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

Snow Wolf Records “This Wretched Earth” (Global Black Metal Compilation Album)

    The world shall soon face the sinister wrath of a colossal black metal storm conjured up by Snow Wolf Records. “This Wretched Earth,” is a compilation album that brings together 16 bands from 14 countries, thus creating one great black metal heathen army to unleash chaos upon the global metal community. 

    I really like what Snow Wolf Records has done as of recent, and the bands they have included on this compilation are extremely talented up and coming acts. Some of the tracks provided by the bands are exclusive tracks and are not available anywhere else. From top to bottom, the album features some raw ritualistic sounding black metal, yet features bands that are able to step outside the generic extreme metal trends and offer up unique sounding recordings. 

    Even though we come from different countries, the passion for extreme music is a truly unifying force and one that has allowed people to share some unbelievably creative recordings. The album’s first track, “Black Metal Invasion,” by the Canadian band Spectral Dance, was the perfect choice to start off the compilation. The song has that primitive old school raw black metal vibe and reminded me of early Bathory. You hear a band ready to take on the world without any remorse and they have an amazing amount of venomous energy. 

    Throughout the album you will hear a variety of approaches ranging from straightforward raw black metal to haunting atmospheric black. Take for example, “Akvan,” a band that really caught my attention by constructing a track that contained a profound atmosphere and featured some mesmerizing guitar work. When it comes to production I felt that for the most part the bands on this compilation did a tremendous job recording and getting the music to have that certain quality needed to keep listeners engaged. Some of the bands are of course a bit more skilled than others, but the passion is definitely there from a majority of the bands. Gestorven from Malaysia was one act which I felt hammered out a killer sounding riff and capture the pure dark essence of black metal. 

    Some of the names on this compilation sounded familiar and sure enough one of the bands I reviewed before for this blog. Starer, a band that I reviewed back in January of this year, is an extremely impressive band worth checking out. The band’s solemn atmospheric black metal style is truly breath taking at times and features some brilliant dynamic arrangements. Another band that I felt composed a really impressive sounding track was Odyrmos from Greece. The song mixed together ambient dungeon synth with soothing atmospheric touches that reminded me a lot of Lustre. 

    So many of the bands featured on this compilation offered up some epic, blistering and blasphemous sounding tracks, and in the end all of them are worth checking out. Huge respect for Snow Wolf Records for putting this compilation together, and for bring together the global extreme metal community. We may come from different places, but all across the planet there are fiendish extreme metal fans and artists who share the same passion for this music and no matter what is going on in the world, we are united as one global extreme metal community! 

Snow Wolf Records Bandcamp (Compilation comes out August 6th on Cassette, CD, and Digital Download. Pre-Order now available!) : 

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/this-wretched-earth

Postcards from New Zealand "City Islands"

    Experimenting with a variety of unconventional sounds and atmospheres, Postcards from New Zealand composes an epic sounding instrumental story on their new release, “City Islands.” Sometimes the best albums are written without lyrics, because in the absence of lyrics, the musicians are able to use their talents to create an environment that then allows for the listeners to let their minds wander and create mental pictures for the sounds that they hear. 

    Part of the band’s, “We Watched Them Devour album series,” this new offering comes screaming across the musical landscape with a monumental rush of vibrant sounding elements. From progressive to post-rock influences, this band is all about putting together vivid sounding atmospheres that inject a cinematic flavor into the overall mix. Instrumental albums can be exceptionally well done, or can end up turning listeners off once they realize that the band has become lost in a repetitive haze of pointless rhythmic structures and lack luster sounding arrangements. 

    To be quite honest, if the music begins to sound weak or just plan sloppy, people will turn it off. Postcards from New Zealand seems to be aware of this and right away I could tell that they band wanted to make an impact and pull listeners into a massive sounding world by coming up with a strong and moving piece of music on their opening track. The band starts off with a very powerful sounding composition called, “As the Towers Crumbled,” that makes you feel like you are walking through a post-apocalyptic world and there is nothing around besides an endless row of ruins. I really thought the drumming was precise and provided a great deal of emotion to then aid the somber sounding guitar arrangement. 

    Throughout the rest of the album the band continues to experiment with sounds that continuously fuels this vivid cinematic environment. At times you do start to hear the band getting a bit comfortable with a rhythm and maybe stretch it a for bit, however, they always seem to transition at the right time and incorporate plenty of creative dynamics. 

    Take for example the song, “Ocean Avenue,” which is around 16-17 minutes long and contains one massive sounding riff structure. Even though what the band is hammering out is not exactly the most technical sounding arrangement, I was really impressed by the tranquil and trance like atmosphere. It is never an easy task to write out a 16 minute piece of music, although Postcards from New Zealand did a solid job and I felt as though the song helped strengthen the album’s overall theme which flows with an impressive synergy. 

    In the end, Postcards from New Zealand is definitely a creative group of musicians who thrive on experimenting and expanding on instrumental concepts that draw from a variety of influences, yet they are able to establish their own unique identity. Postcards from New Zealand is a band that I highly recommend checking out and the group demonstrates a great deal of artistic talent. No pointless sounding instrumental arrangements that you might hear at the local supermarket being played on this album! 

Check out the entire album below via Mr Doom 666's Channel :

Postcards from New Zealand Bandcamp:

https://postcardsfromnewzealand.bandcamp.com/

Band's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/postcardsfromnewzealand/

Concilium "Desecration"

   Crawling out of the wretched abyss comes a ritualistic offering of pure sickening brutality to present before the extreme music altar! Concilium’s debut release, “Desecration,” is an extremely raw sounding piece of black/death metal that also incorporates some agonizing doom elements. This Portuguese extreme metal band constructs some unbelievably insidious sounding atmospheres, while also leading listeners straight into a nightmare realm full of inhuman sounds. 

   Joining forces with Sentient Ruin Laborites, Concilium looks to unleash a tsunami of unfathomable chaos upon the metal world with their debut release. Musically, the band does not rely on overly technical compositions, or flashy guitar work to bog you down with random and excessive sounding riff progressions. Throughout the album Concilium presents solid sounding arrangements that are locked into this hellish vision, thus taking listeners on one hellish journey.   

   The album's low-fi and unforgiving occult like atmosphere succeeds in creating a merciless sounding musical landscape. On the open track, “From the Chalice,” the band introduces listeners to this massive bludgeoning of fiendish riffs and tormented sounding vocals. They do a solid job building up anticipation as the song progresses, which ultimately establishes their sacrilegious sounding dominion of pure evil. 

   On the following tracks like, “Shadow Gospels” and “From Emptiness to Oblivion,” the band continues to explore the dark confines of their abhorrent musical mindset, while also taking the music in a variety of haunting directions. “From Emptiness to Oblivion,” is a truly impressive arrangement that incorporates some mesmerizing guitar work to create a calming void like world that eventually succumbs to an explosion of raw ritualistic sounding instrumental chaos. 

   The drumming on the album is very primitive sounding and definitely adds to the band's bloodthirsty raw style by providing the right amount of brutal aggression. On the track, “Sacred Land of the Impure Blood,” you feel as though the world is crumbling around you and the entire arrangement is fueled by a barrage of skull crushing drum parts, inhumane vocals and ear piercing guitar riffs. The last song on the album, “Blood Candles,” is without question my favorite track and presents a more mind altering doom like atmosphere. Over the years I’ve notice that when recorded properly, the slower and extremely sludgy sounding arrangements always seems to leave the greatest impact. Plus, you become possessed by the simplistic rhythms that guide you through all the apocalyptic sounding decimation to reach that calming end when everything slowly fades away. 

   Once again, here is a band working Sentient Ruin that gets what it takes to record an impressive and engaging album from beginning to end. The haunting blend of extreme music styles and raw presentation made, “Desecration,” an extremely enjoyable listen. I welcome more bands like Concilium, because when done right and without all the over the top nonsense, you are given an extremely profound sounding listening experience. There is substance, which I find to be lacking in most modern music that tends to cause people to become mindless sheep. Put on some Concilium and they will awaken to a vivid reality of unholy desecration and ruthless sounding destruction! 

Listen to "From the Chalice" below: 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp (Album comes out July 2, 2021):

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

Double Feature Review: Glyph and Reproach

     Get ready for a double album review featuring two brutal and devastating up and coming metal acts! Glyph and Reproach are two destructive sounding forces with their sights set on taking the metal world by storm.  

    I decided to do a double album feature since both bands are on the same label, Ritual Abuse Hysteria, which actually sent me a vicious sounding compilation just a couple months back. Glyph and Reproach were featured on that compilation and both bands contributed some wicked sounding songs on the compilation. Now with the opportunity to provide listeners their own full-length releases, Glyph and Reproach are able to demonstrate more extreme sounding tracks that build off of what they accomplished on the compilation release. 

    The first band I will be talking about is, Glyph, and their release, “We Are None of Us.” When first listening to Glyph you hear a lot of early European black metal influences mixed with some slight atmospheric black metal elements. The band constructs these depressive sounding atmospheres full of agonizing arrangements that capture the frozen shadowy essence of black metal. I hear a lot of similarities to that of the early Burzum releases, but I am also reminded of the calming melancholy approach that can be heard on the first Summoning release. The tracks blanket you in this frosty environment full of tormenting riffs and utterly raw sounding compositions. 

    The opening song from Glyph, “Of the Clock Tower,” is a ghastly track full of haunting chord progressions and sinister sounding vocals. I really enjoyed the song’s raw and abhorrent atmosphere that seems to be shrouded in a blanket of pure unforgiving darkness. “Corrupt That Which Will Be,” is another depressive and fierce sounding assault upon the ears with a feverish drum attack. The production quality on the album definitely compliments the band’s grim black metal vision rather perfectly. 

    Songs like, “The Folly of Vanity and the Doom of Folly,” and “…and So Fare the City,” remind me of early Emperor at times, because the band incorporates a lot of dynamic riff structures to create an environment full of tormenting transitions. I believe, “…and So Fare the City,” was the strongest track off of the album and one that was fueled by this unforgiving raw emotional drive. Overall, the music is written with such conviction and the harsh yet comforting dark sounding landscapes are extremely well recorded compared to some black metal releases that tend to end up sounding like a bunch of dorks decided to get together in an attempt do shitty Mayhem covers. 

    Alright, the next band I will be talking about is, Reproach, and their album, “The Book of Names.” Compared to Glyph, Reproach seems to draw more influence from old school death metal and war metal than raw black metal. I hear some Napalm Death influence at times and when I say Napalm Death, I am reminded more of the, “Harmony Corruption,” period. The riffs are very catchy at times, although they can instantly burst into a ferocious sounding bludgeoning of merciless sounding aggression. “Undo and Subvert,” is not the most technically challenging sounding piece of music, but has that bold and brutal presentation that captures essence of early Bolt Thrower and Benediction. 

    Throughout the album the band lays down plenty of monstrous sounding riffs and thunderous blast beats to hammer out some malevolent sounding compositions. “The Bones of Heathens,” is a crushing track and one that shows how brutal this can be once they get locked into a gruesome sounding riff structure. In all, Reproach is pretty straight forward in terms of their musical style, but at least they do not sound sloppy, or completely unimaginative. I really liked the band’s presentation and thought that their rancorous nature helped give the songs an extra boost of blasphemous attitude. 

    I think it is great that Ritual Abuse Hysteria working with both bands, because I find that each act has something special to offer the extreme metal world. I believe that these two bands have tons of potential and the recordings that they provided did not disappoint. Looking to the future I would like to see both bands continue to push themselves and stay true to their artistic visions. As the world continues to see mainstream music labels push more garbage onto the youth, we want more bands like Glyph and Reproach to be around so people can have recordings with substance available to them. 

Check out the song "...and So Fares the City" below:

Link to Ritual Abuse Hysteria Bandcamp:

https://ritualabusehysteria.bandcamp.com/

Dos Cobros "Misadventures in Dystopia"

    The new album from Dos Cobros, “Misadventures in Dystopia," is what I would call a rollercoaster through a dystopian cyberpunk themed world that has your head spinning and your mind constantly questioning all that you hear. Simply put, this is an album that I was not expecting to hear at first, but in the end it turned out to be something I'm glad came my way. 

    This two-man band based out of Nashville, Tennessee brings together an eclectic range of different musical elements. When listening to this album you can hear some industrial metal/rock, punk, hip-hop, as well as some cinematic elements. Right off the bat the opening song, “Initiation (A Space Wolf Tale),” throws you into a volatile sea of industrial sounding metal that contains a massive amount of adrenaline pumping force. There are plenty of slamming industrial arrangements that also blend into this hallucinogenic atmosphere of catchy sounding electronic noises. 

    On the next song, “No Hope (A Black Philip Tale),” the band delivers a strong hip-hop and industrial sounding piece of music. I was extremely impressed by the delivery of the lyrics and thought that the singer did a tremendous job added an extra boost of aggressive energy into the composition. Just imagine if Nine Inch Nails or My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult were working in the studio and Cypress Hill decided to stop by to lay down some lyrics. Honestly, the industrial rock/metal instrumental arrangements matched with this unapologetic no holds barred style of hip-hop is very profound and does not sound cheap, or gimmicky. Another band they remind me a bit of is the Butthole Surfers, but with a more industrial flavor added into the mix. 

    Also, I really like the horror movie references in their songs like, “No Hope (A Black Philip Tale,” as well as the track, “The Perfect Game (A Slender Man Tale).” The loudly distorted main guitar riff matched with the no nonsense sounding rhythms provided a fierce background for the singer to come in and unleash his tale of blasphemous terror. Overall, the song is a great example of solid production that all fits together flawlessly. Throughout the album you hear that this group is able to put everything together in such a solid fashion, which is impressive given the diverse sounding elements. “Ubuntu (Insomnia Mix),” was a song that at first sounded very chaotic and overwhelming with a hornets nest of industrial sounds, but eventually mellowed out to once again offer up a solid vocal performance and unique sounding musical landscape. 

    At first I did not know how I was going to like this album, because I am not exactly the biggest hip-hop fan on the planet. However, when listening to this album from top to bottom, I felt that the variety of influences actually allowed Dos Cobros to have a great amount of creative freedom. Again, the production on,“Misadventures in Dystopia,” is what really stood out and each track delivers in terms of recording quality. Dos Cobros is a band that I highly recommend checking out, especially if you are a listener who has an open mind. I’ve reviewed a handful of bands that incorporate a variety of styles into their sound and usually they end up sounding like a choir of feces throwing chimpanzees, so Dos Cobros is a talented group that definitely deserves recognition for their work on this album. 

Check out the song "Ubuntu (Insomnia Mix)" below:

Dos Cobros Bandcamp (Album comes out July 17th):

https://doscobros.bandcamp.com/album/misadventures-in-dystopia