Tormented - Graveyard Lust

Emerging from the depths of the graveyard dust, slithering among fiends and skeletons, the modern masters of Swedish horror return with yet another stomach-churning release of putrid, irresistible chainsaw driven groove and archaic flesh that fill not fail to achieve what Tormented achieved in the near past. Tormented are one of the most successful bands to create top-tier Swedish death metal, the way it was made in the 90's. Tormented are no strangers to this style. Their debut album ''Rotten Death'' was a prime example of old school Swedeath, and they succeeded in churning the ghastly sound of chainsaw oriented punk madness with some of their own twists, bringing contrast and quality to their music. Their latest EP, ''Graveyard Lust'' is the exact continuation of the previous release, and many fans will be pleased to hear that their sound has stayed fresh (although still very rotten), so this is simply another slab of horror laden graveyard metal, decorated with all the fine elements of elegantly composed brutality.

Another thing that you should be content about is that the EP rages for a good twenty-five minutes packed in six songs (only eight minutes less from the album), so many will gladly feast upon this bloodied piece of thrusting carnage. As I said, this basically starts where ''Rotten Death'' left, so don't expect to find too much variation compared to the debut. Tormented's classic brand of tinging, brooding melodies flow just like they flowed previously, bringing an even more eerie overtone to the hefty riffs. The riffs still preserve their putrid stench, channeling through a combination of mid-paced chord progressions, standard tremolo picking that get slightly muffled in the mix and rabid gushes of punk inspired chainsaw mayhem--all, the traditional traits of Swedish death metal. I can't really dub the material here as original, because Tormented have mostly borrowed styles rather than creating their own, but every track is a burden of groove and a sensational onslaught, crushing and hostile in every way, and still, Tormented manage to get some liveliness into those raw riffs, with hint of looming melodies, a dash of distorted production and that fantastic buzz saw guitar tone to top it all.

It's fun yes, but I just couldn't help but feel that Tormented wasn't dwelling upon whilst writing their songs as some tracks had little to separate themselves from the others. The title track and ''Slowly Twisted In Death'' are superb compositions of necroptic Swedeath, but some other pieces like ''Revel In Blood'' or ''Horror Of The Faceless Man'' just stick to the very basics of the formula, sounding a little bit repetitive at times, even though they're still farm from dull or boring. The production here has a tiny bit of more spark and light on it then before, so the riffs don't entirely drown and die, and the drums sound much more efficient and clear this time, sounding like more of a beast than a monotonous metronome. Each track is nasty and cryptic of course, and we have the fantastic vocal delivery of singer/guitarist Andreas Axelsson. HE sounds as if he didn't age a bit even though there's been a good gap of three years between this EP and the debut album, and his sick voice is muffled and obviously manipulated, adding a hollow dissonance to the harsh, throaty snarls and growls. He  growls well, but I'd say his voice is also suitable for a vicious, fast thrash metal band in the vein of Sodom, Kreator, Morbid Saint, etc. This EP brings good news to fans, because with six tracks already recorded and released, a second full-length shouldn't be very distant. Until that comes out, enjoy this piece of grisly Swedeath excellence.

Highlights:
Sick In The Dead
Slowly Twisted In Death
Graveyard Lust


Rating: 85%


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Sanguis Imperem - In Glory We March Towards Our Doom

Sanguis Imperem have been donning their armor and sharpening their blades for a good six years now, and this is their album ''In Glory We March Towards Our Doom'',their debut which came out last year on the fantastic old school metal label Hells Headbangers. It's actually been some time since I was last exposed to death metal like this; strong, filthy, dark and militant, taking influences from acts like early Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Immolation, and maybe even some Deicide and Incantation, flowing through the veins of the bestial death metal assault. It's an assault, though in many a way it differs from other bands who fashion the typical Swedeath or Incantation trends these days, making something relatively different, though still not achieving discombobulating complexity. Even so, this is dark, serious music and it's not a merry frolic around the park. Despite being so bestial and stubborn, Sanguis Imperem manage to keep things memorable and constant and all times.

Almost the entire of the anatomy of the album features bludgeoning, dense tremolo picking sections with some power chord hostility thrown here and there. The song writing here is more impressive than I would have thought, because they're definitely not scrawling here, and although the riffs come from the same root, they're somehow highlighted in their own unique way, giving simplicity and harsh shove along the way. The riffs are all spiraled, frantic, twisting chops and brutal chugs, and they all follow each other, like a train with all its wagons at the back, loaded with heavy material. I wouldn't really call it ''a train of brutality'' because there's more to the riffs than just blatant brutality, but the sublime heft is an important factor for making the riffs work precisely, plus, since the album seldom tends to give a break the riffs carry a sort of monotonous tone, numbing yet enjoyable. As I stated above, the traditional art of contemplating cadavers and pulling out graveyard fiends is missing, only to be replaced by a furious mid paced bestiality.

Although this can be classified as death metal directly, there seems to be a few small elements in the combination that reek of bestial black metal or black/death. These scents are scarce, but as you go over the album a few times you'll find the the vague black metal influence to be a little more clear and the drudging riffs will become more of a treat. I love how dual guitars create abysmal harmonies just before the appearance of ponderous chord slam, throwing itself into the music as if drunk and drowsy. The vocals are another garnish fro the album; they're generally hostile and take on lower tones, but sometimes a second voice joins in the choir or horrors and a much more eerie sound is obtained, seething with evil. All of its elements sum up to a top notch old school death metal album, filthy, cruel and belligerent, and if you findfrom the rotting flesh many exploit today too rotten, than take something fresher, something a little more arduous, then the glorious Roman incursion that is Sanguis Imperem is for you.

Highlights:
The Crucifilth
Praeternatural Order
The Scourge Of Men
Inherit Decay


Rating: 86%

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%