Reviews – Page 518 – Wonderbox Metal

Aezh Morvarc’h – Mare Humorum (Review)

Aezh Morvarc’h are a Black Metal band from France and this is their latest EP.

This is sharp and frosty Black Metal that carries a melodic edge with its raw delivery.

Dark screams and ghostly clean-chants populate the musical landscape and recall Mayhem at their esoteric best.

The songs have their atmospheric moments but for the most part it’s a grim assault that the band undertake. Melodic riffing softens the effect though and the inclusion of so many heroic-sounding cleans further distils the rawness factor. This is all a plus point as it gives the band their own character compared to countless other bands playing underground Black Metal.

The speed of the songs is enticing, but it’s the mystical melodies that really do the trick here.

Aezh Morvarc’h have taken their Classic Metal heritage seriously too, and Mare Humorum has more than its fair share of real Metal riffs mixed into the Black Metal. This is a welcome aspect of their style and combined with the clean vocals really gives the band an epic/heroic streak to their sound.

I enjoyed this. For a band that is ostensibly an underground Black Metal group, this release offers the listener something a little different.

A recommended listen.

Keeper – The Space Between Your Teeth (Review)

Keeper are a Doom band from the US and this is their latest EP.

Keeper have graced these pages before on their split with Sea Bastard release.

Here they treat us to two tracks of ultra-heavy Doom that snarls and crushes yet also has a contemplative side.

The vocals are so serrated that this EP should come with a health warning. Their scathing assault is a reminder of how truly harsh screamed vocals can sound from the right singer.

The music is down-beat Doom which is slow enough to cast a grim shadow where it falls but energetic enough to keep a beat to. Although they specialise in the heavier side of Doom, the songs also carry a multitude of melodies through these tumultuous waters. Said melodies are largely low-key affairs content to hide just below the heavier rhythms, although this is not always the case.

The band’s more nuanced side manifests through these streaks of melodic colour and also through some Isis/Cult of Luna-esque Post-Metal moments.

The entire package is rounded off with a strong sound that accentuates all of the band’s strengths, leaving them free to pursue the music through to its logical conclusion.

Keeper have released a devastating calling card with their new EP, one that will surely, and rightfully, gain them many accolades.

A Secret Revealed – The Bleakness (Review)

A Secret Revealed are a German Post-Metal band and this is their début album.

This is emotive Post-Metal that has a good mix of upbeat misery and negative energies.

The Bleakness is an interesting listen as it combines a few different styles of Modern Metal into a coherent assault on happiness. Post-Metal, Modern Metal, Post-Hardcore and even the odd bit of Doom, Shoegaze and Extreme Metal all get incorporated into their overarching depressive aesthetic.

The vocals consist of impassioned screams that are very much in the blood-curdling, emotive Hardcore style.

The music is nicely varied and revolves around the central motif of the band which is ultimately one of bleakness, it seems, (hence the album title).

Although it’s largely a heavy affair, the band never go too far into ultra-heavy territory and instead use the guitars for maximum emotional content. This is backed up and reinforced by the expressive leads and melodies as well as the odd bit of orchestration here and there.

This is a band who are enjoying the freedom of Post-Metal by doing their own thing with contemporary Metal music. They have eschewed the Doom route that most Post-Metal takes and instead has chosen the road less travelled by bands like Deftones and Devil Sold His Soul, only more Metallic.

The Bleakness may be just that, but it’s also a triumph.

Highly recommended.

Unleashed – Dawn of the Nine (Review)

This is the twelfth album from these Swedish Death Metal warriors.

Unleashed should need no introduction. Instrumental in birthing the Swedish Death Metal scene and sound, Unleashed’s place in Metal history is cemented.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Swedish Death Metal recently, as played by different bands all over the world. Now, however, it’s time to return to the source and pay homage to the kings.

Unleashed are on fine form here. Songs, aggression and Vikings are the themes of this album and Unleashed are at the top of their game.

The vocals are expressive and charismatic, managing to exemplify an older strain of Death Metal while remaining individual and as accessible as anything like this is going to be.

When listening to Dawn of the Nine it’s easy to be reminded of the debt that a whole raft of other bands owe Unleashed, and not just those that play Swedish Death Metal either.

Quality riffs abound on this release and there’s a good mixture of faster and slower tracks. Each song has its own personality and it’s always nice to hear an album where each track can be identified in it’s own right. There is no filler.

After all these years Unleashed know themselves perfectly and Dawn of the Nine is the kind of highly proficient and polished Death Metal release that you’d expect from such a veteran band.

But do you know what? Do you know what’s really important? The music itself. Legacy, expectations, reputation, etc. aside; all that matters, all that ever matters, is the music.

Unleashed deliver and Dawn of the Nine is a great listen. This is a band with a future, as well as a past.

Withering Soul – Adverse Portrait (Review)

This is the third album from US Melodic Black Metallers Withering Soul.

The band play Melodic Black Metal that has speed and melody in abundance yet knows the value of restraint on occasion.

The vocals are a kind of chanted scream-shout (?) of the Dimmu Borgir variety. Clean vocals are also used sparingly and effectively.

The music is cleanly recorded with just enough dirt left in to prevent them being described as polished.

The band have some low-key symphonic influences to their sound and I quite like how these are used on the album.

These tracks are mainly fast and sharp, with razor riffs and burning leads. The subtle atmospheric backing keyboards add a surprising amount to the songs and help differentiate from others playing this style.

An enjoyable way to spend 40-odd minutes. Have a listen for yourself.

Hogslayer – Defacer (Review)

Hogslayer are a Sludge band from the UK. This is their second album.

This is hateful, heavy Sludge Metal that sometimes it seems only the UK can do so well. Yes, you have the entire American/NOLA Sludge thing which started everything with Eyehategod, etc. but the UK has its own distinctive underground full of festering filth and misery that grows only in this specific environment. Hogslayer were born to such surroundings.

This is crushingly heavy. I mean really, really heavy. Like, ultra-heavy or something. You get the idea.

The feral, underground darkness that bred Hogslayer didn’t just select for the nastiest traits either. The band understand, in their own warped way, the need for riffs to be catchy, vocals to have character and songs to be memorable. Of course, you have to understand that this is all from a Sludge Metal/Doom perspective, as no-one will accuse Hogslayer of threatening the radio-friendly unit-shifters any time soon.

Oh, but there’s something about this kind of relentlessly heavy, riff-oriented Sludge. When the band lock into a heavy groove and repeat it just the right amount of times…it really hits the spot.

The vocals, as mentioned previously, are charismatic and buried within the distortion just enough to work with the music without dominating it but aren’t too low in the mix so that they’re lost in the colossal bass/guitar riffs, as can sometimes be the case with some Sludge bands.

Hogslayer will be a firm favourite of mine moving forward. Their brand of gritty, well-done Sludge is just what the Metal Doctor ordered.

Defacer is a feast of distortion, feedback and negativity. Eat up.

Braineater – Reclusive (Review)

Braineater are from the US and play Death Metal/Deathgrind.

Braineater’s Deathgrind mixes Death Metal and Grindcore with an emphasis on the Death Metal side of the equation. They take the loose Punk-style of Grind and the brutal nature of Death Metal, merging the two with a Thrash sensibility.

Deep grunts are a matter of course for this kind of thing, but it’s the higher vocals that make a real impression. They have a lot of personality and wouldn’t be out of place on an 80’s surf-inspired Thrash album.

There are only 5 tracks here but it’s a good 19 minutes of music. The fact that it’s biased towards Death and Thrash Metal means that these are not your one minute marathons that some Grind is made up of, (with track 3, One Nation Under Gunpoint, being the exception). Instead we get enjoyable Death Metal with elements of Thrash and Grind at a decent length and with plenty of bloodshed and brain eating to go around.

This is a very encouraging EP. It shows a band who are putting a slightly different spin on a well-worn sound, and one that has a lot of character and personality to boot.

Check them out.

The Dead Goats – Don’t Go in the Tomb (Review)

The Dead Goats are a Death Metal band from Poland and this is their latest EP.

This short sub-12 minite EP features two original songs and a Repulsion cover.

As you can probably tell from the band logo, this is Death Metal of the definite Swedish variety.

Sporting a proper chainsaw sound, The Dead Goats proceed to impress with their mastery of this particular sub-genre.

Their take on the style is one that has a nice filthy Punk undertone and vocals that are slightly higher than the norm but still as nasty as Hell.

This is high-energy, high-excitement Swedish Death Metal that relies less on macabre melodies and groove than it does belligerent attitude and steamroller aggression.

Like all Swedish-styled Death Metal though the emphasis is on songs, and songs we get; simple but catchy, professionally performed, yet still reeking of the crypt.

The higher vocals and general elevated-aggression of these songs does mark them as a little different from the standard Swedish Death Metal band and all-in-all this is firmly in their favour.

This is a very impressive little EP. Make sure you get your hands on this and support the underground.

Eschaton – Sentinel Apocalypse (Review)

Eschaton are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

Eschaton play Technical Death Metal with roots that are firmly rooted in the New-School, Modern Death Metal camp.

Insane riffs and time signature changes merge with utterly inhuman drumming for a listening experience that’s as brutal as it is compelling. You’ve gotta love this kind of mayhem.

Things do slow down enough for the band to have some good old-fashioned chug-n-groove-n-squeal sections as well as more modern, rhythmical riffing. Even these are firmly embedded in a wider framework of frenzied musical exploration, however.

Leads and solos abound, all centred around the ridiculously surgical drumming. I feel like the drummer should be given a medal for his services to tub-thumping, or something. But then, when he’s a veteran of bands such as Incinerate, Pillory, Arsis and Vile, to name but a few, it’s no wonder he sounds like a serious player in the drumming world.

The rest of the musicians seem to be highly proficient in their trade too though. There’s the guitars of course, so many that we just seem to get extra guitars on top of guitars! In actuality there were only three members to Eschaton during this recording but the sound they make could easily lead you to believe this was a six-piece band.

We mustn’t forget the vocalist either. He has a throaty, guttural roar that focuses the chaos of the music as it rages around him. His voice is versatile enough to fit in with the extremity of the rest of the band and the consistency he provides acts as a grounding point to the swirling maelstrom of Eschaton’s delivery. He also branches out into high screams territory, and these are performed as equally well as the growls.

This is brutal, extreme music for fans of proper Technical Modern Death Metal. When confronted with music like this, most will falter. Will that be your fate, or will you be one of the elite and embrace Eschaton?

Destiny awaits.

Spawned from Hate – Accelerated Butchery (Review)

Spawned from Hate are a UK Death Metal band. This is their latest EP.

This is raw, evil Death Metal with an Old-School sound and enough brutality to kill 1000 pigs. (Poor pigs).

But the piggy sacrifice has at least resulted in some Death Metal capable of waking you up in the morning.

This may be from the UK but it has a distinct USDM feeling circa the mid 90’s.

I particularly enjoy the vocals, as they have the kind of ultra-deep growl that’s incredibly satisfying. It just sounds so prototypical and pleasing.

The archaic melodies and riffs may be rooted in an older pedigree but they’re delivered with a modern passion and lust for blood. This is such a pure stain of Death Metal, you can’t really go wrong with it.

If you’ve become jaded with the Death Metal scene then it’s unlikely that Accelerated Butchery will set your world fire. For the rest of us though who still love Death Metal in all of its wonderful, myriad forms, Spawned from Hate play a timeless Death Metal style and it’s hard not to enjoy it.

This is a very gratifying release and promises good things for the band in the future. If they can capitalise on this EP then I look forward to what their début album will bring.

For fans of Suffocation, Deeds of Flesh, Dying Fetus, Devourment, etc.