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Death Metal Album of the Week: Autopsy – Macabre Eternal

The last couple of years have seen a artistic renaissance of a genre that throughout the best part of the mid- to late 90′s, and the early reaches of the millennium, was perceived to be a ghost that had long outlived it’s most glorious moments of artistic clarity. Great quantities of ‘gore’ and ‘brutal’ Death Metal acts have over the last two decades, dumbed down the mystical perversity that gave a genre the likes of ‘Blessed Are The Sick‘, ‘Legion‘, ‘Cause Of Death’, ‘Onward To Golgotha‘, ‘Imperial Doom‘, has in years past given way to acts that aim principally for shock value, sidetracking any of the compositional and dynamic attributes that were the essence of what made Death Metal so vital in it’s 1989-1993 heyday.

It’s great that Autopsy should record such a gem as this, as it serves to vanquish the plasticity and dross that once great acts such as Morbid Angel and Deicide have spluttered forth. Not only does it filter out these negatives, but it also does great justice to many artists who embrace an archaic yet craftsmanlike and refreshing interpretation of Death Metal.

In addition to having put out the excellent ‘The Tomb Within‘ EP last year, Autopsy have eschewed the notion of ‘re-recordings’ or filtering previously released material onto this new record. Instead what we have is a colossal, quite lengthy record, lasting greater than an hour but never straying from momentum and vibrancy.

It wouldn’t be unfair to say that in terms of intricate song structuring, Autopsy have perhaps even upped on what they originally achieved on ‘Severed Survival‘ and ‘Mental Funeral’, with a more obvious sense of grandeur. This exhibits itself on tracks such as ‘Bridge Of Bones’ and ‘Sadistic Gratification’, which sound somewhat like a logical conclusion of what was being hinted at on their second album. Eric Cutler’s riffs and modes are the usual tritonal, Black Sabbath meets Hellhammer-esque death dirges, which occasionally recycle patterns and forms familiar in early material, yet also giving the album a renewed sense of consistency. It is this grasp of orthodoxy within the metal genre which always makes for contributing to the collective framework of the artists work, which Autopsy fulfill here.

This is however not to say that there are flourishes of ‘experimentation’. Luckily the band have played a good hand of cards, and have not fallen into the ludicrous corner of ‘evolving for the sake of it’. Particular songs on ‘Macabre Eternal’ show the band using greater song lengths than before (‘Sadistic Gratification’, ‘Sewn Into One’), and also display a greater sense of direct melodicism (‘Dirty Gore Whore’). Whilst Autopsy have never been associated with playing at fast speeds, large stretches of this album are more uptempo.

Chris Reifert is on top form as a vocalist. His ability to evoke majestic visions of dismemberment and perversion seem to contain a greater dynamic than usual, as to suggest that nearly fifteen years of prolonged absence has only allowed his strengths to re-accumulate.

Though certainly not a complaint on behalf of the reviewer, what may potentially put off some fans of earlier material is the production, which is undeniably modern in tone. Whilst Chris Reifert’s drumming is still top notch the only minor complaint being that the compression on his drumkit seems to somewhat nullify the sense of ability, flair and aggression that a more analogous production would bring out. Whilst ‘Macabre Eternal’ possesses all of the right atmosphere and conviction worthy of great death metal, the more aesthetically orientated listener will notice that the overall tonality is not as analogous as what was committed to tape in the 80′s and 90′s.

In spite of this minor specific, this album is superb, and rightly deserves to be considered a beacon of the revivification of a dark and morbid art form that until the turn of the new millennium, was considered a dead horse. Hail the new dawn. Not only in terms of structural and grandiose perversion does this album triumph, but fragments of it’s lyrical scope only serve further as to compliment the metaphysical and transcendental nihilism that death metal eternally symbolizes.

“Under the sign of a skull faced moon
We rise from abysmal embryotic doom
Existence as torment, yet locked in a grave
A sick fragile cycle from which no one is saved”

Within the recent decade, this is the best ‘comeback’ release that has emerged from any of the elder practitioners of the genre. Undoubtedly, this shall also be a worthy contender for being the best album of the year.

Cianide – Gods of Death (2011)

We who still love metal walk a fine line between the sold out nu-hardcore stylings of metalcore, and the tendency to hop on the bandwagon of the old school too much; the previous Cianide, Hell’s Rebirth, walked too far on the old school side — when a band loses direction, they imitate successful techniques and patterns from the past without knowing what those patterns evoked in the listeners.

Despite pretending the contrary is true, Cianide is intensely emotional music. It brings on the spirit of doom and fate from old Celtic Frost, the fire-blooded desire to seize life by the throat and live the hell out of it of Motörhead, and from ancient death metal and doom metal a contemplative inner sense, a wondering where we fit in this big picture.

Hell’s Rebirth skipped the emotion for the equivalent of lots of songs about being in a death metal. Gods of Death, despite the less-than-promising self-referential title, is a quality mature effort from these veterans. It is not a concept album but a collection of songs that somewhat self-consciously attempt greater internal variation than previous albums, evenly mixing the “Metal Never Bends” style of bounding, energetic death metal of the type early Master did well, and the brooding drone of Hellhammer and the doom-death style it influenced. The songs are still simple; the solos still squiggles of graffiti on walls of unyielding tone.

If anything, this album reverts to the hardcore roots of death metal and eschews the “nu-hardcore” post-1980s prog-punk and pop-punk styles that are so popular in metal now. In both style and substance, Gods of Death is an affirmation of the past and a recognition that style alone did not define it; the spirit and the soul of the artist made 1990s death metal what it was, and they not only live on but move forward on this chunk of oxidizing steel.

Blaspherian – Infernal Warriors of Death

Blaspherian improve upon their promising debute Allegiance to the Will of Damnation, sharpening their focus by developing riffs as themes, stacking multiple variations of a similar idea and then slaughtering it with counter-themes. In the best tradition of death metal, these songs make sense once you’ve heard all the riffs in sequence, but you would not think they’d fit together if you heard them separately. This gestalt allows Blaspherian to create a deepening atmosphere of cavernous doom, using the time-worn technique of old school death metal bands but wrapping it around a new spirit, one in which evil is deliberate and contemplative instead of chaotic. Through this evolution we see Blaspherian staying true to the old school, but allowing gentle influence from the developments of black metal and more recent maturations of the style such as those seen on later Immolation and Beherit albums. The emotional side of death metal emerges but is confined within a cold and inhuman logic, making this music both as natural as an open summer sky and brilliantly outside of the human norm under which we suffer. Blaspherian use a low-tech approach, with percussion that sounds like early Incantation and anchors the riff-fest generated by former Imprecation guitarist Wes Weaver. Detuned, bassy riffs of one to four chords hammer out patterns that then mutate and contort, often with a dropped note or changed picking technique, to produce textural layers through which melody filters. While firmly grounded in the old school, Infernal Warriors of Death opens up new horizons for the old school death metal genre, which now exists in parallel with others. It also shows what made this genre powerful in the early 1990s and makes it doubly relevant now, in the process delivering powerful music with an intense and resonant atmosphere.

Glorious Times: A Pictorial of the Death Metal Scene (1984-1991)

Some readers may have noticed the recent addition of a side bar promoting “Glorious Times -A Pictorial of the Death Metal scene (1981-1991)” and this inclusion is not without good reason. Laid out like the highly evolved Heavy Metal magazine we all wish we would see at the nearest news-stand, “Glorious Times” in true discriminatory fashion includes amongst its pages bands actually worth discovering and rediscovering, and although the layout is consciously rooted in the DIY mentality of early fanzines, this highly professional document provides a genuine glimpse into the workings of the early and mainly North American Death metal phenomenon.

Providing a visual assault via rare and intriguing photos that both neophyte and seasoned veteran alike will find delightful, “Glorious Times” also includes entertaining and enlightening anecdotes by and about many of the foundational North American death metal acts. Although some of the accounts are funny, juvenile and downright adolescent, they remain above all inspiring, standing as a testament to the devoted individuals who were dedicated to an art form that for them was the last bastion of truthful expression in the time of “The Great Lie”.

Given the “glory” of the documented time era we read thus with a slight sense of melancholy and loss, the release of a text such as this proving that these times have passed. With some misgivings we witness within ourselves a nostalgic longing for the mutual respect that those participatory individuals had for one another by virtue of their commitment to a common goal. We marvel additionally at the perseverance and DIY mentality of these restless and visionary artists, and commend their youthful and innocent intensity. We look fondly upon the early exuberance and the inherent excitement that permeated a movement that was giving birth to new and truthful forms of expression, but above all we witness and thus long for a genuine spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie such that now seems lost, although not dead, on the Hessian community.

However, the potent power of a document such as this, its capacity to inspire, rally and excite may yet prove itself invaluable in infusing the Hessian community with the spirit with which it was once animated. The seeds are laid – Onward!

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.

Death Metal Album of the Week: Deceased – Luck Of The Corpse

One of the older and more unsung extreme metal bands to come out of North America, Virginia-based Deceased issued ‘Luck Of The Corpse’ in 1991, playing death metal in the most primitive of fashions, in ways not too dissimilar to the likes of Autopsy and Impetigo. The common perception of a musical aesthetic often dictates to the more automative listener that anything that bares an adherence to or authenticity that speaks ‘simplicity’ this conveys the perception that nothing unique is to be expected, and in the case of death metal that it conveys no sense of originality or otherwise is quickly assumed to be something that breaks no ground.

Deceased’s full-length debut serves to shatter a couple of myths, and whilst firmly rooted to the aesthetical mould of death metal’s oldest school, drummer/vocalist King Fowley’s taste for eclecticism makes itself clear in abrasive compositions. The influence of progressive metallers such as Voivod and Prong come through in varied sequences of riff patterns that use a variety of strumming techniques, from low end death/thrash melodic motifs to discordances that have nuances of discordance that also was prevalent on the likes of ‘Killing Technology’ and ‘Dimension Hatross’. The drums are very impressive, sounding very upfront in the mix, and King Fowley’s vocals are that of an animated, puking corpse. His execution and hitting of the skins is quite direct and barbaric like his fellow instrumentalist Chris Reifert of Autopsy, though has a much more varied sense of rhythmic dynamism and interchange that works in solid cohesion with the dense yet flexible musical dimension that this band craft for themselves.