Album Reviews

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    Germ – Grief (2013)

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    The multi-talented Tim Yatras returns with another crazy release from his latest project: Germ. In “Grief” we get 69 more minutes of the deranged world that Germ creates with their truly unique and very extreme musical style. Arriving just in time for Halloween (in North America), this is one hell of a release that if you liked the band’s previous albums, it will push you to further limits thanks to a bigger assortment of diverse influences.

    After a space-ish intro, the album really starts with the very catchy and unsettling “Butterfly”. Featuring Audrey Sylvain (Peste Noire) on this track, we definitely got an instant Amesoeurs vibe from the track until Tim laid his chaotic screams. Besides the catchy song structure, the piano section is quite cool and unique sounding in this track. In true Germ fashion, “The Stain of Past Regrets” immediately blows in your face with powerful screams. The catchy mixture of electronic elements is a staple of the band and it elevates this track to further levels of awesomeness when paired with the clean vocals.

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    Armaroth – False Vision (2013)

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    Making its way from Slovenia, today we have Armaroth and their crushing EP “False Vision”. Delivering five tracks of relentless Death Metal, this band makes a huge impact with their devastating sound and catchy tunes. With countless Death Metal and Deathcore albums being released these days, it is quite refreshing to listen to something as well-crafted and powerful as this EP.

    Opening with the traditional intro, the band fully explodes into action with the pounding guitars of “Modern Man”. In this track we get that chugging feeling of bands like Suffocation and Six Feet Under (older), all topped off with inhuman growls and cool tempo changes. The knack for crushing melodic sections is quite enjoyable and makes the band’s sound be more diverse than your average DM outfit. The drumming shifts gears into hyper-blast with the pummeling “High”, the shortest, but sweetest track in this album.

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    The Jasser Arafats – The Aftermath (2013)

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    With a very engaging modern sounding Death/Thrash sound, Finland’s The Jasser Arafats deliver their latest EP titled “The Aftermath”. Featuring four tracks of catchy and heavy Death/Thrash Metal, the band showcases their solid songwriting skills and knack for aggressive guitar work fused with Thrash Metal roots. With a very well defined sound, this relatively young band shows that they are here to stay and make a mark for themselves.

    “Koma” opens the release with an in-your-face guitar onslaught. The melodic elements in the music make it very accessible, and the diverse riffs and tempos make it more enjoyable than your average release. The Death Metal roots are quite evident, but since the band’s sound is more dynamic, you will not find the repetitive groove sections that many bands rely on; a perfect example of this is “Traitors”.

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    Oranssi Pazuzu – Velonielu (2013)

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    Cracked out Psychedelic Black Metaliers Oranssi Pazuzu, make a triumphant return with their latest release: “Velonielu”. Pushing the boundaries of Black Metal (and music in general) to new extremes, this album features six thought provoking tracks that will either make you hate the band completely or fall into a deep trance. For over three quarters of an hour, this Finnish band will make you have nightmares with their unique level of weirdness.

    Opening with the demoralizing “Vino Verso”, we are treated to very unconventional Black Metal guitars and funky atmospheric elements. The vocals are your traditional BM screams with some distortion added that greatly complements the pounding guitars. “Tyhjä Tempelli” changes things up with funky Psychedelic guitars and an excellent bass line. The riffing sounds Black Metal-esque, in a very weird and unique manner, reminding us a bit of bands like Furze. The atmospheric component of this track is quite disturbing, especially when contrasted by the harsh distorted vocals and the cool guitar feedback.

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    Metal over Oostrozebeke Presents – Perseverance 2013 (2013)

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    Arriving via Malevolence Records, today we have a very diverse sampler that contains everything from Thrash Metal to Melodic Death/Black Metal and related genres. Featuring eight different bands, this release makes for a very interesting time, with very contrasting changes between bands and some excellent tracks mixed in between some sub-par ones.

    Opening we have Mad At Sam, a Thrash/Crossover band that can easily go unnoticed with their track being less than two minutes long. The drastic contrast is immediately felt with Aegror and their very enjoyable Melodic Death/Black Metal that fusing influences from Carcass, Grave, and several other bands into a very cohesive and engaging sound. “Behind Walls” and “Prophecy” are taking from their 2013 EP, a release we will be trying to find as soon as we are done writing this review.

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    Murrum – In His Tacita Atria (2013)

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    Hailing from Connecticut, today we have Murrum and their debut EP “In His Tacita Atria”. Featuring 21-minutes of blistering USBM, this band made a strong impression on us. With a powerful sound that evokes the likes of Krieg, Judas Iscariot, and early Nachtmystium, this fairly new band delivers raw and uncompromising power in the shape of five aural assaults. If you are looking for pretty Black Metal with keyboards and stuff, we suggest you look elsewhere since there is only sheer power and brutality in this release.

    After the cliché wolves and fire crackling intro, “Demons of Winter” fully explodes into a furious Black Metal pace. The band’s riffing power is quite devastating and thanks to their hectic drumming, it sounds even more brutal. “Ritual Bloodletting” rolls in packing enough thunder to bring down a building, allowing the listener to have no rest and succumb to the band’s crushing music. The vocals in this release are quite standard, reminding us of Watain at some points, but definitely not extremely shriek-ish like most people like.

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    Satyricon – Satyricon (2013)

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    Five years have passed since Satyricon’s last album, “The Age of Nero”, and people are still not fully over the fact that the band has left their more direct Black Metal style of “Nemesis Divina” back in the closet. For those of you that have kept up with the band’s musical evolution, “Satyricon” is a release that follows the same path and delivers a very unique mixture of Black’n’Roll with strong Black Metal roots and a sick guitar-driven atmosphere. The vocals are Satyr’s signature style, but the music is a bit on the darker and gloomier side, similar to his side project Wongraven, minus the folk-ish elements.

    Opening with the instrumental “Voice of Shadows”, we are treated to solid and devilish sounding guitar melodies. As “Tro og Kraft” rolls by, we got a very Storm/Wongraven vibe from how the guitars create melodic passages alongside Satyr’s BM snarls. The drumming is superb, what else can you expect from Frost, and nicely gives the music an aggressive edge, on a slower tempo. Typical Black Metal structures are very evident on “Our World It Rumbles Tonight” but with a certain slower pace, this helps create a very unique and unraveling atmosphere that only a few Black’n’Roll bands manage to achieve.

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    Ulysses Siren – Above the Ashes (2003)

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    With Thrash Metal being born back in the 80’s in the Bay Area, it is not surprising that many bands just didn’t get enough attention when they should have. Ulysses Siren is the perfect example of how a very high-quality band didn’t get a fair shake and ended up in relative obscurity. Being at least 5 times better than Dark Angel, Testament, Metallica, etc., this band delivers seven riff-driven tracks that represent the band’s early demos. With “Above the Ashes” we have a testament of a band that could have been something else if the right things would have worked out for them.

    Opening with “Terrorist Attack” we immediately feel the Bay Area Thrash vibe with the intense riffing and the crushing vocals. The band’s spares nothing and delivers a brutal riffing assault that only a few bands those days would have pulled off. Showing no mercy, “The Reich” keeps the intensity levels super high with some epic melodic passages and devastating solos. Rounding up their 1985 demo “Terrorist Attack”, featured in the first 3 songs of the album, “Lake of Fire” is the best track in this release, with a heavy Death Angel vibe mixed with some classic Kreator.

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    StoneBirds / Stangala – Kreizh Breizh Session 1 (2013)

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    Making its way from France, today we have two very interesting Stoner/Sludge/Doom Metal bands that make up the “Kreizh Breizh Session 1” split release. While StoneBirds are a more traditional Sludge/Stoner Metal band, Stangala delivers their lyrics in the Breton language and have a very trippy mixture of Doom/Sludge with a certain retro psychedelic vibe. We can say that we completely enjoyed how the both bands complement each other and make this unique split release very different from what we usually receive in the mail.

    The StoneBrids gracefully open this release with the hard-hitting “Red is the Sky”. In this Sludgy tune the band shows their riffing powers and how engaging their lead vocals are. Having that certain Southern/Stoner vibe in their catchy sound allows for the band to sound like The New Black, Chrome Division, and similar acts. As “Game Over” and “Outro Drama” roll by, the band’s sound is nicely consolidated and keeps the crunchy riffs flowing. “Red Lights” shifts gears into a fuzzier and more distorted track with heavier vocals, giving the band a certain edge that makes them sound different from your run of the mill artist. Saving the best for last, “Dark Passenger” closes out the band’s ‘side’ of this split with a mellow doomy vibe.

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    Rotten Liver – Purification by Debauchery (2013)

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    With a heavy knack for killer riffs and powerful melodies, France’s Rotten Liver delivers “Purification by Debauchery”. Avoiding sounding like anybody else, this band takes the best elements of bands like Vreid, Midnight, and old-school Darkthrone and creates their own brand of filthy Black’n’Roll that will have you headbanging since the first song.

    Opening with “Infamous Nil”, the band immediately delivers waves of killer riffs and a very cool melodic vibe. The snarls are quite fitting for the music, but it is the creativity and catchiness behind the song that makes it quite enjoyable and devastating. “Become the Arcanthropos” keeps the flow of the album going with another onslaught of sickening riffs and a very dark-yet-melodic atmosphere that Rotten Liver perfectly creates.

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