Short and to the point. Let the review madness continue!
All reviews by Vladimir unless otherwise noted.
WÖMIT ANGEL – 'Sodomatic Rites of I.N.R.I.' (Inverse Records)
Black metal moving from underground and punk to black and death, without anything new to offer. This could be briefly the description of ‘Sodomatic Rites of INRI’, the first full length album of the Finnish Wömit Angel. Relentless and merciless drums that never stop, clichéd growling vocals that remind of Donald Duck, fast and furious guitars, banal lyrics about sex and Satan - this may satisfy only the newcomers to the genre. The artwork of the album is brilliant, the production is very good and the three-member band undoubtedly enjoyed what they did. However, this is not enough. [5] -Dark Alice nightingale-
OBSCENITY - 'Atrophied In Anguish' (Apostasy Records)
I had a soft spot for this German death metal band during their Morbid Records era in the late '90s and the early noughties, great to see them back in action. This is just what the doctor ordered - tight, fast and brutal death, blending elements of both the US and Scandinavian school, arranged and played by musicians who have been doing this for well over two decades. Blastbeats, intensity, solid growling vocals, blazing guitars - everything you need from a punishing death album is here. Obscenity have also made these songs pretty memorable, which is good news and highly required for your album to stand out from the fierce competition - and 'Atrophied In Anguish' does just that. Good job, you old bastards! [8]
ARKHAMIN KIRJASTO - 'Torches Ablaze' (Ektro Records)
The Finnish folks all have heavy metal in their blood, we got that already. If you've ever heard Circle, the main band of one Jussy Lehtisalo you'll know what I mean when I say that Arkhamin Kirjasto is quite a departure, in terms of sound and style, for the man.. He's one of eclectic taste for sure, plus it makes perfect sense that the other member of AK, Samae Koskinen, plays in Xysma - the band that single-handedly invented grind rock. AK is pretty much trying to achieve the same in context of metal, as evident by this quote from the accompanying press release - "Would the guttural power of Autopsy and Nihilist work well with the sheer melodiousness of early Iron Maiden and Angel Witch?" Not by a stretch, frankly. This sounds like an uninspiring death band covering some long forgotten heavy metal semi-classics, with the vocalist let loose having fun slaping his growled vox on top of the tunes. I do get the DYI "Piss off, this is our little thing!" vibe present by these songs but other than that there's nothing that really stands out. [4,5]
STENCH OF DECAY - 'Stench Of Decay' (Ektro Records)
Now this is more like it! The CD compiles all Stench Of Decay material released to date, so in case you love your death metal being of the morbid variety and missed out on this band - the time has come to rectify the glitch. In case you're familiar with the quirky Finnish death metal sound from the early '90s, Stench Of Decay is the band that would get your pants in a jump - the glory days of Disgrace, Demigod and Abhorrence (there's a cover of "Vulgar Necrolatry" in here) have not simply been rehashed but by adding bits and pieces drawing from the likes of Grave and Asphyx this band makes themselves quite the choice old schoolers to keep dear to their rotten hearts. These songs just ooze the right atmosphere of death and decay, the playing is superb for the style and this whole affair feels like someone smashing your head against a piss-soaked concrete wall in 3 AM on a windy, foggy night. You've been warned. [8]
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