DEFENDER - City Ad Mortis reissue review

 

DEFENDER - City Ad Mortis reissue

Hammerheart Records

Just for the record I think the good people at Hammerheart Records are killing it with their series of reissues. I mean if you're into cool sounding stuff from the past which was never properly recognized then here ya go. Obviously the people at this label know how to read the scene. 

Case in point DEFENDER were a Dutch five piece speed metal band from the late 80's. Aside from their Tales of the Unexpected four song demo put out in 1985. The band's only vinyl output was this five song EP from 1987. Now for those of you who have read this blog for a long time (and frankly who doesn't?) you know that my heritage is Dutch. Add to that for decades I've always supported my Dutch Metal. 

So in my not so humble opinion DEFENDER's City Ad Mortis EP is the holy grail of Dutch Metal. Go see how much an original copy of it is selling for on Ebay. But for me musically DEFENDER was a band that falls into that could've / should've been huge catagory. I mean they had all of the classic chops. 

Sound-wise the band had a melodic touch to speed metal with the obvious NWOBHM / early MAIDEN influence. Simon Menting was a great vocalist who could do a killer "heavy metal" scream. Their songs were actually complex as far as randon speed metal was at the time. I mean you could say that DEFENDER were better than their contemporaries. 

As well as the original EP cuts this reissue has three tracks which I believe were supposed to be part of a DEFENDER full length which never happened. These three cuts are more in the vein of early Euro Power Metal. Yeah go figure right. They're pretty cool but it also begs the question of what if? Be that as it may this reissue is a must have. Nuff Said!  

https://www.hammerheart.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fYB-YIKrE

GOD DETHONED - The Judas Paradox review

 

GOD DETHONED - The Judas Paradox

Reigning Phoenix Music

GOD DETHONED is a band that I have to admit I got into late in their career. So much for me me being a lover of Dutch Death Metal but anyways. The band's first full length came out in 1992. I got into them with their 2006 full length The Toxic Touch. I liked that album a lot. I mean basically they were a melodic death metal act with some black metal touches. 

So in the years afterwards while I was buying their older stuff the band in 2009 releases what I say is the greatest War historical influenced release of all time. I'm talking about Passiondale. A year later they come out with Under the Sign of the Iron Cross which is yet another masterpiece. But after that one, mainman Henri Sattler (vocals / guitars) just decides to quit. So the band was in limbo until 2017 when Henri and a new line-up put out the third part of his WW1 trilogy The World Ablaze. That album sucked so let's move on. 

In 2020 GOD DETHRONED returns with Illuminati and it's Henri taking a different path with his song writing emphasis. Back then I thought it was cool but considering it was a wait and see thing. So now we have a follow-up to a continuing saga, The Judas Paradox. This release really takes you back to the days of before the war stuff. This is a sit down affair of melodic death metal with plenty of blackened touches. 

To me it's like Henri is doing a reboot of The Lair of the White Worm era of the band. Be that as it may Henri's got some cool players with him on this journey. First and foremost is guitarist Dave Meester who joined in 2019. This guy is a shredder to the utmost. When his solos enter into a song it's just fuckin over. Even in the more blackened stuff he seethes his way into breaking from the traditional norms to enter a melodic touch or a dive bomb solo. 

In the end GOD DETHONED's latest full length is .....decent. Yeah call me bias because I loved their War stuff. But yeah this is a cool release. 

https://reigningphoenixmusic.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRsUePUuHz0&list=OLAK5uy_lhWus0b67WtExQ4tQwW1lHax2RfI-vGNM

VULCAN TYRANT - Vulcanocide review

 

VULCAN TYRANT - Vulcanocide

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Well you know the cliche good things come in small packages. Well in this case it's undeniably true. VULCAN TYRANT are a two piece Dutch speed metal act. The two participants are multi-instrumentalist/vocalist San Disintegrator and drummer Niek Driesschen.

  

VULCAN TYRANT is technically not a new band. Originally it was a one man outfit, San Disintegrator being the one, starting out back in 2005. Those early years resulted in the release of three demos and a split. By the end of 2006 San Disintegrator decided to shelve VULCAN TYRANT and work in another project called THE NEFARIOUS INTEGRATION.

But in 2019 San Disintegrator decided to resurrect VULCAN TYRANT. First off he brought in Niek Driesschen to handle drums and making the band an official two piece act. Next up he put all of his early recordings, originally on cassettes, onto a CD compilation entitled Vulcanic Collection. From that point on it's was new material time. 

I came into knowing about them in 2020 when the band appeared on two different Horror Pain Gore Death Productions releases. One of em was a split release with Japan's ABIGAL. The other release was a four band split compilation where they appeared along side WHIPSTRIKER, TERRORHAMMER and SPEEDWHORE. The band has a fondness for short form releases. Since 2019 they've been on four split releases.

But now, after all of that, the band has finally packed a bunch of cuts together for a proper full length. Basically it's eight cuts book-ended by an instro effects intro and outro. They sound like someone fucking around with a theremin. Be that as it may the eight proper songs are damm cool.

Sound-wise this Dutch duo put out raw, fiery speed metal. The riffs are of that rip your head off type total chaos. Solos are filthy and as far as the vocals go San Disintegrator sounds like a burnt corpse. Years ago, after hearing one of their split releases, I felt that this band needed a full length. Well here it is in all of it's filth ridden glory. The kids today need to listen to something like this instead of that horrible new metal-core. Great fuckin album!

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/vulcanocide

GRIM FATE - Perished in Torment review

GRIM FATE - Perished in Torment

Xtreem Music




Once I saw in the promo that this band here was Dutch death metal, it was like hell fuckin yeah let's hear it. Something else which is cool and that's this band is fairly new. GRIM FATE are a three piece act who started out three years ago. To their credit they've come out with a handful of short form releases. Finally here we have their full length debut.


Now for someone like myself who for years has admitted to being a huge fan of Dutch death metal (it's a heritage thing). I found it very interesting that GRIM FATE, who are full on death doom, have a sound and style leaning towards similar US acts. I'm not going to name drop here. If you're a fan of the US version of the genre then throw any name up against the wall and it will stick.


Let me use a driving analogy for ya. You ever get behind some asshole who is slow as shit? You're following the slow bastard then suddenly they'll pick up the pace for a bit. But of course the next thing you know is the fuck head hits the breaks and goes right back to the slow crawl again. That's pretty much of what Perished in Torment sounds like. Minus me cursing, honking the horn and giving the other driver the finger.


Obviously I like this a lot. The band crushes with their doom passages but actually succeeds in adding what I think is melody with the riffs. Other times there will be a savage rush of riffage which hits you out of nowhere. The vocals are your basic cave dwelling beast variety. I noticed that two guys in this band are also in BURIAL REMAINS, who are damm good in their own right. 


For the most part on here GRIM FATE cover the basics well which is what you want from a death doom release. Then they include some really cool nuances to their songs which no way in hell would you think boredom or generic. In fact I found it exciting. But then hey they're Dutch, so am I and you can go fuck yourself. 



http://shop.xtreemmusic.com/english.main.index.php

https://grimfate.bandcamp.com/album/perished-in-torment

https://www.facebook.com/grimfatedeathmetal/

RIVER OF SOULS - Usurper review

RIVER OF SOULS - Usurper

Self Released




So I was listening to this the other night while we here in the states are trying not to have anxiety attacks or depressive outbreaks during this fucking pandemic. I couldn't believe how calming or better yet, soothing this band's music made me feel. Hey it's sludge, death metal and a bunch more. I'm also the type of guy who blasts IMMORTAL during ice storms without worrying about trees crashing. But hey that's me.


So here we have RIVER OF SOULS, a five piece act from Holland. Sorry guys I'm of Dutch heritage and I use certain  terms. So with that said this is the second full length by this band. They've been around for a few years and although I've never heard their debut, The Well of Urd, from 2017. I just love what they do on this one. Seriously what you have here is doom, sludge and some melodic moments of death metal. 


I guess the definitive term to use for this band's overall sound and style is diversity. Yeah I know and let me slit my wrists out of spite. Even though RIVER OF SOULS use some varied song structures that feature the cold embrace of melancholy, the crushing fist of death and some damm good guitar soloing interludes. It's the vocal variety which speaks volumes. You've got some cleans, caustic stuff and total OPETH stuff.


Which brings me to the finale, RIVER OF SOULS are totally influenced by early OPETH. Is that cool? Well it depends on how much of an OPETH fan you are. I mean listen to "A Spirit's Weight" and tell me that this band didn't let their influence veil down a second. Or how about the eleven minute plus "The Tightening". 


In the end it's an enjoyable release of doom stillness as well as some melodic passages and proggy, tech death interludes. A dutch version of OPETH yeah I'll go that way. Strangely enough I can't stand OPETH. I think they suck, they blow and are boring. I've got almost all of their releases and the used CD stores won't even buy them. But this release at this space in time is worthy. Nuff Said.


https://riverofsouls.bandcamp.com/album/usurper

https://www.facebook.com/riverofsoulsband/

PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT - Self Titled review

PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT - Self Titled

Rising Nemesis Records




So a few years back I was reading some metal magazine article and the writer made a joke about someone owning the complete discography of PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT as being not so cool. I didn't think it was funny considering at that time I did have all their releases. Fuck you hipster scribe is what I thought afterwards. Bias Alert, yes I am a PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT fan. Should I add the term "Duh" to it? They're extreme and brutal death metal from Holland a nation of my heritage and I write about extreme metal. Oh yeah DUH!


My history with this great and legendary band is interesting to say the least. But yes the nation of Holland or the Netherlands if you prefer has had some great representatives of extreme music in the death metal category. This band, for some stupid reason, has been considered a black sheep.  Once again "Duh"? The band started out in 2000 and for almost a decade produced some seriously aggressive slightly technical death metal. Their biggest turnoff for some people is their choice of album cover art. But hey I don't care because it's great death metal. I saw their fourth full length, Descendants of Depravity from 2008, to be their best work. 


But then everything stopped for a few years until the almighty comeback of From Crotch to Crown came out in 2014. Definitely a great record if you consider a band sticking to the formula which brought them out of obscurity. But as if on cue the band took another long creative break until now in 2019 we have this self titled full length. Obviously from the Jack the Ripper inspired cover art it's understandable why it's self titled. Musically it's the same as their last release. But then that's what is cool.


Basically you're getting a Dutch version of CANNIBAL CORPSE. You have a balance of brutality and technical prowess. The songs are intense and violent. Speed is their main engine with nine songs firing in at a little over thirty minute time span. The riffs are punishing with solos chiming in more harmonies that savage. Vocals are typical low tone gruff death metal roars. Bottom line yes I'm bias but hey it's great death metal for anyone who can appreciate it without getting butthurt. I might just include it in my year end best of listings just to piss off the hiptards.


http://risingnemesisrecords.bigcartel.com/

https://risingnemesisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/prostitute-disfigurement