Morbid Angel – Page 13 – Wonderbox Metal

Voros – Diseased Deity (Review)

Voros are a Death Metal band from Australia and this is their début album.

If heavy Death Metal with good riffs and pacing is your thing then look no further. Voros feature a thorough approach to Death Metal that sees them take the Classic style and infuse it with a modern energy.

Believe it or not, but Diseased Deity covers a lot of bases; Death, Thrash, Progressive, Technical and Modern Metal are all thrown into the blender and feed into this Death Metal feast.

The vocals are savage shouts full of anger and hatred which seem to lash out of the music like diseased barbs. The singer has a touch of the Meshuggah about him, giving his voice a different edge to that of the normal Death Metal vocalist.

The songs are well-written and see the band showing off what they do, whether it’s riff-hungry, mid-paced Thrashing, faster complexity or blasting destruction.

I like the combination of older and modern influences that give this a feel of Lamb of God and Gojira conspiring together to cover Morbid Angel, Death and Immolation tracks. It’s a really good way to approach this album; modern fire with tried-and-tested Old-School steel. On Diseased Deity it all comes together perfectly and the songs are an interesting, varied and engaging vision of what the band want to achieve.

The various influences work together very well to produce an album that takes from several different styles, with the band having enough skill and talent to make it all their own. Diseased Deity is very impressive and these songs have both immediate appeal and longevity of delivery.

This is a great find. I recommend you get hold of this immediately.

Horrendous – Anareta (Review)

Horrendous are a US Death Metal band and this is their third album.

Playing Old-School/Traditional Death Metal, this is the follow-up to 2014’s impressive Ecdysis.

Following on from this previous release, Horrendous continue to offer a well-rounded Death Metal package, full of interesting riffs, decent melodies, intricate solos and actual well-thought-out songs.

Their approach to the material is refreshing, even given the Old-School nature of the music; it’s recognisable as instantly Old-School Death Metal but it doesn’t sound dated at all. Horrendous are one of the few bands that play this style who are trying to move it forwards rather than just wallowing in what was released decades ago.

There’s something deeply satisfying about this music. It demonstrates a band who are able to compose songs that have a lot of depth and atmosphere without ever devolving into filler-esque extremity or retro-parody. Horrendous have well and truly stamped their own personality and vision on a well-worn style.

Once again, the recording is warm and seems to pulsate with life. One of the things I enjoyed on Ecdysis was that you could hear the bass and on Anareta this is still the case.

The singer’s voice is still a pleasing mix of Obituary/Morbid Angel and he spends his time on Anareta providing a compelling focal point for the music.

On this latest album Horrendous demonstrate why they are quite rightly lauded as one of the best when it comes to this type of Death Metal. As much as I enjoyed Ecdysis I think on this latest album they’ve upped their game even more.

Impressive and essential.

Obedience to Dictator – Hogzilla (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.

Evilheart – Quinquaginta (Review)

This is the third album from Mexican Blackened Death Metallers Evilheart.

Essentially evocative Death Metal with a Blackened twist, Evilheart impress with their vision of Extreme Metal on Quinquaginta.

Think of a cross between bands like Behemoth, Morbid Angel, Melechesh, Belphegor and Nile; bands that are at home combining heaviness and mood.

This is full of impressive riffs, leads and solos. The dark melodics and shining leads are richly textured against the harsh rhythms and pounding drums. It’s apparent that thought and practice has gone into this, and it’s an album that’s as precise as it is passionate.

The band work their magic though a mix sheer ferocity and bright melodics, knowing instinctively when to use one and when the other is more suitable. This results in a brutally atmospheric set of songs, allowing the band to choose the best tools for the job, whether that’s churning, seething ambience or straight-to-the-jugular blasting.

Quinquaginta is full of energy, dynamics and choice riffs. The songs are well-composed slabs of well-thought out and proficiently delivered Metal that have a good combination of instant appeal and depth for longevity.

At almost an hour in length this is an album that you can get absorbed in. There’s a lot to enjoy here and the song lengths allow the band to spread their dark wings and disseminate their message on their own terms and in their own time.

If you’re looking for some advanced Death Metal with a brutal atmosphere and professional delivery then Evilheart are here to provide you with what you seek. Very impressive.

Neter – Idols (Review)

Neter are a Spanish Death Metal band and this is their second album.

This is well-recorded and precise Death Metal that mainly shies away from the faster, more brutal end of the spectrum and instead concentrates on rhythmic execution and melodic accompaniment.

This isn’t to say that the band don’t know how to knock out a blast beat when they need to, (there are plenty of these), it’s just that this isn’t their only or even main mode of assault.

Sharing aspects of bands such as Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel, Neter combine this with elements of the Polish scene like Decapitated and Vader. As such, Idols covers quite a bit of ground, all in a solid, proficient manner.

The rolling double bass and pulsating guitars are clipped and efficient, lending a vitality and instant-appeal to the music. The guitars knock out riffs with ease and these roll out of the speakers in a very ear-friendly fashion. Solos and leads are done well and add to the songs.

The singer seems more than qualified for his position and growls his heart out alongside the pummelling drums and undulating guitars.

The entire album sounds familiar enough to be instantly appealing, yet not too similar to the band’s Death Metal heroes that it becomes off-putting or derivative.

Idols is competent Death Metal played professionally. Check it out.

Decrepid – Osseous Empire (Review)

Decrepid are a UK Death Metal band and this is their second album.

This is Death Metal for all of the purists out there. It’s Old-School in nature and takes a good influence from USDM greats like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Deicide, as well as elements of UK legends Desecration.

Featuring a decent sound and plenty of good riffs, the songs on Osseous Empire make an immediate impression. The combination of well-thought out guitars and Death Metal heaviness makes the album an easy listen to anyone familiar with the style.

The songs are very rhythmic and riff-heavy, with the band seemingly conscious of the necessary ingredients for a working, holistic song rather than just a collection of guitar parts.

Leads and melodies are few and far between, although solos are included to add colour and spice to their attack.

The vocals are deep growls that are extremely satisfying in their delivery. The singer’s performance is faultless and there’s even the odd scream included to add flavour.

If you’re a fan of Death Metal then it’s hard for me to understand how you wouldn’t like Decrepid. I suppose if all you care about is the ultra-modern, ultra-brutal, ultra-fast or ultra-technical then they might not be for you, but if you like well-constructed songs that have all of the components of timeless, Classic Death Metal then Decrepid are an excellent choice.

This really is an impressive album. Undeniably Old-School without sounding stale or irrelevant, Osseous Empire has massively impressed me with its charismatic songs and atavistic Death Metal personality.

One to get hold of immediately.

Ogotay – Dead God’s Prophet (Review)

Ogotay are a Death Metal band from Poland and this is their second album.

This is muscular Death Metal that has a touch of the mystical and the mysterious about it. There’s an occult vibe that hangs around the tracks like a dark aura, infusing them with the feeling that there’s more going on here than just mere music.

The songs share some elements of fellow Polish band Behemoth, as well as, (to a lesser extent), Vader and non-Poles Nile. There’s brutality and extremity on display but Ogotay also manage to foster those occult atmospheres, as mentioned previously, and these lend the tracks an extra level than if they were purely standard Death Metal; like something feral restrained by ritual.

Bands like Behemoth, Nile, Immolation, Morbid Angel, etc. are a huge influence in the Death Metal world because they are doing something a bit different with the style and do it very well indeed. Due to this, when bands are influenced by them this can easily be to their detriment as it usually ends up coming too close to the original.

What I like about Ogotay is the fact that while they are reminiscent of bands like these genre-leaders they have enough of their own personality and character to step from out of the shadows and into the light on their own merits. Yes, there may be shades of other bands in their style, (as with all bands), but they are definitely their own beast.

To this end, Dead God’s Prophet is full of interesting ideas and well-developed themes and concepts. The band understand what’s needed to write a good song and use this within the Death Metal framework to unleash eight quality tracks in 37 minutes. Each song is identifiable as its own entity and holistically the album flows and fits together very nicely.

I also like the way that they manage to flip between a riff-based approach and a more emotive, atmospheric one, yet they still retain that core of brutality that we demand from the best death Metal.

I’ve been very impressed with this release. Ogotay have managed to stamp their own personality and identity onto the Polish Death Metal scene seemingly effortlessly.

I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from this band in the future, as Dead God’s Prophet is strong enough to easily fight its way to the top of the pile.

Essential listening.

Sanzu – Painless (Review)

Sanzu are an Australian Death Metal band and this is their début EP.

This is Progressive Death Metal with a modern slant – kind of like a more extreme Gojira; Gojira mixed with Morbid Angel would be a good starting descriptor.

The grooves and heavy rhythms are immediate and effective, but there is more than meets the eye here and subsequent spins reveal deeper layers to the songs.

The meaty guitars pummel and destroy and the production on this release is absolutely immense. With this recording they could be playing anything and they’d still demolish buildings. As it is, combined with these huge, monstrous riffs they seem to peel off with wild abandon, Sanzu sound unstoppable.

They have the songs to back this up though, otherwise it would be all sonic carnage but no longevity. Gojira have such a distinctive sound that it’s easy for any band that even comes close to their style to sound like a rip off; although Sanzu are clearly influenced by Gojira they avoid sounding too much like them due to the more aggressive delivery and the other Death Metal influences in Sanzu’s sound.

Well. Listening to this for the first time on a Sunday morning I can faithfully report that it blew all of the early-morning cobwebs away and left me feeling energised. This is an EP that bears repeated listens though, as the first time around it’s all too easy to get fixated on the colossal guitars and miss a lot of the other stuff that’s going on.

If this is just their début EP, what’s next for Sanzu? For their first album I hope for the same huge sound and a further development of their Progressive Metal side, while still keeping the Death Metal brutality. If they can pull this off then we may just have a modern masterpiece on our hands.

Until then we have Painless. It is enough. For now.

A must listen.

Abyssal Ascendant – Chronicles of the Doomed Worlds – Part. I Enlightenment from Beyond (Review)

Abyssal Ascendant are from France and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Lovecraft-inspired Death Metal that starts with ominous noises and otherworldly chants, designed to create an unsettling atmosphere before the Death Metal itself begins.

The band’s music is heavy and brutal, but not without atmosphere or nuance. This is Death Metal that has picked up a few creative flourishes along the way.

Elements of Cannibal Corpse, Nile and Morbid Angel conspire together, resulting in an album that has a lot to offer. Fast and brutal meets atmospheric and evil. The band do both very well. I like a band that can play ferocious brutality on one hand and then create dark, sinister moods with the other.

The singer has a terrifically deep growl that sounds absolutely abyssal. His voice fits the music perfectly and really drives the songs forward with a deathly charisma.

Tight, focused playing is apparent from the off and the drums keep everything in check. The production is very nice on this release; everything coalesces together in an unholy mass and all of the instruments are well-balanced against each other. Everything sounds great, with the drums sounding particularly satisfying and well-rounded.

This is a very impressive album, especially for a début release.

Barús – Barús (Review)

Barús are a Progressive Death Metal band from France and this is their début EP.

The music that Barús play is complex and unforgiving. This is not music for the weak.

The band’s take on Death Metal is one that combines the Technical and Progressive Death Metal sub-genres into something pretty special. There are even some hints at Post-Metal and Black Metal here and there.

The songs evoke complex reinterpretations of bands such as Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Mithras, Nile, Akercocke, etc. – bands that are not content to be constrained by the norm and reach for greater and higher. Barús now join their hallowed ranks.

The dense guitar riffs seem to layer on top of themselves and Barús’ music seems to have levels upon levels of extremity to hide itself in. For all of this though they are also aware that sometimes simpler is better, but even here there’s usually a lot going on.

Sometimes twisted melodies appear to float up out of the chaos to bring an otherworldly element to their already esoteric sound. A great deal of variation exists across these 4 tracks and each song is both self-contained and part of a greater whole.

The vocals are predominantly deep grunts but a whole load of other vocalisations are used too, from semi-clean moans to spoken word to chants and everything in between, including, briefly, actual singing.

I love it when you find a band like Barús who are willing and able to take the standard Death Metal template and experiment with it until it’s mutated into their own personal view of the genre. This EP has a personality and style of its own and these songs are involving and engaging from start.

An extremely promising beginning for Barús. This EP is a strong start to their existence and if they manage to keep up the quality levels then their début album will be fantastic. Here’s hoping.