Reviews – Page 570 – Wonderbox Metal

Narrow House – Thanathonaut (Review)

Ukrainian band Narrow House play Progressive Doom and this is their second album.

This is varied and atmospheric Doom, with elements of their Funeral Doom past widened and expanded to included a much larger musical framework.

Playing heavy, dark and slow is still a feature for the band, however, but now they also use additional tools in their toolbox, including non-standard Doom implements such as choirs, saxophone, cello and contrabass, as well as orchestration, piano, keys, etc. that are more typical of the style.

A lot of the songs are more upbeat and have more of a Progressive feel to them. Some tracks such as The Midwife to Sorrows, for example, still have Doom aspects but can also be thought of as Progressive Metal songs with slow parts.

The songs are surprisingly short but still manage to pack a lot in. Narrow House are high on content and depth where they are lacking in length of song. The level of orchestration, effects and additional instrumentation on the tracks mean that each song is densely packed with layer upon layer of musical interest.

The clean vocals are dirge-like and full of depth and authority, whilst the occasional growls are low key but powerful.

This album is a surprise as I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band. From the Progressive Metal-style album cover to the name that gives nothing away, this is an atypical release in many respects. This is a very good thing, as the band have produced an extremely good album that manages to ably differentiate itself from the ravening hordes whilst keeping quality levels high and having a lot of personality and colour.

This will probably be a bit too left of centre for some Doom fans, which is a shame as this is a remarkable release that deserves a wider audience. This is a hugely impressive album that won’t settle for being average and definitely stands out in a sea of mediocrity.

Listen with an open mind and you’ll find that Narrow House have produced quite the corker.

Essential listening.

Hod – Book of the Worm (Review)

Hod are from the US and play Death Metal.

Hod specialise in rough Death Metal with no commercial shine or anything that could resemble nicety of delivery. This is raw, underground and reeks of evil.

There is a Blackened feel to much of what goes on in these songs, which only goes to enhance the darkness and nastiness that the band generally give off.

The riffs are largely fast and melodic in a sharp, Blackened, way. The majority of time efforts are spent creating music that’s dark, dirty and brutal, although they do throw in the odd solo to add a splash of colour here and there.

The guitars, and in extension the songs, have a lot of good ideas and Hod pursue their Blackened Death Metal art with clear enthusiasm for the kill.

References? Bits of Morbid Angel, Master, Arkhon Infaustus. Snippets of others.

There is no softness on this album, no moments of respite from the chaotic Blackness and brutal assault. This is not a band who want to be your friends or play nice. This is music purely designed to destroy and worship the foul Gods of the Metal underworld, wherever they dwell.

Maybe you should open up the Book of the Worm and read this hymn for yourself?

Phobiatic – Fragments of Flagrancy (Review)

Phobiatic are from Germany and this is their second album of Technical Death Metal.

Phobiatic’s Death Metal is both technical and brutal and takes cues from the likes of Dying Fetus – huge brutal riffs combine with intricate, swirling leads to create a monster of a Death Metal assault.

The songs are largely short and sadistic affairs, averaging about 3 minutes each; every track makes a virtue of aggressive complexity juxtaposed with a simpler and more brutally direct attack.

The production sounds fine and the band know what they’re doing with their respective instruments.

The vocals are deep, guttural and in your face. A band like this, however, has no need for subtlety and the forthright approach goes hand in hand with the nature of the songs.

Fragments of Flagrancy is an enjoyable album that’s short enough to satisfy the urge for instant destruction and technical enough to satisfy the desire for a deeper chaos.

Give the album a listen and see what they do for you.

The Hole – A Monument to the End of the World (Review)

This is the début album from The Hole, who are a Spanish Death Metal band with Thrash leanings.

The Hole thunder nicely out of the speakers with a heavy sound and crushing presence. It’s riff-heavy music intent on causing as much destruction and devastation as possible.

I’m not sure why but based on the album cover I was expecting this to be more commercial than it is, and I’m pleased to be mistaken as this is pleasantly brutal and harsh.

I think I was maybe expecting the Thrash element of their sound to be the dominant partner, but no; although their Thrash influence has its place and keeps the album from sounding stale, it’s the harsher Death Metal sound that is the driving force here.

The Thrash edge lends the songs a more considered side than if it was pure Brutal Death Metal, but nonetheless this is raging and storming music for the most part. Some of the riffs and ideas are actually quite inventive and the band strive to keep the album as varied and interesting as possible, which is to be commended.

The heaviness is offset with occasional melodic moments and the band know their business. A good amount of solos are played too, which is always nice.

Blast beats and mid-paced double bass sections force the guitars to keep up, and the bass actually has a presence in the songs which is good to hear.

The vocals alternate between deep, evil sounding growls and higher rasps. Both sound good; both do the job. Good vocal rhythms and structures are used.

An enjoyable and solid release. Have a listen to this.

Torn the Fuck Apart – Sexually Transmitted Torture (Review)

Torn the Fuck Apart are from the US. They play Death Metal and this is their second album.

Torn the Fuck Apart combine Brutal Slamming Death Metal with Technical Death Metal to sound like the bastard offspring of Dying Fetus and Cannibal Corpse.

Heavy riffs collide with widdly guitar leads to create that Dying Fetus-style mix of brutality and technicality that works so well for them. Torn the Fuck Apart then add into the mix a bit more Cannibal Corpse influenced riffs a well as elements from the Slam school of thought.

The songs are good, with heavy riffs flying around and leads slicing through the chaos like knives. There’s plenty to get caught up in and the double bass and blast beats flow freely.

The vocalist uses very deep, guttural growls; his is a very good voice for this kind of music.

Musically the album has a maturity that belies the image you might get of the band from their songtitles, etc. This is advanced-level Death Metal with lots to keep the listener hooked as the band bash you around the head with their aural assault.

Have a listen and I’m sure you’ll get drawn into their technically brutal world.

Ommadon – V (Review)

Ommadon are from the UK and play Doom.

I love Doom. I especially love the kind of crazy-heavy doom with thunderously slow drumming that makes up these two colossal tracks. There’s over 1 hour and 25 minutes of music on this release and all of it is pure agony of the most exquisite variety.

The band play lumbering, slow Doom. It’s wave after wave of noisy guitar assault and deafening barrage. The relentless crashing of the instruments is a thing of down-tempo beauty.

The sustained nature of the riffs and the utter disregard for anything other than massive sonic excess is a form of purity in itself. This is not music for the casual listener; this is for hardcore Doom fans alone and even then this would challenge even the hardened of these. Listening to these two tracks will be a feat of endurance for some and torture for others. A rare subset, however, will find blissful relaxation in the aural assault that Ommadon bring. This is music to hypnotize the Doom devotee to. It’s an experience to get lost in and forget all other forms of music to. This is aural enjoyment of slow extremity at its most clear.

There are no vocals. Guitar and drums is what we get and there is nothing to disturb the trance-like state this music can bring you to if you let it.

I say it again; I love Doom, in all its incarnations and guises. V is like the very distilled essence of Doom, of slowness and crushing heaviness. It’s a love affair that most won’t understand, but who cares? This kind of music is never going to have a mass appeal. It’s never even going to have just a small appeal; less than small in fact. This is for the people who have a real connection with heavy, extreme music and everything that comes along with it.

This is music that’s big, grand, large, in every sense. It’s huge, monolithic, monstrous, gargantuan…it’s an utter beast of devastating intent and purity of purpose. Ommadon have crafted a veritable masterpiece of Doom art.

Vermin Womb – Permanence (Review)

Vermin Womb are from the US and this is their début EP.

Made up of members with an impressive Extreme Metal pedigree, (Primitive Man, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire), this releases takes that collective knowledge and experience and funnels it into a veritable natural disaster’s worth of extremity and violence given form.

This is a combination of Sludge, Grind, Death Metal and pissed off Hardcore. It’s not for the faint-hearted and sounds like the end of the world is coming. It’s brutal, nasty, and very, very heavy.

The songs here combine the ferocity and general disdain of Hardcore/Grindcore with the murky evil of Sludge and the brutality of Death Metal. There’s even a Blackened edge.

Take Eyehategod, Brutal Truth and Anaal Nathrakh, mash them all up, put the remains in a blender, force feed the resultant slop into a few hapless victims and the resulting screams of pain and agony will sound a bit like Vermin Womb.

The singer is probably one of these unfortunates as it sounds like he’s been gargling liquid nightmares and is now vomiting forth the worst of his experiences.

This is impressively ugly and it takes real determination and talent to create Metal this heavy and grotesque.

Absolutely horrible music that you can’t afford to miss out on.

Confrontation – Fieseler Fi 103 (Review)

Confrontation are from the Netherlands. This is their début EP and they play Death Metal.

This is Old-School Death Metal with a malignant Doom influence. Think Swedish Death Metal meets Incantation. The recording has a bit of that Swedish tone, an evil vibe and a very tasty drum sound.

The songs are lumbering, heavy behemoths of dark destructive energy and deep, inhuman growling.

There are only three tracks on this release but each song is relatively long with the whole EP clocking in at just under 20 minutes.

What I like about this band is that they take the Swedish/Old-School sound and really ramp up the Doom side of the equation. The end of the first track, for example, is a great combination of feedback drenched slow riffing, harrowing noise and deep growls.

The band know how slowness works and how to make the most of it; atmosphere, feeling – these are important to the band. The start of the second track reinforces this as we get an eerie guitar melody over a pitch-black Doom riff and slow, crawling drums. When the vocals kick in it sounds as if Bolt Thrower have slowed down more than normal and decided to take the evil route to Death Metal.

Highly enjoyable – a hidden gem of the Metal underground.

This is an impressive EP that should be listened to by fans of both Doom and Death Metal. Be sure to check them out.

Miasmata – Demo (Review)

This is the first demo by Dutch Death Metal band Miasmata.

It opens explosively with pignoise and blastbeats. A firm opening statement if ever there was one.

It may be just a demo but the sound is acceptable enough and showcases the band’s blend of chugging slam and blasting brutality. Solos and the odd flash of melodics appear in the songs as the band aren’t adverse to adding a bit of colour to the tracks.

I’d classify this short demo as a cross between Dying Fetus and Deicide. This songs are surprisingly enjoyable and overall I like this. This is no frills, no nonsense Death Metal that gets the job done nicely.

This demo is a good first release and if the band spend a bit more time honing their art then I think their eventual début album will go down a storm.

Have a listen.

Uburen – Withered Roots (Review)

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

This is Viking-themed Black Metal with hints of Death Metal thrown into the mix here and there. Heavier than the norm for this style, Uburen play to the more extreme side of the Viking sub-genre.

The vocals alternate between Black Metal screams, rasps and deeper growls, with some spoken word and other styles making the odd appearance. The singer puts in a great performance and his vocals are quite varied compared to most monotonous vocalists who have maybe one or two sounds at most that they make.

The guitars are rhythmically melodic, stirring up the appropriate emotions and have a good double bass foundation that they build their songs on top of. This is not pseudo-commercial fodder, this is the real deal. Rather than the heroic songs and style-over-substance façade of most Viking/Pagan bands, Uburen have got to the blood and guts of the matter and their interpretation of the genre is altogether dirtier and heavier.

There are some really enjoyable, powerful scything Black Metal moments on this release and the combination of the higher/deeper vocals merely enhances this.

Imagine Enslaved if they were less Progressive and more aggressive, or maybe Amon Amarth if they used Black Metal as the basis for their sound rather than Death Metal.

Uburen deserve a wider audience than they’re probably going to get. You can help remedy this however – check out Withered Roots today and feel the blood run hot through your veins once more.

Favourite Track: Asmegin. Fast and furious.