Xenosis/Devour And Birth/2018 Full Length Review

  Xenosis  are  a  band  from  Connecticut  that  plays  a  very  melodic,  progressive  and  technical  form of  death  metal  with elements  of  groove metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  album  "Devour  And  Birth"  which  will  be  released  in  2018.

  A  very  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  musical instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  as  well  as  the vocals  being  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  screams  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  yet  technical  fashion  while  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  amount  of  prog  elements  along  with t he  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  clean  playing  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  as  the  album  progresses  elements  of  groove  and  modern  thrash  metal  are  added  into  the  music  and  there  is  also  a  brief  intro  that  gives  the  music  more  of  a  sci-fi  atmosphere  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  Xenosis  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  the  melodic,  technical  and  progressive  sides  of  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  with  elements  of  groove and  thrash  metal  to  create  a  sound  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  Xenosis  are  a  very  great  sounding  melodic,  progressive  and  technical  death  metal  band  with  touches  of  modern  thrash  and  groove  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Night  Hag"  "Concave"  and  "The  Projector".  8  out  of  10.  

Dead Meat/Preachers Of Gore/Vomit Your Shirt/2017 CD Review

  Dead  Meat  are  a  band  from  Portugal  that  plays  a  very brutal  and  guttural  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Preachers  Of  Gore"  which  was  released  by  Vomit  Your  Shirt.

  A  horror  movie  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  direction which  also  introduces  guttural  death  metal  growls  onto  the  recording  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  screams a re  also  used  at  times.

  A  great amount  of  slam  elements  can  be  heard  in  the  mid  tempo  sections  of  the  songs  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  at  times  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  pig  squeals  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  music  always  remains  very  heavy  and  brutal.

  Dead  Meat  plays  a  style  of  slam  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  and  guttural  and  while  some  of  their  vocals  are  not  my  thing  they  make  up  for  it  in  brutality,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore,  death  and  disease  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dead  Meat  are  a  very  decent  sounding  brutal  and  guttural  death  metal b and  and  if  you  are a   fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Died  With  Open  Eyes" "Fluids  From  The  Infected  Urethra"  "Preachers  Of  Gore"  and  "Killing  People".  7/5  out  of  10.  

Chronic Xorn/For These Sins Who Must Die/2017 Full Length Review

  Chronic  Xorn  are  a  band  from  India  that  plays  a  mixture  of  groove,  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2017  album  "For  These  Sins  Must  Die"  which  will  be  released  on  December  18th.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  with  keyboards  and  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  along  with  symphonic  elements  before  going  into  more  of  a  fast  and  brutal  direction  which also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  screams.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  riffing  while  the  music  also  mixes  in  elements  of  groove  metal  and  metalcore  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads a re  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars.

  Chronic  Xorn  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  groove,  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  love,  hatred,  dark  side  of  life  and  society  and  anger  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Chronic  Xorn  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  groove,  death  metal  and  deathcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "For  These  Sins  Who  Must  Die" and  "VoxPopuli".  8  out  of  10.  

VileDriver Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit abut the band?
1. We're not your usual metal dudes. The drummer listens to a lot of free jazz, the guitarist a lot of RnB and Drum N Bass, and the singer, well, the sickest metal out there really. We get together only to bust out tunes, and rarely see each other otherwise.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
2. I describe our musical sound as a collage of our favourite sub genres of Metal, and decorated with advanced phrasing and grooves derivative of jazz and funk.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
3. The lyrics are very generally about inner anguish, inner struggle, and shit-slinging against opposers.

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

4. The name VileDriver was a unanimous vote, which kind of encapsulated speed and evil, and proudly represented metal with the name and logo alone. Apparently there's a video game character in Megaman by the same name....and that's A Ok with us.

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?
5. Most of the best shows happened at our home base of Toronto, at Coalition. It's run by metal enthusiasts that attracts metalheads for every event. I think my favourite show was the most recent Ontario Death Fest 4 - Every one was up front and excited by our set, and were both friends and members of the other bands, who totally get the tech metal message. There's a YouTube video filmed by Capten Zomby that captured the first two power-packed tunes at
https://youtu.be/-MuAQcGShgc.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?
6. We have a CD release show Dec 15 at the Geekery in Niagara Falls, and a CD release show Jan 19 2018 at Coalition in Toronto. We aren't a touring band, so one needs to come to see us

7.The new album was released on 'CDN Records', are you happy with the support that they have given you so far?
7. I'm exasperated by how much support CDN Records gave to VileDriver, as well as Black Market assisting in the media and promotions. It's been an amazing experience working with them, and they've given Canadian metal a fighting chance

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of brutal and technical death metal?
8. Feedback has been unbelievably encouraging and positive. We're very excited not only to provide our contribution to the pond of extreme metal, but to contribute to entertain and inspire with many follow-up releases in the near future.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
9. Musically we have already upped the game in respect to technicality. Songs on our first release are songs written about 3-4 years ago. We won't let anything out of the gate unless its full potential has been realized. Once we have the hook-in-your-mouth, we're going to lead faithful followers on an incredible musical journey of unexpected twists and turns, and humour. Yes humour.

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?
10. I think generally we enjoy bands like Decapitated, Dying Fetus, Ion Dissonance, Cryptopsy, Dumpster Mummy, Origin, Nile, Mr. Bungle....those are the bands we admire.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?
11. The drummer is a photographer and explores the visual arts. The guitarist lifts weights and very much enjoys Drum N Bass and Rnb bands. The singer brings up various species of reptiles.


12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
12. Final thoughts are, that we very much acknowledge the listeners looking for something outside of the normal, the people with minds open enough to appreciate music that doesn't fit a normal structure. And, like free jazz, you have to let go of the control and let the music lead you on a journey. It doesn't matter if you like Mudvayne or Meshuggah.....we're all still speaking a special language, and we'll be there to continue the tradition of underground music when the underground music isn't so underground anymore.

The Last Of Lucy Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're a Technical Death Metal with Jazz, Experimental, & Ambient elements. TLOL originally started as a Mathcore/Experimental/Death Grind 4 piece outfit from Huntington Beach California. We are now a 5 piece.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?
'Ashvattha' is a story about The Tree Of Life from Hindu culture. I simply made a story about these newly arisen deity that are in search of eternal youth & enlightenment. The 3 chapters cover the beginning & end, of being thrown into this dimension where the deity are faced with adversities along the way in search of 'Ashvattha'

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Aside from the concept the remaining songs on 'Ashvattha' consist of personal experience. Your day to day feelings that we all can relate to, such as feeling appreciated, growth of knowledge, paranoia, aggression, love, & hatred.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'The Last Of Lucy'?
The original members derived the inspiration of the name from the movie 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas' being one of the Characters was named Lucy.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
We've played Summer Slaughter as opening acts a couple times & we also opened for Trivium that was alot of fun. Played Tijuana, that was super sick! Any show we play we try and bring a high intensity value, We want you to move & get aggressive lose your freakin minds!

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
We have a CD release show happening at The Observatory in Santa Ana December 16th. No Tours planned yet. We need some Good tour mates!!!

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We are interested in working with a label, no calls yet.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and experimental music?
It's been pretty good! I'd say Asian & European countries have been the ones giving the most feedback, which they definitely love us!
When we play shows throughout the states and people see us we get a great reaction & sell merch quite often, Everyone's usually thrown off by the name at first.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
More Dark. Darkness is emerging..

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?
Wormed, Beneath The Massacre, Necrophagist, Archspire, Dillinger Escape Plan, Animals As Leaders, The Kennedy Veil, Arkaik, Inanimate Existence

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I (Josh) collect video games retro & new. Also love making beats Hip Hop & Trap. I serve up weed at a dispensary.
Gad loves serving beer up at Slater's 50/50 in Huntington Beach. We Pays for all this album shit. Lol
Brandon just plays drums everyday, and he makes dentures. pretty sick.
Ricky plays guitar & bass all day everyday at Griffdogs Studios. Christian works hard all the time & shreds with his other band Transcend The Realm!
The dudes practice their instruments nearly every fuckin day, We live this.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
THE LAST OF LUCY is very excited to bring you new music! We are already in the works of new music & cant wait to shred in front of y'all one day!

Viledriver/Primary/CDN Records/2017 CD Review

 Viledriver  are  a  band  from  Toronto,  Ontario,  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  technical  death  metal  and  progressive  grindcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Primary"  which  will  be  released  on  December  15th  by  CDN  Records.

  Avant  garde  style  pianos  and  atmospheric  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  brutal  direction  while  the  faster  sections  of t he  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  grindcore  elements  along  with  the  vocals  bringing  in a   mixture  of  death  metal  growls and  high  pitched  screams.

  At  times  the  music  gets  very  progressive  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  technical  fashion  as  well  as  having  their  melodic  moments  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  also  being  used  briefly  and  throughout  the  recording  you can  also  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars  and  as  the  album  progresses experimental  elements  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Viledriver  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  technical  death  metal  and  progressive  grindcore  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  violent  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Viledriver  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  technical  death  metal  and  progressive  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gnaw  Your  Tongue"  "Frightener"  and  "Your  Religion  Has  Failed  You".  8  out  of  10.

Faustian Dripfeed/Faustian Escapades/2017 EP Review

  Faustian  Dripfeed  are  a  band  from  Norway  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays a  melodic  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  f  their  self  released  2017 ep  "Faustian  Escapades".

  Spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  faster  direction which  also  introduces  blast  beats  onto  the  recording  while  the  vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  along  with t he  solos  and  leads  being  done in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  A  great  amount  of  melody  can  also  be  heard  in  the  riffing  along  with  some  acoustic  guitars  also  being  used  briefly  while  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  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's,  electronic  music  elements  can  also  be  heard  briefly.

  Faustian  Dripfeed  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  melodic  death  metal  style  that  was  established  on  their  previous  release,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Faustian  Dripfeeed  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Headless  Body  In  The  Topless  Bar".  8  out  of  10.