Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Album Review: 4 Doors to Death



    No matter which door you open on this four way split, you shall be unlocking some brutal sounding death metal. “4 Doors to Death,” features four great up and coming acts from the death metal community. With songs by Cemetery Filth, Ectovoid, Sabbatory and Trench Rot, there is reason to believe that this extreme sounding split can open up portals to realms of unholy ancient terror.

    To begin, one must give credit to Unspeakable Axe Records for bringing these four bands together. The amount of extreme music making talent that can be heard throughout the album is highly impressive. All the bands compliment each other by having a very similar old school death metal worshipping sound, but one can tell where each band tries to carve their own brutal cyclopean legacy of unforgiving brutality.

    The first band on the split, Cemetery Filth, brings forth a crushing style of death metal. Their three songs dig deep into the old school death metal roots and unearths some sinister cuts of extreme music. The Tennessee based band’s first song, “Consumption of Volition,” conveys a very raw sound that reminds me of early Morbid Angel and Pestilence. I especially liked how the drums were recorded which gives the track a solid bone breaking rhythm. Song number two, “Dagonian Dialect... The Obelisk,” is the one piece of music on this album that really shines through the dark musical abysses. With its Lovecraft themed lyrics and its bombastic sounding riffs, the track is pure death metal genius. The vocalist during the song really stands out and his haunting death growl delivery throughout the track has me hooked. For their last song on the split, “Cosmic Wraiths,” the group pounds out more heavy instrumental structures of morbid expression and lyrical tales of unspeakable evil.

    Next up on the split is, Ectovoid, who are from Birmingham, Alabama. These southern death metal dudes explore a whole range of diverse extreme musical compositions while still maintaining a straight forward no nonsense approach. Their first song “Ash Primordial,” begins with a burst of blast beat rhythms and corpse cutting riffs. There is no telling where the band will go musically and they change tempo at times to achieve this slow death doom sound that is massively loud. The next song from them, “Possessed by Ancient Dread,” reeks of gruesome old school death metal remains. I am really impressed by the vocal delivery and the sheer power of their overall riffs.

    Third up on the split is, Sabbatory, who come from Winnipeg, Canada. Now this is a band who knows how to deliver exceptional death metal music. Hell, you play me a Sabbatory song and I might think it was recorded back in the late eighties or early nineties. The band’s extreme music making passion and drive to create vicious pieces of music can easily be heard on their two tracks, “Ascension to My Holy Tomb” and “Primordial.” That guitar sound during “Ascension to My Holy Tomb” is aggressive and unforgiving just like the singer’s vocals. “Primordial” is another exceptionally brutal track and features a brilliant guitar solo of note shredding madness. 

    The final band on the split, Trench Rot, is a sinister sounding necronomicon worshipping legion of musicians from Philadelphia, PA. After reviewing their debut release, “Necronomic Warfare,” I have been a fan of these guys and their Evil Dead and battle themed death metal music. The three tracks they summon forth on this split are nothing short of skull crushing malevolence. “Hell Pilot’s Call,” is a hellish musical bombardment with a crushing riff section that is accompanied by the sounds of air raid sirens. Track number two, “Powerful Kandarian Steel,” contains some awesome lyrics that can be used to summon evil forces from the book bound in flesh. Finishing up the split the band does an impressive cover of Death’s, "Evil Dead.” To sum up Trench Rot’s three songs as Ash from Army of Darkness would say, “Hail to the king, baby!”

    “4 Doors to Death,” might very well be called, “4 Doors to High Quality Death Metal.” Getting these acts together for this spilt is an extreme alliance that needs to be heard if you are wanting to hear what newer bands are doing with the old school death metal formula. Make sure to get a copy when it is released January 22, 2016...or be haunted by the spirits of the Evil Dead for all eternity!



Cemetery Filth Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/CemeteryFilth/?fref=ts
Ectovoid Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ectovoid/?fref=ts
Sabbatory Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Sabbatory-302276589803917/?fref=ts
Trench Rot Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Trenchrotdeathmetal/?fref=ts

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