Archives: Reviews

9 - La Luz de la Luna Negra 10 - El Predator 11 - Las Colina del los Cruzificados Sin Cabezas 12 - La Checa del Perverso 13 - Y Corre tu Sangre 14 - La Checa del Perverso 15 - Enganifa religiosa

Impureza is maybe the more chaotic of the three, but we’re still taling about Death Metal that has some toeholds in the Florida scene of early ’90, plus some inevitable elements of today’s musical world, such as superior skill, superior recording, more complexity etc. The vocals here are the most versatile of the three bands, the double vocal effect is lovely, and the use of Spanish language is a amazing turn on, it gives the music a vaguely satanic feel but it might be just my memories of the time when I was listening to Brujeria’s “Matando Gueros”, can’t tell if it makes the same effect to everybody eh. I really like them, but the high screams have to be removed, utterly useless. Guitarwork here is top level as in the other two bands… Holy shit I really can’t decide which one I like better. There is a coherence between the lines of these seven songs, if you concentrate well on these riffs, but the whole impression if that of a grand, orchestral texture of primeval chaos. In the end I would probably give my preference to Impureza of all the three.

6 - Ravenous 7 - Built on Nothingness 8 - Piercing Through Shadows

Hateful comes from my city, but honestly I have never been overiMpressed by their previous works. Seems as if they were circling around the perfect chemistry in songwriting for years, with even some moments of distraction due to various line up glitches that culminated in forgettable side-projects. Anyway, color me impressed this time becouse the opening track is a fucking blast! The songs are surgically precise, with a work behind the drumkit which is really not just imposing but also so meticolous it splits the second. The band of referral here might be definitely Hate Eternal, so here I can cite the same words I wrote for Hellspawn, this is a brutal concoction of Death and Metal but far from the American clichès. I still tend to like the fastest parts better, as the vocals are not very deep and they just seem to fit perfectly the music when it blurs: my opinion is that the mid-tempo bridges (as in the first 40-50 seconds of track 8) could be definitely be either omitted or perfectioned. IIRC, the band name Hateful is a homage to the song “Blood on My hands”: “Hateful seed inside me, Scald my mind of all but truth…”.

1 - Hypocrisy 2 - Legion 3 - Antimary 4 - Velvet Sashes of Voices 5 - Voices of Damnation

This is a 3 way split that contains demo tracks from three band: one from Poland, one from Italy, one from France. The name of the album is commposed by three words, one for each language the bands speak. There is a solid thread that links the three bands as all three play skillful Death Metal that has no ties to the American scene but is neither devoid of brutality. Let’s say the brutality in Hellspawn comes from speed, a drumming which recalls a bit of late Morbid Angel, and a classic approach to the songs. I like the fact that the structure themselves are taken straight from the early nineties, if Death Metal developed differently we might probably get soemthing akin this. I’d dare to throw in the names of Yattering, Decapitated and Behemoth but since these are three Polish band my words might be taken as cheap and inimaginative so think of Necroblaspheme and 7th Child as well! This is classic Death Metal, brutal but not in modern terms, with a good load of solos, guitar twists and a nice Morbid Angel riminiscence (drumwork first, guitar sound second). Vocals could have a bit more impact, if I have to find a flaw. The packaging is very simple, and I am not really loving the cover picture (dried leaves? What the..?) but generally you have a black and white contrast which is real nice. It’s a pity the inner side of the cover is a bit faded, a cripser black would have ruled totally. If one likes Death Metal but is bothered by the race for the biggest pants and the moshier riffs of American DM this is a fucking great choice. A superior level band here.

1 - Carnal Mutilation 2 - Tortured Bleeding End 3 - Downed in Sewage 4 - Funeral Feast 5 - Suicide 6 - Deceased 7 - Morgue of Cannibalism 8 - Only Consumed by Dead 9 - Stillborn (AUTOPSY cover)

HOLY SHIT!! HOLY SHIT!! This is just the best Death Metal I have heard since Abscess’ “Tormented”! A few years ago, in 2003 I received the promo from this amazing Japanese band, side project of the famous thrashers Transgressor No shit, I have been listening to those promo tracks for one straight month. And now that I hear the full length things seem to have gone even better. The band is totally Autopsy-influenced and don’t give a fuck to show it. What can I say, though review from one whose favored band IS Autopsy. I have been critical on Mausoleum since it was really just a slightly unfit clone, but this band shows all the good things in the sick Death/Doom of our gods with top class, they have recaptured the magick in the late ’90s sound (well, just have a look at the last three lines in their thanklist). The vocals are a furious roar, deep and liquid, maybe a bit less diversified than those of Chris Reifert but equally vulgar and masculine. Guitar riffs are pure gold, just like old Autopsy stripped of all the punkish Abscess that was growing into it before splitting out as a separate organism: maybe not much of the sick gargling filth, but definitely this has all the Darkness and density of the ones above. Luckily I got this one before “Damned and Mummified” or I would have barely withstood the release of that piece of crap. This is really the band I always wanted to put myself together in 1990, maybe I should relocate to Japan ah… what else can I say? I am fucking tormented hearing this masterpiece.

Production is perfect, each instruments owns the right tonality and placement in the whole chorus.

Packaging is simple, no frills, with neat fonts, a 4 page booklet in tones of black and red, must have taken 3 minutes to make but it’s much better than photoshop-butchered brutal death bands of today anyway. Maybe a little bit more of old school lineart would have ruled but what the fuck, you can’t have only Phil Hampson works ehe. You can’t see the full artwork on the Internet so I am linking it here. Accurate artwork even if the visage of the woman looks a bit “unripe”.

It’s like having four walls, smelling urine and encrusted blood, closing in from all sides, and you have no fucking escape. Claustrophobic, depressive at times, totally sick. It is THE number one record you have to buy this year if you haven’t got it yet.

1) Reborn from Death 2 - Abrupted 3 - Une Souris Verte 4 - Bauba 5 - Arf! 6 - Foreclosure Beyond Ignifusion 7 - Brutally Brutalized 8 - 6J 6 - Disgorging the Prepuce 10 - Phoned to Death 11 - Monster Mosh 12 - Captain Igloo 13 - Ghost Track 14 - Milhouse by the Cemetery 15 - Musashimaru 16 - Poil Pubien 17 - One Chiotte 18 - People = Frite 19 - Judas Prost 20 - I Like to Vomit 21 - From the Dark Dephts of Long Eternity in my Old Ages of Emptiness I Shall Reign in Chaos On My Bloody...

Ultravomit is a total fun band made up by four total jackasses that released a full-length album on Obliteration from Japan. Before listening to the disc itself, I suggest you to scrutinize the studio footage these four jerks have filmed as extra-multimedia tracks (the footage is longer than the Cd, btw): the videos are rather well done and their editing is fluid and quite good indeed. The cuts are non-existant and the camera very steady, doesn’t sound amateur work. The footage is divided into chapters with totally ludicrous names, such as the “ghost tracks” which consists in these three idiots shaking chains in front of the mic. I really hardly resisted laughing when I saw Fetus armpit-farting in the mic. You can really tell all special effects were not just synth tricks…

Coming to the music, if you strip all the bollocks (i.e. Epic Metal “choruses”, farting noises etc.), this is a fantastic goregrind band, not just tight but also proficient in their instruments. The sound production is crystal-clear so you get the whole picture well and these guys are not banal in songwriting. They have elements from any aspect of grindgore, powerful slamming, fast blazing drums, etc. you can hear CBT, Mortician, LDOH etc in this Cd. Of course the whole is so dressed up with tons of jokes one might get occasionally distracted. I’d like to have these guys listen to bands like Knife Fight before making fun of NYHC they imitate as if they were fucking Biohazard. Oh well. I have the impression these guys are really like high-school students having fun during math lessons; between pics and thankslists, there is a good load of references to cartoons (track 22 is a cover of a famous “romantic” anime Kimagure Orange Road, “Milhouse by the Cemetery” clearly comes from The Simpsons etc.), the Ghostbusters, the Transformers, action figures of all kinds, comedy actors (as. the ALMIGHTY Luuis De Fune) etc. up to totally nonsense stuff like inspector Poirot or 4 cheese pizza. It is a challenge to put everything in line ah ah!

Booklet layout looks like shit, but you get the clear picture it was done on purpose, just to fit the concept. I generally strongly dislike when one makes fun of gore, but when bands like this, Gronibard or Birdflesh devote their music to comic entertainment it just makes sense to me.

1 - Thoracic Gallagonal Aspiration 2 - Coronary Artery Trombosis with Posterior Wall Myocardial Fibrosis 3 - Adipocere: Sinking, Puterfaction and Re-Floating 4 - Expansion of Subpleural Pethachiae: Heamodulation and Heamolysis 5 - Lupus Nephritis 6 - Boneyard (Impetigo)

How the fuck am I supposed to describe this? Pustulated is an amazing bombardment of sound, really too heavy to heavy to be considered just a Brutal Death band. They are as fast as Brodequin, yet seems like everything has just been adjusted to get the maximum of brutality. The vocals are just a vague croak, completely unintelligible, at times they just seem like the string of some machinery; the guitar sound has been furtherly down-tuned, the drums are blasting all the time etc. However they just don’t seem some copycat of Liturgy or Brodequin, as their sound is much rawer and the structure of the songs seem to have slided down in importance in favour or all-out sick massiveness. The songs are actually rather simple even if the drums sometimes plays on tempos but generally speaking this is not San Diego Disgorge. The Impetigo cover at the end is cool but you probably already heard it in the Impetigo tribute in Razorback. Seems the band never have enough since I heard a promo song of their new album Haematoma and it seems the music has gone even tighter.

1 - Thoughts 2 - Regurgitated Faeces 3 - Push 4 - Cellulite Convoy 5 - Mad 6 - Zombie

Copremesis is not much different from Pustulated in the big picture. Downright, unconditional brutality inspired by the Fist of the North Star himself, mr. Kenshiro. According to song titles etc, the concept seem explicitly whimsical, the intros in fucking Japanese are maybe a little too lengthy (on a 3 song span dammit!), but when we come to the core of the music we have some great fucking hodgepodge of croaking Brutal Death. The vocals are as innaturally low as Pustulated’s, yet there is some added variation in the form of some quirky guitar solo trying to emerge here, some nasty, almost jazzy song twist there. Again I won’t categorize this band as “goregrind” yet Brutal Death fits a bit narrow as well, it is just too cacophonous (think Enmity). Only three songs here, plus 3 live ones: one of these feature Biolich singer at the mic, one is a Cock and Ball Torture cover.

I liked the packaging this time, the Copremesis cover artwork is delicious, while the anatomies of the humans are dubious, the array of colors used to the artwork and the general all gore concept is of my complete liking. Pustulated side cover art is nonsense, looks like an old Fear of God album I have (the Thrash FOG, not the noise ones), might be a crocodile skin, a decrepit wall or some microscope caption, who knows. Works mildly but I won’t scream out for creativeness. I also doubt the resolution is right for a professionally printed work. Inner cover is cheap b/w.