Tag Archives: bavaria

Album Review – Skognatt / Ancient Wisdom (2018)

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An onrush of Atmospheric Black Metal as raw, aggressive, melodic and obscure as it can be, from the undergrounds of Bavaria directly into your mind.

Hailing from Augsburg, one of Germany’s oldest cities and the third-largest city in Bavaria (after Munich and Nuremberg), here comes a very sinister and interesting Atmospheric Black Metal/Dark Ambient one-man project named Skognatt, who have just unleashed darkness upon humanity with its first full-length album Ancient Wisdom. After its inception in 2016 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Danijel Zambo, Skognatt released the demo Landscape of Ice in 2016, followed by the EP Stargazer that same year, and another EP in 2017 titled Ancient Wisdom (with the same name as the new album, but only featuring two songs that would be part of it). With the help of guest multi-instrumentalist Gerileme (Asche der Welten, Osteon) on drums and drum engineering, Skognatt brings forth six otherworldly compositions in Ancient Wisdom, living up to the legacy of old school Black Metal but with an atmospheric and eccentric twist added to its already somber musicality.

Macabre and phantasmagoric from the very beginning, the title-track Ancient Wisdom brings forward acoustic guitars intertwined with the sinister, demonic gnarls by Danijel, flowing smoothly and darkly until its ending, all boosted by creepy keyboard notes. Then the steady drumming by Gerileme and the lugubrious guitars by Danijel set the pace in Xibalbá, an Atmospheric Black Metal tune with hints of Symphonic Black Metal and Middle-Eastern nuances, with the vocals by Danijel sounding more devilish and anguished than before; followed by World Apart, showcasing blast beats and flammable guitar riffs (and therefore leaning towards traditional Black Metal), but also bringing a touch of delicacy and melancholy to the overall musicality through its very melodic and sometimes acoustic background sounds and tones.

More obscure than its predecessors, Thanatos alternates between melancholic, serene passages and more aggressive moments led by the piercing growls by Danijel, resulting in a Stygian hymn that can be used as the soundtrack to your deepest nightmares. As a matter of fact, Thanatos was the personification of death in Greek mythology, just to give you a sense of how dark this song is. Moving on with the album, Dark Star presents a movie-inspired intro before an explosion of demonic sounds fills the air, with Gerileme sounding even more infernal on drums in a hybrid of contemporary Ambient and Experimental Black Metal. Put differently, it can’t get any more underground, visceral and crude than this, being definitely not recommended for the lighthearted. And closing this somber and eccentric album we have another blast of Atmospheric Black Metal titled Fallen, spiced up by peculiar and whimsical sounds and featuring spoken words taken from the work of English nobleman and poet Lord Byron (1788 – 1824). Furthermore, Danijel does a great job both on keyboards and on vocals, enhancing the song’s already distinct taste until the music fades into a mesmerizing semi-acoustic outro.

In summary, Ancient Wisdom (which by the way is available for a full listen on YouTube) is one of those albums of extreme music that perfectly represent what underground metal is all about, being raw, aggressive, melodic and obscure, all at the same time. And in order to show your true support to an independent act like Skognatt, you can pay a visit to the band’s official Facebook page, and of course buy your copy of Ancient Wisdom from its BandCamp page, keeping the fires of Black Metal burning inside the dark soul of Mr. Danijel Zambo and his devilish alter ego Skognatt for years and years to come.

Best moments of the album: Xibalbá and Thanatos.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2018 Independent

Track listing
1. Ancient Wisdom 5:17
2. Xibalbá 5:09
3. World Apart 5:19
4. Thanatos 4:06
5. Dark Star 4:50
6. Fallen + Outro 6:44

Band members
Danijel Zambo – vocals, all instruments

Guest musician
Gerileme – drums

Album Review – Resist The Ocean / Heart Of The Oak (2017)

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This fine German quintet doesn’t bring us just good heavy music with their new album, but an organic and aggressive explosion of high-end Metalcore with marching riffs, hearty breaks and that unparalleled melody only found in European metal.

Fans of the heavy music played by bands such as As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, Trivium and All That Remains should turn their eyes (and ears) to Nuremberg, a city on the river Pegnitz and on the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in the German state of Bavaria, where Metalcore five-piece act Resist The Ocean has been delivering high-quality metal since their inception in 2012. After the release of their debut EP Weather the Storm in 2014, those German metallers are back in perfect shape with their first full-length endeavor, titled Heart Of The Oak, an album of old school Metalcore without stereotypes that transpires sheer aggression through its ten very cohesive and electrified songs.

Composed of Jochen on vocals, Kevin and Konsti on guitars, Art on bass and Adrian on drums, Resist the Ocean craft an absolutely stunning sonority with marching riffs, hearty breaks and that unparalleled melody only found in European metal. In addition to that, Jochen is the type of frontman that doesn’t really care about clean vocals, growling almost nonstop during the whole album, which in the end has a huge impact on the band’s music and style as it increases their overall ferocity way above the average Metalcore level. The obscure and stylish cover art for Heart Of The Oak also plays an important part in the message the band wants to send to the listener, being thoroughly connect to each song of the album and to the sharp sounds emanating from all instruments.

And they need only a few seconds to take the adrenaline level to the limit with their crisp, two-fisted sonority in the opening track Oceanlung, where the amazingly heavy and melodic riffs by Kevin and Konsti guide the listener to the acid world of Resist The Ocean. In Long Road Home the whole band gets more melodic, faster and sharper, led by the pounding beats by Adrian and the once again blazing guitars by Kevin and Konsti, with Jochen’s raspy growls creating a nice paradox with the song’s polished and upbeat rhythm; while in Cauterize the band’s aggressiveness only increases as the music progresses, with Jochen reaching pure dementia with his sick screams, also presenting excellent guitar solos to give more balance to the overall result. In other words, this is one of those songs fans of modern Metalcore will have a blast listening to without a shadow of a doubt.

Adrenaline keeps flowing from all instruments in the title-track Heart Of The Oak, showcasing another superb job done by Kevin and Konsti who, supported by the solid base crafted by Adrian and bassist Art, deliver top-tier European Metalcore. Furthermore, I personally recommend you pay good attention to the official video for this song and see if you recognize who has a cameo at 1 minute and 47 seconds of the video. Yes, it’s the German tank himself, Mr. Udo Dirkschneider, who co-produced the video by the way. Getting back to the album, we have Ambers, drawing influences from modern Death Metal and Melodic Death Metal with highlights to the song’s potent beats and neck-breaking rhythm, and Handcarved Coffins, a song that could be played on any radio station due to its smoother pace and melody but that also presents that anger and violence from underground Metalcore, not to mention its electrifying chorus and guitar solos.

Dreamwalker gets back to a more straightforward formula, presenting solid instrumental and vocal lines, albeit not as creative as the rest of the album (which doesn’t mean it’s not going to work well during their live concerts, though), whereas Black Rust brings forward a thrilling and refreshing fusion of Melodic Death Metal and Metalcore, with Jochen firing his enraged growls while the other band members deliver sheer awesomeness through their riffs, rumbling bass lines and fast-paced beats, turning it into one of the best songs of the album hands down. And there are two more metallic tunes to go, starting with the brisk and melodic The Last Of Our Kind, with its backing vocals providing Jochen an extra dosage of energy to blast his growls, not to mention the amazing solos by the unstoppable duo Kevin and Konsti, before the classy Metalcore chant Gilded Cage closes the album, displaying crisp guitar lines and powerful drums. Moreover, the iTunes bonus track is a radio-friendly acoustic version of this song, with the female vocals from guest musician June (Nicki and June) instead of the growls by Jochen, and a pleasant atmosphere to go along with that tenderness.

You can brave the untamable waters of Resist The Ocean by visiting their Facebook page for news about the band (including their tour dates), enjoy their music on YouTube and SoundCloud, and purchase Heart Of The Oak through the band’s Big Cartel as a digipak or a digipak + shirt bundle, as well as several other locations such as the EMP webstore, Nuclear Blast, Amazon and iTunes. As mentioned before, this fine German quintet doesn’t just deliver good heavy music to our ears, but an organic and rampant explosion of European Metalcore that will definitely catch your attention even if this type of music is not among your favorite metal genres.

Best moments of the album: Long Road Home, Heart Of The Oak and Black Rust.

Worst moments of the album: Dreamwalker.

Released in 2017 Bleeding Nose Records

Track listing
1. Oceanlung 3:47
2. Long Road Home 3:06
3. Cauterize 3:23
4. Heart Of The Oak 4:29
5. Ambers 3:07
6. Handcarved Coffins 3:54
7. Dreamwalker 3:07
8. Black Rust 4:23
9. The Last Of Our Kind 3:46
10. Gilded Cage 4:18

iTunes Exclusive bonus track
11. Gilded Cage (acoustic version) 2:23

Band members
Jochen – vocals
Kevin – guitars
Konsti – guitars
Art – bass
Adrian – drums

Guest musician
June – vocals on “Gilded Cage (acoustic version)”

Album Review – Disgusting Perversion / Morbid Obsessions EP (2015)

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Let the bloodbath begin and spread all over Bavaria and the rest of the world with the debut album by this up-and-coming old school Death Metal band.

Rating5

Disgusting Perversion - Morbid ObsessionsIf there’s a word that can be used to describe the music found in Morbid Obsessions, the debut EP by German Death Metal band Disgusting Perversion, that would definitely be “stampede”. However, instead of a wild rush of ordinary animals, what we have here is a frantic onslaught by a horde of Teutonic death metallers that will crush your body and soul with their raw old school vibration. What else can you ask for in a Death Metal album, right? Well, I guess the old school album art in Morbid Obsessions can already provide you a trustworthy preview of what you’ll find when you start your listen at the album.

Hailing from the city of Kaufbeuren (about 90km from Munich), in the Free State of Bavaria, Germany, this brand new four-piece group will surely please fans of the combination of brutality and melody made famous by names like Death, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and so on. Not even the fact that the drums are programmed, instead of having a drummer of flesh and blood with them, makes the the album sound less organic or visceral, which in my humble opinion is the most important attribute we should expect from any type of extreme music. In other words, you have to feel the blood dripping from authentic Death Metal, and Disgusting Perversion unquestionably provide the listener that morbid but awesome perception.

War Annihilation, as its own name indicates, kicks off the album sending a clear message from the band: they play brutal Death Metal, spreading nothing but gore and violence through their path of ruination. Moreover, the riffs by guitarists Claus Schubert and Tobias Ruf are tailored for fans of renowned musicians like Chuck Schuldiner and James Murphy, and as both Claus and Tobias simply love Death, I’m pretty sure this was exactly how they wanted their guitars to sound like. In the raging Bloodbath, lead singer Stefan Bauer vociferates the lyrics as if he was possessed by an evil entity, inspired by the demonic voices of bands such as Obituary and Morbid Angel, while bassist Klaus Bergmann and his low-tuned weapon provide the listener some bestial notes. It’s that type of slow but extremely heavy sounding perfect for headbanging, enhanced by the addition of some excerpts of the fastest savagery you can find in music.

Disgusting PerversionSounding as another tribute to old school Extreme Metal, the good Flying Nightmare shows what happens when Disgusting Perversion accelerate the rhythm, turning their music into a true “nightmare” for the faint-hearted. Besides, its traditional guitar solo helps improve the balance between sheer massacre and its strong melodic lines. Then we have the most melodic of all tunes, entitled House Of The Butcher, which is not as barbaric as the previous songs and has a huge focus on the guitar lines by Claus and Tobias. The vocals by Stefan exhale pure evil as expected, and with a name like that you can have a good idea of how gruesome its lyrics are.

The title-track, Morbid Obsessions, is a great display of straightforward Death Metal, fuckin’ heavy and merciless as hell, with highlights to the dark and low growls by Stefan and the crisp guitar solos by Claus and Tobias; followed by Disgusting Perversion, the song that takes the band’s name, and let me tell you that there couldn’t be a more suitable song to carry their flag. The music is disgusting, atrocious and barbaric, reminding me of old school Sepultura with wicked vocals, leaving the listener avid for more of the band’s cruelty.

To sum up, Morbid Obsessions is a very cohesive and full-bodied work for what is “just” an EP by those promising Bavarian death metallers, who are craving for your blood at their Facebook page. And don’t forget to visit the Winterwolf Records page on eBay, where you can purchase the album. Let the bloodbath begin and spread all over Bavaria and the rest of the world with Morbid Obsessions, the debut album by a band that, if they keep working hard and remain loyal to their foundations, has a bright future ahead of them.

Best moments of the album: Bloodbath and Disgusting Perversion.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2015 Winterwolf Records

Track listing
1. War Annihilation 4:05
2. Bloodbath 6:10
3. Flying Nightmare 4:22
4. House Of The Butcher 5:32
5. Morbid Obsessions 5:35
6. Disgusting Perversion 5:45

Band members
Stefan Bauer – vocals
Claus Schubert – guitars
Tobias Ruf – guitars, drums programming
Klaus Bergmann – bass

https://youtu.be/t9y04zLgAdw