Wonderbox Metal

Interview with Gutslit

Gutslit are a brutal, slamming Death Metal from India who have recently released their début album Skewered in the Sewer. This is a top-quality release that I really enjoyed and even made it into the recent Wonderbox Metal Best of 2013 list, so I’m pleased to have had the chance to ask them a few questions.

Hi! How would you introduce your band for people that have never heard of you before?

Gutslit (Gurdip Narang): Let’s just say, imagine somebody feeding off your pain, torturing you, bleeding you to a level where you go numb and can only see the blood pouring out of your body while the chisel and saw used to amputate your limbs lie coated in blood and tissues. A faint smile on the face of the person who has done it to you. Pleasure and feeling of contentment showing on his horrific, calm yet evil face, already planning his next kill. That feeling there is what Gutslit is all about. The unstoppable force of butchery, torture and pain that will hit you with every riff, the punch in your groin with every drum beat, the haste and momentary pauses between the blows like the bass and the screams and grunts of the pain felt in every vocal note.

When we started out, there was not even a single band from our city that played Grind. Slam wasn’t known to many. Pig squeals were thought of as some processed noise worked out in a studio. Only a few people knew what it was to play with programmed drums on stage. Bands were asked to cover the famous thrash and a few death metal bands. We just picked up our favourite band, Dying Fetus and covered their track “Kill Your Mother Rape Your Dog”. Then there were songs from our EP with the French band, Pulmonary Fibrosis. Having a split with a foreign band was also the first for any Indian extreme metal band. We played an International show with Putrid Pile. That too was the first for any Indian extreme metal band. From then, to now with ‘Skewered in the Sewer’, we’ve just worked harder and harder.

What are your main influences?

Dying Fetus, Disgorge (USA), Brodequin, Inveracity, Coldworker, Defeated Sanity, Devourment, Vulvectomy, Beheaded, Immolation, Vader, Putrid Pile, Cephalotripsy, Condemned, Krisiun, Mumakil, Mindly Rotten and a lot more.

What are you listening to at the moment that you want to recommend?

The new albums by the veterans have blown us away this year. Defeated Sanity, Dying Fetus, Gorguts, Carcass. They all have justified why they deserve the respect through these years. Mindly Rotten, Infernal Revulsion are few bands that one must have in their list for future greats.

This is a great début album – how did you come up with the songs?

Gutslit Singer

All our songs were written by our former guitarist Dynell, drums and bass were worked out later by Aaron and Gurdip respectively and the songs were finalized with the addition of vocals by Aditya. All lyrics were written by Gurdip. Except for one song, “Circumcised with a Chainsaw”. Lyrics and Vocals on that track are done by Mallika Sundaramurthy from Abnormality and Parasitic Extirpation USA.

The songs you have written are not only brutal but really catchy. In my review I compared you to Gorerotted in some ways. Are you familiar with them and do you think it’s a fair comparison?

Yes we are aware of Gorerotted and have heard almost everything that they have released. We were really happy to be compared to them and were quite ecstatic about the same. We even mentioned the same on our social media pages.

Being from India do you feel this has influenced your sound at all?

There was never a relevant band to connect to in India. There were many in other sub genres of extreme metal. There are many that are coming out with good promising material and we are really glad to see professionalism in music.

What is the Indian Metal scene like? Do you feel much connection to it?

Indian Metal scene is as vague as the people. Almost every genre which is known and played abroad finds its place here. Many have even tried and merged Indian classical music with the metal and the results have been quite good.

Gutslit Drummer

What are your plans for the future?

We are working on a 4 way International Split with all the other bands being from Europe and the UK. This should be released before summer of 2014 and before we hit Europe for a few shows and the mighty Obscene Extreme Festival in Czech Republic.

And finally…Do you prefer Chris Barnes or George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher?

As our vocalist Aditya Barve says,”I prefer Chris Barnes for the lyrical madness that he does, but Corpsegrinder is definitely a more powerful vocalist, live and on record!”

Thanks for your time!

Thank you very much brother for this interview!

Lay Down Rotten – Deathspell Catharsis (Review)

When you have an album cover this awesome the actual music doesn’t matter right? I jest of course but the fact remains that the album cover made me really look forward to listening to this.

So once we get past the album cover what have we got here then? This is the seventh album from Germany’s Lay Down Rotten and they present us with a very solid and competent slab of Death Metal that probably has more to offer than you might think.

Most of the songs are longer than typical Death Metal offerings giving the band the space to pursue all of their ideas to their natural conclusions and therefore delivering an album that is interesting and has some depth to it. There is brutality and hatred in abundance in these songs but there is also more than that. The songs are long and relatively involved, but thanks to the deft songwriting they retain attention and do not get boring.

After so many releases these butchers have refined their chosen method of slaughter and Deathspell Catharsis is surgical in its precision. There are no wasted movements or unnecessary padding, providing state-of-the-art modern Death Metal with a nice melodic bent. The recording is suitably huge as would be expected and shows the band in the best light.

Songs and ability; hatred and precision; harshness and style; Deathspell Catharsis should be experienced loud.

https://www.facebook.com/laydownrotten

Starsoup – Bazaar of Wonders (Review)

Russian band Starsoup play Progressive/Power Metal.

First off it must be noted that the singer can sing. I mean really sing. He has a brilliant voice; powerful and full of passion. Pretty much any band backing him up would need to be on their A-game to avoid letting the side down. We’re safe though as the rest of the band can play. I mean really play. Together both voice and music create the full package that an album like this promises.

The songs are well-written and catchy, with the band being talented enough to be able to explore many different versions of what this type of music and related-genres have to offer. Sometimes we get some Euro-power Metal; sometimes the songs take more of a progressive edge; sometimes we have a more modern Soilwork-style approach; sometimes a ballad; I could go on. Suffice to say that there is plenty of variety in this album while at the same time nothing sounds out of place.

This is the band’s first album but it doesn’t sound like it; this sounds like a highly confident, professional band who have been honing their music for many years and through many albums.

Bazaar of Wonders is a very musical album; the talent on display here is obvious. Multiple instruments are used to make the most of the atmosphere and feelings for each individual song, and even though there are plenty of solos and classical moments, there is no showing off; just the needs of the song to make everything sound as good as possible.

An unexpected pleasure – if this genre tickles your fancy then there is absolutely nothing to not like here. This band deserve to be much, much bigger and could easily fit into the biggest stadiums in Europe given half a chance. Highly recommended.

Lethe – When Dreams Become Nightmares (Review)

Formed by members of Manes and Eluveitie, Lethe play dark and multi-textured experimental music.

Combining the best parts of Rock, Post-Rock, Electronica and Metal to create 10 tracks of emotive songs that instantly capture your attention while also having enough depth to keep you satiated in the long run. Bands such as Ulver, Arcturus and Manes are the obvious starting points and Lethe should definitely appeal to fans of these groups.

The main vocalist is a very talented person. Her vocals are exceptional and she shows great range across the album. She has great character and talent, and infuses both of these into every song to create the right mood for each. The occasional male vocals that swim in and out of the various tracks simply add another dimension to the proceedings.

The music doesn’t let the side down though – each song is crafted to a high standard by experienced personnel who know exactly what to do to achieve the effect that they want. The songs are passionate and dark, with Gothic Rock stamped all over some of them but not in a commercial stadium-friendly way, rather in a more personal way that allows you to have a relationship with the actual songs rather than some stylised version that will eventually become stale due to overexposure and lack of substance. This is female fronted Rock for people that don’t like female fronted Rock.

This is an astoundingly good album that combines catchiness and intellect to produce sophisticated dark Rock. What a fantastic way to start off 2014.

Upyr – Altars/Tunnels (Review)

This is the first release from Bulgarian band Upyr.

They play Blackened Doom and do this extremely well. The first track Before the Altars of Necrotic Karma starts with towering slow riffing and alternates this with a more mid-paced attack that evokes murky landscapes and a blackness to get lost in.

Vocals alternate between high shrieks a la Black Metal, and deeper growling and vocalisations. These are quality vocals as the deeper ones sound really menacing and the shrieks, (the predominant style), are savage and as sharp as black ice. Neurosis-style clean vocals are also used sparingly and contribute to the grim whole.

I really like the mood that these songs set for the listener. Although it may describe a bleak and inhospitable environment for the average person, for the connoisseur this is the sweetest of delicacies. The combination of monolithic Doom guitars with a scything Black Metal sheen to them is a dark pleasure to savour.

Taking the blueprint of Doom and infecting it with the corrupting influence of Black Metal is yielding great results for bands like Usnea and Battle Path; now we have another name to add to this glowing list of honors – Upyr.

A top quality first release and may there be many more in the future.

Djinn and Miskatonic – Forever in the Realm (Review)

Stylish Doom with a real funeral feel; you can almost touch the misery in every sorrowful chord.

Vocals alternate between mournful, doleful cleans and coarser, Old-School Death Metal-style rough barks.

The music is Doom through and through, but quite varied in that it takes elements of Doom’s various sub-genres, (Doom Metal, Sludge, Death Doom, Stoner, etc.), and packages them neatly into 43 minutes. They’re not afraid to unleash a big box of groove now and again either; Book of the Fallen in particular sports a riff to rock out to that any Black Sabbath fan would be happy to hear.

Vulcan’s Forge appears to be all about alcohol; not only does this successfully recreate a really boozy atmosphere but it also boasts a great bass line and sound.

The crowning glory of the album has to be the final song Weird Tales which is a 17 minute enthralling epic. It starts with a lonely bass line that Reverend Bizarre would be proud to have written, and builds up from there; adding drums first and slowly bringing in everything else.

Forever in the Realm makes its mark on the listener in both the short term and the long term. There are parts of these songs that are instantly memorable, and others that seep into your consciousness over time.

As a début album this is certainly an impressive release and one that holds many treasures for even a seasoned Doom fan.

Get drunk and play loud.

Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2013

It’s that time of year again where the Best Of lists start appearing, and Wonderbox Metal is no exception. So here we have my top 15 Metal releases of 2013!

Before we start a couple of notes:

These albums are drawn from ones that I have reviewed only, there are other albums released in 2013 that definitely would have made this list, but as I haven’t reviewed them on this site they don’t get a placing, (bands such as Abyssal, Skagos and Cult of Luna spring to mind off the top of my head).

The order is a bit fluid – due to the subjective nature of music, and depending on mood, these releases could easily be placed in a different order on a different day.

There are some notable mentions also – many others could have been included in this list; the Abominant album Onward to Annihilation for example; I can’t help but feel I should have included this somewhere below, as this is an exemplary Death Metal album. Other notable releases I’ve reviewed this year include the grinding brutality of Plague Widow, the Sludge goldmine of Ilsa and the Death Metal juggernaut that is Amon. All excellent and deserving of a place, but even though I reviewed them this year they were actually released in 2012 they don’t get included sadly. Suffice to say you should hunt them down as they need to be heard!

So, without further ado, here we go!

Soul Remnants

First up at number 15 we have Black and Blood by Soul Remnants. Definitely a grower this album. A very sexy Thrashy Death Metal album with a hint of Black at the edges, this has a great sound that keeps me returning to it. The song Dead Black (Heart of Ice) in particular is worthy of mention, although the entire album is very enjoyable. I highly recommend getting a hold of this.

Arfsynd

At number 14 is Hesychia by Arfsynd. Majestically evil; the cold melodies are my favourite thing about this album. They are both intricate and expressive and give the album a sense of vitality that’s at odds with the bleak music of Black Metal but feels all the more essential for it.

Maeth Edging in at 13 we have Oceans Into Ashes by Maeth. Definitely an album that could easily have been higher up on the list. A long and involving album that is diverse and full of ideas and depth. Definitely something of a Post-Metal classic. As I sit here listening to the album once more I am forced to wonder why I didn’t give this a higher placing? The fact that’s it’s not higher is a testament to how many strong albums I have reviewed this year. That and the fact of mood of course, as mentioned previously. If your tastes bend to the Post- Metal spectrum then this is a must-have.

Funeral Circle

At 12 we have Funeral Circle with their self-titled album, and what an album this is! Traditional Doom Metal that’s damn near essential for fans of this genre, or just Metal fans in general really. As far as I’m concerned Funeral Circle are genre-leaders at the moment and very few bands come close to touching them for this kind of music. As I said in the album review; a win.

Rosetta

Just outside of the top 10 at number 11 is The Anaesthete by Rosetta. Similar to Maeth in the sense that this is another Post-Metal classic-in-the-making that could easily have been higher on the list. My review summed it up perfectly when I said – If you haven’t heard Rosetta before then you should get this album. If you have heard them before then why haven’t you already got this album?

Non Opus Dei/Morowe

Into the hallowed top 10, and at number 10 is the split between Non Opus Dei and Morowe – Dziwki Dei. A special release this is – there’s just something about the songs here. Both bands contribute something slightly different from the standard Black Metal template and both I expect big things from in the future. Highly enjoyable and highly recommended.

At number 9 is Canto III by Eye of Solitude. Oppressively heavy Doom Metal with crushing Death Metal vocals. This album keeps giving and is a work of some very talented musicians. I think Eye of Solitude deserve every accolade that has been thrown their way since the release of Canto III. This is an essential release for fans of emotional, depressive and massively heavy Doom Metal.

At number 8 we have ultra-sophisticated Black Metal in the form of Vesper by Entropia. This album is so good and has such depth and longevity it’s hard to stop playing it. They create a blackened landscape combining fiery Black Metal and Post-Metal gems. Interesting and adventurous Black Metal that should be applauded.

Sneaking in at number 7 is Caves of Glass with their self-titled début album. Seemingly from out of nowhere this album appeared and I almost instantly knew I was going to love it. A huge variety of dark Post-Metal sounds taking their cues from elements of Black Metal and Doom to create a masterpiece that gets better the more you listen to it. Great stuff.

gutslit Next up at number 6 is the fantastic Gutslit with Skewered in the Sewer. Brutal, slamming Death Metal with high-energy and that quintessential Death Metal factor that causes you to have a massive rictus grin while listening to it. The catchy brutality is great and the band are heirs to the Gorerotted throne. Brutality rarely sounds this fun.

Mania In at number 5 we have the Black Metal masterpiece that is Revel by Mania. The sheer qualiy of these tracks is amazing, and the variety of moods and atmospheres successfully employed by the band is awe-inspiring. Such a massively strong album – my only complaint is that there’s not more of it. A superlative release that every Black Metal fan should have in their collection.

Number 4 brings us Czarna Dzika Czerwień by Thy Worshiper, and this is a work of genius. Unique and utterly absorbing; they meld Folk Black Metal with history and tradition to create a work of art that is alive with the breathing of lost peoples and times. A pleasure to listen to.

At number 3 we have the filthed-up Sludge of Boats by Morality Crisis. An inspired and thoroughly dirty album; this is a great listen when you want something challenging and grimy. No pretentions here, just quality and varied Sludge infused with ideas and dirty songcraft. I love this album and think it deserves a wider audience, (like all of these releases really).

YONL The penultimate release at number 2 brings us the luxurious Tocsin by Year Of No Light. State-of-the-art instrumental Metal that doesn’t put a foot wrong. This is a brilliant album that brings together everything that’s great about the Post-Metal/Sludge/Doom/etc. genres and distils them into 57 minutes of essential listening.

And now, (drum roll!), at the much-coveted number 1 position we have the excellent Nephren-Ka with The Fall of Omnius. Brutality, songwriting and atmosphere perfected. This is the kind of album that repeated listens fortify in your brain as just a great album to listen to. It has that almost indefinable something that elevates it above all of its contemporaries. The interesting songwriting; the variety of tempos; the overall sound and feel of the songs; it’s just a great package.

And there we have it! 2013 has been a great year for Metal, and 2014 is already shaping up for some great-sounding releases. I’ve already heard the début by Corpsessed that’s coming out in January, (review soon!), and I’m already pretty certain that it will have a place in the best of 2014, such a strong album it is.

So exciting times ahead – do your part to keep Metal alive and we’ll look forward to another year of extremity!

Happy New Year!

Interview with Bones

Bones play a simple but very effective brand of no-nonsense Death Metal/Crust which can be heard on their recently released album Sons of Sleaze. I’ve enjoyed listening to this album and have loved their previous work in Usurper, so when the opportunity arose to ask them a few questions I dived in.

For people who are new to the band – introduce Bones!

Bones Band

Sure. Bones is a filthy metal band from Chicago. Our lineup is: Joe Warlord-Drums, Carcass Chris-Guitars/Vox and Jon Necromancer-Bass/Vox. We’re a newer band that formed in ‘09, but we’ve been around forever. All 3 of us have been in Usurper together back in the ‘90s-’00s. We play raw, unpolished metal. We’re not interested in sounding “perfect” or “clean”. We feel that Metal has lost its balls over the years. Now bands spend way too much money to make a studio perfect album that sounds stale, wimpy and terribly boring. Bones is the exact opposite of all that shit.

What are your main influences?

As a band we’re influenced by all the great metal and hard rock that mostly came out from the 70s-90s. I think it’s our individual influences that make Bones sound the way that we do. Joe is way into great drummers like Keith Moon, Dave Lombardo, Neil Peart, etc, while Chris is influenced by guitar greats like Eddie Van Halen, Uli Jon Roth, Kirk Hammett, and he’s a huge Carlos Cavazo fan. I’m way into Dee Dee Ramone, Cliff Burton, Martin Ain, and John Entwistle. Its the weird tension from combining all these influences that make us tick.

What are you listening to at the moment that you want to recommend?

Ptahil’s “Almighty Propagator of Doom and Despair” has been stuck in my stereo for awhile. Super weird metal from Indiana/Michigan. The shit is brilliant and needs be heard to be believed. They’re even better live. Also, Autopsy’s “Headless Ritual” is fucking killer. Love it when a veteran band like Autopsy can make it seem so effortless to continue making such mindfucking, influential metal. Both these bands make pure music not influenced by image or marketing.

Your songs have a savage feeling that’s mixed with a sheer enjoyment of all things Metal. How did you create the songs?

We work together on everything. Usually one person comes up with a couple riffs that go together or have a rough idea of a concept. We rehearse often, so we bring our ideas up while they’re fresh and then we start working the problem; coming up with the nuts and bolts of arrangement, whatever. We usually have 3 very different ideas and we argue them out over a couple of weeks until we got it nailed down. Same with lyrics. It’s easier when 1 person does everything and writes everything, but we think this way the end result sounds better. It takes longer but its worth it.

Your album has a very raw and nasty sound – how much of this was deliberate and how much was chance?

Well, its what we sound like. When the band formed we all wanted a break from the formula of signing with a “big” underground label and spending too much time or money in the studio. The last albums we did in Usurper were like that. We were signed to Earache who were giving us $10,000 budgets to go in the studio for weeks and create something that didn’t really represent us. By the time a band is done multitracking and quantizing and autotuning everything you’re not left with anything real. With Bones we decided right away that we never wanted to be in that situation again. We recorded the drums, guitars and bass live. We only took a couple of takes for each song. Both of our albums were done like this. We didn’t do any multitracking or doubling of parts. What you hear is what we sound like at a show or at a rehearsal.

The feeling of the album is very much one of “I don’t care, I’m playing my songs my way”, (as it should be). How do you feel you fit into the wider Metal scene?

We don’t care how we “fit” in the scene. We never did before, and at this advanced age we could really give two shits. “Scene” people are usually “lame” people.

On Sons of Sleaze you covered Fear of Napalm by Terrorizer – how did you decide to cover this particular band/song?

Bones Logo

We usually mess around at practice with cover songs. Its hilarious sometimes, but there are always a couple of songs that everyone intuitively knows how to play like “Black Magic” by Slayer or something. We were messing around with different songs as a joke, but we kept coming back to “Fear of Napalm”. We played it with a nice groove and we thought our version sounded enough like Bones, but still stayed true to the original. We thought we’d record it when we were in the studio for “Sons of Sleaze” and see if it would make the cut with the rest of the songs. We liked the way it came out so we included it on the album.

What are your plans for the future?

As soon as I send this out I’m walking to the liquor store and then picking up a pizza…..

Thanks!

Amon – Liar in Wait (Review)

As many of you will know; Amon started out life in 1987 and eventually morphed into Deicide. Now, a mere 25+ years later, we have their début album!

If you are familiar with Deicide then you know the general style here, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Among Us is the first track and sets the scene perfectly; muscular, rhythmic Death Metal with a strong sound and some excellent riffs and leads. I wasn’t sure how good this release would be, but this song instantly set my mind to rest. The remaining tracks follow this trend.

It’s clear that the passion and intensity that Eric and Brian Hoffman have for Death Metal is alive and well. This is not diluted or pasteurised in anyway – this is the real deal. What we get is riff/song-focused Metal that is effortless in its delivery and flawless in execution.

Being a very guitar-oriented album there are solos aplenty. Anyone who has been following my reviews for a while now may have noticed that I’m partial to the odd solo, so you can imagine how much I enjoy this.

The recording and general sound of this album is first-rate, as you would expect. The guitar tone is enough to bring me out in fits of excitement alone as it’s just so damn sexy, and the blazing solos on top of it is like listening to liquid gold.

It’s not all about the guitars of course, vital as they are. The drums are blasted out with passion and technique, and the vocalist is, quite frankly, excellent.

With Deicide being such a high-profile band I can imagine Amon causing a split in opinion between those that love the consistency of a familiar sound done extremely well, and between those who were hoping for something different and are disappointed. I am firmly of the former camp and I just can’t stop listening to this.

We All Die (Laughing) – Thoughtscanning (Review)

This is a sublime Progressive Metal album that consists of just one 33 minute song named Thoughtscan.

Useful starting reference points for this band are Green Carnation, Katatonia, Anathema, etc. although they have enough individuality to exist on their own merits.

This release takes the listener on a journey through splendour and horror; through new life and decay; never knowing where it’s going to stop but knowing that the experience is more important than the destination. And We All Die (Laughing) do so love to provide a great experience. Whether the parts of the song are quiet and considered, or heavy and energetic, they have a firm grasp on the quintessential essence of what makes this kind of music so appealing to Progressive Metal fans – being transported to somewhere else.

There are subtleties and nuances in abundance in this release, as well as stand-out moments that instantly grab you and soul-searching melodies and harmonies aplenty.

A thoroughly ambitious debut release that largely succeeds in reaching its goals and sets itself up nicely to build on this epic effort in the future. As a collaborative effort between two artists in their own right, I can only hope they work together again on this project as there is more to be had here; more to be explored and the veil torn back to reveal more hidden wonders.

Listen intently and absorb completely.

http://listen.kaotoxin.com/album/thoughtscanning