LYCANTHROPHY - On The Verge Of Apocalypse review

 

LYCANTHROPHY - On The Verge Of Apocalypse

Horror Pain Gore Death

For those of you in Europe or maybe Euro grindcore aficionados here in the states the name LYCANTHROPHY is probably old hat. But for those of you who are not then here ya go This band from the Czech Republic started out way back in 1998. Prior to this one here the band has released to prior full lengths. But throughout their career the band is known for releasing split releases. And they do have a shit load of em. 

I learned about LYCANTHROPHY about five years ago when I by chance got a copy of their self titled full length from 2010 which was reissued in 2018. Just for the record it's the only release I have of there's. Be that as it may I kinda liked what they had done. Musically they're old school grind leaning more to the punk/hardcore scene than metal. In fact I'll bet they think NAPALM DEATH are corporate sell-outs. Well maybe?

Their shtick is songs that are a short sharp shock to your cranium. I'm talking fast like a cheetah late for supper. I'm talking stop / start drumming and song structures, a lot of blast beats and no guitar soloing. Another claim to fame is their duel male / female vocal attack which is definitely a throwback to late 80's / early 90's political punk/HC acts. 

So about half way through listening to this their latest full length I'm wondering that there's something different going on vocally. I'll get to that in a moment but first. Musically this album is like a mile ahead of what was on their self titled full length. Dare I say the band has embraced metal and joined the ranks of their Eastern European peers? Sound-wise this is far more heavy and brutal sounding. 

As far as the vocals go yeah there's still two people sharing the mic. One person is clearly deep brutal DM and violent shouted vocals while the other is full on shrieking. So whatafuck happened to Zdisha? I'm mean sure it's been a while but it sure doesn't sound like her singing (oops I mean screaming) on here. Be that as it may On The Verge Of Apocalypse is still a fucking amazing grindcore release. 

I mean by the fourth time this was blasting through my speakers I felt like I was going through a change. I wanted to be in the audience of a show by LYCANTHROPHY. I saw myself slam dancing throughout their performance. Drinking copious amounts of beer and afterwards going out to smash the elitist political bullshit state. Then waking up in the morning with torn up clothes, covered in blood, hungover as dogshit and having a Lon Chaney Jr. moment. Hmmm, must have been a full moon last night.

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/on-the-verge-of-apocalypse

INSISTENT - Disease review

 

INSISTENT - Disease

L'inphantile Collective

Why of course I'd give one a chance, look at the album cover. INSISTENT is a fairly new band from the Czech Republic who started out a few years back. Musically we're talking grindcore here. Now after a few listens I can say that INSISTENT are not following closely to what their northern neighbors in Poland have been doing for decades.

In fact on this their second full length the band's overall take on the genre is old school raw as well as filth ridden. And yet there's a touch of perfection within the band's overall instrumentation to this album. You've got thirteen tracks in almost twenty something minutes. The band knows how to mix the grinding fast and furious cuts with some death metal beats. 

The vocals come off as a caustic beast in pain. In other words this gentleman has a voice to be reckoned with. The music falls into a part old school grind with death metal tenets. No savage leads or avant meanderings to be found here. I'm on the fence for this one. I give it a ten for punishment but it's 2021, please give me more to remember then a cool album cover.

http://www.neonarcis.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://insistent.bandcamp.com/album/disease

INFERNAL CULT - All The Lights Faded review

INFERNAL CULT - All The Lights Faded

Self Released




INFERNAL CULT is a one man black metal project by a guy named Martjern who hails from the Czech Republic. This is his first full length after releasing a few EPs previously after starting out in 2015. As I've said so many times the days of poorly created one man BM releases is over. At least an artist now has the ability to create something interesting via technical upgrades in self recording.


Here we have a perfect example of that since this release sounds like a full band recorded it. Although musically it's not breaking any new ground whatsoever. Second wave influenced black metal at it's best and yet Martjern's aggressive touches make it all sound damm good.


Of these eight cuts it's Martjern's guitar work which to me is mesmerizing. Whether it's the icy picked tremolo runs or the more aggressive riffs on the shorter cuts, the man knows black metal guitar 101. Then there's the haunting beauty of his melodies which take place in the longer cuts.


The one thing here that rips you away from thinking it's 1994 again is Martjern's vocals. He uses a low death metal-like gruff style more suited for death doom. Albeit some of the slower cuts do push the blackened doom aesthetic. Either way at first I didn't know how to approach writing about this. After a few listens I think it's one of the more enjoyable black metal releases of 2018.


https://bandzone.cz/_97147

https://www.facebook.com/InfernalCult/

SOLFERNUS - Neoantichrist review

SOLFERNUS - Neoantichrist

Satanath Records 




The guitarist and drummer of this Czech band are also in ROOT but don't expect there to be a closeness in sound. SOLFERNUS do entertain the black metal vibe but with a surprisingly SLAYER influence. This is the second full length by this four piece from the Czech Republic and their last one came out in 2005. I guess they've been busy with other things.

As far as the SLAYER influence goes I'm thinking Seasons of the Abyss era. They definitely love their thrash. Most of the cuts on here have that head banging chunky riff salad working for em. Guitar soloing and drum work is also similar to the fearsome foursome of old. But it's not a carbon copy in the least. SOLFERNUS do add their own personality via venomous sounding vocals, song structure twists and actual melodies.

One wonders with so much talent why it took so long to produce something worthy of praise? Neoantichrist is a decent listen which really wouldn't fit into that standard blackened thrash sub-genre. Maybe next time they won't wait twelve years to put out a follow-up.

http://www.satanath.com/

https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat180-solfernus-neoantichrist-2017

https://www.facebook.com/SOLFERNUS-322352119065/

CONTRASTIC - Contrastic (re-issue) review

CONTRASTIC - Contrastic (re-issue)

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Ok get ready for this, I never listened to or heard of CONTRASTIC before getting this promo for their self titled re-issue. Shall I give you a minute to hurl insults at me, maybe two minutes? Alright now since I'm not a Grindcore snob/connesuir, as if that number is huge, let me get to the basics. CONTRASTIC were/are a grindcore act that came out of the Czech Republic in the early nineties. In 2000 they released their self titled debut full length on CD via Shindy Productions. Not long after that the band split up but this release made such an impact on the grind community that CONTRASTIC attained a cult status. It was enough so that the band got back together to play the Maryland Deathfest in 2013. A year after that they shared a split release, titled Jarmo, with Slovakian grind lords ATTACK OF RAGE.




So now after giving this a dozen plays I can see why CONTRASTIC are as popular today with the grind crowd as they were in their heyday. In 2000 these Czechs came out of no where to rewrite the whole grind template. They were the innovators at least in their neck of the woods and for someone like me who's not a grind enthusiast this was an education. CONTRASTIC didn't just add hardcore, jazz fusion, funk, techno and not so basic pitch shifts that'll snap your neck to their brand of death/grind They melded those influences to make it all sound natural and fluid. I'm guessing this was the benchmark for what people today call avant-grind. 

I asked a friend, who I'd call a grind enthusiast, via an FB message to see what he knew about CONTRASTIC and their supposed cult status. Of course I kinda knew the answer ahead of time. Fanzines and tape trading was our generation's way to discover obscure bands. Then came the internet and with it music forums, file sharing and full album plays on Youtube. Something else that's funny, years ago people like us wanted all of our fave vinyl releases re-issued on CD with extra tracks, extensive liner notes and artwork. Now people want their CD only or cassette releases on vinyl. Yes life has come full circle.

This CONTRASTIC debut is seeing it's first time on vinyl and it was audio remastered specifically for vinyl. The package also contains some extras like a poster and new cover art. Yeah the collectors want their goodies.

Rating: 5/5

http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Contrastic

https://contrastic.bandcamp.com/album/contrastic