Metal Minis - Vilifier - Okkulta

Vilifier - Rehearsal MMXI [Demo]

Vilifier are a rather intriguing black/death act to appear from Australia. Their material is does not defy the Australian traditional of gore soaked raw bestiality, but their three track rehearsal demo provides a little more than standard, compulsory black/thrashing onslaughts or fluent, dissecting raw black metal inclinations that seem to be getting popular every day, simply by exposing the music with almost sophisticated touches. Think of a slower Teitanblood or a more chug laden Antediluvian, fuse it with glimpses of unbridled ruptures, and you have Vilifier. The band excels at constructed well-maintained bridges to fluctuate between monotonous death/doom trudges and voluptuous moments of festering precision, blasting out rancid, piercing tremolos here and there. While it is short, the fifteen minute demo introduces and introspective channel that finds its way through darkness and chaos, and therefore there’s plenty of variation here, with the cherry on top of the cake being the abrasive, ear-shattering growls of the vocalist, a cavernous experience. Even amongst the more seasoned and professional acts to emerge from Aussie, Vilifier somehow stands out, and any resident war metal fan should have no problem welcoming this demo.

Okkulta - Witch [Demo]

Okkulta hail from Sweden and they’re yet another traditional heavy metal act to embrace the old school fervour they possess. However, their inclinations lean towards a somewhat eviler brand of traditional heavy, as stated on the title of the demo. The occult, evil, blasphemy and sorcery all seem to be themes that interest the young outfit, but queerly, they don’t fail at projecting that fervour onto their music, and all of a sudden you have two concise tracks, darker than any usual aspect to emerge from Sweden, and the slight deviation serves as the fulcrum of the demo. ‘’Devil’s Truth’’ leads the listener viscously with a visceral guitar tone and a couple of catchy tremolo passages, ultimately finalizing too quick for the listener to properly appease /himself/herself. Almost black metal-esque chords disseminate as they melt into a hooking verse and the vocals sing along truculently, a little immature but still decent. The following piece ‘’Witch’’ keeps a slightly more intricate persona, and scatters the demo into a more ritualistic hymn. Perhaps not all the aspects of the demo were well done, but I still enjoyed it. This may augment into something more promising in the future.

Vilifier: 8.50/10

Okkulta: 8/10

Metal Minis #3 - Horrid - Slaegt

Horrid - Kingdom Of Decay [Demo]

Horrid’s demo ‘’Kingdom Of Decay’’ actually got me by surprise. I hadn’t anticipated it, because I didn’t even know the band was carving out new material. Horrid impressed me beyond belief with their malicious self titled album last year, a reeking slab of desolate, carnal blackened death/thrash, and the thing that I love even more about Horrid is that they don’t stick to the cheesy retro thrash antics, and instead display some top notch blackened death/thrash, reeling away from all modern senses the thrash genre has fabricated along the way. ‘’Horrid’’ was notably well-bestirred, ill-natured and fatal, embracing certain queer tactics that the death and black metal genres forged alongside their union, and the demo follows the same path that the album left, but there still seems to be a few changes in the sound. I was glad to hear the bizarrely dissonant solos that really left their mark from the previous record, but besides that, ‘’Kingdom Of Decay’’ supports a rawer production and an even dispersed, chubby tone. Horrid don’t redefine their sound with this two track demo, but they set the basics of an upcoming full-length which can be relatively capricious due to certain changes that will grow in time.

Slaegt - Demo [Demo]

Coming from the frigid lands of Denmark come Slaegt, a completely fresh new act out of Copenhagen present a concise demo of four tracks of bleak and mournful raw black metal of high quality. The one man army establishes a turbulent atmosphere and launches and assault of thinny, piercing black metal tremolos, fluent and dynamic melodies writhing and slicing the listener as they ascend and descend, channelling vigorously through the freezing cold atmosphere he creates. Slaegt’s direction is quite unequivocal, as the piercing riffs are always heading towards a certain direction, but the demo also shows some defiance in the raw and savaged sound, and a hope of the riffs to sprint away from their current position is always there, even though the event never actually occurs. The demo has its hooks, and it likes to pull the listener slowly with an interesting array of groovy patterns, seasoned with the extreme shrillness of the ear-piercing cries of the tortured rasps. Though it is short, Slaegt’s demo eventually proves to be efficient as the cold and entrancing fibrous waves that it spews fourth eventually suffuses over the listener, engulfing him/her in a ghastly aura of spectral and frozen splendour. One of the finer raw black metal demos I heard this year, I must say, and I’m anticipating a second release impatiently.

Horrid: 8/10

Slaegt: 8.25/10