This is the second album from US Death Metal band Horrendous.
Firstly; what an album cover! Top marks for that for a start.
But what of the music? Horrendous play Traditional/Old-School Death Metal with a good bit of the Swedish style chucked in, although they are certainly not limited to this one particular subgenre. Their style is a wider one that encompasses pretty much all of the Classic/Traditional/Old-School Death Metal sounds and delivers them wrapped in entrails as a horrendous, (heh), package of delights for the listener to chew on.
Good riffs and good melodies are apparent from the off; this is band that knows how to rip your face off but also knows how to show restraint and take the slower, more considered route to its slaughter. Some of the guitar leads and solos on this release are sublime, enough to take your breath away. There really are some impressive moments here.
A warm, organic sound means you can almost feel the breathing of the Metal as it clobbers you to death. Even the bass is audible. The guitars have a bit of That Swedish Sound, but not oppressively so. Instead the whole thing has a Classic Death Metal stomp.
The vocalist falls somewhere between an Obituary and a Covenant-era Morbid Angel style. He has a relatively varied voice as he ranges deeper or higher than his core voice as necessary.
The songs chug and churn, flatten and demolish their way through the 44 minutes playing time with the confidence of a killer and the talent of a professional. These are diverse and dynamic songs with strong songwriting clearly stamped all over them in a big, bloody mess.
This is an album that every fan of Death Metal should get their greasy mitts on. Play loud and play repeatedly.
Death Vomit are from Chile and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
Now that’s what you call a band logo!
This is brutal underground Death Metal played in the Old-School style.
As would be expected from a band named Death Vomit, the music is ugly and unrepentant. It’s filled with malevolent riffing and hateful drums. Savage vocals echo with the afterthought of torture and bloody carnage.
These tracks have a primitive presence; they have an almost atavistic existence as paragons of raw, underground Death Metal as was. Death Vomit play the kind of timeless, Classic Death Metal that no matter what mood you’re in it can’t help but raise a rictus grin to your face.
The songs are strongly written and it’s hard not to enjoy them as they’re so earnestly and honestly played.
If you’re looking for the latest, newest thing then this is not for you; here we have Traditional Death Metal that could honestly have come from almost any era. Suffice to say that it’s good and that’s all that matters.
With their latest EP It’s Time to Paralyze The Von Deer Skulls have shown a willingness to experiment and test the waters of their burgeoning sound. Find out more below…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Peter: Hi, we’re The Von Deer Skulls a France based band. We’re a trio, but some other musicians play with us sometimes. We play something the press defined as Rock Doom Ambient, sometimes Indus or Post-Rock.
Give us a bit of history to The Von Deer Skulls.
Freke: The band started in the end of 2012, we have recruited Peter at the beginning to make the visual stuffs of our last band (The Dead Sound), but after talking a long with him we decided to make a new project.
Peter: Yeah at that time I worked on some songs that have become the basis of the project, then we wrote the song “B*tches Of The Wood” which is the one was entirely composed for the band like the interludes, intro and outro.
Hektor: Then we decided to make our biography like a history to serve the visual aspect of the band.
Where did your band name come from?
Hektor: The band name come from the artist pseudonym of Peter (Peter Skull), because like a leader to the band, and the “Von Deer” come from the semi-fictional biography of the band and because we have often antlers on our video-stage costumes.
Freke: It’s also to making us a family.
What are your influences?
Peter: Influences are from everywhere, each one listens to different things, I’m a big fan of Jazz, Tool, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, indus things. Hektor listens to a lot of Post-Rock, Electro, but also Radiohead, Kadavar and Freke listens to old Rock ’n’ Roll like Black Sabbath, and some loud things like Sunn O))) or Indus.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Freke: Right now I listen to a lot of Kadavar, go to listen this German band if you don’t know, otherwise some old Marilyn Manson & NIN period.
Peter: On my side, I listen some more soft things right now as The Decemberists, Miles, Coltrane and Goon Moon and Pelican a lot.
Hektor: I listen some Queens Of The Stone Age’s songs, Pelican too and the Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s discography.
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
Peter: We would like to record songs which are the beginning of the project, to know each other a little better as a band and to show the public who we are. But it is just the beginning, a presentation.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Hektor: Yes, we think that’s a good beginning. We worked hard to develop the visual aspect as much the music, both are equally important in our universe.
Freke: We were actually surprised to have such good returns.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
Freke: Peter works on the structure, and we’re making all the atmosphere.
Peter: As for the songwriting process it changes according to the songs. Sometimes we want that song sound like that and sometimes they grow up alone.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
Freke: I think the next songs will be more loud, maybe more direct.
Peter: We’re working on it right now, some different songs, some heavy, some more ambient, but yeah maybe more direct for the moment.
Tell us a bit more about the visual aspect of your band.
Peter: As we say before the visual aspect is as much important than music. Because it opens so many possibilities. At first I’m a visual artist, I love painting, shooting videos… for this band, because we create our own mythology and histories with that, it’s like a tale what we are proposing to the people, with the costumes, the videos…
Freke: And it’s also a way to distance ourselves from what we’re doing. The important isn’t what we look like, important is the music, the tale.
What’s next for The Von Deer Skulls?
Peter: Next, we’re working on new songs right now like I said, we hope to record them at the end of this year or in the beginning of 2015. And we’re going to do new videos to go with it.
Hektor: Yeah, don’t forget to follow us, new costumes and visual stuffs are on the go!
The band play raw, ugly Black Metal that is capable of boiling blood at a hundred paces. This is infernal stuff that channels the underworld into 5 tracks of scorching, noisy Black Metal that recalls bands like Black Witchery and Watchmaker.
The songs are full of Crust and bile as they tear through the short playing time on this release, (a scant 15 minutes that goes by in a blur of whiplash and black tar), and afterwards you’re left wondering what the Hell just happened.
Although primarily concerned with making a horrendous mess of your insides with their focused, direct assault; the band do know how to insert a few Blackened melodies into the short songs and even have time for the odd guitar solo/lead now and again.
There is an impressive amount of rumbling threat to these songs. The violence is out in the open for everyone to see yet there’s always the hint of worse things to come just beneath the surface.
The final track Ossos: SSS is the longest one at almost 6 minutes in length and is a bit different from the ones that precede it. This track is all about the experimental noise and dark sounds. It’s an interesting choice for a closer, although personally I would have preferred another Black Metal track similar to the ones before as these were all so good.
This is a great little release filled with bark, bile, anger and nails. Highly recommended.
Both Godhunter and Secrets of the Sky are from the US. This is a split between both bands.
Godhunter are a Stoner/Sludge/Doom Metal band and are releasing this not too long after an extremely enjoyable début album – City of Dust – that’s a highly recommended listen. They open the split with two tracks.
They start with Pursuit/Predator which, after some brief feedback and a sample, has a great opening riff with the vocalist’s voice sounding even deeper than usual. For a while he alternates between these deeper growls and his “normal” voice. Although the song is quite different it reminds of the vocals in Pantera’s Slaughtered which alternate between deeper and not-so-deep in similar ways.
The vocals overall strike me as a bit more aggressive than their norm, as if they’ve developed more bite to their attack. The song is an enjoyable groove and riff-fest that’s nicely heavy and plugs a gap. It ends atmospherically with acoustics and feeling.
The second song GH/0ST:S is longer in length at almost 11 minutes. This track is a bit different and is somewhat of a revelation as it sees the band experimenting with their sound a bit. It’s lighter, more expansive and features ethereal female vocals crooning softly over the mournful music. It’s a perfectly judged atmospheric slow-burner and works wonderfully.
The difference between the first and second tracks is marked and shows a band who are willing to try new things and are capable of pulling them off.
Secrets of the Sky’s début album – To Sail Black Waters – came out last year and like Godhunter’s this was also extremely enjoyable and highly recommended. Secrets of the Sky play Progressive Doom/Post-Metal and they contribute the final two songs to this split.
Their first song here is named The Star. It begins slowly and inexorably builds until it’s as heavy as a really heavy thing with a thunderous growl to accompany the slow moving riffs. Serrated screams follow before the song sinks into lighter territories once more. It’s a great example of Secrets of the Sky’s understanding of the build/release mechanics of Post-Metal and this knowledge is applied here masterfully. And heavily.
The second song is titled GH/0ST:S II and is a companion piece to Godhunter’s GH/0ST:S. This is a similar slow-burner that’s atmospheric in a jaw-dropping way; the core music is pure class, but the added strings/effects are just hair-raising. It fades out early and the remainder of the track is a sample.
This wraps up what is a very successful split for both of these quality bands.
I would strongly urge you to listen to this split release. It’s an excellent showcase for two state-of-the-art bands that deserve more exposure.
Coffinborn are from Hungary and play Death Metal. This is their début EP.
This is Old-School Death Metal through and through. The band rip, tear and shred through these 4 tracks with morbid fervour.
This is rotten, stinking Death Metal that’s clawed its way out of the depths of the foetid crypt in search of brains and fresh body parts.
Cavernous vocals fill the air and one can almost imagine some ravenous, giant maw being opened ready to suck in all light and matter.
The dirty, filthy sound they have fits the music perfectly and the tracks pummel and bash with pleasing brutality.
Some good riffs and melodies stick out and there’s a good chug and groove in parts.
Mixing elements of the Old-School from bands such as Autopsy, Dismember, Incantation and Death; Coffinborn’s Classic Death Metal is played well and with good songs.
There are only 4 tracks on this EP but at just under 21 minutes in length it’s a good hit of Death Metal for Old-School fans. This is a very enjoyable release that promises good things for the future of this band.
Their début album could be one to watch. Check them out.
Great Reversals are from the US and play Hardcore/Post-Hardcore. This is their latest EP.
The band boast quite the immense sound with guitar riffs sounding like great slabs of granite falling from the sky.
A charismatic vocalist instantly draws the attention and hooks you in. His voice pierces the combination of heavy Metallic Hardcore and the more restrained Post-Hardcore influences to create an aural experience that’s quite invigorating.
This strikes me as the kind of band that would have done very well in the late 90’s/early 00’s; think of a charismatic band from this era, (maybe bits of bands like Skycamefalling and Shai Hulud), and then update the sound with a relatively subtle Post-Hardcore influence and Great Reversals are the result.
This is an impressive EP and I was expecting something less individual and less…striking than this. Maybe it’s the cynic in me, but this is a great little EP and I’m pleasantly surprised by how good it is.
It’s time to show your support – check out Great Reversals and get their EP. Definitely worth a listen.
Sterbenzeit are from Italy and play Black Metal. This is their second album.
This is raw Black Metal with slight ostentation mixing the style of early-era bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Darkthrone and Satyricon.
There are no keyboards so the ostentation comes in the form of some of the guitars – the band’s riffs are highly atmospheric; the impression of mystery and of a boundlessly vast and uncaring cosmos is a powerful one.
Blackened rhythms and icy melodies propel the songs and I really like the fact that the band have succeeded in creating atmosphere with dark riffs alone.
The drums are low-key but prominent enough to be a integral part of the songs. The bass is very subtle but is actually audible beneath the fuzzy guitars. It provides a bedrock of support for the tracks and shouldn’t be discounted.
The shrieking screams of the vocalist accompany the music and are befitting the style they play. It’s a standard Black Metal scream but it’s done well and there are no complaints from me about it; his voice scrapes and bleeds Blackened aggression and passion for the cause.
L’Oltrenotte is true to the early Black Metal style and the band have created a worthy piece of Black Metal art.
Mothersloth are from Spain and this is their début album. They play (mostly) Instrumental Stoner/Doom Metal.
This album combines Doom, Sludge and Stoner with a bit of Progressive Rock to create an album that is much better than most albums without a vocalist has any right to be.
The band seem to have a finely judged sense of dynamics and pacing and the songwriting is of a very high standard, especially considering this is only their first album.
They have immense heavy riffs that are also catchy and memorable, as has to be the case for an instrumental band of this type. They’re not entirely predictable riffs either as they do throw in the odd curveball and unexpected touch here and there.
With a crisp, clear sound the band get to shine strongly as the groovy sounds roll out of the speakers.
If the band merely concentrated on the Stoner side of their sound this would be a good release, but it’s the fact that they also incorporate other styles that brings things up to another level. The tempo and time changes, the more Progressive riffs and the more complex arrangements that complement the basic structure of this style makes for a compelling listen.
The final song Dry Tears does actually feature vocals. These are clean and confident; like the rest of the album they’re perfectly judged and executed.
This album has surprised me with just how good it is. I highly recommend this for anyone into any style of heavy music. If they can keep this level of quality up and get a bit more exposure then I can easily imagine big things in the future for this band. Top work.
Spontane are from Poland and this is their second release.
It starts with a riff, and a good one at that. In fact this release is peppered with them. Riffs fall like mana from the sky and our job as good listeners is to be thankful and eat them all up quickly.
This is high-energy Melodic Metal with a healthy Hard Rock attitude and liberal use of Stoner Metal touches. The riffs come thick and fast and the melodics back this up well.
Vocals are in Polish and are shouted out with vigour and passion. The main vocals sync very well with the backing vocals and the music to create a cohesive delivery that is very well done indeed.
The band seem to have an easy talent for creating catchy, memorable songs with plenty of hooks. This is a great set of tunes and a very strong album.
The relative obscurity of the band and their Polish delivery will probably limit their international appeal somewhat, which is a real shame as this is a very good band. I see no reason why Spontane shouldn’t be primed for big things in the Metal world on the back of this release. It has attitude, style and songs; a dangerous combination.
Listen to Spontane loud and get ready to Rock out hard.
This is the second album from US Death Metal band Horrendous.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
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