HOODED MENACE - The Tritonus Bell review

 

HOODED MENACE - The Tritonus Bell

Season of Mist

Well if you thought this Finnish death doom act was channeling their inner early MY DYING BRIDE respect on their last full length, Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, from 2018 then you're gonna love this one. As I've said before I have been a fan of their's since 2010's Never Cross the Dead. And with that said I was a hard sell when they started changing their sound as well as band members. But in the end I love the direction they have gone. 

With that said imagine a band that comes away sounding like MY DYING BRIDE, KATATONIA and KING DIAMOND minus the high pitched vocals? It helps having Andy LaRocque as a producer for that latter influence. Oh yeah and it still keeps a partial amount of their past death doom destructive quality. So the key to this new HOODED MENACE album is a balance as well as an adventurous nature to their song craft.

The Tritonus Bell is a perfect example of extreme metal's beauty and bestial method. The harsh and heavy riffs plus menacing cave beast vocals are there to punish. While melodies thick with atmosphere and majestic guitar soloing flutters in and out. Then all of that changes sides to bring about more excitement. All in all a perfect listening pleasure by these Finns.

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hoodedmenace.bandcamp.com/

UNLEASHED - No Sign of Life review

 

UNLEASHED - No Sign of Life

Napalm Records

So this is the fourteenth full length by Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED. Something else which is noteworthy, this line-up has lasted since 1995. That's not shabby if you ask me. Now I have to openly admit my bias. I'm a big fan of these Swedes. How big a fan you ask? Well I think all of their full lengths are good with a few I'd call fucking great. Also their last one, The Hunt for White Christ, from 2018 was amazing. 

So obviously to me at least UNLEASHED are in no way showing signs of letting up. And here we are in 2021 with their latest which I'm very happy with. First off I like how the title of this one, No Sign of Life, gives a thirty year salute to the band's debut Where No Life Dwells from 1991. Next up the cover art is magnificent.

Of course most important is the music. So on here as with recent past releases by the band their overall sound is generally a mixture of aggressive Swede Death with a touch of melody and some added death n roll. All in all it's just one of those amazing listen releases. Johnny Hedlund always found ways to keep UNLEASHED sounding relevant as opposed to his three other Swedish DM peers. 

 

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://unleashed.bandcamp.com/

BEWITCHER – Cursed Be Thy Kingdom

 

BEWITCHER – Cursed Be Thy Kingdom

Century Media Records

Third album here by Portland, Oregon's BEWITCHER and some obvious changes have taken place since I first got into em years ago. First off they jumped from Shadow Kingdom Records to big time Century Media. Secondly they've got a new drummer in Aris Wales. After that not much has changed for this three piece blackened speed metal act. OK that last part is bullshit. 

This third full length by BEWITCHER is pretty much perfect. If you've been a fan of their two early releases then you know they were good. Musically they're in the same vein as MIDNIGHT. But on Cursed Be Thy Kingdom their sound is straight up classic 80's metal. A lot of their riffs on here have been ripped from NWOBHM. The soloing is mighty in a hark rockin style. And of course Matt Litton's vocals still carry a venomous appeal. 

For the past decade there's been a ton of cool bands like BEWITCHER who've been scratching at the door of recognition for being the new kings of true metal. Those of us in the underground, for lack of a better title, have been screaming it. Now that BEWITCHER are on a big label then maybe they're become a metal household name. By the way nice PENTAGRAM cover at the end.

https://www.cmdistro.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txDxQO6pJIM

HAVUKRUUNU - Kuu erkylan ylla EP

 

HAVUKRUUNU - Kuu erkylan ylla EP

Naturmacht Productions

So here we have the latest from Finnish black metal act HAVUKRUUNU and it's just a five song EP this time around. Now I've said it before but it bare's repeating. HAVUKRUUNU are a Finnish black metal act that doesn't sound like typical Finnish black metal. Now of course when I say "typical" or better yet "traditional" I mean black metal that is necro, brutally bestial and pushing the whole Satanic thing up to the point of wanting to beat your ass over it. Yes I do love that stuff.

HAVUKRUUNU are just another in a line of bands who over the past five years have come from countries which have given us a certain style of genre BM but totally take their influences from somewhere else. In the past I did mention that they sounded like pagan black metal from the Ukraine mixed with a love for latter period BATHORY. On this EP it's basically where we left off from their 2020 full length Uinuos syomein sota. 

Basically it's still mainman Stefan's vision at work here. We're talking part second wave BM with added epic power metal touches. Toss in some more BATHORY love, a touch of folk influenced melodies, a little synth atmosphere and a whole lot of paganism. The only problem with this release is that it's three songs short of being another good full length. But hey at least it still has Heidi Kosenius' artwork. 

LISTEN HERE:

https://havukruunu.bandcamp.com/album/kuu-erkyl-n-yll-2

STRANGULIATORIUS - Doctor's Orders Do Not Touch

 

STRANGULIATORIUS - Doctor's Orders Do Not Touch

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

So when I saw this band's name it made me think wow the imagination of a sick mind boggles. STRANGULIATORIUS could be the name of a new disease. Then again maybe a new horror movie. But luckily for you extreme metal maniacs this is a band from Lithuania who play fuckin great old school style death metal. 

Now after one listen to this, the band's third full length, it was obvious that this four piece act are influenced by DM's early days with a touch of grind. Imagine CARCASS meeting up with VOMITORY for a good time. Now that's my observation but hey any connection from Sweden to England would work. 

Musically the band is far from being a tribute act of the past. Now back in 2008/2009 you had the whole new wave of old school death metal thing going. And yeah I'll admit I fucking loved all of that. But in all honesty the mainstay of those bands were just copying their heroes. So here were are over a decade later and if yer gonna do OSDM again ya need to tweak things up a bit.  

STRANGULIATORIUS not only does that but they also stay true to the old ways. The riffs on some of these songs go into unpredictable grooves. When there is a guitar solo it's so subdued as opposed to being a dive bombing assault. The vocals come off sounding like a maniacal dog bark who will rip out your throat. Add to that a punishing rhythm section who will leave you weak listeners ambulatory. 

The bottom line here is that a well produced album with engaging song structures and a punishing sound within the old ways of a genre always wins. I've said it before this year in reviews but it needs repeating. In 2021 death metal music has been my friend. After blasting this release I wanna shake these guy's hands and say thanks. You check it out and you'll be a true believer as well. Nice cover art work as well.

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/doctors-orders-do-not-touch

COUNT RAVEN – The Sixth Storm review

 

COUNT RAVEN – The Sixth Storm

I Hate Records 

Ironically I was listening to some older COUNT RAVEN albums in November, the month of doom. I've always like these Ozzy era SABBATH humpers from Sweden. But hey that was when they had Christian Linderson on vocals. Now once he left to do other stuff, which included singing for SAINT VITUS on one album and starting LORD VICAR, I kinda lost interest with the band. 

So here we are with another album from a band who hasn't released anything in over a decade. That seems to be a pattern for this year. But anyways if I wanna blast some SAB - 4 era humpers from Sweden then here it's gonna be. Personally I was not into the previous releases when guitarist Dan Fondelius took over on vocals. But on this album he sounds damm good. 

The Sixth Storm, which is the bands first album since 2009's Mammons War, is a fun release. It's like a cool SABBATH worshiping good time to blast while you're in the back yard working or partying with friends. In a way it's kinda dark and doomy than previous efforts. I mean at this point in the game what do you have left in your arsenal? 

For me the band is at their best when they introduce something different / original into their SABBATH-ian love. On here it's when they add some keyboard accents, take a Volume Four SABBATH standard and twist it or even a vocal alignment that's different. Now if you think I'm bias about COUNT RAVEN well you're right I am. I mean if you're gonna do an eleven minute song dedicated to Oden, I'm on your side so nuff said. 

http://www.ihate.se/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MId4uiQu7bc

CURSE OF DENIAL - The Reckoning EP review

 

CURSE OF DENIAL - The Reckoning EP

Redefining Darkness Records

When it comes to death metal this year I've been listening to and liking a lot of acts who've been pushing boundaries as long as they stay within the genre template. But every once in a while a fan like me needs to hear something old school and brutal just to keep the evil grin going. Even better when a band doing that keeps things simple and not overblown. 

Case in point, here's the latest EP from Cleveland, Ohio's CURSE OF DENIAL. I learned about this band from their second full length, Coming For Your Soul, which came out 2019. It was also in my top five favorite albums from that year. It was the best death metal album of 2019 in my not so humble opinion. I called it "Blackened Death from Middle America but with so much more extreme metal influences it's gonna break your neck."

So with that said how does a band follow up on what I'd call perfection. Well this five song EP is not far off the mark. Basically CURSE OF DENIAL just continued on with creating punishing death metal but with cool tweaks here and there that makes their sound enjoyable to the old school crowd. Then again with said "tweaks" they easily spark interest to those from modern DM appreciation. 

Their songs are still touching on blackened death aesthetics which is cool. They have a tech death song structure style which is great because they don't go overblown about it. I've gotta say songs like "Variant" and "Tyrants" strike a chord with me personally for some obvious reasons in 2021. But anyways along with the guitar soloing being diabolic, some headbanging rhythms, a mix of brutal and harsh vocals and some added death doom touches. Yeah this is a winner in my horrible book.

http://www.redefiningdarkness.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://curse-of-denial.bandcamp.com/album/the-reckoning

EXODUS – Persona Non Grata review

 

EXODUS – Persona Non Grata

Nuclear Blast

Just for the record I have to say this album came in with a lot of hype. Then again it should since this is the first album by the band since 2014's Blood In Blood Out. Now honestly I didn't think much about that one even though it was the return of Steve Souza on vocals. Personally I was not a fan of the Rob Dukes era of the band. And honestly with the exception of Bonded by Blood, the only albums by EXODUS that were worth a damm had Souza in the line-up.

So for starters Souza is still singing for the band and he sounds good on here. In fact this is probably the band's best record in a while. I'm going back to 2004's Tempo of the Damned as far as a decent release by the band. But on here EXODUS are damm good but hey it's because the production has that modern explosive clean sound. All legacy bands are using that modern production which is like a B-12 shot. 

Overall is not a perfect album. For the most part it has some damm good thrashers which remind ya of older EXODUS. Then again it has some mid tempo cuts which are modern day average. The guitar work by Gary Holt and Lee Altus, whether it's the pounding rhythms or face peeling solos, is a major highlight. All in all it's not a disappointment. Unlike some other legacy bands EXODUS didn't stoop to gimmicks in order to gain attention.  

https://www.nuclearblast.com/eu/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjAMLkTZQtg&t=2592s

VOMIT SPELL - Self Titled review

 

VOMIT SPELL - Self Titled

F.D.A. Records

Take me back to the days of early Earache Records releases because it's 2021 and I don't care. This is the debut full length release by Germany's VOMIT SPELL. I give these guys props for wanting to push the whole early death grind thing. I mean they have a sound which takes some cool influences from well known acts from the past. 

So if you're an old fuck like myself you'll listen to this and go cool. It takes me back to some good times. Were as if you're still a young fuck trophy then you'll think it's the greatest thing since ah streaming music (?)

Now even with all of that said the band have certainly progressed the style to modern times without sounding like total copycats. Yeah there's a death grind blitz with some added death doom dirge when they feel upon letting up on the punishment. 

https://fda-records.com/de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://vomitspell.bandcamp.com/releases

LADY BEAST - OMENS EP review

 

LADY BEAST - OMENS EP

Reaper Metal Productions

While still at a time when their 2020 full length, The Vulture's Amulet, is ringing in ears because of it's greatness. Pittsburgh, PA's LADY BEAST decide to drop a new five song EP on fans. Basically this is four new tunes plus a cover of RAINBOW's "Kill the King". This EP also features new bassist Amy Bianco. 

Musically the band hasn't changed sound wise from their last album. Basically it's classic sounding 80's era metal with good riffs, decent guitar soloing plus the strong vocals by Deborah Levine. In a better world a song like "Reaper" would be blasting on FM radio. Then again I thought the same with some of the songs off of their full length. As far as their cover goes it's decent. All in all here's another must own LADY BEAST release.

https://www.reapermetalproductions.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://ladybeast.bandcamp.com/album/omens

SIGNS OF THE DYING SUMMER - Oto jest Pustka

 

SIGNS OF THE DYING SUMMER - Oto jest Pustka

Godz Ov War Productions

So the tagline on this release is depressive black metal. But frankly I don't find it depressing at all. Actually it's fairly uplifting. This is the debut album by this Polish three piece. On it you get six cuts, no song titles just Roman numerals, which lasts a little over thirty four minutes. To me that's about perfect for a late night after work listen.

Now as I said earlier, their style of black metal is not what I'd call depressive. A better description would be melancholy. The riffs mainly fall into a melodic sensibility. There's plenty of jangle guitar portions with some added distortion for the electric chair feel. Programmed blast beat runs and guitar rhythms slide in and out of a second wave BM influence soup. 

Add to all of that you've got some really harsh and tormented vocals. I mean A. Sarg must expel cold air when he speaks. So in the end this is a decent debut from this Polish BM act.

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/oto-jest-pustka

ZMARLYM - Druga Fala review

 

ZMARLYM - Druga Fala

Godz Ov War Productions

Before I get into the music there's something important to note. The cover art work on this release is amazing. To check out more from Maciej Kamuda Art go to the Facebook page or the Behance site. The links are posted below.

https://www.facebook.com/kamuda.art

https://www.behance.net/maciejkamuda?fbclid=IwAR2Jg27kp9mQraJ7KdcfGIlxy1GRaxmx-g2A80UjurLfjvVuqMA_P5K-lKY

Now as for that here we have the debut full length by Poland's ZMARLYM. Musically this three piece act are black metal but their style falls into a category which for a few years now I've been calling modern black metal. As far as descriptive purposes go we're talking about a style of black metal that is heavy on atmospherics. Also the music covers a broad range of genre style as well as pushing boundaries without leaving the template. Add to that you cannot be a lazy listener because the music draws you in. 

Some people might call it progressive or avant garde and I have nothing against those types of pigeon-holed descriptions but for me this album goes beyond that. These guys incorporate some prog, psych, electronica and hard fuckin rock into their blackened palette. There's spoken word parts, harsh vocals and background crowd screaming. The lyrics are sung in Polish making it more extreme sounding. The guitar work on here is mesmerizing. You can actually hear the bass. And of course the drumwork is more inline with a percussion specialist. 

All in all Druga Fala, which translates into English as "Second Wave", is probably the most captivating black metal release I've heard this year. This band previously released an EP, Ziemie jałowe, last year. I've gotta check that one out now. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/druga-fala

CIEN - Redemption review

 

CIEN - Redemption

Godz Ov War Productions

It's December, a month where I play a lot of black metal which falls in with the weather of the season. When I lived in Alaska years ago I learned about something called "Cabin Fever". Basically it's too cold to go outside so you hunker down inside where it's warm. But eventually things like alcoholism or suicide come about to those who can't handle it. 

With that understanding I came to appreciate the whole deppresive side genre of black metal especially from bands in cold climates. Now here we have a band from Poland called CIEN. They're a five piece act who've been around for over a decade and this is their third full length. Now be that as it may I have a friend who lives in Krakow, Poland. And according to her, she and her family (husband and kids) are doing fine. Everything is typical. 

But anyways it's ironic that I'm checking out this release after I was listening to some late night after work SHINING from Sweden. CIEN have some similarities as far as sounding depressive, angry and mournful. Albeit SHINING are not mournful at all. But the comparisons are there especially with the song structures. The rhythms are all worthwhile. And the seal here is vocalist Ashgan who sounds as if he's a victim dying by a thousand cuts.

Which brings me to something not so nice. The vocals are too forward in the mix. The music should be pulled up to equal the vocals. On this release the sound is all Ashgan in agony while the music is subdued. To me that's the problem. I think Ashgan is amazing with his vocal style in total fuckin agony. It just sounds as if the music was done and Ashgan came in to sing his best without combining the two well enough. Be that as it may I like what this band is doing and look forward to more in the future. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/redemption

VHS - I Heard They Suck... Blood review

 

VHS - I Heard They Suck... Blood

Wise Blood Records

Canada's VHS are a band I'm familiar with since being a fan of  two previous full lengths. Those releases were 2018's The New Batch and We're Gonna Need Some Bigger Riffs from 2019. Both of those releases came out on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. The band put out a 2020 full length, Gore from Beyond the Stars, but I'm not familiar with it. 

So here we have this three piece act's latest release. Now if you're not familiar with VHS then let me explain. They're a gore obsessed punk/grind act with some death metal influence. Their releases, whether full lengths or short form ones, almost always follow some sort of horror movie genre theme. This time around it's all about vampires because well they suck.

Unfortunately for me who's heard their previous stuff I can say these guys love recycling old riffs and song structures. Also on here you've got guest vocalists Trevor Strnad from BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and Dave Ingram from BENEDICTION. Now I'd swear both of them guested on a previous release as well. 

Now be that as it may VHS are a fun band. Musically they break the ice of seriousness within extreme metal. Their use of movie soundbites in between songs always reminds me of IMPETIGO. The vocals vary from higher pitched screams to DM monster vox. They intertwine extreme metal styles with straight up rock at times. 

In the end they're just one of the best bands around these days doing this crazy shit. I don't wanna say this is the best record I've heard from em. But it's damm close to being it. Consider me bias alright. VHS are the type of extreme metal act who'll make you smile, bang yer fuckin head, stand back and say Wow This Is Cool or they'll make that bug up your ass really hurt. Nuff Said!

https://wisebloodrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://vhshorror.bandcamp.com/releases

AEON - God Ends Here review

 

AEON - God Ends Here

Metal Blade Records

So here we have AEON's comeback album. Now for those of you that are going WHO?, I'll explain. Back in the 2000's AEON, came out as a new Swedish old school sounding death metal act. The problem was two fold. First off in 2005 when they released their debut full length Bleeding the False what we call OSSDM was not in favor. It was in 2008/2009 when the whole old school death metal revival hit into our collective metal psyche. So they were a few years too early.

Secondly their debut as well as their sophomore release Rise to Dominate from 2007 were kinda generic sounding. Which is a bummer since what followed by other bands in the decade's end was actually similar. But anyways AEON missed the boat. So over the years they've continued but not to a high degree. Now we have their latest one God Ends Here which is the band's fifth full length. 

So for starters from what I've heard from this band's past I have to say this is the finest moment. Although it took em nine years from their last one. Either way musically they're still the Swedish death metal band that is influenced by the US version of the genre. So expect plenty of influences from CANNIBAL CORPSE as well as some mid period MALEVOLENT CREATION to say the least. But to their credit they do add some tweaks to the framework. 

New drummer Janne Jaloma from DARK FUNERAL adds a lot to the band's more bombastic sound. His drum work is amazing and he adds some blast beat touches. There are times AEON now comes close to blackened death. There's also some keys thrown in for an atmospheric touch. Add to that the riffs are full on diabolical and brutal. But it's vocalist Tommy Dahlstrom who's performance on here is extraordinary. 

In the end I have to say this is just about as perfect as you can get in modern day death metal. Big props to the production since this sounds crisp and yet filthy as fuck. All hail AEON for the comeback of the year.

https://www.metalblade.com/us/

LISTEN HERE:

https://aeon666.bandcamp.com/

ANETTE OLZON - Strong review

 

ANETTE OLZON - Strong

Frontiers Records

So this is the second solo album by ANETTE OLZON. Some of you might remember that Anette Olzon was the Swedish vocalist who replaced Tarja Turunen in NIGHTWISH back in 2007. That only lasted a handful of years and releases. NIGHTWISH, for reasons I don't want to get into here, would fire her and later on bring in former AFTER FOREVER vocalist Floor Jansen. 

Now I consider myself a NIGHTWISH fan to a point. And the first album that Anette Olzon sang on, Dark Passion Play from 2007, was pretty good. On the other hand the Imaginaerum album from 2011 was not very good in my opinion. Be that as it may I always like this woman's vocals. And it sucks that the whole NIGHTWISH thing didn't work out. But if you've ever saw em live from back then or heard the live recordings/live concert video then you might agree with what I'm about to say next. 

NIGHTWISH, more specifically main man Tuomas Holopainen, should never have tried to get Anette to sing their old songs live as if she could do it like Tarja Turunen. Seriously Anette is an amazing vocalist but she's got a vocal style set in a pop/rock style. Tarja Turunen was a trained opera singer. Also much to some people's chagrin Tarja became the main focus of NIGHTWISH. When Anette joined things changed and while there were some cool moments. The NIGHTWISH bombast and her singing didn't jell.

And that's why I like this album a lot because Anette is the focus and the band backs here up. Musically it's in the power metal genre but there's some pop aspects as well as a few nods to a NIGHTWISH - lite sound on a few cuts. She even shares vocals with husband/bassist Johan Husgafvel on a few cuts. He provides the growls. With so many listens to this album I can say Anette is still standing tall. She's a fuckin star and the songs on here are amazing.  

http://www.frontiers.it/landing/newbreed/index.php

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLdKROr_x1k

FEED THE CORPSES TO THE PIGS - This Insidious Horror review

 

FEED THE CORPSES TO THE PIGS - This Insidious Horror

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

So how many releases has Rick Rozz (aka: still working his past DEATH status (excuse me, MANTAS) and being in MASSACRE 's shambles) been on releases as a guest these past few years? I mean whatafuck it's as if he's got an info-mercial saying "Hi there, I'm Rick Rozz. you might remember me from being on DEATH demos (excuse me, MANTAS) and my failed band MASSACRE. But hey I'm available to sing on your album in order to give it credit."

Now aside from that after a couple of listens I looked to this release as almost a compilation. FEED THE CORPSES TO THE PIGS from Albuquerque, New Mexico are a four piece grind act on this their debut looking for a direction. These guys push the blackened death, death grind and avant grind niche style to the fuckin hilt. That's kinda a cool thing in my strange mind of grind appreciation. They have a competent command of the styles being put forth.

For the most part this band lends towards a style which is diabolic as well as atmospheric and just fuckin all over the place. Pig Squeals? Hardcore riffage? Soundbites? Yeah check all of those boxes. But anyways they really don't need a celebrity to give em credibility. Their music is well worth it to do the whole talking. I like this band on their own and hopefully they'll put out some more stuff which contains identity. Nuff Said! 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/this-insidious-horror

DESTRUCTO - Demonic Possession review

 

DESTRUCTO - Demonic Possession

Dying Victims Productions

Yes true believers this is what you call the Devil's Rock n Roll. Yeah I'm laughing but hey why not. It's not every day I get to hear a modern Dutch extreme metal band sound like something that came out of Brazil in the late 80's. I mean this debut album is so steeped in Brazilian influence that someone might what to check their passports. 

Now if you don't know what I'm talking about then it's Brazilian bands like SARCOFAGO, HOLOCAUSTO and VULCANO who this band worship on this album. Hey look maybe you have all the original releases by those above named bands (doubtful). Then again you've maxed out on all of the Greyhaze Records reissues (most likely) and want more. They this album is for you.

I swear listening to DESTRUCTO makes me feel like they were tutored by someone from over thirty years ago. You've got the blast furnace vocals, amazing blackened thrash riffs and total maniac drum work. The production on here is just a bit better than the original sound which is tolerable. The bottom line is that from a fan of the original stuff, this is just fuckin killer. I could listen to this every fucking day for inspiration.

https://www.dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/destructo-demonic-possession

CUTTERRED FLESH - Sharing is Caring review

 

CUTTERRED FLESH - Sharing is Caring 

Transcending Obscurity Records

The promo tagline for this band is brutal death metal. Now obviously people have different opinions on what's brutal death metal. For me the truly "brootal" stuff consists of chunky simplistic riffs, bear bark/pig squeal vocals, barely any bass but plenty of blastbeat drumming. Throw in plenty of sado masochistic lyrics and of course some album cover art work depicting plenty of dead bodies, blood, entrails and maybe a weapon or two. 

CUTTERRED FLESH, who hail from Czechia, are not that type of "Brootal". In fact what I described was the more low-fi side of the offshoot genre. Instead CUTTERRED FLESH come across as something inbetween VADER and IMMOLATION. That's a compliment by the way. So after my first listen to Sharing is Caring I can say that this band's business is brutality and business is good.

CUTTERRED FLESH have been around for twenty years and to their credit they've put out four full lengths prior to this one. Now on here the band is definitely about kicking your sorry ass. But they add a lot of nuisance to their compositions that they want you to pay close attention while they kick your sorry ass. I'm talking about subtle time changes, a dive bomb solo where it shouldn't be, a baby's chime (nice touch), amazing drum work and much more.

Strangely enough the band adds plenty of progressive tweaks whether it's guitar runs or the atmosphere invoking keyboards. That breaks away the crushing element and adds some majestic feel for a half a minute. Of course the twin vocal styles presented; deep barked vocals along with harsh ones, are another part of the band's nuanced presentation. Sure it's brutal death metal with progressive touches making it part of the new take for this extreme. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://cutterredfleshband.bandcamp.com/album/sharing-is-caring-brutal-death-metal

APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE - Until The Darkness Goes review

 

APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE - Until The Darkness Goes

Cruz del Sur Music

APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE are a US doom band that I use to like a lot. Their second album, Last Sunrise, from 2010 is an amazing album. Sure I like their style of Midwest melancholy misery but I really liked the cover songs they attached to the end of that album. Be that as it may I never thought their two follow-ups were just as cool. I'm talking about 2014's Of Woe and Wounds and From Gold to Ash which was their last one from 2018. 

For me it was like Last Sunrise was a band with a new toy and experimenting around with it. Were as their last two releases came off as having learned the toy but just stuck on the first level of play and never going further. So here we are some years later with their fifth full length. And although their melancholy doom and gloom approach is still profound. This one comes off with far more sadness than before. 

Until The Darkness Goes is also their shortest album to date coming in at a little over thirty six minutes. That's five songs that go over the five minute mark and a short instrumental. The band has learned to create songs that are dense and concise. Yeah misery doesn't need a lot of filler. APOSTLE OF SOLITUDE still have a good balance of chunky riffs, clean vocals, solid drum work and this time more thoughtful songs. Great album.

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/

LISTEN HERE:

https://apostleofsolitude.bandcamp.com/album/until-the-darkness-goes

CARCASS – Torn Arteries review

 

CARCASS – Torn Arteries

Nuclear Blast

I've said it before but it always bares repeating. There are three types of CARCASS fans. First off you've got the early die-hard goregrind fans. Next up you've got the death metal heads who cite Necroticism as the band's best. I fall into that category. Third and final are those fans who came on board with the band's more accessible melodic album, Heartwork from 1993. I won't talk about it's follow up Swan Song.

So in 2013, after a semi retirement and reunion tour, the band came back with Surgical Steel. This album laid heavy on the past Heartwork type of style with a few grains of Necroticism and Symphonies of Sickness thrown in. Like I prefaced earier I'm a huge fan of Necroticism and their first two albums. So Surgical Steel is not a CARCASS album I tend to reach for too often or Swan Song for that matter.

Now here we are eight years later with their new one Torn Arteries. First off I do like this one over Surgical Steel. This album comes across just like their live set for the Surgical Steel tour did. It's a little bit of everything from their career boiled down into one album. Now that's not to say they picked one song style from this era, picked another style from somewhere else and so on. No instead the album is all in the character of CARCASS. 

I guess a better way to describe this album is that CARCASS took what they do best and tweaked it a bit. Dare I say "progressed"? I'm not going to dive into all the songs or individual attributes but there's some cool things going on here. Bill Steer gets to trade vocals again with Jeff Walker. As for Walker vocals he sounds perfect. The drum work by Daniel Wilding is dynamic. Steer also gets plenty of killer solos into the mix. In the end I'd say this is their best album since Necroticism.

https://www.nuclearblast.com/eu/

LISTEN HERE:

https://carcass.bandcamp.com/album/torn-arteries

DEEP PURPLE - Turning to Crime review

 

DEEP PURPLE - Turning to Crime

earMUSIC

At a time when I just started to appreciate one of my all time favorite bands moving into a more prog direction out they come with a cover song compilation. Now of course the precursor argument for this is that DEEP PURPLE started out doing covers on their early albums. Ah yeah I know and I love those albums. But they were re-imaging certain songs from blues and pop music acts into a more psych rock friendly style of the time. 

Be that as it may earlier this year SAXON came out with their album Inspirations which was an all covers album. To their credit it was a decent album albeit they stuck to rock music covers. On here DEEP PURPLE goes way out of the box with their choice of songs to cover. I'll get into them in a few but I give em credit for not playing it safe. 

There's also something else important about this album. The band sounds fuckin fantastic and they're having a blast. With the exception of guitarist Steve Morse, everyone else in the band is in their 70's. Speaking of which Steve Morse, who I never really appreciated as I should have while in DEEP PURPLE, sounds cool as fuck on here. His soloing is absolutely killer as well as exciting.

 

Moving on from there I might have said it before but it bare's repeating. Jon Lord somewhere is smiling because of Don Airey. I mean if you've followed Don Airey's career in hard rock then you know he's done great work. And on here he really shows off his versatility. Finally Ian Paice and Roger Glover as the rhythm section are on fire. But Ian Gillan sure you can't scream anymore but you've steal got that bluesy sound which was always cool.

Now as far as their cover song collection well there's cool, surprising and horrible selections. As far as the cool and surprising go well opener "7 and 7 Is" by the late 60's band LOVE is a decent opener. The band pretty much plays it straight on here. "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu" by  HUEY SMITH is damm good especially with Don Airey's piano work. Their version of FLEETWOOD MAC's "Oh Well" is cool as well since the band starts off with it being traditional and then Steve Morse rips in with some amazing soloing. He even adds some prog rock style to the old English blues classic.

Some more surprises, "Jenny Take a Ride" the MITCH RYDER classic is done traditionally but with some better guitar soloing and keyboard accents. Paice's drumming on here is fuckin nuts. Next up is also a surprise, BOB DYLAN's "Watching the River Flow". Never heard the original version of it but DEEP PURPLE makes it sound like a jukebox cut worthy of playing at a Texas juke joint. Also I gotta say their cover of "Lucifer" by the BOB SEGER SYSTEM is pretty damm epic. 

  

As far as the bad (or what I don't like) go well to me they're very bad. There's the jazzy "Let the Good Times Roll" from RAY CHARLES. Basically not might type of thing but hey they, mainly Don Airey, do a good job with it. Their cover of LITTLE FEAT's "Dixie Chicken" is somewhat straight forward. I'm sure this was a Steve Morse pick. I've always hated LITTLE FEAT so there you go. Ian sounds horrible singing this cut.

Next up in the bad dept, I'm surprised to say it but their cover of the YARDBIRDS' "Shapes of Things" tries to owe much to the original but switches to the Jeff Beck Group's version in mid song and ends up being boring as it closes. Then there's the whatafuck is up with doing JOHNNY HORTON's "The Battle of New Orleans"? But of course there's CREAM's "White Room" which is their second insult to great 60's rock. Sorry Steve Morse but your solo ain't Clapton. 

The final cut on here is a throwaway jam of touches from the JEFF BECK GROUP, BOOKER T and the MG's, the ALLMAN BROTHERS, LED ZEP and the SPENCER DAVIS GROUP. Yeah gimme a break. The coolist thing I've heard from DEEP PURPLE of late was their jazz inspired rendition of "Smoke on the Water" which I saw on a French TV show. All in all the first half of the album is cool but the ending is questionable.

https://www.ear-music.net/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJpUNGaldCI

TOWER - Shock To The System review

 

TOWER - Shock To The System

Cruz del Sur Music

The "big thing" in metal for 2021 was legacy bands putting out new long awaited releases. Then this album drops and I'm like, really? After one listen to TOWER's second full length I pretty much forgot about the legacy's. TOWER, a five piece act who hail from New York, take their influences from early metal (late 70's/early 80's) and retrofit it with some modern energy.

Just to point out the obvious, Shock To The System is a perfect title. From the onset of this album and over all of it's ten tracks, this is high energy stuff. Let me add to that. This is kick ass fuckin metal. We're talking full on anger, power and aggression that has long been missed in modern day metal of this type. 

First off you've vocalist Sarabeth Linden who's singing style is akin to a gutsy screamer. The truth is she can wail like a fuckin banshee. Add to that the twin guitar team of Zak Penley and James Danzo who pretty much tear things up via great old school riffs and dynamite solos. Finally there's the newer rhythm section of bassist Jack Florio and drummer James Jones. Both of these guys seem to have melded well into this band and bring the force of the past to the present.

So with a force of talent, a feel for rage and ability to write impressive songs it's obvious TOWER's second album has to be one of the best metal albums of 2021. Aside from everything I've mentioned there's cuts with galloping rhythms, some pure speed metal anthems and some melodic numbers which grab hold of your psyche. From start to finish this album is perfect.

https://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com/blog/

LISTEN HERE:

https://towernyc.bandcamp.com/releases

KK's PRIEST- Sermons of the Sinner review

 

KK's PRIEST- Sermons of the Sinner

EX1 Records

So do I have to explain this band? OK I will, so years ago KK Downing, guitarist and founder of JUDAS PRIEST, left his long time band. He was suppose to have retired from music. Well not for long because here we have his new solo band. Obviously KK is not done with his former band. Duh! Now to those who are in the know yeah KK is doing his thing which is all PRIEST related and has Tim Ripper Owens on vocals. Les Binks was supposed to be on drums but had to drop out because of health issues. So basically you already get the idea that KK wants to continue on in the mode of his old band.

Now when the band came out with a teaser song/video from the album a few months ago I, as well as everyone else, gave it a listen. After hearing that cut I kinda thought that KK and company were going to revisit PRIEST's Jugulator/Demolition days aka: The Ripper era. But after giving this album a few listens I can say that's not the case, completely. Actually after two listens to Sermons of the Sinner I was not happy with it at all. But I figured lets give it another shot. So I spent two more days playing it before and after work. From that I can say there's some cool things about it as well as the same things I don't care for.

So as for the good things about this album. Sermons of the Sinner is/sounds like a PRIEST album. KK is/was the riff master from that band and on this album he shows it. Then again what else would you expect? After a retro 80's style intro titled "Incarnation", it's KK kicking things off with a signature whammy bar wail which kicks into the opening track “Hellfire Thunderbolt”. Now regardless of the tracks on here, I hear a lot of 70's and 80's era PRIEST style riffs. Of course there's some songs on here which remind ya of PRIEST's post 80's output. The title track could've been an outtake from Painkiller. 

Some other highlights on here consist of the amazing solos by A.J. Mills. Plus KK gets to cut his teeth as well. Then of course there's Tim "Ripper" Owens whose vocals are always good. He's probably happy to get a paying/playing gig and out of his bar. As far as the rhythm section goes, Sean Elg's drum work is steady 70's/80's style with a flair touch here and there. Bassist Tony Newton is also playing it the same but adding a few runs when he can. So yeah that's all the good stuff.

So what is there not to like? Well this album is missing three things. Those three things are Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford. Be that as it may KK is without his best co-songwriter Glen Tipton so there are some songs which have totally fucked up structures. Remember Nostradamus, well yeah some of that crap is on here. Next up is Ripper, sure you're not Halford and you'll never be. But when you're Ripper and thinking you're still in ICED EARTH you're not that fun to hear.

So that's my not so humble opinion on Sermons of the Sinner. Half of it is decent while the other parts are horrible but there's sections which try to bring it up to stuff. So KK Downing's debut is a worth while release for any PRIEST fan from the old days. But for some strange reason I wanna listen to Turbo. I'll give it a decent because it's a debut. A friend of mine called it a demo for PRIEST in order to let KK back in the band. I doubt that will happen but ya never know.  

https://www.ex1records.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcrWhGyZFs