Feb 252016
 

Convulse-Cycle of Revenge

 

The story of Finland’s Convulse is a twisting, turning one, which in strange ways seems to have circled back on itself, like an ouroboros. The band launched their career as a death metal band through the release of their first demo in 1990 and their acclaimed 1991 debut album World Without God. Three years later brought their second album, Reflections, which marked a controversial shift in sound to what might be called “death ‘n’ roll” — and not long after, Convulse disbanded.

Almost 20 years later, Convulse rose from its own ashes, releasing their third album (Evil Prevails) in the fall of 2013 via Svart Records in what seemed a reconnection to their death metal roots in the early ’90s. And now they bring us a fourth full-length, also to be released by Svart Records, bearing the title Cycle of Revenge — and as they did before in the earliest chapters of their story, Convulse have again gone off in a surprising new direction.

Those of you who caught the premiere of the album’s title track last month have an inkling of what I mean, but we have further proof today as we host the premiere of a lyric video for the new album’s second track, “God Is You“. Continue reading »

Feb 252016
 

Witchthroat Serpent-Sang Dragon

 

The French trio Witchthroat Serpent made an impressive debut with their 2014 self-titled album, and now they’re poised to follow that with a new full-length named Sang-Dragon, which will be released by Deadlight Entertainment on April 30. Though the release date doesn’t arrive for two months, we have the premiere of a new song that should cause you to circle it in red on the calendar.

The first morbid notes of “Into the Black Wood” tell you that you’re about to cross a threshold into a dark place, and the feeling is reinforced when the mammoth, fuzz-bombed riffs begin raining down like meteors. By contrast to the titanic stomp of those deep brontosaurian chords, Fredrik Bolzann’s voice soars up high in a psychedelic wail. Continue reading »

Feb 252016
 

Gorguts-Pleiades' Dust

 

Here are a few new things I spied over the last 24 hours that I thought you might like, because I sure as hell did.

GORGUTS

There’s been a running joke in the comment sections of our annual LISTMANIA series over the last few years. It dates back to a comment left in December 2013 when I re-posted a list from Rolling Stone that named Deafheaven’s Sunbather as the best album of 2013. Not having paid attention to the title of the post or the text that also identified Rolling Stone as the source of the list, some nitwit wrote: “Deafhaven. That’s laughable. Gorguts put out the best METAL album this year – don’t deny it. Stop trying to be different – you’re only appealing to hipsters. Have fun with that. I thought I’d found a credible metal music site to frequent – apparently not. Laters.”

That comment has now jokingly been repeated in our comment section so many times in the subsequent years that I can almost recite it from memory. I shudder to think how often it will appear this December, when there actually IS a new Gorguts release in the year-end running — as it surely will be. Continue reading »

Feb 242016
 

Haxen cover

 

Roughly a decade ago, Haxen took shape as a solo project in the shadows of Providence, Rhode Island, eventually becoming a duo and then evolving into a full performing band with a line-up that has remained stable since 2011. After releasing a half-dozen demos over the years, Haxen has completed work on a self-titled debut album that will see release on April 1 via Eternal Death Records. But don’t be fooled by the release date — Haxen is no joke. You’ll figure that out very quickly as soon as you listen to the song we’re premiering.

HXN” is part raw black metal chaos, part methodical bludgeoning, the song’s lashing riffs, thunderbolt drumming, ghastly shrieks, and ravenous roars assaulting the senses in an outpouring of rapacious savagery. Yet as the band slows the pace, it also casts a dark shadow of haunting gloom. With a somersaulting drum roll, the music ramps up again into one final paroxysm of ferocity, laced with an urgent yet venomous melody. Continue reading »

Feb 242016
 

Gomorrah-The Haruspex

 

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Gomorrah from western Canada. Full music stream included.)

Are you a fan of Origin? Cattle Decapitation? Carnifex? Blood Red Throne?

How about massive, mechanised Death Metal with hints of Deathcore brutality and a poisonous undercurrent of blackened, industrial effluent?

Then do I have an album for you… Continue reading »

Feb 242016
 

paroxsihzem art

 

Some bands hit the nail on the head so hard in picking a name for themselves that it goes right through the wall and out the other side like a bullet. Paroxsihzem is one of those bands. On their new MLP, Abyss of Excruciating Vexes, they have reached new heights of convulsive sonic violence. Yet in the song from the MLP that you’ll soon hear, they prove their ability to create music that’s insidiously addictive as well as cataclysmic.

Isolation” is a typhoon of frenzied riffs, a torrent of double-bass thunder, a lightning strike of shrieking solos, all of it shrouded in a thick fog of distortion. Through the hurricane of sound, the lyrics are methodically intoned by a gruesome, cavernous voice.

But while you’re being tossed and battered by this thick, black storm of savage sound, you’ll find some things to hang onto (for dear life): the rhythmic snap of the snare drum; the sinuous rise and fall of the lead guitar (like poison coursing through the veins); the deep thrum of the bass. Continue reading »

Feb 242016
 

Ripper-Experiment of Existence

 

In the early days of this new year we had the pleasure of hosting a song premiere from the new album by the Chilean hell-raisers in Ripper, along with a review of the album by our guest Allen Griffin, who summed up the music with these words:

“Titled Experiments of Existence, this release in many ways appears to channel the savagery of groups like Possessed, Dark Angel, and particularly Pleasure to Kill-era Kreator. Yet, one thing that quickly becomes apparent to the listener is the precision of execution. One hesitates to use the term ‘technical’ for all the baggage that comes along with it, but this difficult material is performed flawlessly. The aggression, though, is never compromised. This is neither Watchtower nor Voivod, just a death/thrash hybrid performed at the highest standard.”

Today we’re bringing you the chance to discover fully for yourselves what Allen was talking about as we premiere a full stream of Experiment of Existence. Continue reading »

Feb 232016
 

Schammasch

 

Well, today isn’t going quite the way I planned. To follow my musings earlier today about last weekend’s Famine Fest, I had planned to bring you the premiere of a full album stream for a hot-as-hell new release. However, Soundcloud decided to block all of the song streams under a notification of copyright violation. I’m too stupid to realize this is always a possibility, and therefore I didn’t upload the tracks a few days ago to allow time for that to happen, to file my protests, and to have the blocks cleared. Now I’m sitting around waiting for the tracks to be released from bondage.

In the meantime, I thought I ought to whip something else up to pass the time away. So here are a few things I noticed this morning, beginning with a couple of exciting announcements.

SCHAMMASCH

No secret that we are big fans of this Swiss band. Also no secret that we’ve been very curious about the contours of the band’s next album. Andy Synn tried to pry some details from the band’s main man CSR in this interview last month — and received these cryptic answers: Continue reading »

Feb 232016
 

2016-02-21 09.22.51

 

On Saturday I hastily scribbled a few thoughts about the first night of Famine Fest, which took place at Panic Room in Portland, Oregon, on February 19-20. You may remember that I was having so much fun getting fortified for the festival with my old friend Joseph Schafer and my new friend Cat Jones that I missed a rather large section of the fest’s first-night festivities. This didn’t trouble me too much because I’ve learned that, at least for me, half the fun of going to metal fests is enjoying good conversation with good people over good cocktails. Still, I thought I’d make an effort to arrive at the second night of Famine closer to the starting gun.

Well, that didn’t really happen, but for the very same excellent reasons. The three of us, this time joined by yet another great new friend (Invisible Oranges writer Greg Majewski), were again having such a good time that I don’t think any of us felt any crippling anxiety about not showing up punctually.

And speaking of good cocktails, this had something to do with the lack of punctuality on the second night of Famine: Continue reading »

Feb 222016
 

Temisto cover

 

Last month we posted Allen Griffin’s enthusiastic review of the self-titled debut album by Sweden’s Temisto,. To borrow Allen’s words, “Temisto seem to simultaneously channel both pre-Entombed Morbid and Nihilist while also invoking more technical acts such as Atheist. At their fastest and most brutal, Temisto nearly reach Angelcorpse levels of kinetic violence.” But as Allen also explained, Temisto’s music displays ambitions and talents that extend well beyond the realms where tooth and claw reign supreme.

Make no mistake, Temisto do indeed display blood-lusting ferocity, with flesh-stripping tremolo assaults and bone-mangling drum and bass fusillades, not to mention bursts of flame-throwing solos and ghastly vocal excretions. But they also interweave electrifying thrash-influenced riffs, hammering punk-inflected grooves, and the grim bite of northern darkness in their melodies. Continue reading »