SHOCK NARCOTIC - My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not review

 

SHOCK NARCOTIC - My Flesh Is Afraid But I Am Not

Housecore Records

SHOCK NARCOTIC are a four piece US Grind act featuring musicians from acts like DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, PIG DESTROYER, BATTLECROSS and CHILD BITE. They started out in 2019 with a fourteen song debut EP titled I Have Seen the Future and It Doesn't Work. Back then I heard about the band but never decided check out their music.

Now after listening to this their debut full length I have a few things to say. First off musically this is a very generic style of modern Grind being put forth. Also you hear bits of Groove Metal, Death Thrash, bad 90's Hardcore and wannabe Old School HB1 DM crunch all entered into the mix. I didn't find anything exciting about the thirteen cuts on here. At best it's average.

Vocalist Shawn Knight does have a loud vicious maul when it comes to his singing style. Unfortunately he comes across as more of a 90's era Hardcore vocalist then his Grind vocalist peers from Poland or Finland. As far as the musicianship goes it's average. 

https://housecorerecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://shocknarcotic.bandcamp.com/album/my-flesh-is-afraid-but-i-am-not

HEADS FOR THE DEAD - In the Absence of Faith EP review

 

HEADS FOR THE DEAD - In the Absence of Faith EP

Pulverised Records

First off I'm surprised this release did not come out on Transcending Obscurity Records which was the label their full lengths came out on. Be that as it may HEADS FOR THE DEAD are still kicking it as far as death metal supergroup. This five song EP is a horror-esque release which came out in September. Sorry I was late to this one.

Just a reminder HEADS FOR THE DEAD are Ralf Hauber on vocals from REVEL IN FLESH. Jon Rudin (who's been in a number of bands) on drums starting out last year. On guitar there's Matt Moliti who came on board in 2022. And finally there's mainman Jonny Pettersson on guitars, bass and keyboards. Once again Jonny has been in a slew of cool bands. 

So yeah they's keyboard use on this release. And yeah I know "keyboards on a death metal release?" But on here Jonny uses the keys as an atmospheric touch. Other times it a background asthetic which covers in needed arrangements which are part of the horror. Be that as it may the soloing is fiery. The vocals are gruff as fuck. This EP rules!

http://www.pulverised.net/

LISTEN HERE:

https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-absence-of-faith

PUTRASCENSION - Forever Below review

 

PUTRASCENSION - Forever Below

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

If someone played this and asked me to guess where the band was from I would've said Norway or Sweden. I'd also be totally fuckin wrong. PUTRASCENSION is actually a five piece act made up of musicians from various metal acts who come from the New Jersey / New York area here in the states. We're talking about some familiar names like TOMBS, HAMMER FIGHT and REPLICANT along with some unfamiliar ones (to me at least) WINDFAERER and WOLFCLOAK.

My believing them to be from a Scandinavian locale comes from their sound being a take on old school blackened death. Albeit their black metal influence is more pronounced. It's not every day (or decade) that I'll hear an album opener, "Deeper Hell", that boasts a fierce touch of MAYHEM in the riffs. I'm talking about the whole Euronymous / Snorre Ruch black metal riff sound which is as much punishing as well as atmospheric. 

On the song "Stillness" the band hearkens back to the blackened melodies styled by DISSECTION but adding plenty of dissonance. It kinda reminds ya of tortured yet majestic sounds of TAAKE or SHINING. The final cut on here, the seven minute plus "Meslamtaea", employs the ripping dissonant melodies of the entire dark gallery of emotional depths. You would not be off if expecting to hear a shotgun blast at the end of the song. 

Of course the music would not be as good as it is without vocals which span the spectrum of BM harsh to low life DM growls and of course the painful tortured wails of agony. With that said the seven cuts on this band's debut full length (prior to this they have released two EPs and a single) show perfectly how you can take past influences and reshape them into something fresh as well as engaging. Calling this a great album would be a disservice. This definitely falls into a category known as blackened perfection.

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/forever-below

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

BLOODBATH - The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn review

BLOODBATH - The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn

Peaceville Records



A few years ago I was at a show in downtown and after one band's set I went out back for a smoke. While I was standing there minding my own business there were these two hipster dudes discussing metal. One of em mentioned that he was getting into Swedish death metal and mentioned BLOODBATH. This guy called em a new band  and mentioned a whole bunch of other dumb shit. I kept quiet. I figured sooner or later the dude would learn the truth.


For all of US, yeah BLOODBATH is a super-group of various Euro musicians taking a break from their own bands and getting together to play recycled ENTOMBED death metal. I'll admit the first couple of releases are cool. I'm talking about 2002's Resurrection Through Carnage and Nightmares Made Flesh from 2004. Both of those were on Century Media Records. After that  Peaceville Records got em and well here we are still.


So here we have this latest one, The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn, their fifth full-length. This is also the second one to feature Nick Holmes of PARADISE LOST on vocals. On a whole it's still a what if ENTOMBED were not a joke these days and put out a decent album kinda thing. This one is far better than Grand Morbid Funeral from four years ago (which was when I heard those hipsters talking). Holmes actually delivers a dedicated vocal performance this time around. As opposed to their last one which sounded phoned in.


I'm always going to be on the fence with super groups like this because they get the attention whereas new bands playing similar stuff don't.  So the guys from KATATONIA, OPETH and PARADISE LOST, plus Joakim Karlsson from the CRAFT, get together to get their death metal jollies off. Hell the guys from KATATONIA haven't played a tough riff in decades. Sure it's a decent release but it's supposed to be.


http://peaceville.com/


https://www.facebook.com/bloodbathband