VARIOUS ARTISTS
Deathophobia Vol.VIII
(Earth A.D. Records)
180:13min

I am flabbergasted, startled and exhausted at once, dear reader. Obviously there seems to be a lot of crap going on in our beloved scene… but hey, this should be self-evident anyhow. This sampler series has been around for ages now and has always been a good proof for this very fact… an interesting document reflecting upon the state of affairs of Metal in Germany and some of its bordering countries. Partly the bands presented here really bring across a rather deplorable impression, partly I can observe vital potential nonetheless. But this apparently is the essence of such projects I suppose. Now then, check this and judge for yourselves. I cannot really recommend to buy this release – it is interesting in terms of documentation, but this is, of course, a bit of a euphemism and beating around the bush. Frankly, I must state here that sometimes I have the slight impression that the intitiators of releases like the present one really do not discriminate whatsoever and only pay heed to the very fact that they need to collect financial means to cover the expenses of the publication (multiplication needs to be compensated for and, of course, the cover design, which is awesome in this case, has to be financed as well). I trust you know what I mean… but honestly, 80% of the second CD were a real pain in the arse… talking about beating around the bush ; -) Here we go. CD1: MY COLD EMBRACE: PRIMORDIAL – influenced Black / Death… certain folk lements in it… sounds good to me. SLID: vocalist pays homage to THE DILINGER ESCAPE PLAN, MESHUGGAH – influenced guitars and drums, good ideas. SOMBER SERENITY: Black Metal, queer folk influences, can’t tell really. DEAD MEMORIES: melodious Black-Death Metal, ok-ish. AD NOCTUM: Black Metal that sounds a bit DARK FUNERAL-ish on the guitar level, singer rather Death Metal, sort of apocalyptic. DEFECTION: grotty sound, cannot assign this really, Black Metal vocals, a bit rock-inspired riffing, doesn’t strike me as being very interesting. CUATRO X: melodious Death Metal, reminds me of SENTENCED… no thanks. BLUTWURST BREATH: untight, down-pitched vocals, sort of punky. ABYZZ: standard Death Metal, singer sounds cool, melodious, guitars untight… slow parts sounds like old-school Death Metal pieces. COMMON GRAVE: most extreme band to that point, parallels that pop up checking this out: NAPALM DEATH, DISINCARNATE, modern U.S.American approach. DISCREATION: mid-paced Death Metal, vocals sound twisted and cool, a bit like a mixture of hoarse Death Metal grunts and hardcore screams. SCORNGREED: best sound so far, awesome guitar sound, hardcore vocals, groovy, frantic… likely to kick ass live. BY BRUTE FORCE: solid song-writing, some hardcore influences, definitely NAPALM DEATH-instpired. This really convinces me most so far. MORTAL REMAINS: boring Death Metal, groovy, bass-drums sound like PANTERA, vocals remind me of EXIT 13, nice try. PAINFUL DEATH: again: hardcore-inspired Metal, solidly done, drums are brutal, sort of dark atmosphere, not bad at all. FLAG OF DECAY: beginning sounds like being inspired by SLAYER, sort of dull sound, but still: very threatening feeling, can’t help it the vocals remind me of Trey of MORBID ANGEL on the "Gateways…" album, strange but good. GRIN: Thrash that reminds me of the magnificent WATCHTOWER, fanatic vocalist, not bad at all. VICIOUS CIRCLE: sound a bit like PRIMORDIAL again, very epic, the vocals seem to hail Danni of CRADLE OF FILTH, weird again — but definitely interesting. LPS: a bit of core elements again, these guys seem to appreciate acts such as CEPHALLIC CARNAGE, hectic, crazy… the whole lot… good drumming by the way. CD2: WASTELAND: good guitarists, mid-paced Death Metal, Thrash elements in it as well, vocals remind me of BEHEMOTH (growls)… although this probably isn’t intended ; -) Solos definitely praise Kerry King and friends. MORTAL TERROR: rock-riffs with vocals that decisively remind me of Barney again… RAPTURE: riffing sort of old-school Thash-hailing, aggressive drumming, role-models may be acts such as SLAYER, EXODUS etc. INCREDIBLE PAIN: cheesy melodies, endeavouring to sound like current HYPOCRISY hymns? MANDATORY: not bad, bands like GRAVE, DISMEMBER or UNLEASHED (latter with regard to vocals) seem to be relevant for these guys, sounds cool. REVENGE OF INSANITY: these lads go for late CARCASS stuff, sounds warped and convincing. TORMENT OF SOULS: sounds like being played with intentions… nevertheless sort of hillarious, probably unintended. OBNOXIOUS: the drummer really is obnoxious… the vocalist as well… imagine a combination a combination of ICED EARTH and a grumpy goblin… startling. DAVIDIAN: don’t like vocalists that sound ultimately drunk and show-offy, otherwise the composition sounds intricately interesting. SUBTERFUFE CARVER: snare drum sounds like mom’s pot when she is in a bad mood in the kitchen, hardcore influences, singer sounds maniacal, strange, intersting. AWAS: these guys thank good old Jesus Christ and play staccato-driven, aggressive, utterly grotty Thrash devoid of the slightest indication of sophistication. I doubt that Jesus would approve of this… he would criticize lack of inspiration (quite literally), tightness and comittment I suppose, a real pain in the neck he will muse and go on wondering what exegesis deducts from structurally eclectic pericopes… poor me, may ears are all grumpy now. INFECDEAD: probably a track that celebrates U.S. American brutalisers such as BRODEQUIN, LITURGY and friends. Good approach… but guys, try to sort out your drum compressors… this unbearable equalization really ruins it all and honestly… editing the end of a track is high arts as well. Otherwise this proves potentia l. SEASONS IN BLACK: haven’t got the faintest what this reminds me of… a bit of Gothic, Death in it… doesn’t touch me whatsoever. DAYS OF GRACE: a bit of bombast at the beginning… these guys seem to love NEVERMORE, good sound, solid musicians… of course, not as sublime as the original. DOWNCAST: drum computer? Death Metal apparently influenced by Scandinavian stars like DISMEMBER and the likes. DISPERSION: Death Metal that sounds like it has potential… but please, will you guys leave out these superfluous melodies? DR. COLOSSUS: stupid name, stupid music… how can your guitarists play such nonsense? Wait until you have to say something serious with regard to music… and how the heck does one create a guitar sound ultimately lacking a hint of elaboration? The samples sound hillarious though… PARANOIZ: shame on you, guys… this is mediocre Death Metal higgledy-piggledy. EXPLIZIT EINASM: forgive my ignorance, mate – acts such as GOETHES ERBEN or RELATIVES MENSCHSEIN have pondered more profoundly upon "Das Ding an sich". Label contact: www.earth-ad.com

F.Cthulhu E.

F.Cthulhu E.

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