Reviews : Ibex Moon

GRAVEHILL 

‘Rites of the Pentagram / Metal of Death’ 

(Ibex Moon Records)

Bullet belts, whisky bottles, spiked armbands, old school death metal and thrashing madness aplenty. How could one not love that? Well, don’t ask me that question since I really dig this band’s music and couldn’t care less for those unfortunate wimps who’d prefer their metal clean, nice sounding, sterile and devoid of hellishly unclean fun. Yep, I said ‘fun’ in a death metal review, get used to it. Gravehill sound as if they have been put to hibernation in the late ‘80’s/early 90’s and awaken now, going straight to the jugular, like the barbaric entity they really are. Ugly, gritty, powerful and genuinely dedicated to the metal of death, this is a real die hard’s delight that shouldn’t be missed. Matt Harvey has joined Gravehill recently, now that’s good news for the fans, and a good prediction for the next full-length of the band.  

Gravehill Myspace

CALIBER 666 ‘Blood Fueled Chaos’ 

(Ibex Moon Records)

These guys have incorporated in their name the number associated with that particular band from ‘Europe, Victoria, Australia’ that I simply love, so we’re on a dubious start already. Caliber 666 is a Swedish band, however, and it shows on this debut album of theirs, as musically this certainly is a nod to the works of all those bands that made Sweden synonymous to death metal back in the early and mid 90’s. The band more that clearly pronounces their influences, as both L-G Petrov and Matti Karki make cameo appearances on a song each, so you know what you’re in for, even if I’m not big on such moves generally. By now everyone should have guessed the sound – solid rhythm section (extra points for mixing the bass guitar loudly), melodic guitar chops that sound quite Dismember-inspired overall and a growling vocalist who manages to be coherent enough for the style. Not surprisingly original, mind you, but a decent catch of death metal, just check them out whether they’re up to your own standards of cool, or not. Don’t be a lazy bastard, nowadays a good find could be two mouse clicks away. Oh, the times…

Caliber 666 Myspace 

Reviews

VEX ‘Thanatopsis’

(HPGD Productions)

These Texans have great understanding how to inject bleak atmosphere to their music, making an album well worth attention. I like it especially when the band sounds like they’re kind of stepping back, detaching themselves from the motion, letting the listener to wander through landscapes of total desolation. And then Vex charge once again with aggressive but still melodic assault of Swedish tinged black/death, along with some thrashy parts added for a good measure. Plus there are some amazing guitar solos enriching these songs, rounding off the impression that nothing has been left to chance in the creation of this slab. This album took them years in the making but I’d bet that now, when finally released, the band must be proud of the accomplishment, and rightfully so.  

Vex Myspace 

SARGEIST ‘Let the Devil In’ 

(Moribund Records)

With bands like Sargeist it’s a typical example of love it or leave it, these Finns have always been guardians of the orthodox (left hand) path of black metal and as such not even tiny little bit of interest for listeners whose taste excludes the primordial rage and unrefined darkness in music. And yet it’s this kind of people making inane comments for such bands to the effect of ‘been there, done that’. Listen, shitheads, down here in the underground we all know you’ve A) never really been there and B) hardly did anything worth mentioning. For all the others, who are digging their black metal super intense, majestically memorable and crudely extreme I say ‘Let the Devil In’ might simply be this year’s finest in that particular genre. This will beat you into submission, corrupting your senses and casting a spell of sulphur induced insanity over you. Sargeist is here to stay, restoring the faith in traditional black metal grimness.

HAERESIARCHS OF DIS 

‘Denuntiatus Cinis’  

(Moribund Records)

A combination of swarming black metal chaos, psychedelic motives and a slight folk influence is what you’d be confronted with when this one-man, California based, band pops in your player. As you’ve already guessed this stuff is somewhat experimental in its delivery but for the most part it seems to create a malicious atmosphere, and never lacks of intensity while the different influences collide into one another. Vocally this is really abrasive, reminding of Ihsahn at his most schizophrenic and the Emperor influence is also noticeable in the music, which is only to be expected when a band is trying to operate on vast canvas and forge to create non-straightforward aural darkness. Ambitious and eerie sounding, Haeresiarchs Of Dis could easily haunt your dreams. A new album is already planned for a release through Moribund Cult, so you’ve been warned.

Haeresiarchs Of Dis Myspace 

AYAT 
‘Six Years of Dormant Hatred’
(Moribund Records)

Yeah sure, Impaled Nazarene here, there, left and right… I’m not gonna hold that against the band, good taste for the extreme and all. This is also genuinely pissed-off, with an obvious ‘fukk you’ attitude, so I dig it. Filthy, rude and fun, Ayat can only get better and less derivative sounding, which hopefully they do on the new album that is promised for the coming spring. Some passages on here quite hint at the kind of madness we could expect, so keep your ears to the ground.

Reviews

ORCIVUS 

‘Consummatum Est' 

(Next Horizon Records)

Genuine dedication to darkness’ consuming void, both lyrically and musically, designed to crush all weak souls is the code word for this album. Yeah, humanity has been blindfolded, fed with garbage like pigs for slaughter and perfectly happy receiving such treatment. I can’t explain otherwise why Orcivus isn’t continuously mentioned in the same breath as the other top-shelf Swedish black metallers – this is seriously that good, or should I say evil? Frenetic, masterfully composed and played, this stuff radiates a true aura of bleak hopelessness and despair, listening upon listening unveiling its little intricacies, thus adding a deep feeling of negative emotion to the already impressive initial impact. Never boring for a second, these eight songs are built to last – unrelenting, memorable and Hell-fueled insanity that steals your soul and delivers its pity remains at the gate of no return. A textbook example of Swedish blackness – all cheap imitations beware, as this is the band that rightfully defends the unholy legacy once associated with the real, frightening, black metal spirit.

Orcivus

ORCIVUS 

‘Est Deus In Nobis’ 

(Next Horizon Records)

Casting the plague once more, Orcivus have created yet another album that is bound to please all hungry souls swearing allegiance to chaos, blasphemy and glorification of the inner strength. The songs are filled with discordant riffs and melodies, relentless drumming and menacing vocals that at any given point spread the message of darkness with great clarity. That’s how it should be done, my friends. Adding more variation and haunting passages to their nuclear arsenal the band have also succeed to come up with songs that are even more memorable than past stuff, resulting in an album you can only miss at your own expense. Naysayers might try to pass off nonsense this being a Dissection clone  but what I see in Orcivus is more in the lines of similar mind trip and unending devotion to the arcane, both lyric and music wise. Lay down your souls.

NEX 'Zero'
(Next Horizon Records)

There's definitely no rest for the wicked and this band, which features Tore Stjerna in its line up, is yet another proof of the old saying. Wave after wave of pure melancholy are directed at the listener's aural port through these snail paced doom metal compositions, which in band's own act of confession have been recorded as a nod to the early works of Anathema, Candlemass, My Dying Bride and Katatonia. That said, I shall add Nex to be quite adept at the chosen style – this stuff has a strong hypnotizing effect on the brain, guitars creating a suffocating vibe during the album's duration and the thick production allows the dying heartbeat rhythm section to pummel the unexpected. This is a grower type of a release, the more one invests on it, the more it pays back and given some time, and the right mood, 'Zero' crawls under your skin and reaches for your utter attention. Recommended to everyone with a taste for morose journeys into his/her own subconsciousness. 

Nex MySpace 

TORTURE DIVISION 
‘Evighetens Darar’ 

(Abyss Records)

After well over two decades of monstrously massive Swedish reign on various metal fronts it comes off naturally when you see familiar faces in bands and projects currently doing the turns. Having a line-up consisting of Jorgen Sandstrom (yes, that Sandstrom), The Project Hate’s guitarist K. Phlipson, Vomitory’s Tobias on the drum helm and helped by an outstanding production by Dan Swano, this band is going to deliver, and then some, to even the most jaded death metal maniac.  There’s no pretension here, this music grabs you by the throat  from the get go, obliterates your senses with its blasting, overly energized and catchy as all hell death metal intensity and leaves you in well deserved awe. Also the album’s duration of less than half hour makes perfect sense – you’d be able to catch some breath before pressing the repeat button for another round consisting of Torture Division punishing you with a real lesson in violent, unrelenting, death metal. Do yourself a favour and get this, either from the label or directly from the band’s site, where you’d be able to download this album in its entirety, plus some older stuff and which site holds an amazing idea of how music reach the listeners. This band simply can’t do wrong.

Torture Division 

SINCARNATE ‘As I Go Under’ (Hatework)

I was glad to be sent band’s brand-new album from Sincarnate’s main man, guitarist, lyricist, and all around cool guy Giani, after contacting him about the review I did on their older material. What’s of importance is that this Romanian band, despite all hardships and line-up changes, has succeed to progress on every level and wrote an album that fully deserves your attention. The songs are masterfully crafted, displaying a range of emotions that are as varied and interweaving into one another as in our own existence – this is doom death done with class, knowledge and genuine devotion. Strong, floating guitar melodies, helped by equally interesting, ethnically influenced at times, keyboards, inventive drumming and a vocalist who’s able to find the right approach for what the music calls for in the given moment. All doomsters are encouraged to support this fresh sounding band, the scene needs such acts for a proof that when ambition meets up with work coming directly from the heart the end result can be nothing else but  a really captivating listening experience.

 Sincarnate MySpace

ABOMINANT 

‘Where Demons Dwell’ 

(Deathgasm Records)

Yeah, I’m catching up to this band way too late in their career, this being the first album of Abominant I listened to, and their ninth altogether. More the fool me as the band’s style of high octane death is bound to please these ears, now I like it when the music is this maniacally intense and variable. Freak not, this is still the metal of death but these bastards have heard their fair share of both thrash and black, and it shows. Insane speed, throaty vocals spewing forth messages of hatred, massive guitar riffs – if death metal blasphemy is what you’re craving for Abominant has it in abundance. Bands like this deserve huge respect for continuing against all odds, trends and overall stupidity and keeping to their chosen path, now wasn’t metal meant to be stubborn, rebellious and all about individuality? Don’t know for you but for Abominant that’s what it means. And they back this up with crushing music. 

Abominant MySpace