Morbid Angel – Page 14 – Wonderbox Metal

Apophys – Prime Incursion (Review)

This is the début album from Apophys. They are from the Netherlands and play Death Metal.

I enjoy an album that has no pointless intro and starts off as it means to go on – brutal and direct. It’s uncompromising, harsh, and just how I like my Death Metal in the morning.

This is professionally played Death Metal that knows a thing or two about the genre, (featuring members and ex-members of a whole slew of other bands), and sets out from the start to blast and batter you into the ground.

The riffs are dark and brutal and the drums form a constantly aggressive backdrop. It’s largely high-energy, high-hostility stuff, and you wouldn’t want to get caught standing in front of it when it’s at full speed.

There are some nicely melodic solos included which flow like liquid gold through the jaggedly brutal riffs of the rhythm guitars.

The style is predominantly a US-influenced one, (think Morbid Angel-esque), mixed with a bit of a modern groove for some additional flavour. It works a treat and the songs sit well on their throne of xenos skulls.

At just under 40 minutes in length this is an enjoyable and satisfying blast of Death Metal that should fill that need for violent carnage that I know you have deep down. Turn this up and watch everything around you wilt and die under Apophys’ relentless assault.

Invigorating.

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.

Ichor – Depths (Review)

Ichor are from Germany and play Death Metal. This is their third album.

Who doesn’t love a bit of Modern Death Metal? I know I do. Sharp and tight, played with just the right hint of Deathcore and heavier than a barrelful of spanners? Sign me up!

Take a look at the album cover – you know what you’re getting yourself into. If you like bands such as The Kennedy Veil, Wormed, Alterbeast, Job for a Cowboy, Bloodtruth, Deep in Hate, etc. then this is another must.

This is brutal music played for the love of carnage and all things destructive. Lightning riffs and chugging menace work alongside inhuman drumming and lethal intent.

The vocals are aggressive growls that trade off with scything screams. The vocalist clearly knows his business and puts in a top-rate performance.

These songs have the requisite speed and brutality to them but I also like the energetic riffing and dynamic nature of the guitars. There’s also somewhat of a Morbid Angel/Behemoth feel to some of the guitar parts, which is a different angle that differentiates them from some of their similar peers.

There are some nice ideas and interesting enhancements on this, a good example is the added orchestration that infuses some of the songs and creates another layer of atmosphere to the proceedings. Top work.

I particularly enjoy some of the lead guitarwork and there are plenty of solos to satisfy as well, which is something I really like too. These chaotic melodics work well with the hardened brutality of Ichor’s core and the songs come alive with a darkness that sometimes even borders on the edge of Blackened Death Metal.

Yes, yes; much like Swedish Death Metal I’m a sucker for this kind of stuff, but this really is a damn fine album. The cutting riffs, growling hatred and superior songwriting mean Ichor will be with me for some time to come.

Here’s to plumbing the depths…

Sarpanitum – Blessed Be My Brothers… (Review)

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

Sarpanitum take a three-pronged approach to their Death Metal that combines traditional Death Metal, melodic atmospheres and a touch of Black Metal’s heart of darkness.

The band’s melodic edge is a sharp one and it’s incorporated directly into their heaviness rather than seeming like an addition to it as is frequently the case with other bands that combine brutality and melodics.

Added keyboard sounds subtly enhance this already keen melodic sensibility they have and I really like the sense of atmospheric brutality that they create. There’s a Middle Eastern feel to a lot of the melodies that adds an exotic touch to the songs, as well as no small amount of epic grandeur.

The vocals are as dark as night; thick, deep, malevolent growls that are so low as to be akin to rumbling thunder.

Blessed Be My Brothers… has a thick, dense sound that’s uncompromising and combined with the band’s complicated riffing is impenetrable to the casual listener. This is Death Metal for real Death Metal fans who want something a bit more interesting than the standard generic fare.

Fans of Nile, Mithras, Lelahell, Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Sidious and Dying Out Flame should love this.

Highly recommended.

Ingurgitating Oblivion – Continuum of Absence (Review)

This is the second album by this German Death Metal band.

Ingurgitating Oblivion is for lovers of dissonant, Doom-infected Death Metal replete with dark atmosphere and malevolent sounds. This is for fans of Gorguts, Morbid Angel, Immolation and other purveyors of interesting and atypical Death Metal.

That the band have talent and can play is apparent straight away. Add to this a production that settles nicely around the band like a foggy miasma and songwriting skills that have clearly been honed over time and you have an album that has all of the necessary ingredients for something truly special.

On first listen this is an album that gels together instantly and on repeated spins it merely settles deep into your conscious even more, like a welcome indoctrination. This, of course, assumes that this style of Death Metal is one that you can take; if not then there’s no hope for you really, and you’d be better off with something simpler and easier to absorb.

This is Progressive Death Metal without any trace of pretension. The songs exist not to satisfy the musings of the musicians but to satisfy themselves. They operate purely in their own right and owe nothing to anyone other than their own sense of internal aesthetics.

This really is a first-rate release. The songs have longevity and depth oozing out of them and you know this is going to be an album that you’ll keep returning to in the years to come.

I love music that is a bit different, has something extra to offer; Continuum of Absence definitely has this.

Fans of challenging and interesting Death Metal take note.

Xibalba – Tierra Y Libertad (Review)

Xibalba are a Death Metal band from the US and this is their third album.

This is heavy, brutal Death Metal that takes Hardcore and Sludge influences to make a monster of an album.

Imagine a Metalcore band that played Death Metal…yes I know that this implies Deathcore, but Xibalba are not a Deathcore band. Xibalba don’t have an easy to categorise sound. Deathcore should cover it, but no; this is a merger of 90’s Hardcore and 90’s Death Metal where Morbid Angel and Madball meet.

Classic Metal songwriting merges with Hardcore fury and Death Metal aggression. These songs really hit the spot for me as they take me back to the mid/late 90’s but translated to the modern day with a crushingly heavy production.

The band’s sound is Hellishly aggressive and recalls lost greats like Merauder and Konkhra if they got their hands on some Obituary and Crowbar riffs.

The vocals are predominantly harsh shouts that straddle the line between Hardcore and Metal, successfully merging the two styles into a vitriolic whole.

Xibalba have a meaty, beefy guitar tone that can squash a tank at 1000 metres. The punishing music perfectly captures the feeling of rolling demolition and hate-fuelled terror. Little snatches of melody appear merely to offset the heavy rhythms so that when these moments of light disappear again the riffs sound even louder and heavier than ever before.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Heaving Earth – Denouncing the Holy Throne (Review)

Heaving Earth are from the Czech Republic and this is their second album.

Now this is the stuff! Just take a look at the album cover and tell me you’re not sold on that alone. Class.

When you press play all Hell breaks loose. It’s like the essence of Death Metal just floods out of the speakers and everything is okay with the world again.

If you like Hate Eternal, Immolation, Morbid Angel and Gorguts then I feel pretty confident in recommending Heaving Earth to you. And recommend them I do, whole heartedly.

The singer has the perfect kind of Death Metal voice; it sounds like he’s chewing granite and he’s got that deeply satisfying style of growling that really hits you where it counts. It’s guttural but still expressive.

The music has a quality production that allows you to hear everything that’s going on without giving it too much of a polish.

Angry riffs and boatloads of leads make for songs that are both brutal and emotive in the way that bands like Immolation do so well. The songs on Denouncing the Holy Throne are well written, well played and just plain rule. As well as the ripping and the tearing there’s no shortage of atmosphere either.

There’s a good degree of interest and variety here, (within the genre confines obviously), and lots of good ideas are explored. A malevolent aura hangs over the entire album pulling everything together so it all sounds very complete.

Well this is just great. Top marks for Heaving Earth. What are you waiting for? Get out there and hunt this down now!

Destroying Divinity – Hollow Dominion (Review)

This is the fourth album from Destroying Divinity, who are a Death Metal band from the Czech Republic.

Destroying Divinity play Death Metal without compromise and with plenty of brutality and aggressiveness.

Featuring influences from bands like Hate Eternal, Immolation and Morbid Angel in their sound, what we get here is straight-ahead Death Metal with no fancy bits, no ostentation and lots of killing capacity.

The band blast their way through the demolished landscape with ease, whilst twisting, churning riffs drill deeper into the earth in search of sustenance. Hollow Dominion is a ravenously hungry beast and only total destruction will sate its hunger.

The vocals are deep growls that relentlessly chew up and spit out the brutal anthems.

Hyperspeed riffs and malevolent rhythms blare out and a strong recording holds everything together. These songs are more than capable of holding their own in the war-torn Death Metal landscape.

Hollow Dominion is the sound of a band entirely comfortable with their style and ready to cause havoc wherever they go.

A recommended listen for any Death Metal fan.

Nader Sadek – The Malefic: Chapter III (Review)

This is the latest EP from “supergroup” band Nader Sadek.

The project features contributions ex- and current members of such notable bands as Cryptopsy, Aura Noir, Decapitated and Cattle Decapitation.

This is dark Death Metal with an aura of evil and a Classic Death Metal feel to it without it ever becoming overly Old-School in nature.

The general vibe is one of a cross between Morbid Angel and Deicide, although there is more going on here than just this, notably so on closing track Descent which features more of a Doom/atmospheric influence.

There are four songs on this EP, clocking in at just under 21 minutes in total, and each one of them has clearly had a lot of work put into it.

It’s very well recorded and the drums in particular sound thunderous. Everything is tight and well-played, as one would expect from musicians of this calibre.

The songs are enjoyable flights of Death Metal fancy and do a great job of delivering the goods.

Quality work.

Convictors – Envoys of Extinction (Review)

This is the début album of Death Metallers Convictors who are from Germany.

Convictors play Old-School 90’s-style Death Metal with a crushing production and raging beats.

The melodic leads and heavy riffs work with the solid drumming to create enjoyable songs. Blast beats pound and guitars rage; Convictors play song-based Death Metal where a lot of thought has clearly gone into the formulation of the songs and the riffs.

Songs like Angel of Impurity show that the band can slam and groove their way with the best of them. It’s also a good example of their bassist being heard too, which is always a nice treat.

There really are some solid riffs here. It all sounds huge and as mentioned previously the band are not without songwriting talent. The end result is an enjoyable Death Metal album that shows how the style easily blows away lesser forms of music.

The vocals are deeper-than-deep growls that seem to blank out everything else when they’re present. He has the kind of voice that sends posers and wannabes running for safety.

I’ve really enjoyed this album. Check them out and see what you think.

For fans of Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Tortharry, Verdict, Supreme Lord, Six Feet Under, Immolation, Internal Bleeding, etc., etc. – loud, heavy Death Metal!