DECEASED - Ghostly White Hells Headbangers Records This is a release which I am looking on with greatness and tragic feeling. As far as the latter point goes, in November Dave “Scarface” Castillo passed away. Dave drummed with DECEASED from 2003 to 2008 and again from 2012 until a month ago. He was their long-time live-drummer. As far as his studio contributions go you should remember he played on 2005's As the Weird Travel On and as well as on this new one Ghostly White. RIP Dave, you were damm good. Now as far as DECEASED goes I've made in clear in the past that I consider them America's Greatest Metal Band. They also have the back catalog (I'm including demos) spanning over thirty years of greatness in extreme metal to back it up. While other longtime US metal acts have strayed off the path or simply became lazy living off their past accomplishments. DECEASED stayed true to themselves and always released stuff just as good or better than previously. With that said it's been seven years since their last slab of greatness, Surreal Overdose. The importance of that last statement lies in the word "greatness". Any other act could just push out a follow-up to a previous release. DECEASED took their sweet time to get this one perfect at least to their idea of perfection. Which is why I see Ghostly White as not a follow up to Surreal Overdose but more like a overview of their career framed in a modern metal stamp. Without going through a song by song analysis, which would have me writing way into the new year, I'll just give you the basics. On here you get plenty of DECEASED's old death thrash sound coupled with epic moments reminiscent of Fearless Undead Machines. Add to that there's elements of NWOBHM, Hardcore, some of the most searing as well as fluid leads ever put forth on a DECEASED release. Want more, OK Dave Castillo's drum work is as wild and frenzied as Fowley’s once was. No wonder he chose him as his successor behind the kit. And now he'll be sorely missed. Finally there is King Fowley and his vocals on here sound ferocious as ever. Like I made mention to earlier this is not just a new album it's a overview of a career. It's also one of the best metal releases of 2018. Nuff Said.
SVARTHART - Awaiting the Return Self Released Belgium's SVARTHART will not win any awards (yet) for their minimalist approach to death doom. But there is plenty here to grab onto for some sick enjoyment. They started in 2011 and put out their debut full length, Emptiness Filling the Void, in 2016. Originally a two piece act they've since grown into a four piece band.
Now when I say minimalist approach it's not a criticism. For the most part the blunt, gravel throat style vocals take precedent in the mix. In a weird way it comes across as a narration while the music advances. By the way it's the twin guitar approach of steady and heavy rhythm riffs paired with fluid-esque KATATONIA like soloing that will catch listeners by accident. SVARTHART pay tribute to the 90's era of the genre by leaving the bass oh so subtle, the drum work complimentary with the guitar and vocals being the stars. The only thing missing is the toning of a bell to bring out the dead. https://svarthart.bandcamp.com/album/awaiting-the-return https://www.facebook.com/svarthart/
DEVOURING STAR - The Arteries of Heresy Dark Descent Records
When one thinks of Finnish black metal the typical names drawn come from the unholy trinity of ARCHGOAT, HORNA and BEHEXEN. Nothing wrong with that since they're some of my favorites from that great nation. But it seems people tend to leave out that country's black metal godfathers BEHERIT. Although known for pure moments of chaos and barbaric hatred, Nuclear Holocausto and company did bring about some decent beastly and atmospheric style to their early sound. Fast forward over twenty five years later and we have the sophomore release by DEVOURING STAR, primarily a one man act (from the info I have on em) and yet delivers a massive soundscape. Straight up black metal this is not. This release falls into a blackened framework built by death metal and doom. The dissonance painted riffs of a atonal cadence move along with the cries of decaying death vocals. Bursts of speed jump out of nowhere like claws. The rhythms keep things moving ever so easily like a march to the graveyard. With only five semi long cuts there's no room for waste on here which is a damm good choice. One of which I find some similar acts ruining by adding filler intros, outros and ambient instrumentals in-between. Sound-wise this is a consistent sledgehammer attack with varied styles of pounding the listener into the abyss. http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-arteries-of-heresy https://www.facebook.com/DevouringStar
GOBLINSMOKER - Toad King EP Sludgelord Records Ah those English, they just love their ugly, fuzzy and haunting doom. Much like some of their classic horror films that don't have a traditional monster of legend. But instead it's something either not of this world or from it and we wanna put it back where it belongs.
With that said here we have GOBLINSMOKER a two piece English act who on this their debut EP have melded their love of stoner doom with the creepy harshness of black metal. Call this fuzzy and ugly which crawls along at a pace that would tire out a turtle. Toad King is only three semi long tracks but with this style of molting goo edging it's way into your conscientiousness why would you need more. As far as the heaviness goes it's nothing new so it's the harsh vocals as well as gripping atmosphere which makes this well worth listening.
DISUSE- The Yeti From Kad-Man-Ra EP EveryDayHate I use to know this guy who was into metal and hardcore. He also had a job that sent him abroad, mostly to Europe, at least once a month. While over there on business he had time off to do site seeing as well as go to music festivals and shows. But while telling me about them whenever I'd see him. He'd piss me off because he'd tell me about going to all these cool shows but never stayed long enough to catch what all was going on. So he cut all his stories short. Which brings me to this band here. DISUSE are a four piece grindcore act from Holland. They're the band that's making Amsterdam grind again. On this their second EP this year the band grinds their way through fourteen songs in a little over five minutes. Yeah that's correct I said five minutes. So how do they do that and how does that relate to my story in the previous paragraph? Well it's simple you see while my friend never finished a story about his trips. DISUSE never finish a damm song. Seriously there's only a few cuts on here that have something you could refer to as having a time limit. For the most part DISUSE will not allow grass to grow underneath them. Many of their songs start out great with a cool riff or groove pattern and then bamm, it stops and you're left there thinking Whatafuck? After multiple plays of this release, and at five minutes that's easy, it's obvious DISUSE are making grind old school back to it's early hardcore origins again. As much as I want more song length to my appreciation of grindcore at least this Dutch band has not gone the way of avant-grind extremity. Hell their cut "Scumbag City", all four seconds of it, could be my ringtone.
PORTAL – Ion Profound Lore You know those times when you're supposed to be enjoying something but you're not? I've experienced many of those situations and let me say this is one of em. Now I know there's going to people out there saying (cue whiny hipster voice) "well Mr. Wolf, you just don't have the refined tastes in order to appreciate this avant-garde as well as progressive approach to death metal." Ah yeah, and fuck you too. Strangely enough I have been a fan of this Australian band over the years. I thought 2007's Outre was fantastic, still do, 2009's Swarth same thing. Now 2013's Vexovoid was a disappointment and as far as that split 7"er on Hells Headbangers Records, well you can guess why I bought that one. Those are the only PORTAL releases I own thank you very much. But as far as Ion goes well I've had this for a while now and after so many listens I just can't think of one cool thing to say about this. Now sure someone will probably say (cue whiny hipster voice) "well Mr. Wolf obviously you cannot comprehend experimental death metal." Yeah and fuck you again because this is an experiment gone wrong. I listen to this and all I hear is Japanese power-violence recorded in a basement. Which is funny since they use to sound like they recorded in a cave.
I'm sure PORTAL could record themselves taking a huge dump, put it out as a release on Profound Lore and people would hail it as Lovecraftian as well as claustrophobic and profound or something else. If I missed any adjectives I'm sorry. I'm bored with this one. Oddly enough there are at least a half dozen bands this year I've checked out who have copied the early PORTAL style, one of which on this label. I held out thinking I could find a way to like this one but unfortunately those band's releases are better than this one. https://www.profoundlorerecords.com/ https://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/ion https://www.facebook.com/PORTALDEATH
UNENDLICH - Misanthropic Sedition EP Self Released Black metal hailing from the cold wasteland of Baltimore, Maryland? I wouldn't of guessed but anyway UNENDLICH is the creation of multi-instrumentalist Michael Connors. Prior to this release UNENDLICH was strictly a one man BM project. On this EP Michael handles the vocals, guitar, bass and keyboards and has enlisted the drumming talents of Anthony Rouse who also plays in the blackened death act GRETHOR from Virginia. UNENDLICH first came to be in 2014 and immediately self released the Monarch of the Damned full length. In 2016 came the second full length Scales of Existence which was released on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. There's a new full length scheduled for early next year which will also be out on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. After listening to this one I'm looking forward to it. UNENDLICH has a glacial sound that will have you mistake their Maryland roots. Part melodic black metal and part symphonic with second wave influences abound. But Connors does break the ice by adding some modern essence to the song structures. Whether it's a atmospheric break amidst the chaos, a clean vocal chorus tucked in-between his usual raspy vocals or just the eloquent use of the keys it all speaks of not copying the past but adding to it. Of the six cuts on here the four originals are a mix of brutality, melody and elegance. In a way this reminds me of a joining of early DIMMU BORGIR and DISSECTION. That latter reference to influences is no shocker since there's a cover of "Where Dead Angels Lie" which closes the release. Damm good one too. Prior to that Conners takes the blackened theme to a CURE song. I only know one CURE song and you never hear it played anymore. But yes this is damm good USBM. https://unendlich.us/ https://www.facebook.com/Unendlich.us
ALTARS OF GRIEF - Iris Hypnotic Dirge Records So with a name like ALTARS OF GRIEF I was pretty sure what I was getting myself into with this release. Now if that wasn't a total giveaway then there's the song titles for example liker "Isolation", "Desolation", "Voices of Winter", etc. This band is also from Saskatchewan, Canada aka: the Yuke. Years ago I spent two years in Alaska so I know about the extreme cold and cabin fever. The only thing missing here is a bottle of bourbon and a loaded shotgun. This happens to be the second full length from these depressive doomsters. ALTARS OF GRIEF are a fairly new act but wasted no time in sharing their depression and sadness with the rest of their great nation. They started out in 2013 and self released their debut full length This Shameful Burden a year later. After that they did a split release with a symphonic black metal act. Rumor has it that after listening to ALTARS OF GRIEF's two tracks the other band killed themselves. OK I'm just kidding.
To be honest I'm just a happy person also heartless. I don't get grief and sadness as others do. My friends still talk about the time I cut into a funeral procession on my way to the store on a beer run. Sure I beeped the horn at the slow fuckers. Then when I finally passed them and got side by side with the chauffeur driving the hearse. I gave the guy the finger and sped passed em. It's not like he was going to chase me down. Now despite my cold heartless personality I occasionally enjoy some depressive doom. Holy shit I write about various genres of metal. Which brings me to the specific point. The sub genre of depressive doom is a fairly easy sound to convey on listeners. I won't name drop but seriously there are a few decent artists who do a great job at it. Mainly because they make it interesting. And that's what ALTARS OF GRIEF do a hundred fold. This release is a non stop agony of desperation which you hold onto with a death grip till it ends.
STRANGULIATORIUS - Rope, Soap, Tabouret Horror Pain Gore Death Productions Meanwhile in Lithuania there's a bunch of crazed scenesters banging their heads away to the death metal sounds of STRANGULIATORIUS. Technically not a new band, this four piece started out back in 2012 with as much explosive energy as a mouse fart. Those days resulted in a demo then fast forward five years later they self released a full length. Still that got em, I don't know maybe best Lithuanian metal band status? That probably got the attention from two metalheads from Pottstown, PA of Lithuanian decent. But lucky for STRANGULIATORIUS, this their second full length is on HPGD Productions. So that might get em the attention they deserve and maybe they'll be able to afford a few more loaves of rye bread. Just for the record I use to live in Pennsylvania. I knew and went to school with some friends of Lithuanian decent and they do love their rye bread. There's a strange little tidbit from my past but anyways prior to listening I wondered how this band's brand of DM would sound. Since they're from a Baltic nation would they lean more towards their neighbors in Poland or would they be influenced by Sweden from across the sea.
As it turns out this band's sound is influenced by early Swedish DM. At least sound-wise that is with those crunchy yet heavy handed riffs. They have plenty of distortion and groove to induced banging whether heads or fists. They also allow in some speed ala grind. Vocal-wise this comes across more like some brutal US DM with deep guttural sounds emanating from a throat that seconds as a chimney sweep.
The first four cuts on here also appear on the band's self released Praeities Sventieji EP which came out last Spring. No apologies needed if you missed that one. Those cuts as well as some of the other five are all in that OSDM style. I don't get the eleven plus minute opus "Unrepeatable Ritual of Death" tacked onto the end of this but hey after eight decent who cares. By the way a Tabouret is a stool. http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/ https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/rope-soap-tabouret https://www.facebook.com/stranguliatorius/
KHORS - Beyond The Bestial EP Ashen Dominion I'll file this one under "holy shit I remember this band and I've got some of their past stuff". As for the rest of you well here ya go. KHORS is a black metal act hailing from the Ukraine. I first got into them in the late 2000's with their third full length Mysticism. Yeah I was late to the party since they were around for a few years but hey I considered it at the time to be a great album and still do. A couple of years later while thumbing through the $1.00 cheapo and not for sale (but they were) promo CD bin at a local record store I found the band's Candlelight Records debut Wisdom of Centuries. It had a sticker on it which read "Ukrainian Black Metal for fans of DRUDKH". By the way KHORS never sounded like DRUDKH. I just figured that Candlelight Records was just trying to cash in on the fame of them by signing their own Ukrainian BM act. By the way I never found Wisdom of Centuries, which came out in 2012, nor it's follow up Night Falls onto the Fronts of Ours which came out on Candlelight as well in 2015 to be that great. I picked up Return to Abandoned also that year (which originally came out in 2010) and was so impressed that I figured their greatness was behind em. So with this new EP am I correct? Beyond The Bestial features three new cuts, one being an instrumental, and (wait for it......) three re-worked cuts from Mysticism. The songs in question are "Winterfall", "In the Cold Embrace of Mist" and "Red Mirrors". Now I'm not going to knock em because those songs are great. As for the new cuts well to me the instrumental is a throwaway cut so forget it.
The opener and title cut, "Beyond the Bestial", is dark melodic, somewhat symphonic and is definitely representative of the band's more modern progressive take. Ever since Jurgis, who also plays in NOKTURNAL MORTUM, joined KHORS the band has really dived deep into a more depressive atmospheric BM style. Their other new cut "Through the Realm of Unborn Stars" is a perfect example. As far as the re-recordings go, well since Jurgis has taken over the band it's easy to guess what happened to them. Oh well I guess I'm just pining for the pagan vast-lands. http://www.ashen-dominion.com/ https://khors1.bandcamp.com/album/beyond-the-bestial-ep https://www.facebook.com/Khorsband
THE CRAWLING - Wolves and the Hideous White Grindscene Records Upon my first listen to this I couldn't help but think what if AMON AMARTH and PARADISE LOST had a child? Yes I am serious because the musical threads just intertwine as far as the band's sound goes. Melodic death metal melded with Euro doom. This is the sophomore release by Ireland's THE CRAWLING. I never heard their debut, Anatomy of Loss, which came out last year. Maybe that's a good thing you see I check things out that just might interest me. This three piece act is Irish metal so I figured why not. As far as the whole death doom thing goes THE CRAWLING has some decent enough moments. They stand upon the Euro doom foundation of heavy ass riffs, guttural vocals and a depressive atmosphere. Toss in some melodic tones, a rainy day sitting in a dark room and a suicide note than you have it all. To the band's credit they don't waste time spreading their misery. The six cuts on here only span slightly over thirty five minutes. Kinda perfect for that late night jaunt of melancholy ya know after you've finished off the bourbon. Be that as it may I'll hold off and wait to see what this band does next time around. Right now it all sounds like so many other established Euro doom acts. Then again those reminders might peak your interests. https://grindscene.co.uk/ https://thecrawlingband.bandcamp.com/album/wolves-and-the-hideous-white https://www.facebook.com/thecrawlingband
The SHORT STACK is a bunch of shorter than normal reviews of releases you don't need too much info on.
VIOLATION WOUND / SURGIKILL Split 7" Selfmadegod Records This one here is definitely for fans who collect everything from their fave bands. First off you have VIOLATION WOUND which is a punk side project by Chris Reifert of AUTOPSY. The song here "Resist! Deny! Defy!" is a fairly low fi punk tune. It's definitely something reminiscent of the early 80s. Good stuff even if it is simplistic. Next up is SURGIKILL which is a supergroup who put out a killer full length out in 2016 titled Sanguinary Revelations. The band consists of Stevo from IMPETIGO, Ash Thomas from CRUCIFIED MORTALS, ESTUARY and the Metal Relics You Tube show. And speaking of ESTUARY their singer Zdenka Prado plays bass on here. Then there's the husband/wife team of Billy and Vanessa Nocera who not only are in great bands like WOODEN STAKE, VAULTWRAITH as well as some other past ones but also run Razorback Recordings. SURGIKILL's one cut is a slow methodical death metal dirge which part of the way through moves into a mid-paced groove. They worship at the altar of IMPETIGO (obviously) as well as AUTOPSY and INCANTATION. In other words they keep the old ways alive as well as sick. There's only 400 copies released and worth every penny if you're a fan. https://selfmadegod.com/shop/en_US/index https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/split-19
CARDIAC ARREST / SURGIKILL - Split 7" Nero One Records Another diamond in the sick abyss here for fans who collect everything. SURGIKILL as you should know is a death metal supergroup made up of members from IMPETIGO, CRUCIFIED MORTALS, ESTUARY, WOODEN STAKE and VAULTWRAITH. Their one cut here, "Embodiment of Sin and Obscenity", is a fast paced number that's almost death grind and will rip your face off. Next up is Chicago's CARDIAC ARREST with "Blade Violent" which is the longer of the two cuts. Then again CARDIAC ARREST have been around a while crushing skulls with their brand of death metal brutality. The song is split between a crawling death doom dirge and finishes off in a mid-paced pummeling fashion.
CARDIAC ARREST - A Parallel Dimension of Despair Memento Mori With five full lengths and a bunch of short form releases under their belts, Chicago's ruling class in death metal depravity have returned with their sixth full length. Frankly this is a no-brainer for fans of, and I'm using the title of their first EP here as a description, heart stopping death rot.
LIVIDITY - Perverseverance Metal Age Productions "No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal", more on that later. Anyways I've got a friend who is far from being a fan of death metal. But to his credit, and the fact that he's originally from Illinois, he is a fan of some of his home state's sicker shit. I'm talking about bands like MACABRE, IMPETIGO and LIVIDITY. In fact it was him who turned me on to LIVIDITY. Now in the history of brutal, or if you prefer "brootal", American death metal there are plenty of stand out albums that over the years have defined the genre as well as influenced denizens of imitators. In my not so humble opinion LIVIDITY's Used, Abused, and Left for Dead full length from 2006 is one of those defining albums. Then again that's if you consider gore, death, porn and grind all rolled into one to be defining. Which I do by the way. Now in 2009 the band released the follow-up, and their fourth full length overall, To Desecrate and Defile. It was a decent release but you knew ahead of time what you were getting, if the cover art didn't give it away. Now with the exception of a couple of split releases and a live album the band have been very quiet. I kinda figured Dave Kibler and co. retired. I was wrong and glad about it after hearing this. On Perverseverance you have LIVIDITY pretty much kicking down the door and letting the inhabitants know that THEY'RE BACK & SICK AS EVER. Seriously when you open your release with a crowd chanting "No Means Yes, Yes Means Anal", ya know we're not talking about choir boys here. Nor are we talking about imitators just going for shock value. LIVIDITY were always known to go in big as well as deep without any reservations about offending someone. Now for fans you should know what you're getting here but for the un-initiated? Bludgeoning brutal death metal with plenty of movie samplings, intense jackhammer riffing, guttural vocals, pounding rhythms either in the slow dirge style or just frantic death grind insanity. After nine years quiet LIVIDITY are still one of the best. http://www.metalage.sk/ https://lividity-map.bandcamp.com/album/perverseverance https://www.facebook.com/lividityofficial
I don't normally get any extreme music from China to check out. So when this band's promo people sent this in for review I was kinda excited. Just to get the basic info out of the way. ANCESTOR hails from Beijing and started out way back in 2007. Due to some early line-up problems (their explanation) they never put out a proper release until last year with the six song EP Age of Overload. Fast forward to 2018 and now they have this full length. Now here's where things really get interesting. ANCESTOR are a thrash band who openly admit to be heavily influenced by the Teutonic Thrash scene from years ago. Nothing wrong with that since it's some of my favorite thrash. So this release starts off with an instrumental intro which then bleeds into the track "Deathlike Silence". No it's not a cover song but who does that remind you of? (waiting.......) Ok if you guessed SODOM's Obsessed by Cruelty LP then you would be correct. Along with their SODOM worship these four guys also like some KREATOR, the early Endless Pain / Pleasure to Kill type of stuff. Once again there's nothing wrong with that because listening to this release you can tell sure ANCESTOR like those bands and that sound. But there is some of themselves obviously crawling inside the influences. The riffs are old school savagery but the fluid like soloing on a few cuts displays a vicious modern feel. Add to all of that the rhythm section is killer. The drummer is a jackhammer and you can actually hear some bass. Vocals are a cross between Tom Angelripper and Mille Petrozza which is very cool. Hey look Lords of Destiny is just a fantastic release. OK sure it's old school out the wazoo but let's reflect shall we. It's 2018 and in my not so humble opinion thrash sucks. Not the music of course but the new creators of it. 99.9% of the bands out in the world who play thrash are just fuckin boring. A decade ago we had the thrash revival which I supported. But after one year of hearing SLAYER, EXODUS and MEGADETH clones it got boring. Next up came the blackened thrash generic offense.
FLESHREAPER - Blue Skies Laced With Pesticide Horror Pain Gore Death Productions So when this band's first song started I had a flashback to the late 1990's. I saw a band like this once. I don't remember their name but the guitarist and bassist came from a punk rock n roll background. Their drummer was obviously a metalhead judging from the size of his kit and their singer wanted to be Chris Barnes. Throughout their long set, which was filled with guitar re-tuning and the singer introducing every single song. I stood their wondering were they serious or was it just an abortion gone wrong. FLESHREAPER seem to have the smart ass snotty punk n roll meets death metal thing down pat. This Florida act has been around since 2014 and have a small release catalog to show for it. One of which, a split 7"er with the band VIOLATION WOUND from 2015, also came out on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. See their band photo below, the guy wearing the Fuck You t-shirt looks like an old friend of mine. And he would wear a shirt like that because he was into GG, ANTISEEN, etc. Yeah just like me.
On this release FLESHREAPER just sound like they're having the greatest of all laughs. The band members have all been in extreme metal acts. Two members were/are from GENERICHIST, a Florida death metal act who also have a full length release on HPGD Productions. But on this one they're putting out short fast punk / hardcore songs with some deliberate death metal memes. Whether it's the vocals, which more than most are snotty 80's hardcore. The horror themed songs or the fuckin riffs which just remind me of crazy days from my past.
I'll just guess and say that your average punk rock fan in 2018 is clueless to Florida's 80's punk and HC scene, which by the way was very irreverent. I would love to play this for em even though they're probably snowflakes.
COATHANGER ABORTION / SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER / ROTTENNESS - The Hate Divide Split review Horror Pain Gore Death Productions I know it's a horrible thing (no it's not) but every time I see a split release I can't help but think of the song "No We Don't Want To Do A Split Seven Inch With Your Stupid Fucking Band" by ANAL CUNT. The title specifically since the actual song is around thirty seconds of noise and screaming. And you can say what you want about Seth Putnam but you can't deny that some of his song titles were hilarious. Now I'm not placing that thought to this release per say. I'm just pointing out some truth. Back in the hardcore scene of the late 80's (where grindcore emerged from by the way) one avenue for a shitty band to get a record or tape out was to convince a more known band to do a split release with em. Usually the well known band would send the other band a throwaway track or two. Oh and yeah I owned a bunch of em. Which now does kinda segue to this three way split release here. The first band, COATHANGER ABORTION, are not strangers to me. Yes I am serious. You see I'm a fan of a few bands on the Comatose Music label which is based here in North Carolina. So I think it was last year that a used book and music store I'd frequent every so often was having a closing out sale. On previous visits I always saw CDs by bands on the Comatose label in the racks. So during that sale day I picked up every one I saw. Hey for two dollars each, why not? One of the CDs was by COATHANGER ABORTION. The dirty look I got from the skinny, green hair, eyeglasses wearing, hipster chic cashier, who had to go find and pull the disc out of the file cabinet, was priceless. But getting back to this release, COATHANGER ABORTION (who hail from Chattanooga, Tennessee) contribute four tracks to this. One, their opener "End of Me", is an original which clearly displays their minimalist brutal death metal style. Then their next three selections are covers. Remember what I said about throwaway tracks? I'll give em credit for pulling off a decent version of OBITUARY's "Chopped in Half". But the cover of CANNIBAL CORPSE's "Beyond the Cemetery" was poorly done. Which was a fuckin surprise since these guys are heavily influenced by em. And the MISFITS' cover "Hybrid Moments" wasn't even funny although if it was supposed to be serious well that's just fuckin worse. Then again it would be worth playing to a rabid MISFITS fan just to see their reaction. Second on this split is SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER who are another band I'm familiar with. Sorry no crazy stories about them other than the fact that I reviewed their American Death Thrash split with ENFUNERATION originally in 2011 and then the reissue last year. Come on man "Reign of the Hammer" is a pretty cool song from that release. On here these California death metallers give us four new originals including the title cut of this release. I simply call SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER's music style death metal but they're far more than that. They add plenty of thrash speed and grind insanity to their songs. The next extreme act on this triple threat is ROTTENNESS from Mexico who I never heard of prior to this. In fact the only connection I have is that they were once a Sevared Records act which is a label that I have a few classics by. If you are familiar with that label then you know I'm being facetious by using the term "classics". But anyways their contribution here consists of an intro sound bite, two original cuts and two covers. What, more fuckin covers? Musically ROTTENNESS is pure fuckin Mexican death grind which includes some damm crunchy riffs as well as some decent groove on their second cut. The vocals are in that brutal DM style.
As far as their choice of cover songs go, well that threw me. First off they do the STOOGES "I Wanna Be Your Dog" which is the second most covered STOOGES song. Just for the record "Search and Destroy" is the first but anyways this band plays it straight as opposed to putting it through the death grind filter. Hell my long ago band did a faster version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with me on vocals. Their second cover choice is "Vote With a Bullet" by COC ( that would be CORROSION OF COMFORMITY to you non locals). Their version, which is brutalized slightly, sounds nothing like the original and it just sucks. But hey I never liked the song or that era of COC to begin with so there you go.
So in closing as with all split releases I pick a winner as if it were a battle royal. On here it's SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER hands down. But hey in my not so humble opinion they could shit in a box, send it to you with a note that reads "Happy Birthday" and you would like it. I think they're one of the coolest and threatening DM bands in the states right now and need to put out a new full length next year. As far as COATHANGER ABORTION and ROTTENNESS go well they just add complimentary pleasure to The Hate Divide and I hope to hear more sickness from them. In the end this release is a must have. http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/ https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/the-hate-divide-split-album
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band or label inquiries about a review can contact me via email. All those inquiries will definitely be checked out. No guarantees of course. I only write about what interests me. You can also contact me through the Facebook page on the link or use my email address mr.wolf69@yahoo.com
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.
