Casket & Sewercide - 7" Split (2013) Review

Country | USA - Australia

Genre | Thrash - Death Metal

Date | November 5th, 2013

Label | Unholy Anarchy Records

Here's a collaboration between two underground thrash / death metal bands, Casket from the US and Sewercide from Australia. Each band takes it's first steps now, without any full album yet and few stuff for someone to listen to by them. This new 7" split contains one song by each band, even though they are very much alike and could be easily be two songs of the same band. The winning cover was designed by Kator.

By the description of the release in Bandcamp, I was expecting some kind of raw death metal but don't let their words fool you, there is nothing death metal here apart from a couple of growls by Casket. Both bands stick to old school thrash, with a regular musical structure and somewhat poor production. The result doesn't move the earth, but it will be appreciated by metal jacket freaks.

The first song by Casket "Armed to the Teeth" moves into a fast tempo and has groovy riffs, without any astonishing moments, as it seems like they're replaying what has been on for the last thirty years. It has cool, shrieked vocals and a nice vibe, even though the high hats are mixed too loud throughout the song. It ends with a spooky laughter, which is more funny than serious. Sewercide continue with a similar sound into an equally fast song, with repetitive drums and tastier riffs / solos and vocals than Casket. I can't say any of the two tracks featured in here is memorable.

I sense I would not bother listening to this if it didn't have the amazing cover. For fans of the genre, this is for you, even though I assure you that you have heard it before. Each band has legit musicians but hasn't formed a personal characteristic in their music yet, and that's very obvious in this record. Still young, way to go.

DAMAGE: 4.0/10

Sewercide @ Facebook

Casket @ Facebook

Mitochondrion - Antinumerology (EP, 2013) Review

Country | Canada

Genre | Black / Death Metal

Date | September 3rd, 2013

Label | Dark Descent Records

| Void in the Flesh |

I have come to the conclusion that this is a serious band after all, but when I first listened to their music with Archaeaeon I thought the name was hysterical and some kind of joke. However, the sound itself is as punishing and stomping as I want it to be, so their goofy name does not prevent me from spinning their albums regurarly. The latest offering is this EP titled Antinumerology, containing three tracks and lasting no more than twelve minutes of thick and diseased noise, covered in a simple colored and wondrous cover art by Richard Friend. In fact, the album is split into Side A "Insummation" and Side B "137 (Mors Formulae) / Antinumerology" from the vinyl release so there are two compositions, the latter split into two parts in various internet versions of the album (and in Metal Archives).

Mitochondrion belongs to the family of Grave Miasma, Father Befouled and similar bands, which means they master the skill of an anti-human black / death / doom mixture, relentless and always with an enlightening and mysterious concept behind it. Just the title of this EP triggers some wondering for what this new riddle might be. The vocals on the record are high class deep growls, with no alterations or variety, as monotonous and disgusting as they can sound, with several points of twisted breathing and howling. They follow the traditional death metal pattern but not as distinguishable, since the singer(s) here focus more on the occult atmosphere than just brutality. Again, this should be well known to fans of this style.

The reason the EP does not get eventually boring is that it's short for it's own good and it has lot's of different parts to unravel as it progresses, from fast melodies to middle-paced tormenting moments, painted with interesting riffing all along. All three tracks and especially the second one "137 (Mors Formulae)", which is short and crushing, reminded me a lot of Dead Congregation and their masterpiece Graves of the Archangels. I can't say I noticed any significant bass lines in the album, probably because it was mixed on the down low, but one can feel it's effect during the dissonant lines of the EP.

The opening track "Insummation" is by far the longest composition (six minutes) and begins with amazing fast riffing, before descending into more doomier, grubbier harmonies, switching from hasty to slow parts until the end. The self-titled song is instrumental and maintains the same level of prosperity, lacking any new ideas but still tight. Mitochondrion deliver the same type of power with Antinumerology but I prefer their two albums, which contain significantly more music and a wider approach to death metal. Still, the EP had it's moments and I will be listening to the first two songs for some time, until a full album is constructed. The signs are scant but good.

DAMAGE: 7.0/10

Warbringer - War Without End (2008) Review

Warbringer: War Without End
Country | USA
Genre | Thrash Metal

Date | February 5th, 2008

Label | Century Media Records

| Millions storm the battlefield |

Contradicting the opinion of most die hard thrashers, I don't believe the genre died after the eighties and I often discover little miracles by newcomer bands, either famous or unknown. California's Warbringer are by now a gigantic name when it comes to the modern scene and not only, since they are kind and respectful to their craft, which pays back with supreme noise. Debut War Without End is by far the most old school and raw approach, scuplted to perfectly fit the rotten ears of old, bastard beerheads, isn't it? Just look at the titles and the artwork, or more precisely, the music.

The band aimed for a dirty production, taking advantage of the modern studio machinery to avoid the unbearable fuzziness. A problem one often encounters with the old underground bands when listening to them twenty five years later is how the sound was poorly taken care of, focusing on the overall madness instead of any actual purity. No one could blame them for their inexperience in recreating the sound of thrash since it was then taking form and it's not a big deal either (many fans actually want it), but I believe today it's somehow a must. That been said, War Without End is very pleasing to the ear without being a bitch of the trigger effect, making it look honest and from the humble heart. The gargantuan badass Bill Metoyer has been the producer for this, who has also done legends like Slayer, D.R.I., Flotsam and Jetsam, Dark Angel, Sacred Reich and others. All the instruments are audible but not crystal clear, born in the 21st century but aching past decades, a combination of Warbringer's passion for their original bloody roots, but not a worthless replica of them.

Which brings me to a drawback of the overall album, which is the eternal problem of repetition. Even though there are a lot of ideas going on, it doesn't reveal a personality behind the curtain of old bands like Kreator or Vio-lence, with a couple of restored riffs here and there. For the most part, Warbringer are demonstrating their own muscle power with plenty of good composition parts, but it get's too hard into binding them together, leaving them the option to do it the old way. This little bug hardly will change the minds of those who listen to it, when the music is straightforward and bludgeoning as this. A fastidious listener would point out the washy recycling, but it's not even right there. It's just below the surface.

Breaking the album into parts, the guitar work is diverse and amazing. Riff after riff, solo after solo, it keeps a very fast tempo as it should be and gives away variety and entertainment for about forty minutes. It is clearly above the typical thrash metal bands, counting 4-5 or more riffs in each song and about the same solo analogy, with a few arpeggio patterns, tremolo picking and a accustomed aggressive attitude. The concept album was not chosen by luck and it's very close to the essence of the music, which is a hundred percent warfriendly and combat ready. There are several war samples as well like guns, bombs...

Moving on with the vocals, which are breathtaking. They are harsh, steady and powerful, with several stunning and memorable moments like in the bonus track "Nightslasher" (which is an old song named "Zombie" that was re-recorded), or in the standout track "Total War", where the screams are touching heaven in quality. The vocalist is a problem for me four out of five times in modern thrash and Warbringer paid back for the rest of the morons that destroy a band's good music with their awful vocals, therefore this was made just as amazing. The drumming is fast and varied, even though I don't like the random hits in a moment or two through the album, like in the beginning of the main part of "At the Crack of Doom", which has a hell of an introduction by the way. They are right on the spot in almost every song, but it feels like the drummer could not think of how to fill in at some point so he just hammered down the snares for a few seconds. I noticed a little bit of black metal drumming sometime, quickly switching to other picks.

I can't say it's classic material in this album, but it's definitely over the limit of mediocrity. For the music contained, the listener fully gains quality for the time spent, with Warbringer clinging onto the waves of thrash, playing around the Bay Area and the  heavier extreme of Europe, with splendid musicianship and a coherent content. It's definitely great for it's kind and you know you will like it because you somehow expect it, as the personality of the band is depicted in a few moments and not in the whole album. It secretly gives away the form they would later take, which is more unique and glorious.

DAMAGE: 7.5/10

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Convulse - Evil Prevails (2013) Review

Convulse: Evil Prevails

Country | Finland

Genre | Death Metal

Date | November 1st, 2013

Label | Svart Records

| Clouds red as fire |

It seems like a lot of bands from the past are coming back with new releases after a lot of years (Sorcery and Protector come to mind). The old school fans have no right to complain about anything anymore, since not only the old bands arise from their ashes to release new music, but also there is a whole scene of newcomer bands that play as if they still live in the late eighties and nineties. When I first found Convulse, I fell in love with their debut album A World Without God, for it had the amazing sound and that particularly amazing feeling that old bands bring inside you when you listen to their forgotten, buried records. Then, I was a bit let down by their sophomore Reflections, and left the band into cold ice. Almost forgot about them. When the reissue of World Without God came out in 2010 it hit me that these guys might be back together, without thinking of a new release at all, something that made this album a surprise. In fact, I was not sure of who this band is, because the name didn't ring any bells at first sight. There are new members, the drummer and one guitarist, hired by the other two, original members, the singer/guitarist and bassist.

Getting down to the content, Evil Prevails is a dark, intense, old school death metal record from guys that seem to never get old. I'm glad time has not erased their urge to make great music and I'm talking about one of my favourite comebacks of the year, to be exact. A problem I often encounter in such cases, is that the frontman usually has lost his deep growling voice and goes with softer, shouting vocals instead. It works fine most of the times, but I personally prefer the downtuned, rancid vocals in death metal, and that's what I get here. Rami is a magnificent vocalist and he demonstrates his talents not only with his unearthly growls, but also with some clean vocals that are inserted in the more silent, doomy, acoustic minutes. The slower, grimy parts in the tracks remind me of the doom side of Autopsy, less frequent but in the same vein.

I'm pretty straightforward with what I want from this kind of death metal and such experimentations rarely pass the test for me, but this time I found it delicate, smartly used, a great addition in general. There are plenty of fast-paced hammering parts for you to enjoy anyway. The songs are built around numerous riffs and solos, enhanced by a great vocal and drum work, worshipping the first wave of Finnish death metal, with them being a significant part of it in the first place. If one would ask pure old school riffology in this album, it is exactly what one will get. Plenty of them, good varations in each song, with the proper way of using breakdowns and an overdose of agressiveness pouring out of every single line.

The now matured musicianship here helps a lot to the clear band improvement, in terms of composition and album structure. It flows nicely, warms your heart and caresses your ears, leaving a strong feeling of you traveling through time back into the tape trading era. With a production pleasingly raw to the fans and unfriendly to the outsider scene of modern meloshit, it builds it's own walls of protection from the unaware and repays it's followers with a remarkable, non stop trip of brutality. Lyrically, they don't go far from the familiar subjects, like genocide and war, as well as religion, pretty much the same like what they included in their debut. Not to mention the captivating cover artwork, done by the common suspect Luxi Lahtinen, who has been active into the painting business in the early nineties, drawing for bands like Avulsed and Demilich.

This is well written, accurate and relentless death metal, from the beginning to the end, executed by masters of the area, leaving the listener with very few to dislike, if any. You will find blast-beats, doom additives, clean parts, but all of them revolve around the old school attitude of death metal. The whole package is exactly how the job is done, but if I was to choose some standout tracks, these would be Days Are Dark, Unholy War and Reborn In Chaos, each one containing some of the best moments of the album, which ends with a sound of babies crying. What we get here is forgotten death metal with several new school elements as an enhancement. It is an enthralling album with enough, non-repetitive music for you to enjoy, without stepping into the trap of being a replica to all other, usual and simply good bands. It turns out Convulse had still some ideas to work on in the rear.

DAMAGE: 8.5/10

 | www.facebook.com/convulse |

Tridentifer - Zombified (Demo, 2013) Review

October 10th, 2013
Relf-released

At first, I confused the band's name as Zombified and thought it was the Swedish grindcore / deathmetallers, but the logo and the art did not remind me of anything so I thought that I misunderstood. Now, the band's name is Tridentifer and they are a newborn band from Germany, having no official releases apart from this debut demo. They operate with the pure, non-additive side of death metal, strictly inside it's borders and with hardly any surprise characteristic, which works both in their service and against them, depending on the listener's frenzy on the genre.

Four songs reside in this demo, which from the looks and only, gives a reliable idea of the band's objectives. Simple, mutilated corpse, probably traditionally drawn with classic fonts and green colour on the logo and blood, is very close to the cornerstone of every self-funded band's first steps. As one descends into the noise, everything goes by the plan. The production is rough and sharp, flirting with the sound of modern old school death metal bands like Entrails or Revolting, without necessarily copying the Swedish formula. Moving mostly around middle-paced patterns with a lot of groovy/blast-beating moments, their music is not hard to headbang to, despite the fact that it's not anything new to an experienced listener. Of course, releases like these are self-limited into the scene and only and this one will attract very few, if any people outside from death metal. Besides, I'm positive these guys do not really care about that and with hard work, they could accomplish a solid full album. It's not hard to make a listenable demo, pleasing to the fans for a short period of time, the true challenge lies in making it memorable and Zombified does not really do that.

The mastering and mixing are good for a first demo, achieving a clean and discernible sound that keeps it all standing. The riffing and drumming lines are rather regular, predicable and overall not that amazing as you would want, even though brutality is involved here, especially with the semi-shouting and growling vocals, very much influenced by the northern bands. I had a hard time trying to listen to the bass and I can't seem to come up with it's shining moment, thinking that it was kept in the dark on purpose, for a steady rhythm or something. The record starts with "Bloodwine", which contains a sample of sea waves and sound for about half a minute, then getting into flogging melodies that feature a legit solo towards the end, which again, has a sound of a shooting cannon. It's a short song that shows the narrow but well used pack of ideas they have, while the second song song "Zombified" does not change anything. The penultimate "Of Days To Come" is the longest track and the best on the demo, staring with a clean guitar intro and getting into a main part with interesting guitar lines. The fourth track "Ripping Cancer" is another concrete track, it opens an mechanic made intro and it has a staunch structure, based on it's familiar riffs.

Tridentifer do not bring anything new to the table with their debut demo Zombified, which would be really better if they had some faster and heavier parts, instead of the easy ones they had now. The several good moments were a bit ruined by the drums, as the slow blasts were fuzzing everything out. The band is still looking for it's sound and it has a way to maturity, but that doesn't hold them from creating an enjoyable, average release. It left me with an impression of indifference after it ended, still I believe that they can grow into something more complete if they stay focused.

DAMAGE: 5.25/10