“That’s what’s going on around the blackened wasteland of Mordor, here’s what’s happening, in your neck of the Entwoods!”

Sorry.

ANYWAY, as it turns out, this is about as apt a description of a band as I’ve heard in a while, which is just as well because honestly, the combination sounded pretty juicy to me. And it is! Epic, building compositions filled with those sweet Thin Lizzy guitar melodies we all know and love. Come on, what’s not to love about that, right?

We get our first taste of the delicious Thin Lizzy-isms about halfway through “Ravens Wings,” where, after a plodding, building intro, guitarist and vocalist Kyle House (also of Decrepisy) busts out those signature harmonized guitar melodies that fit the mood of the track so well. They carry the way into the first of many impressive solos that are found all throughout the album. It’s a great table setter of a track that really gives you a good glimpse into what the project is all about.

From there, Rökkr keeps its foot firmly planted in a mid-paced  wheelhouse that keeps your head banging while House continues to layer in those epic melodies that do indeed recall the work of Quorthon’s Viking days. In fact, you can really take Nordland, put it side-by-side with Rökkr, and the direct similarities pretty much just jump right out at you. The pacing and bouncy, chugging riffs of “Oath of Blood” are bang on with the classic “Nordland,” the only huge difference being House’s grunting death metal vocal approach – which, to my ears, is actually an improvement over Quorthon’s cleans (they were fine, but hardly the strength of those records).

Direct comparisons aside, Rökkr does keep things decidedly heavier throughout than Nordland’s more atmospheric leanings. No soundscapes of woodland forests or babbling streams to be found here, and certainly no acoustics. Just a whole lot of heavy, sometimes bordering on doomy riffs that, admittedly, could use a change of pace here and there to keep things fresh – especially given the length of these tracks. Aside from the opener (3:13) and epic closer (10:22!), everything is hovering around the 7-minute mark. That’s a LOT of mid-paced rumbling in one sitting. That said, the riffs, melodies and compositions are compelling enough to keep this from become at all a chore to listen to, especially with all of the really good lead work adding a good amount of spice to the experience.

I don’t know what the long-term plan is for Rökkr – whether this is becoming a main project or just something fun to fill in the gaps between House’s other gigs. Given the outright Bathory worship, I’m inclined to believe this is a pure passion project, and that’s just fine by me. We can all use a little more time and energy to put into the things that bring us the most joy, and one thing is clear – Rökkr is absolutely a product of a lot of love and attention to detail. Given how much Bathory, and in particular those Nordland albums had an influence on my young life, I’m thrilled to its to find projects like this paying tribute. Can’t wait to see where this goes.

What does Impure uniquely offer that might appease the curmudgeonly, heard-it-all demo(n)graphic that frequent the Nuclear War Now message board?  To start (and this may cause more than a few well-worn, leather jacketed arms to cross)…Impure’s version has a vaguely modern clarity of mix.  Emphasis on the use of ‘clear’, not ‘clean’.  Mind you, this is in comparison to that of the aforementioned bands. In the way that the antichrist figure is often presented in literature and film: Sharp in a custom all black suit, hypnotic charm, and a centuries old wine collection, but still a fully active participant in huge sex magic rituals that always leave blood stained leather gloves, and at least one virgin dead (Nasty. The same ones from the last sex magic orgy.  Satan has no regard.).  Don’t get it confused. It is still 100% mausoleum echoing metal of death, just with a dark sophistication.

If you just take a few minutes to listen to track one, “Death Secretion”, you will KNOW what else Impure has to offer. [Waits 3:03]. It’s the element that is thee fundamental core of metal music: dangerous, god defiling riffs!  You aren’t so bummed on the ‘clearly defined mix’ -thing after all.  Satan’s Eclipse has a generously wide-open low end, which insulates the mid-low range guitar riffs like a yak skin cloak.  The drumming is a steady pounding with two modes: Simple doomy thudding and angry-drunk muscled near blasting. Setting pace for leagues of damned souls rowing the decaying ships, to which they are eternally shacked, down the river Styx.  Giving the corrupted, chamber-echoing verses their anchor through the album.

In the demon dimension, this style could be termed ‘Satan beat’; Metal of death that sounds like it might’ve been produced by the late Joe Meek.  A producer of cult fame whose life reflected the wildest pulp novels of the time.  Had he lived, would have probably made fast friends with a guy like Dark Throne’s Fenriz.  However, he would’ve appreciated their recent output more than the scene approved classics. Meek dosed swinging 60’s pop with gin and Quaaludes; bee swarm guitars, maximum spring reverb, and for the time, drumming to match the accelerating heartbeat, soaked in the devil’s cocktail. In cult metal, the term may bring to mind Negative Planes singular Stained Glass Revelations.  Although they never reach that level of tiki totem entrancement, a song like “Sapphic Initiation” has just enough surf-demento reverb on the guitar (and everything else really) to induce the same sinister smile as that of ‘evil’ version Bill S. Preston Esquire.  It’s fun to be evil sometimes.

The following is a list of recommended activities while listening to Satan’s Eclipse: 

• Aggressively baptize babies in red wine, pledging their souls to Nyarlathotep
• Drink mead alone in a lava rock sauna
• Secretly study esoteric Gnostic manuscripts in a vault beneath the Vatican Library, then fighting dozens of martial arts trained Archbishop clones to reach the surface
• Listen to Blood On The Alter and Satan’s Eclipse at the same time. Get crazy.  Maybe it conjures a nether-portal in your beer stein.

OK, so sit down, this is going to take a while. For The Aftermath, Biazzi really called in some big guns outside of the Swedish death metal network  to serve up some vocals and some lead guitars, as the guest list  includes the likes of Rick Rozz (Massacre, Death), Dave Ingram (Benediction), Marc Grewe (Morgoth) as well us the usual guest vocal suspects including but not limited to Ralph Hauber (Revel in Flesh), Jonas Stahlhammer (Bombs of Hades, God Macabre), Jonas Lindblood (Putereaon), Jonas Jensson (Entombed AD, Centinex) and host of others. But to be honest, you’d be hard pressed to single any of them out, as they all provide a similarly gruff, throaty roaring or rasping backdrop to the salvo of mid range buzzing riffs and steady double bass.

The recipe is simple, with many of the riffs sounding pretty similar, having a moody, melancholy trundle, like a sad but angry tank plowing alone across a body strewn battlefield. It’s very powerful but simple akin to Hail of Bullets slower numbers  (i.e “General Winter” or “Berlin”), but  won’t ever be confused for a game changer and nor does it ever elevate beyond a steady, mid paced rumble, and if im being totally honest the tracks are a bit long for the style and pace they deliver, making for a slightly overly long album. But then again, Biazzi has a lot of guest mouths to feed.

Still, the simple, destructive charm and strength of the album, amid all the samples of air raid sirens, gun fire and war movie sound bites, is the the likes of “Lightning War” (featuring Ingram), “SoulBurner”, “Device of Utter Death”, “Bastogne”and and the rather effective “Incoming” rumble and lumber with precise, deliberate heft and just a touch of effective war like despondency, cos ya know war inst  a particularity happy or fun loving theme. The big, burly riffs, patient, brow furrowing, almost doom gait is consistently good as it is paced. I don’t think there is a blast beat anywhere to be found on the album as only “Feast of the Fire Demon” revs things up just a little bit more.

Another solid effort from Biazzi and co. (literally) who is adding to his Rogga Johansson /Dan Swano like involvement on the annals of Swedish death metal, and I look forward to see who else he gets involved in future Just Before Dawn releases, though I’d like to see  the focus on slightly more varied song writing.

With Megascavenger, he has teamed up with session drummer Brynjar Helgetun of Crypticus fame. And a plethora of musicians, all known and superstars in their own way. This is unprecedented. My apprehensions were about the music losing all character and consistency but that’s thankfully not the case. It’s in fact turning out to be a compilation of sorts, the kind you use to get people into Death Metal or tell them what’s good about it in the first place. That’s the appeal of Rogga Johansson – it’s effective. Period.

Like last years Just Before Dawn effort ( which Johansson appeared on), every song has a different vocalist. The first one has Dave Ingram of Benediction/Bolt Thrower fame, the second Kam Lee of Massacre, the third Aad Kloosterwaard of Sinister, the fourth Martin Van Drunen of Asphyx. As unbelievable as it looks, it’s true. Does it detract from the music? Not at all. Like I said, it’s like a compilation with Death Metal in common, good Death Metal, pummelling, old school and rifftastic. That’s what it matters at the end of the day. Plus on this album, there’s a good melodic sense, reminiscent of ‘Crimson’-era Edge of Sanity.

Pummelling music is synonymous with this man, music in the vein of early Grave, Dismember, Entombed and Unleashed, but over here, for a change, it’s also well-structured, has these slower melodic breaks more often than elsewhere and that’s what makes this band a valid one. As long as Rogga doesn’t keep doing things in the same way on every release, it’s good enough to warrant a release, a full-fledged one such as in this case. He doesn’t make any pretensions about the same either, he’s just doling out one solid album after the other, and if they’re as enjoyable as this one, I wish he continues to keep doing so.

This is probably the most varied and diverse album created by Rogga Johansson and that’s not at the expense of dumbing down the music. It’s old school music updated to palatable levels, after all how many recorded-in-a-cave pretentious albums can you digest? At least this man has no qualms about lack of originality and if he can keep it interesting, that’s more than can be said about most bands playing this hackneyed style these days. This is a very competent album musically, not sticking to just one style yet retaining a common solid Death Metal theme throughout. It’s extremely well-played and sometimes that’s all you need.

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.

But even with all that I wasn’t super stoked for this follow up full length album, considering the quality and quantity of this years Stockholm inspired crop (Entrails, Harm, Lifeless, Wound, Revel in Flesh, Ulcer, Tormented and Rogga Johanssen’s 56 other bands), I was a little burnt out. However, it turns out that The Demon, The Angel, The Disease is an utterly fucking killer addition, improve on the EP in every conceivable way and instantly puts Blood Mortized in the same conversation as Entrails.

Yeah, this is that good. With a massively improved, huge, typically  mid range production, simply killer, classic Stockholm riffs that mingle catchy gallops and massive lurches, Blood Mortized has delivered an absolute stunner of an album from pretty well nowhere after a simply solid EP. Even with obvious nods to the classic bands (Grave, Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed),  The Demon, The Angel, The Disease forges its own path on the strength of the song writing and riffs.  And the secret (other than the killer production)  is that aforementioned balance of mid paced rumbles and classic canters that deliver the album’s serial killer based concept.

The album’s two standouts (in my opinion) “Master of Pain”, and ” Noise Terror” deliver absolutely stunning examples of the latter, with cantankerous,chunky,  catchy main riffs straight from Left Hand Path, Clandestine or You’ll Never See. Then you have the likes of “My Soul, Your Flesh”  and a couple of tracks in the albums’s second half in “Barbarian Lust”, the title track and 8 minute closer “I Leave With Hate” which deliver almost Hail of Bullets like rumbles with huge mid paced to slow moments, complete with some classic 90s atmospherics. Of course, there are a few high octane chuggers like first single, “Bastard“, “I am the Dead” and “Blessed are the Dead”, and tracks that have a little or everyhting in between like  “Black Flames of Desolation”, “Dysphoria, Dystopia”  and another classic sounding standout, “Blood Drenched Stones”.

Blood Mortized has elbowed their way into the upper echelon of 2013s Swedish death metal releases as The Demon, The Angel, The Disease goes toe to toe with the likes of Entrails‘ Raging Death and Demonical‘s Darkness Unbound. I’d look for a step up in label soon if this continues.

Joining Revolting Rogga is Jonas Lindblood (Puteraeon), Mr. Hitchcock (Zombiefication), Gustav Myrin (Blood Mortized), Dennis Johansson (Plästerd, Headstoned), Ralf Hauber (Revel in Flesh) and Tony Freed (Godhate). So by looking at the lineup you can get a pretty good idea of what Just Before Dawn sounds like – yeah just a little bit of Swedish Death Metal going on here. However, Just Before Dawn isn’t a simple Entombed worshiping clone, they actually take a large dose of their sound from Bolt Thrower and Hail of Bullets – both sound wise and theme wise, as Just Before Dawn is fully dedicated to all things World War II

Featuring a killer mid range buzz saw guitar tone that’s part Grave, part Asphyx and a steady mid paced trundle that imbues Bolt Thrower to a panzer crushed tee, Just Before Dawn isn’t a technical monster and rarely goes past a steady, deliberate rumble. Allowing the hefty, meaty guitar tone to breathe, the songs are tank tracks, creaking and squeaking across the battle field – with nary a blast beat in sight. And while the ever so simple pace and structure may turn some folks off, if you enjoyed “General Winter” or “Berlin” from Hails of Bullets‘ debut …Of Frost and War as well as the likes of classic Bolt Thrower numbers like “Cenotaph” or “World Eater”, then Just Before Dawn is for you. They even add some of the somber solos and melodies in the background that imbue the title track from For Victory, just listen to “Raped Soil”.

Even with 7 vocalists you’d be hard pressed to tell who is who, as they all have a similar gruff bellow that complements the 8 songs, songs that really don’t jump out or even have a standout, but all contain a methodical plod and lope that’s as steady and crushing as a Tiger II. Throw in a number of typically war-y samples (explosions, machine guns, sonar pings, etc) and the likes of “As Death Breaks the Surface”, “Under Wheels of Death”, the somber aforementioned “Raped Soil” and closer “The World Burning” all deliver monolithic, deliberate salvos of heavy artillery rather than random, chaotic automatic fire or carpet bombing.

This a huge, patient album that churns and trundles with hefty menace. And that is also its small setback, in that each of the tracks has a similar, sometimes nearly doom gait, and none of the songs really peak, and neither does the album ultimately. I kept waiting for that “The Rack” or “Rotting in the Void” (from Revel In Flesh‘s latest album) like epic to blow me away and drop my jaw, but it never comes, instead being purposefully singular in all 8 tracks’ dynamic and delivery. Still, this blows the likes of Jungle Rot, Entrenched and other so called ‘war metal’ away and if you are still lamenting the loss of Bolt Thrower, I could think of no worse act to sub in and deliver the war mongering death metal goods (unless the new Humiliation album is as good as I hope it is).

Reaper’s Consecration consists of five tracks of gruesome death rattling rotting flesh from bone, and the killer riffs ooze forth like hot pus from infected wounds.  References to Dismember and Entombed are pretty obvious but not completely overt.  With music of this ilk, though, it’s hard not to hear classic influences.

Dirty and downtuned, the tracks of Reaper’s Consecration grind in gloriously fast yet groovy buzzsaw fashion.  Quick attack riffs rip forth from songs like “Deathrides” and “We Stand Alone,” while slow and evil grooves emanate from “Dead Today, Dust Tomorrow” and “Necrohell.”  The contrast is good and each track sounds just as gnarly as the rest.

With the recent resurgence of traditionally styled and transplanted Swedeath groups, the existence of Zombiefication is not surprising.  Many of these bands sound like uninspired shit.  Fortunately Zombiefication doesn’t, and they’re pretty good at what they do.  Certainly no reinvention of the wheel here, but good for a quick and filthy fix of gruesome goodness.

And once you hit play, it becomes even more obvious as Funeral Whore comes pretty close to a straight up cover band, down to the down tuned muddier wall of buzzing noise, perhaps more so than Brutally Deceased. If you don’t believe me, just go straight to the one minute mark of “Pierce my Flesh”; that right there is “In Love” from Grave‘s debut CD. Then there is the title track, which gives more than a passing nod to about four songs from You’ll Never See…

But, when the whole affair is this well done and honest, I’ll overlook the blatant ripping off.

As I stated earlier, the production on Step Into Damnation is also culled from Grave’s first two releases rather than the cleaner hues of Entombed or Dismember, it’s dirtier, chunkier and more primal than some of the retro acts out there now, the ones mentioned above included. And the looser delivery, earthy bass and deeper vocals make the whole affair sound like it was recorded in 1990. All eleven songs are short, punchy numbers that hover around the 3-minute mark with a few getting close to four. There’s no ambitious atmospheric track, no epic number, no ambient  intros — just a bludgeoning, Neanderthal beat-down that would make Thomas Skogsberg (whose name is incidentally spelled wrong in the linear notes of the original pressing of Into the Grave) proud.

There’s an ample mix of primitive blasts and huge grooves as heard on the likes of “Buried in Hell, “The Bitch Died”,  “Obedience” (where there’s a little bit of a nod to Unleashed’s “Before the Creation of Time”), “Camp Blood” and “Failure of the Sacrifice” all of which can be directly traced to some moment or riff from Grave‘s first two albums. And if you are OK with the heavy Grave tribute band vibe, and are a fan of the source material (as I am) you could do worse than Funeral Whore as their debut is an unabashedly awesome and enjoyable,  throw back release that will bring a huge smile to your face.

With the likes of Funeral Whore, Blood Mortized, Mordbrand,  Zombiefication, Malfeitor and Omision, Mexico’s Chaos Records is getting a really nice roster of old school death metal that rivals the likes of Dark Descent, FDA Rekotz and Pulverized Records.

Originally released as a 3 song cassette, Bestial has one additional song (“Of Dust & Doom”) further adding to the HM-2 boss pedal goodness contained within. Like Entrails‘ first album, Blood Mortized don’t sound quite so much as a throw back or forced retro act, but a lost, forgotten band unearthed 20 years later. Even with a slightly cleaner sound than the debut, the record still has a nostalgic, honest murky buzz and a delivery that’s culls shamelessly from the genres Stockholm  based originators.

Opener, “Bestial” has a classic Stockholm canter and rhythm that makes no bones about the bands sound, almost to the point where it sounds like a forgotten Unleashed cover, but that’s a good thing. The new track, “Of Dust & Doom” functions as more of an interlude that an actual song, being a sort of doomy, percussive repetitive bridge, and does sound a bit like filler. However, “Shadow of the Quarter Sun”, gets things back on track with a burly rumbling number with a classic melodic but haunting mid section. The EP’s closer, the 6 minute “Rekviem” is the EP’s standout and centerpiece, a slow burning, monstrous track which closes with a tribal rumble and chant, signalling that this years second album will be something special.

Formed in 1989, CENOTAPH was one of Mexico first death metal bands. After the several demos the band debuted with The Gloomy Reflections of Our Hidden Sorrows one of the greatest Death Metal offerings to ever originate from MEXICO with a pure, molten death metal delivery that oozes occult vibes and depressive atmosphere.

The Gloomy Reflections of Our Hidden Sorrows will be presented as a double 12″ gatefold vinyl LP remastered with two bonus tracks and the original artwork used with permission of the polish artist Ryszard Wojtynski. Stay tuned! More information coming soon!

Chaos Records will release the CD version of The Gloomy Reflections of Our Hidden Sorrows reissue later this year.