Supuration The Cube: Death Metal’s Most Unique Album

by Nicholas Vahdias on January 26, 2020

It is commonly assumed that the most unique album in death metal is Nespithe and while there is a very strong case for such a claim, Supuration’s The Cube has a stronger claim to such a title. Demilich have a large number of failed imitators while Supuration have none at all. The first listen to Demilich immediately shows the band’s intentions and dizzying whirlwinds of ideas in elaborate riff mazes. Supuration sounds like a rock hybrid that borders on modern metal but with much depth and just as unique but requiring many more listens to dig past the highly accessible aesthetics. Here are a few tools that Supuration used to create the most unique album in Death metal.

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Funereal Presence – Achatius

by Nicholas Vahdias on December 31, 2019

Following the tale of one of the fourteen holy helpers Achatius, more commonly known under the name of Saint Agathius, the patron saint against headaches and more importantly a central figure in the various wars against the Ottomans. His story is that of a soldier who was tortured and decapitated for not relinquishing his faith and therefore becoming a martyr. Funeral Presence expand on this brief tale by playing a form of Black metal that exists within the confines of the first wave yet but with subtle influences in overall scope and direction from the second wave.

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Brief Thoughts On Deeds Of Flesh Path of the Weakening

by Guest Contributor on December 2, 2019

guest article by Svennerick

A fan favourite and the band’s third offering Path Of The Weakening whichalso the first record released through the band’s own label which showed the comeback of former drummer Joey Heaslet and the inclusion of second guitarist, Jim Tkacz completing the line-up and giving the band an even more thicker and dense sound.

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Carcass – “Reek of Putrefaction” Introduction Analysis

by Nicholas Vahdias on September 25, 2019

On Symphonies of Sickness Carcass integrated a stronger Death metal influence into their music in regards to structure as the unorganized noise was given a clear vision and the short blasts of vitriol now communicate sickening short tales that have a greater sense of dynamism and progression. With these added tools, Carcass now had the ability to make the greatest gore related of all time. Though many band would use all the elements present here with varying levels of success as the style fell into the joke genres of Porno and Goregrind. Carcass remain the masters of this through meticulous arrangements as seen in one of the greatest introductions in metal.

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Bizarre Curiosities: Rummaging Through the Depths of the Electronic Underground

by Nicholas Vahdias on August 30, 2019

While the first half of the year has given us a surprising amount of good metal, electronica still continues to hide a few salvageable records that have potential. Escaping from the revisionist nostalgia that the more popular artists in the style seek to recreate in order to use the same tools to express different ideas.

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Thomas Hewitt Jones – Electro Cello

by Nicholas Vahdias on August 25, 2019

Thomas Hewitt Jones is a British composer mainly known for being an important figure in the realm of British sacred music. An organ scholar at the incredibly prestigious Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge before then branching off into composing for a plethora of styles that include, ballets, choirs and a notorious piece based on the few hummed notes performed by former British Prime Minister David Cameron as he resigned. Electro Cello is a new take on Neo-romanticism that seeks to focus on the joys of wonder and pensive contemplative.

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Brief Analysis: Nihilist – “Sentenced to Death” Climax

by Nicholas Vahdias on June 29, 2019

For many bands, summer is the perfect time to record music and to rehearse for live concerts in a boiling garage or studio. The festival season and the holidays allow many musicians to take time off to focus on implementing new songs to their set list or to push their capabilities as players. Where most players seek to play more technically dexterous music, a few friends of mine wanted to master a song that was simultaneously simple yet physically exhausting to play. Nihilist and Sodom both fit the bill perfectly but we would settle on “Sentenced to Death” for its brief periods of respite between the bursts of rapid picking. Though we thought of this song as being a basic and minimalistic slice of powerful metal, after our wrists and arms had been decimated completely, we came to realize that the true power of this song is not the constant madness but the final flurry that manages to go even beyond the insanity before it.

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Riff Analysis: Sarcófago – “I.N.R.I”

by Nicholas Vahdias on June 15, 2019

So many bands have failed in continuing Sarcófago’s tradition of blasphemic and vicious black metal. Reducing the band to a set of aesthetics and confusing their minimalistic songs for dumb simplicity. I.N.R.I stands out not because of its context or its introduction of certain visual elements that would become common a few years later, but because of its nuanced composition that has eluded later bands. Let us look at the initial riff from the song “I.N.R.I” to understand why.

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Riff Analysis: Unleashed – “To Asgaard We Fly”

by Nicholas Vahdias on June 10, 2019

Unleashed had at this point released two good records that saw the band create Heavy metal songs with limited Death metal stylings and were known for possessing a particularly small set of tools which almost made their previous very repetitive. On Across the Open Sea, the band’s Magnum Opus, the band re-contextualized their previous influences to create rousing and anthemic works while seeking to expand further into Death metal technique and arrangement. “To Asgaard we fly” shows this subtle marriage between the two and how the band were able to combine such styles without to saturate the listener with stolen Iron Maiden leads.

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DMU Song Contest #3: King of the Serfs Edition Part 3

by Ioannis Metaxas on May 15, 2019

(Join Ionnas as he dives into the final heap of contestants hoping to prove their worth, will there be any talent left or will he be forced to scrape the bottom of the barrel for any redeeming qualities. Either way every band here will have to face the harsh truths of reality.)

May the best survive!

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