Tombstones
Not for the Squeamish
2010 Razorback Records
Starting off with a more straightforward death metal/grindcore approach, Razorback Records' roster has morphed into something more along the
lines of late 70s/early 80s B-movie inspired death metal. Some might call it "horror metal" or "gore metal." I prefer not to get involved in that kind of debate. In the end, it all goes back to death metal. It's almost as if the past releases of Hooded Menace, Scaremaker and Revolting have led to this: the birth of Tombstones. In a way, this is a sort of underground supergroup, as it features the Elektrokutioner-- he of many different bands including Loathsome, Decrepitaph and Beyond Hell, Patrick Bruss-- the demented mind behind Crypticus, and Stevo Dobbins-- yes, THAT Stevo. The same one who once fronted the spiritual godfather of this gore scene, Impetigo. The tracks here are all standard Razorback fare, with heavy-handed, riff-oriented death metal and lyrics that are all but based on episodes of "Tales From the Crypt." In fact, Stevo takes the role of The Cryptkeeper, giving an introduction to most (if not all) tracks in as sinister and creepy a voice as he can manage. Given who he is, that's very damn creepy and sinister, I might add. Obviously, if you're into any of the bands (or the comic books/show) mentioned here, this one is a no-brainer!
Evil Shepherd
Sowing Death
2010 Witches Brew
I know of only a handful of bands from Belgium... mainly Enthroned, Ancient Rites, and uh... well at least I can add Evil Shepherd to that list. With all the new thrash bands coming out, it seems like they all fit into one mold or another. The majority of them recall the glory days of either the German scene ("we want to be Destruction") or the American Bay Area one ("we want to be Testament"). But on occasion, one runs across a band that doesn't fit either of those categories. I think you know where I'm going with this, and yes... Evil Shepherd are such a band. Right from the opening drumbeats, it's obvious that these guys are going more for the punk part of the "metal + punk" = "thrash metal" equation. A lot of the time, I found myself thinking that they could just about be described as Sadus playing D.R.I. covers. The punk end of things comes into play also in the length of the thirteen tracks found here. At a length of four minutes and twenty eight seconds, "History of Violence" is the oddball track, as most are under the four minute mark, and most of those are even well under three minutes. Short, fast and sweet... but minus the snotty attitude problem that most punk music has. No, Evil Shepherd are squarely in the metal category, right where they belong.
Children of Technology
It's Time to Face the Doomsday
2010 Hells Headbangers
Italy's Children of Technology are a crusty punk crossover type band (metalpunk?) that lies somewhere at the crossroads of Carnivore, Voivod's first two albums, and Discharge. This band of four nuclear mutants have unleashed their post-apocalyptic fury on the underground wasteland. Anyone see a theme here? As much as the aforementioned bands are an influence on CoT, it's safe to say that Mad Max (especially "The Road Warrior") is an even bigger influence. I have a feeling that Children of Technology watched that movie until they could quote it word for word, and did the same with similar '80s flicks like "The Exterminator," "Red Dawn," "The New Barbarians," and a host of straight to video B-movies based on the adventures of a lone hero after a nuclear holocaust. This is the sort of music that is meant for vinyl and cassette releases. Listening to it on CD or as mp3s is almost a criminal offense. Suffice to say, if you're at all into unwashed bands sporting liberty spikes or huge mohawks, who wear vests and jackets adorned with crudely printed patches and play a contemporary form of anarcho-punk, then this is for you!
The Black
Gorgoni
2010 Black Widow Records
This is the Italian band, The Black, not the Swedish one. And before anyone starts yammering that they need to change the name, the fact is that this band has been around a little longer. So let the Swedes change their name to The True Black or some other nonsense. The main guy here is one Mario "The Black" DiDonato. The man has been around in the Italian scene for a long time, first as a member of Unreal Terror, and then in Requiem. Unreal Terror dates all the way back to 1979, but I only know for sure that he was on their two releases in 1985 and 1986. Requiem were around from the mid-80s to at least 1992, and just had the majority of their discography pressed as a double CD. It was here that DiDonato started to put together the formula that would become The Black. The Black are a little hard to pin down. At times, they're very much in a heavy/doom metal vein. But at the same time, there's also a lot of progressive elements. If that's not enough, DiDonato sings everything in Latin. I wouldn't go so far as to call them "occult," but a very dark feeling can be found in both this album as well as the ones they've done previously. "Gorgoni" appears to center around the Greek legends of Perseus and Medusa, although if you're looking for a metal version of "Clash of the Titans," this isn't it. Given that this album was released on Black Widow, it's a little hard to find, and will be on the expensive side if you do. But if you're into dark progressive doom of any sort, I promise that the time searching and the money paid will both be well spent.
Deathhammer
Phantom Knights
2010 Witches Brew
"We're gonna get F.U.B.A.R now." - Gabriel Cash (Kurt Russell), Tango & Cash, 1989.
Yeah, I'd have to agree. The short description of Deathhammer would be what might have happened if the original members of Slayer grew up in Norway and became devoted fanatics of Germany's Destruction. As is common with this new breed of thrash metal, the amount of enthusiasm is on a par with the debuts of the legendary old guard. Forget "maturity," forget "song crafting," forget "expanding your horizons" ... really, just forget anything except for putting together some songs that shred, rip, tear, mutilate, destroy and devastate. That's what Deathhammer have done here. Compare the earliest albums of virtually any band versus their most recent work, and chances are that you'll find there's an energy and vibe there that has since gone missing. That kind of feeling is present here in full force. Maybe it's being new in the scene, maybe it's youthful exuberance, or maybe it's just not caring about anything except for violent metal. Whatever the case may be, Deathhammer are on the right path and I doubt there's any plans to slow down or write a ballad. "Phantom Knights" is pure thrash metal to the core... dirty, ugly, in your face... everything that it is supposed to be without anything that it's not supposed to be. If metal is a drug, then this is the kind of high-grade shit that Scarface would be selling to his high end clients.
The "art" of death metal vocals has been lost. There was a time when each band had a vocalist with a distinct sound. You could tell Martin van Drunen from Kam Lee. Or Brett Hoffman from Barney Greenway. John Tardy, Karl Willetts, Marc Grewe, Chuck Schuldiner, Dave Ingram, Matti Karki, LG Petrov, Chris Barnes, Johnny Hedlund, Jeff Walker, Chris Riefert, David Vincent... all of these men had (and most of them still have) their own unique style. These days, what passes for death metal vocals seems to fall into two camps. First, there's the "bastard sons of Barnes," who still try their best to emulate the gutteral gurgling from "Tomb of the Mutilated." This used to be the way that most newer bands went for many years. The idea of sounding lower than low and as unintelligible as possible was appealing to many. But this lot have started to die out over the years in favor of the current "deathcore" sound. More and more vocalists just go for a gruff style with a strong hardcore influence. There's no substance to their voices. No soul. They get the job done, and barely even manage that. They all sound the same, and I doubt that many could tell one from another. There was a time when a death metal vocalist's sound was just as important as the band's guitar tone. Somewhere along the way, that mentality has been lost. There are some bands that still do care about having a unique voice. But the majority of the popular newer bands have vocalists who are indistinguishable from each other.But for a few rare exceptions, the shock value and true extremity of the death metal vocalist has become watered down and diminished to the point of worthlessness.
Interment
Into the Crypts of Blasphemy
2010 Pulverised Records
It's been a long road for Sweden's Interment. Originally known as Beyond, and formed in 1988, they were there at the beginning of the Swedish death metal scene. Unfortunately, they were not among the bands snapped up by the bigger underground labels of the early 90s. They faded into obscurity until only recently. The guys in the band, however, have been in other known acts such as Demonical, Regurgitate, Centinex, Dellamorte, and the cult favorite Uncanny. So it's not like they've been sitting in front of their TV sets playing Halo for the past several years. With a split release with Funebrarum and a compilation of their demos out on the market, the time is right for their debut album to hit us over the head. Which it does with a vengeance, like a pro-wrestler armed with a 2x4. Some may well scoff and say that all of this has been done before, but the fact remains that this is not a bunch of newbies in the scene going back and playing some kind of retro-death metal. This is the real thing from guys who have been around for a long time now. The cool thing is that this disc doesn't consist of re-recorded demo material. Other than maybe one song, everything here is brand new. New, and yet it sounds like it's straight out of 1990. Sounds like this are proof to the bands who "made it" the first time around that "progression" is overrated, "growth" is anything but, and the old morbid way is the only way.
Witchery
Witchkrieg
2010 Century Media
Every few years or so, Jensen takes a break from The Haunted and puts together a more traditional sounding thrash-fest with Witchery. "Witchkrieg" is a little different than what you might have expected though. ... more on that in a bit. Probably the biggest news about this album is that Toxine left the band and Legion (ex-Marduk) stepped in. After hearing him, I can't say that I miss Toxine at all. In fact, the only time I thought about Toxine while listening to this album was when I thought to myself, "I don't miss Toxine at all." The other big news is the guitar solos from the guest stars. Kerry King opens the festivities up with "Witchkrieg." Hank Shermann keeps it up in "The God Who Fell From Earth," Andy Laroque in "Dead to Worse," Gary Holt with Lee Altus on "The Reaver," and Jim Durkin on "One Foot in the Grave." Each of these guys give their parts their own unique spin, with Gary and Lee doing some insane tradeoffs and Hank's solo just being in a class all by itself. I'm sure that guitarist Richard Corpse is trying to figure out just how the hell he's going to play those solos in a live situation. Not surprisingly, Slayer's post 1990 outputs form the cornerstone of what Witchery sound like today. But hold on here... believe it or not, there's also a ton of Mercyful Fate influences on a few tracks as well. This can especially be heard on "The God who Fell to Earth" and "Conqueror's Return." These tracks draw off of both the original Fate albums as well as the reunion era material. There's a little more atmosphere on them, but don't worry. Things go back to slam bang speed thrash before you know it. All in all, this one's a keeper.
Immaculate
Atheist Crusade
2010 Stormspell Records
It's taken three years, but Swedish thrashers Immaculate have finally come up with a second album. Their debut, "Thrash, Kill 'n' Destroy" was a better than average affair, with songs that reminded many of the likes of Holy Terror, early Dark Angel, and maybe a little bit of Death Angel or Raven as well. Sounds like a nasty potent mix to me. Flash forward to today, and check out "Athiest Crusade." This one boasts of better production, the chaotic sounds somewhat reigned in and refocused, and a little bit more of an 80s heavy metal vibe throughout. Oh, they're still fast, so don't go making the mistake of thinking that they're not. It's just that when you throw in a cover of Fates Warning's "The Apparition," it's not going to be blasted through at a frantic pace. It's possible that Immaculate's version is heavier, but it's definitely not faster. They really did this song right. They kept their own tones and tunings, but stuck very close to the source material instead of going out on a limb and recording an "interpretation". That really helps solidify the idea that Immaculate consists of five regular guys who play metal music and aren't hung up on the idea of "music as art." They've probably belted out this song in practice many times before and the thought of "customizing" it would never have crossed their minds. So yeah, this is music by fans... for fans.
Perdition Temple
Edict of the Antichrist Elect
2010 Osmose Productions
Alright, Angelcorpse is again defunct, but guitarist Gene Palubicki is not. In addition to Blasphemic Cruelty (fronted by Alex Blume of Ares Kingdom), he's also got a two-man project called Perdition Temple. Gene handles everything except for the drums. Those, he leaves to Terry Eleftheriou. Terry played drums for Angelcorpse towards the very end of their existence. He's also been in bands such as Embrace of Thorns, Naer Mataron, and Gauntlet's Sword. Obviously, he's very much in demand, and if he's playing on something of Gene's, he's also damn good. The eight songs on this album are probably about what you'd expect... blasphemous death metal with an extremely strong lyrical content. Lots of killer riffs and solos, and more speed than you can handle. But it's all tempered with good song structures, and nothing ever seems out of place or gets drawn out for too long. There's no wasted space in any of the tracks, no pointless noodling or "wandering around lost" as I like to say. So really, all is well with this album. If you liked Angelcorpse, you'd do well to pick this one up.
