The Pete Flesh Deathtrip
Mortui Vivos Docent
2013 Pulverised Records
This one has been a long time coming. The last we heard of riffmaster general Pete Flesh was in 2008, either on Deceiver's "Thrashing Heavy Metal" or Flesh's "Worship the Soul of Disgust," whichever was released second that year. Depending on who you talk to, either Flesh metamorphosed in the The Pete Flesh Deathtrip, or TPFD is an all new project that has nothing to do with any previous band. Originally conceived as a completely solo band, Pete opted to recruit a couple of session members, mainly Andreas Jonsson drums and Micke Broberg (of Unanimated fame), who contributes vocals and lyrics to some of the tracks. What they've produced is an extremely guitar-oriented death thrash album, and quite possibly the most personal thing Pete has ever done. There's a whole ton of power and majesty in every riff, although I do wish there was a little more of a bottom end with the bass in the mix. As a result, quite a bit of the feeling of Unanimated comes through, even on the tracks where Pete takes the vocal spot instead of Micke. Every track here will defy you in any attempt to not bang your head. The urge is just impossible to resist. Give "Mortui Vivos Docent" a listen, and you'll be quick to understand why it's my favorite release involving Pete Flesh since Thrown's "The Suicidal Kings Occult."
Tyrants Blood
Into the Kingdom of Graves
2013 Self Release
Took me quite a while to get my dirty mitts on this one. It was well worth the wait though. While it's not clear to me why Tyrants Blood released this album on their own, I'm glad they did. Doing so shows a lot of conviction and belief in what they're doing on their part. The cult Ross Bay sound lives on in Tyrants Blood, and in my mind, they're like the spiritual successor to Blasphemy... which in no way do I mean to take anything away from their own merits. It makes sense of course, as guitarist Marco Banco used to be part of that horde. He's pulled out all the stops here with the furious riffing. Drummer Matt Blood is kept on his toes, with all kinds of odd time changes. Some might find the drum tone a little odd, as there are times when they have a kind of "trashcan" sound. That's fine with me. It's good to hear a technical edge like his, combined with a more organic sound. I can't stand the flat, dry drum tone favored by most of the tech types these days. Brian Langley spews forth all kinds of vocal venom, coming across as a rabid Wendigo with his foot caught in a bear trap. Overall, there's a lot more dynamics going on here than you usually hear from bands in this subgenre. Most other bands of the "war metal" style tend to prefer blasting out an album, going at a non-stop high speed pace with little to no variation. Tyrants Blood prefer to mix things up a bit. There's a few places where I wish the guitars were a little higher in the mix, such as in the first half of "Conjure the Watcher." But that's all forgivable, for two reasons. First off, this type of metal has got to be a complete bitch to mix, and second... it's not meant to have a super-polished clean sound!
Temple Nightside
Condemnation
2013 Dark Descent / Nuclear Winter Records
Claustrophobic death metal seems to be all the rage these days, and Temple Nightside is one of the better bands in the style. Combining echoing Incantation style guitar riffs with blasting drums and vocals from the lower bowels of Hell, they've put together something that will haunt you well after you hear the last note of the last song. The slower tracks, such as "Exhumation: Miseries upon Imprecation," have a kind of "lurching" feeling to them, conjuring forth the image of some hulking trollish entity... shuffling through an endless black labyrinth, dragging heavy chains behind itself for the rest of its pitiful existence. The despair he feels is of the slow burning variety that runs deep. So it is with the music of Temple Nightside. Heavy on the atmosphere, heavy on the feeling. Yet not lightweight with the other aspects of their sound. I'd expect nothing less from a couple of deranged guys from Australia, as their country practically invented this style. Want further evidence? OK, between the two of them, they've done time in bands like Naxzul, Backyard Mortuary and Pestilential Shadows... plus a small host of others I've never heard of until now. Definitely one of the better albums I've heard in the final quarter of 2013.
Uncoffined
Ritual Death and Funeral Rites
2013 Memento Mori
Quite often, when a band plays a mix of death and doom metal, they tend to focus more on the "death" side of things and not the "doom." It's a very fine line to walk between the two, and the result ends up as death metal with doom elements. Nothing wrong with that, but in the case of the UK's Uncoffined, they did the opposite. Uncoffined play doom with death metal elements. In other words, "doom/death" instead of "death/doom." The most obvious death metal element of course, would be the vocals of Kat Shevil (also of Winds of Genocide). For those who concern themselves with trivialities such as having a woman on vocals, know this... Kat is on the same level as Sharon Bascovsky of Derketa. For me at least, that's the "gold standard." She's also not one-dimensional, as the majority of her male counterparts these days seem to be. With that out of the way, let's move on to other things. Lots of distortion on the instruments, but somehow I thought Uncoffined was going to have an even dirtier sound than this. Maybe the song I heard on YouTube was off a demo. If so, then please go that direction for your second album! Guitar solos? Yes, they have them, but they're done in an early Paradise Lost style... simple, effective, and if you get distracted, you just might miss them. Almost forgot... the album closes with a cover of Revelation's "Frustrations." Kind of a departure from the lyrical focus on death and the occult, but it still fits in very well and Uncoffined make it their own.
Pest
The Crowning Horror
2013 Agonia Records
Sweden's Pest have been kicking around for a while now, starting off as a black metal band, and then incorporating a more of a black/death sound with a hint of thrash on their last album, "Rest in Morbid Darkness." It's been quite a few years since that album, and my assumption was that they had called it a day at some point. Usually, as soon as I come to
this conclusion, I am proven wrong. And so it is in the case of Pest. Sure enough, here they are back with a new album after five years. They've changed their sound some, and now resemble what some might term "horror metal," similar to what Denial of God sound like these days. Believe it or not, but I also get the same feeling and vibe from this that the legendary split album between Necromantia and Varathron had, especially on "A Face Obscured by Death." On the other hand, "Devil's Mark" is very strongly in the vein of Sigh's "Scorn Defeat." Maybe the use of these influences was intentional, maybe it wasn't, but the end result is something that I would never have expected to hear from a Swedish band. Whatever the case may be, it's still put "The Crowning Horror" in place as one of my favorites of 2013.
Bones
Sons of Sleaze
2013 Planet Metal
Chicago's tyrants of terror, Bones, are back with their second album. This one's a good way to close out the year, with it's "less is more" approach and bare-bones (any pun intended) sound. Perfectly bleak and barren music to head into the bleak and barren winter. Well... truth be told, there's no real snow and ice to be found in my part of the country, although I did give this a listen for the first time during a rainstorm the like of which I don't think my area has seen since the days of Noah for the sheer volume in the amount of time. Since their debut, Bones have tweaked their sound a bit. In some ways, they got a cleaner mix... yet in others it's more dirty. The core "Hellhammer goes punk" sound is of course intact, although I think they backed off the crust elements from the last one. Instead, there's a little more grind, and you'll realize it when you compare this material to their cover of Terrorizer's "Fear of Napalm." So it's really business as usual here, with the guitar and bass distortion turned up to the max, and Jon Necromancer's vocals coming off as a member of the howling damned. The songs are all fairly simple sounding, but that's what you came here for right? If you're looking for Rhapsody of Fire, you'd best move on because you're in the wrong place and it's definitely the wrong time.
Zombie Inc.
Homo Gusticus
2013 Massacre Records
I'll just come out and say it. Don Cochino (Martin Schirenc) should forget about this Church of Pungent Stench thing and focus his efforts on Zombie Inc. He's got a completely kick ass band here, so why bother living in the past, especially when it may well end with him being sued? For those who missed the debut album, Zombie Inc are all about thrash-influenced songs about the dead and the undead. Each track has a morbid and twisted sick sense of humor about it, like "Cum Undone," with it's tale of a deranged maniac and his soon to be dead "girlfriend." Or "E=Mcarnage²," where the zombies get busy eating all the nerds. And quite frankly, in "Better off Undead," they make a damned good case for joining the undead human-eating legions:
Travails and Fears. Became Outdated.
Belief and Hope. Are Desecrated.
Loans and Savings. Now Obsolete.
Flesh of Man. Is Really All I Need.
No stress? Pffft... sign me up! Just remember to stand up and bang your head... because they are the rocking dead!
Blood Mortized
The Demon, The Angel, The Disease
2013 Chaos Records
Third album in, and Sweden's Blood Mortized haven't changed a damn thing with their sound. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Their music is still in the same style that was prevalent in the Stockholm area in 1990, so much so that the band might as well have been frozen for the past twenty or so years and only recently revived. It's like they have no idea how metal has changed in the past two decades. Change is overrated anyway. People like to talk about progression, but deep down, they prefer things to remain familiar and stay the way they are. So it is with music. While there are those bands that are able to successfully make sweeping changes in their sound and be accepted and appreciated for it, there are also those who don't do any of that and are still successful. There's nothing wrong with finding a formula that works and sticking to it. Blood Mortized don't push the genre, but that's not their intent. Instead, their intent is to write music the way they know best, and give the people what they want: old school (the only school!) death metal with the same feelings and vibe that the music had at the beginning of it all. I'd have to say they've managed to do just that. But I'd expect nothing less from a band made of guys who were there to experience it in the first place.
Wrathprayer
Sun of Moloch
2013 Nuclear War Now! Productions
Chile's Wrathprayer are the missing link between the unapologetic brutality of Archgoat and the esoteric onslaught of Necros Christos. Dark and malevolent sounding? Yes. Fast and blasting? Aye. Swirling maelstrom of metal chaos? You bet. It seems that three members is all it really takes these days to play in this uber-intense black/death metal style (or two if you don't intend to play live), and Wrathprayer are no exception. Three is a number of power. Celebrity deaths and bad news come in threes. Three sides to a triangle, which can be seen as a symbol of strength and power. Three members in a band, all working together with no room for anyone to slack off. Am I at all surprised that Wrathprayer hail from Chile? Not one bit. I have yet to find a band from that nation that is happy sounding and finds pleasure in life. Not even one. It seems to be that every band that hails from that part of the world is angry and hateful, and they're not afraid to express it. This sub-genre of metal, whatever it is termed... (I think "war metal" is the popular term?) has a sound far more sinister and depraved than virtually anything that has come before. Morbid Angel? Lightweights. Venom? A cartoon. Mayhem? A minor menace. Bestial Warlust? OK, now we're talking forefather to this sound. Some would call it ugly music for uglier people. And they're probably right.
The Skeletal
Remains
2013 Metal Inquisition
To the best of my knowledge, the songs here were recorded during the sessions for The Skeletal's debut, "The Plague Rituals." For whatever reason, they saved them for this mini-CD. That's fine with me, although all this really does is make me wish for the follow-up full-length. For those with short memories, the main members of The Skeletal are Kam Lee, who needs no introduction, and Lasse Pyykkö, best known for his work in Hooded Menace and Phlegethon. The four songs here (plus intro) follow the early sound pioneered by Mantas, Death and Master. Simple, straightforward, and effective as all hell. Kam's vocal style is his own, of course. Very understandable and gruff... yet also apparently devoid of the wipeouts and other trademarks. Most of his lyrics here come from the same primeval morass that birthed things better left un-named which then crawled forth from the murk and settled in the brain of HP Lovecraft. No shoggoths or blind idiot gods here though. You'll have to settle for the fetid undead and demon-inhabited bodily remains. But I'm sure you won't mind, not with Lasse's guitar swirling around in between and through every track to tie it all together with a rope of human intestines. While I would not call this music "fun," I would say that it does take up a kind of opposition to the sort of metal preferred by the scowling "I could play that better" types.
Krypts
Unending Degradation
2013 Dark Descent Records
Yes, I know I go on and on a lot of the time with the same introduction with my reviews. This one is no exception, as Finland's Krypts proves yet again that while Sweden ranks at or close to the top of nations when it comes to death metal, the bands that hail from Finland do it darker. Not only that, but they have also set the bar higher when it comes to morbidity. Sorry Asphyx, you've just been dethroned. Every track here lumbers along like a great beast, with not a single high-end vocal to be found. Everything is low, and the vocals are as deep as they come. Can't understand a word, and that's not a complaint. Unlike a lot of other bands with a similar style, Krypts do not ever sound like a churning mass of chaos. The songs have a real flow to them, and even maintain that pure crushing heaviness when they speed up with a blastbeat or two. Honestly, words are failing me here when it comes to describing just how massive Krypts sounds. If I were to try and sum them up in a word, "inevitable" keeps coming to mind. Why? Because this band is the sonic equivalent of that asteroid that's somewhere out there, on a collision course with Earth. It may take a while to get here, but it is inevitable that it will happen. When a giant rock does hit Earth and devastate the entire planet, I hope I'm listening to Krypts at the moment of impact.
Beyond
Fatal Power of Death
2013 Iron Bonehead Productions / Necroshrine Records
Germany's Beyond have a definite contender for best album of the year with "Fatal Power of Death." Besides "Unending Degradation" by Krypts it's the best thing I've heard so far in 2013. Beyond vomit forth an impressive wall of sound, and time and again I hear them compared to Necrovore. I have to admit that I do hear a lot of similarities in both bands' controlled chaos. I think there's a lot more blasting on the drums, possibly an influence from the Ross Bay style cult sound of Blasphemy. The album is an all-out attack at full, or close to full speed, with a sound that practically serves as a new definition of what "death metal" is. Other comparisons I've been seeing reference Autopsy, Immolation, Napalm Death and Incantation. Personally, I hear none of those. This isn't sewer-sludge style, nor death metal-tinged grindcore. It's also not as suffocatingly claustrophobic as Incantation or brutally technical like Immolation. But enough about what "Fatal Power of Death" isn't. Let's focus instead on what it is: cavernous, massive ungodly metal of death. Pure of sound and anything but simple. Anyone who says that death metal has become stagnant just isn't paying attention. Definitely one of those bands that will have true fans of death metal asking, "Where have you been all my life?"
Sorcery
Arrival at Six
2013 Xtreem Music
The first thing that hits you on "Arrival at Six" is... well, the whole band. There's no intro or lead-in. Everyone, including vocalist Ola Malmström come right out of the gate with all guns blazing, phasers set to "kill," swords at the ready... you get the idea. The second thing you notice is that the production is a lot more raw and in your face than you're used to hearing from Swedish death metal bands, especially these days. As far as I'm concerned, the sound they got in the mix is a welcome change from the usual attempts of trying to recapture the style of Unisound or Sunlight Studios. This was deliberate, and I was surprised to learn that the drums were actually recorded at Sunlight Studios, and the album was mixed there as well. It's just so unlike what we're accustomed to hearing when it comes to the metal that comes out of there. There's an incredible old-school feel here, and there's a damn good reason for that. Sorcery aren't some new band trying to recreate the old glory days. Sorcery were there at the beginning, and gave us an true classic in 1991's "Bloodchilling Tales." If things had ended there, then they would have joined the same ranks as Authorize, Crematory (Sweden, not Germany!), Bloodstone, Mefisto and others. So full of promise but without that one critical break they needed to get to the next step. Fast forward to the here and now. Ola and Paul Johansson got back together, recruited John Falk (who was part of In Aeternum with Paul at one point) on drums, and one Mikael Carlsson on bass. Since the recording of this album, Mikael has been replaced by Jacob Wibers (also in Sordid Flesh, who I hear have an album coming out soon). A few demos were put together, and the end result was "Arrival at Six." Sorcery still play the same kind of Swedish styled death metal they did in their original incarnation, and that leads me to the third thing that hits you with this album. Ola's vocals are very understandable, in the same way as other guys who have been around for a while like Martin van Drunen, LG Petrov and Marc Grewe. That's a real rarity these days where all we seem to hear are guys who are doing their level best to ruin themselves and are so gutteral, they might as well be singing the phone book. Bottom line here is, we have a band that's going their own way, doing their music the way they want to, with the sound they want to, and not giving a damn about conforming to what anyone's idea of what an "old school" band is supposed to sound like.
Johansson & Speckmann
Sulphur Skies
2013 Vic Records
Teamups are always big. Superman and Batman, Spider-Man and Daredevil, Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, peanut butter and chocolate... the list goes on and on. So a meeting of these metal megapowers had to happen sooner or later. Given that this is death metal, the teamup of Rogga Johansson and Paul Speckmann isn't comparable to any of the ones I mentioned. No, this is more like Doctor Doom working together with Thanos to conquer all existence. Only without ridiculous egos or backstabbing machinations... or some stupid hero getting in the way. On the one side, you have a true legend in the underground, in the form of Paul Speckmann. The guy has been around since before the death metal scene even started. He is, without a doubt, one of the true founders. On the other side, is a legend in the making, Rogga Johansson. The man is a riff-writing machine. About the only other guy from Sweden I can think of who even comes close is Nicke Terror (Rudolphson), known for his work in Sacramentum, Swordmaster, Runemagick, Deathwitch and Necrocurse, along with a few others. Rogga on the other hand seems to have something new going on every month. All killer, no filler. And that's the case here as well. While the guitar tone has that undeniable tone of Swedish distortion, the riffs are made of the same punk-inspired stuff that spawned Master. The production's a little thinner and drier than I might have expected or wanted, but none of that hinders the music in any way, shape or form. Speckmann's lyrics of course still things as he sees them. This world is on a collision course with oblivion, and we'd all better wake the fuck up if we want to try and stop it... if it's not too late already. For anyone wondering why this duo went with the name "Johansson and Speckmann," the answer is obvious. Nothing was brutal enough to call the band, so using their names was the logical solution.
Oniricous
Ritos Diabolicos
2013 Razorback Records
Bands with lyrics inspired by HP Lovecraft are more or less a dime a dozen these days. But take those lyrics and put them in Spanish, and you've got something far more occult than you may have planned on. I don't know what it is, but death metal bands that sing in Spanish always end up sounding far more evil. Maybe it's not a coincidence that the movie, "Tombs of the Blind Dead," also comes to us by way of Spain. Now you can call Oniricous "old school death metal," but it's probably not the kind you're thinking of. This is the kind of metal we used to hear from bands like Possessed, Sacrifice, and yes... Death (on "Scream Bloody Gore," of course). So yeah, older than old school, bitches. Armed with loads of razor sharp riffs, vocals that come from a half-man, half-wolf, and a nice thick production, "Ritos Diabolicos" is an album not to be missed. Expect this album to be virtually ignored by all those big-name metal magazines at the end of the year when they're making their "best of 2013" lists. They're all too busy wanking over the new Carcass album to take notice of something far more killer like this! On a side note, I found out that Oniricous came out of another band called Ghül. They have an album from 2009 called "Los Horrores de la Tumba." I'd love to track down a copy, but only 100 of them are in existence.
Just Before Dawn
Precis Innan Gryningen
2013 Chaos Records
It seems like everyone has at least one side band these days. In some cases, you can't even tell which is someone's main band and which is their "musical playground." Just Before Dawn happens to belong to guitarist Anders Biazzi, who you might know from Blood Mortized, or under the name "Anders Hansson," as an early member of Amon Amarth. Apparently, this was originally going to be a project with the Riffmaster General himself, Rogga Johansson -- who was only going to handle the lyrics and vocals, Anders would write all of the music himself.
Somehow or another though, it turned into a more underground version of Fred Estby's Necronaut. If you missed that project, it featured Fred on most of the instruments, with vocals by the likes of Tomas Lindberg, JB of Grand Magus, Dread (better known as Andreas Axelsson), and Erik Danielsson of Watain. Just Before Dawn however, features a bunch of vocalists from not-so well known great bands... Rogga, of course, as well as Jonas Lindblood of Puteraeon, Mr. Hitchcock of Zombiefication, Ralf Hauber of Revel in Flesh, and Tony Freed of Godhate. Gustav Myrin, who plays guitar in Blood Mortized tried his hand behind the mic as well, as did one Dennis Johansson, whose other bands Plästerd and Headstoned I'm unfortunately not familiar with. Personally, I'm more in favor of having a more regular lineup with just one vocalist, rather than going the "Probot" route. Still, it does more or less work out here, and for me, it's more about the fucking RIFFS. Holy crap. The short band bio describes the sound as a mix of Bolt Thrower and Asphyx. How many times have we heard that, only to be utterly disappointed and let down? Well, not this time! Each track manages to capture the massive sound of Bolt Thrower minus the "war feeling," which has been replaced with the morbidity of Asphyx. Although the album cover appears to depict a scene from World War II, I do not believe that the lyrics are specifically about that war or time period. There is a fascination with the machines of war though, with one song about a submarine and two more about tanks. Images of tank treads crushing fleshless skulls come to mind very quickly (like that scene in "Terminator 2"), as do recollections of the first twenty minutes of "Saving Private Ryan," with bullets flying, men dying, chaos abounding and death gods laughing. All of this... just before dawn.
Banished From Inferno
Minotaur
2012 Metal Inquisition Records
I was originally under the impression that Banished From Inferno was yet another of Rogga Johansson's many, many projects. I thought the mini-CD from a few years ago was brilliant, and now along comes "Minotaur" ... without Rogga. I'll be honest, I was a little worried at first. You see, there was another band he was involved in for one album, called Sinners Burn. Their first album, "Pre-mortal Autopsy" was brilliant. Then he left, and the followup "Mortuary Rendezvous" came across as lacking (but I must say that their third effort was a raging beast). But it turns out that my fears were completely misplaced. You see, Banished From Inferno was never exactly "his" project. He contributed vocals on the debut, but it was the Spanish members of the band that did all the heavy lifting, and they're not exactly lightweights themselves. Julkarn also does time in Graveyard, and Rober Bustabad is in Machetazo. Then there's drummer Phlegeton, also of Godus and Wormed. Can't say that I'm familiar with vocalist Balc's other bands though (Balmog, Scent of Death). But with guys in bands like those, it's not a surprise that Banished From Inferno sound like a more grind-influenced Swedish death metal band. But from Spain. And don't let that mention of grind scare you off. There's far less of that here than there was on Napalm Death's "Harmony Corruption." But what there is of it helps keep things from completely sounding Swedish, adding a bit of flavor to really give the band it's own identity. So yeah, Banished From Inferno is in good hands. But then, it always was.
Bombs of Hades
The Serpent's Redemption
2012 Pulverised Records
Yep. A new album from these "old school is the only school" Swedes. In their short existence, Bombs of Hades has managed to become one of my favorite bands of recent years, and I can't praise them enough. At times, I wonder what would have happened if they'd stuck with their original idea of playing crust punk, and then I start thinking that it would be cool if they brought in more of that influence to their sound, kind of like what Bones does here in the USA. Well, I don't have to wonder any more. On "The Serpent's Redemption," they've done that... but in a different way. Bones focuses more on the crust aspects. Bombs of Hades go back to the origins of d-beat (yes, I mean Discharge), and do a death metal oriented version of it. Anyone worried about this, don't be. There is no question that this is a death metal album. Both the title track and "Skull Collector" are concrete proof of that. This mixing of influences is what bands used to do, rather than simply copy what has gone before. If you need an example from the past of that, I would recommend you listen closely to Metallica's "Kill 'em All." They took elements of the NWOBHM, mainly from Holocaust, Blitzkrieg and Diamond Head, and put a new spin on them... that spin being the fledgling sound of thrash metal. You can absolutely hear those influences, but you can't say that Metallica sounded exactly like those bands. Bombs of Hades more or less do the same thing, by taking d-beat, pulling in some Slayer-esque parts (check the solos on "Incubus Descending") and spinning it all into death metal. I should point out that just like with the previous album, "Chambers of Abominations," this is not a "retro-band" in any way. This is true for two main reasons. First, you can't be a "retro-band" if the band is comprised of members who were there for the original scene. Second, Bombs of Hades do not try to recapture, imitate or emulate the sounds of 1989 to 1992. The foundation may be the same as what the retro types are doing, but the music constructed upon that foundation is not. Put simply, Bombs of Hades do not sound like some kind of recently exhumed "lost" band of two decades ago. That is why they stand well above a lot of other bands. They're doing their own thing and taking the classic sound forward... rather than living backwards.
Howling
A Beast Conceived
2013 Razorback Records
Right from the opening riff of "As Man Becomes Lycanthrope," you can tell that Howling is not like most death metal bands you've heard before. It's a full on early "Metal Blade Records" type riff, more akin to something off an Omen album. Get used to it, because there's a lot more where that came from, along with others that might well remind you of early Iron Maiden. Definitely not your typical death metal fare. I mean, check out the soloing that comes halfway through "Demented Debauchery." When's the last time you heard something like that on a death metal album? The lineup here is 2/3 of the much missed Beyond Hell (well, missed by me at least), with Tony Proffer on guitars (and writing all the music) and Elektrokutioner on drums. Handling the vocals and all lyrics is Vanessa Nocera (who while not as prolific as Elektrokutioner is well on her way to being there). Lyrically, Vanessa takes all of her inspiration from late 70s and 1980s horror movies, with the earliest being "The Fog" and "Tourist Trap" from 1979, and the most recent as "Pumpkinhead" from 1988. A whole gamut of ghoulish nasties is covered, from werewolves to murderous mothers to supernatural entities intent on gore and dismemberment. Based off just the title, I was a little surprised that "When the Hills Ran Red" wasn't inspired by "The Hills Have Eyes," but there's always next time. So yeah, this is cool little album of terror, although things aren't completely perfect. "A Night in the Crypt" has a riff more suited to maybe newer Entombed, and "The Hills Ran Red" starts with something that sounds vaguely familiar... kind of reminds me of some black thrash album? It'll probably come to me right after I publish this.
