|Man I am a real poser but the logo of this band was really APPALLING. I could tattoo myself the Birdflesh one in place of this monstrosity, an unbelievable combination of ugly fonts, flame effects and Photoshop random embellishments. Luckily it seems some effects have been dropped. But the Cd remains legendary in ugliness. Totally wrong resolution, one ton of flaming and glowing effects all around, and to top it off a guy with the Beatles haircut in the band. Things look grim indeed…

Man I am a real poser but the logo of this band was really APPALLING. I could tattoo myself the Birdflesh one in place of this monstrosity, an unbelievable combination of ugly fonts, flame effects and Photoshop random embellishments. Luckily it seems some effects have been dropped. But the Cd remains legendary in ugliness. Totally wrong resolution, one ton of flaming and glowing effects all around, and to top it off a guy with the Beatles haircut in the band. Things look grim indeed…

For some reason I remember I was in touch with the singer at the time of Ton, I think I still have a tape he sent me which is halfway made of Ton tracks and halfway dub music. I must be regressing with time because I really don’t remember I ever liked Ton. Fully Consumed is admittedly somewhat better. All the trippy stuff has gone, replaced by some sort of ultra technical stuff. The recording is sharp, the tracks complex and probably musicianship is also quite good, but I really cannot get into it, maybe it’s a period who knows. This band from Akron plays ultra-tight Brutal Death with a double vocal front and a huge dose of contaminations, from funky bass slapping to some elements of Swedish HC. Everything is in constant motion. The vocals are stretched all through the whole spectrum, and the drum and bass section is just hectic. I have no elements to fully appreciate the skill, so I will tell you what it makes me feel. Well, pretty nothing actually. All the sounds are quite artificial. And I don’t really this metallic bass sound a la Cryptopsy stinging so often within the tracks. This must be for lovers of schizoid and technical stuff, a kind of metal I am not predominantly into of late.

One last good thing is that while the booklet is awful, it’s complete for once. It has full lyrics in it and all the stuff. The lyrics are the kind made of short sentences a la Dillinger Escape Plan – not my stuff either, but at least present.

An unknown Chinese label was about to press a complete discography of Fear of God (the Swiss noise band). The band immediately stopped the press of the Cd and sued legal action if such a product was ever released. Seems like if you want to make a bootleg, you shouldn’t even thing about contacting the band first, just do it anonimously. I am 100% sure some other label from south America will be doing something identical soon and will be selling the copies on eBay. Too bad when the bands don’t recognize it.

Birdflesh “Mongo Musicale” is going to be released by Power It Up on vinyl. The band members are totally deranged and their aesthetics are ludicorous, but the riffs are pure gold. Always from Power It Up is a collection of singles and rare tracks from Haemorrhage called “Haemotology”.

Iron Pegasus from Germany released OFFICIAL Poison shirts! Also Messiah ones.

Brainwash/Lymphatic Phlegm split 7″ is OUT!!!

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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.

|I 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.