Bastard PriestGhouls of the Endless Night2011 Blood Harvest RecordsDammit. The debut album, "Under the Hammer of Destruction" from Bastard Priest, ripped my face clean off when I first heard it.I've only just now healed from that, and the scars from the plastic surgery were starting to fade. So here comes "Ghouls of the Endless Night," and I'm back to square one with no face. These guys really took things to the next level on this album. Their mix of old school Swedish death metal and crust was dirty and filthy to begin with, but this... this is even dirtier and filthier. I have no idea what kind of equipment the band uses, and I don't know where this was recorded, but it has a real DIY feeling to it. It's like the instruments they're playing were borrowed and beat to shit, the amps and speakers had blown out a few times, and they did the recording in someone's garage. In other words, it has the feeling of real death metal, played with passion and a love for the music instead of worrying about crap like their "marketing demographic" or similar nonsense. This is real brutality (not brootality), and this is the way it should be done. Ugly music can be so beautiful, and here's a prime example. Only question I have is whether I should bother to get my face sewn back on, since I'm sure the next album will rip it right off again. If I'm lucky, that is. I've got a feeling that next time I'll be splattered all over the ceiling.
Vulcano Drowning in Blood 2011 Renegados RecordsThe name "Vulcano" and the term "Brazilian death metal" go hand in hand. Sure, Sarcofago might be the first Brazilian deathmetal band that comes to mind, but Vulcano have been going strong for quite some time, while Sarcofago have long since splitup. Vulcano's place in the underground was all but set in stone with the release of "Live!" and "Bloody Vengeance," but the later years were not quite so kind. "Ratrace" remains what is probably their worst album, and I found that "Five Skulls and One Chalice" was very lackluster. But dammit, I knew I'd still buy anything new they put out after that one, simply because it's "Vulcano!" So here's "Drowning in Blood," and all is again well in the Vulcano camp. Vocalist Angel is gone, now replaced with Luiz Carlos Louzada, also in Chemical Disaster. I think the change has been a good one, although one can't deny that Angel ruled all back in the "Bloody Vengeance" days. Luiz has more of a death metal kind of voice, while Angel sounded more like he was just yelling with a very hoarse voice last time around. "Drowning in Blood" is a huge improvement over "Five Skulls..." on all levels, and it shows all these new school kids just how death thrash is supposed to be done. But guys... what about doing a reissue of "Who are the True?" That's the ony album of yours that I'm missing!
MausoleumBack From the Funeral 2011 Razorback Records The fact is, I've had a copy of this album for months before it was released. By pure chance, a pleasantly buzzed Rick "Slim" Boast [drums, vocals] struck up a conversation with me at the 2011 Maryland Death Fest, and he handed me a promotional copy of this album. I think it's been recorded and done for a while., as I'm fairly sure I saw a review of it sometime in the previous year over at Metal Core Fanzine. I decided to hold off on reviewing it until I had the actual real pressed CD with all the artwork in my hand, because it pisses me off when I read a review of something not officially released, and I know I can't get a copy of it for that reason. I'm sure it pisses off many of you as well. But at long last, eight years after the debut "Cadaveric Displays of Ghoulish Ghastliness," we finally have the followup, "Back From the Funeral." Nothing but old school worship here, complete with all kinds of similarities to the first two Death albums, Massacre, Autopsy, even Unleashed at times.Production-wise, things have a much brighter sound to them, than what was heard on the murky debut. But there's also a"thinness" to it, something that I'm not used to hearing in 2012. Twenty years ago, maybe. It could be that this was intentional on their part, or not. Either way, while not sounding all that "modern," "Back from the Funeral" also doesn't sound like a recently unearthed artifact from the early 1990s either. It lies somewhere between, much like the zombies that are in the lyrics to the songs. Not alive, not dead, instead it is somewhere between the two but belonging to neither. Fortunately,I don't think they're out to eat our brains. But do give them some money out of your wallet and buy this album.
Bastard Priest
