Alcoholator is fast booze fueled thrash from Canada. Fans of the new Warbringer and Havok albums could really get down with the vibes here, although this album does not rank even close to those gems. Overall this is a solid debut release on which they can only improve on. I checked them out initially on the name alone and I think you should too. Cheers.
A cold, furious dash through the frosted fields and fjords of Norway. Elite blends precise guitar melodies with the harsh grinding of traditional viking influenced black metal. The technical musicianship, the atmospheric, progressive nature to the songs and the repeat friendly hooks keep things very interesting. This well produced effort right here is one of the best black metal albums of the last decade that you've never heard, for fans of Agalloch, Sworn and Naglfar.
So once again we come back to Overcast, the true pioneers of the metalcore genre. These guys formed in 1991 and have been making impacts all over the metal scene ever since. In case you're still not sure who we're talking about here, this was Brian Fair's (Shadows Fall) first band as well as Mike D'Antonio's (Killswitch Engage) first venture. Overcast also features Pete Cortese formerly of Seemless and Killswitch Engage. So now that we've got the personnel straight...
Reborn To Kill Again was the 'hey we're back' album after all the guys made it big with their new fancy bands. Unfortunately the album hardly got any kind of recognition, on top of the leagues of haters who simply didn't like it because its... well, not the old stuff. Or "Killswitch Engage sucks" so why should I listen to this? In my humble opinion this album fucking kicks ass. Its got everything I'm looking for in a metalcore cd, tons of emotion and melody, fat, interesting, fluid and technical songs with no filler in sight AND big breakdowns all tied in with that classic Boston hardcore attitude and brutality.
The blistering debut EP from Maryland's Misery Index, I was able to score the original Anarchos release for dirt cheap. Featuring Jason Netherton and Kevin Talley both formerly of Dying Fetus. These 5 songs (4 originals, 1 Terrorizer cover) are littered with vicious barks about the expected political struggles and untrust subject matter that we've all come to love through the early Dying Fetus and Misery Index years. Fans of DF will obviously get down.
The debut full length from the mighty High On Fire. This is the first major release from Matt Pike and co after the break up of another California doom/stoner powerhouse Sleep. The album is slower paced, sludgy, dirty, raw and jam packed with some excellent riffage. Its like a drug fueled 70's porn, the still stoned legions of COC and earlier Mastodon fans will surely diggg.
The ruthless speed and violent attack from Kansas's kings of brutal death metal, Origin, begins with the very first note and does not relent until this killer debut album is finished. If you like your death metal fast and aggressive this is the band for you. And if tracks like 'Vomit You Out' and 'A Disease Called Man' don't do it for you.. well pal, you just dont like quality death metal.
There was definitely a short period in my life in the early 00's when I thought that track 3 'The Eternal Gates Of Hell' was the heaviest damn song ever to be recorded on this planet. Melodic, sorta Swedish riffage, a barrage of thick walled low tuned breakdowns and a very strong low/high core vocalist. It's been a while since I've spun this album but it has aged very well.
This post is a combination of my love for obscure black metal with my recent obsession for the Norwegian film 'The Troll Hunter'. I ended up scoring this 4 song EP for only a penny on Amazon, and its actually pretty good! Straight up melodic black metal with punk, thrash and some experimental folky roots, from these very young (at the time) Swedish metallers. This short dose of 90's black metal is perfect for fans of Naglfar and early Behemoth.
Leng Tch'e hails from Flanders, Belgium which also happens to be one of the premiere and most traditional farmhouse brewing regions of the world, but thats a totally different story for a different day... Leng Tch'e is derived from the Chinese word Lingchi which describes a method of torture or literally "Death By A Thousand Cuts". Pretty sick shit huh? Their tracks on this split tend to dwell in an odd genre of sludge/grind and groovy death metal.
Fuck The Facts are one of Canada's most revered death metal/grindcore legends. 9 full lengths, 34 split CDs and countless EP's, demos and compilation appearances. The Fuck The Facts tracks on this split are of a much more raw production, much more core influence and loads of anger and blasts. This is a well balanced release from 2 of the grindcore elites.
A technical swirling midwest deathgrind shitfest from the early 00's. This very noisy full length is packed with solid riffs and features a very varied and skilled vocalist. Some core influence, an occasional 3 second jazzy bassy interlude and of course some other staple grindtacular experimental elements are present but for the most part this is strictly a loud grinding/death affair. For fans of Dying Fetus, Cryptopsy, Cephalic Carnage and Origin.
Abnormality is a sick unsigned band from Massachusetts. This 3 song EP is their debut offering and a strong one at that. Thick, punishing guitars show great songwriting promise. It's got a lot of meatballin' chug-chugging going on, and lots of down tuned tremolos. An audible bass player, which is always nice, and some solid techy drums keep things at an interesting pace. I've got to commend vocalist Mallika on a job well done, she is fucking awesome and shows some great range. I think you can also download them for RockBand or some shit too... Get on it.
What can I say? 10+ years ago this band was a monster influence to me and my friends and they helped shape my long standing tastes in music. I wish I could find some sort of complete album or demo, hell maybe these 5 songs ARE some kind of complete release, we may never know. There is little to no info about them online, what I do know is that they were from New York (Buffalo area), they formed in 1999 and disbanded in 2002, guitarist Mike Hatalak is now a member of 'It Dies Today' and drummer Bill Bilson was only 16 at the time of these recordings. I found a cool piece written about them at TheGauntlet.com and here is a make shift Wikipedia rip off page that leaves you asking more questions than delivering any real answers. If anyone has any other info or mp3's please email me manicidic@hotmail.com.
Portland Oregon's Oakhelm returns in a big way in the footsteps of their amazing 2007 debut 'Betwixt and Between'. This 5 song full length has everything I've been looking for in a recent black metal release, great production, layers of musicianship and beautiful melody, moments of cold harsh blasts and a deep consistent atmosphere. A great album to get lost in, although this effort probably wont beat out the new 'Arckanum' and 'Wolves In The Throne Room' for best black metal album of the year, this release comes very highly recommended from me to you.
A`bac´i`nate (å`băs´ĭ`nāt): Working class beer drinking metal.
A strong EP from one of New Jersey's own death metal champs, Abacinate. Destructive riffs one after the other and piles ruthless transitions, all led strong by one of the top drummers in the genre. This Cable Guy inspired offering contains 3 powerful originals and 1 superb cover (Sepultura- Nomad). This is another solid EP from a band that truly needs your support.
Enfold Darkness hail from the darkest corners of Tennessee, spitting anthems of war and misanthropy through the teeth of a squeeky clean production value. Some hints of power metal and deep thrashy roots vibe through the dark black metal quests and Final Fantasy solos and shit, honestly, at times it sounds a lot like Cradle of Filth but much less... flamboyant. I'm sure the vocalist hates that comparison but whatever. Eh I give this album a strong C+
Some ultra tight knit symphonic, progressive, blackened technical-deathcore from Belarus, true story. This album is definitely growing on me quickly, constant blistering transitions, sharp, techy noodling, strong low range barking vocals with the occasional highs layered on there. The keys/symphonic nonsense never become a chore, in fact its use is damn perfect. And come on, fuck, that is some sick cover art right there! For fans of The Faceless and Fleshgod Apocalypse.
What's not to love about Singapore's Wormrot? They bring a truly relentless, pure blasting style grindcore, think Nasum meets Exhumed with some Anal Cunt shrieks thrown in for good measure. This is the perfect EP for first timers to sink their teeth into, you'll be hunting down the entire discography in no time, trust me. Also this here is another Scion release... I still need to do more homework on them but what I do know is that this company has put out 2 of the best EP's of 2011 (Immolation- Providence, and this one). In the time its taken you to read this little blurb you could have listened to the entire damn thing already... Get on it!
Cause for effect is a 2 man grindcore act from Finland. The entire album is drums, bass guitar and a low grunting vomit box vocalist. Really jazzy bass grooves, tight drums and lots of unique experimental transitions. Definitely a must have for fans of innovative grindcore.
I Chaos hails from The Netherlands and plays a strong, traditional Floridian style death metal in the vein of Cannibal Corpse. This is their first brutal full length, a punishing 40 minutes of straight death metal. Dont pass these guys up, this is a solid sleeper release from overseas.
A raw, vicious deathcore assault, littered with random audio samples, adding a deeper level of hatred and intensity. A cleaner version of 'Inhaling the Breath of A Bullet' was rerecorded in 2009 and can be found in the 'Trilogy of Terror' boxset. A new album is scheduled for 2012.
Galar is an epic viking metal band from Norway. Melodic black metal battle songs with layers of depth and musicianship. Definitely one of my favorites, for fans of Oakhelm and early Ulver.
Deep, technical guitar wizardry, big beefy breakdowns and miles of progressive build ups. The Contortionist have since risen to elite status after the release of 2010's 'Exoplanet' and rightfully so. Definitely an essential for fans of The Faceless and 7Horns 7Eyes.
1. I Am (God) (04:56) 2. In Death Comes The Great Silence (06:37) 3. Waiting For The Rain [Instrumental] (01:33) 4. Infernal Divide (05:16) 5. Floods (Demo) (06:14)
These 5 bonus songs make for one of the best displays of US black metal in recent years. These raw, powerful and ominous tracks simply dont fit on the album which was pretty dominated by a bunch of over the top symphonic nonsense. By far my favorite set of Abigail Williams songs.
Prayer For Cleansing is recognized as one of the first bands in the metalcore genre. They helped to fine tune and solidify the sound that bands like Overcast had created. First appearing in 1996, PfC combined the raw emotional speed and fury of hardcore and with the melodic, enchanting riffs and blasts of metal. This short burst is one of my favorite pieces of the genre by far, 2 (amazing) originals and a cover of 'Salvation' by The Cranberries. This is a must check out for fans of early metalcore, my only complaint is that its too short. But thats what repeat is for.
Well first... fuckin owch! What a band name, the mental image delivered is uncanny and ultra graphic, success. These guys hail from Finland and produce an ultra thick death metal slurry along the lines of Despised Icon (sans the bree bree's...) and Abysmal Dawn. Excellent song writing here, lots of jazzy influence and timing experimentation. Guard your junk and enjoy.
Heavy as nuts brutal death metal from Germany. Lots of blastbeats and guttural vomits, techy swarming guitars and Suffocation-esque transitions, all crammed into a raw and muddy production. I like bands that aren't afraid to admit that they have a bass player and Defeated Sanity fits in that category. I also like albums that make you feel grimy inside, yet another win for DS. Certainly not an essential album by any means but a fun spin for sure.
Like breakdowns? Fat ass low tuned beef bombed guitars? Yea? Sick, then you should just stop reading this now and check these guys out. Thick production, hammering drums and terrifying vocals, the monstrous lows here are by far one of the best vocal performances in the genre. Its a quick listen at just under 20 minutes and 6 songs. Fans of Oceano and Whitechapel will dig.
A heaping dose of brain melting technical death metal. Saying they play fast would be an understatement, it must be a daunting task for any guitarist to keep up with this insane drummer. Impressive noodles, tremolos, fat slams and solos are just constant and punishing. Even the mighty Ron Jarzombek (Blotted Science) lends his ridiculous guitar skills on track 10. Fans of Decrepit Birth and Necrophagist should rrrreally enjoy this one.
A true genre bending masterpiece. Converge set a new standard for disregarding traditional song structure and timing. Jane Doe has such a unique and emotionally abstract, almost euphoric sound, that it transports the listener deep into new mental realms that are rarely explored. Enough said, you can really feel this album, its a classic and it should be respected.
So I must not be the only one who forgot all about the band Haste, being that I just picked up this album for a penny on the good ol Amazon. Some really classic stuff here from Century Media. Melodic and emotional at times, big slabs of breakdown served with groovy catchy hooks and riffage. Dueling double vocalists deliver strong mid range yells mixed with often harmonized cleans and piercing highs. I've always enjoyed the track 'Confessions of a Lesser Known Saint' since its appearance on numerous CM samplers way back in the day. Fans of early era Poison The Well and Glassjaw should definitely dig.
Ah the ever dreaded vocalist transition album, in this case Cannibal Corpse parts ways with death metal legend Chris Barnes and welcomes former Monstrostity vocalist George Fisher into the mix. The end result is one of most brutal Floridian death metal albums ever written. The energy of Fisher's vicious roars matched with the newly refound speed and aggressiveness coming off the heals of the (pretty blah) album 'The Bleeding' is perfect. The vocal change needed to happen if Cannibal Corpse wanted to remain the goliath they had built themselves up to be. Aside from moving forward with Six Feet Under, Barnes' vocal performance on the original takes for Vile ('Created To Kill') was prrretty weak. Check em both out for yourselves.
Well this right here is some of the most fun and original death metal I've heard in a long time. Big fat fuckin slams, blazing drums matched with enough sweeping technical noodling to melt your brains twice over and lots and lots of aliens. Some very good shit here.
So I was up at 6am for inventory this morning and now I'm fucking tired. Safe to say my ears and my IPod got a serious workout today. This is some seriously underrated brutality right here. Simple, balls heavy stomp shit from the early 00's with lots of groove and chaos built in. This EP was reissued in 2005 with the 'Glorified Dirt' EP included. Some good stuff there as well but there's something really special about TTFOP. What you are downloading is a rip from the 2002 Goodfellow Records edition. Yea, my link... 'sup.
1. Oracle Of The Dead 2. To The Republic 3. The Third Reich 4. Bedlam Of The Nile 5. The Darkest Ages 6. Ritual 7. The Offering 8. Attila 9. Poseidon 10. God Of War 11. The Unseen
Well shit, Im not sure how these guys slipped under my radar but somehow it happened. This album is pretty rad, excellent structure, speed and riffage, solid drumming and a strong midrange vocalist. Think The Absence, The Black Dahlia Murder, Epoch of Unlight, that kind of stuff, good stuff. I'm sure they can use your support so check them out on Facebook.
1. When the Sun Drank the Weight of Water 2. The Sixteenth Six-Tooth Son of Fourteen Four-Regional Dimensions (Still Unnamed) 3. Inherited Bowel Levitation - Reduced Without Any Effort 4. The Echo (Replacement)
5. The Putrefying Road in the Nineteenth Extremity (...Somewhere Inside the Bowels of Endlessness...)
6. (Within) The Chamber of Whispering Eyes
7. And You'll Remain... (In Pieces in Nothingness)
8. Erecshyrinol
9. The Planet That Once Used To Absorb Flesh In Order To Achieve Divinity and Immortality (Suffocated To The Flesh That It Desired...)
10. The Cry
11. Raped Embalmed Beauty Sleep
Here's a scary one, nah actually terrifying in the sense that an album with this level of ferocity was released way back in 1993 when this style of death metal all but was unheard of. Hailing from Finland, every piece of this album is before its time in some way or another. The vocals, holy shit, are these sickening, vomitous, extreme gutturals that sound truly inhuman. The jazz bass throttled grooves and the trashy, grind driven blast parts are ridiculously structured, fluid and constantly building momentum. In other words this shit is unreal. Oh yea, and they also offer their entire discography for free on their website. Why are you still reading?? You better start downloading this now..
1. Welcome 2. Symphonies of Sasquatch 3. Piece of You 4. Mummified Yeti Hand 5. Fight for Your Life 6. Caught (On Super 8) 7. Bring Me the Head of Bigfoot 8. Beaten and Eaten 9. Skunk Ape Rape: The Rapture 10. They Walk Among Us 11. Hit by the Hendersons 12. The Only Good Hippie...Is a Dead Hippie 13. Fossil
Well this seems like the perfect album to post this week. In case you didn't know, the media is a blaze with stories about the existence of the Russian Yeti. Scientists on an expedition to the Siberian tundra have announced that they are "95%" sure of the Yeti's existence. Pretty cool stuff. However as a big time Cryptozoology buff, I find these claims to be a bit premature, test the hair samples, build a team and set out on a longer more spread out expedition, and most importantly don't get everyones fucking hopes up until you are "100%" sure. You're going to make the entire field look bad once again if you're wrong. Its bad enough that Tom Biscardi's asinine face and antics will be back on TV soon, he is such fucking joke.
Troglodyte is a band. They make music about Sasquatch. \m/
1. What They Bring 2. Illumination 3. Still Lost 4. Providence 5. Swallow the Fear
Ah the most recent stab from New York's Immolation, Providence is a quick 5 songs with one mission in mind... to prove to the cocky and ignorant legion of young death metal fans that Immolation is still an active and massive force to be reckoned with... annd to brutally face fuck them, repeatedly. Im not sure what the relationship is between Immolation and Scion (yea, those cheep boxy cars...) but this EP is boss as shit. Thick ass production, blistering guitar work (as always) and Ross Dolan's unique demonic vocals sound better than ever. Get this shit death metal fans and man, if this is your first ear shot at Immolation, you're really due for a beating.
1. Prepare for Attack 2. Fatal Intervention 3. No Amnesty 4. D.O.A. 5. Covering Fire 6. Killing Tendencies 7. Scumbag in Disguise 8. The Cleric 9. Out of My Way 10. Time Is Up
(not my link, will not upload once this is taken down)
Ugh being back at work this week really fuckin sucks, I mean shit, all I want to do is get paid for sitting at home, listening to great albums and getting stoned. Is that so much to ask?? Speaking of great albums... meet fuckin HAVOK. These kids are nasty with it! Crazy energy, speed and power, solid thrashy riffs that really span the entire spectrum from early Bay Area shit to the mid 90's East Coast scene (you can really tell these guys loved Anthrax growing up...) Check this one out, this is going to do more than hold you over until the new Municipal Waste drops late next year.
Bah, piss, whine, mutter... the Devils got tromped during their home opener last night and god damn it my vacation is over.. Back to the world of bullshit tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading my vacation breakdown, I dont think Im quite done with this format yet... comments would be great.
Thoughts: A raw, crusty, grindcore shit house meets well structured, clean and strongly written blackened metalcore
album. Extremely unique stuff, very hard to describe the sound of the elusive 'The Makai'. I only say elusive because I've been trying to hunt down an mp3 of the new one song album 'Embracing the Shroud of a Blackened Sky' to no avail, if you can help me out I'd be much appreciative, the albums release is exclusive to vinyl and I just think thats awesome. I listened to this twice in a day, you should at least try once. 91/100
Thoughts: A short, fun listen at just under 15 minutes from Hatebreed. This is a 7 song compilation (yes technically a compilation of 7inches and whatnot) from one of the original kings of hardcore is the true old shit, the low-fi, raw ass, beat down shit. Before MTV, before the bullshit, this is the kind of music that makes you stop what you're doing, get pissed and start swinging for no reason, its primal. This is hardcore, they were hardcore. 93/100
24.)
As You Drown- Rat King (2011)
Genre: Deathcore
Thoughts: Another tough guy, low tuned deathcore album here in 2011. This wasnt that bad, lots of doomy chug chug chugs, semi-Swedish thrashy riffs, a decent and varied vocalist. But come on, Rat King? Thats the best album title that you guys came up with? I dunno,when it ended I was like... "ok..". Haha Rat King. 72/100
25.)
Blotted Science- The Animation of Entomology (2011)
Genre: Instrumental Progressive/Technical Death Metal
Thoughts: Holy shit balls. These guys teamed up with Hannes Grossmann (Necrophagist/Obscura) on drums to create this brick shithouse of an EP. Lightening fast drums, the sheer complexity of the guitar riffs are stunning. I may not have the BEST speakers ya know, but Im kind of bummed that Alex Webster's bass guitar was so low in the mix. I'm also kind of bummed about how short it was, oh well, hopefully a full length with this line up will come with time. This is fucking nuts, I dont care if you're 'not so into instrumentals' fuck you, check this out. Possibly one of 2011's best releases yet.. 94/100
Thoughts: Yea so what, I took a stroll down memory road during my weeks vacation. And I'm kind of glad I did. I was shocked to hear how valid some of these songs still are (Example, Severed, Painting the White to Gray), how aggressive some of the breakdowns and bridges were and how fucking corny the second half of this CD is. Think of this album like a bag of chips, right now its still pretty good its just going stale a little. 83/100
27.)
One Dead Three Wounded- Moving Units (2006)
Genre: Melodic Metalcore
Thoughts: Honestly when I pulled this one out (at random) I expected to turn it off after 2 songs and not end up writing about it, which has happened more than once on this vacation. I was pretty surprised, I mean shit besides playing a show with this band in like '06, I really dont know shit about them. The album
was generally upbeat, more radio friendly in song structure and production value. Really not my thing but listenable for sure, I spun the whole thing. 78/100
Thoughts: Well I heard alot of hype around this release, I put it off for a few weeks and finally decided to spin it yesterday. Im not a huge fan of the electronica aspect in my deathcore for example.. Dance Club Massacre, Attack Attack...uh fuck you, no thanks. But I love the band We Came As Romans, so go figure and again, fuck you. But The Browning were pretty good, heavy, thought out songs, the electronica bullshit worked with the flow and never became a chore or out right obnoxious. Worth a spin, definitely not 'the shit' and far from 'shitty'. Ya heard? 85/100
