Kinnefret/The Coming Of Age/2016 CD Review

  Kinnefret  are  a  band  from  Oakland,  California  that  plays  a  melodic  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2016  album  "The  Coming  Of  Age".

  Field  recordings  start off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  high  pitched  screams  and  death  metal  growls  are  added  onto t he  recording  along  with  some  very  heavy  yet  melodic  guitar  riffing  and  when  the  music  speeds up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  you  can  alsohear  a  great  amount  of  Swedish  influences  in  all  of  the  songs.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  classical  guitars  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  some  songs  also  bring  in  violins  and  ethnic  elements  and  there  are  also  traces  of  brutal  death  metal  on  some  of  the  tracks.

  A  lot  of  the  songs  mix  in  a  great  amount  of thrash  influences  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  get  very  technical  at  times  while  some  riffs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  prog  metal  and  djent  and  they  also  bring  in  an  a  couple  of  instrumental  tracks  and  the  screams  are  done  by  a  female  while  the  the  growls  are  done  by  a  male.

  Kinnefret  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  melodic  death  metal  while  bringing  in  a  more  brutal  touch  to the  genre  along  with  some  influences  of  thrash,  prog  and  djent  which  also  makes  the  music  stand  out  a  bit more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Kinnefret  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  Awakening"  "The  Warrior"  "Eternal  Damnation"  and  "The  Prophets".  8  out  of  10.

Lord Of War/Suffer/Unique Leader/2016 CD Review

  Lord  Of  War  are  a  band  from  Oceanside,  California  that  plays  a  very  brutal,  atmospheric  and  melodic  mixture  of  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Suffer"  which  will  be  released  in  July by  Unique Leader  Records.

  Sci  fi  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  the  music  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  brutal  direction  a  few  seconds  later  that  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  done  in  mostly  a  growling  fashion  while  spoken  word  samples  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  mid  tempo  parts  are  heavily  influenced  by  slam  and deathcore.

  Screaming  vocals  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  a  decent  amount  of  melodic  riffing  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  mix  in  some  melodies  while  also  being  very  dark  at  the  same  time  and  the  sci  fi  elements  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  an  atmospheric  feeling  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  A  lot  of  the  faster  riffing  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and on  some  songs  the  vocals  also  mix  in hardcore  style  shouting  and  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  there  is  also a   small  amount  of  spoken  word  samples  on  some  songs  while  later  on  during  the  recording  the  riffs  start  utilizing  more metalcore  style  breakdowns  along  with  touches  of  prog  and  djent  and  one  of  the  songs  closer  to t he  end  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  keyboards.

  Lord  Of  War  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  brutal,  technical  and melodic  styles  of  death  metal  and  mixes  it  with  deathcore  and  a  sci  fi  atmosphere  while  also  demonstrating  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  musicians,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover the  universe,  space,  earth,  aliens  and  constellations  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Lord  Of  War  are  a  very  great  sounding atmospheric,  technical,  brutal  and  melodic  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  "Nexus  Of  Hate"  "Behold  The  Harvest"  "Carbon  Based  Genocide"  and  "Killing  Must  Feel  Good  To  God".  8  out  of  10.

Korpse/Unethical/Rising Nemesis Records/2016 CD Review

  Korpse  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  gore/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Unethical"  which  was  released  by  Rising  Nemesis  Records.

A  very  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  and spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  vocals  are  guttural  death  metal  growls  and   the  music  also  brings  in  elements  of  slam  at  times  along  with  a  great  amount  of  east  coast  influences.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  avoid  using  any  guitar  solos  and  leads  and  the  whole  album  also  remains  very  heavy  and  brutal  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording  and  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  return  on  later  tracks  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Korpse  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  and  also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  slam  elements,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  social  issues  and  political  themes.
 
  In  my  opinion  Korpse are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "Collateral  Casualties"  "Stoneage"  "Unethical"  and  "Eternal  Misery".  8  out  of  10.  

Human Vivisection/The Perptual Gap/Rising nemesis Records/2016 CD Review

  Human  Vivisection  are  a  band  from  Belgium  that  plays a  brutal  form  of  slam  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of their  2016  album  "The  Perpetual Gap"  which  was  released  by  Rising  Nemesis  Records.

  Dark  sound  effects  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a  slamming  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  at  times  the  vocals  can  get  very  guttural.

  A  lot  of  east  coast  death  metal  influences  can  be  heard  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  focusing  more  on  mid  tempo  sections  and  keyboards  are  also  added  onto  the  last  track  while  the  guitars  remain  very  heavy.
 
  Human  Vivisection  plays  a  style  of slam  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  and  heavy  sounding  in  the  east  coast  tradition,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes.

  In my  opinion  Human  Vivisection  are  a  very  great  sounding  slam  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Age  Of  Disgust"  "Feed  The  Warmachine"  "Birth  Of  A  Defective  Race"  and  "Creation  Of  The  Spiritual  Machines".  8  out  of  10. 

Ligature Wound/Self titled/Iron, Blood & Death Corporation/2016 EP Review

  Ligature  Wound  are  a  band  from  the  United  States  that  plays  a  very brutal  form  of  gore/death metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  titled  2016 ep  which  was  released  by  Iron,  Blood  &  Death  Corporation.

  Horror movie  samples  start  off  the  album  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  goes  into a  very  fast  and  brutal  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  blast  beats  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  melodies  at  times  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  high  pitched  screams  can  be  heard  briefly.

  Elements  of  grindcore  can  be  heard  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  and  the  tracks  also  bring in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  some  of  the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  the  whole  ep  also  remains  heavy  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Ligature  Wound  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  while  also  mixing  in  elements  of grindcore  and  black  metal,  the  production  sounds  very professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Ligature  Wound  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Undead  Of  The  Night"  and  "Obsessed  With  Torture".  8  out  of  10.

Bulletsize/Pansar/2016 Full Length Review

  Bulletsize  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released 2016  album  "Pansar".

  A  very  heavy  yet  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  and  after  a  few  seconds  blast  beats  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  the  vocals  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  growls  and  screams  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  some  parts  of  the  songs.

  When  solos and  leads  are utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  elements  and  there  is  also a  brief  use  of  keyboards  as  the  album  progresses  and  the  songs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  Swedish  style  and  the  last  track  is  all  instrumental.

  Bulletsize  plays  a  style  of  melodic  Swedish  death  metal  that  is  also  very  heavily  influenced  by  thrash,  the  production  sounds  very professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.


  In  my  opinion  Bulletsize  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  "Abomination"  "In The  Front  We  Die"  and  "Blackhole  Village".  8  out of  10.     

  

Peripheral Cortex Interview

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



JO:  Hey,, thanks for putting up these questions.  Sure the band's inception happened in fall 2013 when Rob (bass) started seeking musicians to collaborate with back then.  By time, Chris C (drums) showed interest in Rob's creativity, followed by Leo (guitars) and Chris B (guitars) at a later stage.  In the same period, the band had a hard time finding a dedicated frontman, which made things rather tough for the band to progress.  The guys placed various adverts which went somehow viral online and it was till then when I stumbled upon the advert (while being on a short vacation from London to Berlin) and decided to give it a shot.  Regretfully, we also had to part ways with Chris B as his interests drifted apart from the band's direction, and till now we decided to proceed as a quartet.  However at some point we will be looking for a second guitarist to fill in the vacant spot.





2.Recently you have released a demo, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?



JO:  Not an easy question to answer!  To be precise we are trying in evolving our own sound and that isn't an easy thing to do.  Worth saying that Mendel Bij de Leij (ABORTED / ORACLES) applied his magical approach in the overall sound by improving both "thickness" and "chunkiness" in our 'Rupture' EP.  All I can say (especially for those who are reading this) is that through our initial package, we've been fairly described as a nice mixture of Necrophagist, Carcass (mid-90's), The Faceless, Beneath the Massacre, Death, and Arsis.  Subject to any evolution, it is highly possible that there will be a significant difference between the EP sound and the sound in our future recording(s).





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



JO:  Lyrical-wise we cover a wide array of concepts falling under the spectrum of psychology (cognition, existentialism), ancient philosophies, Gnosticism, sci-fi, and general struggles from a personal stance to a collective one.  Pretty much we intend to be rather conceptual and at a certain extent to bring something worth reading for the audience.





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



The band moniker can be interpreted in various ways not limited to ‘anatomy’, ‘an edge’ of a cortex such as the edge of the earth or a shell; and last but not least an additional cortex (i.e. mechanical) attached to the brain.  Pretty much sci-fi related!   Worth saying there was a lot of brainstorming in forming a name that suits our musical approach befitting the technical death metal genre.





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



JO:  To be quite frank, we only had one show recently in a local venue which we didn't promote for the sake of being a 'warm-up' gig intended for the few.  The scope behind it was simply to fine tune ourselves before hitting the 'real' stage.





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



JO:  We have plans underway to do performances locally and hopefully overseas such as the Netherlands, Czech, and perhaps the UK at a certain point.  Yet on the other hand we are focusing in writing new material in order to expand our set list (which will set us forth to the studio).

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



JO:  At our current stage it is impossible to seek any record deals, and that's also why we are in a writing-mode.  For the time being we only got 2 studio tracks, and although we are satisfied with the result, in the long run they might not be satisfactory enough to be utilized as a promo to target labels.  Consequently we are still building our audience.  Nowadays, stable labels prefer to sign bands with a good dose of creativity and amount of followers (for marketing purposes).





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



JO:  We didn't have a heavy exposure, not just yet.  So far the feedback was between good to overwhelming by listeners, few press and bands alike.  Interestingly enough we even got invited by two bands from the US and UK to share the stage with.  So I think we can take it as a good sign despite the fact that nowadays it is not easy to promote a 2 track EP unlike in the early 90’s back then…





9.When can we expect a full length album and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?



JO:  At the moment it is unrealistic to define release dates and related future plans.  Although we are goal-oriented, we are taking things the way they come instead of setting expectations which may eventually change.  Concerning full lengths we are aiming at entering the studio hopefully by late 2016 therefore the anticipation for a release launch might happen within the same year or early 2017.  On a better note, we will appear on the ‘Official Tribute to Pestilent’ with the track ‘Soul Search’ (from the ‘Spheres’ album) featuring Dying Fetus, Legion of the Damned, Severe Torture, and Forgotten Silence among many others… which will be released via Magik Art Entertainment (Russia).  So at the moment we are getting our hands full.





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?



JO:  In terms of musical styles and tastes, we came from different backgrounds.  There are diverse tastes that we have in common, and others not.  For instance Rob is quite into extreme tech death metal, jazz, and any other technical genres.  Chris has quite a thing for symphonic extreme metal (Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septic Flesh for instance), Leo is quite open though his focus leans towards progressive music, whereas for me, I come from the old school scene of death, black, thrash, avant-garde, and synth music.   Apart from metal, we listen to various genres.  Don’t be surprised if you spot me in an event like Lollapalooza for instance hahahaha.   I hope that sums it up :)





11.What are some of your non musical interests?



JO:  We all have our full time jobs or studies, so to put it that way...anything related with our work (for instance in my case I read a lot about user experience and usability), and sports.



                                                              

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


Well John, thanks loads for this interesting interview. As for the rest, stay tuned with our Facebook page www.facebook.com/peripheralcortex and feel free to download our EP from https://peripheralcortex.bandcamp.com