Metal Blast!

Process of Guilt – FÆMIN

Ben Chipman — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:27:28 +0000

A wise man once told me that good metal comes at two speeds-incredibly fast and incredibly slow. My first loves in metal were the legendary thrash and NWOBHM metal bands of the ‘80s-your Slayers, your Maidens, what have you. So you can see how I was on the side of speed for much of my metal upbringing. As I got older, though, I grew to appreciate the menace, atmosphere and tension of slower stuff, and now I worship Isis so I guess I’ve been brought over to the slow side. I mention all this because Process of Guilt are bringing the slow and heavy on their third album FÆMIN, and since I’m not Sam, our resident doom expert, I want you, the reader, to know that I’m at least somewhat qualified to talk about this record (at least compared to high school me).

The Portuguese death-doom outfit certainly delivers the slimy, murky goods on this record. Lumbering and colossal, these songs sound like marches into an evil swamp. My biggest fear going into FÆMIN was that, like some doom, it would drag and get lost in itself instead of keeping me interested; fortunately, that fear was quickly assuaged once I got my teeth into opening track “Empire”. Once I got into its crushing groove, the minutes flew by and I quickly found myself on to the next song. To me, that’s the mark of a great, long song-it doesn’t feel nearly as long as it is. Track 2, “Blindfold”, builds on that momentum and slams straight into an ugly, sludgy jam. Once this record gets the ball rolling, there’s no stopping it until it’s crushed everything in its path. Though the riffs are appropriately heavy, I have to commend Process of Guilt for not relying solely on the riffs to guide them through this record-the eerie, almost ambient single note leads over the driving riffage sound positively otherworldly.

“Harvest” incorporates wah-ed out leads punctuated by savage screams courtesy of vocalist/guitarist Hugo Santos to great effect; positively evil and hateful sounding, I found myself unconsciously banging my head along to the track, which felt all too short despite its six-and-a-half-minute runtime. Fortunately, “Cleanse” is there to pick up right where if left off-the song eases you in with a haze of feedback and a rumbling bassline, and I was expecting the heavy guitars to crash back in at a moment’s notice, but instead the song builds on its foundation and I found that the heaviness had slowly set it around me, like a fog coming in, rather than picking one moment to emerge again. By the time the eerie guitar leads came in near the end, I was having a ball. Finally, the eleven-minute title track takes us home, perfectly capturing the feel of the entire record-combining the atmosphere of doom with the aggression of death, this Portuguese outfit manages to sound contemporary with their modern doom peers while remaining powerful and engaging. And man, seriously, that riff that kicks in at 4:30 or so…glorious.

Doom-dealers, if you’re looking for something to crank, you’ve found your next record purchase. That goes for fans of slower, groovier death metal, too-Process of Guilt have nailed the, well, process of intense buildups before crushing payoffs. Turn down the lights and bang the head that doesn’t bang.

-Ben Chipman

Artist: Process of Guilt

Album: FÆMIN

Label: Major Label Industries

Release: June 11, 2011

Rating: 4/5

Hour of 13 – 333

Sam — Sat, 19 May 2012 04:38:53 +0000

I really love this new string of 70′s-revival occultist metal, but a lot of it leans a bit too far towards the “rock” end of the scale. Although groups like Witchcraft, Ghost and The Devil’s Blood write some of my favorite music and put on phenomenal shows, they don’t really sound all that heavy. The riffs have great grooves and are plenty catchy, and the Satanic themes are about as overt as you can possibly get, but the music itself just doesn’t crush with the same Wagnerian bombast that metal demands. It’s the kind of feeling where you’re so overwhelmed by the pulverizing nature of the music that you can’t help but juice the invisible oranges and bang your head in a riff-induced trance. I can’t fault them for sticking true to the style they practice, but can’t they make their music just a bit more monstrous? They could really take a page or two from contemporaries like Blood Ceremony, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, or the USA’s long-running Hour of 13. Merging an expert ear for catchy hooks with beefy heaviness, their most recent offering 333 is a killer example of how to make traditionalist heavy metal still pack plenty of punch in an age where metal’s become more and more extreme by the minute.

The head-nodding grooves and killer hooks of the choicest cuts on the album call back to the heavier bands responsible for metal’s birth. One can’t help but recall the blues-beholden pentatonic riffs and ominous dirges of the mighty Black Sabbath and early Judas Priest - the dueling guitar leads have all but prostrated themselves before the idols of Tipton and Downing, and it certainly helps that vocalist Phil Swanson at his best is almost a dead ringer for Rob Halford’s lower register. With catchy groovefests like “Who’s To Blame?” and “Rites of Samhain,” the band demonstrates that they’re easily able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other giants of this nascent subgenre, but these moments of greatness are marred by a bit of a tendency to drag here and there. Opening cut “Deny The Cross” has a few absolute monster riffs nestled within its prog-inspired bloat, and there’s really not much to recommend the incredibly forgettable “Spiral Vacuum” at all. They pull it off more often than not, though, as songs like “The Burning” and the closer “Lucky Bones” twist and turn through a wide menagerie of tempo changes and intricate riffing that leave the listener immensely satisfied.

Overall, 333 is a pretty consistently enjoyable release, especially if you’re into both the metal greats from the 70s and the new wave of bands who can’t help but stand upon those giants’ shoulders. Hour of 13 deliver a solid helping of classic heavy metal with deliciously doomy overtones on their third LP, and if they trimmed off a bit of the fat it could be even greater. But as it is right now, it’s already an exemplary work – what I look for in every album I listen to is perfection, but I’m always willing to settle for mere excellence.

-Sam

Artist: Hour of 13
Album: 333
Label: Earache Records
Release Date: May 29th, 2012
Rating: 4/5

Inquisition, Castevet, Villains – 4/27/12

Sam — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:56:21 +0000

Saint Vitus, an up-and-coming rock- and metal-centric bar in Brooklyn, just celebrated its one-year anniversary with a string of fantastic metal and hardcore shows. Closing up the week-long celebrations were a pair of performances by black metal legends Inquisition, the best two-man black metal act operating today. I had neglected to visit Saint Vitus before for some dumb reason or another, but seeing Inquisition again was an absolute necessity. Catching their headlining set on the Saturday of Maryland Deathfest 2011 was easily one of the most energetic live performances I had ever borne witness to, especially going in with absolutely zero knowledge of the group or expectations as to how they’d perform. Granted, it’s easy to be blown away when you don’t have any expectations to begin with, but anyone who’s seen them live before is already familiar with the astounding amount of energy, ferocity, and talent that they bring to the table. This was not an occasion to miss.

Kicking off the festivities were local black-crusters Villains, whom I had caught twice before – earlier in the week supporting Chicago speed-thrashers Superchrist, and earlier in the month opening for the incomparable Midnight. Their dirty and scuzzy interpretation of thrash-infused black metal did wonders for getting the crowd amped. Much like The Cult Is Alive-era Darkthrone‘s crusty take on a black-thrash sound, they don’t really seem to give a shit about what’s “trve,” as long as it rocks face – and judging from the crowd’s reception, most everyone else was in agreement. I mean, how can you not rock out to songs with titles like “Land Hag,” “Crazy for Blowjobs,” or the perennial classic “Never Abandon The Slut Train?” It’s physically impossible. I neglected to catch Castevet‘s set, since linking up with old friends in town from parts unknown at the bar was more of an immediate priority, but after listening to their LP I’m pretty regretful about missing them. Like many black metal bands local to the New York City area, they aren’t content with operating under the genre’s original blueprint. They play a fusion of black metal and post-hardcore that works surprisingly well – think classic Darkthrone meets Fugazi. If a more emotional Krallice, a more mathy Deafheaven, or a less intolerably pretentious Liturgy sound good to you, you should definitely give their album Mounds of Ash a good listen.

While I was sitting at the bar and pounding down my fifth two-dollar beer of the night, I was talking with a new acquaintance who didn’t identify herself as a metal fan at all. She mostly listened to jam bands, she said, but Inquisition was a special case – she caught them live at a bar once, and was instantly enamored by their face-painted aesthetic, their catchy riffs, their command over the crowd, and their impossibly huge sound for such a minimalist lineup. It seems that everyone who experiences them for the first time – no matter their musical background – instantly becomes a fan, and by that metric there must have been a sizable inflation in the Inquisition Fan Club’s numbers that night. The band was in top form, hammering out early classics like “Those Of The Night” and “Nefarious Dismal Orations” along with paeans like “Cosmic Invocation Rites” and the magnificent doom-tinged “Desolate Funeral Chant” from their most recent album, Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm. The raw and traditional black metal they played, in the mold of paragons like Mayhem and Immortal, was a welcome performance after the rest of the night’s deviances from black metal orthodoxy – as much as modern USBM bands have distanced themselves from the genre’s beginnings, it’s always important to remember where you came from.

Soooo yeah, it was a good show! Every band I saw was in top form, the crowd reception was phenomenal (and I’ve got the bruises to prove it), and the venue was the perfect place to host such an unholy gathering. Inquisition tours pretty frequently, so it’s pretty easy to catch a show of theirs no matter where in the world you live. And if you’re not a fan of them, go catch a performance of theirs. You will be.

Inquisition (Dagon) Interview

Sam — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:55:44 +0000

“…We’re the luckiest guys in black metal, really. And our loyalty is to keep giving you the true Inquisition sound, and keep you guys happy.”

Those familiar with the worldwide underground black metal scene are already well familiar with Inquisition. Originally formed in 1988 in Colombia, Inquisition began their existence as a thrash metal act on their first EP and demo before embracing a rawer black metal style in 1998 on their debut LP, Into the Infernal Regions of the Ancient Cult. While other black metal acts have moved far past the original vision of the Norwegian scene and embraced shorter hair, unpainted faces, and various disparate elements from other musical genres, Inquisition have fully embraced the raw and dirty sound of primitive bare-bones black metal without ever putting out a stagnant release. From Infernal Regions all the way up to their fifth release, 2011′s Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm, their output has been consistently impressive, immersive, and absolutely devastating. With deceptively complex musical arrangements laid over raw black metal instrumentation performed by a minimalist two-man lineup, Inquisition has been a major force ever since, as anyone who’s been to their live show can easily attest to. To see only two guys make that much noise is truly a blessing of the Dark Gods.

The band played two back-to-back shows at Saint Vitus, the most metal bar in Brooklyn,* on April 26th and 27th of this year in celebration of the bar’s one-year anniversary. Cheap beer, good vibes, and heavy rocking were in full force on the Friday night I visited. I was lucky enough to meet with Dagon, the guitarist, vocalist, and mastermind behind the band before his performance that night. We discussed the evolution of Inquisition‘s sound, his original inspirations in the world of music, the ritualistic aspects of black metal, and what’s next for the band in the interview below.

Inquisition’s music is for sale on iTunes and Amazon MP3.

-Sam

*It has this over the bathroom sink.

MB: You’ve been a force in the heavy metal underground for many years, but Inquisition is still pretty obscure outside of the metal world. How would you describe your sound to those who aren’t familiar with the band?
D: It’s very guitar-driven. That doesn’t mean that any [one] thing is more important than the other, it’s just that the compositions are based around guitar melody rather than just a rhythmic structure. How I would describe it is…it’s a collective, it’s a mix of several types of metal, everything ranging from heavy metal all the way down to black metal. What inspires me is everything I like, and I try to take several genres of metal and kind of melt ‘em down into what Inquisition is. Keep everything seamless, you know. I don’t want it to be a collection of styles, but I’m very inspired by different genres. But how I would describe it? Describing sound can be challenging, so I’m really not gonna risk leading people into something and trying to veer ‘em off from being interested in hearing us. But if you like metal guitar and you like the classic black metal and heavy metal and all that stuff with quite obscure chant-like and demonic-like vocals [then you'll like Inquisition]. Some people will describe [the vocals] as everything from comical, like a frog, all the way to a shaman chanting invocations. You’re gonna have to listen to it, build up your own view. Some people will say we’re very much Immortal-driven – absolutely, they were an inspiration for me, one of my all-time favorite bands – but we have our own thing going on. Check it out.

MB: Is there any specific experience you can point to that originally motivated you to start playing and performing music?
D: Yes. When I was thirteen years old, and I heard Angus Young’s guitar tone, I said “That’s what I want to do. I want an electric guitar, and I want to play a guitar – not because I like guitar, but because I want to hear that sound. I want to produce a sound that that guy’s producing.” This was when I was listening to Jailbreak and some of the first AC/DC albums. But really, what got me to want to be on stage isn’t music videos that I saw in the 80′s or hearing live shows like Live Undead from Slayer, it was going to a show. My first show, it was pretty late because I had been living down in South America and we didn’t get any of the bands that you guys did up here. The time I came up here to visit in ’89, I saw Exodus with Helloween and a few other bands I can’t recall at the moment. I remember the guitar techs coming out for Exodus and cranking up those Marshalls and doing a quick sound check, and I said “I have to be at least one of those guys one day.” So that’s what got me up there. When I heard that guitar tone live, cranked out of those PAs up there, I was 17 at the time and I said “I’ve gotta do this.” And that’s what got me to do what I’m doing now.

MB: Although you started as a thrash act, you moved to embrace a raw black metal sound for the majority of your career. Is there anything in particular that precipitated this change?
D: Yes, there’s several things. I kinda have to think that one over because again, I don’t want any misunderstandings. Like a lot of us in the 80s, I was a thrash kid. The heaviest thing I’d been listening to before I’d heard anything like old black metal, like Venom and stuff, was Judas Priest. My favorite bands were Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction. All the German thrash inspired me as a musician. But, you know, that was in the 80s and as you start getting older, some guys veer away from metal. They’ve had it. Some guys, they want more. And in this case, in a musical sense, I was looking for a “harder drug.” I wasn’t really looking for it, but thrash was really getting burned out. I don’t like saying it this way, but it really was getting dated. I mean, some people say metal shouldn’t evolve, [but] whatever term you want to choose, the term I choose would be…it’s just not moving forward. Thrash had gotten stagnant, uninteresting. All of a sudden, even though I’m very much a guitar-driven person, I heard this new style of what we called “black metal” at the time that definitely was guitar-driven. When I heard Immortal‘s Pure Holocaust – Darkthrone, all that, I liked those; I liked Emperor and everything – but Mayhem and Immortal really, really are what lead me to do what I’m doing now because, again, the guitar-driven melodies and songs that they had just floored me. The visuals of it, the theatrics that accompanied this obscure ideology just went so hand-in-hand with the music. And once again, all that could’ve existed, but if it hadn’t been guitar-driven I would’ve been very uninterested in it, even though there were the drum blasts and everything.

MB: Many black metal bands have found a raw and stripped-down sound to be stifling, but you guys have managed to remain fresh-sounding across all your releases – I’d argue that Ominous Doctrines is your strongest release yet. What’s your secret?
D: Many steps forward, many, many steps back in the songwriting process. The style that many fans and non-fans designate to us as a simplistic style can be true in a sense, but it’s not a simplistic approach when I write. The riffs you hear on each album, especially Ominous, are a result of throwing away, creating, throwing away, creating…You could say that every writer does that. But those two, three years it takes me to write an album are full of moments like that. That’s really what the result is, each album guitar-wise are the best riffs I could come up with up to that moment. Could they have been better? You could think so, but the problem is [that] in art, you want to finally know when to turn things off and say “You know what, it’s time to call this album done. Let’s get it recorded.” I’m kinda getting into that rut with this new album. We have to move forward, so I’m starting to teach myself to be happy with the riffs I’m coming up with and keep them.

MB: When you write your songs, are they initially composed with the live performance in mind, or do you focus on the studio recording first?
D: That’s a very good question. Both, 50/50. It can be very difficult at times, because you could say, for example, “I want the song to be very atmospheric.” It’s gonna be atmospheric, and usually to make it atmospheric the riffs are going to end up being very simple. And then I think “okay, my critics are going to say ‘wow, he got really simplistic on this song!’” So I kinda shake things up a little bit, I go “well, I wanted it to be atmospheric, but let’s make it a little brutal. Okay, killer. How’s it going to sound live, though?” But which one really calls the shots? Live. When I’m writing the riff, I think “man, imagine what this is gonna sound like with those Marshalls cranked up!” How is it going to translate in the studio? Well, if it translates well live, it’s definitely going to translate well in the studio.

MB: Do you ever have difficulty translating your studio work to a live setting with such a minimalist performing lineup?
D: Give me an example, so I can understand the question better.

MB: Like on “Astral Path to Supreme Majesties,” the first track off Ominous Doctrines, when you’ve got so many guitar tracks going at once. How do you end up translating that?
D: Ok, excellent. We have to sacrifice the overdubbed guitar, and that is something I think about when the song’s being written. And it’s one of those things where you go, you know, I could tell Incubus, the drummer: “Hey man, look, what if we laid this little guitar part over it?” It’s too bad, we won’t be able to do this live, but what are you gonna do? Trash the song and a great idea because we can’t do it live? I think fans will get used to not hearing that one part, and if anything, they get to focus more on the rhythmic part. The short answer is that we sacrifice, we have to compromise.

MB: The vocals are definitely one of the most distinctive elements of your sound. How did you decide on using your particularly unique style of vocal delivery rather than a standard black metal scream?
D: I started thinking over a new vocal approach around ’95. And I thought about the high-pitched screechy vocals, I loved ‘em. Like the old Funeral Winds albums and demos, and Blaze in the Northern Sky and all that old stuff, you know. I loved ‘em. But I wanted something a little bit more…I don’t know if it’s fair to say “inhuman.” I thought [about] what can I do with these vocals, that when people listen to me – I don’t care if it’s going to be funny to them or not, or strange, or not fit in – I want something that when they listen to it, they’re not really thinking of a human being there in a studio screaming. It’s not easy – it’s easy to do, but it’s not easy to take that concept and make it work right to where it does suit the atmosphere and people do believe in what you’re doing without thinking that you’re not taking things serious enough. But my approach was, I basically wanted something that was…something along the lines of the old Graveland albums, or De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas of Mayhem, with Atilla. Something along those lines but kind of adapting my own tonality to it. Something monotone, emotionless, and take it from there and see what happens.

MB: While many black metal bands are content to embrace Satanism out of shock value, your lyrics have always had a bit more of an esoteric and occultist bent. Would you be able to shed some light on the themes and elements you use for lyrical inspiration?
D: Sure. Satanism to me is, in music, a great thing for somebody who wants to keep things dark, root for the bad guy in essence. We all know what the Devil’s all about. But to add a serious approach to it, you have to add somewhat of a mystical, occultist-like feel meaning not really taking anything from a particular culture or philosophy. Keep things poetic. I write my lyrics around nature, and really throw Satanism over it, as controversial as that may sound to some people thinking “What does that mean? That doesn’t sound very deep.” I could be here for hours going on about that part. It’s not really gearing myself towards anything too much. I don’t wanna be seen as just [a guy who] writes about Satan, Satan, Satan, based off the Old Testament and that’s it. But what do you write about? It’s a great topic for black metal. Right now I’m really going more towards astrophysics, and keeping things a little colder based on science. I’m trying to find something new and interesting, but I gotta keep Satan in there.

MB: As black metal’s evolved far past its original Norwegian incarnation, many bands in the scene have either abandoned or completely neglected the corpse-painted and bullet-belted aesthetic while you guys continue to embrace it. Why is that?
D: It just really suits the atmosphere. I have no problem with people in short hair, no paint, I don’t care what they look like. At the end of the day, what’s coming out of those speakers is all that matters. But as long as you’re willing to add a visual [element] to your performance, why not? If you feel, if anything, if you want to use visuals for yourself, because it’s going to inspire your mood more, enhance your mood, then do it. I can tell you right now, we do it more for ourselves than [other] people because by now, so many hundreds of thousands, if not millions of metalheads worldwide have seen the facepaint so much, it’s almost as cliche as the long hair thing in metal. It’s not new anymore. The thing is, though, when you don’t wear it, we do feel different. There’s been a couple occasions where our paint disappeared last-minute. In New Orleans we had to go on without it, and we were as inspired, but it’s just…you feel different. The drummer and I, one night I told him “I think I understand now why they call it warpaint.” When warriors of many cultures, many tribes, put their paint on it really sets a mood. It’s almost like going to the other world when you’re putting it on, and it ritualizes the moment before you go onstage. It’s not just “okay, time to warm up, time to stretch,” it’s more like stretch, do all your stuff, and now you have your time to yourself to put your paint on, you’re thinking about what you’re doing, you’re now transcending into another world, into this black hole when you’re looking into the mirror and doing your paint. That’s what I’m thinking about when I’m doing it. There’s no words, there’s really no thoughts, it’s just a state of being, and it’s a very relaxing one. Why don’t we stop doing it? Because of that. I think it’s a very nice tradition for black metal, and I think it should be kept for those who wish to continue doing it.

MB: What’s next on the table for the band? Will you be touring another region of the world after the States?
D: Well, we came here to the East Coast to do five shows, one more in New England, then we’re going back. I think we have four or five days rest, we get home on Monday. We have three shows in Mexico. One of those three shows is gonna be pretty cool. It’s a little fest called Metal on the Rocks, it’s with Exumer and Morbid Saint out of Wisconsin. It’s with those three bands, and then two more shows in Mexico. In no specific order, June we have New Zealand and Australia coming up, five shows. Many different continents, many different countries. The demand’s there, and we’re trying to do this to the fullest of our time right now. There’s South America, and Europe…we’re busy. We’re busy this year.

MB: Do you have any plans for a new album in the works?
D: Absolutely! I’m smiling right now because that’s the biggest challenge, and it’s a good one. It’s a good challenge. We signed on with Season of Mist. Our promise to them was to have the album written and recorded and produced by December 31st, but they have no problem with waiting a little more. I went ahead and got Michael [Berberian] of Season of Mist, asking him if they could wait until around March. I told him we’ve been doing a lot of touring, and it’s all by demand, so we wanna please fans and promoters that want the band and that kinda gets in the way a little bit of the songwriting, but in a good way. We’re writing and it’ll be out on Season of Mist next year, and then more touring. Same routine.

MB: Any last words for your fans?
D: I really don’t know how to make the words “thank you” show appreciation in the most honest and authentic form without sounding cliche. We’re all brought up to always be thankful and everything, but I do want everybody to know one thing: that I feel like I am the luckiest guy in black metal. I can’t believe that doing what we do, breaking a little bit of the standards, two guys playing what they wanna play, because of fans – and promoters are fans, too! You’ve got people paying into this to get you where you need to be to play in their country, their city. Fans are people, working-class citizens, and they’re dishing out money to buy your product, show their support. “Thank you” is not, I mean it’s just, that’s not the right word. I’d rather say I feel like I am – I really am, and Incubus the drummer [too], we’re the luckiest guys in black metal, really. And our loyalty is to keep giving you the true Inquisition sound, and keep you guys happy.

Blast Radius – May, 2012

Jon Burkan — Tue, 15 May 2012 22:04:53 +0000

Welcome to this months Blast Radius column! I know I may be over a month late with this article, but I was busy with many things, so sue me. Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept behind Blast Radius, please allow me to explain. We take material from (not always) lesser known bands who think their hard work should be given a chance to be put out there in the press of the music industry. Maybe we can find a new ‘diamond in the rough’ that is destined for great things, but how would we know if we never give these smaller bands a chance? That is exactly why we started the Blast Radius column, to make sure musicians like that actually do have a voice and the opportunity to gain more of a following.

Today we will mainly focus on the world of death metal as usual, but there will also be an interlude of doom and sludge, too, which will be handled by my comrade known as Sam. If any of these reviews get you wondering about the bands, I will be linking to their respective Facebook pages, as well as to where you can download their material if it is from a band-sanctioned source. I’m not going to waste anymore of your time, so let us begin.

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Artist: Venomous Supremacy
Album: Articles Of Defilement
Location: Houston, Texas
Label: The Dread Lair

On their debut EP, “Articles Of Defilement“, we see Venomous Supremacy doing their best to bring some blackness to the sub-genre of brutal death metal. Taking leads from bands such as Nailed and Deception, Jose Vidal (guitars, backing vocals; Christ Malformation, Christgrinder) and company are keen on wanting their name to be synonymous with the aforementioned groups. We all know by now that Texas has some of the best brutal death metal to ever be recorded, but can Venomous Supremacy continue to carry that tattered and torn banner with pride?

When I listen to ‘Removal Of The Flesh’ I can’t say I hear “blackened brutal death metal” at all. To me it just sounds like your standard brutal death metal, and while it isn’t bad, it isn’t exactly good, either. The music is rather ho-hum most of the time, but there are nuggets of greatness that are strewn about, namely the leads in ‘Transcending Divinity’ and ‘Severing The Legend’. Unfortunately, the rest of the music just fails to make that big of an impression, leaving me rather speechless for the most part.

However, there is an upside to this. “Articles Of Defilement” was Jose’s first attempt at writing death metal songs, and I know for a fact that Venomous Supremacy is hard at work on writing new material. Now that the band has some more seasoned members within their ranks, as well as Jose improving his song-writing, I can expect something much better in the future. Like I said, there were some parts I enjoyed, and now it is just a matter of cutting off the fat and getting into the juicy death metal meat.

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Artist: Funebrarum/Undergang
Album: The Dead Of Winter
Location: Clifton, New Jersey/Copenhagen, Denmark
Label: Cyclone Empire/Xtreem Music

Funebrarum. Fune-fucking-brarum. That is the very first time I have cursed in one of my articles, and if there is one band that deserves it, it is the darkened old-school death metal goliath known as Funebrarum. They are one of my favorite U.S. death metal bands because of their penchant for making such depressing and emotive music. Each release they have done has always been nothing short of spectacular, and I expect nothing less from them. This time around they have partnered with the Danish crusty death metallers known as Undergang for a split of unimaginable crushing death metal. I’ll admit that I know nothing about Undergang, but if they are appearing on a split with Funebrarum then this is a band that I must get to know.

The split known as “The Dead Of Winter” opens on side A with ’Delusions in the Sheltered Womb’ by Funebrarum. That song name speaks volumes to me and lets me know what I am going to get. Rusty chainsaw guitars ring out as the dirty recording does its job of placing the listener in an all consuming vortex of misery. This is Funebrarum; slow, dreary, and as old-school as can be. ’Delusions in the Sheltered Womb’ plays for over six and a half minutes, and with each rotten note or regurgitated lyric is magnificent. As usual, the band delivered big time. It is going to be exceptionally difficult for Undergang to compete with that.

Despite my assumption of Undergang not being able to top the previous song, the band comes out swinging a sledgehammer. Much like the band that appeared before them, ‘Kloakkens Afkom’ is ridiculously raw. This three-piece sounds incredibly tight and play an old-school style of European death metal that the Gods would be proud of. I can’t help but think David Torturdød’s (guitars, vocals; Wormridden) vocals sounds remarkably close to that of Jaro (formerly) from Polish goregrinders Dead Infection, and it is making me enjoy the rotten instrumentation of ‘Kloakkens Afkom’ more.

While Undergang‘s contribution wasn’t as enjoyable as Funebrarum‘s, it was still really damn good. If you want a death metal split album that makes you think you are listening to death metal from the late ’80s and early ’90s, then you cannot go wrong with “The Dead Of Winter“. I already love Funebrarum to a degree that should be considered illegal, but I was also really impressed with what I heard from Undergang, and make sure to keep an eye on them for the future.

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Artist: Fire in the Cave
Album: Fire in the Cave
Location: Orlando, Florida
Label: NK Tapes

“To them, I said, the truth would be literally nothing but the shadows of the images.” – Socrates

Any band that takes their name from a Platonic theory of philosophical thought is A-OK in my book, and the debut double-tracker from Orlando doomers Fire in the Cave certainly lives up to the name. This is slow-building post-sludge in the vein of Neurosis, Rosetta, and Thou – it’s a subgenre that’s now easy to dismiss with so many cookie-cutter bands completely indistinguishable from each other doing it nowadays, but Fire in the Cave easily manage to stay fresh by switching up their arrangements on a dime throughout the course of a song. The band ping-pongs between disparate styles and influences with an almost calculated finesse, making an eight-minute long song interesting and arresting without seeming too contrived, or as if it were written by an Arcturus-worshiping avant-garder with a severe case of genre ADD.

The opener “Civilized Swamp” flies between sludge, black metal, stoner rock, and a full-on death metal gallop without ever seeming like too much to swallow, and the B-side “Aeden Carr” is very much in the same mold, with high-speed sludge (yes, it’s possible!) giving way to something almost black metal before lapsing into blistering hardcore. Along with excellent musicianship on the part of all the band members and such a brilliant ear for genre melding comes an impressive sense of harmony, as the occasional bass fill or harmonized double-guitar riff works wonders in keeping the listener engrossed. Where most post-whatever metal bands are content to languish and stagnate in a well of “atmospherics” to mask their lazy songwriting, Fire in the Cave reaches out, grabs you by the throat, and drags you down into the abyss along with them. If a full-length’s not on the way, I’m going to be pretty disappointed.

-Sam

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Artist: Abhorrent Castigation
Album: Enthralled By Abysmal Delusion
Location: Bremen/Albstadt, Germany
Label: New Standard Elite Records

Abhorrent Castigation are a two-man brutal death metal outfit that came upon my radar through discovering one of their tracks being linked in a group on Facebook. After taking a listen to ‘The Dead Shepherd’, I liked what I heard and ventured over to their band page and found their four-track demo “Enthralled By Abysmal Delusion” was up for free download. It seemed like good Disgorge and Deeds of Flesh worship, so what harm could be done?

What type of harm, you may ask? The type of harm where you will be forced to go see chiropractic and massage specialists for weeks down the road. This is your standard “gotta go fast” brutal death metal that really isn’t too original in its own right, but there is just something about how these two Germans go about creating music that I don’t want to stop listening to. The three original compositions are well-thought out and make sure to never play on one portion for too long, making sure to keep your attention. They even covered ‘Into Morbid Obesity’ by Spanish brutal death metal stalwarts Cerebral Effusion. I can’t speak to whether it is better or worse than the original since the only exposure I have to Cerebral Effusion is through their album “Smashed and Splattered Organs“, but I’m assuming it would come very close to its predecessor.

While Abhorrent Castigation may not be the most innovative brutal death metal band around, they do their craft very well. I would have to say that ‘Injecting The Falsehood’ and ‘The Dead Shepherd’ are the best of the four tracks. If they can come up with material like that for their upcoming album on New Standard Elite, then I can see them being a household name in brutal death metal.

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Artist: Paroxysmal Butchering
Album: Supreme Revulsion
Location: North County, California
Label: Show No Mercy Records

Just look at that cover art. Look at it. How could you not love one of those giant fat hand-pincer dudes from 300 holding a severed head on top of several more decomposing corpses? I have been a fan of Paroxysmal Butchering for a while now and have finally took my head out of my ass long enough for me to write about the compilation album known as “Supreme Revulsion“. According to Tim Bee (vocals), all of the material here within was recorded before Floyd Winters (bass), Nacho Venegas (drums), and Josh Alvarado (guitars) had joined the band, to which I was shocked to hear that.

The reason why I say that is because Paroxysmal Butchering is a hybrid of older Gorgasm and Severed Savior with a hearty helping of guttural slam. How in the hell could you ever go wrong with that type of combination? ”Supreme Revulsion” has a ton of energy running through it in every single track. Tim’s vocals range from low growls to high-pitched wailing that help complement the riffs very well. This is not “just another” brutal death metal band in my book. Paroxysmal Butchering has something going for them that not a lot of bands can do, and they have “it”.

Normally at this point I would be listing off what are the best tracks on the album, but I just can’t do it, or else I would be including all of the eleven songs. There is just so much worthwhile material here that it upsets me that this band isn’t bigger than they currently are, but they have managed to cut out a rapetastic niche of fans for themselves.

If this is the type of material that was being written before the rest of the band has come along, then I am eagerly awaiting to see what this strengthened beast known as Paroxysmal Butchering is truly capable of. Now that they have a recording contract with Show No Mercy Records and are on the cusp of finishing the recording phase of their upcoming album, I can only hope that they will be giving us little tastes here and there with new material. In the mean time, contact the band and grab yourself a copy of “Supreme Revulsion“. Seriously, if there is one underground brutal death metal band that you should pay attention to, it’s Paroxysmal Butchering.

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That’s it. You’ve made it to the end of this months Blast Radius column. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

We here at Metal Blast would very much like to thank Venomous Supremacy, Funebrarum, Undergang, Fire in the Cave, Abhorrent Castigation, and Paroxysmal Butchering for putting your material out there and giving us a chance to give our thoughts about it. Also, a big thanks goes out to Sam for taking the time to help me out with this column!

Do you know what would make me really happy? The answer is if you would join us for the next Blast Radius column on June 1st, which will feature Apoplexy, Unbound, Iniquitous Deeds, Flesh Throne, and Animals Killing People/Andromorphus Rexalia!

P.S. I swear to Zombie Jesus that I will get back to doing bi-weekly Blast Radius columns.

-Jon Burkan

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If you have or know of any bands who would like to have a demo, EP, or split album reviewed in this segment, then please contact Jon Burkan via e-mail at jonburkan [at] metalblast.net with their band name, album name, location, and label it is released under.

Shadows Fall – Fire From The Sky

Anthony — Tue, 15 May 2012 20:15:28 +0000

Poor Shadows Fall; at some point they had to start feeling like the red-headed step child of new england metal. Besides one off-album (hey, every band is allowed to have one or two of those right?) they’ve released good music with great production and plenty of killer riffs. After the success of The War Within however, Shadows Fall failed to quickly turn-around and pump out another record to keep themselves in the spotlight. A three year lag between albums resulted in other bands from the same area leap-frogging them in the public eye; bands like Killswitch Engage and All That Remains released albums fairly quickly and grabbed ground that was once held by Shadows Fall. So with new label Razor & Tie and producer Adam Dutkiewicz back in the helm for the first time since 1998′s Somber Eyes To The Sky, it’s time for Shadows Fall to step back into the spotlight with Fire From The Sky. Is this a worthy followup to 2009′s Retribution (which by the way, I thought was very underrated)? Read on to find out.

All doubts on if this would actually sound like a Shadows Fall record with Adam Dutkiewicz producing it are immediately put to rest after you finish the first track. “The Unknown” hits like a truck, instantly grabbing your attention and seldom letting go for the rest of the album. There’s no doubt that Fire From The Sky hits the ground running; the second track on the album “Divide And Conquer” is easily one of the strongest on album. A killer riff that’s present throughout the song and catchy vocals make it instantly memorable, one of those tracks that you’ll pull out and put into a playlist. It’s great to see that with the adversity they’ve faced, Shadows Fall hasn’t changed their sound. Vocalist Brian Fair is still one of the most recognizable screamers in metalcore (even if his clean vocals leave a bit to be desired) and the guitar’s still have that echoed hint of glam-metal influence in their tone; something that I was fearful would be jettisoned into the sun when word leaked that Adam Dutkiewicz was producing Fire From The Sky. Thankfully, it’s still there.

The fact that this sounds so much like a Shadows Fall record is great for fans; you don’t have to worry about power-ballads appearing or the band suddenly going Djent. It also could be what’s holding the band back from grabbing even more fans; there are no songs on Fire From The Sky that would be an instant “radio metal” hit. Hardcore fans might scoff at that and go “Good! That means they’re not selling out!” but this a double-edged sword; it means that Shadows Fall has been stuck with the same group of fans since 2004′s The War Within. Luckily they seem to have a big enough fanbase to support them (at least from the outside looking in) but is that really a good thing for the band? Fire From the Sky is a pretty good album, but it’s biggest problem is that it just isn’t very different from the rest of their albums. Again, this is great for hardcore fans, but I just don’t see it winning any people that were on the fence about Shadows Fall beforehand.

That being said, then album is, from opening to close, a rather solid affair. The only real weak-point on the album is “Fire From The Sky”, a track that’s just too slow and plodding for them to pull off without sounding awkward and out of place. It’s by no means a terrible song, just not as fun to listen to when compared with the rest of the album. Clean vocals also continue to be a problem for Shadows Fall, ranging from surprisingly good to exceedingly mediocre. For example the clean vocals in “Lost Within” sound great, while the ones in “Walk The Edge” sound forced and cheesy. It’s by no means a huge problem, but it’s yet another facet of their music that has not changed in close to ten years.

If you take The War Within, Retribution, and Fire From The Sky and place them next to each other, besides production there’s not a lot of differences between them. Chances are if you liked their previous albums you’ll also like Fire From The Sky, but if Shadows Fall has never grabbed you in the past then chances are this album won’t do it for you either.

- Anthony

Artist: Shadows Fall

Album: Fire From The Sky

Label: Razor & Tie

Release Date: May 15th, 2012

Rating: 3.5/5

Diablo Swing Orchestra – Pandora’s Piñata

Max — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:04:26 +0000

I don’t know how it happened, but a few years ago I stumbled upon a copy of “The Butcher’s Ballroom”, Diablo Swing Orchestra‘s (DSO) debut album and I was completely blown away. Up to that point if anybody would have told me that there was a band combining swing, opera and metal I would have simply laughed. The idea seems so ridiculous that it’s hard to believe that anybody would even try to do it, let alone that they’d make it work. Somehow, DSO managed to do it.

Diablo Swing Orchestra is probably the best example of what has been called “Avant Garde Metal”, a genre characterized by a mixture of sounds and styles. Without coming off as pretentious, DSO manages to combine everything under the sun, delivering a product that, without a doubt, is bigger than the sum of its elements.

Despite having set the bar very high with their previous albums, Pandora’s Piñata, the band’s latest release, has managed to, once again, demonstrate that they’re far from running out of ideas.

DSO’s combination is truly magnificent. The mixture doesn’t come off as disorganized or cacophonous, quite the opposite. Despite the unusual sound, DSO is as melodious as any “traditional” band, if not more (bands like Unexpect require much more time to get accustomed to the sound) which ensures its appeal to a wide audience.

Although you’ve probably listened to the delightful “Voodoo Mon amour” (the first and, so far, only track officially released by the band online) let me assure that the album only gets better. While songs like “Black Box Messiah” are all about the absolute manic insanity that must be responsible for this band, there’s something for everyone. From songs that Apocalyptica would envy (“How to Organize a Lynch Mob”) to soft and touching opera arias (“Aurora”)… with some Mexican and Spanish influences thrown in for good measure (“Guerrilla Laments” and “Kevlar Sweethearts”). The heavy side of things hasn’t been forgotten, with DSO delivering a powerful performance in “Exit Strategy of a Wrecking Ball” … and, well, much more.

“Justice for Saint Mary” requires a special mention. Some have called the last minute of the song a sign that DSO is “selling out” because of the similarities with dubstep. I have a hard time believing that this is the case. If anything, this is just another example of DSO just throwing everything into the mix and not trying to appeal to a larger audience by adopting a “popular” sound (hell, if that was the case I’m pretty sure they would have done it throughout the whole album and not at the very end!).

Do you like swing? Do you like jazz? Do you like surprises? Do you like cellos? Do you like opera? Do you like metal? do you like bullfighting music? Well, you can find all of that and more in this album. Without a doubt, this is a strong contestant to be the best album of the year.

Pandora’s Piñata is a breath of fresh air in a sea of generic music where artists seem to be running out of ideas. Without a doubt, Diablo Swing Orchestra has done it again. Do yourself a favor and get this album.

Artist: Diablo Swing Orchestra
Album: Pandora’s Piñata
Rating: 5/5
Label: Candlelight Records
Release Date: May 14th, 2012.

IMPORTANT: Back in 2007 DSO released “The Butcher’s Ballrom” online for free. You can still get it, absolutely legally, here

Kraanium – Post Mortal Coital Fixation

Jon Burkan — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:47:52 +0000

I know on multiple occasions I have brought up the fact that slamming brutal death metal can be quite difficult to do well. There are so many factors that can take a well-meaning slam album and turn it into a lifeless and repetitive mess. It is because of that I wanted to take a break from slam for a while since it was all beginning to run together for me. However, that “break” from slam ended almost immediately when I was given “Post Mortal Coital Fixation” by Kraanium. I didn’t even know they had a new album coming out until about a month ago, and that lack of knowledge surprised me since I was a fan of their previous releases “Ten Acts of Sickening Perversity” and “The Art of Female Sodomy“. It’s needless for me to say that I was quite excited to hear what these Norwegian sociopaths were able to come up with this time around.

Recently I mentioned how important it is to me for a death metal album to open up with a song that will undoubtedly make sure I know that the band isn’t here to mess around, and Kraanium does exactly that. ’Post Mortal Fixation’ is a short-and-sweet piece that focuses on a real nasty riff that you can’t help but move your body to, which leads into four crushing minutes of ‘Stillborn Neurotic Fuck Feast’. I used to drive 80,000 pound semi-trucks and still operate construction equipment that can exceed well over 60 tons for a living, and this is far heavier than anything I have ever hauled, dug, or scraped off of this earth.

It is because of this primal need for Kraanium to sound so plodding and barbaric that it gives the entirety of “Post Mortal Coital Fixation” a ton of charm. While each song may rely on the slam factor, the band does a magnificent job of somehow not making it sound tired and worn. The Funderud brothers, Martin (vocals) and Mats (guitars), seem to know exactly what is needed for this type of brutal death metal to be incredibly entertaining. Each riff is specifically crafted to invoke that feeling of being crushed to death while Martin’s guttural vocals are akin to a septic tank bursting, which in this case is a very, very good thing. Mitch Rider’s (Blasphtized) drums do far more than just keep a beat; it drives the music much further than it would be able to on its own. Tracks such as the aforementioned ‘Stillborn Neurotic Fuck Feast’, ‘Bursting Rectal Sores’, ‘Slurping the Vaginal Pus’, ‘Crack Whore Pounding’, and ‘Sculptures of Perverse Suffering’ are some of the best slam I have heard this year.

The only song that I wasn’t crazy about was their cover of ‘Entrails Full of Vermin’ by Abominable Putridity. The original version is so powerful that it is very hard for any band to try and recreate its magic, and unfortunately I think Kraanium may have fell a bit flat on this one. Plus, this was the last song on “Post Mortal Coital Fixation“, so it is pretty disappointing for them to end such a fantastic album on a low note. This next one is just me being picky, but I know that brutal death metal bands love to go overboard with band, song, and album names. Hell, that’s one of the major appeals to me about the sub-genre. However, the name “Post Mortal Coital Fixation” is just an overblown way of saying “I <3 Necrophilia”. I am all for hamming it up with titles like that, but I think they could have done something better.

In addition to the music being top-notch, it looks like Kraanium also enlisted the help of Lou Martinez (Flesh Throne) and Jason Lambert (Pain Penitentiary) to do guest vocals on ‘Sculptures of Perverse Suffering’ and ‘Slurping the Vaginal Pus’. Both of these men do an excellent job in keeping with the guttural sickness that Kraanium is known for and really bring those tracks to the next level, and they sound great on their respective tracks. In fact, everything on this album sounds incredible, with the exception of the bass. You can hear it a tiny bit, but I wish it were a little more prevalent overall. I know I already spoke of him, but I think Mitch deserves another mention because this is also his first album with the band and is one of the major highlights of “Post Mortal Coital Fixation“.

While slam tends to get justifiably harsh criticism, Kraanium were able to forego just about every single pitfall that plagues the sub-genre. The relentless groove, stellar composition, and overall brutality of “Post Mortal Coital Fixation” is extremely enjoyable and has tons of replay value. I have been headbanging to this album about two times per day for the past three weeks and it has not worn thin on me by one iota. These five men have crafted my favorite slam album this year by far, and if you are a fan of this type of music like I am, then you will not be disappointed by giving your money to them when they are on tour in the United States (who else is going to that Dayton, OH show with me?).

-Jon Burkan

Artist: Kraanium
Album: Post Mortal Coital Fixation
Label: Comatose Music
Release Date: May 22nd, 2012
Rating: 4.5/5

Dogbane – Residual Alcatraz

Facundo Campos — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:03:23 +0000

In case you happened to be an old school hair metal fan, don’t get excited, there’s only one z in this Alcatraz. Polar opposite of it in fact, this is a no holds barred sludge/doom with a sweet southern tinge to it that fits in like barbeque sauce on baby back ribs. In the end, the hefty helping of metal that it serves up will satisfy the even the hungriest of metal fans.

If Residual Alcatraz were a ride it wouldn’t be a Lamborghini, but something more akin to a rusted and beaten up farm truck. Let me explain. This is an album that doesn’t rush through the paces, it plods along at the right pace, does not go any faster or any slower than it needs to, it simply plods along according to what it needs to do. The wonderful thing is that Residual Alcatraz is confident of what its aims are; there is no crisis of identity here. As for the rust, that’s simply to imply that Dogbane uses a tried and true sound, something that has been put through its paces and has been proven to work. Dogbane infuses the southern rock flavour with the sound with some sludge/doom, kind of like adding hickory smoke to ribs. Think Black Sabbath mixed with Vol 4 or Sabotage with a sprinkling of Murder the Mountains and you’d have an idea what to expect.

“Ride the Serpent” and “Born to Die” are tracks that explode out of the gates in a way that they’re meant to; great introductory material for an album and the quick pace gets you wanting more. However, it may not be 100% indicative of what you find in the rest of the album; some songs like “Devil in the Dark” and “Burning in the Light” (which, by the way has an awesome Blizzard of Ozz like intro) go into longer jam sessions than one may have wanted. Granted, it’s a full experience Dogbane is trying to provide (check out the “Number of the Beast” scream on “Residual Alcatraz“), but it doesn’t always hit the mark and it’s that, which is the problem. It stands to reason that they could have trimmed some of the fat from some of the songs, but this however, is nitpicking at best and I fully acknowledge it. But when the strength of the album lies in the leaner songs, it’s my opinion that the rest of the album should play to those strengths, but I could be wrong. It will change from person to person, but I don’t doubt that a good chunk of people will find the middle part of the album at least slightly over indulgent.

But while the album may have a slight problem in the middle, the end finishes off really strong. The last two songs provide a great ending to a solid album, and if anybody else hears the band clanging away on glass coke bottles on “Fire and Brimstone” please let me know, it’s driving me crazy. Finally, the politically charged “How the Mighty Have Fallen” provides a final layer of goodness but this time around with more cowbell and more punk influenced vocal stylings. In fact, in parts it sounds almost like Bitchin’era The Donnas tuned down to B, no joke. If those ribs were smoked then slathered in sauce, consider this the braising.

Residual Alcatraz is metal for the hungry, plain and simple; the catchy hooks and the familiar-but-somehow-new-sound preaches to a choir of what I would assume are very large biker fellows and/or people with varying lengths of beards (present writer not included). Fans of Red Fang, Mastodon, Valient Thorr should definitely welcome this new band into their midst and find a warm place in their equally long bearded hearts.

~Facundo

Artist: Dogbane
Album: Residual Alcatraz
Label: Heaven and Hell
Release Date: June 30. 2012
Rating: 4/5

The Sixth Bullet For You – When Dream Becomes Real

Sam — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:30:21 +0000

I don’t consider myself a religious person at all. I didn’t have a particularly faithful upbringing, and I’ve always been doubtful of the existence of God, but I would have been willing to embrace the truth if I were to receive some kind of divine revelation. In When Dream Becomes Real, the debut EP from Russian trancecore kiddies The Sixth Bullet For You, I have received that revelation. I have been struck with a divine truth from on high like Paul on the road to Damascus, like the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, like Muhammad before Gabriel in the cave of Hira and Moses before the Burning Bush in the land of Egypt. And I have come to share this truth with all of you.

There is a God, and He has abandoned us.

Until now, I was blissfully unaware of trancecore’s existence, but all of that changed when we received the promo from The Sixth Bullet For You‘s label. This “trancecore” is a mix of mediocre breakdown-reliant metalcore and horrendous 90s trance music. The marriage of Bring Me The Horizon or Attack Attack! with DJ Tiesto sounds unfathomably unlistenable on paper – and make no mistake, it is – but the match does work on some level, as both genres of music are the textbook definition of lazy and formulaic songwriting. While metalcore leans upon the crutch of “breakdowns,” trance has always relied upon “builds” – that one bit in the song where the oontz-oontz drums cut out and the synthesizer arrangements start to build to a cathartic peak, sounding like the sappy climax to a Nicholas Sparks movie and giving all the drugged-out raver kids an opportunity to take a breather from spasmodic dancing and wave their glowsticks in the air. The Sixth Bullet For You has bridged the gap and taken the “best” of both worlds, mixing one breakdown with another on their debut release. Imagine, if you will, antiquated synths over palm-muted chuggachug guitars with generic metalcore screams, broken up by oontz-oontz drums and autotuned clean singing. There is no power in the universe that would consciously allow this mad experiment of music, this veritable abortion of sound, to ever come to fruition.

It has been five days since I first clicked the link to their single “Pray To Me, I’m Famous.” It has been five days since I have known the peace of sleep. Every time I lay my head upon my pillow, I am assaulted with the memory of this eldritch keening. Every time I close my eyes, I bear witness to horrible visions of a Myspace page using Comic Sans as its default font in 2012. I have been playing Reign in Blood on loop for the past fifteen hours, but it isn’t helping – every time there’s a break in the music, my mind creates sappy synthesizer accompaniments of its own volition. Whenever I hear the beginning of “Raining Blood,” there are Hoovers and airy pads where before there were none, and Tom Araya is sounding more and more autotuned by the second. Something has been permanently damaged in my mind, and I can no longer enjoy music of any kind anymore without facing this mental trauma again. No amount of psychological repression is helping, and I fear I may have to commit myself to institutionalization tomorrow before I end my wretched life. Don’t let yourself share my fate.

Forget you ever read this review. Forget you ever heard of The Sixth Bullet For You. There’s no hope for me left, but you still have a chance. Get out while you still can.

-Sam

Artist: The Sixth Bullet For You
Album: When Dream Becomes Real
Label: Binomial Records
Release Date: July 1st, 2012
Rating: 0/5