Tag Archives: apocalyptian

Album Review – Despotic / Where Freedom Dies EP (2021)

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Four tracks of pure, unfiltered Death Metal brought forth by three talented guys from Down Under who are ready to tell you where freedom dies.

3.0rating

despotic-where-freedom-dies-ep-2021Created in 2020 out of a shared interest in old school Death Metal, Ballarat, Australia-based act Despotic is unleashing upon humanity their debut EP, entitled Where Freedom Dies, offering fans of extreme music four tracks of pure, unfiltered Death Metal carefully brought forth by Chris Newell (Vestal Cuntvomit, The Nihilistic Front, Pervertum Obscurum and Maleficium, among others) on vocals, Allan Butt (Maleficium, Into Ruin and Apocalyptian) on guitars and bass, and Andrew Loynes (Into Ruin) on drums. Not only that, the EP also represents the first go at handling the entire production, including tracking, mixing, and mastering, by Allan Butt, proving that not only he kicks ass it doesn’t matter which band he’s playing with (as you can see in our review for the EP Citizens Of The Apocalypse, released last year by Apocalyptian), but also that it looks like in Australia the DIY metal scene is stronger than ever thanks to skillful musicians like him.

Hammering their instruments in the best Death/Cannibal Corpse-inspired way, the trio delivers raw and classic Death Metal in Foreboding Obscurance, with Andrew dictating the pace while Chris growls like a demonic beast, resulting in an awesome welcome card by the band. Then in Citadel of Lies we face austere lyrics barked by Chris (“From our first breath we are numbered, Tagged and coded for their database / Sentient perception expurgated, Born to serve the high agenda / Acquiesce our souls to the acrid, Arrogance of the elitist subjugation / To yield such supreme over governance, you then crush and usurp all objectors”) accompanied by the infernal riffs by Allan; and more of their somber and visceral sounds comes in the form of Narcissistic Dominance, where Allan continues to slash his stringed axe furiously while Andrew sounds like a stone crusher on drums, delivering tons of intricacy and rage through his blast beats. Lastly, closing the EP the trio fires another round of their Stygian Death Metal in Rendered Senseless, with Chris vomiting the song’s wicked words supported by the thunderous riffs and bass jabs by Allan, as well as the always vile drums by Andrew.

despotic-logoYou can take a shot at Where Freedom Dies in its entirety on Spotify, but of course in order to show your support to the vibrant Australian underground you should click HERE for all places where you can stream or purchase the EP. Also, don’t forget to follow Chris, Allan and Andrew on Facebook and on Instagram, getting to know more about such promising name of the Australian Death Metal scene and staying up to date with the next steps in their career. If you have absolutely no idea where freedom dies, why don’t you join Despotic in their quest for extreme music? Those guys are not only talented musicians, but they can also help you answer such delicate question armed with their undisputed Death Metal, showing to us all once again that heavy music is always the best remedy when all hope is lost.

Best moments of the album: Narcissistic Dominance.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2021 Independent

Track listing   
1. Foreboding Obscurance 3:56
2. Citadel of Lies 4:03
3. Narcissistic Dominance 3:27
4. Rendered Senseless 3:56

Band members
Chris Newell – vocals
Allan Butt – guitar, bass
Andrew Loynes – drums

Album Review – Klendathu / Ad Nauseam EP (2020)

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Bang your head to the debut EP by an Australian one-man band with a huge focus on artistic expressionism, animal rights, veganism and the inevitability of the planet’s decline.

The name Klendathu, which means means “triangular” in the Zulu language, is the homeworld of the creatures known as the Arachnids from the 1997 cult movie Starship Troopers, while the expression “ad nauseam” is a Latin term for argument or other discussion that has continued to the point of nausea. However, when you put those two together the result is a Melbourne, Australia-based Blackened Death Metal/Dark Metal one-man project entitled Klendathu, formed in the beginning of 2020 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Scott Masson, the lead singer for Metalcore/Deathcore act He Who Seeks Vengeance and more recently for Death Metal band Apocalyptian, both already reviewed at The Headbanging Moose. With a huge focus on artistic expressionism and with its lyrical content inspired by our ecological footprint, environmental issues, animal rights, veganism and the inevitability of the planet’s decline, the project’s debut EP Ad Nauseam will surely please fans of the music by Behemoth, Gorgoroth, Cannibal Corpse, Sylosis, Six Feet Under and Sepultura, among many others, while at the same time sending a strong message to everyone who still thinks our decaying world is doing just fine.

Scott, who’s by the way a very proud vegan and animal rights activist and environmentalist, has already hinted at that theme in his previous records with He Who Seeks Vengeance (They Will Speak Of The Ghosts That We Became, released in 2019) and Apocalyptian (Citizens Of The Apocalypse, released earlier this year), but it’s with Klendathu that Scott finally has all the freedom to be himself and express how he feels about the current state of things. In addition, just to give you an idea of how personal the album is, everything in the album was recorded by Scott himself, with the exception of the mixing part which was done by an electronic producer named Kibosh, and the final result is indeed very personal, heavy and dark.

An ominous intro grows in intensity until dark and damned sounds invade our senses in Denying The Birth, where Scott fires Doom Metal-inspired riffs and infernal blast beats while screaming like a rabid beast, reminding me of old school Behemoth with some phantasmagorical background elements to add an extra kick to it. Then once again demolishing everything and everyone with his insane beats and riffage, Scott vociferates and barks nonstop in Anger Awakening, presenting hints of the Thrash and Groove Metal by Sepultura from their Roots-era while keeping Klendathu’s core obscurity intact, followed by Bargaining The New Revelation, the most vicious and devastating of all songs, with Scott doing a great job with his harsh roars and thunderous bass and drums, therefore  generating a reverberating sound that will crush your skull mercilessly, all spiced up by teen activist Greta Thunberg’s famous one-liner “How dare you!” and other parts of her speech during the UN climate summit in New York on September 23, 2019. After such bold and dense tune, Scott adds nuances of devilish Blackened Doom to his already scorching sonority in The Prelude Depression, where you can easily feel all the anguish and hatred flowing from his demented screams while the song’s keys and piano notes give the overall result a touch of finesse. And last but not least, more groovy and enraged sounds permeate the air in Accepting The End, with Scott going full Death Metal on vocals and firing crisp guitar riffs and solos. Moreover, its modern-day Black Metal-like drums are the ultimate proof that this incendiary song couldn’t have sounded more austere than what it already is.

You can follow Scoot and his very interesting Klendathu on Facebook, showing your appreciation not only for his music but also for his fight for animal rights and his efforts against all environmental issues we’ve been facing in the past few decades, and of course purchase his debut opus Ad Nauseam directly from his BandCamp page, as well as from Apple Music and from Amazon, or stream the EP in full on YouTube and on Spotify. In the end, as long as you bang your head to Klendathu’s flammable music while doing your part in trying to make this world a better place, I’m sure guys like Scott will feel utterly inspired to keep crafting meaningful heavy music for many years to come. That, of course, if the world as we know it doesn’t come to an end first.

Best moments of the album: Bargaining The New Revelation and Accepting The End.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Independent

Track listing
1. Denying The Birth 6:19
2. Anger Awakening 4:52
3. Bargaining The New Revelation 5:27
4. The Prelude Depression 5:52
5. Accepting The End 5:02

Band members
Scott Masson – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Apocalyptian / Citizens Of The Apocalypse EP (2020)

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A short and pulverizing soundtrack to the apocalypse by a ruthless Death Metal unity from Down Under.

Crafted from a mutual love for Death Metal from the late 90’s and early 2000’s by members of the underground Australian bands He Who Seeks Vengeance, Maleficium, Death Masque and Conscious Control, Melbourne-based three-piece horde Apocalyptian has been working hard since their inception to bring some first-class Old School Death Metal to our avid ear, culminating with the release of their debut EP entitled Citizens Of The Apocalypse now in 2020. Comprised of Scott Masson on vocals (who’s also the lead singer for Metalcore act He Who Seeks Vengeance, whose album They Will Speak Of The Ghosts That We Became was reviewed at The Headbanging Moose in 2019), Allan Butt on the guitars and Jacob Capper on bass, Apocalyptian are ready to pulverize your senses with the 18 minutes of classic Death Metal found in their newborn spawn, being therefore highly recommended for fans of bands such as Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, The Black Dahlia Murder, Monstrosity and Suffocation, among countless others.

The Wretchedness Within is raw, vile and berserk from the very first second, with Scott welcoming us all to the world of Apocalyptian with a demented roar before his bandmates start smashing their instruments just the way we like it in classic Death Metal, with nuances of Deathcore added to make it even more electrifying. Then we have Wage War On A Dying Planet, as sick and violent as the opening track, where Allan and Jacob are on absolute fire with their stringed weapons while Scott gets more and more demented on vocals as the music progresses, living up to the legacy of giants like Cannibal Corpse and Six Feet Under, and let’s keep slamming into the circle pit to the sound of Scorched Wasteland, with Allan delivering razor-edged riffs for our total delight while Jacob’s bass punches are in total sync with the song’s insane beats. Needless to say, Scott is once again venomous with his deep guttural barks, which is also the case in the title-track Citizens Of The Apocalypse, as devastating as its predecessors, bringing forward infernal riffs and beats and inspiring us to bang our heads to the vicious riffage by Allan, with Jacob adding an extra touch of heaviness to the music with his low-tuned bass.

If you’re searching for a good (and extremely heavy) soundtrack for the end of days that seem to be approaching us all faster than we could have ever imagined, you should definitely check what Apocalyptian are up to on Facebook and purchase your copy of Citizens Of The Apocalypse (available for a full listen on Spotify, by the way) from the band’s own BandCamp page or from Amazon. Citizens Of The Apocalypse might be short in duration, but it’s indeed a solid and pulverizing album of classic Death Metal thoroughly crafted by three talented musicians from Down Under that points to a great future ahead of them. As long as the apocalypse doesn’t happen in the coming months or years, of course.

Best moments of the album: The Wretchedness Within.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Independent

Track listing
1. The Wretchedness Within 4:40
2. Wage War On A Dying Planet 4:07
3. Scorched Wasteland 5:58
4. Citizens Of The Apocalypse 3:41

Band members
Scott Masson – vocals
Allan Butt – guitars
Jacob Capper – bass