SHORT BUT SWEET: MORDBRAND – “UNMAKE”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Apr 082013
 

Imagine this:

Massed armies of the night stacked in ranks under a blood red moon, their veins surging with adrenaline, teeth bared, straining at the leash.

Before them lies a wasted no man’s land, stripped of life, muddied by lakes of blood and stinking with the decay of putrescent corpses from the carnage of previous nights.

Their master barks the word for which they wait and they bolt forward as one, the stillness broken by the cacophony of their headlong race. A thousand growls erupt from their throats, the ground pounds with the weight of their charge. Bloodied mud spatters and scatters, bones crunch beneath their scampering feet, they find their rhythm amongst the flesh of the unburied.

Their foes cower and cringe in the rapidly closing distance, they wail in anticipation of the utter destruction advancing upon them. They turn, they run, but not fast enough. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: HOD — “THE UNCREATED”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Apr 062013
 

San Antonio’s HOD have been rumbling in the underground since 2007. Their 2009 album Serpent was a vicious debut that marked them in my book as a band to watch. More eyes should be drawn to them as a result of their new demo The Uncreated, in part because two of its three songs recently premiered on the likes of Invisible Oranges and DECIBEL’s online site, but mainly because the music is awfully damned impressive.

The three songs on The Uncreated are multi-layered. At one level, they discharge an electrifying display of heat lightning, powered by blackened, flesh-charring thrash riffs and blasts of machine-gun drumming. The croaking, poison-spitting, mid-range vocals are no less venomous than the instrumentals. At this level, the songs rake flesh like a whirlwind of razors while triggering the headbang reflex quite effectively.

At another level, however, a group of very talented musicians are showing off their technical chops in ways that make this music interesting and mentally engaging as well as physically galvanizing. Rhythms and tempos change frequently. Fret-jumping guitar leads move up and down and all around in an array of alien-sounding arpeggios. The drummer keeps things interesting with a changing array of beats and percussive progressions.  Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: AGAINST THE PLAGUES — “THE QUATERNION”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  4 Responses »
Apr 052013
 

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the new EP by multi-national band Against the Plagues.)

You may not have heard of Against The Plagues before [though NCS did first take note of them here back in August 2010], but their pedigree can’t be denied: This multi-national, Chicago-based quartet features former members of Vader, Forest of Impaled, and Malevolent Creation within their ranks.

Their previous release, 2010’s Decoding The Mainframe, was an impressive slice of death/black metal, whose symphonic audacity and brutal riffery trod a thin line between Puritania-era Dimmu Borgir and Covenant-era Morbid Angel, and saw the band making tentative beginnings at carving out a niche for themselves in a very populated, often very fractious, field.

Now although I am definitely a big fan of the album, at times it seemed to draw its character a little too directly from its influences, with an update in sound here and there to keep things interesting. The band themselves, the Against The Plagues I knew, were in there somewhere, but simply hadn’t fully established a separate identity outside of the confines and constrictions of their chosen genre. The band kicked all sorts of metallic ass, but remained disciples, not innovators. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: CLERIC – “GRATUM INFERNO”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

Yesterday I discovered Cleric. I discovered them because my eyes were drawn to the stupendous cover art by Jason Barnett that you see above, which accompanies their debut album, Gratum Inferno.

Cleric are based in Dallas, Texas, and are composed of members of Kill the Client, Baring Teeth, and Tyrannosorceress. But if you know the music of those other bands, prepare yourselves for something different.

I haven’t heard the entire album — only three songs are now streaming on Bandcamp — but what I’ve heard is truly impressive. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: ARTIFICIAL BRAIN — “BUTCHERING COSMIC GIANTS”

 Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Apr 032013
 

On most days at this site I try to pull together a round-up of new music, album art, and/or news that most interested me over the preceding 24 hours. It’s usually in the range of 3-5 items, packaged together in one long post. Today, just for the hell of it, I’m spreading what interested me over the course of the whole day, one item at a time.

You remember Artificial Brain don’t you? I don’t mean my artificial brain, I mean that unhinged space-death-metal band from Long Island (more or less) that I wrote about in September 2011, which includes Revocation guitarist Dan Gargiulo, vocalist Will Smith (Buckshot Facelift, ex-Biolich), and some other bastards who wish to remain nameless.

Okay, that was a long time ago and you may have forgotten. So it’s time for a reminder, and to remind you, Artificial Brain have released a new two-song offering named Butchering Cosmic Giants, recorded with Eliot Bayless, which is available for free download on Bandcamp (here). A little bird told me that Artificial Brain are also recording a full-length album with Colin Marston that will include additional manifestations of sonic dementia.

What the new music sounds like: imagine an alien stew consisting of cutting/blasting black metal, pummeling death metal, cosmic guitar digressions, rubbery bass-lines, roaring grisly bears, and shrieking ice giants. Also, gang vocals and a bit of Gorguts-like tech frenzy. And unstable tempos. Continue reading »

SEPTEKH: “APOLLONIAN EYES”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 252013
 

 

I couldn’t help but be intrigued by Sweden’s Septekh before ever hearing a note of their new four-song EP, Apollonian Eyes. They claim as influences not only Motörhead and Slayer but also Fenriz (Darkthrone) and Frost (Satyricon, 1349), not only The Exploited and Death Breath but also DHG and Emperor. They embrace the label “dirty thrashy death metal” but they profess a fondness for vintage Sherry, they sport blazers and vests on stage, and they cultivate a nice assortment of Snidely Whiplash moustaches.

If you have trouble wrapping your mind around all that and what it might portend for Septekh’s music, join the club. Perhaps you now begin to understand why I was intrigued. Of course, curiosity has killed some cats — this could have been a mess — but Apollonian Eyes left this cat purring.

All four songs on the EP are jet-fueled, rip-roaring, fast-paced romps. They’re loaded with jagged, rapidly jabbing riffs and frenzied drumwork, but that’s balanced by hard-chugging, road-eating, Motörhead-style heavy rock rhythms and a nice assortment of guitar solos that alternately spit flames and whirl like a dervish. Continue reading »

FALLUJAH: “NOMADIC”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  3 Responses »
Mar 252013
 

(In this post, TheMadIsraeli reviews the new EP by the Bay Area’s Fallujah. The digital-only EP will be released by Unique Leader on April 2, exclusively through iTunes.)

Let’s talk about the state of modern death metal for a moment.  When I reviewed Fallujah’s The Harvest Wombs back in 2011, I wrote this…

“Death metal, especially the more extreme and overtly technical forms, has split into two very distinct camps.  One focuses on the atonal and chaotic as much as ever (e.g., Brain Drill, Aeon, Origin) and one focuses on a more melodic, proggy, jazz-toned sound (e.g., Obscura, Anata, Necrophagist).  Fallujah definitely belong in the latter camp, looking to make a name for themselves while going up against some of the current modern titans of death metal as we speak.”

Fallujah really accomplished something spectacular with their long-awaited debut. Their odd combination of technical death metal, melodic death metal, black metal, and modern ambient elements, forged in the attempt to capture a “death metal in space” sound, cemented an identity that couldn’t be denied. So it stands to reason that people like me who loved their debut would be apprehensive about whether this band could touch base with the power of their initial output and yet move forward.

Have no fear: Nomadic, the band’s first material since then, only shows us a Fallujah who are truly maturing into their own now. Continue reading »

TALANAS: “CORPSEFLOWER”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Mar 012013
 

(In this post Andy Synn discusses a forthcoming release by Talanas.)

Much befitting their classy, semi-retro image, Talanas have decided that their next release (available March 1, 2013) is going to be put out on a more traditional format, the 7” vinyl.

Originally developed and released solely on their recent UK/Euro tour with doom legends My Dying Bride, it contains two tracks, both of which will form part of their in-progress second album Daylight. The songs showcase the many varied facets of their gentrified and rarefied death metal sound. Continue reading »

HOT GRAVES: “FASHION VICTIM”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  9 Responses »
Feb 172013
 

Have you reached a point in life when you’ve busted your gut in pursuit of a dream and it’s still out of reach? Have you thrown your heart and soul and every ounce of your energy into chasing a goal, only to fail?

Have you honed your talents through endless practice and steadfast perseverance, flushed yourself dry in the expenditure of your creative juices, done your absolute best work . . . and not another soul seems to care?

Are you on the verge of sliding down into a cesspool of self-loathing and bitter regret, resigned to a life of flipping burgers at Mickey Dee’s or slaving away in some cubicle for a pompous boss who can’t tie his own shoelaces? Have you almost convinced yourself that you’re nothing but a mediocrity, or that, even if brimming with genius, your talents are beyond the understanding of mere mortals? Are you about to abandon your passion. now and forever?

Well, don’t give up! Take heart! Renew yourself! Listen to this inspirational anthem by Hot Graves:

There now, you feel better don’t you?
Continue reading »

PHRO REVIEWS CHEMICAL TOMB, AGAIN

 Album Reviews, Phro's Posts, SHORT BUT SWEET  11 Responses »
Feb 132013
 

Phro has reviewed the music of UK-based Chemical Tomb for us before. Amazingly, they sent him their new 7″ split with Corrupt Humanity, which was released January 15. Allegedly, you can pick it up from GRINDFATHER PRODUCTIONS, Black Lake Records, and Aural Onslaught Records & Distro. You can also stream it on Bandcamp. The cover art is by Skillmatik.

Phro delivered unto me another of his now-legendary video reviews. Go ahead. Watch it: Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries