Modern Death Metal – Page 15

Carnivora – The Vision (Review)

Carnivora are from the US and this is their latest EP. They play Modern Melodic Death Metal.

This new 18 minute EP showcases Carnivora’s blend of Modern Death Metal and Groove Metal to good effect.

Carnivora’s début album Eternal was a great listen, and this latest release cements their up-and-coming status in the modern heavy music scene.

They successfully mix brutality and melody, without sacrificing either; kind of like an (older) In Flames meets Lamb of God meets Death Metal sexiness.

The songs blast and groove their way through the playing time and each one has a good grasp of melodics, heaviness, choruses and dynamics. There’s a Thrash Metal influence on display too, but this is usually buried under the melodies, covertly adding to the sharp energy that the band exude.

The music is not without subtlety when it needs to be. The band have an ear for a decent riff and there’s plenty to hook and snare the listener into their world, as well as some good ideas too.

The vocalist grunts, shouts and screams depending on what the music calls for. He has an obvious passion and works with the music to get adrenaline pumping, heads banging and fists smashing.

Carnivora have followed up their impressive début album with a quality little EP that definitely signals big things for the future.

Into the pit!

Eschaton – Sentinel Apocalypse (Review)

Eschaton are from the US and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

Eschaton play Technical Death Metal with roots that are firmly rooted in the New-School, Modern Death Metal camp.

Insane riffs and time signature changes merge with utterly inhuman drumming for a listening experience that’s as brutal as it is compelling. You’ve gotta love this kind of mayhem.

Things do slow down enough for the band to have some good old-fashioned chug-n-groove-n-squeal sections as well as more modern, rhythmical riffing. Even these are firmly embedded in a wider framework of frenzied musical exploration, however.

Leads and solos abound, all centred around the ridiculously surgical drumming. I feel like the drummer should be given a medal for his services to tub-thumping, or something. But then, when he’s a veteran of bands such as Incinerate, Pillory, Arsis and Vile, to name but a few, it’s no wonder he sounds like a serious player in the drumming world.

The rest of the musicians seem to be highly proficient in their trade too though. There’s the guitars of course, so many that we just seem to get extra guitars on top of guitars! In actuality there were only three members to Eschaton during this recording but the sound they make could easily lead you to believe this was a six-piece band.

We mustn’t forget the vocalist either. He has a throaty, guttural roar that focuses the chaos of the music as it rages around him. His voice is versatile enough to fit in with the extremity of the rest of the band and the consistency he provides acts as a grounding point to the swirling maelstrom of Eschaton’s delivery. He also branches out into high screams territory, and these are performed as equally well as the growls.

This is brutal, extreme music for fans of proper Technical Modern Death Metal. When confronted with music like this, most will falter. Will that be your fate, or will you be one of the elite and embrace Eschaton?

Destiny awaits.

Dawn of Azazel – The Tides of Damocles (Review)

Dawn of Azazel are from New Zealand and play Death Metal. This is their fourth album.

Dawn of Azazel play Progressive Death Metal with enough brutality to keep people happy.

They have a very satisfying production with the guitars sounding heavily distorted and full of fuzz. Combined with the blasting drums and vocals it’s a good solid sound.

The vocalist has a the kind of shouted growl that’s forceful and savage. His voice tears out of the music with fury.

Their music is a wonderful combination of the Progressive, Modern and Brutal Death Metal subgenres, so much so that there’s a lot on offer on The Tides of Damocles.

A multitude of inventive riffs and interesting ideas are tried and tested throughout these 10 songs. It’s an impressive melting pot that the band create and they forge it into a cohesive attack over the course of just over 48 minutes.

The guitars are a highlight for me as they lead the assault and you never quite know what they’re going to do next. That’s not to imply that they’re a hyper-chaotic Techdeath mess, far from it; it’s just that Dawn of Azazel pour so many different riffing styles into the mix that you might be listening to a Morbid Angel section at one point only to have it change into something Meshuggah-inspired, or maybe a riff Immolation would be proud of.

Ultimately though it all flows together quite naturally and The Tides of Damocles is a very striking record.

Yes, I look forward to listening to this more and more over the years and getting to know it really, really well. This one’s a keeper.

Mindscar – Kill the King (Review)

Mindscar are from the US and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.

This is an interesting release. The band play Death Metal that’s brutal and is not without technicality, yet also features a good amount of melodic and atmospheric sections and even clean vocals on occasion.

It’s a winning combination. The blasting brutality of the Death Metal core mixes surprisingly well with the more restrained, melodic parts.

The band seem to be talented musicians and there are no shortage of solos or technical wizardry.

The more atmospheric sections have the aura of Nile or Behemoth if they experimented with background clean vocals a bit more. They definitely have an exotic flavour to these parts and it’s great to see a band spread their wings to incorporate wide influences as well as the more traditionally brutal aspects of their sound.

They’re not afraid to show their Classic Metal heritage either, with a few riffs that would do Iron Maiden proud lurking here and there, albeit heavied-up some.

Sort of a cross between elements of Behemoth, Nile, Atrocity, Orphaned Land, Melechesh, Gorguts and Misery Index. Quite an eclectic mix in some ways when you see it written down, but when you hear it it all slots together quite naturally.

You’ve gotta love an Extreme Metal band who are willing to push the boundaries a bit. Kill the King fuses blasting extremity with melodic abandon and exotic atmospherics to great effect. Importantly they get the ratio correct. It’s mainly heavy and brutal, contains a good amount of flashy solos and leads, with the more atmospheric sections used sparingly for maximum effect.

Very good stuff indeed. Listen and enjoy.

Garroter – Identity (Review)

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.

Gian – All Life Erased (Review)

This is well-written Death Metal with some nice melodic streaks thrown in for good emphasis.

The band have gone for a song-oriented approach that is part Swedish Death Metal and part Modern Death Metal, not a million miles away from Illdisposed’s 1-800 Vindication in some ways; frequent infectious melodies with a firm heavy backbone to stop things from ever veering into Melodic Death Metal territory.

Gian frequently trade off crunchy, heavy riffs with melodic passages, all the time retaining an overall muscular presence.

The vocals are deep growls and angry shouts for the most part, but I must say that I was completely unprepared for clean vocals to appear on the second track Bloodstorm! They are performed extremely well and only appear on this song, but for a band who have a firm Death Metal sound with blast beats aplenty I was quite taken aback. Their scarcity works in their favour though, as when they do appear it’s just another aspect of the melodic delivery that appears among the brutal carnage that their music alternates between.

Gian have created a very enjoyable album that delivers something that’s an uncommon treat; songs that are equally brutal and melodic but without falling into the trap of losing their bite.

This is one to definitely check out.

Letallis – Resonate (Review)

Letallis are from the US and play Progressive/Melodic Death Metal. This is their second album.

Originally a full band; for this release everything was performed by just one person, showing a large amount of talent in doing so.

Scandinavian Melodeath is the main point of comparison for Letallis, as well as a smidgen of Metalcore and a pinch of Modern Death Metal. Imagine a band like Lamb of God with a higher level of musicianship and Progressive Metal tendencies.

Vocals occasionally venture into the territory of screams but are largely deeper affairs that aren’t quite full growls, more like guttural shouts. Clean vocals do appear but these are a rarity.

The songs are very guitar-oriented, heavy on the leads, solos and melodics. Good riffs are frequent and the direct Melodeath-influence merges with Progressive Metal tendencies to create a long, ambitious album, totalling 68 minutes of music.

I have enjoyed this. It veers into the more commercial end of this style of music without going too far into that territory as some of the originators/followers of the Melodic Death Metal style have done. Resonate is further saved from this error by the incorporation of the Progressive Metal elements which give the songs more depth and longevity than they would otherwise have if they were absent.

For fans of Lamb of God, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, etc.

Hybrid Sheep – Free From the Clutches of Gods (Review)

Hybrid Sheep are from France and this is their début album. They play Deathcore.

This is state-of-the-art Deathcore with a massive sound and a crisp method of attack.

Hybrid Sheep play their style in the vein of bands like All Shall Perish and Acrania. A few Metalcore influences from the likes of Lamb of God and As I Lay Dying are thrown in also, as well as some Modern Death Metal similar to bands like Revocation and The Black Dahlia Murder.

If you’re not a fan of this modern style of Extreme Metal then Hybrid Sheep are unlikely to convince you, but if you are then Free From the Clutches of Gods has enough meat to satisfy that’s for sure.

This is a well played and produced album with lots of heaviness, melodies, aggressive riffs, blasting and breakdowns. I find this style very easy listening in the sense that if you’re in the mood you can just stick a band like this on and start bouncing around like a maniac. As you do.

Just listening to this now I can’t help but have a little wobble around in my seat. Always the sign of a good listen.

The songs are enjoyable and satisfyingly aggressive. The standard alternation between deep growls and high screams is done well and there’s plenty of guitar widdling included with the heavy riffs.

Hybrid Sheep have produced an enjoyable album of Deathcore. Check them out.

Carnality – Dystopia (Review)

Carnality are a Technical Death Metal band from Italy. This is their second album.

The singer has the kind of infectious growl I love. It’s deep and rough but focused and compact as well. It’s more like precision strikes with a blunt weight than wildly flailing something around and hoping for the best. There’s enough variation in tone and delivery to show real character too.

This is ferocious, Modern Death Metal with barbed riffs and a murderous attitude. The songs are manufactured with nothing but destruction in mind.

Dystopia boasts a strong and clear production which allows the musicianship of the band to shine. They shred, peel, batter and tear their way through the songs with Hellish abandon.

The band are adept at fusing technicality with songwriting ability so that the tracks are both complex and involving. It’s great to hear when a band embraces the importance of a coherent and flowing song structure in addition to ensuring the requisite levels of brutality and technicality.

Carnality have put out a hugely impressive second album. If you like your Death Metal crisp, heavy and brutal then you must check out Dystopia.

Resistance – The Seeds Within (Review)

Resistance are a Belgian Death Metal band and this is their fifth album.

This is brutal and heavy music designed to destroy. Resistance play Modern Death Metal with a hint of Deathcore in places, but only a hint.

The recording is clinical and polished with everything sounding clear and strong. The band play their tunes tightly and use all of their available tools to go straight for the throat.

Resistance’s sound combines the surgical riffing of Decapitated, the groove of Grave and the modernity of Job For A Cowboy. It lends for a very strong sound that isn’t restricted to any one of those three styles as it borrows from all.

The singer has a throaty roar that sounds every bit as muscular as the music. Not dissimilar to the singer of Grave, he provides a catchy Death Metal voice to work alongside the infectious riffing.

And this is an album of riffs. Heavy, groovy, blasting riffs. They dot Resistance’s landscape like bomb craters and leave just as much of a mark. A large amount of consideration and thought has obviously gone into these songs and the result is very enjoyable indeed.

Quality Death Metal from Belgium. Listen at full volume.