Deeds of Flesh - Trading Pieces

Before the modern day studio effect pollution, this is how death metal albums used to sound like. Debut by now legends Deeds of Flesh came out as organic and as thick as they could make it, in about the middle of the best decade ever. 

All instruments sound perfectly organic, it's quite technical, the production is perfect and the drums are way above average. Simple and ugly lyrics throughout, and lot's of tempo changes as well as great guitar riffs.

Good first step for the band, especially after an equally juicy EP a year earlier, Gradually Melted. Trading Pieces can be there for all your death metal cravings. [4/5 - Excellent]

Tracklist:

1. Carnivorous Ways

2. Born Then Torn Apart

3. Trading Pieces

4. Hunting Humans

5. Impious Offerings

6. Acid Troops

7. Deeds of Flesh

8. Erected on Stakes

9. Chunks in the Shower

10. Blasted

11. Outro

Autumn 1996, Repulse Records

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Repudilation - Purging of Impurity (Demo, 1996)

Album | Purging of Impurity [Demo]
Country | United States
Genre | Brutal Death Metal
Label | Numb Cum

| Fall of oppression |

Repudilation were formed in 1994 as a brutal death metal outfit, back when the genre had not completely taken form. Still, their first and only demo Purging of Impurity in 1996 was close to it, at least musically, since the band didn't adopt the pure fun gore subjects of the later bands. Repudilation also released a split and a compilation before splitting up, which makes this an important part of their small discography.

This demo includes four tracks, all of them lasting around three or four minutes. The sound is quite noisy but not completely damaged so that it's unbearable, having a dirty production and a couple of samples to keep the entertainment going. The guitars have a thick catuous sound that creates the first layer of the recording and the drums go on nicely and accurately, with frequent blasts and fast parts.

A main characteristic of the demo is the gargling, guttural vocals of Rich Turnbull, which hardly even go into the typical growling moment. His singing is deep, grunting for the most part, making his style clear brutal death metal and of course indistinguishable. The performance is cool throughout the demo and has what is needed to support a groovy old school / brutal death compositional arrangemeny like this.

Since I have not found any lyrics available, from what I get through the various titles, the band revolved around decay, death of humanity and general macabre subjects. That fits fine to the death metal scene of it's time and the splatter lyrics / covers are amiss, as in the rest of brutal death. Yet, I think the black & white cover art of Purging of Impurity, along with the deep red letter, is great awesomeness.

During these fourteen minutes, I heard nothing but legit brutal death metal, budget limited to demo standards only, with an awesome "Dance motherfucker, dance" sample at the beginning of the last song. Lot's of slam elements exist in here, and judging from the chronology it's certainly one of the first records as well. As I'm not a die hard fan myself, I think it has it's stench and quality, so this is indeed a good demo.

DAMAGE: 7.75/10

Moonblood - Blut und Krieg (1996) Review

Country | Germany
Genre | Black Metal
Label | Majestic Union
Dynamic range | DR8

| Under the forests, the mountains |

Perhaps one of the most respected names in underground black metal, through hard work and many releases, with a firm stance for over a decade, they carved out their own name in the history of the scene. No other than the infamous Moonblood, the German act of Occulta Mors and Gaamalzagoth, still continues to have a strong impact even after they disbanded in 2004. Blut Und Krieg is their maiden full length album after many rehearsals and demos, originally released on cassette and later re-released by many companies in all physical forms possible that's it's now hard to recognize originals from zine / label copies. The originals, adopted by Moonblood themselves, were only cassettes and vinyls, since "CD versions were very easily accessible by everyone". This band is my own personal favorite, and the very first I heard of black metal. Maybe a little unorthodox beginning, but I am glad that I have discovered them.

True to the essence of unclean production, the band does not spend time perfecting their sound in the studio, with a purpose to create something totally primitive. Every instrument is audible and that's satisfying, but the mixing and mastering seems incomplete. Many fans have this band as a comparing standard when talking about how raw a different band sounds, but it's distinguishable and completely epic from the start to the end, don't think that it's noisy and unlistenable. The musicianship does not consist of instrument machines and there is no shredding anywhere, both members possess the vision and the talent to compose great songs of accurate lines, and not necessarily complex or difficult.

The album starts with an atmospheric introduction with interesting samples and a church bell . It takes less than a minute, but it is more than enough to create the right, dim and dull atmosphere. First track "In a Bloody Night of Full Moon" enters at medium speed , with simple riffs and drums, based on a melody of a synth and it's pretty epic. It can be compared with "Det Som En Gang Var" by Burzum, having the familiar style of Moonblood and quite good for the first track on the disc. The second track is called "Shadows" and it is relatively fast and more "uplifting", as in the introduction there is a 80s heavy metal riff with solid screaming, later including a good tremolo melody. The drums are faster and closer to the style of the genre than in the previous track. The "... And The Snow Covered The Lifeless Bodies" begins with a cold melody, which compulsively creeps up the main part of the piece, having nice guitar lines. It keeps a constant rate and no major changes during it's nine minutes of length.

The next track is called "My Evil Soul" and it's a track from a previous rehearsal they had recorded, one of the strongest tracks on the album . It's faster and more direct than the rest, the combination of orchestration and unearthly voice creates an awesome effect. The title track begins with a melody similar to "... And The Snow ..." and slows the album down again, as a nostalgic synth line shows itself. The "Kingdom of Forgotten Dreams", has interesting riffs and works as a standard Moonblood track. Then, "Under the Cold Fullmoon" is an amazing track. It combines slow-moving melodies with epic moments , all instruments perfectly coexist and the voice is incredible. The last track "I Am All" follows the footsteps of the previous one, with the same duration and intensity. The album closes with a two-minute outro, consisting of keyboards and vocals, without being anything special .

As a whole , the album is very good , and it has dedicated to one attention and time. The particular production is this that makes the assembly stand , which is quite dirty, but without burying a component of music. The vocals are a little louder than they should be throughout the disc, but not to a point that they ruin the result. Even though a full length might be irrelevant with these guys, since the production and sound of their albums is very similar to the demo recordings (anything cleaner is of no need), it's good to have some specific points of reference. Blut Und Krieg is such an album for this band so if you want to get into them but you're confused with the large number of rehearsals, demos, splits etc.. Start from here! Great band with a great admiration of their own spirit.

DAMAGE: 8.25/10

Quo Vadis - Forever... (1996) Review

Country | Canada
Genre | Melodic Death Metal

| Find your own reality | 
 

I have connected melodic death metal with state of the art bands of today even though it has somehow been around from the mid nineties, mainly in Sweden but in other places as well. Even though it was not complete formed, it was already seperated from pure death metal because of the significantly less agressiveness and more melody, Quo Vadis being such a band. Listening to them, you probably won't say you were blown away by their raw brutality and I hardly think it will move you at all.

It's not that something is missing. On the contrary, the album has all the elements of melodeath, from acoustic / violin parts, to shreddy riffs and changes between high and low growls, at the appropriate level of complexity and variety and the musicianship is remarkable. The talent of these guys was not missing back then and the musicianship on the record is remarkable, but it is overshadowed by milestones of it's time like Slaughter of the Soul or Heartwork. That shit was memorable, while Forever isn't. What is more, the production really keeps everything back here. It's not clean enough and a bit fuzzy in the main parts of the album and while it might be considered solid for then, it would be much better if a better arrangement was done.

The pace is constantly changing and the tracks don't lack musicality, each musician in the band is a beast. There is an excellent guitar work with lot's of fast riffs, the bass is clear and ultra heavy, the drums are magnificent and the vocals include more than one style in their calibre. The album seems to be constantly expanding with new elements and sounds, even though they are missing a purpose. I didn't discover an overwhelming moment in the album, even though it doesn't fail in terms of technicality. The potential of the band can be heard on each note, but in a young and immature stage. Several experiments went on, like the female vocals on "Nocturnal Reflections" that didn't work out at all, while the use of the violin was average.

This is a legit album as a whole. While all the components are here and with plenty of possibilities to rise succesful, Quo Vadis throw a stone in the water and nothing happens. There are some narrating moments of atmosphere with clean vocals and all that mellow song writing that reminded me of gothic metal and I really didn't like it. I would say this is a viable album for melodeath fans, since the band is somehow popular and this was their first attempt. But for me, I don't think I'm coming back to this release anytime soon.

DAMAGE: 3.5/10

Ulver - Kveldssanger (1996) Review

1996, Head Not Found

After an engrossing debut, Ulver did not hesitate to experiment even deeper into their soft side, releasing an fully acoustic folk album, based on the acoustic guitars, the vocals, cellos and the flutes. They did not hesitate to experiment from the second album, which is acclaimed by many to be the first dark folk / neofolk record. The language is in Norwegian again and the title means Evening Songs, a convenient description of the musical content, because it is a relaxing, laid back album for the silent hours of the day.

The tracks here are relatively short, most of them lasting between one and three minutes, except the last, Ulvsblakk, which is longer. Seldom are lyrics used and the album is mostly instrumental, except for a couple of lines in some songs and an a capella song, Sielens Sang. Like most artists hate their masterpieces, Ulver were not fully satisfied with this album after all, despite it's grandeur. The vibe of acoustic classical is all over this album, which deliberately eschews from any metal elements to present an arboreal synthesis, very different from anything else that the fans of the extreme metal scene were used to back then. Feeling close to nature and being part of it is a main characteristic here.

The drummer of the band, AiwarikiaR, did not have much to do here, since there is hardly any drumming, but he did participate with the sounds of a flute, and there is no bass used at all, naturally. Garm's sumptuous voice is getting the album a one step higher alone, with incredible baritone chants in the songs, whether there are lyrics or not. It's easier to understand the beauty of the guitar lines and their variations than it was in Bergtatt, even though there too, Haavard had worked on some amazing ideas.

My favourite tracks are Naturmystikk, Høyfjeldsbilde, Kveldssang and Ulvsblakk. Imagine a quiet, silent night among the woods, lightless, away from the modern world. From their first three albums, "Kveldssanger" is the most interesting, yet the least attractive to me, since I prefer heavier stuff in general. Great atmosphere with a great musicianship and enough inspiration from nature, were the sculptors of this one and only record, that many bands imitate these days with modern equipment, but fail to overcome. For it's shape, it was doomed to get a fair amount of haters and people that would not appreciate it, but is innovative and alluring.

Track listing:
1. Østenfor Sol og Vestenfor Maane
2. Ord
3. Høyfjeldsbilde
4. Nattleite
5. Kveldssang
6. Naturmystikk
7. A capella (Sielens Sang)
8. Hiertets Vee
9. Kledt i Nattens Farger
10. Halling

DAMAGE: 7.5/10

Gorgoroth - Antichrist (1996) Review

Gorgoroth "Antichrist"
Summer 1996, Malicious Records

Song-by-song Examination

Two years after a spectcular debut, Gorgoroth unleashed their second full length album, "Antichrist". While it is close to the debut aesthetically, with a simple and similar cover, an obvious satanic subject and the same (short) length, a majority of the scene has mixed feelings about it. Truth is, it is not as groundbreaking as "Pentagram", but its not a waste of time either. With the addition of Frost at the drum post, it certainly worths a close look.

--------------------

En Stram Lukt av Kristent Blod: A twenty second intro with random growls and a risque title. Nothing important, nothing special. Gorgoroth's music is edgy enough to have atmospheric intros anyway.

Bergtrollets Hevn: A warm welcome to the listener, but not at full potential. There are nice riffs, solid vocals, good melodies, with a dose of epicness in them, but still it does not make the earth move. I have a feeling it is lowered by the production, as a little higher volume at the guitars would stress these nice riffs out more.

Gorgoroth: I was skeptical with this song at first listen, but now i think it is amazing. It starts of with a cold tremolo riff and then goes to a standard melodic rhythm. The whole composition bursts melancholy, and there are clean mournful clean vocals that confirm that as well. It is compositionally excellent, greatly produced with every instrument audible. I don't think the fans back in 1996 were used in a song like that, especially from this band, and that's what shows their talent.

Possessed (By Satan): After a nice trip to morbid melody, here we return to a rawer song that could be a part of "Pentagram" and no one would notice. Its based on simple riffs, it might stick in your head, even though it generally average. I don't like the drums here, they don't seem to feel the empty spots at some points. Towards the end, it gets a bit faster, and its enjoyable.

Heavens Fall: Apart from a shout/yelling and then laughter at the end of this song, it is fully instrumental. A nice demonstration of the ability of Infernus to produce solid black metal riffs, but still it didn't impress me.

Sorg: The longest piece on the album, just about over Gorgoroth. It is significantly slower and depressing, the title itself translates as "Sorrow". Im in for tracks like these but it didn't work as intended here. In the middle of the song, it feels like they were rushing to reach twenty five minutes for the album's length. The beginning with the shrieked vocals, and the end with the cleans and the thunder, are pretty nice.

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All in all, i am also one of the people that believe "Antichrist" is not as good as "Pentagram". They did experiment a little, it worked out at some points but didn't at some others. I don't think the whole album is rubbish, since there are a couple of awesome tracks in it, but still it will always be overshadowed by their first release. Im glad i checked this, even for the song Gorgoroth only. It stands among the greatest albums of its time, but it is mediocre compared to them.

DAMAGE: 7.75/10