Nicholas Vahdias

Zloslut – Sahar

by Nicholas Vahdias on February 19, 2019

Zloslut is a Serbian Black metal that initially consisted of sole founding member Agnarion who had produced all the records by himself but here on Sahar, Agnarion is joined by a full band that changes the dynamic of this album compared to previous works. All the previous rough edges have been rounded out from the production all the way to the riffs themselves. While this does create a certain amount of sterility, it also allows the band the freedom to explore and to develop their own style.

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6 Comments

Tags: Black Metal, Finnish Black Metal, king diamond, mayhem, Sahar, zloslut

SMR – Battle upon the Summit of the Mental Hospital

by Nicholas Vahdias on February 16, 2019

When all the bands that were terrible fifteen years ago still release music, there is no way that the desperation and attention whoring won’t come out in the music. Here are some of the worst songs to curse metal not only in these times but since the birth of the genre itself.

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17 Comments

Tags: abhorrence, Assault Attack, avantasia, blind guardian, Candice Night, cenotaph, dream theater, in flames, linkin park, Michael Shenker, Pawns of Christ, testosteruins

Retrospective : Artillery – By Inheritance

by Nicholas Vahdias on February 9, 2019

Artillery are a Danish Speed metal band that have continued to sully their legacy with endless mediocrity that was so boring that even Metal Blade had to drop them in recent years. Despite all their recent shortcomings, Artillery were once an underground Speed metal that released two excellent albums before abandoning the underground in the pursuit of their magnum opus. Inspired in part by their journey to Tashkent in the former USSR which is now the capital of Uzbekistan, the band incorporated oriental sounds, a multitude of different riffs, haunting arpeggios and fist raising Heavy metal to create one of the finest releases in a genre which had already died at this stage.

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16 Comments

Tags: artillery, By Inheritance, flemming rasmussen, mercyful fate, metallica, Speed Metal, suffocation, Terror Squad

Malevolent Creation – The 13th Beast

by Nicholas Vahdias on February 2, 2019

Malevolent Creation return with an Immolation like attempt to gain new fans by playing simplified versions of their most famous works while simplifying their ideas as much as possible in order to attract as many newcomers as possible. Legendary vocalist Brett Hoffmann recently died after a long battle with colon cancer and though he had left more than 2 years ago, this is the band’s first record with new singer Lee Wollenschlaeger. Mediocrity is combined with constant blasting to make a purely forgettable record.

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5 Comments

Tags: 13th beast, Brett Hoffmann, Malevolent Creation, mediocrity

Life Failure Fired from Third Rate Website

by Nicholas Vahdias on February 1, 2019

Communist, anarchist and champion of some of the worst metal to have ever been released, has finally been fired from idiotic “alternative” news outlet Vice. Kelly’s hilarious history has been well documented enough and now even her allies realize that she is a pathetic, neurotic excuse for a human being. “Grim Kim” is still delusional and believes that this is not due to her nonsensical pieces or her writing style that ressembles that of a foreigner coming to grips with the English language. Either way, this marks the end of the mainstream metal Antifa movement that has begun to attack its own heroes Behemoth in a desperate bid to keep itself going. This should be the last any of us hear of the demented crab claw lady. Good Riddance!!!

34 Comments

Tags: antifa, crab claw, failer writer, good news, Kim Kelly, Loser, metalgate, vice

Hecate Enthroned – Embrace of the Godless Aeon

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 31, 2019

Hecate Enthroned are known for being second fiddle to Cradle of Filth within the UK black metal scene and have followed their footsteps into third rate Black metal generally in the ridiculously named «Symphonic Black metal» style which is a complete lack of riffcraft being overcompensated by simple keyboard melodies. For those who are unfamiliar with this band, their 1997 release The Slaughter of Innocence, a Requiem for the Mighty was decent if at times inconsistant Black metal and is their summit. Their latest release sees an uninspired band attempt to reconcile cookie-cutter Blackened Death metal with the newer post rock elements that have invaded Black metal to create one of the worst excuses of Black metal to have ever existed.

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2 Comments

Tags: Bal(sagoth, cradle of filth, deafheaven, Embrace the godless aeon, hecate enthroned, hipster, symphonic black metal, terrible, The Slaughter of Innocence, worst album

Riff Analysis: Master – “What Kind of God”

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 26, 2019

Master on their seminal record On the Seventh Day God Created… Master operated on the principle of taking one idea and pounding it into the listener’s brain as much as possible without droning on and maintaining some form of forward movement. Paul Speckmann’s riffs are simple and straightforward but there was always something there that pushed them above the hordes of bands making minimalistic Hardcore influenced Death metal. The first actual riff of the first song “What Kind of God” is a perfect example of what made Master deceptively unique at the riff level.

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3 Comments

Tags: analysis, classic, death metal, master, on the seventh day god created master, paul speckmann, what kind of god

Cult of the Horns – Chapter I – Domination

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 21, 2019

Cult of the Horns are a French one man band from Bordeaux with one full length released to this day. The band’s aesthetic is that of the typical NWN “goat-something” band but beyond the corpse paint and cheesy titles lies an honest combination of Death and Black metal which unique band member Mephisto makes an honest attempting at fusing both genres and though this record fails at times, there are a lot of interesting particularities, making this an above average listen.

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1 Comment

Tags: Belphegor, Black Metal, Chapter I - Domination, Cult of the Horns, death metal, Death/Black, Deicide, morbid angel, Norwegian Black Metal

Retrospective : Intestine Baalism – An Anatomy of the Beast

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 13, 2019

Intestine Baalism are a Death metal band formed in the suburbs of Tokyo in 1991, their first full length only came out in 1997, having only released a pair of demos featuring songs that ended up on this album, it is safe to confirm that Intestine Baalism is a latecomer to a genre that had already seen it’s apex and was now slowly descending into Brutal and Technical Death metal territory. Anatomy of a beast takes advantage of the power of hindsight to successfully fusion the works of Carnage,Dismember and Suffocation against the more Heavy metal derived melodies of Sentenced, bringing to life a potent record that is at times just as peculiar as the band’s name.

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13 Comments

Tags: An anatomy of the beast, Black Metal, carnage, death metal, Dismember, Intestin Baalism, Like an everflowing stream, sentenced

Serpent Lord – Towards The Damned (2018)

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 6, 2019

Serpent Lord classify themselves as occult heavy metal and are adorned with the typical attire and related videos of the same rehashed cliches that Mercyful Fate popularized. The music takes mainly from Iced Earth,Black Sabbath,Death and Mercyful Fate and fails to invoke the greater aspects of those bands while invoking the worst from Death. This is a very young that have rushed their development fairly quickly and the lack of consistency in the quality of the compositions hurts a very promising band that is often confused with what they are trying to achieve.

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2 Comments

Tags: black sabbath, death, greece, Iced Ezrth, mercyful fate, Occult Heavy metal, Serpent Lord, Towards the Damned

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