Album Review – Corpsegrinder / Corpsegrinder (2022)

Long live the Corpse… GRINDER!

Co-produced by Nick Bellmore (Dee Snider, Toxic Holocaust, Kingdom Of Sorrow) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed), and released through Jamey’s new label Perseverance Media Group, Corpsegrinder is the debut solo project by Florida, United States-based unrelenting vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, commonly known as the ruthless frontman for Death Metal behemoths Cannibal Corpse. Featuring the aforementioned Corpsegrinder on vocals, Charlie Bellmore (Dee Snider, Toxic Holocaust) on the guitars and bass, and Nick Bellmore on drums, as well as a special guest appearance by guitarist Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal), Corpsegrinder offers our avid ears a 10-song effort that is chock-full of Death Metal and Hardcore Thrash, plus Corpsegrinder’s signature guttural vocals. Put differently, if you enjoyed Cannibal Corpse’s 2021 opus Violence Unimagined, you’re in for a treat to the fulminating music found in Corpsegrinder.

Featuring Erik Rutan on the guitars, Acid Vat is a pulverizing Death Metal tune with Groove Metal nuances and gruesome, austere lyrics masterfully barked by Corpsegrinder (“Silence was your promise / Trust was given not earned / No allegiance shown / Not a man of your word / In this game you failed / Where the stakes were your life / Sworn to secrecy until the price was too high”), whereas Charlie begins hammering his guitar and bass in the awesome Bottom Dweller, accompanied by the pounding beats by Nick in another awesome onrush of old school Death Metal that could have easily featured in any of the more recent Cannibal Corpse albums. Nick takes the lead with his stone crusher drums in On Wings of Carnage while Corpsegrinder continues to haunt our damned souls armed with his inhumane guttural growls; and putting the pedal to the metal the trio fires the insane All Souls Get Torn, a Brutal Slammin’ Death Metal feast that will please all diehard fans of Corpsegrinder’s other bands and projects, not to mention how demented the riffs and solos by Charlie sound. Following such high-octane song, the rumbling bass by Charlie will make your head tremble in the devilish tune titled Death Is The Only Key, perfect for breaking your neck headbanging together with Corpsegrinder (but don’t forget to respect the neck, of course).

Their shot at a more modern version of Groove Metal comes in the form of the infernal Crimson Proof, with Corpsegrinder once again barking the song’s grim words (“Bring on the bloodshed / I see from crest to crest / All the dead lay strewn / Countless souls sent to their doom / All I leave is crimson proof”), and you better get ready to be smashed like an insignificant insect by Corpsegrinder and his henchmen in the absolutely acid Devourer Of Souls, exhaling brutality and hatred in the form of Death Metal. Then it’s time for more groove and violence in Defined By Your Demise, with Charlie and Nick being in total sync from start to finish, therefore offering Corpsegrinder a visceral, neck-breaking atmosphere tailored for his trademark growling, followed by Master Of The Longest Night, their second to last blast of animosity and darkness which begins with the razor-edged riffage by Charlie and a deep roar by Corpsegrinder, evolving into a dark, massive Death Metal attack. And last but not least, Corpsegrinder will demolish our senses once again with the short and demonic Vaguely Human, with Nick showing no mercy for his drums while Charlie extracts sheer electricity and fury from his axe.

You can “sit down, relax and enjoy a soothing cup of tea” to the sound of Corpsegrinder’s debut solo effort by streaming it in full on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course if you consider yourself a true servant of extreme music you can purchase the album from his own BandCamp page or from the Martyr Hardcore Metal Online Store in different formats such as the CD + sticker + button bundle, the CD + longsleeve shirt bundle, and the cassette + sticker bundle, as well as from Apple Music. So don’t forget to follow Corpsegrinder on Instagram, to keep headbanging to his wicked music, and above all that, do not dare to try to be a “good” guy and disrespect the motherfuckin’ neck, because if you do so you’ll have to deal with the consequences in the hands of Mr. George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, alright?

Best moments of the album: Bottom Dweller, All Souls Get Torn and Crimson Proof.

Worst moments of the album: On Wings of Carnage.

Released in 2022 Perseverance Media Group

Track listing
1. Acid Vat 3:09
2. Bottom Dweller
3. On Wings of Carnage 3:45
4. All Souls Get Torn
5. Death Is The Only Key
6. Crimson Proof
7. Devourer Of Souls
8. Defined By Your Demise
9. Master Of The Longest Night
10. Vaguely Human

Band members
George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher – vocals
Charlie Bellmore – guitars, bass
Nick Bellmore – drums

Guest musicians
Erik Rutan – guitars on “Acid Vat”

Metal Chick of the Month – Lauren Hart

Scar weaver, sew the flesh on my fears…

It’s time to turn up the heat and beat the bitterly cold winds of winter in the Northern Hemisphere here at The Headbanging Moose with one of the most electrifying women from the current metal scene worldwide. Owner of a beyond powerful, dynamic and versatile voice, she will crush you like an insect not only with her deep roars and stunning clean vocals, but also with her high-octane onstage performance. I’m talking about the multi-talented Lauren Hart, the unstoppable frontwoman for Los Angeles, California-based Groove Metal powerhouse Once Human, setting fire to this month of March and keeping the flames of heavy music burning bright wherever she goes for the total delight of us metalheads.

Born on April 8, 1986 in Anaheim, California, but raised in Australia, Lauren self taught piano as a toddler and guitar by the age of 14, proving she was more than ready for stardom at a very early stage in her life. It was in 2014 when she was discovered by former Senior Vice President of A&R for Roadrunner Records and record producer Monte Conner, who put her in touch with Canadian-American record producer and guitarist Logan Mader for a production deal; after the two met, they decided to start a whole new band and started to work on Once Human. That being said, there’s no Lauren Hart without Once Human and vice-versa, which means we’ll focus on the history of the band for a while before talking about some other specific details about our metal diva.

As aforementioned, Once Human was formed in 2014 in Los Angeles, California by Lauren and Logan, with the band’s current lineup being comprised of guitarist Max Karon, bassist Damien Rainaud and drummer Dillon Trollope. In a few of her interviews, Logan explained how Once Human came together. “It all kind of started as soon as I met Logan. I was sent to him because of my video I made, a guitar playing video which was actually pretty shit. I don’t know how I ended up in the hands of these big people but I sat down in the studio with I think was my $99 guitar and my crappy amp and I just started playing these metal riffs and recorded it and put it up on Youtube and Facebook and next thing I know, I’m getting to go into Logan Mader’s studio because I guess Monty Connor (A&R) saw it and he said, ‘Why don’t you try and build something around this girl, let’s have her in and see what happens’. So I came in and straight away we really hit it off and started writing together and I guess he’s normally used to people coming in and wanting to do radio music and a lot more commercial things and I didn’t want any part of that. In fact I didn’t want to do any career singing, I just wanted to do the metal riffs that I love so much and so I think he was taken aback by that because he spent so much time doing the radio stuff and yet he comes from heavy metal, that’s his soul. So when he was able to write heavy metal again with me, I feel like something awoke in him and we just started writing and never stopped,” said Lauren, who also mentioned the original name for the band was going to be Once We Were Human just because of the way the world is going nowadays, because the fall of humanity and the uprising of social media.

Mixing aggression with vulnerability and downright gut-wrenching growls with ethereal clean vocals, Once Human have already released three studio albums, all of course with Lauren on vocals, those being their 2015 debut The Life I Remember (where she also played piano and additional guitars), their 2017 sophomore opus Evolution, and more recently Scar Weaver, not to mention their 2018 live album Stage of Evolution and their 2022 EP Erasure. Furthermore, Once Human also appeared in the compilations Maximum Metal Vol. 210 (released in 2015 by Metal Hammer) and Le Sampler RockHard 159 (released by RockHard in 2015), both with the song The Life I Remember, and in the compilation Le Sampler RockHard 172 (released by RockHard in 2017) with the song Gravity. If you want to have a very good taste of the power, groove and electricity flowing from the music by Once Human, as well as the mesmerizing visuals of their official videos, you can enjoy on YouTube the songs Eye Of Chaos, Erasure, Cold Arrival, Deadlock, Sledgehammer, Only In Death, Gravity, Dark Matter, a live version for Flock Of Flesh, and tons of non-official videos of their live performances all around the world, as well as stream all of their furious creations on Spotify. On a side note, there’s one song and video, for the title-track Scar Weaver, that means a lot to Lauren. “The Scar Weaver track is about dealing with my anxiety and catastrophic thoughts. I give a bad thought (which is ONLY in my head) a true reality by feeding it energy – thus, giving it life, to grow and completely engulf my mind. I sew the flesh on my fears,” she commented.

Apart from her career with Once Human, Lauren can also be seen doing additional vocals for American Progressive/Melodic Power Metal band Kamelot live since 2018, having also recorded additional vocals for the songs Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire), Mindfall Remedy and The Proud and the Broken, from their 2018 album The Shadow Theory, and participated in their 2020 live album I Am the Empire: Live from the 013 singing the song Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire) live with the band. Another band that had the pleasure of having Lauren doing some vocals together with them was International Blackened Death/Groove Metal act Sinsaenum, with whom she recorded the song Sacred Martyr, from their 2018 album Repulsion for Humanity.

Lauren also mentioned in some of her interviews how she ended up singing with Kamelot. “Well I was on tour with Kobra and the Lotus and Kobra Paige told me that Thomas Youngblood (Kamelot) had his eye on me for a while because, as you know he’s taken other girls on tour, like Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy) and Elize Ryd (Amaranthe) as they always have a guest feature. He always has his eye out for someone he can take for the next record. Kobra came up to me after one show in somewhere like Arizona and says ‘Hey, do you want to go and play a show with Kamelot?, you’re going to be opening up for Iron Maiden and Ghost’… I was like ‘uhm yes’!” Moreover, the experience with Kamelot also had a huge impact on her singing style. “Well, in the very beginning of Once Human, I didn’t want to clean-sing. I was scared. I said, ‘Screaming only.’ And Logan made me sing – I guess he heard something in me and knew I could do it — but on the first two albums, you can hear me singing, but it’s quite reluctant. I think it sounds held back and unsure. But on this album, on Scar Weaver, it’s full force. And that is definitely 100% because of Kamelot. You gotta come out of your shell with that band. You’re filling some big shoes – you’re filling Alissa White-Gluz, you’re filling Elize Ryd, you’re filling the shoes of these big amazing singer. So I couldn’t be shy about my vocals anymore. So doing it every night onstage, singing songs like “Liar Liar’ and ‘Sacrimony,’ you will come out of your shell. You’re thrown in the deep end. I became really familiar with my clean-singing voice, and my own style.”

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Still regarding her vocal technique and style, Lauren said that apart from the growth from the years with Kamelot and her daily singing she tries to stay fit, to be really connected with her voice and to know her limits, learning how to breathe and speak to an audience without a microphone, and learning how to project in a healthy way and becoming aware of diaphragm support. In addition, she also mentioned her work with vocal coach Melissa Cross, and with laryngologist Dr. Michael Johns to make sure everything stays healthy. “The style that I do, false chord screaming, is a lot of air, all the time. You have to be in really good shape to pull it off. So for me, I feel like being really fit and staying in the gym and making sure your cardio is up to par – I think that helps me onstage. I also did a lot of voice work – not singing, but voice, which is like breathing work, in a theater school. That’s what I incorporate into my screaming and my singing, to not do any damage and keep my breath down in my diaphragm,” she said, also mentioning a not-so-fun experience she had in her teens. “So when I was a teenager listening to metal, I had an ex-boyfriend who was in a band and I would always go to his rehearsals and after they were done rehearsing, I would always come in and they’d free jam and I’d scream on the microphone and I remember always tasting blood in my throat afterwards. Back then there was no YouTube, no internet really to look up whether or not that was okay so I thought ‘I’m doing it right because I taste blood’! Obviously, though there was something very wrong there.”

Lauren has several idols in her career and in her personal life, of course, including huge names the likes of Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Joe Duplantier (Gojira) and Layne Staley (Alice In Chains), also mentioning Black Metal in general as one of her influences when writing and composing music. When asked about her favourite European bands, she said “well my favorite metal album when I was a kid was Dimmu Borgir’s Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. I learned to drive to that album and I don’t recommend learning to drive to that album because you’ll get a lot of speeding tickets! But them and Opeth and I love Strapping Young Lad, loved Devin Townsend and Meshuggah. My first ever album that got me into metal was Yngwie Malmsteen’s Trilogy and that was sort of the gateway as I wanted to be a guitar player and that was, ‘Wow listen to this guy!’ I listened to that record over and over again and quickly it went from that to Dimmu Borgir, I don’t know how it happened but that’s how it went.”

Having already toured with renowned acts such as Dragonforce, Cradle Of Filth, Kobra And The Lotus, and Fear Factory, our beloved vocalist said that she still dreams of touring with other bands, of course, including Devin Townsend, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Dimmu Borgir, and Meshuggah, and of playing in Wacken Open Air with her band Once Human, complementing by saying she really enjoys to be on the road and that she would love visiting South America. In one of her interviews, Lauren talked about the beauty of screaming in small venues, where she can make eye to eye contact with the crowd and closely feel the reaction from her fans. Also, when questioned if the female-fronted label in metal should continue or cease to exist, she said that “I can see how that separation can cause that, I see the conflict but I also see a lot of my fans, I’ve gotten to know a lot of my fans on Patreon – a lot of them are huge fans of female-fronted metal, they’ll go to every show, they’ll buy all the merch and it’s a genre they are just in love with, I don’t know, there are good points and bad,” mentioning she would love to work with other prominent women in metal such as Angela Gossow, Alissa White-Gluz, and Noora Louhimo of Battle Beast.

Lauren was also asked in an interview if she has ever considered returning to acting, but she said that because of the competitiveness of it she doesn’t believe it’s something that she would pursue in her career despite having studied method acting for a number of years. “But you know what, method acting is all about not acting at all, but being honest, 100% honest with yourself. So it is very therapeutic, and I do believe it;’s helped me with my stage presence. Being comfortable in my own skin, being honest. Because people can feel that – they can feel when someone’s being fake. The audience can connect when you’re being true. So it’s definitely helped me be okay with being myself.” And if you want to know more curious facts about Lauren, her career, how she manages to sing and scream with so much passion and energy, there are several interviews on YouTube that I’m sure you’ll enjoy such as one called Screaming when SICK?! What happens…, one interview where she talks about how she learned screaming, another one where she talks about how she found her voice and plays a game called ‘How Well Do You Know Your Bandmate’, and a very relaxed one where she reads mean and not-so-mean YouTube comments about herself and her band. As you can see, Lauren Hart is everywhere, and if you consider yourself a true metalhead it’s time to know more about one of the driving forces of the current metal scene in the United States and bang your head nonstop to her undisputed vocals.

Lauren Hart’s Official Facebook page
Lauren Hart’s Official Instagram
Once Human’s Official Facebook page
Once Human’s Official Instagram

“I force myself to go places that I don’t normally want to go. I force myself to look at things that I’d typically want to not see.” – Lauren Hart

Album Review – Greyhawk / Call of the Hawk EP (2022)

Flying higher than the sky and spreading their wings all over the world, these American metallers are back with a thrilling new EP of old school Heavy and Power Metal.

Equal parts traditional Heavy Metal, Power Metal and shred, Seattle, Washington, United States-based outfit Greyhawk blends the best parts of these styles together to create a high energy, dynamic heavy metal music that fans of Dio, Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X, Manowar, Visigoth and Judas Priest will rejoice in. Having released their debut EP Ride Out in 2018 and their first full-length album Keepers of the Flame in 2020 to acclaim from both critics and fans alike, the band comprised of Rev Taylor on vocals, Jesse Berlin and Jacquelynn Ziel on the guitars, Darin Wall on bass, and Nate Butler on drums is back with a new EP, entitled Call of the Hawk, continuing the epic metal stylings of the previous releases while also adding some fresh new elements to their music. Mixed and mastered by Deron Daum, recorded by Deron Daum and Shana Daum at MagicMix Studios, and displaying a kick-ass cover art by GrimuzzA, the EP has everything we love in metal music, from blazing guitar solos and driving rhythms to soaring operatic vocals, harkening back to the golden years of Heavy Metal.

Jesse and Jacquelynn begin slashing their stringed axes in Steelbound, generating a classic, metallic atmosphere accompanied by the rumbling bass by Darin, feeling like a fusion of Queensrÿche and Saxon while Nate dictates the song’s imposing pace with his beats. The title-track Call Of The Hawk  brings to our avid ears an old school, in-your-face sonority inspired by 80’s Heavy Metal, with Rev declaiming the song’s epic words in great fashion while the band’s guitar duo stuns us all with their refined riffs and solos; whereas in Demon Star the band offers us all a galloping pace thanks to the awesome job done by Farin and Nate with their thunderous kitchen, presenting elements found in the music by Iron Maiden, Helloween and Iced Earth. Moreover, Rev’s soaring vocalizations sound very theatrical, always supported by his bandmates’ backing vocals. Then we have Shattered Heart, even more melodic and powerful than its predecessors, or in other words, a lecture in 80’s Heavy and Power Metal by Greyhawk showcasing epic vocal lines, reverberating bass and pounding drums, all spiced up by the razor-edged guitars by Jesse and Jacquelynn. Lastly, it’s time for more of their sharp riffs and rhythmic beats in the form of Take The Throne, a very pleasant mid-tempo tune led by Rev’s vocalizations.

In summary, Call of the Hawk, which is available for a full listen on YouTube and on Spotify, keeps the talented and hardworking Greyhawk flying higher than the sky, spreading the band’s wings all over the world with their classic fusion of Heavy and Power Metal. Hence, in order to show those American metallers your utmost support, don’t forget to follow them on Facebook and on Instagram, and of course to purchase their first-class new EP from their own BandCamp page, from the Fighter Records BandCamp page, or from the Xtreem Music webstore. And after an array of excellent albums, I’m sure it won’t take long for Greyhawk to invite us to fly once again on their metal wings with more of their thrilling creations.

Best moments of the album: Call Of The Hawk and Shattered Heart.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2022 Fighter Records

Track listing
1. Steelbound 4:10
2. Call Of The Hawk 3:56
3. Demon Star 4:07
4. Shattered Heart 3:26
5. Take The Throne 6:40

Band members
Rev Taylor – vocals
Jesse Berlin – guitars
Jacquelynn Ziel – guitars
Darin Wall – bass
Nate Butler – drums

Album Review – Circa Arcana / Bridget Viginti EP (2022)

A short and sweet explosion of American Metalcore, ranging from personal struggles with addiction and personal demons to stories of occult legends and disassociated dreams.

Formed in the summer of 2020 in the city of El Paso, Texas, in the United States, the five-piece Metalcore act Circa Arcana is starting to come into the forefront of the local scene, with each of the band’s five musicians, those being Kevin Cangas on vocals, Johny Serna and Felipe Jasso on the guitars, Ben Reyes on bass, and Frank Loya on drums, already having experience playing in other bands. Produced by the band itself at JTS Studio Productions, mixed and mastered by Chris Hard at Resartus Productions, and displaying a dark artwork by Kavan the Kid, Bridget Viginti is the debut EP by Circa Arcana, with its lyrical themes ranging from personal struggles with addiction and personal demons to stories of occult legends and disassociated dreams.

Melancholic sounds permeate the air in the obscure opening tune Ten of Swords, until Kevin comes ripping with his anguished roars supported by the metallic bass by Ben and the infernal drums by Frank in a solid display of modern-day Metalcore, also presenting a spot-on balance between clean and harsh vocals. Then continuing their path of harmony and rage the quintet fires the headbanging The Tower, with Johny and Felipe delivering captivating, slashing riffs nonstop while Kevin once again has an amazing performance on vocals. It’s time to bang our heads like maniacs with Circa Arcana in The Chariot, with the band’s stringed trio being on absolute fire from start to finish and also showcasing traditional Metalcore growls and hammering beats, whereas Kevin focuses a lot more on his clean vocals in Luna, declaiming the song’s lyrics in a fusion of Metalcore and contemporary Punk Rock while Johny and Felipe keep extracting sheer melody from their sonic axes. Lastly, back to a more visceral mode the band brings forward Esoteric, with Ben and Frank dictating the song’s crushing pace while Kevin roars like a beast, ending the album on a potent and at the same time dark manner.

In a nutshell, although the guys from Circa Arcana might just be taking their first steps as a band with Bridget Viginti, the music found in their debut EP is not just solid and professional but it also paves a very promising path ahead of them, proving once again how strong the Metalcore scene is in the United States. Hence, in order to show your support to those American metallers, you can start following them on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel for more of their music and videos, and of course stream their debut EP on Spotify and purchase it from Apple Music really soon. It’s tarot, it’s black magic, and it’s the occult in the form of heavy and groovy metal music. What else can we ask for, right?

Best moments of the album: The Tower and The Chariot.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2022 Independent

Track listing
1. Ten of Swords 5:42
2. The Tower 4:31
3. The Chariot 3:00
4. Luna 4:28
5. Esoteric 4:40

Band members
Kevin Cangas – vocals
Johny Serna – guitar
Felipe Jasso – guitar
Ben Reyes – bass
Frank Loya – drums

Metal Chick of the Month – Adrienne Cowan

So sin ‘til you win, let your demons out! Lady Lightbringer!

It’s time for a true metal opera this February on The Headbanging Moose, courtesy of our multi-talented metal lady of the month. A metal vocalist, poet, vocal coach and musician best known for being the frontwoman and composer for American Symphonic Metal band Seven Spires, among several other amazing metal bands and projects, Adrienne Elizabeth Catli Cowan, who goes by her stage name of Adrienne Cowan, will mesmerize you with her unique vocals, both extreme and classic Heavy Metal clean vocals. In other words, she can sing pretty much any type of metal and non-metal music, from the Symphonic Metal of Seven Spires to Death Metal, Deathcore and Dark Jazz, and I’m sure you’ll have an absolute blast with Adrienne after knowing more about the life and career of such skillful artist.

Born on January 28, 1995 in Houston, the most populous city in Texas and the fourth most populous city in the United States, Adrienne is formally trained in classical and most contemporary styles as a graduate of both Berklee College of Music (with a degree in Music Composition) in Boston, Massachusetts and the Academy of Contemporary Music in the UK, although she was also self-taught in both extreme clean vocals for many years before finally finding a perfect vocal coach in Swedish singer David Äkesson. Her connection with music started a lot earlier than that, though, as since she was a child she was already taking part in choirs and taking piano lessons, performing in musicals and then entering music school, and from there starting to compose her music and to expand her knowledge and skills, especially as a singer. For instance, Adrienne had her first performance as a vocalist at the age of three at an event at the church her family attended, beginning her piano lessons after that at the age of six and being mainly into choir and darker popular musicals such as Phantom of the Opera throughout elementary and middle school. Not only that, her parents pulled her out of high school so that she could attend a music school full-time, so through that show of support she already had a good feeling about her potential skills.

When she was still living in England, in 2012, Adrienne was making demos by herself for a dark and theatrical project she had yet to debut, and after moving back to the United States in 2013 she met Jack Kosto in a bookstore in her first week at Berklee and told him about her project and songs. From there Seven Spires were born, with all band members having extensive musical knowledge and studies, therefore drawing on their backgrounds to express themselves musically without limits of genre or technique. Seven Spires released their first album in 2014, the EP The Cabaret of Dreams, with all of its songs representing half of their 2017 full-length opus Solveig, where not only Adrienne was responsible for all vocals, keyboards, lyrics and songwriting, but also for the production and vocal engineering, showcasing all her talent and professionalism. After Solveig, the band released the full-length albums Emerald Seas, in 2020, and Gods of Debauchery, in 2021, and if you want to enjoy all of the band’s epic creations you can find Seven Spires on Spotify and on YouTube, where you can also have a visual orgasm with their official videos for the songs Lightbringer, Succumb, The Unforgotten Name, The Cabaret Of Dreams, Drowner Of Worlds, Bury You, The Paradox, This God Is Dead, Silvery Moon, The Cursed Muse, and Dare To Live, as well as some live footage, making of’s, behind the scenes and other awesome videos by Adrienne and her crew.

Apart from her career with Seven Spires, you can also find Adrienne and her powerful vocals in distinct bands and projects such as International Power Metal band Light & Shade, with whom she recorded the vocals for the 2016 album The Essence of Everything; International Power Metal/Hard Rock band Sascha Paeth’s Masters of Ceremony, with whom she recorded the vocals (and piano for one track) in the 2019 album Signs of Wings; and American Symphonic Deathcore band Winds of Plague, with whom she recorded the keyboards and backing vocals in the 2017 album Blood of My Enemy. In addition, Adrienne was also part of American Melodic Heavy Metal band FirstBourne from 2016 to 2018, having recorded the vocals and keyboards in their 2016 album Riot and in the 2017 acoustic single Home, and of Frontiers All Stars in 2020 and Riot Underground between 2012 and 2013.

You can also find her singing and playing live with German Symphonic Power Metal band Avantasia since 2018, with American Heavy Metal band Mike Kerr from 2015 until 2018, and with American Power/Thrash Metal band Sonic Pulse. Not only that, Adrienne was also a guest musician in an array of bands and projects, those being vocals for the song I Declare War from the 2020 album The Journey, by German Melodic Death Metal band Deliver the Galaxy; vocals for several songs from the 2021 album The Metal Opera by Magnus Karlsson, by Swedish Symphonic/Melodic/Power Metal band Heart Healer; vocals for the song My Guide My Hunger from the 2018 album As Above So Below, by Italian Melodic Death Metal band Hell’s Guardian; vocals for the song The End of Innocence from the 2017 album Reflections, by American Neoclassical Heavy Metal artist Jimi Mitchell; vocals for the song Mammoth from the 2017 album Pianometal, by American Symphonic/Progressive Metal artist Kyle Morrison; vocals for the song The Truth of the Lion from the 2015 album The Truth of the Lion, by Mike Kerr; harsh and clean vocals for the songs Conjunction of Souls and The Restitution from the 2020 album Pile of Priests, by American Progressive Death Metal band Pile of Priests; vocals for the song Let It Go from the 2018 album Re-Animated, by Italian Power Metal band Trick or Treat; and vocals and lyrics for the 2018 album Lights in the Murk, by Italian Symphonic Black Metal band Yass-Waddah. Do you want more? Because our she-wolf was also responsible for the songwriting for the song Hold Tight from the 2016 EP Dirty Lyxx, by American Heavy Metal/Hard Rock band Dirty Lyxx, and she also sung vocals in Black Science’s Freedom (Or Die Trying), featured in the outro of one Camp Camp episode, and sang both a duet with Casey Lee Williams in the RWBY Volume 6 credits song Nevermore, and in the song War of Volume 7. Adrienne has also been a part of the Freelance Orchestra in their RTX 2016 (where to her surprise she ended up in the RWBY music panel) and 2018 concerts, plus Anime Boston 2018, and you can always have a great time watching her own videos on her official YouTube channel.

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Adrienne got into the world of metal music around the age of 11 when her uncle showed her Metallica and Scorpions, but it wasn’t until she found out about musicians the likes of Alexi Laiho, Janne Wierman and Yngwie Malmsteen that she really started to feel at home listening to Heavy Metal. She mentioned it appealed in some way to her classical background, and watching live Children of Bodom videos was quite inspiring. However, she’s not only into metal, but showcases a wide variety of influences in her life. “I’m not a one-dimensional person – I’m a human – so I’m allowed to like other stuff”, she said in one of her interviews. “I’m not a huge K-pop fan or anything, but I really like good pop writing. From a technical standpoint, as a songwriter, I’m like: damn, good for you guys. And there’s a certain sassy energy – it just speaks to me in a way that a lot of metal doesn’t.” Another influence on our beloved diva as a writer are painters of the Romantic period, with German painter Caspar David Friedrich and Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky being two of her main inspirations. “I’m also a big fan of (the English composer) Edward Elgar – he does this piece called ‘Sospiri Op. 70,’ which is the most beautiful thing, it sounds like the pain of falling in love. It was something I listened to a lot when we were writing this record. And of course, Chopin,” she said, also finding inspiration under night skies and in the darker depths of the human condition to write her lyrics. Adrienne also nurtures an amazing openness with her fans on social media, which she credits to her experience as a My Chemical Romance fan back when she was younger. “This one interview with them came out, and I remember one of the guys in the band saying basically, ‘We say these things in our music, we are a bunch of fucked up guys, and it helps our fans know… you’re not alone.’ That really made me feel less alone when I was a sad teenager, and then when I grew up into a sad adult, I thought, damn, I could be that for somebody else.”

Regarding her singing style, technique and how she maintains her vocal cords in great shape, Adrienne mentioned in one of her interviews that she likes to meditate before shows and uses her instincts to decide what she’ll sing or scream either high or low. “The low death metal style is more present and more grounded and more angry and earthier in a way. The higher black metal screams are more spiritually pitched or spiritually empty — when there’s black metal themes and nihilistic lyrics, of course I’m probably going to scream with that high tone”, said Adrienne. In addition, when she was enrolled at The Academy of Contemporary Music at the age of 16 she joined an after-school club where all metalhead students gathered to jam on a new song every week, opening her eyes to the rest of the metal world and challenging her to vocally try different styles of each subgenre of metal. She also mentioned that she has studied many techniques of singing including theatrical belting, Speech Level Singing, bel canto and even some throat singing, with the hardest part being unlearning things previous teachers had told her in order to properly approach whatever new technique she was learning, and with the very high Power Metal “scream” being one of the styles that took her the longest to develop. In order to maintain her vocal health, she mentioned that she basically has to just mind her sleep and hydration levels, trying to stay out of the direct blast of heaters or air conditioners, and trying not to get sick or allergic. However, at the end of the day, even dehydrated or sick the show must go on, which forced her to develop alternate techniques to sing through sickness.

A huge fan of Lord of the Rings, all forms of art, Gothic style, cheesy Sci-Fi, vampire shows, coffee and fantasy games, Adrienne enjoys mountain hikes, spending time by any shore, and playing JRPG’s (Japanese Role-Playing Games) and games with friends between her musical ventures. “After a long tour, I like to sit at home and sleep in my own bed, play video games, maybe think about going out… If I get to go on a little holiday or something, I love road trips and anywhere remote with alpine forests and quiet waters. Wyoming is great for this, as are many spots on the West Coast. Anything to get me away from people and out of my regular world,” commented Adrienne, who despite being very fond of animals cannot take care of a dog or cat due to her lack of space and time to do so. And when asked which hobbit from Lord of the Rings she would choose to be part of her band for the rest of their days, she provided a curious and fun answer to that. “Either Sam or Pippin, I think. Because I think I’m a Frodo, and I need a support system like Sam. But also I need a Pippin to just make me laugh all the time no matter what, and just help lighten the mood, and tell me to eat my carrots and mushrooms.”

Last but not least, our raven-haired vocalist also had a few interesting words to say about the whole pandemic and how it has been impacting her life on the road with Seven Spires. “All of this resulted in connecting more with our fans online. So although it’s super frustrating to not know exactly when we’re going to be able to play live again, we have found a way to do the online equivalent of hugging people at the merch table and listening to their stories,” said Adrienne, who also mentioned she keeps working hard to entertain and stay in touch with her fanbase, also teaching online, private vocal lessons and running a weekly workshop on everything from orchestration to arranging to songwriting techniques, all of which you can find on Linktree and on Patreon. “Mostly I teach tools for people to be able to express what they have in mind, and I teach from a really emotional standpoint.” And if you want to know more about Adrienne, her likes and dislikes, her inspirations and so on, there are countless interview online with her such as this one to Rock Titan or this one called RichardMetalFan Interviews! Ep. 33: Adrienne Cowan of Seven Spires/Winds of Plague/Avantasia, where she talks about her journey with music from where she started until now. Having said all that, what are you waiting for to let Adrienne reach deep inside your heart and take you on a breathtaking musical voyage to the sound of her stunning vocals?

Adrienne Cowan’s Official Facebook page
Adrienne Cowan’s Official Instagram
Adrienne Cowan’s Official YouTube channel
Adrienne Cowan’s Official Twitter
Seven Spires’ Official Facebook page
Seven Spires’ Official Instagram
Seven Spires’ Official YouTube channel
Seven Spires’ Official Twitter

“I know that if I’m just stagnant and sitting on my ass, I’m not going to be happy. So if I want to be happy, I have to do something about it.” – Adrienne Cowan

Album Review – Apolinara / Shadows & Signs (2022)

It’s time for this multi-talented singer to fly solo and deliver a powerful message about facing the endless fight with inner demons in her striking debut album.

Creating Symphonic Gothic Metal with a mystical twist, United States-based but Ukraine-born multi-talented, independent singer and songwriter Apolinara is among us to light up the path where music evokes magic to the sound of her debut full-length opus, entitled Shadows & Signs. Drawing inspiration from her travels and delivering a powerful message about facing the endless fight with inner demons, Apolinara took destiny into her own hands creating the project to write music she loves, with Shadows and Signs being a thrilling odyssey venturing into the realms of dark emotions balanced with the light. Produced by Max Morton (Jinjer, Ignea, Bare Infinity, Morton, Nimea) at Morton Studio and featuring an array of special guests, those being Fabian Morales (Paralyzed Sun, Silent Poetry) on harsh vocals, Vyacheslav Khabarov on lead, rhythm and bass guitars, Alexander Kasiarum on drums, Tatyana Krasavina on cello, Julia Polishchuk on the violin, and Brien Engel on the glass harp, Shadows & Signs is a must-listen for admirers of the music by renowned acts such as Nightwish, Epica and Within Temptation, with each track bringing something different to the record while remaining faithful to the project’s symphonic, gothic roots.

The cinematic and enfolding Intro sets the stage for Apolinara and her guests to mesmerize us all in Wonderful, with Alexander dictating the pace with his classy beats accompanied by epic keys and strident guitars while Apolinara declaims the song’s words beautifully, reminding me of some of the trademark compositions by Nightwish and Epica. Then Vyacheslav adds tons of rage and fire to the music with his riffs and rumbling bass in You Can’t Get Away With This, an awesome display of European Symphonic Metal spearheaded by Apolinara’s stunning vocals; and it’s time to dance with Apolinara to the sound of the epic and symphonic Dragon Dance, with the metallic bass by Vyacheslav making a stylish paradox with the violin by Julia and the crisp vocal lines by Apolinara. Another round of embracing sounds and metallic riffs and bass lines comes in the form of Slowly, with Fabian playing “beauty and the beast” with Apolinara thanks to his hellish gnarls, whereas in The Smile of the Demon the name of the song matches flawlessly with its rhythm, heaviness and epicness, or in other words, it’s a lesson in Symphonic Gothic Metal that will please all fans of the genre, all spiced up by a superb performance by our beloved diva on vocals.

The melodic guitar lines by Vyacheslav kick off the mid-tempo, dark tune No More, feeling more modern than the rest of the album while maintaining Apolinara’s core essence, resulting in what’s perhaps the most commercial of all songs; and back to a more symphonic vibe it’s time for Shadows and Signs, presenting a catchy chorus by Apolinara and Fabian (“Once you learn how to fly / Nothing weights you down / Claim the right to decide / What your life is about / Who are we to deny / Universal Design? / Path of the Warrior of Light  / Lies in Shadows and Signs”) amidst the thunderous bass punches by Vyacheslav. Apolinara and her crew slow things down and bring love to the airwaves with the whimsical ballad Tears of Love, with the gentle sound of the piano complementing Apolinara’s vocals in great fashion, whereas featuring guest Brien Engel on the glass harp, the band delivers a gorgeous acoustic rendition of Slowly, with Apolinara bringing to our avid ears her most passionate vocals of the entire album. Lastly, putting a climatic ending to the album we have the delicate ballad We Had It All, with the ethereal cello by Tatyana adding a touch of melancholy to the music while Apolinara tells her “goodbye” to the listener.

If you want to know more about Apolinara, her career, her projects and plans for the future, you can follow her on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to her YouTube channel for more of her music and other videos, stream her stylish compositions on Spotify, and of course purchase your copy of Shadows & Signs from her BandCamp page, or click HERE for all locations where you can get in touch with Apolinara and enjoy all her musical voyages. As Apolinara herself commented about her debut solo album, “Shadows and Signs is my first full length musical baby. No wonder I feel very sentimental but fierce about it. I’m excited to share it with the world as my personal manifest of inspiration and inner fight with personal demons. Let’s Fire Up!” And that’s exactly what you’ll get in Shadows & Signs, an album overflowing with fire, passion and, of course, the first-class Symphonic Metal brought into being by our beyond talented, distinct musician.

Best moments of the album: Dragon Dance, The Smile of the Demon and Shadows and Signs.

Worst moments of the album: No More.

Released in 2022 Independent

Track listing
1. Intro 1:04
2. Wonderful 4:56
3. You Can’t Get Away With This 5:24
4. Dragon Dance 6:52
5. Slowly 5:12
6. The Smile of the Demon 4:37
7. No More 5:00
8. Shadows and Signs 5:11
9. Tears of Love 3:26
10. Slowly (acoustic) 5:10
11. We Had It All 2:16

Band members
Apolinara – lead and backing vocals, arrangements

Guest musicians
Fabian Morales – growls
Vyacheslav Khabarov – lead, rhythm and bass guitars
Alexander Kasiarum – drums
Tatyana Krasavina – cello
Julia Polishchuk – violin
Brien Engel – glass harp on “Slowly (acoustic)”

Album Review – Once Human / Scar Weaver (2022)

One of the most distinctive and destructive metal bands of the modern era strikes again with a breathtaking new opus, showcasing their own mutation into an even more devastating beast.

Formed in 2014 in Los Angeles, California, in the United States by guitarist Logan Mader (Machine Head) and vocalist Lauren Hart, the ruthless Groove Metal act known as Once Human has steadily established themselves as one of the most distinctive and destructive metal bands of the modern era. Now in 2022, Logan and Lauren, together with guitarist Max Karon, bassist Damien Rainaud and drummer Dillon Trollope, are ready to kill once again with Scar Weaver, their third full-length album following up on the highly acclaimed releases The Life I Remember (2015) and Evolution (2017), showcasing the band’s own mutation into an even more devastating beast. “It was not an easy path to reach this point, I’ll tell you that,” says Logan Mader. “The original masterplan for the band was really passion-project driven. The first two albums, we were still finding our way. Where we’re at now is with a really strong posture and by far the best album we’ve done. Over the years we’ve done a lot of groundwork and some smaller tours, just grinding things out, sometimes even in a DIY fashion. But now we have legit team around us, the band is firing on all cylinders and everything seems to be lining up this time.”

Dillon begins smashing his drums mercilessly in Eidolon, with Logan and Max extracting sheer violence from their guitars, all of course spiced up by the venomous roars by our she-demon Lauren. Needless to say, it will be an awesome opener for their live concerts. Then we have the menacing Deadlock, featuring Robb Flynn of Machine Head, who makes a pulverizing duo with Lauren on vocals in a modern-day Melodic Death Metal feast with Metalcore nuances, or in other words, a true headbanger by Once Human; followed by the title-track Scar Weaver, which sounds more devilish and darker than its predecessors with Damien hammering his bass nonstop, adding endless groove to the band’s core sonority (not to mention how sharp the riffage by the band’s guitar duo feels). After that the band brings forward Bottom Feeder, sounding infernal and utterly heavy from the very first second while presenting another great job done by Logan and Max with their riffs and solos. Moreover, the metallic bass jabs by Damien will knock you out in the name of Groove Metal, and you better get ready to slam into the circle pit like a true metalmaniac in Where The Bones Lie, with Lauren stealing the show with her flammable growls and vociferations while Damien and Dillon make the earth tremble with their evil kitchen.

More introspective and somber than the rest of the album, Erasure showcases the band’s trademark sound with its first half feeling a little bland while the second half gets back to their usual sonic devastation. And the massive bass lines by Damien attack our senses once again in Deserted, accompanied by the sick, razor-edged riffs by Logan and Max. The high-octane We Ride is a brutal, hellish and absolutely aggressive display of Groove Metal by the band where Lauren is on fire from start to finish, supported by the demented drums by Dillon, whereas in Cold Arrival we’re treated to poetic lyrics growled by Lauren (“I ran so blind / Into the blades of your life / Gray and disguised / And peeled my eyes / As they unfurled”) amidst another thunderous display of Groove and Melodic Death Metal. Lastly, Lauren keeps vociferating wicked words (“No shoulder that won’t cut like a blade / When they’re cold / Turned their backs / I beg them to take your words / Off my chest, take them / Take your worth from my headache / In death”) in Only In Death, putting a beyond sinister ending to the album.

When Logan mentioned Scar Weaver is their strongest album to date he was not joking nor exaggerating at all. Scar Weaver is indeed a powerful and very detailed album of modernized metal music where all band members are in absolute sync until the very last second, providing us fans a very good reason to raise our fists and bang our heads in the name of Heavy Metal. Hence, don’t forget to give Once Human a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, to stream all of their awesome creations on Spotify, and to obviously purchase your copy of Scar Weaver by clicking HERE or HERE. Blessed (or perhaps cursed) with plenty of additional time during the last year’s lockdown situation, Once Human have been able to refine and redefine their sound in Scar Weaver, turning the band into one of the driving forces of modern-day heavy music and, consequently, inviting us all to rock like there’s no tomorrow with Logan, Lauren & Co. for many years to come.

Best moments of the album: Deadlock, Where The Bones Lie and We Ride.

Worst moments of the album: Erasure.

Released in 2022 earMUSIC

Track listing
1. Eidolon 4:06
2. Deadlock 3:39
3. Scar Weaver 4:36
4. Bottom Feeder 5:21
5. Where The Bones Lie 3:50
6. Erasure 5:01
7. Deserted 4:13
8. We Ride 2:50
9. Cold Arrival 4:20
10. Only In Death 5:14

Band members
Lauren Hart – vocals
Logan Mader – guitars
Max Karon – guitars
Damien Rainaud – bass
Dillon Trollope – drums

Guest musician
Robb Flynn – additional vocals on “Deadlock”

Album Review – Pyrrhic Salvation / Manifestum I EP (2022)

This Internet-based, raw Technical Death and Black Metal-influenced trio is ready to disturb your peace with the pulverizing 30 minutes of music found in their debut EP.

Hailing from Burlington, a city in northwestern Vermont, in the United States, Internet-based, raw Technical Death/Black Metal-influenced trio Pyrrhic Salvation is ready to kill with their debut EP entitled Manifestum I, clocking in at just under 30 minutes in length across four highly ambitious and eclectic songs along with one shorter instrumental piece. Mixed and mastered by the band’s own drummer and bassist Sagar Nadgir, and featuring a fiery, crimson artwork by The Lung Swarm, Manifestum I will appeal to fans of bands the group cites as sources of inspiration such as Hate Eternal, Vital Remains and Immolation, among others, showcasing all the talent and fury of Chrisom Infernium (of Veilburner) on vocals, Michael Altobello on the guitars, and Sagar Nadgir (of Carcinomic) on drums and fretless bass.

Void Mass Revulsion is brutal and demented form the very first second, with Chrisom leading his crew with his infuriated roars while Michael slashes his stringed axe in great fashion, all of course boosted by the demented beats and sick bass lines by Sagar. Then the instrumental interlude A Martyr… will penetrate deep inside your psyche, darkening your thoughts before the trio comes crushing once again in …to Never Awaken, where Michael keeps extracting wrath and fury from his riffage while Sagar hammers his drums mercilessly in a vile display of Dissonant Death Metal. Needless to say, the gruesome guttural by Chrisom will haunt your damned soul for all eternity. In the infernal Revelations of Agonies to Come we face five and a half minutes of insanity and heaviness blasted by those unrelenting metallers, displaying another superb job done by Sagar on bass and drums and, therefore, resulting in a puissant fusion of Technical Death Metal with the rawness of old school Death Metal. Lastly, the trio offers us all seven minutes of darkness in the form of Those That Dwell, with Sagar once again showcasing all his dexterity and rage behind his drums while the music flows infernally until the very last second.

“We wanted to bring the idea that technical death metal with a variety of influences can be done with a very raw, unfiltered voice to it, and the result was kind of unexpected with all of this. It was kind of what we all wanted to hear, being that a lot of studio process in death metal – while it sounds great and is purposed – is also very perfected. We aimed to take that away from what we were doing, so if you hear us mess up somehow, it’s because we are still just people trying to play this. We do our best and no less,” commented the trio about their debut effort, and let’s all agree they more than succeeded in bringing to us their version of Dissonant Death Metal. Hence, don’t forget to give them a shout on Facebook to tell them how much you enjoyed the music found in Manifestum I, and of course if their version of Death Metal is your cup of tea you can support the band by purchasing their EP from their own BandCamp page. And now let’s wait to see what type of dementia in the form of Death Metal those three metallers will provide us with in their future releases.

Best moments of the album: Void Mass Revulsion and Revelations of Agonies to Come.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2022 Independent

Track listing
1. Void Mass Revulsion 5:52
2. A Martyr… 1:17
3. …to Never Awaken 7:55
4. Revelations of Agonies to Come 5:30
5. Those That Dwell 7:08

Band members
Chrisom Infernium – vocals
Michael Altobello – guitars
Sagar Nadgir – drums, fretless bass

Album Review – Nocturnal Wanderer / Gift of the Night (2021)

This unknown entity will crush your soul with its newborn beast, offering endless midnight mysticism and reverence for all that goes by night.

Formed in the Spring of 2021 in the Pacific Northwest region as a one-man anonymous project, Portland, Oregon-based Black Metal entity Nocturnal Wanderer has just released its debut full-length opus, entitled Gift of the Night. Recorded and produced at Sacred Atavism, and featuring illustrations by Thaumaturge Artworks and lettering by NW, the album showcases a traditional Black Metal sound and minimalist compositions, yet allowing the occasional Heavy Metal style solo to seep in. Ferocious while at the same time strangely serene and triumphant, Gift of the Night is a singular beast offering us all endless midnight mysticism and reverence for all that goes by night, being therefore highly recommended for admirers of the music by Havukruunu, Malokarpatan, Panphage and Arckanum, among others.

The opening track Twilight Befell is an infernal, raw Black Metal feast with darkly poetic lyrics (“Eventide arrive / Sunlight’s glow fading / Darkness creatures stirring / Bats flitter across the black sky / Aria of dusk / Air chill and sharp / Breathe the night into lungs”) to properly kick off the album, whereas our anonymous lone wolf continues to hammer his drums and extract sulfur from his stringed axe in Darkness in Rapture, another demented old school Black Metal tune presenting all elements we love in the genre. Then adding the most Stygian elements from Doom Metal to his core sonority it’s time for the sinister Sentient Shadows, where once again this one-man horde presents a visceral job on the guitars and drums until the very last second; and drinking from the blasphemous fountain of classic bands the likes of Mayhem, Immortal and Dark Funeral he brings forward By Moonlight, showcasing another round of sick riffs, incendiary blast beats and venomous roars. His second to last breath of darkness comes in the form of Distant Stars in Distant Skies, sounding absolutely haunting and vile, all spiced up of course by his grim, otherworldly gnarls, and there’s time for one final blast of obscurity by Nocturnal Wanderer entitled The Amberdawn, which takes too long to take off and lacks those traditional Black Metal words and growls, but nothing that would cause any harm to the album.

If you consider yourself a true servant of darkness, you can enjoy Gift of the Night in its entirety on YouTube, and of course purchase a copy of such raw and intense album from the project’s own BandCamp page, from the Nameless Grave Records’ webstore or from the Balor’s Eye Productions’ BandCamp page, diving even deeper into the void that consumes our souls. Although the entity behind  Nocturnal Wanderer doesn’t want to disclose his identity (at least not for now), that won’t stop fans of the darkest side of music, including myself, to thank him for bringing into being Gift of the Night, a precious gem of the underground that will help in keeping the flames of Black Metal burning for centuries to come, leaving us even more curious to know the real name of a creature so loyal to the dark.

Best moments of the album: Darkness in Rapture and By Moonlight.

Worst moments of the album: The Amberdawn.

Released in 2021 Nameless Grave Records/Balor’s Eye Productions/Altare Productions

Track listing
1. Twilight Befell 4:45
2. Darkness in Rapture 3:57
3. Sentient Shadows 5:39
4. By Moonlight 5:27
5. Distant Stars in Distant Skies 5:25
6. The Amberdawn 6:10

Band members
Anonymous – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Vulnificus / Innomination EP (2021)

Behold the debut effort by an unrelenting American duo attempting to push Death Metal back to its extreme limits.

Formed in the fall of 2021 in the United States by vocalist Eston Browne (Abolishing the Ignominious) and multi-instrumentalist Wilson Sherels (Urotherapy, Epidermolysis), the dynamic Brutal Death Metal duo known as Vulnificus is attempting to push Death Metal back to its extreme limits with their debut demo/EP, entitled Innomination, highly recommended for fans of bands the likes of Cenotaph, Defeated Sanity, Brodequin and Orchidectomy. Recorded, mixed and mastered at Demolition Studios by Wilson with additional recording and mixing of vocals by Eston at BWNTWN STN, and displaying a sick cover art by Pileworm Guttural Art and logo by Force Fed Graphics, Innomination will smash us like an insect with its 12 minutes of sheer brutality, leaving us all absolutely disoriented and eager for their first full-length opus in the near future.

Wilson begins his demented sonic attack in Scraped and Scattered, providing Eston with all he needs to torment our souls with his gruesome vociferations. In other words, it’s the epitome of underground brutality, and I’m sure Wilson’s blast beats will inspire you to slam into the pit like a maniac in the name of Death Metal. The duo shows no mercy for our necks in Induced Rampage, as Wilson continues to hammer his guitar, bass and drums nonstop while Eston roars and growls like a creature from the abyss, resulting in an insane Death Metal extravaganza spiced up by the song’s closing eerie noises crafted by Eston. And their last Deathslam feast comes in the form of the title-track Innomination, another bestial creation by those infernal metallers showcasing their trademark growls and demolishing beats, not to mention how caustic the riffs by Wilson feel, ending the band’s welcome card on a high and putrid note.

After the 12 minutes of savagery blasted by Vulnificus are over, you’ll certainly go back to the start and listen to their undisputed Brutal Death Metal again and again, proving how sick, vile and honest their music is. Hence, let’s show our support to this up-and-coming American bludgeoning duo by following them on Facebook and on Instagram for all things Vulnificus, and by grabbing a copy of their demo from their own BandCamp page or by streaming it as many times as you want on Spotify. As already mentioned, Eston and Wilson are already working on their debut full-length album for sometime in 2022, and until then we can keep practicing our slamming skills to the sound of Innomination because when their full-bodied beast comes to life, it will be hell on earth in the name of Brutal Death Metal.

Best moments of the album: Induced Rampage.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2021 Independent

Track listing
1. Scraped and Scattered 4:37
2.Induced Rampage 4:19
3. Innomination 2:54

Band members
Eston Browne – vocals
Wilson Sherels – all instruments