wonderboxmetal

Obscurity – Vintar (Review)

This is the seventh album from German band Obscurity. They play Death/Pagan/Viking Metal.

The band play a melodic blend of largely mid-paced Death Metal with Viking and Pagan influences.

The singer has a varied bark that seems just as home with deep grunts as it does with higher screams. After seven albums his voice is perfectly in shape and sounds really good.

The obvious and lazy reference point for a band like this is Amon Amarth, and that certainly gives you a basic impression of Obscurity but it’s not the whole picture.

Vintar is a strong collection of songs. The band play with an obvious passion and it’s clear after so many albums they’ve honed their art to a fine cutting edge. All of the instruments are well-played and the riffs and song structures in general show a good ear for composition, structure, tunes and dynamics.

I enjoyed this. It won’t set the world on fire, but it may just cover everything in a frosty winter coating…

Best played loud.

Karne – Faith in Flesh (Review)

Karne are a Black Metal band from France. This is their début album.

Karne play the kind of Black Metal that’s fast and aggressive. Blackened riffs and dark melodies tear out whilst scythe-like vocals scream from the dead of night. The singer has a voice like ragged silk and her performance is worthy of dark praises.

The songs rage along effortlessly, propelled by melodic bile and vociferous emanations. It’s the kind of Black Metal that’s easy to like.

The melodies and riffs seem to coast along as the band channel all of their collective hatred and grim determination into these dark musical expositions.

This is Black Metal for fans of Marduk, Immortal, Gorgoroth, Naglfar, Dark Funeral and the like. It’s well-written and very enjoyable. Faith in Flesh is mainly a high-speed affair, but they also know how to lock into a good groove when they need to.

Karne also manage to foster the true Melodic Black Metal atmosphere and mood that the best of these kinds of bands manage. There is just the right combination in their sound of polish and evil, cult malevolence. For me, it works just right.

Check them out.

Intraneum – Perfection (Review)

Intraneum are from Poland and this is their début EP. They play Melodic Death Metal/Deathcore.

Apart from the brief and atmospheric piano intro this a short 3 song EP that showcases the band’s abilities.

This is modern Melodic Death Metal that includes components of Metal-/Deathcore.

The songs chug and rip along quite nicely with plenty of leads, solos and melodic extremity sharing space with more considered and streamlined Metal.

The band can clearly play their instruments and they inject a good amount of technical playing into the proceedings, although they never ascend to the crazy heights of pure Technical Death Metal.

How to describe this…it’s like one of the more commercially heavy bands, Lamb of God, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage, etc., started getting heavier and playing with a more Death Metal slant. Add to this a bit more technical playing and remove any clean vocals and you have an idea of where Intraneum are coming from.

The songs are chunky explosions of heavy guitars and melodic riffs, all wrapped up in a punchy production that gives them the bright sound that a band like this needs.

This is a short collection of good songs that demonstrate the potential of Intraneum.

Perdition Winds – Aura of Suffering (Review)

This is the début album from Finnish Black Metallers Perdition Winds.

Perdition Winds play Underground Black Metal with a harsh sound and a strong feeling of desolation and unholiness.

The band’s songs are on the longer side and they use this time to rip through aggressive Black Metal that is steeped in Blackened melodies and malevolent moods.

The vocals are throaty rasps halfway between a scream and a growl. The singer shrieks and roars through the tracks like something possessed and his daemonic voice offers no letup throughout.

The tracks alternate between blasting chaos and groovier sections that harken back to the days of Darkthrone’s best. Mid-90’s Black Metal is still a firm favourite amongst Black Metallers and Perdition Winds will find many willing worshippers here.

Blackly melodic guitars seem to occasionally swim out of the aggressive songs and rise above in showers of grim colour. I particularly enjoy these parts as it really captures the imagination like only Black Metal can sometimes.

Because sometimes, when you’re in a particular mood, only Black Metal will do. Perdition Winds cater to this craving perfectly.

Piss Vortex – Piss Vortex (Review)

Piss Vortex are a Grindcore band from Denmark. This is their début album.

Piss Vortex play the kind of monstrous, visceral Grind that’s just such a pleasure to listen to. Their brand of mayhem is infused with a healthy wedge of Sludge and the two influences have conspired to create a caustic blend of hatred and venom.

The short, violent tracks on this release are a testament to a band who clearly want to rip out your insides and equally clearly don’t care how they do this.

Blasting, atonal and dissonant Grind is mixed with Sludge’s harsh churn to create tracks that don’t always go the direction you might expect, although every one of them is lethal.

Inventive and interesting riffs are backed up by inhuman drumming and vocals that are aggressive enough to carry a health warning.

Piss Vortex have an impressive amount of ways to kill and maim. Some Grind can fall into the trap of just repeating itself, but Piss Vortex manage to sound fresh, enticing and relatively varied for a band that are essentially harnessing pure anger and rage.

Absolute class. For connoisseurs of violent music.

Tongues – Thelésis Ignis (Review)

This is the début EP of Tongues, who are from Denmark and play Black Metal.

This is the kind of evil, otherworldly Black Metal that immediately makes you sit up and take notice. As you listen to Thelésis Ignis there’s an almost tangible feeling of something inhuman watching you just out of sight; something lurking behind the thin veil of reality; something hungry and ancient. It’s as if by playing Thelésis Ignis you are playing a small part in a wider plan to summon whatever it is into this world.

These are the initial feelings evoked by this album; Thelésis Ignis contains power, promise and potential.

Thelésis Ignis may be classed as an EP but at 36 minutes in length it’s as long as some albums.

The music is intense, frightening and shares a lurking malice with the very best of involving and engaging Black Metal. The riffs are inventive and bold without dominating proceedings. Everything works together with everything else to complete the ritual.

Tongues have an underground sound that’s perfect for their style of music, allowing their Black Metal to shine darkly whilst not sounding polished or new in any way.

The evil atmospheres created by the band are all-encompassing while the music is playing and even when it stops it seems to linger, unwilling to let go of life. Some of the added sounds and effects that the band employ subtly in the background of the tracks are eerie and unnerving, like the very best occult Black Metal should be.

On the last song, Bloodline of the Blind, Tongues seem to drop all pretension of being a band in the regular sense. Here they fully embrace their ritualistic side and focus on the act of summoning the indescribable horror from another world.

Thelésis Ignis has elements of Death and Doom Metal in its sound which only goes to enhance the rich, dark palette that the band work from. The vocals in particular have a firm Death Metal basis as they are largely deep growls that seem to come from the bottom of the abyss.

This is a jaw-dropping début from Tongues. All fans of soul-eating Black Metal need to listen to this.

Process of Guilt/Rorcal – Split (Review)

This is a split between Portugal’s Process of Guilt and Switzerland’s Rorcal.

Rorcal’s contribution to the split is 15 minutes of anguished, Blackened chaos.

On their previous album Vilagvege they had a Blackened element to their sound, with dark atmospheres and Black Metal-laced blasting appearing in places; on this split they appear to have embraced this bitingly harsh side of their sound to a greater deal and these three songs have a much stronger Black Metal influence. Having sampled the whirlwind Rorcal seem to have liked their taste of the darkness.

The Sludge is still here though. Blast beats there may be but they also slow things down to let the listener really feel the despair. At least for a short while.

I like Rorcal a lot and think that no matter whether they play fast or slow they have a talent for sounding both evil and agonised at the same time.

The first half of the split is a triumph then.

Having never encountered Process of Guilt before – what of the second half?

Process of Guilt’s contribution to the split is three tracks of Atmospheric Doom Sludge lasting 17 minutes.

They start with harsh screams that seem to escape from the void of negativity that the band shroud themselves with. They have a good sound that veritably screams for the apocalypse to happen and the hammering guitars combined with the very emotive and atmospheric aura of misery that they perpetuate is a treat to listen to.

Deeper, grimmer vocals share stage with these otherworldly shrieks to create a well rounded vocal package that complements the professional delivery of the band. This is Sludge to fall in love with.

Process of Guilt combine the abrasive, twisting parts of Neurosis, the relentless heaviness of Celeste and the dark, gritty atmospheres of Burning Witch to create 17 minutes of feedback-drenched Hell that any Sludge/Doom fan couldn’t help but fall for.

A 32 minutes split featuring quality bands and songs. What’s stopping you from getting this right now?

Maahlas – Nightmare Years (Review)

Maahlas are from Norway and this is their début album. They play Melodic Black Metal with a progressive edge.

Well, this wastes no time in making an immediate impact on the listener with its blasting melodies and sharp vocals. It’s dynamic and bright, with lots of colourful leads and atmospheric flourishes.

This is quite a varied mix within its sub-genre as it contains elements of Atmospheric, Melodic and Progressive Black Metal all rolled into a very well produced album.

Maahlas manage to show very early on that they can play in a very aggressive manner as well is also being able to demonstrate subtlety and nuance. This largely manifests itself through the inclusion of lighter and more sensitive moments that are littered around the album’s blistering Black Metal. This is further enhanced by more Progressive and Atmospheric Black Metal elements.

Nightmare Years boasts a heady combination of the above and results in an album that sounds very accomplished. The musicianship is tight and the riffs are inventive and interesting. There are lots of great additional enhancements and ideas dotted throughout these 11 tracks and it’s an easy album to digest and enjoy without it becoming too staid or formulaic. It’s not an easy line to walk but the band do it naturally and with ease.

Each song is well-written and delicately masters the trade-off between aggressive tendencies and more restrained, considered influences. Clearly the band have a natural talent for this and their passion and personality shines through.

The vocals are very well delivered, with the singer alternating Blackened shrieks with deeper growls and everything in between. It’s a strong performance and crowns the music like a dark jewel. Unexpected clean vocals also appear on the fourth track and add yet another string to their bow.

Nightmare Years is a stunning victory of a début album. I look forward to getting to know this album even better over the coming months and years; it’s already made a big impression on me and I think this one is very firmly a keeper.

Power of Ground – The Butcher (Review)

Power of Ground are from Bangladesh and this is their début EP. They play Technical Brutal Death Metal.

Here we have aggressive Death Metal played with passion and with an ear for a good riff. This is a brutal release with a flavour somewhere between Old-School and a bit newer.

The production values are quite raw, but this is only a début release so that’s okay. It’s not a bad sound though, it just needs filling out a bit in my opinion.

The songs themselves though are nasty slices of visceral Death Metal with a good trade-off between technicality and ugly brutality; similar to a band like Dying Fetus in the sense that they can sometimes juxtapose the two, but they don’t really sound like them overall. I’d say they mix a bit of Dying Fetus with elements of Severe Torture, Defeated Sanity, Infant Annihilator and even a bit of old Hypocrisy in the slower parts.

I like that the band have a lot of ideas and are clearly hungry for this style of music. It sounds fresh and ready to kill. There are a lot of good riffs here and these generally congeal into decent songs.

The vocalist is impressive and talented; screams, growls, pignoise grunts – it’s all here. The vocals are one of the highlights for me, ranging from extreme Death Metal growls to Grindcore-style, unhinged shrieks. Great stuff.

This is a very promising start for Power of Ground. So what do we want next? If they improve on their recording a bit and continue to write interesting and engaging songs like this then their debut album should be a great listen. I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Annihilated – XIII Steps to Ruination (Review)

Annihilated are from the US and play Brutal Death Metal. This is their début album.

Straight from the off we’re treated to Annihilated’s aggressive style of Brutal Death Metal. The double bass roars and the guitars shred as the vocalist seemingly makes a mess of his insides in an attempt to growl harder.

Tight riffs and furious riffing power the band’s main method of assault alternating between blasting or mid-paced sections to allow for variety of attack. Annihilated are not without groove either; Annihilated know how to knock your teeth down your throat and have many ways to do this.

This may be Brutal Death Metal but it’s nice to see a band like Annihilated who know that blasting is not the be all and end all of the style. Annihilated can blast with the best of them, of course, but they mainly use groovier, energetic mid-paced assaults that are done really well and showcase the band’s devastatingly heavy use of effective dynamics.

The drums are particularly fun, with plenty of rolls and fills breaking up the blasting and mayhem.

Leads and solos make appearances and they all sound good. It’s especially nice when played over a solid rhythm section and the band frequently do this to get themselves into a nice groove.

The guitar work is exemplary and their choice of riffs is crushing. The songs also have lots of nice little things to keep the listener engaged, this is certainly not an album that sounds tired or stale in any way. This is fresh, vigorous and full of energy. This is music to bounce around to like a maniac.

I love Death Metal like this. Annihilated take the primal power of the style, rip it apart and then vomit it all back over you. And I love it.

A band to watch.