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Death Metal Album of the Week: Asphyx – The Rack

After years of abuse, brutality has become a nearly meaningless descriptor of music, but it’s still at the very core of the feeling the rudimentary but essential Dutch entity Asphyx evokes. As in Bolt Thrower’s “War Master” or Unleashed “Where No Life Dwells”, the harsh sparseness reminiscent of a wade through murky swamps or a rusty weapon dug from beneath a Viking age tomb is what develops the intricate memory triggering atmospheres of Life/Death cycle on this splendid piece of musical evocation. It’s extremely old school with its Celtic Frost-isms, as much so as anything Darkthrone ever did (a less reactionary development from “Goatlord” album might have led to a very similar aesthetic), but yet somehow seems cutting edge as it contains all the little compositional surprises and nuances of the modern revivalists, and maybe much more. This is not surprising considering the years of work before the release of the debut album, the group having bided for the right time releasing classic demos in the vein of “Crush the Cenotaph” until master vomitor Martin Van Drunen defected the sinking ship that was Pestilence ca. 1990 and completed the death metal power trio.

As in most great death metal, a certain simple effortlessness permeates the playing and it’s hard to avoid the sensation that it is also a commentary to the fusions of the time – it was released back when Death’s “Human” was making waves, but this might be hindsight since this was hardly a “new” direction for Asphyx; what matters is that maybe it was the last occasion when this simple, beautiful voice could be heard. Next years exclusively belonged to Black Metal, “Gothenburg” and “hyperblast” styles. Asphyx‘s integrity and lack of dramatic postures secures them a lonely reign in the depths of the underground, but also a solid discography where “The Rack” was only the first of the gems. Yet, it is not merely accident or nostalgia that tracks such as “Vermin”, “Wasteland of Terror” and “The Rack” are still cornerstones of Asphyx live set, since the full ambition and versatility of the band was already laid to stone right here. The dynamic between Doom and Punk influences is never achieved more seamlessly than in the startling mood changes of “Diabolic Existence” or “Evocation”, Asphyx being second only to Autopsy in the ability to transform a morbid crawling sensation into a headbanging frenzy in the space of a few seconds.

Pestilence – Malleus Maleficarum

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the seven living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on Conquest. – Revelation 6: 1-2

Summoned forth to rage fury upon the unsuspecting but no less innocent, Pestilence, on each of their first three albums ushered in a predestined Apocalypse of the mind and struck at the heart of the dark forces of the Kali Yuga thereby completing their microcosmic responsibility as “Kalki”and providing the foundation upon which a new golden age and conciousness would hopefully arise. On their uncompromising and frenetic debut album “Malleus Maleficarum”, Pestilence as corporeal manifestation of death and conqueror, harnessed the power of becoming to destroy the destroyer that is illusion and ignorance, and defiantly placed themselves within the torrential stream of becoming in a quest for truth. We as listeners are thus treated with no less than a passionate and structurally free form album that through its fluid, intelligent and precise use of riff craft probes and attacks on multiple fronts the lyrical themes tactfully explored by Van Drunen and Co.

Although one may be quick to argue that that the addition of socially conscious lyrical subject matter such as genetic manipulation and religious strife defines “Malleus Maleficarum” as a strict Speed Metal album, it is nonetheless better characterized as a highly refined and progressive speed metal album that straddles the death metal fence. Indeed, indicative of their speed metal roots is the common use of hysterical and staccato driven guitar technique reminiscent of bands such as Exodus, Destruction and Slayer that, coupled with an emerging yet competent sense of dynamics, melody, development and recapitulation of themes, successfully places “Malleus Maleficarum” outside the realm of pure Speed Metal and onto a pedestal of its own thus providing the impetus for not a few debates regarding the essential nature of this album. Not to be missed of course is the embryonic vocal performance of Van Drunen, who while courageously exploring the memes that have driven modern society into calling forth the forces of plague and death to precipitate the end of this current cycle of humanity, opts for a hoarse rasp like yell in contrast to the later visceral death metal growl he is better known for.

Considering the less than inspiring output Pestilence has recently spawned, it is worth recalling and meditating on the legendary albums birthed by the youthful genius of this legendary band if only to provide inspiration and the soundtrack for a new generation of Hessians who will march forth triumphantly into the dreary haze of an uncertain but exciting future. With that said “Malleus Maleficarum” remains essential listening 20 years after its initial release. Standing out as a thought provoking album of much symbolic depth it also remains an uncompromising and virile album that successfully bridges the gap between speed metal and death metal and reveals the genetic ancestor of the latter genre. Not only a dramatic album in its own right “Malleus Maleficarum” stands as an interesting historical document that should not be overlooked by any serious Hessian.

Phlebotomized – Immense, Intense, Suspense

The Dutch also had this weird band among their ranks, who guitarist Peter Verhoef joined following the dissolution of Ceremony, to record what would be Phlebotomized’s final and most psychedelic album, ‘Skycontact‘. A few years prior, they were still prone to radical experimentation with instrumentation and song-structure, but truer to their roots in Grindcore and Death Metal. Clearly raging with the impulse to try something new and unconventional, Phlebotomized came up with this bizarre work that renders At The Gates’ debut album masterpiece in the style of early My Dying Bride, with all the Classical allusions that such a fusion brings forth through its meandering compositions and violin accompaniment. Although the execution does get fairly uneasy in the wildly oscillating mood swings, there’s nothing token about Phlebotomized’s take on Doomdeath Metal in it’s more Gothic incarnation that followed from the success of emotional wrecks like those famous three signed to Peaceville!

There’s a greater sense of purpose in how the band manipulate feelings of melancholy around the complex narratives that relate the influence of dogmatism on susceptible minds, thirsting for something to quench the emptiness. Violin melodies lull the listener into a false and sarcastic sense of safety over guitars which carve out precipices before chaos, creating scenes of desperation, clinging to fairy-tale illusions that will never materialize, but comfort the inability to deal with the real world. Keyboards also assert themselves throughout the album, representing the mind-infiltrators of both Christianity and psychological therapists(!), with dominant themes that really influence the moments of beauty when they converge with guitars and violin to synchronise in sorrow and helplessness, such as in ‘Desecration of Alleged Christian History’. In contrast, a lot of this atmosphere is lost when extra-instrumentation is forced to accompany the more conventional Metal riffs, which is disappointingly in line with what makes later Doom bands like Lacrimas Profundere fail so badly. ‘Immense, Intense, Suspense’ pulls off its high musical aspirations with enough competence for such things to be overlooked. It’s not the kind of album that Death Metal connoisseurs will revisit too often, but has a trademarked, heavy Dutch resolve and a first-rate neoclassical acoustic song, ‘In Search of Tranquility’ that makes this at least a curious highlight from the past.

Death Metal Album of the Week: Ceremony – Tyranny From Above

Of all the European camps that dominated the early nineties, the Dutch were responsible for some of the most direct and brutal music of the time. Ceremony were no exception, possibly excelling the likes of Asphyx, Pestilence and Sinister in terms of their ability to suffocate the senses. For wealth of sheer down-tuned heaviness, the only full-length output by this band is one of the few old-school Death Metal albums from Europe that comes close to achieving the engulfing darkness of the aesthetically engaging ‘Effigy of the Forgotten‘ by Suffocation – others include Fleshcrawl’s subterranean classic, ‘Descend into the Absurd‘ – which must be what most people imagine when they’re made to think of Death Metal! And not unlike the heavyweight of NYDM, the real appeal of ‘Tyranny From Above’ lies in the melodic direction of the music, although it works quite differently. Rather than acting as a connecting device between a linear series of rhythmic progressions, the sharp outbursts of melody here are wrestled out of the striding and wildly pulsating guitarwork with riffs that have the logical direction of Sinister and the unpredictable, firearm quality of the Swedish Seance. These riffs and their placement are very erratically arranged, like a Hydra flailing around in the endless darkness of it’s severed vision, but regenerate with the higher-register shredding reminscent of Atrocity’s ‘Todessehnsucht‘, inverting the discordant nature of the heavier, blasting moments as they peak in energy. This musical struggle against the forces that are imposed on our wills to weaken us and blind us from reality is among the finest examples of Brutal Death Metal, in a sub-genre that’s long since been over-run by mindless American herds.

Return of the Dutch deathmasters

This summer’s festival season of carnage is nearing its bloody end and while drinking beer from skullcaps we have been reading and writing reports, listening to albums and throwing the sign of the horns to all bands that still really understand what death metal is about. Maryland Deathfest 2009 was a success as were of course countless of smaller events in USA, Germany, wherever, and I myself attended the true-as-fuck Jalometalli 2009 in Oulu, Finland. It was truly a pleasure to see that this country still has a metal festival which is not totally invaded by metalcore people and hipsters. It has been getting worse, because metal is trendy now and even though that means more gigs, it also means that corporate rock bastards see the marketing potential.

While old school speed metal bands regenerated themselves with great force, the likes of Agent Steel, Death Angel and Whiplash riffing and headbanging like it was goddamned 1985, the band that really dominated the Oulu proceedings was the mighty Asphyx, always too underrated, always better than pretty much anything else from Netherlands, whose little brother Hail of Bullets didn’t fare that much worse with their Bolt Thrower impersonation. Despite the open air / big stage setup, the underground feeling of it was something that could have happened in one of those legendary “youth center” gigs of the early 90′s death metal scene in Scandinavia. No glamour, no gimmicks, some death metal possessed kids throwing a moshpit, and pure old school musical values dating even back to demo material (the legendary cut “Rite of Shades”).

So, forget the hippie Atheist, boring Pestilence and greedy Carcass, whomever else has made the comeback for all the wrong reasons. Asphyx is here to stay and crush.

Maryland madness, a new dimension

Only a few years ago it seemed that the ancient death cults were left as pickings for ravens and metal festivals were mostly interested in metalcore and other more marketable forms which, after a long resistance, invaded even Europe. For the first time in a wide scale since death metal left MTV and Billboard in mid-90′s, USA sees a new resurgence of brutal growls, chromatic riffs and obscure dialectics borne from studies of Sumerian myths, underground art and cemeteries by the light of a full moon.

Or what say you about this line-up of confirmed bands for Maryland Deathfest 2010:

AUTOPSY
GORGUTS (Canada)
OBITUARY
ENTOMBED (Sweden)
POSSESSED
PENTAGRAM
ASPHYX (Netherlands)
EYEHATEGOD
PESTILENCE (Netherlands)
NAGLFAR (Sweden)
MALEVOLENT CREATION
CONVERGE
NECROPHOBIC (Sweden)
MELECHESH (Netherlands)
SINISTER (Netherlands)
INCANTATION
PORTAL (Australia)
WOLFBRIGADE (Sweden)
HAEMORRHAGE (Spain)
THE CHASM
COFFINS (Japan)
IMPALED
DECEASED
SADISTIC INTENT
NAZXUL (Australia)
GRIDLINK
ROMPEPROP (Netherlands)
BIRDS OF PREY
STORMCROW
GRIDE (Czech Republic)
INGROWING (Czech Republic)
GOROD (France)
16
JESUS CRÖST (Netherlands)
MASSGRAVE (Canada)
FUCK THE FACTS (Canada)
TOMBS
HOWL

If you ask me, it’s nothing short of insane. First of all, there’s Autopsy, Entombed and Possessed, who are practically the founders of death metal as a phenomenon. I can confirm from their Tuska Festival appearance a couple of years ago that Entombed can still crank out vicious early Swedish sounds when they realize that’s what their setlist should be filled with. Possessed might be a living corpse but it has a historical purpose. Autopsy is a black horse. There are many other interesting cases such as the in-depth musical fusion of Gorguts (heirs of Voivod), almost everyone of note from Netherlands, one of the least devolved Swedish melodic death metallers Necrophobic, the ever-relevant Incantation, the weird Aussies Portal and Nazxul, The Chasm, Sadistic Intent, powerful stuff all around.

Go there if you can! Hell, I’m considering it even if it might mean economic disaster for a student from overseas.

An evil compilation of Sinister’s pre-Cross the Styx recordings

When writing the Asphyx update I knew I was forgetting some essential Dutch death cult but couldn’t put my finger on it. Well now, here it is: underworld abominators Sinister. They already have eight albums out in the rather basic but on the two first albums evocative and possessed, brutal style of death metal. They are probably the Dutch band closest to Morbid Angel.

Goregiastic Records finally has available: “The long-awaited collection of all the early, long-time out-of-print demo & EP material released by this Dutch death metal masters!!. Includes their 2 EP’s from 1990, the 1990 and 1991 demos, the split EP with MONASTERY from 1991 plus one bonus track!. Masterful cover artwork by none other than cult underground artist Chris Moyen.” I bet this one could even serve as a good first exposure to the band for those who still haven’t got into them.

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