Heresiarch - Waelwulf (EP) [2014]

Despite having a career spanning no longer than a truncated twig, New Zealand's Heresiarch garnered more attention than other outfits with countless full-lengths up their belt with the single, meteoric arrival of their 2011 EP ''Hammer of Intransigence'', which was greeted with a rather mixed bevy of reviews. In all honesty, despite my appreciation for the the darker arts that death metal bands can manage to conjure, the EP was hardly a novelty, and I couldn't really help feel that it was being somewhat trod down by the real, indomitable masters of the genre. And to think, these guys weren't the best or the first to hail from New Zealand. The country continues to host a terrific circle of bestial black metal bands ranging from Witchrist and Diocletian, which have done quite a lot to promulgate the genre at large. When Heresiarch's dubious second EP arrived at my mail, I was half unwilling and half expecting the same dismay that diminished their premier EP, and I'm not about to vaunt this thing after I've listened to it, either.

''Waelwulf''' is almost entirely an unfaltering procession of the band's previous effort, with only three tracks jammed in for 13 minutes. If you're not familiar with them, I'll just say that it doesn't really need too much concentration to get to the center of the music. You'll hear the usual culprits Blasphemy, Archgoat, Beherit, and the aforementioned Diocletian, and these tracks are so similar to some of Diocletian's output that you could easily attach them to the end of any one of their albums. Fortunately, the banality of the beastly, warlike chaos that proceeds Heresiarch is mitigated by a somewhat unusual proclivity to sludge things up occasionally. That's not to say that these guys are direct progenitors of early 90's death/doom gods, but a current of slower, titular expansionism is prevalent in their music in certain focal points, denoting of an appreciation of Winter, disEMBOWELMENT, Autopsy or Cianide. Unfortunately, even with bantering, unorthodox drums fills and the doomy sequences forging abrupt tempo changes, there isn't much in the sense of intrigue in ''Waelwulf'''.

The guitar tone is nice, meaty and chubby, more real than that of ''Hammer...'', but for all the good it does to the rest of the album. The best thing this EP is likely to give you is a terrific, turbulent headache. I'm a sucker for the chaotic, miasma-ridden storms they can spew forth, but that's just fucking it. ''Waelwulf'' is well-nigh an empty crater in the middle of some archaic cave, with cracks and crevices along its each and every corner. It's layers are unfocused, dull and usually just meandering currents of distorted commotion that supposedly sew a web of ''chaos''. Heresiarch is chaotic alright, I'll give them that, but so many have gone the road of chaos and disorder that it's no longer interesting; and they're not bringing anything new on the table besides horrific and vilifying guitar sequences with a damp, worthless atmosphere. Even the minute aural images that they try to summon through the wailing guitars like the ending of ''Abrecan'' are pointless and stuffy. If you're trying to love Heresiarch, but you can't, than stop trying. The bestial/war metal market is so crowded with enshrouded jewels that you'll find more than a dozen gems by the time this EP is over. Try something else. Try Vassafor, try Diocletian, try Bölzer, try Teitanblood. I'm sure a handful of die-hards will be spinning this as they proceed to execute their weekly rituals in the local altar, but beyond that, there's nothing it can offer; so I'll be just sitting here, pondering how these guys hope to manage the enormity of a full-length if they can't even pull off a 13-minute EP.

Highlights:
Waelwulf

Rating: 57,5%

Ulcerate - Vermis [2013]

Ever since the advent of their colossal third full-length ''Destroyers of All'', New Zealand's Ulcerate has been hailed as one of the leading augurs of the new technical death metal/post-hardcore or whatever you wanna call it movement, and I'm not sure if it was the overpraising, the excess commotion or just simply an adamant unwillingness, but I haven't listened to the lauded album to this day. ''Destroyers of All'' popped up in nearly every review blog or end-of-the-year list in 2011, channeling its imperious notoriety to the following year, and even though it was similar to the brilliant Flourish debut, or Deathspell Omega's engaging, estranged ''Paracletus'', I still didn't feel like giving it a listen. God knows why. Now, the group, hot on the heels of their cult classic, has come with yet another obelisk of ungodly, seismic tech-death, which is, to be sure, going to leave the ravenous masses drooling and ulcerated (you'll have to excuse the pun).

Maybe not so. Even though I'm fairly certain ''Vermis'' succeeded in encapsulating a certain circle of die-hard followers with wonder, I don't think it achieved half the fame of its beloved predecessor. Who knows, maybe two years changed our ever-mercurial metal society so much that the prodding, desirous sense to obtain and praise the cataclysmic, prehensile formations of that the group so seamlessly conveys didn't attract them any longer. That aside, I'll confide that I do have some serious catching up to do when it comes to post-hardcore or even the more metallic facet of this album by which so many other bands are delightfully toying with, but for all the sheer size, the megalithic density and the dark, inescapable atmosphere ''Vermis'' creates, I didn't find it quite riveting. There is a basic philosophy to this record that one could grasp from the very beginning, when ''Odium'' unfurls with tedious abandon and discomforting, disjointed riffs that I believe these technical/avantgarde metal purveyors are so well known for, stuff that I was inevitably drawn to in ''Paracletus'', but the riffs here come out in such banal, unimpressive orgies that I found myself drifting away from the album's core more and more as it tread forward, even though I was supposed to be elicited...

The busy, chaotic, brickwalled structure is something I can certainly appreciate, but apply it too often and too egregiously and it just becomes a chore to listen to. The guitars are wailing, wreathing serpents that coil like shapely buildings collapsing in a bombastic manner, the drums fairly clear and punchy, but to be honest in all the metallic tenacity of the album I only found a few moments that I enjoyed. As the notes continue to swell with the same frustrated patterns of repetition and sinewy monstrosity it feels as though the New Zealanders were deliberately poking my wounds, turning them sorer and bloodier every passing minute. I'll give it to them that the compositions are both stiff and strangely challenging, intricate as it must have taken them a great deal of time to pen them, yet, unfortunately, the intricacy of a composition, as myriad other examples have shown, does not necessarily bode well for its quality.  The fact that there were some really majestic, sweltering moments sporadically allocated across the album made me intermittently get my hopes high for the record, and the ultimate product wasn't really bad, but it wasn't all that good either. Hell, riffs like the pre-chorus passage on ''Await Rescission'' or the verse patterns on the title track were seriously titillating, even stellar builds, uproarious explosions of deluded chaos which the band unquestionably excels at. If only they had some more of those...

To add, the vocals were alright; I wasn't particularly impressed but I wasn't irritated either, in contrast to the wild fluctuations of the guitars. Like I said, ''Vermis'' is definitely not a bad album, but it feels like it's a bit stale in a world already crammed to the tits with similar material being ejaculated from countless different sources. It is, in the broadest sense, a death metal version of ''Paracletus'', - a monumental design of this particular sub-genre -  but it doesn't retain the masterwork's ability to encompass emotion and dread in so many different layers as acutely. It is, however, a highly florid if rigid output that, as said, fans will eagerly gulp up - at least if ''Vermis'' doesn't devour them first.

Highlights:
The Imperious Weak
Await Rescission 
Vermis

Rating: 65%

Razorwyre - Another Dimension

New Zealand’s Razorwyre are yet another group retro of traditional heavy metal musicians, an exuberant quintet who are not afraid to demonstrate the classic clichés of the genre, often exposing their fiery fervour for old school metal with vivacious channels, choppy, percussive rhythms, soulful vocal delivery and speedy speed/thrash tremolo slashes, proving to be a band that devote themselves to the old school term entirely. Much like today’s modern power metal acts, the band likes to magnify the presence of the meat of the guitar with loud, bashing amplifications, and by penning semi-complex compositions, genuinely short and efficient. The number of retro heavy metal outfits are growing prodigious, and while scoffing may seem like a reasonable action to many who’ve suffered the fashioned trends numerous times, it’s best that you stop complaining about it, and just enjoy the music, as Razorwyre are thriving the swing of genre even further.

‘’Another Dimension’’ is the debut album and sole release by the band, but the band’s humbler version, Gaywyre (what a pleasant moniker) had a nice little power/thrash output named ‘’Coming Out’’. The band has not been around for a substantial amount of time, but their efficiency, their punchy grooves and rhythms are far superior to the primal releases of the band’s contemporaries, and although the material the band gouges out is not entirely sufficient to curve towards a more innovative nature, blatant influences such as Maiden, Priest, Dio, Helloween, interact with other speed/thrash clichés, and the influences are dispersed sparsely, and you’re left with eleven tracks that are redolent of something else each. Old school dominates the whole atmosphere, but it’s clear that the band gets a lot of help from the benefits of technology of the modern era.

While still being generally aggressive, Razorwyre gives plenty of room to more soulful, sombre manifestations of emotion, and they veil it in the deepness of the vocals, and such an overtone is occasionally spewed forth, showing prominence on track s like ‘’Hangman’s Noose’’. Of course, the album obviously embraces velocity and hooking riffs over depressive mourns. A surprisingly wide spectrum of variation awaits you in the album, some of the most sordid, raw manifestations being jumpy speed/thrash catharsises like ‘’Knight Of Fire’’ or ‘’Desert Inferno’’, while ‘’Nightblade’’ or Wind Caller’’ principally espouse a lighter sound, soaring vocals underpinning the catchy plate of heavy/power hooks, but all in all, all the songs take you towards the same crater, only dragging you through different paths. Razorwyre’s material is easily one of the classier speed/thrash/power/heavy gimmicks around, and albeit it’s all stuff I’ve heard before, I can’t help but vigorously bob my head to its frivolous and predictable excursions. 

Highlights:

Knights Of Fire

Desert Inferno 

The Fort

Rating: 85%

Witchrist - The Grand Tormentor

I am, truly, a sucker for the bizarre and contempt-driven aesthetics of old school blackened death metal, such vociferously tainted music, inundating and as oppressive and devastating as a gigantic warhammer, relentlessly hammering the back of a traumatized victim, who seeks escape from the massive aura of deadly oppression. Such music has been offered to me not once, but numerous times, by acts like Pseudogod, Portal, Muknal, Mitochondrion or Antediluvian, and gives me great pleasure to add yet another bestial shroud of sulfuric blasphemy and absolutely crushing piece of black/death to this list, a beast hailing all the way from New Zealand. Not only was I completely battered and shoved away with the crippling force of ''The Grand Tormentor'', but I found its usage of subtle, captivating riffs and engulfing heft to be exceedingly efficient. Although Witchrist are at their second blasphemous offering, and I'll admit that I hadn't been familiarized with their presence until I got to know their sophomore album, which is an event that occurred totally by luck, but nonetheless, these blasphemers have firmly settled somewhere between the bestiality of Pseudogod and the cunning disturbance of Portal, or Mitochondrion, so war metal geeks have nothing to be tedious about while picking this up.

As stated, Wittchrist sound like a heftier, and more tiring version of Pseudogod or Teitanblood even as their brand of war metal has a sublime queerness and ponderousness to it, expanding its boundaries of accessiblity for relative death/doom fans. The overtone that it attains is extremely ominous and almost inhuman at times, the bulky elephantine structure that forms it sends oppressive tides of blackened death like a barrage of drowsy, yet smashing tides crashing at a puny little house, and the balance of three crucial materials that form it are preserved with great care, keeping the webs in between the ponderous chompers and furious flurries constant and robust. Yes, its structure is decidedly complex and very compelling, and that's only the beginning of its swallowing interactions. The first track (after the intro), is a song that I thought would bare a more atmospheric touch, but ''Into The Arms Of Yama'' actually sets the mood right for the next gritting cluster of songs, crushing with a walloping nine minute feast of ridiculously ponderous blackened death/doom, before breaking into an outburst of virulent hostility. ''The Grand Tormentor'' does not favor speed, that is a certainty, but that does not mean it always travels with the pace of turtle, and when it decides to spurt out its monolithic reservoir of riffs and accelerates, it shows no remorse.

The tone and production are crucial to the overall sound of the record, one can only enjoy such distorted and murky production quality, and besides, the can hear everything that's going on in there, no matter how chaotic it is, so you have to excuse for disliking the production. I found many of the album's traits similar to Pseudogod's ''Deathwomb Catachesis'', and that is a pretty accurate comparison in my humble opinion, but the vocals here are not exactly as boisterous or voluminously cavernous as the vocal work on ''Deathwomb'' as they often hide among the dense array of riffs, seldom being provoked and seldom bursting out vigorously. As much as I love the doom laden sequences of this album I can't really go wrong with the fast moments either, because the wroth of ''The Grand Tormentor'' is undeniable, and the record gets as barbaric as any primitive death metal album out there, especially noticeable in tracks like ''Exile'', ''Tandava'' or ''Wasteland Of Thakata'', which end their judgement in a way that's short, effective, though not so sweet. With barbaric groups relentlessly releasing new material, not being saturated will not be on your menu when these savages come banging at your door, and you had better give this doom inserted slab of filthy, blasphemous war metal a listen, because Witchrist will be leading the pack--you can be sure of that.

Highlights:
Funeral Lotus
Into The Arms Of Yama
Meditation For Sacrifice
Exile


Rating: 90%

Exordium Mors - Sacrifice, Perish And Demise

If you're intending on getting ''Sacrifice, Perish and Demise'', the new Ep by New Zealand's blasphemous five-piece, then you're in for quite a bit of a treat. Exordium Mors are relatively new and fresh warhorses in the diverse war of bestial black/death/thrashers, and the offer you black, thrash and death metal with riffs aplenty and chaos raging over the music like a malevolent storm. These vandals have been all Eps and demos throughout their good eight years, but with the arrival of their carnivorous Ep, they're bound to get a full-length album out soon, and that is something that I'm definitely desirous and eager about for obvious reasons.

One notable thing about Exordium's music is that they don't completely emit material from the likes of Bestial Warlust or Blasphemy, mainly because the diverse copiousness of their music is more spacious and sparse rather than crude and filthy like the the aformentioned acts, but they is they share something with Watain, Absu or Impiety, then that's the relentless speed, and accelerating black metal lashes that strike and batter as hard a spiked mace smashing your back, and as quick as whip, lashing out in a furious impulse. The riffs have a wide range of variety, and although their maneuvers are incredibly rapid and stamina-draining, the guitarists seem to be effortlessly shifting between chaotic black metal chord slashes and outrageous tremolo spikes, with a sprinkling of thrash crust.

Their speed almost reminds me of speed metal, though with a much more sordid edge, I would say. Despite the inexorable power of their riffs and sheer length of the songs, the music is kept fresh throughout, maintained with with spastic solos and intense black metal cravings. The most queer thing is that the production isn't as kilter as you'd expect it to be, and the music focuses on the black side of black/death(not unlike Blasphemy, Archgoat or Proclamation),  but in a way that cleanses the music of its filth and bloodiness, and keeps the bestiality and speed, then stirs with atmospheric black metal elements that you don't often see in bestial black metal bands. The opening track ''Sign Of Judas Liege'' opens the Ep with a battering riff of blackened ferocity, while transforming into a melodious break during its last minute, and pretty much all the tracks favor the same style, but boredom seldom strikes.

Even the last song, a Venom cover has bits and pieces of Exordium's relentless bestiality in it, but the album finishes after twenty one minutes, which is a bit of a disappointment because I felt the fun was only starting to begin, but for now, let's just keep our hopes high for quality material to arrive with the full-length debut. I wouldn't really call ''Sacrifice, Perish and Demise'' astonishing, but its adamant blast will leave people traumatized for a some seconds at the least, and falses will be especially driven out of their cosy place after being assaulted by this. This is a lesson in speed, aggression and hate.

Highlights:
Exordium Mors
Sign Of Judas Liege
Ancestors Call


Rating: 86%


Follow the cunning blasphemers from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/exordiummors