These up-and-coming metallers from Cincinnati, Ohio will show you how Death Metal can easily embrace elements from all other genres and subgenres of heavy music without losing its essence, always remaining loyal to its violent and gruesome roots.
Discharging their fast and furious Death Metal directly from the city of Cincinnati, Ohio to the entire world since 2012, American metallers Verment are ready to attack once again with their brand new EP entitled Death’s Domain. If you’re a fan of bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, The Black Dahlia Murder, Suffocation and Angelcorpse, let me tell you that you’ll definitely have a very good time during the 24 minutes of deep vociferations, crushing beats and blazing riffs found in this unrelenting 7-track album.
Although some of the band’s main influences are purely Death Metal, Verment do not stick only to that genre of heavy music in their compositions, blending elements from Thrash, Melodic Death and even Blackened Death Metal in their musicality, not to mention they also add a modern twist to their sounding in order to sound fresher and more impactful than other regular Death Metal bands. And if you’re good at “deciphering” what lead singer and bassist Eric Payne is vociferating throughout the entire EP, your experience listening to Verment will become even more interesting than expected.
And the band is not kidding when they say they’re not purely Death Metal, as the excellent opening track Casket Fever is actually a bit more Thrash than Death Metal per se. Moreover, the growling by Eric Payne is full of anger and perfectly represents the message in the lyrics (“Exhuming corpses in the darkness / Taking from the hand of death / All to please the inner demon / That is keeping me from rest”), with the clean and melodic solos by Dustin Stockhoff bringing a welcome harmony to the music. That blustering fusion of extreme music subgenres also work really well in Amon’s Wrath, where Black and Death Metal are put together in a neck-breaking tune made to listen at top volume, full of violent riffs by Nick Moeller while drummer Alex Hooper is as heavy and precise as he can be behind his drum set.
Wings of Bone, which is perhaps the most Death Metal song of all, offers the listener two and a half minutes of brutal and technical devastation flawlessly led by Nick and Alex, with both deep guttural and sharper demonic growls by Eric being spot-on; while Vile Incisions leans towards more traditional Death Metal, especially due to its technical riffs and solos. In addition, Eric’s screams match perfectly with all instrumental pieces, with the last part of the song being a demented feast of blast beats commonly found in old school Black Metal. And get ready for the insane circle pits that will be generated by Obsolescence Reality, which has that constant metallic rhythm we all love in Death Metal, but with the addition of some nice breaks to add more flavor to it.
Before the album is over, their Thrash Metal vein returns in Chemical Indoctrination, without of course being less Death Metal than expected. It’s a faster and more straightforward tune where both Dustin and Nick have amazing performances with their riffs and solos, providing Eric all he needs to fire his hostile screams. And lastly, Parade of Filth closes the album in a solid way showcasing putrid lyrics that are the nightmare of every soccer mom (“It’s quite a sight to behold / All walks of life convening / It makes me sick to see this rotten malánge / Flesh folding over, repulsive odor / I am no better but I certainly do not reek of shit”), while Alex displays all his darkest abilities during the song’s almost four minutes. In other words, this is basically the opposite of mainstream, which means diehard fans of old school Death Metal will love it.
Whether you’re a hardcore Death Metal fan looking for a new addition to your collection of aggressive hymns, or a not-so-delicate soccer mom who felt significantly insulted when I said the music by Verment might be one of your worst nightmares, go check their Facebook, SoundCloud and ReverbNation for more of their venomous music. Death’s Domain, which can be purchased at the band’s BandCamp page, will show you once again why Death Metal is, and will forever be, the only type of extreme music that can easily embrace elements from all other genres and subgenres of heavy music without losing its essence, always remaining loyal to its roots.
Best moments of the album: Casket Fever and Wings of Bone.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2016 Independent
Track listing 1. Casket Fever 3:18
2. Amon’s Wrath 3:26
3. Wings of Bone 2:31
4. Vile Incisions 3:27
5. Obsolescence Reality 3:41
6. Chemical Indoctrination 3:30
7. Parade of Filth 3:47
Band members Eric Payne – vocals, bass
Dustin Stockhoff – lead guitar
Nick Moeller – rhythm guitar
Alex Hooper – drums, backing vocals
One of the most prominent and innovative French bands of all time returns with a true masterpiece of complexity, darkness and heaviness, shining brighter than the main star of the Phoenix constellation.
There’s a thin line between change and evolution several bands worldwide can’t or simply just don’t know how to walk without losing their balance and, consequently, damaging their core essence. Fortunately, this is not the case with French Neo-Metal adventurers Eths, who in my humble opinion have just released their boldest and most innovative album to date, the splendid Ankaa, but still being the Eths we all learned to love. Although I had been preparing myself for quite a while for another blast of creativity by Mr. Staif Bihl and his bandmates, I must say I was blown away by the level of intricacy, darkness and heaviness found throughout the entire album. This beautiful work-of-art crafted by this distinguished group hailing from the city of Marseille, France is the perfect depiction of what evolution in music is all about, and it will surely help spread the electricity and emotions flowing from the music by Eths to the entire world.
Ankaa, which features a unique selection of guest musicians such as Björn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork), Sarah Layssac (Arkan), Jon Howard (Threat Signal), Faustine Berardo and session drummer Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork), not to mention it is also Eths’ first full-length album with the stunning Rachel Aspe on vocals, shines brighter than the main star of the Phoenix constellation, which by the way was the inspiration for the album name. “This album is linked to the cosmos and the concept of rebirth for the band as well as personally”, said Staif, and that’s indeed what you’ll experience while listening to each one of its twelve jaw-dropping multi-layered songs, all beautifully and meticulously connected to tell a bigger story to the listener. Again, Eths might have changed their musicality in Ankaa considerably, but it was a change towards evolution that no one in their right mind should ever complain about.
One of the best compositions in the history of Eths, entitled Nefas (the Latin word for “atrocity” or “wrong”), kicks off Ankaa in a very impactful way, being insanely heavier, faster and darker than anything the band has ever done before. It’s a feast of Metalcore, Melodic Death Metal, Alternative Metal and many other subgenres of heavy music perfectly put together, and pay good attention to what our screaming diva Rachel does with her “voix incroyable”, it sounds beyond astonishing. Nihil Sine Causa (or “nothing happens without a cause”, from Latin), featuring Sarah Layssac and Jon Howard, is yet another obscure and thunderous composition where the band’s mastermind Staif showcases his always solid guitar lines, with the addition of the Arabic words by Sarah as well as the electronic effects during the song’s second half bringing a fresh taste to the music. And in Amaterasu, part of the Japanese myth cycle seen as the goddess of the Sun and the Universe, Dirk (who sounds like a beast behind his drums) makes a great duo with newcomer Damien Rivoal and his low-tuned and heavy as hell bass lines. Moreover, it’s impossible not to love this brutal Groove Metal aria, and I don’t recall coming across such a powerful triumvirate of songs like these starting an album in recent years.
All the craziness, occultism and darkness found in Ankaa keep growing with each and every song, and in Seditio (or “rebellion”, from Latin) that couldn’t be any different. It amuses me how Rachel can sound like a beauty and a beast at the same time, showcasing all her vocal skills and contributing to the song being heavier than usual but still innovative and progressive, just like we expect from such a talented group of musicians. Then we have the startling Nixi Dii, a general term applied by the Romans to those divinities who were believed to assist women at the time when they were giving birth to a child, where its eerie background effects, demonic drumming, choir-like backing vocals and lots of breaks and variations, together with Rachel growling like an evil queen, are all the ingredients you need for awesomeness. In other words, it offers you eight minutes of the best modern metal music you can find in the entire world. And just when you think things couldn’t get more alternative we’re treated to Vae Victis (Latin for “woe to the vanquished”), with Staif providing an amazing piano base for Rachel to shine once again, this time with a mix of clean vocals and visceral growls. As a side note, the production of the album is so brilliant you can clearly hear every single note coming out of each instrument, enhancing the overall experience even more.
The next song, named HAR1 (the acronym for human accelerated region 1, a short DNA region identified recently to have evolved the most rapidly among highly constrained regions since the divergence from our common ancestor with chimpanzee) and featuring Björn “Speed” Strid, gets closer to traditional Melodic Death Metal thanks to the contribution of Björn, but of course with Eths’ own touch added to it; while in Sekhet Aaru, the Egyptian reed fields considered the heavenly paradise where Osiris rules in ancient Egyptian mythology, your soul will be transported to those fields in a flawless fusion of alternative and occult music. Sarah is back with her gorgeous voice as a guest vocalist in Kumari Kandam, which refers to a hypothetical lost continent with an ancient Tamil civilization (located south of present-day India, in the Indian Ocean), perhaps the closest song to Eths’ old musicality with Damien and Dirk providing all the uproar while Rachel takes care of the song’s tranquility, sorrow and anguish.
Ankaa Deluxe Digibox
Last but not least, Eths bring forward a spine-tingling trilogy inspired by the Orion constellation, accurately representing the idea of rebirth. The first piece of this trilogy is named Alnitak, a multiple star (also known as “Zeta Orionis”) that’s part of the famous Orion’s Belt, which Staif effectively translated into an epic and vibrant chant overflowing his deepest emotions. The second piece, entitled Alnilam, a large blue supergiant star also known as “Epsilon Orionis” estimated to be 275,000 to 537,000 times as luminous as the Sun and around 34 times as massive, is an extremely powerful and aggressive tune led by a relentless Rachel, with Dirk yet again pounding his drums mercilessly. And finally, the climatic end to this trilogy comes in the form of another violent chant with esoteric passages and a pleasant ambience named Mintaka, from منطقة (“manṭaqa”), which means “the belt” in Arabic.
As aforementioned, calling Ankaa simply as a “change” in the music direction by Eths is an understatement of the actual evolution Staif, Rachel and the others reached with their musicality, as well as of the brilliant destiny that lies ahead for them. Ankaa is not just another regular metal album, and I’m sure it will shortly become a reference in contemporary heavy music. Thus, if you want to join Eths in this exciting path they are taking towards the future of Heavy Metal, I suggest you go grab your copy of Ankaa (which can be listened to in its entirety HERE), in special its top-notch deluxe digibox including a CD and an exclusive DVD “Live at Hellfest 2015” in digisleeve with a 24 page booklet, an Eths metal key ring and a pyramid folding card, at the Season Of Mist webshop or at the Napalm Records webshop. After listening to such a masterpiece like Ankaa, you will quickly realize it is no wonder Eths are considered by many the most prominent and innovative French band of all time.
Best moments of the album: Nefas, Nihil Sine Causa, Amaterasu, Nixi Dii and, from the Orion-inspired trilogy, I would say Alnilam is the most entertaining composition.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2016 Season Of Mist
Track listing 1. Nefas 3:50
2. Nihil Sine Causa (feat. Sarah Layssac and Jon Howard) 4:53
3. Amaterasu 3:57
4. Seditio 6:36
5. Nixi Dii 7:58
6. Vae Victis 5:05
7. HAR1 (feat. Björn “Speed” Strid) 4:04
8. Sekhet Aaru 4:09
9. Kumari Kandam (feat. Sarah Layssac and Faustine Berardo) 4:15
10. Alnitak 4:04
11. Alnilam 3:40
12. Mintaka 5:07
Band members Rachel Aspe – lead vocals
Staif Bihl – guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals
Damien Rivoal – bass
R.U.L. – drums (live)
Guest musicians Dirk Verbeuren – drums (studio recording)
Sarah Layssac – additional vocals on “Nihil Sine Causa” and “Kumari Kandam”
Jon Howard – additional vocals on “Nihil Sine Causa”
Björn “Speed” Strid – additional vocals on “HAR1”
Faustine Berardo – additional vocals on “Kumari Kandam”
Do you think you’re worthy of joining this Russian army of Alternative Metal? If your answer is yes, then it’s time to get armed to the teeth with their uproarious and ruthless music.
Don’t you just love when completely independent bands are capable of delivering to the world music that sounds a lot more entertaining and well-crafted than many of the already established and famous groups that have a lot of support from their record labels? Maybe that’s simply a statement of how many magnificent musicians are out there just waiting for their chance to shine to a bigger audience, or maybe that only proves how much the passion for heavy music can push the musician even further in their creative process. In the case of Russian Groove/Alternative Metal act Be Under Arms I would say it’s both, and after listening to their excellent new album Doomed To Life you’ll understand how this solid balance between technique and feeling will take this band to stardom.
Despite being a fairly new band, formed in 2013 by the dynamic duo Anna “White Queen” Logacheva and Vladimir “Szandor” Nasonov in Moscow, Russia, Be Under Arms already released a full-length album in 2014 named Let Shots Will Be Your Music, displaying what would be perhaps the most “Americanized” sounding you might ever find on Russian soil. Now with Doomed To Life their main influences coming from bands like Slipknot, Stone Sour and Five Finger Death Punch become even more noticeable, which combined with their unique concept, blending the atmosphere of old westerns with steampunk and our modern and urbanized world, makes their music even more electrifying. Even the dystopian album art transpires rebellion and anarchy. Put differently, are you ready for a neck-breaking experience offered by these talented Neo-Metal troopers?
Be Under Arms kick off the album with the theatrical and contemporary Armed & Defenseless and its Slipknot-inspired intro in an interesting blend of Alternative and Symphonic Metal, where Vladimir is responsible for the deep guttural growls while Anna takes care of the clean (and almost operatic) passages and high-pitched screams, followed by Lord Of The Bomb, a polished onslaught full of elements from Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal. Vladimir pays a tribute to the most gruesome Death Metal singers such as Chris Barnes and Jeff Becerra, with bassist Dmitriy Kashirin and drummer Denis “John Doe” Vinitskiy adding tons of groove to the musicality, therefore enhancing the song’s punch. And their working single, Burn For This, is an breathtaking fusion of the high-speed and intricate music by Arch Enemy with the straightforward aggressiveness of the Butcher Babies, with the final result sounding beyond entertaining. Moreover, pay good attention to the metallic riffs by guitarists Viktor Gostemilov and Dmitriy Solo and to the passionate performance by Anna, they truly deserve that.
The whole band demands we keep banging our heads nonstop in March Of The Iron Hearts, a tune that leans towards pure Groove Metal with nuances of Death Metal, and as aforementioned it amazes me how a Russian band can sound so American and consequently ready to conquer the Western side of the world. And yet again inspired by the Butcher Babies, Keep This World provides the listener a violent ambience where Vladimir sounds as bestial as possible on vocals, with the song’s guitar riffs penetrating our heads and piercing our brains mercilessly. Then out of nowhere Be Under Arms morph their musicality from brutal Death Metal to modern Alternative Metal and back again within a short span of five minutes in the thrilling Locked And Bound, where Anna once again steals the spotlight with her deranged screams and also with her potent clean vocal lines.
Don’t even think about taking a break, because there’s a lot more to come in this awe-inspiring album, starting with To Rise From The Ashes, which presents that characteristic riffage from bands such as Slipknot by Viktor and Dmitriy, helping Vladimir and Anna in offering a great vocal duo to the listener. Be Under Arms then put the pedal to the metal in a hurricane of Melodic Death Metal full of anguished growls, fast beats and tons of groove entitled No Place Like Home, a short and sweet tune perfect for putting the audience to “dance” (or, in other words, slam into the circle pit). Surprisingly, after that we’re treated to a distinct chant named Spit On Your Grave, which is in fact a thoughtful power ballad despite its demented name (who doesn’t love that movie franchise?). While Anna’s vocals work extremely well during the whole song, Vladimir sounds a little weird with his clean vocals, somewhat like a gothic singer from the 80’s, but in the end when all is put together the result is very pleasant indeed.
The last part of the album gets back to sheer brutality, as you’ll be able to enjoy in Human Testing, which due to being slightly rawer than the other songs will surely cause a strong pain in your neck and maybe some bruises when played live. Then we have the title-track Doomed To Life showcasing the best riffs of the whole album by far (Viktor and Dmitriy were remarkably inspired when they composed them), with all other instruments being boosted by that energy flowing from the guitars and consequently turning this into another top moment of the album. On the other hand, in Kings Of Wasteland they tried to be even more alternative than usual, and despite not being a bad song it sounds a bit over the top. That doesn’t harm the overall quality of the album at all, but it’s surely the weakest chant in Doomed To Life. Lastly, we have the vile Metalcore chant Becoming A Monster, where we can enjoy a more introspective side of the band with highlights to the outstanding performances by Anna and Denis (not to mention its short but effective guitar solo), perfectly depicting the name given to it.
Do you think you’re worthy of joining this uproarious cyber army of Alternative Metal from Russia? If your answer is yes, go check their Facebook page, VKontakte and YouTube channel, and in order to get armed to the teeth with their ruthless music, you can find Doomed To Life on sale at the band’s official webshop or BandCamp page, as well as on iTunes. As aforementioned, based on what you will be able to witness in Doomed To Life, you’ll quickly realize this talented sextet from Moscow is actually “doomed” to awesomeness.
Best moments of the album: Lord Of The Bomb, Burn For This, No Place Like Home and Doomed To Life.
Worst moments of the album:Kings Of Wasteland.
Released in 2016 Independent
Track listing 1. Armed & Defenseless 4:39
2. Lord Of The Bomb 3:53
3. Burn For This 3:53
4. March Of The Iron Hearts 2:57
5. Keep This World 3:43
6. Locked And Bound 4:57
7. To Rise From The Ashes 3:29
8. No Place Like Home 2:24
9. Spit On Your Grave 2:36
10. Human Testing 3:19
11. Doomed To Life 4:27
12. Kings Of Wasteland 3:06
13. Becoming A Monster 4:28
Band members Anna “White Queen” Logacheva – vocals
Vladimir “Szandor” Nasonov – vocals
Viktor Gostemilov – guitar
Dmitriy Solo – guitar
Dmitriy Kashirin – bass
Denis “John Doe” Vinitskiy – drums
A solid and energetic album highly recommended for fans of Melodic Death Metal, crafted by a Finnish band that has all it takes to become a future reference in Scandinavian heavy music.
Featuring high skilled musicians previously known from groups such as Thunderstone, Agonizer and Before The Dawn, here comes Finnish Melodic Death Metal band Among The Prey directly from the city of Jyväskylä, the largest city in the region of Central Finland and on the Finnish Lakeland, firing a pugnacious fusion of traditional and modern Melodic Death Metal in their debut full-length album Only For The Blinded Eyes. And before I even begin the detailed review of this 9-track album, I might say this is undoubtedly an excellent choice for fans of a genre that became a synonym to heavy music from all over Scandinavia.
The reason for that is quite simple as Among The Prey deliver exactly what Melodic Death Metal demands to be truly entertaining, including enraged screams, melodic guitar lines and vigorous beats. Formed in 2013 and having released a demo entitled My Demons in 2014, it’s time for the band to reach higher grounds and send their special message to the world with Only For The Blinded Eyes. “The whole point of the album was to make music as it always should be done. If the artist has something to say, he puts himself truly in the line of fire and pours it all out. So that every played note and every vocal line would transfer those raw emotions to the listener. I hope we succeeded in that, so it can be heard why this album just had to be done”, said the band’s founder and frontman Iiro Kuntsi.
In the opening track, directly named Smile, the band offers us all huge doses of violence but with that characteristic polished sounding of Melodic Death Metal, and you’ll quickly notice how each band member masters their respective instruments. As expected, Iiro leads the attack with his sick growls and piercing riffs, making an excellent duo with the other guitarist for Among The Prey, Joni Laine. The following tune, Beyond Repair, is a modernized sonic devastation highly influenced by Groove Metal, where its nonstop beats are enhanced by its excellent guitar lines, turning this into a song tailored for igniting a fun circle pit with your friends during the band’s live performances; whereas the title-track Only For The Blinded Eyes gets darker than its predecessors, exhibiting lots of elements from the Gothenburg Sound but with the band’s own touch. For instance, especially during the song’s chorus the band seems to be paying a “tribute” to iconic bands such as In Flames and Soilwork.
Drinking from a similar music fountain of bands such as Arch Enemy, Among The Prey bring forward the very melodic and thrilling Burning Down In Hell, certainly one of the best tracks of the whole album (if not the best) mainly due to Iiro’s raging vocals, in special during the song’s catchy chorus about sorrow and regret (“Why did I do this to myself / Why can’t I make it go away / Over and over again / I’m burning down in hell”). Following that awesome chant, we have Pieces, which despite being a more introspective tune it still contains the unique fury crafted by the band. In addition, the precision by drummer Atte Palokangas is outstanding throughout the entire album, which can be witnessed in detail in his excellent performance during this song.
In Wake Up the band keeps blasting pure Melodic Death Metal, with the groovy and rumbling lines by bassist Toni Keskinen and the riffs by both Iiro and Joni elevating the overall quality of this neck-breaking chant. However, in order to avoid getting stale, the second half of the song presents a different approach from its first “act”, which in the end is a welcome breathe of fresh air and only makes things even better. In Your Face is another good display of the highly-developed skills of all band members, a solid fusion of Melodic Death Metal and Groove Metal that should sound very powerful during their live concerts, while in Two Worlds Colliding, a song about violence and betrayal (“Left behind, forgotten / Bout to walk this path / Blinded by all your / Darkened words / Violence has left me numb”), there’s a lot of hatred flowing from Iiro’s screams, with the only problem being that the song gets a bit tiring after a while. And finally, Dancing On Our Graves comes crushing with its four minutes of blazing riffs in perfect sync with the rhythmic drumming by Atte. This is perhaps the song with the highest amount of elements from different types of heavy music other than Melodic Death Metal, which makes me wonder the level of complexity the band could have reached with a couple of extra minutes if it was slightly longer than the final result (which is already really good, anyway).
In a nutshell, as I mentioned before Only For The Blinded Eyes is a solid and energetic album highly recommended for fans of Melodic Death Metal, crafted by a band that has all it takes to become a future reference in this type of heavy music. You can get more details on Among The Prey, their music, their tour dates and their future plans at their Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud and ReverbNation, and grab your copy of Only For The Blinded Eyes at the Inverse Records webstore or at the Record Shop X webstore.
Best moments of the album: Smile, Burning Down In Hell and Wake Up.
Worst moments of the album:Two Worlds Colliding.
Released in 2016 Inverse Records
Track listing 1. Smile 3:49
2. Beyond Repair 3:51
3. Only For The Blinded Eyes 3:53
4. Burning Down In Hell 3:44
5. Pieces 4:45
6. Wake Up 4:15
7. In Your Face 3:04
8. Two Worlds Colliding 4:02
9. Dancing On Our Graves 4:16
Band members Iiro Kuntsi – vocals, guitar
Joni Laine – guitar
Toni Keskinen – bass
Atte Palokangas – drums
If you want to know more about the past, present and future of Neverworld, one of the most promising Heavy Metal bands from the UK, take a shot at this fun interview with the band’s lead singer and guitarist Ben Colton. Can you guess which songs he would save for the future of mankind? You will surely enjoy his list.
The Headbanging Moose: Could you please introduce yourselves to the readers who are getting in contact with Neverworld for the first time? What’s the origin of the band, your main objectives and your dreams? And what was the inspiration for the name Neverworld?
Ben Colton: Howdy! Certainly. I am Ben, lead guitarist and vocalist of the band Neverworld. We formed in late 2009 and the plan was always to take it as far as we possibly could. We sat down and discussed at length about the music we wanted to make and it became apparent quite quickly that we would need a suitable name. A name that would give us the scope to be the audio/visual outfit that we wanted to be. So Neverworld was born and 6 and a half years and 3 releases later here we are! Our main objectives at this point in time are to keep progressing, keep pushing the boundaries, keep playing awesome shows and to keep having lots of fun doing it!
THM: I have to admit I can’t stop listening to your brand new album, the excellent Dreamsnatcher. It’s perfect for listening at home, at the gym, on the road or anywhere else. How did the whole process to compose the album go? Was there anything you think that could have worked better in the recording period?
BC: Well thank you very much that means a lot to us and I really appreciate the feedback. The recording process this time around was actually a lot of fun. We knew what we had to do and that was better than ‘Visions Of Another World’. So every week we would go into the studio and write riffs, choruses, verses, intros etc. until we felt we had 10 songs that completely summed us up. ‘Dreamsnatcher’ is an album that defines who we are right now and for that reason it was a great relief to achieve that. We learned a lot doing our first album so we didn’t make the same mistakes. All the music was written in about 8 months and then it was a case of writing the vocal melodies and lyrics. From the writing process to the demo stage to the actual release it took 18 months which was awesome. When you’re a perfectionist, and this band has a few, you will probably always look back and say I could of done that better but there comes a point where you just have to bite the bullet and leave it to the critics mercy! So far so good!
THM: Although none of your releases are concept albums, there’s a special concept behind the band as a whole. As quoted on the review for your 2014 release Visions Of Another World, you said that “Neverworld is a place of dreams, a world we all visit in our sleep and the band explore this magical realm in their lyrics and artwork.” Having said that, what’s the link between Visions Of Another World and Dreamsnatcher? Is there any type of storyline connecting both albums, and even your debut EP Welcome To…, from 2010?
Album Review – Neverworld / Dreamsnatcher (2016)
BC: Basically there are some links in certain songs like ‘Visions Of Another World’ and ‘Dreamsnatcher’ but we are yet to explore the Neverworld concept fully. We are writing and recording demos already and the plan is now to release an EP toward the end of this year and then a concept album. It’ll be our third full length album and that feels like the right thing to do. We’ve discussed it in the past and we all knew the day would come where we did the whole concept thing. It’s very early days yet but we are planning the story and will write accordingly to fit that. It’s likely to be pretty dark but all will become clear as to what Neverworld is and what can happen there!
THM: There are several details that make Dreamsnatcher a must-have for fans of traditional Heavy Metal. The guitars are heavier than ever, the overall production is a lot more consistent than in your previous releases, there are many interesting additional layers of intricacy added to each and every song, among other things. How do you see the evolution of your music so far, and what can we expect from Neverworld in the future?
BC: Evolve is a great word where music is concerned. It’s something you have to do to keep it fresh and interesting. We will never make the same album twice. You’ll always know it’s us but you won’t always be able to predict what’s coming! You are one of the first people to mention the added layers of the songs and I’m really pleased you noticed! That was a very conscious thing. I love the way certain bands build songs with layers. They can be very subtle and you may not notice them initially but take them out and the song can sound naked! The future of our music I guess will depend on many factors but for me I’d like us to add more progressive elements. Mainly for the reason that there really are no rules with progressive metal and I love that. I hate restrictions. Fortunately we have none really. If an idea is cool then we use it. We do exactly what we want and that is make music that we’d like to listen to!
THM: Before we talk about a couple of specific songs from Dreamsnatcher, I just wanted to quickly go back to Visions Of Another World, where you performed an amazing duet with British singer Christina Gajny in the powerful ballad Blood and Romance. Can you tell the readers more about how Christina got involved with Neverworld and how this beautiful song was recorded? And why are there no guest musicians in the new album?
BC: Christina was just meant to be for us. I woke up one day and just thought it would be cool to do a duet with a female vocalist. So I hit the net to seek one out. She was the first one I looked at and the last. I listened to her doing a cover of ‘Black Velvet’ and was blown away. She is an incredibly versatile singer with a staggering grip on melody. I think Blood and Romance really helped us. Christina was in a band called Interlock just prior to doing the duet and was fairly well known in London. Because of her when we started playing London there were actually people there to see us! I did want her on ‘Dreamsnatcher’ too but in the end we decided that we had the 10 songs we needed and also it was another 10 songs we could add to our live performance. We’d been playing pretty much the same set for 2 years and we desperately wanted to be able to pick from a bigger selection so we could give our die hard fans a new experience every time we played. However we are indeed working on the follow up to Blood and Romance with Christina. It’ll probably be called ‘A Gothic Tragedy’ and will be part 2 in the vampire/mortal love saga. Writing is under way and it will be on the EP release so if you love Christina’s voice as much as we do you can get excited about that! I know I am!
THM: Now let’s get back to Dreamsnatcher, more specifically to the opening track, the epic Into the Mouth Of Madness. This is not a regular opening song for an album, being more progressive, more melodic and a lot longer than the opening songs found in most Heavy Metal albums. I would say it’s a similar situation to what Iron Maiden did in their 1995 album The X Factor, when they had the 11-minute masterpiece Sign of the Cross kicking off the album. Why did you choose this specific song to be the first of the album? Aren’t you afraid it might be too complex or maybe too lengthy for the average listener who’s just getting to know the music by Neverworld?
BC: Into The Mouth Of Madness was actually the first track we wrote when we went back into the studio again. I think it was what set the bar for the whole album really and also sums Neverworld up in 9 minutes or thereabouts! It’s kinda got everything. The intro, the prog, the metal, the big chorus, the epic solo section, light and shade etc. It seemed the obvious choice to us to kick things off for ‘Dreamsnatcher’. If you don’t ‘get’ that track then I don’t think we are for you! So no I wasn’t worried about it putting anyone off because anyone who doesn’t like it probably won’t like the rest of the album either! From a personal point of view a lot of my favourite songs are long, epics. ‘Still Remains’ for example by Fates Warning is my all time favourite song. It has everything! I think every album we do will end up having a few epics on. It’s becoming a bit of a habit for us! A cool habit though I think!
THM: My favorite song in Dreamsnatcher is by far the high-octane Under The Asylum. As mentioned in the review of the album, this song has the perfect balance between aggressiveness and harmony, being highly recommended for any type of metalhead from anywhere in the world. What inspired you to write this song, and can you provide us some details on the story being told through its lyrics?
BC: Thank you! I’m glad you dig! It’s a lot of fun to play live too. The inspiration for the song comes from a couple of things. I grew up near a mental asylum. Near it. Not in it! It was a Victorian era one and only shut down in 1998. Going round the place when it was derelict was an eye opening experience to say the least. That place was dark. It had its own atmosphere and was the size of a village. It just oozed sorrow and woe. I’d always felt it was a great theme for a song anyway but then American Horror Story season 2 came out and that kicked the idea off again. So really the song is about the underground workings of an asylum and all the nasty shit you don’t see happening. Very Neverworld!
THM: What are your biggest influences in music? Do you only listen to Heavy Metal, or do you also drink from the fountain of Jazz, Blues, Pop or any other type of music? And if you had to select five albums that define who Neverworld are today, which ones would you choose?
BC: Haha well I certainly don’t drink from Jazz fountain but I listen to all sorts really. Obviously being a guitar player and a singer it’s either guitar or vocal based but of course I prefer it when it’s both! Heavy Metal was my first love as a child and that just captured my imagination. In later years you learn to appreciate different things. I love classic rock as in Blue Oyster Cult, Van Halen, Boston, The Eagles etc. I love prog, hair metal, Thrash, Motown, even Grunge era stuff too (although I don’t call Mother Love Bone, Candlebox, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice In Chains ‘Grunge’). I just like good music. Well played, well sung, well written. I don’t have any rules anymore. I just like what I like. Ok picking just 5 albums is a really hard thing to do but because it’s what influences my own part of the Neverworld sound it’s a bit easier. As much as I love Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Manowar I find that I am no longer influenced by them. It’s strange but I lean towards more progressive stuff now just because there are so many more elements going on to keep your mind occupied. Ok here goes!…
1. Fates Warning ‘Disconnected’ – Brilliant album by the criminally underrated Fates. This album is the soundtrack to my life. Love it!
2. King Diamond ‘Conspiracy’ – King seems to have got bigger and bigger over the years and that pleases me a lot. The guy is an evil genius and Andy LaRouque is one of my favourite guitar players. It’s not until you sit there trying to work out King’s music you realize how complex it is, how clever it is. Love this album. A huge influence on me.
3. Crimson Glory ‘Transcendence’ – This album is just timeless. A masterpiece by a band who should have been playing arenas. Very classy, very intelligent music!
4. Winger ‘Pull’ – I imagine a few people will shake their heads at this choice but Winger are an amazing collective of breath taking musicians. Kip Winger is one of the most intelligent song writers out there. When you really listen to a Winger song and analyze it you can hear all the magic that has gone into making it. I chose ‘Pull’ for the groove aspect. Some of the riffs on this album are jaw droppers! Also Kip is one of my favourite singers and Reb Beach is one of my favourite guitar players. Another big influence for sure.
5. Queensrÿche ‘Rage For Order’ – Geoff Tate has a pretty bad rep these days. Personally I couldn’t care less what people think of him as a person, he’s a God of a singer. Just watch ‘Live Evolution’ to see his prowess in all its glory. I adore this album. The songs are great, the vocals are soulful, theatrical, grand, unusual. A perfect album!
So there are my 5. Just want to give a quick shout out to Lost Horizon, Circus Maximus, Redemption, Megadeth and Magnitude 9 too. They are all big influences on my part of the Neverworld sound too!
THM: If you were given the task of saving only between 10 and 20 songs from any music genre, band or artist for the future of mankind, which ones would make it to that special playlist? Let’s imagine you would add those to a capsule that would be preserved for a very long time and opened only in a distant future, and those would be the only songs left on earth, just for you to have an idea of how important your mission would be.
BC: Haha that is a very important mission indeed! Ok all these songs mean something to me. They all helped me. They changed my life and the way I think about music. Here goes…
Album Review – Neverworld / Visions Of Another World (2014)
THM: Talking about what any musician loves the most, which is playing to a live audience, what are your current and future tour plans for the UK and/or any other countries? How difficult it is for you to schedule tour dates and to be on the road for long periods of time? And what has been the band’s most memorable concert to date?
BC: It is difficult to tour for long periods due to all of us having work and family commitments. However we are planning on doing a week long tour this year with scattered dates surrounding it. Playing live is very important to us. It’s a hard feeling to beat when you’re up there and the crowd are with you. We are always looking for dates in the UK and abroad so keep an eye out for us in the near future. I have several fond gig memories with Neverworld. Our home town club shows are always special. Very well attended and there’s always a great buzz but the 3 that really stand out for me are when we played with Freedom Call at the Barfly in Camden on the night we released our debut. The place was absolutely packed! We opened and went down a storm. That was awesome. The next is again in Camden but this time at The Underworld. Purely because it was The Underworld. What an honour to play that hallowed stage. I’ve seen most of my favourite bands there so it was great to be able to tick it off the list. Lastly when we played Larissa in Greece. We left this weird building in the middle of nowhere to get something to eat thinking well this is going to be shit! When we came back the place was full! Couldn’t believe it! That was a great night playing with our friends Wardrum and completed an absolutely awesome experience. We’ve actually been pretty blessed with live shows over the last 4 years. We’ve played with some fantastic bands too. Long may that continue!
THM: Thank you very much for your time, I truly appreciate that. Please feel free to send a final message to all our readers and all metalheads not only in Canada, but everywhere else in the world.
BC: No, thank you! It’s been an honour. I just want to say a huge thank you to all the good people out there supporting us. If I could put into words how much we appreciate it I would! The Neverworld family is growing all the time and that my friends is awesome! I really hope you all enjoy the new album! Peace and good will to you all \m/
Long live the filthy, rowdy and uncompromised Sludge Rock and Metal brought forward by Mr. Billy Myers III and his depraved crew.
Nineteen fuckin’ minutes. This is all that American Sludge Rock/Metal act The Glorious Rebellion needs to get into your head and crush your brain with the noisy and electrifying music found in their brand new release entitled Euphoric, a 6-track EP with witty song names, a badass attitude and large doses of distorted riffs and grumpy grunts, all led by the band’s talented mastermind Billy Myers III. Not only Euphoric is sure to appeal to fans of The Melvins, Ken Mode and Helmet, among others, but also to anyone whose heart is devoted to the most uproarious form of Rock N’ Roll on the entire planet.
Since its inception in 2014 in Orlando, Florida, the same city that also gave us the awesome Trivium and Death, the band has been on a roll performing to sold out shows in the United States (including venues such as Orlando’s House of Blues), as well as sharing the stage with important names to the scene such as Jucifer, The Phuss, Black Cobra and Hollow Leg, not to mention their solid agreement with the record label Magnetic Eye Records. It’s not difficult to understand how a “newborn” band like The Glorious Rebellion has been capable of all these accomplishments in such a short span of time when you listen to their music. It’s raw, aggressive, uncompromised and entertaining, all qualities that make true Rock N’ Roll what it is today.
A huge amount of noise and filth (basically all you need to generate some badass music) will be dumped inside your ears in the opening track It’s a Sucker’s Game, Kid, with Billy providing those short-tempered vocals and distorted riffs necessary in Sludge Metal. Emmett Brown Has Never Met a Scott That Wasn’t Great, which by the way has one of the best song names I’ve ever seen, is a kick-ass pub chant enhanced by its visceral riffs and pessimistic lyrics (“I owe money to all the right people and they don’t take blood for pay / My state of address is on the fashion don’t list but ain’t nobody got shit to say / We all root for the underdogs / We’re all banking on prayers / Everyone is dying and we’re all going down and we’re wasting time splitting hairs”); while Benaquyl offers the listener pure Sludge Rock, with drummer Wade Scianimanico doing a great job supporting Billy with his “ode to sleeplessness”. Put differently, it’s a rockin’ tune made to be played louder than hell with a neck-breaking rhythm and an unfriendly attitude. What else can you ask for?
In the good Have I Told You Lately That I Loathe You?, a song about difficult relationships (“Stop right now we’re moving on / Ain’t worth gettin if it takes too long / Stop right now we’re calling it quits / If it ain’t easy then it ain’t worth gettin it”), The Glorious Rebellion offer more distortion and acidity to the listener, in special due to the rumbling sound of the bass guitar by Billy, followed by The Dirtiest Dream Jobs, where after a quick modernized intro the band returns to their primeval Sludge Rock and Metal, reminding me of the heaviest tunes by the iconic band Down (and pay attention to the demented guitar solo at the end, it’s totally worth your time). Last but not least, poetry and dissonance walk hand in hand in the best track of all, entitled Bitches Hate Misogyny, where Billy has an amazingly anguished performance mainly due to his growls, which match perfectly with the uproar generated by all other instruments. Well, it looks like Billy is going “straight to hell” after this tune, and all of us will probably join him there as well.
If you want to join this rebellious Rock N’ Roll crew and know more about their brazen music, go check their Facebook page and YouTube channel, and purchase Euphoric at the band’s BandCamp page. We all love the famous motto “Long Live Rock N’ Roll”, but if it lives through the dirty and rowdy music by this unabashed Sludge Rock and Metal group, things get even more exciting.
Best moments of the album: Emmett Brown Has Never Met a Scott That Wasn’t Great and Bitches Hate Misogyny.
Worst moments of the album: None.
Released in 2016 Magnetic Eye Records
Track listing 1. It’s a Sucker’s Game, Kid 2:57
2. Emmett Brown Has Never Met a Scott That Wasn’t Great 2:53
3. Benaquyl 2:13
4. Have I Told You Lately That I Loathe You? 3:48
5. The Dirtiest Dream Jobs 3:40
6. Bitches Hate Misogyny 3:36
Band members Billy Myers III – lead vocals, guitars, bass
Dan Manata – backing vocals, harmonies
Wade Scianimanico – drums
Enjoy the first part of this futuristic trilogy created by the iconic Blaze Bayley, a thrilling journey inspired by science fiction and artificial intelligence that transpires first-class Heavy Metal.
Silicon Messiah, Tenth Dimension, The Man Who Would Not Die, Promise And Terror, and now Infinite Entanglement. If you consider yourself a true admirer and connoisseur of traditional Heavy Metal who’s at the same time always looking to the future with an open mind and a passionate heart, you must listen to these five amazing releases by the iconic British metaller Blaze Bayley. What this metal warrior from Birmingham, UK is capable of offering his fans with absolutely no support from any major record label is outstanding. In Infinite Entanglement, a concept album highly influenced by science fiction, artificial intelligence and quantum physics that follows on the ideas found in Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension (not to mention Blaze is writing a book on those themes), we’re treated to more of his first-rate metal music embellished by his flammable performance and a more-than-exciting storyline. In other words, it might not be the album of the year for many, but it’s indeed an amazing contribution from Blaze to the world of heavy music. And have I mentioned this is the first part of a trilogy?
When asked about the story told in this new trilogy, Blaze commented that “It’s about a man who does not know if he is human. It’s his personal journey, and he is on a mission to discover one of the new Kepler planets. You know, Kepler discovered all these new planets. It’s set a hundred years in the future, and he’s on a spaceship and it’s how he deals with the fact that he will be one of the first people ever to live for a thousand years because of advances in technology, and how he deals with that. And the question is: is he human or not? And that’s it in a nutshell. And the story expands from there.” The whole concept already becomes evident when you stare at the classic but modern artwork by Swedish artist Andreas Sandberg, which in my opinion seems inspired by most Sci-Fi movies from the 80’s, but it’s when you actually start listening to the album and absorbing its music that you’ll finally understand what Infinite Entanglement is all about.
Let the futuristic journey begin (or continue from where it stopped in Silicon Messiah and Tenth Dimension) with the track that carries the name of the album, Infinite Entanglement, a straightforward Heavy Metal tune with a strong epic vibe, following the musicality from his latest album King Of Metal but a thousand times more polished and vibrant. Before the song is over, a woman’s voice that seems to be from a scientist explains who our main character is and why he was chosen for this mission, introducing us to the high-speed anthem A Thousand Years, my favorite of all tracks. This is where Blaze always thrives, firing pure metallic music with thoughtful lyrics, and I dare you not to sing its catchy chorus along with him while guitarist Chris Appleton showcases a solid performance with his riffs and especially with his solos.
Does he know the truth? No one can cope with the truth, but everyone can bang their heads nonstop to Human, the first single of the album that keeps the electricity flowing (and the perfect soundtrack for the TV series Humans, by the way), with drummer drummer Martin McNee and bassist Karl Schramm providing exactly what the music demands with their respective instruments. In addition, the song’s chorus poses the main question of the entire album (“Human / Am I human? / I am man / I am machine / You just don’t know what it means / To be human”), inviting you to once again sing it together with Blaze. In the pleasant acoustic voyage What Will Come, Blaze’s vocals are perfectly complemented by the exceptional work done by his longtime partners, Belgian guitarist Thomas Zwijsen and Dutch violinist Anne Bakker, proving Heavy Metal doesn’t need to be electric all the time to be stunning; whereas Stars Are Burning, with its hints of modern and alternative music, is yet another contemplative song where it’s mandatory to follow the powerful lyrics declaimed by Blaze to better understand the whole concept. By the time you reach this part of the album, the whole storyline starts to make a lot more sense and you can actually feel the roller-coaster of emotions the main character has been going through.
If you’re a fan of pure metal music with no shenanigans, Solar Wind is for you. However, despite being a good song (in special due to its chorus), it’s below the rest of the album in terms of quality and freshness. In the sinister bridge The Dreams of William Black, where the question “where are you?” is asked to our main character numerous times (and even in different languages), I believe what is actually in question is if William is just dreaming or if this is the new reality he must face. Even if you cannot find an answer to that, you’ll enjoy Calling You Home, yet another dense and exciting metal chant with a traditional “Oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh!” added to the chorus where its backing vocals have a strong impact on the final result; followed by the action-packed tune Dark Energy 256 (or maybe I should call it “Futureal 2.0”?). The unstoppable Blaze has an absolutely amazing performance in which is one of the best songs of the album in my opinion, allowing us all to feel the so-called “dark energy 256” penetrating our skin. Besides, Martin provides Blaze the necessary vibe for his potent voice through his precise drumming, with the last seconds of the song being a beautiful massacre.
In Independence, a smooth intro turns into an energetic chant about freedom and independence (and we know how good Blaze is at singing about those topics), with Chris and Martin once again offering Blaze an awesome support. One thing I love about Blaze is how he always puts his heart and soul into his singing, which is the case in A Work of Anger, a melancholic and meaningful composition full of effective narrations. And do you think the outro Shall We Begin is the end of the story, or is it just the beginning? Well, parts II and III will obviously answer that question, and according to Blaze himself he already has half of album two and some of the music and one of the songs for album three basically finished, which means we won’t have to wait for too long for the conclusion of this awesome saga.
While we wait for more of Blaze’s powerful music, you can also enjoy the making of Infinite Entanglement on YouTube, follow the “Messiah” on Facebook, and purchase your copy of the album at his official webshop, on iTunes, or on Amazon. Is Blaze man or is he machine? We’ll never know, and in fact it doesn’t really matter as long as he keeps feeding our metallic souls with his unique and extremely sharp Heavy Metal for many years to come. Who knows, maybe even for a thousand years.
Best moments of the album: A Thousand Years, What Will Come, Dark Energy 256 and Independence.
Worst moments of the album:Solar Wind.
Released in 2016 Blaze Bayley Recordings
Track listing 1. Infinite Entanglement 4:26
2. A Thousand Years 3:26
3. Human 3:31
4. What Will Come 4:48
5. Stars Are Burning 3:48
6. Solar Wind 4:01
7. The Dreams of William Black 2:20
8. Calling You Home 5:21
9. Dark Energy 256 4:01
10. Independence 5:11
11. A Work of Anger 5:33
12. Shall We Begin 0:56
Band members Blaze Bayley – vocals
Chris Appleton – guitars, backing vocals
Karl Schramm – bass, backing vocals
Martin McNee – drums
Guest musicians Thomas Zwijsen – acoustic guitars on “What Will Come”
Anne Bakker – violin on “What Will Come”
Michelle Sciarrotta – acoustic guitars, backing vocals, narration
Emily Pembridge – keyboards, piano
Liz Owen, Joanne Robinson & Mel Adams – backing vocals
Aine Brewer, Rob Toogood & James Dunn – narration
If you want to get more information about any of the bands featured at The Metal Moose Show, simply Google the band and/or the song name to find their official website and Facebook page and, more important than that, attend their live concerts and buy their music. Here at The Headbanging Moose you can also find detailed reviews of many other excellent underground bands. Support your local bands… AND FOLLOW THE MOOSE!
On The Metal Moose Show this week:
1. A Dying Art – Vile Becomings
2. Devils Envy – Dead Inside
3. Elysian Gates – Crossroads
4. The Mountain Man – Bloodlust
5. Mirella – Relapse
6. Orbitus – Lost Nature
7. Southfall – Awakening
8. Temtris – Enter The Asylum
9. Words That Burn – Our New Sin
10. Phantasmal – The Reapers Forge
11. Ashes To Angels – Find Hell
12. Rapture – Laboratories Of Infection
13. The Grand Ams – I’ll Be Damned
14. Setfire – Social Bond
15. Wo Fat – The Conjuring
16. Wo Fat – Interview
Click HERE to listen to this week’s episode on Spreaker.
Mankind is nothing but a failed experiment in this sick world we live in, and this demented Black Metal horde from Germany is here to show you why.
Human Pathomorphism, a perverted or abnormal morphology (or study of the human form), is not only the debut full-length opus by German Black Metal horde Humanitas Error Est, but a cutting statement that mankind is nothing but a failed experiment in this sick world we live in. Furthermore, the name of the band translated from Latin already means “humanity is a mistake”, a pivotal detail that shows you the band is not fooling around, sending their sad but true message to everyone that somehow still believes our society has a promising future ahead even after all the shit we’ve been witnessing lately.
And this deranged army from the city of Leipzig, also known as the “boomtown of eastern Germany”, vehemently spills their venom against any type of religion throughout the entire album, which according to the band can be considered the first chapter of their pandemic hatred against mankind. Evidently, there couldn’t be a better sub-genre of heavy music to perfectly represent all their negative feelings and thoughts than our good old Black Metal, and due to the highly developed skills by each band member what we have is an extremely well-crafted sonic assault that achieves its main goal hands down.
The intro Destroyer Of Worlds gives you about a minute to get ready to be destroyed by the band, which is what will happen to you when you face their heavy artillery in Quod Homo Appellatur Morbus Est (or something like “that man called disease”, translated from Latin). What a fantastic massacre generated by those six musicians, sounding like a rawer version of Dimmu Borgir with a merciless approach. Their bursting Black Metal keeps crushing our minds in Pain Feeder, where Ahephaïm is a lunatic fringe on drums while the band’s own succubus S Caedes and the barbarian demon Ghoul provide us their most nightmarish growls, and despite the second half of the song slowing down a bit it ends up getting even more demonic than usual.
One interesting fact in Human Pathomorphism is that there isn’t a single second of silence between songs, and the insane fury emanating from the guitars by Tsar and Void114 in Jagdzeit (or “hunting season” in German) from the very first second of the song only corroborates that, leading to an important question: how can a band sound more violent than this? It’s a gargantuan level of devastation without a shadow of a doubt. Then we have some eerie sounds kicking off another boisterous chant entitled My Sexual Benediction, an ancient Black Metal tune with a disturbing musicality tailored for fans of the genre, followed by Raping Religions, a Black Metal hymn with hints of brutal Death Metal where S Caedes and Ghoul keep spewing their dark words upon humanity. Well, I guess the name of the song says it all.
In One Piece Human the listener will probably face the most disturbing rhythm of all, never getting too fast but always being deeply dark. In addition, all vocal lines are as hellish as possible (including some sick howling), with some blast beating moments adding more complexity to the overall result. Humanitas Error Est are back to their “wrecking mode” in Die Macht Deines Glaubens (“the power of your faith”, from German), with Tsar, Void114 and Ahephaïm becoming unstoppable music machines firing endless amounts of darkness through their instruments; whereas in Skinning Alive, a thrilling Blackened Death Metal tune, the guitar lines sound more metallic than ever. It’s four minutes of sheer savagery led by S Caedes (what a voice this woman has!) and Ghoul, or in other words, a spot-on ode to human violence. And why not closing the album with more inhumanity in the form of music, starting with a track fondly named Bestial Penetration? Albeit being a decent song, it lacks its own identity to differentiate it from the previous tracks. Nothing that damages the high quality of the album, though. And lastly we have the title-track Human Pathomorphism, which might not be exactly a full-bodied song, but it is definitely one of the most disquieting outros you’ll ever listen to.
Now that you have finally become aware of the soundtrack to human extinction crafted by Humanitas Error Est, go pay a visit to the band’s Facebook page and listen to their blatant music at their YouTube channel, SoundCloud and ReverbNation. And in order to truly show your support for this amazing band, you can buy your copy of Human Pathomorphism at their BandCamp page, at the Satanath Records’ BandCamp page or official webstore, or also at Discogs.com where you can find the regular version of the album as well as the digipak version including the official video for “Raping Religions”. Do you still believe humanity is not a mistake after listening to the music by Humanitas Error Est?
Best moments of the album: Quod Homo Appellatur Morbus Est, My Sexual Benediction and Die Macht Deines Glaubens.
Worst moments of the album:Bestial Penetration.
Released in 2016 Satanath Records
Track listing 1. Destroyer Of Worlds 0:55
2. Quod Homo Appellatur Morbus Est 3:26
3. Pain Feeder 3:42
4. Jagdzeit 3:06
5. My Sexual Benediction 5:09
6. Raping Religions 3:12
7. One Piece Human 6:23
8. Die Macht Deines Glaubens 1:58
9. Skinning Alive 4:14
10. Bestial Penetration 5:20
11. Human Pathomorphism 2:02
Band members S Caedes – vocals
Ghoul – vocals
Tsar – guitar
Void114 – guitar
Rogan – bass
Ahephaïm – drums
Here we go again, another blistering cold night in Toronto when it was supposed to be already warming up, with around 15cm of snow out of nowhere just to make the beginning of this spring even weirder than the warmest winter in history. However, when you have the best Heavy Metal band in the entire world playing live in the city, who truly cares about some harmless snowflakes? My only concern was if we were going to have the same sound issues from the concert Friday night in Montreal also here in Toronto, but fortunately the sound quality at the Air Canada Centre was a billion times better than at the Bell Centre, making the whole night even more memorable.
After facing over 30 minutes out in the cold in a never-ending line where there was even an Elvis with an Eddie mask from Powerslave (would that make him the “Presleyslave” or the “Elvis High”?), I got back to the place where I belong in concerts, the floor section (and not those uncomfortable seats from Bell Centre). I might be wrong, but the floor section was quite empty for a sold out concert, even during Iron Maiden. If that’s for safety reasons, no problem, but I think they could have added at least a thousand extra tickets for that area. Anyway, my comments about the opening act, British Melodic Metal THE RAVEN AGE, are exactly the same from Friday night, which means if you read my review for Montreal you can apply each and every word to Toronto as well.
Setlist
Uprising
Promised Land
The Death March
Eye Among the Blind
The Merciful One
Salem’s Fate
Angel in Disgrace
Band members Michael Burrough – vocals
Dan Wright – guitar
George Harris – guitar
Matt Cox – bass
Jai Patel – drums
While some bands look and sound the exact same every single night, there’s something about IRON MAIDEN that makes each of their live performances unique even if they do not change anything in their setlist during the entire tour, as it’s happening during the amazing The Book Of Souls World Tour 2016. We all know which songs they’re going to play, and some people even complain about the band’s predictability, but when the concert starts Bruce, Steve and Co. manage to be different, to sound different and to always offer something new to their fans. Maybe that’s the main reason why they’re who they’re today, right?
Thanks to the almighty Eddie, there were no problems with the sound! Quite the contrary, each instrument was loud and clear, especially the pounding drums by the one and only Mr. Nicko McBrain and the rumbling bass guitar by the band’s mastermind Mr. Steve Harris, who made the epic tune The Book of Souls sound more powerful than ever. By the way, what an amazing reaction the fans had to all new songs from The Book Of Souls, especially the opening song If Eternity Should Fail and what was once again the highlight of the show for me, The Red and the Back. Of course fans went crazy when they played classics such as The Trooper, Powerslave (with Bruce wearing the same “luchador” mask from the past couple of shows due to Wrestlemania weekend), Hallowed Be Thy Name (with everyone at the ACC beautifully singing it together with the band), The Number of the Beast and Wasted Years, but it’s nice to see Iron Maiden are not trapped in the past and are still releasing awesome music for our total delight.
Now let’s talk about those special details that made last night unique, and I’m not talking about the cold and the snow. We all know how intelligent and skillful Mr. Bruce Dickinson is, and that was once again proved after the band performed the heavy and fast Death or Glory. Any other musician would have ignored the fact the song has a special importance to Toronto and to Canada, but Bruce made sure he spent the necessary time to explain the song is about Baron Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the “Red Baron”, who was shot down by Canadian air ace Captain Roy Brown in 1918, and that the seat of Red Baron’s triplane was donated by the dauntless Canadian pilot to a museum in Toronto. Bruce only forgot to mention the name of the museum, so if you’re interested in visiting it and seeing the airplane seat from the renowned Red Baron you need to go to the Royal Canadian Military Institute Museum (RCMI). As a side note, “Turns like a devil, climbs like a monkey!” (or something like that) were the Red Baron’s words about the Fokker Dr I, the most successful triplane in history. Guess where you can also find these words? And before I forget, poor Janick Gers, his guitar stopped working in the middle of the song and he had to spend about two minutes backstage trying to fix it. I’m not going to mention that most people didn’t even notice that “small” detail mainly because Dave Murray and Adrian Smith were on fire with their flawless riffs and solos, ans also because I like Janick’s performance (I think he IS important to what Iron Maiden are today), but if you also saw that you know what I’m talking about.
By the end of the show, while introducing the melodic Blood Brothers, Bruce spoke about the differences in terms of safety and quality of life found everywhere the band goes, comparing for example our always safe Canada to one of the most dangerous countries in the world, El Salvador, but also saying if there’s one thing that unites us all and helps us face any adversities in life is Heavy Metal, in special if you’re part of the MAIDEN FAMILY. On the train back to my small city, Oakville, an “old school” couple who also attended the concert sat in front of us and we instantly started chatting about Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica (the guy even fist pumped me full of joy when I said Metallica is the most overrated band on earth), sports, and several other topics. They even gave us a customized pair of hockey blade tapes from The Book Of Souls without even knowing us! That moment I realized how big, fun and unified the Maiden Family mentioned by Bruce is. And I’m happy to be part of it, so happy I didn’t even care I had to wipe a ton of snow from my car at the train station, at midnight, and under a frigid temperature of around -6oC. Actually, I was very relaxed while doing that, humming the “Oh-oh Oh-oh-oh! Oh-oh Oh-oh-oh!” from The Red and the Black and already thinking about when I’ll be able to watch Iron Maiden kicking some serious ass once again.
Setlist Doctor Doctor (UFO song) If Eternity Should Fail
Speed of Light
Children of the Damned
Tears of a Clown
The Red and the Black
The Trooper
Powerslave
Death or Glory
The Book of Souls
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore: The Number of the Beast
Blood Brothers
Wasted Years Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python song)
Band members Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
Steve Harris – bass
Dave Murray – guitar
Adrian Smith – guitar
Janick Gers – guitar
Nicko McBrain – drums
Discharging their fast and furious Death Metal directly from the city of Cincinnati, Ohio to the entire world since 2012, American metallers Verment are ready to attack once again with their brand new EP entitled Death’s Domain. If you’re a fan of bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, The Black Dahlia Murder, Suffocation and Angelcorpse, let me tell you that you’ll definitely have a very good time during the 24 minutes of deep vociferations, crushing beats and blazing riffs found in this unrelenting 7-track album.
Wings of Bone, which is perhaps the most Death Metal song of all, offers the listener two and a half minutes of brutal and technical devastation flawlessly led by Nick and Alex, with both deep guttural and sharper demonic growls by Eric being spot-on; while Vile Incisions leans towards more traditional Death Metal, especially due to its technical riffs and solos. In addition, Eric’s screams match perfectly with all instrumental pieces, with the last part of the song being a demented feast of blast beats commonly found in old school Black Metal. And get ready for the insane circle pits that will be generated by Obsolescence Reality, which has that constant metallic rhythm we all love in Death Metal, but with the addition of some nice breaks to add more flavor to it.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 