Blood Incantation – Hidden History Of The Human Race (2019)

by Nicholas Vahdias on October 27, 2019

Blood Incantation return after the heavily flawed but full of potential “Starspawn” that showed songs with a well defined direction lose focus and meander aimlessly. Here the band have devolved into Timeghoul worship for Indie kids and tek-deaf fans who need constant riff changes. The titles are taken from the pseudo-historical documentaries that detail drug addled stories of humans being assisted by aliens throughout time. An obvious sign that something is deeply wrong with both the music and the musicians responsible for this.

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Fester – Silence (Lethal, 1994)

by Johan Pettersson on October 22, 2019

Back in the day, this Norwegian band was derogatorily referred to as a “life metal”-band by scenesters. Especially their sophomore effort Silence suffered a reputation of being an exceptionally weak, pretentious and – above all – boring release. Although recent years have given rise to sporadic reevaluations of the band’s work, Fester remains largely neglected to this day (and some would say deservedly so).

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Sarcasm – Esoteric Tales of the Unserene (Chaos, 2019)

by Johan Pettersson on October 21, 2019

One of many promising acts who fell by the wayside in the early 1990, Swedish melodic death/black band Sarcasm made a somewhat unexpected return in 2015 with the long overdue release of their 1994 debut full-length Burial Dimensions. Then in 2017 came their return proper with Within in the Sphere of Ethereal Minds, an aesthetically pleasing marred by haphazard assembly. With Esoteric Tales of the Unserene (2019), Sarcasm return to previously explored territories; maybe in the hope of striking a better equilibrium between the style’s main constituents: black-, death- and heavy metal.

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Adversary – We Must Be in Hell (Cursed Productions, 1999)

by Johan Pettersson on October 11, 2019

The mid-to-late 1990s wasn’t a particularly interesting period in US death metal history. Old bands were busy coping with their past triumphs and the newer arrivals on the scene did what they could to recapture the magic of preceding classics, but by doing so stalled the potentials of exploration presented to them. However, there did exist a few notable exceptions, many of whom chose to peek at their European counterparts for galvanization. Among them were the Indiana-based Adversary – a much overlooked act then and now who came up with distinctive and unique approach to death metal.

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Hazael – Thor (Loud Out, 1994)

by Johan Pettersson on October 9, 2019

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.

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Brief Analysis: Possessed – “The Exorcist”

by Nicholas Vahdias on October 2, 2019

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.

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Carcass – “Reek of Putrefaction” Introduction Analysis

by Nicholas Vahdias on September 25, 2019

On Symphonies of Sickness Carcass integrated a stronger Death metal influence into their music in regards to structure as the unorganized noise was given a clear vision and the short blasts of vitriol now communicate sickening short tales that have a greater sense of dynamism and progression. With these added tools, Carcass now had the ability to make the greatest gore related of all time. Though many band would use all the elements present here with varying levels of success as the style fell into the joke genres of Porno and Goregrind. Carcass remain the masters of this through meticulous arrangements as seen in one of the greatest introductions in metal.

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Trench Warfare – Hatred Prayer

by Nicholas Vahdias on August 28, 2019

Trench Warfare finally grace the world with their first full length. Building from the potential of their demo and split, the band finally manage to fuse their War metal with elements of Black and Death metal into creating a highly enjoyable listen that carries a few more subtleties than its aesthetic quality would allow one to assume.

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