Woman Is The Earth - Depths (2014) Review

Album | Depths
Country | United States
Genre | Atmospheric Black Metal
Label | Init Records

Supporting the all growing US / Canadian scene of atmospheric black metal, Woman Is The Earth offer their third full length album to date as a follow up to 2012's This Place That Contains My Spirit. As the genre has a certain bit of twisted, natural romance, this album also contains a dark and enigmatic cover behind a thought provoking band name, fitting perfectly to it's territory. At first, I was surprised that this is a full length release, as it only lasts twenty four minutes, which is rather short and strange for such records.

For those into the atmospheric black metal sound, Woman Is The Earth sound exactly like what you expect them to, almost identical to older, influential bands. They don't hesitate to get on into the main body of the record with "Crown & Bone / Dreamer", which is interesting but simplistic and limited. It has an average effect to the listener, coming from it's deep atmosphere and repetitive guitar riffs, covering the whole compositional palette with their and murky sound. The drums are decent, if not a little loud and there are typica whispering screams above everything, maintaining one every day atmospheric black metal record.

There are clean acoustic parts scattered in between the tracks, as well as in the second "Lifted" which is sort of an instrumental built on melodic riffs and distortion-less lines. I wouldn't mind an interlude in the record if there was more music in general, as in that case it is placed between the only two songs of the album, which would be perfect for and EP but not a full album. Apart from that, I would say it's also musically indifferent, having few interesting points as it is.

The last track "Child of Sky" undergoes the same pattern, only including a clean voice chanting introduction, also clocking up to nine minutes. The musicianship of the record is somehow limited to the basics but legit in composing, still I would prefer to listen to more from this in quantity instead of quality. Depths has an accurate structure, bonding each of the tracks together for the changes to sound more natural, as well as making them flow more easily. A pale synth can be listened behind the rest of the instrumentation in the whole album, as if it is it's background basis, helping a lot to the atmosphere.

Depths is not the worst atmospheric black metal album I have ever heard, yet I don't think it has any new elements to give out, at least to people already into bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Xasthur. Moreover, it's not really a full length as it states, as it only has material for an EP, despite the fact that the previous releases of the band were significantly longer, as they should. I enjoyed the first and last track because I like this genre, but I don't think this is anything glorious after all.

DAMAGE: 6.25/10

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Daemon (Bru) - Hellstorm (Demo, 1992) Review

Album | Hellstorm [Demo]
Country | Brunei
Genre | Death Metal
Label | Self-released

This band comes from Brunei, which was part of England until 1984, before becoming an independent country. Named Daemon, they released two demos in the beginning of the nineties and then split up, which was a wise decision if one is to judge from this really bad demo. Hellstorm was self-released and included six compositions, lasting only fourteen minutes in total.

The band is historically important, since it's one of the first extreme metal bands out of Brunei. The influences from Deicide are obvious, especially in the anti-religious / satanic lyrical themes, if not the music itself. Despite that, I can't say I listened to something even close to a mediocre demo, being completely dreadful from start to finish.

Opening with the ultra famous melody of the intro "Resurrection", the awful sound starts with the first track "Fester the Souls". All the instruments sound extremely noisy and horrible, with various recording mistakes, distant sound and overall shitty production. I doubt these dudes spent a minute more in the mixing sessions, after just recording the rehearsals a tape recorder. Even if the music was good, it would be impossible to enjoy with such false sound.

Apart from the production, the band lacks identity in the compositional part as well. From what I managed to hear, there are repetitive riffs, typical worn out growls and poor, boring drum lines. There are not even a couple of moments  for anything to appear a little higher than the average flood, making Hellstorm more like being a shitstorm for the listener. For DIY bands of that time, it is understood, but still it's an atrocious result.

It's obvious that Daemon did nothing right with their puberty back then, especially with their musical attempts. The only thing I enjoyed in this demo were the intro and outro, which are instrumental samples / recordings taken from other famous pieces instead of the band itself. I doubt anyone out there would enjoy listening to this demo, except if you are a member of the band and just remember the fun you had making it.

DAMAGE: 0.25/10

Epitome (Pol) - Engulf the Decrepitude (Demo, 1994) Review

Album | Engulf the Decrepitude [Demo]
Country | Poland
Genre | Death Metal / Grindcore
Label | Guzzler

| Incarnated of morbidity |

The very first release by the death metal / grindcore band Epitome came out in 1994 with a title of Engulf the Decrepitude, and it's the only one that doesn't emphasize the word "rot", as one might quickly notice looking at their discography. These guys have been active since the beginning of the nineties and there is a new album coming out this year, meaning that they have been around for a long time.

For a first demo, this one has a rather below average production, without being completely bad. The songs display a standard and somehow simplistic form of death metal, based on a couple of riffs and repetitive fast drums. It's not anything overwhelming and it doesn't achieve much as a whole, even though under the perfect circumstances, it would be considered as solid. Epitome don't overcome the basic level of techicality and variety either, meaning it's just a typical demo.

Straying from the regular death metal vocals, there are a lot of grunts and guttural vocals here, as well as a couple of weird screams / yells at various points. It's the one thing that makes it a little more unusual than one might guess, yet they are not always done in absolute perfection. Listening to Engulf the Decrepitude, I hear an immature band with a few musicianship problems, trying it's luck for the first time.

While the tracks are repetitive, the sixteen minutes of music that can be found here are tight as a whole. Epitome play a little imperfect and dull, showing their low playing level for a first demo. Yet, since the band has a whole discography after all these years, it's possible that they have improved and moved forward as a band. Once I listen to the rest of their stuff, I'll know.

DAMAGE: 4/10

Anthagonist - Perpetual Beginning (Demo, 1992) Review

Album | Perpetual Beginning [Demo]
Country | Canada
Genre | Death Metal
Label | Independent

| Stretched out in their blood |

Perpetual Beginning is the second and final demo of the short-lived band Anthagonist, which formed in the late 80s in Quebec, Canada. The band played straightforward death metal with a few thrash metal elements, giving away their era and influences. It is not the crappiest demo ever and will mostly appeal to tape collectors and die hard archive fans.

The production of the demo is legit and provides an audible sound, with a fair dose of dust of course. There are not much to miss, as the guitars, drums and vocals, all reach the same volume and level. Anthagonist play a nice version of traditional death metal, as the bigger bands did back then and still do. There is solid guitar work and riff variety, as well as a couple of extra solos and melodies, as well as a very nice bass sound.

There are five songs in the demo with a total length of sixteen minutes, ideal for it's kind. I think the band would have the strength to record a great record, judging from the few interesting moments this has and it's a pity they didn't manage to do anything more as a band. Still, this release on it's own isn't much of a deal, being above average but relatively forgettable, at least now. After all these years, there is tons of death metal better than it.

DAMAGE: 6/10

Morbicus - Sadistic Immolation (Demo, 1994) Review

Album | Sadistic Immolation [Demo]
Country | Mexico
Genre | Death Metal
Label | Independent

| Shadow of twisted reality |

These guys reformed in 2011 after a fifteen year abscence, something that not many people noticed as the band released nothing but a bunch of demos during the early nineties and nothing more. The band has stayed unsigned to this day and Sadistic Immolation is their fourth demo release, back in October 1994. Morbicus follow the death metal / grindcore path and this is no difference, thus being itself indifferent.

A standard amount of noise is contained in this poorly recorded tape, with a bad balance between the various instruments and especially the drums, making it sloppy and unattractive. As said, the drums have a higher volume than needed for the most part, as well as some ridiculous symbal sounds that work against the overall effort. This, combined with the fact that the drumming itself is weak and random, like the drummer was just trying to play fast but kept on losing the pace, have a bad impact to the demo.

I kept listening and found very few interesting lines in term of the guitar work, which is also hard to come by because of the bad production. There might be a good riff or two at some point, but quickly vanishes again, before getting into  it's typical patterns. There are a few atonal solos that add nothing good to the tracks, since they are not into place and have no rhythm. The vocals are relatively ok, even though they sound a bit damaged because of the overall sound.

As a whole, I would say that Sadistic Immolation is an anemic attempt by the band, which has clear limits of musicianship and talent. These guys would never create anything above average so average might just be their upper limit, not even reached this time. Containing bland tracks, not recorded properly, is making this hard to accept on any level. Since they are now back, let's hope age has improved their skills, for the sake of any future releases.

DAMAGE: 3/10