Reviews – Page 597 – Wonderbox Metal

Gravehill – Death Curse (Review)

This is US band Gravehill’s third full length album, and they play Old-School Death Metal with a nice bit of Thrash and Black Metal added into the mix as well.

After the usual perfunctory intro we get blasted into the action with the album title track.

The band play their Death Metal morbid, primitive and ancient. The vocalist sounds like a long-dead corpse who has risen up to assault the living with tales of what they have to look forward to when they die. Both high screams and deeper growls are used, with the higher vocals sounding particularly deranged.

Gravehill combine fast and slow riffs with their twin-pronged vocal assault to create unexpectedly catchy songs, a consequence of their Thrash influence creeping into the mouldy Death Metal. The guitars are solid and heavy with momentum and aggression but also a good bit of crusty Thrash melody, while the solos are whipped out at hyper-speed and get the job done.

A thoroughly enjoyable album full of catchy hooks and memorable riffs. Let Gravehill’s festering carcass enter your life and take a good long whiff.

Gloom Warfare – Post Apocalyptical Downfall (Review)

German band Gloom Warfare play a form of Industrial Doom/Death that takes the blueprint laid down by old Godflesh and Pitchshifter and uses it to build their own world.

This is a slow-burning, gradual-destruction kind of album, where the tracks move inexorably towards their ultimate conclusion. The nihilistic atmosphere builds as the songs do.

The mood radiated by each track is the kind where you just need to fall into a bit of a semi-trance-like state and soak up the vibes of the album. Long distance journeys or getting a large tattoo; something you can almost zone-out to.

The onwards martial march of the songs is an almost-unbearable constant. Initially when listening to this I wasn’t too impressed, but slowly the relentless driving force that powers this 61 minute album gets under the skin and worms its way into your brain. If you give it the time to saturate your senses then Post Apocalyptical Downfall has lots to offer; this is not an instant album and not one for light listening.

I would prefer a slightly more even sound, with a bit more emphasis given to the clarity of the guitars, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

If you’re in a particular kind of mood then this is a really good album. With a few tweaks to the sound the next one could be great.

Impactor – Arise In Decay (Review)

Impactor are a German Thrash Metal band who have taken it upon themselves to safeguard the Germanic Thrash Metal legacy.

This is Old-School thrash in the Kreator vein, with a fine dollop of extra extremity added into the proceedings for good measure.

The songs rip, shred and pound their way through the 51 minute playing time and not a single person is left unbattered, unbruised or undazed by the Thrash attack.

Choruses and hooks abound and the last couple of decades are completely forgotten as your head involuntarily bangs itself against the nearest wall over and over again.

The vocals sound like a hysterically deranged Mille Petrozza and they rage over the spike-laden guitars with fury.

Enjoyable and angry – check out Impactor.

Dirge – Hyperion (Review)

Dirge are a veteran French band and Hyperion is their sixth album.

The band play atmospheric Post-Metal Sludge with an electronic/Industrial influence.

I should also note at this juncture that although it’s irrelevant to the music and I have no idea what it’s depicting, I love the album artwork.

The music is mysterious and enticing. There is also a strong feeling of grandeur running through the tracks, especially when the singer goes all semi-clean-shouting, (a technical term…); it almost makes the hairs stand up with goosebumps.

The vocals have a lot of variety and the singer uses his voice to best accentuate the music and the feelings they wish their songs to evoke. The added female vocals used in Venus Claws are a master stroke of judgement and elevate an already well-crafted song to the next level.

Each of the long songs shows an excellent knowledge of dynamics and composition, with light and shade used expertly. The tracks have a droning, near-hypnotic quality yet don’t sound bleak or unforgiving; rather the feeling is cautiously optimistic. Melancholia and uncertainty play a role but ultimately it’s a feeling of uplift-through-awe that the band project; a sense of ascension to be attained.

A near-flawless album and an abject lesson in the mastery of the aural arts. Essential.

Isacaarum – Whorecraft (Review)

This is veteran Czech band Isacaarum’s seventh album of filthy Blackened Deathgrind.

Inhabiting the same degraded, run-down pay-by-the-hour hotel as The Meatfückers; Isacaarum are more at the Grind/Death end of the spectrum than the aforementioned band, but no less seedy and porn-obsessed for it.

The 9 songs that span this 30 minutes of depraved Metal never get stuck in a rut. In fact, for the genre this is a surprisingly varied release with even some melodic moments raising their rubber-clad heads at appropriate intervals.

The vocals alternate between higher and lower shrieks/grunts, (in a similar vein to, say, Exhumed), with the deep growls in particular being very well done.

A strong production with a heavy sound accentuates all of the questionable fluids that the band excrete and allows their songs to breathe and enjoy themselves while being mindful of the safety word at all times.

I have enjoyed this album immensely; the band have an ear for a good song and the album doesn’t get stale. This is the first time I’ve encountered Isacaarum and I’m very glad I have. I’ll be visiting them at their seedy hotel more often in the future.

Cleric – Gratum Inferno (Review)

Cleric are from the US and play a distinctly Swedish brand of Old-School Death Metal.

From the start it’s obvious that the band worship at the altar of the Swedish Gods of Death Metal. This is no bad thing.

Over time it’s dawned on me that I really am quite partial to this style of Death Metal. Something about the generally slow, lumbering heaviness of the riffs combined with that chainsaw-guitar sound seems to do it for me quite nicely.

Cleric have this sound in spades, and embody it whether they are crushingly slow, moderately demolishing or speedily blasting. This is 29 minutes of hero worship that I’m quite happy to listen to.

The vocalist doesn’t let the side down either, with a voice like gravel that belches out blasphemy and death.

If you know your Swedish Death Metal, (even if it’s not Swedish), then you’ll know what to expect here, and you’ll either like it or not. I like it.

Cognizance – Inquisition (Review)

This the début EP by UK Modern Technical Death Metallers Cognizance, featuring names and guests from other bands aplenty.

This release contains 13 minutes of Grade-A Death Metal which is brutal enough to get the attention but has enough melodic embellishments and leads to keep it.

The songs have a modern feel and style, but not overly so, and each track is full of technical flourishes and tasty moments that make you go “ooooo”.

Oh and the vocalist is great. That’s all I need to say about that really.

Each of the tracks on this EP is a streamlined killing machine and if you’re interested in a short EP full to the brim of expertly played and executed Death Metal then look no further than Cognizance. Let’s hope they do a full album at some point as this has firmly grabbed my attention.

Have a listen. Then listen again.

“ooooo”.

Necrovile – Engorging the Devourmental Void (Review)

Necrovile play Brutal Death Metal.

The songs barely poke out over the 3 minute mark, but when they contain this much carnage and slaughter it doesn’t really matter.

The production is brutal and punishing and everything sounds great; it means you can hear everything that’s going on so there’s no escape from the slaying. Necrovile exist for the destruction of beauty through the beauty of destruction.

This really is ultra-brutal, with the drums, guitars and vocals all locking into a single-minded intent to achieve this outcome. There’s even a bit of bass; I especially enjoy the parts where it takes on a life of its own such as during Bloodstained Surgeons; these are the touches that elevate songs to greatness.

There is a lot of heavy-duty blasting throughout the songs, yet the band also knock it down a gear for some good old USDM-style crunch ‘n’ squeal parts too.

The vocals are super-deep and only one step removed from pure pignoise, which it does descend into on occasion. It perfectly fits with the inhuman nature of the music and leaves you with a very satisfied feeling deep in your bowels.

Necrovile have the complete Brutal Death Metal luxury package going on, and it’s well worth upgrading to. Highly recommended.

Six Degrees Of Separation – The Hike & Other Laments (Review)

This is the fifth album from Czech Metallers Six Degrees Of Separation, and it’s a bit of a conundrum, but a good one at that.

I wouldn’t particularly call this band a Thrash band or a Power Metal band, although they certainly have been termed both. Rather I will just call them a Metal band. Quite a timeless brand of Metal also; it sounds both too modern for Old-School and too classic for New-School.

The band have forged an interesting sound for themselves. It’s not quite Thrash, but not quite Power Metal either; it’s somewhere in the middle, borrowing aspects of both genres.

The album cover is atypical of pretty much all Metal genres, which is a sign that the band don’t necessarily fit into the normal genre pigeon-holes. What I do know however, is that this is very good indeed.

This album has a strong, full production that has a good crunch to it. It’s a sound that is satisfying and more-ish; as soon as it stops playing I could quite happily play it again.

Powerful vocals dominate the proceedings; they are largely clean and rough around the edges, further muddying the separation of harsher Thrash and cleaner Power Metal standards.

Interesting guitar riffs, melodies and leads are included in every song and once again blur the lines between their Thrash and Power Metal influences. The songs are also absurdly catchy.

Six Degrees of Separation may be non-standard, but in my book that’s a very good thing. This is a great release that I can’t recommend enough, and contains some storming Metal songs.

For fans of quality Metal.

Return To Innocence – The Ring of Moon (Review)

Return To Innocence are a Czech band that play a mix of Death, Heavy/Power and Symphonic Black Metal.

After a classical intro the band burst out of the speakers with blastbeats, aggression and epic keyboard backing. The orchestral accompaniment to the songs is cinematic and heavy, but not overbearing. They symphonic effects are wielded as an extra instrument and made full use of; rather than being mere additions to the songs they are an integral part.

The singer growls and rips his way through the songs, sparing time for the occasional high-pitched shriek. That’s when he’s not putting in a characterful performance with his semi-clean vocals which lend an air of European Metal to some of the songs; Tristan’s Dream is a perfect example of this. We are also treated to operatic vocals such as the ones on Blood Related and female vocals make an appearance too. A good variety of content is important, and the vocal contributions to the album certainly deliver this.

The music is based on a solid foundation of Death Metal, supercharged with Symphonic Black Metal and then infused with a good Heavy/Power Metal influence on some of the riffs and arrangements. The songs keep things interesting and the attention doesn’t wane for the 40 minutes that the album runs.

A solid release from a long serving band who have a clear vision of what they want to achieve and the talent and skill to realise it. I suggest you give this a go as it’s well worth the listen.