brutal death metal – Page 24

Macabre Demise – Homicidal Parasites (Review)

Macabre Demise is a solo Brutal Death Metal project from Germany and this is his second album.

This is just over 26 minutes of chug-friendly Brutal Death Metal that’s guaranteed to get the blood pumping and the head moving.

There’s a good mix of blast beats and slower/mid-paced heaviness on Homicidal Parasites. It’s a mix of the USDM and Slam styles, touched up with a bit more of a European feeling in places.

The songs don’t shy away from a bit of melody when needed, which is a nice thing to hear. It’s not a common part of Macabre Demise’s sound, as the songs largely opt for a more direct, brutal, chugging assault, but it’s an added facet to their sound on occasion.

There’s a lot of mosh-friendly sections that are bouncy and groovy. The tracks specialise in aggressive destruction that’s strangely accessible for a band of this style.

The vocals sound like someone wiping the floor with the Cookie Monster. Deep growling is complemented by higher screams when necessary to add that extra bite.

The production is decent and the album benefits from a good recording. It sounds, and I believe this is the technical term, PHAT. Or something. In any event, it’s a very satisfying sound that the songs make the most of.

So, quality Death Metal from this German outfit. Me like.

Bowel Stew – Debridement (Review)

Bowel Stew are an Italian Brutal Death Metal band. This is their third album.

Bowel Stew like their gore and their buckets of blood. But what they really like, of course, is huge helpings of Brutal Death Metal.

Across these 25 minutes, the band give us nine tracks of unrelenting brutality, including a Brodequin cover.

This is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for fans of pretty, polished Death Metal. This is as underground as it gets and Bowel Stew are interested in impressing no-one but themselves with their butchery.

The vocals are so low as to be almost inaudible. Almost. What we actually get is a voice that growls like an oncoming storm rumbles in the background. It’s inhuman and menacing.

The music is a murky and impenetrable mix of fast guitars and metronomic drums. There’s little in the way of songs here. Instead, Bowel Stew are essentially being as brutal as they can for the love of it. This is just a couple of steps away from completely unhinged Grindcore, and it’s only an undercurrent of Death Metal structuring that prevents this from happening.

This kind of ugly, atavistic Brutal Death Metal will appeal only to a small subset of a small sub-genre of a small genre, etc., but if you do want a fix of no-questions-asked raw barbarity and carnage then I would suggest you check them out, as Debridement is not without its gory charms.

Kronos – Arisen New Era (Review)

Kronos are a French Death Metal band and this is their fourth album.

I’ve heard enough French Death Metal by now to expect good things from bands who are from there, and Kronos don’t disappoint.

This is Brutal Death Metal that wastes no time in crashing into your life as soon as you press play, ready to take over and ruin everything with its aural destruction.

This is precise, modern and professionally executed Death Metal. The band have a top quality production and everything sounds razor sharp, massively in-your-face and as deeply satisfying as only Death Metal can be sometimes.

Crisp solos, hyperspeed riffs, rhythmic guitars and pummelling licks all rage and tear their way through the 37 minutes of music. As undeniably impressive as everything guitar-oriented is on this release, the rest of the instruments are equally important, with the drums in particular sounding especially nicely done.

The vocals are impenetrably deep deathgrunts that are as impeccably delivered as the rest of the musical onslaught.

I love this kind of Death Metal, I can’t deny it. It has enough modern verve to be cutting edge but enough components of Classic Death Metal to have longevity and depth. Couple that with the insane blasting brutality that the band do so well and I’m sold completely.

A Brutal Death Metal masterclass.

The Big Jazz Duo – Enemy (Review)

The Big Jazz Duo arre from Italy and this is their début album.

Looking at the album cover and knowing the band’s name, you’d probably never guess that they play Death Metal. But they do; Experimental/Atmospheric Death Metal/Deathcore.

This is sickeningly heavy with grooves and breakdowns aplenty. Speed and brutality are also present, as are pignoise vocals and scathing screams.

There’s a Djent aspect to their sound too, which seems to go hand-in-hand with a lot of Deathcore.

The band also include orchestral interludes, atmospheric sections and the like in their sound, which immediately makes them more interesting and raises their game.

Deathcore and Djent are two sub-genres that can get very stale, very quickly, if not handled well. The Big Jazz Duo avoid this trap by mixing these up with more traditional Death Metal and a melodic edge, as well as the more experimental aspects of their sound.

The songs are well written and the band understand the need for dynamics and pacing. A very polished and strong production rounds off the package and ensures that the songs have the best chance to shine.

These songs may be largely quite short but they’re packed to the rafters with goodies. Heavy groove, blasting carnage and atmosphere all merge together to create a listening experience that, in all honestly, makes me really fucking happy. I can always tell when I’m getting into an album when I start spontaneously bouncing along to it without realising. As you do.

If you imagine a cross between The Black Dahlia Murder, All Shall Perish and Xehanort then you’ll be on the right lines.

So, Brutal Death Metal, Djent, Deathcore, melody, atmosphere, orchestration…all in 31 minutes and all very well-written? I’m sold!

An extremely impressive album, especially considering the oft-dreaded Deathcore/Djent aspects of their sound.

Very highly recommended.

Skinless – Only the Ruthless Remain (Review)

Skinless are from the US and play Brutal Death Metal. This is their fifth album.

Skinless have returned! Anticipation is high with this release.

Immediately the band make a strong entrance with a massive sound, evil guttural vocals and those ultra-sexy Skinless riffs that only they do so well.

It’s a pleasure to hear the guttural stylings of the original vocalist once more. He personifies the stereotypically rough, ultra-low Death Metal growl and as such is absolutely one of the best at performing them.

Skinless have always had a certain special knack for combining aggressive carnage with brutal grooves. The slower, groovier riffs are a particular favourite of mine. Slow or fast though, there’s always an infectious energy about them.

The songs are all winners and each one earns its place in the Death Metal premier league. Although the band are Hellishly brutal, there’s more than that going on here as the riffs tell a bloody story and the drums thump out their malevolent beat. Memorable, impressive songs are the meaty main course in this sumptuous feast of rotten flesh.

Skinless are heavy and they’ve always been exceptionally heavy. Death Metal by its very nature is a heavy form of music, but there’s heavy and then there’s HEAVY. Skinless own the latter.

The music on this album should be a wakeup call for any band playing this style. Daddy is home. While Skinless have been away the Brutal Death Metal scene has multiplied and mutated, as these things always do, but who cares? Skinless are back and ready to show everyone how it’s done.

I’m incredibly pleased with this return to the fray by one of the best Death Metal bands out there.

Skinless, you have been missed.

Dawn of Azazel – The Tides of Damocles (Review)

Dawn of Azazel are from New Zealand and play Death Metal. This is their fourth album.

Dawn of Azazel play Progressive Death Metal with enough brutality to keep people happy.

They have a very satisfying production with the guitars sounding heavily distorted and full of fuzz. Combined with the blasting drums and vocals it’s a good solid sound.

The vocalist has a the kind of shouted growl that’s forceful and savage. His voice tears out of the music with fury.

Their music is a wonderful combination of the Progressive, Modern and Brutal Death Metal subgenres, so much so that there’s a lot on offer on The Tides of Damocles.

A multitude of inventive riffs and interesting ideas are tried and tested throughout these 10 songs. It’s an impressive melting pot that the band create and they forge it into a cohesive attack over the course of just over 48 minutes.

The guitars are a highlight for me as they lead the assault and you never quite know what they’re going to do next. That’s not to imply that they’re a hyper-chaotic Techdeath mess, far from it; it’s just that Dawn of Azazel pour so many different riffing styles into the mix that you might be listening to a Morbid Angel section at one point only to have it change into something Meshuggah-inspired, or maybe a riff Immolation would be proud of.

Ultimately though it all flows together quite naturally and The Tides of Damocles is a very striking record.

Yes, I look forward to listening to this more and more over the years and getting to know it really, really well. This one’s a keeper.

Vasomortus – Instrument Torture of Pyramid (Review)

This is the début album by Indonesian Death Metallers Vasomortus.

Vasomortus play Death Metal that’s raw and brutal. There’s no subtlety, nuance, niceness or any form of nod to anything progressive or forward thinking; this is relentlessly ugly, aggressive Death Metal. Vasomortus’ only concern is a murderous assault and how much damage they can do.

This takes me back to mid-90’s USDM and the album has a production to match. Everything about this band harks back to this time really and the brutality is completely authentic. For fans of Suffocation, Deeds of Flesh, Devourment, etc.

Blasting riffs, chugging heaviness and groovy carnage are the meat and potatoes of the band, so it’s time to tuck in and get your fill.

Eschewing any shades of colour in the form of solos or leads, and stripped of technicality, progressive elements, modern polish, etc. this is Death Metal that is utterly single minded in its intention. What we’re left with is Brutal Death Metal that only cares about brutality and death-dealing, nothing more.

Although this does leave Vasomortus sounding a bit one-dimensional compared to a lot of other Death Metal bands who may have more variety in their attack, it does mean that they are free to focus purely on what they do best – embodying underground brutality.

For times when only pure barbarity will do.

Ataxia – Calignious (Review)

Ataxia are a Canadian Death Metal band and this is their début album.

This is sharp Death Metal with a technical twist.

The band have a well-produced sound that’s tight and focused. Good musicianship means that the band know how to widdle and lots of technical muscles are flexed.

The singer has a decent growl that seems to come straight from the depths of somewhere dark and evil.

Ataxia are a band who are trying to do something slightly different with the Death Metal template. Yes, to the untrained eye this is essentially Death Metal, but to the connoisseur of such things Ataxia have enough of their own personality and ideas that are manifested in Calignious to cause you to sit up and take notice.

The band seem to prefer to embed their technicality into the very brutal essence of the songs as a general rule, as there are surprisingly few solos or leads on this release. Most of the time the complicated fretwork makes up the bulwark of the rhythms and snakes around the blasting drums.

This is brutal, Technical Death Metal which takes its cues from the experimental sides of Atheist and Death as much as Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation.

I think it’s time to support the Metal underground once more and lay your hands on this.

Profanity – Hatred Hell Within (Review)

Profanity are from Germany and play Brutal/Technical Death Metal. This is their latest EP.

The band have a strong presence and their Death Metal is tight and precise.

Profanity have a sound that combines the Brutal, the Technical and the Progressive all in three songs, 20 minutes. As they’ve been around since 1993 they clearly know the sound they want and are experienced enough to achieve it, (even if this is the band’s first release in over a decade).

They manage to combine these aforementioned sub-genres in such a way that the end result borrows from both the New School and a more timeless brand of Death Metal.

The songs are intelligently composed and the extended, (for the style), running time of the songs, (or two of them at least), allows the band the space to really work themselves into a Technical/Progressive frenzy.

The vocalist is blessed with a deep, growling roar and he sounds utterly inhuman.

The production is strong and the band can all really play. I also love the bass; I love a band who actually use the bass as an integral part of their sound and here it has a chance to shine like the rest of the instruments. There’s even a bit of a bass solo!

Let me calm myself down a bit before I continue. The excitement is too much.

However, exciting is a good word for Profanity. Not in a high energy way, (although they have plenty of that), but just from the sheer rush of speed, brutality and technical mayhem that the band so easily and effortlessly dish out.

I must confess I’d never encountered Profanity before this. If Hatred Hell Within is anything to go by it’s definitely my loss as this EP is a sterling release by this band. It promises extremely good things for the future and here’s to their next album!

Incinerate – Eradicating Terrestrial Species (Review)

This is the third album from US Technical/Brutal Death Metallers Incinerate.

With a quality Death Metal album cover, this is the kind of band that it’s easy to like. Once the usual pointless intro is out of the way, we get lots of brutally satisfying USDM-esque carnage with plenty of chugs and squeals to keep fans of the style happy.

This is a well-oiled Death Metal machine that chews you up and spits you out with a mechanistic relish.

Ultra-guttural vocals are the order of business although some variation is added by some screaming. They hit the spot nicely.

The playing is precise and surgical, with enough technicality to please and enough straight-ahead brutality to satisfy.

If you like your Death Metal in the classic US vein then Incinerate have what it takes to scratch that deep, bloody, sore itch.

For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Deeds of Flesh, Defeated Sanity, etc.