Spun In Darkness / Gravewurm Split CD review

SPUN IN DARKNESS / GRAVEWURM

'Vengeance From Beyond The Grave' Split CD

(HPDG Productions)

Aah, the joys of the good ole split type thing. A quick check on any web metal forum will reveal at least one thread named "Fave split?" or "Most iconic split of all times?" or, God forbid! - "Pictures of your Unholy Grave / Agathocles / NunSlaughter split collection". Yes, the underground fiends mostly love these joint affairs - and rightly so, as it's usually a great opportunity hearing two bands who share the same ground / passion, all for the price of one. The journos, those good-for-nothing clueless bastards (that doesn't apply to those fine people writing for this here webzine, ha!), say the recession won't be over any time soon, so the split thingy shouldn't be bothered much for its future. Great.

Spun In Darkness was previously unknown to me but I did recognize the name of their drummer, Jeff Nardone, as he used to bash the skins back in the day for the Nevada underground cult, Goatlord. That assures a heavy and tight bottom end and off we are for a promising start already. The band isn't here to trying to challenge the sound barrier and for the most part this stays within the tried territories of early 90s doomier, mid-tempo death metal, providing just enough catchy riffs and grooves, not to forget the "gurgling glass" vocals. Granted, this isn't as "horror" sounding as the band seems to have being aiming for, but this is still creepy in its own right, and a pleasure to those ageing ears - I'd buy them a beer if our paths are about to cross before Nibiru pays the wee little visit in couple of months time. Yeah, right - publishing a zine on the web gets you free trips to Las Vegas, get off your lazy asses and start your own! "Temple To The Living God" is my pick of the bunch, followed closely by "Part Of You Becomes Part Of Me", while the cover version of Doom Snake Cult's "Carnival Freak Show" is the weakest link - way too "campy" for me, thanks. [7,5]

Spun In Darkness 

Dale's review of 'Blood Of The Pentagram' has really nailed the dark sound of Gravewurm and I'm glad to report there's no disappointments on their part of the split. Yet again those five new songs (plus a short keyboard intro) reek of the band's trademarked combination of sinister black metal and low-tuned death, making Gravewurm the obvious choice for those who like it sick, simplistic and slower. You can comfortably bang your head to these tunes, enjoying the subterranean, raspy vocals, the well audible bass lines and the Hellhammer-influenced, doomy fuzz guitar work, all while absorbing the atmosphere of haunted dungeons this band is capable putting forth through their music. Old-timers will be digging this and I can foresee many of them giving the horns while listening, nostalgically recalling the days of the finest black death. Ooops, Riddick's artwork had taken over my mind a bit here, but that's OK. Flesh is weak. Gravewurm are not. [7,5]

Gravewurm Reverbnation 

Gravewurm Facebook 

(Vladimir Petrov)

Sacrificial Slaughter / Enfuneration Split CD review

SACRIFICIAL SLAUGHTER / ENFUNERATION

'American Death Thrash'

(Horror Pain Gore Death Productions)

 

I love split albums now and then and this release from HPGD looks to be an interesting one. First up is Sacrificial Slaughter and they bludgeon you over the head right out of the gate. SS play brutal death metal but with a real thrash underpinning. A reference band that immediately jumped to mind is the great old deathrash band Demolition Hammer. There are bands out there playing deathtrash, but I would have heard very few these days playing it this way. It is sort of a throw back to a time when thrash fans and bands were getting adrenalized for this new thing called death metal and you could hear the merging of the two distinct styles, sort of like hey that thrash band plays some sickening death metal. That is what you get from Sacrificial Slaughter and I like it. Oklahoma’s Enfuneration on the other hand are a more polished and modern sounding death metal band. They also hit you hard in their own way with razor riffing and deep rolling growl vocals. The drummer stands out as well on these tracks, a very controlled, precise and commanding performance turned in on the kit by drummer Rodney Cochran. All in all a great pairing and a must have type album for brutal death fans. I lean a little more towards Sacrificial, but both bands bring the goods, on five songs a piece and punish your ears.

(Dale Roy)

Sacrificial Slaughter Facebook 

Enfuneration Facebook 

Mortillery 'Murder Death Kill' review

MORTILLERY

'Murder Death Kill'

(HPGD Productions)

Canadian thrashers Mortillery have finally released their debut album since forming in 2009, and man, is it something else. This is most definitely, without a single hint of doubt, the most authentic thrash throwback I’ve heard from a band formed after thrash metal’s heyday in the 80s.

From the killer riffs, to the ripping solos, and maniacal vocals sung by one extremely talented woman, Mortillery easily dominates their competition with the raw and dynamic energy that was seen on the debut albums of Thrash’s Big Four in the 80s, and brings me right back to the time when I was first discovering these great thrash albums, and gives me the same excitement.

One thing that really separates Mortillery from the rest of the crop is their vocalist, Cara. She often sings in a very clear, soaring vocal style comparable to Crystal Viper’s Marta Gabriel, but she also manages to belt out some hellishly violent screams, and some raw black metal-esque rasp (think early Bathory, Toxic Holocaust), seen very clearly on “Countless Suicides” and the title track.

'Murder Death Kill' is an album that belongs on the same shelf with 'Kill Em All', 'Killing Is My Business', and 'Fistful of Metal'. A modern day Thrash metal classic in true, pure form, Mortillery have given me what few Thrash albums can, which is the rekindling of that old feeling when thrash metal was still wonderful and new to me, and that is something absolutely priceless that should not be overlooked by anyone. Give this one a listen. [9]

(Andrew Oliver)

Mortillery MySpace 

Entrenched 'Preemptive Strike' review

ENTRENCHED

'Preemptive Strike'

(HPGD Productions)

New Jersey's Entrenched have launched their debut CD 'Preemptive Strike' upon the underground, but listening to the CD it is hard to believe this is a "debut". The band play a mix of brutal old school death metal with a huge influence of violent war/thrash metal intertwined within the violent speeding guitars and machine gun like drum patterns. The vocals are shared by the duo and fit perfectly with a more deeper,angry growl,grunt and intense shrieks of hate, while the band takes no prisoners and refuses to compromise it's sound. Entrenched have a lot of good musical ideas and even some catchy memorable guitar patterns throughout. If you enjoy straight forward death/thrash with a touch of war metal insanity then Entrenched is a band you must hear!

(Patrick)

Entrenched 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.