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This is the bands debut full-length release,
despite being a self funded and self released affair, they spared no
expense traveling from Washington State to New York State to record
it, then had it mastered in Sweden by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon
Amarth etc…). The result on this hour long recording is fantastic;
it is crystal clear while also not having bleached out the heaviness
and character, which you sometimes run into these with over produced
recordings. It certainly shows the bands level of commitment and
belief in their in their music to go to these lengths to get the
right sound. They are professed by some as a progressive black/death
metal band, but personally I might drop the progressive tag and
replace it with melodic and feel it is more accurate. I mean the
band does have a level of variety in their sound and composition,
maybe slightly more than others bands in this style, but to me it is
not to any pronounced level and what some might call progressive
feels more like just slower, passive and mild, fairly commonly used
interlude sections. The foundation of their music to me feels like
melodic death (admittedly a sub-genre I tend to be quite picky with
bands I like few and far between) with symphonic black metal
overtones. There are plenty of tremolo picked riffs with some nice
melodies, but also nothing overly stands out on that front compared
to the usual fair. So going back to those interludes mentioned
above, they are some of my fave parts of the album and are well
done, mood setters with well timed and executed transitions to and
from the mainstay sound. The other aspect I really liked, amidst the
melodic lightness is when a brutal death metal bit pops up giving
things some grit and balls, but sadly these sections are generally
very brief and underutilized by my tastes. The vocals are decent,
very decipherable growls, seemingly serving as more of an accent,
letting the instruments (handled by skillful musicians), do most of
the musical talking so to speak. For me, this is just a solid record
that I liked okay, but ultimately not something I see myself
returning to, yet having said that I think melodic black/death
fanatics who are less picky with this style and get their hands on
everything they can will enjoy this album. - Dale
https://aflourishingscourge.bandcamp.com/ http://www.aflourishingscourge.com
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An interesting
mix of metallic tapestry sweeping in on the winter winds from
Finland. The band seems to have an interesting colourful and
forceful array of content to their lyrics and message. A fave song
title of the 7 tracks present would be “New Clear Vision – Nuclear
Vision” and another goodie is “Anal Napalm Bomb”. That one sounds
painful both to the assaulter and the one receiving the gift haha. I
love a band with a raunchy attitude mixed with some evil hate and a
little fun humour. To be honest the music is rather simple, stripped
down and can use a little more flow somehow in certain parts. But
that is not meant to be negative as the music on here is rather
good, memorable and keeps the old metal spirit burning brightly in
my view. AFC play a mix of old school heavy metal and thrash with
some small death / black metal elements and even a touch of punk in
spots. They play generally at a more mid-paced speed ala the
American band Scepter who are probably not too far off as a
comparison, though Scepter was more on the old pure heavy metal
rocking side of the ledger. In other words, if you enjoy the audio
smell of a witches cunt & like headbanging then you should pick up
this demo now. – Dale
www.absolutechaos.co.nr/
www.myspace.com/absolutefuckingchaos
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This band is
coming from Singapore, the country where tons of great obscure
hordes in old-school metal are, and ABVULABASHY is right into legion
of destructive hordes! The music played here is real old-school
black-death, made in a really destructive way; the whole structure
is chaotic and brings nothing less than total destruction! It has a
raw sound, mad cutting guitar riffs, just sick blasphemous screams
and the whole dark atmosphere. I liked also all of those fast tunes
which is the music is created with. The main conception of this
stuff is total annihilation of humanity, a standard theme,
nevertheless great music underlines that ideas! 3 songs just, which
force you to get a knife and go to kill someone, he-hej. And of
course blasphemous atmosphere should force you worship to the music
of this band. Support them because ABVULABASHY deserve for support
from worldwide maniacs which are into blasphemous music! -
Aleksandr Maksymov
crucifixdestroyer@yahoo.com.uk
www.myspace.com/abvulabashy
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Damn, I remember
reviewing this bands demo “Lord Of Chaos” back in ‘94/95 for the
Sepulchral Voice fanzine. The style hasn’t changed much but their
improvement and maturity shows. Adversary play heavy and reflective
mid-paced death metal that is both well constructed and well played.
It’s of note this band has two fanzine editors in it! Ray Miller of
Metal Curse and Jack Botos who publishes Portrait Of Defiance ‘zine.
To close my highest compliment to them is their riffing reminds me
of a death metal version of Motorhead.
Send only $5 US
for the disc to: Adversary, P.O. Box 302, Elkhart, IN. 46515-0302,
USA Email = cursed@sbinet.com |
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It is cool to
see bands continuing to release tapes, this time I received a
cassette demo from this aggressive Swedish band. Aggressive
Mutilator play loose, raw and lethal dark thrash metal in the old
school tradition. War of Extermination features very mid paced,
while continually preserving an evil edge and a cold atmosphere in
way few bands manage to accomplish these days. They just have that
raw energy to them, sort of a rough punk energy mixed with thrash
and an old school black metal aesthetic. Their music is pretty
simple, straight forward. There are five songs on here, including a
cool cover of “Sacrifice” by Bathory. They do a superb job on this
cover most importantly capturing the old feeling of this classic
song and the feel of that time in musically. The lyrics are steeped
in blasphemy, depravity, war and sleaze. I mean unless you are one
of those types that only loves plastic, razor sharp productions,
then there is very little here not to like. - Dale
http://aggressivemutilator.bandcamp.com/
mikael_holm@hotmail.com
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The Swedish
purveyors of filth return already with yet another attack already.
Aggressive Mutilator is a very prolific band, they released three
demos and a seven inch in 2012 alone. They show no signs of slowing
down as you can see this is the second demo they sent me this year
already! The sounds on Death Toll VI is very rhythmic, almost
ritualistic feeling, they still play that dirty thrash style but the
music on here reminds me a lot of old thrashing black metal bands
from the late ‘80s / early ‘90s. You know stuff from that time
period like Mortuary Drape, Necromantia, Vital Remains or even
something like the “Inside The Circle Of The Pentagram” demo from
Morningstar or the “Satanas Tedeum” demo from Rotting Christ mixed
with some Celtic Frost. You know I worship all of that, so it is no
surprise that I also like the stripped down low-fi sickness of the
Mutilator. I need to go to Scandinavia one day soon and see a gig
with Aggressive Mutilator playing alongside Axeslaughter and Bestial
Mockery, I might not make it out alive! - Dale
http://aggressivemutilator.bandcamp.com/
mikael_holm@hotmail.com
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Lock your doors
and hide your women Aggressive Mutilator are sweeping through town
once again. Aggressive Mutilator continues to do what they always do
on this six song demo. Just play down ‘n dirty thrash, this time I
would say they are little more energetic and forceful than say their
Death Toll release I reviewed here as well. I got a nice little headbang going on the song “Storms Of Evil”. This may be the best
production I have heard from them, the grimy low-fi sound really
suits them, this is good but almost a tad too clean for this filthy
band haha. But they make it work and run rough shot over top of the
listener. The raw black metal rasp vocals on here are very well done
and add that element of an evil aura to their sound. I honestly can
recommend this to those that are not obsessed with technical, razor
sharp plastic metal, but do like ripping thrashing black metal. Keep
the cassettes coming sickos!! - Dale
http://aggressivemutilator.bandcamp.com/
mikael_holm@hotmail.com
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A nice surprise
here, this brings back memories. It harkens back to the days I sat
in my bedroom, ripping open package after package from fellow tape
traders and listening to great dark death metal. Now are talking
circa ’91 to ’93 and death metal, what I now call old school death
metal was a different beast. Not that many bands had yet jumped on
the guttural brutal death metal. This was slow to mid paced death
metal that still had some of that old feeling. I think back to bands
like Immortal Fate, early Acheron (the first album a lot and of
course that debut is one of the greatest metal records ever
released), Cemetary, early Rotting Christ, Varathron and the like, I
know there is some nostalgia going on here but fuck me it feels good
to listen to something like this, in this day and age of a million
miles a minute, glossy pro-tool’d razor shit that is just getting
too much. Five track of epic suffocating death metal. Yes the flame
still burns in Alioth, the ancient feelings in me have been stirred
and I am reminded why I fucking worshipped true metal of death and
the occult in the first place! Alioth is not flashy, Alioth is not
brutal, nor blistering fast or adrenaline filled. Now what Alioth is
heavy, deeply atmospheric, mysterious and hypnotic, they are
beckoning you to swing the river of styx, drink it deep and praise
be in the name of metal. Upon completion of this review I have come
to the knowledge that is the one man band of
Wargoat Obscurum from Cult of Daath,
quality metal from one of the truly dedicated. Consider my filthy
spirit channeled. – Dale
cultofdaath@comcast.net http://starlighttemple.atspace.com
S.T.,
Box 293,
Glendale, OR. 97442-0293, USA
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This is the
first demo from Altars, an Australian death metal band. There are
five songs on tap, this release is apparently limited to 500 copies.
The production is pretty thick and dense, but heavy. It is also a
bit muddy, but that kind of just adds to the atmosphere for me and
everything can still be heard fairly well. While Altars put a few
more dynamics than many death metal bands, I am not sure I would
push the “experimental” title that they seem to fancy themselves on.
Actually some of the quirky bits and time changes, remind me of shit Gorguts were doing in the late 90s and what Cryptopsy were doing on
their first few records some years ago. But full marks should be
given, due to the fact that they do incorporate some unconventional
style elements, into their material. All the while, not hurting the
overall, brutality and flow of the music. Which is something, I have
seen gone wrong many a time, over the years, on releases I have
reviewed and purchased. As far as influence goes, I can hear stuff
like such as old Entombed, Dismember, Morbid Angel plus the Canadian
bands I mentioned above. All of which, receive regular rotation from
my record collection. So I suppose, it is of little surprise that I
enjoyed this demo. The vocals though in case you wondered, are
nothing like the bands I compared them to, save for Cryptopsy a
little bit. They are mainly belched and growled with the odd higher
pitched squeals to add some counter point. The packaging is
well-done here too. I can recommend you check these blokes out.
Apparently a 4-way split CD and split 7” ep in the works, so keep an
eye out for that as well. – Dale
http://myspace.com/altarsofficial
http://altars.bigcartel.com/
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I’m not much of
a fan of hardcore or the mixing of death and hardcore (deathcore).
It has to be done with a lot of energy and brutality to impress me.
Alterkation fit that bill as they are the above plus a little punk
feel. Good enough for me to enjoy but not good enough to make me
think highly of said genre. Send $10 US/$15 World to:
Alterkation,
P.O. Box 335, Clarksburg, MJ. 08510, USA Web = www.alterkation.com
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Cheers to Glenn
of the mighty Destruktor for pointing this band towards Canadian
Assault. Anarazel (Anah-rah-zel) play great and stylish black metal
which I would consider similar to the Swedish and French black metal
scenes. The vocals remind me to Immortal from their first album
“Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism”. The material on here is really very
quality stuff and I think you should get yourself a copy and hear
this cold band. Send $8 US to:
Anarazel, P.O.
Box 26, South Oakleigh, Victoria, AUSTRALIA Web =
www.alphalink.com.au/~gelman
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This is
something different from what I usually get and that is a nice
change of pace. Not to mention they are from my homeland (or the old
country if you prefer) of Canada. It is always a pleasure to get
some music from back home. Ancient Obliteration play a quirky sort
of thrash and death metal mixture most often played at a pounding
slower to mid-paced speed. They sing about monsters and cool shit
like that from what I can gather, you know the kind that wreck
cities, slither out of swamps, ooze puss and sending people
scurrying like roaches when someone turns on a light. The production
is clear enough for me but also kind of muddy and obscure sounding,
but if you read Canadian Assault often you know I tend to like that
kind of thing. The vocals of Geoff Olson are excellent and I never
tire of hearing them. They are part shouted, part growled with that
old school thrash gruff clarity and he comes across a little bit
like he is an off-kilter mad man that stepped out of one of those
cheesy but great 70s horror flicks. Actually musically their
attitude and quirkiness makes me think somewhat of another great old
messed up Canadian thrash band I worshiped growing up by the name of
Dayglo Abortions. You mix Dayglo Abortions with some great old
American deathrashdoom sicko bands like Righteous Pigs, Impetigo and
Goatlord, then smatter in a healthy dose of their own sound and you
have Ancient Obliteration. Seriously the more I listen to these guys
it makes me think of a more off-balance slightly more modern version
of Righteous Pigs (which featured Mitch Harris of Defecation/Napalm
Death fame in its ranks). I loved the Pigs so that is a compliment.
Ancient Obliteration is probably an acquired taste for some that
like it all slick and by the numbers. For the rest of you reading
this check out these dirty sounding, fuzzy monster obsessed pervs
out. – Dale
http://ancientobliteration.blogspot.com/
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This is pretty
damn good heavy Euro styled death metal. Some nice quality material
with fresh sounding, semi-technical song structuring. The vocals are
maniacal screams and growls that give the music a touch of chaos.
Only two songs on here but if the rest of their stuff is like this I
can only highly recommend Aphasia to you. – Dale
Order their 4 song MCD
with the same title as this promo for $10 US to:
Aphasia, c/o
Steph, C.P. St-Andre, B.P. 32111, Montreal, Quebec, H2L 4Y5, CANADA
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I must say for a
self release, the band has not gone the cheap route on anything,
from the packaging to the recording. Ara hail from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and they play very technically proficient death metal.
Now, I must confess, when it comes to this particular sub-genre of
death metal, much like that of melodo death metal, I am very picky.
I will only re-listen to and enjoy, the elite cream of the crop
bands / albums from those two sub-genres. As opposed to just
straight up brutal non-technical / non-melodic dm or black band,
where I can listen to an average or slightly above average album,
and still enjoy and get something out of it, and play it again and
again. So how does Ara measure up to my lofty standards of this
style? I am happy to report, they measure up quite well, thank you,
as I will admit they both surprised and impressed me. I would even
go so far, as to say they flirt with the gold standard quality level
of bands, and albums, like Gorguts “Obscura”, Atheist
“Unquestionable Presence”, and Theory In Practice “The Armageddon
Theories” etc… I would not, and do not put them in that company
lightly, let me tell you. I dig the growling style of the vocalist
as well, he has a deep frightening roar, but mixes in a bit of
Toad’s croak, that croak reminds me of the great old Demilich vocals
on the “Nespithe” album from the early nineties. This has to be
close to the best debut album I heard in ages. Not sure what else to
say, except, if you like, love or worship brutalizing techno death
metal, then you simply must have a copy of this album. I am
convinced after listening to this, that either the band will not be
unsigned for long or they never had any interest in being with a
record label in the first place. - Dale
http://arawi.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Ara.Music.WI |
The band comes
to us from the hallowed metal lands of Greece. I was excited to
receive this beautifully packaged deuce disc release in my mailbox.
Despite being labeled everywhere I look as black metal, outside of a
heavier short beefy speed riff here and there, the band really is
actually a dark sounding heavy metal band. Then again the first wave
of black metal (most think of the second wave of Scandinavian style
bm) had a lot of heavy metal and thrash influences and elements in
their sound. But yes, anyway there is a ton going on with the
guitars, which are the main driving force here featuring a lot of
layers, change ups and guitar fills that have heavy and power metal
written all over them. That is not a negative thing though, at least
not for me and there are hints of that second wave tremolo picking,
but those hints tend to be a bit fleeting. I can say one thing for
sure, which is melodicism is a key component to the Archemoron
sound. There is also clearly a lot of time and care put into these
songs, especially the guitars; which shows a lot of skill and
creativity. The songs are often long and flowing, at times
atmospheric, with some of them clocking in at a range of 8-10+
minutes in length, interspersed with a few more straight ahead 5
minute songs. It probably does seem reading this back that my
descriptions are at odds a little bit, but the thing is there are
long epic songs yet they are fairly intricate, even a little
noodle-y at times with a number of change ups and time changes.
Which granted does break up that epic feeling and flow, but it is
done quite smoothly and deftly in a way that keeps things moving and
interesting, from a variety standpoint. The band can also write some
very moody and gloomy tunes, such as “Mother Sea”, the closing track
to the first disc. The vocals are maybe the darkest and most evil
sounding thing here; no it is not the tradition black metal rasp,
but rather a murky and evil gruff sort of voice with a slightly
obscured quality to them. They remind me of some old bands slightly,
which I am having trouble putting my finger on which ones just yet.
But, they are an ominous sounding version of archetypal old heavy
metal and thrash vocals would be my thought on trying to give a
reference point on them. When I first started listening to this
album, as well as seeing it’s ambitious length, I was skeptical
about them being able to keep up the quality level. However, I must
confess the band won me over with their inspired song crafting
ability, superb technicality and the overall metallic dynamism
really captured my attention. - Dale
https://archemoron.bandcamp.com/releases
http://www.bowelofnoise.com/ |
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This is my first
time hearing Arcticcircle, from the little I have read and found out
about the band online, it sounds like the band started out playing a
mixture of thrash and black metal. Where Ocean Meets Ice is
the bands newest full length release, featuring eight songs of newer
rock and metal with some elements of thrash intertwined within the
music. The guitars are a mix of heavier and faster riffing patterns,
but they do slow to a mid paced calmer range within some of the
songs. The guitarist shows a real ability to write and perform some
well done solos and accent patterning. The vocals are a mix of clean
vocals with some hollering and screaming used throughout the
material. Truthfully, for me, Arcticcircle are the type of band I
usually do not listen to, but this new release of theirs contains
some good, memorable songs that mixes both newer metal and rock
together resulting in a decent musical journey. - Patrick
https://arcticcircle2.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/vermentor/
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Atavism produce
some really gut wrenching and barbaric underground death
metal. I reviewed this bands last demo in issue # 3 and liked what I
heard. But “Craving For Flesh” tops their past material, while
remaining as heavy and guttural as ever. There are 7 songs on this
demo including a Mortician cover and three live songs which rip ‘n
tear. Atavism are one of the sickest and best unsigned death/grind
bands in underground today. - Dale
Send $5 US to: Atavism, Thiron 67-N. Iona, 384 46 Volos, GREECE
atavism_98@hotmail.com
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I got this demo
tape in a very interesting package one day; it had this cassette,
the Black Blood Stigmata cd and issue 2 of Extreme Metal fanzine.
What all three of these creative underground entities have in common
is, the main man Troy, whose last name I have no idea what it is
haha. He simply lists his first name in all three of these projects.
Okay, now on to the project in front of me, there are only two
tracks on here, everything written & performed by the mysterious
Troy. The opening track starts off with some melancholic sounding,
dark and serene music, which is shattered by the high nasally
rasping screamed vocals. They sort of remind me a little of the
first Burzum record, I like them, such emotional and tortured vocals
over spat out over the top of mildly tranquil guitars. They really
do not fit together, both are good on their own, but do not, in my
opinion, really compliment one another in the least. After flipping
the tape, the music is some melancholy acoustic guitar; it almost
feels like some atmospheric road music or something to chill to
while you float down a river. The vocals are a little more subdued
on this track, which fits the music better; though I am still not
sure the music and the vocals are good match here again. I am not
trying to knock the music or the vocals, both are fine, but they do
sound like they should belong to two completely different bands. I
do dig the lost in thought, meditative vibe of the music on this
track, it might have actually worked even better for me as an
instrumental song. The music is well done and you can tell Troy has
some talent at striking emotion in the listener. I think this is
worth checking out for sure, if you can get past those cool vocals
that just do not mesh with the music they are paired with. -
Dale
http://autumngrave.bandcamp.com/
autumngrave@hotmail.com
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Autumn Grave,
the brainchild of Troy Reynolds, has returned for another foray into
the pages of Canadian Assault. This time, once again, with another
nice looking tape & packaging. The quality level extends to the
recording which is extremely clear and nice. I found myself focusing
the most, on the opening track entitled “Immortal Through Suicide”,
it has this weird break in the flow, then goes into this stunted
sing song children rhyme type rhyme, like dunt da da dunt dunt da.
That is just sounded so weird to me, sort of irritating at first,
but with each new listen that started to grow on me, and I started
to like it. That is not the whole song of course, but that part just
cuts in and out of the flow a couple times, again at first it seemed
out of place and now feels seamless to me. Speaking to the overall
sound now, I still feel much the same, as I did on their last demo
tape. It still feels to me like the vocals, and the music, do not
really belong together, but obviously that is a choice on Troy’s
part, and we just apparently disagree on that fundamental point. It
still feels like the harsh screeching tortured (ala early Burzum)
black metal vocals; do not belong with the light, airy, beautiful
flowing folk music. I will admit, I think, he has managed to make
this unlikely coupling work slightly better and more smooth than it
did the last time around. I like it, but I want to like it even
more, because the vocals are great, and the music is wonderfully
written and performed, but they do not mesh together for me. Having
said that, if that unlikely mix, sounds like something you would be
into? Then I can this, because all the elements that make up
“Forsaken By The Gods”, are of high quality and deserve to be
heard. - Dale
https://autumngrave.bandcamp.com/
https://www.reverbnation.com/autumngrave
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First things
first, I love that fucking cover photo; it conjures up so many
images and implications and fits the hellfire of the music. Autumn
Grave continue to forge onward, giving us their third release, which
is listed as an ep, but at 31 minutes it is nearly as long as a
Decide album haha. If you read my reviews of their first two
releases, you will see I liked them, but the extreme contrast in
styles with regards to the vocals and the music was too wide of a
gap to make them compatible for me. I am pleased to say the music in
a lot of ways, this time around has changed to fit the cool vocals
like a glove, so I can shut up about that now. I am really pleased
with the new material on “Existence No More”. Now gone are the
classical influenced, airy folk inspired guitars, to be replaced by
much more grim and despondent old school black metal riffing and
guitars. There is a definite level of hate and aggression, within
the early 90s black metal style presented here, but it is not to
blitzkrieg levels of spitting venom. No, it has the aggression, but
the music while keeping that evil aura, has more of a feeling of
depression and an epic sense of forlorn. This reminds me of early
releases, of black metal bands, in the early to mid ‘90s, where it
was devoid of modern day plastic production and razor artificially
pro tool’d uniformity. Which is something; so many modern black
metal bands suffer from, robbing them of a large part of their
blackened souls. So sure, like those early releases, you might hear
the odd little off-kilter timing bit where it is not perfectly
flowing and mistake free, but like those classic releases when it
only happens once in a while, for me it adds to the music, it feels
more real, there is more emotional blood and sweat spread across it
and I like that a lot. The signature vocals from Troy Reynolds, the
one and only man in this band, still have that trademark tortured
rasping, reminding me slightly of the early Burzum vocals and other
early 90s Scandinavian vox. I like the vocals a lot. The atmosphere
radiating off the music on here is great; it takes you on a cold,
dark and depressive mental journey. It really feels to me, more than
ever before, that Troy has managed to open his veins up on this
music and translated or conveyed his vision to the listener.
Apparently, this prolific man (who is also a member in the bands
Path Of Damnation and Black Blood Stigmata) has already started in
earnest on new material. I can not wait for more, after hearing and
enjoying “Existence Is No More” as much I did, I can only hope it
continues on right where he left off here. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/autumngrave666/ https://autumngrave.bandcamp.com/
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Hailing from
Lima, Ohio, Autumn Grave sport a brand of black metal that harkens
to second wave vocals with a more discernable approach to riffing
that when coupled with more stripped-down soundscapes makes for some
truly ethereal movements. The first track on the EP Solitude
Realized by Sorcery, "Crusade of Evil," showcases this capacity
for darkly beautiful sonics as the song moves from section to
section damn-near seamlessly, introducing themes throughout that
keep the listening experience intriguing. The variation in this
track is enjoyable, but so is the steadiness of the following track,
"Visions of a Bygone Grave," which takes a more consistent approach
to developing second-wave black metal compositional elements. The
drumming adheres to that tradition more in this track, as does the
riffing at first. However, as the song progresses, the melody
becomes more and more omnipresent, lulling the listener into its
alluring air. Keeping to this tendency, the next track "Forever
Parted We Shall Be" hooks the listener with its rhythmic approach to
vocals, then fills every other moment with meaningful guitar phrases
that feel both emotive and like a method of storytelling. The track
fades out with stormy sound effects of rain and thunder, leading
into the eponymous interlude that strides through an otherworldly
forest with slow, purposeful steps. The remainder of the album
follows more closely to the blueprint of the second track, using up
all of the space in their runtime to convey a sense of foreboding
wonder that persists even after the album concludes. While I cannot
say that Autumn Grave has produced the most original black metal
album of the year, the man behind the band, Troy, definitely handles
his art with tact and a keen comprehension of the impact he wants to
make on the audience. –Aaron
https://www.facebook.com/autumngrave666/
https://autumngrave.bandcamp.com/
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I had not heard
anything from Avitas, prior to receiving this, but it is always good
to get something form my homeland and better yet, a release from a
Western Canadian band. The area in Canada where I was born and
raised. Avitas’ music, is a blending I do not think I have heard
before, philosophically / image wise, as they are a national
socialist black metal band, which heavily incorporates weed use and
weed culture, which for lack of a better term some might call stoner
black metal. I may be putting, a little too much emphasis on the
weed thing here, then again their band name is a form of pot spelled
backwards and they have Cannibas in one song title, and finally,
their label name is Bud Metal. I’m not going to lie, when the first
song hit after the intro, I thought to myself, I often say a one man
band does not sound like a one man band as a compliment, but based
on the start of this album, I could not bestow that compliment on
Avitas. It just sounded disjointed and too separated. I am pleased
to say, slowly track by track, everything gets better and better,
smoother and smoother, and generally more quality and convincing
steadily as the album goes along. Avitas play raw, mid paced early
90s Scandinavian influenced black metal, with a minimalist approach,
putting an emphasis on a dark, creeping atmosphere, that so many
bands seemed to forget about, over the years, as the scene trended
towards slicked up, shiny plastic sheen presentation across their
music. No, Avitas keep it cold, harsh and hateful, with gloomy
touches and interludes. With each listen, I get more and more into
this album, it really holds up the old ways very well. But, one
thing that holds it back for me, a little bit, is the vocals. They
are just sort of coarsely yelled vocals, that are a bit clunky and
slightly amateuri-ish sounding at times. They do get the job done
though, and do not distract too much, from the great raw sounding
black metal that flows throughout this killer record. If you like
your black raw and rough, then check this out, for those overseas,
it is also distributed by PHD (Plastic Head Distribution) so hit
them up. - Dale
http://avitas.bandcamp.com/
http://www.plastichead.com
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Avitas are back at it once again, in the pages
of Canadian Assault, with their newest offering and second full
length release “Pioneers”. I am very pleased right from the first
listen that Myrtroen, the one and only man in this band, has taken
everything across the board up a level (with the possible exception
of the second track on this full-length effort). I mentioned, if you
read my review of their last release, whilst I enjoyed it I said it
had room for improvement, and improved it has. I mean even starting
with the recording, now I like raw recordings, and there is still a
raw edge to this release. But the recording is a bit crisper, a
touch cleaner while remaining heavy and retaining that evil edge to
it. This time around the playing is better, smoother; the song
writing is enhanced and more confident sounding. Avitas for the
uninitiated, play epic old school Scandinavian influenced black
metal, wrapped in brooding atmosphere with even a slight psychedelic
feel to it. It is an interesting blend the band pulled off well
here. Some of the songs are very long, in the eight to ten minute
range, but thankfully they do not drag at all, quite the opposite
really. At times it creates a very dark, hypnotic journey which
invokes for me many fantastic creepy, fog covered mountainous mental
landscapes, mixed with occult imagery and ritual. The bands style of
play and slower to middle pacing, reminds me very much of the
diverse black metal scene of the late 80s and early to mid 90s.
Bringing to mind, in addition to the Scandinavian scene, the early
Greek scene or great old bands like Mortuary Drape or early Ancient
Rites. Which is a style, I would like to see return, even more in
the modern bm scene. I can not continue on without also praising
Myrtroen, for strengthening maybe the weakest area in the past,
which were his vocals. He has worked hard on those here, while it
could still use some sharpening in the more partially sung,
partially spoken word bits, but overall the improvement is dramatic
and his delivery is filled with great emotion and poise. Mytroen
even gets adventurous in a way, by doing a black metal style cover
of Ministry’s “N.W.O.” (I am a big Ministry fan), which is very
interesting, and dare I say, it turned out better than you might
think with that cover choice in this style. I find myself coming
away quite impressed with “Pioneers”! The bands previous release was
a little below average honestly, yet showed stong elements of
promise underneath peeking through it’s blackened soul. Now they
have taken that rough diamond, and now have honed that diamond to
dangerous sharpened point, which strongly gleams brightly,
reflecting it’s creators black heart. This comes highly recommended
from me, but do not take your time, as I believe this is
professionally produced record is strictly limited to 300 copies!
- Dale
http://avitas.bandcamp.com/
avitas66@hotmail.com
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There are a
robust six tracks (“Axenic”, “Reaping Mindless Discord”, “Vexed”,
“Equal To Nothing” and “In Green Pastures”) of thrash structured but
death metal sounding music. The vocals are pretty cool as they are
growled by 3 separate members. I see room for improvement but for a
debut demo this is pretty damn solid. – Dale
Axenic, c/o Ji
Taylor, P.O. Box 1735, Flowery Branch, GA. 30542, USA
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As soon as I
opened the package that this tape came in, it took me back to the
early 90s. When I was ordering demos left and right and would rip
open the rectangular package with adrenalized fury and pop the
cassette right in the stereo. The cover and inlay are pure old UG
style, photocopied and cut ‘n paste – hell yeah! Axeslaughter are a
bit sloppy and dirty as hell, they play death thrash metal in sound
and especially the spirit of old gods like Nunslaughter, Slaughter,
Repulsion etc… I find the riffing to be both heavy and abrasive, yet
strangely hypnotic in it’s own rhythmic / ritualistic way. The
vocals are harsh sandpaper growls / screams, the sorts of which you
might imagine coming forth from a well rotted decaying corpse. In
another old school tradition Axeslaughter employ weird or disturbed
audio samples from movies, tv and wherever in the intro and peppered
throughout the songs themselves. By the way a message to the band
with the outro entitled “Outro (FUCK YOU)”. I think you twats put
the outro one too many times in a row, so fuck you too! ha ha. Some
other song title highlights on this six tracker are “Ripping Up The
Virgin’s Tomb”, “Coffin Breath” and my favourite “Never Drink From
The Dead”. For those reading this that like slickly produced,
tightly played modern death and thrash metal. You need not apply
here as this was not made for you and you could not handle it
anyway. It is rough, ugly, low-fi and I like it, it keeps the old
spirit burning bright! Nice to see something like this come out of
Finland. – Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/axeslaughter
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Hailing from
Battleboro, Vermont comes the self-titled debut album from this
progressive metal foursome. When I read the bands style, I expected
clean, silky vocals like Fates Warning or something, but no, the
vocals are very audible and decipherable yet pretty extreme craggy
yells and screeches. The vocals are sort of like a less maniacal
version of the vox, employed by the The Accused, which are total
over the top insanity. They do switch it up on us, now and then,
suddenly employing a cleaner style of vocals I expected, for an
example check out the “Through Streams, Through Mountains” track.
But that is only a moment’s respite, as the cool vocal savagery
quickly returns. The music itself however, while pretty hard edged,
does fall a little more into what you expect, when you see the
progressive metal descriptive thrown around for Barishi. The music,
is very free flowing and introspective, with some skillful time
changes and arrangements. When the vocals start getting faster and
meaner, so does the music, yet the music at all times is smooth and
the interesting time changes and overall dynamic speeds up, while
always maintaining that finesse, that is ever present on the pensive
mainstay material. The musicianship and song arranging, are pretty
impressive on this album, surely belying the age of this recently
formed band. I would think this album would be a must own, for
progressive metal fans, that do not mind or even like a heavy edge
to their progressive rock / metal. - Dale
http://barishi.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/barishiband
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This is
definitely something different to what I usually get for review.
Such opposing and unusual genre elements, combined together such as
hardcore vocals, industrial influenced drums, and extreme metal
guitars alongside some more accessible elements from mainstream
music. I could see this being viewed, as either brilliant or a train
wreck, depending upon your tastes and pre-conceived notions going
in. I am usually one to firmly pick a side on these things, but I
find myself hovering between liking this at times, and at other
times holding my nose and witnessing the aforementioned train wreck
go down. There is one thing that is for sure, their music is
extremely energetic, sort of like a caged cat freaking out and
losing it’s shit on the way to the Vet (yeah been there). That part
is something I like, it gets the adrenaline flowing, another thing I
like is the caustic harsh hardcore-ish vocals with a slight growling
edge to them, reminding me to some good sludge vocalists in the
past. Something I did not care for, would be the high level of
groove in the guitars and riff patterns bringing to mind some of the
things I dislike so much about Deathcore and Nu Metal. Speaking of
which, if you like the math metal style, there is some of that
present here as well, which might appeal to fans of things like The
Dillinger Escape Plan or Coalesce, not a favoured style of mine but
I do not mind some of it. As mentioned, the band throws all kinds of
shit together that normally does not mix, which you could call
adventurous or progressive, but to me as I stated this feels closer
to a clusterfuck than outright brilliance. Yet, there is some
moment’s brilliance within, here and there, but not enough for me to
really recommend this. I am sure it will have it’s fans, but I am
just not one, this feels like it would have been pretty popular had
it come out like 10 years ago in the Hatebreed frenzy era. Just not
my cup of tea, and may require a bit of a Caveat Emptor rating for
me, I suspect the same will also apply for a lot of the readers CA
tends to attract. - Dale
https://beastmodulus.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/beastmodulus/
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Here is
something a little different and interesting arriving in my mailbox.
They label themselves as a Metal/Rock/Blues mixture. Which, all in
all is a pretty fair description I suppose. I would say some
influences I can hear are Down, Alice In Chains, Pantera, Crowbar,
Eyehategod and just generally shoot from the hip garage rock ‘n roll
bands. I don’t hear that much blues influence but you can detect it
here and there, also despite some of the influences I list they are
not a doom band. The name does give you a pretty good indication of
what to expect. Just really raw and raunchy hard rock that is
probably played with few a beers in them, you know what I mean? I
dig some of those short spastic and energetic fills/solos. It is
pretty loosely played, lacking precision in the playing or in the
song writing and again I use the term raw sounding. Now for most
reviewers in this day and age that is probably enough to write them
off. But I think you know me by now I tend embrace the loose, the
low-fi and the rough music presentation. What Beer, Guts & Glory
lack in precision, technical song writing, they make up for with
coarse, nerve jarring emotion and fuck you we are doing what we want
and play what we like type of attitude. I respect that and you will
have to as well to enjoy this beer stained, cigarette smelling four
song demo tape. If you like your shit polished, clean and by the
numbers then you are going to hate these guys, you can book that
son. Didn’t blow me away yet I got some enjoyment out of it for
sure. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/beergutsglory
http://www.reverbnation.com/beergutsglory
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Pure raging
chaos in it’s rawest metallic form! Warring hymns in the tradition
of Blasphemy, (old) Beherit with a little early Destruction and
Venom thrown in! They are no retro band though and walk their own
blood stained path. The vocals are rough and inflamed blackened
gurgles and shouts. The metal spirit lives and it has never looked
uglier!!
Bestial Mockery,
c/o Carl Warslaughter, Bjorid 6440, 455 92 Munkedal, SWEDEN |
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Black Lodge are
self-described as “Weird electric black metal” and it really is
about as bad as that description sounds. I believe this to be a one
man band. The black metal style vocals on here are decent but sound
a bit robotic at times which is not good. Also a few remote epic
riffing sections can be found that are quite good. But other than
that this is really lame and sub-par music. This is just second rate
“Filosofem”, which I thought was awful in and of itself. Oh and they
utterly desecrate and soil an Iron Maiden song – unforgiveable!! - Dale
$12 (!) US to:
Saint Vincent, 51 Impasse des 4 Montagnes, Les Jeandiats, 38250
Villard des Lans, FRANCE Web =
www.multimedia.com/blacklodge |
This is my first
encounter with Black Space Riders, despite this apparently, being
the German bands fourth album. This is most definitely something
different, from the usual fare, I receive for review. BSR play
atmospheric spacey, non-technical prog rock, with some metal touches
in some of the riffing. I have to be honest, the first listen
through, I thought well this is okay, but that is really about all.
But with each subsequent listen, I am feeling my way emotionally,
into the soundscapes and mental tapestries, they are weaving and
warming up to it. If you are willing to let yourself, you can really
go on a free flowing journey, which for me, felt both chilling and
uplifting at times, yet also very sorrowful and melancholic at other
times. I think, to get the full experience of this band, patience
and a number of repeated listens are required. The band make quite a
big deal on their website, about having two lead vocalists, but
honestly, not to disparage the vocals performance on here, because I
like it. Yet, had I not known there were two vocalists, I may have
thought it was just one person, as it is usually not that apparent
to me, as a listener, where one guy ends and the other begins. The
drumming, at times is sparse, but there is a real feel with drumming
of when to turn it up and when to recede into the shadows, then take
a brief breather and wait for the optimum time to join back in. The
drums are definitely more important, to their sound, than you often
find in this style of music. I enjoyed this record, but I should
probably reiterate here, considering my usual readership, this is
not metal, so keep that when reading this review, and if you are a
little adventurous and like what I have above definitely check this
out. - Dale
http://www.blackspaceriders.com/ |
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Black Space
Riders return to the pages of Canadian Assault, with the follow up
album to their previous release “Refugeeum”, released back in 2015.
I mentioned last time around, on this German bands previous release,
that they are not metal. Yet, they seem to get promoted in the
extreme metal community a fair bit, for whatever reason, even though
they have ventured even further away from metal than the last album.
I mean, outside a very fleeting moment in a couple spots, none of
the music even approaches the metal realm. This release feels to me
like they are also going away from the prog rock and spacey
atmospheric elements, which for me, was one of the few things I
enjoyed the last time around. The vocals are in varied styles, but a
large portion of them are clean, pretty melodramatic sounding vocals
that probably would not be too out of place on a late ‘80s or early
‘90s goth rock album. This new record finds them going down a more
commercial route, largely stripping away the creativity, and
replacing it with stripped down indie rock dripping with goth
melodrama. I guess they do what they do well enough, but I honestly
kind of hate it and would suggest giving it a huge never mind, just
knowing the general tastes of most Canadian Assault readers I feel
confident saying that. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/BlackSpaceRiders/
http://www.blackspaceriders.com/
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Hail – Has
three songs on here of cool black/death metal with raspy vocals and
some riffs that reminded me of mighty Mortuary Drape, which is a big
plus!
Requiem – Play purely disgusting and raw fucking black metal
in the early ‘90s tradition. The music is totally extreme and
violent. Great band that also contributed 3 tracks.
Decius – Continue things on by pounding us with 4 songs of
crazed and torturous warring black metal. Fast, fast, and faster
than hell! Kult shit! - Dale
I’ll finish this review off with a quote from
this releases flyer. “Full with hate, destruction, chaos and raw as
hell!!!!!” Get this amazing looking pro tape now from: Muzik Box
Productions, c/o Fadzil, P.O. Box 96, Pejabat POS Majidee, 81100
Johor Bahru, Johor, MALAYSIA
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That album
title is great, it really does a good job of painting a vivid
picture, and it rolls off the tongue with an inevitable wry smile to
follow. It just sounds like something, which is right up my
perverted sleazy alley, so to speak haha. The music on here is audio
hatred incarnate; it is low fi and reminds me of the black death
metal, that was coming out in the early and mid 1990s. It has that
old spirit, also like bands of that time period, almost all bands
calling themselves black metal, were very satanic lyrically or at
the very least extremely anti-religious. Black Blood Stigmata are no
exception, they are filled with venom and vitriol towards religion,
one only needs to peruse their song titles to know this. The music
is very stripped down, evil and filled with brutal, vigorous riffing
that quickly assaults the senses and rarely lets up. There are brief
sort of melancholy introspective moments, that add emotional depth,
to the music. The vocals are a high / low mixing of two distinctly
different vocals styles. The slightly more prominent vocal is a
raspy screamed bm style vocal, with a very nasally, whining
resonance to them that I could see being a bit of an acquired taste
for some, for me I liked them after I got used to them. The other
vocal is whispery dm growling, the juxtaposition of two vocals
styles, really fits the music well and they play off of each other,
never stepping on one another, but do a good job of point and
counterpoint. There is some synth on here, it wafts in and out, like
a wisp of smoke, but tends to stay more in the background where it
belongs and is not over used for the most part. It did not bother me
that much, but if I did have one complaint, it would be a couple of
the songs maybe over stay their welcome slightly. But otherwise this
is a superbly crafted album, by men who make music the right way, in
my estimation, and also it has the right kind of old spirit and
attitude behind it. You can just feel that bleed through listening
to the music. I should mention as well, you get your money’s worth
length wise, as this album clocks in close to the one hour mark. I
can recommend fans of old-style black metal, with large doses of
death metal, who enjoy a touch of unabashed blasphemy in their lives
like I do. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/blackbloodstigmata
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They say they
play in the tradition of Motorhead, Warfare, Bulldozer and Venom.
Those are some very cult names to throw around! Do they live up to
their billing? Yes and no. There are hints of Motorhead, Venom and
Bulldozer but what takes things down a notch or two for me is it has
a lot of punk rock influence both musically and in execution. I hear
influences like D.R.I. and Dayglo Abortions running throughout. Not
a bad tape at all and the old metal attitude is welcome but it is
too punkish for me to recommend. - Dale
$6 US to: Iron Bonehead
Records, Brunnenweg 9a, 36160 Dipperz (Diapers!?
J),
GERMANY Band Email = pranuss@gmx.de
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This advance promo
tape shows a little improvement from their “Alcoholic Metal Mayhem”
demo of last year. The biggest improvement for me is their dropping
of the heavy punk influence completely. It did not suit their metal
side of things. Also the songs themselves are a little heavier,
catchier and more memorable. Fans of ‘80s style heavy rock/metal
might wish to write and order this fine slab of vinyl. Write to Iron
Bonehead Records for more information. - Dale
$6 US to: Iron Bonehead
Records, Brunnenweg 9a, 36160 Dipperz,
GERMANY Band Email = pranuss@gmx.de
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Blood Of The
Wolf play a vicious mixture of blackened death metal ferocity. “II:
Campaign Of Extermination” contains eight songs of brutal black
death metal with some slower, well written passages intertwined into
the speedy musical maelstrom. The drums are a fast assault of
blasting patterns, but the drummer does slow things down to a
heavier mid-paced tempo in some sections of the songs. The vocals
are mainly straight ahead death metal growling, but he does mix in
some drawn out gruffer growls and some slightly higher pitched
screams. The guitars are played with intense and frenzied fast
riffing that do slow down to a middle place style. If you are a new
listener to Blood Of The Wolf then prepare yourself to expect a wild
and violent journey of intense blackened death metal. - Patrick
https://bloodofthewolf.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bloodofthewolfmusic
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Unfortunately
the CDR the band sent will not play and my computer reads the disc
as being empty and read to record. But fortunately for me (and those
reading this) the bands Reverb Nation page has the entire demo
available to play for free. Blood Legion hail from Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia and play dark death thrash metal with old school feel and
attitude. They play a stripped down, simple sounding and very
controlled brand of metal. I really like the vocals from Shan, they
are shrouded growled vox that seem to provide the most emotion in
Blood Legion’s music, as the guitars in particular are too muted and
listless sounding for my tastes. Though I must admit that area picks
up a little on the last track which sounds like a different
recording to me and the band let loose a and go balls out, they
should do more of this, it suits them. This third and final track
titled Blood Legion after the name of the band, is easily the best
song on here, it shows what Blood Legion are capable of. I think
they have a ways to before they make a name for themselves, but you
can see the foundation is there. Like I said if the song Blood
Legion is any indication you can expect the band to realize some of
that untapped potential with their next release. Hope I get a chance
to hear it soon. - Dale.
http://www.myspace.com/bloodlegion666
http://www.reverbnation.com/bloodlegion666
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Two years passed
and I listen to the latest album of this Ukrainian band which
management I run some years ago... To be honest I awaited some great
stuff from this album, and I was right! With this album BRILLIANT
COLDNESS opened new "gates" in its history, I mean this stuff is
more than great in all brutal death aspects, and I'm curious how
they did not find label still?!?! Well, I think musicians just
running poor promotion, because the internet doesn't have so strong
power… "Poisoned Reality" is really different from "Beyond
Eternity", this stuff is more catching, more brutal and very
technical (also here's more or less good sound as for Ukraina).
Music made in really rich way, here are tight rhythm-section,
massive sound, obscure atmosphere, deep growls… The strongest side
of BC is guitar parts, which are really killing, might it be
rhythm-section or freezing solos here and there, as well as good
drumming. Not only straight-forward riffs waiting here for your
soul, but such sick killer breakdowns as well (these moments BC
music reminded me such INCANTATION even, thx to those slooow
guitars/drums, and deeeeep growls…)… Also there is a huge influence
from gods MORBID ANGEL (again guitar parts, as well as solos and
tempo-changes). If we'll look deeply into music structure, we'll see
some influences from such TESTAMENT (from the latest albums) and
KREATOR as well as such as NECROPHAGIST even (yeah, killer,
technical rhythmic… ). It is really hard to try to fully descre
"Poisoned Reality"… Thus we have technical brutal death, made in all
its obscure "beautiful" way… for fans of twisted brutal riffs and
memorable stuff as a whole! I think BC have a big future, but they
will have to take care much more with promotion… - Aleksandr
Maksymov
www.myspace.com/brilliantcoldness
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Normally this is
the part where I say it is fucking awesome to get a cassette tape
and that never happens any more in this day and age. But the last
year or so has been a pleasant surprise and I have received I think
3 or 4 demo tapes. The old school way lives and the old traditions
die hard. That brings a smile to the sullen face of this old UG
scene goat! I read a review online that said these New Orleans
ghouls rose from the ashes of a band named High Priest which I see
released a demo and ep. I would call Burial Curse a blackened
mixture of brutal death metal and doom. The said review above (from
a site called Chips & Beer) compared these guys to Profanatica and
Incantation, I would agree with that but I would say a slowed down
version of the former and bang on the latter comparison. Oppressive
Darkness has a very brooding and suffocating atmosphere which slowly
grinds and steam roll you to bits. The vocals much like the music
itself are very obscure, sounding like blood curdling screams and
growling howls emanating deep in the woods, on a foggy night,
chilling you to the bone. This is an excellent debut release for
Burial Curse, look into this band, I believe this whole demo or most
of it is available to listen to for free online. So you have no
fucking excuse not to check into this tremendous new band. – Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/burialcurse
http://www.myspace.com/burialcurse
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There are a lot
of two’s going on with this Canyon Of The Skull disc. There are two
members in the band, two members who do not do vocals, only two
songs on here, yet it clocks in at over 35 minutes. This Texan band
plays doom metal, though they keep things moving at a slightly
quicker pace than you might imagine, when you see two songs and the
run time. The songs wind, and stagger, their way through the desert,
occasionally stopping to lick their dry lips, at the sight of the
next mirage, then continuing on through the sun hammered sand that
feels like it is burning through it’s boots. Canyon plays less of a
Black Sabbath style doom, and more of a sludgy doom style, minus the
constant screeching feedback some of those bands, ala Cavity love so
much. The band manages to convey a good amount of emotion,
considering their instrumental nature, and lack of general pace or
directional change within the songs. They do start the album off on
a higher energy note though, with a chugging riff at a higher than
normal velocity, but by the two (uh huh!) minute mark, they have
pretty much settled down into the flowing introspective journey you
will partake in for the rest of the album. I think this is a good
release, if you are a doom fan in general, and like the sludge doom
side of things and do not mind instrumental releases, you dig will
this puppy, just give it a few listens to really dig it’s claws into
you. - Dale
http://canyonoftheskull.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Canyon-of-the-Skull/100972360126
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Another fine compilation from the mighty UG to the maximum
Nihilistic Holocaust raising hell in the fiery, prolific French
scene. 4 bands on here with 3 to 6 songs a piece, here we go…
Incinerator -
Raw raucous and heavy chugging old school thrash metal with
some intense solos and vocals that scream old German thrash
influences but musically they remind me a lot of Sacrifice.
Excellent band…
the.heretic@lycos.com
Vacarme –
Mid paced death metal with some speedy parts, kind of reminds me of
early Sinister or some early 90s death metal demo bands. Not bad…
stenchvacamre@free.fr
Lethal –
In the immortal words of Dayglo Abortion “Arghh Fuck Kill!”. This is
killing alright, 80s reminiscent Speed Metal nightmare, straight
forward, catchy with epic adventurous solos, pounding drums and a
husky singer that reminds me to Bob Reid during his S.F.H. days.
Superb stuff here, keep your fucking eyes out for this band!
sorath@hel l-mail.zzn.com
Re-Creation –
Moody death thrash metal with a slower pace, heavy but with a
lot of slow contemplative type of moments and deep growls. Not that
any band on the planet is as good as Disciples of Power but their
style kind of mirrors them a bit. Good…
www.re-creation-band.com
– Dale
Nihilistic
Holocaust, c/o Gabriel S.,
Nihilistic Holocaust Records
mailto: Gabsk@wanadoo.fr
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This is an
interesting release to receive in my mailbox. I am not certain what
the thought was by the band, on here, of playing instrumental
versions of songs that were from one of the members past bands
Chainsaw. Which, was a good band, and these songs of course are
good. Without vocals, it gives their brand of black thrash, more of
a hypnotic feel, but the hate and blasphemy still emanates from the
music like a rising fog. The music just rages on here, dark and
thrashing riffs, alongside strong militant drumming. Despite the
rehearsal tag, the sound on the recording is actually quite good,
and fits the music perfectly. I hope to hear some new music from
Communion soon, assuming it will be in vein of this Chainsaw stuff,
I know it will be something I will not want to miss. But in the
meantime, if you missed out on the Chainsaw album, or are just a die
hard fan of the band, then pick this up to tide you over until the
next attack. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/CommunionBlackMetalChile
proselytismrecords@yahoo.com |
This is some really solid and brutal semi-technical death metal. The
drumming is good, as is the overall songwriting itself. The vocals
are nice and deep and they are intermingled with some nice nasally
screams. A really a good effort here by an up-and-coming band. My
only complaint is I wish their aggression and intensity came across
a lot stronger. It would spice everything up. Definitely check them
out. - Dale.
To get this 7 song
disc send $10 US to: C.I.F., c/o Josh Hemenway, 15800 Wapak-Fisher
Rd., Wapakoneta, OH. 45895, USA Email = carvedinflesh@hotmail.com
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This is just
okay. Think of a mix of a little bit of Napalm Death “Utopia
Banished” with heavy doses of Fear Factory’s first album (vocals
too) with less industrial feel and you pretty much have Core. Decent
but not much more than that. - Dale
It costs $14 US
to: Core, P.O. Box
2040, CEP 86023-970, Londrina-Pirahna, BRAZIL Web =
http://members.tripod.com/coredam
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There are four songs on here
(“Bodybag Lust”, “Thoughts Of A Graverobber”, “Putrid Mass
Mutilation” and “Amputation Of Vital Organs”). This is my first time
hearing Cranial Torment even though this is apparently their 3rd
demo. I think the drums are programmed or the drummer just has no
style and plays boring. In fact this may be a one man band as the
music as a whole is very uncohesive. Sorry this demo did little to
nothing for me. - Dale
Cranial Torment,
c/o Bill Benakis, 32 Paradision St. Peristeri, 121 36 Athens, GREECE
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The band has
spared no expense with this Digipak, everything looks beautiful,
from the layout to the extra touches with the gorgeous gold accents
and lettering. Prior to this, the band had only released one song
digitally. Which immediately floored me when I hit play, how could
such a young, inexperienced band produce this music out of the
gate?! Then I quickly did a bit of digging, which quickly brought
expectations into sharper focus, as this band is made up of current
or former members of bands like Gorguts, Angelcorpse, Dim Mak,
Possession, Skinless, Origin etc… The breadth of quality experience
of the band members is impressive. I have not listened to a whole
lot of Origin, but I am a big fan of Gorguts and have been actually
since I ordered their demo tape way back in the day. But we are
talking more modern Gorguts here from the “Obscura” era and forward.
So you guessed it, Crator play very technical death metal, but one
area they differ is I would say Crator lean a little more towards
speed and brutality. Technical death metal when done well is
something I am fan of, when the technicality does not stifle the
emotion and song flow, it can be a beautiful thing. There are those
who do not like excessively technical dm and I can understand where
they are coming from, this may not be for you, but as mentioned
Crator do keep a decent level of cruelty and speedy barbarism in the
mix. An area that reminds me a lot of Gorguts is the distinct
interplay, leaving room for both the guitars and the bass, to do
their thing separately and together, rather than the bass just
providing a cloned bottom end. The vocals are all death metal, but
are still quite varied with deep growls being higher and lower end,
along with slightly nasal tinged growls which gives the listener
some variety to keep their interest sparked. This album is an
impressive display of technicality, brutality and speed, alongside
some very skillful song structuring. This is definitely of
particular interest for techno dm heads devotees. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/cratorUS/
https://crator-us.bandcamp.com/ |
This is Crowned
and they hail from Brisbane, Australia and Ainulindale is a three
song demo, the bands debut recording as it were. The three tracks
are very epic in running time, going from 8 minutes to 11 minutes
respectively. The word epic fits very well as the band play an
atmospheric, drawn out sweeping form of black with short interludes
of speed and furry to add dynamic to the flowing mainstay. I think
right away people will think of the early Burzum albums when
listening to Ainulindale. That is the feeling I received and that is
my favourite period of Burzum, maybe not so surprisingly I quite
enjoyed this release. The first song is an instrumental, after that
you run up against some harsh and raspy / growling vocals that for
me do not fit this style quite as well as they would a less
atmospheric band (ala Immortal or someone along those lines). That
is not to say they are not good or are distracting, they are just
fine, but could be a little better. This is definitely a promising
demo and a good release by its own merits, it sounds like we will
not have wait long for a follow up as the band plans to record their
debut album sometime this year. Check it out. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/crownedbmband
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This is a very
unique collaboration, almost a super group of sorts, but this time
on the underground level, and on a purely for the love it basis, and
not for monetary reasons. A truly international effort, with the
four members hailing from Greece, Romania, Brazil and the last
member is listed, as being from both the US & Mexico. I was hooked
up with this release, by the bass player from Mexico, named Victor
Varas (thank you Victor of Zombie Ritual Fanzine). So what have
these men gotten together and produced? Well, Cryptic Realms is a
tribute or love letter of sorts, to the great brutal death metal
beginnings, of the late ‘80s to early 90s. I would say, looking from
the extensive list of influences they included, in this promo pack,
those influences center upon American (they even named the band
after a Massacre song!) and Euro early death metal, while excluding
the whole Swedish sound that became the rage. The bands that
immediately come to mind, upon first listen were Incubus, Death,
Hellwitch, Massacre, early Obituary (the vocals are very John Tardy
sounding), Baphomet, Monstrosity etc… Yes, this is definitely the
death metal sound that I fell in love with, during the late ‘80s and
start of the ‘90s, when I was tape trading my ass off with traders
around the globe. As you can see, from my list of bands, I feel the
American sound had a far bigger influence on this material than the
European bands they named. This is just brutal, stripped down,
driving and ultra heavy memorable death metal. Done in the old
tradition, when the songs still meant more, than just relying on pro
tools and doubling everything up fifty times, and trying to fit a
dozen riffs, and dozen time changes, in every song. This when the
song drove death metal, you could really get into a trance-like
headbang flow while listening to it. You know, before clinical and
plastic, replaced the sinister atmosphere and ominous, foreboding
aura, within the brutality. If I could find one nitpick, and believe
me that is a difficult task, it would be that the recording does
sound a tad separated, like these guys were never able to rehearse
the songs together properly. But that feeling is only there, in a
fleeting way, because considering every part was recorded in a
different country, with different equipment, the result is still
very even and relatively cohesive. I really enjoyed this demo and I
hope there are plans for an album!! Get this, if you love the old
death metal traditions, which spawned the whole scene in the first
place. - Dale
http://crypticrealms.bandcamp.com/
http://weed-hunter-records.blogspot.de/
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I was chuffed
when I read the bio and seen Cutthroat is made up of Youhei and
Yasuyuki of Abigail as well as Mirai and Shinichi of Sigh! The tape
consists of a live gig where these metallers played 11 cover songs!
They say “this tape shows all these ‘retro thrash’ bands what ‘pure
fucking metal’ means”. That they do as evidenced by this tape. But
if that was their sole intention why did they confuse things by
doing 4 punk rock cover songs!?!? Anyhow they fucking rip and blaze
all in their path with killer covers of such ugly bands as Voivod,
Razor, Sacrifice (I think they like Canadian metal!! Hell Yeah!!!),
Warfare, Hirax, Tankard plus more. The sound on this tape rules and
it only costs $2 US so I can recommend all headbangers with metallic
blood in their veins to order this! - Dale
Cutthroat, c/o
Yasuyuki Suzuki, 59-7 Saiwai Cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0034, JAPAN
Email = suzuyasu@ma3.justnet.ne.jp
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