ARES KINGDOM - In Darkness at Last review

 

ARES KINGDOM - In Darkness at Last

Nuclear War Now! Productions

OK so a little history for ya. Years ago I learned about a band called ORDER FROM CHAOS. They were this cool sounding blackened death metal act from Kansas City, Missouri. Unfortunately by the time I got two of their full lengths (An Ending in Fire from 1998 and Dawn Bringer from 1995) the band had broken up.

A few years later I learned that two members of ORDER FROM CHAOS (aka: guitarist Chuck Keller and drummer Mike Miller) started a new band called ARES KINGDOM. They enlisted Alex Blume (who also plays now in PERDITION TEMPLE) to sing and play bass. I got into them with their second album, Incendiary from 2010. And I immediately was a fan. We're talking insane sounding blackend death thrash to the fuckin hilt.

So after years of being a fan and buying their releases (full lengths and EPs) the band puts out By the Light of Their Destruction in 2019. Now in my not so humble opinion By the Light of Their Destruction was a tour de force of blackened death thrash. Think VENOM, ABSU and POSSESSED all rolled into one extreme bag. 

So here we are with their new album and is it better or at least equal to it's predecessor? Well this one is slightly better in a barbaric way of torture metal. All the cool stuff about their last release is taken a click higher. This trio is so meshed together they create an amazing sound. 

Chuck Keller puts out these psycho riffs as well as distorto solos. Mike Miller's drum work is relentless and at times he's the fucking lead sound amidst the riffs. Finally Alex Blume's bass lines bludgeon plus I think he's a great extreme metal vocalist. He's got this thick harsh scream / yell that reminds me of King from DECEASED. 

All in all In Darkness at Last is one of my favorite albums of 2022. This one gets ranked high. Even better is that I finally got to see ARES KINGDOM this year downtown with Italy's BULLDOZER. 

 

http://www.nwnprod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://nuclearwarnowproductions.bandcamp.com/album/in-darkness-at-last

MARASMUS - Necrotic Overlord review

 

MARASMUS - Necrotic Overlord 

Transcending Obscurity Records

I'm sure people will debate this one but just for this moment's sake. Let's say death metal started thirty four years ago. So looking at the genre today I think it's obvious that death metal has reached it's boundaries. In fact it's been pressing against the walls for a while now. That's not a knock against the genre because I'm a fan. If you go beyond it's template then you're gonna dilute it which is what hiptards did with black metal for a while. 

So for us fans we're left to picking out what we like in the death metal genre because there's gonna be some generic stuff. Obviously if you're a fan of this blog (and obviously who isn't?). Then you know I'm a 100% OSDM fan. Following that I really like bands who can balance the genre's brutality with some precise technical excitement. MARASMUS is definitely the type of DM band that fits perfectly into that category.

Here we have the third full length by Kansas City, Missouri's MARASMUS. This is also their first release since 2015. It's also my first time hearing them, sorry about that. But anyways this band here reminds me of what Polish death metal acts have been doing for decades now. I'm not saying they're copying the Poles. Instead this band takes that ferocious attitude and technical prowess into themselves to create a powerful sounding release. 

The title cut on here speaks volumes to my point exactly. It's heavy sounding with jackhammer drum work, deep baritone like commanding vocals and of course riffs plus solos all over the place. That's what I want in modern death metal. The band also likes to fool you with some atmospheric touches then crashes through the walls to surprise the fuck out of ya. Check out "Voices of the Wailing Deceased" for a perfect example.  

Necrotic Overlord is overall an evil sounding piece of chaotic torment. The band throws so many twists at you that you need to repeat listen in order to recapture the surprise you were hit with. Midwest US death metal has a legacy. MARASMUS are the perfect band to hand the torch over to.

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://marasmusdeath.bandcamp.com/album/necrotic-overlord-death-metal