Garroter are a Polish Death Metal band and this is their second album.
This is sharp and tight Death Metal that features a modern style and sound, but not overly so.
The songs feature lots of chug and groove alongside the faster sections. This is a band that has plenty of crunch and knows what to do with it.
Think of a cross between Decapitated and Malevolent Creation with a touch of Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal and even Behemoth; this is the Garroter sound, and it sounds pretty good.
The band has a slick, professional production that serves them well. Everything has bite and you can even hear the bass, which is always nice. The band can obviously play and there’s a good amount of technical wizardry on display.
Each song is a muscular collection of riffs that are shredded together into a coherent structure and then handed over to an inhuman monster to growl and roar over.
Their music is very precise, with a fair few objects of interest, atypical ideas and areas of mechanical playfulness strewn throughout these 11 tracks.
If you enjoy your Death Metal rhythmically mechanical like a well-oiled killing machine yet still full of infernal life, then Garroter fit the bill. They’ve created a crunchy, catchy album full of Death Metal devastation.
This is well-written Death Metal with some nice melodic streaks thrown in for good emphasis.
The band have gone for a song-oriented approach that is part Swedish Death Metal and part Modern Death Metal, not a million miles away from Illdisposed’s 1-800 Vindication in some ways; frequent infectious melodies with a firm heavy backbone to stop things from ever veering into Melodic Death Metal territory.
Gian frequently trade off crunchy, heavy riffs with melodic passages, all the time retaining an overall muscular presence.
The vocals are deep growls and angry shouts for the most part, but I must say that I was completely unprepared for clean vocals to appear on the second track Bloodstorm! They are performed extremely well and only appear on this song, but for a band who have a firm Death Metal sound with blast beats aplenty I was quite taken aback. Their scarcity works in their favour though, as when they do appear it’s just another aspect of the melodic delivery that appears among the brutal carnage that their music alternates between.
Gian have created a very enjoyable album that delivers something that’s an uncommon treat; songs that are equally brutal and melodic but without falling into the trap of losing their bite.
Piah Mater are from Brazil and play Progressive Death Metal. This is their début album.
This is Progressive Death Metal that’s expertly played and produced.
If you take Opeth (old) as a base template and then add in some more Progressive influences, (Wolverine and some aspects of Anathema spring to mind), then you’ll have a good idea of what Piah Mater sound like.
The singer has a top notch voice. His clean vocals are well performed and have the requisite amount of personality to them. His growls are deep with a slight rasp and work well with the melodic music.
The songs twist, wind and curl their way through the playing times. Quasi-melodic angular riffs meet Progressive melodies and it’s clear that Piah Mater obviously know exactly how they want to sound.
Memories of Inexistence is a very enjoyable 58 minutes of Progressive Death Metal that is easy to like and easy to recommend.
If you dislike the direction that Opeth have taken over the last few years then Piah Mater can help to soothe your discontent. This is an album that’s a return to the roots that Opeth put down, only updated for the present day.
Biopsy are from India and this is their début EP. They play Brutal Death Metal.
Biopsy take their influences from the USDM scene and even though they’re from India would fit in rather well over there.
The vocals are as deep as any I’ve heard, full of pignoise and bile. The singer is clearly interested in chewing your face off.
The music is nicely brutal with some good grooves and tight riffs amongst the butchery. An impressive amount of chuggery, (it’s a word), takes place here, enough to knock you over.
Moments of melody are few and far between, but there are some brief moments here and there incorporated into the brutality.
There’s enough skill and talent here to avoid dismissal as mere Suffocation-clones and based on this release Biopsy could have a bright future ahead of them in the underground Death Metal arena.
Each song hovers around the 3 minute mark, so the band make an impact without overstaying their welcome. The tracks are solid examples of the style and if you like USDM then Biopsy are waiting for you, surgical table at the ready.
Dehuman are from Belgium and play Death Metal. This is their second album.
I enjoyed Dehuman’s 2012 début album Black Throne of All Creation and as such had high hopes for this new one as I first pressed play.
It did not disappoint.
This is solid Death Metal that flexes its musical muscles early and frequently. The band create an impressive racket.
Dehuman play classic Death Metal that has a timeless quality even though it’s delivered in a modern package.
Thick, heavy guitars blare out with spiky, take-no-prisoners riffs. The band are technically proficient in what they do and their songs reflect this. Riffs chop and change all over the shop and the occasional lightning speed solo, obscure lead or rare bout of melody strikes out from the coldly calculated mayhem to dazzle the listener.
Deep growls are shouted violently on top of this aggressive barrage and do their job well.
Dehuman have succeeded in creating an album of depth that has more than enough content to hold interest for repeated spins.
Ur Draugr are from Australia and this is their début EP.
This release is 20 minutes long and features Ur Draugr’s captivating take on Atmospheric Death Metal.
Unseen Golgotha is just under 7 minutes long and opens softly, with some light acoustic guitar guiding the way.
This slowly builds in atmosphere until the crashing guitars and thundering drums enter proceedings. Finally we get pitch-black growls entering the song and the dark atmosphere is ramped up by a factor of ten.
Tense melodies and charismatic music means that this song is an instant revelation.
Up next is the title track The Wretched Ascetic. This serves as the EP’s centrepiece at just over 10 minutes in length.
It’s a churning maelstrom of a song that builds like an oncoming storm with a heavily percussive backdrop and immense rhythms powering it along.
Like the first song, this second track is extremely impressive and ably showcases the band’s aesthetic of organic, atmospheric Death Metal that has some undertones of Black, Post- and Progressive Metal.
The final track on this wonderful début is Sombre Moribund. At 3 minutes in length it’s the shortest track here and serves as a gentle outro to the EP.
If you long for the olden days of classic Opeth but don’t want an Opeth rip-off band then Ur Draugr are the band for you.
This is a hugely impressive release. I can only imagine how good their eventual album will be. Here’s hoping and waiting expectantly.
This is the début album from Spanish band Deprive. They play Old School Death Metal. Actually I should say “he plays”, as Deprive is helmed by just one man.
Into Oblivion has a morbid, ancient sound that evokes images of graveyards in decades past. For all this though the production is still warm and suited to the feel of the band.
This is 90’s-style Death Metal with a sound that’s even older than that. There are some eerie, emotive melodies amongst the riffs and the mastermind behind the band also has a nice grasp on some Doom licks, which are spread out liberally around the tracks.
Blast beats, mid-paced sections and Doom riffs all coalesce in Deprive’s songs to produce an album that sounds both authentic and satisfying.
The singer has a quality voice that’s deep and aggressive yet still as old and as venerable as the music.
Sometimes I feel I’ve reached my saturation point with Old-School Death Metal, but then a band like Deprive comes along and I can’t help but totally dig it. Their incorporation of blasting aggression and Doom-inflected passages into the standard Old-School template makes Into Oblivion a compelling listen.
The best thing, of course, is the songs themselves; all of these different elements are arranged naturally so that the band end up with tracks that are actually song-based as opposed to a collection of knitted-together riffs.
Bloodscribe have a produced an extremely satisfying first album with Prologue to the Apocalypse. Spreading the word about his band and all things Bloodscribe is their vocalist Jasan…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
We’re a 5 piece death metal band currently made up of Jasan (vocals), Joseph (Guitar), Michael (Guitar), Jesse (Drums), and Dennis (Bass).
Give us a bit of history to Bloodscribe
Bloodscribe was formed by Jesse and myself (Jasan) in 2004 strictly as a way for us to spend time and have fun with music, never did we imagine playing so many shows and getting as far as we have now. After a few member changes we seem to have reached a pretty solid line up that has giving the band the sound we have today.
Where does the name come from?
The name was actually completely made up by Jesse after skimming through and dictionary and seeing the word “describe” and simply added “blood” to it. There’s no real wow factor to the name and in no way is it related or influenced by Lamb of God.
What are your influences?
We all agree on 3 major influences, Dying Fetus, Disgorge, and The Black Dahlia Murder.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
We all listen to different thing aside from metal if you’re open minded then definitely check out.
What did you want to achieve with your new album?
The goals for this album are endless and by no way have we set limits going in to this album but we definitely want to play some shows out of the country.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
We’re certainly happy with the end result but we have already raised the standards for the next album.
What can you tell us about the lyrics?
Well the lyrics are influenced by current events in society as well as ongoing ones, one big topic for us is religion and its weakening influence on its followers.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
We all tend to have our own unique ideas which we bring to practice to share and build on as a band. We usually pick one idea and grind it out till we’ve written something we all agree on.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
We all really took a liking on “Enslaved by Deceptions” because it really portrays the sound we are going for thus making it an easy choice for our first single and video.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
We’ve actually already started writing for the next album and feel we are headed towards a heavier and better plotted sound that will make an impact in the metal scene.
What’s next for Bloodscribe?
For now we plan on really pushing the album by promoting and touring as much as possible, while doing that we will continue to write and hopefully have some new material to go into the studio with in the near future.
This is the début Technical Death Metal album from US band Apocrophex.
Building on their short but very promising EP Wheels Within Wheels, Apocrophex are now back with a full album, one that I’ve been quite looking forward to.
Opening straight up with some dense widdling and technical mayhem, Apocrophex make a grand entrance. I love the fact that their sound is equal parts heavy brutality and technical mayhem.
But what’s this? There’s an increased depth and maturity of songwriting here that was absent on their first release. It lends these songs an air of gravitas as they are an impressively realised collection of Technical Death Metal tracks.
Importanly, the technicality never takes over from the songs themselves and there are some quality emotive passages and high energy riffs here amidst the chaos.
Some Technical bands concentrate too much on what the lead guitar is doing, leaving the rhythm essentially providing just filler material. Apocrophex do things differently though; they put just as much effort into the rhythm guitars as they do the complicated and flash leads/solos. The result is songs that marry the best of both worlds and Suspended from the Cosmic Altaar is a real gem of an album because of this.
The vocals are as equally impressive as the music. The deep growls have come a long way since the EP and are hugely satisfying. High screams accentuate the aggression and there are even some semi-clean shouts that rise up out of the carnage on occasion to really add emphasis where it’s needed.
I think I’ve just found my new favourite Technical Death Metal band.
Bloodscribe are from the US and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
This is Brutal Death Metal that’s short, nasty, violent and infectious. At its core it has a purity of intent that’s a joy to hear.
The songs are a hearty mix of blast, chug and groove that’s guaranteed to get the blood pumping and the body slamming.
There are plenty of tasty riffs here as well as some squeals, breakdowns, and chug-fests. The band remind me of the older, Suffocation/Broken Hope style of Death Metal and they play it well.
At only 25 minutes in length the band get in, make a gloriously noisy mess and then exit again swiftly.
Bloodscribe have a hideously warm production that reeks of decaying organic matter whilst retaining a powerful presence.
The vocals are guttural delights; sickeningly deep without descending into ridiculous pignoise territory.
A very enjoyable way to spend almost half an hour. Gotta love groovy, heavy Death Metal.
Garroter are a Polish Death Metal band and this is their second album.
Wonderbox Metal 