måndag 25 februari 2013

MADBALL "Rebellion"

It´s time for some New York hardcore guys and girls! This time with a six track EP. I´ve known Madball since the mid 90´s when the hardcore movement in my country was biiig. I never really liked their early material. It was too lame and I didn´t like the vocals either in the beginning.The productions of their records wasn´t really good either. But around year 2000 they learnt how to produce a record and Freddy became a great vocalist. The sound became much heavier and the songs had more crunch than ever. I think "Infiltrate The System" is one of the absolute best modern  hardcore releases ever. It has a all the qualities you want from a great hardcore record. This record has the same sound and you have these mosh friendly songs all over the record. I don´t think it has world class "hits", but it serves very well as an appetizer for the next fullength record.
https://sv-se.facebook.com/madballNYC

7,5/10

fredag 22 februari 2013

MORTAL SIN "Psychology Of Death"

I had the pleasure to see Mortal Sin on their last tour in late 2011. I am grateful I did, cause now they have split up. Mortal Sin appeared first on LP in 1986, when thrash metal was hot and new. But I think they disappeared among all the great bands back then. I have always liked their energetic thrash with elements of both old Metallica,Testament and Exodus but with their own unique sound. Especially the "Face of Despair" record was a favourite of mine. On this record they sound very vital and hungry. Mat Maurer is the locomotive that keeps the engine running here. Among all the amazing thrash riffs he sounds like a very eager young man, doing the best of his abilities to show the world he´s a very good vocalist that fits this vicious thrash masterpiece. Yes, it´s that good. It´s not the best record I´ve heard, but you could say they end on top with this. The production is fatter than a very fat cow and the instruments cut through wood. Old school thrash is not the word I would use about this record but a very good modern thrash record with influences from the past and the present, all blended together to a perfect mix of catchy metal music. A forgotten(?) record but nonetheless very very good. A few more stunning riffs and the grading would be top  notch.

9/10

torsdag 21 februari 2013

NECROWRETCH "Putrid Death Sorcery"

These crazy Frenchmen take you back to the golden age of extreme music. You can smell both Sarcofago, Repulsion and Possessed here done with a better but dirty production. You can taste the smell of death and decay everywhere on this recording. This style of music is pretty popular today, but not many bands do it well. To me it sounds like they´re born in the wrong decade,´cause I guess Necrowretch worship the years when death/thrash and black metal were new and very exciting musical genres. They convince me when they spit and tear through every song with a rabid relentless brutality. Their vocalist Vlad sounds like a beast from the underground, pissed for real I think. But while the music is brutal they got that fingertip feeling of how to write good songs with chilling guitar melodies, that creepy old feeling and riffs from the dark corners of hell, and not just songs that fit into a certain style of music, without any real guts. This music is made by man, not computers. I think technical progression has destroyed death metal a bit, I still love death metal and different styles of it, but sometimes the soul(!) gets lost when you use Pro Tools, triggers and stuff that makes the music sound mechanic and stale. This music sounds evil and alive for real. France has a lot of great bands now within the death/thrash and black metal scene. Let´s hope it continues.

7,5/10

måndag 18 februari 2013

SYN:DROM "Iconoclasm"

 Death metal, done in a very powerful way made in Sweden. Far away is the sound of the Sunlight Studios and what you get is a very modern production, with influences from both Hour Of Penance, Nile and the dutch superband I Chaos. I thought about the vocalist´s voice and it is very similar to the growler in I Chaos, though this dude uses more highs. He also reminds me of the guys in Nile. The sound on this one is very "pompous and majestic", very similar to the aformentioned acts. Syn:drom´s last album was also good, but it didn´t get me goin´ like this one. You have high class solos, great riffs and interesting drumwork. There have been so many high class death metal albums released lately with bands like Centurian, Suffocation, Incantation, Nominon and Dehumanized to name a few, which makes it hard to give a fair grading. But anyway, If I should grade this upon my listening experience I would rate it pretty high, because you get top quality musicians, good songwriting and  a very professional feeling overall. I guess some people will complain about the clean production, yes it´s not that dirty. So maybe it could be a minor problem if you´re picky and want it to sound like early stuff by Dismember or Morbid Angel. But since there are many bands playing that kind of death metal already I don´t really care if the production is glossy as long as it isn´t totally flat and the bassdrums sound like a plastic disaster. If the music is well performed and the vocalist is a beast I will not complain. Since the music is very listenable and the growler is top notch my complaints are minor. If they pull these songs off live(why wouldn´t they?), I bet there will be some great moshing in the pit.

8/10

lördag 16 februari 2013

SUFFOCATION "Pinnacle Of Bedlam"

Dave Culross is back in the game from a very long hiatus, he played on the EP "Despise The Sun" in 1998. Since then he´s mostly been bashing the drums in Malevolent Creation. His comeback behind the drumkit is very exciting and I was eager to hear him. I wasn´t that surprised when I heard the result ´cause he´s been the (technical) blastmaster no.1 in MC, and he still is, I will not compare his drummingstyle to Mike Smith´s but Dave is king of both feet and hands. His feet are incredible at playin´ those bassdrums. When listening to this record, I got a feeling that Dave injects some new blood to this band. Mike Smith was one hell of a good drummer, but sometimes a change is needed to get the engine running. I got all the trademark Suffocation stuff here, but this time with songs you really remember afterwards. And since I am a sucker for good death metal drummers and  riffs that really kill this one makes me so happy(well, not happy but hungry for a moshpit and furious, that is happy in my world) Frank Mullen who has retired from full-time touring does a good job with his deep grunts and he hasn´t lost any of his power lately, I think his voice has become better by age since you can hear most of the words if you listen carefully. You can also hear some thrash riffs on this record, and some really great guitarplaying by Terrance Hobbs and Guy Marchais. The guitarplaying is flawlessly performed and I think this is one of the better ones they have released when it comes to solos. If you have the slightest idea of Suffocation and you think that my review was a bit blurry(I am tired today) I think you should just give it a listen or two and you´ll be convinced that this is a great one. Though I needed two or three listens before it grabbed me. If you like dirty productions you´ll be a bit disappointed, ´cause this is quite slick and clear. I don´t care so much since you can change your equalizers, and I am not what you could call a "sound fascist", I mostly adapt to the conditions given. The only thing I demand is that it´s not sounding like a shitty demo recording from 1984. That is not my style. But this is great as I have already told you guys and girls. Go and grab it and turn it up loud.

8,5/10

lördag 9 februari 2013

EMBRYONIC DEVOURMENT "Vivid Interpretations of the Void"

Wow, that was a hard one. I am almost short of breath when I have said both the name of the band and the title of the album. Wow. But regardless of what my heart thinks of when pronouncing these words, this is something you wanna listen to. I guess you can label these guys under "technical death metal". But don´t stop reading if you dislike bands like Necrophagist and Origin(If that is possible), cause this is some great music. If you combine Spawn of Possession with Execration and than add some serious badass riffing like old Atheist, to that you add a sense of musically be able to tie together brutality with twisted parts, the guitars and drums are just everywhere, with some sort of seldom sighted ability to make songs that makes you wanna mosh and wave your fists in the air for hours. The main vocalist Austin Spence is a monster, he spits, growls and tear things up like a rabid mad dog without sounding strained. He articulates well and flawlessly . They will release a new record this year, I am looking forward hearing it. For sure!

9/10
DIMINISHED "Origin Of Apocalypse"

These "mature" kids with album covers worthy a juvenile teenager who hasn´t had sex yet, releases an album with a bit more serious approach. The album cover this time isn´t something shitty, but quite great looking. It´s not very unique, but ok.The music is unfortunately not that interesting. Some mix of brootal slam death, semi technical death metal and grind. I have heard this so many times before, lack of ideas maybe? Just put some random slam parts together with a quite boring riff cascade and the generic pig vocals and you got the formula. But what the hell, if you are trying to be more serious and better(?) why do you use that awful pig squeal? It´s so fucking irritating and ruins the whole record. I don´t get the picture, "Let´s do a more serious record, but let´s keep the shitty vocals!" Many american so called "brootal bands" use vocals that are just plain boring and not worth listening to, it´s hard to growl really good but practice makes perfect! Now and then the guy on vocals change his voice to the better, but why not change the vocal style totally? Learn how to growl decent, then write some interesting songs with killer riffs and a razorsharp production. This record is not total crap but I think they can do so much better if they use their imagination and if they like to combine slam with regular death metal, listen to the latest record by the almighty Dehumanized. That record is amazing. Both vocalwise and musicwise! Show me what you got next time guys, and give me some real death metal.

4,5/10

fredag 1 februari 2013

HATE "Solarflesh"

A new album from one of the leading death metal bands from Poland. Some people accuse them for being "Behemoth 2", but that is not the truth if you really listen to them carefully. Especially this new record is very dirverse and has a lot of different elements. There is a misanthropic and creepy mood throughout the record and their vocalist Adam The First Sinner growls like a uholy high priest with a very clear voice. You can hear all the words he expresses without straining your ears, and he just doesn´t sing in one way. He has a voice with many souls and twists(!)If we talk about the music you can hear everything from "Nile-like" intros to experimental/industrial sounds, slow pounding parts, melodic solos to parts with blistering speed and stunningly fast riffing. You even get to hear a woman singing opera in "Mezmerized"! Not in a gothic way, but in a horrifying way. I have always liked Hate for being very death metal, and always having that dark feeling in their music while they have tested some new influences with their more recent records. I never got the feeling that their music is pointing in too many directions, since their is always a nice flow in the songs and the darkness and creepy feeling you want from good death metal will be there and it will demand your attention. What is really good about this record is that you will never risk getting tired of endless blastbeats or lack of imagination since Hate are not your average mediocre band. Even if the first and the last song are industrial, they fulfill the dark ride and they don´t feel out of place.Talking about the instrumentals, one of the bonus tracks "Venom" is like a clip taken from a horror movie about a mentally deranged woman, maybe it´s the mad woman on the front cover who is screaming to the abstract industrial sounds? This is the ultimate soundtrack to a day in hell. Full of darkness, horror and blasphemy.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/HATE/212997752295

9/10