Stercore/Eternal Sunlight/Slovak Metal Army/2017 EP Review

  Stercore  are  a  band  from  Slovakia  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  groove  metal,  grind  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  ep  "Eternal  Sunlight"  which  was  released  by Slovak Metal  Army.

  Electronic  music  elements  along  with  soem  heavy  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  growls  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  as  some  groove  metal  and  deathcore  elements  being  added  into t he  mid  tempo  sections  of t he  songs.

  Elements  of  grindcore  can  also  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  along  with  the  music  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  both  the  riffs  and  solos  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  some  metalcore  influences  also  being  used  at  times  and  as  the  ep  progresses  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  can  also be  heard.

  Stercore  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  death,  groove  metal,  grind  and  deathcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Stercore  are a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  death,  groove  metal,  grind  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Flower  Of  The  Concrete"  "Aurora  Borealis"  and  "Breed".  7/5  out  of  10. 

  

Torso Murder Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

For those who haven't checked us out yet we're a brutal metal band from Cleveland Ohio formed by a group of people who are totally sick of all the usual bullshit watered down "metal" in our local area. We just figured let's try to create something original that sounds like us and our influences.

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe the musical style that is presented on the recording?

 A mixture of death metal, djent, mathcore and a little bit of thrash and prog basically if you were to take our individual influences and throw them into a blender thats kinda what came out in the recording. I think the recording is a good representation of the band but it's nothing compared to what will come.

3.Both the band name and song lyrics have a concept to them involving a serial killer from the 1930's, can you tell s a little bit more about the story?

 In a nutshell the Cleveland torso murders took place between 1935 and 1938 during which time there were 12 murders with only 2 of the victims ever being positively identified making this one of the most gruesome yet interesting unsolved crimes in American history. It was one the only case that Elliot Ness never solved.

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

As a band we haven't been playing shows all that long; however, that being said I would say that our album release was one of our best shows in terms of performance and on stage presence. Also our first show was really cool it was so fun to get out and play these songs. On stage you can expect the typical metal stuff everyone Moving, headbanging and everything loud as Fuck.

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

Right we are staying in our region playing a few shows as in our A December To Dismember show in Youngstown Ohio Dec. 2nd and Our next show is in Cleveland at The Foundry January 13th. We will be hitting some tour action Summer/Fall 2018.

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

Currently we are not looking for a label. These days the music business in shambles and we believe no label would give us an offer that would be worth taking. That being said, we do plan on looking eventually, but on our terms. Till then, we will continue to run independently.

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

Feedback has been really good. I think most people are surprised once they get past the name and listen to the music. They are expecting some typical death metal band, and get slapped in the ear hole by Torso Murder.

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects?

Yes. Mark Moats is also a Bass player for the band Orwellian as well as vocals/keys for a symphonic project called Inherently Lost about to be released in 2018.
Aaron O'dell(Bass) is a very talented guitar player and is about to release a Solo album in 2018.
Justin Ricci(Guitar) Plays Bass in the the band Trephine.

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

We look to progress our sound and refine it moving forward. Fans can expect our sound to get far more diverse and technical compared to our 1st release. We don't want to take steps backwards or even lateral. We intend on becoming better and better as we move forward with our 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?

Collectively we are all into very different music. Our inspirations have came anywhere from Mr. Bungle, Cradle of Filth, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, Meshuggah, Vision of Disorder, HateBreed, Opeth, Between the buried and me, Cannibal Corpse, Heaven Shall Burn, all the way to mozart, huey lewis and the news, After The Burial, prince, Pink Floyd, pig destroyer, Devin Townsend, wu tang, zao, White Chapel the list goes on but we listen to pretty much everything. Djent, black metal, death metal, jazz, r&b, fusion, Caribbean, rap, hip hop, country, industrial, rock, classical and so on

11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Our non musical interest include graphic design, painting, video games, drinking beers, smoking, whiskey, horrible Cleveland Browns football, firearms, serial killers, cartoons and chicken wings.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
.
Our closing words would be this... we work really hard and spend a lot of our hard earned money to make our music and art. Almost all bands do. Especially in metal where the market is saturated. That being said, be it us or another band please support your local scene. Buy their merch, come out to their shows and share how you feel about the bands you love. We make our music for ourselves because we love it and hope to share it with as many willing to participate.

Death On Fire/Witch Hunter/2018 Full Length Review

  Death  On  Fire  are  a  solo  project  from Wisconsin  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  album  plays  a  very  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  with  some  elements  of  classical  and  jazz  fusion  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  album  "Witch  Hunter"  which  will  be  self  released  in  2018.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  growling  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  the  vocals  also  add  in  a  groove  metal  style  at  times  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to t hem.

  A  great  amount  of  modern  thrash elements  can  be  heard  quite  a  bit  throughout  the  recording  while  the  clean  guitars  bring  in  elements  of  jazz  fusion  and  classical  music  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  as  the  album  progresses  melodic  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Death  On  Fire  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  his  melodic  mixture  of  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  humorous  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Death  On  Fire  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Witch  Hunter"  "Betrayal"  and  "American  Scum".  8  out  of  10.      

Frakasm/Century Of Decline/Great Dane Records/2017 CD review

  Frakasm  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  gore/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Century  Of  Decline"  which  was  released  by  Great  Dane  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  a  few  screams  as  well  a s the  riffs  also  utilizing  a  great  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies.

  A  lot  of  the  music  sounds  like  it  could  of  easily  been  recorded  and  released  more  than  20  years  ago  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  a  couple  of  the  tracks  are  long  and  epic  in  length  and  the  music  always  remains  heavy.

  Frakasm  plays  a  style  of  gore/death  metal  that  goes  back  to  the  early  90's  era  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  religion,  hatred,  war,  extinction,  death  and  despotism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Frakasm  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  gore/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cerebral  Torture"  "Inferni  Gloria"  and  "In  The  Womb".  8  out  of  10.     

Burial Chamber/Ripping The Dead/2017 Full Length Review

  Burial  Chamber  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  gore/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Ripping  The  Dead".

  A  very  heavy  and  brutal  sound  starts  off  the  album  while  the  vocals  are  mostly deep  death  metal  growls  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  as  well  as  the  music  being  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  fashion  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  and  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  songs  also  mix  in  elements  of  east  coast  death  metal  as  well  as  the  music  always  remaining  very  heavy  and  brutal  and  they  close  the  album  with  an  instrumental.

  Burial  Chamber  plays  a  style  of  gore/death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  and  old  school,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  gore  and  torture  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Burial  Chamber  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  gore/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Corpse  Mutilation"  "Lobotomize  Infected  Beings"  and  "Feed  on  The  Dead".  8  out  of  10.

The Last Of Lucy/Ashvattha/2017 Full Length Review

  The  Last  Of  Lucy  are  a  band  from Huntington  Beach,  California  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  technical  death  metal,  grind  and  mathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "Ashbattha".

  Ambient  style  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  direction  which  also  introduces  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  along  with  some  high pitched  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  When  solos and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  technical  fashion  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  the  music  also  mixing  both  the  atmospheric  and  heavy  parts  together  at  times.

  Clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  saxophones  when  they  are  utilized  bring  in  elements  of  jazz  music  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  at  times  they  music  gets  very  experimental  and  as  the album  progresses  influences  of  groove  metal,  mathcore  and  technical  grindcore  are  added  into  the  music. 

  The  Last  Of  Lucy  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  elements  of  math,  grindcore,  groove  metal,  ambient,  jazz  and  experimental  music  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  scientific  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  The  Last  Of  Lucy  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  mixture  of  technical  death  metal,  grind  and  mathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Chapter  II  Odyssey"  "Obsidian  Archetype"  and  "Agarttha".  8  out  of  10.

Torso Murder/Self Titled/2017 Full Length Review

  Torso  Murder  are  a  band  from  Cleveland, Ohio  that  plays  a  mixture  of  djent,  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  and  self  released  2017  album.

  A  horror  movie  orientated  synth  intro  starts  off  the  album  and  spoken  word  samples  are  also  used  briefly  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls and  angry  screams.

  Elements  of  djent  and  deathcore  can  be  heard  in  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  and  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  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  clean  guitars  can  be  heard  as  well  as  some  progressive  elements.

  Torso  Murder  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  djent,  deathcore  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  based  upon  the  murders  in  the  1930's  done  by  a  serial  killer  that  was  also  known  as  the  Torso  Murder.

  In  my  opinion  Torso  Murder  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  djent,  deathcore  and  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Suspended  In  Mind"  "Lady  Of  The  Lake"  and  "Filling  The  Void  With  Corpses".  8  out  of  10.