Wonderbox Metal

Jesus Crøst – 1986 (Review)

Jesus Crøst are from the Netherlands and play Grindcore.

This is 22 songs in 15 minutes, so yes; here we have Grindcore of the short, violent variety.

There appears to be some form of football theme going on, which is not something that even vaguely interests me so I have no idea what that’s all about.

The music is nicely savage and scathing, with short bouts of violence and mayhem. There are some good riffs and even some catchy moments on some of the songs, (Horst Hrubesch for example).

The vocals switch between pignoise grunts and serrated screams and sound very nice indeed. Coupled with the fierce music it really promotes a vicious image.

The music has a good, strong production and sounds heavy and professional.

I have enjoyed this way more than I was expecting to, (put off by the football thing and cover), but if you ignore all of that then musically this is top-quality Grindcore.

Check them out.

Athanatheos – Alpha Theistic (Review)

Athanatheos are from France and play Blackened Death Metal.

This is a bold and ambitious release that’s as impressive as it is unexpected. As a concept album of sorts it naturally reserves the right to be different from the norm and the band make the most of their artistic freedom. Great album cover too.

First off though, before looking at the music itself, I feel compelled to applaud the production. A strong sound benefits the songs and allows the band free reign to create something with personality.

The music itself is brutal and harsh but also includes many moments of interesting ideas and standout parts. This is not simple music and it has obviously been put together under a labour of love and meticulous care. This level of quality is rare, and extends right down to the originally-recorded Gregorian chants that feature on this release.

The songs are varied and utilise pretty much all of the weapons in the Extreme Metal arsenal at one point or another, be this blast beats, slow/mid/fast sections, groove, Doom, etc. as well as the more unconventional parts also.

The tracks are all played well and solos/leads/melodies are put to good use. Everything is tight and focused. Songwriting skills are on top form and the band clearly understand the requirements for dynamics and energy.

Within its chosen Blackened Death Metal style this is a wonderfully diverse and creative release that explores all kinds of Extreme Metal territory before culminating in the final 16 minute track.

This really is a superlative album, and one which would almost certainly have featured in my best of year list if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s already a couple of years old. The fact that such a quality band can produce such a quality album yet remain in complete obscurity is disheartening to say the least.

It’s time to remedy this shocking turn of events. Go seek out Alpha Theistic and include it in your collection with all haste. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

Chaos Moon – Resurrection Extract (Review)

Chaos Moon are from the US and play Black Metal. This is their third album.

This is Atmospheric Black Metal with violent tendencies and a core of pure darkness.

The Black Metal created here is enhanced at all times by a layer of dark ambience that follows the songs around like an omnipresent shadow. This has the net effect of saturating every song with Blackened feelings and melancholia tinged with bloodshed.

Esoteric and obscure melodies are made full use of and there’s even a touch of the Post-Black Metal to some of the sections on Resurrection Extract. It all adds to the appeal of the tracks and ensures that the listener is sufficiently drawn into the world of Chaos Moon.

This is an album with many strings to its bow, whether this is the blasting hatred of the fast sections or the sorrowful mournfulness of the slower; Resurrection Extract hits you where it hurts and the combination of gratuitous atmosphere and razor sharp violence is a winning one.

A highly recommended listen that takes you on a journey through Blackened soundscapes and unexplored lands. Get ready to praise the Chaos Moon.

Amaze Knight – The Key (Review)

Amaze Knight are from Italy and this is their début album. They play Progressive Metal.

The band waste no time showing that they can play. Widdly, Jazz-influenced Progressive Metal with keyboards comes at you hard and heavy upon pressing play.

Each of the 5 tracks are around the 9/10 minute mark and each track is full of orchestrated Prog with exploratory and experimental playfulness.

There’s a slight Power Metal vibe to some of this as well, especially form the vocals, but the main feeling is definitely Prog.

The songs have a good mixture of the experimental and Progressive combined with an actual song structure that keeps the band from veering too far off course.

It’s an enjoyable listen as the musicians are talented and the music is allowed to be self-indulgent in a way that I’m quite happy to listen to. The keyboards and effects add an extra layer to the band’s wanderings whilst the bass is allowed free range to travel far and wide.

The singer has a good voice, although he definitely plays second fiddle to the music in many ways. When he does appear it’s with a confidence of delivery that many Power Metal bands would envy and he fulfils his role with ease.

At 47 minutes in length this is a meaty début album with lots of things going on.

Enjoy!

Martyrdöd – Elddop (Review)

Martyrdöd are from Sweden and play Hardcore Crust. This is their fifth album.

Elddop has a heavy sound with the music sounding organic and lively; a well-produced rawness, if you will.

The band are quite melodic with their riffing. Typically the rhythm guitar lays down a firm, heavy foundation whilst the lead guitar adds colour and flavour over the top. Some of the riffs are quite inventive and the band gives a passionate performance.

The music is of the d-beat Crust variety but is not purely limited to this. The drums power the songs as the guitars make their melodic massacres. This style of music has its roots in the past in bands like Discharge, but a more modern point of reference would be Kvelertak I suppose.

Vocally we have savage shouts that sound hoarse and desperately urgent. It’s as if the singer can’t quite wait to blurt out what his message is, but he feels so disgusted by whatever he’s talking about that he can’t help but just shout it at the top of his lungs. It all adds a refreshing energy to the tracks. Thinking about it, he reminds me of the singer of At The Gates/Lock Up/etc., only deeper and a bit harsher.

Occupying that rarest of spaces where harshness and melodics meet, Martyrdöd have produced an enjoyable album that takes the Crust template, adds a little bit of Metal to it and then vomits vitriol and poisonous invective over everything.

Listen loud and let Martyrdöd shake your world.

Keitzer – The Last Defence (Review)

Keitzer are from Germany and play Deathgrind. This is their fifth album.

This is pissed off Grind with the rhythmic brutality of Death Metal thrown into the mix in order to have every base aggressively covered.

The Last Defence is lean, mean and full of hatred. The blastbeats are furious Grind and the slower parts have Death Metal’s focused, crushing attack.

This isn’t flash-in-the-pan, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Grindcore, although the shorter songs are suitably represented. The songs are a little longer on average than a lot of Grindcore bands which gives the band the chance to deal out their Death Metal influenced assault with enthusiasm and a destructive will.

The riffs are tight and the entire attack that the band have is controlled and utterly lethal.

Keitzer know how to keep things interesting and have produced a relatively varied release in the sense that the riffs and drum beats don’t descend into monotony. Interest is held throughout this very brutal and proficient display of Deathgrind.

The singer has a great voice and he barks, screams and growls his vicious diatribes throughout the duration of the tracks. The songs themselves are surprisingly catchy and memorable. They’re backed up by a great sound too so that you can almost feel the devastation they leave in their wake.

A top class album. Combining the rhythm of Death Metal with the wanton destruction of Grindcore rarely sounds this good.

Check this album out.

Pretty Little Flower – Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration (Review)

This is the fourth album from US band Pretty Little Flower who play Grindcore.

This is savage Grind mixed with a bit of Old-School Death Metal and Punk/Thrash influences to some of the riffs.

The vocals are deliciously deep and guttural. A real pleasure to listen to. Total cookie monster vocals but they’re deeply satisfying growls that hit the spot nonetheless. There are also occasional high rasps but these are of the average variety.

There’s plenty of blasting and band seem quite content with keeping things fast, nasty and angry. Fine with me.

The nature of the riffs and the deep growls remind me of certain aspects of early Brutal Truth, which is probably why I found myself warming to this album so quickly.

The songs, as one would expect, are short and to the point, with most hovering about the 1:30-2:00 mark. This means they have enough time to build up a good head of steam before the relentless blasting and Grinding comes to an end.

The sound is fine and the drums in particular have a pleasing analogue sound to them.

This is for fans of simple, stripped-back-to-the-bone Grindcore that takes no prisoners and doesn’t even vaguely understand the concept of mercy.

An enjoyable release.

Erlen Meyer – Erlen Meyer (Review)

Erlen Meyer are from France and play Post-Metal. This is their début.

Featuring a bold and striking album cover, the album itself is the sound of nightmares made musical and given a soundtrack.

This is dark, heavy and cathartic music. The walls of guitars and screaming vocals conjure negativity and rage. The overall effect Continue reading “Erlen Meyer – Erlen Meyer (Review)”

Funeral Whore/Obscure Divinity – Summon the Undead – Split (Review)

Funeral Whore are from the Netherlands and Obscure Infinity are from Germany. Both bands play Old-School Death Metal.

Funeral Whore start proceedings with two tracks. Traces of Death begins with a menacing riff and an intimidating growl. At this point I know it’s going to be good.

Ultra-low vocals preside over the top of a slow and evil riff before the band become a bit more mid-paced and heavier guitars start playing. The song merges elements of Bolt Thrower and Incantation to create an enjoyable track.

The second track East Area Rapist has a killer Old-School riff that shows the band has an ear for a good tune. Stylistically we’re in the same territory as the first song although this one has a bit more melody and chugs along happily as the drums roll and the vocals make deep, dark noises.

After these we have Obscure Infinity with the song Maniac Destroyer. In contrast to Funeral Whore’s side, Obscure Infinity have a stronger production and more of an immense feel.

Maniac Destroyer has blastbeats and is a more upbeat proposition overall. A touch of the Swedish Death Metal feel is on the track, (sans That Sound), and the deep vocals punctuate the thick guitars like giant exclamation marks.

Obscure Infinity are like a shot of adrenaline and their track has all of the requisite components of a winner. The main riff is excellent and gives me the same thrilling feeling as when I was first getting into this type of music oh so long ago. One of my favourite parts of the song is the solo section with the rhythm guitars just laying down some excellent backing riffs.

A fine taster for a fine couple of underground bands. For the length this is damn near essential I’d say.

Johnny Touch – Inner City Wolves (Review)

This is the début album from Australian Heavy Metal band Johnny Touch.

Just look at the album cover. I mean really – just sit and look at it. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Well, the music had better be something pretty damn good to match up to that cover I tell you.

So what do we have here then? Heavy Metal that sounds straight from the 1980’s? Yes. This has a good streak of NWOBHM about it and when you think about it it’s kind of odd that a bunch of Australians in 2014 can so faithfully recreate this kind of music from this era.

But recreate it they do, and faithfully, and well.

The band all play their parts perfectly and the solos/leads are particularly enjoyable. The vocalist has a very good voice that probably would have seen him become a superstar decades ago. In fact if this album was actually released in the era it hero-worships then it’s likely Johnny Touch would be a famous name to all Metal fans the world over. Unfortunately however it’s now 2014 and the market for this style of Metal is much, much smaller. Which is a crying shame as this album kicks serious behind.

By today’s standards this is relatively relaxed and not very extreme, but that’s missing the point. This is Heavy Metal to the blisteringly molten core and I doubt there’s a Metal collection anywhere that wouldn’t be improved by including this in it.

This isn’t a perfect album by any means, but it’s a bloody good one. It has an honesty and passion about it that’s just plain infectious, and that’s before you consider the catchy riffs, memorable choruses and top tunes contained within.

If you’re allergic to anything older than a couple of decades then this is not for you. However, if you appreciate the style of Metal that helped start it all off then you should definitely check out Johnny Touch.

Ha! This album makes me happy.