Pathology- Awken the Suffering(2011)

Pathology- Awaken the Suffering

Although I grew up in the hay-day of Brutal Death Metal, I was never a fan of Slam Death Metal. I preferred the blast-heavy, guttural machinations that Deeds of Flesh and Krisiun spewed out than the chunky, snail paced gurggle non-sense of Devourment. There have been a few exceptions: the Space-Slam-Jazz-Grind of Wormed is nothing short of perfect, and Technical Slam Acts like Embryonic Devourment and Dripping have been good. But bands like Cephalotripsy, Katalepsy and Abominable Puridity do very little for me, and at its worst(Waking the Cadaver) it crosses over into War Crime territory.

Pathology, a younger band who are coming in during the Old School Death Metal resurgence(they released their first LP in 2006, near the end of Brutal and Technical Death Metal's reign over Death Metal as a whole), are intriguing though. Although firmly rooted in the realm of Slam Death Metal, Pathology do some cool things: melodic and technical riffs pop in from time to time, and the band write riffs with meat on the bones, while the vocals have actual power, unlike many inhale vocals that sound pathetic and wimpy. These Slam butchers are not the light squishing of bowels, but closer to a chainsaw slicing through a torso. They may still hem to closely to Slam Death for me to ever love them, in small doses Pathology deliver more than most Slam acts not named Wormed.

Awaken the Suffering is another rock solid release from the band, and by now they have mastered their sound: Tech Death riffing with a heavy dose of chunky breakdowns and the occasional moment of melody. There has been very little deviation from this sound over the bands 5 LP's(and impressive number in 5 years). And it works: this is far from the finest composition or most masterful stroke of genius, but in the right situation, Pathology hit hard and with purpose. The production is thoroughly modern: the click click click of drum triggers, the silky smooth guitar tones and the perfectly pitch shifted(slightly, thankfully) vocals are all present, but at least the bass is audible, a nice plus. It is still over-produced, but at least not maddeningly song.

Haters need not apply: there is nothing for die-hard haters of Slam Death, who at the very possibility that a breakdown MIGHT have been played will instantly begin bashing and bashing until they are blue in the face. Pathology might play this style with more authority, talent and song writing skill than most, this is Slam Fucking Death, and it offers few compromises.

I was plenty entertained by Awaken the Suffering. I admit, I am not as picky about my genre's as others might be, but I know shit when I smell it. This is not shit. This is rock solid, fun Death Metal that entertains, not amazes.

Rating: 7/10

Demo: Artificial Brain- Demo(2011)

Artificial Brain

Fuck, I missed my deadline for my new review. Oh well, I got a quickie demo for you guys anyway.

Artificial Brain is quite literally a Technical Death Metal super group, featuring members of Revocation, Biolich and Cyanide Breed. Those are some serious technical chops, but these are dudes from some of the best Technical Death Metal acts ever. My love of the might Biolich is well known(I FUCKING MISS YOU!), and Revocation are as solid as any act in around. Have not heard Cyanide Breed, but I will be checking them out asap, especially after hearing this awesome 3 song demo, which is free for download from both the bands Bandcamp page and their Last.fm page.

This demo is fast, inhumanly technical and fairly modern, but the band avoid the Nintendo-esque guitar wankery that ruins a lot of modern Technical Death Metal. These riffs are nasty and have plenty of meat on their bones. The drums are triggered, but the fantasic production(this demo sounds more professional than most full lengths) gets rid of that nasty clicking sound that ruins a lot of modern acts(unless you are Mithras.) This demo is over fast but kicks you right in the teeth, and has plenty of hidden depth to keep you coming back.

Needless to say, I cannot wait for a full length from these cats. Be sure to support this band by getting on this demo and sharing it with your friends.


Bandcamp

Last.fm

Cloak of Altering- The Night Comes Illuminated With Death(2011)

Cloak of Altering- The Night Comes Illuminated With Death

Another release from Mories de Jong, the sick mastermind behind Gnaw Their Tongues and De Magia Veterum, Cloak of Altering is a fairly unknown project from the Mad Man of Black Metal. Yet for its relative obscurity, Cloak of Altering may be Mories best musical endeavor to date. That is a tall claim, considering the vast and powerful catalog Mories has put together over the years. But Cloak of Altering is something different from anything Mories has done: there is a sense of direction and wonder not quite reached by his previous efforts.

The Night Comes Illuminated With Death is six of Mories most complete and fully realized songs. Musically, the closest thing to this album would be the inhumanity of De Magia Veterum. However, unlike De Magia Veterum, who seek solace in complete chaos, Cloak of Altering are perhaps Mories only band to have identifiable song structure. While one should never expect a verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure, the tracks have a clear beginning and ending, and do not devolve into a mass of notes and shrieks of anguish. Each track on this album is meticulously crafted with a deeper, darker purpose at heart. The riffs are almost entirely tremolo picked, but the extensive use of dissonance and melody(yes, that thing) keep the music fresh and exciting from riff to riff. It helps that the production favors the haunting and powerful guitar work, allowing the bass to pulsate ominously in the background while the drums play their part quietly and effectively. As for the vocals, if you have listened to any of Mories projects, you have the expectations of grief riddled moans of suffering, but The Night Comes Illuminated With Death surpasses any expectations you may have had. The track "Cloak of Altering" in particular has some of the most maniacal vocals every put to music.

But what makes The Night Comes Illuminated With Death such a success is the use of keyboard and ambient sound to amplify the inner... beauty(there is really no other word for it) of each composition. I know what you are thinking: fucking keyboards? But remember, Mories is a master of electronic music, and it shows here. The expert use of orchestral elements, electronic noises and chanting vocals create an incredible atmosphere of blindingly bright dread. Occasional electronic interludes also add another layer of compositional complexity to each track and help each song feel like a complete journey through a fully realized concept.

A fully realized concept. This is something so lacking from much of Extreme Metal today. Yet Cloak of Altering so completely nail every single idea in every single track, it is a marvel to behold. In such a strange twist, while creating one of the most insane releases I have ever heard, Mories has created by far his most accessible and human music to date. The shee beauty of the compositions is so overwhelmingly awesome, so fucking complete, they are impossible to ignore. All I can hope is that this small masterpiece is not lost to time and obscurity like so many others. A must listen and a must own.

Rating: 10/10

Prosanctus Inferi- Red Streams of Flesh EP(2011)

Prosanctus Inferi- Red Streams of Flesh EP

Boiling over from the pit of filth and semen that is Columbus, Ohio, Prosanctus Inferi is yet another spawn of Jake Kohn, the man behind Father Befouled and the legendary Black Funeral. If you have ever listened to those bands, you have some idea of what to expect here, and Prosanctus Inferi deliver in all their nonsensical fury.

Red Streams of Flesh, the bands new EP, is so straight forward in its blasphemous intentions as to be admirable: songs take no longer than needed to reach the point, are always going at 120 miles per hour, and cast away concepts like melody and harmony like used condoms. I keep making allusions to bodily fluids for a reason: listening to Red Streams of Flesh is akin to filling a crusty black cauldron with shit, piss, semen and the tears of children who just got their dogs run over by a drunken mall Santa Clause in a Geo Metro, then having sex with Cuthulu in it. There is absolutely no compromise for the listener in this mess, and in a way it is certainly endearing. Fans of inhuman Bestial Black Metal like Archgoat, Blasphemy and Revenge will certainly enjoy this, and elements of early Morbid Angel and Incantation peek through the mess from time to time to add some rare dynamic elements to the grinding. The production on Red Streams of Flesh is also surprisingly accessible, even more so when compared to the strangely quiet Pandemonic Ululations of Vesperic Palpitation, but I would not call this sucker "over-produced" by any stretch of the imagination. This stuff is as filthy as ever.

The whole thing is over in exactly 19 minutes, and for what it is, Red Streams of Flesh is a solid little EP. Prosanctus Inferi are unlikely to ever be more than the some of its parts however: the total lack of humanity also leads to a lack of imagination and adventure. I understand that this is the point: you are meant to be lost in the brutality of it all. But even when compared to their peers, Prosanctus Inferi are not the most adventurous band around: even Archgoat have done a few different things with their music, while it appears Prosanctus Inferi can't be bothered.

Regardless of my qualms, Red Streams of Flesh is still worth your time. It's too short to ever get boring, and the bands sound remains as ferocious and uncompromising as ever. So grind forth, and slaughter all that is good. Or pink. I bet the guys in Prosanctus Inferi hate pink things.

Rating: 7/10

Morbosidad/Witchrist- Split(2011)

Morbosidad/Witchrist- Split

Thought I might as well knock out another split, this time a split from Bestial Black Metal demons Morbosidad and Occult Death Metal monsters Witchrist. Both acts have seen a huge spike in popularity over the last few years. Morbosidad are one of the busiest and most talented purveyors of Bestial Black Metal on Earth, and unlike many of their peers don't merely comp Blasphemy every other song to fill up albums. Witchrist's impressive full length Beheaded Ouroboros has made them one of the hottest up and coming bands in Death Metal. So a split from these two acts seems like a great idea.

And it works on this very uncreatively titled Split. The two Morbosidad tracks, titled "Plagarias Ceremoniales" and "Horda Del Apocalipsis" are both under two minutes and are fairly straight forward Black/Grind tracks, but they are a ton of fun and very much up to par with the blast beat heavy aural assaults Morbosidad are known for. The two Witchrist tracks on the other hand are a bit different from what we heard on Beheaded Ouroboros: the production is still very cavernous and thick with distortion, but more balanced. The songs themselves(titled "I" and "II" in another fit of anti-creativity) are much more straight forward Death Metal romps. Seeing as this is a split with a band as no nonsense as Morbosidad, it makes a lot of sense and the Witchrist tracks are actually pretty bad ass. This more stripped down machine Witchrist are running with this release, but it's still pretty interesting.

All told, this four song split is actually shorter than the split I just reviewed(clocking in at barely 8 minutes, with the Witchrist track "II" taking up most of the run time), yet I found it much more satisfying. These are two of the best bands in their respective genres, and hearing them together on the same release, even a mostly insignificant one, it still a blasphemous delight.

Rating: 7/10

Cruciamentum/Vasaeleth- Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh(2011)

Cruciamentum/Vasaeleth- Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh

Cruciamentum and Vasaeleth are two of the more solid young acts involved in this Old School Death Metal Revival that is in full swing. Vasaeleth's debut full length Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin was well received by many, and Cruciamentum have generated a lot of excitement with their Convocation of Crawling Chaos demo. Both acts are heavily influenced by Incantation, but load their albums with plenty of tasty riffs to keep listeners tuned it. I was pretty excited for this split, mostly for new material from Cruciamentum.

Unfortunately, Eroding Chaos Unto Ascendant Flesh features only two songs, one from each band, and neither are world breakers. Vasaeleth's track, "Profane Ceremonial Exudation" is a fairly standard affair: distortion choked, primitive Occult Death Metal with a strong Doom Metal influence. It would have been the weakest track on Crypt Born & Tethered to Ruin, but it's still a solid song. The Cruciamentum track is more interesting, if only because we don't have a full-length from this young group yet. The track, titled "Rites to the Abduction of Essence," it a bit of a departure from Convocation of Crawling Chaos: the track is more cleanly produced, although it remains cavernous and heavy. The riffs are still excellent, and it is clear the guys in Cruciamentum are skilled song writers. The vocals are perhaps the biggest change however: no longer indiscernible guttural growling, the vocals remind be more of Bolt Thrower, a mid-low growl that is much louder in the mix. Overall, it is little more than a taste of what to come, and not enough of one to really get wild about.

I fail to see the purpose of releasing a split featuring only 2 songs, but I suppose there is nothing wrong with the idea. It does make grading something like this difficult. In the end, neither track is awe-inspiring, but neither are bad. A decent little split, and a window into the future of Cruciamentum at the very minimum.

Rating: 5/10

Disma- Towards the Megalith(2011)

Disma- Towards the Megalith

Bubbling up from the depths of a swamp littered with the corpses of the lost and the screams of their damned souls, Disma's Towards the Megalith is thick with suffering and death and almost completely suffocated in a horrifying cloud of distortion and bass. The legendary vocals of Craig Pillard, the man who made the mighty Incantation one of the most beloved Death Metal acts of all time, acts as the demonic and insane Greek Chorus to this blasphemous drama. A veritable super group of Death Metal musicians, which also includes Shawn Eldridge and Daryl Kahn of New Jersey Devils Funebrarum, Disma have summoned one of the most incredibly sludgey and Doom ridden Death Metal albums in years, much to your listening delight.

Musically primitive and simplistic, Towards the Megalith will instantly remind listeners of the early days of Death Metal: one hears elements of Autopsy, Incantation, disEMBOWELMENT and even all female Death/Doom "what-could-have-been" legends Mythic. Incredibly distorted riffs and gut wrenching bass drive each riff, while expert use of creepy melodies and leads give the album an atmosphere of dread and bleakness that few can match. The band almost never head into blast beat territory, and instead seek to smother the listener in their evil as slowly as possible, often to deliciously demented effect. As for the vocals of the masterful Pillard; all one can say is "wow." The man who made guttural growls look almost too easy, Pillard superhuman grunts are as deadly as ever.

It's hard to imagine that this was once the norm for Death Metal in the early 90's, considering the incredibly technical direction the genre started going in for the late 90's and early 00's. If you are looking for a Tech Death hater here, you won't find one in me: I love the inhuman precision of Necrophagist as much as the sloppy and distorted riffs of Disma. But after Tech Death's unfortunate slip into the realm of absurdity over the past few years, Death Metal needs a band like Disma: one that does not merely recycle Old School Death Metal cliches over and over for internet credibility, but one that expertly crafts original works inspired by the rich history of Death Metal so that future generations don't miss out on what makes Death Metal the genre that it is: the fucking blasphemy of it all.

The fucking blasphemy of it all. That is by far the biggest take away from this brilliantly designed piece of Satan worshiping insanity: this is not for the faint of heart. Towards the Megalith is so claustrophobic with the evil stuff it hardly leaves any room to breathe. We would not want it any other way.

Rating: 9/10

Demo: Angelcrust- Pet Sematary

Angelcrust

We here at the Curse love Crust Punk. We also love Black Metal. Combine the two, and we are creaming ourselves with uncontrollable sexual pleasure. So we have Angelcrust to thank for our now very "crusty" underwear.

These Philadelphia scuzz punks have their new demo, Pet Sematary, available free for download from Bandcamp.com, so I jumped right on the chance to check it out. I was not disappointed. Pet Sematary is a acidic mix of Disrupt and Deathcrush-era Mayhem, with a dash of His Hero is Gone for good measure. Pet Sematary is 12 minutes of unmitigated street punk blasphemy that fans of Martyrdod, Naked Whipper, or early Mayhem would be proud to jam. Some of the shorter tracks are so short, the real Black Metal influence may be lost in the fuzz, but the 2 best tracks, "Sneer" and "Dissonances of Exquisite Morbidity" take a few minutes to flesh out the blackend crust and gives the band some distinction amongst the crowd.

You can get your free copy of the demo at the bands Bandcamp page, and if you are in the Philadelphia area, make sure to head out to a show and create some hell in the pits.

Last.fm

Bandcamp page

New Lows- Harvest of the Carcass(2011)

New Lows- Harvest of the Carcass

Part of the new wave of Metallic Hardcore bands inspired by legendary acts like Integrity, Earth Crisis and early Hatebreed, New Lows play crusty, filthy and extremely heavy Hardcore Punk mixed with elements of Death Metal, Thrash Metal and Grindcore. Thick with distortion and bowel-rumbling bass, Harvest of the Carcass is one of the most flat out heavy releases from this year.

If you have listened to any of the recent stuff from Trap Them, All Pigs Must Die or Nails, you have an idea of what to expect with this one: guitars so crusty you can hear the grime on the guitar strings, bass so low it rattles the rafters and drums so punishing the band might as well come over and kick in you the face, since they both feel about the same. Few acts can match New Lows pure aggression: the band expertly shift from two-step tempos to sludgey breakdowns to blasty Grindcore sections and back again, often all in the same song. The album moves at full speed, although the bands best tracks like the opener "Stagnant Strides" takes time to reach their extreme apex and reward the listener in full for it.

And if you have listened to any of the recent stuff from Trap Them, All Pigs Must Die or Nails, you have heard this all before. Which is not to say Harvest of the Carcass is not worth checking out: but the complete lack of originality is bound to turn some people off to New Lows well worn brand of Metallic Hardcore devastation. In truth, other than maybe the Grindcore heavy Nails, all of these modern Metallic Hardcore acts owe their sound to the work of the mighty Integrity, who were not only one of the first bands in Hardcore Punk to embrace Death and Thrash Metal, but were one of the first bands to embrace Metal's imagery, much like New Lows do with Harvest of the Carcass. That feeling of "been there, heard that" is perhaps the only issue with Harvest of the Carcass, because as a piece of entertainment this album is about as well crafted as it gets.

In the end, quality wins out over originality with Harvest of the Carcass. New Lows may not be "new," but the level of polish and intensity on this album surpasses many of the releases this year. The sheer, grimey intensity of Harvest of the Carcass is more than enough to give this album a listen, as long as one tempers their expectations.

7.5/10

Fukpig - Belief Is The Death Of Intelligence [2010]

Sharing past and present members with Anaal Nathrakh andMistress, one can predict the level of ferocity to be provided by this, Fukpig’ssophomore album, before going anywhere near the ‘play’ button. Although thedisdain for religion shown first by the album title is getting a little old,the musical ideas, which I assure you are nothing original, are not.

My point here is that although much of this is in a similarvein to guitarist/drummer Mick Kenney’s ‘day job’ Anaal Nathrakh, there residesan altogether crustier, and even a more vicious feeling to this. Blastbeatsgalore permeate the album, and riff-wise, there is a clear crustcore influence,although two of the most recognizable riffs on the album, the opening ones tothe title track and ‘This Is The News?’ respectively are evidently borrowedfrom two of the most famous tracks within extreme metal – Mayhem’s ‘DeMysteriis Dom Sathanas’ and Slayer’s ‘Angel Of Death’.

Not that anyone minds. Even if you’ve worn your LPs of thoseto death, bought a replacement CD and somehow worn that out too, those two fitin so snugly here that it wouldn’t seem at all out of place to someone whoinexplicably had found Fukpig without being aware of those two. Also ‘borrowed’is the Sunlight Studios-esque guitar tone offered – and this sounds right athome too. We’re all aware how heavily the Stockholm bands borrowed from theSwedish hardcore punk scene of the time, and this is a chance to hear theirtone given back to an altogether punkier context.

What I’m not saying, however, is that this album is a rehashof ripoffs. No, there are plenty of original factors – although mathematicsdictates that all three-chord riffs must have been used by now, the bassiertone used here makes them all seem highly original, as they cut through the mixlike a hot knife through butter. Relentless aggression here is done well – the usualtedium factor that starts to kick in after 25 minutes or so is not present hereat all.

Drum-wise, the patterns alternate between blasts and d-beats– this is a grindcore album after all. The production lends the drumming a niceorganic sound, which should please the crusties around to no end. As a point ofcomparison for the drumming in particular, but also for the vast majority ofthe album, imagine a combination of Disfear and Anaal Nathrakh.

One of the main things which makes this album appeal to methan many other black metal/grindcore hybrids is the way in which each individualsong has hooks within it to make it stand out from the rest, despite them allbeing stylistically similar. I’ll point you in the direction of the gang chantswhich start ‘This Is England’ (which are followed by one of the most frenziedvocal performances I’ve ever heard) and to the desolate feeling, borrowedequally from crust punk and black metal, which is particularly apparent in ‘DawnOf The Dumb’.

Altogether, I’d say that although it’s completelyderivative, Belief Is The Death Of Intelligenceis a fantastic album – marginally better than Fukpig’s first effort Spewings From A Selfish Nation, andcertainly way above par within its genre. Although it’s long been sold out,this is an album worth seeking out at most costs. One of the best of last year.

9.5/10