Rat King "Santa Hipocresía"

    Good Gawd Almighty! Rat King is rushing down the ramp with a steel chair in hand looking to break some bones and raise some hell! These death metal/grindcore maniacs from Seattle, WA come charging at the metal world with a relentless and unforgiving attitude on their new EP, “Santa Hipocresía.” 

    I remember reviewing their full-length album, “Vicious Inhumanity,” back in 2020 which I thought was a solid album that featured a deafening selection of face shredding death metal/grindcore. However, this new release is almost a completely different beast and sounds even more vicious in terms of the band's delivery and the overall presentation. Once you start listening to the album’s first track, “Santa Hipocresía,” you are instantly thrown into this pit of extreme sounding carnage that hits you with a flurry of fatal punches. Throughout the release the guitar playing and drumming proves to be on point, capturing the band’s utterly brutal approach. 

    There are moment where one might feel as though the riffs are a bit simplistic and that the arrangements are nothing innovative, however, the passion and adrenaline pumping ferocity is what hooked me throughout the entire EP. I felt like the guitar playing on this album was able to get the job done, especially when setting up those moments of intense blast beats which created a monumental rush of sickening brutality. Track number two, “Maldición Del Alma,” brought a massive amount of aggression for such a short track and I thought the vocals perfectly captured the gruesome devastation that seemed to come crashing in from all around. You hear that same brutal mentality on other tracks like, “False Prophet,” and “Morboso,” which also contain chainsaw like guitar riffs and those ear obliteration drum parts. 

    As someone who feels like a fair portion of modern death metal and grindcore bands attempt to record “brutal” music yet end up writing very forgettable albums, I was extremely pleased with how Rat King went about recording this release. Also, the band seems to have a strong and tight grasp on their overall sound, which I thought was executed extremely well. I believe we have reached a point in the extreme metal world where as much as we would like new bands to be ground breaking or innovative masterminds, we actually just want artists to deliver albums that leave an impact and sound like they weren't recorded by a bunch of drunk yahoos. No bullshit, this album is a mighty statement and Rat King is definitely an artist that I recommend checking out. 

Check out the song "False Prophet" below:

Rat King Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/ 

Rat King Bandcamp:

https://ratkingband.bandcamp.com/

Old Tower "The Old King of Witches"

    Once again Old Tower conjures forth an album that leads listeners into a shadowy realm of haunting tranquility. “The Old King of Witches,” is more than just another dungeon synth album, but a journey across a mysterious archaic landscape where darkness reigns and one might begin to question all they once knew to be possible. 

    The Specter, the creative genius behind Old Tower, has proven to be an extremely brilliant composer within the world of dungeon synth and ambient music. In the absence of lyrics, one must be able to hook listeners with profound ambience, while also seamlessly guiding listeners through mesmerizing pieces of music that creates a cinematic sounding world. Old Tower’s last full-length release, “The Last Eidolon,” was an extremely impressive release, and an album that I considered to be one of the best albums to come in 2020. Compared to, “The Last Eidolon,” I find this new release to be even more darker and dives into this eye opening horror themed world in which there is an evil force lurking amongst this forbidden domain. 

    Each track serves as a small yet powerful piece in relation to the overall frightening story as you progress throughout the album. The Specter makes sure to add enough detail into eacb track order to really establish a vivid sounding environment. Right away you hear a bit of a departure from the traditional old school dungeon synth sound, and instead you can hear a more ambient style that feels like something that could be used as a film score. “Wych Totem,” is the album’s opening track and builds up suspense with eerie noises which throws you straight into the heart of this forbidden musical realm. At the end of the song a sharp ear piercing sound breaks the calm silence, as if you have reached the boundary line into an evil dominion. 

    During the song the, “The Dwelling,” I could imagine myself entering a decrepit old den where a cauldron is bubbling and candles surround a book used to summon malevolent forces. I really must applaud The Specter for arranging such compelling and realistic sounds, because once you start listening to a track you become completely possessed by every little noise that comes out of the speaker. On most dungeon synth albums you hear a triumphant yet melancholy sound driving the music forwarded, but on this release the gloomy and ghastly compositions lead you through a more mysteriously sinister atmospheric cloud of sound. 

    Other tracks on the album like, “Red Dragon Bones” and “Winter Embers,” continues to incorporate a plethora of sounds in order to provide more fascinating detail to an already monumental musical tale. The sounds of a crackling fire during, “Winter Embers,” that break through the glossy synth arrangement, leaves you feeling like you are standing all alone in a forest nestled away under a sea of dead mangled trees. A track for me that really stood out was, “The Drifter of Duskmire,” because the layering of different sounds during the song really hooked me from the beginning until the end. The synth arrangements are extremely well recorded and the other noises compliment the music’s insidious tone. 

     I would describe, "The Old King of Witches,” as a great example of how The Specter has a plethora of creative depth that is still being shown on each new release. This album is one of the most well produced releases to come out this year, and the fact that this album does not need words to create such strong mental images only reaffirms my respect for this artist. In my opinion, Old Tower is the king of dungeon synth/ambient acts right now and the kingdom established by The Specter is one that I hope continues to flourish in the dark confines wherever this artist dwells for many years. 

Link to the teaser video for the album: 

Old Tower Bandcamp:

https://oldtower.bandcamp.com/album/the-old-king-of-witches

Mentor "Wolves, Wraiths and Witches"

     You might consider the new release from the band Mentor to be the perfect soundtrack for Halloween, because based on the album’s title alone this is one horrifying extreme metal release. “Wolves, Wraiths and Witches,” is the band’s third full-length album to date and tells haunting crypt dwelling tales with a merciless blitzkrieg of brutality. 

    The Polish based band goes straight for the jugular on this release by throwing together some sinister sounding blackened thrash metal with a violent kick of old school hardcore punk. Out of the nine tracks off of this album I can tell you without hesitation that each piece of music comes charging at you like a machete wielding lunatic looking to unleash havoc. Probably what stood out the most on this release was the bombastic off the wall and into the bloody pit type of energy, which is captured extreme well throughout the release in terms of the recording quality. 

    

    Out of the nine face shredding tracks on this album, picking a favorite will be an extremely difficult task simply due to the fact that each song flows with a feverish sounding aura. From the opening song, “Equal in the Fire” to the final track, “Sealed in a Tomb,” the riffs coming violently blasting out of the speakers, while the band’s drummer unleashes an onslaught of rhythmic destruction. Also, the bass playing on this album is perfectly captured throughout the entire release and provides an extra boost of sickening devastation to the overall sound. Songs like, “Fed After Midnight” and “The Great Grave in the Sky,” are presented with a very old school hardcore/thrash mentality, which is always nice to hear when done right.  

    A significant amount of metal bands have explored this style of extreme metal before, and the bands that tend to excel are the ones that are able to make it their own. Mentor is not trying to reinvent the wheel by any means, but this group is definitely determined and has a strong passion for the music that they record. Songs like, “Creature Feature,” “Dance of the Dead,” and “A Night So Grim,” blend the worlds of horror and metal together for a slaughterhouse full of ear bursting insanity. Lyrically, I thought the band created some vivid sounding tales of terror to accompany the gruesome sounding instrumental compositions. 

    Mentor is a band that I believe can appeal to a fair amount of extreme metal fans, especially those who wish to throw on an album that conjures up a wicked and raw sound. “Wolves, Wraiths and Witches,” is a release that has very little flaws, mainly because this band has a confident and passionate drive from the start of the album until the very end. Overall, I would say this is an extremely solid release, which is highly worth checking out if you are into ghoulish lyrical themes and bone crushing arrangements of nightmarish proportions. 

Check of the track "Equal in the Fire" below: 

Mentor Bandcamp:

https://mentor3.bandcamp.com/