SCHAVOT - Kronieken uit de nevel review

 

SCHAVOT - Kronieken uit de nevel

Void Wanderer Productions

Here we have the second full length by this Dutch one man black metal act. The one man here is Floris Velthuis who obviously performs all instruments (guitars, drums, keys) and vocals. Although Floris started this project back in 2021 he has been part of the Dutch BM scene since the late 90's and is in other acts such as ANNWFYN, ASGRAUW, MESLAMTAEA and SAGENLAND.

In this project Floris takes the listener on a journey back to the days of 90's era black metal. Musically it has plenty of characteristics to, dare I say it, classic bands from that time period via Norway and Sweden. There's plenty of icy tremolo picked riffs be they melodic or fierce. Blast beat action is abound plus a decent use of the keys without being over the top. 

As far as Floris' singing style goes it's here were he diversifies. Part of the time he's using the traditional harsh vocals but then will switch to an almost clean style. Add to that you get maybe murmuring or caustic style vocals. I'm assuming it all has to do with the lyrical content. Kronieken uit de nevel (which means in English "Chronicles from the Nebula") is all based on Dutch folk tales and Floris sings in his native language. 

As someone of Dutch heritage I can definitely say this album qualifies as beauty and harsh. Of course the obvious criticism of this is going to be that it's just retro 90's black metal. Ah yeah sure but it's damm good, so what? Nuff Said.

https://voidwanderer.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://voidwandererproductions.bandcamp.com/album/kronieken-uit-de-nevel

SIEGE OF POWER - This Is Tomorrow review

 

SIEGE OF POWER - This Is Tomorrow

Metal Blade Records

And it's super group time in which we see who's all in the band and think OK I like all of these guys. Also I like the music from their original bands. So what's this gonna be? Will it be rehash of what the musicians already do in their own bands? Or will it be something different?

So this is the second album by SIEGE OF POWER. The band consists of Chris Reifert of AUTOPSY on vocals, Paul Baayens from  ASPHYX (also ex-HAIL OF BULLETS) on guitar, bassist Theo van Eekelen who also played in HAIL OF BULLETS and is now in GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT, finally there's drummer Bob Bagchus who is also a former member of ASPHYX and now plays with GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT which is basically a ASPHYX side band.

So I never heard their debut album, yeah fuck me. Now what we have here is eleven cuts which come down to death thrash and more. So yeah as Chris Reifert screams "FUCK" on the album's second cut "Sinister Christians". Yeah that's where we're at on this release. You've got three Dutch death metal vets blasting hard as hell and Chris Reifert doing his best on vocals. Oh yeah I'm an ASPHYX fan as well as an AUTOPSY fan. There's my bias alert.

But more to the point this album reminds of what DISFEAR did years ago but with a better touch. SIEGE OF POWER run the gambit of kicking out styles which cover late 80's hardcore ("The Devil's Grasp"), some death doom and classic 80's heavy fuckin metal. Listen to "Scavengers" and "Ghosts of Humanity", tell me I'm wrong. The rest of this album is riff savage thanks to Paul Baayen. Whether it's full on doom and his damm good solos or the speed riffs of hardcore points He masters it. Of course having an amazing rhythm section kills it. 

This album rules!

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

LISTEN HERE:

https://siegeofpowermetal.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-tomorrow

HELLCRASH - Demonic Assassination review

 

HELLCRASH - Demonic Assassination

Dying Victims Productions

HELLCRASH could easily be the sons of countrymen BULLDOZER. Demonic Assassination is the second full length by this Italian trio. So yeah they're into blackened speed metal. They love VENOM, SLAYER and yeah BULLDOZER. I could just stop with that because whoever is into extreme metal should go apeshit over that.

But of course this is not just another band decked out in leather, spikes and chains blasting away with hellfire tunes. OK yeah they are all that but HELLCRASH do mixed it up a bit on here. Aside from the typical stuff the band also delves into full on thrash as well as NWOBHM style tunes. 

Demonic Assassination even has an 80's style production value. There's plenty of great tunes on here like "Okkvlthammer", "Abyss of Lucifer", "Serpent Skullfuck" and the title track. Hell all of the nine tracks on here are amazing. Cronos styled vocals are a help as well. 

   

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

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/demonic-assassinati-n

DAEVAR - Delirious Rites EP review

 

DAEVAR - Delirious Rites EP

The Lasting Dose Records

Ironically the other day I was just wondering whatever happened to the stoner doom act WINDHAND from the US. Then I find this release sent in for review and now I know. The band relocated to Germany, became a three piece act and changed their name. 

OK that's not true at all but in all honesty DAEVAR sound exactly like WINDHAND. Starting off with the vocals which are of that psych atmospheric, ghostly witchery siren style. Musically it's straight up fuzzy, sludgey, stoner doom which is about as original as a bologna sandwich. 

Now don't get me wrong. I actually like this type of stoner doom and have a huge stack of CDs of similar female fronted sounding acts to prove it. DAEVAR, on this their debut release, are not breaking new ground. Instead they're keeping with a cool sounding tradition. Therefore if you like a similar sounding act which hasn't put anything out in say five fuckin years then here's the alternative. 

Then I'll put it another way, DAEVAR are the new face of this style of stoner doom. The band is a three piece act featuring Pardis Latifi on vocals and bass, Caspar Orfgen is the guitarist and Moritz Ermen Bausch is their drummer. Together this trio create a huge fuzzed out mid-paced doom sound. Caspar Orfgen does deliver some cool psych tinged solos. Bausch's drum work is decent with some adequate fills. Of course the bass sound is fuzzed out. 

Delirious Rites is five songs in around thirty-three minutes. I think it's an EP but some will say it's a full length. Whatever, I like how this band brings forth both a dark sound as well as some headbanging SABBATH-ian bong smoking, heavy as fuck doom. And then that's what we all want. 

LISTEN & BUY IT HERE:

https://thelastingdoserecords.bandcamp.com/album/delirious-rites

ULFUO - Of Existential Distortion review

 

ULFUO - Of Existential Distortion

Dark Descent Records

Here we have some extreme metal music from Iceland. Yes Iceland, a totally Nordic place known for their cold climate and occasional volcanic eruptions. Yeah an island country of ice and fire which is a perfect segue to this band's music.

This is the debut album by ULFUO, a five piece band, that started out in 2015 and prior to this had an EP titled First Sermon which came out in 2018. Musically this is basic blackened death metal but it has a few attributes which makes it kinda cool. 

Starting off we've got a vocalist, Breki Danielsen Imsland, who has an amazing vicious as well as thunderous sound. The guy can emit anger, pain and full on hate. Let's add to that note, musically ULFUO are creating some decent atmospheric BM stuff plus doom and a few examples of where modern BM acts have played their hand. 

Early on this album does take a traditional death metal role but mid way through the band's sound sheds the obvious and goes into some cool sounding extremities. "Faceless", the fourth track on here is where the band goes forth in exploring new sounds. The song "Gods Left Behind" is total black metal. 

In the end I think the latter half of Of Existential Distortion is the most exciting parts of the album. I mean there's some diabolical tremolo picked riffs matched with old school death metal riffing and then doom style picking. So yeah this alum starts off cool and ends amazing.

https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/

LISTEN HERE:

https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/of-existential-distortion

DEIQUISITOR - Apotheosis review

 

DEIQUISITOR - Apotheosis

Extremely Rotten Productions

Imagine if you will disturbing sounds from the bowels of the Earth. Or better yet some nightmarish entities pulled from the pages of a Lovecraft novel. Listening to this latest full length by Denmark's DEIQUISITOR brings those ideas forth via death metal. For those of you who don't know, DEIQUISITOR are a three piece DM act who've been around for a decade now. 

These Danes started out back in 2013. Their first full length, which was self titled, came out in 2016. I got into this band a few years back with their Towards Our Impending Doom release which came out in 2019. That album was an amazing piece of horrific and bludgeoning death metal. So here we are a few years later pushing it further. 

On this DEIQUISITOR's fourth full length these three Danes perform an unholy repertoire of old school DM which is punishing, brutal and has a touch of atmospheric style. The vocals are in that cavernous realm. The riffs are sounding like electric shocks. When the solos dive in it's like lighting. And of course the drum work is beyond amazing and as technical as needed.

This band is like MORTICIAN with an actual amazing drummer. Nuff Said!  

https://extremelyrottenprod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://deiquisitordk.bandcamp.com/album/apotheosis

APOKATASTASIS - The Consecratory Secretion review

 

APOKATASTASIS - The Consecratory Secretion

Hessian Firm

Imagine if you will a one man extreme metal act performing a mixture of brutal death metal with tech savvy touches plus some added symphonic black metal atmosphere as well as having melody. No I'm not drunk or on drugs. I'm as honest as the day is long and this debut album by APOKATASTASIS is an extraordinary mind fuck to say the least.

First off the one man genius behind APOKATASTASIS is named Malus who hails from Phoenix, Arizona. Yes he performs everything aka: guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals. Musically this is an uncanny piece of work. The pre-named musically styles just flow throughout without any any break. Malus also does the same with his vocals. I mean you get the harsh BM screams with added pig growls, acid tongued vicious singing and total bear growls.

Malus's guitar work is also exceptional. You get death metal grooves, icy tremolo picked riffs, tech death soloing and blunt brootal or melodic runs. And he makes it all fit into these ten songs. Actually it's nine cuts plus a keyboard intro. Anyways this is a extreme metal fan's listening pleasure. 

https://hessianfirm.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://apokatastasisbrutal.bandcamp.com/album/the-consecratory-secretion

OBITUARY – Dying of Everything review

 

OBITUARY  – Dying of Everything 

Relapse Records

OBITUARY are the comeback kings of US death metal. Of course that depends whether or not DEICIDE gets their shit together. But seriously the band started out incredible and released some absolute classics in my not so humble opinion early on. I'm speaking of 1989's Slowly We Rot and Cause of Death from 1990. Now after that the albums which followed were decent. Now I'm not saying they were shit. I mean bias report, I'm a huge OBITUARY fan but I don't listen to those albums much anymore.

But hey in 2007 the band released Xecutioner's Return and it was damm good. OBITUARY were the kings of US death metal again. But after that they got average again. Don't get me wrong, like I said I'm a fan. Maybe I should just say I'm patient. Now I know some people, well actually many people, thought 2017's self titled album was damm good. But I thought it was average to say the least.

So here we are some years later and a new OBITUARY blasting on the stereo. My overall impression is that we have another great comeback album. I mean this one opens with a very strong cut "Barely Alive" and then follows up a slam-pit worthy rocker "The Wrong Time". Yeah this is the OBITUARY that we love, yeah it rocks and we wanna hurt people to it. But then the old ways kick in and then the groove with trudging riffs plus slice and dice soloing follows.

I'd say some of it is cool for example "War" is pretty damm good. "Dying of Everything" is a semi death thrash type of cut. John Tardy sounds far more ferocious with his vocals in years. I'd also add that on this album Kenny Andrews comes into his own on lead guitar. "My Will to Live" again a Kenny Andrews' soloing moment worthy of greatness. He also does a bang up job on "By the Dawn". 

In the end yeah Dying of Everything is a damm good album. It's OBITUARY's eleventh album which every death metal fan out there should say "hell yeah". It's not perfect in that there's a few cuts that remind me of those OK releases from the past.   

https://store.relapse.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://obituary.bandcamp.com/album/dying-of-everything

HORRIBLE EARTH - Weakened By Civilization review

 

HORRIBLE EARTH - Weakened By Civilization

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

A few years ago I was checking out a HORRIBLE EARTH compilation which also came out on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions. At that time I said that HORRIBLE EARTH sounds like a band who just walked out of the time tunnel from the late 80's. And I was very interested in what they're gonna do next. To explain it all, this band sounded like some act who came out of the late 80's grindcore scene which evolved out of the hardcore era. 

Now like I said I was very interested in what they were gonna do next and here it is. Weakened By Civilization is the second full length by this Boston, Massachusetts four piece act. Sound-wise they've definitly taken that next step beyond retro and delivered a damm good grind album. Musically you've got seventeen quick cuts which still hold true to the hardcore/grindcore aesthetic.

Sound-wise there is a complexity to the songs. Major props to the drum work as well as the guitar riffage. The vocals are full on savage. Yeah this is early grindcore intensity minus many death metal grooves. If anything is added it's a slow sludge part or two. So in the end this is a grindcore release which grabs hold of ya demands repeated listening. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

bandcamp.com/album/weakened-by-civilization

https://hpgd.

JENNER - To Live is to Suffer Reissue review

 

JENNER - To Live is to Suffer Reissue

Fighter Records

So I was watching this band's video for their song "Factory of Death" and thought hey I've seen this before. Yeah I watched this video a few years ago. So sadly on my part I never bothered to check this band out originally. But hey that's what reissues are for right?

So here is the debut album by this Serbian all female thrash band. It was originally released in 2017 on Inferno Records. The band was a four piece act at that time. More on that one later. But musically this is a really killer sounding album. If I had heard this in 2017 then it would've been in my top albums of the year listings.

So why is this album so amazing? Well it has every element that you want in a thrash album. First off guitarist Aleksandra Stamenkovic is a riff maniac as well as a damm good soloist to boot. Andelina Mitic is a great vocalist with a decent rage. She howls, screams and sings like a major player. The drum work on here is solid. But hey you can actually hear the bass lines from Mina Petrovic.

In the end, hell yeah this is a great reissue. At present JENNER is still around albeit with Aleksandra Stamenkovic on guitar and vocals with a new bassist and drummer.

http://www.fighter-records.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://jennerserbia.bandcamp.com/album/to-live-is-to-suffer