Acheron
Kult Des Hasses
2014 Listenable Records
Without a doubt, the most noticeable thing that immediately hits you with this album are the vocals of Vince Crowley. I don't know if his woman left him, if his dog was shot by cops, if his car was t-boned while on the way to the studio, or if he's just tired of burying the bodies of the Jehovah's Witnesses who knock on his door. The dude is ANGRY. Seriously very, very angry. Nothing but pure venom and rage in his voice. About the only thing I can possibly compare this absolute fury to would be that of Kratos in the God of War video game series. Anyone who's played any of those games will know exactly what I am talking about. As far as the music on this album goes, I have not a single complaint. Production is awesome, everything sounds strong, nothing rides roughshod over anything else. I'm not sure on what the division of labor is when it comes to writing the music, but it's amazing to me that even with a completely new guitarist, "Kult Des Hasses" still sounds exactly like Acheron should. I honestly believe this is one of their best works ever, and that's coming from a guy who has been listening since the "Rites of the Black Mass" days. This is one of those albums that will most likely slip under the radar for many, and that's a damn shame because it's far, far better than virtually all of the "high profile" releases we've seen so far this year.
Just Before Dawn
The Aftermath
2014 Chaos Records
Mr. Anders Biazzi is back with album number two of his World War II themed project, Just Before Dawn. Overall, it's another great sounding death metal album in the early Stockholm-sound vein. Heavy as all hell, with as much distortion as possible. You know the drill by now. But there is an issue that might cause some contention. More on that in a bit. Once again, Anders has opted to go the "different singer for each track" route. This time he's recruited the likes of Dave Ingram (you might remember him from a little band called Benediction), Mattias Lodmalm (Cemetary), Marc Grewe (Morgoth), Jonas Stålhammar (God Macabre, Bombs of Hades), Jonas Lindblood (Puteraeon) and Thomas Wouters (Bodyfarm)... plus a bunch of others. Now I'm not against this, but it does make a person wonder just what he'd do if Just Before Dawn got a tour offer. Music-wise, prepare for machine-gun guitars, lumbering tank bass, and thundering artillery drums. Now for that one small issue... for whatever reason, it was decided that this album would be released in two different versions on CD. They have different artwork, and each has a bonus track that differs from the other one. Now I can understand (intensely dislike, but understand) putting a bonus track on a certain format, like a digipak, but to do two versions with two different songs? That's something I neither like nor understand. So, minor gripe aside,you'll just have to decide which cover art you like better, or be a total maniac and buy both!
Countess
Ancient Lies and Battle Cries
2014 Barbarian Wrath
Countess has been around for a long time now (since the start of the second wave of black metal in the early 1990s in fact) and have released a lot of albums, yet they've never managed to get much in the line of critical acclaim. Perhaps they've never wanted it, and have preferred to remain an underground band. That's something I respect. It means their integrity has never been challenged, and they've always done as they've wanted, making music their way without concern for what others may think. They must be doing something right, considering they've still been going for so long, and have had a long relationship with Nazgul's Eyrie/Barbarian Wrath. On to the album now.... Headman Orlok's voice is just as recognizable as ever with his trademarked "croaking raven" sound, and the lyrics he sings are very understandable. The songs still have the the same qualities we've come to expect. Some are depressing mini-epics, others are fast movers. All have that lo-fi recording and tuning that Countess fanatics have come to expect. In other words, they have their own instantly recognizable sound and style, and they're sticking to it, ignoring any and all trends. When everyone was throwing in massive amounts of keyboards, Countess didn't. When everyone was going for a post-black metal industrial sound, Countess didn't. When everyone thought adding some thrash metal was the way to go... you guessed it... Countess didn't. What you get with "Ancient Lies and Battle Cries" is more or less the same as other albums released by Countess. Black metal strongly influenced by the old heavy metal masters you'd expect (do I really need to list them?), and also by lesser known cultish bands you might not expect. Manilla Road come to mind almost immediately. If I had to sum up Countess in one word, I'd go with "consistent." Being consistent is a good thing. It means you know what your fans want, and you're more than happy to give it to them. As for the detractors,
they can suck it!
Gravehill
Death Curse
2014 Dark Descent Records
Third full-length from Anaheim's Gravehill, still playing their own heavily disfigured style of death/thrash metal. Lots of different influences on this one though, coming across as an ungodly mix of older Napalm Death, early Exodus, and early (sense a trend here?) Death, with a good amount of punk (and not the bubble-gum pop shit) thrown in as well. "Death Curse?" No doubt. But if we're talking about a spell of pure evil, consider this incantation to be "Scream Harmony Corruption Bonded by Bloody Gore." Mike Abominator's phrasings and vocal style (or maybe rantings?) at times remind me a whole lot of the late Paul Baloff's, especially on "Open Their Throats," which immediately brought to mind the line "use a rusty knife" from "Exodus" off the "Bonded By Blood" album. At the same time, he also evokes the sound of Barney Greenway off his earliest output in Napalm Death. But enough about that ugly bastard. Let's talk about the deranged guitars of Hell Messiah and CC DeKill, both of whom are new to the band and combine to kick a serious amount of ass. Let's see if they stick around for a while, because having a rotating door when it comes to members really sucks. The simple fact here is that if you were into the band before, there's everything here you've come to expect and more. If you weren't, then hopefully you'll be newly converted. And if you end up not liking what you hear at all, then go listen to some wimpy power metal and fuck off. You're not wanted and not needed. Gravehill - keeping the underground ugly since 2001.
Autopsy
Tourniquets, Hacksaws & Graves
2014 Peaceville Records
Seems like Autopsy are making up for lost time, not that they have to. I may be in the minority on this opinion, but I've felt that Abscess turned into Autopsy back on the "Tormented" album. It was back then that the punk/speed aspects of the early Abscess releases faded away, replaced by the filthy death-sludge of Autopsy. (As a side note, Abscess had originally started to make its presence known as far back as Autopsy's "Fiend for Blood" ep) As it is, with an ep, a compilation, a DVD and three albums released over the last four years, Autopsy are vomiting forth the material like a bulimic at a casino buffet. All of it has been just as vile as ever, and the core trio of Reifert, Coralles and Cutler is still in full effect. Combined with stalwart Joe Allen on bass, the cadaverous quartet (no relation to the band of that name that hailed from Arizona -- for all you trivia buffs) are just hellbent on releasing metal as obscene and dirty as scat porn. In other words, it's business as usual with very little changed from their old classics. With a sound as twisted and churning as your intestines after a bad bean burrito, Autopsy still manage to make listeners as uncomfortable as ever... and we love them for it.
Sabbatory
Endless Asphyxiating Gloom
2014 Unspeakable Axe
I think Sabbatory sound like what you'd have gotten if Morgoth had recorded a couple of Hellhammer/Celtic Frost covers for their first two eps... while ramped up on cocaine. This is very much prevalent on the opening track, "Being, Thy Eternal Perplexor," which has that fast Morgoth-y type feel, along with a total Hellhammer "Aggressor" type chorus part in the middle.
Shit... works for me. I'm also hearing more use of a China cymbal in one song than I think I've heard in everything I listened to last year. Or at the very least, its use is much more pronounced by Sabbatory. I'm actually writing this while listening to the album, and ... check it out... total "Circle of the Tyrants" riff on "Corrosive Decay." I won't say that Sabbatory are derivative, but they really need to keep that kind of thing to a minimum even if I do enjoy it. If they toss in "Cherry Orchards" next though, I'm out. At times, they do get a little technical with the playing, but we're talking about mid-period Death here, not Origin. The production is a little on the dry side, but it works. Nothing really blocks anything else out. It's not like someone sounds like they're playing in a room two doors down and to the left. As debuts go, this is a good one. I just hope they don't decide to go and "progress" or "evolve" on their next album. A little change is good, but keep it old school death metal and nothing but, please!
Manifesting
Descension Through the Seven Forbidden Seals
2013 Invictus Productions
As is commonly the case these days, Minnesota's Manifesting is a disturbing duo that features Sepulcherous on drums and guitar, and Maw on guitar, bass and vocals. I think the general concept behind both this and other bands centered around a duo is simply this... the individuals involved have little tolerance for other people as a whole, and have somehow managed to find one other similar-minded person to create music with. Finding one dependable person to form a band with is hard enough, let alone three or four or even five or more. Most likely, the mindset of a duo is that arguments are few and far between, and that any primadonna behavior will quickly lead to the dissolution of the band. Seems simple and logical to me, and the advantage over being just a single-person project is that one doesn't have to do everything, and the two members can bounce ideas off of each other. It's worked very well for Darkthrone over the years. Not surprisingly, Manifesting are part of this new generation of death metal that some half-wit hipster has dubbed "cavern-core." Yes, we get the idea. It sounds massively heavy, and with enough distortion to make the listener believe it was recorded in some deep dark cave. Granted, for some bands that may be true, but I highly doubt it. At the most, I'd say that bands of this ilk go for very subdued lighting from a few black candles, and are in some sort of conventional recording studio. Sorry to shatter any illusions. And that hipster, I heard he was dragged off and flogged with a razor-lined whip made of the hides of other hipsters. Now what makes Manifesting stand out to me at least, in comparison to other similar bands in this semi-sub-genre is that they don't go for the solely Incantation-influenced school of songwriting. They go back to something far more primitive... possibly even more primitive than Hellhammer. Manifesting rely on simple but effective riffs that are played repeatedly mixed in with tempo shifts, the occasional blast beat, and gutteral vocals from one of the lower circles of Hell. Far better to listen to (I'm not sure I'd dare to say "fun") than the uber-murky sludge sound preferred by most other similar bands. Small wonder then, that I keep spinning this ep over and over again (must have been three times while writing this) and wondering when or if we'll see a full length. Hey, I'm a fan of bands like Grave Upheaval and Teitanblood too, but I've always preferred to be able to discern one riff from another, rather than it all sound like a churning mass.
Lie in Ruins
Towards Divine Death
2014 Dark Descent
To kick off the year, Colorado's Dark Descent Records came out of the gate with all guns blazing. "Towards Divine Death" is the first in a trifecta of releases they know will assault your senses. It's been my extreme pleasure to have been able to follow Finland's Lie in Ruins since their demo days. As ever, they have that darker take on the sound pioneered by Stockholm. Mix-wise, they've gone a little heavier, with a sound closer to most of the rest of Dark Descent's roster. It's a little odd in that
everything seems to be on the same level except the vocals. Those are lower in the mix, and with a muddier sound than the rest. The effect is almost like everyone in the band is playing on solid ground, except vocalist Roni S, who apparently is standing in a deep hole. This is all definitely a different direction than what was heard on "Swallowed by the Void." That album had a much cleaner mix and more of a standard sound... even it's not as bold and heavy as what can be found on the new album. This is where I get fascinated by the whole mixing process. Just a few tweaks here and a few there, and the entire character of an album can be changed. I'm fairly certain that they initially started off with the same kind of mix they've had in the past, but then got the idea to make everything sound darker and heavier. I'd say they were mostly successful, but the way the vocals have been almost buried underneath everything else just irks me. Even so, you can tell that they put in some time and effort to get this sound. Just compare it to something like... say... the last release of Killing Addiction, which sounded like it was just thrown together with no goal other than that of just getting it done and over with. The recordings themselves may have been a mess to begin with, but that album didn't sound like they did much to help themselves or correct anything while mixing. The result was an unlistenable failure. This, on the other hand, is not unlistenable, but not quite a total success either. For the most part it works. You just need to let your ears adjust first. Do so, and you'll most likely agree this may be one of the darker and heavier slabs of death metal you'll hear this year.
Lvcifyre
Svn Eater
2014 Dark Descent
Somehow or another, Lvcifyre's debut, "The Calling Depths," went largely ignored by the metal-buying popvlation. Fortunately, Dark Descent fovnd ovt abovt them and qvickly signed them. With lvck, they'll get a lot more exposvre and become as known as they shovld be. Don't be fooled by the opening track, "Night Sea Sorcery." This one is a long, slow and brooding song that might make you believe that Lvcifyre is some sort of blackened fvneral doom band. Abovt halfway throvgh the track, yov'll learn otherwise. The blower bass svddenly picks vp, and so does the speed... to abovt a mid-pace of sorts. After this opening thovgh, the hammer gets thrown down hard, and the speed picks up considerably. The band's sick and twisted style of chvrning death metal fits in perfectly with the rest of Dark Descent's roster. Somehow, they manage to combine inflvences like Bestial Warlust, Krisiun and Incantation into a swirling malevolent maelstrom from whose miasmatic depths one will never retvrn. Mvsic like this reminds me of the time I saw a feeding frenzy of moray eels at a local marinelife park. It was jvst a swarm of chaos where yov covld not tell where one animal ended and another began. Savage, vgly and beavtifvl all at the same time. Definitely as "anti-trendy" as it gets. Jvst the way we like it.
Corpsessed
Abysmal Thresholds
2014 Dark Descent
This is the last of Dark Descent's triple threat onslaught to open 2014. The full-length debut of Corpsessed has been a long time in coming. Right off the bat, I have to say that this album sounds like the band pulled a "Sepultura," in that their debut ep has better production than their debut full-length. It sounds like this thing was mastered at a low volume, and there's just a kind of muted feeling to the whole thing. Fortunately, that's what the volume knob is for, and if your neighbors don't like it, maybe they will after being subjected to it for a while. Maybe I just liked the more upfront sound of the ep, as "Abysmal Thresholds" has more of an even mix. All that said, this album dives right into the deep end of the well-established traditions of Finnish death metal (bet you thought I was going to say "Swedish" there, didn't you?). As ever with the style, there is an emphasis on a darker vibe, and absolutely zero death-n-roll. I think they took early Demigod, added in a little Demilich, and some demo-era Morgoth, and did their best to try and update the music of those bands to today. They completely made them their own in the process, mostly by adding in an epic kind of flair somehow... as death metal bands hailing from Finland tend to do. As I listen to this album, I can visualize what I think their stageshow could be like. I'm seeing a very dark stage, with a ton of fog and mostly dark red and blue lighting. I can make out the forms of the band members, but no real details. Do not take that "lack of details" as a reflection of their music. This stuff is very dark, very heavy, and very involved... bordering on what a friend of mine likes to refer to as an "obscure" sound. Makes me damn proud to be a supporter of the underground and not whatever mainstream metal is today.
Satan's Host
Virgin Sails
2013 Moribund Records
"By the Hands of the Devil" was one of the true metal highlights for me back in 2011. The return of Harry Conklin [Leviathan Thisiren] to the band resulted in an album that by far surpassed anything that I had expected. Not only that, but then we also got "Celebration: For the Love of Satan" just a few months later, which featured re-recorded versions of songs spanning the band's career. The mix of Harry's clean vocals combined with decidedly black/death/thrash metal style music was a match made in ... well... Hell. Last year, 2013, we finally got the followup in the form of "Virgin Sails." Things have changed a little bit. Guitarist Patrick Evil has backed away from the kind of blackened death metal he's been crafting over the last decade or so and gone back to a more "traditional" style for the most part. Blast beats still pop up here and there, and the aggression is stronger than your average traditional heavy metal band -- occasionally crossing over into speed metal territory, but the majority of the sound here is in the traditional vein. In theory, album reviews are supposed to be about what is on the album, and the author's opinion is not supposed to enter into the equation. Nonsense. The point of a review is an opinion, and I mean to give one whether you want it or not! So do I like what I hear on "Virgin Sails?" You bet. Do I think it's better than "By the Hands of the Devil?" I can't say for sure if that's a "yes" or a "no." I think the two of them are very different animals, and for the stylistic reasons I outlined before. I might have preferred to hear more of the extreme type metal that Satan's Host released in years past but now with Harry's vocals, but what I'm hearing is still very much enjoyable and was well worth the wait. I can't complain much at all here... although I do wish they'd bring back the old logo.
