Morbid Angel – Page 15 – Wonderbox Metal

Lago – Tyranny (Review)

Lago are a Death Metal band from the US and Tyranny is their début album.

Lago play a mixture of Old-School and New-School Death Metal and manage to reach a comfortable medium between the two. Think Morbid Angel and Immolation meeting Behemoth and Wormed.

Dark melodies and rampant brutality hold sway here, although the band allow themselves room to experiment a bit with some longer songs and nice touches here and there, (Reckoned features an almost, gasp, Folk section!).

The songs are well-written and feature a good recording that gives the band a wonderfully heavy sound. All of the instruments sound really good. The drums, guitars, bass and even the vocals; they all stand out which effectively means that everything stands out. As I listen to this the old “everything louder than everything else” phrase comes to mind. It’s a class production all round and lends the songs the power they need to make their mark.

The drums pound away nicely and there are a bucketfuls of tasty riffs to get stuck into. They play the heavy, brutal riffs well but also mix things up with darker melodic riffs, some of which have a nice Blackened edge to them.

Tyranny has some good solos on it which stick out against the pitch black rhythm guitars and spice things up a bit.

I keep coming back to the rhythm guitar riffs though as they feature the kind of darkly melodic brutality that makes Immolation so compelling and individual. The wonderful thing is that it may be reminiscent of Immolation but it doesn’t actually sound like them; in other words Lago share a similar stylistic space with the masters rather than ripping them off, which is brilliant as I love Immolation and now I love Lago also.

The vocals are so deep it almost hurts and seem to dominate everything else with their presence. Higher screams are also used for a bit of variety.

Lago have impressed me no end with this release. It’s a strong collection of Death Metal tracks that showcase a powerful new band who have arrived on the scene with the force of a meteor strike.

Highly recommended.

The King Is Blind – The Deficiencies of Man (Review)

This is the début EP from UK Death Metallers The King Is Blind.

This 16 minute EP is brimming with solid Death Metal that is brutally melodic and darkly Metallic.

The band come off as a cross between Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel with a touch of Behemoth and even a bit of Celtic Frost to some of the riffs. As you can imagine, it’s a heady combination.

The vocals are deep and have an air of the occult about them, as if there’s more going on here than just mere vocalisations and maybe, just maybe, something is being summoned. They sound otherworldly, venomous and nasty all at the same time.

The recording is clear and heavy. There are some lovely riffs on this release. When the band hit their stride, be this with blastbeats or mid-paced riffs, they sound colossal and meaty in all the right places.

This is a great collection of songs from a band who may be relatively new but have a lot of collective experience to their members, (Extreme Noise terror, Entwined, The Blood Divine, Cradle of Filth). This means that The King Is Blind have bypassed the early getting-to-know-our-sound stage and emerged fully-blooded into the Death Metal killing pits.

An album from these will be eagerly awaited I’m sure. Ones to watch.

Horrendous – Ecdysis (Review)

This is the second album from US Death Metal band Horrendous.

Firstly; what an album cover! Top marks for that for a start.

But what of the music? Horrendous play Traditional/Old-School Death Metal with a good bit of the Swedish style chucked in, although they are certainly not limited to this one particular subgenre. Their style is a wider one that encompasses pretty much all of the Classic/Traditional/Old-School Death Metal sounds and delivers them wrapped in entrails as a horrendous, (heh), package of delights for the listener to chew on.

Good riffs and good melodies are apparent from the off; this is band that knows how to rip your face off but also knows how to show restraint and take the slower, more considered route to its slaughter. Some of the guitar leads and solos on this release are sublime, enough to take your breath away. There really are some impressive moments here.

A warm, organic sound means you can almost feel the breathing of the Metal as it clobbers you to death. Even the bass is audible. The guitars have a bit of That Swedish Sound, but not oppressively so. Instead the whole thing has a Classic Death Metal stomp.

The vocalist falls somewhere between an Obituary and a Covenant-era Morbid Angel style. He has a relatively varied voice as he ranges deeper or higher than his core voice as necessary.

The songs chug and churn, flatten and demolish their way through the 44 minutes playing time with the confidence of a killer and the talent of a professional. These are diverse and dynamic songs with strong songwriting clearly stamped all over them in a big, bloody mess.

This is an album that every fan of Death Metal should get their greasy mitts on. Play loud and play repeatedly.

Hod – Book of the Worm (Review)

Hod are from the US and play Death Metal.

Hod specialise in rough Death Metal with no commercial shine or anything that could resemble nicety of delivery. This is raw, underground and reeks of evil.

There is a Blackened feel to much of what goes on in these songs, which only goes to enhance the darkness and nastiness that the band generally give off.

The riffs are largely fast and melodic in a sharp, Blackened, way. The majority of time efforts are spent creating music that’s dark, dirty and brutal, although they do throw in the odd solo to add a splash of colour here and there.

The guitars, and in extension the songs, have a lot of good ideas and Hod pursue their Blackened Death Metal art with clear enthusiasm for the kill.

References? Bits of Morbid Angel, Master, Arkhon Infaustus. Snippets of others.

There is no softness on this album, no moments of respite from the chaotic Blackness and brutal assault. This is not a band who want to be your friends or play nice. This is music purely designed to destroy and worship the foul Gods of the Metal underworld, wherever they dwell.

Maybe you should open up the Book of the Worm and read this hymn for yourself?

Unaussprechlichen Kulten – Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath (Review)

Unaussprechlichen Kulten are from Chile and this is their third album of Death Metal.

HP Lovecraft-themed Death Metal is never going to be completely run-of-the-mill and Unaussprechlichen Kulten are no exception. This is Death Metal with an evil, occult feel to it.

They superficially draw comparisons with Incantation/Immolation, (only with shorter songs), as well as the odd bit of Morbid Angel. They have the kind of interesting songwriting that seems to be more related to the Old-School than a lot of current Death Metal, which gives them a Classic Death Metal sheen to their gloriously nefarious sound.

The relatively short songs add up to a relatively short album, so Unaussprechlichen Kulten definitely don’t outstay their welcome. What is here, however, is a very enjoyable collection of tracks that mix the aforementioned bands/styles into a melting pot that’s probably to be used as the basis of a potion or concoction that will end up summoning some long lost god or other. Until that time of our ultimate demise, however, we are free to enjoy the Death Metal that these Chileans have unleashed on the world.

The dark, heavy riffs and eerie leads are propelled by solid drumming and a singer who is doing his best Incantation impression. The songs have a darkly dynamic feel to them and the malevolent aura they exude is toxic to the touch. I also like that the bass is actually audible and provides a useful backdrop to the rest of the music.

If you’re bored of the same old generic Death Metal then have a good listen to Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath; for fans of well-played, interesting Death Metal that’s far too wicked and corrupt to be normal.

Highly recommended.

Deus Otiosus – Rise (Review)

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.

Day of Doom – The Gates of Hell (Review)

This is the third album from US Death Metallers Day of Doom.

Day of Doom are purveyors of USDM at its most brutal, yet with a few unexpected twists and turns.

A thick, syrupy sound swamps everything and the band burst at the seams with aggression and sinewy chops. The sound is actually quite unusual in a way as the drums sound warm and distinctly analogue, while the guitars sound much more underground and feral.

Vocally the singer sounds quite animalistic and barks savagery in a ritualised, almost chanted way.

This has quite a few interesting ideas tucked away amidst the brutality – a different vocal here; a dark melody there; some effects here; a lighter passage there. Day of Doom also write some unusual riffs that are definitely not your average Death Metal fare. It helps them stand out from the pack and means the album has more to offer than your standard chug and blast Death Metal, (although there is a nice amount of this as well).

Ever wondered what you’d get if you crossed the essence of Suffocation with the inventive aspects of Morbid Angel? Well it may not sound entirely dissimilar to Day of Doom.

Enjoyable, interesting and atypical; Day of Doom are worth taking seriously.

Question – Doomed Passages (Review)

Question are a Mexican Death Metal band and this is their début album.

The band give their Death Metal a mysterious occult sheen and the music is steeped in it. Rather than a straightforward blastfest or one dimensional brutality Question inject their music with a smattering of Death-like melody and a feeling of grandiose song structure.

There is blasting, of course, and there is brutality, but there is more than just this. Dark melodies and slower sections are rife and the compositions are right up there from the heights of the Classic Death Metal era.

Question channel the Death Metal greats such as Death, Incantation, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel and Suffocation to deliver an engaging and involving album that doesn’t take the easy or simple route.

The compositions are well written and show a degree of maturity and integrity that most bands lack. Longer songs give the band’s creativity time to shine and allow them to demonstrate their breadth of talent within the Death Metal genre.

The singer has a deep voice that’s absolutely monolithic; like an angry God from ancient days past decreeing loudly from the mountain tops.

This may be a new album but it is stylistically of a time when each song had its own identity and albums were holistically a complete package.

Despot – Satan in the Death Row (Review)

Despot come from Brazil and play Black Metal.

This is Old-School Black Metal with a distinct streak of personality and individuality about it. The core is of the 80’s/early 90’s Black Metal fused with an unusual album art/band logo and with added musical flourishes such as a few more modern moments and unexpected guitar solos/leads.

Subtle keyboard embellishments haunt the tracks like a ghost of forbidden memory just playing around the edges of perception. It’s almost like it’s not there, but you can definitely sense something on the outskirts of hearing.

The riffs are interesting and inventive and the general structure of the songs is an impressive homage to all things dark Metal. The band use melody well and manage to infuse the tracks with a sense of wonder and awe in addition to the usual Black Metal trappings.

Not content with this there are some Celtic Frost influences at play here as well as a bit of a Death/Morbid Angel-inspired Death Metal influence on occasion. They even flirt with some almost sci-fi touches now and then.

The songs are ambitious and as the above description shows they are not afraid to throw different influences into the blender. It all works.

The same is true of the vocals; although primarily an Old-School Black Metal croak there are also deeper grunts and cleaner utterances as well as shouting and chanting.

The sound is authentically Old-School and could in fact be some long-lost gem from decades ago.

This is a top-of-the-line Metal album with lots to draw the listener in and keep them enraptured. This is one Despot to be listened to attentively.

Angist – Circle Of Suffering (Review)

Angist are from Iceland and play Death Metal.

This is Death Metal with mood and presence, as is instantly apparent from the first couple of minutes of the opening track Circle Of Suffering. Also apparent is the band’s Old-School song philosophy and an ear for a good riff.

Taking elements of Morbid Angel, Immolation and Obituary, the band steer a course through paths well trodden but still manage to offer something worthwhile to the discerning listener. They have a good line in some quite Doomy riffs as well; a real sense of melancholy flows when they want it too.

The songs impress with their melody as well as their dynamics and atmosphere. A collection of riffs is not enough for Angist, they demand flow and song structure to be present too, and rightly so.

The vocals are resolutely Old-School in the sense that they are extreme but not overly so and they have that vibe about them; that indefinable something that says “yes, this is the real deal”. They are legible in places and always work well with the music.

This EP is a few years old now, so I look forward to what Angist offer us in the future. Hopefully they will release a blinder of an album.

Give this band your support.