Category Archives: Death Metal
MARDUK (Swe): “Dark Endless” Cd 1992 No Fashion
Naming the band after a Babylonian god and talking about blasphemy of the Judeo/Christian religion might sound a bit weird, but after all that’s the Morbid Angel way. The first thing that kicks ass in this album is the killer cover art by no one else than Dani Vala, guitarist and singer of the band I reviewed yesterday, Obscurity. Why this guy didn’t do more of these splendid works is beyond me. This painting is really “evil”, and grotesque.
My copy, on No Fashion, has no lyrics on it, but I guess the new version has a better booklet. For sure the titles themselves follow the music perfectly: they are all about departure, funerals, damnation…
OBSCURITY (Swe): “Damnations Pride” collection Cd 1998 Scarlet
While the demos are amazing music to hear, the Cd itself is not done really well (we have high standards today thanks to Nuclear War Now!), there are no liner notes, the pictures are just 3 or 4, and there are no flyers, interviews, whatever. The cover art is too dark and grainy, the logo disappears in the shadow of the statue, and it is just too damn glossy. Only good thing is at least there are all the lyrics inside. Better than nothing. Well better than what Xtreem is doing with anthologies at least.
MACERATION (Dnk): “A Serenade Of Agony” Cd 1992 Progress
I remember Maceration was not an amazingly original band (and the logo was quite anonymous), but in a time of sadness like the one we’re living in , I admit I enjoyed listening to it so much I spinned it four times. Dan Swano used to sing on this album under false name and admittedly, these are the best growls I have heard from him among his countless (mostly terrible) projects. The music itself is definitely old school, but not incredibly dark or eerie. It reminds me mostly of Loudblast, Morgoth and Asphyx, with distinct structures and even some sparkles of Bolt Thrower-ish melodies (so to speak). While mostly midtempo, the album gets faster towards the end (probably older songs). While no masterpiece, I reccomend this album to those who already have the essential discography of the aforementioned bands. It usually goes for very cheap in 2nd hand bins, possibly 5 euros or less.
INCANTATION (USA-Ny): “Primordial Domination” Cd 2007 Listenable
INCINERITOR (Ita): “Morbid Iconoclasm” MCd 2007 Skullbuster
It is really great to hear that the passion for old school Death Metal (sigh, I really wish I could write only Death Metal but people would misunderstand my words if I exclude the words “old school”, wouldn’t they?) is intact nowadays more than ever. One of the few good things of the Internet generations, is getting in touch with other people form all around the world which were listening to the same albums you did 15+ years ago. But even as cool is to hear fresh new faces in the underground scene discarding the bollocks of today’s technical wanking in favor of morbidity and obscurity. For a few years I thought it was just a matter of nostalgia when one sticks to old sonorities, but when you see people that were barely born at the time the classic Death Metal records were released playing the real shit, well you realize there actually IS something different in the “old ways”. And it looks as if this band knows it.
This Incineritor (?) debut Ep reeks of dust and cobwebs – the riffs have a demo-level minimalism but the concept beneath this band’s existence is rather clear. The drummer’s primitive bashing coalesce with Matt’s guttural vocals into a mix of old Hellhammer, Master and Cianide. Some attempts at playing slower, denser parts however do not seem to be particularly effective, as they just sound just a bit unripe and a tidbit too strident for my tastes (the guitar work is a bit rigid). This is an Ep for lovers of unrefined Death Metal with really no polishing at all. I also liked the vocals which have no forms of harmony at all. On the downside the four tracks tend to sound a bit similar, and there is a Unleashed-like gallop in track “Ritual Carnage” which worryingly sounds like tarantella, but other than that this is very good shit.
The lyrics (hey at last!) deal with demonic hordes and Armageddon, in pure Immolation “Here in After” style (but without biblical referrals). They’re nicely (ah!) old fashioned as well.
NOX (Hol): “Ixaxaar” Cd 2007 Earache
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).