VUOHIVASARA (fin): “Thorns Pest Blood” split Cd with WARPATH (fin) 2007 Iron, Blood & Death

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Two releases by this band in a row, wow. Whew. Ouch. This material comes a bit before the afore-reviewed full-length, and you can clearly hear it – I am afraid to tell. Songs here are even simpler and vocals still less developed, almost in a semi-amateurish way. I kinda appreciate the spirit of our dear Goat Hammers in a very insane way, but honestly speaking I still believe this is the kind of records that pass across like a summer rain. Their kind of Black Metal is still decent, more in the Swedish than in the Norwegian tradition; still much better than 90% of second wave Black Metal or other “cult” bands from France, but yet the majesty, obscurity and satanic might of Death… (opps) Black Metal is lacking somewhat. Not minimalist, decorously played, but still a bit unripe. Even if the booklet is thin (just one leaf), the cover art is spectacular. Eerie, grim and grotesque, this art director Arthur Axe is doing good things.

VUOHIVASARA (fin): “The Sigil” Lp Cd 2007 Iron, Blood & Death

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I am surely getting annoying but I have to strengthen my assertion that is not the kind of black metal that i “feel” being real Black. Vuohivasara means Goathammer in Finnish, which is a good name for a Black Metal band even if Finnish always sound a bit too sweet for this music to my ears. And well, of corpse they’re from Finland too, fool.

Vuohivasara plays traditional post ’90 Black Metal, something that has become surprisingly rare today with this recent Blasphemy revival (damn, I would have never thought to say these words with contempt one day just ten years ago). Fast, cold, eerily melodic but encrusted with a hammering combination of Kill/Watain touches which gives the music extra variation compared to that shit that was so popular in Norway last decade. I personally spite this kind of vocals, definitely too high pitched to sound demonic, but musically this is not bad stuff: the songs have a definite form and the guitarwork is decent, with solid drumming for this kind of music. Other that that there is not much to say, you got some dissonance and remote choruses in the background at times too, even if it’s nothing as orchestral or sophisticated as Deathspell Omega. Good production too, raw but definitely clean, honestly I am not caring much when we talk Black Metal about it anyway.

The booklet is indeed well cured, with interesting lyrics about sacrifice and incantations of death which are always a pleasure to read. Simple layout but at least something looking professional from this good Mexican label called Iron Blood & Death. I suggest you to check out their releases becouse apart from this one which I deem too average, it also has some interesting things in the roster.

PUTRID WHORE (Ita): “Pornified” split Cd with EYETOFUK (Ltu) 2007 Grindhead

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Splatter Whore‘s side offers a bit more in terms of intensity and fullness of sound compared to Eyetofuk. Instead of sounding like a collection of sampled Nailbomb songs, their intent seems to be way more into traditional cyber-Goregrind with lots of mid tempo changes and a sound that well, isn’t the more convincing of the world either, but still better than their cd mates.

Honestly speaking, I don’t like much the riffs themselves, in particular the fact they’re a bit too fast to crush with heaviness, and too slow to shred with ferocity. Mostly it’s a collection of real average guitar chords, stuck together with some samples and a cricket vocal approach that probably would fit better an American Death Metal band in the vein of Sikfuk or Bound and Gagged than dirty grind. They’re however the best thing on their side anyway.

Of all the songs I probably liked most the mast one, “Please Fuck Me!”, as it’s probably the most weird and wicked of them all. Cover art looks like a variation of Mike Diana’s old works. Funny and cool… even if comic book art is getting a bit inflated.

EYETOFUK (Ltu): “Drufuked” split Cd with SPLATTER WHORE (Ita) 2007 Grindhead

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Eyetofuk is a cyber grind duo hailing from Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius. Their music is mostly Ministry-like sampled metal guitar riffs with heavy use of samples. Personally I think there are good ideas on this side even though the sound is a little bit thin and dispersed. I believe this kind of music gives its best when immersed in some extra chaos. Actually the vocals are quite deranged and constantly changing, shifting from toilet flush to shrieks and moans of pleasure from some random porn movie, but the underlaying instrumentation is very far from “crushing”. Even if I like bands like SMES or  Womb Goo Gai Pan, this is some sort of hybrid ground between total rave/scat party foolishness and true goregrind which I difficultly like in its entirety. Nice to hear once, but with all this huge offer of sick goregrind we have todat, I’ll move to something way more intense and sicker.

ŁEB PROSIAKA (pol): “Wielkie Otwarcie Parasola w Dupie” Lp Cd-r 2007 Mad Maggot

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We have come to Mad Maggtot’s fifth release this time on Cd-r. A full-length album by the funny-comedy-core band from Warsaw called Łeb Prosiaka – which honestly I never heard of before. Even if the band looks completely demented on stage (see Birdflesh) with their delirious sponge slippers and all these idiot emocore girl stars and pigs on their booklet, the music is excellent and devastating grindcore with a really powerful, deep metallic mince core vibe. I admit I also have some sympathy for easter European languages, and the Polish accent gives this album an extra line of exotic hardness. The writing is simple, yet fluid and just as repetitive where needed. Throw in two or three good riffs and a song is done, just as in Black Metal aha! Songs here are classic 1 minute on average, even if you should not expect impossible speed and hyper blasting a la Napalm Death. I won’t say I would personally buy this myself, but it’s an excellent choice for those into savage, hysterical, spastic and somewhat deranged mince core. Some songs have a weird dissonance but far from Dillinger gayness, just what’s needed. I guess if one has to appreciate something in this band is their careful arrangement of fury, distortion and hilarous shrieks. Good vocals also, not the same old cigarette cough typical of crust. Interesting even if I do NOT support ironic grind.

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.