Brutallic Duo

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

Antropofagus

Atheretic

set phasers to

stunning!

Ouroboros - Glorification of a Myth

After a very long hiatus, I'm back with an overlooked Tech Death gem (which is what most of you have come to expect by now).  This one came recommended to me from the good folks over at youtube.  I wouldn't give this album a chance for so long because it already had two strikes against it: the word "ouroboros" is in their name (which has become a huge cliche in recent years), and it has a very annoying, Deathcore-ish album cover.  Once I finally looked past the flaws of the facade I was treated to some pretty awesome progressive and melodic Death Metal.  Ouroboros remind me a lot of later-era Death mixed with the modern styles of Decrepit Birth.  Glorification of a Myth isn't very "out there" or new, but it definitely delivers.

whorification

Deeds of Flesh - Portals to Canaan

Say what?  Why is Deeds of Flesh (often considered the most boring Brutal Death band) on this blog?  Well, it's because DoF have changed a lot in the past ten years.  They've created one of the top Death Metal albums of the year.  Like Unleashed did a year ago and Hate Eternal did the year before, Deeds of Flesh have shed the shackles of mediocrity and have started to write worth while music.  Portals to Canaan very much has the "Unique Leader" sound; cleanly produced Suffocation-style Death, fast and technical.  But they still manage to leave just enough human feel to make it listenable.  Deeds haven't redefined the genre, but they have laid down a beyond-solid effort for Death freaks by Death freaks.

Illuminati - The Core

These guys really had me fooled.  I was absolutely convinced that this was an Atheist side project, and to those of us that have been waiting persistently for the follow-up to Jupiter, The Core is the next best thing.  Of course, the Atheist comparisons make more sense when you read that Kelly Shaefer and Tony Choy guest on the album.  In fact, the guest spots on here are a literal "who's who?" of Prog Death with: Patrick Mameli (Pestilence), Luc Lemay (Gorguts), and Tymon Kruidenier (Cynic) all making noticeable appearances.  What prevents me from totally soiling myself with excitement are the "conceptual" spoken word tracks between each song (which leave only 22 mins of actual musical material).  Even if I understood Romanian I would still think they were just worthless fillers.  Even so The Core is still a tremendously promising effort.  Next time though, can you give us a full album please?

the choy of shredding

Dormant Ordeal - It Rains, It Pours

This is the new Death Metal band that you need to be paying attention to.  Stylistically, Dormant Ordeal are about half way between the mechanical precision of Decapitated and the experimental dissonance of Diskord.  For years Decapitated have been softening up and sounding more and more like Fear Factory, so It Rains, It Pours harkens back to Decap's younger years (except better).  You get all the jagged complexity and baffling timing but with warmth and tone that hasn't been present in Death Metal production for over ten years.

have your wake and eat it too

Arkhum - Earthling

I haven't even fully listened to this yet, but it's been two weeks since my last post and my conscience wouldn't let my avoid posting any longer.  What you have here is modern, technical Death Metal in the Santa Cruz style, except that it's coming out central Oregon.  There's a strong Black Metal influence too, reminding me of Fallujah.  Worth looking into, for sure.

the allochthonous (back)door

Katalepsy - Autopsychosis

A lot of you may already have this, but for those who are "behind" in the blog scene I deliver this most impressive work.  In the six years since their debut Katalepsy have progressed from bonehead Guttural Slam to the highest-brow Technical Death.  Gone are the annoying cricket vocals and steel-drum snares.  Replaced by sweeps, pinch harmonics, and endless intricate brutality.  Now with their old playground no longer in sight, Katalepsy are fast approaching Death Metal mastery.

 

that's some serious underbite

Atheos - The Human Burden

I've lost count of how many so-called "great" Prog/Tech Death albums I've posted, but The Human Burden ranks up there with the best of them.  Because Atheos aren't a big name band on a big name label, this album seems to have been shelved and overshadowed by the highly anticipated returns of Cryptopsy, Hour of Penance, and The Faceless.  All those albums were good in their own right, but this one stands apart in overall songwriting quality.  Kinda reminds me of Millenium/In Dark Purity era Monstrosity.  Well worth your attention.

    

open the yeates to hell 

Relics of Humanity - Guided By The Soulless Call

I know you're looking at this cover and thinking "shit, is this Slam?".  Well, sort of.  Relics of Humanity straddle that line between "Slam" and brutal/guttural death metal.  Whatever you might think it this qualifies as, I just think it's good.  Relics of Humanity sound very "New York" in style with the copious, palm-muted technicality of Suffocation mixed with the muddy, sasquatch bottom-heaviness of Mortician.  The vocals remind me quite a bit of Will from Mortician, but better.  These growls are so ball-shakingly deep, they even put the ridiculous G-tuned guitars to shame (and without any annoying "cricket" quality).  The guitars then provide the appropriate aftershock with frequent dive-bomb drops.  The drumming manages to just barely cut through the seismic activity with a tolerable amount of ring and sharpness.  This might not count as legit Slam to aficionados like Brett and JGD, but I think they (and many of you) will still get hella stupid to it tonight.  Recommended for Wormed and Circle of Dead Children fans.

smelting of the forsaken minions

Xenolith - Obscure Reflections

From one end of the spectrum to the other, this is supremely technical and progressive Death done in a more modern vein.  Pretty similar to Moonloop (that I just posted) and Quo Vadis but maybe a little bit more challenging than both.  The production is too dry and the vocals need some edge, but with a band this little-known I should be glad the whole thing doesn't sound like a nintendo.

long back with a crack

Moonloop - Deeply From the Earth

Pretty fuckin' sweet mid-paced, technical, guitar-oriented Death Metal.  Although influences can be traced throughout the Death Metal spectrum, their style is probably most similar to later-Coroner, Cynic, and later-Death.  Yes, there are some clean vocals here, but they're very tolerable and don't overpower the rest of the album.  I know the band name and cover might scream "skip it", fight the urge and give this a chance.  If you're at all into Prog Death, this band is well worth your time.

death to false death

No Mercy - Deathernity

In the endless ocean of mediocre Death Metal, I (so fortunately) stumbled across this monster.  Rhythmically, Deathernity is the most interesting album I've heard all year, along with Diskord's Dystopics.  These dislocated, stuttering grooves seem to be inspired by the expected world of Prog Death, the not-so-Death Metal realm of Mathcore, and all the way to the unheard-of plane of industrial and jungle.  It's true, I do detect an influence of electronic music.  Normally, that sort of thing would be grounds for me to banish a band to the recycle bin forever, but not here.  The "distant" production marries the effects with the instruments superbly.  The use of super-isolated drum sounds and solid-state  guitar amps create a uniquely "cold" atmosphere that's not at all sterile.    No Mercy have succeeded in combining extremely contrasting elements into one diverse, yet cohesive whole. 

bienvenidos a miami

Kosmophobia

Here's a super sweet EP that no one seems to have noticed yet.  Kosmophobia follows the recent explosion of "Space" Death Metal, but take it a bit further with weird, astral synth sounds.  The synths are used purely for atmospheric and thematic purpose, so they hold no musical value (which can be good or bad).  Once you get past that, there's ample helpings of riff casserole served on a delightful bed of time signatures.  Technically, this is a demo, but you'd never guess with such slick production.  Kids these days, not only can they play better than the old guard, they can mix professional albums at home!  Anyway, if you love the ultra-precise, astronautic Death Metal of Element, Origin, and Arkaik, this Bud's for you.

Kosmo Kramer Phobia

Diskord - Dystopics

I think we have another contender for "Death Metal Album of the Year" here.  Dystopics hasn't garnered the same popularity of say... the new Disfiguring the Goddess, which is strange because it's infinitely better.  Stylistically Diskord fall somewhere between Stargazer and later Gorguts, although slightly more melodic and tonal.  Dynamics are also here in spades, but are exhibited through tempo rather than volume (which keeps the brutality level high).  The songwriting and musicianship are stellar, especially considering this is only their second album.  Like the mentioned bands before them, Diskord have opted for a very "dry" and organic production (which fits very well).  Although there is a bit too much feedback "hum" for my taste.  Part of what took me so long to post this review is that I'm having a really hard time describing the wonderful uniqueness of this record.  You're just gonna have to listen to understand.    

shark sandwich

Orgone - The Goliath

God damn, what a technical monster this is.  It's another case of youtube recommending a "related video" to who knows what I was originally searching for.  Like it's namesake, The Goliath is devastating in it's intricate brutality, and yet somehow unknown?  Metal bloggers like me usually eat this shit up, so the problem must lie in the fact that it was released in 2007, before most of us had fully gotten on the blog bandwagon.  It's too bad, because this is the most interesting and painfully complex Death Metal I've heard in ages.  Unlike Prog-Death heroes Gorguts and Atheist (who are as "Death Metal" as it gets), Orgone definitely take from other distant genres like Post-Hardcore, Grind, and Mathcore.  A lot of those influences "Post-" can be heard in the slower, more ambient moments.  Even with those nice breaks, there's still plenty of explosive force that make up the meat of this album.  You know you're intrigued, so just do the damn thing!      

there's something in my bamboo cannon for you

Desecravity - Implicit Obedience

I first heard of this new deadly release from blogger-bro and fellow fat guy Brett.  As you would expect, the level of musicianship and sonic violence is staggering.  You just don't get any tighter and more technically demanding than this, so much so that it's a bit "show-ey". [start of tangent]  I often wonder to myself where Metal can really go in terms of extremes.  I mean, blast-beats are now so "palatable" that you can see System of a Down play them on SNL.  Ok, so that means "Brutal" Death Metal bands have to up the ante and play gravity blasts.  So now we have bands like Braindrill that just play gravity-blasts throughout their entire album.  Is there any room to get even more brutal than that?  I don't think so.  It's to the point where some of these albums sound like an A-10's mini-gun.  Metal musicians need to realize that being the fastest, slowest, or most guttural doesn't make you good.  Music is supposed to be art, not an arms race.  Don't put out music just because you can, do it because you have significant art that you think would better people's lives. [end of tangent]   Desecravity do a pretty good job of keeping things interesting and brutal at the same time.  Implicit Obedience is a great listen, just don't expect it to change your life (or your view of Death Metal).

kwaki serpi nikku

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