Month: November 2014

Nesseria – Fractures (Review)

NesseriaThis is the second album from French band Nesseria. They play Hardcore/Grindcore

I’m a fan of their previous work so it’s good to see another round of explosive, violent Hardcore from this talented band.

Nesseria have a sound that’s dense and heavy. If you take a band like Converge as your starting point and mutate it with violent Metal and Grind then you’ll have an idea of the angry space that Nesseria inhabit.

This is intense music that’s not for the weak of heart. Like Converge though Nesseria are not all about the brutality and violence; there’s enough subtlety, nuance and emotive riffing here to give the band a real sense of dynamics and lend the songs a keen emotive edge despite the crushing nature of the music.

Nesseria’s songs have depth and longevity that belies songs as aggressive as this. The album has a good flow though so that the blasting extremity is offset by slower Doom/Sludge sections as well as lighter moments. The ambient menace of the title track allows the listener a bit of breathing room in the middle of the album before the devastations begins once more.

The twisted, rage-filled vocals seem to channel pure anger as they punctuate the Metallic chaos with venom and bile. His is a voice for the ages, heralding in the apocalypse.

Nesseria have produced another album of exceptional merit; a clawing, grinding monster of an album destined to set many a speaker on fire.

Highly recommended.

Laster – De Verste Verte Is Hier (Review)

LasterLaster are from the Netherlands and this is their début album.

I’m a fan of Laster’s first release Wijsgeer & Narreman so was looking forward to hearing this. The quality album cover was the first thing I liked, and the music soon followed.

Laster play raw, underground, atmospheric Black Metal that’s epic in length and epic in scope.

The band seem to play from beneath a shroud of distortion and hazy guitar fog. The drums and vocals swim just beneath the surface, prowling like unnatural predators seeking the souls of the weary and weak.

De Verste Verte Is Hier is less about individual riffs and more about dark feelings evoked by the instruments that howl and gust like the wind. Laster create dark sonicscapes of reverberating nightmares and ever-present darkness.

Atmosphere is a big part of Laster’s identity and they wield it like a weapon. Desolation, despair and negativity are commonplace, but less common are the little rays of hope that occasionally pierce the gloom, such as on the main starting riff of Tot de Tocht ons Verlicht.

These are not songs to idly listen to, these are songs to experience.

For fans of bands like Vinterriket, Fell Voices, Ash Borer and the like.

Mare Cognitum – Phobos Monolith (Review)

Mare CognitumThis is the third album by US one-man project Mare Cognitum. He plays Atmospheric Black Metal.

This is Black Metal of the most expressive and epic variety. Inspired by the mysteries of the cosmos and powered by Blackened harmonies and thick atmospheres, Phobos Monolith takes the listener on a journey through the unexplored natures of the universe.

The songs on this album are exploratory and impressively composed and performed. It’s almost a full 6 minutes before any vocals first appear, so confident is the music in its ability to capture and hold the attention alone. With good reason; the music is an impressive blend of Atmospheric, Post- and raging underground Black Metal.

This is an album that, for all its grand designs and lofty concepts, actually manages to forge an emotional connection with the listener and the result is a very personal-feeling experience. These songs are simply that good.

There are so many bands/albums/etc. these days that simply sound as if they are going through the motions. For Mare Cognitum, however, this is clearly not the case at all. This is an album that has the true mark of a labour of love, and it’s this, combined with the impressive sonicscapes that have been created, that resonate so strongly with the listener.

Find somewhere open to the sky, play this album loudly, stare up at the stars and get absorbed in the endless possibilities that there are out there.

This is an album that has surpassed all of my feeble expectations.

Climates – Body Clocks (Review)

ClimatesClimates are from the UK and play Hardcore.

This is melodic Hardcore mixed with a bit of Metalcore for good measure.

The vocals are a mixture of screams and cleans, alternated in the usual style for a band like this. The screams are passionate and the cleans well performed. I like the fact that they’re not high enough in the mix to dominate everything, which gives the music the chance to take centre stage.

The songs are enjoyable cuts of lean Metalcore with good energy. They’re the kind of band that wouldn’t have looked out of place on the old Trustkill roster back in this style of music’s heyday, which is a pretty big compliment really.

Angular riffs are thrown out quite frequently and it’s good to see the band not always taking the easy route by using tired or recycled riffs. Instead, they offer up their own take on the genre and some of the riffs are atypical and quite inventive; some even having a bit of a Mathcore twist to them.

There’s a good amount of diversity on display on Body Clocks and the band are confident enough to explore quite a few interesting ideas in the songs. More power to them for this.

This is a quality release from a band who are not only sounding very good in the here and now but are also showing massive potential for the future if they continue to embrace their personality and stamp their identity on their music even more.

A recommended listen. Play loud and get swept away in the pit.

Misericordia – Throne of Existence (Review)

MisericordiaMisericordia are from Sweden and this is their second album of Black Metal.

This is, unsurprisingly, in the Swedish style and aimed squarely at fans of Marduk, 1349, Immortal and Dark Funeral – high speed blasting and frosted melodies.

The sharp riffs come thick and fast as the drums blast and the Blackened melodies seep into your every pore. The guitars embrace their atavistic, icy Black Metal legacy and they ooze windswept hatred.

Some of the vocals are deeper than normal for this style of Black Metal, although they alternate with more traditional higher screams in addition to these growls.

Solos and leads are played well and the band are very focused on what they want to achieve. The drumming is tight and precise and the songs as a whole are quite satisfying.

If you’re a fan of unholy hyperblast then this is the Black Metal for you.

Singularity – Singularity (Review)

SingularityThis is the debut album from US Black Metal band Singularity.

Technical Black Metal is not the most common of sub-genres, especially Symphonic Technical Black Metal, which is what this essentially is.

The synths are heavy and thick and give the band a colourful sheen under which to ply their trade. Said trade consists of sharp, crazy guitar work, widdly bass and precision-point drums. It’s as if a band like Dimmu Borgir had overdosed on Technical Death Metal and angular riffs in the style of some of Mayhem’s work. It also puts me in mind of the first Ephel Duath album.

The songs are still here though. This is an enjoyable riff-fest with inhuman drumming and layers of atmosphere and jagged darkness.

The technicality and Blackened atmospheres combine in a way that most bands never attempt and the resulting mix of styles works primarily because they never sacrifice the songs for the riffs. The playing is very impressive but the Black Metal framework always reins them in before they become overbearing or surplus to the needs of the song.

That being said, there is certainly a lot of flash playing on this album, but as I say – it works.

The tracks are quite varied as the guitars never stop and are always interesting and entertaining. The singer gives his all to the screams; they’re high pitched and very pointed. The cleans that appear are professionally delivered also; another string to Singularity’s impressive bow.

The production is top quality and everything sounds crisp and clear. You can really hear every note.

Singularity is extremely impressive in many ways. I always like a band that puts a different spin on things and the rampant technicality on this album really gives them a flavour all of their own. The fact that they mix this with a Symphonic base and have managed to produce an enjoyable set of songs without everything sounding messy or forced speaks volumes about their talent.

Take a chance on this and listen to it now.

Internal Rot – Mental Hygiene (Review)

Internal RotThis is the début album from Australian Grindcore band Internal Rot.

This is short and hyper-aggressive Grind where every track, (bar the last one), is under 2 minutes in length and most are a lot shorter than that.

Noisy, angry, fuzzy and filthy; Internal Rot stink up the place with their destructive Grind.

As the first track, Muciferous, shows though, they also know how to slow it down when warranted and take a heavier, Sludgy route to devastation. Granted, this slower side of the band doesn’t appear much over the 20 tracks but it’s good to see the band are capable of more than just instrument demolition at top speeds.

One of the enjoyable things about this band is that they do get into a nice groove now and again in between bouts of blasting. Now, I love me some blasting grind, but it’s also nice when it’s interspersed with other tempos as otherwise it can risk becoming dull.

Mental Rot have this covered though. This is music for those with short attention spans and even shorter tempers, so dullness is not an issue here.

The proto-Hardcore chugging and brutal Deathcore riffs are condensed into violent blasts of Crusty Grindcore that really hits the spot.

I’ve really enjoyed this album. Grind on.

Horrified – Descent into Putridity (Review)

HorrifiedHorrified are a Death Metal band from the UK and this is their début album.

With vocals that sound like they belong to an unhinged psychopathic murderer, this is rotten Old-School Death Metal with a Swedish influence and a fair few chainsaws stashed away with the bodies.

It’s a shambling, stumbling corpse of an album but not without its charms. Fans of polished, ultra-technical, modern Death Metal can look away now; this is atavistic, grotesque Death Metal from the bowels of history played with passion and a will to kill.

The songs are straightforward, ugly tracks that hack and slash their way through the crowds with maniacal glee.

This is not an album without flaws; indeed, if the band can tighten up their performance a bit then their next release will be even better. However, focusing on this too much is not the point. Horrified is about the base, underground rawness of Death Metal and although I do believe that they would benefit from a tighter delivery Descent into Putridity is not ruined by the lack of this.

The very rawness and underground brutality of this maggot-filled album is its own reward. Yes, I’m a sucker for Swedish-influenced Death Metal at the best of times, but I still like this.

Horrified have arrived. Let’s support them and let’s listen loud.

Kвіти Знедолених Берегів – За небокрай мрій (Review)

Kвіти Знедолених БерегівKвіти Знедолених Берегів is a solo project from Ukraine that plays Atmospheric Death/Doom. This is his début demo.

This is woe-filled Atmospheric Doom with deep growling and swathes of desolate feeling.

The singer has a very powerful growl. It sounds quite primal in its force and carries a strong presence against the backdrop of the mournful music. This is backed up by occasional spoken word sections which are also performed well and have a good place in the mix, as I find spoken word parts are usually too high when most bands employ them. Soft, low-key cleans also unexpectedly appear, greatly enhancing the already varied vocal package. Neither the cleans or the spoken word sections are over done though and the deep growls eclipse them both.

The music shows good composition and everything is played well. The dark melodies have an air of longing to them and really drive the music forward.

Both of the songs on this release slowly build their funeral dirge over the course of about 10 minutes and the winding, plaintive guitars have just the right tone to connect viscerally with the listener without becoming overwrought. Subtle keyboard/piano is used here and there to further add feeling and I like the style of songwriting in general; it’s mainly about heaviness, both musically and emotionally, but there’s enough subtlety and nuance here to satisfy fans of all tastes and preferences.

For what is, apparently, a demo release, the production is very professional sounding. Everything is balanced and in its place; everything sounds crisp and punchy.

I’m very impressed with this. Hopefully we’ll see a full album from Kвіти Знедолених Берегів in the future and if it’s even half as good as За небокрай мрій it’ll be very good indeed.