Autolatry - Of The Land

Although I was aware of the presence of Autolatry's EP ''Of The Land'' for some 6-7 months, my acquaintance with immense progressive black metal output only occurred in much more latter days, wherein, I found myself deeply immersed in the almost cavernous fabrications of this woven, compulsive and fibrous complex that immediately brought vivid imagery of winter gloom and stranded desolation in the colorful, semi-mountainous forests of New England whom the band tries so hard to depict. Despite their independent status and the lack of natural pulchritude, Autolatry create a wonderfully entertaining concoction of numerous influences, deploying big portions of each into the mixture, and utilizing the depressive aura of the frigid winter cold, they really release all their potential had in store for us in a single twenty-minute discharge.

While still borrowing some depressive moods to insert into the diverse spectrum of riffs, ''Of The Land'' is particularly dynamic and does not quite give in to simplicity while carrying out these organic, bludgeoning black metal incursions, and it certainly does not rehash previously used techniques while churning the four, fairly lengthy tracks together. Of The Land's most absorbing feature is its successful blend of grainy, deepened atmospheric black metal aesthetics which may clearly scream Immortal, early Emperor and Dissection due the usage of beleaguering onsets of progressive melody, and less prominent progressive black metal elements that seethe through the fibrous dissemination almost perfectly, creating a unique, dazzling, atmospheric, and slightly depressive procession. The guitar tone is enormous but at the same time it's radiant and precise; the band professionally besets listeners with intricate guitar riffing surfing over a gigantic wall of sonic, claustrophobic Norwegian sound waves.

Originality and creativity is not encouraged and is not amiss. On ''Oak'', the group, after about two thirds of the track is complete, breaks into a gorgeous, transient acoustic medley while a dazzling lead dances over the northern lights, depicting the band's desolate journey through the winter woods. Then, further on, ''Stag'' plummets a cluster  of technical intricacies as an immense chugging brute wanders mildly in the subtext. As you may simply understand, Autolatry have created a very nice little black metal album that we can all enjoy thanks to its relative accessibility and dynamic nature, and as if their efforts did not offer enough, the whole is EP is free at the band's bandcamp, so go there now and throw in a few bucks for the unrealized glory of these progressive black metal practitioners and show your support.

Highlights:
Mountain
Snow
Oak

Rating: 84%

War Possession - Through The Ages

Bands have been making so much death metal in their putrid cavern walls and hellish kilns that it's literally impossible to escape from one's clutches, and as it has happened innumerable times, I've once again found myself writing about and unknown retro death metal act the cadaverous contortions their release projects. Once again Hellthrasher Productions bring desolate obscurities to the surface and expose their bitter display of vile bowel-butchery in the possible goriest way. War Possession, like their label mates Resurgence, are a band from Greece that really don't pen material that's gonna spoil the contents of your brain in one ludicrous, ruinous rampage. I'm not gonna go for an in-depth description of the band's obtuse delivery, even though I can safely say it packs one ugly, macabre punch, but if you know what Demigod, Convulse, Bolt Thrower and USDM sounds like, you won't have much trouble imagining the skull-chaffing index of this brief EP.

''Through The Ages'', ranging at some twenty-one minutes, takes relatively different subjects, usually warlike topics, into the music, as you'll see in the cover, which is probably the biggest connection it has to any Bolt Thrower album. The lyrical content aside, War Possession have frothing formula at their hands which they use most efficiently; a putrid, sodden guitar tone with chunky gallops flowing like a torrential stream of gore and blood, brusque tempo changes, and wretched, bile-covered death/doom arsenal, as if some posthumous being starts to gobble up your legs whilst crude utters escape its mouth - it's a horrendous experience while it lasts, but even so, you'll fail to be really revitalized by this emission of mangled flesh. There are moments like the immediate mid-paced groove on ''The Shadow Of The Ancient Gods'' or semi-technical bombast on ''World War Domination'' that got me thinking, and I sank further down with the ghastly, torrid growls the vocalist can manifest, but as far as great sequences goes, those are the only few you'll be able to think, even when baffled by the primitive brute force this hulk can conjure.

Even the poignant melodies evoke some misery in me, but the overall punishment ''Through The Ages'' serves is only gonna do damage. Yes, some pretty immense, rib-splitting collateral damage, yes, but there're definitely much more intelligent death metal acts out there who absolutely make you shed bitter tears as pain swerves and stirs up in your ear than comes out in liquid sustenance for the creator of torture to feed on; and War Possession are not one of those bands. Like I said, I'm still content with what I heard, but if they're not gonna morph into a sensation of chaotic mesmerizing darkness, like violent reflection of their spine-chilling outro ''Deathmarch'', they might as well become experts in their own art, manifesting what has already been manifested with putrid bile and gore. They're definitely gonna need some more arms if they're going to expand their retinue in short notice.

Highlights:
Medieval Bloodlust
World War Domination

Rating: 78%

Black Jesus - Black Jesus Saves

Earlier this year, I was acquainted with Black Jesus, whom produced this killer EP conducted by Australia's very own mini-arsenal, The Coffins Slave, and I was surprised, even though it's made evident by all the OSDM madness going around us, of the quality of such a young act, and now, the grim blasphemers have found the perfect spot to continue to hon their artillery and ruthlessly rivet disgusted attention on themselves as they find the terrific execution spot for modern repugnant bruisers like them to feast; the terrific Hell's Headbangers Records. ''Black Jesus Saves'' is, despite all of simple features, an oblique death metal observation, belonging to both the primordial grindcore finesses of Repulsion and Terrorizer, and the more straightforward death metal footings of the bands from the same era, some Bolt Thrower circa 1988-1989, Benediction, Cancer and ''Altars Of Madness'' era Morbid Angel, all contained with frothing rage that exposes them maliciously.

Much like the grotesque demon-pope arousing gruesome energy to its befouled minions, emerging from a rotten stockpile of viscera and blasphemy, the music is disgusting. Black Jesus obtains the perfect balance between mid-paced lurches, pure grindcore fueled aggression and stockier tremolo barrages, and despite the brevity of each track and the entire EP, the band dishes out multiple variants of pain and repugnance, and provides a crude consistence and platform to plow upon for the duration. And the vocals too are horrific, almost vampiric growls that only aggravate the sickened condition of the riffs, bile erupting as the tremolos race through your ears. ''Black Jesus Saves'' may still remain somewhat generic compared to its annual components who have festered and befouled many deaf ears, but it has a great, frivolous deadliness to it which I can't easily free myself from, especially after hearing the nebulae-caked dirty thrash chugs they can conjure on ''Atrocity Generator''.

For now, the band remains victorious with only a small compendium of riffs at their hand, but with further endeavors they may be able to join ranks with modern cadaver grinders including Tormented, Revolting and their newly formed label mates Gouge, who also have great fervor for a very similar style. Releases like this come very often (and I think that's made obvious by now) but most revivalists tend to drag us on and on with sleep-injecting drudgery, and I certainly do love it when bands like Black Jesus can fabricate through simple brute accuracy; fresh and deadly splashes of rocking, rank old school death metal. An easily recommended experience for fans of semi-submersed, spurious death/grind, and +1 for Australia and The Coffins Slave.

Highlights:
Atrocity Generator
Black Jesus Saves
The Devouring

Rating: 81%

Engulfed - Through The Eternal Damnation

I really don't feel very zealous talking about bands which imitate the infinitely favored fashion of semi-subterranean subconscious adorning cavern-entranced hollows of desolation, simply described as Incantation worship, but I definitely get a flashing tinge of excitement when I dig out a band I dig which actually comes from my home country, Turkey, and please, throughout this review, excuse my exaggeration and fervor for one of the newer bestial burden-carriers of the futile scene; Engulfed. As you may understand, Turkey is one of those countries which absolutely cannot muster bands that can race with their global contemporaries, and given that harsh fact, the clamorous nebulae that Engulfed ruptures is actually quite professional and, being frank, well done. An inimical surge of beloved rancid death metal fitting over the hallow holes of cavernous gore-scribbled thrashy discharge is all that can be craved from the band's four song EP, but hell, it's hard not getting pleasure out of it.

Despite taking Incantation as the main aural focus, Engulfed do not deliberately eschew any other aesthetics that could riddle the dark clangor in a vacuous semi-enigma. The same crushing, tremolo-laced patterns remain as the signature element, but furthermore, the band does not bring fourth a jaded experience upon the table. The riffs are thrown out in a vigorous succession at the listener, which emanates a dynamic texture to all of the faster riffing, and even the doomy sections have subtle vigor to them, and the primary reason to the  formula is that the guitars haven't been over-enhanced and bulked up like some stuffed animal or any of the other acts in the same area for that matter, ultimately projecting a nicely executed blast of energetic dense tremolos shuffled and stirred with a tasty hint of USDM sordidness.

This formula is, in  a way what I'd like to call a cheat, because the riffs deliver outstanding punishment while sticking to the brute chugging techniques of USDM and the tremolo ruptures of ''Onward To Golgotha'', a rather beguiling experience for fervent fans of both sub-genres. And, I almost forgot about the doom department. While half of the EP gets gets banging to a dexterous groove, the other half lives off the continues drudgery it produces, a trudging line of misanthropic death/doom paralleling the more voluptuous quadrant. The doom, of course did not have a massive effect on me the way bands which directly focus on the scrofulous art intrigue me, but there's still a good deal of emphasis on the matter, meaning the tempos won't always be channeling the speed factor relentlessly. These are some solid, fortifications churned out with melody, one guitar working on the dispersing chords while the other exhales, slowly. And thus, Engulfed's fervor has bought them a deal with the old school death metal maniacs Hellthrasher Productions, and future releases, hopefully, will have a positive effect on me. For this EP, don't expect much, but you'll still have a morbid-as-fuck time dealing with its sparse and crushing tentacles.

Highlights:
Supreme Lord Of Blasphemy
Triumph Of The Impious

Rating: 80%

Of Spire And Throne - Vagary

Indeed, the sludge scene is a scene that has been much better familiarized by mainstream audiences than its legendary yet somehow degraded counterpart doom metal, but is comparing these two genres was ever the situation, I'd choose doom every single time. One of the prime reasons of my verdict, is a growing rumble of underground vibrations which find themselves hooked upon the lugubrious styles of doom, now broadening their spears and axes to dabble their material in even more primal succession than before, instead of keeping true to the traditional bloodline set by the masters Cathedral, or Candlemass. This fresh surge has revivicated the murky and ultimately dismal power of death/doom along with other provokers of sadistic and incomprehensible tyranny such as Antediluvian, Portal, Vasaeleth or Mitchondrion, who, although have certain differences, still aim to grasp that dark and drowning filth riddled subtext of torment, and these ghastly explorations continue for my latest discovery, Scotland's Of Spire And Throne, is the definition of monstrous death/doom.

Alongside my second death/doom favorite of the year, ''Serpentine Path'' by the infamous Serpentine Path, OSAT's ''Vagary'' has evoked a cunning sense of degraded mutilation and clawing, incessant yet drudging torture in me. These rank, befouled golem-fiends are actually a relatively new wave of bands. They do not intensify any of the olden death/doom masters in a way of ripping them off, but they bathe themselves in this tempestuous momentum some seek to find so often these days, creating Cylopean monoliths, swaggering slowly, painfully. Vagary exposes all the filthiest material they have and collapse in one single twenty-minute fall, and the earth around you literally quivers in response to this lurch. In such a drowning, asphyxiating cauldron it's merely impossible take a break through all that fog and plumes of dark dense smoke and breathe, which is pretty much the gold of the EP. The rhythms are immense, layered with exceedingly simple crunches and crushes, plodding along the elephantine obelisk, but every lurch is an all-encompassing spasm flushing through your thoughts and smoldering your brain - the perfect mind fucker.

The vocals are scarce, as they seldom jump into action and prefer abusing the rhythms from afar with distant gurgle growls, but the best thing is that they're laid down with a nice hint cavernous murkiness, a stupendous manifestation of evil. ''Vagary'' is simply excellent if you are into such mourning drudgery of doom and death, and even fleshier a treat for those who devour funeral death/doom combos emerging from the cthtonic debts. However, even though I am a huge sucker for death/doom darkness in the vein of Winter, I need to confide that the material here can be overly boring and far too monotonous for those of you who seek more vivacious experiments; but even so, I don't think many will manage to overcome the encompassing murk of this album, and albeit I don't love the drudgery here, I'm still going to show my support for this mischievous quartet and abominable creation. Keep it up.

Highlight:
Vagary

Rating: 80%

Tumbleweed Dealer - Death Rides Southwards

Though the sludge genre has gained immense popularity over latter years compared to its peer and forefather (in a way) doom, I still find it hard to enjoy any upcoming sludge bombasts coming my way; and worst of all, with prodigious quantities of bands preferring sludge over doom, my grasp on snail-paced quality metal is becoming aggravatingly tenuous. Yes, there are still a few high calibre and true doom metal bands out there just doing their job, slurping around and splattering ominous drudgery all over, and there even a few acts that are capable of mashing the two genres up and still sound good, but the numbers are dwindling. Tumbleweed Dealer are an interesting and little known act that became known to me only in recent weeks.

The band can be mostly qualified as sludge, though I think I’m more fortunate than that. The Dealers basically put chunks of emphasis on sludge’s bluesy tendencies, which, I believe, according to the tenets of sludge can be thought as a rather unorthodox thing. I’m usually not very open to changes or modernization in metal, but when these nuances are stretched upon characteristics that I find agitating, I can be pretty content; and these guys are a perfect example of it. It’s hard to even call this metal, because I’d certainly dub it as a bastardized overtone of blues, and really, it’s the subtle extremity and heft of those bashing blues chords that make all the difference. The EP is pretty short in truth, ranging at ten minutes, but the band, using all sorts of jiving bluesy manoeuvres, crams a lot of material into the brief box of riffs. The two tracks both commence with rumbling, boisterous sludge trudges, and the staircase of progression begins.  As the rhythm section progresses, the band starts fitting in blues-tinged leads upon each riff, and further on the orchestration becomes even more complex as more and more leads bind into each other, ultimately creating a sorrowful web of melodies that are neither excessively convoluted nor too simple for the seeker of interest.

Through contrast, instrumental efficiency and intricacy, the band has earned accolades from me, and their performance, though not unbelievably impressive, is solid enough to catch the attention of pretty much anyone who has some interest in sludge or blues, and with its semi-ominous overtone flanking the listener vaguely, I believe that Tumbleweed Dealer can achieve something that’s truly inspired and different – and even if they somehow flounder, this EP is a recommended piece. 

Highlights:

Death Rides Southwards

Crawling Through Cacti

Rating: 79%

Blackened Wisdom - The Angels Are Crying

Obscurities brought back to life with the help of modern extreme metal labels is definitely a notion that I like. Hell's Headbangers are revitalizing and excavating numerous archaic artifacts from the deep, cavernous bowels of obscurity, and one good thing about these restored obscurities is that they're actually old school, extremities smothering ears from the early 90's, and Blackened Wisdom is most certainly a lost, shadowed relic to relished. The band traces its existence back to 1992, where, blackened death metal was not quite as popular as the quickly ripening Floridan or Swedish death metal scene, but these bringers of clangor bare great resemblance to ruinous blasphemers like Blasphemy, Angelcorpse, Impiety and similar acts (although they started about roughly the same time), stirred it up with  a pinch of that frenetic Swedish aggression and tone and produced a very brief three-track EP named ''The Angels Are Crying'', which was never released until now.

Blackened Wisdom's style hardly impressed me at first, but after giving it more than a few spins (which shouldn't take much time anyway), I started enjoying the band tumultuous aesthetics and raw power, and eventually, I came to conclusion that the EP is a pretty solid one. And it is. The greatest part for me was ripping, ferocious guitar tone, which can be basically classified as a sharper Swedeath tone, a corpulent and raw production to suit the primal display of sulfuric strength, and the these eerie rasps and snarls colliding amid the bashing anger of the instruments, and albeit this sounds pretty simple, it actually has a rocking rhythm section and bombastic array of riffs dabbled in raw turmoil, ultimately manifesting a carnal diversity with great intensity. Some riffs have a momentous swaggers that fall plummet upon the listener with a shower of well-sharpened meteors, and some are simply demented war metal charges, circulating hastily around the EP's hellish maw.

Despite its clamorous intensity, ''The Angels Are Crying'' is punishing, swerving, and serves as a prime example of the early aesthetics of black/death, in the vein of Bestial Warlust, Blasphemy and Conqueror. Sure, there's gonna be quite a bit of people who will dispute over the quality of this raw carnage, people who will dislike and even disdain the pernicious ferocity of this brief EP, but hell, it's obvious that the band wasn't aiming for something exceedingly high, so why not just give it a listen, bob your head vigorously and appreciate the energy? For me, the fact that the EP was too short made me kill a few points, and even though I enjoyed the EP the way a fun little EP should be enjoyed, it simply is not enough, even with a lengthier anatomy, to become an essential record.

Highlights:
I, Eternal
After Me Come The Flames

Rating: 78%

Monomakh - MMXII

It's queer that there's not much accessible information about the rollicking down-tuned cadaver smotherers Monomakh, and it's even queerer that I found them out totally by coincidence and their evil-fraught debut EP ''MMXII'' exploded before my eyes. The Australians are very fond of Incantation, that's quite blatant, and that makes the primary essence of their EP as well, but Monomakh's impious cauldron definitely has bits and pieces of derivative elements spread sparsely, embellishing the main material, and rivets to separate forces together to form one ultimate gloomy combo, putrid and twisted. The scene in Australia is currently forging far more vile and ferocious music than this, but Monomakh's inclinations are really not bent towards being a forceful tide of fierce and feverish ferocity, but rather a forceful tide of monotonous and downright heinous burden, clashing, trudging and wallowing like a bulky cyclopean temple on stunted legs. Aussie's tendencies have always favored the carnal slashes of black/thrash and war metal, but with the shadowy evil we can attain with Monomakh and recent Aussie giants Ignivomous, there's gonna be some altering in the scene.

''MMXII'' is barbaric, percussive and crushing, but first and foremost, it's oppressive. Imagine two monstrously thick blankets encompassing your face, marring your your thoughts and insulating your oxygen - that's what it's like to experience this triumphant bombast of barbarous impiety. For anyone acquainted with recent act Father Befouled, Drawn And Quartered or Ignivomous, or hell, even Incantation for that matter, this shouldn't be too hard to deal with. After all, the music you hear is nowhere near original, so I'm not going to turn on my cheesy histrionics to praise these guys. Principally, the music you deal with here is pretty much a bulkier version of ''Onward To Golgotha'', which is something that I will never get tired of listening, but for innovation freaks, this is not a really intriguing sojourn. Bland would be the wrong word, but when you're delivering angular tremolo bombards and smoldering assaults of pure blackened ash and sulfurous magma, I can't really announce you the most inventive act out there, but I can proclaim you as another hardened bringer of death for a certainty.

Other than the shrouding brilliance it pursues, ''MMXII'' is short, ranging at just about twenty minutes, so the whole epic death metal idea is really missing too. The vocals are subtle, cthtonic utters, sometimes savaged by their own will, and there also seems to be some solid drumming on the EP, even a few brief moments where the whole EP emphasizes on a single dull (but efficient in a way) drum fill. And so, after twnety minutes of suffocating anguish, you come to the end of yet another Incantation worshiper - what are your thoughts? For me, it was a fun venture, as always, yet I still sought some punctual variation and oddity throughout, and painfully, there was none that I could appease myself with. So folks, get this for a brief and primal excursion, and be warned that it serves as nothing else. If you want Incantation other than the band itself, you can opt from the countless retro bands with full-lengths today, but I do have great hope in Monomakh, hope that they will eventually spread out their wings large and brilliant, offering some of the best evil death metal out there. Get going.

Highlights:
Kokytos
Barbaros

Rating: 82,5%

Gospel Of The Horns - Ceremonial Conjuration

You can never go wrong with Gospel Of The Horns. If your ignorance still render you unaware of their presence, let me fill you in briefly. Gospel hail from Australia, where the black/thrash genre has reached its climax in efficiency and development, and frankly along with Destroyer 666, these vandals are the ones who brought black/thrash to a new level of ferocity and velocity, and thus, Gospel Of The Horns is an old act, one that has released numerous demos and EPs throughout the 90's, finally releasing their debut album ''A Call To Arms'' in 2002 and their sophomore in 2007. This EP is lengthwise a large fragment of an album, nearly twenty minutes, and if we go by a traditional sense, the band should be releasing another album this year, since there's a time space of five years in between each record, though judging by the fact that they've only completed half of the material required to muster an album, in profound agitation and melancholy, I must admit that I fear a full-length is more remote than you might think. This, of course, is my theory.

Nonetheless, I can still be quite content with eighteen minutes of heavily blasted, grinding vicious black/thrash, something that I'm an absolute sucker for. Mongrel's Cross,Warfare, Ketzer and Aura Noir already delivered their fair share of solid ruptures of frenetic black/thrash, carnal and bestial, and Gospel Of The Horns do not fail to deliver, either. You get plenty of variation throughout those eighteen minutes, more than you may expect if truth be told. You have ruinous, torrential outbursts of traumatizing bestial black/thrash, hammering its way through with a sordid obelisk of a guitar tone, a classy rhythm department offering some grooving chord attacks, typical blackened speed/thrash excursions, and even some more numbing mid-paced stuff reeking of oppression like on ''Awakening'', and in addition, the band has an excellent cover of Goatlord's magnificent ''The Fog'' which is basically a black metal-induced version  of Asphyx. The music is simple, though requiring plenty of stamina to churn out those wicked grooves and impetuous tremolos, but as always, the Horns manage bisect their way through the rotten and sore flesh covering your ear holes.

The tone really boasts that juicy, punchy strength that riffs possess. and especially on the cover of ''The Fog'', you can absolutely feel the tremulous contractions of the entwining chords, shaking and stomping, pretty much like an Asphyx record, only eviler. The listener gets a lot of pleasure from the vocals, too. Seriously, if you consider the riffs as over or predictable, then you may as well dub the vocals as vague, bleak plumes of dark smoke, which is pretty much what they are, harsh, eerie and raucous rasps - pretty much an even more venomous kind of your traditional black/thrash rasps. ''Ceremonial Conjuration'' is great, to say the least, built robustly, and it exposes its bombastic, frivolous assaults of grim black/thrash, with no improvement whatsoever in the originality department, which totally fine by me. It would be wrong to say that Gospel Of The Horns are making a come back because they never split up, but after a semi-hiatus of five years, let's just hope that they continue to rain prodigious thunder on us, without procrastinating the incursion.

Highlights:
Ceremonial Conjuration
Sorcery And Blood
Conquering Self

Rating: 85%

Heavy Cross - Street Wolf

Because I had no acquaintance with the band, at first, I mistook the Finnish one-man-army for a punk-driven blackened heavy metal act, much like the latter excellence that Midnight is producing currently. Satanic Tyrant Werwolf's freshly blossomed project turned out to be a traditional NWOBHM band, one that that I can consider as just another mere fragment of the countless worshipers engulfing the scene today. Heavy Cross were lucky, however, as somehow they were found by the amazing Hell's Headbangers Records, a home that will no doubt affect their inclinations positively. That being said, Heavy Cross's style is pretty simple, just as you might expect, fabricating plain, gallop and chord driven progressions and meshing it with strong bluesy overtones, with the traditional flavor of Raven, Tygers Of Pan Tang, and old Maiden making up the very roots of the EP's zealously oriented formula.

I can closely relate Heavy Cross to another very latter and young band, Convent Guilt, though I've enjoyed the Aussie act's efforts more than this Finnish one, admittedly. The man behind the cross, Satanic Tyrant, is supposedly a veteran of the genre, one that at least has close familiarity with the genre's aesthetics, and he does project much of his fervor and well-hardened musicianship into the two songs that the EP has to offer, and thus, for eight minutes I can easily enjoy and bang my head to the light-weighted catchiness of the songs, but if the guy means to enlarge his congeal his material and form a larger whole,(which he probably does) than he'll need to do some improvements, some tweaks and he needs to fill in that open gash of emptiness with a few doses of divergence. The vocals on ''Street Wolf''' also remind me of Convent Guilt, preferring stay inside the firmly set boundaries instead of letting out uproarious emissions of high-pitched tone, which is something that I'm content with, but again, this renders the EP somewhat quelled, being devoid of the frenetic, evocative aura that it lacks badly.

The riffs are quite enjoyable nonetheless, mild, but hooking chug n' chords with sporadic tinges of melody inserted here and there. Much like many of the gimmicks today, Satanic Tyrant keep (or try to keep) the listener busy on strictly instrumental sections by narrating the riffs with simplistic melodies, without endeavoring much. There is a somber, melancholic, almost ballad-like sequence on the title track, which, I believe, was done to lengthen the track, and unnecessary deterrent, and I should also add that I enjoyed ''Red Light Woman'' more than the title track, mostly because its main riff is seriously catchy. Heavy Cross's efforts will not impress anyone, that's a surety, and albeit I'm not so zealous about forty minutes of this, I still can't deny that I've had a fun time giving this eight minute EP a listen. Frivolous stuff.

Highlight:
Red Light Woman

Rating: 75%

Gouge - Doomed To Death

Before I further criticize the band's tendencies, I must admit that for such a cheesy cover art, Gouge managed to gouge out a surprisingly heavily balanced and strictness-inflected session of regurgitating, gore-obsessed old school death/grind. These Norwegians are completely new to the scene (although the duo are also currently focusing on a relatively more seasoned black/thrash act named Condor) yet they were quite potent whilst conflating the sheer unbridled aggression of Terrorizer with early Death, some Repulsion and even speckles of the culminating brutal thrash excursions of the late 80's-early 90's, and their burden of skills is raised to an even higher state and augmented as they sign to Hell's Headbangers Records. I am no hardcore grindcore fan, as I've only accepted the furious attacks of the bands aforementioned along with perhaps a few more, yet I can't help but get caught up in the frivolous, adventurous but strictly gore-riddled inflammatory conflagrations that these wild Norwegians can produce, and throughout it's eleven minute brevity I enjoyed myself more often than I had expected.

Gouge boasts a terrific metallic, sordid and chubby guitar tone that's engulfing; and the tone is frankly the main meat underpinning the engrossing barrage of riffs. Most bands who explore the same territory as Gouge are, as I stated above, generally repetitive and dessicated to me, going on and on with blatant ramparts of continuous chord barrages, and Gouge does not, of course, completely deviate from this rule, but the ruinous incursions are now eked out with queerly refreshing melody patterns, and the bulbous tone obviously helps too. The deviation is also crucial in between the songs. Gouge creates songs with relatively awkward structures, preferring to blast out immense chord and tremolo sequences which divide among themselves, and the vocals are somewhat subtle and alien to the devouring mix of the album. They appear rarely, and instead of barking out their guts out, they use deep, almost spine-chilling growls to blend with the frenetic ruptures, a job well done.

The purpose is clear; complete and utter destruction. Gouge have long sought this ideology and they are doing their best to produce formulas that are varied, but still parallel to the idea. The gore-riddled theme is a passive attribute, the way I see it, a festering disease of necrotic flavor, a carnal and abominating diseas that works well with all the riffs, and besides that, and the to-the-point grindcore exhalations, Gouge bloody the listener with further obstructive brute attacks, shattering by inserting bludgeoning mid-paced thrash chugs and stomps, sometimes even laced with the doom-laden specters of Autopsy's most primal forms. The title tracks is my favorite and probably the best example of fruitful combinations of death, thrash and grind. With it's scrofulous gatherings amalgamated, Gouge captures the main essence of their to-be-improved formula, and although the EP wasn't a flawless one, it's certainly a much more repugnant and punishing delivery than the majority of the nostalgic death/grind acts roaming the scenes today. 

Highlights:

Doomed To Death

Ritual Of Gore

Rating: 82%

Morbus Chron - A Saunter Through The Shroud

With last year’s ‘’Sleeper In The Rift’’ Morbus Chron firmly established themselves as one of the effective and cunning death metal bands of the last five years. It was their sheer eloquence, their fleshy brand of Swedish death metal that set them apart from the hordes that engulfed the death metal scene, and with their impressive manoeuvres, the found the spotlight and won numerous accolades for their lasting, fluent effort. Now, it seems the band has got a tighter grip on large audiences, signing with Century Media Records, an undoubtedly advantageous move for both. Century Media has long been signing crappy modern metal acts, therefore this release may put off some strict underground fans, but of late, the label has been picking up some of brighter bulbs in the batch, and these fellow Swedes are one of the label’s front runners without a doubt.

Their debut showed substantial promise for the young act, and their Ep ‘’A Saunter Through The Shroud’’ continues to pursue that goal, but rather than having a huge impact on the scene, it forms the basis for an upcoming sophomore, and it serves as a joint that binds itself to the upcoming record. Morbus Chron has already escaped from the clutches of the generic Swedish death metal cliché with the debut album, but this Ep enlarges their innovative sight a deal further, and with a little more technique and experience, the band has now simply surpassed all the obstinate hindrances of the genre, and is vigorously charging towards an even more intriguing future. The main two influences I can put together are ‘’Human’’ era Death and ‘’Deception Ignored’’ era Deathrow, hints of carnage-riddled Voivod, even nuances in between arduous passages that resemble certain Finnish death metal acts, particularly Demilich and Convulse, and there’s tidbits of Autopsy as well, hidden in certain bowel-disintegrating lurches. All of these influences congeal into a brazen fusion, and once you insert a hostile, ferocious cross of Chuck Shuldiner and John Tardy, an organic and somewhat unpredictable array of drum beats, you have a gulping, menacing combination that reeks of originality even though all of its pieces are snatched from other sources, and it sounds as if Morbus Chron is inaugurating the flowering of something new.

The coming of a completely new advent does seem like delusional idea from a distance, but the band has just started to churn its fruitful compositions, and I can only hope there still much to hear from them. That said, Morbus Chron’s excursions are very alien too. On the Ep, the band almost never dementedly charge of pummelling, crushing bombardments of heavily-bestirred Swedish grinding, but instead keeps tangling the listener with fluctuating chains of gore-riddled technicality, and such incursions are nearly unpredictable and seem alien even after numerous spins. The vocals are the main powerhouse of the band here; the growl out ferociously and their serving is far more primal, however well used. I can’t help but listen vigorously with diligence to the band’s hostile work, their astute approach to classic death metal, and albeit this Ep will not appease the most voracious of listeners, it will most certainly keep the drooling constant. 

Highlights:

Channeling The Numinous

The Place Of The Four Hundred Volcanoes 

Rating: 84%

Visigoth - Final Spell

Naturally, I would expect bands from a certain country to reflect their traditional traits on whatever genre they’re playing, but as the years pass, urged into a parallel void where these things occur quite differently. We’ve got bands from all around the world fabricating classic 90’s Swedish death metal, while the Sweden lately has scrutinized the aesthetics of other genres such as epic doom and traditional heavy, the Brazilians and Italians have all of a sudden morphed to an army of Bay-Area thrashers, and now we have Salt Lake City’s Visigoth, playing some melodic power/heavy metal that would easily beckon and draw more fans of Blind Guardian, Pharaoh, Hammerfall, or other bands which excel in the more thickly constructed trend of power metal which is Euro power metal. The band generally espouses such a traditional, Euro-oriented sound, but the glamour exceeds with a little bit of Priest, Maiden, Accept, Griffin, with a hint of rocking groove.

Visigoth’s ‘’Final Spell’’ Ep is simple, spread out over generally predictable patterns and textures, but for what it’s worth, it’s quite fun, exuberant in the way it’s flashy sturdiness sheds light to the aura, and it definitely calls forth a more modern sound. I honestly did NOT expect such an output of harried ruptures and absolutely frenetic charges and compulsive blasts. Visigoth doesn’t deliver anything spurious, and simply lets the audience know what they want to offer and offers it well, even though it’s quite blatant that they send forth their vigorous ways in an apparent way, giving no room to any sort of engrossing aspect.  Its real hook, however, is the massive bulk of a guitar tone. Such a tone wields no secrets and not much cunning either, the immense, shattering meatiness of the tone simply goes under and over anything the album displays, from its wide range of semi-melodious chugs to epic moments with dual vocal harmonies.

Every track is a coherent follow up the one before it, with no major deviation in between, though with such memorable consistency you’re likely to entirely swallow up each song, and thus murmur them one by one. The chunks and chugs on crushing guitar tone add the major punctuation the Ep is asking for, but the seasoned vocal delivery is also a beckoning aspect, and they sound magnified even over the spaciousness and spark of the chug laden barrage of the guitars, and what’s more is that the vocalist achieves that sort of static prominence without raising the pitch of the tone, uniquely strengthening the delivery. There’s not really many tracks you can opt, but my personal favourite is the intro track, ‘’Creature Of Desire’’ a feverishly driven impulse of lethal energy and semi-epic steam rising at the same time, and simple it is, I must admit that I gave it more spins than my regular listens. ‘’Final Spell’’ is not engrossing by a great mile, but it still gathers and sews together all the great things you’d want in your power metal.  

Highlights:

Final Spell

Creature Of Desire

Rating: 84%

Malichor - Lurkers In The Crypt

Australia’s black/thrash tendencies are unarguably at their peak. The country is almost like a frothing, eruptive volcano when it comes to unleashing relentless, unbridled music upon the place. I was content enough to see that Malichor was yet another act interested in the bestial aesthetics of the ancient and raw blackened thrash metal sound, but I was even happier when I heard that the band’s four track Ep ‘’Lurkers In The Crypt’’ offered tidbits of more cunning music, fitted nicely in the gaunt black metal textures. Although both the cover art and album title suggests that the band’s ideology on black/thrash is no different from the cumulative armies forming vigorously around the Australian scene, the music actually proves to be fresher splash in the face than anticipated.

Malichor still doesn’t bring anything utterly inventive on the table, though their slight distinction is an element that can enlarge into a sound more sophisticated in the future. Well, future plans are for another day, so let’s just scrutinize the meal in front of us. Like I said, although Malichor doesn’t entirely deviate from traditional elements, ‘’Lurkers In The Crypt’’ escapes the entirely overwhelming effect of gimmicking giving birth to something relatively fresher. Malichor focuses on creating a more atmospheric and perhaps even bleaker landscape for the music to breathe and breed on. A raw twist is noticeable in the tone and production, but even though the riffs are generally roughly bedecked and shaped, they sound more enthrallingly misanthropic than furiously tempered and frenetic. Perverse fluctuations occur, of course, but I like how the main focus is on the murkier elements shadowed in the music.

You’ll seldom hear brusque transitions on the Ep as the tempo usually channels around mid-paced tempos. Thrashy chugs, drum-beaten tremolos, and sinister descents are present, which makes for a nice combination of tricks although each one hardly deviates from how it’s played in the books, but it was the atmosphere I enjoyed most, if truth be told, the semi-epic, and culminating aura that enhances the haunting feel of the riffs. ‘’Jackal’s Spell’’ has to be my favourite, therefore, as the track offers an almost Viking metal-like vibe, with a catchy chorus driven by tremolos most probably snatched from the classic Norwegian aesthetics. Even as the music grows aggressive or epic at times, you’ll always be engulfed by the cavernous mysticism captured by the band’s love for Lovecraftian horror. Malichor is more proficient at forming dark atmospheres than training vicious hellhounds for battle, and that’s the path they should stick to. The grasp for reality is still very prevalent, but it will grow tenuous in time, I hope. 

Highlights:

Jackal's Spell

Cerebral Debauchery 

Rating: 82,5%

Rampart - A Tale To Cold

I’m pleased to see band which take the 80’s power metal aesthetics and incorporate it into their music, and one of my most latter encounters is the Bulgarian four piece Rampart, yet another bringer of classic heavy/power. Rampart did not really catch my unawares, and their brand of traditional power metal is fairly complex as you may expect, but let’s just that that the sound deviates marginally from the purest roots of old school power metal, seasoned with a bit of modern brickwall construction and rigorousness. With such a blatant path set for the riffs to flow, the band has clearly exposed many of its tricks and upcoming strategies, making their Ep ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ an apparent, predictable release, but somehow it’s still fun.

Rampart omitted the traditional cheesy antics of the classic power metal sound, charming the listener with a stricter force of beckoning simplistic melodies and thrashy chops, made heftier with the beefy guitar tone. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ also likes to channel between somewhat desolate, chaotic chord dispersions and more vigorous compulsions. I liked the riffs, catchy and even epic at times, but I just felt that they were drudgy and dry in general, generally failing to exploit the required amount of energy outside to illuminate the atmosphere. After going through three semi-modern barrages of epic old school power metal, the fourth crust, a Helloween cover makes all the difference, offering a uniquely substantial amount of even more epic, flashy riffs, and you can hear the obvious changes in the music. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ isn’t necessarily repetitive, nor does it bare anything redundant, but it’s dry riffs coming at you occasionally, and worst of all, the band doesn’t carry a massive aplomb, forcing the leashes to pull the aback.

Still, this EP wasn’t at all a bad experience – just one that didn’t leave its mark on my ear. Every band should excel at a certain element of metal, or a certain art of metal, and ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ simply gathers lots of various elements together and releases them in a violent surge, without actually being savvy in any of the elements used in the mixture. I’ll be glad to hear new material from these Bulgarians, but only if they can conjure a more dynamic, dexterous sound.

Highlights:

Metal Spell

A take To Cold

Rating: 77%

Axis Of Light - By The Hands Of The Consuming Fire

For me, the fulsome black metal fodder is slowly starting to unleash some of its better products. Gaunt, Forgjord and Witch In Her Tomb were all grim affairs, culminating impeccable atmosphere and sonorous power, but Axis Of Light is an even grimmer group of composers, embracing all that is shrill and sonorously ear-piercing upon mankind with their Ep, ‘By the Hands Of The Consuming Fire’’. It’s amazing how such noisy black metal ferocity doesn’t sound dissonant or fibrously detached, but Axis Of Light thrive their already attained advantage even further, elevating towards a stark atmosphere that’s by far the shrillest I’ve heard all year. This disturbing excursion is far from its uttermost peek, but it still appeals to me much better than many other hazy interruptions I’ve been through this year so far.

‘’By The Hands Of The Consuming Fire’’ is completely buzzy, statically chaotic, encompassing and deliberately intruding.  It’s no major departure from any sound that its relevantly similar to, and the most satisfying way to describe their formula would be calling them a more sombre and gelid version of Burzum. Of course, there’s more than just grimly complemented Burzum here, obviously. First off, the production is rawer than any Burzum record (if not, equally as raw as Burzum’s most primal offerings) and as much as it espouses a darkened, spectral tide, it does tend to frequently blast out raw barrages of hazy and piercing savagery. It beholds a mournful splendour that one can only hope to have, beautiful, entrancing but frigid as cold winter night. Each riff is just as pleasuring as it is ear scratching and gnawing, with a noise-y, gritty tone adding substantial bleakness and electric to the charged cluster of tremolos.

The gnawing lament does not end there, however, as the vocals on ‘’By The Hands of The Consuming Fire’’ are shrill, shattering weeps and highly raspy shrieks that travel through luminous crudity, alongside a cavernous brand of underlying reverb, and finally scratching its way to your ear drums. The vocals are even sharper than the riffs and it’s probably the bleak, vague rasps that stayed on my mind the most. Despite the fuzzed nature of the implements, the atmosphere actually adopts a far more earthly sound, far more luminous than its contemporaries, lightly engulfing the listener in an aura that is kilter and organic. The benign sound of the atmosphere is magnificent and is soft even under the rough bloodshed that occurs above.

I honestly can’t praise this enough. Axis Of Light managed to create something that’s harmonious in a hazy way and accessible, despite the fact that it will still not grab the attention of many atmosphere-enemies.  It’s not flawless, I’ll warn you about that, but it has frigid beauty and atmosphere written all over it and for fans who are into such sharp and gritting raw atmospheric black metak should get on this as fast as they can, and I’m not sure whether the band’s future moves are positive or not, but for now this will suffice and be cherished, no matter how short it is. 

Highlights:

I

III

Rating: 87%

Corpsessed - Corpsessed

Even though just the thought of it makes me despondent, I cannot run from the cold, hard truth. Finland’s current death metal disposal is host that’s not on par with what it was twenty years ago, although there are still bands who try motivate and commit to the genre that emerge from Finland, but these bands are shamefully outnumbered by other hosts gathering in other countries. Even in this time of grave depression and lack of productivity, Corpsessed, a fresh face to the modern metal universe, commits to the decrepit Finnish underground as best as it can. With last year’s ‘’The Dagger And The Chalice’’, a frightful rock of solid and embodied dark death metal, the band already gathered a fairly large audience, and in 2012, they have lead that small group towards their following, self titled release, a relatively concise outburst of occult death metal, simple, yet painful and vicious.

Corpsessed proves to an ambitious act, with consecutive releases, even though their sophomore EP is no more satisfying than a slice of plain bread. There’s no departure from their previous sound, but there still are some nuances. ‘’Corpsessed’’ is more efficient on the crushing, heavyweight stomps rather befouling the listener with sporadic incursions of twisted tremolo splinters and dense consummations, but there’s still plenty of what was going on in the previous EP, a twisted, corpulent sound that places itself somewhere between Bolt Thrower, early Incantation, a heftier version of ‘’Leprosy’’ era Death with even some Finnish worshiping done for the minimum amount. The riffs circulate fluently and smear through like fresh like cutting butter, and there’s even an enveloping aura to be found, spectral and dominating, but besides its meat-flailing and evil content, the EP serves as nothing more than an appetizer, causing you to salivate over the fantasy of an upcoming album.

I’m not really going to compare this to ‘’The Dagger And The Chalice’’ because their traits are roughly the same and this release delivers all of its use within a few spins. It should however, intensify and radiate Corpsessed fan base, and hopefully even expand it (with the help of the fantastic Dark Descent Records), so now, get this, and even its predecessor if you like, and simply sit in your cold, damp room, waiting for these monsters to eventually blow up their cadaverous tumour, spewing forth a debut full-length. That is all that can be done.

Highlights:

Of Desolation

Demonical Subjugation

Rating: 80%

Cultfinder - Black Thrashing Terror

Everyone seems to be complaining about an oozing plague of bands that fell, and are still falling upon the metal universe as we know it. Bands which could create a fairly strong buzz in the underground spewed their infection forth, and then it was only a matter of time before the sickness spread through every robust heavy metal vein in the world, and rapidly, countries became overwhelmed by the stench of death around them, and they reluctantly turned their faces towards the massing armies bands, obliged to imitate their aesthetics. At first, I was just as ticked off by this sporadic disease just as anyone, but as bands came and went, I actually saw that each link of the massive bulk of bands is individually strong and compelling (at least for the most part), so I took the spreading plague as an immense increase in populace, rather than a disease contaminating and reducing the prowess and potential of its victims. It’s one path I recommend to underground metalheads as it’s plain that every groundbraking album has already been released, so every metal release to come out can be dubbed as ‘’been there, done that’’. None of that matters. Just enjoy your bloody music.

Black/thrash, is not only a sub-genre that has been repeatedly gimmicked, but it’s also one that has been harassed and manipulated, but so long as we have acts like Cultfinder emerging from the decrepit graves to spread black/thrashing terror (no pun intended), the genre is safe. Cultfinder’s style can be closely related to the bands like Desaster, Usurper and Destroyer 666, bands which belonged to a scene which culminated and eventually exploded by the late 90’s/early 2000’s. ‘’Black Thrashing Terror’’, the band’s debut Ep is an eclectic presentation of chaotic and brutally fashioned old school black thrash, made gritty with a lump of a crust scathing over its surface. It gathers several aggressive old school death metal traits from the classic early 90’s USDM sound, and perhaps some sordid technicality from the likes of Pestilence, or Creepmime, from the heart of the Netherlands. Upon hearing the first wave of diabolical spraying of riffs, I immediately found myself tangled amongst its hooks, and I the Ep’s hardcore-tinged iron fist left me maimed and resentful afterwards only eleven minutes of bestial incursion.

As it has always been in black/thrash, ‘’Black Thrashing Terror’’ offers tasteful vocal work, sharp, raspy and dynamic, and slight echoes of the eerie rasps are pure ear candy. Cultfinder offer no more than rotting, sickening blackened thrash metal, so like I said, all you can do is enjoy the music because it’s not an innovating release, and ultimately these vermin are still able to look down upon many of their peers, crushing the competition and the chance of victory for many others. An Ep always states that a full-length is not remotely distant, you had better like this, or else you won’t be even able to comprehend the sheer stamina and dashing accuracy of the second bombardment. Don't loathe it, love it.

Highlights:

Black Thrashing Terror

Witching Curse

Rating: 72,5%

Vein - Crux Calvaria

Not dissimilar to the desolate King Diamond worshipping done is Sweden, Danish epic doom project Vein bring grievance and heft to the year with their debut EP, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ a mournful  combination of melodic heavy metal, traditional doom, and a dash of epic power metal, a most compelling formula that fans of melancholic music should grasp quite quickly. The Danish trio consists of veterans, with some members being from newly blossoming power houses In Solitude and Procession.  With a heavy traditional heavy and doom metal scent lingering by in every riff, and musical complexity vaguely appearing amongst the massive monoliths of chunky riffs, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is a most promising release, although it lacks length.

With members of Procession and In Solitude, you can hear the beautiful density of the doom spectre take a mournful, and melody stirred edge, and for the most part of the songs, Vein will tend to keep music at a more dynamic pace, keeping the spikes sharp and the melodies crisp and tangibly soothing. When the music takes such a relaxing, though still heavy edge, many usually forgets the tiny bits and pieces that make up the strata of the EP, and if you listen carefully, you can hear subtle melodies slithering amongst the crushing chords – proof that the band has a lot of prowess. Riffs vary, as they take on different shapes throughout, so the guitar work is genuinely well done and robust, but Crux Calvaria also disserves an applause for the excellent drum adjustments. The beats keep the doom laden stomps constant, and the constant cymbal abusing sheds spectral rays of light upon the atmosphere, enhancing it.

The vocalist also sang in Procession, and there’s no surprise there because their soulful, despair laden approach makes the EP a whole lot richer, and just like the riffs, they sound like a mixture of classic Euro power metal vocalists and King Diamond, with a tinge of Candlesmass (or any other traditional/epic doom metal vocal style). ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is exceedingly pleasing for such a young band, and I do hope that a debut full-length is not distant. The EP had no flaws for me, except for the fact that it was rather concise, but that’s not a problem to sob for.

Highlights:

Crux Calvaria

Out In Twilight

Rating: 85,5%

Metal Minis #2 - Doombringer - Wormridden

Doombringer – Sevenfold Pestilence [Ep]

Polish death metal vandals Doombringer are new to me. They’ve had a couple of demos before exhaling this, their two track debut EP; an engrossing splatter of well balanced and chugging death metal with a nice, witty black metal overtone engulfing it. Unlike some other black/death bands I’ve encountered in previous years (Antediluvian, Impetuous Ritual, Muknal, Portal, etc), they don’t really bore and drill into your brain deep enough to leave a permanent mark, meaning they exclude ethereal, cathartic expressions of black metal, and formulate a rather simpler, more direct style of crunchy death metal, with a sprinkling of black metal to add a bit of a spice to the aura, as I stated. Nonetheless, the music is still not something to be interfered, for its wroth and wrath is deadly and cunning once released. The sound is really not arduous or complex, but I still can’t relate it to a singular sound. Few segments remind me of classic Incantation tremolos that even fall into early Morbid Angel territory at times, while some sections are doused with a pungent, chaotic black/death stench, like a reminiscent of Blasphemy or Gospel Of The Horns, but again, not relation is fully accurate. All I can really say is that sound is buttery and dark, old school and cryptic, and many death and war metal fans will fall for this. No doubt.

Wormridden – Infesting The Graves [Demo]

I came across with some very efficient death/doom acts this year like Undergang, Witchrist (even though it’s not purely death/doom) or Macabra, and even a few other like Funebrarum which left their mark in the previous years, and although Japan’s Wormridden display only eleven minutes of their work on their debut demo, the music I heard was sufficient enough to convince me. You can call it a crusty Autopsy, a second Rottrevore or and even filthier version of Incantation; you can call it many things, but the one thing that you can be certain of is that Wormridden produce an ultra heavy slab of festering, cauterizing death/doom, still reeking of filth and abominable 90’s death metal. The sheer level of putrefaction on this two track demo is enough carve you anew nose hole, and the whole of the riffs are so dipped and drenched in murky grittiness and fermenting grossness, that you’d probably be overwhelmed by its heft only. The demo has wide arsenal of crushing, monolithic riffs, and you’ve got the tempo variation set as well. First you’re dealing with gigantic doom metal stomps, while all of a sudden, a rambunctious outburst of buzzy tremolos split your torso wide open, and then the riffs make final, excruciating descent into a mid paced riff, slithering and spreading vile stench all around. This demo is top notch, even though it only lasts for near ten minutes, but I’ll guarantee fans of Winter, Disembowelment, Salem, Asphyx, Autopsy, Rottrevore and Purtenance a totally crushing and enjoyable listen.

Doombringer: 8/10

Wormridden: 8.50/10