Slomatics – Future Echo Returns (Review)

SlomaticsSlomatics are a sludge/doom band from the UK. This is their fifth album.

A brief overview of Future Echo Returns – doom, sludge, psychedelia, stoner, feedback, atmosphere, synths, heaviness, riffs, leads, solos, metal, songs. More than anything this last one; this album is about songs. Damn good ones too.

In addition to the songs themselves, Slomatics are all about the Continue reading “Slomatics – Future Echo Returns (Review)”

Azziard – Nirnaeth – Dramatis Personae – Split (Review)

Azziard NirnaethThis is a split between two French black metal bands.

Azziard are the first band to show what they can do, and they contribute a near-six minute long war-themed track named Unus Mundus.

Azziard play their black metal dark and evil, full of sharp riffs and even sharper melodies.

The singer rasps and screams his way alongside the relentless blast beats and heartless riffing, showing off his daemonic lungs with fiery abandon. Continue reading “Azziard – Nirnaeth – Dramatis Personae – Split (Review)”

Remote – Resilient (Review)

RemoteRemote are a French hardcore band and this is their second album.

You’ve gotta love dark, violent music that creates oppressive, negative atmospheres. Yes? Oh come on, of course you do.

Combing chaotic hardcore, crushing sludge, dark metal and inventive post-hardcore, Remote present us with 33 minutes of angst-ridden darkness that aims to cause damage. Continue reading “Remote – Resilient (Review)”

Dimlight – The Lost Chapters (Review)

DimlightDimlight are a symphonic metal band from Greece and this is their third album.

Now this is quite interesting. Here we have a Gothic/symphonic metal band that have some death/black metal elements entwined into the tracks.

This is a modern, updated version of the old, so-called, beauty-and-the-beast vocal approach that twins angelic female cleans with guttural male growls. I always quite liked this approach when it was probably at the height of its popularity Continue reading “Dimlight – The Lost Chapters (Review)”

Sonic Poison – Harsh Demonstration (Review)

Sonic PoisonSonic Poison are a Finnish grindcore band and this is their latest release.

Playing a primitive, old-school strain of grinding violence, this EP combines grind, crust, ugly thrash and Repulsion-worship into under 10 minutes of nasty carnage. There’s even a hint of Brutal Truth at their ugliest in some of the guitar riffs. Continue reading “Sonic Poison – Harsh Demonstration (Review)”

Countess – Fires of Destiny (Review)

CountessThis is the fifteenth album from Countess, a black metal band from the Netherlands.

I enjoy Countess a lot. Both Sermons of the Infidel and Ancient Lies and Battle Cries have been featured on this site previously, and it’s with great pleasure that we now turn to this latest album.

With a slightly rougher sound this time around, these tracks Continue reading “Countess – Fires of Destiny (Review)”

Warfather – The Grey Eminence (Review)

WarfatherWarfather play death metal and this is their second album.

Warfather’s debut album Orchestrating the Apocalypse was a bit hit and miss. Although it was, overall, an enjoyable affair, over time it revealed itself to be a little unfocused in places and had a rather thin production that didn’t do the music any favours.

Two years later, enter The Grey Eminence. First off, there are no problems with the production this time round. On this latest release it’s thick, chunky and muscular, just as it needs to be. Being produced by Erik Rutan, I would expect no less. Continue reading “Warfather – The Grey Eminence (Review)”

Black Mass Pervertor – Phanerosis (Review)

Black Mass Black Mass PervertorPervertor are a Finnish black metal band and this is their debut album.

This is filthy, fast and furious black metal with crust and punk influences. It’s the kind of thing you might expect to come from the black metal underground, appealing to fans of the likes of Impaled Nazarene, Watchmaker and Black Witchery. Phanerosis sees the band carrying on the tradition of short, ugly songs that want to rape and kill you just for fun.

Rooted firmly in the oldest of old schools, Black Mass Pervertor Continue reading “Black Mass Pervertor – Phanerosis (Review)”

Cicatrix – Suffocated Faith (Review)

CicatrixCicatrix are a Polish deathgrind band, and this is their second album.

Featuring 10 originals and 2 covers of Dead Infection and Terrorizer songs, Cicatrix wear their influences on their collective sleeves and deliver 29 minutes of utter carnage.

This is a mix of brutal death metal and ugly grindcore. The band know how to play fast, but Continue reading “Cicatrix – Suffocated Faith (Review)”

Impure Consecration – Succumb to Impurity Fire (Review)

Impure ConsecrationThis is the latest EP from this US death metal band.

Here we have a short blast of ancient, occult death metal that reeks of the old-school and decayed corpses.

With a playing time of less than 10 minutes the band waste no time in getting down to business. These songs are mouldy examples of the atavistic art of death metal, played with the fervour of fanatics and the skill of veterans. Continue reading “Impure Consecration – Succumb to Impurity Fire (Review)”