All reviews are written and executed by Drako
Bloody Falls – IV
Bloody Falls return with another absolute banger!
Here’s a band that I’ve reviewed several times on my page throughout the years and this is none other than the Finnish Death Metal act Bloody Falls, this project is a Melodic Death Metal outfit who formed in 2017. In 2013, they were known as Exiled Genesis; anyways, this is the band’s fourth full length offering overall and this is simply titled “IV” and this offering has groovy riffs right off the bat that will absolutely make you bang your head to them. This then goes into palm-muted chugs in triplets and these get and sound meaner over time, then, there’s a lot of thrashy chugs in it too; this has eerie and creepy harmonies in it and some of them are done with tremolos as well. There’s plenty of melodic harmonies in-between some of these absolutely sick grooves and they put in some hefty sounding tremolo riffs too and then, they mix and add in some grim and cold sounding blackened harmonies for a time, then, the drumming on this has mid-paced fills and turnovers in them amongst the blast beat sections also. Next, they put in groovy melodies and some of these catchy riffs will get you moshing and banging your head.
This is FFO: Kalmah, Eye of The Enemy and there’s little hints of old Dark Tranquillity too.
This is just total riff soup in here and you have a couple of awesome cascading riffs in this too and the title track is a perfect example of this. There’s some awesome melodic harmonies with a tad bit of synths underneath them, or it’s just the chime of the guitars? There’s a couple of brutal sounding breakdowns at points and these are understandably quite rare in this absolutely ripping full length; they fade in some of the riffs and there is definitely chimey synth passages in this that does appear. There’s some really eerie sounding harmonies in addition too and they add in a pause where the guitars feedback, then, they include tapping harmonies as well and I definitely would also say that they include elements and inspiration from Torchia too; this is a mostly mid-paced offering, but they do include thrashy bursts of energy in this too and these are done with tremolos and killer blast beats.
The guitar solos on this are melodic, mid-paced and some are a little shreddy with whammy bar dive bombs added in and they add a couple more sick breakdowns. My favourite track on here is named “Black Death” and this track is played in an awesome key and it has awesome clean passages that are quite sorrowful and melancholic in tone and then it explodes into thrashy energy for a time until they go back to a mid-paced pocket of a groove, there’s synths in it that are catchy as well, there’s awesome harmonies, it includes tremolo riffs that are chugged too, they then get more thrashy in addition to the pacing and there’s a really nice sounding melodic solo near the end. This is an absolutely amazing Melodic Death Metal offering that’s full of grooves, speed and melody; if you like what you hear, then absolutely get on this one!
Rating: 8.75/10
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Art|Est – Evil Embodiment
Absolutely face-melting Tech Death here!
On my list next for you all is this German Tech Death project that formed in 2017 and they’re named Art|Est, this band have recently released their debut offering and what a ripper it is; it starts out with an eerie intro track that’s comprised of synths, creepy voices and crackling. This then goes into groovy riffs right out of the gate after the intro builds up towards the end of it, the grooves get faster and then, they add in meaty fast tremolos and they transition to bouncy riffs that will make you bang your head and the speed in this is nothing short of blazing, even the harmonies are fast paced and they take a rest to drop everything out and come back in with a crushing breakdown. They add in a couple of sliding harmonies in addition to the others and they put in more tremolo harmonies at a crushing speed too, they then add in quick fire individual riffs and they drop out the guitars again to include pinch harmonics and they build these up to another breakdown.
This is FFO: Shrine of Malice, Hour of Penance and there’s elements from the likes of Whitechapel too (older.)
Some of these pummeling riffs will definitely get you moshing and doing the windmill and then, they fade out a few tracks towards the end. They include the addition of tapped harmonies, they bring the bass in and they give it several moments in the mix, then, we get to my favourite track “Despaired In Revelation” as they add into it a killer Hardcore style breakdown, it has grooves, meaty tremolos and they bring back the breakdown a little slower as well to make it more heavier. There’s a couple of chugged bouncy harmonies on this in addition to the other ones and the guitar solos on this are melodic, mid-paced, shreddy with a few sweeps in them and then, the band goes fully melodic with them and the guitarist adds a more somber solo in the same track; this then transitions to clean guitar passages that sound diminished and they happen for a time. They then put in blazing fast sweeps as harmonies now again to show off their technical skills; this is a badass killer debut that’s got thrashy riffs and grooves, with brutal breakdowns and technical nods and the vocals are mostly growls, but there’s some high screams on this that straight up reminds me of Trevor Strnad and there’s also some brutal death inspired guttural burps as well. If you’re into Tech Death/Deathcore then definitely get on this!
Rating: 8.6/10
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Defiled – Altered State
Great, killer Japanese Death Metal with a love for Autopsy!
Up next on my list that I have for you, is this OSDM band that’s based out of Japan and this band is titled as Defiled this is a founding band in the Japanese Death Metal scene. Formed in 1992 and this new album of theirs is their ninth offering overall and it’s named “Altered State” and this new full length by them has the likes of absolutely pummeling tremolo riffs and killer blast beats on it and some of these songs definitely have a sense of Grind elements going off in them and when they slow things down, that guitar tone sounds murky and unholy. They put in a couple of tremolo harmonies in addition to the riffs as well and drum wise, you have rolls and turnovers along with the blasts and double kicks; then, they add in very fast thrashy riffs before they isolate the guitars when they do sick grooves that are chuggy and palm-muted. You have a couple of d-beat sections also and they occasionally let the bass breathe too by adding it into the mix here and there, next, they put in grooves that you can definitely bang your head too and they put in a couple of chuggy harmonies also.
This is FFO: Autopsy, Hate Eternal and put in hints from Cryptopsy as well
There’s a few additions of thrashy pacing on here, but mostly it’s just mid-paced a lot of the way through with little sprinkles of doom added in and you get a few eerie harmonies also before a few solos in this and they at times let the riffs breathe and ring out and that tone is disgusting sounding. They let a couple of riffs build up too before transitions and there’s even a jazzy bass harmony put in for a short amount of time that they could have built on to add a bit of melody and variety to this album and you have some chunky palm-muted gallops done too; there’s a couple of borderline thrash riffs and they put in a few slides in here and there. The solos on here are short, brief and they’re mostly atmospheric and eerie with whammy bar dive bombs, tremolos and a tad bit of shredding in them. I like some of the verse lines to ‘Zombified’ as they’re catchy and my favourite song on this album is called: “Lunatics” as it has bouncy groove sections, bass noodles, thrashy riffs, a few breakdowns on occasion that sounds sick; it has a shreddy, short chaotic lead in it too and the vocals on this full length are done by Shinichiro and he does these Hardcore, shouty style of growls. Anyways, if you love Grimey Death Metal that has prominent bass, then give this some of your time!
Rating: 8.4/10
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Scordatura – Led Into Oblivion
UK Review Diary 65: This is some really decent thrashy Death Metal!
Ok, so, I have got a total of four reviews here and up first is this Glasgow, Scotland based Death Metal project that’s named SCORDATURA with their brand new fourth full length offering that’s titled “Led Into Oblivion” and this band formed in 2007 and this band has on their album, a creepy symphonic intro that’s kinda got dubstep in it too along with crackling fire; it then goes into stop-start catchy riffs followed by tremolos, before they return to the grooves. Next, they transition into pinch harmonics and they add these in, it has monstrous grooves and moments where you will bang your head, then, they for a time, isolate the bass for a couple of seconds before heading straight back into the grooves; there’s some creepy breathing towards the end of the track and they include palm-muted chugs, isolated guitar riffs and some nasty string bends as well. This album is very thrashy witj a lot of high energy and tempo pacing on it and next, they add in tremolo harmonies also.
This is FFO: Hideous Divinity, Cannibal Corpse and I’d add in some elements of The Bleeding too
There’re some really really fast paced tremolos on here and the drumming absolutely slams with pummeling blast beats and double kicks; some of the tremolos sounds sinister and they put in a lot of thrashy grooves and there’s some bouncy riffs that are catchy too, these never stop beating in your skull. Some of the growls on this done by Daryl are so fast and at points, they remind me of Ollie, Archspire and my favourite song on this full length is named: “A Manic Indoctrination” and it has an awesome key to carry the song, sick bouncy riffs to get you to headbang, palm-muted chugathons, even some whammy bar dive bombs as a solo and they let the bass bleed into the mix as well. There’s also a few filthy breakdowns happening on occasion too, then, they fade this out with more soundbites; there’s some mid-paced drum hits when Tam isn’t utilizing blasts and vocally backing wise, there’s a few shouts on here and the only guitar solo on this is the dive bombs on my favourite track, this is more about brutality and crushing riffs played at a neckbreaking pace more than anything. If you’re a huge Brutal Death fan with hints of technicality in the thrashy sense, then definitely give this a spin!
Rating: 8.25/10
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NunSlaughter – Satanic Chaos Legions
The Powerful Blackened Death legends, Nunslaughter return and so do I!
So, I apologize for my lack of reviews here for the past week, because I have been away, but now I’m back and I have five new reviews to come on here and first up is this Blackened Death project that’s well known and have a well stacked discography, it’s NunSlaughter with their sixth full length offering that’s titled “Satanic Chaos Legions” and these dudes are one of the pioneers of the sub genre and they formed originally under a different band name, called Death Sentence back in 1985 – 1987 and they changed their name since. The band stopped in 2015 but reformed a year later and they formed in Pennsylvania, US before moving to Ohio, US. So, this brand-new album of theirs features, marching sounds along with vocals that are saying the title track; this explodes into tremolo riffs that are highly fast and aggressive, blast beats follow them and there’s a couple of palm-muted chugs added in for heaviness too to make this groovier in nature. There are some sick groovy riffs in here and these include thrashy bursts of energy and a couple of tracks are like this and have that Grind influence here and there also.
There’s some solid mid-paced grooves happening as well over some mid-paced drum hits and some of these tremolos sound just damn right sinister and some of these riffs will get you banging your head, totally. This is mostly full of blistering tremolos and catchy riffing, but there’s not many harmonies in this; they add in some string bends and they do isolate the bass at a few points as well and there’s some little hints of punkish vibes at times, which surprised me.
This is FFO: Possessed, Mercyless and bits of Hellhammer too.
This has slower meatier grooves that are nasty too and they slightly use feedback for atmospheric purposes and they put in more soundbites like the crackling of fire and they even let the tone breathe, by adding in riffs that they let ring out and some of the vocals definitely sounds unholy in places on this album and they put in some haunting shrieks on ‘Heavenless’ the vocals are a mix of mid-ranged growls and high shrieks on occasion. My favourite track on this full length is named “Cathedral of Stench” as it has some of the sickest riffs on this offering and there’s surprisingly a tiny bit of a harmony on it, as they’re mostly absent on this release. There’s this chiming drum effect towards the end of the track too and this has d-beats and thrash all over it. If you’re into NunSlaughter and haven’t heard this new one yet, then I recommend in checking this one out, it’s solid.
Rating: 8.15/10
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Veilburner – All That Glimmers Is Gloam
Veilburner’s new album is nuts and crazy!
This here on my list is the new upcoming full length from another Blackened Death outfit that formed in 2014 and that’s once again based in Pennsylvania, US. This is the ninth upcoming offering from Veilburner, their last two albums were sick, unique and enjoyable and how does this new one “All That Glimmers Is Gloam” compare? Well, it starts off with a banjo-like guitar that’s obviously clean, before the guitars follow the riff and these transition into mid-paced atmospheric riffs for a time, before harmonies fade in and out before returning to the main riff and in the background, you hear a few spooky synths come in for a time in the background. I like the harmonies on here, as they’re catchy at points and fit the mysterious atmosphere that they were going for and they dial it up to 10 with faster riffs and blast beats towards the end of this track; there’s groovy riffs on this that involves bends in them and they put in a couple of palm-muted chugs too. You have eerie harmonies and vocals going on throughout this and they add in sci-fi synth moments behind the riffs too, then, they put in tremolo harmonies for a short time before transitioning to groove-laden harmonies.
This is FFO: Deathspell Omega, Akercocke and put in influences from Blut Aus Nord too.
My favourite song on this upcoming banger is named: “Vitriolic Hiss” as it’s got absolutely sick grooves with bouncy and eerie harmonies behind it that’s difficult to not nod your head to and then, it gets nastier, as they put in pinch harmonics in-between these riffs, then, the sci-fi/industrial style synths come in for a time. The riff gets lower in tone, as the guitar player, Mephisto goes higher up the fretboard, before he changes his groovy approach to sound nastier and these riffs are absolutely badass too. Melodic dissonant chords appear towards the end of this track and then it unfortunately cuts out to the next track, which has this creepy droning of bells and people screaming, before they go into creepy dissonant harmonies and crushing blast beats, the synths that they add in here are catchy and sick.
They put in some eerie trem riffs that have this buzzing effect to it and they cut this out and transition to chiming guitar passages, before bringing back the chugs over them and there’s catchy clean guitar passages happening at times also, then, they add more of the chiming guitar effects and this is a quite pretty and charming ballad of a track, which is ‘Dis’ Obedient Woe’ you will be able to hear the bass on occasion as well and the solos in this are atmospheric and melodic, sometimes pleasant too, like on the ballad. Chris’ vocals are a mix of black metal screams, occasional growls and atmospheric, creepy chants and shouts that have this haunting synth effect on them; then, they put in some slides in-between riffs and towards the rear of this mind-boggling album that I can’t get my head around, there’s a traditional blackened death track with tremolos and a thrashy bite to it. This is some absolutely mind-bending Blackened Death that’s got a highly atmospheric title track, odd sci-fi style synths, grooves and creepy vocal sections. Veilburner have done it again and definitely keep your eyes peeled for this killer, daft and unique offering. Drops on the 16th of October!