Death Metal – Page 162 – Wonderbox Metal

Devangelic – Resurrection Denied (Review)

Devangelic are from Italy and this is their début album of Brutal Death Metal.

It bursts out of the speakers in a torrent of gore and blasting, firmly intent on murder and maximum devastation. It’s quite the opening.

This is ultra-brutal and ultra-extreme, with a firm base of USDM and plenty of squeal and chug.

The vocals are deeper than a hole full of corpses and twice as bloody. The singer positively reeks of putrefaction and bloodlust.

The recording is chunky and as solid as a block of granite. It’s heavy enough to flatten at 100 paces and sounds exactly as a band of this nature should. Devangelic sound immense.

This is unsubtle music that nonetheless is clearly played by people who know what they love and love what they know. It’s nothing original but who cares when you can batter your enemies senseless and string up their entrails like party decorations? Devangelic know how to slaughter and they do it very, very well.

Resurrection Denied is a prime slice of bloody Death Metal that should have fans of brutality and sickness foaming at the mouth at the thought of the hideous occurrences they bring.

It’s hard not to like an album as remorselessly, efficiently brutal as this. I’d recommend this. Play it loud and absorb the ugly menace within.

Desecresy – Chasmic Transcendence (Review)

Desecresy are from Finland and this is their third album of Death Metal.

One of the first things that strikes me is the singer’s vocals – they’re very full and ragged growls that don’t particularly sound human.

The music is relatively slow for Death Metal and has quite a few Doom/dirge elements to it, as well as the normal blast beats being in attendance, of course.

There is a distinctly otherworldly quality to the songs, especially when the leads take the fore; quite an impressive achievement considering the short duration of the tracks. The songs are very enjoyable and easily wash over you in a tide of grimy distortion and guttural malevolence.

A thick, dense, murky sound means the songs sound even more oblique than they might otherwise do. Add this to the bestial vocals and the unnatural atmospheres the band create and you have an album that is not your run-of-the-mill Death Metal.

Think Six Feet Under with more Doom, more filth and a bit of eeriness. Yes that’s right.

It’s heavy and it’s good. Give them a listen.

Horrid – Sacrilegious Fornication (Review)

Veterans Horrid are from Italy and play Death Metal, this is their third album.

What we get here is unholy Death Metal powered by the Old-School and capable of conjuring all manner of lost and forgotten riffs.

Horrid are brutal and sinister at the same time. Imagine a band like Incantation messing around with Celtic Frost riffs whilst throwing in the odd lick from Death and Entombed – this is the land that Horrid stalk and they rule here absolutely.

Cavernous, guttural vocals invoke dark blasphemies while the Metal flares up around them. Horrid create feelings of unforgiving blackness and bleak rituals.

Awakening in a crypt, chained and bound; you are roughly manhandled onto a slab of shaped granite, your captors uncaring of your discomfort or the marks they are leaving. Masked acolytes surround you, the glint of a blade…

How Horrid.

Occult Death Metal played by true devotees.

Rude – Soul Recall (Review)

Rude are from the US and play Old-School Death Metal through and through. This is their début.

This is the kind of lumbering, rolling Death Metal that’s easy to like and full of good intentions. It’s an instantly familiar style of music and all of the hallmarks are in place for it to be a very welcoming listen.

Death, Autopsy, etc. – the usual reference points. This is not to belittle Rude, but they play a very specific genre of music so if you’re familiar with the greats you know what to expect here, and Rude deliver the goods.

The vocals have an unusual tint to them that sounds as if they’re scraping and tearing the singer’s throat raw on their way out of his mouth. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but you know what they say about suffering for your art…

The band have managed to capture that classic Death Metal sound from yesteryear and exploit this to the full with the crashing, fill-happy drums, prime riffage and widdly bass.

This is 44 minutes of enjoyable music played by people with a love of the genre and who know how to handle the material and do it justice. Have a listen to Soul Recall.

Incarnated – Try Before Die (Review)

This is Polish Brutal Death Metal band Incarnated’s third album.

Incarnated are all about the pure brutality and the sickening smashing and blasting. They are the kind of band that revel in gore and gruesome, still-living dissections.

This is heavy and fast. The drums show no mercy and the vocals are deeper than a well of blood.

The guitarists play like their life depends on it. Rather unusually for Brutal Death metal of this style they pretty much have the Swedish Death Metal sound to their guitars; all chainsaw sounding but mangled by the non-Swedish styled riffing. It sounds great don’t get me wrong, just a little incongruous at first; like Dismember playing Goregrind/Exhumed/Aborted covers almost. It’s a good way to differentiate themselves from the bloody masses however, and it gets my vote.

The songs are relentless and continuously march forwards propelled by the untiring efforts of the superhuman drummer. Occasional spurts of melody or solos leak out of the mashed up corpse only to be stemmed quickly and efficiently lest the victim expire too soon.

I must say I’m enjoying this. The songs are satisfyingly extreme and they hit that sweet spot reserved for quality Metal only.

If you like Brutal Death Metal then you should eat this up. Open wide.

Voice of Ruin – Morning Wood (Review)

Coming from Switzerland, here we have Voice of Ruin.

A bit of an enigma this band in some ways; from the song titles I was expecting gore/porn-obsessed Death Metal but then the artwork is a bit unusual for that. Couple that with the band’s tendency to dress as farmers it tends to throw you a bit.

When you finally press play the style of music is actually a thoroughly modern Metalcore/Thrash influenced melodic Death Metal. From everything else about this release and the band, it’s quite unexpected.

Imagine Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God getting together to do a more extreme side band, (less commercial cleans, some blast beats, etc.); throw in a few modern Melodic Death Metal influences such as The Black Dahlia Murder and you should be there.

The sound is immense and state-of-the-art, with all of the instruments honed to crushing perfection and all aimed at utterly destroying. It does the music justice.

The songs are well written and have that thoroughly modern melodic crunch to them that will probably have just as many people running away from the band as running to them, such is the divisive nature of this kind of genre for some people.

It’s good though, very good, so don’t let preconceptions put you off discovering a talented band.

Morbo – Addiction to Musickal Dissection (Review)

Morbo are from Italy and this is their Death Metal début album.

Born in the Death Metal underworld, the sickening, diseased hulk that is Morbo has slowly been crawling and scratching its way towards the light for some time. It’s now finally ready to burst through in sprays of ichor and gore.

They embody belligerent Death Metal that is uncaring of what anyone thinks of them but still retains a surprising amount of festering melody and an ear for a good riff.

This is played in the classic style, where songs mattered and a good chorus or catchy verse was more important than speed-for-the-sake-of-it or ultra-technicality.

The sound is strong but not over-produced, and you can even hear what the bass is doing. It retains legibility and coherence whether the band play blast beats or whether they are playing crushing mid-paced riff-monsters.

The songs have character, propelled by the vocals that have the same kind of gravitas as those from the classic era where you immediately had your attention held by the sheer force of the singer’s will.

So listen to Addiction to Musickal Dissection and get swept up in the riffs and the general foetid aura of traditional Death Metal played with passion, integrity and an aura of pure sickness.

Infest – Cold Blood War (Review)

This is the fourth album from Serbian Death/Thrash Metal band Infest.

After a perfunctory intro the first track Destroyer of Their Throne starts up and I am momentarily confused – have I accidentally put on a Vader album instead of Infest? I over-exaggerate, (slightly), but the similarity, mainly in the vocal department, is startling.

Infest are not Vader clones of course. Musically they have other tricks up their collective sleeves and these conspire to create an enjoyable Metal experience lasting just under 30 minutes.

It’s an entertaining and speedy collection of Thrash-tinged Death Metal tracks that, yes, takes cues from Vader but also has some almost Hardcore influenced crossover riffs. I hear a bit of Pro-Pain to some of the chuggy guitars on occasion, as well as some Face Down-style Thrash and a bit of Malevolent Creation.

The production is strong and the bass is clear. The songs have a hard metallic sheen to them that accentuates their unyielding nature. They have a very immediate sound and always seem like they’re trying to get through the songs faster than they’re actually played, (if that makes any sense…?); there’s a sense of urgency to the album that gives it a vibrancy and life that some bands lack.

Good songs, good Metal. Hard, fast and straight to the point. I like.

Funest – Desecrating Obscurity (Review)

Funest are an Italian Death Metal band and this is their début album.

After a perfunctory intro the band have at it; they specialise in Old-School brutality from the likes of Dismember, Autopsy, etc. This is primitive and heavy with a firm nod to the Swedish school of Death Metal but also acknowledging classic Death Metal in general.

The vocalist deserves special mention as he has a great voice; a firm, deep growl that’s as expressive as it is bellowing and cavernous.

The band make the most of their rich heritage by focusing on the value of each song and not neglecting substance for style. Each track contains what it needs to be an effective Death Metal beast and doesn’t ruin itself by wondering off into areas unsuitable or ill advised. There’s no fat here, just a lean Metal machine.

As followers of this site will know, I have a soft spot for Swedish-influenced Death Metal. It’s just so very satisfying and timeless. The grooves, rhythms and riffs all pound along with that chainsaw sound and the end result is Death Metal that hits the spot.

This is also a good description of Funest. This is an enjoyable album that I’ll be happily blasting out for some time.

Have a listen and see if you agree.

Question – Doomed Passages (Review)

Question are a Mexican Death Metal band and this is their début album.

The band give their Death Metal a mysterious occult sheen and the music is steeped in it. Rather than a straightforward blastfest or one dimensional brutality Question inject their music with a smattering of Death-like melody and a feeling of grandiose song structure.

There is blasting, of course, and there is brutality, but there is more than just this. Dark melodies and slower sections are rife and the compositions are right up there from the heights of the Classic Death Metal era.

Question channel the Death Metal greats such as Death, Incantation, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel and Suffocation to deliver an engaging and involving album that doesn’t take the easy or simple route.

The compositions are well written and show a degree of maturity and integrity that most bands lack. Longer songs give the band’s creativity time to shine and allow them to demonstrate their breadth of talent within the Death Metal genre.

The singer has a deep voice that’s absolutely monolithic; like an angry God from ancient days past decreeing loudly from the mountain tops.

This may be a new album but it is stylistically of a time when each song had its own identity and albums were holistically a complete package.