Deiphago – Into the Eye of Satan (2015)

Deiphago - Into The Eye of Satan - medresx300

Playing a mixture between the primitive South American black metal of Sarcofago, the unrelenting and mindlessly simplistic assault that borders on comedy of Marduk and something of its own, Deiphago’s Into the Eye of Satan is both a highlight and representation of half-cooked modern nostalgia metal. The references to the influences are pretty clear for someone to see and even though Deiphago escapes them and proposes something of their own, the sections in which we hear the older voices are two transparent. Rather than an integration of influences, we hear quotes to other composers in the midst of Deiphago’s maddened ramblings.

These raptures proper of a madman that Into the Eye of Satan exposes us to are as endearing as they are nonsensical. It makes one think of the epileptic attacks that Colombian’s Parabellum subjected the listener to. The difference is that the Latin American savant band actually produced coherent music within the wild and often disorienting music that nonetheless had a clear large-scale plan. Deiphago on the other hand attacks the listener with pure chaos, subjecting it to passages that border on noise improvisation and structures that appear to  consist of haphazardly placed extreme-sounding sections. The theme here is chaos, the destruction of music and ideas themselves while the picture is not completely given up on. While not incurring in the sin of trying to become atmosphere itself nor becoming self-referential symbols, Into the Eye of Satan sadly still falls short of a year’s highlight due to what I perceive to be compositional laziness and/or lack of controlling musical notions in spite of a solid artistic vision.

 

5 Comments

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Atreides –Cosmos (2015)

Atreides - Cosmos (Front)

So, Atreides, another power metal band. Why review a mediocre power metal band? To warn the newbies and upcoming artists against possible blunders. To show in which these blunders are built, how they are constituted and why is it that they suck so much. Playing according to a tradition in any subgenre of metal is not a sin itself, it is blind copying of ideas without any noticeable voice to set you apart what represents an insult to metal.

Atreides embodies everything that is wrong with most metal from Spain and Latin America: self referential music that is more concerned with appearances than with musical development.  This is not limited to heavy and power metal, although these are the two most violated subgenres in those countries, but can even be applied to death and black metal from the same areas as well. The songs end up being paper-thin collections of tropes belonging to the subgenres they claim to adhere to. Despite their almost transparent epic metal guise, Atreides’ Cosmos has more in common with glam metal than it does with Candlemass or Iron Maiden.

3 Comments

Tags: , , , ,

Alustrium – A Tunnel to Eden (2015)

artwork

Coming from the depths of that technical death metal with strong bases in metalcore, Alustrium’s A Tunnel to Eden is perhaps intentionally misleading with its title and an intro that could make anyone think one is about to listen to a power metal album of the cheesiest saccharine minstrel metal. However, what they give us is a view of the most easily dismissed metalcore. What makes this album so pedestrian is its blatant reference to genre tropes on the one hand and the upholding the worse sins against music that this genre perpetrates on a common basis.

First of all, there is no intention of creating a theme for the songs, nor is there any intention to maintaining any sort of musical coherence. Every section is aimed at creating a rhythmic hook, while relation with adjacent sections and riffs is not important at all, only the shock induced by the change is important.  Basically, this is a pop attack. The fact that it is “extreme” music does not hide its candy-ass popular nature to the discerning listener.

No Comments

Tags: , , , , ,

Aion – Verses of Perdition (2015)

AION_VoP_artwork

Aion’s music falls into that territory between war metal or atmospheric death metal mistaken for black metal on account of its superficial attempt at creating atmosphere that results in simple meandering. As metal, for reasons that have been explained before on this website time and again, this release fails catastrophically. So perhaps we are listening to this in the wrong way. Perhaps as listeners we are not judging the music on its own terms. Since this does not accommodate the requirements of traditional metal of any kind, how about we take this as ambient music? How does this compare to Biosphere’s Substrata or Klaus Schulze’s Cyborg? Very poorly indeed. Verses of Perdition cannot be compared to Schulze’s work because the man’s work is too goal/conclusion-oriented.

Perhaps a more impressionistic interpretation is more apt for this sort of straight-up repetition of passages for atmospheric effect. In my view, this type of music still fails even if its criticism is taken that far away from metal, since impressionist music still needs a build up and a direction of some sort. Even Debussy’s pictorial approach is not reduced to such self-absorbed attempts at making the music become the atmosphere itself. The problem runs deep and a safe advice for any band is to avoid this route as it will only create vague visages and excuses for music.

1 Comment

Tags: , , , , ,

Abyssion – Luonnon harmonia ja vihreä liekki (2015)

Abyssion is an industrial metal band hailing from Finland, a land that typically has been cradle to some of the most pensive underground metal. Abyssion plays music in that same spirit while remaining pretty accessible, making transparent music that can be absorbed on first listen by any experienced listener.  There more of the indie and the Oi! than the traditional black metal in this music.

While some may feel the temptation to describe this in relation to Burzum based on the music’s most superficial traits and on passing and distracted observations, Abyssion’s Luonnon harmonia ja vihreä liekki has a lot more in common with Darkthrone’s early black metal albums. The difference with either is still clear to anyone intimately acquainted with Burzum or Darkthrone. Burzum’s developmental variations have no parallel in Abyssion’s music, which works with straight-up repetition and synth distraction. Even in contrast with Darkthrone’s dense riffing, Abyssion appears more sparse as it is a more blatant attempt at creating atmosphere.

Here in lies the trap: the artist is not trying to create music but the effect of the music. When music becomes about the effect, an imbalance is created through which the music is no longer solid, nor is the effect lasting, since it is self-referential and insincere. Still, Abyssion’s offering is consistent in style and faithful to a spirit. Recommended as a gateway band for fans of Muse into the spirit of underground metal.

No Comments

Tags: , , , , , ,

King Giant to release Black Ocean Waves

kingparrotbullshit

Black Ocean Waves will be released on June 30th with CD/digital distribution through The Path Less Traveled, with a vinyl edition to follow shortly afterward.

 

King Giant Live:

6/13/2015 Canal Club – Richmond, VA

8/21/2015 Metro Gallery – Baltimore, MD w/ Foghound, Midnight Ghost Train

8/22/2015 L&Bs – Dale City VA w/ Foghound, Midnight Ghost Train

 

http://www.kinggiant.com

http://kinggiant.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/kinggiantband
http://twitter.com/kinggiantrocks

2 Comments

Tags: , ,

National Day of Slayer

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01:  Photo of SLAYER  (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of SLAYER (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)

The International Day of Slayer (IDOS) began in 2006 when a group of Slayer fans decided to commemorate the spirit of metal through Slayer, and to make that compete with other ad hoc and natural cultures, groups and tribes demanding attention in our modern plural society. In their view, each group was claiming social real estate by advocating itself as a cause, and metalheads should do the same through the band that defined what it was to be metal: beyond all rules, too intense for normals, combining both hard literal truths and mythological apocalypticism.

“The original idea of the National Day of Slayer, as it was called back then, was to address the ‘National Day of Prayer’ that was popular among Christians,” said Dag Hansen, publicist for the group. “If they get their day, we get our day. Every other group gets a holiday for their religion, history, ethnic group, or culture. The Irish have St. Patty’s Day, there are days for the birth of Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ, and it seems that every other possible group is declaring unofficial holidays for its cause. It is time metalheads do the same. Firmly, loudly and with the horns thrown high.”

The first National Day of Slayer was marked by loud celebrations, church desecrations, and much blasting of Slayer. In the intervening years, the band have nodded to the holiday by releasing videos and statements commemorating the event. With the death of Slayer founder and guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 2013, the holiday has taken on a sense of preservation of his memory through keeping an active legacy alive. “Hanneman lives through his music, especially the founding years of Slayer from 1983-1991,” said Hansen. “Our goal is to ensure that appreciation and enjoyment of his music is renewed, preferably at 110db.”

This year, fans are encouraged to celebrate Slayer through a year-by-year retrospective of Slayer during its most formative period, and MP3 downloads of live Slayer recordings from 1985. The organizers have created an event page for people to comment on their own participation. But mainly, as the site has encouraged for nearly a decade now, “Listen to Slayer at full blast in any public place you prefer.”

8 Comments

Tags: , , ,

Survival release third album

survivaldaysha

Thrash band Survival have released their third album and is available at bandcamp.

Shayda is an album that should be listened to as a unit and not as a collection of songs. As such it is concept-oriented. Each idea remains as long as it is needed. No gimmick, no over-stretching of ideas. Survival also escapes the monochromatic expression of most bands in this genre and delivers a variety of expressions within a voice further unified in this album by its concept.

 

http://facebook.com/survivalbayarea
http://survival1.bandcamp.com
http://youtube.com/user/survivalbayarea

 

No Comments

Tags: , , , ,

Death to False Metal Festival, Tickets Now Available

deathtofalsemetalfestival

Death to False Metal Festival hopes to create what they hope will become one of the premiere metal festivals in the US. Sponsored by Metal Insider and Earsplit PR, the initial gathering will take place Friday, August 14th and Saturday the 15th at The Outer Space & Ballroom in Hamden, just outside of New Haven, Connecticut.

Advance tickets for both days of Death to False Metal Festival are now available at THIS LOCATION.

Death to False Metal Festival also was recently featured in a festival season guide at Heavy Blog Is Heavy RIGHT HERE.

Death to False Metal Festival 2015 Lineup:

8/14/2015 The Outer Space & Ballroom – Hamden, CT

w/ Whiplash, Valkyrie, Imperial Triumphant, Nightbitch, Vengeance, Bedroom Rehab Corporation

8/15/2015 The Outer Space & Ballroom – Hamden, CT

w/ Krieg, Secrets Of The Sky, Immortal Bird, Destroyer Of Light, Godhunter, Secret Cutter, Tomb & Thirst, Grizzlor, Archaic Decapitator

1 Comment

Tags: ,

Classic reviews:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z