Vampillia - Alchemic Heart (CD review)

01.Sea
02.Land


Velladon (Vocals/Guitar)
Possession mongoloid (Vocals)
The Piano (Piano)
Micci The Mistake (Bass)
Rei Miyato (Violin)
Joshua Lozano (Guitar)
Reygyo
Talow The Tornado
Tatsuya Yoshida
Slash Japan
Shuichi Detox Mabe

Guests:
Jarboe
Merzbow

First released in january 2011 in the usa, Alchemic Heart is about to become available for the first time as a physical release throughout Europe via a worldwide deal with Temple of Torturous.

Vampillia have created an album comprised of two parts - Land and Sea. Both together create a primitive soundscape of layered strings, piano, bass, noise and vocals.  Contributions come courtesy of musical luminaries Jarboe and Merzbow.

Vampillia describe themselves as a "brutal orchestra", which barely does justice to the intricacies and complexities of their composition. Counting an ex-Boredoms member among their founders, Vampillia, much like the Boredoms, absorb rock, noise, modern composition, experimental music & pop and explode it out as hardcore spirit music.

In the last few years, Vampillia have played, recorded and toured with artists as influential and varied as Attila Csihar (Sunn O))), Mayhem), Vincent Gallo, Thee Oh Sees, Nadja, Atlas Sound, Alcest, Jarboe (ex-Swans), Boris, Melt Banana and Merzbow among many others.

“We hope the music gives a strong impression of overwhelming speciality and mysteriously universal sounds,” the band says.

When you get a record like this it becomes near impossible to review, this is what i like to call "Anti-Music", where sounds are layered forwards and backwards to create a soundscape, a type of un-nerving ambience.This first piece 'Land' runs for 22 minutes, full of clever recording tricks, backwards masking and strange use of traditional instruments, this is held together by a lone violin.
Half way through guitar chords appear and start to create some basic musical structure, this is then disturbed by heavilly distored f/x and operatic vocals.

The next 22 minutes are taken up by 'Sea', a very quite, atmospheric start with Jarboe speaking the lyrics, remaining a solem piece throughout with simple guitar chords over symphonic violin and piano.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Merzbow, Jarboe, Zweitstein, White Noise, Exorium, Residents, Boredoms

Dysphorian Breed - The Longing For The Tides Of Metamorphosis (CD Review)

01.The Tides
02.The Longing
03.The Metamorphosis

David Fredriksson (Vocals/Guitar/Bass/Programming)

Dysphorian Breed is a one man metal project from Sweden started only a few months ago by former black metal vocalist and multi instrumentalist David Fredriksson.
Influences range from funeral, sludge to gothic doom metal.


'The Tides' opens with some nice choral keyboard sounds over a simple down tempo guitar/bass/drum rhythm, it then slows slightly as the vocals come in, fairly typical gruff/demonic vocals.
The song does however throw some intresting timing changes into the mix, at one point we get to near break neck speed, then a funeral doom riff over more keyboard.

Though it could be said that 'The Longing' is simply more of the same, there is more keyboard work on offer here which helps to create a slightly symphonic feel, also some great double pedal drum work and a few fancy riffs go to make a bigger sounding song.

A very "Kraftwerk" sounding synth throughout 'The Metamorphosis' and i love it!
When the synth stops it turns into a dark and evil sounding black metal inspired doom workout.
Around the 4 minute mark the drums really pick up and for a minute i'm thinking this could explode into some full on black metal, however David resists and gets that awesome synth into play and the song soon sadly ends.

This is a brilliant debut and that it is a solo recording makes this even more impressive.

Rating 9/10
For fans of: Reverend Bizarre, Thergothon, Triptykon, My Dying Bride, Shadow Of The Torturer

Dying Out Flame - Shiva Rudrastakam (CD Review)

01.Praise Of The Omnipresent One
02.Shiva Rudrastakam
03.Eternal Mother Of Great Time
04.Vayuputra
05.Maisasura Maridini
06.Trinetra Dhari (Three Eyed One)


Aabeg Gautam (vocals/Bass)
Prachanda Amatya (Drums)
Saujanya Pahadi (Guitar)
Bikalpa Choudhary (Guitar)
Nakchu Gurung (Female Vocals)

With as assorted landscape and topography as the tiny nation of Nepal holds it was just a matter of time span that something as ghastly astonishing as ‘Dying Out Flame’ would come into the way of life in this holy land of varied religions. It was in the year 2011 when Aabeg Gautam along with Prachanda Amatya decided to shape a union that later, after few scholar carvings, would structured into something unbearably influencing form of Death Metal called Vedic Death Metal. This very sound undoubtedly would represent Nepal in the already chaotic, callous and repetitive sound of the genre in the world-wide perspective of Extreme Metal.

The band is known to create a variant feature of fierce and gruesome perimeter of Death Metal radiantly mixed with the ancient Hindus Mythologies, raags and chants with great dexterity and agility that strikes the brain cells with very less compassion and care.
Starting their ritualistic live journey with ‘Beginning of the End’ show in Kathmandu to Brutal Lunch Box and then the much coveted Nepal Deathfest in the early month of 2014 the band has always grew in terms of performers and has be able to gather a much devoted hordes of cult followers where ever (Kathmandu, Pokhara, Hetauda) they have played. With such colossal mass following, it was just inevitable that the sect of DOF heat will be felt world over and finally on the propitious occasion of ‘Shiva Ratri’ the band released their first official single ‘Shiva Rudrastakam’ via Metal Underground webzine to the worldwide audience and an interview with USA based Metal magazine ‘DECIBEL’ what followed then was a whirlpool of DOF veneration that catapulted the band to a upright new height of fame and acknowledgments.

On July 12 2014, amid the gathering of colossal mass the band put forward their righteous offering of vedic devastation in the form of 6 track independently released album ‘Shiva Rudrastakam’ to the local allies and it was soon recognized by the mighty Xtreem Records (Spain), who have now released the album to a worldwide audience.

With echoes of the 1960's psych/folk band "Quintessence" the opening song 'Praise Of The Omnipresent One' mixes traditional Indian music with a modern heavy metal drum pattern.

'Shiva Rudrastakam' begins with tabla and acoustic instruments, then suddenly explodes into a full on death metal song, blast beats and powerchords and gruff vocals.
Half way through the song turns to sitar and chanting and then ends on tabla once again.


Borderline black metal riffs and drum patterns on 'Eternal Mother Of Great Time' later gives way to more traditional Indian music over some pretty extreme drumming, the next song 'Vayuputra' follows the same route.

'Maisasura Maridini' seems to mix more chanting over a simple bassline until the music kicks in and again its a full on death metal onslaught, the pace does not relent for one second and instead of a guitar solo towards the end we have a sitar solo instead.

Finally 'Trinetra Dhari (Three Eyed One)' starts as death metal, then turns almost prog rock with some jazzy rhythms and odd tunings on the lead guitar, more chanting and ethnic instrumentation is thrown in, at times reminiscent of Serj Tankians Serat project.

India influence in rock music has been around ever since the mid 1960's when Jim Sullivan did the Lord Sitar album, the mantle was taken up by Brian Jones and Jimmy Page and much later with Clark-Hutchinson, im not sure any of them could have forseen any mixture of the heaviest forms of rock blending so well in the future.

Rating 9/10
For fans of: Rudra, Kartikeya, Nile, Hate Eternal

7H.Target - 0.00 Apocalypse (CD Review)

01.Mutants That Live for One Day
02.Gun-handed Iron Killer
03.Regeneration of Steel Organs
04.Technofetishist
05.Cyborg Kombat
06.Meatball Machine Story
07.S-9

Mikhail Panfilov (Drums)
Aleksey Menshov (Guitars)
Konstantin Korolev (Bass)
Mirus (Vocals)

Essentially a project for Korolev and Panfilov created intheir home town Nizhny Novgorod in Russia back in 2011.
Described as the "new generation" of Death Metal. Earth-drilling mechanisms emanate from the scientific outpost in Russia. This is out to change the landscape of the genre. 'Wormed' tried to do that in the last decade but this is just on a different level altogether. Touted as the biggest release in the Russian underground, this album has three artists painting the elaborate futuristic concept of this band and the album '0.00 Apocalypse' has the original vocalist, Mirus, of the established band Katalepsy and Aleksey from 'Cremated Lives on guitar.

Yeh okay really? THIS is the "new generation" of Death Metal?
If seven hyper slabs of techno metal with a tin sounding snare drum and pig squeals for vocals is the future then i will stick to the past.

Does not have the industrial edge that would make futuristic death metal "new", like say taking Fear Factory and Meshuggah to the next level

So okay this is not a total disaster, much of the music (if you can get past the awful snare drum sound) is pretty good and the ideas have some weight, the pig squeal vocals can work in some trypes of extreme metal, but here they sound wrong.

Rating 4/10
For fans of: The Berzerker, Cattle Decapitation, Repulsion

Dioramic - Supra (CD Review)

01.Xibalba
02.Carpets On The Walls
03.The Calm Before
04.The Storm
05.Worth
06.Big Pump
07.Melancholia
08.Logbook
09.Vortex Reflex


Arkadi Zaslavski (Guitar/Vocals)
Max Nicklas (Bass)
Alex Mauch (Guitar)
Paul Seidel (Drums)

German alternative/hardcore/screamo band formed in 2002, Recording for Supra started in 2011, but a line up change halted progress for a while. The band’s original drummer, Anton, found success with his alter ego ZEDD and recently picked up a Grammy award. This increased activity elsewhere left little time for the band so they drafted in Paul Seidel (War From A Harlot's Mouth, The Ocean).


The music's not bad but the screamo vocals are awful on 'Xibalba', the melodic vocals work, but it just becomes a noize.
Thats pretty much the same for the next few tracks until the more melodic and well structured 'Worth' this one really has that Muse vibe and is pretty good.

After another noize we get the haunting 'Melancholia' another one that fits the Muse influence, even the keyboard sound is the same.

'Logbook' even though its that horrid screamo vocal in places, really works, it has a huge backing chorus and layered keyboards.

Not sure about 'Vortex Reflex' the song was silent? dunno if this is a mistake from the record company or some clever statement?


Rating: 6/10
For fans of: Muse, Mars Volta, Deftones

Avulsed - Carnivoracity 2014 Expanded Reissue (CD Review)

01.Carnivoracity
02.Cradle Of Bones
03.Demonic Possession

Live Bonus Tracks:
04.Morgue Defilement
05.Bodily Ransack
06.As I Behold I Despise
07.Gangrened Divine Stigma
08.Cradle Of Bones
09.Deformed Beyond Belief
10.Carnivoracity
11.Matando Gueros
12.Outro MCED


Dave Rotten (Vocals)
Cabra (Guitar)
Juancar (Guitar)
Tana (Bass)
Erik (Drums)

AVULSED is without any doubt the most veteran and constant band in the Spanish extreme Metal scene since its inception in August '91 formed in madrid. Being the most active band in terms of releases (despite of not being a very prolific band) and live performances around the world and never even taking a small break ever since always being loyal to their Death Metal style.

Released way back in 1994, this caused quite a sensation and was much sought after. The vocals were legendary and the raw grinding heaviness was almost unparalleled in the region. The band put Spain on the map and we knew this band from the tape trading circles when there was no internet and everything was exaggerated. This one lived up to the hype because the music is your favourite old school Death Metal, only authentic, and it has that extra element of sickness largely due to the sound and Dave Rotten's unprocessed vocals.

Also this EP comes with live bonus tracks, replete with remastered music and new packaging with liner notes to celebrate the release's 20th anniversary.

At just over 8 minutes the track 'Carnivoracity' is still quite something to behold, not the fastest or even the most complex song i have heard in the genre, but it just drives along at a solid pace, never changes and it works.The vocals (if you can call them vocals) are just a series of death grunts and growls!

'Cradle Of Bones' reminds of those early black metal bands, just a wall of guitars over the drum beats and more of the same vocally.

'Demonic Possession' is  a cover of the chilean band 'Pentagram'.

The live recordings are a great bonus, very raw and a lot faster than the studio recordings, there is also a cover of 'Matando Gueros' by Brujeria.

Rating 7/10
For Fans Of: Brujeria, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Entombed

Evergrey - Hymns For The Broken (CD Review)

01.The Awakening
02.King Of Errors
03.A New Dawn
04.Wake A Change
05.Archaic Rage
06.Barricades
07.Black Undertow
08.The Fire
09.Hymns For The Broken
10.Missing You
11.The Grand Collapse
12.The Aftermath

Tom S. Englund (Vocals/Guitars)
Rikard Zander (keyboards)
Johan Nieman (Bass)
Henrik Danhage (Guitars)
Jonas Ekdahl (Drums)

One of the most original metal bands to come out of Sweden almost called it quits. It wasn't a decision vocalist/guitarist Tom S. Englund had spent hours or weeks brooding over, but as time passed following the band's ‘Glorious Collision’ album from 2011 he felt less and less inspired to continue. Perhaps it was the splintering of the band line-up in 2010 - which saw Henrik Danhage (guitars), Jonas Ekdahl (drums), and Jari Kainulainen (bass) leave on friendly terms - or maybe it was the business side of the music that had worn him down, but Englund had seriously considered throwing in the towel. Fate had other plans, however, and he found himself working alongside his former bandmates due to circumstances beyond his control. The end result of that unplanned collaboration, which was meant to be temporary, resulted in a re-energized Evergrey creating ‘Hymns For The Broken’, arguably the strongest album in the band's 16 year career.

"We needed a stand-in drummer for a few shows that had already been booked," Englund explains, "because Hannes (Van Dahl) had been offered the chance to join Sabaton, so I naturally called Jonas to see if he was available. We also needed a second guitarist, so I asked Henrik and he was fine with it. While we were doing those shows we realized that we were having a lot of fun with the music again."

Oh bloody hell another intro!
Eventually the music starts (hooray!) and 'King Of Errors' really reminds me of Tony Martin era Black Sabbath, very drum driven with this huge dioesque vocal powering through the speakers.

'A New Dawn' is a fast paced, modern melodic heavy metal song, great keyboard sounds, awesome choral style background vocals and another solid performance from the drummer.

Ahh and here we go, so we have had a pointless intro and now here is the heart felt rock ballad with 'Wake A Change'.

'Archaic Rage' in one notch up from the ballad (Just!) at 6 and a half minutes it actually turns into quite a good neo-prog style piece.

'Barricades' has quite a symphonic sound, think its mainly due to the keyboard playing and the Nightwish style guitar work.

Moving between quite and melodic music to some full on metal 'Black Undertow' keeps you listening, waiting to see if it will get faster or if they will bring it down with a simple piano note or two.Very bluesy guitar solo thrown in to make this a brilliant stand out track.

Finally some full on metal (I knew it was gonna be in there somehwere), 'The Fire' delivers with speed, power and agression tempered with some quieter moments and then they even throw in some children singing backing vocals.

Very 80's "hair metal" song is up next and to be fair 'Hymns For The Broken' is a pretty good song, one of those radio friendly rockers that eventually gets into your head.

Piano and Vocal only? Oh dear please not another ballad.... damn it 'Missing You' is indeed a downbeat ballad, great vocal but just not my thing at all.

Now next is the first of two seven minute songs, 'The Grand Collapse' ay have a slow symphoic metal beginning but soon turns into some serious heavy metal, solid drums and nice piano, harmoinic vocals and some fancy guitarwork.

But 'The Aftermath' is an epic rock ballad style again, sure this one has a bit more to it with some great slide guitar, but still a ballad.

Rating 8/10
For Fans Of: Helloween, Dio, Queensryche, Blind Guardian, EdGuy