Celestial Immunity, Christian Holocaust, Engaged in Mutilating

Celestial Immunity (Greece): Lost in Shades
Celestial Immunity is not loyal to any particular style, though there are influences and shades of thrash, death, heavy metal, etc. This is the type of band totally not interested in any discussions about staying “true” to this or that genre. Mostly, they practice their craft and if it will mostly sound different to different people: thrashy to some; closer to death, for others; still others will hear the very early Gothenburg rough combination of growling, thrashy riffing and melodic hooks.
At this point in the band’s history, the band uses only growling and no singing, though with this style, it is often the case that such bands begin to feel limited by having only growling. In some of their songs, they have moments where they show a different, more melodic.
“The Dream Fades,” the last song, is their most memorable song. This is where the guitar riffs and hooks go the furthest in creating for Celestial Immunity their sound. The very early days of Gothenburg will come to mind for some, and it’s probably not an accident that the band has channeled their music in such melodic and even semi-melancholic directions, with growling and with a brief spoken vocals moment.
But really, all their songs lean towards that general direction. For example, “Skin” has also those basic components and they like to work them out into a concoction of their own, on their way to taking their metal in directions that no ones knows where. Though the growling might turn off some people, the music itself, while still very energetic and thrashy, it’s not part of the death/black subgenre and can attract a broader interest.
Now, will you give the band a chance and check out their music? They are probably not going to be on U.S. television any time soon, being interviewed by three clueless men asking insipid questions to “stump a trunk” or discussing “all things hard rock and heavy metal” or something like that.
Plus, wouldn’t it be nice to hear an actual new band?
Five songs, 23 minutes.
www.myspace.com/celestialimmunityband

Christian Holocaust (Maine, U.S.): Christian Holocaust
Only those into the super lo-fi, necro, cave, total garage black metal attack will be interested in such a band.
The rest will say that they don’t even know how to play their instruments, that they can’t even keep a beat. Stop reading now, and make a note to self: “Avoid necro black metal band Christian Holocaust.”
OK, those into sloppy, badly recorded and devils-and-demons black metal, please step right through here, where the entrance to the cave of Christian Holocaust is located. This band rolls around in their own ugliness and biblical topics of devils, damnation and death so as to saturate every song their recording (which as already mentioned, has rough demo sound quality) with as much black metal elements so as to drive away those who don’t like black metal.
www.myspace.com/christianholocaust

Engaged In Mutilating (Texas, U.S.): Population: Zero
Whether it is the attraction to ridiculously aggressive, fast music, or the musician’s perspective of hearing dazzling drumming and fast solos; or the desire to hear chaos that in many ways goes against the basic rules of music by hearing anti-lead singer rock star vocals or anti-melodic guitar/drum work.
Whatever the reasons may be, the fact remains that technical, blasting guttural death metal as practiced by Engaged In Mutilating flies in the face of not only the rules of why most people like music (a melody, a chorus, something they remember, a lyric, a voice, etc.) in general, but also against the rules of why many death metallers like death metal itself.
Cannibal Corpse, Death, Obituary, Morbid Angel, etc. all have melodies, catchy riffs that attract people to headbanging, etc.

On the other hand, technical, blasting guttural death metal does not.
For example, listen to this band’s cover of Pestilence’s “Out of the Body” and hear the gulf that separates Pestilence from Engaged In Mutilating: Pestilence’s music sounds very traditional: chorus, melodies, catchy, etc.
Engaged In Mutilating’s own songs, however, are a whole different kind of entity: overwhelming heaviness and blasting speed; completely undecipherable gruff, guttural growling; not memorable guitar riffs because they just pile after another in ridiculously fast succession creating a barrage of complex noise. Nice, indeed!
www.myspace.com/engagedinmutilating