This is the second album from Siege of Power, an international death metal band.
Featuring current and ex-members of bands such as Asphyx, Autopsy, Hail of Bullets, and Soulburn, This Is Tomorrow is an experienced beast of snarling death, thrash, and classic metal. Continue reading “Siege of Power – This Is Tomorrow (Review)”
This is the second album from Swedish death metallers Creeping Flesh.
Creeping Flesh play old-school death metal that feels like it’s underpinned and powered by the classic Swedish style, but has an obvious love of Bolt Thrower that they then build on top of these sturdy foundations. The end result throws bands such as Hail Continue reading “Creeping Flesh – …And Then the Bombs Came (Review)”
This is the second album from Heads for the Dead, an international death metal band.
2018’s Serpent’s Curse was a great record, so this new one is much-anticipated. Into the Red contains 47 minutes of horror-themed old-school death metal, and the album has been worth anticipating; this is a crushing record that deserves much attention. Continue reading “Heads for the Dead – Into the Red (Review)”
This is the debut album of death metal supergroup Ursinne.
A death metal supergroup you say? Sounds interesting.
So who’s involved?
Well, this is a collaboration between Dave Ingram and Jonny Pettersson. Between them they Continue reading “Ursinne – Swim with the Leviathan (Review)”
Echelon are an international death metal supergroup. This is their second album.
With a lineup that contains a huge amount of experience; like the recently released Stench Price, (which shares personnel), I’m just going to list the various members below from the press blurb for ease of clarity –
Dave Ingram (Hail of Bullets, ex-Bolt Thrower, ex-Benediction)
Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Demiurg, Putrevore)
Johan Berglund (Ribspreader, The Grotesquery)
Kjetil Lynghaug (Johansson & Speckmann, Paganizer)
Travis Ruvo (Akatharta, Cropsy Maniac)
As you can see. These guys know a thing or two about death metal. Continue reading “Echelon – The Brimstone Aggrandizement (Review)”
Stench Price are a grindcore supergroup and this is their debut release.
There’s a bewildering array of talent and people involved in this, so I’m simply going to copy and paste the lineup from the press blurb to make things easier for myself –
France – Romain Goulon – Drums (Necrophagist, Disavowed, etc.)
Siberia – Peter Shallmin – Bass (Escapethecult, Kamlath)
Siberia – Max Konstantinov – Guitars (Kamlath, Nebesniesnami)
USA – Danny Lilker (Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault, SOD, etc.)
Sweden – Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Demiurg, etc.)
USA – Max Phelps (Cynic, Death DTA Tours, Exist)
UK – Dave Ingram (Hail of Bullets, Benediction, Bolt Thrower, etc.)
Australia – Karina Utomo (High Tension)
USA – Shawn Knight (Child Bite) Continue reading “Stench Price – Self Titled (Review)”
This is the third album from Decaying, who are a Death Metal band from Finland.
This is Old-School Death Metal with a solid sound and plenty of guts. Sharing stylistic space with bands like Hail of Bullets, Warlord UK and Bolt Thrower, this is War Metal in the Classic style that rampages over the landscape like a heavily armoured tank.
One to Conquer is played well and benefits from the band’s obvious experience.
The songs are straightforward tracks with Death Metal’s destructive sound and warlike spirit. It rumbles along at a satisfying speed and even finds the time to interject a couple of blasts here and there.
I particularly enjoy the band’s chugging riffs and winding melodies. Yes, the Bolt Thrower influence is strong in this regard but if you like that band you’ll like this one too.
Vocally the band are armed with a singer who deals out death with a very deep growl, Hail of Bullets-style. It sounds good.
Decaying’s War Metal will be a familiar style to many and fans of this sub-genre will find One to Conquer a capable battlefield ally.
Check them out and have a listen.
The latest Megascavenger album, (a project of Rogga Johansson), contains quite the list of guest vocalists – just have a look at the line up, (taken from the promo blurb) –
1. At The Plateaus Of Leng (Vocals by DAVE INGRAM of Bolt Thrower/Benediction)
2. The Festered Earth (Vocals by KAM LEE of Massacre)
3. And Then The Death Sets In (Vocals by AAD KLOOSTERWAARD of Sinister)
4. The Mucus Man (Vocals by MARTIN VAN DRUNEN of Asphyx/Hail of Bullets)
5. Like Comets Burn The Ether (Vocals by DAVE ROTTEN of Avulsed)
6. When Death Kills The Silence (Vocals by FELIX STASS of Crematory)
7. The Hand Of Bereavment (Vocals by ILKKA JARVENPÄÄ of National Napalm Syndicate)
8. Back To The Ancient (Vocals by BRYNJAR HELGETUN of Crypticus)
9. Night Of The Grand Obscenity (Vocals by ROGGA JOHANSSON)
If that’s not enough to get expectations running high I don’t know what is.
This album is full of melodic Old-School Death Metal goodness, but also a few unexpected turns such as the clean vocals/keyboard side of The Festered Earth, or the cleans of The Hand of Bereavement. Variety is a good thing however and these little flourishes and touches just enhance the album as a whole.
At the Plateaus of Leng is crushing and without mercy, stomping and stamping on all who oppose. But more than brutality these songs are surprisingly melodic and succeed well in hooking the listener. The tracks march along easily enough, propelled by the mid-paced barrage of the drums and carried aloft by the tuneful guitars. Each song is well-written, being identifiable from the last and not just because of the different vocals. This is an album of songs rather than just a collection of tracks, and there are catchy moments in great supply.
All of the vocalists do a sterling job and add their own personality and character into each of the compositions. Each song may have a different vocalist but the album flows nicely and doesn’t sound disjointed or like a compilation album, even when they veer into more Heavy Metal territory with clean singing it still holds together well as a package.
A very accomplished release, chock full of classic Death Metal songs, each one as enjoyable as the last.
Straight off this is easily identifiable as Old-School Death Metal from these US bruisers. All of the trademark signatures are in place – fans of Obituary, Bolt Thrower and more modern war-themed bands like Hail of Bullets should feel right at home here.
This is mainly, (but not always), mid-paced and takes no prisoners. The feeling of an endless battlefield covered in the corpses of countless forgotten enemies pervades this release, as does the feeling of belonging to an earlier age of Metal. This is Old-School to the core with an even Older-School album cover.
This kind of retro-Death Metal can sound stale if handled incorrectly, but Trenchrot know their weapons and pick only the best and most destructive from the armoury. Clearly passionate about what they do, I can’t help but get swept along with the Death Metal mayhem contained within Necronomic Warfare – the heavy, thick tone of the guitars; the agonised, hoarse, barkings of the singer as he rallies the troops for another offensive; the firm pounding of the drums that lead the willing to war; the wailing, emphatic solos that inspire and rouse. It’s all very stirring.
A thoroughly enjoyable release perfect for charging headstrong into the melee. A snapshot of a time when being Death Metal was enough, and no add-ons or exaggerations to the sound were needed.
As the band say themselves –
“TrenchRot make music within the stricture of two rules:
1. Play Death Metal
2. Crush posers”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Wonderbox Metal 