HOT GRAVES - Desecration Time EP Greyhaze Records Genre: Punk/Metal Rating: 4/5
This is my second time this year reviewing something from this Gainesville, Florida act and from the info I got with this one I'll be talking about em again soon enough. This three song EP is just a warm up for a full length coming out later this year titled Knights in White Phosphorous. That's a great fuckin title by the way. Their last release I reviewed was the Necro Mixos Sacrificio covers EP. That one was worth it just for the cover of PENTAGRAM's "Madman". This time around it's two originals and a ANTI CIMEX cover “Make My Day". The originals, “Desecration Time” and “Baphomet’s Revenge” are fast blasts of seminal blackened crust. The opener, “Desecration Time”, even slips in some down-tuned doom so to catch your breath in the pit. “Baphomet’s Revenge” is strictly a balls out thrasher. Great stuff here.
JUNGLE ROT - Kill on Command CD Victory Records Genre: Death Metal Rating: 3/5
Well what do you know, persistence does pay off especially in the case of Kenosha, Wisconsin's longtime death metal heroes. For those of you who don't know, and most of you don't, JUNGLE ROT started out back in the mid nineties. They've been playing death metal long before people started calling it old school death metal. Hell they were playing death metal when most of their new label mates were still sucking on their mommies nipple. Here's something else to remember, when their DM peers were regrouping and putting out comeback releases JUNGLE ROT were simply going through the motions putting out stuff on a semi-regular basis. So why are they not up there in everyone's top USDM band listings? Who knows? They've done their fair share of label jumping. Their last one, 2009's What Horrors Await, was out on Napalm of all places. I kinda thought that being on Napalm would propel them into everyone's death metal consciousness.
Yeah well that didn't work so here we are a few years later and a new label albeit not any label. Sure I know Chicago's Victory Records is not the home of anything I'd call extreme metal but finally this criminally underrated USDM band has found themselves in a decent position. I wouldn't call Kill on Command their greatest achievement but it's consistent. Most of the ten cuts on it are standard fair but since it's standard old school sounding, as opposed to metalcore or copycat new jackasses, then that's fine by me. The only grips I have with this one would be overly long (at least for them) opener "Their Finest Hour". Cool track but in the wrong order of the release. The worst cut on here is "Rise Up and Revolt" which is also being pushed as a single and there's supposedly a video. Other than those two things this is a decent release since cuts like "Demoralized", "I Predict a Riot" and "No Mercy" (from the Merciless) are simply great fuckin OSDM songs. Hopefully this will not fall on deaf ears.
SERVILE SECT - Trvth LP Handmade Birds Genre: Noise/Drone and Black Metal Rating: 1/5
This two piece experimental act's claim to fame is that their last release, "Realms Of The Queen" came out last year on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label. Yeah that was a guaranteed one shot deal. Now they (aka: Luke Krnkr and Nhate Clmnt) have released this their latest full length on R. Loren's (of PYRAMIDS fame) new label. So if you are familiar with R Loren's work then you know what to expect. Welcome to the wonderful world of psych ambiance or more to the point background noise, at least on half of it. This was billed to me as black metal and as we all know everything is black metal today. Even if your little sister dons corpse paint and screams Lady Gaga lyrics backwards while you stand in the background flushing the toilet, it's now called black metal. Cool idea huh? Please steal it. Ladies and gentlemen, along with that off worldly voice screaming on here after twenty minutes of noise, the first part of this is not black metal. It's purely noise which is supposed to set you up for a journey. Frankly if I was watching this at a club I've be at the bar telling the guy behind it to set em up.
The second part of Trvth (yes it comes in two long over twenty minute parts) is where we actually hear something which could be called traditional black metal. Musically it's average sounding second wave Norwegian style BM with the usual blast beats and tremolo picked bombastic riffs. The vocals are your garden variety feral raspy shtick. It could be a heroin addict going through withdrawals while chained in a basement with spiders crawling on his face for all I know. Chances are it's some indie rock looking dude with birth control glasses. This side/thing is at least broken up into actual songs with more ambient drone separating them. Still since one half of this duo lives in Brooklyn, New York and the other in Humboldt County, California (the land of herb) I'm getting a strong whiff of pretentiousness dirge coming off of Trvth. This is being hailed as experimental black metal. Frankly I think the experiment failed unless boring me was the idea.
UVIKRA - Patterns of Life EP Self Released Genre: Blackened Death Rating: 3/5
Here we have a three song release from this Lithuanian one man blackened death band. The music is low fi as in basement style production. I've gotta say basement because on one of the three cuts, "Predictable Irony", I can clearly hear him banging on what sounds like a pipe. To be honest with ya if he, Loikav, did use a basement sewer/water pipe for percussion purposes then I'm impressed. Unfortunately that's the only non traditional metal (irony?) instrument I thought I heard. Another reason I have to use the basement reference is because Loikav sounds like he lives in one. He's got that creepy monster type of growled vocal style. Now of course living in some damp dark place would also explain the low fi production value of this release. Also this guy (I haven't seen any pictures but...) has a 5 song self titled full length from 2010 out. So it's not like it's the first release and no money for a proper recording. He wants it to sound like a home recording from a beast in the basement. You listen to it a few times and tell me it's not infectious especially the slight psych influence of the guitars throughout. On the opener "The Creator is the Proudest", at the song's very end Loikav even tosses in a completely out of place guitar solo as if he's mocking the listener. Patterns of Life is definitely a corrupt release for connoisseurs of kvlt. This guy is welcome to move into crawlspace and turn it into a recording studio any day.
NIGHT FEVER - New Blood LP Tankcrimes Genre: Punk Rock Rating: 3/5
"THIS IS COPENHAGEN, MAAAAAN!!!" Yeah well if they didn't tell me I would have said Boston circa 1984. The front cover even looks as if TAANG Records put it out. I wonder if they're straightedge as well? Yes NIGHT FEVER hails from Copenhagen, Denmark and that "This is Copenhagen" is an actual song. I never thought the Danes gave a shit but with this band they obviously do. NIGHT FEVER play average yet speedy aggressive sounding 80's Punk Fuckin Rock with a vocalist who would've made it also as a frontman in a hair metal revival act. That's if this thing didn't work out. Those high-pitched vocals he uses on the final cut, "New Blood" are a dead give away. But remember that "THIS IS COPENHAGEN, MAAAAAN!!!" and New Blood originally came out in 2009 but the good people at Tankcrimes decided to extend it's shelf life by re-releasing it here in the states. Eight cuts with a few obligatory movie snippets thrown in to open a few cuts. I give em credit for their strained enthusiasm but when you use tired old lyrical subject matter like on "Nuclear War" or "Wasted" I've gotta laugh. I don't mind ya sounding like something from twenty five years ago but update your lyrics. Remember "THIS IS COPENHAGEN, MAAAAAN!!!"
OBSESSOR - Obsession EP Tankcrimes Genre: Crossover Rating: 4/5
Brandon "The Obsessor" Ferrell is probably the most widely known individual in the underground music scene of Richmond, Virginia. Well according to my friend, Big Jon, he is since Brandon runs the punk rock label No Way Records as well as Vinyl Conflict Record Store. More so he's been in such notable bands like DIRECT CONTROL, GOVERNMENT WARNING, WASTED TIME as well as MUNICIPAL WASTE. Now Brandon is following in the same footsteps as Joel Grind from TOXIC HOLOCAUST. His latest endeavor is OBSESSOR a one man crossover/punk machine. Obsession is just two short but raw sounding cuts which definitely remind me of that short period in time during the late 80s when hardcore was just getting slightly metallic. Of course the term is "crossover" but I'm not talking about when the major labels went on a feeding frenzy of US band signings. The music Brandon is making sounds like the cool underground stuff from late 80's England as well as other parts of the world. This is just a taste of what's to come in the near future. Hmmm, a neo-crossover revival? Bring it on! I still have all the cassettes from my tape trading days.
SHINING - VII: Fodd Forlorare CD Spinefarm Records Genre: Black Metal Rating: 3/5
The main problem I've always had with this Swedish black metal act is that it's founder's antics and stories generated from them always seem to out shine the greatness of the music. It's because of this aspect I once called Niklas Kvarforth, leader and founder of SHINING, the G.G. Allin of black metal and with good reason. The guy is a genius when it comes to the music but his personal life is or, at least from recent reports, was a shambles worthy of tabloid journalism. The guy had a problem with smack, loved self destruction, self mutilation, total despair, then he tried to fake his own death. To say controversy doesn't follow Kvarforth as well as the release of every new SHINING CD is an understatement. Sometimes good things come wrapped poorly. I got into the SHINING late with their fourth full length IV: The Eerie Cold and have been a fan ever since. I picked it up totally not knowing what to expect and I'm thankful for it. While some people (choose one: hipsters, losers, VICE readers, BM fair weather flunkies) just get into them because of Kvarforth's bad boy image, just like before with GORGOROTH and Gaahl. I look at it (and so should YOU!) as music first and music last. Yeah I know I'm speaking in a wind tunnel of hype. By the way the title translates into English as "Born Loser(s)".
If you want irony then the opening cut "Förtvivlan, Min Arvedel" (Despair, My Inheritance) will drown you in it with the opening. The song starts out with a young Swedish girl singing ""Sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, When skies are grey. You make me realize, How much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away. " Yes very touching and ironic but once the real music kicks in, which is mid paced BM, we get to the guts of the matter. Except for some mid song acoustics the cut is angry as hell. “Tiden laker inga sar” (Time Heals Nothing) employs more acoustics mixed in with some angry toned BM but it's a melancholy number. The theme is despair, unforgiving and pretty much life is shit. Kvarforth employs plenty of acoustic guitar and clean singing on here which adds to the release's pseudo miserable atmosphere. Unfortunately he employs that on every song which does get old. I thought this was going to be a step back for the SHINING at least back a few releases. I was not a fan of 2009's Klagopsalmer which I thought was an anomolly. Obviously I was wrong since since as much as this is lonely and cold there's a hint of salvation which disgusts me. It's like the false euphoria felt after you leave an NA meeting. I see another pattern being followed.
BLOODY TYRANT - Dawn of Doomsday CD Himalaya Records Genre: Black/Death Metal Rating: 1/5
This was billed to me as the next big black metal thing to come out of Taiwan. I'm glad the guy didn't forget to type the word "metal" because I shudder to think what "the next big black thing to come out of Taiwan" would be. For those of you who might have forgotten, the last next big black metal thing to come out of Taiwan was CHTHONIC who were like a far east version of CRADLE OF FILTH. This band here, BLOODY TYRANT, are different in that they are into the melodic black and are organic about their sound. The latter part kinda hurts them. Their drummer is in full blast beat mode on a large part of this release. Actually the guy owns this release with the blast beats, good fill action and sound wise he's right up front in the mix. There's the problem since you have him in front of everything else. Their vocalist sings in that satanic frog style or blown speaker mode most of the time but will slip in a guttural vocal line every once in a while. As far as the bass, what bass? Their guitarist is hardest to pin down since he's all over the place. The tremolo picking is simplistic plus he adds some death like riffs although still simple. Hey BM simplicity is fine with me if it's performed well but it's not very well on here. In the end I couldn't find anything worth while to write you about.
DRACONIAN - A Rose for the Apocalypse CD Napalm Records Genre: Gothic Doom Rating: 2/5
Sweden's DRACONIAN are synonymous with slitting one's wrists which is the primary reason why they haven't gained any new fans since 2006. They just lose older ones slowly but surely like their music. Another thing DRACONIAN are synonymous with is the use of the now commonly referred to style of "beauty and the beast" dual vocals. Anders Jacobsson provides the beastly death growls and in the prom dress (I've seen the photos) it's Lisa Johansson with the beauty and of course clean female vocals which are lovely. After two plays of this I couldn't take any more melodic misery and sadness so I chugged a beer. A Rose for the Apocalypse is another chapter in this band's funeral which simply will not end. What is this their second full length now of ceremonially melodic funeral dirges which are better fit for the procession of casket. The drum beats and riffs have not changed from their last album 2008's Turning Season Within. Don't get me wrong since this band put out some interesting stuff a while back but this is the fourth full length and it seems the creative juices as well as life, have dried up. Since Anders is also the principle songwriter I'll place the blame to him on why this is three quarters of slow material from a band who in the past had some livelier numbers. I'll give this props and that is A Rose for the Apocalypse probably going to win a Swedish Grammy. As for me I had to hide the cutlery.
SAMAEL - Lux Mundi CD Nuclear Blast Genre: Industrial Metal Rating: 2/5
We all know the history of this Swiss act. They started out Black Metal in the early nineties then someone turned em onto a TREPONEM PAL record and they switched to being a dark electronic/industrial band. OK I'm exaggerating on the TREPONEM PAL record thing. It might have been the REVOLTING COCKS and I don't feel like talking about 1996's Passage full length either. But anyway 2009's Above was actually good and blackish in the metal department but you just can't tell anymore what some original second wave black metal bands are gonna do these days now can you? Lux Mundi, the band's eighth full length, is consistent with what they did on Above with a little more emphasis on the epic symphonic metal style but less aggressive. There's still the cold mechanized feeling on Lux Mundi that they used on their previous full blown industrial epics. Unfortunately I find this more in line with the classical themed theatrics which DIMMU BORGIR did on their last wreck of a full length. Should I being wearing a black wig and nail polish to match while listening to this? I'd probably enjoy this more if I did but that ain't gonna happen. But as far as dark Industrial Metal goes it's better than MORBID ANGEL's new one.
FEN - Epoch CD Code 666 Records Genre: Post Black Metal Rating: 0/5
I've been waiting patiently for this British band's newest release to come my way. They also have a split release now with DE ARMA out on Nordvis Records but this was the more important one. Back in 2009 I got their debut, The Malediction Fields, and afterwards my whole opinion on avant garde/post black metal changed. Of course if you go over the edge of the template then you're not BM at all in my not so humble opinion. You're a total fraud like HORSEBACK or any other indie rock losers trying to push their pretentious crap into the realm of metal. FEN go so close to that edge with their cascading waves of atmospheric soundscapes that they must be leaving a blood trail from the razor cuts. I wasn't alone in praising their debut. There were plenty of people in the underground, those who actually like black metal, who praised it's relaxing yet harsh brilliance. Of course their sound comes from their territory. The band takes their name from an area of England where they grew up called The Fens. Supposedly it's very wet there with bogs and marshes. Strangely enough their sound doesn't remind you of being hit in the face with mud. On the contrary it's like sitting in a lawn chair, kicking back in the flatlands and watching the elements around you change from season to season. Like I mentioned earlier it's partly relaxing and in other ways harsh but that was their first release. What a surprise this was.
The harshest thing about this, their sophomore release, is that it doesn't surpass The Malediction Fields. That's not to say it's a crappy release but it's just that there are many parts on here were FEN sound below average. OK I'm being nice because the truth is that this release sucks. The band's previous strength was that on their debut I, as well as others, compared them with DRUDKH. Epoch is like the last AGALLOCH release which wasn't bad but was a more accessible release then their past works which is why hipsters got into it. The opening title cut starts off slow and mundane until finally the assault on your senses comes into play. Sadly it's as if they stole this from ALTAR OF PLAGUES first album White Tomb. Sure the two bands both play the same style of black metal but the riffs are just too similar. Maybe they've been drinking from the same marshland that they shit in? "Ghosts of the Flood" gives FEN a reprieve by starting out with a wall of distorted white noise and anguished screaming but breaks into a jangly melody which is more akin to indie rock than BM. For a short time the blackened rasps are replaced with some clean sounding indie rock girlie man vocals. Someone set a fire to their asses because it ends with a massive flood of elated noise. "Of Wilderness and Ruin" was an improvement in a blackened 4AD type of way. "The Gibbet Elms" takes the band into CABARET VOLTAIRE territory to the point where I just walked out of the room with the words "fuck this shit" under my breath.
When I came back into the room I was greeted by the band's new post rock dance hit "Carrier of Echoes". I hate ethereal dance crap. The song thankfully changes to a more aggressive tone but not long before it floats away on a jazzy cloud of swamp gas otherwise known as an earth fart. I really couldn't take much more of this but actually there was one cut on here which brought the greatness of their debut to mind. "Ashbringer" which is the final cut on here brought back that DRUDKH comparison albeit a wimpier version. FEN has gone the same route as all the other post BM bands, ALTAR OF PLAGUES and ALCEST for examples, who put out a decent if not great debut only to follow it up with avant garbage. Epoch is sad since FEN shed their sheer black metal intensity to go head long into the most boring aspects of shoegaze boredom and indie rock simplicity. What was once fresh and challenging now sounds contrived and packaged for children, aka: hipster retards. This came out months ago so I deliberately stayed away from reading anything about it in order to enjoy the experience untainted by a lessor's opining. I'm so pissed now after listening to this that I could hold their heads down in the bog until the air bubbles cease to surface. FEN didn't just slip over the template edge. They jumped off and onto the next one over entitled indie rock fraud. Some people will say that my opinions are based on the defense of black metal's archaic and rigid boundaries and that FEN is simply breaking those boundaries. My question to that is who set up those boundaries? Certainly black metal didn't set up boundaries to prevent expression of itself. The boundary was set up by the outsiders who at first hated black metal but later on tried to come in and take from it in order to describe themselves as something which they are not. More to fact is that it's the outsiders who steal parts of black metal to incorporate into their own style because on it's own their music is shit. And frankly not even a coat of black paint can cover the stink of shit.
BLASPHERIAN - Infernal Warriors of Death CD Deathgasm Genre: Death Metal Rating: 3/5
Alright if you've got the brass balls to title your debut release Infernal Warriors of Death then not only should it be good but you better be ready to be the next house band for Hell. To be totally honest with you it is. This Texas band has been carving a niche in the underground since starting out in 2004. To their credit they've released a handful of demos, an EP and a split. Through all of their hard work and dues paying they now have this their full length debut on a label that knows Death Metal. Infernal Warriors of Death, indeed, this is pure old school death doom done up in the same vein as the early masters did. As far as modern ears go BLASPHERIAN does the same thing as their Texas peers, VASAELETH, are doing as well which is crushing, sick fuckin sounding death and doom. Seriously that's all there is to know here. BLASPHERIAN are not going to win any accolades for speed or tech death proficiency. There's not one guitar solo on here which is something I thought it did need. Their overall sound is pure sickness courtesy of Wes Infernal's heavily distorted guitar tone that makes you wonder if the damm thing is on the verge of exploding. Vocalist Lord Apollyon sounds like he gargles with asphalt to get that lowest of the low guttural growl. The bass on here pops in and out of sound range. The drum work is out of it as if the guy, Matt Mayhem, fell asleep during parts of songs only to wake up and fill in with a blast beat. I'm not knocking it, I actually enjoy it. Welcome to Hell boys! By the way do you happen to have any "Sworn to Death and Evil" T-Shirts? It's for my grandmother. Her birthday is coming up.
DESIDERIA - End the Curse CD Self Released Genre: Epic Metal Rating: 4/5
I love getting review requests directly from bands. Labels tend to be business only, promo people are very friendly but the bands are the best because they actually ask you questions. For example take this French band here, in reference to the release they sent this added question came in "Maybe it's not extreme enough for your webzine?" Well to be honest there have been times when I'd be listening to some band's release and not only wished I was dead but hoped my corpse would be ravaged by a gang of necrophiliac midgets. Thankfully this is not the case with DESIDERIA. When I first listened to End the Curse I thought it was pretty cool since they've taken something in Metal that has become cliche and reshaped it into something that sounds decent. This seven member French band's debut full length is the sum of many parts woven together but their main platform is a blackened melodic death metal style. They incorporate two vocalists, male and female, which adds that light and dark touch. Finally they add keyboards not in a supporting role but as a main ingredient which gives everything an epic and symphonic touch.
There's plenty of bands using duel male/female vocals who try fusing a variety of genres together, mainly death metal and that dark gothic style. Those are the ones which I refer to as being cliche. DESIDERIA break from that aesthetic because of the strong black metal influence in many of the riffs. Many songs start off with tremolo guitar riffage almost as if this was pagan black metal from the nordic reaches with the synths adding background atmosphere. Male vocalist Pascal has a deep gruff baritone voice similar to Johan Hegg of AMON AMARTH. The female equation of this band, Mylene, enters with a choral soprano vocal style which changes the harsh dynamics of the aggressive cuts. It works well on here especially with the twin guitar crunch with riffs varying between black and death metal styles. At times it reminds me a little like BATTLELORE but with more variety. This style is the basis almost throughout End the Curse with Pascal leading on the aggressive moments with melodic breaks given to Mylene. The times they do break away are interesting like on "HellCorrespondance.com" and "Excalibur" where they draw upon some PARADISE LOST gothic doom influences albeit with female vocals entered into the mix.
DESIDERIA excels on their bludgeoning numbers which have that epic feel to them. Songs like "Dragon Bravest Blizzard" and "Another Dimension", with it's synth intro which keeps you off base as to what's to come, are aggressive fast paced numbers. "Lightning Bolt" comes across well with thrash like riffage and dual guitar solos where as "Knight of Hope" is straight up galloping metal highlighted by Mylene's dreamy and atmospheric vocals. "Wolf Cruelty Claw" is the only cut on here where she doesn't appear on which I thought was kinda strange. Be that as it may End the Curse breaks the cliche of bands with male/female dual vocals who fuse styles by writing songs with good musical structures instead of just relying on the opposite vocal extremes. Lyrically they fall into that epic fantasy or battle metal realm which has a lot of naysayers on the ramparts. As far as I'm concerned this is extremely well done although perfection will come next. Someone call Napalm Records to tell em about this band.
Black Mark are to release an 'In Memory Of Quorthon' limited edition vinyl box in honour of the godfather of viking metal and Bathory mastermind, who died in 2004. The box will include
* Three double gatefold LPs * 48-page booklet * BATHORY “Goat” poster (70x100cm) * Picture-disc recreation of the original BATHORY “yellow goat” 1984 pressing of the band’s debut album. All packaged together in a deluxe box.
PESTE NOIRE - L'Ordure à l'état Pur CD La Mesnie Herlequin Genre: Black Metal? Rating: 1/5
When Neige left this band years ago to pursue other things like blackening shoegazing in ALCEST or reinventing Post Punk with a femme fa tale on vocals in AMESOEURS. He must have left a bag behind which La Sale Famine de Valfunde, frontman and multi-instrumentalist for this French black metal institution, has recently got into. Seriously after one listen to this latest release I was like "oh no not again." PESTE NOIRE were always a little tough to get into in the past but at least it was raw black metal albeit strange. The first cut on here "Casse, Peches, Fractures et Traditions" sounds like some experiment with gypsy music and not exactly the folk music which the band has been known to incorporate into their sound before. That was a waste of ten plus minutes. "Cochon Carotte et les sœurs Crotte" is like DEVO in corpse paint which on the surface sounds interesting but trust me it's not. "J’avais rêvé du Nord" is twenty minutes of weirdness which is probably the best thing this one has to offer. It's fairly black but with some surprises. It starts out slightly industrial as well as laying down a slow funk percussion beat. A sultry stripper (in corpse paint?) could do good by this one. There's samples and voice overs injected everywhere early on then is followed up by a folk style acoustic guitar solo with Audrey Sylvain adding vocals to it's beauty. This opus unusual-ist finally closes down in the black with Audrey and La Sale trading vocals. "Sale Famine Von Valfoutre" sounds about the closest to what La Sale had been doing previously. The closer "La condi hu" is more into a shoegazing post BM scenario. After all of this I was ready to apologize to Neige for all those nasty comments I made about his last ALCEST release.
LOST SPHERE PROJECT - Third Level to Internal Failure CDEP Division Records Genre: Grindcore Rating: 4/5
Here's some angry grindcore from Geneva, Switzerland, will wonders never cease? And just think, this is the country where I send all of my laundered money to hide in their banking system. I'd better be nice to them or maybe one of their relatives, who works in a Swiss bank, might make a computer error in one of my accounts. There's twelve cuts on here therefore it's an EP which flys by you in less than twenty five minutes. Then again that's all they need to get their aggressive attack on. I can only handle an EP's worth of grindcore as it is now in my jadedness. LOST SPHERE PROJECT like to pummel their listeners from the very start. I'll give em credit for that since opener "Paradoxal Sights" just comes charging out at you like a starved animal ready to tear into it's keeper. The next cut "Devotees" is slightly longer at almost three minutes which is an eternity in grind. "Devotees" shows that these guys are not a bunch of noisy simpletons, like most US grind. LOST SPHERE PROJECT actually devote time to be technical without being annoying. There's stabs of DM as well as some experimental riffage and even some melody throughout this release. Songs like "Idyllic Disaster" and "Behold the Scorn" are phenomenal and bordering on the greatness of PIG DESTROYER territory. Although some of the time (time being subjective in their case) this band likes to mesmerize your average grind brain with added bits of other extremism but mostly they actually just like to brutalize you. Everyone's worried about the Finnish Grindcore scene but they were wrong. Beware the Swiss!
IN SOLITUDE - The World, The Flesh, The Devil CD Metal Blabe Records Genre: Metal Rating: 5/5
More Swedish revival rock here except this time it's pretty cool. These Swedes are into conjuring up the ghosts of old MERCYFUL FATE as well as IRON MAIDEN. Their vocalist Pelle Ahman even dawns some face paint although it's more raccoon eyes than King Diamond. Don't wanna be sued by Gene Simmons now do we? Although he's a decent vocalist Ahman doesn't reach or incorporate the awesomeness of King Diamond's unique falsetto or even Bruce Dickinson's stadium screaming. Still he's good on here with his the mid range vocals which Diamond employed early on. Henrik Palm and Niklas Lindstrom bring on the duel guitar tag-team memory of MAIDEN's Smith and Murray. Thankfully they don't have an Eddie imitators. The World, The Flesh, The Devil is this band's second full length. Their self titled debut on High Roller records came out in 2008 and from what I've read garnered them enough great reviews that Metal Blade had to pick em up. Then again there's is a trend going on so might as well get on that band wagon before it's too late.
IN SOLITUDE stands out from the pack of other revival acts by simply relying on their music to do the talking as opposed to others like GHOST who rely on costume pageantry as a gimmick or GRAVEYARD who just suck. What made NWOBHM important for it's time was that the bands were not into theatrical gimmicks or were still hippies. Their songs actually rocked and carried some evil intentions. This release has that on “We Were Never Here,” “Serpents Are Rising” and “Poisoned, Blessed and Burned" as well as the impressive opening title cut. Henrik Palm and Niklas Lindstrom supply plenty of quality riffs as well as impressive soloing. If this was on vinyl then that would be side A. Now on the proverbial side B it's still as impressive opening with a rocker in "Demons". but with a freakin thirteen plus minute closer “On Burning Paths" which definitely invokes that MERCYFUL FATE influence since they had one on Melissa. This is definitely one of my favorite releases for 2011.
ANNEX THEORY - Beneath The Skin MCD Pivotal Rockordings Genre: Melodic/Progressive Deathcore Rating: 3/5
ANNEX THEORY is a melodic deathcore six piece from Winnipeg, Canada who I'll give credit to for shaking up a seriously boring genre sound by adding atmospheric keyboards to their mix. Seriously it's an actual band member named Matt Rutowicz and not simple in studio effects. They've also got a tech death guitar noodler by the name of Sam Jacobs who on a few cuts adds some impressive fluid solos. (he knows his Fripp tones) They're from Canada so you expect this although it's usually from Montreal. There's only four cuts on here but what this band will probably become after this is big. Personally I don't care for this stuff as far as my jaded tastes go. Be that as it may the song "Orbit" started off with this heavy deathly crunch but then went so eclectic on me that I needed a six pack to calm my nerves. I can't say I like their melodic clean vocal harmonies in fact I actually hate clean vocal harmonies. Vocalist Trevor Birnie is better off sticking with his stalwart genre cliche angry and caustic style. "Event Horizon" opens with a decent synth opening which quickly turns into a Sam Jacobs virtuoso guitar show off. Like I said not my brand but they add ingredients which set them slightly apart from the pack thanks to Rutowicz and Jacobs.
GALLHAMMER - The End CD Peaceville Records Genre: Blackened Doom/Crust Rating: 1/5
When it comes to GALLHAMMER you take what you can get which is pretty much not much at all. This raccoon eyed Japanese all girl three piece, now a two piece since guitarist Mika Penetrator split sometime last year, started making a name for themselves by releasing a handful of demos back in the early 2000s. By 2004 they finally released their debut Gloomy Lights which had critics hailing em as cool and hip. Obviously those critics didn't bother listening to all of their music. They just saw an all girl Japanese three piece, with the previously mentioned raccoon eye make-up. In other words most people who hailed this band were full of shit. Gloomy Lights was a decent release (at least in my not so humble opinion) but not enough to garner the pretencios hype handed to it. Their follow-up, Ill Innocence, from 2007 wasn't any better for that matter. So now after four years and the departure of an important part of their sound we have The End which I must say is aptly titled.
I'm guessing this release was a last minute attempt to just get something out because as far as creativity goes, and GALLHAMMER had very little to start with, this blows. This is seven boring cuts all recorded in low-fi to give it that late 80's authentic "underground punk" demo sound. Remember they started out influenced by their Swiss namesake HELLHAMMER, took those blackened doom dirges and added some late 80's Anarcho Punk sounds to the mix. So they've went from being a decent act before to now being garbage. The opening title cut is slow but not in an ominous or even depressive kind of way. It's just slow uninspired crap. The second cut "Rubbish CG202" is the same as the first but a little faster. "Rubbish CG202" sounds like something off of a demo from 1989 by a bunch of untalented losers. "Aberration" gives drummer Risa Reaper a chance to fuck up twice as bad (poor drumming) by adding her nails on a chalk board squeaky vocals (reminiscent of MEDIA CHILDREN) to bassist Vivian Slaughter's dead dog porn growls. I turned it off at this point on my first inspection. When I came back for a second attempt I wasn't sober unfortunately the music on The End left me sick and hungover.
Honestly if anyone out there in music land thinks this is still hip and cool then they need to be shot after you set them on fire and then pissed on em.
DODSENGEL - Dodsengel MCD Van Records Genre: Black Metal Rating: 4/5
This Norwegian duo, Kark on guitar, bass and vocals plus Malach Adonai on drums, was pretty prolific last year by releasing a full length Mirium Occultum as well as three more EPs. Here they're back with another four song EP of horrific gems that will scare the flesh off of the unknowing. This release was originally scheduled to be released by Fullmoon Productions but the authorities raided the place and shot everyone there with silver bullets. So this is actually a joint release by Van Records and Terratur Productions. Strangely enough this might be the last release by the band in a while. As of this writing I don't know all the details but with a band name which means "Angel of Death" in Norwegian, I'll say the authorities might be involved as well. If you have their Mirium Occultum from last year and still survived you know that DODSENGEL is probably the best thing to have come out of Norwegian Black Metal in a long time that was actually brilliant as well as threatening. The band has a sound that slowly seduces you into allowing it into your subconscious. Once inside it then proceeds to rip it's way out. If that sounds like fun then this latest will fulfill your death wish.
DODSENGEL takes the perceived horrific visions of other well known BM acts from France, Sweden and the US, drags em down into their dungeon lair to grim them up a bit and then reanimates em to creeped out sickness. You turn this up a bit and the lights flicker, seriously it just happened twice. This is not music but really a ritual of the unholy produced with modern instrumentation. The guitars don't rattle you with tremolo picked abrasiveness but instead take you into another dimension where you hold your body in tight less you touch something that won't wash off. At times Kark's voice sounds like it emanates from an out worldly being of darkness which you know you shouldn't be listening to but it's hypnotic so hey why not enter into the dark room. Other times he's like the former priest banished from the church for secretive occult practices and is now a spokesman possessed with blackened filth which seeps from every pore of his body as he speaks, screams and cries out. The end result unsettles your very flesh. This one here is merely a subtext for last years truly incredible Mirium Occultum. If you can digest this one then you'll be able to handle the rest of their catalog.
NOCICEPTOR - Among Insects MCD Pivotal Rockordings Genre: The Nu Tech Death Rating: 1/5
I didn't know this but a nociceptor is defined as a receptor for injurious or painful stimuli. In other words it's a fuckin pain sensing organ which makes sense after listening to this release. NOCICEPTOR hails from Texas and musically this is Tech Death with plenty of Nu Metal funk grooves and the brutality of the "core". Actually they're not really a new band since this is their second official release. Among Insects is their follow-up to their “The Sum of all Scars” full length from 2008. I missed out on that one, go figure. NOCICEPTOR relies on that djent guitar sound in their songs which I never cared for and I never liked MESHUGGAH either. There's seven cuts on here not counting the intro which astounds me. Why put a fuckin intro on an EP? There's also something strange as far as their songs go (well strange to me since I don't listen to Metalcore) since they've got one cut "Pornoholocaust" and it's followed by "Cuntagion". Maybe they got a virus from being on Youporn. According to a friend on Facebook (Facecrack) today is Don't Give A Shit day and frankly that's my feeling about this. I also feel like taking a shower as well.
ICON IN ME - Head Break Solution CD Goomba Music Genre: Metal Rating: 1/5
Now why would a band from Moscow want to emulate modern mainstream US and Swedish sounding (think groove, melodic death and some core) metal? Seriously I don't have the answer but on this the band's second full length that's what you get. Their debut Human Museum came out in 2009 on Massacre Records, a great label by the way. Hmmm I wonder what happened with that? But as I said this is modern mainstream sounding fill for those out there who haven't had enough. This band's drummer, Morten, once played with SOILWORK as well as HATESHERE so that tells me alot. Personally I'm not a fan of this type of thing (ergo the 1/5 rating as in not for me, a goose egg is bad) but if you are well ICON IN ME won't be hiding in the womb of mother Russia for long. This band has big time festival rockers written all over em. Musically the dual guitar theatrics of D. Frans and Artyom are this band's appeal since they tend to cut loose with some decent shredding on almost every cut. Vocalist Tony JJ sounds like he grew up singing along to a few FEAR FACTORY releases. Yeah I really don't have to go into that vocal style in detail do I? Look music wise this Russian band is at the top of their game when it comes to this modern metal genre. I wasn't even surprised when I saw that one of the "special guests" who appears on here (there are a few) is none other than melo death iconic guitarist Anders Bjorler of THE HAUNTED fame (and yeah he was once in a little o'l Swedish band named AT THE GATES as well). I guess the bottom line here is no surprises.
TRILLION RED - Two Tongues CDEP Self Released Genre: Indie Rock? Rating: 1/5
According to this band's bio, "TRILLION RED is a new band in the metal scene, but its unique style screams out as something new and refreshing amongst the plethora of redundant acts today." Look I'm listening to the music here and the only thing screaming is my bullshit detector which is telling me "I think you're listening to pretentious Indie Rock, ahhhh. I think you're listening to pretentious Indie Rock, ahhhh. I think you're listening to pretentious Indie Rock, ahhhh." Yeah for the most part this duo from San Francisco featuring Patrick Brown – vocals, keyboards, guitar and bass plus drummer Max, play eclectic post rock which sounds vaguely familiar. I'm thinking they were influenced by that whole early 90's new bohemian, neo-psychedelic movement with bands like BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE and the DANDY WARHOLS. Hell ya might as well toss in MY BLOODY VALENTINE (yes I know they're English but they fit) for good measure. On the whole there's nothing wrong with that because I liked BJM. Maybe Pat Brown is trying to be the next Anton Newcombe with shades of Courtney Taylor. (Is it one Taylor or two?) So they've taken that aesthetic and added some spazz but I still hear bongo drums there hippie. Here's another promo/bio quote; "The band’s musical background diverges from past garage rock, and dark metal bands." Yeah I nailed that one, ha! I'd also say there's some post punk in this mixture.
Now don't get me wrong since I'm not trying to shit on this band. I just think they wear their influences on their sleeves fairly obviously. Their next release should be a full length on Tee Pee records. That label loves this stuff. But as far as this being metal well I think there's some, but??? Two Tongues is comprised of just four cuts. The first one "No Visible Help (Hold Tight) is fairly shoegazer sounding with some dark ambiance as icing. It bleeds right into the next cut "Forging Two Tongues/A Reckoning". There's this haunting psych vibe carrying you along like you're in an opium haze until they break into a spazzcore blastbeat then repeat, then it's gets annoying. At it's very end they toss in some macabre ambiance for some strange reason. And it was going so well? When the following song, "Right Over To The Helm", got under way I was getting images of the COCTEAU TWINS in corpse paint or a any 4AD band with pentagrams on the album cover. Ironically enough (Ironic as in Hipster?) they end this with a cut titled "Lullaby" as in sleepy time. TRILLION RED has plenty of talent which is wasted on me as well as the extreme metal community. Ship their sounds over to England and they'll be on magazine covers hailed as the new avant garde rock gods.
TYR - The Lay of Thrym CD Napalm Records Genre: Folk/Viking Metal Rating: 5/5
If you've been following this Faroe Island band's career path (and frankly who hasn't?) then you know that each successive release they've gotten more of a power metal sound. Sure they've still got the Viking Metal motif going, look at the goddamn cover artwork if you have doubts. Plus the title is taken from a section of the Poetic Edda which is a collection of old Norse poetry. And if that's not good enough for you then the alternative title for this is “The Fetching of Thor’s Hammer”. Soundwise they've laid down the "hammer" and moved onto a more epic sound and style. No complaint here but I kinda got turned onto em because of the campy Viking thing. From what I've read about em the whole Viking thing was cool to get em noticed but they were not into being pigeon holed as only that. By listening to this, their sixth full length, it's obvious their chosen path has always been to progress. You won't find any cheesy Viking sing-a-long cuts worthy of donning that plastic Viking helmet you've got. (FYI: Vikings didn't have cow horns on their helmets.) In fact the lion's share of The Lay of Thrym sounds like true metalized traditional folk. It's majestic sounding which might not get your fists pumping or beating your fake sword on your fake shield. Instead this is a great release to kick back and relax to.
For all of you Pagan Fest followers don't start to cry since there's some battle hymm revelry type cuts on here like "Nine Worlds of Lore" and the title cut. The latter cut has a decent galloping rhythm to it with a beat to get you going on your row-master. The opening cut "Flames of the Free" is epic and with a thrash happy riff, "Hall of Freedom" is similar. Heri Joensen’s vocals are pretty much overwhelming in that he sounds like that lone man crying out from the wilderness. Actually TYR have become epic troubadours of the Faroe Islands and probably one of their greatest exports maybe second only to Kristian Blak and whale blubber. On another note the song "Shadow of the Swastika" left me dumbfounded because lyrically it sounds like they're making fun of nazis with the line "Make sure you count me out of the ranks of your inbred morons. With your sewer gas and kiss my Scandinavian ass". On the other hand historically the British invaded the Faroe Islands during World War Two which prompted the Germans to invade Denmark which at the time the Faroe Islands were under the governance of. There's also the line; "The shadow of the Swastika by fools' fears now for far too long has been cast" which seems to mean somebody must be calling em pro-nazi which is not the case with TYR.
Whatever the case my be on a whole The Lay of Thrym is a extremely energetic release, it's very harmonious with great background choir-like vocals, "Hall of Freedom" is a perfect example. There's even a ballad, "Evening Star", which does not hurt since it's a folksy tune. But this release isn't without a few surprises and they're only available on the digi pak. Actually there's two surprises that both have something dedicated to Ronnie James Dio. The first is TYR's cover of "I" from SABBATH's Dehumanizer release. Heri Joensen makes this song TYR's especially with his great vocals along with the background vocals giving it an epic quality as well as Terji Skibenaes' solo which is not Iommi influenced. They have to do this as an encore in their live set which will get a crowd screaming "I,I,I". The second bonus cut is their version of RAINBOW's "Stargazer" with two guitars, bass, drums and no keyboards. Once again Heri Joensen's vocals are amazing and they twist the cut into a TYR version instead of simply playing traditionally. Another great release from this band.
YEAR OF THE GOAT - Lucem Ferre MCD Van Records Genre: Heavy Metal Rating: 1/5
So whatafuck is up with all of these Swedish bands of late stepping back into the late 60's/early 70's FM radio rock era? I mean there's that one band, which I trashed, who were channeling LED ZEP and now we have these guys. YEAR OF THE GOAT has a great band name (Sounds familiar? Sounds black metal? But they're not!) and they're channeling BLUE OYSTER CULT, at least on the first two cuts and not the good stuff either. Instead of "Cities on Flame" or "Don't Fear the Reaper" we get "Don't Fear the Flowers". No that's not an actual song title but it might as well have been. In fact these guys are more to the Pop Psychedelia side of Rock instead of the Hard Fuckin Rock vein. The third cut, a cover of Sam Gopal’s "Dark Lord", sounds like SOUNDGARDEN if they were slightly paisley. The title cut, "Lucem Ferre" is a hippy, drippy instrumental. Break out the lava lamp for that one so you can be groovy. Since this is on Van Records (a cool label by the way) I'm guessing some revisionist clown on a doom metal site has already tagged this as proto doom. If I'm right about that one then trust me it's no feather in my cap.
Wow here's a band from Austin, Texas that doesn't sound like pretencions indie rock garbage masquerading as metal. Although I won't call it original (is anything lately?) what this duo does is clobber you with some bombastic riffs which are part CELTIC FROST/TRIPTYKON, part SABBATH, part a whole helluva lot others out there nowadays. I do believe these guys, Matt Walker and Daniel Curry are not out to ride anyone's coattails but instead are into some serious bone crushing. I think they are walking the razor's edge as far as style goes which is pretty cool. They have five songs on here that musically sew together sick doomish grooves with serpent like blackened vocals. At times they're sail into sweeping dark psych dirges like on the opener "Leviathan", the tripped out violent "Trancendor" and the almighty epicness of "Heartache". Other times they're kicking out a 70's influenced power jam like on "The Awakening" and to some degree "Spectre". Aside from this one these guys are working on a full length which I'm hoping some decent label will catch onto because these guys are pretty fucking good. Their songs are short, all under five minutes, thank you! Who knows, maybe in 2012 they're have album of the year in Decibal Magazine. When you read this (the band that is) don't get too excited guys because I never get those Decibal picks right but good job with this.
ARCH ENEMY - Khaos Legions CD Century Media Records Genre: Melodic Death Metal Rating: 2/5
Every since 2001 ARCH ENEMY has kept a fairly tight schedule when it comes to recording a new album. Every two years they have something new out which is pretty damm good. Their last new release (aka: new material) was 2007's Rise of the Tyrant which many considered their pinnacle of success. Two years later they hit a proverbial bump by releasing the The Root of All Evil compilation. I say bump because The Root of All Evil contained various past songs from the band's first three albums when Johan Liiva was still their vocalist, re-recorded with Angela Gossow singing. Now for some people when it comes to ARCH ENEMY, the early and the new shall never meet. Those people considered it a pointless release while others, myself included, thought it was a decent addition. Be that as it may here we finally have some new material from them and after a few spins I am completely not impressed. I consider myself a fan but honestly I wouldn't call any of their releases perfect. What they perform live is really their best material but as far as their full lengths go you have some really great songs and then a few mediocre ones. With Khaos Legions the pattern has been flipped as far as song quality.
I don't expect bands I like to be really progressive from release to release. Instead as long as they can sustain some form of consistency then I like it. Khaos Legions sinks below what this band has achieved in the recent past and to me that sucks. Normally ARCH ENEMY starts off their releases with a powerful track but not this time. Here we have a unnecessary intro, "Khaos Overture", which wasn't very chaotic and is followed by "Yesterday Is Dead and Gone" which sounds like a throwaway cut from two releases ago. From that point on it's fairly average except for the Amott brothers soloing all over the place. There's even a few unwarranted instrumentals on here. "Bloodstained Cross" opens with a riff way to similar to "Blood on Your Hands" and then falls into Michael Amott paying homage to Michael Schenker. Angela Gossow's vocals have also taken a turn for the worse. On Rise of the Tyrant she was really bringing forth those witch vocals that she's famous for doing live. On here it's gone. "No Gods, No Masters" is sadly pop metal which will probably get the crowds excited (?) but it's not "We Will Rise". Songs like "City of the Dead" and "Through the Eyes of a Raven" start out fairly well but a quarter of the way in they sink to melodic metal mediocrity or even Power Metal. "Cruelty Without Beauty" is a fairly heavy duty cut except when the keyboards come in and Angela's vocals sounding like crap.
If there's any highlights, and I'm being gentle, on here there's "Cult of Chaos" which should have been the first song on here. I'll guess and say it will be part of their live set. "Thorns in My Flesh" and "Vengeance Is Mine" are even better, except for the melodic breaks, too bad you have to wade through three quarters of the release to hit the decent cuts. I have to be honest and say even these three tracks are not nearly as good as some of their past work. In fact if there's anything good about this release it's the Amott brothers showing off some fine lead solo work. It will probably get Michael Amott a cover story in Guitar Player magazine although I think he took his love of Michael Schenker a little too far on here. I would say that the only thing missing is a UFO cover but then I found out that there's a digi pack version of this (or some special package) with a SCORPIANS' cover, "The Zoo". Ha! Yeah well Angela is originally from Germany so go figure. Khaos Legions falls to the fans only bin which will be at the bottom of my stack of their releases.
Well it's kinda cool to hear that Norway has accepted Black Metal as a part of their culture. Yes it is funny as well but seriously according to Kjersti Sommerset, the head of Norway’s foreign ministry’s centre of excellence, he told the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv: “We now have 106 foreign service missions and they get many enquiries from people who want information about Norwegian black metal as a phenomenon. In the training program, we have a large cultural program in order to give the trainees a good understanding of Norwegian culture and the cultural industry. Black metal is clearly a part of this ‘global awakening.’”
I would love to be in on one of those training sessions on True Norwegian Black Metal. Sample Question to one of their instructors: "Excuse me but what is more True, MAYHEM with Dead on vocals or Attila? Secondly since both of those individuals are not Norwegian then how can MAYHEM be True Norwegian Black Metal?"
While you are pondering your own screw with their heads questions here's a photo documentary by Peter Beste.
BLOODSOAKED is a one man Death Metal act from North Carolina. Yeah I know you're wondering "a one man DM act"? Yeah well I've seen him, Peter Hasselbrack, perform live a few times and he pulls it off fairly well. According to Pete's own bio; "North Carolina based Death Metal band BLOODSOAKED is a One-Man Killing Machine. BLOODSOAKED concentrates on purely oldschool, no frills, straight forward, skull crushing Death Metal in the most raw and primitive form! There are no "slam till you can't slam no more breakdowns", no pig squeals, no arpeggios; simply classic Death Metal, nothing more, nothing less."
I can attest to that also; BLOODSOAKED was formed in 2006 by Peter Hasselbrack who recorded the “Brutally Butchered” CD that was limited to 100 copies. “Brutally Butchered” was well received in the underground Death Metal scene and caught the attention of Comatose Music who released the CD in early 2007 to a world wide audience and helped BLOODSOAKED get shows with Suffocation, Vital Remains, Incantation, Dying Fetus, Skinless and two successful (Slaughtering The South I & II) tours and a ever growing fan base.
Now listen to this and continue reading underneath it.
In 2008 BLOODSOAKED began writing songs for the second CD "Sadistic Deeds...Grotesque Memories" that was also released on Comatose Music. This time around BLOODSOAKED hired Shane McFee to be the producer, engineer and drum programmer for the album and the result was a massive assault of Death Metal! "Sadistic Deeds...Grotesque Memories" is a 10 song album that was released in April 2009 and has been crushing fans since its release.
In May of 2009 BLOODSOAKED had another successful 18 show (Slaughtering The South III) tour that ran through 10 states and left fans wanting more. In June of 2009 BLOODSOAKED played for the first time out-side the USA and went to Mexico for 2 insane shows. 2009 also saw the first professional video for the song "Rotting In Filth", the video has received great exposure and feedback. The video has been available on Comcast Cable On-Demand, Havoc TV, Fuse On-Demand and many other regional Metal video TV shows. In June 2009 BLOODSOAKED broke into the Top 40 CMJ Loud Rock charts at number 39 and peaked at number 36.
BLOODSOAKED will continue crushing the world with his style of Death Metal and winning fans over one at a time, Death Metal will live forever.
Formerly Legion of the Fallen from Chapel Hell. I was just thinking what ever happened to this band. NC has been getting a horrible reputation with all of the hipster retards falsely calling themselves metal when they're really indie rock and losers. Thankfully there's NIGHT OF WOLVES.
Following a whole night's worth of speculation around the net it has finally been confirmed through Anal Cunt's publicist Kim Kelly that Seth Edward Putnam has passed away. The singer, who was age 43, succumbed to a suspected heart attack with no other details being released to the press at this given time. Kim Kelly commented on the passing of Seth Putnam by saying;
"Yes, it's true. Seth Putnam, one of the most infamous musicians that extreme metal has ever seen, the grindcore GG Allin, has passed away due to a heart attack.
I was lucky enough to see ANAL CUNT perform back in the late 90s. Great show so just for the hell of it here's some vids of Seth and his band.
MORBID - Year of the Goat Dbl CD compilation Century Media Genre: Death Metal Rating: 4/5
Normally I won't review compilations and I review very few live releases but once in a while you have to make an exception. MORBID is one of those exceptions for obvious reasons. There has been a handful of early Swedish Death Metal bands that over the years have been regarded with cult status simply because they only released a demo and then split up or transformed into a new and better band. MORBID would have just been one of those footnotes in history except for the fact that their vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin aka: Dead would move to Norway to become the vocalist for MAYHEM and eventually commit suicide. It's kinda unfortunate that one's creative output is overlooked in lieu of one's demise but that's life and the circumstances involved. The fact of the matter is that MORBID only released one good demo, 1987's December Moon. Other then the four songs from that the only other recorded material with Dead on vocals are poor rehearsal tapes and recordings of live performances. Strangely enough that's pretty much all he had done with MAYHEM before his death. Even so interest in Dead's pre-MAYHEM work has always been strong. Over the years there's been some shoddy unofficial releases but finally here we have a band-sanctioned release of the band's material fitting of a legacy.
Year Of The Goat is an official release put together by Morbid’s bass player Jens Nasstrom in direct cooperation with the other former band members guitarist Uffe Cederlund, drummer L-G Petrov and second guitarist John Kennart. After MORBID dissolved Petrov and Cederlund would go onto form NIHILIST and then ENTOMBED. This double CD, also available as a triple LP package, contains seventeen tracks in all. The first disc consists of the December Moon demo plus some rehearsal tracks. The second disc consists of all live material from three different shows in Sweden from 1987. As far as the December Moon demo goes well I like it because I have a copy of it but most people into early Swedish Death Metal know it's good. Like most of those early demos it's raw as fuck but still conveys a lot of strength as well as aggression. The best tracks out of the four are "My Dark Subconscious" and "Wings Of Funeral". It's on here where you get the feel for Ohlin's unique vocal style. He had a sinister dark rasp which is probably what captured MAYHEM's Euronymous when Ohlin sent him the tape. Personally I think this is his best recorded work considering what material there is from his time in MAYHEM, which is basically the live stuff and some poorly recorded rehearsal tapes. Musically the material is definitely from the darker side of the DM realm. Obviously one must wonder what if the band continued on to put something better recorded out. Then again that would take away from the legacy as well as history.
As far as the rehearsal material there's five cuts total and some repeats from the demo which are just rougher versions. There are some highlights like "Tragic Dream / From The Dark" which doesn't sound far off from what early MAYHEM was doing. Also there's "Deathexecution" which is as close to insane death thrash as they come from back then. Finally there's the live material which I will say is not worthy of tossing your copy of MAYHEM's Live in Leipzig in the trash. It's not bad if you figure they're a local band playing in front of locals all screaming "MORBID!". The live at the Birkagarden in Stockholm from October 23, 1987 is a decent performance. Of course when you listen to it you wish you could've been there. Dead was doing his in between song banter long before Live in Leipzig. This is a complete show set as well. The rest of the live tracks are just a handful of tracks from two different shows recorded at the Ultrahuset in Stockholm. All in all this is a great package for those out there who appreciate this era of Death Metal. The cover artwork design and entire layout was done by none other than Erik Danielsson of WATAIN. Most people don't know he's a damm good art designer. Also the package contains a complete MORBID historical overview written by Daniel Ekeroth, author of the must have Swedish Death Metal book as well as compiler of the Swedish Death Metal three CD set.
DARK CASTLE - Surrender to All Life Beyond Form CD Profound Lore Genre: Sludge/Noise Rating: 0/5
Since their 2009 debut Spirited Migration on At a Loss Records ended up on every one's end of year best of lists, mine as well. It was a foregone conclusion that this two piece sludge and everything else act would be picked up by a label which cators to the more advant garde tastes in the underground. Unfortunately for Profound Lore they got a real shitty release for their signing. I guess asking what the fuck happened to this band would be redundant. This sounds like the duo went into some large concert hall and recorded a bunch of pure gloomy experimental crap just for the hell of it. Seriously this sucks! Guitarist/Vocalist Stevie Floyd sounds like she's high on something and literally gave up singing as well as guitar playing. What riffs she does succeed at are worthless and the rest of the time she's noodling like some indie rock loser from Chapel Hill, NC. Her voice is worse than a gutter punk sally crying for a rock. Overall she sounds uninspired but very psychotic in doing what little there is. These are the emanations of a drug addled retard girl with a drummer (Rob Shaffer and what's his excuse) backing her up. Surrender to All Life Beyond Form is not music unless the title suggests this is a metaphoric joke on the listener. In that case this is perfect for hipsters and a complete waste of my valuable time.
AUTOPSY - Macabre Eternal CD Peaceville Records Genre: Death Metal Rating: 4/5
Last year I raved about their comeback CDEP The Tomb Within (yeah that was me) and was looking forward to this full on reunion full length. Well technically it's only three fourths of a reunion since it's the three original members: Chris Reifert, Eric Cutler and Danny Corrales with Joe Allan aka: Joe Trevisano (of ABSCESS and VON fame) on bass. Now sure it's been a long time since AUTOPSY put out a full length (1995) but it's not like the guys were toiling away at regular day jobs all the time. If you're reading this then I don't need to go into that history. But all the same it took me quite a few listens to get into this new one and afterwards I'm calling it a decent effort. That's if you consider Shitfun their worst, Severed Survival their best and those few in between ones decent. Macabre Eternal is not a repeat or a rehash of their past efforts but instead it's almost like a best of past moments if that makes any sense. You listen to this and hear their distinct brutality, the off kilter style they've always possessed and the ventures into death doom. Yeah it's all here but cleaner sounding as if someone took a clean rag to wipe away the classic filth.
I wouldn't say this release is perfect. It just has some decent highlights that will not disappoint any fans of old. For example "Hand Of Darkness" kicks things off and from the get go it's explosive especially hearing Reifert singing like a possessed madman. The song features a great solo that jumps out of nowhere and slices through everything. The next cut "Dirty Gore Whore" is more of an eclectic death metal departure with blazing speed matched with a completely off kilter structure like in a ABSCESS type of way. Hey at least it's not industrial right and the vocals are pretty sick. "Always About to Die" is death doom which crawls out at you like some murderous fog till mid point then it cranks out a dirty SABBATH groove until finally breaking loose with some speed and insane soloing, by Cutler and Coralles, as if a caged monster has broken loose. The cut ends as it started but I considered it one of my favorite tracks on here.
After a few lackluster cuts there's "Seeds Of The Doomed" another death doom track that bleeds SABBATH and believe or not some actual melody. It's the surprise cut on Macabre Eternal since it's something they've never attempted before, the melody that is. "Born Undead" is another explosive cut reminiscent of days gone by for this band. It has this simple yet aggressive riff that carries you through to the speed break and intense soloing commences near the end. Reifert sounds like blood is erupting from his mouth as he sings. I love that vocal sound. He continues it on "Bludgeoned And Brained" another cut which starts at a fast pace but quickly slows down to a snail's crawl starting with just Joe Allan's bass playing and then pure doomish torture. And speaking of torture there's the epic and long "Sadistic Gratification" which throws everything this band is capable at you plus some eerie doom/goth moments early on culminating near the end with some woman screaming as if being tortured. Yeah that one will never make it on the radio. Actually I believe that one should have been left off of Macabre Eternal and released as a special edition single. It certainly would have shortened up this dink's length which by and large is too long but still a welcome return.
