tisdag 30 oktober 2012

 PATHOLOGY "The time of great purificaiton"

Pathology´s first cd was pretty gruesome with some sick doctors  ripping the flesh and blood out of someone
on the cover. With every cd they have improved the cover art to something more tasteful. A bit more tech-death inspired with a bit more abstract and thoughtful covers. So even this time, with a man standing on a narrow path and some "abstract circle in the sky" is throwing fire towards the earth. The music on this disc is pretty awesome with lots of slamming, groovin´, grinding and great leads. Actually I can stand the awful vocals because the music itself is so well performed and more towards death metal with tech parts than just brutal death metal. There is so much going on  in this bloody stew of heavy death metal. It happens a lot in the songs, without being overly technical or boring. This one really punches you in the face, while still having a lot of dynamics and a great amount of hooks to bang your head to. It´s not "too slammy" or stale. If you mix the best of bands like Devourment, Dying Fetus and Disgorge US you pretty much got what this sounds like. The only flaw is the vocals,otherwise it kicks major ass.

8/10
PUTRID PILE "Blood Fetish"

Shaun LaCanne is a sick m-therfucker, that is for sure. He has now released 4 albums, and this his fourth is the most diverse to date,and the lyrics are of course about death, decay and splattered bodyparts.The cover art is as usual as tasty as ever. The feeling with this record isn´t a "one man band" feeling. It is very professional produced though you can hear a drum machine is used, it´s well programmed at it´s not just everlasting blasting the whole album, he got some nice fills here and there and there are a moderate part of different drum patterns. This man creates actually great death metal, in the "broootal territory", he uses the awful pig squeals, moderately but he has a great growl too. There are a lot of good riffing here, and if you like your death metal in your face with no melodies and a lot of punch I guess you like this. This record is quite in the same vein as the other he has produced this far, so you know what you get here. As I told before the production is great, it´s crunchy and has a lot of power to it. Most brutal death metal records have a bit more muddy production, I like when you hear every instrument seperately, maybe the bass is a bit hidden in the mix but overall it´s a good production, well fitting the style of music. Well you get it, it´s brutal, it´s quite catchy and it´s not too much slam in this blood filled stew.

7,5/10

söndag 28 oktober 2012

MALIGNANCY "Eugenics"

During their twenty year career as a band they have released two EP:s and three fullenght albums. This is their third fullenght and they keep on doin´what they do best. Crazy technical death metal, and this time with slight math metal influences (it isn´t as bad as it may sound if you´re a purist). These influences come across the most when vocalist Danny Nelson mixes his high screams with very technical passages, you almost stumble yourself when you hear these guys playing ultra technical shit . This music isn´t meant to be memorable as in "writing catchy songs" ´cause it happens so much in the songs it´ almost impossible get a grip of the material the first times you´re listening to it, and yes they use pinch harmonics this time too in the songs. I think it adds diversity to the sound and makes it a more suggestive listening experience,  even they don´t overuse it. These crazy pot smokers(?) have done it again, crazy death metal for crazy death metal maniacs. Enjoy.

8/10

lördag 27 oktober 2012

SQUASH BOWELS "Grindvirus"

Poland has a lot of high quality death metal these days, but this band plays grind or if you wanna call it goregrind. The production is a bit muddy but dirty and heavy as it should be. This cd is released by the almighty Willowtip Records, and if you´re familiar with that label you know they are just behind Relapse when it comes to signing quality grindcore bands,(maybe they were more in the frontline a few years ago) although I prefer Willowtip before Relapse. This bunch of grinding maniacs from Poland is kind of unknown yet, even if they are favorites at festivals like Obscene Extreme I think. They give us a great cd here, with a lot of groove and frantic grinding. The common thread is never lost in the songs, and there is a good flow in each of the songs, the vocalist Artur Grassman has a really nice scream and he also delivers a evil growl in the songs which adds some heaviness to the overall impression.This is grind for people who doesn´t give a fuck about trends and wants to be a needle in they eye on average Joe that plays disco music every friday for all his trendy friends. Fuck things up with this record. Play it loud.

8/10

fredag 26 oktober 2012

PERDITION TEMPLE "Edict of the Antichrist Elect"

This warmachine from hell with members from Angelcorpse, Blasphemic Cruelty and Apocalypse Command show us how terror should sound if it was music. Gene Palubicki is what I suppose the mastermind behind this band, and that shows in the music which is a continuation of Angelcorpse´ blasphemous and wild kind of death metal mixed with the oh so terrible genre description war metal. But that´s what comes alive on this record. It´s musical war, and PT is a good substitute to Gene´s other bands. He knows how to create satanic and totally mindblowing music that will possess your mind and soul. I think most of the songs are very well done, since they melt together flawlessly with a great amount of grinding parts and their unique guitar sound which sounds so evil and cruel. This gives me also memories of the old and good Morbid Angel, when they played "Bleed for the Devil" on "Altars Of Madness" I freakin love that song, but that´s another story. PT gives you a almost full knock out on this piece of brain-melting metal.

9/10

torsdag 25 oktober 2012

I CHAOS "The Human repellent"

This german/dutch band consists of one former Sinsister member and two guys from the german band Dew-Scented. And this is ONE HELL OF A BAND, they play a very riff based death metal with a tight rhythm section and the ability to pound the listener to dust. This music isn´t "broootal death metal" which I mostly dislike, this is much more sophisticated and well produced. But and there´s a big "but", this stuff kills and rips through your headbangable body until you can´t stand still. Not unlike swedish blasphemous death metal killing machine Aeon, except the lyrics as they don´t write anything about Satan and his friends. Their vocalist Joost Vand Der Graaf has a great growl, he articulates so you can actually understand his lyrics if you listen carefully, that´s the way I like it. This band has it all, except international success yet. But since this one is their first album I guess things will soon change. I bet they will have a huge following if they tour with a more famous band. Come on guys, come to Sweden and rip the place to shreds. As you already have understood, this album is incredible. Over and out.

9,5/10

onsdag 24 oktober 2012

ENDSTILLE "Infektion 1813"

Black metal has been around for a while now, and there are more and more bands adapting the scandinavian style of playing black metal. This is more towards the swedish sound with bands like Marduk and Setherial. I like their approach with a good mix between fast and semi fast black metal. When bands have the ability to play fast and tight black metal that´s always a good thing. I think black metal is meant to be played fast, cause it gives you the feeling of complete downfall which is the whole point of playing this kind of godforsaken music. They create a great amount of horrifying atmospheres created by two guitars, bass and drums, though it sounds like there are like 20 guitars on this recording. The sound is so full like a punch in the face. I guess you can imagine what this sounds like. Great powerful black metal with lyrics about war and Satan. Not very unusual, but still a really good soundtrack to dark and gloomy days. Or why not a sunny day when you´re grilling your steaks next to your boring neighbours. They will for sure get a bit pissed I guess.

8/10
PAINFUL DEFLORATION "Antisocial Antihuman"

Ukranian grind isn´t something we´re spoilt with, especially not good Ukranian grind. This band have been around since 2006 and this is their third album. I haven´t heard the previous ones, so I can´t compare ém. What I do know is that this is well performed grind, it isn´t much of death metal in this piece of destroying music. It´s pure grind with a relentless force and a good amount of hooks and a great tight drummer, he doesn´t play any spectacular rhythms or so, (but hey it´s grind not Meshuggah) but he´s very good at what he´s doin´. Speedy and powerful drumming. Back to the songs, they are for sure inspired by bands like Nasum not "pot style grind" like Brutal Truth , I find them pretty unique and not like a bland copycat using riffs that has been used a million times . At least they play the songs with passion and fire with a good amount of riffing for your head to bang to, that is a very important point these days when there are so many bands playing this kind of music. Instead of being unique and using trumpets, you can make good music by showing the crowd that "this is important to us, we play like there´s no tomorrow"  That is what these guys do. They invide us to a pretty awesome grindfest which you can´t refuse to join.

8/10

måndag 22 oktober 2012

DIABOLIC "Excisions of Excorsisms"

The american death metal monsters attack with their lethal and neverending bombastic tornado of blastbeats and extremely fleshripping riffs. This band has somehow avoided to reach a wider audience, which to me is hard to understand. They always give us hardhitting US death metal, tightly performed and with an incredible amout of power and a sick way of playing sooo intense, yet easily digested music. They got their own sound, the guitars are all over the soundscape and their drummer Aantar Lee Coates is one hell of a tight blastmachine that destroys everything in his path. Their vocalist Paul shows a great way to handle the vocals, he´s like a hungy wolf waiting for blood. I think this record is their best to date, because while it is intense like a sandstorm in the Sahara desert it is still catchy as hell. You have to listen to this album to fully understand the amazing songwriting skills these guys possess. The hardest part as a band is to not repeat the song and riff patterns from the last record (especially in an extreme style of music as Diabolic´s high speed  death metal), Diabolic manages to develop their sound further with every record. While this stuff maybe isn´t as intense and bonegrinding as their "Infinity Through Purification" record, it´s a bit more memorable. Believe in their statement "Death metal at blasphemous speeds" and you´ll be greatly rewarded.

9/10
OFFENDING "Age Of Perversion"

France has never been very famous for producing high class death metal bands. But lately it has been a change of that fact, bands like Svart Crown, Kronos, Gorod, Offending, Benighted and the commerical "used to be death metal" success Gojira have released a lot of good records. Easily comparable to the best in the scene.And this one is no exception, I was really surprised when I found this band on the  "Metal Manicas" website and realized that they destroyed a lot of bands that have gained greater success abroad. I don´t know about their budget, but they have a really powerful production, not soft and clean but heavy and clean with rough edges. They also combine technical knowledge,great vocals, tight musicianship, great lyrics and a capability to write songs that include both fast grinding parts and bone crushing heaviness without losing any of its flow. Flow is a words that comes to mind when listening to this. Every part fits together and it  brings a feeling of experienced musicians and a lot of practicing. Three of them are featured in the technical/experimental black metal band Asmodee. What we get here  is a really great trip into the realm of death metal, and it´s a  great cover art too. Evil and ancient priests making the masses obey them in a church. Great music and great artwork. Well done.

9/10

lördag 20 oktober 2012

INSISION "End Of All"

Sweden´s Insision give us their first release on the "oh so broooootal" label Sevared Records. This label have a lot of generic crap with shitty vocals, but they also have signed a bunch of good bands. Insision are one of these good bands, since they a good amount of quality in their unrelentling death metal with Carl Birath as their unholy growler, Carl growls quite hearable and not like a pig who wants to take a shit in the nearest bushes. Back to the music, it´s for sure US influenced  death metal with great riffing and a tight drummer with some good techniques behind his kit. The music is quite groove laden with meaty grinding parts that grips the listener by his throat. Roger the guitar player knows how to create some scary atmospheres with his six string monster, though the production is pretty muddy the display of anger comes through greatly `cause every instrument is easily recognizable (except for the bass). What one could ask for is a bit more variety in the songs. It feels like you´re listening to one long (good) song. Everything is well done, and tight performed, the only thing I ask for is a bit more "kick in the face" songs.. I demand a bit more from these experienced musicians. This time half of the songs punches you in the face, and the rest just makes little ripples on the water.

6,5/10

fredag 19 oktober 2012

SPAWN OF POSSESSION "Incurso"

I had the oppurtunity to see these swedish masters of technical death mastery this spring. And yes It was quite an experience, it´s pretty hard to exactly describe how these lads play, because to understand you have to keep yourself locked in for like 10 years and practice all possible musical theory and having daily fretboard gymnastics . Except for that you must learn how to use eight arms and legs to be a drummer of this kind. Well it is not music for guys and girls who likes their music easy and simple. They are like athletes, for example their bass player Erlend Caspersen who has played with like ten great death metal bands is for sure an athlete. He uses hiss bass as his gym equipment, He plays fast and his fingers are everywhere. It´s like a nightmare for every kid dreaming of being a decent musician. And their new dutch guitarplayer, he plays things that most people just can imagine, seemlessly without effort. Yes, I hate these guys because of their almost ridicolous talent, but I worship them for the reason that they somehow manage to create great songs in this tormenting nightmare of time changes, strange drum patterns and the amazing guitarplayer Jonas Bryssling´s ability to play guitar in a godly way . He writes a lot of the songs and here he delivers some of the most bizarre, amazingly written riffs I have heard in a while. He mixes both crushingly heavy and technically difficult fast riffing with classical style guitar and takes you on o trip to a realm where just his mind have been. It´s a magic world of rhythms that you can come close to if you listen to this weird and totally ingenious record. They manage to create GREAT songs out of millions of notes and strange drum patterns. And that is their greatness. They don´t sound like an Origin clone, they sound like a band that is impossible to mimic and have much more substance in their songs than mentioned band. It´s not just technical wankery, there are true song writing skills behind this long awaited album. Of course the  growler Dennis does a great job too. I prefer a bit more varied songstyle but he´s doing it decent. And yes he´s tight too.

9/10
TOXIC HOLOCAUST "Conjure And Command"

I´ve heard a lot of  music within the new wave of thrash metal. A lot of bands worship the old bands totally and mimic them unshamedly. Toxic Holocaust have a slightly different approach, the main man Joel Grind looks like a surferdude (at least in many photos I´ve have seen) with light hair and headband(!) But he sounds angry and plays angry. It´s very far away from the "party sound" of bands like Municipal Waste and Bonded By Blood. This is far more dark and depressive and has a slight black metal influence, not so much for the riffs but the overall dark feeling and Joel´s hateful voice.This is a great alternative for you seeking for a more serious and dark approach of thrash metal. If you take a look at the cover, it has much more in common with black metal than thrash metal. It´s black and white and has an underground feeling to it. I think the songs on this record kick some ass, even if not all the songs are "hits". I would say the most memorable songs are the quite simple and straight forward "Bitch", It has a lot of great riffs and a great chorus, the catchy "Nowhere To Run", the quite fast (mainly) "Revelations" and the slow and dark "I am disease" Your blackened thrash needs will be pretty satisfied with this bunch of songs.

7/10

torsdag 18 oktober 2012

ALL OUT WAR "Assassins in The House of God"

Can you fail with an album title like that? I have a penchant for "tough" and "evil" album- and track titles, this one must be one of the best, most thought provoking album titles I´ve heard. I really like bands that question the "holiness" of  the church and God. Anyway, this is the fourth album by these metalcore/thrash maniacs. And I don´t mean they play thrash all the time, but there are moments of Slayer riffing now and then. I would say they are one of the forerunners of the metalcore genre (Though they have much more in common with  the metal genre than the core dito). They begun in 1991, and what I can recall few of the big names in the scene nowadays started that early. I have been a big fan of this band since I heard this record the first time, first and foremost for the lyrical concept, the neverending anger which feels real,  and the crushingly brutal riffs, yet they all are quite catchy. This music is no fake and all the songs are so full of pent-up anger that it must be impossible to fake this. Anger, frustration, agony and an enormous amount of power and energy. And the vocalist, he is for sure a "screamer" but he convinces at least me with his lyrics about the apocalypse . All Out War is no joke. They play hard ball all the way and they mean it.

9/10

onsdag 17 oktober 2012

IMMOLATION "Unholy Cult"

Through the years Immolation have given us some unique death metal with weird riffing and a dark atmosphere that is easy to recognize. The intricate riffs, the time changes and Ross Dolan´s extremely haunting voice is so intense and impossible to  not remember . And the lyrics are so incredibly smart. They question religions, beliefs and god in so many intelligent ways they could be religion professors. It´s not just the usual slaying God concept. When it comes to the music, there are many different opinions on which of their albums is the best. I like a lot of their records song wise, unfortunately what I don´t like about some records are the lousy productions. But this record has a quite flawless production. It´s heavy, clear yet dirty and full of life (or should I say full of death?) As always they don´t have many songs that suck. Maybe these guys are not the catchiest band around, but they always make good songs. Even this time there are so many riffs that are almost impossible to not be "drawn into". It´s like a nightmare coming true within all your senses at the same time made by guitars only. The drummer adds a scary atmosphere with his unusual drum patterns as well. I can´t say anything bad about this record except maybe they could have written a bit more memorable songs. But what the heck, If you like Immolation you will like this record. They never disappoint.

8/10

tisdag 16 oktober 2012

ASPHYX "Deathhammer"

Martin Van Drunen (Ex Pestilence, Hail Of Bullets, Ex Bolt Thrower etc) and crew had a 9 year hiatus, then the praised "Death...Brutal Way" was released and the rollercoaster was about to begin again. This time they give us a album pretty much in the same vein. You got that dirty death metal with heavy doom parts. It´s no frills, no fancy guitar techniques or blastbeats from hell. You´ve heard much of it before from other bands (what the hell it´s 90´s death metal, not progressive new school metal), maybe except the doom parts which isn´t that common in death metal. As always I prefer when things are hittin´hard, the slow passages makes me wanna take a nap. I don´t need blastbeats all night long, but I need some kind of intensity to not press the skip button. As long as they stay to their formula of angry distorted guitars, great riffs and a pretty intense pace I am a big fan. And of course Martin Van Drunen adds an inch of madness with his tormented voice. . Keep the pace up guys and you kill most of the competition in the old school game.

7/10

måndag 15 oktober 2012

HEATHEN "The Evolution of Chaos"

I remember when I picked up their debut album "Breaking The Silence" in 1987. I bought at a grocery store(!) and since I was into thrash already at that time I was eager to get home and put it on. And what a record, I played it for years in a row. Bands like Metallica, Exodus, Nuclear Assault, Testament and Slayer got all the attention and many many good bands were left in the shadows. What do I wanna say? This is one of the best melodic yet aggressive thrash bands ever to have existed on this planet, but most people don´t know them. Only the diehards like me and people interested in quality music. And this record which was released 18 years after their second album is a total eargasm. This one is even more progressive than the last one, I should call this record epic. It´s so full of amazingly performed guitar solos and great melodies that you can´t help but worship it. But it´s NOT too melodic, It has a lot of aggressive parts and great riffs all over the place.
If you add the best elements of   Metallica before they went alternative rock(Ride The Ligthning, Master Of Puppets, And Justice For All)   and mix it with  present Testament. Than you add some Death Angel styled riffing, King Diamond melodies and you pretty much got it. But these guys are no copycats, they are legendary geniuses. I just try to explain how they sound roughly. You gotta listen to this epic, proggresive, aggressive, amazingly written, stunning, headbangable, outstanding piece of world class metal. YOU NEED THIS. This is the real deal. Music that will always stand the test of time.

10/10

söndag 14 oktober 2012

MUNICIPAL WASTE "The Fatal Feast"

You either love em or hate em. These Virginia thrashers took the best from bands like D.R.I and spiced it up by making the guitars sounding heavier and the production sounding fatter. It´s a type of music that is riffbased and made for circlepits and moshpits. This time they give us more of the same thrash/crossover, I don´t complain cause I love their punkish thrash with attitude and charisma. Their vocalist Tony Foresta always sound like he´s a mad 17-year old wanting to smash something to pieces. Like a younger Kurt Brecht of D.R.I. He always deliver the goods, he never sounds tired or bored. The record as a whole has its flips and smaller dips but it´s pretty solid all the way. Though my favorites are "You´re cut off", "Covered in Sick/The Barfer" and the absolute favorite "Unholy Abductor". So if you wanna stay on the haters side and say it´s boring and bland, it´s up to you. If it had come 5 years ago it had been called solid.

7/10

fredag 12 oktober 2012

Chaos Inception "The Abrogation"

Med medlemmar från Monstrosity och sorgligt underskattade Fleshtized, så vet man ungefär hur det här låter. Jag skulle säga att det påminner mer om Fleshtized än om Monstrosity (Tänk en ohelig mix av Hate Eternal och tidiga Krisiun). Det är väldigt tight spelat och tekniskt utan att bli Origin eller Braindrill. Det här är snarare jävligt kraftfull muskeldöds med känsla för schyssta hooks och underbart feta mattor med blastbeats, tack vare en grym produktion så blir känslan av en fet käftsmäll ännu mer kännbar. Och riffen? Ja riffen sitter precis där de ska göra. Det är det som skiljer agnarna från vetet i denna genre av snabb, driven döds. Riffen måste vara bra för att man ska minnas skivan och vilja spela den igen. Jag är helt säker på att  du nu kommer tacka mig när jag säger att det är farligt att ta med skivan i bilstereon då du säkerligen kommer få fortkörningsböter när du sätter i den och trycker på "Play" Speeding ticket death metal.

DYING FETUS "Reign Supreme"

It´s time to grind and slam again guys and girls. You either love or hate these guys, but I think this record is their easiest to listen to this far. John Gallagher still growls too low for me at times, but he has improved as a vocalist this time by adding clearer growls. The music is full of catchy and technical riffing. The usual mix of grinding madness and totally heavy slam parts are still there. Though they have taken their songwriting skills to a new level this time. Even if it´s over the top brutal most of the time, they create riffs that you can actually remember afterwards and that is always a good thing. The drummer Trey Williams has the right kind of technical knowledge AND the oh so important ability to make a song better by adding incredible punch to the music. Sometimes I wish people outside the metal community would appreciate the work that is behind this kind of music. But well, I never think they will...and I don´t really care either. It´s not music for everyone and I don´t think it ever will be. But for us who care, this is punishing technical death metal that needs to be taken seriously.

9/10
MARDUK "Serpent Sermon"

The black metal legend is back with another piece of unholy material in the name of the goat. For over 20 years they have spread their blasphemous propaganda all over the world. I personally prefer when Marduk slays mercilessly, I think they´re best at top speed. This record gives you a lot of great high speed parts, but three songs are not that relentless, "Into Second Death", "Temple of Decay" and "World Of Blades". They are ok, but I rather push the skip button when they are slowing down. Maybe they don´t wanna do another "Panzer Division Marduk" and that is ok for me, BUT musical violence is their thing and when they speed things up, they really show their muscles. It´s black metal madness in its purest form. If you add the vocalist Mortuus you got a lethal combination that is hard to beat. Even if they have their trademark black metal melodies in their songs they destroy almost any competition. I mean you can find bands with NO melodies at all, and maybe some black metal purists think they have gone "overground" by selling too many records and having "too many fans" still nobody can deny the fact that these fellas slay.

8/10

torsdag 11 oktober 2012

LECHEROUS NOCTURNE "The Age Of Miracles Has Passed"

US death metal is stronger than ever. There are so many bands that deliver terminating fucking music that destroys almost everything that comes in its way. Lecherous Nocturne is one of these bands. Aggressive and extremely hardhitting death metal. One band that comes to mind is a bit more technical Malevolent Creation, both soundwise and vocalwise. They do have a slight black metal influence too in some parts. But most of the time they play total skullcrushing death metal. They have a technichal approach especially in the grinding parts that may be a little hard to digest at first, if you´re not used to this kind of music (But I guess you are, if you´ve found this website). They don´t play like Origin or Spawn Of Possession , but it happens a lot in the songs and you will hear more and more details the more you listen to it .The music is complex and crude. I just can´t stop listen to this kind of songs, ´cause it has some kind of  mesmerizing effect on me.

8/10


onsdag 10 oktober 2012

DRAWN AND QUARTERED "Merciless Hammer of Lucifer"

Darkness. That is the first thing that comes to mind when listening to this blasphemous piece of music. DAQ have been around since 1993, and they have always played a crude, very dark and asskicking kind of death metal. They sound like an unholy mixture between the dissonant and weird style of playing Immolation uses and Incantation with their dark and a bit more straightforward sounding hellish and weird music. You can´t pretend to sound as evil as this. These guys ARE evil in both mind, sense and body. I have always been intrested in dark and occult things and these guys really got me thinking of demons, condemned souls and depravity. They never make a bad record. A few band really know how to handle their instruments and create the most evil sounding stuff while it´s still quite catchy. Not catchy in a commercial way of course, but catchy in a weird, brutal and truly haunting way. Sound of the underground. This is DEATH metal.

9/10
DYSCARNATE "And So It Came To Pass"

A heavy sounding death metal monster. That´s the feeling I got when I put this record on. It´s that heavy dude. The first song is a instrumental monster called "The Weight of All Things" and it´s "weighty" that´s for sure. I rarely hear instrumental songs that really kick some serious ass. But this does. The rest of the record is a display of how riff based meaty death metal should be played at the top of the game. They mix the best of both extremely heavy passages and fierce grinding. But the first thing that comes to mind is the HEAVY production. That combined with the ability to write CRUSHING riffs makes this record stand out among the horde of copycats. And what about the vocalists? They are  fucking great too, one do the highs and the other the lows. I can´t understand the fact that this mean sounding machine is the sound of three well dressed short haired guys. I am sure they will destroy every avenue they play at. Essential !

10/10

tisdag 9 oktober 2012

INVERACITY "Extermination of Millions"

One of the better brutal death metal albums the last ten years. These italians give us one hell of a ride with this second album. It´s not easy to create brutality with a great flow within the songs, which they have done here. You could say they have managed to write a lot of death metal hits here. It´s not just fast and brutal, they create an atmosphere that is cold, dark and extremely exciting in every sense of the word. Not only have they been able to create songs that really grip the listener, they have also created an album that is impossible not to like even if you´re into regular metal. The songs are so easily digested also they are brutal as hell and the riffs are so full of imagination and great musicianship that you can´t help but just worship this record. Every record has its flaws, and even if they are hard to find here. You could ask for a bit more heavy  production. The guitars are a bit light in the mix. But what the hell, that´s just a minor complaint.

9/10
DAWN OF DEMISE "Rejoice in Vengeance"

Danish Suffocation and slam worshippers  have stepped up a bit qualitywise since the last time I heard them. On this record they have increased the pace and written some good songs that catch my ear better than on previous efforts. First and foremost their vocalist Scott Jensen has learned to growl, he still uses his awful pigsqueals but not all the time (Yes I hate the pigsqueals more than the black death). Which makes the record  much more dynamic and powerful when you can actually (almost) here what he growls about. As I said before the songs are not built up by breakdowns and only breakdowns, they also have really nice grinding parts and that infamous "Florida style" when playing the guitars. Not just powerchords. The solos are a nice addition to their improved death metal, great leads. I fucking love great solos. It´s as important as the overall sound. As always the production is heavier than most of the stuff on the market.

8/10

måndag 8 oktober 2012

TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED "Degenerate"

This british fivepiece has developed from a deathcore unit to a lethal highspeed death metal machine. They manage to keep the songs fresh, despite the often breakneck pace and intense fury. They mix things up too, between the outbreaks of fleshgrinding whirlwinds the kind of solos these guys create are nothing short of amazing. And yes, they use a breakdown now and then. But hey, if it adds diversity and depth to the music why care? They have much more in common with Hate Eternal than dumbass deathcore bands with no identity at all. I think they pretty much have all the ingridients that is needed to create a death metal record that will give you a time of total annihilation while still keeping ideas fresh and the oh so importants dynamics. With dynamics I mean not just faceless blasting, but the ability to play music that is full of interesting twists and musicality that both attack all your  senses and gives you the urge to start a moshpit. On top of that they have a vocalist that knows how to articulate while still sounding like a beast. British steel.

9/10

söndag 7 oktober 2012

SINISTER "The Carnage Ending"

This dutch legendary but criminally underrated old school death metal outfit, releases their 10th fullength album. Maybe this is the last opus they will release according to the title. I hope not, cause this is great death metal in the vein of Malevolent Creation circa "Doomsday X" versus "In Cold Blood". I must say this is one of the most pummeling records they have released. The pace is mostly high and the riffs will  pulverize you into a pile of bones.One of the highlights is the inimitable vocalist Aad Kloosterwaard . He sounds as angry as ever and he has managed to gather a bunch of guys again (The line up changes have been like an endless nightmare) that know how to play some awesome death metal with leads you envy and a drummer who handles the kit as a pro, indeed great. I know some of their latest material have been critcized, which I think is a bit undserved. They have always delivered the goods, with no frills death metal, and this  time they have done right in almost every way. This is hardhititting death metal, meant to destroy with a lot of great solos, in the end you will be pounded into dust, and that is all that matters. Forget about your collection of american bands for a while and listen to this dutch death metal machine!

8,5/10

torsdag 4 oktober 2012

LIVIDITY "To Desecrate and Defile"

Dessa amerikanska dödsare med "vuxentexter" kör här sitt race som vanligt med "offending lyrics", grind, köttiga gitarrer och härligt dödsgurgel. Gurglet går dock aldrig över till det vidriga grisgurglet utan håller sig på rätt sida "lagen". Det kombineras också med schyssta höga skrik. Jag tyacker musiken blivit mer och mer sofistikerad och produktionen renare och renare när det gäller Lividity. De började ju goregrind träsket med tillhörande produktion modell undermålig. För att nu ha nått fram till en nivå där de både kan lira riktigt bra, och skriva riff som fastnar i huvudet. Jag personligen tycker inte att de behöver ha texter som är på dagisnivå eftersom de har lärt sig hur bra brutal dödsmetall ska liras. Då behöver man inte gömma sig bakom äckliga omslag och töntiga texter med ännu töntigare intron från diverse smaklösa filmer. Dock så kan jag tänka mig att de vill följa samma mall som de alltid följt, möjligtvis som något slags bisarra konstnärer med smak för dödsmetall. Musiken och produktion får med beröm godkänt. Men resten, nja. De säljer möjligtvis några fler ex till kidsen som gillar att chockas men eftersom produkten inuti fodralet är riktigt skarp så borde de ändra  lite till nästa platta. Brutalt ska det vara, men va fan snubbar..ni är 40 bast. Keep grinding in a different way next time.

7/10

onsdag 3 oktober 2012

EXCITER "Deathmachine"

Gubbarna i kanadensiska Exciter släppte 2010 sin senaste platta med musik som inte förändrats i stort sett någonting sedan första plattan släpptes för snart 30 år sen. Deras hybrid av speed, heavy och thrash metal låter fortfarande likadant. Det är rak och skoninglös musik med låttitlar som "Razor in your back" och "Skullbreaker". De ska ha all heder för att de förvaltar arvet av hederlig gammal metal. Det är där som både deras storhet och svaghet finns. På de tidigare plattorna fanns riktiga "smash hits" med rejäla hooks och feta refränger, de har fortfarande förmågan att göra benknäckarriff och skriva slagkraftiga låtar, dock så har de på senare tid haft lite svårt att få till riktigt helgjutna plattor. Det är oftast ungefär hälften av låtarna som är riktigt bra, följt av utfyllnadslåtar. Men som vi vet är det få av de klassiska banden som fortfarande släpper käftsmällar på äldre dagar. Utan man är ganska nöjd om de lyckas få till några köttmonster till låtar.
Dock så är deras backkatalog så imponerande att det är live som de gör sig rättvisa på riktigt.

6/10

måndag 1 oktober 2012

DEATHRAISER "Violent Aggression"

Brasilianska thrashare som håller fanan högt gällande vansinnig old school thrash. Man skulle kunna säga att dessa snubbar låter som ett ungt och förbannat Kreator på speed. Det är full patte i stort sett hela tiden och alla mätare står på max, vilket gör att det är omöjligt att inte ryckas med i det underbara ultravåld som utspelas eftersom de är otroligt tighta och verkar ha riktigt kul när de lirar. Hur jag märker det? Ja, förutom att materialet är av högsta kvalité så är även spelglädjen på topp. Det är liksom total thrash annihilation med ruskigt ettrig tvåtakt och riff som är "all over the place" hela tiden. Man förstår att de inte är några trötta 45-åringar utan snarare jävligt hungriga 20-åringar som vill komma ifrån sina tråkiga och fattiga(?) liv i dagens Brasilien. Och vad är då bättre än att lära sig spela ilsken thrash och få åka ut med något av de större banden inom dagens metalscen på turné. En jävligt fet skiva som får dig att vakna och bli favorit på festen med dina metalpolare.  Maximum thrash devastation !!!

10/10