddenly pound you down. The growling
vocals are great, they are so murky sounding as they transform and
mutate between traditional deep growl, throaty dark whispering, some
short expressive yelling outbursts, along with brooding and roiling
growls. There are even obscured into the background sung/spoken word
bits that remind me a little of something from the bands Root or
Acheron “Rites Of The Black Mass” era. The music would not achieve
it’s full effect, if those vocals did not possess the scope and
range that they do as opposed to just straight up death growls. I am
not saying Lvcifyre sound just like these bands, but all the same if
you think you would like the idea of a very atmospheric, morose
version of the earlier works of bands like Incantation, Morbid
Angel, Immolation, Deicide, and some newer ones like Dead
Congregation, Funebrarum then I think you will dig the hell out of
this album. - Dale
https://lvcifyre.bandcamp.com/
https://www.noevdia.com/
http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/
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There is some
interesting history to this Georgia band, and I am a sucker for band
history trivia Haha. So Malformity was first birthed unto the UG
scene way back in 1991 and released a couple demos over the next
four years, before calling it quits. The two main members of the
band from the start are Eric Snodgrass (bass & vocals) and Dan
Ratanasit (guitar & vocals). Dan kicked around the scene in a couple
bands like Amoebic Dysentery and Neuroblast, while Eric was even
more active doing time in the bands Disillusioned, Vomit Froth,
Eridian and more. Those two pillars of the band decided to revive
Malformity in 2014, some twenty years later, bringing in Craig Vogel
on drums and Glenn Sykes on guitars. Glenn’s name will likely ring a
bell for some, he is a dual citizen of the USA and Sweden, Glenn has
a long active history in the UG (going back to the start of the
1990s) in both countries having been in bands like General Surgery,
Regurgitate, Coprophilia, Cardiovascular Sub-Hypothermia and more.
Sykes himself in some ways reflects the music of this band, as it is
a near faultless marriage of old school Floridian death metal and
old school Swedish Sunlight death metal. I am big fan of both of
those scenes and time periods, but Sweden during those earlier days
of the genre for me is the pinnacle for my death metal worship. So
it may be of little surprise that I enjoyed this long, long overdue
debut album from Malformity. I am sure some newer dm fans will be
expecting uber technicality, adventurous progressive song
construction and/or all manner of outside of metal influences, and
they will disappointed. Because what you do get much to my pleasure
is skillfully written, proficiently executed high quality classic
early/mid ‘90s death metal that is brutal and memorable. The dual
growling from Eric and Dan are both deep, well done and differ just
enough in tone to set each apart and play off each other nicely. As
mentioned above the music is a wonderful mixing of old Swedish death
metal and Floridian style that will have fans of the roots of genre
howling and headbanging for more. That is what it did for me. Well
done Gents. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Malformity
https://unspeakableaxerecords.bandcamp.com/
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North Dakota’s
Maul despite only releasing music since 2018 have already built up
quite an impressive arsenal of demos, EPs, splits and even live
releases. So, this band has put in the work so to speak, and come up
the right way (according to me at least), which wisely sets up the
foundation to build their first album ‘Seraphic Punishment’ upon.
The vocalist Garrett Alvarado jumped out at me on first listen; he
brings it with a strong repertoire of extreme metal vocals styles,
from the slightly higher pitched acidic style to various screeches
and elongated roiling howls, to an underpinning of great deep
sinister growls. Some of the songs have this creepy horror
soundtrack type of stirring layer, which is not achieved through
wall to wall drenching of synth, which only serves the music better
in my opinion and is not the easy cheap way to do it. That sound
produces a dark emotive element to their sound, when combined with
their heavy riffing and overall brutality makes for a very enjoyable
musical collective. Maul does seem to have a knack for creating that
aforementioned emotion in a way that builds and crescendos very
nicely within their crafty songwriting and pacing. They achieve this
quite affecting style often in the middle to slightly faster range
yet even manage to deftly mix in doomy elements at times. The more I
listen the more guitar fills and nuances become quite satisfying to
my ear. I suspect those components along with the underlying horror
feel are going to make this album something I continue to return to
in the future. Which is actually no mean feat considering how much I
adore my old classics, not to mention how much new music I listen to
on a monthly basis. I definitely have to highly recommend this to
fans of early Incantation, Bolt Thrower, Demilich, Funebrarum, Tomb
Mold, Disma, Dead Congregation and the like. You know the stuff I
fucking love too. Check this out. - Dale
https://maul701.bandcamp.com/
http://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/
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Maule is a new
band hailing from the west coast of Canada and after one demo, they
now present us their debut full-length album. I have to say one of
the first things that struck me was for a new band whose members
largely have little to no previous band experience, their level of
skill is high and their performance on their instruments shows off a
smooth polish usually reserved for veteran musicians. This band
writes some extremely lively, catchy heavy metal songs that stick in
your head and leave an impression. The singer while he does not hit
those crazy siren levels you sometimes see with this old heavy metal
style, he has a strong enough range from clean to shouted, to
screams with a charismatic sounding voice to really pull off this
bands ambitious sound. It is, in my opinion, imperative to properly
pull off traditional NWOBHM inspired sound / style that you have to
have a really strong vocalist and Maule have found that in guitarist
Jakob "Riddle of Steel" Weel. Some of the guitar work on here from
the gorgeous fills to the galloping head bobbing riffing to the
engrossing way it is all incorporated into the song arrangements.
There are many great influences I hear on here, but none more
prominent than Iron Maiden. Maybe you would just rather listen to
the classic albums of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal than
something new. But if you can not get enough of those amazing
traditional sounds from the early ‘80s, then I have something here
you really need to check out. - Dale
https://maule.bandcamp.com/
https://www.gatesofhellrecords.com
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I am pretty sure
when I reviewed their excellent album a couple years ago (without
looking it up) I wrote some version of what I will write now. I was
/ am a fan of Medieval Demon going way back to when I tape traded
for their demos in the mid 1990s. Culminating in me getting their
debut album in 1998, after which they suddenly split up and did not
return until 15 years later! There is now only three members in the
band, two founding members and the other man is a founding / long
time member of Rotting Christ. That would be one Jim Mutilator who
went back to start of Black Church in 1984, a band who then changed
their name to Rotting Christ in 1987. Mutilator with my respect for
doing so checked out of R.C. when they decided to sell out and get
soft playing goth music. ‘Black Coven’ sees the Demon picking up
where the last album left off, by continuing down the path of old
school Greek black metal in the vein of the classic bands like
Necromantia, early Rotting Christ, early Varathron, Thou Art Lord
and that whole line up of classic bands from Greece. I would also
throw in some non-Greek bands like Master’s Hammer, Mortuary Drape
and Root for good measure stylistically. The music is moody and
baleful music that focuses on a freezing black aura and atmosphere
with the trademark bombastic flourishes, from time to time. During
the tracks “Black Coven” and “Baptismal Blood” you almost have to
hear it, to believe what I am about to tell you because I would be
highly skeptical without having heard it myself. These tracks
actually employ not only haunting piano sequences, but also
saxophone and it blows me away how emotionally dark and evil they
made the Sax sound on here, somehow it fits in perfectly with this
gloomy and sinister record seamlessly. That is saying something for
me to like it, a lot actually, as I often fancy myself as a bit of
purist with metal sub-genres. The vocals of Sirokous is a strong
feature of the band as he strikes with his clear yet raspy ‘n deep
charismatic voice, which melts together with a dark obscure sounding
hissy / echo-y growl that adds an eerie presence to the bands sound.
These old veterans continue to grow their UG legend and keep the old
flame burning bright a while longer. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/MedievalDemonOfficial
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com
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This is the
third album from Mirror, a band with an international line-up. This
is of particular note for me at least, as the ranks feature a
talented musician on bass guitar named Tasos Danazoglou (vocalist of
Satan’s Wrath on Metal Blade Recs., drummer of Friends Of Hell on
Rise Above Recs. (Lee Dorian from Napalm Death / Cathedral’s label),
as well as an ex-member of Electric Wizard)). Yeah I know I do that
a lot, but I love band history shit and background as you know. Okay
yes onward to the music of Mirror, who play traditional heavy metal
of yesteryear in every way. I could see the vocals of Jimmy
Mavrommatis being an acquired taste for some as they are painfully
early ‘80s, being very high pitched soaring, even siren-like at
times. There are enough bands these days playing that early heavy
style, but not a lot of them port over that style of vocal along
with it. I like those vocals even though there is some infrequent
times where they fall short, but I still end up loving them as they
have a certain timelessness for me and Jimmy possesses enough
natural charisma for me to dig them. The music is very clean and
smooth with strong songwriting that is a bit on the simple side yet
still nuanced and catchy. They do speed things up from time to time
to a galloping pace, a little more of that would be welcome in all
honesty, not mention maybe a little more grit and darkness to their
sound. Some of that might be due to the production needing a little
in that lower end and bite within the mix. Yet the final two tracks
“Sleepy Eyes Of Death”, and “The Day Bastard Leaders Die” might
argue against my production theory as both songs happily have more
of what I am hoping for, so maybe we see more of that going forward
with Mirror? But those are minor complaints; the music is very
solid, very enjoyable and even a touch infectious at times to boot.
This is definitely worth checking out if you love early ‘80s
melodious heavy metal. - Dale
https://stareatthemirrorandweep.bandcamp.com/
https://cruzdelsurmusic.bandcamp.com/
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Municipal Waste
returns with a new album and I am excited for it. I do not follow a
lot of thrash crossover over the years, but I do have a handful of
favourites and a soft spot for this style. One of those current
bands I like is Virginia’s Municipal Waste who have been around for
about twenty years, but only got on my radar about five or six years
ago. These guys play classic thrashing crossover in the grand
tradition and tear things up with short burst songs that are all
speed, adrenaline with ripping riffs and high velocity drumming.
Like all good crossover they also write catchy songs that make you
headbang and want to sing-a-long with the memorable lyrics, and even
the odd gang sung chorus. The vocalist is great his voice and vocals
are a mix of Kurt from DRI, Bill Crooks from Cryptic Slaughter, and
John Connelly of Nuclear Assault. You will find those same bands
showing up as musical influences too; in addition to a couple other
bands that come to mind like Gang Green, early C.O.C. Plus some more
recent bands like Toxic Holocaust and Power Trip. If you love
archetypal traditional crossover thrash then Municipal Waste is for
you my friends. - Dale
https://www.municipalwaste.net/ https://shop.nuclearblast.com/
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Norway's
Nattverd return with a brand new release continuing the rich
traditional Norse black metal style that was they have become known
for over the last decade. But on “Vandring” the band seems to
incorporate some cryptically epic and atmospheric elements into the
music this time around. The musicians still keep the music in the
traditional cold and hateful realm, but do add more melody and again
epic flowing elements into their songwriting. The vocals are grim
black metal screams and screeches that are spat out with a powerful
delivery; the vocalist uses some deeper gruff growls and screeches
in a few of the songs. The musicians never really slow down too much
even when the music goes more to the atmospheric areas of their
sound which I like. It seemed a lot of bands in the early 00's
dropped the cold black metal style, and went all atmospheric and
lame. But that is not the case here. Nattverd have incorporated both
styles into their grim music to forge a great release that is
recommended to fans of quality black metal. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/nattverdofficial/
https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/
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I normally never
touch on anything political with Canadian Assault. But while
listening to this bands debut album, who hails from Kharkiv, Ukraine
it is hard not to think of their country being invaded by the filthy
dictator Putin and his war criminal regime. This should be a happy
and proud time for this band and instead for all I know they have
weapons in their hands as I write this fighting to defend their
homeland and fighting for all democracy around the world. The
province of Alberta in Canada I grew up in for the first 23 years of
my life has a very large Ukranian population, some of which have
traveled to Ukraine to fight alongside. I have included a picture
above of the Canadian Brigade badge that are now fighting over
there. Okay I got that out of my system I think let’s move on to the
bands music. Necrom is a relatively young band having formed in 2018
and only previously released an EP in 2019, they now are able to
present their debut album. When I say young band it is a bit
misleading, as the members have currently or in the past done time
in many bands over the years. That list includes guitarist Knjaz
Varggoth who was in the death metal band Suppuration who released a
demo tape way back in 1992 (!!), which eventually changed the bands
name to the well known Nokturnal Mortem. The music on this record is
high energy brutal death metal which forcefully shreds everything in
it’s path. It is old school death metal and while I hear various
influences from the US and across Europe, possibly the strongest
influence sounds to me is drawn from Sweden with the earlier works
of bands like Entombed, Dismember and Grave. There is a level of
melodicism mixed into the crushing brutality, just enough to make
things interesting and keep anything from getting stale. Something
else that is quite evident is the presence of well thought out
songwriting on here, showcasing a talent for emotive builds and
crescendos that pay off in a very satisfying way. I did not yet even
really touch much on the killer guitar fills and rapid guitar solos,
not to mention the commanding and powerful growling from vocalist
Andrii Verovkin but suffice to say they damn good too. Hail
Ukraine! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/necromofficial/
https://www.osmoseproductions.com/
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This is a one
man band from Greece, and that one man is Echetleos (Caedes Cruenta,
Ithaqua, Kawir, Opus Magorum, Walpurgia plus more) who is obviously
a well known figure in the UG scene. This is the bands debut release
and I believe this was first released as a demo on cassette, and now
Helter Skelter & Regain Records have combined to release this on
disc and vinyl. The music on here is total old school first wave
style black metal, slower to middle paced, very atmospheric music
that just bleeds audio darkness in a chilling yet hypnotic and
ritualistic fashion. Some influences I hear are Necromantia,
Varathron, Mortuary Drape, early Grand Belial’s Key, early Ancient
Rites, and even King Diamond (especially on the epic fifteen minute
title track) believe it or not. There is absolutely no getting
around the Necromantia influence comparison on the ten plus minute
song “Necromantical Ritual”, none, I mean this track sounds like a
long lost and unreleased Necromantia recording from the early to mid
‘90s. So is that a problem for me? Absolutely not I fucking worship
old Necromantia and that style, it is amazing, well done and
captures that sound and spirit so completely, it is both frightening
and invigorating for me to listen to. Necromantical Invocation most
definitely keep the classic Greek bm traditions alive here. Both
epic length songs are wrapped around with an intro / outro
combination, and both sound quite different from one another, which
I suppose could be a positive or negative depending upon your
tastes. I really hope we hear more from this one man band in the not
too distant future. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/necromanticalinvocation
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/
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This new Swedish
band is a trio that includes Tommy Carlsson on Vocals & Guitar,
Jocke Svensson (Birdflesh & Skogen) on bass and Martin Michaelsson
on drums. As well these men have history together from the long
running band Entrails; all three were in that band and seem to have
all left at the same time, possibly to form Necrophagous for all I
know. Something else they all have in common I would say is they are
fans of old school American death metal, primarily from the early to
mid nineteen nineties period of this magnificent genre. Some band
influences surely are Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Dying Fetus,
Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, Malevolent Creation,
Deicide and the like. They keep this traditional sound alive and
well here with this record. The music is fucking brutal with those
chunky guitars and riffs, which vary from pure pulsating pummel to
adroit speed with some tasty little rhythms to add some spice. The
drumming is commanding and powerful, keeping that backbone strong
with some help from bassist Jocke. Tommy Carlsson nails those old
traditional US death metal growling vocals with a demonic cadence
nicely, it sounds like he is ripping his throat to shreds in the
process. Yes, it is some retro worship, but everyone has their
influences they are passionate about and some wear it on their
sleeves more often than not. But when this traditional style is done
this well and gets me headbanging like ‘In Chaos Ascend’ has managed
to do, I am all about it. - Dale
https://necrophagous.bandcamp.com/
https://transcendingUSmerch.com/
https://tometal.com/
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Hrafn is the
mastermind behind the great Nefarious Dusk who release their
self-titled second album through the well respected label Purity
Through Fire. Hrafn is one very busy and productive man in the
British UG scene as he is also in the bands Helvellyn, Morte Lune,
Skiddaw, Thy Dying Light, Torver, Úlfarr and more past and present!
I wasn't fortunate to hear the debut release, but this self-titled
release consists of ten tracks of cold hateful black metal
intensity. The music is delivered with a mix of extremely fast
passages and some slower mid paced patterns that are done with skill
and a great writing ability. There is also an epic flowing quality
to the music despite being so frosty and bitter at the same time.
The vocals are delivered with raw raspy black metal screams and
screeches. If you are looking for a release that is uncompromising
black metal then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of the
self-titled release today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/nduk666
https://www.facebook.com/Purity-Through-Fire
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‘Black Metal
Hordes’ is the debut release from California's Nekcrium, which is a
re-release of their debut (and only) album that was released over a
decade ago with an extremely limited release. As you can see above
this is a joint release through Plague Demon and Blasphemous
Creations Of Hell, both American labels from the high north and the
deep south. The band plays a brand of grim and unrelenting black
metal similar to the mid 1990's elder gods of the bm scene. Each
musician on this album knows how to create and write some good music
with their own individual instrument; for the most part the music is
played with raw and fast passages. The vocals are raw black metal
screams and some deeper gruff screams are also used throughout a few
of the songs. If you are a fan of well delivered and performed
traditional black metal then be sure to pick up a copy of this
forgotten and under appreciated release. - Patrick
https://plaguedemonrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://bchrecords.storenvy.com/
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After a nine
year slumber Norway's old school thrash maniacs Nekromantheon return
with a brand new release. Some of the members have been active in
the meantime as members of great bands like Obliteration, Black
Viper, Flight and Audiopain. ‘Visions Of Trismegistos’ is the bands
third full-length release in the last eleven years and features
eight songs of intense and ferocious thrash metal mayhem. The
guitars are played with skill and extremely aggressive guitar
patterns and riffs. For the most part the guitars are played with
insane and chaotic speed passages, but the guitarist does write some
slower memorable passages even adding in some well written solo's.
The vocals are traditional thrash metal screams that are delivered
with tremendous power and intensity. If you are looking for a band
that brings it with relentless old school thrash metal then look no
further then Nekromantheon. - Patrick
https://nekromantheon.bandcamp https://indierecordings.no/
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
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Creeping on up
from the densely forested pits of Denver, Colorado is Noctambulist
with their sophomore album and first on the excellent Willowtip
Records. The individual members have been kicking around the
Colorado scene for quite some time, doing time currently or
previously in bands like Nicaraguan Death Squad, Cordyceps, Despise
The Sun, Burn The Fleet, Twatrot, Expurgate and more. They play
blackened and brutal semi-technical death metal with a high degree
of polished musicianship. Their style is interesting despite them
always keep things dark and very brutal, there are also numerous
sequences smoothly mixed in that are very depressive, moody and
brooding. Which when combined tends to create an intriguing,
discordant emotive misery blend that is quite striking and appealing
to me. The vocals of Sean McConnell are excellent deep growls that
expand and contract expressing a lot of anger and rage, but also
manage to mimic the depths of despair you can feel from the music.
It is this strange alluring yet also disturbing mix of fury and
despondency. It took me a few listens before this album went from a
dark death metal album to something deeper than that as the top
layers peeled back for me. I have not heard their debut album, but
this second offering is something to behold if you are brave enough
to really embrace it’s joy draining grasp. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/noctambulist303
https://willowtip.bandcamp.com/
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Unholy shit
Nunslaughter return with their first full-length album in ages! I am
so, so damn stoked for this thing. I am tempted to write an entire
essay on how great the sadly departed drummer Jim Sadist is, who I
was lucky enough to get to know a bit personally and even hang out
with, but I will try to refrain. I will instead quote the bio who
sum things up well in a briefer manner than I could “…at long
last, the band's first album in seven years. Many are still mourning
the loss of legendary drummer Jim Sadist (RIP), and while Red is the
Color of Ripping Death is their first full-length without him
playing on it, some of the 14 songs contained herein are unfinished
/ unrealized music that Jim and founding frontman Don of the Dead
wrote years ago”. So, the patented black blood sadistic death
metal the band is revered for is alive and well, surging and roiling
along in classic fashion and this particular devotee of the band is
exceptionally jubilant about it all. It also conjures up so many
good memories connected to this band and it’s music. Don’s pipes are
in fine form as his wonderfully gurgling and acidic growls, screams
and howls creep into my ears and into my body into through violent
headbanging gyrations. New or at least recently (you know you are an
old goat when call 5 years new Haha) drafted drummer Wrath has a
tighter, more technically precise style that is forceful and
powerful. It definitely contrasts to an extent with Jim Sadists
drumming that had more of, for lack of a better term organic and
natural feeling, where the spirit of the music seemed flow through
his sticks. While I do prefer Jim’s style a little more, the
drumming here still kicks some ass and conveys the diabolic
character of the music more than well enough. While there is little
doubt in my mind during his 20 years in the band that Jim Sadist put
his stamp heavily on Nunslaughter and indelibly changed and improved
the music of the band, it is equally true that the true essence and
heart of the band is Don of The Dead, who was there from the
formation of this band nearly 35 (!!!) years ago. No matter whom Don
recruits to join his blasphemic musical horde, it will always be
Nunslaughter and it will always be truly great, uncompromising and
evil metal of death, devil metal to the fucking core! - Dale
nunslaughter.bandcamp.com/
facebook.com/NUNSLAUGHTER/
shop-hellsheadbangers.com/
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