Author Archives: Nuclear Abominations

EVILHEART (Mex): “Storm of Annihilation” Lp Cd 2007 s/p

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Goddamn! How comes today so many superfluous bands got signed by the dozen and other excellent ones like this Evilheart (from Culiacán, Mexico) have to self release an album on their own? I have honestly to say that I never heard of them before, even if they already released a full length Lp in 2006, but bet I will do my best to recover the old one.

The pure brand of Death Metal played by these guys is definitely old fashioned without sounding derivatively “old-school”. There is no Swedish darkness or horribly down tuned sounds, or hyper blasting accelerations, but a genuine emotionality that is lacking in a lot of today’s products. Many of the riffs remind me of early Pestilence, if without their characteristic vocals, or other earlier 90’s American Death Metal demos (the period before the huge brutal slam shit happened). These guys seem really transplanted from the first half of the nineties, complete with some good solos as well to solidify the structure of the songs.

Good things are running free among the plains of Mexico, and the taste for honest Death Metal seems to be well solidified too. I might not be into 100% of the riffs and bridges, but on the average I have enjoyed this record pretty much. Vocals which are not overly deep in favor of clarity, well defined song structures and all the good ingredients of pure Death Metal without frills are all arranged with competence. Do yourself a favor and buy this record from the band, it might not be impossibly brutal, but definitely cleans off the palate after a endless series of mediocre releases one hears during the day. Very good.

The cover too, is professional and definitely cool, with a thick old school booklet with lyrics, photos, thank lists and all the package. I would have indulged a bit less on the glow but cool shit anyway!

HACKSAW SURGERY (aus): “D-Composition” split Cd with EMBALMING THEATRE (che) 2008 Grindhead

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This is the first time I hear Hacksaw Surgery, and even though they are sharing ground with such a mild offering as Embalming Theatre, I still remain pretty much unfeeling all through the five tracks. The singer’s style has some light year distant resemblance to the Corpsegrinder, but the music bulk is just some disturbingly average drum machine thing with touches of grind and routine bedroom cybergrind. I am not sure how to describe this, but might be a collection of riffs discarded from Gigantic Brain minus all the speed and freakiness of that otherwise funny project.

I have no clue how much did it take to write these 4-5 tracks, but that mustn’t have been a difficult task. 6 scarce minutes of absolutely useless music. How could one sign a band like this is beyond me.

EMBALMING THEATRE (che): “D-Composition” split Cd with HACKSAW SURGERY (aus) 2008 Grindhead

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I still believe the best thing coming out of Embalming Theatre is their vocals. deep, grotesque, powerful… real piece of cake. However I am not really into their hybrid form of grind/gore, as there is a touch of melody mellowing the whole receipt in a way I don’t really understand. It’s not about the mischievous harmonies of early Swedish Death Metal, but more about an effortless display of DeathMetal with no aim. Sometimes they are capable of putting together a bunch of powerful riffs, but then shortly afterwards they manage to ruin it all with some tremendously routine chugs and cheap happy guitar leaks (let’s not talk about the last track on their side… it’s fucking terrible). I don’t really want to put another nail in the rotting coffin of this review, but songs, too, are surprisingly alike… 60% of this album is decent death metal without special praise, the remaining 40% scores slightly below however…

EBOLIE (aus): “Fuck Ya Ears and Drink Ya Beers” split Cd with MAXIMUM PERVERSION (aus) 2008 Grindhead

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Ok, Ebolie’s at the same time better and worse than Maximum Perversion for my ears. That happens when a band is so varied. I have appreciated the goreripping bursts of energy and these guys definitely know how to maintain the same level of quality all through the record, but sometimes the funky bass slapping and small in-song talk get a bit annoying. But I guess you cannot do anything for that, when one artist feels like inserting this shit in a song to create variety you have to give up ah ah!
Honestly speaking Ebolie has gotten better and better with time, with some arrangements and ideas that are nicely unpredictable. Lots of different stuff going on, but with some serious chemistry. Influences from drone to math-grind just stain the whole songwriting all across the tracks. I am not one to appreciate innovation but these guys know how to do that in a very un-trendy way. Their former lack of punch finally solidified in something more than concrete – tenacity finally rewarded Ebolie. Pretty much interesting stuff.

MAXIMUM PERVERSION (aus): “Fuck Ya Ears and Drink Ya Beers” split Cd with EBOLIE (aus) 2008 Grindhead

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New round from Australia’s premiere grindcore label Grindhead. Damn these guys are as prolific as rabbits.

Once more we have a split recording between two Australian bands. The first one, Maximum Perversion sound new to me, but I cannot swear I never heard them before, my memory is losing track lately. Might be, because I haven’t found anything particularly memorable on their side. This stuff is quite Ok I guess, I mean, neato Death Metal with double vocals a la Exhumed/Macabre and some grinding/crust vibe, but they never blast out to frightening levels, and this mid tempo groovy chords are definitely not bad, but far from raising wet headbanging desires either. The Aussies have good taste with riffs for sure, that must be genetic somehow, yet sometimes thing don’t click even when every thing’s in the right place.

The recording is of my personal taste, chaotic but balanced well enough to distinguish every single move. There is one really good song in the end, called “Wizardgrind” go for it if you need some recommendations.

DOWN THE LINE (Ita): “Apotheosis is Decline… Decline is Apotheosis” Cd Ep 2004 DTL-Ickno-Grind-Corporation

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It is fun to read how prolific and compact the scene from Sardinia is. I was first introduced to Sardinian grind with my long time friend Wally ‘s band Ass Ache still in the 80’s (!!) and then with a bunch of other bands which appeared in the “Ugo Story” compilation tapes. Let’s tell it straight: this Cd is just made up of 5 minutes of real music plus a bulk of intros and a very long (and a bit sleepy) concatenation of electronic loops. But those 5 minutes of real shit are intense enough to raise a brow. Very few, extremely basic crusty riffs with a bit of Agathocles feeling, coupled with unintelligible liquid vocals in pure gore-grind style. I especially like the metallic sound of the bass distortion. In short this is genuine dirty to the point goregrind with some courageous experimentations in the electronic field. I just wonder why they’re still promoting 5 scarce minutes of material which were recorded 5 years ago (!!) and released only 2 years later. Songs like these are generally mass produced by the dozens – one riff, one song. The cover art is okay too, even if it spots a photo which was already used on Meat Shits‘ “Sniper at the Fag Parade”. Not a mandatory “demo” but fun.

Apocalypse Command to be released in September

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The vinyl factory initially told me that it would take just 3 weeks to prepare the records once they got the layout material. However I got a message from them right yesterday (one month after they got it ALL – material and money) that it will take one more moth before the records are delivered that makes 2 months in my world. Whatever. Prepare to see the Ep out in mid September (hoping they are doing it all straight – I had two specific requests for the layout).

Just got back from Hamburg and the Sadistic Intent show. Needless to say it was one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life. The air was charged with the vibrations of DEATH. I also managed to meet ad drink along with Jeff Becerra of Possessed, an hero of my childhood. It was great to see a Death Metal warrior still 100% into extreme metal after all these years. Long live the king.

I am discussing with Will Rahmer the possibility to start an Italian chapter of the NYDM brotherhood. Italian guys interested please get in touch for more details.

A new issue of Necromaniac ‘zine has finally been released – I stock a few copies in my own shop for those interested – real good zine with interview with killer bands.

Hacker (ex-Unholy Terror) started a label called OBSCURE DOMAIN – its new release Headhunter DC “Spreading God’s Cancer” is out now. Get it damn!!!