|
Dawn of
Azazel
Bloodforged Abdication 7” EP
(Hellflame Productions)
approx.
11:15min
From the
land of Peter Jackson come the new conquerors; gas mask-clad Dawn of
Azazel, a
blistering kiwi answer to OZ’s hyper-speed metal masters Stargazer. Apart from a major screw-up by the pressing plant in sealing the full color
sleeve and entombing the lyrics and thanks list inside, the packaging is first
rate; and thankfully the band contrived a lyric sheet insert at the last
minute. This two-song sandstorm begins viciously enough with the title
track; a twisting and turning, turgid burst of sonic violence I dare say not
too many bands could keep up with. Technical but without losing any of
its ferocity, the band managed a production style that walks a fine line
between order and chaos…ahem. The crunching guitars and slathering
vocals lead the charge, backed by tightly produced drums and a sizeable bass
undertow. The lyrics, while well written, cover more of the ‘we shall
conquer’ ground we hear so much about these days, but fit well into Rigel
(the brightest star of Orion the Hunter) Walshe’s bestial spew. Side B
is a cover of Order From Chaos’
'Plateau Of Invincibility' (send your
“conflict of interest” complaints to Frank Stöver so he may have
something to fill his recycle bin with) and is the first recorded Order From
Chaos cover I am aware of. Dawn of Azazel did not attempt a
note-for-note recitation, rather they worked the song into their style as far
as possible and have come up with something even more violent than the
original. Dawn of Azazel even worked in the closing Gustav Holst
'Mars, Bringer Of War' rhythm from 'The Angry Red Planet' (from
OFC’s “An Ending In Fire”) to end the EP. What the song has lost
here in abject heaviness (and perhaps continuity), it has gained in raw power
– illustrating part of the paradox that makes such a conservative form of
music as Metal so effective and lasting, its ability to adapt and evolve.
Contact: www.hellflameprod.cjb.net,
sunandiron@hotmail.com
Charles Keller
BACK
DAWN
OF AZAZEL
The Law Of The Strong
(Agonia Records)
37:07min
There’s a thin line between chaos and order. Sadistik
Exekution manages to border on this line without falling down (under).
So, could
New Zealand
’s Dawn Of Azazel give us the
necessary violence where the music borders between a total mess of sound or
great tracks that grow on you? I often find messy music to grow on me, at least
when there’s something indefinable that catches my interest. “The Law Of The
Strong” is surely an utterly violent album. The music is rapid and pretty
technical… and goes nowhere besides this. I mean, what’s the point behind
such an album? It’s not original and it doesn’t contain the master tracks.
In the end it turns out to be a mess. Of course, if you go for the violence for
violence’s sake, then I can assure you “The Law Of The Strong” is your cup
of blood. But personally I stick to the masters of this race, namely Sad
X. Available
here .
Roy Kristensen
BACK
DAWN OF CRUCIFIXION
A.M.S.G. (Demo)
(self-financed)
16:08min
Belgium's DAWN OF CRUCIFIXION mixes old (German) Thrash with Black Metal. Mainly
driven on headbanging speed with cool riffing and occasional blastbeats. Kind
of the same direction as OBEISANCE and in lesser extent NOCTURNAL GRAVES. DAWN
OF CRUCIFIXION sounds less twisted than the Mexican sickos. Formed in 2008,
these guys are far from fresh and already smell rotten. Bassplayer and backing vocalist Lord Sabathan should be familiar to all Black Metal fans from his former band ENTHRONED and as soon as the opener 'Dawn Of Crucifixion' sets in, you'll hear that these guys (S. Razorcunt on guitars, J. Christgunner on drums and vocalist V. Viriakn) are experienced and superb musicians.
Some nice tracks are 'Dawn Of
Crucifixion' and 'Beer, Tits, Cunt For Satan'. Last one reminded me of VENOM and
SODOM. So DAWN OF CRUCIFIXION pays tribute to their roots and these tunes (unintendently?)
form a perfect soundtrack for a drinking session. In that perspective it's a
great, powerful demo with cool coverart. If you're a fan of mentioned bands or
hate all these 'hot' acts of today, I recommend you this one. For more info, go
to www.myspace.com/dawnofcrucifixion
Michael Tak
BACK
DAWN
OF PERCEPTION
Fragments (MCD)
(self-financed)
33:23min
Does anyone of you remember the album “Carpet” from Ceremonial
Oath? Well, while listening to this 5 song (+ an acoustic intro) demo CD
I immediately had to think on this great CD. Dawn
Of Perception play some kind of progressive Heavy Metal with Death Metal
grunts, but I’d like to call it Gothenburg Death Metal, the way Dark
Tranquillity, (old) In Flames
or the above mentioned Ceremonial Oath played
it years ago. I hope they won’t mind this comparison. It’s definitely
nothing original, nothing new, but this doesn’t matter at all as they are
doing their job very good and I see a bright future for them. Regarding the fact
that this band exists only since December 2004 I really have to admit that the
songs here included are great. The
CD starts with a cool acoustic intro and the following 5 songs are full of ideas
(almost progressive), not comparable to each other, the musicians are very
skilled and the layout for a demo CD is just fantastic. Honestly spoken, I’m
pretty impressed. So if you are a fan of the above mentioned bands and their
early records I definitely can recommend this CD to you. Get in touch with them:
Benjamin Rodigas, Kieferlestr. 12, 98749 Steinheid, Germany or mountainkingll@web.de.
Homepage: www.dawnofperception.de
Thomas
Ehrmann
BACK
DEAD
In The Bondage Of Vice
(War Anthem Records)
35:43min
I took this review as a challenge. Let me explain. I am totally out of knowledge about Grind Metal, and having heard about this band from serious grindists I decided to give it a go. I remembered that Grind is all about fun so I wanted to see if I could squeeze some essence from a record like this. I must say I am pretty much impressed. DEAD are a German
Death / Grind band with lots of hard practice chiseled in their long career, although this work stands closer to the Death camp. What impressed me the most about "In The Bondage Of Vice" is the level of honesty. This record is honest fun (but there is seriousness in it also), exploring all kinds of vice - sexual perversions, alcohol in all its glory, farting, puking - you know, all the stuff that makes world a nicer place.
The world of DEAD has one more component that is welcome to the ears and eyes of this reviewer - style. I would say that this record is stylish in a sense of capturing thruth and beauty of whorehouses, lifting the vice to a higher level. In a sense, I have a very real feeling about the history line of whoring after listening to this.
The music is loud, crunchy, with great riffs all over. It is meaty and sweet and captures the hardness but also a sweetness of depravity.
Vocally, we are attacked with one, two, who knows how many grunting animals. And they are good. Being
essentially a Death Metal record, it is nevertheless helped with the hand of Grind, sawing its signature throughout the whole thing, mostly in
the aesthetics department. With lots of slower parts (which I adore) perfect harmony is acheived.
The record is well balanced and would suite nicely as party music as well as an introvert's vehicle for exploring the world of sin.
The cover art sould be also mentioned since it, with its combination of a wild and rotten logo and photo of a dreamy whore, puts the listener in a mood immediately. Once again, I am impressed and inspired to search for more records like this. As my gradpa would say: "No sin, no man." For more info:
www.myspace.com/deadofficial
Branko Matijaševic
BACK
DEAD
CONGREGATION
Purifying Consecrated Ground
(MCD)
(Konqueror Records)
20:17min
As impressed as I was when I reviewed NUCLEAR WINTER’s 2003 demo
“Abomination Virginborn” I am when I listen to “Purifying Consecrated
Ground” by DEAD CONGREGATION, which is actually more or less the same band.
Thus for reasons beyond my humble knowledge the Greeks changed their name, but
not the quality and stylistic direction of their music, they just got better in
any aspect! Rooted deeply in early 90s Death Metal DEAD CONGREGATION melt
influences from the Swedish, Finnish and American schools of dark, straight and
brutal Death Metal and inspirations from bands like DEMIGOD, EDGE OF SANITY,
SADISTIC INTENT, IMMOLATION, MORBID ANGEL manifest on this hellish good MCD!
Though the Greek horde could, at least in my opinion, try harder to create a few
own ideas instead of successfully replicating the glorious sound of the 90s the
five songs offered here are definitely highly entertaining material for fans of
this type of Death Metal. Sinister growls, detuned guitars, furiously blasted
passages as well as morbid slower ones, an unpolished and anachronistic
production turn this 20 minutes long assault into a perfect oldschool
Death-worship that should chase away any friends of innovative sounds. The
“New Wave Of Oldschool Death Metal (NWOOSDM)” has another worthy addition
and fans of the aforementioned bands should be extremely pleased by this MCD. I
am, too, but I begin to dare the day too many of this kind of bands fill the
scene and obstruct any ingenuity within the genre. Of course, I am always glad
to see up and coming bands inspired by the good ol’ days, but I find myself
thinking they could start to explore new musical ideas and apply them to their
sound instead of just robbing the grave of a more than a decade old stylistic
fundament (a positive example are THE CIRCLE OF ZAPHYAN or INFERNAL LEGION, if
you ask me). Oldschool Death Metal rules eternally, but without fresh musical
ideas the genre will again stagnate. Anyway, the MCD will be released on
Konqueror, the tape version on Nuclear Winter Records, support this VERY
promising act! www.nuclearwinter.cjb.com,
www.konqueror-records.com
Stefan Franke
BACK
DEAD CONGREGATION / HATESPAWN
Split 7"
(Nuclear Winter Records / Enucleation Records)
10:02min
There is no other band for which I more eagerly await new output than I do for the reigning masters of Esoteric Death Metal, DEAD CONGREGATION. After releasing an excellent MLP followed by an utterly flawless full-length album, DEAD CONGREGATION have returned with two tracks for this split EP. The first of the two,
'Perennial Blasphemous Affliction', was apparently written several years ago, but the band declined to use the song feeling that it would disrupt the cohesiveness of those prior recordings.
'Subjugation', the second track on the DEAD CONGREGATION side, is an alternate mix of a song from the “Graves
Of The Archangels” LP. Anyone familiar with these albums understands that DEAD CONGREGATION meander with agility through various stylistic spheres, and in doing so unfold their vision in a manner unlike any other band. On this EP, however, DEAD CONGREGATION exercise tight control over their product. These tracks are strictly an onslaught of violence. The band permits itself to indulge in a mix that is significantly rougher than they have utilized on their other recordings. The result is a more pure and distilled representation of Death Metal than DEAD CONGREGATION have thus far produced. Whereas, on their albums, the band strives to demonstrate their versatility, here DEAD CONGREGATION seem to be out to prove that they can also play straightforward Death Metal better than just about any other band and still make it sound as if they have reinvented the genre. Although more chaotic and dissonant than their prior work, these tracks are nothing less than tremendous. There is no wandering about with these songs; DEAD CONGREGATION simply set the course and refuse to deviate. For their side, HATESPAWN contribute a single track entitled
'Of Unspeakable Cults' set among an excellent intro and outro. Hailing from Germany, HATESPAWN have an even sparser discography than DEAD CONGREGATION yet deliver a solid presentation on their side of this split. The song on HATESPAWN’s side of this EP is a frenetic array schizophrenic Death Metal. HATESPAWN settle into passages within the song only long enough to engage you before the song unravels around you once more and the band has diverged into a new corridor. While the individual parts of the song never really stand out enough to claim for HATESPAWN an identifiable stylistic niche, the overall composition demonstrates their reliance upon a certain dexterity within their songwriting intended to command the listener to follow each of their various excursions. I have never heard any other HATESPAWN material so I cannot speak to how this recording fits into the context of their other work, but what this song does present is sufficiently intriguing to inspire me to try to track down their other releases. In its totality this split EP is a fine work of Death Metal. The cover, the insert, and the music all retain their adherence to tradition without suffering from stylistic stagnation.
www.nuclearwinter.cjb.com
Jason Campbell
BACK
DEAD
CONGREGATION
Graves Of The Archangels
(Nuclear War Now Productions)
43:38min
Although this album was released in January I'm sure this will be one of the top
Death Metal albums in 2008. I have absolutely no doubts about this. The band's
first sign of life, the demo / MCD "Purifying Consecrated Ground",
already proved the quality of this Greek horde but "Graves Of The
Archangels" catapults DEAD CONGREGATION on the top of the Death Metal
Olympus where such gods as INCANTATION and IMMOLATION reign supreme. Hell yeah,
"Graves Of The Archangels" is truly a masterpiece of dark and unholy
art. This is blasphemous Death Metal at its best. If you need a description of
their style I would name just one band: INCANTATION. Don't get me wrong, DEAD
CONGREGATION is anything else but a copy cat, they just play a comparable style
of sinister, obscure and unholy brutality with dark, deep, brutal and punchy
vocals. And I'm sure every INCANTATION worshipper will love those Greek fiends.
"Graves Of The Archangels" starts with the instrumental 'Martydoom'
which is such a god damned brilliant overture for the sacrilegious storm which
follows. 'Source Of Fire' and the title track are my current faves but there is
absolutely no weak tune on this album, just everything is first class. I also
really like the production of this album. It sounds really brutal and very
natural. Especially the drums sound is great and the guitars shred your ears.
That's how a Death Metal album should sound. Don't be a fool, get your fingers
on "Graves Of The Archangels" immediately. Buy!!! www.nwnprod.com
Hacker
BACK
DEAD
EMOTIONS
Gates To The Unseen
(Medusa Productions)
37:31min
You can’t please everyone… this release already was voted “demo-CD of the
month” in the September 2001 issue of (Metal) Hammer magazine, but it simply
does nothing to me personally at all. DEAD EMOTIONS is a Bavarian six piece,
musically very tight sounding, but still far from what I consider good quality
Metal nevertheless. This is more in the moody, Gothic inspired Death Metal style
that the German CREMATORY or earlier AMORPHIS made pretty popular – in other
words, simple structured, poppy keyboards and two vocalists sharing the deep
grunted (quite ok sounding) and clean (not very convincing) vocal styles. The
fact that DEAD EMOTIONS also perform some of their songs in German made them
even more annoying to me. Sorry, but this is definitely not the type of stuff I
put on to get in a good mood. The mainstream crowd may view things differently
of course… Contact: http://www.ofdarkness.de/deademotions
or www.dragondesign666.de.
You may order the CD
here.
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEAD EMOTIONS
Pathways To Catharsis
(Bad Land Records)
45:70min
The German Death Metal underground seems to get more convoluted with each passing season, good bands struggling and / or falling to the way side, while others of ill favoring seem to thrive. However, now a promising turn of events with that standard, as DEAD EMOTIONS bring before us today their third studio album “Pathways To Catharsis” and as it happens are making quite a lot of actual progress within the German underground at the same time! DEAD EMOTIONS is from Southern Germany, Munich from what I am told, and is a five piece whose strength lay in numbers. As the complexity of the material, although not that extreme in proficiency ultimately is intricate enough that these five souls are required to pull off the more melodic of passages and dual rhythm structures that pervade throughout this CD, and not only in the
live sense as is shown by these video clips (more on that below) but obviously in the studio as well. The only complaint I had about this disc was the fact there are no
leads here. Mayhaps they could look into writing some for the next record or see about incorporating a third guitarist like MAIDEN has with Janick Gers? As I feel that a
lead guitarist is the final piece this act needs to fill their fold and this void. In total 11 songs of well crafted and enjoyable Death Metal are featured here on this disc, for those of you out there who are into bands like DESASTER, ARCH EMEMY, AMON
AMARTH and similar acts than definitely be sure to check out DEAD EMOTIONS, they will not disappoint. Recorded and
produced by Mäx and Uis at Soundfarm Studios in August 2007. Mixed and Mastered by Jan Vacik at Dreamscape Studios.
Cover-artwork and design by Dragon Design, Michael Schindler. Included on the official album release are two
bonus-videos: ‘There Is No Dawn’ (video clip) and ’Disdained’ (live at Lindenkeller Freising). Track list is as follows: 1. ‘Paradise Is Hell’, 2. ‘Demon Seed’, 3. ‘Point Of No Return’, 4. ‘There Is No Dawn’, 5. ‘Weed For The Weak’, 6. ‘Disdained’, 7. ‘Borderline’, 8. ‘Direction Pain’, 9. ‘Ways Of Self Destruction’, 10. ‘Interlude’ and 11. ‘At The End Of Time’.
Contact: helmut@dead-emotions.de or www.dead-emotions.de or www.myspace.com/deademotions667
Wes Rhodes
BACK
DEADHEAD
Depression Tank
(Displeased Records)
41:30min
Since their 1999 album, "Kill Division", DEADHEAD released only one album,
"Haatland", in 2005. Full lengths are momentous occasions for DEADHEAD, either because they emphasize quality over quantity like MONSTROSITY, or they're unbearably slow songwriters. My guess is the former. The years have not diminished DEADHEAD's quirky speed reminiscent of
DECEASED, or the intensity of the vocalist's screams. The only thing that stands as questionable is the production, a very modern approach to capturing oldschool songwriting. It hardly ever works convincingly, but with a band like DEADHEAD, the problem is not as severe because their songwriting is good enough to leap through digital constraints. However, it is never wise to let nostalgia cloud judgement. Just because DEADHEAD are an old band who haven't altered their approach, it doesn't make them phenomenal. This is not extraordinary
Death Metal, it's only several cuts above today's music, which leaves a considerable distance to truly good. Nevertheless, DEADHEAD are good, and this album of theirs would have attracted some attention if it had been released in 1992.
www.myspace.com/deadheadthrash,
www.displeasedrecords.com
Nat Shapiro
BACK
DEADLY BLESSING
An Eye To The Past
(Hellion Records)
51:27min
When DEADLY BLESSING's one and only full length album "Ascend From The
Cauldron" reared its ugly head way back in 1988 the opinions concerning the
band were always pretty mixed. It was either "love it" or "hate
it" with no real options in between... The main reason was basically the
extremely high-pitched vocal delivery of singer Ski, who immediately became the
trademark for this US based five-piece. The band nevertheless managed to gain
themselves a die hard underground following (mostly in Europe) but unfortunately
disappeared into nothingness again shortly after the album's initial release.
Apart from their hard to swallow vocal style it most certainly was the lack of
support from their label at the time (New Renaissance Records) that (financially)
prevented DEADLY BLESSING from reaching the next level. So, it was certainly no
blessing, but actually quite deadly to be connected to them... If you listen to
DEADLY BLESSING's material nowadays it still sounds extremely unique, yet less
over the top as there's been a lot more bands with intense vocalists ever since
(just take CONFESSOR as an example). And even though Ski had a clean voice
DEADLY BLESSING were by no means a cheesy sounding melodic band, but definitely
Metal to the bone with several references to classic 80s Thrash / Speed Metal as
well! Their songs easily stood the test of time and still blow away a lot of the
material that gets released these days! In that respect DEADLY BLESSING die
hards will highly appreciate the release of "An Eye To The Past",
which is an eleven track compilation of old demo / unreleased tracks. In detail
the album comprises of the band's classic three song demo from 1986, which
featured 'Search And Destroy', 'Cry Of Medusa' and the non album track 'Queen Of
Sin', two rehearsal songs from the same year, as well as demo recordings from
1987 and 1988, some of them already feature Larry Betson on vocals, who replaced
Ski after the release of "Ascend From The Cauldron" and who's
surprisingly blessed with a pretty similar voice! The sound quality is ok (considering
that we're dealing with demos from the 80s here!) and the CD packaging
compliments the overall good impression even more (lots of vintage pictures,
lyrics and a historical related short interview). So, my advice to every 80s
Metal worshipper simply is: go for it! Available directly from www.hellionrecords.de
or
here.
Frank
Stöver
BACK
DEAD MAN’S HAND
The Combination
(Agonia Records)
31:12min
The new industrial revolution has arrived and it seems that every European
record company is trying to earn its coin with the current unstoppable wave of
new Death / Thrash Metal acts. But finally the time has come to realize that not
every piece of Black coal - even if we are talking about true Norwegian one -
can be transferred into a blazing diamond – a matter of fact that is fully
applicable for the DEAD MAN’S HAND debut. “The Combination” is an
aggressive piece of Thrash Metal with parallels to their Swedish brothers
DISFEAR / THE HAUNTED but that’s it - nearly everything has been said in one
single sentence. The combo which is raging from Oslo since 2005 is not in the
position to set standards in any way or to make their music somehow unique. So
it's one of those records which aren’t dropping to minus 263 degrees on the
quality scale but which also cannot impress any listener even if he is listening
to this style for only a short while. www.dmh-metal.com,
www.agoniarecords.com
Matthias Auch
BACK
DEAD OF WINTER
At The Helm Of The Abyss
(Profound Lore Records)
36:49min
"At The Helm Of The Abyss" seems to be the first official release of this Canadian Black Metal outfit. One might think it is a bit early to start up with an album and haven't done some demos first, but DEAD OF WINTER proof that this is not necessary in their case at all, because those guys know how to handle their instruments. Hell yezzz, this is a great album, it is Black fucking Metal how it was meant to be played:
uncompromising, unholy, possessed and brutal. Musically always on top-speed, primitive and brutal riffing plus demonically obsessed vocals makes "At The Helm Of The Abyss" an outstanding album which shows that real, brutal oldschool Black Metal is still alive. More of that
please... Check this out, otherwise it is your own fault! www.profoundlorerecords.com, www.deadofwinter.ca
Andi Bauer
BACK
DEAF SYMPHONY
Chains Of Love
(Snug Harbor Records)
48:44min
Imagine a heavier FIFTH ANGEL or a more straight-forward version of QUEENSRYCHE
mixed with the
more recent offerings of JUDAS PRIEST and include with that a John Bush of
ARMORED SAINT sound-alike handling the mic. If you can do this, than you have
the Heavy Metal Rock entity known as DEAF SYMPHONY from Las Vegas, Nevada now in
your head. Ten songs are on display here that musically are very well played,
actually sung over and delivered with a serious amount of conviction that I have
not heard in quite some time. Honorable mention goes to the overall production
of this CD! As most of the recordings I have heard lately pale in comparison and
this one that DEAF SYMPHONY has for "Chains Of Love" is actually on my
Top 10 list. My only real complaint about this disc are with the lyrics. Not
that they don't fit with the music per se, it's just that three quarters of the
songs on here work together exceptionally well and the other quarter, at times,
come off sort of cheesy and definitely tarnish if not spoil the rest. Songs in
particular that I would re-work / edit would be a few of the lines within
'Insurrection' and of course the choruses of 'Breaking The Walls', 'Sanctuary Of
The Mind' and 'When The Body Is Dead'. That being said however, I honestly
think with a bit more scrutiny to their writing and the continued
professionalism of their music and pro recording of their releases. DEAF
SYMPHONY absolutely have the potential to make it in the Power Metal movement
(.resurgence?) that is happening now. Contact: fanmail@deafsymphony.com or www.deafsymphony.com or contact@csnenterprises.com
Wes Rhodes
BACK
DEATH
Live in L.A.
(Nuclear Blast)
72:05min
Since
day one, DEATH have been nothing but a band which have written (well
Chuck has) genuine REAL METAL numbers, material that has nothing
in common with blur bands like CANNIBAL CORPSE, SIX FEET UNDER and
three other billion acts deliver. Schuldiner is a pure die hard
Metaller and he always made sure to incorporate in his songs: hooks,
soul, heart and he knows how to capture people's vibes just like
EXCITER, SLAYER, METALLICA or RAVEN did so well 18 years ago. After
all, DEATH started in '83 as MANTAS so he was nothing but a full
part of that whole new Speed / Power / Thrash / Death sound. I don't
know if that release was issued to gain funds to help out Schuldiner
but it was about time to hear a DEATH live album after all those
years. While DEATH have never been a really powerful band in a live
situation - particularly during the Butler / Andrews and "Symbolic"
eras as they were lacking that particular intensity that bands like
EXODUS or SLAYER had - I must admit that their '98 tours were quite
convincing but still couldn't compete with the famous '93 tours,
particulary the European one from September / October which featured
Schuldiner, Hoglan, DiGiorgio & Locicero where it was an unrecognizable
outfit which was performing intense material all the way back then.
The 13 songs here were recorded in L.A. during the "Sound Of..."
tour and showcase mostly material from the '90s when the band had
opted for a much more technical Metallic aspect. Only crowd faves
'Zombie Ritual' and 'Pull The Plug' (still one of the worst songs
ever penned by Schuldiner but for some reason people eat it up!)
come from the old days. How somebody who claims to be a Metaller
can not enjoy the likes of 'Trapped In A Corner' - one of the most
outstanding tracks of all time in terms of pure talent, 'Flesh And
The Power It Holds' with its totally godly intro followed by a mindcrushing
riff and 'Symbolic' featuring some totally off the wall drum parts
etc. is beyond me. The only thing that a traditional Metaller can
object to is the vocals which are based on screaming and raw vocals
but still so much more effective and convincing than the likes of
HYPOCRISY. If you really take the time to listen to DEATH's music
without any preconception, you'll see that they're nothing but a
pure Metal outfit closer to Heavy Metal than the many outfits that
claim to be nothing but true Metal when in fact they're just mostly
posers and losers. Another DEATH live CD and DVD was issued late
October, recorded at the Dynamo Open Air fest from 1998 through
Nuclear Blast and will be ONLY available through 'em, a part of
the funds will go directly to help out Schuldiner. (it is also
available
here
- Frank)
Laurent Ramadier
BACK
DEATH
ANGEL
The Art Of Dying
(Nuclear Blast)
55:16min
Right from the start, I had the tendency to believe that this
legendary Bay Area Thrash Metal act would make a great comeback
album unlike their fellow countrymen EXODUS- after all DEATH ANGEL
had never failed to deliver non stop top notch material, having
managed to end up their career with a milestone in "Act
III", something EXODUS failed to do. Enough on EXODUS, you know
by now where I stand when it comes to their new album, it's DEATH ANGEL
here and that's all that matters. "The Art..." is the type
of album that leaves a strange sensation after it stops and
repeating listens doesn't change anything because it's not really
the type of album that fullfill my hunger but it's not bad either.
While it starts in a shredding way with 'Thrown To The Wolves' - a
typical great thrashing talented tune, but as soon as the second
tune '5 Steps To Freedom' comes you know that "The Art..."
won't be the total killer album you were expecting and the more you
hear, the more it becomes obvious, simply because the Rock influence
prevails on the Metal influence. Now don't take me wrong, Mark
Oseguada's ripping singing mixed with Cavestany's unreal sense of
melody makes songs like 'Thicker Than Blood', 'The Devil Incarnate'
(Mark sounds unreal on this one) very enjoyable tunes and way better
than what most of the so called Metal acts around can deliver but
it's simply NOT PURE METAL or I'd say DEATH ANGEL songs. It's
definitively closer to THE ORGANIZATION most of the time than to DEATH ANGEL,
no matter what the boys can say everywhere. 15% of this record is
Metal but the majority isn't due to that Rock feel being too obvious
but like I said that doesn't mean that this record sucks because no
matter what style those guys play (well SWARM sucked somewhat),
their talent allows them to come up with winners most of the time,
but this isn't a record that should have been issued as DEATH ANGEL,
as simple as this. As a third THE ORGANIZATION album, I would have
called it great- even killer, but as a DEATH ANGEL album I would
call it okay and their most dispensable one out of their four studio
albums. Highlights are the opening song, 'Spirit', 'The Devil
Incarnate' and the totally awesome closer 'Word To The Wise' (a tune
that can be compared to the fantastic 'Veil Of Deception', a totally
emotional track sung by Cavestany). Now you know where I stand with
this record, if you're a real Metalhead and a total DEATH ANGEL
freak since the first hour, chances are that you'll be disappointed
but still gives it a chance because again it's still a good comeback
that leaves hope for better things from this band unlike EXOcrap-
simply don't come up to me screaming that it's a pure DEATH ANGEL
album or their best album ever because it's definitively not. (needless
to say that I see things completely different... the new EXODUS
fuckin' rules, while this is by no means a worthy DEATH ANGEL comeback!
- Frank). Available
here.
Laurent Ramadier
BACK
DEATH ATTACK
Death Attack (Picture Disc 7" EP)
(I Hate Records)
8:20min
Fans of blackened, harsh oldschool Thrash Metal in general and PROTECTOR fans in
particular should pay attention here! This amazing little piece of plastic is
not only visually a real gem (it comes as a picture disc with the bloody red
logo on one side and a tribute to Michael Hasse picture on the flipside, yet
packaged in a regular 7" sleeve that features several old pictures and a
history written by Martin Missy), also the music of this rather short-lived
German Thrash Metal horde is quite impressive! The two songs 'Death Attack' and
'Warriors Of Death' (+ short intro) easily could've gained this fourpiece a
solid position back in the 80s among the forerunners of the Teutonic Thrash
movement (SODOM, KREATOR and DESTRUCTION), if they wouldn't have called the
quits after only one year of existence again already. Formed in the autumn of
1985 by guitarist André 'Ace' Borawski (who used to play bass in STEELTOWER, a
band that later became HEAVEN'S GATE), singer Michael Hasse (who went on with
PROTECTOR afterwards), drummer Peter Schulz and bass player Peter Laske (both
continued on in a Speed Metal act called INZEST) these guys unfortunately only
managed to record two songs at their rehearsal place, and yeah, you guessed
right - they are the ones we're dealing with here. But even though it was only a
rehearsal recording, the overall quality turned out pretty satisfying (if you
take into consideration that Magnus Devo Anderson remastered them for this
release) and showcased a band that was full of aggression and already offered a
lot of potential. It may sound a bit out of place here, but to me these two
tracks are way more impressive than anything that the more known German bands
such as IRON ANGEL or DARKNESS have come up with throughout their entire career!
It's relentless, uncompromising Thrash of the purest form, destined to turn
oldschool Metalheads into DEATH ATTACK addicts very easily. It's a real pity
that there wasn't more to come... But on the other hand, it's pretty easy for
you now to complete your DEATH ATTACK collection ;-) All you have to do is
contact I Hate Records right away in
order to get yourself a copy out of the 500 limited copies that got pressed. It
is definitely worth the effort, believe me! www.ihate.se
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATH
BREATH
Stinking Up The Night
(Black Lodge Records)
34:01min
Former NIHILIST / ENTOMBED drummer and current HELLACOPTERS member Nicke
Anderson re-discovered his love for oldschool Death Metal and as a result
returned to the underground scene with a new band called DEATH BREATH. This
three-piece got together in 1995 and next to Nicke (on guitars and drums)
features Robert Pehrsson (guitars / vocals) and Mange Hedquist (bass). Their
debut full length album "Stinking Up The Night" quickly secured them a
deal with Black Lodge Records in Europe and Relapse in the US, who both will
release the impressive ten tracker on September 22 and October 17 respectively.
Listening to the material I can only say that this is surely a must have for all
those of you who really miss the early days of the extreme underground, and with
that I mean the time way before digital recordings, the internet and top notch
productions. The DEATH BREATH song material perfectly fits into a period when
tapetrading and xeroxed fanzines were still responsible for the status of a new
band, as opposed to mainstream labels with their full colour advertising
campaigns and technically perfect, yet faceless products. Even though the band
itself mentions quite a lot of influences on their official website, I
personally discovered elements of three acts in particular, that their
songwriting seems to be based upon: AUTOPSY, REPULSION and early MANTAS / DEATH.
The cool thing is that they managed to talk REPULSION's vocalist / bassist Scott
Carlson into contributing vocals to three of the songs on "Stinking Up The
Night". Considering the fact that REPULSION has always been a big influence
on Nicke and the other guys in NIHILIST / ENTOMBED this must have been a dream
come true for him. There's also three more tunes to feature the voice of Jörgen
Sandström (the original GRAVE vocalist) and one that has "back-up screams"
by DISMEMBER's Fred Estby. But the album still doesn't sound like a compilation
of different styles because of that, it's actually quite cool to hear how much
they all seem to share a similar vision on here. The bottom line is always very
raw, very straight ahead and right into your face! If you like the aformentioned
bands or most recently freaked out on the discs by MURDER SQUAD or MAUSOLEUM,
make sure to give this a listen as well. It's very cool stuff and you're gonna
love it for sure!! By the way, prior to the release of the album DEATH BREATH
has already released a 7", which features two non album tracks ('Corpses Of
Death' and 'Matricide') next to the album opener 'Death Breath' (just in case
you need a copy of that as well)... For all more info check out www.deathbreath.se
or www.myspace.com/deathbreathdeathmetal
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATH
BREATH
Let It Stink (MCD)
(Black Lodge Records)
24:34min
Sweden's oldschool maniacs DEATH BREATH seem to be pretty fast and highly
motivated songwriters at the moment. Shortly after their awesome debut full
length "Stinking
Up The Night" (which reared its ugly head by the end of 2006) and the
self-titled "Death Breath" 2-track 7" EP (which was set free in
early 2007) they are already
spitting out their next release. This time it's the MCD "Let It
Stink", which features four brand new songs, three covers and a little
zombie video for the song 'Death Breath' in two different versions (one in b/w
with DEATH BREATH music to it and one in color with a horror movie score backing
it up). The interesting thing about "Let It Stink" (apart from the
cover art, which is an extremely cool zombie parody of the BEATLES' "Let It
Be" record) is, that the material fits together extremely well, even though
it partly comes from a different musical background. Of course there's the
typical DEATH BREATH tunes, that totally shred in the usual way, but then
there's also equally convincing cover tunes of BATHORY ('Sacrifice'), G.B.H.
('Lycantrophy', feat. REPULSION's Scott Carlson on vocals again) and DISCHARGE
('Maimed And Slaughtered'). I honestly didn't really expect that to work out,
but surprisingly it does very well! DEATH BREATH combine the best of both worlds
here (oldschool Hardcore and Metal that is), and all that even without sounding
like a stupid Crossover act. Every song hits you like a hammer due to its high
energy level, the uncompromising rawness that the guys managed to capture in the
studio and the overall 100% pure live feeling of the whole disc! Next to the
already wellknown triumvirate (Nicke, Robert and Scott) there's also a
contribution from SERPENT OBSCENE's
Erik Sahlström this time, who guests as a vocalist on 'Twisted In Distaste'.
So, all in all another "must have" for fans of the band and oldschool
Metalheads in general. For all further info check out the band's official
website www.deathbreath.se
or www.myspace.com/deathbreathdeathmetal. You can order a copy
here.
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATH
BY DAWN
One Hand, One Foot... And A Lot Of Teeth
(STF Records)
46:54min
It's been quite a while since I came across an album that sounded so honest and
right into your face like it is the case with DEATH BY DAWN's debut full length
"One Hand, One Foot... And A Lot Of Teeth". These guys certainly won't
win a "perfect production" contest as the whole material got recorded
live in a studio, in just two sessions (5 days in total!), but hey, that's what
Metal used to be about originally, wasn't it? I mean, pick any 80s classic and
listen to the production... Almost none of those records used to be perfect in
that department, yet convinced with a whole lot of energy, uniqueness or killer
songwriting. Well, I wouldn't necessarily label DEATH BY DAWN as unique either,
but it's still great fun to listen to them nevertheless. Musically they deliver
a very raw mixture of Death and Thrash Metal, while the guitarwork occasionally
adds a slightly rockier approach to it and their overall attitude (not the music)
is obviously very much rooted in the Punk genre (lyrics, coverart etc.). I don't
really completely agree with other reviews that started to label the band as
"Death'n'Roll", because in my opinion the album is first and foremost
addressed to fans of aggressive Thrash Metal, with some touches of Death Metal (the
latter mostly due to Martin van Drunen's charismatic and hateful-as-ever vocal
delivery). So, if you can listen to PESTILENCE's still rather thrashy debut
"Malleus Maleficarum" with similar delight as to good old MOTÖRHEAD (for
the aforementioned "rockier approach"), or consider yourself as a van
Drunen worshipper you should really make sure to check these guys out. And don't
let yourselves discourage by the rather unprofessional and weird looking
packaging (for this type of music)... the music definitely makes up for it! You
can order a copy of the CD for 12 Euro (ppd.) directly through the band's
website www.death-by-dawn.de
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATHCHAIN
Deadmeat Disciples
(Dynamic Arts Records)
32:55min
Off they charge… as quick as a flash, with hyper-speed, pacing out all the
others. DEATHCHAIN play speedy Death / Thrash that really sounds tight as a
witch’s cleft. The feeling of this recording is dynamic as an anthill, fierce
as a lunatic skunk running through a higher middle-class American suburb
spreading its peasant odours. Got me? This production sounds very professional,
very natural, brutal and original. There are loads of haunting Thrash riffs
speeding through the compositions, high-speed blast beats and our beloved Thrash
beats that seem to be pulse of the universe for some Metalheads. The guitarists
do a really good job. The soloing is fab – chaotic, fast and cacophonic.
Everything sounds cool here. The singer (a guy called Rotten, ha!) yells out his
tormented soul. Another thing that sounds really awesome here are the toms of
the drum kit – really old-school and aggressive. Great. I have no favourite
tracks here really. Just check the whole CD ‘cause it’s got a consistent
fun-factor. This is the soundtrack for every decent and proper, filthy Thrash
party in the mire! Definitely not innovative, but really good fun! So if you
like bands like DEMONIZER or DEFLESHED this could be something for you!!!
Website: www.deathchain.com.
On sale here.
F. Cthulhu E.
BACK
DEATHCHAIN
Death Eternal
(Dynamic Arts Records)
42:21min
If a band like DEATHCHAIN is in the position to enter the Finnish charts on the
13th position it’s maybe not the most astonishing fact (taking the small
population into account) but it could be a proof of quality (have a look at all
the crap that enters the German charts... does that indicate quality??? - Frank).
DEATHCHAIN released three albums since 2002 with a more or less heavy impact on
the scene. Honestly speaking I did never feel the urge to aquire one of their
releases because if it comes to Death / Thrash I prefer the Swedish way of life,
for example my good old friends from THE CROWN. But their latest release
“Death Eternal” is starting furious with 2 neck breaking grenades.
Especially the vocals can really set standards for further releases due to a
high variety and the chantings at the end of ‘Titans Of Black Earth' are
really great. The whole album is an aggressive piece of black lava without any
moment of rest or any single mid tempo song. If DEATHCHAIN kept this quality
level over the whole album this review would be a never ending hymn of praise
but “Death Eternal “is also offering some standard songs without real drive.
But these 2 -3 songs are the only week points of their fourth album and the
final song 'Incantations Of Shub-Niggurath' with some minor NILE influences
brings “Death Eternal “back on track. So in total a nevertheless good
release which will warm up every Metal heart during the expected frosty winter. www.deathchain.com;
www.dynamicartsrecords.com
Matthias
Auch
BACK
DEATHCRUSH
Mutilating The Christian Faith
(Iron Blood & Death Corporation)
28:28min
This is the debut album by the Mexican Death Metal band DEATHCRUSH. Formed in 2002 and after several line up changes they are now attacking the listener with a blazing assault. Fast, aggressive Death Metal, the way KRISIUN or REBAELLIUN used to play on their early releases. The production, especially the drum sound, is not what one would call high-class, but they are from Mexico and I guess it is not that easy to find a good studio and / or producer in such countries when it comes to Death Metal. But it is the only inconvenience of this release and I really like this kind of rough sound, it fits to the music. As the title suggests, the whole album is animated by strong anti-christian and satanic philosophy, underlined by song-titles like ‘God Betray‘ or ‘Against The Shit Catholic Church‘. Accordingly the vocals are a little bit high-pitched, giving the whole output a kind of Black Metal atmosphere. Of course one will not find any kind of progressive influences on this release, like keyboards or female voices, nothing more than a great collection of Satanic Death Metal songs. Hopefully there will be more releases by DEATHCRUSH.
www.deathcrush1.cjb.net
Mirco Szymyslik
BACK
DEATHCULT
Cult Of The Dragon
(Karisma Records / Dark Essence)
37:39min
Cruel Norwegian Black Metal, that’s what you get here. This is fuckin’ raw
Black Metal in the vein of old DARKTHRONE ( “Under The Funeral Moon” and
Transilvanian Hunger” period) with elements of old SAMAEL (“Worship Him”)
and old BEHERIT. DEATHCULT offers nothing new to us, but they do it with style.
The production is as it should be for this type of music (and you can hear each
instrument, to be honest the production is above the average!), the ideas
(riffs, melodies…) are quite original and the whole recording could also be
released back in 1993 or something like that. Fans of Norwegian Black Metal the
old way can’t make anything wrong here as this CD fits perfect to this
description. Still there is one question left to ask: what should a songtitle
like ‘Sieg Hail Satan’ mean? As I don’t have the lyricsheet I can’t
judge it, still I feel not pleased about a title like this. For sure you can say
“what the hell is he talking about, let the music do the talking” and this
is probably correct, nevertheless I want to claim that if DEATHCULT join with
the NSBM-genre they can fuck off! This kind of controversy shouldn’t have a
link to Black Metal at all. In this case: let the music do the talking… Check
out www.darkessencerecords.no
Thomas Ehrmann
BACK
DEATH
DU JOUR
Gamashinoch (MCD)
(self-financed)
18:00min
Come
to think of it, why does neither
Finland
nor
Norway
give birth to more Death Metal bands? I mean, we’re so conscious on our Black
Metal and Gothic Metal and Heavy Metal (
Finland
) that we should be able to spawn a really good Death Metal band. Yeah, look to
Sweden
. And
now, with Death Du Jour it could
be there’s something going on. This Finnish band give us four Death Metal
tracks which all have the necessary ingredients to be a pleasant journey through
death and destruction. Rather technical and a strong production make this more
interesting than your average groovy Death Metal combo. Of course, there’s
still room for improvements (there always is), and I think that Death
Du Jour
try to show too much in too short a time. I have paid carefully attention (read;
headphones) to “Gamashinoch”, but still I don’t remember a single note
from the tracks. I think that’s their challenge for an eventual upcoming
full-length, keeping it interesting and recollectable to a certain extent. As I
told you, this is more interesting than the average Death Metal band because I
feel that these four Death Metallers aim for an own identity, but need some aid
and time to develop. As a lot of people say about Yngwie
Malmsteen; high skills don’t make a song. Death
Du Jour
are definitely a band to look out for, and I’m certain there is more to come.
PS: I try to avoid bringing in other bands’ names when I review something, but
there’s a certain Behemoth
feeling to “Gamashinoch”. I could be the vocals… Contact:
pasi@wchmetal.net
Roy Kristensen
BACK
DEATH
DU JOUR
Fragments Of Perdition
(Golden Lake Productions)
37:21min
That
this is Death Metal can’t be questioned. But Death Metal is more than just
that, since there are chaotic Death Metal, brutal Death Metal, groovy Death
Metal, melodic Death Metal, oldschool Death Metal. In the end it’s all just
Death Metal if you get the deadly feeling from the music, a deadly and gory
feeling of sheer brutality. Death Du Jour is a band that is seemingly chaotic
the first couple of spins. And it’s still chaotic after 10 spins. Normally I
wouldn’t spend as much time for an album if it didn’t have something
extra. “Fragments Of Perdition” is an album I really didn’t get into,
but still I felt there was something behind the wall of chaotic brutality. I
still feel there’s something behind this wall, but I can’t seem to figure
it. The music is overall fast as a shark, despite the changes in the songs. If
you go deeper into a track like 'Weakmeat Vortex', it is basically fast.
But, after some three minutes there are some cool seconds that is different.
The song almost stops, then a few seconds of groove, and this is repeated a
couple of times. Cool, but far from enough to maintain the listener’s
interest I’m afraid. The following 'Satire Of Caustic Lunacy' is another
fast track that has a bit of difference. The leadguitar is wicked throughout
this song, with its small strange small things. Add to this a cool bass-line
after two minutes. Concerning the guitars my mind went back to the early days
of Nocturnus. Again, this is not enough to maintain my
interest. As
it is now, I have given up on this album. It is, as said, chaotic and
seemingly interesting, but I don’t get it. Then again, I would buy this any
day compared to the grooviness or fastness of bands such as Cannibal Corpse,
Krisiun, Hate Eternal, recent Entombed and such.
When
it comes directly to “Fragments Of Perdition” there is a change after the
first five tracks, because the songs get somewhat more wicked during the last
three songs. The chaotic brutality is still intact, but there is something
Death Du Jour does with the guitars that sounds wicked. If Death Du Jour
writes more focused tracks next time, still including some wickedness, I am
sure they will get major attention. They do have the capacity, for the
production and playing abilities sound just fine.
(www.deathdujour.net).
You may find the CD here.
Roy
Kristensen
BACK
DEATHEVOKATION
Blood (Demo 2005)
(self-financed / Xtreem Music)
24:53min
Considering the fact that nowadays Death Metal underground is pretty much
dominated by technical highspeed brutality an oldschool act such as San Diego's
fourpiece DEATHEVOKATION easily stands out of the masses. The band's name seems
to be influenced by the classic DISMEMBER tune of the same name, while a Chris
Moyen artwork was chosen for the cover of this CD re-edition of "Blood"
(their one and only demo so far). The three songs ('Embers Of A Dying World', 'The
Monument' and 'Blood') as well as a couple of intros / outros originally got
released on tape with a pro-printed, bloody red, high glossy cover, so even in
that department the band chose to walk the oldschool path, which is extremely
cool to say the least. Musically their early '90s sounding Death Metal mostly
draws influences from classic SweDeath (in some ways I felt reminded on very
early THERION), mixed with the apocalyptic slowmotion insanity of old ASPHYX and
therefore should easily appeal to all worshippers of pure and totally honest,
raw fuckin' Death Metal. No surprise that Xtreem Music decided to pick them up
for a full length album, that is expected to be released by the end of 2006. Up
till then you might as well get into the right mood by ordering a copy of the
demo (CD). All further info you may get from the band directly. Contact:
DEATHEVOKATION, c/o Götz Vogelsang, 8118 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA
92037, USA, email: guts@deathevokation.com.
Make also sure to have a visit at their totally cool website www.deathevokation.com
which was designed in a fanzine type way. Label: www.xtreemmusic.com
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATHEVOKATION
The Chalice Of Ages
(Xtreem Music)
60:57min
I admit that I discovered DEATHEVOKATION by sheer chance when browsing to a
mailorder catalog and falling upon a description comparing the band's sound to
some of my old favorites like old-ASPHYX, GRAVE and BOLT THROWER. Although the
description was not 100% accurate (I don't recognize the ASPHYX influence to a
great extend, despite the doomy atmosphere), it was a great proposal since
"The Chalice Of Ages" is by all means one hell of a gem that will make oldschool
Death Metal fans cry out of joy. After the first couple of tunes, one can easily
identify the mid-tempo BOLT THROWER influence on the band's sound. I can even
swear that if it wasn't for the vocalist I might have thought that some of the
tunes come from an unreleased BOLT THROWER session or something. Still this
comparison is not – by all means - just since DEATHEVOKATION is a crushing
newcomer that although totally dedicated to the early 90s spirit, they are also
a band with attitude, identity and purpose. DEATHEVOKATION play mostly
mid-tempo, groovy Death Metal (with some fast breaks here and there) but what
seems to differentiate them is that they have loads of melodic (not
wimpy-sounding though) guitars giving DEATHEVOKATION a distinct edge over those
bands that focus solely on aggression forgetting to add a couple of
"meaningful" solos. Especially the guitars are worth 90% of the album,
I really love them. At some points they simply evolve in such a way, that they
don't even sound Death Metal anymore, transforming into a soaring wall of sound.
Some acoustic guitars even appear giving diversity to the band's sound and
enhancing the overall atmosphere. The production is more than appropriate (very
clear and solid) thus making the listen even more enjoyable. Last but not least,
the cover art is blessed / cursed by the morbid hand of Axel Hermann. To sum up,
DEATHEVOKATION's debut is for me at least, an essential buy for all those into
old Death Metal in the vein of mid-tempo BOLT THROWER and not only… www.deathevokation.com
Manolis A.
BACK
DEATHFROST
Search Area (2001 - 2002)
(Adv. Tape?!)
I'm not quite sure
what this is really supposed to be - a demo, or an advance tape -
but considering the fact that next to its title, "Disk
III" is also mentioned on the cover, I suppose it's the
latter... which makes things even worse..! All those of you who tend
to buy releases that end up becoming the last position in the
soundcheck lists of major magazines would probably consider buying
this here as well. DON'T! The music on offer here is so incredibly
bad, it's simply beyond belief. So, instead of wasting more space on
this "one man project" bullshit, I will just advice you to
check out the mp3s on over at this site here: http://www.geocities.com/hethidden/dfmp3.htm
They should easily speak for themselves...
Frank Stöver
BACK
DEATH
HAMMER
Barbaric
Onslaught
(Demo)
(self-financed)
7:25min
Oldschool Death / Thrash in its purest form serves Death
Hammer from Norway with this demo tape as they write on their homepage. 3
songs are on this tape but this is absolutely not my cup of tea. The material has
no structure, the band is just blasting through the songs with one or two riffs
and repeating the parts. The third song is a slow instrumental maybe it should
be a doom touch but it's a total waste. The voice has a lot of reverb to it, but
overall it's good screaming and growling. The sound is the typically demo sound,
but couldn’t be better. The voice is too much upfront and the drums are hard
to hear, only when there's a break, but it's every time the same. So, I’m
sorry, but you don’t need this one. www.home.no/deathhammer/index.htm
Stefan Hagmayer
BACK
DEATH
REALITY
Bloodprints
(Morbid Records)
32:37min
DEATH REALITY certainly belong to the strong German Death Metal bands.
Especially this new album entitled "Bloodprints" proves me right.
Technical yet pretty old school Death Metal. Never showing off, though. Good
songwriting that definitely catches my attention. This also has to do with the
effective vocal lines or the occasionally added melodic leads which sometimes
remind me of the Gothenburg sound and more often of DEATH or rather NECROPHAGIST
(without quite reaching the genius of those guys, though). Check out ‘Divine
Sickening Tragedy’, for example. What also drives me pretty crazy is the
acoustic track ‘Ingenuous Thoughts’ which reminds me of one of my alltime
favorite Metal bands: HELSTAR (also without really reaching the level of the
Texas bunch). DEATH REALITY don’t belong to the masters of Death Metal (yet???)
but “Bloodprints” is an album well worth to discover. Excellent cover by
“Necrogayniac” Thomas Westphal, by the way. www.deathreality.de.
On sale here.
Ramon Claassen
BACK
DEATHRONATION
A Soil Forsaken (Demo)
(self-financed)
19:44min
Ugh! Very raw indeed! DEATHRONATION from Nuremberg, Germany, celebrate Death Metal the old
school (including the sound). They remind me of old heroes from the USA or - a little bit - of South America as both songwriting as well as err… everything sounds like from the early 90s. Even the demo comes on tape! There are even minor flaws in timing I wouldn't have noticed if the band hadn't pointed them out. This all results in an overall warm feeling in my stomach and a silly grin when listening to this recording. No real Übersongs on here (yet?) but definitely good for some crazy hopping moves across the sofa, spilling beer, breaking neck and stuff.
"A Soil Forsaken" breathes sweat, beer and authenticity. There is one song available for download at their
homepage - so check it out! Finally, as far as I remember, there is a second demo recorded already (I was d.a.m.n. slow with this
review - sorry!!!), so if you order this demo, there might be more shit available already!
www.deathronation.de
Cunctator
BACK
DEATHSPELL
OMEGA
Si Monumentum Requires Cicumspice LP
(Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
over 70min
Well, this is truly a monumental album as its title already suggests. The French
extreme Black Metal band DEATHSPELL OMEGA is active since the mid-90s and walked
upon raw, DARKTHRONE-inspired Black Metal paths on their previous releases, but
with “Si
Monumentum Requires Cicumspice“
the definition of DEATHSPELL OMEGA’s sound has to be rewritten! Of course you
still hear the Nordic elements but the band has developed a lot further in all
respects of their musical and lyrical appearance and evolved from straight and
simple sounding standard Black Metal into frightening mighty and dark Black
Metal “art”. DEATHSPELL OMEGA now belongs in the same category as their
label mates FUNERAL MIST and WATAIN and actually sometimes sound like a mixture
of both of them. The 70 minutes of music offered on this album are well-produced
and perfectly blend supreme heaviness, deeply anti-religious lyrics and searing
Swedish Black Metal melodies. Unfortunately due to the excessive running time
“Si
Monumentum Requires Cicumspice“
wears off a bit after two third of the album and does not have the surprising
effect the N.E.D. bands I mentioned above had, but it is still a very good piece
of grim, powerful Black Metal offering both quality AND quantity. For more
information visit www.noevdia.com.
Stefan Franke
BACK
DEATHSPELL OMEGA
Kenose
(Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
36:20min
"Kenose" is the new effort by this real unique horde hailing from France. DEATHSPELL OMEGA are not your typical standard Black Metal
band. They are far beyond, in a world many bands will not reach. If you want you can call this one here an innovative blackened album. The
three extremely long tracks offer so many details and stuff which you aren't able to conceive by just listening once. You need more time to
discover all the great things which happen there. The drums constantly change and deliver a wide range of grooves, beats and rhythms. The
guitars offer brilliant riffs. You get doomy and droney chords here as well as riffs more in an oldschool, thrashy department. And even
some parts have a kind of progessive touch / approach. The music creates an extremely evil atmosphere. The
album is very dynamic and you can't predict what happens next. The sound quality is excellent
but never overproduced and keeps a raw feeling up. To sum it up here: "Kenose" is a very sophisticated and outstanding album which should
be checked out by true dark warriors with a sense for high quality stuff and dense atmosphere. Brilliant and unique! Get in touch with
www.noevdia.com
Michael Oelschlegel
BACK
DEATHSPELL
OMEGA
Veritas Diaboli Manet In Aeternum: Chaining The Katechon (EP)
(Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
22:12min
Since their last masterpiece “Fas – Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum”
really nobody can deny the fact that DEATHSPELL OMEGA must be named if it comes
to the discussions of the leading Black Metal bands. The fact that they avoid
the medial spotlight is creating a kind of mystery around them and so it’s
only their music which can speak for them. The new release of the French band is
a one track EP – and it’s their share to the split LP with their country
mates S.V.E.S.T. The “Veritas Diaboli Manet In Aeternum“ LP is a concept
album but for everybody who's not in the position to worship the good old vinyl
both parts are also available as limited EPs (S.V.E.S.T’s part via End All
Life Production). This EP is showing very clear why DEATHSPELL OMEGA is
currently one of the leading acts. The band is in the position to summarize the
essence of Black Metal in only one song. Very aggressive parts are standing next
to calm moments which are living only through one riff and after nearly 20
minutes the song is finding its climax in a much reduced trumpet part- simple,
effective and great. Think that only a handful of bands are able to create such
a long true Black Metal song without losing control over the beast. So again an
essential DEATHSPELL OMEGA release maybe in the wrong format (because I’m
still addicted to my beloved vinyl) but still essential. www.noevdia.com
Matthias Auch
BACK
DEATHSQUADRON
Black Guard Of War (Promo
2003)
(self-financed)
12:10min
From the netherrealms of Spain’s extreme Metal underground this infernal band
spews forth and delivers a raw attack of CONQUEROR, BLASPHEMY, PROFANATICA,
BEHERIT inspired War / Black Metal. It is definitely not perfect, but soundwise
very close to CONQUEROR and despite all unoriginality an extreme noise assault
fans of the aforementioned bands should really enjoy! The tracks of this promo
will be released as a 7” on Agonia Records (www.agoniarecords.dm.net.pl)
and there are also plans for a split EP with fellow sickos GOAT PENIS, so watch
out for that, too. Dissonant riffs, hectic drumming and possessed, hateful
screams – that’s DEATHSQUADRON. So if you are into such perverse sounds get
in contact with Matei via Email: info.dtm@mi.madritel.es
Stefan Franke
BACK
DEATHWITCH
Violence Blasphemy Sodomy
(Earache Records)
41:44min
I am not familiar at all with DEATHWITCH’s past career, so don’t count on me
to compare this new offering to the previous ones. What I hear in on “Violence
Blasphemy Sodomy” is a nice mixture between old Thrash and Death Metal, but I
am afraid it is not enough to make the enthusiasm surge in my camp. Add to this
that the band ‘don’t give a fuck about what (journalists) think’ about
them, and you will understand why I didn’t feel the urge to review this (even
if I don’t view myself as a journalist, merely a Metal devotee who has the
luck to share his personal views with other people). If it was not I received
this CD through a promo service, I would have never bought it by myself, simply
because I don’t know DEATHWITCH as a sure value in the extreme music field. And
the listening of this album confirms the fact DEATHWITCH are skilful to play
their instruments well but fail to build up a captivating atmosphere which can
grab the attention and retain it the time of a whole album. All the tracks are
short and to the point, but none of them could be labelled at least as
interesting. I don’t have to waste with this kind of release anymore, life is
short and I have tons of more interesting music to listen to. And by the way, I
am pretty sure DEATHWITCH don’t need the media support to promote their ‘art’.
You can order it
here.
Edouard Vergriete
BACK
DEATH
YELL
Morbid Rites
(Nuclear War Now! Productions)
59:03min
For those who don't know, DEATH YELL (from Santiago, Chile) formed in 1984 and have managed to release one (and only) demo tape that is still considered
- for many - as a "cult" release. If you ask me, the highlight of their career is the split EP with none other than Finnish Black Metal masters BEHERIT, a release that made DEATH YELL's name even more notorious in the underground back them. I remember I had their original demo in my possession for some years but never really liked it so I had to let it go. So you might wonder why
I asked Frank to do this review then? Well I was curious to give it one last try after all. I always despised critics that used to be extremely harsh on underground bands judging them without taking into consideration certain parameters directly linked the origin of the band, the financial condition of either the band or label or
– in case of old albums / recordings - the date of release. But sadly, although I don't want look like one of those stupid, careless critics, I still have to be honest and speak my mind. It is clearer today
- than ever - that DEATH YELL were nothing more from a passionate, dedicated, yet mediocre band. Unfortunately their cult status was forged to a great extend due to the fact that they did their demo tape at a time were the second wave of
Black / Death Metal scene started to take shape. I know that people into the so-called
bestial Black / Death still worship DEATH YELL to death along with ARCHGOAT, BEHERIT, BLASPHEMY etc… but
- honestly speaking - I believe that there have been loads of bands back then that played far better than DEATH YELL did. Anyways, back to the review now: "Morbid Rites" is nothing but a collection of their one and only "Vengeance
From Darkness" tape plus a live recording of unknown - to me - origin (I suspect that this was recorded around the demo days). Although the sound of the demo is more or less acceptable, the quality of the live recording is really poor and to be more precise it sounds
exactly (quality-wise) like the tons of similar live tapes that were available in the underground back then. These recordings (both the live ones and the demo tape) are
– of course - ancient and NWN did the best possible effort to revitalize them (they even recruited Chris Moyen to do the cover artwork, plus it has been released in great-looking vinyl with huge poster) but I guess, at the end of the day, music itself is all that matters and in the case of DEATH YELL... well, I guess you got my point. This release is intended to those interested in having in their possession everything related the rather obscure
early - South American scene or are fed up by – similar sounding - contemporary copycats. By all means, the great packaging and artwork give an extra motivation to all those willing to invest.
www.nwnprod.com,
www.myspace.com/deathyell
Manolis A.
BACK
DECAPITATED
Winds Of Creation
(Wicked World)
40:52min
I
guess this album got lost somewhere in between the wave of releases
in the last months. And as I had the pleasure to get to know their
musical efforts on their tour together with IMMOLATION I do not
want to withhold them from your knowledge. These young guys (approximately
between 17 to 20 years) from Poland are very talented and skilled
musicians and come up with a brutal blast of intentse Death Metal
in the old vein. Musically it is based somewhere around good old
BRUTALITY, newer MONSTROSITY and later SUFFOCATION. Their songs
are played very tight and convince with a lot of technical parts
combined with sheer straight ahead aggression. Here and there melodic
twin guitars bore into your brain, skilful guitar solos wander up
and down your spine and deep'n'fast double basses massage your stomach.
The brutal grunts of vocalist Sauron emerge from the deepest dungeons
without becoming that kind of dog barking vocals. Drummer Vitek
maltreats his drums like a whirlwind and the string section of Vogg
and Martin fires one riff massacre after another upon the listener.
And the sound production really supports the mercilessness of DECAPITATED.
By the way, this album is ended by a cool cover version of SLAYER's
'Mandatory Suicide'. All in all a real Death Metal monster. Massive!
You may go
here to order a copy.
Thomas Georg
BACK
DECAPITATED
The First Damned
(Metal Mind Records)
55:53min
This
is by no means the sophomore album from DECAPITATED, but rather
the reissue of their two demos, namely “Cemeteral Gardens” (1997)
and “The Eye Of Horus” (1998), including two previously unreleased
live tracks recorded in Poland on the Thrash’em All Festival in
August 2000. You will find on “The First Damned” more or less the
same tracks as on “Winds Of Creation”, the band's debut on Wicked
World / Earache. The main difference lies in the production, and
I confess I favour what I hear on this CD over the production less
refined and let’s say a little blurred given by Peter from VADER
on “Winds Of Creation”. Here you get a crystal clear sound doing
more justice to the class material on display. It is even difficult
to call this demo-material considering how much the band already
sounded powerful and professional on their earliest recordings.
Instead of the American-style brutal sounding of “Winds…”, “The
First Damned” shows blatant VADER (circa “Ultimate Incantation”)
and especially CORONER influences in the riffing department. Note
that the two live tracks are exceptional in quality, and perfectly
executed. The CD comes with a magnificent artwork and in digipack
format, and it is worth the difficulty you may encounter to find
it. Contact Massive Management for more details at:
kmiolek@poczta.fm,
then buy and enjoy! It is on sale here.
Edouard Vergriete
BACK
DECAPITATED
Nihility
(Wicked World / Earache)
35:05min
I
chose to ignore the vibe surrounding “Nihility” before actually
write about it, a difficult exercise if you ask me. I find it rather amusing that magazines like
Kerrang or Metal Hammer England, usually far more interested in
short-haired, short-dressed and short-minded “bands” praise a real
Metal outfit so much. If some people could only put a little interest
in true music instead of raving about the next trend, maybe they
could welcome an excellent release as “Nihility” turns out to be
without shitting in their pants in awe. I am saying that
because while an excellent album, “Nihility” is not the Death Metal
revolution on march some individuals would want us to believe it
is. DECAPITATED
have quite naturally progressed throughout the years and I am sorry,
I am not surprised by the result. Everybody
interested enough by the Death Metal genre know for sure it is a
limitless one, and very open to virtuosity and experimentation.
On “Nihility”, DECAPITATED got rid of most of the MORBID ANGEL overtones
that somewhat weakened the impact of their first offering (“Winds
Of Creation”), and they have obviously worked hard to expand their
own style. The production was for
sure crafted with great care in order to produce a rather special
sharp and biting sound of an almost mineral quality emphasizing
the syncopated rhythms omnipresent on the album. Maybe I am wrong
assuming that, anyway I suppose that the DECAPITATED musicians looked
towards what a band like MESHUGGAH are known to experiment rhythm-wise,
because clearly “Nihility” is all about rhythms of an almost abstract
nature, icy cold dare I say. On this regard ‘Spheres Of Madness’ is a standout track,
and a perfect illustration of what I am trying to express here.
“Nihility” is a very challenging album, and not easy to get into.
More than one listening is necessary to fully
grasp what is it going on, don’t expect an instant pleasing
musical work. On the other hand, be reassured
that DECAPITATED are still a pure Death Metal outfit, brutal
enough to comfort the most raging fans of the genre. This band give
another proof that something really special happens in Poland, but
a lot of people (including me) know that already. Needless to say,
“Nihility” is a mandatory purchase that will make yourselves even
more proud to be a Death Metal addict. And I am sure the best is
yet to come in the DECAPITATED camp.
You can get yourself a copy here.
Edouard Vergriete
BACK
DECAPITATED
The Negation
(Earache Records / Wicked World)
30:21min
What a dreadful punch in my face… well, I expected nothing less than
high-quality, speed, technical Death Metal when I received this new output of
Polish youngsters DECAPITATED. I knew that this release was bound to be state of
the arts Death Metal… but this actually exceeds all expectations I dared to
have in advance. It is hard to find out about things that are mediocre here. In
fact, I am not keen on finding out about such things… but oh so often flaws
just restrict the enjoyment of a release. Here, such flaws or blemishes are
sought for in vain!!! “The Negation” starts off with a malignant kind of
noise, some weird synthesizer-sphere. Then comes about an unprecedented blast (a
first song called 'The Fury')! The guitars play a melange of high-speed staccato
(MORBID ANGEL – like) patterns and melodious octave strokes (which remind you
that it’s still a Polish outfit raging here). 'Three Dimensional Defect'
(second track) offers some intricate rhythmic structures that remind me of the
fabulous MESHUGGAH!!! The guitar solos are awesome as well… very melodious,
tight as a virgin’s (well, let’s leave it like this…). Partly the soloing
suggests certain role-models these greenhorns have exalted to the status of
gods. That is, some passages remind me of acts such as DEATH, HATE ETERNAL,
VADER, which could be worse. The musicianship of this record is remarkable, the
sound is great, too… very natural and powerful. You can detect every component
of the music. Even the bass guitar has its very own metier of frequency – what
a delight. Frankly – one can sense the inspirational sources of this output as
mentioned above… but that’s fine. Death Metal doesn’t have to be
innovative. Nevertheless, DECAPITATED sound fresh which must have to do with the
relatively young members forming this outfit. The ideas on this record sound
great and interesting. These guys don’t blast too much, there’s still space
for mid-paced passages, solos, contrived rhythms, dark chords (GORGUTS!!!),
SLAYER-inspired Thrash madness concerning the guitars and generally other
experimental impulses. The only element on this release that bugs me a bit is
the monotonous voice of the vocalist who doesn’t modulate his voice
whatsoever. But that’s ok considering the fact that otherwise this album
sounds so mature and sonically perfect!!! Contact: www.decapitated.cjb.net.
The CD is available here.
F. Cthulhu E.
BACK
DECAPITATED
Organic Hallucinosis
(Earache Records)
32:27min
After the bitter-sweet taste that "The Negation" left on many of us, DECAPITATED has
crawled back from the woodwork to inject once more a lethal dose of their poison in our
nervous system. This time around the Death Metal machine has been sharpened, oiled
and seems meaner than before but there's also a surprise in store! A
new "gear" has been added in the form of a new frontman and I guess many of you
might be asking if the guy delivers the goods. All I have to say this guy is really pissed off
and then some! He certainly let all his hateful roar flow freely through the music to a level of feeling yourself threatened by
what you are listening to, just like the good ol' Death Metal used to
be. Musically DECAPITATED does not let us down this time around, they have the crunch, the
groove, the unrelenting aggression that I've felt kind of diminished in their last album.
The production on "Organic Hallucinosis" exalts the technical
mastery of the band as a whole; a far more punchier, hard hitting
and absolutely heavy slab is what you will get in return for your
investment. Complains? Well, the only one I have is the short running time. It is like a dagger
through my black heart seeing this CD coming out of the player just after 30+ min but as
an old saying say "good things are not meant to last". Crank this shit up to a level of
insanity for total listening pleasure and visit their website at: www.decapitated.pl or the label
at: www.earache.com.
To order a copy of the CD you may go
here.
Mario Cubero
BACK
DECAPITATED R.P.
Hacked To Death
(Premonition O. F. Records)
40:00min
As you may have
already deduced from the two letters following the band’s name,
this isn’t the Polish band… this lot hails from the Republic of
the Phillipines! Formed in May 1999 these Fillipinos released two
demos ("Of Suffering And Death", "Tortured") and
a three track MCD ("The Way Of Brutality") prior to the
actual recording. On eight tracks you get a dose of well executed
brutal heavy oldschool Death Metal with some melodic elements. I
have to admit that their sound is a bit hard to pinpoint – I think
they are definitely influenced by the early 90s, especially American
bands. You can hear traces of early MONSTROSITY concerning the drum
patterns which alternate between heavy double bass – ridden
passages, some thrashing beats and perhaps KRISIUN – inspired long
blastbeats (which sometimes sound a bit inconsistent and untight) as
well as in the riffing, although the latter is more basic and raw.
As I said, this may serve only as a rough orientation! Several cool
guitar solos are included and additionally you also get to hear some
short acoustic interludes that reminded me very much of those on the
first BRUTALITY (welcome back, hehe!) output. I really like the
vokills as they vary between deep growling (no burping / frognoise)
and pressed midranged screaming in the vein of Killjoy… sick, so
to say. Which would also be the right word for the lyrical content:
titles like ‘Bone Chamber’, ‘Souls Of Death’ or ‘Killing
Alone’ (the strongest track for me) should give you an idea. An
aspect that should definitely improved is the production as the
guitar sound is very thin. But if you still go for an oldschool vibe
and are enthusiastic about bands from "exotic" regions you
should definitely risk an ear! Ah, before I forget: in order not to
get mixed up with the polish band they decided to change the name to
FATAL DESASTER. Contact: DECAPITATED R. P., Ace R. Morandante, PH.
1, Blk, 17, Lot 6, Roseville, Subd. Lanang, 8000 Davao City,
Philipines, email: fataldesaster@hotmail.com
(perhaps the postal address has changed as well, so you better check
this out at first). "Hacked To Death" is available from
PREMONITION O. F. RECORDS directly, ask Michael via premonition_records@t-online.de.
With his label he specializes in bands from Asia exclusively, so
there is more to come – hopefully!
Ulrich Kreienbrink
BACK
DECAYED / URN
The Nameless Wraith / Morbid Death
(Iron Pegasus)
41:17min
Pretty different acts united their forces on this split album: Portugal's
straight Black Metallers DECAYED, who finally appear with a human drummer
(Tormentor of DESASTER fame) after releasing numerous works with a computerized
one and Finnish Black / Death / Thrashers URN, who have released only one album
so far and remain an insider tip in the underground scene. Musically DECAYED
have the better production and one can hear the experience the band has earned
over the years, the two new songs and the well done cover of 'Welcome To Hell'
are among the best the band has ever recorded, driving Black Metal with lots of
energy and a certain dose of traditional Metal power. Definitely not something
done for the first time, but still pretty cool. Only the keyboard interludes
between the songs accounting for over 7 minutes could have been replaced by one
or two "real" songs, at least in my opinion. Personally I have
completely missed URN, although I guess I have to look for their debut "666
Megatons" (2002, Damnation Records) now! If it is of the same raw intensity
and offers comparable violent Black / Death than "Morbid Death", than
it should be a must-buy!!! URN sound almost close to War Metal à la old
DESTROYER 666, BESTIAL WARLUST with a little more structure and a perfect
rehearsal / demo sound that just kills. Evil, aggressive, as catchy and
primitive as old NUNSLAUGHTER mixed with the Australian aggressors mentioned
above, just great!!! I've read reviews on this release favouring the DECAYED
side, especially because of the better production, but URN are the real winners
of this match and their six songs make me yearn for more, much more! Links of
interest: www.iron-pegasus.com,
http://www.come.to/decayed
Stefan Franke
BACK
DECAYED
Hexagram
(Folter Records)
45:16min
It is well known my disdain for the standard, unoriginal, stagnant contributing followers of
Black Metal that, as routinely as a watch is wound, contribute more recorded audible offenses than ought to be allowed or physically tolerated. There are those though in lieu of this known fact, those select and discretionary few acts that regardless of my almost innate hatred of this style, seem to win me over to their side. Those of whom ultimately seem to impress me for one reason or another or better stated of whom display the sheer tenacity, power and conviction needed to stand up and be counted! To withstand the nameless numbers of other demons in this Hell who call this style home and like a dog on a day old bone, refuse to leave it alone. Here then is the seventh album by this horde from Portugal, unstoppable purveyors of
occult Black Metal, from those accursed lands, known to all across the
earth, as DECAYED. Constituting of 11 firebrands to ignite the beast within, give praise to Satan, honor the rites of the ancient
black arts, put a church to flame with, or spread some other unmentionable fear and hatred to those lesser amongst us. Mayhemic brain damaging Black Metal from the very pits of Lisbon!
Contact: chroan@netcabo.pt
or www.come.to/decayed
or info@folter666.de
Wes Rhodes
BACK
DECAYING FORM
Chronicles Of Decimation
(Dan’s Crypt Records)
31:28min
What we have here is the first release by DECAYING FORM from Australia. The band proclaims to coalesce both technique and brutality in order to form the future of Death Metal, if I understand the promo sheet correctly. Regarding the problem that different people have different definitions of what is “technique” and “brutality” (or even what is Death Metal) the answer if DECAYING FORM have achieved their goal must everyone deicide on his / her own. But putting such speculations aside, here is a description of what can be heard on “Chronicles Of Decimation”. The speed of all tracks is very fast, the drummer is constantly blasting his way throughout the whole output. The guitar-work reminds more of Death Metal than the typical Grindcore riffs, but the vocalist is definitely more Grind than characteristic Death, a kind of high-pitched grunting. This style is difficult to describe, but if you have listened to Grindcore before you will recall some other bands using such vocals, for all other people the vocals must be nearly inaudible. The big difference between DECAYING FORM and the rest of the Death / Grind universe is the songwriting. At every time on this release it is stop-and-go. Blasting, break, blasting, break and so on. In written form this may not sound that spectacular, but when listening, it is really remarkable. If you may have thought a band like CRYPTOPSY is using unusual songwriting, then you have not listened to this here. At least there is one band that came to my mind when I thought about similar bands, and that is the John Zorn projekt NAKED CITY. So, you know what to expect on this release - not some kind of easy listening, instead music demanding the listener’s attention. So everyone who is willing to dare something really experimental should DECAYING FORM give a chance.
http://decayingform.net
Mirco Szymyslik
BACK
DECEASED
Behind The Mourner's Veil
(Relapse Records)
28:00min
I
suppose (and really hope) that this is gonna be sold for the price
of an EP as the playing time not necessarily offers you much value
for your money. Apart from that, I have no complains at all. DECEASED
have become stronger and stronger throughout their years of existence
and play true fuckin' Metal, straight from the heart, like almost
no other band does anymore these days! This is no nice and safe
HAMMERFALL bullshit, this is the real thing - heavy fuckin' Thrash
Metal in its purest and most honest form! It's kinda weird, but
the more the band leaves behind their Death Metal roots, the more
they remind me on classic VENOM (especially King Fowley's vocal
delivery is extremely close to Cronos'!) with a bunch of incorporated
classic MAIDEN / PRIEST elements. But that's more than fine with
me. This release features three brandnew DECEASED tunes, of which
two are kinda unusual. 'The Mausoleum' comes up with a rather unusual
sounding melody line (kinda like as if VENOM would be inspired by
the current happenings in the Finnish Metal underground), while
'Victims Of The Masterplan' is an approx. ten minutes long track,
seperated in five chapters - but, believe it or not - it really
works without getting boring or anything! The opener 'It's Alive!'
is typical DECEASED while 'Zombie Attack', 'Reaganomics', 'New Age
Of Total Warfare' and 'Deathrider' are very well executed covers
by TANKARD (check out how close King's vocals come to Gerre's on
this one), D.R.I., WARFARE (cult!!!) and ANTHRAX. As a little bonus
you'll get a video for 'Elly's Dementia', so I guess I already named
more than enough reasons to finally give these guys your support,
don't you think?! You
can find the CD
here.
Frank Stöver
BACK
DECEASED
Worship The Coffin (DoCD)
(AreaDeath Productions)
149:06min
Do you really know what a collector’s item is? It should be something like
this compilation of the long runner Metallers DECEASED. Released by Chinese
label Area Death, this is a massive compilation, contained in no less than 2
full CDs with an incredible amount of songs focusing basically in the first era
of the band, even going so far as having recordings of the pre-DECEASED band
EVIL AXE. Obviously the recording quality is mostly very poor. Not a surprise as
many of the recordings herein are from rehearsals and live shows, and only a few
songs have a decent studio recording and some others have a decent live sound.
The thing is that, even if I worship DECEASED and especially their last album is
a masterpiece, their origins were quite really bad. And I thank the fact that
the band was so generic and actually boring in their first instances as that was
probably the reason they changed in their career to be the formidable beast they
are. Add to that the dedication main member King Fowley has endured on all these
years, suffering deaths in the band, accidents, even a near-fatal blood clot and
recovering from all kind of abuses that a man can pass through. So, I guess that
this is more like a history class on how DECEASED became the Metal machine it is
nowadays and the damn hard, and long way they have to pass until now. Newer fans
of the band might as well be a bit disappointed as the music contained herein
(except probably for the studio recordings and some live songs) are pretty much
far away from the musical direction, and the musical ability the band now shows.
Their beginning was more or less a very noisy Thrash band verging on Death
Metal, and with an attitude I can swear you can hear through the speakers. Yes,
the attitude of “Let’s have fun, create noisy, diabolic music, so our
parents crap their pants and we do look evil, drinking beer and smoking a joint,
while having fun”. And yes, that is the way exactly the bands formed on first
place, to have fun and pretend things. Obviously that the musical noise referred
herein is more in line with the fact the boys (back then) were actually learning
to tune their instruments, while miserably failing to compose a decent riff. And
no matter how atrocious the performance was, adding to the insult a really poor
rehearsal recording, this brings more than a smile to my face. Yep, you can
actually hear what it was to be a Metaller back then. The essence, the aura, and
the desire to follow your idols by trying to make music, even knowing you suck
at what you were doing, but having the dream of someday making it. Or at least
to have a decent riff in one song, or maybe recording a demo in a proper punk
studio. That was the idea. And that was the thing with the rehearsal recordings
back there. Another face of having no money to do a decent recording was to have
a live recording. Ok, that if the band had enough courage to play their crappy
songs in front of public…oh, well, in front of a couple of drunkards, that’s
it. How many bands have their best riffs and songs in live recordings, it
remains a mystery. But DECEASED was one of those bands that were never stopped
due to their critical situations in all aspects a band can face. It is really a
shame that their website is actually down right now, as the history told of the
band in there remains as some of the most entertaining thing I have ever read in
my life, and could have been the perfect booklet for this release, which anyway,
the booklet contains many parts of told by King himself. You can now realize
that this release on its own will hardly make a Metal head fan of the band; no,
this was done for all die hard of this nuclear Thrash Metal entity. It is a
compilation that must be approached with previous knowledge of the band, and
having in mind that those are the foundations of the band capable of delivering
such monster as “Supernatural Addiction”. But I am afraid that, up to this
date DECEASED is still a band not having the recognition it deserves, so the
uninitiated might have a hard, very hard time swallowing this historic
compendium, which might be a bit too long for their understanding. Meanwhile, I
am anxiously waiting for the next chapter (recording) of this great band. No
matter if they took over 20 years to be what they are now, I really thank King
and company for enduring and proving time can do wonders. More info: www.myspace.com/undeadmachines,
http://adp.areadeath.net/
Julián
Núñez
BACK
DECEIVER
Deceiver (MCD)
(Iron Fist Productions)
19:42min
When you receive a promotional pack with stuff released by Iron Fist
Productions (label owned by Tomas Nyqvist, Putrefaction ’zine
editor and No Fashion Records founder) you all know that stuff kills
for sure!!! And Deceiver
is no exception. They deliver 5 intense tracks of f*****g Tthrash Metal
on this self titled mini album, but not the typical retro stuff
you’re used to get these days, no, the guys play in the vein of
old Destruction, Slayer
and early Vio-Lence,
with a result similar to early Criminal,
but with a more diverse and intense sound, courtesy of Tommy
Tagtgren and the Abyss Studios, where riffs performed by Pete Flesh
take you to a self-strangulation and screams of Destormo took the
whole blood of my body and put it in my head just a few seconds
after of opening track 'Deceiver'. And the remaining 4 tracks just
put me on coma after 19:42 minutes of headbanging. If it’s a
taster of their upcoming “Riding With The Reaper” album (due to
be released later this month, I guess on Iron Fist again) then it
surely will shred!! I can’t wait for it, in the meanwhile this MCD
can satisfy your thirst for headbanging and total destruction. deceiverwarrior@hotmail.com;
www.deceiver.tk. Ironfist
Productions, Tomas Nyqvist, Madangsgatan 8ª, 418 02 Goteborg,
Sweden.
Rodrigo Jiménez
BACK
DECEIVER
Riding With The Reaper
(Iron Fist Productions)
36:55min
Being formed in 2004 by ex - MAZE OF TORMENT and ex - XENOFANES members and after releasing a self-titled MCD, Swedish Thrashers DECEIVER now unleash their debut CD. What can you expect from them? Well, they name
(among others) bands like MOTÖRHEAD, METALLICA, JUDAS PRIEST and VENOM as influence and song titles like 'Raise Your Horns', 'Slay The Rainbow' or 'Destroy 'em All' should give you a hint about the music. I am not one of those guys who is discussing so called styles and arguing whether you can describe it as Thrash Metal with Heavy Metal influences or Heavy Metal with Thrash Metal parts or whatever. DECEIVER label their music as Thrashing Heavy Metal, and that definition fits. Based mainly mid-tempo with (as usual) some slow and some fast parts, the music got pretty much energy. It is more the music you hear when you want to bang your head and drink some beer with your friends. So no sophisticated song writing or high-end technical skills can be found on this output, but for me that is not necessary for such kind of music. There is only one thing about this album, which is not appropriate: the poor production. Of course one can declare this is for such a music not that
an important point, but we do not live in the early '80s, so for me the feeble production is really a big barrier to enjoy "Riding With The Reaper". To sum it up: music good, production not. So everyone must decide on
his / her own to buy this or not. Something funny: the drummers name is Magnus Flink. Do not know if it is his really name, because in german "flink" means, "fast, quick". By the way, a very good name for a drummer!
www.deceiver.tk
Mirco Szymyslik
BACK
DECEIVER
Thrashing Heavy Metal
(Pulverised Records)
34:42min
Singapore based Pulverised Records are currently publishing one
album after another but the quality level of these releases is
honestly speaking more than unpredictable. The latest TRIBULATION,
HELLVETO or GUILLOTINE releases have the potential to be called
masterpieces in a few years but next to these albums there are also
weaker releases from bands like NETHERBIRD or SÉANCE (I disagree on
the latter… - Frank). The Swedish DECEIVER are without a doubt
capable musicians - which is no surprise keeping in mind that Pete
Flesh (MAZE OF TORMENT) is handling the guitars and vocals - but
their farewell album “Thrashing Heavy Metal” is nevertheless
falling into the category of the weaker Pulverised releases. The
album is offering a handful of good songs - especially when DECEIVER
reduces the Thrash Metal influences (‘Graveyard Lover’, ’Coma
Of Death Toxication’) to emphasise their Heavy Metal roots - but
the majority of the songs of their third (and last) album are
somehow ‘dusty’ German Thrash Metal with some further influences
from the Danish Metal king and his followers (MERCYFUL FATE). Think
that all Thrash traditionalists will find an old friend in
“Thrashing Heavy Metal” – all others will search for a more
updated and innovative version (for example LEGION OF THE DAMNED). www.pulverised.net,
www.myspace.com/deceiverswe
Matthias Auch
BACK
DECEMBER
The Lament Configuration
(Earache Records)
36:11min
Ugh! ’Produced by Devin Townsend'
might already give you a hint of how these guys sound like. It's
fast, some modern sort of Thrash with distorted vocals. I can't
stand distorted vocals! It's acceptable when it's occasionally used
as a stylistic means but all the time? No, thanks! In case
you're interested, check it out, they seem to be talented musicians,
but I'll use the eject button NOW. It is on sale
here.
Ramon Claassen
BACK
|