Laceration/Tortured Innaguration/UKEM Records/2011 CD Review

  Laceration  are  a  one  man  band  from  Scotland  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death/gore  metal  with  a  grindcore  edge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Innnaguration"  which  was  released  by  UKEM  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  death/gore  metal  riffs  that  have  a  groove  edge  to them  as  well  as  influences  from  grindcore  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  deep  death  metal  growls,  guttural  vocals  and  high  pitched  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  gross  and  disgusting  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  raw  ,  heavy  and  primitive  sound  to  it  in  add  ition  the  last  3  songs  are  recorded  live.

  In  my  opinion  Laceration  are  a  very  good  sounding  death/gore  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Traumatic  Insemenation"  "Force  Fed  Fecal  Matter"  and  "Condemned  To  Torture".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

The Obscene/The Torment of Sinners/Pest Records/2011 EP Review

  The  Obscene  are  a  band  from  The  United  Kingdom  that  plays  death  metal  mixed  with  grindcore  that  also  utilizes  alot  of  melody  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  ep  "The  Torment  Of  Sinners"  which  was  released  by  Pest  Records.

  Drums  range from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  as  for  the  synths  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  they  bring  a  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  are  also  heavily  influenced  by  grindcore  as  well  as  thrash  and  mixes  in  some  melody  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  in  addition  a  melodic  black  metal  feeling  is  utilized  on  one  song   while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  which  are  only  utilized  briefly  they  use  finger  picking  to  bring  a  very  dark  atmosphere  to  the  music.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  deep  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  with  a  good  amount  of  samples  from  horror  films,  while  the  lyrics  cover  hate,  misery,  violence  and  blasphemy,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  The  Obscene  are  a  very  great  and  original  sounding  death/grind  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Embrace  Oblivion"  "Beyond  The  Hold  Of  God"  "Destroy  The  Heavens"  and  "And  The  Rivers  Run  Black".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Tribune Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

We are a band of brothers. We've been together for the past 7 years, and we are looking forward to the next 7.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

We sound like 50 foot tall giants fighting pterodactyls with chainsaws! 

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Demons having sex with corpses, various literary sources, the Heavy Metal subculture, and more.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

The 'Tribune' was a Roman political position that was considered to be the representative, or defender of the plebeian (common) people.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Every show we play is unique, and that has made it really hard to pick out our favorites within the last 7 years. Our live show is one of our main strengths. We don't use frills or gimmicks, we just lay down our tunes, and have a good time doing it.

6. Do you have any future touring plans?

We have a 2 month North American tour staring in mid April to promote our newest album 'Elder Lore/The Dark Arts,' that will take us throughout the States, and Canada.

7. On a worldwide level how has your music been recieved by fans of extreme and underground metal?

We have just begun our campaign for world domination, and this album will be our first step towards possessing the minds of the masses.

8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?

This is definitely a full-time lineup.

9. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

We see the musical future in Tribune as progressively playing on our strengths, and becoming both heavier and more melodic.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Our influences are: Pantera, Metallica, Opeth, Slayer, and right now we're listening to: Mastodon, the Black Dahlia Murder, Gojira, Suffocation, Darkest Hour, and more

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Playing D&D, reading, martial arts, painting, sketching, and cannibalism.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

If you're interested in finding out more about Tribune you can find us at tribunemetal.com, on facebook, and follow the band on twitter @tribunemetal

Cannibal Corpse/Torture/Metal Blade Records/2012 CD Review

  Cannibal  Corpse  are  a  band  from  Florida  that  has  been  around  for  more  than  20  years  and  are  one  of  the  best  well  known  death  metal  bands  in existence  that  has  also  helped  create  the  gore  metal  genre  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Torture"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  death  metal  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

   Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  gore/death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  brutal  sounding  with  a  slight  thrash  influence  and  dark  sounding  melodies  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  a  great  amount  of  skill.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  thrown  in  at  times,  while  the  lyrics  cover  gory  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on   this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  album  from  Cannibal  Corpse  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sarcophagic  Frenzy"  "As  Deep  As  The  Knife  Will  Go"  "Followed  Home  Then  Killed"  and  "Torn  Through".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Tribune/Elder Lore-The Dark Arts/Corpse Corrosion Music/2012 CD Review

  Tribune  are  a  band  from  British  Columbia  that  mixes  melodic  death  metal  with  thrash,  groove  and  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Elder  Lore_The  Dark  Arts"  which  was  released  by  Corpse  Corrosion  Music.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  in  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  influences  from  death,  groove,  thrash,  power,  70's  and  traditional  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  70's  sounding  heavy  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  mixed  in  with  a  variety  of  influences  that  cover  more  than  30  years  of  metal.

  Vocals  range  from  melodic  death  metal  screams,  deep  death  metal  growls,  groove  metal  yells  and  clean  singing  power  metal  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a very  strong,  powerful  and  heavy  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Tribune  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death/thrash  metal  band  that  combines  both  classic  and  modern  metal  to  create  a  new  sound  and  if  you  are  looking  for  a  band  that  combines  a  variety  of  metal  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "It  Came  From  The  Swamps"  "The  Succubus"  and  "We  The  Black".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Re-Armed Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

- we are rehearsaling for the upcoming shows/tours and making new songs for the next album. We
just changed new guitar player to replace Markus Salo, and the new guy EP Mäkinen has helped us
before as a session member, so he was already like part of this machine, heheh.. This will be new
era for the band, and we want to make everything better than before. I don't mean that we are not
satisfied of this album, but we just want to take new direction.


2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it
differs from previous releases?

- When we started the music sounded more like, "melodic metal with hard rock riffs and screaming vocals".
So, the journey has been long and lots of things have changed, hehe. The latest demos sounded naturally
more like this new album.. At the moment music is combination of death/thrash stylish metal with melodic
lines and technical riffs.. I would like to say it is simply Extreme Metal.


3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the music?

- Society and the things that are against our freedom to make own decisions Corruption, manipulation,
greediness, total control to name a few. Just check out what happens around the globe. The way how the
big companys handle their employees and other countries to get more profits without caring any of rules.
Whole educational and economical system needs to change big time. Do they really give a fuck who you are
and where you come from? - Noup. I don't mean that society needs to pamper people, but is the life worth
to race to tomb? These are the things that pisses me off a lot and makes me scream out, hahah.. Also
people that don't find out anything sensible in their lifes makes me damn angry. Wake the fuck up, you only
live once!


4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

- One point is like utterance, "Never give up!"


5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?

- Warm up show for Finnish metal band called, Diablo. We played in front of about 800 people and the circle
pit was on almost all the time. Absolutely one of the best moments in band's history.. Also record release
party was awesome show, and all the tours we have done in Baltics have been damn cool time on the stages!


6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

- We will tour with Chimaira in Europe, march/april 2012. So, people around Belgium, Netherlands and
Germany come and check us out! This will be absolutely one of the high lights for us!


7. On a worldwide level how has your newer music been recieved by
extreme metal fans?

- People seems to like it a lot. Good comments and factual reviews. People have bought stuff thru our
website's online shop also. By the way, we do have in our online shop t-shirts that you can not get anywhere
else than from us, so check the sites out! I can promise the design for t-shirt is something else than
white logo on black shirt..


8. Are there any other projects besides this band or is this a full time
line-up?

- This is full time line-up and for the most of us this band is life style. But for example, our basist
Kärtsy Hatakka is primus motor of legendary Finnish band, Waltari. so, he will do music mainly for it..
Me and new guitar player EP Mäkinen have also project together and it is called, Whorion. We have already
recorded some songs for the demo cd and the goal is to get band on the road someday.


9. What direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?

- It seems like "free" downloading is coming to bulldoze physical markets, but what can we do? I think
we don't have any change to stop it. People just don't care. Its a shame, cause I personally like to buy
album and check the booklets thru while I'm listening it. Also every album cover art is as piece of that
art. And for the musicians it is a big loss in money also, if you do this for the money, heheh.. Mp3 and
downloading will conquer cd markets in the future I think, cause everyone likes to listen their fave
songs with their smartphones.


10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced the new
material and also what are you listening to nowadays?

- Hmmmm, hard to say. I don't think that there is some special acts that have influenced us lately.
I think it is more life itself that affects to our music. Just take a look around and what you can see,
total chaos all around and it is not gonna change to better.. I listen at the moment lots of Pink Floyd,
AC/DC and The Black Dahlia Murder, heh..


11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

- For me, there is just this band, hehehhe. I can not live even a one day without thinking this band
some how. So, this is life style as I said before.


12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

- Hey all ya, check us out and support the bands that you like by buying their cds, merchs and tickets for
the shows! Hopefully we will see you soon on the road! Thanks a lot for interviewing us and Thanks to you
who readed this!

Sincerely!
Jouni//RE-ARMED