BLACK HATE - Via Pvrgativa review

 

BLACK HATE - Via Pvrgativa

Odium Records

Mexico's BLACK HATE are a band that's been around for a while. Let me explain that in detail. Originally it was a one man black metal project. The one man is B.G. Ikanunna who started out in 2006 and was responsible for everything as is the case. B.G. Ikanunna was actually fairly prolific during this period. (Please note that the guy has been prolific all around as an artist. I mean he's been in a ton of other projects besides BLACK HATE).

So from 2007 to 2011, aside from a seven song debut demo, the guy appeared on a bunch of split EPs as well as releasing some EPs of his own and two full lengths. Then in 2012 B.G. Ikanunna decided to turn BLACK HATE into a real band with him just being responsible for vocals and later on guitars. Once again the band was on a creative spirit with a bunch of splits, EPs and more full lengths. 

Their last release was the 2020 full length Altalith. Now in all honestly that one seemed more like an EP with four actual songs and four short instrumentals. So here we are a few years later. B.G. Ikanunna is back with the same BLACK HATE line-up that's been going for a number of years now. And we have a new album with only one instrumental and it's the opener. 

OK so I like this album a lot mainly because it runs the gambit of blackening everything. Sure you still have the old school BLACK HATE avant-garde arrangements on certain cuts. But there's plenty of death metal groove in places. Add in is some melody and straight up traditional metal style. I mean hell yeah this is cool. And yes the production is still raw as fuck without sounding like crap. 

Aside from the opening instro you get the blistering, fist pumping first cut "Trembling Hands of Sorrow". The song is eight fuckin minutes of blackened insanity. Another highlight is "Luminous Ruins of Death" which is part blackened death n roll and part blackened occult worship. B.G. Ikanunna's vocals on here (as well as every cut on here) are full on filth, horror and hate filled. 

Another cool cut worth mentioning is “Tempestad (o de la transubstanciation)”. It's sung in Spanish, has a sort of tech death riff sequence running rampant and then channels doom as well as thrash. Yeah all in an eight minute time period. The final cut "Dark Night of the Soul" is the eerie cut of the album. It comes off early on sounding like a soundtrack for a Mexican horror/slasher film. But then it pulls out the blackened grandiose stamp of blood spitting filth. 

Yeah like what was mentioned earlier I really like this album. I say that because it's so off the beaten path of black metal proper. Plus it's from an artist who needs recognition to say the least. I guess this is where my bias comes in. My friends in Texas will know this. Mexico has always been a hotbed of extreme metal and with fans who are absolute fanatics. But very few bands from there get the big press afforded to other acts. 

BLACK HATE, especially on this latest one, should be checked out. Now with that said I believe some label should put together a compilation of the early stuff, not the LPs, but the short form releases. Add to that the BLACK HATE 2012 to 2019 catalog wouldn't be a bad idea either. Plus they do have that live album and you can check em out with this performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gCrmLUOnPk

  

https://www.label.odiumrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://odiumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/black-hate-v-a-pvrgativa

AZELL - Death Control review

 

AZELL - Death Control

Rottweiler Records

Just to be honest with ya, sludge ridden death doom is as common here in the US South as is grits. Now if you don't know what grits are well they're a staple for breakfast here in the South. I don't eat grits but every other Southern motherfucker does. But anyways as far as the music genre goes yeah the whole turn it up, tune it down and go slow has been around for fuckin decades. I believe someone actually made a documentary about it years ago. 

Anyways when I saw the tagline as far it being sludge / death doom ya know I was gonna pass on it. But I read the promo info then figured it might be interesting and hell yeah I'm glad I did. AZELL are a two piece husband and wife sludge / doom duo hailing from Louisville, Kentucky. OK so they're married and playing this type of extreme music so that's something different. The two people are Courtney Napier who plays bass and is the lead vocalist. David Napier is the guitarist, drummer and adds lead and background vocals.

Death Control is the duo's debut full length since starting out in 2022. Prior to releasing this album they just put out digital singles. So musically this is fairly common sludge / doom but with a few extra touches that make it interesting. First and foremost I think Courtney Napier's vocals are amazing. She's got this sick acid tongue guttural screech that's damm good. When David Napier adds in his vocals he's sounds just as sick but more of a gross guttural sound. 

Musically their brand of sludge / death doom is benefited by a lo-fi production that emphasizes the filth covered sound. And you wanna talk about slowness? Listening to this is akin to watching a turtle drag a cinder block through tar. The band provides a solid wall of noise to effect your ear drums. Even with all of that AZELL do add in some sinister monolithic atmosphere on tracks like "A-M" and "Wallow". 

Going back to my earlier points yeah you've probably heard something similar. I'm not gonna name drop because it would be redundant. The bottom line is that Death Control is a pretty good debut album from AZELL. And I'm rooting for em so next time around hopefully they're be commonly known as the names others might drop in order to describe em. Yeah it's a winner.

https://www.rottweilerrecords.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://azellrr.bandcamp.com/album/death-control

ARTHOUSE FATSO - Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature review

 

ARTHOUSE FATSO - Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

First off as far as this release goes I liked the opening soundbite of Orson Welles. Just for the record I am an old movie fan and I consider Citizen Kane from 1941 to be my second favorite movie of all time. The Third Man from 1949 comes up in my fave list as well. But classic movies aside we're talking music and what we have here is a grindcore act from Germany. 

Now honestly when it comes to grindcore from Europe I'd say Germany is the last place you would look. Don't get me wrong I'm sure there's bands in Germany doing grindcore but honestly the competition elsewhere is overwhelming. Be that as it may here we have ARTHOUSE FATSO (maybe a reference to Orson?). This is a one man act. The one man goes by the name The Director who is responsible of the usual aka: everything. 

Musically this is a cross of grind, techno and rantings from maybe the grand child of someone from the Baader-Meinhof Gang. Sure musically it's avant-grind to the fullest. You've got sheet metal riffs for the most part. The vocals are a mix of singular and gang chorus adaptation, both gruff and clean. 

At least they add in some of the Orson Welles fuck ups via commercial stuff in the end which I have on a funny outtakes CD. But anyways after blasting this for a while you'll need a break and a fuckin place to sit down for a while. This seventeen song release is quality because the artist is actually trying to be original. I'll give em that in spades. But is it all in jest or is it serious? Grind heads should decide on their own but hey great band name. 

https://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE: 

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/sycophantic-seizures-a-double-feature

THE OBSESSED - Gilded Sorrow review

 

THE OBSESSED - Gilded Sorrow

Ripple Music

The last time I saw The OBSESSED was a few years back when they played with ANTISEEN and EYEHATEGOD in Chapel Hill, NC. Wino and company played a decent set but it wasn't much different then the time I saw em a year before. I think that the Sacred album from 2017 was out at the time. Back then I thought Sacred was a decent album but it was missing some sort of spirit as in the original OBSESSED mode. 

Now giving this new one a few listens I'm like yeah Wino is back as a guy who knew 70's hard rock, played it, rocked it and then got doomy. So yeah this new album rocks with plenty of 70's groove, a slight bit of doom and a whole lot of fuckin Wino killing it. Along with Wino for the ride in this new version of The OBSESSED is returning drummer Brian Costantin who is from the Sacred days. Next up is Jason Taylor on guitar and Chris Angleberger on bass.  

Favorite tracks on here well there's the opener "Daughter of an Echo" which is a cool ass groove laden rocker reminiscent of certain cuts from 1994's The Church Within. "It's Not OK" is also in that same vein. "Realize a Dream" and "Jailine" come across like 70's Southern Rock cuts. Both songs are a full on blast. 

As far as the more doom laden cuts go "Stoned Back to the Bomb Age" is a fuzz laden-ed head banger. While "Yen Sleep" reminds me of SPIRIT CARAVAN which is cool. Be that as it may I'll always say my favorite OBSESSED album is their debut. With that said I believe that opinion has changed after listening to this multiple times. I think this album blows away everything Wino has done in the past under The OBSESSED banner. 

https://ripple-music.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/gilded-sorrow

CRAWL - Altar of Disgust review

 

CRAWL - Altar of Disgust

Transcending Obscurity Records

Some years ago I said CRAWL is what DISFEAR tried to be but failed at since they weren't consistent after their debut album. Too much melo-deth in their system I guess. But basically it's combining old school Swedish death metal with elements of late 80s / early 90's hardcore (What the new kids called crust) and add some thrash in the sound. CRAWL mastered it on their first album, Rituals from 2018. 

Fast forward to 2023 and CRAWL returns on a split EP release with fellow Swedes FERAL. Of course CRAWL were great with their two song contribution. But in all honesty I liked FERAL's cuts better. So here we are a year later with CRAWL's second full length and after a few listens it's obvious that this four piece band has taken the formula to more extremes. 

Musically it's simply DISMEMBER (and the HM-2 pedal) with hardcore and thrash influences. But the players push it to levels which are amazing. First off ya gotta give props to vocalist Joachim Lyngfelt. This guy's screams could shatter diamonds. He's straight up real guy vocal death metal style and almighty maniac when the speed insanity kicks in. Speaking of which the songs on here break away from the cliche. 

While CRAWL bleeds out hardcore grooves as well as some actual grind sounding parts their main foot is firmly planted in death metal. That's what makes this album a devastating motherfucker. CRAWL have basically pushed things up a notch as far as this style of extreme goes and I like it a lot. The music simply invokes slam dance action. Which means CRAWL has surpassed what they've done before and kicked more fuckin ass on this new one. All I can say is Hell Fuckin Yeah. 

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://crawldeath.bandcamp.com/album/altar-of-disgust

DRUNK THRASHER - Raining Vomit EP review

DRUNK THRASHER - Raining Vomit EP

Godz ov War Productions

Back in 2022 this Polish one man act self released this EP on vinyl with a very limited run. Fast forward a few years and Godz ov War Productions took the original four songs from that release. Then they added a newer song from 2023 and here you have a sort of debut. 

Now let me be honest with ya. With a name like DRUNK THRASHER and your release is titled Raining Vomit well of course I have to check it out. Now after listening to it I'll tell ya this comes across as really low-fi blackened speed metal. But in a way that's kinda cool. 

The one man behind this is the Drunk Thrasher (aka: Piotr Palej) who's responsible for the usual all the instruments and vocals thing. Actually as far as the music goes I can only hear the guitars and drums. But hey I like Piotr's vicious black metal style vocals and ya know the songs are actually cool. 

Hey ya never know, this guy could become Poland's answer to MIDNIGHT, TOXIC HOLOCAUST or the Scottish fuck who had a big album last year. Hey DRUNK THRASHER has my vote as the next big thing in blackened speed metal. Nuff Said and now I'm gonna have a beer. 

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/raining-vomit

 

ONSLAUGHT KOMMAND - Visions of Blood and Gore EP

 

ONSLAUGHT KOMMAND - Visions of Blood and Gore EP

Godz ov War Productions

ONSLAUGHT KOMMAND are the latest export from the Chilean death metal scene. This four piece started out in 2022 and released a six song demo that year. You can track that dirty gem down on the Godz ov War Productions Bandcamp page at the link here: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/demo-i

Or get a physical copy from the Mexican label Iron, Blood and Death Corporation at this link: https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/onslaught-kommand

But anyways this year the band did a split release with the Peruvian blackened death band RITO PROFANATORIO. And now here we have their official debut which is three original cuts plus a PUNGENT STENCH cover. Just for the record all four members of ONSLAUGHT KOMMAND were once in a blackened thrash act called WEAPONS CONQUEST. That band even had a full length out last year. 

But what these guys are doing now could easily be considered traditional South American blackened death metal. Just think of some classic band names from nations like Brazil, Peru, Columbia as well as the native Chile. So musically of course this is filth ridden blackened death swirling in perversion, hate and gore. Of the three originals two cuts are fast paced, one is more death doomish. And the PUNGENT STENCH cover is done well.

This is traditional as it gets. You've got your cavernous vocals, down-tuned sick sounding riffs and the rhythm section keeps time. It's old school and I have dozens of releases by bands who sound similar. But so fuckin what, as long as it sounds cool and gets you excited then that's all there is needed. In a cool world I'd put this along with their demo on one CD but hey for now you got this winner.    

http://godzovwar.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/visions-of-blood-and-gore