Death Metal – Page 171 – Wonderbox Metal

Trenchrot – Necronomic Warfare (Review)

Straight off this is easily identifiable as Old-School Death Metal from these US bruisers. All of the trademark signatures are in place – fans of Obituary, Bolt Thrower and more modern war-themed bands like Hail of Bullets should feel right at home here.

This is mainly, (but not always), mid-paced and takes no prisoners. The feeling of an endless battlefield covered in the corpses of countless forgotten enemies pervades this release, as does the feeling of belonging to an earlier age of Metal. This is Old-School to the core with an even Older-School album cover.

This kind of retro-Death Metal can sound stale if handled incorrectly, but Trenchrot know their weapons and pick only the best and most destructive from the armoury. Clearly passionate about what they do, I can’t help but get swept along with the Death Metal mayhem contained within Necronomic Warfare – the heavy, thick tone of the guitars; the agonised, hoarse, barkings of the singer as he rallies the troops for another offensive; the firm pounding of the drums that lead the willing to war; the wailing, emphatic solos that inspire and rouse. It’s all very stirring.

A thoroughly enjoyable release perfect for charging headstrong into the melee. A snapshot of a time when being Death Metal was enough, and no add-ons or exaggerations to the sound were needed.

As the band say themselves –

“TrenchRot make music within the stricture of two rules:
1. Play Death Metal
2. Crush posers”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Derogatory – Above All Else (Review)

An unexpectedly melodic intro sets the scene for the start of this USDM album by Derogatory. Once this is over it’s straight into the blasting, although this soon tapers off and reveals a band that are capable of varying their speed rather than always going for the most brutal option of smothering everything in blastbeats.

This album is full of Old-School Death Metal in the 90’s US style, and as such you can hear the influence of bands such as Deicide and Morbid Angel being channelled into Above All Else.

Double bass, solos, thick guitars and deep growls pepper this release in all the right places, and the songs are simple-but-effective and provide that Death Metal fix that obsessive fans of the genre crave on a daily basis.

The sound of the album is the main weak spot – it’s perfectly workman-like, but I feel the songs could be allowed to breathe better with a more coherent production. It doesn’t sound bad but it could sound better. Ultimately this doesn’t detract from the songs too much and is more of a “note for next time”.

At 9 tracks and 39 minutes, this is a pleasant romp through 90’s Death Metal that will more than satisfy fans of this genre.

Church of Disgust – Unworldly Summoning (Review)

After a perfunctory intro we’re into the album proper. The first thing that strikes the listener is the powerful sound – thick, heavy guitars and drums that drop like a hammer. This band play filth-heavy Death Metal with an atmosphere and tone so covered in grime and dirt as to become one with it.

So adept at channelling all things Necro are they that most underground Black Metal bands would kill for this sound. Imagine a band like Anaal Nathrakh if The Codex Necro was diseased Death Metal instead of Black Metal.

Add to this some nice Incantation-isms; the odd dash of Obituary and Autopsy; a small sprinkling of Usurper; an injection of sludge; cover this all with a rotten layer of offal and leave to decay for 100 years and you have something close to what Church of Disgust resemble.

And the vocalist – what’s all that about? How did the band manage to convince a real demon to front the band? I mean, it’s not a human being right? I can only assume that the Unworldly Summoning was a success and something dark and evil that time forgot came slithering out of the dankest crypt to be held in thrall to Church of Disgust and do their bidding. Their bidding, of course, being to produce the sickest, most evil Death Metal noises heard for some time. I just hope they feed it regularly.

Unworldly Summoning is ugly, hostile and wants everything dead. In other words it is one of the best death metal releases heard in a while.

If you want the latest in clinical, state-of-the-art, precision-laser-produced Death Metal hot off the production line then this is not for you. If, however, you’re not scared of a bit of blood and muck on your Death Metal then there is nothing to not like here.

Lie In Ruins – Toward Divine Death (Review)

Ambitious Death Metal from Finland; Toward Divine Death contains over 70 minutes of music and is not for the uninitiated.

Grasping the fundamentals of hyper-speed blasting and also rhythmic pounding, the songs proceed to brutalise the senses using all of the various tools in the Death Metal arsenal.

The songs are long but fully engaging. This is not an “instant-hit” band, and all the better for it. The songs take their time in their battery, ensuring that you enjoy them purely on their terms.

The vocals are low-down in the mix and sound completely inhuman. They are used as another instrument and complement the music rather than being the focal point.

Lie In Ruins play their Death Metal fast, dark and sinister, and when they do slow down they sound absolutely colossal. Their uncompromising vision is realised across these 9 tracks of aggressive Metal and culminates in the final, 11-minute epic Of Darkness and Blackened Fire.

A lengthy but rewarding album, this is well worth the investment if you take the time to let it absorb you.

Corpsessed – Abysmal Thresholds (Review)

After a disconcerting intro, Finnish Death Metal band Corpsessed proceed to terrify the listener with their thick and impenetrable evil sound.

Of Desolation starts things off and just oozes menace and class. Sounding like it has been transported to this plane of existence from some horrible Hell-dimension, the band proceed to channel 48 minutes of thoroughly upsetting music that uses sound as a warning of what’s lurking in the darkness.

The band evoke strong feelings of dread and fear with their songs through skilful use of dark melodies and subtle additions of Black Metal touches to their sound. Indeed, although Abysmal Thresholds is thoroughly grounded in Death Metal there are detectable influences from the Black Metal camp that serve to enhance the innate sense of wrongness and ungodliness that these songs inspire.

Corpsessed have mastered the art of atmosphere there’s no doubting that; these tracks bleed malevolence. The guitars create a foundation of unease from which the songs are moulded while the guttural vocals underscore everything and spread their darkened word.

This is more than a mere album; this is like a message from some damned, horrible place. Each song is a new word and by the end of it you’ve lost your mind. I can’t get enough of this! This is Death Metal at its best – dark, scary, heavy, brilliant.

This album sounds like the aural equivalent of Death itself.

Lay Down Rotten – Deathspell Catharsis (Review)

When you have an album cover this awesome the actual music doesn’t matter right? I jest of course but the fact remains that the album cover made me really look forward to listening to this.

So once we get past the album cover what have we got here then? This is the seventh album from Germany’s Lay Down Rotten and they present us with a very solid and competent slab of Death Metal that probably has more to offer than you might think.

Most of the songs are longer than typical Death Metal offerings giving the band the space to pursue all of their ideas to their natural conclusions and therefore delivering an album that is interesting and has some depth to it. There is brutality and hatred in abundance in these songs but there is also more than that. The songs are long and relatively involved, but thanks to the deft songwriting they retain attention and do not get boring.

After so many releases these butchers have refined their chosen method of slaughter and Deathspell Catharsis is surgical in its precision. There are no wasted movements or unnecessary padding, providing state-of-the-art modern Death Metal with a nice melodic bent. The recording is suitably huge as would be expected and shows the band in the best light.

Songs and ability; hatred and precision; harshness and style; Deathspell Catharsis should be experienced loud.

https://www.facebook.com/laydownrotten

Amon – Liar in Wait (Review)

As many of you will know; Amon started out life in 1987 and eventually morphed into Deicide. Now, a mere 25+ years later, we have their début album!

If you are familiar with Deicide then you know the general style here, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Among Us is the first track and sets the scene perfectly; muscular, rhythmic Death Metal with a strong sound and some excellent riffs and leads. I wasn’t sure how good this release would be, but this song instantly set my mind to rest. The remaining tracks follow this trend.

It’s clear that the passion and intensity that Eric and Brian Hoffman have for Death Metal is alive and well. This is not diluted or pasteurised in anyway – this is the real deal. What we get is riff/song-focused Metal that is effortless in its delivery and flawless in execution.

Being a very guitar-oriented album there are solos aplenty. Anyone who has been following my reviews for a while now may have noticed that I’m partial to the odd solo, so you can imagine how much I enjoy this.

The recording and general sound of this album is first-rate, as you would expect. The guitar tone is enough to bring me out in fits of excitement alone as it’s just so damn sexy, and the blazing solos on top of it is like listening to liquid gold.

It’s not all about the guitars of course, vital as they are. The drums are blasted out with passion and technique, and the vocalist is, quite frankly, excellent.

With Deicide being such a high-profile band I can imagine Amon causing a split in opinion between those that love the consistency of a familiar sound done extremely well, and between those who were hoping for something different and are disappointed. I am firmly of the former camp and I just can’t stop listening to this.

Aborted Fetus – Private Judgement Day (Review)

Aborted Fetus – Russian Brutal Death Metal that’s guaranteed to give you a shock in the arm early in the morning. Who said Caffeine is better than Death Metal?

This is ultra-brutal, almost-Deathgrind music that takes no prisoners and probably doesn’t even know what the word mercy means. As a point of reference think early Severe Torture, and then think how much of a compliment that is.

The songs are largely short and sharp with plenty of blast to remove the cobwebs and get the, (bloody), juices flowing.

Vocals are unintelligible and coarse – almost pure pignoise, but just the right side of this so rather than sounding stupid they actually sound pretty damn great!

I have a soft spot for this kind of ultra-brutality. Yes it’s never going to win any awards for originality but being unique is overrated sometimes; sometimes you just want to blast and grind it out, and when you’re in this kind of mood Aborted Fetus hit the exact right spot.

You can hear a track streamed from Comatose Music here.

https://www.facebook.com/Abortedfetusbrutality

Down from the Wound – Violence and the Macabre (Review)

Down from the Wound hail from the Philippines and play a rippingly brutal brand of Death Metal.

This is music to snap necks to. Wasting no time they’re straight into it with squealing barbarity in the first track Ill Fated Annihilation. The entire album is a viscous assault on the body. The sense of being crushed under a great weight pervades these songs, so dense is the guitar sometimes.

They play both fast and slow very well, but for me it’s the massive chug-squeals that they throw into the mix occasionally that really get me bouncing around in my seat, (and gathering some funny looks in the process).

The vocals are of the deep cookie-monster-style that do the job well and are vomited forth with precision and intent.

This music is full of effortless, almost casual brutality. The songs are long, on average, with most approaching or over the five minute mark, allowing the band to squeeze the maximum and optimal combination of blast and slower chug-squeals. The middle section of the title track has a particularly oppressive slow part that one imagines hordes of gorillas just leaping around and smashing things to. Which of course would be the appropriate reaction if they were ever played this album.

I have really enjoyed this. The combination of speed and groove perfected by the band and then shot through with heaviness and more squeal-y bits than you can wave a severed arm at; this is an album to return to.

Want to get your ears wrapped around some tasty, slamming Death Metal played well and executed like only true fans of the genre can? Look no further.

Favourite Track: Contesting the Sacred. Like a roller-coaster of pain.

Zealotry – The Charnel Expanse (Review)

Zealotry are from the US, and play an ambitious brand of Death Metal that attempts to offer something a little different from the run-of-the-mill USDM hordes.

It succeeds. They kick their début album off in epic style with Avatars of Contempt. A twisting, turning odyssey into the realms of horror; this is a very strong way to open an album and sets the scene perfectly.

Mere brutality is not enough for Zealotry, nor should it be as they are blatantly capable of delivering so much more. And they do; they make good use of eerie melodies as part of their sound and are clearly more interested in creating an atmosphere for the listener rather than just blasting them into submission. They also know when to utilise calmer moments of restraint amidst the Deathly goings-on.

This is a very musical album; one that you could imagine listening to if they released an instrumental version. The vocals are important though and elevate the album higher than would be possible for a purely instrumental version, but for me the emphasis of this album is squarely on the music, and specifically the guitars. These guys know how to play and use their talent to fashion some impressive atmosphere/emotion-based riffing that tells a tale without a single word. The swaying, winding riffs in Decaying Echoes – one gem amongst many.

This is one of those exceptional albums that I particularly enjoy because of the sense of being taken on a journey through the soundscapes to places unknown and sights unseen.

It’s a great feeling when you discover a band that is attempting to do something a little out of the ordinary with a genre, and it’s an even better feeling when they do it well. The Charnel Expanse is a success; now all it needs is a wider audience. Let’s see what we can do about that, eh?