Reviews – Page 517 – Wonderbox Metal

Analkholic – After Party – Shit Stinks (Review)

Analkaholic are from New Caledonia and play Grindcore. This is their début album.

Analkholic play utterly extreme Goregrind in the Regurgitate style, and they do it with copious amounts of bodily fluids and an excess of brutality.

The songs are short and single-minded in their approach to Grind. This is not a band who experiment or innovate, this is a band who want to find the limits of extremity and then go beyond them.

Blistering blast beats and hyper-aggressive guitars burst from the speakers to beat you senseless. The band realise the danger of becoming one-dimensional too, so it’s not all played at full-speed; they also include sections that are more Punk-oriented or groovy in their assault.

The guttural pig-noise grunts are a thing of depraved torture and the singer sounds like he’s a slaughtered animal somehow stuck between life and death at the moment of agony. I’m not always a massive fan of this kind of vocal style, but here it fits the music so well and it just works.

These tracks are actually quite well written. I say “actually” as it’s easy to write off music like this as mindless brutality and be done with it. Of course, there is that element of their sound for sure, but there are also some pretty decent riffs and vocal patterns on this release; rather than just covering themselves in human waste and bashing the instruments as hard as they can, (which I’m sure they do from time to time), Analkholic seem to know what they’re actually doing. There are some really good bass parts on the album too, which is always a pleasure to hear.

A disgustingly wet and warm way to spend 27 minutes. Give them a listen and get ready to Grind one out.

Merda Mundi – VI – Khaos (Review)

Merda Mundi is a one-man Black Metal band from Belgium. This is his second album.

The brains behind this outfit we already know due to some of his previous releases, (C.O.A.G., We All Die (Laughing)).

Merda Mundi play raw and misanthropic Black Metal that’s brutal and not for the easily scared.

The label blurb makes comparisons to Anaal Nathrakh and Antaeus and it’s easy to see why; this is a visceral and bloody assault that leaves no stone unturned in its quest for carnage.

The music is harsh and fast, with a good recording that brings out the grime and grit of the songs without sounding too rough around the edges. The album sounds on fire and every bit as dangerous.

The music gallops along at a frenetic pace. The guitars rage and the drums bludgeon. The vocals sound utterly unhinged and quite daemonic in places.

This kind of music has a deep love of all things brutal and is evil enough to cater to those who love both types of Black Metal. Lurking underneath the brutality and devastation is a deeper level; these songs also have dark melodies and atmospheric sections that don’t let up the intensity but do add another layer of listening experience to the tracks. It’s skilfully done.

If you want an album that knows how to create malevolent atmospheres as well as being able to rip your head off then VI – Khaos is the place to be.

Tales for the Unspoken – CO2 (Review)

Portuguese band Tales for the Unspoken play Thrash Metal and this is their second album.

The singer has a nicely deep roar that’s almost a Death Metal growl. It lends a brutal air to already aggressive music. Ethereal cleans also appear but these are certainly the exception rather than the norm.

The music is solid Thrash Metal that locks into a good groove when it needs to. Faster sections are frequent while melody is used sparingly, usually in conjunction with the clean vocals.

The songs are largely quite short and sweet, hovering around the 3-4 minute mark in the main. The band revel in their portrayal of Metal and there are decent amounts of leads and shredding licks peppered throughout the album.

The guitars have a good crunch to them and the drums pound with the best of them. Tales for the Unspoken have a clear love for this style and this comes across in the music.

This is Thrash metal that’s on the more aggressive side of the spectrum. This can be considered Death Thrash in many ways, as even with the inclusion of the odd clean vocal here and there the majority of the album is harsh and heavy. I’d probably stop short of really describing them as such though as the music is almost completely Thrash Metal and it doesn’t really add much to them by describing them in such terms. I mention it mainly for completion, as there definitely are Death Metal aspects to their sound.

I also like the fact that Tales for the Unspoken don’t go down the retro-Thrash route with this. CO2 is fully-contemporary Thrash Metal with an aggressive streak and quality riffs aplenty.

A thoroughly enjoyable release. Tales for the Unspoken sound good and CO2 is fit for consumption.

Abjvration – The Unquenchable Pyre (Review)

Abjvration are from France and this is their début EP. They play Death/Doom Metal.

Imagine the most hideously disgusting type of Doom that’s congealed around some sickening Death Metal to form an unholy mass of evil…this is The Unquenchable Pyre.

Huge, heavy-as-Hell riffs populate this release like disaster sites, almost relentless in their assault. Colossally slow guitars crush all before them and faster, more-Death Metal riffs punctuate the blackness like knife wounds.

The vocals are a thing of beauty, albeit a very warped and disturbing type of beauty, of course; utterly deep and pitch-black in their delivery of rolling, growling terror. They sound immense and ancient, just like the music.

The music oozes and seeps along, like some sort of infectious disease. There’s a real rank feeling of a wet, unhealthy underworld to this release and that’s an entirely complimentary comment. Abjvration have created something disturbingly special here.

The Doom riffs keep flowing and it’s only when the Blackened Death Metal parts break out that you remember they’re not just a pure Doom band.

What little melody there is on this EP is aimed at increasing the listener’s unease and the entire 27 minute playing time is a masterclass in creating rotting, noxious, heavy music.

This isn’t Black Metal but it shares a lot in common with the more foetid styles of the same. A deep, dark, miasma of Blackened pestilence hangs over this release like a funeral shroud and Abjvration milk this for every last drop of feeling that they can.

This is unapologetically Old-School Death/Doom that’s flawlessly delivered and expertly realised.

France continues to keep its reputation for producing high quality Extreme Metal intact. Abjvration are a dark revelation.

Antigama – The Insolent (Review)

Antigama are from Poland and play Grindcore. This is their seventh album.

This is the follow up to 2013’s album Meteor, and I can’t quite believe it’s been 2 years since that album first made its presence felt.

I always enjoy Antigama’s work. Their Grindcore is definitely a mature and individual take on the genre and they always manage to throw in a few surprises.

Opening with a blood-curdling scream, the band proceed to become savagery incarnate and rip through 33 minutes of weapons-grade Grind like their lives depend on it.

This is no mindless Grindcore beast though. This may be utterly savage and vicious but there’s a keen intellect at play behind the scenes, arranging and organising the carnage.

Atypical riffs and brutal melodies abound, hidden within the chaos of the songs. It’s relentlessly harsh and utterly compelling. The album flows well from beginning to end and the entire thing is impressively delivered.

They can also be surprisingly atmospheric when they put their minds to it. Out Beyond is a good example of this and also features the most experimentation on the album. The final track The Land of Monotony is also notable in this regard; a longer song featuring rougher semi-clean vocals at the start and a more Doom-oriented approach.

Antigama’s music mixes an intelligent and unusual approach to the genre, from the Punk-passion of Napalm Death to the kind of modern Grinding assault that The Red Chord do so expertly.

Rather than mellowing with age, The Insolent, if anything, seems that bit faster and more angry than normal, and this is from a band who are already pretty fast and angry as it is. These tracks have more of a dangerous edge to them than normal, as if the band are seriously near the point of breaking and channelling their collective rage into their music is the only thing keeping them in check.

This is a focused rage, however, and a highly controlled one. Antigama know when to let loose but are more than capable of showing composure and discipline, albeit in a controlled-fury kind of way that the average person would still find intimidating.

This is complex brutality for a refined palate. You’ve gotta love music that’s made with real passion and skill. Antigama are still at the top of their game and show, once again, how Grindcore can be more than just speed and aggression.

Isolert – Isolated Soul (Review)

Isolert Isolert are a Black Metal band from Greece and this is their first release.

A short demo of just 12 minutes length; Isolert play Black Metal in the Scandinavian vein.

This is grim, Old-School Black Metal with plenty of speed and hateful invective to power the tracks along.

I’m a big fan of the production on this release – it’s raw and underground yet everything remains balanced. They’ve got the mix right between the Black Metal aesthetic and an enjoyable, listenable sound.

The Blackened riffs are frozen and icy and the songs are instantly recognisable for what they are.

The vocals are well-performed rasps in the classic Black Metal style, although some variations appear in the form of whispers and short-lived cleans.

This is a decent demo and a strong entrance for this new band. Give them a listen. Feel the isolation close in and the frigid winds howl.

Cloud Rat – Qliphoth (Review)

This is the third album by US Grinders Cloud Rat.

Cloud Rat haven’t really been around for that long in the grand scheme of things, but they’ve still managed to clock up an impressive number of releases and gain themselves a well-deserved reputation for quality Grindcore that’s not afraid to think outside the box.

This is definitely atypical Grind. The requisite genre hallmarks of savagery and short songs are present and correct, but with Cloud Rat there’s an additional layer of intelligence, sophistication and raw emotion that few of their peers can emulate.

This album takes the listener on a journey of many disturbing sights and vicious sounds. For all of the finesse and refinement of their music, Cloud Rat still know how to GRIND!

The intensity of the music is layered with nuance, subtlety and emotive performances all around. The band can happily rage and curse, that’s for sure, but more impressive is their ability to weave slower and more progressive parts around the chewy Grindcore centre. Progressive Grindcore, maybe? I’ve heard worse ideas.

The singer screams her throat raw with an impressively feral snarl and yet still finds time amidst the carnage for introspection and distinctive mood-setting when she needs to.

The songs are full of depth and there’s more than enough to satisfy over many repeated listens for a long time to come. Their richly textured music stands leagues apart from the majority of their peers and Qliphoth is a real force to be reckoned with.

Cloud Rat share the intensity of Converge with the quirkiness of Circle Takes the Square, and the ingenuity of both. It’s no wonder that their name is whispered in reverential tones by those in the know; Cloud Rat have proven they have massive talent and the ability to deliver the goods.

After 41 minutes in Cloud Rat’s world you feel drained, but satisfied and happy.

I cannot recommend this enough. You need Cloud Rat in your life.

Coathanger Abortion – Observations of Humanity (Review)

Coathanger Abortion are from the US and this is their second album. They play Death Metal.

This is ultra-brutal, underground Death Metal that has no time for anyone or anything apart from killing and bloodshed.

The vocals are so deep and guttural that they actually make you feel sick. It’s as if the singer is committing horrible, heinous acts whilst vomiting forth his diatribes and that these acts have somehow found an outlet in his malignant deathgrunts.

Now, with all of this brutality and sickness on display here you’d be forgiven for thinking that the songs were short and nasty affairs. But this is not the case, (well, the short bit anyway); this is quite a long album at 55 minutes and the songs are much lengthier than the standard Death Metal band’s reach.

These tracks are brutal in a riff-hungry way. Their Death Metal is not all about speed for the sake of it and instead take a leaf out of the USDM playbook and spend a lot of time as mid-paced aggressors that chug and groove their way through the carnage. They also have a quality bass sound, which I like.

The songs are surprisingly engaging and many a time I found myself nodding along to the tunes without even realising it, which is never a bad thing.

This is a true slab of sickness that must surely only be appreciated by those looking to delve into the deep, dark underbelly of the Death Metal underground. If you can stomach it, look in on them today.

https://www.facebook.com/CoathangerAbortionOfficial

Tyranny is Tyranny – The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Review)

Tyranny is Tyranny are a US band and this is their latest album. They play Post-Hardcore.

As soon as the first song, Or Does it Explode?, starts it’s immediately clear that Tyranny is Tyranny are a band that are emotive and expressive. This is apparent from both the music and the vocals.

This is a kind of Hardcore-based music that’s moved beyond its original parameters, (hence the term Post-Hardcore), without losing the vibrant nature of the style. It’s been expanded though to include more introspective and Shoegaze-esque elements and the band have embraced this direction.

The vocals have a lot of personality and have a kind of fragility to their delivery that allows them to convey greater feeling than if this was absent.

The closest band I can think of to compare them to would be Australia’s No Anchor. Both bands share a similar style of music that’s exploratory, expressive and heavy without becoming too heavy. They also share singing styles in the sense that their vocalists have a lot of personality and gravitas while remaining highly emotive and engaging.

There’s a lot of moods and feelings on this album and each song takes part in the overall theme of the release but still manages to cover a lot of different ground.

The political nature of the tracks and the highly-emotive, reflective music results in songs that resonate in the mind long after the last chord has died.

This is an impressive album that holds the interest throughout. The emotional delivery and richly evocative musical choices mean it stands out from the crowd and its longevity is assured.

Very highly recommended.

Gorgoroth – Instinctus Bestialis (Review)

This is the tenth album by these veteran Norwegian Black Metallers.

This is a band that need no real introduction, and the album is the same; Radix Malorum opens things off with a bang and blast beats aplenty.

On Instinctus Bestialis the band stay true to their roots and deliver 31 minutes of Norwegian Black Metal as it is meant to be played.

The album has a quality recording that’s dark enough to suit the genre but polished enough to sound really strong. Everything is clear and full of fiery vigour.

The riffs are suitably Blackened but Gorgoroth impress by inserting some good melodies into the mix where needed. These Blackened melodies help the songs have extra depth, but they are not overly flashy; they work with the structure of the songs to enhance them without being the focus of attention.

I also like the Thrashy edge that Gorgoroth have always been so good with. This gives their sound a heavier dimension that some Black Metal lacks. Again, it’s not an overly ostentatious part of their sound but it all adds to the whole. Burn in His Light is a prime example, featuring a very satisfying and crunchy guitar riff.

Over two decades since their formation Gorgoroth continue to have what it takes to show the world that they still have sharpened teeth. Instinctus Bestialis is a finely realised collection of Black Metal songs and is firmly a winner in my book.

All hail Gorgoroth!

https://www.facebook.com/gorgorothofficial