Death – Page 12 – Wonderbox Metal

Untimely Demise – Systematic Eradication (Review)

Untimely Demise are a Canadian Thrash Metal band and this is their second album.

Straight from the go we’re into high octane Thrash territory with solos shredding and drums clanging. Technical riffing and rasped vocals lead the way while the rest of the music rips things up.

Musically this is Thrash Metal with a Megadeth/Testament/Death/Arch Enemy flavour. Extremely competent and played with feeling, Untimely Demise show from the off that they have talent.

The singer mainly uses a harsh rasp, but also uses some rougher semi-cleans that shows he’s capable of depth. It adds texture to the impressive playing of the rest of the band. A cross between Death and Arch Enemy, it fits the music well.

The band avoid the issues of the over-saturated Retro-Thrash scene by just being themselves and adding some harsher/technical/more European elements to their sound. It’s honest, direct and more worthwhile than 100 Retro bands trying to recapture old glories without any real feeling. Untimely Demise have come to show them how it should be done; a nod to the past, a spotlight on the present and a battle-plan for the future.

Shards of Humanity – Fractured Frequencies (Review)

Shards of Humanity are a US Death Metal band. This is their début album.

The band play their Death Metal with a nod to Death and a Thrash Metal edge.

The songs are capable of following a good riff to see where it goes and giving it the time to develop and breathe. This sometimes lends the band a pseudo-Progressive edge, (again, akin to Death), and makes their songs all the more enjoyable for it.

For the most part Shards of Humanity’s songs are fast, precise and technically proficient, although they have an ear for a slower riff when the song calls for it.

They give me the impression that these songs have undergone a lot of changes in their history; not due to poor songwriting but due to natural development as there is an exploratory feeling to them.

The tracks feel like they would have been lovingly followed through to their logical conclusions by the band who would have wanted to see where they went to and what would become of them.

Solos are played well and the performance levels all around are good.

The recording is raw and sharp, recalling the Old-School but with more bite.

The vocals are savage, rough barks that are more than capable of competing with the music.

Overall, an enjoyable release. You could do a lot worse than look up this band.

Hybris – Blinded Thoughts (Review)

Polish band Hybris have just recently released their début EP – this is 18 minutes of Thrash-tinged Death Metal.

The first track Amnesia is the longest of the three and starts with a soft atmospheric intro that builds into a nice Thrash riff.

The songs are memorable and well-executed slabs of Thrash/Death, with a strong Old-School feel to the recording and aura of the EP.

I hear a good amount of influence from bands like Death. In fact this is the main comparator I’m reminded of; Death with a technical Thrash makeover. Other influences come into the songs as well though, such as the Egyptian vibe on Egyptian Darkness.

The music is crisp and technical but without sacrificing the song itself. The sound is precise and even the bass can be heard in a meaningful way.

There are lots of solos and leads; the band can certainly play but it’s not showboating or self-aggrandisement, just a sheer love of Metal and the demands of the song.

A most enjoyable EP that introduces Hybris to the world and promises great things for the band.

Horrid – Sacrilegious Fornication (Review)

Veterans Horrid are from Italy and play Death Metal, this is their third album.

What we get here is unholy Death Metal powered by the Old-School and capable of conjuring all manner of lost and forgotten riffs.

Horrid are brutal and sinister at the same time. Imagine a band like Incantation messing around with Celtic Frost riffs whilst throwing in the odd lick from Death and Entombed – this is the land that Horrid stalk and they rule here absolutely.

Cavernous, guttural vocals invoke dark blasphemies while the Metal flares up around them. Horrid create feelings of unforgiving blackness and bleak rituals.

Awakening in a crypt, chained and bound; you are roughly manhandled onto a slab of shaped granite, your captors uncaring of your discomfort or the marks they are leaving. Masked acolytes surround you, the glint of a blade…

How Horrid.

Occult Death Metal played by true devotees.

Rude – Soul Recall (Review)

Rude are from the US and play Old-School Death Metal through and through. This is their début.

This is the kind of lumbering, rolling Death Metal that’s easy to like and full of good intentions. It’s an instantly familiar style of music and all of the hallmarks are in place for it to be a very welcoming listen.

Death, Autopsy, etc. – the usual reference points. This is not to belittle Rude, but they play a very specific genre of music so if you’re familiar with the greats you know what to expect here, and Rude deliver the goods.

The vocals have an unusual tint to them that sounds as if they’re scraping and tearing the singer’s throat raw on their way out of his mouth. Hopefully this isn’t the case, but you know what they say about suffering for your art…

The band have managed to capture that classic Death Metal sound from yesteryear and exploit this to the full with the crashing, fill-happy drums, prime riffage and widdly bass.

This is 44 minutes of enjoyable music played by people with a love of the genre and who know how to handle the material and do it justice. Have a listen to Soul Recall.

Question – Doomed Passages (Review)

Question are a Mexican Death Metal band and this is their début album.

The band give their Death Metal a mysterious occult sheen and the music is steeped in it. Rather than a straightforward blastfest or one dimensional brutality Question inject their music with a smattering of Death-like melody and a feeling of grandiose song structure.

There is blasting, of course, and there is brutality, but there is more than just this. Dark melodies and slower sections are rife and the compositions are right up there from the heights of the Classic Death Metal era.

Question channel the Death Metal greats such as Death, Incantation, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel and Suffocation to deliver an engaging and involving album that doesn’t take the easy or simple route.

The compositions are well written and show a degree of maturity and integrity that most bands lack. Longer songs give the band’s creativity time to shine and allow them to demonstrate their breadth of talent within the Death Metal genre.

The singer has a deep voice that’s absolutely monolithic; like an angry God from ancient days past decreeing loudly from the mountain tops.

This may be a new album but it is stylistically of a time when each song had its own identity and albums were holistically a complete package.

Despot – Satan in the Death Row (Review)

Despot come from Brazil and play Black Metal.

This is Old-School Black Metal with a distinct streak of personality and individuality about it. The core is of the 80’s/early 90’s Black Metal fused with an unusual album art/band logo and with added musical flourishes such as a few more modern moments and unexpected guitar solos/leads.

Subtle keyboard embellishments haunt the tracks like a ghost of forbidden memory just playing around the edges of perception. It’s almost like it’s not there, but you can definitely sense something on the outskirts of hearing.

The riffs are interesting and inventive and the general structure of the songs is an impressive homage to all things dark Metal. The band use melody well and manage to infuse the tracks with a sense of wonder and awe in addition to the usual Black Metal trappings.

Not content with this there are some Celtic Frost influences at play here as well as a bit of a Death/Morbid Angel-inspired Death Metal influence on occasion. They even flirt with some almost sci-fi touches now and then.

The songs are ambitious and as the above description shows they are not afraid to throw different influences into the blender. It all works.

The same is true of the vocals; although primarily an Old-School Black Metal croak there are also deeper grunts and cleaner utterances as well as shouting and chanting.

The sound is authentically Old-School and could in fact be some long-lost gem from decades ago.

This is a top-of-the-line Metal album with lots to draw the listener in and keep them enraptured. This is one Despot to be listened to attentively.

Morbid Flesh – Embedded In The Ossuary (Review)

Morbid Flesh are a Death Metal band from Spain, and this is their latest EP.

It starts off with an atmospheric instrumental track Entrance to the Ossuary which whets the appetite with its Bolt Thrower-esque melodies and build up. After this we’re into the thick of it with Charnel House and it’s clear that the band are channelling the greats of Swedish Death Metal for their primal sound.

The riffs are good choices and the drums are a powerful backbone keeping everything on track. Rather than adhereing strictly to the blueprint laid down by the Swedish masters however, the band are not afraid to add a bit of atmospherics to their sound and they excel at all of the wailing, screaming solos.

So, a nice bit of Grave and Dismember, with a little bit of a Death influence added.

The vocalist is adept at his calling, with some deep growls to accompany the chainsaw-assault and the melodic outbreaks.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I appear to have a soft spot for this kind of Death Metal. But honestly, what’s not to like?

Listen for yourself.

Sabbatory – Endless Asphyxiating Gloom (Review)

Sabbatory are from Canada and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

Sabbatory have an Old-School sound that recalls Celtic Frost if they were a Death Metal band.

The production has that classic timeless feeling and the songs maximise this, playing their morbid Metal with enthusiasm and intensity.

The vocals are deep and disturbed, but remain legible for the most part. They have character and are instantly differentiated from most modern Death Metal vocals by this and by borrowing some Old-School quirkiness from the likes of Celtic Frost and Venom.

Each song has its own identity. There are only 7 of them but they each have a role to play in making up the 33 minutes playing time. There is not a filler in sight.

Like the best of the classic Death Metal bands Sabbatory are interested in songs and know how to write a good tune. They play the riffs well and even push out the odd solo. I hear a healthy Death influence here and there.

Recommended listening. After all, this is Death Metal through and through, what’s not to like?

Avulsed – Ritual Zombi (Review)

This is Avulsed’s sixth album and the veteran Death Metal juggernaut shows no sign of let up in either the aggression or quality departments.

If you haven’t encountered Avulsed before then I heartily recommend you get hold of their entire back catalogue as they have released some great Death Metal over the years.

Their style is brutality spiced up with unexpected moments of melody and a large degree of catchiness. Yes; Death Metal with songs!

Their latest album is no different; here we get ultra-heavy song-based Death Metal with a production that melts faces all delivered by a band who have made Metal their true calling in life. This passion shines through and I think is one of the reasons that Avulsed are so good at what they do.

They’ve never shied away from the odd unexpected moment either; the odd keyboard-enhanced section or Spanish guitar track has been known to make it through the mincer on occasion to throw in a bit of light in all of the gore-drenched chaos. This is the exception of course, as the vast majority is pure unadulterated Death Metal.

This zombie-themed album smashes skulls and scores kill-shots with every song. Vocalist Dave Rotten once again putting in a stellar performance with guttural, bowel-loosening growls honed through decades of use.

There is also a cover of Death’s Zombie Ritual to chew on.

Avulsed continue to be one of the best Death Metal bands around. This album is expertly crafted, proficiently played and staunchly Death Metal; any fan of brutality should have this in their collection.