Inculter - Persisting Devolution [2015]

Norway is a fertile harbor for not only its chief export of black metal, but also for a recent upsurge in bands which claim immunity from being stringently pigeonholed into either one of the black, thrash or speed metal genres, and hence exposing themselves to the market shamelessly as 'black/thrash', drawing their influences not just from such antiquarians of primal evil such as Bathory, Venom or Hellhammer but also younger acts like Nekromantheon, Deathhammer and Aura Noir, also haling from Norway. Needless to say, Inculter is another one of Norway's breed of frolicsome evil, a compelling two-piece running on the strength of merely an EP and a demo, with a new record that hardly eschews the kind of rifftastic profanity purists seek in this niche. And to wit, the Norwegians create an infernal expanse of black and thrash metal that doesn't just scream 'Bathory', but actually secures its position as a record with some identity and simmering infernal magnetism.

''Persisting Devolution'' definitely moves a fraction beyond the 'stock' black/thrash offering as offered through the various records of Force of Darkness, Destroyer 666, Witchburner and the like, owing to the skippy, fraudulent quality of the riffs, at times sounding like a blackened version of Death Breath's ''Stinking Up The Night'' with frenetic, lashing chords and fantastic speed/thrash cutlery, always campy yet also genuinely disturbing. The tone and pace of the album are perfect; it's sufficiently lo-fi, rugged enough cook skewed human flesh on, if you're into some analogy, but still clear enough as to hearing the excellent slew of riffs which the Norwegians propagate, reaching paces fast enough to keep up with one ''Reign in Hell'' or ''Horrified''. Make no mistake folks: this as 80's as you're going to get. The promise of denim, leather, spikes, motorbikes and auditory grime is just the cherry on top of the huge rotten cake of festering flesh and gnarly awesomeness, but unlike so many gimmicks undergoing a similar trajectory Inculter are abstrusely efficient with nearly not one second spared from the the album's razor-sharp array of riff-works and fanaticism. Remi's vocals are serpentine and gruesome to the bone with a clear nod pretty much any other band operating in this niche, but his inflection is ghastly enough to accrue frilly 80's anger and infernal fire at the same time.

Inculter's subscription to the art and literature of the black/thrash niche is more than convincing. The songs are all boisterous, fast and fleshy, from the choppy ''Mist of the Night'', to blistering speed metal rampage of  ''Diabolical Forest'' to the simply excellent ''Traducers Attack''; each track does not necessarily promulgate an entirely original or separate sense of evil or blasphemous delight, but there's so much fun to be had among the jumpy cascade of riffs, mutes, pluggy bass lines and cramped drum fills that one really cannot care all to much, especially with the existence of 2-3 outstanding pieces in the entire compendium. The closest thing I can cite to ''Persisting Devolution'' besides the regulars is probably Deathhammer's ''Onward to the Pits'' or Nekromantheon's ''Rise, Vulcan Specter'', although the former was more engrossed in heavy/black than anything else, and the latter was indefinitely heavier. It only goes on to show that the album is another great addition to the black/thrash vernacular. Even at the finale, ''Envision of Horror'', the dynamic evil is there. There's still plenty of space for Inculter to develop, but ''Persisting Devolution'' brims with youthful, daemonic energy; ignore at your own risk.

Highlights:
Persisting Devolution
Traducers Attack
Diabolical Forest
Mist of the Night

Rating: 80%

Solefald - World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud [2015]

If some kind of annual award for musical wackiness would have existed, Solefald would have trumped its competitors each year it put out a new album. While Sigh would have no difficulty competing against their Norse counterparts, the duo's latest, ''World Metal.'' achieves such levels of imaginative finesse, surrealistic progression, folksiness and unprecedented eccentricities, that it even tops their 2010 opus ''Norrøn Livskunst'' which was already one of the most superior bizarreries I had heard (it still keeps its position). Five years later, with nothing keep the masses appeased in between records besides an EP which struck me as far more mediocre and lethargic than it ought to be, Cornelius and Lazare reassemble for what might be the most astonishing afflatus the year has to offer, abandoning the traditionally 'Norse' aesthetics of their previous Icelandic Trilogy, a veritable amalgamation of epic Scandinavian black metal and the residual avantgarde,  and delving straight into the foliage global music complete with all its oddities.

That's not to say they've entirely abandoned their sound - certainly not - since the dispersion of the band's older niche is far more than piecemeal. You know it's Solefald. Lazare' indispensable cleans are there with all their epic, hovering gloss, interwoven with simplistic, heavy black metal riffing and grandiose synthesizers or organs that beckon such greats such as ''Song Til Stormen'' or ''Norrøn Livskunst''; and Cornelius' inflection is still there, maybe not as indecipherable or raspy as before, but certainly plump with force and carnal power. The echoes of the band's sound yawn and  reverberate with the majestic force of northern waves and huge, pallid Icelandic mountains. Yet there's caveat to it all, one that's all to absorbingly delicious. In retrospect, I remember maybe 2-3 real black metal riffs (aside from the swelling tremolos and richer chord progressions) and the guitars aren't so protean as, say, Dream Theater, nor as significant to the mix even though there are some marvelous, grooving anchorages on the record which owe themselves to Kornelius' riffcraft, so the guitars have given themselves up to other sounds populating the mix. Pianos, synthesizers, saxes, organs, all typical of the Solefald cannon. But this time the Norsemen have integrated even more, from Congolese toms to electronic inclusions that range far beyond the safer medium of samples and minute samples. We're talking multi-layered servings of mind-fuckage and, yes - I hesitate to say - even dubstep if that's what you want to call it. The opener, ''World Music With Black Edges'' is one that completely lives up to its name with entirely unpredictable sequences of oddly euphoric pianos to straight dance/disco scores. This is a rave, and the DJ's are two of Norway's busiest, most ingenious composers.

As much as I hate to admitting the apparent overtones of electronic music, ''World Metal.'' certainly never overlooks the fact that this is still a metal record (albeit one which purists will start to exorcise the moment they hear it) and Solefald seamlessly incorporate electronics - without overcrowding - into their smorgasbord of calculated cultural and musical diversity. There's also a twist to Cornelius' vocals in that they're far more mercurial. He keeps his gnarly guttural inflection, but he does an excellent job of channeling George Corpsegrinder-esque lows into such tracks like ''The Germanic Entity'' which sizzle with irresistible, crushing groove, as well cleaner moments, as in ''Future Universal Histories'' where he speaks through radio broadcast. At any rate, his timbre matches the diversity of sounds that envelope him, capable of modifying the changing environment. And if that piece didn't freak you out there's still ''Bububu Bad Beuys'', where Cornelius' minimalist, almost Darkthrone-ish riff patterns mold with tribal African beats and drums: it's sure to win the award for the most ridiculous song of the year. Yet these Norsemen are certainly not fucking around. ''String The Bow of Sorrow'' is a splendorous and uplifting tune with gigantic choral and instrumental overtures, a Scandinavian avantgarde response to Carl Orff's ''Carmina Burana'', and it's equally angry as it is somber.

It's a grand emotional crescendo, mounting to the moody finale, ''Oslo Melancholy''. I did miss tracks like the superb blackened rockabilly ''Blackabilly'' from the previous record, and I was mildly disappointed for the absence of something in the vein of ''Eukalyptustreet'', but the duo's ability to avoid dullness, interchangeability and nadirs is unbelievable. There are indeed very few artists in today's metal market who could hold up to such levels of consistency, change and originality as these two pariahs. ''World Music.'' is more emotionally gripping than any of the other records in their backlog, not for its sheer epic excellence but because it also feels like the folksiest of their offerings. Indeed, tracks like ''String the Bows of Sorrow'' are good enough to be sung by exiled Scandinavian sailors during long, troublesome voyages. So here's to another album that justifies why Cornelius and Lazare oughtn't acquire any other pastimes besides music, because when they make it, it's simply sublime, and with already some twenty spins I'm salivating at the thought an equally masterful, eccentric follow-up.

Highlights:
Future Universal Histories
World Music With Black Edges
The Germanic Entity
2011, or a Knight of the Fail

Rating: 93%

Keep of Kalessin - Epistomology [2015]

Nestled deep in Norway's forbidden woods (or maybe not so deep?) are bands who actually seek to achieve something further than the genre-standard second wave black metal bound by the laws of their immortalized forebears, and one such act is Keep Kalessin. These Norsemen have been going strong for years now, hot on the wheels of ''Reptilian'' and ''Kolossus'', of which the former garnered somewhat mixed reactions in the public opinion as a desultory exhibition of 'modernized' black/death metal. Keep Of Kalessin is the perfect starting point black metal beginners to rally at, with epic overtures and accessibly hooking voracity eschewing much of the grimness of traditional black metal, and it remains within these boundaries which they've conventionalized that we see ''Epistomology''.  Safe to say that on this record the Norsemen traverse within the well-known paths, hardly straying from the safe harbor, kind of like a bunch of grounded black metal teenagers nicely buckled up and ready to be taken to a trip to the forest... if you don't fancy the notion, never mind, because ''Epistomology'' still delivers the kind of potent black/death wizardry many fans were asking for, just without a whole lot of twists to the tale.

This is a much less opaque offering than most of other Norwegian black or black/death exports I've heard, with walls of generously spasmodic tremolo ascensions and descents weaving up with ferocious percussive backbone, almost like what Behemoth would have sounded like in the mid/early 2000's with a wash of production sheen. Keep of Kalessin have always had some interest in dragons, mythology and similarly fantastical themes woven out of a power metal flair, but these themes work rather deliciously with a background of lunar overtures and choirs balancing the atmospheric adherence of the record. Surely enough songs like ''The Spiritual Relief'' or the title track play out these atmospheric tendencies with some delicacy albeit with exhaustive longitude. The clean vocal delivery is something which went strangely amiss for a guy whose always been a fan of wooing and emotionally powerful cleans in black metal (bands like Enslaved or Nokturnal Mortum with their folksy attitude perfect this trend) but the hovering balustrades of grandiose vocal delivery on the record don't always fall into that category of uplifting glory which the band seeks to channel as a veritable juxtaposition of the taut harshness of some of the more death/thrash oriented riff work, though they still manage to capture a certain degree of luster and aural satisfaction in the listener. In fact, choral sequences like that of ''The Spiritual Relief''' lack very little to remove them from a Dragonforce chorus... not the most desirable of prospects perhaps, but in general it works out because the raspier vocals always induce some level of excitement.

That said, the major selling point for me on this record has been the accumulation of tracks like ''Dark Divinity'' or ''Introspection'' which combine the delectable thrashing ooze of modern Destruction or Exodus with with nearly post-black metal dissonance, making for some listening value if I was to evaluate things so pragmatically. The final tracks are short and fast as fuck, like proper grindcore songs fed power and death metal until their veins overflowed. The masters of the Keep are not just seamless combiners of modern black and death (it's probably a good idea to downplay the influence of the 'black metal' tag since there's as much black metal on this album as there is sunshine in Norway, which shouldn't be too much) but practitioners of technicality with sufficiently athletic riffs to make length of some terribly long songs worthwhile, at least to a degree. This isn't Spawn of Possession or Necrophagist we're talking about, but a far more melodic output redolent of, well, itself. All told, the songs are never good enough to subsume a high proportion of your attention, but there 2-3 individual pieces that will certainly be repeated for some time. At times the redundancy of songs with 9+ minutes of run time can feel like the a long, boring wait at the dental department while someone is rubbing gossamer against your ears. Moments of sheer blandness are very scarce though, and in general, even though this is not on par with ''Kolossus'' or such, it is a good record, yet in remembrance of what I said at the beginning about its accessibility as a black metal record, it will probably get you stabbed with an iron cross if you ever try to show it to your local corpse-painted black metal purists.

Highlights:
Dark Divinity
Introspection
Necropolis

Rating: 75%

Gouge - Beyond Death [2015]

Gouge received the honor of being crowned 'band of the week' by Darkthrone's Fenriz back in 2012 when I was reviewing their debut EP ''Doomed to Death'', and with their anchor moored in Hell's Headbangers harbor, one of the best labels that breed the kind of gnarly and devilish concoctions of fields of death, thrash, black and grindcore, the Norse come with full force with ''Beyond Death''. The album hits the listener immediately as an insignificant stylistic departure from EP in its bare-bones, fleshed tirade of death, thrash with a sprinkling of grindcore by the laws of gods such as Repulsion and Terrorizer, but that's not to say it's not fun.  Indeed, these guys now how to impress, and weren't nominated by the esteemed metal god for good no reason...

Gouge improves upon the quality of the production and some of the intensity, and not much else really. In a savage nudge to fans of this kind of old school metal circa 1988-1992, there's actually a ton of nostalgia to be felt, ranging from ''Hell Awaits'' era Slayer to ''Horrified'', from early Death to Autopsy - the Norseman know how to synthesize influential (though by this time more generic than one might like) proto-death/thrash sounds into a combustive modern mix with the visceral attitude of deranged undertaker hacking and pummeling carcasses with rusted chisels and hammers where he should actually be set on his deplorable task. Gouge falls into that marginally spurious territory or gruesomeness and sheer wreck-it fun, with slew after after slew of ceaseless tremolos, razor sharp chord diatribes or just bloody fucking chug fests that go about nicely with tracks like ''Morbid Curse''. The drums similarly generate nice, clear blast beats in rapid succession with great ecstasy, but fail to keep up in terms of variation. Yet even punk and hardcore earn their place in the surprisingly straightforward sound they eschew - surprising particularly because you'd expect a greater temperance towards an album like ''Mental Funeral'' from a band whose song titles and sonic texture literally scream 'Autopsy'. Even so, the Autopsy influence seeps somewhere down there, most prominently in the vocalists' raucous howls, or during some of the sludgier chainsaw banters like on ''Chaos and Horror''.

In the end, scarcely a riff here is re-engineered to be held a candle to some of the peerless classics of primordial gore mentioned above, and you're bound to forget nearly the entire album just seconds after you've stopped listening to it, but the consistency and peppy courting with crackled skulls and age-old speed metal aesthetics makes this somehow worthwhile, and certainly a lot more entertaining than feeling your scalp get torn down by a hacksaw. The tracks here typically get barred behind the 3-minute mark, making them rather excellent pieces if you're in the mood for some frenzied incision, with only the title track reaching close to 5 minutes; and at less than half an hour in total the album's about as long a round of poker... among other things. So there's really no sense in complaining about its length. What would really have made my day would have been a veritable revaluation of the music in all its ghastly components, even though it is definitely far from subpar and sounds fresher than a whole bunch of other bands playing in the same medium. That said, I won't be so generous the next time the samey sanguinary formula and random mesh of horror flicks arrive on my dinner plate in the form of splattered brains and skull bits.


Highlights:
Breath of the Reaper
Butcher Attack
Morbid Curse

Rating: 73%

Obliteration - Black Death Horizon [2013]

Such an excessive portion of today's insurgent death metal spectrum seems to be frugal in the manner of originality, and hotheadedly persistent in sticking to much to the rules passed out by their monstrous descendants during the late 80's and early 90's that it's almost a chore to weed through the metric ton of releases and find something actually worthwhile. All told, as member of this beleaguered metal scene. And yet, does this mean that there have been absolutely no death metal masterpieces during the last decade or so? One would think so, after so much disregard of the aesthetic preferences of current acts have been held in consideration, but the subsequent appendages of bands like Necrovation, Repugnant, Horrendous, Morbus Chron and similar harbingers of death have been such malign and entertaining pastiches of old school fervor and tenacity that the banalities of the majority can easily be neglected. After all, while the genre is still being gradually carried forward by a group visionary bands, there is another, far more putrescent grouping in the underground that thrives on the love for the old school, and just the old school, being simultaneously awesome whilst doing so.

Hence, even with their squamous sophomore ''Nekropsalms'', Norway's Obliteration was not the most proficient contender to this particular end of death metal, though I have to say I did quite enjoy the buttery, gruesome death/doom palette that it so willfully flirted with. Some four years later, the Norse return with their most convincing anomaly yet; a putrid mass of slithering, unbridled murk straight from the pits of the nether: ''Black Death Horizon''. As a record whose name actually exemplifies the characteristic blend of early Autopsy, raw punk, Morbid Angel and early Death in it, ''Black Death Horizon'' is an excellent fucking trip down the quivering, cadaverous gateways of death metal, like some nostalgia trip with a little bit of everything. Let's just get something straight: this album is hands down one of the most morbidly attractive records in death metal I've heard in a good fucking while, and not solely in its pernicious mix of influences, but as an addictive piece of sensational ghastliness... 

Everything in this record from its writhing, whammy-impregnated leads flying about to the searing range of unabashed tremolos to its Autopsy-esque death/doom gruesomeness is stark and evil, even majestic at certain points. My initial fondness for the record grew with a passion for the necromantic vocals. Imagine a random punk frontman singing over the wretched, pestilent inflection of Chuck Schuldiner or Martin Van Drunnen; and I even caught a tad of Robert Andersson of Morbus Chron in there. Of course, the ominous presence of the guitars make themselves abundantly clear to the awestruck listener's trembling ear. The guitars may be meaty and murky, the bass belching like the baritone of an incarcerated demon; but despite the seamless d-beat drumming and vile vocal ranging, the Norse sustain a gorgeously demoniac clarity in the production, so the listener is never really thrown into a pointless, meandering wall of sound. Indeed, the attributions of some of the riffs aren't as sharp hooks as some others like the serpentine tremolos leading ''Goat Skull Crown'', especially when the band vies for more straightforward black/death foray in the vein of Darkthrone (as on ''Transient Passage'') but with so much bloody material compressed into a delicious pulp, the listener is only seldom reminded of such deficiencies. The melodies as on ''The Distant Sun'' or ''Ascendance'' are superb, twisted whirlpools of bile and vitriol, with an obstinate sense of adherence to much of the projections that were present on the band's sophomore, and yet the band still keeps things interesting by constantly shifting between tempos and riffs. There is always a steady, building level of tension that feels as though it'll blow the pulp up to crimson pieces of volcanic shrapnel that simply doesn't dissipate until the last moment, even on the gloomy, liquescent ''Churning Magma''...

Thus, with all its aspects, ''Black Death Horizon'' lives up to its name with utmost potential and torturous adroitness, like the product of some blissful witchery by the misty peak of the sulfuric promontory of the excellent, excellent cover. By the time this record had run its course, I found myself bathed in blood and all the other gnarly ingredients these primordial sorcerers bestirred. Sure, ''Black Death Horizon'' does have its dull moments from time to time, as I felt some of the longer tracks like ''Transient Passage'' - though still crammed to the tits of with feculent goodness - and the title track dragged about a little too long than I might have preferred, and there too were certain sequences where I thought they were recycling some of the previous guitar work with scarcely a change in drum patterns, but the overall output of the record, as displayed with such tunes as ''Sepulchral Rites'' and ''Goat Skull Crown'' makes for some of the most disgustingly appealing death metal products of 2013. So rarely do retro death metal bands actually feel motivated about their cause of purveying evil and asphyxiating entire throngs with pyroclastic mounds of dirt that this album felt like one of the most thoroughly enjoyable discs of the year. You're not feeling it until you're caked with muck. 

Highlights:

Goat Skull Crown

Sepulchral Rites

Transient Passage

Rating: 88%

Yurei - Night Vision [2012]

Norwegians Yurei captivated me the moment the first resonating guitar quarrels of their ‘’Night Vision’’ convulsed around my ear drums. Indeed ‘’Night Vision’’ has to be one of the most original offerings of the year 2012, and they are able to put this bulk of originality perfectly into practice, encapsulating the sombre attributions of psychedelic prog-rock in a vortex of wondrously confusing technical manifest. Perhaps most prominently bearing resemblance to Virus’ 2011 album, ‘’The Agent That Shaped The Desert’’ that was equally convoluted, and much more inclined towards the post-metal orientation of things, but even with the closeness Yurei has to its fellow countrymen, this group manages to produce a far more jiving, jazzy buzz by delivering bliss through crystal-clear guitar lines that swerve to irresistible dissonance.

As mentioned, Yurei’s work here may not be as perplexing in discordance as the post-metal arrangement of Virus, but that’s mostly because the Norseman are obviously and intently heading towards a far more bobbing equation; one that’s bluesy, nearly hysterical when contrasted to one of the more technically strained moments of the record, and in fact feels as if it was recorded in an echoing, forsaken desert wasteland with acoustic guitars plugged into distortion amps. They have a tangible enthusiasm for droning prog/doom moments, as seen on the heavenly drudging ‘’Diminished Disciple’’, as an alternative to their jumpier preferences, and I hear a particularly pungent stream of desert/space rock pioneers Yawning Man. Perhaps you don’t need battle-hardened ears to adjust to the fairly intricate passages here, but the undeniable love for experimentation shines brightly on every moment. One thing that only boosts this is the band’s deviation from the aforementioned masters Virus, whose bassist is actually the thumping, serving maniac here, which clearly implies that the Norwegians are endeavouring to surpass the genius of ‘’The Agent That Shaped The Desert’’, trying to do carry this out in a fairly different font.

Besides the guitar tone, and the bevy of sporadic riffs which go from capering diminished chord dispersions, as seen on the well-titled ‘’Diminished Disciple’’, to dowry desert/fusion rock trudges to cavorting singular, lead-based compositions that have an almost technical touch to them (Machinery), Yurei exerts large though not colossal effort into churning the music into an accessible convolution of experimental taste. They certainly keep the music fresh, building it up with countless nuances and more importantly, alien sound samples or instruments diving into the riff foray, effects such as reverb, and the vocalist’s somewhat queer take on the traditional, darkened atoning, which occur at seldom. ‘’Sleepwalkers in Love’’ is an unaccustomed piano tunnel that absorbs the listener in its hymnal melancholy, and ‘’Dali By Night’’, perhaps my favourite, is an almost avant-garde glance at the momentously prehensile fundamentals of Yurei’s brand of progressive rock, a complete slab of sorrowful complexity and experimental touches, clutching the listener from all sides.

As you may well understand, Yurei are out of the generic league for sure and are heading undoubtedly for their own engaging column in the metal/rock universe. What makes the experience twice as fun is that that the Norwegians have worked to render their music accessible as much as they’ve strived to craft the riffs themselves. It’s one record that effortlessly snaps free of the manacles that binds it down, and works in its own criterion; not necessarily ear candy for those who enjoy a more straightforward constraint of proggy rock/rock, but a dwindling plunge into the mysterious and compelling, a source of further agitation if you’re feeling tired of the same tunes.

Highlights:

Machinery 

Diminished Disciple

The Cognitive Crack

Dali By Night

Rating: 86%

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%

Tantara - Based On Evil

As I am quite busy, my queue of un-reviewed albums is growing longer, and I can't quite find sufficient time to review them all. That's why from now on I'll be swapping a few reviews from my buddy at the amazing Skull Fracturing Metal, both to gain some time and to promote each side. Such exchanges will occur at seldom, meaning once or twice a month at most, so don't get high expectations. So without further due, here's a great Tantara review by Lister. Enjoy, and give Skull Fracturing Metal Zine some love here. 

Had you told me that Norway would be unleashing a wave of great thrash records in 2012 I probably would have laughed at you and thrown on some Mayhem, however Norway is starting to become what Sweden is to death metal for the thrash scene. Add Tantara to the list of bands to release some great thrash this year, though the sound on their debut record "Based On Evil" is pretty different compared to their countrymen in Nekromantheon, Deathhammer and Aura Noir. The aforementioned bands all have a darker edge to their sound, whereas Tantara is straight up Bay Area thrash worship done right. It would be like comparing the other bands to Slayer or Sepultura while describingTantara as Metallica, Exodus or Vio-Lence.

One thing that might turn metalheads away from this album is the length. Every track is longer than five minutes and some are eight to nine minutes long and fans who have short attention spans may completely write Tantara off once they take a look at the length of each song. Luckily the band knows how to write their songs so the listener doesn't get bored and there are plenty of shifting dynamics in the songs to keep one's headbanging. The album starts off with the title track and it's pretty much a typical thrashing song that reminds one of Metallica on "Master of Puppets" or Vio-Lence on "Eternal Nightmare." The next song "Mass Murder" is the first of a few to incorporate a clean intro before morphing into another thrash-riddled mosher with its catchy midpaced riffs, awesome vocals that sound like the bastard child of Zetro and Hetfield, and incredible guitar solos. While on the subject of guitar solos, the lead guitarist Per Semb is one hell of a shredder and the solos on "Trapped in Bodies" in particular are phenomenal. His melodies that are interwoven throughout are also nothing short of stellar and the acoustic guitar solo on the album closer "The Killing of Mother Earth" is impeccable.

The best part of Tantara's music is definitely their ability to create riffs that are not only memorable (which is actually difficult for newer thrash bands) but ridiculously catchy. The first set of riffs on the track "Human Mutation" is probably the best example of this as I find it near impossible to not headbang along. Now I'm sure a lot of people won't dig these guys because they sound a lot like Metallica (musically), even using the same producer in Flemming Rasmussen, but if someone took a listen to just one track off of "Based On Evil" I'm sure the band will have a new fan. This record is going to be a difficult one to top in the future, but I'm sure the band could do it. Any fan of 80's Bay Area thrash done right needs to invest some time in listening to Tantara and "Based On Evil" because it's a fun journey full of twists and turns that will leave the listener foaming at the mouth for more.


Highlights:
"Negligible Souls"
"Human Mutation"
"Trapped in Bodies"

Rating: 85%

Originally written for Skull Fracturing Metal Zine

Dead To This World-Sacrifice EP

The relentless maelstrom of black/thrash bands continue, this time leaving me with this gem from Norway. It seems Norway has started getting their thrash up, with bands like Deathhammer and Nekromatheon releasing ultimately powerful records and leaving a strong mark. Dead To This World combine the ancient sound of their fellow countrymen with plain. nonetheless vicious thrash. With thye songs haing such a strong base, it is impossible fro me to dislike the upcoming blackened thrash assault, spewing forth a healthy amount of black metal alongside old school thrash metal whicch is not the most distintive, but certainly devastating.

While stand out tracks such as ''Satan's Storm'' give the Ep a brilliant headstart, other tracks still remain powerful and have a sustainable amount of energy to both give the genereal feel of the album and to entertain the listener. The great thing about the riffs is that they are soaked in black metal so they are all equally epic or thrashy. The Ep also has a ton of atmosphere which is highly prevalent also. So all in all the riffs are generic with the similar tremolo picking patterns repeated perpetually but thanks to the crushing thrash influence, they are saved and evolve into something which will most definetely want you to band your head to. The album scarcely borders on death metal, and that sound is accustomed the most in the vocal delivery. The vocalist plays a harsh game, and sounds totally throaty. He lacks the typical extremely high-pitched and muffled sound of classic black metal vocalists but that was probably one thing that he wasn't planning to do. The vocal style has formulated a great brand, combining standard, pissed off thrash vocals with exceedingly guttural and throaty screams that rage monstrously over the concise riffage. So by sounding pretty incomplex, Dead To This World have managed to formulate their own type of blackened thrash that's most compherensible, straightforward and furious thus relentlessly bashes the listeners ears.

To label this as the most original Ep/Album would be totally wrong, but as far as the dynamics that are created go, ''Sacrifice'' blows away. All songs are straightforward and pervasive within their own walls. This isn't the most groundbraking black/thrash of the year, but with improvements, it could progress into a much more stand out album. But the main idea here is the sordid assault of blackened thrash that bursts in an absolute frenzy thus aided with a ton of ambience and aspect. So ultimately, ''Sacrifice'' is humble to both of its ancient predecessors and is a well-rounded experience for newcomers of this sub-genre, which enables the nerve cells to keep heads banging, even though the music isn't too flexible or acrobatic.

Highlights:
Satan's Storm
Altar Of Mahakali

Rating: 85,5%

Deathhammer-Onward To The Pits

While their debut remains as just another example of simplistic retro-thrash metal, Deathhammers sophomore album is a crushing monster that certainly runs in front line for the best thrash albums of the year. Deathhammer have achieved maturity and have produced a straightforward album with an evil feel to it. No bullshit, just vengeful thrash attacks played in really aggressive way. I can't say that this is the most old school sounding thrash album out there, but I am not at all complaining about that. Deathhammer have succesfully managed to eject a healthy dose of evil (a black metal edge), to their vocals and produced a prime thrash record.


As much as this record is vicious, it is also a great blend of old school speed, thrash and black metal, creating something that is fairly unique and quite energetic. This in many ways is similar to early Sodom and Kreator. The songs are fun yet totally outrageous and that alone is a factor that can pull the listener into the music. The riffs are thunderous and rapidly progress along with frequent blast beats that allow the songs to flow viscously and with ease. Deathhammer have managed to sound evil and catchy at the same time, much like recent black/heavy metaller ''Midnight'', only perhaps a little faster and thrashier. Deathhammer was able to put together a few things which quite doesen't ryme together, but despite that this record is a frantic assault of razor sharp riffage, simple yet effective and also equally old-school and evil sounding.

The cathiness of the music comes from the bluesy riffs and funky solo attitude. The tremolo-chord hybrid riffs along with the sinister black-esque vocals sum up to create a fast-paced mash up of notes and a barrage of pounding drum beats. The riffs are almost always furiuos and malevolantly fast, witha more heavy metal feel to it rather than thrash really. The song ''Emperor of Sin'' shows something quite the opposite though. It is not as straightforward or fun as the the other tracks and follow a more darkened tone in general. There are even certain doomy sections in the album to create a whole different atmosphere than the standard neck-spilitting vicious speed metal one. In this track the black metal edge of the album takes over and totally engulfs the album within a black cloak of a more complex and evil sound. The album worships well-known proto black metal acts such as Venom, Bathory and early Sodom. Though perhaps not as sordid of hefty in terms of riffage, the record has a high resemblance of the aformentioned lengends.

The vocals on this album are slightly muffled and can reach very high notes quite easily. The high-pitched and black metal influenced vocals delivery is a great spice to add to the mixture because it helps sustain a large amount of energy whenever the instrumental section starts to get repetetive, which by the way scarcely happens. The only noticible black metal influence is perhaps the vocals, because besides them, the album is pretty much plain, fast and fierce speed metal. Now the preoduction is also a nice touch, as it has a sort of old school vibe, though still managing to sound clean and audiable. The intro riff on ''Army of Death'' is like direct Venom riff because it has so much old school in it. The whole album in general may seem repetetive and similar as it progresses, but surprisingly it is able hold the level of dynamicism at a very high level. A level high enough to make a metalhead bang his head for nearly forty minutes.

At the end, I was very pleased with the results I had: Speed, evil and cathiness all in one cup, blended in a succesful way. If Deathhammer keeps this up, they might aswel get better and better with each record. While many bands sound brutally monstrous, they fail to achieve what Deathhammer have achived-fast paced music that vener ceases to entertain you. ''Onward To The Pits'' is fun, frenzied and also a great old-school speed/thrash hybrid with some unexpected influences thrown in aswel. If you dig Sodom, Midnight, Bathory, Venom, Kreator or Insinnerator then this is your thing.

Highlights:
Fullmoon Sorcery
Voodoo Rites
Emperor Of Sin
Seduced By The Flames

Rating: 89%

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