This is the début album from US death metal band Witch Vomit.
This is 31 minutes of old-school death metal that sounds as if it was torn straight out of the 90s.
Witch Vomit take the Swedish death metal sound and add Continue reading “Witch Vomit – A Scream from the Tomb Below (Review)”
This is the latest release from UK Grinders Razoreater.
Razoreater combine elements of Old-School Hardcore and, unexpectedly, Swedish Death Metal into their furious blend of Grindcore.
Ugly vocals with a fierce Old-School Hardcore snarl to them rage out from the tracks, angry enough to cause violent feelings just by their very presence.
The music has a dirty Swedish Death Metal feel to it that’s quite delicious, especially as it’s filthed-up Grind that’s being played. Due to this, some of the riffs also have that Swedish feel, especially when the band slow the pace and concentrate on mood and evil melodies; all of which is a great addition to the standard Grinding mayhem.
These songs are full of good riffs and decent songwriting. This is a band who play at full speed very well, but know when it’s a good idea to slow things down and try a different method of attack. 13 minutes later – faces are broken and skin has been bruised.
Interesting, very interesting. Cross Extreme Noise Terror, Entombed and Rotten Sound together and you’ll have an idea of where Razoreater are coming from.
Razoreater make an impressive din. Check them out.
Dementia 13 are a Death Metal band from Portugal. This is their début album.
Sometimes only Old-School Death Metal will do. Yes, it’s always nice to hear the latest in TechDeath fusion, or the latests sophisticated Avant-Garde Black Metal opus, or some new-fangled take on Doom…but sometimes you just want something primitive, ugly and swamped in Death Metal’s rich heritage. For times like that, there’s bands like this.
This is horror-inspired music, with each track finding inspiration in a different film.
With a decent sound that means the guitars sound good and heavy while the bass is actually audible, Dementia 13 take a festering, decaying sub-genre by storm and kick up some dust and muck while they’re at it.
This is a very satisfying release. The tasty riffs and deep, growling vocals hit the right spots and Ways of Enclosure is full of grim, filthy Death Metal that manages to capture the spirit of the Old-School style perfectly without sounding stale or tired, as so many do.
The singer’s voice is perfectly gruff but still surprisingly legible. His throaty growl tears along over the steady pace of the music, while the guitars throw out riff after riff and dark tidings aplenty.
Fans of Bolt Thrower, Massacre, Entombed, Autopsy and Six Feet Under will find a lot to enjoy with Dementia 13.
This is the fourth album from Swedish Death Metallers Entrails.
Upon pressing play you’re greeted with some ominous bells. What follows is authentic Old-School Swedish Death Metal, and everything that this much-loved/maligned sub-genre offers.
Obliteration has a crushing sound and features the full compliment of chainsaws, as is normally expected from the style. Everything sounds great and the music immediately sucks you in.
I do have a soft-spot for this type of Death Metal it’s true, but this is such an honest style of brutality that it’s hard not to be captivated by it.
The band write good songs and good riffs. That alone should be enough to endear them to most metalheads in my opinion. Add to this the strong production and vocals that sound like they’ve been dredged up from the deepest pit and Obliteration is a very well-rounded album.
The best thing, though, is the songs themselves. They have an energy to them that cannot be denied and it’s clear that the band still have a healthy passion for the style even though this is their fourth full-length outing.
Coupled with the quality riffing is the Swedish Death Metal melody that we know and love. Then there’s the catchy songs with decent choruses; this is a recipe for a winner, not to mention what I can only imagine is a phenomenal live show.
A very impressive album. Entrails demonstrate once more why they’re at the top of the heap when it comes to Swedish Death Metal.
For fans of Grave, Dismember, Unleashed, Entombed, and the like.
Austerymn are a UK Death Metal band and this is their début album.
This may be a UK band but there’s a definite whiff of Sweden about them; it’s Old-School Swedish Death Metal in the familiar style and with a roaring sound.
I’ve said this before, but your tolerance for this sub-genre will essentially dictate your response to Austerymn. Had enough? Then move along. Can’t get enough? Lap this up.
This is such a faithful recreation of the classic style that you almost have to double-check who you’re actually listening to and what year it was released in.
Dark melodies that are a hallmark of the style are peeled off with ease and the crushing rhythms are equally effortless. The harsh, molten-metal vocals seem born for the music.
The songs on the album have a strictly no-frills approach and concentrate on being heavy while creating macabre atmospheres with the melodic guitars.
Fat chugging and aggressive drumming make for songs that have an edge to them and the general structuring of the tracks mean that they’re surprisingly memorable and enjoyable affairs.
If you can’t get enough of the sound espoused by the old days of Entombed, Dismember and the like, then Austerymn are here to sate your bloodlust.
Call of the Void are from the US and play Hardcore. This is their second album.
Call of the Void play the kind of nasty, violent Hardcore that it’s very easy to like. Somewhat of a cross between All Pigs Must Die, early Eighteen Visions, Early Entombed and any number of Old-School Hardcore bands, this is music that is earthy and pure.
Blasting mayhem and Crust-fuelled carnage make up the bulk of the tracks here. Each song rages and tears at the world through red-tinted vision.
The vocals are non-stop shouts and screams that are perfectly adapted to their environment. They provide a formidable presence and focal point to already intimidating music.
Moments of rough melody and abrasive atmosphere do appear amongst the high-energy proceedings. These glimpses of mercy amidst the violence ensure that Call of the Void are worthy of repeat spins and are not just a throwaway one-shot band.
This is music that’s brutally honest and aggressively focused.
Very enjoyable indeed.
Puteraeon are from Sweden and play Death Metal. This is their third album.
Old-School Swedish Death Metal will never die, and I for one am happy about this.
So what of Puteraeon? Think early Entombed with dirty great Doom riffs and some punkier influences to boot. They faithfully reproduce That Chainsaw Sound as all real purveyors of this style must and the concentration is firmly on the songs and the heavy-yet-melodic riffs.
As you can see this is the usual fare for Swedish Death Metal, but that’s not to denigrate the band at all. They may have chosen a well-trodden route but they’re not without ability; the songs here are enjoyable romps through the blood-soaked Swedish landscape and the vocals in particular sound more bestial than most.
Also; Puteraeon do inject a few influences outside of the standard Swedish template – hints of Carcass, Pestilence, Autopsy and Bolt Thrower can be found here and there, buried beneath the chainsaws. That’s the beauty of Death Metal, no matter which particular subgenre a band specialise in there’s always room to throw in other influences.
If you’re fed up of this style then there won’t be much here to convince you otherwise, but if you still enjoy this particular brand of Death Metal then The Crawling Chaos hits the spot. It’s also a release that gets better the more you listen to it, which is always a good thing to be able to say about an album. It has top cover artwork too.
Check them out.
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.
Nightfell are from the US and play Death/Doom Metal.
This is heavy, very heavy, and darkly melodic. The riffs collide and smash down, like Entombed playing a funeral dirge. A collision of Old-School Death Metal and Crusty, Sludge Doom; this is reminiscent of an older Metal landscape whilst concurrently sounding fresh and invigorating.
The music has a personality about it that recalls Old-School Death/Doom Metal from the likes of Dismember, Sentenced, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth, My Dying Bride, etc. – bands with character that were leaders rather than followers.
The dual vocals rasp, growl and bark their way across each other and are as harsh and unforgiving as you would expect. Added to these are the odd spoken passage and semi-clean to keep things interesting. The vocals have their own personality and character and are very much in keeping with the rest of the music in this regard.
The Old-School Doom Metal riffs really pile up on each other and the feeling of having stepped back in time is strong. However, none of it comes across as nostalgic; rather Nightfell are merely treading the same ground as many of the greats from yesteryear and are looking to put this style of music back on the map once more.
The songs come with plenty of hooks; you’ll wonder how a song like Altars To Wrath isn’t a cover song, so authentically Swedish and catchy it is. Each song has been poured over with love and passion and a monster has been created.
The band make the most of their dark melodies to create a bleakly rich atmosphere dosed up on Doom and heavy on the Metal.
This is an album that demands to be heard.
This is the début album from US Death Metal band Skinfather.
They may come from the US but their style of Death Metal is more Swedish than anything else. They are also named after a Dismember song, so you get the idea.
However, they are not just about the hero-worship, they also add some more contemporary influences into their sound – a bit of Entombed here, a bit of Crust/Hardcore there. It all adds up to a riveting listen.
That chainsaw sound is plastered all over every song and this gives proceedings a hefty amount of muscular backbone. The riffs are powerful and the band clearly passionate about their songs, which is obviously a good thing. Also; there are some seriously good riffs on here…
The vocals are halfway between the Death Metal standard and a more Crusty gurning, although when needed the growls do come out in their full bestial glory.
A very satisfying listen. Unlike a lot of bands who try this style Skinfather have managed to stamp their own mark on the Swedish Death Metal template, which is no mean feat.
Listen up – there’s a new pack leader in town.
Wonderbox Metal 