May 2015 – Page 6 – Wonderbox Metal

Spawned from Hate – Accelerated Butchery (Review)

Spawned from Hate are a UK Death Metal band. This is their latest EP.

This is raw, evil Death Metal with an Old-School sound and enough brutality to kill 1000 pigs. (Poor pigs).

But the piggy sacrifice has at least resulted in some Death Metal capable of waking you up in the morning.

This may be from the UK but it has a distinct USDM feeling circa the mid 90’s.

I particularly enjoy the vocals, as they have the kind of ultra-deep growl that’s incredibly satisfying. It just sounds so prototypical and pleasing.

The archaic melodies and riffs may be rooted in an older pedigree but they’re delivered with a modern passion and lust for blood. This is such a pure stain of Death Metal, you can’t really go wrong with it.

If you’ve become jaded with the Death Metal scene then it’s unlikely that Accelerated Butchery will set your world fire. For the rest of us though who still love Death Metal in all of its wonderful, myriad forms, Spawned from Hate play a timeless Death Metal style and it’s hard not to enjoy it.

This is a very gratifying release and promises good things for the band in the future. If they can capitalise on this EP then I look forward to what their début album will bring.

For fans of Suffocation, Deeds of Flesh, Dying Fetus, Devourment, etc.

Disloyal – Godless (Review)

Disloyal are a Death Metal band from Poland. This is their fourth album.

Disloyal have a sound that’s nice and thick with the guitars sounding hard enough to break bones.

The riffs are brutal and groovy with enough speed to run their victims down and completely bulldoze them into nothing.

The songs are well-written and have some unexpected elements of interest here and there; a good example appears early on in the first song – a brief addition of subtle and effective keyboards to create an epic atmosphere.

The vocals are deep, dark growls that have a lot of character for the style. With the impressive nature of the music a genre-standard growl would only be disappointing, so the fact that they have a singer who injects his deathgrunts with a bit of charisma is most welcome.

Well this is very good. Songs, heaviness, brutality and intelligent delivery. Top class.

Disloyal have managed to produce what is essentially a Brutal Death Metal album but with personality and some added enhancements that lift them well above the mediocre.

Very highly recommended.

The Grotesquery – Curse of the Skinless Bride (Review)

This is the third album by this Death Metal supergroup, featuring members and ex-members of Massacre, Death, Edge of Sanity, Mantas, Bone Gnawer, Paganizer, Ribspreader, Liklukt and This Haven.

First off, I want to acknowledge the album title – now that’s a Metal album title. Top work!

But anyway…onto the music. Here we have some Old-School Death Metal with plenty of groove and mid-paced heaviness. This is 90’s-style Death Metal from an era when songs still mattered and each track was thought of in a holistic manner.

As such, the songwriting here befits the music and the Metal flows nicely from track to track. Or interlude, as the case may be. This is a Horror-themed release so there are numerous interludes to progress the story.

The guitar riffs are appropriate to the style, of course, but the melodies and riffs chosen also seem to further the atmosphere as espoused by the narrative. The result is not just a trip down Death Metal memory lane but an immersive experience into the realms of Horror Metal.

Good sound, good Metal. Here’s to The Grotesquery.

Irreversible Mechanism – Infinite Fields (Review)

Hailing from Belarus, Irreversible Mechanism play Progressive/Technical Death Metal and this is their début album.

Here we have some super-sexy Technical Death Metal with equal parts Progressive and Modern Death Metal as well as elements of Melodic/Symphonic Death/Black Metal. If that sounds quite intimidating then don’t let it be; Irreversible Mechanism have the talent to bring it all together and make it work.

The band have a lot of technical ability and there’s no shortage of fretboard wizardry on display here.

Lots of solos and leads as well as time signature changes are included and although they are the norm for Technical Death Metal, here the Progressive elements of the band and their songwriting skills stop things from becoming overbearing in this regard.

Irreversible Mechanism may be ambitious with their songs, as well they should be, but they always remember that the needs of the song come first and it’s not just enough to string riffs together. Dynamics, pacing, energy and composition are all important and these songs are surprisingly memorable.

Heavy use is made of synthesizers to add extra layers of feelings to the tracks. Do you know what? It works. These sounds add to the overall atmosphere of the album and adds a strong melodic edge to the band’s assault.

Vocally the singer shifts between traditional growling and higher screams. The screams in particular are notable as, combined with the hyperspeed music and symphonic elements, they lend the music a Blackened edge on occasion.

Infinite Fields is a very impressive release. Kind of like a Technical Death Metal version of Dimmu Borgir; the grandeur and the violence.

Definitely be sure to check this out, you won’t be disappointed.

Obsolete – Riven (Review)

Obsolete are from the US and play Progressive Rock. This is their latest EP.

This is a band who play melodic music that has a good energy to it.

The melodic vocals have a dark edge to them, somewhere between System of a Down, Autumnblaze, Breed 77 and Ignite. Musically this doesn’t fall too far from the mark either, actually.

It’s an interesting combination that sees the band delivering upbeat rockers and acoustic ballads with ease.

The band have largely good songwriting skills and clearly have ambitions for themselves, as well they should. Although some of the compositions are a little rough around the edges, this is nothing that a bit of practice and time won’t solve as all of the essential components are present and correct; a little polish here and there is all that’s required.

Riven suffers from not having the best recording, which primarily manifests itself when the distorted guitars kick in. It’s not an awful sound by any means, but it’s just something to be improved on for the future.

This EP shows great promise for the band. A few recording improvements and a little bit of tightening up and I think they could be a force to be reckoned with.

Give them a listen and see what you think.

Apophys – Prime Incursion (Review)

This is the début album from Apophys. They are from the Netherlands and play Death Metal.

I enjoy an album that has no pointless intro and starts off as it means to go on – brutal and direct. It’s uncompromising, harsh, and just how I like my Death Metal in the morning.

This is professionally played Death Metal that knows a thing or two about the genre, (featuring members and ex-members of a whole slew of other bands), and sets out from the start to blast and batter you into the ground.

The riffs are dark and brutal and the drums form a constantly aggressive backdrop. It’s largely high-energy, high-hostility stuff, and you wouldn’t want to get caught standing in front of it when it’s at full speed.

There are some nicely melodic solos included which flow like liquid gold through the jaggedly brutal riffs of the rhythm guitars.

The style is predominantly a US-influenced one, (think Morbid Angel-esque), mixed with a bit of a modern groove for some additional flavour. It works a treat and the songs sit well on their throne of xenos skulls.

At just under 40 minutes in length this is an enjoyable and satisfying blast of Death Metal that should fill that need for violent carnage that I know you have deep down. Turn this up and watch everything around you wilt and die under Apophys’ relentless assault.

Invigorating.

Sigh – Graveward (Review)

This is the tenth Sigh album. If you’ve never encountered them before, they’re from Japan and they play Black Metal. At least, that’s what they started out as and they’ve just kind of evolved from there. Avant-Garde Black Metal/Extreme Metal is probably closest to the mark these days, if you have to label it at all.

Sigh are one of the few bands in existence that come even close to being able to be called unique. They definitely have their own sound and identity, even if this has changed quite a bit through the years.

So on to Graveward. This is dense and complex music that features a lot of different parts to the songs. Clearly a lot of work has gone into these compositions.

The Black Metal base is present and correct, as well as the Avant-Garde tendencies. Add to this is a psychedelic influence, powerful cinematic qualities as well as a strong theatrical component and you have an album that’s born to stand out from the pack.

The theatrical nature of the release belies the horror-themed core of the album, but ultimately serves to reinforce it.

As you might think, each track has a lot going on and it’s a lot to take in on first listen. Subsequent spins reveal all kinds of nuances and little things that you didn’t necessarily consciously pick up on first time around.

Choirs and orchestration rub shoulders with Thrash riffs and Blackened croaks. Psychedelic keyboards and operatic vocals join horns and saxophones in backing the distorted guitars. It’s a true melting pot of influences that probably shouldn’t work but it really, really does.

Befitting music that has a lot of different components to it, Graveward features a wealth of guest appearances from well-known members of bands such as Trivium, Dragonforce, Shining, Rotting Christ and The Meads of Asphodel, among others.

Somewhat of a cross between Emperor, Therion, Arcturus and some form of crazy Progressive Jazz, Sigh can always be relied upon to liven things up with their presence and Graveward is no exception.

This is a truly exceptional release that many will probably find overwhelming with its multicoloured assault on the senses. Those who endure, however, are rewarded tenfold for their perseverance.

Essential listening.

Sea of Disorder – Merging Land and Sky (Review)

Sea of Disorder are a Post-Metal band from Austria, and this is their début album.

The band play a combination of Post-Metal and Doom that combines the atmospheric with the harsh.

As well as the standard instrumentation Sea of Disorder also use keyboards and effects to get the sound they like, as well as including a fair few guests from other bands.

As alluded to earlier, Sea of Disorder mix the lighter, more introspective elements of Post-Metal with the louder and heavier aspects of Doom to create long songs that tell a tale in atmospheres and moods.

Deep vocals that seem to come from the bowels roar out accompanied by large riffs and atmospheric heaviness. This is juxtaposed against the more Post-Rock instrumental moments of tranquillity as the band build themselves up to a peak.

Cleans also appear on As the Clouds Disperse and they fit Sea of Disorder’s style well.

Overall I liked this quite a bit. Check them out.

Yonder Realm – The Old Ways (Review)

Yonder Realm are from the US and this is their début album. They play Folk/Melodic Metal.

This is music that combines the bite of Melodic Death Metal with the jauntiness of Folk Metal, resulting in songs that have Folk Metal’s quirkiness and Melodic Death Metal’s seriousness but without going too much in either direction; reminiscent of Ensiferum.

The harsh main vocals have a good presence throughout whilst more epic cleans are used very sparingly.

The violin is a strong component of the band’s sound and juxtaposes against the more Metal guitars in a way that is pleasingly disruptive yet separate from the main music.

The Folk melodies are a constant companion to the Metallic riffing. Yonder Realm are interesting in that usually the guitars of bands like this follow a Folk theme as with the rest of the music. The Old Ways is a bit different in that it’s almost as if two bands are playing; a Melodic Death Metal band and a Folk instrumentalist group. It’s like the two aspects of their sound just happen to fit into the same song structures.

Although this is potentially a recipe for disaster, Yonder Realm avoid this simply by having the two styles fit together and compliment each other. If you removed the violin and keyboards, etc. you’d still have a perfectly serviceable Metal band, but with the Folk instrumentation it’s better than it would be without.

This is a rare case of the Folk stuff sounding just tacked on to a Metal band and it actually working in the band’s favour. How on earth they managed this feat is anyone’s guess. I call black magic.

Overall I’ve enjoyed Yonder Realm’s début. They have a harsher edge than some bands of this style, which I appreciate. The very-Metal core identity of the band is simply enhanced by the Folk inclusion and the album as a whole is a rocking good listen.

Check them out.

XII Boar – Pitworthy (Review)

XII Boar are from the UK and this is their début album. They play Stoner Rock/Metal.

This is gritty, Metallic Rock ‘N’ Roll in the vein of Orange Goblin that will find a nice home in the hands of fans of Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Lord Dying, Crowbar, High on Fire, Apostle of Solitude, etc.

XII Boar play feel-good music with an earthy, raw quality. The singer is full of charisma and attitude, as is the band as a whole really.

The songs are catchy and memorable slabs of rocking distortion and hot guitar licks.

It’s an easily identifiable style but the band play with such passion and conviction it’s easy to get swept up in their enthusiasm. The NOLA influence is apparent in their riffs but this has been filtered through the UK and Orange Goblin’s legacy is definitely felt in XII Boar’s style.

Pitworthy is an enjoyable album with a good sound and belligerent swagger. Have a listen.