Review: Undergang - Til Døden os Skiller

Band: Undergang
Album: Til Døden os Skiller
Year: 2012
Country: Denmark
Genre: Death Metal

I'm a pretty big fan of simple groovy straight forward death metal, my love for Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets should make this obvious. But still there are some bands that seem to even screw up what should be a relatively simple sell for someone with musical tastes like me. Undergang seems to have done exactly that with Til Døden os Skiller and it was really difficult to listen to this over a few times for a review.

There are actually some decent riffs presented throughout the album but it seems limited to about one a song and they are rather short and switch to something else quickly. I can hear a lot of doom as well but it is done in a boring slow chugging kind of way that just isn't pleasing to the ear. Undergang seems to have followed no apparent path in composing the songs and it feels like they were just kind of winging it. It's like the band will get lost around the middle of a song before finding itself again and repeating a riff then its over. What this album needed was a little more structure. There are a few bands who can go off the beaten path and just jam and it sounds great but this is just a mess.

David Torturdød the vocalist/guitarist isn't exactly my cup of tea either. Most of the time he uses an ultra low death growl that sounds like he is possibly puking his guts out. Some people may like this and that's totally fine but for me...when you go from vocalists with powerful death growls who can actually be understood to a dull vomiting sound it kind of spoils it.

Honestly I had trouble giving this a full listen. It is really dissonant, and not in The Dillinger Escape Plan kind of way which is pulled off. No, this is a blundering mess. If brutality is what is most important to you this album is probably something you would enjoy. But it lacks a lot of direction and most times a sense of melody that is usually standard for even death metal. Til Døden os Skiller sounds more like someone flipped the on switch to a garbage disposal.

Score: 1/10
Standout Tracks: None

Review: Asphyx - Deathhammer

Band: Asphyx
Album: Deathhammer
Year: 2012
Country: Netherlands
Genre: Death/Doom Metal

After Pestilence, Asphyx were one of the other bigger death metal bands to come out of the Netherlands in the early 90s. Their place in the halls of extreme metal were cemented with The Rack and Last One On Earth, both of which Martin van Drunen did vocals for. He is really my main draw to this band. I'm a huge fan of Hail of Bullets and loved the first few Pestilence albums. But I also enjoy the doomy death metal that Asphyx plays and Deathhammer is what its all about.

And Paul Baayens really does lay on the doom pretty thick on this album. I mean some of these riffs just smother you in how slow and grinding they are. Der Landser is another track where doom reigns supreme. Oh but its not all slow mo death metal, both Into the Timewaste, and Reign of the Brute, and The Flood have very groovey mid paced riffs and these parts are sprinkled throughout the album to remind us that these guys know how to speed things up.

Of course Martin van Drunen is still shredding his throat as he is want to do. Frankly he sounds just as good here as he did on any of the bands first releases. That trademark half growl half shriek is a staple of this band and one of the most noticeable things.

Alwin Zuur's bass is a little buried under the guitars which are mixed a bit higher than the drums/bass and it seems even the vocals. But it can luckily still be heard and aids in maintaining the low end. On the drums Bob Bagchus plays pretty standard death/doom stuff. I'm glad he keeps a little more away from the double bass unlike some of his peers. I love double bass myself but its very circumstantial when it comes to doomier music in my opinion.

Deathhammer is good but it suffers a little bit from being a tad too long. You can tell what songs hold the stronger doom moments because they are the longer tracks and I feel like if they had cut a few of these the album would have been just the right length. One of the more painful things to me is an album that overstays its welcome. This is still good crushing death metal but I miss how bands knew how to put a lot of quality in the 8 or 9 songs which used to be standard on most death albums. Putting that aside the production is mostly excellent, this sounds heavy as hell and Dan Swano at Unisound did a pretty good job mixing/mastering besides maybe turning the guitars down a little.

Score: 8/10
Standout Tracks: The Flood, We Doom You to Death, Vespa Crabro

Review: Evocation - Illusions of Grandeur

Band: Evocation
Album: Illusions of Grandeur
Year: 2012
Country Sweden
Genre: Death Metal

In the lead up to Illusions being released I was very excited to consume new material from these Swedes. Their last album, Apocalypse, is one of my favorite death metal albums because of its expert blend of old school Swedish death metal and Gothenburg melodic death metal. They played a style that kept both feet on the side of death metal while embracing more melody and guitar harmonies. This is why Illusions of Grandeur is unfortunately a let down for me.

When I hear IoG the bands that come to mind are first and foremost, Amon Amarth, and secondly a touch of At the Gates. Of course their previous work already had that AtG styling to it. But the Amon Amarth influence takes the front seat here. The riffs especially wreak of that band, and it saddens me that while Evocation were not necessarily unique in their past releases, they were still one of a handful of bands doing the melodic death metal sub-genre justice. Even the buzzsaw guitar tone is gone, and its loss is oh so felt!

Thomas Josefsson still gives a pretty good performance on the album. His throaty growls border on the standard black metal rasps. But even vocally the album doesn't seem to escape the Amon Amarth touch with Johan Hegg doing guest vocals on Into Submission.

Josefsson also takes over bass guitar duties on this album as well. The bass plays a much smaller role in the music here than on Apocalyptic. Where before it was a buzzing heavy bottom end now its buried behind the guitars. Even Janne Boden's drumming is slower and less frenzied.

Illusions of Grandeur is a step down in quality by Evocation. They have pretty much abandoned their Swedish death metal roots and instead here are more of a Amon Amarth clone. Still I will admit they do Amon Amarth better than Amon Amarth do but still, it is pretty disappointing. This time around they even opted for the clean modern sounding production. These songs are still decent but I seriously hope on their next release Evocation decides to move back towards their older sound which was far more enjoyable.

Score: 7/10
Standout Tracks: Perception of Reality, Well of Despair

Review: Dying Fetus - Reign Supreme

Band: Dying Fetus
Album: Reign Supereme
Year: 2012
Genre Death Metal
Country: USA

Never really listened to a Dying Fetus album before. I'll be honest for a while I found the name to be quite disgusting and that alone quashed any interest in the band I had. But of course we should never judge a book by its cover now, should we? Reign Supreme is actually a pretty decent album, although for me it does have a few noticeable flaws.

I really like the guitar play on this album. It is mostly mid paced groovy death metal, that infectious kind that is just fun as hell to listen to. There are also some noodly moments here and there but it doesn't go into the tech death wankery thank god. At times the speed does pick up, even if briefly, which can be a welcomed change of pace. But overall its the groove that really owns this album and makes it something that kept me from being bored of listening to it.

One of the flaws with Reign Supreme is the drumming. To be more specific the sound of the snare drum. The drumming itself is actually really good and I enjoyed it. But the snare sounds so processed and fake like. And with the amount of blast beating that goes on it just kind of sucks the life from what could be a really great part of the album. And the Bass seems to be quite lost in the mix.

I do like the vocals. Its a deep death growl that almost borders on pig squeals at times. Though it is usually quite difficult to understand a word Sean Beasley is saying! Oh well I enjoyed his performance anyways, its a very primal and brutal growl that definitely gets the job done. The production is pretty solid for the album. Besides the bass being almost non-existent. Its clean and crisp and the guitars have just the right bite to them.

So Dying Fetus have produced a pretty brutal album with heaps of groove. Its the riffs that are the key to the success here I believe. I mean sure the vocals are extreme and the production is strong but the riffing elevates RS to being more than just another run of the mill death metal album. Still, while Reign Supreme is a good listen it also doesn't do a whole lot more than any other band does. Its not progressive in any way, but they seem to have embraced their niche and are making the best of it. As long as the quality holds up the way it has on RS, I'm fine with that.

Score: 7.5/10
Standout Tracks: Invert the Idols, In the Trenches

Review: Cannibal Corpse - Torture

Band: Cannibal Corpse
Album: Torture
Year: 2012
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

Here it is, my first venture into modern Cannibal Corpse. I'll be honest in saying that Eaten Back To Life is my only exposure to CC. That was a long time ago and I have heard a lot about CC from both their fans and detractors over the years but never really paid much attention. So it's with Torture that I take my first leap into the band's modern era.

Torture is unfortunately fraught with issues. One of them stands out above the others, and in fact might be the only unforgettable problem with this album. This is completely forgettable. Everything is just so bland and none of it really sticks in your mind. In listening to this album I have not once said, "Hey I'm going to give this song another listen!". As background music it does nicely. It is something to headbang to while you do some monotonous task. But I could not sit down and just listen to Torture with it in the forefront of my mind.

I cannot say the musicianship is bad either. I mean the fellas are obviously proficient at playing their instruments. But it is probably more so the fact that none of the music is interesting. I had a hard enough time paying attention to the music and many times I was unsure whether the same song was playing or if the next one was on. They just all sound the same and when they aren't very creative it makes listening to the whole album a real challenge.

Torture is extremely mediocre. It's like the band didn't care to create anything beyond what was expected which is a shame because this is rather stagnant. Even vocally it is the same unchanging death growl throughout the entire album. Some vocalists can actually pull this off but it just doesn't work here. This review was difficult to even write because Torture is just so bland. I'm not sure whats worse, writing a bad album, or writing something that is uninspired and forgettable.

Score: 3/10
Standout Tracks: None, if you really must listen to this album throw it on for background noise.

Review: Vomitory - Opus Mortis VIII

Band: Vomitory
Album: Opus Mortis VIII
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Genre: Death Metal

Vomitory seems to be very much like Bolt Thrower. And by that I don't mean they sound like Bolt Thrower, but they have that same consistency. This can lead people to both be happy and upset it seems. People will cry over the fact that a band isn't progressing, while others will be upset if the band moves from its sound.

Many bands are playing the old school style of Swedish death metal but few of them were actually there. Vomitory was though, and they have retained that Swedeath sound and have it down to a science. I personally enjoy this. The riffing here is both groovy and crushing with just the right amount of melody so as to not be too wussified. While there is a bit of chugging to be honest that doesn't really offend me the way it does some people. There is even a nice acoustic intro to Hate in Time of War.

 I have to say Erik Rundqvist's death growls are downright filthy sounding. These are among the best growls in death metal in my opinion. They are very deep yet you can make out what he is saying which is always a treat! Though his bass is just barely audible. It may just be my sound system but it seems it seems the guitars are what is giving most of the low end. The drumming of Tobias Gustafsson is also pretty decent. Very standard death metal drumming but I appreciate how he doesn't just fill every track with blasts and instead uses them sparingly and where needed.

Opus VIII is a good Swedeath album at just the right length. At 36 minutes the band gets across their point. Far too many bands just go on way too long for their own good turning what could be a decent album into a borefest. The riffs are so groovy it's hard not to bang your head to them. While some may say Vomitory isn't doing anything new, what they are doing is damn good.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Regorge in the Morgue, The Dead Awaken, Hate in Time of War

Review: Desultory - Counting Our Scars

Band: Desultory
Album: Counting Our Scars
Year: 2010
Genre: Death Metal
Country: Sweden

Desultory actually got their start in the early 90s. The band, hailing from Stockholm, disbanded after 3 albums in the mid 90s but reformed in the later part of the last decade. Counting Our Scars is a lot like Evocation's newer stuff. And by that I mean its death metal with very melodic underpinnings. To say this is pleasing to the ears is an understatement.

So the album is sort of on the short side as far as how many tracks it has, only 9. But the length of the songs makes up for it.  Most are above 4 minutes but below 6. My big only complaint would probably be this too. The songs, while good, at times just feel a little too long for their own good. Still, they are all good. Each song contains strong riffing. That seems to be what the band went for, heavily riff driven death metal. Every song can stand alone and be great, but when you put them together the album as a whole knocks it out of the park. While the songs have a sort of samey kind of sound you won't really be mistaking one for another.

I really like the vocals of Klas Morberg. He has a harsh throaty growl that registers somewhere in the mid range. its not too high but not really low either. It does get a little monotonous I will admit but its not a serious mark against the band or album. Unless I suppose you don't enjoy the sound he goes with, in which case this isn't for you.

The drumming is pretty good as well. There are blast beats used sparingly, but just enough that you know Thomas Johnson means business. But when they are used they are put to good use. And another cool thing? You can hear Johan Bohlin's bass through the whole album! So happy about this. It would be cool if he were given a little more leeway and didn't just follow the guitars but these days with this kind of music the bass almost seems to be an afterthought so I'm just glad I can hear it.

Counting Our Scars offers solid death metal chock full of melody. You can put this up there with other releases in this growing phenomena in the world of death metal like Those Once Loyal (Bolt Thrower), Apocalypse (Evocation) and even last years On Divine Winds by Hail of Bullets. You get the punchy meaty riffs of death metal with the sweetness of catchy riffing. I really like the style the band uses on COS and it is something I see myself listening to a lot in the future. It could easily be a gateway album for those who find other stuff just a little too harsh for their ears. I'll be waiting impatiently to see what Desultory comes up with next.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Leeching Life, Counting Our Scars, In A Cage

Review: Black Breath - Sentenced To Life

Band: Black Breath
Album: Sentenced To Life
Year: 2012
Genre: Death Metal/Hardcore Punk
Country: USA

In 2010 Black Breath released Heavy Breathing, and album that to this day is still kicking my ass. I heard a track on a best of 2010 podcast by the Requiem Metal Podcast fellas and sought out this band. Once I got my hands on that album it quickly became my favorite release of the year. Well the guys (who happen to be from my neck of the woods) are back with their new release, Sentenced To Life.

What do we get with Sentenced To Life? BB follows the the same template laid down by Heavy Breathing, with a tweak or two that come off as positives. The band still plays a genre bending form of death metal and hardcore punk. Make no mistake, this is NOT deathcore as you know it. This is old school swedish death with a punky/hardcore edge to it and a bit of thrash for good measure.

The guitars have that warm fuzzy chainsaw guitar tone so well known as a staple of the Stockholm bands. This continues to be one of the best imitations of the Sunlight Studios guitar tone I have heard. The production works in synergy to create a very heavy sound that compliments the death metal style the band plays in. Its crunchy, fuzzy, and just plain nasty sounding.

One of the tweaks I mentioned before was an improvement in the drumming. Check out Of Flesh for some sweet blast beats, which I don't believe were very present in the last album. Even still a further improvement would be to add more blast beats. But definitely keep it in moderation, too many bands these days abuse the hell out of blasts. I have no complaints about the drumming overall, the snare has a nice bite to it and the double bass thumps along perfectly. And as for vocals? Neil McAdams kills it again with his hardcore screams. These aren't your wussy hardcore vocals you would expect these days, these are throat shredding screams.

What I love most is the length of the songs. BB seems to have found the perfect general length for songs. Over half of the songs on the album don't make it past the 3 minute mark. These are short bursts of aggression that are headbangable to the max. I mean they are so catchy its almost sickening. Another note would be the placement of a couple songs. Endless Corpse is a much slower song than most on the album and for much of the track it stays in the realm of doom. Following that as almost a brutal contrast is the blistering Mother Abyss that just rockets away with its incredible riffs.


I'm so pleased with Sentenced To Life and Black Breath should give themselves a pat on the back for another job well done. Two incredible albums in a row, no sophomore slump for them. STL has aggression, the catchy factor, the heavy production, and is actually fun to listen to. If this band didn't catch your attention with Heavy Breathing then Sentenced To Life should be front and center for any fans of old school death metal. They have found their niche and continue to perfect their sound.

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Feast of the Damned, Home of the Grave, Mother Abyss

Review: Jungle Rot - Kill On Command

Band: Jungle Rot
Album: Kill On Command
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

Well this is a treat! I am so happy I finally decided to look into Jungle Rot, and especially that Kill On Command was my first experience with them. This is pure face smashing death metal. Do you know how people mention the boneheaded chest beating neanderthal death metal some people talk about? Yeah that is what this is, but its actually really great stuff.

What's quite intriguing about the music you hear on KOC is that there is a certain element of hardcore to it. No no no not the deathcore type but actual genuine death metal with proper hardcore influences. You can especially hear it in the breakdowns. We have all heard our fair share of breakdowns but Jungle Rot doesn't go overboard throwing too many into one song. In fact the breakdowns that are there (No Mercy, and Push Comes To Shove for example) are interesting because the fellas decided to actually add something to them and play different riffs over them or throw in guitar solos so that they aren't the borefest we are all used to. Not only that but there is an actual style of riffing that sounds very punk/hardcore like in tracks like Born of Contagion, and I Predict A Riot. This is actually refreshing since I have found so few bands who successfully combine elements of hardcore with death metal while still maintaining a proper death metal sound. Not to mention Rise Up and Revolt has a killer intro!

The vocals are a deep throaty sort but not so dissonant that you cant understand what is being said. I'm not sure if there are effects done to them in the studio but they sound good, and sort of different. Whether it was added or natural I like it. The bass seems to be a little buried in the mix but if you pay attention you will notice it there. It mostly just goes along with the guitars though. The drumming is solid, and pretty conservative with the blasts. No constant blasting here but it is peppered through the album here and there. One thing that is a little annoying, and this will be different for everyone, is the sound of the bass drum. It sounds a little odd and I don't especially like it especially during the double bass parts.

So chalk this up as a win for Jungle Rot. This is really good mid paced death metal with a good amount of groove to it and a dash of hardcore thrown in for good measure. All the songs are generally sounding the same but I could equate them to Bolt Thrower, it may sound similar but it sounds good. There is the cruddy sounding bass drum but its not at all a deal breaker. Cheers to JR for successfully melding bits of hardcore (awesome breakdowns, hardcore like riffs, and gang shouts) with death metal without it sounding like garbage.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Blood Ties, Rise Up and Revolt, Push Comes to Shove, Born of Contagion

Review: Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus

Band: Morbid Angel
Album: Illud Diviunum Insanus
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

I had briefly sampled a few of the songs off of IDI back when the album had first come out. I felt almost embarrassed at the time. As someone who follows numerous metal blog and forum sites, experiencing people's shock and disgust over Morbid Angel's Illud Divinum Insanus was like watching a train crash. You knew something awful was happening but it's just too difficult to take your eyes off of it. So lets get this out of the way, all the negative things you have heard about this album are true.

MA fans seemed to be really excited about the I album. Maybe it was because it had been 8 years since the last album, maybe it was because David Vincent was back, but they couldn't have been expecting this. You can easily split the album into two forms of music. There are the proper death metal songs like Beauty Meets Beast, Nevermore, Blades of Baal, and Existo Vulgore. Then you have the techno/industrial saturated tracks with hints of death metal like Too Extreme!, Radikult, Destructos Vs the Earth, and I Am Morbid.

First I will get into the pure death metal tracks. They are really lame. Alright, Beauty Meets Beast is actually a good song, in fact the only one on the album. Nevermore is just ok. I mean Nevermore/Blades of Baal/Existo Vulgore are just pretty mediocre death metal with some groove in them. But compared to the other tracks on the album these shine, but they still aren't all that good. Thing of a generic by the numbers death metal song and any of these three would probably sound pretty similar to that.

This album has become so infamous that its spawned its own memes within the metal community. Who hasn't seen/heard someone randomly shout or type Too Extreme! or Killa Cop? Those memes alone made those songs difficult to listen to. Once the instrumental Omni Potens finished and the awful electronic drum beat started for Too Extreme! I knew this was going to be a chore. The first time David Vincent screamed "Too Extreme!" I couldn't help but chuckle. That happens a lot on this album. Those electronic drums also sound downright dreadful, like this was some sort of Ministry joke track. The album ends almost as badly as it starts with Radikult being the second to last track. MA completely ape Marilyn Manson and you can't help but think they were listening to The Beautiful People way too much as they were writing this track. This one also got some laughs from me, listen yourself and tell me how this can be taken seriously.

Lyrically Illud is just as comedic as the music. It's mostly tough guy bullshit or some weird shallow science fiction crap. The tough guy songs are even worse because the band seems to have a complete hard on for themselves. Too Extreme, and I Am Morbid seem to be about how super duper awesome the band are. I'm glad they are here to tell us these things, how ironic. To put it simply, there is just no substance here.

David Vincent's vocals are really nothing special here. He gives your run of the mill performance that fails to impress. Maybe hes just getting old, but its not super bad. Just a bit boring. Then there is the bass, or is there? You could have fooled me cause I didn't hear any. The production is a minor annoyance since the vocals soar over everything else, which sucks cause they aren't much to write home about. The drumming sounds kind of fake, especially the double bass. Some parts seem programed which sounds like trash and the real drumming isn't the least bit interesting.

The major reason this album fails isn't because of the electronic parts, but because the electronic parts just aren't done well. It comes off sounding like some awful joke/satire of 90s industrial metal. And not only do the industrial songs sound like shit but they are some of the longest on the album and get most of the time. I just can't see how the members of Morbid Angel thought they could get away with this and not be the laughing stock of the metal scene. Even the straight up death metal tracks are bad with the exception of Beauty Meets Beast. And now there is news of a Remix album? I guess here goes round 2.

Score: 2.5/10
Standout Track: Beauty Meets Beast

Review: Evocation - Apocalyptic

Band: Evocation
Album: Apocalyptic
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Genre: Death Metal

During the mid to late 00s we began to see the new wave of old school Swedish death metal bands begin to permeate the death metal scene. With these new bands came a few who were both new and old. Evocation is a death metal act who released a few demos in the early 90s before going on hiatus. The band later reformed and started releasing new material and Apocalyptic is their sophomore effort.

While Evocation plays in the style of Entombed and Dismember (crunchy guitar tone and all) they are also a bit unique. Why? Well they also seem to take queues from mid 90s melodic death metal as well. Most specifically you can hear some At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul type stuff in the guitar riffs. So we could say musically Evocation is 2 parts Stockholm death metal and 1 part Gothenburg. But don't let that worry you, the Gothenburg influences it isn't the flowery folk/power metal stuff of bands like In Flames but the thrashy guitar harmonies of AtG. I personally enjoy this greatly.

Sweet Obsession kicks off the album with a fast picked intro that calls to mind the hallmark Sunlight Studios buzzsaw guitar tone the Stockholm bands are known for. Evocation seem to be masters of creating pleasing yet aggressive melodies that are catchy without being pretty. Every song on the album is a winner in my book. Psychosis Warfare showcases the band's ability to seamlessly blend the conflicting OSSDM and melodeath sounds perfectly. The band plays mostly mid paced death metal but they occasionally slow down here and there like on Its All Your Fault.

Expect a lot of the fast snare hits from drummer Janne Boden which isn't too different from what you hear on SotS. He also throws in some nice blasting here and there as well but doesn't do it the whole time. The Swedish bands always seem to know just when a blast is most effective rather than blasting the whole song long like many of their American counterparts were prone to do. I can hardly hear the bass of Martin Toresson but I do feel what I do hear is him giving a helping hand to the low end by following the already crushing guitars.

Vocalist Thomas Josefsson has a very strong voice. It is a bit on the higher side and he wouldn't sound out of place in a Carcass clone band imitating the brand of vocals Jeff Walker popularized. At times he will let out a lower proper death growl which sounds just as good.

If Evocation had just been another Dismember or At the Gates rip off band this probably would have been a rather boring album. But the fact that they use the templates laid by both bands puts them in a very unique spot giving them a niche for those who enjoy both sub-genres. While I enjoy the 90s output of Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, and In Flames, this is true melodic death metal played the way it was meant to be. And not only does the band have a foot planted on both sides of the fence, they are damn good at it!

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks:Psychosis Warfare, Sweet Obsession, Infamy

Review: Exhumed - All Guts, No Glory

Band: Exhumed
Album: All Guts, No Glory
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

Imagine if Carcass had decided to make an album while they were transitioning from the gore drenched death metal of Necroticism to the melody ridden Heartwork. A best of both worlds if you will. I imagine it would sound something like what Exhumed have brought us with AGNG. Being a Carcass clone doesn't mean you can't still make great music (i.e. Impaled), and if there is one release that proves that its this one.

Now the really deep gutturals are here like you would expect, but they are just an addition (though a good one) to the main vocal style of Matt Harvey. These are much higher but not in the same way Jeff Walker does it. Walker does more of a snarl while Harvey sounds similar to Tomas Lindberg if a little lower pitched. At first this kind of annoyed me but after too long I noticed there is something endearing about Mett's screams.

There is a pretty good dose of melody in this album but one thing it doesn't lack is savagery. You can actually draw quite a few parallels to Heartwork here. There is the melodic soloing on As Hammer To Anvil, Through Cadaver Eyes and most other songs along with the harmonies of Your Funeral, My Feast, I Rot Within, and Through Cadaver Eyes. But there is the furious no nonsense aggression from Necroticism on Death Knell, and Necrotized. Now most songs actually contain all these elements and use them to great affect no less. I need to give special to mention to the album closer So Let It Be Rotten...So Let It Be Done. This song is probably the most fun to listen to for the catchy chorus alone.

There is lots of blasting on this album and the drumming is very tight. The drummer keeps up well with the usually speedy approach used by the guitars. The bass is back there somewhere and occasionally makes it known there is even a bassist but it seems to mostly just follow the guitars note for note which is a little boring. The production is really solid for this album as well. All Guts, No Glory is pretty clean sounding, the guitars are thick the drums are pronounced and the vocals aren't buried in between them.

So with a mix of the melodic and energetic this album gives all you could ask for in a Carcass clone but so much more. An amalgam of Heartwork and Necroticism that we didn't get to experience with that band. This makes All Guts, No Glory sort of a unique clone, which I know hardly makes any sense, but in the end it really does. Exhumed deliver the goods and give us everything we need to thrash away.

Score: 8.5/10
Standout Tracks: So Let it Be Rotten...So Let It Be Done, Your Funeral, My Feast, Through Cadaver Eyes

Review: Hail of Bullets - On Divine Winds

Band: Hail of Bullets
Album: On Divine Winds
Year: 2010
Country: The Netherlands
Genre: Death Metal

I love Hail of Bullets so to say I was awaiting On Divine Winds is to put it lightly. ...Of Frost and War had become one of my favorite death metal album and the band itself harkens back to the simplistic groovy style of Bolt Thrower, war themed lyrics included!

Where on the last album HoB seemed to be almost a shadow of Asphyx with their doomy sections on this release they had cut back significantly on the doom and gone for straight mid paced death metal. Sure there are still slower parts but as a whole the album moves along a bit more quickly than before.

There is an undeniable groove to the riffs constructed here. You have the main riff of Operation Z or the easy to headbang to Guadalcanal that has a sort of bounce to the verse riffs. Like I said the slower numbers are still there, To Bear the Unbearable is kind of the epic ending track and like Berlin from the last album it marches along slowly. Tokyo Napalm Holocaust has a few chuggy sections that sound absolutely bad ass as well but a lot of the song crawls and those more speedier sections are almost separate climaxes.

Martin Van Drunen as always brings his A game. He has one of those growls where as soon as you hear it you know exactly who it is. On ODW he belts out line after line of lyrics pertaining to the Pacific theater. I like what the band has going here with the different theaters of war they are exploring with each album.

As always the production is massive. Dan Swano over at Unisound Studio once again did the mixing/mastering. The guitar sound is thick but not in the way you usually think. They sound like a freight train more than anything else. The mix is done pretty well and the guitars/vocals are up from with the drums not far behind. The bass guitar for the most part is no where to be found, maybe I just don't have it up loud enough though. But I think if they gave Theo Van Eekelen more room and a higher spot in the mix they could improve the heaviness of their sound even further. I always loved how Jo Bench filled out the bottom end of Bolt Throwers sound and it would be cool if that was done here as well.

On Divine Winds is an improvement on the foundations HoB laid with OFaW. This is sort of a defining record where they drop the Asphyxisms and do their own thing. Now their own thing might sound really close to what Bolt Thrower was doing but this doesn't bother me one bit. This band still has their own identity though and a sound that is quite their own. This along with God Dethroned's album is easily one of the top releases of 2010.

Score: 9/10
Standout Track: Operation Z, Tokyo Napalm Holocaust, Guadalcanal, Full Scale War

Review: God Dethroned - Under the Sign of the Iron Cross

Band: God Dethroned
Album: Under the Sign of the Iron Cross
Year: 2010
Country: The Netherlands
Genre: Blackened Death Metal

This was my introduction to God Dethroned. In fact the only reason I decided to check out this album was because I was looking for war themed death metal. God Dethroned play blackened death metal so there is an excess (though not in a negative way) of ripping fast riffs and blast beats.

To add some atmosphere the album starts with what sounds like a German radio message as drums and guitars slowing fade in. Storm of Steel is probably the best track on the album though its hard to say because it is all so good here. The riffs while often pretty fast paced are very melodic for the style of metal being played. In fact that is one of the big things I enjoy about UtSotIC, there is so much melody fused with the brutality that the riffs and vocal/lyric lines stick with you long after you've finished listening.

Whats more the album is only 36 minutes long. Tracks like Storm of Steel, Fire Storm, The Killing Is Faceless, and The Red Baron all are memorable headbangers with excellent riffs and face melting lyrics about WWI combat. To add to the combat theme there are small sound bytes taken from Saving Private Ryan of some of the battle scenes. Fire Storm has the sounds of a tank being blown up with machine gun fire in the background, Chaos Reigns At Dawn takes from the scene where the Germans are firing a heavy weapon at allied troops tearing them to pieces. This all adds to the war theme giving an extra bump to the atmosphere.

But there are two really epic tracks here. The self titled song has an excellent clean sung portion in the middle while the drums blast. Soon its over and the song gets back to its massively heavy sound. On Fields of Death and Desolation comes in at 7 and a half minutes with a long intro that builds up to the heavier part. This song isn't so much about being "brutal" or heavy but once the intro is over it definitely displays that. Half way in the song goes back into riffing slowly with harmonized leads in almost the same way it began. There is some pretty nice soloing in this section as well.

Henri Sattler is an awesome vocalist with his gravely yet sharp growling. The drummer blasts like a heavy machine gun rat a tatting away. The bass drumming also sounds pretty heavy on a bass heavy sound system, I love listening to this album in my car. Under the Sign of the Iron Cross is a brutally awesome album that melds Bolt Hammeresque military/war themes and melody with speeds verging on black metal. This was easily one of my favorite albums of 2010 and you shouldn't miss out on the masterpiece created here.

Score: 9/10
Standout Track: Storm of Steel, Red Baron, Under the Sign of the Iron Cross, The Killing Is Faceless

Review: Immolation - Providence

Band: Immolation
Album: Providence
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

I have never really listened to Immolation before, but it is a band name I've heard thrown around quite a bit. So keep in mind Providence is my first experience hearing the band. And I have to say I am quite happy with what they have presented here.

Coming in just under 20 minutes Providence packs a punch for being so short. I've listened to the whole thing 6 or 7 times now and I find myself still enjoying it. Ross Dolan has what I would consider along with Karl Willets the epitome of a death growl. Its deep but like Willets if you actually listen to the vocals you can still understand what Dolan is saying. It may be a little one dimensional but it doesn't hurt the album at all since it fits the music so well.

Robert Vigna and Bill Taylor create some really crushing riffs as well. Even the intros are instantly recognizable, like in Illumination, Providence, and Swallow the Fear. And the songs aren't all fast or all slow either. They mix it up and you will find slower heavy riffing mixed in with riffing done at breakneck speeds.

As far as the drumming is concerned Steve Shalaty has a pretty solid performance. Its your usual death metal drumming and to my untrained ear I don't really have any issues with it. Though I have to admit there is a part in Illumination that sticks out where the guitars are more in the background and the drums are playing an almost jungle beat but sped up. Unfortunately as often happens I couldn't really hear Ross Dolan's bass playing which is one of the things that sucks. Had it been more audible it would have added a lot more punch to the sound I think.

Providence is a really good EP that I have enjoyed listening to. It holds all the qualities that you should look for in good death metal. Its even got a pretty dark tone to it as well, especially when you first hear the horror movie sounding orchestral intro to Illumination. Anyone who likes death metal should probably get a hold of this EP because they are missing out on some pretty solid stuff. If anything I wish this were longer...

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Illumination, Swallow the Fear

Download the Immolation EP Providence for free!

So Scion A/V is giving away the new Immolation release, Providence, as a free download. It was actually released today so go download it here so you don't miss out! These five songs are probably just left overs from Majesty and Decay but who cares? I've heard that was a pretty good album (unfortunately I haven't gotten it for a listen) so these should be pretty good too.

Oh and lastly if you are one of those people who absolutely NEED a physical copy, the band will be giving away cd's of Providence at their shows on their next tour I believe. So either catch a show or check ebay.

Review: Entrenched - Preemptive Strike

Band: Entrenched
Album: Preemptive Strike
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal

I love war themed metal, especially in the death metal genre. I mean what is more in line with death metal than to growl your guts out about mass destruction and hot hunks of metal tearing people to pieces? Entrenched play death/thrash with a heavy war theme like Bolt Thrower, or Hail of Bullets.

While listening to Preemptive Strike I first noticed the vocals. There is a high pitched rasp and a low death growl that remind me heavily of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker's older work in Carcass. Needless to say being a big fan of Carcass I love what Sean Fitzpatrick and Charles Snyder are doing here. Its a complete throwback and with the thrash thrown in it also makes me think of Ghoul.

Death/thrash can be a lot of fun and when you play the first song (Intro (Mobilized)) you know exactly what you're getting. The riffs are often very groovy and are all rather pleasing to the ear. Landbrecher 666 is especially good and it bleeds right into Frenzied Amputation, another good track. The solos on the album are also pretty cool. What they lack in technicality they make up for in quality.

I really enjoy the production here as well. Unlike a lot of the modern thrash bands who prefer to thin out the guitars to make it sound like they were recorded in the 80s Entrenched went with a meaty thicker sound and it fits the theme and style. There are also a few sound bytes thrown in to some of the songs for good measure and its done well. The intro to ICBM has a piece of what sounds like an old documentary or something recounting how fragile the human body is when it comes to the different ways a nuclear bomb can kill you.

Preemptive Strike is a good (not great) album that people who like bands like Bolt Thrower, Warbringer, or HoB will enjoy. Its some good punishing death/thrash with excellent vocals and I hope to hear more from them in the future.

Score: 7/10
Standout Tracks: Landbrecher 666, Frenzied Amputation

Review: Abysmal Dawn - Leveling the Plane of Existence

Band: Abysmal Dawn
Album: Leveling the Plane of Existence
Year: 2011
Country: USA
Genre: Death Metal

This is one of the better death metal releases in my opinion this year. The guys in Abysmal Dawn play semi technical death metal in the vein of old Morbid Angel. But its also pretty groovy at times as well which in the grand scheme of things works in their favor. Now the album clocks in at just under 40 minutes which is just about the perfect length I think. It isn't too short but doesn't drag on too long either.

On vocals (and guitars) we have Charles Elliot and he does a pretty good job here. Elliot mainly uses a deeper death growl but bassist Mike Casio also chimes in with higher rasps as well from time to time. Just enough to change it up and make sure the vox aren't so one dimensional.

As far as Elliot's skills with the guitar they are pretty good and the riffs are enjoyable. They are technical to a degree without having the listener lose interest in whats going on. I especially enjoy whats going on in In Service of Time which serves as the best cut on the album in my humble opinion. But its not all fast paced death metal there are a few slower numbers which are just as good like Perpetual Dormancy and The Sleeper Awakens. These two tracks break up the speed but flow well with the rest of the more technical tracks. The Sleeper Awakens is especially a nice album closer.

The drumming of Scott Fuller isn't very showy its sort of your run of the mill death metal stuff. Its actually pretty tight and in no way sloppy but not over done which can annoy me with certain drummers. As usual there is quite a bit of blast beats and pretty constant double bass.

Leveling the Plane of Existence gives us some in your face straight to the point death metal. The riffing doesn't get old and continues to be a good listen which is always great. And thankfully the songs are kept short instead of treading into the norms of some death metal bands to write "epic" songs that go off into the double digits for time. There is really nothing I can complain about accept if perhaps the drumming were a little more inventive, but that's about it.

Score: 8/10
Standout Tracks: In Service of Time

On Second Thought...

I had previously made a post a while back about what I thought was the needlessness people often exhibited in distinguishing the difference between melodic metalcore and melodic death metal. I thought about this again recently and came up with completely different conclusions that I previously had.

I have of late become annoyed with what exactly is being referred to as "melodic death metal". There are really three types of melodic death metal, one is the melodic metalcore variant that as the name obviously suggests borrows heavily from metalcore/hardcore. The second type is basically power metal or folk metal that uses harsh vocals. And the third is proper melodic Death Metal. Now this is Death Metal with an emphasis on melody, but is still Death Metal unlike the other forms of melodeath that are thrown in the genre.

Its not news to anyone that the genre has strayed heavily from what it originally was. In fact it only took a couple of years before old school melodic death metal had transformed into the pure Iron Maiden worship that the Gothenburg scene became famous for.

But for those who are confused here is a little help for you.

Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Not melodeath:


Real melodeath:


Got it? Power/Folk/Heavy metal + harsh vocals does not = melodic death metal. I really enjoy Evocation, they sound like someone mixed SotS era At the Gates with old school Swedish death metal. Bolt Thrower's 2005 album Those Once Loyal could probably count as melodic death metal in the purest sense, along with:

Carcass - Heartwork
The Black Dahlia Murder - Anything
Advent of Bedlam - Behold the Chaos
Desultory - Counting Our Scars
Chronicle of Tyrants - Nemesis MMIV
Arghoslent - Any
Edge of Sanity - Purgatory Afterglow/Crimson/Crimson II/The Spectral Sorrows
Evocation - Apocalyptic
God Dethroned - Passiondale/Under the Sign of the Iron Cross
Impaled - Death After Life

Some of these bands are considered just regular death metal others are actually put in the proper MDM genre but they are all closer to what most people think of when you say melodic death metal than most of what is lumped into that category these days.

Review: Nuclear Death Terror - Total Annihilation

Band: Nuclear Death Terror
Album: Total Annihilation
Year: 2009
Genre: Crust Punk/Death Metal

Here we have a great EP from this Danish band, Nuclear Death Terror (NDT) who blend crust punk and death metal. While yes the vocal style of Adam and Cormac fit quite easily into the realm of death metal it’s the riffs and to a degree the drumming that give off the flair of crust influence.

Ok so we have 3 high quality tracks here. Immediately you can hear the crust in the riffs of Total Annihilation of the Self. The guitar riffs are also pretty catchy and have a bit of a groove to them in the vein of the old Swedish death metal bands of the early 90s. But it isn’t strange to hear crust riffs on Total Annihilation or the second song Mind Chain. Look and you will find a sound resembling Extreme Noise Terror and their album A Holocaust in Your Head.

The tracks can go from what is seemingly normal mid to fast pace, and they never let up on the speed. Whether by mistake or it’s just another influence of the band the third and final track sounds a lot like Realm of Chaos era Bolt Thrower at times, both in the drumming and riffs.

Vocally one of the guys uses a kind of shout that has a deep death metal sound to it. One of them screams a little bit higher than the other and the lower growling can seem perfectly fitting of a death metal band. Overall they are a fun mix of crust a death vocals that still sound punkish while retaining the brutality of death growls.

So this is probably what it would sound like if you mixed Extreme Noise Terror with Entombed or Bolt Thrower. You have the riffs laden with the catchy Swedish groove with clear elements of crust. The production is for the most part top notch though the vocals sometimes feel like they were put a little low in the mix. This is a nice short release and I’m sure those who enjoy Bolt Thrower’s earlier material will enjoy this band and album.

Score: 9/10
Standout Track: Any of them really