This is the third album from Norwegian Death Metallers Execration.
So what do we have here then? This is a bit different to what I was expecting. The name certainly implies straightforward Death Metal, but the album cover looks more Black Metal to me. And when you press play…you get a straight up Doom Metal Black Sabbath riff. So far so interesting…
Execration are not your typical Death Metal band. Theirs is the sound of a band experimenting with their chosen medium and pushing the envelope.
They have included elements of Doom, Black Metal and even a bit of Post-Metal into their repertoire. This is Progressive Death Metal that spiritually leaves off where Death ended and builds on the firm foundation left by the masters.
The music on this album is carefully crafted and considered Metal that makes it clear that the band are no longer interested in the old genre restrictions and are more than willing to incorporate whatever Metal influences they feel like to get the sound they want. And more power to them for this.
These songs are very impressive and finely realised. This is atmospheric Death Metal that still has the power of the style but has a firm Progressive edge to it that allows them to ably tread new territory with ease. Blackened riffs, technical solos, blasting drums, slow and building Doom, Post-Metal atmospherics, Progressive meanderings; it’s all here and it’s all done remarkably well.
The mixing of styles never sounds forced and each track sees the band develop their sound into a force to be reckoned with.
Mixing bits of bands like Death, Cynic, Atheist, Enslaved, Morbid Angel, Gorguts; this album is a firm winner.
I highly recommend this album. Seek it out now and prepare to be impressed.
Deathronation are from Germany and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.
This is morbid Old-School Death Metal with dark malevolent feelings rubbing shoulders with some nice graveyard tunes.
Their brand of Death Metal has a few influences from the Doom, Black and Thrash Metal genres mixed in with their Deathly attack, which makes for a nice, well rounded album that has good pace and variety.
Doom? Some of the riffs are superbly downbeat, slow and mournful. These sections typically don’t last long but they’re there and they sound good.
Black? A slight Blackened tinge to some of the guitar licks and leads lends a slightly Old-School Blackened feel to the songs on occasion. It’s not overly blatant but it gives the band an extra depth than just employing pure Death Metal influences.
Thrash? This part is apparent in some of the riffs; sometimes they just Thrash out and an older, crusty vibe is brought to the fore.
All of these are worked around an Old-School Death Metal base that places songs, heavy riffs and horror-fuelled melodies firmly in the limelight.
Hallow the Dead is an impressive collection of tracks that remind the listener that it’s not all about the hyper-blast or the Slamming grooves; the most important thing about Death Metal is the songs themselves and the feelings they invoke.
It seems Deathronation have made a great start to their career. It’s definitely worth checking this out.
This is slow Psychedelic Doom with a hazy atmosphere and resplendent aura.
The songs slowly unwind like a tapestry and the band’s rich, textured sound unveils itself like a gradual sunrise. The bass provides a grounding foundation whilst laid back drums work with snaking guitars to form these slow-burning pieces of musical art. Additional instrumentation and effects enhance the songs and facilitate the creation of Doom that is expressive and lazily articulate.
Vocals are merely shadows of expressions and are used like any other instrument to create subtle highlights along the aural journey.
The tracks move with a glacial pace and each of these 4 tracks is a Doom-laden joy to listen to. This is music to become absorbed in and get carried away by.
The songs are emotive and feel less like they have been written and more like they are being channelled, fully formed, into this plane of existence from some entirely other place in space/time. This allows an entirely transcendent listening experience for the listener if engaged with in the right way.
Megaton Leviathan, (a name that instantly conjures images of heaviness), have created an exemplar of psychedelic Doom with this album. It’s a thing of wondrous beauty and awe inspiring talent.
If you like Doom then this is a must; have a listen to this superb band and get lost in their creations.
This is the third album from Germany’s Ophis. They play Funeral Doom Metal.
For the most part this colossal album is a slow-moving beast of depression and negativity, encapsulated in morbid Doom Metal.
Ophis do have a Death Metal influence, however, which rears its ugly head now and again, most noticeably on the final track Resurrectum.
The songs are long and the mood bleak. There is no light in the world of Ophis, only varying shades of grey and pain.
For reference points think bands such as Monolithe, Eye of Solitude, (old) Anathema, (old) My Dying Bride, etc.
The band boast a crushing production that allows the slowness to unveil at its own pace. The strong drum sound underpins everything whilst the guitars chug and wail. Plaintive melodies and downbeat auras pervade everything, with these being overlain by the deep growls of the vocalist.
This is a long and involving album that lasts the course and doesn’t get boring. The added Death Metal influences mean it doesn’t become stale or one dimensional and the songs have enough top riffs and melodies to satisfy fans of this style.
Ophis have produced an album that may be rooted in everything miserable and depressing but that I, for one, find really enjoyable and worthy.
Doomlord are from Puerto Rico and play Doom Metal. This is their début release, one half of a split with King Heavy.
This is Classic Doom/Heavy Metal with a good recording and enjoyable songs. Taking cues from early Doom Metal, the band have a strong sound that emphasises the Metal part of Doom Metal and clearly enjoy what they do.
The Spanish-language vocals give the album a nice flavour and helps differentiate the band’s sound. The singer has a good voice and knows his chosen genre well.
The music is well played and the songs have some good moments to them. Tasty riffs and solos abound in these 4 tracks. Keyboards/organs add an extra dimension to the songs and are a nice touch. There a lot of well-written sections in the tracks and the band are adept at creating atmospheric parts to otherwise rocking Metal tunes.
This flies the flag high and proud for True Metal and anyone with a passing interest in the original incarnation of Doom/Heavy Metal would do well to look this up.
The début album by Sorxe – Surrounded by Shadows – is an absolute stunner of an album that will hopefully find Doom fans everywhere frothing at the mouth in anticipation of getting their grubby mitts on it. It really is that good.
I manage to catch up with Tanner Crace to find out what makes this band tick, and just how they created such a good début…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
We are Sorxe from Phoenix AZ . Shane Ocell – Drums , Tanner Crace – Guitar , Vocals and Synths Christopher Jason Coons – Bass Roger Williams – Bass
Give us a bit of history to Sorxe. Also – why two bassists?
The band was formed in the summer of 2012 after Shane and Myself jammed out a few improvs. When looking for a bassist to complete the sound we each had a bass player in mind. Both Roger and Chris already knew each other so it was just natural to have both guys join and just roll with two bassist, it felt right and sounds HUGE!
What are your influences?
Its like what are we listening to now or what influenced us while we were making a particular song? Hard to say cause at any time there could be a number of different influences during the writing process.
Shane is big into Helmet and the Melvins, I have always been partial to Mike Patton for his range vocally and also his choice in melodies. Old Metallica, Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pink Floyd is a big one, all the cliché. I learned the most from two specific groups – Fantomas’ 1st album was a huge eye opener in that there are absolutely no rules in music that one must follow and then Neurosis for the use of space and textures, peaks and valleys in their music.
We all love so many bands and different kinds of music this list of influences could be a book.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
T-Rex – the slider, Pallbearer’s new album – Foundations of Burden and Take Over and Destroy – vacant face.
The vocals on your album are especially impressive. Anything to reveal about them?
I try to add some variety to the vocal lines, and I also like to texture certain passages, the phrasing is the most important part, lyrics come 2nd. The vocal phrasing is written usually in the early stages, and most of the lyrics for this album were actually the last thing written – some times the lyrics don’t come till I’m actually about to lay down the vocal track – since we recorded the album on our own terms I had the time to experiment and write the lyrics while recording.
What did you want to achieve with your new album? Any specific goals?
We just wanted to put out a dynamic album packed with music that can best possibly portray where we are as a band right now. And also something that will leave a mark on the people who enjoy the tunes.
Are you happy with how it turned out?
Yes, we are proud of having done everything ourselves. But I will never do it like that again cause its a major time consuming bitch!
What can you tell us about the lyrics?
The lyrics are for the listener to interpret in their own way.
Your songs are richly textured and very well composed – give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
Most of our songs come out of improvs, a lot of the riffs we jam out in practice and then I’ll have Shane lay down some beats and refine them later on back at my home studio. Then bring them back to the rest of the guys and work out all the kinks. We don’t really sit down by ourselves and write, that would defeat the purpose of this bands mission.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
We are just still learning how to write together so I feel that we will get a lot tighter, and more comfortable together in our jams which will lead to better songs. I already have an outline for the next album based on about 20 songs/riffs that are in the back catalog. Its going to be a lot deeper, darker at times and lighter at times.
Tell us about the Sorxe live show.
Loud, relaxed and crushing.
What’s next for Sorxe?
The 1st half of October we will be on our 1st tour with Godhunter, then Southwest Terror Fest opening for Neurosis in Tucson Oct 18th.
Stench are from Sweden and play Death Metal. This is their second album.
Opening with a wowzer of a riff, Archways sets the bar high straight off the bat and continues in this vein for the whole 39 minute running time.
Stench play Old-School Death Metal that may be influenced by the Swedish sound but isn’t defined or limited to it. Theirs is a more varied sound that incorporates elements of Black, Heavy and Doom Metal into their Death Metal core.
Subtle aural enhancements are added at strategic points throughout the album to create an extra layer of mood to these songs. Combined with the emotive nature of the riffs and the half-growl, half-shriek of the vocals it means that Stench have somewhat of a Blackened feel to their songs.
There is somewhat of an eerie, otherworldly feeling to these tracks. It’s as if they’re channelling some nameless horror and are acting as a lightning rod for all things mysterious, dark and rotten.
It would be a mistake to dismiss this band as a standard Death Metal band, as although this is exactly what they appear to be on the surface of things the reality of the situation is quite different. They have a further depth to them that is made up of the extra influences and added parts of their sound as mentioned above. These work together to create a true journey of an album that straddles multiple genres in its quest for Metal perfection.
This is a band who have produced an album that’s just so much more than I was expecting. Stench bring something powerful and dangerously individual to the Metal table. I cannot recommend this album enough.
Favourite Track: Road. Quality riffing, infectious bass and atmospheric mood.
This is the second album from Sweden’s Crucifyre. They play dark Death Metal full of personality and great songs.
The first track starts in a very unexpected fashion, with darkly melodic Doom riffing and clean female vocals that sound quite ritualistic. It’s a bold start to the album and when the song starts “proper” it doesn’t disappoint.
Calling Black Magic Fire Death Metal is a bit of a disservice in a way, as there’s a lot more going on here than just a straight ahead Death Metal album. Bringing to mind a mix of bands like Usurper, Venom, The Meads of Asphodel, Cathedral, Celtic Frost, Gravehill, Black Sabbath and Dismember this is a strong release that captures an occult feeling and channels it through a Heavy Metal core with a Death Metal exterior.
The band have that Old-School Death Metal style going on but there’s also more than enough Classic, Heavy and Doom Metal touches/riffs to go around. This means that the album is incredibly well-rounded and complete. Back this up with a set of very solid songs and you have an album that is extremely impressive in nature.
When I mentioned The Meads of Asphodel earlier it was because I hear echoes of this band in the vocal department and the vocal patterns/rhythms; Crucifyre have the same talent for catchy rhythms and Blackened shout/growls that have a similar character and personality. Semi-clean vocals even make an appearance and these are just great.
Albums like this are more than just one style; this release has a plethora of weapons with which to ensnare the listener and hook them in. The brutality is rhythmic and this is very song-oriented so that each track has an actual identity rather than just taking up space. The personality and character of the vocals spills over to the music as well and the passion and fervour of the band for all things Metal is never in doubt.
This passion is backed up by talent though and they ably pull off everything they try, whether this is the cleaner sections, the ugly brutality, the catchy songs, organs, sound effects, impressive solos or the female enhancement; it’s all performed and delivered at a masterly level.
There’s enough here to appeal to almost any Metal fan. This is Metal as it should be done. I love it.
Ides of Gemini are from the US and play Doom Metal. This is their second album.
This is haunting, Old-School, 70’s retro-influenced Doom with a ghostly feel and abundant depths.
It’s low key and lo-fi, with the strength of the tracks not coming form the recording but from the raw emotion and power given off by the essence of the songs themselves.
Ethereal female vocals soar over the top of the surprisingly subtle music. The singer has a heartbreakingly beautiful voice that captivates and enthrals. Combined with the downbeat, percussive music it’s a hypnotic dirge-fest that you can easily lose yourself in, suddenly realising that the album is over and you’ve just been zoning out, letting it seep into your every pore.
This is good.
There is somewhat of a ritualistic, atavistic feeling to this; a feeling that at the end of the record something will be different, something will have changed. It’s almost alchemical in nature. The band’s ability to create such a rich, textured environment is such that the otherworldly seems distinctly possible and ripe for exploration.
Old World New Wave is an album capable of wrenching real change in the listener, forcing them to have a good long look at the darkness and returning as a different entity, as an other.
Do you want this to happen to you? Of course you do. Press play. There’s no looking back.
Dysphorian Breed is a one-man band from Sweden and this is his début album of Funeral Doom/Death.
What can you tell us about the lyrics?
Wonderbox Metal 