THROMBUS – Mental Turmoil Reissue La Caverna Records I'm thinking many people out there in the land of metal fandom will not immediately recognize this band. On the other hand if you're a collector of everything death metal or a US doom fan then you might know about this. THROMBUS were a four piece US death metal act who hailed from Oregon back in the early 1990s. The doom connection comes from one of the band members here, Isamu Sato, who played on three (and in my opinion best) of YOB's early albums. Now there's second US doom connection here as well in that another guy, Mike Brown, played with the band ALDEBARAN who I happen to be a fan of as well. Now while THROMBUS only lasted a handful of years in the early 90s. This their sole release has garnered a somewhat legendary status by some people who've made it out to be a collectible item. Mental Turmoil was originally released by the band as a cassette. (see below)
The band put out around a 100 copies and afterwards, in the latter 90s, it was passed on in second or third hand copies via tape trading. During the 2000s or when the internet explosion came about it became available on obscure metal download sites. Don't lie, you know exactly what I'm talking about. A few years back I was reading something that mentioned the band as legendary and I had thought this had been reissued on CD by the way the author was writing about it. Obviously I was mistaken because here it is now. Musically in a reality sense THROMBUS on Mental Turmoil are not legendary. It's basic 90's era US death metal in a vein similar to many acts at the time. Maybe more similar to Midwest DM then Floridian. I know if I picked it apart then I could name drop. Now as far as quality yes it's good. The band followed the 90's era basics of decent chunky rhythms, dirty guitar tones, some sharp solos and of course gruff vocals pushed to the front. All six cuts are decent but not in any way groundbreaking. Now that's not to say this is not worthwhile. It's always cool to see something from the past which was unavailable to fans getting a second shot. Also having it available on CD makes it better for people with thin wallets. I don't begrudge people selling things on Ebay and making a profit from it. I just hate ripoff artists. Nuff Said.
RADIEN - Maa Bunkkeri Records What YOB did with three people this Finnish band does with five. That's not a slight against them since this two song EP is actually gargantuan in sound and that might be putting it mildly. RADIEN hail from Helsinki, Finland which could be a doomy place on occasion. Hey it's a great country but you've got the states beat in alcoholism. That's just what I've been told so don't kill the messenger. But getting back to this release, it's two long songs of crushing doom. Like watching a Brontosaurus, if there were any Brontosauruses alive, fuck another one. We're talking slow and heavy. Whenever this band decides to put out a full length it will take two days to listen to it. We are talking repetitive riffage with some screamed vocals added upon request which is not in demand on here. Be that as it may, RADIEN know how to drag out the riff atmosphere to the point where they've already beaten you to a pulp and now it's personal. So they just keep leveling ya. On the other side of the doom coin is that it does get boring at times especially with the repetitive riffage. I mean dudes ya got a twelve plus minute song. The first half is heavy, outstanding and I feel like I need a breather. The latter half is a bathroom break. But in the end I am totally impressed and beaten down. Let's hear that future four song full length next that will shake the planet out of it's orbit. Rating: 4/5 https://radien.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/radienband
CHANT OF A GODDESS - Chant Of The Goddess Self Released Honestly when I first listened to this I was thinking YOB ripoff all the way. Even the beginning of the opening cut "Sanctuary of the Scarlet Night" sounds like "Ball of Molten Lead" from YOB's The Illusion of Motion. But then I settled down and said fuck it, YOB hasn't been this good in years. That's what happens when you swim with hipsters, you get lame. CHANT OF A GODDESS are a three piece outfit from Brazil. They started out in 2014 under the name SIRACUSA but changed it last year. When you listen to this their five song debut full length two words come to mind, heavy and rumbling. I could've used slow but there are moments when the band picks up the pace. Aside from the obvious YOB influence I can think of a number of other bands that come to mind, ALDEBARAN would be a perfect example. On a whole CHANT OF A GODDESS does conjure up a wide range of heavy emotions and attitude. There are times when they sound down right apocalyptic like on the opener, "Sanctuary of the Scarlet Night", as if this is the sound you'll hear right before the end. It's crushing and destructive. Then the band switches over to a more melancholy melodic approach. The song "The Black Mythology" with the storm effects is all about draining your soul. Overall if CHANT OF A GODDESS's objective was to crush and destroy listeners then they've achieved that result. They might not be original but at this stage of Doom doesn't really matter? Rating: 5/5 https://chantofthegoddess.bandcamp.com/album/chant-of-the-goddess-2 https://www.facebook.com/chantofthegoddess
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Extreme Metal or Music is generally a form which is accepted by 1% of all of the music loving public. It is elitist in every way and that's important to those of us who call ourselves fans. The 99% of people who will not like it are Not Supposed To. The music wasn't made for them, "the masses". It's music that's for those who take things to that "other" level. There is nothing hip or fad about it. In fact I treat those two notions very harshly.
