Tag Archives: adelaide

Album Review – Tanin’iver / Dark Evils Desecrate (2024)

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The blind dragon steed of Lilith will breathe fire upon humanity once again to the sound of his fourth full-length opus, an outpouring of blazing hatred and rage in the form of devilish Blackened Death Metal.

“The heavenly serpent is a blind prince with name of Tanin’iver…he is the bond, the accompaniment and the union between Samael and Lilith. If he were created whole in the fullness of his emanation he would have destroyed the world in an instant.” – The Early Kabbalah

A Black and Death Metal embodiment of one man’s creative spirit, forged in the cold flames of tragedy, loss and personal struggle, an outpouring of blazing hatred and rage at a world blighted by sickness, cursed by violence and intolerance, drowning in greed and ignorance, Adelaide, Australia-based Blackened Death Metal outfit Tanin’iver (the blind dragon steed of Lilith in ancient mythology) is unleashing upon humanity its fourth full-length opus, titled Dark Evils Desecrate, the follow-up to the project’s 2021 album The Lucifer Effect. Produced, mixed and mastered by the band’s mastermind, vocalist and guitarist Steve Lillywhite (aka Skorpa), Dark Evils Desecrate sees Steve (alongside once again guitarist and bassist Liam Mohor) turning his coruscating gaze from the poisonous cesspit of religion and delivering a bombardment of scathing, acidic vitriol onto humanity’s obsessions with war, violence, intolerance and the brain-sapping curse of social media, being therefore highly recommended for fans of Dissection, Belphegor, Mayhem and Svart Crown.

Another World’s Hell hits us hard in the face with its infernal lyrics roared by Steve (“Long, the way, to light  / Out of all this dark / To be precise, / The killing of the night /Will be the end, / Of what I failed to be / Your dreams, are dead”) while the music is as bestial as it can be, with his caustic riffage adding an extra touch of evil to the overall result; followed by Disrepair, another pulverizing, devilish tune by the duo, with Liam sounding thunderous with his bass while also delivering a crisp guitar solo for our total delight. Then we’re treated to Separatist, sounding absolutely devastating from the very first second, with its blast beats and venomous screams and riffs generating a truly demonic atmosphere perfect for some vigorous headbanging, whereas a rumbling, massive wall of sounds will crush your soul in Better the Devil, with its mechanized, pounding rhythm matching perfectly with Steve’s devilish gnarls.

It’s time for another feast of Black and Death Metal titled Freedom Is Never Free, with the guitars by both Steve and Liam grinding your mind in the name of absolute evil and darkness, flowing into Soul Thief, offering our putrid ears six minutes of hatred and fury blasted by the duo, with Steve stealing the spotlight with his most Black Metal, infuriated harsh growls, showcasing a very detailed and dense sonority. Get ready for another Blackened Death Metal onrush by Tanin’iver titled The Seer, where Steve vociferates like a demonic entity nonstop supported by the song’s classic riffs, beast and fills; and a cryptic start evolves into more of the band’s hellish sounds in Drowning on Dry Land, this time also presenting subtle elements from Industrial Metal in special in its drums. It drags for a bit too long, though. And lastly, the band offers us all an ode to the pits of hell titled So Was Red, bringing forward more of Steve’s high-pitched growling, demented riffs and brutal drums, consequently spreading a visceral, demonic stench in the air.

Steve’s story has been one of ongoing struggle, fighting against illness and addiction and processing the impact of heart rending loss, but he has harnessed the chaos that has raged around his life and channeled it into music of profound power and impact. Hence, if you want to show Steve how much you love the music by his Tanin’iver, you can start following him on Instagram, stream more of his music on Spotify, and above all that, purchase the sulfurous Dark Evils Desecrate from his own BandCamp page or from the Morning Star Heresy webstore as a CD or a cassette, letting the music by the blind dragon steed of Lilith reach deep inside your blackened heart.

Best moments of the album: Another World’s Hell, Separatist and The Seer.

Worst moments of the album: Drowning on Dry Land.

Released in 2024 Morning Star Heresy

Track listing
1. Another World’s Hell 4:14
2. Disrepair 5:40
3. Separatist 4:41
4. Better the Devil 4:32
5. Freedom Is Never Free 5:26
6. Soul Thief 6:22
7. The Seer 3:50
8. Drowning on Dry Land 4:34
9. So Was Red 5:30

Band members
Steve Lillywhite – vocals, rhythm guitars, sampling
Liam Mohor – lead guitars, bass

Album Review – Cauldron Black Ram / Stalagmire (2014)

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The music from Down Under has never been so obscure and devilish.

Rating5

CoverIt’s time to visit our friends from Down Under in search for some well-executed heavy music. However, this time our focus is not the traditional Hard Rock from AC/DC or Airbourne, but the extreme music from Australian Black/Death Metal band Cauldron Black Ram and their new album, the 100% evil Stalagmire.

The band has been on the road for quite a while, more specifically since 1996, having already released a couple of demos and full-length albums, but of course due to their raw, unpolished and gruesome musicality, it was pretty hard for them to reach a bigger and more diversified audience in the past. At least the Internet has evolved a lot in the past few years  and nowadays even headbangers from the other side of the world (like here in Canada) are able to enjoy the music from bands like this obscure Australian crew.

The opening track is a very good sample of what Cauldron Black Ram are capable of doing:  Fork Through Pitch is a diabolic mix of Death and Doom Metal, with traditional instrumental and harsh vocals that will please all fans of extreme music, especially because of the band’s previously mentioned rough production. The following track, Maw, goes on with the obscurity with its melancholic intro, good old-style riffs and vocals even more devilish than the previous song, while Discarded Death is a more Black Metal tune, where the good pace of drums and the deeper growling make it pure evil.

A Litany of Sailors Sins is a really slow-paced and dark tune, sometimes so macabre and heavy that I think people who are not really into Death and Black Metal will feel bad after listening to it. Well, that’s one of the main objectives of this type of music, right? Anyway, the nice guitar solo mixed with fast drumming by the end of the song gives it an extra dose of energy, which ends up preparing us for Bats, the fastest track of the album, full of awesome screaming and twisted riffs heavier than hell, and in my humble opinion one of the best songs of Stalagmire.

Cauldron-Black-RamCavern Fever is pretty decent instrumental track similar to Cannibal Corpse’s “Relentless Beating”, showcasing the talent of the musicians, while From Whence the Old Skull Came should be chosen as the perfect soundtrack to apocalypse: it might have a very simple and repetitive riff, but it’s at the same time extremely effective in sending the message desired by the band.

Finally, we have another extremely rudimentary track, The Devil’s Trotters, which not only sounds like the Devil himself is singing in it, but it also has some excellent rude bass lines that make it stand out from all other tracks of the album; and the obscure Speliogenesis, a song that could easily summarize pain, agony, sadness and despair in music if someone asked you to do that. Moreover, its pure Doom Metal vocals and extremely dense riffs help closing the album in the most demonic way possible.

The album art is as primitive as their music, and besides that, one interesting characteristic I could notice in their music was the addition of many elements from Stoner Metal the likes of Down and Crowbar, and even some hints of the Doom Metal played by Danzig and Black Sabbath, which in the end is undoubtedly healthful for the band and its future in heavy music.

In short, if you enjoy “evil” music, Stalagmire is a very good option to invest your hard-earned money, which can be done at the 20 Buck Spin official webshop (both the CD and the LP versions of the album are available there) or you can stream it and download it at the 20 Buck Spin Bandcamp page.

Best moments of the album: Fork Through Pitch, Bats and The Devil’s Trotters.

Worst moments of the album: Maw and Discarded Death.

Released in 2014 20 Buck Spin

Track listing
1. Fork Through Pitch 3:19
2. Maw 3:20
3. Discarded Death 4:07
4. A Litany of Sailors Sins 4:16
5. Bats 3:37
6. Cavern Fever 2:35
7. From Whence the Old Skull Came 3:13
8. The Devil’s Trotters 4:13
9. Speliogenesis 4:23

Band members
Esh – drums, vocals
Alim – guitar, vocals
Ben Newsome – vocals, bass