 
Another
beautiful looking tape from NoVisible Scars, a cool looking dark
green see-thru cassette and some nice epic cover artwork.
Earthmission is a two song ep, which was recorded in 2007, it covers
the bands entire short lived existence. Earthlord features members
Hour Of 13, Upwards Of The End Of Time, Vestal Claret and Legend, as
well as ex-members of Nightbitch, Mercenary etc…The two tracks on
here are “Gods Of Antiquity” and “He Who Is Of The Water”. I would
describe the pleasing sounds on here as a 70s style classic Doom /
heavy metal band mixed with some newer stuff. Think of bands like
Captain Beyond, Pentagram, Sir Lord Baltimore, Manilla Road mixed
with newer style bands like Monster Magnet, Spirit Caravan, Solitude
Aeturnus, The Obsessed. Forgive the long list of comparisons but
both songs on here, though somewhat similar, are different sounding
enough that they feel like they are from two different eras of time,
the first song has the newer style / influence by my ear and the
second song is the more throwback song. I like the second song with
the older influence a little better, but both songs / styles sound
awesome. They were a very short lived band, it is a shame they did
not live a longer life as I am convinced if they continued to find
their sound it would have turned into something pretty special and
memorable. If you do not get a chance to get the cassette, which is
$4 USD, you can get an mp3 copy of this release for $2 USD. -
Dale
https://myspace.com/earthlord
http://nvslabel.blogspot.com/ |
I am proud to
present thee with a great new (to me anyways) great dynamic death metal
act from PA. Hey, is that drum intro from “Crosses of Ice” taken from a
Kick Axe song…um no maybe I’m imagining things. Where was I? Oh yes, I
was going to say that Edenrot are extremely talented musicians. The odd
clean vocal is thrown in but generally there are alterations between
deep understandable growl and raspy shriek with an overall enjoyable
outcome. I hear some Scandinavian influence like early Edge Of Sanity
and the like mixed in with their decidedly American approach. Unlike
most American acts, melody is important to Edenrot I didn’t get a bio,
but with 4 songs is this a MCD? Tho’ it does clock I at 30 minutes long.
$8 US / $9 World.
- Dale
Band contact:
Edenrot, 327 Ford Road, St. Marys, PA. 15857, USA
www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Stage/6728
|
I have been a
fan of the Swedish band Armagedda since I discovered them back in
2002, then I went on to get their first three albums, before
eventually losing track of this duo band (comprised of Graav & A.
Petterson who is also owns/runs Nordvis Produktion). I did not
follow them, and Graavhelder in particular, as he prefers to be
called now with his mainly one man bands in recent times. So, it was
good to get this debut album of his one man project Ehlder, and see
what he is up to. While Ehlder is certainly not the raw and hateful
black metal of the first two Armagedda albums, their third album “On
Spiritism” does hint at the style and sound that would eventually be
evolved into on this album. You can hear that same satisfying sense
of freezing cold melody of malevolence. ‘Nordabetraktelse’ sees
Graavehlder reaching out musically, through his bm roots back into
his pagan ancestral roots and culture to extol their ways, their
practices and connection to nature. The material on here is so
smooth, flowing and gives me a feeling of going on a mental journey,
similar to the fog I see rolling down the mountain tops on both
sides of my house many mornings, as it seeping through the trees and
into the valley where I live. I get that same feeling every time I
see that, and this could be the audio soundtrack to that. Do not get
me wrong, this is black metal, but largely devoid of the seething
odium and instead emphasizing the underlying aura in a very grand
sweeping fashion. The flow of the music on here just feels so free
and effortless, but clearly well crafted, plotted and skillfully
performed with just the right amount (at least by mine ear) of
tunefulness to keep you addicted to it’s brooding and hypnotic
sounds. The vocals have a varied arsenal of bm rasping, shouted
voice and other diverse sounds yet always kept somewhat sparse and
buried in the mix to let the sinuous instrumentation be the thing
driving this rewarding emotive black metal voyage. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ehlder
https://www.nordvis.com/en/
|
I will be honest
I was never really much of a fan of symphonic black metla, in fact
often times I hated that whole sound of the middle to late 90s that
became all the rage. That mantle seems to be what Elderblood has
picked up and are running with. I must say some of the rhythms and
melodies on here are probably a little more upbeat and happier
sounding than some of those bands, though there is an aggressive,
mean edge that rears it’s head at times, though not nearly often
enough for my liking. The synth is almost deafening, it is not used
as an accent, it is an in your face main instrument that at times by
my ear drowns out the tradition instruments to poor effect. I am
trying to find something I like on here honestly, the vocals are a
mix of death growls and black metal screams, they are pretty good.
Besides that the upbeat nature of the bulk the of the music and the
wet blanket that is the synth is thrown over top smothers the life
out of things for me. There are a few sections here and there where
the synth mercifully takes a back seat and those were the only
sections I could get any enjoyment out of. Yeah this is just not for
me, I think you have to be a pretty big devotee of sympho black
metal to really like this. As a side note I will say the packaging
provided from the label is nice, they do not skimp as you get a nice
thick, good looking booklet. This day and age of digital everything
that is getting to be a rare thing. - Dale
https://soundcloud.com/groups/elderblood
http://www.themetalunderground.com/ |
With the sword
and sandal cover art, I was a bit surprised by the music contained
on this release from this US trio. I was expecting pompous Manowar
styled anthems of heroism, women, and sorcerers. Instead, I get some
sloppy thrash with vocals that are more death oriented than
anything. The songs are hyper fast and in many cases short. Reminds
me at times of old school thrash from the mid to late 80's (SOD
comes to mind) but without the riffage. The production is rough and
raw but it works for this type of metal. I see the band members are
formerly of Your Kid's On Fire. I don't know if that's an indicator
but I'm not sure how serious to take this band. "The Law of Iron"
sounds like they're having a good time doing the music but are they
serious about making it a career? I doubt it.
- Mark Sugiyama
http://nvslabel.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/eldersoftheapocalypse
|
|
 
Each one of
these bands was recorded live during the Day Of Doom festival the
record label put on. Pretty smart when you are flying bands from
overseas and putting them up, to record them and release a “Day Of
Doom” live album from all four bands as separate releases. It not
only documents a historic show, but also in the long run I am sure
off-sets the costs in undertaking such a big endeavor with an
international line up. All the bands have a traditional doom heavy
metal base, but as you will see with my descriptions they weave in
various other influences and sub-genre styles. Domkraft play
a bit of a sludgy doom style that has this small tension running
through it, like a sinew in muscle. The vocals are hollered with a
strained mildly caustic edge to them. It is a little hard to explain
them to honest. Elephant Tree is a bit more laid back than
Domkraft and has a bit more of a stoner doom metal vibe. The vocals
are really calm, cool and collected clean vocals that suit the music
pretty nicely. Horsehunter is a fairly diverse doom band they
get moody one moment or one song, ala that old Black Sabbath gloomy
slowness, then say on song like “Nuclear Reaction” things are more
angry and abrasive. Having said that, everything is smooth and the
quality of the music and compositions is high. Summoner for
me is a mixing of old school Sabbath/Candlemass type doom and modern
contemporary metal. While firmly holding on to that doom core, they
do have a higher energy level and some more briskly paced elements
of their songwriting. All four live albums have one common
denominator, besides doom metal of course, which is they all used
the same high quality recording equipment under the watchful eye of
recording engineer Chris Johnson. The resulting sound is crisp,
clear and heavy. This is a must for fans of these bands and actually
a good starting point for new fans, at least it was for me. -
Dale
www.facebook.com/HorseHunter
https://elephanttree.band/
https://www.facebook.com/domkraft
https://www.facebook.com/Summoner
https://mer.lnk.to/day-of-doom
https://store.merhq.com/ |
There have been
more than a few bands named Embalmed over the years. This particular
one is from Mexico. They were formed in 1989, but strangely did not
release their first demo until 1994, they work at a snails pace
apparently, as over the next 10 years they only released 2 eps and a
demo (which consisted of a rehearsal & live tracks). That takes us
to 2004 and since then they have been silent, maybe split up? Hard
to tell with their release rate, but in any case we get their debut
album Exalt The Imperial Beast after a seven year silence. I am sure
you are thinking was it worth the wait? Now it is not bad, but with
that sort of wait and nearly a decade to perfect this material, it
falls a little short of expectation. This is basically a worship
release of old war metal style stuff like Blasphemy, Angelcorpse,
Conqueror, Bestial Warlust, Oath of Black Blood Beherit. As I said
it is pretty good, but still it does not come that close to touching
those bands. But I can still enjoy it to a certain point though for
sure. I think this is only for die hard fans of war metal that just
can not get enough of it and are up for buying everything in this
great old chaos driven blitzkrieg style. –
Dale
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
ttp://www.hellsheadbangers.com/embalmed/
|
Emblazoned may be a new band upon the scene but the members have
been around in other bands for quite sometime. You have an ex-Jungle
Rot member and current members of Decrepit Birth. The band plays a
fierce and brutal mix of modern death metal mixed with early
nineties death guitars. The guitars go from being played with
relentless speed and aggression in the riffs/solo's to heavier more
mid to slower paced guitar before picking up the pace once again.
The drumming is right on the same pattern with fast, yet well played
and written drum patterns that go from violent blasting beats to
heavier mid-paced beats. The vocalist does a great job of mixing in
deep death growls with some shrieks/screams. Emblazoned are
definitely one of Deepsend Rec best releases to date and hopefully
the band will release a full-length soon!! All fans of brutal d.m should
check this as soon as possible.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/emblazoned666
http://www.deepsend.com/
|
This is my
virgin listen to both of these Polish metal bands, to be honest this
is likely not a good release to get your first impression on a band.
I say that because there are only 2 original songs from each band.
Plus both bands each do 4 cover songs (Mayhem, Sarcofago,
Pestilence, The Ramones, Obituary etc…), so eight out of a total of
twelve songs are covers, makes it a little harder to get a read on a
band. So I will just talk about the small amount of original
material. Embrional kick off the disc, and display some fast, riff
driven brutish death metal with slightly froggy (don’t mean that in
a bad way think a bit of Demilich, who I like) growling vocals.
Their first song is under two minutes, the second is a little
longer, slower but very simple and straight forward, not bad but
nothing too interesting. This release is like 3 years old, so I will
be interested to hear how Embrional has progressed on the full
length album also in this package. Empheris is a very different
sounding band, which is a good thing on splits I think. They are
more of a really dark thrash metal band with somewhat spastic and
varied, but cool gruff yet very understandable vocals, I like the
vocals. The music also is a bit on the simplistic side and with a
touch of early 90s black metal influence, hypnotic, evil speedy
material. Not a lot to go on but just enough that I hope to hear
more of Empheris soon. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/embrional
http://www.oldtemple.com/
|
I just reviewed
the Embrional split CD with Empheris, so it will be interesting to
see if there is some progression with Embrional these last three
years. I think the guitars sound fuller and maybe a better
production is part of that, but they do sound stronger, more filled
out and that is a big positive for me. The material seems more
confident, more frenetic and filled with imposing and aggressive
energy. The vocals follow suit and to me sound more commanding and
they still have that faint froggy sound to the deep growls and I
like that. Embrional sound a little darker to me now and I can feel
more black metal type of overtones. Their material is not what I
would call overly catchy and they definitely abandon the groove
riffs so many dm bands love and it would not be right with evil and
hostile sounding material such as this. There are some somber and
brooding moments with some cool guitar fill work such as is heard in
the middle section of the instrumental ‘Necropolis’. I think the
band still has some room to grow but they have already come quite a
ways in the last few years and this is something I could recommend
to die hards of the Black Death genre. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/embrional
http://www.oldtemple.com/
|
Another Polish
band courtesy of Godz Ov War. As you can tell from the title above,
this is Embrional’s 2007 demo, plus tacked on are no less than eight
live tracks, from a gig recorded in 2013. The demo tracks are solid,
but rather average sounding death metal, they are pretty thin on the
production end. The drums do not sound good, the guitars sound weak
and each instrument and vocal sounds kind of separated and
non-cohesive. So some of it might just be a sub-par mixing job. A
good going over by a talented mixer and higher end mastering, might
have lessened some of those problems. The music as mentioned is
pretty good, nothing stand out or overly interesting, but
nonetheless competent and moderately pleasing death metal, with
straight ahead aggression and brutality. The live tracks do not have
perfect sound, as you might expect, but they are actually a pretty
large step up from the production and sound of the demo. The live
material shows a band that has done a lot of maturing and honing of
their skills. Their death metal sounds are still brutal, crushing
and relentless when they want them to be. But as the band matured,
it seems they have learned how to milk quality from their songs a
lot better. They also clearly have grown as song writers, as
everything across the board is at a higher level and they go places,
the 2007 version of themselves probably never would have been able
to comprehend or produce. I would recommend this more for the live
tracks. But just being honest, I would probably say pick up the
bands full length, from a couple years back, if you want to really
get a quality representation of the band. On the other hand, if you
are already a fan of the band, this is a nice piece of the Embrional
cannon, that I am sure you would want to add to your collection,
especially if you are into live recordings and collecting your
favourite bands demo material. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Embrional
http://www.oldtemple.com/
|
This review will
be on the short side, I imagine. I mean do not get me wrong, I love
gore grind as much as the next deviant. But there are just not a
whole lot of dynamics, time changes, nuances etc… that lends the
genre to in depth description. One things is sure, Embryonic
Crytopathia are one sick and extremely manic band. For me “Uterine…”
immediately dredges up comparables such as early Carcass, old
Cryptopsy (but less dynamic) with a juicy sprinkle or splatter if
you like of the mighty Gut on the mix. A real relentless chugging
attack of flying riffs and dismembered drum runs. Whatever movie,
those first couple of intros are from, sounds awful twisted and just
campy as hell. I will have to make it a point to try to find and
watch that film. Recommended, if gore grind, is your thing.
– Dale
www.myspace.com/embryoniccryptopathia
|
|
I have mixed
feelings on this one. The Polish band Empatic play a base of melodic
Swedish style death metal. Which at times, is really good and well
done; but the other element in their sound metalcore, a style I am
not overly fond of, to say the least. Even with melodic death metal,
I am a fan, but I am a pretty picky fan when it comes that
particular genre. Empatic do the Swede dm sound some justice, at
times, then other times the quality drops off and they become quite
repetitive sounding. When the metalcore type elements rear their
head, it really, in my view, let’s everything down and cheapens what
they seem to be trying to achieve. I will give them points, for
trying the odd unconventional, with quirkly little change ups or
accents, but those are usually short lived and not particularly
poignant to the songs overall context. The menacing, steam rolling
growled vocals, may be my favourite part of this record and the one
area, that seems to keep up the quality consistently through the
record. I don’t know, there are some good things going on here, but
they are all too fleeting and inconsistent, for me to really put my
recommendation on this one. Once again thank you to Godz Ov War, for
supporting Canadian Assault, by sending all of these albums in, also
for doing a great job promoting their great countries quality metal
scene to the fullest! - Dale
http://www.empatic.com/
http://www.terrasound.at/
|
This young
Canadian band despite only having released two previous EP’s, seem
to be creating some stir around the UG scene. This release is the
bands debut full-length and also of note, they are the first band
signed to Petrichor Records, which is the sub-label of the well
respected long running Hammerheart Records (who have been releasing
records by bands like Aura Noir, Denial Of God, Ancient Rites,
Macabre, Necrophobic, Old Funeral, Primordial, Sinister, Aeturnus
etc…). Empress are a trio, or sadly were a trio as the bassist
Brenden Gunn passed away this past October, and by reading the bio
all three members contribute to the songwriting, so it is a loss on
many levels obviously. I would describe the music as progressive
heavy metal intertwined with smaller portions of doomy stoner hard
rock, which is lightly spiced with touches of sludge now and again.
The composition of their music is very fluid and smooth with
memorable songs that successfully coax emotion in the listener and
it is easy to get caught up in it’s web. All three of the members
performances drip with emotion and class. Having given many deserved
compliments here, I must also confess that the overall result of the
bands music and stylistic influences (at times too airy, light,
commercial / accessible) are not always congruent with my personal
musical tastes. Yet, I can at the same time admit this album is a
quality work from start to finish that achieves the goal it set out
to reach. Which is why, I would still recommend you give it the
chance it deserves in spite of possible preconceived notions similar
to mine. - Dale
https://thisisempress.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/hammerheartpetrichor/
|
Encirclement
comes out of California's extreme UG scene with ’Vacio Sepulchral’,
which is this young bands debut recording. This release features
eight tracks totaling twenty minutes of savage and brutal black
death metal at it's finest. The guitars are a mix of powerful, heavy
mid paced guitars and some faster more chaotic guitar passages. The
guitarist does a great job performing both the faster and more
controlled patterns with equal intensity and ferocity. The vocals
are powerful deep death metal growls and some raw black metal
screams that are used in a few of the songs. The drums are performed
with extremely fast blasting drum passages that are done with power
and skill. This is recommended for fans of barbaric brutal
primordial war metal should definitely check out Encirclement
today. - Patrick
https://encirclement666.bandcamp.com/
https://bornforburning.bigcartel.com/
|
This is an
interesting release to pull out of the mailbox. Enraged are an
extreme death metal band from Holland. A scene that traditionally
has produced amazing and/or at least notable death metal bands like
the mighty Pestilence, Asphyx and Sinister, as well as other fairly
well known dm bands like God Dethroned, Severe Torture, Xenomorph
etc… I am not sure I would say Enraged sounds that close to Dutch
bands, I think they actually have more in common with the style of
death metal played by countrymen Gorefest. That is who springs to
mind for me as possible influence. This is some pretty intense,
heavy death metal and some might find it surprising with the
brutality, at how many awesome short guitar solos they mix in. I
mean some really fantastic guitar soloing, I just looked in the bio
and find out that the band somehow got almighty Andy Laraque (King
Diamond), James Murphy (Death, Testament) and a couple other blokes
from local bands God Dethroned and Darkane to contribute solos! The production on here
is top notch as well. I think this is something any die hard brutal
death metal fan needs to check out. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/enraged
http://www.enraged.nl/ |
|
We are presented
with some Greek black / death metal. I review so many albums, for so
many years, I am at a bit of a loss on whether or not I have crossed
paths with this band before? That is partly due to the length
between full-length albums, but the name vaguely rings a bell.
Enshadowed released two albums in the early 2000’s, and then a
series of singles and things, but this album is actually one full
decade since their last full record. So excuse me if it has been a
minute haha. Magic Chaos Psychedelia is a pretty intense affair,
with an emphasis upon aggressive hate, produced through atmospheric
sounds and destructive speed within the musical content. I would say
their sound is a cross between old Morbid Angel style death metal
and Scandinavian black metal (think Immortal, Marduk etc…). The
performances and playing on here are tight and top notch, an example
of this would be the drumming, very tight and precise. The actual
music itself is nothing super special, but it is good, some nice
variation in the speed and brief moody bits, the riffing will get
your head nodding as the darkness envelopes you. There is actually
some fairly imaginative stuff going on with the guitar patterns and
accents now and then. The vocals are a mix of shadowy growls and
rasping bm hiss, both are mixed together well and fit the music like
a spiked glove on a fist. I have to say I really enjoyed this
record; hopefully it is not another ten years until I hear from them
again. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/enshadowedband
http://www.pulverised.net/
|
Bulgaria's Enthrallment play U.S style brutal death metal in the
vein of Devourment, newer Cannibal Corpse etc..fast, furious guitars
with some technical riffs thrown in the mix {but personally not
enough I would not label enthrallment a "technical" DM band}
drums are a barrage of blast beats that will pummel your senses and
leave you begging for more! Deep death growls with some sick
screechy/screams are mixed into the deeper vocals for a nice mix.
Enthrallment are not really breaking any new ground, or the most
original band around today but I must admit the songs on People From
Lands of Vit are catchy, and worth checking out. Fans of early Dying
Fetus, Suffocation etc.. You guys should give this album a chance.
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/enthrallment
http://www.unitedguttural.com
|
|
Entrapment come
out of the Netherland’s death metal scene with their newest release
“Through Unseen Realms”. This album features eleven songs of solid,
heavy death metal with some very creative and well performed
passages. The guitars are played with both heavy mid paced guitar
riffs and more straight forward fast patterns. The guitarist does
know how to write, and perform well written guitar patterns, and
even mixes in some well done solos. The drums are done with a lot of
class, and well done patterns going on an all out assault on the
drum kit, to a more controlled mid paced drum style. This is my
first time hearing Entrapment’s music, but this new release mixes
solid, heavy death metal with some melodic dm passages and even some
thrash elements in the guitars. - Patrick
http://entrapment2.bandcamp.com/
http://www.pulverised.net/ |
|
Entrench from Sweden play violent "classic" thrash metal. The band
seems to be influenced mostly by the early German gods of yesterday.
The musicians of Entrench have a lot of good musical ideas to keep
the music both fresh and memorable while keeping the pure thrash
sound and attack alive within Entrench's songs. Chaotic fast guitars
that while being played at insane speeds also have some complex
structures and solo's that are pulled off flawlessly. It seems their
are a lot of thrash metal bands coming out of nowhere in the scene
but Entrench have a lot of great ideas added within their thrash
that makes this band definitely one to stand out and above the
endless sea of others currently flooding the scene. Fans of intense,
raging thrash definitely get a hold of Entrench's Inevitable Decay
today!!
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/entrench
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/
|
The thrash metal
scene lately seems to be really growing and making another comeback.
Entrench who have been around for a while, show that the Swedish
thrash metal scene continues to flourish. Entrench are proudly old
school thrash to the maximum here, with their 3rd
full-length they sound like they are straight out of the mid to late
‘80s, when thrash metal was king. The band rip things up with a
speedy assault, filled with swift catchy riffing and slightly
unconventional, but interesting patterns and flow if you pay enough
attention, you will be rewarded with some subtle tasty guitar work.
The drumming punishes and pummels with ferocity and a real high
level of control and maturity. I guess I should not be surprised, as
I just looked up the drummer Mats Blyckert, it appears he has been
honing his craft in the bands Aboth and Dead Awaken as well, playing
almost consistently since 1989! Plus, of course, he has also been
playing in Entrench since 2005. The vocals have that dark, obscured
thrash gruff hiss to them, but unlike the music the vox have a
little more modern influence, from early ‘90s death bands
accompanying the traditional thrash delivery. I have seen a few
reviews comparing them only to Merciless and Sadus, over and over,
which are fair comparisons yet I wondered why all of them came up
with that until I read the bio which names those two bands. I say
that, because I do not know how you could not list the obvious
middle-late ’80 German thrash influence, especially with regards to
Kreator who are clearly a big influence. I thought I even heard a
hint of Forced Entry in there, but I may be imagining things haha.
If you are a die hard fan of classic thrash metal, then you will
love this, it will bring back to you that old great feeling. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/entrench http://www.ihate.se/
|
Oh god, is this band
ever untalented! I mean I hate the limp wristed gothic metal/rock this
band plays but if they do it well, I will at least give them that. I
cannot do that with Entwined. This singer is worst of all, he is all
gravely and his voice breaks up as he drops in and out of tune. I mean
it is so hilarious every time he opens his mouth with that, goofy voice
and embarrassingly bad lyrics. I cannot help but burst into laughter
while listening to this. The music isn’t much better - simplistic,
awkward and boring. Who is the responsible for signing this band!? Fuck! - Dale
Earache Records,
Suite 915, 295 Lafayette St., New York, NY, 10012, USA
|
This veteran
band from Memphis, Tennessee returns with their fourth album, and
the first full-length in 17 years! I say veteran band as they reach
back to early ‘90s under different names before unleashing their
first recording, in the form of a demo tape way back in 1994! As
near as I can gather by doing a little reading up the band never
officially ended, just was put on hold while other life priorities
were focused upon. I must admit I almost passed up even listening to
this when I seen the band described as “melodic black death metal”,
the melodic part I was immediately imagining lighter works of Dark
Tranquility, Children Of Bodom, Soilwork, In Flames and the like.
But no, in my view Epoch Of Unlight is much more from the school of
the brutality, where death metal is the most dominant element over
the melodic ala Dissection, Swordmaster, Aurora Borealis,
Necrophobic, Sacramentum type bands. Having said that, there was one
sequence that was very Maiden-esque, but I loved the way they did it
and it was quickly swallowed up again by extremity. The overall
brutal nature and extreme speeds for me make the melodic side of
things stand out stronger and have impact. While I would not call
them a techno oriented band, their level of technicality nonetheless
is a strong element in their sound and showcases the high talent
level and songwriting prowess Epoch Of Unlight possess. I am really
into the vocals of Scott Baggett, he has a deep charismatic growling
voice with various acidic and higher accents, familiar sounding yet
have this unique edge to them. Those main growl vocals is like a
mixing of the vocals of Dave Ingram (Benediction), David Vincent
(Morbid Angel days), and Karl Willets (Bolt Thrower). I am not the
biggest fan of melodic death or melodic black death metal, so you
know this must be a strong album to win me over and make me a fan.
- Dale
https://epochofunlight.bandcamp.com/
https://www.darkhorizonrecords.com
|
It is a pretty
interesting coincidence, at least to me, that I receive an album
from a band not only out of my homeland and even the same province.
But, they are also signed to a record label, which is only a short
drive away from where I now reside in Pennsylvania. It is a small
world I guess. The band plays a style that unlike many sub-genres
these days is not oversaturated. I am talking about Crossover
Thrash, you know thrash metal mixed with healthy doses of punk and
hardcore. Epi-Demic keep it traditional and right down the middle,
with frantic speed showing little to no sizeable swings in tempo or
range, another trademark of the bands that defined the term
Crossover. Epi-Demic do slip in some pretty catchy rhythms into the
riffing framework, at times, which helps keep the interest and
differentiate the songs a little more from one another, in turn
producing a light headbang from me. Between the punk and hardcore
influences, I would say hardcore is far and away taking the lead
with a lot of hardcore style cadence to the pacing. Plus, you have
the vocals, which are probably more hardcore shouted style than your
usual gruff thrash vocal staple. Some bands I can hear influence
from on here are Cryptic Slaughter, Wehrmacht, SOD, Crumsuckers, COC
during their crossover period, maybe a little bit of early Nuclear
Assault as well. You often hear in reviews, they are retro but bring
in modern touches, I am not saying that here these guys are old
school all the way, even the production in some ways, but they own
it and are proud of it. So kudos to them for doing what they like,
and not pandering to modern fans, just to try to be more relevant as
it seems like a lot of bands try to do. It might not be mindblowing
stuff, but it is good Crossover Thrash, done unapologetically in the
old tradition with spiked fist to the face. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/theplaguebegins13 http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/
|
Coming out of
Belgium’s death metal scene is Epoch, with the cd version of
“Sacrosanct”, which was originally only a digital release back in
2015. The music is heavy death metal, with elements of black metal
and various other genre’s mixed in, to create a very heavy and
unique sound and style. The guitars are nicely performed and well
written; mixing in raging fast speeds, but the guitarist can also
play mid paced sections with similar skill. The music is a nice mix
of fast melodic parts and moving at times into more diverse tones
and patterns. The vocals are brutal death metal growls with some
gruff vocals mixed into a few of the songs. To sum it up, Epoch
create and execute an enjoyable style of death metal with some other
varied minor influences, so if you are a fan of brutal yet unique
death metal then be sure to check this out today. - Patrick
https://epoch616.bandcamp.com/album/sacrosanct
http://www.lavadome.org/
|
This is the solo
album from the mighty Eric Wagner of the legendary doom band Trouble. It
is amazing that this album which was four years in the making had
been finished just weeks before Wagner’s untimely death in August
2021 at the age of just 62, due to complications from Covid-19
(apparently as I hear it he was opposed to getting vaccinated and
that created tensions with an old Trouble band mate). As it turns
out this sort of feels like a tribute to himself and/or a final gift
to his many fans out there. It appears Wagner and his former band
mate in Trouble Dave Snyder wrote the bulk of this album with
various contributions from a cavalcade of guest musicians. Actually
it is impressive with so many contributors that this album feels and
sounds so cohesive in performance and even sounding stylistically
too. This album in sound, atmosphere and execution is classic
Trouble all the way, especially when they sort of entered that
period where they took their great traditional doom metal style and
incorporated a bit a of stoner doom vibe ala “Manic Frustration” and
”Plastic Green Head” albums era. Well okay, not the song “If You
Lost It All”. Which is a meandering moody somewhat ballad-y song,
but with prominent violin, it is the weakest song on here for me,
but still a pretty good song (and the shortest) nonetheless. Eric
Wagner is still in fine form with those amazingly elegant, haunting
and magnetic pipes combined with his supreme talent of feeling for
the best range and manipulation of his vocal timing, resulting in
maximum emotive impact is still fully intact. There are some
excellent, memorable songs on this record. It does feel like a lost
Trouble album, but is it as good as those old classic records? Well,
no it is not but it is damn good and would not be out of place
quality wise with those great albums. A must for fellow diehard
Wagner / Trouble diehards like me. - Dale
https://cruzdelsurmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/
|
Australia’s
Eskhaton return with their third full length ‘Omegalitheos’, which
features fourteen songs of aggressive and heavy death metal. The
guitars are done mainly with extremely fast and well written
patterns. The guitars are not all aggression and speed all the time,
as the guitarist does slow to a mid paced tempo with some excellent
passages and even adds some solos throughout the songs. The drummer
is equally as vicious and chaotic with his performance; he is rapid
fire with the blast beats though he does catch a breath with some
slower paced patterns here and there. If you enjoyed Eskhaton’s
previous releases then do yourself a favor and check out
‘Omegalitheos’ today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/eskhaton666
http://www.lavadome.org
|
This is on Garm’s
new label and is supremely gay ambient infatuation, but not gloomy
rather a happy sort of soundtrack for a love scene in some Hollywood
movie. In other words it chews big fat donkey nuts! No one anywhere in
the CD is credited as being in the band. So I’m thinking it is a side
(or even solo) project of Garm’s. If this is what he likes no wonder the
new Ulver hangs like a shriveled penis on a cold, Canadian, winter
morn.
- Dale |
‘Calyx Of Black
Metal Blood’ is this bands debut release featuring twelve songs of
violent and totally uncompromising black metal music. Tsorn
(Cinereous Rain, Coven Spell, Crypt Witch, Death Carrier, Donarhall
plus more bands!) who lives in Germany handles all the writing and
performing of all the instruments for the band. The music is
destructive with raw guitars and drums that are played with
intensity and hyper-speed aggression. Tsorn does compose some
slower, darker passages that fit the music perfectly to give the
music a darker and sinister feel. Malduchryst (Acta Sanctorum,
Cinereous Rain, Derelenismo Occulere, Le Legione plus more) comes
out of the Ecuador's black metal scene and handles the vocals for
the band. The vocals are excellent harsh and raw black metal screams
and he uses some nice demonic growls are used in a few of the songs.
Essence Of Blasphemers play a uncompromising style of satanic black
metal that is both vicious and well composed for a very good debut
release. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/essenceofblasphemers https://www.purity-through-fire.com
|
It is always a
pleasure to receive, for review, releases from the great South
American UG metal scene. So it was very cool to get this album of
Estigma, a band who come to us out of Peru, a country that has a
bigger more quality scene than many people outside of South America
would ever believe. Some might remember I listed Estigma, as one of
my fave bands on a recent review of the Soulgrinder compilation. The
man who put it out, Paul Caravasi seen that and sent me this album,
so all thanks goes to Paul for this review. The band plays deathrash
metal, with pretty equal parts from both sub-genres, possibly
leaning a little more to the thrash side of things. Despite my
preamble about the SA scene, this band actually outside of the well
done decipherable death growls with a slight native accent
undertone, sound very American, as in the United States of America.
To give you a picture of the influences, think of a mixing of Bay
Area thrash (late ‘80s / early ‘90s) and Floridian death metal
(early ‘90s), leaning toward the more clean and polished albums from
those scenes. When I say polished I refer to the total package of
playing, hook laden catchy songwriting and production, which is not
to say it is not heavy as fuck too, because it is! This honestly is
an excellent album, truly quality from top to bottom from the music
itself, to the top notch production and instrumental performances.
Having said that, looking deeper into the history of the band, I was
interested to find out after releasing a demo, EP and an album in
the mid-90s this album is their first release in 19 years!! I assume
the band split at some point or was just put on hold, not sure
either way, but they had an awful lot of time to work on this
record. So, it was a surprise for me, to find out that 50% of this
album is made up of songs from their past works all those years ago.
So I guess this album better be damn good (and it is) if in total it
encompasses twenty years of song writing! Anyway, back to the music,
my two favourite parts were the strong, proficient drum work and the
tasty accomplished guitars, which are expertly crafted and drip with
emotion and class. I think my fave track might be the title track,
which embodies everything great about this band and I am sure is
destined to be a future classic song live for the die hard followers
of this band. Estigma represents yet another fine example among many
of why the South American scene is one of the very best in the
world. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/estigmaperu https://www.facebook.com/postunderproductions
|
It is really cool to
see that Pagan Records is still going and strong I might add. I recall
enjoying (label head) Tomasz’s fanzine Holocaust immensely. As well as
his first couple releases (Crucifier & Behemoth) on the then fledging
young label. Anyway, here’s their 16th release and a fine one
at that. Esqarial very craftily meld American brutal death/grind with
the finesse of Euro thrash topped with raspy death vocals. They surely
know how to make heavy and often, brutal music with atmosphere (without
any cheesy keybored, female vocal crutches!) not often witnessed within
such blistering musick. - Dale
Pagan Records, P.O.
Box 12, 86 105 Swiecie 5, POLAND
|
Let me hit you
with some interesting background information. Firstly, the name has
an obvious Finnish reference. Though surprisingly the band is from
Sweden, made of mainly Finnish guys living Sweden. The second tidbit
is they had recorded a mini-album for Necropolis records in 1992
that was never released until now. I guess it is no surprise that
Paul Thind and Necropolis screwed something up yet again that can be
added to the list. What we have here is that unreleased record
entitled “Twilight in The Wilderness” plus their “Doomed” seven inch
from 1992 as well and their “Ceremony of Doom” demo tape from 1990.
I must say this is some seriously cool doom with a slow to
approaching middle pacing metal. I feel this material is excellent
even by today’s standards. Well also nothing ground breaking by
today’s standard either but back in the day? You fucking bet!
Eternal Darkness do not get mentioned that often next to other doom
death pioneers like Autopsy, My Dying Bride, Anathema, Goatlord,
Thergothon, Cathedral but certainly should. That low rumbling
brutality and darkness is calling for you. –
Dale
www.necroharmonic.com
www.myspace.com/eternaldarknesssweden
|
Coming out of
the Swedish blackened thrash metal scene is Eternal Evil with their
debut demo, which is being released through the well respected
Redefining Darkness Records. “The Rise Of Death” features a intro
and four songs of aggressive old school dark thrash metal that is
both intense and extremely well written, and proficiently performed.
The band is comprised of teenagers, the oldest one being 17, but
would you not know it by listening to the music on this demo
recording. The guitars are done with skill and aggressive guitar
structures and patterns. The guitarist does write some memorable
passages, even adding in some well performed guitar solos. The
vocals are raw black metal screams mixed with some gruff screams
that are used throughout a few of the songs. The drums are played at
a whirlwind fast speed, that yes are done with speed, but he also a
good well rounded drummer that very capably performs his demanding
duties. The drummer does slow to a more mid paced style, but only
for a short time before speeding back up to mainstay faster pace. If
you enjoy old school black metal mixed with a healthy dose of thrash
influence, then be sure to pick up a copy of Eternal Evil’s debut
demo when it is released. - Patrick
https://eternalevil.bandcamp.com/
http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/
|
Holy shit!
Eternal Evil bust out of my headphones like a caged beast set free,
hopped up on adrenaline rush and driven by extreme hate. You had
better hold on to something or strap yourself down when you listen
to this album, or it may possess you to tear apart your entire home
in a headbaning whirlwind fury. I mean this is some excellent and
ferocious black thrash metal, despite the lightning attack
everything is steeped in an evil and dark aura that creates an
atmosphere that I found spellbinding. I think all fans new and old
will like Eternal Evil’s brand of thrash, but there is no denying
they worship and produce metal that pays devoted homage to the early
releases of bands like Destruction, Sodom, Kreator, Slayer, Dark
Angel, Razor etc… I hope you are okay with metal that does not give
you breathers, does not give you brooding emotion and the like
because Eternal Evil never lets up from start to finish, take that
to the bank. Despite this there is some excellent musicianship on
here on here, even at those blitzing speeds, it is controlled chaos
and the riffing and rhythms on here will wreck your neck through
violence and finesse. With only one demo and an EP single under
there belts, this you band have produced one hell of a debut album
that will be sure to please old school fans of the genre that can
not get enough quality thrash in their collections. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/eternalevil666/
http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/
|
The South
American scene is so good in recent years, so I can not help, but to
excited every time a band from that region of the planet arrives in
my mailbox. This time around we have the debut album from Peru’s
Eternal Exhumation. I don’t always talk a lot about the lyrics, but
I do find some of the lyrics, which mainly deal with the history of
the Peruvian Empire, an interesting read. Such as fine little bits
like this “Foreigners from the north, Men arrive with hair on face
and with armor, Mounted on four legged demons, With strong spears
and strange language tips”. Anyways, interesting lyrical content
aside, let us move on to the main attraction the music itself.
Eternal Exhumation plays excellent, relentless early to mid ‘90s
style tremolo picked death metal insanity. I mean this shit is
fucking brutal and crushing music, which batters and bloodies you
from the first second of the record to the final second with nary a
break insight. These guys are unyielding and ruthless at all times!
It does have a level technical craftsmanship to the song writing,
yet I would not label it technical death metal, but I also would not
put it into the death grind sub-genre, no this is just well done and
very entertaining straight on death metal. Despite the constant
brutality level, and speed attack, the band does have nuance going
on in the guitar department with tasty little fills and emotive
accents that a level of refinement and depth, within barbarity. The
vocals are imposing and rolling growls that are pretty powerful and
fit the music to a proverbial T. Something else, some South American
productions can tend to be on the raw or low-fi side of things,
which I sometimes like honestly, but you can put away that worry
here as the production on this album is excellent being very loud,
clear and heavy. I am endlessly amazed at how damn good the South
American UG metal scene is, Eternal Exhumantion are just another
fine example of this to add to the list of strong bands from that
area of the globe. Check this out if you love early to mid ‘90s
classic death metal that is of top notch quality. - Dale
https://eternalexhumationperu.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/gateofhorror
|
|
Ireland has always had a great metal scene whether it was black,
doom, or death. And Eternal Helcaraxe are no different. EH fall into
the epic, pagan black metal genre. Against All Odds is the
bands debut and is very impressive for a debut. It is fast, intense
music with some well done keyboards that are nicely mixed into
chaotic, violent black metal for a nice blend of traditional, fast
black metal and parts of epic, pagan blackness. The guitars are
blazing fast with some good riffs, drumming is fast blast beats with
some mid-paced beats. The vocals are blackened metal screams but
there are some really well-done and sung melodic clean vocals. It
will be nice if the band uses more of the clean vocal patterns on
the next Eternal Helcaraxe as they seem to fit the bands style very
well. Highly recommended to all fans of quality, pagan black metal.
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/eternalhelcaraxe666
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/
|
Prophetic starts
off, with a nice mellow intro, that suddenly breaks into a blast
beating fury of hyper-speed brutal death metal. Eternal Rest do slow
things up, change and completely go in a different direction at
times, throwing in emotional / moody material to add / create a good
dynamic to their material. But they always return to the speed,
ferocity and barbarism before long. I do not think people should let
themselves get hit over the head too hard with ET’s extremity, in
which case they may overlook some of the talented, stylish, even now
and then adventurous guitar work at play on this album. In fact, I
would say Eternal Rest display a higher level of song writing and
arranging skills on this album than the majority of their
contemporaries in the death metal genre. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/eternalrestband
http://www.deepsend.com/
|
|
This is the Finnish
band, who after releasing several demo tapes put out “Sinners Serenade”
their debut on X-Treme Records from Sweden. Melodic death/black metal in
the same general style as the usual Gothenburg boys but really do a lot
like any one in particular. E.T.O.S. tend to be a little more sad and
melancholic without thankfully incorporating any gay goth touches. The
male vocals are very acidic and good as well the female ones are done
straight and not that operatic cheese. - Dale
Website =
www.iki.fi/jape/etos.htm
Email = t1772@myy.helia.fi
|
I do not get
much thrash metal for review these days, but North Carolina’s
Eugenic Death deliver exactly that with aplomb and bring back some
memories for me. They actually remind me of that time when thrash
had been the thing, firmly entrenched, but some thrash bands were
beginning to let this new sound, death metal creep in just a little
bit. The vocals make me think of that partially, they are those
clear yet rough ‘n gruff yelled vocals, but in this case have a tiny
hint of the death metal grow to their seedy underbelly. Crimes
Against Humanity will take you right back to the late 80s and early
90s thrash metal sound, they sound like they burst straight outta
the Bay Area scene from back then. Some bands that spring to mind
are Exodus, Defiance, Vio-lence, Death Angel, Righteous Pigs,
Testament, Dark Angel and the like. It is definitely American
sounding, no mixing of German thrash sound from back then as so many
old style thrash bands do, no this is made in the USA all the way.
This is some energetic stuff, nothing new or outside the box here,
but the material is really good, some of it will stick in your head,
you can rock out to it and headbang along. I am not sure if you can
ask a whole lot more out of the classic thrash sound. There is some
fine guitar work on display here as well. Thrash fans of old, that
need something new to listen to, you will definitely want to give
this one a listen straight away. This is only for old school thrash
maniacs, all others need not apply. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/eugenicdeath
http://www.heavenandhellrecords.com
|
It seems like
Hammer of Hate specializes in bands that are very unknown and hard
to find info on. Much like Valoton, this Russian band seems to be
quite new on the UG scene radar. My past experience with Russian
bands, for whatever reason, the production is usually quite bad but
Nightside Of Eden dispels that perception that Russia does not
possess any proper recording studios. The guitar and huge bass
guitar sound in particular is really nice here. Some of the songs on
this six tracker are long, like 7 to 9 minutes. I am not really sure
they have the goods to be carrying off epic pieces such as those. I
think I enjoy the guitars on here most, some long drawn out dark
riffs that produce a gloomy mood. On the other end the vocals are
often talk / growled and are not great, I mean they are passable,
but they do not seem to fit he music very well. Speaking of which
for me the drums at times feel like they were constructed for a
different band or song than the one they are being used on. The
drums just do not seem to fit and at times I actually find them a
little distracting to be honest. The sound on the drums is also fine
but sort of feel like they were mixed in by a different engineer
than the rest of the band or something, something weird going on
with those drums. Well some interesting stuff going on here, but
honestly I think the band would have been more suited to marinate
and release a couple demos before going for an album. There is
something there though, hopefully some time and patience will refine
that talent further. I stand corrected, just realized this was
recorded at Endarker studios in Sweden, which serves to strengthen
my suspicion that there are not many or possibly any good recording
studios in Russia. – Dale
http://www.hammer-of-hate.com/
|
|
There has been a
bunch of bands named Evil over the years. I think, I sometimes get
this Evil, mixed up with the black metal one from Brazil. The Brazil
one, is a much older band than this Slovokian Evil, even though this
Evil have been around for ten years in their own right. Despite this
band being in existence for a decade, this is their debut album. So
you can not accuse this band of not paying their dues, before
releasing an album, as they have released around 15 demos and split
vinyl’s! This album is composed of long epic songs that alternate
moods, speeds, from slow somber sections to mid pace coldness and on
up to a hateful raging speed velocity. I would, have to say this
album is well constructed and thought out, a lot of care has gone
into this record and it shows. Legenda… is a fascinating,
interesting journey, I like that they take their time and are not
afraid to make long, seven or eight minute songs, yet there is no
mindless droning for minutes on end as many bands do. I think this
will be an album for those reading this, which will take many
listens to absorb everything and filter it through your emotions and
thoughts. I really like the vocals as well, they are somewhat
obscure sounding and not the focal point, but those blackened
whisper rasps add an extra layer to the musical tapestry. I think
black metal fans, that like old black metal, but also like
atmospheric black music that does not need a bunch of keyboards to
take the easy way out, will find an awful lot to like about this
cold piece bm ambience and furious hate. - Dale
http://thetruevil.wbl.sk/
http://www.hexencave.wz.cz/
|
Coming out of
Peru's old school death metal scene is Evil Damn, who were formed
back in 2004 and has released quite a few demo's, ep's and splits
over the years. ‘Necronomicon’ is the bands debut full length
featuring nine songs of well crafted and performed old school death
metal that is both well executed and uncompromising in it's intense
delivery. The music is played with skill and intensity; the guitars
are done with fast and aggressive patterns. The guitarist does write
some memorable guitar sequences with a mix of fast crazed passages
and some calmer mid paced patterns. The vocals are a mix of gruff,
raw old school death metal growls and some screams are used in a few
songs. There are some deeper demonic growls used during a few of the
songs. ‘Necronomicon’ is a great debut if you have liked the bands
previous releases then be sure to check out this album when it is
released you won't be disappointed. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/evildamn
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/
|
This is some
evil sounding blackened thrashing death metal. Once again, like
labelmates Odraza, this Polish band belies their debut album status,
as band is populated war hardened veterans of bands like Dead
Infection, Vader, Pyorrhea, Hermh and many more. I was surprised
reading their included bio, apparently the original recording for
this session happened in 2005! Then over the years, spanning several
studios until it was finally completed at last. It is impressive,
considering that process, that the album is as cohesive sounding and
naturally flows as well as it does. Just to give you an idea, of
where this band is coming from influentially, as well as in spirit,
they have chosen two legend bands and songs to cover on this album,
those being Onslaught with “Power From Hell” and “Die Hard” from the
immortal Venom. Outside of those two covers, we get eight songs of
gloomy thrash tinged death metal, which will chill you to the bone
with the dank, cold atmosphere, as well as provide you a catalyst to
drink along to the a back drop of war, both on the earthy plane with
machine guns, tanks and aircraft, as well as clashes between demons
and spirits rising and battling out of the fiery depths. The music
always has a brooding atmospheric touch to it, it is a central focus
creating that gloomy landscape, but it is also just stripped down
metal that continues creeping across the night like a rolling fog,
slowly swallowing up everything it touches. The vocals are very
obscure, blending into the music with growls and shadowy rasps that
serve to heighten the mood. Less is more with this band, but I do
find their brand of slow to mid paced metal quite infectious and
intoxicating. Nothing mind blowing, but I think old school fiends,
who also like modern touches to their metal, will get into this
one. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/evilmachine
www.arachnophobia.pl
|
Superb brutalizing,
merciless & blasphemic death metal the way it was meant to be and is
sure to dehumanize your soul. There are a couple slow sections scattered
throughout the speed, catchy riffs, some choice guitar leads and
underlying heaviness mixed w/ great temperate and deep growling. An
excellent release that deserves your support! - Dale
Band contact:
Evilution, 403 Washington Ave., West Haven, CT. 06516, USA
|
Well going on
nearly two decades after their inception. The doomy masters Evoken
continue to steamroll across the landscape like a creeping fog. I
see Dave Wagner is now part of the band. I know Dave’s work well as
I am a fan of his other bands Abazagorath and Funebrarum. Evoken
present four songs (only one under 10 minutes – it is basically a
full length Evoken album!) of primordial doom death that is
guaranteed to rip you a new asshole, even if the ripping is done in
slow motion. The measured riffs are so heavy and foreboding,
creating a truly desolate atmosphere peppered with some nice guitar
fills and drumming that accentuates the obscure suffocating feel of
it all. The vague growling vocals sort of float in and out of the
background with stealth and add to the mental scenery the music of
Evoken paints in your mind. Evoken are both ugly and beautiful at
the same time. I found myself in awe of their power. I believe this
is my first experience with Beneath The Frozen Soil. It appears like
they have been around some years but as of yet no full length album
released. There is nothing wrong with that however in my view, too
many bands rush into their first album, especially it seems in
Scandinavia. Beneath hit us with three songs, for just over 20
minutes of music. They do not have the same devastating effect on me
that Evoken did, but all the same this is very good Swedish doom
death metal. Beneath are maybe a little less obscure and ever so
slightly more upbeat than Evoken, but just as dark and depressive.
They are more into the keyboard accents yet it is not done in an
intrusive or overpowering fashion. Some crushing stuff from these
Swedes, I find myself already wanting more already. The more I
listen to Beneath The Frozen Soil the more addicted to their music I
seem to become. To be honest I do not see how any self-respecting
doom devotee could possibly not even just want, but must have this
split album in their collection. In my view, it is a landmark
release in the genre, pure and simple. –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/evoken
http://www.ihate.se/ |
Coming at us
like a bat out of hell or rather a band out of Illinois is Exalted.
First thing that hits me is the recording. I really like it, it is
more than clear enough but definitely gives me that early nineties
feeling and suits the maelstrom just fine. The album starts off and
I feel creeping darkness that sends a freezing plague through the
veins of any devout black metal junky. At times “We are The Grim
Throng” resembles a mixing of tracks from “Transylvanian Hunger” and
“Panzerfaust”. It may not be as good as those classic Darkthrone
albums but it is a good album on its own. There is even some really
rocking guitar injected from time to time ala Celtic Frost. It
almost seems as if it should not fit the whole musical scheme but
somehow it just does. If you can not get enough of that early 90s
black metal and classic Hellhammer / Frost vibe then you might want
to pick this one up. –
Dale
www.battlekommand.com
exaltedhail@yahoo.com
|
This is the
debut album of this young band bursting out of the mean streets of
Helsinki, the country’s capital city, situated on the frozen
northern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Excuse play a slightly more
stripped down speed metal style similar to bands like Sacrifice,
early Razor, Exciter, Onslaught, Forbidden, Omen etc… mixed some
Iron Maiden and other heavy metal influences. The music is
aggressive, but always keeping this unrelenting dark atmosphere
dripping from it’s edges. There are some pretty killer ripping solos
and guitar fills, ala the one in the second half of the song
“Goddess Injustice” or the one in the middle of “Blade Of The
Antichrist” for a couple good examples. They write some fairly
catchy, heavy and headbangable songs with some good hooks, rapid
pacing as well as some memorable lyrics and choruses. The vocalist
Oskar Lindström has a cool, clean yet slightly gruff vocal style, it
fits the gloomy aura of the music, but he does use copious amounts
of echoing effect on his vocals, probably a little too much, but it
does sound cool as long as you do not focus too hard on it’s
constant presence. I am not saying this is some kind of instant
classic by any means, but if you are a die hard fan of ‘80s heavy
metal and speed metal who can not get enough of that classic sound.
Then I think you are going to be pleased with a purchase of this
very solid debut record. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/excuseofficial
https://shadowkingdomrecords.bandcamp.com
|
From the heart
of the doomy sludge lands of Louisiana comes Excommunicated. They do
not exactly fit in with the locals musically however. The members of
Excommunicated come from bands you may or may not recognize like
Suture, Despondency, Catholicon… They are a young as an entity,
though obviously the members are not going round the block on their
trike for the first time, nevertheless this is the debut album from
the band. These blokes also have a few friends and/or connections as
they managed secure a couple brief guest appearances from the likes
of Vincent Crowley of Acheron & Andy Larouque of the almighty King
Diamond fame. Not bad company at all. The Music on Skeleton Key is
brutal and technical death metal that could probably be said to be
somewhat in the Florida style ala more recent Cannibal Corpse
material. The vocals however are not garbled growls (think of
something closer to Martin Van Drunen of classic Pestilence fame),
but they have more definition to them and the vocalist Chad Kelly
has a quality to his voice and inflection that adds some originality
to the band and sets him and them apart from many others in the
scene. Not exactly groundbreaking granted, yet Skeleton Key is an
excellent piece of darkened death metal. –
Dale
http://www.facebook.com/pages/UW-Records/162216050503802
|
Now this is the
way punk rock and hardcore should be played. These raunchy bastards
really rip it up, they have the speed, the good songs, the attitude
and you can shout along with the lyrics. I have heard more than a
few punk bands from this period in the early 80s and not many of
them are this heavy or belligerent. I had never heard of this band,
not that I am an expert on this genre, but all the same I was
surprised after hearing the quality that I had not heard of them. I
did a bit of digging online and apparently this Californian band
never released any proper releases, just some had tracks on some
compilations and shit. I find that even more amazing, this is a
great band, the recordings sound great. Maybe they did not have
enough material was the thought that crossed my mind. I mean I know
all the songs are like 1 ½ to 3 minutes long, but still there are 29
tracks of pissed off punk and hardcore on here. A lot of labels
really missed the boat back in the day apparently. Some of this shit
was ahead of it’s time. All I can say is if you love old music from
the above mentioned styles then you really need to check this out
sooner than later. - Dale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpjM3_VZqQs
http://www.patacrecords.com
|
|
Expulser are a
heavy, thrash metal band coming to us out of the Brazilian metal
scene. “The Unholy One” was originally released in 1992, but here it
has been remastered this reissue with full liner notes and also the
“Fornications” ep as a bonus on here. The guitar work on this record
is executed with a lot of skill, and ability to write and construct
some excellent classic heavy metal anthems. The vocals are old
school gruff growling and some blackened screechy screams are spread
throughout all the songs on here. If you missed out on this classic
release the first time around, as many of us did, then definitely
check out this unearthed gem of blackened heavy metal art today.
- Patrick
https://www.greyhazerecords.com/
|
Colorado's Expurgate debut Dementia Tremens sees the light of day
through the mighty Comatose Music. They present to us nine songs of
brutal, guttural insanity. I am not usually a big fan, interested
in bands that use guttural vocals seems like most bands the music
is not that brutal or good and all the interest is on the
vocalist. But that is not the case with Expurgate the musicians know
how to play brutal and intense death metal with catchy and memorable
guitars and blasting drums. As mentioned the vocalist uses the
guttural style but uses it well and blends it in with the music to
add another layer to the bands heavy brutal sound. If your a fan
guttural, straight forward styled death then definitely check out
the Comatose Music store and get this today.
- Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/expurgate
http://www.comatosemusic.com/ |
This is a
re-release of this now long defunct Massachusetts bands 2005 & 2006
demos combined together for seven tracks and about twenty-one
minutes of music. The band features the heart of what was the
December Wolves, with all three members being part of that band.
They play straight up ferociously fast and ripping, heavy mid to
late ‘80s thrash metal that showcases some exquisite skill and craft
some memorable songs. The riffs on here are massive and this band is
a great riff machine. The drum works is superb as well, and the
vocals of Scott Iconslaughter is excellent quintessential hoarse and
gruffly yelled and sung vox that I found really infectious to listen
to. Some bands that will surely spring to mind, in my opinion is
early Exodus, old Kreator, Razor, Destruction, Infernal Majesty,
early Slayer, Sacrifice, Dark Angel and other similar legend bands
in the genre. Cheers to Visceral Circuitry Records for digging these
demos back up and re-releasing them. I was around in the scene
during this time (and long before that too haha) and still somehow I
missed out on these killer releases. Thrash diehards who missed out
like I did need this! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/visceralcircuitryrecs/
https://visceralcircuitryrecs.bandcamp.com/
|
Coming to us out
of Finland's old school death metal scene is the new force known as
Extinguished that was formed in 2020 by members of Sadokist and
Obscure Burial. The debut demo ‘Vomitous Manifestations’ contains
four tracks of well delivered and executed heavy traditional death
metal. The guitars are played with a great deal skillful writing
with a mix of heavy mid paced guitar passages though the guitarist
does speed up to a fast pace in a few of the songs. The guitars also
feature some really well written and performed guitar solo's all
through the songs. The vocals are done with ferocious heavy death
metal growls and some gruff old school style growling is mixed into
a few songs. This debut demo is a masterpiece of primitive and
barbaric death metal that should please all fans of this genre -
highly recommended by me. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/CaligariRecords
https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/
|
This is my first
go ‘round with the British band Exxxekutioner, who fire off a
strafing audio experience of wicked thrashing speed metal, with a
small dash of punk crossover vibe in there as well. This is all done
in the olden tradition and you can hear the early German and
American thrash influences abounding on this snappy 24 minute
release. The first listen through, I was punch drunk on the
blitzkrieg pace and explosive energy. I thought to myself this is
pretty amazing stuff, okay, so maybe that feeling dwindled a bit
upon repeat listens. But, I only consider that as a very slight
caveat, as I really got into this mini-album and every spin it makes
me fucking headbang and that is a good thing! The riffing is super
heavy, and as catchy as the common cold, almost exclusively played
at breakneck speeds with rapid fire pounding drum whirlwinds to
match. This is all backed with some gruff yelled vocals that have
this slight whispering, rasping edge to them that brings a certain
darkness to the bands sound. Another thing I love about the band,
and the music is a real old school attitude that just drips off this
recording clearly fuelled by spikes, bullet belts, leather jackets,
cigs and booze! Okay, so there is nothing utterly amazing or
groundbreaking on this record, and you have heard it before. But, it
is so well done; almost perfectly capturing that old magic! It is
enjoyable the spin they put on old style thrash speed metal, and it
is just a fun listen for real goats like me who lived through this
period and height of this style, those who like and respect that
description should make sure to add to this musical grenade to their
collection. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Exxxekutioner/
https://ultharrecords.bandcamp.com/
|
I've seen the
Eye of Solitude, constantly being tagged and described as a death
doom band. Now, while that element is in there to an extent, that is
not exactly what I got when I hit play. Yes, there is a death doom
sort of dirge through large parts of the album, but it also has a
slight industrial flavour at time and at other times there is also
actually quite a bit of super fast, black metal blasting speed at
the drop of a hat which I kind of found jarring at times and not
really in a good way. Also the heavy use of keyboards to create a
lot of their atmosphere, to an old school doom fan like me,
especially used this heavily, felt kind of plastic, unemotional and
listless. I am not too into their goth-y feeling piano interludes
either. I like the drawn out growling from the vocalist, they
highlight the slow pace in those sections really well. Honestly, if
these guys would drop the synth, the blasting black metal bits and
just focus on their core strength, which is death/doom with
traditional instruments they would be so much more enjoyable to me
and lot less cluttered and clunky. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/eyeofsolitude
http://www.kaotoxin.com/
|
|
A B
C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
Ahh, a doom
metal band. While I'm not much of a doom fan, every now and again it
hits the spot. The dark, sludgy anthems can really rattle one's
brain when done right. Faces of Bayon do it right. Their "Heart of
The Fire" release is six songs of US darkened doom metal. I felt
like I was going back to the early 70's when I listened to their
music - walking through a forest that never ends - only to end up
right back where I started. A trip. The production is rough but that
just adds to the atmosphere. Good stuff and worth checking out! - Mark
Sugiyama
http://www.ragnarok-records.com
http://www.myspace.com/facesofbayon |
Minnesota’s Face
Of Oblivion are back with their second full length “Cataclysmic
Desolation”. They play a brutal death metal style that has a
blending of middle ‘90s sound and some elements of more recent
technical death metal. The drums are played with a lot of skill that
goes from crazed blast beats mixed with some really well constructed
drum patterns. The vocalist is Jesse Watson (singer of Incinerate)
does a great job with his deep, brutal growls, and in a few songs,
there is even a few lines of raw screams mixed with the death metal
growls. If you enjoy brutal death metal, with touches of technical
death, be certain to pick up a copy of Face of Oblivion’s new cd
today. - Patrick
https://www.reverbnation.com/faceofoblivion
http://www.comatosemusic.com
|
I remember hearing about this band some years back when Ash was
still with Estuary {I believe faithXtractor was either in the
planning stages or had just begun not quite sure on that though}.
But anyways I'm glad to see the band finally got going and even
happier I got a copy of their second release! FaithXtractor is a two
man band consisting of Ash Thomas {vocals, guitars, bass, and drums}
and his brother Marquis {vocals, guitars}. Starting off with a heavy
mid pace approach, the brothers do pick up the pace slightly with
semi heavy guitars. The drumming is really well played and done
ranging from slow almost doomish heavy beats to more energetic fast
beats. The guitars are pretty much in the same range as the drums
playing some mid paced heavy old school style riffs. But without
warning tears into some raging death/thrash riffs and some solo's.
The vocals are shared between Ash and Marquis and work really good
together with deep death growls and higher pitched screams .This is
a strong release that deserves your attention and money, fans
of early death/thrash will love this band without a doubt.
-
Patrick
https://myspace.com/faithxtractor
http://deathgasm.com/
|
This is this
French bands debut album, which comes on the heels of an EP and a
split EP with Trepanator, which were spread across the last six
years or so. Fall Of Seraphs create some ominous and malevolent
sounding death metal that produces a sinister atmosphere and musical
extremity in spades. The music is not just brutal and relentlessly
pounding, it is all of that, but there is also some interesting song
construction on here that kept my interest up throughout. That is
not even mentioning some of the guitar work on here, which is very
good featuring some killer fills and succinct quick hit solos. The
aforementioned relentless pounding comes courtesy of a workman-like
and commanding performance on the kit courtesy of Vincent Roubière.
I also really enjoy the vocals of Olaf (who interestingly for years
in the past was the drummer of the UG bands Ossuaire & Malhkebre)
has this deep, dark and murky growl that has a whispery nuance and
he often elongates his voice alongside some roiling gurgles. ‘From
Dust To Creation’ is a strong debut that should please fans of the
classic earlier albums of old school legends like Morbid Angel,
Vader, Sinister, Monstrosity, Immolation, Malevolent Creation and
the like. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/fallofseraphsofficial
https://www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label
|
|
I am trying not
to put the cart before the horse here, but I always get excited when
an I Hate Records package appears in my mailbox. It is like seeing
the Banzai Records logo in Canada growing up in the 80s, you knew
nine times out of ten, it is the mark of quality, regardless of
whether it was a band you heard of before or not, just get it,
chances are you will either like it or love it. Enough of that, on
to the band Fall Of The Idols, hailing from the cold and dark lands
of Finland. They play a rather dark, brooding form of doom metal
with pacing that goes from a crawl to mid paced and back again to a
snails walk. It definitely has it’s own atmosphere and vibe, I can
get lost in it and drift into the murk, but they bring you out of it
from time to time with some well placed aggression and energy that
slaps you awake. The vocals are a little different to my ear than
the usual doom vocals, it is almost something you would hear in a
different genre of music. As doom vocals go, this not something I
would normally get that into. It is very whispery and clean,
possibly a bit too close to stuff you hear on some metallic goth
acts. Yeah the vocals do kind of work, but I am not the biggest fan
of them. The music on the other hand is fantastic, dissonant
melancholic doom yet still heavy with a slight biting edge to them,
with some minimalist well planned out and placed drumming. If you
can get into the vocals, then this is an album I can really
recommend to check out. - Dale
http://www.youtube.com/user/FallOfTheIdols
http://www.ihate.se/ |
I was in touch
with this band 10 years ago, yes you read that right, a fucking
decade ago, geez I am an old koot. I was in quite good touch with
them, the guitarist took out an advert in issue 2! As I recall he
never did pay me for it either, yet the man who ran Wild Rags that
everyone accused of shady took out a full page and paid me more up
front than I had asked for. Yes, well back in those gray sundry days
of yore, Fall of The Leafe, played an evil brand of epic black metal
band, raw yet thoughtful. Fast forward to modern day, these Finnish
blokes are still kicking. Are they still black metal? Fuck no, they
are not even melodic death metal at this point. No sir, now they are
commercial gothic rock with a homo erotic atmosphere. They say they
are old goth mixed with grunge? What the fuck? I do not hear grunge,
though the singer sounds like he is trying to be a hunky version of
the Pearl Jam singer, so maybe that is it? He Leafers, want to buy
back your demo so no one finds out what you used to be? Total Crap.
– Dale
www.firebox.fi
www.falloftheleafe.com |
I do not think I
have ever heard black / viking / folk sort of epic metal this good
from a North American band before. I was sure when I pressed play
that I would find out Falls of Rauros were from somewhere in
Scandinavia. So imagine my surprise when I investigate and find out
this quality outfit hails from the mist swept forests of Maine. At
times they make me think of one of my all time faves of this style
Kampfar. Falls produce some grand mental landscapes and produce in
me waves of introspective and mournful emotions. They interweave
some heavy galloping parts with flowing folkish acoustic guitars
displaying a dexterity that illustrates their mature song writing
skill. I really enjoyed this but you probably have to be in a
mellow, low key kind of mood and be willing to let yourself be
carried away with the current. For me it is a fine counterpoint to
put on against the hate and extremity that often fills much of my
musical preference. –
Dale
http://fallsofrauros.blogspot.com/
http://bindrunerecordings.com/
|
 
This is not
generally the kind of thing musically I listen to. But everything
from the artwork to the lyrics, to the song titles, to the band name
drew me in right from the start. But then again I am the type that
is into extreme and sleazy things. But as an example of what I mean,
search the song “Cigarette” by The Fat Dukes Of Fuck on youtube
(before it probably gets taken down! haha) to get an idea what I
mean. You have a preacher puppet ala the Muppets tv show rocking
out, then he starts fucking a puppet chick in every way you could
imagine before blowing his load (they show everything!) into her
mouth, both him and the chick are licking some of cum out dripping
down her face. Then later in the video he is screwing her while she
is on the rag and there is blood everywhere. Holy shit these guys
rule!! I love The Fat Dukes of Fuck! So yes tons of great window
dressing that turns me on, but what does the music sound like? A lot
of it as I mentioned, is outside of my normal purview, but I can
hear some classic Faith No More influence, seen another review say
Fu Manchu, that sounds like a reasonable elemental influence as
well, probably shit like Primus could be thrown in there. They are
decidedly hard rock and metal sounding, but I think you could throw
even more spaced out stuff like Zappa and The Melvins in the melting
pot that spat out this greasy super cool band! I just know I love it
for all the things I mentioned, but the music is pretty killer and
memorable too and for me something different than what I usually get
off on. Not bad that it can win me over like that in a genre I do
not listen to much. But these guys do rock and yes they do it with
their cocks out, dripping with pussy juice, blood and semen. You
want to check out something different, but still sick and extreme?
Get this!! – Dale
http://www.thefatdukesoffuck.com/
http://thefatdukesoffuck.bandcamp.com/ |
|
 
The very
prolific Troy Reynolds comes to us with another one of his solo
bands, where he writes and records everything himself. Some of the
other bands Troy is part of are Autumn Grave, which is another solo
effort, as well as full member bands like Black Blood Stigmata and
the great Path Of Damnation I just reviewed as well. Fatelancer
proclaims to be black metal, but the whole concept here is very much
heavily rooted in the current American sociopolitical realm. Which
to me, does not seem to fit with black metal whatsoever (which as
said they do call themselves bm), this sort of concept and subject
matter is more of a punk and hardcore thing (the vocals on here do
sound kind of hardcore-like) to tackle such issues mixed with music.
The band even label themselves as “Alt-Right Black Metal”, the
Alt-Right movement seems to be largely led by and comprised of
ultra religious Christian zealots, which is of course is the
extreme opposite of what black metal at it’s core has always stood
for and it’s object of hate toward. Black metal in my opinion should
never be combined with anything relating to the praise of the
Christian religion. That is all I will say on that, but I would
think most in the history of the bm scene would agree with that
stance. So, with that aside now, it is usually the music that I
focus upon most in reviews, so time to dig into the music itself
which is a challenge. The music, as you may imagine is very much
tailored in this case solely to the subject matter at hand with a
lot of audio clips from the newscasts, public speeches and the like.
Most of that did not do it for me I have to admit, I found in this
case it only serves to kill any flow the music could hope to have.
But I guess I appreciate the passion in standing up for what one
believes if nothing else. When we do get bits of actual metal songs,
a sparsely populated event, they again really do not come off black
metal sounding at all to me outside of the odd sparingly used
tremolo picked guitar run. No, much of the music especially with the
vocal style Troy employs here comes off like a slightly growled
version of the typical hardcore style shouted vocals. The music
sounds more like moody slower metallic edged hardcore music all
around to me, which is not something I am generally very much of a
fan of honestly, so even musically this is not for me. Again, to
reiterate, I am just speaking musically here, but for me, this is
not Troy’s finest work or even close to it by any means. I know he
has band mates to work with in Path Of Damnation for example, but
that other band of his is so many miles beyond Fatelancer in
quality. I would recommend highly checking out Path Of Damnation or
even Black Blood Stigmata and give this one a pass. Though I suppose
if you really like having social and political issues mixed with a
barrage of audio clips into little chunks of music (which is only a
hastily thrown together backdrop for the message and nothing more)
then you may enjoy this release on a different level than I do.
- Dale
https://fatelancer.bandcamp.com
|
Originally
formed by Aleister (vocals, guitars) in 1992. The band was put on
hold while Aleister fulfilled his duties with Ancient. Well a new
time and day are here and Aleister is back with a new all-star
line-up and release. The line-up features Steve Digiorgio (bass,
Sadus, Death) Luca Princiotta (guitar, Doro) among others who
contributed. Faust has created some extremely well crafted and
executed technical Death Metal. The band seems to be in the vein of
early 90's technical death metal like cynic and Death - “Individual
Thought Patterns” era, but also has a lot of the modern technical
influence and sound. I am not a huge fan of technical Death Metal
but Faust have done a good job of mixing in straight-forward Death
with a lot of modern technical guitar, bass lines. Fans of technical
Death Metal or the above mentioned bands should definitely give this
a listen. – Patrick
http://www.paragonrecords.org
http://www.deathmetal.it/
|
As I always say,
it adds a bit of extra excitement for me, when I get a release for
review from my homeland like with Canada’s Feral. I am immediately
struck by the vocals on here. Now, I like screechy and screaming
vocals for the most part, I mean I am a fan of everything form
Burzum to Lust to The Accused etc… But, the vocals from this one
band are nauseatingly annoying, to the point of almost being
headache inducing. I am sure fellow parents will get this, but I
have a young daughter, back when she was 3 to 5 years old, she would
have these ultra melodramatic screamy, yelling, crying hoarse voice
temper tantrum meltdowns. Well, mix that sound with a bit of the
usual metal and hardcore type screech ‘n yell combo, and you will
get an idea of what the Feral vocals sound like. It took me two full
listens of this album before I could focus much past the vocals and
listen to the music. The music has it’s moments, with some nice
guitar work infused with the odd cool emotive moment or nuance I
enjoyed. The bulk of the music though, while solid enough I suppose,
feels a little disjointed, like some jam parts were just connected
together to make a song and lacking the feeling of a finished
flowing song. Back to the guitar work, there are some killer guitar
fills and solos, yes I know it is black metal or at least is
presented as black metal, but there are a lot of moments which
suddenly sound much more heavy metal or hints of thrash. Possibly a
sad thing, since it is a bm band, those non-black metal elements are
almost always the best moments on this album. There is definitely
some passion on here and a talent for coming up with cool parts of
songs, but it feels like there is a distinct lack of overall vision
and aptitude, when it comes to song writing / craftsmanship. This
might be a time when having people to collaborate with, might pay
off if he can find some suitable people, oh and definitely work on
those vocals. There is a first time for everything; I do not think I
have ever said this before about a Horror Pain Gore Death release,
but this is something I would say you should give a pass on. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/ftwlidtjlctp/
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/
|
|
Deepsend Records has really been making a name for themselves the
last few years releasing some impressive brutal death metal bands
from around the world. Denmark's Ferocity is their latest release
and what a band! Brutal, heavy and intense are just some of the
words one could use when describing this band. The musicians of
Ferocity do a great job of mixing in early to mid nineties New York
style brutal slam death metal {Internal Bleeding, Pyrexia} with the
heavy guitars and pounding drums. The band is not all inspired by
the U.S bands as their is some old-school Swedish death metal in
some of their sound with the raw chaotic guitars, fast drumming and
some slower, heavier mid-paced sections that really add a little
originality to the bands brutal sound. Ferocity seem to draw from
various scenes and mix them together nicely and when combined with
their own ability to write and perform their instruments have
created some vicious and brutal death metal that will please the
fans of mid nineties but should also appeal to the fans modern
brutality as well.
- Patrick
https://myspace.com/ferocitydk
http://www.deepsend.com/
|
Winter of sin
was originally released in 1992 but thanks to the US label Abyss
Records it is now being re-released so both old and new black/death
metal fans can bask in the greatness that is Fester! Fester comes
out of the legendary Norwegian underground and lets face it back in
the early 1990's no other country came close to releasing great
black metal like Norway. Fester was definitely ahead of their time
and went against the norm {remember this was originally in 93 before
black/death was blended together by so many} instead of the raw,
primitive style that Norway was known for Fester played fast black
metal but their guitar riffs/chords were a little thicker and even
had a few solo's intertwined with the riffs to give them a death
metalish feel and sound. Fester even went a little further to make
Winter Sin a "classic" within the black metal scene by adding some
avantgarde and melodic interludes to their already gloomy and grim
sound. Even today in 2011 this still stands out as a great and
original masterpiece. Definitely get this if you like original and
dark black metal. - Patrick
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/
http://www.myspace.com/festernorway
|
With a name like Fetus Stench you would expect brutal, solid death
metal right? Well you would be correct Stillbirth is Fetus Stench’s
debut cd loaded up with 9 songs of intense, psychotic death metal.
Heavy guitars with some complex riffs and solo's intertwined, the
drumming ranges from mid-paced all the way up to blasting rage
blasting beats. There are some vicious, angry growls and screams,
this is a real nice mix of old/and newer death metal so anyone into
brutal death should check it out.
- Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/fetusstench
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com |
I am not going
to lie the opening track title track did not particularly interest
me and as it is some pretty pedestrian black death metal. I mean
they do try to spice this song up with some flamenco acoustic
guitar, which did not save the lackluster song for me. Thankfully
things do a pick up a little bit from there and a little more
emotion and aggression are injected into proceedings. Fiends At
Feast have some interesting bits ‘n pieces, but they do not, at this
point seem to have a knack as a band to turn those solid elements
into good songs. To my ear things just sound a little thin and under
developed, not picking apart the production here either, no big
complaints on that end. I mean you can write simplistic songs and
still have them be good songs, just do not think Shadows Of
Extinction showcases FAF at that stage just yet. I realize it sounds
like I am being harsh, maybe I am a little, but there is talent, it
just needs some time, experience and a little imagination to tap
those talents the way they should be. Honestly this sounds like a
demo tape that got released by as an album a little before the band
was ready to take that step. I see the band have already followed
this release up with a full length album on HPGODP, so let us wait
and see maybe this young band is progressing quickly and will make
me eat those words. In the meantime, I would pass on this. -
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/fiendsatfeast
http://hpgd.comoj.com/index.html |
I see a lot of
people calling Fimbultyr viking / folk music. But unless I am little
too out of touch with what is going on in those genre’s these days.
Then I would are a little too fast and brutal sounding for that. I
don’t know maybe they are referring more to the lyrics and imagery.
I can definitely see some of the viking metal thing going here
musically, but it mixed with heavy doses of black metal. Fimbultyr
do a fine job of it too, as they interweave blazing speed and harsh
vocals with a lot of melody and dynamic song structuring. This
really is a nice surprise for me, you generally do not find material
this mature, involved and polished on a bands debut record. It is
impressive really. Now do not get me wrong they are not above the
odd flowery keyboard portion here and there. But thankfully for me
at least, it is kept fairly minimal and often in the background.
Vocalist Christofer Bergqvist puts on a great performance here with
his deep, menacing death metal growls that drip with emotion and
depth. Since this is their first record they are still refining
their sound, but they have come a long way in a short amount of
time. I think some that are not crazy about viking or folk inspired
bands will still enjoy “Gryende Tidevarv” and it’s many layers.
– Dale
www.unexplodedrecords.com
www.myspace.com/fimbultyrband
|
This quite
possibly bears the distinction of worst album of 1999 and that is
saying something! This band features an ex-Thy Serpent member and 2
members of Barathrum (Whom after hearing this I have lost a lot of
respect for!). Please tell me this is a bad joke?! They describe
themselves as get this “Trollish Howdown Metal”. Believe it or not
they mix symphonic black metal with goth, folk, and polka music! Yes
you read that right polka! This is an embarrassment to whole metal
scene!!!
– Dale
Spikefarm Recs.,
Fredrikinkatu 71, 00100 Helsinki, FINLAND
|
Hailing from Southern Germany, Firtan bring us a truly immersive
experience of a pagan/folk black metal album in Okeanos. Now,
I can't swim worth a damn, and in fact have had several
near-drowning experiences, but this album makes me feel like I can
brave the most tumultuous of currents. I gain a sort of tranquility
listening to it that makes me believe I can confidently drift
through its abyss and come out changed, yet unscathed. The first
track, "Seegang", is an experience akin to this: an exercise in the
push and pull between stillness and the tide that feels more like
symbiosis than combat. As you wade into the next track, "Tag Verweil",
the pace quickens almost dramatically but still returns to an
acoustic moment around the 4-minute mark that illustrates the
welcome possibility of calm before the next towering wave of kinetic
energy. Most of Okeanos continues thusly, with exceedingly
well-crafted melodies guiding the listener through different
movements within each track, persistently enveloping said listener
into moments of beauty that develop into dark yet grand statements
of marine omnipotence. I contend that "Nacht Verweil" does this
especially well with the addition of violin during the mid-section
of the track, bringing an additional layer of heightened emotive
expression into the serene mix that builds into an epic,
electrifying section of grisly guitars that shock the listener out
of their previous lull. While this construction does get a little
predictable over the course of the album, it is still absolutely
gorgeous to behold. Each track (aside from "Purpur", which is a
quieting interlude) approaches the bare bones of this song
composition but develops fresh themes for it and ultimately becomes
a new experience for the audience. If you are familiar with the
conventions of black metal, the earthy roots (whether found in
frigid or fertile soil) and the otherwise obscure trappings of the
genre (putting the black in black metal), then you will have
absolutely no obstacles in recognizing the splendor of Okeanos.
What have you got to lose? Let Firtan teach you how to swim. –
Aaron
https://www.facebook.com/Firtanofficial
http://www.aoprecords.de/
|
|
As you all know
some the best black metal in the history of scene has originated out
of Sweden. Flagaellant has set forth to continue that proud
tradition and do so very well with this album. Maledictum is a dark
piece of art that will take you back and revel in the great time of
the second wave of black metal in the early 90s. Just think of the
early days of Marduk, Dark Funeral, Darkthrone and you will start to
get a mental picture of their diabolic sound. Flagellant keep in the
traditional style, yet also keep more than enough variation and
dynamic in the individual songs / guitar arrangements to keep your
attention high. The vocals are not quite the usual old school black
metal rasp however. Here they have that dark edge, but are more
yelled ala a more evil version of Tom Warrior from the early Celtic
days, plus a little thrash King Fowley of Deceased sound mixed along
with some Quorthon “Blood, Fire, Death” era vocals, something along
those lines. The production on this record has a tad more bottom end
than most bm bands in this style, it seems to really work for
Flagellant. If you love the old style Scandinavian black metal and
are like me, you just can never get enough of this stuff when it is
quality, then you will want to get this one. - Dale
https://myspace.com/flagellant
http://www.w-t-c.org/
|
Almost 40
minutes of unmitigated cold and dark black metal coming from these
Portugese warriors. There is no doubt right from the first seconds
that this band plays some great early 90s second wave of bm dipped
in audio black blood of the Scandinavian variety. I do not think it
is out of line to state that the early works of bands like
Darkthrone, Dark Funeral, Gorgoroth and the like are an influence. I
have heard this bands name for sure but it was surprising to see
this is the bands 2nd album after a few demos, an ep and
10 years have passed since their inception. Okay so I am not going
to lie as Fagellum Dei do sound an awful lot like the bands they
worship and do not have a lot of charisma they could call their own.
But they have found the right man to do this review. As I happen to
really adore this chilling style of black metal. I can never seem to
get tired of it. So “Under The Might…” still managed to haunt me
like a nightmare, turning my day into darkest night. Will it do the
same for you or would you rather just pull out your old records?
Only you can answer that question. But until then I will bathe in
the cold sinister sounds of Flagellum Dei.
– Dale
http://www.myspace.com/flagellumdei
http://www.bloodyprod.com/
|
March Into Firelands marks the return of Finland's Flame. After a
six year hiatus March Into Firelands is 8 tracks of violent blackend
thrash metal. The guitars are fast and well executed. The drums are
intense and well precise considering the speed and intensity. Flame
has crafted and released one of the best old-school blackend thrash
releases to be heard in quite sometime if you enjoy old-school
blackend thrash with a lot of heart and dedication to keeping the
old-school spirit alive then Flame's March Into Firelands is a cd
you must hear!!
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/flamefin
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
I was into this
Finnish band in their early years like 2001-2005 or maybe more
specifically their Iron Pegasus Records releases. The next time I
heard from them was on their previous full-length album, which was
released nearly a decade ago. So, clearly long time no see or hear,
but like old friends it is good to re-connect with old bands too. I
recently heard an online discussion on the blackened thrash metal
sub-genre, it’s origins and history up until today and I think it is
a real omission to not include a pioneering band like Flame in this
style in that discussion. Flame embody this sound perfectly with
cold and evil black metal elements vocally and musical are
seamlessly folded into their unrefined dark thrash metal
compositions. However, unlike some newer blackened thrash bands
these old demons keep their music straightforward caustic and raw,
dirty and brusque like a spiked audio fist to the face. I think some
of the newer extreme metal fans will find this too crude and not
polished enough, which I am sure suits Flame just fine, as this was
not made for you. As for me, it is a satisfying revisit to an old
graveyard haunt that I did not realize how much I missed bathing in
it’s sinister filth. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/satansflame
https://www.primitivereaction.com/
|
I am new to this
Texas band that is a relatively fresh band releasing just their
third output on the heels of a demo and split disc with
Phantasmagore. The band play dirty, grimy and crushingly heavy death
metal with just enough pounding and rolling riffs to induce you into
headbanging, whether you want to or not. There is also small
flourishes of rhythmic finesse that briefly rears it’s head from
time to time in the songwriting, even through all the filth and
brutality, thankfully just enough and not over done. I really dig
the guttural growling vocals of Phil Graham that often have this
deadly gurgling and maniacal undercurrent to them. I think Fleshrot
would probably slide in nicely into the, in my opinion, killer
movement of death metal bands combining key elements of classic
American, British, Finnish and Swedish metal from the days of yore
into one deadly sound. Some of the influences that pop to mind (and
repeat themselves consistently in this style) are the earlier works
of bands like Incantation, Immolation, Cianide, Timeghoul, Autopsy,
Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Demilich, Rippikoulu, Abhorrence,
Convulse, Demigod, Dismember, Grave and the like. They often have a
production sound in this style similar to mixing the early US bands
I mentioned with the Swedish guitar sound of the early to mid ‘90s.
As I mentioned there are many newer bands doing this now and that
movement of bands I see Fleshrot fitting into are bands such as
Funebrarum, Disma, Cerebral Rot, Undeath, Church Of Disgust, Tomb
Mold, Undergang, Anatomia, Disfuneral, Haalbuaer and more. I
absolutely love it and just can not get enough of it, clearly! My
only one minor complaint on this release is it seems like this is
being seen as an album at just a hair over twenty-five minutes. I
think personally the EP or mini-album tag is much more appropriate
and just wanted those interested in buying know that. Because
otherwise there is nothing to complain about here as this is a
fantastic release by this young band that you really should check
out! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/fleshrottx
www.mesacounojo.bandcamp.com
|
I always look
forward to a new promo pack from Hammer of Hate, if there was a
label that knows their violent black black metal it is H.O.H. This
time the label unleashes Forgjord's third release and what an
assault on the senses. Cold, vicious and pure violent black metal
just the way it is meant to be played. Forgjord embrace the classic
Finnish sound perfectly with harsh screechy vocals, raw razor-sharp
guitars that will tear your soul apart with each riff and drums that
are all over the place with mid-paced beats to more a furious
barrage of blast beats. Forgjord will not disappoint any of the
bands long-time fans or if your like me and new to the band but you
enjoy cold, vicious Finnish b.m then Forgjord's latest is a must
have. - Patrick
http://www.hammer-of-hate.com/releases/hoh023/
http://www.hammer-of-hate.com/ |
Originally
released in 2012, through the Russian record label Auto Dafe, Mike
from Paragon rec. heard a masterpiece and decided to re-release it
for North America. For the people, who missed it the first time
around. Fornace comes out of the highly under-rated Italian black
metal scene. Fornace play early nineties black metal, with some
excellent melodic interludes and somber acoustic guitars, before
picking up the pace with some aggressive, faster black metal. There
are some slower guitars, almost doomish before going fast again.
Fornace is an early nineties bm band, but they are not afraid to mix
it up with varying speeds. - Patrick
https://myspace.com/fornace
http://www.themetalunderground.com/
|
This is Fortid’s
fourth album to date; the band is coming out of the Norwegian pagan
metal scene. Fortid plays a nice blending of pagan metal with some
progressive and folkish influences in a smooth fashion. The guitars
are played at various speeds throughout each song, going from fast
extreme chords, to a more controlled and melodic parts, before going
full speed again. The vocals are black metal screams mixed with some
death metal growls. This is a great band, that displays their talent
to write by writing complex music, which ranges from aggressive
metal and then going in another direction with melodic music
intertwined seamlessly. If you are a fan of this band or these
genres I would definitely recommend you give this album a listen
today. - Patrick
www.reverbnation.com/fortid
http://www.schwarzdorn.de/
|
Well something
immediately got my attention that Freedoms Reign is fronted on
guitar and vocals by Victor Andruini who was one of the founding
members of Misfit, who later on in 1984 changed their name to Fates
Warning! I am definitely a Fates Warning fan. Now granted Mr.
Andruini was only with Fates Warning once the band changed names for
about a year, but that was long enough for him to be a part of their
debut album “Night On Brocken” and follow up “The Spectre Within”.
Okay, okay enough of my love for Fates. Damn, this fellow clearly
has kept the candle burning all of these years even though it
appears he has not been doing a whole lot band wise over these many
years. Freedoms Reign is a more straight ahead heavy metal band than
his old outfit ever was. Their sound is kind of like a sped up
Sabbath sound mixed with a crunchier modern production and some ‘80s
heavy metal touches and style in there. It is pretty hard hitting
and energetic material, the vocals though are straight out of the
‘80s with a power metal aesthetic and Victor can belt it out pretty
competently. The guitar work on here is pretty nice, a lot of
pounding riffage with undercurrents of guitar fill noodling done in
a classy way. I am not trying to sell this off as utterly
mindblowing but this is a good album for Sab fans and heavy metal
presented in a updated way. Not bad at all. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/freedomsreign
http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/
|
While I can see
labeling this Finnish band as war metal (as the bio does), to me it
feels more like warring and unrelenting black death metal, in the
tradition of one of my fave Marduk albums “Panzer Division Marduk”,
or some of the old Aussie records from Bestial Warlust, Destroyer
666 etc… But they mix bits of musical influences and the raunchy
explosive attitude of things like punk and just dirty, alcohol
soaked hard rock metal of old like Motörhead, early Venom, early
Impaled Nazerene, Bulldozer, early Destruction etc… It is a real
adrenaline ride, but just mindless full steam ahead, as much as I
like some war metal, it can tend to do just that and get a bit of an
unchanging monotonous white noise quality to it. The vocals are raw
‘n caustic yelling yet sung croaking growls that fit the dark and
dank aura the music gives off. The adrenaline and energy on this
release is infectious, and makes me want to headbang and break shit!
For a band that gets labeled war metal, at times, there is a wide
palette of old school metal with high vigor and in your face
attitude that I quite enjoyed during the twenty-three minutes of
madness that is ‘Antichrist Militia’. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/legionfront
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com
|
Front Beast is a band I have been eager to hear for awhile now,
after hearing they signed to the mighty Hells Headbangers records.
Front Beast's second cd Demon Ways Of Sorcery is pure,
filthy old-school black metal from this German one man cult band.
Avenger {all instruments, vocals} has written and created
some really uncompromising barbaric black metal. The album features
raw thin guitar riffs that that have a razor sharp sound and feel.
Avenger's vocals are extremely sick, torturous screams before
bursting into demonic black metal shrieks. Overall a great release
of primitive old school black metal that is definitely worth your
attention.
- Patrick
https://myspace.com/thefrontbeast
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
Pyrrhic is
Frosthelm from North Dakota’s first release (and second full length
overall), but the wait was worth it. The album features seven tracks
of aggressive and relentless black metal with a lot of melodic
passages intertwined throughout the music. The guitar work is done
with plenty of skill and impressively created structuring going from
extremely fast to a slower and melodic pace throughout the songs.
The vocals are a mix of raspy black metal screams and some gruff
growls / cries used throughout the album. Frosthelm have created and
released a unique blend of melodic blackened death metal with some
furious passages intertwined resulting in an original sound and
style. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/frosthelm/
https://revengerrecords.com/
|
This band hails not
far from my old stomping grounds in Canada. If you were to check out
their bio, you’d think this band were the next big hope or something! I
got into the first song “Unleash” with it’s hatred, dynamics and
memorable chorus. To be honest, I could give two shits about the rest of
the album. It degenerates into a well played Korn/Fear Factory/Lost
Souls/Skinlab fest with big gobs of hardcore mixed in, for all the
‘jump’ metallers out there to get into. When this trend says ‘jump’, you
say how “how high!?” - Dale
Fueled By Ignorance,
P.O. Box 1552, Prince George, B.C., V2L 4V5, CANADA website =
www.fueledbyignorance.com
|
Funebrarum
– I am unsure if I have mentioned it lately. But Funebrarum are one
of my fave bands. So it should surprise no one that the 5 tracks
here have done nothing but blow me away! You must hear this to
believe it, simple words do not suffice. Funebrarum for the
uninitiated play absolutely crushing old school death metal with a
dirgy doom undertone. For a general reference point to their sound
and style, think of the old works by bands like Grave, Autopsy,
Repulsion, Nihilist… You know basically the stuff I worship. What a
brutalizing and suffocating atmosphere to this music – you will feel
it and know what I mean. It hits covers you in an avalanche. There
are two amazing cover tracks on here of Abhorrences “Caught In A
Vortex” + Grave’s “Into The Grave”. The Grave cover makes me want to
break shit and circle around an invisible pit in my living room! I
mean seriously I have not played this much air guitar or head banged
this mucking fucking in ages.
Interment
– Are really a great band to follow Funebrarum. They are a little
more thrashy and not doomy like Fune but are definitely cut from the
same cloth as the band they share this disc with. Think Autopsy on
speed mixed with heavy doses of Carnage and early Entombed. These
guys are fast and intense. The drummer Kennet Englund is a real
demon on the kit and asserts himself into sound quite prominently.
The riffing from Interment is just really heavy and catchy but in an
oh-so-brutal way. This made me an instant fan of Interment. This
release is just great and what an amazing split. This release is an
absolute must have it. – Dale
www.conquerorofthorns.com
www.funebrarum.com
|
  
This Swedish one
man band must have seen me coming from a mile away. As anyone who is
a long time reader of Canadian Assault will know, Autopsy is one of
my all-time fave bands, especially the period around the notorious
classic album “Mental Funeral”. I never go very long without
listening to that album. This band is clearly knelt worshipping
before the same altar, right next to me. That fellow worshipper
behind this one man band is Gusten "Joachim" Andlös (Old Bones, ex-Mordgrim),
and let me tell you this dude knows what he is doing with this
trademark style! I mean this album could literally, easily be the
follow album to “Mental Funeral” and I would have been as thrilled
with it back then, as I am now. So, is this stuff original? Hell no,
it is not, that should be clear and if that is a problem you, kick
rocks to the next review my friend. But in the meantime, I will lose
myself in the dense, morbid and gloomy musical fog that is ‘Til
Death’, and let it suffocate me in it’s beautiful morose brutality.
Gusten has this sound down perfectly, he has the playing down just
right, that drum sound too. I mean if you told me Chris Reifert was
spewing the sick and vile vocals on this recording, I would not
doubt you one bit! I do not care that this album is an Autopsy
clone; because if it is done this well and the music produced is
this fucking good, then I am here for it all day long. This is just
a great album of grimy and sinister doomy death metal sickness.
- Dale
https://www.facebook.com/thetruefunereality
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/til-death
|
The band name is
interesting, it is apparently taken from a song title of the band
Electric Wizard, whom these Swiss UG metallers are clearly big fans
of (and why not I am an E.W. fan myself). Funeralopolis play doomy
death metal, normally I would just call it doom death, but this band
probably put a stronger emphasis on brutal death metal than a lot of
bands I usually put in that category. Which is just fine to me, this
is not to say the doom element is not prominent, it is, but the
foundation is undoubtedly barbarous death metal extremity. You might
expect coming from Europe that that is where the bands main
influences reside, however, I personally hear more American
influences in their sound such as definitely Repulsion and Autopsy.
But also clearly other old school early to mid ‘90s crushing death
metal from those same shores. There is some Euro influence to be
sure, but mainly North American bands come to mind. I love the dark
& suffocating aura on here, this combined with the drumming style,
the vocals remind me so much to early Autopsy (one of my fave bands
of all time) material ala the amazing albums “Severed Survival” and
the masterpiece “Mental Funeral”. I liked this album from the first
listen, but each successive listen it has only got better and better
in my view. I think diehards of old school, early ‘90s doomy death
metal will enjoy this one. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Funeralopolisofdeath
http://www.memento-mori.es/
|
I am honoured to
receive albums from the legendary Minotauro Records. Minotauro is a
legend label for me, simply based on the fact, that they released
records by the mighty Paul Chain and also Death SS! The label has
been around since the early 1980s! I have a ton of respect for that.
This album is actually a re-release of the 1992 album from the The
Fury, but with a whole lot of extra material. The original eleven
tracks are here, plus bonus tracks like the1989 “Reflections Of A
Wasted Youth” demo tape and three “Live 90 Tracks”. The Fury play
some really cool old school heavy metal, that at times sounds like
it could have been released a decade earlier in 1982, at time when
the retro thing was let’s say a very un-cool thing to do. They do
have a touch of late ‘80s thrash in their sound. So I guess I should
not try to pigeonhole them back to those early metal days that
completely. But they do root a lot of their sound in early 80s power
metal and have appropriately clean spoke/sung vocals that take me
back to those times. Which is something that may turn off some newer
extreme metal fans, but I think it is fantastic. Some of the songs
on here are really punchy and rocking, getting my head nodding and
my fists jack hammering, along with the drums and dirty catching
riffs. You can sing along with the lyrics too and just have a good
time in the old tradition. They even bust out a little blues tinged
ditty, with the second to closer track “Remembrances Pt. 3”, which
is pretty good in my books. Then the band breaks out some thrash
sounding material to end the album. Just a fantastic album all
around. Thank you Minotauro for digging up this gem and bringing it
to my attention. For fans of ‘80s power metal and heavy metal that
think they got it all and heard it all, well, you missed one, pick
this up straight away, you will not be disappointed. - Dale
http://www.minotaurorecords.com/
http://minotaurorecords.bandcamp.com/
|
I always heard
this bands name, but until now I have never gotten around to hearing
them. This is interesting and not quite what I expected, though I
suspect this may be a tad different from their past releases. Just
going off of things I have read. I see the drummer from Satyricon,
Zyklon B, Gorgoroth etc… is behind the skins here as well, busy
fellow. To be honest knowing what a purist I am at heart, this is
something I would probably dislike outright in the past. I mean it
is gloomy and foreboding stuff but also extremely strange and quirky
and off the wall for something that would be put in the black metal
arena. It is so far down this path it would almost have to be called
original and against all odds it somehow enthralls me in fits and
spurts. There is nothing fancy or really technical about it, the
combinations of elements at odds with each other is skillfully done.
Some of the music on here reminds me of the more introspective
spacey moments of classic 70s Black Sabbath mixed with weird chimes,
bells, xylophone and peculiar guitar strumming that clearly came
from a mental lunatic with no sense of the instruments unwritten
rules. Part of me hates this album a little and a part of me likes
it a lot. I do not know how else to attempt to put it into words.
Probably best left for the more adventurous, an acquired taste to be
sure, a bit of madness mixed with schizophrenic brilliance. I do not
get it yet I have this yearning to keep on attempting to try to
grasp it. Gonna go listen to some early Sabbath now – see you next
time.
– Dale
http://www.furze.no/
http://www.agoniarecords.com/ |
I like the
layout of this album; it comes on a fold out cardboard case with the
booklet in one pocket and the disc in the other. The layout is kind
of stark, simplistic with classic landscapes and artwork that gives
off a really melancholic wandering sort of feeling. It reflects the
music itself quite well. This German band is another in a line of
one man atmospheric and black metal bands. The hymns on Bluostar are
just that an atmospheric, again wandering forlorn and introspective
music mixed with aggressive short bursts of all out early 90s style
black metal. The vocals are pretty sparse at times, but I think the
instrumentation is what is supposed to be on display front and
center. But you do get the yelled black metal rasps as well as hymn
like chanting and the odd spoken word bit. Overall I really got into
this and it took me on a mental journey with this project. It is so
perfect the time I listen to this album as it is a dark, overcast
morning where I live in the mountains, a heavy fog has been steadily
rolling in off the mountain peaks. Yes this is the soundtrack for my
environment and that is probably adding to my enjoyment. It is hard
not to recommend this record. I think the only criticism I would
offer is the depressive atmospheric mainstay and the transitions to
the harsh black metal material could be married together a little
smoother at times. But that is a small complaint on an otherwise
recommended record all done by the hands and mind of one man.
Impressive. –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/fyrnask
http://www.templeoftorturous.com/
|
|
A B
C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
|
Just to be
clear, when you see two labels it sometimes means they are splitting
the release straight up in all ways, other times like this one it is
sort of a parent label that does all the distribution and promotion.
The third reason is one label is releasing one format and the other
another format, which is the case here Everlasting Spew is doing the
CD and Me Saco Un Ojo is handling the vinyl version of this Finnish
bands sophomore album. Galvanizer generate down ‘n dirty death metal
bathed in darkness yet also dripping with filth and grindcore
accents. They have a lot of that old Swedish death metal sound in
their base, which I know a lot of bands are doing that sunlight
sound these, but you know what I don’t fucking care I worship this
shit and if it is done well it is right up my alley! As mentioned
Galvanizer do mix into that Repulsion (American I know but a huge
influence on those early Swede sound), Carnage, Grave, Dismember dm
approach with some grimy sounding deathgrind influences as well ala
stuff like early Impetigo, Carcass, General Surgery. The resulting
wave of suffocating dark gutfuck riffs of sadistic grinding violence
is a lethal combination that I found quite satisfying to listen to,
and to mentally bathe in it’s audio gore. The vocals via the bassist
Vili and guitarist Aleksi are fantastic, despite all being extreme
it is a varied arsenal of growls deep and guttural, as well as high
and nasal growling with a smattering of various other gurgles, yells
and screams mixed in. There are also some succinct classic guitar
sequences every now then, which add a touch of class to the overall
sickness and depravity of this album. This release has certainly
converted this listener into a Galvanizer fan. - Dale
https://everlastingspew.com/
https://mesacounojo.bandcamp.com/music
|
The Gardnerz
seems like a strange or goofy name for a metal band and maybe even
more so for a doom /death metal band. Now with their music there is
nothing goofy about that, it is serious, dead serious doom laden dm
summoned from the pits of fire and brimstone. Apparently these
Swedes have been toiling since 2008, even though as near as I can
tell this is their only official release, no demos or eps or
anything. This album was mastered by the mighty Dan Swano at
Unisound Studios, I had no idea Dan was still doing production work
or that he had re-opened his studio, cool. The growling death metal
vocals have that doomy element to them, but for me I would have
liked to have had a little more elongated pronunciation on certain
parts and a little more emotion in them. The singer Niclas seems
like he is trying to hurry through some lines of the lyrics which
really does not fit the slower doomier sections very well at times.
That is not to say they are bad vocals, they are adequate and he
does a decent job overall, but they could be better and more
tailored to the music they flowing over top of. Speaking of the
music it is crushing doomy riffs with accelerated interludes and
some pretty cool guitar leads mixed in to the meandering musical
milieu. Not necessarily among the best bands coming out of a very
talented Sweden doom scene these days, but nonetheless, an decent
entry and it will be interesting to see where The Gardnerz take
their sound on the next album. –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/thegardnerz
http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/
|
Coming out of
Belgium's death doom scene is Gateway with their newest EP. ‘Flesh
Reborn’ contains a intro and three full length songs. ‘Hel’ starts
off this release with a two minute intro to ease you into things; it
is very well written and performed with some excellent musicianship.
The first song is ‘Slumbering Crevasses’ which combines both heavy
mid paced passages and some faster more aggressive drum and guitar
patterns. This one man band delivers some serious intensity and
shows mature writing abiliity. ‘Rack Crawler’ is up next and this
song is more on the extremely fast realm side again with showcasing
skill and good songwriting. The music does slow to a heavier mid
tempo pace throughout the song, but this song is definitely the
fastest on the release. ‘Flesh Reborn’ finishes off this release and
is the bands slowest and heaviest track. The guitars are done with a
mix of slow heavy mid tempoe guitar chords. The drums are in same
vein with heavy slow drum patterns, mixed with some mid to faster
paced drums used. It is hard to believe this was written by one man
(Robin Van Oyen), who did a great job of combing death and doom
metal together to create a massive release. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/gatewaydeathdoom
https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/
|
Atmospheric,
industrial music. I do no’t like this style, so this does nothing for
me. It is I can say well put together and orchestrated and fans of this
genre will like this I am quite sure. - Dale
Euphonious Records,
Skt. Jorgens Alle 7, O.G., 1615 Kbh. V., DENMARK Email = euphonious@vow.dk
|
This is simply amazing music, pure genius! A one man band done by Lonegoat.
But what makes GoatCraft unique and different from all the other one
man bands is Lonegoat plays the piano. Lonegoat's playing skills
are beyond brilliant. Playing from hauntingly slow, mid-paced to
some of the fastest piano playing I've ever heard it's extremely
well played and well written. Musically it reminds me of movie
soundtracks mixed with dark classical piano music. If you are
someone who enjoys piano music then GoatCraft is a band
you should definitely check out soon.
- Patrick
http://www.goatcraft.net/about.cfm
http://forbidden-records.com/ |
|
Being that I am
of Canadian descent, even though I moved from there long ago. I
spent the first 23 years of my life in Canada and it is always a
source for pride for me, to find and support good UG bands from my
homeland. Now, having said that, some of the bands I have reviewed
from there in recent times have been just okay, and nothing overly
notable. Will that change with this release, let’s dig in and find
out. Goathammer definitely have some influences that immediately
stand out for me including their countrymen Blasphemy, as well as
early Beherit, Ungod and Profanatica yet they do take it some
subtle, and not so subtle directions those bands do not. The band
definitely plays a very grimy, sadistic form of warring black/death
metal, but at the same time they are prone semi-regularly to…I don’t
want to say melodic parts, let’s more musical sections than the
bands I named above, mixed within the chaos and high velocity
violence. They never stop the sickness and brutality, but they do
add those accents above coupled with some good brief somewhat
frenzied guitar fills and solos without ever really being one (Okay,
okay the one at the end of the second track “Invoking…” that is a
fucking solo haha). All of which, as devout followers of those
bands, who I mentioned as influences can tell you are not normal
elements of this style. But, as I said they do never soften up or
take away or sacrifice the evil necro atmosphere or the cruelty of
the blackened death metal foundation their music is built upon. It
is nice to review a new Canadian band putting out their debut album
that I can really get behind and support got a change. Check this
out and continue to watch for Hells Headbangers to search out and
find all bands in the scene that have one word names ending in
(Death, Goat…)hammer. :) - Dale
https://goathammer-canada.bandcamp.com/
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
 
I know there a
literal shit ton of bands in this UG metal scene, but all the same,
I do find it a little surprising that I do not think I have heard of
this Finnish band. I do keep my ear to the underground so to speak,
Goats Of Doom have nearly a decade of existence and they have
already released 4 albums previous to “Tie on Hänen Omilleen”. Now,
when it comes to second wave early ‘90s black metal I confess to
being a bit of purist and usually I am not that crazy about
combining it with other influences, genres and the like. Enter Goats
of Doom, who I think have done a nice job of taking that hateful,
frosty second wave bm nucleus and skillfully augmenting it with more
up front diverse guitar work and melody that at times gets a little
closer to melododeath than I would like. But, all the same, they
keep a good balance between the freezing traditional bm hate and the
catchy, lighter melody in the riffing to still make it work, at
least most of the time (possibly a little too far with the harmony
for my liking in the title track). Something that helps them out on
the cruel side of the ledger are the caustic, irritated raspy
screams of Scaregod. As those vocals do not seem to give a fuck
about the melody, he just ignores it almost completely, while
keeping the extremity turned up high at all times. A good band and
solid release that has it’s drawbacks at times, but does generally
deliver some consistent quality throughout the proceedings. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Scaregod/
https://www.purity-through-fire.com
|
Goatthornsskullbonecrusher is a two man band rising out of Germany's
abundant and strong death metal scene. ‘Fallen Tyrant’ is this duo's
newest EP and third release overall as a band. It features four
songs of barbaric and chaotic death war metal. Sgt. Jones handles
the vocal duties, which are old school death metal growls that are
done with a powerful and imposing vocal. There are some black metal
screams that are used throughout a few of the songs. Machosias (Birkabein,
Bunkerkrieg, Old Pagan, Thodtgehoelz, ex-Beyond Serenity, ex-Pagan
Winter…) handles writing the music for the band which is primarily
played with intense and extremely fast guitars and drum passages.
There is some heavier mid paced guitar and drums used throughout the
songs. This is my first encounter with Goatthornsskullbonecrusher,
but if you are a fanatic for extremely chaotic death metal with some
elements of war metal intertwined into the storm then be sure to
pick up a copy of ‘Fallen Tyrant’ today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/Plaguedemonrecords.net
https://plaguedemonrecords.bandcamp.com
|
This is Gore
Brigade’s debut release yet it’s members are anything but new to the
UG scene. This band from Umeå, Sweden appears to be the brainchild
of Ludvig Johansson from the thrash metal band Defiatory, he
recruited his Defiatory bandmate Jon Skäre on drums and great dm
vocalist Jonny Pettersson (Massacre, Wombbath, Berzerker Legion,
Gods Forsaken and many more!) to help bring Gore Brigade to life.
The music on here while it pays slight nod toward the old Swedish
bands I adore, it also pays more attention to the sound on classic
releases like Carcass’ “Necroticism - Descanting The Insalubrious”,
General Surgery, Napalm Death, Benediction, Exhumed, Ghoul and the
like. The energy level is ultra high ala the Carcass album I
mentioned, just a raging juggernaut of intensity and adrenaline
smashing all in it’s path. The vocals are varied with some great
deep brutal growling that has a lot of different inflection within
those growls with some cool higher pitched nasal screaming accents.
As the bio points out the recording on here feels more modern crisp
and clean yet still retains that heavy crushing edge. Honestly the
on here does feel more like a modern thrash metal album production
to me, and I personally love the old dirtier style recordings, but
they still pull off this sound and style pretty well despite that.
It does sound a bit like you may assume from the background above
like a modern thrash band trying their hand at old school death
metal – it is so well done and with obvious affinity for it’s
inspiration that it does work. Give it a listen you will probably
dig it. - Dale
https://gorebrigade-se.bandcamp.com/
https://shop.redefiningdarkness.com/
|
|
No strangers to
the mini album format, much less to delivering crushingly effective
black/thrash, GOTH are finally back from their self-imposed exile.
Dust off you bullet-belts, devotees of the vile Aussie sound,
'Ceremonial Conjuration' is a proud addition to an already
impressive catalogue of metal this band has produced over the years.
The new songs strike the listener with an immense atmosphere of
darkness and destruction, which is no small feat itself but the band
did the extra mile and made the tunes super catchy and memorable to
boot. In a live setting this stuff should work wonders, there's this
undeniable 'instant headbanging' factor one just can not possibly
resist. Damn, the malign vocals by Howitzer are just what music of
such proportions requires, Masochist's guitar work and tone is spot
on and you should all know by now what an intense drummer Mersus
(Destroyer 666) is. No nhttp://invictusproductions.net/eed picking
a personal fave tune, all of them (including the closing cover of
'The Fog' by Goatlord) stand on their own, making this an essential
purchase for those who prefer their metal rocking, raw and free of
trends and fads. - Vladimir Petrov
http://www.myspace.com/gospelofthehorns
http://invictusproductions.net/
|
This is the 3rd
Rising record and as far as I recall my first encounter with them.
Straight off the bat, I should mention that this is a two-man band.
Godless is made up of guitar shredder extraordinaire Toby Knapp
(Darken, Onward etc…) and death metal legend (at least to us old UG
fanatics) Jeff Gruslin of Vital Remains fame. It would at least on
paper, seem like a highly unlikely combination. The imagery, lyrics
and vocals scream brutal death metal. The music, minus the vox,
though is really in the speed metal / thrash (though an evil
sounding brand to be sure) arena with the odd dm sounding touches.
In fact some of the music on here reminds me a little of Testament’s
Demonic album. I am huge fan of that record, so that is a plus for
me. Now I am sure many of you are thinking what I was thinking,
which is how, even if he is metal guy, does a guitar shredder mesh
with this style? The answer is at times it works beautifully, yet at
times those guitar histrionics sound forced and veer off into
wanking territory. Those sections are few and far between though and
short. The riffing and drum work on here are malevolent as hell and
sound great, just pounding you in the head. Jeff Gruslin definitely
out does himself on the mic here. It is truly a frightening vocal
performance he puts on, not to mention multi-pronged with growling,
hissing, gurgles and screams that sound truly possessed. A zombie
could not sound any more undead than Gruslin does on this record.
Trumpet of the Triumph is an interesting release. Give it a try.
– Dale
http://www.myspace.com/godlessrising
http://www.moribundcult.com/
|
This is some
gorgeous grind straight out of the Czech Republic. G.O.R.E. follow
in a similar to the tradition of one of my all time fave bands. I
speak of the mighty Gut. Okay as you would expect from the name they
are a little less porn then Gut and a lot more gory but a not too
dissimilar in sense of humour. You can also throw in some Terrorizer
and early Napalm Death and mix it all into the bloody organ stew.
This is the way I like it. They just come right at you and never let
up. It is an immense wall of pulverizing guitars grinding along like
a chainsaw and backed with speedy buck shot drumming. The vocals are
deep and growling and rather undecipherable but damn good regardless
as they roll and rumble off the singers tongue. The goofy pop lounge
lizard tunes used as song interludes in the first part of the album
had me laughing. These bastards have got to be drunk (just check out
the lyrics!) with that idea but somehow it also works. The
production on here suits this style pretty nicely. It highlights the
sick guitars and pummel drumming but there is room for everything to
stretch its dismembered legs. It is gore and it is grind and death
metal and it does make me want to break shit. So I would say I can
recommend this.
– Dale
www.khaaranus.wz.cz
www.goregrinddeath.com
|
Lately there has
been a deluge of death metal releases that cover all the forms of my
favorite style of metal, but that makes it difficult for bands to
stand out from the pack. We’re in an age where a perfect production
can be had for not a lot of money, and musicians’ chops are better
developed than ever before. Goregӓng does an exceptional job of
delivering real death metal the way it is meant to be played –
heavy, well-written, vicious, and musically varied enough to keep
the listener from being bored. From the opening track, I was met
with a barbaric onslaught of sound, well-recorded but not overly
sanitized, delivering a punked-up old school sound along the lines
of Autopsy meets Celtic Frost meets Ghoul meets chainsaw-style death
metal from Scandinavia (although they tone down the chainsaw to
where it almost sounds just like a normal downtuned distorted
guitar). The most important thing to me was the thickness of the
sound on the recording – death metal should sound big, bad, and
monolithic, and Goregӓng pulls it off well. Not to mention the
sick-ass mid-paced riffs in many of the songs that induce headbang-whiplash
with an immediacy rarely encountered in metal today. The vocals are
also refreshing, being varied and ultimately vile all the way
around. From pukes to growls and gutturals to – gasp – gang vocals
in the band’s namesake song, the tones and patterns the vocalist
uses are always entertaining, and they punctuate the rhythm section
as well as complement the songwriting. This one gets high marks from
me, and any metalist that worships at the feet of old death will dig
this shit. - Andrew
https://www.facebook.com/goregang
https://tometal.com/
|
Gorgoroth are a
bestial entity and with “Destroyer” they have created a intoxicating,
caustic record of obscure rage! I became familiar with this band when I
tape traded for their hellfire of a ’93 demo “A Sorcery Written In
Blood”. Then went on to enjoy their straight lightning forward
blitzkrieg of a debut LP “Pentagram”. Since them I had kind of lost
track of them (as they did of themselves as they went through a number
of member changes including the departure of Emperor’s Samoth). The
cover features a naval destroyer class battleship with a corpse painted
figure juxtaposed on top. Gorgoroth are not your average black metal
band. They have a very distinctive (recorded in a tube) guitar sound,
implementing more traditional metal riffing with their black metal
attack. Also they are not afraid to throw in a few doomy parts, which
compliments the acidic vocal strikes and overall bombastic open sea
naval war metal! -
Dale |
Grabunhold are a
four man black metal band coming out of Germany. “Unter Dem Banner
Der Toten” is the bands debut release, which features three
full-length songs and an instrumental track. The music is performed
with a good balance of mid paced material and some faster, more
aggressive black metal sections. There is some really quality in the
often well written and performed guitar work on this mini album. The
vocals are grim black metal screams and some deeper gruff growls are
also in well used in a few of the songs. Grabunhold play a style of
black metal, to my ears, which is very similar to a lot of the bands
in the mid-‘90s style that displays some really skilled
musicianship. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/Grabunhold/
https://ironbonehead.de/
|
I am not sure
what this Norwegian horde was trying to do with that almost song
length intro. It has the same sound throughout the duration, which
sounds like someone recorded the sound filter bubbles in a fish tank
make, along with someone in the distant background banging on a
piece of iron now and then. My only hope was the music that followed
would be much better and gladly it is. As they come blasting through
the speakers at you with some energetic and eerie sounding, second
wave, early 90s black metal. The production on the guitars is very
heavy and thrashy sounding for this style. Though having said that,
Gravdal do offer up some catchy and almost rocking moments within
pitch-black veil encompassing atmosphere. Not so much as say
Carpathian Forest but that is probably a fair comparison to bring
up. I would also have to mention early Darkthrone and perhaps some
Immortal along the way. It never broods for long though and the
intensity level and speed is usually kept at a rather high level.
Generally speaking you have heard this all done before and every now
and then, you have heard it done better. This is their debut and
despite what I said it is a very solid release, even though it
really offers nothing new and is a little done by the numbers. I
still found a way to enjoy it. –
Dale
www.unexplodedrecords.com
www.myspace.com/gravdal
|
Gravdal are back
with their pummeling adrenalized blitzkrieg and it sounds better
than ever. Torturmantra is more focused than the debut, without
losing a single step of their energy that made the first record an
infectious listen. Quite honestly this album makes me want to run
around the house in rage smashing everything in my path. It is black
metal and sounds evil; it is a rare combination when you can combine
that such head bang inducing fury and while being sickeningly
catchy. I find myself quite enthralled with this record. Which is
something that is a mean feat for me in this day and age. As I
mentioned the riffing is extremely memorable, it almost seems betray
how extreme and cold this album is, but I will go ahead and say it.
This somehow manages to also be a very rocking album (usually that
term mixed with bm is a kiss of death for me) in a way that would
make classic Carpathian Forest proud. There are some breaks in the
wrath of speed as evidenced on the second half of “Eg E Ditt Helvete”
and immediately followed up and surpassed by “Mishandlet”. This
showcases a very mysterious and brooding side to Gravdal that will
send you to a gloomy headspace and provides a rich depth to the
album. It only makes you appreciate it that much more once the
blitzkrieg is once again commenced with cannon firing in all
directions. I like the production on here it is very clear, heavy
and first-rate without falling into this trap of over produced like
so many releases these days. The guitar sound is raw and organic and
the drums sound like thunder claps. I am so fucking pleased with
this album and it receives a high recommendation from me. –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/gravdal
http://www.unexplodedrecords.com/
|
Brazilian black
thrash the way you expect it to be played with the past rich history
of bands from South America. You know that obscure sounding, dirty
riffing and dark echo style production, the recording here is better
than many old releases. But you can hear influence of the earlier
works of bands like Sarcofago, Vulcano type style mixed with early
German thrash releases like Sodom and Kreator. The solos on Insult
are smoking hot and hit you short and quick, but definitely add
something to the song. The guitars at times are more mid paced and
heavy with some break neck speed bursts. The mix of those speeds
giving Grave Desecrator a more fleshed out sound. The vocals are
classic old school whispered shouts with that thrash growl and their
marriage with the music is well met. I think this record would be
appreciated by all old school thrash metal fans who like their music
on the dangerous and sinister side.
– Dale
http://www.myspace.com/gravedesecrator666
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
 
This is my first
time listening to this young Canadian band, who presents here their
debut album after releasing two demos in recent years. Grave
Infestation produce dirty and grimy death metal that harkens back to
times of old that I tend to worship and have a lot of nostalgia for.
There are sections of songs on this record that I found myself
almost involuntarily nodding my head to and even slipping into a
headbang, when they give some catchier shit that picks up the pace a
little. Some of the influences I hear are Autopsy, Repulsion, early
Morbid Angel, Possessed, Pentacle, early Grave, Nihilist and as the
bio rightly points out Necrovore and early Carcass also seems pretty
spot on. I can not shake early Autopsy as a definite influence for
this band, and even some of the vocals remind me to Chris Reifert,
in a very good way of course. Yeah, those foul roiling growl vocals
fucking rule on here! It is a real varied mix on here pacing wise,
there are fast steam rolling flourishes, brutal hypnotic pounding,
gloomy doom laden sequences and just eerie haunting slower to
moderate segments that feel like an evil occult movie soundtrack or
something. It is an extremely interesting mix, the band transitions
between seemingly disparate stylistic elements well done and quite
seamless way. There are even some cryptic yet brief haunting solos
and fills on here that accentuate the music perfectly. This is for
fans of the hallowed ancient bands mentioned above, as well as newer
fans that just love filthy and oppressive brutal and dark death
metal sickness. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/graveinfestation
https://invictusproductions.net/
|
Graves are a new
a new band coming out of Portugal’s black metal scene and play a
primitive old school style. The guitar work is performed with a mix
of fast and crazed guitars, along with some slower mid paced
sections. While the guitars are played with rough chords and
patterns, there are some extremely well written and played rhythmic
patterns. The vocals are extremely grim black metal screams and some
death growls used throughout the recording. They even use some clean
vocals in a few songs that add another element to the bands sound
and style. If you are a fan of old school black metal with a raw and
primeval production vibe then definitely be sure to put a copy of
Liturgia Da Blasfemia when it is released. - Patrick
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ironbonehead.de/
|
|
Florida may not
have the same notoriety and depth it once had, within the death
metal UG scene, way back in the ‘90s. Though there are some really
quality bands keeping things alive in the FL death metal UG metal
scene with Graveview being a prime example of this. Having said
that, Graveview may be from Florida, but if you are looking for that
old Floridian sound from this band you will not find much of it. No,
Graveview are much more influenced by the old school Swedish death
metal, you know the fucking really heavy and brutal stuff. I can
hear a lot of Grave from Sweden in their sound, but also maybe stuff
like early works especially by Dismember and to a lesser extent
early Entombed. There is American influence in there too, ala early
doomy Autopsy and Repulsion alongside some brief bits of American
grinding, especially in the later half of this 22 minute release.
Graveview create an absolutely massive wall of barbarous riffing
that drips and permeates with a mixture of doom death and crushing
brutality. I love the wonderfully ruthless, savage growling of
vocalist Hunter Young, who mimics and adds to the dark and
suffocating atmosphere with his slightly cryptic sounding, sometimes
rapid, sometimes just mean growls, but when he really draws out
growl it adds this extra level of depth and a foreboding aura that I
simply love. This is something fans of early classic Swedish death
metal, mixed with some doom and grimy American sensibilities of
Mental Funeral-era greatness will fucking love these guys! I can not
wait to hear more from them, hopefully soon. - Dale
https://rawskullrecordz.com/en/
https://redefiningdarknessrecords.bandcamp.com/ |
It is good to
hear Gravewurm once again, it has been a little while for me. It is
too bad to hear that this album will be the final curtain call for
the band. They have been around 20 years! I used to be in contact /
friends with the main man of this band (we lost contact over the
years). In fact, I recall doing a couple tape trades with him and he
recorded me some great Macabre stuff among other things. Shit I am
old as that tape trade was about a decade ago haha. Anyway, back to
the album at hand here. Gravewurm still worship the sounds of old
and I hear some stuff like Nunslaughter, Varathron, Sathanas,
Acheron etc… I suppose in some ways not a lot has changed, it still
sounds like some metalhead coming up with some good heavy straight
forward riffs and just basically jamming them without much variation
or dynamics. Then take those jam riffs and fit some drums and vocals
over top of it rather than attempting to make the riffs fit the
other instruments and vice versa. So it is straight forward and can
get a little monotone at times, but it still has a cool aura to it
and you can definitely headbang to it. Being able to bang your head
while having that raw old school sound is a good thing. Followers
that like intricate song crafting will not get into this. The vocals
are raspy whispered growls that are not a strong point for the band,
but manage to get the job done. Nothing too essential here yet die
hards of the old school sound that are not too picky will surely
find something to like here. –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/gravewurm
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
Gravewurm return with their ninth release of old school, primitive
black metal that only they can produce. We are presented with raw,
thin guitar chords that range from harsh and fast to a more
controlled and heavier sound. The drums are played with a lot of
thought and technique for this style of metal and are extremely well
done. The vocals are harsh, talking type of vocal patterns with some
harsher screams mixed in. Gravewurm has created and released one of
2013’s best old school black metal releases to date. If you are a
long time fan of the band you know what to expect but if you are new
to the band and you enjoy fierce, yet quality old school black black
metal you won't hear a better band then Gravewurm.
- Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/gravewurm
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
Anybody remember
that old Great Kat video “Metal Messiah” from the late ‘80’s? Well, Kat
is still doing the same old shtick you know “I am a god, I am your
master, you are my slave blah blah blah…” Her last few releases she has
taken songs from classical composers and re-does them for violin and
electric guitar. This time it is Vivaldi and Sarasate. There is no doubt
Kat, the Julliard grad is a virtuoso on her respective instruments. The
2 new songs on here are fast (speed is always good by me) but here it
never really goes anywhere. Like her last release a couple years ago
this weighs in at a whopping 7 + minutes! She’s talented, she looks good
in skimpy leather and a garter but seems to be constantly treading an
already well beaten (by herself) path. - Dale
T.P.R.,
775 Park
Ave., Suite # 222, Huntington, NY. 11743, USA Email = greatkat@greatkat.com
website = www.greatkat.com
|
Grey Heaven Fall
are a Russian band, who possess a high level of musicianship, and
maybe one of the cleanest production jobs I have ever heard from a
Russian band. If anything, it might be a tad too clean and clinical,
on the production end of things. But that is a minor preference on
my part, which I am sure, some would disagree with. The band plays a
very brooding, atmospheric kind of style, yet pretty technical
speedy dark death metal. I realize those two descriptions sound like
oxymoron, but it is true, just listen to this album to find out for
yourself. A good example of this, would be the song “Spirit Of
Oppression”, which is an impressive epic length song that clocks in
at just under 12 minutes. The flow and imagination, of the
arrangements and compositions, are smooth and superb. It is
impressive, and very welcome, that they have managed to create so
much atmosphere, largely with traditional instrumentation. No, the
album is not awash in a syrupy soup of synth, and samples to create
false, cutting corners atmosphere, like so many bands attempting a
similar sound. I also enjoyed the deep, emotive growling of the
vocalist, who mirrors the music as best he can and mostly achieves
those aims. Mmmm there are some tasty guitar solos now and again as
well, look no further than the soulful beauty, in the middle of the
track “That Nail In A Heart” for proof. I guess the pestering I
received, to get this review done already, was worth the it after
all. I guess I would be excited to spread the word on this band too
if I was part of Aesthetics Of Devastation Records. This is one you
should absolutely not missed and deserves your attention. - Dale
http://greyheavenfall.bandcamp.com/
http://aesthetics-of-devastation.com/
|
Grief of Emerald do
come up with the odd structural flash and catchy riff, but otherwise are
rather average black/death metal. The keys are mixed in far too heavily.
Die hard symphonic black/death fans need only bother with this one.
- Dale |
|
 
The Finnish
Grieve are like a meteor ablaze in the ink black northern night sky,
hot and bright spitting hellfire leaving their mark and burning out
almost as quickly as they appeared. I use that analogy because put
out a 12” vinyl EP and a split w/Morketida in 2020, and now in the
first month of 2022 they now present us their third and final
recording before splitting up. This horde is made up of the demonic
duo of Werwolf on Guitars, Vocals & Bass (Gestapo 666, Knife,
Orlok, Satanic Warmaster, The True Werwolf, Vargrav,
Vritrahn-Werwolf, ex-Incriminated, ex-Horna, ex-White Death plus
more) and V-KhaoZ on Drums & Keyboards (Druadan Forest, Olio
Tähtien Takana, V-Khaoz, Vargrav, ex-Oath, ex-Azaghal plus more).
They play explosive, driving and harsh early to mid ‘90s second wave
black metal that produces a freezing cold evil atmosphere. You can
definitely hear influences from the classic early albums of
Darkthrone, Immortal, Horna, Judas Iscariot, Satyricon, Graveland
and the like. It is very well done here though; the music is filled
with so much energy, venom and spite. The vocals of Werwolf are
biting and ruthless, throat ripping rasps that I could feel the
audio daggers stabbing into my ears repeatedly. They may already be
gone as a band, but Grieve left a memorable mark in a short period
of time. Worshippers like myself who can not get enough of second
wave early nineties black metal need a copy ‘Funeral’ in their
collection. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/thetruegrieve/
https://www.facebook.com/werewolf.rex
|
I really am digging
this, it is admittedly a bit of a departure from their early stuff. I
had a tape traded dub of their first demo, which was more, straight
grind. This is a promo of tracks (6 studio, 2 live) from their upcoming
album. Groinchurn are still grind but with a lot more traditional and
death metal influence. They even throw in “Toad - Ice” a sort of death
metal/punk song w/ the shout outs and all. What out for Groinchurn’s new
album coming out on Morbid Records. - Dale
Dark Ages, Ryan
(Lunatic Evil), P.O. Box 39550, Garsfontein, Pretoria 0060, SOUTH AFRICA
|
|
Grue are a
fairly young USBM band, with only a split demo cassette under their
belt, before unleashing this full length effort. They are
definitely, not your run of the mill black metal band, while staying
evil and extreme; they also manage to create a pretty brooding and
atmospheric affair. It is a melting pot of hard bm elements, fast
dark thrashy sounding riffing and harsh yelled rasps, mixed with
slow to mid-paced atmospheric structuring. Which I could really see
pleasing, the blitzkrieg early 90s bm fans and the atmospheric,
gloomy black metal followers. The two varied aesthetics, are married
here in a well thought out, skillful fashion. The bio, which
describes this two man band, as a melding of Immortal’s “At The
Heart Of Winter” with the atmosphere of Ukranian black metal bands,
like Astrofaes and Drudkh. I think that backs up my description of
their music, but that might clarify and hone their sound further in
the minds of you reading this, that are fans of the above style. I
would have to say; this young band immediately distinguishes
themselves, as one of the more quality entries into the US black
metal scene. Give this a try you will not be disappointed. -
Dale
http://grue.bandcamp.com/
http://www.eternal-death.com/ |
Spain's Gruesome Stuff Relish return with their third release of
sick, gore death grinding metal for the underground maniacs. The
band mixes in old-school sounding Entombed {Left Hand Path} and
Dismember {Like An Ever Flowing Stream} raw, fast guitars and
chaotic drums with some Carcass influence. The band members are not
all stuck in the past just rehashing out the same old music of the
gods of the past as there are some really good, heavy guitars and
drum patterns as well as vocals which use some vocal effects in
parts for a cool and original effect. If you enjoy brutal, sickening
death metal with some grind influences, then Gruesome Stuff Relish
is a band worth checking out.
- Patrick
https://myspace.com/gruesomestuff
http://www.fda-rekotz.com/gx/
|
|
Every time, you
wonder if I Hate Records, is turning into strictly a doom metal
label. They smack you upside your head, with a record like “El
Armagedon Continua”! Guerra Total, uphold the ancient classic
sounding black, death, thrash metal much of the rest of the world,
have come to expect and worship from the South American scene. Here,
we are presented with rapid, evil thrashing black speed metal of the
highest order. It may be, a twist that you do not often hear that
often from that region, is that sound is mixed with old school heavy
metal in the NWOBHM tradition. The riffing on here is monstrous, it
is so heavy, fast and catchy as all hell, yet it still sounds cold
‘n evil. This is so filthy, that it would make the most ardent fan
of the early works, from Razor or Kreator punch the air, headbang
and play violent air guitar. The vocals are that gruff thrashed up
rasping black metal sound, which I love from the old days, in the
late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The lyrics being in their native language,
only serves to make the vocals, sound even more menacing and
malevolent. There are some guitar leads, thrown around now and then,
that will make your head swim. I am not sure the level of
musicianship from South America is often up to this high level, not
in my experience anyway. Wow, this stuff is amazing!! Do you love
stuff like Venom, Bathory, Destruction or Sabbat? You will like this
too. It is pure metal gold, seeping out of my headphones. Honestly,
I can not even say that much more about it, except buy it and
prepare for a wild ride! - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/guerratotal
http://www.ihate.se/
|
|
This is a two
man band with those men coming out of Ecuador (Wampyric Strigoi) and
Chile (Lord Valtgryftåke) respectively. These two demons may have
started a new band, but they are both very prolific and respected
names in the UG black metal scene with a lengthy list of bands on
their record like 13th Temple, Aurae Lunae, Dungeon Steel, Wampyric
Rites, Evighetens, Gryftigæn, Lord Valtgryftåke, Pyreficativm,
Ründgard and even more! It is also worth noting one band in
particular worth singling out here which features that these two men
is a trio known as Winterstorm. The music on here is absolutely
saturated with a freezing, creeping aura of pure malice, which seeps
into your bones and your mind turning your life blood into ink black
venom. I am sure the recording on this release will turn off some, I
must admit even myself I have been listening to too many slick,
robust recordings lately that I had that immediate initial reaction.
Then I settled into this low and somewhat raw production, it brings
back those old feelings from the early to mid ‘90s second wave bm
demos and albums I worshipped. I went from hesitant, to turning up
the volume a little and coming to the conclusion that the recording
on here is not only intentional, but nearing perfect for the
marvelously cold and evil music on this album. This material relies
heavier on an almost hypnotic atmosphere, rather than more of a high
velocity and hate filled black metal style. I would say think of
their style leaning slightly towards the early releases of say
Burzum or Forgotten Woods than the blitzing speed of much of the
second wave. The tortured yet somewhat obscure howling vocals in
particular can not help but remind of those early Burzum releases,
in a very good way. The CD version of this release is out this month
of December, while the other two listed formats are scheduled for a
March 2023 release date. If you worship that cult feeling of the
early days of the second wave of black metal, and like myself you
can never get enough of it, when it is well done and filled with
deep dedication then you should absolutely get this album. -
Dale
https://signalrex.bandcamp.com/
https://signalrex.com/store/
|
Guilty As Sin is
mainly the musical vision of one Zak Ovoian and one thing you can
never accuse this dude of being is formulaic. In fact, I think the
words eclectic and eccentric would be a much more apt terms to
describe this musical nomads path. The albums starts with a weird
intro that sounds like it would have been the sound of a muted
computer voice from some 80s movie like War Games or something. Then
out of left field somewhat, going on their past releases come a
couple raging tunes with speedy punk / crust sort of guitars and
shouted hardcore vocals. I know this band is all over the place, but
going by the last record that took me off guard, decent tunes with
lots of energy and still strange for me to hear. Those hymns are
followed up by the epic vocal-less (nothing unusual for Guilty As
Sin) wonderful mental landscape of a song going by the name of
“Addicted To Cyanide”. This is much more of what I would expect out
of this band. The first half of the song is really introspective,
kind of melancholy and soothing with some amazing guitars that are
both simple and powerful, dripping with emotion. As the song wades
into the second half the same beautiful rhythm is slowly sped up and
played through thrash guitars, but it is a slow build up of the
speed and honestly it showcases, in my opinion, Guilty As Sin at
their best. I mean Zak knows how write some truly emotional shit, I
would love to see him do a whole flowing album of this style one
day. We follow that up with “Gobekli Tepe”, another instrumental but
this time we are treated to some more mind bending guitar landscape
that takes heavy middle eastern influence with that belly dancing /
snake charmer music vibe. I shit you not someone is even credited as
their instrument being belly dancing in the liner notes. It is a
pretty emotive intense experience complete with trumpets, finger
cymbals and whole deal. It is very well done but I could see it
taking the more open minded metal heads to enjoy that. Did I mention
I mention the first part of the record was ripping punky guitars
with tough guy vocals and songs titles like “Boston Beatdown”? Did I
tell you on their last record they called themselves viking / biker
metal?! See what I mean when I say eclectic and eccentric now? Well
you should be starting to get that mental audio picture now. There
is always something I want to leave cut out on each Guilty album,
but there is no denying the talent and vision at work. I absolutely
loved their last record entitled “III”, more so than this one yet
this is a fine piece of work in its own right. I find it impossible
to write short reviews for this band. Damn you Ovoian! –
Dale
http://www.myspace.com/guiltymusic2008
|
|
|
|
