Beyond Mind - Wrath of the Dead Tounge - 89

Beyond Mind is a two-man depressive black metal band from New Zealand. This is their debut five track EP, Wrath of the Dead Tounge.

The name itself, Beyond Mind, and the EP name, Wrath of the Dead Tounge, are interesting and intriguing by themselves, so upon recieving this EP, I was betting for some strange enigmatic black metal. This is what I got too, and I am definitly pleased with the results. Two words one could use to descirbe this release are droning, and spacey. They tend to go off into three minute long drones, maybe one of discordant, distorted, three note riffs. Maybe one of somewhat melodic, clean guitar.

The vocals are another thing I'd like to mention. They're very packed with emotion, giving a vibe off of pure depravity and insanity, which I like. They're not sad, or very hateful, just insane. It's pretty original and I like it. It's fitting to hear him slurring twisted words over an entrancing drone.

Depressive black metal is an interesting thing, and I think Beyond Mind takes a very original approach to this, if you consider them depressive. Normally when you think of depressive black metal, you think sad songs, tortured vocals, minor keys, ect. Beyond Mind is not like this. They have slow, low guitar riffs, most of which do not seem to follow a minor key, and again, this can easily be described as very expressive of insanity. This is more akin to Xasthur or Leviathan than it is Nocturnal Depression or Drowning the Light. No melodic guitar lines here. Probably my only major gripe with this is, it's monotony and lack of occasional melody.

Overall a good release, I reccomend you to check Beyond Mind.

Haemotodipsomania - Promo 2009. 90%

Haemotodipsomania is a slamming brutal death/pornogrind band from Jacksonville, Florida. This is their four track promo demo from this year.

These guys play brutal as shit, midpaced, slamming brutal death metal. They do not use a guitar, rather they use a distorted bass. Now, you'd expect this to sound bad or incoherent, but the bass tone is actually very natural, gritty, dirty and perfect for this music. You can hear everything as well, every riff is easily heard and enjoyed. The riffs are all heavy and groove-laden, brutal, albeit simple, and quite easy to headbang to. This is by all means party music, very fun, and very brutal.

The vocals go along with the riffs nicely. The vocalist is using a pitchshifter for sure, but I also hear some other kind of processor, which sounds great. They go perfectly with the music, in time and in rhythm. Drums are good, not much to say about them, they do their job, and sound good, not much variety in the beats, but this is alright.

To conclude the review, this is a solid slab of groovy death/grind, fun to sit down and relax to. Reccomended for fans of Torsofuck, Gorerotted and Devourment.

www/myspace.com/haemotodipsomania

Baby Basher - Bound For Torture, Beaten Into Submission. 92.3%

Baby Basher is a two man brutal death/pornogrind band from Jacksonville, Florida. This is their first full length, Bound For Torture, Beaten Into Submission.

The riffs for this album are mostly fast and grinding, at an up-tempo pace, comparable to Insect Warfare. Frantically strummed power chords and tremelo picked riffs, coupled with open-stringed breakdowns are what most of the songs are made of, the guitar tone is rough and gritty, yet audiable, you can hear every riff. This is not your average death/grind though. I can definitly hear a shitload of old school death metal influences in half of the riffs, which is kind of expected considering they're from Tampa. I was reminded of Scream Bloody Gore so many times throughout this album, which is definitly a good thing, you do not see much old-school influence in most of today's grind, and these guys can integrate it into their music with great effect. They keep things interesting and brutal, succeeding in creating an intense wall of sound, again similar to Insect Warfare. They have frequent little bass solos, which I always am a sucker for. Wonderful bass tone as well, by the way.

Vocals on this album consist mostly of pitchshifted growls and squeals. They do their job, and are not at all bad, they're quite good in fact. My only complaint about them is the lack of diversity, not just in vocal style, but in patterns as well. I'd like it if they mixed in some natural vocals in there, maybe some regular growls, screams, whatever. But, it'd be even better if they had more intricite vocal patterns. They mostly just sing at a flat rate over the music, while it'd sound so much better if they mixed it up and sang with rythem, like Dyscrasia or something. The vocals are good, they do their job and add to the brutallity, it's just that they could do with a bit more diversity.

Baby Basher uses a drum machine as well. Normally, drum machines are alright and are just there to do their job and blast. However, these guys are one of the few that can utilize a drum machine in a great way. The drums are very good on this album. They do blast a lot, but they also go into a lot of other intriciate little rythems and patterns, quite easy to hear and they sound great. Even a few drumsolos here and there, which is quite a nice touch. These guys do a wonderful job with this, you will not mind the fact that they use a drum machine at all.

Another thing I'd like to say is about the groovy parts. Seeing as though this is brutal death/grind, it's kind of expected that there's gonna be a few grooves and slams here and there. And there are. But, the problem is, I can tell they're going for a groovy slam, but the groove parts are not ryhthemic enough to bang your head to. They're brutal, and sound good, but I don't think they're acheiving the effect that they're aiming for.

Oh, and I'd really like to commend Baby Basher on their samples. They make wonderful use of samples. Most bands like Torsofuck or Mortician have like three minute long samples that are annoying as hell, and have some bitch screaming and a chainsaw. Booring. Baby Basher on the other hand, has five to ten second samples that are actually good and at times absolutly hilarious. These guys make fucking great use of samples, something I've yet to see in a lot of other bands, and I really appreciate that Baby Basher know's how to do em right.

To conclude this review, I'm going to say Baby Basher is a very good band of modern gore-soaked death/grind, keeping it fucking brutal and interesting, gory, and hilarious. They have their flaws, but overall, kickass band. Reccomended for fans of Death, Insect Warfare, Nasum, Devourment and Cannibal Corpse.

Check their myspace at www.myspace.com/baybeebasher666

Cauldron Born - Blood Crusade 90%

Cauldron Born is a death metal band from Pakistan. This is their first demo, two songs, called Blood Crusade.

The first track, Blood Crusade, starts out blasting with a pound-your-face in type riff, fast and thrashy as hell, but headbangable, kind of like a riff off ov Scream Bloody Gore. It then slows down into a bit simpler riff, sounds even a bit Egyptian with the higher notes alternating with open strings, the thrash influence is very apparant. Catchy and brutal, just the way I like it. After an acoustic part and a short solo, the Egyptian influences are really fucking glowing now like a bitch after getting fucked. To mix things up even more, they throw in a drum solo that is like a beat to a fucking war-march. It goes on like this for a while, multiple interesting riffs, before going into a breakdown. At first I'm thinking "Shit, here comes a boring metalcore-esque breakdown" but after about five seconds I realized it was groovy as fuck, and again was like something to play to a marching army. The vocals in this song are either phlegmy highs or brutal, indecipherable lows. Very nice vocals, I don't see many bands doing highs like these guys. By the end ov this track, I had already decided this was going to get an 85 or higher.

The next and last song, Exit Wounds, starts with an interesting enough war-movie intro. A short drum intro, and the band breaks into a thrashy Slayer mode. This song stays in a semi-interesting thrashy midpace groove. The problem with this is, they gallop the open E constantly without any breaks for a lot of the song which gets old if overused. It's far from a bad track though, later it gets some high riffing and sounds pretty good. An average thrashy song, but enjoyable nonetheless. Right when I'm getting bored, they finally mix things up with a very nice clean guitar and a far-off, dreamy sounding guitar solo. This really improves the song a lot. It breaks back into thrash mode again, with a very good and interesting solo.

To conclude this review, this is a very good peice of modern death/thrash, has a nice blend of old and new school vibe to it as well. Interesting vocals, very pheghmy and distinctive, I enjoy them. The guitar got kind of boring in the riffing of the second song, so I'd suggest they'd have more variation though. Drums I think are on a machine, but while simplistic, they get the job done. You should check out this band, www.myspace.com/cauldronborn666

Decaying Citadel - Where the Ancient Bones Are Laid To Rest.

This is the first demo of New Jersey funeral doom band Decaying Citadel. It's a two track demo, lasts about 22 minutes and I fucking love it =D

The first song, Chaos Ivocation starts out with an admittedly horrible intro. It sounds at first like someone just fiddling around with a wannabe doom riff. This lame riff goes on for about 2 and a half minutes, right before you are about to turn it off, it gets amazingly better. Fucking heavy ass chords come in, sludgy and demonic, slow and grinding. Here, it gets good. As you are starting to fall into trance that funeral doom puts you into after a few minutes, the vocals start. The vocals are distant and distorted shreiks, remenicant of Burzum or Xasthur. Now, about seven minutes in, it goes into an even slower riff, throwing you deeper into the atmosphere. The song ends this way. You should have your head just about crushed by now.

The second song starts out with a short melancholic acoustic intro, it's nice and a good change of pace. Afterwards, we have a trippy, slow, bass solo. I caught traces of traditional doom influence in the last song, but here is where it really manifests itself. The guitar chimes in after a minute or so. For some reason, the tone is different than on the first track, but it's a lot better. Deeper, heavier, just a much better tone, louder too. I don't see why he didn't have this tone on the first song, it would have been an improvement. The vocals are a lot more prominent on this one, they are great with the again slow, sludgy and crushing guitars. After a bit, there is a short acousic interlude for some variation. The crushing riffs continue on for a few minutes until another acoustic part, this one a bit longer, with chords. We get a different riff after, this one oozing traditional doom influence. Continues in all it's glory until the end with an acoustic outro.

This demo is amazing, fucking trance-inducing funeral doom, crushing, interesting, varying, absolutely everything you could ask for in a funeral doom release. The intro and tone of the guitar in the first track is the only problem. Other than that, it's perfect.

Scordatura - Garrote

Scordatura is a British death metal group, this is their two song demo, Garrote.

The first track, Bones of Hades starts out as some bilsteringly fast, tremelo picked death metal, with some chunky palm-muting here and there, and stays on this course before a kickass little drum and bass solo. Then goes into a section a bit slower, with small bass breaks, before going back to the speed again for about 45 secs. Right before it starts to get boring, they throw in a melodic riff to mix things up, I love this band's style. And to finish, fuckin hits you in the face with a kickass breakdown to get you headbanging. Fucking awesome.

Next and final track, Garrote, has a small drum intro, before going into an alternate picking frenzy, ala Gorgasm. Then we get some melodic riffs that sound bit classical influenced, I wish they had kept the second riff section going longer. The rest of the song is pretty much melodic brutality. Melodic in an Aborted or Gorgasm way, not melodeath.

Well this shit kicked ass. I was expecting just an average modern DM band when I was first doing this review, but it's way more than that. These guys play modern death metal, but with REAL variation, that keeps you there. Also, good production as well. Probably my one complaint is the vocals. They are good, nothing wrong with them, but they're not too interesting. They do their job and help the music alright, but it coud use some screams, maybe a few squeals, some predators or something. Vocals are the one thing on this album that need more variation. Wish it was longer too. 96/100

WinterRealm - Twilight

WinterRealm is a black metal band from the USA. This is their CD, Twilight.


The album starts off with a somewhat black metal ambient track, it's an ok track, but kind of long and boring, not too great of a start. But if you keep listening, the second song, Perdition (The White Light" hits you with a dark, cold black metal riff, and it, unlike most black metal, really does give me a feeling of ice, cold and desolation. Not a lot of black metal can actually do that. The track also mixes in some synths as well, this is an exeptional, beautiful song. Next one, Winter and the Spring, is slower. Good. I like down-tempo black metal. The song, like the one before it, give a landscape, it grabs at you. The next song, Fractal, takes you out of the trance of the songs before it. It's an ambeint/industrial track with a simple beat from a synth. It's ok, but I'd like it better if it were only a 45 second interlude. With the next one, Autumn's Gate, we get back into the real music again. The song is my second favorite on this. It gives me the same feeling as Burzum does. Full of wonder and darkness. I absolutely love winding songs like this one, this will take you on a fucking journey. The last track, Memories in Crimson Haze, is my favorite track on the album. It has a clean guitar picking an arpeggio while a distorted guitar behind it plays one of the best melodies I've heard in black metal. Captivating, melancholc, but also that feeling of wonder and hope is there. I don't understand why a just decent track like Fractal was four minutes long yet this masterpeice is only 2:30.

The thing that I have to mention is the vocals. The vocals do nothing for this album. They don't add to the music at all, but they don't take away either, I think the album would be better with proper screaming or insturmental. The vocals are not too great, but they don't take away anything from the atmosphere of the album.

All in all, this is a great peice of art. I love it. It has quite a few flaws, but it manages to take me on a little journey and make me feel good. Get this. =]

Vomit Trough - It's Grind!

Vomit Trough is a death/grind band from the USA and I believe this is their debut EP called "It's Grind". When I first see the CD, I wasn't expecting that much, just some cool noisy grind, when I pop it into my computer to listen to, within about 30 seconds I realized it was a lot better than what I had expected. It fucking hits you with an awesome bass intro to "Stained By Stench" and then speeds up with a kick ass riff that is fast as hell. The vocals then kick in, and are a raw yelling style, which I like. Something I would like to point out is how fast this album is, but it is still catchy, I can hear and remember the riffs easily, and it is also somewhat technical, and great musicianship. Throughout the whole listen, it doesn't get boring, they manage always to keep things blasting but also keep things very interesting. This is near perfect grind guitar, really kickass. The bass in this album is great too, it has a few solos, and I fucking love bass solos! Drum machine in this album is pretty good, has a bit of variety in the beats, not just constant blasting, so they did a pretty good job with the drummachine. The vocals are cool, just kind of shouting like an 80's death/thrash vocalist. I like it, I just wish there was a bit more variety, maybe some growling and screaming along with the yells. Also, my only other complaint is there is not enough slow riffs or grooves, I love midpaced and slow brutality, this would be even better if it had some groove riffs.

In concusion, this is an above average death/grind EP, very enjoyable, fucking kickass grind, very little flaws, and I definitly reccomend it to any grind fans. 91/100. http://www.myspace.com/vomittroughgrind

Puter Deus- Anti All

Puter Dues is a one man black metal project, and this 2 song demo is (I think) their first release.

This, being a black metal demo, is of course very raw. The production on this is pretty bad, not horrible, but it could be better. I guess it does add a bit to the atmostphere, but I personally prefer a Burzum or Darkthrone style production.

On this, there are two tracks. Enter The Path To Tranquility and Anti-All.

Enter the Path To Tranquility is very good. It is very strange and weird, in a good way, it is definitly reminicent of Behemoth's first demo. It starts out with organ and synthesysed violin in a strange melody. About a 30 seconds into the song, it has a singing angelic choir and it brings in a distorted guitar. The feeling it gives off is definitly the best part about this song. It gives a feeling of grandness, but also chaos. It's hard for me to describe, but this song hits me hard. This is definitly a very good peice.

The second and final song of this demo is Anti-All. I have to say, I fucking love this title. The song is more straightforward than the first one. It is more a raw, thrashy, black metal song. It has guitar tone that I can really appreciate, there's a lot of treble and not much bass, a pretty good tone for black metal. The vocals are good, and would be even better if the recording quality was better. These are like a better version of Dimmu's vocals. Good shit =]

To conclude this, this is a pretty solid demo, very good for a first release, and enjoyable, with a kick-ass atmosphere as well. I'd suggest you hit this guy up on myspace www.myspace.com/puterdeus

Onicectomy- Promo 2008

Onicectomy is a slamming brutal death metal band hailing from Italy. Their style can be described as brutal and fast, with an occasional slam breakdown to punch you're fucking face in!

The riffs off of this cd are very memorable, it's pretty fast, but not so fast you can't hear the guitar. The guitar players are very talented, and good songwriters, they make use of various tecqniqeus throughout, and it really is a perfect combination of fast, slow, and mid-paced riffs.

The bass for this is the best brutal death/grind bass I've heard since Neoanderthals, in most songs it is audiable, and it just sounds really good. I can't really describe it, but it's good.

I also really like the drums because they do their blasting job most of the time, but the drummer also knows when to slow down into some groove beats. I wish more death metal bands drummed like this guy.

The vocals for this are mostly gutturals reminicant of Putrid Pile, but there is an occasional pig squeal or scream here and there, making for some nice variation, which I love in brutal death metal. The vocals also go along great with the guitar.

In conclusion, this is a fuckin kick ass CD by a great up and coming brutal death/grind band, I'd definitly fuckin reccomend you hit the band up! =] 9/10

Their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/onicectomy

Dyscrasia- Septical Stomach Pumped Remnants Review

Dyscrasia is a slam oreinted brutal death metal band. They aren't your regular brutal death band. They have a very equal mix of slams and fast, blasting times. There was no lyrics, triggers, effects, or sobriety used in the making of this album, lol.

The guitar for this album has one of the best tones that I've heard in brutal death metal, espesially when the palm muting kicks in. It's just so fucking heavy. Groovy as well. The guitar seems to like to do high notes that sharply contrast with low notes seconds later, this is a welcome change. Brutal riffs.

The bass follows the guitar closely so the same as the above applies here.

The drums can do some kick ass blasts, and have a great snare sound.

The vocals and guitar are the best things of this album. The vocals consist of not the regular death growl but two other variants of it. There is this amazing pig noise he makes, no, not a pig squeal. It's more like a pig grunt, it is low, not high like a squeal. It is entertaining and great. The other is his take on the death growl, where he makes an "OAHHHHHEEHHH" sound like a machine, but no vocal effects. This is definitly the highlight of this album.

This album is out of print so you won't be able to get it from the band, but they have an abundance of them on Amazon for about 12 dollars and I'm sure there are a bunch on Ebay. I reccomend you get this, all brutal death/grind/slam/ fans. Heil.

Dyscrasia myspace: www.myspace.com/frenziedmeat

Pentagram- Relentless Review

Pentagram is an early 80's classic doom metal band, around the time and about the style of Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General and Candlemass. This is by no means a Black Sabbath worship band, they have a style all their own. Lyrics about the occult, graves, cool shit like that.

The guitar of this album is heavy, mid-paced, and bass heavy. The solos are great, obvious blues, rock and Jimi Hendrix influences. Catchy riffs, cool beat, just some great ass doom meal guitar here.

The bass is pretty inaudiable, but you know it's there. It helps with that bass-heavy guitar sound that I was talking about earlier in the post.

The drums are really good, they keep the beat, have some nice fills too, and even a little drum solo here and there on this album. Great drums.

The vocals are one of the best things about this album. They are clean, rock vocals in the style of Ozzy, exept a bit deeper, and to be honest, better.

Anyways, this is an essensial for all classic doom fans out there, I reccomend you snatch this one up. I reccomend for fans of doom, rock, blues, heavy metal, and thrash. 91/100

Heinous Killings - Hung With Barbwire Review

At the time of this recording, Heinous Killings was a one man band of Joe Wolfe. They have a full line up at this time, but this was a recording of Joe Wolfe. He is the most insane vocalist in Brutal Death Metal, you will never hear anything like him. NEVER. Heinous Killings is the best brutal death metal band fucking ever. This is no-frills, slam oreinted, guttural death metal. No vocal effects. Best BDM you Will ever hear.

The guitar is breathtaking. It has speedy, brutal, low riffs which are all really great, but the slams are best. The slams are groovy, brutal, you can't help but headbang to them. They are catchy as Dying Fetus and more brutal than Gutrot. Brutal gore groove.

Bass is pretty much inaudiable, but I can feel it sometimes and it is a good backbone to the slamming groove guitar.

Drums are programmed, but the snare sounds really good and the cymbals get great rythem.

Now, for the best part of this album, the fucking amazing vocals. The vocals are comprised of three vocal teqniqes, guttural death growls, inhale gutturals, and this...amazing, machine gun growl that sounds like the Predator. It is absolutley crazy, you need to hear it to beleive it. No one knows how he produces these vocals and where they come from. Listen to a couple of their songs on Youtube or Myspace (www.myspace.com/heinouskillings) and you will definitly see what I mean. Joe Wolfe takes his rightful throne as sickest vocalist ever.

This is the best brutal death metal album, by the best brutal death band. It is vital for any deathead's collection. Reccomended for fans of death metal, grindcore, deathgrind, goregrind, and groovy slam metal. You will love this.

Ashes- Nihlist Reveiw

Ashes is a depressive black metal project from the United States. This 7 song demo is Ashes' second release. This is depressive black metal at some of it's best. You can tell when you listen to this that it is pure fucking emotion through music. This CD is not you're typical DSBM that you are seeing popping up all over. It has some very unique elements to it. This has solos, and I can definitly hear some blues influence here.

The guitar on this album is comprised of slow, heavily distorted, guitar power chords and sweet, soft, and beautiful acoustic guitar passages. The electric is really great, it helpes to just set the mood of what this album is about, sorrow, sadness, hate.... The solos are an original and wonderful aspect to Ashes' brand of depressive black metal. The solos are obviously influenced by classic heavy metal, but they don't take anything away from the mood, they are extremely well placed and I was happily surprised to find them here. The acoustic is soft, slow, riffs that put you in a total other world. They are not too technical, too fast, but mid-paced, and beautiful. I know this sounds strange, but they really enhance whatever you are feeling. It's a little like weed, lol.

The vocals are another amazing aspect to this work of art. They seem not like screams to sing, but screams of desolation, screams of pain. At times, the singer even weeps on recording. These are great vocals, fucking awesome.

I can't hear much bass, but I'm sure it's good.

Drums are pretty good, they do their job.

To sum things up, this is a great DSBM album, with original twists to it. I would suggest to any fans of black metal, death metal, gothic metal, or maybe even some heavy metal fans who are looking for something a little more extreme. I suggest you go contact the dude for the CD right now. 87/100.

Rusty Eye- Rust N Roll Review

Rusty Eye is a progressive metal act that fuses rock, metal and extreme metal elements together in a great combination of music. Here we have their first full length, Rust N Roll. This album is very good, and different than most modern traditional metal acts because it does not get boring and it stays interesting throughout the entire album, it does not just use the same old recycled riffs over and over. These are a group of very talented songwriters, they can play all kinds of shit from punk to soft acoustic and hard rock.

The guitar in this album is great, it has great tone, riffs are kind of technical, and fast. The riffs seem to fit along perfectly with the vocals. The solos are good, they are some speedy shit, it reminds me of Iron Maiden.

The bass is totally kick ass when you can hear it. It is audiable at times, and when it is, its a kick ass groove, again somewhat reminicant of Iron Maiden and Death. There are a few bass solos in this album, they are fucking awesome, really kick ass bass.

The vocale pretty good. Personally, I like them, but I don't know if everyone would. They have a heavy accent to them, though, some may like it, others may not. It is dirty and gritty as well, kind of a little bit more melodic version of 80's hardcore punk vocals.

The drums are good, but there's not much to be said about them. They kick ass if you listen to them, and they do their job. Not much else to say about these drums.

In conclusion, this is a great metal/rock album, I recomend to any fans of thrash/crossover, heavy metal, rock, progressive, and any of that. Definitly worth checking out. 89/100.