Hic Iacet- Hedonist of the Death(2011)

Hic Iacet- Hedonist of the Death

I missed Hedonist of the Death, from Spanish warlocks Hic Iacet, in 2011 despite near-universal praise for the bands debut demo.  Slow to catch on as always, I was never-the-less intrigued by the demo's glorious cover art and promises of Blackened, occult Death Metal in the vein of recent releases from Muknal and Temple Nightside.  Another occult themed Blackened Death Metal band seemed a bit... redundant at this point, but it was hard to say no to that cover art(I mean look at that shit.  I bought the recent vinyl re-release of the album from Hell's Headbangers just because of that album cover).

Luckily in this case judging a book by it's cover didn't blow up in my face(here's looking at you Sleepers in the Rift), and Hedonist of the Death delivers on most of it's promise for occult devastation and disgusting swarms of black locusts.  I would not go so far as to put this demo among the best the genre has had to offer over the past few years, and it's a demo that lacks many of the typical occult bells-and-whistles that their peers have taken to new extremes.  But despite a complete lack of anything that would be labeled "Dark Ambient" or "avant-garde," Hic Iacet still manage to invoke the ancient spirits and create thick, demonic atmospheres through strong, concise and effective song-writing.  Tracks usually run on the short side, avoiding self-indulgent stretches of lazy Funeral Doom or atmospheric keyboard-driven ambiance, and instead focus on driving rhythms and aggressive, simplistic guitar work.  Simplistic, but not overly repetitive either, as even the shortest tracks are heavy with riffs and tempo changes.  "Brevity of Congenital Rot" pretty much sums this album up perfectly: raw, simplistic and highly aggressive, with several killer riffs(particularly the opening riff) and lots of tempo changes that happen organically and not spastically.  The production is also superb, and although I'm normally not a fan of thin guitar production, it works here.  The drums are insanely raw and are devoid of any studio magic, while the bass brings all the needed power and thickness to compensate for the cold, thin guitar sound.  It's not much more than a mix of Angelcorpse, Incantation and Blasphemy, but with song-writing this good it's hard to complain with the final result.

It's a bit shocking however that despite the very simplistic riffs and song-writing on Hedonist of the Death that Hic Iacet don't sound tighter here.  The album is not obnoxiously sloppy by any stretch, but it's not like the material here is nearing Spawn of Possession levels of complexity.  At times the guitar players struggle to keep up and the drums and the whole group will stutter a bit . Part of the appeal of Hedonist of the Death is the simplistic, raw and primitive song-writing, but one has to wonder if the band took maximum time to get these songs 100% solid or rushed the album out.  Or perhaps this was a conscious decision by the band, though having only recently formed in 2010, it seems more likely the band were not as tight as they wanted to be when they released Hedonist of the Death.  And judging by the bands new upcoming material and it's lack of anything resembling sloppiness, it seems even more likely that the band were not yet completely comfortable playing with each other on Hedonist of the Death.  The sloppiness of this demo didn't really bother me personally, but it bares mentioning for those discerning listeners who don't care for anything less than perfection.
 

Hedonist of the Death is immensely charming, listenable and above all fucking heavy.  It's a stripped down, no frills take on Occult Black/Death that works due to fundamental song-writing which places riffs and timely tempo changes over abstract ritualism.  Truth be told, I actually prefer the abstract ritualism and avant-garde tendencies of their peers, but Hic Iacet have certainly carved out a somewhat unique take on the Occult Black/Death sound, even if it doesn't sound like it from the initial listens.  It's easy to appreciate the bands approach, and as the band grow together as musicians, I have no doubt that Hic Iacet will produce some pretty amazing stuff in the near future.  As it is, Hedonist of the Death is a stellar beginning, and highly recommended.

 

Rating: 8/10

Review Round-Up: Raw as Fvck in the VSA

This whole review thing can be a real pain in the ass.  For one, you always need to be on top of the newest releases, yet because of this annoying little thing that keeps forcing me to do things like go to work and bathe, I never have any time to review them. I think it's called "real life" or something, and I'm not too fond of it.  Unfortunately, homelessness limits my Wi-Fi options, otherwise I would sleep in the alley behind the grocery store and listen to obscure shitty Black Metal albums all day, stopping only occasionally to fight off the packs of feral cats.  We all can dream...

The Rain in Endless Fall- Weald of Introspection(2011-2012)

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, The Rain in Endless Fall is the second project of Lord Vast and Grond Nefarious, also of Wylve and the masterful Blut Der Nacht.  With a more Depressive Black Metal slant, The Rain in Endless Fall are not as powerful and primitive as Blut Der Nacht, but it's still a solid project.  Grimm yet oddly melodic, Weald of Introspection does offer some uniqueness in its structure: the opening track "Ashes Left of a Flame That Once Burned Within" is the true song, the final three tracks making up a solid grimm outro of acoustic guitar passages and the hypnotic whispers of rainfall.  It's still pretty standard stuff, but well played and perfectly produced to satisfy your cravings for cold, thin, frozen Black Metal.

Rating: 7/10

Wylve- Wylve(2012)

And here we have Wylve's debut s/t demo, which isn't all the different from the stuff done by The Rain in Endless Fall: melodic, atmospheric and raw.  There is a bit more speed here, but it's all about the repetition and cold, frozen atmosphere.  It's also the cleanest material this duo have produced, but whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on personal preference.  Truth is, neither of this projects hold a candle to Blut Der Nacht, but then again few bands in modern Raw Black Metal do.

Rating: 6.5/10

Grinning Death's Head- Golden Dawn(2012)

Grinning Death's Head have been teetering the line between primitive, skull fucking Black Metal and sloppy, unlistenable Crust Punk better then just about anyone else since their 2008 debut demo, and Golden Dawn isn't much of a departure from the bands previous material.  Brain-injury may result from the raw, incomprehensible production, but sifting through the static waves of pain reveals a deep under-current of crusty, filthy riffs and ruinous, tortured screams.  Songs are simple and catchy, breaking bones and rending flesh with an effective mid-paced tempo, but I imagine the production will scare away more then a few listeners.

Rating: 7.5/10

Torture Chain- Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator(2012)

If one band in modern Black Metal can make a claim to being the next Darkthrone, my vote would go to Torture Chain hands down.  Easily one of the finest projects in Black Metal today, Torture Chain are a defining modern act, and Time is But a Doorway to the Incinerator is 23 minutes of frozen bliss.  Equal parts unchained aggression and spine-tingling melody, Time devastates the very air, turning into a toxic, flesh-melting mist.  It's all heavily inspired by Norwegian masters as the aforementioned Darkthrone, Mayhem and even a bit of Emperor, but it also brings a bit of that American spirit to the song-writing with it's  crusty, powerful guitar sound and full-throated vocal attack.  Time is easily the bands best material since the nearly flawless Humbling Isolation Terror, and a must listen

Rating: 8.5/10

GGUW- Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit(2011)

GGUW- Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit

The opening Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is little more then the distorted sounds of various animals of unknown origin, clamoring and shrieking in pain and rage, while a thundering drum smashes against the backdrop in pure frustration.  The monster of the sub-conscious perhaps, throwing itself against the weakened walls of one's sanity, breaking down the barriers of humanity in a desperate search for freedom and flesh.  Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is a bestial experience, one of transformation and emancipation from a cold, unnatural world that we live in today.  It's a Black Metal album unlike any I have heard: it's rawness and repetition are instantly familiar, but it's atmosphere is completely alien and unique.  No album has ever made me feel like Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit has, and the album leaves not only a lasting emotional impression, but a physical one as well.  Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit is full contact art, unsympathetic yet oddly warm and inviting, drawing you in with it's comforting yet imposing guitar sound and emotional, devastatingly sad vocals.

Once the cage to the beast within is opened, Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit envelops you in it's controlled insanity.  Then opening untitled track(all the tracks are untitled) features no more then three actual riffs, repeated continuously with consistent speed and mounting intensity, while an inhuman shriek likely saying nothing at all calls out from the abyss of distortion and blast-beats.  It's a deceptively simple composition, more endurance then skill, but it's incredibly effective and powerful.  The vocals devolve into nothing more then mad wails, choking noises and bellows, and by now the transfixing and hypnotic riffs have put you under their spell.  You feel every ounce of the sadness and anger; you become the beast within.  

The following tracks are somewhat more traditional, yet remain sickening in their darkness and bewitching in their construction.  There is an obvious influence of Depressive Black Metal, yet GGUW do not sound like any Black Metal artist I can really think of, other then perhaps Luciation(though both projects evoke entirely different images and emotions).  All the elements are familiar, but presented in such a way as to be unparalleled in the genre.

If any complaint against Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit can be levied, it's that the album feels somewhat incomplete.  At only three tracks, it features an obvious intro but ends abruptly and without much fanfare.  So does life it seems; it's likely the album feels unfinished because of the recent passing of guitar player Wolfrano Ketzer, who committed suicide in May   Hearing the bleakness of Gegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit makes it hard not to wonder if the personal demons facing Mr. Ketzer had some impact on the sound and emotions of the album.  This is all speculation of course: maybe this was how the album was intended to feel and I have no inside information on what exactly happened or why.  But Gegen Gravitation und Wilensfreiheit feels like an album written and performed by men who understand suffering, and those emotions come through clearly and powerfully.  In a small sliver of positive news, GGUW will try and forge on without him, a testament to both the internal strength of their members and of a love for making music about anything but love.

I can only hope for more.  Gegen Gravitation und Wilensfreiheit may be short, but it's an album which can be listened to over and over again despite the despondency of it's atmosphere and themes.  It's a small jewel, a tiny masterpiece whose impact far exceeds it's stature.  It calls to the inner monster within all of us, and it cannot help but answer it.

Rating: 9.5/10

Flourishing- The Sum of All Fossils(2011)

 Flourishing- The Sum of All Fossils

The Sum of All Fossils represents the hope of Death Metal.

New York's Flourishing are a fresh face, formed in 2009 with The Sum of All Fossils being the bands first full length release, yet also a last proud member of a dying breed: a breed of innovators and fearless song-writers in the Death Metal scene.  It's not hard to see that Death Metal has, at the very least, become a regressive and trend happy genre: the scene is dominated by imitators, flavor of the month worship acts and tired veterans grinding out the same releases every year for a quick buck and a reason to go on tour.  Flourishing do not fit into any of the categories, which in and of itself is worth praise: while the Gorguts influence is obvious, The Sum of All Fossils is in no way a cheap imitation or easy worship, but a unique album with a new, explosive sound.  This is so rare in Death Metal now, it's almost a shock to hear it and I wasn't sure how to approach The Sum of All Fossils, as I could not easily categorize it, and any genre that I placed on it sounded either stupid, fake or failed to encompass the full scope of the album.  Not being able to stick "Incantation clone" or "stupid wanky, clean BS" on it was a bit intimidating.  But that's what makes The Sum of All Fossils so damn special.  While other bands pose tough and grunt about Satan to stolen riffs, Flourishing have created an album which is actually tough to listen to. It's what Death Metal was always supposed to be: challenging, nihilistic and heavy as fuck.

In a vague, worthless attempt to categorize The Sum of All Fossils, it's fairly easy to hear the Gorguts influence here.  What's nice is that the influence is clearly From Wisdom to Hate and not Obscura: the bass sounds pretty similar, and like From Wisdom to Hate it's an album which would fall closer to atmospheric then Jazz-y.  Songs don't rely too heavily on speed or all out aggression to make their point, with each track taking the right amount of time to fully explore every idea.  But it never becomes tedious or worn out and tracks move at the perfect level of pacing.  While it remains largely mid-paced the band to a spectacular job mixing up tempos on a more subtle level, combing with the obvious technical chops on display to make The Sum of All Fossils one of the best active listening experiences I've heard from Death Metal in a long time.  This is not merely background music as you surf the internet or read or some stupid, not-actually-listening activity that most Death Metal seems perfectly designed for in the modern scene.  The Sum of All Fossils demands your maximum attention and energy to fully impress upon you just how complex, original and breathtaking it can be.

Flourishing accomplish all this by being fearless songwriters who don't care how stupid an idea might seem on it's surface, but instead take a level-headed, talent-guided shot at doing something new.  In this case, it's mixing complex, discordant Technical Death Metal in the vein of Gorguts with Post-Rock.  Now, that maybe doesn't sound like the best idea: it's one that would send your average musician running straight into the arms of Autopsy worship and never leaving that warm, gooey place again.  It's a testament to the members of Flourishing that they even attempted this, but even more so that they pull it off so fucking beautifully.  Despite sounding professionally recorded and played with actual skill and talent, The Sum of All Fossils is one of the deepest and emotional Death Metal albums I've heard in ages.  It frequently crosses over into beautiful territory, particularly the final track "As If Bathed in Excellence," which has not been a word I have used to describe a Death Metal album since Anata's The Conductors Departure... another genre-defining masterpiece.  It can also being extremely heavy and utterly chilling, while the Post-Rock elements bring so much to the table.  The dynamic vocal shifts of "By Which We Are Cemented" are at first a bit off-putting on a Death Metal album, but once they grow on you it's hard to imagine why more Death Metal bands are not trying new things vocally(or why Flourishing don't go back to this later in the album.)  Long sections of disonant, massive Rock guitars add a whole new level of immersion on The Sum of All Fossils, like the opening track "A Thimbles Worth," which starts off as a fairly typical Gorguts-style track before morphing wonderfully into a Shoegaze-y, wall-of-noise torrent that drenches you in longing and wonderment.

The fact you can't listen to a single track on The Sum of All Fossils without discovering something new and interesting, which more then makes up for the tiny nitpicks here and there.  I am not a huge fan of the primary vocals and wish the band had remained consistently adventurous with them, instead choosing to stick with an energetic yet somewhat grating mid-growl for most of the album.  I'm also not a huge fan of the drum production:  they actually don't sound triggered which is great, but they do sound very clean and uneven in the mix.   And not matter how impressed you might be with The Sum of All Fossils initially, it's a grower(it's not even in my top 20 albums of last year, as it took several listens to fully sink in).  Little things... things that don't even really fucking matter.  I am too impressed with The Sum of All Fossils as not only a wonderful, powerful album but as a piece of art.  The album drips with personality and identity while remaining viable and accessible, and I never picked up on any pretentiousness or cynicism.  And perhaps most impressive is that despite the Post-Rock elements, the professional production and the lyrics which don't in anyway touch on Satan or decapitating hookers, The Sum of All Fossils is a real Death Metal album.  It's a challenging album which doesn't pander, posture or worship. It strikes out into a harsh, barren wasteland and from dying soil produces vivid, all encompassing life.

Rating: 10/10

Male Misandria- E.DIN(2011)

Male Misandria- E.DIN

Italy's Male Misandria play a style of Blackened Grindcore that isn't too far from Anaal Nathrakh's noisy, screaming nightmares, with the same tortured vocals and tendency to explore the abnormal. But I can easily say I vastly prefer the more stripped down, Punk infused edge that Male Misandria bring; with influences of Powerviolence and Crust Punk, E.DIN is a focused, strange and skin-peeling Blackened Grindcore that brims with filthy anger.

I don't want to play up the Anaal Nathrakh comparison too much: there are similarities, but not overwhelmingly so: Male Misandria are more firmly rooted to the ground and wield a Punk-infused edge. It's all very fast and loud, which means everything is working as it should be.  Tracks are short and noisey, yet often include sudden bits of atmospheric, grim introspection: "Homo Homini Homo" starts off with some mid-paced, frost bitten guitar work that screams Emperor, complete with a smattering of operatic vocals, before mutating into a static drenched, dripping syringe of blasting Grindcore/Powerviolence that enters the blood-stream like burning fire.  "Somni Spectus" features one of the sexiest, filthiest riffs on the album, the opening roar of the guitars complimented with excellent use of samples to create a sickening, blackened atmosphere without ever losing it's aggressive, crusty edge.  E.DIN also features some rather odd song titles, including such classics as "I'm So Cook" and "Vomitsoapbubbles..."  Male Misandria are clearly not all that interested in sticking too closely to genre conventions, which in many ways is a strength all it's own.

E.DIN may be an acquired taste for many no matter what: vocalist S.P. has a voice which will grate on your average Metal fan, while the bands blackened, space-y aspects will likely turn off the Punk kids from getting all the way behind the bands sledge-hammer moments.  And in general, E.DIN is the kind of spastic, genre-bending strangeness that purists in general just despise.  But then again, who cares what purists think.  E.DIN is as rock solid, brutal and manic as one could ask from a  whacked out Italian Black-Grind band.

Rating: 8/10

Cerebrate- Demo(2011)

Cerebrate- Demo

Featuring members of Cascadian Black Metal band Ash Borer, Cerebrate are a Death Metal band... and... um...

Fuck, honestly I can't be bothered.

One almost has to wonder that, considering the progressive and anti-scene nature of Ash Borer, if Cerebrate is... kind of a joke? A subtle "fuck you" to static Death Metal fans who will eat this shit up again and again and keep asking for more. Will the members of this "band" one day declare on their Facebook page that Cerebrate was just a clever ruse to show how lame and easily sated that lame Death Metal purists can be?

I can see it now, as clear as an azure sky on a summers day... *flashback noises

Member 1: "Dude, I need some new gear for the next Ash Borer album. My shit is getting ragged as fuck..."

Member 2: "Yeah, I need some cash too man... got a drug habit to maintain..."

Member 1: "Hmmm... we could try playing a few more shows, getting the kids out to see us?"

Member 2(I assume it took two guys max): "Maybe... kinda feeling too lazy for that..."

Member 1: "Well, how about we whip something up to sell to Death Metal fags? Shouldn't be too hard?"

Member 2: "Death Metal fags? None of those basement trolls have any cash."

Member 1: "Oh yeah? Then how come obscure ass Swedish Death Metal demo's sell for big bucks on eBay? None of them have any girlfriends. They have nothing else to spend their money on."

Member 2: "Good point... well, what should we give them? Some Incantation worship? Some Morbid Angel felatio?"

Member 1: "Nah dude, those would take too long, and I am all hung over and shit... how about some SwedDeath? Just give them some blatant and derivative Entombed worship for the nth time. We will record it at your house, it'll take like twenty minutes. Then we'll sell them for a few bucks to get new equipment for Ash Borer."

Member 2: "And of course, those sweet, sweet drugs..."

Member 1: "Of course. Grab that practice amp and that guitar. I wanna push this out before the Dr. Who Marathon starts."

Member 2: "Um, that guitar is fucked to shit man..."

Member 1: "Who cares. We are gonna record the shit on a tape player anyway."

Member 2: "But man, I mean we got to do more than that right? What about cover art? And song titles? Lyrics... those all take a long time with Ash Borer."

Member 1: "Jesus fucking Christ, how hard do you think it is to trick these crusty old purists? They want it. They expect it to be all shitty looking... I will just draw something up in Microsoft Paint. We will call the tracks "I" and "II", and I'll just read the phone book in a growly voice..."

Member 2: "Will that work? Really?"

Member 1: "Did you listen to the most recent Miasmal."

Member 2: "... I'll grab my coat."

Rating: 0/10

Stone Angels- Within the Witch(2011)

Stone Angels- Within the Witch

I really love that cover art.

It was certainly the first thing that stood out to me about Stone Angel's debut LP, Within the Witch. It looks like the dessicated corpse of Yggdrasil exploding from the Earth into a mass field of crucified victims who cry out in pain. It's also perfectly appropriate for the album: blackened and monolithic. Within the Witch does not do anything new or different then any other Sludge/Doom album ever released, but it does pack massive riffs and plenty of atmosphere into tight, heavy tracks.

Musically, Within the Witch is fairly standard yet highly competent Doom/Sludge in the vein of Thou, Burning Witch and Noothgrush, so there are not a whole lot of surprises here. Larger than life riffs, tortured screams and earth-shattering bass drive each song along fairly predictable paths, all performed well and with good energy. It's all fairly standard business as usual type stuff: "Bleeding Black" could easily be an EyeHateGod song with it's groovy riffs and thundering low end, while "Withdrawing the Jinn" has that classic New Orleans-metal charm to it... like EyeHateGod as well really. "White Noise, White Light" takes more from the Burning Witch/Thorr's Hammer style of Sludge/Doom, complete with that occult blackened edge and cavernous vocals.

Where Within the Witch stands out are during those moments of subdued bleakness. During the last few minutes of "White Noise, White Light," the listener is treated to a lovely piece of ambient noise; jarring feedback filters in the distant while a woman whispers indecipherable words, perhaps of evil, perhaps of sorrow. These moments are sadly rare during Within the Witch, and I can't help but hunger for more of them. There is a serious spark of creativity and adventurousness here: "Coffin Cross," by far the strongest track on the album, seethes with Blackened rage, ascending the well trodden paths the rest of the album follows and entering new and exciting territory. It's just too bad that Stone Angels didn't appear interested in following these moments over the entire album, instead choosing to give us lots of EyeHateGod stuff.

Not that there is anything wrong with that: I fucking love EyeHateGod, and even the most worship heavy moments of Within the Witch feel superior to most EyeHateGod worship bands out there today. Stone Angels are an extremely young band, having only formed in 2010 and already with a full-length under their belt. The talent and songwriting skill is here, and it peeks through often enough to give Within the Witch plenty of value. Within the Witch does not live up to this obvious talent, but it gives us a glimpse into a potentially grim future.

Rating: 7.5/10

Cara Neir- Stagnant Perceptions(2011)

Cara Neir- Stagnant Perceptions

Dallas, Texas based Cara Neir have a pretty interesting song writing technique. Take everything you have ever listened to, and play that. It's big, exhaustive and ballsy, but also charming and extremely enjoyable. Stagnant Perceptions can be almost overwhelming in it's diversity, but for the most part maintains a unique identity throughout, even if it doesn't have complete consistency.

At it's most basic, Stagnant Perceptions is a mix of classic Norwegian Black Metal ala Darkthrone, and the more violent, dark and crusty Screamo of acts like Joshua Fit For Battle and Funeral Diner. For some, this will lead to all kinds of retarded whimpering about "trveness" and what not. Those people are fucking stupid: Black Metal has always been about doing what others think is wrong because fuck them for thinking that way, and Stagnant Perceptions is certainly a "fuck you" type record. Classic, by the book Norwegian rawness will suddenly transform into a flurry of melodic Emo riffs before ending in Doom-y repose, all in the same song...specifically "Imperialist Design"... which would be the opening track. "Return to Torquemada" is classic Dissection at the beginning, then shifts to Crossover Thrash without any real warning in awesome fashion. The final track, "Not Enough" sounds like an unholy combination of Daylight Dies and Converge... seriously, that was the only thing I could think of to describe the song. Stagnant Perceptions could be described as spastic, and in a way it is with how often genre's shift over the albums eleven tracks. But it also really isn't all that spastic, as each individual shift feels natural and well written, not merely chaotic for the sake of chaos.

It's damn impressive, but also likely too much for some. I can easily see some listeners losing patience with Stagnant Perceptions because of how all over the place it is. Sometimes even I was a little annoyed with just how much stuff was going on. It can certainly be difficult to keep up with all of it, but Stagnant Perceptions songwriting is mostly strong enough to over-come the wide open nature of Cara Neir's style. It's a style that while a bit cumbersome is also perfectly fearless and without cynicism. Cara Neir sound like a band that actually love music; not just the esoteric concept of musical creativity, but actual music that has been recorded by other artists. One can hear a real passion for the various crusty, dark and inherently nihilistic music that only a select few of us can ever really enjoy. Stagnant Perceptions is an album for those who love noisey shit that your parent's still fucking hate. So many fans of Metal and Punk run away from those concepts, become embroiled in endless battles for the legitimacy of Extreme Music as art and become cynical pseudo-fans who would rather bicker then listen. There is no generational musical disenfranchisement on Stagnant Perceptions, only pure emotion and chilling bleakness.

Rating: 8/10

Download Cara Neir- Stagnant Perceptions At "Name Your Price" Rates Here.

And seriously, no fucking 0$ bids. The album is self-released, so all the money goes to the band.

Wreck And Reference - Black Cassette (2011)

Note: This review was originally posted at Court In The Act, and any reference made to any facets of a blog is linked to that blog.

Due to technology, this EP (released on cassette – hence the name – through Music Ruins Lives) has been sitting in my inbox unnoticed for several months. For that, I apologize. From the name of the band, one might guess that they played post-something, and you’d be sort of right – the influence which jumps out instantly to me is Jesu, in the shimmering semi-industrial shoegazey sense. Jesu are always better on EPs due to their albums becoming boring over their full duration, and I suppose this is the same.

                                 

The aforementioned elements create quite a haunting ambient effect – but despite wholly miserable lyrics, the music is uplifting to some degree; consider the musical form of being haunted by a nice ghost who sings melodically rather than attempting to scare people. However, at times the raw production makes it somewhat difficult to discern individual melodies, particularly when notes used are chromatically close to each other. Although this rawness gives a warm feeling – like that of an LP – overall it probably strays far enough to slightly detract from the music. That said, it’s a cassette release, and therefore one should not expect outstanding production.

A point of particular similarity with Jesu in particular as opposed to many other practitioners of this kind of music is the choice to use something roughly resembling popular structure (verse-chorus-verse or variations thereon), particularly on the pleasing opener ‘All The Ships Have Been Abandoned’. The vocal approach, however, which is integral to the quality of the music, as many of the instrumental patterns are a little uninspired, is more similar to that utilised by SubRosa (although from my guess the vocalist here is male). Unfortunately, for the most part they sound a little frail – and in a way that is more weak than ‘woe is me’, something which is particularly evident when they are brought to the forefront of the music by quieter instrumentation.

Speaking of the instrumentation, the email from the band, as well as the label’s website, informed me that no guitars were used in the creation of this, which they are still calling ‘rock music’ (a tag that I would loosely agree with). To be honest, I really don’t see the point in bringing this to our attention. The timbre of one of the instruments used (presumably one of the synthesisers mentioned) sounds so much like an electric guitar (a matter that the mucky production aids little to clear up) that it may as well be one. I’m not criticizing the use of alternate instruments, more so the particular highlighting of this factor which has so little effect it ultimately amounts to little more than a gimmick.

An unusual, but effective, use is made of the juxtaposition of what, at the end of the day, is inherently catchy music (although one would struggle to call any of the motifs and melodies used strictly ‘poppy’, they lean that way at times) with industrial (we’re talking Throbbing Gristle, not Combichrist here) and noise elements in middle eight sections. This blends smoothly rather than clashes awkwardly as one would expect – a true success on their behalf, and something that’s not really been done before (no, Merzbeat doesn’t count).

There is a fine line to be trod between suffocating emotion and tedium in music, and Wreck And Reference manage to trample haphazardly on both sides of that line with roughly equal proportion. Where their style works, it moves towards ‘stunning’, but there are simply too many sections of the EP where I’m looking at the second hand on the clock to justify too much positivity about the good parts. The same feeling comes from some of the odd diversions they go on in the EP – they’re of decidedly mixed quality, and some leave a jarring effect and hamper the continuity of the individual piece or the EP as a whole.

A good last track on a release is probably more conducive to wishes to listen to it again than any other track – that last impression is a lasting one, and fortunately the closer here, ‘A Lament’, is the standout track. The drones and synths bring a shimmering quality to it, and the vocals come across as sufficiently strained to introduce some real heart-ripping emotion to it. This may be so, but many other sections of the EP go through the mind as though it were a sieve, and although this EP shows promise, and future Wreck And Reference releases could be something indeed, to those with a busy listening schedule it’s definitely one that can be passed on with no harm done.

Spearhead- Theomachia(2011)

Spearhead- Theomachia

A blistering whirlwind of Blackened Death Metal hate, Theomachia takes square aim at both originality and your cranium and pulverizes them to dust and chunks. Their patron god Angelcorpse would be highly impressed with this dominating, jack-hammer Death Metal, and so am I. I might have heard this album before, or three times to be exact, but damn it all if Theomachia doesn't beat me to a joyous death every time I listen to it.

A powerful new player in England's suddenly burgeoning Death Metal scene, Spearhead make no bones about their Angelcorpse influence, but over-come their creative short comings through sheer inhuman intensity. Drummer Torturer(what a fitting name) embodies the war machine, hammering your senses like a trench is hammered by artillery fire, again and again and again. His performace behind the skins(no doubt crafted from the flesh of his fallen enemies) is the highlight of this monstrous slab of pure death. Everything else follows suit: the guitar work is fucking fast, the low-end rumbles and the vocals are mad with anger and fury. Theomachia moves like clockwork from start to finish, delivering the goods in classic all-killer-no-filler style. It's hard not to step back and listen in awe to how tight, purposeful and violent Theomachia really is. A better crafted piece of worship you will not find.

Worship, however, is all there is to be found on Theomachia. With the exception of the final track, this album follows the well obliterated path of Angelcorpse most of the way. "Aftermath," the purely instrumental final track, has Spearhead toying with melody and dissonance, but as the title of the track explains, this is only after the war is over and the corpses have been piled so high as to block out the Sun. And what a glorious mountain of corpses it is, even if I have seen more than a few in my day.

Rating: 8.5/10

Teitanblood- Purging Tongues(2011)

Teitanblood- Purging Tongues

Slithering from the bottomless pits of Hades, Purging Tongues is the sound of corruption itself. Busy, blasphemous and relentless, Teitanblood have adopted a take-no-prisoners approach to songwriting with their newest EP, the bands first new material since their brilliant Seven Chalices LP from 2009. Seven Chalices established these Spaniards as one of front-runners in Occult-themed Black/Death Metal, but it really doesn't compare to Purging Tongues in terms of sheer misanthropy. This EP flat out hates your guts, and makes no concessions.

A single track spanning fifteen minutes, Purging Tongues sees an already chaotic and atmospheric band devolve into pure chaos noise and Satanic incantation. The music flows like sacrificial blood down a slopping altar, moving from unhinged noise and devilish chanting to bursts of Blasphemy-meets-Incantation grinding and back again, never giving the listener one second to even comprehend the machinations at work. None of the individual elements are particularly surprising or new for Teitanblood: Seven Chalices featured all the same insane sounds. It's the density of the composition that makes Purging Tongues that much more inhuman.

This density is also as much a curse as a blessing. Purging Tongues has Teitanblood entering Portal territory here, for better or worse. Following individual song elements becomes very difficult in this blistering haze, and it's pretty much impossible to pick out any individual riffs or sections as highlights. Purging Tongues must be taken as a whole or not at all, and at times the whole affair feels over-wrought and directionless. It doesn't help that the production is so uneven: the bass, drums and vocals are very loud in the mix, and they almost completely drown out the weak guitars that grasp for any hold they can find beneath crushing reverb. And holy hell, talk about reverb. The vocals echo for miles and the bass sounds like clattering bones, which while charming in their own way also destroy any hope for the guitars to have a real impact.

Purging Tongues is a ten-tone slab of pure inaccessibility. Just getting your arms around this clusterfuck is an endeavor worthy of legend, but burrowing into this solid black husk will be the real challenge, one perhaps not worth undertaking. Purging Tongues does not lack for ambition, but the busy and bloated compositions left me somewhat cold in comparison to the much more subdued and thought out Seven Chalices. Tetianblood are perched on the edge of Chaos, and hopefully they avoid the temptation to leap into the abyss.

Rating: 7.5/10

Mournful Congregation- The Book of Kings(2011)

Mournful Congregation- The Book of Kings

I would be lying if I said that Funeral Doom was my favorite style of Doom. Sure, I love disEMBOWELMENT(the sounds precursor) and dig Thergothon, Evoken, Ahab, etc. But I am not particularly wild about the super slow, simplistic riffing and over-wrought atmosphere most Funeral Doom bands peddle. How so many bands can stretch three individual riffs over twenty minute songs is a mystery to me. And how unlucky for me that Mournful Congregation happen to be one of those bands.

The Book of Kings is well over an hour long, yet has no more than a dozen riffs sssssttttttrrrrreeeeettttcccchhhheeeeddd over it's incredible run-time. Your average Morbid Angel song has more riffs than this album, which is pretty impressive for both bands when you think about it. But who said it was about quantity? It's all about the quality right?

Right?

Much like the number of riffs, the quality here is lacking to say the least. Melodic intros lead into soft and... melodic riffs that crawl at a snails pace against the backdrop of bells and moans. Mournful Congregation have thrown musicianship and songwriting out the window here, and are putting all of their collective eggs into the "atmosphere" basket. The production is thick and inviting, and is by far the best part of The Book of Kings. It also helps that the pointless vocals are mostly lost underneath the strength of the guitars and the fuzz of the bass.

This is a war of attrition: how many minutes can you listen to the same riff, with the same melodic lead over the top of it, and the same bells in the background? I get the point of is all. The music is meant to hypnotize the listener, transfix them, until the fall into the waves of sound. Yet The Book of Kings failed to have anything close to this effect, and with so many superior alternatives abound in a genre not lacking in practitioners, it becomes increasingly hard to justify spending over an hour with this album. Where is the adventure? Where is the song-writing? The Book of Kings fails so miserably because instead of using the genre as a jumping post to greater ideas, it instead falls into Funeral Doom's biggest trap: incredible and relentless boredom.

Hardcore fans of Funeral Doom are sure to enjoy The Book of Kings. It follows every single genre convention to a T, never leaving the well trodden paths laid out by their forefathers in anyway. If that sounds incredibly boring to you, go ahead and just skip this one all together.

Rating: 3/10

War Master- Pyramid of the Necropolis(2011)

War Master- Pyramid of the Necropolis

Straight up worship is pretty tricky. Most of the time, it is incredibly terrible and pointless genre fellatio that only manages to cheapen the genre as a whole. Occasionally however, a channeling occurs: a band hits the right notes, get the right attitude, and instead of merely imitating a band or sound they become an extension of it. Putrevore's Morphed From Deadbreath was Rottrevore's follow-up to Iniquitous. Codex Incubo felt like a lost Demilich release. And War Master's Pyramid of the Necropolis is the newest release from Bolt Thrower.

Hailing from Texas and featuring former members of legendary Grindcore masters Insect Warfare, War Master make no bones about their sound. If not taking the name of a Bolt Thrower album as their moniker doesn't give it away, the bands Last.fm page declares War Master succinctly as "Death Metal. Bolt Thrower worship." Clearly, this band hate surprises, which is odd, considering Pyramid of the Necropolis is such a surprisingly excellent debt. The formula is taken straight from the Bolt Thrower-textbook: brutal, low-end driven mid-paced Death Metal with tons of groove, bursts of relentless Grindcore and a no-nonsense attitude to songwriting. The hypothetical cudgel in musical form, used on your not-so-hypothetical cranium with relentless force. So ya know... Bolt Thrower.

War Master are the perfect worship band because they have the right attitude. There is not one ounce of pretentiousness or any confusion about what they are doing. War Master treat the sound and the property like it is their own, and do justice both to themselves and to Bolt Thrower with this album. Pyramid of the Necropolis is merely an open love-letter to the legends of English Death Metal, one that we all can enjoy and commit mass murder to.

Rating: 8/10

Subrosa- No Help For The Mighty Ones(2011)

Subrosa- No Help For The Mighty Ones

Often, the joy of discovery is blunted by how much of what you end up discovering is recycled, carbon-copy genre worship with no new ideas and middling intensity. You search and search and search, but for all your effort come up with a few competent and enjoyable, but also pointless and forgettable, albums from bands who won't be part of your listening rotation a few weeks past their initial spins. However, from time to time, the endless search for something new, something powerful and substantial comes along that reaffirms your love for musical discovery. No Help For The Mighty Ones certainly had that effect on me. By taking the basic Doom/Sludge formula and turning it upside down while classing it up, Subrosa have created something incredibly somber, rich and emotional without ever coming off as corny or over-wrought.

Like the wails of a long lost lover roaring from the mist, No Help For The Mighty Ones immediately attacks the gut and twists it into all sorts of uncomfortable knots. The off-key, distant crooning of Rebecca Vernon and Sarah Pendleton hypnotizes you, while the shriek of electric violins jar you back into a cold, harsh reality. The guitars act in tandem with the rhythm section to create the fuzzy, ballsy and oddly warm backdrop for the violins to do their masterful work, rarely moving to the forefront. This might be a turn off for some, but Subrosa pull if off so masterfully it is hard to find any fault with it; the tracks meander on achingly from walls of symphonic noise to accessible Fuzz Rock to haunting, heart-string-tugging classical glory all in the same song. Try not to feel the pain on "Whipporwhill": emotional assaults are a very real part of No Help For The Mighty Ones.

This is an incredibly ballsy album, and considering that three-fifths of the band are quite literally without testicles, it becomes all the more impressive. It takes serious guts to have an a Capella English Folk song on your Doom/Sludge album, yet "House Carpenter" feels right at home on this album, a tale of lovelorn loss and demonic intervention that so beautifully exemplifies what makes this album such a triumph. All throughout the album, the listener comes face to face with truly fearless songwriting and powerful tones, both musical and emotional. No Help For The Mighty Ones is a once in a decade type album, one that should and hopefully will have a profound effect on the genre as a whole. These Utah sad saps have really touched on something here, something glorious, wonderful and real. Not to be missed.

Rating: 10/10

St. Vincent- Strange Mercy(2011)

St. Vincent- Strange Mercy

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, has always been what a football scout would call a "5 tools prospect." She has it all: talent, songwriting skills, an absolutely stellar voice. She is also a total stone cold fox:


I mean Jesus H. Christ. That is the kind of girl who you fall in love with. But she wouldn't love you back. In the end, she would rip your heart right out of your chest, bite it in half and then spark up a cigarette.

Yet despite all of this incredible talent, Ms. Clark never delivered on it. Most of her musical output has been under-achieving at best. Take 2009's Actor. A handful of brilliant Pop songs mixed in with copious amounts of forced quirkiness and disingenuous artsy garbage(no doubt her time with the Shithead, aka Sufjan Stevens, had something to do with this.) The whole thing felt unnatural, and Ms. Clark seemed forced into a box too small and confining for her obvious abilities. The effort was there, but it was wasted effort on a project not worth the time. It was starting to look like Ms. Clark would never be more than a competent, but mostly inessential, Indie Pop Gurrl who would never compare to her contemporaries. But Strange Mercy finally sees Ms. Clark deliver on her talent, in about the biggest way possible.

Strange Mercy is a lean, mean Pop machine, the perfect vehicle for Ms. Clark's sultry voice, which oozes pure sex appeal while never once sounding slutty or stupid. Thankfully free of worthless ambient Noise, unappealing Freak Folk and forced quirkiness, Strange Mercy is all about the hooks, and boy are there a lot of hooks: not one single song gives you any room to breathe before you are singing along with another perfect chorus or flawless verse. Take "Cruel," a Pop fused Indie Rock tune that will get your ass moving, or the Funky and steamy "Dilettante," which has Ms. Clark winking and nodding as she sings "Your like the party I heard through a wall/Invite me." Strange Mercy has seen Ms. Clark go from fairly standard Indie Gurrl is flat out sex symbol, and it is an aesthetic that works wonders for her and her music. Ms. Clark also knows when to turn things down a bit for more somber, softer hitting moments, like the title track, a haunting Electro-Rock ballad that gives us the best pure vocal performance on the record, or the whisper quiet "Champange Year," a spaced out Electro-Pop chill out from all the Funky Indie Pop that most of the record delivers.

Indie Pop has become so ironic over the years, with more and more artists going for "Zooey Deschanel" faux-awkwardness, it is such a breath of fresh air to hear an artist this confident in her music and her lyrics. Confidence. That is the key word here. Strange Mercy is an album from a very confident woman who has finally found her voice. This is such a massive improvement from Ms. Clark's previous work, it becomes difficult to quantify. What I can easily say is this: Strange Mercy is about as massive, as gorgeous and as perfectly made as a Pop album can get. Strange Mercy has completely dominated my listening cycle since the very first note, and will continue to do so for a very long time. It doesn't get any better than this people. Strange Mercy, and Ms. Clark, will dominate your dreams with this one.

Rating: 10/10

Execration- Odes of the Occult(2011)

Execration- Odes of the Occult

Norway is not well known for it's contributions to Death Metal. Outside of the criminally under-rated Molested, I struggle to name another act from the country of 20 hour work-weeks and very cold weather. But a band like Execration is very likely to generate some serious hype for the country seen as the birthplace of Black Metal. Operating out of Olso no less, Execration are band who have hit their stride with Odes of the Occult, a titan of a sophomore effort that vastly exceeds the bands previous efforts.

Odes of the Occult is an album that is hard to pin down: it is not the most original effort ever in terms of new ideas, but it mixes so many classic sounds together all at once, it clouds the way to the source of influence. Highly dissonant guitar work brings to mind Immolation at their most demonic, while sections of skull crushing Doom bring Asphyx into the picture, before mid-paced muscle riffs draw upon the soul of Bolt Thrower. Musically, everything about Odes of the Occult screams atmosphere, power and pure fucking aggression. The production is flawless, the guitar work equal parts technically complex and brutally substantial and the rythm sections does its job with the efficiency of an experienced serial murderer. The vocals are the definition of a mixed bag: at times the band makes use of a very competent guttural growl, but mostly the listener will be subjected to the vocal stylings a Martin Van Duren/John Tardy impersonator. I am aware that I am of a different opinion than most: a friend of mine describes this vocal style as "a madman with mercury in his throat, trying to scream it out." I describe is as a drunk and angry man with mental disabilities screaming for his Stretch Armstrong. Regardless, the vocals are a turn-off for me, and keep Odes of the Occult from reaching withering heights of greatness that musically it so clearly deserves.

Yet despite my disappointment with the vocal attack, Odes of the Occult remains one of my favorite releases from this year. If not strikingly original, it is as finely a crafted Death Metal album one can expect to listen to this year. An album that really doesn't need many more words than fucking excellent.

Rating: 9/10

Abbey ov Thelema- A Fragment ov the Great Work(2011)

Abbey ov Thelema- A Fragment ov the Great Work

Sometimes, you hear something that leaves you at a loss for words. Maybe because it is so fucking awesome, you can't think of a word to express the level of awesome. Maybe it was so bad, you fear speaking because vomit may be released instead of words. And maybe you are speechless because you don't know what the hell you just listened to.

A Fragment ov the Great Work fits with the latter description.

Slovakia based Abbey ov Themelma are certainly shooting for something new and unique with A Fragment ov the Great Work. Black Metal is certainly part of the equation, but how much of it is a bit uncertain. The album makes heavy use of keyboards and synthesizers, which may not sound all that strange off the bat. Lots of bands Black Metal bands make heavy use of electronic instruments, and electronic music has always fit well within Black Metal. What makes A Fragment ov the Great Work is strange is that this is not a slow, atmospheric and noisy affair: this album is fast, melodic and not all that inaccessible. The synth moves fast and hard, while the keyboards move at a blistering pace. Sure, things slow down from time to time, but not all that often. Guitars also seem entirely optional: some songs feature barely any guitar work at all. About the only standard thing about this album is the two-pronged vocal attack, which alternates from a shriek to a guttural grunt, while occasionally clean vocals come into play.

Trying to find a way to describe this album has been the biggest hurdle for me, but I can no long deny what this album is: Blackend Techno. That might sound horrible, and before I heard this album I would have agreed with you. But A Fragment ov the Great Work is not terrible. In fact, it is pretty damn good. When this album works, it works incredibly well: "Unearthly Theophagia ov a Nonexistent Deity" starts off with a blistering, pulsating beat that combines synth and a drum machine to awesome effect, before a grooving, Medieval rhythm kicks in, which is more awesome than it might sound. The whole album has a cool Medieval vibe, which I normally hate but here works well. At times, Abbey of Thelema take a more traditional route, like on "The Hidden Wisdom & Clandestine Legacy ov the Black Arts," and that song also works: dissonant, complex and with an excellent drum machine sound, the song is a nice change of pace from the Techno-fueled insanity that much of the album unleashes.

It has taken me a long time to review this album, mostly because I had no idea how I wanted to tackle the bands sound. A Fragment ov the Great Work is certainly one of the most unique and original albums I have heard in a good long while, but the album also delivers where many experimental albums fail. And I have no doubt that when Blackend Techno takes over the Rave scene in a few years, we will have Abbey of Thelema to thank.

Rating: 8.5/10

Beherit- At The Devil's Studio 1990

Beherit- At The Devil's Studio 1990

Few albums are as influential and beloved as Drawing Down the Moon. Beherit had created something that no one had ever quite heard before: drowned in a mist of darkness and doom, these Finns did Bestial Black Metal like few others(I would argue the US band Demoncy did it a lot better, although they never got the accolades Beherit did.) But for all of the brilliance of Drawing Down the Moon, Beherit themselves never repeated the success, of even came close. Between 1994 and 1995, the band released two Darkwave albums, a genre which I do not feel qualified to judge, then disbanded. They reformed to released Engram in 2009, but that is an album which does nothing for me. In the end, Beherit were a one album wonder, even if that one album has stood the test of time and remains as relentlessly evil and powerful today as it did in 1993.

Don't let any Beherit fans know about this fact though, as they are likely to crucify you for such an offense: Beherit are a band who before 1994 was the greatest Black Metal band ever, and have not done any wrong. Which is why I am sure At The Devil's Studio 1990 is likely to cause more than a few fanboy freakouts: this album was actually intended for release years ago, but was shelved at some point and only recently rediscovered by the bands drummer. Basically, At The Devil's Studio 1990 was intended to be the bands debut album, but never saw released. Recorded three years before Drawing Down the Moon, At The Devil's Studio 1990 is a much more traditional Bestial Black Metal album, and it certainly is ferocious. It is also basically unlistenable. Sure, Drawing Down the Moon was poorly recorded as well, but at least the low-end was there: At The Devil's Studio 1990 has not discernible bass work, and the kick drum sounds flat and lifeless. Overall, the drums are completely powerless, drowned out by guitars that overwhelm every other instrument, while tired and barely involved vocals can be heard from time to time, if only to disappear under a wave of amp static.

What makes At The Devil's Studio 1990 even less appealing is that the actual music involved in really not all that interesting: without many of the progressive and Doom-ish elements of Drawing Down the Moon, Beherit are incredibly typical... and incredibly boring. There is nothing here that compares with Blasphemy, Profanatica or Sadistik Exekution, at least nothing you can make out through the atrocious production. Beherit certainly made the right call trying to move the genre forward with later releases, but at the bands inception they were not much to speak of, and neither is this album.

At The Devil's Studio 1990 is likely to make a lot of fans very happy, but for those who do not obsesses over this band, this capitulates inessential. Lost in horribly broken production is a collection of so-so Bestial Black Metal songs from a band whose legacy is built upon the back of a single incredible album, and who cannot seem to damage this legacy, no matter how many piss poor compilations and Darkwave albums they seem to produce.

Rating: 4/10

Cruciamentum- Engulfed In Desolation(2011)

Cruciamentum- Engulfed In Desolation

It has finally come.

There has not been a bigger hype train in, um, obscure old school Death Metal than the one moving England's Cruciamentum. The Convocation of Crawling Choas demo made serious waves in 2009, as the bands suffocating, Incantation-esque Death Metal fit perfectly with what was hot in Death Metal at the time. But on this years split with Vasaeleth(which I reviewed previously), one could hear a not too subtle stylistic change, and not just in the vocals: there was a greater sense of groove and several chuggier riffs that to my ears sounded like Bolt Thrower.

Engulfed In Desolation continues that sound, with four tracks of rock solid old school Death metal that evokes the masters of New York Death Metal as well as Crucimentum's fellow Brits Bolt Thrower. You know the drill then: tons of skull caving riffs, liberal use of insane blast-beats, and a bass sound that quite literally moves you. Crucimentum are some of the finest riff smiths out there right now, and just picking one brilliant riff on Engulfed in Desolation is a Herculean effort.

It is a tad unfortunate that Crucimentum feel the need to hammer those riffs into your skull long after it has already been pulverized to mush however. If Engulfed in Desolation is not without sin: these songs are seriously too long. It is not a surprise that the best song on the album, "Thrones Turned To Rust," is also by far the shortest. Cruciamentum do not make dozens of riffs: they make five to seven utterly perfect ones, then abuse your face with them. The problem is, when the songs are in excess of six minutes long, you get diminishing returns. The final track, "Unsanctified Temples," is a whopping eight minutes long, and I wish I could say that it needed to be. In truth, most of it is made up of repeated riffs in an effort to create atmosphere, when Engulfed in Desolation is at it's best when cutting the shit and ripping your arms off. This album is a nuclear bomb trying to act as a tranquilizer dart at times, and it just doesn't work.

But when Engulfed in Desolation goes for the throat, it works. Cruciamentum are a band with a lot to offer, who had a lot of success very early, and are still trying to find their sound. I am in love with the fact that the band take less from Incantation with this album, and when the riffs are working they work. All this band needs is time, experience, and a little bit of self-editing to reach song-writing Nirvana. They are pretty close as it is.

Rating: 8.5/10

Vomitory- Opus Mortis VIII(2011)

Vomitory- Opus Mortis VIII

When it comes to Swedish Death Metal, a scene which I am well known for mostly disliking, Vomitory are an act I can get behind. Blood Rapture and Raped In Their Own Blood remain the defining Swedish Death Metal albums for me personally, and the band have never released an album I could not listen to. Which is a big reason why Opus Mortis VIII is such a tough listen: after two or so decades of producing consistent quality, Vomitory have struck out with their newest effort.

Opus Mortis VIII makes a bad impression right off the bat with it's production, which sounds far too clean for me. Part of what made Blood Rapture such a masterpiece was the production: filthy, vile and wet , like the basement of a cannibal serial killer with a massive porn library and a lack of tissue paper. Opus Mortis VIII just doesn't invoke the same images, and instead comes off like a much cleaner, less violent affair. And that is exactly what Opus Mortis VIII is: all talk, no actual violence. This album feels slower, and is more melodic, than any of the bands previous albums. This album sounds much closer to the Entombed/Dismember style of Swedish Death Metal that leaves me very cold. The slower paced, Doom-ier elements on "Shrouded in Darkness"(easily the best song on the album) are actually pretty cool, but for the most part Opus Mortis VIII is a sickeningly standard affair.

Opus Mortis VIII is almost self-aware in it's own generic, focus group Death Metal status. Everything about it is cleaner, more presentable and less threatening than the band has ever been: from the stupid album art, to the generic song titles("They Will Burn" might have been awesome in 1989, but now I am sure As I Lay Dying would use that in a song about other religions), to the songs themselves that no long have any balls. I realize that I am talking about Vomitory here, a band who have been releasing same-y albums for most of their career and will never go into a more experimental direction. But what made Vomitory so awesome was their energy: they may have been one of many mass murderers marauding about Sweden in the early 90's, but they rose above a crowded scene through sheer force of attrition.

Opus Mortis VIII is an album from a band that is tired. Their zeal for slaughter has subsided, and the rigors of making this music, which we all know is a recipe for at most lower middle class status and Tinnitus, have taken their toll. This is the album of the old man, on his last legs, still churning along in hopes of one more payday so he can rest his weary head. Opus Mortis VIII is merely a product, machine made for mass consumption. The joy of the kill is dead.

Rating: 5/10