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LACERATER (Ita) Nessun Urlo Nell'Ombra MCD'07. Self released.
Some webzines said this band was very cool and promising, reading their promotional words you could expect some kind of "revelation", but my tongue wouldn't explore as deep the assholes of these Italians Death metallers, since in my opinion the process of ass-licking shouldn't also clean their intestines, bowels, and whatever else lies inside... Clean their rectum if you want to be friendly, but no need to offer them a whole new digestive system.
On a musical point of view, this is quite energetic and motivated Death metal/ Brutal death that takes influences from the 90's (DEICIDE, some SINISTER, a bit of early HYPOCRISY in some blasts) and less "old school" stuffs (MALEVOLENT CREATION or PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT), then injects some nowadays "friendly violent fun" in the structures to make it more appealing according to nowadays standards.
This sounds quite energetic and varied (Quite a lot of temp changes, a bit of black metal, a bit of melody...) but the pus-dilapidating problem lines in the fact the riffs do not particularly create superventricular zigzags nor motivate a massive intestinal dance of the undead...I might say these riffs sound familiar, but it's the problem of the biggest parts from the current scene... As well as a lot of current bands, LACERATER offers a brutal product that could please the fans of impact/ dynamic - Death/ Brutal death, but I miss the haunting pieces or the scars from the depths... I you like stuffs like MALEVOLENT CREATION or PROSTITUTE DISFIGUREMENT, you might not need to be repulsed by the average goregrind-alike cover and try to put an hear on their myspace page.
http://www.myspace.com/lacerater

LAST DAYS OF HUMANITY (Hol)/ COCK AND BALLS TORTURE (Ger) Split Ep'01 FLESHFEAST.
C.B.T: The part of split of these Goregrinders was recorded 2 years after the "Opus(sy)VI" CD that wasn't bad, but here C.B.T is more classical in the goregrind style, with less quite impressive ideas and nice energized tracks. It's too much average in the Goregrind style to please me.
(Goregrind isn't my cup of bowels).
"Opus(sy)VI" wasn't bad, but in the case of this Ep I remain indifferent.
I didn't really know LAST DAYS OF HUMANITY before. I only checked a few tracks on comps, some tracks that didn't sound outstanding... and I heard both positive and negative opinions about them... So I wasn't on the hunt for fresh flesh! What you got here is very fast Goregrind/ Death with gory vocals... The sound is quite raw... But the blasts are too fast to impress me (it's too fast to grind your head with the real grinding energy!). And I found only average riffs here.
So I remain on my position and the goregrind part of my personality won't see it's libidinal urge increase to more than 4%!
http://www.cockandball.de 

LD50 (Hol)/ PLAGUE RAGES (Bra) split Ep'01.
Coming from the grinding Metherlands, LD50 plays very average Grinding death Crust with drum beats that sound 0,05 $ per moments. They seem a bit influenced by Hardcore for their vocals, with some gory pitch aspects, it may remind some DEAD INFECTION Eps... but nothing sounds better than the very average demos, nothing more exciting than the common and overused Grindcore style. They remind me of a wave of Grind/ Crust demo bands that were invading the scene around 98 with MALIGNANT TUMOUR, TWISTED TRUTH, etc...
Keep in mind it's a very average demo band if you still want to get it, no riff sounded fresh for a pence in my pus filled ears.
PLAGUE RAGES plays somekind of a Grinding brazilia Deathcore with quite important Crust influences. Some cool vocals are added, but their riffs sound poor and it reminds me of boring Grindnoise Demo projects during their blast parts. Crust riffs could sound like a cheaper way of the SANITYS DAWN's "Cryptic menu' for exemple. Maybe some big undergrounders or close friends of the 2 bands will find some interest in this Ep, but there's nothing interesting here, really!
But the bands seems quite young, wish' em good luck for future improvements!
http://www.plaguerages.hpg.ig.com.br

LIBIDO AIRBAG (Ger) Barrel blow job CD'01 STUHLGANG.
According to the band's name, I thought they could play some cool Grindcore or grindgore. So I downloaded the CD (as always).
But what I heard was quite disappointing! As a whole, this CD could be divided in two different styles depending on the track your HiFi is playing.
Some tracks are in a jungle or techno style with saturated guitars and some samples, some tracks such as the first one aren't so bad in this style, but a good amount of it bored me!! I've nothing against jungle, but in this case it's not well done and it's boring!
The other tracks are more in a lowtuned goregrind with a drummachine, but it sounds very weak! All the more it sounds as if the whole music was programmed on a PC (with a tracker).
This is a low quality project that could please those who enjoy noise shitcore stuffs, but it's ways too boring and stupid sounding for me! Almost every metalhead owning a PC could do this! It doesn't deserve to be pressed on a CD!
http://www.libidoairbag.de

LIGEIA (Usa)  In death overshadow thee Ep. BUIO OMEGA.
The maelstrom of Volkanik vomit keeps on endlessly turning and burning, as a flesh-consuming burning love of torrent lava.
A shame this exhumed vynicallistically pressed old demo from '96 doesn't match 5% of the infinite strength the erosive elements could tease you with. This sounds like old Death metal, both for the production and the music, it would rather follow some kind of CARNAGE meets early CADAVER or some early GRAVE, ADRAMELECH and the down-tuned likes. The vocals sound strange, quite too high pitched for my volkanik needs. Some riffs sound cool and the production sounds creespy and creeping, like some old demos... but the music also sounds old and not morbid enough! Ok there's a nice mood in there, but is it enough to kill you in pain? I don't think so!
It might be a cool Ep for big worshippers of ancient Swedish and Finnish Death metal, but nothing will volkanikally fist-fukk your hears with Death metal revenge! (And the too simple layout won't help). Average! Only for big religiously collecting maniacs who need anything that apparently tastes like pure fucking death...

LITHAM (ALGERIE) Dhal Ennar CD'99 Lelahel Metal production.
LITHAM plays a kind of melodic death metal that's more based on a kind of complexity or a way to try to sound original than on the efficiency, and it's doesn't sound efficient in fact, nor convincing! Some parts coud make think a bit about ADRAMELECH. There are some heavy metal parts for the leads and some more Ok parts while some riffs are almost doomlike. A few bass parts may make you think a bit about ATHEIST. I could also quote some heavyrock riffs à la old Yngwie Malmsteem. There are almost atmospheric like parts and they seem to include some arabian elements (for clear guitar playings and interludes).
Some riffs are really too average to my ears and some songs' structures are going everywhere.
To conclude, I'll say their music is average and needs to be worked out to offer a real CD! It rather sounds like a Demo to my ears!
http://litham.fr.st/

LOATHING (Fra)/ DEEPRED (Fin) This is a face of humanity... Split CD'03 SEVERAL BLEEDS.
Even if their music doesn't unleash the beast nor fuseblow my putrid mind in Phalleluyah, some bands have got enough cool ideas to be worth few listenings and a nice review! It's the case with LOATHING who offers us on this split CD their first demo recorded few years ago (2001 to be precise, it can be felt).
What some baggy burners will hear there is an American influenced Brutal death reminding of DEYING FETUS (mid old), CANNIBAL CORPSE, BROKEN HOPE ("Loathing"). The music is 1998/2001 styled, but the band has nice ideas.
Some old DEICIDE touches can be felt in some heavier and a bit more obscure riffs. Enough musical variations.
My complains would be the tracks are quite long and some riffs loose some intensity (too convenient?).
So it's a nice demo. The band has found a drummer and a new guitarist since then. LOATHING might be a cool band to support in the future for Brutal death maniacs.
On the other hand I don't find much relief or interest in DEEPRED's side.
The band plays American Brutal death metal à la SUFFOCATION/ SOILS OF FATE/ old PYREXIA. It's well produced and quite well constructed, but nothing new nor killer!! A strange effect on vocals makes it a bit sound like if... a frog was singing in the water?! uh?
I don't say some riffs doesn't work, but DEEPRED only plays correctly done Brutal death in the American style and I have enough albums in the SUFFOCATION/ old PYREXIA vein. DEEPRED might be interesting for the quite new Brutal death heads, but those who know the style since few years will probably find it only "Ok!".  
http://www.severalbleedsrecords.com

LOBOTOMIZED (Nor) Fucking lobotomized Ep'06. NO POSERS PLEASE! Recs.
Very underground and garage sounding crusty Death metal punk that reminds me the most urine-filled moments of ABSCESS, with some Rock'n roll (ENTOMBED "To ride..." era), cool heavier touches of AUTOPSY and maybe some EYE HATE GOD for the "sludge".
Well, I'm not a fan of the most dirty ABSCESS moments, and even though some elements sounds nice in my hears, I couldn't say the whole especially turned me on. While I search for the doomed and the morbid aura in this kind of stuffs, LOBOTOMIZED rather choose the drunk/ punk/ fuck off approach and I'd like things to be a bit more developed… But I wouldn't mind shaking the corpses from their future terroristic implosive cocktails. It might please the most punk poofters from the DIY termites who creep in the underground dirt.
http://www.myspace.com/lobotomized

LOCK UP (Uk) Pleasure pave severes CD'99 NUCLEAR BLAST.
I chose to review the first LOCK UP album since it's better than the second one!
In 1999, four musicians joined their forces to form a Grind/ Death/ Crust project, the bastards being Shane Embury (Bass - Napalm Death), Jesse Pintado (Guit - Napalm death), Peter Tatgreen (Vocals - Hypocrisy) and the ex Cradle of shit drummer.
This album is a mix of old school Grind, Death metal and Crust along the lines of the last NAPALM DEATH albums. Few riffs are really good, a bunch of the riffs are cool, and some could have been worked more! No problem with the drummer, don't like so much the vocals... Some of the tracks have a bunch of energy, and the production is good. It can be felt LOCK UP is a project: the guys keep of themselves while they could increase the intensity of some tracks with surprising structures and fresher ideas! At the end this CD is kinda 'common' even if it's better than the average.
By moments I've got the feeling its sounds too much like NAPALM DEATH; as I listened a lot to their "Fear emptiness despair"/ "Words from the exit wound" epoch, there was nothing new for me here! Nothing essential.
For a project, it's rather a quite good CD... but I'd prefer the guys of NAPALM DEATH to concentrate on their main band and write a totally killer (from A to Z) album next time! I prefer this first LOCK UP CD coz the second one offered more common riffs (some sounding too much ever heard) and the tracks were less worked one! For those who have a bunch of extra money...
http://www.lockup666.com

LOSS (Usa) Life without hope... Death without reason MCD. 2005. DEATHGASM Recs.
When a doomy mood catches your consciousness, it's good to slow down for a minute of deep thoughts... Or not, depending on the daily life's turmoil.
It's interesting to notice every records in the "doom death" category don't sound the same and the clichés aren't ubiquitous. In the case of this MCD the death metal influence resides for most in the very low vocals, while the guitars are in another world.
To my quite unspecialized hears when it's about the doomy affair, the first song "Conceptual funeralism..." contains guitar parts that could be approached to old MY DYING BRIDE's most depressed moments (Especially "Turn loose the swans"). It's sad, sorrowful, quite hopeless and sometimes flirts with the feeling of depression... But even if the guitars are slow, very slow, it is globally devoid of death metal influences (In the meaning it's not particularly monolithic neither filled with heavy power).
The second song "Cut up depressed and alone" sounds a bit lighter, with a little more "black metal" influences; It's still doomy, but doesn't speak to me that much.
Then the two following songs are bonuses, that come from a live recording.
First there's a KATATONIA cover that touches a softer kind of metal; Then there's "The barebacked burial of a torn angel" that contains nice doomy death metal à la early MY DYING BRIDE (Beginning Eps and first album... Did LOSS compose more songs in this style?)
This release sounds a bit "bursted" since the style changes quite more than a bit between the 4 songs, each time, and the production differs for half of the tracks, but it shew LOSS had the ability to write interesting guitar parts in the doom tones and lay nice sounding low pitched vocals over it.
After writing this review I was able to check out extracts of their only full-length album "Despond" released in 2011, the style is globally close to the two studio tracks that were found on the MCD, but with more heaviness on some songs, perhaps more "funeral" moments (Due to some guitar lines) and some fucking monolithic riffs here & there.
I will keep LOSS in mind as a band quite worth checking out.
http://lossdoom.blogspot.com

LOWBROW (USA) "VICTIMS AT PLAY" CD’99 HAMMERHEART
I didnt buy that shit nor did a friend of mine lent it to me, I simply listened to it in a store. Enough to know that this cd sucks cock. If you dont know it already, this shit features Allen west on guitar and just like Catastrophic's Trevor Peres, this fucking fucking BLOWS! It seems all rejects playing in Obituary lost all knowledge of what good death metal is after the release of 'the end complete'. As for 'victims at play', its boring, mid tempo with too many hardcore influences than I can bear and the riffs fucking blow and have already been heard 1000 times before. Lets hope they all get uncurable cancer and rot away... There are also NASTY SAVAGE members into this band.

Nicolas          

LUCIFERION (Pol) the apostate CD'03 LISTENABLE.
This new LUCIFERION album is quite different from their first CD entitled "Demonication - the manifest" released in 1996. While their first CD offered a semi technical death grind influenced by bands such as old DEICIDE and  MORBID ANGEL (especially "Blessed are the sick"); this second album we are thinking about welcomes a lot of new keyboards appearances, these keyboards being included a bit everywhere in the tracks that are built on the kind of Death grind style the band played before.
The music of LUCIFERION is still in these rather old school Death/ Grind fields with a lot of riffs, breaks and surprises in every track. The style is rather controlled, heavily brutal and aggressive than explosive and face punching, even though the way they use the synthesizers add some kind of a classy touch. The sophisticated aspect of their music and the very present keyboards makes me think of EMPEROR's last releases. Some parts also reminded me of old NOCTURNUS for keyboards and lead guitars (Even if the leads of Nocturnus were more chaotic as a whole). This album is well composed with many ideas, but I have a feeling of too much: I mean there are a lot of synths, breaks and ideas and it might sound too compressed (in the ideas accumulation) to have some impact or to be catchy for some guys (everyone isn't a musician). I can also feel a lack of deepness in some riffs, I can imagine some guys will be bored after a few tracks, but on a musical point of view and scale of Brutality LUCIFERION stands above most of nowadays' releases!
The evolution between the 2 LUCIFERION albums is notable. This new album's length is about 33 minutes for the new tracks; then you get a CELTIC FROST cover ("Circle of the tyrants") which is quite different from the original (it welcomes keyboards as well), and their Demo'94 as a bonus.
This is a good technical Death metal album everybody won't appreciate: you have to enjoy technical and complex death metal, but you also have to enjoy the "Classy" keyboard ridden side of EMPEROR!
http://www.luciferion.com

LUNATIC GODS (SLO) Sitting by the fire CD’98 METAL AGE.
This band mixes different kinds of music that are interestingly constructed in one.
It could be heard as a fast Black Metal version of ANGRA for the songs’ structure, the melodic theatralized parts, the beautifull sounding Heavy Metal voices. There are also some screamy Black Metal vocals. They could remind of NIGHTFALL’s « Athenian echoes » album for the use of some cello violins and organs... But hone more time here stops the descriptions! I have the opinion their music is too nice and happy to correctly fit in the Metal scene! Some parts are ok, but some riffs are too happy and mellow! And this will of mixing everythings doesn't please me that much! It doesn't sound good! Uh...
Obviously, they could also make think of a very happier version of the self regenerating theatral art of EMPEROR. Some parts maked me think a bit about THERION’s « Theli »... but I think it's more a will to be original to be original than a real and deep will of originality! So, as in any style of music, might it be original, more classical, old school (or not), if the will isn't really sincere and doesn't come from the inner entrails of the musicians, the final result doesn't change! The feeling is the key of everythings! During the listening of LUNATIC GODS, some could think about MISANTHROPE’s « 1666 theatre bizarre » CD (The greatest Sodomized metal band ever! Ah ah!!)
To conclude : ANGRA meets THERION meets EMPEROR. Ok for open minded freaks who aren't again some too 'happy' metal.

LUNATIC GODS (SLO) The wilderness CD'02 SHINDY.
I remember I reviewed their previous CD before, and I didn't like it!
They're still playing some kind of varied metal that includes a lot of influences such as atmospheric, melodic, technical, symphonic Death, Doom, Black metal, gothic and blah and blah.
They still make me think about NIGHTFALL’s « Athenian echoes » album for the use of some cello violins and organs, the self regenerating theatral art of EMPEROR could also be quoted and blah and blah... MISANTHROPE’s Sodomized-metal-from-the-honey-full-ass-of-the-label-managers can still be quoted for comparison! I'm bored with all these sterile comparisons that finally lead to nothing totally impersonal and too objective reviews that drowns my opinion in the words the labels want me to write there! They can fuck off and Die! To know more about their style, check the previous review! Their style hasn't changed and I still don't give an horny fuck! I don't like their blasting parts and it fucking remains cheezy by moments in my putrid Jellyfied ears! If you like the metal you're taught to listen to by the big metal medias, the happy metal that's enjewlled by a great production, beautiful-computer-optimised-melodies and varied nice-ass-licking-instruments, then try them you'll have another nice little anal orgasm! If like me you're more searching for music that isn't only a "job" but comes from the GUTS! Then search your heaven anywhere else on these pages.

LYCANTHROPHY(Cze)/ DICKLESS TRACY (Slo) Split tape 01 PROJECT Prods.
I've ever reviewed a LYCANTHROPHY thing elsewhere here. They're still playing their Grind/ Crust with Hardcore nasal vocals. There's some pitch shifting effect on vocals by moments. The fast parts are fast without real aggression... Well their music doesn't sound very good without the better sound they owned on their previous Split CD! Here it seems to be a live or rehearsal recording. This sounds very underground and may please a few guys, but their riffs sound too much like a "wanna play Grind" band, without emotions and convictions! Notice covers of UNHOLY GRAVE and CEREBRAL TURBULENCY.
DICKLESS TRACY: Stupid band name and cheesy cover drawing. It could only be an ass shit "funny" grind band/ project!
I ever heard anywhere else the introduction sample! Their music is poor Grind/ Crust/ leech my ass shit with low energy riffs. Their music doesn't suck as much as I thought it would, not really funny stuff but rather very very average Grind/ Crust with few thrash and death grind touches.
It reminds me of some old AGATHOCLES rehearsals but it's really worse! So, nothing good in the case of these slovenian bastards and nothing I'd advice to anyone!

LYCANTHROPY (Fra) What’s your excuse? CD’03.
Is it supposed to be a full-length CD? It rather sounds like a first demo, that's obvious! LYCANTROPHY lacks of energy, brutality and everything needed to record a decent first album! The riffs are ever hear, some of it are flat. The drum patterns aren't cool most of the time: flat! Where's the brutal energy? Stop the autoplay. This album reminds me the demos of some old French death metal bands who tried without success to copy Cannibal Corpse around 1997/1998. Some other influences are here as well: few thrash, some old BOLT THROWER, some old school Death à la DEATH/ MORGOTH, but it really lacks any deepness and creativity. Ok, some riffs from here and there would sound cool on a demo, but we are talking about a full-length CD, so that's bloody not enough! This isn't one of the worst releases I heard, but it's far from being one of the best! Under the average, and a label owner shouldn't be very clairvoyant to release this demo as an album. Only for local underground supporters!
contact_lycanthropy@hotmail.com

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