MAUSOLEUM - Defiling the Decayed review

 

MAUSOLEUM - Defiling the Decayed

Moribund Records

It's the middle of October, there's a full moon out tonight and I'm listening to the new MAUSOLEUM full length. Ya know life is good. But hey I've talked about MAUSOLEUM in the past but if ya need a refresher then here ya go. MAUSOLEUM are a four piece Death Metal band from the great state of Pennsylvania. Of course it's great because I use to live there and I've still have family who call it home. Plus most of em listen to Metal.  

As far as MAUSOLEUM goes yeah call me a fan. I mean they're an old school DM sounding act who are purveyors of horror influences. Whether the subject matter is cemetery ghouls, scary movie references or just plain rip open the coffins and lets have some fun. And they've been doing it sporadically since their debut album in 2003. So here we have their third full length after a quiet period. Their last release was a split with the Japanese band ANATOMIA from 2020. 

Defiling the Decayed is just a continuation of what they do best. Imagine these guys as old time grave diggers who throw you into the hole and shovel dirt in your face. In the past I've compared em to Sweden's GRAVE but MAUSOLEUM does lean more into a death doom style. Plus they know how to be punishing.

 

That's because they've got original guitarist / vocalist Adam Kegg laying down these sickening riffs as well as bestial vocals. Bassist Robert Yench is also an original member and his playing stands out so much. Another long time band member, Craig Stiles, continues to lay down these sick, demented and at times fiery guitar leads. Their newest band member is drummer Chris Demydenko who came on in 2020. This guy does bring in some cool runs which work well with this style of DM. 

In the end this is a great album and probably better than their first two, yeah I know I'm pushing it because hey there is a full moon. After all of these years MAUSOLEUM still knows how to punish and sound so fuckin eerie. It's the time of October scary and right now this album works for me. Gore, Horror, Death and more Gore!

https://www.moribundcult.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://thezombiecult.bandcamp.com/album/defiling-the-decayed

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

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

 

CARNAL SAVAGERY - Into the Abysmal Void review

 

CARNAL SAVAGERY - Into the Abysmal Void

Moribund Records

Call me old school (why not, I am old) but I still hold to a criteria for checking out new music. If the band has a cool name, the cover artwork on the release looks good and it's on a label I'm familiar with then yeah let's give it a try. Of course after listening to this I probably should have my head cut off and then handed to me. I'll explain why.

CARNAL SAVAGERY is a Swedish band that's been around since 2020. This album here is their fifth full length in four years. I'd say that qualifies as being prolithic. Now with the exception of the band's debut, all of their other full lengths came out on Moribund Records. Oh yeah and this is the first time I've gotten in to them. Then again I've been behind when it comes to picking up releases from this label post pandemic. I shall correct that failure. 

Be that as it may CARNAL SAVAGERY, who are from Gothenburg, Sweden to be exact, play death metal the only way they know how. So yeah this is Swedish death metal circa 1990 with plenty of 1) crunchy HM-2 guitar riffs 2) hate filled vocals 3) a relentless drumming assault and of course 4) fluid guitar leads that hit like lightning strikes. 

Now I'm sure some people will say "why should I get this because I've got all of the original OSSDM albums" (yeah on reissue). Well because CARNAL SAVAGERY are new. Look people you're not going to see the old bands much anymore. Hey I saw a few of em back in the 2000's and they were not up to speed. And that was twenty years after the fact. 

Secondly CARNAL SAVAGERY push the necro to the hilt. I mean with songs like "Raped in a Coffin", "Stench of Burnt Decay" and "Reek of Decomposing Flesh" hell yeah what's not to like? Plus with cool as fuck deep screamed vocals, the traditional Swede Death sound and some actual melodic groove kicking in at times. Hell I only wished those old bands continued on this path but they didn't.

So that's why you need CARNAL SAVAGERY in your life.  

http://www.moribundcult.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-abysmal-void

NORTHERN - Desolate Ways to Ultima Thule review

NORTHERN - Desolate Ways to Ultima Thule

Moribund Records



From the cold northern reaches of New Hampshire, don't laugh it's cold up there. Now if ya wanna laugh then think about this: Black Metal from New York City, Los Angeles or San Francisco? Yeah now that's funny. But anyway this band started out in 2002 under the name COLD NORTHERN VENGEANCE and in 2016 they just shortened it to NORTHERN. Frankly it's a good choice to shorten your name. 

On the whole this is four Americans on a pagan, viking, black metal trip to Scandinavia. They've probably listened to copious amounts of BATHORY's Nordland Volumes 1 & 2. (Which I don't see a problem with.) Be that as it may it's a pretty cool sounding effort. I already pointed out that they've been around as a band for a while and this is their second full length. They have demos, split releases and compilation albums out as well. 

Musically they've got the whole blackened template sound down. The vocals sound like they're coming from a meaded up viking. There's some cool folk inspired elements worked in. I can't say much for their reasoning behind doing a cover of BURZUM's "Spell of Destruction". Not that I'm against bands doing covers but if ya wanna do atmospheric black metal then write your own material. Other than all of that I'd also drop from the band's promo material "North America’s #1 Pagan Occultist Blackened Metal band". Blatant self promotion won't get ya into Valhalla.   

http://www.moribundcult.com/

https://moribundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/desolate-ways-to-ultima-thule

https://www.facebook.com/UltimaThule666/

PROVOCATOR - Satan, Chaos, Blood and Terror review

PROVOCATOR - Satan, Chaos, Blood and Terror

Moribund Records




PROVOCATOR is the solo project of BLEEDING FIST founder Hellscream. Since I probably was one of the few who praised BLEEDING FIST's Bestial Krusifix666ion full length (I said it's like a flaming middle finger salute) in January 2010. I was also very nice to their Devils Ferox EP which came out in August of that same year. So why not give this one some time.

While BLEEDING FIST was Slovenia's blackened homage to the ways of the genre's old school, Hellscream takes this vehicle even further. Originally starting out in 2012 as a solo project which put out the full length Antikristus in 2014 plus a few short form releases prior to and afterward. PROVOCATOR is now a two piece act with Lord Astaroth of the Italian black metal act KURGAALL on lead vocals. Hellscream is still responsible for the instruments and background screams. 


Satan, Chaos, Blood and Terror is the second full length by PROVOCATOR. Musically it's everything described in it's title. There's eight cuts of raw sounding old school filth owing much to HELLHAMMER as far as simplicity and BEHERIT as far as being lo-fi. So yeah it sounds like an old demo from the early 90s.

http://www.moribundcult.com/

https://moribundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/satan-chaos-blood-and-terror

https://www.facebook.com/Provocator.Cult

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Moribund Death Cult Vol. 4 review

VARIOUS ARTISTS - Moribund Death Cult Vol. 4

Moribund Records




What a way to end the year, with Moribund Records and some serious black fucking metal. Yes it's Cold, Grim and Evil. If you are a metal enthusiast and have shelves full of CDs or LPs then maybe you separate them by genre. I've got six shelves dedicated to black metal CDs (big shelves) and a year ago I decided to dedicate one full shelf to Moribund releases. Because I own so many of em. It is not crazy to like one particular label especially if they are dedicated to a genre you love and Moribund does that.

My first Moribund compilation experience came when I picked up DODSFERD's Fucking Your Creation CD and the comp came along with it. I then went about picking up everything by the bands on that comp CD. I was a Moribund Cult fan from then on. Sadly the past couple of years I haven't kept up with their releases. I've listened to a few this year but nothing was a standout as opposed to years ago.

But as far as this comp goes the standout tracks for me come from VARDAN, MORTUALIA, WAXEN, UNHUMAN DISEASE and of course DODSFERD. Yeah years ago every track was standout on a Moribund comp, oh well.

www.moribundcult.com/

https://moribundrecords.bandcamp.com/album/moribund-death-cult-vol-4

https://www.facebook.com/MoribundRecordsOfficial/