Author Archives: Nuclear Abominations

NOX (Hol): “Ixaxaar” Cd 2007 Earache

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Nox - Ixaxaar

This is the first time I am VERY disappointed of not having the lyrics for reading together with the promo package I got from the label. Somewhern in the last millennium I drove with my pals in Nefas up in Belgium for a legendary gig they had with Centurian, one of my favorite bands at the time which I really could not allow to miss (not to mention that beer house in Gent but let’s not digress). Fact is we had a long chat with Rob regarding the lyrics of Centurian, and the concepts behind its Choronzonic devotion. From what I remember, all this was some time before any of this MLO thing came out. Of corpse there was and still is a lot of Cabbalistic study in the lyricswork but I think it comes more from Rob’s love of “Legion” by Deicide than anything else (however things might have developed in the meantime, who knows). But still, I really loved Centurian‘s lyrics and I am sure these are at least as much if not more cool to read.

I will mention Centurian for the fifth time now because Nox is indisputably taking unholy life from where that band ended – hell the first song is even titled Choronzonic Chaos Gods. I guess Wim was too old to keep up with all the shit after marrying ehe (are you listening, hairball?), because I see no other reason in changing the band’s name but not its style. Nevertheless these years have not been unproductive. Things are even more hectic than ever before now, the riffs are so multifaceted and complex, an endless spiral of fractal razor blades whipping around in a maelstrom of screams, blast beats and untainted blasphemies. You can hardly find anything more grandiosely elaborate but at the same time so incredibly ferocious in today’s Death Metal. The singer’s vocals are still violent outbursts of rabid cruelty rather than undemanding routine pig squeals, and well, all of this album is just plain flawless. A perfect blend of aesthetics, music and concept. Nox is nihilistic, destructive tentacular Death Metal in its purest form. Tight as fuck drumming, extremely personal riffs and solos, great vocals. I really cannot think of anything better. At this level of intricacy, I don’t even find the heart of complaining about the overproduction, because you cannot really demand to add more filth to an album like this without losing something in the process. If there is one Death Metal album you have to get this year, this is it (add in Necros Christos and Angelcorpse while you’re at it, though).

GRUMO (Ita): “Karne” Cd-r 2007 s/p [demo]

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Grumo - KarneReviewing this demo has been a difficult task I had it spinning several times before formulating a truthful analysis. First off, the positive aspects are several: I sort of liked the cut and paste cover and aesthetics, and honestly speaking – compared to the home dubbed tape I got 3 years ago, a HUGE step forward has been made. Now all the songs are clearly discernible, a definite personality has been reached and the vocals have a nice raucous range that go from spittle to roar.

That said, the bad things are hopelessly outnumbering the good ones. I couldn’t stand Italian lyrics at the time of Resurrecturis (and we’re talking 15 and more years ago) – go figure what I think of track names like “Abbadalucco”. This is just too far from my personal interpretation of grind. It’s a terrible mix of teenage slang and typical pizza-house dementia. There is this scum punk cheaply hilarious feel in the tracks which I just cannot swallow – slow happy mary-go-round tarantellas and aimless chugs do not make a band goregrind even today that cheap humour has permeated the scene. The sound too, is that of a walkman dubbed live school concert devoid of sickness and even noisecore hypersaturation. For some reason, Grumo seems to lack the tiny spark that is innate in many sludgy German Goregrind bands. The thin line that separates standard punk teenage riffs from the real gross mid-tempo grotesque thing they are surely inspired by (namely Gut, Utopie, Mucupurulent, Plasma, CBT, Bitch Infection etc.). I can hear the passion but there is a lot of crap that has to be taken away, just too much superfluous fuss. Go for the throat, don’t stop picking lilies on the road.

DYING (Esp): “Promo 2006 – Ill Intentions For A Bloody Supper” Cd-r 2006 s/p [demo]

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Dying - Ill Intentions for a Bloody Supper

This 2 track demo Cd-r by the band Dying from Spain made me recognize one thing: solos are back in Death Metal. Like it or not, after an almost 10-year gap they’re finally back. Sure we had some Nile, Angelcorpse or Krisiun but here we’re talking about classic, unripe solos popping into demo tracks, not seasoned professionals strutting their stuff. They are again part of the genre since the beginning.

Talking about music, this is not exactly my kind of Death Metal (it’s the brutal-and-technical American style Death Metal with guttural vocals and chugs kind) but it’s not a totally slapdash attempt at playing Brutal Death stuff either. The recipe is the same used for a lot of other newer bands: lots of heavy NY slam with beefy riffs, growling vocals plus a daring dose of slightly wrecked solos – yet the elements are arranged and put together with some wisdom. The vocals are quite deep, the drumming technical and precise and there is not a tarantella I could detect in the mix which is a difficult thing to avoid today. I cannot think of precise comparisons at the moment, maybe some Deeds of Flesh or Dislimb when it gets faster but the slower parts are closer to classic NY sound a la Internal Bleeding. I admit I found several nice parts in the sound, especially when the music gets sluggish and grinding. Nothing incredible but neither entirely average, surely worth checking out.

It’s a bit surprising to realize that the cover used in this demo is professionally printed, as this work is well beyond all parameters of typography, all the images are very jagged. Tsk. But in the end it’s just a demo so what the fuck. No lyrics included, as it’s typical these days.

HOUR OF PENANCE (Ita): “Promo 2007” Cd-r 2007 [demo]

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Hour of Penance - Promo 2007

I don’t feel ill at ease saying that Hour of Penance (or Hour of Penanz as they say in Rome) is the best band Italy has spawned in the last couple of years. I could count world-challenging level Death Metal bands on a hand in the last 15 years and this definitely falls among them. It’s a combination of different things that makes this band unique: despite they broadly belong to the “Brutal Death” scene, there’s something which parts them definitely from the strict set of laws of the genre. There is a vague old school feel in their chords which just part them from the roster of other Amputated Vein – Unmatched Brutality – Neurotic – Unique Leader bands (from what I understood have some works going with this last label). The point is that this band has VISION. A clear concept they explore in every release from the songwriting to the lyrical concepts. Even on stage, this is a band with no frills, no smiles, no clownish attire – they just blast and spew forth blasphemy. Period. I really find it gratifying that one of the first bands able to mix the old and new world of Death Metal so well actually comes from my country.

Trying to portray them musicwise, Hour of Penance are a powerhouse of razor-sharp edged riffs, technical tempo changes, swirling solos and complex hyperfast drumming, all intricately woven and recently reinforced by a new singer whose fast spoken style is definitely similar to that of a way deeper Corpsegrinder (albeit maybe a little bit flatter). Musical references to Morbid Angel, Centurian, Krisiun – and hell one can even whisper Noism or Rotten Sound – are harder here than any post-Suffocation American band (which honestly drove some doubt in me on the choice of covering a song like “Catatonia” on stage).

This 3 track sampler is a recent release made to spotlight this new singer to the world. Forget any layout here, this is just a Cd-r with home printed cover (I can grumble this is actually the kind of demos you give for free… even if 3 Euros was cheap enough) – which might be Ok, if at least track titles were written here!

Summing it up, this is a good hope of things to come. This is surely one of the five best bands ever out of my country, talking about extreme Metal.

MACHETAZO (spa): “Ultratumba” collection Cd 2007 Living Dead Society

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|Machetazo - UltratumbaI just finished reviewing that cool Haemorrhage collection on Power It Up and now I have another excellent Spanish band doing a similar release. This Cd holds tracks taken from 6 years from Machetazo‘s tormented existance (1998-2004) of Eps and singles. There is not a big advancement between the various tracks that I can perceive, at least not as evident as on the full lengths, but this is a real good complement to the Razorback albums: get them all and this, and you have every Machetazo track released thus far, including five killer covers by great bands like Massacre, Repulsion, Venom, Carcass and Impetigo (plus sadly, two covers by the terribly faggot shit bands that are Black Sabbath and… sigh… Saint Vitus – oh my shit, you read it well it’s not a joke – Saint Vitus). All of these tracks have be a remastered for the occasion, but luckily the sound has been preserved thick and grisly raw, not polished at all. Whew.

MACHETAZO (spa): “Ultratumba” collection Cd 2007 Living Dead Society

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Machetazo - UltratumbaI just finished reviewing that cool Haemorrhage collection on Power It Up and now I have another excellent Spanish band doing a similar release. This Cd holds tracks taken from 6 years from Machetazo‘s tormented existance (1998-2004) of Eps and singles. There is not a big advancement between the various tracks that I can perceive, at least not as evident as on the full lengths, but this is a real good complement to the Razorback albums: get them all and this, and you have every Machetazo track released thus far, including five killer covers by great bands like Massacre, Repulsion, Venom, Carcass and Impetigo (plus sadly, two covers by the terribly faggot shit bands that are Black Sabbath and… sigh… Saint Vitus – oh my shit, you read it well it’s not a joke – Saint Vitus). All of these tracks have be a remastered for the occasion, but luckily the sound has been preserved thick and grisly raw, not polished at all. Whew.

If the layout generally looks better than the Haemorrhage haematology, there is one big problem with this collection compared to that one, and it’s that there are no liner notes AT ALL. Just the release covers, one per page. Tsk tsk. Also there is a nice collage of posters inside, but images tend to become too small to read all crammed in one fold. I guess the general item arrangement could have been studied better (what about a folding booklet that opens like a poster?).

None of this however compromises the fact that the songs are killer. If you know Machetazo you know they’re no Insidious Decrepancy (just to say a fag band) sissies. Real raw – almost punkish – grooves, roaring vocals, grime encrusted chords – all influenced by the old school feel of all the bands covered here. There is surely some Repulsion rawness, some heavy Massacre riffing, and some of Impetigo‘s old school grinding style. Of corpse, none of this is extremely advanced. They stick to they right riff and go for the throat, and that’s all we need. And the intros are just so nice. Old classic horror movie, not Hollywood blockbusters.

Musically all of this is a must have, but the packaging could have definitely been somewhat better.