Paxton Jackson

Brain Corrosion / Ripped to Shreds – Exhumed From Eastern Tombs (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 8, 2020

This split album showcases high intensity grindcore and old school death metal with a speed metal pace, with Brain Corrosion demonstrating an inventive approach toward varying conventional grindcore patterns and working in touches of melody, while Ripped to Shreds sounds like Nunslaughter executed by Slaughter Lord, using a high-energy approach to a crossover between traditional heavy metal and fast death metal.

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Tags: brain corrosion, Grindcore, Old School Death Metal, ripped to shreds

Satan – Early Rituals (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 7, 2020

NWOBHM took the proto-metal of Black Sabbath and mixed it with the hard rock of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, infused it with the spirit of punk and some of the progressive rock of the era, and came up with the last bridge between metal and rock before speed metal punted it out of the park. Early Rituals uncovers this era with zest.

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Tags: NWOBHM, Satan, Speed Metal

Sanity Control – War on Life (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 7, 2020

Thrash bands like DRI and Cryptic Slaughter bridged the years between hardcore failing and grindcore appearing. They took punk back to its roots as total alienation and made some great music by picking up the metal style of riffing, which is why they were described as crossover bands. Sanity Control seeks to revive those years.

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Tags: Crossover, sanity control, Thrash

Obsecration – Onwards the Mystic Paths of the Dead (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 7, 2020

Greek act Obsecration combine speed metal, death metal, and a black metal sensibility for an album that is best enjoyed in the sense of early speed metal, before Metallica showed them how to make continuous compositions with Ride the Lightning. These songs entwine strength and weakness in dominance of the riff.

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Tags: death metal, obsecration, Speed Metal

Megascavenger – Songs in the Key of Madness (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 6, 2020

Some would compare this to grindcore with a touch of death metal, but it sounds more like mid-period Impaled Nazarene (Latex Cult era) mixed with a B+ level Autopsy clone, and uses this simple formula to make three-part songs: a verse riff, chorus riff, and a more melodic transition to keep an air of mystery.

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Tags: death metal, glam metal, Grindcore, megascavenger

Abatuar – Mortandad (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 6, 2020

Welcome to the territory created by Blood, Impetigo, and Repulsion where grindcore takes on darker themes, outside of the daylight world of politics and personal sentiment, seeming to pursue more of the occult vein of death metal. Abatuar sounds like early Napalm Death, Blood, and Total Death era Darkthrone blended.

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Tags: abatuar, Grindcore

Desolator – Creatures of Habit (2020)

by Paxton Jackson on August 6, 2020

At this point, trying to make Swedish death metal requires both living up to a rich cultural legacy and finding some way to change it without losing its selling points, meaning that Desolator as a Swedish band faces an uphill climb. Its solution involves being a three-way hybrid.

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Tags: death metal, desolator

Timeghoul 1992-1994 Discography

by Paxton Jackson on February 21, 2020

Some reviews you can write like people in rom-coms from Hollywood. You set up your MacBook on the rear veranda, overlooking the pool and the palm trees of Los Angeles, or maybe the soft lush vegetation of Martha’s Vineyard or the Riviera. Then you pour a glass of wine, and write quite happily in your own little bubble.

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Tags: progressive metal, timeghoul

Funeral Winds – Sinister Creed (2018)

by Paxton Jackson on March 13, 2019

At some point even the ablest writer runs out of adjectives and nouns to describe a bad release, but in this case, I will unleash the nastiest word of all: fraud. This album, the typical moron normies pretending to be black metal fans, and the industry that supports it are all frauds.

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Tags: AIDS, Black Metal, funeral winds

Mortal Dread – “Rancid Disembowelment” (1990)

by Paxton Jackson on November 28, 2018

Death metal necromancy involves the process of looking through the forgotten items of the 1990s to find those rare overlooked classics which might deserve a place on our microSD cards. As part of that quest, old demos like “Rancid Disembowelment” from Mortal Dread re-appear, which provides a mixed blessing because this is good stuff but probably remains forever at local band status.

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Tags: death metal, mortal dread

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