Band: MASACHIST
Country: Poland
Title: Scorned
Label: Selfmadegod Records
Year: 2012
Style: Death Metal
Review:
Polish death metal squad Masachist have just returned with their second full-length entitled "Scorned". This material is nine brutal and intricate songs, 40 minutes of kicking ass old school death metal with some interesting experiments with psychodelic drive, some pieces of electronic and sth like this. During listening to this stuff involuntarily I’ve been remembering old records of Pestilence, first album of Anathema, first and second album of Nocturnus, old Morbid Angel, old Deicide and... some Primus’ bass amazing drive (at the beginning of this stuff). I have to admit that Masachist surprised me very nice but from the other hand this is normal because line up of the band are veterans of Polish death metal, heh. Masachist was formed in 2005 by Thrufel (ex-Azarath, ex-Yattering) and Daray (Dimmu Borgir, ex-Vader, Vesania), and later on joined by Heinrich (Vesania, ex-Decapitated, ex-UnSun), Aro (Shadows Land, Torquemada) and Pig (Anal Stench, ex-Decapitated). Finally „Scorned” is very, very intelligent connection attempt 90th’s and contemporary death metal styles and this album will be released worldwide by Selfmadegod Records on September 3rd, 2012.
Reviewed by Vilcin
Rating: 9/10
Band: MOONREICH
Country: France
Title: Curse Them
Label: Mortis Humanae Productions
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Once in a while Mortis Humanae comes up with very promising and talented bands and that's the case of Moonreich too. This is the first time I hear about this band and I'm glad I had this chance. Moonreich is extremely brutal, fast with some mid-tempo but still cold and dark passages, accurate and straight forward, exactly what this genre needs. There are some melodic guitar leads here and there but that only makes this EP more interesting and this combination reminded me of Marduk. The sound is good so your audition will not suffer from that cause. Too bad there are only 3 of their own compositions here, I honestly wanted more and this is a clear sign I will have to follow this band's development in the future. The last track, the fourth, is a Christian Death cover which although well executed doesn't really fit in the overall atmosphere of this EP, it ruins the mood and the final impression on this band, maybe they should choose more carefully what they cover next time...
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: MYRKVIDS DRAUMAR
Country: Ukraine
Title: Forest's Revenge Breath
Label: Vacula Productions
Year: 2012
Style: Heathen Black Metal
Review:
Hmm, I don't know if I should consider this a new album or a compilation of old tracks, and that's because tracks 1-8 are re-recorded tracks from their 2004 and 2005 demos but there are also 5 other tracks that seem to be brand new, and if so, why placing them at the end of this CD and not starting with them? I have reviewed their previous album as well and I wouldn't say there are some big differences in compositions, Myrkvids Draumar plays the same melodic mid-paced to fast rhythmed Black Metal with heathen ideology as the backbone. A more powerful/compact production would have been needed here, but at least this one sounds organic and honest so I wouldn't complain so much about it. Again the guitar solos and leads are very good and the vocals, although raw and threatening, are pretty monotone after a while, more variety would do them well. The drums and bass lines are working well together and make a good foundation for M.D.'s music, a Pagan Black Metal that I would say it's rather old-school than fresh and modern, but if you're into the raw side of this style and don't mind not reading the lyrics (the booklet is completely native language printed), you should try Myrkvids Draumar, you might like it.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10
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Band: NARROW HOUSE
Country: Ukraine
Title: A Key to Panngrieb
Label: Solitude Productions
Year: 2012
Style: Funeral Atmospheric Doom Metal
Review:
It seems Doom Metal is a real trend in Russia and Ukraine nowadays, otherwise I wouldn't explain myself how come there are so many bands comming out from those lands. Narrow House seems to be a pretty young act, composed by young musicians, so I hope they are not in only for the sake of being part of the trend, I hope they will continue with this band, on the same path as now. "A Key to Panngrieb" is the band's debut album composed of only 4 tracks, but the total playing time is more than 45 minutes. For a genre like Funeral Doom Metal that doesn't give much space for variety and complexity in composition, Narrow House did a good job here by adding the very depressive, disturbing voilin parts. The keyboards play also a major part in their music, the vocals are as versatile as they can be but still keeping a growling tone most of the time, the drums and bass lines really capitalize their importance and the excellent production allows all this to happen. So all in all Narrow House released a very good debut album, one that will certainly attract the interest of Funeral Doom followers out there.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: NEFASTT
Country: France
Title: La malignité des astres
Label: Atavism Records
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
This is my first promo pack from Atavism Records, and honestly I didn't check out their bands before, so it was and still is a very good feeling to discover some very talented French bands through this label. That's the case of Nefastt, too. This is their debut album and as far as I know it was released on both tape and CD formats, I have here the tape. The music presented by this young group is traditional, raw Black Metal with quite a tight and mature level of composition, and excellent execution especially on drums. The band seems ready to take the next step up and I hope they will keep this direction without compromises, there's still a lot to develop and they have the abilities to do it. So back to this album, the 7 tracks featured have their own flavour and that makes it an entertaining audition. This is Black Metal as it should be done: fast, evil and cold as ice, I can see this band going far.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: PANDEMONIUM
Country: Poland
Title: Misanthropy
Label: Pagan Records
Year: 2012
Style: Black Death Metal
Review:
This is the long awaited new full-length of Pandemonium. 5 years after their Hellspawn album these Polish veterans are back releasing their 4th official full-length. After spinning this new disc for a couple of times I can say their fans won't be disapointed by the music on it. Pandemonium kept it all somehow old-school with a major emphasis on the atmosphere they wanted to create, and they have succeeded. "Misanthropy" is a dark, cavernous, horrifying piece of Black Death Metal that shows the band's maturity and patience to work on details. Although in the nowadays Black Death Metal scene it's hard to compete with the mainstream bands Pandemonium keep their own path by providing more slow to mid-tempo rhythmed tracks, with some of them reaching a faster tempo, but still not like the ones modern Black Death bands are using/creating nowadays. The vocals are everywhere either as disgusted front vocals or background screams, whispers, or growls, the guitars are more on the Death Metal side rather than Black Metal, with excellent solos sprinkled around, and the rhythm part is solid and sombre as it should be. The old-school fans will appreciate the efforts the band invested in this release, don't know about the younger generation though...
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 9/10
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Band: PYRIFLEYETHON / OPHIDIAN FOREST
Country: Greece / International
Title: Summoning of the Igneous
Label: Le Crépuscule du Soir Productions
Year: 2011
Style: Black Metal / Pagan Black Metal
Review:
This is not the first time I'm reviewing these bands for Pest Webzine so obviously I was curious to check out their new music. Pyrifleyethon is a Greek Black Metal band and although I'd say their sound is more Scandinavian than Greek, I like their 4 tracks. Fast Black Metal with occasional slow, atmospheric (without the use of keyboards) parts and good guitar skills displays, this is what can be called pure Black Metal with no other influences, just a raw release a rage and anger, nothing original but still very honest and to the bone, thumbs up. Ophidian Forest presents us only 3 tracks, but their third tracks is over 10 minutes long. Unfortunately their music left me dead cold, I think their sound is too strange for my tastes although I think it's pretty original. The snare drum sounds like crap and ruins everything, and the weird keyboards tone could have been much more helpful if they'd have a proper recording, but this is a rehearsal recording I think. Unfortunately I wasn't able to listen to the whole thing although, ironically these strange keyboards attracted my attention the most. Sorry but I don't understand what they try to create, I'm not sure if they are serious about this or only joking around.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10 3/10
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Band: RUINES HUMAINES
Country: France
Title: Ruines Humaines
Label: Atavism Records
Year: 2011
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Ruines Humaines is a fairly new band from France (such a productive country for Black Metal nowadays...) formed in 2010 and this is their debut demo release out on Atavism Records in tape format. The band is a duo so I don't think live appearances are in plan for any time soon, but the music on this demo shows a band with good perspectives. Mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal with good guitar leads and riffs, strident vocals and good enough drums although not complex at all. The whole sounds pretty wicked, but a better production is required next time if they want to achieve higher goals. It's like a good rehearsal tape so if you're into such a sound and if you like traditional Black Metal you can give this demo a try, it's much better than a lot of Black Metal full-lengths released nowadays in the underground, although it lacks that luxurious shiny sound.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: SAGNTID
Country: Denmark
Title: The Undisciplined Heart of Sagntid
Label: 9th Meridian Records
Year: 2012
Style: Dark Ambient
Review:
Ok, and here I have the newest release from Sagntid, a new official album released on 9th Meridian Records in a limited edition of only 100 copies. The 10 tracks featured here are a big difference from the 2009 demo I have just listened/reviewed, Sagntid started to base its music more on guitars and use the synth/keys part as atmospheric additive only, and since this time there are more tracks the atmosphere is different from one to another, there are more sides of Sagntid to discover. Not all tracks are good, but there are some that really involve your immagination and open diverse moods, so all in all I would say Sagntid improved in complexity and offered a bigger palette of sounds, but there's still work on the curding the whole music into a monolith side of music.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10
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Band: SAGNTID
Country: Denmark
Title: Where The Black Dogs Cease To Bark
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2009
Style: Dark Ambient
Review:
I have little info on this one man project but it seems it was founded in 2002. This is a self-released demo containing only 1 track almost 20 minutes long. I would describe the music as a dreamy Ambient soundscape, it sugested me a calm suntet on the beach, a melancholic one I'd say. Although it's quite repetitive, it kept my attention for more than 5 auditions so this must be a good sign. I was expecting a depressive music but I'm glad I was wrong again, Sagntid managed to create a calm, optimistic, dreamy piece of art by using only keyboards, some synths, a few semi-acoustic guitar parts and whispers (although not comprehensive at all). Good stuff if you're looking for a relaxing time.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: STELLAR SOUL
Country: Romania
Title: Cosmic Journey
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2012
Style: Atmospheric Death Metal
Review:
Although from my country, I have little info on Stellar Soul and their bio so far. Unfortunately they are a pretty "hidden" band for what this music would deserve, it's a tough work to find out more about them on the net and they also play live quite rarely. Anyway, this is their debut album (at least that's what I think), a 10 tracks effort that perfectly bounds the cover artwork, the band's name, the album's title and the music in a solid Atmospheric Death Metal offering, I'd say an old-school Atmospheric Death Metal. It's not often I get to review such a compact release where all elements are leaning towards the same common goal. Honestly their music reminds me of the Russian Death Metal scene meaning quite traditional Death Metal with atmospheric keyboards here and there and melodic, Hard'n'Heavy type, guitar leads and solos. Old-School (end of the '80's type) American Death Metal has its fair share of inspiration on Stellar Soul's music. The overall impression is of a band that plays whatever they like and how they like, they show real honesty and enthousiasm and that's why I think they should try presenting their efforts to a wider audience, and about this debut album, I think old-school Melo Death fans will enjoy it a lot. Although the production could have been a bit more powerful, the result is coherent and comprehensive, I have enjoyed it.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: THE TRUE ENDLESS
Country: Italy
Title: In The Swamp
Label: Aphelion Productions
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
At the pace this band is releasing new materials this one could be considered as an old release. "In the Swamp" was first released by the band in 2010 and now it's out on Aphelion Prod. on CD containing the 3 tracks from 2010 and 2 additional ones that were never released before, one of them being a cover of "Night of the Graveless Souls", an old Emperor track. The music is mid-tempo to fast paced Black Metal, pretty solid and mature, inspired mostly by the Norwegian scene. The compositions are very catchy and although the production could have been better these guys show they are capable of rising on the top of Italian Black Metal. Although I have enjoyed the first two Norge Black Metal inspired tracks, I have to mention the third one that reminded me of early Samael, that raw, vicious and at the same time groovy Black Metal filled with dark atmospheres, a great effort. The two extra tracks sound like being rehearsal recordings, very rough and quite tough to listen to, hopefully at least their own composition will be properly re-recorded. Anyway, all in all The True Endless is an excellent Traditional Black Metal band that deserves more attention.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: THEODOR BASTARD
Country: Russia
Title: Oikoumene
Label: Theo Records
Year: 2012
Style: Neofolk Ambient
Review:
Russian band Theodor Bastard is really untipical neofolk band. This music is not „keyboard, fluit sample with some acoustic guitar flow” but really neofolk. Beautiful russian voices (and all Eastern Europe type of traditional/neotraditional kind of singing), some stylized lithuanian „sutertinas” (kind of melanholic and trance voices) are mixed with Oriental and Asian folklore motifs with some part of pagan ambient, post rock and old school cold wave drive. This is new way of Russian (and some Ukrainians too) pagan neofolk. A lot of eastern pagan people try to find his roots in India and Persyan culture... Theodor Bastard has been colaborated with guys from the known etno/worldmusic band called Fun-Da-Mental and they try to find good balance with symbolic border beetween Eastern Europe and Asia sounds. They found it! „Oikumene” is really great way to make neofolk stage better. Fantastic job, fantastic sounds!
Reviewed by Vilcin
Rating: 10/10
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Band: TYRAEL
Country: Germany
Title: Der Wald ist mein Zuhause
Label: Selfreleased
Year: 2010
Style: Melodic Black Death Metal
Review:
Although the band was formed in 2000, if you look at these guys you'd say they are pretty young looking. Anyway, although formed in 2000, they managed to release their debut album, the one I'm talking about here, only 10 years later, in 2010, so they seem to be pretty slow in writing new stuff. "Der Wald ist mein Zuhause" contains 11 tracks totaling almost 45 minutes of Melodic Black Metal with a few Death Metal influences here and there. Unfortunately the production is not as good as the compositions are, such songs would have deserved a better studio and a more professional/polished sound (here the drums' sound really sucks). They bring nothing new to the scene, but their tracks are quite memorable, they have hooks all over from minor acoustic insertions to double vocals (growls and screams a la Dani Filth), and excellent guitar leads. Definitely not a boring album I would recommend all of you but in these conditions I will recommend it only to the ones of you who don't really care about production and are more interested in the compositions. A band with huge potential, I only hope they will release something new before a new decade will pass (2 years are already gone...).
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: VERDUN
Country: Sweden
Title: Sov Du Lilla Samvete
Label: Depressive Illusions Records
Year: 2011
Style: Depressive Black Metal
Review:
Verdun is a new one man Depressive Black Metal project founded in 2011 that has already released its debut album, the one I'm speaking about here, the same year it was founded, so I guess we're in for a new prolific project. This album was released both on tape (by Depressive Illusions) and CD (by Self Mutilation Services), but unfortunately the tape was limited to only 33 copies, so I don't think you'll be able to find it anymore in this format. The music is of course depressive, melancholic and dark, it reminded me of Burzum at times and also a bit of Shining on vocals, but overall it's not a copycat. The compositions are simple, there's nothing outstanding or remarkable in W.'s instrumental skills, but he seems to prefer exploring the atmospheres rather than his skills. I can't say he succeeds all the time (at times the vocals become funny rather than desperate/depressive), but overall it gives the impression of a lonly, tormented and angry soul. The production is good enough, no objections here. Try it yourselves if you're into DSBM.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7/10
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Band: VERZIVATAR
Country: Hungary
Title: Transcendent Infection
Label: Kuhlental Productions
Year: 2010
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Verzivatar is a duo from hungary's capital, Budapest. Both guys involved in this band are very active in the scene having multiple other projects/bands on the side, so I guess we're dealing with very dedicated underground activists here. this is the band's debut album out on both tape and CD format. I have received the tape version released by Kuhlental Productions, so the old-school feeling is around not only in their music. Verzivatar plays a combination of mid-tempo with fast paced Black Metal, but unfortunately the compositions are not so tight as they should be, you find yourself loosing interest at times, things are getting boring. The fast parts are good, intense and are fitting better the desperate shrieking vocals, but the slow and mid-tempo parts fail on reaching their goal, and as an example I would recommend listening to tracks 2 and 3 and check the differences. Also the last track seems like it's made just to fill in some more space/time... I like the vocals, though, and the drums/bass are working well together as well, so in the end I think more work (variety) on guitars is necessary.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 6.5/10
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Band: WEDDING IN HADES
Country: France
Title: Misbehaviour
Label: Bad Mood Man Music
Year: 2012
Style: Doom Death Metal
Review:
2 years ago I've reviewed this band's debut album, an album that left me puzzled, I was unable to make up my mind if I liked or hated their music, but at least I knew I hated that album's cover artwork. This time the cover artwork is perfect for such an album title, a BDSM imagery for a title like "Misbehaviour" is quite fair. Musicwise Wedding in Hades became more energetic but still keeping their slow to mid-tempo pace. The compositions are more memorable and although they keep their simple structures this time it doesn't bother me that much. If their first album reminded me of Paradise Lost and Type O Negative, this one resembles more with the atmospheres My Dying Bride creates, there are even some violin parts but that's not the reason. The acoustic insertions here and there are very good and provide a ray of light between all these clouds and darkness, but at times they give the impression they are not decided if they should take the old-school path or try more modern compositions. Even if "Misbehaviour" will not be considered a highlight of the genre, the improvement is obvious and the perspectives are great, these guys are able to create a memorable next album.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
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Band: WHALES AND AURORA
Country: Italy
Title: The Shipwreck
Label: Slow Burn Records
Year: 2012
Style: Sludge Doom Metal
Review:
I had my fair share of doubts when I saw this band's name, Whales And Aurora made me think of Metalcore and that's not very well received in my player, never. But I was wrong again for the most part, Whales And Aurora are a Sludge Doom Post-Metal band from Italy and that's something I can dig. The cover artwork of this album is great, it perfectly portrays what happens inhere in terms of music. The ocean is perfect for this: at times calm and beautiful, at times whirling and threatening just like WAA's music. This is a good band and "The Shipwreck" might be a good choice if you're into post-metal but a bit of versatility on vocals won't hurt them.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10
Contact:
Band: WHIPSTRIKER / POWER FROM HELL
Country: Brazil / Brazil
Title: Brazilian Bestial Attack
Label: Fuck The Mainstream Records
Year: 2012
Style: Heavy Speed Metal / Black Thrash Speed Metal
Review:
Wow, nice new split tape from a label whos name explains it all about its direction, Fuck The Mainstream Records. Although the booklet has only pics of the two bands (one man bands), some info on recordings and the thanks list, FTM Records decided to include an additional sheet with the lyrics for all tracks included here. This split presents us 2 Brazilian one-man-bands, both of them devoted to the '80's dirty, leather'n'spikes type of Speed Thrash Metal, excellent for nostalgics.
Side A is for Whipstriker. Speed Thrash Metal that I would describe as a combination of Motorhead, Sodom and Venom, excellently crafted, excellently executed and absolutely impossible to conceive as made by only one man. Very entertaining music, I'm only sorry there are only 6 tracks added here. Hoarse vocals with occasional power choirs, razor-sharp guitar riffs, catchy leads, good solos and tight drumming. Hell, I love this band!
power From Hell's music has some old-school Black Metal influences too and is more down-tuned, but the intensity and speed remain the same, and Venom/Sodom seem to be some common influences. The sound could have been better, but it's good enough especially for the old-school followers. The solos are very good, the bass lines play an important role in PFH's music, the vocals are hoarse, and the overall compositions are extremely catchy, you can still remember them after a while since listening to this split. PFH has already 4 full-length albums out, I'm sorry this is my first encounted with the band, but I like it a lot and definitely recommend it to you too.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 8/10, 8.5/10
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Band: WINTERBLUT
Country: Germany
Title: Teufelseintreibung
Label: Pale Dominion
Year: 2007
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Don't know why I got this CD for a review since it was released 5 tears ago and the band has released 4 new albums since then, so this is by no means an actual release, but I guess the label or the band still have some copies left and still selling them, and then it makes sense. Unfortunately I got bored to death listening to this album and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The riffs are so repetitive and tasteless I wasn't able to listen to a single track from start to finish... The only thing I like in Winterblut are the vocals that although could have been a bit more varied, sound very raw and sharp, exactly the kind of tone I like to hear in a Black Metal band. The guitars have some good parts, but repeating them over and over again is pointless. The rhythm section has nothing special, so all in all this is an album that won't hit my player again, sorry.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 4/10
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Band: Various Artists
Country: Russia
Title: Stavropol Nekrodivizion Promo Compilation
Label: Stavropol Nekrodivizion
Year: 2012
Style: Black Metal
Review:
This is a promo sampler from Stavropol Nekrodivizion (S.N.D.) presenting us this label's bands and past and current releases. First is SS-18 with an ultra-fast, unrelenting nuclear Black Metal sounding like the biggest war you can ever imagine. Even though the sound is not the best possible, you'll have no problem understanding what these guys are all about. This is some twisted, hateful shit I tell you, and this is a band definitely worth keeping an eye on, they have great potential. Next is Lashblood with 2 tracks from their 2012 album released on Daemon Worship Productions (strange featuring, but I think S.N.D. signed them after this release). Their Black Metal is mid-tempo to fast rhythmed, somehow atmospheric and definitely desperate (because of the vocals, of course), but I found it a bit too repetitive and forced. They definitely have the skills to create something memorable but they didn't catch my attention with these 2 tracks. Deathmoor presents a new track, but also one from 2008 (none of them out on S.N.D.). The older track has a horrible sound but you can still hear the music fortunately. Slow guitar riffs layered on slow rhythmed drums with fast snares though, an interesting combination, but the desperate vocals in the background didn't reach their goal. Again I find this a bit too repetitive and 10 minutes for such a track is too much. On the second, most recent track, Deathmoor has a more complex music, more complex vocal part, and more work on drums and guitars. The sound is pure filth again, but at least the music seems to be getting better, they are exploring new territories and that's promising. Alienation Cold is a keyboard driven Atmospheric Black Metal. The keyboard part is the highlight of this band and it makes their music really interesting, too bad we have the same problem here too, the bad sound. Nothing outstanding but their music reminded me of the beginning of the 2000's' Atmospheric Black Metal scene (back then it was so effervescent like the Depressive / Suicidal Black Metal scene of Today), as a conclusion good atmospheres. Misanthropic Art is present here with a track from 2008 and one from 2012, none featured on S.N.D. releases, again. Very long tracks, very bad sound, recommended only to fans of obscure, unpolished fast Black Metal with a bit of Scandinavian atmospheres given by the guitar leads (good ones I have to say). Except for the good guitar leads I wasn't impressed or intrigued by anything else in M.A.'s music. The last band is Christinvertion and their 2 tracks are both from 2012 from 2 different albums, both out on S.N.D., so at least here's a change in template. The music is extremely brutal, a Gore Grind Black Metal that sounds like a pack of beasts devouring everything, nothing more, nothing less, just a bloody feast of beasts. Unfortunately (again) the sound is horrendous and the guitars tone is an absolute joke, it sounds like a motorbike engine gone wrong. One thumb up for the extreme brutality but two thumbs down for the childish sound.
Reviewed by Adrian
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