Old-School Death Metal – Page 43

Zero Gravity – Holocaust Awaits (Review)

This is the début album from India’s Zero Gravity – a Thrash/Death Metal band.

After a pointless intro, the band start the album properly and they introduce us to their rather fetching take on Death Metal. Think Old-School Death Metal with a sharp Progressive edge and an added splash of Arch Enemy’s modernity and catchiness.

If you think Arch Enemy are too clean and polished sounding; if you’d prefer it if they had more of an underground, raw feeling then look no further. Arch Enemy combined with Death is as good a reference point as any. And do you know what? It sounds bloody good.

The singer has a good bark and she delivers the lines with passion and bite. She has a great voice and it works with the aggressive riffs to fuel the band to greater heights of attack.

The riffs and licks flash out like lightning and the technical/progressive elements of their sound are abundant but relatively subtle. These are clearly people who know how to play their instruments well and don’t need to be overtly flashy or ostentatious to prove this.

Holocaust Awaits is an album full of hooks and has plenty of catchy parts to it. Sometimes this kind of songwriting can be a recipe for acute gratification at the expense of chronic satisfaction, however Zero Gravity are just damn Metal enough for the acute to bleed into the chronic and we could very well end up with an album that has some longevity to it. Only time will tell but I know what I think the outcome will be…

Minus the intro there are 8 songs on this album and the entire thing lasts just over 40 minutes – it’s a good length as it allows the band to show what they’re capable of but doesn’t let them outstay their welcome.

This is the kind of music that’s actually surprisingly hard to do well – this style of Melodic Death Metal with a bit of groove, a bit of Death, catchiness and hooks…on paper it sounds all very good but unfortunately a lot of bands who try this style end up sounding very mediocre and stale.

It’s all in the execution of course and Zero Gravity avoid all of this this by simply writing kick-ass riffs that are artfully arranged into actual songs, and decent ones at that.

A very enjoyable listen. Check this out and see what you think.

Decaying – One to Conquer (Review)

This is the third album from Decaying, who are a Death Metal band from Finland.

This is Old-School Death Metal with a solid sound and plenty of guts. Sharing stylistic space with bands like Hail of Bullets, Warlord UK and Bolt Thrower, this is War Metal in the Classic style that rampages over the landscape like a heavily armoured tank.

One to Conquer is played well and benefits from the band’s obvious experience.

The songs are straightforward tracks with Death Metal’s destructive sound and warlike spirit. It rumbles along at a satisfying speed and even finds the time to interject a couple of blasts here and there.

I particularly enjoy the band’s chugging riffs and winding melodies. Yes, the Bolt Thrower influence is strong in this regard but if you like that band you’ll like this one too.

Vocally the band are armed with a singer who deals out death with a very deep growl, Hail of Bullets-style. It sounds good.

Decaying’s War Metal will be a familiar style to many and fans of this sub-genre will find One to Conquer a capable battlefield ally.

Check them out and have a listen.

Horrified – Descent into Putridity (Review)

Horrified are a Death Metal band from the UK and this is their début album.

With vocals that sound like they belong to an unhinged psychopathic murderer, this is rotten Old-School Death Metal with a Swedish influence and a fair few chainsaws stashed away with the bodies.

It’s a shambling, stumbling corpse of an album but not without its charms. Fans of polished, ultra-technical, modern Death Metal can look away now; this is atavistic, grotesque Death Metal from the bowels of history played with passion and a will to kill.

The songs are straightforward, ugly tracks that hack and slash their way through the crowds with maniacal glee.

This is not an album without flaws; indeed, if the band can tighten up their performance a bit then their next release will be even better. However, focusing on this too much is not the point. Horrified is about the base, underground rawness of Death Metal and although I do believe that they would benefit from a tighter delivery Descent into Putridity is not ruined by the lack of this.

The very rawness and underground brutality of this maggot-filled album is its own reward. Yes, I’m a sucker for Swedish-influenced Death Metal at the best of times, but I still like this.

Horrified have arrived. Let’s support them and let’s listen loud.

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!

Black Jesus – Everything Black Everything Dead (Review)

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

This is Old-School Death Metal with a Crust influence and a filthy sound. There are elements of Black and Thrash Metal to their sound as well, but this is buried under the mountain of corpses that their Death Metal onslaught has created.

Most of the songs are quite short and to the point, generally hovering around the 3 minute mark. But that’s fine, as Black Jesus don’t need any crazy ostentation or filler; theirs is an older, purer style of Metal that goes for the throat and piles on the beatings.

The production may be the aural equivalent of a graveyard but it’s still a powerful sound they have nonetheless. The music is sufficiently dirty and grimy for a band like this yet with a clear drum sound and tasty, chopping guitars Black Jesus come off well.

The songs are memorable and there are a some good riffs on display. Angry and Crust-fuelled belligerence powers the songs along and the band never let up with their deadly attack. The Thrash influence keeps things spiky and Black Jesus never enter friendly territory as everything is full of hate and rage.

Everything Black Everything Dead is a testament to these Australian’s passion for all things dead and rotten. Get on board with Black Jesus and embrace their Death Metal assault today.

Diskord – Oscillations (Review)

Diskord are from Norway and this is their latest EP. They play Death Metal.

Diskord play Death Metal that’s fused together with technicality, atypical guitar workouts and strange musical shifts. The result is a band who definitely have their own identity.

Oscillations is 26 minutes of Progressive Technical Death Metal that never takes the easy or simple route.

Diskord may have a dense and forbidding sound but it’s surprisingly accessible, considering. Amongst the violence and tempo changes lurk Doom-influenced passages and a subtle Black Metal influence that work alongside the more brutal and frenzied parts to bring harmony and a sense of vicious gloom to their work.

The sound is warm and apoplectic with seemingly random bouts of violence juxtaposed with a more lurking malevolence. All of the instruments are audible and the bass has a good role to play.

The songs are well-written and constructed with the crazy instrument-heroics never getting in the way of the song itself. Not an easy thing to avoid happening.

The vocals are quite varied, ranging from the Death-esque to the Blackened that are entirely appropriate to the music being played.

Diskord sound like Old-School Death Metal, (think Cynic, Death, Atheist), mixed with a more modern ultra-technical and eccentric influence. It’s a very meaty and enjoyable release that has a lot of nooks and crannies to explore and learn from.

A quality EP from a talented band.

Check them out.

Lavatory – Morbid Terror (Review)

Lavatory are a Death Metal band from Malaysia. This is their début album.

Just like the shambling, rotten monstrosity that graces the album cover, Lavatory’s brand of Death Metal is a putrid and corpse-ridden ode to that oh-so-satisfying of sub genres – Old-School Swedish Death Metal.

The album is aptly named as the band use all of the chainsaw-shaped tools available to them in their box of chainsaws to create Death Metal that’s heavy in both guitar tone and deathly dread.

If you know Swedish Death Metal, (and I know you do), then you know what to expect here; the chainsaw riffs, the haunting melodies, etc.

It’s all delivered by a band that sounds a little bit more unhinged than is the norm for the style though. It’s almost like the levels of rot have taken hold so much and so deep that they’re in danger of falling apart.

It’s like they’ve mixed Old-School Death Metal with an equally Old-School brand of Hardcore and taken the energy levels from the latter and messily transplanted them into the former. Well, the operation may have killed the patient but it’s been a success anyway.

The singer sounds like he’s going to rupture something and the guitars sound like the chainsaws haven’t had maintenance in a very long time.

The album reeks of the grave and sounds as ancient as a curse. The songs are primitive and stubbornly refuse to be anything other than what they are; there is no pretension here and the band are completely true to their decaying roots.

Check out Morbid terror; just make sure you bring clean underwear.

Pyre – Human Hecatomb (Review)

Pyre are from Russia and play Death Metal. This is their début album.

This is Old-School Death Metal with swagger, confidence and a feeling of grim determination mixed with a sense of graveyard fun.

The singer snarls and growls his way through the carnage and there’s more than a touch of Obituary about him.

Quality solos and playing all-round make for an enjoyable listen. The sound is balanced and the drums in particular sound quite satisfying. I also like that you can hear the bass. Hurrah for bass!

This is an album of good songs and good riffs; an album celebrating the time when songs were more important than how fast or how technical you could play.

Slow, mid-paced, fast; Human Hecatomb uses all tempos, speeds and paces well demonstrating Pyre’s good grasp of dynamics and songwriting.

A healthy Swedish Death Metal influence can be heard throughout this album, but it’s not an overbearing one and certainly not one that would give people who are sick of that particular sub-genre enough reason to avoid Pyre. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that there are very few reasons to avoid Pyre if you’re a fan of Classic Death Metal.

This really is great stuff. If you love Death Metal you’ll love Pyre.

Deathronation – Hallow the Dead (Review)

Deathronation are from Germany and this is their début album. They play Death Metal.

This is morbid Old-School Death Metal with dark malevolent feelings rubbing shoulders with some nice graveyard tunes.

Their brand of Death Metal has a few influences from the Doom, Black and Thrash Metal genres mixed in with their Deathly attack, which makes for a nice, well rounded album that has good pace and variety.

Doom? Some of the riffs are superbly downbeat, slow and mournful. These sections typically don’t last long but they’re there and they sound good.

Black? A slight Blackened tinge to some of the guitar licks and leads lends a slightly Old-School Blackened feel to the songs on occasion. It’s not overly blatant but it gives the band an extra depth than just employing pure Death Metal influences.

Thrash? This part is apparent in some of the riffs; sometimes they just Thrash out and an older, crusty vibe is brought to the fore.

All of these are worked around an Old-School Death Metal base that places songs, heavy riffs and horror-fuelled melodies firmly in the limelight.

Hallow the Dead is an impressive collection of tracks that remind the listener that it’s not all about the hyper-blast or the Slamming grooves; the most important thing about Death Metal is the songs themselves and the feelings they invoke.

It seems Deathronation have made a great start to their career. It’s definitely worth checking this out.

Stench – Venture (Review)

Stench are from Sweden and play Death Metal. This is their second album.

Opening with a wowzer of a riff, Archways sets the bar high straight off the bat and continues in this vein for the whole 39 minute running time.

Stench play Old-School Death Metal that may be influenced by the Swedish sound but isn’t defined or limited to it. Theirs is a more varied sound that incorporates elements of Black, Heavy and Doom Metal into their Death Metal core.

Subtle aural enhancements are added at strategic points throughout the album to create an extra layer of mood to these songs. Combined with the emotive nature of the riffs and the half-growl, half-shriek of the vocals it means that Stench have somewhat of a Blackened feel to their songs.

There is somewhat of an eerie, otherworldly feeling to these tracks. It’s as if they’re channelling some nameless horror and are acting as a lightning rod for all things mysterious, dark and rotten.

It would be a mistake to dismiss this band as a standard Death Metal band, as although this is exactly what they appear to be on the surface of things the reality of the situation is quite different. They have a further depth to them that is made up of the extra influences and added parts of their sound as mentioned above. These work together to create a true journey of an album that straddles multiple genres in its quest for Metal perfection.

This is a band who have produced an album that’s just so much more than I was expecting. Stench bring something powerful and dangerously individual to the Metal table. I cannot recommend this album enough.

Favourite Track: Road. Quality riffing, infectious bass and atmospheric mood.