Legion of the Damned possess the fury of old-school thrash bands Destruction, Slayer and Exodus. We're talkin' kick-ass thrash metal that cuts you like a knife and leaves you bleeding to death. Save for one moment of acoustic intermission (track 6, "Seven Heads They Slumber") every track of "Sons Of The Jackal" slays you with razor-sharp riffing an...

26/02/2009

"Prophets Of Doom" by Infidel is melodic death metal with a little 70's rock influence. Axemen Chris and Wally do a nice job of interweaving melody and riff throughout, kinda like they used to do back in the good old days of the 70's. Great rhythmic hooks in the verses -- I noticed among the long list of influences bands Carcass and The Crown menti...

26/02/2009

Masappeal are a great mixture of hardcore punk and thrash metal. They are an injection of pure energy that make you want to start moshing right where you stand. Think Black Flag meets Exodus This is a re-issue of a classic hardcore album that was released originally in 1986 as a mini-LP of 7 songs on Waterfront Records. Apparently this was a hard t...

26/02/2009

This is the kind of shit that gets under your skin, writhes and wriggles around and makes you wanna do bad things! Neuropathia are just downright nasty as fuck!! They are a Polish band signed to Australian label No Escape Records whose arsenal includes such bands as Putrescence, Embalming Theater and Gruesome Stuff Relish. Anyone who has listened t...

26/02/2009

The name of the CD is "Opus Genitalia" and as you might expect, it aims to grab you by them (your genitals) and give them a good firm squeeze. Ah yes these perverted Portuguese gore-grinders do seem fascinated with oral and anal sex, and of course who isn't, but as the CD wears on the level of perversity increases. Each track is preceded by a sound...

26/02/2009

<p>So this band With Passion - exactly who are they? What is their deal? Are they a case of technical rock gone haywire? Maybe -- or maybe it's just a jazz fusion band that wants to keep it heavy. I suppose this could be said of any band slapped with the label of "tech rock" on them, but they're leaning a bit more mainstream than that. Comparisons...

26/02/2009

Grrrrryaaaaaa!!!! Kickass drums, awesome guitar riffs and most excellent screamin' vocals. Self-defining their sound as "ALL THE HATRED YOU CAN FEEL" -- okay. Sure. Truth be told There are more hateful-sounding acts out there, but these guys kick serious ass all the same. On this their first self-titled EP, Rumors Of Gehenna share the same produ...

26/02/2009

Morkobot consists of three members, Lin, Lan and Len, on guitar, bass and drums respectively, and their release "Mostro" could best be described as an electronic psychedelic soundscape. Inventive guitar and melodic bass movements that are "heavy on the mid" augmented with hot square wave synth sounds, and an intuitive mix between analog and digi...

26/02/2009

"Voices Of Omens" by Rwake is a shamanistic journey through the backwoods of the southern psyche. It could be compared to Mastodon or Neurosis but more sludgey like Eyehategod or Crowbar. Rwake employ elements of sludge, doom and tech-rock, with varying time signatures and interesting rhythmic motifs. Some of the tunes have an almost medievil feel...

26/02/2009

The use of violins, particularly in the first, fourth and fifth tracks is a unique and refreshing innovation in the field of black metallurgy. The production on this record is exceptional, especially considering the band pretty much did it themselves in a home studio. Vehementor Nos employ everything from acoustic guitars and piano to woodwind inst...

26/02/2009

Hardcore death, kinda like Hatebreed maybe or Obituary - somewhere in there - but very lo-fi. Forcefed Trauma feature the standard growling vox and chugging guitars mixed with mostly up-tempo rhythms that diehard fans of the genre have come to appreciate. "Enslaved In Hatred" could stand a better production quality. It's a sloppy mix to be sure....

26/02/2009

Worldescape is melodic death/thrash metal not unlike Carcass or In Flames and this, their second EP since changing their band name from "Doomstone" in 2005 is characterized by relentless blast-beats, well-constructed songs and hard-driving riffs, with occasional flare-ups of pyrotechnical guitar technique and even some harmonies to accompany growls...

26/02/2009