Barrows - Swine Race (CD Review)

01.Child Of Matricide

02.Long Drop

03.Breaking Wheel

04.River Blindness

05.Interficio Panton

06.Iapetus

07.Matyr

08.Veil On The Throng

09.Uxoricide

Lee Newton (Vocals)

Owen Matz (Guitars)

Joey Stannard (Drums)

Forged in Hell's Basement - Medicine Hat, Canada,back in 2008.
Barrows, was formed as an outlet for three musicians with a passion for all things heavy and disturbing. With an original line-up of Lee Newton (vocals), Owen Matz (guitars) and Allan Breitkreuz (drums); one demo had been released.

But, due to unfortunate circumstances, Allan had to resign from the band.  With no drummer, Joey Stannard was asked to take over drumming duties. At this point the reboot button was pressed and Barrows' signature sound of Immolation clashing it out with Cattle Decapitation and Circle of Dead Children came to life. Swine Grind.

In October of 2014, armed with an arsenal of songs, Barrows entered into the recording process and this is the result.

Whilst the first seven tracks represent a typical band of the genre, screaming vocals, precision and fast drumming and a solid wall of extreme riffs, this all combined with excellent production and performed to a higher standard than many, it is the last two that offer a little more in the way of construction.

'Veil On The Throng' whilst still sledgehammering us with a huge wall of sound, manage also to throw in some slower darker chord structures and at times the drum patter varies to created a dual sound.

At six minutes 'Uxoricide' takes a slower more melodic approach with use of samples and a near death/doom riff.
Such is the change between the two styles it creates balance between agression and rhythmic energy.

Rating 8/10
For fans of: Morbid Angel, Cattle Decapitation, Immolation

Captain Cleanoff - RisingTerror (CD Review)

Ben  (Vocals)
Rohan (Guitar)
Kev (Bass)
Murray (Drums)

Aussie grind band formed around 2009.

So 15 songs that go "Arrrrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!" many dont make it to one minute in length, its fast as fuck and echoes back to the early days of grindcore.

But then comes the last track 'Threads' almost 5 minutes long, and its feedback/grunge intro leads into a sludgy/crust piece that is very well done and makes me wonder what if this whole album was like that with just a few of those 30 second blasts, then this could have been a very different kind of monster and may open them up to a wider audience.

Still all in all, as grind goes this is very well produced and avoids the pitfalls that many in this genre fall into.

Rating 7/10
For Fans Of: Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Terrorizer

BruceXcampbell - Los Angeles Noisecore (Cassette Review)

Hail To The King

01.Ax Of Anger
02.Blood Lust
03.Disgusted By You
04.Grind Your Face Off
05.Warkiller
06.Hail To The King

Humanity Deserves To Die

07.City Of Doom
08.Crushed Beneath The Great Weight Of Hate
09.Delusional PVK
10.Fear They Wrath
11.Humanity
12.The Crave

Gore
Jon (Vocals/Guitar)
Juan
Rolo (Drums)

Formed circa 2006 in California they are a four piece crust grind noise never ending force of nature. they say "Our origins are unknown, but our task in life is to defeat the evil that dwells within life's cycle, which is the madness that grows with power."

This is a compilation casette of two previous releases.

First off with 'Hail To The King' not as fast as i expected, this has some good fuzzed ut sludgey bits in between the blast beats, the vocals are as ever with this genre just a screaming noise, what lets this down for me is the complete and total lack of any samples from Bruce Campbells movies, or re creations of with someone shouting or speaking those legendary catchphrases.

So to 'Humanity Deserves To Die' and its the same again, but have to pick out 'Crushed Beneath The Great Weight Of Hate' an oustanding piece of sludge/doom with a crust on top.

Its good but it aint 'Groovy' !

Rating 5/10
For Fans Of: Offal, Coffinborn, Gravecrusher

Arstídir Lífsins - Aldafǫor Ok Munka Drottinn (CD Review)

01.Kastar Heljar Brenna Fjarri Ofan Onundarfiroinum
02.Knorr Siglandi Birtisk A Löngu Bláu Yfirborði
03.Þeir Heilags Dóms Hirðar
04.Úlfs Veðrit Er Ið CMXCIX
05.Máni, Bróðir Sólar Ok Mundilfara
06.Tími Er kominn At kveða Fyrir Pér
07.Norðsæta Gatis, Herforingja Ormsins Langa
08.Bituls Skokra Benvargs Hreggjar A Sér Stað
09.Sem Lengsk Vánar Lopts Ljósgimu Hvarfs Dregr Narri


Arni (Drums/Vocals/Cello)
Marsel (Vocals)
Stefan (Guitar/Bass/Piano)

Since 2008, the art of the outstanding Icelandic/German Metallers Árstíðir lífsins (Icelandic for “The Seasons of Life“) truly breathes Old Norse history on all levels. Now, and with their 3rd album Aldafoðr ok munka dróttinn (Old Icelandic for Óðinn and the God of the Monks), Árstíðir lífsins further depict the vivid and cruel Icelandic Middle Ages from the most realistic angle possible.

Entirely sung in Old Norse-Icelandic and with added Skaldic stanzas from the world-known Icelandic sagas, Aldafoðr ok munka dróttinn takes you on a journey to the uttermost vivid and mythic Conversion of Iceland in the year 1000 as it is displayed in the vernacular medieval sources from the stormy North-Atlantic. Árstíðir lífsins, however, represent authenticity on all levels: as diverse as the world views of Christians and heathens are, also the composition and arrangement of music is on Aldafoðr ok munka dróttinn: From ambient archaic folklore patterns, supported by dark chants and classical instruments, to Black Metal elements in their finest Norwegian tradition and epic double-bass driven Viking Metal parts, the musical abilities materialize and teach a powerful lession in real craftmanship. So behold, this profound journey is truly intended to capture the listeners and directly depart them into a long gone time of struggling worshippers of Óðinn and the God of the Monks.

Aldafoðr ok munka dróttinn is a full length album, in all its meanings; to depict and express such various topics of Scandinavian history and myth.

Taking track one on face value, its a stunning, awesome and mind blowing epic 12 minutes of pure musicianship!
From the traditional folk elements it moves into a very dark almost black metal song except every time you think its going somewhere you know it then throws in a different sound, the vocals go from what sounds like chanting monks, to normal vocals then spoken words.
Half way through we border on extreme metal with frantic double pedal work and demonic vocals just as that gets into its stride it drops away for some simple and ambient keyboard and guitar playing.
The one draw back is that it is in their native tongue, but then that never did Rammstein any harm and somehow it doesnt matter it has atmosphere by the ton.

That review covers the next few tracks, each seemingly adding to the quality of the album, when we get to track six however we are treated to a classical piece with some more of that monk chanting style vocal.

The remainder of the album returns to the original style, honestly if i were to write about each song I would just be repeating myself, this is a stunning and essential body of work to own!

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Ulver, Sunn 0))), Rammstein, Mono

Norse - Pest (CD Review)

01.Encoded Weakness
02.Disarmed, Toothless, Weak
03.Pest
04.True Insignificance
05.Irradiator
06.Aimless


ADR (Vocals/Bass)
Forge (Drums/Guitar)

Shayne Querruel (Session/Live Guitars)
S. Maher (Session/Live Guitars)
Marcus Bastiaanse (Session/Live Bass)

Austrailian band Norse began in 2006 with 7 years of turmoil, member changes and conflict, with Forge (drums) at the core. At Norse' heart lies experimentation and innovation, which is driving force behind each album. Consistently pushing boundaries and showcasing the bands unique ideologies, Norse is not interested in genres or trends but creating unique music and atmospheres.

'Encoded Weakness' is a strange and wonderful mix of styles and ideas, some traditional elements of extreme metal blended with avant-garde noise and drone, add to this screamed and spoken vocals and you have a rare example of a band really pushing forward.

'Pest' is a little more restrained, this one has more in common with the doom genre, slow pounding and atmospheric.

Then comes 'True Insignificance' a full on extreme/death metal tirade of instruments and screams, reminds me of early Anaal Nathrakh.

Dispite the drums being stuck on full speed times infinity, the overall feeling you get from 'Irradiator' is one of a slow and gloomy black metal style, this due mainly to the guitarwork.

Finally 'Aimless' opens with some dark synth then falls into this nightmare world of strange noise and extreme metal, before ending back with more dark synthwork.

This kind of music has always been of intrest to me, any band can just play straight forward metal (any sub genre of your choice) but this band like a few others like to play around with what they can do and create a kind of musical artform, though it may be a hellish noise to many it is clever and well thoughout, intense and intresting.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Anaal Nathrakh, Axis Of Perdition, Sunn 0))), Blut Aus Nord, Aborym, Ulver

Womit Angel - Maggotmouth EP (CD Review)

01.Maggotmouth
02.Children Of Moon
03.King SM

Vile Anarchy (Drums)
J.Violatör (Guitar)
W.Horepreacher (Bass/Vocals)

Wömit Angel was founded in early summer of 2010 in Tampere, Finland, by three guys who wanted to create music that makes you to drink your ass off and to mosh your head off, just like Impaled Nazarene and Motörhead does, so it was clear from the start that you could hear the attitude in Wömit Angel’s furious and storming music. In December last year long time drummer Vile Anarchy parted ways with Wömit Angel thus leaving the two founding brothers in this rabid wolfpack.

I was expecting a full on nasty assault of the worst kind, smashing drums, screaming guitars and deathly vocals from the pits of hell, all wrapped up in short bursts of agression....
And that's exactly what i got, simple, stunning and in your face blend of punk and extreme metal.

Rating 9/10
For Fans Of: Venom, Warfare, Impaled Nazarene, Mayhem

Phyrexia - Children Of The Dawn EP (Cd Review)

01.1914
02.Children Of The Dawn


Elliot Beaver (Vocals)
Dan Saunders (Guitar)
Vicki Thompson (Keyboards)
Paul Nazarkardeh (Guitar)
Simon McAuliffe (Bass)
Tom Atherton (Drums)



London's Phyrexia released an ep sometime back and it was good but lacked "production" this new EP recorded, mixed and mastered by Tom Sullivan brings a quality to these tracks and allows us to hear the full might of their excellent take on Epic Black/Extreme metal.

Can i just start by saying "Fucking Hell!!!" because thats the initial reaction to '1914'.
The power that comes through the speakers its brain melting, everything about this is just 100% better than their last EP.
The vocals are agressive and stunning and the drumming absolutley slays!
Superb guitar work in different styles from shred to near acoustic, the timing changes in the music and the subtle tones of dark piano just add layer upon layer of depth.

Symphonic Death/Black metal comes once again screaming out of the speakers!
'Children Of The Dawn' is a very harsh drum driven beast, with beautiful harmony underneath the mix coming from a slower synth sound.
About three minutes in you get this fantastic guitar solo and then it slows down for some screaming vocals before that awesome drum pattern kicks back in.

At this level the band now need an album and video, time everybody knew about them!!

STU

Rating 10/10

For fans Of : Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Akercocke, Order Of Apollyon.

THE ORDER OF APOLLYON - THE FLESH (CD Review)

01.God Speaks

02.Ich Bin Das Licht

03.Word

04.Never

05.Fifth

06.White Dust

07.Four Beasts

08.Flesh Of Yhvh

09.Ex-Voto

10.L'Orgueuil

James McIlroy (Guitar)

Dan Wilding (Drums)

BST (Guitar/Vocals)

Peter Benjamin (Bass)

Formed in summer 2008 by former Aborted members Daniel Wilding and BST, the band began work on the first offering following the induction of guitarist James McIlroy (Cradle Of Filth/Chaosanct) and bassist Peter Benjamin (Akercocke).

The opus, entitled “The Flesh”, concentrates on the passage from the spiritual to the material,

and unlike the clinical sounding productions that intoxicate the metal industry.

The Order’s first release aspires to praise the extreme metal scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s.

The cult of Apollyon is set on dessiminating the message of our God the Supreme Being. It will drive the masses to accept the indubitable domination of the Holy Spirit and to repent their sins before the impending Judgement.

The disloyal scum shall writhe in Eternal Suffering, while a chosen elite shall bathe in glory and rapture. Unconditional devotion is the key.The tag line is more a statement of intent than a mere slogan:

"For his Name. For his Glory. For his Victory. Judgement is upon us. Join The Order."

A nice intro leads us into an aural onslaught of powerhouse drumming, well executed riffs and screaming vocals that have much more in common with Black metal than the more obvious extreme metal that they wanted to emulate.

In fact the opening song 'Ich Bin Das Licht' would not be out of place on Dimmu Borgir's 'In Sorti Diabol' album.

'Word' also has a near symphonic quality to it, however the speed and power keep this firmly in the "extreme" but clearly outclassing the majority of genre exponents by a clear mile.

The powerchord driven and brooding 'Never' blends rhythm with short bursts of high velocity metal to perfection, superb lyrics and the overall production and structure make this for me the best song on the album.

Track 5 with its inspired title 'Fifth' creates that wall of energy that requires a seatbelt on the sofa to appreciate, especially when played at 100% volume.

Both 'White Dust' and 'Four Beasts' stick to traditional form with blast beats punctuating the mayhem, with added guitar solos to die for.

As promised the song 'Flesh Of Yhvh' delivers on all levels, near demonic vocals backed with punchy chord work truly harken back to the glory' days whilst retaining the modern edge and influence.

The horror movie score quality to 'Ex-Voto' creates a sense of impending doom and the haunted vocal effects makes for an ambience that will require a change of underwear for some.

Finally 'L'Orgueuil' deals with the subject of pride, musically its a real headbangers delight with a solid heavy rhythm and enough melodic breakdowns to recover.

STU

Rating 9/10

For fans of: Anaal Nathrakh, Axis Of Perdition, Akercocke, Dimmu Borgir

EL SCHLONG - THE BADDIES ARE COMING (Cd Review)

01.The Baddies Are Coming

02.Bungface

03.The Room

04.Composting

05.The Cow Jumped Over The Moon

06.Swing accident

07.Arthur R Nevilleson-Robertson-Brown

08.Harbour Cone

Jordan Tredray (Drums/Vocals)

Nick Baldwin (Bass/Fx/Vocals)

Leah Hinton (Guitar/Keyboards/Vocals)

Guest:

Dave Kempton (Trumpet)

It is difficult to place this New Zealand band in any one genre, having been based here for nearly two years and playing on the mainly metal scene, they have built up a cult following, yet they are pretty unique musically and go far beyond metal.

For want of a description i would suggest that if the Bonzo Dog Band were a black metal band then they might sound like this!

So throwing caution to the wind i hit play........
'The Baddies Are Coming' starts with a full on metal riff then goes into this nice happy tune, then more metal, its rhythmic and awesome, superb guitar playing and death metal vocal.

'Bungface' is fairly generic death metal, but with great breakdowns.

Some quite dark and disturbing lyrics accompany 'The Room', "There's no escape from this nightmare of boarded up windows" the music is outstanding, just brillianly composed and executed.

'Composting' is a song about, well, compost, it screams like a satanic metal song but its about gardening!

Were comic legend Spike Milligan to have written one of his funny poems about a cow and set it to avante garde rock then 'The Cow Jumped Over The Moon' would be the result.It has a gothic tone about it like an old Siouxie & Banshees track.

'Swing Accident' has Leah sounding like Angela Gossow over a brooding powerchord heavy song, but then of course we get a weird nice jazzy bit thrown in for good measure.

The next song is a long masterpiece about a man and his slippers !Nothing short of genius writing wise and musically this is a quintessential El Schlong song in that it has all the different musical elements in one place.

We come to the last song which i think is about climbing a hill or something like that.

Again such wonderful lyrics and great music and some remarkable trumpet playing.

Rating 10/10

For fans of : Primus, Mr Bungle, Frank Zappa, Isis, System Of A Down

STU