Delivering their fourth demo release, today we have Finland’s Destractive and their very unique and cohesive combination of Death/Thrash/Black Metal. Featuring four destructive tunes, this demo release shows the band’s maturity and how well they manage to blend all their influences in a very solid and powerful way. With a traditional line-up of two guitars, a bass guitar, drums and vocals, the band focuses more on effective musical structures than any gimmicks, making this release quite solid from beginning to end.

The demo title track delivers the first wave of aural assaults with some Thrashy riffs and pummeling drums. The band nicely changes the temp into a more run-and-gun situation with excellent catchy sections and brutal speedups. This track has both Death and Thrash elements with some Black Metal-esque vocals, making a very solid combination and delivering sheer brutality to the listener. “Blood on the Soil” changes the pace a bit with incisive drumming and a slower tempo, giving more of a Black/Death Metal vibe at first, reminding us of Inquisition and even Watain at certain moments.

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.

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.

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”.

Hailing from Finland, today we have Crippler and their three-song demo “Threshing Sledge”. Delivering pummeling old-school Death Metal, this band showcases their power in every second of music they present on this release. For over 12 minutes the listener will be transported to the days when Death Metal ruled the scene and we measured albums based on how brutal and devastating they were.

Leviathan’s Gaze opens the demo with overpowering riffs and deep growls. The band’s chugging guitars and pulsating bass line create a very thick and crushing sound. The drumming is also quite powerful, allowing Viisainen’s vocals to shine through the brutality of their sound. “Weakling Servants” keeps the incisive guitar work rolling with more sheer brutality and chugging riffs. The band’s sound is quite potent and this track is the perfect example for it.

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.

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.

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.

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.