Hallucination “S/T Debut Demo”

   Philly-based hardcore punk outfit, Hallucination, throws down a barbaric beating and shows no mercy on their self-titled debut demo. Talk about one dark sounding offering of blistering hardcore punk that is raw to the bone! 

   On this debut demo Hallucination carves their own sickening path of hardcore chaos and in doing so, displays a tremendous amount of savage energy from beginning to end. The intense d-beat rhythms and unapologetic approach creates an atmosphere of unfathomable sounding terror. You definitely feel this band’s negative energy as they violently tear through their songs. My only complaint is that I wish the demo would have been longer, because I was really starting to become possessed by the band’s vicious presentation. Then again this is hardcore punk, so what an album lacks in terms of length is made up for by the band’s deafening and abrasive sound. 

   The song, “Hallucinations,” definitely sets the tone by unleashing a landslide of musical disorder. Right away the band’s guitarist lays down a bludgeoning of ear-shattering distortion, while the drumming is feverishly precise with each strike from behind the kit. However, I believe that the band’s vocalist is the one who provided the winning ingredient to this destructive sounding creation. The vocals demand attention and inject a vivd rush of emotion into the overall mix. On the song, “Combat Conditions,” the band once again wastes little time in expressing their terrifying hardcore punk vision. These musicians may not write long technical sounding compositions, but they sure as hell know how to leave an impact!  

   I really enjoyed the song, “Progress?,” and consider the track to be one that truly relates to the current state of our world. Also, the band’s style and approach during the song reminded me of classic hardcore punk bands that paved the way by writing music that was simple, yet opened people’s eyes to the cruel realities of present day society. The final song, “Ride Off in the Sun,” is the longest track on the demo and the song is about 3 minutes and 43 seconds. With a little more time than usual, the band deals out a blistering riff assault. Overall, you feel lost in a world of devastation, yet you start to accept the harsh environment as the music reaches the very abysmal end. 

   Sentient Ruin will be releasing this demo on cassette March 5, so if you are a hardcore punk enthusiast who enjoys collecting killer sounding tapes, then you should definitely add this demo to you collection. I really viewed this demo as a strong introduction to Hallucination and hope they continue to bring this same level of energy and passion on future releases. I cannot find much to complain about, and from what I’ve said before, this is a release that did not disappoint and might fuel more young bands to push themselves in terms of writing more aggressive sounding releases. As our world continues to regress due to human ignorance, we need more bands like Hallucination around. 

Check out the full demo below:

Pre-Order the demo here:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/hallucination

Pale Cremation "Masquerade in the Violet Theatre"

    Pale Cremation comes bursting out of the smoke filled catacombs with yet another blazing release! This one-man doom project from Cleveland, Ohio offers listeners an all out ceremonial riff fest with the release of, “Masquerade in the Violet Theatre.” 

    Matt Lasserre, the musical mastermind behind Pale Cremation, definitely knows how to throw down some heavy jams. From his time playing bass in the bands Scrape the Earth and Mournful Cries, Matt has always been a passionate player and creative musician. Even though there are only two tracks on this new release, listeners are still given plenty of wicked sounding riffs and catchy sounding slabs of haunting doom. Hell, there is even a song that goes on for about 19 minutes! 

    The first song titled, “The Burning,” is a scorching piece of feverish sounding doom mixed with some grunge elements. The song convey’s that rebellious and unapologetic attitude that gets people banging their heads and raising their fists. Hell, I think the Undertaker could have used this as his theme song during his American Badass run! In a world where there are few bands that are capable of writing a strong piece of music that leaves an impact, I believe that, “The Burning,” is the making of something really special. 

    The second track, “Masquerade in the Violet Theatre,” is definitely more of a doom metal odyssey and as I mentioned before, it goes on for about 19 minutes. Fans of Sleep and Om will definitely be drawn to the trippy slower compositions. Sometimes there are certain riffs you want to hear repeated, especially if the guitar and bass effects used give off that cosmic vibe that makes you feel like you are traveling through a psychedelic void where the distorted sounds slowly melt your mind. 

    Pale Cremation’s new release is definitely worth checking, as wells the band’s entire discography for that matter. Even though Matt does not have a major record label pouring thousands of dollars down the drain for him to record an album and waste expenses on gourmet cuisine and bowls of brown M& M’s, he is coming up with some extremely creative compositions. I really respect Matt’s creative vision on this new release, as well as his ability to avoid cranking out the same monotonous sounding doom tracks by experimenting with different arrangements and putting some enthusiasm into the overall mix. In the end, just another killer release from Pale Cremation and one that doom fans should definitely check out. 

Pale Cremation Bandcamp:

https://palecremation.bandcamp.com/album/masquerade-in-the-violet-theatre

Chaos Echoes "Ecstasy With the Nonexistents"

    French experimental death/black metal maniacs, Chaos Echoes, have joined forces with Sentient Ruin to bring listeners one ambitious and unfathomable sounding ritualistic performance. This mixed and mastered live soundboard recording is something that you do not hear very often, and the album showcases the band’s very unconventional extreme metal mindset.  

    Originally released only on CD format, Sentient Ruin is looking to give this album a proper vinyl release that extreme music enthusiasts can obtain. If you are familiar with Sentient Ruin, then you know that this label does not put out generic sounding crap. Chaos Echoes is an act that I was not familiar with before receiving this promo, however, after listening to this release I am very impressed by their dynamic approach to writing extreme metal music. These musicians have a great diverse musical vision that allows them to stretch the boundaries of extreme music, while also paying close attention to the album’s hauntingly vivd sounding atmosphere. 

    I would best describe this album as an extreme metal experiment that may utilize death metal and black metal elements, but also explores so many layers of different influences that the entire album is one experimental jam session into an abyss of infinite possibilities. The album begins with the track, “Senses of the Nonexistent,” which at first sounds very tranquil in the beginning and eventually develops into a behemoth sounding riff fest of sludgy death doom. You feel like you are being drowned by this massive rush of unapologetic attitude and the band perfectly transitions that same level of aural hostility onto the next song, “Through Kaleidoscopic Haze of Unexpected Extents.” On the second track, the band offers more black metal style riffs, but the complex rhythms and time signatures really standout as something you do not hear often, thus creating a warped soundscape full of nightmarish torment. 

    On the third song, “享楽主義,” the band continues to twist and alter the musical landscape with a blizzard of fiendish creativity. Finally the band throws in some morbid sounding vocals to add to the blistering chaos, which took me by surprise because I had started to wonder if this was going to be an instrumental album at first. Probably out of album the songs on the album track number four, “Black Mantra,” ended up being my favorite. I really liked the mesmerizing chord progressions used in the beginning of the song, as well as the primitive and abrasive sounding drum parts. 

    The rest of the album of course features some more experimental offerings like, “Interzone VIII,” “Surrounded and Amazed by these Unplumbed Abysses of the Inverted Sea” and “Soul Ruiner,” all of which features more atypical compositions. The band definitely expands and tears down the walls of what one might expect from an extreme metal album. I enjoyed the ambient touches on the song, “Surrounded and Amazed by these Unplumbed Abysses of the Inverted Sea,” because the song built of this malevolent sounding environment that one might want to use as a film score for an occult themed horror movie. 

     Chaos Echoes, “Ecstasy With the Nonexistents,” is an album that you are either going to find extremely fascinating, or might drive you insane trying to wrap your head around the complexity of this album’s presentation. I personally believe that this album is worth seeking out if you are a fan of dynamic sounding extreme metal music. This honestly is what children should be listening to in order to expand their musical minds instead of that rotten garbage K-pop, or that piss poor rap music written by some guy with his pants on the ground. 

Check out the entire album below:

Sentient Ruin bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/