COLDBOUND - The Gale Moonlight Productions Wow melodic death metal with keyboards and an additional female singer who weighs in once in a while when the guy singing gets tired. Well I really hear this as melodic doom but hey I don't always agree with the promo info.
COLDBOUND, for you people who don't know, are a six piece act hailing from Sweden but are/were originally from Finland. It gets better for the fact that COLDBOUND have been around since 2012. It all started out as a solo project by multi-instrumentalist / vocalist Pauli Souka. Slowly the act grew in membership to what it is today. The Gale is COLDBOUND's fourth full length overall and melodic death doom is on full display. The first time I played this release it was just background music while I did stuff. OK I was folding laundry. Now the second time I was sitting down and thought hey KATATONIA meets Finnish doom. To me that says it all. Nuff Said. https://coldbound.bandcamp.com/album/the-gale https://www.facebook.com/coldboundofficial/?ref=hl
AGATHOS - Nihil Est Self Released Imagine, if you will, Sons of Northern Darkness on steroids? Imagine some of the best Norwegian black metal you've heard but the band is not from Norway. OK you don't have to imagine because this is it. AGATHOS is a four piece act who hail from Valencia, Spain. The band is new, starting out just last year, but the members are all veteran musicians of their local scene. Nihil Est is a five song EP with a running time of just under twenty eight minutes. But with all that said, this is by far one of the most exciting releases I've heard in 2018. The EP starts off mildly with some spoken word intro and an acoustic guitar passage but suddenly explodes with icy tremolo picked fury. Next up the drums crash, bass thunders and angry harsh screaming barked vocals enter in and your world is over with. This is the type of black metal that us fans literally crave like addicts. The guitar tone is sharp and freezing. The riffs employed are massive, then add how the rhythm section turns it all into a avalanche of blackened fury. The band also knows how to structure a song in order to allow some atmosphere to sneak in. Plus they allow melody to flow while breaking it up with machine like blast beatings. More acoustic guitar is used in an song intro. All in all Nihil Est is the black diamond you'll find when digging through a pile of coal. https://agathos.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/agathosofficial/
MORTUARY DRAPE - Necromantic Doom Returns Iron Tyrant Records File this one under collectors or completests only. MORTUARY DRAPE were Italy's entry into the second wave of black metal. Although they started out in the late 80's they finally released a debut full length, All The Witches Dance, in 1994. That's most likely were people into old black metal start with this band. Of course prior to that the band did release their Into the Drape EP in 1992. Interested parties should seek out the Into the Catachthonium compilation from 2007 if you're just into the music.
Of course fans know MORTUARY DRAPE for being a Gothic/occult black metal act. Here on this new compilation are the band's demos, Necromancy from 1987 and Doom Return from 1989 plus five live cuts from 1990. Sound-wise there's a huge difference from their debut album on here. Although they were using the ritualistic elements which would come to define their later years (aka: synth use and spoken word passages). In their early days MORTUARY DRAPE were musically influenced by VENOM as well as various 80's metal. The Necromancy demo is low-fi, raw and almost un-listenable. Doom Return is slightly better. Personally I enjoyed the live cuts. Now if you're the type of person who believes MAYHEM's Pure Fucking Armageddon demo is incredible then you will love this. As always I never take nascent black metal as some sort of true-ness factor. But as my opening stated, if you're a collector or band completest then here you go. https://irontyrant.wordpress.com/ https://mortuarydrape.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/mortuarydrape
VOMITILE - Pure Eternal Hate Satanath Records This is the first band from Cyprus I've ever heard and hopefully they won't be the last. From their album cover as well as song titles I get the idea that VOMITILE are into war themed death metal. They're a mix of straight up early DM style with some touches of melody. Oh yeah and their sound is familiar to GOD DETHRONED and not as their name would suggest, heirs to VOMITORY. This is the third full length by these Cypriots (is that the correct description?). The band started out in the late 2000s. The debut was a seven song self released EP in 2010. That got the attention of the US label Horror Pain Gore Death Productions which released their debut full length Igniting Chaos in 2013. A year later they put out Mastering the Art of Killing on Cyprus's own Pitch Black Records. They've been quiet up until now. Musically Pure Eternal Hate is an overcast of thick haze and heavy pummeling riffs. Vocals are in that low military guttural cadence. The band allows enough variance between song structures to leave things interesting enough to keep your eyes open. A hot solo will cut through the fog like a firebrand. But overall it's pretty basic as far as this style of music goes. At least the drumming is organic. http://www.satanath.com/ https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat193-vomitile-pure-eternal-hate-2018 https://www.facebook.com/vomitile
BLASPHEMOUS - Emerging Through Fire Horror Pain Gore Death Productions This is why Philadelphia, PA is called Hostile City, USA. BLASPHEMOUS is a blackened death metal act from Philly who originally started out back in the mid-2000s. They released a couple of full lengths (Incineration of the Cult in 2008 and Bearer of the Darkest Plagues in 2010). For some reason in 2013 the band went away. Fast forward to the now and the band, whose lone original member is their vocalist Ron Kaiser, are back for another attack.
Now that last point was the nice way of putting out the story. In reality it looks like veteran Kaiser has surrounded himself with some new musicians ( all of whom joined up in 2016) in order to revive the past or his past. If that's the case, the results ain't too bad. BLASPHEMOUS is textbook blackened death that's more Americana in style than Scandinavian. There's just this overwhelmingly ferocious execution about the music. Toss in some thrash and you've got it down pat. Emerging Through Fire is an appropriate title since this band is fighting their way through relevance in a genre that's way overblown. And they do a fantastic job with it. They've got the chops as far as riffs that actually excite. The songwriting is far from generic. Kaiser has the perfect vocal style for this music. The soloing is on fire as well as beautiful. All in all this is a perfect release pioneered by a man (Kaiser) who is ready and willing to fight onward. http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/indexmain.html https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/emerging-through-fire https://www.facebook.com/blasphemousmetal
DEMONIC OBEDIENCE - Fatalistic Uprisal of Abhorrent Creation Satanath Records This is the third full length by DEMONIC OBEDIENCE, a band that originally started out as a one man project. That man being George Ntavelas who was the main force on the first two albums. On this one Ntavelas, who handles guitar, enlisted his friends in DEATH KOMMANDER. They being bassist Mark Stormwhipper and vocalist Kruxator.
There's a lot of things going on with this release so let's just start with the vocals. At first I was not into Kruxator's deep burnt throat sounding vocal style. About half way through I was thinking that he inhales from a blast furnace. By the second to last song (there's eight cuts) I'm thinking this guy is part dragon. When he sings maybe there's smoke and flames shooting out from his mouth. And I really wish someone in metal could pull that off. Musically this is (wait for it.....) old school blackened death with no melody at all. Ntavelas pairs up his chunky riffs with some tech death Chuck Schuldiner worship leads. You gotta like that. Overall everything on here is compressed blackened death filth with Ntavelas slashing out from the darkness with fatal leads.
GRUESOME - Twisted Prayers Relapse Records Look I like Matt Harvey. I always liked EXHUMED, even their latter albums. He helped revive REPULSION for the hipsters but hey we liked it too. As far as this DEATH wanna-be sound-alike tribute band goes well it's not needed. I've got the originals so I really don't need this to remind me more of why I won't listen to anything after Leprosy. There are a lot of young bands out there from shithole countries influenced by DEATH as well as other Floridian death metal acts. You, Matt Harvey, are a great guitarist/vocalist who people in the extreme metal community like. Let the kids have the fun. We want something cool from EXHUMED. https://store.relapse.com/
THY FEEBLE SAVIOUR - And Darkness Fell Hells Headbangers Records This is for collectors with a cult status fetish. THY FEEBLE SAVIOUR originally was a one man blackened death metal act created by Francisco Pulido in 2004. Francisco put out a demo and a split release before shelving the project in 2006. Fast forward to 2015, Francisco revives the project with the help of drummer Matt Heffner. This actual band releases another demo followed by a split release. What we have here is the long awaited debut full length. Musically it's typical old school blackened death with sacrilegious overtones. It's loud, chaotic and down right impressive. https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/
CRAFT - White Noise and Black Metal Season of Mist Eighteen years ago CRAFT came out of nowhere (well Sweden actually) with their debut full length Total Soul Rape. The release was well received (I personally like it). The band was herald as saviors of true Scandinavian black metal as well as being called the new DARKTHRONE (even though they're Swedish). Then they disappeared. Two years go by and then they release a new album, Terror Propaganda. Once again the same acolytes are placed upon them. Don't get me wrong they are well earned (except for that new DARKTHRONE thing). CRAFT would go on to continue this pattern. Release something good then disappear for a few years. Their last recorded output was in 2011. Since then they've appeared live at various music fests (a first for them). So finally after seven years we have this new one. What we have here is CRAFT with a new coat of paint (black of course). Still grimness and frosty but the clones of DARKTHRONE won't be tossed about anymore. The sound is good, there's some actual groove going on. Might I say it reminds me of SATYRICON? http://www.season-of-mist.com/
DIMMU BORGIR - Eonian Nuclear Blast Honestly I haven't listened to a DIMMU BORGIR full length (yes I own a few) in ages. With the exception of some of their songs being on my old BM playlists I haven't listened to em at all. Years ago I had written them off after hearing and writing about 2010's Abrahadabra. So here we are eight years later and you'd like to hope that Shagrath and company would maybe get back to the BM side of metal and not the Goth which was all over their last one. Well I was wrong. Over the fifty four minute plus time-span of Eonian you get orchestral goth and some symphonic BM which sounds like what they were doing eleven years ago on In Sorte Diaboli. Look people I've written about other bands doing some cool things in the symphonic black metal genre. Check them out. As far as this goes, leave it to the fans. https://www.nuclearblast.de/en/shop/index.html
IRON LAMB - Blue Haze The Sign Records Welcome to the wonderful world of Swedish hard rock revivalism. Full disclosure on my part, I learned about Sweden's ability to take another country's music, retro-fit it and then shove it back into the faces of fans a while ago, aka: late 80s/early 90s. I'm talking about acts like UNION CARBIDE PRODUCTIONS, THE NOMADS (Garage Rock) and of course THE HELLACOPTERS, to name a few. I guess we can now add IRON LAMB to that list. Are you pining for some MOTORHEAD or THIN LIZZY sounding stuff? Well then here you go people because this Swedish five piece act will fill your coffers. Their singer sounds like a young non smoking Lemmy. The guitarists deliver solid riffs, decent leads and once in a while some duel attacks. The rhythm section just kicks as in all the hard rockin ways it should. There's some keyboards added on a few cuts. All in all this is a great fuckin album.
IMMORTAL SYNN - Machine Men Self Released This originally came out last year but the release and the band are worthy of your attention. IMMORTAL SYNN hail from Denver, Colorado and are a young bunch of musicians who wanna revive early 80's NWOBHM, Thrash and metal influenced hardcore (aka: Crossover). Alright in all honesty I gave this a listen and was gonna pass on writing about it. But there are things going on here that break away from that total retro shtick. Now make no mistake IMMORTAL SYNN are retro metal as fuck but they incorporate so much of their original ideas (also retro) that make this sound pretty damm good. Imagine you're listening to some proto thrash and you are hit with a dynamite Michael Schenker type of soloing. Then there's the throwbacks to early METALLICA. Only sad parts are their ventures into modern metal bullshit again with the Schenker - esque soloing.
IMMORTAL SYNN's Machine Men is a total mixed bag of the recent past, for me at least, that'll have you starting a thrash pit or sticking your fingers down your throat in order to induce vomiting. The choice is yours. There are times when I listen to em and think that there are so many bands now who've perfected the retro sound. At least these guys throw some curves which make em more interesting then the carbon copy clones.
COSMIC CHURCH - Tayttymys Kuunpalvelus Luxixul Sumering Auter, the crimson cloaked multi-instrumentalist / vocalist behind Finland's COSMIC CHURCH, has been exploring the boundaries of black metal since the mid-2000s. Over all of these years he's been nothing but prolific putting out various releases both long form as well as short. Tayttymys is his latest full length, his third overall and final. The last COSMIC CHURCH full length is atmospheric black metal which can be majestic sounding as well as adding some harsh dissonance. Overall the music on here comes across more like a springtime roar than a wintry hiss. Auter uses synths as the major instrument to create the airy melodies. Then adds the other instruments to fill gaps and create rhythmic patterns. Amazing enough one doesn't overwhelm the other.
Since I never heard all of the COSMIC CHURCH releases (I do know them only as being on a few split releases I purchased because of the other band or in one case bands) I'm at a loss on comparisons to their whole career spanning sound. Now as far as this goes it reminds me a bit like Hungary's MARBLEBOG who also called it quits years ago. It's that total trance inducing black metal feeling. Not sleep inducing at all, this is a ritual. A great way to end it all. http://www.ahdistuksenaihio.com/kuunpalvelus.html https://cosmicchurch.bandcamp.com/album/t-yttymys
W.A.I.L. - Wisdom Through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy vol. II Triumphant Transgressions I've been listening to this off and on for weeks, yes weeks. Usually when I check out a release I type a few notes to use later. But after all of that time I've typed one word: Finland. Yes that's correct because there's so much going on here and yet it's simplify done well. W.A.I.L (which means Wisdom Through Agony into Illumination and Lunacy by the way) hail from Finland. They're a five piece act who create an atmosphere of torture and tranquility. This is the second release by W.A.I.L. Their first one from 2009 was basically volume one. That had five songs but this has two very long pieces with a full length running time of close to an hour. Musically W.A.I.L. combines brutal blackened death doom with some what proggy ambiance. The songs do break into obvious sections to allow tempo changes to flow almost at an emotional upheaval. The highlights for me are their use of violin. The piano interludes. The vocals which most of the time are filthy And guttural but yet clear. The dozens of havoc wreaking riffs which will just crush your soul to bits. And of course the overall duality of the arrangements plus the production is spot on. The bottom line is that this has got to be the best doom release (OK yeah it's just August) of 2018. And yeah it's from Finland.
BARKASTH - Decaying Svarga Music Can I just say that this is modern day Ukrainian black metal with a few exclamation points and be done? Probably not but hey this is a great release for a number of reasons. Let's start with the fact that this band has two ex-members of ELDERBLOOD (aka: guitarist/ vocalist Goreon and bassist Hagalth who both joined in 2017.) Just to explain a few things ELDERBLOOD were a cool sounding Ukrainian symphonic black metal act that had their second full length, Messiah, released by Osmose Productions in 2016. Now this release is in no way symphonic. In fact this release follows what I've heard many times within newer Ukrainian black metal. It's a fusion of early power metal with thrash overtones combined with a serious blackening. On Decaying, which is the debut release by BARKASTH there's plenty of galloping rhythms followed by tremolo segues, solid blackened thrash attacks and room left over for atmospheric breaks which lead into some doom on another cut.
BURIAL INVOCATION - Abiogenesis Dark Descent Records Normally I like everything this label puts out but here is one which was a tough sale. BURIAL INVOCATION are from Turkey and play death metal which worships at the altar of latter period DEATH. The slight differences here is that the vocals are more brutal sounding and the production is rough. But otherwise it's homage that's spot on if not absolutely incredible. So call me names all you want but when it comes to the band DEATH I like the first two albums a lot and that's about it. Sure their other releases were good but over the years I just stopped listening to em. BURIAL INVOCATION have embraced that early style of brutal yet technically proficient old school death metal.
Guitarist / vocalist Cihan Akun’s lead work would make Chuck Schuldiner proud. Along with lighting up this release with the fiery of leads that rage from fluid to electric shocks the guy knows a good rhythmic riff which pummels. The rest of the band just keeps up. Like I've made clear I'm not a big fan but damm if this is not some of the best tech death I've heard since the 90's. I say that because all of that ADD crap gives me a headache. But one thing I've gotta ask is how can you put this out let alone be this type of band in a country which has a religious controlled government that wants to kill you for producing this music? http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/abiogenesis https://www.facebook.com/burialinvocation
HOTH - Astral Necromancy Epicurus Records According to their promo info "US black metal now has an indelible mark on the map" because of HOTH. Ah no it does not. Also in the promo are the words "Fans of the likes of DISSECTION, IMMORTAL and THULCANDRA should take serious note. The culmination of three years of hard work has finally arrived." OK seriously THULCANDRA, who's first album years ago was good, are DISSECTION worshipers. IMMORTAL is back as well as sounding frosty and sure DISSECTION are no more but their music still survives and surpasses their clones.
As far as the years of serious hard work goes, well I kinda agree to a point. HOTH were once just a Star Wars themed blackened death metal two piece act (most likely silly hipsters) from Seattle, Washington. Their named after the ice planet where the rebel base was in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Their first two full lengths (Infinite Darkness from 2012 and Oathbreaker from 2014) were all about Star Wars. Yeah and may the farce be with you nerds. Did you show up at a Comic-Con convention dressed together as a Tauntaun handing out free cds? But anyways this third full length of theirs ditched the Force and replaces it with black magic rituals and unholy spells. OK so now they've succumbed to the dark side. Or in laymen's terms they sound like Abbath fronting THULCANDRA with hints of battle metal. Their new name description in based on the Norse legend of Hoth the blind brother of Baldr. And this band spent three years perfecting their sound by listening to the first two DISSECTION full lengths. Sure they've made a mark but it's a black one. https://www.facebook.com/EpicurusRecords
KiTE - The All Penetrating Silence Sludgelord Records I'm a fan of the releases put out by Sludgelord Records mainly because although the bands they put forth do follow the sludge/stoner rock path. The route is littered with deep potholes, cracks and signs of erosion from past heavies. So their bands tend to jump around a lot as well as stepping off to the sides in order to traverse. Case in point, here we have a four song EP by the Norwegian three piece act KiTE. This band actually started out years ago in the late 90s. They went through the usual line-up changes route, honed their sound and put out some releases. They were last heard from in 2007 with their self released full length, The Hook, The Line, The Sinker. Now the reason for the long gap comes about because of commitments the band members had to their other projects. But now after a long delay the band is in dedication mode. The four cuts on here definitely display a band who has one foot still planted in 2007 (and maybe in the late 90s) as well another stepping forward albeit a small one.
Honestly I've heard this band before but they weren't called KiTE, were from the US and put out an EP as well which of course ended up in a record store's used bin. Actually I've heard a few bands like this since the 90's. Think sludge with touches of grunge, sometimes clean or caustic vocals and a hint at the element of psych.
At one point I'm thinking of a crowd headbanging along to their music. Then again I can easily envision an insane slampit commencing. I remember seeing a similar act locally in a small club downtown last year. I walked out onto the back patio after two songs and stayed out there till their set (which I could still hear) ended. They couldn't pull it off, then again they were hipsters copying others. KiTE does pull it off very well.
The idea is an interesting take considering architectural concepts of the nineteenth century compared to medieval castle constructs. Although it would not work today since we have skyscrapers. Be that as it may what drawn me towards this release was the music. There's a good diversity of style going on here. For the most part you get an up tempo brand of melodic black metal. As a guitarist Aldebaran is damm good with his hyper speed tremolo picked melodies. You can also hear bass being performed in an almost Steve Harris style. Aldebaran's drum work is also worthy of mention since it's thunderous yet now overwhelming so it's in perfectly.
As far as vocals go Aharon comes across as venomous, ferocious as in warrior style as well as painful. That's definitely a lot of emotion put forth. Overall La nevrose de la pierre is a great modern take on nineties melodic black metal with an ancient calling to medieval times which are minimalist in execution but pop out at you anyways. So that was a year ago, what's next? https://geisterfels.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/Geisterfels-730735943766643/
CAVUS - The New Era Satanath Records Although CAVUS are a black metal act hailing from Finland they don't fall into that nation's traditional brand of blackened necro brutality or harshness. They're what I'd call feisty to say the least and at other times I wonder if they pounded down a few vodka shots prior to the recording. Musically I can say it's a dark brood with a hammer like touch. After an opening intro track which I'd call subtle but sinister this act lets loose in a MARDUK punishing way. Welcome to Panzer Division Finland and the punishing cuts abound in a blackened MINISTRY fuck up. CAVUS push the thrash aspect of black metal but in a way that's invoked through reacting to the music as opposed to being blackened thrash or blackened death. Seriously I listen to this and want to jump through my window. Then again The New Era could be a party album. Blast this fucker and watch people in your house go insane. http://www.satanath.com/ https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat188-cavus-the-new-era-2018 https://www.facebook.com/CavusMusic
LORD - Desperation Finds Hunger In All Men Heavy Hound Records Just for full disclosure purposes I reviewed LORD's Blacklisted full length last year. I found it to be cool as far as having an old school sludge flavor to it. Seeing that they pumped one out in only a year is a feat. Listening to this new one is kind of a shock compared to their last one but hey just wait. Now like I said about their last one, I'm not a fan BUT I can certainly respect the incredible-ness of this release. LORD has declared all out war on sludge metal and any genre sycophants. There's still a point where they love that in your fuckin face (which I love) early sludge factor which was an offshoot of hardcore. Then they'll go off the boat to deliver some Southern blues with added female vocals. Then again they're pull that Georgia sludge degree a few paces out of kilter. I mean seriously this will be a shock to your senses because LORD has actually brought beauty, pain and actual progressiveness to the genre. Not bad for a band from Fredericksburg, Virginia and not from places south of their location which in the past got all the hipster credit. LORD actually has broken all preconceptions of what modern day Southern sludge metal can be. Don't be surprised in say two years that you'll hear other bands copying them. http://www.heavyhound.com/ https://www.facebook.com/lordisbadass/
DRUG CULT - Self Titled Ritual Productions It is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Then again in terms of music trends we call it jumping on the bandwagon. But hey let's face it, when it comes to extreme metal we the fans like stuff that sounds like stuff we already like. Don't give me that phony story about wanting your music to be challenging. That's a crock of shit because if that were reality then there would not be a genre called Doom. SABBATH would be it's mile marker and there would be no need to repeat.
So for all of you grounded in honesty then this might be to your liking. If you just need some more music that sludgey, fuzzy and with female vocals then here you go. No I'm not talking about WINDHAND but an Australian version shall we say. This is the debut full length by DRUG CULT an aptly named four piece act from down under. This release is nine tracks, with a running time of around 42 minutes, of doom in a drug haze. Pick the downer of your choice of course. DRUG CULT give it all as far as being heavy psych and hypnotic dirge with vocalist Aasha Tozer being the witch conducting this ceremony. And they throw a few twists at ya as in short cuts that won't have you nodding off after five minutes of repetition. Basically it's a great release and much better then the contemporaries they emulate, as far as those band's recent outputs go. Ah nuff said. Pass me the bong I think I'm Ozzy. https://www.ritualproductions.net/ https://drug-cult.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/drugcult
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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.
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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.
