MALEVOLENT CREATION TO PERFORM HEADLINE SET AT THE UNDERWORLD, CAMDEN ON 19TH AUGUST
The Underworld, Camden welcomes US death metal masters Malevolent Creation back to London for an evening of apocalyptic death metal. With 11 studio albums under their belt, Malevolent Creation formed in1987 and have since ruled the scene and headlined venues internationally – they are truly one of the genre’s classic bands. It has been 4 years since their last studio release – but this is only good news for the live experience as the band is sure to play a set made up mostly of classics and fan-favourites.
AUGUST 2014 YOB AND PALLBEARER ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUMS, EUROPEAN TOUR.
YOB Doom metal titans YOB, and breakthrough act PALLBEARER have announced a string of European dates for the next month. The bands are touring to support their forthcoming album releases YOB - Clearing The Path to Ascend (Neurot Recordings: September) and Pallbearer’s Foundadtions of Burden (Profound Lore: August). Their UK leg of the tour is set to culminate at The Underworld, Camden on 8th September.
Reviewed: THE CROBAR, SOHO - Rock and Metal Bar
Having just celebrated their thirteenth birthday, with live bands performing inside the establishment, and dubbed London’s foremost rock bar by countless folks: we visited The Crobar in Soho to find out what all the fuss is about. Relatively unassuming from the outside, Crobar resides at no. 17 on the otherwise unassuming Manette Street, 5 minutes from Soho Square, with a large skull and crossbones emblazoned above the door. As soon as the door opens (and outside if it’s busy!) you are greeted with hard rock, and heavy metal tunes, friendly staff, and Trooper beer mats – the only ale to be commissioned by the mighty Iron Maiden. If that doesn’t give you a thirst for more, the bar also features a hefty list of original rock and metal inspired cocktails and a well-stocked bar. Crobar is an exemplary social, rock and roll sanctuary and is centrally located: making it the perfect place to meet up with mates in the City, socialise, and push the evening through to the early hours: London’s definitive rock bar? The place speaks for itself!
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We Speak to Vocalist and Founding Member of
Interview Interview
Bobby Blitz
words: D.J.G. Mitchell Overkill are one of the most prolific and hard-working bands in heavy metal. Formed in 1980, the thrash metal group have been slaying eardrums and constantly releasing varied, new albums with relentless consistency. Unlike many bands from the era playing today, Overkill don’t need a comeback: they never went anywhere. We speak to frontman Bobby Blitz, legendary screamer, and one of two founding members to remain in the bands current lineup (alongside D.D. Verni) – a man who lives and breathes heavy metal music. The past 8 years would be the longest period you have ever performed with one single group of musicians. How has this affected the identity or sound of the band?
“Well sure, there’s a great chemistry here and that’s what we’re after, and I think the addition of Ron Lipniki in 2005 on drums has been a huge improvement for us – he was just our fast-forward: he came in and understood what we needed. “D.D. and I have been working together for over a 30 year period, and I remember one of the first conversations I had with Ron was: “Hey, I know that this is DD and myself having been in this a long time, but you’re the fucking ship captain man - you run the ship.” And you say that to the new guy, and he goes to me “that’s a lot of responsibility”. I said “It’s not that we’re not going to support you, we’re gonna to support you (laughs) – but you’re the one who’s gotta control the fucking thing.” “I think once he understood, knew that “Hey wow, these guys don’t have a leash. They want me to be the drummer that they need.” And I think that that’s [changed a lot of] this chemistry that we worked. Might not be what we were searching for, but we certainly were welcoming of it when Rob understood that principle.” “It’s also a healthy scene, and I think it would be wrong if we didn’t know how to exploit the health of that scene! (laughs]” Have you ever considered yourselves underappreciated Having at all? performed in a band that has since achieved a legendary cult status over 20 years ago gives most of the “No, no, members of course not. This isn’t something even a career a current of Sigiriya of anymore, an edgeit’sover lifestyle: there’s very few people can scene. say this.Additionally, Simany bands of similar sizewho in the giriya formed until years after dissolution You startwasn’t comparing yourself to 8 others I think youthe start diminishingof Acrimony. what its value is and what its value to me is 3 decades of my life. “I’m know learning the time but I suppose in in terms being in a band, You thislessons is the all thing I’ve done the most myoflife, is Overkill. we just enjoy it for what it is - no big plan to take over the world, and we
I think when you look at it that way, under-appreciation [for what don’t take ourselves too seriously. As long as you don’t believe your own you badI think thing:weI look it as more of a than success. hypehave] you’ll would usuallybe beaOK. are aatbit more focused in the Most guysand don’t to do athis their adult life: since so has D.D and old days, haveget matured very small amount those days soso that has now,Lester.” we put the playing first, and the getting smashed a close second. We
always did get that one the wrong way around, ha-ha! What did you ofset began on your “The goals main philosophy thewhen band isyou to not give awork fuck [about] what’s upcoming release Whiteare Devil Armory? trendy or what other people doing. Just sail your own ship and course and don’t worry what anyone says or does. In fact, we do have a habit “You know, there’s more challenges because you know: it’s our of producing music that’s the antithesis of what’s trendy just to be different. Seventeenth record. One of the challenges is improving: if a band Usually after 10 years people then want you to reform cos you were doing can still learn to keep seventeen records, andAcrimony if you something unique or aimproving bit differentover - just like with calls for [an] can be open an opportunity be relevant reunion, we to saylearning: ‘fuck youyou andhave you should have beentothere the first to time the current day. I suppose relevancy has evolved: we don’t want to around’ ha-ha.
be known for what Overkill was, but for what Overkill Is.”
How have you managed to maintain such a strong, harsh singing style after performing for so long?
“Buy expensive drugs, don’t get the cheap stuff! (laughs) When it comes to the voice, it’s one of the first things I understood as a child. My mother still sings and she’s in her 80s: I remember hearing her voice singing to me before her speaking to me. So I think its just something I always understood. My mothers first generation American, my grandparents are Irish: You get 13 Irish kids together, they’re gonna harmonise: they understand all that shit. So I think that’s a part of it, and also at the same time understanding that I should enjoy it, as opposed to worrying about it going away – and I’m always learning new things. You know, if Overkill wants to be relevant in 2014: we have to be open to learning things. So I think that this is one of the reasons the voice can retain its power.” Are there any smaller bands you’ve been watching, or maybe toured with that have inspired your recent work at all?
“Of course, I think it’s one of the reasons that the scene still exists
Regarding the scene in the band’s hometown of Swansea, is that there’s a youthful heartbeat in it. There’s true youthful angst Wales...
in this scene. And I think about the old farts- like ourselves [want
“[It’s] very healthy, [and] always has been to be fair, even since the to be] up to snuff – you know, we want to compete against these Acrimony days. HARK are doing really well and a great band, Prosperina younger guys and girls. are also out there doing the do, The Arteries are well established in the punk scene too. Continents areBomb, another heavy band making strides across We’ve toured with Gama Suicidal Angels, Cripper. Cripper Europe and beyond, Suns of Thunder are alsogot well the just got signed to and Metal Blade, and we’ve a known buncharound of shows stoner with scene. them. And I think Cripper are state of the art when it comes “Swansea has always punched above its “when weight when comes to to presentation. I would say toway [Britta Gorz] you’reit warming heaviness. We’re sort of regarded as the old tramp-core anti-heroes these up for the show, come by my dressing room… you know.. I could days with a mix of delight and wonderment that we’re still alive and making warm up with you – you know, if it’s not gonna embarrass you” a right din.”
and she’s like wide open to this, as she wants to learn too. So if
I can from Britta from Clipper and she says its OK. I think On thelearn future...
that there’s an inspiration that goes both ways. Now don’t get me
“I really want to get another album done as soon as we can and just wrong: don’t want Clipper I want win this! The idea see what Ihappens. What’s doneto iswin, done, andusweto move onwards and is that I think thattoif ‘til you’re opendone!.” to those ideas you can retain your upwards:no medals the battles
relevance and you can constantly progress.”
White Devil Armory is released July 21st from Nuclear Blast. Review inside this issue!
Interview
We got in touch with Rhythm Guitarist
o s s o r g lS
Phi
words: H. Chruicshank Last year saw As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis being arrested on accusations of attempting to hire a hitman to murder his wife. The four remaining band members, Nick Hipa, Phil Sgrosso, Josh Gilbert and Jordan Mancino, were left with an uncertain future. However, the band quickly found a new outlet for their inspirations and founded Wovenwar. The band’s rhythm guitarist and co-founder, Phil Sgrosso, recounts how the four musicians have broadened their collective horizon musically, discarding the Christian label and how Wovenwar is nothing like a side project. “After everything had gone down with As I Lay Dying, the rest of the guys, Jordan, Nick, Josh and I, wanted to keep doing what we were doing. But we felt it wouldn’t be right, or the best idea, to continue under the As I Lay Dying name. So we were pretty set from the get go to start something new with that initial excitement, the ‘We can kind of do new things. We don’t need to feel limited and stay within the range of what As I Lay Dying was.’ So this was kind of our chance to step out and take a little more risk. And so, in doing that musically, we gravitated towards doing more clean vocals and then all clean vocals for the most part. And that’s where we found Shane [Blay]. Shane came into the picture, and that’s pretty much how it started.” How did you come up with the name? “Nick thought of it: It’s a verse in the first song. It’s the idea that we aren’t born with hatred, judgement or prejudices, and they’re woven in with the influences we’ve had upon us. And Wovenwar just stood out amongst the list of a thousand name ideas that we were trying to come up with. And that became the name.” Both As I Lay Dying and Oh, Sleeper have been labelled Christian bands. How does this apply to Wovenwar? “That label does not apply whatsoever. In As I Lay Dying, and possibly Oh, Sleeper, there was an agenda by certain other people to have that label. That is not something that represents Wovenwar at all.” Wovenwar’s debut album is quite different to what you would expect if you have listened to a lot of As I Lay Dying in the past. How have you approached the song writing process? “We go about it kind of the same way. We’re all pretty savvy with Pro Tools. Some of us can write a complete song or the basis of a song and send it to the other guys and see if they’re vibing on it. If they are, we start jamming it out and get a feel for it, more of a natural feel, and then we go back to Pro Tools and re-program and re-record the new ideas. There are two or three
There are two or three steps along the way before songs are ready to go for the studio. But then, once we get into the studio there’s a lot more things that get added, because it’s like, ‘Alright, this is the last chance we have to do anything to improve the songs’, so that’s usually when a lot of exciting stuff happens. It gets pulled out of you because it’s like the last chance. “There are a couple of songs on the album with a couple of layers, synth layers, and the intro and the outro were things that I had written that had a lot of digital sounds, working off software and stuff. And then Shane is really savvy with a lot of that stuff too, so it was cool to give him my foundation of a song, and then he just added all these newer samples. And it’s like, ‘Man, this is a cool way to collaborate on something that’s all software instruments and stuff. And Shane is such a talented guy vocally, and as a guitar player, and also with utilising software plug-ins and stuff like that.” How do you find working with a new singer after having performed with Tim for over ten years? “I’ve never been as excited to have a singer that comes from a strong guitar background and strong song writing background. Overall, he’s been an awesome dude to be hanging out with. The energy is completely different, and there is just such a high level of respect for each other. We value each other’s opinions so much. If you don’t like something, then I’m sure there’s something we both can create and come up with together to be stoked on something. Shane is a singer, so he’s always walking around [he stays with me when he’s in San Diego] singing little things here and there, and I’m like, ‘Man, this guy just wants to, like, sing!’ And it’s just exciting because it brings new life to the whole of our sound; being energetic and heavy, but to have the clean vocals is really just icing on the cake.” Obviously, As I Lay Dying has a strong fan base after 13 years as an active band. How do you think fans of As I Lay Dying will respond to this new project?
“You know, I don’t expect to win over every fan. I just don’t think that’s realistic because we’ve split it 50/50. One side really likes clean vocals, and they probably listen to a lot of other heavy bands with clean vocals. And then there’s the other half, who is just into, like, death metal, and As I Lay Dying was the softest of the metal that they listened to. But they still liked us. I guess you just have to be willing to accept that this is not As I lay Dying, and that this is something we want to grow into something bigger and not limit ourselves within being an underground death metal or metal with screaming kind of band. I’m not as excited about screaming in my music as I used to be, so I enjoy having it be a little more melodic vocally. It would be strange for some of the songs if they had screaming. This isn’t crafted that way. It’s crafted so the melody can follow the music. And Shane was great. And a lot of credit should go to Josh as well, because before Shane was even in the picture, Josh was our trusted vocalist. He would listen to the demos and come up with melodies. And once Shane came in, Josh was like, ‘Okay, Shane, I’ve got this idea and this idea...’ So having two vocalists is great. I’m pretty stoked on that. They both have different ranges; Shane is a little more fuller, he’s got a lower range, whereas Josh’s is higher. So for harmonies, they both sit kind of well, and there’s harmonies throughout the entire album. Live, Josh will be singing almost as much as Shane. They go in and out of harmonies the whole entire time. And there’s a song called Matter of Time, where Josh is the main vocalist; he sings the entire time and Shane does all the harmonies.” What does the future hold for Wovenwar? “We’re just gonna keep doing what we’re used to doing. Wovenwar is gonna be around a long time. This isn’t just some side project to pass the time. This is a full on band that we all just want to do from here on out. Let the past be the past. We’re excited with how things are going with the band dynamic and with how we are as friends and hardworking musicians. There’s a lot of respect and trust in each other now. We just want to keep making music and tour and just make a living doing music, and just keep putting out better and better music.”
WOVENWAR’S DEBUT ALBUM IS OUT NOW! SEE THEM AT CAMDEN BARFLY AUGUST 21
Interview We got in touch with singer and bassist
Mike D
ean
words: D.J.G. Mitchell
Corrosion of Conformity is a sludge beast that refuses to die! Formed in 1982 by bassist/singer Mike Dean, lead guitarist Woody Weatherman and drummer Reed Mullin as a hardcore punk/crossover thrash band. After having gone through numerous stylistic and lineup changes the band split up in 2006 after the departure of guitar/vocalist at the time, and influential member Pepper Keenan for the supergroup Down. The founding line-up reformed in 2010, and after one (self-titled) LP and an EP return to us again with IX. IX sounds a cohesive, linear album. How would you describe the flow of this album, and the process of writing it?
“I agree with that. There was more of an emphasis on capturing the identity of the band on this new record. With the self titled, while it was comfortable and exciting to play together again, and especially so in stripped down format, we didn’t quite have a path laid out for what is the real, relevant identity of COC at that this point. It had to work itself out and we had to go and find out. Now after a couple of years back at it, we’ve figured out what excites us at this point in time and how to use and direct that inspiration and energy.” Is there anything you specifically wanted to change or keep the same from the last album?
“There’s tiny tweaks maybe, but you have to wrap it up and move on. Over all the self-titled holds up well with us. The one broader sonic change that we did deliberately decide to make was to make the next record reflect our live sound and true musical identity, simply by using our live gear. In particular we just wanted to plug in Woodroe’s Guitar rig and put up a few mics and capture it like being there. Same with that red drum kit, interacting with the room. Because for the self titled we flew to California and foraged around the studio for amps and cabinets and drums. What we found was interesting but it wasn’t our live sound.”
“We rolled with what we had available and John Custer really earned his keep dialing in guitar sounds where you could really hear the plectrum scraping the strings. He kept raving that he wanted that “frenetic” sound. It was a success, but this time we wanted home cooking and the sound of our own gear which we managed to get on ‘IX’” How did you approach the writing of IX, compared to its predecessor?
“Surprisingly, the process of writing was about the same. Although for “IX” the writing and recording were more overlapping because we really wanted to catch some ideas as they were being born.” In what ways do you approach songwriting differently since your hiatus that followed the departure of vocalist Pepper Keenan?
“It’s about the same, minus one very productive guy. We have always started with the riffs and the musical ideas first and then craft a vocal around that. So everyone has always contributed their riffs so never assume you know who came up with any given musical phrase. It could be Reed, Pepper, Phil Swisher, myself.
I tried to emulate and expand on that by really letting some stream of consciousness things happen and then looking for signs of coherence in the gibberish until it seems like the universe is giving you a few good turns of phrase.” How did you feel about his leaving the band, and do you maintain a good relationship still? Can you imagine ever performing with him again?
“I can imagine collaborating with Pepper very easily. There was never some type of break up, the situation and status of COC was just left a little nebulous. “After in the Arms of God” and a really good tour of the UK with Clutch, we were expecting more awesome show and another record but Down was gearing up so that fell by the wayside.” What plans do you have for the future of the band, touring, and side-activities you may have going also?
“Australia and New Zealand are on the first dates we have and a really great package of bands for a tour of North America is about to be announce. Then it’s pretty much: tour, record, repeat. Reed Mullin had this crazy super collaboration: Teenaged Timekillers.
Pepper has a great lyric writing style and that was a real bitch to be missing.
He and I also have a project called Righteous Fool with a full length and an EP coming soon.
I really learned a lot watching his process over the years, of singing these nonsense lyrics and coming back later having transformed them into awesome, proper songs.
For me personally I’m really getting into making records for other people. I’ve done some work for a band called Sourvein and we’ll be doing their full length in September at the same studio where COC has done “IX” and our Megalodon” EP.”
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Reviews
nodding. This doesn’t however always work to their benefit with a number of tracks, including the albums opener, lacking enough variation to justify the reduction in speed. Make no mistake, Trap Them are talented musicians, the album is filled with great and heavy songs, but in its worst moments they’re lost in repetitive riffing that doesn’t build or develop over the course of each song in a sufficiently compelling way. Still a great album. Worth a listen for any Entombed-core fan. D.J.G. Mitchell
godflesh
assault of modern hardcore which draws strong influences from rock music – with soaring solos and buckets full of creative and aggressive energy. A true crossover, it’s difficult to distinguish where the black metal ends and the hardcore begins – top notch album and one that will surely be spinning in the LMM office for months! D.J.G. Mitchell
The Decline and Fall | Avalanche
This is the first album from Justin K. Broadrick (Jesu) and G.C. Green together in 13 years. If the Birmingham industrial metal duo’s post-reunion touring served as a re-establishment of the band in the scene (and an establishment of the band’s seeming timelessness) then their new release, Decline and Fall, cements it. In the later stages of Godflesh’s discography, the band had begun to explore new and different takes on the band’s sound: using human drummers, and using more electronic elements and departing from the brutal styles of their first few albums. Decline and Fall, however, is more akin to the band’s debut LP Streetcleaner: re-interring the drum machine, and performing a style of music more reminiscent of the Industrial Metal genre that they invented. It doesn’t sound like a throwback album. Decline and Fall, however, sounds like a fresh, original and modern album and benefits from the years of experience both members have had away from the band – it has evidently allowed them to appreciate the project and the original vision behind it; and Broadrick’s subsequent experiments in electronic music are clearly audible. D.J.G. Mitchell
trap them Blissfucker
| Prosthetic
Trap Them’s latest LP is part of a continual development for the band from thrashing grindcore insanity, into a slower, more refined, hardcore approach. It’s great to hear new territory being explored: on Blissfucker, Trap Them play slowed-down hardcore with grind elements that gets the head
CANNABIS CORPSE
From Wisdom to Baked
floor
Oblation
| Season of Mist
| Season of Mist
Floor’s latest LP is a flawless fusion of shoegaze rock and drone, with progressive and sludge/doom metal; sounding wholly modern at the same time. Despite overt heavy ethics and distorted, downturned guitars; it is difficult to argue that Floor is metal band (maybe grunge). Not that the distinction is important when the music is this good. Highly recommended for fans of Kylesa or Baroness. The album blasts out something of a dense wall of sound: at times anthemic and in others atmospheric with evident post-rock/metal influences. A big step from the band’s previous efforts, helped by stellar production and an amazing effort from all involved. Floor have forged an inspired, original fuzzed out niche for themselves while being accessibly and gross-genre aware enough to appeal to a great range of music fans. D.J.G. Mitchell
martyrdÖd Elddop
| Southern Lord
Exemplifies the best elements of what hardcore can be: intense energy, compelling songwriting. Elements of Scandinavian black metal shine through also: For fans of Converge, Agalloch, Enabler and Kvelertak. A burgeoning
Richmond, VA death metal trio Cannabis Corpse are out with their third fulllength album with From Wisdom To Baked, their first album to feature bassist Phil Hall on vocal duties, replacing Andy “Weedgrinder” Horn. Off to a bouldering start with Baptized In Bud, LandPhil growls out some impressing vocals, accompanied by a steady flow of rhythm and classic deathmetal riffage throughout the record. Instrumentally, the band is as precise as ever, and I think it is fair to say this is their most original album to date, song titles aside of course. It’s fast, brutal and heavy, just the way DM should be, and LandPhil’s bass playing does not suffer from him having taken on the vocals as well. Highlights on this one are Voice Of The Bowl, Zero Weed Tolerance and THC Crystal Mountain. If you are a fan of death metal, you should most definitely get this gem for your collection. H. Chruicshank
De Profundis
Frequencies EP
| Kolony Records
De Profundis are not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves. The band’s has a notable resemblance to Death, however this really isn’t a bad thing; in fact, Obscura began as a Death-covers band
before developing into the successful beast they are today. The band should be regarded highly in their own regard, however, as their sound resembles that of a band whose entire output was original and surprising – and the content found on this EP is no different. De Profundis show off their songwriting capabilities, mastership of their instruments, and theory in this E.P.. A shining light in the unsigned UK extreme metal scene. D.J.G. Mitchell
overkill
White Devil Armory
This is the Mastodon album we’ve been waiting for! The brand new album from southern progressive sludge metal act Mastodon features strong, catchy riffs and choruses with progression and diversity, thrashy and sludgy riffing, and a black hole full of progressive surprises as well as refreshing influences from their peers (Kylesa for example, partly in the shouting chorus at the end of ‘Aunt Lisa’, along with the rhythm behind it). While it is a very accessible album, retaining the shorter song lengths of the The Hunter, it should appeal to all fans of the band as it contains more than enough of everything you might want to hear from the band. The album also manages to be more consistent than its predecessor: an impressive feat as The Hunter was spectacular in its own right. There is a slight pitfall in it being the album we were waiting for, however, as no previous Mastodon studio album has sounded as familiar as this. D.J.G. Mitchell
| Nuclear Blast
Has it been 2 years already? The new record from New Jersey, USA thrash metal legends Overkill is upon us, proving that their industrial approach to creating quality metal albums isn’t going to slow down any time soon. Standout tracks include “Bitter Pill”, “Freedom Rings” and “In The Name”. The album is very consistent, and an improvement on their last work “The Electric Age”. Lead vocalist and founding member Bobby Ellsworth’s voice has not showed any signs of deterioration and fronts the band with youthful vigour: the dream hasn’t died for these guys. The stylistic shift on this album from the last is relatively gradual, and it seems that the band have made the smart decision to improve on their songwriting and evolving rather than trying too hard to reinvent themselves. The production on the album, however, while up to a professional industry standard (as expected) suffers a little from a compressed sound reminiscent of other modern albums from experienced metal bands (Metallica - Death Magnetic a prominent example. Overall, another rock-solid album from the lads. D.J.G. Mitchell
Mastodon
Once More ‘Round The | Reprise Sun
Reviews
Demonic Resurrection The Demon King
| Candlelight
Demonic Resurrection, hail from Mumbai, India and perform a symphonic/melodic black metal. The album despite being classified as death metal, is surprisingly chilled out and even progressive; but with the energy and riffage that you still expect from the genre, and with prominent clean vocals and soaring lead guitars. Arguably, heavy-metal is all about finding new, boundary pushing sounds that stretch the imagination and bring heavy new experiences. I still feel that the genre champions this ideology, perhaps more than any other musical genre, but the popular emergence of bands such as Demonic Resurrection serves as an example that artists from outside of the Euro-American stage are underrepresented here. Hopefully this will open the gates for more international bands signing record deals with American/European labels/ distributors!
Corrosion of Conformity IX
| Candlelight
IX proves that COC’s pulse has never been stronger: the core line-up have managed to release a record that reflects their identity more than any single album they have released before. Encompassing the stoner metal aspects of their career on one hand, while re-embodying the energetic hardcore/crossover style of their youth (‘Tarquinius Superbus’). At times separate, at times together but always definitively Corrosion of Conformity. While their last album was a solid release, IX steps it up – reigns it in, and polishes the quality of each individual song (which all mark seemingly essential aspects of the band to be expressed through the album). The band have evidently settled into their groove again – and can comfortably make masterpieces again (rather than merely great albums). They have also proved that the founding members of the band after all these years are the true heartbeat of the group. D.J.G. Mitchell
Divine chaos
A New Dawn In The Age of War | Evil EyE Records
Thrash metal with elements of death. Inspired, and evidently influenced by a lot of music, from a lot of genres which shines through more than might expect while never deviating from a deathtinged thrash style. Another welcome member of the current wave of UK extreme metal, and one of the more promising acts in genre that has more than its fair share of stagnation. Woudn’t be out of place in the music collection of a Warbringer or Evile fan!
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Reviews
and insane – laced with great leads. We already knew, but it takes professionals like these to champion it. D.J.G. Mitchell
Vampillia
Sometimes Nightmares Take You Aurora Nightmare Darkness | Candlelight
The sound resembles post-rock, with elements of noise sprinkled throughout. A classical music approach to songwriting within popular music classifying this album as similar to jazz (with heaviness). The true intensity of this album, is experienced by listening to the album the whole way through: with some tracks near the end of the album as short as 1 minute in length and others being purely calm/ambient: it is crafted in a fluent, linear fashion. The best of the songs are nicely selfcontained with a broad range captured in a single track, but there aren’t nearly enough tracks like this (The Volcano Song). The tracks near the end of the album lose momentum and don’t hold up well in comparison with the first half’s energy. D.J.G. Mitchell
Wolves in the throne room Celestite | Artemisia Records
Celestite, when taken in comparison to anything the band has ever done before, is a release that seems to come completely out of leftfield. An orchestral, electronic, experimental album that echoes some of the work of ambitious, collaborative albums from Sunn O)) - a far cry from the black metal WITTR normally release. A refreshing, masterfully crafted album, that epitmomises the vast possibilities and creativity that can comes from heavy music. A dark and introspective album that still holds onto the core atmospheric style of the band and simultaneously managing to take it somewhere new and unprecedented. There are still sounds of guitar and heavy distortion to be found in this album, and if you approach it with an open mind, you will be rewarded greatly. D.J.G. Mitchell
wOVENWAR ‘Self Titled’
| Metal Blade
This self-titled album is the first release from the instrumental section from As I Lay Dying, fronted by Oh, Sleeper’s Shane Blay. Gone are the harsh vocals of Tim Lambesis, replaced by Blay’s clean voice. Instrumentally, this new project has a slightly more technical sound compared to AILD, and where guitars are considered; very melodic although still heavy. There are even a few solos! Production and mix wise, Bill Stevenson sees to it that the sound is not too polished. The vocals are a bit too high in the mix. However, the album serves up a display of highly skilled musicians and production team. The tunes show strong composition abilities, and the sound is varied, with the songs following each other in a very natural manner without it sounding randomly put together. The record provides a comfortable listen interspersed with some properly heavy riffage. It will certainly be interesting to see what their next album will sound like! H. Chruicshank
Weedeater And Justice for Y’all
| Season of Mist
Abaddon Incarnate Pessimist
| Candlelight
A threatening aural assault from Dublin, Ireland grind freaks Abaddon Incarnate. Pessimist is a truly evil sounding record, even by grind standards. The shortest song is 1:35, and the longest 3:59 – each song contains as many vile, bad intentions as the last despite the relatively long song length for the genre. Brutal and horrifying, while its playing on your speakers you’ll be smashing your body against the wall like a possessed maniac. For fans of early Trap-Them or modern Converge. The album features some similiarities to the rhythmic approach as some death metal, but this is pure grindcore. D.J.G. Mitchell
Unfathomable Ruination
Idiosyncratic Chaos | Sevared Records
London based death-metal up and comers Unfathomable Ruination have given us a taste of what they have been up to since their 2012 full-length ‘Mishapen Congenital Entity’. The 2 new tracks featured on this single suggest the band is worthy of international success, featuring impressive technical songwriting, impeccable production – not to mention its chock-full of brutality. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t your grandmother’s kind of music (though feel free to prove us wrong!) but, like masters Aborted have proven on their most recent two albums; Brutal Death metal can be both tech, groovy,
While we wait for Weedeater’s fifth album, the stoner sludge outfit’s new label Season Of Mist will be reissuing the band’s entire back catalogue, starting with And Justice For Y’all, originally released in 2001. The listen offers a welcoming revisit to their debut outing, which is as relevant today as it was thirteen years ago. This is a decent example of doomy sludge done right. Instrumentally, the band is in the vein of doom greats like Saint Vitus or even Pentagram, though with slightly harsher vocals and a mix that gives their sound the raw uniqueness it needs to stand out. If you missed their debut when it was originally released, you should run down to the record shop and get your hands on this one. The remastered version (with original cover art by Arik Roper) will be released on CD and three different LP versions H. Chruicshank this autumn.