Cathexis - S/T Demo

    Sometimes you don’t need a plethora of technical riffs and complex arrangements to make a profoundly compelling extreme release. The debut self-titled demo from Cathexis is a prime example of how taking savage crust punk mixed with some ruthless sounding metal elements can lead to a ferocious listening experience. 

    Cathexis is a one-man project that recently put out this debut demo on cassette via RoachLeg Records. The demo is a conjuring of raw punk elements that reminds me a bit of gritty old school crust acts like Amebix and Extreme Noise Terror, but then you also have this deafening primitive metal side that I thought sounded a almost like the early Hellhammer demos. Overall, the music is utterly intense and comes rushing out of the speakers with this supercharged level of adrenaline pumping distorted energy. The vocals paint these haunting and bleak dystopian scenarios as the riffs thunderously chug away. Throughout demo I felt that the music was very consistent sounding, yet the tracks never come across as painfully repetitive, which I would attribute to the feverishly relentless raw energy.

    There are four songs featured on the demo, and all of them are merciless sounding cuts of unapologetic chaos. Upon hearing the opening drum part on the song, “Revulsion,” as well as the guitar chords cutting through the rhythms with such malice, I knew instantly that I was going to be thrown into a maelstrom of ruthless punk/metal aggression. Also, the vocals during the song perfectly match the bellicose sounding instrumental compositions, thus creating a very hostile sounding nightmarish landscape. On the second track, “Xenogenesis,” the mastermind behind this project known as the, Neuromancer, continues to offer up these blistering rudimentary thrash/punk riffs that evoke an old school sound that I feel you hear rarely expressed these days on most modern records. Sometimes over produced releases can take away from what the artist is trying to express, so I'm glad that this demo found a way to preserve the anarchistic and chaotic musical mentality. 

    The third track, “Nightfall,” was a very unique sounding track that featured some sharp sounding chord strikes as well as these science-fiction like noises towards the end. I liked the creativity that went into this track, as the overall recording definitely stood out from the previous two. The final song, “Deadly Reign,” was an utterly abrasive conclusion to an already decimating demo. This track definitely contained some fearsome headbanging riffs and the rough production made for a killer old school sounding extreme piece of music. 

    After listening to this demo from Cathexis, I am eager to hear more given what was presented on each of the four tracks. The raw and unyielding energy that was displayed on this demo can definitely be used to fuel the flames of a future release, so I look forward to that potential creation. To me there are a ton of riffs and musical ideas that can be explored further, which is something most artists should strive for when creating a demo, as it can serve as the beginning of more complete musical vision. In the end, I highly recommend checking out this demo and keeping an eye out for more music from Cathexis. 

Check out the full demo below from the Felopunk Youtube Channel:

RoachLeg Records Bandcamp:

https://roachlegrecords.bandcamp.com/album/demo-27

Cathexis Bandcamp:

https://cathexis646.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2024

Yellowcake "A Fragmented Truth"

 

The savage Arizona based d-beat/crust punk band, Yellowcake, continues to show beyond a doubt why they are one of the most sadistic sounding bands around with their new release, “A Fragmented Truth.” Following up their profoundly vicious debut release, "Can You See The Future,” the band dives even further down into the entropic sounding anarchistic punk abyss to unleash a punishing firestorm of distorted hostility. 

Right away, I would consider the songs on, “A Fragmented Truth,” to be even more intense, more antagonistic sounding and just down right deafening. "Can You See The Future,” in my opening had an extremely impactful sound, as well as captured the band’s ferocious nature perfectly. I felt as though on this release the band was a little bit more untamed at times and that allowed the feverish instrumental compositions to really buildup this overwhelmingly fearsome momentum. In terms of the vocals and how they were executed, I think the band’s singer once again delivered a strong performance, and from the first track you become instantly hooked by her undeniably confident presence when emphasizing lyrics. 

Once again, the band’s drummer hammers out some monstrously primitive rhythms from behind the kit to give songs like, “Maelstrom” and “Blood Soaked System,” an extra boost of raw aggression. Also, I thought the riffs on this new release ventured in some different directions at times, like on the song, “When Night Comes Around,” which had a slight crossover punk/thrash sound. On the fifth song, “Vinyl Chloride Rain,” the bass player and drummer slowly built-up the music with a catchy sounding jam that gets eventually washed away by an incinerating hardcore sounding onslaught. The singer injects a tremendous amount of rage while shouting out the lyrics over the chaotic soundscape, which I must say allows you to easily remember the title of the song. 

The last song, “Mind Scabbed Over,” happens to be the longest track on the release with a total run time of 3 minutes and 15 second. Yellowcake does not need an extensive amount of time to make an impact and that can be proven with their debut demo as well as these new songs. I thought, “Mind Scabbed Over,” was a crushing old school sounding hardcore offering that will appeal to wide range of ravenous punk fanatics. My only complaint is that I wish there were more songs and I look forward to the day Yellowcake compiles enough songs to make a full-length album. 

My final thoughts on this new Yellowcake release, “A Fragmented Truth,” are that the band shows no signs of stopping their fiendish push to offer up some blistering sounding hardcore/d-beat/crust punk tracks, while coming up with ways to hit the listener straight in the gut with a fistful of sonic devastation. Still, “Visage of the Flame,” is the best Yellowcake song to date in my opinion, but the songs on the new release definitely do not disappoint and I bet will be utterly insane to hear when performed live. I'm glad Yellowcake was able to still demonstrate that uncompromising mentality on this new release, as I do believe that their unrelenting mindset in terms of writing and recording material will really propel them as they fight their way into the future. 

Listen to "A Fragmented Truth" below via Felopunk's Youtube Channel :

Link to where you can buy/order the album :

https://totalpeace.bandcamp.com/album/a-fragmented-truth

Yellowcake Instagram: 

https://www.instagram.com/yellowcakephx/

Rigorous Institution "Cainsmarsh"

    As the world blindly marches towards an abysmal looking future, Rigorous Institution offers listeners a very eye opening and utterly haunting debut full-length release that serves as a warning for the possible dystopian future of which is to come if humanity continues to spiral downwards. Titled, “Cainsmarsh,” the band’s debut album features a plethora of strikingly sinister sounds with its mixture of crust punk, primitive heavy metal and ambient influences. 

    Teaming with Sentient Ruin Laboratories, these Portland, OR based musicians are definitely aiming to make an impact with the release of this album. From top to bottom, the production and the creative approach to how this album was recorded stood out right when I started listening. I will admit that at first I was taken back by the band’s sound, especially when pertaining to the singers spoken word style of delivering the lyrics. However, as I continued to listen to the album I started to really respect how this band's sound goes against what some extreme music fans might expect. You can hear influences likes Killing Joke, Amebix, Motörhead, Hellhammer and Venom, but in the end the band does a tremendous job crafting their own unique sound throughout the album. 

    Instead of opening the album with a massive bludgeoning of riffs, the band instead begins the release with a classical acoustic guitar piece. Yes, I was a bit surprised as well by this moved, but in the end I thought that the composition was executed extremely well and created this calm environment which fades away as the next song brings you into a more frantic sounding realm. Track number two, “Fever (City),” is a whirlwind of chaotic sounds and heart pounding primitive rhythms. The vocalist narrates a nightmarish tale with a gruff vocal delivery that reminded a lot of Lemmy. Also, each word vividly grabs your attention due to the harsh emphasis that is injected into each lyric. Overall, the band is extremely tight in terms of how well the instruments come together to create this overwhelming musical landscape. 

    The album’s title track, "Cainsmarsh," continues with more deafening apocalyptic riffs, although I felt that the music became even more bombastic sounding and started to really intensify at times. One area on this album that stood out was the keyboard arrangements. The band's keyboardist is very creative and I enjoyed the ominous atmospheres that added to music’s surrealistic horror like presentation. For example, “Nuclear Horses,” is one track where the keyboards add that extra layer of spectral sounding malevolence to compliment the tribalistic sounding drums and cataclysmic riffs. As I stated before, the album has a very horrifying surrealistic and ambient presentation at times, which can definitely be heard on a track such as, “The Terror.” Honestly, this is something you’d expect to hear in a psychological horror film, but I also like how the track does not sound gimmicky and maintains that serious level of surrealistic horror. 

    Speaking of horror, the two tracks on this release which I think do an amazing job tackling issues that society deals with currently and really shows the dark side of mankind are, “Laughter” and “Criminal Betrayers.” I believe, “Criminal Betrayers,” captures the thought provoking essence of Killing Joke that I have always admired, while also taking on that fierce crust punk attitude which can be heard from Amebix. Also, the bass playing provides a thunderous amount of raw aggression to fuel the singer’s disgusted tone as he unforgivingly shouts out in anger over the punishing instrumental compositions. In the end though, my favorite song on the album is the second to last track, “Earthride.” If you are a fan of music that takes you on a hellish sounding rollercoaster of distorted devastation with killer sounding bass parts, then you shall find yourself relishing in this track’s fiendish sounding devastation from start to finish.

    There are a lot bands that write albums where the tracks are just sort of thrown together without any purpose and then you forget about them after listening, which is why I think Rigorous Institution left such an impact on me with, “Cainsmarsh.” Once you start listening to this album you cannot pull yourself away from the raw artistic expression. Can mankind correct its failures? Are we doomed to a desolate future? I do not know the answers to those questions, however I hope that Rigorous Institution's prophetic like warnings on this album wake people up to maybe think about the answers to those questions, otherwise humanity will eventually be rendered obsolete. 

Check out the full release below: 

Rigorous Institution Bandcamp: 

https://rigorous-institution.bandcamp.com/

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp: 

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/

Atrament "Scum Sect"

    Taking D-beat crust punk and adding a pulverizing helping of backend death brutality, Atrament summons forth an abysmal sounding world of eternal chaos. Each track on the Oakland, CA based band’s new album, “Scum Sect,” is a sinister attack of pure blackened hatred sure enough to drain the happiness right out of your inner soul.

    Their debut album, “Eternal Downfall,” was an impressive and utterly extreme sounding release and was one of my favorite releases for that year. Somehow the band takes the music into even more blasphemous and dark directions with their sophomore album, “Scum Sect,” by writing more down right unapologetic lyrics and unleashing some devastating riffs. Also, the overall musicianship on this new album is rather solid and as a whole the band is able to produce some strong tracks. Out of the ten songs on this release I don’t think you will find one track that does not fit, because the songwriting and musicianship is unbelievably consistent. Once the band hammers out the first offering of merciless sounding terror you can’t run away and are sucked into this endless nightmare of pure destruction.

    The song, “Plague Upheaval,” kicks off the album with a thunderous punch of distortion and malevolent sounding vocals. The drumming is crushing is overall sound and maintains a killer groove which you hear throughout the album. I felt like the sound engineer did an awesome job with the drum and guitar levels to where every extreme sound flows in perfect synergy. The next song, “Chains of Terror,” feverishly strikes away at a ghastly sounding blackened death riff while the drumming keeps the music moving forward in blistering fashion. Another area to point out is the vocals and Atrament’s singer provides one monstrous sounding vocal delivery on this album. Songs like, “Boiling Blood,” and “Spit on Mankind,” are given an extra boost of gruesome and harsh sounding attitude by the band’s lead singer.

    Other songs I want to mention are “Craven” and the last track on the album, “This Night Shall See No End.” Both tracks continue to display this bands vicious musical talents with even more sickening vocal lines and bombastic humanity destroying riff compositions. “This Night Shall See No End,” is probably my favorite song off the album, because I like how the band combined all the different elements of black metal, death metal and crust punk to create one massive sounding extreme assault on the ears.

    I think Atrament’s, “Scum Sect,” is yet another great release from this band and the album continues to build upon their vicious legacy as one of the Bay Area's strongest up and coming acts. Easily one of the most profound and intense sounding recordings to come this year in my opinion. If they sound this extreme and apocalyptic on their recordings, just imagine what these guys sound like live…the venue would probably collapse and a portal into a black and endless abyss would open up sucking everyone in, besides the promoter of course who would take all the money and get out of their faster than a blast beat.



Atrament "This Night Shall See No End"

Atrament Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/blackatrament/

Atrament "Eternal Downfall"

    Out of the extreme darkness that lurks in the shadows of Oakland, CA comes a crusty blackened group with plenty of unforgiving music to offer listeners. Atrament is a band that may at first present a very straightforward extreme sound on their debut album, “Eternal Downfall,” but if you listen long enough you can hear some diverse sounding agony and aggression. 

    With a d-beat combine harvester like style that grinds feverishly away at thunderous compositions and vocals that unleash growls of blackened death terror, the band takes listeners into a world of endless chaos. From the album’s open song, “No Beyond,” I felt consumed by an unforgiving presence that was perfectly captured in the album’s recording quality. Atrament digs deep in the extreme earth to exhume a vicious style of music and the songs on this album maintain a consistent mentality. Once you start, there is no stop to the instrumental onslaught. 

    Following the opening song, I really became interested in the group’s mix of crust and blackened death. Their vocalist is unbelievable with his growls and the recording of his vocals allows listeners to vividly hear his talents. Also, the guitar riffs are simply brutal... Just imagine an axe wielding demon hacking away at corpses and that is how I would describe the guitar sound on this album. Each distorted riff compliments the band’s overall aggressive nature and the attitude that comes from the guitar playing makes the music demand attention. Tracks such as “Aberration” and “Consumed” display a tight sounding band that is almost trying to narrate the end of the world by writing this type of sinister sounding music. 

    Another area of the album that in a way solidifies the overall sound is the rhythm section. For a band that is trying to convey such an extreme sounding message, they need that solid backbone from their drummer and bass player. I would say that Atrament’s drummer and bass player perform at a top notch level and do their best to keep that hellish adrenaline pumping style moving ahead. “Hericide” is one track that I think captures the solid sound that originates from the band’s rhythmic backbone. 

    Overall, the band just pounds away with no regret and no remorse to really break the silence by offering such extreme sounding tracks. I will be honest, some tracks start to sound a bit repetitive and that happens with a group that is writing music in a style that has countless other types who write in a similar vein. However, there are tracks on this album that in my opinion are at the top level of crust and blackened extreme music. Following the track, “Rotting Twilight,” I felt the band closed out the album with some brilliant ideas that if you listened to carefully, contained a vast amount of unique creativity. The last song, “Dusk Abuse,” is a cinematic mind altering guitar driven piece that wraps up the whole intense musical journey in a way that words can not describe and can only be felt when listening. 

    I think it is great to see another Bay Area extreme band put out a powerful release that hits at the core of extreme musical expression. Atrament joins the ranks with their debut album, “Eternal Downfall,” alongside many other top acts from the region. Hope to hear more from these dudes in the future! Hopefully mankind is still around...

Band Facebook Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/blackatrament/

Atrament Live: 

Caïna "Setter of Unseen Snares"

    Massive dark clouds of unknown chaos cover the sky and the music of English black metal/punk band Caïna can be heard slowly rising in the distance. A storm is coming, better prepare for the destruction.
    This new release is one of many in the band’s complete discography, and the band’s founding member and primary musical creator, Andrew Curtis-Bringer, has been making music under the name Caïna for about ten years. With, “Setter of the Unseen Snares,” Andrew brings in some help by having three guest vocalists perform on a couple tracks. Also, this album cleverly combines a variety of extreme styles of music. At first you might think this is going to be a straight forward black metal/punk album, but as the album progresses the music becomes more unpredictable. I think Andrew does a great job demonstrating how to add variety to extreme music, and it shows how creative he is as a musician.
    The album begins with an introduction sound clip that sets up the second track, “I am the Flail of the Lord.” Song number two is definitely one of the most aggressive sounding songs on this album. The guitars brutally tear away into black metal riff while the rhythm section gives off a strong hardcore punk vibe. For the song’s vocals, the singer uses a black metal style that is less traditional Norwegian black metal like, but more black metal fused with a hardcore punk edge. Throughout the whole the song I felt the production was quite solid and the recording did the song justice. Too many black metal/punk bands in my opinion try to sound raw and end up sounding like a pack of robots passing gas.
    The third song on this album is the title track and maintains that harsh black metal/punk sound. Although the vocals tend to present the lyrics in a black metal style, I am able to make out what the singer is saying and the vocal presentation really compliments the music. Track four, “Vowbound,” marks in my opinion the part of the album where the music begins to sound more diverse. Andrew really incorporates more punk elements into the music and the instruments create some dark heavy grooving rhythms. “Applicant/Supplicant,” is another song where the music takes on so many different forms. There is a solid d-beat rhythm that sounds similar to music created by Neurosis or Amebix. Still, there is a hint of black metal that adds a vicious side to the song.
    The final song on the album, “Orphan,” really caught me off guard. This track begins with a solemn introduction and turns into slow atmospheric composition. Then the song takes on a post-rock form with a black metal vocal delivery. The musical contrast is brilliantly executed and for a song that I was not really expecting, I would say it is the best song on the entire album.
    If you are a person who enjoys black metal, crust punk, d-beat punk, atmospheric post-rock, or all these styles combined, you should check out this album. Caïna’s, “Setter of Unseen Snares,” is an extreme and powerful sounding release that will challenge your musical expectations from beginning to end.