Death Metal – Page 174 – Wonderbox Metal

Merciless Terror – Vile Extinction (Review)

Hailing from the UK – Merciless Terror play Thrash-heavy Death Metal and it’s a joy to listen to; they don’t make them like this very often any more!

This album has a real late 90’s/early 00’s feel to it that fills me with a sense of nostalgia; at the same time however this is a modern take on it as the sound and energy is distinctly 2013 and exists purely to demolish the listener with its brawny bludgeoning.

An old-school vibe with a modern production, (reminiscent of Malevolent Creation as a reference point), this absolutely crushes everything in its path. Plenty of speed and brutality, but with a matching grasp of dynamics and the need for songs and hooks; this harks back to an era when brutality was not the be all and end all of this genre.

With many stomping riffs to be had and a general feeling of strength-through-guitar-power everything seems in place to worship the riff, fast or slow. And why not?

Vocals are not standard cookie-monster style, more a shouted-bark. This works well and also has a nice amount of variety, incorporating screams and some almost Black Metal-ish shouting at times.

Do yourself a favour and check out Merciless Terror as soon as you can.

Harm – Cadaver Christi (Review)

Germany’s Harm play old-school Death Metal, with chainsaw guitars and an uncompromising attitude.

There is some excellent, malevolent riffing on this album and the sense of 90’s Death Metal is strong. A time when constant blast and hyper-technicality were not important, and instead you have songs, riffs and brutal Metal. In fact if I had been told that this was a lost gem from the 90’s recorded at Sunlight Studio I could believe it.

Strength and persistence are key attributes to Harm; the old adage about slow and steady winning the race…well not slow perhaps but they certainly know how to settle into a malevolent groove and make the most of it. All of this is wrapped up in a strong sound that lets you hear every instrument individually and lets everything breathe nicely.

This may be an album steeped in Death Metal’s past, but it’s a past I’m quite comfortable visiting, and Harm are the perfect, brutish guides.

Also; the vocalist sounds like he’s trying to kill himself by vomiting up his insides. What more can you say? Nice work!

Colosso – Abrasive Peace (Review)

The music is state-of-the-art bleeding-edge Extreme Metal, but the vocals are pure Death Metal; powerful and going straight for the throat. Colosso combine the best parts of bands like Behemoth and Nile, add a sprinkling of cyber-Metal akin to Fear Factory at their heaviest, and cap it off with focused brutality.

The songs tear themselves out of the speakers with razor sharp claws and venomous fangs ready to slay everyone in sight. This is music not to be messed with. The album boasts a thoroughly modern production and sound, and all of the benefits that 21st century technology can offer. In fact this is a perfectly judged combination of technological and traditional Metal – rather than swamping the metal with bleeps and break-beats to create some hybrid that is neither techno nor Metal, here the cyber-Metal influences serve to merely accentuate the relevant parts of the songs, while the very Metal guitars, drums and vocals take centre stage.

Eight tracks of thundering Metal later and the album is done. Oh, apart from the obligatory throwaway techno-Metal remix track of course, which does somewhat dilute the essence of the main album by being a rather poor closure after the last track proper has faded away. Nonetheless, this is a minor quibble in what is otherwise an exemplary album and a perfect example of what modern Extreme/Death Metal should sound like in 2013.

As a side-note there is also an instrumental version of this album out there named Peaceful Abrasiveness. That should tell you a lot about the quality of the music here and its ability to stand alone. And with the vocals added…well, that just makes it even better.

Warmaster – The End of Humanity (Review)

Warmaster play old-school Death Metal in the style of Bolt Thrower, Obituary and the like. This style comes from an era when playing as fast/technical as you possibly can just wasn’t necessary and this really shows in the songs, as songs is exactly what we get. Unconcerned with these added-on extras to the Death metal repertoire, Warmaster play Death Metal as it originally was intended – with menace and skill.

Vocals are measured, good quality and are in the classic Death Metal vein. The drums hammer a steady beat to the relentless riffing and punishment metered out by the guitars. The odd solo or two also adds a splash of colour to proceedings while not sounding out of place. The songs are generally mid-paced with the occasional faster bit, but there is enough quality and variety of riffing to keep you engaged throughout the album.

Challenging all who hear them not to be carried away in a rapture of calls to war and destruction; I can imagine that these songs would translate extremely well into the live environment. Groove, melody and heaviness combining to make the foot tap, fist clench and head bang. And that’s just in the privacy of your own speakers. The more volume the better! Listening to this album it’s easy to get carried away with it. The End of Humanity is a respectable length at just under 47 minutes long bit it seems shorter than this as it passes by in such an agreeable way that I could, (and did), quite happily start it again from the beginning upon completion.

There’s more to Death Metal than just blasting. Discover the banner of Warmaster and let them lead you to victory.

Master – The Witchhunt (Review)

Having a legacy spanning the better part of 30 years Master need no introduction. It’s heartening to see that after all this time they are still releasing records of a high calibre and keeping up with their peers and the new breed.

Tight playing, good songwriting, top-quality recording – all of the things you would expect from this release – all accounted for.

And of course the vocals; Paul Speckmann’s distinctive growls are accounted for also. A kind of sliding, slithering, snarling sound. Quite distinctive, especially in an age where generic-cookie-monster vocals are ubiquitous. In a way this is Master’s USP and can be make-or-break for some people. Love or loathe; it’s readily identifiable and adds a unique edge to the band that so many others lack.

This is old-school Death Metal played with conviction and skill, with no regard whatsoever for what is going on in the wider Death Metal scene. And why should it? As one of the originals Master can pretty much do what they like. Thankfully, rather than sully their legacy by changing styles, experimenting, or any other number of potentially dangerous things; they have chosen to release another album chock to the brim with blasts, riffs, and honest-to-goodness Pure Death Metal.

Listen to Master – what’s not to like?

Noisem – Agony Defined (Review)

Old-school Death/Thrash Metal with some distinctly hardcore influences. Not Deathcore, not Metalcore; hardcore. Old-school hardcore. Old-school hardcore mixed with a dirty Thrash/Death. There we are then.

This album is short and to the point. Thrash/hardcore inspired Death Metal riffs lash out at the listener, while the simple-but-effective drums pummel you into submission and the shouted Death Metal vocals roar and gnash angrily. Like a crazed, starved and disfigured attack dog and twice as ugly. This is not music for passers by. This is music for people that live it. For people that want a gritty realism to their songs; a brutality of awareness and apathy to destruction.

A great album for when you want a no-frills approach to aggression, and a stark reminder of all that made you like extreme metal in the first place. It’s not perfect or pretty, but that’s the entire point.

Years of Tyrants – Leading the Blind (Review)

I believe the appropriate response upon pressing play and hearing the blasting, shredding brutality here is “holy shit”. Their sound is somewhere between technical Death Metal and technical Deathcore. And what a sound it is. Explosive doesn’t do it justice. If you like bands such as Beneath the Massacre and Infant Annihilator then this is for you.

Another French band worshipping at the altar of bruality and being rewarded handsomely by the Gods of Heaviness. One thing this album has in abundance is energy. The kind of energy that makes you want to flail around ripping anything and everything to shreds and then stomping on the remains. Riffs, licks, leads, drums – it all flies past in a blur of bloody fingers and broken drumsticks.

The sheer weight of aggression here is staggering, and thankfully there are strong songwriting skills on display; otherwise this could have been just a mess of riffs and shouting whereas what we actually have is a cohesive, albeit very short release. Too short really. Will we get more? Only time will tell but I for one do hope so.

Acrania – The Beginning Of The End (Review)

Acrania are from the UK and play Death Metal that although shares ground with Deathcore, I see it as more in the vein of the bouncy, chuggy, Dying Fetus-style of Death Metal rather than the more generic, break-down infested style that most people seem to associate with Deathcore. Either way this 5 track EP is enjoyable, nicely written, and suitably heavy and brutal that I fail to see what there isn’t to like really. Play it loud and feel the groove.

The sound is well-recorded and sounds suitably huge and heavy for a release such as this. As well as The Blast this album has The Chug all over the shop. This is where things could, in theory, get a bit pedestrian; but I am pleased to say that this is not the case as everything fits together nicely within the structure of the song. They don’t heavily rely on done-to-death chugs/breakdowns and instead keep things a bit more interesting, lively and full of energy. In fact I’d say that there aren’t any real Deathcore-style breakdowns here as such in any case. As mentioned previously; think more Dying Fetus-style Death Metal and you’ll get the idea.

The vocals on this EP are excellent. The range, diversity and quality all deserve praise and certainly add the icing on top of a very brutal cake.

A short release that bodes very well for things to come. If they can come up with a full album of this type of material that allows them to retain the energy and focus that is displayed here then that will be something I look forward to.

Abominant – Onward to Annihilation (Review)

Abominant play blackened Death Metal – theirs is primarily a Death Metal style that mixes both brutality and melodies but also has enough elements of Black Metal to be considered blackened rather than just pure Death Metal. Genre pigeon-holing notwithstanding; this is a premier release by these USDM veterans.

I was hoping that this album was going to be a good one, but in all honesty I was unprepared for how much I actually liked it. The songs have a certain feeling that allow them to rub shoulders with the best that Death Metal has to offer and not feel out of place. They may rarely be uttered in the same breath as bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Nile, (etc). as titans of the genre, but then to the trained listener Abominant actually sound very little like those bands. They do, however, stand quite nicely on their own laurels.

This release should satisfy any fan of extreme metal. Strong musicianship? Varied vocals? Songwriting skills? Dynamics? Brutality? Powerful melodies? Hypocrisy cover (Left to Rot)? Unexpected-80’s-speed-metal-song (Hold Your Ground)? All of these and more are the treasures awaiting the unprepared listener!

Along with the recent release by Nephren-Ka this is the strongest Death Metal album I have heard recently. You need this.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Abominant/152430868173200

Scalpel – Sorrow and Skin (Review)

This is an album that pulls no punches; ultra-brutal underground Death Metal from the US.

Reminiscent of other US bands like Origin; this is nonetheless a solid release that gives the listener a suitable brutality-fix when needed. They know how to slow things down on occasion also. “Skullscraper” is a good example of this – the slower, brooding part at the start of the song works really well.

Although everyone in the band knows their instruments the drummer in particular seems to be in overdrive mode for most of the time. Pummelling blast beats and furious double-bass are all executed with power and precision.

Favourite Track: Sorrow and Skin.

Check this band out – if you like your metal brutal then this should be for you.

https://www.facebook.com/Scalpelofficial

http://www.scalpel.us/Home.html