Metal – Page 570 – Wonderbox Metal

Wolvhammer/Krieg – Split (Review)

Both Wolvhammer and Krieg are from the US. Wolvhammer specialise in Blackened Sludge and Krieg play Black Metal.

Wolvhammer offer us a track first called Slaves to the Grime.

This is 6 minutes of Blackened Sludge hate. The band instantly sound confident and quickly lock into a heavy groove.

Vocals are spat out with venom and belligerent riffs lead the way before being replaced with apocalyptic melodies and downbeat pounding. Mid-song the tempo picks up but keeps the same feelings generated so far.

A most enjoyable song and a worthy contribution to the split.

Krieg are up next with Eternal Victim.

This is shorter than the previous track at half the length; only 3 minutes. Krieg are a veritable institution in their own right, and their track is no disappointment. It’s dark and powered by Blackness. The riffs are very good and the entire song seems over far too quickly.

A short release but definitely worth a listen; another definite split to add to your collection.

Lockersludge – Drawing Lessons (Review)

Lockersludge are from the UK and play Metal with Hardcore/Sludge influences.

This is an interesting merger of some different styles, all wrapped up in a Metal package.

Combining the rawkus nature of Old-School Hardcore with a Sludge influence the band do well in not instantly sounding like anyone else.

The tracks bound along with this unusual melding of styles and remind of 90’s Century Media acts like My Own Victim and Gurd with a bit of a non-Southern Eyehategod feel to some of the riffs. It’s quite a nostalgic feeling that Lockersludge give me and I find myself liking this band a great deal.

The vocals are belligerent and melodic at the same time. Again there is a curious mixing of styles; essentially based in Hardcore-land, they nonetheless display melodic sensibilities as well as hints at a more Sludge background.

Lockersludge are bravely and wisely forging their own path through today’s over-saturated musical waters and I’ve found this release highly competent and highly enjoyable.

Oh, and they also have a song called The Beard of Doom. Win.

Check them out.

Monumentomb – Ritual Exhumation (Review)

This is the début EP from UK Death Metallers Monumentomb.

After the usual perfunctory intro we’re into the title track and straight into some glorious Old-School Death Metal with a sound to kill for.

What’s so special about it? It just sounds fat, tight and recalls Dismember without overtly ripping off that chainsaw sound.

As you’ve probably gathered there is a Swedish Death Metal influence at play here, but that’s not all Monumentomb get up to. The Swedish greats might be well represented, but UK bands like Bolt Thrower and Carcass get a look in also.

The riffs are strong and the solos shred. The drum sound is especially satisfying and the growls of the singer make me warm in my secret happy place.

The vocals are deep growls that work perfectly. Also, the few seconds of clean vocals in Perpetual Execution Torment are unexpected and brilliant.

You can really feel the weight of Death Metal history while listening to Ritual Exhumation, but Monumentomb bear this responsibility with ease and perform admirably.

Amazingly this band have only been around since 2013; how they’ve managed to cobble together such a strong package so quickly is beyond me, but I’m glad they have.

Looking for some Old-School Death Metal that doesn’t sound stale? Look no further.

Suffering in Solitude – A Place Apart (Review)

Coming from the US, Suffering in Solitude play Depressive Black Metal/Post-Black Metal.

This is their début album and it’s clear a lot of time has been put into these songs. Every second is designed to wring out the maximum emotion and melancholic feeling in the listener.

Wistful feelings of melancholy pervade all aspects of this release with the band going for a beautifully tortured delivery through their chosen musical medium.

The first song Inside Out sets the scene with plaintive tones and a droning, Shoegaze, ambient feel. Purely guitar, it relaxes you in and promises nothing but exquisite loneliness. The full band experience joins for the next song Entrance and the joyous feeling of surrendering to the worst is realised.

When the vocals make an appearance on the third track Exit (Time Lost) you’re already absorbed in the instrumental sound the band have created so far and it’s almost surprising to hear them. The vocals are high pitched emotive shrieks, reminiscent of Deafheaven. The final track Placed Apart even offers some ethereal cleans, used sparingly to great effect.

The songs offer a timid, fragile Post-/Depressive Black Metal sound full of woe, hopelessness and grief. It’s done with style and obvious talent.

The band hone the build-and-release nature of Post-Metal and give it a Shoegaze Black Metal covering. It works exceptionally well and makes for a compelling, emotive album.

Relatively short at 27 minutes, this is nonetheless a worthy release to sink your negative feelings into. At the end though catharsis is achieved and there is almost a feeling of hopefulness remaining. Almost. For who knows what will come next?

Warlord UK – We Die As One (Review)

As you can probably guess, Warlord UK are from the UK…this is their third album of Death Metal.

After a perfunctory intro we get a surprisingly Doomy start to Human Inner Core that slowly builds itself up into a nice groove.

The sound is crisp and the drums have weight to them. The bass is audible and is actually used for things worthwhile.

The vocals are savage in a mechanistic way, as if they’re being uttered by some kind of undead cyborg, or maybe even by the chap on the cover? Who knows. I’m not sure I’d like to meet him in a dark alley though, (or a frost-swept plain of skulls for that matter).

A hint of Thrash sensibilities adds an edge to the spiky songs and riffs are thrown around with complete abandon, as if the band have an inexhaustible supply of them.

There’s a lot of mid-paced chuggery going on here; it sounds good and is the perfect backdrop to the gritty future cyber-war that I imagine is going on behind the scenes.

The band are capable of more than just heaviness and brutality though, as they show a pleasantly surprising penchant for added melody and grandeur during some of the tracks; this gives the album more depth and longevity than it might otherwise have.

Imagine, if you will, if Bolt Thrower and Amon Amarth combined forces to crush their assorted enemies…Warlord UK sound like that amalgamated War Metal strike force.

The songs are good, the Metal is good and the severed heads are banging. Warlord UK have more to offer than you might think at first glance.

Wo Fat – The Conjuring (Review)

Wo Fat are from the US and this is their fifth album of Doom Metal.

They have a warm sound that’s very welcoming and makes the listener immediately feel at ease; familiar but not overly so. This is Stoner/Psychedelic Doom in the traditional and spaced out way.

The singer has a good voice that seeps like honey over the rolling drums and infectious riffs. Speaking of, there are some glorious riffs to be had on The Conjuring.

And this is heavy. Joyously heavy. The guitars revel in themselves. Occasional solos snake their way in a lazily serpentine fashion across mountainous riffs that should get even the most jaded Metal fan moving.

The band seem to play these songs without any apparent effort, as if it is the easiest thing in the world to peel off colossal riffs with a beat that won’t quit. They give the feeling of being involved in one big jam, but one that’s coherent and focused enough to not sound a mess at all.

A real exploratory album full of trips to the heavy, fuzzy, scuzzy world of Wo Fat; the songs entice and captivate, culminating in the 17:00 monster that is Dreamwalker.

On the whole, very impressive and very enjoyable; a great listen.

Goatwhore – Constricting Rage of the Merciless (Review)

This is the latest album from US Black Metallers Goatwhore.

A new Goatwhore album is always something to be excited about. They may be loosely Black Metal, but they actually combine that with elements of Death and Thrash Metal to create something distinctly Goatwhore.

10 songs in 37 minutes; short, catchy and so very Metal. All the familiar ingredients are here – great sound, poisonous riffs, relentless drums, characterful vocals, dynamic and exciting writing…I could go on but won’t.

Each song takes elements of the aforementioned genres and mashes them together to create a collection of dark wonders. This also means that the album is surprisingly varied within the genre it inhabits; riffs and ideas from all manner of guitar-based styles are crushed up, swallowed and regurgitated as prime Goatwhore-stamped meat.

The grim riffing and fast drumming never cease to be inspired and despite the overall extremity of the release it has lots of hooks to grab your attention and help make the songs memorable.

Goatwhore have shown once again why they are in a league of their own and why very few bands even come close to touching them in terms of sheer quality of songs and passion of purpose.

My advice? Get this. Get this now.

Ending Quest – The Summoning (Review)

This is Old-School Swedish Death Metal from Ending Quest.

Swedish Death Metal played by actual Swedes? Yes please!

Instantly That Sound assaults your ears and we’re off into the realm of chainsaws and bright red arterial blood.

The brutal guitars and the ferocious melodics conspire to activate all of the pleasure centres in my head at once…I think I need to have a sit down now.

Yes, yes; I have a soft spot for this type of Death Metal. Over the years it’s just kind of crept up on me. I just really, really like this style of music. It may not be anything new but who cares? It hits the spot right where I need it to.

Ending Quest sound absolutely huge and have a big sound in every sense. Awesome melodies and crushing guitars are powered by a percussive backbone and deep, coarse vocals.

Ah yes, the vocals; like a rabid dog barking. Guttural, unhinged and rough like something inhuman. They’re the icing on this very delectable cake.

The songcrafting is top of the range and the band seem to be having a whale of a time throwing out huge riffs and spookily heavy atmospheres.

As I sit and write this on a wet Sunday morning Ending Quest are the perfect wake-me-up to get the blood flowing and the energy levels moving.

Unless you’re absolutely sick of the Swedish style and think it’s been done to death, then this should be high on your list of things to get. And if you are sick of the Swedish style? Well, get this anyway as it might just be the refreshing tonic you need.

Redemptor – The Jugglernaut (Review)

This is the second album from Polish Technical Death Metallers Redemptor.

A brief Classical intro segues into frenetic technical mayhem with blastbeats, guitar craziness and harsh growls dominating the airwaves.

The band are controlled chaos with lots of ideas and sounds harnessed into their arsenal of impressive musical wizardry.

Take a band like Gorguts as your starting point, throw in a bit of Iniquity and Meshuggah and the starting blueprints are in place for a band who are not destined for mediocrity.

They have a skilled drummer and the songs are very percussive. The remaining musicians are also suitably talented and if it wasn’t for a good grasp of dynamics and some well thought out songwriting the songs could easily collapse in on themselves in a frenzy of technicality; this is avoided though by judicious use of restraint and energetic riffs.

They allow a bit of Jazzy, seemingly free-form experimentation to creep in on occasion, although I imagine it’s far more thought-through than it sounds. It does the trick though.

Quality Death Metal with depth and character.

http://redemptor.8merch.com/the_jugglernaut_digital_version-id4378

Venowl – Patterns of Failure (Review)

Venowl are from the US and play DOOOOOOOOOOM!

Patterns of Failure is like that rickety, shambling, deathless corpse that follows you in your dreams; slowly and surely crawling closer and closer with horror in its eyes. You know the one.

There is a supreme haunting terror at the core of Venowl and I’m not sure I want to know what they do to get it all riled up like this. The howling vocalisations in particular are terrifying in their abandon and make the average “scary band” sound tame and lovable by comparison.

The songs themselves are slow and covered in rust and grime. They give the impression of something being left out in the rain and exposed to the elements for far too long.

The simplest reference point is Khanate, although whereas Khanate made a corrupted virtue of minimalism Venowl have more meat on their bones; Khanate worked with the spaces between the sounds they created whilst Venowl fill every space with a dire sense of dread and ill.

This is the kind of epically dismal and barren Doom that blackens the heart and freezes the veins. There’s no light here just differing shades of darkness and unrelenting negativity.

Venowl have produced a marathon of filth. It’s time to start running, the deathless corpse approaches once more.