Behold the epitome of Blackened Hardcore offered by a distinct Danish act, channeling pure darkness throughout 40 minutes of doomed sounds and noises split in 11 obscure compositions.
Hexis (ἕξις), a Greek word important in the philosophy of Aristotle (and because of this a traditional word of philosophy), is a relatively stable arrangement or disposition, for example a person’s health or knowledge or character. However, since 2010 the word has also been used to describe a distinct band from the city of Copenhagen, in Denmark, playing a mix of Hardcore and doomy Black Metal and singing about topics such as nihilism, anti-Christianity and abstract thought. Across their history, the band has played over 300 shows in the United States, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Russia, the UK and all over Europe, showing how appreciated their unique and obscure music is worldwide.
Following the success of their first full-length album Abalam, from 2014, as well as many other EP’s, demos and split albums released through the years, Hexis return with their second full-length installment, titled Tando Ashanti, the epitome of Blackened Hardcore channeling pure darkness in the vein of Celeste and Oathbreaker and the start of an almost year-long worldwide tour for 2017, released through Halo of Flies in North America and Alerta Antifascista Records in Europe. Furthermore, Hexis are one of those bands where informing their lineup is definitely an item of very low importance to them, which means the names featured on this review might not be accurate. What seems to be their current lineup is Filip on vocals, Victor Kaas on guitars, Luca Mele on bass and Tommaso Rey on drums, but if these names are somehow incorrect I apologize for that. Anyway, it’s the music that really matters, don’t you agree?
Distorted sounds and an apparent lack of hope permeate the air in the intro Tando, when we’re suddenly attacked by Hexis in Ashanti, with the lancinating riffs by Victor together with the demented beats by Tommaso creating a beyond belligerent atmosphere perfect for the irreligious lyrics growled by Filip (“Faithless. But yet you pray in hope that your nightmares will disappear, that these images will leave your head, leave your mind. Tied into anxiety, tied into hopelessness. Surrounded by flies, surrounded by thousands of eyes. Faithless. God is not here today.”). Molestus also begins in full force, a visceral amalgamation of heavy sounds and piercing noises by Filip and his crew, with highlights to the crude riffs by Victor and the rhythmic drumming by Tommaso; whereas Ritualis, albeit following a similar pattern, sounds sharper and more aggressive, which in the end boosts its impact on the listener, not to mention its old school Black Metal riffage and endless obscurity as its main ingredients.
Calamitas represents brutal devastation in the form of music, blending the most violent elements from Black Metal, Hardcore and Neocrust in a fantastic spawn of extreme music by Hexis, with the vocals by Filip sounding extremely demented; followed by Nocturnus, where heavier-than-hell riffs are quickly joined by frantic drums in another brutal creation. Moreover, their sonic havoc suddenly gives place to a slow-paced Doom Metal-ish musicality led by the low-tuned bass by Luca Melo, but all hell breaks loose again for our total delight. And it looks like Hexis mastered the art of crafting bold and devilish songs with less than three minutes like what we face in Opacus, presenting more of the band’s austere lyrics (“As shadows it passes by, creating what is his, taking what was yours. Purging the body, the body of the heartless. Immerse them, immerse the victims, immerse all life, the fragile souls. The shadows they pass, purging the souls.”). Can you imagine this song with a dark orchestra in the background? I can, and just the idea is already beyond awesome.
Cordolium, the longest of all tracks, comes crushing with a hurricane of distorted guitar sounds, slow and menacing beats, and the vociferations of Filip, and that negativity and despair goes on for the song’s six obscure minutes, growing in hostility until its resonant ending, which builds an instant connection with the demonic Resurrectio, with Filip being accompanied by only an eerie background noise and a few isolated beats. In the end, it’s just noise and feels a bit like filler, albeit it makes some kind of sense when put together with all other songs from the album. Luckily, in the belligerent Septem the band gets back to a more Hardcore sonority, delivering modern Black Metal riffs with progressive drumming and hellish gnarls, not to mention the guitars by Victor which are a demonic work-of-art. And ending this eccentric spawn of blackened sounds we have another intense creation named Praesagium, showcasing an amazing job done by Tommaso with his intricate beats, all the malignancy flowing from Filip’s grasps, and a truly Stygian ending in one of the most complete and visceral of all songs.
There are so many places where you can buy your copy of Tando Ashanti in different formats I might have forgotten a few of them on my list, but here we go anyway. You can get the album at Hexis’ BandCamp, at the Alerta Antifascista Records’ BandCamp, at the Init Records’ BandCamp or webshop, at the Halo of Flies’ BandCamp or webshop, at the Bloated Veins’ Big Cartel, on Amazon or at Discogs. Tando Ashanti might be considered by many the most complete, detailed and obscure work by Hexis to date, which is something I have to agree with. I don’t recall listening to such piercing and multi-layered Blackened Hardcore before, and let’s hope Hexis keep taking their aggressiveness and creativity to new heights for many years still to come.
Best moments of the album: Ritualis, Calamitas, Opacus and Praesagium.
Worst moments of the album:Resurrectio.
Released in 2017 Halo of Flies/Alerta Antifascista Records
Enjoy 22 minutes of destructive Death Metal delivered by a Greek power trio aiming at unleashing metal music with tons of groove and vile vibes, blended with technical and aggressive thrash sounds and their own twisted atmosphere.
And the endless source of high-quality metal music that is the Hellenic Republic brings to us another recently born Death Metal act that goes by the interesting name of Gravewards, a Death Metal power trio based in the capital Athens and formed in late 2015. Aiming at unleashing metal music with tons of groove and vile vibes heavily influenced not only by old school Death Metal, but also by technical and aggressive thrash sounds blended with their own twisted atmosphere, this Greek band is the latest option in the market for fans of bands such as Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Death and Benediction.
Recorded at Made In Hell Studio in Athens in late 2016, and featuring a straightforward, dark artwork By Czech designer Vojtěch Moonroot Doubek (Moonrot Art), the debut demo by Gravewards, titled Subconscious Lobotomy, will bring to your avid ears 22 minutes of destructive Death Metal split in four original creations by the band, working as a solid warmup for their upcoming releases. Those guy might be “just” a power trio, but the amount of energy and aggressiveness they put into making their music feels like they’re a full-bodied band with five or even more members. Be ready to get smashed by Nikos on vocals and guitars, Fotis on bass, and Vasilis on drums, and enjoy the demonic music by another band that proudly carries the flag of Greek Metal wherever they go.
Distorted lines and a hostile ambience are the background for Nikos and his bandmates to begin crushing with their visceral Death Metal in Casket Entrapment, also presenting hints of Doom and Sludge Metal to make things even more interesting. Moreover, Nikos sounds like a rabid beast on vocals, while Vasilis punishes his drums mercilessly during the whole song. In the next song of the EP, the heavy and sluggish title-track Subconscious Lobotomy, not only the rumbling bass by Fotis together with the blackened guitars by Nikos dictate the rhythm, but it also has a primeval vibe perfect for breaking your spine headbanging. Put differently, this is the type of song that offers the listener a very cohesive sonority with that raw punch we always look for in good quality Death Metal.
Sounding even more enraged and demented than before, Nikos keeps growling like a beast while Fotis and Vasilis set the desired ambience for his vile gnarls in Crawling Chaos, a showcase of almost seven minutes of a groovy and violent bloodshed the likes of Obituary, Entombed, Unleashed and several other classic acts that play old school Death Metal. And lastly, Deathwomb Incubation begins with an eerie female voice followed by melodic guitars in a gripping rhythm, gradually becoming a menacing spawn of evil Death Metal with the desperate, deep growls by Nikos penetrating your mind while Fotis and Vasilis keep shaking the earth with their low-tuned weapons until the song’s vibrant and abrupt ending.
In summary, Gravewards have just risen from the pits of hell and are definitely here to stay, disturbing our peace with the ruthless and gruesome Death Metal found in Subconscious Lobotomy, giving a very good sense of the destructive path this honest and hardworking Greek power trio might take in their future releases. If you are curious to know more about the band, go check their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and in case you’re an admirer of underground extreme music you can purchase their debut demo at Discogs or at the Dying Victims Productions’ webstore. I’m sure the guys from Gravewards will appreciate your support, which will certainly fuel them for keeping delivering crushing Death Metal to your ears.
Andreas Slocinski, the talented bass player for Danish Stoner Rock/Metal power trio Stone Cadaver, talks to The Headbanging Moose about the band’s brand new album Reject Remove Replace, their passion for the music from the 70’s and all things metal, and the flourishing metal scene in Denmark, among other topics, in one of our most interesting interviews ever.
Andreas Slocinski (Stone Cadaver)
The Headbanging Moose: Could you please introduce yourselves to our readers? Who are Stone Cadaver, how was the band formed, what’s your goal with your music, and any other details you want to share with us about the band?
Andreas Slocinski (Stone Cadaver): Stone Cadaver is a Danish stoner metal threepiece from Aarhus, Denmark. The gentlemen that wield the instruments and compose the music are Anders Bech Nielsen (guitar and vocals), Jesper Hauptmann (drums) and yours truly, Andreas Slocinski, on bass. The band’s history is relatively short, so it’s easy to sum up. Stone Cadaver rose from the ashes of Chosen Legacy, a metal cover band that featured all of us. It was fun and all, but eventually we all got fed up with playing other people’s stuff, so we decided to abandon Chosen Legacy and start focusing on writing our own material in an attempt to satisfy our creative need. That was back in 2014. Chosen Legacy was all about thrash and groove metal (we played songs by Pantera, Slayer, even Cannibal Corpse), but none of us were interested in writing that kind of music, and, as it turned out, we all harbored a secret desire to play some dirty, 70s inspired stonerish metal, so we just said to each other, “hey, let’s give it a shot and see what happens”, and started jamming on a few riffs. The first song we wrote was “Black Magick” off the self-titled EP, and things just started growing from thereon. As for the goal or purpose of Stone Cadaver, well, it’s just to have a good time and write some cool music. We don’t plan to make a living from it, we’re too old for that now, but the idea of creating music and performing it under the moniker of Stone Cadaver, a beast that’s totally our own creation, appeals to us very much, and it’s definitely a cool way to spend your spare time.
THM: How was the writing and recording process of your new album, Reject Remove Replace, and what’s the main difference between it and your debut self-titled EP from 2014?
AS: RRR differs musically from the EP in a lot of ways, although there are also a lot of similarities. The EP is more doomy and, perhaps, slightly more metal overall. RRR is more dirty and fresh. We have always tried, though, to mix the 70s with more modern elements to create some varied music, and although RRR is more varied than the EP that whole idea of mixing newer and older stuff in an effort to create some exciting material that stays interesting to the listener throughout, is sort of the red thread that runs through all our compositions. I am into bands like Electric Wizard and I always to try to get some really heavy, slow stuff into the stew. Anders digs bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and likes to add faster paced stuff akin to those bands to the recipe. The end result is almost always a compromise and thus amalgamation of all those things, heavy, doomy elements coupled with faster parts. Naturally, all of us love Black Sabbath, and the mantra WWBSD (What Would Black Sabbath Do?) act as a sort of litmus test if we’re stuck in a song and don’t know how to finish it or get from one part to the next. Ah, that might be a stretch, but Sabbath are very important to all of us and most definitely act as a shared key inspiration. The album was recorded over a week or so at our old rehearsal space, which we shared with another band, Magnified Eye, probably one of the oldest Danish stoner bands. Torben Egebjerg, lead singer and guitarist in the ol’ Eye, recorded and produced the songs in collaboration with us. A guy named Michael Larsen, who’s been part of the local music scene as a booker and all-round technical guy for many years, helped us get the sound of the instruments just right for the recording. The album was then mixed by Stefan Krey, who also plays in Magnified Eye. He has another band, Alkymist, which is a new name on the Danish metal scene. It’s progressive doom metal and very cool. Definitely worth checking out! Lastly, the album was mastered by James Plotkin. We chose him, because he worked on Electric Wizard’s “Time To Die”, so if he’s good enough for the Wizard, he’s good enough for us. A very helpful and cool guy!
THM: In our review for Reject Remove Replace, we quoted a sentence from you stating it’s a concept album, with the concept being “a unified, musical whole”. Can you elaborate more on that? Why do you consider it a concept album? What’s the main storyline that guides the album from start to finish?
Album Review – Stone Cadaver / Reject Remove Replace (2017)
AS: It’s true that we call it a concept album, but it’s not a concept album in the sense that there’s an overarching storyline or theme guiding everything. Albums from the 60s and 70s are often as good as they are, because a lot them work as albums. Today, there’s a tendency to just slap a bunch of songs together without really paying much attention to how they work in relation to each other and the album as a whole. We wanted to create an album that really works as an album, and not just a collection of songs. To this effect, RRR was actually only intended to be released on vinyl, because we “designed” it for vinyl, and because vinyl, at least as far as we are concerned, is a superior way of enjoying an album. An example of what we mean when we say that it was designed for vinyl is the small instrumental interlude “Ruins In The Sand” at the end of side A, a short, atmospheric piece with acoustic guitars. This segment is very different from the preceding and following songs, which have a lot more bang for the buck. “Ruins” was placed at the end of side A very intentionally. As you know, once the A-side is finished, you have to lift the vinyl, flip the disc over and lower the pickup in order to start the B-side. While you’re doing this, there’s obviously no music playing. “Ruins” ends softly, so you could argue that it actually segues into the musical void that accompanies the lifting and flipping of the disc. Likewise, the B-side also ends on a soft note with the instrumental piece “Omega”, which is part 2 of the song “Dead Horses, pts. I & II”. The soft endings of both sides create unity and bind both sides together nicely, we think. This obviously doesn’t work as well on the CD. Combined with the varied nature of the rest of the songs themselves, the album, as a whole, has the feel of one those good albums from the 70s. That’s the intention, anyways. Hopefully, there are people out there who have picked up on it.
THM: The official video for the opening track of the album, the heavy and groovy Sscum, is in my humble opinion really entertaining, just like those old low-budget, catchy-as-hell horror and suspense movies from the 70’s and 80’s. Can you tell us more about the story behind the song and how you decided to shoot the video? Will there be a sequel for it?
AS: We’re glad you like the video and that you dig the 70s low-budget vibe, because that kind of vibe was exactly what writer/director Ulrik Haenschke was aiming for. The lyrical content of the song and the storyline in the video actually have nothing in common. The song is about neo-nazis and how fucking stupid they are, but it wasn’t important to us or Ulrik that the video dealt with that topic at all. Ulrik was involved in the video for Magnified Eye’s “Legion”, which was done very professionally and we all liked it, so Anders chatted him up at a concert, and, as it turned out, Ulrik was interested in doing a video for “Sscum”. He had heard the song at one of our gigs and, basically, wrote the entire script in his head right there on the spot. For some reason, he envisioned this psycho redneck in a really cool car who picks up a hot blonde that he brings home to kill in a twisted, misguided attempt to get back at his girlfriend, who left him because he cheated on her. A pretty simple plot, but very effective nonetheless. The entire process was one of those things where everything just came together very smoothly. Ulrik wrote the script, consulted with us, auditioned the actors and procured all the equipment, lamps, cameras etc. He’s attending some sort of film school and he did the video for a project, which enabled him to use all the equipment for free. Otherwise, it would have been an extremely expensive shoot. The camera alone, a Red which is the same kind of camera used by Peter Jackson on “The Hobbit”, costs between 60-80,000 CAD, so if we had had to rent it, it would have been costly. We also got hold of the car, a ‘69 Torino, for free (thank you Susan!). The video was shot over the course of two weekends in a barn close to Aarhus. The exterior shots were also done not too far away. Ulrik then spent a few weeks editing the material and in late 2016 we were able to premiere it at a local hard rock and metal bar. It was a fun and drunken night. There’s no plan for a sequel, but, you know what, none of us has thought about making one, and it might actually just be a very cool thing to do. Let’s see what happens …
THM: Talking about heavy music made in your gorgeous homeland Denmark, the average metalhead usually knows only the classic metal by King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, and more recently the hybrid of metal and rock by Volbeat, but no other Danish bands are part of his regular playlist. With that said, how’s the current Heavy Metal scene in Denmark? Is the scene getting stronger, with new bands booming all over the country, or do you feel it’s stagnated like in many other countries?
AS: The metal scene in Denmark is alive and thriving. It may not be booming per se, but it’s definitely not on the decline. Denmark is a small country, but we have a lot of metal festivals, Copenhell, Aalborg Metalfestival, Metal Royale, Metal Magic to name some of the bigger ones, and there are metal concerts in almost all Danish cities, big and small. That being said, it’s not always easy to land gigs, for some reason. You really have to put a lot of effort into landing gigs and it’s boring work.
THM: Which new bands from Denmark do you recommend to our listeners? It can be in the same Stoner Metal and Rock vein as Stone Cadaver, or any other style like Black Metal, Metalcore or Power Metal. How bright do you think the future is for those bands?
AS: There are loads of Danish bands. Some cool names to check out are the curly haired troupe of death metal jugglers in BAEST. They are definitely on the rise, and will probably make it big. Bersærk is another band who also enjoys a lot of success. They sing in Danish and call their music “hedningehegn”, which is a pretty cool, self-invented word for “pagan noise” (that’s probably what comes closest). Alkymist, as mentioned before, are definitely also worth checking out as are Magnified Eye. Currently, there’s talk of a New Wave Of Danish Black Metal spearhedead by bands such as Myrkur, Solbrud and Orm. They are also very worthy of your attention, if black metal is your thing. An older black metal band, or black n roll, is Horned Almighty, which you may have heard of. Smaller interesting names include Disrule, Fusskalt, Drön, ThunerWhip, Impalers and Fordærv.
Stone Cadaver
THM: In regards to your influences and idols in music, what would be your top metal or even non-metal artists and albums, the ones that have a strong influence in the music by Stone Cadaver, that helped shape your musicality and fuel your creativity?
AS: As previously mentioned, Ozzy-era Black Sabbath is a major shared influence. On a more individual level, Anders always cites Alice In Chains and Jerry Cantrell as some of his key influences. “Dirt” ranks really high on his personal list of faves as does Deep Purple’s “Fireball”. Jesper is in love with Iron Maiden and Satyricon. Frost’s drumming in particular on “Nemesis Divina”, one of Jesper’s top favorite albums, has had a major impact on his playing as can be heard on RRR. My own main influences include Geezer Butler, Steve Harris and Jaco Pastorius and some of my all-time favorite bands include Electric Wizard and Pink Floyd. All of us dig all kinds of metal and rock, though. It’s important to listen to a lot of music, when you’re in a band, so we try to keep our minds and ears open.
THM: What about your current tour dates to promote Reject Remove Replace? How have the concerts been so far? In addition, as the summer is considered “festival season” all over Europe, have you guys been able to play any major or even smaller festivals, and if so, how was the experience? Did you play alongside any of your music idols in any of those festivals?
AS: We actually haven’t played a lot of gigs in 2017 so far. We played three in May and we don’t have anything planned until October. Jesper recently became a dad for the first time, so that naturally put a dampener on things, but we’re slowly starting to get the gears grinding again. The 2017 gigs we’ve played so far, however, have been cool. We played the inaugural Children Of The Sun festival in Copenhagen, two days of stoner, doom and space rock. We shared the stage with bands such as Dead Witches, Yuri Gagarin and Dopelord. We opened the second day to a rather small crowd and the sun was baking through some overhead windows, so it was not the easiest of gigs, but it was fun and we had a swell time afterwards, drinking with some of the other bands. Dead Witches in particular was a fun crowd to hang with and we would love to meet with them again at another festival or concert at some point. In October we’ll play Copenhagen again with Drön and French band Dot Legacy. We are working on landing gigs for 2018 and so far things are looking bright.
THM: What’s next for Stone Cadaver after the Reject Remove Replace tour is over? As Stoner Rock and Metal is a type of music widely appreciated in North America and in the UK, do you have any plans to further explore those regions in a not-so-distant future with perhaps a combined tour with a well-established band?
AS: We have started writing material for a new album, but it’ll be some time before we’ll get to record anything. The album will be fucking killer! As for touring outside of Denmark, that’s definitely something we’d love to do. There are no plans yet, though, but hopefully, one day, we’ll get a chance to go on a smaller tour abroad with some other bands. As previously stated, we handle all the booking ourselves, so putting together a “world tour” would be quite taxing. A booking agency might be worth considering at some point, but right now that’ll have to wait.
THM: Thanks a lot for your time, we really appreciate that. Please feel free to send a final message to our readers in Canada and all over the world.
AS: Thanks for taking your time to read this interview. Remember to keep the underground alive and support the bands you like by buying their albums and not downloading them.
Presenting a solid fusion of dark, modern and gothic elements in their compositions, this newborn Hellenic entity has all it takes to become one of the biggest exponents in European Alternative Metal.
Presenting in their music a solid and dynamic mix of Alternative, Nu, Industrial and Gothic Metal, with the addition of modern sounds, ambient, groove and electronic elements, here comes Greek Alternative Metal quartet Project Renegade, formed earlier this year in the Greek capital Athens by frontwoman Marianna and drummer Ody, who were later joined by Tasos on guitar and Makis on bass to complete the band’s lineup. After the band’s inception, those talented Greek metallers quickly put together an EP titled Cerebra, comprised of three original compositions that not only represent the essence of their music, but that are also a very good indication of what to expect from them in their soon-to-be-released debut full-length album.
Engineered, recorded and mixed at Matrix Recording Studio Athens by Dimitris Misirlis, known for his collaborations with bands like Nightstalker, Agatus and Rosewood Brothers, and mastered at Grindhouse Studios Athens by George Bokos (Stone Cold Dead, Rotting Christ, Nightfall), who has worked with names such as George Kollias, Contrarian and Unearthly, Cerebra is a very promising start to this up-and-coming four-piece act from Greece, a land that has always provided amazing bands to the world of heavy music, and after listening to its three complex and catchy tracks you’ll be more than eager to see what the band has to offer in the future and, if you’re lucky, to check them out kicking ass live.
Futuristic notes kick off the first track of the EP, entitled Pressure, a modern and symphonic blend of Alternative and Gothic Metal led by the heavy, headbanging riffs by Tasos and the smooth but piercing vocals by Marianna, while Makis and Ody make sure the atmosphere remains dense and dark with their respective bass punches and potent beats. In other words, this is an excellent sample of the fire power by Project Renegade. Following a similar metallic and modernized pattern, Project Renegade enhance their aggressiveness and obscurity in the excellent tune Natural Born Killer, where Tasos once again does an amazing job with his riffs, as well as Makis with his thunderous bass. In addition to that, Marianna makes sure her vocals transpire passion and energy, in order to properly tell the desired story through the song’s lyrics. And lastly, a wicked narration ignites another impactful and upbeat Alternative Metal feast by this Greek quartet, named One of the Crowd, where Marianna turns up the heat with her high-pitched, rebel vocal lines while Ody smashes his drums mercilessly, with all madness and wild reverberation crafted by the band smoothly flowing into a whimsical and groovy ending.
In a nutshell, Project Renegade is such a promising band that they’re capable of composing 6-minute songs (which would be considered an “atrocity” for radio exposure in modern days) that sound as if they have only three minutes or even less in duration so cohesive they are, showing how melodic and captivating their music is. If you want to know more about the band and stay tuned for their upcoming full-length album, simply visit their Facebook page and keep an eye on their YouTube channel, ReverbNation and SoundCloud for new songs to come. And if you want to show your support to Alternative Metal made in Greece, purchase Cerebra (which is available for a full listen on Spotify) through the band’s own BandCamp page, on iTunes or on Amazon. This newborn Hellenic entity has all it takes to become one of the biggest exponents in Alternative Metal in Europe based on what they have to offer in Cerebra, and I can’t wait to see what’s next in their career when their debut full-length album is finally released.
Best moments of the album: Natural Born Killer.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Independent
Track listing 1. Pressure 6:02
2. Natural Born Killer 6:11
3. One of the Crowd 6:27
Band members Marianna – vocals
Tasos – guitar
Makis – bass
Ody – drums
Behold the brand new blood-claiming opus by this long-established Italian act, highly recommended for fans of the crushing sounds of old school Death Metal.
Valgrind is not only the main entrance to Valhalla in Norse mythology, but also the name of a four-piece Italian Death Metal brigade (born from the ashes of the ultra-underground act Necrospell in 1993, in the city of Modena) who, one year after the release of their widely acclaimed full-length album Speech Of The Flame, are back with a new blood-claiming EP titled Seal Of Phobos, a great option for fans of the crushing music by Morbid Angel, Monstrosity and Cruciamentum, and a sound message to the world of heavy music by a band that has been on a very positive roll since being reborn from the ashes back in 2008.
Featuring a stylish artwork by the band’s own vocalist and bassist Daniele Lupidi, who’s not only a talented musician but an accomplished artist as well, Seal Of Phobos sounds simply pulverizing from start to finish, with each song of the EP presenting a high level of dexterity, aggression and feeling in the form of Technical Death Metal. “This is probably our most aggressive material to date. All of the four tracks are extremely intense and we decided to go with a different vocal approach for every tune to give each one its own strong identity. We’re also extremely happy to have Jonny Petterson (Wombbath, Ashcloud, Henry Kane) doing some guest vocals on ‘Ekphora’s Day’. Last but not least, this is the first studio appearance for our new guitarist Umberto Poncina, who also engineered and mixed the EP”, said Daniele about how Seal Of Phobos was created and his expectations with it.
The truly bestial drumming by Gianmarco Agosti arises from the pits of hell to hit us in the face before the other band members begin their demolishing feast of Death Metal in the opening track, the amazing The Endless Circle, where Daniele delivers traditional growls à la Cannibal Corpse while the guitar duo Massimiliano Elia and Umberto Poncina are spot-on with their shredding and solos. And their sonic carnage goes on with an even more violent and blackened composition, New Born Deceit, where Daniele and Gianmarco are on their most infernal mode delivering enraged growls and insanely aggressive beats and fills respectively. Moreover, fans of old school Death Metal will crack their skulls into the circle pit to this hostile tune during their live performances without a shadow of a doubt.
Epic sounds in Prelude to Downfall (Interlude) warm up our ears for another Death Metal attack by Valgrind, this time titled Traitors Will Bleed, with Massimiliano and Umberto incinerating our skins with their metallic riffs. The whole song sounds very technical and rhythmic, with the intricate beats by Gianmarco building the perfect ambience for Daniele and his guttural vocals, ending with a nice Slayer-inspired guitar solo. And lastly, featuring guest vocalist Jonny Pettersson, we have Ekphora’s Day, a devastating chant showcasing a vile drumming, a neck-breaking main riff and beyond aggressive growls, not to mention its lyrics which can be considered the epitome of Death Metal (“Sacrifices, spill the blood / Those who died need final offers / Walking nightmares gathered around the flock / Ekphora’s day / Everything in this rotten earth is terminal / Lamentations guide mankind to the final resting place”), with all those elements being thoroughly connected until the sonic madness generated by the band fades away into a cryptic conclusion.
In case you want to take an initial full-listen at Seal Of Phobos before buying the album, you can find it in its entirety on YouTube, but I’m sure after the first song you’ll already run to the band’s own Big Cartel to grab either the regular version of the album or the special CD + T-shirt bundle, which you can also find at the Everlasting Spew Record’s webshop by clicking HERE or HERE, as well as at the Everlasting Spew Records’ BandCamp or at Discogs. I’m sure that after listening to Seal Of Phobos you’ll also go after the previous releases by Valgrind, a band that knows how to deliver to us avid metalheads high-quality old school Technical Death Metal with tons of aggressiveness and rawness added to the mix.
Best moments of the album: The Endless Circle and New Born Deceit.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Everlasting Spew Records
Track listing 1. The Endless Circle 4:07
2. New Born Deceit 4:09
3. Prelude to Downfall (Interlude) 0:47
4. Traitors Will Bleed 3:24
5. Ekphora’s Day 5:03
Band members Daniele Lupidi – Vocals, bass
Massimiliano Elia – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards
Umberto Poncina – rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards
Gianmarco Agosti – drums
Guest musician Jonny Pettersson – additional vocals on “Ekphora’s Day”
A journey through the past, present and future in the career of the unstoppable Blaze Bayley in the form of first-class Heavy Metal for his diehard fans in Toronto.
I’ll never understand why people who call themselves diehard metalheads would miss a chance to attend a top-notch Heavy Metal concert like what we had this Saturday at the really nice venue The Rockpile, which despite being usually referred as located in Toronto, technically speaking it’s in Etobicoke, an administrative district and former city that makes up the western part of the city of Toronto, around 18km from downtown. The weather was perfect, the beer was nice and cold, the food was great and all prices were very, very reasonable (including the ticket price). And those so-called fans of heavy music keep complaining on Facebook, Twitter etc. that metal doesn’t have the proper support and all those shenanigans. How about instead of just typing, you get up from that couch, head to a place like The Rockpile and support underground metal?
If you do that, perhaps you’ll face an electrifying band like the young and restless thrashers from CADILLAC BLOOD, a completely independent act from Keswick, Ontario, located 70km north of Toronto. Blending elements from Thrash Metal, Punk Rock and Rock N’ Roll in their music, and being clearly inspired by bands such as Volbeat (by the way, the band’s name comes from Volbeat’s classic album Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood if you haven’t noticed yet), Metallica, Motörhead and Anthrax, the quartet comprised of Luke Morrell on vocals, Tyler Morrell on guitar, Sean Murphy on bass and Dean Fraser on drums delivered an excellent warmup to the fans that were there for Blaze Bayley, being extremely professional and excited from start to finish, in special Luke who didn’t stop jumping and headbanging for a single second while singing at the same time. Unfortunately I don’t have their full setlist, but you can go to their BandCamp page and check out songs like Crow’s Nestand Devil’s Brew, both played by the band on Saturday.
Band members Luke Morrell – vocals
Tyler Morrell – guitar
Sean Murphy – bass
Dean Fraser – drums
When it was time for the unstoppable BLAZE BAYLEYto hit the stage with his Endure and Survive World Tour 2017, at around 10:30pm, The Rockpile was not even half full, maybe due to lack of better promotion or because the pub was a bit far for fans who rely on public transportation to move around, but I think those are just excuses for our society’s growing laziness to do anything that’s not online. Blaze deserved a much bigger crowd (he even joked it was his fault, as he asked that only true metalheads attended his concert), as he’s been doing superior music being totally independent, with very little support from anyone but himself and his bandmates. His music is powerful and vibrant, his lyrics are poetic and meaningful, and his energy on stage is simply fantastic. What else do you need in a metal concert?
Anyway, the brave fans who were at The Rockpile had the absolute pleasure of witnessing an amazing performance by Blaze and his amazing band formed by the talented Chris Appleton on guitars and backing vocals, Karl Schramm on bass and backing vocals, and Martin McNee on drums, who are not only the guys who recorded the first two parts of the kick-ass Infinite Entanglement trilogy with Blaze, the 2016 album Infinite Entanglement and the 2017 follow-up Endure And Survive (Infinite Entanglement Part II), but who are also three quarters of British Heavy Metal act Absolva, a great underground band highly recommended for lovers of old school metal music.
When Blaze was in Toronto for the last time, at the now defunct Hard Rock Café in 2014, he was supported by a Canadian Iron Maiden cover group named Maiden Quebec, and although they were a very good band, Blaze’s performance was somewhat hampered by their lack of chemistry. Fortunately for the fans at The Rockpile this Saturday, Blaze and the guys from Absolva were in perfect sync, a reflection of their years working together, delivering to the crowd a top-notch setlist encompassing the best of Blaze’s past, present, and even future (if you think of Infinite Entanglement as an evolving project), playing simply the best songs from Wolfsbane, Iron Maiden and his unparalleled solo career. From the very first notes of the inspiring Endure and Survive, to the speed and violence of Blood, Dark Energy 256 and Man on the Edge (see his intro video to this all-time classic HERE), and the epicness of The Clansman, their performance was flawless.
As I mentioned before, Blaze is a metal poet, and there was always a reason for a song to be inserted in his setlist, always bringing a powerful message to the fans who were singing along all lyrics with Blaze. For instance, his speech about how we all fail and how we all must stand up from our failures and fight our fears again and again in Fight Back, from his latest album, only shows how much he loves what he does and how much he’s passionate about Heavy Metal, as well as how he said us fans are his “home” in the emotional Calling You Home. Of course there was also room for lighter topics, like when he explained the origins of Wolfsbane and how we all would feel “sexier” after screaming the words “man hunt” during Wolfsbane’s biggest hit Man Hunt. By the way, the “duel” between Blaze and the rest of the band during this song was awesome, with Chris and Karl stealing the show with their refined techniques. Blaze made sure he acknowledged the undeniable talent of Chris not only as a guitarist, but also as a songwriter and producer, something we can easily see through his work with both Absolva and Blaze Bayley.
After the last song of the setlist, A Thousand Years (my favorite track from Infinite Entanglement), Blaze and the guys stayed at the venue for a free autograph and photo session with their fans, not charging a single penny as most band do nowadays with their “meet & greet experiences”, as a sign of his respect and admiration for us, supporters of independent music. All band members were very nice and courteous with everyone, talking about their tour across Canada and the US, their plans for the future and other topics. And all true metal fans who attended the concert on Saturday went back home with a huge smile on their faces, something that happens every single time you see a concert by the metal warrior Blaze Bayley. As simple as that.
Setlist Endure and Survive
Escape Velocity
Futureal
Blood
Silicon Messiah
Fight Back
Virus
Calling You Home
Stare at the Sun
The Clansman
Man Hunt
Man on the Edge
Dark Energy 256
Lord of the Flies
A Thousand Years
Band members Blaze Bayley – vocals
Chris Appleton – guitars, backing vocals
Karl Schramm – bass, backing vocals
Martin McNee – drums
Paying homage to the hordes of the ancient Mongolian empire by blending heavy, melodic riffs with an array of folk instruments and Asian harmonies, raise your fists to this idiosyncratic six-piece Canadian Folk Metal squad.
Forged in 2009 in the frozen bowels of Edmonton, Alberta, more specifically in the city of Devon, situated 26km southwest of Edmonton and located along the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, Canadian Folk Metal act Mongol has continuously paid homage to the hordes of the ancient Mongolian empire, blending heavy, melodic riffs with an array of folk instruments and Asian harmonies, wielding a sound as diverse as the nations their historical influences conquered. Their unique sound has taken them on many exciting journeys, including co-headlining Noise Metal Fest, Mongolia’s first international metal festival, alongside Folk Metal icons Nine Treasures in 2014, as well as sharing the stage with renowned bands like Arkona, Kalmah, Nekrogoblikon and Havok, among others.
Since their genesis almost a decade ago, Mongol released the EP Leisurely Destruktion, in 2010, followed by the full-length albums The Altan Urug, in 2012, and Chosen by Tengri, in 2014. Now in 2017 those Mongolian warriors are back in action with a brand new EP titled Warrior Spirit, featuring three original compositions that, as expected, bring forward the band’s trademark sonority in honor of the Mongolian empire, all enfolded by a minimalist but impactful album artwork by Eric Dieterich, from Soloman Media. Warrior Spirit might be short in duration, with only around 19 minutes of music, but that’s more than enough for this idiosyncratic Canadian sextet to show how passionate they are about the “Land of the Blue Sky” and its history.
Mongol’s epic and warlike Folk Metal invades our ears from the very first second of the opening track of the EP, the excellent The Mountain Weeps, with bassist Sorkhon Sharr kicking ass with his low-tuned punches while frontman Tev Tegri leads his horde of Mongolian warriors with his potent vocals, effectively transmitting the strength of the song’s lyrics to the listener (“Like the mighty blade of the Gods reaching on to the Welkin, / and piercing our world as it guides our way to Heaven / Pilgrimage of kings, the mountains sing / somber songs of conflicts long untold”). Not only that, the folk sounds and noises by lead guitarist Zev are the icing on the cake in this Canadian Folk Metal hymn, while Bourchi showcases all his versatility by blasting rhythmic and progressive sounds mixed with fast-paced beats throughout the song’s six intense minutes.
With a traditional folk intro and a fighting atmosphere, River Child is absolutely perfect for prancing around a fire pit while drinking a cold beer with your comrades. The deep growls by Tev Tegri together with the fierce, accelerated guitars by Zev and Zelme set this awesome Folk Metal chant on fire, not to mention the song’s inspiring guitar solos, the furious drumming by Bourchi and its beyond catchy chorus, tailored for singing along with the band while slamming into the pit at the same time (“River child, wild and free / Come my brothers, and soon you will see / Grace of the faun and cunning of the hound / No one knows where the child is bound”). In the third and lats song of the EP, titled Warband, thunderous bass and drums dictate the rhythm while keyboardist Sche-Khe crafts an amazing background with his sharp notes. Furthermore, Tev Tegri keeps growling like a Mongolian warrior, giving life to another chorus that will enliven you for battle (“With rising glory, we find ourselves / Far away from the East. / We are nomads, we hold no home / We are War band, the Golden Horde.”), supported by all folk elements added to the musicality by Zev to spice up the final result.
You can have a very tasteful preview of the whole EP by clicking HERE, or listen to it in its entirety on Spotify. The unrelenting squad Mongol, who can be found on Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud, has been doing a sensational job paying tribute to the Mongolian empire through their well-crafted metal music, and it looks like they’ll keep raising that flag high with their future releases based on the music found in Warrior Spirit, which can be purchased through their own BandCamp page, as well as on iTunes, Amazon or CD Baby. Genghis Khan once said that “a man’s greatest joy is crushing his enemies”, but I believe that in the case of Mongol, despite all their admiration for the ations taken by the Mongolian empire, their biggest joy is to keep generating thrilling metal music for us metalheads.
Best moments of the album: River Child.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Independent
Track listing 1. The Mountain Weeps 5:50
2. River Child 5:14
3. Warband 7:05
Band members Tev Tegri – vocals
Zev – lead guitar, vocals, folk instrumentation
Zelme – rhythm guitar
Sorkhon Sharr – bass
Sche-Khe – keyboards
Bourchi – drums
Let total chaos and destruction rise to the sound of the brand new album by the unstoppable Teutonic masters of Heavy Metal.
I guess I might have already said that with different words in my review for the excellent Blind Rage, from 2014, but I can guarantee you that you can buy any album by German Heavy Metal institution Accept from the Mark Tornillo-era without even listening to a single second of it, and you won’t regret your decision at all. Quite the contrary, you’ll always be treated to the cream of Teutonic metal music, just like what happens with pretty much every new release by traditional German acts such as Rage, Grave Digger, Kreator, Primal Fear and Helloween, and that trend goes on in 2017 with another sensational release by Wolf Hoffmann, Mark Tornillo & Co., titled The Rise of Chaos, the fifteenth studio album in their unparalleled career.
The Rise of Chaos, which by the way was released just one day after their memorable performance at Wacken Open Air this year, is their first album with guitarist Uwe Lulis (Grave Digger, Giftdwarf) and drummer Christopher Williams (War Within, Blackfoot), replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively. The album is also the first of their career to feature the amazing art by Hungarian artist Gyula Havancsák, from Hjules Illustration and Design (who has already worked through the years with iconic bands like Grave Digger, Destruction and Annihilator), perfectly representing the chaotic and desperate situation our society has been through lately, as well as all the power and electricity flowing from the top-tier Heavy Metal played by Accept.
The initial guitars by the flammable duo Wolf and Uwe already send a clear message of the old school feast that’s about to start in Die by the Sword, showcasing classic kick-ass Accept with a modern twist to avoid sounding outdated. It’s simply impossible not to raise your fists and sing its blackened, catchy lyrics together with the band (“We’re sinking deeper in a world of darkness / It’s kill or be killed from the day we are born / We’re an evil seed from the soul of a serpent / An evil breed in a valley of thorns”), I should say. In Hole in the Head the whole band keeps blasting sheer awesomeness in the form of our good old Heavy Metal, with Christopher being precise and groovy on drums while Mark sounds, as usual, fantastic with his raspy, melodic vocals in this mid-tempo dark tune. And the title-track The Rise of Chaos, an apocalyptic hymn poised to become a classic, could be considered the epitome of the new Accept that was reborn with the superb Blood of the Nations, from 2010, bringing fast and thrilling riffs, spot-on bass and drums, and a classy performance by Mark on vocals.
Inspired by the November 1978 Jonestown deaths, in which over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, who were followers of Jim Jones, died, many of whom committed suicide by drinking a mixture of a powdered soft-drink flavoring agent laced with cyanide and prescription drugs Valium, Phenergan, and chloral hydrate, while the rest of the members, including 89 infants and elderly, were killed by forced ingestion of the poison, the rockin’ tune Koolaid is a beyond fun composition by Wolf and his crew, perfect for their live performances or to sing by yourself while driving on the highway (“Running through the jungle / Way back in ’78 / Here’s the story of the people’s temple / And my great escape / Communing with a madman / The promise of utopia / White nights, suicide drills / Shades of things to come”). Perhaps the most important message in the end should be: don’t drink the Koolaid, no matter what the preacher says! Anyway, back to the album we have No Regrets, one of the heaviest songs of all where Christopher speeds up the pace while bassist Peter Baltes keeps his bass rumbling in the background. This is traditional and straightforward German metal the way we like it, with highlights to the excellent guitar solo face-off between Wolf and Uwe; followed by Analog Man, a song that’s not only an ode to the 80’s, but it definitely feels it was actually written in the 80’s. What a fun metal hymn to sing along with those “old school sons of bitches trapped in this digital hell”, with Mark’s amazing vocals being effectively supported by the song’s traditional backing vocals. There’s no way not to get addicted to its cheesy lyrics (“I was born in a cave, when stereo was all the rage / Gatefold vinyl and eight tracks ruled the world / Now there’s flat screens in 3D / My cell phone’s smarter than me / I can’t keep up, my brains are beginning to burn”), and what to say about the dial-up internet sound at the end?
And Wolf, Mark and the rest of the guys are absolutely on fire, delivering another powerful tune full of electrified riffs, potent drums and a true headbanging rhythm, titled What’s Done Is Done, which can be described in short as four minutes of top-notch Accept for our avid ears, whereas the trademark guitar lines by Wolf ignite one more blast of awesome Heavy Metal named Worlds Colliding, with Mark putting his heart and soul into delivering the message from the song’s lyrics in the most beautiful way possible. Moreover, the guitar solos provided by Wolf and Uwe throughout the song are just superb, adding a lot of electricity to this already kick-ass composition. But if you’re a fan of their faster creations, then Carry the Weight is tailored for you, with Christopher keeping the energy level really high while Wolf and Uwe continue their slashing attack, resulting in a more-than-recommended alternative to cheer you up when facing tough times and situations (as Mark says during the song, don’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders). And closing another flawless album by this iconic German institution we have more old school Heavy Metal in the form of the solid tune Race to Extinction, where an imposing intro turns into a dark and harmonious display of classic metal sounds led by Mark’s vigorous voice and the sharp riffs by Wolf and Uwe.
What else can be said about Accept and their unstoppable Heavy Metal killing machine that hasn’t been said yet? They have delivered to us, crazy metalheads, four first-class albums of old school metal music in a row since Mark joined the band back in 2009, and based on the amount of passion they put on creating each one of their electrifying songs it doesn’t seem that they’re planning to call it quits anytime soon. If you want to add The Rise of Chaos to your Accept collection (and you certainly should), there are several awesome options available at the Nuclear Blast webstore, all of them bringing to you the best soundtrack imaginable to watch all the chaos and destruction caused by mankind rise. And if the world as we know it is indeed coming to an end, can we ask it to “wait” until Accept release at least one more album of superior Heavy Metal like this one?
Best moments of the album: Die by the Sword, The Rise of Chaos, Koolaid, Analog Man and Worlds Colliding.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Nuclear Blast
Track listing 1. Die by the Sword 5:00
2. Hole in the Head 4:01
3. The Rise of Chaos 5:16
4. Koolaid 4:58
5. No Regrets 4:20
6. Analog Man 4:10
7. What’s Done Is Done 4:08
8. Worlds Colliding 4:28
9. Carry the Weight 4:33
10. Race to Extinction 5:24
Band members Mark Tornillo – lead vocals
Wolf Hoffmann – guitar
Uwe Lulis – guitar
Peter Baltes – bass guitar
Christopher Williams – drums
After the 56 minutes of intense and pensive Depressive Suicidal Black Metal thoroughly crafted by this Romanian quartet reach deep into your soul, you’ll never be the same again.
Born in 2007 in the city of Timișoara, the main social, economic and cultural centre in western Romania located around 550km northwest of the capital Bucharest, and functioned in the early days as a one-man band until de beginning of the recordings of the demo Silver Melancholy in late 2008, self-released in 2009, Depressive Suicidal Black Metal act Katharos XIII return after their 2011 debut Dead Emotions with their second full-length installment, titled Negativity, comprised of seven tracks emerged from the dark chambers of human psyche, questions and deep melancholy into black chords, a truly unique combination of different layers and influences.
Featuring a somber artwork by Romanian artist Alexandru Das (Argus Megere, North, Ordinul Negru), Negativity offers the listener an amalgamation of personal experiences (all kinds of abuse, paranoia, severe depressions), strange stories, movies (Greenaway, Lynch) and books (Eliade, Cioran, Zola), all thoroughly put together by the talented F on vocals, guitars and keyboards, Andrei on guitars, SQ on bass and Sabbat on drums, resulting in a unique experience of extreme music for admirers of the genre. And if you feel your heart got darker after listening to the album’s 56 minutes of intense and pensive Black Metal, that means Katharos XIII succeeded in sending you the desired message through their disturbing music.
Opening the album on a high note we have XIII, a modern approach to Black Metal sounding very melodic and epic thanks to the excellent guitars by F and Andrei, with the devilish gnarls by F bringing more obscurity to the overall result. Moreover, its riffs get to a very traditional mode halfway through it, while the song’s atmosphere keeps growing in intensity and mystery, flowing to an ominous ending led by the demonic vociferations by F. Slightly different than its predecessor, the title-track Negativity goes full Black Metal, overflowing blast beats, flammable riffs and infernal growls, also presenting elements from Atmospheric Black Metal and Doom Metal, not to mention its disturbing lyrics (“Burn in the kingdom of the blind / A garden that cannot be seen / By the ones who ignore the creation / The path of the eternal self-torment”) and its beyond somber break.
The steady beats by Sabbat together with the darkened keys by F create a truly somber ambience in No One Left to Lead the Way, a perfect fusion of Black Metal with Blackened Doom supported by a strong harmonious background, flowing into a smooth but very obscure ending; followed by The Chains are so Beautiful, where a melancholic and grim beginning led by Sabbat with his sluggish beats and bassist SQ with his low-tuned roars gradually leans towards old school Doom Metal, supporting the very macabre spoken words by F (“I will tell you a story / Stories as we all like to hear / The amphetamine has won the game / Enslaving the pain inside soul / Close your eyes and sleep tight / While the angels watch you closely / Nothing bad to happen to you / Only to fall into their arms”), before exploding into visceral and deranged Black Metal until its introspective finale.
Spearheaded by the piercing riffs by Andrei, World’s Coffin sounds like a blackened waltz, with F grasping his words bestially, blending old school Black Metal with contemporary Symphonic Black Metal the likes of Dimmu Borgir. Furthermore, the bass by SQ keeps rumbling in a demonic way in the background, topped with a soulful solo by Andrei. I Die Everytime I Walk This Path brings forward a serene and contemplative intro, generating a comforting but at the same time perturbing ambience where F instead of growling simply grasps in a vile manner. Not only that, tempestuous moments are thoroughly inserted in this Blackened Doom aria, with the beautiful work done by Andrei and SQ with their strings taking you to a dark dimension ruled by Katharos XIII. Lastly, closing this amazing album of extreme music the band offers a darkened assault titled Inside, with Sabbat pounding his drums vigorously while Andrei blasts straightforward demonic riffs, reaching an epic and reverberating stage before the song’s climatic and violent conclusion.
In other words, are you prepared to have your mortal soul embraced in the endless darkness crafted by Katharos XIII? If you can’t wait for that to happen, then you should definitely visit Katharos XIII on Facebook to know more about this distinct Romanian band, and purchase your copy of Negativity through the Loud Rage Music’s BandCamp or webshop, as well as at Discogs. As mentioned before, after listening to Negativity, you’ll never be the same again, and all you’ll have to do is to thank this amazing Romanian quartet for such unique experience of dark and mournful sounds.
Best moments of the album: XIII, Negativity and World’s Coffin.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Loud Rage Music
Track listing 1. XIII 9:50
2. Negativity 6:13
3. No One Left to Lead the Way 6:24
4. The Chains are so Beautiful 8:21
5. World’s Coffin 5:58
6. I Die Everytime I Walk This Path 12:03
7. Inside 7:16
Band members F – vocals, guitars, keyboards
Andrei – guitars
SQ – bass
Sabbat – drums
Don’t cross the path of one of the most respectful bands from the Brazilian Thrash and Death Metal scene, or they will mercilessly crush you with the pulverizing music from their sensational new album.
If there’s a band that beautifully epitomizes what old school underground Thrash and Death Metal are all about, that band has to be the ruthless Brazilian four-piece outfit Torture Squad who, since their inception in the distant year of 1990 in the city of São Paulo, a metropolis with almost 20 million people located in the southeast region of Brazil, has been fighting for heavy music and remained loyal to their foundations, even with all the adversities in a country where metal is far from being a popular genre. Carrying a powerful name inspired by the song “Death Squad”, by American thrash metallers Sacred Reich, and having already released seven studio albums, two live albums and three EP’s, it’s time for Torture Squad to attack humanity once again with another sensational blast of traditional extreme music, titled Far Beyond Existence, the eight full-length release in their solid and exciting career.
Featuring a somber and ominous artwork by Brazilian artist Rafael Tavarez (who has already provided his brilliant art to several other bands all over the world such as Dark Ministry, Vulture and Moonkult), Far Beyond Existence is the first full-length opus by Torture Squad to feature the she-wolf Mayara “Undead” Puertas as their lead singer, as well as Rene Simionato on guitars. As a matter of fact, although the talented Mayara and Rene already released last year an EP with Torture Squad, the excellent Return of Evil, it’s now with the band’s new full-bodied installment that they have all the room needed to showcase their refined abilities as musicians and their utmost passion for all things extreme. And they more than succeed in their mission as you’ll see when you start listening to this incendiary album of Brazilian Extreme Metal.
In the fantastic opening track Don’t Cross My Path, Rene presents his welcome card in the form of cutting, flammable riffs, while the band’s wardogs Amílcar on drums and Castor on bass are simply thunderous with their respective instruments. And what to say about Mayara? She’s a true unstoppable she-demon, kicking some serious ass with both her deeper guttural and her more strident screams. As the name of the song says, don’t dare to cross her path under any circumstances, unless that’s what you really want deep down inside, right? Continuing with their sonic destruction, sirens warn the listener a tempest of old school Thrash and Death Metal is about to come in No Fate, another boisterous creation by this Brazilian quartet that exhales heaviness and aggression, with Amílcar giving a lesson in drumming by being rhythmic, violent and groovy at the same time. And connecting instantly with where the previous song ended, Blood Sacrifice presents a serene and somewhat esoteric intro, suddenly exploding into belligerent Thrash Metal. Amílcar once again demolishes his drums in a fantastic way, while Mayara keeps barking, gnarling and screaming like a beast, resulting in one of my favorite songs of the album by far; followed by Steady Hands, a mid-tempo tune perfect for some intense headbanging intercalated with some faster and more furious parts, with Rene once again blasting a metallic feast of heavy and raw riffs, not to mention the great job done by Castor with his demonic bass punches enhancing the song’s heaviness to the limit.
The also superb Hate, featuring British vocalist Dave Ingram (Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Just Before Dawn) on guest vocals, is more ferocious than most of the previous songs, where the pounding drums by Amílcar are in perfect sync with Castor’s bass lines and Mayara’s grunts, and with the song’s ending being a thing of beauty tailored for smashing your skull into the circle pit. In Hero for the Ages, slashing riffs and accelerated beats generate a warlike atmosphere perfect for Mayara to attack us with her devilish guttural vocals. Furthermore, it’s truly impressive how all songs sound extremely imposing and heavy, and of course this one couldn’t be an exception to that, with Castor hitting us hard in the last part of the song with his bass guitar. The title-track Far Beyond Existence is a lesson in traditional Thrash Metal, sounding simply excellent for the band’s live concerts, showcasing a neck-breaking, galloping pace that will certainly stimulate the spawn of some intense mosh pits, all boosted by the amazing guitar solo by Rene amidst all the rumbling sounds emanating from bass and drums. And leaning towards a more obscure form of Death Metal, mainly due to the deep and enraged gnarls by Mayara and the old school riffs by Rene, Cursed by Disease keeps the album’s momentum going, with the special narration by Brazilian drummer Edu Lane (Nervochaos) and its old school lyrics (“A rotting corpse remains preserved / Receptacle of the spirit of a king / Sarcophagus was sealed with all his treasure / And on the walls the paintings bore a curse / Death will attack / With its trident / for those who disturb / The pharaoh”) spicing up the final result.
You Must Proclaim, featuring Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Luiz Louzada (Chemical Disaster, Predatory, Vulcano) as a guest vocalist (making a demonic duo with Mayara on vocals), begins with Castor punching his bass mercilessly, emanating a violent and metallic sound that grows in intensity together with all other instruments until it becomes a thrilling Thrash Metal onrush; whereas Just Got Paid, their pulverizing version for a ZZ Top classic (which original version can be enjoyed HERE), sounds as groovy and hellish as it can be, led by the harsh vocals by guest vocalist Alex Camargo (Krisiun) and the exciting riffage by Rene. Moreover, Castor’s bass sounds once again insanely deafening, which obviously translates into sheer awesomeness. Before all is said and done, Castor and his potent bass kick off the instrumental extravaganza titled Torture in Progress, featuring Brazilian keyboardist Marcelo Schevano, with those bass wallops being the main ingredient during the song’s first part, always accompanied by Amílcar’s intricate beats. In addition, the Deep Purple-inspired keys by Marcelo bring a fresh taste to the overall musicality, culminating in almost 10 minutes of top-notch Brazilian metal. Then closing the album we have Unknown Abyss, a cinematic intro (or outro, depending on how you listen to it, as I’m not really sure why it was added as the last track of the digital version of the album) where Mayara “presents” herself to the fans of the band like a demonic entity rising from the underworld. Needless to say, it will sound fantastic as the intro to their live performances.
In a nutshell, when Mayara had the arduous mission a couple of years ago to replace Torture Squad’s longtime iconic vocalist Vitor Rodrigues, she already proved the world she was the right choice for the band, but in Far Beyond Existence her performance reached such a stunning level she has emphatically carved her name as the band’s undisputed voice (hopefully) for many years to come. If you want to know more about Torture Squad, simply go to their Facebook page for news and tour dates (if you’re in Brazil, don’t miss their Far Beyond Existence Tour 2017, which is just about to start on August 17), and to Spotify to listen to Far Beyond Existence in its entirety. You can also buy the album through the Secret Service Records’ webstore, on iTunes or on Amazon, and show all your support to high-end underground metal from Brazil, more specifically to one of the most respectful, hard-working and thrilling bands in the history of Brazilian heavy music.
Best moments of the album: Don’t Cross My Path, Blood Sacrifice, Hate and Far Beyond Existence.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2017 Secret Service Records
Track listing 1. Don’t Cross My Path 5:48
2. No Fate 6:35
3. Blood Sacrifice 7:38
4. Steady Hands 5:23
5. Hate (feat. Dave Ingram) 4:11
6. Hero for the Ages 5:42
7. Far Beyond Existence 6:44
8. Cursed by Disease (feat. Edu Lane) 5:02
9. You Must Proclaim (feat. Luiz Louzada) 5:06
10. Just Got Paid (ZZ Top cover) (feat. Alex Camargo) 4:11
11. Torture in Progress (Instrumental) (feat. Marcelo Schevano) 9:37
12. Unknown Abyss (Intro) 3:01
Band members Mayara “Undead” Puertas – vocals
Rene Simionato – guitars
Castor – bass, backing vocals
Amílcar Christófaro – drums
Guest musicians Dave Ingram – additional vocals on “Hate”
Edu Lane – narration on “Cursed by Desease”
Luiz Louzada – additional vocals on “You Must Proclaim”
Alex Camargo – vocals on “Just got Paid”
Marcelo Schevano – Hammond organ on “Torture in Progress”
Hexis (ἕξις), a Greek word important in the philosophy of Aristotle (and because of this a traditional word of philosophy), is a relatively stable arrangement or disposition, for example a person’s health or knowledge or character. However, since 2010 the word has also been used to describe a distinct band from the city of Copenhagen, in Denmark, playing a mix of Hardcore and doomy Black Metal and singing about topics such as nihilism, anti-Christianity and abstract thought. Across their history, the band has played over 300 shows in the United States, Canada, Japan, Cuba, Russia, the UK and all over Europe, showing how appreciated their unique and obscure music is worldwide.
Calamitas represents brutal devastation in the form of music, blending the most violent elements from Black Metal, Hardcore and Neocrust in a fantastic spawn of extreme music by Hexis, with the vocals by Filip sounding extremely demented; followed by Nocturnus, where heavier-than-hell riffs are quickly joined by frantic drums in another brutal creation. Moreover, their sonic havoc suddenly gives place to a slow-paced Doom Metal-ish musicality led by the low-tuned bass by Luca Melo, but all hell breaks loose again for our total delight. And it looks like Hexis mastered the art of crafting bold and devilish songs with less than three minutes like what we face in Opacus, presenting more of the band’s austere lyrics (“As shadows it passes by, creating what is his, taking what was yours. Purging the body, the body of the heartless. Immerse them, immerse the victims, immerse all life, the fragile souls. The shadows they pass, purging the souls.”). Can you imagine this song with a dark orchestra in the background? I can, and just the idea is already beyond awesome.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 