Death Metal – Page 224 – Wonderbox Metal

Northern Plague – Manifesto (Review)

Northern Plague are Polish and play Blackened Death Metal.

Poland has a high quality pedigree when it comes to Death Metal, and Northern Plague do not let the side down. They play scathing Death Metal with a Blackened sheen; the vocals in particular are more Black than Death.

The guitars have a strong Death Metal focus, with some influence from the Black Metal side of things showing now and again. The song writing is exceptional and the feelings of depth of mood the band evoke is truly something. It’s a very satisfying listen. Brutal yes; but subtle also.

The musicianship all-round is top quality, and I should point out as well that there are some lovely solos and leads on this album. Exquisite.

Each song seems to slide out of some alternate reality ready to strike with a prolonged barrage of attacks. Once the target has been subdued it then slithers off back through the cracks in the world to wherever it came from.

This is an album that should be high on your list of wants for 2014.

SystemHouse33 – Depths of Despair (Review)

Indian band SystemHouse33 play a forward thinking brand of Metal.

After a typical perfunctory intro we get a nice brand of heavy modern Metal with speed, bounce and vocals that sound like they’re going to jump out of the speakers and beat you to death.

There are some good riffs on this album that take some of the best parts of modern Metal but manage to avoid all of the riff-recycling and At The Gates-pillaging that a lot of modern Metal bands end up doing. The drums underpin everything with a relentless backdrop of pounding and punchy beats.

Across the album the band use tools from the Metal, Thrash and even Death Metal toolboxes to build their sound. This is then combined with quasi-Industrial sounds and effects to spice up their music, meaning that a lot of the time there’s more going on than just the Meshuggah-heavy guitars trying to alternately flatten or slice you to death.

A diverse and effective album that is over far too quickly at only 22 minutes. The band seem to have plenty of ideas and no shortage of inspiration in how to apply them.

A quality release that promises bright things for them in the future. For a good blast of non-cliché Metal you can do a hell of a lot worse than this. Listen up.

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.

Dementia Senex – Heartworm (Review)

Dementia Senex are from Italy and play complex Death Metal with elements of Doom and Sludge mixed in.

Heartworm comes from a dense, murky place where atmosphere and mood are just as important as heaviness and brutality.

The band themselves state their sound as a cross between Gorguts and Cult of Luna, and I’d agree that this is a fair assessment. They combine intricate riffing and complex blasting with wall-of-sound atmospherics and pacing.

The vocals are mainly halfway between a shout and a growl, while third track Heartworm mixes this up a bit with the vocalist trying a few different styles.

This EP only has 3 songs but there is 17 minutes of music here, and quality music too. I also love the EP cover.

I am genuinely excited to hear a full-length from them eventually. The phrase “one to watch” was invented for bands like this.

Gaped – The Murderous Inception (Review)

This is the début EP of Australian Death Metal band Gaped.

Gaped play powerful-sounding Death Metal with lots of emphasis on the heaviness of the guitars and the quality of the riffs.

Mixed in amongst the brutality are snippets of melody and added flourishes, as well as some effective lead work and solos.

There is a fair degree of versatility in the sound, from Six Feet Under-style groove to Bloodbath-style melody to Avulsed-style blasting. In fact, a mix of Bloodbath and Six Feet Under with a hint of Avulsed – probably a good description for how Gaped come across.

The vocals are deep and menacing, but understandable. They chomp and chew their way through the chunky guitars and compete with them for the highest impact.

They end the EP with a cover of Stripped, Raped and Strangled by Cannibal Corpse. It’s very good.

This album is a lesson in focused, structured and planned Death Metal murder. There’s only 23 minutes of music on this album, 20 if you discount the cover; however this is a great release for the discerning Death Metal fan and one can only wait for an album now. Great stuff.

Thunderwar – The Birth of Thunder (Review)

The Birth of Thunder is the first release from Polish Death Metallers Thunderwar.

This is Death Metal founded on songs and an underlying melodic edge that will do them credit in the future if they continue to hone it finely. While still undeniably heavy and raging in places, the band understand the need for subtleties in their songs and their arrangements make the best use of the guitar riffs.

There is a Thrash sensibility to the songs on this 19 minute EP which gives them a direction and focus that sets Thunderwar apart from the Death Metal pack. Each riff feels like it has a purpose in the songs, rather than being there purely to fill space until the next, better part of the track starts.

The vocal delivery is particularly accomplished; reminding of some Old-School growlers who attacked with a measured and deliberate pace. Growl is the right word too, as his vocals are like a controlled animalistic outpouring.

An impressive EP that ably shows off the skills of Thunderwar. I’m hoping that they can continue to refine whatever creative seam they are mining and that this hard work will pay off for an upcoming full album. Discover them early.

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.

Endemise – Far From The Light (Review)

This is Canadian Death-infused Black Metal from Endemise and this is their second album.

The band combine the heaviness and brutality of Death Metal with the Blackened atmosphere and symphonics of a band like Dimmu Borgir. Alternatively; imagine a band like Behemoth; now tone down the Death Metal and increase the presence of keyboards – you’re now in the right area that Endemise inhabit. Bands like Alghazanth and Gloria Morti are also good examples.

The songs manage to weave in between these two genres with ease, although they stray mainly into Black Metal territory for most of the album. They might be blasting away full of fury before a keyboard flourish changes their tack and all of a sudden they’re going all grandiose and orchestrated.

True to the rest of the album the vocals fluctuate between high-pitched shrieks and lower growls.

Although a little rough around the edges in places this is an enjoyable album with a few really good moments that they can build on for the next release.

Voidhanger – Working Class Misanthropy (Review)

Black/Death Metal with a Thrashy edge from Poland. Or Thrash Metal with a Blackened Death edge. Either way it’s a bit of a killer.

The first thing you notice is the granite-heavy sound and the utter crushing demolition job that goes along with it.

The songs are mainly fast and pounding but they also have good taste in their choice of slower riffs. This is quality Metal that’s pretty much half-Black and half-Thrash with an extra helping of Metal.

Chock full to bursting of Old-School riffery with a vague Punk air; these are class songs that know they’re good and can afford to have a cocky swagger about them.

The vocals have a lot of character and individuality. Think of singers such as those of Celtic Frost, Venom, Usurper, Cathedral, et al who manage to infuse their voices with both aggression and personality; the singer of Voidhanger is of their ilk, and it really works wonders.

This is a quality Metal album with a crushing sound that’ll have you reaching for the bulletbelt and spikes faster than you can say “blastbeat”.

Mephistopheles – Sounds Of The End (Review)

The first thing I have to note is how great the album cover is. Brilliant stuff.

Mephistopheles are Australian and play Technical Death Metal with interesting riffs and personality.

The instruments are clear and what they play is not your average Death Metal. Lots of ideas and playful experimentation with the genre norms are apparent in the riffs and patterns they use.

Sounds Of The End is very exploratory and guitar-based, with the guitarists seemingly searching for that perfect riff yet always being dissatisfied with what they find so they almost immediately change tack and go hunting for it elsewhere. Meanwhile the drums, bass, (yes it’s audible), and vocals rush to keep up, only by the time they’ve got there the guitars have already moved on two or three times to pastures new.

The guitars seem to jump from one place to another sometimes, always on a quest to find the next, more unusual riff or melody. A full album of this could sound messy, but they also know when to lock into a melody when the song necessitates.

The vocals are varied, going from grunts to shrieks in the space of a few seconds sometimes; matching the eclectic and diverse music. Unexpectedly for this kind of Metal we also get some spoken word and even the odd clean passage, just to keep us on our toes.

This is an elaborate and complex album that doesn’t sound like your typical Technical Death Metal band. It may be of that genre but it has more originality than most and largely succeeds in going its own way. A daunting but rewarding listen.