Pyrexia are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their fourth album.
The band play Brutal Death Metal which has a Slam/Hardcore/Groove side to it; Suffocation-style USDM gone the way of Kataklysm.
An acid-etched sound with pounding drums and guitars like stone; the band kick up a maelstrom of dust and leave devastation in their wake.
As the album progresses it reminds me strongly of the aforementioned Katakylsm and their combination of blasting and groovier rffing. Pyrexia employ pretty much the same formula and even the vocalist is similar in style; raw growls that are obviously Death Metal but not quite deep enough to be truly extreme.
The short songs and relatively short nature of the album mean it’s over quickly and overall leaves a positive impression.
If you like a bit of heavy groove with your Death Metal then look up Pyrexia and give them a try.
Hate Division are from Canada and this is their second album of Death Metal.
No crappy intro and no messing around; the band launch straight into a blastbeat. This is Brutal Death Metal that is played fast and loud with plenty of double bass and twisting, crunching guitars.
Slower, more melodic sections and solos make appearances also and add spice to the flavour of the album.
There are elements of bands like Origin and Misery Index mixed with bits of bands like Cannibal Corpse and Severe Torture. It’s loud, substantial and uncompromising.
Hate Division are a funny band in a way, as this is a surprisingly subtle album. It’s all relative of course as we’re still talking about Brutal Death Metal here, but what I mean is this; the album grows on you over time and the band may be heavy, angry and in your face but they’re not flashy or gimmicky; they’re content to let the music do its stuff.
This is the kind of album that upon first listen it’s like, “yeah it’s good”, but then without even realising it you’re playing it again. And again. And again. Before you know it you have a much more intimate relationship with it than you were expecting. The band don’t take no for an answer.
So give this a listen and let the blastbeats and the riffs explode over you. It’s time to join the Hate Division.
This is the début album from Mexican Death Metallers Human Devastation.
This is Brutal Death Metal, and thankfully there is no waste-of-space intro; the first song Bienvenido a mi Mente opens up straight into the action.
The band deal in savagery, aggression and misanthropy. The songs pummel and beat and the vocals sound inhuman.
My, my there are some nice riffs on this. The band may be all about the brutality but they still know how to pen a good tune. They can play too, as shown by the blistering solos that appear now and again like spikes through flesh. The drummer seems a bit of a monster too.
This has a bit of a mid-period Cryptopsy feel to it in places, as well as reminding of Iniquity now and again. For this style of music Human Devastation are relatively varied as they don’t remind of any one band overwhelmingly; rather they incorporate a smattering of influences into their brutal whole. Even the singer demonstrates a good range.
This definitely has its own personality and its good to see a new band forging ahead on their own rather than just following others and paying homage.
Condenacion is a very strong first release and if there’s any justice in the world should see the band become a key player in the Death Metal underground.
Inanimate Existence are a Technical Death Metal band from the US.
An exotic intro and equally exotic album cover set the scene for this otherworldly adventure in brutality and technical wizardry.
Long songs and fretwork dexterity are the order of the day here, although the band never lose sight of the aggression and brutality that is the hallmark of Death Metal.
A good sound means that all of this frenetic widdling can be appreciated and the drums are punishing, proficient but not overpowering. I mustn’t neglect the bass either, as it’s actually audible and has a part to play in these tracks. There are also some shredding solos and leads.
The singer’s vocals growl and grunt like a windswept vortex causing destruction wherever it goes.
Slower parts occasionally appear, allowing the band to show restraint and to maximise the moments of atmosphere they foster. They also experiment with percussion, lighter moments, Progressive Metal and even some female vocals. These parts enhance the songs making them more than they might otherwise be, as well as stopping them becoming too repetitive or predictable.
The songs are highly enjoyable and expertly crafted.
Defilementory are from Denmark and play Brutal/Technical Death Metal.
The album starts with a melodically-brutal intro that shows off some sludgy riffs with frenetic blasting drums. It’s an unusual piece and a welcome turn of events to the usual lacklustre album intros that a lot of bands peddle.
As the album unfolds it becomes clear that the intro is no mere anomaly and Defilementory are a band who are not afraid to throw in some more experimental riffs and atypical sections to their songs. Taking cues from an unholy mixture of bands like Gorguts and Severe Torture, this is a seamless blend of Technical Death Metal and wanton Brutality.
Atmospheric riffs rub shoulders with heavier, chugging sections whilst the drums and bass gel everything together into a rotting mass of putrid gore.
Bands like this are a joy to listen to as they’re taking the standard Death Metal template and invigorating it with good ideas; it sounds fresh yet at the same time staying true to what Death Metal is all about.
The singer is no slouch either; as the band riff and heave their way around the savagery he produces a very satisfying deep growl.
Sometimes the technicality/experimentation gets in the way of the actual song, but rather than this be a fatal flaw it merely refocusses the attention so that the atmosphere and mood of the tracks become more important than traditional song structures. This becomes even more apparent on subsequent spins; the warped melodies and twisted structures come into their own as you become more familiar with the material.
Defilementory have produced an interesting, ambitious and enjoyable record. May they continue on this darkened path less-travelled for many an album to come.
Favourite Track: The Mask of Anatomy. The different influences click perfectly into place on this.
This is the second album by US band Pillory who play Brutal Technical Death Metal.
Fast, intricate and brutal; welcome to the world of Pillory. It’s a colourful world populated by an over-abundance of riffs and ideas, with spikes of melody and angular guitar heroics rushing to save the day.
The vocals are mainly gruff shouts but are varied in places with the singer showing he’s capable of more than just straight bellowing into the microphone.
The songs are busy entities with a lot being crammed into every second. If this was all the band did it would be impressive enough, but what’s really impressive is their ability to show restraint when needed. Sometimes you don’t need a million separate things happening at once; sometimes less is more and Pillory seem to know this as they also have entire sections in their songs where they allow a riff or idea to stabilise and develop for a little while before it once again mutates and goes off in a hundred new directions.
For this reason Evolutionary Miscarriage scores higher than a lot of Technical Death Metal as there’s more to it than just insane time signature changes or deranged guitar wizardry; yes they have giant bucketfuls of both but they also know about pacing and dynamics, which are far more important when it comes to longevity and depth of composition.
If you’re a fan of non-standard Death Metal then this is a creative and exploratory album that should suit you well.
This is the début album from Brutal Death Metal band Infecting the Swarm, who hail from Germany.
This is Death Metal with a sci-fi theme, and a suitable cover to match.
But what of the music? Well this is pure, unbridled, undiluted brutality and sheer wanton carnage. With a production as heavy as it is crushing the band tear through these nine tracks with all the subtlety of an explosion. A big explosion.
Vocally they follow suit with absolute pig-noise vocals that are so extreme they’re bound to divide. A lot of the time I find these kind of vocals awful and I can’t help but feel that the band in question would be better off with a different singer. Why? It’s because most of the time these pig-noise vocals just sound like deep belching and they just suck all of the brutality out of it for me.
Thankfully the vocals on Pathogenesis, although definitely teetering on the line, manage to keep an air of aggression to them and therefore don’t ruin what is, musically, brutal as Hell. It is a very fine line though, and although I can’t help but feel the songs might be improved by a proper savage bellowing I still find myself on the right side, (just), of approval, largely because the music is so ferocious that it carries them nicely.
And besides, sometimes it just works, you know?
So, vocal misgivings aside; this is brutal, (have I mentioned that word yet?), savage, brutal, heavy, brutal, crushing and brutal again.
This hits the spot for me. For the times when you absolutely need the most brutal, destructive music you can get, Infecting the Swarm are there for you.
Deep In Hate are about to release their colossal new album Chronicles of Oblivion in the very near future and with this firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with amongst premier Death Metal. With this in mind it’s the perfect time to find out a bit more about this exciting band…
Tell us all about Deep in Hate and where you came from
Florian (Guitars) : Hi ! Thanks for the interview !
Deep In Hate is a band from Paris and its near suburbs, founded in 2004 by Vince (lead guitar) and Bastos (drums).
The band experienced some changes of line-up before it stabilized for the release of the band’s second album Origins of Inequality in 2011.
Now, we are about to release our new record Chronicles of Oblivion on June 3rd, and are really excited about it !
What are your influences?
Amongst our shared influences in the band, but limited to the « Death » metal scene, we can quote Behemoth, Whitechapel, Despised Icon, Gojira, Beneath the Massacre, The Black Dahlia Murder but also Decapitated or Dying Fetus.
It’s actually a blend between modern and ‘older’ influences, as you can see.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
At the moment I am listening to the last Aborted, The Necrotic Manifesto, that I am really digging, and enjoying the last Structures and Architects albums. Not totally my style, but good ones ! For the « non Metal » part, it’s Steel Panther’s All You Can Eat album, my little weakness !
How did you decide on the style of Death Metal that you wanted to play?
The first musical direction, being a « Brutal Death » band was given when the band was founded by Vince and Bastos, I was not in it at the time. Then, as the line-up changed, the addition of new blood gave the music a more modern approach.
Finally, the last conscious decision was to go more into a ‘song-oriented’ Death metal, where riffing, melody and groove are what matters most, with plainer structures but with the aim of enhancing the core of the music.
How do you feel about the current Death Metal scene? Where do you feel you fit in?
Where do I feel I fit in ? One of the most dreadful questions you could ask ! Honestly I do not know. I would like to think we have done something special, with an unique Deep In Hate flavour to it, but in the end I am the worst person to answer that question. Even when you love the music you are doing and are expressing yourself with all your guts, you might remain that kid that plays without knowing what he is exactly doing here.
In my review I note that you have a winning brutality-to-melody ratio – how do you temper the two?
By being a Libra maybe ? (laughs)
Seriously though, the fact that we are two main composers (with Vince the lead guitarist) is part of the answer.
Moreover, I have always loved bands that balance the two, and « beauty », even in the most aggressive parts, is fundamental.
I do not say we achieved it, but it is part of what we are.
And actually balance is in itself beautiful, isn’t it ?
Do you have any goals for your album?
The goals for our album are the ‘’highest’’ goals possible obviously.
I mean, we have put so much work and energy in it, we hope it will resonate in people the way it does with us. Our aim being to play live shows the more we can, the more people will love the album, the better, because it will mean a new audience for us and more shows !
Is there anything on the album you’re not satisfied with?
Not at the moment. We have had the chance to do what we wanted to do, and reach the result we aimed at.
The only negative feeling I sometimes experience is the ‘’we could have gone deeper’’ syndrome… But it is abstract, I do not know where or how, for now.
I hope it will become clearer for the next albums and that it will help getting even more mature eventually!
Do you want to discuss any of the lyrics on the album and any themes/hidden meanings/etc. that might be there?
The lyrics are written like episodes of a History in a post-apocalyptic world.
They are rather straight-forward at first, but of course we hope that they will not only be read for their literal meaning. The stories take place in a fictional world but they do emphasize some aspects of the human nature whatever the times.
For example, the fact that Men can be whether powerful and brave when in group, or stupid and coward.
Also, the notion of « cycle » is very important, as if human History is only virtually going forward, because it keeps repeating itself.
Humans are immature, at the scale of the world, and only when they evolve will they break this cycle.
What’s your songwriting process?
Vince does almost all the preliminary work. He creates riffs and melodies that go along well, and it gives us our primary material. I basically come and arrange his material into songs, and the work with the drums and bass guitar begins here. I fill the gaps when necessary and, since it is much more inspiring for me to work with something that already exists, I may add extra things to the songs.
It has to be approved by all the members at each step, and finally when the instrumental is almost finished, we work on the vocals, with the lyrics previously written.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
In the same direction we have taken with this album.
If I may repeat myself, I see ourselves going more and more towards ‘’a ‘song-oriented’ Death metal, where riffing, melody and groove are what matters most.
Modern metal is cool, and is more catchy than ever, but sometimes melody and especially atmosphere are not that much emphasized on. I mean, the music is in those cases really good, but the ‘‘taste’’of it does not last long.
I think music has evolved with the way people listen to it : it has to quickly retain your attention, give you immediate pleasure or else you will not give it a second listen. So if a band succeeds in proposing that, and at the same time a music that is better each time you listen to it… It’s perfect.
What does the future hold for Deep in Hate?
The best, I hope. It is time now with this new album to reach a new level. We have gained over the years more and more support from professionals, and with their help we will bring our music over to a maximum of metalheads, even if some may have never heard of us before.
I do not know what else to say right now, we will see how the new album is received, but we will keep going forward anyway!
Thanks for the chance to answer those questions, hope you guys reading this will enjoy the record.
This is Polish Brutal Death Metal band Incarnated’s third album.
Incarnated are all about the pure brutality and the sickening smashing and blasting. They are the kind of band that revel in gore and gruesome, still-living dissections.
This is heavy and fast. The drums show no mercy and the vocals are deeper than a well of blood.
The guitarists play like their life depends on it. Rather unusually for Brutal Death metal of this style they pretty much have the Swedish Death Metal sound to their guitars; all chainsaw sounding but mangled by the non-Swedish styled riffing. It sounds great don’t get me wrong, just a little incongruous at first; like Dismember playing Goregrind/Exhumed/Aborted covers almost. It’s a good way to differentiate themselves from the bloody masses however, and it gets my vote.
The songs are relentless and continuously march forwards propelled by the untiring efforts of the superhuman drummer. Occasional spurts of melody or solos leak out of the mashed up corpse only to be stemmed quickly and efficiently lest the victim expire too soon.
I must say I’m enjoying this. The songs are satisfyingly extreme and they hit that sweet spot reserved for quality Metal only.
If you like Brutal Death Metal then you should eat this up. Open wide.
Beneath are from Iceland and this is their second album of Brutal/Technical Death Metal.
Uncompromising and vicious; Beneath play their Death Metal like it’s the end of the world. The devastation shown on their album cover is perfectly replicated by their music which takes no prisoners at all.
It’s unsubtle and crushing but the band do make room for a few nuanced riffs in amongst the chaos. They use darkened melodies to enhance the tracks and play some good solos/leads when they’re not hammering the Hell out of their instruments. Brutal it may be, but the odd flashes of melody and intrigue show that the band are willing to raise their game and be more than just brutal for brutal’s sake.
Inventive riffs create an atmosphere of technical turmoil and the band are in full control of the disarray they are sowing and the carnage they have unleashed. Beneath have an intuitive grasp of dynamics and the songs on this album have a good deal of variety, pace and ideas for an album of this genre. Just look at a song like Sky Burial – almost 8 minutes of pure class.
The sound is sharp and tight, as are the band themselves who all put in a stellar performance.
This is the type of deeply satisfying Death Metal that you can feel all the way down to your marrow. It connects in ways that other styles of music just don’t.
Pyrexia are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their fourth album.
Wonderbox Metal 