TALES
OF DARKNORD (Rus) "Endless sunfall" Tape Lp'97. REST
IN PEACE. TALES OF DARKNORD was a tightly played Death metal
meets Brutal Death band offering a nice music. One dead corpse could
feel strong crepitating reminiscences of early DEICIDE, EXHUMATOR
(R.I.P), with some early MALEVOLENT CREATION, few touches of techno
death, and some old school "Metal de la mort" 's heaviness. Their
style wasn't situated in the atmosphere, mood, so some pipeules
might say it lack of feeling and pudding, but they probably wouldn't
understand the brutality, nice call to bang your skull, quite shredding
aspect of some riffs and well rounded songs structures. When
I listen to this tape in 2006, it appears as obvious there was nutting
catchy or really emorguetional, and the production, even if it was
neat, might decrepit with too much parasites and high-pitched frequencies
(It could created a feeling of impurity, as if something was hiding
the sickness... Well, a kinda fukked up sound enhances the running
an rotting of sickness in my rotopinion) for the current brewtal
death heads... But after few minutes of reptilizing adaptation,
this miouzik remains enjoyable, since as previewsly said it was
well done and balanced enough. From several öundergrähound sewercies,
I could hear the fact T.O.D. was one of the most famous Russian
Heuwnderrghrund Dödsmetawl band... Cool to hear their music later,
even if too late, coz I kinda always avoided them thanx to the black
metawwwl taste ov their mhöwnikker. Kewl izeun't it? "Endless
sunfall" is nutting essential, but if you're a big underground
fan of Death metal in general and bands like DEICIDE (old), MALEVOLENT
CREATION (Early) or EXHUMATION, that might not be a bad idea to
order this for cheap from a buried underground distro . (Who said
I have some copies for sale? Uh, not me, but you can watch anyway
héhé)
TENEBROSUS
(Pol) The fall of worthless morals CD'03 METAL MIND. Fast
Black metal. Raw. Fast. Screamy. It doesn't differ from the old
DARK FUNERAL, old EMPEROR (little bit), old MARDUK releases and
few others that seems to have said everything for this style! Most
of this CD is fast and screamy, but I hear no new crap emerging
from hell! It sounds Ok, but Satan isn’t behind them! Reinvert the
inverted cross, and cut your flesh, and worship Satan, and hailz
the kult if it's not too late! Saaaaaatan!
TERMINAL
DESCENT (Usa) Archetype/ manifest CD'03 GENERICELITE. I
read somewhere TERMINAL DESCENT is a cult band, and I can't believe
it when I listen to this CD. This is average Death/ Grind with some
very average drum machine patterns that could have been done better!
The style has got some similarities to old MORBID ANGEL, DEICIDE,
old SLAYER. The main problem is a tightness problem (due to the
drum machine mostly) and their riffs are common in the style for
most of it! Some guitars are too tight! It lacks of aggression,
rage and anger! It's a very average album that sounds like an average
Demo! These tracks shouldn't see the shadow of a pro CD to remain
decent! http://www.terminaldescent.tripod.com
TERMINATION FORCE (Usa) Grind Thrashing Death CD.
2012. Horror Pain Gore Death Recs.
Caught by the avalanche.
Blast, blast, blast to save your ass.
Thrash the snow, before it swallows you.
Some underground white polar bears might have noticed some things have changed
in the camp of this American thrash/ grind band... Their music might now sound
more thrashy.
To sum it up roughly, I would say there's quite a lot of thrash metal quite
close to KREATOR ("Pleasure to kill" for some aggression and
"Terrible certainty" for some "strange" patterns), with
some DARK ANGEL (Between the first and second albums, even if "Darkness
descends" is another world) and a bit of EXODUS (2nd or 3d), with some old
school Death metal located not too far from DEATH ("Scream bloody
gore") and some old school grind moments, the whole with a drumming style
that sounds more "modern" and injects quite a bunch of double-kicks
and blasts in the whole affair.
In faster moments, the content occurs to remind me of the 2nd or 3rd IMPIETY
album, and the drumming also occurs to have something of KRISIUN.
Compared to the demo 2007, the music contains fewer cool/ round old school
atmosphere, things went thrashier, more aggressive (Might be due to the
production?) and also more complex/ technical in structures.
There are quite intense moments, but I also can feel bored by moments (Is this
due to the more complex structures? Or the production?)
This is not a bad album, but I feel this doesn't evolve in the right way to
please my taste... I don't listen to thrash metal much anymore, and am not a
fan of the IMPIETY/ KRISIUN blasting mania.
If you are patched from the trousers to the underwears, and love when it blasts
a "South American way" try to insert your skull in the thrashing metallic
shaper.
https://myspace.com/goreified
TESTAMENT
(USA) Low CD'94. Waou!! This is the best TESTAMENT album
I've had the chance to listen to! (I knew only their previous ones) It's really heavy with pounding
heavy drums and some really remindable at the first listening catchy
riffs, the vocals also sounds better than on their previous releases,
with some more heaviness and more powerfull and coherent melodies!
If ya want to check out some good heavy heavy stuff, try to copy
it from a friend's collection, it can please ya! Nice cover!
THE COUNTY
MEDICAL EXAMINERS (Usa) Forensic fugues and medicolegal medleys
CD'02 RAZORBACK. Everythings from their cover to the music
sounds 100% CARCASS influenced (not to say anything else...). It
seems to me they cut all the photos from their old "Reek of
putrefaction" LP and paste it on a piece of skin to buil a
"new" cover. The music sounds 100% into old CARCASS
("Symphonies of sickness") as if the guys were listening
to it everydays since it was released. They also have some SANITYS
DAWN and EXHUMED touches. Also a bit of GENERAL SUGERY and a few
EXIT 13 like high pitched vocals ("Ethos music"). It
lacks of grinding, gore and cynical energy for my CARCASS filled
guts. No riff sound bad, and the whole is correctly constructed,
but some personal or good gut splashing riffs are fucking needed!!
It's a shame I got no surprise listening to this LP, and they sound
too much like Bill Steer's formation, they sound like a clone by
moments. Old days' CARCASS fans may find it cool, but some albums
such as REGURGITATE's 1st Fulllength LP were far more expressive
in the strongly influenced CARCASS' style. I unfortunately found
nothing great here... http://www.thecountymedicalexaminers.com
THE DEAD
(Australia) The dead CD'07. OBSIDIAN Recs. I imagined the
aussies of THE DEAD would plunge a bit deeper in the matters of
entrailstertainment with this first album, since the two demos were
cool and promising... Even if the whole was subject to some murderous
improvements, I expected the undead bowel zigzagment to reach quite
higher scales of internal klok deliria. Musically speaking, it
still sounds like a big portion of brutal death metal that would
avoid the too technical or mentally abrupt clichés of the current
brewbrew scene to prefer something a bit more disjoncted like (let's
say) mid old EXHUMED; Don't misunderleech my words, the cuntent
is still brewtal and blasting, but the aussies (ozzies?) are not
too fucking serious in their will of blasting collapse: There are
touches of putrid humor, groovy moments that makes the whole a bit
more caveman-sexy, kinda "slappy" touches of bass guitars
(Green bile remembrances of early PRIMUS?). Since I tried to
become a Google map of 1994-99 brutal death and grindcore, I will
give you some necro-cities' names so that you can easily make your
way to the town of "The dead": SKINNED (1998 era... For
some brewbrew and not too serious goryfying schizofun), SPLATTERED
CADAVER (Old/ For some brutal blast), DISFIGURED (Grewvy brewtah),
INTENSE HAMMER RAGE (For some sickness), BLOOD DUSTER (For grooves
that sometimes (dis)tends to stoner), SOILENT GREEN (For the grooves),
EMBALMER (For some heaviness of the brutal)... Well to scum it up,
Let's say some SKINNED'98 with more blast, influences of mid old
EXHUMED and the groovy of BLOOD DUSTER/ SOILENT GREEN... The
production is okey, maybe a little deaf concerning the guitars that
could have a little more "clarity", power, or I don't
know what it could be... I like the low pitched vocals, it's
quite gore and deep but not too much, it flows quite conveniently
on my burnt cadaver with ease and sometimes reaches higher pitches
of screamy grrrrr... The last track is the slower, it begins like
some early CATHEDRAL, to then mixturize your big tits like some
EYEHATEGOD meets PRO PAIN and old AUTOPSY... Now conclude my
fellatio, juicy bitch: As far as I'm concerned this is a cool album,
it's quite well put together, once you're in the mood the vagina
shows quite a lot of nice dentatas that could please fans of extreme
music who don't shake their heads too much (With the current waves/
fashions/ trends/ prides/ greed motos)... But I expected a bit more
craziness or punching qualities, so I'll say you shouldn't buy this
album with two eyes closed, just keep one opened before your insert
coins and that should be cool... This isn't a testicle trap, so
click on their myspace link and make your mind (If you don’t already
have one) http://www.myspace.com/lordofthelivingdead
THE DEAD
(Australia) "Armoured assassin" Ep'06. OBSIDIAN Recs. For
those who already know the first CDr demo of THE DEAD, there won't
be bloody new things, expect for a cool looking new artwork cover
and a blood splashing red piece of vynil. This Ep was recomposed
from two demo songs that were exhumed and remastered for the putrid
occasion. It offers you cool stuff, in a fast Death metal kind.
The whole is quite varied, but remains gut pukking enough for the
laceration-enthusiasts. It could sound like some very old EXHUMED
(When they were able to open the abscess) meets old SANITYS DAWN
("Cryptic menu" of love), some old BLOOD DUSTER (When
they mixed the grinding and the groovy) plus some craziness and crusty
Death metal à la AUTOPSY/ ABSCESS. Nothing really killer or blewwwdy
crispy until now, but this is a well packaged explosive bomb that
shows the band is able to do much better, both on matters of efficiency
and personality. THE DEAD is quite promising! http://myspace.com/lordofthelivingdead
THE DILLINGER
ESCAPE PLAN (Usa) Calculating infinity CD'99 RELAPSE. Under
the pressure of Grinding friends of mine who read my review of the
Ep'02 of D.E.P, and who insisted for me to download a full CD of
the band, I did it and here I'm with this review. The whole is
still complex and dicording with a bunch of Hardcore influences
melted in a mix of Brutal Nu metal and Death/ Grind. Breaks à la
jazzy EXIT 13/ ATHEIST that opens itself for a few seconds as little
drawers or gates to another world. Quite original heavy riffs à
la MESSHUGGAH with breaks...Masturbating guitars and sickness à
la HUMAN REMAINS in bizarrely wicked technical parts. Some wanna
sound complex and original parts still waste a part of my pleasure! Quite
bestial parts à la FAITH NO MORE meets MISTER BUNGLE. There are
some good emotional parts full of distress, fuse blower's delirias
and sociopathic despair. I've been hooked by a few really catchy
heavy riffs. I've got a better opinion of D.E.P now. They may
sound or be considered as the techno Thrash/ Death bands that reigned
on the microcosm of open minded metallers (CYNIC, MEKONG DELTA,
old ATHEIST...) some years ago, even if their style hasn't got the
same roots at all. It's innovative and fresh sounding, while
remaining quite extreme. Well, I'm still not fond of their music
that remains too wicked, bizarre and sometimes too uselessly complex
for some usual listenings! It's not the kind of the stuffs I'll
listen to very often! But there are some good parts and it's worth
the listening for open-minded bastards who want some new elements
in their Brutal CD collection. http://www.dillingerescapeplan.com
THE DILLINGER
ESCAPE PLAN (Usa) Irony is a dead scene Ep'02 EPITAPH. T.D.E.P
is a part of this new Grind/Hardcore scene that includes a lot of
complex, discordant and bizarre stuffs everywhere... And I must
say I've got problems to enjoy it! There are too many bizarre breaks,
riffs and stuffs that sound discording, but no deep impact that
blasts out my head! Their music is quite original since it includes
varied influences as some very soft parts à la FAITH NO MORE. Some
more metallic parts also remind me of this band! (Especially the
vocals). By moments, it sounds as if VOIVOD were turning to Grindcore!! Some
Hardcore, Nu metal like plans. Some wicked moments would sound like
FANTOMAS! The more I listen to this MCD, the more it sounds like
a cauldron of very varied metal styles! There seems to be some
HUMAN REMAINS, FAITH NO MORE, new NOSTROMO, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD
(a bit), MASTODON (drums and heavy riffs). There are very complex
and jazzy drumbeats. It sounds like masturbation in the most technical
parts of the guitar playing. Nice quiet parts. The MCD ends itself
with a cover of "Come to daddy" of a band I don't remember
(wasn't it APHEX TWIN?) But... Uh! This isn't for me since the
most extreme parts lack of real emotions and are based on complexity
and cerebral originality. The big fans of the latest FAITH NO MORE
releases who want something more extreme or feel quite close to
Grindcore may dig it. It didn't especially please me, but at least
they're original. http://www.dillingerescapeplan.com
THE HELLACOPTERS
(Sca) High visibility Double Lp'00. While some musicians
lamely enclose themselves in an old style and repeat again and again
a music that vaguely reminds (with full sterility) their gold years
of Brutality (UNLEASHED not to quote them), some guys try to be
honest with themselves and try to evolve when they feel Death metal
isn't what they need to play anymore! Nicke Andresson, the ex
Drummer/ composer of ENTOMBED (old) is one of these guys who successfully
adapted its music to his own needs, despite of the "What will
they say?" or "What will the scene and fans think?". Since
a few years, Nicke has founded a new band and he's now guitarist
and vocalist... and what a surprise! I didn't pay attention to this
band before (not my style that much...) but this double LP quote
my attention for a subconscious reason; I'm fucking hooked! The
style of the band is Hard rock in the 70's vein! It could remind
of CACTUS, THE WHO, old ALICE COOPER, WEST BRUCE AND LAING, and
other 70's Hard rock bands I listened to when I was young, but it
doesn't sound old or boring! This is full of feeling, it's well
composed; it's done with their actual feeling of the 70's music,
that's why it sounds fresher than a revival. The vocals sound good
also, it's sung with a little touch of biting! Good drummer who
beats the kit with energy and a cool varied style. There are some
good tracks in here, and some cool choruses! Smoke another cigarette...
there's even some piano touches... Ok, this review isn't at the
very right place here, but it's cool to let know some ENTOMBED fans
who weren’t aware that Nicke didn't form a boring non- Death metal
project (contrary to many old bands' musicians!). And isn't it from
this style every kinds of metal came (in part) from? If you like
70's Hard rock, have a listening to this! THE HELLACOPTERS are a
good band! http://www.hellacopters.com
THE SATAN'S
SCOURGE (Col) ...Of Kaos and Karnage EP, 2006. LEGION OF DEATH
Recs. This time the one speaking in the name of the old chaotic
metal cult will be THE SATAN'S SCOURGE. Hailing from Colombia,
what they play is war metal full of blasts, scorching and quite
chaotic guitars, screams from hell and insane urges of blasphemy. They
happen to remind me of BLASPHEMY and BESTIAL WARLUST, which isn't
a surprise, but one could also find some similarities with early
BEHERIT (For some chaos in the playing, and some of the screamed
vocals... Yes all vocals are screamed, no deeper death metal growls
are present). In my opinion the band still needs some hard work
in the rehearsal torture chamber, because the drumming isn't always
crushing your skull the best way, and they could play these songs
a bit faster to incinerated a bigger amount of imploring victims. Most
of the South American bands definitely have another taste for metal
than all these overpolished, overplayed and under-metallic European
week end warriors... Most of the time, they sounds more authentic
and revengeful, even if the music isn't often played so technically,
sooo tight or so well produced with an abundance of honey... But
what does matter: The feeling and hateful revenge or the perfect
production? This Ep isn't bad, I feel some hellish intensity
of chaos in the songs...but it could be more intense, so it's average
and only for big maniacs of the style. http://www.legionofdeath.cjb.net
THE SEVENTH
GATE (USA) None so Bloody as the Kingdom of Christ CD'02 SATAN
ROCKS. Here's common sounding Brutal Death metal in the american
vein. With some slower DxMx moments tending to some small HxCx
touches in a few cases. I could quote a few bands like SPLATTERED
CADAVER, SANGUINARY, SKINNED and maybe DRAWN AND QUARTERED... But
I found no real punch or energy, or at least nothing impressed me
in this "None so Bloody as the Kingdom of Christ" CD.
All is common from the drumbeats to the riffs I won't remember (even
after a few listenings). In my ears, that music doesn't deserve
to be pressed on a CD but should remain on a demo. Good luck guys. http://www.satanrock2.com
THE SKELETAL
(Usa) The Plague Rituals CD. 2011. METAL INQUISITION Recs. "Rotten
carcass defibrillation (Insist again, again and again)" could
have been a song title for this band if they had played right-ball
torture goregrind, but it's not the case: Their music is located
between Death metal and thrash metal. This new project of Kam
"Mookie Conkster" Lee is decent, and could even sound
quite cool in very particular moments of heavy couch relaxation,
but doesn't we need a bit more than convenient metal? The songs
remind me of early DEATH, old SLAYER, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, RITUAL CARNAGE's
first album, and few others to be closer to old school Death metal.
This is decently played and structured music, but it also sounds
common. The decent riffs comes one after another, but defibrillation
doesn't occur. This record doesn't sound particularly bad, but despite
of a little atmosphere I more or less feel like an empty carcass
in front of it. This is only for big fans of old retro stuffs,
peoples who would see Kam Lee as an "idol" (If that only
exists out of the media world), or listeners who didn't get too
much of hearing the same riffs in aeternum... (Fuck, I realize
my rating was closer to a demo than an album)
THE KILL
(Australia)/ RETALIATION (Swe) Split Ep'02. Here's a
cool Grinding split! THE KILL pays bitch fucking "tits enlargement"
raw Grind from Australia. There sound is raw as fuck- difficult
to hear the riffs. Makes me think about good old S.O.B for vocals
and EXIT 13 for raw Underground sound.Old school Grind à
la NAPALM/ S.O.B Not bad and quite energetic but I still prefer
their previous band OPENWOUND.
The swedish
bastards of RETALIATION (including the REGURGITATE drummer) play
cool Grind/ Crust. I noticed some blackened tremolos Death metal
riffs. (The last track's sound was voluntary crushed) This
is cool and could please a cool amount of Crust grinders but these
tracks didn't reach the wanted level of memorability! AAARGH!! http://www.geocities.com/blastasfuk
|
THORAZINE
(CAN) Thorazine CDr’97 Selfrelease. This canadian band plays
Death metal with some more melodic, a bit dark, sounding arpeggios.
Average stuff.
I don't like the high flying vocals reminding me too much of CRADLE
OF FILTH. This is the common heavy Death metal, the kind of stuffs
lots of bands were playing in France around 95/ 96. Nothing new,
with common songs. The raw obscure sound reminds me a bit
of REGURGITATION (USA)'s demo, in a way I could compare them to
JUDECCA. I'm fastly bored with this kind of things...
THORAZINE
(CAN) Seed the black sky CD'99 Selfreleased. The band was
playing a kind of very common Death metal on their previous CD.
Now there music gets a bit more dynamics and there are more fast
parts and blasting moments... but it remains in the average spectrum
of music... :( They seem to have improved as musicians
and there are more little ideas thrown here and there. I'd say they
now play some kind of Death metal with more varied stuffs here and
there. The black metal vocals doesn't sound as stupid
as on their previous release. I'm still not an enjoyer of their music
but at least they keep on improving! http://www.thorazine.ca
THORAZINE
(CAN) Geneticide CD'02 DEATHGASM. The improvement between
this CD and their previous one is maybe not as obvious as the one
between their 1st and 2nd CD. This time, their Brutal death that's
quite varied is more brutal and the melodic moments sounds
a little better. A few more a bit original ideas are included and
some of this ideas aren't too common for the style. So they
have improved, and the stuff is more technical but I still
am not an enjoyer! All is nearly here to make it a pro band (despite
the snare drum sound) but I don't find the memorable side of the
stuffs here!! Where is the fucking deep feeling? I'm not talking
about the surface mood, but the deep explosions of sickness that
comes from the guts and tores the whole world apart!!? AAARGHH!, It's true that it's hard to write a memorable
riff, you have to deeply and strongly want it! This band can be pleasant
for
the Brutallers who think it's cool to be concentrated to listen to their dose
of extremity... But more is needed anyway!
THOR'S
HAMMER (POL) The fate worse than death CD'02 NO COLOURS. Their
album seems to have been recorded with a microphone at the other
extremity of an old garage, because the sound is very poor! This
band plays a poor version of simple Black metal à la old
BURZUM ("Aske") meets DARKTHRONE. Fans of old BURZUM
may check it out as Varg Vikernes is in jail and doesn't seem to
compose this kind of stuffs anymore. I'll only ask the label
to stop sending this kind of Black metal releases as it sounds totally
uninspiring and uninspired to my ears! http://www.paganfront.net/thorshammer/index.html
THOSE
WHO BRING TORTURE (Swe) Those who bring torture CD'07.
NO COLOURS Records. Give the dog a bone? Noooo. Give the
bear a beer? And beer à gogo to bear à gogo... To dance with the
beers to find yourself dancing with bears! I want a little bear
in my beer! I want a little bear in my beer! No colours keeps
on sending me their black metal promos for no reason... But this
time there was something sounding like Death in their grimbomb... This
project formed by musicians of RIBSPREADER, KNIFE IN CHRIST and
TAEDEAT is only a sub-project. Read the flyer: "After just
a week of writing, recording and mixing the debut album was done".
That's no very promising, huh? What you hear is between death
and grind, with usual death grind moments (HAEMORRHAGE, HATEPLOW),
heaviness à la early MUCUPURULENT or some cool sounding but common
old Death metal. The powerful production makes it good sounding,
there are cool moments from here and there (I wonder if it's not
remains of better ideas from their main projects). But all in all
this is just another CD recorded by another project like many...
I imagine the guys' rehearsing habits helped to make this album
quite easily. There have been worse but also better parallel distractions,
it's pro and ok. http://www.myspace.com/twbtt
THRONE
OF NAILS (Uk) Acts of war CD’02 CRASH MUSIC. Despite
the not very impressive logo and artwork cover, the extreme music
of THRONE OF NAILS stands on decent war lines of quality. This
is obscure Brutal death metal with a strong old school Heavy touch!
Many are the occurrences and discordances reminding me of old IMMOLATION
and INCANTATION; this is ancient, obscure, with many morbid discordant
melodies à la old IMMOLATION. Trey Azagoth's Brutal style can
also be evoked here for several reasons, on one hand you get the
screamed notes, chaotic leads and few tremolo Death metal riffings
along the lines of "Altars of madness", on another hand
some heavier riffs summon the obscure heaviness of "Gateways
to annihilation". There's here this feeling of being somewhere
else and nowhere, in some leads à la MORBID ANGEL ("Covenant")
or IMMOLATION induced guitars. Breath the sulfurously carbonized
air, in emptiness! The tracks are quite well constructed in this
Heavy Brutal style, the drummer doesn't blast endlessly even if
he shows he's able to do so. Quite powerful sound that keeps a rough
side. This isn't too much my kind of Brutal death, but the big
fans of IMMOLATION and INCANTATION who need it obscure, heavy and
raw in the ancient way should put an hear on THRONE OF NAILS as
this respectable band has got several hellspawned attributes to
please the dwellers of the never-ending old school! Obscure infinity! http://www.throneofnails.com
THRONEUM
(POL) Old death's lair CD'01 WEIRD TRUTH. This album begins
with an introduction of agonizing screams à la SADISTIK EXEKUTION
at the time of their very first LP "The magus". This
is a very old school influenced death metal band that will please
the die hard fans of the style only! Their stuff is composed
of tremolo riffs à la old MORBID ANGEL ("Abominations
of desolations") and SADISTIC INTENT, the old school raw side
can take form here of old IMPIETY and old ABHORER, some few black
metal influences as well as dark morbid leads à la old MAYHEM
can be added. Add some old school Death/ Thrash influences, a zest
of BOLT THROWER's demo days and a few old Death metal influences
à la old SINISTER and a little touch of very old BRUTALITY
and you get an overview of their style. Some of their vocals
remind me of old SADISTIK EXEKUTION "The magus" + 2nd
CD, this isn't Brutal or gory vocals but rather screams, harsh
and quite clear thrash metal voices, with a lot of reverb. There
was some clear screams à la NILE ("Catacombs of Nephren-Ka"). They
play some cool catchy morbid melodies with a few nice variating
bass lines here and there, for these melodies I may speak about
old DEMILICH meets some old ADRAMELECH. Even if they have some cool
morbid melodies that may haunt your mind for a little while, I think
all their tracks aren't so great as some can seem long, and I wouldn't
have used some of the riffs if it was my band! Some shorter tracks
in the style would be welcome! It can please only the big fans of
the old school style! http://www.geocities.com/throneum
TIPHERET
(Ita) Solve Et Eiacula MCD'01. Even if TIPHERET uses a Black
metal band's name and logo, their extreme music has got much to
with Death metal and some core stuffs. Taking several extreme
musical styles, Tipheret mixes all of this in a burning carnal cauldron:
Death metal, Black metal, Thrash metal, Hardcore and Thrashcore
are nicely transplanted on the corpse of the rotten cadaver, making
the undead almost elegant looking! I must say this mix of styles
sounds quite cool, some freshness is here! The whole is mid placed
for a good part of the length, with some blasts or Death metal beats,
etc. They've got some quite melodic touches. TIPHERET may sound
as a mix of old DEATH, ANANDA (a bit), old NOSTROMO (less technical
and complex), old SUPPURATION ("The cube" and demo days)
and a bit of old HECATE ENTHRONED (without keyboards). The band
seems open minded. Nice drummer, cool riffs, nice vocalist...Cool
tracks! This MCD has got its chances to be cool for those who seemed
interested by the description. A cool band that deserves at least
a bit more support. http://www.tipheret.com
TIRAN (Russia) Apocalyptic
tales CD. 2017. METAL RACE Recs.
I know this Russian thrash metal band since quite some time, perhaps ten years,
because the guitarist/ vocalist Gorbanev was very busy with his label and used
to trade a lot of demos and CDs.
Now I'm the victim of a big promotional package that contains various CDs to
review, including this third full-length album of TIRAN.
The band still plays old school thrash metal, but I feel there's a bit more of
(Old styled) technical thrash than before... Perhaps it's natural progression.
In the metallic porridge you can also find elements of old death metal, some
kind of "speed metal", more "melodic" death metal riffs à
la mid old DEATH, but globally it remains a variation on a main thrash metal style.
Listening to this CD you can think about old KREATOR (Rather the "Pleasure
to kill"/ "Terrible certainty" era), a bit of old DARKNESS
(Ger), old PROTECTOR, old ADMORTEM (Fra), or MERCILESS (Swe) in a way...
Some also have a more punk touch, which makes them closer to KREATOR's
"Endless pain" perhaps (I said perhaps, it's not really "Speed
metal"). This also reminds me of old demos I heard an eternity ago, but I
can't come up with the names (I hope this sentence is very useful for the readers,
AhAh)
Even if this is their third album, TIRAN keeps an underground approach (No
over-dubbed post 2005 production, no tighter-than-tight inhuman playing (I
didn't say there were playing mistakes here, I think it's just the way this
band could sound live (If they aren't drunk ahah))).
This is decent underground thrash, with quite a lot of riffs per song (Compared
to old thrash).
Some riffs sound neat or quite kicking (Some quite technical thrash parts are
great), while some are less interesting in my humble metallic opinion (Some
easier more "punk" or more "mid-paced thrash" moments
didn't really move me).
I can't say if TIRAN found a burning formula to kick the ass of every
thrash-bangers, this remains classical old school thrash, with more interesting
technical moments, with both positive and less interesting parts, but I think
the content might please the hears of big thrash metal fans, the underground
way.
Listen: https://morehate.bandcamp.com/ Russian Facebook: https://vk.com/tiran_rus
TOMBTHROAT
(Ger) Out of the tomb CD'04. Self released. This CD is damn
cool! Old school Death metal played with a cool feeling and a good
dose of Death grind. Welcome back to the 90's! What pleases me
in TOMBTHROAT is they remind me all the good Death metal I listened
when I was a teenage: PESTILENCE, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, ASPHYX,
UNLEASHED, MORGOTH, as well as a bit of early HYPOCRISY, GRAVE and
others. Some riffs remind me a bit of IMMOLATION. The band also
has fewer modern brutal death influences to diversify the thing.
The vocalist uses screams that aren't far from the ones of Martin
V. Drunen by moments, AAARRRGGGHHH!! Nothing ground breaking
nor really killer, nothing new (It's old school death worship the
right way), but this album has it more charm than the so perfectly
produced and performed sterile and too cerebral countless albums
released nowadays. There are cool riffs to be understood at first
hear. Maybe this album sounds cool in my hears because I've the
feeling it's a very cool band being ran by a bunch of friends, or
coz I’m nostalgic fart, but anyway that remains a cool album to
drink few beers and decontract in a good atmosphere of ancient death
grind! I you enjoy bands such as UNFRAGMENT, for their cool old
school Death and Death grind worship, you might was well dig this
44 minutes long 16 tracks album, and I drink another beer! http://www.tombthroat.de
TON
(Usa) Plague CD '00 UNITED GUTTURAL. Here's finally the first
CD of TON! Their music is still quite technical Brutal death mixing
groovy Death metal riffings with nice self evolving bass lines.
Some blast parts sound a bit flat, I've got better remembrances
of their blasting moments on "Blind follower". Too much
complex tracks? This is well arranged Brutal death with some
cool riffs thrown here and there, a few discordant riffs are included,
there are a few good tracks, but while their "Blind follower"
Demo had some really good moments, I think this one is only cool!
Some
nice original parts are here, as well as cool heavy riffs, but I
get the feeling and the idea something is definitely lacking! So
this is a cool CD to burn, but the only TON release that's worth
having in your collection is the "Blind follower" Demo'97.
Unless
you're a big American styled Brutal death fan, you may not be very
fond of this CD! http://www.unitedguttural.com
TORMENTED
(Swe) Rotten death CD'09. IRON FIST Recs. The old school
Swedish Death metal TORMENTED practices is a bit different from
the one I'm used to. It's clearly old fashioned, inspired by
the early 90's and devoid of modern influences, but while it takes
quite a lot from the usual chords of the genre (Lots of tremolo
riffs, some quite mysterious guitars) it's also a bit more garage
and made in a simpler manner that works more or less well depending
on the song. All in all, I would say it sounds like a mix between
old DISMEMBER (The less melodic), NIHILIST (For the fast and quite
raw patterns), AXIS POWER (Global feeling for the "raw"
rehearsal aspect), some ENTOMBED (For some "mysterious"
riffs), some VOMITORY (Only the first album's most death metallic
parts) and sometimes REPUGNANT (For the vocals). Some songs work
quite well as it has a simple and immediate appeal (It's familiar
and known, so you easily get into), some chorus aren't bad and could
become some kind of "hymn", but a part of the compositions
are too simple and taste like it would need quite a bit more of
work (I think about the way Entombed or Grave used to make variations
on the same riff... It's something TORMENTED could nicely gain power
from), or the drum-playing lacks of power and tight punch, and the
vocals could be a bit more low pitched to please my needs (Even
if it sometimes have a nice REPUGNANT alike vibe). So it has it's
cool moments, but also could be better... The guitar production
is quite Swedish sounding, not the most spectacular but it's nice
how it is, on the other hand the drums are just garage sounding
and could have been more powerfully produced. As far as I'm concerned,
it's an ok album with both its ups and downs... I know some peoples
in the retro/ necro/ garage spectrum will dig "Rotten death"
into their drunk fukk, but I'm a little more demanding with my albums...
I feel like the band could have rehearsed more and released a couple
of demos, before offering the listener something with more strength
and power... But apparently it's how it is nowadays, peoples want
their old school necro Death metal records as fast as possible,
and occur to stress bands to record fast, while the jewels of Death
metal reveal in patient maceration, strong kneading and intense
putrefaction. http://www.myspace.com/fuckingtormented
TORTURER (Can) Die in
pain CD. 2018. PCR Music Recs.
Sometimes you have to dig quite deep in brutal death blogs to find some cool
old school metal. I know I might make my life "harder" doing so, and
not blindly eating what five "famous" death metal labels try to feed
you with, but where is the pleasure of the discovery if you only have to open
your mouth like a freshly born baby? And what's the interest in reviewing the
same recordings every webzines already cover?
Now let's talk about morbid music. TORTURER is a quite good death metal band in
the old school manner, reminding an epoch when the style was close to thrash,
because the extreme developments didn't take place yet.... Well, this is really
old school, and this recording could almost date back to the end 80's (Yes,
this is a bit of a cliché sentence, but this is what this album sounds like:
Old school).
Listening to the ten tracks awakes visions of early DEATH (First full-length
mostly), early POSSESSED (First album/ But maybe not so fucking extreme), with
some SLAYER ("Hell awaits"), a bit of old NECROPHAGIA, PESTILENCE
(Demos/ For some slow parts), INFERNAL MAJESTY (First album), and maybe some
MORTEM (Peru/ First album).
As you noticed the style of the band is close to the "thrashing" old
DM, but the playing isn't always so fast. You also find quite an amount of
mid-paced and slower parts. It doesn't bother since the style of the band is
about the (morbid) atmosphere, and it helps to develop some burning ambiances.
Hmmm, cool crazy and quite frenetic screams à la old Possessed.
You will find nothing new here, it's "only" old school evil death
metal in the early way, but it's quite well rounded, there are good
atmospheres, some good moments... And perhaps the more you listen, the more you
get into the "real death metal" atmosphere.
I think fans of real death metal the evil way and supporters of evil satanic
thrash could be interested in TORTURER, so keep an eye opened, hoping for a
tape of vynil release maybe.
https://torturerdeaththrash.bandcamp.com
TREPAN
DEAD (Fra)/ HERESY(Fra) Split CD'03 3X8. Ok, long
introductions aren't always the most interesting things to read,
so let's get straight to the. Here's a split CD with two bands
from the North of France. TREPAN DEAD
plays somekind of Thrashcore meets Hardcore. They have some mid
fast beats that could remind of RIGHTEOUS PIGS, AGATHOCLES as well
as some heavier riffs that are more in the Hardcore style. There
are few indus touches reminding me of NAPALM DEATH "Fear emptiness
despair". Some hardcore incuded touches could remind of the
BLOCKHEADS. The vocals are very Hardcore induced. There are correctly
articulated tracks in here, but nothing standed out. No really Brutal
riffs or killer gut shredding stuffs, only Ok riffs with some hesitations
from here and there. So, it's average stuffs. HERESY's music
is also Hardcore influenced, they've got a bunch of slow riffs that
could sound like old BIOHAZARD, OBITUARY (last recordings), and
in my opinion it's too slow... It reminds me the kind of slow Hardcore/
Death metal I don't like. They have faster Death metal parts that
could remind of SIX FEET UNDER, they have a few CANNIBAL CORPSE
like riffs, while some slow riffs with mid placed melodies sound
a bit like old BOLT THROWER (2nd LP). But hell, some riffs are very
average! And there are a bunch of hesitations in structures! Even
if HERESY is more Death metal influenced than TREPAN DEAD, their
music sounds less efficient (that's the best I could say), it's
very average and quite boring in my opinion! http://www.soyunoloko.fr.st
TSJUDER
(Nor) Demonic possession CD'03 DRAKKAR. Wow,
then it still exist black metal with bollocks and a real angry feeling
in Norway nowadays!!!! Incredible! From the land of brainwashed
protestant peasants, are coming a bunch of bastards, that still
manage to use their intellect to spread some hate towards
the fucking christian filth, that castrated this country some 5
centuries ago. So here we go with absolute raw grim, hateful, norwegian
black metal. I didn´t know that these guy could produce finally
some intersting and not boring as fuck linear tunes. Since the band
exists since 1993, and that there´s a RAGNAROK member playing in
it, I guess that they had enough time to mature and play properly
their instruments ( I mean that one can feel that these guys play
with christian bowels exploded on chainsaws... And that´s fine!). In
fact this album is quite well produced, but still stays grim. This
band proves that there´s no need of the bad sound argument to hide
the musical unhabilities. This band reminds me a bit the spirit
one can find in VULTURE LORD, CARPATHIAN FOREST or the polish GOETIA
for instance. Of course, there are some DARKTHRONE touche here and
there, but hey, don´t forget that we are talking about norwegian
black metal here.Yes you will find the typical black and white picture
taken in the snow, and the nice Szpajdelish logo, as well as spikes,
leather and blood on inverted crosses. But that´s fine here, because
this band is not proposing just an image. Yes, you get it right,
they also give the auditor some quality and non boring black metal
of the second wave. TSJUDER is the knife on the throat of "REMA
1000" Norwegian black sissy metal like SUSPERIA, DIMMU BURGER
and the likes. http://www.tsjuder.com
Nathaniel
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