Brutallic Duo

Fuck writing.  Here's two Brutal Death Metal albums that'll blow your ass out!

Antropofagus

Atheretic

set phasers to

stunning!

Asgard - Outworld

Apparently, there are 20 bands with the name Asgard, though I'm pretty sure this one is the best.  They deliver some killer 80's Power Metal with sweet riffs and hooks.  Straightforward stuff without any prog tendencies or shredding, in fact, the techinicality level is pretty average.  What really sets this band apart is the absurdly high vocal range of of the singer Federico.  He seems to effortlessly go from the standard alto to well into "chipmunk" territory.  It would be a treat to witness him accurately reproduce these notes live.

outlander!

Hell Theater - Reincarnation of Evil

Hello again!  Sorry for the long pause, but I've been hella stressed with the process of moving.  I'm getting more settled in now so I should be approaching the sad attempt at regularity that I'm known for.

So here's an album that I downloaded a couple weeks ago.  Hell Theater remind me a lot of Portrait (whom I posted a while ago).  There's a strong Mercyful Fate influence and an overall early 80's vibe.  They don't bring that vintage feel as well as Portrait does, but this is still a valiant effort.  They do, however, succeed in combining their Black, Speed, and Classic Metal influences into one cohesive whole.  In reality, those sub-genres really were not that different from each other 30 years ago.  The inherent cheesiness, aggression, and epic sensibility that Metal represents is well displayed here.

dude, I'm on the rag

Lento - Anxiety, Despair, Languish

There are many genres that I love to hate, but then there's always a band that's so good I have to eat my own prejudiced words.  This is what I wish all Instrumental Post-Metal bands sounded like.  The dreary quality that seems to link all Post-Metal is still evident, but the annoying droney, repetitive quality is not to be found.  Instead, these songs actually develop and show dynamics and melody.  Not quite enough melody to make me forget the lack of vocals, but close.  Pretty close to how Kylesa would sound if they decided to go instrumental.  Those of you with beards will dig it.

a necessary queef

Ephel Duath - The Painter's Pallette

It'd quite strange that I never listened to this band until today.  Usually I go apeshit for super-proggy metal like this.  Jazzier than the usual prog stuff I post, but still has enough impact and structure to satisfy me.  Surprising that the former singer of the Nu Metal band Crisis (that I'm sure none of you are fans of) has recently joined this band.  Sonically, I would say this sounds like a pretty even mix of Alamaailman Vasarat and Ihsahn.  Go for it.

 

 

duath-ity of man

Male Misandria - Spark of The Ancient Seed

It's been awhile since a Grindcore band has made an impression on me, but damnit if Male Misandria hasn't kicked my ass.  They've been called a Black/Grind hybrid, but I think that's a bit of a stretch.  The Black Metal influence is pretty vague.  To me, this is just really good Grindcore slightly blackened with great tremolo-picked riffs. This album is a comp, so there will be some volume and production differences between songs.  Still great.

ancient splooge

Aflowerkollapsed - Orsago

Wham, bam, thank you, man.  Every once in a while, I post something in the Mathcore, Post-Everything genre.  I figure it's time again.  Aflowerkollapsed are a bit different than my usual Mathcore picks as they don't sound Converge-ish or very moshy. Orsago is more on the 90's Screamo/Mathrock side of things, which is rather refreshing for me.  I don't usually go for stuff that has anything to do with Screamo, but Aflowerkollapsed are so good they transcend my genre prejudice.  These aren't just a bunch of rich, college boys strumming a single diminished chord really fast; these guys can actually write and play challenging music.  The playing is tight and varied, so that means not only can they keep time, they actually employ every string and every part of the kit.  There's plenty of dynamics on display as well, in both speed and volume.  Ok, so the vocals are monotonous screams, but that's to be expected.  My only real beef is the amount of ambient breaks.  Everyone knows that ambient intros and interludes are just filler crap.  I'll never understand why people actually listen to that which admittedly has no musical value.  Oh well, you can't have a nice steak without that annoying layer of rubbery fat!

   

jiggle, jiggle, jiggle 

Natrium - Elegy for the Flesh

This is probably the "slammiest" album I'll ever post here.  Actually, it's really more in-line with Suffocation-worship Brutal Death.  Which is good, because actual Slam Death sucks.  To me Slam is just a novelty, basically, the lowest-brow Death Metal there is.  And probably owes much of it's popularity to Metalinquisition.  People don't listen to Slam because it's good, they listen to it because it follows a particular formula.  There are exceptions like Wormed, that are actually trying to push boundaries.  But pretty much any Slam band can be considered the Waka Flocka Flame of Death Metal; cheap and stupid, delivering on  a very "guilty-pleasure" level.  

Anyway, back to this record...  Natrium (which sounds a lot like a granola bar) is part of the recent explosion of Italic Tech Death these past few years.  What probably sets them apart is that they don't sound all that modern.  Not that they sound old-school at all, but there's a surprising lack of gravity-blasts and annoying cricket-vocals here.  There are slow, chugging parts ("slamz"), but they're actually rather tasteful, not incessant.  This is actually just good Brutal Death Metal... Something I'm always up for.

           

nature yum

Incoming Cerebral Overdrive - Controverso

Some nice Mathcore from Tuscany.  Not nearly as obnoxious or modern as the name might imply.  I detect some vague 90's Screamo influence.  I would say this sits right between medium-strength Don Caballero muscularity and the more brutal Converge-clone style.  As an added bonus, there's some interesting effects and vocal screeches to be found here and there.  This album might not kick your ass, but it's pretty damn cool.  Sorry for these short, cold reviews.  My regularity should improve as soon as my mood does.

that's a pretty controversial opinion there

Kadavar - Kadavar

Good news kiddies!  I finally have new Death Metal to post about!  This is the sole full-length from Kadavar, and it's some very fine 90's style, riff-based Death Metal.  There's not a whole lot that stands out here stylistically, but I like that.  It seems that these days, bands are just competing against each other to see who can be the least accessible in their said sub-sub-genre.  Who's the most dissonant, who has the fastest gravity-blasts, who has the most "brutal slamz"?  Stuff that's good conversation fodder and interesting to listen to a clip of, but nothing I could really enjoy all the way through.  Kadavar cuts through all that pretentiousness and gives you what you've been wanting all along, just good Death Metal!

yeah, but is it good?

Fleshgod Apocalypse - Agony

I didn't pay any attention to this album when it was first leaked a couple months ago, as I was never a fan of the band.  They always seemed like "just another brutal tech band".  So why have I changed my opinion?  Well, they've finally found that extra element that lets their music "speak".  I'm talking about a string section.  You read right, the brutish world of Death Metal has finally infiltrated the suit-and-tie affair known as Classical Music.  Thankfully, they've done so while keeping most of their previous brutality intact.  The strings aren't some out-of-place overdub, they're an integral part of the music and (rightfully) sit on an equal audial level with the other instruments.  Fleshgod Apocalypse have succeeded where Therion and Augury have failed; that is to create Orchestral Death Metal that "works". 

do you have any grey poupon?

Modern Blackness Double Post

Asmodee - Chlorosis

Hey, Bro-dudes and Bro-dettes, since I've been lagging on posts so much lately I'm gonna give you a double kick to the crotch tonight in the form "brainy" modern Black Metal.  The first and probably the "brainier" of the two is Asmodee, coming to you from where else but France?  Now, I know you've all heard blast-beats, tremolo-picking and stop-and-go riffing before; but you haven't heard it done like this before (at least, I haven't).  It's pretty tough to  put my finger on it, but these guys just sound different than Enslaved, Deathspell Omega, or whatever Prog BM band people are raving about.  Asmodee bring so much more variety, sophistication and balance to the table.  I haven't heard Black Metal this impressive since Misery's Omen. Everything seems to flow so nicely: the fast with the slow, the tonal with the atonal, the melodic with the rhythmic.  This has everything a great album needs, except for maybe clean vocals, but I always thought those were Black Metal kryptonite anyway.

myspace is soo old-school

morose-iss 

Abgott - Artefact of Madness

Don't let the song titles and cover art fool you, this is some pretty fancy shit (by Black Metal standards anyway).  At it's core, it's some pretty straightforward brutal BM, but what gives it that "brainy" edge are the fretboard gymnastics going on.  I honestly can't remember the last time I heard actual "shredding" on a Black Metal album, as everyone seems to be totally appeased by Darkthrone-level playing.  Don't get me wrong, there's some great primitive BM out there, but that doesn't mean the bar should be set at that minimalist standard.  Beyond the sweet guitar work, there's also some tight drumming, crisp bass, and surprisingly intelligible and forceful vocals.  While not setting any new standards, this is a nice and more "stimulating" alternative to whatever Marduk just put out.  Also, on earlier albums these guys used to do that whole "frog vocal" thing, so that should interest those of you that are still on the bandwagon riding Inquisition's dick.

does this guy have cleavage?

diabolical sagging