1914 - Viribus Unitis review

 

1914 - Viribus Unitis

Napalm Records

Here's a Ukrainian Black Metal / Blackened Death Doom act who I got into mid-way through their career. This five piece band started out in 2014 and their music is themed around World War One. Now just for the record the two bands I respect the most who are into the whole WW1 thing are MINENWERFER (USBM) and GOD DETHRONED (from the Netherlands) who came out with their Blackened Death WW1 trilogy years ago from 2009 to 2017. 

My introduction to 1914 came in 2018 with their second full length The Blind Leading the Blind. I didn't think too much for that album considering that it did not go beyond what their peers created. Oddly enough, because they're on Napalm Records, I got their next album Where Fear and Weapons Meet from 2021. That album is where I thought they really got their shit together. 

This latest one, Viribus Unitis, the band continues where they left off. In other words producing a compelling piece of work via story telling with sounds ranging from the symphonic range of Black Metal, melodic Doom and of course Blackened Death Metal. The release is book ended by some old traditional WW1 songs. There's a few sound-bites intermixed within the album. But there is a cool bottom line to it all. 

Because this release has so much variety and contrasts it's basically a concept album like their last one. The band invited a few guest vocalists to interpret some songs. On one of the latter cuts it's totally Gothic influenced Doom and it was easy to identify MY DYING BRIDE's vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe as the vocalist. 

Now be that all which it is, Viribus Unitis has a good quality late night sound. It wants to be a true tale of war but ends up being a romantic melodic styled version. It's not horrific enough which bands like MINENWERFER do in a serious Black Metal style. In the end it's decent.

  

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://x1914x.bandcamp.com/album/viribus-unitis

NILE - The Underworld Awaits Us All review

 

NILE - The Underworld Awaits Us All

Napalm Records

Obviously I don't mind repeating myself in reviews so there's no exception here. Yeah I'm a NILE fan so bias alert. I saw NILE on their first tour with INCANTATION at a small club I worked at years ago. That was in 1998 I believe so ever since then I've been a fan. Now even though I've got all of their full lengths as well as other short form releases. I have not been into everything they've put out. 

Honestly Those Whom the Gods Detest, which came out in 2009, is their last one which I think kicks fuckin ass. Since then they've come out with three decent full lengths. But this new one surpasses them by a mile. Then again the band has changed a bit in talent. You've still got mainman Karl Sanders on vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards. Then there's the human octopus on drums George Kollias. Plus you've got Brian Kingsland on guitars and vocals who joined in 2017. Now add to that you've got new guys Dan Vadim Von on bass and adding vocals plus Zach Jeter on guitars and vocals.

So with this line-up comes an album which has been five years since their last one. And it's on a label which I once said years ago where good bands go to die. But NILE is not getting the mummy treatment on here. The Underworld Awaits Us All is their most brilliant piece of work ever. If you're waiting to be knocked over by the band's brutal tech death style then you're in the back seats. I mean sure there's that but this release is like brutal tech death opera. 

This is a sit down release or better yet let it blast throughout your house on speakers while you do stuff. The song structures are intense as well as wild. The guitar soloing is over the top. The vocals are a crazed variety of the standard brutal style but the other add ons are cool as fuck. So yeah this is the best thing they've done in a while.  

https://shop.napalmrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://nile.bandcamp.com/album/the-underworld-awaits-us-all

MANEGARM - Ynglinga Attens Ode review

 

MANEGARM - Ynglinga Attens Ode

Napalm Records

OK so bias alert I'm a MANEGARM fan and I love their early Viking metal releases. But hey if you're a fan of blackened pagan metal with a Viking themes then how could you not? After their early days the band bounced around to a couple of other labels. They finally ended up on Napalm Records which years ago in a review I said it was the place where good bands go to die. 

Well their first couple of releases on Napalm were average to say the least which was another confirmation of my opinion. But this year MANEGARM finally put out a great Folk Metal release that I've actually been waiting a decade for. The Viking shtick is mostly gone so the band has been doing the whole traditional Folk Metal style for many years now. On here their tenth album they've managed to get it all by hitting all the buttons.

Ynglinga Attens Ode has in all as far as the folk metal genre goes. You've got the songs about pagan myths and sagas. Which are all sung in Swedish by the way. The folk melodies and song structures are sown in with the powerful riffs. It all comes across in a grandiose effect. Not only does vocalist/bassist Erik Grawsio carry the weight on these songs, whether it's cleans, screams and howls. There's added backing vocals, male and female. Oh yeah and plenty of violin into the mix.

The bottom line here is that these Swedes have created an album that's infectious to genre fans as well as being accessible to newcomers. My biggest problem with the whole folk metal genre over the past decade has been it's generic tendencies. The older bands got stagnant. Most newer acts played it safe. Finally here we have an opus.

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://manegarm.bandcamp.com/album/ynglinga-ttens-de

CANDLEMASS - Sweet Evil Sun review

 

CANDLEMASS - Sweet Evil Sun

Napalm Records

OK so bias alert I'm a CANDLEMASS fan. In that I mean yeah I have all of their releases aka: full lengths, EPs and live stuff. But I'm honest enough to say yeah they've got some epic releases, so decent ones and a few that I don't listen to much if at all anymore. 

So here we are with the band's thirteenth album. This one marks the second in a row with Johan Langquist on vocals. Johan Langquist was the original vocalist the band had on their amazing debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus from 1986. Langquist was brought in for 2019's The Door to Doom after the band decided that Mats Leven, who replaced Robert Lowe, was not going to work out for some reason.

 

Now as much as I liked The Door to Doom, it was not Epicus Doomicus Two as some well wishers had judged it to be. And to those who are not real CANDLEMASS fans you don't know the band's curse. That is their second album with a new singer curse. Messiah's second album with the band was good but not great and the same falls in with Robert Lowe's shot. I see Langquist's second shot here the same way.

Sweet Evil Sun doesn't have a lot to shine for it. Basically it's CANDLEMASS 101 with familiar riff packages, there's great solos by Lars Johansson and those occasional backing keyboards. There are some cuts on here that seem more geared for Lowe or Leven to sing. But Langquist trys his best. Opener "Wizard of the Vortex" is decent as well as is the epic touch of "Devil Voodoo". Add to that I think "Crucified" might be Langquist's best vocal performance on here.

So that leaves us with another OK album by CANDLEMASS. After so many plays I was left wondering how tough would it be for the band to get Messiah back for an album. 

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://candlemass.bandcamp.com/album/sweet-evil-sun

UNLEASHED - No Sign of Life review

 

UNLEASHED - No Sign of Life

Napalm Records

So this is the fourteenth full length by Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED. Something else which is noteworthy, this line-up has lasted since 1995. That's not shabby if you ask me. Now I have to openly admit my bias. I'm a big fan of these Swedes. How big a fan you ask? Well I think all of their full lengths are good with a few I'd call fucking great. Also their last one, The Hunt for White Christ, from 2018 was amazing. 

So obviously to me at least UNLEASHED are in no way showing signs of letting up. And here we are in 2021 with their latest which I'm very happy with. First off I like how the title of this one, No Sign of Life, gives a thirty year salute to the band's debut Where No Life Dwells from 1991. Next up the cover art is magnificent.

Of course most important is the music. So on here as with recent past releases by the band their overall sound is generally a mixture of aggressive Swede Death with a touch of melody and some added death n roll. All in all it's just one of those amazing listen releases. Johnny Hedlund always found ways to keep UNLEASHED sounding relevant as opposed to his three other Swedish DM peers. 

 

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN HERE:

https://unleashed.bandcamp.com/

EVILE – Hell Unleashed review

EVILE – Hell Unleashed

Napalm Records

Well someone told me to check out the new EVILE album because (according to him) it rules. Now I do have a few of the band's releases when they were part of the thrash revival of the late 2000's. And also Earache Records jumping on the bandwagon to make some bucks off of the trend. I didn't think they were that good at the time.

So here they are today on Napalm Records (where all bands go to die). And they still come across as a wanna-be METALLICA act. Yeah they've got the power, the drive in their riffs, great guitar soloing and damm good drumming but no personality. Hell Unleashed has some good looking cover art. Probably looking good for a t-shirt too. But as far as listening to this multiple times I just wanted to get off this ride.

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/

LISTEN & DIE HERE:

https://evile.bandcamp.com/

NERVOSA - Perpetual Chaos review

 

NERVOSA - Perpetual Chaos

Napalm Records

OK a few things to mention here. I remember NERVOSA from a few years ago. They were a three piece all female thrash act from Brazil. Their Downfall of Mankind from 2018 was pretty damm good. They had a cool blackened thrash quality to em. But that was then and things have changed for this band. Since last time around the bassist/vocalist and drummer have left the band leaving guitarist Prika Amaral left to re-start things. 

Just for the record this band has gone through half a dozen band members. So NERVOSA are not a Brazilion band anymore. Instead they're now an international act with their three new members. Joining Prika Amaral is vocalist Diva Satanica from Spain. On drums there's Eleni Nota who hails from Greece. Finally there's Mia Wallace from Italy on bass. Wallace is the only one I know of since she played bass on ABBATH's last album. 

So as far as this, their fourth album, goes I'd say the change works well. First off Prika Amaral is a damm good guitarist. She brings forth some diabolical riffs throughout. Her lead work is decent overall. Musically things are less blackened and simplistic than before. This new NERVOSA is full on death thrash with a modern touch. New vocalist Diva Satanica adds a more diverse range of vocal styling be they brutal death grunts, blackened screeches or blatant screams. 

As far as the new rhythm section goes, they keep time with Prika Amaral fairly well. If anything is a miss it's the great drum work sounding like banging on Tupperware. All 13 songs are amazing and in your fuckin face. DESTRUCTION's Marcel Schirmer adds some vocals on one cut while Eric A.K. from FLOTSAM AND JETSAM sings along on another. 

In the end this is some damm good thrash for 2021. Hopefully Prika Amaral will keep this line-up going because it has that early SLAYER quality which has been missing from the genre for a long time. The only sad note here is that because of the Wuhan virus BS the chance for seeing em play these great songs is up in the air.  

https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/?SID=rn2kr7fvmj20u99qjn0qc877r2

LISTEN HERE:

https://nervosa-brazil.bandcamp.com/

CANDLEMASS - The Pendulum EP review

CANDLEMASS - The Pendulum EP

Napalm Records



I'm a CANDLEMASS fan and as far as this EP goes there's one good song and the other five cuts are crap. I used to think Relapse were good for draining a band's demo catalog dry in order to make a buck. I'm rethinking that assessment. 


On here you've got the title track "The Pendulum" which is very good with a riff taken from SABBATH's "Symptom of the Universe". It supposedly was an extra cut from last year's incredible The Door To Doom recording sessions. The rest consists of two more tracks with vocals and three instrumentals. 


If anything I'll say Johan Langquist's vocals are still amazing. I was blown away by what he did on The Door To Doom as a come back vocalist. We're the same age by the way so fuck you kids. Now be that as it may next year CANDLEMASS can release a new album and these cuts can be reworked and included on that one. Unless there's something we, the fans, don't know yet (?)



https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/?SID=ed7vkcecrh9el2l0ii9fdvq9a4

https://candlemass.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/candlemass

CANDLEMASS - The Door to Doom review

CANDLEMASS - The Door to Doom

Napalm Records




Alright I've got a hell of a lot to say about this release. First and foremost I'm a huge CANDLEMASS fan. Albeit I can be objective in their case. So if you are a fan as well then you might had thought that Mats Leven, who replaced Robert Lowe years ago and did two recent EPs with the band, was going to be their permanent vocalist. He was on last year's House of Doom EP which was not that good but a new album was in the future. Then CANDLEMASS do what they are known for, other than play great epic sounding doom. They switch vocalists, as in Mats Leven is out and in returns Johan Langquist who sang on the band's 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. 


OK so not a real surprise there since over the past couple of years the band has invited Johan Langquist back to do shows performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus live. Sorry I missed those performances. But of course you had to wonder after all of these decades how Langquist would sound now on a new CANDLEMASS record. Well after listening to the opening cut "Splendor Demon Majesty" I was floored on how well he, who is my age, could sing. Listening to the whole release, well I can say CANDLEMASS have brought the excitement back.


It's been quite a while since I felt this way about a CANDLEMASS album. This is their twelfth full-length release and their first in seven freaking years. The last time I was excited by one of their releases was in 2007 with Robert Lowe's debut on King of the Grey Islands. Sure the albums which came after were good but you knew they were going to be that way. Listening to this one ya gotta ask band leader, songwriter and bass player Leif Edling where was he hiding these amazing riffs. 


Speaking of riffs the master himself, Tony Iommi, appears on here via the track "Astorolus (The Great Octopus)". He includes a solo which is great but I believe the lead guitar work by Lars Johansson on here exceeds much of what he's done over the past few releases. In the end this is a perfect album. It reminds me a lot of 2012's Psalms Of The Dead but taken to a higher level. This is DOOM done to perfection. Period, end of story for now.


https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/?SID=aps054r7hsr51nfohfd85c9cr6

https://candlemass.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/candlemass

Floating in the Mainstream

Floating in the Mainstream
Short takes on what the mainstream thinks is cool, LAUGHS!!!!!

PRIMITIVE MAN - Caustic

Relapse Records

This is the most boring piece of over-hyped horseshit I've heard this year. It's basically a more sludgey version of SUNN O))) (who are just as boring by the way) with blackened death vocals. Or better yet, put on a PORTAL album and play it with a quarter on top of the needle. PRIMITIVE MAN are a three piece act from denver and have been around for a few years now. In 2013 they released their debut full length, Scorn, which got em notoriety, why I'll never know. This is their second full length but hey first on Relapse. A waste of seventy five minutes.

https://store.relapse.com/


DYING FETUS - Wrong One to Fuck With

Relapse Records

Full disclosure, I never was a huge fan of tech death but honestly over the years I've heard some incredible bands that fully deserve honor. DYING FETUS ain't one of em. Except for the various staccato turrets freak-outs they're basically MORTICIAN on coke. And ya know that's not brutal, that's stupid.

https://store.relapse.com/

WARBRINGER - Woe to the Vanquished

Napalm Records

I've said it so many times but I'll repeat it. When the thrash revival came about in the late 80s I was on board at the beggining. Like any other musical revival it was simply a younger generation recreating something from the past because they loved it as well as rejecting the modern norms. Unfortunately the modern norms (aka: the mainstream metal media) were against it at first until major labels started signing these bands and then (because of advertising dollars) they suddenly liked it. 
Be that truth as it may, I liked WARBRINGER on the Speed Kills Again comp. I saw em twice and liked their debut full length, War Without End. But then the decline happened. Seriously you can only do so much with recycled Bay Area thrash riffs and song structures. Since this is on Napalm Records then obviously their three album deal with Century Media came to an end. As far as this goes hey when they recycle SLAYER stuff I'm kinda offended because it's worse than new SLAYER.

http://label.napalmrecords.com/


EXHUMED - Death Revenge

Relapse Records

At this point in the game do you really think there's gonna be something different or better yet explosive in this band's sound? Duh? Seriously I thought 2011's All Guts, No Glory and 2013's Necrocracy were decent but they don't hold a candle to Slaughtercult or Gore Metal for obvious reasons. We're use to that death grind sound by now and EXHUMED's status as being America's CARCASS is set in stone.
This album is boring tripe. EXHUMED does better at selling t-shirts at shows because they're a nostalgic act for kids who were not around years ago but certainly have cash today, to buy t-shirts. Yeah the band is great live but......and there you go.

https://store.relapse.com/


ENTRAILS - World Inferno 

Metal Blade Records


Ya know that feeling when a band you like gets too repetitive? I was an early fan of ENTRAILS. They were part of cadre of acts who revived the old school Swedish death metal sound. Albeit the band originally started out in 1990 with no avail. In fact I called their The Tomb Awaits release one of the best albums of 2011. Since signing up with Metal Blade their sound has matured to a more modern DM sound which is fine. They put out two decent albums in the past couple of years. But with a new line-up, leaving just Jimmy Lundqvist as the sole remaining original, this new one seems average. There's a few good cuts but the rest sounds like 2013's Raging Death Part Three. 


http://www.metalblade.com/us/