TOXIKULL - Under The Southern Light review

 

TOXIKULL - Under The Southern Light

Dying Victims Productions

While other metal media outlets are highly anticipating new albums by some metal gods of the 80's. This four piece act from Portugal are ready for you to remember the 1980's metal scene and sounds in their own way. TOXIKULL are a band who a few years back caught my attention with their second album, Cursed and Punished, from 2019. Back then they had one foot in the speed metal arena with the other in the whole 80's metal craze.

Fast forward to 2024 and TOXIKULL are kicking ass on this their third album. I mean the opening track on here, "Night Shadows", is a total ripper. And with Lex Thunder giving an amazing vocal performance with some killer riffs hell yeah this track rules. Just for the record Lex Thunder is one of the best metal vocalists in these modern times. The guy's got that mid to high range and screams like a banshee. 

Under The Southern Light is ten tracks worth of classic sounding 80's metal remembrance. One cut, "Ghost of a Dream" is an instrumental and the final cut, "Filhos do Metal", is a XEQUE-MATE cover. But everything inbetween fuckin rules! The title cut just screams 1984 and it's real metal, not that hair metal crap. I'm at a lack for who TOXIKULL remind me of from back then. Maybe no one directly but it could be a combination of influences that make this sound fresh.

If there's one thing that pisses me off with older metal fans, and I know plenty of em, is their lack of excepting or even trying to find stuff that's new. I remember the 80's full well and yeah there was some great music. But I didn't stop there instead I kept going in search of that type of stuff. Hell listen to "Knights of Leather" from this album and tell me why Grunge killed your scene again, loser. 

Yeah this third album by TOXIKULL fuckin rules. It's a modern throwback to a time I certainly loved. Musically it's more original than some older bands trying to keep going. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/under-the-southern-light

BARBARIC HORDE - Perpetrators of Impurity compilation review

 

BARBARIC HORDE - Perpetrators of Impurity compilation

Godz ov War Productions

BARBARIC HORDE are a two piece act out of Portugal who for the past few years have sworn to bring back the sounds of war like hell via blackened filth ridden metal. They've sworn an allegiance musically to BEHERIT, PROFANATICA and BLASPHEMY. 

Now for proof of that then check out their debut full length, Axe of Superior Savagery, from 2020. If that's not convincing enough as far as hate infused metal then there's the follow up, "Barbaric Hammer Fist", from 2022. Both of which are easy to find and you won't get in trouble for ordering em.

Which brings us to this opus of disgust. The good people at Godz ov War Productions, I'm kidding because you can't be good to put this out, decided to release this compilation. Perpetrators of Impurity consists of BARBARIC HORDE's first two demos as in Gasmask Perpetrators from 2016 and Tainted Impurity from 2017. 

Personally I like the songs off of Tainted Impurity the best because it's what the band would later become. But as far as intensity and brutality go then this demo is better than their first album. The songs off of Gasmask Perpetrators are definitely raw and horribly produced. The drum sound is totally horrible but to a kvlt person it's probably "troo". 

In the end this is a damm good compilation for those of us who like the bestial old ways of filth ridden blackened reality. What we have here is a band who cares more about being true to their conviction as well as the influences which brought them here. A fun fact is that you can't fake this stuff. So yeah I love it.

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/perpetrators-of-impurity

OAK - Disintegrate review

 

OAK -  Disintegrate

Season of Mist

This release came out in February but I finally got it in May. Why am I writing about it in fucking July? Well for starters it's a one song 45 minute full length of pure atmospheric death doom. Yeah something perfect to play on a after work late night if you're not feeling worn out. But as I'm writing this I do have that amount of time to kill because I have a Thai soup cooking on the stove and it's a good three hour deal on that one. 

So this is a side project by Guilherme Henriques who is also in the black metal band GAEREA from Portugal. Just for the record GAEREA put out a pretty decent full length last year on this label. So it's no shocker that the label would put out this the sophomore album by em. Along for the ride is GAEREA drummer Pedro Soares. Which means Henriques is responsible for the guitars and vocals. 

Musically this is paint by the numbers classic sounding atmospheric death doom. The Finnish do it so well but at least separate things into songs. There's plenty of black metal touches obviously. The musical mood swings from quiet instrumental passages to Guilherme's bestial vocals and trudging riffs with drummer Pedro Soares adding some excitement with a good BM drum push.

Overall I'm not on drugs for this one nor am I able to do coffee for so long. Basically atmospheric death doom to the hilt and I believe dinner is ready.

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://oakdoom.bandcamp.com/album/disintegrate

HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL - Crueza Ferina review

 

HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL - Crueza Ferina

Selfmadegod Records

Personally if an album starts off with a minute's worth of hog squeals I'm the type to turn it off. Hey I like my pork but not singing to me in an album's intro. When the second song commenced things looked better. Especially when that cut included a solo by Bob Vigna from IMMOLATION. Then again that was only a couple of seconds. 

Speaking of hog squeals this band's vocalist, Orca, is not far from the mark. But what you expect from a band doing brutal death and grind. HOLOCAUSTO CANIBAL are a four piece act hailing from Portugal. They've been on a massacre since starting out in the late 1990's. This is their fifth full length and they also have a slew of small formats releases as well.

Musically yeah this is brootal which makes sense since the album title translates into English as ferocious cruelty. On it the band delivers nineteen cuts, most of em short songs. Personally I like their longer songs (aka: the ones lasting more than three minutes). But in the long run all of the material on here is done well as far as the sub-genre demands. Very good.

https://selfmadegod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/crueza-ferina

GRUNT - Discipline review

 

GRUNT - Discipline

Larvae Productions 

So when I read in the promo info that "GRUNT are undoubtedly one of the most controversial acts from the modern days, famous for their infamous shows, during which women and men are sexually tortured and exploited, the band delivers a bizarre, cold and explicit live experience." I'm like so what's the point? GWAR was a cool act to watch but their albums sucked. Oh yeah and I've seen the MENTORS. So controversial in 2021 as far as extreme music goes is in the eye of the beholder. 

Be that as it may I have a hard time not laughing at some vocalist wearing a goth SMBDM mask and probably singing with it it on. Actually he reminds me of the really bad Bane character from the 2012 movie The Dark Knight Rises. Dude didn't the whole Covid mask mandate piss you off or what? Well anyways regardless what this band does on stage I'll say listening to this their third full length is a treat to say the least. 

GRUNT hail from Portugal and combine death metal, grindcore and techno into a musical acid bath. Once I got the visuals out of my imagination I started to really enjoy this. It has it's chaotic and thunderous moments similar to symphonic death metal. The techno synth parts ain't annoying. And of course the grind is good. If you're jaded then you'll take a walk from it. But given a chance and it'll kick your ass. 

https://www.larvae.pt/

LISTEN HERE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xUlRSa8BA

COLOSSO - Apocalypse EP review

COLOSSO - Apocalypse EP

Transcending Obscurity Records




So who's all up for some death metal dedicated to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Let's see a show of hands. OK everybody except that hipster dude in the back. Fine, security get that loser out of here while the rest of us enjoy something cool. Seriously what is not cool about the Christian foretelling of Revelations fueled via death metal?


As I always say, to me doing SFM666 is an education as opposed to I being some harbinger of metal knowledge dictatorship. Case in point, here we have COLOSSO from Portugal who've been around for almost a decade. They have four previously released full lengths out as well as a handful of EPs. Sorry guys I'm not perfect. But I did find this release of yours to be truly interesting.


Basically, on this release, COLOSSO is founding member Max Tome (guitars, keyboards and vocalist.) with a drummer and bassist performing the music while guest vocalists sing on 3 tracks. Tome sings on one cut. Now if you are an aficionado on the Portuguese metal underground then you might be familar with these individuals. They are Guilherme Henriques of the bands OAK and GAEREA. There's also Diogo Santana of ANALEPSY and Sergio Afonso of BLEEDING DISPLAY. 


Musically this is not over the top unique but very interesting which will hold you. The opener "Pestilence" is the longest cut on here logging in at just over eight minutes. Basically a death doom scenario with an amazing atmospheric base. The chiming guitar soloing shines. Guilherme Henriques of the band OAK does the vocals which are fully bestial. 


Sergio Afonso, of BLEEDING DISPLAY does the vocals on "War" which is basic brutal DM singing. The music starts out brute forceful at first then leads into a more melodic DM style. Max Tome takes on vocal duties for "Death" and it's my favorite cut on this release. He's got this airy clean vocal set over a mostly aggressive and progressive death metal riff push. Which also allows in this melodic and yet doom painful outro.


Last cut, "Famine" is sung by Diogo Santana of ANALEPSY. Mainly it's brutal DM vocals sung over a melodic death doom back beat. Here's where the headbanging will commence. A decent way to end an engaging release.


https://tometal.com/

https://music.colossometal.com/album/apocalypse-death-metal

https://www.facebook.com/colossometal

MIDNIGHT PRIEST - Aggressive Hauntings review

MIDNIGHT PRIEST - Aggressive Hauntings

Metal on Metal Records




The PRIEST is back! Yeah I know this is a different PRIEST. This one here hails from Portugal, has been around for a decade and here we have their third full length. Actually I am familiar with this band since a year ago I had written about the band, TOXIKULL, which is a side project of MIDNIGHT PRIEST's frontman Lex Thunder. After that I checked out one of their past releases and became a fan. 


This one starts out with "The Law", an instrumental intro sounding similar to Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D minor". From that point onward the band kicks into their brand of KING DIAMOND worship. Lex Thunder's vocals are the key element here. He has an amazing falsetto as well as that speak/sing voice just like the master himself. You could also toss in some Halford, or any other high note singer's style as well.


Add to that their duel guitar attack with Iron Fist and Steel Bringer (great names) bring about some fiery riffs and cool soloing which is extremely important to this style. There are a few times they move away from the whole KING DIAMOND thing and come across being more Painkiller era PRIEST like. Since I like all of that stuff from the past it's obvious I'm gonna love a fresh take on it all. To put it simply this is a great fuckin album.  


https://metalonmetalrecords.com/

https://metalonmetalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/midnight-priest-aggressive-hauntings

https://www.facebook.com/midnightpriest

HUMANART - (Further) Into the Depths review

HUMANART - (Further) Into the Depths

Dark Age Works




I've listen to so much blackened metal of late that I have blisters on my arms and my face looks sun burned. And so here we are again with another one. This band HUMANART hails from Portugal and according to their promo info are the oldest (or one of) black metal act from that great nation. Really, they're older than CORPUS CHRISTII and MOONSPELL? Well in all honesty I can't say I'm up on knowledge of all Portuguese black metal goings on. I did pick up an old ALASTOR CD last year. 


Moving on, HUMANART started out back in the late 1990s but their first full length didn't come out until 2014. Prior to that they had a couple of short form releases. Five years later we have this their second album. Now there's some good points about this release as well as some cliche moments. But the reason why black metal has survived so long is because it broke up into various sub-genres. Each of those segments have a huge dedicated fan base. That's something which the nay-saying elites in the mainstream metal media never understood. They simply went with whatever their advertisers paid them to say as well as the latest watered down hiptard trends they followed.


So for starters HUMANART sound like they're still in the 90's as in pre-symphonic BM days. The music has a completely raw vicious feel  to it which once was an imposing sound. Their vocalist has a spot on Maniac singing (actually a venomous rasp) quality. There are also a few times there sound crosses paths with old MAYHEM. Even with that said the guy who mastered this at Sweden's Necromorbus Studio,Tore Stjerna, has also worked with a few big name Finnish and Swedish BM acts. So there's a heavy cliche Scandinavian black metal style going on here. 


There are a few nuanced moments where the band steps out of the box. With the exception of the tremolo picked rhythms, blast beated drum assaults and ear piecing vocals there's a few straight metal guitar solos. Later on in the songs the band taps into some rocking groove. As far as the music's subject matter goes they're truly a hateful bunch and can add some slower ambiance (behind some hellish wailing) to break the cliche monotony. 

All in all this is a decent release which held my attention simply because I was expecting it to go down hill but it never did. To all of you black metal aficionados of the old ways. HUMANART are still holding onto the torch albeit not in some snow covered Nordic wilderness. 


https://humanart.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Humanart/

DECAYED - Of Fire and Evil review

DECAYED - Of Fire and Evil

Lusitanian Music




A month or two ago I was writing about a newer black metal act from Portugal and I happened to mention the band DECAYED. I did so because, and if you're a fan of black metal then you know this, DECAYED are the godfathers of Portuguese black metal. They started out in 1990 and since then have released a plethora of releases, full lengths as well as short form releases, compilations, live stuff and yes splits.


Over the past couple of decades guitarist and original member J.A. (Jose Afonso) has kept DECAYED alive. Bringing in bassist Vulturius (Hugo Leal) in 2011 and drummer G.R. (Gabriele Rachello) in 2016. As far as my history of knowing DECAYED well I must admit I came late to the party. I first got into em with their 2003 full length The Beast Has Risen. Got a couple of splits as well as full lengths as well.


So here we are at 2018 and DECAYED latest album is just as good as any other raw black metal album by some others in the genre. Old school 90's style second wave stuff with savage, harsh, blackened vocals. Also of course a buzzsaw style of tremolo riffing mixed with some thrash attacks. All in all it's an incredible release.


http://www.lusitanianmusic.com/

https://decayed666.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DKD666

GWYDION - Thirteen review

GWYDION - Thirteen

Ultraje



Viking metal from Portugal, OK? Yeah well I've always admitted my being a fan of the whole viking / battle metal genre. I know it gets mocked from time to time but my answer to the naysayers is simple, Go Fuck Yourselves. Viking metal is cool as fuck and these these Portuguese warriors do a killer job on this release.


GWYDION started out back in the mid 90s but didn't hit pay-dirt until 2008 with their first full length Ynys Mon. Since then they've been peppering fans with a few more full lengths, this being their fourth overall. And what's cool about this one is that it's a viking themed release with so much fuckin metal genre styles in your face. It's not Nordic historian melodic death metal although there's some melodic death metal here. There's a lot more going on.


GWYDION likes to add in plenty of folk structures as well as symphonic black metal touches. Add to that their songs are not "Hey we're Vikings, listen to us sing about fuckin shit up." No they're pushing odes to the past with stories and history. Most of the time the vocals are sung in a heavy death metal style but then they're sung clean like what TYR does.


All in all this is an amazing release. There's an interesting character about it which leads the listener onward since there really is no repetition as far as song structure. It's basically one piece of music that's exciting like a viking tale. This is why I love this genre of music and GWYDION are damm great at it. HAILS!


http://www.gwydion.org/

https://ultraje.pt/tag/ulterium-records/

GAEREA - Unsettling Whispers review

GAEREA - Unsettling Whispers
  
Transcending Obscurity Records 



Well despite what the promo info on this band says, "(the band) have turned the genre of black metal on its head." Basically what we have here is another black metal act who incorporates outside of genre influences into their overall sound. GAEREA hail from Portugal and last time I heard that nation is still connected to the rest of the world in that they're not out of the loop.


As far as black metal goes this nation is far from being a stranger to the genre. One of their oldest BM bands, DECAYED, has a new album out (which I will be writing about in the near future). I think another old band, IN THY FLESH, is still around. And of course there's CORPUS CHRISTII who I learned about in 2007 from Moribund records with their Rising full length. A few years after that they released Luciferian Frequencies on Candlelight no less which I think got a lot of BM fans (and others) scouring the internet in search of more from that nation.


But getting back to GAEREA, as far as bands with outside influences go in black metal, get in line. Specifically this band incorporates a variety of influences into their sound that at times I wondered if they could even be considered black metal since it's one of many things played within their cuts. I mean early on there's goth, doom, sludge, death metal, caustic hardcore vocals as well as bloody throat-ed guttural barking. Of course there's the tremolo picked riffage, blast beats and melodic rhythms that glue things together


Now some listeners (and music critics) might deem all of that as challenging. And of course they would if they were only listening to black metal for the past ten years. Seriously people, incorporating new sounds and expanding the black metal template started in the mid-90s. Some acts stayed on the template while others dove off the edge. Then in the late 2000s a new breed entered the fold which were bands who incorporated black metal into their sound. Which they took as street cred as in "hey we're black metal too". To which fans proclaimed "ah no you're not, you're hipsters."

After listening to this release by GAEREA for a while now I think they need to be listed with those great Portuguese black metal acts I named earlier. Oh you weren't expecting that one were you? Yeah well the second part of this release is so steeped in blackened fury and anger that it won me over. Hopefully their next full length won't take as much time to get into.

https://tometal.com/

https://gaerea.bandcamp.com/album/unsettling-whispers-black-metal

https://www.facebook.com/gaerea/

TOXIKULL - The Nightraiser review

TOXIKULL - The Nightraiser

Mosher Records




When I started listening to this release I began thinking of that famous Yogi Berra quote, "It's like deja vu all over again." I've heard this all before. Seriously I wish I could just say "For Fans Of" and drop a few band names. In this case here it would be METAL CHURCH, EXCITER  and maybe ARMOERED SAINT. You get the idea. 


TOXIKULL, who hail from Portugal, love the 80's. Specifically the time when thrash was first starting out but you still had bands hooked on the whole PRIEST / MAIDEN template. This band is all of that. Nightraiser is the second release by TOXIKULL, who had a full length in 2016 titled Black Sheep. Just for shits and giggles I checked out that full length and I can say that this one is way better. 


TOXIKULL is a side project of MIDNIGHT PRIEST frontman Lex Thunder who is the vocalist and plays guitar. The man has an amazing voice as far as heavy metal vocals and screaming goes. The rest of the band consists of his brother Michael Blade on guitar, Antim “The Viking” on bass and backing vocals and The Lorke on drums.


All in all TOXIKULL's six song EP, five originals and a cover of "Rocker" (a HOLLYWOOD ROSE tune which was Axel Rose's pre-GUNS & ROSES act), is damm good in a retro perspective. They are keeping it TRUE.




http://www.mosherrecords.com/

https://toxikull.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/toxikull/

MANDRAGORA MALEVOLA - Awakening the Impvre review

MANDRAGORA MALEVOLA - Awakening the Impvre

Self Released




I am astounded, seriously I am, of the amount of unsigned bands whose creative talent in the extreme matters equals or surpasses many bands that labels shove at us to consume. Case in point here we have a two piece act from Portuguese whose debut full length delves into everything blackened death has to offer and adds various touches of harmony both in song structure as well as instrumentation.


This two piece act consists of Slade Von Kaos, formerly of the band TRIBA, who performs the vocals and Ignifervm, who I believe is still in two other Portuguise bands CARMA and EVERTO SIGNUM, and is responsible for all the instrumentation. Which aside from the obvious metal related instruments also includes acoustic guitar and keyboards. Prior to this they put out a demo in 2015 titled Black Flame ov Illumination which was probably a testing of the waters so to speak to see how successful if anything more would occur. Obviously it did.

Awakening the Impvre falls into the category of a blackened death opus as well as story telling concept album inspired by the biblical Cain, the first man to kill. The eleven cuts on here span a variety of tempos and fluxes with the usual electrical fuse buzz of blackened tremolo guitar riffs, blast-beat runs and Von Kaos' vocals which range from harsh shrieks to guttural barks of malevolence. The key to this whole release is it's flow which is not on repeat between songs. Instead of neck breaking changes in structure this duo keeps the pace smooth throughout. Good songwriting can have your face ripping off at one moment while next sopping up the blood with a keyboard interlude. 


Like I mentioned in my opening paragraph, there are plenty of metal record labels who profess to be progressive minded or forward thinking (a term I really despise) with their releases. And yet they pour out unlistenable pap. Here we have a band whose release not only captures the extreme elements of the blackened death genre but adds to it in ways that make it beautiful as well as wanting it as a destination for repeated listens which I've been doing all weekend. Late Sunday was the coolest. 

http://www.facebook.com/mandragora.malevola

http://mandragoramalevola.bandcamp.com/releases

PESTIFER - Execration Diatribes review

PESTIFER - Execration Diatribes

Lavadome productions




This is the debut full length from Portuguese death metal act PESTIFER. Ya know whenever I think of Portugal I'm reminded of this guy I knew in the military. He was a short Portagee fellow, kinda weird because he had this obsession with little girls. He use to carry this pocket knife and sharpen it constantly. If we were lucky enough to get fresh fruit, like apples or pears, for chow he would pull out his knife and cut slices of the fruit and eat em like that. He then tell us tales of his youth growing up poor in Portugal. How he would stab other kids just to steal their fruit.

Anyways one day he got into an argument with another guy and then threatened to stab him. It was broken up and all was peaceful we thought. The next morning we found the little Portagee in his hooch dead with his knife in his chest. Apparently the guy went to bed with his knife open and must've rolled over on it several times at least. We all thought that was a horrible way to go especially in a combat zone. So we dragged his body over to a nearby ditch and lobbed a few grenades into it. Sent him home like that with a letter telling his parents about him being a hero and saving his buddy's life. The fucker even got a medal out of it.

But anyways I digress, so if we're to come away with anything as far as the death metal genre goes in 2017 I can say for certain that Execration Diatribes will be considered one of the year's best. Just for the record PESTIFER is Latin (a dead language, you might've heard of it) for Plaguebringer. Well fuck if that doesn't describe this band to a hilt. This is (after a short intro) punishing from beginning to end and not repetitive in any way. This is a homage to old school US death metal aka: MORBID ANGEL and DEATH but of course these guys navigate their own touches in. The band cover the DM bases as in thick crunchy riffs, acid tinged solos, the driving maniacal drumming and the vocals as if they conjured up some demonic presence to handle the mic duties. 

Actually PESTIFER is a trio with three out of the four previously mentioned duties done by guitarist/vocalist Pedro Silva. The rest of the band consists of Diogo Pereira on drums and the guy who somehow holds the rhythm down and yet breaks spines with tempo changes, bassist Jorge Marinho. This is the type of release you send to your enemies with a letter stating "Here's the soundtrack of what I'm going to do to you and your whole fuckin family." Hell they're all be on a plane the next day headed to some place safe like Syria.

Rating: 5/5

http://www.lavadome.org/

https://www.facebook.com/PESTIFERofficial

https://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/execration-diatribes