Reviews
Posting in the blog has (once again) slowed down but great and interesting releases have not stopped arriving in my mailbox. Nine albums have been selected for this month's review batch and are presented below.
Ensanguinate - Eldritch Anatomy
Ensanguinate come from Slovenia and I can mention that they follow a traditional approach on how they deliver their Death Metal. That means plenty of Black and Thrash elements, a clear focus on riffs (fans of Swedish Death metal will rejoice), absence of grooves, unnecessary technicalities and any other "modernisms"...just music that recreates a pure old-school 90's feeling. Highly recommended.
Hellfuck - Diabolic Slaughter
Checking only the band name, one can very easily understand that Polish Hellfuck play evil Blackened Thrash. What is the highlight of Diabolic Slaughter is the excellent work in the riffs making it one of this year's best Thrash albums.
Greber -Fright without
Greber is a powerhouse duo consisting of Steve Vargas (drums/vocals) (The Great Sabatini, BIIPIIGWAN) and Marc Bourgon (bass, vocals) (ex-F*ck The Facts, Cancelled). To be very honest I had very high hopes on this one but unfortunately the final result had me not hundred percent convinced. While the work in the musicianship is very good, somehow I find the vocal style too much "Sludge metal relevant" hence unsuitable with the overall math/progressive character of the music. Somehow this makes the final result sound incomplete to my ears...
Eradicate - Demise Towards The Dasein
Eradicate come from Istanbul, Turkey and already from the album cover one can easily identify that they also follow the old school path. Their music is a mix of Death and Doom which is very straight forward and avoids complex music structures. Fans of aggressive and "dirty" Death Metal shall not miss this one.
Eaten By Sharks - Eradication
I was prepared to listen to Thrashcore but got Technical Deathcore instead. Nevertheless this was a pleasant surprise for me as Canadians Eaten By Sharks, deliver archetype Deathcore in the vein of bands like Archspire, Lorna Shore, Carnifex and Fit For An Autopsy which is very well composed and executed.
The Occult - The Occult
Montreal, Canada's The Occult describe their music as an infuse of 80's American punk with 90's rock n' roll and alt-metal, however instead of something similar to Misfits what their self-titled album sounded to my ears was like a compilation of Volbeat b-sides...If you like the danish band and originality is not an issue for you, please approach. There are still some great songs to listen here.
Toughness - The Prophetic Dawn
Ignoring the ridiculous front cover, here we have one of the most interesting Death metal albums of the year. Polish Toughness incorporate many technical -even Jazz- elements in their Immolation-styled death metal making The Prophetic Dawn one of my favourite albums of the last weeks. And that Bass...
Negative Thirteen - Mourning Asteri
It was Black Flag in their landmark album My War who incorporated doom elements in their hardcore (practically giving a premature birth to Sludge metal) and it is Negative Thirteen who attempt to "close the circle" by mixing Black Sabbath with punk. Add some slight Neurosis references and Mourning Asteri is an album that has all the potential to be adored by the sludge metal community.
Angrrsth/Czort - W Czeluść
Last but not least, a split EP from two highly quality bands ! Angrrsth play Blackened Thrash which sounds majestic helped by the great work in the riffs. Czort on the other hand, are more melodic but not less great.
#Ensanguinate #Hellfuck #Greber #Eradicate #EatenBySharks #TheOccult #Toughness #Negative13 #Angrrsth #Czort