RAPID - Blackstar Oppression Regime review

 

RAPID - Blackstar Oppression Regime 

Dying Victims Productions

Well ya gotta love a band who's drummer goes the name The Goon. OK I do but then again what more do you expect from me. So here we have the newest blackened speed metal sensation from Finland. Yes I'm being a wise ass with that last statement since blackened speed metal bands are a dime a dozen these days. But I'm still drawn to these types of bands as long as they're not too modern day generic sounding. 

RAPID are not generic at all on this their full length debut. Actually this originally came out last year as a four song EP. So the good people at Dying Victims Productions (actually they're evil motherfuckers if you look at their catalog of releases) decided to put it out and place the band's four song Deadly Torment demo from 2016 as bonus tracks on the CD version. The vinyl is a four song EP. So get em both and here's why.

Musically RAPID sound like speed metal punk freaks from the old school days. There is nothing new sounding to this trio from Helsinki. And so far as being Finnish they're all about the filth and the fury. Seriously this comes across as something which could've came out in 1985. The newer songs, the first four, come across as NWOBHM on 45 speed. The vocals are a mix of snarling punk to wannabe true metal howls, screams and insanity. I kinda love it.

Now the four Deadly Torment demo cuts are far more into old school insanity. These are like VENOM taking a few pick me up pills from Lemmy. If you know what I mean and I bet you do. In the end hell yeah I love this stuff. I mean if you're an older fuck like me you hear this and are going holy fuck I wanna be in a slam pit to this band's performance. RAPID continue a legacy of crazed out speed metal acts that we sure as hell need today.

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/blackstar-oppression-regime

CRITICAL DEFIANCE - Misconception reissue review

 

CRITICAL DEFIANCE - Misconception reissue

Dying Victims Productions

It was during the summer of last year when I had written about this band's second full length No Life Forms. It was great thrash metal by a five piece act from Chile. The release came out on CD from Unspeakable Axe Records. Sure the band wore plenty of old school influences on their sleeves all too well. But just the ferocious style they played and dedication to craft made it fuckin amazing. And it was better than most thrash albums which came out in 2022. Yeah it was better than your polished mainstream thrash turds.

Low and behold in January of 2023 Dying Victims Productions reissued it on vinyl. And now they've done the same with this band's debut from 2019. I never heard this one but to me it's thrash perfection by a band who love the old school. But song writing wise and lyrical content show themselves as reinterpreting everything. I actually like this debut more than their follow-up. But hey both of their albums are fucking amazing thrash.  

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/misconception

MINENWERFER - Feuerwalze review

 

MINENWERFER - Feuerwalze

Osmose Productions

Over the past bunch of years MINENWERFER have become my favorite US black metal band. Oddly enough this is the first time I've ever written about em because I had gotten their releases always a year or more after they came out. The band, who are a two piece act hailing from California (yeah I know go figure?) started out in 2007. I first learned about em in 2015 when I bought a six song EP by em, Kriegserklarung, which came out the year before. Since then I've been a huge fan for many reasons. 

MINENWERFER (which means mortar) is a black metal act whose music is dedicated / inspired by the horrors of World War One. Now look you can be a kvlt type who screams Satan, be anti religious and swear by the Nordic battles of the north lands which you've never been to. But I'm a military veteran and I'll just say that the inhumanity towards your fellow human beings in a combat situation is far worse than listening to a BM album. 

Be that as it may, long before I was into black metal I was reading books about World War One and it wasn't a great war. The reading material I was checking out were more first person accounts which makes MINENWERFER's music, on here or past releases, come across as a soundtrack to a human death sentence. 

As the whistle blows on the opening track "Cemetery Fields" you know men climbed out of trenches and charged into which was pretty much a fire-ring squad. Add to that if they found cover it was in an artillery shell crater filled with muddy water and maybe the rotted body of a fallen friend. Harsh vocals provided with the horrific bombastic beats by this band is probably nothing compared to the real shrieks of horror given forth by grown men back then.

As I listen to this album I cannot think of anything other than artillery bombardments, machine gun fire and death. That's a pure homage to the riffs, blastbeats and guitar soloing. I always thought one of my favorite death metal bands, GOD DETHROWNED did a great job with their trilogy of WW1 as far as war metal goes years ago. But that was death metal. 

On this album you can actually envision the rats feasting on the dead body of a fallen comrade. MINENWERFER push the at-tee' with realization on "Eternal Attrition". Harsh reality with pure blackened sadness, you're gonna die and nothing is going to stop it. I thought 2019's Alpenpasse was an amazing piece of work. This new one has be in a shock and awe state. The vocals are not just screams of war but also like the angel of death conveying it's love over the battlefield. While the guitars, bass and drum work push the savagery of war without regards. This album is a brilliant piece of black metal work. 

https://www.osmoseproductions.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/feuerwalze

TERRA BUILDER - Solar Temple review

 

TERRA BUILDER - Solar Temple

Transcending Obscurity Records

When it comes to extreme metal I've always said that grind is number three behind black metal and death metal as far as genres go. I've been a fan of grind ever since it crawled out from the hardcore punk scene back in the late 80's. Over the decades I've listened to every type of grind style. So what we have here is a new German band performing death grind. 

Solar Temple is the debut full length by this five piece act. It took me more than a few listens to get into this release. First off when it comes to death grind I have some all time favorites. So I had to make sure that my bias wouldn't go against these guys. Thankfully TERRA BUILDER do not sound like my favorites. But there sound is not too far off from some grindcore that emanates from a neighboring nation. No name dropping will be done on my part there. 

Be that is may TERRA BUILDER do have an interesting death grind sound which is more on the dark side as opposed to violent brutality. Sure they've got some heavy handed riffs which kinda fall in with sludgey doom mixed with some modern death metal. Two standouts which define this band, aside from the foreboding atmosphere of the song structures, are the vocals and guitar soloing. 

This band's vocalist has that classic roar of a beast singing style. Plus he mixes in some deep bestial growls that just come across as horrific. As far as the guitar soloing, what there is of it, you've got these clean sharp surgical strikes. It's totally eerie sounding to the point where it gives ya a chill. Oddly enough in the week I was checking this album out I was also watching real life account horrors in the woods videos. Irony?

Either way I like how TERRA BUILDER (aptly named by the way) have a sound that's more about horror than gore or manacle, fantasy surgical experimentation. Trust me, when you listen to the whole nine cuts on here you just might go check to see if all of your doors and windows are locked. But then when it comes to cosmic terror, there's no place to hide. 

Years ago I heard what was called blackened grind and was not really impressed. On the other hand TERRA BUILDER really gives me the creeps. And that's something you don't expect from death grind. I mean what can this band do next to really freak the fuck out of ya? So when I say this album creeps up on ya. Ah yeah and in a sinister way. If a band's music can bring about emotions even if you don't care for those feelings then they're doing a great job.   

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://terrabuilderband.bandcamp.com/album/solar-temple

CHURCH OF MISERY - Born Under a Mad Sign review

 

CHURCH OF MISERY -  Born Under a Mad Sign

Rise Above Records

I got into Japan's CHURCH OF MISERY mid-way through their career. Houses of the Unholy from 2009 was the second album I picked up from em. And to this day I'll still say it's not only their best album but it's their one release which placed them on the mountain of Stoner Doom. After that I picked up their early recordings as well as newer releases. That Live at Roadburn 2009 release, which actually came out in 2010, is the shit. Since I've never seen the band perform live then that release is the closest I'll evewr get to the band's heyday. And then after all of that everything got not so good.

So the band's next couple of albums, aka: 2013's Thy Kingdom Scum and 2016's And Then There Were None, were not winners in my book. I chalk it all up to line-up changes which doesn't change too much for a band like this. But toss in uninspiring song writing and that leads to boredom. I mean any clown can check out a stoner doom release and be blown away by it. But if you've heard all of the SABBATH-ian bands from the past you kinda want more than smoking some pot and worshipping the riff dude.

 

Which brings me to this latest one from Japan's leaders in the slow SABBATH touch. Honestly it took me five fucking listens to this CD in order to appreciate it. But for openers it's another line-up change thing. Bassist Tatsu Mikami, the band's spengali, is still leading this thing. He brought back Kazuhiro Asaeda, the band's original vocalist (?). As far as guitar and drums go we see the newcomers Fumiya Hattori and Toshiaki Umemura. 

Once again the excitement of what CHURCH OF MISERY once was takes a few songs to kick in. Both "Beltway Sniper" and "Most Evil" are boring and way too long. It's when the third cut "Freeway Madness Boogie" kicks in that the real CHURCH OF MISERY comes to life in 2023. In fact it's this point where the album becomes a winner. 

It's the fuckin boogie jams, the added keyboards and the upbeat excitement. Toss in Fumiya Hattori's blues rock soloing as well as riff frency and Toshiaki Umemura cutting loose on the drums. I mean hell fuckin yeah! I'll never be sold on Kazuhiro Asaeda as a vocalist. In fact I like it better when he's not singing. But in the end (aka: five out of seven songs) this pretty damm good.

https://riseaboverecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjINA7jSZFs

HOLY MOSES - Invisible Queen review

 

HOLY MOSES - Invisible Queen

Fireflash Records

Supposedly this is the final album by Germany's HOLY MOSES. After giving this quite a few listens I'm of two opinions. First off this might be their best album ever. Secondly I have not kept up with this band over the years. Actually I'm use to the Finished with the Dogs album by them from 1987. Honestly I got into em years after that album came out. But one listen and you knew this was not going to be traditional Teutonic Thrash. I mean even in their early days they were more US sounding then German.

I own two more HOLY MOSES full lengths and they're OK. But now listening to this latest one I'm like why quit? The band aka: vocalist Sabina Classen and the guys she's enlisted since the late 2000's, have pushed the envelope when it comes to thrash. On here you've got typical progressive thrash with jazzy bass runs, well bent guitar riffs and tech death drum work. Musically calling this just thrash is a test. It's a masterpiece as far as modern thrash goes.

As far as Sabina Classen's vocals go on hear she brings across her most fearsome album performance that I've heard. Be that as it may I'm not really into this album. There are times when the band is playing some ripping thrash. But the proggy moments are way overboard to me. Sure musically it's their best album but not for me. 

https://fireflash-records.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzdThC-kgx0&t=1160s

SACRENOIR - Comme des Revenants Parmi les Ruines review

 

SACRENOIR - Comme des Revenants Parmi les Ruines

Sepulchral Productions

One of my favorite Quebec Black Metal acts is FORTERESSE. They're also on Sepulchral Productions as well. So I couldn't help but be excited to check out a new BM project by two of it's members. This is the debut full length by SACRENOIR which features Athros and  Monarque. The two started this project back in 2019. Since then they've appeared on a split release as well as released an EP. 

As far as this full length goes, which translates into English as Like Ghosts Among the Ruins, the duo is basically gone back to pay tribute to early ninties black metal. That's really a far cry from what any fan of FORTERESSE is use to let alone the other acts these guys are involved in. Personally I always thought it interesting how artists of today go back and try to rekindle the fire of early second wave BM especially with modern production values. Sometimes it works and other times it's kind of a joke.

With that said SACRENOIR are far from being a joke. These two individuals are highly repected in their home scene as well as by fans like me. So musically this is a pretty amazing release. Sound-wise they nail the ferocious thrash style riffs, the icy atmosphere, yeah there's great blast-beats as well as good drum fills. The songs actually come off as grandiose and epic plus there's a melodic side to em. Also there's some black n roll with insane lead work. The vocals come across as blasphemic screaming then again they're sung in French for the most part (yeah there's some English) which makes it really sound cruel. 

I'm not into name dropping here since SACRENOIR come across as doing it all their own way. Sure influences abound but with modern production values you can't pin anything down. All in all it's an amazing release and nine song's worth with the final cut being a keyboard instrumental outro. I'm still waiting on a new FORTERESSE full length but for now this will do nicely.

https://www.sepulchralproductions.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://sacrenoir.bandcamp.com/album/comme-des-revenants-parmi-les-ruines

FATHOMAGE - Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness review

 

FATHOMAGE - Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness

Northern Silence Productions

The two times of the day when I like to write about music are late at night after work and mid mornings. Basically I'm winding down or getting wound up. Listening to this release from Australia's FATHOMAGE is a two fold. I could easily end my evening with it or wake my ass up to it. Obviously I've given up my hand to the thoughts I have on it. 

FATHOMAGE is a one man black metal act from Australia. The one man multi-instrumentalist is named Akul. Musically this is a black metal pantheon of beauty and the bestial. BM textures abound while melancholy guitar picking, whether it's acoustic or electric, take the listener on a atmospheric journey. Akul provides painful screams from some very depressive bowels. But then there are other times when he screams out with a terrifying banter. either way his vocals command attention.

Overall musically the introduction segments to these cuts, there's eight in all, really drag you in but a few drag on too much. I mean if I was high on drugs I wouldn't mind but I don't do that stuff anymore. I drink a bit but still not as much to assume I'm on an astral plane. Opener and title cut "Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness" is amazing. Follow that up with "The Majesty and Beauty of a Fallen World" which is truly epic atmospheric BM. I love the keyboards on this one. 

A big surprise for me is liking the acoustic guitar instrumental "In the Twilight of the Night". It's a complete break from the BM norm and I think an album of this majestic BM attitude needs it. Carrying on "Light of the Eternal Dawn" is a beautiful ode to Norwegian BM.

It starts out ridiculously radical and harsh with some cool tremolo picked riffs. Then introduces some tranquil melody to cool things off for a minute or two. Next all hell rips loose with tremolo picked melodies. This is a total wall of BM fury which almost had me shifting to the outdoor speakers just to piss off the neighbors. The closing song, "We Wept Under the Moonlight Shadow" which is a fourteen minute plus epic piece. Good stuff all around on this one. 

This is the seventh full length by Akul under the band name FATHOMAGE. The first album, Portraits of an Illustrative Mania, came out in 2018. Here we are years later and Akul gives us a well balanced atmospheric black metal album. 

LISTEN TO and BUY IT HERE:

https://fathomage.bandcamp.com/album/autumns-dawn-winters-darkness

VOMITORY - All Heads Are Gonna Roll review

 

VOMITORY - All Heads Are Gonna Roll

Metal Blade Records

OK it's time for a bias alert. Yes I am a VOMITORY fan. Yeah aside from that you might want to call the authorities. Years ago I was at a local show and struck up a conversation with some guy I never met before. We were discussing death metal and he asked me what Swedish DM bands I liked. So I told him I like VOMITORY. They're my favorite Swedish DM band. That's when this guy gave me one of those looks as if he's repulsed and scared at the same time. Then he asked me about the new AT THE GATES' reunion album which was out back then. I told him that I never got into the whole Swedish melo-deth scene because the music wasn't violent enough. After that he decided to leave me alone. 

So getting back to VOMITORY I became a fan of their's way back in the day with their debut album Raped in Their Own Blood from 1996. They followed that with a handful of cool albums. But in 2007 they released Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize which became my favorite Swedish DM album of all time. Now sure some of you readers are going to be like "But what about the Swedish DM big four?" OK I'll explain.

ENTOMBED started out great but then shit the bed. DISMEMBER pretty much did the same thing. Now at least GRAVE and UNLEASHED were still putting out decent albums for a while. But for me the 2000's and Swedish DM was owned by VOMITORY. Now in 2011 the band released their eighth studio full length, Opus Mortis VIII, which I liked a lot and after that silence. So after twelve years we finally got a "comeback" album?

To me this is not a "comeback" release in fact it's more like a pardon us for the long intermission. All Heads Are Gonna Roll is not only a great successor to their last full length. It's the epitome of brutal sounding Swede Death from the late 2000's and here we are in 2023. The band just returned and recorded their type of album and it's fuckin damm good. 

You've got the rage fueled brutal vocals. There's a symphony of sick riffage with groove and punishment. I just wish I could be in a slam pit during "The Deepest Tomb" with it's driving rhythms and dive bomb solos plus almost grind ending. I could say the same for the title and opening cut. There's still that BOLT THROWER influence from their latter albums. We're talking deadly grooves with punishing drum work throughout.   

VOMITORY did not come back for a fuckin rehearsal. They came back to kick some fuckin ass. This new one is a full on death metal beast. Of course a decade later production value helps out in the sound dept. But it's all about the songs, ten of em, which are perfect. They're back and still my favorite. Hails!

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

LISTEN HERE:

https://vomitory.bandcamp.com/album/all-heads-are-gonna-roll