Ripper "Sensory Stagnation"

    Scorching the metal world with a vicious strike of merciless metal, Ripper proves once again they are a band that does not mess around. This group of metal musicians from Chile demonstrates great technical ability and raw aggression on their new EP, “Sensory Stagnation.”

    After teaming up with Unspeakable Axe records for the release of their 2016 release, “Experiment of Existence,” Ripper has really grabbed the metal world’s attention. Their style of extreme thrash combines a variety of influences, yet is presented in a unique and confident manner. The EP once again captures the band’s exceptional thrash metal making abilities and helps them break away from the gimmicky thrash worship acts that think by having long hair and dressing like they're from the movie Wayne’s World it makes them a great thrash metal band.

    The EP opens with a short instrumental piece full of technically and ravenous sounding attitude. The bass and guitar playing is well executed, while the drumming provides a ferocious kick. For their second track, “The Unreal,” Ripper unleashes an all out blitzkrieg of destructive sounding thrash sure to conjure up devastating circle pits during live shows. Once again, the guitar and bass parts construct these bombastic sounding riff compositions that give the song a sinister edge.

    For the album’s title track, the band exhibits more wicked sounding arrangements which are accompanied by the singer’s hellish delivery. The next song, “Like a Sacrilege,” is a blasphemous offering of musical terror that will scare the crap out of those Jehovah’s Witnesses who go around from door to door pedaling nonsense. If those people come to your door, I recommend playing this song for them. After hearing it I guarantee they will stop coming to your house!

    The final song off the album, “Terror Streets,” is a blistering cut of music right from the very beginning with rapid drumming and vicious guitar work. Each musician contributes to the attack by playing with tremendous amounts of energy throughout the song by hammering out some savage compositions of music to keep listener’s continuously banging their heads.

    Ripper’s new EP is yet another example of how this band has become a formidable and impressive force within the metal community. Their dedication and drive has allowed them to write some strong material over the last few years. I think that if this EP is a glimpse into the future of what is to come, fans of high quality thrash metal music should be extremely pleased. If you have common sense when it comes to good music, well then Ripper is a band you should be listening to right now.


Ripper "The Unreal" :

Ripper Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ripperchileoficial/

Screamer "Highway of Heroes"

    Get ready to pull out those denim jackets, jump on your motorcycle, and go racing down the highway with the police in hot pursuit while Screamer’s new album, “Highway of Heroes,” is blasting at full volume. The Swedish based band’s new release is a powerful dose of classic metal and hard rock that is focused on capturing the metal world through relentless force.

    The album is the fourth full-length release in the band’s discography and definitely brings together a variety of classic hard rock and metal elements. As of recent there has been a strong surge of up and coming classic metal worship acts who have really made an impact with some brilliant new releases. I believe Screamer recorded a solid album with, “Highway of Heroes,” and compared to some of the band’s earlier works I think that this release raises the bar. The guitar work is extremely fluid and the melodic riff compositions are very catchy. Overall the production is rather impressive and compliments the group’s songwriting style.

    Listening to the first few songs on the album you get a sense of what Screamer brings to the table. “Ride On,” is a rebellious anthem featuring some meaty guitar riffs and anvil pounding rhythms. The song, “Shadow Hunter,” keeps the adrenaline pumping with a powerful main driving riff that compliments the singer’s triumphantly soaring vocal delivery. I think the singer has strong voice and gives the music that extra boost of confidence and epic attitude.

    Overall, the album flows with a decent repertoire of fierce sounding metal tracks taking listener’s back to that glorious period of heavy metal music, a time before suburban kids decided it was cool to walk around with their pants below their asses. The title track off of the album is probably my favorite song, especially the main chorus section. I liked how the band put great amounts of triumphant sounding emotion into the delivery of the chorus and you feel the words vibrantly jump out through the speakers. Two other tracks worth mentioning are, “Out of the Dark” and “Towers of Babylon,” both containing tasty melodic riffs and undying heavy metal passion with each note.

    Screamer did an honorable job on this album by keeping the spirit of metal alive and by delivering their own brand of headbanging and fist raising metal. My one recommendation would be to keep pushing themselves to write those memorable and strong pieces of metal music, because that is what will keep listener’s coming back for more. Heavy metal continues to thrive and unlike most of the garbage you hear from major labels, you know bands like Screamer will be waiving the metal flag for many more years to come.


Screamer "Highway of Heroes" :

Screamer Facebook:
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Enshrouded "Sanctum of the Shadows (Demo 2019)"

    Bay Area blackened death doom maniacs, Enshrouded, demonstrate their unforgiving and destructive nature with the release of the band’s new demo, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” The band lays down some tormenting sounding pieces of music to achieve an extremely malevolent creation, culminating into an offering of malicious sounding chaos.

    Compared to most modern extreme metal bands that claim to push the edges of extreme music, Enshrouded simply goes for the jugular by crafting these monumental recordings of pure devastation. What stands out on this demo is the band’s ability to construct these massive sounding atmospheres, which allows them to transition into a variety of nightmarish sounding directions. There is thought put into their compositions along with a dynamic approach that helps to expand the band’s vicious and uncompromising vision.

    The album begins with a gruesome sounding death doom riff, establishing a monstrously slow and heavy foundation. Eventually the band dials in on a more intense onslaught of old school sounding death metal ferocity. I like how the drummer provides such a raw and bombastic background for the guitars to savagely hammer out sinister chord progressions. The production and recording quality is really solid for a demo release, especially pertaining to how it compliments the band’s songwriting style.

    The second track off of the release, “Transcendental Depravity,” is a song that begins with a more gritty sounding blackened assault, opening the gateways of instrumental annihilation and ushering in some haunting vocals. Each musician executes their parts with precision and the band sounds very tight throughout the song. Tracks like, “Sanctum of the Shadows” and “Gates of Awareness,” are delivered in blistering old school death metal like fashion and it reminds me a bit of Morbid Angel’s “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh.” The music is delivered with sheer chaotic brutal force, yet the overall compositions flow with a certain synergy.

    For the final song, “Awakened Through Desolation,” the band once gain constructs hellish sounding guitar riffs that effectively send seismic shockwaves through the musical landscape. You just get a sense that these musicians took their time writing this material and did not want to slap together some sloppy sounding riffs and vocals in an attempt to dress up like David Vincent and put on a show for their buddies at the local truck stop.

    Overall, Enshrouded has me interested in what they plan on doing next following the release of, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” I think there are some death metal releases I’ve heard that don’t even compare to the production of this demo, so Enshrouded is definitely on the right path. If you are a fan of extreme music then you need to check this out, because unlike those bands where they dress like douches and continuously play breakdowns, Enshrouded does not mess around and knows how to write extreme metal music.



Check out the entire demo below:

Facebook:

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