torsdag 29 november 2012

INCANTATION "Vanquish In Vengeance"

I remember when I met their vocalist John McEntee John in 2004 at a gig and he was the most humble guy you could think of. He thanked me for coming to the show and told me he appreciated the support. Very nice indeed. And I got my record signed too. Well, that was then this is now. It has been six years since their last record and you gotta love these guys, they always come up with cool blasphemous song titles hard to remember and their trademark old school death metal with dissonant melodies and slow crushing passages. John sounds haunted and the guys are playing tightly, even if it´s dirty and crude it needs to be tight, huh. This time around they have got the best production ever, it still sounds organic and non computerized of course, but it´s not the "muddy feeling" from the past. You can hear the instruments well, and distinguish them from each other. The songs this time are not anything that you haven´t heard before, but that is exactly what you want from Incantation. Many of the lyrics are about killing in the name of god on this record and not just about hating christianity. I know one band that totally worship Incantation, their name is Father Befouled. Compare their music if you haven´t heard ém. Icons have followers and Incantation are legends in their game. Let´s just hope that it won´t take six years to release the next album

9/10

onsdag 28 november 2012

COLD HARD TRUTH "Deliver The Fear"

What do we have here? It´s actually a record I have listened to a lot. Beatdown hardcore is a style I both despise and love. At the same time. I despise it ´cause it has that almost ridiculous "tough guy" feeling. The "We are the baddest motherfuckers in the universe, so don´t mess with us you bastard!" attitude. BUT this stuff is heavier and more mean than a lot of things out there. They blend new school thrash riffs with heavy as fuck hardcore/metalcore with a production that crushes your face instantly. If you imagine the feeling of being buried under cement and then scattered all over by a woodshipper. Maybe a bit brutally discribed, well you get musical torture here in its purest form. It hurts to listen to these UK maniacs, but at the same time it feels so damn good. They actually incorporate some death metal riffing too, it adds a bit of brutality to this godforsaken frenzy. Their vocalist has a tormented scream, sometimes he growls a bit too. It kind of blends into it eacher. A little bit of screaming, and than a little bit of hardcore growls. It´s not really death metal growls but pretty near. I think CHT and the US band Betrayal have come up with some of the heaviest shit lately in this genre. Actually I can´t find a lot of downsides here. Maybe the vocals could be a bit more clear sometimes and not so muddy. But that´s not a major problem here. This pretty much kills.

9/10

tisdag 27 november 2012

HAVOK "Time Is Up"

The cover is as ugly as my old and worn out underpants, but the music is incredible. It´s riff based thrash metal the retro style with enough modern influences to make it fresh and vital. The guitarsound of this record is razorsharp. And I mean RAZZZZOORsharp. The sound of the guitars can cut through glass and the riffing is precise and extremely well executed throughout the record. What makes this record so good is their ability to write extremely energetic yet very catchy songs in the name of old school thrash metal, but made with recent technology.  I started listen to this record one year ago, I thought it was good but nothing mindblowing. A few great songs, but nothing extra ordinary. I have changed my mind. I picked it up 4 months ago again, and no I can´t stop listen to this record. Almost everything is good, the production, the leads, the riffing, the vocalist who sounds a bit like Schmier of Destruction. They combine precise technical riffing with a great feeling for not just energy but breath taking energy which makes you wanna mosh for hours. Not much is bad here. Almost every song is top notch, I should say this is among one of the best thrash records in the last 10 years. Yes this one was a grower for me. I think I will go to see them live as fast as possible. 

9,5/10

måndag 26 november 2012

DESTRUCTION "Spiritual Genocide"

30 years into their career they release a slab of good quality german thrash. Schmier still sounds like he is 20 years younger when he releases his voice in songs about everything violent he likes to write about. This time the cover is quite cool. Their "evil butcher" has a thorn around his head like Jesus, with a riflescope pointed at his head. Of course he is holding his big butcher knife too. There are different creatures around him including a pig´s head on a stick. Tasteful and evil looking. My problem with Destruction through the years have been that they always are good, and write a couple of great songs but some of the songs are easily forgettable. This time I think they pull things off pretty well the whole way. The riffing, production and the songs are above average. Among the best are "Cyanide", "To dust you will Decay" and "Legacy of the past". "Cyanide" and "Legacy of the past" hit quite hard and "To dust.." is more of a midpaced song with a great chorus. I also like the title song with its catchy guitars and cool chorus. Also "Carnivore" is good song with a little different direction, full of groove. My favorite song is "Under Violent Sledge" with its cool sing a long choirs and catchy riffing. The good songs continue the whole record, I hope I will still like them in six months or so. The classics are always welcome in my headphones but the new ones don´t usually stick in my head for so long. That´s the main problem with Destruction nowadays, I always like most of the songs in the beginning but they get a bit anonymous after a while. Well, enough of my nagging. This is a solid record and I hope Schmier will not rip my head off if he reads this.

7,5/10

onsdag 21 november 2012

TESTAMENT "Dark Roots of Earth"

Through the years millions of bands have passed, some have succeeded some have failed. Testament have done a bit of both, most of their records has been at least decent and some has been absoulutely brilliant. I have always liked some songs on all of their records, but sometimes they have lacked songs with real punch all the way. "Dark Roots of Earth" is absolutely one great record. Full of Alex Skolnick´s and Eric Peterson´s nice sounding solos and Chuck Billy´s voice is in great shape. It feels great to see that man alive and well again! Fuck cancer!  The songs themselves involve even grind in "True American Hate" and that´s pretty rare in Testament´s case. Awesome song about meaningless hatred. I could say I dislike too much melodies in metal but Testament have always been good at incorporating melodies while it still sounds metal as fuck. Never too much of it and never losing that important punch in the music.  This disc  is very varied and multilayered with a lot of amazing musicianship. Yes, you can hear this is a bunch of experienced musicians delivering "thinking man´s thrash metal" yet never losing the edge to the music. Never too technical nor too pretentious. I could say a lot about this record, and take it song by song, but this review would be too long to read I think.  Among my favorites you can find almost every one of the songs in its own different way. Every song fulfills its purpose in a way hard to describe. It´s like a long trip where you have to get from point A to point B to get the whole picture. This record is near an epic masterpiece, it´s very diverse, from real thrash monsters to slower melodic songs with amazing solos, and I mean amazing guitar work. Alex` and Eric`s solos on this record is like "I want more" the whole time. Stunningly performed, lovely to hear. When it comes to the drums I haven´t found out whom of Gene Hoglan or Chris Adler plays which song but I guess there are a lot of drum fantaics who want to hear about the drumming. Well, I hear one thing anyway. The drumming is like the music itself not overly technical but with a lot of FEELING and of course tight as my buns of steel (well) Very organic sounding drums I should say. No "plastic feeling" at all. Of course the whole production is very thick and it fits the music perfectly. Thanx guys, you have made me jelous again. Well done. Have I some negative aspects of this record? Well, in a perfect world I would ask for 10 point riffs all over the record from beginning to end. This time, maybe 10 percent of the riffs is like 8 points. And maybe some of the songs could be a bit shorter. But this is as we say in Sweden "luxury problems" as in "minor problems"

8,5/10

tisdag 20 november 2012

NECROPHOBIC "Death To All"

For over twenty years they have spread their blasphemous music, and they don´t sound tired at all this long into their career. The lyrics are still there and their trademark blackened death metal are also there. They have a pretty unique sound, you can hear it is Necrophobic and not some faceless clone. The music itself is fiercly intense most of the time, still melodic. But the guitar melodies don´t make the music sound weak or boring, it adds a spooky atmosphere and Tobias Sidegård sounds as haunted as ever when he shrieks and growls out his message about Lucifer and his best friends. I have heard a lot of their records and this is among the better they have released, through the years. Drums, guitars and the voice of Tobias hit my ears with a feeling that is hard to explain but if you imagine having a nightmare, a nightmare with the perfect soundtrack you will hear this. I should say horrorfilled magic, not sounding too pretentious.The music is like a dark unit meant to be scary and very intense, yet extremely entertaining. The riffs are so catchy and easy to listen to, at the same time they are like little horror flicks, amazingly brutal.The production of this record is good, the bass isn´t that audible but that´s a minor problem since the rest of the instruments sound great. When I have started listen to this, I hardly can stop. It´s that hypnotizing, really. So if you don´t want to be a part of this unholy team´s ideas and ideals, don´t listen. But If you have read this far I guess you´re interested in it. Go listen to this and get blown away by this swedish uncrowned masters of blasphemy.

9/10





HATE ETERNAL "Phoenix Amongst The Ashes"

Many things have been said about Erik Rutan´s Hate Eternal. Some say they lack dynamics, some say their productions suck and some say they are the masters of pummeling blasting death metal. I am of the view that some of their later albums like "Fury And Flames" for example is a bit blurry with the drums very upfront in the mix. This their latest blastpiece of blistering tight death metal is nothing but a showcase of death metal supreme. Erik Rutan has one of, if not the best death metal voice ever. He articulates, but nothing of the brutality is lost. He really sounds like he´s mad at the whole world when he growls and spits full of rage. This record have a lot of interesting songs, especially the opening riff in "The Art of Redemption" is totally sick. The riff is extremely fast and sounds more like a frenetic guitar solo than a single riff, very unique sounding for sure. Another thing people complain about is their faceless blasting, I think this record has a lot it of but they mix it up with a lot of heavy parts too which makes the record a bit more easily digested. But since I am a speedfreak and worship most of the songs Hate Eternal have done through the years, this is no exception. Within the fierce grinding parts, there are always substance in the songs, the riffs are entertaining most of the time even at neckbreak paces. Why? Because with such poise and conviction that Erik Rutan possesses not much can go wrong I think. He manages to always give the listener a very brutal, but extremely talented song writing experience. The song "Hatesworn" has a part after the first riffs when Erik sounds totally possessed by everything evil in this universe." HATESWORN, HATESWORN, HATESWORN !!!!!!!" No offense, but nor David Vincent, George Fisher, Chuck Chuldiner, Luc Lemay, Ross Dolan, John Tardy or Glen Benton have that kind of brutality in their voices. It´s almost inhuman to sound like that. I like this record a lot, but I envy Erik for being such a godly death metal ambassador. Almost everything he touches turns to if not gold but to death metal masterpieces, even as a producer. Obey Erik and his mighty men, listen to this deadly piece of death metal art.

9,5/10

torsdag 15 november 2012

EMBALMED "Exalt The Imperial Beast"

Mexico is a hotbed for crazy bands with no boundaries when it comes to create insane music. Embalmed is a good example of insane music with no intentions to be melodic or catchy. I am sucker for this kind of music, since it is some kind of deranged sense in my mind which comes to life when listening to it. Embalmed is a perfect mixture of a more primitive early Angelcorpse and Bestial Warlust, combined with a little hint of Black Witchery. Every song sounds almost as the one before, the chords and rhythm patterns are pretty identical, but for the diehards, that´s a good thing if the production does the music justice. The production of this is like a deadly ten ton hammer tearing through a skyscraper and then the hammer hits the ground and thrash every car and human being around, and leaves a bloody mess. It´s chaotic, it´s destructive and they give every poser around the globe a big, big middle finger in the air because they don´t just play and act chaotic. Mexico is a violent country and I guess this shows in their music climate too. You can´t pretend music this aggressive that totally lacks compromises and any ANY kind of melody These maniacs are for sure necro, evil and full of hell and I think you will hear this when you put this piece of world war 4 in your stereo or computer.

8,5/10

onsdag 14 november 2012

SICK OF IT ALL "Based On A True Story"

In my life there has been a certain of amount of hardcore/ metalcore involved since I was quite young.  I have always liked bands with more "core" and "metal" involved than "punk" in their sound. Sick of it all have always included some punk influences in their music, but the hardcore part has always been dominant. Pure hardcore has a rougher edge with more punch I think. This record is among the absolute best they have have ever released. I have always liked some of their songs, but not a whole record. Sometimes their is a lack of dynamics in their songs. A lot of songs on this record are aggressive and the sound and production is more "metallic" than bands like Pennywise and Bad Religion (Of course their music is also heavier and more mean, since they play hardcore and not surfpunk/so cal punk), . Lou Koller is one of the keys to their aggressive sound, his voice is nothing but pissed and angry the whole record. And he has a great "crunch" in his voice. Some kind of dirtiness and rawness. All over there are songs full of great hooks and a heavy sound, just the way I like it. There are also a lot of their trademark sing a long choirs which add a bit of catchiness. 24 years into their career they are as angry as ever. It´s always great to hear a band not just releasing albums for the money alone. (Well, I think nobody does today, the record business is dead, but you get the point?) This time they are almost as good on cd as they are on stage. There are more aggressive bands out there, but SOIA play their brand of hardcore pretty damn well. Horns up guys!

7,5/10

måndag 12 november 2012

FETUS STENCH "Stillbirth"

Another Devourment clone? The name is typical for those bands playing "slamming brootal death metal", but this is something totally different. This is a swedish, very young band (if you look at pics of them) which plays a straight forward, yet quite technical hardhitting death metal with great dynamics and a crushing sound. Far away from that stereotype sound of hundred elephants trying to handle their instruments in a pit of zombies. Well, I tried to describe how it sounds when some bands perform their totally generic slam death metal. Fetus Stench is way better than their name, despite their young age they handle their instruments very professionally and even their vocalist has a very mature voice. He sounds very angry and has a clear, yet brutal voice. The music itself  consists of both heavy parts and speedy grinding parts with a lot of punch and inventive guitar playing. Well produced stuff with a touch of several high class death metal bands. The first band that comes to mind is actually the swedish blasphemous masters Aeon. I know I have mentioned them in some reviews before, but Aeon´s relentless music is not something you dislike. Is it? Newer stuff from Grave is another thing you can hear some traces of here. These guys have a sound and songs that are not totally unique (who has these days?) but this disc is so full of really good songs, you really can´t hate this.One of the better records lately from a swedish band for sure! This kills and shreds This is their first album, and a pretty hard one to top I think. I am looking forward to their next piece of well executed death metal.

9/10

lördag 10 november 2012

HURTLOCKER "Embrace The Fall"

Since this blog is a total DIY (Do it yourself) thing, I mostly write about bands I like and would like to promote. And this is one of the bands I would like to promote, too bad they have split up. I have seen a lot of  people and mags telling that this is a metalcore band. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a METAL band with maybe some slight "core influences" But first and foremost this is hardhitting metal with both grinding parts, heavy thrash and some death metal riffing. I discovered this band when I bought a copy of the american mag "Explicitly Intense", specialized in extreme music, six years ago and there was a cd sampler with the song "Absolution" from their first cd on it. That song totally blew me away, it was full of aggression and catchiness and their vocalist sounded like a predator full of rage. The thing about this band is that nobody, I mean (almost) nobody talks about them! It´s a fuckin´shame, ´cause they play(ed) a totally relentless mix of several metal genres without loosing any of the momentum in the songs. There is always a thread to be found and none of the riffs or chords seem to be out of place. This cd is full of their, if not  unique but totally outstanding ability to create songs that are just fucking lethal metal, not death not thrash not grind. Just lethal metal with all the aforementioned ingridients included. The only minor complaint I have about this record is the few  spoken parts which seems a bit out of place. Otherwise this slays as much as their first masterpiece of pain inducing metal.

8,5/10
JUNGLE ROT "What Horrors Await"

Jungle Rot are the epitome of straight forward death metal with no tendencies of technical wankery or pretentious lyrics about abstract things. It´s about war and it´s mid-paced most of the time. But it doesn´t matter, ´cause the music they play is without a doubt among the best of bands who play groove laden death metal with riffs to kill for. This is a record that won´t disappoint you if you´ve heard their previous albums. Jungle Rot deliver meat and potatoes death metal with a punch, a great punch in your face even without grind parts and technical riffing. Death metal with a punk attitude, "We don´t care about playing a zillion scales and rhythm patterns from another dimensions, this is pure death metal about war" That´s what it´s all about, and since they seem to have a inhexaustible ability of composing great riffs, there is no use for a sound like Necrophagist or Origin. It´s hard to pinpoint favorite songs on this record, they are all good and full of the only thing that really counts. The kings of  heavy riffing are Jungle Rot.

9/10


torsdag 8 november 2012

GENOCIDE KOMMANDO "Black Metal Supremacy"

This french black metal band have now split up, this is their only record released. But it´s a good one. It´s not very original or unique but it has qualities you want from a black metal band. They play their style of violent  bm with  great conviction and since I like things speedy this is a great one for me. You have the "war feeling" in this music, like Marduk meets Endstille with a little twist. It´s not blasting the whole record, but it´s a lot of it and you can hear that the vocalist means every word he spews out from his bloody jaws of hate.The cold and grim (Yes, it´s a bm record) feeling is present all the time and that is what black metal is all about. The human apocalypse, the misery of mankind.  You have probably heard a lot of records approximately like this, but it´s not just about how you play, if you don´t bring forth the state of total downfall you have failed. But this record brings you devastation. If Black Witchery are the kings of destruction and hate and Marduk are the princes of the throne, these guys come pretty close among others.

8/10

AMON "Liar In Wait"

The Hoffman Brothers revenge on Deicide, and it´s a pretty brutal revenge for sure. It´s never easy to write a review about a record that so many people have an opinion about. But this is pretty good stuff, you will not here any synthesizers nor any "Gothenburg melodies". This is death metal in the vein of the more recent Deicide, with a lot of tight blasting and technical guitar stuff. Alternate picking sections and impressively clean sweep picking, all played flawlessly with lightning speed. If you like later Deicide, you´ll probably like this, ´cause even their experienced vocalist Jesse Jolly  is reminiscent of Glen Benton. You will even here those "double voices" performed. What differs from Deicide is the music itself,which is a bit more brutal and technical. You will not fall asleep during this, nor you will find it amazingly entertaining. This is highly skilled death metal but not a lot of "death metal hits" are found here. The musical aspect of this record is more interesting, since it is a very technical but not just "a lot of wankery for the sake of it" record. You can really hear that these guys have made their homework when it comes to creating songs with great dynamics. Even though it´s good music, I don´t get the feeling of a great record ´cause there is a lack of really great riffs. . Maybe it´s a grower.

7/10

onsdag 7 november 2012

ANGELCORPSE "The Inexorable"

The one with the most difficult name to spell. But I think it´s the best of their records. Amazing riffing in the same vein as old Morbid Angel combined with that famous "war metal" brutality. And they have THE riff of the century in this slab of fucking great music. The song I am talking about is "Wolflust" The main riff in that song is totally hypnotizing and I wanna put the song on repeat every time I´ve heard it. That riff alone makes this record a 9 out of 10. Well, this whole record is a showcase of mindblowing death/black metal with a lot of punch and personality and Pete Helmkamp as the hord leader with his mean and hissing voice. Tight performance of a band that mark their career highlight here. What makes this record so stunning is the memorable riffs all over the place. What makes a riff good? For me, it´s when the riff makes you wanna crawl out of your body,  but you don´t know what to do with your limbs. You just know that this riff is so cool you have goosebumps everywhere. This record is full of twists and turns, but the songs are driven forward by a relentless force and a great amount of bonegrinding madness. Crazy and fucking great.

9/10

tisdag 6 november 2012

HATE "Erebos"

They are as good as country mates Behemoth, but they haven´t got half the attention. They have been around since 1990 and released a couple of great death metal records. Year by year they have refined their formula to a modern death metal monster with a lot of power and a great ability to create songs that are interesting and full of amazing musicianship. Many people compare them to aforementioned Behemoth, but this band can stand on their own without any doubts. This record is a proof that if you are persistent, things will finally pay off. Maybe they haven´t got the recognition they deserve  among the "big death metal horde" but I guess many underground fanatics like myself have heard them and appreciate their nowadyas pretty sophisticated style of death metal with a production fatter than most of the butter in my country. This records gives you blastbeats, exciting chords patterns, horrifying riffs, great guitar leads, scary atmospheres  and as the cream of the crap Adam the first sinner as the ultimate vocalist. He spits his wrath at everything he dislikes and he does it with such conviction you can´t do anything but believe him. This is a great slab of modern death metal which will appeal to people who likes well produced, but excellent and catchy death metal with no poppy melodies at all. I guess next record will be as good this, and if there is any justice in this world they will get notified by more people who like quality metal in general and death metal in particular.

9/10

måndag 5 november 2012

SANCTIFICATION  "Black Reign"

As a swede, I have to say we have a lot of good death metal bands, and not just in the "Stockholm death metal" genre. This band have members from Aeon and a vocalist of Dark Funeral fame Masse Broberg aka "Emperor Magus Caligula".  This is some heavy and evil sounding stuff. The similarities to Aeon are obvious, it´s punishing, hammering death metal with a pretty big musical knowledge. Not just endless blastbeats but more focus on creating a combination of a blastbeats, powerful riffs, heavy parts and Masse the vocalist growls very well, you can hear most words he grunts.This isn´t unique sounding stuff, nor it´s a rip off, you´ve heard death metal before. Right? Even if a band don´t explore new territories, it can still be damn good. And this is good stuff, you can bang your head and grab a beer or two. There could have been more memorable songs and the triggered drumsound is a bit clicky. But I don´t care that much, you shouldn´t either. Metal til death.

7/10

lördag 3 november 2012

CORONER "No More Color"

Switzerland hasn´t got many well known death, thrash or black metal bands(Celtic Frost and Hellhammer of course). At least not outside their own country. But Coroner is a for sure an exception. They have written a couple of total classics within the thrash/progressive thrash genre. I bought this one on LP when it came out in 1989, and it´s unique in every way possible. From the strange, crazy rhythm patterns and great technical riffing to Ron Royce´s brilliant vocals. He sounds like he means every word, like the sick scientist trying to convince the people to believe his theories about the end of the world. The music on this masterpiece is nothing short of amazing, if you could imagine Atheist meets darkened thrash, combined with a great amount of "black as the night" riffing. The riffing is phenomenal, they were way ahead of their time when this exploded into the metal scene. The guitars play very complex stuff combined with a fingertip feeling when it comes to creating catchy yet very depressive and dark riffs. This is one of the absolute timeless classics within this genre, though a bit underrated. Not among the diehards, but among the rest. Be a true metal warrior and let this great piece of music be a part of your weekly metal meal.

9,5/10

torsdag 1 november 2012

AZARATH "Blasphemer´s Malediciton"

The blasphemous masters of satanic death metal are back with a vengeance. This time with a new vocalist, and they sound as depraved as ever. I really like their dirty, crushing sound. Many of the new bands have a more polished sound, but these fellas go right for the throat with their evil sounding musical terror, some kind of horror filled soundscape with rough edges. It´s not grinding madness all the time, but the whole atmosphere of this record is so dark and sick that you can´t help but falling into some sort of trance. All of their records have that haunting feeling, it´s impossible to run and hide from these friends of the horns. You will for sure be dragged down to the deepest pits of hell, when you listen to this. The music itself is pretty straight forward, yet quite technical blackened death metal. A genre that I like a lot. What makes them different from a lot of other bands is the ability to make the whole listening experience
very intense and like a burning fist in the face. This music hurts and it hurts well. Obey your master.

9/10