Absentia Lunae – Historia Nobis Assentietvr
Aetherius Obscuritas - Black Medicine
Annulliert - Hugins Tod
Apostol - Observing
Ars Macabra - Hate Induced Trance
Black Wreath - A Pyre of Lost Dreams
Blade Of Death - Remains of Eternity
Blastanus - Odd
Bone Parade - VollmondliederClagg - Lord Of The Deep
Corrosive Gastric Hemorrhage - Extracting the Bowels
Dark Covenant - Promo EP
Dispersed Ashes - Scattered Traces
Dopethrone - Demonsmoke
Eggnogg - Eggnogg
Fatal - The Law
Funeral Circle - Sinister Sacrilege
Godslave - Out of the Ashes
Goreaphobia - Mortal Repulsion
Gravsahl - ...A Part of Nothing
Guthrum - The First Ode to Many
Headhunted DC - God's Spreading Cancer
HOD - Serpent
Huata – Open the Gates of Shambala
Ibridoma - Ibridoma
Impaled Bitch - Mutation
Kataplexy - Promo 2009
Megasus - Megasus
Nachtlieder - Demo I
Nachtlieder - Demo II
Naetu - The Burning Lands
Nervouse Impulse - Enough for Dementia
Old Corpse Road - The Echoes of Tales once Told
Pensees Nocturnes - Vacuum
Sanctus Nex - Aurelia
Semtex - Pot Secret
Skanska Mord - The Last Supper
Temple Abattoir - Nechronicles
The Wizar'd - Infernal Wizardry
Thulr - The Seafarer
Trizna - Zhalniki
Trouble - Live in Los Angeles
Unborn Suffer - I Am Your Nemesis
Vaulting - Modus Humanis
Visioni Gotiche - Il segreto del demone
Wings Of Semargl - Posolon'...
Yidhra - Promo EP
Band: ABSENTIA LUNAE
Country: Italy
Title: Historia Nobis Assentietur
Label: ATMF
Year: 2009
Style: Black Metal
Review:
To quote the Aeternitas Tenebrarum website, Historia Nobis Assentietvr is a "new opus of thundering monumentality, where extreme avantgarde black metal is forged in a new cruel form, tightly intended to crush the wall of time” – I couldn’t put it better! This release is nothing short of killer. From the intro, a harsh, unyielding, semi industrial soundscape of Wagner samples, detuned radios, Italian speech like proclamations, and the cold wet noises of deserted factories, the stage and tone of this album is set – harshness. Many an album has started with this kind of electronic noise, and a lot of it can be pretty dismal (and not in the good way). There is so often a ‘get on with it’ factor that makes me hit the ‘next’ button, but in this case the parallels to the actual songs are clear and necessary. When track two, ‘The Condemnation of Rationalism’ breaks forth from the previous wall of sound, it’s fast, spiky and aggressive in a way that Absentia Lunae’s previous record ‘In Umbrarum Imperii Gloria’ wasn’t - neither better nor worse mind you - both damned fine!
One cannot help but notice the startling quality of the drumming, courtesy of former live Belphegor drummer ‘Blastphemer’, which are simply stunning. At times I could scarcely believe that it was a human behind the sticks!
Historia Nobis Assentietvr is a great display of modern black metal at its finest. The raw material has undergone an ideal mixing and mastering job that manages to retain an authentic genre feel without dissolving into mud. This CD is relentlessly brutal but with real character, and unlike so much of the industry at present, it is almost a case of anti marketing. There’s very little label polishing present, (hats off to Aeternitas Tenebrarum Music Foundation) despite the Sony/BMG backing, and this release has been left alone to do its job.
May Absentia Lunae, with this release, be recognized for the masters they are.
Reviewed by M.
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Band: AETHERIUS OBSCURITAS
Country: Hungary
Title: Black Medicine
Label: Paragon Records
Year: 2009
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Hungary's Aetherius Obscuritas have released their fifth "Black Medicine". The band's core sound seems to have it's roots in early 90's black metal whether it is the cold-raw Burzum sound or the more melodic, dark Dissection, Ancient influences. Main songwriter Arkhorrl {vocals, instruments} has created a dark masterpiece but also proves throughout the songs on this release he is not afraid to add some variety to the already dark and unique sound of Aetherius Obscuritas. Mixing in black metal screams some spoken word passages as well as clean male vocal lines. The guitars are fast and brutal riffs and solos with some rawness mixed into the production. The drums which are performed by Zson who does a magnificint job. If you are familar with Aetherius Obscuritas past releases then you know this band unique approach to black metal. If you have never heard the band and you are a fan of dark, black metal with some atmosphere then check out this CD now.
Reviewed by Patrick
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Band: ANNULLIERT
Country: Germany
Title: Hugins Tod
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Grey Metal
Review:
Annulliert is a one-man-band from Germany, the man behind this project being Ingus Ingrimm. He calls his music Grey Metal and I think the main thing that sets this project apart from others is the down-tunned guitar sound, hitting Sludge / Doom grounds. Also the vocals are pretty original, almost as hoarse and sick as Shining. Those are the good parts, the bad parts of this 5 tracks (30 minutes) are the overall chaotic and uncurdled play that sometimes sounds really amateurish, the parts where Ingus tries to add growls, and the guitar solos/leads that are quite horrible, just listen to the 4th track... The tempo is mostly mid-paced, and the sound is quite ok, so you could give it a try to form your own opinion, the EP is available for free download from Annulliert's website.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: APOSTOL
Country: Tunisia
Title: Observing
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Modern Melodic Death Metal
Review:
Again another unknown band. I didn't find any information on the web over this band soo I can just tell you what I've heard: a good technical and melodic death metal. Three songs are coming with the demo (I think), not long but intensive. The style is not new or individual, but they are using there instruments (or is it just one person?) well, What I like is the change in the tempo and rhythms. The voice is not growled and not screamed and reminded me little bit of In Flames.
So everyone who like modern meloic death should try to find the music of them somewhere in the web. Maybe Adrian can give you some advice! hehe (Adrian's note: I've added the band contact details, so anyone interested can check their website/myspace)
Reviewed by Robert
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Band: ARS MACABRA
Country: Italy
Title: Hate Induced Trance
Label: Sinister Sounds
Year: 2007
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Italy's Ars Macabra have released a good solid release of cold, violent black metal. Starting things off with a dark semi-melodic instrumental intro before bombarding the listener with some extremly fast and unrelenting black metal the band reminds of some
of the early 90's Swedish black metal with their approach and guitar work and non-stop blast drums. Ars Macabra have found and used the
perfect production as well for the music they created. It is not crystal clear like most of todays bands but is defintly not as harsh or raw as 80's or the early 90's bands. Fans of early Dark Funeral, mid-era Marduk will want to check out Ars Macabra.
Reviewed by Patrick
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Band: BLACK WREATH
Country: Denmark
Title: A Pyre of Lost Dreams
Label: Head Not Found
Year: 2009
Style: Funeral Doom
Review:
You could called Black Wreath a "super-group" keeping in mind the band consists of Kim Larsen, (ex-Saturnus, Of The Wand And The Moon and others), Blazing Eternity's vocalist Peter Mesnickow and Whelm's bassist Dave Miller. With such a line up, you would think Black Wreath knows its stuff as far as melodic Doom Death Funeral Doom is concerned and they do. But the band takes things a bit further into the dark realms of Funeral Doom and often delivers a powerful, depressing and heavy dose of sad Funeral Doom of some real quality.
The album is made of four tracks, the last one being the most ambient one. The three first are very long and extremely heavy, not so much in sound but in emotional depth.
The vocals shift from heavy growls to half spoken, half mumbled voice. It tops a thick layer of mournful guitars' lines, monotonous and yet with lyrical sounding guitar lines .. Songs have a dark but tranquil vibe, the deeply sad moods the band slowly spews forth will get stuck on your mind. The production is a bit distant, which certainly is a good idea considering the type of atmosphere they are trying to get across but at times some of it seems to be lacking certain dynamics and stifles the some of the melodies. In some parts of the songs, there is some incredible tension that build and build but sadly there is no big endings which left me a little frustrated.
"The Black Holes of Your Mind" is the longest track at 15 minutes and is about as bleak as you can get. The vocals here shift between a narrative tone and crushing growls, but after nearly 6 minutes of this the guitars begin to stray elsewhere, the pace slows even further almost to the point of stopping completely. There is a acoustic guitar interlude that while sparse and predictable, hits hard emotionally speaking and creates a unexpected folk metal atmosphere. "Nocturnal Dominion" follows, and lacks much of the vibe of the first track. This is 13 minutes of deep, meandering, cavernous doom metal that crawls like some monolithic beast, the sound is broken up with some keyboards and chimes that adds something different to a track that i found largely dull even for a Funeral Doom track.
"Solitude Rising (Missing All Exits)" the third track is again very long, at 14 minutes, but at least manages to sound original but trying something different for a Funeral Doom band. There is some very somber riffs and experimental little, fluttering bells and guitar lines. "Nidstong" closes the album with nearly 8 minutes of minimal rainfall, and dark, low-end piano sounds. It might sound great in a movie soundtrack but here it just serves up a very mundane, boring way to finish a album. When its good this album is awesome but when its dull, its reach for a Tylenol time. Search out the good parts though and you will be rewarded, the rest is just too much of a trip into nothingness.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: BLADE OF DEATH
Country: unknown
Title: Remains of Eternity
Label: unknown
Year: 2009
Style: Ambient
Review:
The first problem of some for this music and band was, to find out where it comes from or to find any page of it. I found nothing over Google or Myspace. So I am sorry that this review lags of informations.
To the music. You have six tracks there, but to be honest, listening to them is quite boring or for me after some time somehow headache making. Not that it is over bad music, but it is all the time just organ music, with maybe some choirs or so, but there is for every track just one melody and that goes then over four till six minutes. For me it was annoying and I was relieved when I switched the player off. (Adrian's note: if anyone has any info at all about this band please let me know, I don't remember how and from whom I have received it, my bad and his/her bad also for not attaching any damn info!).
Reviewed by Robert
Contact:
unknown
Band: BLASTANUS
Country: Finland
Title: Odd
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Technical Death Grind
Review:
Blastanus comes from Finland, a band that was founded 2 years ago and has only recently succeeded to release their debut material. Still this debut is a full-length, a 16 tracks release lasting for about 35 minutes that shows us a quite mature technical Death Grind band walking on the path that Cephalic Carnage / Dillinger Escape Plan started to develop. We are treated with mostly ultra-fast rhythms, but the band insetred some technical virtuoso parts as well, mostly on guitar work, dual vocals (growls and screams), and very skilled drumming (blastbeats are of course present). The tracks are very short, but concise and straigth to the point, containing a very good mix of catchy rhythms with twisted, insane changes and breaks. The sound is perfect, and that's not an common thing for a selfproduced band nowadays. A very good release that presents us an upcoming monster in the Finnish metal scene, so this is certainly a band to follow. In the meantime you should get this release as a taste of things to come.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: BONE PARADE
Country: USA
Title: Vollmondlieder
Label: Wind And Fog Records
Year: 2009
Style: Experimental Doom
Review:
Bone Parade's Vollmondlieder is a exercise in chilling ambient darkness put together by by married duo and Albany Sonic Arts Collective regulars Kevin Johnston and Erica Sparrow. The music within is of the droning doom variety and while music like is limited with what you can do with it, Bone Parade do manage to come up with something that is not just another homage to Sunn O))). Originally released on cassette by Scotch Tapes, it is only 20 minutes long containing 4 tracks on a wonderfully made hand-made, hand-sewn sleeve. Opener "Mandragora/Death And The Maiden" engulfs you in drone and operatic vocals and the feeling you get off this is one of coldness. I can't help thinking about a frozen wasteland while listening to this. You have the operatic singing of Erica Sparrow which gives the music a entirely different atmosphere to most other bands in the drone genre. Kevin Johnston provides the noise behind it while Sparrow recites a spoken word passage, very effective and like I said before - chilling. "Selenite" has a more industrial feel about it while making a hell of a thunderous noise. "The White Ship Has Sailed" and "Veneration" seems the music more grounded but the vocal sharing on "Veneration" from Johnston and Sparrow creates a even colder atmosphere but seems to be the least original piece of the EP. This is best described as "esoteric drone" so might not be to everyones taste but I like it, if you are already a drone fan you will know what to expect. They are hardly breaking any new ground but they are also not copying anyone either, this sounds fresh in a genre that is trapped within its own cliches. The CD version of Vollmondlieder is limited to 200, and one look at it and you will see the hard work that went into making it.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: CLAGG
Country: Australia
Title: Lord Of The Deep
Label: 666 Records
Year: 2009
Style: Sludge Doom Metal
Review:
One of the draw-backs of getting CD's sent to you every week for reviews is sometimes a CD gets lost in the endless pile of CD's or simply gets forgotten about. One look at my CD collection and you can see how easily this could happen, this is the case of Clagg's third album "Lord Of The Deep" where too many CD's and too little time forced me to put this on hold for a while. I totally regret it now as this is a great slab of sonic Doom from a band that is one of Australia's heaviest bands ever. Its been two years since they released "Where Dead Gods Sleep" which was so heavy it was like they were searching for the ultimate brown note noise. That album was incredibly, oppressively thick and slow and this album might be a little faster overall but the heaviness is still there intact. The band has been plagued with a lot of line-up changes recently but its great to see they have lost nothing in terms of heaviness or sonic brutality.
The album starts with the 16 minute "Carrion" and in typical Clagg style it is in the vein of Iron Monkey, Grief etc. There is not much in terms of riffs but there is a oddly faster middle section to break things up a bit. With bands like this there is a tendency to get a little tedious and the last half of the track does just that. Its still all good but they might have been wise to shave a few minutes off the track but thankfully there is a great solo towards the end of the track which makes it worth the journey. The title track which is split into two parts called "They Dream Fire" and "At the Rising of the Storm" is more concise than the opener despite running over 15 minutes. "Buried" has a killer riff but its a real effort to sit through as once again, one killer riff in a such a long track makes it a demanding stretch.
"The Harvest" is different from the rest of the album because the sludge noise is replaced by traditional doom and the vocals take a un-expected twist. The raspy growls are replaced by some crooning which gives singer Scotty a chance to show he has some melody to his pipes as opposed to his usual hollering style. The final track "Devour the Sun" takes the band back to its usual sludge fest and once again things do tend to drag on a bit but it is saved by some scorching solo guitar work. Despite the fact that most of the songs do run over their desired running times, i still think this is a slight improvement over "Where Dead Gods Sleep" and therefore is a ideal way to start checking out this band if you haven't done so as yet.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: CORROSIVE GASTRIC HEMORRHAGE
Country: Paraguay
Title: Extracting the Bowels
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Gore Grind
Review:
Another first for Pest webzine, I think this is the first Paraguayan act I have the chance to review inhere. CGH were formed back in 2004, but only released this demo so far, a 15 tracks material lasting for about 24 minutes. What we get here is a putrid, guttural display of groovy old-school Grindcore with a sound that's not the best I've heard, but it may work for Underground Grindcore fanatics. The Paraguayan sickos are not a boring band, they tend to change rhythms and pace a lot and also the guitarist is doing his best with some technical leads here and there. The main vocals are good enough, but after a while they tend to get boring. Still the background vocals that appear here and there are really good and really welcomed.
Nothing spectacular here, but definitely not a band to throw away.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: DARK COVENANT
Country: Canada
Title: Promo EP
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Doom Metal
Review:
During the early-mid 1980s, bands from England and the United States contributed much to the formation of Traditional Doom Metal as a distinct genre. In 1982, English pioneers Witchfinder General released their debut album Death Penalty. During 1984 and 1985, three American pioneers also released their first albums Saint Vitus released their eponymous album, Trouble released Psalm 9 and Pentagram released Relentless. The Swedish Candlemass would also prove influential with their first record Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in 1986. Traditional Doom was on a high at this point in history and then it pretty much died, thankfully a few bands like Solitude Aeturnus brought it back in the consciousness of Doom Metal fans but it has remained underground ever since but maybe that is about to change with bands like Dark Covenant. The genre needs a much needed boost and this is a band that could do just that, they have released a 4 track promo EP and it has all the trademarks of a classic Traditional Epic Doom Metal.
The band concentrates on classic Doom Metal subject matter like ancient mythologies, the esoteric and other epic themes but its not just the lyrical concepts that puts this band firmly in the "classic mold", its also the stylish, finely tuned musicians. The EP starts with "Forever Amongst The Ruins" that begins with a very "Candlemass" sounding riff capped off with the stirring vocal work of Vjohrrnt Wodansson who has a commanding thundering voice. The track has all the elements needed for a epic Doom track, great riffing, a acoustic interlude, double bass drum pummeling and some soaring lead guitar lines. Track two is no slouch in the epic Doom department either, its called "Black Sun Rising" and the crunching riff and melodic note runs would make Solitude Aeturnus proud. Once again there is more exciting lead breaks from guitarist Evil Lair and its quite obvious that this band takes their music very seriously as the musicianship is top shelf stuff. The band has playing in one form or another since the early 90's and it shows as their instrumental skills are excellent. "Black Sun Rising" is nearly 7 minutes long but it actually seems short as it is so well constructed in terms of arrangement. The song abruptly ends leaving you wanting more like there should be a part two to this epic tale.
Next up is "Perennial Solitude" and out of the four tracks, this one might be the best at showcasing the brilliant guitar work of both Evil Lair and JS. Both highly talented players who have a obvious flair for playing this genre of metal. The track like all the tracks are a finely tuned balanced between melodic Doom metal and technical ability without going too overboard in either direction. The final track is "Black Raven" and has one of the heavier riffs on the CD but its also combined beautifully with somber quieter moments that add to the intensity of the song. Like "Black Sun Rising" it has a un-expected ending which leaves you wanting more and also makes you wander if there was some music left on the cutting room when it was recorded. The fade out conclusion seems to be a after-thought but all the songs on here are the type of songs that could easily be extended into very long pieces of music. The band has a full length album in the works and is going to be one of the most eagerly awaited albums of 2010. Its not too often in the world of Doom you hear a band with this much musical ability seeing as the current Doom scene is awash with sludge, stoner riffing bands and you certainly don't hear guitar solos as good as this too often either. They are a band that will appeal to old-school Doom Metal fans and fans of Traditional Melodic Metal but i would hope all "Doom Fans" will take some time out to hear this band. This is only the beginning for the band but with material like this and musicianship of this quality, the future of Doom Metal is in good hands. Like it proudly states in the inside of the CD, "Face Your Imminent Doom".
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: DISPERSED ASHES
Country: Germany
Title: Scattered Traces
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Funeral Doom
Review:
Here I am now, reviewing the work of one of my collaborators, odd enough, isn't it? Mark started Dispersed Ashes this year as a strictly studio-limited project and has already released two EPs. the first one, "Earth and Dust", is (was?) strictly limited to 50 handnumbered copies, and this one, "Scattered Traces", which as far as I know is not a limited copies one.
"Scattered Traces" is a 5 tracks release lasting for a full-half hour and displaying a heavy depressive atmosphere all over. This is basically Funeral Doom with Blackened vocals creating a deep, hopeless atmosphere but lacking a sound that such a release would deserve. I do like the instrumental execution and the compositions, but the vocal style is not my fave. The best work inhere is on guitars, a mix between monotonous leads and blackened guirat riffs.
Recommended to the ones of you used with the most Depressive side of metal.
Reviewed by Adrian
Contact:
Band: DOPETHRONE
Country: Canada
Title: Demonsmoke
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Stoner Doom Sludge
Review:
Its been a hell of a few months for Canadian Doom and Sludge and here is another CD to add to the ever growing list of killer Canadian releases. "Dopethrone" in March 2008 as a completely D.I.Y. project but quickly formed into a fully fledged band, the band members are Vincent on guitar and vocals, Thomas on drums and Vyk playing bass guitar. With a name like "Dopethrone", they don't win any points for originally and the music itself is very much in the vein of Bongzilla, Weedeater and Sleep but there is a big difference. Where as Bongzilla battered your brains out with long repetitive riffing, Dopethrone actually keep the songs pretty short and have a almost catchy appeal.. Obviously the band are a pack of weed-worshiping maniacs and like Bongzilla, they use a few spoken word samples to drive that point home but its the riffs, the great sound and concise song arrangement that make this such a great release. From the opening title track "Demonsmoke" with the spoken word sample about a woman buying some "Colombian", you pretty much know what you are in for but don't ride them off as just another rip-off stoner band because they have the riffs and more. The riffing has a hazy, old school groove that is more 70's than the likes of the other bands i previously mentioned. There is where the catchy element comes in, yes the sound is fat and heavy but there is a instant hook that comes with every track on here.
"Wizard's Sleeve" changes between big stoner grooves and some almost blue-grass style picking and the start/stop arrangement is very effective and pulverizing. "Spirit Ruiner" is filled with more thick grooves and more spoken word samples and the vocals are spewed forth in a typical Mike "Muleboy" Makela style but vocalist Vincent delivers it with a touch more demonic malice. Track four "Abraxas" is the odd tune of the bunch, a great tune in its own right but it sounds a little different from the rest of the album. "Psychic Vampire" and "Blood Boiler" are two of the best tracks on the album, the former is actually the longest track on the album at 5 minutes. It might sound funny but i find to listen to songs so short these days seeing as most Doom/Sludge bands do tend to drag things out as long as possible. This hurts the album a little in my opinion because a good riff deserves to be played over and over again, sometimes on this album you feel ripped off by the fact that songs end too quickly. "Power Violence Forever" strikes as being the weakest track on Demonsmoke but its in and out in just a couple of minutes. The album ends with "Legalize Murder", more thick heavy grooves are in abundance and its a fine way to finish what is a really short album that is more like a ep than a full length album.
Rating this album is difficult, its not original at all but still it kills with great grooves and a excellent production. The songs are great but at the same time seem too short and a little un-finished, the vocals are awesome but they have been done many times before. It would be so easy to say fuck it and give this a 10 but that wouldn't be too accurate in judging the album as a whole. Having made that observation, it must be said that if riffs make a album then this is one of the best albums released this year. Seeing as this band is fairly new, they have a incredible amount of potential to be a monster within the Stoner Doom Sludge scene if they can established a sound more of their own. Load your bong and give them a listen.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: EGGNOGG
Country: USA
Title: Eggnogg
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Sludge
Review:
First up I must say when this CD got sent my way, I really didn't know what to expect from a band called "Eggnogg" but I was blown away when I heard this self-released/self titled CD. The other problem I have is the CD arrived with no artwork or any information of any kind and to make matters worse, the only info I can find is on the Myspace page which appears to be a fan-run site. Anyway despite all that, this is one killer album that is pretty much a Doom album but with enough tempo changes and interesting guitar solos to make this very original sounding. You can hear a lot of different influences but at the same time, but they don't ripped off any of them. They have a Cathedral meets The Hidden Hand kind of Stoner Doom groove most of the time but what really stands out is the great solo work. This dude can really play with feeling, they are unique in as much they are melodic, jammy but also blend well with the rhythm section which is real tight.Stand out tracks would be "Ulysses Parts one & two" and "The Sloth". These are the sort of tunes that made me get into Stoner Doom Rock in the first place. The big riff, huge amounts of groove topped off with a element of 70's Rock mastery.If you like classic Stoner/Doom sounds especially like the ones from Maryland that came out in the 90's you will want to hear this band.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: FATAL
Country: USA
Title: The Law
Label: Slaney Records
Year: 2009
Style: Old-School Thrash Metal
Review:
Fatal is that kind of band that's 100% into Old-School Thrash Metal, the way it was played in the '80's by bands like Slayer, Exodus, Possessed or Devastation. "The Law" is Fatal's second EP, a 3 tracks material lasting for 21 minutes, so we're dealing with very long tracks here. Music-wise the band is all-old-school: fast and sharp guitar riffs, good solos, revolted kind of vocals and a rhythm section that's working perfectly to create a genuine Thrash machine. Nothing new or extraordinary here, of course, but this is for the ones of you into the '80's metal. I like the 2nd track the most, for it's headbanging rhythms.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: FUNERAL CIRCLE
Country: Canada
Title: Sinister Sacrilege
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Doom Metal
Review:
Funeral Circle is a Doom band hailing from Vancouver, Canada and have released their first official ep courtesy of Miskatonic Records. I heard a earlier demo from them and while the songs were great, the production was too thin for the music to leave any lasting impact. Things have turned around now because this is a beast of the ep with good production and things can only get better for this band who has some huge potential to be a monster within the Doom scene. The band is made up of a guitarist/singer who goes by the name of The Grand Inquisitor, Pilgrim who also plays Guitars, Malphas on bass and Patriarch playing drums. Whats unique about this band is the range of styles of Doom they covered, within the 30 minutes or so of this CD you will sounds similar to Candlemass, Pentagram, The Lamp Of Thoth, Paul Chain, Saint Vitus, Witchfinder General, Solstice and sometimes you will hear this all within the one song. The first two tracks, "Homunculus" and "Legions Invictus" are in the epic doom style similar to the likes of Candlemass but with a original twist. The vocalist, The Grand Inquisitor gives the songs some powerful and inspiring vocals and his lead playing shows a good understanding of vibrato and phrasing. Something that would make Tony Iommi proud. The rhythm section propels the tunes along that make you stand up and take notice, may even give you the chills up the spine like all good Doom Metal should do.
"Legions Invictus" is exceptionally arousing, similar to The Lamp Of Thoth's best work in as it features some well conceived and executed spoken word passages. "Sinister Sacrilege" kicks up the pace a little sounding like something out of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal era, with twists and turns this track sounds like it was made to be a opener or closer to a live set. While the tempo is pushed up a gear on this one, the track still retains the Doom sound and feel throughout. The track with the rather cheesy title "Fist of Satan" is more N.W.O.B.H.M esque style with some more up - tempo with a great riff and the chorus is especially catchy. The ep ends with a cover of an obscure 80’s Canadian band known as Lord Ryur. The song is called "Pact with the Sinner" and it fits in well with the rest of the cd. Sounding a little like Witchfinder General, this is pure old school Doom Metal Rock. Its great to see so much good stuff coming out of Canada right now. Funeral Circle are a band worth paying attention to with this EP. The songs are great and the musicianship is there, and they have a killer vocalist. If you’re into traditional Doom Metal and if you are a old school Doom fan you will dig the hell out of this baby. Can't wait for a full length album to come out from this band, now that is something to look forward to.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: GODSLAVE
Country: Germany
Title: Out of the Ashes
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2008
Style: Thrash Metal
Review:
Godslave is a new band formed last year (although they were active between 2000 and 2007 under the Slavery name, with no notable activity, though), but a band that has already released 1 full-length and the EP in cause here, both by their own, both in 2008. Out of the Ashes is a 5 tracks EP with a duration of around 23 minutes, a Thrash Metal release with some, few, Death Metal influences here and there. The first track starts pretty well with a horror intro and continues with a powerful guitar riff that attracted my attention, but it begins to loose power as time goes by and ends up as a mediocre track. The second track is the same, starting very good, with powerful guitar riffs, but ending up loosing that power. After several listenings I am pretty sure this comes from the guitars: you can almost bet there's only one inhere, but actually there are 2 guitarists, and obviously one is not doing his job as good as the other. Anyway, the next track is maybe the best here, full-force Thrash Metal with catchy rhythm, some melodic parts and good vocal variations, definitely my fave track. The fourth as catchy as the previous by it has some dead parts, and the EP ends with, strange enough, a strongly influenced Doom Death Metal track. The sound on this release is very good, the compositions need a bit more work, but the band shows they are into this music and they play with passion so I'm sure we'll see improvement on their next release.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: GOREAPHOBIA
Country: USA
Title: Mortal Repulsion
Label: Ibex Moon Rec.
Year: 2009
Style: Old-School Death Metal
Review:
Hell yeah, this is the really first album of Philadelphia's Death Metal legends Goreaphobia, a band that was established 21 years ago and have only had the chance to release demos and singles so far. Ibex Moon is now re-launching the band in the Extreme Metal fields. The album contains 12 tracks lasting for almost 50 minutes of Horror atmosphere Old-School Death Metal executed with the precision of a Swiss clock. This album breathes horror and emanates darkness and if I add that the band has 2 Incantation members (John and Jim), well, you'll know what we're treated here with: raw and brutal drums, razor-sharp guitar riffs and occasional solos, discrete but powerful bass lines and very good, old-school type of malignant and varied Death Metal vocals. Imagine a paranoic cemetery trip surrounded by a heavy, intense and dark atmosphere. Each instrument has its own place and identity on this album and that makes it a great one with no real weak points. Goreaphobia proove themselves a highly mature Death Metal band and this come-back is just another nail out of the Death Metal coffin, this genre is rising again from the graves...
Highly recommended to all Old-School Death metal followers!
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: GRAVSAHL
Country: Germany
Title: ... A Part of Nothing
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Ambient Black Metal
Review:
Gravsahl is a one-man-project of Graf von Sahl, and pretty much that is the only info I have on this act. This, I think, it's the debut demo consisting of 5 tracks and lasting for about 26 minutes. Gravsahl's music could be labeled as Mid-tempo Ambient Black Metal that somehow recalled me of Burzum's work, but that only because of the keyboards background. The music is pretty well executed, with varied rhythms, but not varied enough I think, because after some time you think all tracks are sounding alike. The last track is a nice ambient piece of keyboard work, I think he should insert more of this into his music.
this is a free for download demo, so you have nothing to loose by checking it.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: GUTHRUM
Country: UK
Title: The First Ode to Many
Label: Mynydd Du Records
Year: 2009
Style: Folk Black Death
Review:
Guthrum is a solo project formed last year in UK by Mark Wood. This one is Guthrum's debut demo, a 4 tracks release lasting for a bit more than 16 minutes. Musicwise Guthrum is still searching for a consolidated path to follow, but first thoughts on Mark's music are definitely strenghtening the idea that this project has a bright future ahead. First track on "First Ode..." is more like an intro as: opening with church bells, female soft choirs, fireplace sounds and entering or getting out (literally, as you can hear steps and doors shutting), by the end of the track, into a quite epic musical soundscape: acoustic guitars, whistles, waves hitting shores, what can I say, a magnificent intro that I've enjoyed a lot. First "real" track somehow hesitant (meybe because of the lead guitar sound), but gets on the track quite fast. Slow to mid-tempo death/black metal that mixes both chaotic feelings and steady, powerful and catchy rhythms. Next one is a track that starts on a very melodic (gothic) path, but that's changed rapidly into some aggressive epic black metal. And finally the last track is the most Folk-oriented one, a majestic and very catchy instrumental piece.
All in all this is a very good debut demo for a very promising act. The underground should get more of these acts. Try it yourselves.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: HEADHUNTER DC
Country: Brasil
Title: God's Spreading Cancer
Label: Ibex Moon Records
Year: 2009
Style: Death Metal
Review:
Slowly but certainly approaching 25 years of existence, Brasilian Death Metal legends Headhunted DC have just inked a deal with one of the most promising US labels nowadays, Ibex Moon Records. The first material out on Ibex Moon is this full-length, "God's Spreading Cancer", an album that was previously released in 2007 by Dying Music for Brasil, Obscure Domain Prod. for Europe in CD format and Evil Spell Rec. in vynil format. It's strange how Ibex Moon decided to go this way instead of requesting new material from the band, but that's not my business.
God's Spreading Cancer is a 9 tracks release completed by an intro, a Necrovore cover and 3 live recorded tracks, all this in more than 1 hour of Old-School Death Metal. Their type of Death Metal is based mostly on mid-tempo rhythms with very catchy guitar riffs and leads, occasional (great) solos, perfect drums / bass work and growling (but still very comprehensive) vocals supported by some screams and clean vox here and there. An extremely powerful kind of Swedish (old-school) influenced Death Metal forged in all these years, Headhunted DC might be one of the most mature bands in this genre nowadays and this album a true classic for diehard Death Metal fans. You'll hear some riffs that will certainly give you goose bumps, that kind of riffs that were considered lost in this scene for more than 15 years now. Killer release, if you haven't had the chance to buy it the first time, do it now!
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: HOD
Country: USA
Title: Serpent
Label: Ibex Moon Rec.
Year: 2009
Style: Blackened Death Metal
Review:
HOD is a new name for my ears, and I think not so many of you have heard of them either, but if you have a look at their line-up you'll find quite experienced musicians who've played in Thornspawn, GG Allin, Necrovore or Exulcerate, and by naming these bands you already have an idea of what we'll be treated through "Serpent". HOD's debut album is a 7 tracks (37 minutes) sadistic attack of Old-School, unpolished, violent Death Black Metal the way it was made at the end of the '80's, pure, honest and raw as hell. This is like a present for all you old-school extreme metal followers out there. HOD's music is made of: savage, devilish vocals, fast and catchy guitar riffs, and intense rhythm section. Atmosphere-wise HOD is evil on vocals, dark on guitars and raw, cruel on drums, a very good, cavernous debut for this band. This is what underground is all about: no trends, no boundarie and 100% passion.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: HUATA
Country: France
Title: Open the Gates of Shambala
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Sludge Doom Metal
Review:
Huata are a French band formed in 2006 who after many line-up changes have finally settled on a stable line-up in 2009. The band is made of Carcinos (guitar and vocals), Vkng Jzz (bass) and Coco (drums). Member Vkng Jzz is also plays in other French bands including The Arm Of The Dirty Rabbit, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. They play deeply distorted sludge doom in the vein of Electric Wizard, Church of Misery, Coven, Pentagram as well as Weedeater, Earthride and Ramesses. The music is hardly original but its real good powerful stoner doom metal and the lyrical is provocative to say the least. The subject matter includes Josef Fritzl and his Hitler youth, necrophilia, the destruction of the world and even some reference to the killing of hippies. The band is promoting their releases on myspace and offers their debut 2008 EP as a free download, click on the link on the bottom of this review and you will find the download embedded in the header of their page. The ep was Russian label Quagmire limited to 66 tapes. It was also distributed in France through the label Throatruiner records. The ep is supposed to be pressed on CD but its still available as a free download.
Huata is a Celtic, Breton word, one of whose meanings is "hunting witches" so that gives you some idea of where this band is coming from. The band is already getting a reputation for being a incredibly loud live band and the songs on here are made with excessive volume in mind. The guitar sounds are thicker than molasses especially the bass which is one of the heaviest bass sounds i have heard this year. The riffs are all built around huge amounts of fuzz and distortion but its not all slow doom, some of this stuff simply shreds in a stoner doom kind of way. The overall sound is pure vintage but pushed to the limits of sonic depravity, if Church Of Misery had of existed in the early 70's, they might have sounded like this. The production is dirty and raw, this type of production would hurt most bands but its suits Huata just right. There is no weak tracks on here, they are all great tunes but "Josef Fritzl Syndrom" and "Alchemist Reborn" stand out as being classic tracks. It is interesting that within the wall of sonic bliss they create there is also some strong melodies trying to push through although you may not notice it as the sound is so crushing at times. Its all over in about 30 minutes and it will leave you devastated, fans of Church Of Misery will love this. This was recorded over a year ago so a full length album can't be far away, i can't wait to hear what they come up with. If its anything like this, it will be one of the albums of the year.
Reviewed by Ed
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Band: IBRIDOMA
Country: Italy
Title: Ibrido
Label: SG Records
Year: 2009
Style: Heavy Metal
Review:
Lately I've heard all kind of female vocalists sounding like they were on vocal steroids, but to be honest I haven't heard a male vocalist sounding like a female since the Glam days. Ok, I'm not a big fan of these vocal types, but I can recognize something out of the ordinary and Christian from Ibridoma is such a thing. His vocals sound like the ones of an angry true heavy metal chick and don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this in an ironic way, he really gives an own identity to this band... Very interesting and quite enjoyable, and I'm saying this without questioning my sexual orientation, haha. Christian also adds some growls! Yes, some (few, yes) growls like the cherry on a cake. He's quite a rare diamond I tell you.
The instrumental part in Ibridoma is working out a strong, mid-tempo, groovy Heavy Metal machinery on a 9 tracks (50 minutes) path strongly influenced by the '80's times, but also fresh and I would say original: catchy and powerful guitar riffs and leads swinging from raw heavy metal to melodic hard'n'heavy tempos, groovy rhythm section and progressive-like keyboard backgrounds.
All in all this is a stong and very enjoyable album that will stay for long in my play-list. I really recommend it to all of you into '80's traditional melodic metal.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: IMPALED BITCH
Country: Italy
Title: Mutation
Label: Putrid Attitude Rec. / Grind Promotion
Year: 2009
Style: Thrash Death Grind
Review:
Impaled Bitch is a one-man-band coming from Italy. This one is Impaled Bitch's second EP, released (or only promoted/distributed?) by Putrid Attitude Records / Grind Promotion. It's composed by 8 tracks lasting for about 13 minutes, so in what concerns duration it can be entitled to be labeled as grindcore, but the reality is another: we're dealing with an old-school Death Grind heavily influenced by Thrash Death, with mostly mid-tempo to fast rhythms, a weak/amateurish production (the sound differs a lot from track to track), but with quite good and interesting ideas in what concerns composition and execution. Soso, the man behind this project seems to like a lot what he's doing and for an underground release done at home, this is enjoyable enough, there are some catchy riffs, good variations and what I like a lot, the drum-machine is not anoying or disturbingly synthetic. There are also some melodic / melancholic (???) parts in the intro / outro of this EP, parts that I almost enjoy, but don't see any point in including them on the release... I would like to hear this band/project again with a better, maybe professional production.
Reviewed by Adrian
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Band: KATAPLEXY
Country: USA
Title: Promo 2008
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Technical Death Grind
Review:
From what I read on their Myspace page Kataplexy was formed in 2007 and have released until now two demos, this one and another last year, but from their words they are a bit closeminded when it comes to their potential, I mean their goal is to play as many shows Chicago and get their name out within their region. That's a bit too little, guys and this is shown by their two tracks demo I'm reviewing here. Kataplexy is a quite good band playing their instruments flawless and creating a sick, brutal atmosphere that not many can do. Ok, this is certainly not original nor groundbreaking, but it displays a good taste of their skills and I'm sure if they keep working we'll hear more, better tunes from them. The sound is good enough to distinguish all work on istruments, but not powerful enough to support their music with some more brutality. For a demo I like it and they should promote the band more abroad to get feedback and consolidate some higher objectives. Recommended to the ones into fast & technical Death Grind.
Reviewed by Adrian
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