More great
fucking American Black Metal! Bahimiron features the almighty Blaash
from Where’s My Skin zine which is one of the best American zines
and has been going for ever or least 12 years or so… Any regular
Assault reader knows I am a big follower of this band, demos, 7
inches have all been great and now I get to cleanse my palate with
the harsh and bitter sounds on this full length ball of fire,
straight from the pits of the Southern USA. Bahimiron loves to cut
and slash at you with some truly vile guitar lines that forge ahead
with speed and rhythm reminding me of early Emperor, old Immortal,
early Beherit and other old school Scandinavian scoundrel. Pure
Negativism… definitely has a flow to, much like the river of Acheron
and cannot be dissected into parts, picking out only one or two
songs to listen to is detriment to the overall journey and cold, oh
so cold ambience which rises from the band like a deep fog. The
vocals provided by Grimlord are vicious and hurl through the air at
like 100 metal pellet balls from a 12 gauge shotgun tearing and
rending your eardrums into exhaustion and defeat. Often mid paced
setting a hypnotic atmosphere yet interspersed with healthy doses of
speed and juxtaposed sparingly with some moody contemplative
passages. As mentioned this album must be listened as whole to get
the right experience bled into it’s framework. Bahimiron bring
affliction to the afflicted, Bahirmiron bring sickness to the sick
and Bahimiron spread their plague to the welcome it and force it
upon those who do not. Get this now. – Dale
www.bahimiron.cjb.net
www.auramystique.com |
|
It is good after
all these years, to see that my comrade Blaash (creator of the
mighty Where’s My Skin? Fanzine) and his horde, are still pumping
out horrific black metal. For me outside of Thornspawn & Absu,
Bahimiron has to be the best black metal band that Texas has
produced. I think in some ways you can say they play normal, early
90s black metal. Which is true and they do it very well. But there
are also some smaller touches of the war metal sound and even a
little doom. Just check out the track “5 Chambers Empty” for the
fantastic doom touches and it works better than I would have
thought. It is also no surprise, knowing Blaash as I do, that there
are songs dealing with weapons and specifically guns. The music is
always heavy and dark, but as I alluded to there is a fair range of
emotional depth within musical maelstrom. The vocals have dynamics
as well and you will hear bm rasps, growls and screams that remind
me to the wonderful early works of Impaled Nazerene. Maybe the
vocals do not match the over the top insanity of Impaled, but it is
very similar feel and works nicely. Bahimiron are evil and yet they
are also just a bunch of raunchy scoundrels. Which is also reflected
in their song lyrics and titles such as “Halo of Fliez”, “Pills and
90 Proof”, “War, Whiskey, Sodomy” would attest. They have been going
nearly a decade and this, their second album, sees them at their
best. “Southern Nihilizm” is a cold hearted black metal record I can
endorse completely. - Dale
http://www.bahimiron.com
http://www.moribundcult.com/ |
This
is bahimiron's second cd for the Moribund Cult. The last Bahimiron
release was decent but nothing great. But with Rebel Hymns of The
Left Handed Terror the band strikes back again with full force and
violent fury. To put it simply this is a sick, twisted masterpiece
of frenzied raw destruction. With so many black metal bands going
the route of crystal clear production, clean vocals, whatever they
seem to lose sight of what this music is about. But not Bahimiron
it's great to hear a band sticking to their roots and keeping their
music aggressive, ugly and destructive. -
Patrick
http://www.moribundcult.com/index.html
http://www.myspace.com/bahimiron |
Russian
industrial black metal. The opening instrumental sets the tone - the
industrial piece "Mutation". Then the next song kicks in with a mix
of raw black metal, industrial black metal experimentation, and
atmospheric unknown. This release would work for the open minded
metal head I suspect. Well most of 'em any way. It's well executed
and there is a whole lot going on. But, in the end, is this
something I would listen to again? Probably not. It's too
experimental for it's own good if you ask me. It reminds me of
musicians that play just to show you how good they are at their
instruments. Who cares? Not me. It's an interesting release though.
But I prefer my black metal sans industrial elements. If you like
the mix of the two genres, hey, this may work for you. - Mark
Sugiyama
http://www.myspace.com/balanceinterruption
http://www.hammer-of-hate.com/
|
|
Italy’s
Baphomet’s Blood have released their fourth full length record of
thrash and speed metal mayhem. Baphomet’s Blood really know how to
create, and write, well written and performed speed metal. The
guitars are extremely fast, but are done, with a lot interesting
patterns and solos mixed into the songs. The drumming as well, is
done with a lot of skill and experience, going from fast and crazed
drum arrangements, to a more mid paced range. If you are a fan of
the early days of speed metal, then you will definitely want to
check this release out, as soon as humanly possible. - Patrick
https://baphometsbloodofficial.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ironbonehead.de/ |
|
The word
"progressive" is one that makes me approach any release tagged as
such with a little trepidation. Not because I fear that a formula
for my favorite music has been changed but because often it is a
synonym for "pretentious." Barús appears to me to be one of those
bands that I deem pretentious, right down to using single letters
for the names of the musicians. Normally, I can rely on Memento Mori
to provide releases that really scratch my particular death metal
itch, but this one only did it occasionally. This feels too much
like art, not proper death metal (which should be an anti-art), like
I need to pay attention to it constantly or risk losing myself in
the fucking quicksand that is their songwriting. When I use the word
quicksand, it shouldn't have too-negative connotations, it just
means that the music doesn't seem to move, it just swirls us
listener-turds around the musical toilet bowl and doesn't sink into
the sewer properly. This shit'll drown you. But not in a good way,
like Immolation does. I suffered a little bit on this one. When the
band plies my ears with their blackened atmosphere and their sorta-grooved-up
and old-sounding death metal parts, I like it, but when they descend
into post-rock and dissonant chords, it's like wiping with
sandpaper. It'll get the job done, but my ass is raw after. For
those dear readers who enjoy death metal presented in a unique way,
this will do the trick, but when I just want to have my face blasted
off my skull, Barús brings me to the brink and then the music starts
to noodle around and get off into territories I'd rather not visit.
Is it an impressive effort of cave-like darkness? Yes. Do I fuckin'
care? Only sort of. – Andrew Parrish
https://www.facebook.com/barusband
http://www.memento-mori.es/ |
|
Battleroar come
to us out of the Greek scene and play a very epic classic heavy
metal style reminding me a lot of influential bands from the early
to mid ‘80s. I was struck by the sweeping riffing that is very
catchy and filled with melody, which is accented with some great
guitar fills and solos. Despite the level of melody, they do not
forget about overall song flow or pass up an opportunity to take
things in a less melodious, more moody direction for brief periods
of time. Battleroar construct and build up their songs in a way
which gives maximum emotional impact and they do so in a very
skillful manner. The vocalist has a very classic heavy metal voice
and puts in a good performance; he even gets some sing-a-long
choruses at times to work with, which will be sure to stick in your
head. The music as a whole, gives off a triumphant vibe, despite
possessing a very moderate slower pacing often keeping just enough
of a tempo to not fall into the doom metal category. It is a very
upbeat and uplifting sort of metal album, which may lack some of the
grit and heaviness some extreme metal and even some heavy metal fans
crave. But, if you are okay with that and dig epic heavy metal bands
in the vein of Omen, Liege Lord, Warlord, Cirith Ungol and
especially Manilla Road then you will love this album! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/BattleroaR
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com |
|
I was surprised
to hear about this release. I was a fan of this bands 1992 demo
cassette, which I tape traded for back around that time frame.
Besides a split album with Ungod (another old German bm band I was a
devotee of back in the day and now has members in this band as well)
was released some years later, which is the same material as the
1992 demo. Baxaxaxa was convinced to reform for a gig at the
infamous Destroying Texas Fest back in 2018, something that has
apparently led to this once great, briefly flickering flame to
re-ignite once again and “The Old Evil” is the result. It is quite
amazing listening to this twenty-five minute recording of new
material, as it is like time has never passed and this (originally
actually their 2nd demo released in October ’19 on
cassette) feels like it was recorded right after their debut demo in
the early ‘90s. Nothing has changed, they sound exactly the same,
the recording and playing even reflect perfectly those amazing early
‘90s black metal band demos! That old evil, sinister and suffocating
atmosphere is back in all of it’s glory, with Baxaxaxa’s brand of
first wave black metal sounds as good now as it did back then. The
recording is raw as fuck; the playing is untight unlike newer bands,
where everything is pro tool’d to hell, sometimes to the point of
sounding too perfect, too clean and plastic. The playing on here
sounds very organic and natural; bringing back those old feelings
and ways I cherish being old metal goat I am! The music as well is
rhythmic, almost hypnotic with heavy slow burn riffing and sparse
drumming, flanked by funereal synth accents leaving ample room for
that old ominous cold aura to permeate throughout the songs like a
creeping audio fog. This is so old school, first wave black metal
that you can almost feel a contempt or hatred of what black metal
transitioned to just seething through your speakers. I fucking loved
every minute of this release. Welcome back from the dead Baxaxaxa!
- Dale
https://baxaxaxa.bandcamp.com/
https://ironbonehead.de/ |
|
 
I could
literally write an essay probably on this band and various
connections to it that mean something to me. I will try to write a
somewhat brief version here. But I have been a diehard follower of
the band Ungod whose debut 1992 demo tape I tape traded for around
that time, and then I ordered a copy of their first album in 1994
and became possessed by this band ever since, so only around 30
years now. Why am I talking about Ungod so much? That would be
because Baxaxaxa also released a demo in ’92 and two of the original
members were also in Ungod. There was also one member in the band
Fulgor, whose demo I ordered in ’93, but that is getting too far
sidetracked to talk about Fulgor. So Baxaxaxa went dormant and
ceased the same year they released that demo, and stayed that way
until they were asked to reform for the well respected Destroying
Texas Fest in 2018 and they decided to actually revive the band and
released the excellent “The Old Evil” demo cassette, which was
re-released the next year by Iron Bonehead Productions, which I
reviewed elsewhere. They then released a seven Inch entitled
“Devoted To Him” last year which I have a copy but never reviewed in
CA. So, more connections to Ungod, I really got into Baxaxaxa a
decade ago when they released a split album (which contained both
bands ’92 demos) which I got a copy of to no surprise by anyone
reading this still. Okay, fine one last thing and that is the Ungod
connection is still strong as now instead of two Ungod members like
the original line up, this current one features three members of
Ungod. So, essentially the whole band plus a different vocalist in
Baxaxaxa, who is an old long time contact of mine named Patrick
Kremer, who also owns the great record label Iron Bonehead. The
music on ‘Catacomb Cult’ is gloriously and unapologetically a spiked
fist to the face, and unapologetically old school, first and early
second wave black metal to the maximum. It is like their demo tape
all those decades ago was just released recently, and this is the
follow up to it without missing a beat. Those slow burning riffs,
that godless bewitching drum work and sinister, haunting funeral
synth accents are in the classic Baxaxaxa style. The music mostly
middle paced with slight tempo variation in both directions, but
stays in that middle ground a lot and for me is very hypnotic, like
I would imagine as a soundtrack to an occult ritual in some deep
torch lit cave. The atmosphere and air the music creates permeates
everything with a crawling freezing mist that chills the listener to
the bone. I love this album it brings back so many great old
feelings. At very long last after nearly 30 years the band releases
their debut album and it is a triumph of the ancient UG ways and
traditions! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/baxaxaxa
https://sinisterflame.bandcamp.com/ |
\
The booklet for
this CD is awesome. It flips outwards in four directions and then in
the middle reads like a book. I am sure the pressing plant were like
“You want to do what?!” *grumble* *grumble* haha. The artwork is
kind of bizarre too, but good like a warped Frank Miller graphic
novel or something. So what about the music then? You would think
with that kind of build up, it would be rather amazing. But at times
it is one huge jumbled mess of industrial, electronica, and just a
metal mish-mash. The other times when they really hit on a good
industrial part with some solid metal foundation mixed in it really
works for them. Now I like some old industrial stuff (Ministry, old
Fear Factory, Skinny Puppy, Lard, Godflesh, old Pitchshifter and a
couple more) so it is not like I am against this genre entirely by
any means. But I have to admit it, there are sections of material on
here that are truly boring. They have a good aura about them in this
style, but seem to lack that step to turn their musical bits into
something interesting or memorable. To take it to that next level if
you will. I guess I am being a little bit hard here, but I also
suppose I am little bit picky when it comes to this style. I mean
the bands I listed above pretty much make up my entire industrial
collection. I generally only go for the best, the cream of the crop.
BBYB are just not quite there yet, but surely there are signs they
could get to that level in the future. This is after all their debut
just going by the album title (I have no bio to work off of so…). I
think what they are missing besides more interesting song
arrangements, is emotion, they convey very little emotion in their
music. I think back to the old albums of Godflesh, Ministry, Fear
Factory and the like. They are positively dripping with emotion,
have infectious song structures and keep one hooked every step of
the way. If BBYB can manage to grasp that, then they have all the
fundamentals to make a great industrial metal band. I will be
looking forward to their next release to see how things come along. - Dale
http://www.myspace/khaaranus
http://www.myspace.com/bbyb |
|
 
B.C:A.D. come to
us out of the Connecticut scene, they are a two member band, which
consists of Simon Tuozzoli and Phil Swanson of Vestal Claret along
with drummer Brian Harris. This is quite different than Vestal
Claret, though there are heavy metal elements present, but the music
heavily resides in the old school early to mid ‘80s punk crossover
style. The music and lyrics have a fun energetic feel, and attitude,
which is infectious and you might just find yourself singing along
with the choruses. The music is not overly similar, but the vibe of
the songs reminds me a little of classic Dead Kennedy’s stuff.
Another band that comes to mind is Gang Green, a band I was a pretty
big fan of, who were another band who kept the music and vibe light
and fun, but always were serious about the music as I believe
B.C:A.D. are as well here. Phil Swanson’s vocals are varied at times
and great, again bringing to mind early ‘80s punk bands in general
mixed with the vocals of Gang Green or Canadian legends Dayglo
Abortions. All of these vocal influences mixed together with some of
Phil’s heavy metal stylings you have come to know him for in his
other bands. Let me just say Phil did a great job and the vocals are
a fantastic highlight on this release. There are more early ‘80s
punk bands on the tip of my tongue, I am not a hardcore fan, but it
is something I do listen to from time to time, but those influences
do not seem to want leave the tip of my tongue at the moment. While
punk music is certainly the backbone of this band, but I don’t want
to understate the heavy metal influence in the guitars a times, they
do chug along and can even induce a light headbang now and then.
Just some good shit here I am enjoying. As the title would suggest,
a little under half of this 44 minute album is from their cover
songs ep. You get some entertaining covers of bands like Black Flag,
Satan’s Massacre, Landlords, Warfare and Big Boys. This is a great
release for fans of those old genres and bands mentioned, but this
tape is quite limited, so don’t waste any time in picking up a copy.
However, if you do miss out on the physical release, you can still
get the mp3 through bandcamp. - Dale
https://novisiblescars.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NoVisibleSacrs/ |
|
This is my first
time, hearing this Canadian death metal band, but their third album
overall. The music starts off, very chaotic and heavy; the guitars
are played at extremely fast speeds. The guitarists know how to
create and write, some memorable riffs, which range from both
extremely fast sections to slow mid paced guitars sections. The
drumming is in the same vein, with heavy and fast drumming patterns,
that slow to a middle tempo in a few of the songs. The vocals are a
mix of death growls and a mix-in of some vicious black metal style
screams. If you are a fan of well written, and played, death metal
then be sure to pick this new Begrime record today. - Patrick
http://begrimeexemious.com/
http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/
|
Hells Headbangers has unearthed and released one of the greatest
black metal bands earliest recordings. Beherit's At The Devils
Studio showcases the bands early primitive violent days. Thin
guitars, drums that range from mid-pace to fast blast beats. The
vocals are demonic growls/screams with some lower whispered type of
vocals that fit Beherit's sound perfectly. This is a must have for
fans of Beherit's first two cd's.
- Patrick
http://www.youtube.com/user/beheritengram
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/ |
This is a little
is a different kind of a band for Agonia Records. It is a rocking,
quirky band that is high on the melody. A problem of theirs is they
do have some great harmonies, but rarely stick with them or flesh
them out and fail to get the most out of them. Beissert instead veer
around in a bunch of different directions and when they hit on
something good they just seem to drop it and move on. I find that a
little frustrating to listen to. Not that their style is something I
listen to much to begin with. So I need something to draw me in and
keep me there. It is not all bad and there is some really good
material here. But the band need some focus and could use some
maturity in the art of crafting their songs. Despite all the
criticism the band has a certain character and quality to their
sound that makes you curious to hear more. I have seen this band
compared to everything from Clawfinger to Pantera to Crowbar to Life
of Agony to Clutch to Neurosis to Hatebreed. Some of the influences
I can definitely see and others I do not hear at all to be honest. I
can actually hear some Corrosion of Conformity in there, not as good
mind, and also much more quirky and commercial sounding. But I can
definitely hear that influence in there. The vocals are actually
kind of cool. I can hear a touch of COC there as well from their way
underrated “Blind” album. The vocals here are sort of more hip and
modern sounding I guess. They are not my usual bag, but I quite
enjoyed them and find them to be a highlight of the album. They kind
range from normal clear sung vocals, to higher clean vocals mixed
with some clear decipherable growling thrash style singing. It is a
dynamic mix and an addictive one. This is a band I would be
interested to hear in the future to see if their quirky songwriting
can be taken to a higher level of development and patience.
Certainly not for everyone but if you like things on the peculiar
side and not always extreme. You might like this, if you like it
always kept heavy and brutal then avoid. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/beissert
http://www.agoniarecords.com/ |
|
Beldam come to
us with their sophomore album, second for H.P.G.D. Productions, the
band were originally from Virginia and now have transplanted to the
opposite coast in Seattle. They play a mixture of doom metal and
sludge, for me, it is not always a seamless marriage of these two
genres, but largely works out okay. There are some death/doom growls
here and there, but the mainstay of the vocalizations is solid
sludge style raspy grating vocals, which are pretty good, but I
would not have minded if they were a little more energetic and
unhinged for lack of a better word. I find that style of vocal best
when it has those qualities. The band keep things slow, but more in
the slow to moderate pacing, rather than a crushing steamroller
crawl tempo of a band like Winter for example. The final track “That
Which Consumes You” sees the band coming up with their most
interesting track, by far for me, especially with regards to the
overall song writing, creativity and flow areas. They create some
interesting sounds on this song, such as the wobbly sound effect
that becomes a running theme throughout the track, it is like the
guitar and vocals have some kind of almost wah-wah bar like sound
that is actually really cool, moody vibe. The entire sound of this
long song is interestingly structured, creating a kind of mind
fucking, crushingly heavy atmosphere. If the entire album was in
this vein, and had this level of quality in all aspects, this album
would be great. I am hoping they continue in that direction in
future. But, unfortunately for me, the rest of the album outside of
some brief little moments is just decent. I mean the bulk of it to
me, largely sounds like just middle of the road, somewhat uninspired
sludge metal, mixed with pretty good (better than the sludge side of
thing) doom metal. It is still quality enough, that I think die
hards of the sludge/doom that buy a lot of releases will be happy
with. However, the more discerning fan that only likes the best
bands of this subgenre will not be disappointed, but may come away
slightly underwhelmed with this album. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/BeldamOfficial
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/ |
|
 
Those that
follow Boris Records releases, know the label is a champion of the
great Atlanta, Georgia scene, which is better and more interesting
than I knew before I got into their releases. This time, it is
actually a Chicago band they are releasing, but no worries purists,
the members mainly originate in Atlanta and moved across country.
Berator may be a fairly new band, but the members are not new to the
scene, as the band features members of Atlanta band
Disfigurement and Chicago band FIN, among other past bands and guitarist Adam Besserer is
a full time member of notorious Profanatica! Okay, enough of the
background, onward with this tape, there are two songs on here that
make up this release, the title track and “Swine Cult”. Something I
was drawn to immediately was the vocals, they are fucking killer!
They are brutal death growls that are fairly decipherable; they
remind me of a mix of Paul Speckmann of Master, along with the vox
of Deicide and Grave. The music follows suit, it is straight up
brutal fucking metal of death here, and they are tearing shit up.
Berator are definitely die hard fiends of 1990s brutal death metal,
which is my favourite period in the scene, so I am on board here.
They keep things brutish and extreme, but there is a definite talent
level going on with the playing and song arrangements, they are also
not above throwing in a heavy catchy riff or two to just flat out
headbang along with. This release is apparently a prelude to an
upcoming full-length album the band is working on. I am definitely
looking forward to that, until then check out what these
sacrilegious buggars have conjured up on this little release piece
of blood red plastic ASAP. - Dale
https://borisrecords.bandcamp.com/
http://boris-records.com/
|
A re-release
from the Satanic Swede’s debut album, of insanity and anarchy that
first came to us back in 2002. Yes on this first strike they have a
clearer, ever so slightly polished sound. This statement is a bit of
a misnomer however, if you have heard their past material (demos)
and knew just how hellishly raw, chaotic and lo-fi they were! There
is a bit less chaos and lust musically speaking. Though this surely
does not apply to attitude, lyrical content or overall conception of
sickness, which has been this bands calling card all along. They
carry on ripping and delivering it all with a delicious sadistic
spirit. Bestial Mockery could be called a wall of noise, but I mean
that in a good way. Musically and execution-wise, they are very
loose, mean and caustic. But it is now more in the frosty fire
bloody knuckled & whiskey soaked raunch of bands (in their early
days of course!) like Motorhead, Venom and Bathory mixed with punky
bits of war metal. All of which had an influence upon this ripping
slab of hatred I now gorge upon. Stylistically I would label them
classic old school speed/thrash war metal as well as some bits ‘o
Swedish brutal death such as old Grave (listen to the beginning of
“Morbid Invertation” to see my point). It most definitely is a
chugging metallic razor of an album with a headbang inducing sound. – Dale
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
http://www.myspace.com/bestialmockery666 |
|
Coming to us out
of the Colombian black death metal scene is Bestialized, with their
third full-length “Termestella Cvltvs”. The music is very chaotic
and violent in nature. The guitars are played at a blistering,
extremely fast speeds. The lightning speed of the guitars does let
up now and then, slowing to a mid-tempo pace in a few of the tracks.
The drums follow in the same vein with blasting drumming, the
drummer puts in an extremely well done playing, he knows how to
write some fantastic patterns that compliment the songs well. The
vocals are raw, blackened screams mixed in among some dark death
growls. If you are a fan of chaotic black death metal, then look no
further Bestialized, with their fine new album. - Patrick
http://satanath.com/
http://satanath.bandcamp.com/ |
Ahh, Bethlehem after
purchasing ‘96’s “Dictus Te Necare”, I was completely by their unique
blend of morose, melodic black metal and entirely whacked vocals.
S.U.IZ.I.D. is no exception to this with even more odd flavoring thrown
into the mix such as female vocals and spoken word passages with the
addition of new member Cathrin Campen. My only complaint with this new
album is new singer Marcus Losen who replaced the old vocalist
Landfermann desperately it seems in some parts to emulate Landfermann’s
unique vocal style and comes off sounding quite stupid at times. This is
otherwise an entirely depressing album sure to put a damper on the most
jovial of moods. - Jeffrey Kusbel
Red Stream, P.O. Box
342, Camp Hill, PA. 17001 - 342, USA |
I fully admit to
only ever hearing this bands demo and 7” ep but none of their full
lengths. I’m not so sure this is a great place to start as this is one
for the die hard collectors of the band. It features various different
mixes of album tracks, re-recordings and such - also 2 songs here appear
with their English translation for the first time. Not sure that is
exactly a treat, the English translations show their song titles and
lyrical content to be rather dumb and silly. Even due to the fact of
being at a disadvantage to perusing their catalog, I got into their
brand of darkened metal on here. Very somber and ethereal but more in an
evil sense than the melancholic one I had expected. 5 songs on here, a
must for fans of Bethlehem and an incentive for new comers to search out
the old material. - Dale |
|
Beyond Man is an
old band that made one official recording nearly fifteen years ago
and then went largely dormant it would seem. I wonder looking at
some of the members past if one door closing, re-opened another, as
two of the four members recently laid to rest a long running band
(One Tail, One Head) and decided to stick together to revive another
in Beyond Man? Whatever the case this Norwegian band has been awoken
from it’s slumber, now reworking the two songs from their 2008 demo
and conjuring up four more to comprise at long last their debut
album. The music on here is very atmospheric, created largely
through traditional instrumentation, which is my personal preferred
method and takes more talent and creativity in my view. That
aforementioned baleful evil aura is like a demon whispering in your
brain and permeates everything from start to finish. Their sound to
me is classic second wave black metal that stays extremely true to
those roots, while branching out and incorporating more pernicious
metal sounds more often associated with the first wave of black
metal (ala the early works Venom, Sodom, Celtic Frost, Mercyful
Fate, Master’s Hammer, Mortuary Drape etc…). The vocals on here are
fucking fantastic and incorporate a myriad of voices and vocal
styles, all are kept very ominously chilling, acidic and sinister
despite the wide arsenal. The more I listen the more admire what
this group of musicians has managed to craft. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/beyondmanband
https://www.thesinisterflame.com/ |
Binah are from
the UK and play a mixture of heavy slow to mid-paced death metal. In
the current scene where a lot of bands seem to rely on speed or
guttural style vocal effects to be "brutal" it's refreshing to hear
a band that remembers what death metal should sound like, and where
its roots lie. Raw, heavy guitars and bass, deep death metal growls
that are extremely well done and fit perfectly with Binah's dark and
heavy sound. I will admit the band does walk a fine line with some
of their slower, heavier guitar parts giving the band sort of a
death/doomish sound similar to the early 90's bands such as
Skepticism, Thergothon and the similar bands, but I really won't
label this band a doom band as their sound and heart lies within the
old-school death metal - fans of early Grave, Benediction etc. will
love Binah's heavy, dark death metal sounds. - Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/binahband
http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/
|
|
Wow, Demilich,
now there is an old ass band I like a lot that I have not really
thought about lately and certainly have not heard mentioned,
literally in years. But Biolich took their original inspiration and
modified moniker from that great old Finnish band. This has to be
the first time I have heard a term like ‘Avant-garde death/grind’
and not listened to it and proclaim ‘okay that was as gay as the
description sounded!’ No Biolich are fucking fast and harsh and
brutal but they do get adventurous. Yet they stand on their own two
feet, they do not use a bunch of gay looping, keyboards and shit all
over the place. No they tend rely on their traditional instruments
and musical creativity, something to be respected. Beyond the old
‘lich, I would have to say, especially drum wise they often remind
me of Cryptopsy, from their earlier days when they blazed a trail
around the competition. For me what makes Biolich most effective is
they make avant-garde to augment their brutality and headbang crush
and never lose sight of that, which makes the whole more effective
and it’s spread out use gives the speed and aggression that counter
point which makes it pop all the more. This is only a MCD but it is
healthy taste of what is to come and shows us why we should watch
out for Biolich in the future. Kudos as well to Paragon, who do
great work on their releases and aggressively promote their bands.
– Dale
Paragon Records,
Box 354, Commack, NY. 11725, USA
www.paragonrecords.net
|
|
 
This Spanish death metal band presents their
debut album after previously releasing a demo and a pair of EPs
prior. They start things off with a brief foreboding intro and then
launch into some excellent brutal old school death metal that has an
enjoyable murky and macabre aura permeating through it all. The bio
mentions Lovecraftian works and that is a good touch point, as I can
imagine this being the soundtrack while you read some amazing works
of H.P. Lovecraft. Musically speaking though it is some really
driving stuff, and the songwriting overall is just really solid and
interesting to me. The bio also mentions old Finnish death metal and
I can definitely hear some of that in their sound from the early
works of Fin bands like Adramelech, Demigod, Sentenced, Convulse,
Abhorrence etc… But there are other influences from around the world
I hear in there like early Morbid Angel, Asphyx, Imprecation,
Incantation and the like. That is just a lot of great influences
from the early years of the rise of death metal in the early 90’s.
Now I may just be a nostalgic sucker at times, but I don’t care,
this is really well done and crafted homage and continuation of an
amazingly time in the extreme metal scene. I love it and can seem to
never get enough of it. If you are the same way you will want to
check this debut full-length out sooner than later. - Dale
https://bizarre.bandcamp.com/ https://transcendingobscurity.merch.com/
https://tometal.com/
|
The first word
in BLACK METAL! This band is legendary. They formed in 1988 and have
a reputable amount of demos out which gave them European worldly
underground notoriety and a fusillade of band problems at times
giving them a disdainful name. They played SA almost entirely with
bands from abroad resulting in the first official CD, FTD, recorded
in Columbia. Musically, it takes me back to 1986 and has the
Sarcofago sound with the true SA sound and for once more slower than
those who’d do 200 BPM for the sake of it. Think of even one more
tuned down Hellhammer meets 1990 Samael. The well played killer
riffage and the incredible solos remind me of ‘Jesus of Nazareth,
King of Jews’ (oops – I mean I.N.R.I) Sarcofago meets “Anno Domini”
Tormentor, and I am just referring to the solos alone! Sometimes the
drums go out of timing, but this is the UG, so fuck off. To focal
point for Black Angel is the vocals. Hector Corpus outdoes
Australian Hellspawn (2000 era) and hints somewhat to ’85 Becerra of
Possessed. Even “Flag of Hate” Kreator, and this is the vox only
that has outdone Abbath Doom Occulta from 1992’s “Diabolical
Fullmoon Mysticism” Immortal! When most of Hector Corpus’
regurgitations and growls end as Enslaved “Frost” era, he can go
from normal to extreme deepness. The vocalizing is so infectious and
inhuman, I believe he’s cursed by price Beezelbub or touched by
Pazuzu. Check out Black Angel as sit on the same pedestal as
Sarcofago had that’s not easy to do. I want to personally thank the
label for giving BA a chance so we may all hear these legends and to
Hector Corpus for sticking it out this long, sometimes you have to
stick your arm out, even if you lose your hand! Till next time and
fan and a writer – Comas Lima Peru!! - Clayton
blackangelcorpus@hotmail.com
http://es.geocities.com/blackangelperu
|
|
When you hear
this Belgian bands name, and see the accompanying artwork, it feels
like the album title does not fit, just too optimistic and happy
sounding. Then I hear the music on first few tracks, and it is harsh
and violent black death metal, with an old school metal air in the
pacing and arrangements. The vocals are great deep rolling growls,
which are very commanding in performance, which is accented here and
there by some good black metal style rasps. Then we get down to it
by track 4 and 5, “Its Good To Be King” & “Older, Fatter, Balder”,
this is when the album title started to make much more sense to me.
The band starts getting more experimental, and more commercial
sounding in a way, with the fancy little start and stops,
increasingly happier sounding melodicism. This is also about the
time this album started to lose me, after I had quite enjoyed the
first three tracks, the cheerful and bouncy riffs, and arrangements,
just do not fit the style of music at all. Plus with all honesty,
they just do not seem to have the chops to pull this off, the songs
start to get clunkier, choppier, lacking the earlier flow and coming
off as confused, conflicted and forced. The album gets back on the
rails by track 8 (which for me makes four really good songs and four
kind of lousy songs), which is the longest one on the album, so at
least they finish strong. As you can see, for me, it is a mixed bag
with half of the album being excellent and other half of the album
being muddled mess and sub-par in quality. It is a shame, because
when these guys are playing the right way, for the style they play
it in, it is something bordering on superb, then they trip on their
own feet the next moment. It is caveat emptor on this release for
me. - Dale
http://blackbleeding.bandcamp.com/
http://nihilistic.shost.ca/nihilisticdistrohtm.htm
|
|
A day to
celebrate here in the Void HQ, as this review marks post number 200
for the zine. I'm not gonna start pouring champagne in a crystal
glass and singing karaoke to Abba, no way - this is gonna be the
genuine article: metal and ice cold beer. Metalheads are universally
known for being extra passionate to the music created in their
'formative' years, so this CD is a release that compiles two
separate 1991-ish recordings by the Finnish cult band Black
Crucifixion can only be praised by yours truly. Not for purely
nostalgic reasons either - one has to acknowledge the band for being
on the leading curve of the soon to be exploding (then!) second wave
black metal and their connection to Holocausto's Beherit has been
well documented. Sandwiched between an intro and outro, the three
songs of 'The Fallen..' are a good example of the coming madness -
lo-filthy produced, charmingly underdeveloped, filled with crudely
cold atmosphere and the famous 'whispering' vocal effect best known
from 'Drawing Down The Moon'. ''I'm a god now, and the slaves shall
serve/Fuck your herd conformity, the noble shall rule", this
short excerpt from the lyrics to the mostly excellent cut 'Flowing
Downwards' describes the whole mindset of those involved in that
particular, and highly influential, scene better than a million
words. Respect. 'Satanic Zeitgeist', the live portion of the disc,
is, quite unsurprisingly, even more viciously raw and morbid
sounding, bordering on Impaled Nazarene trademarked chaos in the
faster parts of the presented songs. Black Crucifixion have
seemingly been wise enough not to fall completely for that trick
though, injecting catchy mid-tempo hooks throughout the tracks, as
well as an enthusiastic cover version of 'In League With Satan'. Not
a must-buy for everyone but a fitting document of an era. Lay down
your souls. - Vladimir Petrov
http://www.paasto.com/bc/
http://www.soulsellerrecords.com/
|
|
 
Black Funeral is
back, they are one of the oldest American black metal bands amongst
the second wave of bm in the early 1990s. As it happened I was in on
the ground floor, so to speak, as far as Black Funeral is concerned.
Well that and his other bands, as I was in close contact in the
early ‘90s with main man Mike Ford’s band mate in the band Darkness
Enshroud. So I ordered no less than three of Ford’s bands demos in
this embryonic time period including the aforementioned Darkness
Enshroud’s 1993 demo tape “Winter Of Sorrow”, Sorath’s 1993 demo
“Sodomizing Jesus Christ” and most pertinent to this review Black
Funeral’s 1994 demo “Journeys Into Horizons Lost”. I must confess
however, after their debut album “Vampyr – Throne Of The Beast” came
out in 1997, my attention towards this B.F. has been spotty at best.
If memory serves my interest waning was largely due to hearing the
bands third album “Moon of Characith”, which was a completely
ambient / samples album and that turned me off, it was certainly not
what I was hoping to hear from them or the UG scene in general at
the time. There had always been ambient touches prior to that, but
they were kept as accent or a supporting factor, where in my opinion
it generally belongs. That brings us to the burning question, what
is Black Funeral up to these days and these many years later? Well,
I am pleased to report the bands sound of their early days has
returned, strengthened and sharpened along the way. Yes the
atmospherics are still there, but returning to their old form of
supporting and creating a sinister & evil aura for the traditional
black metal base. It brings back some old nostalgic memories hearing
the vocal conjuring of Mike Ford (aka Akhtya Nachttoter), who is in
classic form with rasping bm howling creeping across the music like
a freezing mist. This one comes recommended by me for devotee’s of
this bands early days and fanatical demons in general who worship
early ‘90s black metal with a raw, murky production akin to all
those classic early demos we hold in high regard. I may have strayed
from Black Funeral, but this dark audio cult has pulled me back in
to it’s malevolent embrace. - Dale
https://blackfuneral.bandcamp.com/
https://ironbonehead.de/ |
|
Coming out of
Poland's thrash metal scene is Black Hosts. So far the band has
released two demo's in 2018 and 2019, and the bands debut full
length "Times Of Eternal Torture", which was self-released by the
band in 2019. ‘Onward Into The Abyss’ is the newest EP that features
four songs of aggressive and memorable thrash metal insanity. The
guitars are delivered in a fast whirlwind and are played with skill
and a high intensity. The guitarist does write some memorable
passages, even adding some well written and played guitar solo's
into the mix. The drums are played with a mix of fast drum patterns
that are performed with furious power, the drummer does slow to a
more calm, mid paced range in a few of the songs smoothly
transitioning between both styles with intensity and forcefulness.
The vocals are high pitched screams and some clean hollering vocals.
If you are a fan of aggressive thrash metal with hints of heavy
metal influence, especially in the guitar work then be sure to pick
up a copy of this EP. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/BlackHosts666/
https://hellprod.bandcamp.com/music |
Italian doom
metal and as any dedicated doom fan knows Italy is a place where
doom has set down its roots deeply for many years. Immediately
coming to mind are legends like Paul Chain and Death SS. I have
spent many an hour listening to those two bands and Paul Chain in
particular. The band is described as epic occult doom metal, and the
bio cites early Candlemass as an influence for Black Oath and that
is bang on. They borrow from that sound, but they do it well and put
their own vibe or twist upon it. The Oath employ keyboards,
something I am not always a fan of, but they are in general applied
sparsely and kept lower in the mix so they really do sound like more
of an accompaniment, and do not drown out the traditional
instruments. The vocals are classic clean sung traditional doom
style vocals, quite melodious and flowing, they fit the music well.
Another influence that is springing to mind for me as I listen is
the American group Solitude Aeturnus, and maybe a small touch of the
almighty Trouble. The Third Aeon is a promising debut album with
moments of true brilliance, and a worthy addition to the traditional
doom scene. It is hardly surprising I Hate Records found them; they
have a special talent for searching out great doom. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/blackoath666
http://www.ihate.se/ |
|
The Black Oath
has been taken and that oath is one of upholding melancholic,
emotional classic doom metal in the Italian tradition. The bio cites
Death SS and Paul Chain as influences; I am a fan of both and can
definitely hear it, along with their own sound. Though they also
name other Italian acts as like Zess and Jacula, neither of which
unfortunately am I familiar with. This is just not a copy band
however these guys have their own flavour, not to mention clearly a
natural ability for writing and arranging the music to deliver to
the listener a very forlorn, introspective and emotive atmosphere.
The clean sung vocals of A.th compliment the music beautifully, as
they mirror the sorrow and grief of the music, gliding effortlessly
across the material. The Italians do seem to have a knack for
creating a certain atmosphere with their doom that few other bands
around the world seem able to understand or produce. I know my
description sounds as if this is a dripping mass of sadness and
misery, but there are slightly sped up and lighter moments that will
help you from falling too far into a mental abyss. This is just a
really good, very enjoyable album that any classic doom fan and
especially Italian doom fan should enjoy. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/blackoath666
http://www.ihate.se/
|
Well, my friend in
this band Valerio sent me this and their ’96 demo tape and the
progression from that recording is quite evident. Their talent showed
thru on the ’96 demo but they needed to progress as song, writers from
that effort, which they have. Very well played darkened black metal with
slight folkish and symphonic elements. 4 blazing trackson this disc that
all fans of the above described music genre should check out. I only
have the band addy and was not sent the price of the CD so you’ll have
to write.
Black Sunrise, c/o
Valerio Vitolla, Via Lazio 15, 85100 Potenza (PZ), ITALY
|
Black vulture is a band featuring Martin Ciappara who most will know
from his black/doom/death band Prayer Of The Dying. Black Vulture is
a three piece band with Martin handling the drums, the band plays
mid-paced death metal with some black metal influences in some parts
of the songs. The guitars range from fast riffs to a more mid-pace
and have some really well-played and even catchy riffs and patterns.
Martin has proven he can sing and play guitar etc. in Prayer Of The
Dying but his drumming is pretty damn good as he keeps up with
guitars quite well going from fast to mid-paced range with some
catchy faster/aggressive death metal drum patterns of his own. Black
Vulture is definitely a band worth looking into for fans who enjoy
good solid death/black metal.
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/blackvultureblack |
|
Black Witchery
plays some excellent grim and vicious black metal in the vein of
Darkthrone plus early Immortal. Great Blasphemy cover that is spot
on. Conqueror the cult Canadian chaos war metal masochists Conqueror
are presented here with their demo. Barbarity & rumbling extremity
will rip thru you with the fury of old Sarcofago and the
aforementioned Blasphemy, and even possibly the demo of Soothsayer
thrown in. Killer release! - Dale
Dark Horizon Recs.,
6435 West Jefferson Blvd. # 666, Fort Wayne, IN. 46804, USA Web =
www.geocities.com/darkhorizon666
* Dale here from
the future. A fun note a year or so after I wrote this review I went
on a mini-tour basically as a roadie with my friends band Blood
Storm (along with Nunslaughter, Sadistic Intent and Destroyer 666
making their debut US appearance). They were without a drummer so
the drummer of Black Witchery filled in. It was a bit strange when
he read this review out loud to a group of musicians. Good thing it
was a good review I guess?!
:) |
|
The Florida
metal war mongers return with their third full length. What can I
say? It sounds like ball busting Black Witchery. If you know this
band (and you should), then they deliver the goods. No frills, no
bullshit, just straight forward barbaric black metal. What you see
is what you get and I like that. When you pick up a new Black
Witchery release, you know what you're getting. And in this case,
that's a good thing! - Mark Sugiyama
http://www.myspace.com/blackwitchery
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
|
New Jersey’s Blasphematory may only have been
releasing music for a relatively short amount of time (that would be
since 2019). But this aggregate of musicians is long in the tooth in
the UG scene with the members of this three piece band currently or
previously having done time in many bands like (the mighty)
Abazagorath, Mausoleum, Altar Of Gore, Death Fortress, Disma, Jaws
Of Hades and more. “The Lower Catacombs” is a crushing yet
shambling, oppressively suffocating doomy death metal style done
just the way I like it. It is thick heavy death metal with a gloomy,
almost frightening atmosphere, that slowly and steadily stalks it’s
prey like a tireless all-encompassing creeping black audio fog. The
obscure sounding growling vocals of Joe Aversario twist and melt
through the music seamlessly, reflecting the music with it’s own
contribution to this ominous yet brutalizing musical collective.
This album is highly recommended for fans of raw and filthy old
school death metal along the lines of Autopsy, early Grave, old
Incantation, Convulse, Abhorrence, Demigod, Disma, Funebrarum,
Rippikoulu and the like. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/blasphematory
https://nuclearwinterrecords.bandcamp.com/ |
Blaspherian are
from Texas, they have been around half a decade or so, yet this is
their debut album. You know I kind of like that. So many bands rush
right into making an album or signing the first offer that comes
along from the thousands of small labels. Blaspherian have been
releasing a couple demos and eps and honing their craft. I think
this album will appeal to fans of old school death metal that got
off on bands like early Incantation, Imprecation, Immolation (though
not as complex or layered but in general sound) and maybe even some
death / doom bands like Disembowelment and the like. Yes fans of
newer death will probably not like this, and complain about how low-fi
/ obscure sounding it is, like hey dude where are the start and stop
jumping time changes?! I would guess Blaspherian would be pleased
about that reaction, because they did not make this album for them,
it is proudly the antithesis of that metal/mallcore crap. These guys
love to hang out there with that rumbling doomy wall of monotonous
wall of noise; it just runs over you like a steamroller. They do
change it up at times and inject short bouts of adrenaline with
frenzied drums that batter the kit from one end to the other. The
vocals are extremely obscure deep growls that mostly melt into the
background of the mix and music. The whole thing is pretty brutal
and hypnotic at the same time. I like it, but I bet it will be an
acquired taste for some of you reading this. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/blaspherian
http://www.deathgasm.com/
|
|
These fellows
are a new band from Philadelphia, PA with only a previous EP on
record; we now have their debut album courtesy of Gates Of Hell (an
imprint of parent label Cruz Del Sur Music). Blazon Rite play epic
heavy metal that reaches back to the earlier days of the genre
incorporating a lot of the NWOBHM traditions, alongside the emergent
bands on these shores from the same time period of the late
seventies through the middle eighties. I feel like there is also
always this emotive and sullen thread whispering through the music,
which nods towards a classic doom sensibility yet I would still
firmly call them heavy metal. Some bands that come to mind when
listening to this album are early Iron Maiden, Brocas Helm, Manilla
Road, Cirith Ungol, Omen, Cloven Hoof, Liege Lord – it is a great
list to be sure. I have to admit the first listen through, I thought
this is solid but just is not grabbing me, now it feels like almost
every repeat listen it sinks it hooks in me a little deeper. It is
like each layer I peel back is more affecting than the last. The
passion and emotion is reflected and matched by the great triumphant
and dulcet tones of vocalist Johnny Halladay. If you like the
classic early days of heavy metal then Blazon Rite will remind you
once again why those great bands and albums became classics in the
first place. - Dale
https://blazonrite.bandcamp.com/
http://www.gatesofhellrecords.com/ |
You do not hear
bands from Slovenia every day. As one can gather from the title this
is a war metal style band. As is the custom it seems with this style
the album is fairly short at 30 minutes. Though I will say this for
them, they do have some semi-slowed down moments which definitely
adds a little more dynamic than your usual war chaos metal band.
Maybe even a small nod to Hellhammer perhaps? Yes not a lot of
originality or own sound, but I still found this slashing hate a
good listen. If nothing else, there seems to be, a lot of passion
behind the compositions. The vocalist sounds like some kind of mean
and evil black metal biker that spent too many hours downing brews
and smoking everything he can get his hands on. Yeah I like those
vocals a lot. Bleeding First also have an interesting look, judging
from the pic on their website, they look like a cross between
Leatherface mixed with the road warriors and some traditional metal
draping. They may not bring a lot of originality musically, but
visually they combine some classic stuff into an image of their own.
I guess it depends on how much you like that style. If enjoy a lot
of bands like this, you will probably like this one too. There are
certainly a lot worse out there. But, if you only like the more
elite, cream of the crop, in this genre then you can probably do
without Bleeding Fist and not lose any sleep over it. –
Dale
www.moribundcult.com
www.bleeding-fist.com
|
The Slovenian
Fist are back to give me a second dose of the black. Nothing much
has changed in the meantime, they continue to grind out raging doses
of chaos war metal. As I pointed out with their last release, I like
that they are not afraid to have some slowed down moody passages. It
adds a lot of depth to their music with profound, but short moments
to catch ones breath. Before you are thrown back head long into the
assault of blitzing speed and battering ram metal mayhem. It is one
dimensional, but that is sort of the calling card of this style, so
you either worship that or not. Sort of funny I compared them in a
vague way last time to having a small Hellhammer influence in my
last review. As they cover the song “Messiah” from that same said
band. The vocalist still sounds like a little like an evil black
metal biker with a bad smoking habit and I still dig those vocals.
Worth checking it out if you like this kind of thing. –
Dale
http://www.bleeding-fist.com/
http://www.moribundcult.com/
|
|
You have to
admire labels that still release cassette tapes. I mean you see this
here and there in Europe still, where some release on multiple
formats including cassette, but cassette only releases in the US is
unheard of. That is some pretty impressive dedication in my view.
This label is run by Bill Connolly, who also ran a tape label back
in the early to mid-90s. In fact, I ordered a couple comps he
released and a cool demo tape he released by the band Moonburn back
in like ‘93/94. I suppose for the most part this is an old mans
game. I am not sure how many young metal fans even own a cd player,
let alone something that will play cassettes haha! Being an old
bastard, I not only have a large tape collection, but multiple
sources to play them on. It brings me back to my tape trading days.
Blessed Offal is a name I have heard around a bunch in recent years,
but until now have not had the pleasure to experience. This band
immediately makes me think of an old death/doom band I used to
worship many moons ago that went by the name Disembowelment. Yet
another influence for this band that I kneeled to the altar of is
early Grave. It is a fine combination of immense death doom metal
suffocation and hateful old school death metal in its finest form.
The vocals are also in the Grave vein with some accompanying acidic
higher accented vox. You also get some occasional great frenzied
guitar soloing which works a lot better than you would think. What a
great release and this is something I would suggest you under no
circumstances pass up getting. This is for fans of Disembowelment,
Grave, early Incantation and the like. – Dale
http://nvslabel.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/
|
When did vocalist
Hansi decide he wanted to be Dee Snider (Twisted Sister)!? This is an
undertaking (B.G. have been working on this since 1996!) of epic
proportions. This is a concept album based around J.R.R. Tolkein’s
“Silmarillion” . There are some great moments here such as “War Of
Wrath”, “Into The Storm”, and “Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill)”.
Longtime fans will notice a reduction in speed and intricacy but present
are the silky performances all around and choice guitar leads. I think
Blind Guardian have produced a masterwork that results in a decent album
but I think it falls short of the pompous visions they conjured forth.
Still a must for B.G. fans and it is good to see this band no longer on
import in North America.
|
|
I was taken
aback a little bit by this record. I have not heard anything like
this for a while and nothing quite exactly like this, with these
elements involved that I recall. Which is no small feat for this
band hailing from my homeland of Canada. I am not even sure what to
describe this as, maybe proto/neo Thrash metal. The musicianship
level on this album is very high and the execution is flawless. I
was not sure what to label them as, to me their predominant sound is
thrash metal, but there is some death metal influence, heavy metal
influence and just some innovative and/or obscure origins to other
incorporated sounds. The music is extremely fast much of the time,
technical yet retaining that headbanging straight forward ability,
it is high octane music that has a ton of forward momentum at all
times. I threw in the proto in there because while their thrash
roots are deep in the genre past yet they blending in newer,
futuristic sounding accents, like fuck it is hard to explain without
hearing it. The song will be going on full blast or maybe in a
slight break and you will hear something like lasers or sci-fi movie
battle sounds in the background. When I read that I think that back
it sounds horrible, but they keep it buried just enough that it is
an accent and does not dominate anything, and it works somehow, not
sure how but it does. Those things are not prominent anyway, for the
most part, just thought I should mention that as it might be a deal
breaker for some. You won’t be too worried about that anyway, you
will be trying to hold on tight and keep up with this blitzkrieg
thrash juggernaut. The vocals are possibly an acquired taste, I like
them they are those mid-80s nasally yelled vocals, but these are
more insane the usual ones in this style, that singer must rip up
his throat and expend so much energy singing at that coarse,
maniacal level at all times. Honestly the only bad thing I think I
can say about this record is it could use a little more bass or
bottom end in the production. But that is it, this is a superb
record, it is metal as hell and these boys put on a fucking metal
clinic. - Dale
https://myspace.com/blindedbyfaith
http://www.galyrecords.com/ |
|
Blood was a
(great - Dale) German band, from the mid-eighties onward making
their mark on the scene in the 90s, releasing and playing their
brand of brutal death metal with grind influences. The guitars are
performed with a lot of crazed and extremely fast guitar chords. The
guitarist is not all extreme fast riffs though, he does slow to a
more mid pace, in a few of the songs. The drumming is done in the
same realm, with both extremely violent drum patterns, but the
drummer is not afraid to it down, which keeps the music fresh and
interesting. If you are a fan of the early nineties death/grind
scene, then definitely favor, and pick up a copy of Blood’s
excellent O Agios Pethane now. - Patrick
http://www.bloood.de/
http://www.dunkelheit-produktionen.de/ |
|
The opening
track “Gulveig”, has this really different, almost off-kilter
pulsating riffing pattern, at first I was not sure I liked it, but
as it went on I found to be very unique sounding and gives this
strange feel that I liked. To those unfamiliar with this Canadian
one man band (well there is a drummer, a session guy I believe),
they play darkened black / death metal with Nordic themes and
lyrics, as main man, Nordavinden is of Nordic descent. I think the
riff I described above is a fairly apt description of the bands
sound in general, it is not your usual cookie cutter sounding band,
they are doing different things. I would go so far as to say
Bloodaxe has a sound of it’s own and is just very different, kind of
strange and singular, it will probably be a shock to some fans to
listen to that are conditioned to everyone sounding the same. I mean
this is dark, evil, heavy, epic and depressive music, so it covers
the elements fans of the genre long for, but they take a separate
path to get there. I am actually quite stricken by this album, this
is not the first time I have encountered Bloodaxe, I know them well,
they have not released anything since 2004, it feels like I am
hearing them for the first time, I am impressed. The vocals are not
your typical vocals either, neither growled in the death metal
fashion or hissed like the classic black metal way. They are a combo
of spoken word passages and the main vocals are a deep spoken
whispered voice with a tinge of bm vox, it seems like some Viking
spirit is whispering lore on the winds as they pass through a dense
stretch of wood. I first made contact with this band they were based
out of the opposite of Canada from where I grew up and lived, but
now they are based out of my old stomping grounds (okay so yes that
probably only means something to me haha). It is a pleasure to
receive such a unique and grim band from my homeland, if you want
something that sounds different yet great, a breath of fresh air in
the underground scene. Then look no further than Bloodaxe! -
Dale
http://www.bloodaxe.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TheTrueBloodaxe |
|
Could this
possibly be the Blood Cult I remember from way back in the 90s?! If
it is, then I do not recall them sounding like this - at all. They
proclaim themselves as southern rock & country influenced black
metal rednecks!? What an incredibly dumb sounding term that is and
they willingly label themselves as such? Ouch. I feel embarrassed
for them. The vocals are actually pretty damn funny. They come off
sounding like the result of Axl Rose pretending to make demon voices
from cheesy 80s horror movies. With repeated listens the vocals grow
on me a little, but still it is a little hard to take seriously. I
mean hearing Axl…er…Preston yelling “Satanic Rites!” in that voice,
it has to be a joke right? There are some sparsely used more
traditional black metal rasps and the band should think about
sticking to those a little more. The music is all over the place. It
is kind of southern rocking, kind of black metal riffing, some
frantic solos, and country tawngy elements to some of the rhythms.
To be honest at times, it is just one big mess and a little hard to
listen to. Sort of like if you made a huge pot of soup and started
randomly throwing in food stuffs that do not go well together. It
does not end up tasting like complete garbage, but it is a confusing
mish-mash and not at all satisfying. Which I think describes Blood
Cult’s music fairly accurately. I mean a song like “Illinoisan
Altar” probably could go on some lousy country album and if there
were no vocals, no one would bat an eye. Sorry I tried to like this,
but there is just no way, it is quite simply crap. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/redneckblackmetal
www.moribundcult.com/ |
|
I will say this
right up front, the average reader on Canadian Assault is probably a
metalhead through and through. Blood Of The Sun play 70s hard rock
to the core, this is not metal at all, so if that is not your bag
then move to the next review. I am a metal guy to the bone too, but
I have a huge soft spot 70s music of the hard rocking variety. I
guess die hards of CA should know this for my worship of stuff like
Deep Purple, Lucifer’s Friend, Captain Beyond and stuff like 70s
Pentagram. It should be no great surprise. I tend to worship that
decade in many forms, from the music to the movies, tv, culture and
even just movies set in that decade. Blood Of The Sun are so 70s it
hurts brother, they bleed for it and have that old sound down to a
proverbial ‘T’. If I have any complaint whatsoever, it is a small
one, which is the vocalist is a little more high pitch and squeal-y
than I am used to or like with this style, not sure this fellow has
the power or range to be hitting those areas, he is no Ian Gillian
lets just say. But the rest of the time when the vocals are not in
the squeal register, they are just fine and sound great. The real
capper to this sweet little record, is they managed to get the
legendary Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich to play guitar and sing on one of
the tracks! It is awesome. If they could have managed to get Wino to
do the whole album, this would have went from being a good album to
being a future classic, all the same nice touch. Just to top
everything off on the packaging end of things, you gets a set of
bare tits on the front and back covers. I am sold and all 70s hard
rock fans should be too! - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/bloodofthesun
http://www.listenable.net/
|
I remember hearing
and subsequently liking this bands ’94 demo tape “Cruciform Antithesis”
back in the day. The lyrics deal with the occult and satanism and are
nicely thought out as well as intelligently written. Blood Ritual are
unoriginal but play a very enjoyable form of raw, cult brutal
black/death. They bring to mind Acheron (1st album) along
with Malevolent Creation, Monstrosity with maybe a hint of slowed down
Cryptopsy. Add to this cacophony of extremity, are speedy grinds and
surprisingly guitar solos. Fans of all that is truly dark and brutal
will enjoy this killer (8 song, 43 min) album. - Dale
Moribund Recs., P.O.
Box 77314, Seattle, WA. 98177 - 0314, USA
|
|
Philadelphia's Blood Spore will release their
debut release in late February through Blood Harvest Records. This
debut mini-album features three tracks of battering death doom
madness, which even adds some black metal elements throughout the
tracks on here. The first song is ‘Hostile Fruiting Bodies’ which is
the shortest song, coming in at over just over five minutes. The
music is a mix of slower and heavier doomy death metal style, but
the band does speed up to a faster pace in the middle of the track.
Next up is ‘Cede To The Saprophyte’ which is probably the heaviest
track on the release with thunderous pounding drums and some heavy
chunky guitar chords. This is probably the bleakest and dreariest
song on the release and that is saying something with this bands
oppressive sound. Lastly, we have ‘Apex Colony’ as the final track
that showcases the bands faster, more aggressive writing skills. The
vocals are a mix of gruff death metal growls and some black metal
screams are also used in a few parts of the song. - Patrick
https://www.bloodspore.bandcamp.com/
http://www.bloodharvest.se/
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|
Looking at the
picture of these Japanese blokes I am not sure if they are trying to
look metal or attempting to imitate their favourite new RPG video
game. They look like they just walked off the Mortal Kombat movie
set. I just checked out their website and one of them is dressed
like a woman on it. Reading their bio it would seem if they are
rather obsessed with sounding Scandinavian, even going so far as
hiring a Finnish producer to record their album. In my opinion they
have not really succeeded in their goal of trying to fool anyone
listening to think “hey they must be Swedish or something”.
“Idolator” is chock full of melodies, not a lot of change up or
variation but melody after melody. Sort of like that episode of The
70s show, where every door or drawer, his girlfriend opens endless
amounts of women's panties come falling out. I guess you could call
their style melodic aggression (though those 2 words should not go
together but I digress…) on top of some pretty florid synth that
makes you want to dance like a giddy girl, not me but you will want
to dance like that ha ha! Seriously though, no joke, some of these
melody lines are so fruity they would probably be quite popular with
the MTV robot masses. Far too one dimensional and commercial leaning
for my tastes. How about yours cup cake? – Dale
Dockyard
Records, Box 20 31 46 - D - 20221 Hamburg – Germany
www.dockyard1.com
|
|
U.K's Blooddawn return with their most violent and vicious recording
yet! The duo are influenced by mid-era Marduk, mixed with brutal
blackened war metal. The production on Opus Dei is probably the best
of any Blooddawn release that I have heard without compromising the
bands original visions. Razor-sharp guitar riffs, hyper-speed blasts
of blaspehmy. The vocals are growls and screams of pissed off anger,
the vocals seem to have some kind of effects being used on them to
give them a industrial touch and sound but fit very well with the
music. If you have never heard Blooddawn in the past and you enjoy
violent, uncompromising war/black metal I would highly suggest
picking up Opus Dei asap. And if you have heard Blooddawn what are
you waiting for? This is Blooddawn at their sickest and best!! - Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/blooddawnmusic
http://www.myspace.com/panzerfaustproductions
|
|
Bloodshot Dawn
are a newer force to be reckoned with in the field of melodic death
metal. Their previous album Demons came out about four years
ago, and was given fairly high marks across the board by fans of
this style of death metal that maintains fidelity to melody at its
core while occasionally accenting compositions with technical
flourishes. So, does their recent anticipated release,
Reanimation, fall short of, meet, or surpass the established
standard? Honestly, while that question is apt for any band that
moves forward with their project toward new outputs, I believe
listeners of this album should take into consideration the almost
completely new lineup for this album. Josh McMorran, guitarist and
vocalist, is the only remaining original member of the band. Some
slightly different artistic choices are going to be made for this
album that will sound different when compared to Demons, like
the drifting guitar melodies that we hear in such tracks on
Reanimation as “Survival Evolved”. Even McMorran’s vocal
technique is marginally different for the first few tracks,
abandoning for the most part the throaty death growls of Demons
for vocals that are more clearly discerned. Upon the fourth track,
“Upon the Throne of Fear”, though, we see a return to form as it
begins with much more menacing riffing and deeper vocals. As this
song progresses, higher-pitched shrieks accompany the growls, adding
some more texture to this layer of the composition than in the
former tracks. This more multifaceted approach remains consistent
for the remainder of the album, making it a more familiar and
enjoyable listen for fans of the band. The first few tracks are not
necessarily poorly done, they just seem to miss the mark for the
standard that Bloodshot Dawn had established with previous releases.
Having a new lineup may have contributed to these initial
departures, but the album as whole more than makes up for them if
you are not too keen on the first few tracks. – Aaron
https://hostilemedia.bandcamp.com/album/reanimation
https://www.hostilemedia.net
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|
I'm on the second song,
as I begin this review. The first thing I
noticed was the production. It has that "Swedish Melodic Death
Metal" sound, is what I call it. I'm not sure that's the "proper
term"...but that is what I have in mind. I use to not like that
sound, but I'm open to more things these days, it seems. It's -
actually - quite powerful. HEAVY! The songs, here, however - are
becoming quite redundant, already. I'm on track three. It just
sounds like the same song, basically. The vocals are really mundane.
Lacking quite a lot of intensity. The songs' rhythms are pretty
boring. I guess this is kind of a Hypocrisy sound overall. Yeah.
Fourth song and the basic premise of song one is still being
rehashed over and over. Song five - same. Where's the variety?
Where's the experimentation? The vocals, I'm not fond of whatsoever.
No dynamics at all. Yeah, this is boring, to me. If you like been
there, done that "Old School Death Metal" without any creativity -
then, this is for you. The only thing that stands out on this
material is the production. Superb. Heavy as a four hour heart
attack! Or - maybe - a stroke? Shivering and shuttering. Body
heaving...gasping...clutching...yawn. Die, already. Be gone from my
tortured mind! - Anders
https://bloodstrike.bandcamp.com/
http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/ |
Bloodthirst
- Apparently this is a CD promo of a split cassette full length.
Anyway, the sound for the ‘thirst portion is a bit hard to listen
to. The drums and guitars are really low yet the vocals are
really freakin’ loud and pretty much completely drown out the
music. Also the sound over all tends to fade in & out from time to
time. Getting back to the vocals, it is a shame they are so loud
because to be blunt, in addition to the being deafening they also
suck. Just terrible garbled screaming. The music on the other hand
is very good even though it photo-copies Slayer a bit too often. The
music was still enjoyable nonetheless.
Bestial Raids
– Not that much to report except Bestial Raids do a competent job of
copying Blasphemy. They even dress like ‘em. A decent Beherit cover
of “Grave Desecration” wraps up proceedings on their end of the
split. I kept that short as there are actually some bonus Bestial
Raids tracks tacked on but apparently not a part of this release. It
is in fact their demo 2003, apparently also releases on Kampf
Records as well as their 2004 demo on Time Before Time Records. All
I have to say about all of this demo material is it puts to shame
the live show on this release. Sorry but it just does, destroying
war metal! – Dale
www.kampf.ws kampfrec@go2.pl
info@kampf.ws
|
|
Blot & Bod are a
blackened metal punk band that is coming to us out of Denmark’s
often small but quality UG scene. “Ormekongens Argelist” is this
young bands second full length album and first recorded directly for
Iron Bonehead Records (though they did re-release their previously
self released debut on vinyl). This album is filled with ten songs
of traditional black metal that has been mixed and intertwined with
doses of punk influences. The music is played with fast, raw guitars
and drum patterns that are performed with a lot of intense ferocity.
The music does slow down to a more controlled mid paced range at
times before going straight back to the faster pacing. The vocals
are harsh and raw black metal screams along with some deeper, gruff
growls. Blot & Bod play a musical style is an entertaining and
interesting blend of black metal and punk to create a good release
worth checking out. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/blotogbod
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com |
I hit play, a
barrage of creeping melodious black death metal burst out of my
speakers, courtesy of this Providence, Rhode Island band. I really
like the chilling atmosphere the production on this record helps
foster and bring out in the music. I can not help it when listening
to this to think of classic Dissection, not an easy style to play
and pull off but Bog do an admiral job of doing just that on this
short player. There is a very cold aura created by some killer
obscure shadowy smooth growling / yelled combination that is kind of
hard to describe. Those vocals flow across the great brutish yet
finessed rhythmic, harmonious riffing with deft stealth. I am
intrigued into hearing a full length form this band, because this
mini album has gotten my attention. If you are a fan of brutal yet
melodious Swedish black death and can not get enough of that classic
Dissection style sound then give this one a try. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/bogoftheinfidel
http://www.eternal-death.com/ |
|
This is a
re-issue of this bands 1971 hard rock record, for me, it is a lost
gem that I had never heard about. This album is older than I am, yet
to me it is still very relevant and sounds great. I may be one of
those rare extreme metal fans though that worships 70s hard rock.
Just to give fans of this stuff a general reference, think of 70s
rock acts like Deep Purple, early Pentagram (the vocals on here even
remind me a bit of a young Bobby Liebling), Sir Lord Baltimore, Blue
Cheer, Captain Beyond, Nazareth, Iron Butterfly, Kiss. Though I will
admit Bolder Damn maybe lack some of the heaviness (except the epic
length closing track Dead Meat is pretty fucking heavy – wow!) of
and mean street attitude of the above bands and maybe that will turn
a few 70s hard rock fans off. Then again keep in mind this was 1971,
not 1976. There was a huge evolution in this genre during that short
period of time. I find this music pretty trippy, sorta psychedelic
at times, a bit commercial at other times, they definitely have a
cool atmosphere and vibe to their sound. I really like it, but
probably only real die in the wool 70s rock fans will properly
appreciate this. Thank you, once again to Shadow Kingdom Records for
digging up another obscure gem. I just live to get this kind of
stuff.
- Dale
http://shadowkingdomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mourning
http://shadowkingdomrecords.com
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|
I am no
authority on the Blut Aus Nord catalog. I think I only have one of
their releases I reviewed and off the top of my head it was the one
that followed this record in 2003. An album that was on the
experimental black metal side of things during that time to an
extent I suppose. I have not given the band a lot of thought since
then. As I am sure most of you know this is a re-release of the
bands 2001 album. From what I can gather about the band and their
history, this release was kind of a transitional one for them. It
bridges the gap between their harsher black metal roots and their
newer material, which is more experimental and maybe a little
bizarre even. With Mystical Beast you can hear the old Darkthrone
and Burzum influence. But Blut Aus Nord do this style very well and
add their own stamp to it. It is a moody, depressive and
introspective black metal record yet it never lets the harsh cold
anger that made the old second wave of black metal so great in my
mind. I am finding it difficult not be possessed by the freezing
sounds on here and at the same time impressed with the dedication
and craftsmanship that went into constructing this musical
experience. Debemur Morti do not disappoint with the quality in
which the double disc album is presented either. This comes highly
recommended by me. – Dale
http://www.blutausnord.com/
http://www.debemur-morti.com/
|
I have to be
honest that I really prefer the earlier, more straight forward and
harsher black metal output from Blut Aus Nord. The aggression and
hate and worship of early 90s black metal is something I held in
common with them. I admit I missed a couple of their recent albums.
But I came away feeling unimpressed and a little bored with the
music on 777 Sect(s). It is mostly just really monotonous,
unchanging, low-key, unemotional industrial metal droning with a
subdued black metal undercurrent. Epitome IV for example is far too
long (at 12 minutes) and had me bored to tears. There are moments
when there is a little more going on and some interesting song
structures are present. Yet it was still not enough to hold my
interest. Looking at some reviews online, apparently I am in the
minority with this opinion. So be it. – Dale
http://www.debemur-morti.com/
http://www.blutausnord.com/
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Some times I'm
in a mood where I just want to hear some no frills metal. No drum
triggers, over processed guitar tones, or vocals phased to the end
of days. The straight forward down n dirty metal where you can
actually picture the musicians bashing it out in the studio - live -
in one or two takes is what I crave. The US based trio Bones play
exactly this type of metal. A fuzzy ass bass tone that will of
course remind many of Lemmy, guitar riffs from the old thrash days,
and a real drum kit that is taking a beating, that's what Bones
deliver on their debut. From the opener "March of the Dead" to
"Delirium Tremens" (a nod to the Belgian beer perhaps?), Bones strap
on the denim and leather and let it rip from beginning to end. Good
stuff! - Mark Sugiyama
http://www.myspace.com/bonesofchicago
http://www.facebook.com/planetmetal |
|
Damn, this is
this some crusty, filthy and mean music made by men who wonderfully
have their minds in the sexual gutter and party with that attitude
on every note. I think one of the best ways to convey the musical
cacophony, I would say Bones sound like you might expect from
musicians coming from a Thrash & Death Metal background, that are
mixing that in with punk, crust and filthy rock ‘n roll. It is a
vicious wall of noise, that pleases me and my old school
sensibilities, with a cavalcade of influences springing to mind such
as GBH, Venom, Terrorizer, Motorhead, Amebix, Celtic Frost,
Plutocracy, Hellbastard, Extreme Noise Terror, early Napalm Death,
Melvins etc… etc… All played, like I said, with a death metal
aesthetic. It is pretty fantastic I can tell you that. This album is
recommended and be sure to pay attention to that drummer, he is a
fucking beast! - Dale
https://myspace.com/bonesofchicago
https://www.facebook.com/planetmetal |
|
Though well liked
and hyped the last couple years, I have yet to hear Borknagar until now.
It is funny how in the bio they don’t even bother to mention the
departure of Garm from the band. I didn’t hear the early stuff therefore
I do not miss him in the slightest. I came into this expecting good
things, as I liked mainman Oystein G. Brun’s former band Molested,
though they played brutal death metal. Borknagar are more accessible
than I had imagined and for once it is in a good & stylish way. Vox from
newcomer I.C.S. Vortex are nothing short of awesome! Thick viking-era
Quorthon but kicked up a notch with more emotive texture and epic
fluidity, offset by sprinkles of black metal cackles and deep half
spoken, half sung clean sections. Moving onto the music, which is very
uplifting, heavy when called for intermingled with some melodic and
memorable riffs and arrangements. I am impressed I expected another In
Flames, Dimmu Borgir, Thy Serpent ect... and am quite satisfied with
this album. Let the black witching winds engulf you.
|
Oh hey, loook kids!
It’s the angst ridden hardcore band from Sweden trying to be the next
Machine Head/Coal Chamber/Korn/Skinlab. I am real sick of this kind of
junk. Trendy ass motherfuckers!
Prosthetic Records,
6230 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 128, Los Angeles, CA. 90048, USA Website =
www.hallucinet.com/prosthetic
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|
I have to admit,
I am just now discovering Brown Jenkins. So it came as a bit of a
surprise and shock to find out they have already broken up some time
ago. This is apparently the result of their final recording. The
band name is apparently that of a familiar of the Witch in the HP
Lovecraft story “The Dreams In The Witch House”. In fact, originally
the band was a sort of a concept band based on only Lovecraft
stories. It did not start out that way, but eventually Brown Jenkins
morphed into a one man band as it stands on this recording. The
music gets me into an amazing trance-like state and just sends my
mind swimming in its gorgeous hypnotic flow. This is almost entirely
due to the freezing, droning guitars which are justifiably out front
of the mix and hog all the attention. In fact, the vocals and drums
are extremely minimal and actually add only a small amount of
usefulness to “Death Obsession”. I see some people say it is
insulting to even compare this band to anyone, but fuck let’s be
honest guys there is a lot of classic Emperor, Darkthrone and
especially Burzum going on here. It is only fitting the one man of
the band Umesh Amtey admits to it by wearing a Burzum shirt on the
back cover. I see some listing Hellhammer as an influence but
outside of the fuzzy guitar tone that seems way off base to me. They
are correct in the fact that the band manages to take those borrowed
sounds into something at least approaching their own direction. The
music or guitars may be repetitive in overall sound, but in their
own flowing way they often change up their rhythm and melody. While
never missing a beat, nor approximating anything resembling a
conventional structural change. At times the pace is a bit slower
and contemplative, but for such an atmospheric sounding record with
that kind of aura, the pace surprisingly is mostly moderate to
speedy. It is a very abstract sort of black metal record, but one I
enjoyed very much. I could listen to those guitars for hours and I
did just that. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/brownjenkins13
http://www.moribundcult.com/
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By now, any
self-respecting metal head should know the name Bruce Dickinson (and for
the further educated “Bruce, Bruce” even) and own at least a few albums
adorned with his magnificent voice. Personally I have always been a fan
of Bruce’s solo output, but not until now have I finally been blown away
by a B.D. album that is just killer all the way around. 1997’s “Accident
Of Birth” had some great songs on it but lacked just enough intensity to
make it worth repeated listens all the way through. “The Chemical
Wedding” picks up in the intensity dept. and guitarists Adrian Smith and
Roy Z on board again with great riffs and leads of course. Bruce’s
vocals really steal the show here as they are just entirely catchy and
memorable, just try and get some of these choruses out of your head once
you’ve hear them. If your a Bruce fan you’ve probably already got this,
if not get it now! You won’t be disappointed. Personal favorites on
here, is the title track: great riff, great leads, excellent chorus.
Damn!! - Jeffrey Kusbel
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|
Well now, we
have some crushing death metal from Turkey on tap this time around.
The band has been around for some time (2008-2012 and then revived
again in 2014) and the members either are now or were in various
Turkish bands over the years. So, as you can tell, they are no
Johnny-come-lately’s here despite this being the bands debut record.
Prior to this release they had an ep released on various formats and
a split 7 inch ep. When describing their sound old school early to
mid ‘90s Swedish death metal influences loom large. I hear some
Autopsy and Benediction in there too and there is also a decent dose
of Floridian bands (ala stuff like Morbid Angel “Covenant” era) from
the same ‘90s time period. There is some really well developed,
skillfully refined guitar work on here, which adds some emotive
depth and a brooding vibe mixed quite deftly into the prevailing
brutality. When things do get brutal the drum work on here shines
for me, it is a strong and violent backbone of controlled chaos,
which really helps push the riffing and song flow over the top in a
good way. The song crafting in general is strong and shows attention
to detail and musical fluidity, which helps makes the long song
lengths not even seem long. Sort of like when you are watching a
good three hour movie and it is so engaging you go fuck that movie
did not feel that long. Did I mention the songs are epic length? It
is pretty unusual in brutal death metal to range from over eight
minutes to nearly thirteen minutes in length per song! But, Burial
Invocation make that daunting task of writing songs that long, into
an advantage for them. It is a real talent to pull that off in my
opinion. The vocals are good, possessing a very deep growling
nucleus, with a slight undercurrent of broiling gurgle around the
edges. I like how much the vocalist seems to enunciate and elongate
some of the words he growls out; it adds a menacing and dark aura
over the music. As you can tell, this one comes pretty highly
recommended for fans of brutal death metal that have an appreciation
for the roots of this great sub-genre. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/burialinvocation
http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ |
|
Buried is a new
band featuring Joel Sta on vocals, Mark Wormmeester on bass and
Robbe Vrijenhoek on the drums, all three men started out in the long
running, but now defunct death metal band Pyaemia who made their
mark on the UG scene. Further that history, the duo of Sta and
Vrijenhoek have been together in bands dating all the way back to
the middle 1990s in the band Nocturnal Silence, which later changed
it’s name to Disavowed (who are still going strong today and are
label mates of Buried as a matter of fact). The music on “Oculus
Rot” is definitely rooted in the old school death metal style, but
does add some newer elements of more modern day death metal ways,
which results in a very interesting style and mix. The guitars are
well played and showcase some great writing abilities, going from a
mid paced style, to a much faster pacing highlighted with a heavy
guitar tone. The songs are very well put together and executed with
those featured guitar passages that are both complex and memorable.
The vocals are a mix of old school death metal growls and some
deeper more modern day growls, both styles are done with power and
great range. If you are a fan of solid death metal produced veteran
members of the UG that are not afraid to add different elements into
a sound that helps Buried stand out then you should check this out.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/buriedmetal
https://brutalmind.bandcamp.com/ |
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The Swedish
doomsters, Burning Saviours have not released an album, since back
way back in 2007. That is a long time ago, as you might guess; they
did break up for a time, but have been back together since late
2010. The band have not released an album since then, yet they have
been keeping busy, releasing no less than four 7” eps since then.
All of those beautiful little pieces of vinyl are collected here, on
this compilation album, which equals that of a full albums run time.
I always like to know, the translation of foreign language release
titles, I am assuming some of you reading do as well? This
compilation album title translates “The Book About The Curse”
apparently. The Burning Saviours, play rocking heavy metal doom, in
the 70s tradition, a style and time period, which I absolutely adore
and worship. Just think to bands like Lucifer’s Friend, Captain
Beyond, Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Sir Lord Baltimore, Buffalo etc…
The band keeps things very simple, but they have a real feel for
writing material that sets a mood, a mental atmospheric landscape,
that puts you under hypnosis as you float off, a slave to the music
as it commands you to go where it pleases. They are not afraid now
and then, though, to pick up the pace and rock a little bit, which
only serves to give the melancholy and heavy doom more weight. The
vocals have a unique quality to them, they are not your deep classic
vocals like Candlemass or something, but more in the 70s hard rock
or early ‘80s heavy metal vein mixed together. I like them. In fact,
I like this whole album, it is not mind-blowing, but it is just damn
good hard rock and heavy metal doom from an extremely classic and
revered time period for the music scene. Check this out you
seventies heads. - Dale
https://soundcloud.com/burningsaviours
http://www.ihate.se/ |
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If you look at some of the pics of this band
they look like they are probably (second wave) black metal, but hell
no, these Belgian bastards play classic ‘80s speed metal to the
fucking hilt! Bütcher mix into their melting pot chunks of old
school heavy metal, thrash and first wave black metal (ala early
Venom, Sodom, Destruction etc…) to melt and forge their unbreakable
brand of musical steel. But, all the same, as I listen to the term
speed metal always charges hard through my mind and I like it. I do
mean charge too, as these crazy bastards play at outrageous speeds
while all the time keeping it heavy as hell, leaving just enough
room between the strides for some cool skillful guitar nuances and
tasty twin guitar morsels. The vocals are probably the only area
where they have a minor amount of newer school influence, as it is a
mix of ‘80s screamed, gruff speed thrash metal style vocals, mixed
with a post ‘90s death growl and black rasp. Another I like about
Bütcher is they keep in the old tradition of catchy, but heavy song
structuring that often culminated in some nice straight forward,
memorable classic metal hell style lyrics with some cool choruses
and the like. These guys have that metal to the bone attitude (all
members go by classic band sounding monikers such as LV Speedhämmer
& KK Ripper) to them that I like, and proud of them keeping it
alive. I would not be surprised if they recorded this on analog
equipment, the production is great, but does not thankfully have the
over produced quality of a lot of modern metal albums. I know I am
an old goat and this is what I cut my teeth on, so I have a bias
coming into this thing, but all the same in my opinion this is a
killer, top quality album that all fans of ‘80s metal will drool
over! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Butcherspeedmetal
https://www.osmoseproductions.com/ |
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Buzzard Canyon
come out of the gates in style, with the song “Highway Run”, which
embodies what they are all about. Which is a brand of hard rocking
stoner music they call Camaro Rock. I have to admit this first song
is easily the best song on the album. It is a real anthem type tune,
which for me is a classic in the making and gets you hooked early. I
suspect that they probably open with this song live too, as I would
bet it really gets some heads nodding and some arms unfolded.
“Hellfire & Whiskey” is more on the stoner rock side, but there is
clearly a classic doom metal influence (Sabbath, Trouble etc…)
strongly running through this band, alongside the fuzzy southern
blues tinged driving guitars. The main vocals are handled by Amber
Leigh, her voice really fits the music well, there is no commercial
or angelic vocals here, she has that traditional stoner / doom style
with a little attitude and touches of raunch mixed in with some
cleaner singing. There are also some male lead vocals on a couple
tracks, those are decent as well, but I prefer Amber taking the
reigns vocally. I am not going to lie, the rest of the material
after the opening track, while good, never comes that close to
matching that fucking awesome song. But having said that, there are
some good moments to be had and it is a pretty enjoyable listen as a
whole. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/BuzzardCanyon/
http://www.saltoftheearthrecords.com/ |
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