DEAD AND DRIPPING - Blackened Cerebral Rifts review

 

DEAD AND DRIPPING - Blackened Cerebral Rifts

Transcending Obscurity Records

Well I must say this one starts off with a quick punch in the face and then settles down to a wrestling match. I'm not surprised since this one man death metal act is from New Jersey. By the way I was born in Jersey many years ago and lived there till my early teens. We didn't have death metal back then. In fact the evil band around then was SABBATH and yeah I was a fan. I wore a SABBATH Sabotage shirt to school in the 8th grade one day and got sent home because I wouldn't turn it inside out. 

Which brings us up to today, as I mentioned earlier DEAD AND DRIPPING is a one man band. That one man is Evan Daniele who is responsible for all the instruments and vocals. Musically Evan covers a lot of DM territory. Now here's the fun part. This release, Evan's third full length since starting out 2016 under this band name, is probably the most progressive, tech death and brutal DM release I ever heard. 

Vocally whether it's the satanic frog, the brutal DM pig or the cavernous beast, Evan sings it perfectly and maybe beyond. Is it real or computer generated I'll let you decide. What you can't question are the song structures as well as the long song titles and psychotic lyrics. I mean I'll go with pushing the line when it comes to brutal death metal but this release goes beyond my sickness level.

Evan Daniele is either a genius or a soon to be mass murderer high on prescription drugs. In that case DEAD AND DRIPPING's Blackened Cerebral Rifts is definitely something of a challenge to even the hard core BDM fan. If you're welcome to that challenge then here ya go. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://deadanddrippingus.bandcamp.com/album/blackened-cerebral-rifts

DE PROFUNDIS - The Corruption of Virtue review

 

DE PROFUNDIS - The Corruption of Virtue

Transcending Obscurity Records

DE PROFUNDIS are a cool death metal act from England who I learned about over a decade ago. Back then they were all into the whole English death doom scene theme. Then I heard their 2018 full length, The Blinding Light of Faith and was knocked down a few paces especially with my attitude towards genre cross pollination. 

On that album DE PROFUNDIS created song structures which worked in tech and melodic death metal style without being overwhelming or annoying. Plus they kept the old DM ways intact. I believe at the time I called that album "modern death metal done right".

So fast forward to 2022 and this new DE PROFUNDIS album. The Corruption of Virtue is basically an extension of their last album. The only change is the added emphasis on some bass soloing provided by newest member Steve Woodcock. But everything else is the same as before. 

Craig Land still sings in that deep dark harsh throat-ed style. The guitar duo of Soikot Sengupta and Paul Nazarkardeh still provide the chunky melodic riffs. While still contributing slice and dice prog style soloing. Finally Tom Atherton keeps the drum work diverse as well as pounding. 

All of these players combine to create nine cuts of devilishly good melodic tech death with plenty of proggy bits. Another decent album that's a must listen without interruption. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://deprofundisband.bandcamp.com/album/the-corruption-of-virtue-death-metal

DEATHFUCKINGCUNT - Decadent Perversity review

 

DEATHFUCKINGCUNT - Decadent Perversity

Transcending Obscurity Records

Well with a name like DEATHFUCKINGCUNT how could I possibly pass on checking it out. What we have here is a death metal band from Australia (of course they are). They probably spent plenty of time digesting CANNIBAL CORPSE and CRYPTOPSY albums. Then figured they could do it better. As in better I mean far more brutal sounding then the above mentioned bands combined.

Add to that (as if that wasn't enough) this Aussie four piece are very tech death savvy and add enough speed to snap your fuckin neck. Then there are the band's song titles which would have your typical second tier "brootal" death metal acts scratching their heads thinking "dude why can't we come up with song titles like that"? Well because you're pot smoking neanderthals. But hey keep practicing those pig squeals. 

Oh yeah about those songs titles well you've got such numbers as "Blunt Force Vasectomy" which would obviously be painful. "Garroted by Frenulum", I had to look up what frenulum was. Oh and my favorite "Suicidal Masturbatory Flagellation" which sounds so fucked up that it could be a real term. Hello CARCASS? 

Now all kidding with a sick sadistic grin aside, yes music this extreme would be overwhelming to any normal person as well as any normal metal fan. My first couple of listens threw me to the medicine cabinet for pain pills. But in a few more plays I get the idea to what's not so obvious to the lay person. First off it must be brutal to play/practice these cuts. Supposedly the band plays live under the moniker "DFC". Yeah I can understand that but hey here's their logo.

 

But what I'm trying to say is that the musicianship this band displays is technically fearsome. There's some crazy as well as typical tech death style guitar leads. But it's the utter madness of the riffs with the bass player trying to keep pace which is fuckin insane. Then you've got the rapid fire drum work. You listen to the song "Devoured by Eunuchs" and your jaw will drop. 

While researching DEATHFUCKINGCUNT I learned that they originally started out back in 2007. They released a demo in 2008, a split release in 2009 and put out their debut full length in 2013. They also have band members in the black metal act WARDAEMONIC who are also on this label. So in the end you've got some well honed musicians who's dedication to the craft is exceptional as this album show. Their guitarist is a six string surgeon to say the least. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://deathfuckingcunt.bandcamp.com/album/decadent-perversity-brutal-technical-death-metal

GODLESS TRUTH - Self Titled review

 

GODLESS TRUTH - Self Titled 

Transcending Obscurity Records

Sometimes a band does need to do a reset. Here's a perfect example of one. GODLESS TRUTH is a tech death band that hails from Czechia. The band started out in the early 90's and from 1994 to 2012 they managed to put out four full lengths and a handful of short form releases. 

But after a few years on hiatus their sole remaining member, guitarist Petr Svancara, decided in 2017 to restart GODLESS TRUTH with all new members. After a few years the results are this new self titled full length.

Now whenever I see the words "technical death metal" on a review release there is some apprehension on my part. I've never been a big fan of the sub genre. In fact the more insanely technical it is then the less I like it. But with this album that's not the case at all. In fact GODLESS TRUTH include more variety on here plus they nod to the early incarnation to the sub genre than insanity which turned me away years ago. 

First off the album starts off with a keyboard driven interlude for about a minute. OK fine it's short and then the brutality begins with actual opener "The Decision". Sound-wise through out the album what you get is deep and powerful sounding death metal which is familiar territory coming from similar Central European bands. But then they add surprises. 

First off on "The Decision" the brutal riff and drum pounding action is broken by a lead guitar solo by guest Rafael Trujillo of OBSCURA. Rafael's solo is fluid, melodic and dare I say beautiful amidst the chaos which surrounds it. Unfortunately the momentum is broken with another under a minute instro interlude. This time it's a guitar played one. 

But after that this album goes into the full on meat section. The highlights are precision riff and drum beat sync, semi death thrash style riffage, fuckin amazing drum work and my favorite, dive bombing guitar soloing. Add to that this band's singer has a wild vocal range. I mean he can do the gutturals as well as harsh screams and blackened howls. 

There's a few more hired guns on here to add some vocal and guitar lead spice which is fine. But the bottom line is that this release does combine some brutality and melody well enough to capture your complete attention. Of course that's opposed to not having your senses over fuckin taken by ADD addled musicianship. Which is why I like this then other tech death out there. As the Czech saying goes "Pravda vitezi" or in English; "Truth prevails".

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godlesstruthband.bandcamp.com/album/godless-truth-technical-death-metal

REPLICANT - Malignant Reality review

 

REPLICANT - Malignant Reality 

Transcending Obscurity Records

There's that feeling you get whenever hearing a new band and they remind you of someone else. But you just can't come up with the other band's name. When I first listened to this release the feeling of being dumbfounded went on till about the halfway point of it's play through. That's when I finally gave in and read the PR info on the band. Of course that's when you wanna smack yourself upside the head and go "Duh"?

So for the record this is the second full length by REPLICANT a three piece act who hail from the great state of New Jersey. I say great state because I was born there. I left there when I was 12 but hey according to many people I still retain some of the accent. And I still call people "Douche-Bags". Be that as it may REPLICANT's sound / style is rooted in the early days of tech death. But instead of repeating the US variety, these guys take their cues from beyond US shores. 

I won't spoil ya with name dropping past greats. But if you want your conservative metal mind blown to bits then check out "The Ubiquity of Time". It's an eight plus minute opus of jazz influence, dissonant atmosphere, feedback, violin and groove laden death metal. Sure they left that till the end because the rest of the album blows away your conformity to the genre. 

But seriously Malignant Reality leaves no doubts to what they're all about with shocker opener "Caverns of Insipid Reflection". If it wasn't for my appreciation of some older tech death bands hailing from places like Quebec, Finland and France then I might've past on this. I never cared for what tech death later turned into which for me was music for those addled with ADD. 

REPLICANT are far from that hideous style. And despite what their name might suggest they're not copycats. You can take an old style of music, learn it well and then progress onward as if it's your own. The bonus points are that they nail the angular riffs. The whimsical bass lines flow in well on certain cuts. The vocals are just as tortured as their guitar strings. Finally their songwriting is compelling enough to keep you glued. Great stuff.

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://replicantband.bandcamp.com/album/malignant-reality-dissonant-death-metal

CARRION VAEL - God Killer review

CARRION VAEL - God Killer

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions




For those of you who know me well, and I feel your pain, the genre term of Tech Death is not a favorite of mine. If I were to turn around and look at the two book cases which are just for death metal CDs. (Yes I segregate by genre. What are you gonna do, protest? Fuck You!) Let's say there's five hundred CDs there OK. Out of that I'd bet you'd find maybe ten which are from bands who are Tech Death.


So why would I write about this because the genre tagline is straight by the book combo of tech death and thrash? Well it's that this five piece band, who hail from Indiana, include a few surprises in this their second full length which got me interested.


For starters CARRION VAEL do cover all of the familiar bases as far as this genre combination has done before. You've got a vocalist who handles the death metal growled parts and the harsh blackened thrash like screechy tones well. There's plenty of bass runs and and of course the drumwork is phenomenal. 





But what got my attention the most were the amazing fluid and hard rock influenced guitar solos which jump out at you on a few cuts. Sure the riff work is decent as far as the genre standard goes. But when the leads make their mark it's like something uncanny breaks through the death thrash abuse. And that's why I believe this band's tech death/thrash release is worth checking out even for non-believers like me.


http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/god-killer

https://www.facebook.com/CarrionVael