Bloodmoon - Orenda

Artist : Bloodmoon

Album : Orenda

Genre : Death Jazz

Year : 2012

Country : USA

Website : myspace

Tracks :
1. What Lies Beyond
2. As A Wind
3. Come Whatever Storm
4. Orenda
5. Shallow Berth
6. Riding Eternity pt. I

Size : 80mb

11/20

Putrified J - The Last Harvest

Artist : Putrified J

Album : The Last Harvest

Genre : Brutal Slamming Death Metal

Year : 2011

Country : Belgium/Canada

Website : facebook

Tracks :
1. Introduction
2. The Anthem
3. Suffer
4. The Beast
5. Soul Vomit
6. The Last Harvest
7. Contagium
8. Slaughterhouse
9. 616
10. Johnny Bloodbath
11. Outroduction
12. Repulsive Dissection (Bonus Track)

Size : 48.3mb

16/20

Silence Shall Return - Desecration of The Immaculate

Artist : Silence Shall Return

Album : Desecration of the Immaculate

Genre : deathcore / death metal

Year : 2011

Country : Switzerland / UK

Website : facebook

Tracks :
1. Introduction To Your Destruction
2. Fingered To Death
3. Rot In Pieces
4. Without Mercy
5. God Can't Help You
6. Once Upon A Heartless Corpse
7. Wrinkly Whores (Slower Than A Snail)

Size : 64.3mb

15/20

One More Victim - Dominion

Artist : One More Victim

Album : Dominion

Genre : Deathcore / Death Metal

Year : 2011

Country : Russia

Website : facebook , myspace , twitter , youtube

Tracks :
1. Alea Iacta Est
2. Damnation Of Eternity
3. Architects Of Sanity
4. Mother Of All Sins
5. Last Hour
6. Jack Ketch
7. Impelled By Revenge
8. Watch My Ascent
9. Locust Horde
10. Dominion

Size : 78.6mb

17/20

Hate Division - Strategy Of Obsolescence

Hate Division - Strategy Of Obsolescence

Hate Division is a death metal grind band from Canada. Hate Division is one of those bands that people turn to when they think of extreme metal, its bands like these that make first impressions on new listeners to death metal. The beauty about death metal is that no matter where you hear death metal from (if its underground or mainstream) it all sounds like death metal. You cannot say a band/album is better or worse when it comes to death metal scenes.

Strategy Of Obsolescence is a great example of an underground band that sounds mainstream. They seem to have already found their own sound which is a mixture of raw death metal grind. One thing that they cannot go without in an album that is like this is a raw atmosphere. Raw death metal atmosphere is very common in brutal death metal and the grind genres (death grind, grindcore, pornogrind). For some reason, it’s almost an essential to have this rawness in death metal otherwise the music wouldn’t be evil or dark enough or something. Either way this darkness/rawness that is associated with this album works quite well and gives this album a really grotesque atmosphere. And judging by the album cover, I’m assuming that being grotesque is what was intended.

There is something especially satisfying about the low, down tuned breakdown/slams that occur in this album. I’m not exactly sure if it’s because it sounds heavy or if it’s because there is usually a high energy part the follows. Either way, I don’t think that there is a good death metal grind album that exists that doesn’t have this because it’s almost essential. Not only does it make the music sound darker or heavier, there is an essence of attitude that resides in the music as well.

Unlike many bands within their genre, Hate Division is one of the only bands that I’ve heard who seemed like they know what they are about to play before they have started recording. They don’t have that uncoordinated hitting of drums, screaming as aloud as possible or the “she’ll be right” attitude that many bands have. This album seems like it was well structured and well organised for a death/grind metal band which is definitely something that sets them apart from the rest. Their focus isn’t on how heavy or fast they can play, it’s just about making good music. In saying that, they do also have a very satisfying technical side to their music which just ties the music up into a nice little package.

Overall, this is a pretty good death/grind metal album. There aren’t many death metal bands out there who know what they are supposed to do before they start recording their music. Hate Divison is an exception to this rule because it seems like they know exactly what they were doing prior to the recording of this album. They don’t focus on the stuff what their counter parts are doing elsewhere in the world. But people cannot forget that this is a death metal band so the brutality comes in naturally in their music. I recommend the track The Great Recession to any new listeners to this band because it’s quite a satisfying dose of excellent death metal. Even though this is a good album, they don’t seem like the type of band that will revolutionize or influence other death metal bands unless they pull out something new and unusual. This is why Strategy Of Obsolescence gets a 16/20.

Bigredrobot - Watch The Infection Spread

Artist : Bigredrobot

Album : Watch The Infection Spread

Genre : Modern Death Metal / Deathcore

Year : 2010

Country : USA

Website : facebook , myspace , youtube

Tracks:
1. Introduction
2. Watch The Infection Spread
3. Portraits of Evil
4. Deceiver
5. Exalted Ruler
6. The Shameless Crime
7. Mars Attacks!
8. Wretched Amputation
9. Judicial Impalement
10. Outro

Size: 47mb

16/20

Nexilva - The Trails of Mankind

Band : Nexilva

Album : The Trails of Mankind

Genre : Death Metal/Deathcore

Year : 2010

Country : UK

Website : facebook , reverbnation , last.fm , myspace , twitter , youtube

Tracks: 
1. In Purgatory
2. Aegri Somnia
3. Stillborn
4. The Trials of Mankind

5. Dark Fissure

6. In Hell We Stand

7. Black Sea Of Tress

8. Secret of Aokigahara

9. Price of Existences

10. Through The Cocytus

Size: 42mb

17/20

Grievous Burden - The Weight of the World

Artist : Grievous Burden

Album : The Weight of the World

Genre : Death Metal / Deathcore

Year : 2011

Country : Germany

Website : facebook , myspace

Tracks :
1. Intro
2. The Plague
3. A Writer's Conclusion
4. Among Wolves
5. Jenova
6. Outro

Size : 31mb

15/20

Nekro Sound - Demo

Artist : Nekro Sound

Album : Demo

Genre : Death Metal

Year : 2010

Country : France

Website : bandcamp

Tracks :
1. I Eat Children For Breakfast
2. Devoured Alive
3. Bloodbath
4. Welcome To The Slaughterhouse
5. Meticulous Evisceration
6. Chainsaw Massacre
7. Dead And Buried

Size : 24mb



DIS - The Retalliation

Artist : DIS

Album : The Retalliation

Genre : Black / Death Metal

Year : 2005

Country : USA

Website : myspace

Tracks

1. The Retalliation

2. Debacle

3. The Weakness Charade

Size : 27mb

15/20

Bloodshed - EP (2009)

Artist : Bloodshed

Album : Self Titled EP (2009)

Genre : Modern Death Metal

Year : 2009

Country : USA

Website : facebook

Tracks:
1. Soul Defined
2. Isolation
3. Lusus Naturae
4. Arioso
5. Necrology
6. Invaders

Size : 55mb

(Individual dowload)

Malignant Inception - Nefarious Evils

Artist: Malignant Inception

Album: Nefarious Evils

Genre: Symphonic Black/Death

Year: N/A

Country: USA

Website: facebook , official

Tracks:
1. Dreaming of Battles of Nefas and Chaos
2. Restraint
3. Testament of Reason

Size: 58mb



12/20

Forlorn Path - Being Toward Death

Artist: Forlorn Path

Album: Being Toward Death

Genre: Black Metal/Death Metal

Year: 2010

Country: USA

Website: facebook , myspace , official

Tracks:
1. A Casket Shut
2. Bloodless Procreation
3. Slavery of Benevolence
4. These Walls Stand No More

Size: 27mb



13/20

Iconic Vivisect - Promo 2010

Band: Iconic Vivisect

Album : Promo 2010

Genre : Death Metal

Year : 2010

Country: Australia

Websites: facebook , Myspace

Tracks:
1. From Illusion to Despair
2. Map of Scars



15/20

Toscrew - Antiego

Toscrew - Antiego

Antiego is Toscrew’s debut album and second studio release which comprises of 8 tracks. This album was released in 2011, and wasn’t produced by any recording label. These guys have labelled themselves as being blackend death doom metal, and I wouldn’t disagree. These guys feature practically all of those elements in their music. Especially the death and black metal elements. So in short these guys are basically an extreme metal band, which have mustered everything about extreme metal and created this extremely extreme band!

These guys have taken three extreme metal genres and have tried to manipulate all of them into their sound. I have to say, they have done an impressive job at this. The first and most obvious genre that has influenced these guys would have to be death metal. Almost all extreme metal bands nowadays that create hybrid genres have elements of death metal in their sound, and these guys are no exception. This album features death metal style riffs, and a pace that a typical death metal band would normally play at. There is also a strong death metal vibe in their music, I’m not exactly sure what it is about the drumming, but it seems to have distinctive death metal influences. Also, the song structure of most of the tracks seems to be a death give away of the death metal roots involved as well.

The next primary influence in their music would definitely have to be black metal, no doubt about it. Sometimes they appear to have similar feelings and atmospheres as a regular black metal band. From what I can tell, they have utilized two different styles of atmosphere which are 99% of the time present in black metal. The first style to mention is the style you would normally find in bands such as Darkthrone, it’s fairly dark and eerie but it doesn’t exactly sound sad. For some reason, this adds a sense of rawness to their music and makes it sound quite abrasive, hey what do you know, this is also another trait extreme metal bands have. The next atmosphere these guys have that is also commonly found in black metal. But it’s more from the brutal side of things and almost all brutal black metal bands have this and this does include bands like Marduk and Endstille. The primary cause of this would have to be the guitar work and tuning/distortion of them. The notes that are played in such a way that there aren’t any gaps in between them, which gives the music a similar atmosphere that is normally present in modern day brutal black metal.

I think that the vocals sound awfully black metalish as well, the vocalist utilizes are extremely high shrieks of despair rather than a typical black metal shriek. When I mean despair, I really mean sheiks of despair that are commonly found in many depressive suicidal black metal bands across the board. But I believe that this has as much to do with the next extreme metal element which is in their music. These guys do have a strong doom metal influence in them, which is just the thing these guys need to wrap their music up. The music sounds quite depressive at times, this EP probably has one of the heaviest atmospheres I have ever heard and is maintained throughout the whole thing. But they have also maintained the severity of the music in a way that is unlike anything I’ve heard. This is most likely due to death and black metal elements in their music.

Musically these guys are pretty decent as well. All of the band members have seemed to pull their weight for the creation of this album. There might be a few glitches here and there but that’s made up by the overwhelming power of the rest of the music.

The vocals, like I’ve mentioned before sound very much like shrieks of despair commonly found in black metal bands. They are extremely raspy and very high pitch as well, at times the vocalist might slide up to a higher pitch to add a little variety but most of the times he just uses the same style. But, for whatever reason, the only connection I can make with other vocalists would have to be Burzum. The vocals on here sound just like a turned down version of Varg’s style of vocals on Det Som Engang Var. Sure, they might not be as high pitch or as powerful, but they do have a very similar tone to them.

Now the guitars have a very strong sound and edge to them. There are times where it can get to the point when it can even seem overwhelmingly powerful (in a positive way). This is most likely because of the distortion of the guitars, the distortion they have used is extremely harsh. They basically scream extreme metal at you when listening to this. I also think that the guitarist has done a great job of utilizing this to make sure that the music sounds filling at all times because after all, this is a three man band. So I’m guessing that leaving holes in the music could be an issue for the band. But luckily there aren’t any holes that I can pick out and I think that this is mainly due to the guitar work.

Ok now to the drumming, the drumming in particular has the characteristics of a death metal. They are at just the right pace and tone, not to mention the style that is used. Although the drumming is of a death metal style, I don’t feel that the drummer have fully satisfied the extreme metal requirements. For some reason, the blast beats don’t seem to be as potent as what I would have expected from such an extreme metal influenced band. At times, I feel that drummer lags behind the rest a little in terms of speed. When it comes to softer parts, he does do a fairly good job at keeping things together and basically the only time where the drumming comes to its full potential.

In terms of variety, I have to admit that these guys actually have very little in here. Sure they might differ in speed and feeling at times, but they all seem to have the same base line. This is only an eight track album so it doesn’t really matter that much. The opening track is titled Semmibe születés and it’s a musical track. This is basically the depressive musical that you normally find in extreme metal, especially in black metal and doom metal is the perfect intro to start something like this. The next track is Időből and it is probably the track that summarises what this band is all about when it somes to the black/death metal department. The riffs are played in a black metal style and the drumming is of a death metal style. But these are times where the guitars sounds like the riffs are from neither genre, there are times, where it almost sound like alternative rock. It’s a very modern twist to and otherwise classic realm of metal. I guess that Időből is the only track really worth mentioning, it’s not because the rest is bad, it’s just that this track summarises the whole release.

Overall, this is not a bad way to go about releasing a debut album. The music is fairly clean and solid, and thank god that these guys have chosen to record this is high quality, it would have been horrible in crappy quality. I really like the way they have integrated three genres into one to create something that can only be described as extreme metal. These guys basically shout extreme metal. But this album isn’t exactly perfect though, there are times where the music can sound a little loose, especially with the drumming. Also, there is little variety in terms of style and atmosphere. Almost all of the tracks have the exact same musical styles and vibe to them. That’s why I’m going to only recommend one track. I recommend the track Időből because it will give you a good indication of what this band is about. So if you like it or you think that these guys might have something new to offer, try the rest of the album because it won’t kill you. Overall, I think this would make a nice little addition to any extreme metal fans collection because these guys would fit right in. I give Toscrew’s Antiego a 14/20.



Insane Therapy - Veil Of Silence

Insane Therapy - Veil Of Silence

 

Veil Of Silence is Insane Therapy’s debut release and it was released in 2010. These guys are primarily death metal influenced hardcore but seem to have some very strong classic thrash metal influence thrown in there. The new wave of “core” music never ceases to impress me because there are always bands like this pulling music out of the bag like no one has done before. Many outsiders of the genre perceive this style of music as having limitations, this essentially proves this theory wrong.

The first thing that hit me when I first started playing this track is how much thrash influence was in their music. It’s actually rarer than what people think when it comes to the hardcore/death metal/core mix. It really does sound like they have stolen half of the riffs from classic thrash metal songs. I swear there is a part in one of the tracks where the riffs sound exactly like the main ones from Metallica’s Master Of Puppets. Even the music gives off vibes saying “hey, I’m thrash metal”, that being said, they aren’t pure thrash. Their song structure and musical styles are still fairly far off from being anywhere close to thrash metal, so I’m only guessing that there are thrash metal influences at play here.

Now it’s also clear that these guys have obvious extreme metal influences at play as well, particularly coming from death metal. Some might argue that these guys are actually influenced by deathcore more than generic death metal but in this context it’s safe to say either one. These guys display everything a deathcore band would normally display. They have breakdowns, pig squeals and the typical speed that your average deathcore band would play at. The only thing that really sets this band apart really is that these guys seem to have a more melodic/organised song structure. The styles of riffs used are what you would normally find in ‘core’ band as well (not necessarily deathcore).

I think that the final major element that this music contains is probably the hardcore element to the music. It is basically fills all the different gaps when it comes to trying to sort this band into a specific genre. There is a really (and I mean really) strong hardcore vibe to their music as well, sure it might not be your conventional style of “in your face” hardcore but the influence is still there. I believe the hardcore element just wraps the whole ep together. Not only that, but it seems to all a little more character to the music because bands with a combination of death metal, hardcore and thrash metal don’t really come around often.

Now there is one aspect of “core” music that these guys have left out, and that’s emotion. There are almost no traces of emotion in this demo. I mean sure, there might be a few snippets here and there but there is nothing that really creates an emotional connection with the listener.  But there is something else, at times the music sounds dark. It’s not suicidal or anything along those lines, it’s more like the kind of darkness that bands try and include in there breakdowns. It’s that droney sound that drags each note for a long time. I think they have utilized it very affectively throughout the entire demo.

The next thing that I liked about this demo that it’s in a decent quality, there is nothing worse than an ambitious band cutting its budget and starting their young musical careers with a footnote release. These guys are obviously serious about their music and would like to take the genre to the next level. The recording is clear and crisp as well as the mixing which is equally important.

Musically these guys actually quite good, the music is fairly tight and I cannot pick up any fallen or loose notes throughout the whole demo.  Also, I think that each band member has pulled their weight and there aren’t any slackers. The music itself isn’t really complex, they have chosen to play it simple for the first time. I actually encourage bands to do this because it helps them find their sound and you know what they say “keep it simple stupid”. There’s nothing overly insane or technical about these guys. In fact, in comparison with other bands in their respected genres, these guys actually sound fairly laid back.

The vocalist has done an excellent job in this demo and from what I’ve heard he is fairly talented. He primarily utilizes his ordinary hardcore style fry screams. It’s nothing special really, there are plenty of bands out there who use this style. Especially the new wave of metalcore/hardcore bands, that mix their musical styles with death metal. Now like I’ve mentioned before, there are really strong death metal influences here. As soon as I heard the pig squeals rolling in, I realised I was correct and I had a sense victory. His pig squeals are a little different from normal ones, they sound more jagged and rough, almost like a cricket. They like to drag them on as well so rather than sounding like “bree bree bree” it’s more like “breeeeeeeee”, which is more of a death metal trait than a deathcore one.

The guitar playing isn’t really special either, the styles must have been utilized somewhere else because they sound very familiar. In fact the style of riffs that are played sound a lot like nu metal or industrial style, or someone could go out of their way to say that they sound similar to Slipknot of Trivium at times. The distortions of the guitars are fashioned in a hardcore manner as well. Now the thing that I like most about the guitars is that they seem to be a blend hardcore and death metal styles. When I mean blended I actually mean they are blended together, it’s not like where one section has death metal riffs and another has hardcore riffs, it doesn’t work that way. They have a fairy high speed of tremolo picking and combine it with the chords that are normally played in “core” music.

The drumming is not bad as well but like all the other instruments it’s quite mediocre. I’m not sureif they have tried to blast their beats but for some reason the drums sound quite and bland. It’s probably the only thing that is recorded in low quality out of all their instruments. I mean, even the double kick packs more of a punch than blast beating. Anyway, he doesn’t really play as fast as what death metal bands would play either, but not as slow as hardcore bands. I’d say it’s somewhere in the middle of the two.

This is only a four track promo and there isn’t that much variety when it comes to different moods and atmospheres. All of the tracks have a basic song structure and vibe to them, so there is no point mentioning all of the tracks. My favourite track on the whole demo would probably have to be Can You Hear Me? because it is the only track that shows off the best of Insane Therapy. It has clean vocals, gut busting double bass drumming, pig squeals and clean vocals. Also, it’s the most melodic and well structured track in the whole demo in my opinion.

Overall, this isn’t a really bad way to start off a career, I mean all of the component are there. The thing that I think is the main problem with this band is that they haven’t found their sound yet. The practically everything seems to have been stolen from many other bands and genres, everything down to the last break down. This in turn makes the music sound extremely bland and I’m not sure if this is what the band was trying to make us perceive. Now I think all of the tracks are the same in the sense that they all give out the same vibes and feeling. So I am only going to recommend the track Can You Hear Me? because I think that it’s a little better than the rest. I recommend that all “core” fans (especially fans of Trivium) should give this a go because it’s not bad. I’m not sure about recommending this to death metal fans though because I’m not sure where they stand when it comes to hybrid genres. Overall, this is an ok demo, it does need a little tuning and maybe a little more originality. In general I give Insane Therapy’s Pierce The Veil a 13/20.