Angel Witch - As Above, So Below

Angel Witch

As Above, So Below

2012 Metal Blade Records
I think for a lot of people, including myself, this album came as a complete surprise. If you look at the backcatalog of Angel Witch, you'll find that there's only a couple of studio albums, a few rarities and demo collections, and a whole slew of live albums. I can't fathom why this is the case, and the only thought I have on the matter is that when your debut album comes as close to NWOBHM perfection as Angel Witch's does... well, where do you go next?  But all that aside, here we are with this release that came at us out of left field, and I'm damn glad to own a copy. The simple fact is that all eight songs here are in the classic Angel Witch style, and I think any of them would not have been out of place on their fabled debut. I really don't know how any band could manage to do that, unless these songs were all written a long time ago and only recently released from the vault. I seriously doubt that's the case, but after Sodom put out "The Final Sign of Evil" with several never-before-heard tracks from their earliest days, I suppose anything is possible. Well, whatever the case may be, I'm enjoying the album a lot, and I hope Kevin Heybourne and company don't take another twenty some-odd years to do another one.

Blood Mortized - The Key to a Black Heart

Blood Mortized

The Key to a Black Heart
2012 F.D.A. Rekotz
For me at least, the debut album from Blood Mortized was the true sleeper hit of 2009. It was very quietly released, and I think I took a chance on it when I saw it listed in a distro. Old school Swedish death metal, done by guys about my age, who were around for the original glory days of the Stockholm scene. Sounded like a sure thing to me, and I was not disappointed. Neither were any of my friends who I turned on to the band either. After that, we had the "Bestial" ep to sink our teeth into, and finally there's a new full length in the form of "The Key to a Black Heart." A no-brainer to pick up if there ever was one. Stylistically, it follows in the same footsteps as the previous releases, but with a slightly cleaner sound in the production.  But fear not, there's still plenty of distorted heavy riffs as only the Swedes can do them. At times, I hear some melodies similar to what Amon Amarth have become known for.  Vocals? Oh yeah, they're as savage as ever, and not at all in that stupid indecipherable gutteral noise that's still all the rage on this side of the Atlantic even after all these years. I have to wonder if anything was left of Mattias Borgh's drumkit after this album was rehearsed and recorded. His playing is so heavy and devastating, that at times you'll swear he gave up his drumsticks for a pair of cudgels. This will go down as a favorite of mine for 2012, and being the greedy fucker that I am, I'm already wondering when the guys will go back into the studio to record the next album.

Anguish - Through the Archdemon's Head

Anguish

Through the Archdemon's Head

2012 Dark Descent Records
Dark Descent is really making a name for themselves when it comes to doom/death metal, and this album by Anguish is yet another example of that.  In this case, it's the vocals and distortion on the guitars and bass that give Anguish the death metal feeling to their sound. Take that away, and this is pure doom metal that stems from the slowest parts of Candlemass' earliest material. While I don't hear any influence from Asphyx at all in these songs, Anguish did borrow one concept from the Dutch doomsters: a general disdain for guitar solos. I don't think I heard a single one on this recording, or at least nothing that I would have considered a solo. This makes sense to me, as doom is supposed to be all about the lows, and guitar solos tend to be the exact opposite of that.  They're too uplifting. You seriously can't call your band something depressing like "Anguish" if your music includes some potentially "happy" elements. Another thing that strikes me is the level of torture I hear in the singer's voice. "Anguish" could well be an understatement. He comes close to the feeling of absolute despair that made Katatonia's "Dance of December Souls" the classic that it is. We're talking a level of torment on a par with "I am the dog that Satan kicks when he comes home after a bad day". Yeah, that's really bad. I don't want to be that guy (or that dog). But all of that makes for some extremely powerful music, and that's something we all crave.

Derkéta - In Death We Meet

Derkéta
In Death We Meet
2012 Self Released
The saying goes that the female is the deadlier of the species.  That may well be true, but the music of Derkéta  gives one the idea that all-female death metal bands could be the more brutal as well.  But I really don't want this review to come across as some kind of "battle of the sexes," because in the end all that does is cheapen things.  So first, some background and then we'll move on to the nuts and bolts ... or blood and guts as the case may be.  For the most part, Pittsburgh's Derkéta has always been an all-female band.  Guitarist/vocalist Sharon Bascovsky has been their main driving force for the past twenty-plus years, with drummer Terri Heggen (also of the legendary Mythic) being a semi-regular in the lineup.  At the time of this recording, Derkéta  consisted of Sharon, Terri, Mary Bielich (guitar, but perhaps best known for her basswork in Mythic and Penance), and Robin Mazen (bass, from Demonomacy).  In my own not-so-humble opinion, I'd have to say this qualifies as a supergroup.  Apparently, since this album was recorded, Terri has again departed, and has been replaced by one Mike Laughlin, who now holds the distinction of being one of the few male members in Derkéta's history.  So there you go.  For those unfamiliar with Derkéta's sound, they play a kind of doom/death, with most of the emphasis being on the doom side of things.  I would not term them "funeral doom" though.  They may play slow, but not that slow!  Even so, the eight songs here -- and did I mention yet that they're all brand new, no old demo cuts! -- do give the listener that uncomfortable feeling of being buried alive.  Or perhaps more accurately, you'll feel like you survived a cave-in, but come to the realization that there's no way out of your situation.  Those hoping for speed and fancy fretwork would do well to look elsewhere, because it's not here.  At best you'll get some mid-paced material, and that's just fine.  This album is all about old school brutality and a never say die attitude.  I hope this isn't the last we'll hear from Derkéta, and I also hope it won't be another decade before they return.

Morbus Chron - Sleepers in the Rift

Morbus Chron
Sleepers in the Rift
2011 Pulverised Music
Although they're getting a lot of attention now, "Sleepers in the Rift" is probably the best album you didn't hear last year.  Sweden's Morbus Chron are 100% old school death metal, but they don't play it completely straight like most other bands do.  They definitely have their own vibe going on.  The songs here are hardly "orthodox" or "traditional." If anything, I'd point to Afflicted's classic "Prodigal Sun" for a comparison, and the more I listen to this album, the more valid that comparison gets.  Without a doubt, this is one of the more creative sounding new breed of death metal bands with their feet planted firmly in the old school.  This is really what it's supposed to be about:  taking your influences and using them to create something that hasn't been done or heard before.  A lot of bands, even good ones, completely miss or flat out ignore this idea and are seemingly content to just be a knock-off of a band that has gone before.  Not Morbus Chron.  Already looking forward to hearing how they'll top this debut.

Zombie Inc. - A Dreadful Decease

Zombie Inc.
A Dreadful Decease
2011 Massacre Records
Somehow, this flew under my radar last year.  I'd like to think that I'm aware of all the old school death metal out there, especially when it's on a big label like Massacre, but the fact is that I'm not.  It's OK though.  I'm not the only one who missed this, and now in 2012 it's thankfully been unleashed stateside.  Zombie Inc's lineup features members and former members of some fairly well-known bands.  Most notably, Martin Schirenc (Don Cochino) of Pungent Stench fame.  Musically, it's some old school death metal stuff with a lot of very wet sounding samples from various zombie movies.  The instruments are all downtuned with that dirty kind of distortion we've all come to know and love.  Every track is like a chainsaw cutting through bone.  Not all of the tracks are lyrically from the panicking-out-of-their-mind human side either.  Songs like "We Must Eat!" are definitely from the hungry undead point of view.  Martin's vocals tend to be very understandable, and being able to hear just about every word makes "A Dreadful Decease" far more horrifying than almost all (and chances are that "almost" is just me being nice) of Cannibal Corpse's albums.  I'm hoping they record a followup in the very near future.  If I were to have a wishlist for their next one, it would be that they get both Killjoy and Kam Lee to do some guest or backing vocals, as both of them do horror themes better than practically anyone else.

Horrendous - The Chills

Horrendous
The Chills
2012 Dark Descent
This is the reason why Asphyx's "Deathhammer" isn't a slam-dunk for best album of 2012 (so far). Horrendous is an unholy US-based three piece that really managed to tap into something here. You might not catch it on the first listen, but on the first two tracks, they've kind of gone back and explored what might have been if Darkthrone had stayed a death metal band. The tone is pure death metal, done with the kind of distortion that usually can only be found within Scandinavia, but the overall style of the music has a lot in common with what Darkthrone has done over the years. There is a very strong black metal riffing style combined with the frostiest of cold vibes. But, starting with the third song, "Altars," things go in a more straightforward death metal sound with either Damien Herring or Matt Knox doing their best Martin van Drunen impression. Picture him fronting Entombed back in their "Clandestine" days, and you'll have a good idea what to expect. That's not a bad thing, mind you... but I really would have liked to hear more of the Darkthrone-inspired sound from those first two songs.