This is Fractured Insanity’s third album. They are a death metal band from Belgium.
Fractured Insanity play brutal death metal that’s intense and well-written. Although this is predominantly on the brutal end of the spectrum, there’s also elements of technicality at play here, which just adds further depth to the music.
Think a combination of Nile, Behemoth, Severe Torture, Malevolent Continue reading “Fractured Insanity – Man Made Hell (Review)”
Gruesome are a Death Metal band from the US. This is their latest EP.
Gruesome are a supergroup of sorts, made up of members who have a large amount of extreme metal experience and count many different bands as their current and ex-projects, including Exhumed, Possessed and Malevolent Creation.
After the massively enjoyable slab of Death-worship that was Savage Land, Gruesome return with Continue reading “Gruesome – Dimensions of Horror (Review)”
Obedience to Dictator are a Death Metal band from Italy. This is their second EP.
The band have a tight and precise approach to their music, with everything sounding balanced and where it should be.
These songs have faster sections as well as slower, groovier ones. There are some good riffs on these tracks and they’re arranged well, showing that the band have a grasp of songwriting rather than just stringing bits together.
Modern Death Metal meets an older style, settling for something that’s closer to the latter, but with a nod to the former. Dark melodies are sometimes used to improve the tracks and the band show that they are not interested in recreating just one style of Death Metal. The songs are relatively diverse, with quite a few different ideas and themes being explored throughout, all within the Death Metal framework, of course.
The vocals are mainly deep growls, although screams and other vocal effects are used to add a bit of variation.
In their sound I hear bits of Immolation, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation, Morbid Angel and even a bit of aggressive Thrash similar to Dew Scented in a couple of places.
I enjoyed this and look forward to what they might do next.
Favourite Track: Megabong.
This is the début album by US Death Metal band Gruesome.
This is a supergroup of sorts, featuring members of Exhumed, Possessed, Malevolent Creation and Derketa. Gruesome exist purely to pay homage to Old-School Floridian Death Metal, with specific reference to the early work of Death.
It’s clear from the very start that they have everything in place to achieve this.
The sound is an authentic Morrisound one, only polished up a bit and without actually being recorded there.
The music is straight out of the Old-School Death handbook, complete with galloping drums, sharp riffs and leads/solos aplenty.
Savage Land excels in the songs though; without good songs this album would fall flat as being rather pointless. Thankfully though, listening to all of those Death Metal albums from an early age has done wonders for the band and this is a really enjoyable album that almost seems to reanimate the corpse of Death, if only for a little while.
In fact the spirit of Death is felt strongly throughout these 36 minutes. It seems to be lurking wherever you look, the riffs, the drums, the solos, the vocals, the choruses, everything really; deeply infused into the songs.
In another band this might be seen as a bad thing, but in Gruesome it’s so honest, so pure, so well-realised that Savage Land just comes off as a triumph.
Turn the volume up and give this a listen. If you’ve ever been a fan of early Death then I defy you not to enjoy this.
Garroter are a Polish Death Metal band and this is their second album.
This is sharp and tight Death Metal that features a modern style and sound, but not overly so.
The songs feature lots of chug and groove alongside the faster sections. This is a band that has plenty of crunch and knows what to do with it.
Think of a cross between Decapitated and Malevolent Creation with a touch of Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal and even Behemoth; this is the Garroter sound, and it sounds pretty good.
The band has a slick, professional production that serves them well. Everything has bite and you can even hear the bass, which is always nice. The band can obviously play and there’s a good amount of technical wizardry on display.
Each song is a muscular collection of riffs that are shredded together into a coherent structure and then handed over to an inhuman monster to growl and roar over.
Their music is very precise, with a fair few objects of interest, atypical ideas and areas of mechanical playfulness strewn throughout these 11 tracks.
If you enjoy your Death Metal rhythmically mechanical like a well-oiled killing machine yet still full of infernal life, then Garroter fit the bill. They’ve created a crunchy, catchy album full of Death Metal devastation.
Listen at full volume.
This is the début album from Technical Death Metal band Ara.
This is Technical Death Metal with plenty of brutality. They may have the required complexity of a band playing this style but they’re not above just lashing out and shredding either.
A good sound means that everything is clear and you can appreciate the tightness of the band. The musicianship is a pleasure to listen to, especially when it’s wrapped up in such a destructive Death Metal package.
The singer has an expressive roar that reminds me of a mix of the singers of Malevolent Creation and Vader. He provides a charismatic focal point for the glistening, polished music.
Complicated riffs seem to lurk just behind the omnipresent drums, winding and striking with impunity. This might not be music that you can easily hum along to but it gets inside your skull regardless. Who knows what damage it’s doing in there?
Even when they take their collective feet off the accelerator they still write interesting riffs that refuse to sit still.
If you yearn for the kind of Technical Death Metal that the likes of Iniquity used to churn out then Ara will be right up your street.
Highly recommended.
Those Who Bring The Torture are from Sweden and this is their fourth album of Death Metal.
This is the latest album featuring Rogga Johansson, who we’ve met before in Megascavenger. This should already tell you a little something about the quality levels on this release.
According to the promo text, Those Who Bring The Torture play their Death Metal in a style that will suit fans of Grave, Hypocrisy and Malevolent Creation; it’s hard to argue with this description.
This is Swedish Death Metal at its core but with a few additional elements that prevent it sounding generic. Imagine Hypocrisy if they created a Swedish Death Metal album but with their own, older sound.
The songs are heavy and strong, and like its Swedish Death Metal heritage it’s strong on melodies. These melodies are memorable and provide a focus point for the songs to move around. There are some great riffs here and each track demonstrates a band who are capable of combining Death Metal brutality with sterling melody and songwriting.
Vocally the deep growls are bowel loosening and very satisfying. Higher screams are added to this when necessary and it’s a faultless performance all round.
This timeless and classic approach to Death Metal pays real dividends and Piling Up is an easy album to like. The songs carry themselves with an air of familiarity but just enough to evoke a smile and not enough to roll the eyes like you’ve heard it all before.
Those Who Bring The Torture have got their killing style down to a fine, bloody art. Anyone who’s into Old-School/Classic/Swedish Death Metal will have no cause to complain when they hear this.
Time to raise the flag for proper Death Metal once more. Let the slaughter commence.
Deus Otiosus are from Denmark and play Death Metal.
The band open the album strongly with Rising War and the rest of the album follows in this vein; strong, muscular Death Metal with a hint of Thrash and even a slight Rock influence to some of the riffs and leads.
The vocals are like crumbling granite. Deep and rough; they sound bestial but largely legible at the same time.
The songs are chunky and heavy with just the right amount of melody thrown in to keep things lively, but not enough to derail the heaviness that runs through the tracks like bedrock.
Well-written songs display an ear for dynamics and song structure whilst retaining a raw aggression tempered by a Thrash sensibility. If you imagine a merging of Morbid Angel, Deicide and Malevolent Creation then you won’t be too far off.
The production is crisp and clear, delivering the kind of sound that a lot of bands would kill for.
A top album. Death Metal to Thrash out to.
This is the fourth album from Serbian Death/Thrash Metal band Infest.
After a perfunctory intro the first track Destroyer of Their Throne starts up and I am momentarily confused – have I accidentally put on a Vader album instead of Infest? I over-exaggerate, (slightly), but the similarity, mainly in the vocal department, is startling.
Infest are not Vader clones of course. Musically they have other tricks up their collective sleeves and these conspire to create an enjoyable Metal experience lasting just under 30 minutes.
It’s an entertaining and speedy collection of Thrash-tinged Death Metal tracks that, yes, takes cues from Vader but also has some almost Hardcore influenced crossover riffs. I hear a bit of Pro-Pain to some of the chuggy guitars on occasion, as well as some Face Down-style Thrash and a bit of Malevolent Creation.
The production is strong and the bass is clear. The songs have a hard metallic sheen to them that accentuates their unyielding nature. They have a very immediate sound and always seem like they’re trying to get through the songs faster than they’re actually played, (if that makes any sense…?); there’s a sense of urgency to the album that gives it a vibrancy and life that some bands lack.
Good songs, good Metal. Hard, fast and straight to the point. I like.
Human Infection are from the US and play Death Metal.
And what an album cover! Now that’s what a Death Metal cover should look like…
The music doesn’t disappoint. After a perfunctory intro it’s straight into the USDM-style blasting with the nicely named Celestial.
The vocals instantly jump out at you with their character and are more Malevolent Creation than the cookie monster-standard.
This harks back to earlier times circa the 90’s, with short, brutal songs that could have come out of the Cannibal Corpse stable or the Floridian swamps; the band have the USDM blasting down to a nostalgic art, and the mid-paced assaults are authentic and rousing. There is even a subtle Thrash element to some of the riffs. It’s not a huge influence, but it’s there, adding its bite to the attack.
Human Infection also drag the songwriting skills of the bands from this earlier era into their work. These tracks are not merely a collection of riffs; thought has gone into the ebb and flow of the songs, as well as to making them catchy and loading them with hooks.
Like Morbid Angel and Suffocation conspired to produce a bastard offspring; Curvatures In Time is a worthy heir to the throne.
Wonderbox Metal 