May 2016 – Page 3 – Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Earth Rot

Australian death metal band Earth Rot have produced one of the most exciting and jaw-droppingly impressive EPs in recent memory. Chthonian Virtues is its name, and merry destruction is its game. Jared Bridgeman, he of the inhuman lungs, told me a bit more about this energetic band…

Introduce us to Earth Rot!

We’re a 4 piece black/death band from Perth, Australia. We have 3 releases to date: Chthonian Virtues, Follow The Black Smoke and Dirt. Listen here and figure out for yourself what we’re about: http://www.earthrot.com.au Continue reading “Interview with Earth Rot”

Aborted – Retrogore (Review)

Aborted are a veteran death metal band from Belgium and this is their 9th album.

The return of Aborted! Huzzah! After recently catching them live, I was eagerly awaiting their latest foray into the killing pits. Their brand of blasting mayhem and huge groovy riffs has been refined over the years so that they’re definitely one of the best in the genre at this point.

The singer has always been Continue reading “Aborted – Retrogore (Review)”

Arallu – Geniewar (Review)

This is the fifth album from this Israeli black metal band.

Ever since I first heard Satanic War in Jerusalem back in 2002, it was immediately apparent that there was something different, something special, about Arallu’s music. Sure, it was black metal and contained recognisably black metal components, but there was also something extra that the band had. They’ve nurtured and developed it over the years, and every time I hear them I’m reminded of just how individual they are.

So basically, we get black metal in the recognisable format, but twisted with Continue reading “Arallu – Geniewar (Review)”

Gruesome – Dimensions of Horror (Review)

Gruesome are a Death Metal band from the US. This is their latest EP.

Gruesome are a supergroup of sorts, made up of members who have a large amount of extreme metal experience and count many different bands as their current and ex-projects, including Exhumed, Possessed and Malevolent Creation.

After the massively enjoyable slab of Death-worship that was Savage Land, Gruesome return with Continue reading “Gruesome – Dimensions of Horror (Review)”

Interview with Gridfailure

For someone who’s not massively into noise/drone/experimental/whatever music, Gridfailure has been a bit of an eye-opener for me. It differentiates itself from a lot of its peers simply by being pretty damn good. That’s it, really. The soundscapes on Ensuring the Bloodline Ends Here are made up of just good music; here we have something that builds, turns, changes and emotes, exactly what you want out of an album, no matter what it’s composed of. David Brenner, the evil genius behind the band, was kind enough to give a bit of insight into the birth of Gridfailure…

Introduce us to Gridfailure!

Gridfailure is comprised of only myself, David Brenner; the act is as of now a solo project that happened “by accident”. I’ve been playing live and recording with Theologian since last year, Summer 2015, and within that time have heavily expanded upon the bass/vocal or vocal-only responsibilities I’ve had with any of my prior acts many moons ago. All of a sudden I was unloading a wealth of accumulated ideas, recording for Theologian, in the meantime creating a plethora of toxic runoff that would not be used on our records. One day this past February I was playing with unused recordings from random sessions basically just learning how to use music creation software. Suddenly these songs just kind of “happened” within layering this dark waste, and I started creating new material to merge them together in a very Frankenhooker fashion. Gridfailure was a random name I came up with while writing lyrics for a then non-existent band in the dark during our blackout of Hurricane Sandy, then just sat there in a folder… it just popped out while these tracks were aligning, and the project was brought into existence right then, randomly dicking-around with abandoned source material and old scribble. Continue reading “Interview with Gridfailure”

Invocation – Seance – Part: 1 (Review)

Coming from Chile, this is the début demo release from Invocation, who are a blackened death metal band.

Seance – Part: 1 has a nicely raw sound and underground recording. It suits the music well and lends it a grim power that the band exploit mercilessly. If they inject a bit more thickness and substance to the production in the future, I think they’ll have a strong platform for their music.

Invocation’s style is finely bal Continue reading “Invocation – Seance – Part: 1 (Review)”

Epidemia – Leprocomio (Review)

This is the second album from these Death Metallers, who hail from Ecuador.

With an album cover that screams 80s death metal, possibly with a bit of thrash mixed in, Epidemia actually reveal themselves to be much more of a brutal 90s proposition. Leprocomio is raw, ugly and mercilessly aggressive.

The songs on this 35 minute excursion into the torturelands are savage and give the listener a right old battering. When they’re not ploughing ahead at full speed, they have a rhythmic brutality that recall Continue reading “Epidemia – Leprocomio (Review)”

Grand Magus – Sword Songs (Review)

This is the eighth album from this Swedish heavy metal institution.

How’s that for an album cover, eh? It certainly paints a pretty picture of what the album sounds like.

For twenty years Grand Magus have been blaring out their brand of heavy metal in one form or another, and they Continue reading “Grand Magus – Sword Songs (Review)”

Interview with I Am Noah

The Verdict by I Am Noah; here is a heavy-as-Hell metalcore album that has melodic, almost post-metal flourishes to it, making for a very satisfying listen. It’s definitely one of the best recent releases of this sometimes-maligned sub-genre and is good enough to easily remind anyone of just how effective metalcore can be when played with passion, conviction and substance. I took the time to catch up with the band just as The Verdict is being unleashed on the world…

Explain the concept behind the band name

I Am Noah is our way to address things and share our emotions. “Noah” is a fictional character who questions and condemns the boundaries of our intellect and behaviour which are omnipresent. On our record we intended “Noah” to be thought-provoking. He should speak for us as a band and reflects all our feelings, opinions, positions. Continue reading “Interview with I Am Noah”

Polar – No Cure No Saviour (Review)

This is the third album by Polar, a UK Hardcore band.

Polar offer us 40 minutes of passionate music, tinged with elements of punk and post-hardcore delivery. It’s heavy and abrasive in parts, but not without subtlety or melody in others; it strikes the right balance between both.

As soon as the record starts it’s immediately apparent that Continue reading “Polar – No Cure No Saviour (Review)”