Nucleus "Entity"

    Science fiction themed death metal outfit, Nucleus, takes listeners on a space odyssey through mind bending brutality with their sophomore release, “Entity.” The Chicago based band constructs some monstrous sounding tracks displaying strong technical prowess, while maintaining an unforgiving old school death metal attitude.

    Set to be released through Unspeakable Axe Records in June of this year, the new album picks up where Nucleus left off on their debut full-length release, “Sentient.” The band’s sound is extremely tight and their technical abilities really standout when listening to the new album. Another point to bring up about this release is the quality of each recording. The music is well composed and the overall album flows unlike most of your modern day death metal releases that tend to sound like a cluster of tracks sort of hastily thrown together. Nucleus exhibits a catchy brutal sound, but also knows when to utilize their dynamic songwriting talents to add diversity in their compositions.

    I really like how the band starts the album off with the track, “Arrival,” which conveys a very cinematic sci-fi horror themed intro and then suddenly bursts like a chestbuster from the movie Alien into a pulverizing riff section. The band unleashes some merciless aggression throughout the song, especially the singer’s strong and monstrous sounding death growls. After the first song ends the band perfectly transitions into the next track titled, “Entity.” The guitar riffs create these intense and engaging atmospheres that are accompanied by relentless drumming and feverish bass playing. I always like those moments where the music slows down and the bass player is given an opportunity to thrown in a wicked sounding fill.

    Track number three, “Uplift,” continues the extreme sounding space like journey by hammering out more blistering pieces of death metal and there are plenty of tasty guitar parts that are guaranteed to melt your face off. Forget alien acid blood, the lead guitar playing on some of these tracks is down right incinerating! Other songs to mention on the album are, “Outpost,” “Dominion” and “Timechasm.” I would say that, “Timechasm,” is probably my favorite song off of the album and the song’s overall atmosphere makes you feel like you are floating through a haunting nebula of nightmare like proportions. The music starts out with this very calming instrumental part and eventually sucks you into a black hole of hellish old school death metal.

    After listening to this album I strongly believe that Nucleus did not settle for the simplistic old school death metal approach. The band demonstrated a desire to come up with a dynamic sounding release that in essence also maintained a vicious old school death metal sound. In the end, this is a release that will not disappoint and will leave you traveling through a galaxy of endless chaos and terrorizing technicality. Hollywood should tap Nucleus to create a sci-fi horror film, because these guys seem to have more talent and imagination than the garbage that most film studios are currently putting out right now.





Check out Nucleus "Entity" below:

Nucleus FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/nucleusmetal/

Unspeakable Axe Records FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/UnspeakableAxeRecords/

Vultures Vengeance "The Knightlore"

    Prepare for a merciless heavy metal assault loud enough to bring down an enemy fortress! On their debut full-length album, “The Knightlore,” which will be released by Gates of Hell Records, Vultures Vengeance launches one blistering attack of heavy metal music. 

    This Italian based band knows how to write some solid tracks and the fantasy themed lyrics perfectly match the music’s bold and triumphant sounding attitude. I definitely hear influences from bands like Cirith Ungol, Helloween, Manilla Road, Armored Saint and Iron Maiden. Vultures Vengeance does a great job building their own fantasy themed metal world and I think the band’s overall sound is very tight. The tracks seem to flow really well throughout the album and together they tell this one long epic tale.

    Kicking the album off is, “A Great Spark from the Dark,” which begins with a strong guitar riff accompanied by shield smashing drum parts. The band’s singer comes soaring into the musical onslaught by providing some epic screams. I think the song was a great choice for the album’s opening track and sets the tone for the rest of the release. The next song, “Fates Weaver,” offers more loud and aggressive riffs which I find builds a solid foundation for the band to write their lyrics around.

    Another area of this album which stands out is the memorable chorus sections, which fans can sing along to while they triumphantly raise their fists in the air. Track three on the album, “Pathfinder’s Call,” is a very well written piece of music containing a powerful chorus section. The singer’s range is truly impressive, especially when he hits those high notes to match the song’s uplifting tone. There are so many bands who try and write epic sounding metal music and I tend to notice that the singers in some of those bands simply do not have the vocal range. I think the singer in Vultures Vengeance has a phenomenal range and he knows when and where to throw in those high notes.

    A couple other songs worth mentioning are, “Lord of the Key” and “Chained by the Night.” I think out of all the songs on the album, “Chained by the Night,” is my favorite song. The two guitarists incorporate some insane lead parts throughout the song and they really know how to write some meaningful solos. They are not like those random shredders who come up with solos just for the sake of showing off to everyone how fast they can move up and down the fret board.

    Once the smoke clears and the carnage of battle is left for the vultures to pick at, I do believe that, “The Knightlore,” is an album which has the potential to take the heavy metal world by storm. People who enjoy epic fantasy themed metal will be hooked right away by the album's overall sound. Again, I think the songwriting does not disappoint in the least bit and you are guaranteed a solid release from start to finish. So raise your swords and turn the volume up to eleven, because you don't want to ignore this release by Vultures Vengeance! If you do you might lose your head!



Check out Vultures Vengeance "Pathfinders Call" :

Vultures Vengeance Bandcamp :

https://vulturesvengeance.bandcamp.com/