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Album Review – Djinn-Ghül / Opulence (2023)

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An uncanny duo from the US and Venezuela will attack your senses with their third full-length opus, flitting between full-on Death Metal brutality and jaw-dropping futuristic and mechanized sounds.

Less than two years following the release of their critically lauded EP Mechalith, industrialized Experimental/Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore unit Djinn-Ghül unleashes their third full-length album, entitled Opulence, building on their previous material while taking things to new levels of extremity. The international duo formed of Venezuelan vocalist Junior “Pat” Patiño (Voraraephilia) and American multi-instrumentalist Grant Nachbur (Auricular Insemination, Nephrectomy) has been evolving and perfecting their sound with each consecutive release since their inception in 2016, with their new album effectively flitting between full-on Death Metal brutality and jaw-dropping futuristic and mechanized sounds with impressive cohesion. Mixed and mastered by Pat himself, and displaying a sick acrylic painting as the album’s artwork by Chinese artist Guang Yang, Opulence showcases a dynamic slab of industrialized Death Metal with a crushing power that will debilitate as much as adrenalize you, resulting in their most chaotic yet refined material to date.

Haunting and atmospheric, the opening tune God Lymph will pierce your soul with the band’s hybrid of several extreme styles, with Grant’s crushing drums and phantasmagorical keys permeating the air until everything explodes into violence and insanity with Pat roaring like a demon, whereas the hammering bass and caustic riffs by Grant will demolish your senses in Xobek, a lecture in Blackened Deathcore with some industrial and electronic elements in the background to give it an even more venomous vibe. Their industrialized vein keeps pulsing in Ghola, with Pat’s inhumane growling complementing the infernal atmosphere crafted by Grant, followed by the title-track Opulence, featuring Jordan James of Disentomb on vocals, bringing forward the demented beats and scorching riffs by Grant while the song’s background elements will beautifully darken your soul. Then featuring guest vocalist Alex Marr, the duo’s horror-inspired sounds keep disturbing the minds of the lighthearted in the pulverizing Pseudosapien, where Grant’s bass and drums generate an avalanche of sheer heaviness until the very end.

Sara Crow lends her voice as a guest in Mother, another short and sweet blast of their Experimental Death Metal sounds infused with Deathcore and classic Death Metal nuances; however, it never really takes off, sounding more like an interlude of sorts. Their next guest vocalist is Phlegeton of Wormed, with more of their mechanized, futuristic keys being offered to us in Fruitless Grasp, before the music turns into a demonic feast of devilish screams, piercing guitars, infernal beats and rumbling bass lines. There’s still more from such talented duo to haunt your damned soul for all eternity in Garden of Jaws (It Sees Too Much), blending the most violent elements from Brutal Death Metal with their more experimental and industrialized vein, and with Pat sounding absolutely evil on vocals; flowing into the closing tune Grave Vessel, where the duo clearly sends a message of chaos and darkness through their electrified sounds and noises, not to mention Grant is once again ruthless behind his drums, ending the album on a beyond somber mode.

The vicious Opulence, which is available in full on YouTube and on Spotify, is certainly not recommended for the lighthearted, which is exactly what such ruthless American/Venezuelan duo wanted to achieve with their music. Hence, don’t forget to give Djinn-Ghül a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, to subscribe to their YouTube channel, and above all that, to purchase a copy of their newborn beast from their own BandCamp page, from the Vicious Instinct Records’ BandCamp page, from Apple Music, or from Amazon. In other words, Opulence is heavy, caustic, futuristic and melodic, all at the same time, effectively cementing Djinn-Ghül as one of the most interesting names of the modern extreme music scene.

Best moments of the album: Xobek, Pseudosapien and Garden of Jaws (It Sees Too Much).

Worst moments of the album: Mother.

Released in 2023 Vicious Instinct Records

Track listing
1. God Lymph 3:47
2. Xobek 2:13
3. Ghola 2:49
4. Opulence 3:13
5. Pseudosapien 3:21
6. Mother 2:40
7. Fruitless Grasp 4:29
8. Garden of Jaws (It Sees Too Much) 3:25
9. Grave Vessel 2:37

Band members
Junior “Pat” Patiño – vocals
Grant Nachbur – all instruments

Guest musicians
Jordan James – vocals on “Opulence”
Phlegeton – vocals on “Fruitless Grasp”
Sara Crow – vocals on “Mother”
Alex Marr – vocals on “Pseudosapien”

Album Review – Ritual Aesthetic / Wound Garden (2018)

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One of Denver’s most promising metal outfits returns with a hard-hitting album of terrifying digital aggression, blending melodic dance rhythms, harsh metal guitars and dark experimental noise atmospheres.

Formed in 2013 in Denver, Colorado, in the United States by Sean Ragan (also known as Sean Von Helvete), who was drumming for Los Angeles-based Industrial/Melodic Black Metal band Dawn of Ashes at that time, Industrial Metal outfit Ritual Aesthetic returns in 2018 with their second full-length installment titled Wound Garden, not only a follow-up to their 2014 debut release Decollect, but more important than that, a highly recommended album of terrifying digital aggression for fans of the most demented form of industrial music, blending melodic dance rhythms, harsh metal guitars, aggressive EBM styled vocals and dark experimental noise atmospheres.

What was born as a solo project by Sean quickly evolved into a full-bodied mechanized beast, now featuring the aforementioned Sean on vocals, Grant Nachbur on the guitar, Daniel Combs on bass and Jeremy Portz on drums, delivering high-quality, berserk Industrial Metal through their sharp instruments. Written by Sean and Jeremy together with Alex Crescioni and Ron Hutchinson, engineered by Sean in Denver, and mixed and mastered by Alex Crescioni at Stygian Sound in Los Angeles, Wound Garden is a step forward in the career of Ritual Aesthetic, showcasing a focused and talented band that definitely knows how to effectively travel between the worlds of electronic and metal music, always sounding fresh, vibrant and insane for our total delectation.

An ominous and mechanized intro named Stasis kicks off the album by setting the stage for the sonic onrush entitled Life Amnesia, where the quartet gives a lesson in lunacy, blasting piercing, industrialized sounds spearheaded by Sean and his eccentric roars. Furthermore, the song’s background electronic effects help boost its impact even more, not to mention Jeremy’s assembly line-like pounding beats. And The Analog Flesh feels almost like an ode to the thunderous music by giants like Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Fear Factory, blending the most powerful elements from Industrial Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte, with the guitar lines by Grant being at the same time very subtle but as venomous as hell.

And it looks like their wicked party has no time to end, as they blast another dense and disruptive Industrial Metal tune titled Divided, where the guitars and background keys create an interesting paradox of sounds while Sean continues his ode to madness through his raspy growls; followed by the slower, darker and more demonic Dread, showcasing creepy guitar lines and vocalizations, as well as a heavy as hell atmosphere, cutting our skin deep from the very first second just like what happens in Malefaktor, a modernized wall of industrial and robotic sounds and noises. Throughout this insane tune, Daniel and Jeremy beautifully generate a rumbling and Stygian base for Sean and his demented vocals.

If you think their regular music is not weird enough for your twisted mind, you’ll have a sonic orgasm with the rest of the album, where Ritual Aesthetic offer the best of the metal and electronic worlds combined. The first remixed tune of this wicked combo is called Mechanism Of Desire (Electronic Substance Abuse Remix), being highly recommended for lovers of pure industrial and electronic music, sounding as crazy and eccentric as it can be with the help of their friends from British Industrial Noise project Electronic Substance Abuse. Then it’s time for American Industrial Metal act Seraphim System to experiment with Ritual Aesthetic’s music in Chemical Weapons (Seraphim System Remix), also bringing forth a metallic, industrialized extravaganza of sounds, almost like the soundtrack to a horror movie. And last but not least, it’s American Dark Electro entity Xentrifuge who adds huge dosages of electricity to the song Amnesiac (Xentrifuge Remix), with Sean’s vocals matching perfectly the music proposed.

In a nutshell, if you’re searching for a crisp and heavy alternative in the world of Industrial Metal, Ritual Aesthetic are among us to offer you exactly what you’re craving in the form of Wound Garden, which by the way is available for a full listen on YouTube. Hence, don’t forget to show your support to such distinct entity from the always fruitful underground Industrial Metal scene by paying a visit to their official Facebook page, and grab your copy of the album from the band’s own BandCamp page, from the Cleopatra Records webstore, from iTunes or from Amazon. And then, as soon as you have Wound Garden on your hands, let your soul be embraced by its hard-hitting mechanized sounds. You won’t regret having that wicked experience at all.

Best moments of the album: The Analog Flesh and Divided.

Worst moments of the album: Dread.

Released in 2018 Cleopatra Records

Track listing 
1. Stasis 1:29
2. Life Amnesia 4:27
3. The Analog Flesh 3:32
4. Divided 4:33
5. Dread 3:12
6. Malefaktor 4:33
7. Mechanism Of Desire (Electronic Substance Abuse Remix) 6:58
8. Chemical Weapons (Seraphim System Remix) 3:23
9. Amnesiac (Xentrifuge Remix) 5:11

Band members
Sean Ragan – vocals
Grant Nachbur – guitar
Daniel Combs – bass
Jeremy Portz – drums