Hideous Divinity/Cobra Verde/Unique Leader/2014 CD Review

  Hideous  Divinity  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  technical  and  brutal  form  of  death metal  with  some  elements  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Cobra  Verde"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Unique  Leader.

  Dark  sounding  effects  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  death  metal  direction  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  and  add  in  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  along  with  the  music  being  very  technical  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  bringing  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  When  solos  and  leads  are utilized  they  bring  some  very  chaotic  sounding  elements  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  on  the  alter  tracks  the  bass  guitars  start  having  more  of  a  powerful  effect  and  the  band  also  adds  high  pitched  screams  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  of  the  more  modern  style  metal  breakdowns.

  As  the  album  progresses  small  amounts  of  clean  playing  can  be  heard  at  times  while  the  main  focus  remains  on  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  style  of  death  metal  while  towards  the  end  of  the  album  they  have  a  member  of  Nile  on  one  of  the  tracks,  add  depressive  black  metal  screams  on  the  other  and  close  with  a  cover  of  Ripping  Corpse's  "The  Last  And  Only  Son".

  Hideous  Divinity  creates  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  modern ,  brutal  and  technical  sounding  while  also  having  a  very  dark  sounding  atmosphere  to  them,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  on  John  Carpenter's  movie  "They  Live".  

  In  my  opinion  Hideous  Divinity  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  and  brutal  death metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  My  Land  I  Was  A  Snake"  "Salt  In  The  Martyr's  Tear"  "The  Alonest  Of  the  Alone"  and  "The  Last  And  Only  Son".  8  out  of  10.        



   

Afterbirth/2014 Demo Review

  This  is  a  review  of  another  recording  from  Afterbirth  which  shows  them  continuing  the  slam  death  metal  style  of  previous  recordings  and  the  demo  was  self  released  in  2014.

  A  very  dark  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  guttural  growls  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  get  more  technical  along  with  all  of  the  musical instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  in  the  slower  parts  you  can  really  hear  the  slam  side  of  the  band  kicking  in  and  the band  also  have  a  very  melodic  side  to  them  at  times  while  brutality  always  remains  the  main  focus  of  the  bands  musical  style.

  Most  of  the  music  sticks  to  mostly  a  slow  to  mid  paced  direction  while  the  band  also  has  its  fast  moments  and  you  can  hear  the  band  members  have  grown  a  lot  as  musicians  over  the  years  and  also  bring  in  the  more  modern  brutal style  instead  of  rehashing  the  same  stuff  from  the  past  as  well  as  keeping  everything  very  heavy  and  brutal  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  recording.

  Afterbirth  show  a  great  amount  of  progress  on  this  demo  showing  that  while  they  are  veterans  they  can  keep  up  with  the  younger  bands  when  it  comes  to  brutality  and  they  also  add  more  of  a  technical,  progressive  and  melodic  approach  to  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Afterbirth  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  check  out  this  demo.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Vomit  On  Humanity"  and  "Maggots  In  Her  Smile".  8  out  of  10.

Afterbirth/Foeticidal Embryo Harvestation/Pathos Productions/2013 Compilation Album Review

  Afterbirth  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  plays  a   brutal   form  of  slam  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  compilation  "Foeticidal  Embryo  Harvestation"  which  was  released  by  Pathos  Productions  in  the  year  of  2013  and  contains  their  1990  demo  songs  and  a  few  live  tracks.

  Horror  movie  soundtrack  samples  start  off  the  compilation  bringing  in  a  very  evil  atmosphere  and  after  a  minute  the  music  goes  into  a  very  raw  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  guttural  growling  vocals  and  you  can  hear  some  of  the  earliest  traces  of  the  slam  style  which  was  rare  for  its  time.

  You  can  easily  hear  the  band  was  heavily  influenced  by  the  death  metal  of  the  early  90's  with  the  way  they  approach  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  blast  beats  and  they  also  add  high  pitched  screams  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  after  the  first  3  tracks  which  was  a  rehearsal  demo  the  compilation  goes  into  the  live  tracks  which  also  show  the  band  getting  more  fast  and  brutal  while  also  still  having  some  slow,  dark  and  evil  parts.

  In  some  of  the  vocals  you  can  see  what  later  would  become  a  staple  of  deathcore  with  the  vocals  being  a  bit  ahead  of  their  time  and  onstage  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at  times  they  also  mix  the  rawness  of  old  school  thrash  with  what  was considered  brutal  death  metal  20  years  ago  and  after  the  last  track  they  bring  in  their  1994  demo  which  has  a  more  powerful  sound  along  with  a  better  production  which  demonstrates  the  early  days  of  slam  and  guttural  death  metal.

  Afterbirth  sounded  ahead  off  their time  with  their  music  playing  a  very  brutal  style  of  death  metal  that  also  had  a  very  dark  and  raw  feeling  and  they  also  brought  in  a  vocal  style that  kind  of  changed  death  metal  and  grind  for  the  worse  in  my  opinion  while  the  they  still  had  a  good  amount  of  the  old  school  approach  and  the  instrument  parts  make  up  for  the  more  annoying  parts,  the  production  had  a  very  dark,  raw  and  demo  quality  sound  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  death  and  fetuses.

  In  my  opinion  Afterbirth  are  a  very  decent  sounding  slam  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Aborted  Christ"  "Rebirth"  and  "Fleshwound".  7/5  out  of  10.

 

    

See Through Secrecy/The Voice Inside/2014 EP Review

  See  Through  Secrecy  are  a  band  from  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "The  Voice  Inside".

  A  very  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  clean  singing  female  vocals  and  melodic  guitar  leads  before  adding  in  growling  vocals  which  takes the  music  more  into  a  heavier  direction  that  also  shows  that  mixing  metalcore  with  melodic  death  metal  while  also  keeping  around  the  clean  singing  vocals.

  Clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  getting  more  fast  at  times  with  a  touch  of  thrash  influences  and  adding  blast  beats  into  the  mix  while  the  music  also  focuses  a  great  deal  on  the  metal/deathcore  breakdowns while  the  main  focus  is  more  on  a  mid  paced  melodic  death  metal  sound.

  See  Through  Secrecy  takes  a  very  melodic  style  of  death metal  and  adds  in  a  heavy  metalcore  influence  as  well  as  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  singing  to  create  their  musical  style  and  while  this  is  not  something  I  listen  to  regularly  I  still  feel  this  band  is  very  good  at  what  they  do,  the production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  a  dark  and realistic  subject  matter.  

  In  my  opinion  See  Through  Secrecy  are  a  very  decent   sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "In  Your  Memory"  and  "Empty  Handed".  7/5  out  of  10.  

Internal Bleeding Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording of the new album?
Immediately after we recorded, we took it easy for about a month or so, then we went into full swing to start promoting the album and playing shows again. As I sit here and type this, I am on an airplane heading towards Houston, TX to headline the Building Temples from Death Festival. Next week we head out on the road with Suffocation, Kataklysm, Pyrexia and Jungle Rot. Should be a killer tour. I’m thankful that we have all these great opportunities and that the band stays pretty busy.


2.You have a new album coming out during the end of September, how would you describe the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
I think the key word to describe this new album is DIMENSIONAL. When you listen to the album, you’ll say to yourself “yeah, that sounds like Internal Bleeding”, but you’ll also notice a lot of songs have sections in them that the band has never tried before — I think that’s the key difference. When we wrote Imperium, we made a very conscious effort to introduce one new element or idea that we never tried before to every song. We thought by doing this we would both enhance our music and push the slam genre forward.


3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?
Most of the lyrics on the album focus on the effect society has on the human spirit and psyche — you could say that Imperium is very sociological. We explore a lot of different things lyrically but when you view the album overall it’s definitely a commentary on society, the human race, and what we’ve become.

4.The band was broken up for 7 years, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
Well, the split kind of just happened. It was weird. I left the band right before the recording of Onward to Mecca, and after that album was released, the band toured twice and then fell apart. I cannot pinpoint the exact reasons why it did, but I think that there just was no clear vision or direction to the band and it kind of just ran out of steam and died. When I saw this happening it was like watching one of my children suffer through a long and painful death — it was very hard on me emotionally. After the dust had settled for a little bit and people had time to chill out and regroup, I started making calls to some of the original members to see if we could get things up and running again. A few years later, here we are, up and running with a new album. It’s been an incredible journey.


5.You have been considered one of the pioneers of the slam death metal style, what are your thoughts on the newer bands that have taken up this musical direction?
I think it’s pretty cool to look out over the whole scene and see so many bands that we directly influenced — it’s all very exciting and humbling. There are some absolutely killer slam bands out there, such as Soils of Fate, Devour the Unborn, Devourment, etc. However, I fear that the genre is becoming a bit stale because everyone seems to be writing the same songs, playing it too safe and not trying to push any boundaries a little bit. Things are just starting to sound the same and not evolving to a more exciting place. I think things need to be shaken up. I hope Imperium does this by showing bands that slam can go into all kinds of cool directions without every losing its heaviness.


6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
I still think the best show we ever played was in Amqui, Quebec (Canada). It was in a hockey arena, and the crowd went so frigging wild that we ended up playing the same exact set twice because the crowd wouldn’t let us off the stage. Incredible show. Other great shows I can remember were the Milwaukee Metal Fests in the mid 1990s, the Mountains of Death Festival in 2011 and the Neurotic Deathfest in 2012. As for our stage performance, it’s very high energy and very intimate. I like to think we get a pretty solid connection with the crowd when we play.


7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
Yep! We’re heading out on the Carnival of Death tour with Suffocation, Kataklysm, Pyrexia and Jungle Rot in about two weeks. That’s a full US tour, so it should be a wild friggin time. Then, back home to rest up until springtime and then off on the road to Europe in April.


8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your comeback by fans of brutal death metal?
I’m happy to say people are really excited about it. It’s funny — and I know this really makes me seem old — but a lot of people wrote to us saying they were excited that we were back because they were too young to see us when we were first touring back in the 90s.


9.What is going on with some of the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part off?
We’re all married to Internal Bleeding, so there are no real side projects.


10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
I honestly couldn’t tell you. Sometimes when you are writing music, it takes a life of its own and goes in directions you never contemplated. I would like to say that we’ll keep heading in the direction we started on when we wrote Imperium, but I cannot give you a specific place where we’ll end up. I do know that we’ll keep pushing the boundaries of what slam can be. I think we have an obligation to do that.


11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We looked back at a lot of 70s hard blues and rock: bands such as Black Sabbath, Mountain, Blue Cheer, etc. all had a lot of great groove to them with some really great riffing. There is definitely a very strong blues element to Imperium, even though it’s in a highly twisted and bastardized form.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?
I’m a pretty hard core Muscle Car freak. I own and race a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda. Other than that, I love reading history books and watching history based television shows.


13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. I hope everyone who reads this checks out Imperium. Give us a like on 

Nader Sadek/The Malefic Chapter III/2014 EP Review

  Nader  Sadek  is  a  visual  artist  from  New  York  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal   with  some  elements  of  black  metal  and  a  touch  of  doom  along  with  members  of  Cattle  Decaptation,  Aura  Noir  and  Cryptopsy,  and    and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  ep  "The  Malefic  Chapter  III".

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growls  and  the  music  goes  back  to  the  mid  90's  style  of  the  Florida  style  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  bringing  in  some  chaotic  guitar  solo  and  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  On  the  second  track  the  music  starts  adding  in  atmospheric  black  metal  in  with  the  death  metal  side  of  the  band  and  they  add  in  a  small  amount  of  that  vocal  style  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  a  small  use  of  clean  guitars,  when  the  ep  goes  into  the  3rd  track  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  an  80's  death  metal  sound  in  the  tradition  of  early  Death  and  Massacre  and  the  last  song  is  a  7  minute  long  track  which  also  sees  some  doom  metal  influences  being  mixed into  the  bands  style  of  death  metal  as  well  as  introducing  a  small  amount  of  melodic  clean  singing.

  Nader  Sadek  creates  a  style  of  music  that  is  mostly  in  the  true  death  metal  tradition  bringing  in  the  80's  and  90's  style  while  also  having  elements  of  black  metal  and  experimental  a  little  bit  of  doom  to  create  a  very  heavy,  brutal,  and  diverse  recording,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dystopian  themes  that  take  place  in  the  future.

  In  my  opinion  Nader  Sadek  are  a  very  great  sounding  diverse  and  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Carrion  Whispers"  and  "Descent".  8  out  of  10.  

          

Monument Of Misanthropy/Anger Mismanagement/2014 CD Review

  Monument  Of  Misanthropy  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Anger  Mismanagement".

  Music  box  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  sounds  that  would  be  on  a  horror  movie  soundtrack  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  before  adding  in  faster  parts  and  blast  beats  that  are  heavily  influenced  by  grindcore.

  The  bands  brutal  style  of  death  metal  really  start  to  kick  in  gear  after  the  intro  bringing  in  the  heaviest  style  of  death/grind  as  well  as  having  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  keep  a  very  brutal  sounding  assault  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  recording  while  there  are  more  melodies  and  technical  parts  being  added  into  the  music  at  times.

  On  some  of  the  later  tracks  guitar  solos  and  leads  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  they  bring  more  of  a  90's  death  metal  feeling  to  the  recording  and  they  also  bring  back  some  movie  samples  and  sound  effects  that  where  present  on  the  intro  and  they  bring  more  of  an  evil  and  demented  feeling  to  the  album  when  they  are  utilized  and  they  close  the  album  with  a  cover  of  Kreator's  "Flag  of  Hate".

  Monument  Of  Misanthropy    creates  on  of  the  most  brutal  sounding  death  metal  albums  I  have  heard  in  a  long  time  and  they  also  bring  in  a  good  amount  of  grindcore  into  their  musical  style,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  misanthropy,  hatred,  animal  cruelty  and  evil  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Monument  Of  Misanthropy  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band   with  a  touch  of  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Entering  A  New  State"  "Vegan  Homicide"  "Carnal  Offering"  and  "Flag  Of  hate".  8/5  out  of  10.

             

7 H. Target Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

It’s a very interesting thing – I mean the recording sessions and the release of the new album. The story is that it took 2 years to release 0.00 Apocalypse. It was recorded together with our previous album Psy Slam Damage in October 2012. It was a crazy week in Cosmosstudio in Moscow, very cool days. We are always creating music without vocals because we do not have a permanent vocalist in the band and that time it took about a year to find the right guy and to record the right vocals and when to find the right sound-guy to make the album crush. It may seem crazy but that’s it – you are now listening  to a 2012 album and call it new.

Since the new disk was released we were creating the new songs in may-july 2014 with some kind a different direction but we made a pause now due some personal reasons, maybe we will come back to reheasaling soon.

2.In May, you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released?

I can say that it’s our most ‘commercial’ sound, the most professionally made if you need to open up what I mean when I say ‘commercial’ Neil Kernon did a great job and in some way it changed my feeling of this songs, because (as you know) the sound means a lot in how do you perceive the music.

0.00 Apocalypse’s sound is more strings-oriented. This time our sound do not have such a crushing drums sound as it was on Fast-Slow Demolition or Psy Slam Damage. This time guitars and bass are it the front row. 0.00 also has a most detailed vocal line with some lyrics are readable in it. Another cool thing that I think is interesting to know that only Mirus knows the real lyrics. Lyrics that are listed in booklet again are the kind of association line to the whole instrumental + vocals music picture. In every 7 H.Target release the lyrics is unknown – it can be no lyrics at all, but Mikhail writes this words to make some textual visualization.

This time there’s not so many movie samples in the songs and the songs are not so structurally crazy as it was on Psy Slam for example. And I find funny that some critics are saying that the band improved their songwriting – this improved stuff was created together with ‘unimproved’ Psy Slam stuff, haha.

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

Most of the lyrical themes is exploitation of of crazy and wicked Asian cyber horror and all this sci-fi themes of anti-utopia future. I can’t say that there is any message in lyrics but there’s a guide to the atmosphere of the whole sound. Our modern world can be a source of inspiration for music like ours too, not only visions from movies – high technology and low life, smart gadgets and silly people, connected to the whole world and disconnected to themselves – it’s all about it too.

4. The band started out as 'Suregeont'  what was the decision behind the name change and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name '7 H. Target'?

Surgeont was a funny brutal death\grindcore band when it was formed in 2005. I became a bassist in the band since 2009 when it was a kind of local slamming brutal death, but it was not as interesting as 7H became – both musically and lyrically. 7 H.Target was started by our drummer Mikhail when he invited me and Alexey to play a couple songs for his ‘side project’ – just to play some slam stuff that he wanted to listen himself. After a couple weeks it became a main project with this wicked name, and the new level of creativity that was never before in the band. We changed everything except our basic 3-piece lineup. It was some talk some years after to record a Surgeont album with those old songs but it was just talks.

Every listener can put his own meaning to the 7 H.Target, because it was created without any meaning. I believe that the listener is the creator of music too, as the reader is an author too in some way. As the highest form of knowledge is as abstract as the music, this name is some kind of formless form to put your own vision into it.

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

For me the best show is the show with some kind of connection with the people. This connection can appear in large hall or the small room, and it can not appear even if the hundreds of people are standing right in front of you. I can call great a show for 10 people in the empty club and call the crowded gig worst because the felling of the atmosphere is the main thing – good or bad sound, one or 1000 people it can be lots of ways but the good show – is show that putted me to the another state, to another level of perception. I think that it’s a mystery of sound and energy, it’s a thing that you can only feel. It was some shows like that and it was a pleasure to play there. Russian tour with Cephalotripsy and Abaddon Incarnate had the shows like that, Sick Fest 9 in Arkhangelsk, couple gigs in Ekaterinburg and sure the debut 7 H.Target show in Nizhny Novgorod in summer 2010.

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

I can’t say anything about the touring plans because now we are not live-show oriented and more drowned into creating.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

You know, the feedback is very abstract thing too. In the world of fast connection you can’t say for sure how much is the word is spreaded. What can be a catalyst of good feedback? Number of likes, sold albums, comments? As we are the underground band we do not have lots of feedback but everything we have is positive – I never heard any serious reasonable negative feedback to our music, and it’s nice to see that some people for all over the world saying that 7 H.Target is the new word in BDM and stuff like that. As the part of the promotion is made by other people like guys from the labels who have their own interest behind promotion of the band it’s hard to say how really you are known and how big is feedback.

8.Every since the band has been around you have released new material every year, do you feel the band puts in a lot of time and effort when it comes to creating music?

From very beginning 7 H. Target is a band that is oriented on creating music. Our first LP was created in 4-5 months right in rehearsal room. We are not the guys who will release a 10 songs album per 5 years and playing it on every rehearsal and take a months and months to create something new. Surgeont was band like that with only split release and couple demos. We are catching the vibe of creativity between us and letting this energy flow that makes 7H so creative band. It’s better not to play at all that play something that is not came to you from the other world, something that you can call a real creativity. I believe that the man is not a creator as someone who can make something from nothing but the one who connects to the sources that are somewhere in outer and in inner space at the same time. Lots of words are said, lots of songs are played and there is nothing new under the sun and putting the content into twisted form is what 7 H.Target is doing.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I really can’t say the thing like that related to musical, because as I said, it’s something that comes to you, not something you are coming to. All that I can say is that at the time I am into more blackened way of playing.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

There is a old good formula of playing music that lots of bands must grow up to – do not try to play like your favorite band. It means that you will play about the same but I don’t need to listed to a band that plays like Cannibal Corpse for example, I’ll better listen to the Cannibal Corpse themselves. That’s it. 7 H.Target have lots of influence from non death metal and non metal genres. Sonic influence can come from noise, chill out, hip hop or jazz artist and non-musical soundscapes can give influence. It needs to be just a little more sensitive and opened to the new sources. I can’t understand how to be a die-hard fan of metal and stuck into this frames, for me it’s at least boring.

My personal music preference nowadays is rhythmic noise artists with distorted beats like Synapscape, Converter, Haus Arafna or Propergol. Light side is a baroque era classic composers like a Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi and Rameau, or XX century composers like Stravinsky, Bartok, Ligeti.. Some ‘folktronica’ artists in between. There’s a lot of music that can make me high.



11.What are some of your non musical interests?

I’m interested in retro movies and reading mostly philosophy and religious themed stuff. Lots of thing that comprehend this world.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

There’s some interesting stuff said, so why not to listen to the new 7 H.Target album again? Have a good time with it, cheers!

Goreinhaled/Unleash The Bloody Storm/Downfall Records/2014 CD Review

  Goreinhaled  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Unleash  The  Bloody  Storm"  which  was  released  by  Downfall  Records.

  Heartbeat  noises  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  and  a  few  seconds  alter  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  are  added onto  the  recording  giving  the  band  a  grindcore  and  you  can  hear  a  good  beat  of  90's  east  coast  death  metal  elements  in  the  bands  musical  sound.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  music  they  give  the  album  a  more  chaotic  feeling  and  after  awhile  the  band  starts  using  a  good  amount  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  which  also  sees  the  vocals  getting  more  guttural  at  times  which  also  brings  in  a  bit  more  of  the  modern  slam  and  deathcore  styles   which  they  mix  in  with  a  lot  of  old  school  death  metal  elements.  

  After  awhile  the  band  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  horror  movie  samples  and  adds  some  melody  into  the  guitar  riffing  as  well  as  having  the  technical  death  metal  style  of  the  early  90's  being  mixed  in  with  a  more  modern  and  brutal  sound  and  every  second  of  this  recording  sticks  to  a  very  heavy  musical  direction.

  Goreinhlaed  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  brings  the  old  school,  brutal,  technical  and  slam  elements  together  along  with  a  touch  of  deathcore  to  create  some  very  heavy  and  brutal  music,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  gore  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Goreinhaled  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Psychotic  Mind"  "War  Bastards"  "The  Hormo  Of  Destruction"  and  "Suicidal  Ferocity".  8  out  of  10.            

Stormhold Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Hi! Until the output of the album was not much traffic. We are mainly engaged in the preparation for publication, development of the cover and the booklet, the search and negotiations with the label. The only thing that there were constant rehearsals, because was a change in the group drummer. Concert activity started only recently. We played a concert in his hometown of Gomel. It was not the presentation of the album. More live debut for a new drummer. Presentation of the album, we plan to do later.

2. Recently you have released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
There’s in album we would presented music like ‘melodic death metal’ in the best traditions of ganre. The base peculiarities of this album are speed and full absence of modern ‘core’-elements. You can find very interesting mix of some metal styles. Here’s nice melodies, speed, agresion and specific atmosphere in the album.

3. The band has been around since 2003 but so far has only released a demo, 2 ep's and 2 full lengths, can you tell us a little bit more about the gaps between releases?
Since beginning of the band was running a lot of things and events. Ones of them was positive, the other ones – negative. Was the moments when we got progress, and was the moments when it stopped for a while. Sometimes was the moments when we wanted to finish it all. To left the band. ‘the lost world’ started to record in 2008 and had running until 2013.  During this period we had some problems with line up.  Was changed some musicians. It was very difficult time for us really. Also everyone in a band has own jobs and usual life, which sometimes made some problems for working with album. Another one problem was studying of our guitarist, which got high musician education.  Thats all reasons why we’d making this album so long time.

4. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lost world. Every song – its a reflection of todays reality, unstability in the world, human’s behavior, his struggle with his demons and surrounding world, which is going crazy..
Let I’ll tell about every song seperately:
Wind of freedom – the man rejects from old life and trying to build the new one, fighting for its future all the time.
Another day – one day has finish – another one has beginning, and no one knows what will bring to us the new day.
The understanding of truth – the song about good choice of life path for no regret in the future about it
Eyes in the eyes – the man see the false pictures around him. Its so far from reality. He just see what he want to see. He don’t see all the filth around..
Our Blood's On The Cross of War – words „blood on cross” are mean all the religious wars during human civilization. Its always actually.
The History Pages – every historical event begins from empty piece of paper... but has written always by bloody ink..
Inside My Mind – Let I say some words from song’s lyric:
"Everyone can create his own fate.
 But, Where we least a think,
 There the bear goes away...
 Make your own world like a dream.
 Never standing still, do the best you feel"

5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Stormhold'?
So, here’s in the name nothing super special. Its just a cool name we like so much. I even don’t remember who offered this name for band. Was long time ago.

6. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
There were many good concerts, now all can not remember. One of the brightest impressions when is we support Rotting Christ and the Ukrainian tour Negative Infinity Tour.

7. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Of course we are planning some shows for support new album. Its mostly shows in Belarus.. also we are opened for offers about concerts everywhere its possible!

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of melodic death metal?
In 2013, we laid out the online EP "Eyes In The Eyes". The EP was only in digital format. His goal was to draw attention to the future album. EP was more of a familiarization. We are pleased with the point that the EP was Listened many times on different websites. We also received a lot of positive reviews on the EP from around the world. Many people liked it, and they were waiting for the album.

9. What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are involved with? (толком не понял) – ты верно понял вопрос и ответил ))
Our guitarist and drummer take a part in another one interesting project called VEIN OF HATE (extreme death metal). Here’s very interesting thing: Dmitry (guitarist) – founder of STORMHOLD, but Igor (drummer) – is founder of VEIN OF HATE. So, its kinda help to each other.

10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We would like to become the leader of the Belarusian Melodic Death Metal, record and release many more albums. We would like to take their niche in the global metal scene.

11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
We can not say that we have been influenced by a particular style or group. Every musician have his musical liking. And in our music we are trying all this to combine. Vyacheslav, Dmitry, Alexei (two guitarist and vocalist) grew on old heavy and thrash metal, subsequently absorbed the more extreme genres. Alexander (bass) always gravitated toward a brutal death metal. One of his favorite teams Cryptorsy. Eugene (keyboards) grew up in a musical family and at an early age listening to Queen. Later also switched to heavier music. On our drummer have an influence dozens of bands. From ‘Pink floyd’ to ‘Aborted’ and ‘Meshuggah’ and many more. What we listen to? Yes, a lot of things, from Heavy metal to Brutal-techno death.

12. What are some of your non musical interests?
I would say that music is our main interest. Some of the guys love sports, go to the gym, skate and karting. Drummer, for example, in addition to the sport enjoys photo processing and draws well.

13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Listen to good quality metal. Listen STORMHOLD, buy our CD, write reviews on the official pages of the group (VK, Facebook, Reverbnation, Soundcloud). All goodness and peace. Thank you.
Vk official - http://vk.com/stormholdband
Facebook official - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stormhold-Belarus/512148845498953
Reverbnation official - http://www.reverbnation.com/stormhold
Twitter - https://twitter.com/stormholdband
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/stormoldby

DistortHead Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We are a bunch of old friends that was playing music before and then reunite.

2.You have an album coming out in October, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented
on the recording?
It's a mix of the imagination of all the musicians in the band. We all like different styles of music and i think you can really feel it on the album!

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lyrics touch a variety of controversial subjects: religion, war, addiction, mental illness, and more.
challenging the beliefs of some, questioning what we've been told is the truth about the world.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name distorthead
It first represent our way to be in general. As bad as it sound.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe
your stage performance?
We're oldschool headbanger's who loves to make the crowd going craaaazy ! We've done a couples of show since 2012 but one
of the best was the first one we did , exactly 1 year before the album release show, this October 18th.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
we are working hard to be on a Canadian tour with some friends of ours. Plenty of shows for 2015.

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We have'nt received any offers yet, but we'd love to go on the next level!

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
We don't play extreme metal music and for some people we can be pretty soft, for metalheads. We assume our core/melodic side.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are going to show more aggressivity on the next album and lots of progressive stuffs. We can't wait to
to hit the studio again with SilverWings Studios!

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also
what are you listening to nowadays?
Both guitarists listen to more brutal bands like The black dahlia murder and In the midst of lion.
For the drummer and the bassist they use to be on an complete other side like primus , pantera , Gojira
and even more. For Phil the signer , he's more into music like flatliner's, killswitch and Aqua songs.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Smash things on non violent people is one of our biggest interrest. We usually don't drink beer.
There is lots more stuffs we crazy french men use to do.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
FUCK HER RIGHT IN THE PUSSY !!

Party Cannon/Partied In Half/Gore House Productions/2014 EP Review

  Party  Cannon  are  a  band  from  Scotland  that  plays  a  brutal  and  slamming  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014    ep  "Partied  In  Half"  which  was  released  by  Grind  House  Productions.

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy,  brutal  and  slam  style  of  death  metal  along  with  some  guttural  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  before  speeding  up  a  bit  and  adding  in  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  grind  and  deathcore  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  At  time s the  music  can  be  very  technical  and  the  band  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  keep  everything  in  a  very  brutal  while  you  can  also  hear  some  melody  in  the  songs  at  times  and  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  after  awhile  a  small  amount  of  solos  and  leads  are  brought  in  for  a  few  seconds  and  the  ep  closes  with  some  acoustic  guitars.

  Party  Cannon  plays  a  very  brutal  style  of  slam  metal  that  also  has  elements  of  grind  and  deathcore  and  while  the  music  is  not  very  original  the  band  makes  up  for  it  in  brutality,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  partying,  women,  war  operation  and  decay  of  earth.

  In  my  opinion  Party  Cannon  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal,  slam  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "High  Five  ghost"  and  "Battle  Of  The  Spider-Man!".  8  out  of  10.        

Swine Overlord Interview

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

We've been working on new material for a while now. Since before the album came out. It's been going well.

2,In August you had released a new album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

It's a raw and heavy album at it's core, but it's not as linear as most music in this genre, there are twists and turns to keep you guessing. We tried to break out of the comfort zone we had established on our previous material, and push what we were able to do and still be heavy. That's something we still are pushing in the new material.

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

The album was similar to our EP in that a lot of it's songs are just scary stories at heart. Ones about an alien invasion that topples the human civilization, another about interdimensional machine beings that come here and convert humans to cyborgs. There's some anti-religious themes and heavy scifi influence. We haven't started writing lyrics for the new material but it's going to be concept based.

4.The band was originally known as Malignant Abomination and then Hypoxic, what was the decision behind the name changes and also the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Swine Overlord'?

Malignant Abomination was chosen when the project was meant to be a joke, so then I chose to get serious and changed to hypoxic, but I didn't feel that if really felt like it fit. It was too generic. Swine Overlord doesn't actually have meaning beyond a pig mask that I wore on Halloween that year haha. That's the inspiration I guess.

5.All of the music is recorded via the internet, has the band ever thought of practicing or doing a show together if the timing was right?

Summer 2013 Devin came to New York and we practiced and played our only show to date at Sevared Records Brutality Reigns Fest in Rochester with Viral Load, Visceral Disgorge and a bunch of other awesome bands. We're hoping to tour soon.

6.The new album came out on Gore House Productions, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Gore House is a label based in California that specializes in top notch slam, brutal death and goregrind bands like Phalloplasty, Cuff, Stages of Decomposition, PxNxIxBxPx and way more. It's definitely growing to be one of the best underground labels around.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal death metal?

Very positive. It's kind of overwhelming how much positive feedback we've gotten. Some of our biggest fanbases are in other parts of the world. We've got fans everywhere. And it's insane.

8.What is going on with some of the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Well Devin, the vocalist on our EP and drum programmer on all the material's only other project is a solo project, Dyeus. It's straight slam. Anthony, our vocalist is the guitarist for Gutfucked, and has a rap project, Chokehold. Then I have more bands than I can list hah. The only notable ones are Breast Ripper, my brutal death band, which is hoping to start our full length soon, and my local band, Omnipresent. All my other projects are on hold while Swine is writing.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We evolving a lot, taking a much more progressive route. We're becoming a lot more advanced musically. And it's very interesting to see how well these unique progressive parts weave in with the crushing heaviness we're known for. We're taking this to the next level, making it art.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Of course tons of brutal death and death metal bands have had influence on me. Notably Devourment, Abominable Putridity, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Dying Fetus. I feel like all of their influences can be heard in us somewhere. Besides metal, I like gypsy jazz like django Reinhardt, and a fair amount of country. There's not a lot of music I don't like some artist in. I try to be well rounded as a musician. Lately I've been listening to a lot of Tool and Opeth. And very recently the new Septic Flesh and Fallujah albums.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

There's not a lot really. I game a little.  Play Magic the Gathering (it's very metal). But most of my life involves music. I'm in college working on a degree in music industry right now. This is really my passion, I hope to be able to be involved with music for the rest of my life.  

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Just to check out the album anyway you can, and to be on the lookout for what we're working on. It's going to be a game changer for us and possibly this style of music. Keep it brutal!

Coprocephalic/The Oath Of Relinquishment/Lacerated Enemy Records/2014 CD Review

   Coprocephalic  are  a  band  from  Taiwan  that  plays  a  very  atmospheric  and  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Oath  Of  Relinquishment"  which  was  released  by  Lacerated  Enemy  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  atmospheric  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  and  also  adds  in  spoken  word  smaples  which  they  also  continue  on  the  first  track  along  with  some  guttural  growling  vocals  which  leads  up  to  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  melodies    and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  technical,  slam  and  deathcore  in  their  musical  sound.

  On  most  of  the  tracks  they  band  mixes  the  brutal  parts  in  with  the  atmospheric  sounds  and   halfway  through  the  album  the  bands  starts  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  guitar  leads  while  the  man  focus  remains  more  on  heavy  and  brutal  rhythm's  and  on  some  of  the  songs  members  of  Disgorge,  Pathology  and   Guttural  Secrete  do  some  session  work.

  Coprocephalic  creates  a  very  original  style  adding  in  atmospheric  elements  to  a  brutal  and  guttural  form  of  death  metal  and  while  the  vocals  are  not  the  style  of  death  metal  i  listen  to  on  a  regular  basis  the  band  still  displays  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  with  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  science  fiction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Coprocephalic  are  a  very  decent  sounding  atmospheric  and  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Craving  Of  The  Exotic  Spores"  "Oracles  From  The  Netherrealm"  "Oxidize  the Mind"  and  "(Prot)Christ".  7/5  out  of  10.  

 

  

Arcturon/Expect Us/Supreme Chaos Records/2014 EP Review

  Arcturon   are a  band  from  Switzerland  that  plays  a  very  melodic form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  ep  "Expect  Us"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Supreme  Chaos  Records.

  A  very  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  electronic  music  elements  before  adding  in  some  clean  parts  and  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams  which  they  combine  with  a  heavy,  melodic  and  symphonic  sound  that  also  uses  clean  singing  at  times.

  The  bands  musical  style  is  a  more  modern  day  form  of  melodic  death  metal  and  they  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  into  the  solos  and  leads  and  after  awhile  blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  most  of  the  music  sticks  more  to  a  slow  or  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  they  also  add  in  a  few  seconds  of  acoustic  guitars  on  one  of  the  tracks.

  Arcturon  plays  a  style  of  modern  melodic  black  metal  that  also  has  elements  of  prog  at  times  and  while  this  is  not  something  I  listen  to  on  a  regular  basis  I  still  feel  the  band  is  very  great  at  what  they  are  trying  to  accomplish  with  their  musical  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arcturon  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "My  Treasure"  and  "Rowan".  8  out  of  10.

   

Rings Of Saturn/Lugal Ki En/Unique Leader Records/2014 CD Review

  Rings  Of  Saturn  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  a  brutal  and  technical  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Lugal  Ki  En"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Unique  Leader  Records.

  A  very  fast,  brutal  and  technical  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  which  bring  in  elements  of  deathcore  along  with  some  solos  and  leads  that  utilize  a  great  amount  of  skill  and  melody.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  also b rings  in  a  good  amount  of  futuristic  and  sci-fi  elements  into  their  musical  style  and  after  awhile  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  giving  the  album  more  of  a  progressive  feeling.

  When  acoustic  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  they  have  more  of  an  experimental  and  avant  garde  edge  to  them  while  they  are  rarely  used  with  the  main  focus  being  on  a  very  technical  and  brutal  sound  and  the  guitars  also having  the  feeling  of  an  old  Nintendo  video  game  to  them  at  times  but  done  with  a  natural  instrument  instead  of  electronics  along  with  some  elements  of  prog  metal  being  mixed  into  the  music  at  times  and  they  also  bring  in  a  small  amounts  and  instrumentals  as  the  album  moves  on.

  Rings  Of  Saturn  plays  a  very  original  style  of  technical  and  brutal  death  metal  that  is  mixed  in  with  deathcore  as  well  as  being  very  progressive  and  futuristic  sounding  as  well  as  giving  the  musical  genre  a  very  innovative  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  science  fiction,  aliens  Sumerian  culture  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rings  Of  Saturn  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical,  original  and  brutal  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Senseless  Massacre"  "Infused"  "Godless  Times"  and "No  Pity For  the  Coward".  8/5  out  of  10.

  

Disasterhate/Mirroring The Abyss/Club Inferno Ent/2014 CD Review

  Disasterhate  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Mirroring  The  Abyss"  which  will b e  released  on  September  22nd.

  A  very  heavy  groove  orientated  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  powerful  sounding  guitars  before  going  into  more  of  a  thrash  metal  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  female  vocals  that  are  also  influenced  by  death  metal  and  a  few  seconds  alter  blast  beats  become  a  part  of  the  bands  music.

  You  can  hear  a  decent  balance  between  both  the  modern  and  old  school  style  of  metal  being  presented  throughout  the  tracks  as  well  a s some  clean  singing  being  added  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  parts  where  acoustic  guitars  are  added  in  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  rock  feeling.

  The  solos  and  leads  that  the  band  uses  are  in  more  of  a  melodic  metal  direction  and  there  is  also  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  see  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  being  utilized  and  the  music  gets  more  diverse  as  the  album  progresses  and  they  are  also  a  few  tracks  that  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Disasterhate  brings  in  a  variety  of  many  different  metal  style  together  on  this  recording  bringing  in  a  melodic  death  metal  sound  and  mixing  it  with  both  modern  and  old  school  thrash  along  with  some  progressive  touches   which  makes  their  music  sound  more  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent,  hateful  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Disasterhate  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  progressive  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Desecrated  Sick  Reality"  "Blank"  "The  Abyss"  and  "The  Isle  Of  The  Dead".  8  out  of  10.

 
    

Calm Hatchery/Fading Reliefs/Selfmadegod Records/2014 CD Review

  Calm  Hatchery  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  continues  their  brutal  death  metal  sound  on  this  recording  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Fading  Reliefs"  which  will  be  released  in  October  by  Selfmadegod  Records.

  Dark  and  ritualistic  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  melodic  leads  and  riffing  and  a  few  seconds  alter  blast  beats  and  growls  are  added  into  the  music  along  with  a  small  amount  of  screams  and  at  times  you  can  hear  some  clean  playing  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording.

  When  angry  shouts  are  added  into  the  music  they  give  the  album  more  of  an  occult  atmosphere  and  the  music  gets  more  technical  and  brutal  as  time  goes  on  by  and  at  time s the  music  also  has  a  slight  black  metal  feeling  to  the  song  structures,  on  some  of  the  later tracks  the  music  starts  to  bring  in  elements  of  Hindi  music  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  as  well  as  a  long  and  epic  in  length  which  also  adds  more  of  an  esoteric,  exotic  and  metaphysical  atmosphere  to  the  bands  brutal  death  metal  sound.

  Calm  Hatchery  continue  their  brutal  approach  to  death metal  on  this  recording  as  well  as  being  more  melodic  and  technical  this  time  around  as  well  as  adding  in  elements  of  ethic  music  into  their  musical  sound,  the  production  sound s very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  of  English  and  Polish  and  cover  Eastern  Philosophy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Calm  Hatchery  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sun  of  God"  "Blessing  Of  Mantra"  "The  Eternal  Cycle"  and  "Into  the  Midst  of  Nothingness".  8  out  of  10.

       

  

Aghast!/All The Rage/2014 CD Review

  Aghast!  are  a  band  from  the  United Kingdom  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  thrash  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "All  The  Rage".

  Dark  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  before  going  into  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growls  and  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  elements  of  thrash  and  groove  metal  in  their  musical  sound  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  You  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  bands  musical  sound  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at times  you  can  hear  clean  playing  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  small  amount  of  melodic  clean  vocals  and  after  awhile  the  vocals  also  start  using  more  screams  and  groove  metal  elements  mixed  in  with  the  growls  as  the  album  progresses.

  You  can  hear  the  brutality  of  grindcore  being  mixed  in  with  the  faster  sections  at  times  whic  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  melodic  death  metal  and  some  of  the  later  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  and  all  of  the  tracks  have  a  very  modern  and  brutal  approach  to  extreme  metal.

  Aghast!  takes  a  very  brutal  style  of  death  metal  that  has  a  heavy  grindcore  influence  and  they  mix  in  more  of  elements  of  thrash  and  groove  along  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  to  add  something  new  to  this  musical  genre,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  release d recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  real  life  themes  with  a  touch  of  Satanism.

  In  my  opinion  Aghast  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  brutal  death  metal,  grind  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "All  The  Rage"  "It's  your  Funeral"  "Hells  Bells(And  Buckets  of  Blood)"  and  "Noise  Pollution".  8  out  of  10.  
  

DistortHead/Invasive Species/2014 CD Review

  DistortHead  are  a  band  from  Canada  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  death  metal  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  album  "Invasive  Species"  which  will  be  released  in  October.

  A  very  epic sounding   intro  starts  off  the  album  bringing  in  the  feeling  of  a  fantasy  movie  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  metalcore  musical  direction  along  with  some  aggressive  vocals.  shouts,  screams,  and  melody  which  is  used  both  in  the  riffs  and  leads  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  start  becoming  a  part  of  the  bands  musical  sound,  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  band  also  bring s in  spoken  word  samples  at  times.

  The  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  display  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  and  at  times  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  most  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slow  to  mid  paced  musical  direction  and  you  can  also  hear  a  good  amount  of  groove  and  modern  metal  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  halfway  through  the  album  synths  are  brought  in  briefly  on  one  of  the  tracks  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  sound  as  well  as  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats.

  DistortHead  plays  a  very  melodic  style  of  metalcore  that  they  mix  in  with  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  and  while  there  is  not  much  in  the  way  of  originality  I  still  feel  this  band  is  very  good  fro  what  they  are  trying  to  accomplish,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  real  life  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Distortedhead  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  metal  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Invasive  Species"  "Erupting  Skies"  and  "Distort  Reality".  7/5  out  of  10.  

Subservience/Upheavel/2014 EP Review

  Subservience  are  a  band  from  the  united  Kingdom,  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal,  metalcore  and  groove  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2014  ep  "Upheavel".

  A  very  distorted  sound  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  a  good  amount  of  old  school  elements  being  added  into  the  bands  musical  style  and  after  awhile  blast  beats  are  added into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  added  to  the  recording  they  are  more  in  a  melodic  musical  direction.  

  On  the  other  tracks  the  band  keeps  around  a  very  old  school  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  and  they  also  add  in  elements  of  metalcore  and  groove  metal  without  letting  those  elements  water  down  their  musical  sound  or  make  it  sound  more  mainstream  like  most  bands  that  attempt  to  fuse  those  genres  together  and  they  also  bring  in  a  thrash  metal  influence  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Subservience  creates  a  very  old  school  and  brutal  style  of  death  metal  with  their  musical  style  as  well  as  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  modern  thrash,  groove  and  metalcore  to  give  their  style  a  more  up  to  date  feeling,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  take  inspiration  from  fiction  along  with  some  real  life  experiences.

  In  my  opinion  Subservience  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal,  groove  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Upheavel"  and  "Slither".  8  out  of  10.

  

Stormhold/The Lost World/Total Metal Records/2014 CD Review

  Stormhold  are  a  band  from  Belarus  that  plays  a melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "The  Lost  World"  which  was  released  by  Total  Metal  Records.

  Drum  beats  and  symphonic  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  melodic  musical  direction  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  to  speed  up  a  bit  add  in  blast  beats  and  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams.

  There  is  a  good  mixture  of  symphonic  and  heavy  parts  throughout  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  the  band  uses  are  very  melodic  sounding  and  there  is  also  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  throughout  the  recording  and  some  of  the  heavier  riffing  the  band  uses  have  a  prog  metal  feeling  to  them  at  times.

  And  after  awhile  clean  singing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  bass  guitars  bringing  in  elements  of  funk  music  and  after  awhile  you  can  hear  elements  of  thrash  metal  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  bands  musical  style  as  well  as  influences  from  the  90's  being  mixed  in  with  a  more  modern  musical  style  and  on  the  bonus  track  clean  playing  is  added  into  the  music.

  Stormhold  plays  a  very  melodic  style  of  death  metal  that  also  incorporates  symphonic  elements  as  well  as  a  mixture  of  both  old  school  and  modern  influences  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  futuristic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stormhold  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Wind  Of  Freedom"  "The  Understanding  Of  Truth"  and  "Inside  My  Mind".  8  out of  10.