Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 7 - THRASH EDITION

Lars Ulrich is in no way affiliated to Metantoine's Magickal Realm.

Vektor – Terminal Redux (2016) / 90%

Earache Records

These guys definitely ate their cereal this morning

Vektor are possibly the best thrash band on Earth (and in the universe) and while I think this new album of theirs isn’t better than Black Future, it’s still a top notch affair. The 5 years it took them to finish this album were worth it since it’s a tremendous trip into space. Not a lot of bands can pull of a long album like this one, with its seventy-three minutes, it takes a lot of time and energy to full absorb all the kinetic energy that those four Americans deliver. Keeping the listener interested througout he whole record is a grand feat by itself but Vektor also has the ability to bludgeon them with their pristine skills.

While Vektor hasn’t changed its formula (you don’t change a winning one), there’s a lot of surprises to enjoy on Terminal Redux like those clean Lion King-esque chanting on the superb opener “Charging the Void”, the clean vocals of Disanto on the phenomenal semi ballad “Collapse” and also, the fact, that well... they did a “To live is to Die”-esque ballad. This shows that like Metallica, they have the balls and the vision to try new things. The clean break on “Recharging the Void” is probably the nearest a thrash band has come to including cheesy 90s pop influences in their music with those soulful female back vocals reminding me of the ones in Dream Theater’s Scenes from a Memory. This is possibly their best track ever.

Nevertheless, their greatest strength is those extended, rich and completely bonkers tracks and this album is pretty much just that. They’re able to convey emotions with the help of their precise and chirurgical technical musicianship and it’s extremely rare to hear a thrash band do something like that.

While I think there’s absolutely no bad or simply “ok” moment (t’s all pretty damn great), god it is exhausting. I mean, it starts with three seven minutes tracks before giving us a short atmospheric interlude. Still, I’ll never skip any parts since I want to hear the whole sci fi savagery in all its glory. Vektor deserves their fanboyism. They rule the cosmos.

Spacebook

The Paolo Girardi thrash duo!

Division Speed – Division Speed (2015) / 77%

High Roller Records

Bombing the shit out of London

This quartet from Saxony evolves in a particular thrash style pionnered by their legendary compatriots of Sodom, this genre is called “War Metal”, no it’s not raw black/death played by heroin addicts former bodybuilders, it’s super fast barbaric thrash metal about war, in this case the infamous World War II. The fourteen songs albums (including 2 short interludes) is all about dropping bombs on everyone for like forty minutes and that’s a great thing in their case. They mix the raw intensity of Motorhead and Uncle Tom’s band with a fair share of proto black/thrash goodness (think Desaster, Aura Noir) and it’s pretty damn cool. 
The sole guitar of Venomessiah (lol) is thick, greasy and alternates between those insane fast riffs and those more mid paced ones and he has those solos of the purest Slayer quality, just unfiltered aggression played with the guitar.

Their vocals are raw croaks with all the necessary venom to make Churchill trembles with fear. Their music, unlike the Normandy landings, is just freaking fun. I’m starting to dig thrash again after a long break, there’s a primal quality to this kind of stuff that you just don’t find elsewhere. It's present here.

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Wildhunt – Descending (2016) / 82%
Metal On Metal Records

Classy Austrian thrash power trio

This Austrian trio’s debut album is definitely some top notch thrash metal. Combining the epic side of Metallica or Heathen and the complex power trio attitude of Coroner, Wildhunt were able to write compelling songs showcasing all the extent of their skills and their versatility.

The 1 hour album has many different moods and is quite varied, the band shines on the long tracks such “Crystal Deth (U.M.D.A.)” or the eight minutes opener “Age of Torment” but they’re also delivering the goods with their shorter ones. I personally think mid paced thrash is the best since it doesn’t only rely on blistering speed to be effective, it relies on subtle (as far as possible for the genre) songwriting.

Wolfgang Elwitschger (Austrian names are awesome) is super talented and plays the sole guitar while handling the mic duty as well. His vocals are very good too, clean and not so high pitched, they add to this classy and distinguished flair the band has. His solos are also on the proggy/power metal side and he simply delivers on that front too. There’s also a huge bass presence, the lines are pretty groovy in“Death Spares (N)one”. All in all, their musicianship is intense, well calculated but it never overshadows their epic songs. Smart thrash, guys.

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Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 6

Yellow Eyes – Sick with Bloom (2015) / 79%
Gilead Media
"Behind Yellow Eyes" - Fred Durst

New York is definitely a hot bed for “hipster” black metal with Krallice at the forefront (sup Colin Marston) and Yellow Eyes fits the scene. While I’ll admit I’m not the biggest fan of dissonant black metal, I do appreciate the genre and I don’t think it’s the worst thing to ever happen to the underground. While not as discordant and “technical” as Krallice, Yellow Eyes do share a lot of similarities with them in the way they compose their songs and riffs. Their six compositions are all somewhat on the long side with loads of well written riffs and buried yet enjoyable typical screams. While not an atmospheric band per se, tracks like “The Mangrove, The Preserver” explores a more natural territory than most of their counterparts without turning too much into hippie/tree lovers like Wolves in the Throne Room or Skagos. Nonetheless, the excellent closer “Ice in the Spring” certain has this forest feel with its ethereal outro full of cicadas and subtle acoustic guitar

Band members Will and Sam Skarstad (no, it’s not a Viking metal band) self produced the album and they were able to retain this vivid raw sound and it was for the best, really. I can’t wait to see these guys in Montréal when they’ll play with Forn.

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Witchthroat Serpent – Sang-dragon (2016) / 54%

Deadlight Entertainment

The Baguette Doom Series pt. XVI: Cloning

The big trend in doom metal right is to sound like Electric Wizard. This French trio is quite good at it, perhaps too good even. The main problem of this scene is the fixation on the SOUND and the AMPS. I mean it’s one of the reasons it’s getting more and more popular with the non traditional metal crowds. It’s LOUD music. If you know your doom, you’ll get nothing new with Witchthroat Serpent, even their name is inspired by the used, unoriginal tropes of the genre. What you’re getting here is the standard doom/stoner clean vocals (not as buried as usual) with heavy, mid-paced to slow riffing and efficient bluesy solos. I mean, it’s not bad at all, it’s even pretty good sometimes (“Into the Black Wood”) but it’s just mundane. There’s too many bands playing this style and the scene is saturated. Be an innovator, not a follower. If you can’t wait for the next EW album, check this out.

Altarage – NIHL (2016) / 93%
Iron Bonehead/Doomentia Records/Sentient Ruin Laboratories

Basque annihilation

I really liked Altarage’s debut demo (both tracks reappear here) released last year and I was expecting something great for their debut full length, I’m far from disappointed. This is perhaps the heaviest and most insane album of the year, it’s mindblowing good. It’s primitive death/black metal with a strong war metal attitude, they’re usually in an insane crushing vibe but they can deliver on the occult atmospheric side as well (such as the debut of “Graehence”). As expected, the drumming is super fast, the guitars are so loud and heavy that their sound just creates a loud but totally blissful and enjoyable mess. Sure, it’s repetitive but so is life, death is the only solution and these guys certainly kill everything they encounter.

Think of Adversarial but add some grind intensity, a more vicious attitude and an additional thickness and you wouldn’t be too far from what Altarage plays. Their music and pummeling guitars are so intense that NIHL becomes some sort of trance experience that will nail you to your chair Nightmarish music that would make our ancestors kill themselves out of fear. All hail nihilism, the Earth is doomed anyway.

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Geryon – The Wound and the Bow (2016) / 83%

Profound Lore Records

Bass n' drums abstract exploration

This band formed by the rhythm section of Krallice (yes, them again) is quite interesting. It’s some sort of bass and drums exploration into cacophonous experimental death metal. They’re like Neoandertals if the Estonian band wasn’t terrible and hilarious. The bass playing of McMaster is perfect in all its dissonant glory, as a novice (if I can call myself a novice at all) bass player, it’s fun to hear the instrument at the forefront. Compared to what I’ve heard from the debut, this is more experimental and less than trying to play death metal without guitars. The drumming of Weinstein is jazzy and full of subtleties, he really shows how good he is on the closer “Dioscuri” and its long extended instrumental moments. There’s not a lot of vocals but when McMaster sings, it’s deep vitriolic harsh vox with a sludgey feel. It's meditative, entrancing material with a simple and uncomplicated yet technical approach, I think the cover art done by the bassist/vocalist is a good representation of how abstract the whole thing is.

It may seem like a pretentious fest played by NY snobs but it’s actually highly emotional in the same sense that improvisational jazz can be, it’s metal that’s free of conventions, rigid ideas of what the “metaldom” should be and should like. It “transcends” labels and isn’t for the narrow minded. Post-black? Avant-garde? Experimental? Who cares, it’s intelligent and well played.

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Phobocosm - Bringer of Drought (2016) / 80%

Bringer of depressive death metal

Phobocosm has been the best Montréal death metal band for a while and their second full length will simply solidify their reputation as the band (who’s not Gorguts) to beat as far as Québec death metal is concerned. Québec, unfortunately for some, is still a Canadian province and the country creates a ton of interesting tenebrous extreme metal bands right now such as Mithochondrion.

Compared to their super good debut album Deprived, Bringer of Drought expands on the atmospheric side of the band with these longer compositions. The four songs/35 minutes album is an exercise of both restraint and pure unbridled aggression. Their core composed of occult cavernous death metal is still at its place but there’s definitely a large dose of post metal aesthetics (Neurosis is one of the favorite bands of their main composer) and of the atonal dissonance of Ulcerate. Admittedly, I thought the album was a bit too short for the genre represented here but since their music is so demanding and exhausting, it was a good decision. Albums are often too long nowadays anyway.

Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, etc...) is in charge of the production and while I think he’s often too clinical, he really did a great job for those guys. The vocals are voraciously deep, the guitars flexible with their aerial interpretation of Immolation and those long songs really benefit from this airy yet totally obscure and clean mix. Legit band.

Thanks to Dark Descent Records for the promo copy.

Soon on tour with Mitochondrion and Auroch / Also playing the Maryland Death Fest

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Graveyard Dirt – My Scourge, My Dirt (2015) / 77%

In the Sleep of Death

Alongside Mourning Beloveth (who are kings), this band is the best the country of Ireland has to offer as far as doom/death is concerned. It’s a shame that they had so many issues during their career and only managed to release one full length and 3 Eps/demos, this is their latest record released last year and like all their stuff it’s pretty damn great. In fact, Ireland has produced so many good bands for such a small scene, Primordial remains one of the best act on the planet.

Obviously inspired by the Peaceville three from the other side of the Celtic Sea (or the Irish Sea), you can definitely hear the influence of early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride here and their music has always been almost as good as “Turn Loose the Swans” or “Gothic”, their 2007 extended play “Shadows of Old Ghosts” is particularly stellar. This one, while not as interesting (perhaps due to the passage of time), is still immensely good and I hope they’re working on a new album. I do think their genre is somewhat exhausting though, For Grace or Damnation is a decent album but one hour of despair is sometimes hard to digest. I think their approach works better with a shorter format as it’s music highly related to a particular, exhausting mood. Some bands, never mind their quality, just don’t work as well for an extended period of time, Graveyard Dirt are possibly one of them. It’s probably why I think this EP is just the right dose! The album is divided in two sections, two shorter tracks start the album and it concludes with the longer number and it never gets too much or boring.

If you’re familiar with doom/death, you’ll be right at home here. Their formula is a bit like MDB at their heaviest (see “The Dreadful Hours”), it’s long songs full of romanticism, varied vocal approaches and an inviting dark mood, you really want to dress like a 1450 English nobleman who just visits the grave of his dead wife everyday while you’re listening to ‘em.

Paul Leyden simply freaking rocks at the mic, his clean vocals are more ballsy than Aaron Stainthorpe and his harsh vocals are even better than those of the old version of Thomas Gabriel Fischer. In fact the last track “The Sirens Refrain” sounds like a more natural rendition of Triptykon’s gothic extreme metal. While the musicianship has nothing to be ashamed of (it’s pretty solid), he’s the best thing about this band.

While it’s certainly nothing groundbreaking for 2015, it’s well done doom that will surely please any fans of ballsy sad guy metal. It’s still better than Pallbearer! Basically mix the Peaceville sound with modern Tom G. Warrior ughs and you got the sound of Graveyard Dirt.

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Metal Bounty Hunter: Volume 5

Karnon – Le temps sombre (2016) / 68%

Nah, it doesn’t sound like Agalloch

The Montréal quartet’s first release is a combination of modern melodic black metal, death metal, some progressive sludge/post-metal influences and metalcore. The most interesting thing about them is definitely the pagan theme explored throughout the French lyrics, it’s like a modern version of Belenos or just dudes like me who grew while reading Astérix comic books. I’d say this mythological angle is a welcome change from similar bands who generally have generic lyrics about life or something.

Musically, it’s not really my cup of tea. While I dig some of their influences (or used to, at least), the blend of sounds seems a bit artificial to me. At times, it’s like injecting the cold, mechanical sound of The Ocean to modern Immortal and while it’s mostly enjoyable and has well crafted riffs and guitar leads, it’s not something I’ll go back to. Also, I think that their shortest track “Vierge noire” with its Amon Amarth feel was more pertinent than the other, possibly more epic tracks.

The drumming is solid, the production and compositions are truly professional but Karnon is a band that’s developing its identity and should continue to do so. Nevertheless, if you dig melodic death/black with a pagan (non folk!) vibe, this is for you.

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Black Lung – See the Enemy (2016) / 76%

No bass, no problem

This trio from Maryland plays a vivid sort of psych doom/stoner with very groovy guitar riffs and buried, clean vocals. There’s some stoner bands who don’t have guitars and only rely on bass hooks (see Zaum) but Black Lung decided to go with two electric guitars instead. The rhythms are still infections since the instruments are downtuned as hell. “Crooked Fingers” basically sounds early Danzig turned psych stoner and it’s lovely. I haven’t heard their debut album but apparently it was softer and not metal like this one, nevertheless they still have some rock influences such as some balladesque parts of “Priestess”.

Their guitar tone is solid, they have sweet ass leads and the mix and mastering are well done but they lack a certain originality to distinguish themselves in this saturated doom/stoner world. If you like the genre and you’re always looking for another band to enjoy, check ‘em out, it’s fun stuff.

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Gargoyle – Reborn in Blasphemy (2016) / 74%

Lo-fi horror

"Have you heard the new Gargoyle?" asked my Swedish friend.

“The Japanese band?” I replied.

“Nah, this new Italian doom band”
“Ohhh ok”

And this is how I’ve discovered this quartet from Calabria, great story, right? Well, I can assure you that their music is a bit more interesting... Following in the footsteps of the horror doom masters Abysmal Grief, their music is occult dirges showing how dark and obscure the traditional doom genre can actually get.

The three songs are lo-fi doom with hints of blackened metal and distortion. The production is on more on the amateurish side than any doom I’ve heard this year but it fits the dark aura the songs go for quite well, I’d still would be curious to hear them with a solid production, one which could highlight their forces even more. Just find a larger cavern to record, guys. The vocals are somewhat harsh and were probably recorded in an underground cave or the small bathroom of one of their moms, there’s a lot of reverb and it fits the current occult black/death/doom movement. They don’t mess around with their compositions either, they’re kept relatively short and to the point, something that many of their peers don’t or just can’t do. Solid first release.

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Wretched Wizard – Empty Throne (2016) / 75%

Primitive Men

This young Ohioan duo just released their first album, a 19 minutes forray into aggresssive style shattering metal. On these eight songs, they go from hard hitting sludge to stoner/doom and metallic hardcore and they often do that on the same song. There’s a primitive, almost southern-ey influence as well as it’s not just heavy, it’s also atmospheric and some ideas could benefit from extraneous moments. I thought the short one minute interlude was cool but, yeah, it was only one minute.

I liked the loud production on the drums and guitars but the vocals are grating, not that they’re bad, the harsh growls are full of venom and spite as you could expect from a band like them but they’re much too predominant in the mix and frankly a bit hard to handle.

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Illusions Dead - Celestial Decadence (2016) / 81%

Death/black metal à la Finn

I used to dig melodic death metal a lot when I was getting into metal, I know I’m not an unique snowflake or anything but I really liked Dark Tranquillity (still do even if their latest two albums were mediocre) and the good stuff of In Flames before they were ruined forever. Nevertheless, this genre is pretty stale and unsurprising these days though, most of the legendary players are either retired, goddamn awful or playing it too safe and the young veterans and newcomers try to mix things up but it doesn’t work well most of the time (I’m looking at you, Ghost Brigade). Finland’s Illusions Dead like many of their compatriots are combining genres but they do it in a compelling and interesting way.

Their music could be described by dividing it into these four main components:

1) Firstly, the old school death metal aspect of their music is not overshadowed by the presence of dull unctuous and easily marketable by Nuclear Blast melodeath. You can definitely here the influence of proto technical death masters Immolation in the guitar playing of band leader Johannes Katajamäki (who unsurprinsingly wear a shirt of Ross Dolan’s band on his Metal Archives page). His vocal approach is also quite cavernous and would fit the compositions of most pure death metal bands.

2) Secondly, there’s also a large amount of Scandinavian melodic eath metal elements on Illusions Dead’s album. There’s the intensity of At the Gates and they mix mighty riffs with an added melodic flair to them, it’s not exactly melodic death metal per se, I mean it’s not freaking Insomnium and I’m glad they’re not or else I’d be too sleepy to finish this review. It’s death metal that’s melodic, a genre that Argholescent of Intestine Baalism. The guitars stay incicisive but they give a lot of variety to the listeners and it’s all because the parts are well composed and played, there’s no gimmicks here. A good example of the melodic side of the Finns would be the track “Shadow and Flame”

3) Thirdly, there’s some 90s melodic black metal here, it’s not just death metal even if this genre is the predominant ingredient of their metal. It’s hard to pinpoint the influences but it’s there, I don’t see the need to namedrop several other bands here!

4) Finally, being from Finland, they just couldn’t resist the famous melodic death/doom sound and they had to incorporate some of this style into their debut album. The longest song of the record “Revolution (Celestial Spheres)” turns into a mournful affair after a rapid start. It’s a good slow death metal track!

Celestial Decadence is a strong debut album, it shows a high level of musicianship paired with an ear for efficient songwriting and a “less is more” approach.

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Cantique Lépreux – Cendres célestes (2016) / 81%

Trilogie noire québécoise

Tome III: Paysage d'hiver

Thanks to Eisenwald for the promo copy

I’ve never really liked Chasse-Galerie, they’re not a bad band at all but I think they’re too boring and play it safe, I wasn’t quite convinced by their live presence either. Considering this, I was a bit skeptic when I got this album in my inbox but I was surprised by how much I liked this new project of three of their members (also members of Forteresse or Au-delà des ruines). While it’s not a perfect debut album, there’s enough quality here to please most black metal fans. They’re not yet in the Québec black metal elite but they could very well be soon enough.

Soundwise, this album is the shiiit, the production is just icy and clean enough to make the songwriting shine and just raw enough to give it the necessary atmosphere. To be fair, I was expecting something akin to Paysage d’hiver when I saw the cover. The vocals of Blanc Feu are perfect for the genre, crispy yet tenebrous and just buried enough to give them the rightful snowy cavern feeling. The guitars are also very well produced and aren’t exactly that typical for the genre, there’s even some surprising, insane soloing (such as in “Transis). Considering they took the time to start a new band, I do think they didn’t do enough stuff to truly distinguish themselves from the masses. I was expecting something more epic and grandiose (not that it isn’t) but I do dig the (somewhat) melodic and (somewhat) peculiar approach they took with Cendres célestes (Celestial Ashes). They didn’t use all into the usual tropes of QCBM and that’s something that we see more and more in the Québec’s scene nowadays. Many bands are leaving their old tricks (winter, nationalism) behind and they’re taking a different, often more occult, direction. Gevurah or Délétère are good examples of this new trend.

I think this project has a lot of potential and that’s something that the excellent German label Eisenwald also saw (Csejthe and Grimoire, two of the best Québec bands ever are/were signed there). Even if I think that the compositions lacked a certain abtract component that I can’t really pinpoint, it’s solid material and it’s highly recommmended.

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