Category Archives: E

ECTOVOID (USA): “Breathing Blackness” tape 2011 Unholy Domain

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I was supposed to review these releases from the great label Unholy Domain, generous sly offered as promos by the label, a long ago. Better late than never, they say, after all.

I don’t know if it’s my tape deck that it’s getting decrepit and possibly oxidized in several components, but the sound on this tape is rather bass-heavy and confused. Which might fit, being a demo (or better, a repress of a demo originally on CD-r), but I definitely need to give it a try on a different set one day.

The tracks on this cassette are quite old and represent a rather immature version of the band, who in my opinion will give their best in their debut album on Hellthrasher the following year. I haven’t really followed their releases but it seems to me that the second album is a bit underwhelming. Here, as well as in the debut, the sounds are more similar to that of a certain Swedish Death Metal a la early Therion, but it is the vocals on this demo that will really give the best in the 2012 album.

Nothing particularly exciting, but worth a listen.

Entropic Degrade Behind Phylogeny “The Absence Screamed Ten Times” CD-r 2004

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Oggi il Dottor Marciume ascolta: Entropic Degrade Behind Phylogeny “The Absence Screamed Ten Times” CD-r, full blast bulldozing goregrind from La Spezia, s/p 2004

You might be surprised how massive the sound of this thin CD-r is. This is a band that managed to replicate the breathless pummeling of the eastern block goregrind masters like early Squash Bowels and Dead Infection with that additional dose of loose relentless uptempo hammering that only bands Inhume managed to hit. It is no surprise I believe that just like the dutchs some of the members have different backgrounds, Gionata will forgive me if I state that this is possibly the only band he played in I enjoy ah ah! There is no space for breathing on this record, and I think it’s a real pity we didn’t get more of this great shit. Stylistically speaking the band had serious potential, I really liked their grotesque artworks and insane Abscess-like handwriting!

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EXHIBIT-A (Aus): “Home Dentistry” split Cd with ROADSIDE BURIAL (Aus) 2008 Grindhead

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No. I am not really going to take it. A few dozen tracks written between 2000 and 2001 and exhumed just for sharing plastic with Roadside Burial. I admit this band is slightly more savage and deranged, and all in all it’s nto so bad, but i don’t feel very merciful these days. This band is fast, chaotic, has some shredding Japanese like screams and a monster gruff sound, which is fine, but it really leaves much after you listen to it. Even if more varied, the constant vibration of the high screams soon make this listening a test of patience. It might be okay for a listen, but not so much as to spend your money on I am afraid. I really start to miss old dirty grindcore of the eighties/early nineties and the bulldozing energy of Last Days of Humanity – these bands really have no much soul. Still better than post-Nasum washing machine gind but even this Australian prototypical drunk grind is getting a bit overheated.

I like the weirdo approach and the unpredictable song writing, and I loved the crdue way the tracks are hacked so you can hear the moment one ends and another start. But it’s a bit little for a band to stand out of the drowd today. From Grindhead I loved Eyetofuk much, much better.

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.

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!

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.