HAUNT - Mind Freeze Shadow Kingdom Records I've been known to give people second chances and occasionally even a third chance. That's where HAUNT comes in. I was not a fan of their two previous full lengths. Then again I was not a fan of Trevor William Church's other band BEASTMAKER. Are they still around? Be that as it may since I like bands that conjure up 80's metal memories, I figured one more chance couldn't hurt. This is the third full length release by HAUNT. Yeah they pump stuff out pretty quick. If you count their short form releases then this is their eighth release in three years. Why didn't I like them before (when everyone and their brother did)? Well because there was better sounding 80's metal copycats out there. What won me over to this one is the second cut off of this album, "Hearts on Fire". Which is a cool catchy melodic cut with some edge to it. Let's be honest here, HAUNT have a formula and it works on this one. Before it just seemed too forced and generic. Now they're just generic with simplistic riffs, borrowed Jake E. Lee solos and vocals which at times remind me of post Bark at the Moon Ozzy.
THE OSEDAX - Meridians Self Released Full disclosure here, I walked out on the last Virginia band I saw who mixed PINK FLOYD prog with NEUROSIS sludge metal. That was over a year ago. Honestly I think the concept has been so played out that it's lost any unique points of interest as if it had any to start with. Which is a horrible way to start a review by a band who is doing the exact same thing. On that note welcome to SFM 666.
What we have here is the third full length by Virginia's THE OSEDAX. It took a second listen and actually reading the promo info to realize their's a concept behind this release as well as the band's name or namesake if you prefer. They're named after a deep bottom feeding sea worm. So yeah sound-wise I get it.
This album features four long cuts and to be this type of extreme metal act you need the time. Normally I don't go cut by cut reviewing but in this band's case it's a must. The first track, "Often" is this massive wake of post sludge NEUROSIS worshiping sludge that sounds really good. We're talking waves of guitar riffage with caustic vocals and exceptional drumming. Great song even after eleven minutes. Next comes the fun part, "Beacon /Ox Eye" is a two part epic. The first, "Beacon" gives off a synthesizer driven, guitar touching early 70's PINK FLOYD vibe as if you the listener were under water, a lot of water as in the bottom of the ocean. Then the guitar feedback hits, there's blackened caustic screaming and a riff style that's reminiscent of 90's post metal/post HC generic stuff (to put it nicely). Next up it's "White Horse/ Tempest" otherwise known as if you first don't succeed try again. The "White Horse" part is another synthesizer piece which has an eerie style to it giving one the feeling of (wait for it) yeah the deep ocean depths. Somewhere in England Richard Wright of PINK FLOYD is going "didn't I write this in 1970?" Which brings us to "Tempest", a thoroughly good example of super heavy and thunderous sludgey NEUROSIS worship. The final track and the shortest "Ratlines" is deep. Listening to this I felt like sitting on the ocean floor encased in a deep sea diving suit. Ya know with that big fuckin helmet. And waiting for my air to die out. It's a total bass and synth cut aka: an outro. Which brings this to my end and opinion.
THE OSEDAX do a lot of things that are cool on this release. Then again there's some portions which sank. I kept on thinking of myself sitting in a room waiting while my significant other (to be PC about it) was part of some transcendental yoga meditation session. After four to five minutes I toss a grenade in there. So what happens, destructiveness and carnage but then that's what you expect. Pattern: proggy stuff then very good sludge metal, so hey you might like it. https://theosedax.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheOsedax
Back in 1985 I was in the U.S. Army stationed down at Fort Bragg, NC. I made some friends who were also into extreme music there and we would drive up to Raleigh to hang out and see some bands on weekends. The people I was hanging out with had come to town many times before. On my first visit I met some locals in the scene. I asked one guy who were the cool local bands. He said the BAD CHECKS and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. In 1987 when I got out of the military I decided to make Raleigh, NC my new home. I was originally from up North but hey I wanted to start a new life and here it was. I think from 1986 to 1988 I must have seen CORROSION OF CONFORMITY at least two dozen times. I partied at their fuckin house. Every time a well known Punk or Hardcore act played the Brewery (a local club) it would be COC opening up. I loved their early stuff especially the Animosity LP which I will always call a classic. They put this town on the map because they were huge in the underground hardcore scene. Then they were cited as one of the first "crossover" bands. I was never keen on that genre term. Anyways I was never a fan of their music after that era. But in 2012 when the band got back into the three piece line-up and put out the self titled album. I thought that release was fuckin fantastic. But they went back to the four piece thing. I was like well best of luck to ya. So I was at work tonight and 11:15 a guy I work with comes in the kitchen and asks me if I know a band called CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. I was like well yeah they're the biggest band from Raleigh. So he tells me that their drummer died. And I was like Reed's dead, no fucking way. The guy went on to tell me, while reading off of his phone, yeah CORROSION OF CONFORMITY drummer Reed Mullin dies at 53. My last words to him were "that sucks". Honestly I was never a friend to Reed Mullin. Basically it was like the local scene familiarity. You know one another but you're not close. I'd bump into him at record stores, shows and maybe at the convenience store. And always it was "Hey Reed how ya doing?" I thought he was always a nice guy. I never heard a bad word said about him. I still don't know the details of his passing. I read one article which did reveal some things that I don't believe are worth talking about. Reed Mullin was an amazing talented musician who helped create over thirty years of great fuckin extreme music. I'm sure whenever he'd see photos of young new bands with one of the members sporting a COC shirt he got a kick out of it. There's a lot of modern bands who cite CORROSION OF CONFORMITY as an influence. And from someone like me who writes about this music, yeah it's true. So as I was standing on my back deck a few minutes ago having a smoke. I thought that it was very quiet in town tonight. We the people (musicians and fans) of the Raleigh music scene lost one of our own. So it's quiet. Carry on Reed, you'll be missed but never forgotten.
VOFA - Self Titled Funere I can honestly say that I'm not a musical connoisseur of Icelandic extreme music. Over the years I've heard some black metal, punk rock as well as experimental stuff. So yeah every once in a while something from there will cross my path that interests me. Here's something that I found to be alluring as in sounding familiar. This is the debut release by VOFA, a band from Iceland whose members chose to keep their identity's secret. But the promo info does shine some light in that the band is made up of musicians who've been part of the local music scene (from various genres) over many years. Since the music here is well executed I think that's obvious. Basically what you have here is a bunch of musicians coming together to create a three song funeral doom album. That's where the familiar part comes in. Now if you're into that genre and I'm friends with quite a few who are. Then this is something worth checking out. The three cuts on here are long, all a little over twelve minutes in length. No song titles it's just roman numeral designations for one, two and three. The music has that miserable melancholy feel as well as crushing pain and sorrow aspects. Yes you've heard it all before but for fans of funeral doom hey one more album of it won't kill ya. https://funere.bandcamp.com/ https://funere.bandcamp.com/album/vofa https://www.facebook.com/VofaDoom/
EVADNE - Dethroned Of Our Souls compilation Funere This is my first time hearing of EVADNE. Just for the record they're a Spanish death doom act who have been around for quite a few years. They've been putting out releases since 2007, which includes three full lengths and an EP. What we have here is a compilation release of remixed/remastered songs, a live track and the band’s original demo. Personally it all sounds like a gift to this band's long time fans which is cool as far as comps go. But for you the new listener there's enough intrigue in this to warrant a great place to start. For instance if you're a fan of doom that lies in the realm of MY DYING BRIDE and SWALLOW THE SUN then you should be knocking people over in order to get this. What this band provides is elegance with melodic keyboard interludes, heavy and savage power chords, deep baritone bestial vocals or whispered spoken word parts. It's a 3 AM type of release where you're (high or drunk) and wanting some emotional attachment to some heavy fuckin music which you find familiar. EVADNE are not breaking new ground on the whole melodic/progressive death doom and gloom genre. But when it comes to this genre we really don't care as long as the songs are cool and they invoke the feelings we want. That's why we play the same releases all the time. So here's a new one to play and enjoy to the hilt. https://funere.bandcamp.com/ https://funere.bandcamp.com/album/dethroned-of-our-souls https://www.facebook.com/EvadneOfficial
HAZZERD - Delirium M-Theory Audio I believe the whole reason why you had this explosion of bands producing blackened thrash/speed metal over the past 3 or 4 years is based on lack of talent as well as no respect to the past. It was just easy to create on a generic scale which is kinda why I partly made fun it. It's the same reason why by the late 80's Hardcore became a generic joke. To go further back over a decade ago (2007-08) you had the thrash revival which I liked at first especially seeing the bands in concert and their debut albums were not bad. But I never fooled myself into thinking it was anything more than simple imitation. And of course it didn't last despite eventually having some major label support behind it. Of course there's still plenty of old school acts pumping out decent enough stuff reminiscent of their past glory. But for a new thrash act to come out these days you either have to have a gimmick, which really doesn't last too long, or damm good raw talent to grab some attention especially from your's truly. Canada's HAZZERD has that talent as well as a respect for metal's pre-thrash era. On this the band's second album they do display very quickly some mighty shredding skills which conjure up some memories of early West Coast thrash as well as Euro power metal soloing. There's a lot of modern technical playing going on here as well nods to some nwobhm galloping riffing. OK let's drop the word MAIDEN-esque when it comes to that last part. There's nothing wrong with that especially when their bass player shines once in a while instead of just keeping time. Another cool thing are these ten cuts, the last one an outro, do not use repetitive riffs or throwaway tracks to fill time. The musical part of the song structures are well written. As far as the lyrical notes it's social observations which at this point in my life I just don't give a fuck about. Everyone has their own opinion. The vocals, sung by their drummer, are of that angry screech type which works perfect for this music. As far as negatives go well that goes by personal taste. I like thrash production to have a raw power beefy sound. But these guys are slightly more into the technical edge so there you go. I also hate click drums because it sounds like someone pecking away on a typewriter. Other than that I think HAZZERD is a modern thrash band which knows how to stand out amongts the crowd of imitators. https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/ https://hazzerdthrash.bandcamp.com/album/delirium https://www.facebook.com/HazzerdThrash
HYPERIA - Insanitorium Sliptrick Records So I went through early January writing about some cool music and then I go though twenty average promos for two weeks. Finally I found something that's not only interesting but damm good. HYPERIA are far beyond the trappings of genre recognition. The tagline on this Canadian five piece act is thrash and death metal. OK fine I'll go with that but they have something which goes beyond that limit. Musically they are walking a razor thin line between thrash and melodic death metal. But the kicker with their style is that it's not relying on old school familiarity or new school generic theatrics. Although I think they could easily move on to a realm of popularity which will forgo what I write about. For example you've got some trudging riffs with knife like guitar soloing. I mean seriously the guitar work on here slays.
Add to that a rhythm section that fires along with a fury which veteran bands only remember how it was. Finally there's the vocals by Marlee Ryley. To say here singing is versatile might be limited. On this release she's a fuckin harpie, a death metal gruff bitch, a screeching witch and a power metal Valkyrie. Where the hell did she come from? Oh yeah Canada. Add to it all the great cover art work by Andrei Bouzikov, yeah I'm a fan, and you've got a fantastic release. Yes I love the vocals but these guitarists Colin Ryley and David Kupisz, who also add backing vocals, are fuckin amazing. Whoever produced this fucker captured this band's essence perfectly. CANADA has just lost a legend which is sad because I loved that band growing up. HYPERIA is part of that great nation's new legacy of greatness.
COLOSSO - Apocalypse EP Transcending Obscurity Records So who's all up for some death metal dedicated to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Let's see a show of hands. OK everybody except that hipster dude in the back. Fine, security get that loser out of here while the rest of us enjoy something cool. Seriously what is not cool about the Christian foretelling of Revelations fueled via death metal? As I always say, to me doing SFM666 is an education as opposed to I being some harbinger of metal knowledge dictatorship. Case in point, here we have COLOSSO from Portugal who've been around for almost a decade. They have four previously released full lengths out as well as a handful of EPs. Sorry guys I'm not perfect. But I did find this release of yours to be truly interesting. Basically, on this release, COLOSSO is founding member Max Tome (guitars, keyboards and vocalist.) with a drummer and bassist performing the music while guest vocalists sing on 3 tracks. Tome sings on one cut. Now if you are an aficionado on the Portuguese metal underground then you might be familar with these individuals. They are Guilherme Henriques of the bands OAK and GAEREA. There's also Diogo Santana of ANALEPSY and Sergio Afonso of BLEEDING DISPLAY. Musically this is not over the top unique but very interesting which will hold you. The opener "Pestilence" is the longest cut on here logging in at just over eight minutes. Basically a death doom scenario with an amazing atmospheric base. The chiming guitar soloing shines. Guilherme Henriques of the band OAK does the vocals which are fully bestial. Sergio Afonso, of BLEEDING DISPLAY does the vocals on "War" which is basic brutal DM singing. The music starts out brute forceful at first then leads into a more melodic DM style. Max Tome takes on vocal duties for "Death" and it's my favorite cut on this release. He's got this airy clean vocal set over a mostly aggressive and progressive death metal riff push. Which also allows in this melodic and yet doom painful outro. Last cut, "Famine" is sung by Diogo Santana of ANALEPSY. Mainly it's brutal DM vocals sung over a melodic death doom back beat. Here's where the headbanging will commence. A decent way to end an engaging release.
MEDIUM - Self Titled Transcending Obscurity Records MEDIUM are a fairly new band outta Argentina. The band originally put this out themselves in 2018. So of course the good people at Transcending Obscurity Records took notice and released it now. Hell maybe the band has something new in the works and this is a good primer for that. Who knows? Now the tagline on this is grindcore/crust. After listening to this I can say that none of these seven songs sound grindcore. As far as the crust term goes. Well regular readers of SFM666, and frankly who isn't, will know that I don't adhere to that term because the term is a reference to being influenced by the English hardcore act DISCHARGE. As well as the term used by anarcho punks back in the late 80's who wanted to separate themselves from the hardcore punk scene over politics.
If anything MEDIUM come across as a mix of death thrash and decent hardcore which might be a nod to the 90's. There's also some subtle DECEASED influence which I think is cool as fuck. The vocals have that bloody death thrash screamed style which you can never get enough of. A lot of these cuts have some galloping rhythms with added dynamic drumming that gives you that metal rush. The guitar soloing is not stand out but flows with the riffage. In the end this is an enjoyable release. This band cannot be pigeonholed by genre taglines. They're fuckin Metal and that's why we need bands like MEDIUM more than ever. I'm looking forward to hearing them again. https://tometal.com/ https://mediumgrind.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/7Medium
CIMINERO - Subterranean Awakening Self Released OK people it's time to break out the Spencer's Gifts' lava lamp, those plastic skulls you bought at the Halloween store and any arcane crap you picked up at Jinx Dawson's yard sale. It's time for some female fronted occult doom. I'm not making light of the genre. It's just that over the past decade I've run across many of these types of bands. The formula is simple so how you work with it makes it decent or boring. This year's newest entry into the rites of darkness is CIMINERO a four piece act from Finland but their vocalist, Valentina Vigato, is Italian. I'll give props to their singer for not using that generic airy waif-like chanting vocal style. In fact Vigato is more monotone doomish in style. Vocally she reminds me, to a point, of Farida Lemouchi from the now defunct Dutch occult doom band The DEVIL'S BLOOD. In fact musically this comes across more like in the vein of DEVIL'S BLOOD with some (once again) non generic package of previous paths to the letter. There's a total 70's vibe of rockin blues and that touch of psych which is not over done. Some cool riff playing as well as soloing that ends up being the dynamic of many songs. This is a good late night listen with plenty of classic style doom and atmosphere which let's the vocals shine, actually echo out throughout this house. Welcome to occultism in Doom 2020 but in all honesty this is cool but lacks a personal standout approach by this band. Then again this is just a debut so who knows but hey great album cover art work. https://ciminero.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/cimineroband/
BONEHAMMER - Black Crust Invasion EP Awakening Records Well my first reaction to this was there's eleven songs on here. It's not a grindcore release and it's almost thirty minutes in length. So how is this an EP again? Hailing from the great nation of Argentina, where I've heard some great stuff from over the decades, we have a three piece called BONEHAMMER who pretty much do what the title of this debut EP says.
This release falls under the banner of Scumfeast likable material because of a number of factors. First off the vocals are cool as fuck. The lead ones are taken over by bassist Odnufuck (now that's a cool Metal name) who has this deep, brunt singing voice. Then you have backing vocals by guitarist Onahiram who sounds like a fucking enraged satanic banshee. The vocal trade offs run throughout this release. Onahiram also sings lead on "Victims of War". As far as the music goes it is everything the title suggests and more. Surprisingly a lot of these songs are built around old school metal and hardcore style riffing. Toss in some thrash touches for good measure but this is more Punk infused Metal then say generic blackened thrash. Sound-wise this is low fi to the tits. Hell they even throw in some doom for good measure on "Invocation". There's also some great lead work forced in at times which is beyond cool. As well as some sick fucking blues. It's only mid January and I'm already picking year end favorites. This one is a winner in my scumfuck book. They even cover MOTORHEAD's "March or Die" for good measure. Why this is not on Hells Headbangers is a mystery. But I'll bet ya it'll be in their distro catalog. https://www.facebook.com/AwakeningRecordsCN/ https://bonehammerblackcrust.bandcamp.com/releases https://www.facebook.com/Bonehammer-114936406534038/
GOBLINSMOKER - A Throne in Haze A World Ablaze Sludgelord Records Here we have the second part of the Toad King trilogy by England's blackened stoner/sludge act GOBLINSMOKER. Back in 2018 I reviewed this band's debut EP, Toad King. While that three song outing was a fuzzy and ugly piece of work which crawled along at a pace that would've tired out a turtle. For this new one they've just doubled down on the concept. A Throne in Haze A World Ablaze continues to tell the story of the Toad King. Think of it as Tolkien being dragged through a hellish Lovecraftian nightmare of black mire and slime. The Toad King is the discontented ruler of the goblins. Their forest realm is the place where goblin subjects willingly sacrifice themselves to be smoked by their King. As much as the stoner doom aspect is being projected. I doubt the burning of putrid goblin carcasses smells like sweet Hashish. Musically GOBLINSMOKER, now a three piece act, still stand in that traditional English style of stoner doom and sludge. No need to name drop any of their peers since you probably get the idea. Although the blackened rasp vocals do give it a filthy edge over these, once again, three tracks.
Neil Peart RIP I don't do obituaries although at my age as well as my love of the music I grew up with maybe I should. Neil Peart, the drummer of RUSH, passed away the other day at the age of 67. This was after a three and a half year battle with brain cancer also known as Glioblastoma. It's definitely a sad loss. If you were a kid growing up with music in the 1970's then you were a RUSH fan. I was lucky to have seen them three times back in the day. I'll get to that later. But if you were a fan back then you had a copy of RUSH's 2112 album. You also had their first live album, All the World's a Stage, because you were too young to have seen em in 1976. You would've been really cool and smart to have their first three albums; The Self Titled debut, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel.
Peart's first album with RUSH was on Fly By Night. It is still one of my favorite RUSH albums. Sure 2112 is the opus but on Fly By Night Neil Peart took a decent hard rock act to new levels with his percussion work as well as being a lyricist who delved into the whole fantasy rock style. There were a lot of great drummers in the 70's. Peart expanded the role as a drummer in hard rock and probably helped create prog metal as we know it today.
The first time I saw RUSH was on the A Farewell To Kings tour and Peart had that huge drum kit set up he was famous for. This was the time when they went from being a great hard rock band to a more progressive rock act. Early on Peart's contributions to the songs were to take something decent to higher levels. now they had some decent commercial songs worthy of radio plus some deep cuts which rocked.
The second time I saw RUSH was around the era of Hemispheres and Permanent Waves. This was when they were all radio friendly but still cool songs. The last time I saw em was on their Moving Pictures tour. That was probably when they were at the height career wise. Not the greatest fan of that album, great show in Philly. After that I kinda left RUSH as far as a huge fan. They put out some good stuff but I moved on. So with that said I leave you with a song from one of my favorite RUSH albums. Trust me it was tough to pick one song but this does fit the circumstances. Neil Peart you will be missed. Well, I can see what you mean It just takes me longer And I can feel what you feel It just makes you stronger I know, I know, I know Oh, the feeling grows I see, I see, I see It's got to be You can take me for a little while You can take me, you can make me smile in the end Well, I can do what you do You just do it better And I can cry like you cry It just makes me sadder Well, I can shine like you shine It doesn't make me brighter But if I think like you think
IMIPOLEX - Order of The Epimethean Flame Self Released / Black Spark Records
January release reviews are always cool especially when there's a Wolf Moon in the sky. Which there is tonight as I write this piece. Ya know while doing this blog it's all about extreme music, mostly metal. And of course I like metal of various genres but it's always cool when a band/act combines the best of multiple genres. In this band's case it's blackened death and doom. In the end it's cold, cruel and miserably good. IMIPOLEX is a four piece act outta Portland, Maine. A place where you wouldn't say it's inhospitable but yeah it's gets frosty up there in the Winter. On this their debut full length the band comes out with five lengthy sub zero cuts of icy extremism that covers a number of bases. I would not be wrong to say these guys like some DISSECTION. There's riffs on a few cuts that remind me of those old Swedes. But this is far from a cut and paste homage to Scandinavian black metal of the past.
This band finds ways, many ways to create song structures that are just inviting as well as repulsive in a blackened way. The first two cuts are good. The second one, "Auspices", is where a subtle DISSECTION influence in the riffs comes out. But then when the third cut "Battleslain" commences we'll treated to a whole new reckoning. The drum work becomes an arsenal of explosiveness. The leads come full on with icy stabs and dreamy atmospheric touches. Riffs are solid blackened punishment. But the vocals have a unique touch as in imagining what Martin van Drunen would be like singing black metal. The last two cuts, "Epitapheum" and "Anamnesis" are both over ten minute epics. The former is a trudging death doom mover which carries you along it's jagged road until the atmospheric leads chime in mid way through. From that point on there's almost a DRUDKH blackened fury send off that carries this song to it's end. The latter one starts off with some weird psych touches which develops into a cavernous vocal of pain in doom aesthetics. The music takes on a semi jazz/progressive rock aspect with the drum and bass work. The cut moves back into the tortured blackened realm. In the end, and ya know you don't want it to end. I found my first favorite album of 2020. IMIPOLEX on this their debut full length are just captivating. Originally this is a Fall of 2019 self release but in a few months it's coming out on a label. That's a good enough reason for slapping a best of 2020 label on to it. https://imipolex.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/Imipolex/
NECROCHAOS - Crawling Through Cadavers EP Gods of War Productions This ain't your mother's German death metal. NECROCHAOS is a one man diabolical act. The one man being multi-instrumentalist Eugen Kohl. This guy has been behind a slew of one man projects over the recent years including CRYPT WITCH, DEATH CARRIER and DONARHALL to name a few.
This originally was a three song demo from 2019. But Gods of War Productions latched onto it and attached two more cuts to make it a five song release. To me that's an EP but hey you can argue amongst yourselves about that. Musically this sits in that modern well previously done by HOODED MENACE and PORTAL. We're talking cavernous bestial vocals maybe recorded somewhere in the black forest or inside the turret of an old Panzer tank. I'm just guessing. You've got some exceptionally aggressive riffs that push the fast and doom cycles.
In the end it's good. I'm surprised that there was no searing leads to slice through the death doom. As an EP it's decent. If this went on as a full length I'd be bored after a while. I mean this style of death doom has been so overplayed in recent years.
OATH OF CRUELTY - Summary Execution at Dawn Dark Descent Records I should do a January listing of all the great albums that I missed at the end of the previous year because I'm so fuckin busy in December. This here is the debut full length by this Texas extreme metal act. The tagline on this is death thrash and yeah it's all of that. But if you think about it, a spiked gauntlet here, a cool thrash riff there, some blast beats and a dive bomb solo and you say blackened thrash as well. Well you've gotta like a band who start their album off with a song titled "Pounding Hooves of Shrapnel". Otherwise musically this is quite technical is respects to the drum work pounding in sync with the riffs as well as the vocals. There's an upfront destructive pummeling mixed with some decent melodies and total black metal worship from a bygone era. The solos are scythe like slices cutting through the mania. OATH OF CRUELTY are some accomplished musicians with a love of the past which comes across so much on this album. Whether it's the Tom G. Warrior type grunts, blackened throat vocals, some SLAYER like riffs and the Teutonic thrash drum work which also borders on modern black metal powerhouse pounding, yeah it's controlled chaos at it's finest. http://www.darkdescentrecords.com/ https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/summary-execution-at-dawn https://www.facebook.com/OathOfCruelty
SCUMFEAST METAL's FAVORITE RELEASES OF 2019 Well it's the beginning of 2020 which means I give you MY list of favorite releases and things from the year before. Now for a while I would switch up the style of the list year after year. I use to do things by genre simply because I listened to so much great material. But, especially in 2019, I'm not reviewing 300 plus releases anymore. Basically I'm concentrating on the good stuff that comes in for review or what I purchase. Now as always I use the term FAVORITES because that's what these releases are. As for the term BEST well these releases are all great to ME equally. So these listings are not really in order of best to not so best. Although I will say the first twenty in my top forty are close to an order. I had over forty chosen as favorites so three had to get left off the list.
If you're wondering why YOUR favorites are not on this list well maybe I didn't hear them this year. Then again I did and heard something better. Something else I considered this year was that this is SCUMFEAST METAL and if you read my stuff you know I like the sick twisted extreme metal out there. Also I like bands who remind me of the past. Nothing against new stuff but I am who I am. Either way here you go. SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2019 1) MAYHEM - Daemon (Century Media Records) Finally MAYHEM took strong influences from their past and retrofitted them to modern audiences. 2) CANDLEMASS - The Door to Doom (Napalm Records) The return of Johan Langquist on vocals. The return to Doom done to perfection from these Swedes. 3) KAMPFAR - Ofidians Manifest (Indie Recordings) One of my favorite Norwegian black metal bands over the past fuckin twenty years comes forth with an astonishing release that pushes boundaries for them and yet keeps things within the temple. 4) CRYPT SERMON - The Ruins of Fading Light (Dark Descent Records) Epic Doom from Philly, PA that honors the past as well as looks toward the future. 5) CURSE OF DENIAL - Coming For Your Soul (Redefining Darkness Records) Blackened Death from Middle America but with so much more extreme metal influences it's gonna break your neck. 6) SMOULDER - Times of Obscene Evil and Wild Daring (Cruz del Sur Music) Huge surprise act of the year. This Canadian band created a debut full length that captures the old epic fantasy metal style with gutsy female vocals. 7) SAINT VITUS - Self Titled (Season of Mist) Another long time band brings back an old singer and magic commences. On this their ninth album it's the return of Scott Reagers. 8) DEIVOS - Casus Belli (Selfmadegod Records) Brutal Polish Death Metal done right. DEIVOS has always been overshadowed by the fellow DM peers in their nation's scene. Not this time around. 9) PAGANIZER - The Tower of the Morbid (Transcending Obscurity Records) Rogga Johansson has been carrying the battle flag of Swedish Death Metal for decades now in various musical projects. It's about time his longstanding band, PAGANIZER, got their do. I like my old school death metal and this album is just so damm good. 10) TWISTED TOWER DIRE - Wars in the Unknown (No Remorse Records) If you're a fan of true metal, US power metal or whatever you want to call it jerky then Wars in the Unknown is going to be one of the greatest albums you'll hear in 2019. 11) MIDNIGHT PRIEST - Aggressive Hauntings (Metal on Metal Records) Imagine KING DIAMOND with a little Painkiller era PRIEST thrown in. Well that's what this Portuguese band does with the amazing Lex Thunder on vocals. 12) NILE - Vile Nilotic Rites (Nuclear Blast) New vocalist, a few changes within direction and their best album in years. 13) THE END A.D. - Badlands (Fastball Music) Female fronted punk metal veteran four piece out of Philadelphia, PA who bring the goods. 14) POSSESSED - Revelations of Oblivion (Nuclear Blast) Three decades was worth the wait to get it right. POSSESSED's comeback release is old school DM with a fresh modern attack. 15) RIBSPREADER - Crawl And Slither (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) Another great Rogga Johansson Swedish Death Metal act. If you still crave Like an Ever Flowing Stream, Into the Grave or Left Hand Path then here you go. 16) 1349 - The Infernal Pathway (Season of Mist) Another Norwegian Black Metal legend returns to prominence. Not another Hellfire but still way better than their experimental stuff over the past few years. 17) WRAITH - Absolute Power (Redefining Darkness Records) As the saying goes "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". In this Indiana band's case it's their blackened speed metal style which reminds ya of MIDNIGHT and TOXIC HOLOCAUST. Great stuff. 18) EXUMER - Hostile Defiance (Metal Blade Records) Germany's SLAYER wannabees have put out the best thrash album you'll blast in 2019. 19) USURPER - Lords of the Permafrost (Soulseller Records) One of America's greatest metal acts is back, just as good as ever and what the young kids don't know us older folks understand. Wooooooooooo! 20) SAVAGE MASTER - Myth, Magic and Steel (Shadow Kingdom Records) Well for starters this is the album cover of the year. Secondly the band proves they're not a one trick pony on this their third full length.
21) DETHEROUS - Hacked to Death (Redefining Darkness Records) This is what death thrash is supposed to be. 22) SLOMATICS - Canyons (Black Bow Records) Ireland's premiere sludgey doom act (who I've always considered to be an Irish version of YOB) puts out a progressive yet sludge driven masterpiece. 23) MEAN MACHINE - Rock 'n' Roll Up Your Ass (Fighter Records) A throwback to the 1990's. This Spanish three piece invokes memories of MOTORHEAD and the HELLACOPTERS. This is fuckin great. 24) PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT - Self Titled (Rising Nemesis Records) Yeah this one is up here to piss off the hipsters. But still this Dutch brutal death metal act's sixth full length is damm good. 25) OVERKILL - The Wings of War (Nuclear Blast) This is a better than just being a great release by New Jersey's best metal band. But then of course it is because (WARNING BIAS OPINION AHEAD) OVERKILL is the Greatest Thrash band from the East Coast. They blew away their contemporaries from across the Hudson River back in the day. Presently OVERKILL are still, STILL putting out great fuckin thrash and those other guys are on That Metal Show or appearing in VH1 metal memories documentaries. I'll still take this over that other shit any day.
26) KRYPTS - Cadaver Circulation (Dark Descent Records) Modern Finnish Death Doom with hints of the past. 27) ROGGA JOHANSSON - Entrance to the Otherwhere (Transcending Obscurity Records) This is one release which sat on the fence for being included in my year's favorites. It's the third Rogga Johansson release in my favorites because it's just so infectious. Plenty of Swede Death, hardcore influence and death doom. 28) VHS - We're Gonna Need Some Bigger Riffs (Horror Pain Gore Death Records) VHS make babies cry and hipsters puke. Basically the band play gore obsessed punk/grind with some death metal influence. What's not to love about that. 29) GORGON - Elegy (Dusktone) A symphonic death metal act from France that draws you in excitement and atmosphere galore. 30) CULT OF SORROW - Invocation of the Lucifer (Black Doomba Records) SAB-4 worship done right with some look toward the future. 31) ELBOW DEEP - Bodily Fluids (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) This release is just offensive enough and yet funny to keep the average non-politically correct type interested. This is pure Scumfeast worthy. 32) CANNABIS CORPSE - Nug So Vile (Season of Mist) Another dose of dope death metal. Still they can do no wrong and have not become borring. 33) SKULLSMASHER - Rocket Hammer Brian Surgery (Selfmadegod Records) Andrew Lee of RIPPED TO SHREDS channels early NAPALM DEATH and REPULSION to perfection. 34) SARKE - Gastwerso (Indie Recordings) Gastwerso is the culmination of everything great that this act has done previously. 35) ILLIMITABLE DOLOR - Leaden Light (Transcending Obscurity Records) This Australian band has put out some of the most beautiful sounding and engaging death doom that their peers have lost sight off. 36) WINDSWEPT - The Onlooker (Season of Mist) Another side project by DRUDKH 's main man, Roman Sayenko, who continues to produce great Ukrainian black metal. 37) VIRCOLAC - Masque (Dark Descent Records) This release proves that Ireland is known for damm good death metal. 38) TAR PIT - Tomb Of Doom (Sludgelord Records) Sludgey doom with a love for 70's hard fuckin rock. 39) FRENZY - Blind Justice Underground Power Records One of those huge surprises of the year. Full on 80's metal worship with an amazing vocalist. 40) GRAVE VIOLATOR - Back To The Cult (Reaper Metal Productions) Non generic blackened thrash from Finland, hell yeah you won't be bored. SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE COMPILATIONS OF 2019 OK I had a lot of compilations to check out in 2019, a dozen at least. And for me these four are my absolute favorites. If you're into the extreme then you really need to check out these comps. VESICATION - Total Fecall (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) Canadian filth mongers who worship at the altar of IMPETIGO as well as a few other less then glorious brutal death metal acts.
SKUZ - Death Mince Discography Compilation (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) This compilation is a MUST HAVE for sick fucks who crave CIANIDE and MORTICIAN kinda stuff. FUNERAL WINDS - The Unheavenly Saviour (Necromanteion) Consider this one of the best Dutch BM releases from the early nineties coming out today. Nuff Said. SLASHING DEATH - Off compilation (Selfmadegod Records) Polish grindcore from the late 80's up to 1990. Oh yeah you know it's good. SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE REISSUES OF 2019 I picked up a bunch of reissues in 2019. Most of em are 70's hard rock or punk stuff. A bunch of metal related stuff came in for review but most was of mainstream metal. The releases I'm showcasing here are more obscure and worthy of your attention. BURIAL - Relinquished Souls Reissue (Redefining Darkness Records) This one right here is a Dutch death metal masterpiece from 1993 and that's not a boast. EFFIGY - MCMXCII Darkest Day reissue (Redefining Darkness Records) As far as EFFIGY goes, they were a death metal band from Kentucky who had two members who later were part of ABOMINANT and put out this demo in 1992.
TORPEDO - Rocking Hard Compilation (Dying Victims Productions) 80's style speed metal from a few years back as a side project of demos. SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE EPS OF 2019 Normally I don't focus much on EPs or any short form releases. But 2019 was a year where I got inundated by these short form releases which blew me the fuck away. Here's a bunch which are my favorites from 2019. 1) FATHER BEFOULED - Holy Rotten Blood EP (Dark Descent Records) They sit upon an old school death metal throne built with their own muscle. Hell fuckin yeah this is great. 2) WALKING CORPSE - Self Titled EP (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions) Yes Gothenburg, your latest non-mellow extreme act is a death grind powerhouse. 3) CEPALUSS - Death Fantasies Rise EP (Self Released) One man band from Finland with a release that slices, dices, saute's, grills and damm well grinds it up for every DM listener to enjoy.
4) BAT - Axestasy EP (Hells Headbangers Records) Over the years I've become a bigger fan of the side projects by the members of MUNICIPAL WASTE than their day job band. Case in point here, Ryan Waste's BAT is speed metal, NWOBHM and classic 80's metal all in one.
5) HELLRIPPER - Black Arts & Alchemy EP (Reaper Metal Productions) Scottish a one man blackened thrash/speed metal act that just kicks ass. 6) LVCIFYRE - Sacrament EP (Dark Descent Records) LVCIFYRE are one of many bands out there who've taken the whole atmospheric / experimental side of blackened death metal to the hilt of their own creative inspiration.
SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE LIVE ALBUM OF 2019 ANTISEEN - Live in Japan (Mystery School Records) Granted nothing beats seeing ANTISEEN live in person but there's been so many great live in Japan albums over the decades. So they now have one too. SCUMFEAST METAL 666 FAVORITE LABELS IN 2019 A favorite label to me is one where most of my favorite releases come from during the year. I pretty much had a three was tie. So I just looked back on some other things and here you go. 1) Horror Pain Gore Death Productions 2) Redifining Darkness Records 3) Dark Descent Records HOTTEST THING IN METAL 2019
This was easy, SAVAGE MASTER.
Saw them in May for the first time. I missed a previous show a year or two before. Now I was at some great shows in 2019 but SAVAGE MASTER was the band I was so stoked to see. Also it's great to finally see them being recognized by others in the Metal media. Bout damm time after being snubbed for the past few years. Looking forward to seeing them (hopefully) again in 2020. WORST THING IN METAL 2019 Cancer Culture slithering into Metal Whether it's by groups or certain individuals carrying their water for them in the media. It's these people who are against freedom of choice, freedom of speech and freedom of thought. Look if you don't like a band for whatever reason than fine don't go see em, don't buy their releases. That is your right and you can have your opinion. What you can't have is your own way and cancel out everything you don't like. Thankfully there are more fans of metal that have common sense who don't give a flying fuck about you pussies. Lets go 2020 in METAL.
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Attention
In Jan. 2020 some not so nice person(s), who obviously don't care for Metal, decided to complain to a social media platform about something I posted. That got me banned from posting links there under the former blog title Scumfeast Metal 666. Fine I just changed the name to what you see now. Hey I'm still here and, under our present day situation, will be more extreme then before.
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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.
