INFERNAL LEGION: "The Spear of Longinus"

[ 3.5 / 5 ] Though Moribund Records tends to focus on releasing underground black metal, every now and then the label surprises with an album of a differing branch, and while Infernal Legion's third album The Spear of Longinus does have vague hints towards black metal in its utter evilness, this is still a rather forthright old school death metal affair – and it works to great extents! It's not that every riff in this energetic 45 minute ride sticks to memory, but it's rather their prowess at creating authentic and crushing death metal, that also succeeds at being really dark so that someone like me coming from a black metal background has easier time digesting the music too. Deicide is an appropriate pinpoint when it comes to the grunts of the vocalist, but other than that I am not going to name any particular bands, just expect some very menacing death metal that doesn't let of its grib at any time: indeed, there doesn't seem to be any quieter moments on the record. It's pure hell throughout and I enjoy it, even if it has been pretty much done before.

CHASMA: "Declarations of the Grand Artificer"

[ 2 / 5 ] American post-rock guys playing black metal influenced by who else than of course Wolves in the Throne Room rings certain bells of suspicion and considering how precisely the music on their debut Declarations of the Grand Artificer falls to the certain patterns of modern USBM, I am not really convinced. Long songs, despondent atmosphere where atonality meets melancholy, executed with a lot of tremolo and blast beats and some harsh screams on top did work well on the previously mentioned band's first albums Diadem of 12 Stars and Two Hunters, but when these elements are later carried into a stale pastiche that is Declarations of the Grand Artificer, I don't see much worth in it I'm afraid. They know their ways around their instruments and how to build some dynamics via quieter plucked sections that then burst into distorted seas of tremolo, but none of the melodies seem to really stand out. Hence I'd choose a Fen album over this any day of the month, but the most diehard followers of the current US wave might find this album more fruitful than yours truly, an annoying old-fashioned critic who knows nothing of the importance of progression within black metal and bla bla...

AZAGHAL: "Nemesis"

For reasons unknown to many, Azaghal has somehow never garnered the attention of the black metal underground in spite of their relentless, primitive attacking they’ve been executing since the 1998 demos. For sure, the band has been in visible throughout their career, appearing on various festivals around the globe, but how many actual Azaghal fans can you count? People that would include the band’s titles on their lists of most influential records? From this, I would make a generalization that this Finnish group has always been a steady, reliable churner of the black arts, unleashing an album after an album without any breaks in around fifteen years, but they’ve still to come up with an album that would truly blast the underground in awe.

Luciferin Valo, Omega and Teraphim from recent years were great additions to the band’s ever-growing discography, diverting from the rather clinical studio productions of earlier material, giving more room for natural sounding, primordial fucking black metal. In the light of the positive impression evoked by these certain album, expectations for Nemesis were somewhat high, but now that I’ve given this newest album a fair amount of listens, I’m sorry to say that this seems to be a step backwards in quality. While it was the crude production that made the previous three albums really shine, Nemesis welcomes back quite a faceless studio sound of faintly knocking drums (where the kick drum even sounds triggered, which might not be the case but it doesn’t matter: it sounds disconnected from the kit nonetheless) and overprocessed guitar sounds. In a nutshell, the sound here is quite modern and thus, for yours truly, uninviting. At this point someone could say that I shouldn’t concentrate too much on production, but a watered down soundscape is always a minus in my books and hinders from digesting the actual compositions. Also, the fact almost hurts that this album would have sounded better had it been recorded on a mere four tracker instead of pricy, professional settings.

The actual songs, however, aren’t below Azaghal’s standards of late years. While ”De Masticatione Mortuorum” and ”Pohjoisen Valkoinen Kuolema” start off in a very traditional spirit of evil riffage in high tempo, the follow-up ”Vihasta ja Veritöistä” is a lengthy piece of latent melancholy and a tad slower pace, one of the highlights of the album. ”Hail the Whore” includes a sweet, semi-acoustic breakdown in its middle, then rising to a bright blast beat climax. ”Ex Nihilo” is another favourite of mine, crawling in a rather slow, brooding atmosphere throughout. ”In Deathlike Silence” and ”Black Legions of Satan” are a bit too common Azaghal pieces that pale in the shadow of the few previous tracks, but the eponymous ”Nemesis” compensates a bit with its nice main riff and a cleanly sung chorus. ”The Pit of Shoggoths” and ”Satanic Devotion” leave me somewhat unsatisfied as well, but admittedly the momentarily unhinged vocals on the latter work very well.

So, while there’s nothing majorly wrong about any of the tracks here, it is ultimately the production that is the glitch for me here, and which lowers the album’s score from good points. But, by now, enough has been complained and you’re aware of what you’re getting into if you’re to explore Nemesis. If I were new to the band, I’d start with some of the previous albums mentioned two paragraphs above. Had I not heard those albums before this one, I guess my overall impression would have been better as the standards wouldn’t have been set that high yet, but what can you do. Perhaps next time, then - I’m sure there’s still a lot of energy left in the lineup to crank up new material and, as we know, Narqath isn’t the scantiest composer, releasing a lot of material under different band monikers.

2.5 / 5

BAHIMIRON: "Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror"

From the outside, Bahimiron looks like your average bestial black metal group hailing from the States. No big expectations musically. This is why it was eventually great to hear their newest effort Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror and realize that there's more going on than just effortless imitation of Blasphemy. Although the aforementioned band shines as an evident (and probably the most important) influence here, the elements of bestial black metal are brought forth into a heavily atmospheric soundscape: Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror revels in brooding, droning atmospheres, and this is the distinct feature that makes it differ from the heaps of clones.

I don't think there's much catchiness in any part of the album, but the band has probably not even aimed at that: it kind of reveals it already that some of these song almost reach the mark of nine minutes. Think of a deranged, maximally Satanic death / black metal album in the vein of Teitanblood's Seven Chalices and you're on the right track, in practice meaning as evil riffs as possible with varying tempos ranging from the raucous blast beats to slower heaviness. Inhuman grunts and rasps dominate the picture on top of everything. Production-wise, Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror is fittingly lo-fi and natural sounding, though it could use a punch to make it more dynamic and effective.

I'm not so keen on the overall length of the album as I'm slowly losing interest of the familiar paradigm around the sixth track already, so perhaps an EP length would have server yours truly better. The last track on the album does differ a bit though, being a messy noise conclusion that admittedly works nicely. Rebel Hymns of Left Handed Terror is a successful piece of dark atmospheres that does have some glitches, but is nonetheless worth recommending to those who prefer the slowly growing style of bestial black death laden with a lot of ambience (Wrathprayer, Nocturnal Blood and the likes).

3 / 5

THRALL: "Vermin to the Earth"

Tasmanian black metal rings immediately a certain bell, that bell being nobody else than the infamous Striborg, but that part of the world seems to offer something else as well, and of that Thrall takes care of on their second full-length titled Vermin to the Earth, a seven track feast on evil intentions. The deal is pretty simple: Thrall fluctuates between rocking black metal - where power chords meet the drums that partially almost groove - and a bit more modern, dissonant black metal.

The further one explores the sinister tunnels of Vermin to the Earth, the more it becomes evident that the main focus is on the latter: meaning a lot of menacing discord manifested through mid-tempo plucking. The strings ring with ultimate darkness while the drums steadily blast a tad quieter. The vocalist is a poison spewing snake with his high-end rasps that convince. All seems good from the very first seconds into the eponymous first track and its impressive rhythmic pattern. Speaking of which, the band rules when it comes to overall musicianship. Individual songs don't really raise their heads and the band would probably need somewhat more surprising compositions to impress (as this style of black metal is so damn quotidian at the moment), but Vermin to the Earth is, nonetheless, an enjoyable experience that just happens to lack proper standout moments. ”Plague of Man” tends to be my favourite of the bunch with its foreboding, apocalyptic and desperate tremolo leads, but other than that I can't name proper highlights. The production deserves a mention: it is not lo-fi yet not crystal clear. It's just about enough dirty and fits the songs very well.

All in all, I find Vermin to the Earth a good package that is just in a need of more unique elements to make a truly great impression. Fans of underground black metal in general can't go hundred percent wrong with the newest Thrall, but how much the album actually grabs the listener, making him/her want to listen to it again and again? I can't imagine very many but, then again, I could be terribly wrong. In the abundance of all promo material that just keeps coming in daily, it is not easy to differentiate from the mass, so from this perspective my opinion might be biased.

3 / 5

ABHOR: "Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti"

In all honesty, I know very few good black metal bands from Italy. I don't know why that is, as the close-by countries Spain and Portugal seem to offer something of interest almost monthly, and still my knowledge of Italian black metal is basically limited to just seeing Mortuary Drape live a few years ago. Anyhow, Abhor is here clearly to change that fact, and positively so. It didn't take more than just a fast glance at the cover art and so my interest was triggered – it looks fabulous! It reeks of mysteries, magic and all that is occult. Hazy, black and white picture of a cellar with golden frames and a purple logo can not derive from the 21^st century, or so I thought.

The label Moribund Records depicts the album as 'an otherworldly voyage into the mysterious unknown, a twilit sojourn through esoteric realms', and it couldn't be more fitting. They also use the tag 'occult rock' in relation to Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti, but I don't think there's any of The Devil's Blood here, not at all. This is mostly mid-paced black metal with vaguely evil and melancholic riffing. The atmosphere is dominated by an overall aura of mystery, and this is mostly accomplished by the keyboards that play a very important role on the album. There are piano melodies everywhere, and they can be multifaceted patterns or just dark, heavy, accented chord hits. If not piano, it is different kind of haunting synth sounds that give each track enough personality. There's nothing to complain about the guitar riffing either that varies just about enough, but it is ultimately the keyboard department that deserves the biggest acknowledgements.

The album embarks on its journey with the acoustic guitars of ”Golden Path” and concludes fourty minutes later with somewhat similar ”Aura Ingis Aqua Tellus”, a mellow track of acoustic strumming and harsh vocals, all this close to Carpathian Forest's best days in early nineties (Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svarttjern, to be exact). Between these pieces, there's a lot of quality material within the spectrum of ghastly, underground black metal with the haunting of Elysian Blaze. It isn't lo-fi, but somehow distant to a great effect. ”Echoes of Desperation and Hate” reaches almost nine minutes but I have never really noticed any stagnation in the album, it has always been a pleasure to listen to from the beginning until the very end.

Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti undoubtedly belongs to the highlight albums of the second half of 2011, at least so far. That is quite well done considering that I hadn't heard a word about the band beforehand although their history goes back to the nineties and the back-catalogue features four full-lengths preceding this new one. Definitely a recommendable effort that I might start digging even more as time passes by and I've managed to give it more time and proper (dark) listening settings.


4 / 5

HRIZG: "Inferno"

It took about three months from Hrizg to unleash another beast of his. In May, this one-man black metal project offered Anthems to Decrepitude which was an enjoyable ride through ancient, cavernous soundscapes, and now Moribund Cult is about to release Inferno, a five track EP of similar music, running for almost 30 minutes which means that it’s almost like another full-length.

While Anthems to Decrepitude was sound-wise somewhat feeble (though I grew to really like the sound), Inferno has more professional production behind it, but not harassingly so. The new sound gives more power to the compositions that don’t seem so remote anymore. Now that both drums and guitars have more flesh around them, Inferno sounds a lot stronger than its predecessor.

Musically, I still find it somewhat hard to compare Hrizg to any other band. Not to mislead you, it’s not that the band is anything truly unique, quite the opposite as the songs are rooted in rather traditional black metal, but there’s something in the sound that makes its depiction challenging. There’s the usual black metal discordance added to the vaguely death metalish murkiness, and there’s a lot of lead melodies fluctuating between melancholy and menace, not to forget the careful use of synth mats in various places, and the moderately low-pitched vocals.

The most impressive feature of Inferno is how it sounds as authentically old and crypt-like as Anthems to Decrepitude, it verges being magical! It doesn’t kill the fact that there’s plenty of not-that-outstanding riffage therein, but the atmosphere is admittedly well done. Considering that this is a rather short EP than the almost exhausting Anthems full-length, I would consider Inferno a better whole than the album. Not much, but just about enough to deserve a half star more.

3.5 / 5

MORTUALIA: "Mortualia"

Albeit mostly known for his main projects Horna and Sargeist, Shatraug has a ton of various side projects. Of all those, Mortualia is the one focusing on desolate atmosphere, torturing repetition, dragging tempo, the vision of a hopeless future: in other words, depressive black metal. The self-titled debut was originally released back in 2007 but it is now getting a re-release treatment by Moribund Cult, though I am basing my review on the original Northern Sky Productions version of which I’ve possessed a copy for a couple of years already.

Mortualia doesn’t fall to the most common problems of depressive black metal. Whereas many contenders turn out to sound just pitiful in their angst, this album does not dwell in self-pity at all. This is cold, distant, murky, and with a great dose malicious melodies and riffs without any clichéd over-melodic tunes. The first monster, ”The Blue Silence” clocking at seventeen minutes, is probably the most melancholic piece of the bunch, followed by another similar track ”In Bleak Loneliness”, after which ”Cold and Grey” kicks in with murky menace: gone are the wistful sounds of the first tracks. The minimal ”Devoid of Warmth” is a strong addition to the whole, but pales in comparison to the last piece, ”Forgotten Soul”, of which beginning riff is so damn dramatic that it truly chills.

To elaborate the album’s sound further, you can probably already guess that Mortualia isn’t professionally produced, and that is only good. Both drums and guitars are quite remote sounding but without any unnecessary amounts of reverb. Shatraug’s vocals are very, very high-pitched and semi-clean wailings which might turn off some and, to be honest, I wasn’t very keen on them at first, but they’ve grown on me over the years. I still prefer his sound on the next full-length Blood of the Hermit on which he gets raspier, though.

If you’re looking for a proper and authentic piece of depressive black metal, I would recommend Mortualia. Perhaps it is not a cornerstone album of the subgenre, but a worthy addition to anyone’s collection who claims to be a fan of the style, as the ringing coldness and joy-killing desolation is surely to make an impact. In case the vocals are too much to bear, then look into Blood of the Hermit, and even that glitch has been then fixed.

4 / 5

MOON: "Caduceus Chalice"

What - this isn’t a lost Xasthur album? I have to recheck that I’m actually listening to an Australian band named Moon whose debut album Caduceus Chalice was released through Wolfsvuur - known for its ’quantity over quality’ principle if you ask me - in early 2010 and now getting a CD re-release treatment by Moribund Records. Everything is so similar, if not identical, to Xasthur that I’m confused: the same ghostly, dissonant atmosphere, effect-filled vocals and a drum machine are all present.

I do find myself enjoying Caduceus Chalice’s ominous atmosphere. As described by the band itself, it is a journey through the underworld, and the album succeeds in it with its multiple layers of instrumentation. Compositionally, however, Moon doesn’t provide anything absolutely interesting, at least anything that Xasthur hasn’t done before. Also, the 20-minute ”Chalice” - from which I find much Elysian Blaze influences, by the way - drags on a bit too long, giving too much emphasis on the power of repetition. The song does get better towards the end when e.g. choirs appear, but is still prolonged overall.

Certain moments on ”Monastery” are very good and otherwise the whole Caduceus Chalice is decent, but in the end it doesn’t provide anything that would capture my interest entirely, most likely because of the similarity to the aforementioned band: these dissonant melodies, effected vocals and drums machines are all heard before. Those who are in love with Xasthur’s eerie, dissonant music (and haven’t had enough of that band’s massive discography) might find Caduceus Chalice a worthy investment.

(Originally written in July 2010, renewed in the light of the upcoming Moribund Records re-release.)

2.5 / 5

BLEEDING FIST: "Devil's Ferox"

Slovenian Bleeding Fist has been busy recently, unleashing a string of releases in the span of just a few years, and of these assaults Devil’s Ferox is the latest, and also the first one I’ve heard from them. Fierce, raw and Satanic black metal is Bleeding Fist’s approach on this EP, and ultimately in an old school tradition without much compromises.

Sound-wise, Devil’s Ferox is indeed rough and far from a polished affair. The drums pummel like hell in the dirty soundscape, unfortunately to the extent that guitar riffs are buried beneath the overpowered snare drum. Throughout the record, I’m reminded of Rabid Death’s Curse era Watain and why not old Deathspell Omega - the band is constantly evil, firing those malicious chords and rapid blasts.

The main glitch of Devil’s Ferox is that it simply lacks enough grabbing compositions, or perhaps there’s some killer material in there, but it’s mostly the unbalanced production that hinders the guitars from rising to required strength, hence the songs kind of pass from an ear to another without any other impression than yeah, this stuff is evil and hellish and so on... I am able to enjoy the ringing violence of the title track’s tremolo menace and the Death SS tribute ”Black and Violent” which is distinct with its rocky attitude, but it doesn’t cover for the lack of any really promising material when we look at the big picture.

That said, Devil’s Ferox never harasses nor impresses, it’s the kind of usual Satanic feast that mostly stays in the background for its dark atmosphere. There’s surely potential for something more, so maybe next time they’ll come up with more a convincing compositional work that relies also on memorable riffing instead of this mere dark aura.

2.5 / 5

SATAN'S HOST: "By the Hands of the Devil"

Having gone through various phases during its lengthy career, from the classic heavy metal of late 80s to the blackened death metal of late 2000s, Satan’s Host is now back with the original singer from Metal from Hell era, namely Harry Conkling. The result on By the Hands of the Devil is something like a mix of the two previous approaches, combining the darkness and Satanism of black metal and heaviness of death metal with Conkling’s clean heavy/power metal vocals.

And quite an interesting and successful combo it is. There are few bands who truly interest me in the field of power metal singing, but when it’s mixed with the utterly dark instrumentation and atmosphere, it all works. The eponymoys ”By the Hands of the Devil” makes sure of this already with its adventurous song progressions and epic chorus. Other noteworthy mentions of the album’s first half are ”Demontia” and the interlude-of-sorts ”Bleeding Hearts of the Damned”, the latter being a hypnotic, ritualistic and beautiful wandering amidst clean guitars and tom drums. I’m not able to spot as good tracks on the second half, but The Beatles cover ”Norwegian Wood” is a little surprise there, being an upbeat and folkish piece with church burning lyrics. I drank of the blood, Dark Lord Satan...

With a modern and in-your-face clean production, and an overdose of rather clinical and unnecessarily precise blast beats, By the Hands of the Devil might not have the charm of the scruffy Metal from Hell that I personally really like, but this album is clearly a well-thought whole that maybe runs for a little too long, but comprises some quite damn good compositions nonetheless. This could turn into a vital record for some of those who merely enjoy the most extreme of metals and despise classic high-pitched clean singing, because his/her opinion might just change after hearing By the Hands of the Devil. The album has been in relatively frequent rotation and will continue to do so - a sign of a good record.

3 / 5

HRIZG: "Anthems to Decrepitude"

Hrizg’s second full-length Anthems to Decrepitude is a hard bit to swallow for various reasons. This Spanish one-man horde has crafted a challenging, yet ultimately traditional black metal album off simple ideas that seem very uninviting at first, but only slowly starts to show signs of true potential.

Anthems to Decrepitude isn’t overly aggressive nor atmospheric black metal; the music resides somewhere between the two, at times blasting in great speeds not unlike Mayhem but mostly wandering in middlegrounds when it comes to the pace, the somewhat powerless production and minorly melancholic melodies helping in the creation of the interesting atmosphere that might seem dulling at first during the course of the 50-minute whole, but once again it must be said that this album takes its time to open.

In spite of not utilizing a lot of reverb, the album somehow sounds cavernous, as if recorded literally underground in a tomb or something along the lines. The mid-level growls of the vocalist are part of the reason why Anthems to Decrepitude sounds almost like an old school death metal album, but purely production-wise, that is.

It might seem that I’m implying that Anthems to Decrepitude is some kind of a hidden jewel of pure brilliance but that is not true either, as I can most certainly agree with other reviewers in that this 50-minute entity is a little too long and never musically varying enough - except an acoustic interlude like ”Invierno”. But in my humble opinion there are plenty of great ideas here that make the record a noteworthy release, clearly above an avarage old school black metal album for sure.

3 / 5

HÆRESIARCHS OF DIS: "In the Obsecration of the Seven Darks"

On paper, Hæresiarchs of Dis and his third full-length opus In the Obsecration of the Seven Darks sound pretty enticing: furious, chaotic black metal with occasional tendencies towards haunting ambient soundscapes. The outcome, then, is not exactly that marvellous due to some critical glitches in the musical coherency of this 51-minute beast.

Atmospherically, In the Obsecration of the Seven Darks is rather well done: listening to the album is quite a damn trip through audial insanity where discordant and seemingly constantly changing guitar chords lead the way, backed up by a plethora of fast drum beats and a heavy dose of synths in the background. The only problem sound-wise resides in the drums that are either triggered too heavily or programmed too harassingly (with all the new technology I’m not sure which one it is), resulting in an overpowered snare sound which is a big minus on an album that relies so heavily on overall atmosphere.

...because compositionally, these nine tracks have little to offer, unfortunately. The balance between metal and (chaotic) ambient is pretty much 50-50, but neither of the band’s styles truly capture any fantastic ideas. At times, the melodies and riffs seem like they were improvised on the go, and with not that mind-blowing results. "Ensorcelled by Khaos" - originally an Emperor track - is a surprising choice of cover, but I do see a little resemblance between the bands, especially in Cernunnos’ high-pitched vocals.

In the Obsecration of the Seven Darks is, in the end, an album that does not tire me, but neither does it trigger any proper emotions in me. It’s a shame to give a rather negative rating to an effort that is, for the most part, thoughtfully done and rich in textures, but it isn’t simply enough. With a few main problems fixed, this could turn into a much more enjoyable ride. Perhaps with his next album, then.

2 / 5

DODSFERD: "Spitting with Hatred the Insignificance of Life"

After my introduction to Wrath’s music that happened via Nadiwrath’s recent debut Nihilistic Stench, Dodsferd’s sixth full-length Spitting with Hatred the Insignificance of Life took me by surprise. Sure, there’s still something childish in the overall impression that Wrath somehow seems to attach to everything he does (just look at some of the songtitles on previous records) but I can’t escape from the fact that at least this particular album has some very fine riffs on it.

Whereas Nadiwrath seems to be the punky and rocking black metal outfit of Wrath’s, Dodsferd delves - in addition to the overall harshness and rage - in murkiness and melancholy, though the rock attitude is somewhat present here as well, as the drum beats and bass lines in the beginning of ”Your Kingdom Was Built in a Lie” and solos on the title track imply. But for the most part, Spitting with Hatred... is laden with tremolo picked darkness, darkness that at times rises to almost heart-rending levels of beauty, just listen to how those steadily fired riffs burst into touching melancholy on ”The Hate Goes On” and ”Praying in Vain Under the Shrine of Your God”.

Thus said, points have to be given to the guitarwork on the album. While not every riff is of pure splendour, the quality is consistent and in spite of all reservations I have about Wrath’s music, his work here is noteworthy. Some of the tracks could do better with a slightly shorter running time (half of the six pieces pass ten minutes) but I am still not bored at any point. The production is fittingly lo-fi yet tight, and so are fitting the high-pitched screans, plus all instruments are nicely audible in the dusty soundscape. Spitting with Hatred the Insignificance of Life is a worthy even if not entirely oustanding piece of uncompromising black metal that will receive multiple spins from me in the future. Concrete rating is hanging somewhere between three and three and a half stars, if that’s something you look for in reviews.

3 / 5

NECRONOCLAST: "Ashes"

Since bands like Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord showed the way how to incorporate dead cold dissonant melodies to black metal, there’s been nothing but a flood of bands utilizing similar atonal melodies and chord progressions. And why not, after all it fits very well to the concept of malicious, twisted black metal. But how easy it is, then, to make a truly successful release by just plucking those sinister melodies with heavy distortion? The lately reviewed Evangelivm lacked the spark of originality, and when it comes to Necronoclast’s latest offering Ashes, I’m not entirely convinced either.

Because, ultimately, Ashes lacks that originality too. These 45 minutes wander nicely in middle or fast tempos, a mysterious atmosphere in presence throughout. The drums are very visibly programmed, creating a mechanized and industrial feel to the album, not unlike Blut Aus Nord, but also not unlike sounding a little cheap because I’m not sure if this industrial feeling is made consciously or couldn’t he just find a real drummer. However it is, the result sounds fairly bland. To mention one more negative side, the mid-range screams sound somewhat powerless and far from the cold atmosphere the instrumentation creates.

Now that the usual nagging is done, I can say that Ashes is still a decent piece that just could do a lot better. When playing this album, it doesn’t harass me at all but the same time it does very little to me - hence reminding me indeed of the recent encounter with Evangelivm’s debut. Naming standout moments is hard but I could mention ”Kajicnicke Saty” due to its guitar solo in the end which works rather nicely. All in all, Ashes is an okay album that I would keep in my shelves for an occasional listen, but remember not to expect anything truly innovative from this.

2.5 / 5

PSYCHO: "Pain Addict Pigs"

You don’t hear Singaporean bands playing a frenetic mixture of old school black, death, thrash and heavy metal with horror aesthetics everyday, and now that we have Psycho to prove its existence, I am personally quite content - for many reasons.

Putting on their debut album Pain Addict Pigs and hearing the first sounds after the exorcising intro, the listener is introduced to the filthy old school atmosphere reeking of rotting flesh. Catchy and chugging riffage, powerful drumming, and the vocals, the vocals! Penny Torture sounds really good spewing out his filthy lyrics in somewhat high-pitched screams full of abomination - lower growls appear occasionally, too. Frantic guitar solos appear in many corners of the album, ensuring that you can’t get much more metal than this.

The fluctuation between influences make Pain Addict Pigs an interesting and enduring experience: where ”Meat Slit Grinder” and ”Dr. Satan” evidently flirt with butchering death metal elements, ”Mater Lachrymarum…Mother of Tears” brings in some epic heavy metal screams. ”Revenge of the Raging Whore” ventures to surprisingly ’progressive’ and melodic grounds, being kind of an odd bird in the album but fitting in well, nonetheless.

This - old school metal with its boundaries - is not an area where people usually do anything extremely innovative, but it doesn’t take away the fact that Pain Addict Pigs is convincingly crushing. I’m not usually the biggest listener of this kind of metal yet am able to enjoy this album very well, even if there are moments of slight dullness to be found here too, as the final track ”Demon Deathtrance” starts to be too much the same as the tracks before it. Otherwise, there’s a lot of great riffs and overall morbid atmosphere to be found from this half an hour experience that is wholeheartedly recommended to thrash / death / black metal old schoolers. They can add at least a half a star more to my rating, most likely. 

3,5 / 5

NADIWRATH: "Nihilistic Stench"

On their major debut Nihilistic Stench, Nadiwrath offer a vigour 50-minute piece of thrashing black metal with a very occasional touch of depression. Actually, just forget that part about depression for now, as Nihilistic Stench is first and foremost an aggressive output with upbeat power chord riffs, simple yet effective battering and high-pitched black metal screams. This all is packed into a tight, full production where all the instruments are nicely audible, including bass. The album is sound-wise very well done.

As can be deduced, the focus is on the old school ”fuck you” attitude reminiscent of Carpathian Forest’s later works, as such track titles as ”Two Face Shit Fuckers” and ”Another Pimping Whore” suggest. While the band is generally authentic and plays tightly, I can’t help feeling that all the cursing and daring of the vocalist Wrath is a bit overdone and, in turn, does not sound quite convincing and makes it sound tongue-in-cheek: especially in comparison to the more somber material on the album. Speaking of which, Nadiwrath sounds the best on the 10-minute ending track ”Memories Are Dead”, an impressive mid-tempo wandering that almost sounds like a different band. Of all the power chord assault tracks on the album, ”Horns” does it the best with the intimidating, repetitive riff towards the end.

Looking for some ass kicking, almost punky black metal with real energy? Then do yourself a favour and look into Nihilistic Stench, a decent record that is not entirely for my taste but certainly has its moments of splendour. This one might divide the listener base a bit, considering how radically the style changes on the last track, but I guess the old school thrashers know how to press stop when that track begins and enjoy the merciless killing that Nihilistic Stench otherwise delivers.

2,5 / 5