I was a little
surprised to see a band billed as Norwegian black metal on Shadow
Kingdom Records, a label that usually focuses on old school heavy
metal, doom, speed and thrash metal. Though Nachash does possess a
certain level of olden heavy metal and thrash to their sound. I was
also surprised when I did a little digging on this band’s members.
Apparently drummer Kenneth Tiller played in the black/death band
Nephrite at the start of the ‘90s releasing two demos. Then I can
find nothing on him (disappeared from the scene?!) until he showed
up in the band Celestial Bloodshed in the year 2000, and the band
released some eps, split ep’s and two albums. Okay, that has no real
bearing on this review, but I enjoy interesting history tidbits of
info like that on bands or their individual members. The other two
member of this band, by the way, seem to be new on the scene for the
most part. Now Nachash is a black metal band, but they incorporate a
lot of heavy metal into their sound, sort of like the first wave of
black metal did and the early bands of the second wave at the start
of the ‘90s. I like it though, a lot of the time they are more of a
black heavy metal band more than anything. But, there are definite
elements of early to mid ‘90s style black metal in there as well, as
well as slight traces of dark death metal from the same musical
epoch. I like the vocals they are part yell, part bm rasp with an
whispering of a death metal growl, but they sound evil and
commanding complimenting the evil music well, adding an extra
element of audio pestilence. I think my fave tracks on here are the
two opening tracks, starting off the beginning of “Red Death
Eclipse…” reminding me a lot of the opening title track to Venom’s
“Black Metal” (did I mention I worship at the Venom altar?), with
it’s caustic opening build up and finishing off with demon vocal
sounds straight out of early necromantic Impaled Nazarene. This
quickly leads into the second track “Apex Illuminous”, which
continues the build up and launches into an evil sounding yet
headbang inducing metal chugging with a killer tremolo riff and
infectious melody that Satan himself would dance around a bonfire
to. The rest of the album, while it does dip a skosh, ultimately
keeps a pretty high level of quality and settles into a little more
of hypnotic moody vibe on the final two songs, “Vortex Spectre” &
“Elder Night…”, which combined clock in at over fifteen minutes. I
would recommend this for fans of the current UG metal scene that are
also die hards for ‘80s dark heavy metal, and the first wave of
black metal from the late ‘80s and very start of the 1990s. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/nachashnorway
https://www.shadowkingdomrecords.com
|
|
I used to get
stuff all the time, but it has been a long while since I reviewed
anything from Season Of Mist (who released their debut album). Just looking at their website
apparently Gorguts is back and releasing something with them! But I
digress, that is for another time and another review. The packaging
on this release is just fantastic, as you can see above you get an
audio live cd, plus you get a live DVD, that was nicely filmed,
multiple camera angles all edited together. I am not sure a live
record is always the best introduction to a band, but that is what I
get, as this is the first release I have heard from the band and
apparently only the second in their career?! In fact, essentially
from what I can figure about the band, this is basically their one
and only release, their debut album In The Flesh, re-released in
live album form. Usually bands wait until they have a wealth of
material over a number of albums before doing a live album, seems a
touch pompous to me. I might as well review the dvd portion of the
show mainly. The band do go all out with set pieces adorning the
stage as atmosphere, a throne for the vocalist, what appears to be
branches or brambles on the front the stage, various things draped
around, a woman wondering around in medieval garb, visually it is
pretty pleasing and reflects the music. Basically they play fast,
ripping death metal, somewhat in the old Floridian style I would
suggest. Think of Monstrostiy, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Malevolent
Creation and the like. I see now after writing that sentence, then
stopping to look online, the vocalist is actually Steve Tucker who
did vocals in Morbid Angel for a time. So maybe that influence
should not be too surprising. In fact, colour me surprised, I had no
information on this band going into this review, now upon looking it
up, this is apparently a super group of sorts. You have Novy (Dies
Irae, ex-Vader, ex-Behemoth) on bass, Blasphemer (Aura Noir,
ex-Mayhem) on guitar, and the Canadian drum god Flo Mournier of
Cryptopsy on drums. As you can imagine the drumming is fantastic and
easily the strength of the band. I forgot to mention above the
vocalist and guitarists are in the back and the drum kit is out
front, virtually in the audience with Flo having his back to the
crowd and facing the rest of the band. It is a really different, yet
cool set up. One thing that is missing is there seems to be no in
between song banter to the crowd whatsoever for some odd reason. The
music itself is admittedly a little derivative; it might be that
this group is more of a tribute to the Floridian dm scene. That is
not to say the music is not good, because it is pretty damn good,
just nothing utterly mind blowing, as you might expect from this
super group, just a mish mash of some of the better elements of that
scene and time in the 90s especially. I do not know that I would
call this essential at all, but for the dvd alone it is probably
worth the price and I had a good time watching / listening to it.
There apparently is a special edition of this on blu ray and cd
limited to 100 copies or some such. - Dale
http://nadersadek.com/
http://www.season-of-mist.com/ |
Narkan come blasting out of my speakers all the way from Peru! Yes,
this is an old release, but I was sent it in for review and I love
South American bands so I will make an exception here. These guys
have not been very prolific with their output (1 demo, 2 split CDs &
this 2007 full-length album) since their debut demo in 2004. This
seems common in the SA scene, though all members of this band are in
other bands like Eternal Exhumation, Estigma, Psicorragia, Black
Heaven, Armagedon, Akraetia & Epilepsia – so I am sure that has a
lot to do with Narkan’s somewhat sparse release productivity. Now,
on to what brought us here and that is intense, energetic and
vicious deathgrind music! This is true deathgrind too, some bands
throw in the grind tag and it is barely noticeable, but Narkan play
some brutal and memorable death that is laced habitually with lethal
injections of potent grindcore insanity. The vocalist named Dr.
Gonzales is killer! At first, I was not sure whether or not it is
was multiple members doing the deep growls, higher pitched growls,
nasal high screams that will pierce the ear drums. But I watched a
couple rehearsal songs on their facebook and it all one guy on the
mic, moving seamlessly from one style to the next and he destroys
it! He is fantastic. The rest of the band is no slouch with in
writing a powerful death and grindcore mixture that even manages to
slide in some short, tasty guitar parts or a brief cool mini bass
guitar solo. I mean this stuff is impressive, it is a shame that
this band is not better known outside their country around the whole
world’s UG scenes because they are that damn good! I highly
recommend this and please to the members some new material soon
please!! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/narkan.deathgrind
https://myspace.com/mythicmetalprods
|
Finland never
ceases to amaze me with its never-ending sea of great bands whether
it is the traditional, hateful black metal or more atmospheric
blackened death. It is mostly always good. Well you can now add
Nattfog to this ever growing long list of bands. Nattfog is a
duo creating what else? Cold, grim and harsh black metal. The songs
are fairly long for this style of music though ranging from 3
minutes up to 9 minutes. But the band members are good enough
song-writers and musicians they can make the songs a little long but
never gets boring to my ears. Raw, primitive production and harsh
mid-paced raw guitars, with some killer drumming along with some
well-done sick, violent black metal shrieks. Fans of Sargeist, Horna,
etc.. will love Nattfog so definitely give this a chance. -
Patrick
www.myspace.com/nattfog
http://www.hammer-of-hate.com/ |
This band Norge
band has been around apparently since 2010, but did not start
releasing anything until just over 2 years ago for some reason.
“Styggdom” is Nattverd's second full length and first for the
legendary Osmose Productions. The album contains eight tracks of
traditional, cold Norwegian black metal similar to the mid 90's era.
The guitars are played with icy cold patterns, which for the most
part are aggressive and fast riffing arrangements. The guitarist
does slow to a more calm, mid pace style throughout some of the
songs, before going to a more crazed fast tempo. The vocals are grim
black metal screams and screeches that fit well. This is my first
encounter with Norway's Nattverd, but I hope to hear more music from
this Norweigan black metal band. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/nattverdofficial
https://www.osmoseproductions.com
|
Norway's
Nattverd return with a brand new release continuing the rich
traditional Norse black metal style that was they have become known
for over the last decade. But on “Vandring” the band seems to
incorporate some cryptically epic and atmospheric elements into the
music this time around. The musicians still keep the music in the
traditional cold and hateful realm, but do add more melody and again
epic flowing elements into their songwriting. The vocals are grim
black metal screams and screeches that are spat out with a powerful
delivery; the vocalist uses some deeper gruff growls and screeches
in a few of the songs. The musicians never really slow down too much
even when the music goes more to the atmospheric areas of their
sound which I like. It seemed a lot of bands in the early 00's
dropped the cold black metal style, and went all atmospheric and
lame. But that is not the case here. Nattverd have incorporated both
styles into their grim music to forge a great release that is
recommended to fans of quality black metal. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/nattverdofficial/
https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/
|
Necrobode is a
band of black death metal zombies from Portugal, compelled to hunt
you down to the ends of the earth to eat your flesh and steal your
souls. This is my first listen to Necrobode with this album, the
bands debut full-length. This release is filled with chunky ‘n
heavy, gear grinding bitingly evil riffing and barbarous drum work
that will beat you into submission. I think of Necrobode’s music as
being executed at Michael Myers speed. Like Myers it walks at a
brisk pace, taking long deadly strides yet never running or rushing,
just coming for you endlessly, tirelessly hunting you down. That is
not to say there is no speed variation at all, but this bands tempo
cadence and musical gate vary only ever so slightly in either
direction of slower and faster. Their mainstay pace is always the
same; it is for me, both pleasingly hypnotic and wholly menacing,
all at the same time. The vocals mimic the music, rarely changing,
but relentlessly present in their much obscured combination of
barking yell and husky, ominous whispery growl. Like the music the
vox are quite hypnotic and rhythmic, yet threatening in their ever
unchanging fearsome and undecipherable form. This music may not be
varied enough, or slick enough or melodious enough for some black
death metal fans, but that is okay this is not meant for you. It is
for die hards of filthy, raw black death metal who enjoy an evil,
old school suffocating atmosphere summoned straight from the pits of
hell itself. I look forward to more from this band in future. -
Dale
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/
https://ironbonehead.de/
|
Sweden's Necrocurse may be a new band to the scene, but the
musicians of Necrocurse have been a part of the scene for many
years. Featuring members of Sweden's legendary bands like
Swordmaster, Nifelheim and Sacramentum the band draws inspiration
from the late 80's/early 90's death/thrash scene with some well
crafted traditional heavy metal guitars placed into the mix. Raw
thrashing guitars, the drumming is really well played and mixes in
both elements of blasting thrash beats and more mid-heavy beats.
This is definitely worth checking out for all fans of
old-school death, thrash metal with some black metal elements mixed
in.
- Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/necrocurse
http://www.pulverised.net/
|
  
I normally never
touch on anything political with Canadian Assault. But while
listening to this bands debut album, who hails from Kharkiv, Ukraine
it is hard not to think of their country being invaded by the filthy
dictator Putin and his war criminal regime. This should be a happy
and proud time for this band and instead for all I know they have
weapons in their hands as I write this fighting to defend their
homeland and fighting for all democracy around the world. The
province of Alberta in Canada I grew up in for the first 23 years of
my life has a very large Ukranian population, some of which have
traveled to Ukraine to fight alongside. I have included a picture
above of the Canadian Brigade badge that are now fighting over
there. Okay I got that out of my system I think let’s move on to the
bands music. Necrom is a relatively young band having formed in 2018
and only previously released an EP in 2019, they now are able to
present their debut album. When I say young band it is a bit
misleading, as the members have currently or in the past done time
in many bands over the years. That list includes guitarist Knjaz
Varggoth who was in the death metal band Suppuration who released a
demo tape way back in 1992 (!!), which eventually changed the bands
name to the well known Nokturnal Mortem. The music on this record is
high energy brutal death metal which forcefully shreds everything in
it’s path. It is old school death metal and while I hear various
influences from the US and across Europe, possibly the strongest
influence sounds to me is drawn from Sweden with the earlier works
of bands like Entombed, Dismember and Grave. There is a level of
melodicism mixed into the crushing brutality, just enough to make
things interesting and keep anything from getting stale. Something
else that is quite evident is the presence of well thought out
songwriting on here, showcasing a talent for emotive builds and
crescendos that pay off in a very satisfying way. I did not yet even
really touch much on the killer guitar fills and rapid guitar solos,
not to mention the commanding and powerful growling from vocalist
Andrii Verovkin but suffice to say they damn good too. Hail
Ukraine! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/necromofficial/
https://www.osmoseproductions.com/
|
 
This is a one
man band from Greece, and that one man is Echetleos (Caedes Cruenta,
Ithaqua, Kawir, Opus Magorum, Walpurgia plus more) who is obviously
a well known figure in the UG scene. This is the bands debut release
and I believe this was first released as a demo on cassette, and now
Helter Skelter & Regain Records have combined to release this on
disc and vinyl. The music on here is total old school first wave
style black metal, slower to middle paced, very atmospheric music
that just bleeds audio darkness in a chilling yet hypnotic and
ritualistic fashion. Some influences I hear are Necromantia,
Varathron, Mortuary Drape, early Grand Belial’s Key, early Ancient
Rites, and even King Diamond (especially on the epic fifteen minute
title track) believe it or not. There is absolutely no getting
around the Necromantia influence comparison on the ten plus minute
song “Necromantical Ritual”, none, I mean this track sounds like a
long lost and unreleased Necromantia recording from the early to mid
‘90s. So is that a problem for me? Absolutely not I fucking worship
old Necromantia and that style, it is amazing, well done and
captures that sound and spirit so completely, it is both frightening
and invigorating for me to listen to. Necromantical Invocation most
definitely keep the classic Greek bm traditions alive here. Both
epic length songs are wrapped around with an intro / outro
combination, and both sound quite different from one another, which
I suppose could be a positive or negative depending upon your
tastes. I really hope we hear more from this one man band in the not
too distant future. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/necromanticalinvocation
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/
|
I guess you have
heard by now that new member Anton Crowley is really Phil Anselmo of
Pantera and he wrote all the guitar on this album! Weird but anyways.
This is the heralded return of Necrophagia one death metal’s originators
“Holocausto De La Morte” marks the first bands album in 12 years! There
are many facets of this album I enjoy such as the zombie rattlin’ riffs
that are catchy yet always somehow sick. The vocals are bloodcurdling
rasps that could be described as depraved and disgusting. So you know I
love ‘em. The style is still primitive death metal that would make Nun
Slaughter proud. The drawbacks are that the songs seem to go nowhere and
are just parts sewn together and this band is no seamstress. The
production could be much fuller, I don’t knock on sound much so you know
it is bad - the guitars just hang out there like a hacked limb. Good but
nothing great. - Dale
Email = RedStream@aol.com
|
This new Swedish
band is a trio that includes Tommy Carlsson on Vocals & Guitar,
Jocke Svensson (Birdflesh & Skogen) on bass and Martin Michaelsson
on drums. As well these men have history together from the long
running band Entrails; all three were in that band and seem to have
all left at the same time, possibly to form Necrophagous for all I
know. Something else they all have in common I would say is they are
fans of old school American death metal, primarily from the early to
mid nineteen nineties period of this magnificent genre. Some band
influences surely are Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Dying Fetus,
Immolation, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, Malevolent Creation,
Deicide and the like. They keep this traditional sound alive and
well here with this record. The music is fucking brutal with those
chunky guitars and riffs, which vary from pure pulsating pummel to
adroit speed with some tasty little rhythms to add some spice. The
drumming is commanding and powerful, keeping that backbone strong
with some help from bassist Jocke. Tommy Carlsson nails those old
traditional US death metal growling vocals with a demonic cadence
nicely, it sounds like he is ripping his throat to shreds in the
process. Yes, it is some retro worship, but everyone has their
influences they are passionate about and some wear it on their
sleeves more often than not. But when this traditional style is done
this well and gets me headbanging like ‘In Chaos Ascend’ has managed
to do, I am all about it. - Dale
https://necrophagous.bandcamp.com/
https://transcendingUSmerch.com/
https://tometal.com/
|
It has been nine years since Necrotic Disgorgement's debut release
and the wait is over! Ohio's violent sicko's are back! With their
follow up and I tell you the wait was well worth it! Ten tracks of
skull crushing, barbaric death metal. Purely inhuman pummeling blast
beats that are both devastating and precise in execution. The guitar
duo of Ben Deskins and Tony Tipton {who some may remember from the
legendary band Regurgitation} sounds amazing and tight with their
extremely heavy and fast riffs, with solo's intertwined in the
chaotic riffs. New vocalist Jimmy Javins sounds amazing and has some
of the best vocals I've heard in this style in a long time! Some
real sick deep death growls and screams that spew out the bands
lyrics. Recommended to all fans of sick, quality brutality.
-
Patrick
http://www.reverbnation.com/necroticdisgorgement
http://www.comatosemusic.com/
|
This is the
first time I have heard of Needful things. I was surprised to find
out that they have been around for over a decade! Yet this is their
debut album. Though they have released many split releases (I think
around 11 splits) and some compilation tracks over this long time. I
may have missed out on them for many years but I finally get my
chance with “Dead Point”. After just finishing reviewing both
Alienation Mental and Cerebral Turbulency’s “Crash” this record is a
welcome relief. No crappy mallcore here my friends! So put down your
imaginary pogo stick and step away from the ledge. This is more like
it. Needful Things just flat out clobber you over the head and drag
you back to their cave. They play a little loose and not as tight as
some bands. To be honest I really like that it gives a more organic
and off-kilter sort of feel to the music and gives it room to spread
out. Some of the riffing on here is just heavy as all hell and I am
guessing the headbanging and moshing at their live shows must be
pretty violent. There is a healthy dose of straight up death metal
mixed with the grinding and it is mixed up nicely. There is no doubt
some Napalm Death influence (like “Harmony Corruption” riff
sections) and also you can clearly hear that in the growling vocals
along with some Dave Ingram from Benediction style. Besides the
Napalm influence I hear also things like Extreme Noise Terror,
Rotten Sound and similar bands. I must say again I love the riffing
it is just so brutal and massive! Needful things do not get fancy
they just bash your skull in and they are good at it. Check this
out.
– Dale
http://www.khaaranus.wz.cz
http://www.needfulthings.wz.cz/ |
An Italian band
playing that melodic harmonic death we know well in the old Swedish
style. You know everything from Dissection (at their most extreme
moments) to Dark Tranquility to In Flames to Children of Bodom and
beyond. The band is polished and intense and sounds like so many
that came before them. I can not deny Nefarium are forceful with
their speed and the riffing is catchy as hell. I have to confess as
well that I am not the biggest fan of this style, except maybe a
select handful of classic bands that championed this style. They
look like a black metal band but as I stated do not sound like one.
Those of you that love super slick productions that are pro tool’d
up the wahzoo. You will dig the sound on here, for me as most
Assault readers know; I do not care much for it as albums come off
sounding cookie cutter and plastic. So as you can tell though this
is decent enough for the genre, it will not be receiving repeated
listens from me. But those into the bands above that can not get
enough of this style. Well you probably can not go wrong on this
one. –
Dale
http://www.nefarium.org/
http://www.agoniarecords.com/
|
Hrafn is the
mastermind behind the great Nefarious Dusk who release their
self-titled second album through the well respected label Purity
Through Fire. Hrafn is one very busy and productive man in the
British UG scene as he is also in the bands Helvellyn, Morte Lune,
Skiddaw, Thy Dying Light, Torver, Úlfarr and more past and present!
I wasn't fortunate to hear the debut release, but this self-titled
release consists of ten tracks of cold hateful black metal
intensity. The music is delivered with a mix of extremely fast
passages and some slower mid paced patterns that are done with skill
and a great writing ability. There is also an epic flowing quality
to the music despite being so frosty and bitter at the same time.
The vocals are delivered with raw raspy black metal screams and
screeches. If you are looking for a release that is uncompromising
black metal then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of the
self-titled release today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/nduk666
https://www.facebook.com/Purity-Through-Fire
|
It is always a
pleasure to review bands from my homeland of Canada. Nefastus is new
to me and this is their debut record so no surprise there. From what
I understand this album was released on a small label a couple years
ago. But now that they have been snapped up by Candlelight it
receives a wider audience. Presumably while the band gathers it’s
forces and continues the assault with writing a follow-up to “Urban
Cancer”. I would have to call N.D. sympho melodic death metal ala
the Scandinavian pioneers with some black metal touches as well.
While it is symphonic and atmospheric in spots, it is also a pretty
fast paced record with good energy. I have to confess I am not the
biggest fan of this style. I do however really like a handful of
classic albums in this style. So a band playing this sub-genre
generally has to be really fucking good to impress me. Does “Urban
Cancer” accomplish this for me? Well in all honesty no. But as this
style goes they do it very well and as I mentioned the speed
quotient and adrenaline energy helps separate them a little. If you
are a devout follower of this kind of music I am sure you will not
be disappointed with this purchase. On the other hand if you
generally only collect the cream of the crop or only dabble as I do
then you can probably live without this record. It will be
interesting to see how this band progresses on their sophomore
release as it will be a couple years at least for them to brew and
perfect it. –
Dale
www.candlelightrecordsusa.com
www.myspace.com/nefastusdies
|
French band The
Negation plays black metal, with some touches of death metal, within
the guitars. The guitarist knows how to handle his instrument, and
write some excellent riffs, going from intense fast riffs to a more
mid paced range, in some of the songs. The vocals are raw blackened
shrieks and harsh screams. This is a decent bm release, for those
that are big followers of black metal, who do not mind some other
subtle varied metal styles, intertwined throughout, then you might
enjoy this one. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/the.negation.band
http://www.kaotoxin.com/
|
Hailing from
Romania, N.B. unleashes their first album “Zarnindu-sa”. All through
this release, one cannot help notice the strong Emperor influence. That
being said this is one of those albums that can easily be lost in the
shuffle due to it’s lack of originality. This is a fairly common formula
in black metal these days and while not an unsatisfying listen, I’m sure
there are those that would turn it off on the first listen to something
else. The keys are pretty dominating in parts and that detracts from the
riffs strength and overall clarity. There are some good moments on here
though, usually the opening riffs to the songs and then everything just
kind of tends to mix together. Not something I’ll listen to often,
especially when there are many other bands doing this style, and better.
-
Jeffrey Kusbel
|
‘Black Metal
Hordes’ is the debut release from California's Nekcrium, which is a
re-release of their debut (and only) album that was released over a
decade ago with an extremely limited release. As you can see above
this is a joint release through Plague Demon and Blasphemous
Creations Of Hell, both American labels from the high north and the
deep south. The band plays a brand of grim and unrelenting black
metal similar to the mid 1990's elder gods of the bm scene. Each
musician on this album knows how to create and write some good music
with their own individual instrument; for the most part the music is
played with raw and fast passages. The vocals are raw black metal
screams and some deeper gruff screams are also used throughout a few
of the songs. If you are a fan of well delivered and performed
traditional black metal then be sure to pick up a copy of this
forgotten and under appreciated release. - Patrick
https://plaguedemonrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://bchrecords.storenvy.com/
|
This mighty trio
of musicians is led by Zack Ripper, formerly of Nunslaughter, who
moved from Ohio to Colorado and recruited two members of the band
Weaponizer to continue the fight with Nekrofilth on this, their
sophomore full-length. Just imagine if you will a slightly updated
sounding version of a mix of Celtic Frost, Venom and Slaughter from
Canada, but played faster and more brutal! I can also hear fleeting
hints of Repulsion and Autopsy – what a fantastically sadistic and
wonderful set of influences, at according to my musical tastes (all
among of my fave bands of all time). The energy and caustic
adrenaline radiating off of this bands music incredible, I feel like
destroying everything in the room with a spike fisted headbanging
frenzy! ARGH!! They have this sort of violent punk aesthetic or
vibe, then again so did Venom and Slaughter to an extent. They also,
like many punk bands have short lightning songs on here that are all
3 minutes or under, it hits you hard and it hits you fast. The
vocals match the music with a vile mix of yelled gruff thrash vocals
with a hoarse growling death metal edge, but it is all very
decipherable, and oh so grimy sounding in a very good way. I have to
say musically these guys live up to their band name, to an extent so
few bands can, because this is definitely great Nekrofilth-y metal!
If you like the description above then trust me you need to get your
paws on this thing. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/nekrofilth
https://hellsheadbangers.bandcamp.com/
|
Imagine a bright green bouncy ball. This bouncy ball has
spikes--shiny steel ones. They glimmer grotesquely as they catch the
light from passing stars. Yeah, this bouncy ball is in space,
somehow rebounding off of planets as if they were only models in an
elementary school classroom. This ball is analogous for how
Nekrogoblikon's brand of melodeath sounds to me: a strangely
entertaining mixture of silliness that sometimes has an
unpredictable edge to it. It is superficially enjoyable with
indisputably catchy riffs and refrains, but sometimes they are
catchy to a fault on this album. While the verses of most of the
tracks on Welcome to Bonkers have suitably speedy death metal
riffing and Nekrogoblikon's trademark eccentric flair, their
quirkiness and repetitiveness can become slightly vexing in such
tracks as "Dressed as Goblins" and "Darkness" where the choruses are
springy earworms. Since I am not accustomed to listening to "party"
metal, or death metal pizza with extra cheese, heavier tracks such
as "The Skin Thief" strike my fancy more. However, that is also an
important point about the appeal of Nekrogoblikon: they
defamiliarize death metal for fans of the genre with their
incorporation of extra-genric components like vivacious keyboard
lines, as well as in this way make this genre more accessible to
newer/younger fans of heavy music. Their liberal and varied use of
keyboards on Welcome to Bonkers would have the potential for
putting this album on the cusp of being excessively bogus if it were
not for how well-executed and incorporated they are into the
compositions. The piano-toned lines in such tracks as "Dragons", for
example, foreshadow the animated tempo of the guitar riffs to come,
making it even more satisfying when they do make their entrance.
Listeners must keep in mind that the purpose of this album is to
have some fucking fun with conventions that folks in the metal
community often take too seriously. It is not cerebral, and it is
not downright brutal even though it definitely has its moments; it
is funny, fun, and certainly bonkers. –
Aaron
https://nekrogoblikon.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/mysteryboxfortress/
|
Now, it's time
for some thrashy Black Metal, I guess. A catchy type of raucous, so
far. It sounds like mischievous raccoons scurrying around fibrous
tree trunks on a moonlit night. The songs have a tight structure yet
have a deliberate sloppiness stemming from (or around) their core -
to make the overall atmosphere feel lively and present. They have
that "controlled chaos" aspect, I'd say. A little off kilter but
masterfully gliding along the left hand path - with a smirking
knowing wink, no doubt. A raw touch of the diabolical with a
seemingly aloof panache. I like the two different guitar patterns
going on much of the time (left and right variations - complimenting
each other). Keeps things interesting. Quality deviltry, here...or
pseudo-deviltry? Either way...it's pretty enjoyable. Oh...wow. Just
as I was about to end this review, I heard a familiar song
beginning. It's a cover of Slayer's "Angel of Death". Not bad. Not
great...but not retch-worthy, either. Seems a bit out of place,
though. Two more songs to go. Back to the more impassioned style of
their own. Yeah, this is some fine work, here. Recommended.
- Anders
https://www.facebook.com/nekrokraft/
http://thesignrecords.com/
|
After a nine
year slumber Norway's old school thrash maniacs Nekromantheon return
with a brand new release. Some of the members have been active in
the meantime as members of great bands like Obliteration, Black
Viper, Flight and Audiopain. ‘Visions Of Trismegistos’ is the bands
third full-length release in the last eleven years and features
eight songs of intense and ferocious thrash metal mayhem. The
guitars are played with skill and extremely aggressive guitar
patterns and riffs. For the most part the guitars are played with
insane and chaotic speed passages, but the guitarist does write some
slower memorable passages even adding in some well written solo's.
The vocals are traditional thrash metal screams that are delivered
with tremendous power and intensity. If you are looking for a band
that brings it with relentless old school thrash metal then look no
further then Nekromantheon. - Patrick
https://nekromantheon.bandcamp https://indierecordings.no/
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
South America has always had been known for it's aggressive, violent
metal and Colombia's Nepente carries that tradition on nicely with
Suffering Is The Seed. In fact I would say the band raise the brutal
bar just a little bit with Suffering Is The Seed with insanely fast
{you have to hear ‘em to believe them} blast beats mixed with
chaotic, uncompromising guitar riffs that rarely slow down. The
guitars are a little thicker giving them a death metal feel and
sound. After listening to the vocalist I'm surprised his vocal
chords are not completely destroyed after the recording sessions for
this album, as they are some of the most intense, sick
shrieks/screams I have heard in quite some time, but there is also a
Glen Benton death metal growl mixed in on some of the songs and both
vocal styles fit Nepente's uncompromising war metal style nicely.
- Patrick
www.reverbnation.com/nepentedeathblackmetal
http://www.metalhit.com/
|
I remember hearing this Brazilan's bands 2006 release "Quarrel In
Hell" through Ibex Moon records. But since then I lost track with
the bands activities. It's great to see the band has been carrying
on and keeping active in the underground scene with releases and
looking at their bio, the band has played quite a few shows with
some great underground death and black metal acts. To The Death is
Nervochaos’ fifth release and is thirteen tracks of pure well
played, aggressive death metal. Unrelenting fast drums with some
mid-paced passages before the pace is picked back up. The guitar
riffs are intense and heavy with some solo's thrown in the mix to
keep the listeners attention while the musicians pound your eardrums
and senses with the heaviness of the music. The vocals are done
pretty original sounding with brutal, angry death growls and some
gruff/screams. Fans of past Nervochaos releases should enjoy this or
if you enjoy heavy, fast uncompromising death metal, then you will
definitely want to check this South American band out for some
quality death metal.
- Patrick
http://metalmedia.com.br/nervochaos/
http://greyhazerecords.com/
|
|
Nervochaos
return with their sixth cd to date, entitled “The Art Of Vengenace”.
While it still has Nervochaos’ fast thrashing / death style, the
band is showing a little progression and maturity, in their writing
ability. The music is still pretty fast and heavy, but the band does
have a slower mid-paced tempos mixed into the song structure. The
drumming is extremely good, with some fast thrashy drum patterns and
some heavier death metal drums. This is probably Nervochaos’ best
release to date, so if you are a long time fan, or just someone who
enjoys death / thrashing mayhem, then definitely pick this disc up
today. - Patrick
http://www.nervochaos.com.br/
http://greyhazerecords.com/
|
Brazil’s raw
thrash black metallers Nervochaos are back with a new release
featuring thirteen songs. The guitars are played with intense, fast
guitar patterns throughout most of the songs. But the guitarist does
slow down to a more controlled mid pace pattern in a few of the
songs. The drumming is done in the vein, with chaotic and crazed
drum patterns, but does slow to a heavier slower pacing. The vocals
are a mix of raw death metal growls and some screaming intertwined
within the mix. If you are a fan of the previous Nervochaos releases
then be sure to pick up a copy “Nyctophilia” today. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/NervoChaos https://www.greyhazerecords.com/
|
When this band first
came out, I was so excited as I loved Sanctuary (whose ashes this band
was created out of) but Nevermore for me has been nothing but a big
disappointment. This album does nothing to change those feelings, I mean
even though Warrel Dane’s diminished vocals still have enough of that
old umph to sound good. It’s not enough. The straight-forward groove
laden material on here just bores me to tears! After a couple spins, I
thought maybe if I listened to it the last time before review w/
headphones I will pick up on what I’m missing, but no this is just
mediocre drivel. –
Dale
|
Here’s a young act
on the scene, who execute mid-paced, heavy metal in the ‘80’s tradition.
N.E., have a penchant for riffy tunes laced w/ some stylish and classy
guitar leads. Smooth vocals that remind me, oh so slightly of Fates
Warning. They are let down though from a lack of catchy harmonies and
memorable choruses. New Eden are a strong group of slick musicians that
all leave their mark. Yet the group’s lack of original and interesting
song writing really let’s this album down. Maybe next time? They have
all the tools to pull it off. –
Dale
|
 
This is the solo
release of Nick Noro, who comes from the robust Bay Area thrash band
Survival, I have reviewed a couple of their releases now, if you
want to check those out. There was already an older re-release of a
Survival recording, which was essentially a Nick Noro solo release
using the Survival name. But this one is quite different, man how to
even begin to describe this, it is so different from Survival and
different from most of what I get to review or choose to listen to.
After a spoken word recount of a victim, who was shot in the head,
it then cuts over to Bruce Buffer from the UFC of all things, doing
one of his trademark intros. So yeah, that is the start of this four
song, roughly eleven minute EP, yes it is weird. The music, which
makes up the rest of “Vietnamm” is actually pretty good stuff, much
better than the old Noro solo Survival record. But it is kind of
hard to describe the music, it consists of cool but random short
songs that are strange hard rock things, which is a mix probably of
who knows what, but maybe stuff like Rollins Band, Faith No More,
Mr. Bungle with some art rock and like pop punk or something. I
obviously have limited references points on these styles. When I
read that description of the style above, I think fuck I don’t want
to listen to that, but honestly if you can stomach that kind of
weird mix, this is actually some pretty interesting and catchy
stuff. One thing it shows for sure, there are many musical sides and
lot of talent, within this tortured (see my Survival review for
details on his imprisonment etc..) artist Nick Noro. This is a
pretty tough sell to most readers of my site, and honestly it was a
tough sell on me too, not my kind of thing either truly, but I can
appreciate the talent and vision going on here. - Dale
https://nbrd.bandcamp.com/
http://www.merdumgiriz.org/
|
It is always a
pleasure to get a review package from the great NoVisible Scars
Records. Visually the layout on this cassette looks great and the
tape itself is awesome, it is a cool deep piss yellow with blood
colour writing / graphic across it. There are only two songs to go
on here, so that is not a lot to judge a band. But what is here is
really, really good stuff and exceeded my expectations to be honest.
The first song reminded me of darker sounding early Queensryche and
a healthy dose of Sanctuary. The solo towards the end of the opening
title track is superb. The second track entitled “Blind Men And
Occult Forces”, has a decidedly different sound and vibe to it.
Apparently this song is a cover version, of an Italian band named
Black Hole, which I must confess I am unfamiliar with. I can say
this track is fantastic, very dark and moody, it reminds me of a mix
of Candlemass, Demon, Angel Witch, Holocaust type of sound. This
tape is excellent, if you are a New Wave of British Heavy Metal fan,
like I am, then you will like this and it should be in your
collection. Now I really want to hear more Night Bitch, I need to
find out if the first track or the second is the true Night Bitch
sound. This is limited to 150 copies, it might already be sold out,
but I believe a digital version can be downloaded for just a couple
bucks. - Dale
http://nightbitch.bandcamp.com/
http://nvslabel.blogspot.com/
|
This has to be one
of top few bands out of the huge melodical euro-styled death metal
movement. This is my first encounter with N.I.G. and they are more
forceful and acidic than most of their ilk. Vocalist Bjorn is
multi-talented utilizing several different ranges, paces, & emotions and
is a strong link in this band. These guys play almost too tight and
rigid for me but you can hardly fault them for a razor sharp performance
- tastes aside. Very rhythmic, heavy music with structuring as tight and
pristine as a nun’s asshole. 54 quality minutes. –
Dale
|
Shadow Kingdom Records releases / bands have always been hit or miss
with me. Well California's Night Demon is a major hit! They start
off with high energized guitars and catchy drums. Night Demon plays
a nice mix of fast adrenalized rock and traditional heavy metal. You
get some catchy, memorable guitars, drum patterns and the vocals are
well done screams with some melodic vocal touches. Fans of NWOBH or
traditional eighties heavy metal will definitely want to check out
Night Demon very soon.
- Patrick
http://nightdemon.bandcamp.com/
http://store.shadowkingdomrecords.com/ |
Some black metal
from the dark, festering armpit of Colorado. The first thing that
struck me was how long each song is on this 10 track album. To cut
right to the heart of the matter, some of these songs are too long
for their own good, and tend to meander along over staying their
welcome. Also something about the speed of their songs is weird to
me and so often unchanging with little to no thought given towards
range. The pacing reminds me of a nervous person, who is hyper and
drumming their leg up and down in a weird sort of jerky motion that
people with no rhythm often exhibit. It just never settles into a
cadence or pulse that feels comfortable and as I mention there is no
dynamic with speed changes. The drums often follow suit though at
least there is some variety and up and down range that lets the
drums to stay fairly interesting. The vocals on here are obscure
black metal rasps with some hint of a dm growl in the bottom end of
the vocal projection. The vocals are pretty good, though a little
low in the mix and as a result tend to fade into the background at
times. The synth and atmospherics feel like they were added more as
an after thought, rather than something intended from the beginning.
I am just not feeling this album, it evokes little emotion in me,
and the album as a whole is a tad forgettable with nothing standing
out at any particular point in time. I am sure there will be those
that like Apocalypse Sun, but it did little for me personally. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/nightbringerofficial
http://www.theajnaoffensive.com/ |
Can anyone imagine
and not cringe at a more commercial and symphonic The Gathering!? I can
now, after listening to this. The female vocals are a bit different from
the aforementioned but not terribly. I imagine they could be a good
barmitzfa band with some of these songs. –
Dale
Spinefarm, Box 212,
00181 Helsinki, FINLAND Label website =
www.spinefarm.fi or band website
= www.nightwish.com
|
 
Trying to track
this Mexican band’s history is a winding road for sure. It all
starts in it’s birthplace of Mexico, the somewhat confusing part for
me is Encyclopedia Metallium lists all members as being from Mexico
yet apparently they all now live and have their home base in Sweden!
My early impression was from Jacobo’s deadly cutting, rasping and
harshly yelled vocals that slash through everything like a deadly
poisonous serpent strike. This band musically has a really
interesting mix I have not heard before, at least not quite how they
do it, some of the music is heavy yet catchy tuneful thrash metal
style, then it speeds up a little and will completely morph into
pure second wave cold and harsh black metal. This transition is
pretty smoothly back and forth between these two usually disparate
musical styles and moods in my head, it feels like they should not
work together, but with how Nigrum employs these influences it
really does. At times, it feels like two different bands yet there
is never any doubt it is all one overall musical vision assimilating
one another. Additionally, despite the thrash comparison I would not
call them a thrash band and/or they do not even sound/feel like your
usual black thrash either. I would say It feels more like thrash
based musicians decided to do a black (even death ala early
Dissection) metal band, and this result is how their influences bled
through. I would also say the talent level of these fellows is
higher than your average black metal band, some of the guitar work
and songwriting with regards to the guitars especially resides at a
pretty high level. Nigrum brings bits and pieces of their Mexican
musical origins with American touches, then mixed them liberally
with Scandinavian extremity and the result is a pretty solid debut
record. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/Nigrumofficial
https://intoendlesschaosrecords.bandcamp.com/
|
This is a
compilation release of a few of this malevolent and depraved Texas
bands many ep’s, which were released over the last couple of years
by the long running (many years before cassettes became cool again)
cult UG tape label Eternal Darkness Creations. E.D.C. is ran by the
notorious grey bearded metal goat (full disclosure Keith is one of
my very long time, as in 3 decades time, best friend) Keith Dempe. I
have reviewed all of these N.O.C.O. releases, and more in CA
previously, so I will keep the actual review somewhat brief as it
will just be me repeating myself. N.O.C.O. as hinted at above is
prolific in their release history, most being short ep’s, but they
have progressed and morphed their sound in a brief time. A lot of
their early sound and influences came from hardcore / crust styles,
as they continued to evolve those elements became almost
non-existent in their newer material. Some wisps of their scathing
metal influences remain, but they pop in and out of listening view
in quite fleeting fashion, yet still leaving an indelible mark on
the coarse & caustic disturbing atmosphere that is almost always
present. In my opinion, the music is largely centered on Paul’s
scathing, acidic vocals and the samples, both of which are often
heavily manipulated in some form or fashion. This is achieved with a
barrage of quick edited bits of those elements embroidered into a
collage of deviant auditory aural sensations. It is not an easy or
comfortable listen, it is in your face and abrasive, and if you like
that sort of thing you will find this an interesting, at times
infectious listen. I guarantee you Keith from E.D. Creations makes
the absolute best and most creative tape layouts in the UG scene!
These things fold out in every direction, the cover itself is a
small booklet with all of the covers of collected releases on here
like a front cover booklet, then there is a slipcase design over top
of the cassette case and a banner band/strap that you slide off just
to get the slipcase off. It is a fucking brilliant design concept
and Keith is a legend that deserves your support!! - Dale
$5 US to:
Eternal Darkness Creations at c/o Keith Dempe, P.O. Box 268,
Coraopolis, PA. 15108, USA keithdempe@gmail.com
|
This is my first
listen to Nihilistenen Barbaarisuus, I mean I had heard the name
(and quite mouthful it is too at least to an English speaking
tongue). But I thought they were a band from Finland itself. So
imagine my surprise, when delving a little further, and finding out,
NB is actually from Philadelphia, just a couple hours down highway
from my house. As is becoming clear for you, this is a band, whose
mastermind is of Finnish descent, and this album is a celebration of
his heritage. The lyrics in fact are derived, and apparently at
times, directly adapted lyrics taken from the legendary Kalevala, a
Finnish book of poetry dedicated to the history, folklore and
mythology of Finland. It is an interesting and strange combination,
all at once I am struck by cold, hateful sounding black metal, yet
there is this clear ever present underpinning of an uplifting,
triumphant atmosphere driving throughout the harsh exterior. I think
it shows a level of vision and talent to be able to pull that
marriage off. The vocals on here are pretty monstrous as well,
combing a dark death metal growl with traditional bm rasp, all done
with solid range. The vocals are performed with vigor, and there was
actual thought put into the inflections, speed of delivery and
rhythm. This is a pretty fantastic album, I must admit it took me a
little off guard, I was not expecting this level of quality and
craftsmanship. - Dale
http://nihilistinenbarbaarisuus.bandcamp.com/
http://infernalkommando.blogspot.com/
|
If you see my
review of this bands album, entitled “The Child Must Die”, you know
I have become a big fan of this band. So, I was very pleased, to
find this new release (limited to 500 copies) in my mailbox. The
main man you should concern yourself with is Mika Mage, who is
Finnish and now resides in Philadelphia, he is generally responsible
for the majority of everything Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus (Nihilistic
Barbarity in English), from the musical creation, to composing and
concept. Though on this release, he has decided to enlist some
friends, and former band mates, to lend their playing and voices to
these songs. I get that feeling, from this release; it is a
collection of songs rather than a cohesive whole. This just feels
like it is Mika letting loose, and stretching his artistic legs,
outside of the album concept, to where the individual songs are
meant to be enjoyed on their own, the opposite of the old saying the
sum of it’s parts… Which I think, on an ep is where you like to see
that kind of thing, which if done well can be a welcome and
enjoyable distraction, whilst you await the next full length album.
Regardless of intentions, Mika’s superior composing skills and
vision are ever present. It is a little different here at times,
compared to the album, but that combination of ambient black death
metal mixed impressively with frosty aggression, yet maintaining
this perplexing infectious, uplifting and triumphant quality that is
fast becoming a celebrated (by me at least) signature of Mika Mage’s
writing style. His style is not easy to describe, but it is a near
perfect blend of ambiance, cold hate and melodicism. The style, on
this on five track nearly 20 minute release, varies more than the
album, nowhere more apparent than vocal performances with no less
than three guest vocalists. Despite the lack of cohesion in that
area, it also adds a certain dynamic, varied quality which is sure
to keep the listener engaged, as all the variant performances are
well done. This is yet another fine Nihilistinen Barbaarisuus
release, which only serves to wet the lips of the bands parched
fans, myself included, who eagerly await the next full length
album! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/nihilistinenbarbaarisuus
http://satanath.com/sodp
|
“Ulvekriger” is
the fourth masterpiece from Puerto Rico's Niohoggr. Musically on
this release, it is delivered with a dark and sinister mid paced
black metal style. The guitars and drums are crafted with some very
well performed passages, which is all done with a skillful writing
style. There are some faster and more aggressive parts intertwined
within the music, before slowing things back down. The vocals are a
mix of grim and gruff death metal growls and some raw black metal
screams. “Ulvekrieger” is a much darker and haunting release, then
their past releases. If you are a fan of quality, well performed
black metal then be sure to check out Niohoggr newest masterwork
today. - Patrick
niohoggr.bandcamp.com
plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com
https://bchrecords.storenvy.com
|
  
This
interesting and new to me record label from Russia sent me a big
package of discs. Some recent releases and some from past years, all
still available I believe (either on CD or mp3), in interest of not
having to wait while I slowly do a full review of them all. I
decided to do an overview of mini-reviews to give an idea of what
this dedicated label is all about. All bands are either from Ukraine
or Russia. Okay, here we go:
Sound Of
Ground “Sick” CD (2013): When the first song started I was not
sure I would like this, they threw in this funk part that did not
fit at all, but after that they settled down and I got into it and
dug it a lot more than expected. Sound Of Ground plays Stoner Rock
with adventurous song structuring thrown in now and then. Think of a
more progressive version of Kyuss mixed w/Acid Bath.
Solid Stuff.
Flower In My
Lung - Flower in My Lung CD (2013): This pure mood music. It is
completely instrumental, atmospheric rock music to just mellow out
to and let your mind wander and bathe in relaxing emotion. This is
not something I would listen to very often, but it is superbly
crafted and hard not to like, especially since they create this
soundscape with largely traditional instrumentation, which is
something I really appreciate.
Pressor -
Weird Things CD EP (2018): Pressor perform extremely slow moving
experimental doom metal with heavy synth atmospheric accompaniment
is what I got from the first song. Then the second kicks in and my
thought they were purely an instrumental band went away as the speed
picked up and rapid, caustic sludge style vocals spread across the
music like a plague. It feels like those vocals don’t belong with
this music. As things progress, they even mix in some stoner metal
riffing. I really love some elements of this release yet other
elements just do not work well for my tastes. The crushing doom
stuff is great - more focus on that in future would be welcome for
me.
Disen Gage –
Nature CD (2018): There are only 3 songs but do not let that
fool you this album is 45 mins long! However, if you tend toward
liking bands with mainly traditional instrumentation you will be
disappointed. The bulk of their sound is just taking sci-fi samples
(like from 70’s/‘80s movies & TV), random synth sounds and
manipulating them into what felt like to me a kind of directionless
audio stew of atmospheric sounds ‘n samples slap chopped into three
16 minute chunks. I am sure there is an audience out for this band,
but it is not me. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/NonameRecordz
https://noname666.bandcamp.com/
|
 
Now part two from this interesting Russian labels package. As you
see above, all bands hail from the Ukraine or Russia, and this label
is doing a very admirable and professional job promoting them
abroad. Let’s keep it rolling:
Soom –
Джєбарс CD (2018): Soom play grinding, gritty and dark rumbling
stoner / sludge doom metal, which is slow and moody with sparse use
of vocals. I like that as the spoken word vocals are on here are
pretty so-so. The band is at their strength when they let their
morose hypnotic doomy riffs and foreboding atmosphere take control
of the proceedings. This is a band I will keep my eye on in the
future. Some really good stuff.
Pree Tone –
Kiddy CD (2018): Psychadelic Shoegaze rock? I have to admit I
really dislike sappy shoegaze. PT adding some psychedelic elements
softens the blow a little bit, but honestly I am trying to be nice
by saying that as I just hate this. It is not for me, even the robot
collage turns me off; does anyone
reading this like shoegaze stuff? Maybe you will like this, but I am
happy to hit stop button.
Transnadežnost' – Monomyth CD (2018): This band is instrumental,
for the most part, and it works for them. The production and certain
elements in the bands music sound modern, but overall their music
feels very ‘70s progressive space rock to me. Which, it may surprise
some; this is a style I am a fan of. This is some killer trippy
music that produces a kaleidoscopic of flowing atmospherics and
emotions. This is very good if you like that kind of music?!
Злурад
-
Во
благо злу
CD (2019):
The translation is Zlurad – A Blessing Or A Curse. This is some
crazy shit, it almost seems a bit out of place on this labels
roster. Apparently, this is at least partially improvised. It is
barely controlled chaos punk, hardcore, metal mixed with spazzed out
jazzy horns. There are multiple vocalists, which sound like it is
feeding time at the insane asylum and everyone has been starved half
to death. Have you heard John Zorn’s Naked City or Zorn’s
Painkiller? Well, Zlurad are basically attempting that exact style,
except they are not quite as musically accomplished as John Zorn and
company. But, if you like that style of insanity and can not get
enough (even if it is a bit of a low on ink xerox), then this
release might hit the spot for you. If you do like this, you need to
get the John Zorn stuff ASAP. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/NonameRecordz
https://noname666.bandcamp.com/
|
  
The No Name
Records / Addicted Label catalog overview series continues here in
part 3 and finishes below with part 4. This is a very professional
label that does a great job promoting their bands, all of whom hail
from either the Ukraine or Russia. Let’s go:
Spaceking “In The Court Of The Spaceking” CD (2013) I know
the title brings to mind King Crimson, but this band sounds nothing
like them. No, this pure stoner rock in the vein of early Monster
Magnet, Fu Manchu, Slo Burn and that style of sound. The band does
get a bit daring with the odd progressive spice injected into their
songwriting, but for the most part it is fairly straight forward
stoner rock, but pretty good stoner rock that is worth checking out.
Just a heads up, the vocals are very sparsely used as it is mostly
instrumental.
Detieti “Ne eP” CD (2013) It is hard to describe this band. I
am not sure progressive would cover it, more like an extremely
eclectic clusterfuck that is at times is pretty brilliant and other
times a little confused sounding. I would say think of more of a
metal, hardcore, punk tinged band trying to re-create the quirky,
freeform jazzy tinged Frank Zappa material (replete with Xylophone)
that was often improvised on stage. It is quirky and most extreme
metal fans that read this site might not like it, but who knows, if
you want something very different this is a good place to try to
spread those wings. These guys are very talented to be sure and I
can respect them for their talent level.
Soom & ИЛ “ИЛ – Soom” Full-length Split CD (2013) The ИЛ
portion of this split I guess translates to IL, so that is the bands
name. IL starts things off two tracks, the first being 22 mins (!!)
long. It is a moody slow mix of Sludge and doom metal, with few
short spoken word bits. Not much going on, it feels kind of off the
cuff at times and forgettable. Next up is Soom who I liked last time
around, but that release was 5 years after this one. Honestly, the
Soom tracks on here are a slightly higher quality version of the IL
tracks, except maybe a little bit more doom and little less sludge-y
sounding. It is also lacking those spoken word tidbits; in fact,
their side of the split is virtually instrumental. I already know
the future that Soom will get better going forward, but this is a
decent start.
The Grand Astoria “Deathmarch” CD EP (2013) A cool name and
an even cooler band. Damn, nearly every song on this five song,
thirty minute EP is filled with excellent kinda Psychadelic fuzzy
stoner rock in the vein of Monster Magnet, Fu Manchu, Sheavy etc…
The first four songs are just killer stoner doom rock, like fairly
heavy, but also catchy and memorable as hell. The last song is a
moody, mellow number, still good but not quite on the level as first
four bad ass songs. If you love stoner rock you definitely need to
check this out.
- Dale
https://www.facebook.com/eskhaton666
http://www.lavadome.org
|
|
  
Time to wrap up
this in-depth introduction / overview of this quality Russian record
label:
The Grand Astoria “The Mighty Few” CD (2015) It was a
pleasant thing to realize the next review was another Grand Astoria
review, after I liked their EP above so much. TGA has gotten
extremely ambitious since then, there are only 2 songs here, but the
total run time is 50 minutes!! Their old sound of fuzzy stoner doom
is still here, though very sparsely employed now. But now, it is
wrapped in again, an ambitious experimental greater whole filled
with atmospheric sounds, dabs of jazzy instruments & sounds, space-y
sounding synth accents, along with some swingy moody guitar
excellence. The vocals are a little trippier sounding too. These
guys are so talented, both in instrumental skills, but also in song
constructing vision. I am not sure I loved it as much as the
previous extremely catchy EP, but this release is surely at a higher
level than that and it is hard not to be impressed.
Mother Witch & Dead Water Ghost “Ruins Of Faith” CD EP (2016)
are a psychedelic doomy stoner rock band from the Ukraine. The doom
is not the crushing heavy doom you might expect, but it has that
doom feel, the stoner side of things is not as catchy and rocking as
most stoner bands, but still has that fuzzed out vibe to it. No,
MW&DWG is a very gloomy and lugubrious, pensive band that will bring
out heavy emotions in you. The vocalist has great range and great
feel, on how to manipulate her voice to maximize it’s relationship
with the music. This is a band for me to keep an eye on for sure.
Jahroom “Cut-Price Goods + Nyx” CD (2016) This is a real
mixed bag of psychedelic and schizophrenic prog rock fusion, mixed
with jazz improv / instrumentation and all 11 tracks on this album
are instrumental. It is an extremely eclectic and eccentric mix of
musical directions, as well as genres played with crazy melodies and
time signatures. I am not sure this is my kind of music, but damn
are these musicians exceptionally impressive. I say that in relation
to their wide scope of musical skill and ability to assemble
coherent interesting songs within a musical wind storm! This is next
level stuff, the only thing that comes to mind (in my limited
listening repertoire in this area) is the “Black Light Syndrome”
album from Bozzio Levin Stevens.
Dekonstruktor - Fuck Life We Go Further CD EP (2017) I
finally get to hear the 4 song EP follow up to their great debut
album (my review of which apparently brought CA to the attention of
Anton from Addicted Label). Maybe it is because most of the other
releases are not at this level; it is a nice change of pace for me
to listen to something so crushingly heavy and brutal, like the
opening track is on here, which is great. They dropped the ‘70s
exploitation movie samples as vocals, other than brief acidic partly
sung, partly spoken word vocals mixed with some more industrial
sounding vox. The rest of the release is more trippy, more chill yet
still introspective feeling. I am not sure I like this as much as
their debut record, but it is still pretty great and this band are
true artists spreading their artistic musical sickness like an audio
drug for you brain. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/NonameRecordz
https://noname666.bandcamp.com/
|
  
We have been
doing a series of Round Up Packages, which gives a rather in-depth
history and overview of this very dedicated and cool Russian record
labels diverse catalogue spanning over a decade of existence. This
is the final installment of this series, so let’s dig in...
Thy Grave
“Anhedonia” CD (2013)
Play a very different and interesting mix of death doom, sludge
sorta droning metal. They make very long, drawn out and
all-encompassing atmospheric songs (like 11-15 minutes!) with some
smaller interlude tracks breaking them up and are short straight up
quicker death doom tunes. The vocals are manical yells, gruff ‘n
growly hoarse throat screaming that do kind of cut through the
atmospherics of it all, usually in a good way, but in a few spots it
is a bit grating. This is pretty cool all in all; okay a little
monotonous in a couple sections possibly. But overall Thy Grave is a
somewhat unique combination, which is a good thing in this day and
age in the UG scene.
The Grand
Astoria “La Belle Epoque” CD (2014)
This release is like the missing link for me. I adored the more
straight ahead stoner fuzz psychadelia of their 2013 release, but
was not as into the much more epic, experimental 2015 album yet I
also came away impressed with that release as well. What were they
up to in the year between was “La Belle Epoque”. My early impression
listening to this is honestly disappointment. These guys are
extremely talented, but this time around they decided to set aside
some of their talent and just write some very catchy, but also
mundane, light and airy commercial radio type of songs. This is
something, if you know me I really dislike; gone (or at least nearly
all gone) is the heavy, stoner fuzz and driving amazing songs of the
previous release as well as the more intricate progressive song
constructing brilliance of the release that followed this album.
These guys are so talented that I honestly hate criticizing anything
they do, but especially the first three quarters of this release I
just did not like.
Soom -
Ніч На
Полонині
CD (2015)
The album title translates to Night On The Mountain. As you can see,
in the above reviews, I thought the bands 2013 split album was just
okay, but quite enjoyed their 2018 album entitled “Джєбарс”. Let’s
see what they were up to in the meantime and in between time of
those two releases. The opening track is a long mood setting intro
leading into the second song, which has a heavy as fuck, atmospheric
riff like if you took it off the first Black Sabbath album and tuned
it to a death metal tuning and played it in super slow motion! I
like it a lot! Just like later material, the vocals are very sparse
and generally just spoken word with echo effects and other things
distorting them, though in a spot or two there are actual sung
vocals that are obscured yells ala a more subdued version of
Godflesh or something. This to some extent is like Thy Grave above
being filled with long songs (7-8 minutes plus one 11 min song)
along with a few short ones mixed in, much like Thy Grave they are
soundscape type songs, like sludgy doom death that goes along at a
crushing snails pace. But Soom have more interesting songs than Thy
Grave and are at a higher level of overall quality in my opinion.
Just like their 2018 release, I can really recommend this to death
doom maniacs, as it is a great release. Cheers to Soom! - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/NonameRecordz
https://noname666.bandcamp.com/
|
Denver,
Colorado’s Noctambulist are a fairly new death metal band.
‘Atmosphere Of Desolation’ in fact is the bands debut release, which
features six songs of fast and heavy death metal music. The vocals
are low and deep growls, though the vocalist does add some gruff
screams in some spots in a few of the songs. I have to say these are
best vocals I have heard in quite a while and fit the music
perfectly. The music is weighty and powerful with some heavy drum
patterns that are both extremely chaotic and fast, but do slow down
to a mid paced drum style throughout a few of the tracks. The
guitars are done in the same vein with some very well written and
performed patterns that are mainly played with a lot of speed. The
guitarist does add some very well played solos and nicely placed
within the bands music. If you are looking for a new with a lot of
potential then you should definitely be sure this release out,
surely there will be some good things to come from this young band.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/noctambulist303/
https://helterskelterproductions.bandcamp.com
|
Creeping on up
from the densely forested pits of Denver, Colorado is Noctambulist
with their sophomore album and first on the excellent Willowtip
Records. The individual members have been kicking around the
Colorado scene for quite some time, doing time currently or
previously in bands like Nicaraguan Death Squad, Cordyceps, Despise
The Sun, Burn The Fleet, Twatrot, Expurgate and more. They play
blackened and brutal semi-technical death metal with a high degree
of polished musicianship. Their style is interesting despite them
always keep things dark and very brutal, there are also numerous
sequences smoothly mixed in that are very depressive, moody and
brooding. Which when combined tends to create an intriguing,
discordant emotive misery blend that is quite striking and appealing
to me. The vocals of Sean McConnell are excellent deep growls that
expand and contract expressing a lot of anger and rage, but also
manage to mimic the depths of despair you can feel from the music.
It is this strange alluring yet also disturbing mix of fury and
despondency. It took me a few listens before this album went from a
dark death metal album to something deeper than that as the top
layers peeled back for me. I have not heard their debut album, but
this second offering is something to behold if you are brave enough
to really embrace it’s joy draining grasp. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/noctambulist303
https://willowtip.bandcamp.com/
|
Solistitium have
finally done it. They put out a band that I don’t like! Another perfect
record snapped. Nocti Vagus (ex-Norwind) play limp keyboard dominated
black metal. The synth’s are so much in the forefront that it simply
drowns out the music. When you can hear it is over the symphonic ruckus
N.V. play slow sounding melancholy. Pass on this but be sure to check
into everything else on Solistitium. –
Dale
Solistitium Recs.,
Postfach 12 10, 26802 Moormerland, GERMANY
|
Yet another one
man band, from this young but promising record label, like its
roster of bands Do or Die is based out of the Chicago area. Nocturne
like label mates Deathcult is a one man band and that one man is Dan
Klein who writes all the music and handles all instruments. The
music is a successful marriage of old school dark American death
metal and ‘90s Scandinavian black metal. The music is dark and
heavy, but always maintains a strong sense of melody and atmosphere,
giving it a dense level of depth and style. Dan pulls everything off
with obvious skill, not that it is super technical music, but it is
pretty involved all the same. If I had to guess I would say Dan’s
weapon of choice is the drums as drumming is very well done, thought
out and executed. His vocals are a combination of black metal rasp
and sinister sounding death metal growling undertone. The vocals are
just forceful enough yet also possess an obscured element to them,
which convey some subtlety in the overall musical maelstrom. I have
to admit Nocturne when I heard them on the sampler last year were
decent enough, but did not stand out as much as the other two bands
did for me. This album has corrected that and I was in for a much
more quality listen than I had originally anticipated based upon
that sampler. I came away quite impressed with this excellent debut
record. I can definitely recommend this one. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/NocturneChicago
http://www.doordierecords.org/ |
|
Hells
Headbangers pump out new releases like nobodies business. I am not
sure sometimes how they even find the time away from
releasing/promoting to scour the planet for so many good new bands
to release. It is evident immediately to me that Nocturnal Blood
worship at the feet of Blasphemy, Archgoat and the very early works
of bands like Beherit, Sodom, Incantation, Bathory. I mean the very
creepy and low-fi, old school production itself just absolutely
smacks of Beherit and Blasphemy. I would suggest Nocturnal likely
worked hard to get that sound on this recording. The atmosphere of
the recording definitely helps create a very sinister classic early
days of death and black metal sound. I guess one difference between
Nocturnal Blood and some of the mentioned bands is they are fairly
monotone and mostly unchanging from song to song and within each
track itself. Something about that just draws me in and manages to
keep me there. Not something that is essential by any means but
devotees of some of the above bands mentioned will doubtlessly love
this. – Dale
http://nocturnalblood.hellsheadbangers.com/
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/ |
Pavement licensed
this release for North America, a wise move indeed! Try to imagine some
the most intense, raging, volatile, catchy and pounding thrash metal
possible and you will have a clear picture of Nocturnal Breed! 11 trax
of skull rattling, skin shredding thrash crush - I cannot get enough of
this album! Listen to “Maggot Master”, “Metal Storm Rebels”, and “Rape
The Angels” to realize what fuels my enthusiasm. –
Dale
|
When I had seen
the album title, I was immediately reminded of one of my fave albums
from the 80s by the same name released by the band TT Quick. The
record starts off with an intro collage of audio taken from the new
Rambo movie. Which is pretty predictable stuff, but it does reflect
the lyrical content, and set the stage to get you in the mindset of
bombs, guns and blood. There is no doubt what they sound like to me
at least. Which is 80s thrash ala Dark Angel, Sacrifice mixed with
classic German thrash like Kreator & Destruction. You get a full
platter of head down, racing forward riffing, simple high octane
speed drumming and old school gruff yelling vocals that will bring
you back. The searing hot guitar solos that pop up here and there
cannot be ignored either. I am not going to try and sell a false
bill of goods. Which is saying stuff like this is brings retro into
modern times because no this retro through and through. But, fuck
guys this is good old school shit, it is not original in any way,
but it is some truly quality and aggressive thrash perfectly played
in the way the forefathers meant it to be. So if you do not care for
the retro thing, then just move along, but if all you care about is
great thrash that will rip your flesh off, then you need to get
this. – Dale
www.moribundcult.com
http://www.myspace.com/nocturnalfear
|
This is some
good but noisy shit. I would say this is a blending of influences
from the old great Swedish death metal bands like Dismember, Grave,
early Hypocrisy mixed with American sounds ala Incantation,
Resurrection, Monstrosity type stuff. The vocals remind me a little
to one of my fave death metal bands of all time and that is
Benediction. This record hits you in wave after wave of fuzzy
distorted brutality, just a wall of guitars relentlessly closing in
on you from all sides. The drumming is a non-stop pummeling motor
that stalks towards you like the killer from a slasher movie and the
cutting, brief guitar leads do their damage as well. It is
blistering music man! There is a lot going on here and They Come At
Night is a quality listen, it is always brutal, it is catchy at
times, it is always intense and you will discover new things upon
repeated listens. It is hard to ask for too much more from a death
metal album. This is well worth picking up. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/eternalnocturnaltorment
http://www.deathgasm.com/
|
Nominon return with their newest and possibly their best release to
date. The Cleansing consists of ten tracks of crushing old school
brutal death metal as only the mighty Swedish can do it. You get
heavy guitars that are as complex as they are heavy and fast. The
drumming is right on with the guitars playing at chaotic, fast
speeds but also manages to pull off some really good patterns. This
is another great release for both Nominon and Deathgasm, so if
you’re a fan of fast, brutal old school Swedish death metal you know
what to do.
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/nominon
http://www.deathgasm.com/
|
Here’s another label
I had lost track of and wondered if they had ceased to exist!? N.T.
spews forth solid blasting grind (w/ guitar solos!!) and traditional
metal mixings w/ spoken decipherable growling. The sound is raw but
still very rich and clear, just right really. Nothing too terribly
original and becomes a bit monotonous by the latter half. I still find
this crazy grind enjoyable. How can not with catchy tunes like “Fuck
Off”, “I Came To Shoot Your Dick Off”, “Confess U.R. Shit”, and album
closer “One For Your Face, One For Your Butt”.
– Dale
Poserslaughter
Recs., P.O. Box 180141, D - 10205 Berlin, GERMANY
|
This is the second full-length album from this Chicago band; they
have been releasing material (two demos, a couple EPs & a split CD)
since 2012. I am a little disappointed it took me this long to catch
on to them. Because they play great old school heavy & mammoth metal
of death, with a great sci-fi concept enveloping everything from the
great cover artwork, to the lyrical content and bleeding into the
music itself. When speaking of this little sub-genre, it is hard not
to include Nocturnus in the mix when talking Sci-fi death metal, in
this case conceptually the answer is yes. But, I would say Nucleus
actually sounds different enough from especially early Nocturnus,
and their vicious speed and heavy synth use makes it is hard to
mention them as an influence. However, surely bands like Timeghoul
(who I was a pretty big fan of early ‘90s when I tape traded for
their demos), Demilich for sure musically, it is also hard not to
think of early Immolation, Adramalech, Rippikoulu, Purtenance,
Abhorrence, Demigod and a touch of later day Gorguts at times too.
The music and the dense roiling growls on this album remind me to
another old fave Convulse as well. None of those influences are a
bad thing, I am a big fan of all the bands I have named, and Nucleus
has managed to put their own touch on that sound. It is clear these
guys love the early to mid ‘90s Finnish death metal scene, and who
can blame them it was a great time for death metal in that country.
The speeds vary slightly, as do song structuring changes, which
morphs enough to keep things interesting. But the speed generally
speaking, stays in the middle tempo range, with brief slow and
quicker accents that serve to manipulate the listeners emotional
spikes. Every now and then, there are even some tasty guitar fills,
but it is kept to a minimum as the boys make sure the overall dark,
sinister atmosphere is nurtured and maintained throughout. This is a
quality about them I appreciate very much. “Entity” without a doubt
is one of the better death metal albums I have heard in the last
couple years, and I hear a lot of them! - Dale
https://unspeakableaxerecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/nucleusmetal/
|
Here is a real
treat for all of you long-time metal-fanatics brought to you by the
US legends of death and one of the leading pure-metal labels Hells
Headbangers. Nunslaughters first 6 demo's and various 7 inch tracks
are included on this release. As if this was not enough for a real
metal-filled treat included on the double cd or 4-lp box set is a
demo from Death Sentence {a band some members had pre-nunslaughter!}
Just in case some reading this are new to the scene or if you have
never crossed-paths with Nunslaughter. The band Nunslaughter has
been a major force within the true, diy death metal underground for
22 years! Yes 22 you saw that right. Nunslaughter play death metal
the way it was meant to be played raw, filthy, uncompromising and
just plain heavy. This is a band that doesn’t follow any trends or
worry about what’s the flavor of the week instead they just keep
pumping out one great metal-release after another. If you are a fan
of this band you know what to expect so buy this! As mentioned if
you have never heard Nunslaughter and enjoy the old-school raw
sounds of early death metal then buy this you will not be
disappointed! - Patrick
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
http://www.nunslaughter.com/
|
This was
released in 2000, which has been long out of print and I am sure in
high demand. Because simply put Nunslaughter is one of the very best
death metal bands in the history of the genre and there is no doubt
about that. Honestly that is all you need to know about this album.
If you are reading this site you better fucking know who
Nunslaughter is and if you do not have a copy of this album, there
is no excuse for it, get on it now! Just to fill out this interview
listening to this reminded me back to 2005, if memory serves. I went
on a mini-tour with my friends band Bloodstorm around Pennsylvania,
New Jersey and New York City. That tour also had the first US shows
of Destroyer 666 and more importantly, featured Nunslaughter. I got
to watch Nunslaughter live every fucking day!! Those shows were some
of the best I have seen in my lifetime, Nunslaughter is one of my
fave bands of all time and great memories of this band and more to
come! –
Dale
www.myspace.com/nun666slaughter
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/
|
 
Unholy shit
Nunslaughter return with their first full-length album in ages! I am
so, so damn stoked for this thing. I am tempted to write an entire
essay on how great the sadly departed drummer Jim Sadist is, who I
was lucky enough to get to know a bit personally and even hang out
with, but I will try to refrain. I will instead quote the bio who
sum things up well in a briefer manner than I could “…at long
last, the band's first album in seven years. Many are still mourning
the loss of legendary drummer Jim Sadist (RIP), and while Red is the
Color of Ripping Death is their first full-length without him
playing on it, some of the 14 songs contained herein are unfinished
/ unrealized music that Jim and founding frontman Don of the Dead
wrote years ago”. So, the patented black blood sadistic death
metal the band is revered for is alive and well, surging and roiling
along in classic fashion and this particular devotee of the band is
exceptionally jubilant about it all. It also conjures up so many
good memories connected to this band and it’s music. Don’s pipes are
in fine form as his wonderfully gurgling and acidic growls, screams
and howls creep into my ears and into my body into through violent
headbanging gyrations. New or at least recently (you know you are an
old goat when call 5 years new Haha) drafted drummer Wrath has a
tighter, more technically precise style that is forceful and
powerful. It definitely contrasts to an extent with Jim Sadists
drumming that had more of, for lack of a better term organic and
natural feeling, where the spirit of the music seemed flow through
his sticks. While I do prefer Jim’s style a little more, the
drumming here still kicks some ass and conveys the diabolic
character of the music more than well enough. While there is little
doubt in my mind during his 20 years in the band that Jim Sadist put
his stamp heavily on Nunslaughter and indelibly changed and improved
the music of the band, it is equally true that the true essence and
heart of the band is Don of The Dead, who was there from the
formation of this band nearly 35 (!!!) years ago. No matter whom Don
recruits to join his blasphemic musical horde, it will always be
Nunslaughter and it will always be truly great, uncompromising and
evil metal of death, devil metal to the fucking core! - Dale
nunslaughter.bandcamp.com/
facebook.com/NUNSLAUGHTER/
shop-hellsheadbangers.com/
|
This is the old
German band some of you might know or at least should know. They
formed some time way back in 1992. Since then they have released a
whole bunch of shit including 4 albums between 1995 and 2000. Before
this release from Nyctophobic recently came my way, I had thought
they were RIP. But according to their website they are again going
to be active and have a new vocalist. This is good to hear. What we
have here on “Blast From The Past” is a collection of tracks from
the bands old split CDs, seven inch eps, split tape etc… + 4
unreleased songs. There are also some great live tracks included.
Mainly the tracks come from the’94-’98 period of the bands history.
All in all you get 27 tracks that have been remastered and honestly
sound great. I was surprised and impressed at how even they got the
different recordings to sound. What else is there to say besides
this is some amazing and intense grind man. Nyctophobic are heavy
and brutal and dirty. They never let up, it is a straight ahead
pummeling barricade of rolling guitars, pounding yet dynamic drums
and the vocals switch off from guttural to the classic nasal high
pitched variety. It all works very well and if you are a grind fan.
Well then I can only suggest that you need to own this one..
– Dale
http://www.khaaranus.wz.cz
http://www.nyctophobic.de
|
|
The album begins
and ends with ambient synth tracks, both of which clock in at
exactly two minutes and two seconds. I have no idea of the
significance of that, but it seems too simpatico to be a
coincidence (unless they are Chuck Woolery fans or something?). The
main portion of the record from these French black metallers, is
comprised of four lengthy songs that weigh in from the 6 to nearly 9
minute mark. Which always conjures the word epic in my mind and I
think it applies here to an extent. But also Militiae has an
avant-garde sort of feel to it and is rife with atmospheric
tapestries. That is not to say the black metal foundation of their
description is virtually non-existent, it definitely lives and
breathes an icy cold breath of hate into the material. I think the
track “Les Symboles de la Catharsis”, illustrates this point nicely
as it is a meaner hymn and the Nyseius’ aggression and darkness are
allowed to spread its wings. That is the classic black metal sound
I love and that old way is ever present in the raspy vocals. I like
that the band has not let their experimental avant-garde side run
rampant. They refuse to forget their roots at this point. Militiae is a record worth
exploring. – Dale
http://nyseius.free.fr/
http://www.myspace.com/nyseius
|
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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
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Obscene are a
new death metal band, coming to us out of Indianapolis, Indiana with
their debut EP. “Sermon To The Snake” features four tracks of death
metal with some elements of thrash guitars mixed in with their
brutal style of music. The band plays mainly in the mid paced range
with some fast guitar sections mixed into some of the songs. The
drums are performed with both extremely fast drum patterns, but he
does slow down to calmer more mid paced beats now and then. The
vocalist is the only thing I don’t care for on this release, as the
vocals I feel, just do not really fit well with the music. The music
itself is done with a lot more maturity than most new bands, due to
the members of this band having done this before in other bands
(Black Goat Of The Woods, Acheron, Summon The Destroyer etc…), and
their experience bleeds through with some well thought song
structuring. If you are a fan of old school death metal, with some
thrash influences, then be sure to give Obscene a listen today.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/obsceneDM
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/
|
Suspended in The
Brume of Eos is the debut of this metal horde from Minneapolis,
Minnesota. In my view, this is a strong first release for the band
and it becomes quite apparent why Bindrune became interested in
them. Bindrune are known for having fine tastes when it comes to
melodic, epic and progressive sounding dark / black metal. They are
a label that releases in quality and not quantity, Obsequiae
continue the tradition. There are some wonderful twin guitar
harmonies going on, as well as some fine acoustic work, yet it is
always balanced structurally with a thought not towards making it
just catchy, but rather towards mapping out a long and winding
mental journey. They mix their dark metal sound with elements of
heavy metal, black metal and medieval folkish strains, so nothing
new there yet they do it more skillfully than most. Obsequiae create
songs with it, not merely a patch work quilt of influences. The
vocals are kept obscured in the back of the mix and at times are
sparsely used, but decidedly they are decidedly of the style most
often associated with black metal. The vocals are deployed in a
somewhat accompaniment type fashion rather than being a focal point
of their musical landscape. Suspended In The Brume is not just a
collection of songs, but as I said earlier a journey which must be
taken resulting in a wonderful album. – Dale
http://www.last.fm/music/Obsequiae
http://bindrunerecordings.com/ |
|
This Minnesota
band creates and plays ultra technical deathrash metal that is
usually paced at breakneck speed too. I mean this is some high level
stuff my friends. I am surprised listening to the high end and
crafty musicianship that the members past bands (which seem to be
more local Minnesota scene bands) are not ones I have heard of
before, because they come across as talented seasoned musicians. I
have to say in my view that it is not just technicality for
technicality sakes here most of the time either, it is not wanking,
and there is actual song flow and emotion in there. Which is not an
easy thing to convey within such intricate and high velocity song
structuring. There is so much going on in these songs at soaring
speeds, it is very intricate but also there is a memorability factor
to the music, it is heavy and you can headbang to it, which again
speaks to the flow that I find important with bands that play techno
metal. The drumming on here does not take a backseat to the amazing
nuanced guitar showcase; the drums have their own impressive and
elaborate web of patterns while staying extremely powerful. Another
area that can get overlooked with this style are the vocals, which
are very decipherable gruff growls that possess some range, and
manage express an array of emotion reminding me to the great later
day Shuldiner vocals in Death. Technical death metal bands have been
on the rise in recent years, now it is great in my opinion, that
some talented deathrash bands like Obsolete are also starting to
take up the mantle. Fans of bands like Disciples Of Power,
Demolition Hammer, Coroner, Hellwitch, Theory In Practice, StarGazer,
Cynic, Sadus, later day Death and the like should really dig this
marvelous debut album. - Dale
https://unspeakableaxerecords.bandcamp.com/
http://www.unspeakableaxerecords.com/
|
|
I have been a
devoted follower of the Quebec (Canada) death metal scene for a
very, very long time. How long? Well I had a few different tape
traders I regularly traded with from Quebec from the early ‘90s and
throughout the decade. One of those traders (Alexis Gagnon RIP) was
an avid UG gig attendee and made quality recordings of gigs on a
weekly basis, and collected video of the same, so I had literally
around one hundred audio and video recordings of most UG bands from
that province in my collection at one point. I ordered many demo
tapes from bands (for example Lord Mortis, Dislocation, Necrotic
Mutation, Gorguts (1990 demo tape) etc...). I wrote for a fanzine
from there and I even helped facilitate three dates to fill in the
gap (the guitarist told at the time the tour may have fallen apart
otherwise) of Cryptopsy’s first Canadian tour to promote their as
yet unreleased debut album “Blasphemy Made Flesh”. I know I am
rambling here, but the flood of memories is overwhelming me right
now, I could go on and on. But let’s turn our attention to Obvurt,
who despite this being their debut release have some interesting
history already. As this band started out as a solo project for main
man Philippe Drouin, who was then in a car accident that badly
damaged the dexterity of his right (playing hand), and he ended up
re-teaching himself to play left handed player. That is impressive,
and since doing that he has filled out Obvurt with band members
Samuel Santiago (Agony, ex-Gorod, ex-Black March) on drums and on
bass guitar Olivier Pinard (Cryptopsy, Cattle Decapitation, Akurion,
Neuraxis). The music on here is semi-technical and very brutal death
metal with that great old Quebecios traditional base I have enjoyed
so much through these decades. It is not all brutality and blast
beats though, as there are some stretches where they just let a
memorable riff go for a bit of a walk and mix in some brief darkly
emotive guitar fills and the odd manic succinct guitar solo. There
is definitely a ‘90s feel to a lot of the songwriting, but there are
moments that nod to the current movement in the UG scene with a lot
of the technical brutal dm bands as well. The material on here is
not stupefying in it’s greatness, yet it really is some strong
headbanging, pit inducing skillful death metal barbarity that many
diehards will appreciate. - Dale
https://www.indiemerch.com/obvurt
https://brutalmind.bandcamp.com
|
Occultus from the
drug stained grounds of Columbia play obscure and primitive black metal
that brings to mind the first works of Necromantia. On the second half
of the disc, Esgaroth blast some truly evil and brutal black metal in
the Norwegian tradition of ‘91-93, you know back when that scene was
good. Excellent release! – Dale
Sempiternal
Productions, c/o Fernando Castel, 1804 S. Ashland Ave. # 106, Chicago,
IL. 60608, USA
|
Take your
average doom metal song, slow it down a bit and stretch it out and
you start getting an idea of this Swedish bands sound. There are
four songs on here, but do not worry you get your albums worth my
friend, just let me say the two shortest songs clock in past the 15
and 17 minute marks. Yes just four songs, but you get close to two
full albums worth of material! As you can imagine listening to Ocean
Chief takes a certain mindset, not to mention a dose of patience,
good things come to those who wait right? Yes, yes they do. The
songs as you can imagine are droning and repetitive, but those are
positive descriptions in this context. It is true at times there is
not much going on, but the music of Ocean Chief, it is a journey and
not just a listen for quick gratification. I like to think of this
style of doom, in the context of those great old slow burn movies
from the 1970s, there were some amazing movies from back then, some
might call them boring, while others, who feel the slow burning
elements make it pay off that much more at the end of the trip. You
are listening to a metal record, but think of it more as atmospheric
music, more than a metal album. The vocals, consist of obscured
warble-y yells, they are very sparse throughout the album, not
particularly remarkable in any way, but they get the job done and
fit the music well enough I suppose. This band is probably an
acquired taste, not for everyone, probably even for a lot of doom
fans, but if you are into this ultra slow, ploddingly epic style,
then Sten is not a bad place to be. This is recommended for those
with a measured doom hunger. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/oceanchief
http://www.ihate.se/
|
Well, well,
well…Ocean Chief return to the pages of Canadian Assault. They also
have abandoned the extremely long song lengths; they only have three
songs here, which are in the eight to ten minute range. Does that
sound long to you? Try their previous album, where the songs were of
the fifteen to seventeen minute variety! This time around, Ocean
Chief even has a couple tracks, which clock in at less than five
minutes. I think this album is likely to be, more easily palatable
to even the most ardent doom fans, than the last record “Sten” was,
which was not an easy record to get into. Maybe my memory is faulty,
but it feels like “Universums Hard”, is also a little more uptempo,
as opposed to the previous record, which had a pace slightly faster
than the growth of grass. Which of course means, an increase in
speed takes you from the pace of a snail to the speed of a turtle
with a hard on and warm, wet pussy beckoning him from a mere ten
feet away. It is sludgy, down tuned heavy doom, with some pretty
good meandering rhythm, if you are willing to peel back a layer or
two and pay attention to it. The band to set the soundtrack, to the
lyrical themes of the album, a sort of a loose concept piece, which
attempts to explore a vast cosmic ocean, traveling far beyond this
little mud ball we call earth. At some points, I think they are
successful in creating that wandering, exploring the vast beyond
dreamy feel. Which of course means, at other times, for me at least
they did not quite get the desired effect. I think enough of it hits
its mark, to call the album a success and an enjoyable listen. The
vocals, much of the time, play a pretty small part in the musical
landscape, just sort of stepping in to add some depth and support
from time to time. But, when the vocals do come in, they are filled
with a surprising level of angst and hatred. Those vox, sort of
remind me of some of the stuff out of the NOLA area, often in some
crusty doom bands. I like how dirty and fuzzy the production is, I
am sure it will illicit some consternation, from those that love
everything crystal clear and over produced. I say good to that, it
is dirty and sludgy (there is that term again), which it only
enhances the experience for me. I mean the production, is more than
clear enough to hear everything that is going on, but mean and
heavy, just hazy enough to give an extra air of darkness and filth
to the proceedings. I have to give kudos to Ocean Chief, for going
in a new direction, while never sacrificing their balls or their
roots, which got them here in the first place. - Dale
http://oceanchief.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ihate.se/
|
I am not foreign
to Falls music, but I do believe this is the first time I have
reviewed them. Something that struck me while listening to this is
that nothing really stands out from the rest of the instruments on
any of the three epic length songs. But that is clearly an
intentional and integral part of the musical concept that is October
Falls. From the vocals to the drums to the guitars, including
acoustic they work together to make a whole album an experience, no
one element strays from the goal of becoming one. You will surely
get lost within “A Collapse of Faith” as it carries you on a journey
through mental landscapes and emotional forlorn. It is up to you
whether or not you even care to return from this melancholic
sojourn. When reading back what I written above, it almost makes me
question is this even Metal? Before you read my words and begin
asking yourself the same question. The answer is most assuredly yes.
Right down to the growling vocals that also manage to melt into the
wonderful atmospheric tapestry. I loved the camp fire sounds
crackling, popping and hissing through the record and somehow just
like staring into a campfire. Just the sound of it sends me into
that blank stare we all share when the mind is wandering. Perfect
mood Metal. Check into this I say. – Dale
http://koti.welho.com/mlehto4/of/of.html
http://www.debemur-morti.com/
|
October Tide has
within it’s ranks two former long time members of Katatonia, they
were members during a time I would say most Katatonia fans would
call their classic period. That would be my read on it, I have a
couple Katatonia albums from that time like Brave Murder Day and
Last Fair Deal Gone Down, but I would be lying if I said I was a
devoted fan of that band at that time or super knowledgeable about
them. My fave Katatonia period is actually their early harsh black
metal days, but that is a whole other can of worms we will not open
here. Katatonia since those “classic days” from what I hear and have
heard have changed their sound a fair bit and not for the better.
Well October Tide seems to be a return to that classic Katatonia
period / sound. You know what I mean dark, almost gothic like
depressive death metal, which is what I am referring to when I say
that sound. It is not an overly preferred style for me and my
listening habits, but when it is done well ala early Paradise Lost
(Shades of God, Gothic era) etc… then I can get into it. Tunnel Of
No Light is a very quality album within this type of music. I think
for this sound to really succeed it has to really touch that
depressive nerve within you, that dark emotional despair feeling and
I am not sure this album did that for me as well as I hoped. Like I
said though, keep in mind I am pretty picky with this sort of thing.
I think fans of classic Katatonia, early Paradise Lost, middle era
My Dying Bride will probably like this, not that this album touches
those old landmark releases in my view. Just pretty a pretty good
album, nothing more than that. - Dale
http://www.reverbnation.com/octobertide
http://www.pulverised.net/
|
Godz Ov War
Productions strikes again! That wonderful label, who support their
scene like no other, have once again sent me a large package of
discs, not discs they released, but rather from labels and bands
from their country they wish to support and promote. That is what I
call the true underground spirit. Alright, on to Odraza, like all
the bands in this package, they hail from Poland and play black
death metal. This may be the bands debut album, but it is clear upon
listening, there is a lot of skill and maturity present, it makes
one think they are not newbies at all. This suspicion is quickly
confirmed correct upon looking up the two members. They are both
from the band Messemord, which has been around a decade or so, plus
they have both had stints in or are currently are in a number of
other bands. “Esperalem Tkane” is an interesting album, it is not
all speed and brute force, no this is a well thought out and crafted
album, by two men that possess skill in both their chosen
instruments, as well as possessing a talent for arranging music.
There is a lot going on here, it is not you’re every day black
metal, there is a lot of variation and dynamic, worked expertly
within their chosen genre. The envelope is constantly pushed, but
their black metal roots are never pulled from the soil, if you get
my meaning. The music is very dark and evil sounding, it is brutal
as well, yet it is filled with very emotional brooding elements,
which add such depth to their musical landscape. Yes, it can send
you on an introspective journey, but you will not get too lost in
it, because there lays violence and barbarity lurking around each
and every corner. This is an impressive album, if you like your
black death metal on the slightly adventurous side, but also music
that takes care not to forget the dark aggression and barbarism
spawned it, then I can strongly recommend that you pick up this
great album. Now if you will excuse me, I suddenly have a strange
craving, to smoke some cigarette butts off the floor and suck on
some lovley old Gilf titties. - Dale
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2-o2Zfv4b8i_xxHPzktRyw
www.arachnophobia.pl
|
The Swedish
Ofermod debuted in the UG scene with an explosive and refined seven
inch EP way back in 1998. This piece of vinyl really made ripples in
the scene, so revered that this two song EP has been re-released on
disc, vinyl and cassette no less than seven more times over the
years. So it was surely puzzling to some, as to why it took no less
than 10 years for their next release, a full-length album to finally
surface. The answer to that is main man Michayah Belfagor, was in
and out of prison for the next 12 years after the release of that
EP. So, in between these stays in prison (for things like assault,
robbery etc…) in 2005 word got around that Ofermod was working on
and recording their debut album, but it never came out and Michayah
went back to prison for a couple years with that recording never
surfaced all of these years… That is until now, some 15 years later,
that rumoured (and thought to be long lost) debut record now see’s
the light of day and dark of night under the title ‘Pentagrammaton’.
The album actually sounds great too, having just recently listened
to the ’98 EP, this long player picks up right where that release
left off even though it recorded so long afterwards. It is still the
same high quality evil and hateful black metal with an undercurrent
of dark death metal. This is listed as a double album, but the total
runtime, for those interested is about 45 minutes long. It is
interesting that Moloch from the Spanish band Teitanblood does
vocals on the first half of the album, and Michayah Belfagor himself
does vocals on the second half of the material. They both sound good
to mine ears, strong and sadistically sinister black metal rasping
with a growling whisper. I mean I can hear slight differences in
cadence and tone, but if I was not trying pay close attention I
would not have picked up that it was two different vocalists. It is
cool that Shadow Records (run by Marcus Tena as of the band
Triumphator) decided to dust off this no longer mythical recording
and for me at least it does not disappoint. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/OfermodOfficial
https://www.shadowrecords.se/
|
Ogre returns to
the scene, having split up shortly after their last and third album,
released in 2008. They picked a great label to make a comeback on.
But they are not back just to be back, they have brought the real
goods on “The Last Neanderthal”. The bands plays classic heavy metal
based doom metal, with a deep 70s base mixed with a slight hint of
newer stoner doom sound, but I hesitate to even mention that last
part as it is a minor ingredient. Ogre tend to like to slow it down
at times and play moody, introspective cool meandering pieces, that
create a pensive atmosphere. The vocals, I understand with some are
a source of irritation, for myself however, I love the hell out of
them! They are high pitched vocals, a unique sort of mix of
something like Bon Scott with a young Black Sabbath Ozzy, when his
vocals were higher and more nasally. They seem to fit the music for
me, the vocalist seems to know when step back, shut up and let the
music do the talking, which only serves to heighten the music and
the impact of his vocals when he does eventually jump back in. When
the band does decide to go beyond the atmospheric classic rock and
doom it up, they are fucking heavy, like a gigantic glob of molasses
obliterating all in its path. Yes, in case you can not tell, I
really like this album and I am now a confirmed Ogre fan. You should
be too! Before I go, I forgot to mention on The Fury review prior,
that the packaging (gorgeous over sized Digi-sleeve with booklet and
all trimmings) on that release and on this album is just fantastic,
no expense was spared, pure class all the way by this legendary
record label. - Dale
http://www.minotaurorecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Rockogre
|
This is an
interesting release coming to us from frosty Norway. Okular play
progressive death metal, the term will raise some eyebrows, but it
is true in many ways and Okular is surely not your usual dm band. I
was not sure what to make of this at first; it is filled with heavy
burning riffs, but also a lot of quirky shit, a dose of little off
kilter elements that will grab your attention. They do things
differently than most bands you hear, they take a lot of chances and
do different things and mostly it works quite well. The growling,
yet clean understandable mainstay vocals, because while very good,
were bugging me because they sounded like a band I know, that was on
the tip of my tongue but I could not quite place it. Then it hit me
I am thinking of the vocals of Edge Of Sanity, once I made that
connection more influences from EOS fell into place as the guitar
sound and some of the rhythm / riffing style to my ear is clearly
influenced by that amazing Swedish band. I would say much like that
band Okular has a talent and penchant for creating really catchy,
emotional songs while keeping things heavy. That all by itself shows
some talent in the song writing and arranging. This is a very
creative album. Now I said most of the time right it works right?
That is true, but there is an acoustic song on here with growling
vocals over top, that is a new one on me, but this particular song
experiment in my view falls flat on it’s face and did not work for
me at all. The album would be better without that track. But do not
let that deter you from what is a very creative, different and at
times even slightly original quality death metal album. If you are
not a death metal purest and appreciate a band trying something new
and unusual then Sexforce by Okular comes recommended. - Dale
http://www.myspace.com/okularmetal
http://www.regenerativeproductions.no/ |
Russia’s old
school death metal band Old Chapel returns to us with their third
full length release. The album features nine songs of early to mid
nineties death metal with some doom elements mixed in to some of the
songs. The guitarist knows how to write and perform heavier mid
paced style and sound, but also is adept at a faster paced style in
a few of the songs. The drumming is done in the same vein going from
thunderously heavy to smoothly mixing together middle paced and
faster paced beats. The vocals are totally old school death metal
growls that fit well. If you are a fan of the mid ‘90s US death
metal scene then you will definitely add this album to your
collection. - Patrick
https://oldchapel.bandcamp.com
http://www.chaos-records.com
|
|
Cruz Del Sur
leave no stone unturned, in their search of traditional heavy metal
and doom bands, the world over. This time around, they landed their
all seeing eye upon Germany, holding up Old Mother Hell like the
gleaming shield of a brave armor clad warrior engaged in some
ancient battle. So, even though I threw in the doom tag here, as
does the band and record label, an element of their sound which is
indeed present, like a whispering thread of audio smoke wafting
throughout proceedings. But, having said that, Old Mother Hell are
mainly a classic heavy metal band, largely employing a pacing which
is often a little more brisk and invigorated, than what you would
think of when you see the doom label attached. Dare I say, they even
rock out now and then, inducing a little headbanging and air guitar
from me. Speaking of the guitars, they are very stylish sounding
with a real smooth grace to the playing and structuring, which
produces quite a contemplative yet heroic and affecting medieval
atmosphere, to match the lyrical content. The vocalist has a rich
stouthearted tone, with a slightly trembling, but highly emotive
quality, which I dig an awful lot. I think die hard fans of ‘70s and
‘80s heavy metal with doom touches, will like a little of this
particular hell, in their lives and their record collections. -
Dale
https://www.facebook.com/oldmotherhell/
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com
|
|
Old Pagan are a
band coming out of the German black metal scene. ‘She Loves The
Pain’ is the bands newest and fifth full length release in the bands
twenty five year career. The music features skillful writing ability
that mixes both fast paced and a more controlled mid paced range in
the songs. The guitars are played with aggressive, fast patterns
that are executed with high intensity and destructive guitar parts.
The guitars do slow to a more mid tempoed range throughout the songs
even adding in some memorable passages. The vocals are a mix of grim
black metal screams and some gruff old school growls are used
throughout the recording and that fit Old Pagan's music perfectly.
The drums are done with powerful and furious drumming that is
delivered with excellent drum patterns. If you are a fan of Old
Pagan's previous releases then do not miss out on ‘She Loves The
Pain’ it will please both long time fans and new ones that are into
quality dark black metal. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/groups/oldpagan
https://plaguedemonrecords.storenvy.com/
|
Russia's Old
Wainds are a band that has been flying under the black metal radar
for a few years now. I have heard the bands previous release and
instantly became a "fan" of the bands early 90's cold Norse style
and structures. Well the warrior's over at negative-existence must
have become a fan of this bands darkened brilliance as they have
re-released the 1997 classic "Where The Snows Are Never Gone". Eight
tracks of cold, Norse inspired blackness. The music is grim, cold
and fierce just the way black metal should sound. The vocals remind
me a little of early immortal and fit perfectly with the razor-sharp
guitar riffs and blazing drums. Fans of early 90's Norwegian style
black metal will love Old Wainds!! - Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/oldwainds
http://negative-existence.com/ |
Now I have
listened to, I suppose my fair share of progressive metal bands in
my time. But still I am not sure if I am much of an authority to
speak at length on the subject. The first thing that immediately
strikes me about this Michigan band is the command they have on
their instruments and their song writing abilities. I mean I
understand fully there are some reading this that can take over
leave Progressive Metal, truth be told there are times I have felt
that way. Not to mislead anyone here, knowing I have many extreme
metal readers, most of the time this band would be considered to be
on the lighter end of the metal spectrum. But no matter what you
think, there is no denying the talent and imagination on display
with the bands self-titled debut. It is not by any means that they
sound exactly like them overall, but I can definitely hear some
similarities to one of my favourite progressive metal albums ever,
the 1997 album A Pleasant Shade Of Grey from Fates Warning. I have
the feeling they may be an influence on Omega, also there are hints
of the progressive rock/metal Canadian gods Rush. I will be damned
if there is even a short section on here that sounded like a Frank
Zappa homage. There is an even flow throughout the album, but there
is a lot going on in that running through thread and it can be a
pretty emotional journey if you give yourself over to it. It is like
the old onion cliché of peeling back all the layers, that is what
you have to do here, it is not an easy quick little instant
gratification listen, it will take some patience and attention to
take in everything the band is trying to present on here. But it is
worth the journey, if you choose to take it. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/theomegaexperiment
http://www.listenable.net/
|
This was
recorded live, but not so much at a live gig, as you might be
assuming, no this was recorded live at a radio station in NJ, with
the call letter WFMU. I was present when my friends band (Bloodstorm),
did the same thing at WNYU in New York, nearly a decade ago, it was
an interesting experience and environment. But back on the release
at hand, this thing came off very well, it sounds good, it still has
a bit of a raw edge, but is quite clear and the guitars are full and
heavy. One Master play old school black metal, with some hints of
late ‘80s evil thrash in there, and to my ear, I hear influences
like Judas Iscariot, Horna etc… even a hint of old Celtic Frost. I
say musically, because the vocals are very different from the bands
I mentioned, they are maniacal yells and screams, that would be
closer in sound and delivery of something like early Burzum than the
traditional hissing bm rasp. I like them, some great emotion in the
singers delivery at times, loved the one song where he yells out the
bands name, with equal measures of anguish and hatred that is
palpable. I am not saying this is mind-blowing stuff, but it is damn
good, violent and cold black metal. I would say, this is a release,
that is even good for bm fanatics who do not usually get into live
albums, as this is no normal live record. It sort of has the best of
both worlds, live feel and studio album feel. - Dale
http://www.one-master.net/
http://novisiblescars.bandcamp.com/ |
For the first time ever UW records has unearthed these two old
school black metal bands unreleased demo's and released them on
to one killer cd. Up first is the mighty Ophidian Forest with
three tracks of primitive, raw mid-paced black metal. Topped off
with harsh whispery vocals that go very well with the bands raw
sound and approach. Haresiarchs of Dis are up next, their approach
to black metal while still definitely old-school is a bit more
aggressive and chaotic sounding. Just raw fast guitars with
some intense riffs that are all over the place. The drumming is a
non stop barrage of blasting beats. The vocals truly sound as if the
vocalist is being tortured with his screams and tormented shrieks.
If you are a fan of raw, primal black metal then this is definitely
a split cd you will want to add this to your collection, but be
warned there is nothing pretty or emotional about either of these
bands. Both bands show the true meaning of hateful black metal in
all its raw, powerful glory.
- Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/ophidianforest
http://www.myspace.com/heresiarchsofdis
|
The cover is
both weird and disturbing. I thought Opitz had a lot of hardcore
influence on their split with Rubufaso Mufako I reviewed previously.
It is still a very distinct element in their sound, but better
sounding / executed this time around. Though there also seems to be
a bit more of a death metal & thrash influence these days. Not to
forget the grind base that often shows up, especially in the
drumming. The guitar work still seems to have an American style to
it. I was about to write that I hear a little bit of Dismember in
their sound, only to realize the next track coming up was “Soon To
Be Dead” from that exact band. That is always a plus for me as I am
a huge Dismember fan. I think Opitz sound best though when they let
go with their death metal and grind sides and do not try to stay in
control as they do in some of their less exciting moments. When they
go frenzied it is their strong suit, in my opinion. On the vocal
side of things they alternate a few styles like dm growling, high
pitch nasal yells, hardcore grunts plus you get lots of sampled
spoken word type stuff that keeps things interesting. This material
definitely, for me, beats the shit out of the tracks Opitz had on
the Rubufaso split. Check this out. – Dale
http://www.myspace/khaaranus
http://www.bandzone.cz/opitz
|
If you picked up on
O.G.’s ’97 release “Frequencies On Planet Ten”, then your probably
impressed with this bands output thus far. Their new “Time Traveling
Blues” will not disappoint. “…Blues” sees the band take their Trouble
influenced, psychedelic doom style to a more refined riff heavy
approach. There’s still plenty of the relaxed atmosphere’s here, mind
you, but the riffs in general are heavier as witnessed in the powerful
lead track “Blue Snow” or the previously released 10” track “Nuclear
Guru”. This is a heavy doom rock album w/ just enough classic rock and
psychedelic influence to please all doom and stoner rock fans a like.
Orange Goblin are starting to make a name for themselves and it is not
undeserved. - Jeffrey Kusbel
|
Orcultus are a
Swedish band, who play cold, raw black metal, in the early to mid
nineties tradition. The guitars are fast, with some mid-paced
guitars mixed in. Orcultus is a band that know how to play their
instruments and it shows on this recording. The drumming is
excellent, with semi-fast with bouts of time when the speed on the
drums kicks it into high gear, but in a controlled way. The vocals
are screechy / screams, very demonic and demented sounding. I would
have to say Orcultus, are one of the best new bands out there right
now, I can not wait to hear their next release! - Patrick
http://orcultus.bandcamp.com/
http://www.foreverplaguedrecords.com/
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Order Of
Nosferat are an international duo with members from Germany and
Finland, ‘Arrival Of The Plague Bearer’ is the bands second release
that showcases the bands ability to compose both dark, atmospheric
passages and some grim traditional black metal elements to give the
band their own style and sound. Usually I am not a fan of keyboards
in black metal, but the band uses them to add another layer to the
music and to give the music a dark and eerie sound. The two tracks
that stick out to me are "Followed Path Of The Carpathian Wolves",
which does a great job of showcasing the bands ability to write
harsh black metal along with some slower more melodic passages mixed
into the structure of the song. “Beyond Pitch Black Woodlands” is
delivered with a more aggressive harsh black metal approach, but the
song does add a good amount of atmosphere and slower more controlled
patterns to give the song a mix of harsh and atmospheric blackness.
- Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/Order-of-Nosferat
www.purity-through-fire.com
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I have to
apologize to the band. This tape fell behind my review pile stack,
it was lost for a bit, now it is found and this review is a lot
later than I intended it to be. The music on here reminds me of the
early 90s demo bands. It is essentially just straight ahead stripped
down riffing, constant drum beats all over the place, some growling
over the top. I have to admit this release did not do a lot for me.
There are some good, brutal riffs on this death metal assault, which
I enjoyed. But outside of that, there is not much in the way of
actual song structure, purpose or direction, in which it seems to be
headed. It sounds more like a rehearsal jam session at times. The
vocals, are very obscure and undecipherable, they are okay for what
they are, but could be better. I am a bit surprised this was picked
up and released by a record label. It feels, kind of like, a fairly
cool rehearsal demo tape and nothing more than that. But hey, on the
positive side, it is from Costa Rica, just how often do you get to
experience bands from that country? So it is a novelty to have in
that aspect. - Dale
http://ordocaper.bandcamp.com/
http://nyarlathoteprecords.yolasite.com/
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This was
originally released in late 2019 on limited cd, so now Eternal Death
is giving it a cassette version which I am sure will be welcomed by
fans of the Polish band. The duo plays a raw, old school black metal
style similar to early Root. The vocals are a mix of gruff old
school growls and screams, there are even some well sung clean vocal
patterns employed in a few of the songs. The music is rooted in the
mid 90's black metal style with both slower, mid paced music and
some faster passages are intertwined into the song structures. If
you are a fan of Ordo Sanguinis Noctis’ previous releases then do
yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this quality release on it’s
new format. If you are a new listener to the band and enjoy early
Root albums and musical atmosphere then do yourself a favor and
check out Ordo Sanguinis Noctis. - Patrick
https://www.facebook.com/OrdoSanguinisNoctis/
https://eternaldeath.bandcamp.com/
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This is my first
time hearing Ordoxe’s music, the band combines elements of
aggressive and melodic black metal, even throwing in some death
metal influence in a few of the songs. The guitarist knows how to
write, and play various speeds and styles, going from a fast black
metal guitar to a slow to more mid paced guitar pace in a few songs.
The vocals are a mix of harsh black metal screams along with deeper
growls. “Towards Eternity” is a good mix of both melodic and
forceful blackened death metal, so if you are a fan of Ordoxe’s past
releases, then be sure to pick up a copy of the new release today.
- Patrick
https://ordoxe.bandcamp.com/
http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/
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Rochester, New
York’s Orodruin have been around since the very end of the ‘90s, but
this is only their 2nd full-length album. Having released
their well admired debut album some sixteen years ago! They have
released a split MLP with Reverend Bizarre and a couple EP’s since
then, but this album has been a long and much anticipated release
among the doom circle of diehards. For those not in the know, the
band play classic doom metal in the tradition of bands like Black
Sabbath, St. Vitus, Trouble, Solitude Aeturnus and that sort of
realm of bands. I would say unlike some of those bands, Orodruin mix
in and wear on their sleeves a NWOBHM influence, which bleeds in and
out of their quality traditional doom metal sound. As you can
imagine with that influence, the pacing is decidedly epic doom, but
they do speed things up (even rocking out) here and there, from time
to time and even inject some tasty lead guitar parts at times. The
vocalist John Gallo has an amazing voice that is very well suited to
this style of music and I enjoy listening to him sing. He has a
sound to his voice of his own though there is no denying that I hear
little bits of Sabbath era Ozzy, Robert Lowe of S.A. and Messiah
Marcolin in his vocals and all are great influences. I know the
question you are asking, was it worth a sixteen year wait? Well,
that is a lot of expectation to live up to, not to mention
subjective depending on how big of a doom hound you are. So, I would
have to say, okay maybe not, those are extremely weighty
expectations to try and live up to after so many years have passed.
However, that does not stop “Ruins Of Eternity” from being a quality
album that devout followers of epic heavy metal and doom should
enjoy and appreciate. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/orodruinofficialband
https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com
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Orthodoxy create
an all encompassing, nearly impenetrable and thoroughly suffocating
atmosphere with their brand of brutal, somewhat doomy death metal
magic. This is one impressive debut album from this Spanish band,
though do not let that fool you, as the band may be relatively new,
but the members are veterans of the scene and come from past or
current bands like Obscure, Domains, Profundus Tenebrarum, Whoredom,
Pestkraft etc… This is pure traditional death metal, you will not
find pretty melodies here, nor adventurous progressive song
structuring or diverse cross sub-genre pollination – no this pure
crushing fucking metal of death! The riffing on here is wonderfully
repugnant and pulverizing, unrelenting yet doomy and the drumming is
really powerful and precise. The vocals are enjoyable deep,
acrimonious boiling growls that pour across the music like a river
of black blood, complimenting perfectly the superbly evil smothering
atmosphere of the music. I could definitely see fans of the classic
death metal bands with doomy touches like early Incantation,
Funebrarum, Morpheus Descends, early Sinister, early Immolation,
Asphyx and Cianide etc… I am loving the hell out of Orthodoxy’s
“Novus Lux Dominus”. - Dale
https://orthodoxy.bandcamp.com/
http://www.thesinisterflame.com/
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I reviewed a
re-release of this bands 2005 demo tape about five years ago, which
was also through Nihilistic Holocaust. The label has decided to
finish re-releasing the bands entire catalog with ‘Mortes Fables’,
the bands debut album from 2010 and their final output. Ossuaire
produce dirty and obscure sounding death metal with definite roots
in the embryonic years of the genre. I like the murky ambiance that
saturates the entire album; it is a strong feeling gloom and
suffocating darkness. While listening to this I get an impression of
a more stripped down, slightly less technical sound similar to the
early works of bands like Immolation, Incantation, Suffocation,
Gorguts etc… They have some good riffs that propel some middle to
slightly sped up songs at times, alongside some good rhythmic
brutality. The vocals like the music are obscured boiling and
gurgling growls with some varied supporting accent voices that fit
the underlying music nicely. If you love old school death metal
wrapped with a blanket of murky atmosphere in the ancient traditions
then you need to get a copy of this tape for your collection. -
Dale
https://nihilistic-webzine-distro.fr/
https://nihilisticholocaustrecs.bandcamp.com/music
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Portland
Oregon’s newest emerging death metal horde Ossuarium as they release
their previously self-released demo tape out officially now on Blood
Harvest. “Calcified Trophies Of Violence” features three songs of
dense, dark medium paced death metal. The vocals are low death
growls with some raspy screams sprinkled through a few of the songs.
The drums range from a fast, crazed drum style to a more controlled
steady style. I believe there will be a CD version of this release
through Blood Harvest later in the year. But if you are a fan of
early Incantation and Autopsy, as well as, other similar bands of
that ilk then you should most definitely give Ossuarium a listen
today. - Patrick
https://ossuarium.bandcamp.com/
http://www.bloodharvest.se
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There has been quite
a bit of talk about Ossuary Insane and now I see why! O.I. are surely
one of the best death/grind outfits in the scene today. One listen to
this album and you will know why as “Demonize The Flesh” will rip you a
new asshole. O.I. have a knack for writing as heavy as steel brutal
material with a ton of foreboding, passion and pure emotion to
separating themselves from the pack. A perfect example of this is the
brutish and cruel “Imprecari” with it’s grinding chaos but breaking thru
it all is catchy riffing and structure and all the while reeking of a
lurking, uplifting militaristic crass atmosphere which I am very much
enjoying. Brilliant track! The lyrical content resides heavily as anti-christian,
as this excerpt duly highlights “In The Name Of Christian Scum, All Will
Burn In Hell’s Flame…” Cantor Celebrant’s vocals are sick mid-range
comprehendible sharp, caustic growls straight from the pits. The guitar
work by Der Prophet is also of note as some sections of music other
bands only wish they could pull off! Also included as a bonus is O.I.’s
great 3 song (bringing the total to 10 at a running time of 48 +
minutes) “Fallen To The Pits” ’95 demo remixed for your enjoyment.
Utterly recommended!! I sent this band a interview in October ’98 and
after months of wait still nothing - a pity. – Dale
Ossuary Insane, P.O.
Box 22094, Eagan, MN. 55122, USA or Galdre Records, Dresdener Strabe 3,
D - 15232, Frankfurt/ Oder, GERMANY
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Awaken The
Reason is a real hodgepodge of styles and elements mixed and mashed
together. Sometimes it is done skillfully and other times, it feels
a little too much like they are just trying to show off that they
can do it and force it, the flow and quality of the song be damned.
Outcast mix a small dash of death metal with hardcore, metalcore,
commercial leaning elements, at times they try to slow it down and
be atmospheric, other times they just try to be as technical as
possible with some math metal time signatures thrown in. Maybe this
is just not my thing, but I had a hard time, even upon repeated
listening to get into this. – Dale
http://www.myspace.com/outcastband
http://www.listenable.net/
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Regain Records
through their new Reborn Classics sub-label continues to dig up gems
that need to be discovered by new metal fans or reminded to old
metal dogs like me. These two albums by the Swedish Overdrive were
released in 1983 with the debut “Metal Attack” and the following
year in 1984 with “Swords And Axes”. Now somehow I missed and never
managed to track down their debut album, but “Swords…” on the other
hand I bought this cassette back in 1985 (Only 25+ years ago!!), it
was released on Banzai Records in Canada. It is cool to hear their
debut album, finally, all of these years later and it is fantastic
example of classic early ‘80s heavy metal. An album while relying
fairly heavily on the NWOBHM, it is not only extremely well done and
showcases these young fellows talents and sound, also shows them
honing in on mastering their craft. They would really perfect their
craft on the second album, which is a true classic
in my opinion. I have not listened to the “Swords And Axes” album
for probably over a decade. I believe I even reviewed it in my
classics section of the print issues of CA at the end of the 1990s.
I could not believe the waves of nostalgia I experienced when I hit
play on this album, back in the ‘80s & ‘90s alone I listened to this
album hundreds of times! I swear every note, nuance, hook, siren
scream and lyric immediately pulled up out of the recesses of my
brain! I had not listened to this record in probably 15 years at
least, yet I knew everything that was coming next in each and every
song before it came out of my speakers. I mean the constant chills
of goose flesh upon hearing tracks like ‘Black Revenge’, ‘Burn In
Hell’, ‘Mission Of Destruction’, ‘Swords And Axes’ – well fuck
honestly I could name every song on this album, they are all great.
Okay, yeah I should emerge out of my nostalgia fog long enough to
let you know these releases are deluxe to the max, with thick
booklets and both discs feature a half dozen bonus tracks for die hards like me to fawn over. If you love classic eighties heavy metal
and do not have this in your collection yet, then you must have it!
I want to give a personal thank you to the label from me for
re-releasing these albums. - Dale
https://www.facebook.com/OverdriveMetal
https://regainrecords.bandcamp.com/music
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This is the
debut of this Swedish band, yes their debut but the members are
pretty experienced, having played in the past in bands like Grave,
Demonical, Insision and currently in other bands like Thousand Year
War, Bloodride, Soils Of Fate. It is the Swede way to be in a
million bands haha. But on to the music the band definitely let’s
their Swedish roots bleed through, with a mixing of the early
Sunlight death metal sound mixed with the newer melodic Gothenburg
sound. It is usually one of those influences or the other, not both
in my experience, but I do hear a little bit of American influence
as well, in particular mid-era Morbid Angel. This is some good
death, very solid, quality stuff but nothing too mind blowing and
definitely suffering from the heard it all before-itis. I will say I
thought some of the guitar work on here is pretty tasty, some real
nice guitar fills here and there, as well some good emotion conveyed
through the guitars while maintaining an edge of brutality. This is
good, it probably sounds like I am ripping on it above, I am not,
this some damn good death metal. It just depends if you are a
devotee of the above mentioned sounds and have to get your hands on
everything or if you are more of an elitist with it, only having
time for the cream of the crop. I think I have provided you with
enough information to decide which side of the fence your loyalties
lie. - Dale
https://soundcloud.com/overtorture
http://www.apostasyrecords.com/
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