SIGN OF THE JACKAL - Heavy Metal Survivors review

 

SIGN OF THE JACKAL - Heavy Metal Survivors

Dying Victims Productions

So imagine if you will ENFORCER, who are a NWOBHM revival act, also influenced by early MOTLEY CRUE (pre Shout at the Devil) and with a female vocalist. Does that sound fuckin cool or am I crazy? Alright just for the record I've been called crazy multiple times in my life. And a lot of that came from people I consider close friends, work colleagues and veterans I've served with in the military. I'm not going to get into that latter part.  

But anyways this is the third full length by Italy's SIGN OF THE JACKAL a five piece true heavy metal act that's been around since 2008. The first time I blasted this album my thoughts were that these people love it all metal from both sides of the pond. And they have found a way to combine two totally different styles of classic 80's metal into one strong sound. 

There's plenty of NWOBHM influences as well as 80's US metal signature sounds. Almost every song on here has this opening where you're guessing what's gonna hit ya. Historically that's what we loved back in the 80's and it's cool now in the 2000's. I mean good rockin stuff with cool guitar soloing. The lead vocals are falsetto with gang vocal chorus's, hello 1980's. 

In the end this is a surprise release which makes the metal head in you go holy shit! I wanna see this band live. I mean fuck all of their early  releases. I wanna see em on stage now. Be that as it may on this album SIGN OF THE JACKAL just fuckin rules.    

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/heavy-metal-survivors

MITOCHONDRION - Vitriseptome review

 

MITOCHONDRION - Vitriseptome

Profound Lore Records

A few years back when I learned about this Canadian blackened death four piece it was via their second full length Parasignosis from 2011. In all honesty I thought the band's sound channeled the early days of PORTAL, VASAELETH, and HOODED MENACE. There's probably a few more obscure bands included in their influence but I should let it go. So here we are thirteen years later with their third full length release. 

There's some cool things and not so good things to say about Vitriseptome. Let's start with the cool stuff. If you blast this release on your back deck speakers after midnight your neighbors will call the cops on ya. You're left standing there at the front door smiling to the officer and explaining that you were in the bathroom and didn't know the outside speakers were on. It was my second complaint this year so I got a pass. 

But hey MITOCHONDRION continue where they left off in 2011. You've got the sickening bestial cavernous vocals. Their song structures are one part riff roaring death metal and the other a type of sick metallic opera of diabolic proportions. I love how it all blends into chaos. Yes this is an album where you let the musical destructive forces over take your senses. Yeah this is late night music, fierce and obscene, only to be heard by a shared few who are of the extreme music kind.

The not so good things are that MITOCHONDRION did all of that in 2011 with their second album. This one here is a good album but it doesn't push the boundaries of the band's they're influenced by. I mean the influential acts named above kinda blow these days. So these Canadians have the torch handed to em in order to keep the flow of this blackened death style going or progressing. In the end it's a cool album.   

https://profoundlorerecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://mitochondrion.bandcamp.com/album/vitriseptome

WITCHTRAP - Hungry as the Beast review

 

WITCHTRAP - Hungry as the Beast

Hells Headbangers Records

WITCHTRAP are a three piece blackened thrash act from Colombia who I got into with the split they did with NUNSLAUGHTER in 2014 and their Evil Strikes Again full length from 2020. The band has been around since 1997 and has a ton of releases out be they full lengths, EPs and splits. By the way their last split release with NUNSLAUGHTER from 2014 is probably a collector's item by now.

Hungry as the Beast is their sixth full length and musically it's a throwback to the early days of thrash. When I blast this through the house speakers it's pretty damm cool. Listening to this, as an old schooler, it's totally enjoyable. I mean this was blasting while I was doing the dishes. So if you're an old thrash fan then I highly recommend this one.

https://shop-hellsheadbangers.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://witchtrap-official.bandcamp.com/album/hungry-as-the-beast