Kade Storm is a solo artist from the UK. This is his début album of Blackened Doom Metal.
The album features a grim, heavy sound that is pleasingly murky.
The vocals remind me of the singer of Cathedral if he had a rawer, Blackened edge to his voice.
Apocalyptic mid-paced riffs form the bulk of the music, relentlessly stomping onwards in a fit of dark vision. The music has a Doom/Sludge feel to it, enhanced by a Blackened twinge and some Classic Metal elements on occasion, especially in the included guitar solos.
The guitars chug and groove in a restrained and bleak way, giving the songs a curious feeling like they’re somehow stuck between styles. This is not necessarily to their detriment, but it is somewhat of an acquired taste. Or, I suppose more accurately; it depends if you’re in the mood for it or not.
The music is consistently similar throughout, giving it a drone-like hypnotic quality in some ways. Individual songs work perfectly well, but taken as a whole the album describes a full movement of crawling, ugly Doom with occult atmospheres and dark designs.
This is the second album from this Russian Doom/Sludge band.
This is gritty, earthy Sludge that has a bedrock of down-tuned riffage and harsh vocals, providing the listener with plenty of opportunity to engage with the negativity and also have a darn good groove to the music as well.
The music is largely mid-paced with slower sections appearing as necessary to drive the tar-like feeling of Sludge home.
Vocally we get Blackened screams that seethe with energetic disgust and bile. They frequently take second place to the rest of the music and are only used when there needs to be an added violent emphasis to the songs’ downbeat messages.
This is only a two-piece band but they make more than enough noise to make you think otherwise. The beefy, bass-enhanced riffs become hypnotic by their repetition and, as any Sludge/Doom fan knows, it’s easy to become entranced by this kind of relentless, churning heaviness.
The band have an ear for a good riff and this is the kind of Sludge that it’s easy to fall for. Heavy, emotive and crackling with hate; Electricjezus spend 41 minutes flattening the opposition with waves of distortion.
Oh, and there’s a magnificent Sludge cover of Berlin’s Take My Breath Away, too. Top work!
Designs of Chaos’ new EP The Darkest Storm shows once again what a fertile breeding ground the UK is for Metal bands. Let’s find out a bit more about this promising band…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
We like to think of ourselves as a modern metal band from London, nothing fancy, no technical sub genre to hide behind, just plan and simple metal. Some say technical death metal, we just like to say metal. We play fast, we hit hard and we sing about stuff that has meaning to us, and we enjoy ourselves while we do it.
Give us a bit of history to Designs of Chaos
Designs of Chaos has been around for 7 or 8 years in one form or another, but we’ve only recently become the band we are today. Several members have come and gone, but it wasn’t until Jay joined as our frontman 4 years ago that we’ve felt that we were the band we wanted to be. Jay forced us to play faster and heavier than we had in the past and took us in the direction we always wanted to go. We have come a long way since our humble begins and we try to bring influences from all the members of the band to deliver the package we’ve become.
Where did the band name come from?
The name was thought up by a couple of ex-members, they liked the juxtaposition of the order in chaos, they pitched it to us and we liked it, it just kind stuck from then on.
What are your influences?
We have a vast array of influences, each member has quite a different background, Dean is an old school thrash head and loves bands like Exodus, old school Metallica, Sepultura and even more modern bands like Lamb of God. So we get a lot of our fast thrashy roots from his love for that style. Jay has a more modern post hardcore, technical death metal influences which is where his vocal style comes from. All the band has similar bands we all draw from like Lamb of God, Meshuggah and Metallica, so we just throw it all together and see what comes out the other side.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
The new Lamb of God album is sick, plus the new Between the Buried and Me is really different. Also look out for the new Enabler album that’s pretty awesome as well.
The Darkest Storm has a much more aggressive edge to it than some of your peers – is it important to you to keep this intensity and heaviness in your sound?
That’s what we like, we’re not really into melodic vocals at the moment, we might go down that route one day, but it’s not where we are right now. We enjoy heavy and fast paced song therefore we play that style. When someone brings in a new song or a riff we all have to be feeling it to get it to work, we’re very critical of our own work like that, but we’re all in it together so we all have to like our output or it’s not going to work.
You strike me as a band that would be very good live – what’s the typical Designs of Chaos show like?
We get great feedback from people at our shows, we just give 110% and really try and give people a good performance. Jay especially tries to really engage with everyone in the crowd and get everyone involved, jumping around the stage like the crazy monkey he is, we all go nuts for how ever long we’ve got, it’s exhausting at times but such a rush!
What’s your favourite song on the EP and why?
It’s fair to say we all have a special place for Darkest Storm in our hearts. For us it’s more than just a song we wrote. It was written and partially recorded right before our close friend and drummer died last year. The lyrics are about having someone there for you during tough times, so we all felt it spoke to us when we lost him, and we all drew strength from each other to get us through, what was our darkest storm.
What are the subjects/themes of the songs on this EP?
I’ve already spoken about darkest storm, but Social Phantom is about how the social media has connected us so much that we know more people than ever before and yet are just as isolated as ever. You watch vicariously as “friends” are out having fun, but they never see you, or they might interact with you online then blank you totally on the street. The social media frenzy of late is really weird and we tried to address that.
Give us a bit of information on your songwriting process
I’ve already touched on it really, but generally Dean or JD will bring a riff into the studio and we’ll jam it out, and start to work on the composition, Jay does all the lyrics himself and tends to wait until the song is more or less complete before finalising his lyrics, we all jam through the track as much as possible and really hammer out the dents until it’s a smooth and polished piece.
How did the recording go?
JD is a wicked recording artist, and we did all the recording with him, either in a studio or just at his home. It was the first time we’ve ever recorded in this style as historically we’ve always gone into a studio and recorded everything over the course of a couple of weekends or something so this was a little alien to what we’re used to but it allowed us more time to get everything perfect.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
Right now we have been focused on getting our last EP out to everyone, so we don’t know how our songs will form next, we’ve got a few things kicking about which we are working on, but nothing solid as of yet. We just want to make good metal songs that we and others enjoy, who knows where that thinking might take us.
What’s next for Designs of Chaos?
We’ve got a few shows lined up in the future and we’re just going to be getting out there and trying to play to as many people as possible. We’re playing Beermageddon in August and we’re all looking forward to that, then we will continue to look for shows around London, and who knows we might even get to do a UK tour in the winter.
This is the second album by US Thrash Metal band To the Pain.
This is a short release – 6 songs in just under 27 minutes – featuring Bay Area-style Thrash and a fantastically-titled closing song Don’t Eat the Eyes. (I felt compelled to point that out).
The Metallica/Anthrax/Testament inspired songs are a real throwback to decades past and in all honesty it really, really works. It may be resolutely Old-School but it’s not a Retro release or any such nonsense – this is a real band playing real Thrash and doing it very well.
I enjoyed their début album, (which was one of my earliest reviews), but I can’t help but notice the strides forward that the band have made in the intervening years. 7 has seen them make advances in every area, from sound to songwriting to delivery; the entire thing sounds more confident and assured. The songs are better and this is a real Thrash Metal feast.
The singer’s voice has improved along with the rest of the band and he too sounds more confident in his role. He has settled into his job with ease and seems to have no problem infusing his performance with character and charisma.
But where’s the rest of the album? I feel like there are another two or three tracks missing. Some bands easily put out too many songs and you can lose attention, but 7 is the opposite and is over before you know it. Maybe it’s better this way though, as it certainly leaves you salivating and hungry for more.
Well, recently I’ve stated, quite a few times actually, that I feel a bit jaded with Thrash Metal. However, there have been a plethora of recent releases that are making me rethink this and To the Pain’s newest is another. 7 is a winner for me. Check it out.
Amenthes are a US Death Metal band and this is their début EP.
Amenthes play Modern Death Metal with a hint of Grind and even Black Metal.
Vocals are various growls with added screams. Duties are shared between the main singer and a guitarist/bassist; they’re ably done and not without personality.
The music is darkly brutal and there’s enough character and passion to the riffs to help Amenthes stand out from the pack.
On this release Classic Death Metal riffing has been combined with more modern chops to create a blend of the old and new. This is added to on occasion by a Grindcore influence that allows the band to let their focused assault slip off and get a bit more frenzied. Some of the riffs have a slight Black Metal flavour to them, lending the band a dark feeling to some of the parts of the songs.
I can hear shades of Cannibal Corpse, Martyr Defiled, Decapitated, All Shall Perish, Job for a Cowboy, Hiss from the Moat and others in their sound. It’s a good mixture that allows the band freedom to do what they want without losing the core brutality that all Death Metal has.
Blast beats and energetic riffs lead the way while the vocals snarl their way through the carnage. I enjoy a good solo and the band have got me covered in this respect too.
I like that there are a few different things going on here, with some nice ideas sharing space with the heavy Death Metal.
This is a very enjoyable release from a band who have real enthusiasm and the songs to match.
This is the third album from US Doom Metallers Behold! The Monolith.
The band play Doom mixed with Sludge, producing an album that sits outside of the normal template for both sub-genres and is all the better for it.
In addition to the usual Doom staples, there’s also an anger here. This is manifest in the aggressive vocals and the more upbeat aspects of the songs.
The tracks are a combination of Doom, Sludge and even a bit of Classic Metal and Post-Metal on occasion. This is an interesting and less-travelled path for a band to tread, and in this way Behold! The Monolith remind me of the equally compelling Khemmis.
Architects of the Void is a heavy and dark album, full of slow, agonising crawls through a landscape littered with broken dreams and dying hopes. That’s not to say it’s a completely nihilistic and bleak album like some Doom; this is actually more of a well-rounded release than that, with brighter parts, epic feelings and groovier sections included too. Overall though, it’s heavy, dark and very engaging.
The songs sound introverted and personal, albeit through the lens of a public-facing band. This sounds more like music played for the sake of musical catharsis and outlet than for the need to simply rock out or any such thing. There’s a lot of feeling here, sometimes bubbling beneath the surface and sometimes right in your face.
Due to the mixing of the sub-styles, (Doom/Sludge/Metal), this is quite a varied release and each song has its own personality. The album works well holistically and there’s a lot of depth, nuance and longevity to be had on this release.
Like the tastiest of Metal feasts, Architects of the Void will leave you feeling satisfied and satiated.
This is the fourth album from UK Death Metallers De Profundis.
After 2014’s EP teaser Frequencies, (two tracks of which make an appearance on Kingdom of the Blind), this album fleshes out their Progressive/Technical Death Metal sound to a fuller 52 minutes.
The band continue with their technical Death-worship and have created an album that’s a comprehensive overview of their Death Metal worldview. Like their heroes, De Profundis make sure that the song is never lost within the technical framework and have the talent necessary to play such ambitious music. Like the wonderful Execration, they are doing their best to keep the spirit of Death alive while putting infusing the style with their own personality and spin.
De Profundis like their songs technical and involving, with plenty of syncopation and off-kilter ideas amidst the blast beats. The songs are all around the 5-minute mark, or longer, giving the band ample time to show off what they can do. The performance levels are high and the entire package is very accomplished. I must also mention the bass, especially; I really like what the bassist contributes to these songs.
The deep vocals are like thunder claps and punctuate the songs like bruises. These help to provide a different identity for the band than if they had opted for higher, more Death-esque vocals, and act as a blunt counterpoint to the sharpness of the music.
Kingdom of the Blind is an impressive release from a band who are not content to be average.
This is the eighth album from the UK’s My Silent Wake. They play Doom Metal.
This is Atmospheric Doom that takes elements of bands such as, (older), My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost and works them into its own melancholic, gloomy soundscape. There’s a Gothic component to their style, as well as some Old-School Death Metal elements wrapped up in their sound.
Although they have their share of slower sections, for the most part this is not agonisingly slow Doom that crawls along at a minimal speed. No, this is Doom Metal with plenty of groove, mid-paced momentum and Metal riffs, and the Death Metal influence helps the band keep things moving.
Screamed/rasped vocals are the main mode of lyrical delivery, although the odd clean and semi-clean does appear here and there. They’re performed in a really engaging manner, and their real strength is in how they work with the guitars to seamlessly ensure that the songs are greater than the sum of their individual parts.
There are a lot of really tasty, captivating riffs on this release. Combined with the interesting vocal delivery and vocal patterns the two work together to hook and snare the listener. Before you know it you’re nodding along and getting into it quite easily.
The music is enhanced by keyboards and effects that add to the atmosphere, although these are quite subtle and the main show is carried off via the interplay between guitars and vocals.
My Silent Wake’s latest album is full of top quality Doom that harkens back to the early 90s without wallowing in nostalgia or backwoods glancing; it’s simply a sound of the era, impressively realised in 2015.
Have a listen and let the band work their dark magic.
This is the fifth album from Nuclear, who are a Thrash Metal band from Chile.
Opening straight off the bat with a strong sound, Nuclear reveal themselves to be fast-paced Thrash Metal. Taking cues from bands such as Kreator and Slayer, this is a much more aggressive Thrash than we normally get to see and all the more powerful because of it.
The riffs are tight and sharp, showing a reverence for classic Thrash, but also a personal touch that allows the band to throw in a few different flourishes here and there. The drums pound and never let up, while the bass is actually audible on occasion.
The vocals are angry snarls that are similar enough to the singer of Slayer to sound familiar but individual enough for that to not be an issue in any negative way.
Each of these songs sounds like it’s on fire. There’s a passionate energy that hangs around them like a blaze and it’s so damn hard to sit still when the band are just Thrashing out with passion and style; the tracks are well-written and have lots of hooks.
Catchy and aggressive Thrash Metal? That’s the best combination it seems.
These days I find I tire so easily of Thrash, as it seems to be largely populated by bands who go the Retro/Old-School/humorous route, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that it’s just so easy to become stale playing those styles. Nuclear, however, have reminded me why Thrash, in the right hands, is so damn essential. In a similar way to Alkira, Dew Scented and Algebra; Nuclear are a Thrash band that have gone all out in the aggression stakes resulting in an absolute winner of an album.
Here we have a band who have thrown out all of the nonsense and produced an album that straight-forwardly rips its way through the running time with relish, enthusiasm and above all, talent. This is aggressive, raw and utterly, wickedly delightful.
If you find yourself on the more jaded side of things when it comes to Thrash Metal then I heavily advise you to check out Formula for Anarchy. Maybe it can relight the passion for Thrash Metal in you.
I really can’t say enough good things about this album. Simply check it out and get ready for a wild ride.
This is the début album from Russian Death Metal band Sarpentra.
If you think of bands such as Nile, Behemoth, Melechesh and Septic Flesh you’ll be on the right lines. This is aggressive, atmospheric and dark Death Metal that’s further enhanced by choirs, orchestration and operatic vocals.
The core of the band is fast and brutal, with deep growls and blast beats leading the way. This is tempered by the atmospheric side of the band, which reins in the brutality, (or tries to), so that the band’s grander and more cinematic side can come to the fore.
The technical brutality of the band blurs by as they indulge their atmospheric side and the two taken together merge into something really special. They may not be the first band to play this style but they sound like they’re doing it on steroids. While some Death Metal bands dabble in their Classical components, here they’ve been taken to the nth degree. It’s as if Therion had created reinterpretations of Nile songs and then asked Behemoth to perform them.
These are songs that have real presence to them. It’s undeniable. There are so many stand-out moments on this album that it’s hard to credit. The lightning-speed playing combined with the exotic melodies and the orchestral bombast…it’s a heady mixture and Supernova is nothing if not ambitious.
A lot of hard work has clearly gone into writing and recording these songs and it’s all paid off handsomely. This is an album that feels like a tour of a strange new land, one that’s ripe with danger but worth exploring nonetheless.
Very impressive and very, very good. Make this a high priority listen.
Kade Storm is a solo artist from the UK. This is his début album of Blackened Doom Metal.
Where did the band name come from?
Give us a bit of information on your songwriting process
Wonderbox Metal 