Formed from the fragmentation of Kever, Deathsiege approaches extreme metal from more of a war metal background, melding the sounds of Angelcorpse and Blasphemy into a new voice that uses more atmosphere and contrast to give these charging anthems space to develop a menacing aura.
Before war metal became its own hashtag, its ancestors arose from primitive but energetic black metal which crossed over into grindcore and punk territory in rhythm, simplicity, and lack of melody. Deathsiege use fragments of melody to complement their racing riffs, building a sense of anticipation and extending themes to the point where they become more memorable.
Like Blasphemy, this band uses riffs that slam not with a bounce but a funeral cadence at high speed, adding to it the lengthier chromatic riffs that Angelcorpse used to make its songs develop enough recognizable parts to have internal commentary. Here the two styles play off each other, with death metal structuralism and the atmosphere of black metal appearing strategically.
Although only three songs — “Cannibalistic Patricide,” “Revocation Massacre,” and “Ominous Discolored Fire” — comprise this EP, they give us a good sense of where this band started its journey, a promise both extended and expanded by their full-length album released this year, Unworthy Adversary.
Tags: deathsiege, War Metal
I don’t know if it’s a consequence of me getting older, but metal seems like a truck stuck in mud that can’t get any traction. As a boomer (by zoomer standards) I now REALLY cherish the halcyon years of the 80s and early to mid 90s. The bands from that time drew influence from their predecessors while creating a vital,original and most importantly AUTHENTIC form of expression. Nothing nowadays seems to contain that feral urgency. Lastly, the titans of war metal (if I had to choose one band) would have to be Bolt Thrower. War Master still slays after thirty years.
Generation X was the last group of people in the West who were not completely brainwashed. They could actually think. Groups coming later exist almost entirely in the symbolic reality created by media, which really got competent (but empty) after the 1980s. Diversity also plays a huge role.
Go youth-gripe at Luby’s like normal geezers do
wheeze
Every generation is susceptible to groupthink in some way. The advantage Gen X had is that we were reared in the aftermath of Vietnam. Our default setting was to question everything which caused the worst aspect of our generation: the dichotomy of bitter cynicism versus cockeyed idealism. The crucial benefit of growing up Gen X was that diversity of thought was not yet verboten.
I agree, and also that we were able to see the dividing line between the functional people and those who had taken the 1960s seriously. We used to make fun of hippies. Now, everyone is a hippie… a corporate hippie.
Their buffoonish qualities aside, the hippies (to their credit) pioneered many of the things we’re promoting on our side. Technology, deep ecology and clean foods were brought to the forefront by those hirsute fantasists. The problem was that I don’t think many of them read Animal Farm. If they did read it, what they extrapolated from it was WAYYYY off.