Fleshgod
Apocalypse
- “King”
So, the other day, I was having a conversation with Sir
Aardamoor, a knight of the 3rd Order in the Court of King
Gallbreath, and we were discussing the best bands to pump up the troops in the
field right before storming a castle. Fleshgod
was his choice. No surprise, no
shock.
To say that Fleshgod is epic in a cinematic way is pretty
much a no brainer. Everything they do is
big starting off with “March Royale” the instrumental that
opens the record and brings forth visions of massive troop movements,
Trebuchets hauled in by slaves, and, well, the siege of a castle. “In Aeturnum” continues the mythical
siege replete with soaring, crushing, metallic vocals and background opera as
well. Fleshgod has come to play.
I like what they do. Fleshgod
is good at pulling this off just like Manowar is right on with their chest pounding,
bruh-metal. Both bands are convincing,
especially Fleshgod
on this, their new record, “King.” They’ve figured out how to make cinematic
metal work, how to construct it, and more importantly, how to execute it to
maximum impact. This is “Ben-Hur,”
“Clash
of the Titans,” “Timeline,” and lest not we forget, “300”
put to music. Make no mistake about it, Fleshgod
isn’t about power ballads or hammers being thrown ala Hammerfall or Hammerfall-lite,
Hammer King. Continuing with the movie theme, those bands
would be made for TV movies. Fleshgod
is full on IMAX, 3-D, big budget, franchise stock.
This is heavy music.
Probably some of the heaviest you’ll have heard last year going into this. This juggernaut will kill posers on sight, so
beware. So, here’s what you do. Grab a tankard of Grog, watch “300,”
and when you get groggy enough, crank up “King” by Fleshgod Apocalypse. That’s it, that’s your evening. You’re welcome.
Despised
Icon
- “Beast”
Whoa. “Beast”
is an apt way of describing this record.
Its ten tons of bricks fallin’ on your head, smacked in the face by a
wrecking ball, with an iron pipe to the balls.
Although the band hails from Canada
Despised
Icon
returns from the dead with “Beast” via Nuclear Blast Records, again
showcasing the mighty pipes of dual vocalists Alex Erian and Steve Marois who
come ‘atcha like a tsunami. Track four,
“Bad
Vibes,” is testament to this.
This song’s gonna hurt people in the pit. I like the recurring death metal break in
this song reminiscent of bands like Putrified, Gorevent or Fetal Disgorge. Nice touch.
Cranks the brutality factor up by 10.
“Beast”
kinda swings me over to bands like First Blood or Terror that have that street
grittiness, back room, bare knuckles fighting feel. Reunions often feel like lame money grabs without
soul, tryin’ to sell you a brand but not the case with Despised Icon. “Beast” is this band firing on all
cylinders, lookin’ and soundin’ refreshed, stompin’ around the stage, words
getting spit out of the mic like bullets out of a gun.
Undoubtedly
what makes Despised
Icon stand out is the dual vox.
That’s why songs like “The Aftermath” and “Drapeau
Noir” sound as heavy and tough as they do.
The
switch up between hardcore and death metal sounds, adds that extra layer of
aggressiveness that puts this band over the top and allows them to change up
musically at the drop of a hat and not skip a beat. The problem you run into with a lot of
hardcore bands is the fact that they can only work within set boundaries, often
fencing themselves in. With dual
vocalists in Despised
Icon, and the bands killer ability to nail a thrash groove, hardcore
or death metal, the music is constantly evolving and staying fresh which is
exactly what you get with “Beast.” Buy it and mosh!
Band info: facebook
Witchden - “Salt
of the Earth”
Minnesota, Minneapolis sludge mongers Witchden
have finally returned this year with “Salt the Earth” and damn it’s a
stellar follow-up from the 2012 “Consulting the Bones”. Released
October 31 last year, this new album has really blown me away with well crafted
songs, solid riffs and a slow mean drive. Guitars are unforgiving with amazing
tone, with clarity and crunch and blend perfectly with the thick chest rumbling
bass. Drums are crushing and on point the entire album and exactly what it
needs.
Most of the album keeps about the same tempo, a good
heavy drive, but does break into so aggressively sludgy moments that add such a
weight to that album that really sticks with you. But a song like “The
Old Blood” breaks away from the dark tone and has a stronger groove to
it, good for night driving. “Unholy” tends to be one of my
favorites; it recently appeared on Doomsayer Records ‘Volume Two” compilation. It’s
just got that previously mentioned slow mean drive with guttural / throaty
vocals leaning toward a death metal side of things, which to me is a nice
touch. Like I said before, this is a stellar release with tracks like “Negasus”,
“Salt
The Earth”, The Old Blood” and “Unholy” that really stand out to me
for their uncompromising heaviness and being a killer album from start to
finish. A must have from 2016.
Surtur - “Descendant of Time”
What do we have here? No less than the finest thrash
from the intense heat of Bangladesh
This is certainly thrash in the Teutonic vein: riotous
and evil sounding. After the scene setting intro “Prologue to Chaos”, the
title track kicks off with some paint stripping riffing, vocalising and soloing
(in that order). Vicious stuff. “Demolisher” follows up with a slower
and steadier start, but it soon accelerates to early Sepultura pace.
The EP is shamelessly influenced by the late 80's
German thrash squads- and the South American greats, too. This is a more
satisfying approach than many modern American bands; who are too clean sounding
and too slick. This is music played for the joy of it, played for the violence
of it and, despite the violence it is, indeed, fun.
“Maggot Filled Brain”
is the charmingly titled closing track which shifts through the thrash gears
impressively, with each band member laying down an impressive and forceful
sound. Simply put, this is a sharp EP for all those who like their thrash feral
and unfriendly.
