Archives: Reviews

  • MORBID ANGEL (USA/FL) “Gateways to Annihilation” Cd 2000 Earache

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 7,00/10

    DURATA: 49:14

    Tracklist

    1 - Kawazu 2 - Summoning Redemption 3 - Ageless, Still I Am 4 - He Who Sleeps 5 - To The Victor The Spoils 6 - At One With Nothing 7 - Opening Of The Gates 8 - Secured Limitations 9 - Awakening 10 - I 11 - God Of The Forsaken
    Following the path of their previous albums, this one starts with the letter “G”, “Gateways to Annihilation” is, once again, an album antirely different from the previous 6 ( or 7), this time all of the lyrics but one have been handled by the new vocalist mister Tucker. The artwork has finally escaped from the horrible mania of computer graphics and is back into the hands of the proficient painter Dan Seagrave (who also created their first cover). The artwork shown on the CD cover didn’t convince me much at first but when I bought the CD and opened the 4 folds I was really positively impressed, the result I wish you all to see here , great paint, gives the idea of an alien city sucked in by a negative force vortex, fantastic. Stylistically this time MORBID ANGEL have left me a bit dry. Indeed this CD takes a few listen before beginning to take in your brain, and while not as catastrophic as “Domination”, it’sd probably not one of their best performances. The times of Altars of Madness and Blessed Are The Sick are gone, I know, as is the genial estrus which made each song unique and memorable, this time there is little to remember except maybe an impossible double bass drum show in “To the Victor the Spoils”, a double vocal approach in “Secured Limitations”, the LAIBACh-esque “Awakening”and the usual, increbible professionality. Were it another band, this album would have been incredible, but from MORBID ANGEL… I don’t know, I always thought of them as something different, somewhat holy. This album still follows their idea of changing each time approach, (relatively) slow and heavy, dragging roaring vocals and the occasional great solo minute after minute, but then maybe I will leave a second review in another few months. MORBID ANGEL albums are to be taken with care. What can I say, it’s still them, I mean the ones of the prodigious “Formulas”, yet more martial, more controlled… more mature?

  • MORBID ANGEL (USA/Fl): “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh” Cd 1998 Earache

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 8,50/10

    DURATA:

    Tracklist

    1- Heaving Earth 2 - Prayer of Hatred 3 - Bil Ur-Sag 4 - Nothing is Not 5 - Chambers of Dis 6 - Disturbance in the Great Slumber 7 - Umulamahri 8 - Hellspawn- The Rebirth 9 - Covenant of Death 10 - Hymn to a Gas Giant 11 - Invocation of the Continual One 12 - Ascent Through the Spheres 13 - Hymnos Rituales De Guerra 14 - Trooper
    Ahhhh yes, I know, this is probably the worse cover artwork they ever had, second only maybe to that of “Domaination” and yes, probably one of the worst cover artworks EVER on a principal Death Metal release, but, thanksfully, Formulas has been the most welcome lp of all of 1998. When I thought MORBID ANGEL was completely out of the scene, and after the loss of their frontman Dave Vincent, I got this great, welcome suprise. Formulas starts Brutal as fuck from the very first seconds, no cheesy trips as if in their previous release, Formulas has fresh meat on the vocal department and, while not as ubiquitous as Dave was, his guttural grunts does the job damn well. The first few songs are a tornado of Death Metal of “A”level choice, cultminating in a monster that as “Chambers of Dis”, spiralling through arcane invocations in Sumerian and Lovecrafian alphabet, yet with theMORBID ANGEL unique blend of music and lyrics, which have finally exploded in thsi album in a concrete philosophy which they call the Living Continuum (see interior of the booklet). Towards the end the CD becomes first more and more experimental with a percussion-only track, some kayboard trips which are still damn evocative and a bit religious in sound, and culminates with one of the best tracks ever from the band. Yes, a track who was written ca. 1984, which only now sees the light, and yes still in the vein of oldest MORBID ANGEL, the ones who were knee deep in Satanism and Middle Ages. This track only would deserve a 10 damn. Still, the lack of Brunelle on guitars ends up in more technical, classical stuff and a bit less spinechilling aberration rising musick. But great, great come back!!

  • MYTHOS (Fin): “Dark Material” MCd 1996 KTOK

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 4,00/10

    DURATA: 20:14

    Tracklist

    1 - We 
          Can Only get Stronger 2 - I Growl in Victory 3 - Hellreality 4 - Life Deceives
    Compared to the early MYTHOS

    stuff, this is a proof that they COULD have grown WEAKER. The CD starts

    out with shouts from some drunken company, and gets not much better

    with the beginning of the first song. The vocalist is terrible, it follows

    the melodies of the guitars with a sort of highly modulate grunt which

    is so damn out of place… like the very latest DESULTORY… there is

    a veil of their earlier killer style beneath it all, which made them

    as brutal as original as very few bands I have known so far, but the

    melodic passages are incorporated in a way it ruins every good thing

    that could have grown… there’s the vaguely epic influence of modern

    Swedish metal such as latest THERION beneath, and the Black Metal feel

    just adds a film of catchiness which is destroyed every time it starts

    to get interesting. I don’t like the groove, the r’n’r feel or whatever

    they had intention to bring with this stylistical change. if you liked

    the old MYTHOS avoid this one… the pointless use of keyboards on this

    sleepy mass is the killing strike in my glans. Boring… no chance…

  • MURDER SQUAD (Swe): “Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged” Cd 2000 Pavement

    MURDER SQUAD (Swe): “Unsane, Insane And Mentally Deranged” Cd 2000 Pavement

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 8,00/10

    DURATA: 34:06

    Tracklist

    1) Slowly 
          Burnt To Death 2) Twisted High 3) Deprevation 4) The Return of The Rotten 
          5) Unsane, Insane and Mentally Deranged 6) The Probing 7) Spraying Led 
          8) Bloodfreak 9) Sent Home in a Box 10) Sacrificial Strangulation, Beating 
          and Rape 11) Impaled 12) Horror Eternal
    I am not

    able to make an accurate review of this CD for reasons which will be

    clear throughout the reaview. I first heard of MURDER SQUAD several

    months before the CD was released, and when I heard the band was manily

    an AUTOPSY cover band, I was thrilled like a high school student. Things

    went on the bad course when I actually got an advance of the unmastered

    CD, as something was not completely convincing. Sure the band has a

    HUGE AUTOPSY influence, to the point some songs are almost copies. The

    first minutes of “The Probing” ARE the same of “Destined

    to Fester” fropm “Retribution for the Dead”, not a siongle

    note of difference. Which is good, one can’t improve what’s perfect,

    and the world misses AUTOPSY today. But in the whole, I dodnt count

    on several factors. First Matti has lost much of his voice, like he

    showed on AT THE GATES as a backing, on THERION’s demo tape, on CARNAGE

    and the first DISMEBER, when he was still THE best vocalist around.

    Now two things were disturbing when I heard the CDR, which are, the

    sound is so clean it seems exactly the one DISMEMBER had on that unfortunate

    “Casket Garden” miniCD who signed their temporary fall, too

    clean, too perfect for the filthy Death Metal they were up to, cosnidering

    the whole package and shit. Second, many of the songs shift from heart

    taking moments of sickness, to almost rock and a bit too slamming metal

    whcih has barely anything of AUTOPSY but again, more of the bad-side-of-DISMEBER.

    Things howev4er turned out when I had chance to listen to the full length

    at a local record store. The owner told me the CD was recorded like

    shit and when I put it out, I slmiled with 78 theet, the sound had been

    purposely ruined, the guitar tuned down, and lotys of noise and bad

    mixing was cured to make it as brutal as it should have been… the

    cover artwork, that’s another good point, seems like a cross between

    an “Acts of the Unspeakable” cover (the skeletal figures indulging

    in obscene degradations and torturing orgies) and some sick NUCLEAR

    DEATH cover, Hampson era. Full color yet damn obscure and to the point.

    The titles inside are written in dripping like hadwritten fonts, much

    like AUTOPSy did, which is just another way to tell the world the truth,

    they were the absolute masters of this genres. This review gowerver

    will be updated as soon as I get ahold of one original copy of the work,

    the pre-master copy I have is not worth much more than a 6 on 10 rate…

    but the CD itself it’s brilliant. More bands should play this way.

  • INFECTED PUSSY (Fra): “Devilish, Dirty and Live!” split Cd with MUCUPURULENT (Ger) 1999 Fleshfeast

    INFECTED PUSSY (Fra): “Devilish, Dirty and Live!” split Cd with MUCUPURULENT (Ger) 1999 Fleshfeast

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 7,00/10

    DURATA:

    INFECTED PUSSY side starts out with a sample from something which remind me of some old black and white movie but if I am not completely deaf I’d say it’s French and therefore I can’t help much. Far more uncontrolled and grinding that MUCUPURULENT, in an thoroughly demented way, with samples, moments of sheer chaotic noise, and farts, this INFECTED PUSSY side gets 30 minutes long in a single track, which I often find pretty annoying. The sound is fuzzy and chaotic as the rest of the music, definitely fitting these schizoid bastards. Once more I have to admit French have quite some class with this shit (remember BEER VOMIT?). Lunatic Grind maelstrom, with some noise and hardcore plucking here and there, superb.

  • MUCUPURULENT (Ger): “Devilish, Dirty and Live!” split Cd with INFECTED PUSSY (Fra) 1999 Fleshfeast

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 7,00/10

    DURATA:

    The MUCUPURULENT side is a re-mastered and corrected live from 1999, probably due to the following cure, the sound is surprisingly good, as the guitars don’t suffer from the typical dispersion of intensity of live shows. The sound is pretty compact and the vocals stand out pretty well, both the guttural and high pitched yet clean ones, in the classic Death/Gore the MUCUPURULENT way. Basic, simple stuff done with sincerity, that seldom exceed in speed, although probably in studio they’re easier to identify. Actually they’re quite anonymous for what I could hear from this release.

  • MORBID SAVOURING (Fin): “Autopsy Lust” Cd 1999 Motosierra

    RECENSORE: Unknown

    VOTO: 8,00/10

    DURATA: 21:05

    Tracklist

    1 
              - I'm Pedophile 2 - Ejaculation 
              Upon Female Remnants 3 - Skeletal Remains 4 - Torture Amputation 
              5 - Exposed Bones 6 - Fetid Menstrual Purè 7 - Brutally Raped 
              with a Crowbar 8 - Cannibal Korps 9 - Gargling with Piss 10 - Sniffing 
              Tenth Day Dead Pussy 11 - Never Forget 12 - Dried Human Snak 13 
              - Rectal Punishments 14 - Grotesque Disgorging 15 - Autopsy Lust 
              16 - Anti-Vegan 17 - Her Face Shred With a Fork XX - Intense Mortification 
              18 - Aaron SpeXXXXX Is Gay
    A very welcome new entry in the elitarian panorama of gore/grind

    labels, this is the first release of Spanish Motosierra records,

    say hello kids. Anyay Motosierra’s presentation card has really

    all the right elements, putrid and sick gore from one of the best

    countries for this perc stuff (mainly in the past). This is essentially

    a re-release on CD format of MORBID SAVOURING’s demo tape, a Finnish

    gore-grind-death band obsessed by the well known Gut/Dead/Carcass

    humorously splatter approach: Except from the cover and logo (both

    by mr. Brad Moore), the whole booklet and back cover are a crammed

    collage of porn pics, fisting and penetrations: Lyrically and

    musically, the rest follows this concept. The music is what you

    can expect, and I ADORE this garage in your face dirty sound.

    Almost always below 1 minute

    in length and characterized by pathologically chaotic and grinding

    drum blasts, the songs follow the path of thick, highly involving

    death/gore, often broken in by porn/horror/violent movie sound

    excerpts. Chaos and filth abound in the songs, which soon become

    a mush of guttural grunts, fast, throat-clenching soundworks,

    and tons, tons of bloodspattared litter, the vocals get to the

    verge of the uncomprehensible, although despite all the genuine,

    live sound, th structures are very clear to an used grinder. Very

    very good da,ned shit, it has it all, soul and guts, and paves

    the road for a great top notch release…let’s see. Ah these guys

    love McDonalds and cite Reek of Putrefaction and Hacked up for

    Barbecue in their lyrics, how could one not love ’em?