Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Arreat Summit/Frostburn/World Vs. Cometh/2015 EP Review


  Arreat  Summit  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  technical  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Frostburn"  which  was  released  by  World  Vs.  Cometh.

  A  very  heavy,  melodic  and  technical  sound  starts  off  the  album  which  also  leads  up  to  a  very  fast  and  brutal  musical  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  as  well  as  a  great  mixture  of  high  pitched  screams  and  death  metal  growls  and  all  of  the  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  a  great  amount  of  deathcore style  breakdowns  and  the  whole  ep  always  remains  heavy,  melodic  and  brutal  form  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Arreat  Summit  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  very  melodic,  technical  and brutal  style  of  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  deathcore  to  create  2  very  heavy  songs  that  would  appeal  to  the  modern  metal  crowd,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Arreat  Summit  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  technical  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Underlife".  8  out  of  10.   

The Desolate/The Great Departure/2015 Full Length Review


  The  Desolate  are  a  band  originally  from  Iowa  but  now  re-located  in  Washington  state  and  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  self released  2015  album  "The  Great  Departure".

 A  very  dark and  avant  garde  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  slowly  evolving  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  that  is  more  close  to  modern  metal  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  melodic  death  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  and  all  of the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  angry  style  shouting  that  adds  in  a  touch  of  hardcore  and  high  pitched  screams  that  are  closer  to  death  metal  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  growls  are  also  added  into  the  music  at  times  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  leads  and  solos  also start  getting  more  technical  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  bass  guitar  leads.

  The  Desolate  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  melodic  and  technical  style  of  death  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with  more  of  a  modern  thrash  sound  to  create  a  very  aggressive  sounding  recording  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  scientific  themes.

  In  my opinion  The  Desolate  are a  very  great  sounding  melodic  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  "The  Great  Departure"  "Cosmic  Meat  Cleaver"  and  "The  Gate".  8  out  of  10.

   

Elarmir/Human Wisdom/Revalve Records/2015 CD Review


  Elarmir  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  symphonic  and  progressive  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  power  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  'Human Waste"  which  was  released  by  Revalve  Records.

 A  very  dark,  heavy  yet  modern  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  operatic  female  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  and  the  guitar  riffs  also  utilize  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  this  music  also  gets  very  progressive  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  along  with  death  metal  growls  also  being  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  vocals  also  alternate  between  the  growls  and  operatic  vocals  quite  a  bit  throughout the  album.

   The  melodic  singing  also  adds  in  a  touch  of  power  metal  and  you  can  also  hear  influences  of  black  metal,  groove  metal,  thrash,  jazz  and  classical  quite a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  and  solos  and  leads  are  very  melodic  and  technical  sounding  when  they  are  utilized  and  one  song  also  brings  in  male  choir  vocals  and  the  last  track  also  brings  acoustic  guitars  onto  the  recording.

  Elarmir  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  a  melodic yet  brutal  style  of  death  metal  and  mixes  in prog  elements,  power  metal,  operatic  singing  and  a  touch  of  black,  groove,  thrash  metal,  jazz  and  classical  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  original  while the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Elarmir  are a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  melodic  death  and  prog  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Thorns" "Dish  Of  Pain"  and  "Human  Wisdom".  8  out  of  10.   

Sunless Rise/Unrevealed/2015 CD Review


 Sunless  Rise  are  a  band  from  Russia  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Unrevealed".

  A  very  distorted  sounding  synth  stars  off  the  album  before  getting  a  lot  more  heavier  and  adding  in  blast  beats,  high  pitched  screams  and  death  metal growls  as  well as  some  melodic guitar  leads  and  a  more  symphonic  style  of  metal that also  uses  a  great  amount  of  clean  singing  vocals  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  Finnish  influences.

  At  times  the  music  sounds  very  progressive  and  throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  angry  shouts  are  utilized  they  also  help  give  the  music  more  of  a  modern  and  mainstream  metal  feeling  and  some  songs  also  add  in  elements  of  electronic  music  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  on  a  couple  of  the  tracks  while  a  later  songs  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  clean  playing  while  some  of  the  fast  riffs  also  add  in  thrash  influences  and  the  last  rack  also  brings  in  a  bass  guitar  lead.

  Sunless  Rise  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  more  on  the  modern  and  melodic  style  of  the  genre  while  also  being  very  symphonic,  progressive  and  technical  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  based  upon  a man  who  had  destroyed  mankind.

  In  my  opinion  Sunless  Rise  are  a  very  great  sounding  symphonic,  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre, you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ghosts  Of  the  Past"  "Eidolon"  "Recovering  the  Truth"  and  "Sunless  Rise".  8  out  of  10.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Fall/The Insatiable Weakness/2016 Full Length Review


  Fall  are  a  band  from  Texas  that  plays  a  progressive  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  self  released  album  "The  Insatiable  Weakness"  which  will  be  released  in  2016.

   A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  atmospheric  keyboards  as  well  as  some  death  metal  growls  and  clean  singing  vocals  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a   great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  modern  prog  metal  sound.

  When  lead  guitars  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  sounding  and  high  pitched  screams  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  female  vocals  and  the  songs  also  alternate between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  and  some  songs  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  has  its  symphonic  and  brutal  moments  while  also  being  very  modern.

  Fall  plays  a  style  of  melodic  death  metal  that  is  very  modern  and  atmospheric  while  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  prog  metal  elements  to  create  a  style  of   their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Fall  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  and  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Not  Of  The  Sky"  "Desolation"  "Empty"  and  "You  Where  But  A  Shade".  8  out  of  10.

Pronostic/An Atmic Decision/2015 CD Review


  Pronostic  are  a  band  from  Montreal,  Quebec,  Canada  that  plays  a  very  melodic and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "An  Atomic  Decision".

  An  atmospheric  and  epic  sounding  synth  intro  starts  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  more  of  a  heavier,  brutal,  technical  and  melodic  death  metal  direction  while  also  adding  in  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  prog  metal.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  very  technical and  melodic  sounding  and  when  clean  playing  is  utilized  it  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  vocal  tracks.

  Pronostic  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very melodic,  technical  and  progressive  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Pronostic  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  technical  and  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  the  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "An  Atomic  Decision"  "Tormented  Soul"  "What  Plagues  Us"  and  "Passing  Towards  The  Afterlife".  8  out  of  10. 

Diesear/Ashes Of The Dawn/2015 CD Re-Issue Review


  Disear  are  a  band  from  Taiwan  that  plays  a  very  melodic form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Ashes  Of  The  Dawn"  which  was  re-issued  in  2015  by  Metal  Scrap  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  melodic  sound starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  guitar  solos  and  leads  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  melodic  death  metal  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  high  pitched  screams  and  when themusic  speeds  up  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  vocals  also utilize  growls  at  times  while  some  songs  also  bring  in  more  of  a  modern  melodic  death  metal  style  and  they  also  bring  in  a  couple  of  brief  instrumentals  that  also  introduces  acoustic  guitars onto  the recording along  with  a  few  seconds  of  synths  before  making  a  return  back  to  vocal  tracks  and  the  bonus  track  also  adds  in  melodic  yet  rough  vocals.

  Diesear  plays  a  style  of  melodic death  metal  that  is  very  guitar  driven  and  mixes  the  classic  style  of  the  genre  in  with  a  more  modern  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Diesear  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shadows  Of  Grey"  "Dying  Dust"  and  "Blazing  Wings".  8  out  of  10.

 

Vehemence/Forward Without motion/Battleground Records/2015 CD Review


  Vehemence  are  a  band  from  Arizona  that  plays  a  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Forward  Without  Motion"  which  was  released  by  battleground  Records.

  Heavy  guitar  riffs  and  melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  the  music  goes  into  a  faster  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  once  death  metal  growls  and  screams  are  added  into  the  music  the  songs  start  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  gets  very  technical  at  times  and  the  music  also  brings  back  a  bit  of  the  mid  90's  melodic  death  metal  sound  while  also  taking  it  into  more  of  a  brutal  direction  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses  some  elements  of  modern  prog  metal  can  be  heard  along  with  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  samples  while  later  tracks  also  bring  in a  small  amount  of  clean  playing.

  Vehemence  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  technical  while  also  have  a  brutal  edge  to  them,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  anti  religion,  death  and  struggle  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Vehemence  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  and  melodic  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Imaging  The  Loss"  "In  The  Shadows  We  Dwell"  "A  Dark  Figure  In  The  Existence"  and  "There  Are  So  Many  Reasons  To  Give  Up  On  Religion".  8  out  of  10.

Once Them Edens/The Year Is One/Satanath Records/2013 CD Review


  Once  Them  Edens  are  a  band  from  Greece  that  plays  a  very  progressive,  avant  garde  and  experimental  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "The  Year  Is  One"  which  was  released  by  Satanath  Records.

  A  very  dark ambient  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  and  whispers  in  the  background  and  after  a  minute  clean  playing  is  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  and  at  times  and  once  the  music  gets  heavy  it  goes  for  more  of  a  prog  metal  sound.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  also  adding  in  melodic  riffs  and  leads  at  times  and  the  songs  also  alternate  between  both  clean  and  heavy  parts  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  jazz  music  influences.

  Death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  are  added  into some  parts  of  the  songs  along  with  a  great  portion  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  also  gets  very  atmospheric  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  briefly  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  as  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  getting  more  technical  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars.

  One  Them  Edens  plays  a  style  of  prog  metal  that  is  very  technical,  experimental  and  avant  garde  while  also  bringing  in  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  and  a  touch  of  black  metal  to create  an  original  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Once  Them  Edens  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde,  progressive  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Penance  Concrete"  and  "The  Gospel  Grotesque".  8  out  of  10. 

 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Coraxo/Neptune/Massacre Records/2015 CD Review


  Coraxo  are a  band from  Finland  that  plays  an  electronic  form  of  death  metal  that  also  brings  in  elements  of  black  metal,  industrial,  jazz  and  prog  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Neptune"  which  was  released  by  Massacre  Records.

  A  symphonic  sound  starts  off  the  album  bringing  in  a  touch  of  ambient  and  after  the  intro  the  music  brings  in  elements  of  industrial  and  electronic  music  along  with  the  music  getting  more  heavy  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  high  pitched  screams  that  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  the  songs  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Melodies  can  be heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  riffs  are  also  very  influenced  by  death  metal  and  as  the  album  moves  on  elements  of  progressive  rock  and  jazz  which  also  introduces  saxophones  on  the  recording  are  utilized  a  lot  more  in  the  songs  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  growls.

  Coraxo  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  progressive  death  metal  but  also  mixes  in  industrial,  electronic music,  jazz  and  a  touch  of  black  metal   to  create  an  original  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  science  fiction  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Coraxo  are  a  very  great  sounding  electronic  death  metal  band  with  elements  of    black  metal,  industrial,  jazz  and  prog  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Lanterns"  "The  Citadel"  "Symbiosis"  and  "Ghosts".  8  out  of  10.   

Sadist/Hyaena/Scarlet Records/2015 CD Review


  Sadist  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  progressive  form  of  death  metal  that  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Hyaena"  which  was  released  by  Scarlet  Records.

  Nature  sounds  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy,  melodic  and  progressive  sound ad  there  are  also  elements  of  ethnic  music  in  the  bands  musical  style  along  with  the  vocals  bringing  in  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  that  also  add  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and the  music  also  mixes  in  symphonic  elements.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  touch of jazz  and  the riffs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  thrash  and  the  music  also  gets  very  experimental  at  times  and  at  times  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  in certain sections  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  tribal  elements  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  mostly  a  mid  paced  musical  direction.

  Sadist  creates  another  progressive  death  metal  album   that  has  a  touch  of  thrash  and  black  metal  while  also  getting  more  tribal  and  also  adding  in  more  of  a  modern  musical  direction,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  African  tribal  paganism.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Sadist  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Lonely  Mountain"  "The  Devil  Riding  The  Evil  Seed"  "African  Devourer's"  and  "Genital  Mask". 8  out  of  10.

Escarnium Interview


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

Victor Elian - Hi There, Thank you very much for the interview. At this moment we are working on studio in new tracks for the next full length album.

2.Recently you have released a compilation, how would you describe the musical progress over the years?

Victor Elian - Yeah this compilation was relased by Redefining Darkness Records, and we are really happy with the final result.  A lot of good reviews are coming consistantly popping up. 
  Well I think If you listen the demo tracks compared to the latest songs recorded, you will realize that our sound has more of an identity. I think we are more brutal and dark more than ever these days. But since from the begining this was the intention

3.Your lyrics cover a lot of anti christian, misanthropic, and nihilistic, can you tell us a little bit more about your interests in these topics?

Victor Elian - I don't like to speak about fantasy.  I'm always more deep into the realistic stuff, so almost all of our lyrics are inspired by documentaries... Mass Murders, Genocide , Diseases , Holocaust and things like that.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Escarnium'?

Victor Elian: Its a proper name,  Escárnio in portuguese its something like "mockery", but then we put the letters "IUM" at the end.  So you Have escarnIUM and not Escárnio. Sounds more agressive I think!


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?

Victor Elian: I think our performance is very brutal with a lot of energy, but far from theaterical. Its more natural behavior of people playing extreem music. We love to play live!  I can mention some gigs in our area and in Poland in the city of POZNAN was one of the best gigs we had...

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

Victor Elian: In 2016 we will be touring in europe for the 3rd time, together of our brazilian mates VENOMOUS BREATH

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

Victor Elian: I think its great - I mean when we started the band I couldnt imagine that our music was being spread arround the world, and  that we would get contracts with some labels outside of Brasil. Most of the time I get really good feedback. But in the end, it doesnt matter.  I mean, if people want to support us, thank you very much, but if they don't its okay too, T he main thing its keep playing extreme music!

8.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members area part of?

Victor Elian: I think no one its involved in another projects at this moment.

9.When can we expect new material and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Victor Elian: I think the next album will coming up around March of the next year. I dont have idea about future, I like to think in the moment, not on the past, not on the future...The future its unknown.

10.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?

Victor Elian: DEATH METAL bro! Always... I mean I listen to other stuff since from rock n roll to grind, crust stuff, Black metal, thrash metal, but my influences comes more to all death metal I listen and keep listening all the time.
Nowdays, I'm listening to much of, DENIAL (MEX) CORPSSESED , VERMINOUS, VORUM, and many more...

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Victor Elian: Beer, sex, food, movies,  I work in underground tours of other bands(I work with underground booking), make some underground concerts around Brasil and its all I do in my life.

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

Just to say thank you my brother! If anyone wants to keep contact just send a message to escarniumdm@gmail.com
All the best to you and all the underground metal freaks who see this interview!

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Diabolical Messiah/Satan Tottendemon Victory!!!/Caverna Abismal Records/2015 Cassette Re-Issue Review


 Diabolical  Messiah  are  a  band  from  Chile  that  plays  a  very  satanic  form  of  death  metal  with  a  blackened  touch  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2010  album  "Satan  Tottendemon  Victory!!!"  which  will  be  re-issued  on  cassette  on  December  21st  by  Caverna  Abismal  Records.


  Nature  sounds,  spoken  word  parts  and  blackened  screams  start  off  the  album  giving  the  recording  a  ritualistic  feeling  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  death  metal  direction  that  also  uses  growling  vocals  and  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  a  lot  of  morbid  sounding melodies  in  the  guitar  riffing.

  Black  metal  screams  can  be  heard  at  times  while  the  music  is  mostly  death  metal  and  the  solos  and  leads  bring  back  the  blasphemy  of  the  early  90's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  war  samples  before  making  a  return  back  to  a  more  brutal  musical  direction  and  all  of  the  songs  remain  very  true  to  musical  direction  with  no  soft  or  clean  parts  ever  being  utilized  while  the  outro  does  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  epic  classical  music  elements.

  Diabolical  Messiah  plays  a  style  of  satanic  death  meal  that  is  very  heavy,  brutal  and  evil  and  also  shows  this  genre  can  be  as  black  metal  at times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Satanism,  Death  and  War  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Diabolical  Messiah  are a  very  great  sounding  brutal  satanic  death  metal band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  cassette.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Celestial  Ceremony"  "Curse  Of  Megatons"  and  "Perverse  Domain".  8  out  of  10.     

Escarnium/Godless Shrine Of Decay/Redefing Darkness Records/2015 CD Compilation Review


  Escarnium  are  a  band  from  Brazil  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  blasphemous  form  of  death  metal  that  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2015  compilation  album  "Godless  Shrine  Of  Decay"  which  was  released  by  Redefining  Darkness  Records.

  A  very  dark,  fast,  brutal  and  old  school  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  blast  beats  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  in  the  bands musical  style  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  mixes  the  North  and  South  American  style  together.

  Throughout  the  compilation  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  style  of  dark  death  metal  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  thrash  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

   You  can  hear  a  small  amount  of  black  metal  elements  in  the  more  blasphemous  side  of  the  bands  musical  style  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  which  also  gives  the  music  a  more  ritualistic  feeling  samples  and some  songs  also  add  in a  small  amount  of  grim  screams  and  close  to  the  end  you  can  also  hear  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.  

  Escarnium  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavy,  dark,  brutal  and  old  school  and  also  brings  in  the  blasphemy  of  death  metal  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  misanthropy,  decadence,  nihilism, occultism  and  anti  christian  themes.  

  In  my  opinion  Escarnium  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  with  a  blackened  touch  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  compilation.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Genocide  Ritual"  "Nuclear  Burial"  "Death  Metal  Terror"  and  "His  Final  march".  8  out  of  10. 

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Hell's Guardian/Ex Adversis Resurgo/Record Union/2015 EP Review


  Hell's  Guardian  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  very  epic  and  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Ex Adversis Resurgo"  which  was  released by  Record  Union.

  Fire  burning  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  and  atmospheric  elements  which  also  sets  up  the  mood  for  melodic  guitar  leads  to  kick  in  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  musical  direction  and  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording and  the  music  also  gets  symphonic  at  times.  

  High  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  the  music  also  gets  symphonic  at times  and  you  can hear  elements of  folk  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  as  the  ep  progresses  clean  singing  can  be  heard  at  times  and  the  acoustic  guitars  also  make  a  return  on  a  few  songs  and  they also  bring  in  a few  live  tracks  and  they  close  the  recording  with a  piano  track  that  also  bring  in  female  vocals.

  Hell's  Guardian   creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  epic  and  melodic  style  of  death  metal  that  was  established  on  the  previous  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  from  Hell's  Guardian  and  if  you are  a  fan  of  melodic  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RE$COMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Fire  Of  Persecution"  and  "Cradle's  Lake".  8  out  of  10. 

 

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Human Desolation Interview

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

Well, the whole musical aspect of the album was finished last spring, and since then we've been working hard on getting all the other concepts in place. These are things like artwork, website/various channel updates, promotion, and pretty much going through our options on how we want to proceed in getting the album out there. All this while frantically rehearsing and developing our new elements. That said, we have started to gather a lot of new material for the future already and also formulating and harmonizing our music together with our live show

We did put together a pretty cool (physical) promo package that we sent out to countless labels across the globe, but the competition is fierce these days and it becomes terrifyingly evident that descent musical talent and song writing skills are often much less important than “having a way in”, so to speak. We won´t ever accept a bad deal limiting our freedom in the music making so we decided to try and release it on our own. I won't bore you with the details at this time, anyhow we instead decided to sign a distribution agreement with Nordavind Records and Plastic Head Distribution, as well as a solid PR campaign with Against PR.

2.You have a new album coming out in August and also released an EP in March, how would you describe the musical sound of the newer material and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

Well, to start off we recorded a total of fifteen songs from which twelve made it onto the final album. It's not that the other three were unsatisfactory, but we just felt that they didn't quite fit on the same record. The original plan was to release them as B-sides, but instead we came to the conclusion to put them together with re-recordings of two older songs and released the whole thing as an EP titled “Realm of Silence”. This really made it possible to bridge the gap between Project Wasteland and the upcoming album “Mind Grind Paradigm” – which, if you're observant, is noticeable in the cover artwork.

Musically though, the new stuff is a a lot more mature; it's more varied and daring but at the same time more gathered and better put together, as a whole. We've always stayed true to our core idea that we should be free to do whatever we want to do, rather than trying to sound a certain way. This is something I feel we pretty much nailed this time. There are a million bands out there, but only a handful of them have their own kind of character. While certainly being somewhat biased, I think that with this album we may have stepped into the realm of the latter. The lyrical concepts blends well into the atmosphere of the music and builds up the feeling as the listener gets more acquainted to the depth of our music. Hopefully?

One problem with today’s digital way of music exploration is the fact that a track actually needs to be listened together with the whole album to fully understand the music and get the attention it deserves. One could claim that whilst music is easier to find, unfortunately this also leads to making the listening more casual for many…

3.There was no new material being released for 5 years, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time frame?

Well, there's a lot more to an entirely self-funded, self-made, self-released record than meets the eye. That part we learned the hard way. We started writing some of the material shortly after 'Project Wasteland', but in that first year or so we did spend as much time as possible promoting, playing gigs as well as the occasional festival, etc. After that we've pretty much lived and breathed 'Mind Grind Paradigm' through its different stages, for almost four years.

Don't get me wrong, it's mostly been a fun and extremely rewarding experience, from which we've learned countless things we wouldn't have a clue about if we'd have gone with one of the record deals we were offered after the release of the above mentioned EP.

So all that hard work, plus we all have our daytime jobs, and some of us have families to tend to... it takes time, you know. We've also ran blindfolded into quite a few hard surfaced (time consuming) obstacles along the way, which was bound to happen sooner or later, but more on that another time.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
The lyrics are formulated and evolve around extreme behavior patterns and events set in different timeframes in a pre-described post-apocalyptic realm. The lyrics can be interpreted differently depending on the persons reading and exploring the music. Our goal is that the listener will “see” the music through their own aspects of their life experiences as visualize the “what if´s” beyond the borders of accepted individual thoughts patterns.


5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Human Desolation'?

Well, frankly the band name was not easily conceived, thinking back on the process still makes us laugh. Actually “Human Desolation” was more like ripped out through a caesarean. Even though you can agree on the concept and topic of a band’s music a single name can evidently be very difficult for everyone to accept. We went through a number of alternatives until we landed on Human Desolation. I guess it in the end resonated well with all of us, even though its meaning probably is quite individual - which is a good thing. For me personally it's about Mother Nature deserving a kind of peace that can only come from a world where humanity has been desolated, which is also reflected in my own interpretation of the lyrics. Hence our somewhat post-apocalyptic theme.

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?
Our goal is to always enjoy our gigs more after another; this is unfortunately not bulletproof! Whilst the audience is having a large impact on the whole performance but the energy and mindset of the band is outmost the largest contributing factor. One proof for this being true is one gig at Metaltown Festival where we played first the second day of the festival. Most people had not arrived to the festival yet possibly suffering from the withdrawals from the day before, BUT we were extremely dedicated to this gig and. Anyhow we really managed to get the crowd with us and received massive feedback even from HuDes virgins long after that show!

Our Performance is described as intense and weaving in the depth of our music together with slower acoustical parts as well as from pre-recorded background noise. When playing on larger stages the stage we want it to be prepared with special lighting and special artifacts and signs, this is not always possible though. We have a determined stage look formulating over our fictional characters and binding ourselves to the spectators. We want to portrait our alter egos and natural extremes on stage
7.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?
We have a couple of tour offers, nothing is decided yet though since these plans has to work with our personal elements of planning. We have a couple of gigs planned in Sweden, more updates on that TBA on our social media channels!


8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

As mentioned earlier, we did get quite a few offers after the release of “Project Wasteland” back in 2010, all of which we turned down as we decided to do everything our own way without anyone interfering in our process.

But sure, the same goes for now as back then, if someone would hand us a good deal we'd certainly consider it! However, our main goal is not to get signed – it's to get our music out there, and hopefully make some of the money back that we spent making it (which was a lot, haha). Mainly so we can afford to do a bit of touring, and when time is due, make another record.

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

I'd say very positive, it's actually flattering as hell! We're just a bunch of peculiar dudes doing what we love and believe in, and the fact that other people seem to love it too is downright overwhelming. Our fan base may still be relatively small, but as with everything else I'd take quality over quantity every time. Although, the album is not released yet so we're all really excited to see what people have to say once it's out.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We believe that we still maturing and developing our mindset around our endless noisemaking, which also goes for our musical skills and the meaning of music. We can see that we are turning more progressive over the last years and deep, we are not on purpose going in a more commercial or more “easy to” listen style of music. The music we create is a much created for ourselves as for our audience, we believe that if music is real for the artist it will also become more attractive for the crowds which also eventually broadens the masses for the HuDes experience.


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?

You know, I actually think that this – if anything – is what makes us stand out a bit. We all have different sub-genres that we tent to lean towards, and it all blends in somehow, in a way that feels right. Not that this would be particularly unique in any way, but it does take some guts to just throw something really out-of-place into a song and make it work. Like the rather strange riff in the second half of “I Am Evil” for example, I have no idea what we were thinking there but it turned out pretty cool.

To try to further answer your question though; obviously we all listen to death metal, but personally I gladly listen to anything and everything as long as it's musical, and preferably also a bit challenging. I enjoy listening to everything from Fair to Midland to Dissection to Coheed and Cambria to The Faceless to Clutch to... well, you get the idea.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
We are very diverse on personal levels in this bands, we can be described as an almost dysfunctional family that loves the differences we have between us. In some aspects this enriches us but sure it can also be annoying at times when no one wants to compromise. This also leads to that the members have quite diverse interests such as biking, climbing, drinking, videogames, SM, mind exploration and running to name a few and without telling which interest belongs to whom.


13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Since the reader of this interview manages to follow us this far I am quite sure they will check out our new album. We believe and certainly hope that our hard work over this very long process will be genuinely appreciated and remembered, for sure not by great masses, but from those who appreciate our own style of music making!

It is interesting also that social media seems to bind the artists and audiences really close nowadays. We indeed look forward to more interesting discussions and feedback in the near future!


Friday, September 11, 2015

Mutilated/Dissecting Your Future/Seeing Red Records/2015 CD Review


  Mutilated  are  a  band  from Ohio that  plays  a  mixture  of  brutal,  slam  death  metal  and  goregrind and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015 album  "Dissecting  your  Future"  which  will  be  released  on  September  25th  by  Seeing  Red  Records.

  Distorted  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  blast  beats  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced and  fast  parts  along  with  the  faster  sections  being  very  heavily  influenced  by  grindcore  and  there  are  also  a  lot  of  90's  influences  in  the  bands  musical  style.

  A  lot  of  the  mid  paced  riffs  bring  in  elements  of  new  York  slam  death  metal  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  except  for  the  last  track  and   you  can  hear  guttural  screams  being  utilized  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  dark  and  melodic  guitar  leads  can  be  heard  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  use  melodies and  elements  of  groove  at  times  and  the  last track  also  gets  very  experimental  and  avant  garde  towards  the  end.

  Mutilated  plays a  musical  style  that  goes  back  to  the  90's  style  of  New  York  death  metal  while  also  adding  in  a  good  dose  of  slam  and  goregrind  to  create a  very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding recording,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mutilated  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  brutal,  slam  death  metal  and  goregrind  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Skinned  While  Alive"  "Forced  to  Stay  Dead"  "Dissecting  Your  Future"  and  "Turned  Into  Ash".  



 

Iniquitous Savagery Interview

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


We've just been rehearsing, keeping the songs tight, playing shows and planning stuff out for the future once we get the album out.


2.In October(September) you have a new album coming out, 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?


We're not the fastest, most technical or slamming band we just try and write Brutal Death Metal that is catchy and fun to play. The difference from our older stuff to the new album is that we're a more solid band now than we were back then and we've put more thought into the song writing than on our older material.


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


All the songs's lyrics explore different ways the human mind can be corrupted, manipulated and moulded for evil intentions. Josh wrote all the lyrics with a bit of input from Euan and I just gave a couple of ideas for words that sound cool to use so I can't really go into too much detail about them.


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Iniquitous Savagery'?


Josh was messing around with song titles trying to come up with the most ridiculous, long names he could and I took those words from a song title he came up with and it stuck. That's pretty much it.


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


My favourite shows we've played are probably Houten Deathfest in the Netherlands and all of the shows we played on our USA tour in 2013! We try to play as tight as we can live but at the same time have a lot of energy, playing live is definitely the thing we enjoy most from being in the band.


6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?


We want to tour, play shows and festivals as much as we can after the album is released. We're doing a mini UK tour at the end of October with Omnipotent Hysteria and Black Skies Burn and we have another tour in the works right now that will hopefully all come together soon.


7.The new album is coming out on Grindethic Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?


Grindethic is a legendary Brutal Death Metal label based in the UK. We got in touch with Tom about mixing our tracks when we first recorded and he offered to release it for us, we were on the label before we even had any music out or played live, it was amazing for us because Grindethic got us into this kind of music in the first place! Tom also made the artwork for our debut release and mixed our promo track we put out in 2013. The artwork and the concept behind it for Subversions of the Psyche was all his idea and he recorded vocals for one of the tracks as well.


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


The feedback for the first preview track we put up from the new album has been Awesome! People who already followed the band are digging it, there's new people checking us out and we've had people from bands that are huge influences to us give us positive feedback as well which is insane for us!


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


We're always trying to write better songs and add in new ideas to make each track stand out and have something to it the others don't. We'll stick with the style we already play and just keep trying to progress it.


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's so many that inspire us and everyone in the band has their own preferences so it's really hard to write a short list of bands because there's too many to think of, We're massively influenced by all the classic Brutal Death Metal bands(Guttural Secrete, Defeated Sanity, Cenotaph, Disgorge, Condemned and loads more) and We like to have some old school death metal influences come through in our songs as well. There's also some influences from outside of death metal and outside of metal in Euan's drumming. Right now I'm really hyped on the new albums from Iniquitous Deeds and Dysentery!


11.What are some of your non musical interests?


Loads of stuff from skateboarding to juggling, Josh has recently started drawing a lot so hopefully he keeps that up and can eventually design stuff for us to use.


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

Thanks for the interview and thanks to anyone who reads it, Check out our album when you get the chance! Cheers!

www.facebook.com/iniquitoussavagery
www.grindethic.co.uk
www.facebook.com/grindethic
www.grindethic.bigcartel.com/

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Never Again/Death Metal Tsunami/2015 EP Review


  Never  Again  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  very  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "Death  Metal  Tsunami".

  A  very  fast  and  old  school  Swedish  influenced  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  growls  at  times  as  well  as  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  style  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  melodic  style  of  death  metal.

  While  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  Swedish  style  you can  also  still  hear  modern  elements  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  along  with  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  whole  ep  also  remains  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  from  the  recording.

  Never  Again  plays  a  style  of  melodic  death  metal  on  this  recording  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  old  school  Swedish  tradition  while  also  being  very  modern  at  the  same  time,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Never  Again  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  TRACK  "Immobility  And  Trauma".  8  out  of  10.

     

Monday, August 31, 2015

Desecration/Holocausto Cannibal/Intravisceral Necropsia/EveryDayHate Records/2015 Split 7 Inch Review


  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  ep  between  U.K's  Desecration  and  Portugal's  Holocausto  Cannibal  called  "Intravisceral  Necroposia"  which  was  released  by  EveryDayHate  Records  and  we will  start  off  the  review  with  Desecration  a  band  that  plays  a  brutal  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast,  raw  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  that  uses  a  good  mixture  of  growls,  screams  and  blast  beats  and  the  music  also  mixes  in  a  lot  of  grindcore  elements  and  both  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  violence  themes.

  While  I  never  have  been  a  huge  fan  of  Desecration  the  band  does  add  in  2  quality  death/grind  songs  that  would  appeal  to  most  fans  of  the  genre.

  Next  up  is  Holocausto  Cannibal  a  band  that  plays  a  brutal  mixture  of  death  metal   and  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  distorted  early  90's  influenced  sound  that  slowly  evolves  into  a  brutal  grindcore  direction  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  deep  death  metal  growls  that  can  be  very  guttural  at  times  while  some parts  do  bring  in  a small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  and  there  are  also  some  mid  paced  parts  being  utilized  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  cannibalism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Holocausto  Cannibal  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death/grind  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  decent  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  death  metal  and  grindcore. 7/5  out  of  10.    

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Graveslave/Corpseborne/Zero Budget Records/2015 EP Review


  Graveslave  are  a  band  from  Minnesota  that  plays  a  mixture  of  brutal  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "Corpseborne"  which  was  released  by  Zero  Budget Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  grindcore  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  morbid  sounding  melodies  that  bring  elements  of  death  metal  into  the  music  and  there  are  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  growls  and  high  pitched  screams.

  When  mid  tempo parts  are  utilized  you  can  hear  elements  of  slam  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  bring  in  an  early  80's  British  metal  feeling  to  the  tracks  while  they  also  bring  in  more  modern  and  technical  influences  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  whole  ep  remains  true  to  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  musical  style.

  Graveslave  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  both  old  school  and  modern  brutal  death  metal  and  mixes  it  in  with grindcore  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Graveslave  are  a  very  great sounding  brutal  mixture  of  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "All  That  I  Despise" and  "Divine  Flesh".  8  out  of  10. 

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Indignity Interview

    1.For those that have never herd of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
1. Hailz! We are just a bunch of friends from a few past bands. And after a couple of years we decided to play some death metal together. Thats how Indignity started.

    2.In June you had released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
2. The purpose of recording Decrepitude was to find a vocalist, for it was huge problem for us. When Kilas finally came across, we decided that we can’t waste this material. So he put down the vocals to finish the demo. As for the production we are very pleased (once again huge thanks go to Azar & Arek of Orion Studio). We wanted a raw, brutal sound. No triggers nor digital technique, 4 guitar tracks were recorded for each side on 2 different amps

    3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3. Lyrics are mostly about people behavior, faith, society and whole bad shit that happen in life.

    4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Indignity'?
4. Indignity is offence, dishonor, people being two faced. All in all, it’s just a band name, no hidden message intended.

    5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
5. Well, till now we played only one gig, and it was quite cool. Nice bands, cool party, lots of booze.

    6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
6. In November we're supporting Chlew & Human Abattoir Tour 2015, Piekarnia- Opole. In December we'll play in our home towns. As for 2016, we haven't got any shows booked yet

    7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
7. Yeah, our main goal is to release our full lenght by some label. It's still a long road ahead of us, but we're spreading the word about Indignity in any way possible. We decided that Decrepitude will be a self release, but what will happen with this material is still a mystery. Maybe a split, who knows. As for the feedback, it’s always very positive.

    8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your musically fans of brutal death metal?
8. It was very positive. Some foreign radio stations asked for the material, european and american as well, guys from zines wrote some reviews, shared links, music. It was really cool. And some fuckin rip off cunts also came across

    9.What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
9. Miras and Sesil play in other bands. Miro's in Collider (death metal), with which he's preparing material for their new album, to be recorded in 2016. Sesil plays something entirely different, a booze rock band- Pigs in Tank

    10.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
10. In 2016 we're once again entering Orion Studio to record a full lenght. It’s still going to be brutal death, but this time with a little touch of slam and grind, that we all love

    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?
11. Suffocation for sure, Cannibal Corpse, Decapitated, Abominable Putridity, Pyrexia, Katalepsy, Ingested etc etc. The list is wayyyyy to long

    12.What are some of your non musical interests?
12. We have a lot different interests but there's to much of it to describe.

    13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
13. Thanks for the interest, feel free to check out our official site https://www.facebook.com/indignityofficial , comment, like, share. If you'd like the demo, visit http:// indignityofficial.8Merch.com . See you on gigs!

Monday, August 24, 2015

Gravesite/Horrifying Nightmares/Xtreem Music/2015 CD Review


  Gravesite are  a  band  from  Italy that  plays  a  horror  style  of  old  school  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  theri  2015 album  "Horrifying Nightmares" which  was  released by  Xtreem  Music.

  A horror  movie  soundtrack  style  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  getting heavier  and  also  adding  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  thrash  at  times and the  riffs  also  bring  in  morbid  sounding  melodies at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  elements  of  grindcore  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

 When  vocals  are  brought  onto  the  recording  they  are  death  metal  growls  that  are  very  easy  to  understand  and  the  bands  musical  style  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  all  of  the  songs  sound  like  they  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  release  more  than  20 years  ago  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the last  track  also  brings  in a  brief  use  of  clean  playing.

  Gravesite  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  also  adds  in  a  touch of  thrash  and  grind  along  with  the  atmosphere  of  a  horror  movie  which  also  makes  their  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  horror  and  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Gravesite are  a  very  great  sounding  horror  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Submerged  In  Vomit"  "The  Painter  of  Agonies"  and  "Worship  Death  In  All  Its  Forms".  8 out  of  10.

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Iniquitous Savagery/Subversions Of The Psyche/Grindethic Records/2015 CD Review


  Iniquitous  Savagery  are  a  band  with  members  from  both  England  and  Scotland  that  plays  a  very brutal,  guttural  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Subversions  Of  The  Psyche"  which  will  be  released in  September  by  Grindethic  Records.

  A  very  fast  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  deep  guttural  growling  vocals  and  blast beats  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  slam  and  the  music  also  gets  very  technical  at  times.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  brings  in  both  modern  and  old  school  brutal  death  metal  elements  and  bass  guitar  leads  can  also  be  heard  in  some parts  of  the  songs  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word samples   and  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  can  be  heard  at  times  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  musical  direction from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Iniquitous  Savagery  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  technical  and  brutal  and  also  uses  a  guttural  vocal  approach  to  create  a  very  heavy  sounding  recording,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  metaphysical.  gore  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Iniquitous  Savagery  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  and  technical  guttural  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Transient  States  Of  Metaphysical Revelation"  "Subversions  Of  The  Psyche"  and  "Subjugated  Into Pathological  Servility".  8  out  of  10.  

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Torture Pit/The Assassins Sessions/2015 EP Review


  Torture  Pit  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  with  a  touch  of  thrash  and  groove  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  ep  "The  Assassins  Sessions".

  A  heavy  guitar  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  as  well  a s some  melodic  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  before  adding  in  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  after  awhile  the  music  starts  adding  in  elements of  thrash,  groove  metal  and  hardcore.

  Most  of  the  music  sticks  to  either  a  slow  or  mid  paced  direction  while  a  small  amount  of  fast  parts  and  blast  beats  can  be  heard  at  times  and  the  songs  also  mix  in  a  lot  of  old  school  extreme  metal  influences  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  one  track  also  brings  in  hip  hop  style  vocals.

  Torture  Pit  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  death  metal  and  deathcore  but  also  mix  in  thrash,  hardcore  and  groove  metal  to  create  a  sound  of t heir  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  problems  and  fun.

  In  my  opinion  Torture   Pit  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  metal,  deathcore,  thrash  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Creep"  and  "Fire".  8  out  of  10.

      

    

  

   

Rifftera Interview

Answers by Janne Hietala (guitarist, harsh vocalist & main songwriter of Rifftera).

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

It's been busy! There's a surprisingly much work to do with a release even after the recordings are complete. There's been a lot of bureaucratic stuff that needs to be done, connecting with people, making stuff to happen... Because this is the first album we've ever released, there's been a lot of new things to learn.

We've also started to rehearse more frequent than before and I've been composing some new stuff for the future.

2.You have a new album coming out during the end of August, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the demo's you have released in the past?

Well, our music is a mixture of thrash metal and melodic death metal, but there is also a lot of influences from other genres. When we stay heavy, we are pretty heavy with our thrashy riffs and mosh-parts. And when we go melodic, we are not afraid of using pop-like melodies and singalong choruses. But the focus is definitely on the heavier stuff.

Our last demo, single song release “Open Wounds” (2014), contained pretty much all the same elements than the upcoming album called “Pitch Black”. That's why it was an easy decision to start recording a full length album, since we knew that finally we were able to sound like what we should.

Before “Open Wounds”-demo there was a lot of progress happening from demo to demo. My vocals are probably the best example: I was literally screaming for the first time when we recorded our first demo. During the second demo I screamed more in the hardcore-style and then finally “discovered” my voice for the “Open Wounds”-demo.

So the natural evolution has changed our sound a lot, but I would also say that the overall atmosphere in the songs has turned more darker / evil during the years. Like you can nowadays even spot some black metal -influences from our songs. That is something that would have not happened in our first demo.

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

I write lyrics about my personal experiences and views on things. Life in general, politics, relationships etc. So basically I write about stuff that I have something to say about. I don't really want to point out which song means what, but I think it's pretty easy to figure out the meaning for the most of them. I like to use metaphors and try to leave the door open for people's own interpretations, rather than going straight forward to the point.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Rifftera'?

This is probably something that most of the people wonder when they see our name. “What kind of stupid name is that? Do they think that they are Pantera or something?”.

Alright, I can understand if people think that it's stupid. Because yep, it pretty much is. But it's actually not based on Pantera. During one past band project we considered using name “Drifter”, until we found out that there was already a band existing with that name. Like there is always, if you consider using a short name that actually means something. Time passed and after playing with words I ended up having name “Rifftera”. It's just a logical evolution of a name made by a brilliant mind: Drifter → Riffter → Rifftera.

So what does it mean? It's just a play of words. Unique name that means only our band, nothing else. Our songs are really riff-oriented, so I think being as weird as it is, it actually gives a heads up of what's coming: Goddamn trillion kick ass riffs!

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

Actually Rifftera hasn't played a single concert yet. This is because we haven't had a permanent drummer at any point.

We aimed for recording a full-length album from the beginning and did get that done with a help from our friend Thomas Tunkkari, who plays the drums on the album. Unfortunately he lives on the other side of Finland, which makes it pretty hard to get anything more serious happening from that. I know that there are bands where members live in different countries, hell, even different continents! But at least at this stage of our career it would be so much easier if we would find a drummer who lives nearby, which would make it possible for us to have rehearsals in regular basis etc.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans once the new album is released?

We are hoping to finally get the drummer issue solved. After that is done, then we definitely have plans for shows also.

7.Most of the band members where also in 'Chain Reaction', what was the decision behind breaking up that band and starting this one?

Chain Reaction, which changed it's name to Chain Reaktion after the first demo, was a band co-formed by Antti Pöntinen (keyboards) and myself. It was our first band which we basically started when we decided to start playing and bought our instruments. We just went straight to the rehearsal place and started making horrible noise, without having any clue what we were doing.

Eventually we did learn how to play and how to write songs. Chain Reaktion did some gigs and released couple of demos (and Jupe Karhu did join in to play bass between those demos). Then life happened and our drummer and guitarist / vocalist moved to the other sides of Finland due to women and school. And that was it for that band.

After Chain Reaktion was dead and buried in 2005 we did meet Mikko Kuoppamaa (guitar & clean vocals). However, things with Rifftera wasn't actually started until 2010.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme and melodic metal?

It has been really positive! It's really hard to get people listen to our music, but when we do succeed on that, then they seem to mostly like it.

The only criticism that I have read from couple of different locations is that some say that we don't bring enough new to the table. But then again some say that we do sound fresh and new... So it's just a matter of opinion again.

I personally just want to make music that I want to listen to myself. So of course you can then hear my love for old school thrash metal and 2000s melodic death metal from our music. But on the other hand when I'm asked to name any band that sounds like us, I don't actually know what I could say. I can say that some parts of our music are something Metallica could do, some parts are something Soilwork could do etc, but I don't know what other band would overall sound like our music. So I think we do have something of our own going on here.

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

Well, there are some new songs that are almost complete and will very likely be released on the future. I would describe them as a natural continuation to the “Pitch Black”. I really like the overall sound and atmosphere we have achieved, so there is no need to do big changes. Just some fine adjustments here and there.

10.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?

I guess that for the past two years there's been two bands that I've been listening more than the others: Megadeth and Exodus. And especially their discography from the 2000s. I love Megadeth's heavier stuff and Exodus has done best thrash metal that has been released during the 2000s. Amazing riffs! And I sure get inspired by them.

If I should write new music but can't get anything done, one thing that works pretty much every time is to listen either Megadeth's “Rust In Peace” or Metallica's “...And Justice For All”. For some reason I always get really inspired by listening those records. One of the best albums ever for sure.

Other than these thrash metal classics I've been lately listening to some more extreme and darker metal. Of course I do listen and love softer music also, but I don't really get inspired by it. So it seems that things with Rifftera are getting maybe even more heavier in the future...

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Good movies and series. Those can help with music also, since they can wake up thoughts to write lyrics about and cool soundtracks can inspire by themselves.

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

Pitch Black” is coming out 28th of August – be sure to check it out! You can already go and listen to two songs that we have released from it to YouTube: “Rotten To The Core” and “Lightbringer”.