brutal death metal – Page 29

Enthrallment – The Voice of Human Perversity (Review)

Enthrallment are from Bulgaria and play Brutal Death Metal. This is the fourth album from these veterans.

The riffs roll over the drums like a sinuous reptilian in search of a fresh kill. The sense of flowing, lean musculature and predatory instinct is strong with this one.

Speed and technicality are not the be all and end all of Death Metal, (although they certainly have their place in The Voice of Human Perversity), and Enthrallment seem well aware of this fact. More important to them are the songs themselves and a heavy, catchy riff. Of the former we get 8 hymns to brutality in just under 35 minutes, and of the latter we get absolutely bucketfuls.

Interesting and darkly passionate; the riffs slide out of the speakers and into the wound. The solos are equally penetrating and the bass is vibrant, clear and utilised fully; the benefits of a quality recording.

The singer treats us to a nice deep grunt that works with the music to bring the songs to life. He has vocals that fully engage; rhythmic and brutal without sacrificing delivery.

This is a compelling offering that has a timeless quality; the kind of album you could imagine listening to when Death Metal was fresh and new to you, but conversely still sounds fresh now even though you’re a jaded Death Metal warrior.

This is why Metal will never die and inspires such passion in its adherents. Is there any better form of music? The answer is no. No there isn’t. Enthrallment embody this indomitable spirit.

Necrovile – Engorging the Devourmental Void (Review)

Necrovile play Brutal Death Metal.

The songs barely poke out over the 3 minute mark, but when they contain this much carnage and slaughter it doesn’t really matter.

The production is brutal and punishing and everything sounds great; it means you can hear everything that’s going on so there’s no escape from the slaying. Necrovile exist for the destruction of beauty through the beauty of destruction.

This really is ultra-brutal, with the drums, guitars and vocals all locking into a single-minded intent to achieve this outcome. There’s even a bit of bass; I especially enjoy the parts where it takes on a life of its own such as during Bloodstained Surgeons; these are the touches that elevate songs to greatness.

There is a lot of heavy-duty blasting throughout the songs, yet the band also knock it down a gear for some good old USDM-style crunch ‘n’ squeal parts too.

The vocals are super-deep and only one step removed from pure pignoise, which it does descend into on occasion. It perfectly fits with the inhuman nature of the music and leaves you with a very satisfied feeling deep in your bowels.

Necrovile have the complete Brutal Death Metal luxury package going on, and it’s well worth upgrading to. Highly recommended.

Warfather – Orchestrating the Apocalypse (Review)

Warfather sees the return of ex-Morbid Angel growler Steve Tucker; he of the amazing Death Metal Premier League lungs.

His voice doesn’t disappoint on Orchestrating the Apocalypse and he puts in a fine performance full of character and passion. He has a clear, deep growl that nonetheless retains legibility of the majority of the lyrics.

Warfather play Morbid Angel-influenced Death Metal with a lot of ideas and interesting touches. Inventive rhythms, melodies, effects/sounds and even some choral vocals all appear in places. It’s clear that even though they play what is at its core Brutal Death Metal, they are not interested in limiting themselves and instead take the time to add a bit of experimentation into the mix. All of which is very welcome and adds a kind of pseudo-operatic theme to the album.

The tracks are full of expert guitar work; complex riffing, chaotic time-changes and a plethora of solos and flourishes. Each song is seemingly cobbled together from random bits of an Extreme Metal nightmare, and somehow given coherence by a sheer force of will of the musicians involved.

A challenging album that I feel is destined to be misunderstood by many; this is varied, interesting and recommended to anyone who likes a little bit of something different with their Metal.

Necrambulant – Infernal Infectious Necro-Ambulatory Pandemic (Review)

Well well. If this isn’t one of the heaviest starts to one of the heaviest songs ever. Epoch of Nihilistic Cosmic Failure has quite the opening. US band Necrambulant play Brutal Death Metal of the Slammiest Slam variety that ever did Slam. Or something. You get the idea.

The sound of this début album is absolutely huge. You can almost feel the zombies pressing into your flesh like a physical presence.

The riffs are so fat, bloated and outright heavy it’s amazing that the speakers don’t sink into the floor just by transmitting these festering, dense sounds.

The tracks are all about finding the heaviest and most brutal ways to play Death Metal, and everything else is of secondary concern. That’s not to say that all of the other elements to the songs are unimportant or poor, it’s just not the priority here. I mean, they even find ways to sound heavier than normal when going fast. Most of this album is a complete chug-fest though, and it would sound boring if it weren’t for the fact that it’s just done so well.

Slam-style Death Metal garners a healthy amount of criticism in general, for various reasons including a lack of perceived variety, etc. To me any criticism of Necrambulant is missing the point; if you can’t get on board with the sheer level of gleeful ultra-brutality they dish out then I can’t help you. All I can do is recommend that you turn the volume up enough to make your ears bleed and sit in a darkened room until the music just takes you. Once infected by their zombie-plague you’ll be bouncing around like a motherfucker with the rest of us.

The Kennedy Veil – Trinity Of Falsehood (Review)

This is the second album of Brutal Death Metal from US band The Kennedy Veil.

This is modern state-of-the-art Death Metal blistering with aggression and serrated to the touch. They are so contemporary it almost hurts; but there is no Djent in sight nor are there any breakdowns. Instead we get pure unadulterated razor-sharp Death Metal; fresh, focused and utterly singular in its murderous intent.

Completely stripped of fat, frills and in a tip top lean fighting condition; these eleven songs tear, rip and batter all-comers into bloody heaps and then look around hungrily for the next victory.

The band are no slouches in the playing department and the songs are endlessly brutal in a very satisfying way.

Concise rhythms and relentless percussion assault the jaded mind sparking long-forgotten passions and dreams. In a slumber of Death Metal bands going through the motions the energy and vigour of a modern Death Metal group like The Kennedy Veil is exactly what is needed. If this is the future then the future is bright.

Wormed – Exodromos (Review)

Wormed are from Spain and play science/future-themed Brutal/Technical Death Metal.

Tight, muscular songs fly by in a haze of technical wizardry with so much going on it’s hardly possible to digest everything in one sitting. The album positively demands repeated listens, and rightfully deserves them too.

This level of extremity is extremely impressive. Especially so when wrapped up in a state-of-the-art, crystal-clear production that makes the most out of every instrument with a sound so sharp you could cut yourself on it.

It’s not all about the technicality though, there’s a massive injection of pure brutality to go along with it. Wormed have managed to pitch both types of Death Metal against each other and come out a winner on both sides.

The songs are generally relatively short with most of them being about the 3:00-3:30 mark, but there is a lot going on and the band don’t need longer to make their mark.

The maniacal drumming, guttural pig-noise vocals, breakneck inventive riffing and massive chugging atrocities all combine to create an experience not easily forgotten. Like a thunderclap given form and mangled into an intricate design that rushes towards you at the speed of sound; you’ll wonder what the hell just happened but be more than eager to repeat the experience. This is an album I’ll be joyfully assimilating for some time.

Defeated Sanity – Passages Into Deformity (Review)

Germany’s Defeated Sanity serve up their fourth full-length platter of Brutal Technical Death Metal with Passages Into Deformity.

This is a case study in brutality from the get-go. First track Initiation – from the title and the fact it’s only 1:15 long I was led to assume it would be some typically disposable intro that so many bands have, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. It is, essentially, a Deathgrind song and it’s a great way to start things off.

Defeated Sanity play the technical and brutal sides of Death Metal very well, and I especially enjoy the Cryptopsy-esque drum/bass moments, fancy breaks and general riff-chuggery. The Jazz-Death is strong with this one.

The vocalist does a great job gargling with broken glass, and I hope he’s recovered from the blood loss of creating such guttural sounds.

They have a good clear production that allows you to actually hear the bass, (which they make ample use of), and the drumming is an exercise in flawless precision. The two instruments work together to form an integral and essential part of the songs and are every bit as important as the thickened guitars and the bestial grunts.

A top-quality release from a band who have enough experience and know-how to excel at what they’re doing.

Embryonic Devourment – Reptilian Agenda (Review)

Brutal and Technical Death Metal from the US.

Oh but this is a quality blast. Reptilian Agenda is interesting and inventive Death Metal, with all kinds of rhythms and creative moments. The songs are alive with reptilian malice and slithering slime.

The band have plenty of technique and their delivery is flawless. It’s instantly apparent that this is not run-of-the-mill Death Metal and as the album progresses this is confirmed in every song. Like Origin and Cephalic Carnage trading blows; riffs chop and change, twist and turn, only to be devoured by some sudden flare up of technicality and then vomited back up in a hail of brutality. The songs just kill everything in sight.

The vocals are uncompromising growls that also have a wet, fleshy feel to them. The verbalisations of a warm, (reptilian), corpse?

The sound does the music justice and the drums in particular sound immense and provide the glue that holds everything together, even though they appear to be inhabiting a different world to the hugely impressive guitars sometimes, it all holds together.

31 minutes of interesting and spirited brutal music. What are you waiting for?

Chaos Inception – The Abrogation (Review)

US Death Metallers Chaos Inception play such a chaotic whirlwind brand of Death Metal that it’s easy to get blown away by and miss out on just how much is going on in these 9 tracks.

Imagine a band like Morbid Angel only with the technicality and speed ramped up to the max. Chaos Inception mean business.

There is a relentless frenzied feeling to this album that is just short of an animalistic, instinctive craving for destruction. Having said that though there is nothing simple about this music; the band seem to have sharpened their attack to a fine point and the guitars in particular show some considerable musical muscle flexing.

It’s easy to like this kind of Death Metal, (assuming you’re a fan of complete extremity in the first place of course), as it just sweeps up anything in its path and dumps it unceremoniously into the grinder when it’s done. The instruments are all played extremely well, presumably by plague-ridden demons, and the album is just a treasure trove of brutal delights.

All of this adds up to an album that has a feeling of savage malevolence and ultra-violence. Chaos Inception will rip off your face and laugh at your misfortune. And they’ll do it at speed before you’ve even noticed.

For fans of real Extreme Metal only; if this is you then this is a must.

Pus Vomit – Stoned To Death (Review)

Philippine Brutal Death Metal band Pus Vomit have released their new EP Stoned To Death, packed to the rafters full of pig-noise, slam-downs and slaughter.

This is out-and-out brutality that worships the crushing, mid-paced attack of Death Metal as much as the out-and-out blast; and there is plenty of both. They play fast and slow equally well, but the slower parts can sometimes be so oppressive in their heaviness that they’re worthy of special note.

For only a three-piece, (with no bassist), they don’t half play an almighty racket. Proper Brutal Death Metal played for the sheer bloodthirsty fun of it. 5 tracks in 19 minutes means it doesn’t outstay its welcome; it simply enters the room, kills everyone in sight, stays briefly to molest the bodies and then leaves through a hole in the wall which it makes with a sledgehammer.

There’s even time to tack on a “hidden song” at the end of the last track, which is apparently a re-recorded version of one of the first songs they ever recorded.

There is nothing new here but that’s not the point; this is all about ripping, tearing, slashing and hacking your way through the corpses to the sound of dying pigs. And who can honestly say they don’t enjoy a bit of that in the morning?