Death Metal – Page 161 – Wonderbox Metal

Settima Draconis – Legio (Review)

Settima Draconis are from Germany and play Melodic Death Metal.

Legio has a good sound that allows the band to show off their works.

This is Melodic Death Metal with a Gothic influence and heavily accompanied by violins and strings. These Classical elements are not overdone though and add the right amount of atmosphere and culture to the heavier guitars and snarling vocals.

For a crude reference point, think Dark Tranquillity combined with the music of Therion and a more free-form method of songwriting, particularly in the drum department. Only a crude reference point, as I say, but it gives the right kind of idea.

While this is bound to be somewhat of an acquired taste, (but what isn’t though, really?), it’s worth checking out if you want Gothic Metal with colour and unusual quirks to the songs. While it can seem a little incoherent at times it shows a band trying to do something a little different and this should be encouraged.

Have a listen and see what you think.

Pillory – Evolutionary Miscarriage (Review)

This is the second album by US band Pillory who play Brutal Technical Death Metal.

Fast, intricate and brutal; welcome to the world of Pillory. It’s a colourful world populated by an over-abundance of riffs and ideas, with spikes of melody and angular guitar heroics rushing to save the day.

The vocals are mainly gruff shouts but are varied in places with the singer showing he’s capable of more than just straight bellowing into the microphone.

The songs are busy entities with a lot being crammed into every second. If this was all the band did it would be impressive enough, but what’s really impressive is their ability to show restraint when needed. Sometimes you don’t need a million separate things happening at once; sometimes less is more and Pillory seem to know this as they also have entire sections in their songs where they allow a riff or idea to stabilise and develop for a little while before it once again mutates and goes off in a hundred new directions.

For this reason Evolutionary Miscarriage scores higher than a lot of Technical Death Metal as there’s more to it than just insane time signature changes or deranged guitar wizardry; yes they have giant bucketfuls of both but they also know about pacing and dynamics, which are far more important when it comes to longevity and depth of composition.

If you’re a fan of non-standard Death Metal then this is a creative and exploratory album that should suit you well.

Day of Doom – The Gates of Hell (Review)

This is the third album from US Death Metallers Day of Doom.

Day of Doom are purveyors of USDM at its most brutal, yet with a few unexpected twists and turns.

A thick, syrupy sound swamps everything and the band burst at the seams with aggression and sinewy chops. The sound is actually quite unusual in a way as the drums sound warm and distinctly analogue, while the guitars sound much more underground and feral.

Vocally the singer sounds quite animalistic and barks savagery in a ritualised, almost chanted way.

This has quite a few interesting ideas tucked away amidst the brutality – a different vocal here; a dark melody there; some effects here; a lighter passage there. Day of Doom also write some unusual riffs that are definitely not your average Death Metal fare. It helps them stand out from the pack and means the album has more to offer than your standard chug and blast Death Metal, (although there is a nice amount of this as well).

Ever wondered what you’d get if you crossed the essence of Suffocation with the inventive aspects of Morbid Angel? Well it may not sound entirely dissimilar to Day of Doom.

Enjoyable, interesting and atypical; Day of Doom are worth taking seriously.

Mordbrand – Imago (Review)

This is the début album from Swedish Death Metallers Mordbrand.

I can’t help but have a soft spot for Swedish Death Metal, especially when played by actual Swedes, (although it doesn’t really seem to make much difference in the long run), and Mordbrand are no exception.

They play the style well with the trademark chainsaw guitars front and centre. They occasionally accentuate with some spooky keyboard effects which adds an interesting layer of atmosphere that’s really good. Add to this a very small Blackened influence to the riffs and you have an interesting and surprisingly refreshing take on a classic genre.

It’s little touches like this that show Mordbrand as not merely content to imitate past glories; they’re interested in the here and now as well as the past and as such this could almost be described as Modern Swedish Death Metal, if that didn’t sound like such an oxymoron. There’s no Deathcore or breakdowns here, don’t misunderstand; the recording is suitably rotten and the riffs more-classic-than-not; it’s just that they’re focussed on more than the past – they seem to be more interested in what Swedish Death Metal is and what it could become than only what it was.

In a world where this style of music, no matter how good, is essentially regurgitating older times, it’s great that bands like Mordbrand and Skinfather are doing what they can to move the sound forwards whilst still keeping that central core of what makes it so damn addictive.

Well worth a listen.

Infecting the Swarm – Pathogenesis (Review)

This is the début album from Brutal Death Metal band Infecting the Swarm, who hail from Germany.

This is Death Metal with a sci-fi theme, and a suitable cover to match.

But what of the music? Well this is pure, unbridled, undiluted brutality and sheer wanton carnage. With a production as heavy as it is crushing the band tear through these nine tracks with all the subtlety of an explosion. A big explosion.

Vocally they follow suit with absolute pig-noise vocals that are so extreme they’re bound to divide. A lot of the time I find these kind of vocals awful and I can’t help but feel that the band in question would be better off with a different singer. Why? It’s because most of the time these pig-noise vocals just sound like deep belching and they just suck all of the brutality out of it for me.

Thankfully the vocals on Pathogenesis, although definitely teetering on the line, manage to keep an air of aggression to them and therefore don’t ruin what is, musically, brutal as Hell. It is a very fine line though, and although I can’t help but feel the songs might be improved by a proper savage bellowing I still find myself on the right side, (just), of approval, largely because the music is so ferocious that it carries them nicely.

And besides, sometimes it just works, you know?

So, vocal misgivings aside; this is brutal, (have I mentioned that word yet?), savage, brutal, heavy, brutal, crushing and brutal again.

This hits the spot for me. For the times when you absolutely need the most brutal, destructive music you can get, Infecting the Swarm are there for you.

Oh yes; this is brutal.

Konkeror – The Abysmal Horizons (Review)

Konkeror are a Death Metal band from the US.

This is their début album, almost 49 minutes of music – 8 originals and a Bolt Thrower cover.

When it starts it’s immediately impressive with the sheer musicality and flowing riffs; then the brutality kicks in and everything shifts up a gear.

Konkeror merge Death Metal with a Progressive/Thrash influence that allows the songs to have technical flourishes and melodic edges concurrently occupying the same space.

The songs are catchy and have lots of hooks, proving that just because a song might be Brutal or Technical doesn’t mean it has to sacrifice song structures in order to be so.

The recording perfectly balances a band that play both brutally heavy and subtly melodic. Everything sounds great and the sound allows the musicians the freedom to do what they do best.

The most enjoyable thing about this album is just how Metal it is; they are clearly Death Metal but add sprinklings of Progressive, Technical and Thrash Metal into the melting pot. Mix these all up with some great songwriting skills and all that’s left to do is sit back an enjoy as the band shred, rip and dazzle with the songs.

The songs are all of a decent enough length so that you have time to get your teeth into them, (or the other way around…), and there’s abundant opportunities for the band to demonstrate just how good they are.

Once you know about this album it’s important that you get it. If you’re into Death Metal and don’t get this album…well…I’m not sure how that’s possible…

Brilliant.

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.