Lo so che volete i vecchi classici quindi ogni tanto parliamo di qualcosa di vecchio.
Oggi il Dottor Marciume ascolta: Lobotomy “Against the Gods” tape, swampy and chunky Death Metal from early Sweden, Raptured Anus 1992
It took two years for this band to record a second tape after the IMMENSE 1990 “When Death Draws Near” debut , one of the best Swedeath demos of the time, a thing so dark and heavy it could well be Finnish (whopss!). This band released albums so shitty during their late career that someone might be deceived in thinking they were never any good and they would be wrong as fuck. Loyal to the “first demo was better” adagio, which despite webzine SunnO hipster editors actually is absolutely true of most scandinavian death metal bands, this is a band which released a cvlt gem in the golden year of the genre. To be honest, this second effort is not nearly as good as the first one but I believe it’s mostly due to thinner production and a thinner sound as structurally it’s not much different. This is classic solid mid tempo Death Metal with guttural vocals and some very vague 80’s slayerish riminiscences, but with way more chugs, could be a bit like Grave’s poorer cousins if one wants to classify different schools of a subgrenre’s subgenre. This plus the following demo were both repressed on CD by almight Thrash Corner label from Puerto Rico 25 years ago, I have currently no idea of the cost of that CD today but it was a pretty cheap second spin basket kind of record (means it’s probably worth 20000 euros after the age of Ekeroth). Impossibly small font makes my old eyes ache to read anything now, but there is a nicely sized fuck of list in there that includes some words that mr Zuckerberg won’t appreciate ahah.
I was not hugely impressed by Hellgoat and by jove, I am underwhelmed by Legions of Astaroth as well. Like I said before fuzzy sound is by no means a turn down for me, but the kind of music this band is playing definitely could gain some points with something better than a bedroom rehearsal sound. We have some sloppy galloping here too, but as with Hellgoat they’re kept to a minimum and maybe, if we could hear the guitars, they could be not terribly bothering. Like with the other band in the split, I find the vocals the best element in the mix, as the drums do what they’re supposed to do in a good black metal band, that is blasting. Can’t say much more as it’s quite difficult to hear what they are pretending to be playing here.
And that’s it, I don’t have much more to add, as it is it sounds like some ordinary bestial death/black metal band. I guess Astaroth didn’t inspire very much the band.
I forgot the intense pain of reviewing a Death Metal Cd whose lyrics are sung in Italian since maybe… Resurrecturis? Ouch! In any case, this promo comes with a decent pro packaging and full color slimcase. I won’t indulge right now on the cover art which, while interesting in concept (maggots are always cool), is arranged quite awkwardly (something just seems out of place), so I jump straight to the inner side where lyrics are printed (think font on a dark background, my eyes thank you). I have to stress it: am really uncomfortable with the Italian language but I confess that could be because I never heard a band using the language convincingly, after all if we consider the assonance it can’t be much worse than Spanish or Portuguese right? And we all like South American bands that sing in these idioms right? Whatever.
Yet I also had another, veiled, prejudice on Lacerater since the band is from my city of birth, and despite having been close to that scene since the very beginning I can’t honestly claim that a city like Bologna ever shined in the musical landscape. Sure there are highlights in the story of extreme Metal from that city (Crematorium and Euthanasia were quite good as well as some grindcore side projects) but mostly the scene has always been quite flat especially considering the important universities there attract young blood from all over the country. One would expect such melting pot to produce quality stuff by the score, after all.
Well I have to admit I was wrong, TWICE. Not only the songwriting on this demo is rather solid (shoving my prejudices up my arse) but the choice of singing in my language didn’t damage the quality of the product whatsoever. I am still not sure it not to sing in English was a proper choice, but being extreme Metal a form of art I accept it as a thoroughly consolidated and well thought choice. Lacerater surely has some good blasts on these tracks, and the double vocal (growling/screaming) duty is quite intense, but straight out brutality is not the main topic here, it seems this band is mainly interested in writing songs that do have both head and tail and a whole lot of stuff in between with plenty of space for some improvements on the technical parts for the future as well. I have heard bands on Cudgel or Morbid which were way worse that this so I assume it is a matter of time before Lacerater finds a contract. I am reading right now the band is on hold, which is a pity since this stuff is rather good. They are basically ondulating between uptempo riffing and blasting, never giving a real breathing space. I won’t call it Death/Grind, but it is certainly good solid Death Metal with lashes of grinding fury thrown in. Good stuff, worth hearing.
This record is the perfect example of how sometimes expectations might be terribly, disastrously failed. A two-piece band from the Heart of Illinois, which was supposed to inherit the greatness of Impetigo, Lincoln Love Log had all the good chances to be great. Fernando of Black Hole has great taste for music and he’s a real veteran of the scene, not to mention a great artist when it comes to layout works. The artwork too is super slick and made by no other that Stevo himself. I was expecting pure hell. Everything was screaming for killer splattery grind with a nasty sense of humour.
Let me say things straight… WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT??? This might be the lamest, most boring, most useless band I have heard since a long time. Hidden behind a curtain of lo-fi noize, is just pure nothingness. Random weak riffing, cheap vocals like the worst Necrophagia ever recorded, on a clumsy union of gay stoner riffs and boring mid tempos. Even with the best of intentions, I cannot understand why someone would actually listen to this crap for more that 3 seconds. I would spend my money better on Anal Cunt – at least they’re fast and vulgar, this band is just plain nothingness. Could trade it for Lullaby demos and i would be the one making profit. Fuck this crap, complete nonsense in a bad way – c’mon I love noise and incomprehensible music, but we’re not talking about extreme noise this time, just trendy mediocre shit for teenagers into drugs and that kind of stuff for losers. Which is worse than filling 30 minutes with just barfing. Fuck. Boycott this garbage.
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.
Reviewing a band after seeing Grotesque in concert is something quite painful to stand, especially when a band is so full to the brim of clichès and devoid of personality as this one. This is the kind of sad ballad Black Metal a la Burzum out of ideas. Musically this is nothing but of shit. One million kilos of reverb, which might as well hide Dream Theater beneath this veil of filth. Nothing wrong with it, so far so good if they leave the moaning continuously vibrating all the time. What kills everything here is that couple of happy, sing along rock and roll riffs which just fit the distant vocals like a dick in the pea soup. There is little to pity in this shit. If Black Metal is surely more about misanthropy and atmospheres, this fails tragically. There is a thin veil between dismal simplicity and being incompetent. This shit band stands right in the second field. The cover is standard greyscale with gothic fonts and stuff but well, this might as well be the case with this genre.
