SCHAVOT - Kronieken uit de nevel review

 

SCHAVOT - Kronieken uit de nevel

Void Wanderer Productions

Here we have the second full length by this Dutch one man black metal act. The one man here is Floris Velthuis who obviously performs all instruments (guitars, drums, keys) and vocals. Although Floris started this project back in 2021 he has been part of the Dutch BM scene since the late 90's and is in other acts such as ANNWFYN, ASGRAUW, MESLAMTAEA and SAGENLAND.

In this project Floris takes the listener on a journey back to the days of 90's era black metal. Musically it has plenty of characteristics to, dare I say it, classic bands from that time period via Norway and Sweden. There's plenty of icy tremolo picked riffs be they melodic or fierce. Blast beat action is abound plus a decent use of the keys without being over the top. 

As far as Floris' singing style goes it's here were he diversifies. Part of the time he's using the traditional harsh vocals but then will switch to an almost clean style. Add to that you get maybe murmuring or caustic style vocals. I'm assuming it all has to do with the lyrical content. Kronieken uit de nevel (which means in English "Chronicles from the Nebula") is all based on Dutch folk tales and Floris sings in his native language. 

As someone of Dutch heritage I can definitely say this album qualifies as beauty and harsh. Of course the obvious criticism of this is going to be that it's just retro 90's black metal. Ah yeah sure but it's damm good, so what? Nuff Said.

https://voidwanderer.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://voidwandererproductions.bandcamp.com/album/kronieken-uit-de-nevel

SIEGE OF POWER - This Is Tomorrow review

 

SIEGE OF POWER - This Is Tomorrow

Metal Blade Records

And it's super group time in which we see who's all in the band and think OK I like all of these guys. Also I like the music from their original bands. So what's this gonna be? Will it be rehash of what the musicians already do in their own bands? Or will it be something different?

So this is the second album by SIEGE OF POWER. The band consists of Chris Reifert of AUTOPSY on vocals, Paul Baayens from  ASPHYX (also ex-HAIL OF BULLETS) on guitar, bassist Theo van Eekelen who also played in HAIL OF BULLETS and is now in GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT, finally there's drummer Bob Bagchus who is also a former member of ASPHYX and now plays with GRAND SUPREME BLOOD COURT which is basically a ASPHYX side band.

So I never heard their debut album, yeah fuck me. Now what we have here is eleven cuts which come down to death thrash and more. So yeah as Chris Reifert screams "FUCK" on the album's second cut "Sinister Christians". Yeah that's where we're at on this release. You've got three Dutch death metal vets blasting hard as hell and Chris Reifert doing his best on vocals. Oh yeah I'm an ASPHYX fan as well as an AUTOPSY fan. There's my bias alert.

But more to the point this album reminds of what DISFEAR did years ago but with a better touch. SIEGE OF POWER run the gambit of kicking out styles which cover late 80's hardcore ("The Devil's Grasp"), some death doom and classic 80's heavy fuckin metal. Listen to "Scavengers" and "Ghosts of Humanity", tell me I'm wrong. The rest of this album is riff savage thanks to Paul Baayen. Whether it's full on doom and his damm good solos or the speed riffs of hardcore points He masters it. Of course having an amazing rhythm section kills it. 

This album rules!

https://www.metalblade.com/us/

LISTEN HERE:

https://siegeofpowermetal.bandcamp.com/album/this-is-tomorrow

MARTYR - Planet Metalhead review

 

MARTYR - Planet Metalhead

Pt78 Records

Taste this Dutch Steel! Yeah well I've been saying that since 2020 when new music by them was popping up on Youtube. So finally we have a full length after all that time and yeah it's about time. You can only play their "Raise Your Horns, Unite" song so much before you sigh and go come on people put out the fuckin album. Who cares if you can't find a label.

Now for all of you kiddies out there, who are not Dutch Metal fans, going "WHO"? Yeah well MARTYR started out in the early 80's. Hell they're on Metal Massacre 6 dammit. They were power metal back when people still called it speed metal. In the 80's their debut was a mini LP with four cuts and three instrumentals. But their follow-up full length, Darkness at Time's Edge from 1986, was killer.

Darkness at Time's Edge was the album which was supposed to launch them to Euro Metal fame. Unfortunately it didn't and a few years later the band broke up. Fast forward to the late 2000's the band reunites and puts out the album Circle of 8 on Metal Blade Records in 2011. In my not so humble opinion that album was not good. 

The band did put out another album, You Are Next, in 2016 but I never checked it out. For me, someone who is biased about Dutch Metal, I was done with em. But then two years ago I heard their new songs on Youtube and thought yeah this is good. So now finally we have a full length and power metal fans (who have the MARTYR patches on their battle jackets) can rejoice. 

Call em 2020 or 2022 but hell MARTYR sound pretty damm good on this release. The opener "Raise Your Horns, Unite!" with the kids singing is a surprise. Then the band kicks in and this is 80's fuckin metal in your fuckin face! Yes original vocalist Robert van Haren still has the chops. Plus also an original member, guitarist Rick Bouwman, has nailed it as far as song writing and riffs that rock. 

Aside from the memorable opening track I say that Planet Metalhead is a classic sounding power metal album. New drummer, Rick Valcon (who came on board in 2018) shows off early on the second cut "Demon Hammer" to why he's the perfect pick for that kit. Fuck I could go apeshit on this album's attributes. Galloping rhythms and great leads on DIO-esque sounding "Children of the Night" as well as "Metal Overdrive".

Seriously I think this is the best album MARTYR has ever done. Nuff Said.

https://waylandmerch.shop/collections/martyr

FACELESS ENTITY - The Great Anguish of Rapture review

FACELESS ENTITY - The Great Anguish of Rapture

Argento Records

Years ago I remember putting on an internet site that had Black Metal playlists. So when I was ready to crash out I'd push play and let my sleep pattern be taken away by obscure and definitely atmospheric black metal. Now I'm not saying certain trance educing elements of black metal make me wanna sleep. It's basically about getting relaxed especially when I'm usually wired for sound. 

Most of the artists were one man BM acts. The whole idea was to be whisked away on a dark journey instead of having my face eaten away by someone who looks like a panda. FACELESS ENTITY fit the a-fore mentioned bill perfectly. They're a three piece BM act from the Netherlands. I'm not surprised that another cool sounding BM act who I now like comes from my nation of heritage.

This is the second full length by FACELESS ENTITY which consists of five cuts, three of which are long and the other two around six minutes in length. Honestly that's the perfect time stamp for this type of atmospheric BM. Musically the band's sound/style is total 90's second wave. They know how to keep things slow and cryptic or beautiful, fast and harsh. 

The Great Anguish of Rapture is an amazing piece of work. It has a variety of sick twisted vocals styles, the guitar work is cold and crisp. Hell you can even hear the bass and the drum work is actually decent. All in all this is a top notch release. This band knows how to create raw waves of blackened fury that carries you to dark places.  

LISTEN & BUY HERE:

https://argentorecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-anguish-of-rapture

GNAW THEIR TONGUES - I Speak the Truth, Yet with Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die review

GNAW THEIR TONGUES - I Speak the Truth, Yet with Every Word Uttered, Thousands Die

Consouling Sounds




There's a reason why I use the term "extreme metal" and yeah it refers to why I listen to acts and give a fuck about GNAW THEIR TONGUES. I gave one of their releases a chance listen back in the day. I saw it in an magazine ad and figured why not. A dozen years later and a must have EP list aside, I'm still a fan but only though endurance.


This latest release by GNAW THEIR TONGUES (aka: the one man instrumentalist Mories) (aka: Maurice de Jong) is somewhat tolerable. Is it me or is my Dutch freak friend numbing everything down to an atmospheric ambient drone level of tolerance? Sure there's plenty of psychotic screams as well as touches of blackened insanity. Unfortunately there's a huge "BUT" there. I kinda like de Jong's last side project better.


http://consouling.be/

https://gnawtheirtongues.bandcamp.com/album/i-speak-the-truth-yet-with-every-word-uttered-thousands-die

https://www.facebook.com/GnawTheirTonguesOfficial/?fref=ts