NEKROKRAFT - Servants The Sign Records Last year while writing about NEKROKRAFT's previous full length I said "Will o´ Wisp is a decent release but I think their next one, hopefully, will be a milestone in that a new band that puts that evil grim grin back on your face because they remind ya of the past without being retro." Well after giving Servants a few listens I will say it's different. But more on that later. First off NEKROKRAFT are a five piece act from Sweden who've been around since 2012 and have a few releases out. By the way if you wanna check out their past stuff then pick up their Witches Funeral compilation also on The Sign Records. One of their claims to fame is that their vocalist Angus Norder is also the frontman for WITCHERY. Not a bad gig, I'm sure it pays well and you get to play big festivals. But I'm here to talk about this latest release by a band who has the tagline of being blackened thrash. This ain't blackened thrash. There's keyboards (which were on their last album), galloping rhythms and grandiose blackened song structures. This is full on symphonic black metal here people. Some lay-person will scream DARK FUNERAL and yeah maybe a little but then you're wrong. Angus Norder, who goes by the name Angst, is a phenomenal vocalist. He's got that harsh blackened vocal sound that carries outward. The band is flat out violent, with accompanying guitar soloing which stems from thrash. There's plenty of blastbeat action, tremolo picked mania and no relief. The nine songs on here keep you at the edge of your seat. To paraphrase what I said last year, it reminds you of the past but NEKROKRAFT are walking their own path. And this is fuckin fantastic. http://thesignrecords.com/ https://thesignrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nekrokraft-servants https://www.facebook.com/nekrokraft/
GRANDIOSE MALICE - The Eternal Infernal Hells Headbangers If you want to talk about USBM then hey before the one man BURZUM copy-cats, symphonic DIMMU BORGER clones and hipsters there were a few ground breaking acts here in the states which were total rule-breakers. One of those acts was BLACK WITCHERY. Their 2001 debut, Desecration of the Holy Kingdom, in my not so humble opinion is mandatory to have. Of all the acts in USBM's first res-ponders I consider BLACK WITCHERY to the best of the bunch.
Much of the band's greatness is credited to the guitar mastery of founding member Steve Childers, otherwise known in the USBM scene as Tregenda. Unfortunately in 2016 Childers was killed in a car accident. A few years prior to his death he had left BLACK WITCHERY to work on other projects. One of which was PUBLIC ASSASSIN, a death/thrash project he originally started back in 1989, which in 2015 finally saw a full length released. This release here by GRANDIOSE MALICE was his latest project before his death. The Eternal Infernal was originally a demo which Childers sent out to friends as a gesture of "hey check this out". When he passed away, a couple of his friends decided to not let his final recordings go into obscurity. When I listen to this it's as if Childers put his whole musical essence into the output. It's a combined blackened extreme metal genre extravaganza. The recording was done as a two piece act with Childers handling guitars and bass with close friend Matt Glaser on drums and vocals.
Even though this has gone through the mastering process the raw and savage demo sound smacks you in the face. Soundwise it's a very brutal style of blackened death displayed with touches of thrash, straight up metal as well as that experimental vibe that he explored on his final album with BLACK WITCHERY, aka: Inferno of Sacred Destruction. Yeah it's crude, filthy and totally unexceptionable to the modern hipster tastes of today. That's why it's so fuckin good. At certain times it really delves into early BATHORY territory or even NECROPHOBIC which I have no problem with. In the end I'm left wondering whether this would be received as well now if Childers were still alive. No one speaks ill of the dead, even hipsters respect that publicly in print that is. Personally I think it's a fantastic release. One of the kickers for me is listening to the man's soloing which is somewhere between chaotic and psychotic. The guy played by his own rules to the end. He walked his own path. Today there's plenty of similar styled bands that play things safe. Thankfully we have this last will and testament. http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/ https://grandiosemalice.bandcamp.com/
COLTSBLOOD - Ascending Into Shimmering Darkness Black Bow Records So if you're a regular reader of SFM666 (and frankly who isn't) then you're probably wondering why I'm writing about a release that came out last year on Candlelight Records. Well dear confused, it's because Black Bow Records is re-issuing this one on vinyl. The pretentious record collecting scum will love that. Secondly COLTSBLOOD are new to me so hey I wanna write about em.
Yes, yes you're shocked that I don't know about COLTSBLOOD. Yeah I'm so behind the times. Maybe I should get some English Doom fanatic to throw a fuckin brick through my window to announce every little tidbit of information about the British doom scene. I'm serious because I rarely read other websites.
But anyway in this band's case I'll take the brick. Now that I know about COLTSBLOOD and listened to this a few nights after work, which is a perfect time, I love them. First off this is John McNulty who formerly played bass in CONAN. That's your sludge factor. With this band (a three piece featuring John on bass & vocals, Jemma McNulty on guitar and drummer Jay Plested) the man has veered away from the path of his old band. COLTSBLOOD are for the most part dark as in it's sludge metal meets a more atmospheric genre side of black metal and maybe something leaning to the funeral side of doom. John's vocals are a mix of psychotic screams, bestial grunting and feral haunting. When not hammering down-tuned massive sludgey riffs Jemma's guitar playing twists tremolo picked hypnotic harmonies. The drum work is fine as well. The bottom line for me here is between their whole bludgeoning there's some fast blackened effects as well as a little dark melodious space. A fine release and worth a re-issue, or a re-inspection for those of us (myself included) who missed out on it the first time around.
This is kinda loud as in do not play when you're hungover in the morning. Given a choice of hearing this at 6 AM or my roommate's dogs barking, I'll take the fuckin dogs. I mean if she blasted this early in the morning I'd get out of bed, rip my door off it's hinges and scream "Are You Fuckin Kidding Me!" We're talking loud and heavy handed sludge metal here people. On a scale of 1 to 10 with YOB being an 8 I'd give this a 7 1/2. Of course 10 is reserved for people who run passed you on fire because they're loud. Ya know they never run up to and say "Help Help I'm on Fire." Instead they just run past ya screaming "Ahhhhhhhh!" I always thought that was strange. But anyways HERON are a fairly new four piece sludge metal act from Vancouver, Canada. They're the latest find from Sludgelord Records, who definitely have a pedigree when it comes to finding some cool stuff. This is HERON's debut full length. Prior to this they've put out two EPs since their inception in 2014. Two cuts on here were also on their last EP. Other than having the ability of cranking it up in decibels the band has a knack for injecting some pleasant melody or atmosphere if you will. What breaks HERON from the norm (or full on comparisons) is their lack of a bass player, duo vocals (one bestial, one burnt throat) and the use of various sound bites.
As a whole I like this release a lot but that's because of my particular tastes as far as this genre goes. They're not full on proggy which I hate. They keep up with the straight traditional sound. And unlike what their name suggests they're not pushing that junkie chic drugged out shit. Just for the record the word "heron" is ghetto slang for heroin as in "Goin up ta Durham to score sum heron." Nuff Said. http://thesludgelord.blogspot.com/ https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/a-low-winters-sun https://www.facebook.com/herondoom
MASCHARAT - Self Titled Seance Records This originally came out in September of last but it's on Seance Records from Australia and whom I know I've dealt with in the past. Plus the band sent me a nice email, yeah and they're a black metal act. So I figured why not give it a few blasts. Kinda glad I did.
Musically MASCHARAT, who hail from Milan, Italy, are part of this (pardon me) new wave of BM artists who are definitely schooled in the traditional sound and style. But they add just so much more styles whether it's doom, straight up atmospheric interludes and of course a history lesson. Plus they like some mystery. Starting with the obvious their name comes from the Italian term "maschera" or in English, mask. The band members don't disclose their names. The cover art illustrates their emphasis on anonymity. According to the band (?) their music is "inspired by the masks and the traditions of carnival." I'm sure there's a historical connection in there going back a few hundred years. Extreme metal is educational! With that said MASCHARAT's self titled debut is an interesting release as far as black metal goes in this modern era. It's a beautiful piece of work (yes black metal can be looked upon as beautiful). The vocals are of a venomous harsh rasping also sung or spoken in Italian with one sung in French (I don't know why but hey I speak two languages as well).
Musically it's melodic black metal with touches of the more diabolical or sorrowful doom. There's some acoustic elements added. As I mentioned earlier they lay out plenty of atmospheric touches to allow the music to flow on a jagged path. Years ago some hipster music scribe told me that black metal needed to progress in order to be taken seriously. Actually the genre has done that but it was on the true black metal artist's terms and not on his promotion of hipsters doing metal. That's why you should take this release seriously. http://www.seancerecords.com/ https://mascharat.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Mascharat
NOMAD - Feral APF Records I guess it's been about ten years but yeah a decade ago here in the states sludge rock turned into the laughing stock of the metal world. Basically it became littered with post college hipsters/pseudo hippies with worthless degrees who decided they liked metal. So they got into the simplest musical style, added some whacked out non-metal influences, called it progressive sludge and they all sounded pretty much the same. Now of course the mainstream music media liked those bands. But as Diamond Dave said years ago; "The reason why music critics like Elvis Costello and not Van Halen is because they all look like Elvis Costello." Fast forward a decade later and across the sea, England on the other hand has been churning sludge metal acts who don't fuck around with the style too much and produce some enjoyable sounds. Granted it will not blow you away or grind you down to pulp but you'll be comfortable listening to it. Case in point here's NOMAD from Manchester, a four piece act of sludgey proportions who started out in 2011. Since then they've managed to put out some short form releases and now this their debut full length. Honestly this band has a sound that takes me back to the genre's early days. I remember them well. You had kids in hardcore acts who wanted to get into metal but had know talent to play thrash or death metal. So they're smoking pot one day and can't get into fast music. One of em grabs a copy of SABBATH's Master of Reality from their parents album collection. And after one play they're like "dude we can play this, pass me that bong I think I'm Tony Iomni." Listening to Feral I can hear the connection. They're mostly into older sludge with some stoner touches. It's totally raw headbanging stuff. Kinda like meeting up at the pub (I work at a pub by the way so I can use the word) for a few rounds with an old friend. It's comfort music while the vocalist tries his best to scream lyrics over a wall of sound. This release is definitely a winner in my book. http://www.apfrecords.co.uk/ https://nomaddoom.bandcamp.com/
PARAGON COLLAPSE - The Dawning Loud Rage Music Imagine, if you will, NIGHTWISH were more into metal as opposed to the whole operatic thing, Tarja wasn't a prima-donna and there was some MY DYING BRIDE violin work going on with melodic doom permeating your senses. Yeah that's the basic skinny here and it works well. PARAGON COLLAPSE hail from Romania, started out in 2011 but to put it mildly had some hurdles to overcome before putting out this, their debut full length. First off vocalist/violinist Veronica Lefter brings a sort of elegance with her operatic vocals. Her violin solos are just total melancholy and sadness.
The guts of PARAGON COLLAPSE is guitarist/composer Alexandru Lefter whose riffs while still in a melodic vein also bring about a sense of background chaos while Lefter's vocals and violin runs (also dueling in guitar solos) somehow brings about hope from the abyss. The Dawning is the type of release that any self described doom metal fan needs to experience. I like it a lot because it's completely beyond cliche. They even devote some time to adding a little folk meets death metal on one cut. All in all I hope they keep this thing going. http://loudragemusic.com/ https://soundcloud.com/paragoncollapse https://www.facebook.com/paragoncollapse/
SPECTRAL - Neural Correlates of Hate Loud Rage Music I have to admit a fact, I don't like tech death (that's technical death metal for you heshers) or at least the modern pretentious version of it. Basically I'm talking about all that stuff which revolves around the jazz inspired guitar noodling which accompanies much if not all of the sub-genre. And as far as those offshoot genres go well they make want to vomit. So the first time this came in for review, which was in March, I skipped over it simply because I read the words "progressive technical death metal. OK so a month and a half later the label sends it back. Alright I'm giving it a chance and it has taken me quite a few listens to overcome my prejudice towards the sub-genre. Trust me it's not my thing at all but this Romanian act seems to have put a crack in my wall. First off I think the vocalist, Andrei Calmuc, is absolutely fantastic. He reminds me of someone I know well. Be that as it is he emits a growled roar at times and other instances he's like a beast trying to sing cleaner. Obviously this vehicle is being run by guitarist (and bassist) Ciprian Martin. And the man is certainly an accomplished guitarist. On a whole I'd say half of this full length is down right awesome in an old school sound with awesome riffs plus fluid like soloing. It has an early GORGUTS influential flair that I do like. Then there are times this act flies right into a NECROPHAGIST tribute session. But hey the drummer, Romain Goulon, used to play in NECROPHAGIST so there you go. In the end I still can't stand this but hey if you are an older tech death fan then this is something you've been craving for. The marriage of beauty and brutality flows throughout this debut release. I personally like the longer compositions where guitarist Ciprian Martin displays some major riffage as well as melodic touches to his solos which actually strengthen the cuts with atmospheric balance versus the torment of urgent note chopping. http://loudragemusic.com/ https://spectral-official.bandcamp.com/album/neural-correlates-of-hate https://www.facebook.com/SpectralOfficial/
DEIQUISITOR - Downfall of the Apostate Dark Descent Records There will always be something cool about cold and calculating death metal that is brutal for the sake of being that way but tosses in so much more. All hail DEIQUISITOR a three piece act from Denmark, a great Scandinavian nation that never gets it due respect as far as extreme metal goes. Here we have a band comprising of scene veterans who actually deliver something which rips heads off and suck squirting blood from your neck. Downfall of the Apostate is DEIQUISITOR's second full length, sorry I never heard their debut. But as far as this one goes yeah the vocals are on that low, deep style which is recognized as brutal but not the whole pig squeal thing. The drumming on here is also brutal as they're used more as weapons of pounding torture. Imagine the constant barrage of artillery exploding around your position.
Of course the main things are riffs and the structure in which they're used within the songs. DEIQUISITOR does an adequate job of that with once again weaponizing the riff package with in your face intensity. Kinda reminds me of many a Polish DM outfit but I'm not namedropping here. There's a battle raging on here by scene vets who appreciate the old ways of death metal destroy and conquer actions. Of course it's great. http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/downfall-of-the-apostates https://www.facebook.com/Deiquisitor
RITES TO SEDITION - Ancestral Blood Self Released This release originally came out last year but since this band is from my state, is doing something unique and was pushed to me by some good promo people I figured why not write about it. RITES TO SEDITION are a melodic black metal act out of Charlotte, North Carolina which is a two hour drive west from where I call home in our state. The band started out in 2014 and this is their debut full length. Now when I say what this band does is unique is really about the state's musically history as far as black metal goes. DARKMOON is are high water mark and a bunch of hipster acts are our low point. RITES TO SEDITION sound like our state's version of DISSECTION and to me that's cool as fuck. They like to do long compositions which are filled with tremolo picked melody, thrash runs as well as a tech death touch which gives it a modern feel.
There's some bloodied but unbowed throaty blackened vocals, amazing soloing and the major song structuring is top notch. Among the main tracks the band invokes some cool intro interludes lasting a minute or more. They're cool sounding invocations as opposed to time fillers. All in all this is an outstanding fuckin black metal release. Why is this not on a label?
The SHORT STACK is short reviews of releases that I wanna say something about but not too much.
OF FEATHER AND BONE - Bestial Hymns of Perversion Profound Lore Records On first listen this sounds like a newer hardcore band trying their hand at death metal in the formula of PORTAL, AUTOPSY and INCANTATION. Basically it's that whole death doom concept with cavernous vocals and occasional furious grind bursts. The basic influences are fine and there's plenty of acts doing it well.
Unfortunately OF FEATHER AND BONE are not one of em. Upon learning more about this Denver act it seems they are/were a powerviolence band. They do well on a few cuts but for the most part this is weak. I'll give em props on the perfect cavernous vocals but the riffs are not exciting, the drum work is horrible and the song structures are badly rehashed versions of the real thing. http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/
MOURNFUL CONGREGATION - The Incubus of Karma Osmose Productions To say Australia's MOURNFUL CONGREGATION are icons of funeral doom is an understatement. I got into them with their 1999 debut full length, Tears from a Grieving Heart, a few years after it's release. Yeah I admit I was in the back of the funeral procession. I liked their second album, The Monad of Creation, which came out years later as well. After that, well I moved on but actually they moved onto a progression path which I did check out but lost a connection with. Here we have their fifth full length and it's far more melancholy, more intricate with beauty at it's base. Yes the sadness beckons but only for people into not really a lot of crushing riffs or thorn in the paw of a lion vocals. This is more bleak whining then sobbing sadness at the grave site. If you thought 2014's Concrescence of the Sophia was great then this is a repeat in fuller bloom. http://www.osmoseproductions.com/
TRIBULATION - Down Below Century Media Records Yes I am "THAT PERSON". I believe this band's 2009 debut, The Horror, was not only a great fuckin death metal masterpiece but it ushered in the new wave of bands appreciating and performing old school sounding death metal whether the influence was Sweden or the US. Then they changed into a Halloween-esque Goth Rock band on their second album and out the door I went. So here is their fourth full length overall, third as a Goth Rock act or is it blackened hard rock? Kinda reminds me of when SATYRICON went full on hard rock with The Age of Nero. Be that as it may I won't begrudge them for their artistic choices. Honestly they do the Goth Rock thing well and I don't know but is that Goth movement still around? Because if it is then those kids are digging this one. As for me no thanks. I'll stick with The Horror and forget this stuff exists. http://www.centurymedia.com/
JUDAS PRIEST - Firepower Columbia Records OK lets get the obligatory stuff out of the way quickly. I first saw PRIEST during their Hell Bent For Leather tour. I've been a fan since then. That's the soapbox from which I'm standing and speaking from. Now in my not so humble opinion not only is this a great classic metal album but it's a damm good PRIEST album. Now I say that because unlike some detractors of this release I don't view it through 1980's glasses. I think it's foolish to expect PRIEST to be exactly the same as they were thirty to forty years ago. And I don't want them to be. So when I listen to this I judge it in comparison to the releases this band has put out since Rob Halford rejoined the band. Therefore this is obviously way better then their last three albums. Firepower is a mixed bag of old and new. There's some cuts on here that would feel at home on Defenders of the Faith. There's also some stuff that reminds me of Rob's solo work with HALFORD. In the end I'd call this one of the best releases of 2018. http://www.columbiarecords.com/
SLOMATICS / CONAN - Split reissue Black Bow Records The release's cover artwork depicting a heavy metal warrior riding upon a giant snail pretty much sums up what you're gonna hear. This originally came out in 2011 as a limited 12"er on Head of Crom Records. But it seems, according to the promo info, that this particular release has been an on demand by fans wishlist item. Now just for the record England's CONAN and Ireland's SLOMATICS have been around for a good decade. But unless you're a devoted fan of slow and heavy music then you are like "Who?" Be that as it may this falls into that holy grail type of releases category. SABBATH on ludes, cough syrup and a brick on the needle as you spin Master of Reality on the turntable.
Both bands deliver three cuts a piece of pure sticky monster sized sludge rock. And just like my opinion of their split with MAMMOTH WEED WIZARD BASTARDS back in January, the SLOMATICS rule on this one as well.
SKOGNATT - Ancient Wisdom Self Released SKOGNATT is a one man black metal act that deals in the atmospheric side of the genre. The mainman behind it all is multi instrumentalist Danijel Zambo, although he includes a studio drummer on this release. Ancient Wisdom is the first full length by Danijel under the SKOGNATT name. Prior to this, since starting out just a few years ago, Danijel has been putting out short form releases. In fact last year he released a two song EP under the same title as this and has two songs appearing on here which were on the EP. Musically what we have here is pure late night black metal. Now I'm not trying to invent a new sub genre, forget that one. To me listening to this makes wanna beg the question what if you could invite a one man black metal act into your home. Maybe in like a virtual visual way sorta like that DIO cover act uses a hologram of Ronnie James on stage at their shows. Ancient Wisdom just seems to be a personal experience when listened to. I came to that conclusion since the vocals on here are mostly these harsh whispers. Of course the way I have my speakers set up in the office here makes it sound like Danijel is sitting two feet away. Musically this is atmospheric black metal with touches of gothic-ness, plenty of acoustic guitar usage giving it a touch of ancient folk and of course buzzing hornet's nest guitar sound. German black metal is typically brutal and unforgiving. This is has a different quality that's cool. https://skognatt.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Skognatt
AETRANOK - Kingdoms of the Black Sepulcher Symbol Of Domination Productions The overwhelming majority of new black metal releases that come in for review to SFM666 are either by bands who perform traditional sounding raw BM or atmospheric BM. Out of all the black metal sub-genres (and there are many) those two seem to be most popular. One genre that over a decade ago was prominent is symphonic black metal. Now for obvious reasons it took a nosedive in popularity. But in the past couple of years I've been hearing new bands bring back the sounds o that sub genre without any o the trappings of it's past.
AETRANOK is a five piece black metal act hailing from Aztec, New Mexico. That's a small town located in the northwest corner of the state. The area is also called the high desert and no it's not a frostbitten kingdom but cold and somewhat desolate, yeah. Although looking at the song titles there's no reference to their whereabouts. Musically you would think otherwise.
Kingdoms of the Black Sepulcher is this band's second full length. Now when I suggest symphonic black metal I'm referring to their use of keyboards. Fortunately they're not used in a way that a decade ago I would've called cliche. They're not used as a standout. Instead they're placed perfectly in the mix. This leaves the soundscape as a whole to be furious and fierce as well as allowing some melody to seep through.
The major highlights on this seven song blast are the harsh vulture like vocals that come at you like talons ripping flesh. The band's use of that wall of sound effect, a mainstay in symphonic black metal and of course the song structures. AETRANOK are the new name when it comes to great USBM. This release proves that.
Well we're just a few weeks away from the third annual Raleigh Deathfest. Yeah I know it ain't MDF but for my little o'l neck of the woods, It's A Big Fuckin Deal! It's also my vacation from work. Last year I coinsided my vacation with the date of the Deathfest so why not repeat it. One more thing is that it's gonna be a fun filled weekend as well. My friends KIFF (fronted by some time SFM666 contributor Andy Miller) will be performing the Friday night before the RDF. Then on Sunday there's gonna be a huge cookout at a friend's house. The joke is that in order to have time to spend with friends I need to take nine days off from work. But anyways we're talking about the Raleigh Death Fest here and now to those out of the loop, yes I know a few, Death Fest doesn't mean you're going to be enduring eight hours of a Putrid Pile Records roster of bands. Not that there's anything wrong with that but the bottom line is that this year's Raleigh Deathfest line-up has more variety of metal genres than previously. So starting off with headliners we have Richmond, VA's INTER ARMA. Now ever since they started out a little over a decade ago they've been described as post sludge, post black metal, doom, post metal, etc. As for me I just describe them as PINK FLOYD goes Metal. Years ago my friend Jon Adam turned me onto their Sundown album from 2010. I liked that one alot but since then I've heard their follow-up releases and I'm not totally won over. Be that as it may I've missed two opportunities to see em live. So I'm looking forward to this show just for them to win me over. Also I just know some drunken hesher is gonna try to start a push & shove slam pit which will be comedic relief. I also predict twenty beardo hipsters show up for their set. If you want a taste then here's a video from their last full length. Next up there's Raleigh's own WIDOW. Now I've been guilty of hyperbowly in the past but here I'm not. WIDOW are the epitamy of True Fuckin Metal or Traditional Metal. They started out in 2000 after the end of their previous band SORROW BEQUEST, who were also true metal to the max. Since then WIDOW has released five incredible full lengths, played huge metal fests here in the states as well as in Europe and the Far East and making fans the world over. I mean hey WIDOW fuckin rules! So it's a no brainer that they're playing this years Raleigh Death Fest. The last three times they've played locally I've missed em because of work so I am really looking forward to this. Plus I need a physical copy of their great Carved in Stone CD and a new T-shirt. Here's a cut from WIDOW's last CD.
Next up on the RDF preview is DEATHCROWN from Richmond, VA. Now this band played last year's Death Fest but because they were early on the card I missed em. I was looking forward to it because two band members were formerly in IMMORTAL AVENGER, a cool as fuck metal act that I saw at the same club almost ten years before. Hell I got a t-shirt from em because they had no music to sell. But here we have DEATHCROWN, a band of vets who like Old School Death Metal. Now if you're a regular reader of SFM666, and frankly who isn't, then you know I love that older sound. Whether it's classic Swede Death, Floridain Hellfire, Midwest Madness or NY punishment I love it. And the new school bands are always promoted by SFM666. DEATHCROWN are VA metal scene vets who push that OSDM feel but make it sound fresh. Check out their last release:
Next up we have Raleigh's own ELDRITCH HORROR who not only have played the two previous Raleigh Death Fests but are known as local legends as far as death metal goes. I have fond memories of them from the early nineties. They played shows with hardcore and speed metal acts. When it was their turn on stage the venues would become shrouded in evil brutality. Punks and heshers would be like "Holy Shit, whatafuck is this?" Unfortunately their only recorded output from back then were two demo tapes, one of which I still have. It's that and from locals sharing stories to younger fans that the legend took hold. Fast forward a few decades later and the legend walks again. The band got back together to play a benefit gig in around 2012/2013 to a crowd that was literally blown away. Obviously the members figured "Hey second time is the charm". So with some new blood added they finally released a proper full length, Untouched by the Sun, in 2015 which was all their old songs re-recorded. Since then every time they perform they've been putting sinister grins on the faces of the old guard (like myself) as well as leaving "Holy Shit" looks on the faces of the new fans. You can here it here:
Following along a theme for me, there's always one local band playing RDF that I've heard are good from friends but have not seen yet. This year it's the Raleigh black metal act MO'YNOQ. They're named after a Russian fishing city reduced to a literal wasteland after the lake was drained. Something else of interest is that the band is made up of musicians from two now defunct acts, one black metal and the other prog death. I checked out their Bandcamp page and heard their recent two song release Bardo. Musically their sound is similar to a lot of modern Euro atmospheric black metal acts which is kinda cool. Check em out here:
Now it wouldn't be a Death Fest without at least one bonafide brutal DM act who's sole performance is based on bludgeoning the audience with the intensity and impact of a herd of wild rabbited elephants running through a crowd at a Sunday afternoon flea market. This would be King's Mountain, NC's own ABHORRENT DEFORMITY. Their 2015 debut full length, Entity of Malevolence, came out on Comatose Records. If that doesn't tell ya what to expect then make sure you're health insurance is paid up.
There's a good reason why I placed the debut full length, The Harrowing, by Raleigh's DATURA in last year's end SFM666 Favorites list. As far as modern day death metal goes this band is not contrived nor can be pigeon-holed. As a female fronted death metal act they simply defy all preconceived expectations. Their sound is a cornucopia of heavy handed brutality along with melody plus slamming speed runs. They meld the four basic genres of death metal, doom, black metal and thrash into one mighty juggernaut of sound. They were the one band that I wanted to see the most at last year's RDF. I got their full length last year. This time around I need a t-shirt.
Next up in this Raleigh Deathfest preview is NECROCOSM a Raleigh band that appeared at the first RDF in 2016. In 2015 the band self released their debut full length, Damnation Doctrine. If you check it out you'll be treated to some decent Swedish influenced melodic death metal. But that was then because nowadays the five piece act has gone through a lineup change and has written some new material. So expect the unexpected when take the stage this year.
Now if you're thinking of coming late to RDF then you're certainly going to be pissed you missed out on Richmond, VA's MURDERSOME who are starting things off this year. This band is maniacal speed metal/thrash with a venomous screaming psycho on vocals. There's sure to be a slampit during their set. You can check em out here:
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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.
