Death Metal – Page 134 – Wonderbox Metal

Against the Plagues – Purified Through Devastation (Review)

Against the Plagues are a US Death Metal band and this is their third album.

Featuring a crushing and professional sound, Against the Plagues play Death Metal mixed with lashings of Melodic Black Metal.

Deep growls and higher screams are the singer’s weapons of choice, with both sounding feral and full of hatred.

The band manage to take the savagery of Death Metal and infuse it with the melodic poison of Black Metal’s dark soul. This mixture means that Purified Through Devastation contains a good deal of catchy and memorable content. It’s not all blasting and brutality, (although they’re quite adept at that too), and these songs have quite a bit of atmosphere when they want to. Think a combination of Immolation, Morbid Angel and The Kennedy Veil crossed with Dimmu Borgir.

The muscular sound backs up the innate strength of the songs and subtle keyboards add a nuanced juxtaposition against the bare brutality of the drums and aggressive riffs. Mood and feeling is created with melodic workouts and the band can get quite martial and epic in scope on occasion.

It’s a modern take on Blackened Death Metal that sees the band highlighting the glossier, state-of-the-art side of both genres, resulting in a well-polished album that is also very well crafted. The band clearly know what they do and do it well. As Extreme Metal goes in 2015, this is a definite winner in my book.

This is an album that spits venom and fire, one that I’m more than happy to visit again and again. I suggest you do too.

He Comes Later – Adam: The Decay (Review)

He Comes Later are an Italian Deathcore band and this is their second EP.

After a relatively epic intro track, the first song, Beneath My Skin, sets the tone for the EP and He Comes Later reveal themselves to be Deathcore with some extras that you don’t normally find in this style.

They have the requisite blasting drums and groove-heavy guitars that work with the deep growls and higher screams. There’s lots of uplifting parts too, as well as melodic leads to add texture. There’s also a lot more going on here as well.

The songs have some interesting ideas on them, such as the inclusion of clean vocals and orchestral/keyboard elements on some of the tracks. It adds an extra layer of interest and helps keep the attention. Deathcore is a sub-genre that very easily gets stale, fast, but He Comes Later have enough ideas to keep things sounding stimulating and relatively fresh. I also like that they incorporate a decent amount of speed and blasting, as too much Deathcore tends to stay in mid-paced, groove-heavy territory.

The band have quite an accomplished sound on Adam: The Decay and largely seem to know what they’re doing with the material. There are some good riffs on here and enough dynamics and energy to keep things interesting.

Well, I’ve enjoyed this more than I expected too; some nice Deathcore with plenty of bite and enough elements enhanced by other influences to make this a meaty and tasty release.

It will be very interesting to see how this band develop from here and what they do with their first full-length release. I’m hoping that they develop their more experimental and atmospheric side, while keeping their core brutality; if they can do this then their début album will be very good indeed.

For the moment though there’s still 27 minutes of music on this, which is more than enough to keep us occupied for the moment. Time to give it another listen, I feel.

Suppressive Fire – Bedlam (Review)

Suppressive Fire are a Death/Thrash Metal band from the US. This is their début album.

I receive a lot of music promos, and I have to decide whether I’m going to give them a listen with a view to reviewing them, or not. There are lot of different ways I do this, lots of informal and flexible rules that sometimes vary quite a lot depending on how I’m feeling, what time of day it is, etc. Sometimes though, as with Suppressive Fire’s début, it’s all about the album cover. Something about the cover of Bedlam is just so unashamedly Thrash Metal, but without any retro-cheese-nonsense, that I just had to listen to it.

So here we are. As it turns out, sometimes you can judge the proverbial book by its cover.

Suppressive Fire play aggressive Old-School Death/Thrash Metal with a Blackened edge to it that makes it a far more aggressive proposition than most.

The songs are ugly, gritty and full of barely-contained spite. It’s pretty much a 50/50 mix of Death and Thrash Metal which gives the band an energetic sound that comes out in the riffs and galloping/blasting drums.

Featuring a suitably Old-School sound, the album rockets along powered by chemical weapons and nuclear fear. The guitars are riff-heavy and there’s plenty of solos to sink your teeth into.

It’s a decent collection of songs that have a subtle catchiness to them that initially seems buried under the barbed assault of the delivery, which essentially increases the longevity of the album as the songs don’t become too-familiar, too quickly.

So slip on the riot gear and descend into Bedlam.

Triumvir Foul – Triumvir Foul (Review)

Triumvir Foul are a Death Metal band from the US and this is their début album.

Triumvir Foul’s first release, An Oath of Blood and Fire, was a blistering taste of the band’s Old-School Death Metal, and on this full-length they expand upon this early filthy promise.

It’s cold, it’s evil, and it’s fucking dark; it’s Triumvir Foul. One of the things I enjoy about this band is the aura of malignant darkness that they produce so well. They just seem to bleed malevolence and grim atmosphere. There’s no gimmicks, it’s just filthy, evil, Old-School Death Metal that’s positively rabid in its hunger for your soul.

For a band like this it would be too easy to just stick to the slow tempos and let the morbid atmospheres do the work, but thankfully they don’t take the easy route; they throw in some higher speed parts and some blast beats and yet still, amazingly, manage to sound nasty and sinister.

This is some top quality work from Triumvir Foul. Such a murky, corrupt sound should always be praised and Triumvir Foul have some damn good songs to go along with the vile atmospheres too.

Very highly recommended.

Desecresy – Stoic Death (Review)

This is the fourth album from Finnish Death Metallers Desecresy.

We’ve met Desecresy before with their third album, Chasmic Transcendence.

This is Old-School Death Metal that mainly favours a mid-paced/slow assault, with morbid atmospheres and Doom/Death influences.

If you imagine a band like Bolt Thrower and add a bit of Doom/Death flourishes then you’ll have a good idea of where Desecresy are coming from. It’s a simple and effective formula that sees the band steamroll through these 35 minutes with warlike ease.

The vocals growl raggedly while the music trudges relentlessly onwards. Emotive and sinister leads provide a lot of depth for the tracks. The rhythm guitars focus on providing a murky backdrop for the songs and the drums and bass underpin everything in their own unhurried way. In fact, special note should be made of the bass, as occasionally it takes a more central role than the instrument usually does, and those bits in particular sound niiiiice.

So, with good songwriting Stoic Death is an enjoyable trip into Desecresy’s world. At this stage in their career they obviously know what they’re doing and the songs on Stoic Death are accomplished slabs of deathly darkness.

Devotees of Old-School Death Metal be sure to check this out.

Voros – Diseased Deity (Review)

Voros are a Death Metal band from Australia and this is their début album.

If heavy Death Metal with good riffs and pacing is your thing then look no further. Voros feature a thorough approach to Death Metal that sees them take the Classic style and infuse it with a modern energy.

Believe it or not, but Diseased Deity covers a lot of bases; Death, Thrash, Progressive, Technical and Modern Metal are all thrown into the blender and feed into this Death Metal feast.

The vocals are savage shouts full of anger and hatred which seem to lash out of the music like diseased barbs. The singer has a touch of the Meshuggah about him, giving his voice a different edge to that of the normal Death Metal vocalist.

The songs are well-written and see the band showing off what they do, whether it’s riff-hungry, mid-paced Thrashing, faster complexity or blasting destruction.

I like the combination of older and modern influences that give this a feel of Lamb of God and Gojira conspiring together to cover Morbid Angel, Death and Immolation tracks. It’s a really good way to approach this album; modern fire with tried-and-tested Old-School steel. On Diseased Deity it all comes together perfectly and the songs are an interesting, varied and engaging vision of what the band want to achieve.

The various influences work together very well to produce an album that takes from several different styles, with the band having enough skill and talent to make it all their own. Diseased Deity is very impressive and these songs have both immediate appeal and longevity of delivery.

This is a great find. I recommend you get hold of this immediately.

Ripping Death – Tales of the Ripper (Review)

This is the début release from Ripping Death, an Old-School Death Metal band.

A mere 13 minutes in length, this release is the first calling card for their thoroughly morbid take on Old-School Death Metal.

Here we have three original tracks and a Cianide cover. The music has a resolutely 80s feel and the songs are simple, catchy and full of vigour.

Fast riffs and furious solos fly out over pounding, warm-sounding drums and a singer that sounds like he has been unearthed from some long-lost crypt.

There’s something very satisfying about this kind of music. It’s an authentic take on an earlier version of the genre, focusing on a time when songs were more important than speed and feeling was valued higher than technicality. Ripping Death succeed very well in achieving what they set out to do with Tales of the Ripper, and this a ripping, (ahem), collection of songs that are chock full of riotous, catchy hooks and distinctly morbid atmospheres.

Yes, we’ll have some more of this, please.

Affliction Gate – Dying Alone (Review)

This is the latest EP from French Death Metal band Affliction Gate.

This is strong, slick Death Metal with a good sound and plenty of nice riffs.

The singer sounds like he’s moving rocks around in his throat; there’s no issues in this department.

Meaty riffs and headbanging grooves feature strongly, as do the darkened melodies that seem to roll along with the double bass drums. Solos are included too, which are always nice to hear, and along with the lead-work the tracks on Dying Alone are given an emotive edge to go along with the brutality.

Affliction Gate have released a short-but-strong EP that is full of that timeless brand of Death Metal; it’s hard to ever get tired of the style and the band play it with ease and skill. It features elements from many different eras of Death Metal in its roiling make-up, but ultimately a band like this is mainly concerned with the songs themselves and how they hammer themselves into your brain.

A recommended listen.

Confrontation – Aggregat 4 (Review)

Confrontation are a Death Metal band from the Netherlands. This is their début album.

On their first EP, Fieseler Fi 103, I stated – “This is Old-School Death Metal with a malignant Doom influence. Think Swedish Death Metal meets Incantation”. That description stands so I thought I’d go the lazy route and just reproduce it here.

Here we have 42 minutes of Doom-filled Death Metal that hits the mark for both styles in many ways. The thick, heavy riffs are flattening and the deep growled vocals sound hungry enough to cause anyone to question whether getting closer is a good idea or not. It’s a great combination that leads to the songs having a very satisfying quality to them.

The pounding rhythms are as methodical and relentless as a bombardment, while the pummelling drums hit like explosions, causing aftershocks to reverberate through the ground.

The songs seem to trample the war-torn battlefields like a prowling menace, eager for the kill. The Swedish and Doom influences merge together naturally and Aggregat 4 is a fulfilling and entertaining release, all crushing guitars and eerie melodies.

I really quite enjoyed their short EP, and this full-length more than meets the expectations that I had because of it. I’m a bit of a sucker for Death Metal that has both Swedish and Doom influences, so it’s no wonder that I enjoy Confrontation so much really. However, it would all be for nothing if the quality of the songs wasn’t up to scratch, but thankfully that’s not an issue as the quality control levels on Aggregat 4 are set quite high.

Recommended for fans of slow, heavy Death Metal.

Bloodstrike – In Death We Rot (Review)

This is the début album from US Death Metallers Bloodstrike.

Their first EP Necrobirth showcased massive potential and, as I said at the time, indicated that their first full-length would probably be very good indeed.

So, have these claims been vindicated?

In a word; yes.

Bloodstrike play Death Metal that takes the Old-School style, adds a bit of a Swedish flavour and then drags it through a cemetery to get that authentic graveyard feeling. They even cover Soulless by Grave, a Death Metal classic if ever there was one.

The songs are of the aforementioned style, resolutely from the 90s era. The production on In Death We Rot follows suit and the entire album has an Old-School feeling that uses the Swedish style well but doesn’t completely confine itself to it.

Riffs, riffs and more riffs, alongside creepy leads and gloom-filled atmospheres. There are lots of good riffs on here that hit the spot nicely, with both faster sections and slower ones working out well together. The leads contribute to atmosphere-building, especially when combined with a more Doom-ier section, although the band are no slackers when it comes to speed either.

The singer has a beastly voice that sounds completely monstrous. Her vocals were damn good on their earlier release and on In Death We Rot she simply sounds inhuman. Kudos.

This is a really solid album that caters easily to fans of morbid Death Metal. Be sure to check it out.