Reviews – Page 532 – Wonderbox Metal

Agnostic Front – The American Dream Died (Review)

If you don’t already know, Agnostic Front come from the US and are Hardcore through and through. This is their eleventh album.

This veteran band keeps going and shows no signs of running out of anger and drive any time soon. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that The American Dream Died is more aggressive than ever.

The songs are short and to the point. Muscles are flexed, doors are kicked in and people are held accountable. This is music with a sense of purpose.

A vaguely Metallic element including the odd guitar solo spices up the Hardcore assault and the tracks are heavy enough to have a strong presence.

Agnostic Front are a band that have always written songs before riffs. Anthems, even. This album is full of them.

Various guests also appear, all of appropriate Hardcore pedigree, but this show is Agnostic Front’s alone.

This is classic, Old-School Hardcore with a modern recording and plenty of teeth. You can’t get more authentic than this.

Music with attitude that delivers the goods.

Dark Circles – MMXIV (Review)

Dark Circles are from Canada and play Hardcore. This is their latest release.

This is dark, violent Hardcore with a D-Beat element.

There’s a tendency at the moment for dark Hardcore bands to have a Blackened influence, (like Flesh Born and Protestant, for example), which I’m all for as it sounds great, and although Dark Circles fit in well with this style, they’re also different; they have a very obvious Punk background that mixes with the Blackened influences to sound warped, disturbed and evil in their own charismatic way.

The best word to describe Dark Circles is hostile. Really, really hostile.

The guitar sound is utterly abrasive and seems sharp and rough enough to do some real damage. On top of this the acid vocals spew all kinds of hatred and venom, so much so that you begin to wonder if the singer is in fact human at all. It’s a visceral display of hostility, (yes, there’s that word again).

There’s a boat-load of aggression here for sure, but it’s not a wild, killing rage; this is focused and tight, and all the more lethal for it.

These songs channel what must be a never-ending rage into coherent and dangerous-sounding songs that have more to them than initially meets the eye. The Blackened, harsh melodies and the angular, piercing riffs don’t just exist to assault the listener; there is method and intent to these tracks, the key to which is the quality songwriting.

Energy, enthusiasm and dynamics are displayed in abundance, and the band know how to pace themselves. They never let up the intensity though, as even in the rarer moments of reflection and almost Post-Metal darkness that they occasionally slip into for short moments, there’s still the rage and hatred, briefly and barely tethered whilst the band collectively get ready to resume their terror strikes once more.

This is almost 26 minutes of state-of-the-art Blackened Hardcore horror. Yes, it’s an essential listen for anyone who likes this kind of thing.

Turn the volume up, turn the lights out and let your anger take over. Dark Circles are here to guide you.

Psycroptic – Psycroptic (Review)

Psycroptic are from Australia and play Technical Death Metal. This is their sixth album.

Psycroptic’s brand of Death Metal is sharp and finely edged, honed to a fine killing point through years of mastercrafted precision and expertise.

As such, they offer us 9 tracks of advanced-level Technical Death Metal over 39 minutes.

They’re not a band to get overly technical at the expense of the song though, as there are plenty of songwriting skills on display here too.

They also know how to write some emotive passages that have a kind of modern Blackened feel to them, almost akin to some of the harder, faster sections that bands like Enslaved do so well.

The vocals are aggressive shouts that also bring in semi-cleans and screams as appropriate. It’s typically the semi-clean parts that are the most emotive and remind most of a Technical Death Metal version of Enslaved, if you can imagine such a thing. Well, imagine no more!

They’ve incorporated a decent amount of variety on this release too, which, alongside the well-composed song structures, stops the album from becoming a one-dimensional blur of technicality.

I love the Progressive Metal elements of these songs, which help impart the feeling of a journey through Hellishly complicated waters with only the band as guides.

The playing is impressive all-round, of course, but I feel compelled to give special mention to the drummer as he puts in an astounding performance, especially for someone with, (presumably), the normal number of limbs.

An exceptionally good album.

Hagl – Lenket til Livet (Review)

Hagl are from Norway and this is their début album. They play Black Metal.

Boasting an album cover that’s creepy, mysterious and threatening, the same can be said of Hagl’s music.

This is Black Metal that’s shrouded in esoteric knowledge and forgotten evils.

Impenetrable vocals that somehow seem excreted rather than vocalised rasp out of the darkness that the music wears like a cloak. Indeed, it creates this darkness and wields it like a weapon.

Atmospheric enhancements and subtle sound additions allow the music to have depth as well as mystery.

Lenket til Livet is somewhat of a cross between Naglfar and Khold, if the former was slowed down and the latter had less groove and more of a Doom vibe.

Enter the world of Hagl and feel the darkness slide across you like a shroud.

Garroter – Identity (Review)

Garroter are a Polish Death Metal band and this is their second album.

This is sharp and tight Death Metal that features a modern style and sound, but not overly so.

The songs feature lots of chug and groove alongside the faster sections. This is a band that has plenty of crunch and knows what to do with it.

Think of a cross between Decapitated and Malevolent Creation with a touch of Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal and even Behemoth; this is the Garroter sound, and it sounds pretty good.

The band has a slick, professional production that serves them well. Everything has bite and you can even hear the bass, which is always nice. The band can obviously play and there’s a good amount of technical wizardry on display.

Each song is a muscular collection of riffs that are shredded together into a coherent structure and then handed over to an inhuman monster to growl and roar over.

Their music is very precise, with a fair few objects of interest, atypical ideas and areas of mechanical playfulness strewn throughout these 11 tracks.

If you enjoy your Death Metal rhythmically mechanical like a well-oiled killing machine yet still full of infernal life, then Garroter fit the bill. They’ve created a crunchy, catchy album full of Death Metal devastation.

Listen at full volume.

Gian – All Life Erased (Review)

This is well-written Death Metal with some nice melodic streaks thrown in for good emphasis.

The band have gone for a song-oriented approach that is part Swedish Death Metal and part Modern Death Metal, not a million miles away from Illdisposed’s 1-800 Vindication in some ways; frequent infectious melodies with a firm heavy backbone to stop things from ever veering into Melodic Death Metal territory.

Gian frequently trade off crunchy, heavy riffs with melodic passages, all the time retaining an overall muscular presence.

The vocals are deep growls and angry shouts for the most part, but I must say that I was completely unprepared for clean vocals to appear on the second track Bloodstorm! They are performed extremely well and only appear on this song, but for a band who have a firm Death Metal sound with blast beats aplenty I was quite taken aback. Their scarcity works in their favour though, as when they do appear it’s just another aspect of the melodic delivery that appears among the brutal carnage that their music alternates between.

Gian have created a very enjoyable album that delivers something that’s an uncommon treat; songs that are equally brutal and melodic but without falling into the trap of losing their bite.

This is one to definitely check out.

Taran – Taran (Review)

Taran are a Polish Black Metal band and this is their latest release.

This is over 36 minutes of evil, hate-filled Black Metal. There are seven tracks of blisteringly fast/groovy Black Metal, as well as an intro, outro and an Immortal cover.

This is the real deal. You’ve gotta love this kind of Black Metal. No frills, uncompromising and pure dark intent.

The riffs are as Black as any and the sharpness of the assault will leave you reeling. Of course this style has been done to death, but when faced with a band playing music they obvious love so much it’s hard not to get swept along in their trails.

Differentiating them from any number of other bands that merge the Darkthrone/Dark Funeral styles is the quality of the songs; Taran actually know how to write music that’s memorable. Some of the guitar melodies are even hummable.

Taran have really given me a fix of raw, underground Black Metal and it feels pretty damn good.

They may be all about the evil and darkness, but they’ve made me a happy bunny listening to this. As I said; you gotta love Black Metal.

Piah Mater – Memories of Inexistence (Review)

Piah Mater are from Brazil and play Progressive Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Progressive Death Metal that’s expertly played and produced.

If you take Opeth (old) as a base template and then add in some more Progressive influences, (Wolverine and some aspects of Anathema spring to mind), then you’ll have a good idea of what Piah Mater sound like.

The singer has a top notch voice. His clean vocals are well performed and have the requisite amount of personality to them. His growls are deep with a slight rasp and work well with the melodic music.

The songs twist, wind and curl their way through the playing times. Quasi-melodic angular riffs meet Progressive melodies and it’s clear that Piah Mater obviously know exactly how they want to sound.

Memories of Inexistence is a very enjoyable 58 minutes of Progressive Death Metal that is easy to like and easy to recommend.

If you dislike the direction that Opeth have taken over the last few years then Piah Mater can help to soothe your discontent. This is an album that’s a return to the roots that Opeth put down, only updated for the present day.

Give them a listen.

Demonic Slaughter – Haunted (Review)

Demonic Slaughter are a Black Metal band from Poland. This is their fifth album.

This is Old-School Black Metal with good Darkthrone grooves and a cold, frigid heart.

The production is underground and raw whilst still retaining a power and presence; it fits the band perfectly and recalls a golden era of the style.

Vocally we have traditional Black Metal croaks, rasping out blasphemy and hatred with relish. Again, like the production values, it suits the band’s aesthetic to a tee and the delivery never slips.

The songs are traditionally composed and use winding melodies to add atmosphere and Blackened intent. The rhythms are dark homages to all that is evil and the riffs seem to circle malevolently like waiting carrion feeders.

If you enjoy largely mid-paced Black Metal with a grim melodic sensibility then I would definitely recommend Demonic Slaughter to you.

A very good listen indeed. Bring on the darkness.

Crawl – Old Wood and Broken Dreams (Review)

This is the debut album by US Sludge band Crawl.

Crawl have come to stink up the place with their dirty brand of Sludge.

This is Southern-tinged Sludge Metal with a healthy swagger and a groove that won’t quit. Heaviness is a given, of course; you can’t play Sludge any other way. Crawl build on this core of heaviness with enough attitude and confidence to knock over the hardiest drunk.

Crawl have a meaty sound that’s bound to satisfy all of your dark cravings. It brings out the best, (worst), in the band and they sound both professional and murky at the same time.

The vocals are as unhinged and venomous as you would expect. Sounding highly acidic, they rip themselves out of the swampy music to violently scar anyone unlucky enough to be caught in their way.

These songs are infectious and instantly appealing if you have a love of all things filthy and downtrodden. The inclusion of some longer tracks gives the band an interesting edge over some similar bands and only adds to their appeal.

Unusually for a band of this ilk, there is a bit of light included here and there. Some songs have a few passages that can almost be described as hopeful. It’s a slight Post-Metal edge to their Sludge that adds another layer to their already impressive sound; the extended intro to Pilldust is a perfect example of this.

This is a firm winner for fans of Eyehategod, Fistula, Servants of the Mist, Corecom, Primitive Man, Dopethrone, etc.

One to get your grubby mitts on for sure.