Metal music reviews, top albums and forums (2024)

3.50 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Unicursal" is the second full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Nocturnus AD. The album was released through Profound Lore Records in May 2024. It´s the successor to "Paradox" from May 2019, so it´s been five years betweeen the two album releases. There haven´t been any lineup changes, so the lineup who recorded "Paradox" is intact on "Unicursal".

Although the current incarnation of the band formed in 2013, drummer/lead vocalist Mike Browning has a long history in US death metal, being the original drummer and vocalist in Morbid Angel. After leaving Morbid Angel Browning formed Nocturnus and performed on their two classic albums "The Key" (1990) and "Thresholds" (1992) before being fired from the band he co-founded. He shortly formed Nocturnus AD in 1990 but changed the band name to After Death. In the period 2000-2013 After Death released quite a few demos (all material from the demos can be found on the 2007 compilation album "Retronomicon"), but in 2013 Browning opted to change the name back to Nocturnus AD. He always felt that Nocturnus was his creation and he wanted to carry on the legacy of the band, but since he had lost the rights to the name, he added the AD to avoid legal action from his previous bandmates who still owned the name. When playing live Nocturnus AD also play Nocturnus songs, so in effect (since Nocturnus haven´t been active since 2002), this is the closest you get to the real deal.

"Unicursal" is a concept album continuing the sci-fi story of Dr. Magus which was initiated on "The Key" and continued on "Paradox" (a sci-fi story mixing anti-christian themes, with futuristic sci-fi themes, and fantasy mystical themes). Stylistically the material on "Unicursal" naturally continue the sci-fi themed old school death metal featuring prominent use of keyboards, which the band also played on "Paradox". Browning is a raw shouting/semi-growling type vocals, and while his vocals aren´t the most powerful death metal vocals I´ve encountered and his staccato delivery can get a bit one-dimensional and tedious, he has a personal style which is more than you can say about a lot of other death metal vocalists.

While the core of the compositions is more or less thrash oriented old school death metal the dominant use of keyboards and the blistering lead guitar work are some of the features which set Nocturnus AD apart from other death metal acts with the same base elements. The music on "Unicursal" isn´t terribly different from what Nocturnus put out in the early 90s, but I guess that´s the whole point. The novelty of having a permanent keyboard player in a death metal band wore off a long time ago, but that doesn´t mean the addition of keyboards to Nocturnus AD´s death metal music isn´t effective and atmosphere enhancing, because it certainly is. To my ears the keyboards have at times maybe become a bit too dominant and provide the music with an epic symphonic feeling, that´s a bit generic if you compare them to how the keyboards where used on the original Nocturnus albums, where they either provided an eerie effect or even worked as a lead instrument.

"Unicursal" is a well produced release, sounding clear and powerful, and featuring a lot of details. Producer Jarrett Pritchard has done a great job here. So upon conclusion "Unicursal" is another good quality death metal release from Nocturnus AS, cementing their return to the scene and showing the world that they still have lots to give. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

• 6 days ago
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• Report #879668

1.75 | 2 ratings

UMUR

"Levels of Perception" is the tenth full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Pestilence. The album was released through Agonia Records in April 2024. It features twelve re-recordings of tracks which have appeared on some of the band´s earlier releases. Not all preceding albums are represented (there are no re-recordings of tracks from "Malleus Maleficarum" (1988) or from "Spheres" (1994)), but all other Pestilence studio albums are represented with at least one track each...

...and the tracklist is up for debate. It seems a bit odd to me, why Pestilence would chose to re-record no less than four tracks from their last album "Exitivm". Re-recordings are usually done to show how a current version of a group plays older classic material, but it seems Pestilence had another vision with "Levels of Perception". "Consuming Impulse" (1989) and "Testimony of the Ancients" (1991) are represented by two tracks each (I guess they didn´t dare leave out "Out of the Body") but that´s the only pre-reformation material featured on "Levels of Perception". It´s not that Pestilence more current material isn´t decent, but it just seems a bit strange to re-record material from 2021 on a 2024 release.

When that is said, there are unfortunately much, much worse things to say about "Levels of Perception" which is through and through a horrible release. I can´t call it anything else than an abomination and a terrible misstep in the discography of Pestilence. The material is what it is, but the performances and some of the new arrangements are tame and uninspired. Honestly it almost made me cry listening to the re-recordings of "Twisted Truth" and "Out of the Body", which are two of my absolute favorite Pestilence tracks, both of which are butchered here (Patrick Mameli how could you?).

But the performances and the weak vocals from Mameli aren´t even the worst here...it´s the production values. The drums were recorded live at one studio in 2021 and everything else was overdubbed at other studios during the next couple of years. Many artists have made live recordings of drums in the studio and have gotten great results from it, but that can´t be said about the drums on "Levels of Perception", which sound like they were recorded at a rehearsal space (and not at a studio like they are) using an old fashioned four-track tape recorder. This is demo quality sound production values. And it´s not just the drums. The guitars feature an odd high end tone which is grating on the ears, Mameli´s voice is distorted and you can´t always make out the words he sings (which usually isn´t an issue on Pestilence albums), and the bass is completely disconnected from the rest of the instruments in the mix...and bass player Joost van der Graaf often sounds like he is playing another song than the rest of the members of the band.

A pretty harsh critique, which I´m not happy to deliver since Pestilence have long been some of my heroes, but I have to call it like I see it. Honesty and full disclosure. Pestilence have some work to do, to drag themselves back from this disaster. Their next album better be the best album they have released since reforming in 2008 or they may find themselves a fan or two short. You don´t come back from something like this without some careful consideration and reflection in terms of what went wrong, and what should we never do again...a 1.5 star (30%) rating is warranted. I´m tempted to give an even lower rating, but I´m trying to be fair and at least give Pestilence some sort of credit for existing, but there really isn´t much to give them credit for after listening to this album.

• 12 days ago
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• Report #879582

4.08 | 2 ratings

siLLy puPPy

With little competition, TÝR could rightfully be considered the metal kings of the Faroe Islands especially due to the fact no other act has even come close to world wide recognition as this band has when it hit the world of folk-tinged progressive metal in the late 1990s and continues to dominate with its utterly unique stylistic approach that easily sets it apart from all others. After making its debut in 2002 with “How Far To Asgard” and finding an even greater fanbase with the following “Eric The Red,” TÝR has continued to release one album after another of intricately designed progressive metal that narrates the world of Norse mythology, Paganism and Faroese folklore, often exclusively in the Faroese language.

Still going strong after a quarter of a century, TÝR returns in 2024 with its ninth album BATTLE BALLADS which sees the light of day five long years after “Hel.” Continuing their adopted use of power metal which found its way into “By The Light Of The Northern Star” and has only maintained a stronger foothold ever since, BATTLE BALLADS delivers an unmistakable TÝR album with all the expected ventures into Viking folklore, Norse mythology and triumphant battle tales of yore delivered in an energetic, epic and anthemic musical majesty. While TÝR has always consistently delivered a highly original stylistic approach not even close to sounding like any other band, the band’s quality control has been more questionable with some albums failing to warrant much whoopty-doo while other albums holding no punches in blowing you away at every turn.

While BATTLE BALLADS may not prove to be one of the band’s top dog’s in terms of their overacting legacy, this album of 10 tracks at around the 42 minute mark is actually quite the pleasant surprise in that it delivers the most important aspect of all and that is one of maintaining your interest throughout the album’s run with high quality composiitons that offer enough variation without sacrificing all those idiosyncrasies that make TÝR so utterly brilliant. While it’s hard to tell really, guitarist Hans Hammer has replaced Attila Vörös from the previous album and perhaps this small change was just enough of a chemistry tweak to give the band a new lease on life but whatever the case the band sounds like its firing on all pistons this time around. Although no keyboards are credited, there is a clear synthesized presence in the backing atmospheres as well as the occasional symphonic touches.

Unlike some other TÝR albums, BATTLE BALLADS delivers a consistent flow of high quality tracks from beginning to end with excellent compositions that maintained all the quirky time signature deviations that makes the band stand out as well as cranking out a power metal bombast that showcases an exuberant use of twin guitar attacks all dressed up in traditional Faroese folk music flavors. Even lead vocalist Here Joensen sounds like he’s on the top of his game. The band is simply on fire from the first moments of “Hammered” to the last moments of “Causa Latronum Normannorum” consistently delivering that tightrope walk between high octane power metal and more reserved melodic folk metal. The harmonies are top notch and the flow of the album is flawless. Now it is true that TÝR does not deliver anything outside of its established perimeters but then again if a band is so amazingly accomplished at what it does so well and no other band has swooped in to steal its thunder then i for one am quite content with a rather safe album that is done brilliantly than the band desperately trying to grasp straws to become experimental.

There’s no telling when a band will burn out in the 21st century. Some bands formed in the 80s are still going strong while others that emerged only a decade ago have found their wellspring run dry. Whatever the case, the Faroese Viking metal gods seem to have longevity just as the Old Norse ways have themselves consistently found new ways of making themselves known in a world that has changed exponentially and unrecognizably beyond the world of the Vikings. My my tastes, BATTLE BALLADS is a triumphant success for staying on track in a world where it is so easy to get distracted and tempted into other arenas of musical exploration. Luckily this band has maintained the purity of its essence and continues to build on a metal tradition of its own making. Perhaps its the long time between albums that allows the band members to craft its compositions at its own pace or perhaps just the rejuvenating North Sea air but whatever the case TÝR appears to be a force in the greater metal universe that is here to stay for quite some time.

• 13 days ago
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• Report #879576

3.50 | 1 rating

siLLy puPPy

The filthy as f*ck sludge metal band from the ugly underbelly of the 90s that nobody in a million years thought would’ve arisen from the ashes due to the unfortunate passing of lead singer John Paul Morrow who passed away in 2002 leaving IRON MONKEY’s two 90s cult classics to stand on their own two feet but hey in the world of metal music one should expect the unexpected and even sacred cows sometimes find new a new form of life in an altered yet somewhat familiar form. While simmering in the sludgy underground, this 90s sludge metal band that followed in the footsteps of the Louisiana scene that found Acid Bath, Eyehategod and Grief forging a new ugly style of metal that chipped off strands of DNA from the world of stoner metal and doom metal and crafted a new ugly Frankenstein brother.

While not the first to engage in the rageful vitriol and distortion-fueled din that classic sludge metal rammed down your ear canals with impunity, IRON MONKEY was certainly one of the pinnacles of the hate fueled reverb-soaked sludgery that possibly caused Morrow’s death from choking on his own hate-filled vocal chords while screaming up a storm. Despite written off and left for dead, the MONKEY escaped captivity from whatever experimental lab facility locked them away and returned to the scene in 2017 with its comeback album “9-13” which found guitarist James David Luke Rushby (now simplified to simply Jim) accompanied by original guitarist Dean Paul James Berry (now truncated to Dean) who swapped out guitars for bass. With no viable replacement of the once great vocalist to be found, Jim simply stepped in and honed his own hateful bile spewing from his vocal chamber and called it good. With the addition of drummer Brigga, the MONKEY was back for the attack like Cesar planning an overthrow of humanity on The Planet of the Apes.

Following in the footsteps of the band’s 2017 comeback, SPLEEN & GOAD proves the resurrection was no one-off and although drummer Brigga has been replaced by Ze Big, this album that emerges seven years later very much sounds like “9-13” as IRON MONKEY left behind all those doom metal glacial moments of sustained feedback and oozing out effect of distortion of pain and focused more on the hardcore punk aspects that were in the band’s plans all along before the great implosion that left the MONKEY broken down and disbanded before a third album could ever emerge. Gone are all those smoke-filled stoner rock moments and also gone are the looming doomy passages that slink and slither like a serpent in the Garden of Eden. The new IRON MONKEY has the need for speed and that is exactly what it delivers with an adrenalized procession of downtuned sludge metal riffing sessions that offer a bit of boogie rock flamboyance to its simian swagger.

A modern day album with a retro throwback approach, SPLEEN & GOAD hosts nine tracks at 53 1/2 minutes and an incessant rampage through its battlefield stampede more focused on the quickened galloping pace of groove metal than the sludge on simmer of the past. The results vary as any veritable IRON MONKEY fan cherishes those classic moments that find the guitar sustain tweaking and freaking all over the place one of the band’s primary charms, lead vocalist Morrow’s unfathomable vocal rage excepted. The new IRON MONKEY in many ways sounds more like Amoebix or the 80s crust punk bands than it does its former self but then again the new IRON MONKEY is only half of the equation and any expectations of past endeavors should be firmly quashed. The new balls to the wall approach of IRON MONKEY 2.0 now finds as many albums under its belt as its original run but there’s little doubt this new rendition will ever eclipse the legendary status the original lineup has earned as one of 90s metal’s best kept secrets for so many decades.

The opening “Misanthropizer” pretty much sets the stage of quickened hardcore riffing frenzies with Rushby’s best Morrow imitation that comes close but delivers no cigar but then again taken on its own the new IRON MONKEY does not disappoint in its mostly Sabbath-free, stoner-free agenda either as the highly adrenalized agenda certainly offers a compelling filthy raw mix of primeval sludgery laced with the more rambunctious leanings of 90s alternative metal. The band retains an obnoxiousness that is guaranteed to piss off all but the true sludge fans out there and has lost none of the frenetic misanthropy as the album charges on like the band never left its sludge metal paradise and despite the mostly punk-fueled procession, occasional deviations do occur such as the rare Sabbath sounding track “The Gurges” charges forth and breaks up the monotony with angry stomps that would find Morrow’s harrowing approval. While i do wish the album was a bit more diverse in its approach, i cannot deny than i’m a sucker for this unbridled raging filth of a musical style and therefore soak it in like a sponge. Overall the classic IRON MONKEY is in no danger of being dethroned by the new but for anyone saying these guys never should’ve reunited misses the point of reviving classic sludge metal in a genre that seems to have gotten too progressive and experimental for its own good at times.

• 21 days ago
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• Report #879520

4.00 | 2 ratings

UMUR

"Epic" is the second full-length studio album by multi-national death metal act Vltimas. The album was released through Season of Mist in March 2024. It´s the successor to "Something Wicked Marches In" from March 2019, so it´s been almost to the day five years since the release of the predecessor. Vltimas was formed in 2015 by three veterans of the death/black metal scene in lead vocalist David Vincent (Morbid Angel, Terrorizer), drummer Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), and guitarist Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen (Mayhem, Aura Noir). On this album they´ve added bassist Ype TVS to the ranks.

Stylistically the material on "Epic" continues the blackened death metal style of "Something Wicked Marches In", but with a few twists and development of sound. Vincent is as distinct sounding and intelligible as ever with his growling vocals, but adds a few more layers to his vocal arsenal on "Epic". His semi-operatic vocals are utilized more often here (take a listen to the title track or "Mephisto Manifesto" for proof of that) and his growling vocals are varied with some aggressive raw shouting vocals too, so although Vincent already was one of the most unique sounding and versatile death metal vocalists before "Epic" was recorded, he has pushed the boundaries even further here. It may scare away a few hardcore death metal fans, but to those who crave diversity this is a welcome addition to the band´s sound.

Eriksen is the main composer of the material on "Epic" as was also the case on "Something Wicked Marches In" and he has again created a varied and intriguing blackened death metal sound. Everything from chaotic sounding blackened death metal, to mid-paced heavy epic death metal tracks, to melodic inclined lead guitar moments, and also a good understanding of rhythm dynamics. Flo Mounier of course doesn´t need an introduction and we all know that the man can play anything, but his performance here is relatively restrained, which serves the purpose of the drumming fitting the compositions. In other words he is a team player here, and saves his most technical drumming wizardry for Cryptopsy.

"Epic" features a powerful, clear, and detailed sound production, which suits the sophistication of the material well. This type of death metal would not have benefitted from a murky and gritty sounding production job. So upon conclusion "Epic" is a death metal release for those who enjoy their death metal with a touch of sophistication and variation, and who aren´t afraid to hear a death metal vocalist experiment with his voice and vocal style. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

• 22 days ago
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• Report #879508

3.56 | 15 ratings

siLLy puPPy

IRON BUTTERFLY is synomous with being one of the most famous one-hit wonders in the entire history of rock music. IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA, the band’s second album and surprise hit single is perhaps a testament to how an endless series of mishaps, happenstance and unplanned moments conspired into capturing the zeitgeist of an entire generation and somehow against all odds ended up becoming one of the biggest selling albums in all of music history. The San Diego based IRON BUTTERFLY was just another acid rock band that permeated the late 1960s led by organ player and vocalist Doug Ingle who was the primary songwriter and lyricist. The band was fairly typical of the era and delivered a rather average garage band style of psychedelic rock. Like many bands IRON BUTTERFLY was also plagued by lineup changes and after the release of the band’s 1968 debut “Heavy,” things got even more turbulent. The band was part of the L.A. psychedelic scene along with bands like The Seeds and The Strawberry Alarm Clock but never really stood out in any particular way.

It actually seemed like a sophom*ore album might never materialize due to the fact guitarist Danny Weis quit the band just before the recording sessions were due to take place. In a state of desperation the band replaced him with Eric Braun who had started to learn how to play the guitar three months prior. The title track was also a pure fluke in its creation. It’s peculiarity was the result of nothing more than Doug Ingle going on a drunken binge one evening and uttering unintelligible lyrics to drummer Ron Bushy who misinterpreted what was supposed to be “In The Garden Of Eden” that he could only make out as IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA. If that wasn’t strange enough, after writing five songs that would become the A-side of the original vinyl LP release, what would become a huge hit was nothing more than a soundcheck never intended to be recorded but by sheer chance was accidentally caught on tape while the band was waiting for their producer Jim Hilton to arrive at the studio.

While the usual method was for IRON BUTTERFLY to write structured psychedelic pop rock songs, the band just decided to improvise for over 17 minutes with the results being the entire B-side of the original album. The band’s ATCO Records for some reason thought that all the mishaps would make a great B-side and took the chance releasing the unedited 17-minute track as a raw performance that included all the unintended mishaps but somehow thought it might resonate with the psychedelic haze that permeated the summer of 1968. The gamble obviously paid off and the album became a massively huge hit outselling every other album for the next year and by 1969 had surprised a million copies in sales. The title track was released as a single but butchered down to a mere 2 minutes and 52 seconds. Since the appeal of the track was the long jamming session that featured trippy organs, impromptu drum solos and a repetitive psychedelic guitar riff with mumbled lyrics, the album was instantly endearing to the post-flower power crowds that wanted a bit more acid fuzz in their rock music.

Likewise the rather pop oriented five tracks on the A-side also appealed to the hippie crowd with short tributes to “Flowers And Beads” and the flower power themed “Are You Happy” which provided the perfect gateway to the unconventional title track that followed. Due to the fact the appeal in the album was the 17-minute title track which was never released as a single in its entirety, the only way to obtain it was to buy the album thus the album for a brief moment became the biggest thing in the USA outperforming bands like The Doors, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and the biggest names in the world of psychedelic rock. The fact that the album has gone down in history as both a critical step towards the later world of heavy metal and progressive rock has only cemented its status as one of those essential albums that one must hear and own despite the fact the album really doesn’t exhibit any particular traits of a classic band that stands the test of time. The album basically was a complete surprise hit that absolutely nobody could’ve planned if they tried and proof that sometimes fate determines things more than any amount of calculated planning. To date IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA has sold more than 30 million albums! Amazing!

Perhaps if i was there in the summer of 1968 and in the midst of the hoopla i would be as enamored with the whole IRON BUTTERFLY thing but honestly i can’t say find this album as anything more than an average standard psychedelic pop rock album of the era. It’s true that the phenomena of the title track does indeed make this a legendary release and for that reason i do own a personal copy because after all the title track is a part of the overall culture for better or for worse. From a critical point of view the first side of the album is decent with catchy psychedelic hippie songs that are quite listenable if rather unremarkable but there’s no denying that the legendary title track was and remains unlike anything that came before or came after and serves as a significant musical milestone as far as experimenting with rock music is concerned. The sloppiness and rather amateurish performance really only highlights the slacker drop out and do your own thing ethos of the era. After all 1968 was a very turbulent year politically across the world so a nonsensical anthem that was nebulous and could be interpreted differently by individuals and still resonated collectively was obviously exactly what the doctor ordered. A true anomaly of history yet will be in the collective consciousness for eons to come. This has to be one of the most unlikely hit albums of all time!

• 9 hours ago
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• Report #879745

4.50 | 2 ratings

siLLy puPPy

The Canadian MITOCHONDRION which got its start in Victoria, British Columbia in 2003 is amongst a new breed of dissonant death metal bands that has popped up since the late 1990s with the intent to craft dense ominous atmospheres as its primary focus and in the process incorporating myriad methodologies of extreme metal techniques to generate a chaotic and complex surrealist’s soundscape of otherworldly metallic bleakness. Founded by guitarist / vocalist Shawn Haché and guitarist / bassist / vocalist Nick Yanchuk along with early members bassist Nick Gibas, guitarist Mitch Aramenko and drummer Jesse Anderson, the band experienced the usual turmoil of lineup changes before settling as the four piece of Haché, Yanchuk, Godard and Gibas.

While following in the footsteps of bands like Portal, Gorguts, Ulcerate and Pyrrhon, MITOCHONDRION developed its own stylistic approach early on thus setting itself apart in significant ways. Primarily steeped in the world of chaotic and dissonant death metal, MITOCHONDRION spawned its first early convocation ARCHAEAEON in 2008 as a self-released limited edition of only 666 copies but due to the its rising popularity has since found the proper label support on the Dark Descent label which remastered this debut in 2011 and has reissued it with completely new cover artwork. The remastering was performed by none other than metal avant-gardist Colin Marston of Krallice, Dysrhythmia and Behold… The Arctopus fame. The music while more accessible than most of Marston’s output offers a plethora of metal stylistic approaches that deliver a turbulent descent into the an atmospheric yet intense metal encounter.

ARCHAEAEON successfully weaves together a tapestry of metallic savagery owing as much to the burgeoning modernities of technical death metal as it does the more continuous streamlined flow of the old school variety. Often compared to Deathspell Omega for delivering an order to chaos approach, the blackened avant-garde tones and bleak barbarity of the musical flow is undeniably intense in nature and yet utterly impossible to pigeonhole into an established subgenre of the metal universe. While chaotic and dissonant in the vein of Portal or Ulcerate, ARCHAEAEON delivers its descent into darkness in a martial stylistic approach akin to going to battle as if the band crafted its own metallic vision of some of the classical soundtrack moments on epic films such as The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. While many disso-death bands excel in complexities that offer curveball drifting into time signature rich frenzies or atmospheric abstractness, MITOCHONDRION delivers a fairly uniform rhythmic procession through the entire 71 1/2 minute run of ARCHAEAEON.

The band proves on this debut that it exhibits the perfect flow of consciousness that is punctuated by moments of atmospheric respite as well as delivering an incessant cascade of martial rhythmic guitar riffing, war metal style drumming techniques and moments of lead guitar soloing that offer more than enough variety to keep the entire album from stagnating even for a single track’s worth of playing time. The tracks are cohesive in how they interact from one to the next and the confluence of the death metal techniques with black metal and occasional doom metal excursions provides the perfect recipe for a well-crafted album’s worth of technical yet not too abstract strain of innovative death metal. It would not be an understatement to call the overall feel and mood of the album epic in scope and instrumental fortitude. The secret of the album’s appeal is that it never allows you to fall off the trajectory set forth. The incessant riffing and marital drumming styles keep you enthralled in the battle at hand and the excessive arsenal of variations that decorate the rhythmic flow are vast in scope and maintain a highly aggressive and satisfying delivery system.

This album was one of those love at first spin affairs but after a fair number of repeating attentive listening experiences it is also one that has a surprisingly satisfactory staying power as all the elements are so perfectly strewn about in a way that doesn’t allow your attention to drift off and destroy the momentum. MITOCHONDRION has proven itself to be one of the major players in the modern world of the new and varied extreme death metal varieties and this debut ARCHAEAEON showcases the band on full operational mode from the very initial opening “Chapter 11” on through to the 14-minute plus powerhouse “137 (Death’s Hedecaratia)” right down to the noise-ambient closer “Conclusion: Organum Exitus.” The band delivers a highly intellectual album based on the texts of Gnosticism and administers it all with a brash bravado of a seasoned extreme metal band that gracefully blends all its astute research of the metal universe into a cohesive whole of metal splendor. This band has risen quite high in my world and one listen to this complex behemoth of a debut should answer the question of why i have come to that conclusion. A brilliant beginning that was followed by the 2011 masterwork “Parasignosis.”

• 11 hours ago
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• Report #879742

3.00 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Empheral Paradise" is a single release by French death metal act Supuration. The single was released through Regurgitated in 1991. The material featured on most of the minor Supuration releases from 1991 was culled from the August 1991 "Promo tape '91", and that´s also the case with the two tracks featured on "Empheral Paradise" ("Empheral Paradise" and "Reveries Of A Bloated Cadaver").

"Empheral Paradise" is a track showing the many different elements of Supuration´s sound from this period. Both thrash- and death metal riffing, tempo-changes, occasional doom/death heaviness, atmospheric lead guitar work, growling- and futuristic/robotic sounding clean vocals, eerie keyboards, and a generally unconventional and adventurous approach to death metal songwriting. "Reveries Of A Bloated Cadaver" is a slightly more brutal and death metal oriented song, but of course that track also features one or two progressive inclined moments.

Qaulity wise I think "Empheral Paradise" is the better composition of the two, but "Reveries Of A Bloated Cadaver" is still a good quality track featuring the unique sound of early Supuration. The sound production is of a good quality, although the clean guitars on "Reveries Of A Bloated Cadaver" sound a bit "off" in the mix. Considering that these tracks were culled from a demo the sound production is just fine though. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

• 1 day ago
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• Report #879728

4.00 | 1 rating

siLLy puPPy

One of the heaviest prog bands from the Italy in the 1970s, PROCESSION emerged from the city of Torino in 1971 and delivered two albums with mostly different lineups and styles before disbanding permanently in 1975. The band was quite active on the live circuit in both incarnations during its four year run but like many talented bands of those years didn’t find the fame and fortunate that it deserved. The only two members to appear on both albums were lead vocalist Gianfranco Gaza and guitarist Roby Munciguerra. This debut album FRONTIERA was notably different than the majority of Italian prog acts of the day due to the fact it featured no keyboardist yet some tracks seem to have an uncredited atmospheric keyboard presence. Officially the band featured two guitarists, a bass and percussion. The three remaining members on this debut were guitarist Marcello Capra, bassist Angelo Girardi and drummer Giancarlo Capello.

While existing in a similar classically inspired framework of composiitons led by the exceptional and unique sounding lead vocalist Gianfranca Gaza, PROCESSION’s first album was based in hard rock and even reaching proto-metal intensity at times but also fortified with strong acoustic segments including the use of mandolin especially on the track “Incontro.” The band was also notable for its lyrical themes revolving around immigration hence the title FRONTIERA which means “Border” in Italian which apparently was a major issue in the Torino region at the time. The band’s big sound included dueling guitar action and heavy percussion but although based on the harder rock styles of the early 1970s, the compositions themselves have more in common with the classically infused symphonic prog bands that dominated the Italian scene.

Tracks like “Un Mondo Di Liberta” surely must’ve been the heaviest rock in prog in the entire nation of Italy with crazy fast tempos, blitzkrieg chunky guitar riffs and lightning fast solos. This particular track could easily qualify as one of the very first prog metal tracks as not only is it seriously intense but the longest track on the album reaching nearly 9 minutes in playing time. But it’s not just all crazy metal head banging. Halfway through the track suddenly gives way to a lush acoustic guitar segment with softer contemplative vocals which also finds a nice mandolin strumming session joining in. Surprisingly it never returns to the heavy rock but the following “Solo” continues in a hard boogie rock fashion. Like most of the tracks the band is skilled at creating a mood and dynamic and then changing things up in the middle into something completely unexpected thus adding interesting elements of surprise.

Likewise “Un’Ombra Che Vaga” starts off with heavy metal thunder before completely shifting into a purely acoustic sing-along style of local traditional folk music. The band members all add their harmonies and it’s probably the most mainstream sounding track on the album and then the last song “Solo II” delivers a slice of heavy boogie rock and then ends the album without further ado. While hard rock as the main focus in Italian prog wasn’t common, there were a few bands like Il Rovescio Della Medaglia who delivered an exclusively hard rock version of prog on its first two releases. The strange thing about PROCESSION is how balls to the wall heavy they were while in hard rock mode and then how soft and romanic they sounded during the softer acoustic passages. The contrast is like night and day and the unpredictable nature of when the heaviness ends and the placidly begins seemed rather random.

This band was truly unique and sounded like no other with blazing twin guitar attacks one minute, ridiculously bombastic riffing the next and then a complete curveball 180 degrees into some of the most melodic classically inspired acoustic rock you could imagine. The operatic prowess of vocalist Gianfranco Gaza really deserves credit for tying it altogether because without his powerful vocal abilities none of it would sound convincing. A truly unique sounding album that wouldn’t last for a second round. The band did manage to squeak out a second album with a mostly different lineup but “Fiaba” delivered a more mainstream Italian prog sound with keys, flute and saxophones. Overall this is a weird but satisfying slice of Italian prog.

• 2 days ago
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• Report #879711

3.00 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Annihilation Complete" is the first demo recording by US thrash metal act Anacrusis. The demo was independently released in 1986. Anacrusis was founded in 1984 in St. Louis, Missouri and they released a couple of demos before being signed for the release of their debut full-length studio album "Suffering Hour" (1988). Four of the seven tracks featured on the 36:01 minutes long demo would be re-recorded and included on "Suffering Hour".

Stylistically Anacrusis play a raw and aggressive type of thrash/speed metal. But while it´s certainly both savage and gnarly, Anacrusis still have an occasional melodic edge (the use of guitar harmonies included) and lead vocalist/guitarist Kenn Nardi performs some clean singing in addition to his raw shouting thrash metal vocals. Considering that this is a demo recording and that it´s the band´s first demo recording, Anacrusis are a very well playing unit. The lead guitar work is especially impressive but it´s audible that all members of the band know how to handle their instruments. The vocals are pretty time-typical and standard for the genre. They get the job done but not much more than that.

"Annihilation Complete" features a well sounding demo production, which is rough around the edges, but still clear enough for all instruments and vocals to be audible in the mix. Upon conclusion it´s hard not to be a little impressed by the professionalism that Anacrusis show here and "Annihilation Complete" is arguably a promising debut demo. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

• 3 days ago
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• Report #879710

3.50 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Promo tape '91" is a demo recording by French death metal act Supuration. The demo was independently released in August 1991. It´s one of the seminal recordings from the early part of Supuration´s discography (1990-1993) before they released their 1993 debut full-length studio album "The Cube". Supuration´s early years can be a bit confusing when looking at the number and types of minor releases they put out, but when it comes down to it, you really only need the 1990 "Sultry Obssession" EP and "Promo tape '91" to have the most important recordings from that period of the band´s career. Almost all other releases from that period feature tracks from one of those two releases.

So it´s now established that "Promo tape '91" is a seminal release in Supuration´s discography. But not only that...it´s also a high quality release showing the world the unique and sometimes progressive oriented death metal style of early Supuration. They would get increasingly more progressive from 1993 onwards, so the material on "Promo tape '91" is a chance to hear Supuration while they were still predominantly a death metal band toying with progressive songwriting ideas, rather than the other way around, which became the norm for them after 1993.

Featuring no less than eight tracks and a total playing time of 30:31 this could almost have been Supuration´s debut album if a label had opted to release it. Instead the promo tape was send to various labels shopping for a recording contract. The sound production is also of a high enough quality for this to be put out as a label release instead of a demo. I´ve heard much worse sound productions on official studio albums. So upon conclusion "Promo tape '91" is a high quality demo recording and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

• 3 days ago
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• Report #879709

3.50 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Sultry Obssession" is an EP release by French death metal act Supuration. The four-track, 13:09 minutes long EP was independently released in November 1990. A demo version of the EP also exists which features three tracks, because track number 1 and 2 from the EP are only listed as one song on the demo version of the release. Other than that the demo version and the EP version feature the same material.

Stylistically Supuration play a rhythmically varied and for the time brutal type of death metal, but featuring both thrashy riffs and progressive songwriting ideas. Eerie sounding keyboards suddenly appear and there´s also some Voivod Sci-fi influenced dissonance and futuristic "robotic" clean vocals. This is still first and foremost a death metal release though, and the progressive songwriting ideas only occur here and there as spice and atmosphere enchancing moments. Supuration would further develop their style over the next couple of years and release a highly progressive death metal debut album in "The Cube" (1993).

Upon conclusion "Sultry Obssession" is a very impressive EP release from Supuration. Considering that the material is culled from a 1990 death metal demo it´s quite advanced in the songwriting department, and there´s some high level musicianship on display here too. Add to that a near-professional studio sound production and "Sultry Obssession" comes off quite intriguing. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

• 4 days ago
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• Report #879703

3.50 | 10 ratings

siLLy puPPy

The fourth album in the INTRONAUT canon came with the longest title of them all. HABITUAL LEVITATIONS (INSTILLING WORDS WITH TONES) and was released in 2013 and marked a dynamic shift in the band’s sound due to the fact after three albums the vocalists Sacha Dunable and Dave Timmick completely dropped the growly vocal aspects altogether leaving only a clean singing style throughout the album’s 9 tracks that added up to just over 57 minutes of playing time. Of course this is nothing new of progressive sludge metal bands with bands like Mastodon following a similar route however there comes a point where it just isn’t sludge metal any more!

The beauty of INTRONAUT is that this Los Angeles based group has been amazingly consistent in delivering high quality and well-designed albums ever since its debut “Void” in 2006, a trait that continues to the current day. The amazing lineup of Sacha Dunable (guitar, vocals), Joe Lester (bass, upright bass), Danny Walker (drums, samples, 2004-18) and Dave Timnick (guitar, vocals, tabla, percussion) has been stable since the band’s 2008 album “Prehistorians” therefore INTRONAUT has become a well-oiled progressive sludge metal machine that has seamlessly integrated the caustic elements of sludge metal into the context of a bonafide progressive metal band without a flinch.

In this regard, lack of extreme metal vocals disregarded, INTRONAUT continues to craft an amazing web of intricately designed progressive metal composiitons that still implement plenty of heavy sludge metal riffing along with the drumming style that is fairly common in the world of sludgery. Danny Walker still manages to slip in some ethnic sounding percussive effects and the band continues to excel at alternating heavy sludge laden riffs and grooves with the cleaner gone full prog metal guitar effects. The time signatures are ubiquitous as are the mood changes with dynamics, tempos and even instrumental timbres shapeshift in unexpected ways. The music is complex enough that the album requires a number of spins to fully sink in but provides an immediate fix as well albeit not in a way where the complex melodies will get under your skin right away.

The instrumental interplay is the album’s strongest suit with exquisite guitar riffing trade offs from both Dunable and Timmich accompanied by Joe Lester’s phenomenal virtuosic bass playing and Danny Walker’s unique percussive style that tastefully delivers slower beat keeping rhythmic percussion as well as offering jazzy drum rolls and occasional blastbeats. Likewise the sludge-heavy moments are well balanced by the slower contemplative softer parts. Due to the lack of growly vocals HABITUAL LEVITATIONS exudes a more atmospheric vibe than the previous albums which in my opinion is its downfall but nevertheless the album’s compositions are so very, very strong that it’s easy to give it all a pass.

Admittedly my least favorite album in the INTRONAUT universe and one that took the longest to warm up to simply due to the COMPLETE lack of growly vocals. Atmospheric sludge works best IMHO when both styles are fully utilized to offer the much needed contrast otherwise the music sounds like a totally abandonment of the sludge metal side of the fence and fully committed to the world of clean vocal powered progressive metal. Of course other bands like Cynic have jumped that fence but then again what came after is never as convincing or well balanced as what came before. Even Neurosis was wise enough to keep the growly vocal aspects in tact partially on the mellower albums like “A Sun That Never Sets.” After years this one has grown on me and although my least favorite of the lot, a lesser INTRONAUT album is still an excellent album indeed as this band has notched up into my top 10 sludge metal bands of all time.

• 4 days ago
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• Report #879699

3.50 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Sultry Obssession" is the second demo recording by French death metal act Supuration. The demo was independently released in November 1990. It was simoultaniously released as an EP with additional track "Hypertrophy", which is actually not an addition to the original demo. The original demo just featured track 1 and 2 from the EP as one track titled "Sordid & Outrageous Emanation" (the EP tracks "Hypertrophy" and "Sordid & Outrageous Emanation").

"Sultry Obssession" is Supuration´s first studio demo recording, as their first demo was recorded live at their rehearsal space. No tracks from the first demo were re-recorded and included on "Sultry Obssession", so the demo features all new material. The material is also exclusive to this demo as none of the tracks would be re-recorded and included on Supuration´s debut full-length studio album "The Cube" (1993).

Stylistically Supuration have become a bit more brutal since the first thrashy death metal demo, but also more progressive. Already this early on there is a Voivod sci-fi influence heard here and there, and considering that this is a 1990 death metal demo, it´s actually quite impressive in terms of the eclectic nature of the songwriting, the high level musical performances, and the near-professional sound production values. It´s no wonder that Supuration opted to re-release this demo as an EP. The quality certainly warrants such a move. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

• 5 days ago
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• Report #879697

3.00 | 1 rating

UMUR

"Pathological Rites" is a compilation album release by Finnish death metal act Carnifex. The compilation was released through Xtreem Music in May 2018. Carnifex formed in 1989 and recorded two demos before disbanding in 1993. The second demo ended up shevled though and the material from that demo appear for the first time on "Pathological Rites".

"Pathological Rites" however features more than just the shelved second demo. The compilation also features all material from Carnifex first demo titled "Decadence" which was released in July 1991, the two tracks Carnifex recorded for their 1991 split with Festerday, and "Fresh Flesh", which is a rehearsal recording from 1993. So it´s the full body of work recorded by Carnifex during their releatively short existence.

The material from "Decadence" opens "Pathological Rites" and it´s decent quality old school death metal. Nothing bad, but seldom outstanding. They´ve cleaned up the sound from the original demo and that´s a big plus. The two tracks from the split with Festerday follow and they are both in the same style and roughly features a similar sounding production job as the material from the "Decadence" demo.

Then comes the four tracks from the shelved second demo and lets establish right away that Carnifex weren´t going the death´n´roll way that many of their contemporaries did. Instead the material from the shelved second demo is pretty brutal and sometimes grindcore influenced death metal. Carnifex have however branched out a bit since the "Decadence" demo and the music is a bit more varied and now also features more lead guitar parts and a couple of more mid-paced brutal grooves. The sound production is decent although it´s pretty abrasive and noisy.

The 1993 rehearsal track "Fresh Flesh" closes the compilation and if that track is an indication of anything in terms of the possible direction Carnifex would have moved in, had they not disbanded, I´d say it´s a continuation of their old school death metal style but featuring more tempo changes, more sophisticated melodic guitar work, and more varity in the songwriting. There are no vocals on the track, so it´s hard to know if the band imagined death metal growling or something else, but my guess would be death metal growling.

Carnifex made an impact on the early Finnish death metal scene, and although very few other people than a few Finnish death metal fans from back then probably know anything about them, it´s still a good idea to release some of these early demo recordings in compilation form, to provide the new generation of old school death metal fans with a chance to hear some authentic early 90s death metal. Murky, savage, and a little naive it may be, but it´s authentic and delivered with every ounce of passion possible. a 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.

• 5 days ago
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• Report #879696