Six Feet Under are a death metal band from the US.
I enjoyed Crypt of the Devil, and Torment is the band’s latest forray into the killing pits. Having specialised in their own brand of death metal grooves for decades now, I always like to catch up with what Six Feet Under are doing. Continue reading “Six Feet Under – Torment (Review)”
This is the debut album from international death metallers Neurogenic.
Featuring members of Indecent Excision, Derogation, Fleshbomb and Six Feet Under, as well as guests from members of Gutrot, Churchburn, Abnormality, Six Feet Under and Malignancy, you know that this is going to be a professional and capable release before you even listen to it.
When you do, you’re confronted with Continue reading “Neurogenic – Ouroboric Stagnation (Review)”
Dementia 13 are a Death Metal band from Portugal. This is their début album.
Sometimes only Old-School Death Metal will do. Yes, it’s always nice to hear the latest in TechDeath fusion, or the latests sophisticated Avant-Garde Black Metal opus, or some new-fangled take on Doom…but sometimes you just want something primitive, ugly and swamped in Death Metal’s rich heritage. For times like that, there’s bands like this.
This is horror-inspired music, with each track finding inspiration in a different film.
With a decent sound that means the guitars sound good and heavy while the bass is actually audible, Dementia 13 take a festering, decaying sub-genre by storm and kick up some dust and muck while they’re at it.
This is a very satisfying release. The tasty riffs and deep, growling vocals hit the right spots and Ways of Enclosure is full of grim, filthy Death Metal that manages to capture the spirit of the Old-School style perfectly without sounding stale or tired, as so many do.
The singer’s voice is perfectly gruff but still surprisingly legible. His throaty growl tears along over the steady pace of the music, while the guitars throw out riff after riff and dark tidings aplenty.
Fans of Bolt Thrower, Massacre, Entombed, Autopsy and Six Feet Under will find a lot to enjoy with Dementia 13.
This is the début album from Finnish Death Metallers Shrapnel Storm.
Ever since I first heard of this band I’ve been looking forward to hearing them as I really like their name.
This is Bolt Thrower-inspired War Metal that lives in the no man’s land between Bolt Thrower, Obituary and Six Feet Under. This is 38 minutes of carnage that carries off the familiar themes with a grim determination.
The formula may be recognisable, but one of the things I like about Mother War is that it has a certain youthful charm and energy about it. Sure, the War Metal sub-genre may be firmly rooted in the Death Metal Old-School, but this is played with such passion and enthusiasm that it seems to jump out at you, weapons in hand and ready to fight.
Although War Metal may not be as commonplace a thing as, say, Swedish Death Metal, it’s still a well-worn sub-genre and if you’ve had your fill of it I imagine you’ll stay away from Shrapnel Storm. This is a shame though, as there is a lot of enjoyment to be had on Mother War and I urge you to give it a try.
The production is solid and the riffs chunky. The singer has a decent growl and everything works together to bring the sounds of the battlefield alive with distortion and pounding drums. It ticks all of the boxes for this kind of music, but as I say; there’s something else here, animating this war-torn corpse with an unholy, unnatural life. Shrapnel Storm have come to make war and I won’t be standing in their way that’s for sure.
Top marks for this, I really enjoyed it.
Six Feet Under are a Death Metal band from the US, although it’s highly likely that they need no introduction. This is their eleventh album.
This album is slightly different to previous releases as it’s somewhat of a collaboratively written effort between Six Feet Under main man Chris Barnes and Cannabis Corpse’s bassist/vocalist.
How has this changed things? At first glance not a lot, but on closer inspection there are some subtle alterations to Six Feet Under’s Death ‘n’ Groove style this time around.
Some of the riffs are a little more complicated, (just a little), there’s a little more aggression, a pinch of extra speed and a little more fun. Not fun in the ridiculous, novelty way, but fun in the Autopsy-covered-in-bowels style of macabre fun. You know, graveyard fun.
Also, some of the riffs just have a bit more Metal to them, Death-style almost. Not all, but it’s noticeable in places.
These ten tracks are catchy and laden with enough barbed hooks to stick into anything. The songs continue to batter and bruise their way through the running time with all of the finesse of a wrecking ball, of course. But would we want it any other way? No way.
Ultimately Six Feet Under are the kind of band you either take to or don’t. Of course you can realistically say that about any band, but Six Feet Under certainly do seem to be one of those groups that people either love or hate.
I think that Crypt of the Devil will do very little to convince those who have already decided they don’t like the band. For those of us who are fans though, it’s similar enough to the normal Six Feet Under output to sound reassuringly familiar; however the small but important alterations to their sound due to the collaborative songwriting mean that they come across fresher and hungrier than ever.
After two decades of Death Metal Six Feet Under are still going strong. Crypt of the Devil is yet another solid slab of mid-paced Death Metal that’s meaty enough to satisfy that craving for rotten, putrid flesh that I know you all crave.
Turn the volume up and get ready to bang your head once more.
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!
Desecresy are from Finland and this is their third album of Death Metal.
One of the first things that strikes me is the singer’s vocals – they’re very full and ragged growls that don’t particularly sound human.
The music is relatively slow for Death Metal and has quite a few Doom/dirge elements to it, as well as the normal blast beats being in attendance, of course.
There is a distinctly otherworldly quality to the songs, especially when the leads take the fore; quite an impressive achievement considering the short duration of the tracks. The songs are very enjoyable and easily wash over you in a tide of grimy distortion and guttural malevolence.
A thick, dense, murky sound means the songs sound even more oblique than they might otherwise do. Add this to the bestial vocals and the unnatural atmospheres the band create and you have an album that is not your run-of-the-mill Death Metal.
Think Six Feet Under with more Doom, more filth and a bit of eeriness. Yes that’s right.
It’s heavy and it’s good. Give them a listen.
This is the latest EP from US Death Metal band The Lustmord.
The Lustmord have a nice line in rumbling, bouncy Death Metal with throat-shredding vocals. The singer rasps and growls his way through the tracks like his life depends on it, (maybe it does), while the rest of the band bring the Metal.
They’re billed as Blackened Death Metal, but in all honesty I don’t hear any Black Metal on this EP. Instead they play a mixed brand of Death Metal that incorporates everything from elements of Deathcore to the galloping riffs of Classic Metal.
There is bass! Believe it or not The Lustmord are a band that actually use their bass player in an audible and useful way. Bonus marks for that.
The band are quite proficient at adopting a few different styles from within the Death Metal pantheon and vary between brutality, mid-paced crunch and Melodic Death Metal with apparent ease. They mainly stay in the mid-to-a-bit-faster speed range for the most part and have plenty of riffs that make you want to jump up and down and smash things before speeding up the tempo with some faster drums and a bit of double-bass.
In addition to all of this they also toy with some interesting ideas on occasion; unexpected atmosphere appears in Zombie Disease with subtle effects playing in the background that enhance how catchy the song is and create a suitably spooky atmosphere. It sounds akin to something Six Feet Under might experiment with.
The final song In One-Hundred Years has a playful Incantation-Doom-esque feel in addition to some Classic Metal licks and even a bit of orchestration. It comes off a bit Godgory in practice and it’s nice to hear.
It’s good that The Lustmord feel free to experiment and this should only be encouraged.
A very interesting EP that sees the band playing it safe for the first three songs and then becoming increasingly bold and inventive as the EP progresses.
Recommended.
This is the third album from Australian Death Metal band Cauldron Black Ram.
The band have a very striking sound that instantly forces you to sit up and pay attention. Sort of like Six Feet Under crossed with Venom and Celtic Frost.
There is an air of Sludge to the songs; a foetid whiff of mouldy corpses long sealed in a basement. Add to this a decent Black Metal influence on occasion, and you have a bumpy ride over the screaming bodies of countless poor passers by as this Metal juggernaut rolls into town.
They have a very fluid sound in the sense that the songs can morph into different shades of Metal quite quickly, with different riffs, vocals and drumming patterns all asserting themselves dominantly depending on the song. All of this happens within the Death/Black/Sludge Metal framework of course, but it does mean that there’s never any chance to get bored when the band have so many tools to club their way into your attention.
Although I wouldn’t call them Old-School per se, there is a definite Old-School streak to them and they even have some prime Heavy Metal, almost Iron Maiden-type moments now and again.
This is an interesting and gratifying Metal album. All the more so for the fact that it’s a little different from the norm. A lot of talent and effort has gone into these songs, and it shows.
Get your fix of Cauldron Black Ram today.
This is the début EP of Australian Death Metal band Gaped.
Gaped play powerful-sounding Death Metal with lots of emphasis on the heaviness of the guitars and the quality of the riffs.
Mixed in amongst the brutality are snippets of melody and added flourishes, as well as some effective lead work and solos.
There is a fair degree of versatility in the sound, from Six Feet Under-style groove to Bloodbath-style melody to Avulsed-style blasting. In fact, a mix of Bloodbath and Six Feet Under with a hint of Avulsed – probably a good description for how Gaped come across.
The vocals are deep and menacing, but understandable. They chomp and chew their way through the chunky guitars and compete with them for the highest impact.
They end the EP with a cover of Stripped, Raped and Strangled by Cannibal Corpse. It’s very good.
This album is a lesson in focused, structured and planned Death Metal murder. There’s only 23 minutes of music on this album, 20 if you discount the cover; however this is a great release for the discerning Death Metal fan and one can only wait for an album now. Great stuff.
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