Death/speed metal hybrid band Deceased‘s Fearless Undead Machines has been reissued on CD by Transcending Obscurity Records.
5 CommentsTags: compact disc, death metal, deceased, reissue, Speed Metal, transcending obscurity
Interview with Undead
We recently reviewed the 2015 EP from Undead entitled Blood Enemy. This underground metal release combines the best of late 1980s speed metal with the architectural song transitions of Swedish death metal. Fortunately, the band were on hand to answer our questions about their music, approach and the art of death metal.
51 CommentsTags: death metal, Speed Metal, Undead
Metal Curmudgeon: Bolt Thrower’s Blitzkrieg Halts
Starting in the mid to late Eighties, many of the originators of death and black metal started to commercialize their music into straight speed metal for mass appeal to a bar show, beer metal audience; social concert goers in the uniforms of leather jackets, band tees, and high tops who treated shows as a time to socialize and shoot the shit with their friends while listening to typical bands that never challenged their musical preconceptions or startled them away from their ritualized moshing. Just a few years prior, many of these types would’ve been the same idiots seen in Heavy Metal Parking Lot. While most of their peers moved on from Judas Priest to Motley Crue and Guns ‘n’ Roses, many listened to what was considered an “acceptable” fusion of heavy metal and radio rock played by groups like post-Ride the Lightning Metallica, Anthrax, and Testament.
17 CommentsTags: beer metal, Bolt Thrower, death metal, Grindcore, Heavy Metal, In Battle There Is No Law, lame metal, mainstream metal, Metal Curmudgeon, Realm of Chaos, stadium rock
Initial Impressions of Serpent Ascending – Ananku
Article by Anton Rudrick.
Following a tradition of Finnish death metal, Serpent Ascending first proved its allegiance to the old stream of thought on The Enigma Unsettled. The project stood out as possessing that rare gift that grants vision past forms and into the value therein encased as dormant power, codified, awaiting a worthy hero who can pull the Sword from the Stone. While using techniques and musical structures that are well-known, interesting counterpoint and chant-like melodies can be seen in that first album, inserting them in between more conservative power metal riffs that were eerie enough to belong to occult death metal but also displayed a penchant for memorable phrases. Five years have elapsed since then, and several Desecresy albums have seen the definition and reaffirmation of that band into a distinctly esoteric style. Many were keenly expectant upon the future of Serpent Ascending.
4 CommentsTags: 2016, ananku, Black Metal, death metal, Finland, Heavy Metal, Serpent Ascending
On Death Metal And Nihilism
An old interview, rediscovered, that apparently never made it to publication, so needs to find a home here.
32 CommentsTags: death metal, ian christe, interview, lords of chaos, metal faq, metal history, metal theory, michael moynihan, Nihilism, sounds of the beast
Septic Flesh – Esoptron (1995)
Article contributed to Death Metal Underground by Anton Rudrick.
Septic Flesh have always oscillated between dark goth rock and simple death metal. Esoptron1 strode past both genres with expressive ambient interludes and enveloping everything in arcane rock akin to Fields of the Nephilim, reorienting Septic Flesh’s sound towards a suitable incarnation of their music’s abstract themes.
11 CommentsTags: death metal, Esopton, goth metal, greece, mysticism, review, septic flesh
Undead – Blood Enemy
This one arrived in the mail some time ago. Apparently, it got held up in US Customs because our address is on the terrorist watch list. Looking beneath the skin, which is tasty gore-dripping old school death metal, this 7″ EP in fact owes its origins to the speed/death crossover bands of the late 1980s, sounding like a cross between Merciless and Sadistic Intent with Swedish death metal style elegant riffs concluding each song.
10 CommentsTags: blood enemy, death metal, Speed Metal, Undead
Nothing Left – Demo 1999 (2016)
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Some compare this to Mortician but to these ears, it sounds more like a Cathedral, Cianide and Asphyx crossover. Where Mortician adopted slowed-down grindcore stylings to death metal, Nothing Left bring a pure grindcore approach to the type of pummeling, rhythm-driven riffing that powers Cianide or Asphyx, and adds the droning doomy feel of later doom bands like Cathedral.
12 CommentsTags: death metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore, nothing left, review
Kaeck Release Live Version of “De heerser wederkeert” from Under the Black Sun 2016
Kaeck have posted a live video of “De heerser wederkeert” off of Death Metal Underground’s 2015 Album of the Year Stormkult from their performance at the Under the Black Sun 2016 festival in Germany. Regrettably, Oovenmeester (also in Noordelingen) was unable to provide his unhinged vocals so Ygethmor from Standvast provided more somewhat more conventional and staid black metal vocals somewhat too high in the mix for a ringer. The live version is still worth checking out in order to hear Chaos from Sammath‘s haunting guitar work in a less distorted live setting.
8 CommentsTags: Black Metal, death metal, festivals, jan kruitwagen, kaeck, live, new track
Necrophiliac – Maze of Forking Paths Set Announced
Xtreem Music is reissuing Necrophiliac‘s Chaopula: Citadel of Mirrors and all of their demos on a two cd anthology titled Maze of Forking Paths.
2 CommentsIf there’s a pioneer band in the Spanish Death Metal scene, that’s NECROPHILIAC! Emerged in ’88, the band released various demos until ’92 when their classic album “Chaopula – Citadel of Mirrors” was released. After that, the band did split-up and it’s now when, after 6 long years trying to get this release out, Xtreem Music is proud to announce the release of a 2-CD containing this album with all demos, unreleased 7″EP’s and live tracks with unreleased tunes on it.
“Maze of Forking Paths” is a complete collection of the band’s studio & live recordings from ’88 to ’92, all remastered with the best possible sound and a killer booklet full of photos, liner notes, demo covers, lyrics, flyers, etc. This is a mandatory release to understand where the spanish Death Metal scene comes from!
Release date for “Maze of Forking Paths” will be September 1st through Xtreem Music on 2-CD format with limited T-shirts available at the same time. You can visit NECROPHILIAC’s official Facebook here: www.facebook.com/necrophiliacdeathmetal and listen to an advance song on the following links:
http://soundcloud.com/xtreemmusic
Tags: anthology, compact disc, death metal, Maze of Forking Paths, Necrophiliac, Spain, xtreem music
