Holotropic are from Slovakia and play Progressive Technical Extreme Metal. This is their début album.
I wasn’t sure what this was going to sound like and was afraid it was going to be some wishy-washy, formless nonsense. I’m not sure why. This was all dispelled shortly into the first song; what I expected to be some throwaway intro track turns out to be masterful Extreme Metal that wouldn’t be out of place on an album by Between the Buried and Me or The Faceless.
More fool me.
No, cynical me has taken a firm beating and I’m very glad too. Permeate is a very impressive album.
Holotropic mix brutality, progressive sections, melodic parts, piano interludes, Jazz, heavy riffs and chaotic rhythms together into a cohesive whole that they’ve then weaved into their comprehensive Extreme Metal tapestry. This is either a Progressive Metal band that have taken Death Metal as their own, or a Death Metal band who have learned the value of expansive variety. Which it is doesn’t really matter.
Death Metal is an apt genre, but the nature of the riffs, the modern cadence, the exploratory nature of the music…it’s simply more than most Death Metal bands get up to. Again the comparisons to the aforementioned Between the Buried and Me and The Faceless come to mind, as this is Extreme Metal that has a modern Progressive slant.
The band can play very well and there’s a boat-load of technicality on display here too. As Technical Death Metal goes it can give most a run for their money.
For all the variety and interesting ideas of the music, the vocals are mainly pitch-black growls. It works well though as it provides a central anchor for the band’s extremity and musical meanderings. They sound great too. Occasional cleans appear sparingly and are professionally done.
Permeate is a varied and interesting début from an extremely promising band. I insist you take note of Holotropic and get your hands on this. They have a bright future ahead of them.
This is the second album from UK group Voices. They play Progressive Blackened Death Metal.
Featuring former members of Akercocke, this is an album full of promise from the start as Akercocke were one of the best and most individual bands that the UK had to offer.
As soon as the dark acoustic opener Suicide Note starts I’m instantly hit with the feeling that Akercocke gave me in their more restrained moments. Then Music for the Recently Bereaved blasts out of the speakers and I feel warm and fuzzy inside and out.
If voices aren’t the heirs to Akercocke then I don’t know who is. They’re definitely their own entity but they channel the same primordial power and majesty that Akercocke did so well.
Blasting Death Metal, scathing Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Avant-Garde and everything in between make up these tracks. Progressive Blackened Death Metal is as good a term as any, but it seems so small. Voices are just bigger than that and have a whole lot more on offer than that mouthful of a genre tag implies.
The songs here are varied and full of interesting ideas and avenues for exploration. The band essentially just do what they want and I’m incredibly glad of this as it has resulted in a top quality album full of modern Extreme Metal that stands alone.
Growls, screams, cleans; the band do it all with style. It’s like Akercocke, Arcturus, Opeth and Emperor were crushed up together, digested and vomited up as a slick, professional, fully formed Extreme Metal machine. It’s classy and in a class of its own.
I love it when bands do their own thing and inject their art with personality and character. It’s even better when they do this with obvious talent and a passionate hunger. London is all of these things and more.
This is ambitious and hugely impressive. For a snapshot of everything that Extreme Metal should be these days then London is flawless.
In fact that’s all I need to say really; London is flawless.
Ctulu are re-releasing their 2011 album Sarkomand, and what an album it is. Arne Uekert and Mathias Junge answered some questions and filled in the blanks…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
Arne: I am Arne Uekert, guitarist and vocalist in Ctulu.
Give us a bit of history to Ctulu
Arne: Ctulu was founded in 2004 in Northern Germany with the aim to create fast and dark, yet melodic extreme metal.
What are your influences?
Arne: I’d let the listener decide on this point.
Mathias: Most people would say, it’s black/death metal in old Swedish style of the 90s like Dissection or Naglfar, but during the time of making music we created our own style called ”Seastorming Extreme Metal”.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
Arne: I am listening a lot to Totenmond – Tonbergurtod at the moment. You may miss the point of the lyrics when you’re not speaking German, but the music is one of the heaviest and most evil I’ve ever heard.
Mathias: At the moment, there’s is nothing I would like to recommend.
Sarkomand is a few years old now but is being reissued for your 10 year anniversary – tell us about this.
Arne: The CD version is practically sold out and we always wanted to go vinyl. It was just a logical consequence.
Mathias: ”Sarkomand” is predestinated for this cause. A 45 minute manifest of pure violence and horror in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft! Who knows his stories will like this release. The album was loved by the fans right after release and is sold out for a while! Now it’s back on 12” vinyl and a must have for every Extreme Metal lover.
Since the album was originally released, how do you feel about it now – is there anything you would change or do differently?
Arne: Most unexpectedly I’d say that I wouldn’t. Actually this desire is normal, but I think this album works perfectly this way. The length is good, there are no fillers and I think each track stands out on its own. For me, this is still our best album.
Mathias: No, there is nothing I would change, for me it has everything what a good Extreme Metal album needs.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Arne: Mondsucht, definitely. I think it’s a good track to end an album with and I like the atmosphere it creates a lot.
Mathias: Good question…it’s hard to say…if I have to choose I would say Blindes Chaos, because in this song all the components of Ctulu‘s Extreme Metal are combined.
How do you feel you fit into the wider Black Metal scene, and do you feel differently about this now than when Sarkomand originally came out?
Arne: For us, Sarkomand was the ultimate evidence that we’re actually NO black metal outfit. Some reviews even counted this album as death metal. Freie Geister (our début album) earned a lot of harsh criticism because it is so very “unblack”. We wanted to make a statement with Sarkomand. This is extreme metal, this goes beyond death/black/dark metal or whatever.
Mathias: Well, we actually never associated ourselves with the Black Metal scene, because from the beginning till now, we never got religious (Satanic) influences in our lyrics or use any symbols of that on stage or in our artworks. We got nothing to do with any religions, that‘s why we call our music ”Extreme Metal” and when Sarkomand came out in 2011, it wasn’t different.
What can you tell us about the lyrics? Would you change them now?
Arne: Sarkomand is kind of a concept album about the Dreamland cycle by H.P. Lovecraft. Reading the “Dreamquest of unknown Kadath” will help you a lot diving deeper beyond the surface of the lyrics on this album.
Mathias: The lyrics are about nightmares and other Lovecratian themes. If we would change something, we wouldn’t be Ctulu anymore.
Give us a bit of information on the songwriting process.
Arne: The songwriting was done by our lead guitarist Mathias Junge and our former drummer Jan Westermann (now active in the Greek outfits Released Anger and Diablery). I just added some second guitar tracks here and there. The lyrics were written by Mathias and me. About the songwriting itself, there’s actually nothing all too special to say. The tracks evolved very naturally and were finished very fast.
Mathias: The songwriting process is split between Arne and me. If we have new material, we work it out together with both guitars and then all the other instruments will follow.
How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?
Arne: We’ve started to work with tracks written by both Mathias and myself now. We work longer on the single tracks now and we’ve found a better way to record demos, so the songwriting has changed a lot since Sarkomand. I think this will help the music get to the point faster now than it did three years ago.
Mathias: I don’t want to make any predictions, we will see what happen in future!
What’s next for Ctulu?
Arne: We’re working intensely on our forthcoming album that we hope to record at the end of this year.
Mathias: We working on a new album and the first live shows for 2015 are confirmed!
Today is the Day are from the US and this is their tenth album.
A new Today is the Day album is always a bit of an event and it’s always interesting to hear what they come up with because you’re never quite sure what it’s going to sound like. The only thing you can be sure of, or course, is that it’s going to be nasty.
Animal Mother is no exception. It is, however, probably their most complete and well-rounded album to date. Animal Mother combines elements of all of their previous albums to either a greater or lesser extent, from the psycho aggression of Kiss the Pig, to the Sludge heaven of In the Eyes of God with even a touch of the experimental harshness of Sadness Will Prevail.
This is further enhanced by acoustic and melodic flourishes that act as bridges between the more usual caustic noises and abrasive sounds that the band create.
The songwriting as a whole is dynamic and complex. Today is the Day have never shied away from unusual rhythms, sounds, etc. but Animal Mother takes this willingness to experiment and explore and manages to shape it into a cohesive package without ever losing its edge.
The production is solid and tight, and similar to the album as a whole it’s a lot fuller than Today is the Day normally sound. This allows all of the songs to really impact on the listener with full force.
Their singer sounds as venomous as always, although his performance is more varied as well. His is a unique, piercing roar and this is complemented with other vocalisations that allow for nuance of delivery.
To me this album sounds like the culmination of everything the band have been building towards over the decades. It sounds utterly complete and very, very good. The creative energies have been focused just right and the resulting heavy nastiness is without peer.
I’ve been a fan of this band since 1999 and this is the album they’ve always threatened to make. A dark revelation and an apocalyptic realisation of intent.
Essential listening for any Extreme Metal fan. Get this now.
Anaal Nathrakh are from the UK and this is their 8th album. They play Black Metal.
Even since they first crawled out of Hell well over a decade ago Anaal Nathrakh have been a fixture of UK Metal for me. Their début album The Codex Necro was, and is, a case study in malevolent, grim Black Metal writ large and hateful.
Since their raw but powerful Black Metal origins their style has changed over the years; still scathing Black Metal but with elements of Extreme Metal and with added heroic and very catchy cleans thrown in.
And this is how we find them on Desideratum. The cleans are still buried under fields of filth and the screamed vocals are still sharp enough to slice fingers off. The intensity is real and the rage is palpable. The singer’s voice continues to be one of Extreme Metal’s best and his performance on Desideratum is stunning.
The songs are always catchier than you would expect for a band like this and even the most extreme blasting sections remain memorable. It’s always been a gift of the band that they are able to unleash such acerbic, raging songs that nonetheless remain full of hooks and enough Blackened melodies to give you whiplash.
Anaal Nathrakh have always had a vaguely Industrial feel to some of their work, sometimes coming across as an aural portrait of urban decay. On Desideratum this is more apparent than ever and adds a further layer of darkened potentiality to their sound.
When they’re not going full out hyperblast there’s even, (whisper it), a slight Djent slant to the odd riff here and there this time. It shouldn’t work but it does.
Eight albums in and Anaal Nathrakh continue to impress. The songs are strong and their apocalypse is coming ever closer. And do you know one of the best things about this band? They don’t particularly sound like anyone else. In 2014 this is a major achievement.
Another triumph from this Blackened jewel in the crown of UK Metal. Desideratum is desideratum indeed.
ART 238 are from France and play Industrial Extreme Metal. This is their latest EP.
Here we have three tracks lasting almost 22 minutes in total that showcase the band’s harsh blend of Industrial sounds and Death/Black Metal know-how.
Usually when bands attempt to merge these two genres the result is some half-hearted Death Metal with keyboards on top. ART 238 don’t fall into this trap, as the Extreme Metal they play is actually extreme, and the Industrial influences seem coded into the band’s make-up at the genetic level and then hybridised with cybernetics to create this fascinating beast.
ART 238 manage to merge ultra-brutal blast beats with more atmospheric Industrial workouts in a way that recalls Aborym if they had gone the Death Metal route rather than the Black Metal one.
Another thing I really like about this EP is that the songs take the time to explore their surroundings, like they’re genuinely trying to find the best fit for their various component parts. In a feat of ingenuity the band manage to work with both sides of their sound expertly and incorporate them into an Industrial Extreme Metal whole.
It’s a musical framework that not many bands try, as most that do usually sound weak, incoherent or like some 80’s synth parody. ART 238 sidestep all of this by going straight for the jugular with their creative brand of urban Metal.
For fans of and mixing influences from – Aborym, Mithras, Red Harvest, Axis of Perdition, Blut Aus Nord, Ministry, Dødheimsgard, Kekal, Invertia, etc.
Highly enjoyable and highly recommended. This is the sound of a mechanised apocalypse.
Noctem are from Spain and this is their third album.
The band play Blackened Death Metal with a bit of pomp and plenty of bite.
After a symphonic intro the first track proper Apsu Dethroned wastes no time introducing you to the band’s particular brand of blasting and heaviness. What is not quite as expected, however, is the orchestral accompaniment that forms a nice link to the intro.
It’s a great touch that precedes the actual singer who belches out occult growls with the fervour of the possessed. His is an unrelenting, uncompromising style that gives no quarter and knows no mercy.
The rest of the album continues the theme of a Death Metal band with Blackened influences that incorporates plenty of interesting ideas and sounds into their Extreme Metal repertoire.
The brutality and blast beats of their core Death Metal sound share space with more melodic riffs and a healthy dose of Black Metal influences. The orchestral sounds/choirs/keyboards add a deeper layer to Noctem’s identity and are embedded well rather than just sounding tacked on.
The musicianship is first rate, with the drumming being a precision assault and guitar solos and leads flashing by like lightning. It’s all wrapped up in a stellar production job that allows everything to shine and just sounds crushing.
None of this would have any longevity of course if it wasn’t for the songs themselves. The band show quite capably that they can write a good tune and Exilium is full of them.
If you take elements of bands like Behemoth, Nile, Atrocity and Septic Flesh, mix them in a blender and make a tasty hate-filled frothy shake then Noctem would be the cream.
A high quality, ambitious release; Noctem have proven they have what it takes to become forerunners in the Extreme Metal world.
This is the début album from Exordium Mors who are a Black Metal band from New Zealand.
This is Black Metal with a Thrash influence and songs that are interesting and well developed. The riffs are powerful and propel the songs onwards and upwards in a blaze of raw melody and colourful leads.
The band have a strong grasp of dynamics and have lots of ideas that they pour into The Apotheosis of Death. This makes for a fascinating and satisfying listen as Exordium Mors provide an important lesson in Extreme Metal in 54 minutes.
It’s a chaotic frenzy of Blackened Thrash and bloody sacrifice. It’s frenetic, impassioned and coursing with vitality. It’s imbued with a terrible majesty and undeniable presence.
Exordium Mors have built up their own kingdom of Extreme Metal and lord it over their subjects with the confidence of those who know they are untouchable in their own lands.
The Apotheosis of Death is varied and interesting and you’re never sure what dark labyrinth the band are going to explore next. The savage Blackened brutality of the songs is a multidimensional, expertly realised and fully textured Extreme Metal reality that the band have carved out for themselves.
This is an advanced album that’s probably not for the casual listener. For hardened Black/Extreme Metal fans though this is what you’ve been waiting for.
Vermin Womb are from the US and this is their début EP.
Made up of members with an impressive Extreme Metal pedigree, (Primitive Man, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire), this releases takes that collective knowledge and experience and funnels it into a veritable natural disaster’s worth of extremity and violence given form.
This is a combination of Sludge, Grind, Death Metal and pissed off Hardcore. It’s not for the faint-hearted and sounds like the end of the world is coming. It’s brutal, nasty, and very, very heavy.
The songs here combine the ferocity and general disdain of Hardcore/Grindcore with the murky evil of Sludge and the brutality of Death Metal. There’s even a Blackened edge.
Take Eyehategod, Brutal Truth and Anaal Nathrakh, mash them all up, put the remains in a blender, force feed the resultant slop into a few hapless victims and the resulting screams of pain and agony will sound a bit like Vermin Womb.
The singer is probably one of these unfortunates as it sounds like he’s been gargling liquid nightmares and is now vomiting forth the worst of his experiences.
This is impressively ugly and it takes real determination and talent to create Metal this heavy and grotesque.
Absolutely horrible music that you can’t afford to miss out on.
Columns are from the US and this is their début album. They are a Grindcore band.
Columns play Grind that’s groovy and passionate. This is the kind of music that ignites pits and gets even reluctant Metalheads to start moving. Even when they’re playing at top speed and blast beats are flying everywhere the band have a definite swagger and rhythm to their grinding destruction.
Think rhythm, groove, brutality and individuality; think Pig Destroyer meets Aborted with the odd Carcass riff. That’s right, it’s wet-dreams-made-reality time.
The music is full of high energy riffs, crushing chugs, eviscerating speed and the occasional, remarkably Rock ‘n’ Roll, solo. For songs that are this short and brutal there is a surprising amount of variety and interest to be had.
The vocals are deep and growled or higher and intense. The singer has a good voice and range with some variety between these two ends of the spectrum occurring throughout the tracks as well.
Please Explode has a Hell of a lot of personality and each song is a hothouse of great riffs and brutal design. The thing Columns excel at, however, is ensuring that the songs become more than the sum of their parts. These riffs make full use of the band’s songwriting skills to really maximise the impact they have throughout the songs.
Rather then merely a few, (or a lot of), riffs stitched together to create a fast song, as a lot of Grind bands do, Columns create dynamic and purposeful riffs that gel with every other instrument and work synergisticly with the rest of the tracks to create a complete listening experience. It’s even more remarkable that this happens in songs that average about the 2 minute mark.
This is impressive, modern Grind that has a unique identity. It’s destined to be mentioned in the same breath as bands like Pig Destroyer as forerunners of the genre.
I loved this album. I’ll be very surprised if this doesn’t place highly on my year end list.
Essential listening for Extreme Metal fans everywhere.
Holotropic are from Slovakia and play Progressive Technical Extreme Metal. This is their début album.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
Wonderbox Metal 