This is the second album from Canadian Death Metal band Corprophemia.
Playing savage Death Metal that has elements of the brutal and technical styles, this is a modern approach to the genre that injects a bit of Deathcore and slam into the mix to further increase the violence factor.
Canada seems to be very good when it comes to this kind of thing. Fellow Canadian Death Metallers such as Cryptopsy, Deformatory, Pronostic, Antlion and Unbreakable Hatred to name but a few have all released some top quality music in the not too distant past and we can now add Corprophemia to that list as well.
The singer has a fine set of lungs it seems, with his clipped barks reeking of aggression. His is a very satisfying voice and perfectly complements the precise and exacting nature of the music.
So what of the music? It’s well-played, well-written and well-recorded. This pretty much covers all of the bases and all that remains is for this to be played at full volume to annoy the neighbours.
The band use crushing rhythmic riffs well and mainly sound like a combination of the dynamics and technicality of Cryptopsy, the staccato brutality of Beneath the Massacre and the sheer violence and cold assault of Coprocephalic. Add some snippets of cut-short melody here and there and brief ambient synth interludes between tracks and you have a very compelling 30 minutes.
This is the début album from Spanish Brutal Death Metal band Virulency.
I really enjoyed their 2012 début EP, Unbearable Martyrdom Landscapes, so when this much-anticipated début album found its way to me, I knew I had to give it a thorough listening as soon as I could.
First impressions – I like the album cover as it just screams BRUTAL DEATH METAL at the top of its blood-ridden lungs. Nice.
So, delve into the pit of Virulency and what do we get? We get ultra-brutal Death Metal that’s nicely heavy and suitably extreme. This is not the kind of thing that Joe Public would like. At all.
Elements of Grindcore and the slam-Death Metal styles are to be heard scattered throughout these tracks and the relentless hammering of the music definitely hits the spot.
They have retained the tasty sound that they had on their EP, with a satisfying guitar tone and nicely balanced drums. You can even hear the bass, which is always good, especially as it is played well and does some interesting things; it adds a strangely-tense undertone to the music and is a welcome constant companion as you tour these depths of corruption and mutation.
The only real disappointment for me is the vocals, as these appear to have gone a bit more into the realms of pignoise squeals than previously. This is not a vocal style I massively enjoy as when it’s over-used it tends to rob a singer of all of their power when compared to actual growls. To be fair to the singer though, his vocals tread just the right side of ridiculous, and he retains enough vestigial strength in his voice to just about pull it off, which I’m very grateful for. It’s just that, for me, in an ideal world, actual growls would have been so much better. On the odd occasion that growls do appear on these tracks it’s like a filter has been removed and all of a sudden the band are complete. But hey, that’s just my taste.
Overall, slight vocal issues aside, this is still a very satisfyingly brutal 29 minutes, one that I heartily recommend you check out.
Blade of Horus are an Australian Death Metal band and this is their début EP.
Now I don’t know about you, but with a name like Blade of Horus and furnished with the kind of exotic album cover that Monumental Massacre has, I have certain expectations of the band before I even hear a note.
At 22 minutes in length, this is a decent intro to the band and definitely leaves me wanting to hear more in the future.
Growls, shrieks and pig-squeals are the order of business for their vocalist, with the band sounding like they’re whipping him to ever greater heights of fury and devotion with every beat of the drum and pluck of the string.
The band combine brutality and technicality with some minor Deathcore influences to produce short and succinct tracks that go straight for the throat, yet also have enough about them to take the time to consider alternative ways of improving their murderous assault.
The songs are brutal enough to absolutely slay, but technical and complex enough to add a certain level of restrained chaos and further depth to the band’s impressive noise. Interesting riffs and ideas are showcased easily, and there’s a fair amount of stuff going on here despite the short length. Huge chugging riffs in the style of Dying Fetus effortlessly share space with complicated guitar-widdling the likes of Nile would be proud of.
Extra impressive is their ability to add in small sections of atmosphere into these crowded tracks, allowing them the space to incorporate melody and mood into the music, to great effect.
All of this helps create the impression of a band who really do have a lot to offer the discerning Metal fan.
So here we have another band who have seemingly come out of nowhere to impressively crush listeners everywhere with their enjoyable take on Extreme Metal.
This is the third album from US Technical Death Metal band Omnihility.
Their second album Deathscapes of the Subconscious stuck out in my mind for it’s complex blend of technicality and brutality, and this newest release follows the same path.
After an extremely atmospheric intro track that does absolutely nothing to prepare you for the coming onslaught, (although it is pretty damn good), Omnihility start as they mean to go on with ultra-technical Death Metal that doesn’t slack in the brutality department at all.
These songs are complex and punishing, pushing the extremes of the style to the limit, all the time demonstrating virtuoso playing and a keen eye for intelligent butchery.
The blast beats and double bass are physical enough to knock you down while the guitars attempt to play ALL OF THE NOTES AT THE SAME TIME. It’s a testament to the band’s ability that it’s not just one horrendous mess; instead we get well-thought out Technical Death Metal that hits all of the right spots.
Of course, once you get past my exaggerations in the previous paragraph, (only a bit…), Omnihility aren’t quite as insanely chaotic as some bands that play this style. The core brutality of the band keeps things from going too off the rails and there are enough simpler, heavier, groovier riffs plugged into the chaos here and there to make for songs that stay focused on the task at hand – ripping your face off.
Similar to the intro, there’s a break for the listener to catch their breath mid-album, with the track Within Shadows, which once again showcases the band’s atmospheric side.
The singer’s gruff, guttural growl continues to bounce like reflected lightning off the supersonic riffs, barking out from the music at a high speed. His is a very satisfying growl and one that allows the listener a constant focal point amidst the changing tides of rampant guitars and light speed drumming.
Phew. After 42 minutes off this you’ll need a sit down and a stiff drink.
This is the fourth album from this Italian Death Metal juggernaut.
If you haven’t encountered Fleshgod Apocalypse before, apart from having an extremely striking band name, they play an exciting and intriguing blend of symphonic and brutal Death Metal that has few peers and really does get the juices flowing.
There’s a lot of content on this release, lasting almost an hour in total. Now fully embracing their Classical influences, the songs on King merge both symphonic and Extreme Metal worlds in ways that very few bands could pull off. Septic Flesh, Therion and a handful of others are in the same league, but for outright speed and brutality combined with Classical influences, none really come close to Fleshgod Apocalypse, none that I’ve heard at any rate.
This is high operatic art, as applied to the realm of Extreme Metal. With a bombastic production the band’s compositions are nuanced and subtle, all hiding behind a ostentatious veneer of brutal Metal. Strength and power are exemplified on these tracks.
The deep growling vocals keep the aggressive elements at the forefront of their sound, while the soaring cleans make for uplifting and powerful additions. These clean vocals masterfully avoid the commercially-tinged climes of bands that usually incorporate them into an Extreme Metal framework and instead allow them to enhance and merge with the busy, complex music. Operative female cleans also appear in places, further impressing.
The symphonic elements are ubiquitous and relentless, providing an epic backdrop onto which the Metal is writ large. This is more than just one style being added to the other though, as the merging appears to take place at the cellular level, with both styles embracing each other. In places this even verges on the kind of symphonic territory that certain strains of Heavy/Power Metal have occupied so well over the years.
All of this on its own would be impressive enough, but the real test of longevity is the quality of the songs. After all, if it was all flashy style and no substance, then sure it would sound impressive on first listen, but it would soon get old. All of this is, I suppose, a rather long-winded way of saying that the songs are well-written in addition to everything else, and it is this more than anything else that will allow King to pass the test of time and multiple listens. These songs work, and work very well.
King demonstrates a band at the peak of their creative powers in many ways, and it will be interesting to see what paths they tread in the future. I personally hope they take the Classical/operatic angle even further and become even more epic in scope. We’ll see. For now though, King is a suitably majestic release for something that bears such an appellation, one that I insist you listen to as soon as you can.
This is the second album from US Brutal Death Metallers Atrocious Abnormality.
If you like the classic sound of Death Metal à la Cannibal Corpse, Defeated Sanity, Severe Torture and the like, then you’ll love this latest release from Atrocious Abnormality. This is ripping Death Metal with lashings of brutality and bloodshed, all delivered in 31 minutes of riff-hungry carnage.
Atrocious Abnormality really have got their songwriting abilities dialled in. As paragons of brutality these songs also have a whole slew of memorable riffs and just enough melody to cause the guitars to stick out without sacrificing any of the ugliness. Top work.
Each of these tracks do exactly what you’d want this type of Death Metal song to do. Here we have complexity and technicality without going too far down the rabbit hole; simple, heavy riffs without becoming too basic; catchiness without over-familiarity; speed and groove intertwined…Formed in Disgust really has a lot to offer the discerning Metal fan.
I’m very happy with this release. I love a good slab of timeless Death Metal, and Atrocious Abnormality have delivered. It’s especially pleasing as it’s quite easy for a release of this nature to come across as stale and boring – just a repeat of what’s come before. What’s nice about Formed in Disgust though is that the band somehow manage to breathe fresh life into the style they play through sheer force of will and decent songwriting skills.
I heartily recommend this one – get your fill and do it now.
This is the second album from Norwegian Brutal Death Metallers The Sickening.
This is Brutal Death Metal for fans of Deeds of Flesh, Severe Torture, Vile and the like. Indeed, the last song on here is a Vile cover.
Guttural growls lead the way, deep and dark atop the gore-drenched music. The singer is an accomplished grunter and leaves no doubt in your mind that you are firmly in his sights and may very well be on the menu.
The band have a slightly odd production in that everything sounds extremely sharp; whereas the average Death Metal band will happily pummel you to death with blunt objects, The Sickening prefer to use knives and bladed weapons.
The recording allows the band to make ample use of their bassist too, which is something I always enjoy in my Death Metal.
The songs have plenty of chug and groove in them, as well as the requisite blasting barbarity. This is a band that doesn’t understand the word subtle and is quite happy going straight for the kill in every one of these tracks.
When only Brutal Death Metal in its purest of forms will do, The Sickening are here for you.
Anal Fissure are a Brutal Death Metal band from the Philippines. This is their début album.
Here we have 32 minutes of Brutal Death Metal with a decent amount of groove and blast. Influences from the Slam style work their way into the mix here and there, but for the most part this is all about the tried-and-tested method of Brutal Death Metal carnage.
For some reason, the band name and album cover led me to believe that this was going to be a more primitive Grind-influenced offering than it actually is. I was wrong though and Mind of a Serial Killer is a very professional and polished collection of butcher’s songs; the album features a strong recording where everything is solid, thick and precise.
Blasting drums, heavy grooves and huge breakdowns provide plenty of meat to chew on. The riffs are ever-present and the band know how to play, whether they’re going full-speed ahead or slowing it down a notch to crush the listener with churning grooves. Whatever they’re doing, the songs are well-played, with everything sounding tight and focused.
The singer has a pretty gruesome near-pignoise growl that is perfectly executed for this style of carnage. No marks lost for his performance.
Sometimes you want ostentatious and flashy music, or something more experimental and unique to listen to. At other times, however, only Brutal Death Metal will do. For times like that, you have this.
Biopsy’s début EP Fractals of Derangement is a solid slab of USDM-style Brutal Death Metal that has enough ugly surgical scars to cause the staunchest of Death Metal fans to take note. Curious to learn more about them, I caught up with their vocalist in his operating theatre…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Hi, I’m Shomeresh, vocalist of the band. I’ll be answering your questions today, most of our opinions about the band and the industry are rather unanimous so I’m quite confident I can do justice to do this interview by myself. Well, let’s get into it.
We’re Biopsy, a brutal death metal band from Bombay. We started off as three teenagers with a passion for this genre of music and that eventually evolved into us jamming, then composing our own music and finally recording an EP.
Give us a bit of history to Biopsy
The three of us met back in 2010, Keshav (drums) and Akshay (guitars) were already jamming with each other a few others, I (Shomeresh – vocals) came into the picture a few months later and joined the lads for a jam session and we really seemed to connect on a musical level. We initially began covering and composing music as a death metal act but over the years our musical interests shifted towards brutal death metal. The sheer aggression, intensity and versatility of the genre is something that appealed to us and we then decided to stick with this genre and began composing several tracks out of which a few of them made the cut to what is now called ‘Fractals of Derangement’ our EP.
What are your influences?
Our musical influences come from a variety of genres. We love listening to music outside of just metal or even rock. So to answer this question I would like to say our influences come from the entire music eco-system as a whole, which would include genres like drum & bass, psychedelic trance, electro-house, rock, post-rock, classic rock, metal, funk, techno etc. Pretty much any track that sounds good, we don’t like limiting our musical tastes to the genre our band plays – that’s like restricting yourself from enjoying all this amazing talent out there. When it comes to Biopsy’s influences in particular, I’d say bands like Disgorge, Defeated Sanity, Gorgasm, Cephalotripsy, Dying Fetus, etc. helped us shape our sound into what it is today.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Well, I can’t speak for the rest of the guys on this one but personally I have been listening to a lot of hip-hop of late (best music for the drive to work), along with that I’ve always been a passionate lover of electronic music (psychedelic trance, electro-house, glitch, trap etc.) and metal of course. Among the metal bands on my current playlist, Betraying the Martyrs and Of Mice & Men are two bands that feature more often than not.
As this is your début EP, is there anything you would do differently if you had to do it all over again?
Not really, we’re really happy with how it sounds and the way it’s been accepted and appreciated by peers and professionals around the world. If anything we’d probably like to change my profile picture in the EP booklet, according to the guys I look like a queer ‘Persian prince’.
What’s your favourite song on your EP and why?
We each have different favourites, because each track has different levels of contribution from the various individuals in the band. My favourite would have to be ‘Surgical Symmetry’ as I deeply enjoy the extremely synchronised synergy between guitar and vocal lines throughout the track. There were several segments of the track where the vocal lines fit so well with the guitar lines that the three instantly knew we would never find a better alternative. It was one of those tracks where everything just seemed to come together, and we probably brainstormed the least on vocal, guitar and drum lines for this one and I love it when that happens, because otherwise you’re constantly second-guessing your decisions.
What are the subjects/themes of the songs?
The theme of the band is a deranged surgeon killing individuals who he deems unworthy of existence. People with contagious diseases or tainted characters. A quick read of the booklet in our EP case should explain this in elaborate detail.
Give us a bit of information on your songwriting process.
The song-writing process for this EP consisted of Keshav and Akshay sitting together and ironing out the instrumentals, then sending over the track to me after which we’d brainstorm on appropriate vocal lines which was followed by me penning down lyrics and selecting a good title for the song. Sounds really simple when I lay it out like this, but there are several complications that come up along the way which you have to deal with on the fly, but I suppose that’s the journey every set of artists go through while composing something as a group, there are always individual preferences and tastes it’s about how you can best accommodate everyone’s opinions without compromising on the integrity of the final output.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
A. Given the fact that we’re currently in different countries, I’m in UAE (Dubai), Akshay is in Michigan (USA) and Keshav is back home in India (Bombay) composing music is quite the challenge, but we plan to exchange stuff over the internet and try to put together a few more tracks then hit the studio and record another EP in the near future.
Thanks a lot for this great interview! We enjoyed it very much!
This is the début album from Spanish Brutal Death Metal band Carnivorous Voracity.
Making a strong opening statement of intent with their album cover, Carnivorous Voracity proceed to deliver almost exactly what you might expect over these 36 minutes.
It’s very hard for me to dislike Death Metal like this. It’s savage and nasty, but with enough songwriting savvy to make sure that the music doesn’t become too one-dimensional. This is an important point, as a lot of bands of this ilk are essentially one-trick ponies, no matter how enjoyable.
With The impious Doctrine the band have ensured that there are enough elements of a few different types of ugly brutality included to keep things fresh and interesting. Brutal Death Metal forms the core of the release, but there’s sprinklings of Classic, Modern, Slam and Technical Death Metal thrown into the blender. It all makes for a very satisfying album.
The songs hit the mark, they really do. Although not a band who are primarily about hooks and catchiness, there’s a surprising amount of good hooks on here regardless, and overall this is a very strong album.
The recording is solid and everything sounds slick and professional. The blasting drums and face-smashing riffs are in-your-face, tight and focused.
The vocalist veers between lethal growls and ugly pigsqueals; being very proficient in both he never puts a foot wrong in his delivery.
Yes, this is a very, very nice release. TIME FOR FULL VOLUME CARNAGE!
This is the second album from Canadian Death Metal band Corprophemia.
Wonderbox Metal 