METALSUCKS IS PUSHING A HOAX op/ed by Mr. Wolf If you are into Extreme Metal then by now you've heard about the website MetalSucks publishing a letter from some anti-fascist group that calls on the record label and distro HELLS HEADBANGERS to stop distributing merch by labels they deem to promote nazi propaganda. Here's the full text of the article: An Open Letter to Hells Headbangers Records to Stop Releasing and Distributing Metal by White Supremacists AUGUST 24TH, 2017
MetalSucks was recently contacted by a group of metal musicians identifying itself as The Anti-NSBM Working Group to ask if we’d publish an open letter they’d drafted addressed to metal label and distro Hells Headbangers (sic). The goal: to call on Hells Headbangers to “cease releasing and distributing Nazi propaganda.” Recent events in Charlottesville and elsewhere are a striking reminder of the danger and threat the extreme right poses. Metal and other underground music genres are major venues for neo-Nazis and fascists to propagandize and recruit. This is unacceptable to us, and so we are taking action to remove them from our community. It’s important that we make a distinction here: the owners and staff of Hells Headbangers are not, as far as we know, white supremacists or far-right extremists. The vast majority of the labels they distribute and the bands whose records they release aren’t either, and we’re not condemning any of those. We’re simply calling on Hells Headbangers to stop participating in the spread of hate through tacit endorsement and participation, and to eliminate the extremist labels and bands from their roster. Here is the open letter in full: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear HHR, Over the last decade and a half you’ve risen to become one of the strongest underground metal labels. You’ve released many of the best recent records in the genre from bands new and old, and your brand has come to be synonymous with true, uncompromising cult metal. For this we salute you. In recent years, though, you’ve also become one of the most prominent distributors of NSBM and similar right-wing extremist music in the USA. We understand that your label is conceived of as apolitical and that you’re in it for the metal and not the ideologies expressed; however, you’re playing a leading role in normalizing neo-Nazi ideals in our genre and in providing a venue for this kind of bigoted propaganda. We are living in times in which the extreme right is resurgent around the world and in which neo-Nazis have no qualms about targeting and murdering immigrants, LGBT people, racial minorities, and leftists. Fascists are using metal for propaganda and recruiting ends, and your distro and label are enabling them. This is no time for apolitical fence sitting, and we request that you take a stand towards a better state of things for metal. With respect and appreciation for the bulk of your releases, we ask you to clean up your act and promptly do the following: 1. Cease your distribution of NS and far-right labels such as (but not limited to) Darker than Black, Pagan War, Werewolf Records, and Elegy Records 2. Purge your distro of NS/far-right releases and your label of NS/far-right bands, including Intolitarian and releases by SSP/Deathangle Absolution 3. Publicly commit to a policy, going forward, of avoiding relationships with NS/far-right bands, artists, and labels. Should you fail to do so, we call for a boycott of your label by metal journalists, distros, venues and fans, and will apply whatever other pressure we find appropriate. Your label is known for its high aesthetic standards; please consider whether you also want it to be known for promoting neo-Nazi trash. Entirely independent of the above letter and The Anti-NSBM Working Group, MetalSucks would also like to request that Hells Headbangers add a fucking apostrophe to its label name where it fucking belongs, fer chrissakes. OK? Thanks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OK so when I first saw this I thought hey fuck this Anti-NSBM Working Group as well as MetalSucks for allowing any group to demand censorship. I figured that was that but recently Decibel Magazine's website Deciblog published an op/ed by EXHUMED's Matt Harvey which was all about not being able to censor NSBM. It was a good piece by the way. Which brought me back to looking at the Metalsucks article. That's when my bullshit detector went off and I was pissed at myself for not seeing it at first. After doing some simple research it's obvious that MetalSucks is involved in a hoax and here's why. Like plenty of others once I read the article I looked up who this Anti-NSBM Working Group was. I found nothing on the net about them except for some Bandcamp page with some anti-fascist punks trying to hock their three music comps. I didn't notice anything metal about that. Now you would think a group with the guts to call on a record label to cease selling a product or else face a boycott would have an official website or at least a Facebook page. But this Anti-NSBM Working Group has neither which makes you wonder are they even legit. Furthermore if I can question their legitimacy and come away with thinking they're bogus then why didn't the people at MetalSucks do the same? The website clearly says they were "recently contacted by a group of metal musicians identifying itself as The Anti-NSBM Working Group to ask if we’d publish an open letter they’d drafted." OK so where's their website? You got an email address so what is it? Or is MetalSucks just stupid enough to fall for a hoax? I doubt MetalSucks fell for a bogus letter in fact I believe it's obvious that they are behind it. But the question needs to be asked why would they? MetalSucks is a mainstream metal site which in the past has posted articles that are just provocative enough to drag in readership from outside their base. So creating a hoax to get some clicks on their site makes sense especially when the people behind MetalSucks are attention seekers. Then there's the target in this hoax, Hells Headbangers. Why pick them out of many many other labels/distros that also distribute merch by NSBM bands? Last year MetalSucks even promoted the label's signature music fest. So what's happened in one year? When you read the whole piece it's hard to distinguish what was MetalSucks writing and the open letter. For example "It’s important that we make a distinction here: the owners and staff of Hells Headbangers are not, as far as we know, white supremacists or far-right extremists." That sentence is attributed to MetalSucks. It's not in the letter and furthermore what's with the "as far as we know" assertion? That tosses in a veil of suspicion. MetalSucks is openly clear that their political and social views are firmly planted on the left side of the aisle. That's fine they can do that. If they wanna believe that everyone who is on the other side of the aisle is evil that's fine too. They have their opinion and that's fine but it doesn't make it a fact. If this hoax was used in order to open a dialog or debate about NSBM then there's a problem because that debate has been already done. The outcome was simple, if you don't like NSBM then don't listen to it, don't buy it and don't dictate to black metal fans. Period, end of story. Just for the record I support Hells Headbangers. I buy their releases. I review their releases. If you think that's bias then fuck off idiot. I support plenty of record labels and I review releases from plenty of labels. I don't review everything or support every label that sends something in. I choose what I want to buy or review. It's called freedom of choice. I don't lie awake at night thinking of ways to force labels to stop selling merch by bands I don't like. So with that said we can all come up with questions as to why MetalSucks produced this hoax. But the bottom line is clear, this was a hoax.
DEVIL ELECTRIC - Self Titled Kozmik Artifactz Around ten years ago I started seeing female fronted doom/seventies hard rock style bands as a trend with good and bad points. Obviously the good were bands that had all around great talent. The bad ones were show boats with average sounds but hey "we've got a woman singer dude". Ah yeah whatever but thankfully over the years it's been the good which has become the standard and it's about damm time. Hell these days you really don't even wanna use the phrase "female fronted", not because some pc pussy said so, but because it's just unnecessary when you deal with talent. This debut full length by Australia's DEVIL ELECTRIC is pure talent with plenty of nods to the past with vocals that don't outshine the music. The sound has that catchy head banging SABBATH groove, along with a few borrowed Iomni riffs here and there. Singer Pierina O'Brien has a gutsy bluesy vocal style that fits absolutely well with the sound. Kinda like a more metallic version of the garage punk band THE DTs. Ya know I've been listening to this release off and on for two weeks now and it just has that surperb quality to it which connects with me. I do have a huge palet when it comes to music and this act hits all buttons. Great release, one of the year's best. http://kozmik-artifactz.com/ https://devilelectric.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/devilelectric/
THE RUINS OF BEVERAST - Exuvia Van Records As far as German black metal goes I've always been a traditionalist. I like my MOONBLOOD, ENDSTILLE, NARGAROTH and KATHARSIS. Just to name a few that is and yes all classic hate filled bands. Although in more recent years I've allowed certain German black metal acts that hang off the template by their fingernails. I'm talking about bands like SECRETS OF THE MOON and THE RUINS OF BEVERAST. I first got into this act because it's the solo project of Alexander von Meilenwald who was once in another cool German black metal band NAGELFAR. Obviously this project is a far cry from his previous work. This is THE RUINS OF BEVERAST's fifth full length. I own three prievious ones and must say 2006's Rain upon the Impure and 2009's Foulest Semen of a Sheltered Elite are pretty damm good. I never owned the first one and thought 2013's Blood Vaults was a bit boring. So here we have the latest and my thoughts on Exuvia are mixed. On the plus side I like how this sticks with the blackened doom esthetics of past releases albeit still keeping the blacks very black. That's what Von Meilenwald does so well. So what's not to like? Well there's too much, no there's way too much repetition. I like all six cuts on here but their lengths are based on the continuous repeated riffs that crawl along like a snail. The opening title track is over fifteen minutes long. The first time I listened to it at the ten minute mark I left the room to make coffee. I came back and it was still playing and I hadn't missed a beat. Then there's "The Pythia´s Pale Wolves" which is an incredible song, my favorite on here, with those airy ethereal female wails backed with a sonically charged rhythm. Then the thing ends with a blackened maelstrom. Sure that's great but by the twelve minute mark you kinda wander and the ending is a let down. The bottom line is that too much of a good thing gets boring. Also I'm not into the whole tribal thing Von Meilenwald is pushing with the chants and spoken word portions. Also I'd swear that "Towards Malakia" is a reworking of something KATATONIA did years ago but hey you can blacken anything these days. Still this is better than Blood Vaults.
UNHOLY BAPTISM - On the Precipice of the Ancient Abyss Self Released To quote Charles Caleb Colton, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". But in this band's case, sincerity in what they do is putting it lightly. UNHOLY BAPTISM are a two piece black metal act from Flagstaff, Arizona although according to them it's the "frigid northern woodlands of Arizona". Yeah well be that as it may this duo's debut full length is perfection in homage to Norwegian black metal from the early nineties. Imagine the best aspects of that metal scene all incorporated into one horrific and doomish entity. Over the years there's been plenty of US bands who have been influenced by Norwegian black metal. Some even copy the whole schtick in order to be taken seriously. UNHOLY BAPTISM are of a different mindset. The band, made up of Mantus (guitar, bass, drums & vocals) and Moloch (lead guitar & drums) started out in 2008. In 2010 they put out a five song self titled EP. Because of their real life constraints (aka: jobs) they put a hold onto this project for a few years before taking on the creation which is this full length. So as I alluded to before, the eleven tracks on here are not by a band trying to copy the old sound and fury. Instead it's all in homage to their respect for that era of music. According to the band's website this is probably a one off thing as they are now writing material for their next release. I'm guessing that'll be different. Musically well I could play this for someone and say it's an old forgotten side project recording from 1992 by members of EMPEROR, DARKTHRONE and SATYRICON with Maniac on vocals. I doubt they'd believe it but then again? http://www.unholybaptism.com/ https://www.facebook.com/UnholyBaptism/ https://unholybaptism.bandcamp.com/releases
BARBARIAN - Barbarian 7"er Hells Headbangers Records Well fuck me running but I am late for BARBARIAN's wake of ruining people's lives via their brand of filthy speed metal. This 7"er is to coincide the band's tour of the United States starting now in August. So once again fuck me running because BARBARIAN have been kicking ass and taking names for a good seven years now and putting out one split EP and three full lengths. Their last one, Cult of the Empty Grave, was also on Hells Headbangers. Musically what you have here is an Italian three piece, one of whom is also in the very cool CHILDREN OF TECHNOLOGY who I had written about in 2010. This band's method of audio obuse upon listeners is speed metal via totally filthy and at times blackened something or other. Either way it's two songs that are insane enough speed metal to rattle your windows and piss off your neighbors even though your windows are closed. Now I've gotta look up their tour schedule. Oh well I did and they're just stopping short of coming to my town. Fuck Me Runnin!!!! http://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/ https://barbarian-italy.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/barbarianmetal
MANDRAGORA MALEVOLA - Awakening the Impvre Self Released I am astounded, seriously I am, of the amount of unsigned bands whose creative talent in the extreme matters equals or surpasses many bands that labels shove at us to consume. Case in point here we have a two piece act from Portuguese whose debut full length delves into everything blackened death has to offer and adds various touches of harmony both in song structure as well as instrumentation. This two piece act consists of Slade Von Kaos, formerly of the band TRIBA, who performs the vocals and Ignifervm, who I believe is still in two other Portuguise bands CARMA and EVERTO SIGNUM, and is responsible for all the instrumentation. Which aside from the obvious metal related instruments also includes acoustic guitar and keyboards. Prior to this they put out a demo in 2015 titled Black Flame ov Illumination which was probably a testing of the waters so to speak to see how successful if anything more would occur. Obviously it did. Awakening the Impvre falls into the category of a blackened death opus as well as story telling concept album inspired by the biblical Cain, the first man to kill. The eleven cuts on here span a variety of tempos and fluxes with the usual electrical fuse buzz of blackened tremolo guitar riffs, blast-beat runs and Von Kaos' vocals which range from harsh shrieks to guttural barks of malevolence. The key to this whole release is it's flow which is not on repeat between songs. Instead of neck breaking changes in structure this duo keeps the pace smooth throughout. Good songwriting can have your face ripping off at one moment while next sopping up the blood with a keyboard interlude. Like I mentioned in my opening paragraph, there are plenty of metal record labels who profess to be progressive minded or forward thinking (a term I really despise) with their releases. And yet they pour out unlistenable pap. Here we have a band whose release not only captures the extreme elements of the blackened death genre but adds to it in ways that make it beautiful as well as wanting it as a destination for repeated listens which I've been doing all weekend. Late Sunday was the coolest. http://www.facebook.com/mandragora.malevola http://mandragoramalevola.bandcamp.com/releases
Some releases really take no time to talk about. You know their names and what to expect, so do I. Here's a bunch of short reviews on those easy to handle releases. IMMOLATION - Atonement Nuclear Blast I must admit that IMMOLATION are my favorite NYDM act, have been since their debut. They've done well with combining the ferocity with the technical sides of death metal. In a word, they are consistent even at this point with this their tenth full length. BUT with all of that comes the expectations of each new release. Personally I think they peaked with 2011's Majesty and Decay and they have been coasting ever since. So this one's just a decent coaster. http://www.nuclearblast.de/en/shop/index.html WOLFBRIGADE - Run With The Hunted Southern Lord After listening to this I wanna play some POISON IDEA (aka: real hardcore). By the way the promo tagline on this is " d-beat, hardcore, crust-punk fury". Yeah whatever, basically I remember this Swedish band as WOLFPACK in the late nineties and later in the 2000s they changed it to WOLFBRIGADE. I remember some indie rock losers were really into em back then and since they had a member(s) from ANTI-CIMEX in the band that gave em street cred. Actually this ain't a bad release especially since they're totally borrowing riffs (I'll be nice and won't say steal) from POISON IDEA. https://www.southernlord.com/ NIDINGR - The High Heat Licks Against Heaven Indie Recordings This is Teloch's other band which he was in previously prior to joining MAYHEM. I think the only reason Indie Records (a label I've always liked and have quite a few releases by) will move any copies of this is because of the MAYHEM connection. Be that as it may this sucks, it blows and it's not black metal. Musically it's more in the vein of a wanna be blackened latter day VOIVOD with an emo style vocalist and Teloch uses leftover riffs from Esoteric Warfare which was not that good of a release. http://shop.indierecordings.no/ HARK - Machinations Season of Mist This shit reminds me of the FOO FIGHTERS or QUEENS OF THE STONEAGE style shit mixed with BARONESS and MASTODON. Basically we're talking about indie metal from years ago, which indie rock losers went apeshit over and got major airplay on college radio, mixed up with the crap from a few years ago. http://www.season-of-mist.com/
WORMWOOD - Ghostlands: Wounds From a Bleeding Earth Non Serviam Records Years ago I was into a lot of Nordic bands that combined black metal with their local traditional music. Most of em of course were viking metal bands but others just pushed the folk stuff with some death metal thrown in. Obviously I still like it even though the trend of Pagan Fest type acts started to grow too much. Case in point, here were have WORMWOOD a five piece act from Stockholm, Sweden and this is their debut full length. Musically this is one big bag of folk inspired metal touching on various genres in order to bring about an epic feel to their sound. Of course when I first listened to it I thought of the band MANEGARM and as luck would have it one of WORMWOOD's guitarists plays with MANEGARM live. Of course it's also interesting since WORMWOOD started out in 2014 and hey who they sound like. Influences it's still pretty good. Musically Ghostlands: Wounds From a Bleeding Earth is not a carbon copy of past folk inspired metal sounds. Actually its a compliment as the band takes everything which made this type of Nordic sound so epic and vibrant to the next level. As well as getting full doses of driving riffs and pounding drums there's plenty of rock melodies intertwined with the extreme metal standbys. Lots of acoustics tossed in for effect as opposed to window dressing plus the female vocals added in. Overall this will be one of my favorite releases of 2017. Extreme and upbeat, perfect to start your day with. http://www.non-serviam-records.com/ https://wormwood-official.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/WormwoodSWE
SAQRA'S CULT - Forgotten Rites Amor Fati Productions On a Saturday afternoon and I'm listening to some Belgium black metal. What a life I have and it's two hours before I go into work, yah! Actually I started listening to this band's debut full length early this morning. Like I said SAQRA'S CULT are from Belgium, play a mid to fast style of black metal that leaks in some atmospheric passages once in a while. They don't sound like ENTHRONED but they do like CELTIC FROST especially the Tom G. Warrior grunts.
On a whole Forgotten Rites is straight forward black metal. The vocals have a ghastly snarl to them which is cool. The opening cut, “Solemn Sacrifice”, starts out with an intro, the sound of a wind storm, and is long enough to keep you guessing before the maelstrom of blackened hate commences. Aside from the obvious genre takes I've mentioned, SAQRA'S CULT also adds some doom, gloom as well as blackened death style to their overall sound. Yeah this is decent but they won't be taking the Belgium black metal throne, just yet. http://www.amor-fati-productions.de/ https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/album/saqras-cult-forgotten-rites https://www.facebook.com/saqrascult/
INGURGITATING OBLIVION - Vision Wallows in Symphonies of Light Willowtip Records Welcome to the wonderful world of dissonant death metal. Yeah that's a new genre term. Wanna know what it entails? OK you take your typical tech death, add progressive black metal aesthetics then toss in some KING CRIMSON style jazz as well as basic 70's prog plus the over indulgence it takes to write a twenty two minute song and finally some brutal death metal vocal style. Has your head exploded yet? Mine did during the first song. That's what this German band is all about and guided by the vision of Florian Engelke, guitarist/vocalist and founding member of INGURGITATING OBLIVION. This band has been around since 2001 and has progressed to this point after putting out a bunch of material in short as well as long form. This latest one is their third full length, a four song opus which lasts over fifty two minutes via four songs. A diabolical mind is patient and that's needed when delving into the vastness of this beast. http://www.willowtip.com/home.aspx https://ingurgitatingoblivion1.bandcamp.com/album/vision-wallows-in-symphonies-of-light https://www.facebook.com/IngurgitatingOblivionOfficial
EARTHLING - Spinning In The Void Forcefield Records EARTHLING played here a month ago but as usual I missed it because I had to be at work. Hey I've got an important position. But anyways I was kinda pissed because I got their first full length, Dark Path, from a few years ago. Now when I first listened to this their sophomore effort I was actually spinning in a void of what to really think about it. I spent all afternoon on Thursday listening to it on repeat before I went out to play darts. Next I took some time away then played it again and yeah now I have a clearer perspective because at first I was not into it. What made this Virginia act interesting to start with is that I thought of them as a blackened thrash influenced version of ANNIHILATION TIME with plenty of time signature twists plus plunges into psych and sludge. Four years has passed between releases but the band still has that pedigree I gave em before. Also I think touring with their friends INTER ARMA had a huge influence on this second full length. They didn't go all out Ummagumma but there's more psych influences on here. There's six cuts on here and I'm not going to go into each one. Basically there's plenty of lo-fi style thrash riffage and backing rhythm section banging around accented with a lot of cool guitar solos. Vocals still have that charcoal throated style going for em. Ya know filthy and black like the inside of a smoke stack. Also this four piece still writes songs with enough tempo changes and dive bombing guitar solo attacks to keep your attention. Yeah this is another great record by EARTHLING. Of course it took a dozen listens to come to that opinion and I'm glad I did. http://www.forcefieldrecords.org/site/ https://earthlingva.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/earthling.virginia/
VARMIA - Z Mar Twych Folkvangr Records What we have here is a mixture of Slavic style folk and black metal which follows both Pagan brutality as well as some modern off template takes. This is the debut album by this Polish four piece who started out last year. The promo info mentions ENSLAVED which I can understand since the lead vocals (sung by their guitarist) are a mix of gruff/harsh while the backing vocals (sung by their bassist) are clean. That's done sporadically throughout the release and it is annoying. This release starts out with an acoustic guitar intro but then things do turn to darkness and some harsh black metal ensues. There are a couple of tracks that sound like they were ripped from ENSLAVED's playbook. Other times the band tosses in some death metal song structure to pick up the violence. Not my thing at all but I won't throw em under the bus. Musically VARMIA are an exciting band mainly because of all the elements they take from their peers. https://folkvangrrecords.bandcamp.com/album/z-mar-twych https://www.facebook.com/varmiaband
GOATWHORE - Vengeful Ascension Metal Blade Records The majority of the time I try not to read any opinion pieces on a release that I plan to write something about. I did catch something that wasn't necessarily a review of GOATWHORE's latest release but more like an excuse. Some website douche bag, who's site depends on label advertisement to survive (hint hint), made the comment "long time fans will find this different then what you've expected from GOATWHORE but don't let that dis-way you." To me that sounds like an excuse as in you know it sucks but you can't say it so you're using symatics in order to lie to your readers. Fortunately I ain't beholden to advertising dollars. Honestly Vengeful Ascension is not good at all compared to the band's past efforts and I'm talking all their past releases. But look I am one of their long time fans as in I got into the band with their 2006 release A Haunting Curse. To me that album put them on the map as opposed to their first two releases. 2009's Carving Out the Eyes of God put them on the top tier of American metal along with a continuous touring schedule. Their past two albums were decent enough but here after a three year break, which they probably needed, they come out with something so lackluster that I got tired of listening to it for a review. So what's so "different" about Vengeful Ascension? Well the only decent songs on here are ones which are rehash from the past. I don't have a problem with that. The rest sounds boring, as in average sounding mainstream metal as opposed to extreme blackened death/thrash. Then there's the production, whatafuck happened to that clean crisp sound? In the end this sounds like recorded this on their backs while reclining on the sofa. Some would think after a three year break they would return with a fiery fueled attack. Ah no that's not always the case as many well known bands in the past decade have shown with their "return" releases. GOATWHORE have garnered enough fans since 2009 that they can afford to toss out a coaster or two and of course their label won't give a fuck. This release sounds like it came from a band who's tired, has run out of ideas in order to keep up with their musical formula. So they'll go on tour, play a few songs from this one but of course will rely on past favorites because that's what fans want to hear. Hmmm, sound familiar? http://www.metalblade.com/us/ https://goatwhore.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thegoat666
TYRANNOSORCERESS - Shattering Light's Creation Tofu Carnage Records I was thinking this was going to be black metal but no it has too much death metal song structures in it. This five piece act hails from Dallas, Texas. Hey I've been a Dallas Cowboys all my life, OK since I was nine, but trust me there's going to be no bias. So here we have the debut by this band with a somewhat cool name but after a half dozen listens I'm left wondering why I'm bored. Maybe it's because the opener "Haunting Black Infinity" starts out cool with a decent melodic BM stability and gruff Euro style vocals but there's no climax. The second cut, another long one like the first, opens with a typical atmospheric blackened melody until it turns to black metal AMON AMARTH or some other wannabe Euro trash anomaly. I can't attest to who wants their riffs back but try someone on Nuclear Blast. Then comes their third track "The Call to Chaos", another long one which starts off aggressive and powerful with intense tremolo riffage and then dies out after four minutes. The rest of this is seemingly uneventful. I'd say the high mark lies in the lest then three minute black metal treatise "Shattering Light's Creation". Then their last cut, "Senescent and Supreme" offers some hope when it ends. Be that at it may TYRANNOSORCERESS are extinct as far as this release goes. I'll take a shower now. https://www.tofucarnage.com/ http://tyrannosorceress.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Tyrannosorceress
HERESIARCH - Death Ordinance Dark Descent Records I think it's about time we start a Down Under genre for death metal since so many bands from this area of the world sound alike. HERESIARCH might hail from New Zealand but they sound like their Australian cousins PORTAL and IMPETUOUS RITUAL. But since they have an ex-DIOCLETIAN member in the band then things actually have some structure beyond the obvious punishment. Profound Lore Records and Dark Descent Records must have flipped a coin to see who was gonna sign this band. I'm glad the latter won. Here we have HERESIARCH's long-awaited debut album which the promo info calls "a dominant forty-minute statement of savagery, chaos and death." By the way it's deemed "long-awaited" because this four piece act put out very promising smaller format releases previously. You've got their debut EP release Hammer of Intransigence from 2011 (also put out by Dark Descent Records) and 2014’s Waelwulf EP (which came out on Iron Bonehead Productions). If you check out those releases (which I did) then you'll see that HERESIARCH has honed their version of blackened death very well. Like I alluded to earlier, their Australian cousins might find it simple to just shove the listener's head into a blast furnace where as these guys add slightly more substance to their bestial approach. Whenever music such as this comes my way I think of a huge lumbering beast consuming everything in it's path. But HERESIARCH are different. This beast has a brain, it can think in cold and calculating ways. Death Ordinance in typical down under blackened death fashion. Another lumbering beastie coming to consume us all but then the second track "Storming Upon Knaves" kicks in and now it's an unforgiving militant warmonger of a machine bent on wiping out everything and everyone. This onslaught of beserker riffs, gutteral growls and screams plus jackhammer percussion continues on through songs like "Harbinger" and "Ruination" before finally taking a break (or a shit) on the short "The Yoke". The second half of Death Ordinance is more diabolical more primeval sounding as if now it's time to torture the wounded type of sickness as well as going totally sick. The only time this thing lets up is on the final and longest cut "Desert of Ash" which actually lets in some contemplative atmosphere. Well yeah after a completely barbaric display of extreme metal Darwinism as well as being just merciless you just might need time to relax. I know I do. In the end HERESIARCH rules, Dark Descent Records rules and the world as we know it is in peril. http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/death-ordinance https://www.facebook.com/heresiarchcult
WELCOME TO EXTREME METAL MANIAC OR WHAT i LIKE TO CALL THE HOME OF EXTREME METAL.
Attention
In Jan. 2020 some not so nice person(s), who obviously don't care for Metal, decided to complain to a social media platform about something I posted. That got me banned from posting links there under the former blog title Scumfeast Metal 666. Fine I just changed the name to what you see now. Hey I'm still here and, under our present day situation, will be more extreme then before.
Editor/Creator: Usurper of Eternal Condemnation and Inverted Opinions
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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.
