GREYHAWK - Warriors of Greyhawk review

 

GREYHAWK - Warriors of Greyhawk

Cruz del Sur Music

When you come to this site that last thing you expect is some Extreme Metal maniac talking about Power Metal. But hey I do know what sounds cool regardless. With that said I've been following this Seattle, Washington five piece act for a few years now. They started out in 2016.Their debut full length, Keepers of the Flame, came out in 2020. They followed that up with the great Call of the Hawk EP in 2022. But 2024's Thunderheart was decent. 

With all of that said I still figured GREYHAWK would become the premier US Power Metal band of the 2000's. Duh, so listen to this one.This album equals or better outs what the Germans have been doing of late. I mean like hey HELLOWEEN, listen to this US steel.

So what's great about GREYHAWK? Well lets start with vocalist Anthony Corso. This guy does the whole Power Metal vocal style as well as belt out some 80's style Hard Rock singing. Next up you've got the guitar duo of Jesse Berlin, the riff master, and Rob Steinway, the soloist. This pair nail it throughout this album. The drum work and bass duties are flawless.

 

GREYHAWK's third full length is a masterpiece of Power Metal combined with some 80's Melodic Hard Rock. I knew this band was gonna be great. 

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/store/

LISTEN HERE:

https://greyhawkmetal.bandcamp.com/album/warriors-of-greyhawk

NECROGORE - Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena review

 

NECROGORE - Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena

Awakening Records

Well with a name like NECROGORE how could I not resist checking it out. Of course after a boring instro intro it didn't take long for me to figure out what's up with this band. Ya know there was a time when the Old School Swedish trident of Death Metal (aka: ENTOMBED, GRAVE and DISMEMBER) were merely considered influences. Nowadays they're being heralded to a position similar to H.P. Lovecraft's elder gods. Yeah this isn't respect anymore it's fuckin worship.

Now sure I'd expect a newer band from Sweden to follow along with their roots. But this is a three piece act from Italy who are totally killing it sound-wise. To put it bluntly this is damm better than a recent Swedish DM album I heard earlier this year. Musically it's obvious this trio likes DISMEMBER with that furious wall of HM-2 Boss pedal sound. I mean the fuckin riffs are there plus that thunderous bass which was the clincher when blasting Like an Ever Flowing Stream and Indecent and Obscene. 

But lyrically these guys are like VOMITORY who are number four to me as far as Old School Swedish DM goes. I mean with a song like "Raptured, Tortured and Chained". that's very close to Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize. And let's not forget VOMITORY's debut full length Raped in Their Own Blood. But as far as these guys you've got "Forced to Eat Shit" as well as "Leeches on My Dick" which is not a love song. 

All in all yeah this album hails with only one complaint. There are times when the snare drum comes off as sounding like beating upon Tupperware (nowadays for you young people we'll just say a plastic container). Other then that oh yeah this rules. I'll also say by looking at the cover artwork. I'm surprised this release did not come out on two other labels which I am a regular fan of.  

 

https://awakeningrecords.cn/

LISTEN HERE:

https://awakeningrecordscn.bandcamp.com/album/ectoplasmic-rape-phenomena

ROTTEN BLASPHEMY - Worshippers of Chaos review

 

ROTTEN BLASPHEMY - Worshippers of Chaos

Witches Brew

Ya know twenty years ago I would've thought this was cool as fuck. Mainly because I was buying every South American Extreme Metal release, original or reissue, I could find. I mean I was on a tear and a bank account to cope with payments. I mean I've got a ton of South American Extreme Metal. I don't have to name names and yeah I've got some from Columbia. 

By the way ROTTEN BLASPHEMY hail from Columbia. They're a three piece act who started out in 2011. Since then they've put out some short form releases. But here we have their full length debut. I give this band some props because they're not a straight up Black Metal act. 

They try to be on a few cuts from this eight track album. but the bottom line is that this band is all into Blackened Thrash and Black n Roll. Personally I think that's cool and if I was at one of their shows I'd be enjoying the slam pit action taking place. Sound-wise this is raw as fuck which is understandable. I wouldn't have it any other way. 

In the end yeah this is decent. I really like the cuts "Rise and Sin", "Violence" and the title track the most. Give this band another year and a newer album and we'll see what happens then. Nuff Said!    

https://witchesbrew.eu/en

LISTEN HERE:

https://witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com/album/worshippers-of-cha-s

KREATOR - Krushers Of The World review

 

KREATOR - Krushers Of The World

Nuclear Blast Records

So as someone who is an early fan of this band as well as Tuetonic Thrash in general I have to say the following. KREATOR's last two albums sucked. Prior to them I'd say 2012's Phantom Antichrist was decent. With that said I think Krushers Of The World sucks as well. 

This is Thrash for fuckin posers which is funny because it's not even Thrash. This album sounds more like Power Metal than anything else. So KREATOR is a Power Metal band now. Well they're pretty cheesy at that as well. I knew I was gonna hate this and wasted an hour. Fuck You!

https://www.nuclearblast.com/de/#gbaid74159

LISTEN HERE:

https://kreator.bandcamp.com/album/krushers-of-the-world

CHUFFED - Demo 2025 review

 

CHUFFED - Demo 2025

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

So this is pretty cool and it's because the band shows promise in a style of music I really like. Basically it's Old School Death Metal in the Swedish vein crashing head long into 1980's Hardcore ala England's DISCHARGE. Now there are a few older bands, yeah from Sweden, who have done it all before. But in recent years I discovered two cool new bands from Sweden, CRAWL and FERAL, who nail the sound to perfection. 

Sorry but they're not on this label. This act here hails from the mountains of Pennsylvania. OK like where? Are we talking the Catskills, the Poconos or the fucking Allegheny Mountains which is Bigfoot country. I mean maybe those mountain towns are an influence in like boredom. 

Which brings us back to this five track release. CHUFFED is actually a one man band. The one man being Deron Christman who performs all the instruments and vocals. Supposedly he'll have a full band the next time we hear from em. I hope so because this is raw sounding killer fucking Extreme Metal. I like Deron's guttural vocals. The riffs on here are crunchy as sin. And of course the drum work is hardcore as fuck. 

I'll be waiting for CHUFFED's full length debut in the future but for now damm pick this fucker up. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2025

GORE MACHINE - Congealed and Foaming review

 

GORE MACHINE - Congealed and Foaming

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Here's the second full length by this one man Brutal Death Metal / Goregrind act hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yeah that place is also known as the city of brotherly love. Your opinion will change once you give this one a listen. Then you'll know why I call Philly "Hostile City, USA." The one man involved here is named Druesome and is responsible for the usual aka: all instruments, vocals, and sampling duties.

On the band's debut, Macerated & Liquified from 2024, Druesome pretty much created a concept album dedicated to The Darwin Awards. Basically it was all about individuals who did totally fucked up things which not only defy common sense. But end up having the people either dying or totally fucking themselves up. 

This new one follows the same vein to a point. The Ten songs on here are all dedicated to people fucking them selves up. I'll give Druesome some credit because he does do research into all of these grizzly tragedies. That's better than your generic wannabe goregrind BDM act these days. 

Of course the one problem I have with this album as well as the debut is the production. I can only imagine what this would sound like if everything was amped up a touch. So for me I can just blast this in the music room till the windows shake. Hopefully the neighbors don't call the cops on me, again. 

Yeah this is another winner from Druesome. I like his altered vocal intros to each song. The hellish screams, pig squeals and grunting which pass for vocals are cool. The guitar riffs have that sick tone. The drums sound like someone beating on a plastic pickle bucket. I mean this is the real deal.   

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/congealed-and-foaming

ZERRE - Rotting on a Golden Throne review

ZERRE - Rotting on a Golden Throne

Dying Victims Productions

I'd file this one under the genre terms of Thrash, Crossover and Speed Metal. I've listened to it a few times now and I like it a lot because it reminds me of past greatness which I remember so well. This five piece act hails from Germany. I seriously doubt you'll see em on a stage at Wacken Open Air. Then again you might catch em playing at the worst club in Berlin. I'm thinking some basement underneath an Indian restaurant. After hours the place smells like spilled beer, sweat and curry. 

Be that as it may this is the fourth full length by ZERRE. Years ago after two albums a German Speed Metal band would be doing Power Metal. Obviously that's the case here. This release has nine cuts on it but actually it's eight with a boring intro. These guys are into long stretched out songs. Whatafuck, ya think you're Germany's version of METALLICA? Well maybe they do influence wise. 

While listening to these songs I had to laugh a few times. The actual opening cut is "Pigs Will Be Pigs". Yeah you guys are too young to know who the Stasi where. "Concrete Hell" is a damm good cut and should be a video hit. The title track is where these Germans show their EXODUS influence. Which is cool as fuck to me. 

The bottom line is that ZERRE's fourth full length will be better received by young underground enthusiasts as opposed to shiny over produced bullshit mainstream Thrash.Hey that's why I like it and it's a fuckin winner. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/rotting-on-a-golden-throne