Exaltation - cavernous death from New Zealand

Exaltation

Under Blind Reasoning

July 29th, 2022

Sentient Ruin Laboratories

New Zealand knuckle dragger brutes Exaltation decided to show up in 2022 with their debut full-length, with eight tracks in 31 minutes. Metal Archives shows nothing else besides a 2017 demo. They generally prefer shorter songs for the low-tuned, low-growling minimalistic cavernous concoction of doom, death and blast barbarity. It is not a complex cacophony of multiple layers that require repeated attempts at exegesis. I listen to this because apparently the thick dumb sound of blasting death doom goes perfectly with my simple-minded way of appreciating a racket. I’m not sure that my neighbors are enjoying the Exaltation hullaballoo blasting out of my apartment window as much as I am, but what am I supposed to do on a hot summer day with no air conditioning?! I have to have the window open, sit around drinking ice-cold tea and listen to Exaltation so that I do not drop dead in a hot smelly Lynnwood apartment.

This band is unmelodic, uncatchy fugly savagery, and only people like you could ever enjoy this “music.” You know how society has this stereotype that metal music is just loud noise? Yeah, well, it’s a stereotype for a reason. The name of the reason is Exaltation.

Gosh, this is awful stuff. I want more of it.

Under Blind Reasoning by EXALTATION

https://www.facebook.com/exaltationnz/

Amon Amarth - new album, new tour, Seattle included

Amon Amarth

The Great Heathen Army

Metal Blade Records

5 August 2022

Studio album number 12 from the hard-working Swedish band (1988-1992 as Scum; 1992-present as Amon Amarth) surely means that they are about to head out on road again. Their sound was more along the lines of death metal until their third album The Crusher in 2001, but with 2002’s Vs the World they went for galloping rhythms, while keeping the vocals growled and the guitar heaviness but with less speed. Their resulting blend worked very well as they became devoted to touring as much as possible in their quest to be successful. They achieved their goal.

Priding themselves on being consistent, making small changes for every album, these Swedes have their own way of doing things. If you are new to the band, expect quality and carefully crafted catchy songs, almost like heavy metal with good, deep, gentle growling, with strains of both melodic death and black metal, in a subtle way. On the other hand, if you already are familiar with their albums, grab something to drink or snack, and let the music play. It’s more like an extension, a continuation of the sound in the form of nine songs in 43 minutes.

They get criticized for not being true death metal and for not changing enough from album to album. Well, the band’s response could be the same as AC/DC’s Angus Young, “I’m sick to death of people saying we’ve made 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we’ve made 12 albums that sound exactly the same.” (Plus, if you want true death metal, there are tons of maggot zombie-themed brutal bands in your own town playing on Tuesday night at the local bar and each year at your local American “Brutality Zombie Deathfest” with pig squeals, cupped microphone vocals and breakdowns.) However, the drum sound on this recording is typical of the contemporary sampled/programmed drum sound: flat, mechanical, sanitized and soft. The listener cannot hear the cool noisy craftmanship that you hear while listening to an actual drummer playing the drum set, whether in rehearsal or at a show.

To conclude, it’s been an awesome career and the story continues. It’s not easy to last 30 years playing metal; and yes, they are going out on tour and will be coming to Washington state again (12/12 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo). Trivia: There is here a song called “Saxons and Vikings” and guess who they invited to do the melodic singing? Biff Byford from Saxon, of course.

The Great Heathen Army by Amon Amarth

https://www.facebook.com/amonamarth/

Versus the World by Amon Amarth

The Crusher by Amon Amarth

Noroth - cavernous death in Washington state, U.S.

Noroth is traditional death in Washington state, U.S. with the following recordings so far on Bandcamp: It Dwells Amongst Us (2020; eight songs, 23 minutes) and Harbinger (2021; nine tracks, 27 minutes). It’s low, gruff growling with simplistic heavy riffing for those galloping rhythms. The slower parts do not generally slow down to a crawling pace, and stay in midtempo, grooving stomps, while the fast parts can go fast, but not into blasting paces. The effectiveness of the music is direct: one listen pretty much gives the audiences a rather good picture of the proceedings. If you enjoy deep growling and cavernous riffs, and midtempo/uptempo heaviness, then Noroth might be a fun listen or a fun show. Both recordings are the same style and sound, suggesting that the band knew exactly what they wanted from the beginning. Metal Archives does not show that the three members Itzhak (drums), Mike (guitar) and Biaggo (vocals, bass) are involved in any other projects, but I am unable to confirm whether that information is fully accurate. Whatever the case may be, fans of the more primal and simplistic forms of death are the desired demographic for this good stuff.

Harbinger by Noroth

https://www.facebook.com/norothovcascadia/

Bodybox - Florida men form trailer park metal band

Imagine a bunch guys named Bubba Lou, Big Earl, Lazy Jed and Fat Bobby living down by the swamp in Florida listening to Pantera, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pantera, Hatebreed and then some more Pantera, talking about forming a “heavy band, man,” while they’re out on the boat with their shotguns trying to find some alligators to barbecue later on tonight while they’re blowing up fireworks, chewing tobacco, and eating alligator beef jerky with Tabasco. It’s big, huge, enormously dumb stomping death brutality. The way they’d like to describe their sound is “Pantera’s I’m broken” combined with “deathcore” with some good ole trailer park grooves. It’s mostly animal farm noises, grunting and playing the three chords they know to the best of their hillbility. All they know is that if they can sound heavier than Pantera, than would be a good reason to go to the local Circle K and buy some beverages to pass out on Friday night and wake up some time on Saturday afternoon. These guys, whose real names their parents never told them, may not be good at reading, writing, arithmetic, speaking, thinking, staying out of jail, chewing alligator beef jerky and walking at the same time, but they sure make Florida proud with the death groove brutality of their 2021 EP “Through the Bongfire” and the 2021 demo “Microwaved Weed.” Bodybox can gallop in the old-school death way and can slow things down to grimace-face nasty heaviness breakdowns. The vocals are low and gruff, and lower and gruffer, while the music is dedicated to the art of the chugga-chugga-chug. Put away that calculator, you won’t need it to figure out the sound big belly tattooed hillbilly trailer park extreme metal. Alright, alright, alright.

THROUGH THE BONGFIRE by BODYBOX

MICROWAVED WEED by bodybox

Θλίψις - raging black metal from Greece

Θλίψις

Θλίψις

August 15th, 2021

1.Θλίψις/Thlipsis 03:50

2.ΝΙΧ 04:16

3.Love's Blood 03:23

total time 11:29

Θλίψις is raw, traditional raging black metal from Greece. It is Nick Sidiropoulos on drums; Felix Argus on guitars, bass, and vocals; Tumultus on guitars and vocals. Lyrically, their focus is on anti-capitalist ideas, stating that “the rich, the royals those in charge are drinking the blood of the working class.” Musically, it is vocal chord-ripping moon mad black metal howling. The guitar work is fast, as is the drum work, and once the listener gets past the frenzied speed and vocals, there is lots of fast black metal melody to be found. It is such a brief recording of three full songs that audiences might find themselves listening to the recording repeatedly for several times. FYI, Metal Archives shows the drummer as a member of other entities like Dødsferd, Grab, Herald, Insanity Cult, Isolert, Leeches, Nihilsect, Sores, Sørgelig, Sorry..., ex-My Deathbed, ex-Sordid Dogs, ex-Voidness, Ghetto Gospel, ex-Convicted, ex-Nefarious Dusk, ex-Belief, ex-Y. This recording is recommended for the dedicated fans of the sound of traditional black metal.

Θλίψις by Θλίψις/Thlipsis

Fellowship - power pop from England

Fellowship

The Saberlight Chronicles

Scarlet Records

15 July 2022

Fellowship is a new band of poppy power metal from Harwich, Essex, England, U.K. Metal Archives shows an EP in 2020, a cover of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” (from the animated movie The Lion King [1994] sung by Elton John) in 2020, another single in 2021 and now the debut album. With the cover they announced that their pop-oriented style. The new album is a celebration of ear-friendly melodic, pop-oriented power metal. It often seems that European metal musicians have a secret passion for electronic, dance and pop music that they try to work into their music. That’s the case here. There are shredding and fast tempos, but it’s all done very melodically. Fans of super catchy pop and happy rock may find a very interesting album here. Just in case it is not clear: fans that do not enjoy this style probably will dislike this album strongly. It has a soft, programmed or sampled drum sound. It is melodic rock music with a pop sound, and this may not please fans that want the sound of a real band playing their own instruments, as opposed to autotune sampled music that sounds very artificial or plastic and super soft.

The Saberlight Chronicles by Fellowship

https://www.facebook.com/FellowshipUK/

Begrime Exemious: Rotting in the Aftermath

Begrime Exemious

Rotting in the Aftermath

Dark Descent Records

8 July 2022

Begrime Exemious is a Canadian death metal band that Metal Archives lists as being in the style of Order from Chaos, Axis of Advance, Ares Kingdom, Deströyer 666, Dire Omen, Vastum and Vircolac. In other words, a raw type of extremity based on tradi-tional and classic thrash, death and black metal. For an extreme metal band to be thought of as in the spirit of cult acts like Order from Chaos and Axis of Advance, then that is a good thing. Begrime Exemious began in 2005, says Metal Archives. Their first EP was in 2009, in 2010 and 2012 they did albums, then later on three EPs, and in 2016 another album. Now they have this new one.

The last few days I have been listening to the album and this is what I have found. It is classic-based extreme metal of the old-school underground mentality. Considering that they are Canadian, and play raw music, it is almost guaranteed (I don’t know it for a fact, as I am not sure that I have ever seen interview with them) that they respect a cult band like Blasphemy, which, I guess, it is almost like a national tradition for Canadian raw metal bands. They are not as lo-fi as Blasphemy and prefer a clearer sound to let the energy, heaviness and frenzy be heard in a more detailed manner. The vocals are low and gruff and also have a higher, black metal tone, too, for that dual combination. The guitars work with thrash, death and black riffs, and the speeds can go to blasting, too. There are also some pretty cool guitar solos throughout the album. It’s just a solid album that gets better with each listen, and not necessarily because the listener needs more than a few listens to understand the music but because the songs are written well, the execution is good and the production fits the sound. With music like this, this band will become cult themselves, if they are not already.

Rotting in the Aftermath by Begrime Exemious

https://www.facebook.com/begrimeexemious/

Rising Revolution - symphonic power metal from the U.S.

Not knowing anything about the band, I decided to listen to their interpretation of symphonic power metal wondering how the young Americans would approach the genre. Well, for one thing, it seems like U.S. metal youth are not very interested in this type of musicianship, and seem to prefer the less complex and less challenging sounds of groove-core-based genres. Having to come up with melodies, figuring out the matter of having melodic singing and working on the development of a symphonic sound is probably a lot more work than one may imagine at first.

This year has seen Rising Revolution follow up their 2018 demo song called “Power Forever”. In 2022 they have two new songs, “Beasts of the Night” and “Freedom & Glory.” The band continues to grow in vision and capabilities towards the achievement of their sound.

As a different proposition in U.S. metal, Rising Revolution shows a great imagination of what they want to create, and now we are getting a glimpse of the potential. It is refreshing to hear a young band from the United States with an interest in good musicianship and songwriting in the style of melodic metal. The band says that it all began in 2014 in Richmond, Virginia with the two friends Ashwolf Grayson and José Díaz working on music in the band room at their school. Before they knew it, they had Ash (bass) and José (lead guitar) joined by Fletcher Harrell (drums), Marvin Ward (keys), and Kevin Potter (vocals & rhythm guitar). As it often happens, there have been line-up changes and nowadays only Ash, now doing vocals, remains from those early days leading the ship into new waters. Nowadays, the complete crew is Ashwolf (male vocals & keytar), Artemis Wray (female vocals), Zephyr McGrath (lead guitar), Zeldris (rhythm guitar), Ka-dir Elliotte (bass), and Ariel & Seraph split drum duties.

Their 2018 song “Power Forever” (4:36) already pointed to their ambition of an elegant type of rocking melodic symphonic style. It sounds like a young band finding their feet. Now in 2022 two new songs are called “Beasts of the Night” (3:39) and “Freedom & Glory” (6:01) and are from their upcoming debut album Revengeance: “a concept album from the perspective of a samurai from the 23rd century called by the mighty guardian deity Titan to vanquish his demonic foes, the Apocrypha.”

What caught my attention about the band is that Rising Revolution seems like they are just getting warmed up and that their best work is still ahead of them. They sound like a promising young band to keep an eye on and see how they develop the musical vision in the coming years. After hearing their songs with some more attention to detail, I still feel that they are a promising band and we will be pleasantly surprised when these wild horses harness their strength and begin to run with all their might. I like what I’m hearing, but I sense that this book’s first chapter is not even complete. This story is about to start.

Finally, the band says that they have been preparing for the 30th Annual Cutting Edge Music Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana and on kicking off a local metal festival Revolution Metal RVA in their area. Seems like they have been busy, right?

Prelude to REVENGEANCE by Rising Revolution

https://www.facebook.com/RisRev/

SOLE SYNDICATE - Brave Enough (Official Video)

Sole Syndicate

Into the Flames

Scarlet Records

17 June 2022

Today is the release date for the third album by the Swedish band Sole Syndicate. Below is a video for a song from the album and the Bandcamp link that is streaming another song. I do not know much about the history of the band, but I have been listening to this album. It is contemporary melodic heavy metal, with a bit of a chunky guitar sound in places, with melodic male singing but without screaming and yelling, including not much in the way of high notes. It is not retro heavy metal, although they do have some classic influences. These two songs are good examples of their sound: an ear-friendly type of heavy rock that would appeal to hard rock fans in general. The songwriting and their style keep things rather direct; therefore, it is not necessary to hear the music several times to understand it. In short, listeners that want something that sounds contemporary and melodic, and without glass-shattering yells, just ear-friendly vocals. Sole Syndicate is good at their interpretation of adult contemporary heavy metal.

SOLE SYNDICATE - Brave Enough (Official Video)

Into The Flames by Sole Syndicate

https://www.facebook.com/solesyndicatemusic

Tank (U.K.) - LP and CD reissues of 1980s albums

TANK - the High Roller Records reissues LP and CD

Don't Walk Away EP 6. May 2022 (1981)

Filth Hounds of Hades 6. May 2022 (1981)

Power of the Hunter 6. May 2022 (1982)

This Means War 27.05.2022 (1983)

Honour & Blood 27.05.2022 (1984)

[The music below from YouTube is here for your information. See below for the links for the official High Roller Records full recordings. This commentary is based on the High Roller Records versions provided to this publication.]

The background leading to the formation of Tank (U.K.) involves Motorhead and punk rock icons The Damned. After The Damned’s hot 1977 debut Damned Damned Damned and another 1977 not-so-well-received album called Music for Pleasure, the band broke up, but soon three of the members, without guitarist Brian James, returned as The Doomed and then went back to calling themselves The Damned: lead vocalist Dave Vanian, bassist-turned-guitarist Captain Sensible, and drummer Rat Scabies. Now they needed a bassist. Enter Algy Ward, formerly of Australian punk rock band The Saints. With Algy The Damned recorded their fan-favorite album Machine Gun Etiquette (1979), an entertaining collage of punk, goth, classic rock and vibes of oldie rock and roll. The band also recorded some additional songs that were released separately. One of those is their cover of the Sweet song “Ballroom Blitz,” which features Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister as a guest on bass and backing vocals. The protagonist of our story, Algy Ward, seemed to be doing pretty well in The Damned, but it was not to be. He played bass on the album (he’s also on the cover of the album; he’s the one wearing a leather jacket), seems to have done some performances (Old Grey Whistle Test [available on YouTube]) and he also appears on the video of the classic song “Smash it up,” amongst other things with The Damned, but he did not last and was reportedly fired due to personality conflicts.

The Damned - Melody Lee

The Damned - Smash it up

Now out of The Damned, Algy forms Tank in 1980 with brothers Peter (guitar) and Mark Brabbs (drums) with him on vocals and bass. In 1981 they give everybody a warning of what’s come with the EP produced by Motorhead guitarist Eddie Clarke, who also produced the 1982 debut album Filth Hounds of Hades. The EP title track, as fans of German thrash know, has been covered by Sodom, and then later on Sodom again covered another Tank song from the debut full-length. The debut is basically a form of Motorhead heavy metal rock and roll rambunctiousness. The EP is cool, but Tank tightened up the speed and intensity on the full-length. Today the full-length sounds more like a greatest hits compilation because all the songs are good. The album sounds like a real band playing right in front of the listener. So full of energy, as the band says, of blood, guts and beer. Some of the songs are basically speed metal numbers, right there for the taking by the young American and German bands to retool it and repurpose it as thrash. The album in general has a wonderful energy to it.

Tank - Turn your Head Around

Sodom - Turn Your Head Around

Tank - Shellshock

They followed up with another album in 1982 called Power of the Hunter. It is the same sound. The masculine but melodic Lemmy-like singing, and in Tank the vocals are singing; it’s not shouting nor screaming, but it does have a rough edge to it while never forgetting to sing. The difference between the first and second album is that on the sophomore work the guitars have been pushed back some. There is less of a crunch, and also less of that urgency that makes the debut compelling. Perhaps it could be summed up this way: The second album did not push Tank into that next phase of songwriting. There are a couple of songs that seem less developed than perhaps they would have liked. Releasing two full-length albums in the same year is not easy, and Tank must also have been on the road at this time trying to make a name for themselves.

Tank - Set Your Back On Fire

Tank - Power Of The Hunter

Some of the Tank lyrics veer too much into joke-band and x-rated territories, making some people dismiss them as a potty-mouth band of drunks. The first two Tank albums have typical rock and roll lyrics. It’s possible that politically-correct people will not like Tank lyrics for the same reasons that they might not like Motorhead or Venom lyrics. It is also possible that Tank realized that they had two problems: they needed to step up their songwriting and needed better lyrics. It’s not good to get dismissed as a joke or stupid band, and they must have sensed it.

They rectified on both counts with This Means War (1983), and also with the next one Honour & Blood (1984). Overall, they focus more on their war and personal lyrics, and step away from the I-think-alcohol-is-the-best-thing-ever lyrics and got further from the x-rated lyrics, too. Two improvements. The new phase of the band features two guitarists and with new personnel after the Brabbs brothers left after the recording of This Means War. How was the music different? One finds the best answer to the question with the opening song “Just Like Something from Hell.” It sounds like Tank. The drumming, the speed and the singing is all Tank, as is the sound of the riffs and guitars. Clocking in at a total of eight minutes and thirty seconds. This is the new Tank. The biggest sign of change is that this song boldly features a solo of dueling guitars going at each other. Tank has taken their game to the next level. Everything about it sounds 100 percent like Tank, but compared to the previous album, these just sound like better riffs, better solos and a more professional presentation, including better lyrics. While the majority of the album is not as ambitious as the first song, and some of the songs would fit perfectly fine on the first two albums, it is, considered as a work, Tank upping their game, and recognizing that they understand that heavy metal music in 1983 equals better guitar playing, more professionalism and a tighter sound. All these matters also apply to the next album Honour & Blood. Once again, Tank continues their transformation into a band that can hang with younger thrash bands that they influenced. The 1984 album has plenty of war-themed songs, and an interesting cover of the soul classic “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin. The music itself would not lead many people to identify it as a cover because it sounds like another Tank song.

Tank - Just Like Something From Hell

Tank - The War Drags Ever On

TANK - Chain Of Fools

Aretha Franklin - Chain of Fools

In conclusion, in 1984 Tank has made some changes with guitarists Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans joining. Who would have thought that just some five years earlier this same Algy Ward was the bassist in a punk band playing a rather different type of rock music? These High Roller Records versions of the albums have extra songs that the devoted Tank collector may be interested in. As expected, they are extra songs for the die-hard collectors. The bonus songs do not make or break these albums, and the albums stand on their own just fine without the extra songs, some of which are good, and some of which are ok, and others do not add anything to the album. For example, This Means War has a bonus song called “The Man That Never Was.” It’s a good Tank song, but then there is “Whichcatchewedmycuckoo,” which is Algy showing his prankster and punk personality. This track is very underdeveloped. There is a reason why this “song” was not included on the album. It’s because it’s stupid, that’s why. Hear it one time so that you can hear for yourself that it is not a real song, and then never listen to it again. Regardless of these shenanigans, the album itself, the official album, is worthwhile for the enthusiasts of 1980s British heavy metal bands, especially the ones forgotten by time. Tank did not survive the 1980s. By the end of the decade, they were gone after another album in 1987. Nowadays, there seem to be two Tanks. One Tank is Algy doing everything himself in a solo project, and the other Tank is former members Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans calling themselves Tank without Algy in the band. However, in the 1980s Tank was a worthy band and these High Roller Records reissues are a good reminder of that.

https://www.hrrshop.de

https://www.hrrshop.de/TANK-Dont-Walk-Away-MLP-BI-COLOR_1

Space Vacation - melodic metal from California

Space Vacation

White Hot Reflection

Pure Steel Records

April 29th 2022

The melodic traditional band Space Vacation (California, U.S.) is now on its fifth album since its 2008 formation. If the question is, what is most ear-friendly melodic heavy metal in 2022? The answer might be Space Vacation, a type of European-U.S. sound combination of Priest/Scorpions/Maiden and Van Halen/Night Ranger/Sammy Hagar/Y & T. The choruses and singing style are closer to Night Ranger, which is to say that it is exceedingly easy on the ears. The guitar playing is mostly traditional melodic riffs and solos and some shredding. Speaking of Night Ranger, Space Vacation has a song called “Don’t Say It,” which could function as a cousin song to the classic arena hit “Don’t Tell Me You Love Me.”

The album is 13 tracks in one hour, and of those, 12 are songs and another track is a Van Halen-style nice, gentle tapping track called “Sleep Tight.” The guitar player could probably do a solo album of songs like that every month. It’s a short two-minute fun little number, not a song.

Space Vacation is classic-rock-based melodic metal, generally speaking. However, listeners should be warned about some of the lyrics like the opening song “Reign in Hell” or “Being Evil,” which makes them seem like a pro-devil and pro-hell band. Such lyrics may be a turnoff for people who want “fun metal,” not “some jailbird creep who works at Walgreens” telling them about the power of Satan. (To which those people will reply, “If Satan is so powerful, then why does your little band have only 11 people, including your girlfriends, at the local bar when you play a show? Why is Satan not helping y’all to rule the world?”.) Most of Space Vacation lyrics seem ok, and some are even funny in a good way, like on the song “Middle Ages,” with its golden oldies rock vibe singing about a middle-aged person taking pills, going to bed on schedule and being tired all the time. What American mom would not identify with those lyrics about mental and physical exhaustion, right?!

To end, Space Vacation is solid, full of good songs. The melodic, gentle, soft-on-the-ears singing helps.

SPACE VACATION - Reign in Hell (Official Video)

Middle Ages

https://www.facebook.com/spacevacationmusic/

Dead Head - long-running thrash/death from Holland

Dead Head

Slave Driver

Hammerheart Records

29.04.2022

In 1989 the Dutch exporters of fury began by recording two songs “Rites of Kandar” and “I, Tormentor” in what can be described as raging thrash, in a tight, compact, high-speed iteration of Kreator metal. Think of the Kreator songs “Ripping Corpse,” “Pleasure to Kill,” and “Under the Guillotine” and that’s the type of “thrash” that Deadhead had in mind. Decades later after demos, EPs and other recordings, now with a total of seven studio albums (including this one), their music remains aimed at thrash fanatics. The drummer Hans Spijker (1989-1992, 1995-present) believes in playing fast. The guitarists Robbie Woning (1989-present) and Ronnie Vanderwey (1989-present) riff and shred like nobody’s business. The vocalist nowadays is Ralph de Boer (bass, vocals) (2008-2011, 2021-present), given that Tom van Dijk (bass, vocals) (1989-1999, 2003-2008, 2012-2021) is no longer a member of the band.

This new album (ten songs in 46 minutes) is what thrashers and long-time fans expect from this band: headbanging, shredding intense songs. One interesting thing that they are doing on the album is the moderate, limited use of tempo changes. In some spots, they slow the pace from frenetic thrashing to something closer to death metal. They show that they can play some less-than-frenzied moods, but they prefer to keep it as a tertiary element used with a purpose, and not as a recurring formula. Headbanging songs remains the number one priority. That, after decades of music, is worth the time of the rabid thrash zealots the world over.

Dead Head - Acolyte (Official Video)

https://www.facebook.com/Deadheadthrash

Mangog - doom lifers from Maryland, U.S.

Mangog

Economic Violence

Argonauta Records

June 25th, 2021

I missed the boat on this 2021 album by Maryland, U.S. doomsters Mangog. It is their fourth release overall after an EP, an album, another EP and now this album. The band has been active since 2014, but the members are lifers of the scene. The band is led by Bert Hall, Jr., who has been doing the doom craft since 1988, starting with the cult band Revelation.

Mangog is all about traditional doom, almost like if you can imagine the pioneers of heavy rock (Cream, Blue Cheer, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Mountain, Sir Lord Baltimore, Iron Butterfly and all those bands) doing their heavy rock thing in 2022 and you’d have a good idea of these ten tracks in 51 minutes. Some of it is just heaviness, while other parts are a bit more psychedelic, and other segments are bluesier, but it all makes sense as Mangog, giving the die-hard fanatics the sound of a band playing its instruments, not the sound of computer software metal. It’s heavy, with that blues rock edge and grit. The singing is that blue-collar-man singing out his joys and frustrations in life, with a declared sympathy for the working masses struggling to survive under the brutality of the capitalist ruling class and its government. This is pretty much what you’d expect from Bert and company: some quality doom with real-life lyrics.

Economic Violence by Mangog-official page

https://www.facebook.com/MangogOfficial/

Laverno - death metal from Venezuela

The Venezuelan death metal band Laverno is back in action. They say that they have five members and that they all live in Venezuela. They were active between 1992 and 1998 doing shows with bands like DEATH MORTOR, HEX, NOXIOUS, DEMISE, POSTMORTEM, CRUXIFICTION, METALEPCIA, MANIFESTO, EPIDEMIA, TRAUMA, ABADDON, CENTURION, EPITAPHIO, KRUEGER, NECROPCIA, LEVITICO, CROSS OF IRON, BLASPHEMY, TRIFIXION, INQUISITION, REBELION and others. They continued again in 2015 and have been doing shows with: OVERGROUND, FLESH ROTTEN INGESTED, PREDATOR, BIOWARFARE, MORTUORIUM, VALLIUM 100KD, SACRIFICE, ASHTAR SHERAN, CLERIGO EN FUEGO, KHARMA, PERISHING, NOCTURNAL HOLLOUW, VIL HEX, EXARIGON, LA BANDA QUE NO JUEGA, MORPHIN LIPZ, WITHOUS SOUL, and others. They have a 2018 EP called "Regreso a la absolución" (Return to absolution) and it is available at their Youtube channel and at Soundcloud. The band is: Carlos Luis Solórzano and Marcos Alfano on guitars, Hernán Sequera on drums, Jacob Gouverneur does the growling and Jorge Rodríguez is on bass.

The EP is three songs of headbanging death metal in the old-school way. This is not melodic music, but the solos do have a bit of melody. The rhythm or pace of the songs is about the same as thrash, but the music is a bit heavier and with growling, of course. They say that they are working on a new EP that will be called El mar de los cangrejos muertos (The sea of dead crabs). Fans of old-school death may enjoy the direct, no-nonsense approach displayed on the 2018 recording. I have not heard the new music, but if it’s similar to their previous work, it should be a fun listen.

Laverno - EP - Regreso a la absolución (full album)

https://soundcloud.com/lavernovzla

https://www.facebook.com/lavernovzla

Noisgoroth - blasting black metal for Christianity

Noisgoroth seems to be work of one Kenneth "Nattesorg" Holsen, who appears to have done lots of solo metal projects. Specifically, Noisgoroth is blasting black metal, one fast song after another, in the prototypical style of the guitar work associated with the genre. The lyrics do not seem to be available on Bandcamp, but the project is associated with the Christian label Annihilated Pentagram Productions, which features Noisgoroth as one of the entities on the roster. Anyway, it is fast extreme metal for constant headbanging. It is meant for the songs to be in the same style, and on Facebook this is called "monotonous black metal." This is for when only fast black metal will do.

Laid His Mountains and His Heritage [black] by Noisgoroth

https://www.facebook.com/noisgoroth/

Catacomb - old French atmospheric death metal lives again

CATACOMB

Back to Unknown Kadath

XENOKORP

18 March 2022

Catacomb originally was demo-level 1990s death, active from 1990 to 1994. They were active again for 1997 to 2003. The French entity is at it again from 2018 to the present, according to Metal Archives. Including this new EP, there have been some seven demos and EPs. This EP is a re-recording of their 1993 demo called In the Maze of Kadath. The old recording is available on YouTube. It is a good demo of atmospheric uptempo death, but listeners are not able to hear fully what the band was trying to do, given the low quality of the recording.

Catacomb knows this. This is why they felt the need to go back and do a new version with the knowledge, experience and skills that they have now. The result is substantially better in sound quality. From the old recording only two members remain: Benjamin Bussy on bass and vocals and Anthony Derycke on guitars, and no drummer appears to be credited, although the drumming does not sound like real drums, which a weakness of this recording. Nowadays people would say that this is old-school 1980s/early 90s ominous, sinister atmospheric uptempo death, the same style as the demo. The vocals are all low, brutal growling, while the riffs fly about every which way and offering melodic flavorings. The keyboards are important to smooth the harsh, heavy feel. Essentially, they have revived songs that they felt were good compositions but were hindered by the low quality of the recording. Maybe this is a sign that new music is on the way?!

https://www.xenokorp.com/product-category/artist/catacomb/

Stream it on all platforms https://artists.landr.com/692531312389

Back to Unknown Kadath by CATACOMB

https://www.xenokorp.com/product-category/artist/catacomb/

CATACOMB "Back to Unknown Kadath" [Full Album HD]

https://www.facebook.com/CatacombCult/

in Everett this Friday: Rat King, Born Without Blood, Alum Occulta, Effluvia

This extreme metal show will take place this coming Friday in Everett.

THIS FRIDAY AT 8 PM

Rat King, Born Without Blood, Alum Occulta, Effluvia

Night Adder Productions - Tony Vs Garage

https://www.facebook.com/events/1051831915374874?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/

Void Dancer - Washington state melodeath debut album April 22

Washington state melodic death band Void Dancer has announced that on April 22nd they will have the debut full-length called Prone Burial. The album is a follow-up to their first official recording from 2020, the self-titled EP. Right now they have a song available on Bandcamp and it is called "Utopian Sprawl." Below is said song and also the 2020 EP in case that you may be interested in hearing more of their music by hearing what they have done previously.

Prone Burial by Void Dancer

Void Dancer EP by Void Dancer

https://www.facebook.com/VoidDancerBand/

Falamh - melodic black metal from North Bay, Ontario, Canada

Here is something that I have been checking out recently. They have a 2020 EP and this new one, and both have a rather raw feel and the drum sound seems a bit muffled, and a bit stiff, like drum sampling, resulting in a sound quality not as clear and powerful as the band would want. Yet, despite this issue, it is a pretty good EP (4 full songs in 24 minutes). It is mostly midtempo/uptempo (but not blasting) melodic extreme metal, mostly in the style of traditional, melodic, tremolo black metal with strong growling in the lower register (for black metal) and not too much shrieking. In addition, sometimes the guitar sounds similar to melodic death metal, so there is a feeling that there is some of that in there. There is some clean guitar and some passages in which they go into brief mellower moods, perhaps like more melancholic in feel. They are in that good musical place in which they have some variety in their music, but they are keeping everything balanced. There are headbanging moments, of course, but some other moods. In short, audiences looking for some new classic-style melodic extreme metal may want to consider taking a look at this Canadian band from Ontario.

Aeons Effigy by Falamh

https://www.facebook.com/Falamhband

Varathron - - CD reissues of Greek black metal cult recordings Walpurgisnacht (1995) and The Lament of Gods (1999)

VARATHRON

Walpurgisnacht

vicrecords

1 April 2022

VARATHRON

The Lament of Gods

vicrecords

25 March 2022

These are reissues of the long-running Greek cult black metal band Varathron (1988-present). Walpurgisnacht (1995) was the second album following the 1993 debut full-length that came after a few demos/singles going back to 1989. The Lament of Gods is a 1999 EP, and in this reissue it includes the 1997 demo “Sarmutius Pegorus.” The music at times launches into full-on headbanging speed, but more so on the 1995 album than the 1999 recording, for instance. By 1997 the band has developed the horror-gothic keyboards further and reached a good balance between extreme metal and somber/horror moods. I sometimes get the feeling that these Varathron recordings are, if you are able to imagine it, something like 1984-1986 Celtic Frost covering Mercyful Fate songs with the added element of more prominent keyboards. Does it sound like any of those bands? No, it does not, but repeated listens reveal spots in which you hear the music that influenced them. There are some brief moments in which I feel like, “That could only have from Celtic Frost and nowhere else!”, if you know the context of the time and of Varathron.

Let’s unpack this matter with an example. The Lament of Gods EP has a cover of Mercyful Fate’s 1982 song “Nuns Have No Fun” (which itself sounds like a Judas Priest/Scorpions-based song, with explicit lyrics [and Judas Priest and Scorpions themselves took a lot from Led Zeppelin]). Varathron takes this standard-style heavy rock song, and then adds Greek Orthodox Church choir chanting at the beginning, brings in the heavier tuning and pushes up the keyboards, and then the low-growl scowl extreme vocals. Really, they could have changed the lyrics and called it their own original song, and not many people would have noticed. At the very worst, they, like Metallica, just could have said that they love the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (of which Mercyful Fate was basically part) and that some of their ideas are inspired by those bands. Varathron could have left it at that and said no more about it. Anyway, so it does kind of sound like classic Celtic Frost covering Mercyful Fate. Wait. There’s more because the song is wrapped in that horror movie soundtrack, dark classical music and gothic rock vibe. For instance, somewhere in there in the song, there is a trace of bands like Joy Division, like “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and those keyboards. Those types of keyboards do not come from Judas Priest nor Mercyful Fate. Varathron was getting ideas from other places.

However, then listen to the next song on this Vic Records reissue, namely, “The Grim Palace” (from the 1997 EP), and this is closer to headbanging black metal, a bit like neosymphonic black metal, with a mellow middle segment, and with some blasting, but in the Varathron way. Anyway, so that’s how this band rolls, kind of doing various things at once and turning it into what people call the old-school Greek black metal sound. The recording sound quality is ok, it’s not bad at all, considering the level of technology and resources available to an underground Greek band at that time. In some spots, the drumming sounds fast but stiff, like drum programming. It's also possible that all these recordings have drum programming. It’s not clear from the information available and it’s not like the band wanted to brag about their use of drum machines.

To get the fancy reissues see what Vic Records is doing. The YouTube videos below are here for your information only. The videos do not come from Vic Records.

https://www.vicrecords.com/product/6398204/varathron-walpurgisnacht-jewel-case-re-issue

https://www.vicrecords.com/product/6618684/varathron-the-lament-of-gods

Nuns Have No Fun

Varathron - Walpurgisnacht [ Full-length 1995]

VARATHRON The Lament of Gods - 1999 [FULL ALBUM]

Nasty Bits - old-style heavy metal (Washington state, USA)

Bandcamp and Metal Archives have a 2018 album listed for this hard-rocking heavy metal band in the Seattle area. On their Facebook page it looks like they were playing shows in Washington state around 2019, but it is not clear what is happening now. The album could be of interest to audiences wanting a bit of that old-school, rough sound in heavy metal, perhaps a pre-1983 type of sound.

Nasty Bits by Nasty Bits

https://www.facebook.com/NastyBitsSeattle/

Bludgeoned - brutal death (Washington state, USA)

Metal Archives shows that this brutal death metal project formed in 2018. They did a single in 2019, another single in 2021 and then the EP below in 2021. It is Sean May on guitars (2018-present) (ex-Covidectomy); Jonathan Huber on the growling (2018-present) (ex-I, Detest, ex-I Declare War, ex-Pathology, ex-Aegaeon [live], ex-Whitechapel [live], ex-Figureless Embodiment) and Nikhil Talwalkar on drums (2020-present), who seems to be a drummer-for-hire for projects in the U.S. and abroad. Anyway, this recording is exclusively for fans of the brutal sounds.

Summary Execution by Bludgeoned

https://www.facebook.com/bludgeonedofficial

when Denver death metal came to Everett: Astral Tomb, Insipidus, Cronos Compulsion & Sunshine Lollipop

On Wednesday night March 23rd at Tony V’s Garage in Everett three Denver, Colorado area bands brought their death metal. Cronos Compulsion kicked things off with their old-school death doom. They have their slower moments and they also launch into high speed headbanging segments. Their music overall stays more in the primal, brutal side of things.

Cursed and Decaying by Cronos Compulsion

https://www.facebook.com/cronoscompulsion

Insipidus followed with their guitar-shredding-jamming death metal. The growling and drumming make you think this is death metal, but the guitar is not the normal or expected death metal riffs. Rather, there is a shreddy, jam or solo-mania trait going on that suggests that there are other things happening besides regular death metal. When you hear the music on the recording it already seems like a sound individual to the band, and when you hear it live that is confirmed. It is a bit different, and sometimes it sounds like the guitar goes into its own little world of shredding and soloing, all the while the growling, drums and bass are keeping the main road of the rhythm steady so that listener does not lose track. The band played its own material, and also did at least three covers: Deicide, Sepultura and Death.

https://www.facebook.com/insipidusband

INSIPIDUS Banal Apathy — Demo by Insipidus

The third band was Sunshine Lollipop from Washington state. This is a band obsessed with destroying and ridiculing music as we know it. Their positive-mind grind songs last anywhere from one to 30 seconds. They say that their lyrics are all about happiness, and they even played a birthday song for a man that said it was his birthday. The band told him that they loved him, and the strange man revealed that he had lied to all of us and it was not really his birthday, and so we grabbed objects to throw to the stranger because of how furious we felt at being lied to at a metal show. Just kidding. We did not assault the stranger. That would violate the rules of Sunshine Lollipop.

This band also played a longer song that could have lasted up to two minutes, which felt like an eternity. I sensed that they were mocking the laziness of doom bands’ one-note boring super long songs of nothing-happening. The band, I believe, likes to play short songs because they love it when people clap every few seconds, which is what happened on this night. So many short songs (maybe 25?!), and people clapped. A lot. A whole lot. The drummer, Scott Sandefur (formerly of death metal monkey wrench wielders Born Without Blood, and he’s also like in a dozen other bands of all genres), told me that they are not on social media yet and they have not published any music. This was their first show; and I was there to witness it. You were not. So sad for you.

Astral Tomb closed with their “cosmic death metal,” which is another way of saying psychedelic death metal. Imagine a bunch of hippies (into Cream, Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Mountain, Black Sabbath, Sir Lord Baltimore, Uriah Heep and all that expansive heaviness) teleported to 2022 and discovering that they like the heaviness and brutality of death metal but want to keep the adventurous spirit of Iron Butterfly’s "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” There is growling, but there are long instrumental passages. The music goes anywhere from blasting speed brutality to mellow, quiet segments, and everything in between. Perhaps not by coincidence, the band likes to wear tie-dye shirts, which adds to the idea of “cosmic death metal” or “psychedelic death metal” or whatever other similar term is preferred. They are following up their 2021 EP with a full-length called Soulgazer out on March 25th.

Soulgazer by ASTRAL TOMB

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063825054335

Degradation of Human Consciousness by Astral Tomb