Salut!

Connecticut’s Bedroom Rehab Corporation enter the fray as another two-piece drum and bass combo, combining the rambunctious flavor of Big Business’ Here Come the Waterworks with rockier stoner infused doom. Their debut full length, the nautically themed Red Over Red, is an excellent first outing, rich with hearty riffs and deep sinking hooks. The sea faring theme of the album dominates the lyrics while moments of gull-baiting noise and a bloopy aquatic bass tone add a bit of atmosphere to an otherwise straightforward affair. It’s a fine debut and one of the most infectious I’ve heard in some time.

Proper tone is absolutely crucial when you only have one instrument filling a role normally reserved for two or more musicians. Bassist/vocalist Adam Wujtewicz fills the void with an impeccable bass tone, stout and burly, excellently rendered by crisp production. Wujtewicz lays thick driving riffs and modulates his voice between a clean vocal style, something closer to a shout, and a hoarse scream. The arrangements are relatively simple and highlight the contrasting moments of heady grooves and sedate punctuation. Wujtewicz occasionally reaches in to a grab bag of pedal effects to fold in additional layers of noise, but for the most part is content to keep things simple and riff oriented. The other half of the equation is drummer Megan Killimade, who ably grounds the riffs and provides Red Over Red’s dynamic backbone. She locks her bass and snare to Wujtewicz’s rumbling swerve and uses quick tumbles across the snare and toms for transitions.

Though initial impressions ring the Big Business bell, Bedroom Rehab Corporation hew fairly close to the modern stoner rock milieu. There’s straightforward up-tempo stoner rock moments (“Basilosaurus” and “Captain Damnit”) and a few moodier pieces built on grooves (“Gone by the Boards”). The stock ingredients may be familiar but the two piece approach, the bass-forward production, and the obvious chemistry between Killimade and Wujtewicz put Red Over Red above much of the unwashed stoner rock masses. There’s a good deal of variety in their approach and they have some nice incorporations of noise here and there.

Bedroom Rehab Corporation have put together a solid piece of doom influenced stoner rock, one that I’ve enjoyed thoroughly. There’s not a whole lot that’s new here, but the two piece drum and bass approach and the overall racket they produce is different enough to be intriguing. There’s a lot of potential in Red Over Red, and perhaps with more expansive and integrated use of noise and effects they could be on to something genuinely unique.

Featuring a killer mid range buzz that hearkens to the classic tones of Entombed and Dismember, but with a menacing, crusty edge, Deathrite wrap that guitar tone up in a ball of razor wire tumbling down a hill sound that’s part chaos, part groove and all sneer. It’s a short, powerful release with ample moments of ferocious feedback driven noise and equal part meaty grooves .

The 31 minutes blazes by with furious intensity, but is never sheer chaos. The more impressive moments are the slower lumbering moments which allow the guitar tone to rattle your teeth such as the huge 5 minute instrumental title track which where the reverb of the mid range’s bottom end might actually rattle your teeth about 3 and a half minutes in. Other moments of impressive heft surface  in the likes of otherwise furious  “Breathing Doom”, ‘Kingdom”,”Failure of Existence” and closer “The Golden Age” which would have been right at home on Wolverine Blues.

For those with shorter attention spans, the likes of opener “Forsaken Tombs”, “Vicious Throne”,”Deathbed” and “Infernal Void” will satiate your need for a more scathing, skin peeling assault. But both facets of the band are well done but the star of the show here is the guitar tone, whether  it’s crusty blasts or girthy grooves, Deathrite look to be a nice European addition to the genre.

For a Halo of Flies release, the packaging is simple but fitting the release, I got a black vinyl single sleeve version- no double gatefold or gold monogrammed lyrics sheet (a la Hexis or Light Bearer) . This release lets the brutish music do the talking, and in this instance I’m fine with that.

Older Gods opens on a strange note, with an odd frog snore croaking away like an amphibious Rip van Winkle snoozing the years away nestled snugly in a dank cave.  The fragmented sample collage recalls the long gone Pica and Steve O’Donnell’s LSD-infused toy mash ups. “Offering” then changes tone from the oddly whimsical to a darker mood, with twinkling guitar and swarms of background feedback. “The Future Past” is a juddering mess of hammering rhythmic noise, shuddering epileptically with the odd cadence of particularly nasty breakcore.  “First Earth” and closer “Above Reason” settle in, evoking the chill of classic Cold Meat Industry death industrial, Gruntsplatter, and Lull.

“All Ends Revealed” stands out though as the most original and fresh sounding track here. Featuring guest appearances by Tuka Shahidi and Max Deneau of eyeswithoutaface, Szarejko takes a blistering live drum performance by Tuka and packs in layers of scalding noise and feedback. Max’s contribution, some surreal Burroughs-esque spoken word, preludes clatter drum taps and a brief blast beat before electronics and a shifting synthetic orchestral backing appear to build to a harsh noise and drum freak out. Calling to mind a more restrained Death Unit, the sprawling five minute long harsh noise jam concludes with howling vocals and crumples in an exhausted heap for a slow droning fade.

Ambient, drone, and noise are marginal genres even among the extreme music underground. They’re all love or hate propositions, split between the people who see them as boring, lacking any talent or skill in their creation, and the highly debatable proposition that they aren’t “real” music, and the people who identify with the genres’ atmosphere and subversive nature. There is very little in the way of middle ground and as someone who counts himself a fan of harsh and decidedly unconventional (or as some would say, unlistenable) forms of music, I have to say that Older Gods stands is one of the better recent examples of experimental music. It’s well paced and arranged, and captures the anything-goes mentality that informs the best work in the field.

The entire 2 disc set is remastered and sounds brilliant.  The original album coming to light a lot more with the heavy guitars coming through nicely and double bass sounding menacing and organic.  No triggers here!  The band was not the tightest band on earth but they played a style similar to Gorefest, Autopsy and Grave.  Sludgy, heavy and real catchy stuff.  “Gals of the Eternal Solstice” comes through exceptional with the killer bass guitar part at the 5 minute mark.  “Z-Day’s” double bass drums really sound a lot more powerful with the remaster and the stop/start moments on the track to this day destroys city blocks far and wide.

Pretty much the rest of the tracks spread out across the discs are from their demos and are all earlier versions of what would appear on the full length.  Still heavy, a little uneven, however they sound wonderful.  I want to make special note of their 1997 Fragments demo that is included on here.  This 4 song demo was a departure from their earlier form of death metal and the band has more of a melo-death sound, alongside some Paradise Lost moments.  Good stuff with a crisp/punchy production, however I do prefer their earlier material more.  The reissue, while sporting an exceptional remaster, has a brilliant booklet to boot! (is that enough b’s in there for you?).  Biography, photos, band flyers and lyrics.  Really an outstanding reissue and you need to pick this up now.  Dissect reformed in 2012 so I’m curious as to the style they will continue with, the early 90’s or what was on the Fragments demo…hmm…time to hit them up for an interview, I think.

And first up is a critically acclaimed  game changer from a (then) young label, and an album that found its way onto many 2003 year end lists, The End of Nothing from Ohio’s short lived Rune.

The End of Nothing was the 19th release from Willowtip Records, a label that would soon be and still is considered one of metal’s finest extreme labels. And even though they had previously released some fine death metal and grind from the likes of Harakiri, Sadis Euphoria, Upheaval and Commit Suicide and even some more left field releases from Cephalic Carnage (the Halls of Amenti EP) and Year of Our Lord, it was Rune‘s debut, but alas sole album, that really put the label on the map as extreme music’s top indie label.

I actually remember getting the album for review in the digitalmetal.com days (alas the review was lost in the great database crash of 2008) , and at the time, really not truly appreciating what it was. The term ‘ahead of it’s time’ gets thrown around a lot, but having only been reviewing for a mere 2 years, The End of Nothing literally took me by surprise. I recall, label owner Jason Tipton angrily emailing me several times, asking where the review was and why it was taking so long, and while I remember stalling, the truth was, I really didn’t know how to approach reviewing such a forward thinking album.

Jason Tipton further elaborates “I know this sounds dumb but in those early days I never worried about what the response would be to an album. I have always been super picky and only putting out stuff I really liked. Plus, the split with Kalibas was out and we were working with Kalibas already so it was a natural fit. That being said, when you give a band money to go into the studio and record you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes you may be a bit disappointed and sometimes you may be blown away. To this day many of our albums take many listens to fully sink in, and these albums always tend to be the best – and this was no doubt true with the Rune album”.

And even the band were unsure of how it would be received “At the time it seemed like nobody liked it! Our music wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, so response was mixed. There were some heavy themes, and an overall aura to that record that took time to settle in for some.” states then drummer Dave Mann, now in Mouth of the Architect.

So a few months after its release, I did get around to writing a review and I was blown away. From the opening strains of “An Affinity” you knew you simply were not getting another slab of brutish, tech brutality akin to much of the label’s prior output. While still loosely based on technical death metal and grindcore, even on the band’s split with Kalibas the same year, the band (Dave Mann, Jimmy Magnuson, Rick Schutte, Kevin Gamble. Jeremy Jordan, Doug McGinnis) had suddenly evolved into something much more.

Combining black metal, doom, experimental segues, somber ambiance, twisted tech death riffage, and a melancholic but intelligent, dark mood, The End of Nothing simply defied then easy to define categorization. While often tumbling with caustic, atonal grids, riffs and busy tech death metal percussion, it was littered with tense, brooding moments of menacing clarity. Rather than beat you over the head with brute force brutality, Rune, lurked, whispered and haunted with clinical, insanity inducing precision.

http://youtu.be/zFmUPej00pw

The album’s easier highlight and centerpiece was the 9+ minute “This Sorrow”, an aptly titled track that spirals from dizzying techy grindcore into a blackened vortex, to a truly wilting, transcendental number with artful, somber melody lines and soul crushing, string laden, melancholic mid section and end note. It really is one of the more evocative and complete tracks of the ’00s and really elevated the album to something special.

Even Mann feels this was the album’s strongest cut: “That song was about very personal struggles, very extreme ideas, and the most painfully slow ending we ever wrote. I loved playing that song live. The whole ending of that song was added after the song was “finished”, and gave the song the tortured feel we thought it was missing. That song still gets to me.

And while longer, brooding, lingering tracks like “An Affinity”, the overlooked doom of “Leaving Form”, “Wilt” and “This Sorrow” would define the album, Rune were also able to deliver staggering technical death metal and caustic precision as the likes of “This Worthless Endeavor”, “Opium For My Soul”, and “Babylon Burning” showed the band’s grind roots. But the blasting, complex grindcore or death metal was never banal brutality, as there is a somber backdrop and even sense of sadness lurking in every riff, even the pinch harmonic blasts.

And while many US death metal bands, including many of Rune‘s label mates were using dense, dirty or low end guitars or super low vocals and being as brutal as possible to seemingly fill the void left by Suffocation, Rune‘s sound was brittle and neurotic as the riffs, like shards of glass being thrown on a tin roof, but it was clearly meant for headphones to allow the many styles to breathe as in the longer more doom laced experimental numbers.

The album ends with what some might construe as the release’s only miss step, “Ethereal Bleeding” a 6 minute electronic/programmed number that pulsed and beeped to an almost grating climax. But on a label with a roster littered with near classic, superb releases from the likes of Gorod, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Defeated Sanity, Goatsblood, Watchmaker, Ulcerate, Arsis, Neuraxis (whose Truth Beyond… could well be a future entry on this feature in my opinion), Rune‘s The End of Nothing stands out as a true, new classic. Whether it’s bolstered by the finality of the band’s lone release and not tainted by any further releases that could have been let downs or the sheer genre shattering creativity is to be debated. But anyone who has not heard this album should head over to Willowtip and grab the special edition with a live set and couple of unreleased songs and experience one of the most striking albums of the last decade that deserves to be revered into the next decade.

“As far as acclaim goes there is no doubt it’s still an insanely underrated album. It did get good reviews but Rune broke up too soon to really receive the accolades and acclaim they deserved. The end of nothing has a great underground following, but so few people know about this album. Is it a classic? I think it is for sure, but hopefully more and more people will learn about it and The End of Nothing will get the true recognition it deserves” muses Jason Tipton on the album’s delayed impact so many years after it was released.

Mann also chimes in on the the impact of the album over 10 years later: “It feels good that over a decade later people still mention it. That band was an absolute struggle from start to finish, and the music in a lot of ways was an expression of that very struggle. I am so thankful that all the right pieces fell into place to make that record possible”.

Acacia is a new name for a not-so-new group of moody Swedes. They’ve actually been together since 2007, releasing one full-length and two EPs as Livsnekad. I don’t know the reason for the name change. Maybe it has something to do with their previous moniker’s resemblance to the words “lives naked.” Or, they could just want a fresh start, which is exactly what they’ll get from me here since I never heard their previous material.

It wouldn’t be hard to lump this in with the current crop of romantically downcast, black-rooted metal/rock spearheaded by Alcest, but there’s not really anything post or shoegazey about this. Acacia’s approach is more in line with the mid to late ‘90s stylings of Novembre, EverEve, and even Theatre of Tragedy with their affinity for female vocals and piano. As you’re probably realizing at this point, this is brazenly dramatic music, but something sets it apart from the throngs of gothic imitators that took the style to embarrassing levels of sugary flamboyance. Amongst all of the acoustics, synths, and silky voices is some seriously depressive menace à la early Forgotten Tomb.

Like a beautiful sunrise over a scorched wasteland, “Dods man mask” ascends with piano-driven elegance and smooth, somber, Swedish voices. Even though it doesn’t contain any metal, this is not just some unnecessary filler to exercise your skip button. The following four lengthy tracks carve similarly dark paths through the bleak landscape, but each one contains pockets of sullen beauty, propulsive rage, and everything in between.

Every band member’s performance on this album is exceptional in some way. The guitar work of Andreas Thorén and Christian Larsson (both also handle bass and vocals) overflows with emotion as it effortlessly shifts from sorrowful melody to anxious tremolo and back again. The two guitarists’ extended trade-off solos in “Amourens Redoxreaktion” are an especially moving highlight. Drummer Richard Schill has a background in brutal/tech death (most notably, Spawn of Possession) and it shows. He fills the album with an energy that you don’t often get with this style and handles everything from plodding doom to intense blasting with aplomb. Seiya Ogino’s sensitive sprinkling of piano adds just the right amount of fragility, as do the beautiful female vocals provided by Moa Thorén. And, the various male vocals provided by one or both guitarists are just as expressive as their playing. Clean, gruff, shrieking, guttural…all are powerfully executed. There was a lot of room for error on this album, but they managed to get everything right. My only nitpick would be that the use of crying baby samples to open “Tills Döden Skiljer Oss Åt” is a little heavy-handed, but it’s easily overlooked.

There’s a lot of depth here to absorb. And, at roughly an hour in length, it risks being too long for its own good, but not a minute of that is wasted and the unpredictable, linear song structures prevent any chance of boredom. If you appreciate melancholia, this is something that’s worth the time it takes to fully grasp. Now, if they can just improve their distribution for those of us who prefer physical copies…

Unfortunately, the end result is a rather middling if solid death metal release that was bound to get lost in 2013’s slew of high profile, high quality death metal. With a very American delivery and sound, there is nothing incompetent in The Fall of Omnius. The musicians all can play at a high level, the vocals are layered, suitably gruff and guttural and there is an ample mix of furious Origin like blasts, solos and mid paced rumbles. And while none of the songs really stand out, it’s all certainly full of conviction and skill. Even though it’s not really sticking with me, I don’t feel the need to skip it either, as it hits the 43 minute sweet spot.

Second track “Mastering the Voice” highlights the busy shreddage and Origin-y feel as does 5th track “Feydakins’s Storm”, “The Cymek Revolution” and blatantly for start of “Legend of Selim (pt.2: the Return of the Worm-Rider)”. There are a couple of slower tracks as well, but the focus of the album is definitely a modern, clean precision. But even with the large amount of intense, if a little forgetful blasting, the band manage to close the album on a relatively high note in the almost 8 minute “To the Golden Path”, which mixes in a little more pacing and variety to the urgent, shrill blasting. It certainly shows promise for future releases, even if it’s a little too late to elevate this album into something a little more impactful.

“Burning Down the Hive” opens the ep with an acoustic guitar piece along with electric guitar melodies that sound eerily similar to Fallujah. Then the song erupts into a Meshuggah like djent styled heaviness and the band picks up some speed in the beginning. This is something CBTTOR did not previously have, speed. They were more of a mid paced-slower style deathcore band. Regardless, this song is HEAVY and the vocals are textbook Whitechapel and very powerful. There is some killer double bass going on here and than the 2.28 brings forth a nice bass bomb drop and hell yeah, a nice little blast beat at the 4.10 mark that drops into a violent bass bomb induced slam. “Cycles of Hatred” is up next and has a very cool guitar intro. Another thing separating these guys from the rest of the deathcore pack is their use of interesting guitar melodies that have a spacey feel to them and as stated earlier, having some Fallujah influence to them. This tune alternates nicely between speeds, fast and slow and the 1.15 mark has some thunderous drums. 1.55 has a killer bass guitar moment that goes into a violent slam that will make you want to do a tornado whirlwind super drop kick. The song ends as it began with the guitar parts-nice tie in.

“Shores” ends the ep and my neck hurts like hell from all the head banging to the stop/start riffing on this track. I imagine if Meshuggah would have went all out death metal on Chaosphere, this is what they would have sounded like. Anyway, the 4.15 part kicks into gear with a nice brutal death/thrash faster pace, again CBTTOR utilizing the alternating speeds to their advantage on this ep. At the end of the day, this is only a mere $2.99 to download and worth it. Hives is the best deathcore sounding music I have heard in a long time, due to CBTTOR incorporating other interesting elements/influences into their already ferociously heavy sound. Essential!

Special mention goes out to “Autopsy of Human Mind”.  Yes forgive the grammatical errors; English is not the band’s main language.  This song encompasses the best parts of the band.  At times the song is similar to Origin with the drummer going balls to the wall with the gravity blasts.  Pig vomit styled guttural vocals are incorporated during the track, as well as other parts of the album.  The 2.30 part features a really killer breakdown with outstanding double bass sounding really powerful.

The album cover is Sopranos inspired with I guess the mob boss taking center stage as his minions are taking care of some double crossers.  It’s not the best artwork I’ve seen, but it certainly goes along with the Murder Death Kill album name.  However they should have realized this album name was already taken from Canadian thrashers, Mortillery’s debut 2011 album.  At the end of the day there are enough memorable riffs on this album to clearly make this a repeat listen again and again for me.  Killer stuff.

And while the majority of ‘troo’ metal fans will huff and puff about the bands screamo/hardcore take on black metal, acoustic interludes melodies, shrill vocals and lack of spikes and/or Satan, I will be taking in some magnificent peaks and valleys full of blackish crescendos and reflective prose. There is some raw, intense riffs, no matter what style or post genre they fall into as well as some nice post whatever moments of reflective ambiance.  Yeah, at times it sounds like Comeback Kid or Killing the Dream playing cover songs from Ulver’s Nattens Magrigal  (not a great sell, I know), but it also rocks pretty hard, with some pretty furious melodic moments.

The album’s better moments are three of the four longer cuts (out of 7), “Red Moon Foreboding”, ‘Dust Collector”, “Exalting the Shadow Proprietor” as they seamlessly meld the aforementioned tumbling post black riffage, screamo vitriol and passion and atmospherics.  Of note amid those standout tracks, a cello introduces “Exalting the Shadow Proprietor”, but it’s not a drawn out atmospheric gimmick and bleeds into a menacing mid paced section with deeper vocals, a break from the otherwise persistent shrieks and jangly, twangy blasts, though it does end with a furious one. “3380 Pounds” is the albums most experimental track  with an awkward, angular  slower pace and unsettling female whispers and fade out violin, but it never peaks, which is a bit of a letdown considering some of the fury in the previous 6 tracks.

That all being  said, and closing track aside, generally,  this isn’t  post black metal a la  Agalloch,  Castevet, but a more raw , unhinged and tangibly hardcore/screamo tinged take, especially vocally. Even with a few acoustic/atmospheric segues, especially in the numbers previously mentioned, there isn’t as much eloquence or elegance as Deafheaven, though residing in the same ball park (see “Peridot”, “Forlorn Love”), and not as beefy as Celeste, as Cara Neir has a more antagonistic, brittle, primal hue, with a more raw delivery.

As with all Halo of Flies releases, this thing is gorgeously adorned and put together and comes with a digital download code for you digital kids out there, but hearing each not crackle with the disdain of ‘real’ black metal fans is the way to go here.

The thing this album has in spades is groove. Shit tons of groove. Once a song finds its pace, often right at the beginning, there is no letting up. The drums set the pace and the guitars move from one lurching riff to another. The riffs are solid, reminiscent at times of Zozobra, and at others jumbling together with the drums into the rolling, pummeling sound of Mosquito Control-era Isis. A healthy dose of crustiness hearkens back to the genre’s crossover roots. The oppressive atmosphere brought about by dissonance, similar to fellow Frenchmen Overmars, permeates many of the tracks.

Although the music is principally sludge, it is steeped in black metal. The Deathspell Omega comparison is a popular one to throw around, but it shows up here in some of the plucked, dissonant riffs of the opening two songs.  The black influence finds its way even deeper into the songs on the latter half of the album, as in the dark winding riff of “Slave/Her” (featuring a guest appearance from Marion of the aforementioned Overmars), finally erupting full-force with blastbeats and tremolo guitars of the final, titular track. The production is on the raw side, but not particularly lacking in bottom end, especially considering that there is no bass being played. It sounds almost live at times, which adds to the energy of the songs.

There are a handful of bands now playing a dark, crusty variation on hardcore/sludge. Carne’s offering is fueled by unrelenting grooves and raw aggression. In the end, Ville Morgue is an excellent album. Highly recommended.

How did you get involved with Deicide? I assume it began with Decide drummer Steve Ashiem playing on the Order of Ennead albums?

Yes it did. I moved to Florida and was having a hard time finding a drummer to jam with. My bass player, Scott Patrick of Order Of Ennead, Council Of The Fallen at the time, said he played Steve some of my material and he was interested in jamming. Deicide was recording Till Death To US Part and had some shows coming up and things with Ralph weren’t great at that time. I filled in for many tours over the years when they were on the outs. I was just interested in OOE when we started jamming.

It must have been so awesome playing for what I imagine is one of your idol bands growing up? 

Yeah I grew up listening to them. The first album and Once Upon The Cross were favorites when I was learning to play guitar. It still strikes me as a bit bizarre when I think about it, but it’s life and plenty of strange things happen in it.

How hard has it been essentially replacing Ralph Santolla and his melodic leads that reinvigorated Decide a few albums ago? Your and Jacks solos are much different to his.

When I first started jamming with them I was only concerned with writing and playing rhythms. To continue playing with them I’ve started getting into them more, but writing and rhythms are still my passion. I don’t play Ralph’s solos exactly the same, but I don’t play the Hoffman’s the same either. I’ll hit certain points the same way with each, but get from point A to point B the way I would.

It was know that Santolla was a christian, and or course that had to be an issue playing in Deicide — where do you stand as far as Christianity and Deicide’s lyrical takes?

I can’t speak for Ralph or Glen. Glen writes the lyrics for the band and that’s the way it has always been and contains his views. I am not a Satanist or a Christian. My personal views are covered in the two Order Of Ennead albums that are out there. I fall into the Agnostic category and that means I don’t think man knows how or why we are here and no god has ever contacted anyone. My view and Deicide lyrics are similar in the way that we both believe religion is bad for humanity and corrupt and most importantly based on a lie. Some people that are more articulate in describing similar views I have are: Richard Dawkins, George Carlin, Penn Jillette and Christopher Hitchens. Look them up for an interesting read or listen.

You are now not only playing with the legendary Deicide, you are along side Jack Owen- guitarist for Cannibal Corpse’s first 9 albums. How has that been?

Jack is great. He does his own thing and is really easy to get along with. I’ve been over to his place a number of times and while on tour we’ll go wander around together. We have a number of songs co-written on the new album as well.

Deicide is one of the longest running , consistent death metal bands around, even with a few ups and downs. What is the mood in the Decide camp after releasing album number 11?

They don’t really dwell on the long history or how many albums they’ve put out. It’s more about what’s going on today and what’s the next thing we’re going to do. The mood has been pretty positive lately though. Not much drama and everyone gets along within the band. Right now we just want to book a bunch of shows and get this new album out there.

It seems Benton is back to being much more straight forward and brutal with the last two albums compared to the two prior albums Santolla performed on.

I think some of that has to do with recording at Audio Hammer. They’ve done all of their previous albums at Morrisound. It’s just not the place to go for metal anymore. The last album they used Mark Lewis and “In The Minds Of Evil” was done with Jason Seucof. These guys are at the top of their game and leading the way of how to record these days.

How much song writing input do you have? its not like you (or Jack for that matter) are nobodies in metal.

I was curious on how much input I was going to have also and they let me do my thing. Everything has to go through the Steve/Glen/Jack filter though. We all got together from the first day and whoever had a riff would play it and if we all liked it, it was used. Trying different structures came later and vocals and solos came way later. As far as Jack, he has more material on the In the Minds of Evil album than the others. He didn’t have any until the last one actually. Steve handled almost everything after Scars of the Crucifix and was wanting a break. He still has some songs on this one, but not an entire albums worth. Even Glen has a couple riffs. He hasn’t had a riff on an album since Legion. 

How is it working with such an icon in Glen Benton- is he as hard to get along with as the rumors seem to indicate? Ive interviewed him over the the phone before and he seemed very nice.

I get along with him fine and everyone in the band gets along. Just don’t piss him off.

What is it like touring with Glen Benton?

As with anyone, there are ups and downs. The road is tough. Your out there driving around far from home and away from your daily comforts. You deal with it as best you can and put on the best show you can even if your tired, exhausted or sick.

Is it coincidence that you seem to have invigorated Benton and Deicide? Prior to your arrival, the band had released the awful ‘Til Death Do us part. You join the fray and the band returns with the most brutal album in over a decade in To Hell With God. Or just Glen kick out a terrible album when he wants out of a record deal?

I didn’t have anything to do with “To Hell With God“. I had done some touring with them, but they had just signed to Century Media. The band was pretty chaotic during Till Death Do Us Part and Steve Asheim is the only reason the band kept functional. During To Hell With God they had Ralph do solos as a session player. He’s not a writer though and never wrote a riff for them. Glen seems more involved, but it’s from the lack of tension in the band. That’s my guess.

So, how much animosity is there between Benton and the Hoffman brothers — especially now they are using the original Deicide name, Amon? No Decide/Amon tour in the near future?

You’ll have to ask him and them. Not my business.

What is the status of Order of Ennead? you seemed to uncovered a real talent in Jon Li. Will Asheim help out on drums again. maybe Benton provide some vocals as he did for Vital Remains?

We’ve been on hiatus for a while now. Life got in the way. You’d like to pursue things, but at some point it becomes financial and reality strikes. I’ve got a bunch of material written and we do hope to record an EP sometime in 2014. Steve and Scott will be there, John lives in NYC so that makes it difficult for him.

Is Deicide your main/full-time focus now? Tell me about Shadow Society?

Yeah, Deicide is my main focus. I’ve got a bunch of material written for whatever. Have to see were it ends up if anywhere. My other project Shadow Society has had a tough time getting started. Members not living close and turmoil in personal lives. It’s not easy getting things started. Priorities.

Opener “Shifting Decay” is the highlight here and a promising show of the band’s talents. They tread the down tempo shifting chord work with rumbling elliptical percussion, and shift downhill to a dirty rhythmic section. Vocal roars wail above the head nodding bounce before the tone shifts to trudging sludge. They cut this off with a roiling piece of swarming drums ala High on Fire, broken periodically by gruff vocal exhortations. The maelstrom of aggression shifts to some down tempo chugging, wrapping up a solid opener that lays the groundwork for a devastating EP.

Unfortunately, the band never returns for another cathartic bout of aggression, instead opting for a more straightforward sludge sound echoing Neurosis and Amenra. The chord progressions and ambiance are similar as they touch upon the same emotional malaise and dour post-rock atmospheres currently touted by any number of modern sludge fans. This says nothing to the quality of the tracks, as “Hollowed”, the short shot “Colony of Machines”, and closer “Denisova”, are all effective pieces of heavy, somber music, but they never return to the cathartic boiling point of the closing portions of the opening song.

Mollusk is a band in the midst of an evolution. The shorter format of their debut with its linking songs and transitional ambient pieces has moved to longer song arrangements that allow them more room to gradually adjust tone, atmosphere, and tempo. And though the songwriting has matured and improved, the band would do well to incorporate more of the hard edged aggression they so aptly display in “Mirrored Sphere” from their debut and on “Shifting Decay” from Colony of Machines. The added diversity would make their post-rock influence sludge forays more impactful and the already brutal aggressive passages even more deadly.

The production is crispy and punchy, but still has an organic feel to it, which is a great thing.  Obscura influences come through as well, with the high powered technicality, alongside the brutal blasting.  The title track opens the album and the blasts and groove all go hand in hand.  The 2 minute mark has a killer groove and than some amazing guitar solos too.  “Underlying Reality” is another great song and Rings of Saturn are a definite influence on this track and others.  This is evident as the band incorporate some slam moments, especially on this track at the 40 second mark, the way the breakdown is formulated and than you have some added bass bombs too, which surface during other songs on the album.

The bass guitar is great sounding on this and the blast beats do not overpower the guitar parts, which makes this a well balanced mix.  The bass guitar parts scream Obscura in parts, as well as Cynic, with some calmer serene moments.  Some of the songs I did zone out here and there, since they sounded a bit similar, however there were enough memorable riffs throughout the rest of the album, with some extraordinary arrangements that kept me awake and I said a few times, “Man that sounds pretty freakin’ cool”.  The album also contains some decent lyrics with a pretty eye catching album cover.  I would definitely recommend Dysmorphic’s A Notion of Causality to any tech-death metal fan out there, since it is well played and has enough killer moments that warrant repeated listens.

However, it’s 2002’s Bloodhymns that I will always have a soft spot for, being one of my very early reviews for Digitalmetal.com, one of the last albums to feature a Sunlight Studios/Tomas Skogsberg production and a damn fine album to boot, with “The Art of Rebellion” still being a regular track I play and enjoy over 10 years later. I thought 2006s Hrimthursum was a bit of a let down and never heard 2009s Death to All, and frankly  thought the band was done.

Well here we are 4 years after Death to All, and lone original member Joakim Sterner is back with a scorcher of an album that harkens back to the band’s glory days. Even though a bit over drawn at 68 minutes and 14 songs with some filler here and there, a majority of Womb if Lilithu is crisp, razor sharp black/death riffage glossed with an evil sneer and some pretty blistering riffage and a few keys/atmopsherics here and there. Overall, it’s a fine, fine album with confident, classic song writing and a slick black sheen.

The tracks vary between stern / atmospheric marches and more blistering, slicing numbers. Some are littered with a few clean, but fitting hymnal croons and some synths, but for the most part, the album is all about riffs and more riffs and it seems to have some lineage to Bloodhymns in both quality and intensity. Standouts include “Astaroth”, stomping “Furfur”, “Splendor Nigro Solis”, personal favorite “The Necromancer”, moody “Opium Black” and dramatic penultimate track “Infinite Infernalis”. There are some solid but overly long throwaway tracks like “Asmodee”, “Black Night Raven”, “Marquis Phenix” or “Matanbuchus”, but certainly nothing bad or sub par.

You do get your money’s worth with Womb if Lilithu however, as I mentioned, the album is 68 minutes long and 12 of the 14 tracks are actual tracks with only opening and closing instrumentals, so you get about 63 minutes of actual metal riffs, even if some seem a bit by the numbers, there’s enough above average material to warrant your time.

What sets this band apart is the level of brutality and the number of variations this band adopts. It’s mind-boggling put together. It’s unpredictable and it’s wholesome. How’s that? And mind you, we’re talking about a genre that’s looked down upon by the conventionalists, at least the Brutal Death Metal part of it. The drummer is all over the place, the riffing department is rife with activity, even resorting to interludes in the middle of the song, that’s right, and the vocalist in comparison is mostly content with thick hoarse roars, well-punctuated to match the music variations.

It’s not a new band – Cadaveric Crematorium from Italy is peddling this style of Death Metal since the 1990s. ‘One of Them’ is the band’s fourth full length whereas newer Brutal Death Metal bands from that country have made more of a mark with an EP or a full length. Most of them are just doing something that’s extreme in its expression, such as say Blasphemer or Antropofagus, or Septycal Gorge or even Hour of Penance for that matter. Yes, there are some that have found their own sound but the rest aren’t doing something remarkable or different to warrant the kind of interest garnered – it’s probably due to the fact of these bands having signed to American labels where this kind of music is huge at the moment.

‘One of Them’ is an eccentric album comparatively, one that isn’t willing to be pigeonholed just yet and that’s good for the band because it’s somewhere in the middle – it’s not wholly extreme nor is it wholly technical like its counterparts. It’s stuck in the between, awkwardly, but it’s not without its charms. There’s more appeal to this band, lasting appeal thanks to its irresistible catchiness, than a short-lived brutal blast that’s likely to be outmatched five years down the line by something even more extreme. The one that you’d come back to is the one with memorability, and instant catchiness or jauntiness, and that’s ‘One of Them’.

There’s quirkiness in the band’s song structures, unpredictability which is like finding a saint in a brothel in this style of music, and a sense of defiant self-confidence, as if oblivious to the rest of the world. It’s this attitude which makes this band relevant now and in the future, even if it’s not doing something remarkable in terms of pushing the sound, but at least it’s not just another Brutal Death Metal band.

My only teeny gripe with Rise…. was that it seemed to have some left over The Meads of Asphodel (Grand Master Jaldaboath’s former band) darker,  black metal moments and they seemed out of place amid the humorous  likes of the “Axe Wielding Nuns ” and “Bash the Bishop” . However, on The Further Adventures…., any premise of the prior band has been dropped on full favor of the bands self anointed ‘Heraldic Templar metal’ or “Renaissance Rock’ and the whole album is essentially one long Monty Python/Black Adder skit put to ridiculous catchy, throbbing,  thrash/folk metal, replete with crumm horns and oodles of other flutey, hey nonny nonny, Renn faire styled synths.

If you enjoyed the aforementioned likes of “Hark the Herald”, then you will love this album, as the entire album has that that cheeky, catchy pace and writing. Opener “Roland the Farter” is as catchy as it is funny, being this albums equivalent to'”Hark the Herald” with a raucous chorus you will find your self singing (as well as my new ring tone). Then Alestorm’s Christopher Bowes delivers guest vocals for “Warrior Monks of White Hawk”, a righteous thrasher. Then the goofiness level is raised to Percy and Baldrick levels with “The Bitch of Chiselhurst Caves”. I DARE you not to be singing the sausage -y chorus from this riotously raunchy anthem (featuring a nod to disco hit ‘”White Lines”). Another early standout is “Raise the Crummhorns” with a great little self deprecating atmospheric bridge featuring Jan Hammer’s “Crockett’s Theme” from Miami Vice. Brill.

And speaking of other references, astute listeners will hear the band’s not so subtle nods or piss takes of Bal Sagoth, Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” (The Wailing Witch of Moulsecoomb”) and Iron Maiden‘s “The Trooper”(“Dex the Whispering Dwarf”). But  as with “Jaldaboth” from the last album using the theme from British children’s show Rent a ghost, even more astute  and likely British listeners will recognize riffs and choruses that cull from some classic British TV like the Black Adder the Third and Black Beauty themes (Black Metal Beauty”), Eastenders theme (‘The Wailing Witch of Moulsecoomb”), 80s kid’s show Wizbit (“Dex the Whispering Dwarf”) a as well as a a few classical and pop culture references as some I’m sure I missed.  Heck, on top of the Miami Vice sample, the band even throws in the theme from 80s classic TV show Airwolf (“Dex the Whispering Dwarf”) and uses the theme from The A Team to drive uproarious closer “The J team”. Me thinks Grand Master Jaldaboath is more of  a child of the 1980s, not the 1380s. But all of it is wrapped in simply great catchy metal and Renn  faire instrumentation, it’s not just gimmicks.

Much like British humor displayed by Monty Python and Black Adder, Jaldaboath will be a decidedly acquired taste and certainly appeal to those familiar with some of the very British references (many of the songs are actually based on British historical figures, legends and locations). So if you are one of those humorless metal fans with a constant grimace and crossed arms,  The Further Adventures of...isn’t for you-it’s very silly indeed. For the rest of us, this might be the most fun you have with an album in 2014.

Sol Negro is a beautiful, thick mixture of all of the above, represented in a way that no one does any more. All of the abovementioned bands have evolved, for better or worse, and it’s Sol Negro recreating that forgotten art, in its own way. It’s not something that will grab you immediately, but more listens will enamour you to the band’s music, it’s not just unique, it’s also captivating, enchanting and romantic in a sense, the very way Gothic was that or A Fallen Temple. Each of the songs are crafted with attention, multiple layers and moods are portrayed, and those immortal haunting tunes in the Paradise Lost vein.

This is  a (second) reissue of the band’s third, 2012 album by this band and it’s about time it gets its due. All the songs are darkly melancholic, romantic in a wistful way and there’s melodies at every turn, but nothing that’s overly so. I wouldn’t be surprised if this band were from Mexico, considering the style of music represented by Riding Our Black Oceans-era Cenotaph or on The Chasm albums for that matter. It’s got that level of intricacy and attention to detail, played out differently although and that’s even better. Dawn of a New Sun requires your attention and submission. It’s music that is oozing with exotic appeal, if I may, occult to use another word, and has melodies that will haunt you for life, probably beyond.

Disc 2 contains the demos; Goat ‘91/’91, Beneath the Cyprus Groves ’92, Memories of the Exhumed ’94 and Remain Forever Entangled ’95.  Hearing these demos again after all these years, with the revamped sound, is astonishing and very nostalgic for me.  I felt during this time period that the ’94 and ’95 demo, that was released with the help of Wild Rags Records, were absolutely punishing and the music is relentless old school NY brutal death metal.  Slamming heavy grooves, slick blast beats and just well done music all around.  The highlights, for me were Kelly’s vocals on these 2 demos, which were his only recordings with Deathrune.  Kelly has a real powerful mid range gruff styled delivery, that really knocks you on your ass.  Similar to John Lavenia, from Torture Krypt.  You can understand his vocals, which makes it even more brutal, as you can imagine Kelly singing these words and pounding some poser into oblivion.

The reissue is essential if you liked Deathrune, like NY style death metal or just like your death metal well played.  2+ hours of punishing remastered sound and the booklet is astonishing.  A super thick multi paneled booklet containing all the lyrics, demo covers, photos, liner notes (which are printed just a tad too small) and biography round out what comes down to one of the best reissues I own, and trust me I own a lot.

Hateful, on its latest album ‘Epilogue of Masquerade’ plays Technical Death Metal without going into the hyper-mode. It’s keeping it relatively restrained, about the music, focusing on the thorough execution of every section than just overdoing everything. The riffs are fleshed out, and it takes more than a few listens to fully get them – it’s quite intricate and the song structures are bizarre because it’s not in the conventional format. It mixes up things quite a bit and it’s like piles of riffs buried over each other, pummelling pulsating drumming decorates the mess and the vocals are restrained yet again, keeping it straightforward.

This is an album for listeners, although first appearances aren’t unimpressive either. Production-wise everything is clear and strong, robust and the artwork is fairly striking in its elegance. Understated is the word I’d like to denote this band’s intent with – it’s doing something far more than most would give it credit for. Where references are concerned, I’m reminded of mid-period Monstrosity with Jason Avery on vocals mixed with technical-era Death, added with brutality and modern values, and of course the Immolation touches with plenty of drum rolls a la Alex Hernandez.

How often do you come across a technical death metal band that’s meaty and has elements of brutality while remaining rooted in the traditional riffing style? That’s where Hateful makes a mark. It doesn’t need any fancy atmosphere or session members in its line-up, the band members are very competent. The biggest compliment I can give the band is that the qualities are intrinsic, as opposed to a few others who have superficial elements, like a protruding layer over the music or some sheen of some sort pushing its progress. Without namedropping such bands, with all due respect, this band has more lasting value and genuine intent.

The more I listen to it, the more I kick myself for not taking the effort to do so earlier. First appearances are often deceptive, and there’s a lot more to this band than it may seem. ‘Epilogue of Masquerade’ deserves your attention and accolades because it’s doing it in the classiest way possible.

As already mentioned, the production on this album absolutely sucks, with about as much of a bottom end as Miley Cyrus.  They mentioned having a bassist, but he’d be harder to find than a smart Kardashian.  The drums are programmed and very obviously so, adding no heft at all to the music.  The vocals are a steady barked growl, with little variation there as well.  As for the guitars, they barely get out of chug-ville, with just slight variation found in songs “Foaming Secretions” and closer “Putrescine”.  To make matters worse, following the pointless intro, there are 2 other noise/whatever tracks that do nothing but degrade further from the whole album experience.

On a positive note, they do continue the often fun brutal death trend of inventive song names, with “Vapours of Cadaveric Mucilage” and “Adipocere: Corporal Glue” being some of the more notable ones.  The actual music on this LP is only about 20 minutes, so it’s more of an EP length.  I continue to be a huge fan of brutal death, but it’s a genre that when done bad, it’s REALLY bad.  This is definitely one of those cases.  Take a pass as you won’t be missing anything.

While certainly having the obvious Neurosis back bone, the gruffer roars and heftier tone cement the Mindrot/Morne comparison, as well as the draining emotive lumbering riffs that truly recall the likes of Soul and Dawning. Just go to the last minute of opener “Burden” (even the song titles have a Mindrot ring), and tell me that could not have been culled from those two classic releases. The same goes for the opening strains of second standout track “Arrow”, which delivers a knee wilting doom pace and rending melancholic atmosphere. The balance is perfectly struck on every track between, heaving, heavy loping riffs and more somber hues and post rock/shoe gaze sprinkling, but this sounds to me much more a doom record. The steady, somber rumbling of all 6 lengthy tracks is delivered with a very nice, deep guitar tone, so there’s no shortage of crumbling heft, even with the morose gloss.

Some strings/synths and delicate moments occasionally layer the sound with even more elegance and atmosphere, but it never drags or overstays its welcome, usually quickly seguing into some really impressive heavier moments such as the lumbering “Phantasm” or “(H)Elle- The Fall”. Closer “The Beast”, is a monolithic 10 minute end note that’s the albums second standout, and is a menacing as it is emotive, laced with heaving riffs and acoustic foreboding and restrained vocals that recall Steve Von Till’s, haunting bellows.

Like last year’s last minute surprise from German act Desert Beneath the Pavement,  Hypnos as well as the debut from Norway’s  From Beneath Billows have delivered stunning European example of post rock that will flirt with my year end list. Do you self a favor and either go and pay what you like for a digital release at the bands bandcamp page or pick up a copy if the CD. You will thank me.

Look no further than 7+ minute opener ” I Will Reign Forever”. Chunky, metalcore riffage is injected with some busy melodies, some reflective atmospherics and even a kickass flamenco break and it makes for a fucking impressive opener. Some of the melodies and busy guitar work  through the track and the rest of the album as well as some of the vocal cadences recalled Shai Hulud, but a little more restrained. But Chapters pull their sound together confidently and deliver an album that belies the band’s relatively new status.

The rest of the tracks, which largely which largely follow the quality of the opener expose the band’s ambitious take on metalcore. Second  and shortest number, “The Siren” really enforces Shai Hulud slower moments with a controlled, emotive rumble after a delicate acoustic intro, while another longer standout, “March of the Puritan” delivers a sturdy thrashing lurch that has hints of Machine Head, mingled with some the aforementioned busier melodies and sudden acoustic tangents, making it the albums second best track. It’s when Chapters combine more elements where they truly stand out.

After acoustic interlude “Arising”, we are then treated to “An Ecliptic Circle” where Chapters really spread their wings, and despite only being three minutes, the gorgeous acoustics start the song and then some utterly enthralling violins and  female vocals (courtesy of Sian Sanderson)  kick in and the track segues epically into the title track which also features another section from Ms Sanderson and a some nice Woe of Tyrants-ish arpeggio shreddage to close it out. It’s a  brilliant two part companion piece and shows how ambitious Chapters are when adding all sorts of stuff to a  simple metalcore formula. Closer “Chapters” has a more urgent pace, but manages to deliver ample melodic shreddage amid the burly riffage. It adds to the quality of the opening track and the title track with  a nice string mid section and stirring, fun little gallop and dare I say, breakdown, to close out the track.

One of the more impressive metalcore debuts I’ve heard recently, even if metalcore is somewhat dead right now, Chapters have enough vision and creativity to give it a bit of a jolt and become a rising star in the UK scene, and hopefully the international scene. Are you reading this Siege of Amida Records? Oh and while you are at it , how about a repress of Dyscarnate’s album?

I personally have not really actively listened to Master since 1990’s  self titled debut and a passing listen to 1998’s Faith is In Season after finding it in a bargain bin. But like Incantation and Immolation, after hearing so many bands copying the style in my rreviewing days (Bones, Terminate, Lair it the Minotaur, Morgengrau, Besieged, etc), , I thought I’d better go back and revisit some of the source material of the “Chicago” sound.

And here it is in all of its Venom and Motorhead infused glory. As grizzled and grey as Speckmann’s beard, nothing has really changed in the Master camp in 23 years. Speckman still sounds like a gruffer, more gravelly Lemmy (check out “Wipe Out the Aggressor”) , the music is still sort of blustery, punky, thrash/death metal mix with an earthy, rough ‘n’ ready sound and  and it’s still relatively unimaginative and basic with many of the songs having the same gait, but at 51 minutes its a bit long . Tracks like “Plans of Hate”,  ‘The American Dream”,  and “Raise Your Sword” are all ‘s unquestionably Master, but that’s about it

And that is where folks will need to decide if they want to shell out their hard earned money and buy or download this release. It’s not groundbreaking, it’s not particularly memorable and it really needs to have the dust blown off it to really appreciate it. But it is what it is- nothing more, nothing less, like the last 11 albums-it’s simply  a Master album.