Holy host mutilating death metal band Imprecation issued forth “Swine Full of Maggots,” the first track from the Imprecation/Black Blood Invocation split entitled Diabolical Flames of the Ascended Plague due to see physical release on December 6, 2019.
1 CommentTags: death metal, imprecation
If the 1990s had a theme, plurality fit the role, whether in parallel or layers, and this influenced song composition. Bands like Enya and My Bloody Valentine tried to follow Kate Bush and William Orbit in using layers of soft, fading and surging sound on the edge of noise to create a dream state, and Havohej picks up this idea.
8 CommentsTags: Ambient, Black Metal, havohej
Somewhere in that realm between heavy metal and the underground metal to come, where Venom and Necromonicon dwelled, some bands planted a foot and stayed despite the evolution of the form. This allowed metal to branch, and it should probably be argued that this is a different genre, much as Possessed is “not quite” death metal.
2 CommentsTags: baxaxaxa, Black Metal, Heavy Metal
Despite hosting a substantial early-1990s underground scene, Polish death metal never managed to break through on a wider scale. Beyond high-profile acts like Vader, Behemoth and Decapitated, most Polish acts continue to dwell in obscurity. However, the renewed interest in old school death metal have caused record labels to probe back catalogues in search of potential lost gems, or at least releases that can be marketed as such. One example of recent years is Thor, the 1994 debut full-length album by Polish death metal band Hazael.
2 Comments
While this year may be generous in terms of good music, it has given also given us music of such bad quality that it should be made to produce such music without compensating the listeners!
23 CommentsTags: bloody sadism, car bomb, fear innoculum, funeralmortem, sabaton, sadistic metal reviews, tool, village people
The band revealed on Facebook that guitarist of legendary speed metal band Artillery, Morten Stützer, died at the young age of 57.
2 CommentsTags: artillery, By Inheritance, Morten Stützer, Speed Metal
As much as we want to think otherwise, our reception, enjoyment and evaluation of music is not strictly dependent on the pure act of listening. A truism perhaps, but still something that is worth reflecting on from time to time. Especially for collectors of cult metal vinyl – the modern-day personification of the emperor’s new clothes syndrome (or should we say old clothes?). If you invest a disproportionate amount of time, effort and money in reading about and eventually acquiring a record – as collectors of obscure metal tend to do – your judgement is likely to get clouded to the point where it’s hard to assess the quality of the work in question. And this includes both positive and negative judgements. Case in point: the hype surrounding the Icelandic proto-black metal band Flames of Hell and their sole full-length album Fire and Steel (1987).
2 CommentsTags: Black Metal, fire and steel, flames of hell, Heavy Metal
The opening song of Seven Churches starts off with The Exorcist theme taken from Tubular Bells but performed by producer Randy Burns. This emblematic introduction played on a cheap organ synth with its muddy timbre is the perfect introduction for this innovative band that managed to reconcile underground metal with the blossoming Speed metal movement into a vicious piece that carries on towards a much darker path.
No CommentsTags: brief analysis, death metal, exorcist, possessed, seven churches, Speed Metal
Donning their debut album with a medieval-styled, black-and-white cover that looks more like a qualified sketch than a finished statement, Assesor went into music history as the first underground metal band in Czechoslovakia to score a record deal. Spearhead-status notwithstanding, Invaze stays firmly rooted in 1980 death/thrash extremity rather than tapping into the burgeoning death- and black metal movements. What ultimately makes Invaze a rewarding listen is not so much a question of stylistic preferences, but how the band expand upon an established form in order to transform it qualitatively from within.
No CommentsTags: assesor, death/speed, kreator, pleasure to kill
Although it might disappoint some readers, it’s probably advisable to begin this review by stating that this is not a lost recording by a well-known Polish musician. However, the music does fall somewhere within the black metal sphere. Darken is a three-track EP released by guitar-virtuoso Toby Knapp, presumably conceived as an attempt at writing and performing music in the language of mid-to-late-1990s melodic black metal. Joining the multi-instrumentalist on vocals and as lyrical contributor is a certain Necrotriton, while drums are obviously computer-generated.
No CommentsTags: Black Metal, darken, melodic black metal, shred
