Reviews – Page 594 – Wonderbox Metal

Flesh Born – Han (Review)

Coming from the US Flesh Born are set to unleash their latest EP on the world.

This is screaming Hardcore with a Black Metal feel; dark and Blackened moods with sharp riffs all packaged in very short songs designed to pierce the minds of the weak.

The Blackened riffs are layered with high pitched screams while the Hardcore sensibility keeps things from veering to far into Black Metal territory and ensures the tracks last only as long as they need to.

Eight tracks, 11 minutes; this was never going to be pretty. Having said that though Flash Born do find time for less abrasive and more emotive riffs in their arsenal of pain.

Even with the short length of the songs the band make ample room for some slower riffs with the guitars lazily spreading misery and hardship like a virus. The aptly named Gloom is a perfect example of the art of Blackened Doom, cut short.

If you haven’t encountered Flesh Born before this is an enjoyable introduction to them. If they ever get around to releasing a full album it will be really interesting to see what they do with it.

https://www.facebook.com/fleshborn

Desecresy – Chasmic Transcendence (Review)

Desecresy are from Finland and this is their third album of Death Metal.

One of the first things that strikes me is the singer’s vocals – they’re very full and ragged growls that don’t particularly sound human.

The music is relatively slow for Death Metal and has quite a few Doom/dirge elements to it, as well as the normal blast beats being in attendance, of course.

There is a distinctly otherworldly quality to the songs, especially when the leads take the fore; quite an impressive achievement considering the short duration of the tracks. The songs are very enjoyable and easily wash over you in a tide of grimy distortion and guttural malevolence.

A thick, dense, murky sound means the songs sound even more oblique than they might otherwise do. Add this to the bestial vocals and the unnatural atmospheres the band create and you have an album that is not your run-of-the-mill Death Metal.

Think Six Feet Under with more Doom, more filth and a bit of eeriness. Yes that’s right.

It’s heavy and it’s good. Give them a listen.

Horrid – Sacrilegious Fornication (Review)

Veterans Horrid are from Italy and play Death Metal, this is their third album.

What we get here is unholy Death Metal powered by the Old-School and capable of conjuring all manner of lost and forgotten riffs.

Horrid are brutal and sinister at the same time. Imagine a band like Incantation messing around with Celtic Frost riffs whilst throwing in the odd lick from Death and Entombed – this is the land that Horrid stalk and they rule here absolutely.

Cavernous, guttural vocals invoke dark blasphemies while the Metal flares up around them. Horrid create feelings of unforgiving blackness and bleak rituals.

Awakening in a crypt, chained and bound; you are roughly manhandled onto a slab of shaped granite, your captors uncaring of your discomfort or the marks they are leaving. Masked acolytes surround you, the glint of a blade…

How Horrid.

Occult Death Metal played by true devotees.

Hashed Out – Hashed Out (Review)

Hashed Out are from Canada and play angry Hardcore.

This is violent music that’s noisy and Crusty. A hint of Grind, a smattering of Metallic fury, a good Hardcore base and even a touch of Sludge here and there – Hashed Out play music that’s full of rage and bile.

The singer shouts and spews vitriol across the 6 tracks and keeps the intensity up for the full 15 minutes playing time.

The songs may be short and furious but they have some hooks in them that keep you coming back for more. This reminds me of a more extreme version of some of the 90’s Metallic Hardcore bands like My Own Victim; the sense of songwriting that’s heavy but still catchy is similar, only with added Crust, filth and blasting.

Think of a Punk band swallowed by Eyehategod and powered by Grinding Crust. The songs stick around and the singer in particular is very memorable. In a sea of mediocrity Hashed Out stand tall.

This is an EP worth getting hold of.

Rude – Soul Recall (Review)

Rude are from the US and play Old-School Death Metal through and through. This is their début.

This is the kind of lumbering, rolling Death Metal that’s easy to like and full of good intentions. It’s an instantly familiar style of music and all of the hallmarks are in place for it to be a very welcoming listen.

Death, Autopsy, etc. – the usual reference points. This is not to belittle Rude, but they play a very specific genre of music so if you’re familiar with the greats you know what to expect here, and Rude deliver the goods.

The vocals have an unusual tint to them that sounds as if they’re scraping and tearing the singer’s throat raw on their way out of his mouth. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but you know what they say about suffering for your art…

The band have managed to capture that classic Death Metal sound from yesteryear and exploit this to the full with the crashing, fill-happy drums, prime riffage and widdly bass.

This is 44 minutes of enjoyable music played by people with a love of the genre and who know how to handle the material and do it justice. Have a listen to Soul Recall.

Ruins/Usnea – Split (Review)

This split is between German band Ruins and Usnea who are from the US.

Ruins are first with their track Discrimen. It starts with an eerie riff and then builds in the bass and drums with a lumbering gait like some twisted swamp creature stalking its prey. This develops into a very satisfying riff that still manages to sound a little uneasy even while it’s rocking out.

The vocals are dirty and deep, sounding like some balaclava-wearing bruiser who’s only out to hurt you. These change about halfway through to a slightly more emotive sounding semi-clean and the song becomes energised.

Ruins are a curious blending of Crust/Hardcore and Sludge with even a slight hint of Post-Metal in the mix. Either way it makes for an enticing listen and I think I’ll be looking into what else this band has done.

After Ruins we get Usnea with Only the End of the World. Usnea are great band who have released an excellent self-titled début album of Blackened Doom, which I heartily advise everyone to immediately go and get. I was especially interested to hear their half of this split as at just under 6 minutes in length it’s a lot shorter than any of the songs on their album.

Their contribution is slower and more monolithic than that of Ruins; with the song seemingly dragging itself along against the burden of time immemorial.

The chasm-like vocals seem to open wide and swallow the light. They appear like fissures under the foundations of the song and it seems like it would be so easy to fall into the blackness there. Later as the higher vocals come in the massive holes in the world are replaced with piercing shrieks that cause their own no-less fatal puncture wounds.

Usnea don’t disappoint. It may be shorter than their other work but that doesn’t stop them from making the most of the playing time and ramming it chock full with Doom delights.

A highly recommended EP. Two great songs from two great bands. Seek it out.

Incarnated – Try Before Die (Review)

This is Polish Brutal Death Metal band Incarnated’s third album.

Incarnated are all about the pure brutality and the sickening smashing and blasting. They are the kind of band that revel in gore and gruesome, still-living dissections.

This is heavy and fast. The drums show no mercy and the vocals are deeper than a well of blood.

The guitarists play like their life depends on it. Rather unusually for Brutal Death metal of this style they pretty much have the Swedish Death Metal sound to their guitars; all chainsaw sounding but mangled by the non-Swedish styled riffing. It sounds great don’t get me wrong, just a little incongruous at first; like Dismember playing Goregrind/Exhumed/Aborted covers almost. It’s a good way to differentiate themselves from the bloody masses however, and it gets my vote.

The songs are relentless and continuously march forwards propelled by the untiring efforts of the superhuman drummer. Occasional spurts of melody or solos leak out of the mashed up corpse only to be stemmed quickly and efficiently lest the victim expire too soon.

I must say I’m enjoying this. The songs are satisfyingly extreme and they hit that sweet spot reserved for quality Metal only.

If you like Brutal Death Metal then you should eat this up. Open wide.

Voice of Ruin – Morning Wood (Review)

Coming from Switzerland, here we have Voice of Ruin.

A bit of an enigma this band in some ways; from the song titles I was expecting gore/porn-obsessed Death Metal but then the artwork is a bit unusual for that. Couple that with the band’s tendency to dress as farmers it tends to throw you a bit.

When you finally press play the style of music is actually a thoroughly modern Metalcore/Thrash influenced melodic Death Metal. From everything else about this release and the band, it’s quite unexpected.

Imagine Killswitch Engage and Lamb of God getting together to do a more extreme side band, (less commercial cleans, some blast beats, etc.); throw in a few modern Melodic Death Metal influences such as The Black Dahlia Murder and you should be there.

The sound is immense and state-of-the-art, with all of the instruments honed to crushing perfection and all aimed at utterly destroying. It does the music justice.

The songs are well written and have that thoroughly modern melodic crunch to them that will probably have just as many people running away from the band as running to them, such is the divisive nature of this kind of genre for some people.

It’s good though, very good, so don’t let preconceptions put you off discovering a talented band.

Valdrin – Beyond the Forest (Review)

This is the debut release from US Black Metallers Valdrin.

Valdrin play Melodic Black Metal; if you think of Dissection, Old Man’s Child, Dimmu Borgir and Emperor as your starting points you’ll get the right idea.

That’s not to say this is overly symphonic or orchestrated though; Valdrin may tip their toe in that genre of Black metal but they firmly live on the darker, harsher side of the Melodic Black Metal spectrum.

The orchestration and effects they employ are subtler than the more overt side of Dimmu Borgir and even Emperor, and are mere enhancements to the songs rather than the driving force.

The band know how to effortlessly mix aggression and melody, and have a good amount of variety in their compositions for this genre. They even employ a few solos; unusual for Black Metal but a very welcome addition.

The pure-blooded Black Metal vocals work well and complement the darkness of the music.

This is atmospheric Black Metal with none of the pomp and plenty of bite. It’s good to hear a few bands playing this style recently and bringing back the good old days of harsher Black Metal whilst still retaining some melodies and a sense of atmosphere.

Highly enjoyable.

Favourite Track: Beyond the Forest. Epic and empowering.

Power Trip – Manifest Decimation (Review)

Power Trip are from the US and this is their début album of Crossover Thrash.

This is angry, violent Thrash Metal with a large Crossover influence that recalls the best of Old-School Hardcore, (Cro-Mags, Black Flag, etc).

The sound is huge and the drums sound as if each snare drum hit is a bomb exploding. The vocals are smothered in reverberation and sound as if they were recorded in a cave somewhere.

The songs are angry and buzzing with an energy that just screams, (literally), how passionate they are about their chosen path.

This is music that demands to be let loose in the live environment. Pick a song here and you’ll be able to rip and tear it up in the pit; stomp and smash to the pounding beats. One listen to pretty much any of these songs and you’ll want to get caught in a mosh all over again.

It’s as if the spirit of 80’s Hardcore was being channelled through the lens of gritty Thrash Metal. Power Trip are that lens.