January 2014 – Page 6 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Corpsessed

Corpsessed are soon to release their début album Abysmal Thresholds which is, quite simply, a stunner. We’ve barley scratched the surface of 2014 and already I’m pretty certain this will make it into my end of year list. It’s that good. And terrifying. Read on if you dare…

Hi! For people that are unfamiliar with Corpsessed, introduce yourself!

Quite simply, Corpsessed is a five piece death metal band from Southern Finland. We started the band in 2007, and so far have released 2 EPs and our first full-length album “Abysmal Thresholds” that came out in early 2014.

Give us a little background about the band.

The history of Corpsessed is rather brief, though most of us have been playing in different bands for quite many years before this. Niko (vocals), Jussi-Pekka (drums) and Matti (guitars) met in 2006 while playing for fun in another band. We wanted to start something more serious and death metal oriented and asked Jyri (guitars) to join in, and so Corpsessed was born in the beginning of 2007. Mikko (bass) joined us in 2009. This is probably also the point when the bands sound and direction got more defined and we started to concentrate on recording our first output “The Dagger & The Chalice” EP, originally meant as a demo, which got us signed to Dark Descent Records. In 2012 we released our second “Untitled” seven inch EP and tightened the band by playing a load of gigs. The year 2013 was dedicated fully in creating our first full-length album “Abysmal Thresholds”, which is now released in the beginning of 2014.

What are your main influences?

The influences are quite numerous ranging through death, black and doom metal. Mostly the stuff from early 90s, especially the Finnish death metal bands of that time. Movie soundtracks and dark ambient plays a somewhat significant role as well, mainly in the atmosphere part – the music is still pure death metal.

What are you listening to at the moment that you want to recommend?

Lot’s of stuff. Besides the old classics (that you always return to) some more current bands that we’ve been listening to at the moment include Tyrants Blood, Bölzer, Death Toll 80k, Nails, Anhedonist, Pseudogod, The Ruins of Beverast and Wodensthrone… and probably loads more, there’s 5 people in the band with a broad taste in music so the list could get long.

The sound of Abysmal Thresholds is absolutely horrifying – what made you decide to concentrate on creating such an atmosphere?

Thank you. It probably wasn’t a conscious decision in anyway to concentrate on certain kind of atmosphere. That’s just how the songs came naturally to us. Sure, we have preferences how we would like our own material to sound and we push it towards that direction, but it’s not really anything too planned out – the music just flows out that way, and we know what kind of riffs fit the concept of the band. The sound comes mostly from our love for atmospheres that evoke dread and horror and the low frequencies on guitar and bass, music that resonates your whole body and almost suffocates you. That’s how we sound live, and tried to capture that on the album.

The songs bleed malevolence and ooze evil. How did you come up with the songs?

Matti or Jyri usually write riffs on their own, sometimes even full song structures that they bring to the rehearsals. We then start working on them as a group making our own arrangements to the riffs and structures, adding details and playing around with the different moods and atmospheres. It all starts with the riffs and the drums usually set down the structure of the song. We know when the song is complete when it flows naturally (to us) and has a sense of wholeness to it.. Vocal arrangements come last. We always start with different kind of rhythm patterns for them that serve the riffs and then make the lyrics fit them. But in the end, creating the songs is not something you can pin point down to some details or patterns, you just feel it.

What’s next for Corpsessed? What does 2014 hold?

Well, we just completed the debut album which was actually quite an arduous experience so don’t expect a new album too soon. We don’t have any big plans yet. Let’s see how this album is received, do a few live gigs and slowly start composing new stuff at a natural pace when the ideas and inspiration flows for them. We’d probably like to do an EP or two before even thinking about a new full length album, as those are always huge projects that require a lot of time and work.

And finally; with such a completely nightmare sound you’ve created here, the obvious question is: how are you going to top this? Is it even possible to take this to the next level of Hellish experience for your next album to create an even more terrifying vision? I mean, without causing your listeners heart attacks of course.

There’s always room for improvement and aspirations for writing new (and hopefully better) songs, and taking things to a next level. Not perhaps in technicality, but trying to top yourself in song writing and capturing the atmosphere, trying out different recording methods. We’d like to for example experiment with recording something completely live to try and capture the live sound even more proficiently, as we feel that’s where the band is at their best.

The future is always open and obscure.

Thanks!

Trenchrot – Necronomic Warfare (Review)

Straight off this is easily identifiable as Old-School Death Metal from these US bruisers. All of the trademark signatures are in place – fans of Obituary, Bolt Thrower and more modern war-themed bands like Hail of Bullets should feel right at home here.

This is mainly, (but not always), mid-paced and takes no prisoners. The feeling of an endless battlefield covered in the corpses of countless forgotten enemies pervades this release, as does the feeling of belonging to an earlier age of Metal. This is Old-School to the core with an even Older-School album cover.

This kind of retro-Death Metal can sound stale if handled incorrectly, but Trenchrot know their weapons and pick only the best and most destructive from the armoury. Clearly passionate about what they do, I can’t help but get swept along with the Death Metal mayhem contained within Necronomic Warfare – the heavy, thick tone of the guitars; the agonised, hoarse, barkings of the singer as he rallies the troops for another offensive; the firm pounding of the drums that lead the willing to war; the wailing, emphatic solos that inspire and rouse. It’s all very stirring.

A thoroughly enjoyable release perfect for charging headstrong into the melee. A snapshot of a time when being Death Metal was enough, and no add-ons or exaggerations to the sound were needed.

As the band say themselves –

“TrenchRot make music within the stricture of two rules:
1. Play Death Metal
2. Crush posers”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Derogatory – Above All Else (Review)

An unexpectedly melodic intro sets the scene for the start of this USDM album by Derogatory. Once this is over it’s straight into the blasting, although this soon tapers off and reveals a band that are capable of varying their speed rather than always going for the most brutal option of smothering everything in blastbeats.

This album is full of Old-School Death Metal in the 90’s US style, and as such you can hear the influence of bands such as Deicide and Morbid Angel being channelled into Above All Else.

Double bass, solos, thick guitars and deep growls pepper this release in all the right places, and the songs are simple-but-effective and provide that Death Metal fix that obsessive fans of the genre crave on a daily basis.

The sound of the album is the main weak spot – it’s perfectly workman-like, but I feel the songs could be allowed to breathe better with a more coherent production. It doesn’t sound bad but it could sound better. Ultimately this doesn’t detract from the songs too much and is more of a “note for next time”.

At 9 tracks and 39 minutes, this is a pleasant romp through 90’s Death Metal that will more than satisfy fans of this genre.

Church of Disgust – Unworldly Summoning (Review)

After a perfunctory intro we’re into the album proper. The first thing that strikes the listener is the powerful sound – thick, heavy guitars and drums that drop like a hammer. This band play filth-heavy Death Metal with an atmosphere and tone so covered in grime and dirt as to become one with it.

So adept at channelling all things Necro are they that most underground Black Metal bands would kill for this sound. Imagine a band like Anaal Nathrakh if The Codex Necro was diseased Death Metal instead of Black Metal.

Add to this some nice Incantation-isms; the odd dash of Obituary and Autopsy; a small sprinkling of Usurper; an injection of sludge; cover this all with a rotten layer of offal and leave to decay for 100 years and you have something close to what Church of Disgust resemble.

And the vocalist – what’s all that about? How did the band manage to convince a real demon to front the band? I mean, it’s not a human being right? I can only assume that the Unworldly Summoning was a success and something dark and evil that time forgot came slithering out of the dankest crypt to be held in thrall to Church of Disgust and do their bidding. Their bidding, of course, being to produce the sickest, most evil Death Metal noises heard for some time. I just hope they feed it regularly.

Unworldly Summoning is ugly, hostile and wants everything dead. In other words it is one of the best death metal releases heard in a while.

If you want the latest in clinical, state-of-the-art, precision-laser-produced Death Metal hot off the production line then this is not for you. If, however, you’re not scared of a bit of blood and muck on your Death Metal then there is nothing to not like here.

Lie In Ruins – Toward Divine Death (Review)

Ambitious Death Metal from Finland; Toward Divine Death contains over 70 minutes of music and is not for the uninitiated.

Grasping the fundamentals of hyper-speed blasting and also rhythmic pounding, the songs proceed to brutalise the senses using all of the various tools in the Death Metal arsenal.

The songs are long but fully engaging. This is not an “instant-hit” band, and all the better for it. The songs take their time in their battery, ensuring that you enjoy them purely on their terms.

The vocals are low-down in the mix and sound completely inhuman. They are used as another instrument and complement the music rather than being the focal point.

Lie In Ruins play their Death Metal fast, dark and sinister, and when they do slow down they sound absolutely colossal. Their uncompromising vision is realised across these 9 tracks of aggressive Metal and culminates in the final, 11-minute epic Of Darkness and Blackened Fire.

A lengthy but rewarding album, this is well worth the investment if you take the time to let it absorb you.

Corpsessed – Abysmal Thresholds (Review)

After a disconcerting intro, Finnish Death Metal band Corpsessed proceed to terrify the listener with their thick and impenetrable evil sound.

Of Desolation starts things off and just oozes menace and class. Sounding like it has been transported to this plane of existence from some horrible Hell-dimension, the band proceed to channel 48 minutes of thoroughly upsetting music that uses sound as a warning of what’s lurking in the darkness.

The band evoke strong feelings of dread and fear with their songs through skilful use of dark melodies and subtle additions of Black Metal touches to their sound. Indeed, although Abysmal Thresholds is thoroughly grounded in Death Metal there are detectable influences from the Black Metal camp that serve to enhance the innate sense of wrongness and ungodliness that these songs inspire.

Corpsessed have mastered the art of atmosphere there’s no doubting that; these tracks bleed malevolence. The guitars create a foundation of unease from which the songs are moulded while the guttural vocals underscore everything and spread their darkened word.

This is more than a mere album; this is like a message from some damned, horrible place. Each song is a new word and by the end of it you’ve lost your mind. I can’t get enough of this! This is Death Metal at its best – dark, scary, heavy, brilliant.

This album sounds like the aural equivalent of Death itself.

The Meatfückers – Porn Again (Review)

Mexican Black Metal band The Meatfückers have released their second album Porn Again and are ready to challenge all comers to a competition of sexual perversion!

This is primitive Black/Thrash, crudely recorded and brutally played. The sound is definitely Old-School, with an almost vinyl-like fuzz to it, (probably intentional), but if you like all things nasty and retro then this shouldn’t put you off.

The songs are caked in a firm grime of unidentifiable origin and they rip and thrash their way through nine of them in 27 minutes. Primitive it may be but there’s evidence that there’s more to this band than just Neanderthals throwing rocks at instruments – the odd riff here, a solo there – these guys actually do know what they’re doing. And what they’re doing is bringing the filth.

Favourite Track; Bitch Seeker. A solid Metal main riff and sexy solos make for a memorable song.

Unashamedly rude and crude; for when you’re in the mood for debauchery and lewdness wrapped in raw fighting man’s Metal – then look no further.

Kalibas – Rumors Of Our Demise Have Been Barely Exaggerated (Review)

Kalibas come across as fury incarnate – the type of band that like to get angry and stay angry. This is furious Grindcore played at speeds fast enough to break necks and with enough time changes and asides to frighten even the most eclectic grinder.

This is crazy stuff and guaranteed to appeal to Grind fans who like their music fast, complex and impenetrable. These are not 30-second-blast songs though, the average length is 3-4 minutes so you know with each of the 8 tracks you’re getting a good meal. It may just taste like broken glass…

The vocals are the very definition of savage. The singer sounds absolutely inhuman, and there is absolutely no let up whatsoever. At all. How he managed to keep that level of intensity up without rupturing something is beyond me.

The music is probably 99% absolute controlled chaos, with drums blasting and pounding, guitars grinding and shredding and everything seemingly doing its own thing yet amazingly managing to contribute to a coherent whole. The other 1% accounts for those exceedingly rare moments of, well, not calm, but very brief subtler moments that pepper the album like diamonds in the filth. Blink and you’ll miss them. They are there purely to emphasise the extremity of the rest of the music, but they are vital nonetheless.

This is a great album from a great band and unfortunately it was their last one as they have now split up. Do yourself a favour and get this in your collection before the sands of time bury it forever into obscurity.

Tried For Treason – Weight of Words (Review)

Tried For Treason are from the US and play modern Metal with a bit of grit thrown in to keep things interesting.

The songs show much promise. For a first release they demonstrate a good grasp of song structure and melody, something that they can surely build on for the future.

Vocals are clean and distinctly American, although the band they most remind me of is actually Breed 77 from Gibraltar , sans the more tribal influences. The singer of Tried For Treason shows greater variety though as he also uses rougher vocals and shouts.

Musically, apart from the usual Metal influences you would expect, you can also detect elements of a band like Tool in some of the songs, which can only be a good thing. A lot of modern Metal bands can be high on surface and low on depth, but I think if Tried For Treason can keep this aspect of their sound they could avoid this trap.

They also have guitar solos in every song, which always endears me towards a band.

There is only 11 minutes of music here but if Tried For Treason can continue to develop their style for the next release then they could and should have a bright future ahead of them.

Barishi – Barishi (Review)

Barishi play off-centre Progressive Metal that goes down a storm and comes back up a real treat.

This is a rather great album. Unusual but memorable melodies and guitar parts are all over the place, with a meshing of off-kilter tunes and 70’s prog vibes sharing the same space sometimes at the same time. And even some Saxophone.

Barishi are obviously not afraid to experiment or explore and it pays off handsomely. Overall this album has a harsher sound than I was expecting; combined with the eclectic sound that they have it has quite a unique style that is a refreshing change from the norm.

For the most part we get shouted, almost hardcore-style vocals alongside the more occasional cleans that work well together to build atmosphere over the tangential music.

Favourite track: Through Mountains, Through Plains. Just brilliant.

This is the music of a mathematical nightmare come to burn synapses and wreck memories. Sometimes beautiful, sometimes abrasive, never ordinary.