GROND - The Temple review

 

GROND - The Temple

Xtreem Music

So here we have the third full length by this Russian Death Metal / Death Doom act. Trust me right now I'm thinking of that Fawlty Towers episode where you don't mention the war. Be that as it may the tag line on this is Lovecraftian inspired Death Metal / Death Doom. In all honesty I've heard / seen this tagline starting back a few decades ago. It was originally a hipster tagline. I'm still waiting for a Steven King inspired Death Metal / Death Doom act. 

But hey H.P. Lovecraft, who I read in my mid twenties and scared the crap out of me, is gonna be the influence in modern day Death Metal, again then let's give it a real check out. I mean for two decades Dark Descent Records has been pumping out releases by bands who consider themselves H.P. Lovecraft influenced Death Doom. So here's a fucking shocker. GROND are pretty damm good on this album.  

There are plenty of things which I like about this release. First off is the drum work which is phenomenal. The vocals are of that savage beast wanting to tear your ass apart. The guitar work as far as the dense riffage is diabolic. But the guitar solos are insane. Combined this is a whole package of greatness in hatred. GROND is the band every SOB Extreme Metal nut bag should be listening to right fucking now.   

https://shop.xtreemmusic.com/english.main.index.php

LISTEN HERE:

https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-temple

SHEWOLFF - We're All Gonna Fukkin' Die EP

 

SHEWOLFF - We're All Gonna Fukkin' Die EP

Dying Victims Productions

As far as the whole sub genre of Blackened Punk goes I've found myself being a staunch critic of it. Personally I think 90% of it sucks. Most of the bands wish they were Blackened Thrash but don't have the talent. But once in a great while I'll hear a band that fits the whole Blackened Punk sound perfectly. Belgium's SHEWOLFF is one of those bands. 

Starting out a few years ago SHEWOLFF was a solo project by singer / guitarist K. Von Shewolff. Afterwards it became a three-piece band with Jeffrey Andreka on bass and Liam Wyns on drums. So musically this trio are all into a more Punk version of HELLHAMMER meets G.G. ALLIN. Which is a given since the HELLHAMMER demos, the first BATHORY album and of course VENOM were favorites by people who were really into Punk & Hardcore back in the day. And of cause we liked G.G. ALLIN.

On here songs like "Fantastik Fukk", the title cut and opener "Eternal Night" are cool as fuck. But then again this whole six song release is a fucking winner in my book. But I wanna hear more by this band. A great start here is my verdict. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/were-all-gonna-fukkin-die

PURE WRATH - Bleak Days Ahead review

 

PURE WRATH - Bleak Days Ahead

Debemur Morti Productions

This is the fourth full length by this Indonesian one man Black Metal act PURE WRATH. A few years ago I picked up the third full length, Hymn to the Woeful Hearts, which originally came out in 2022. It was in a store, it had a great cover plus the band name was cool as well as the release being on Debemur Morti Productions. I mean everything said yeah this was gonna be great. Musically it was standard Atmospheric Black Metal not much different from French or Quebec acts. I mean hey just look at the label they're on. But hey I liked it a lot.

So here we are with this newest one. And for the record the one man behind PURE WRATH is Ryo (aka: Januaryo Hardy) who is responsible for all instrumentation. Just for the record he uses plenty of keyboards as well as audio sound-bites. Also Ryo is involved in at least a half dozen other Indonesian Metal acts. So to call him prolific is a given.

While listening to this new release I can easily say compared to his previous full length this one has a darker touch. Ryo's vocals are always harsh with a emphisis on anger and despair. So the way the first two title tracks, Parts one & two, come at you is with fierce tremolo picked icy riffage but also toss in breaks of melodic keyboard moments. The other three tracks fall into the same depressive meloncolly trope.

This is late night Black Metal for depressive types who've given up on everything except being creative in their misery. It's that bare light bulb illuminating very little in a darkness that is put there by personal choices. Still it's another good release by Ryo. Although I'm really a fan of Hymn to the Woeful Hearts. In fact before I checked out this new one I ended up playing Hymn to the Woeful Hearts five times in a row that night. Go Figure?    

https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/

LISTEN HERE:

https://purewrath.bandcamp.com/album/bleak-days-ahead

INEPSY - No Speed Limit for Destruction reissue review

 

INEPSY - No Speed Limit for Destruction reissue

Tankcrimes

Back in 2008 a good friend of mine turned me onto this Canadian act with their first full length, Rock ‘n’ Roll Babylon, which came out in 2003. To me this is one of the best match ups of DISCHARGE and GBH meets MOTORHEAD and TANK. The band's second album, City Weapons, which came out in 2005 was decent. 

But this album, which originally came out in 2007, is when the band dropped the Hardcore influences and went straight up Hard Fuckin Rock n Roll. I mean the opening track is "Rock 'n' Roll Is the Only Way". And if that wasn't an obvious introduction to where this band was headed then you were an idiot. This was basically MOTORHEAD lite which at the time the band said was a change to a more Rock n Roll style. 

Now I'm not going to get into what people years ago said about this album whether good or bad. To me it just doesn't fuckin matter. If this was the first album by this band I heard I'd be like hell yeah. I mean ya got the gruff real guy vocals sorta Lemmy like. Of course there's plenty of other singers which come to mind. Be that as it may the songs just rock the fuck out. 

Just blast this album and tell me your head doesn't bang a bit. Do you find yourself tapping your hand on your knee? And what about some air guitar moments, do you kick into that as well? Well I do and that's why No Speed Limit for Destruction is a must have release. If you don't own it already then here ya go. 

https://www.tankcrimes.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://tankcrimes.bandcamp.com/album/no-speed-limit-for-destruction

DEATHSTORM - Cascophonies review

 

DEATHSTORM - Cascophonies

Dying Victims Productions

So here we have the fifth full length by Austria's Thrash veterans DEATHSTORM. I originally got into this three piece act years ago when they were on another label. But it was their fourth full length from 2020, For Dread Shall Reign, which really made me go holy shit this is cool. 

Now let me bore you with a thing I've said for years now. Mainstream Thrash sucks. Twenty years ago you had that Thrash revival which was cool for a moment and then the genre just blew chunks. The only reason I still give a fuck about Thrash is because of bands like DEATHSTORM as well as some Blackened Thrash acts who are not generic. 

So what's cool about this new album by DEATHSTORM? Well let's be honest here. The people of the great nation of Austria are very nice except for these three guys. Hate is the handshake they give to the world and it shows well on tracks like "Body in a Barrel", "Horripilation", "Mask of Sanity" and the final cut "Mortuorum Flies".

Musically it's speed infused hate filled old school Thrash. To me that's the best of the genre with plenty of cool soloing and riffs that want you to punch someone in the face. The drum work as well as bass lines are cool as fuck. The vocals are angry, pissed off and totally real guy sounding. 

The bottom line is if you're into Thrash in 2026 then this is the band you should be listening to. Nuff Said. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/cascophonies

NIGHT SPECTRE - Self Titled LP review

 

NIGHT SPECTRE - Self Titled LP

Dying Victims Productions

So this is the debut full length by a Greek five piece act who are on a nostalgia trip back to the late 1980's. Well hell yeah I like it and I'll get into name dropping later which needs to be addressed. But first I must admit that the promo info given to me was kinda cool. "NIGHT SPECTRE was forged in 2024, when a group of stubborn metalheads united with one goal, to unleash pure old-school heavy metal, burning with passion and true devotion."

Yeah I'll give em that but in all honesty this sounds like early IRON MAIDEN meets JAG PANZER. That was also mentioned in the promo info. So in essence this is first wave Power Metal. You've got the galloping riffs by the Brits with the US power heavy assault and hollowed vocals. In the end it pretty much rules. 

NIGHT SPECTRE basically are traveling on familiar territory which has been forgotten as far as original intent. In other words it's one thing to see / hear a band from the past replay their old stuff live. It's better when you see / hear a new band play that same sound which cranked you up decades ago and does it again. 

So yeah this release rules! 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/night-spectre

SANDSTORM - Dungeon of Death Mini LP review

 

SANDSTORM - Dungeon of Death Mini LP

Dying Victims Productions

I've listened to this short LP release a few times. But in all honesty when I first heard the opening title cut I was in another world aka: my past. I was young again. I had long hair and banging my head. Yeah this release is nostalgic as white on rice. It's NWOBHN style but not the more popular bands from that 1980's era. No this is what we use to call Underground. You would be in the record store and see a cool looking album cover in the Import's section then buy it. I know, it was a innocent time back them. 

But anyways SANDSTORM, who started out in 2017, is a three piece act featuring two brothers from Sweden on guitar / vocals / bass and a drummer from Canada. Ah yeah I know it's kinda weird but hey it's 2026. The two Swedes are Stevie Whiteless on guitars / vocals and Reptile Anderson on bass / vocals. Their drummer from Canada is PJ “The Butcher” LaGriffe. 

Musically this is very melodic sounding stuff. In fact it does fall into PAGAN ALTAR territory a bit. In all I gotta say a Mini album is cool but not enough. Since starting out this band has released a handful of short form releases prior to this new one. I say put em all together on one CD. That's my suggestion but hey if you're really feeling nostalgic then check this release out. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/dungeon-of-death