brutal death metal – Page 26

In Torment – Sphere of Metaphysical Incarnations (Review)

This is the third album from Brazilian band In Torment. They play Technical/Brutal Death Metal.

In Torment don’t take any prisoners. Indeed, they probably haven’t even heard of the concept of mercy if this album is anything to go by. It’s a relentless beating and an unrepentant assault all delivered in just under 34 minutes of compact and deadly music.

A professional recording yields a powerful sound that gives the band a strong foundation for their attack.

The vocals are deep growls accentuated with higher screams. The singer has a good voice and there’s no sign of weakness or faltering anywhere in the performance. The vocals have that very satisfying roughness to them that just seems to hit the spot deep inside.

The songs are bloodthirsty expositions on everything brutal. Technical riffs and chunky rhythms collide as the songs tear out of the speakers. There are a lot of good moments in these songs and overall the songwriting is of a good standard.

These are very strong tracks; a lot of thought seems to have gone into their composition. I like the way that the underlying rhythms are really good and they appear to have built the more technical aspects of the songs around this firm base. There are some really good solos on here too.

Sphere of Metaphysical Incarnations has enough brutality to gain your interest and enough technicality to keep it.

This is a solid Death Metal album from a professional band. Recommended for all Death Metal fans.

Decimation – Reign of Ungodly Creation (Review)

Decimation are from Turkey and this is their third album. They play Brutal Death Metal.

Is it wrong that I knew I was going to like this album as soon as I saw the album cover? No? That’s okay then…

This is Brutal Death Metal at its most devastatingly direct. They have a Technical Death Metal side to them but it’s the raw brutality that makes up the lion’s share of their sound. There’s something timeless and eternally gratifying about Death Metal like this. Sometimes I just can’t get enough.

If you think that a mixture of bands like Suffocation, Insision, Defeated Sanity and Nile would make for a good listen then you’d be right and Reign of Ungodly Creation is the album for you.

The songs are tight, condensed balls of ferocity and blasting destruction. They’re not interested in taking prisoners that much is clear. They rip, tear, chug, blast and flail their way through over 37 minutes of prime brutality and long, complicated song titles.

The vocalist is a guttural beast who sounds like he chews on souls for snacks. With a deep growl that’s instantly satisfying his is a voice that’s easy for any Death Metaller to get on board with.

Decimation boast a strong production that sounds like granite has come to life and started crushing cities. There’s something hard and immovable about their sound yet it’s also imbued with life and doesn’t sound stunted or lacking in energy.

Well I have thoroughly enjoyed this album. With lots of heaviness, energetic riffing and blasting mayhem what’s not to like?

Time to get decimated.

Power of Ground – The Butcher (Review)

Power of Ground are from Bangladesh and this is their début EP. They play Technical Brutal Death Metal.

Here we have aggressive Death Metal played with passion and with an ear for a good riff. This is a brutal release with a flavour somewhere between Old-School and a bit newer.

The production values are quite raw, but this is only a début release so that’s okay. It’s not a bad sound though, it just needs filling out a bit in my opinion.

The songs themselves though are nasty slices of visceral Death Metal with a good trade-off between technicality and ugly brutality; similar to a band like Dying Fetus in the sense that they can sometimes juxtapose the two, but they don’t really sound like them overall. I’d say they mix a bit of Dying Fetus with elements of Severe Torture, Defeated Sanity, Infant Annihilator and even a bit of old Hypocrisy in the slower parts.

I like that the band have a lot of ideas and are clearly hungry for this style of music. It sounds fresh and ready to kill. There are a lot of good riffs here and these generally congeal into decent songs.

The vocalist is impressive and talented; screams, growls, pignoise grunts – it’s all here. The vocals are one of the highlights for me, ranging from extreme Death Metal growls to Grindcore-style, unhinged shrieks. Great stuff.

This is a very promising start for Power of Ground. So what do we want next? If they improve on their recording a bit and continue to write interesting and engaging songs like this then their debut album should be a great listen. I can’t wait to hear what they do next.

Annihilated – XIII Steps to Ruination (Review)

Annihilated are from the US and play Brutal Death Metal. This is their début album.

Straight from the off we’re treated to Annihilated’s aggressive style of Brutal Death Metal. The double bass roars and the guitars shred as the vocalist seemingly makes a mess of his insides in an attempt to growl harder.

Tight riffs and furious riffing power the band’s main method of assault alternating between blasting or mid-paced sections to allow for variety of attack. Annihilated are not without groove either; Annihilated know how to knock your teeth down your throat and have many ways to do this.

This may be Brutal Death Metal but it’s nice to see a band like Annihilated who know that blasting is not the be all and end all of the style. Annihilated can blast with the best of them, of course, but they mainly use groovier, energetic mid-paced assaults that are done really well and showcase the band’s devastatingly heavy use of effective dynamics.

The drums are particularly fun, with plenty of rolls and fills breaking up the blasting and mayhem.

Leads and solos make appearances and they all sound good. It’s especially nice when played over a solid rhythm section and the band frequently do this to get themselves into a nice groove.

The guitar work is exemplary and their choice of riffs is crushing. The songs also have lots of nice little things to keep the listener engaged, this is certainly not an album that sounds tired or stale in any way. This is fresh, vigorous and full of energy. This is music to bounce around to like a maniac.

I love Death Metal like this. Annihilated take the primal power of the style, rip it apart and then vomit it all back over you. And I love it.

A band to watch.

Emeth – Aethyr (Review)

Emeth are from Belgium and play Technical Death Metal. This is their fourth album.

Emeth tread that fine line between brutality and technicality and manage to successfully incorporate both into their savage Death Metal assault.

Ultra-aggression and lightning speed riffage work together to melt faces whilst fretboard wizardry takes the technical side of the band to new heights of carnage.

Emeth can certainly play and play well, and they’re no stranger to brutality, but what sets them apart though is that they don’t purely rely on speed and technicality; they know when to inject a bit of atmosphere and quality instrumentation into the proceedings via some sharply written riffs and colossal guitar work.

The guitar work as a whole is a particular highlight of this record; there is plenty of inventive and interesting riffs and whether they are playing fast or easing off the speed slightly everything is precise, crisp and dynamic.

The singer does a great job and has a focused growl. He picks and chooses his vocal patterns well and knows when to let the music do the talking. This is not an album where the singer is the vocal point; rather the riffs take centre stage and the vocals are an enhancement, (albeit an important one), to the songs.

What an album! A whirlwind tour of destruction and creativity. Emeth have clearly put a lot of hard work into Aethyr and have been rewarded with an extremely strong album.

Into Death Metal? You need to get this.

Hideous Divinity – Cobra Verde (Review)

This is the second album of Death Metal from Italian band Hideous Divinity.

Here we have a blistering Technical/Brutal Death Metal band that plays crushing music with furious abandon.

Mixing elements of Hate Eternal, Decapitated, Nile, Behemoth and Hour of Penance; Hideous Divinity have come to destroy.

Hideous Divinity have a powerful sound and seem more than comfortable with their playing skills. Importantly, the band never neglect the songs themselves; although they have a Technical side to their sound they know that a song is more than just playing in a complex way.

As such, these songs are structured well and use their playing time to good effect. Emotive riffs and studied brutality is the name of the game here, and the band do it expertly.

The band’s twisting, dark music is an exemplar of what intelligently crafted Death Metal can sound like in 2014. Songwriting skills, technicality, brutality and the occasional nod to subtlety – these are key elements in the Hideous Divinity sound and the band have really taken them to heart.

This is an album the band should be proud of, and one I’ll be spinning for a good while to come.

Interview with Lelahell

The début album from Algerian band Lelahell – Al Insane… The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane – is a welcome breath of crushing air in the Brutal Death Metal scene. I wanted to find out a bit more about this exciting new band…

Give us a bit of background to Lelahell

Lelahell are one of Algiers’ newer extreme metal acts, their concrete-crushing death metal bludgeoning skulls since 2010. Founded by Redouane Aouameur (A.k.a Lelahell) who is no stranger to the Algerian metal scene as he has already been in other bands including Neanderthalia, Litham, Carnavage and Devast. Following the completion of 2011’s ‘Al Intihar’ EP, fellow Algerian metallers Slave Blaster and Nihil (who also form the rhythm section of black metal outfit Barbaros), completed the ranks. In 2012 Goressimo Records officially released the band’s debut EP.

The first full length album of Lelahell ” Al Insane …The (Re)Birth of Abderrahmane ” mixed and mastered by Ivan of Anthropocide Studio from Belarus (Abominable Putridity, Aborted Fetus, etc.) was released the 5th of august 2014 by Horror Pain Gore Death Productions (Coffins, Haemorrhage, Abscess,..) from USA.

What are your influences?

We don’t have any particular influences , we get our inspiration from everything which is related to death metal and all brutal stuffs and some local music.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Hideous Divinity a great death metal band formed by ex members of Hour of Penance and Eyeconoclast from Italy, their music is technical modern melodic and brutal!

How did you decide on the style of Death Metal that you wanted to play – what appeals about this style of music?

We haven’t decided anything, we just played the music that came from our deep guts!

Do you have any goals for your album?

Our main goal is to make music, play all around the world and of course having fun!

Is there anything on the album you’re not satisfied with?

For a first album we are really 100% satisfied!

Do you want to discuss any of the lyrics on the album and any themes/hidden meanings/etc. that might be there?

The song “Al Intissar” is an hymn to victory and all against those fuckin’ losers who complain all day long without doing anything from their lives. Move your ass fucking assholes! “Voices revealed” is inspired from the memories of Phillip Garrido a serial killer, Hypnose is a message to all our governors in the planet ! Am I in hell? is a question that every one asked at least one time in his life, Kalimet essir is a tribute to our Martyrs, Black hands is about the difference between the rich and poors , “Hillal”, has a more philosophical concept and it is about the interaction of the human with the nature and Mizmar talks about the human pleasures!

What’s your songwriting process?

In general I come with the main guitar riff and structures and other musicians compose their own parts during rehearsals.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

Increasing a little bit the ethnic parts and adding more technical and modern elements to the guitar are the main changes in the future ! Wait and see…

What does the future hold for Lelahell?

For December we have a European tour planned in Germany, Switzerland, Poland and France. It is called Al Insane Tour. After that we’ll start the writing process of our second full length.

Thanks for your great support and stay brutalz!

Support LELAHELL or die!

Coprocephalic – The Oath of Relinquishment (Review)

This is the second album from Coprocephalic; a Death Metal band who have a Taiwanese/International origin.

Coprocephalic play Brutal Death Metal. This is ultra-brutal and not for the weak-hearted. The band manage to pull off something a bit different though than most as they combine an interesting perspective on brutality with dissonant melodics creating an unusual take on Brutal Death Metal that’s refreshing and addictive.

This is pure brutality and the riffs come thick and fast. When they’re not trying to beat you to death with blunt breakdowns and heavy chopping they’re trying to stab you to death with sharp melodics and atypical noises.

This is a band who play thoroughly Modern Death Metal with a twist of the most extreme Deathcore the likes of which is peddled by Infant Annihilator and Rings of Saturn. It’s frenzied, savage and not at all pleasant; just the way we like it.

Utter pig-noise vocals sound like someone’s trying to vomit up their own stomach and even though I’m not normally the biggest fan of this style of vocals here it works perfectly with the music. In this sense they’re not too far removed from fellow label mates Infecting the Swarm.

The Oath of Relinquishment is high energy and it’s hard not to feel excited when listening to this. It’s just pure fucking Metal and more brutal than most can handle.

I love it. Let’s all get behind this talented band now.

Lelahell – Al Insane… The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane (Review)

Lelahell are from Algeria and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Brutal Death Metal played fast and played heavy.

After the usual pointless intro, (mercifully brief), the real fun starts and the band introduce us to their blasting mayhem.

The vocals are the first surprise. Usually with this style of Death Metal we get typical ultra-guttural growls, but the majority of the vocals on this album are higher screams, (although deeper growls are used as well). It sounds good and reminds of a band like Defleshed.

The guitars have a nice tone to them and sound quite thick. The riffs are a bit more inventive than the norm, with colourful melodies and unusual flavours to the tunes. The songs have an exotic flair to them; Lelahell are definitely not your typical Cannibal Corpse clone.

This album is crushingly brutal and has a sound to match that’s suitably huge and clear. Lelahell are a very satisfying proposition and this chunky, thick sound combined with the band’s songwriting skills, dynamics and interesting riffs means this is an album to really get into.

As début’s go, this is a winner. Lots of bands are content to tread water, but Lelahell are more interested in forging their own path, and more power to them for this.

Make sure you get a hold of Al Insane… The (Re)birth of Abderrahmane. It’s well worth the investment.

Bloodtruth – Obedience (Review)

Bloodtruth are from Italy and play Brutal Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Brutal Death Metal played with passion and delivered with a storm. Crisp, crunchy riffs and blasting drums lead the charge with relentless growls and surgical strikes following up. Oh yes, and Gregorian chanting.

The band boast a crushing sound where everything sounds sharp and ready to maim. It’s heavy and it’s adrenalin soaked.

The singer has a gruff, satisfying growl that fits the music like a glove and he mainly spends his time shouting vicious diatribes and barking like a chained attack dog.

The songs are focused and brutal, with blast beats aplenty and light speed melodics and solos added in at all of the right places. The melodic guitar leads are nicely fused with the music so that they don’t detract from the brutality at all. Even though they frequently do use melodies in their songs this is not a band who would ever be described as Melodic Death Metal, and rightfully so. This is all about crushing, Brutal Death Metal and how they can demolish everything around them.

Obedience has a good pace to it and the guitars alternate between heavy chugs and ultra-blasting speed assaults in a way that flows naturally from one riff to the next. Each track is an enjoyable ride through mayhem and carnage as the band deal out punishment and pain with every precise turn through the Death Metal landscape.

If you like punchy Death Metal played with sheer brutality and clinical precision then there’s nothing not to like here.

Listen. Destroy. Obey.