Hideous Deformity - Defoulment of Human Purity

It may surprise you to know that Norway actually has a tradition of creating very worthy, American-styled Death Metal.  This is a fine example of that.  Hideous Deformity execute Suffocation worship of the highest order.  You'll find Mullen-esque vocals and plenty of palm-muted chugs here, but this isn't exactly identical cloning though.  There's also some general "Brutal Death" flares to be found, not unlike Disavowed or Incinerate.  They may not have anything unique going, but really, how many bands do?  At least these guys play what they like and play it well.  If you like technical Death Metal, you'll like this.

bruise like a norwegian

Legacy of Brutality - Path of Forgotten Souls

A fusion of American and Euro-style Death Metal, and a "catchy" one at that.  Not catchy in the ridiculously commercial way, but the vocal patterns and riffs are quite accessible.  Production has a nice, warm tone.  There's some unique guitar melodies here and there, but for the most part this is just a real straight-forward, quality Death Metal album.  Sounds good to me!

doo doo like a lady

Brut - Brut

Interesting...  Definitely Hardcore, but getting any more specific by type is rather difficult.  Likely, Brut have been influenced by every kind of "harder" Punk from the past three decades.  What I can tell you is that it's vaguely dark, plenty angry and strongly mid-paced.  The production fits in perfect; very live sounding without any annoying harshness or "hiss".  My only complaint is that the drumming is rather plain and metronomic.  Although, in Hardcore you can't expect too much "virtuosity".  Beyond that, all I can say is that it's good.  You're gonna have to come up with your own descriptions.

brah I like sample...

mean cuz!

Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs

A stellar debut from my favorite Bay Area Death Metal band.  These guys pretty much slaughter their "Born of Osiris" contemporaries.  They've pretty much left most of the "Core" influence behind and are going in a more legitimately Progressive direction akin to Quo Vadis and Decrepit Birth.  It's true that they've kind of fallen into the trap of an over-compressed production style, but it's done rather well here.  There's very nice tone and atmosphere to be found, especially in the many solo parts.  The improvement in playing and melodic sophistication are nice additions too.  This is something fresh and slightly different in a super-stale scene.

she's fresh, exciting

Comity - The Journey is Over Now

Super-progressive Mathcore from France.  I know you've heard the style a million times, but this band takes it to new levels of complexity and grandiosity.  It's four tracks that span 51 minutes, for starters.  Also, the amount of riffs here are staggering.  The length of the sheet music is probably about the same as the last Suffocation album.  Seemingly none of these segments are repeated later on in the album, they just keep changing the rhythm every few bars or so, never really letting you "relax" (which is kind of the point in this type of sharply discordant music).  I do wish the guitars were much more distorted and heavy, but the  jangly, clean-ish tones do sort of have their own charm too.

  name your splice

Believer - Dimensions

Of all the christian Metal bands out there, this is the only one that caught my attention, and it's because of this album.  In '93, when all the big name American Thrash bands were going commercial, who would have thought that it would be these guys that would go against the grain and create arguably the best Prog Metal album of the era?  It wouldn't have been me, that's for sure. 

What does it sound like?  It's pretty similar in style to later-era Coroner and Death; strongly technical Thrash with some Death Metal-like guttural and chunky tendencies.  This is less melodic and more rhythmic too.  They even went all out in their three-part "concept" piece (Trilogy of Knowledge) and incorporated a string section and clean, soprano vocals.  All of which were incorporated very well I might add.  This is a monumental album that you'd be a fool not to at least try.  If you're annoyed by the lyrical content, then tough shit...  now you know how I feel at Vegan Hardcore shows!

still NOT loving the priests 

Haapoja - Hallitsematonta Voimaa

This might technically be a "demo", but the 21 min. length and production are actually pretty fucking good; good enough to call an "official release".  It also happens to be the best demo, musically, that I've heard in the past year.  It cuts deepest with it's strong Death Metal roots, but vaster influences are found throughout.  The long, complex riffs remind often me of newer Kylesa in a "beardy" and Post-Metal sorta way.  Just change the vocals and attack slightly, and this could easily be mistaken for modern Black Metal.  To me, this sounds like a bunch of guys who listen to many types of heavy music and just want to make the best music possible without worrying about fitting into genre-specific standards.  I always admire that.

 

boom

Ruined Families - Four Wall Freedom

The Greco-Grind of Ruined Families is significantly more straight-forward than their Spanish contemporaries to the west while still remaining a hybrid.  They play a distinctively "Euro" brand of Grindcore with a Modern Hardcore slant.  From the band name, to the artwork, to the vocals you can definitely tell these guys have a Hardcore background.  That being said, the Grind parts are still totally legit.  To put it another way; these are Hardcore kids trying to play Grindcore and succeeding, while still letting their roots shine through.  Well done.

Temporary Companion by Ruined Families
Sense Pleaser by Ruined Families

please my senses

Moksha - Sang De Roure

It's been forever since that last post, hasn't it?  Luckily, I've come across several cool new finds during my absence.  Because it's been so long, I think you guys deserve a double post.  The first one is a bottom-heavy bruiser from Spain.  I'm usually a sucker for sludge/hardcore/metal hybrids, so it's right up my alley too.  Moksha deliver equal parts High on Fire, Trap Them, and His Hero is Gone for a decidedly bassy, crushing and probably weed-influenced experience.  It's dynamic and varied without being "mathy", so don't worry about it making your simpleton head hurt like some of my "proggier" posts. 

  Moksha "Sang de Roure" by BCore Disc

like a flesh tuxedo

Godless - Ecce Homo: Post Lux Tenebras, Pulsio XIII Ultima Ratio

Hey kids, I'm gonna leave for my short vacay in Seattle tomorrow.  For those that are familiar with the city (I know through the globe map that at least one of you lives there), I'd definitely appreciate some advice on where to go and what to see (restaurants, music stores and stuff).  I'm also gonna be at El Corazon on monday to see Harm's Way, so say hi if you've seen my facebook and know what I look like.  

But before I do that I'm gonna let you sit on this solid mass of Chilean Death Metal.  I hear a lot of Morbid Angel going on here, and just a little bit of Incantation too.  The warm and dry production style is reminiscent of those bands as well.  Not classic, but very good effort put forth here (especially for a debut).  If you enjoyed the recent rennaissance of dirtier, 90's Death Metal like  Perdition Temple, Dead Congregation, and Cemetery Urn... pile this on your platter.

it's chile outside