Egregore “Synchronistic Delusions”

 

    Nightmare like surrealistic sounding landscapes dominate the debut album from Utah’s putrid death metal/grindcore act, Egregore. On their debut full-length album, “Synchronistic Delusions,” the band violently hammers out some pulverizing riffs to launch an utterly sadistic sonic onslaught upon the global metal community. 

    From the frantic and gruesome guitar riffs to the unbelievably deafening blast beats, this band puts together one insanely intense listening experience. Fans of old school grindcore, death metal and crust punk will definitely be drawn into the abysmal and hope crushing sound that can be heard throughout the album. I think what impressed me the most was how the entire album flowed by perfectly weaving together all these cataclysmic compositions. Taking a page from old school extreme acts like Carcass, Napalm Death and Terrorizer, the songs are not very long in terms of length, but they sure as hell pack a mighty punch of ruthless inhuman aggression. 

    The opening of the album is very fascinating and the band uses a couple different audio samples to setup up the first song, “Synchronistic Delusions.” Without much warning the band dives right into a hurricane like arrangement full of adrenaline pumping drum parts and ear shattering malevolent guitar riffs. Also, the vocals perfectly compliment the overall hellacious soundscape by providing this sort of disgusted and unapologetic attitude. Songs like “Walk in Soul” and “Ligis,” have this sort of crust punk vibe, while still maintaining an utterly blistering old school death metal sound with some technical guitars parts thrown into the mix to give the music this unpredictable quality. I think the lead guitar playing on this album was extremely well executed, and the band did a solid job adding some vividly sinister sounding note patterns when needed. 

    Along with the strong guitar playing, I think the unique cinematic electronic noises used on certain songs like, “Incorporeal Vivisection,” made the music standout even more and complimented the album’s theme. Even though this style of metal music along with the riff structures are nothing new to the world of metal, I would argue that Egregore’s commitment to coming up with a creative release, as well as making sure the production on this album fit with what they wanted to get out of the songs they wrote, made this an enjoyable listening experience from start to finish. You even have acoustic guitar riffs thrown in at times like on the song, “Metaprogramming The 8th Circuit,” which started out by blending together these ambient celestial sounds before shifting over to an impressive acoustic arrangement. Even though the majority of this album places an emphasis on unleashing pure devastation with hellish offerings like, "Birth of Death and "Chaos Protocols," you do have these moments that makes this a very dynamic extreme metal release. 

    Working with Sentient Ruin, a label that you all should know by now if you read this blog, Egregore will be releasing, “Synchronistic Delusions,” on September 1, 2023. I am looking forward to seeing how fans take to this album, because the variety of extreme metal elements makes this an album that I do find can be of interest to a wide range of metal fans. Yes, the band takes significant influence from old school extreme metal acts, however, their ability to forge a very enthralling and monumentality savage album is something which allows them to really standout. Given that this is just the band's debut album, I look forward to what they might be able to record on future releases!

Check out the song "Birth of Death" below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/synchronistic-delusions

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/

Vessel of Iniquity "The Doorway"

 

   By now if you are a regular reader of this blog, you should all know that when I am going to be reviewing a band that is working with Sentient Ruin, I am probably going to be extremely descriptive and very complimentary in terms of the band’s unforgiving artistic expression. This time I have to be quite honest and admit that Sentient Ruin has found a band that is utterly insane and offers up one twisted sounding release. Vessel of Iniquity’s new full-length album, “The Doorway,” is an unholy doorway into one volatile sounding musical landscape full of unorthodox sounding arrangements. 

   This one-man project takes extreme dynamic creativity and literally throws a hornets nest of sounds and styles together to achieve a harsh hellish sound. At times I am drawn to the entropy and brutal confidence, then there are times where I am left scratching my head wondering where everything went wrong. From black metal to industrial noise elements to even some cinematic sounds to create a horror movie like atmosphere, this album is the equivalent of a Fellini film on demonic acid. 

   Out of the nine tracks, I can tell you that there is always something that grabs your attention and then there will be moments where you are completely consumed by some chaotic sounding composition. “A Glimpse of the Pattern,” kicks off the album with an ominous sounding riff that is slow at first, but eventually sets up one devastating blast beat assault. Throughout the album listeners will notice the music constantly shifting from slow tempos to extremely intense tempos, which creates a climate of unpredictably and constant chaos. The second track, “By Allusion Called,” has a more terrifying doom structure that makes you feel like everything is falling apart as you are hit unmercifully by a bludgeoning of violent sounds. 

   The production quality on this album is solid for the most part and on songs like, “The Doorway,” the ferocious compositions are well recorded to bring about a sense of primitive sounding brutality. At times you feel like some of the tracks are used more to inject a sense of surreal horror in the album’s overall theme like on, “Death State Boundary.” During that track I had no idea what was going on, because the muffled voice completely took me by surprise. Eventually you start to become dizzy from all the agonizing riffs and ear shattering blast beats, plus the ghastly vocals are almost inhumane sounding. Until the very end, I felt like the vocal parts on this album complimented the overall abysmal atmosphere. 

   Vessel of Iniquity definitely shares in the Sentient Ruin mentality, which is to create music that has no boundaries and looks to strike audial fear amongst the extreme metal community. “The Doorway,” is one release that I find has a lot to dissect, but in the end even if there are moments you might find to be a bit overwhelming, the overall execution is fairly solid and delivers plenty of unforgiving arrangements. If you like black metal mixed with some grindcore and industrial sounds, then you will definitely want to give this a listen. Sometimes these unconventional sounding albums are most welcomed, because let’s be completely honest, one can only listen to so many shitty Norwegian black metal copycats before one goes totally mental from hearing the same album over and over again. 

Check out the entire album below:

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/the-doorway

Disimperium "Malefic Obliteration"

   This release may only feature three tracks, however I recommend that you do not underestimate Disimperium’s sadistic sounding extreme metal vision. The band’s debut EP, “Malefic Obliteration,” is a blackened death onslaught, throwing listeners into a savage realm of fearsome desolation. 

   Featuring members from Misrule and Ascended Dead, this Portland, OR based band really turns up the intensity on their debut EP. Disimperium is not trying to do anything completely different from what one might expect from a merciless blackened death metal band that also mixes in some old school grindcore elements, although the band seems to know how to produce a vivid and hellish sounding release that contains some agonizing compositions.

   Yes, this style of music has been hammered out numerous times before, but what separates this band from the others is the solid production and brutal execution on each track. The open riff on the first track, “Malefic Obliteration,” is a sinister sounding assault that comes charging at you like a chainsaw wielding lunatic. The vocals were what really stood out the most and the singer unleashes some horrendous growls as the music violently transitions. So much chaos, so much insanity and so much utter insidious creativity that it literally makes your head spin. 

   The next song, “Fuming Nexus,” is very similar to the opening track, and once again throws you into this cataclysmic atmosphere full of brutal instrumental arrangements. I cannot believe the drumming on this release at times and how the force of the rhythms come rumbling out of the speakers like a Sherman Tank. Turn this release on at full volume and you are sure to become deaf after a couple listens! The album’s final track, “Infernal Machine,” was another wicked offering and the ending perfectly summed up the band’s destructive vision. Eventually the band stops playing and all you hear is feedback and inhuman noises as if everything has been completely decimated by some apocalyptic event. 

   Disimperium is a band that you should not be surprised is working with Sentient Ruin on the release of this EP. Once again, here is a group that gets how to produce a vicious sounding album and demonstrates a certain caliber of musicianship I feel is lacking at times amongst some up and coming bands. “Malefic Obliteration,” by Disimperium is highly recommend for blackened death metal grindcore fanatics who wish to hear something that is brutal from start to finish, and of course is being released through one of the premier labels within the extreme metal community. 

Check out the entire EP below: 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/malefic-obliteration

Animal Schoolbus "Going to Grammy’s House"

   To start off this review I am going to say that this is a great example of parenting done right. In a current day and age where children are listening to some extreme pieces of garbage in terms of music, I extremely am glad to see people out there getting their children into extreme metal music. 

   Animal Schoolbus is a father and daughter grindcore project that throws down a devastating debut release called, “Going to Grammy’s House.” This album is full of sickening sounding riffs and utterly pissed off sounding vocals. The album contains twenty tracks, 14 of which were recorded when lead singer Princess Beast was only two-years-old. There are a few new tracks along with some live recordings from a show back in 2019. Now, the guitarist, drummer and individual responsible for getting his child into fast bone grinding music is none other than Charlie Sad-Eyes who is the genius behind Crawl Below, which is an awesome band worth checking out. 

   I think what stood out to me most was the raw and honest aggression that comes from Princess Beast when screaming over the punishing instrumental compositions. At two-years-old most of us were just beginning to really grasp the concept of unleashing our frustrations and sometimes that also turned into tantrums. However, I cannot think of a better outlet for a young child than getting to unleash their inner fury by working on creating furious sounding grindcore songs. The titles of the songs alone are truly amazing with tracks such as, “Mommy’s Car is Blue,” “Stuck in a Tree” and my favorite which is, “Oreo’s My Favorite.” The music has that Napalm Death and early Carcass vibe, but also has that raw power violence approach made famous by bands like Charles Bronson and Spazz. 

   The three songs that were recorded more recently definitely turn up the heat, especially in terms of sheer musical brutality. “Everyone Had Mullets in the 80s,” “I Can Do One Handed Cartwheels” and “I Bet Taylor Swift Never Has to Clean Her Room,” are extremely ferocious pieces of pulverizing grindcore. The frantic sounding guitar playing from Charlie matched with Princess Beast’s more vicious style of singing would probably scare a group of pathetic looking metalcore kids right out of their skinny jeans! Also, the contrasting vocal parts during, “I Bet Taylor Swift Never Has to Clean Her Room,” injects a monstrous sounding element to an already chaotic sounding piece of music. 

   In the end, I was really impressed by this album and the strong collaboration between father and daughter made for such an enjoyable and impressive sounding release. I get sent a lot of grindcore promos for review that sound dreadfully awful, so hearing this was a breath of fresh air after getting suffocated by all those basement dwelling piss poor Napalm Death copycats. In a world being overrun with crappy music from artists like LiL Nauseating X, Cardi Beehive and that one guy who used to be in One Direction and now makes horrible films, Animal Schoolbus is here to save us with one brutal song at a time. The Grammys better give this album a nomination, or else Princess Beast and teddy bear friends are going to be coming for all of you!

Check out the song "I Can Do One Handed Cartwheels" : 

Link to their Bandcamp (Album comes out April 30, 2021) : 

https://animalschoolbus.bandcamp.com/album/going-to-grammys-house-2021-remix

Rat King "Vicious Inhumanity"

    Start 2020 off right with some monstrous riffs and venomous sounding vocals! The Seattle, WA based experimental extreme metal band, Rat King, blends together a nuclear concoction of old school death metal and merciless grindcore on their new release, “Vicious Inhumanity.”

    What impressed me most about this band right from the get go was their ability to write hard hitting brutal cuts of music that get straight to the goddamn point, just like a chokeslam from the Undertaker. There is definitely some experimentation in terms of different tempos and how the band transitions from slow sludgy swamp sounding riffs into a blitzkrieg of grinding chaos. However, the band does not go off into confusing directions by overwhelming listeners with unnecessary compositions that lack any real purpose. There is consistency throughout the album and you feel as though the band did not want to hastily toss together ideas, because that usually ends up sounding like an aborted mess of an album.

    There are nine songs on this album, all of them unleashing a diabolic onslaught of face melting riff savagery. The first track, “Matanza,” is an explosion of brutality from start to finish. The band’s drummer is a maniac behind the kit dealing out plenty of intense blast beats to compliment the devastating guitar riffs. Other notable tracks off the album like “Soledad,” “In Quiet Sleep” and “Chanchito,” really focus on crafting these abysmal bursts of aggression and the band’s songwriting style seems to never lose that unforgiving attitude.

    In honesty, there are similar sounding bands who blend a variety of extreme metal styles, but Rat King’s solid musicianship and no nonsense style of songwriting, keeps you intently listening and wanting more. For example, the final song on the album, “Rotting From Inside,” is a maniacal sounding piece of music with plenty of heavy riffs and ear smashing drum parts. You can hear the bass lines extremely well, so hats off to the person who mixed the album, because those bass parts give the song a major boost of low end destruction.

    Overall, I believe, “Vicious Inhumanity,” is an impressive release that offers listeners some proficient sounding extreme metal music. The band’s style of songwriting on this album did not disappoint and I believe they need to keep making music that does not dick around and hits hard without any remorse. I’ve noticed some young bands fail to establish a clear identity with their music, whereas Rat King delivered their music in a viciously bold and impactful manner. An album I highly recommend for fans who want some brutality to begin the new year!


Check out the song "Borratanico" below:

Rat King Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/ratkingseattle/