Black Fucking Cancer / Gloam : Boundless Arcane Invokations

    Sentient Ruin deals out yet another sinister sounding release, this time bringing together two venomous black metal entities that know how to deliver some malevolent sounding music. Black Fucking Cancer and Gloam prove to be masters of the extreme metal dark arts by taking listeners on a hellish journey through realms of atmospheric terror on their spilt, “Boundless Arcane Invokations.”

    I find both acts to be skilled in their songwriting styles and even though each band only contributes one song to the split, they deliver some strong dynamic sounding cuts of extreme metal ferocity that do not disappoint. Also, both bands use the same name for their songs, which  also happens to be the name of this split. There seems to be an unholy unity between these two acts and their styles really compliment each other quite well. In terms of production, both bands construct monumental sounding atmospheres that convey a ghastly world of catastrophic horror.

    San Jose’s, Black Fucking Cancer, unleashes a malefic assault that pulls listeners into a realm of total darkness on their side of the split. I might be a bit biased since I was born in San Jose, however, Black Fucking Cancer is a band that really knows how to compose a vicious sounding landscape of black metal savagery. The opening part of the song spews out these ominous noises that eventually get swallowed up by a blanket of distortion and blistering riffs. Their singer provides tortured growls of demonic sounding agony as the other musicians hammer away at their instruments. Overall, the band executes an unforgiving vision for about twenty-two minutes, but never loses their potency or ability to keep listener’s intently listening.

    The other band on the split is, Gloam, a Santa Cruz based black metal act that wastes no time by fiercely jumping into a flurry of blasphemous riffs. As the band’s drummer lays down some raw sounding rhythms the guitarist and bassist take the opportunity to hack away at their instruments with no remorse. Gloam captures that old school black metal sound, although they are able to pay homage to old school black metal without sounding gimmicky, or falling into that pit of generic black metal rubbish. Once again, solid production and an attention to detail in terms of songwriting helps shift them past most of your modern bands who can dress the part, but can’t write songs to save their lives. 

    This split proves to be another brilliant Sentient Ruin release that sounds extremely well done from start to finish. I think the label did a great job bringing together two ruthless and impressive black metal bands. There is no denying that Black Fucking Cancer and Gloam are bands who have tremendous talent and should not be overlooked. I hope people really check out this split, because this is the type of release that I want to see more of from the metal community.



Check out the split below:

Sentient Ruin FB:

https://www.facebook.com/SentientRuin/

Gloam FB:

https://www.facebook.com/gloamshroud/

Black Fucking Cancer bandcamp:

https://blackfuckingcancer.bandcamp.com/

Sarinvomit / Eggs of Gomorrh : Encomium of Depraved Instincts

    Talk about two extreme forces teaming up to unleash eight tracks of uncompromising brutality! Sarinvomit and Eggs of Gomorrh lay waste to the metal world with their split, “Encomium of Depraved Instincts."

    Both bands are tremendous extreme metal acts that deliver a sheer destructive sound full of intensity and monumental amounts of instrumental carnage. I also thought adding live tracks to the split was a great idea and gives the listener a chance to hear how these bands sound in a live setting.

    Istanbul’s Sarinvomit starts the split off by launching into a fire storm of black metal mayhem. The singer provides such a raw and malevolent sounding delivery to compliment the unholy sounds of the other musicians who feverishly play their instruments. Songs like “Screwing the Nailed Prophets” and “Spreading VX Gas Over Kaaba” are great blasphemous pieces of music that show no mercy in their disdain for organized religion.  I truly believe Sarinvomit is an act with devastating potential and a musical attitude much needed in our world.

    The second half of the split contains material from, Eggs of Gomorrh, the Geneva based extreme metal maniacs who know how to annihilate an audience with their brand of hellish sounding blackened death metal. The band's drummer is a rapid fire blast beat monster behind the kit and plays with tremendous amounts of brutal force. Songs such as “Shrine of Disgust” and “Whore of Sodom,” demonstrate a malicious bunch of musicians looking to drown listeners in a tidal wave of distorted terror. Another solid track from the band is, “Redemption Martyr,” a savage onslaught of riffs and drums containing some gruesome and unworldly vocals.

    “Encomium of Depraved Instincts,” serves as a statement made to the entire metal community, which is that these two bands are not to be taken lightly and passed off as average extreme metal acts. Although they are playing styles of metal that are not new to the metal world, both bands bring a raw and uncompromising attitude that is sure to draw fans to their extreme metal visions. If you have not checked this split out yet, well you need to do yourself a favor and get some much needed extreme music in your life.



Check out the split below:

Sarinvomit FB:
https://www.facebook.com/sarinvomit

Eggs of Gomorrh FB:
https://www.facebook.com/eggsofgomorrh/

Aludra "Mass Stellar Graves"

    Aludra’s new album, “Mass Stellar Graves,” is a raw sounding black metal journey into pure and unforgiving atmospheric sounding entropy. Just imagine being sucked through a black hole where you cannot escape and drift endlessly through darkness for all eternity.

    The Oklahoma based black metal duo constructs abysmal sounding raw pieces of music and explores lyrical themes relating to space. “Mass Stellar Graves,” is definitely an album written to hook the listener from beginning to end with its unique concepts. The overall atmosphere throughout the album is raw and grim, perfect for dealing with topics concerning destructive cosmic forces. The drums create a very bleak sounding rhythmic backbone while the guitars wash over with melancholy chord progressions. As much as I feel like this formula is very repetitious in black metal, Aludra is able to executed it to where you are drawn into he calming chaos of blackened stellar wonder.

    Opening the album is the song, “Imprisoning Light,” which happens to be a suitable name for a song containing some harsh sounding instrumental compositions. The singer’s vocal delivery compliments the musical landscape with cries of anguish and despair. Black metal vocals can sometimes be a bit gimmicky if the instrumental structures are not very interesting, however, I think Aludra is able to make everything work together in a solid fashion. “Coma B,” is another example where the song’s atmosphere is able to break away from the typical black metal style.

    Track number three, “Sagittarius A,” takes listeners on a tormenting ride through hellish sounding arrangements of extreme chaos. I felt like the vocals were the main area of emphasis, while the instrumental compositions provide a frantic and unorthodox sounding musical backbone. “Out of Chaos,” is more of a traditional style black metal song with more of a slow frost bitten sounding delivery. Tracks five and six, “Black Void Damnation” and “Mass Stellar Graves” continue to push forward in unforgiving and chaotic directions of pure extreme prowess.

    Overall, the album is a solid effort and attempts to explore the extreme concepts of black holes and voids of endless damnation. I feel like on future efforts Aludra should continue to explore their interest in the cosmos, while also not falling into those repetitive and gimmicky black metal songwriting traps. Make the music standout and have a unique presentation instead of writing the same recycled riff while you continuously sing about worshipping Satan.

    If you want a solid release that creates grim sounding atmospheres full of raw black metal attitude, then I recommend this release.




Check out the album below:

Aludra Bandcamp:
https://aludrabm.bandcamp.com/

Aludra Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Aludra-19659...

Ripper "Sensory Stagnation"

    Scorching the metal world with a vicious strike of merciless metal, Ripper proves once again they are a band that does not mess around. This group of metal musicians from Chile demonstrates great technical ability and raw aggression on their new EP, “Sensory Stagnation.”

    After teaming up with Unspeakable Axe records for the release of their 2016 release, “Experiment of Existence,” Ripper has really grabbed the metal world’s attention. Their style of extreme thrash combines a variety of influences, yet is presented in a unique and confident manner. The EP once again captures the band’s exceptional thrash metal making abilities and helps them break away from the gimmicky thrash worship acts that think by having long hair and dressing like they're from the movie Wayne’s World it makes them a great thrash metal band.

    The EP opens with a short instrumental piece full of technically and ravenous sounding attitude. The bass and guitar playing is well executed, while the drumming provides a ferocious kick. For their second track, “The Unreal,” Ripper unleashes an all out blitzkrieg of destructive sounding thrash sure to conjure up devastating circle pits during live shows. Once again, the guitar and bass parts construct these bombastic sounding riff compositions that give the song a sinister edge.

    For the album’s title track, the band exhibits more wicked sounding arrangements which are accompanied by the singer’s hellish delivery. The next song, “Like a Sacrilege,” is a blasphemous offering of musical terror that will scare the crap out of those Jehovah’s Witnesses who go around from door to door pedaling nonsense. If those people come to your door, I recommend playing this song for them. After hearing it I guarantee they will stop coming to your house!

    The final song off the album, “Terror Streets,” is a blistering cut of music right from the very beginning with rapid drumming and vicious guitar work. Each musician contributes to the attack by playing with tremendous amounts of energy throughout the song by hammering out some savage compositions of music to keep listener’s continuously banging their heads.

    Ripper’s new EP is yet another example of how this band has become a formidable and impressive force within the metal community. Their dedication and drive has allowed them to write some strong material over the last few years. I think that if this EP is a glimpse into the future of what is to come, fans of high quality thrash metal music should be extremely pleased. If you have common sense when it comes to good music, well then Ripper is a band you should be listening to right now.


Ripper "The Unreal" :

Ripper Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ripperchileoficial/

Screamer "Highway of Heroes"

    Get ready to pull out those denim jackets, jump on your motorcycle, and go racing down the highway with the police in hot pursuit while Screamer’s new album, “Highway of Heroes,” is blasting at full volume. The Swedish based band’s new release is a powerful dose of classic metal and hard rock that is focused on capturing the metal world through relentless force.

    The album is the fourth full-length release in the band’s discography and definitely brings together a variety of classic hard rock and metal elements. As of recent there has been a strong surge of up and coming classic metal worship acts who have really made an impact with some brilliant new releases. I believe Screamer recorded a solid album with, “Highway of Heroes,” and compared to some of the band’s earlier works I think that this release raises the bar. The guitar work is extremely fluid and the melodic riff compositions are very catchy. Overall the production is rather impressive and compliments the group’s songwriting style.

    Listening to the first few songs on the album you get a sense of what Screamer brings to the table. “Ride On,” is a rebellious anthem featuring some meaty guitar riffs and anvil pounding rhythms. The song, “Shadow Hunter,” keeps the adrenaline pumping with a powerful main driving riff that compliments the singer’s triumphantly soaring vocal delivery. I think the singer has strong voice and gives the music that extra boost of confidence and epic attitude.

    Overall, the album flows with a decent repertoire of fierce sounding metal tracks taking listener’s back to that glorious period of heavy metal music, a time before suburban kids decided it was cool to walk around with their pants below their asses. The title track off of the album is probably my favorite song, especially the main chorus section. I liked how the band put great amounts of triumphant sounding emotion into the delivery of the chorus and you feel the words vibrantly jump out through the speakers. Two other tracks worth mentioning are, “Out of the Dark” and “Towers of Babylon,” both containing tasty melodic riffs and undying heavy metal passion with each note.

    Screamer did an honorable job on this album by keeping the spirit of metal alive and by delivering their own brand of headbanging and fist raising metal. My one recommendation would be to keep pushing themselves to write those memorable and strong pieces of metal music, because that is what will keep listener’s coming back for more. Heavy metal continues to thrive and unlike most of the garbage you hear from major labels, you know bands like Screamer will be waiving the metal flag for many more years to come.


Screamer "Highway of Heroes" :

Screamer Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/wearescreamer/

Enshrouded "Sanctum of the Shadows (Demo 2019)"

    Bay Area blackened death doom maniacs, Enshrouded, demonstrate their unforgiving and destructive nature with the release of the band’s new demo, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” The band lays down some tormenting sounding pieces of music to achieve an extremely malevolent creation, culminating into an offering of malicious sounding chaos.

    Compared to most modern extreme metal bands that claim to push the edges of extreme music, Enshrouded simply goes for the jugular by crafting these monumental recordings of pure devastation. What stands out on this demo is the band’s ability to construct these massive sounding atmospheres, which allows them to transition into a variety of nightmarish sounding directions. There is thought put into their compositions along with a dynamic approach that helps to expand the band’s vicious and uncompromising vision.

    The album begins with a gruesome sounding death doom riff, establishing a monstrously slow and heavy foundation. Eventually the band dials in on a more intense onslaught of old school sounding death metal ferocity. I like how the drummer provides such a raw and bombastic background for the guitars to savagely hammer out sinister chord progressions. The production and recording quality is really solid for a demo release, especially pertaining to how it compliments the band’s songwriting style.

    The second track off of the release, “Transcendental Depravity,” is a song that begins with a more gritty sounding blackened assault, opening the gateways of instrumental annihilation and ushering in some haunting vocals. Each musician executes their parts with precision and the band sounds very tight throughout the song. Tracks like, “Sanctum of the Shadows” and “Gates of Awareness,” are delivered in blistering old school death metal like fashion and it reminds me a bit of Morbid Angel’s “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh.” The music is delivered with sheer chaotic brutal force, yet the overall compositions flow with a certain synergy.

    For the final song, “Awakened Through Desolation,” the band once gain constructs hellish sounding guitar riffs that effectively send seismic shockwaves through the musical landscape. You just get a sense that these musicians took their time writing this material and did not want to slap together some sloppy sounding riffs and vocals in an attempt to dress up like David Vincent and put on a show for their buddies at the local truck stop.

    Overall, Enshrouded has me interested in what they plan on doing next following the release of, “Sanctum of the Shadows.” I think there are some death metal releases I’ve heard that don’t even compare to the production of this demo, so Enshrouded is definitely on the right path. If you are a fan of extreme music then you need to check this out, because unlike those bands where they dress like douches and continuously play breakdowns, Enshrouded does not mess around and knows how to write extreme metal music.



Check out the entire demo below:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/EnshroudedDeath/

Mournful Cries "Bad Taste"

    Like three wisemen traveling across a desert in a smoke filled caravan, Mournful Cries bestows upon the metal world a gift of pure DOOM with the release of their debut album, “Bad Taste.” The Sonoma County based trio delivers an album containing plenty of killer riffs and seismic jams powerful enough to rattle the Earth’s core.

    Mournful Cries is band that I am quite familiar with since I’ve reviewed a few of their previous demos for the blog. Those demo releases were great starting points and the band was able to build off those past songs and form some truly crushing tracks. The new songs written for the album are extremely well produced and the overall sound is very addicting. Once you starting listening, you do not want to stop.

    The album contains seven tracks, all of them delivering a mighty punch of unapologetic doom making you feel like you are traveling into a misty world of haunting distortion and bombastic rhythms. “Sea of Trees,” is a great opening track which sets the tone by unleashing a groovy main riff that welcomes a blizzard of reverb and thunderous drumming. Guitarist and singer Luis Olguin along with bassist Matt Lasserre feverishly hack away at a tasty main riff, while drummer Alex Hernandez assaults his kit with precision and great feel throughout the song. The band continues that same approach on the next song, “Hallowed Tomb,” taking listeners into a crypt of classic doom like horror.

    “Evil Confessor,” conveys a more gritty and raw attitude where the bass sound really captures your attention. Matt seems to hit the notes at the right time causing you to feel the impact of each note striking your eardrum. Track number four, “Angelic Envy,” is a blasphemous tale containing a sample from the movie, Dogma. I really like how Luis delivers the lyrics and I find the song’s overall instrumental composition to be very well written. Songs like, “Sinner’s Pyre” and “Bad Taste,” are great examples of track that feature these simple yet catchy riffs and can eventually evolve into these monolith sized jams.

    The album’s final song, “Witches’ Herbs,” is the longest song on the album and runs about nine and a half minutes, allowing the band to throw in quite a few devastating riff compositions. Right when Luis hits that first chord, you know that the band means business. Throughout the song you feel drawn into this endless void of hypnotic sounds that are heightened by the relentless drive of each band member as they conjure such raw power through their instruments.

    Although the metal world has been saturated with bands trying to sound like Black Sabbath and other legendary doom bands for many years, few are able to standout and develop a strong musical identity. Mournful Cries did an impressive job molding their influences together and achieved a unique sound that compliments their songwriting style.

    Out of all the albums I've heard this year, I believe, “Bad Taste,” has a certain quality that really stands out, especially considering it being their first album. You can hear how each musicians put a lot of effort into the recordings and each song is played with true dedication and passion. The goal on the next album should be to keep that same drive and passion alive, because that is how you can take the music to an even greater level.

    In the end, I highly recommend this album for fans of doom along with anyone who is looking for an album that will leave you tripping out of your mind on some HEAVY goddam riffs!

Mournful Cries bandcamp:
https://mournfulcries.bandcamp.com/album/bad-taste