Masacre - Total Death (Hateworks, 2004)

Just what exactly is Death Metal? The whole meaning of the term requires revisiting under the shade of this long standing Colombian quartet’s sophomore release. Death Metal tries to convey through its inharmonious and dissonant but always innovative compositions the nihilistic deterioration of values which seem to plunder our world today. It is the musical essence of a dying corpse which could well symbolize our current image of humanity. This is how it started; as a reaction to the modern world of prescribed nonsense, as a wake up call to our numbed minds, desensitized by the ongoing brutality and sordid reality that we seem to live in. This is Death Metal, a feeling rising straight from the gut; a voice, a reaction. A feeling which seems to be smothered by the lackluster, polished releases of late. 

And then suddenly comes Masacre thrashing from the turbulent country of Colombia to nail down to us what exactly IS death metal. A laudable continuation of such legends as Death, Massacre (US), Suffocation, Monstrosity, Malevolent Creation and ofcourse Obituary, our fellow Colombians pummel our ears with their fiery brimstone of their nine anger-ridden compositions. Far from commercial modernisms, taking the simple and fundamental approach of feeling precedes technicality the album seethes with rage and anger against the hard set reality of today. Churning the archetypical riffs that made the genre so distinct with tight drumming and ofcourse the deep growls of throatsman Alex Traquento the album is transformed into a force to be reckoned with. It’s hard to miss the whole point here; the band does know what they’re playing and they’re doing a good job at that. The album also makes use of an ample amount of carefully placed good ol’ school solo licks which musically hint towards the early death metal movement. So if you’re craving for some good and brutal death metal then look no further, this should keep your CD player occupied for some time. “Death Metal Forever”? Hell yeah amigos.

(originally written for Tartarean Desire - 2005?) 

In Vino Veritas - Thorns (self-released, 2006)

"In Vino Veritas" is a Latin phrase meaning "there is truth in wine", hinting towards the fact under a certain state induced by alcohol a man exhibits his true inner nature; what would otherwise be hindered while being sober. And very much like so, there is also truth in the pure nature of music, of any kind and temperament, where an artist may divulge a very private part of his consciousness usually indiscernible through other means of expression -- such is the case of this one-man band in question. 

Very much influenced by US black metal acts such as Velvet Cacoon and Xasthur, IVV implore entrancing, treble-ridden riffage and hypnotic rhythms (with the bass-drum being high in the mix) to lull the listener into a state of contemplating trance. Although rhythmical monotony and generally that worn feeling of the music do possess their own mesmerising charm, there is still more to be achieved in the way of compositional development so as to add a further dimension to an already attention-grabbing piece of work. To the appropriately tuned ear, In Vino Veritas' Thorns will indeed invoke its intended imagery of desolation and solitude, but for the rest it will ever-remain something instantly dismissible. 

Contact: http://www.borninblood.co.uk/ivv/
  
(originally written for Chronicles of Chaos - 8/9/2006)

Majeste Simphonia - Tragenda Dramatica (self-released, 2005)

With two songs clocking at just over seven minutes, there's one thing for sure: this is going to be a short review. Obviously, with such a small taste we can't reliably assume what the outfit's actual caliber or potential may be. Nonetheless, the single actual song that comprises this disc (apart from the keyboard-laden instrumental, which, even though a soothing piece of music, is of little importance) presents an ardent and capable outcome well worth its short transverse on this petite demo. It can be characterized as atmospheric / gothic metal finely interlaced with symphonic parts, with a touch of melodic black metal to rev up the overall momentum of the song. Vocals alternate between clean sung parts and typical black metal rasps. Technically speaking, there's nothing exceedingly extravagant in the song's delivery, which makes it a pleasant listen, although just a few notches above the mediocre mark. Of course it hints towards the likes of The Sins of thy Beloved, Tristania (minus the female vocals) and even late Moonspell, which makes its nature derivative and carrying less of an impact. Hopefully next time we'll have a release which is more than an appetizer.

Contact: http://www.majeste-simphonia.cjb.net  

(originally written for Chronicles of Chaos - 16/11/2005)

Haemoth - Kontamination (Debemur Morti, 2006)

                                                        

"Haemoth supports all that can contribute to the ruin of the human being..." Indeed. Look no further, oh blasphemous heathens of a fallen race! Kvlt-inspired cheese aside, this is one wrist-slittingly beautiful discharge of blackened audial venom spewed from the French Haemoth. Think of a stripped-to-the-bones version of early Immortal, dipped in treble galore and sprinkled with the insanely warped sound of the likes of Skaur, Black Funeral and even Axis of Perdition. Audibly this translates to razor-sharp riffage, painful screams drenched in agony and a non-stop double-bass attack. It's that bad, folks. But in this case, it is a good thing nonetheless. Evidently, Haemoth are putting their money where their mouth is on this spiked-up mCD, and as such, are capable of communicating what they are iterating as their fundamental motives behind their creative output, namely overwhelming enmity and sheer emotional negativity, as the distinct, emergent properties of Kontamination. So don't expect fancy technical coagulations or elated symphonic interludes; only fast, relentless, sore-inducing black metal -- no more, no less -- with a mental after-burn of the fifth degree to top it off.

Contact: http://www.haemoth.fr.st/

(originally written for Chronicles of Chaos - 7/4/2006)

Psycroptic - Symbols of Failure (Neurotic, 2006)

Frenetically unhinged yet delightfully chaotic, satisfyingly unpredictable and never monotonous: this has been mostly the case with these Aussies. Lest we forget, Psycroptic's "The Scepter of the Ancients" was indeed one of the most convoluted death metal albums to sprout up in 2003 and three years later the Tasmanian devils don't seem to be settling for a respite.For the uninitiated, Psycroptic churn a gripping blend of extreme musicianship, mainly driven by abrasive staccato riffing and frenzied drumming minus the excessive US death metal worship. Being an eyebrow-raising piece of tech-death, _Symbols of Failure_ is an album that needs to be taken in a number of times to fully appreciate its complexity through every small instrumental twist. Technically proficient, Psycroptic never settle for textbook dabbling and slot a fair number of different elements in their sound, giving a textured layout to their compositions. There is a certain groove which crops up from time to time; not that being any sort of a stale, pseudo-core breakdown, but rather a rhythmical groove more reminiscent of their Texan counterparts. Guitars carry less of an impact comparatively, although what they lack in bulk they make up in sheer technical exploitation, whilst the drum-work is still lambasting and diverse as always.
 
Being of a rather restless nature; there are times where pinch harmonics and sweep-picked guitar passages rapidly swing from one tempo / time signature to another and others where the lads are content with simply bombarding our ear-drums with throbbing brutality. Not a palpable album music-wise by any measure, it doesn't possess a single standpoint upon which one could infer a safe categorization to fit this innovative outfit into. However, it's still remarkable how some bands manage to sound so blatantly "death metal" and yet being so profoundly un-derivative at the same time and Psycroptic, third time round now, have once again proved that they're one of them. 
 

Contact: http://www.psycroptic.com  

(originally written for Chronicles of Chaos - 17/2/2006)

Vortex - Version (Self-released, 2007)

For a moment there I thought that maybe there was something about this band; that maybe, given the plethora of influences they could tap into, there was a glint of authentic musical acumen. But no; unfortunately for my –by now- shriveled auditory cortex, this particular musical platter hasn't met my, apparently, lofty expectations - not by a long shot. Where Satyricon (with Rebel Extravaganza) in essence provided the most refined form of black metal extremism/terrorism without the need to resort to death metal inoculations; where Thorns (with their self-titled, singular album) fundamentally solidified black metal within its riff-o-logical (indeed, I'm making up words now - mind?) substratum; where DHG (with 666 International) took the usual black metal forms and distorted/contorted/morphed them beyond recognition against a canvas of abstract surrealism, Vortex can only sit cross-legged nearby like the proverbial infant sucking on its thumb, dumbfounded if not rather perplexed. 

VERSion as a musical endeavor is seemingly content with just gliding blissfully along the aesthetical wave of the aforementioned triptych without any indication of stirring into unknown “waters” and countering this wash-over of stale songcraft. Spastically rendered rhythms coupled with shambling dynamics make the songs feel as if they’re stuck in 2nd gear. At their worst they sound like a mish-mash of plastered industro-beats and interspersed, bland staccato riffery; at their best they do sound quite promising, if only for a few transient moments of inspired experimentation. In effect, what has happened here is that the band has fallen in the pitfall that has befallen so many bands before them: the constituent parts are actually more functional than aesthetically genuine, i.e. although the band is instrumentally adept; the very 'soul' of the music remains unconvincing. Vocals only exacerbate any given impression of a musical congruence - sounds like the guy after numerous tries perforce had to settle with just shouting the lyrics with a limited sense of tonal inflection. 

Although admittedly I could only half-heartedly 'get' DHG’s manic structural aberrance, still there was an artistic direction that could be discerned out of the sprawling chaos but frustratingly enough, this is not the case with these Huns. But hey, maybe I’m wrong, maybe these are just the incipient steps of a band destined towards greatness, in which case in the years to come I may prove to be the one narrow-minded individual who couldn't see the genius through it all. But then again, maybe not.

(originally written for Diabolical Conquest - 2008)

Bardoseneticcube / Noises of Russia - New Orthodox Line (Some Place Else, 2007)

 

I suppose any possible arrangement of sound for it to be dubbed 'music' must have a psychological analogue, a mental configuration as it were that reflects an overarching audial theme to its subject, i.e the listener. If such a condition isn't satisfied by the case in point then we could in a formal sense dismiss such an 'arrangement' as noise. But herein lies the paradox - at least in my mind anyway - since for all its noisy recalcitrance with regards to what your typical Average Joe considers as music to dub this offering as mere 'noise' per se would be a misnomer since it manages to conjure such a wide gamut of other-worldly mindscapes that your typical chorus-verse-chorus-verse-solo act couldn't even dream of concocting with its intrinsically myopic compositional strategy. 

Philosophical musings aside, ‘New Orthodox Line’ sees two Russian acts symbiotically bleeding into each other's aesthetical imprint and producing an offering that is over and above the mere sum of its constituent input from the outfits involved. Let me clarify for the un-initiated that the only sense of rhythm and tonality you'll get from this odious split stems solely from the distorted clunking church bells and the monotonous chanting - that's it as far as structure is concerned, everything else is submerged in a tub of harsh feedback and disorientating frequencies. Mind-penetrating cacophony washes over the lingering chants without eclipsing their presence altogether and sampled screeches resonate with tinny reverberation. After a while this seeming thematic antithesis of order versus chaos reaches an end and we plunge headfirst into a whitewashed soundscape of assuaging ambience, resurfacing feedbacks and oscillating clatters of metallic noise. Suddenly of all things, the chilling cry of an infant echoes through this audially weaved expanse before thick ambient layers and the resurging, familiar chanting motif clasp the remaining shards of any sort of cohesion left amidst the splintering noise and henceforth signal an apt closure to this surreal inward journey.

The closest 'metal' aesthetic semblance I can think off the top of my head is Abruptum's ‘Casus Luciferi’ but ‘New Orthodox Line’ is really on another plane in terms of conviction and artistic flair. As the scathing textural dissonance tactfully disrupts your neural circuitry, this sonic experience attains the mystique of a religious mass - formal schemata and meaning are deformed beyond recognition and sheer, direct understanding precedes over any sort of musical conventionalities. At this level of abstraction, potential naysayers might quip a sarcastic comment, mock at the seeming uselessness of such an endeavour and retreat back to their familiar and more approachable musical milieu, but what our unfortunate bipeds have apparently failed to grasp is that objectively speaking pure Art never needed a purpose in the first place anyway.

(originally written for Diabolical Conquest - 31/5/2008)