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Album Review – Infected Chaos / Dead Aesthetics (2021)

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 Behold the new opus by this ruthless Austrian-South German Death Metal outfit, by far their most intricate, obscure and dynamic album to date.

Holding a giant mirror right in front of the rotten, perverted part of humanity, the ruthless Austrian-South German Death Metal Commando Infected Chaos returns to action with the follow up to their 2015 debut effort The Wake Of Ares and their 2017 sophomore opus Killing Creator, the pulverizing Dead Aesthetics, combining the brute force of contemporary, complexly poured death lead with a touch of the North American new school. Mixed by the band’s own guitarist Matthias Mayr at DC-Records, mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound and displaying a Stygian cover artwork by Wildan Slam Artwork, Dead Aesthetics is highly recommended for admirers of bands the likes of God Dethroned, Hypocrisy and Kataklysm, showcasing all the fury, talent and passion for extreme music by Christian Fischer on vocals, Matthias Mayr and Martin Hartmann on the guitars, Ronny Lechleitner on bass and Matze Wilhelm on drums.

Ominous sound permeate the air before Infected Chaos smashes us all mercilessly in When Yonder Calls My Name, a dark and melodic tune led by the classic drums by Matze, also presenting hints of Hardcore to make things more frantic; and Chirstian roars like a gruesome creature form the abyss in Hollow Chars, accompanied by the rumbling bass by Ronny and the sick riffs and solos by Matthias and Martin, resulting in an infernal creation that lives up to the legacy of old school Death Metal. A brutal, slammin’ and utterly awesome Death Metal raid comes in the form of Eager Breed the Gods of Pestilence, with Christian once again vociferating the song’s dark words manically, and there’s no time to breathe as the quintet pulverizes our souls with the demented Gehenna, a lesson in savagery and harmony where their guitars sound piercing and caustic, supported by the metallic jabs blasted from Ronny’s bass. Then Matze and Ronny make the earth tremble in Iron Nights, an infernal Death Metal extravaganza bringing to our ears another round of Christian’s inhumane gnarls.

Are you tired already? Because Infected Chaos will keep hammering our damned bodies with their brutality in And Thus I Fell, where the band’s guitar duo does an excellent job with their sharp and strident riffage, followed by Death Metal Shock Prayer, a straightforward, in-your-face metal feast spearheaded by the thunderous beats by Matze, sounding as hellish as heavy as it can be. Pitch-Black Fever is simply demonic form start to finish, or in other words, a bestial depiction of classic Death Metal by the band with Matze once again stealing the spotlight with his vicious and fierce drumming; whereas bringing elements from classic Norwegian Black Metal added to their core sonority, in special to their riffs and blast beats, the band fires the fulminating Away, keeping the album at a high level of violence and obscurity. Following such demented tune, a beyond sinister intro quickly explodes into a lesson in violence by Infected Chaos titled Lethargia, with Matthias and Martin slashing our ears with their razor-edged riffs, and closing the album it’s time for five minutes of darkness and heaviness entitled Of Death and Birth, not as electrifying as the rest of the album but still presenting Christian’s otherworldly growls.

The infected world of Death Metal crafted by Infected Chaos in Dead Aesthetics can be better appreciated in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, but as usual if you consider yourself a true supporter of the underground you should grab your copy of the album from their own BandCamp page, from Apple Music or from Amazon, and don’t forget to also follow them on Facebook and to subscribe to their YouTube channel for more of their sick creations. Dead Aesthetics is by far the band’s most intricate, obscure and dynamic album to date, showing not only the evolution in their musicianship and fury, but also that Austria, and of course the southern parts of Germany, are indeed an amazing source of musical brutality.

Best moments of the album: Hollow Chars, Eager Breed the Gods of Pestilence and Pitch-Black Fever.

Worst moments of the album: Of Death and Birth.

Released in 2021 Independent

Track listing
1. When Yonder Calls My Name 5:43
2. Hollow Chars 3:22
3. Eager Breed the Gods of Pestilence 4:04
4. Gehenna 4:28
5. Iron Nights 4:40
6. And Thus I Fell 4:52
7. Death Metal Shock Prayer 3:56
8. Pitch-Black Fever 3:36
9. Away 5:22
10. Lethargia 4:58
11. Of Death and Birth 5:20

Band members
Christian Fischer – vocals
Matthias Mayr – guitars
Martin Hartmann – guitars
Ronny Lechleitner – bass, backing vocals
Matze Wilhelm – drums

Album Review – Tristwood / Blackcrowned Majesty (2020)

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Behold the final part of a saga about the return of a legendary ruler named Ar’ath to Ma’haxul through the eyes of an infernal Industrial Black and Death Metal band from Austria.

Blasting their venomous hybrid of Avantgarde, Black, Death and Industrial Metal with Grindcore nuances (being even labeled Blackened Grindcore by some fans and critics) since their inception in 2001 in the city of Linz, Austria, the cryptic entity known as Tristwood is ready to raise some hell with their fifth full-length opus entitled Blackcrowned Majesty, a musical journey led via Nihilist, early Bathory, Oxiplegatz, Morbid Angel, Hellhammer, Skinny Puppy and Killing Joke into the world of the real underground of the rough 80’s and early 90’s. Representing the final part of a saga about the return of a legendary ruler named Ar’ath to Ma’haxul, born out of pure blackness and disaster, the album describes in a musical way how she flows to the north after her destruction and is crowned again by her faithful. The album art, created in the summer of 2019 in the Alps by Ani van Sunnjurck, is the basis and building block of the story, showing the anti-hero Rauthra and hinting at his outer appearance as well as his quest from northern shores to the interior of the country to join Ar’ath. Comprised of Deimon on vocals, synths and flute, Jegger on vocals and guitars, Neru on guitars, backing vocals and synths, JD on bass and fretless bass solos, and HMG on drums, Tristwood are on fire throughout the almost 40 minutes of music found in Blackcrowned Majesty, uniting a very entertaining concept with their usual musical madness and rage.

Arising from the underworld like evil creatures of darkness, Tristwood begin blasting their fusion of industrial, electronic and extreme music in Re-Enthronement Of The Damned, bringing forward an infernal sound masterfully crafted by all band members, with HMG being beyond pulverizing on drums while Deimon and Jegger keep growling like true demons. In the heavier and more caustic He Who Traversed A Greater Oblivion, the scorching riffs by Jegger and Neru will pierce your ears mercilessly in a frantic and chaotic fusion of Industrial and Black Metal, whereas wicked, uncanny sounds ignite the electro-dark title-track A Blackcrowned Majesty, before all hell breaks loose in another hellish extravaganza by Tristwood. Moreover, the background synths and keys by Deimon and Neru add a touch of dementia to the music, while JD simply hammers his metallic bass nonstop. And it’s time to bang our heads like maniacs to the obscure and futuristic Her Wraith Through Stygonian Lands, where Deimon and Jegger are once again berserk on vocals, supported by the classic beats by HMG and the venom and acid flowing from the band’s stylish guitar riffs.

The quintet keeps smashing our skulls in The Hall Of Rauthra´s Fate, a vicious fusion of Black and Industrial Metal presenting machine gun-like blast beats, razor-edged riffs and demonic gnarls and roars, sounding as dark and grim as it can be from start to finish; and there’s no sign of Tristwood slowing down at all as they continue to fill every single space in the air with sheer darkness, hatred and lunacy in Acherontic Deathcult, with the whimsical keys and synths by Deimon and Neru bringing a welcome balance to their sonic havoc. Then inhumane, desperate screams are potentialized by the band’s high-octane guitars and drums in the visceral Bone Cathedral, a lesson in contemporary Industrial Extreme Metal by Tristwood, not to mention how thunderous the bass by JD sounds during the entire song, followed by the Stygian and captivating Nightshade Eternal, the epic finale to the saga of Rauthra, where the sick and deranged harsh growls by Deimon and Jegger are effectively spiced up by all background elements and the always pounding beats by HMG, flowing smoothly and infernally until its abrupt and somber ending.

Will Rauthra join the Nightshade? All you need to do to have the answer to that question is listening to Blackcrowned Majesty in full, and in order to do that simply go to Tristwood’s official BandCamp page, where you can obviously purchase your copy of the album and show your support to such talented Austrian band. In addition, don’t forget to give the guys from Tristwood a shout on their Facebook page, where you can get more details about the band, their future releases and tour dates. In summary, Tristwood undoubtedly reinvented themselves in Blackcrowned Majesty, adding another solid stone to their ever-growing castle of Industrial Black and Death Metal with such multi-layered and distinguished concept album and, consequently, paving a promising path for those Austrian veterans who know how to make some reverberating and loud noise when armed with their weapons of sonic destruction.

Best moments of the album: He Who Traversed A Greater Oblivion, Her Wraith Through Stygonian Lands and The Hall Of Rauthra´s Fate.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Independent

Track listing
1. Re-Enthronement Of The Damned 4:16
2. He Who Traversed A Greater Oblivion 4:23
3. A Blackcrowned Majesty 5:18
4. Her Wraith Through Stygonian Lands 4:54
5. The Hall Of Rauthra´s Fate 4:08
6. Acherontic Deathcult 4:24
7. Bone Cathedral 4:24
8. Nightshade Eternal 6:16

Band members
Deimon – vocals, synths, flute
Jegger – vocals, guitars
Neru – guitars, backing vocals, synths
JD – bass, fretless bass solos
HMG – drums

Album Review – Angra Demana / Triptych Of Decay EP (2019)

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From the the boundless darkness of hell, here comes an infernal Black Metal duo armed to the teeth with their sulfurous and violent new EP.

Formed in 2007 in the city of Karaj, Iran, but currently located in Innsbruck, capital of Austria’s western state of Tyrol, Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metal entity Angra Demana is unleashing upon humanity a brand new EP entitled Triptych Of Decay, marking a new beginning for the band such is the difference between this EP and the band’s debut full-length Dissolve Into Nothingness, released in 2012. For instance, the meaning of Angara Damana (which by the way was the band’s past name) is based according to Zoroaster’s book, stating there are four levels of hell, with the first three levels, Malicious, Scurrility and Malfesant, being the upper levels and beneath them is the boundless darkness, which is Angara Damana or “Angra Demana”.

Lead singer Atöm Krieg and guitarist and bassist Radman, together with guest drummers Jocke Wallgren (Amon Amarth) and Fredrik Widigs (Marduk), turned Triptych of Decay into a handful of surprises with their creativity, rage and dexterity, successfully avoiding to enter the mined fields of eccentricity or elitist avantgarde. Featuring a Stygian artwork by Vojtěch Doubek (Moonroot), Triptych Of Decay will lacerate your damned soul without a single drop of mercy, elevating the name of Angra Demana to new heights in the underground Extreme Metal scene, and leaving you eager for more of their intricate and vile Black Metal.

Brutal and raw from the very first second, Rupture is a true headbanging massacre featuring the demolishing Jocke on drums, or in other words, it’s a classic Black Metal composition where Radman fires sulfurous riffs from his guitar, not to mention how Stygian the lyrics vociferated by Atöm are (“Darkness emerged – enlightenment of my sight / It granted me a world , far beyond this life / To the seclusion atmosphere of flawless awareness / In resistance, transgression against this mortal breed / In a world of forgotten deserted mankind / I start a battle between glory and corruption”). And Jocke once again lends his refined technique to the ominous Erode, where the riffs by Radman will cut your skin deep while Atöm continues to bark rabidly, sounding wicked and diabolical from start to finish. Furthermore, its background keys give it an extra touch of obscurity, with the bass lines by Radman dictating the song’s lugubrious rhythm. Then it’s time for Fredrik to kick some ass on drums in Extinction, and the final result is a berserk onrush of Black Metal sounds. Radman sounds infernal on the guitar, as well as Atöm with his deranged roars and grim vocalizations, effectively giving life to the song’s apocalyptic words (“And the sickness will be erased / When the last scream drift away in the eternal cosmos / Peace through extinction of flesh and blood / And finally all is drenched in thy wisdom”). In my humble opninion, Angra Demana couldn’t have ended the album in a more hellish manner.

In a nutshell, the music by Angra Demana is evil, frantic, chaotic, ritualistic and sulfurous, exactly how we expect a good Black Metal band to sound, and Triptych Of Decay is the perfect depiction of their obscurity. With that said, let’s show our support to such distinct underground duo by following them on Facebook, and especially by purchasing their brand new EP directly from their BandCamp page, keeping the flame of devilish and atmospheric Black Metal burning bright for centuries to come, it doesn’t matter if it’s in Iran, in Austria or in any other part of our decaying world.

Best moments of the album: Extinction.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2019 Independent

Track listing
1. Rupture 7:06
2. Erode 5:55
3. Extinction 6:05

Band members
Atöm Krieg – vocals
Radman – guitars, bass

Guest musicians
Jocke Wallgren – drums on “Rupture” and “Erode”
Fredrik Widigs – drums on “Extinction”