Archive for the ‘Frontpage Feature’ Category

I first heard about Epicardiectomy sometime in 2012 and after hearing some internet snippets I rushed to find their debut cd online, Abhorrent Stench of Posthumous Gastrorectal Desecration, on Coyote Records. Suffice to say this Czech Republic band became an instant favorite of mine. Playing a ridiculous heavy slam death brand of death metal that is pure knuckle dragging brutality. With song titles aptly named, “Fornicating in Pulverized Feces” or how about the top forty hit, “Feasting on Putrid Hysterectomy Remnants”? Tongue twisters to pronounce, yet complete brutal head smashing viciousness.

It seems like every year is the better than the last and 2013 was no exception. From anticipated reunions like Gorguts and Carcass to the rise of so-called hipster metal in mainstream circles thanks to bands like Deafheaven, to grizzled veterans like Suffocation, every aspect and sub-genre of metal was firing on all cylinders. As usual, the TOTD staff had to be beaten into getting their lists submitted in time, and luckily, the many new staff members understood the imminent threat of physical violence.

This year we have even included a few ‘celebrity’ lists from some of the people responsible for making and releasing 2013’s great material, so be sure to check out the last page to see what folks like Kevin Quiron of Deicide voted as his favorite albums of 2013. As usual, thank you to all of YOU, the readers of this intimate little site, and stay tuned for more great metal in 2014.

Without further ado, we give you the 2013 Teethofthedivine.com staff picks:

The announcement of the Ghoul Tour was a very exciting moment for the american fans of Dir en Grey. With the Japan-based band’s last US Tour canceled due to the hospitalization of their vocalist Kyo, it had been been a decent number of years since the last US show. Famous for their on-stage self-mutilation, shocking performances, and otherkin-identifying fanbase. Dir en Grey would also be supported by Dagoba, a metal band from France, who had released their fifth full-length album, Post Mortem Nihil Est earlier in the month. It was clear that this event simply could not be missed. On the day of, I set off to attend the show with high expectations.

I first saw Pyrexia live, at a small Long Island, NY club in 1992, called Sparks. Their demo, Liturgy of Impurity had just been released and they opened for Suffocation that night, Human Remains were also on the bill-it was insane, so was Immolation. Damn talk about a line-up! I was blown away by Pyrexia and picked up the demo and shirt. To this day this is one of my all time favorite demos and live the place went nuts and I was in the pit doing wind mills like a bastard! The band had a knack for creating brutal NYDM that was so catchy that the songs attached to your brain instantly upon hearing them for the first time. Back then, man I would sing the title track all the time, Virgin Mary violated, conceived you, a son of Satan, crucified for your denial, where is he who art in heaven? Then BOOM-it goes into that crucial slam part that you just wanted to punch holes in walls-live this part was one of the most vicious live experiences you would encounter.

New York’s So Hideous is the kind of black metal band that purists love to hate. No spikes, no corpse pain, no Satanic lyrics or imagery. Just four dudes in flannel shirts and jeans. Throw in some gorgeous orchestration and you get the perfect storm of supposed pretentiousness that linked to the likes of Liturgy and Deafheaven. But, for those willing to look past all of that bullshit and actually listen to So Hideous and their recently self released full length debut, the result will be fulfilling.

My introduction into France’s Aosoth is quite recent. Graham Landers, from Deepsend Records some time ago stated their new album was his favorite of 2013, at that time. Now I have gone on record that I’m more of an older school black metal fan, like Bathory and I still love Dark Throne, to this day. I love blackened death metal and Aosoth combine black metal with death metal influence and I agree with Graham’s assessment that IV: An Arrow in Heart is one of this years highlights. I reviewed it a while back and scored it 9.5/10 and feel this is the band’s magnum opus. Their past material, the 2008 self titled album (which I recently was able to get) and the 2009 Ashes of Angels are pure black metal, but played so viciously and amazing, that I feel they conjure up some of the great legendary black metal albums of the early 90’s.

Necrotic Disgorgement is a Midwest brutal death metal band, hailing from Ohio that have been around for a decade. They have 2 brutal albums under their belts, their 2004 debut, Suffocated in Shrinkwrap is a ridiculous brutal affair that was made even better when it was remixed and remastered several years after its initial release. They have a new album out on Comatose Music, Documentaries of Dementia. If you call yourself a brutal death metal fan and have yet to pick up this monster of an album than I can only say this…

Greece’s Murder Made God unleashed a pretty ferocious debut album several months ago, entitled Irreverence. I reviewed it on here and stated I really liked it, however I was hoping for a little more variety in some spots. Overall Murder Made God has made a splash in the death metal community with their cool band name and vicious brutal onslaught in how they approach death metal. The album is filled with vicious blast beats that will shatter windows and a pretty killer guitar sound. Vocals are brutal and will smash you in the face with no intent on letting up. When the band does break into a groove and mixes things up a bit, like on the song “Methods of Humanity”, you will swirl around the pit destroying everything in your path- this is such an amazing song and the band already has plans for a sophomore album. So in the meantime fire up some gyros, look to the Gods above, order Irreverence and read this interview with Murder Made God’s bassist, Stelios.

My introduction to Skeletonwitch goes back to 2007 when I first heard their second album, Beyond the Permafrost. I had wanted to get their debut, from 2004, At One with the Shadows, but it’s out of print and one day it will be reissued for the masses. However I was really digging the band and their blackened death/thrash attack. One of the main ingredients of a good band is songwriting and the band excels in that category. I could not believe the guitar melodies on the album, that not only were the songs brutal, but they were memorable and played with emotion. A lot of feeling goes into how the band constructs a song and how they incorporate the riffs. I love the albums after BTP, Breathing the Fire and Forever Abomination and own quite an array of Skeletonwitch shirts.

Like a small child I’ve watched Scotland’s Man Must Die grow from their 2003 demo Season of Evil, through 2 albums on Relapse, the first Scottish band to be signed to the label. A decade later the band is releasing their 4th album, Peace Was Never An Option on Lifeforce Records — and boy is it a scorcher! A revamped lineup and a 4 year break seems to have really invigorated the band as it is easily their strongest effort since 2004’s Start Killing -debut. In these 10 years, I’ve visited with vocalist Joe McGlynn a few times, as well as other lone remaining original member, guitarist Alan McFarland, and deciphered their thick accents enough to have some great conversations. So with the band reappearing on the metal map, I reached out once more and spoke with Joe McGlynn to do some catching up…

Embalmer is a brutal death metal band from Cleveland, Ohio that have been around since 1989. They have gone through band members coming and going, going on hiatus, but most of they are a major influence on the brutal U.S. death metal scene, as well as many overseas bands associated in this particular genre. When I joined Internal Bleeding, in 1994, their Rotting Remains demo became one of my favorite demos of all time. Beyond brutal, fantastically brutal vocals and just well played extreme underground death metal. Back in the 90’s we played with Embalmer many times live, and they were one of the heaviest and best brutal bands that I was fortunate enough to be on the same bill with them.

The year is 1991 and the debut album from Netherlands act, Asphyx is released, The Rack. One of the greatest death metal albums of all time that merged doom metal seamlessly into their sound. Only 1 year later, saw the release of Last One on Earth, even heavier than their debut and just as crushing. The band released other scorching albums/eps; Crush the Cenotaph, Asphyx, God Cries, On The Wings of Inferno and their unofficial 1990 debut Embrace the Death. Now while all these other releases had some other members here and there on the releases they were still excellent. Throughout the years this wonderful band has influenced not only numerous bands, but now generations, since the band has been around for over 2 decades.

Coldsteel is a Long Island, NY melodic thrash band that were formed in the 1980’s and they released a bunch of demos before their full length album, Freakboy, came out in 1992, on the now defunct Turbo Music. I used to see Coldsteel in NY and they always put on an energetic set and connected to their fanbase due to their down to earth and fun personalities. Vocalist, Troy Norr, actually became a family friend and came to my parents house a bunch of times and the band were nice enough to include my brother and myself in their album thanks list. Anyway the band could thrash with the best of them, like Overkill and had enough Anthrax style in your face gang choruses to stomp people in the pit too. The other side of the band were their incredible melodic edge with beautiful solos, bass lines and some excellent vocal variations, by Troy.

One of the best-kept secrets in extreme metal certainly has to be Austin, Texas’ Morgengrau, a quartet that plays a near-flawless brand of vintage death metal. Their debut album, Extrinsic Pathway was released in April via Blind God Records and to say it’s a hidden gem of crushing death would be an understatement.

DODECAHEDRON is yet another home run of a recommendation from my boy Graham Landers at Deepsend Records. What drew me to the band was the bleak cover design, reminding me of a lot of the Finnish death metal bands that I love, with their designs. DODECAHEDRON are from the Netherlands playing a hybrid form of black metal, with some death metal influences, however this band creates some menacing atmosphere that reminded me a bit of Ulcerate and Mitochondrion, and I was hooked once I heard their debut self titled album, which was released last year.

“I wasn’t even supposed to be here today!” insisted Dante in Kevin Smith’s Clerks and being in the middle of a cold, breezy 10th Wanaja Festival on Friday, July 19th — held in the historic city of Hameenlinna, Finland — I thought the exact same thing. And, the weather wasn’t the only thing on my mind since the lineup made me question my own priorities as well. The metal bands could be counted with three fingers and all of those three would make an appearance on the second day. Yet, following my life patterns like the rats in that Paul Simon song, I still had asked if I could come. I didn’t hear back until just right before the festival’s D-Day when they said “Come on in”, so after shuffling my obligations around and trying to make it all work, here I was.

Celebrate the return of fall with some metal and merch from Victory Records! Symphonic death metallers ERIMHA recently released their album Reign Through Immortality, and for those that like Dimmu Borgir and other bombastic, symphonic black/death metal, Erimha is a must listen and Victory Records wants 3 lucky TeethoftheDivine readers to get in on the action with a huge Erimha prize package and an added bonus prize!!!!

I have to admit to being fairly late to the Gorguts party. My first actual Gorguts purchase was 1998s Obscura, and like most, back then it simply was too forward thinking and mind blowing for my tiny brain. However, as I got involved in this journalism stuff, was exposed to more realms of musical creativity, I came to appreciate Obscura for the genius it was and even went back and picked up the rest of Gorguts’ early catalog, which I had merely dismissed as Death clones when they first came out as well as the band’s then swansong From Wisdom to Hate.

It should come as no surprise that Deserted Fear hail from Germany, where killer metal is coming out, literally on a daily basis. Also on the killer FDA Rekotz German label, the band’s My Empire debut last September should be picked up by fans of not only the Swedish/Asphyx sound, but also the 90’s Floridian dm sound. One of the things that was eye catching when I first saw the album cover is the killer artwork, surrounding a cemetery-it’s good to see bands still putting time into creating killer artwork and this reeks of old school through and through. Mr. Dan Swano helping to create a massive sledgehammer sound and really Deserted Fear are amazing.

Helsinki, Finland was a busy place on the last weekend of June 2013. Not only were there three, four or five festivals going in and around the city, but the streets were full of gay pride as well. For whatever reason, Tuska Open Air Metal Festival’s visitor count has been on the decline since the relocation from the Kaisaniemi park to the industrial zone — not that the other events around the town helped, quite possibly snatching a few casual listeners with acts like Green Day and Rammstein. However, Teeth of the Divine never abandons those in need, and thus we summoned ourselves to the 16th Tuska Festival where acts like King Diamond, Bolt Thrower and Testament graced the main stage.

Last year Sevared records put out one of their best albums ever, in my opinion, from Unfathomable Ruination- Misshapen Congenital Entropy was a highlight for releases last year. Massively heavy, brutal blast beats with guttural vocals, but also some technical aspects to the well played songs. I thoroughly enjoyed the enormous bass bomb drops that appeared in various parts of the album, which created a more brutal environment for the songs to even sound more lethal. Around for a mere 3 years the band has seen their popularity grow as they perform with national acts and devastate crowds and they are one of the best bands coming out of the UK, at the moment. Just look at the fuckin crazy looking album cover. That ginormous monstrous plant thingy looks to wreck havoc upon your mere mortal soul if you fail to purchase their debut cd. Their guitarist, Daniel Herrera, was super cool in getting the answers back to me quickly and here is what he had to say regarding the inner workings of this great young band.

The fine folks at webzine/label Transcending Obscurity are offering 2 of their releases to 2 lucky readers of Teethofthedivine. That’s right two lucky readers will each receive a copy of Drug Honkey’s disturbing 2012 release ‘Ghost in the Fire’ and the 2010 debut, ‘Impending Hostility’ from Polish war mongering death metalers Preludium.

The far reaching influence of Immolation has reached new heights over 20 years after the band released their debut, Dawn of Possession in 1991. In recent years the resurgence of old school death metal has peaked with a plethora of bands culling both from Immolation as well as the well documented Stockholm sound. One such band reaching into the past, culling from Immolation as well as Gorguts and other early but forward thinking death metal stalwarts is international act, Zealotry.

To get a pulse on what’s been happening in Oakland’s underground metal culture, we spent a day in the lives of 6-year bay area veteran ZH, who has straddled the line of punk, thrash, and metal, to eventually define their own sound with the release of their most recent album: Entitled to Enlightenment.

After a year long hiatus, Tampere’s Sauna Open Air festival returned again in 2013 for a weekend that consisted of mainly Northern European acts like Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Opeth, Volbeat and Sabaton — with the only US visitor going by the name of Hatebreed. The festival also saw other changes. Instead of being ushered into a park setting, the party was held in a sports stadium and rather than doing three full days, there were only two. And we were there.