Death Metal

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    MaYaN – Quarterpast (2011)

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    MaYaN is Epica’s mastermind Mark Jansen latest creation and with this band he expects to fulfill other creative needs he has outside of Epica. This band in paper has a very impressive line-up since for the CD recording we had Jeroen Paul Thesseling on bass guitar, Frank Schiphorst and Isaac Delahaye on guitars as well as many guest appearances by Simon Simons, Floor Jansen and Henning Basse.

    If you are expecting another Epica / (early) After Forever album, please stay away from this release since Quarterpast is considerably different to what you have heard before. This release is more focused on progressive Death Metal sections with some symphonic elements, tons of diverse vocal lines, and some orchestral elements (very few). We also want to warn the listener that this release is definitely a grower, since it needs more than your average number of listens to fully be digested due to the richness of the music.

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    Necrophagia - Deathtrip 69 (2011)

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    Necrophagia have been the pioneers of gore metal and horror metal since the early eighties and have proven not to disappoint with their latest release “Deathtrip 69” which was actually due to be released in October of 2010 but was delayed for unknown reasons. It is now upon us and shows that they can still bring metal to the metal masses in its goriest form.

    I wouldn’t classify this as death metal but it horror metal with death and grindcore metal vocals supplied by Killjoy who is also the founder of Necrophagia. “Deathtrip 69” starts out with howling winds and wrenching guitars and a voice in the background talking about the Book of the Dead before it gives away to Killjoy’s venemous barks and growls. “Tomb with a View” is catchy with crunchy guitar riffs and powerful chorus. “Suffering Comes in Sixes” begins with the quote “You can always smell a graveyard”, from one of my all-time favorite movies “The Prophecy” and continues with Boris Randall giving a brilliant guitar solo here and Shawn Slusarek gives us some crushing drumwork with methodical rhythm. “Kyra” features dual vocals between Killjoy and Amen’s Casey Chaos and it slams in your face with complete brutality.

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    Korpius – Shades of Black (2011)

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    Did somebody ordered a 40 minute session of brutal Death/Black Metal? if your answer is yes, then you should definitely check out Korpius and their crushing debut album “Shades of Black” out on Maple Metal records. With a crystal clear production and engaging songs, “Shades of Black” is by far the most brutal release we have received from Canadian lands this 2011.

    Crushing their way through nine tracks this Canadian foursome does a great job in keeping things brutal and straight forward. All riffs in this album a very meaty and have tons of ‘traditional’ DM hooks that will keep fans satisfied for endless hours. The drumming is also massive and the vocals are as inhuman as you can get. Both the growls and the shrieks that go into Grindcore territory at times are very well balanced to give enough power to this release.

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    Hate Eternal - Phoenix Amongst the Ashes (2011)

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    Eric Rutan, formerly of Morbid Angel and Ripping Corpse, is not one to just deliver your average death metal album. He is methodical and precise and knows how to combine technical musicianship with complex songwriting. This probably one of the most evil and insane Hate Eternal albums that ha far exceeded my expectations.

    After the opener “Rebirth” trudges in with distorted guitar and double pedal drums, Hate Eternal bludgeons you with their second track “The Eternal Ruler” as Eric barks out his vocals with pure venom and hatred. Searing guitar leads weave in and out between Rutan’s low growls and high shrieks as the drums continue to pummel with a furious intensity. “Thorns of Acacia” carry thick guitar riffs that are played at a level which will never get boring as the guitar continuously bobs around the structures to keep that level of fury at full speed. “The Art of Redemption” shows Rutan at top form on guitar with an insane scale that would make even non-guitar players envious of that kind of talent.

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    Vastum – Carnal Law (2011)

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    Hailing from the USA, today we have Vastum and their old-school Death Metal revival sound that will evoke comparisons to Grave, Centinex, and other Swedish DM greats. The band does a great job in bringing back that old-school sound paired with modern production values, making “Carnal Law” have a dominating sound.

    While there is no originality in the band’s approach, their music is good enough to make us overlook this factor. Since the opening track “Primal Seduction”, the band delivers powerful and catchy riffs, inhuman vocals, and very effective drumming. We particularly like the melodic section and solos near the end of the song.

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    Sylosis – Edge of the Earth (2011)

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    Getting rid of the Metalcore-ish crap that influenced their near perfect debut album “Conclusion of an Age”, Sylosis returns sans previous vocalist with the crushing and mind-blowing sophomore release “Edge of the Earth”. If you thought the first one was pretty good, wait until you listen to this one.

    With the band’s front man Josh Middleton now handling the vocals, Sylosis has become more vicious and will surely please any Thrash/Melodic Death Metal fan out there. This release features endless amounts of brilliant Thrash riffs and melodic sections that will pummel you into submission.

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    Pandemonium - Promo 2010 (2010)

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    As a little taste before the release of their highly anticipated full length “Misanthropy”, Pandemonium has unleashed their 2010 promo with two ‘un-official’ versions of the songs from said album and a few video clips. Packaged in a nice digipack version, this promo will surely generate more expectation after listening how crushing the two ‘advance’ tracks sound.

    “Black Forest” gives us a very dense and atmospheric track that showcases brutal drumming sections tightly coupled with dark and desolate Black/Death riffing. The vocals are truly haunting, maintaining a very deep and decadent sound to this song. The overall atmosphere of the track is very effective and features a very good improvement over anything presented in the band’s last album “Hellspawn”.

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    Intervention - Growing Line of Caskets (2011)

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    All the way from the artic circle in Finland, today we have the Thrash-tastic 3rd demo of Intervention called “Growing Line of Caskets”. In this very effective demo, the band presents us with 3 tracks and around 16 minutes of excellently crafted Thrash-infused Death Metal tracks that will surely take you by surprise.

    Starting with “The Mortal Shell of Man”, the band quickly makes a strong impression with excellent Thrash riffing, elaborate drumming and a three-prong attack on vocals. This song is very well crafted and shows a level of maturity far superior to other bands that are signed to bigger labels. The band’s sound is dynamic enough to be both modern and ‘classical’ sounding at the same time.

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    Obscura – Omnivium (2011)

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    The man of the million riffs, Steffen Kummerer, returns with his Progressive/Technical Death Metal outfit Obscura, and delivers one of the most brilliant and aggressive releases in the last few years. “Omnivium” is a great improvement over the already brilliant album “Cosmogenesis”.

    With a more focused sound, the band delivers 9 tracks of pure technical brilliance paired with solid Death Metal structures. The songs in “Omnivium” feel a bit more straightforward and do not rely (solely) on virtuosity to be well appealing to the listener. However, this does not mean that you won’t get to listen to Steffen and Christian Muenzner rip through crazy guitar sections or Jeroen Paul Thesseling ‘pounding’ his 6 string fretless bass guitar like a magician.

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