Reviews – Page 601 – Wonderbox Metal

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.

The Down Troddence – How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You (Review)

The Down Troddence are from India and play an interesting blend of Thrash Metal and other influences.

The Indian scene seems to be endlessly fresh, exciting and innovative; you’re never quite sure what to expect from the multitude of different bands that are based there. The Down Troddence are a perfect example of this; based on the name and album cover I wasn’t given much clue, even the brief description that I did have didn’t really tell me much.

What we get here is groove-heavy Thrash with interesting melodies and influences from a multitude of other genres interspersed within the heaviness.

The vocals remind me of the ones that Pitchshifter used on their early releases, only raspier; they share that same strange, rhythmic, mechanistic and unusual quality that Pitchshifter used so well in the beginning. They sound robotic, inhuman and characterful all at the same time. Odd but effective.

Musically it’s well-played modern Thrash with melody, leads, solos and added effects and keyboards. As well as the odd Folk influence they also incorporate aspects of psychedelia and Industrial sounds into the songs. Taken all together this adds up to an interesting and quite varied listen that has a modern Metal core but has enough elements of older Thrash and other influences to keep things really interesting.

So, take old Pitchshifter, add a dollop of Devildriver, throw in some classic Thrash, and then mix in a pinch of Folk/Psychedelia/Industrial sounds and you have a recipe for How Are You? We Are Fine, Thank You.

Unexpected and gratefully received; this is an album full of joys and with a lot to offer. Another victory from India.

Mammoth Salmon – Call of the Mammoth (Review)

This is the latest EP from US Stoner Doom band Mammoth Salmon.

The riffs are chunky and full of substance; you won’t go hungry for heaviness here as the band have a nice organic sound that shows off their Doom-laden platter and allows all-comers to gorge on their ample treats.

The first song Dark Descent is an instrumental slow burner of monolithic and classic Doom Metal that crushes the listener in grand riffs before devolving into almost space-age noise and bleeps, then suitably recovering itself for the end of the track.

It’s only on the second song In Constant Shadows that we get to hear the vocals; powerful dirty-cleans that are belted out with strength and passion and fit perfectly with the warm, living sound of the rest of the band.

Each of the songs has a vibrant central core, wrapped lovingly in an earthy embrace of colossal riffs and songwriting know-how. Each track sounds lived in and worked on by enthusiastic hands and wise minds. Laid-back and easy going, but heavy and relentless; not a million miles away from what I imagine Bongripper would song like if they had a singer and shorter songs.

At 27 minutes the band have well and truly captured my attention with their considerable skills. A recommended listen for sure, and here’s hopefully to an album in the future.

Exhumation – Hymn to Your God (Review)

Exhumation are an Indonesian Death Metal band who are just releasing their 2012 album Hymn to Your God worldwide.

This is the kind of Death Metal that won’t settle for being primitive but is not interested in scaling the technical heights; what we have here is intelligent compositions that are well-thought out assaults on the senses.

Mixing base elements of Vader, Behemoth and Morbid Angel, Exhumation have crafted an album that is melodic, brutal and well-placed to cater to Death Metal fans who want something a bit more then just sheer heaviness or chaotic mayhem in their music.

They proffer us 7 tracks, (6 original, 1 Blasphemy cover), across 29 minutes and we eagerly accept their dark boon.

The music is tight and proficient overall. The guitars are flawlessly played, and there are some meaty solos to get your teeth into. The drums are positively inhuman and relentless in their battery. Vocally the grunts that issue forth are not as deep as many Death Metal bands but more in keeping with the Behemoth/Vader variety.

A class album that deserves plenty of attention now it’s available everywhere. Do yourself a favour and get in on the action.

Reckless Manslaughter – Blast Into Oblivion (Review)

This is the second album from German Death Metal band Reckless Manslaughter, and they’ve released what could easily be a genre-classic.

It opens with a thunderous onslaught that eventually morphs into a Hellishly good groove and from there onto heavy-as-hell chug territory; all the time sickened vocals belch out hymns of war over the top of it all. And this is only the first couple of minutes of the first track Storm of Vengeance. Oh this is going to be good.

The sound is professional and near-perfect, even the bass is audible. The drums are solid and engaging and the vocal delivery is spot-on.

The songs are intelligently written and cleverly crafted. Although they do pick up the pace when necessary a lot of it is just a mid-paced exercise in Death Metal demolition and twice as heavy as that. Unexpectedly there are also a good number of hooks and catchy choruses on offer. It really is that good.

I love Death Metal like this – good sound, good songs, good ideas. Taking their cues from bands such as Bolt Thrower and Incantation, they have produced one battle-tank-heavy album. This is a punishing and rewarding listen.

Reckless Manslaughter have produced an overachieving album that perfectly embodies all that is great about crushing Death Metal. Hopefully it will help them garner the recognition they richly deserve.

A deeply satisfying listen and one for your “I must get this now” lists.