Satanic Bloodspraying - At The Mercy Of Satan

Bolivian black/thrash group Satanic Bloodspraying have been signed to Hells Headbangers Records to offer invidious ferocity and demented aggression packed in a brief case of twenty five minutes, spurting out venomous black/thrash mayhem with little hesitation. This primitive incursion will surely gather some eager black/thrash fan boys, but when it comes to judging the music itself, unfortunately, ''At The Mercy Of Satan'' leaves a tiny mark of the listener's ear and it's wholly futile in originality, making it derivative and less abundant in surprises. It's obvious that these vandals have omitted the presence of intricacy from their raw compositions and one-dimensional style of song writing, but for what it's worth, ''At The Mercy Of Satan'' makes an irresistible headbang feast for all those who enjoy fast, vicious and plain music that's driven towards the edge of extremity.

Although it's relatively short in length, not all of the songs and riffs manage to capture the frantic vivacity of typical black/thrash bands. The album has moments where mid-paced, almost doomy black metal sequences flow bleakly, so I'm afraid even the whole formula of blind savagery isn't perfected, leaving out a good number of flaws in the album. For some reason, Satanic Bloodspraying have been related to Impaled Nazarene, and I can see that's no false accusation, though several other influences are undoubtedly present, most likely early black metal aspects and even some classic black/thrashing a la Destroyer 666, Usurper and Nifelheim. Sure, influences are aplenty, but when the richness of the music is considered, you'll easily notice how bluntly sophisticated this album is, and many good elements are excluded from the mixture, leaving what we have here. I like the grinding edge of the volatile guitars, colliding and mingling with each other often and even more the raw rasps which come alongside the frantic riffs to increase the energy.

Despite it's lack of prowess and arduous riffs, ''At The Mercy Of Satan'' has some variation left in it, all fractured fragments of typical black and thrash metal traits spread sporadically across the crashing riffs. The first track ''Draining Blood'' should sink its hooks into any black/thrash fan just as it captivated me, an almost blackened grindcore type of song, repeatedly crashing and battering for a minute and fifty seconds. With a first impression like that, I found it hard to admit that the other tracks (expect a few) were relatively much less efficient and alluring, so be warned, the first spurt might fool you. ''Satanic Skullfuck'' starts pretty much where the previous one left, with similar propulsive, gritty riffs and simplistic textures, and the current doesn't deviate until ''March Of The Dead'', a more atmospheric affair, garnishing itself with second wave black metal elements, and giving a break to the whole aggressive formula. I didn't find ''At The Mercy Of Satan'' irritating, though boredom will come, even though it may not come very frequently. A good effort for a debut, and I hope the next strike will sink lower than before.

Highlights:
At The Mercy Of Satan
Satanic Skullfuck
Draining Blood


Rating: 75%

Abyssal - Denouement

Fertility in death metal may not ring much of a bell when you think of Britain, but besides archaic giants like Benediction, Bolt Thrower and Desecrator, the current scene is growing more prominent and more strong each day, with such brilliant black/death bands like Grave Miasma, Spearhead, or the Incantation worshipers Cruciamentum collectively inspiring the scene around them. Although Abyssal is dubbed as black/death metal, their foggy, dispersed array of strident black metal chaos does not quite fall into the same bill as the bands I mentioned, assimilating and snatching influences from different bands. Now the cover art may not be very ''metal'', but first impressions can be faulting, and Abyssal's debut album is as professionally written and played as it can be, which is another baffling fact because these guys aren't even signed to a label, much like their black/death partners Morgirion.

I found ''Denouement'' to far more accessible than I expected and much more technical too, because Abyssal sure know how to fuse semi-technical, even brutal death metal elements with dark, cavernous and even atmospheric aesthetics that are used rather often in black metal. I would call this blackened brutal death metal, if there could be such a description since most of the death metal riffing falls behind the classic old school taste, and even though I'm not the biggest fan of the fast, aggressive, most pummeling genre of death metal, lots of the instant passages and darkened tremolo bursts catch my attention right away, and those fantastic shifts which completely flip the whole battlefield into another terrain stand as rather complex and converging pieces of music, no doubt arduous and stamina-draining. The important fact about about ''Denouement'' is that there are two strictly divided sections, black and death metal. Groovy convulsions and sudden outbreaks of melody and temper control these bridges that turn death metal into black or vice-versa, and with such an atmospheric, yet acrobatic maneuvers, the album immediately begins to pull minions with its grappling hooks.

As I said, I'm not the biggest fan of brutal death metal, but as each riff is ominously fashioned and laced with rich, chaotic texture, I find it hard to think of these riffs as boring or even repetitive for that matter. Breakdowns are obviously highly present and highly reactive, but there are also more mellow shifts that are less sudden and eccentric, like the occasional channels of minor arpeggios and slightly faster, but still melody and desolation oriented black metal tremolo sequences found on ''Celestial Dictatorship''. I might complain a little about the dragging, less flashy moments of the album though, parts where the aggression dwindles while melody and feeling take the front row. Abyssal plant a few brutal death metal chugs and stomps into the mixture, but even though, there are a few moments where I didn't really feel the energy too much. Even so, despite a few little flaws, ''Denouement'' manages to break free of the chains and ivy binding it down with a vicious upthrust of vivacity and aura laden black metal, and for an unsigned band, they really make their music tangling though still entertaining.

Highlights:
Detritivore
Deus Vult
The Moss Upon Our Ruins


Rating: 79%


And now, behold, the awesomeness of free album downloads: http://abyssal-home.bandcamp.com/

Scythe - Beware The Scythe

Haven't we already been ran down by scores of black/thrash bands like Scythe? No, mainly because Scythe is much more queer a band when compared to other other acts plaguing the scene today, even though monsters like Nocturnal Graves, Assaulter, Shackles, Ketzer and Charon are proving to be very efficient in creating a new, robust black/thrash scene. Either way, Scythe is a band that I can't really add to this list as their style falls apart from typical black/thrash, due to the numerous strata making up its well balanced anatomy, with various sounds and fashions aplenty, something that many others seem to  be missing these days. Scythe mainly deal with with corrupted blackened death/thrash, but they've displayed the style from so many viewpoints that it's actually hard to keep track of their music. It's fast, it's viscous, it's crazed with abysmal savagery--I'll give you that, but the rest, you'll have to find out on your own.

Surely, what incredible nature can a black/thrash band have, I feel many asking, and the truth is, the music isn't anything extremely complex, nor is it a brain-puzzling mish mash of notes and flying chords, but a rather tight, percussive and most importantly comprehensible performance is displayed on ''Beware The Scythe'', and a plucky attitude also decorates the riffs, bewildering all those who seek simplicity in simple riffs. The riffs fluctuate into different forms often frequently, first bringing forth some propulsive, groovy chugs to crush a few necks, then arriving with flurried assault of spiraling, hypnotizing black metal consistency, and then maybe even a mid paced melody of brooding evil, all stacked together with surprising technical prowess. The songs are pretty ''get to the point'' really, but even though each arrow reveals its target blatantly, the listener gets a violent dose of brutally fashioned foray, spiced up with sprinkles of black metal chaos. Even though the whole album's evil oriented, you can't help but feel a smooth groove in the catchy, sensational riffs, driven towards an almost hard rock edge with their dynamic, agile movements and the resonant, yet clean taste of the atmosphere. There are even some cleaner guitar interludes that dwell under the hefty riffs, much like the sections found on ''Planet Of The Humans''.

Like I said, there's been a lot of stereotyping by calling these guys plain black/thrash, because there are some moments where the music doesn't even live up to be black metal oriented. The title track introduces some memorable hard rock oriented thrash metal briefs for example, and when the vocals take on a guttural edge, the raw, atmospheric quality that disperses the elements vanishes, and you're basically left with crushing, crust laden thrash riffs aplenty. The guitar tone is also a pleasing little spice, it's a vibrant, smooth spin that somehow enables the riffs to sound as fluent as goo, but still maintaining their density while doing so. Plenty of black metal bursts and gritty, dispersed interactions tend to occur in various parts of the album, and they're all planted into the cultivated soil prepared before their arrival, plus I've enjoyed a substantial amount of frequent shifts and outbreaks in the album, each adding some more diversity to the album's groove laden reservoir. Scythe embrace their atmospheric roots of black metal fairly enough, though not half as much as the immense thrash injection that seems to overwhelm and drive the album furiously, so thrashers, this one is for you. Come at it.

Highlights:
Planet Of The Humans
The Iron Witch
Beware The Scythe


Rating: 84,5%

Morgirion - Infinite Retribution Upon Paradise

Just look at the beauty of that cover. A skeletal necromancer holding two ghastly, cosmic orbs in its hand, glancing at you with dead, grim eyes, seeking the conjuration cosmic evil and impurity, blasphemy, much like the music that it possesses. Morgirion are surprisingly an unsigned band, though their debut album ''Infinite Retribution Upon Paradise'' shows technical proficiency, control over the instruments and a wickedly constructed atmosphere in which the riffs are soaked in, all providing substantial amounts of brooding evil and charred beauty, also altered by a fluctuating tube of infinite riffs, both chaotic and compellingly well written, never lacking originality or additional material. Morgirion basically churn together bestial black metal with ultimately heavy and menacing death metal with some additional atmospheric black metal aesthetics performed in several places to to increase ambiance. Just as the music is chaotic and engulfing, its cantankerous slabs of agile black metal give it a semi professional edge, resulting in intricate riffing, rather than straightforward chord harassing.

Pending at over an hour, Morgirion offers pure statically charged black metal mayhem all the way, mostly eagerly pursuing the prey with full speed. Speed may be a common friend to all in general, but various structures and aspects gather in various places, so every song or maybe even every riff, is a man of its own. The rabid, vicious assault released by primordial beasts like ''Purification Through Fire'' are less resonant, and more diverse pieces of pulsating death/black, usually rawer and less polished than other elements, having an even Portal-esque vibe, obvious from the downright evil, fleshy riffing, and more solemn, desolate aesthetics belong to atmosphere laden tracks such as ''And Ode To Fallen Cowards'' or the nine minute ''Exiled From The Light'', each unavoidably projecting a small hint of peevish demeanor, if not displaying complete savagery and bestiality. The fact that some riffs are extremely spacious, more comprehensible and some are boxier, and packed indulgently into a certain area already makes huge differences for music, so every shift of the music opens the door for something almost completely different.

Besides having such velocity and a huge level of spiking aggression, Morgirion manage to keep the riffs under control, but unlike strictly restrained bands out there, the corrosive riffing are only held by loosened chains and manacles, enabling them to roam and descend and ascend freely towards any direction that they like. And under the blasphemous evoking of decaying beauty thump the drums, well performed all the way with substantial amounts of fills and blast beats, but at first, they're really not that easy to notice, most probably because their ambiance is too much as it's mostly buried under the thick, dense fog of resonant pulses, failing to fully thrust and dash through the boxy layer. It's abrasive, how the drums may sometimes get lost under the indulging layer, but you'll get use to it within a few songs. The vocals are also resonant, and they shift through different tones, either muffled, cookie monster vocals (which occur at seldom), or more guttural, throaty rasps, like a typical black metal rasp, only foggier and more twisted.

I'm not saying the music is overflowing with vivacity, but with chord driven attacks, entwining and colliding with each other or savage blows of tormenting screams with plenty of atmosphere to them, some sequences of ''Infinite Retribution Upon Paradise'' are much more dynamic than many of its atmospheric counterparts. It's completely frenzied, yet still intelligently constructed, and the dots of differing attributes tend to make the album a richer, an even more hooking experience, dripping a liquid of flamboyance upon the charred bits of corrosive acid. It's cosmic and dazzling as well as it's professionally written and composed, and surprising technical cunning is hidden under and between the crude riffs, it may not hold all of the listener's attention throughout due to its hypnotic numbing effect, but its hooks will certainly mangle a good amount of flesh. This is an excellent monument of atmosphere and ear blasting black metal hostility combined, and fans of any sort of black metal should give this a shot before switching into something else.

Highlights:
The Final Incantation
Purification Through Fire
Pyroclastic Warfare


Rating: 86%

Skelator - Agents Of Power

With a few twists and a warmer, more inviting production quality, Skelator's ''Agents Of Power'' could be a considerable alternative to the ample wave of Swedish traditional heavy metal bands, injecting a healthy dose thrashy speed metal and the epic atmosphere of power metal. Musically, Skelator resemble the mish mash of many bands, linked together in some way. Manowar, Manilla Road, Iron Maiden, and even some 70's Judas Priest worship, blatant in the spiking vivacity of certain riffs. Skelator also adopt a certain theme, apparently fantastic themes (whom I'm not familiar with) that enhance the whole ''Enchanting'' effect of power metal. There are moments where you'll notice the cheesiness of USPM with a slightly more serious touch, but all in all these are the influences and elements that ''Agents Of Power'' deal with, and thus, simplistic elements and aspects are brought together, dotted with original spices and then presented to the listener, plain but memorable.

Melodious leads usually guide the riffs along, as they are inviting and even slightly hefty and chubby, rendering the distortion less effective, but grooving gallops and thrashy chugs also burst in frequently, so the listener is left in between, harmonious melodies and plainer, rougher textures of thrash-driven riffs, which have a cool, almost cavernous resonance to them. Skelator are certainly not trying to be incredibly vigorous or spiking all the time here, but the first couple of tracks are usually dominated by more dynamic sequences with the vocalist attaining a high-pitched voice and the guitars often channeling between harmony laden, semi technical riffs and harsher chords. The vocals shift into different styles in different moments, for example, they make take on a more alluring tone during mellow passages or soft interludes, or a rather evil grin like on certain intros, or during instrumental breaks, where they vilely chuckle. There's actually plenty of contrast on the album if you listen carefully, but they're all chained to the same root.

The first two tracks, the title song and ''Gates Of Thorbadin'' are almost fully attached to boundless energy, but with ''Dream Dictator'' which ranges at over six minutes, a speed limit restrains substantial liveliness and boredom may strike here and there, though overall it's a decent track, and not mention that the verse section sounds like an almost exact copy of Jag Panzer's ''Cardiac Arrest'', only richer in melodies. ''Agents Of Power'' is polished and squeaky clean, forming a natural basis for the upcoming array of riffs from the start. I really had little to complain about, even though sometimes breaks lingered for too long and the whole album in total may not be extremely original, but with an impressive gathering of speed, power and heavy metal, Skelator both embrace the old school feel and execute ripe, delicate music almost perfectly so there you have it, something to both give you goosebumps and to accompany you to a good night's sleep. It's mature, fertile and its an impressive combination of speed, melody and good musicianship, so fans ought to watch out, this dynamite may bloom into a global epic speed/heavy explosion.

Highlights:
Agents Of Power
Rhythm Of The Chain
Gates Of Thorbadin


Rating: 83,5%

Impiety - Ravage And Conquer

I remember being pretty excited about this release, mainly because the cover art pretty worthy, because I've never really had good history with Impiety. The Asian black/death/thrashers go back twenty two years, and their early material actually sounds fairly convincing, resembling Angelcorpse a lot. However, this, their speed oriented burden of mechanical riffs is nowhere even near even decent, and in fact, its damn near garbage. Seriously, what the hell happened here? I was waiting for some evil black/thrashing and hefty riffing with plenty of atmosphere, but Impiety greeted with a meaningless barrage of ultra-fast speed/black/thrash riffing, with no personality, no intention and very little effectiveness.

Surely, there will be people out there who will appreciate this much more than I did, but for the sake of saving good money, I'll inform you, this is not worth getting. Some of the riffs may even resemble brutal death metal in a way that's maybe slightly more sordid, but besides that, this consists of many aspects that make my metal boring; non stop chord strumming and sharp turns altered by diminished chords and notes, and incredibly futile palm muted picking patterns, sounding all the same with every single song. I suppose muted tremolo descents have a minor amount of crutch like the ones on ''The Scourge Majesty'', but then again even the better sequences are outnumbered and engulfed by wretched army of pathetic riffs. The drums are also terribly worked out, constantly battering the double bass drums and killing off any change of offering some contrast to the listener. I mean, the songs aren't even short in order to keep the level of aggression at a high level, therefore we end up with songs boxed with relentless riffs, affixed only by their bleak performance that represents nothing but irrelevant, inaccurate riffs, written during a moment of anger.

Is the album complete garbage? No. The fact that there are a few good riffs that can be found here and there put a tiny smile on my face, but with so much demented aggression flowing through the albums' veins, it's pretty hard to catch a good riff during its manifestation. The solos are actually well written, and their presence is much more blatant than those so called ''Better'' riffs, but again, attrition strikes once more, and all the good solos get butchered by the depriving tissue of rhythms moving under them. Partly, you'll know that Impiety are good practitioners when it comes to building up some massive right hand stamina and strength. In the end, ''Ravage & Conquer'' is nothing worth more than pure headbang material or maybe a glimpse at the cover art, and while its insignificant surge of speedy blackened death/thrash offer dashes and dots of decent riffs, but as a whole it's something only mainstream black/death fans or naive people would love.

Highlights
Legacy Of Savagery
Salve The Goat


Rating: 55%

Mongrel's Cross - The Sins Of Aquarius

Mongrel's Cross's debut album ''The Sins Of Aquarius'' is nothing new to me. In fact, I was awaiting the explosion of the album with wide eyes when suddenly, I found the album right at my fingertips. Australia's is damn well know for its soldiers of bestial black and death metal, so black/thrash goodness wouldn't really surprise many. It's actually good that Aussie's offering so much quality black/thrash/death, because the current scene is plagued with scores of bands inferior to their masters in all ways, and now a retro-thrash trend seems to be rising, wherein pathetic thrash metal bands flourish their mediocrity with boring, blatant black metal aspects, such as raspy vocals and a few tremolos here and there, and then they tend to call themselves black/thrash. Mongrel's Cross are no where near these befouling imitators, and see through their well composed debut album if you don't believe me. With this, the fine line between retro black/thrash doppelgangers and true, old school black/thrashers are drawn vividly, bringing the dim, challenging and dynamically driven flavor of black/thrash back on the table.

It's obvious that Mongrel's Cross has driven black/thrash towards the extremity of death metal, thus renewing the genre's sharpness, but influences are still pretty clear, so don't expect to find any ground braking music here. Monstrous it is, but Mongrel's Cross is fueled by a constant source of punk and crushing death metal brutality, a crucial crutch in the formation of the separate links that would later be attached to each other. The band's to the atmosphere of the riffs and encompassing nihilism is also notable, thriving the disdainful riffs. The production, I must admit, is more muffled than I expected, and a raw edge surrounds the music as you delve into it. The music is still accessible yes, but dispersed arrays of black metal distortion fly through the air as if vaporized, and so a rich atmosphere is born from almost nothing, though still failing to commit to complete ambiance throughout. The comings and goings of the production may irritate some, but in no way is it tedious or agitating, and actually pretty exciting considering the diffusing resonance that it adds. While for the most part this straight, crushing and actually one dimensional black/thrash, there are moments where the black metal influence crops itself to make room for the huge death metal influence to take the spot and interact with the brutal, capacious thrash chugs, thus omitting the black metal aspect and forming a slightly different texture for the album to place itself.

Even the vocals are somehow connected to death metal as the they sound like black metal rasps and death metal growls coexisting. I'd say the death metal tone is more prominent, though with such volatile maneuvers, its admittedly hard to follow their path, evolving, evaporating into different tones with each song and maybe even each riff. While you spend half your time trying to catch up with previous riff, another one clutches you by the neck and drives a poison laden blade through your spine. Painful. Even though I love these sorts of robust incursions of brutal thrash and bestial black hybrids, it may sometimes fail to grab the whole of you with derivative riffing constantly pursuing you, but some cantankerous and maybe somber additions to the album's aggressive arsenal of riffs makes the experience worth the investment. Take ''When The Dragon Gives Birth'' for example. There are many elements which make it more unique than one dimensional black/thrash/death barrages like ''Rabid Inception'' or the title track, though don't get me wrong, raw and blunt aggression is the main attraction of the album. I hear the classic waves of Gospel Of The Horns, Vomitor, Nocturnal Graves and Destroyer 666 to be repeated during the first sequences, but towards the end, the track matures from almost abrasive black metal bestiality into a somber, grim piece of tremulous black metal, laden with melody and dotted with smatterings of a more atmospheric side of black metal. Mongrel's Cross keep you eagerly hunting for their brand of Australian blackened death/thrash, and while the whole exhibit was nothing too original or even intricate for that manner, it certainly does replenish the old school sound, sending copious amounts of retro-thrash groups running to their masters.

Highlights:
The Sins Of Aquarius
When The Dragon Gives Birth
Indulge The Temple


Rating: 87,5%

Embrional - Absolutely Anti-Human Behaviors

Never once have I omitted the wonderful Polish death metal of the 90's and secluded them from all the other wonderful scenes which flowered at that time, and admittedly, it's hard to forget with such bands like Vader, Magnus, Schismatic and Danger Drive, thus the scene today seems to be dotted with bands exploiting relatively diverse and differing styles of their own. Perhaps it's still not as dominant a tyrant than the Swedish or American scene, but whether it's the atmospheric swaggers of Pandemonium, the crushing momentum of Centurion or rather straightforward approach of Embrional, the scene houses a number of quality bands, readying themselves to squirt and explosive barrage of death metal. Embrional may be closer to straightforward death metal territory compared to the other acts I've mentioned, though the sporadic attachment of queer melodies and intricate deliveries of sharp, piercing notes garnish their Floridian sound much more. Embrional's sophomore is an onset that will strike you, break you and dazzle you before you can even raise your shield to guard yourself.

While the cover art may teem with filthy maggots of crude death metal, their style actually stands as a polished aspect of the music, disabling any raw quality that you had hoped to hear before you were just glimpsing at the album art. However, there's still a satisfying face of this sudden change in events. The ceremonial art of decapitating ghouls and digging grotesque graves may be gone, but I can't agree that this fully polished, either, and especially for a band who can muster so many outbursts of vigorous combustion with little depression or oppression hidden under the riffs, a frigid aura of old school brilliance is a huge bonus for the band, even though the listener may only be able to taste glimpses of it. Embrional have been inspired from Floridian acts like Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation and Deicide, adding a fair amount of thrash crust to the blasting barrage of half-technical riffs, enhanced by the amount of intensity and brutality. The drums are almost always of double-bass mode, never ceasing to slam in with the right beat and the guitars slide on a slimy trail of ooze, grinding, chopping, trimming with razor sharp tremolo bursts and diminished chord sequences. Maintaining the level of speed and intensity should be the least of your worries, because with such eerie passages of strident riffs controlling the direction of the album, you'll gladly headbang until your neck can literally take no more.

Tracks like ''Bestial Torture'' and ''Possessed By Evil'' are absolutely monstrous tracks, crypt fiends that waste no time lingering around and just get on with the ruthless decapitation process, evil and sordid as it can be. And what about the groove-laden thumps of ''Maniacal Madness''? The song's a beast on its own, but the classic drum/guitar cooperation is now sprinkled with tiny segments of palm muted notes, like a scorpion crawling and escalating towards your skull, and slowly tearing off a dot of flesh with its mechanic pincers. The whole album is an absolute manifestation of hateful riffs like these and each riff is diminished in length, lasting for a second, them passing the honor to its brother, which fades away a second later. The riffs are so mechanic and so intricate that it may hard to focus on them at times, and the great thing about Embrional is that they can keep that level of intensity and velocity canned (though not lacking liveliness) so that the music doesn't even border to brutal technical death metal, all thanks to the carnal explosions of old school goodness. So many bands are rehashing their masters yet they almost always end up inferior too the beast they were copying, but Embrional's sophomore is inventive, strict, malicious and it never lacks fuel for the fire. A mighty fine effort that exceedingly solid, but still outrageously vigorous. At first you hesitate, but you learn to like it.

Highlights:
Bestial Torture
Last Step Into Nothing
Possessed By Evil

Rating: 85,5%


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