Terrorist - And Then Life Was Death [2013]

Terrorist are one of the better, if not more memorable groups of the black/thrash revival of the last few years. Surely, you've heard of their sound before, nothing quite out of the ordinary; sweltering drum work, voracious riffs that both seethe and tear your flesh apart, and the horrendous, reverb-doused gutturals that reek of a certain resonant Australian bliss you'll find pretty damn familiar. It's not like this flippant horde of cadaverous revivalists can be stopped, so the only thing left to do is to embrace the upcoming flurry. Now, it'll please you to hear that Terrorist have some history behind them; a range of demos and splits alongside a full-length, which, despite being heralded as nice addition to a collector's set of records, still hasn't got got the popularity it aimed to get, and now, the Texans are once again on the march, with a sophomore, ''And Then Life Was Death''. I too must confide that I couldn't quite find anything fresh and overly appealing, but the veritable range of gruesome lyrical content and spurious riffing still held some quality.

Listening to Terrorist is like spectating a cemetery brawl between numerous undead creeps and skeletal apparitions, even though the band's name may suggest something rather political. ''And Then Life Was Death'' is essentially a composite of the archaic thrash and death/thrash offerings of the 80's; Possessed, early Slayer, Morbid Saint, Kreator circa 1984-1986, Hellhammer at speedier gait, and the earliest reminisces of Death for the added drudge and archaic texture, but whenever it feels a little more feral, the band members may shift to something more extreme; raw, voracious outbursts that ultimately resemble Blasphemy and Bestial Warlust at their primitive height, so, despite being a rather frivolous release compared to the myriad of offerings we've heard over the last decade, its articulate attitude renders it robust. The guitars are crunchy, outrageous, even though hardly overwhelming, and they swerve alongside the rumbling drum patterns with surprising ease and flexibility, and, most important of all: clarity. The vocals, so redolent of the late 80's' black/death/thrash transition, are quite haunting and deliberately nettling (in a good way), and they intertwine with the wonderfully spurious, whammy-ridden lead sequences to produce that carnal tumult that every old school death/thrash aficionado loves.

Certain tracks (''Lord Of Deceit'') are far more attached to the black/thrash genre hybrid's speedy breed than any other track on the album, and some may be more elegiac (''Horror Rises From The Tomb''), with mid-paced proto death/doom riffing, and some may ultimately be composed of what this album is all about (''Onward Destroyer''), but the overall stench is foul, and it reeks intermittently throughout. In the end, despite its simpleminded approach, ''And Then Life Was Death'' is capable of producing major induction for the gloried of an angry, perverted headbanger, and it successfully preserves its alacrity, too. Sure, I wouldn't have minded a smidgen more variation (though the album needs a chock load of variation in order to properly stand out and cast a wider, fleshier net), and certain moments were droning gnaw, but Terrorist have the fangs long and acute enough to clench and bite into your flesh, and rip out a surprisingly exciting chunk out from the mass. The tales of the grave have once more been recounted, and I'm still having a hell of a lot fun.

Highlights:
And Then Life Was Death
Sadistic Necrophile
Hellstorm

Rating: 74%

The Beyond - Frostbitepanzerfuck [2013]

The Beyond has to be one of the less intriguing, but more frivolous bands a genuine metal audience would expect to come across with, one of the lesser groups out there with an ambition to unite the dynamic, cavorting boast of crust punk with a more speculative perspective on standardized black metal. Needless to say the Pennsylvanians are not bringing a whole pile of fresh meat to the table, but are rather resonating the nostalgic images of fans who both enjoy inundations of piercing, frigid Scandinavian black metal in its purest form; and others who just want to gyrate amid the sweaty mass of people in the mosh pit, to a severe onslaught of jumpy hardcore riffs, something quite delicious but could still be considered a throwback taking into account the number of punk/black hybrids you've listened over the course of time. But your acquaintance with this matters not, for within its restricted parameters The Beyond can still deliver what the cover art promises; a free ride on a frost-encrusted German Tiger through a wall of snow, and zombies.

Rather than fabricating a single formula and then pervading that into the entire set of songs, The Beyond divides every single track, or better yet smaller sequences into specific genres; this lessens their chance of breaking the mould, but the quartet, I'm guessing were never aiming to crush the boundaries anyway. ''Frostbitepanzerfuck'', although tending to stay inside the safe-zone,  is full-speed voracity and blasphemous anger, something that could have well fitted the roster of Hell's Headbangers due to the emergence of velocity and excess of carnal inundations that reek of both the 80's and the 90's, and the band's variations are mostly clean-cut; they manifest the bulk of their riffs through a downtrodden ambiance of crust punk with strong heavy metal inclinations and traditional raucous vocals barking, or a much heavier variety of bulldozing  black metal tremolo floods, and they have an awesome celerity that enables them to shift instantly from hymnal tremolo barrages to more spurious punk and d-beat implications, or vice-versa. It's almost as if they're indulging themselves in a staccato-like procession of style, and they pull the trigger for avid Midnight and Immortal fans alike.

Songs like ''Attack of the Zombie Brigade'' and ''Roto-Cunt'' are stronger homages to the band's older crust punk roots even though it's obvious the overall output sounds a heap heavier and crunchier than what it was meant to be, and ''The Splatterhouse Maniacs'' or the title track, despite the sheer cheese ridden all over their names, are more committed to the early to mid 90's Scandinavian scene; they're pretty accessible considering all the intricacies were formed over the beleaguered genres core tenets, and they're more effulgent than obfuscated in cold and frost really, but hell, they're still pungent enough to evoke a sense of insecurity in the listener, already taken by the velocity of the assault. And out of them all, ''Exterminate Humanity'' probably stands out the most. It's as though a smoldering wall of decompression takes over the atmosphere after such a speed-fest, and as a fervent doom fan myself I honestly loved the track. You'll hear a third timbre of the vocalist as you enter its near 5 minute ballast, a hoarser wave of growls that differ from the previous high-pitched shriek fair, and the vandals set a excellent mid to slow pace to travel at; the guitar exhibits the fundamentals of death/doom, extracting partly from Asphyx and other early Dutch doom extremists, and there's an irresistible slab of wobbly but precisely-hinted groove patterns that isntantly take over. The Beyond have certainly impressed me here, I honestly had much less expectations of them, and they shrewdly surpassed them. Omitting the final track, a devoted offering to our death/doom ancestors of circa 1988-1994, ''Frostbitepanzerfuck'', which has a clever click to it, is guaranteed pleasure for fans of Midnight, Evil Army, Children Of Technology, or such Scandinavian masters as early Enslaved, Immortal and Arckanum. Proof that industriousness on ambition is  not the only way to produce good, fresh music.

Highlights:
Necro Overload
Exterminate Humanity
Cunt-Sucking Cannibal

Rating: 77,5%

Insinnerator - Hypothermia [2012]

Any avid thrasher who's just going to ignore Insinnerator because of the cheesy cover art is simply going feel pretty damn regretful about the mistake afterwards. A little information on the band; this is a trio from Dallas, Texas, who simply loves to play frivolous retro-thrash carnage, and has established a fairly large fan base after the release of their vicious debut, ''Stalagmite Of Ice'', and enter their frigid aura, and you'll find the band to be superior to the myriad of aping contestants in the modern thrash derby, in fact, they're arguably the best pure, no-frills act around, embodying a completely skull-splattering manifestation of everything Exodus, Slayer and Vio-lence. This is basically rowdy old underground thrash buzzing with energy, with the staple influences that apply for nearly the entire thrash metal spectrum, and overall a raucous performance that's treble the rawness that Warbringer or any other over-lauded act can conjure in entire discographies.

So needles to say that ''Hypothermia'' is a rewarding experience for any thrasher seeking denim, jeans, patches and cranial compression via hammering, thundering guitar clangor. Just as you might expect, Insinnerator are purely devoted to the riffs. Well, not exactly purely. I'd say 95% of the music is an angry, rambunctious manifest meaty Bay-Area styled riffing, meaning a storm of entirely volatile bullets, churning up as the raw production quality grants a hefty dose of noise, all rapidly fleeing through the album's resonant velocity, and the remaining 5% percent is a small but entertaining endeavor to enhance the ambiance. Originally, the trio bored no such feature as to adorn their frivolity with a somewhat ''evil'' aura, but here, they're more punctilious about injecting something extra in the mix, which becomes even more evident in certain brooding passages, like in the title track, nearly three minutes confided to the icy, atmospheric glimmer that, though two pale blue album covers has become the band's unique, gelid image, and they even tend to decorate those tranquil sequences with wonderful Spanish guitars.

But otherwise, Insinnerator stay at the highest tempo, at all times. So fast, in fact, that I sometimes mistake the violent attribution of speed for something more crossover-related, particularly the speed devils Wehrmacht, but far more consistent, pummeling and punishing through the immensely jagged bulk of a tone of the guitar. There's also some technical prowess to be noted, which, unlike some other aspects stayed stable, but nonetheless bring an even more gritty edge to the riffs, as if bits an pieces were extracted from ''Energetic Disassembly'' era Watchtower or German tech-thrash crudities Toxin and Toxic Shock, or early Megadeth if you want a more accurate comparison. Finally, ''Brutal'' Ben's vocal delivery has stepped up a notch since I heard them on the debut, fitting much better into the vibrant crunch of the coarse riffing. Granted, you won't be astounded by what you hear on ''Hypothermia'', that much is clear, but through a ton of swerve, nerve and battering bombast, it succeeds where many of its counterparts failed; an utterly blissful paradise of riffs for the fervent thrasher.

Highlights:

Curse (Horror Of Dracula)

Elemental Ice Dragon

Pentagram 

Rating: 80%

Hemotoxin - Between Forever... And The End [2013]

When Hemotoxin's 2012 demo, ''Divinity In Torture'' first reached my ears, it was hardly a huge appeal to me, nothing more of a technical showdown of various thrash and death metal influences crammed into one versatile package with the energy of youth exploding all over the demo. Enter 2013, though, you get the chance to be acquainted with the California death/thrashers' debut full-length, and what's truly intriguing is that by barely tweaking the main colors of previous formula, the band has managed to capture a far more diverse spectrum of riffs, a consistent assembly, thus raising the overall quality by heaps, where you'd imagine they would continue the same way. Hemotoxin have plunged right into complete tech-death/thrash territory here, and they've opened themselves a wider range of musical preferences by doing so, and they've no doubt started to harness sustenance from different sources in contrast to their previous ''Human'' era Death worship, embodying a brazen, even forlorn tinge into their technical rehash, even though the album is quite devoid of anchor.

This is still essentially a homage to ''Human'', that much is overly blatant when glimpse at their cover of ''Suicide Machine'', and you could still call this old school, spraying the listener with a bevy of churning, palm-muted tech-thrash fluctuations that should hold some appeal even to fans of purer, straightforward Bay-Area acts like Vio-lence, Metallica and Blind Illusion, but as much as ''Between Forever...'' strains to rekindle the underground love for Atheist, Death circa 1991-1993, early Pestilence or Dutch obscures Thanatos, they're inevitably malcontent with the overall technical proficiency those aforementioned bands have intact, so about a quarter of this disc belongs to a marginally more modern effulgence, say, Cynic or late  Gorguts perhaps. They're not shy in hiding their obvious influences, the Chuck Shuldiner-like inflection, polished production, and frothing, gradually culminating riff-fests that just overtly display a mesh of ubiquitous tech-death chomps and raging death/thrash affairs. The songs are fairly variant, but each manifest through an equal measure of raw excitement and less frivolous dual guitar harmonies. Hemotoxin are truly busy with everything they do, and that's what I love about this album. The absolute best song here is ''Autophagy'', which was originally released in last year's ''Divinity In Torture'' demo; a hungry, immensely prehensile palette of convoluted riffing played an grindcore-speed, so angry and stocked with intricacy that I felt I was witnessing Sinister, Vendetta, Death, Vio-lence, early Pestilence and Atheist simultaneously.

''Between Forever...'' deserves much praise, and particularly because it had no gigantic flaw. Alright, I'll confide that despite the avidity I hold for these tech-y riffs they weren't deviating from their sources, and hell, I even heard similar riffing from recent acts like Skeletal Remains, but that aside, my biggest complaint was the production values. Even though it was solid, I couldn't quite hear the drums rolling and thundering under the excessively audible wail of the guitars, as if nearly the entire meat of the album was bestowed on the chugging ferocity of the guitars, and I would have preferred some spidery hooks rather than the polished font of the record: you see, the quality of the production is more fit for something worshiping, say, Cryptopsy or Necrophagist, and the riffs aren't mature enough to bear that sort of complexity, which means a rougher, crooked crack in the production would have been a better choice, even when Hemotoxin seldom dive into utopian territory with their simultaneously epitomizing guitar harmonies.

In general, though, the Californians' product is utterly convincing, vigorous and fierce, something I'd easily choose over some of the worse efforts of the aforementioned mavens. ''Between Forever...'' sustains mobility, has an extensive range of riffs that they interpret into their own multi-dimensional contours, and despite the relatively lengthy leap it took towards more technical borders, still remains fresh with primordial, bristling anger. It's quite palpable that they quartet are still playing it somewhat safe, and they'll do wonders if they could incorporate such primal competence as they exhibited here into an even busier ebullition of tech-death avidity. Easily recommended for fervent tech-death/thrashers of any sort - if you enjoy any of the labels above then you'll have no problem liking this.

Highlights:
Autophagy
Divinity In  Torture
Confined To Desolation

Rating: 85%

Evil Army - I, Commander [2013]

I'm actually quite surprised how Evil Army's self titled debut didn't blow off the roof for avid thrashers; it was certainly one of the first records that initiated the retro-thrash movement by being released in 2006, back when Warbringer was still desperately in search of a label, and besides, it was a relatively fun experience to be had, with its maelstrom of nailing speed/thrash confrontations swiping you off the ground with old school-drenched craze. Probably due to the little publicity they attained through their feral debut, the band stayed pretty stable though the next six years, but in an abrupt rush, the group sings with Hell's Headbangers, one of the best possible harbors for unadulterated grime-soaked punk thrashers such as themselves, and they give us this little EP, ''I, Commander'', a smidgen of taste extracted from a potential sophomore from the same label, and, well, Evil Army is exactly what Evil Army was years ago, so don't get your hopes too high for this one.

Perhaps ''I, Commander'' is one of the more purely biased thrash releases out there today, and it's probably a big ''fuck you'' in the face of the massing party thrasher hordes, but in all honesty it does not provide anything vital, not even for the most fervent of thrashers. I'd say the band's real bulk of influences are tied to their obsession with the mid-late 80's speed/thrash dominants of the East Coast, but they also possess a wild lewdness that should rivet the attention of early Kreator and Sodom fans, and thankfully, Evil Army, while still failing to circumvent redundancy, sustains a good amount of professionalism through the mastering hands of thrash maven Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust, who has successfully blended a cavorting gush of unhinged speed/thrash riffs with a vile Teutonic truculence. One more appeal the EP should have is its demo authenticity. Lower the distortion to a more tinny and even more unforgiving volume and you've practically got yourself a lost gem from the States circa 1986-1988.

The band's progression is as you may expect; they converse each track with a mouthful of loathing, carnal ammunition, decrepit drum beats pulsing from behind, a fairly audible bass that only bobs along to the momentum, and the vocalist's throaty inflection that could only be ripped from usual German suspects, and they end each of the three tracks the same way the commence them. They've even put some swerving whammy-oriented leads here and there, but in all, their main focus remains unchanged. These are just a bunch of vandals who strip thrash from all of its adornments, leaving it only with the dry, residual sustenance that keeps it alive, and then play the riffs exactly by the book, which means chock loads grinding, frenetic riffing after riffing, leather, boots and bullet belts ahoy. There's nothing wrong about this, you can be sure of that, but unless you're desperately floundering for another kick of nostalgia, I think modern multi-faceted thrashers such as Vektor, Hexen or Immaculate are more likely to captivate you. Certainly a solid 8 minutes of run-time, but nothing too convincing if you're all too well acquainted with acts like Toxic Holocaust, Children Of Technology, Fueled By Fire, Speedwolf, etc.

Highlights:
I, Commander
I Must Destroy You

Rating: 70%

Terminate - Ascending To Red Heavens [2013]

It seems that the majority of current death metal cannibals have established a single, extensive portal into Sweden and the USA circa 1988-1992, and what's more is that only a fragment of these bands, captivated by their olden grotesques and incubators are able to shift into a slightly more modern, sensible form of death metal on which to both exorcise and enlarge the ideas who's footings were founded by giants such as Dismember, Autopsy, Entombed, Pestilence, and so forth. Truly, is there no way to diminish this portal? Closing it entirely would be preposterous, as even the most modern-headed death metal headbanger requires an certain proportion of archaic gore and filth, but perhaps re-sizing could indeed prove efficient, so that bands could harness from influences both old and new, therefore, revitalizing the genre's fundamentals and, at the same time stirring it with a dash from the origins. That seems like a wonderful idea, yet there is one tiny hindrance.

We don't possess the portal's key.

Thus, this leads us to yet another act who's motto is chainsaws and bloodied murk; Terminate. In all honesty, I'm one of the lesser scoffers of this OSDM revival. I've enjoyed a copious quantity of such acts as Chapel of Disease, Feral, Evocation, Hail Of Bullets, Banished From Inferno, Entrails, etc, to a certain frivolous extent, and I still do, as you can see. Terminate isn't actually a newcomer to my spacious array of acts, as I've been acquainted with the Illinois four-piece ever since the release of their EP ''Thirst For The Obscene'', which was a ravenous, competent mash of typically busy, atonal chainsaw guitars and now the group has an even larger stock pf ammunition in their hands; a debut through the death/grind entrepreneurs Selfmadegod Records. Terminate, despite the blatancy of their influences, put out a solid performance here, with uproarious guitars that have trebled in murkiness since their EP, flushing into standard tremolo-laced Swedish death metal riffing, but at the same time, the band likes to discover somewhat different paths every now and then, revisiting Autopsy, as made evident of the sheer depth of the vocals colliding with more spidery guitar lurches, Terrorizer, and even, to my surprise, some Finnish culprits such as Convulse or Abhorrence. Sure, it's rare, but I did like tinging brood of Finnish dourness, haunting the Dismember-esque tremolos.

The band is also fairly potent in infusing their squalid testament with a pinch of musical elegance. That's why I hear a little bit of early Pestilence buried in there, but naturally, the band's foremost ideology is to cultivate densely packed chainsaw apertures, which have an even grindcore-like momentum to them, pretty much like the recent Humanity Delete, only more sludgy. And I suppose John Porada's vocal presence is noteworthy enough, as he exhales a better low-register vocal spurt than many of his kin. ''Ascending To Red Heavens'' is just another bulk of regurgitating disgust that showers us with puke and ghastliness the millionth time, but still does not fail to generate a completely robust formula, one who's portal's function has been fixated long ago. I suppose Terminate are just another act who'd rather bend the knee and continue to shred bodies with crude chainsaws, rather than some of the most renowned OSDM death metal groups out there. Worth a good many runs if you're hungry for bones and flesh, and quite solid otherwise.

Highlights:
Answered In Lead
Numb
Rotten Dead Mass

Rating: 75%

Black Table - Sentinel [2012]

No one could have guessed the sheer compelling enigma of Black Table's meticulously balanced EP ''Sentinel'', its genuine manic genius, and its ability to exhibit a remarkably well-anchored post-rock amalgamated with discordant black metal which bears resemblance to that of Deathspell Omega in its cajoling poignancy, ultimately forging an implement that can ship any band from the deep bowels of obscurity to a bright future of striving excellence. For a band who's ingeniously prehensile fabrication lies in the very heart of their ambitious youth rather than a decade or two of seasoned experience, ''Sentinel'' is an unforgiving, highly innovative concussion of core tenets that, after a dozen sessions of dichotomy, automatically burst into an entirely extensive, all-out combustion, simply a maniacal musical achievement that could be belabored for a long time.

As far as I can see, the reason why I'm gravitated so much towards ''Sentinel'' is because it takes the experimental metal niche to a different edge, imparting a melodious, kinetic poignancy to the already an already refine style and spending the entire twenty four minutes of run time bedecking that formula. It's almost as if the group is cultivating a heavier, richer soil for the post-rock formula to be placed in, and the same time, I get a strong technical sludge vibe striding from the band's penchant for strolling into staccatos and slumping extreme metal orchestrations, and like the gleaming grandeur of the sun-bright cover, they inject a heaping doze of eccentricity into the level of extremism, rendering it completely accessible and mature throughout. The riffs are manic, sporadic and totally dispersed around the EP, and the guitars are outstandingly prominent with their switches and convoluted twists snapping around in every direction; there's a tremendous amount of variation in here, more than most young talents can cram into twenty four minutes, and what's more is that they're their volatility does not turn the momentum into a hodgepodge of mass technical confusion for the listener.

The guitars were the main highlight yes, but the static wave of mournful female vocals was no doubt punctilious implement in conjuring the droning, sorrowful ambiance of the record. Mers Sumida's shrieks are of a an incredibly low-pitched atonement, and she applies them sporadically, adding an almost raw black metal appeal to the amalgamation at times, especially when the guitars switch to more carnal, rabid riffing, but somehow the overall pulchritude of the performance mars the band from plunging into a more aggressive effulgence, thus, ''Sentinel's'' excellence becomes evident. Judging by the density of sorrow on the whole EP I imagine the band was trying to depict rustic images and landscapes conjured by, say, Drudkh, Burzum, Blut Aus Nord without their industrialized tendencies, but then again there's an emergent surge for jumping from one riff to another, which proves that Black Table are endeavoring for something truly different than their peers. Hybridized, obfuscated, dour experimental excellence which my only gripe would be the brevity of the material, so I'll more than sure to check out any upcoming releases from these black metal lab rats.

Highlights:
Heist 
Sentinel
To Tear Down
1942

Rating: 87,5%

Gruesome Stuff Relish - Sempiternal Death Grind [2013]

I had a nice run with Spain last year: Ataraxy, Necroven, Proclamation, Tsar Bomb, Mass Burial, and Banished From Inferno's excellent ''Minotaur'' the year before to top it off. So, naturally, the same kind of aping that was previous nearly exclusive to the States, Australia and Finland has swollen, and tumor-like, the Spanish death metal scene today has grown into a feral, rehashing mega-factory that commits its self to nothing what their masters Entombed, Dismember, Autopsy, Death and Bolt Thrower succeeded circa 1988-1993, and yet another protuberance in the ever widening arboretum of old school death and grind emerges; Gruesome Stuff Relish. Let me just make it clear that Gruesome Stuff Relish are hardly confronting the laws of physics as far as grinding chainsaw buzz goes, and this could have easily been the sophomore album for Rogga Johansson's newly born Humanity Delete if you exchanged the deep inflection for a sneering timbre of frivolous voracity, barking about.

Their sophomore was entirely dedicated to Terrorizer, Carcass and Repulsion, a bludgeon of Swedish chainsaw anchoring the barricade of riffs, but the Spaniards expend their retinue to a somewhat higher level here, enriching the chord patterns by letting a manifest of melody and crunchiness gush through the gory, bloody context as if the caveman's wooden bat earned itself a few sharpened nails along the way. Gruesome Stuff Relish have surprisingly prominent dominance over their dynamics, forging carnal tunes that could not only revive a band of decapitated zombies but also has a certain beat to it, which means they've stepped up their game by a margin, introducing even more accessible guitars that rip with a horrendously sodden chomp, catchy grooves, and the vocals, all gurgles and snares. One thing that I found rather queer was the band's aural preferences along the way. ''Sempiternal Death Grind'' is all bones and decomposed corpses from start to finish, but I found them to have growing sympathy for more spectral, doom-laden moments - well not exactly doom like, but rather a sludgier gait - wherein the band jumps right into a hollow, eager to deliver the murk with higher resonance. Something that we're experiencing way too frequently these days.

Like most death/grind acts, Gruesome Stuff Relish have their ambient passages of multiple subjects circulating through horror and zombies rising from their graves, a little addition to the music that should be able to draw some attention for fans of spurious horror. This record was certainly a point earned for the group, but it's still not as strong as some of the major usurpers of gore and horror, and the Spaniards definitely have a long way to get there. I was hoping that they could rend the atmospheric inclination they showed here even more discernible to something that I at least favor more than straightforward, pulsing grindcore, but hell, even if I don't get my wish we've still got a dozen of worthy headbanging material, with an equal amount of horror segments attached to it. ''Sempiternal Death Grind'' is embracing the 80's in both ways. Just grab some popcorn and plug the headphones in. You won't regret it, not for a couple of spins, anyway.

Highlights:
S.O.S
Deadlicious Feas
Sex Drugs and Grind

Rating:  73%

Ævangelist - De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis [2012]

It has now become inevitable for any fervent old school death/black metal listener to encounter at least half a dozen acts that have enough blasphemous energy enough to fuck you up and toss you from side to side as if being churned inside a bartender's cup, along with the gruesome contents of the drink; viscera and subterranean effigies of obscurity. Ævangelist, however, although obviously up to an extent, fits the category of archaic Incantation worships, does not quite rock the listener as its counterparts do. Teaming up with the obscure I, Voidhanger Records they round up some of the most dissonant and abysmal content that one can imagine of; a shrewd yet completely hostile entity rearing in the depths of your subconscious and gushing out in carnal, experimental death metal oblivion; a terrifying experience that will need to dwell in your nightmares for utmost apprehension.

The debut by this mortuary ascension is wholly consuming. Matron Thorn, the delusional brains behind the entire darkened orchestra leads his pack to a tremendous, utterly compelling atmospheric triumph. As a man who has played in such acts as Leviathan and Benighted In Sodom, his transitions of experimental, immensely aural conflagrations seem almost as a natural tendency after years of experience from acts prior to this. The guitars follow well-structured textures through grating, submerged deliverance and they sprout from each other like minions spawning from their primordial cocoons and tearing, smothering each other into sensational, discomfiting oblivion, while the experimental quadrant of the album lies in one very simple but continuous surge of engrossing synthesizers, probably the band's biggest and most crucial implement in forming up the ambiance. The drums stampede amid the reverb-bathed carnage around them, and their crushing prominence add a certain muscular pattern to this nightmarish assembly.

Over the Internet, I've seen numerous comparisons, relating ''De Masticatione...'', or better yet Ævangelist, to Portal, an association I can only find inaccurate due to certain facts. Portal had  gritty and overly cantankerous textures that boasted of nothing but downright miserable noise, whereas Ævangelist definitely has a more accessible output. Additionally, part of Ævangelist's refined sound comes from their excessive usage of proto-brutal death metal aesthetics fitting over an outing of Incantation-like miasma and ambiance as I have noted above, and Portal always sounds ear-scratching; the guitars here are built for smoldering; not nettling. The only exception here is the nine-minute experimental monolith ''Hierophant Disposal Facility'', which, by lurching upon blotted ears, unites Ævangelist's own experimental speculation with nefarious industrial elements; an instrumental affair that brings the band's discordant evil to perfection.

Thus, settling upon my subconscious like some spectral ghoul from the weirdest corner of the netherworld, Ævangelist has convinced me beyond belief. Obviously, my love for ''De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis'' is not strengthened by the somewhat mainstream catchiness it possesses, but by the psychotic trance it bestows on me whilst these convulsions are processed. I shall herald this as one of my favorites in not just similar atmospheric/experimental death metal groups moving about but also as one of the greatest metal releases the year has to offer us. If you too are a sucker for such immensities, then let the spectral bombast circulate through your nervous system and witness the meaning of dreary terror as it provokes innumerable nightmares. Good night.

Highlights:
Hierophant Disposal Facility
Pendulum

Blood & Darkness
Death Illumination

Rating: 92,5%

Sathanas/The Spawn Of Satan - Spawn Of Satan/Sathanas

Ouch. Christianity just got pounded. And it's all thanks to the newest duo the devilish heavy metal capital Hell's Headbangers offers Satan as sacrifice. Up to a certain extent these two impious US blackened death/thrash fugitives offer a fairly exciting, competent and even fierce release, and I'm also considering the amount of experience behind each band, since both have their beginnings dated back to the late 80's and also considering Sathanas has a total of eight albums at the ready to unleash upon mankind like some hungry mega-pack of hellhounds, but to be sure, we've tasted the same razing death/thrash frivolity a good number of times, whether it be from modern tyrants Crucified Mortals, Destroyer 666, Vomitor, Hellbringer, Mongrel's Cross or olden pundits such as Possessed, Venom, Slayer early Death and so on. So I now welcome you to yet another of of the Devil's unbridled minions.

It seems though each band only had the counterparts sufficient to compose one song, which is, in a way, better for my cause, because I won't bored to submission by continual hellish extirpation. The irony is that the entire veteran prowess that Sathanas has comes from their single-minded dedication to their own work, while their split-mate consists of members from more major acts, including the infamous Nunslaughter and Derketa even. Nonetheless, let's not divide the two because of their personal differences, after all, both don't seem far too apart from Nunslaughter's aesthetics, and both, as given on this split can hardly be considered mavens of their own distinct uniqueness. TSOS prefers a more meaty crust on their addition to the split, ''Ritual Murder'', deliberately channeling typical early 90's/late 80's death/thrash worship with chunky guitars bashing all the way through the ritualistic, devil-worshiping colostomy. I'll admit, it's hard to break the good old habit of subterranean tremolo patterns laced with a bit of blackened ambiance, but come on, this is something we've heard one too many times - even other side of the split, Sathanas does a better job at keeping the listener constantly awake.

Sathanas basically pushes the whole blackened death/thrash niche a little further, but still hardly enough for it to deviate from the previous effort. It's more of a concoction of classic German and Australian savagery, flesh-stripping and blasting and there's a nice little twist of Norwegian black metal, at least a pinch of what the Scandinavian grande had in store back in the early 90's, early Darkthrone and perhaps early Mayhem; the atmospheric glory of things unfortunately expunged from the simplistic textures. I can safely say, this isn't novelty of any kind. Structural preference is unequivocal, memorability almost non-existent and the energy is only enough to inject a dose of headbanging pleasure that should last no more than fifteen minutes. Nonetheless, this is still a decent collection piece for vinyl freaks, die-hards or goat worshiping thrashers, so they might as well attain this, at their own expense.

Highlight:
Unholy Eternal

Rating: 69%

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%

Burning Shadows - Gather, Darkness!

It's always to come across new power metal gems whilst reluctantly weeding through heaps of death metal groups, and one of my latest findings is the Maryland heavy/power quartet Burning Shadows, and their sophomore ''Gather, Darkness!''. To be sure, many who first encountered the group might have actually tossed them far off due to multiple reasons: fear of a generic output, dissatisfaction from the debut records, or simply the fact that the band is not tied together with a label might put off the more spoiled of listeners, yet I, from the very start had a burning desire to contemplate the semi-shadowy aesthetics of this war-arousing bulk of a record. There are many reasons why one might have been drawn to this album while still under the encapsulating tenor of agitation, but I'll only be focusing on the content now; so fear not, we have some damnably solid material here.

Musically, the riffs proceed with simple progressions during verse sequences and there's always a strong war-ensemble worship going on; traits that have been obviously snatched from  European power metal legends, Manowar, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Helloween and lesser dose of US power metal influences, like Griffin, Fates Warning and Jag Panzer, and the band's biggest talent aesthetically is forming thick layers of multi-riff bombardments and adjoining with those of of a more atmospheric, epic tangent, tightly composed structures balancing the who place. Simplistic melodies are used often enough, adorned with a pummeling percussive rhythm system to keep the swing at full momentum, and furthermore, compositions are near-drowning because the album is basically divided three burdened tracks ranging at over ten minutes each, separated into briefer segments, so there's always the risk of the instrumental parts immersing you into boredom, but surprisingly, culminating with a blast of fresh, dark aura, sturdy performance and solid riffs, banality is hardly the case.

Tom Davy has an incredibly accessible and clear vocal performance the whole way through. His voice supports clarity and no matter how the guitars shift from thrashy plummets to atmospheric, mood-laden melody explosions, his tone implies a certain strictness, very neutral, and thanks to him the band is never driven into a cadaverous stupor, or suffers from the entry of any sort of derision. In spite of the general lack of power metal surreal overdose, Burning Shadows still has a handful of tricks; on ''Man From Myth'', for instance, you have a very epic rupture of darkness pervaded by the lyrics and a very catchy range of riffs to support it, and upon further inspection, you'll find yourself deeply immersed in a saturating, straightforward black metal dispersion, which, when enforced by the dazzling enigma of wah-wah pedal, sounds absolutely captivating.

There are still tons of bands in today's scene which deserve attention, and this four-piece is on of them. Whether you had frivolous fun on the debut or not, if you're into carnal thrash excavations and the beautiful clash of melody against ambiguity, you need to grab a banner from the local medieval items stores, rally your bannerman and lead the battle against whatever evil dwells in your neighborhood, ''Gather, Darkness!'' blasting out of the steroids behind you. Colorful and solemn.

Night, with the darkness falling
Hand of Sathanas reigning down
Upon this coven
Bred in secrecy
To the wrath of God we pledge
Suffering and agony
Blessed by the will to end this tyranny

Highlights:

To Ruin & Divide: Kingdoms Fall

To Ruin & Divide: Man From Myth

A Thousand Lies: A New Dark Age

Braking The Sanctuary: The Infamous Down

Rating: 85%

Skeletal Remains - Beyond The Flesh

Ever since the release of their debut demo ''Desolate Isolation'', Skeletal Remains has been a band that I've pursued eagerly, awaiting for a fresh, vivid new carnage to leap out of the bush and pummel me into gory, sublime submission, and shortly after the demo, the German old school fervent FDA Recotz bring us the band's debut album, ''Beyond The Flesh'', which is a record I can firmly label as fleshy and vivacious, beefy fucking death metal with a jumpy, crushing groove do it that simply outsmarts the more casual tenets of all the Incantation/Dismember gimmicks emerging amid cavernous brute force. These Californians have specifically appealed to me (and probably other metalheads who find the current death metal trends redundant) due to the influences they pick while churning out their cajoling compositions of flesh. 

Instead of massing riffs akin to ''Onward To Golgotha'' or ''Left Hand Path'', there's a tremendous amount of Pestilence worshiping here, much more prevalent and meticulously formulated than you might think; and entire arsenal of heavyweight chunks and grooves with plummeting drum pattern stretched over it, and moreover, while a the band securely unleashes punishing ''Consuming Impulse''-esque riffs, the anatomy also incorporates plenty of early Death for that gnarly, feverishly vile ebullition of rot and bile, traditional Floridian brutality a la Brutality or Malevolent Creation, hints of Nocturnus circa 1990, and I even tend to hear that gritty technical output of death metal I always hear of Atrocity's brilliant debut, ''Hallucinations''. Surgical technical death/thrash exhumations will usually work as the main progression implement while the wretched Van Drunnen gutturals spurt vitriol all over the place, and to imbue their morbid excavations with a little bit of melody, you'll occasionally be taken with dazzling, blazing lead tides, sweeping with intense, profound melody.

Although this will drive the classic headbanging death metal freak absolutely frantic, one, admittedly can't get too pensive about the characteristics of these frivolous tracks. The monotony is relatively less compared to many of its contemporaries thanks to the clinical attitude and the adventurous ruptures leading the charge with spurious energy, but repetition may still be a semi-hindrance for those who are more considerate about music. True, such expunging angry discharges like ''Extirpated Vitality'' have the potential to obliterate and arouse plenty of attention to use as a sustenance, but the overall quality still needs a little more variation throughout in order to keep the flesh rotten all the time. Ignoring this, ''Beyond The Flesh'' is a better and much less appalling experience than the music critic could ever hope for, and as for critic/die-hard fan hybrids like me, it simply kicks copious amounts of ass. 

Highlights:

Sub-Zero Termination

Reconstructive Surgery

Extirpated Vitality

Rating: 84%

Lich King - Born Of The Bomb

So exposed to the crestfallen miasma of countless darkened grotesqueries and so spoiled to fervor-riddled old school death metal and retro-thrash throwbacks boasting the boisterous concoctions of modernity and archaic demonstrations of the olden acts that we've been utterly blinded by a stockpile of dirt and irrelevancy, which has blotted our sight for far too long. Given so many contenders impetuously entering the all-out assault, I've found weeding through the plentiful quantities and acquiring distinct quality to be one of the most arduous tasks of all, and yet sometimes, you get an abrupt, unexpected blast of fresh air in your face, arousing hope for today's metal trends. I'm well acquainted with Tom Martin's fellowship of thrash, Lich King, mainly because the continuous applause they're earning throughout the modern battlefield of thrash, relentlessly releasing new material, thrash after thrash, and yet, amid the ingenious tactics used to construct the band's latest effort, ''Born Of The Bomb'', I have to confide that I never had any kind of adoration for the band.

Before the release of this record, I had no reverence for the act, even less love for their cheesy zombie/nuclear devastation themes, and even if they excluded the lyrical antics from their compositions, the music was simply not diverse enough to appease me. What possible difference did the band have among tens and thousands of fresh act joining the resurgence orgy? None. And yet, ironically, ''Born Of The Bomb'' doe not really expand the band's parallel focus on thrash metal either. So why is it much more satisfying? I honestly have no idea. What was, to hundreds of Lich King fans worldwide, a simple, positive improvement and an advancement with nuances towards a robuster formula, to me, feels as if the pace has increased dramatically, stepping up from night, to day. I can't find a logical explanation for this brusque change of mind, but I believe this is mainly because the band has evolved into a more mature act, more serious, more professional, while still letting a bit of that beer-riddled guitar craze flow out of the band's harsh, street-bound  veins. In my obstinate persistence, I also believe that now, the band has truly found the sound they had been seeking for long years.

The entire record reeks of Vio-lence, Morbid Saint, Demolition Hammer, Exodus, and any other Bay Are oriented acts you can imagine. What the band aims with their developed formula, is something a little deeper than their previous efforts, as the band gives equal weight to various elements throughout to support the color of the album. Pure destruction and thrash driven wreckage is not the only target the vandals have hung on to, it seems, though surprisingly, it's one aspect that has improved. Immediately after the opener, ''All Hail'', ''We Came To Conquer'' literally collapses on the listener like rain of serrated sharp boulders, plummeting out of the sky, and unto the perplexed mass of people. The band's structural prose does not depend on the same, verse-chorus pattern anymore, as well; instead, some of the more harmonious blends like ''Agnoticism'' have a crude melodious captivity to them, which can instantly hook the listener. Tom Martin, whose vocal style I have scoffed at many times, is fucking mad, and the guy could have easily led men to battle while tearing down hunks of flesh with a wicked two-sided battleaxe.

I'm much more pleased with this record that I though I would be, and given that it's clearly one of the best pure thrash records the year has offered us up to this point, I think it deserves a good many accolades. Really, I would prefer the olden masters over the countless gimmicks anytime, but they are a few acts, or albums that I sometimes find myself liking more than several old school releases. This is definitely a nice addition to that list. May them never decline.

Highlights:
Agnoticism 
Combat Mosh
We Came To Conquer

Rating: 85,5%

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%

Eugenic Death - Crimes Against Humanity

Honestly, I have had only one major disappointment for 2012; few or no quality thrash. As thrash is probably my favorite metal genre (and the reason I initiated this blog at the start) I kind of had high expectations for 2012, since 2011 delivered of volley of excellent solid releases, Insinnerator, Antichrist, Warbringer and Vektor being just a few of the copious list. It is great adverse that I was acquainted with few or no thrash acts that actually stood out, and many of those bands have aesthetics almost directly concerning other genre, such as a couple of tremendous black/thrash releases I've come across so far. And yet, I'm still content to see fresher peers emerging out of the woodwork to join the garrulous quarrel of riffs and frenzy, a brisk wave of bands keeping entirely true to their olden bloodline; bands like Eugenic Death. This North Carolina quartet play bare bones, no-bullshit thrash that's catchy, effort-riddled, strict and yet still fun, and most important of all, it's angry, so rest assured; you won't be suffering boredom from crazed motor-charged  punk drunkards on this one.

The fact that Eugenic Death are redolent of death metal half as much as they reek of old school thrash, is a good thing. The band congeals the two elements to form a sordid death/thrash hybrid, something that's not only pretty strict and tempered but also, in a way, different, and these so-called death/thrash aesthetics remind me of some of my favorite death/thrash acts of the 90's and late 80's, such as old Necrodeath, Ripping Corpse, Massacra, Cancer, and some obvious brutal thrash outfits like Dark Angel, Morbid Saint and Demolition Hammer, and even a few minor tweaks concerning the rippling eloquence and raw ferocity of the Bay Area thrash bands - a well selected and robust combo. You'll hear you typical, carnal thrash chugs and progressions, briskly hurrying alongside a precise drum beat, and there's even a subtext of vile melodies swinging by to invigorate the momentum. Much of the riffs have a somewhat ''street'' sound to them, which probably comes from the dirtiness of that meaty overtone, but striking excreta doesn't just rush hastily into truculent combat, as if vaporizing into some frenetic rupture, but keeps true to a certain formula, to a certain stance, when you find yourself between a volley of vigorous thrash attacks, you can't help but have a hell of a time, right?

The vocals also embrace that dirty street feel of the album. They're harsh, raging just like the guitars, and somewhat bulbous in the delivery. Hovering over the sordid dynamics going on under, they serve their purpose well, and that's all that can be said about them. I sure am glad I was acquainted with Eugenic Death and ''Crimes Against Humanity'', because these madmen simply charge and punch you right in the face with a big ''Fuck you'', and then they just leave you there to rot. I'm not the keenest supporter of this thrash revival, because with so many unnecessary acts emerging, it's more and more agitating, yet I'm glad there are a few non-drunkards around like Eugenic Death who can deliver that mortal breath of fresh air just in the right time, and you know, this isn't extremely original either, but it's not another blast of cheesy histrionics, and believe me, I'm thankful for that.

Highlights: 
Plagued By Ignorance
The Devil Waits
Crimes Against Humanity

Rating: 84%

Chaos Inception - The Abrogation

I'm certainly not a fan of the brutal/technical death metal bands the scene is so prolific in, I've never been, and I've disdained the majority of such bands, except Suffocation's first two albums. The aesthetics of brutal/technical death metal bands sound nothing more than meager, frivolous assaults of  speedy contempt, flaunting off their musical proficiency by delivering ultimately exuberant barrages of meaningless noise and chords. Even though I highly dislike bands in this vein, particularly the mid-90's USDM scene, Chaos Inception create such a formula of malevolently bestirred early 90's USDM with  certain modern traits that I can'T help but enjoy its heinous, ruinous force. In every way possible, the band's moniker and the album title live up for their name, creating a chaotic oblivion of fiery, destructive power, making it nearly impossible to say no to its massive winds of devastation, and in addition, I was content that the band lyrical focus wasn't any thing gore-oriented.

Each song is as laconic as it can get, keeping the maelstrom of bullets quick, but extremely decisive, never crossing the four-minute boundary. The first track I heard, the title track seemed almost too fast for me. A burden of smothering, smearing tremolos danced around me feverishly, engulfing my flesh as if to consume it by eroding it with a numbing cluster of monstrous drum beats battering down  my bones, and a swirling whirlwind of tremolo laced sweep leads shredded me to mere scraps of flesh and bone - destructive annihilation. With everything crammed into a brief thirty-one minute length, the intensity seems like short trip, but exceedingly explosive all the same. Torrential  spirals of radiant tremolos and incising, mathematically-forged note patterns already form an intense grooving chaos, and as if that wasn't enough, the bullet storm exceeds with inhuman drum arrangements. Moreover, the tracks are linked together with links, and so the the energy jumps from one wagon to another without even giving the listener a second to breathe, colliding into each other, producing static, abrogating extermination.

The level of frenzied violence is probably the only thing the album has to offer, and frankly, it's the only thing I  came for. The vocals, are somewhat dominant over a less overt dark side of the spectrum, which can be interesting to channel alongside the riffs. Queerly, their delivery doesn't quite fit your classic USDM bill. They're low, almost down tuned, if I may be so bold, and over the matrix of frenetic artillery incursions, it's pretty hard to hear them, and sometimes, like on ''Black Blood Vortex'' they take on a sinister, snarly hue, wrenching out ultimately guttural and gnarl-inflected shrieks. As for the formula, I believe there's ''Altars Of Madness'' in the base of everything, but the bands continuation after that is not entirely predictable; there's some classic USDM worshiping, and some modern inclinations that bring the muscular dependency to power of course, but dissonant sound waves are also heard often as not, which makes me thing there's some sort of  thin cloth of Incantation underneath. ''The Abrogation'', is, obviously not entirely original an album, but its flurries, its violent tumult erupting abruptly - they all lead to the verdict that Chaos Inception planned something utterly disastrous and efficient, and while, as I said, this kind of death metal isn't really my cup of tea, I still enjoyed this quite a bit, even more than its influences, I must admit.

Highlights:
The Abrogation
Pazuzu Eternal
Phalanx (Tip Of The Spear)

Rating: 85%

Natur - Head Of Death

Natur rehash a somewhat less preferred side of traditional heavy metal, simply projecting the dry, semi-rambunctious aesthetics of the olden gods Maiden, Priest, Raven, Tygers of Pan-Tang, and so on. I suppose compared to the retro, almost modern sounding streams of traditional heavy metal bands this is a trend that strikes less often, though personally, I’ve never thought of the NWOBHM as genre that should be rehashed directly infatuating with its traits, but rather a strong sauce to decorate other gimmicks of influences with. Natur know the basics of the formula, and their fervour for old school metal is also a notable aspect, but eschewing anything innovative or not being able to opt from many choices will not get them much far. I like this, but it simply cannot surpass the boundaries of originality.

The main problem about Natur is that the music they produce is somewhat empty and dry. Somehow, they’ve perfected the classic chug-laden gallops, and the strict manner of riffs, with nice bluesy solos flying here and there, but the in-depth segments of the formula are amiss. Natur likes makes use of the improved amplification, swelling the tone of the guitar to a notch chunkier than usual, which is good, because now the riffs can characterize themselves by punctuating each not exuberantly, and other than that, semi-melodious intervals also tend to take the listener of sojourns of nostalgia, and thus, the drums play genuinely simple beats, but they have an earthen feel to them which makes the nostalgic trip even more evocative. These are all plus points for the band’s performance, but after a single spin, the blandness of it will become almost palpable and perhaps the blandest performance here are the vocals; the vocalist is obstinate to remain at the same tone for almost the entire duration of the album, singing very casually in a strict, almost stiff manner, and after some time their outshined delivery begins to cause umbrage.

‘’Goblin Shark’’ and ‘’Decion’’ are my favourite tracks here; they flaunt the classic image the entire album projects just as well as any other song on the album, but they’ve got a reasonable and almost quality essence, especially on the chorus section of ‘’Decion’’, where the album arguably reaches its climax with a semi-epic, sing-along structure. The band is probably much more potent than they show on this album, but for some reason they’ve released merely a tidbit of what they can pen, leaving the inmost essence of the album mostly empty, simple and predictable. It’s an enjoyable album for only when you’re at a rigorous state, and while it still had its ephemeral moments of glimmering quality, it didn’t make my blood run rapidly through my veins and I seldom felt excitement. It’s 1980 all over again, sadly, though, the majority of metal bands have thirty years on Natur, and the band will need to step up their game by a huge pace if they ever want to catch up after their efforts on ‘’Head Of Death’’.

Highlights:

Goblin Shark

Decion

The Messenger

Rating: 77%

Ashencult - Black Flame Gnosis

Though this may seem somewhat ignorant to many, it’s a fact I never take minor, unsigned bands too seriously, and especially if they complete newcomers to the scene; much like Philadelphia’s Ashencult.  Honestly, Dissection worshipping isn’t a thing as popular as the other trends plaguing the scene today, and for one, I’ve never quite found myself immersing in these bands, and therefore I can wholeheartedly admit that what Ashencult gouges is not just simple gimmicking, but an embellished and creative display of their love the monumental black metal act, and it’s one paean that withstands the rape of many irrelevant obstacles and clichés that generally restrict many acts from gaining and culminating their nature with full force. To sum up, Ashencult delivers a most classic edge of black metal in a robust way, pursuing near-perfection.

Watain, Sacramentum, Dissection. All are undoubtedly important pieces in the construction of Ashencult’s formula on their debut full-length ‘’Black Flame Gnosis’’, but each brick used in the architecture is doused with the band’s entertaining twists and turns, and with captivating distinction readied from the start, Ashencult sounds like an impressive congealment of multiple inflections and often it opts from its extensive set of aspects, elements and tricks, and pours a little bit of each in inadequate portions to build up the songs, and once mixed with aural effects the album sounds truly well-constructed and professional sounding. The convocation of numerous styles is what enables Ashencult’s music rich, flavoured and deliberately consuming, wallowing. However, besides the elements that the band snatches from certain sources, there is a crucial aspect that renders the largest portion of the album eloquent and embracing; atmosphere.

The melodic black metal inclinations that ‘’Black Flame Gnosis’’ possesses are incredible. Each melody pattern is executed with astute precision and suffuses over the pervasive dissemination of chords, melodies and other violent discharges, and they dive through the thick, enclosing fragments of ambiance to make their way to the listener’s ear first, ultimately serving as a swerving arrow narrating the entire movements of the riffs. When the mournful melodies are not there to guide the riffs into triumph, the band unleashes a rupture of bulky patterns and savage black/thrash riffs, aiming to make amends for the lack of melody with carnal, sinister brute force, which they undeniably exceed in. With such a perverse gait set for the riffs to perform and travel in, the album effortlessly bounces from a barbaric black/thrash incursion to dispersing black metal attack to a Dissection-esque melodious tremolo progression, enthralling whilst smothering in infernal black metal.

Ashencult puts the final brick in place for the ultimate experience; the vocals. The cavernous, subterranean rasps are nothing new to me just as they are nothing new to the majority of black metal fans, but such harsh, shrill and encompassing rasps cannot be skipped without praise. The vocals boundlessly shift through the tremolos and as if you don’t  have enough to behold and immerse yourself in, they make the album a whole lot bleak, and a whole lot cold, as much of the band’s desolate, sombre approach comes from the remote rasps the vocalist lets out. I’ve seen bands emerge from the underground abruptly and produce mighty fine efforts, but even the better bands in the field leave a couple of demos behind, which is proof that they have some experience. I’m not sure whether Ashencult’s members are veterans of the genre’s bleak, fuzzy aesthetics, but all the blatant proof is before us, the proof that leads to the verdict that Ashencult produced the most unpredicted and impressive debut release of the year. I cannot recommend this enough for fans of grandiose atmospheres and melodious, solemn black metal. Indulge yourself, now. 

And as if the band didn't do enough, they're offering their WHOLE album for free. Go get it now and give away a few bucks to support their cause. 

http://ashencult.bandcamp.com/

Highlights:

Race Of The Blood Insane

A Glorious Elegy

Dark Law/Black Fires Of Chaos

Rating: 88,5%

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%