Music – Page 4 – Wonderbox Metal

Israthoum – Black Poison and Shared Wounds (Review)

Israthoum play Black Metal and, (since their relocation), come from The Netherlands.

This album has a dark, grim atmosphere powered by the Darkthrone-esque Black Metal and the suitably hateful vocals that are positively dripping with scorn and strength of purpose. This is underground Black Metal played well by people who know the genre inside out.

Speed, aggression and darkness are emphatically delivered by a band who obviously believe in their calling and are passionate about their art. That’s not to say this is purely a blast-a-thon; they do lower the tempo from time to time as the song requires.

Vocals are as you would expect – tortured and blackened; sounds such as no human should be able to make.

Dredging up the darkest of emotions and altered states to deliver a sermon of hatred to an eager flock; Israthoum are Orthodox Black Metal’s dark missionaries come to spread their corrupt gospel. Will you listen?

Corrupt Moral Altar – Whiskey Sierra (Review)

UK based Corrupt Moral Altar play dirty sludgey Grindcore with lashings of filth and passion. This is ugly music for people who know what they like and couldn’t care less what the latest trends are.

The first song blasts out of the speakers like a ferocious angry animal; all teeth, claws and invective. It’s only three minutes long but it’s amazing how much content they cram into it.

Blasting, mid paced, sludge, atmospherics – all raise their bruised heads and have their time in the sun. It’s amazing that they find the time to slow down and inject quality Doom and sludge into their sound – this band are certainly not a one-trick blast pony.

Throughout these four songs the vocals lash and rage in high-pitched screams, as well as deeper shouts and even a nice bit of pig-noise depending on the whims of the Grindcore muse.

Ten minutes is all we get, but ten minutes of highly-inventive grinding extreme Metal that manages to pack more ideas into its short running time than a lot of bands do in a career. If you like Grind or just top quality extreme Metal then this is as near to essential a ten minutes as you’re going to find anywhere.

Ferocity – The Sovereign (Review)

Hailing from Denmark, Ferocity play Death Metal with style and skill. This is contemporary Death Metal that combines intricacy, brutality, melody and controlled aggression to get its message across.

There are blastbeats aplenty, but also mid-paced and slower sections showing off The Chug and other assorted riffs that make this album instantly familiar but also most welcome. Relatively diverse, (within the Death Metal genre of course), Ferocity display influences from various different sub-genres of Death Metal without ever being confined to just one of them. Here and there you’ll find elements of modern, US, brutal, technical, mid-paced and hyperblast Death Metal all sharing the same album, and even the same song. In my book this can only be a good thing, especially as in the case of Ferocity it works and doesn’t sound just mashed together.

There are some very nice riffs on this release and some good moments in the songs – a welcome grasp of dynamics by the band of when to go melodic, when to go full throttle, when to ease off, when a solo is required, etc. all within a solid Death Metal framework.

Ferocity live up to their name but are not limited to it – there is more than just blind brutality here and that makes The Sovereign a better album. Recommended.

Iron Kingdom – Gates of Eternity (Review)

Canadian Heavy/Power Metal with plenty of ambition and ideas.

A useful starting point would be Iron Maiden/Iced Earth with more Power Metal-style vocals. Epic melody, memorable riffing and considered song-structure are all contained in these songs, as well as plenty of solos and atmosphere.

These guys really do know how to play their Metal! The band are very adept at their trade, whether it is during more atmospheric, classical moments, or going full-on Metal with duelling guitars and galloping drums. Either way they are very confident, talented musicians, and this comes across in the songs.

The singer belts out the tunes as would be expected of the Power Metal style, with the vocals soaring above the music with a high degree of gusto. The vocals, and the music in general, are well-recorded and sound very organic. The drums and bass in particular have a very warm, live sound that is a pleasure to listen to.

Favourite track? It has to be the penultimate song; the 15-minute epic Egypt (The End Is Near). A triumph.

Like a satisfying Metal meal in a commercial-Metal famine, if you long for traditional Heavy Metal with some tasty Power Metal thrown in – then this is a nine-course meal that is bound to hit the spot.

Merciless Terror – Vile Extinction (Review)

Hailing from the UK – Merciless Terror play Thrash-heavy Death Metal and it’s a joy to listen to; they don’t make them like this very often any more!

This album has a real late 90’s/early 00’s feel to it that fills me with a sense of nostalgia; at the same time however this is a modern take on it as the sound and energy is distinctly 2013 and exists purely to demolish the listener with its brawny bludgeoning.

An old-school vibe with a modern production, (reminiscent of Malevolent Creation as a reference point), this absolutely crushes everything in its path. Plenty of speed and brutality, but with a matching grasp of dynamics and the need for songs and hooks; this harks back to an era when brutality was not the be all and end all of this genre.

With many stomping riffs to be had and a general feeling of strength-through-guitar-power everything seems in place to worship the riff, fast or slow. And why not?

Vocals are not standard cookie-monster style, more a shouted-bark. This works well and also has a nice amount of variety, incorporating screams and some almost Black Metal-ish shouting at times.

Do yourself a favour and check out Merciless Terror as soon as you can.

Harm – Cadaver Christi (Review)

Germany’s Harm play old-school Death Metal, with chainsaw guitars and an uncompromising attitude.

There is some excellent, malevolent riffing on this album and the sense of 90’s Death Metal is strong. A time when constant blast and hyper-technicality were not important, and instead you have songs, riffs and brutal Metal. In fact if I had been told that this was a lost gem from the 90’s recorded at Sunlight Studio I could believe it.

Strength and persistence are key attributes to Harm; the old adage about slow and steady winning the race…well not slow perhaps but they certainly know how to settle into a malevolent groove and make the most of it. All of this is wrapped up in a strong sound that lets you hear every instrument individually and lets everything breathe nicely.

This may be an album steeped in Death Metal’s past, but it’s a past I’m quite comfortable visiting, and Harm are the perfect, brutish guides.

Also; the vocalist sounds like he’s trying to kill himself by vomiting up his insides. What more can you say? Nice work!

Xothist – Xothist (Review)

Xothis play the kind of Black Metal that separates the true Black Metal affectionados from the wannabes. There is nothing even remotely pretty or commercial here.

Two tracks of wicked Black Metal full of spite and mystery, each song 20:47 in length. The songs are long but not dull, and have several shades of light and dark that Xothist move through like a hidden predator.

This is a very underground, lo-fi recording with fuzzy emotive guitars and drums buried under so much rawness that they are like a pulse; sometimes unnoticeable but always vital.

The vocals are of the really high-pitched, scratchy, almost-static variety that I enjoy so much. Sometimes it can be hard to ascertain where the vocals stop and the guitars start, and vice versa. All of which just adds to the the experience.

This release travels from ambience to blasting and all points in between. If you are a true fan of Black Metal then this should be right up your foggy street.

Colosso – Abrasive Peace (Review)

The music is state-of-the-art bleeding-edge Extreme Metal, but the vocals are pure Death Metal; powerful and going straight for the throat. Colosso combine the best parts of bands like Behemoth and Nile, add a sprinkling of cyber-Metal akin to Fear Factory at their heaviest, and cap it off with focused brutality.

The songs tear themselves out of the speakers with razor sharp claws and venomous fangs ready to slay everyone in sight. This is music not to be messed with. The album boasts a thoroughly modern production and sound, and all of the benefits that 21st century technology can offer. In fact this is a perfectly judged combination of technological and traditional Metal – rather than swamping the metal with bleeps and break-beats to create some hybrid that is neither techno nor Metal, here the cyber-Metal influences serve to merely accentuate the relevant parts of the songs, while the very Metal guitars, drums and vocals take centre stage.

Eight tracks of thundering Metal later and the album is done. Oh, apart from the obligatory throwaway techno-Metal remix track of course, which does somewhat dilute the essence of the main album by being a rather poor closure after the last track proper has faded away. Nonetheless, this is a minor quibble in what is otherwise an exemplary album and a perfect example of what modern Extreme/Death Metal should sound like in 2013.

As a side-note there is also an instrumental version of this album out there named Peaceful Abrasiveness. That should tell you a lot about the quality of the music here and its ability to stand alone. And with the vocals added…well, that just makes it even better.

Cellador – Honor Forth (Review)

Cellador play very lively and speedy Power Metal. The songs are chirpy, upbeat and have good composition. Their version of Power Metal is the hybridised Speed Metal version, with even the odd blastbeat appearing. This may bring up visions of Dragonforce, and although it’s undeniably the same genre they are not overly similar.

Plenty of musical chops and guitar heroics are displayed but an ear for a good tune and good song structure is not forgotten either. Vocals are passionate and well-done, not falling into the trap of being overly theatrical, (which there is nothing inherently wrong with as such, but it takes exceptional skill to pull off correctly to my mind).

Cellador are a very talented band, and very proficient at what they do. Both guitar and keyboard solos are incorporated into this EP increasing its enjoyability by being nicely embedded in the songs rather than sounding out of place.

Overall I liked this release and look forward to what the future holds for the band.

Monachus – Below (Review)

Monachus are from Sweden and play epic, spiralling atmospheric Doom. Having been a fan of their previous work, both as Monachus and as previous incarnation Icos, I was looking forward to what this release would bring.

And what they bring is sludge-y Doom with some delicious Post-Metal excellence sprinkled on top. The music twists and turns and swamps the listener in warm, post-Neurosis/Isis sounds while proudly striding forwards, forging their own legacy of brilliance for others to follow.

The vocals are top-notch and seem to only be improving with time. Greater variation and depth of voice than ever before, and real feeling that hits you deep in the gut. From gruff to clean, the singer knows what he’s doing that’s for sure.

Each of the songs on this album are finely crafted examples of the art of musical journeys; each journey slowly taking the listener to parts unknown, below what is real and safe, into places other. The album is aptly named in my opinion; with each song giving the feeling of dragging the listener down, underground, or spiralling down the whirlpool to a dark underworld.

There are four songs on this album, and at 38 minutes in length it is over far too quickly as a release of this quality could easily be longer.

Definitely a superior release, with Monachus cementing their position as one of the premier acts of this style. The future is Below.

Available via Alerta Antifascista Records: www.doomrock.com