Enthean are from the US and this is their début album. They play Black Metal.
This is progressive, technical and symphonic Black/Death Metal. It’s a bit of a mouthful, but then this is a band who have a lot of different influences. I hear bands like Zyklon, Dissection, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Septic Flesh and Fleshgod Apocalypse in their sound.
Continue reading “Enthean – Priests of Annihilation (Review)”
Phazm are from France and this is their fourth album. They play Black Metal.
Phazm’s brand of Black Metal is influenced by the Death ‘n’ Roll style as well as old-school Black Metal. These elements combine to produce a very likeable collection of songs that focus on being a catchy and enjoyable combination of blast beats, groove and inhuman vocals.
Blackened Death Metal can sometimes be a bit hit or miss, but with the début album Miserable Miracle from French band Mithridatic, it’s a definite hit. It’s a very strong album in more ways than one, and I was curious to find out more, so I caught up with their guitarist Romain Sanchez to find out what makes a miserable miracle…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Hi! Firstly Mithridatic is just a band in the middle of a plethora of bands, created in 2007 in Saint Etienne France. Our inspiration is in old school death metal with some modern touches. We try to make an uncomfortable feeling, and to give much violence and power to the auditor. We pass by diverse styles of extreme metal such as doom, or fast as death brutal and using dark atmospheres of black metal.
Give us a bit of background to Mithridatic
Mithridatic is formed by 5 musicians all from the same region in France.
The drummer Kevin Paradis joined the band for the release of our demo “Hunt Is On”. Since Kevin’s entrance to the band we brought our style to a faster way, more extreme music, more hostile and oppressive. We are musicians with a lot of different influences. It allows us to pass by various styles of rhythms and various feelings. By the opportunity to have in the team musicians with a lot of technique, we want to achieve our goal: to give extreme music and to accomplish ourselves with our skills.
What are your influences?
We all have different influences, but I am going to begin my influences: the groups which marked me the most for making our song tracks are Morbid angel, Slayer, Arkhon Infaustus, Mayhem, Immolation, Angelcorpse etc. Mithridatic is a mix of an heavy atmosphere with ultra fast beats!
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
At the moment I would like to recommend Dead Congregation, Portal, Lvcifyre, Conan.… and I know Guitou is into Kerasphorus, Abhomine and Peter Helmkamp’s other works these days…
How do you feel that you fit into the wider Extreme Metal scene?
We still have a long way….But we are very enthusiastic to expose our music in various situations, we just want to play more and more!
Give us a bit of background to Miserable Miracle – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?
The main idea of this album is to overcome different kinds of harmful situations… we describe nocebo effects, social anxiety, precarious existences…lyrics are inspired by some writings from French authors like Antonin Artaud, Henri Michaux etc. and some strange movies…Guitou had a kind of surrealist approach for its works for this album. We tried to create a ‘bardo’ state and to give a transcription of our anxiety and sickness…and this is also the way for the next album. Miserable Miracle is an important album for us because it’s our first “official” album for almost 10 years of activity. We hope the first one of many others! It also marks our entry into the French label Kaotoxin and Miserable Miracle has a better exposition than our old productions very underground. We also changed our habits of production by recording in two professional studio “DLM Studio” and “Sainte Marthe Studio”. We are all satisfied by results and by the sound of this album between old school and modern stuff. Kevin our drummer decided to record in a most natural possible way to get a sound close to our live performance. We wanted an organic and human sound.
Tell us about the album artwork
Damien Guerras’s illustration gives a free interpretation….I’m going to speak to you about mine: it represents the Adam and Eve tree in our world and society! The perversion of humankind have exceeded all the limits, the tree decomposes. The poison of perversion intoxicates our nervous system….This is a pessimistic picture of our miserable human condition.
How do you go about writing your songs?
I lock myself at home with my guitar for several days to record many riffs. It’s long process and sometimes inspiration doesn’t comes. I need time to get into a negative state of mind. Sometimes it can go very fast for example riffs of “Dispense the Adulterated ” and “Oxydized Trigger Sabotage” were written in the same week…Once riffs are recorded I send it to Kevin. It helps for structures of tracks and he makes his personal drum parts. Then we discusses of our ways to develop harmful songs…In rehearsal Alex and Remolow also composes with the material for bass parts and leads guitars. To finish Guitou places his vocals…The lyrics process is a quite difficult to describe because it’s an everyday process…. Miserable Miracle is a team work and everyone gives its personal style or feeling to get the riffs richer. Everyone is involved in an extreme vision of life and music.
How did the recording process go?
We recorded all the songs in the DLM Studio in Saint-Etienne and the mix/master was made by the Sainte-Marthe Studio in Paris. We decided to make the mix/master in Sainte-Marthe Studio with Francis Caste because we like his works on Svart Crown, Arkhon Infaustus, Kickback or Cowards for example. Francis Caste is a great professional, very fast, and an effective worker. Dupont Ludovic of the DLM Studio allowed us to record without stress at 20 minutes from home with a very good analogue equipment. Everything is very well.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
My favourite song of the record is surely Oxydized Trigger Sabotage…I like the particular atmosphere of this track. Doom and tortured. The vocal performance by Guitou is awesome!
What does the future hold for Mithridatic?
The maximum of gigs to defend our music on stage. We hope to build and to acquire a solid place in extreme metal! We will work on new material as soon as possible! We have a lot of motivation to make a second album and to make good shows!! See you on stage!! Thanks for your interest!
This is the début album from French Blackened Death Metallers Mithridatic.
Boasting a heavy and dirty sound that immediately puts me in mind of Arkhon Infaustus’ Blackened Death Metal classic Filth Catalyst, Mithridatic reveal themselves to be a similar proposition, albeit one with its own blackened charms, of course.
The songs are extremely satisfying and have that fine ratio balanced just about right between Black Metal and Death Metal influences. As such, these songs are both brutal and grim, providing the listener with some of the strongest Blackened Death Metal currently out there, in my humble opinion.
Mithridatic have obviously taken their time with these songs. They’re well-composed, well-structured and have just enough variation to keep things interesting without losing their sense of direction. Blackened riffs, fluid guitar solos, darkened melodies, moody malevolence, brutal assaults and blasting mayhem are all used effectively during these tracks.
High screams and growling shouts form the bedrock of the vocals. The singer has a certain quality to his voice that allows him to have instant charisma, putting me in mind of Morbid Angel on occasion, (whose influence also extends to aspects of the music).
A very impressive achievement. For me, Blackened Death Metal is a style that is all too easy to do poorly, but when it’s done right it really gets the hairs standing on end. This is one such release; not only due to the atmosphere the band create, but also due to the quality and personality of the songs themselves.
A mix of Arkhon Infaustus, Morbid Angel and a touch of Akercocke? Sign me up.
Go check this one out immediately.
This is the début EP from Slovakian Blackened Death Metal band Goholor.
Offering up a 16 minute EP as their first venture into the world, Goholor play their Death Metal with a decent side of Black, making for sickening noises and dark Metal the likes of which are not for the average person.
Deep growls are backed up by scathing screaming highlights; the singer has the kind of growl that many a Death Metal vocalist can only imagine.
The music is well-played and obviously written by people who know how to handle the style. It’s precise and focused without being overly so, leaving room for a rougher edge that allows the songs to breathe and move freely in the gloom of the blackened auras that the band create.
With good riffs that harken back to the old-school, the band’s Black Metal influences enhance their well-crafted Death Metal core. The Black Metal elements add further depth to the tracks as the dark melodies worm their way into the essence of the songs’ aggressive tendencies.
A very enjoyable first release that delivers the goods and also promises much for the future.
Recommended.
This is the fifth album from Polish Blackened Death Metallers Stillborn.
Stillborn play abrasive, rough Death Metal with a Black Metal edge. It’s gritty, jagged and quite enjoyable. A Thrash Metal influence raises its head on some of the riffs too, lending the band an extra energy on occasion.
Their sound is one of a Black Metal band playing Death Metal, with the recording following this accordingly.
This is malevolent, Satanic music that has a decent blackened side to the deathly brutality. The songs have an earthy authenticity to them that’s made all the more enjoyable simply due to the good riffs and barbarous blackened sheen that everything has.
Ugly growls and dirty shrieks form the bedrock of the vocals as the music blasts and slashes its way through the 34 minute playing time. The songs are well-written and it’s clear that the band have learned a thing or two during their near two-decade existence.
Decent riffs, decent songs, murderous atmosphere; Stillborn have a new fan here.
Recommended for all fans of underground brutality.
Necrosavant is a one-man project from Sweden. This is his début album.
In an unusual move for a début album, this is one single track that lasts 45 minutes. Also unusually, this is Blackened Death Metal with a style that kind of falls between that of Behemoth and (old) Opeth.
Not content with doing vocals and playing everything on this release, the brains behind Necrosavant has also drafted in some other guests to add to the mix.
The music has the muscularity and occult auras of Behemoth and the progressive and melodic know-how of Opeth. The track ebbs and flows, picking up themes previously discarded, only to breathe new life into them again as the listener becomes re-familiarised with different parts of this immense song.
The guitars are nice and thick and there are a lot of tasty riffs on here. Plenty of solos and leads add colour, but it’s frequently the well-written rhythm guitars themselves that elevate this to a top-notch position.
The music has the feel of a dark epic in more than just length and the brutal atmospheres that are created reverberate with meaningful impact and emotive delivery.
If you think that a 45 minute Blackened Death Metal song would get old very quickly, you’re dead wrong. There’s so much on offer here and so much talented Metal being delivered that it’s hard to imagine that this is essentially the product of just one guy.
This is hugely impressive and enjoyable. This one is a must.
Mandragora Malevola are a Portugese Black Metal band and this is their début demo.
Here we have three tracks of newly-birthed Extreme Metal lasting 15 minutes.
The first track Mandragora Malevola is essentially an intro, setting the scene with dark sounds that soon morph into unearthly incantations and invocations. As is the case with most intros, it’s entirely disposable.
So, first proper song is Arkangelvs Satanis (The Red Moon Wolves). Right from the start we get a lovely, filthy guitar sound that sets the tone in no uncertain terms. My first impression is that it reminds me of Antaeus, although this has a bit more of a Blackened Death Metal feel to it too. Soon after we get some absolutely rabid vocals that are somewhere between a growl and a scream, reminiscent of older Behemoth. The band inject some energetic melody to things almost halfway through and also at this point they reveal themselves to have other, grander influences as the song takes on a powerfully epic feel, all the time retaining its raw, dirty sheen. By the end of the song I’m extremely impressed by their Antaeus-meets-Behemoth-meets-Dissection style.
The second song is Apotheosis (Hvmana Manifestvs), and this initially continues the themes and atmospheres projected by the previous track, but soon demonstrates a more Euro-Metal influence that wouldn’t be out of place being described as Atrocity-meets-Hypocrisy. It’s all still wonderfully raw, and the previous influences can still be heard, but it’s great to see a band not constraining themselves to a one-dimensional approach.
Mandragoa Malevola have revealed themselves to the world, and what a glorious revelation it is! This is an exceptional demo and shows a band with a massive amount of potential and promise for the future. If they can harness the dark energy that seeps from every pore on these two songs then their future place at the top of the pile should be assured.
A must listen.
Illusions Dead are from Finland and play Blackened Death Metal. This is their début album.
The style here is based on Death Metal with a Black Metal influence to the guitars, allowing the band access to a wider array of melodics and auras than a pure Death Metal band.
High screams form the bulk of the vocals, although deep growling vocals do appear as the main form of attack on some tracks. The singer’s growls are very well performed and he has the kind of voice that’s easy to enjoy. The high screams are equally competent though, and very enjoyable to listen to, although it would probably be even better if a few more of the growls were used here and there, but that’s just me.
The songs are well-written and there’s a lot to enjoy across these 42 minutes. The band seem to understand pacing and texture, with the songs having a lot more depth than is the norm for the style. I especially like songs such as Revolution (Celestial Spheres) where the band extend the music into almost progressive spheres to add further substance and meat to the music.
Leads and melodies are used well and not overly relied upon at the expense of brutality; there’s a nice balance of the two. When combined with the emotive qualities of the rhythm guitars it makes for a compelling collection of tracks.
The album has a good sound that’s rough around the edges in the right ways. Combined with the strength of the music it makes for a very satisfying package, all-in-all.
This is a really strong release. It offers something more than just straight-ahead Death Metal and is an extremely meaty feast of Metal delights.
Very impressive.
Against the Plagues are a US Death Metal band and this is their third album.
Featuring a crushing and professional sound, Against the Plagues play Death Metal mixed with lashings of Melodic Black Metal.
Deep growls and higher screams are the singer’s weapons of choice, with both sounding feral and full of hatred.
The band manage to take the savagery of Death Metal and infuse it with the melodic poison of Black Metal’s dark soul. This mixture means that Purified Through Devastation contains a good deal of catchy and memorable content. It’s not all blasting and brutality, (although they’re quite adept at that too), and these songs have quite a bit of atmosphere when they want to. Think a combination of Immolation, Morbid Angel and The Kennedy Veil crossed with Dimmu Borgir.
The muscular sound backs up the innate strength of the songs and subtle keyboards add a nuanced juxtaposition against the bare brutality of the drums and aggressive riffs. Mood and feeling is created with melodic workouts and the band can get quite martial and epic in scope on occasion.
It’s a modern take on Blackened Death Metal that sees the band highlighting the glossier, state-of-the-art side of both genres, resulting in a well-polished album that is also very well crafted. The band clearly know what they do and do it well. As Extreme Metal goes in 2015, this is a definite winner in my book.
This is an album that spits venom and fire, one that I’m more than happy to visit again and again. I suggest you do too.
Wonderbox Metal 