Straight Hate are a Polish grindcore band and this is their début album.
Well, isn’t this a delectably savage little slice of nastiness?
Straight Hate have a nicely gritty sound that sees them rip faces off with ease over these 26 minutes. The music is fast, brutal and designed to go right for the kill. Continue reading “Straight Hate – Every Scum Is a Straight Arrow (Review)”
This is the début album of these French death metallers.
This is modern technical death metal that will easily find fans in people who like bands such as The Faceless, Gorod, Decapitated, Aborted, Wormed, First Fragment, etc.
Algorithm of Destruction has a clean, precise sound that Continue reading “Red Dawn – Algorithm of Destruction (Review)”
This is the second album from this Swiss death metal band.
This is 34 minutes of modern death metal that effectively combines speed and groove.
Cannibal Corpse-esque riffs mix with elements of deathcore and bands like The Kennedy Veil and Origin, as well as sprinklings of thrash metal here and there. The resultant music sounds like none of the above bands too much, although you can hear where their influences come from. That the band can clearly acknowledge Continue reading “Omnicide – Constants and Variables (Review)”
Aborted are a veteran death metal band from Belgium and this is their 9th album.
The return of Aborted! Huzzah! After recently catching them live, I was eagerly awaiting their latest foray into the killing pits. Their brand of blasting mayhem and huge groovy riffs has been refined over the years so that they’re definitely one of the best in the genre at this point.
The singer has always been Continue reading “Aborted – Retrogore (Review)”
When I first saw this tour advertised I couldn’t quite believe it, such a ridiculously strong lineup featuring three high-profile acts, any of which could probably headline here in their own right, at least to my mind. This is the very definition of an unmissable tour to me.
So here I am. It couldn’t be any other way. Continue reading “Kataklysm/Septic Flesh/Aborted – Sound Control, Manchester – 19/02/16 (Live Review)”
This is the début album by US Death Metallers Casket Robbery.
Casket Robbery play rhythmic Death Metal with a modern/groove Metal influence. They successfully incorporate into their assault elements of Lamb of God and Pantera along with those of Aborted and Kataklysm , as well as mixing in some European Metal influences that allow the band to inject some extra melodic streaks into the tracks that actually remind me of Septic Flesh in places.
Although there’s a lot of mid-paced grooving there’s also enough speed used to keep things varied. The melodic aspect, although not a huge part of their sound, furnishes the songs with enough leads and solos to add another tasty flavour to the tracks.
This is a release that’s heavy and full of riffs. It’s so easy to get carried along with the beat that before you know it your body starts with the twitching and spasming and there’s nowt to be done about it. Hmm, not the best way to describe toe-tappingly-good is it, but you get the idea…
Vocally the singer has an unfriendly snarl that pitches him between a growl and a scream. It matches the rhythmic muscularity of the music and cuts nicely deep into the meat of the matter.
After 37 minutes, some catchy songwriting and some memorable brutality later, Evolution of Evil has left a good impression. The band have produced a very enjoyable album that stands up to repeated listens well and positively encourages them.
Recommended.
Manipulation are a Polish Death Metal band and this is their third album.
Manipulation play muscular Modern Death Metal with plenty of attack and some interesting twists to the standard formula.
Blast beats and chugging mid-paced carnage are the order of the day, but the band also throw in some unexpected atmospheric moments throughout, via the inclusion of melodic guitars, subtle keyboards, choral-like cleans, etc.
Add to this experimentalism some ultra-modern riffs and Deathcore influences and you have 44 minutes of engaging Extreme Metal, the likes of which Poland always seems to do so well.
The songs are well-written and, as mentioned previously, Manipulation aren’t afraid to experiment or try new things, which is great to hear. This edge of Progressive Metal is buried within their core sound, but really does add to their delivery. When these elements mix with blasting extremity or heavy grooves it all comes together very nicely indeed.
The vocalist has a passionate and dynamic growl that fits the music well, giving them the Death Metal anchoring they need as well as enough variety to move beyond this and into more emphatic territories.
Energetic brutality with a playful spin on the genre; this is really, really impressive.
Highly recommended.
For fans of Thy Art Is Murder, Aborted, All Shall Perish, Cryptopsy, Gorod, Molotov Solution, Whitechapel, etc.
Necrocosm are a Death Metal band from the US. This is their début album.
Necrocosm play Melodic Death Metal with plenty of riffs, licks and shredding leads. The music is fast, furious and has bite. Think a more modern spin on the style, à la The Black Dahlia Murder, mixed with a bit of Aborted and even some Dying Fetus.
The band have a strong sound and the guitars sound nicely meaty for a band of this style. Everything sounds slick, professional and honed to a killing edge.
The vocals follow the style of a band like Aborted; deep growls backed up with more of a shouted bark and the odd scream.
These songs have been written with high-energy in mind and manage to keep the aggression and intensity up for these 45 minutes. I like fast music with a sharp melodic edge and Necrocosm have certainly produced an album that does what it sets out to do very nicely indeed.
Who said Melodic Death Metal had to be weak and wishy-washy? Anyone? No, that’s right.
Highly recommended.
Chained to the Dead are a US Death Metal band.
Take a look at the album cover. I dare you to guess what this sounds like. Actually, you might not be completely right. I, for example, expected ultra-brutal Death Metal with completely guttural pignoise vocals. Instead, this is a sharper and more precise form of carnage, more akin to Carcass than Brodequin.
Serrated, lacerated, rasping vocals lash out from the music, which itself sounds quite barbed and nasty. The band’s songs are well-written and much more surgical in their attentions than some of their peers. No-one would accuse them of not being brutal, of course, but it’s a different kind of brutality than a lot of Death Metal bands employ.
There’s also quite a bit of variety here, relatively speaking. Well-written songs and interesting riffs combine to produce memorable songs that are actually identifiable from each other quite quickly. In such a short release the band manage to pack in a lot of content and personality.
I also like their considered approach. The music has a sophistication that is shared by bands such as Carcass and Aborted, although the album cover totally denies this. It’s an interesting contrast, and I wonder where this will take Chained to the Dead in the future. I can image them dropping the primitive imagery and becoming even more state-of-the-art in their approach to slaughter. Only time will tell.
For the moment though, Born to Rot is a a surprisingly professional and well-realised 21 minutes of surgical violence that still loves a bit of gore on the side. Well, a lot of gore really, I suppose. Either way, the songs are good and the band have a bright future ahead of them if they can get the right exposure.
Top marks for this. Much more impressive than I was expecting. Check it out.
Gorepunch are from the US and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
Comprised of members and ex-members from veteran groups such as Fear Factory, Aborted, System Divide and Malignancy, Gorepunch already have a lot of experience. Give ‘Em Hell makes the most of this and wastes no time in getting to the heart of the matter – blood, guts and blasting brutality. Remember, the quickest way to the heart is through the ribcage.
Their album has an interesting approach to Death Metal that takes some influence from Grindcore but largely adopts a split between Technical Death Metal and a state-of-the-art modern approach, resulting in an album that’s just at home slaying you with a direct approach or flaying you alive with an off-centre complicated attack. It’s a formula that results in a Modern Death Metal album with its putrid fingers in enough different pies to keep you happy and focused throughout the 26 minutes playing time.
The songs are like an enjoyable beating and feature good playing, pummelling riffs and savage vocals. The band use enough melodics to keep things engaging, but don’t allow them to go overboard and detract from the brutality.
A really engaging release that satisfies those cravings for a short, sharp blast of aural carnage that still has some substance to the barbarity.
For fans of Aborted, Job for a Cowboy, The Kennedy Veil, Prostitute Disfigurement, Wormed, Alterbeast, Exhumed, Ichor, etc.
Wonderbox Metal 