MORTUARY - Great Black Earth EP review

 

MORTUARY - Great Black Earth EP

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Alright so there's a bunch to unpack here. First off there are a ton of bands world wide with the band name MORTUARY. This one here hails from Mexico. The original band (that's a key point which I'll explain later) started out in 1988. 

Now if you're one of those people, like me, who years ago decided to invest huge sums of money into buying reissued demos as well as obscure releases by Death Metal bands from way back when. Then you might have this band's debut full length release, Blackened Images, which came out in 1991 on some obscure label. I have the reissue from 2020 which came out on Iron Bonehead Productions. The cover art won me over better than the music.

Anyways here we are now with some new stuff by these Mexican Death Thrash vets. I mean prior to this they have released some stuff. They had a second full length, Shine of the End, from 1995 which I never heard. And they have some short form releases as well. But this is new stuff which basically says "Hey we're still around." "We're a nostalgia act and we head line shows for once. And we opened for SLAYER".

Be that as it may on this latest four song release modern day Mexican MORTUARY sounds pretty good. Basically it's an early version of SLAYER meets Death Metal soundwise. The only original member, like I pointed out earlier, is lead guitarist Alberto Martinez. He's still doing these dive bomb solos, like on the first album, like Kerry King on coke. 

With that said the new band Alberto Martinez has surrounded himself with are damm good. Musically it's still Death Metal SLAYER but props to bassist / vocalist Coke DeadMan. Whowever he is does a great job with the DM and Thrash style vocals. All in all it's a great release but more need to be done. 

Mexico's MORTUARY needs to put out a new full length. Secondly some label, maybe this one, needs to reissue the band's first demo from 1989 as well as all of the band's short form release material. Get your Metal Head credit card out there and buy, buy, buy! Nuff Said. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/great-black-earth

HACAVITZ - Muerte review

 

HACAVITZ - Muerte

Moribund Records

Just for the record HACAVITZ, a blackened death metal act from Mexico, are a band I learned about years ago from this label. Yeah I've got more Moribund Records releases then you've got (choose something stupid because I'm not in the mood). Now with that said the PR report on this release states that this is "the triumphant return of the #1 Hispanic Black / Death Metal band!!!" Well I wouldn't go that far.

HACAVITZ are/were a cool band to blast some Mexican blasphemy across borders. I thought their 2007 full length, Katun, was fuckin amazing. But everything since that one has been decent to say the least. You also have to remember that mainman Antimo Buonnano (vocals, guitars & bass) and Cesar Sanchez on drums have been the true creative duo over all of these years.

So with that said what we have here is the band's sixth full length. Their last one, Nex Nihil, came out in 2017. Now as far as this one goes Muerte does deliver on the band's past style of blackened fury, creepy late night atmosphere and thunderous riffs. Unfortunately the production on here is muted or better yet muddied. 

What made me a fan of HACAVITZ years ago was that their sound was raw with a devastating attack whether it was the the guitar riffs or the vocals. In other words it was alive and screamed in your fuckin face. To me I can hardly like this with it's muddled sound. I mean it's 2024 so you can have a decent sound while still being cool blackened something or other. 

In the end I'm not happy with this return.

https://www.moribundcult.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hacavitz.bandcamp.com/album/muerte

BLACK HATE - Via Pvrgativa review

 

BLACK HATE - Via Pvrgativa

Odium Records

Mexico's BLACK HATE are a band that's been around for a while. Let me explain that in detail. Originally it was a one man black metal project. The one man is B.G. Ikanunna who started out in 2006 and was responsible for everything as is the case. B.G. Ikanunna was actually fairly prolific during this period. (Please note that the guy has been prolific all around as an artist. I mean he's been in a ton of other projects besides BLACK HATE).

So from 2007 to 2011, aside from a seven song debut demo, the guy appeared on a bunch of split EPs as well as releasing some EPs of his own and two full lengths. Then in 2012 B.G. Ikanunna decided to turn BLACK HATE into a real band with him just being responsible for vocals and later on guitars. Once again the band was on a creative spirit with a bunch of splits, EPs and more full lengths. 

Their last release was the 2020 full length Altalith. Now in all honestly that one seemed more like an EP with four actual songs and four short instrumentals. So here we are a few years later. B.G. Ikanunna is back with the same BLACK HATE line-up that's been going for a number of years now. And we have a new album with only one instrumental and it's the opener. 

OK so I like this album a lot mainly because it runs the gambit of blackening everything. Sure you still have the old school BLACK HATE avant-garde arrangements on certain cuts. But there's plenty of death metal groove in places. Add in is some melody and straight up traditional metal style. I mean hell yeah this is cool. And yes the production is still raw as fuck without sounding like crap. 

Aside from the opening instro you get the blistering, fist pumping first cut "Trembling Hands of Sorrow". The song is eight fuckin minutes of blackened insanity. Another highlight is "Luminous Ruins of Death" which is part blackened death n roll and part blackened occult worship. B.G. Ikanunna's vocals on here (as well as every cut on here) are full on filth, horror and hate filled. 

Another cool cut worth mentioning is “Tempestad (o de la transubstanciation)”. It's sung in Spanish, has a sort of tech death riff sequence running rampant and then channels doom as well as thrash. Yeah all in an eight minute time period. The final cut "Dark Night of the Soul" is the eerie cut of the album. It comes off early on sounding like a soundtrack for a Mexican horror/slasher film. But then it pulls out the blackened grandiose stamp of blood spitting filth. 

Yeah like what was mentioned earlier I really like this album. I say that because it's so off the beaten path of black metal proper. Plus it's from an artist who needs recognition to say the least. I guess this is where my bias comes in. My friends in Texas will know this. Mexico has always been a hotbed of extreme metal and with fans who are absolute fanatics. But very few bands from there get the big press afforded to other acts. 

BLACK HATE, especially on this latest one, should be checked out. Now with that said I believe some label should put together a compilation of the early stuff, not the LPs, but the short form releases. Add to that the BLACK HATE 2012 to 2019 catalog wouldn't be a bad idea either. Plus they do have that live album and you can check em out with this performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCrmLUOnPk

  

https://www.label.odiumrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://odiumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/black-hate-v-a-pvrgativa

LUCIFERIAN RITES - Oath of Midnight Ashes review

LUCIFERIAN RITES - Oath of Midnight Ashes

Moribund Records

LUCIFERIAN RITES are a perfect Moribund Records type of band. This four piece act hails from Mexico and are a total late 90's style black metal throwback. You've got a vocalist (Count Shadow) who screams as if he's on fire some times. At other points the music is cold cruel and punishing. You've got straight up tremolo picked riffs, good solid drumming which varies from the typical blast beats to a calmer rock variant. Not bad for a band who started out in 2009. 

This fourth full length not only screams kvlt but the band kicks in a melodic touch which makes them interesting. The first half of the album I found kinda standard fare. The second half was damm good. For me it starts with the epic "Behind the Leviathan Storm". This song is a cut which covers savagery and melody to the best possible ways. Another good one is "Astral Decay of an Old Melancholy" which starts out slow and beautiful and then hits in the most harshest ways be that it's melodic. 

A final note to ponder, be that there's no frostbitten nights in Mexico. LUCIFERIAN RITES does leave you cold and dead inside.  

http://www.moribundcult.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://luciferianrites.bandcamp.com/album/oath-of-midnight-ashes

 

SARGATANAS - The Enlightenment (reissue) review

SARGATANAS - The Enlightenment (reissue)

Old Temple




If you are a regular reader of SFM666, and frankly who isn't, then you know I like talking about and promoting reissues by bands who never got their due during their heyday. I mean there are two types of reissues out there for metal public consumption. There are ones which are already widely available prior to being reissued that labels are just trying to make a few bucks on. And then there are reissues like this which are purely for the fans without all the bells and whistles, extra tracks, rehearsal demos or extra live DVDs. 

This one here is a new one for me and unless you're an old school metalhead from Mexico than it's new to you also. There are a few bands out there named SARGATANAS, this is the old one from Mexico. Their 1996 release, The Enlightenment, was one of the more important releases of that scene back in the day. Now after over two decades it's been reissued on CD without any undue or unnecessary upgrades. I mean why would you fuck with an evil sounding death cult of death/doom?

While I listen to this gem it's easy for me to push aside what has come afterwards and bask my mind into what was and is damm good. You have more than an hour's worth of satanic glorification in it's down-tuned glory. I fuckin love it. In fact listening to this, fully knowing that these guys were true to form, makes me question and wonder of the genuine integrity of many modern provocateurs in this genre. Yeah the production is lacking in giving the trudging riffs their due. Plus what solos there are seem poor to that extent. But anyways you get twelve death/doom metal cuts that fill you with the dread you crave.

Rating: 5/5

http://www.oldtemple.com/

https://www.facebook.com/sargatanasmexico/

https://oldtemple.bandcamp.com/album/sargatanas-the-enlightenment