MERCULISTARYA - Arado fajdalom a tunodes medreben review

 

MERCULISTARYA - Arado fajdalom a tunodes medreben

Pest Records

I was gonna call this late night Black Metal but as this release progressed I was like no this fucker will see the sun rise. Here we have the debut full length by MERCULISTARYA who hail from the great nation of Hungary. MERCULISTARYA is also a one man act. The one man being multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Arpad Szenti.

Arpad Szenti is also not some lone wolf. He's been a major player on drums with a few other known Hungarian acts such as the Black Metal bands AHRIMAN and ATHAME. He's also in the Death Metal act DAMMNATION and the Gothic Doom Metal act EVIL TEARS. In other words Arpad Szenti is the Hungarian version of Norway's premier drummer Hellhammer. The guy has got his fishing lines out everywhere to get a bite. 

Now as far as this release is concerned Arpad Szenti is an amazing songwriter who on here has come up with some damm good cuts. If you're knowledgeable about Hungarian Black Metal then listen as this guy nails it. I mean there's beauty, horror and out right destruction. As a vocalist Arpad Szenti brings forth a huge array of vocal styles which are subtle spoken word, harsh as fuck screaming and bellows from a beast. 

Musically it's tranquil at times then intense Black Metal surfaces to a point where it's symphonic, brutal or operatic. Yes listening to this album is a worthwhile endeavor, an experience to say the least. Arado fajdalom a tunodes medreben is a concept album which I have no idea what it's about. All the lyrics are in Hungarian. But worth checking out. 

https://pestrecords.ucoz.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://pestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/merculistarya-rad-f-jdalom-a-t-n-d-s-medr-ben

CORPSEMANGLE - Eating the Damned review

 CORPSEMANGLE - Eating the Damned

Self Released

I know it's only March but when I saw the cover artwork for this release I was like, I don't care what this band sounds like because this is definitely a contender if not an all out winner for Album Cover of the Year. I mean look at it! Seriously it could've been a CANNIBAL CORPSE album cover back in the day. Dammit I need it on a T-shirt, double X please. And a poster wouldn't hurt either because Extreme Metal artwork rules. 

So with all of that said this is the debut full length by CORPSEMANGLE (cool band name by the way) who are a  two piece Brutal Death Metal act from the great nation of Bulgaria. This two piece consists of Antoan Bozhkov, who started the band in 2015 on guitars and lead vocals. Along with him is Martin Aleksandrov who plays bass and adds backing vocals. The drum work is obviously programmed. Note to band, get a human drummer. 

With that said CORPSEMANGLE's full length debut comes across as a lot of early CANNIBAL CORPSE and DEICIDE worship which to me ain't a bad thing. Overall it's a brutal maniacle sound being produced. The production here is raw as fuck. Someone could call this a long lost demo from 1991, package it as a reissue on double vinyl, sell it for a hundred bucks and Extreme Metal collectors would buy it in a heartbeat.

As for me I like this a lot but I wanna hear their next album which I feel will be cool as fuck. I mean Antoan Bozhkov is good on the riffs and his solos are decent in that dive bomb style or in a melodic vein. He's got the damm good vocals as well. So yeah Brutal Fuckin Death Metal from Bulgaria rules! Now let's hear your next album.

LISTEN TO AND BUY IT HERE:

https://corpsemangle.bandcamp.com/album/eating-the-damned

TEMPLE OF DECAY - Profanus review

 

TEMPLE OF DECAY - Profanus

Old Temple

A few years ago when I heard Poland's TEMPLE OF DECAY's full length debut Rigor Mortis. I thought it was a damm good album. Musically it was what I'd call a traditional Polish Black Metal sound. You had the Thrash portions mixed in with the melody. The stand out point for me was the vocals which were pure hate filled vile attacks. 

Here we are a few years later with the third album by TEMPLE OF DECAY. Before I get into this I must admit that I missed out on their second album, Anti Deus, which came out in 2024 on Black Death Production. Also TEMPLE OF DECAY is a one man Black Metal band. That one man is Mortt who is responsible for everything. Also Mortt lives in Poland but also in Ireland. Must be a work thing. 

Anyways this new TEMPLE OF DECAY is fuckin amazing. Mortt's opening screams on this release could easily be "hell yeahs". Marching boots, sirens wailing and a ferocious guitar attack with savage sounding vocals and spoken worded insults. Everything is sung in Polish but you get the antagonized attitude. 

This new release is six cuts in just over thirty-four minutes in length. Within all of that you've got this tremolo picked wall of riffs that act as an atmospheric axe of destruction on some cuts. Other times it's a slower cold harshness that envelopes your mind. Mortt's vocals driving along either at screamed aggressive tempos or just bleak fucking demented doom. 

In the end it's releases like this that keep me a Black Metal fan even though they're few and far between. The five tracks on here are perfect. The last cut is spoken word and background sounds which is a loss in my book. Still it's far better then a lot. 

https://www.oldtemple.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://oldtemple.bandcamp.com/album/temple-of-decay-profanus

MAYHEM - Liturgy Of Death review

 

MAYHEM - Liturgy Of Death 

Century Media

So let me get some things out here which you'll understand. I am a MAYHEM fan in that I own 99.9% of all of their releases whether they're official or bootleg. Crazy enough my bootlegs have gone on to be official releases later on. Not only is MAYHEM one of my all time favorite Black Metal bands. But I still say their De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas full length from 1994 is the greatest Black Metal album of all time. But before someone screams "Bias"! Let me be honest by saying not all of their releases are that great in my not so humble opinion. And two of em are stinkers. 

Now with that said back in 2019 when the band released the Daemon full length I called it the real follow up of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Along with Necrobutcher on bass, Attila Csihar on vocals and Hellhammer on drums. You had two cool guitarists Teloch (aka: Morten Bergeton Iversen) and Ghul (aka: Charles Edward Alexander Hedger). These guitarists recreated the sound which Euronymous and Snorre Westvold Ruch did back in 1993. I mean the sound on Daemon was perfect. 

And here we are seven years later with the follow-up / seventh studio full length. The term "follow-up" fits this one perfectly because it's in the same vein as Daemon. The opener here, "Ephemeral Eternity", is definitely a great horrific way to start things off. From there onward it's either great or decent tracks. "Despair" and "Weep for Nothing" are damm good and worthy of being included in their new live set.

One thing I have to mention is that Attila Csihar has become iconic with his vocal style. There's no one like him and he proves it once again on Liturgy Of Death. Also huge props to Teloch and Ghul for their guitar work which is basically icy dark melodies and a barrage of cruel riffs. A perfect example is "Aeon's End". I like the twisted atmosphere of "Funeral of Existence". The rest of the tracks are good as well. 

MAYHEM are on a roll here especially being the last Norwegian Black Metal band from the early days that actually puts out great albums of late of course. Liturgy Of Death is a quality follow-up from Daemon. If I had the band's ear I'd say your next live set should just include songs from those two albums plus a few cuts from De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Because they all fall together. Hey I can hope but the bottom line is that Liturgy Of Death is great.  

https://www.centurymedia.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAidgwVV3VI&t=921s

BELITH - Hounds of Hell EP review

 

BELITH - Hounds of Hell EP

Godz ov War Productions

So here we have a cool debut EP from a Polish four piece act who are musically a bit of a few things. There's four cuts on this release. Some come over as Thrash while others are in the vein of Black Metal. The weird part is that the two never meet as in true Blackened Thrash.

Obviously this band is searching for an identity. I really like their first song "Shepherd of Wolves" and the fourth cut "War Dogs". Both songs are evil sounding Thrash. Plus the bass is so prominent. The riffs are dark plus the guitar soloing is cool fluid sounds with sparking tones. The two other cuts fall in with a Melodic Black Metal style. But it's damm fuckin Polish all the way. 

What's wild is that BELITH is made up of one guy and three women. That's kind've a twist since it's usually three guys and a woman who's either the vocalist or bassist. But times have changed and a Polish band leads the way.

 

Specifically you've got Andrzej Plaszczyk producing the caustic vocals. The damm cool guitar sounds are provided by Maria Kopciuch. The bass work which I like so much on this release is performed by Kalina Krzemianowska. Finally Milena Dmochowska provides a robust drum sound throughout. 

It's a decent release as I said earlier. Personally I'd like to see what they'd do on a full length with more song writing activity placed at their disposal. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/hounds-of-hell

HELLFUCK - 9 Nails Hammered into the Flesh of God review

 

HELLFUCK - 9 Nails Hammered into the Flesh of God 

Godz ov War Productions

The genre tagline on this is Speed Metal / Thrash and they're from Poland. Before I go into that let's explore the line-up. HELLFUCK is a four piece act who started out in 2021. The band is made up of veteran Metal musicians from a few known Polish Extreme Metal acts and some not so. For me a long time fan of Polish Extreme Metal this is like a super group. 

You've got Skullripper (aka: Marcin Sienkiel) on guitar and vocals. He's in one of the greatest Polish Death Metal bands of all time, AZARATH. Next you got guitarist Nelek (aka: Daniel Wojtowicz) who was in the Death Metal band BANISHER. On bass there's Armagog (aka: Michal Samol) who's been in a ton of bands but also was the live bass player for AZARATH. Finally there's Inferno (aka: Zbigniew Robert Promiński) on drums who is also in AZARATH and BEHEMOTH. 

So yeah I said "super group" and yeah in all honesty those type of bands are 50/50 when producing something within their supposed potential. I'll say HELLFUCK is on the high side of supposed greatness. This is the second full length by HELLFUCK. Their debut, Diabolic Slaughter, came out in 2022 and also on Godz ov War Productions. Screw me for missing out on that one. 

As far as 9 Nails Hammered into the Flesh of God goes yeah it's part Speed Metal but there's definitely some early SLAYER influence going on here. Skullripper is doing his best to come across as Tom Araya at times. But his riffs are killer as fuck. I like Nelek's solos a lot and of course you've got a rhythm section from hell.

All in all this is a great Thrash album, obviously better than the big names putting out stuff this year. But this is obviously a side project for the band members of AZARATH to explore more fun and extreme insanity. The last AZARATH album, Saint Desecration, came out in 2020. A year later HELLFUCK started. In my not so humble opinion AZARATH's Blasphemers Maledictions from 2011 is one of the greatest Death Metal albums of all time. If you don't believe me then go listen to it or go fuck yourself. Hey Polish Power rules again!

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/9-nails-hammered-into-the-flesh-of-god

HIGHGATE - Prophecies Of Eternal Horror review

 

HIGHGATE - Prophecies Of Eternal Horror

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Here we have the fourth full length by this three piece act who hail from the great state of Kentucky. It's my first time hearing em. Prior to this release on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions the band's early stuff came out on Totalrust Music which is a label outta Israel. Their last release was a split in 2014. So do the math because it's been a long fuckin time since this band hit the studio. 

Be that as it may the tagline about HIGHGATE is that they're Sludge Metal / Doom. OK I'll give em that but they're not NOLA Sludge. They're definitely not Eastern North Carolina Stoner Sludge. I will say there's an influence of Northeast Sludge since I saw GRIEF five fuckin times. But in the end HIGHGATE might be something of their own twisted accord. 

Listening to this is like being in a hospice room for a week with a dying delusional cancer patient. The vocals are wails of fuckin pain educed insanity. The melodies are slow but not too much crushing. There's a killer solo or two. The drum work on a few cuts comes off as a cadence for a funeral procession. 

There are five cuts on this release. I think the first three are amazing. The last two are OK in my mind. It's 2026 and if ya wanna hear something insane then here ya go. This band is from Kentucky a state that has Bigfoot, Dogman and UFO sightings. Whatafuck? Of course ya gonna like it if you're tired of generic bullshit. Yeah this band rules!

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/prophecies-of-eternal-horror