Album Reviews

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    Kaos – The Pits Of Existence (2010)

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    With the Spotlight shining on the Bay Area Trash Metal scene once more we have legendary bands releasing their finest releases to date like Exodus and Heathen. We also have other bands resurrecting like Forbidden, all this activity has made other bands like Kaos want to make another push to establish themselves as major players of the scene.

    Kaos has been around since the late 80’s releasing demo after demo until their first album saw the light of day in 2000 with “Vision Beyond”. After that the band signed to Relentless Records in order to release “Kaos Among Us”. Fast-forward to 2010 and we get the band’s latest offering with “The Pits Of Existence”, an album that clearly captures the old-school feeling and it’s marked to push Kaos into the spot light.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Flagellation – Incinerate Disintegrate (2007)

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    Coming from Sweden we received Flagellation’s EP “Incinerate Disintegrate” and after doing some research on this band we noticed that disbanded back in 2009. We assume the band is trying to re-group and gain momentum again since we got this EP in 2010, if not it’s the first release we ever get from the grave.

    Funny note aside, Flagellation plays Death Metal in a very brutal and stylish way, something that we haven’t heard much in a while, especially since Zyklon disbanded. The band (at the time of the EP recording in 2006) features members from Loch Vostok, Wuthering Heights, as well as many other Swedish bands. Musically, Flagellation was onto something big in 2007 when the EP was released.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Condemned To Live – Nuke First…Ask Questions Later (2009)

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    Every once in a while we get tired of listening to over produced albums Death Metal that sound so good that sometimes we even forget we are listening to Metal, something that has to be brutal and aggressive, not pretty sounding. For those occasions we have found the perfect solution: Condemned To Live’s debut album “Nuke First…Ask Questions Later”.

    The band hails from San Jose, California, and it’s formed by a very peculiar group of individuals (so they claim). Featuring a Porn Star and a Cannabis Cup participant as the most notable one, the band plays Death Metal with some Grind and Black Metal influences. With 8 tracks and 35 minutes of music they have a solid calling card with “Nuke First” and hopefully will allow them to generate enough buzz for them to keep releasing albums like this.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Post Mortem – Message For The Dead (2009)

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    As one of the first underground Death/Trash Metal bands in the USA, Post Mortem has left a handful of cult releases, most notably “Coroner’s Office” back in 1986. The band never reached its full potential and being in hiatus for most of the 90’s due to internal conflicts we are left only with pieces of what could have been an even more influential band.

    Reforming back in 2003 with their “Coroner’s Office” line-up the band was set for a comeback, only to be set back by the death of John McCarthy, the band’s vocalist. Fast-forward several years; we get “Message For The Dead”, the band’s long awaited latest release. A release that is a tribute to McCarthy and to apace the longtime fans of this band.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Since Yesterday – Artificial Truth (2010)

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    It has been a very international month here at Infernal Masquerade reviewing (and receiving) albums from all over the world. Since Yesterday hails from Ankara, Turkey and they are planning a massive global take over with their superb debut album “Artifical Truth”.

    As an avid reader of Infernal Masquerade you should know that we do not like the majority of the mainstream Metalcore band and albums. However, we are truly objective when we get any releases for reviewing purposes and sometimes we get true gems that will surely take by surprise the genre and will shake out the established bands of their grandeur pipe dreams of super stardom.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Exortum – City In The Dead Mask (2009)

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    This month we find ourselves reviewing another band from the country that makes up 1/5th of the world: Russia. Hailing from Moscow we have Exortum, and band that plays Melodic Death Metal with plenty of clean vocals and even some breakdowns (but not in a really bad way).

    The band’s four song EP is called “City In The Dead Mask”, yep, that is what is called. But don’t be fooled by the odd WTF title, the band’s music is very good, in fact the album could be called “Raping Clowns” for all we care and this will not take anything away from the quality of this band.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Messiya – Erzsebet (2010)

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    All the way from Siberia we get “Erzsebet” a four song EP from the Black/Death Metal band Messiya. While very short, the EP will leave you with a good impression of what Erzsebet is capable off.

    The four songs in this release feature somewhat sub-par production values since the drums sound ‘weird’ and very mechanized, and the overall sound is kind of hollow, but is good enough to showcase the ideas behind’s the band’s music. Since the EP is short we will go over each track providing brief commentary on them.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Krig – Narcissistic Mechanism (2010)

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    Hailing from Brazil, we have Krig a Death/Grind band that features a very different sound from most bands of the genre. “Narcissistic Mechanism” is the band’s fourth release, and they clearly show signs of musical maturity in their songs.

    The album starts with a very powerful and progressive piece called “Folish Evildoes II”, and it prepares you mentally for something… totally different to what you are going to listen to in the following tracks. The band busts out with some traditional Grindcore riffs and brutal vocals that will surely make you jump out of your chair after the first song.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Raven – Walk Through Fire (2010)

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    Ten years have passed since the band’s last release “One For All” and with “Walk Through Fire” we can’t stop but wonder if the band was cryogenically frozen for the last 10 years and just released their follow up album. Raven is mostly recognized for being a NWOBHM band, and as we can currently listen, they are still a very good one.

    Featuring 143 tracks and a cover song, “Walk Through Fire” takes you back in time, when all the NWOBHM bands were at their greatest spotlight and brings back that feeling like no time has passed. Raven has managed to keep their sound intact and their music making abilities are still great.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Umbah – Trilobeth (2010)

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    Every once in a while we get a release that makes us think: What the fuck was the band thinking?. The majority of the time this is in a bad way, a clear example is “Trilobeth” from Umbah. This release feels as disconnected as a bunch of tracks pieced together by a baby playing with Pro-Tools.

    We must say that if originality is what you look for then you will be blown away by “Trilobeth” since we never heard something quite like this. But if you are actually looking for music with structured songs and a logical flow then you will hate this album.

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