Metal Nightmare Blog

Ritual Necromancy - Oath of the Abyss

2012-01-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

Ritual Necromancy
Oath of the Abyss
2011 Dark Descent Records
The revival of old school death metal (for some of us, it's the only school) appears to be in full swing, and there is a definite division between how Sweden and the United States is going about it. You'd think that after all this time that maybe the Stockholm sound would have migrated to the US, and our sound would have popped up there. The thought being, of course that the grass is greener on the other side. While we were dreaming of seeing bands like God Macabre or Utumno, overseas they were dreaming of Sadistic Intent. But no, Sweden still retains their signature sound, while here in the US, bands are intently focusing on the sludgy sound of old Incantation. Disma and Father Befouled being two of these. Ritual Necromancy though, are at least trying to take a bit of a different road. Vocally, you may have a guy doing his best Craig Pillard imitation, and the mix may lend itself to the suffocating atmosphere of Incantation, but the guitar tunings have even more distortion, while the drummer likes to blast as often and as much as possible. These guys really went for a production that sounds like the album was recorded in a cave, under the supervision of Cthulhu himself. Didn't know the Great Old One was an engineer, did you? At times, things do get almost a little too heavy, and the sound suffers a bit for it, as if the equipment just couldn't handle the devastation. While I don't believe that the band was going for the same deliberate stereo destroying sound that Exit-13 did many years ago, I would still recommend that you proceed with caution in how loud you play it.

Krisiun - The Great Execution

2012-01-03T19:30:00.001-08:00

Krisiun
The Great Execution
2011 Century Media Records
This was a nice way to wrap up 2011. The mighty Krisiun threw this grenade at us just before the end of the year, when record labels usually wind their operations down before starting anew in the coming year. Make no mistake, this album is no mere bone tossed at us to sate our metal appetites for the short-term. This is Krisiun at the top of their game (or at least the current top ... they may well not have reached their peak). I've heard others say that this band of brothers has really stepped up their songwriting for this album, and I'd have to agree. If you're concerned about the "flamenco" parts you may have heard about, don't be. At least for me, they sound like the usual flourishes that Moyses Kolesne is already known for. This is also one of Krisiun's longest albums, so you get a whole lot of metal for your buck. Between Krisiun and Vader in 2011, a lot of the damage done to the hearts and minds of the death metal community by Morbid Angel's failed abortion has been undone. Our faith is restored, and one of our fallen idols has now been replaced by some of the demigods of the scene.

Midnight Priest - Midnight Priest

2012-01-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

Midnight Priest
Midnight Priest
2011 Stormspell Records
There are worlds other than this one. There exists an entire multiverse of infinite worlds with limitless possibilities. My point? I'm getting to that. Have you ever wondered what might have happened if Iron Maiden had a different pair of well-known guitarists back in their early days? Instead of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, what if Hank Shermann and Michael Denner had joined Iron Maiden? The answer to that question of course cannot be conclusively answered, but Portugal's Midnight Priest do give us an idea of what might have been in this little hypothetical question of ours. We are, of course ignoring the vocals in all of this. Singer "The Priest" does have a good voice, but he comes much closer to Kai Hansen than Dickinson or Di'Anno. The nine tracks here all have that well-known Maiden "thump" to them, but in terms of the guitar team, their tunings, soloing style, and just overall sound are right in line with the old Mercyful Fate albums. For the best proof of all this, look no further than "Segredo de Familia." This track sounds like it could easily have been written by Shermann back in the glory days of Fate. In fact, the further into this album one gets, the more it begins to sound more like a Mercyful Fate album than an Iron Maiden one (although "Cidade Fantasma" has the most Maiden-like sound of any track on the album). So it might even have been that Steve Harris would not be the main songwriter in this theoretical band of ours. Lucky for us, Midnight Priest then, is a real band! One small interesting point of note: on their debut ep, Midnight Priest displayed little or no similarity to Mercyful Fate's sound. Had I written this review at that time, we'd be talking a lot about Running Wild instead!

In Solitude - The World, The Flesh, The Devil

2012-01-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

In Solitude
The World, The Flesh, The Devil
2011 Metal Blade Records
As the years go on, it seems that more and more bands are becoming content with merely imitating their influences, rather than letting those influences actually do what they're supposed to do. Which, of course is to play a part in the direction of a band's sound, and not be the sound itself. If you really need an example, just throw a rock at a gathering of black metal bands formed ten years ago or less. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll hit one that sounds like a pale imitation of one of the bigger bands in the scene. So what's that got to do with In Solitude? Simple. While a good portion of their sound is based off of the 80s releases of Mercyful Fate, they don't sound exactly like Fate. Singer Pelle Åhman's (aka "Hornper") voice may have a bit of a resemblance at times to King Diamond's mid-range, but he's not hitting the impossible highs, or the almost gutteral lows. No falsetto to be found here. As for the lyrics, if anyone was afraid they' tone down the satanism because of signing to a major label (major, that is, by the standards of the metal underground), let me allay your fears with this simple statement; those elements are still very much present, but in a more esoteric form. Subtlety is the key. All in all, these guys are fairly young, and if the two albums they've done so far are any indication, we can expect big things from them in the future.

Goreaphobia - Apocalyptic Necromancy

2012-01-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

Goreaphobia
Apocalyptic Necromancy
2011 Dark Descent Records
I don't know the current status of Bloodstorm, but judging what I hear on "Apocalyptic Necromancy," I'd have to think that Chris Gamble is folding much of that band into the now resurrected and revitalized Goreaphobia. The songs on this album have a lot more in common with black metal than death metal. The songtitles, lyrics and philosophy are also much more in line with the mythology of Bloodstorm. The production doesn't focus on the same heavy side of things as before, and the whirlwind drumming is going to come as a shock to some. This is not the same vile beast of abomination that we've become used to. Only once you realize and accept all of that will you be able to begin appreciating the direction Goreaphobia have chosen to go in.

Mordbrand - Necropsychotic

2012-01-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

Mordbrand
Necropsychotic
2011 Deathgasm Records
Per Boder, where the hell have you been all these years? After the breakup of the utterly brilliant (and much missed) God Macabre, just about all of the members disappeared. Ola Sjoberg has popped up again in Space Probe Taurus, and now vocalist Per Boder has resurfaced in Mordbrand. Of course this is an old school death metal band, and the songs remind me a lot of something other than just the old Stockholm sound. Listen closely to the faster parts, and you may recognize some similarities to the almighty Massacre. For those who are unsure of what is meant by old school brutality, these six songs are all perfect examples.

Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance

2011-12-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

Arch/Matheos
Sympathetic Resonance
2011 Metal Blade Records
This year saw what could well be the biggest event in prog metal history ever. I'm not talking about Mike Portnoy's exit from Dream Theater. I'm of course referring to something much more important. That, of course, is this album. This collaboration between Jim Matheos and John Arch. It was big news when John put out that two track disk a few years ago. But let's face it. That was only two songs. What we've got here is a full album. There's a few ways to look at this album. On the one hand, it sounds virtually nothing like the first three Fates Warning albums. So it's not a straightforward metal album. But it's also nothing like what came after "No Exit" once Ray Alder took up the vocalist spot in FW. At least for me, FW became far too progressive, and were, well, ...boring. While still in the prog vein, the songs here manage to stay on the level and are fairly focused, or at least they have a decent flow to them. Given how long some of them are, this is no small feat. John doesn't sound like he lost anything vocal-wise and is still as powerful and instantly recognizable as ever. With any luck, this won't be a one-off release and we'll hear more from John Arch sooner rather than later.

Portrait - Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae

2011-12-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

Portrait
Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae
2011 Metal Blade Records
When Portrait virtually exploded onto the scene a few years ago, everyone was struck with two things about the band. First, singer Phillip Svennefelt's voice bore an uncanny resemblance to that of King Diamond. Second, Portrait's song structure was very similar to that of the original Mercyful Fate albums, and KD's "Fatal Portrait" release as well. Here on album number two, that structure is even more prevalent, but Phillip Svennefelt has been replaced by Per Lengstedt. The band is better for the change in frontmen. Phillip Svennefelt seemed to be locked in the pattern of singing one line in a high KD style voice, and singing the next line in a low, more sinister KD style voice. He would then repeat this style not only for the rest of the song, but for the rest of the album as well. As much as I like the debut, this really became grating after awhile. New frontman Per Lengstedt has a more subtle style, where he does not instantly sound like KD. Indeed, at first he doesn't really stand out from other power metal singers of this era. But as you listen more, the more you realize that he takes quite a few queues, not from King's exact sound, but from his phrasing, vocal flair, and the ability to create one hell of a macabre picture with his voice and lyrics. That said, on "Darkness Forever," he does use a specific phrasing that King used on "Into the Coven," and I promise you that you'll know it the first time you hear it. But that aside, his vocals combined with songs that have a strong similarity to old Mercyful Fate (but with far better production) makes for the kind of package that most other bands can't even conceive of, let alone compete with.

Hell - Human Remains

2011-12-05T18:29:00.001-08:00

Hell
Human Remains
2011 Nuclear Blast Records
It's been a long road for Hell. Originally formed back in the glory days of the NWOBHM, they've been little more than a cult favorite for many years. And truth be told, the number of those who had even heard of the band was small indeed. Virtually everyone here was an original member except Andy Sneap, and sadly Dave Halliday, who committed suicide in 1987. As main songwriter and vocalist, the loss of Dave was a huge one, but as heard on this album, the rest of the pieces are in place, and the players are all in top form. For those lucky enough to buy the 2CD version, all of the songs are on the second disk, but in their original demo form, with Dave Halliday on vocals. Other than the album versions having David Bower on vocals instead, and better production, not much is different or has been changed in their occult metal sound. While this album holds its own against young newcomers like In Solitude, Enforcer or Portrait, it remains to be seen if Hell can maintain this level of greatness with another album, one containing new material.

Entrails - The Tomb Awaits

2011-10-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Entrails
The Tomb Awaits
2011 Dark Descent Records
There's a reason why Entrails sound like they're straight out of 1990s Sweden. It's because they are. Things didn't go so well for them the first time around, but they're giving it another shot. And what a shot it is. The debut, "Tales from the Morgue" was awesome. But "The Tomb Awaits" blows it away in every conceivable way. I'm sure that to write music like this, Entrails had to follow the left hand path. The songs here will drag you down into the grave, where you'll have many indecent and obscene dark recollections. The songs here are a reflection of the band's darkside, and it's plain to these ears that for them, nothing but death remains. None of these tracks are unorthodox. They're all in a very traditional Stockholm-era styled sound that cuts through the nocturnal silence with ease. No one can call the music of Entrails soulless, and when it comes to old school Swedish death metal in 2011, you'll never see ... or hear anyone doing it better than this. As we Americans say, they knocked it out of the park with this album, and they did it on every level. Old school brutality, old school death metal... it just doesn't get much better than this.

Deceased - Surreal Overdose

2011-10-13T18:22:00.001-07:00

Deceased
Surreal Overdose
2011 Patac Records
Five long years after "As the Weird Travel On" (and for those keeping score, 20 big ones since the release of "Luck of the Corpse"), Deceased are finally back with the long-promised "Surreal Overdose" album. There have been some big changes in the Deceased lineup over the last few years, so let's get caught up on those first. Gone is guitarist Mark Adams, who left the band and never looked back. Mike Smith is still in the band, but just for writing and recording. No touring. Shane Fuegel is the new guy on guitar, formerly of Biovore. Les Snyder is still on bass. As for the drums, here's the biggest news of all... Dave Castillo is out, and King Fowley himself is back in. At least for recording. Live, he's still out in front on vocals. So now that you've got your scorecard filled out, let's move on to what's on this new album. As the core writing team of Mike and King is still intact, things don't sound much different. The death metal days are still long behind them, and it's still next to impossible to slap a label on Deceased other than "metal." If you really do feel the need to push the issue, then you should be able to pick out all kinds of elements in their sound... from classic heavy metal to real 1980s thrash (not that retro-rehash stuff... and King will probably backhand me one for mentioning the resurgence, even though I'm trying to make a distinction for all the fans in the younger set out there), to maybe a little doom with gloom. There's fast parts, melodic parts, frantic as all hell parts, moody and dark pieces, and all of it with the horror background (think "Twilight Zone") that Deceased have become known for. Bottom line, this is "metal," plain and simple. No apologies asked for and none wanted. Has it been worth the wait? Of corpse it has. Any hipster who picks this one up is in for an asskicking, plain and simple. No, really. Deceased will come to wherever they live and kick their ass personally. Because while Manowar may proclaim "Death to false metal!" Deceased follow through on those words. Always have, always will. In music, there are few bands you can trust to never let you down. Deceased are one of those few.

Revolting - In Grisly Rapture

2011-10-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Revolting
In Grisly Rapture
2011 F.D.A. Rekotz
Rotten Rogga really outdid himself with this one. Do I say that with every review of one of his bands? Probably. But is it the truth? I'd have to say so. So far, the man has not run out of killer guitar riffs, and I've got a feeling that his castoffs are better than a lot of other bands keepers. The distortion on both guitars and bass are cranked to 11, with the result that there's a thicker, heavier sound here than I remember hearing before. On top of all that, Revolting Rogga's vocals are up there with the best of the class of 1990 and 1991. As ever, the lyrics are tales of horror, gore, and the occult. Fans of the old school will find everything here to their liking. One thing about the old Swedish death metal sound, it never gets boring. The Gothenburg sound kind of came and went, with a lot of bands either experimenting too much or getting lighter in sound. But the Stockholm sound and those who follow it still chugs along the same as ever, much like the proverbial unstoppable force. Given that the style is now a good twenty or so years old, that's a testament to the untrendiness of it. Let's put it like this... as long as Repulsive Rogga is writing and recording it, I'm buying it.

Bones - Bones

2011-10-08T23:21:00.001-07:00

Bones
Bones
2011 Planet Metal
The demise of Usurper was a blow that hit me heavily. I had been a fan since their demo days after all, and it led to a long-standing friendship. Almost immediately following the breakup, guitarist Rick Scythe formed Nightshade, and the rest of the guys disappeared from the scene. Other than Jon Necromancer's stint in Kommandant, things have been quiet. Until now. Jon has resurfaced along with drummer Apocalyptic Warlord and guitarist Chris in a new project called Bones. Lately, I've been getting my death metal riff fix from the crust punk scene, with bands like Wolfbrigade and Hellshock. Based on what I'm hearing on this album, I'd have to say that I'm not the only one. Bones comes across as what we might have gotten if Tom Warrior had moved to Sweden and joined Anti-Cimex after Hellhammer broke up. Bones is loud, rude, abrasive and above all else, metal to the fucking bone. I can honestly say that I'm finally OK with Usurper's end. With a new band like Bones coming out of the grave, how can one not be?

Demonaz - March of the Norse

2011-10-08T23:19:00.000-07:00

Demonaz
March of the Norse
2011 Nuclear Blast
With the opening track, "Northern Hymn," that set the mood, and then into "All Blackened Sky," I have to admit that for a moment, I believed. I honestly believed that the voice we would hear on this album would be that of Quorthon. Of course, it was Demonaz, but those two tracks have such a "Hammerheart" feeling to them, that this album could almost be seen as a continuation of later Bathory. I would have to disagree with anyone who says that I'm just exaggerating. I'm completely serious. On later songs though, the Bathory-isms go away, and there's much more of a straightforward heavy metal vibe. Definitely not orthodox black metal, but then even Demonaz's former band, Immortal, is no longer a typical black metal sounding band. If what I've heard is true, and that Demonaz still writes for them, then I think he saved some of the better ideas for this semi-solo album, because "March of the Norse" is far, far better than anything that was on Immortal's "comeback" album. Hopefully this is not the last we'll hear from him. And you want to know something? Once I finished listening to this, I put it back on... and damned if I didn't once again believe I'd hear Quorthon!

Maim - Deceased to Exist

2011-10-08T23:18:00.001-07:00

Maim
Deceased to Exist
2011 Soulseller Records
Between their first album and this one, it sounds like Maim changed the core of their sound at least a little bit. The blatantly Autopsy-inspired riffs are gone for the most part, and instead is something that sounds like the bastard child of Entombed circa the "Crawl" ep, and maybe Morgoth's "Cursed" release. Kind of along those lines at least. Throw in some Celtic Frost-styled touches and a focus on writing in as brutal of an old school way as possible, and that's Maim for 2011. No sophomore slump here, and it's plain to hear that unless something goes seriously wrong, they'll be playing death metal in the ancient vein for a long time to come.

Sabbat - Sabbatrinity

2011-10-08T23:15:00.000-07:00

Sabbat
Sabbatrinity
2011 RIP Records / Iron Pegasus
A lot has been written and said about this album... now it's my turn. Somehow or another, Japan's Sabbat have gone from a very little known cult underground band to an extremely popular but still underground and cult band. I'm really not sure at all how this happened. They've been around since roughly 1983, but only recently gained a significant amount of fame. I was fortunate to discover them just before Sabbat-mania hit, and score just about all of their CDs at reasonable prices. Right after that, it seemed like everyone else found out about them and prices soared. Sabbat of course are also known for doing a lot of vinyl releases, and along with Nunslaughter have managed to dethrone Venom in that department. But enough of the history lesson! "Sabbatrinity" is the first studio album 2003's "Karmagmassacre." In between, there have been a lot of live albums of various sound quality, and of course more vinyl than anyone could hope to collect. This album also features the debut of new guitarist Damiazell, who has replaced Temis Osmond. The ten tracks here are all one hundred percent pure Sabbat, and that means thrashing metal of the highest order. Yes, the production is a little on the rough side, but that's to be expected and even adds to the band's charm. I'll take a lo-fi 80s style production like this over a super-slick one like Def Leppard's any day of the week. Not surprisingly, there are differences between the pressings of this album. First, you've got three covers. Second, there are two versions of "Witches Torches." They're not remixes, they're entirely different recordings. Not having heard the Iron Pegasus press, I can't say if that means they're played exactly the same or if they have any major differences. I wouldn't put it past the band to put out a 7" with both versions at some point. Anyway, this album is one for all the Sabbat-maniacs out there. Here's to hoping the next one will be out before 2019!

Satan's Host - By the Hands of the Devil

2011-08-17T19:01:00.001-07:00

Satan's Host
By the Hands of the Devil
2011 Moribund Records
With the news that Harry Conklin had rejoined the band, I have to say that I was not exactly sure what to expect. Would Satan's Host go back to the heavy metal sounds of the debut? Or would Harry have to learn to sing in a black metal voice? As it turns out, neither of these ended up as the answer. Satan's Host 2011 sounds like a classic heavy metal band with a traditional sounding singer, but with black/death metal tuning and distortion. What that means is that this incarnation of the band has a sound that you've probably never heard before. On first listen, it may take your ears a song or so to adjust to what you're hearing. In fact, you're going to want to actively listen to this album, rather than put it on as background music for whatever you're doing. The opening song, the title track, kind of sticks out in my opinion, as it's the most black/death styled song on the album. Is this better than "Metal From Hell"? I'd have to say it's not. But that album is a true underground occult metal masterpiece that gains more of a cult following every year. So really, a comparison is unfair. It's like comparing the original Mercyful Fate releases to the ones they did after they reformed so many years later. It just can't be done, due to the high regard the originals are held in. But the simple fact remains that this album by Satan's Host is most likely the sleeper hit of the year and should not be overlooked.

Necrophagia - Deathtrip 69

2011-08-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

Necrophagia
Deathtrip 69
2011 Season of Mist
It has been one long, Long, LONG time since Killjoy and crew unleashed "Harvest Ritual Vol. 1" on us. But finally, here's "Deathtrip 69" to serve as followup to that album of unbridled insanity. I'm not sure how many copies will have the special "bloodpack" packaging, so you might want to get this sooner than later if odd collectibles are your thing. I just hope mine doesn't dry up like the one Slayer did years ago. Lyrically, "Deathtrip 69" is a very loosely based concept album inspired by everyone's favorite psycho, Charles Manson. Killjoy's vocals are as savage as ever, and where "Harvest Ritual Vol. 1" acted as a gore-encrusted bludgeon, "Deathtrip 69" is more of a rusty blade. It has a little more finesse, but the cuts it leaves are a lot more damaging and painful than being hit over the head multiple times. Really, the only thing that's missing here would be if they'd included a cover of one of Charlie's songs. Remember, he was working with The Beach Boys at one point. That would have really put this over the top, but I suppose you can't have everything. One thing I really do need to point out is that every Necrophagia album has a different sound and slightly different style, but is still instantly recognizable as Necrophagia. As ever, you'll need a shower or twelve to try to get the stench of Necrophagia's music off of yourself. Even a good scouring with a wire-bristled brush might not do the trick.

Ribspreader - The Van Murders

2011-08-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

Ribspreader
The Van Murders
2011 Vic Records
If the opening riff of the first track of this album, "The Beginning of Their End," doesn't get your head banging and neck snapping, then you're just not into death metal. The ever-prolific riff-master Rogga Johansson is back yet again, this time with songs that form the tale of two charming fellows, The Cleaner and Mr. Filth. These two delightful characters travel around the country in their van, picking up women... and then take their time carving them up on the putrid mattress in their vehicle that always seems to have a strange, unfamiliar odor emanating from it. Our two heroes have all kinds of nasty adventures, and end up with the hilarious problem of what to do with all the bodies when they're done. As is the case with virtually all of Rogga's different projects, Ribspreader of course is chock full of the old Swedish vibe from the early 1990s. "The Van Murders" is yet another testament to the fact that while the glory days were twenty years ago, the style and sound from that time are still full of vitality and can easily get the blood pumping and the body thrashing, regardless of whether the band in question is from that era or from the new breed keeping it alive.

Affliction Gate

2011-05-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

For whatever reason, France has always been overshadowed in the metal scene. England, Sweden, and of course the USA all have extremely well known bands, many of whom have become giants in their respective genres. But France also has a rich tradition of metal, dating back to the likes of SORTILEGE and STRATTSON, and then on to LOUDBLAST, and finally the French Black Metal Legions. So it’s really no surprise that with the recent revival of the old death metal sound, that France too has a new band playing in that style. I present to you, AFFLICTION GATE, and guitarist Grief.

Was the band formed with a love of early 90s death metal in mind, or was that just what came out of you as you started writing?

Yes, our aim with the creation of AFFLICTION GATE was to play this former traditional death metal sound as we knew it and experienced it in 1991. We are not really newcomers as you can see and I actually formed my first local death metal act back in 1993 -- I once composed the song “Our Evil Legacy” that you can find on our album during my time in this band -- so, to play in the old school vein is not something we chose by chance. It’s rather a matter of circumstances that such a band became concrete and a reality in 2006 only. Late 80’s / early 90’s death metal is the only death metal that matters to us and the quintessence of the genre.

Most of your sound comes from the European scenes. But what about the old Florida scene? Any bands from there in particular that you pull a lot of influence from? ... Acheron, perhaps?

Obviously, we can’t deny the old US Death Metal scene with bands like MASSACRE -- we cover the song “Corpsegrinder” on stage, by the way -- MANTAS / DEATH, MASTER, ACHERON or MORBID ANGEL who all had an impact on us. It’s a real honour to have Vincent Crowley to guest on our debut album, as you can imagine. The early stuffs of all those bands are immortal classics that we worship and pay tribute through our music, as we always clearly state.

To me, Herostratos' vocals also sound somewhat like those of Vince Crowley of Acheron. Do you get that comparison a lot?

Yes, some people pointed out that comparison as well and I can agree that their vocals are sounding quite close sometimes but I think there is a little difference between him and Vincent, though. I would rather see Herostratos’ vocals at a crossroad between LG Petrov, Barney and Vincent, depending of the intonations he can use to give some variations to fit the atmospheres of songs.

He's also very understandable... which was also an old school thing. Was this deliberate?

This is the vocal style that came “naturally” for Herostratos the first time we rehearsed together. AFFLICTION GATE is his very first musical experience, actually. Of course, it’s also the kind of vocals we prefer and that suits better to our music anyway. Powerful and brutal yet still audible unlike some bands that should not bother writing lyrics as their vocals are so ultra deep and low that it becomes so ridiculous. Many say that Herostratos is one of the strongest elements of the AFFLICTION GATE sound and there is no doubt that we are lucky to have such a great vocalist.

What led to the decision to be a 3-piece with a session bassist, session studio guitarist and session live guitarist? Why not have the live member also do the studio work, or have the studio guy play live?

It simply appeared to be impossible to find suitable permanent members with the same motivation and inspirations as us. We had several line-up changes and we got tired of wasting our time so, we instead asked some close friends coming from other local bands to help us on recordings and gigs. However, some line-up updates recently occurred again: Wayne -- our session bassist since the EP-- has left the band because he had to move to another part of France relating to his new job. He was replaced by P.N.G. --who is another long time friend of ours -- since we started again to play live in April. By the way, we finally decided to add our session live lead guitarist as an official member of the band now: Bobby, member of old school thrash metal band HUNGRY JOHNNY -- showed a real involvement, interest and dedication to AFFLICTION GATE, so we came to the conclusion that he was the best for this job more than ever.

Did you re-record or just remix the songs from the debut ep for their inclusion on the Aeon of Nox album? If you re-recorded them, did you change the arrangements at all?

The songs from the EP Severance have been completely re-recorded, of course. Those new versions were captured in real professional studio conditions and sound really much heavier and crushing as ever. The EP was a home made recording with limited equipment but I think the sound / result is quite decent for demo type stuff. Concerning new arrangements compared to former versions, there are no major changed, only few details such as solos which have been re-worked and we added a second one on “Mirror Breakdown”.

None of your songs have lyrics in French? Most of the old heavy metal bands from your country, like KILLERS or SORTILEGE sang in French - in fact I prefer those versions to the English ones!

French lyrics in hard or heavy bands as KILLERS, SORTILEGE, TRUST or ADX sound ok, but it’s not something I’d like to experiment with in AFFLICTION GATE. To be honest, I’m not really fond of “un-English” language in metal in general. I think English is definitely more appropriate, especially for death metal.

Do you feel that the French death metal scene has been overshadowed by that of black metal? Or was the death metal scene in France small to begin with?

The former French Death Metal scene was really active and solid back in the early 90’s with killer leading hordes as AGRESSOR, LOUDBLAST, MASSACRA, NO RETURN, MERCYLESS, SUPURATION, CATACOMB, CRUSHER or MUTILATED / ABYSSALS. Those bands were of a very high quality and they had nothing to envy to international bands. Unfortunately, some of them finally split up while others started to change their musical orientation, sailing away from death metal for the worst. So, everything went down hill or died in 1994… Then, black metal started to get more and more attention and it’s the most popular extreme metal genre in France for over a decade now. The rebirth of death metal happened also in the very late 90’s / early 2000’s through the brutal and technical style which is still strong too here. No wonder that I miss the “good old times”….

Are there any old French death metal bands that you feel were overlooked? Even LOUDBLAST never got much of a push, at least not here in the US.

LOUDBLAST, AGRESSOR, MASSACRA and MUTILATED have a cult status worldwide, yet it’s mainly in the underground related scene. It’s really a shame that, most of the time, those names are nowadays forgotten or ignored by people and sometimes even in France too... LOUDBLAST recorded their two best albums Disincarnate and Sublime Dementia at Morrisound Studios – the same for NO RETURN with their essential Contamination Rise -- but as far as I remember no French bands toured there back at the time. Maybe, it probably explains why they never got exposed nor really became “big” in the US.

What do you find lacking in today's death metal?

Basically, I’d say hooks, atmosphere, soul... over all the technical & blast beats bullshits around in which the present death metal scene is sadly drowned in!

Do you feel that this "retro death metal" thing going on now is the next trend?

Well, we are witnessing an obvious revival but we can hardly speak about a real trend at the moment, if you want my opinion. It’s still an underground thing and minority. France is the best example of my words. By the way, mainstream labels don’t give a shit about this new wave of old school death metal it seems. Maybe, it will be the next trendy music of the 2010’s, who knows? I guess it won’t be a bad thing if it could wipe out all the fake nature of today’s black metal circus and the ultra boring sound of 2000’s death metal! [laughs]

What's your opinion on the return of some of the early bands that never got big like INTERMENT or NIRVANA 2002? Is there anyone you'd like to see return that has not done so yet? How about a band that should have stayed dead and buried?

If those bands are doing it for a real passion for the old death metal style and days and it’s done as a return to their musical roots as Nicke Andersson did with DEATH BREATH, I think that’s great. On another hand, a band like PESTILENCE re-uniting was really not necessary....

What are the plans for the rest of 2010 and maybe early 2011?

We have started again to compose new stuff and we plan to record a couple of tracks, some covers, and a slightly alternate version of “The Worst is Yet to Come,” respectively for a possible EP, bonus material for the LP version of Aeon of Nox, and a promo compilation for Metal Inquisition Records. We might also work on a collaboration track with Rogga Johansson – of PAGANIZER, BONE GNAWER, ex-EDGE OF SANITY -- as it’s an idea we had in mind for some time now. We could do a video clip for the song “Knights of Scorn” too, but it’s not a priority. Of course, if we have some offers to play more live shows, we will go ahead and do that too.

- Final comments belong to you!

Thank you very much for your support and for giving AFFLICTION GATE the possibility to be a part of Bulldozer Mag.

The Skeletal - The Plague Rituals

2011-05-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

The Skeletal
The Plague Rituals
2011 Metal Inquisition Records
It had to happen. Just as Kam Lee partnered up with Rogga Johansson [Paganizer and a dozen other bands], now he's teamed up with Lasse Pyykkö of the semi-legendary Phlegethon and the more recent Hooded Menace. The Skeletal is pure death metal, and draws from early Obituary and Six Feet Under. Wait, don't run away yet because of the mention of SFU. While it didn't take long for that band to turn into complete shit, their debut full length and followup ep are both excellent slabs of death metal. Forsaking the doom and gloom of some of their other recent works in other projects, the members of The Skeletal go for a fast and heavy style with a strong rhythm base. Every track lurches along like an inexorable zombie. Try as you might to get away, you know that the inevitably, you will succumb. For those who think that vocal brutality comes from grunting like a pig or cupping the microphone in order to get a sound that's lower than low, you should take note. Kam is extremely understandable here (as he tends to be), but he throws in a very deranged style that I haven't heard from him before. The end result is far more disturbing, brutal and effective than anything even your above average brutal death metal band has ever conjured up. But that's ok. Fans of modern death metal just won't "get" this album, as they have never understood that simpler can be better. It's not how complex of a song you can create, it's how much feeling you can put into your music. The Skeletal have plenty of feeling. You'll understand that as they slowly dismember and consume you.

War Command - Warlords Supremacy

2011-05-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

War Command
Warlords Supremacy
2010 Morbid Moon Records
Not surprisingly, Canada's War Command play thrashing war metal of death. "Warlords Supremacy" features a historical look back at battles and wars of the distant past starting with the Spartans, continuing to Attila the Hun, the vikings and then the conquests of Vlad Tepes. For whatever reason, they then make a huge leap to the 20th Century and focus on World War II. Maybe they'll revisit the past on future albums, because there's a huge gap between the days of sword and shield and modern warfare. The final song, "World War III," is the exception to the historical standpoint, as obviously we haven't had the third World War yet. Or at least it hasn't taken the same form as the other two, as the argument could be made that World War III is being fought now on many fronts, such as Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt... and let's not forget terrorism and the world economy. Enough about world politics, let's talk about the music. War Command have a sound that comes in somewhere between Blasphemy, Incantation and a whole lot of the Australian underground. For the most part, War Command are a tank. Practically unstoppable, rolling over everything and anything in its path, crushing all of it and grinding whatever's left into dust.

Witchgrave - The Devil's Night

2011-05-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

Witchgrave
The Devil's Night
2011 Metal Inquisition Records
Mark down this ep by Sweden's Witchgrave as another release that should have only been on vinyl. Vintage NWOBHM sounds with an occult focus were just never meant for any digital format. I've played the four songs present on this CD once, and now I'm listening to it on my iPod. Doing so makes me feel unclean, and it just feels wrong. While Venom are a good comparison to make and a more than decent reference point, Witchgrave have a lot in common with many of the "unsung" bands from the NWOBHM. Production-wise, this is like Venom. Vocals are like those of Cronos of Venom. But musically, there's a lot more going on here. Think of a more raw sounding version of Blitzkrieg, Holocaust and Tygers of Pan Tang. One could almost be fooled into believing this was an actual lost gem of the NWOBHM. Almost, but not quite. As it is, the four tracks here are done all too soon, and this is one release where you'll be hitting the "play" button over and over again. With luck, that might be enough to hold you over until their debut full-length is out.

Omision - In the Shadow of the Cross

2011-05-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Omision
In the Shadow of the Cross
2011 Chaos Records
"The Sound of Perserverance." If Chuck Schuldiner hadn't used that title for the final Death album, then it would have been perfect for Omision's debut album. Vocalist Heriberto Pérez is the poster-child for perserverance. Omision was formed way back in 1992, saw a lot of lineup changes, got back together many years later, saw more lineup changes, and some demo releases. All of which has now culminated in this album, "In the Shadow of the Cross." That's a lot of hard work, and there's not many who would have stuck with it for all this time. Most of the tracks here are brand new, with only "Your God" and "Beyond the Burning Gates" from the "Utopia of Chaos" demo, and "Seeking the Holy Throne" from the "Pileup in the Morgue" demo being the only songs heard previously. Heriberto wrote everything on this album, with the rest of the band helping with some of the arrangements and little else. He sure seems to know what he's doing too, as he did in fact write songs and not "collections of riffs." Oddly enough, even though I know for a fact that he worships at the altar of Testament, very little if any of their influence can be heard on this album. Vocally, Heriberto is somewhere between Kam Lee and Glen Benton's deeper vocals. None of that high screaming crapola, and not your typical death metal vocals that you hear these days. He's very understandable like most of the old guard were. Bands that have influenced the music here? Well, "Assault in the Vatican" starts off with a riff you'd swear that Terrorizer came up with, and "Your God" is very Monstrosity influenced. I hear a lot of their first album in that track, especially the classic "Ceremonial Void." Guitars here are handled by Roberto Lizárraga, also of Infinitum Obscure. Very different style for him here, but he still put his heart and soul into each note played, especially in the solos. Joel Márquez, formerly of Sadistic Intent and Infinitum Obscure assaults the drums with a lot of passion, moreso than any of these technical drummer types. Hopefully this is not the last we hear of Mexico's Omision, not to be confused with Spain's Omission.

Vanhelgd - Church of Death

2011-05-02T18:11:00.001-07:00

Vanhelgd
Church of Death
2011 Nuclear War Now!
Vanhelgd's debut, "Cult of Lazarus" completely blew me away on its release, and I've been waiting for the follow up with great anticipation ever since. Things are a little different this time around though. "Church of Death" has a much thinner production, but that's really the only negative point. They're still old school Swedish as fuck. The band lineup is still intact, with both Jimmy Johansson and Mattias Frisk handling guitars and vocals. Never been much of a fan of the "tradeoff" style, but it does seem to work here. One of those two guys also does his best to sound like Martin van Drunen. To his credit, he comes somewhat close. As far as the songs go, Vanhelgd do move away from the typical Entombed/Dismember sound here, and even add in some keyboards to give a few songs that extra "creepy factor." But we're not talking about Nocturnus here, so they're used very sparingly. I wouldn't say that they surpassed the debut, but I wouldn't say that they didn't surpass it either. No sophomore slump here. Vanhelgd also maintain a bit more of a "classy" sound than some of their contemporaries. "Church of Death" is nowhere near as filthy sounding as the recent released by Intestinal or Repuked. That's ok with me. I like all of those bands, but sometimes it's better to play ugly and not dirty, as is the case here. Big thumbs up from me to the Vanhelgd guys. Keep it up!

Assaulter - Boundless!

2011-05-02T18:08:00.000-07:00

Assaulter
Boundless!
2011 Metal Blade Records
Assaulter's debut album, "Salvation Like Destruction" had a really weird production on it that unfortunately took away too much from the music. It was like they forgot the bottom end on the songs while recording. Fortunately, they've fixed quite a bit of that here on "Boundless!" (although the bass could still be a little higher in the mix). This album really shows off just how great of a band they really are. Yes, they're another Australian group mixing thrash, black and death metal together in a bubbling cauldron of metallic chaos. Truth be told, I think I like this album more than the last one from Destroyer 666. Given just how great of a band D666 are (pretty much the standard that all other Aussie bands in this genre are compared to), that's a hell of a compliment. Every track has a very straightforward, driving sound, and the guitar solos (as cliched as it may sound) will melt your face off, or at the very least shred your car doors.

Broken Gravestones - Let Sleeping Corpses Lie

2011-04-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Broken Gravestones
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
2011 Sevared Records / Comatose Music
If more people in horror films followed the advice of the title of this ep, they'd all live a lot longer. But no... someone always has to read the magic phrase, play the album backwards, or take the cursed treasure. Hopefully this will not just be a one-off recording by Kam Lee and Noel Kemper of Altar of Giallo (plus a couple of other guys of course). The three songs here are just too good. The music is more or less like maybe Bolt Thrower covering the "Morbid Tales" album. The drums are far more energetic than old Celtic Frost material, and the songs are all heavier than hell. Kam's vocals are in a slightly different style than you might be used to. If you're expecting all the wipeouts like he did in Massacre, forget it. Here, he's a lot more straightforward, with deep vocals that you can mostly understand. Kam still does it as only he can. As a bonus, the two tracks from the demo are here. Kam wasn't on those two songs, so it's very interesting to compare those versions of "The Rising Dead" and "Zombies Don't Run" to these versions on the demo. Noel Kemper did vocals on the demo, and his style is very different from Kam's. Speaking of "Zombies Don't Run," that track is a big slap in the face to whoever decided that the infected humans in 28 Days Later were zombies. Moron. Just ask Fulci. Just ask Argento. Zombies don't run! But you should. Head over to whatever online distro you frequent that has this for sale.

Flame - March Into Firelands

2011-04-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

Flame
March Into Firelands
2011 Hells Headbangers / Primitive Reaction
Been a while since we heard from Flame. But they're finally back, with a slightly different lineup, and an album boasting of superior production when compared to the debut. Judging by the opening track, I'd have to say that Flame have come the closest to matching the unbridled insanity of the first two Nifelheim albums. They do keep things held together though, so there's no feeling like the whole thing is going to descend into utter chaos at any given moment. Or at least they usually don't have that feeling. The second minute of "Doomed..." stops just short of proving me wrong. With bands like Flame, Urn or Hell Spirit, Finland has really managed to corner the market on the thrashing black death market. Yeah, there's other bands out there from other countries that have been doing it longer, but they're all scattered about the globe. Finland, on the other hand, has a very concentrated assault force, and they seem to be doing the style better. I really have nothing bad to say about this album except that I wish they'd kept the old logo. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Hellcannon - Infected with Violence

2011-04-18T21:06:00.001-07:00

Hellcannon
Infected with Violence
2010 Butchered Records
Very young band here, based out of Buffalo, New York, and formed in 2008. Besides being new on the scene, I think the members are all fairly young as well. But youth has never been much of an obstacle when it comes to good metal music. Just consider how young the members of Possessed were. These four guys crank out some serious thrash metal music, sounding maybe like Destruction in their early days, with Tom Angelripper on vocals and a more "modern" production. I'll admit right now that's a really bad comparison, and maybe just saying they're very "early days of Sodom-like" would be more accurate. But at least I'm in the ballpark and not saying they sound like Autopsy like 90% of reviews do these days regardless of what metal genre the reviewee is in. There's a whole lot of similarities to most of the Australian death/warmetal scene as well. For intensity, Hellcannon are right up there with the likes of Destroyer 666 and Assaulter. Like a lot of what I tend to like in my metal and review on here, Hellcannon are a little off the beaten path, but well-worth checking out.

Bombarder - Ima li zibota prije smrti

2011-04-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

Bombarder
Ima li zibota prije smrti
2010 Metal Warning
The release of this album came as a total shock to me. "Ledena Krv" was released all the way back in 2003, and having not seen anything else from them over the last eight years (I didn't know of this album until this year), I had figured they had broken up and were done. Obviously, that's not the case. Originally, the band was based in what used to be Yugoslavia, but vocalist Nenad Kovaèeviæ has since moved to Serbia, and I think gathered a new lineup there. "Ima li zibota prije smrti" or "Is There Life Before Death" is a bit of a departure from their previous releases. What I've heard in the past was pure speed metal. On this album though, they've mixed in quite a bit of regular heavy metal. It makes for a slightly different flavor, but not one that will piss off their fans. All of the songs are in their native tongue. Personally, I don't think that's a big deal. Having been exposed to a plethora of "Norwegian weather reports" in the early 1990s, I'm more or less immune to the concept that "metal must be in English." Most of the time, if a band chooses to write their songs in their native language, it ends up being a good thing. Translated versions just never work out right. Still, it is a little odd that even the cover of Nifelheim's "Sodomizer" has been translated. On the subject of that cover version, let me just say that while Bombarder's version is good, Nifelheim's is infinitely superior. Bombarder keep things way too calm, while Nifelheim sounded like the whole thing was going to either collapse or blow up in their faces at any second. Regardless of all that, it's great that Bombarder are still around, and that they've given us this new album to enjoy.

Blaspherian - Infernal Warriors of Death

2011-04-08T17:45:00.000-07:00

Blaspherian
Infernal Warriors of Death
2011 Deathgasm Records
I've seen a few other reviews of this album, and now it's my turn. Let's set the record straight. A lot of other reviewers apparently don't really know who they're dealing with here. Time and again, I see comparisons drawn to bands like Vaesaleth or Father Befouled. Those aren't bad bands at all, but comparisons like that really irk me because Blaspherian main-man Wes "Infernal" Weaver has been at it for a lot of years now. Maybe these reviewers never heard of Imprecation? The only truly valid comparison would be to Incantation, and calling Blaspherian a clone band would be a mistake. They lack the same twists and churns as Incantation, but make up for it with a far more suffocating and claustrophobic atmosphere. Truly, this is about as heavy as it gets. Forget about trying to decipher the vocals of Lord Apollyon by reading along with the lyrics. Can't be done. You'll get lost almost immediately. Speaking of those lyrics, there's no doubt where these guys have their hate directed, and the blasphemies in each song make those of early Deicide look like a joke (please, no comments about what Deicide are like now). The cover art also reminds me a lot of what was used for Immolation's "Dawn of Possession," only with a much denser composition. Much like the music on the album, you really need to look closer to truly see the details and comprehend the fathomless depths.

Repuked - Pervertopia

2011-04-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Repuked
Pervertopia
2011 Soulseller Records
Old school styled Swedish death metal hits a new high (or perhaps "low" would be more appropriate here) with Repuked's "Pervertopia." Featuring mega-heavy riffs in the vein of early Dismember and Autopsy that have been downtuned to new depths and the ugliest sounding vocals this side of... well... anybody else, it's a safe bet that Repuked are going to be ignored by what has become the mainstream death metal fan. "Mainstream death metal fan" as in "target demographic of the larger record labels." The likes of Deicide and Cannibal Corpse have become the trendy norm, and their shock value has all but worn off completely. Perfect for the casual metal fan looking for something heavier. For us rabid types, it's a good thing we've got a whole underground to retreat to, where profit margins and demographics don't exist. Not that you'll understand a single word that Rob West, Ritchie Rimjob or Nicke Shit spew forth, but you'll be too busy reveling in the pure death metal delight that is Repuked. If you do happen to check out their lyrics, it will be immediately obvious that they make Cannibal Corpse look like a band for the pre-school set. At least the necrophilia in Cannibal Corpse's lyrics allude to attractive dead females. Repuked tend to prefer the rotted bodies of crack whores. They've pushed things well beyond what could be considered socially acceptable, and suffice to say that if we could send a copy of this album back to 1985 and give it to the PMRC, every single member's head would simultaneously explode.

Decrepitaph - Profane Doctrines Unburied

2011-03-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

Decrepitaph
Profane Doctrines Unburied
2011 Razorback Records
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that much blown away by Decrepitaph's debut album, "Condemned Cathedral." Not that it was horrible, but more that there was just something missing from it. What that something was, I wasn't able to figure out at the time. But some time after the release of "Beyond the Cursed Tombs," I was tempted to give them another try, so I did. That one was much more impressive. For one thing, the guitar tone had more bite to it, adding that little something extra to their "Diabolical Conquest of the Left Hand Path" kind of sound. Which brings us now to the third of the storms, "Profane Doctrines Unburied." The darkened death/doom sound that we've come to expect is of course still present, and the production is probably the best that the dynamic duo of Sinworm and the Elektrokutioner have gotten yet. The things you liked from Decrepitaph in the past are still here, it's just more of it. More brutal (not br00tal dammit!) riffs, more vocals from somewhere beyond the sewers, and more lyrics of the dead, decayed, cursed and forgotten. From what I've heard, the next album is already at least written, but won't be unleashed from the crypt until 2012. By that time, given how prolific a writer Elektrokutioner is, I expect they'll have four more albums worth of material ready to go. Hey man, how about you spread the wealth out among some of your other projects like Loathsome, Foreboding, Tombstones and Beyond Hell?

Riotor - Beast of Riot

2011-01-10T21:16:00.001-08:00

Riotor
Beast of Riot
2010 Self Release
Somehow, Canada's Riotor are still unsigned. No matter... the guys decided to just release a full length album themselves. Of the songs here, half have appeared before, and the others are new. Fear not though, the old ones have been re-recorded. Riotor did go for a strange kind of production this time around though. It sounds somewhat thinner than what they had on their previous demos, and it does give the old songs a different vibe than before. The Sacrifice meets Kreator sound is still very much present, but the production is in a full-on "Pleasure to Kill" style. Maybe I've just gotten more used to the thicker post-1990 productions on albums. Even so, Riotor do not sound like some kind of retro throwback to the 1980s. While there are some riffs that sound familiar (I'd swear that the opening of Fucking Metal" is something I've heard on Slayer's "Hell Awaits" album, while the opening of "Poser Hunter" is off something by Kreator) I can't say that I can tell exactly what song I think they're from, nor can I say for sure if they definitely were "borrowed." And the fact is that even if they were, it's not a big deal. It happens all the time. Just look at that guy on YouTube who has practically made a career with those "Metal that Sounds like Other Metal" videos. What does matter is that Riotor play their music their way and it all comes straight from the heart. What they're doing, they're doing for the love of metal, not for money. As a fan, that's all I ask: make music for yourselves first, and if others get into it then great. If not, well, you're still doing what you want to do and that's what really counts.

Briton Rites - For Mircalla

2011-01-10T21:14:00.000-08:00

Briton Rites
For Mircalla
2010 Echoes of Crom Records
Anyone out there familiar with the band Cauldron Born? I sure wasn't, at least not until Stormspell Records reissued their debut album a while back. The main guy in that band, Howie Bentley, did only a couple of Cauldron Born albums and then disappeared, leaving many of the underground heavy metal types wondering just where he went. Well, he's back with this new project, Briton Rites. He's playing something far more in the doom vein now, minus any stoner vibes that seem to show up on so many other doom album these days and completely fuck up the proceedings. Briton Rites also features love him or hate him Phil Swanson on vocals. Ever since the debut from Hour of 13, Phil has been popping up in all kinds of places, this being one of them. He gets a lot of flak for sounding like Ozzy, but I personally think that it's because he often sounds better than Ozzy ever did. With the vampire theme on "For Mircalla," he has just the right amount of melancholy for the heavier than thou riffs that Howie cranks out. Howie also taks a turn on vocals for "Karnstein Castle." His voice is at least somewhat similar to that of Phil, but I think that his style would be best suited for a band that plays slow doom all of the time. Speaking of which, the music is about as orthodox as doom can get. What might surprise you though, is that "orthodox" does not mean that it must be slow all of the time. Briton Rites have songs that change speeds many times, getting somewhat fast, then dropping back to slow or mid-pace. Nothing impossibly slow here either. Something also nice to hear is that the music of Briton Rites does not sound like the music of Cauldron Born. All too often, when the main songwriter in a band decides to either try something different or start a new project, one of two things happens.... Either it ends up as an unlistenable mess, or it sounds virtually the same as their main band. Not so here. Briton Rites is a different entity entirely from Cauldron Born, and not just another aspect of the same. Briton Rites is completely doom oriented, whice Cauldron Born is pure heavy metal. Two styles, two bands, both worth your time.

Cruel Force - The Rise of Satanic Might

2011-01-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Cruel Force
The Rise of Satanic Might
2010 Heavy Forces Records
It seems that more often than not these days, that I stumble across some killer metal that I would not have found out about if I hadn't been looking through someone's distro list. Such is the case with Cruel Force, a German band of deathly thrash metal that features members of Nocturnal and Old. The Witches Brew label had this album in their distro, and the name more or less forced me to go check out some tracks on their Myspace page. I immediately put the album on the list of things I was buying from WB at that time, and when I got this disc, I was not disappointed in the least. I guess that reading through distros is the new version of reading through thankslists in order to find killer bands. It used to be that if you read the thankslist on an album, you were more or less guaranteed to find at least one new band you were previously unfamiliar with, but were destined to become a fan of. Same thing here. I just found a label that puts out things I like to listen to, checked out their distro list, and BAM! I got hit over the head with Cruel Force. They're more or less in the same style as Hellish Crossfire, Desaster, Witchburner or Ketzer (and no, I don't think it's a coincidence that all of those bands are also from Germany). A couple of things make Cruel Force stand out though. First off, the vocals of Carnivore are heavier than those of most other bands in the sub-genre. Second, the production that this quartet of rockin' cadavers got here is stunning. I really can't think of the last time I heard a debut album that had this good of a production sound. Nothing drowns out anything else. None of the band members is higher in the mix than the others, and every single aspect of the music is practically crystal clear. Obviously, some serious time, consideration and (probably) money were put into the creation of this album. I've heard a lot of albums from very established bands that don't even come close to the sonic perfection we've got here. I would say that I hope to hear even more from Cruel Force soon, but I'd rather that they do what they did here and take their time to put out another quality album that shows the same kind of effort and love for metal that we hear on "The Rise of Satanic Might."

Decayed - Chaos Underground

2011-01-10T21:12:00.001-08:00

Decayed
Chaos Underground
2010 BlackSeed Productions
Despite having formed in 1990, and having at least one new release every year since then (except for 1994, 2006 and 2009), Portugal's Decayed don't seem to get the respect they deserve. I'm fortunate to have just about every CD they ever put out (keeping up with their vinyl releases is as daunting a prospect as keeping up with those of Nunslaughter or Sabbat), and I'm of the opinion that they've never had a bad release, including those of their various side projects such as Hoth, Alastor and Thugnor. Everything Decayed has done has been, to my ears, a perfect blend of death thrashing black metal. Last year saw not one, but two new studio albums from Decayed. "Shadow - Land" and this one, "Chaos Underground." There is nothing here that maniacal fans of the Australian or old Brazilian scenes would not like. You can easily find similarities to Destroyer 666, Sarcofago, Dark Angel, and just about anything else in those styles. Really, I could have reviewed any of their albums, and I'd practically have the same things to say. That's not a knock against the band, mind you. "Progression" is very overrated, and I tend to prefer the AC/DC, (newer) Overkill or Bolt Thrower approach of having a core sound and sticking to it. The new year is just starting, and I'm already curious as to what these guys have in store for us. I just know that whatever they release, it's going to be great.

Druid Lord - Hymns for the Wicked

2011-01-03T21:28:00.000-08:00

Druid Lord
Hymns for the Wicked
2010 Horror Pain Gore Death Productions
I guess sometimes you've got musical ideas that don't fit in your regular band. Equinox members Pete Slate and Tony Blakk have come up with a whole new project by the name of Druid Lord. Like a lot of other newer bands that have come along as of late, Druid Lord seem to be focused on two things: doomy death metal and 1970s era horror movies. The obvious comparisons to bands such as Hooded Menace, Acid Witch, or even Skeletal Spectre and Tombstones can be made, but Druid Lord do not have what I would term the "Razorback Records sound." They avoid the general campy aspects of Tombstones and have a decidedly "American" sound that sets them apart from the likes of Hooded Menace. Tony Blakk does a good job on vocals, but I somehow keep thinking that they should really look into hiring Kam Lee. Kam and Tony have a somewhat similar style, but Kam has a lot more dynamics to his voice. Musically, Hooded Menace have said that they're like a death metal version of Candlemass. If that's true, then Druid Lord are the death metal Saint Vitus. They somehow make each song seem longer than it really is, drawing out every riff as much as they can and squeezing every last drop of venomous doom from it that they are able to. If you like the idea of death metal mixed with doom, have found that funeral doom bores the living hell out of you, and you've heard enough Celtic Frost / Winter type bands, then this could be what you're looking for.

Bombs of Hades - Chambers of Abominations

2011-01-03T21:23:00.001-08:00

Bombs of Hades
Chambers of Abominations
2010 Blood Harvest Records
I'm not sure if this is going to be pressed on CD, but what I am sure of is that Bombs of Hades do not sound like a product of metal's modern era. But let's not make the mistake of calling them a "retro" band either. If you've got members that were around in the early days of death metal and were making music back then, you're the real deal. And with Jonas Stålhammar and Butch Ekman, it doesn't get much more real than that. Both of these guys were in Abhoth, and Jonas was part of Utumno and God Macabre... and now is handling vocals in The Crown. So yeah, the guy is a bit of a legend in the scene to us old farts. All of that said, Bombs of Hades do not sound like a band that would have been around twenty years ago. They sound more like what a band of that era would sound like today. The core Stockholm style sound is there, but it has been combined with a lot of other influences that your "retro" type bands have most likely not even heard. Most metal fans, myself included, more or less stick to metal and rock, but I know for a fact that Jonas listens to a lot of different kinds of music. While I can't for certain pick any non-metal influences out of these songs, I do strongly believe that they are present. This is the kind of fusion that gives us better sounding metal. The people that listen to metal and only metal are the ones who end up forming fifteenth generation clone bands. Instead of rehashing the past, Bombs of Hades have instead brought that past forward to the present day. If the 1990 Stockholm scene was founded today, this is the kind of death metal we'd be hearing from that part of the world.

Atlantean Kodex - The Golden Bough

2011-01-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Atlantean Kodex
The Golden Bough
2010 Cruz Del Sur Music
This one just made it out in enough time to be among the very best releases of 2010. If it hadn't, then it would have ended up on the best of 2011 lists that are yet to come. Even so, I think most (including the majority of metal "journalists") will overlook this album. "The Pnakotic Demos" really only gave us a general idea of what Atlantean Kodex are all about. "The Golden Bough" gives us the bigger picture. While not quite a concept album, the songs do all center on the idea of where our beliefs come from, and is based on the book of the same name by one Sir James Frazer. The short story is that Sir Frazer hypothesized that man's belief system was rooted in magic, which gave way to religion, and has since given way to science. While his theories have been criticized (after all, religion is still very strong today), this album does not strive to defend or attack his work. Instead, Atlantean Kodex have taken the path of "what if?". What if these theories are in fact true? Alright, if that went over your head as it did mine, let's just talk about the music itself instead. The band draw heavily from Manowar's early albums (think of songs like "Battle Hymn," "Secret of Steel" or "Bridge of Death"), as well as from Bathory's "Twilight of the Gods." I think most reviews I've seen mention "Hammerheart" and not "Twilight...", but this album shares the same long, drawn out format of epic metal as heard on "Twilight...". But that's neither here nor there. Atlantean Kodex also walk the line between epic (a term I dislike, as it generally is applied to power metal, which this band certainly is not) and doom metal. Doom, because the songs are all heavy as Hell, and "epic" because well... they're just that. Epic. Huge. Just go listen to them and compare them to the material I previously mentioned by Manowar and Bathory. You'll grasp the concept immediately. Massive sound, long songs, big concepts, and it all comes down to one incredible album that you simply should not miss.

Hell Darkness - Rockin' Underground

2011-01-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Hell Darkness
Rockin' Underground
2010 Doomentia Records
New project here from a member of Tangorodrim. Heller handles the vocals and guitar, while Darkness takes care of bass and drums. You know, I think I figured out where they got the name "Hell Darkness" from. Anyway, Hell Darkness play unholy black 'n' roll exclusively. The style is sort of a more punk rock take on Darkthrone, and Heller's voice reminds me a lot of Atze from Germany's Blizzard. While far from what I'd call "innovative," the band sure can write some riffs that you're meant to headbang to. And honestly, that's all I really give a damn about. Simple, straightforward and in your face. That's what rock and roll is all about, right? Already looking forward to more from these guys.

Wooden Stake - Vampire Plague Exorcism

2010-12-16T19:46:00.000-08:00

Wooden Stake
Vampire Plague Exorcism
2010 Hexamorphosis Productions
Oddly enough, I don't believe there's any mentions of vampires on this mini-CD. That doesn't make it any less creepy though. Everyone's favorite multi-instrumentalist, how-many-projects-can-he-have maniac, the Elektrokutioner is back and teaming up with one Vanessa Nocera [bass, vocals] to create the
haunted sounds of Wooden Stake. I'm sure some will try to draw comparisons between this band and Canada's Cauchemar... But besides the facts that they're both female fronted and that Vanessa sings in English and not French, the reality is that Wooden Stake are in the Saint Vitus doom vein, while Cauchemar are far more NWOBHM influenced. I'm a little on the fence about Vanessa's vocals. Not her singing though, that's fine, and she sounds like maybe Stevie Nicks mixed with a little Grace Slick. No, the issue I'm referring to is the fact that she's very low in the mix. On the one hand, I'd like to hear her a little better over the music. But at the same time, the fact that the mix has her lower than most everything else gives a whole new dimension to their sound... one of claustrophobia. This mini-CD is very limited, so you probably want to get moving on obtaining a copy. But if you miss it (or if you don't), you'll have other opportunities to hear the band. They've got a couple of split releases coming in the near
future. I'd rather see a full-length release, but corpses can't be choosers.

Intestinal - Human Harvest

2010-12-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Intestinal
Human Harvest
2010 Psycho Records
This Swedish four-piece has only been around for two years, but what they've unleashed here sounds like it comes from the Stockholm scene of twenty years ago. Total old-school onslaught here, in the same vein as early Dismember, Entombed and Nirvana 2002. They keep things moving in a very straightforward direction, with ten tracks at just over a half hour. "Human Harvest" never gets boring, and every track has a "dirty" kind of sound, like they buried their instruments in a graveyard for six months and then dug them up to record this album. To say this stuff is morbid would be an understatement. Practically every riff is of the type that hits you right where you like it. You know that visceral "urghhh!!!" feeling you get when you hear a piece of music you really like? You'll be getting that feeling a lot here. Lyric-wise, you'll be hearing some themes that are straight out of 1990, with tracks about necrophilia, murder, maggot-covered corpses, and just general mayhemic bloodshed. I really wouldn't be looking for socially-conscious or deep thoughts here. I think the deepest thought these guys have is how deep they're going to stab that knife into your gut. For those into high-brow or technical music, look elsewhere. Us neanderthals though, will be totally into Intestinal.

Tombstones - Not for the Squeamish

2010-11-29T22:11:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-29T22:10:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-20T22:14:00.001-08:00

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

2010-11-20T22:12:00.001-08:00

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 state of the "art" of death metal vocals

2010-11-20T01:32:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-04T19:16:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-11-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Blood Mortized - Bestial ep

2010-10-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

I was totally blown away and floored at the same time by Blood Mortized's self-titled debut in 2009, as was just about every person I played it for. In the creation of this ep, the band believes that they have topped their first album. I'm inclined to agree. Before, they had the sound of Sweden from 1990 and 1991. This time, you can add 1988 and 1989 to those years as well. That would have been back in the formative years of both Dismember and Nihilist, for those keeping score. While Bloodbath are garnering the most attention in the "return to the beginning" death metal scene, it's really only because of who is in the band combined with the label push. If you take both of those factors out of the equation and listen to the music on its own merits, I'd have to say that Blood Mortized are better. All three songs here are awesome, but it's the closer, "Rekviem" that really evokes the old morbid, decaying feeling that is the heart and soul of Swedish death metal. The only real fault here is that this is only three tracks. Suffice to say, this is a mandatory purchase. The only question you'll have is what format to pick it up on, as the band plans for it to be out on tape, vinyl and CD.

Hellish Crossfire - Bloodrusted Scythe

2010-07-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hellish Crossfire
Bloodrusted Scythe
2010 I Hate Records
As good as "Slaves of the Burning Pentagram" was, "Bloodrusted Scythe" is even better. Hellish Crossfire made a few changes with their sound, all of them for the better. Thrash is of course, still the main element. But a few blatant black metal passages show up here and there. Plain old heavy metal does as well. They mix and interweave those styles into each song too, and do it in such a way as to allow each track to reach maximum headbanging potential. Old Mercyful Fate is just as much of an influence as early Kreator. Don't go calling Hellish Crossfire a "retro thrash" band either. This has fuck-all to do with that scene, and everything to do with the forward-looking thrash sound shared with bands like Witchburner, Nocturnal and Witching Hour. The only thing "retro" here is the fact that they didn't use any damned triggers on the drums. Obviously, the mindset here is that if you can't play it without hardware that helps play it for you, then you shouldn't play it at all. Damn straight. Words to live by there.

Kaiju - Total Monster Armageddon

2010-07-22T20:03:00.001-07:00

Kaiju
Total Monster Armageddon
2010 Shepherd of Rot Records
I'm surprised no one thought of this sooner. The idea of giant monsters meeting death metal just had to happen sooner or later. The time is now. Kaiju walks the Earth! Somehow or another, this band didn't get picked up by Razorback Records, as they would have fit in perfectly there. Not sure if they were overlooked or didn't send them a promo pack or what, but then again... putting your own band out on your own label does have its appeal. So here we have fourteen tracks of an all out giant monster attack (six of the songs are straight off of their "The Gods Are Angry" demo), and whatever city you happen to live in is about to be stomped into dust and the citizenry reduced to ashes. The death metal is heavy, the vocals gutteral, and the keyboards add just the right touch of horror. Yes, keyboards. Mortuary Mike uses his instrument to enhance the songs in various places, while Chainsaw Joel throws out sick guitar virtuoso solos all over the place, yet never descends into fretboard wankery. Lately there seems to be a sharp division of "old school death metal" and "modern death metal." Kaiju really don't fit into either category. While there is a strong old school vibe throughout all of the tracks, it's also safe to say that no 1990s death metal band was doing anything even remotely like this. At the same time, Kaiju don't fit in with the modern style much either. They're brutal, but not in the modern way. That said, "Total Monster Armageddon" does kind of resemble the current "album with no songs" format favored by the new school. The tracks just kind of careen along at their own pace and it's like the band just decided to see where each one would go without really planning anything. Ordinarily, I can't stand this type of songwriting (or lack thereof), but for once it works. "Total Monster Armageddon" comes across like a soundtrack, with each song portraying a scene from what would be the most badass Toho produced flick ever.

Beyond Hell - The Sleeper Awakens

2010-07-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Beyond Hell
The Sleeper Awakens
2010 Dark Descent / Skeleton Plague
The Elektrocutioner strikes again! I've given up count as to who has more projects going: him or Rogga Johansson. Not that it matters, of course. What does matter is that Beyond Hell kicks some major poser ass down the block and back again. Call it an old school death metal revival if you will, but I'm loving it. Beyond Hell really hits the proverbial nail on the head here. With a sound that lies some place between Death's "Scream Bloody Gore" and "Leprosy" albums with a bit of early Morgoth and van Drunen era Pestilence tossed in for good measure, Beyond Hell have come up with a potent recipe indeed. Think "Malleus Maleficarum" written by Chuck Schuldiner instead of that tosser, Mameli. Maybe the guitar solos get to be a little much at times, but they all seem to work very well. Which is good, because there's a shitload of them. As a special bonus, Beyond Hell opted to include their debut mini-album "... and Evil Crept Through" here for those who didn't manage to get ahold of one of the 50 copies.

Perversor - Demon Metal

2010-07-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Perversor
Demon Metal
2010 Hell's Headbangers
Perversor is yet another band hailing from South America that has a sound somewhere between Blasphemy and Sarcofago. In other words, their music is fast, bestial as all hell, and will scare the shit out of little old churchladies. Compared to their previous release, "Cult of Destruction," the production is a lot thicker, making for an overall better sound. Some might argue that point, but I've never really been one for thin sounding albums. I prefer my metal and my women with a good, solid bottom end. Moving on past that, this mini-CD is over far too quickly, although the song length for the style is a little longer than average. It also helps that each song is not just a single-minded high speed blast fest. These guys have a tendency to start off a little slow and then suddenly take off fast like they were being chased by a mob of Christian fanatics armed with pitchforks and torches.

Blasphemophager - ... For Chaos, Obscurity and Damnation

2010-07-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Blasphemophager
... For Chaos, Obscurity and Damnation
2010 Nuclear War Now!
I suppose that on some level, Blasphemophager could be called Blasphemy's somewhat better-mannered cousin. Bestial and ugly, yes. But also not the type of band that can only play at one speed: fast. Blasphemophager are able to mix temps up some, and present us with some very heavy slow, semi-melodic parts. Of course, these are few and far between. After all, the band is trying their damndest to convince us that they're just as dangerous as their big Canadian brother. I think they manage to do so, because they've opted to take a different route this time. The first track, "Descending into Extermination" has a lot more in common with Asphyx than Blasphemy. Which isn't to say that they forego all of the speed shredding and drum mutilations. Far from it. Later tracks have a strong Slayer vibe to them, again combined with a slightly faster version of Asphyx. The album itself is just about the right length. Long enough not to be an ep, but also not long enough to get boring. Blasphemophager's style is best taken in short doses. More than that, and their songs do tend to start sounding the same.

Armour - self titled

2010-07-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

Armour
Armour
2010 Hell's Headbangers
Heavy metal is fun again. With a sound reminiscent of Scorpions, Twisted Sister, Ratt, early Motley Crue and early W.A.S.P., bands like Armour have brought back the early 80s sound with a harder edge. Yes, those are some glam and semi-glam type bands that I listed, but all of them had an attitude and sound that Poison, Warrant and Dokken did not. Armour is influenced by glam metal, not hairspray bands. There is a difference, albeit a fine one. A few other bands in this style have popped up recently, including Enforcer (Sweden), Hardcore Superstar and Bullet. Every single one of them are the direct opposite of the grim and truer than thou acts of the last twenty or so years. Damn... has it really been that long since the glory days of Hollywood's Sunset Strip? Actually, yes. And it's closer to twenty five or thirty years. The return of this sound is either going to go over in a big way or it's going to fail miserably. Either way, I suggest that while it lasts, you get your significant other to give this a listen, because even if they don't like metal, they're going to have a good time hearing this album. Not only will they put out, but they'll let you do things to them that they ordinarily would refuse. So if your girlfriend listens to this album and gives you the third input... you owe a debt to Armour!

Ares Kingdom - Incendiary

2010-07-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

Ares Kingdom
Incendiary
2010 Nuclear War Now!
Ares Kingdom's debut album, "Return to Dust" was a masterpiece of thrashing proto-death metal that really hit the underground like the proverbial unstoppable force. Obviously, the question after the release of that album was whether or not they would be able to match it with their second album. Not only does "Incendiary" match the debut, it surpasses it. The songs are tighter and much more focused. The mix is just about as perfect as you can get, and they didn't have to spend Def Leppard type money to get it either. Overall, the vibe is one of pure classic heavy metal, just with a lot of distortion and Alex Blume's raging beast vocals to boot. Chuck Keller's solos are just about worth the price of admission alone, as he cranks them out at a frenzied pace that neither Kerry King or Jeff Hanneman could match even on their best day. Holding it all together are Mike Miller's drumming and Doug Overbay's rhythm guitar. These four guys work as a unit, never stepping on or trying to outshine each other. That, my friends, is really what a band is all about. I have yet to hear if there will be any 12" vinyl singles as there were for "Return to Dust," but I'm sure that if any are released, they are as much of a must have item as this album.

So why am I back?

2010-07-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should talk about why I decided to semi-resurrect the zine in the form of this blog. Well, as I had indicated in my farewell address in the final issue, I was still going to be writing for at least one or two other publications. But those are printed mags and I kind of like the idea of being able to spread my opinions further and wider. They don’t call it the “world wide web” for nothing.

So a blog seemed like the best way to go. I guess I still have some things to say, and spreading the names of bands I like is definitely one of those things. But here, I’m not constrained by having to do an issue and have set deadlines for myself. The sporadic format a blog allows me is a good thing. I’ll see about getting some reviews up of some recent releases that kicked my ass some time soon.

.... so much for retirement...

2010-07-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Looks like my retirement (or semi-retirement) is over. I may have ended Metal Nightmare, but I've still been contributing here and there, mostly for Bulldozer Magazine. The fire still burns, it seems. My zine will still remain dead, and this blog will be the new order of things. You can expect to see reviews, rants, and the occasional interview on here. What you won't see is regularly scheduled updates. I'll be posting here irregularly, so be sure to check back every so often. You never know when there will be something new.