Thursday, April 30, 2020

Medical Concepts - Medical Concepts (2008)

   Medical Concepts was one of the countless bands of the late '00s who only had a demo and were possible to find only on Myspace. Still their music have made them outstanding and not only in the impoverished Hungarian metal scene, but also in wider, international perspective.
   The list of Carcass influenced grindcore or goregrind bands might be long, but while they are focusing mainly to be gory and sick as possible, or just simply copying the style of their icon; not many have approached the whole thing by basic simplicity. And that's exactly what Medical Concepts did, and they did that with such ease. By leaving no doubts about their Carcass addiction and their attraction to the main concept, they approached the whole thing from old school death metal influenced grindcore, that except some of the remained long time existing oldies is not so common to find. Less definitely counts more if a music is able to recall the feeling of the early '90s, and the same time it's introducing the intensiveness and freshness of a new era. Groovy and thrashing themes mixed with grinding insanity are creating a very enjoyable musical illustration of the horrors and threats of medical interventions. To understand the lyrics a pathology dictionary might be more useful, just like in old times. The mentioned threats are narrated by deep growling vocal (that together with the old school themes may remind to Deicide), but for emphasizing the importance of some parts a second cawing vocal style is there to support (reversed like in Carcass).
   Unfortunately the band didn't continue their activity, though their demo was quite impressive and counts as something unique even nowadays. Strongly recommended for the fans of old school musickness!

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Age of Agony - Follow the Way of Hate (2008)

   Age of Agony was formed in the mid '90s, and debuted a decade later as an old school death metal band attracted mostly to war and history related topics. During the years after they've become one of the most determining Hungarian death metal bands, and they took an active role in the small local underground scene.

  Their second album "Follow the Way of Hate" showed a great progress in sound quality compared to their debut. That was kind of an advantageous step, cause it increased the effectiveness and heaviness of their songs. In themes there's some small noticeable step too, but the band didn't keep in secret that they prefer basic and primitive themes, that are mostly reminding to the old school Swedish scene. They also often involve a frequently repeating simple melody, that's quite usual in Finnish death, but at Age of Agony it's never gaining any leading role, only completing the riffs. The songs doesn't sound so raw and experimenting like on "War, Hate, Blasphemy", and are more unified too, but the sound quality upgrade is also responsible for this main impression. Their mosh pit rampage compatible music is recommended mostly the for fans of old school death metal.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Black Altar - Death Fanaticism (2008)

   The rougher direction of black metal was introduced by Black Altar, a Polish band seems to take more seriously the "no compromises" thing than most others. They've committed that by simply not following the trends that might seem theoretically clear if it's about this genre, but practically it's not.
   In their music the influence of Marduk and Mayhem could be discovered, but by not turning too raw or brutal. A mystical, occult atmosphere is waving back from the background while the blackening heaviness evolves. Thrashing themes also showing up sometimes that are turning the main impression more old school. The sound is also closer to black/thrash, than to the odrinary sound of black metal, but therefore their rough tone is more sensible. The album is quite intense, and portrays well, how is it possible to fit the most authentically to the concept of the genre. As one of it's most exaggerated mainfestation. In this case the atmosphere isn't too strong and it's also not serving as an emotional lightening, sounds more like the soft touch of the Netherworld, that's on it's way to consume the living. And by the band's main concept the idea of being consumed like that is greedily embraced. Strongly recommended for black metal fans!

Belligerence - Out:Red (2008)

   Basically there are 3 ways how to play melodic death: 1. To play basically heavy metal with growling vocal style, that lacks all death metal musical features (this is the most common, but unfortunately vocals simply can't determine the style of the music), 2. To play melodic death for real, death metal themes with melodies (the rarest), and 3. To play metal with various influences including the actual modern tendencies and death metal. Belligerence debuted as the third cathegory.
   "Out:Red" sounds like an album that have been incubating since a while, and the musicians tried to do their best to involve all possible aspects of their music that they've found interesting enough to share. Musically the album definitely shows modern tendencies not only in the themes and song structures, but also in the instrumentation. If the listener pays attention well, it's also possible to catch moments that would fit into industrial metal. The returning appearence of keyboards and other options of creating a background atmosphere is common both in modern or progressive metal and even in "death-less melodic death". But unlike the latest cathegory, Belligerence preferred  nearly constant thrash metal basics, that are keep switching into a more melodic direction and also into death metal. The main impression is kind of intense, but sometimes turns a bit melancholic. Agressive growling female vocal is assisting to the diverse musical approach. Not all of their experiments worked out well, like the girly switch in the song "Overfilled" is kind of freaking out after the listener got used to the heavier tone, so it defiinitely wasn't their best idea. Except this and some other smaller occasional mistakes the album counts as a strong and convincing debut. Recommended for music connoisseurs!

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Nefarium - Haeretichristus (2008)

 Black metal legion hoards hail, Italy brings us Nefarium's Haeretichristus. This album delivers atmospherically evil, uptempo black metal that deserves ranks higher above it's underground pedestal.
     With an obvious and heavily driven sound, typically recognized with more familiar bands like Dark Funeral and Marduk, Haeretichristus possesses an undeniable depth that is more reflective of Swedish black metal; Which is no surprise once you realize there are guest appearances by Chaq Mal of Dark Funeral and Infaustus of Setherial  (found on tracks Merchants of Hope, An Old Black Cage, and Sin of an Apostle).
     
Even with this somewhat all-too-familiar style of highly driven, blasting black metal, this album offers enough unique components to set it apart and keep your attention. The first track Lucifer's Betrayal does not fail to encompass the atmosphere, energy, and message of the entire album. Abrasive guitar leads backed by blasting drum beats are found throughout the rest of the tracks. And okay, I didn't want to say it, it IS one of those albums that, if you're not paying attention, can lack variation between songs. For whatever reason, for this album, that doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on me. Because I fucking love this album. 5 stars. 

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Carach Angren - Lammendam (2008)

 I'll admit it. I can be one of those "judge a book by it's cover" type of listeners. When it comes to black metal, if I'm in the mood for something specific, I can be a sucker for a cool image. Carach Angren LOOKS like a band I would be super into. High concentration on image and concept albums makes me think, okay, I'll give it a try, and I did, with their 2015 album. Bad choice. I can't stand it. Lammendam is a stark contrast. This is a great fucking album.
     What initially turned me off about Carach (on their later albums, I mean) wasn't the exact idea of concept albums, it was the over-applied technique of breaking off into story telling. Which, I get it, it's totally their thing. I think it's a cool concept. Lammendam's use of the breakaways enhances the listening experience. The low that exists between ultimate symphonic black metal to sing-songy concept story telling is complementary. What I mean is, the art of their musical abilities isn't lost behind an overuse of  "story time". Lammendam shows that the members of Carach, without a doubt, have an undeniable talent at composing and performing multi-leveled arrangements. If you're underwhelmed by their later albums and looking to give them another chance like I was, 100% this album delivers. It's a shame they didn't stick with this ratio in their songs. I'm sure it makes for a better live show... maybe.

Satyricon - The Age of Nero (2008)

     Satyricon is an odd band; not because they're Norwegian black metal. But because they are a Norwegian black metal band gone... astray? Regardless, they've still managed to produce some of the (arguably) best black metal music of our time, and I guess we have to give them credit for creativity. Is that too much like saying "an A for effort"? Oh, well.
     The Age of Nero is a good album. It's not GREAT! It's just good. And maybe I'm a sucker for what's familiar. I'm not trying to hate on the album. I like it. That's why I decided to write about it. I'm just trying to be factual. This album can easily be described as a bit repetitive.
     Vocally, the first time you hear Satyr, you envision his world of impeding darkness. While his range is limited throughout the entire album, it still fits in well with the albums delivery. He gets the point across, you know. But if you want to be super critical, you could say the same thing about the songs as well. Their range is not pushing limits by any means. It's certainly no Nemesis Devina. This is one of those memorable albums because of the fact that the entire album might sound like one song. There are a couple of real bangers, like "Black Crow On A Tombstone", or "The Age of Nero" that stand out more than the rest with a bit more upbeat/thrashy tone and blast beats. All in all, this would probably be more described as what's known as a "black n' roll" album.

Friday, April 10, 2020

Immer - Ash to Ash & Dust to Dust (2008)

 Immer debuted with a short EP in the early '90s as an old school death metal band, and after a very long break they have returned with a full-lenght album.
   Times changing, as it could be sensed at their return too. The band while kept playing death metal, also switched to a more groovy style that is incorrectly determined as death 'n' roll, though their music lacks the intensiveness and in general any themes that might refer to rock 'n 'roll, but that's a returning problem since Entombed's Wolverine Blues. Their music keeps repeating the same middle speed bouncing groove metal themes, that are simple, catchy, and they're more related to bands like Pantera and late Sepultura, or to stay strictly in the same style, to Six Feet Under or late Obituary. It might be unpolite to find aging as a responsible factor for the style switch and the nearly constant middle speed, but that's certainly not a neglectable reason. According to numerous different signs about the band (like the photo manipulated cover, the concept, and even the band's name) the main impression is that Immer is just a fun made project that's not supposed to take seriosly. And that also counts as a feature related to the groovy style. Recommended for the fans of groovy metal.

Blasphemophagher - Nuclear Empire of Apocalypse (2008)

   The appearence of Blasphemophagher was another great example of the slowly increasing numbers of war metal bands. As it was mentioned before, this style knows no compromises, and it's able to show one of the most exaggerated aspects of musical extremity.
   The band's debut is an excellent piece of black/death insanity, endlessly raw, noisy and brutal. The mix of noise and intense speed introduces a new level of heavy sound. It's quite hard to fail in this style, if the musicians are able to keep on the speed and the aggressivity, and are necessarily sick in mind. Still, because of the purely aggressive emotionless approach, not many are able to value the whole thing, even though this might be the most autchenic representation of the concept of black metal. While black metal musicians and fans pointing on each other, who is responsible for making their genre mainstream, war metal keeps it's underground status probably forever. The music is worthy for it's title, "Nuclear Empire of Apocalypse" illustrates well the apocalyptic devastation that consumes all. On the side of the limitless brutality, the listener occasionally also can find old school references that are strongly reminding to old Sarcófago. Strongly recommended for the fans of the genre!