ALBUM REVIEW: Leeched, “To Dull The Blades of Your Abuse”

By: Jeff Anderson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/01/2020

Label: Prosthetic Records

“To Dull The Blades of Your Abuse” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01.) The Hound’s Jaw
02.) The Grey Tide
03.) I, Flatline
04.) Now It Ends
05.) Earth And Ash
06.) Famine At The Gates
07.) Praise Your Blades
08.) Burn With Me
09.) Let Me Die

The Review:

What can you say about a band whose actions cover it all and leave little left to sell you on? In only 3 years and some change, Manchester UK's metallic hardcore act Leeched have managed to not only land on the highly respected Prosthetic Records and headline tours but have also (now) released three records; each growing darker and more manic. With almost no time in between releases and touring while avoiding steering themselves into blandness, the band has ascended itself into the same ranks as similar genre-buddies Full of Hell, Nails, and Harm's Way and doing so in about a quarter of the time. Which shows that the band's work ethic matches the ferocity of the music. If you can believe that.

The previous releases from this band include 2017's 'Nothing Will Grow From The Rotten Ground' EP and their 2018 full length record 'You Took The Sun When You Left'. While never abandoning the sound they love, which has always been sort of a Slayer meets Converge with a bit of Crowbar thrown in, each album has built off of the last one and adding a dash of something new every time while growing angrier and becoming tighter as a group. Never once does it feel like they're repeating themselves. It's a continuance that proceeds to get better and more emotional. Or emotionless?

From the visceral lyrics, to the mountain shaking bass, to the brick wall of Kurt Ballou sounding guitars, and the drums crushing your windpipe, Leeched has returned, exceptionally fast as usual, and with even more hatred than before. If the lyrics don't make you feel it, the music for sure will. If you could describe the sound of an apocalyptic, Mad Max-esque, no hope or care for the future type setting, this new record would be it.

Their latest release 'To Dull The Blades of Your Abuse' (due out January 31st, 2020 on Prosthetic Records), is a nightmare. And I mean that in the best way possible. This album builds on their previous tightly executed mixture of hardcore, sludge, industrial, and old school straight-up heavy metal and somehow manages to make it even more bleak and disgusting. While definitely not shying away from their hardcore and grind elements on tracks like 'The Grey Tide', 'Earth and Ash', and 'Praise Your Blades', this album does trek into the sludge side of things more than they have before. Tracks like 'Now It Ends' and 'Let Me Die' showcase the low and slow sludge elements this band excels at. As well as sprinkling it in almost every track on this record to my excitement. It's more raw, nastier, and more upsetting than they've ever been before. It feels like this album is trying to harm you. It wants you to feel the pain it feels. And I absolutely love that. Once the music hits on the opening track 'The Hound's Jaw', it's filled with squeals and cries reminiscent of Pantera's 'Hellbound', followed by 36 minutes of a claustrophobic dragging through scum, which only ceases at the very end of 'Black Sun Ceremony' with a swan dive into the blackest depths of your own hell.

A standout track for me is 'Now It Ends' and if there has ever been a name that fits a song this is it. Nothing fancy, nothing overdone or overthought. Just a song that feels like despair and emptiness. This song to me feels like what a man spiraling out of control would hear in his head right at the end. All signs of sanity and happiness have slipped away and this is what rings in his head until he stops it by his own hand.

Leeched completely nailed it on this record. It's January and this is already going to be a competitor for top 10 lists in 2020 for heavy music. If you're looking for bleak, gross, ultra-heavy metallic/blackened hardcore then this record is it. Forever.
_____

'To Dull The Blades of Your Abuse' is available HERE:

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Skeletonwitch, “Devouring Radiant Light”

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/07/2018

Label: Prosthetic Records

The band has done something that not many bands can pull off, they have changed their style and made a very good record.

“Devouring Radiant Light” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Fen of Shadows

2). When Paradise Fades

3). Temple of the Sun

4). Devouring Radiant Light

5). The Luminous Sky

6). The Vault

7). Carnarium Eternal

8). Sacred Soil

The Review:

This is a turn up for the books. Skeletonwitch, purveyors of the finest blackened thrash, return with their first full length release with a new vocalist and... They have changed. “The Apothic Gloom” hinted at this; longer songs, less thrashing and so on. Well, once “Fen of Shadows” gets going it does thrash, but it mostly black-metals (not a verb) throughout its considerable eight minute playing time. The track, really, is black metal of the modern variety.

There is a lot of riffage to get your teeth into on “When Paradise Fades”, but the riffs are more melancholic, less brutal, less aggressive. This isn't as serious a volte face as Paradise Lost after “Draconian Times” or anything, but this is certainly a different record from what can only be viewed as a different band.

The material here is uniformly of high quality and there are blasts, melodic riffs, excellent vocals and state of the art drums aplenty. How this will go over with the band's fan base is another matter. “Temple of the Sun” ups the thrash quota effectively and this is not Wolves In The Throne Room or anything like that, but the raw aggression of previous albums has been smoothed off- no rough edges here. The title track even has a clean intro- and slow pacing!

As the album enters the back stretch, the stylistic shift is cemented and there is no going back to the sound of “Breathing The Fire” et al. The triplet time feel of “The Vault” is great, the track sprawling and full of great riffs and performances. The three minute burn of “Carnarium Eternal” is the closest thing here to anything off “Serpents Unleashed” or “Beyond The Permafrost” and really lets rip with the killer riffs and changes. By the time of “Sacred Soil”, the band has done something that not many bands can pull off. They have changed their style and made a very good record.

Whether this is a record that fans of Skeletonwitch want to hear is another matter. Metal fans are notoriously traditional in their wants and needs from certain bands. I confess that this is very unlikely to usurp “Serpents Unleashed” or even “Forever Abomination” from my playlist, but that is just me- I want blackened thrash... I want Skeletonwitch to play it. The change here is akin to Belphegor just becoming a straightforward black metal band and foregoing all the death metal elements of their sound. Make no mistake, this record is a victory but only time will tell if is a pyrrhic one in terms of the band's fan-base. Try it out as you may well love what they have done here; just forget their past.

“Devouring Radiant Light” is available here



Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ELEVEN IS ONE LOUDER: London-based death metallers ABHORRENT DECIMATION choose their top picks for Bloodstock 2017

UK-based death metal titans ABHORRENT DECIMATION released their new album “The Pardoner” on July 28th via Prosthetic Records to rapturous applause.  Conceptually, the new album is an in-depth exploration into "The Pardoner", English poet Geoffrey Chaucer's most depraved and deceitful character from The Canterbury Tales. "The Pardoner" is a religious fraud and hypocrite who preaches against the love of greed, yet whose own love of wealth enabled him to profit off the sins of others. He claimed to work on behalf of the clergy, selling spiritual forgiveness for one's sins in the form of his pardons, which included forged "official letters" from high ranking church officials absolving one of their sins and bones and crystals blessed with healing powers. In Chaucer's story, "The Pardoner" tells a harrowing tale of three men whose materialism becomes the death of them.

It is the bands most inspired, charismatic and dominating material to date and with band set to hit the stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival this weekend, we invited the band to talk about their top picks for festival and bands to look out for.  So come with us as we take our weekly trip into the extreme and turn the volume all the way up to eleven. 

THURSDAY

The Infernal Sea

If you are going to watch any band on Thursday, watch The Infernal Sea.  We have toured with the guys a few times and there is just something so visceral and eerie about this lot, it a real package band. The sounds, the look, the vibe. Go and find out for yourself. PLUS they are unveiling a new look at the festival. Go and check them out.

FRIDAY

Decapitated

This band is hugely influential to us and one we look at with great respect. I have only seen them live once myself, a few years ago – maybe 2011. So I would be very interested in seeing the guys again, playing some of the killer new album ‘Anticult’. But for me, you can’t beat ‘The Negation’/‘Organic Hallucinosis’ era.  

Soilwork

Back in the day, I loved this band dearly. So purely for nostalgic bliss, I will go and check them out. Unlikely they will play any of the stuff I know as its 10+ years old now but still, well worth checking out.

Whitechapel

Another band that has made an impression on us over the years. Not so much a fan of the newer stuff but they still slay and hold it down very well. In fact, we are playing a Bloodstock warm up show with them Thursday 10^thAugust at The Underworld in London.

Inquisition

I’ve seen Inquisition once before and it blew my bloody socks off. Just super moody and a great atmosphere. If you like your Black Metal a little on the primitive side, go and check em out.

Ashen Crown

These guys did a great job of winning Metal To The Masses for a slot on the New Blood Stage. As far as new blood goes, we look forward to seeing how they handle themselves on the sacred NB stage. We know what it means to play that stage and how it feels before you head out. So we wish them the best of luck and hope they have a great crowd for when they go on.

SATURDAY

Hatebreed

Again, another act that sparks off pure nostalgia for some us. I stopped keeping up with them after ‘The Rise of Brutality’ but I know they are a great live act and Jamey really brings the good vibes when he’s on form. I look forward to feeling 15/16 for half an hour.

Fallujah

I know Cooke really loves these guys. So we will all no doubt head over and watch them when they hit the Main Stage on Saturday. We played on the same bill as them last year and they were unlucky with the sound quality. So I look forward to seeing them in the BOA set-up, which in the main, has always been pretty good for sound for an open air.  

Abhorrent Decimation

You’ve got to come and see us. BOA 2014, was such a great show for us on the New Blood Stage. Now we have been invited back onto the next stage up, The S.O.P.H.I.E. We can’t wait to come and smash some heads in with a set exclusively full of material from our new album ‘The Pardoner’. We’ve been quiet on the show front for a little while and with our best line-up ever, we are ready to return with a big performance at the festival.

SUNDAY

Obituary

I’ve seen Obituary a bunch of times and every time, I bloody love them a little more. The anticipation of waiting for Tardy to come out, with his luscious golden mane and release the almighty “bee-ki-uuuugh

Courtesans

Goth Pop? Whatever it is, it’s done well. Truly sultry. Great vibe and well formulated songs. I think it will make a nice break for most ears over the long weekend.

Band info: Facebook || Twitter || Website || Bandcamp 

REVIEW: Schammasch - “The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite” (EP)

By: Conor O’Dea

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 09/06/2017

Label: Prosthetic Records

Schammasch have created something remarkable with this most recent artistic expression, sophisticated, complex and yet somehow, eminently accessible.  Get lost. It is worth your time to find a way out.

“The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). “Prologue”
2). “The Weighty Burden Of An Eternal Secret”
3). “Along The Road That Leads To Bedlam”
4). “These Tresses Are Sacred”
5). “May His Illusion Last Until Dawn’s Awakening”
6). “Chimerical Hope”
7). “Do Not Open Your Eyes”

The Review:

"May it please heaven that the reader, emboldened and having for the time being become as fierce as what he is reading, should, without being led astray, find his rugged and treacherous way across the desolate swamps of these sombre and poison-filled pages; for, unless he brings to his reading a rigorous logic and a tautness of mind equal at least to his wariness, the deadly emanations of this book will dissolve his soul as water does sugar. It is not right that everyone should savour this bitter fruit with impunity. Consequently, shrinking soul, turn on your heels and go back before penetrating further into such uncharted, perilous wastelands." Comte de Lautréamont, “Les Chants de Maldoror”

There can be only deep silence after the invocation of the triune. It is time to pause. An initiate, waiting, in the shadows, barely breathes, as the adept brings one deeply important ritual to a close. You know where you were left, but are unclear where the way could possibly open again. Ab initio, ab vacuo, a ritual begins, revitalized, innovative, and redacted: but only in the paths it wanders, not in the powers it invokes. Thunder, perfect mind.

Schammasch have created something remarkable with this most recent artistic expression, something that draws deeply and effectively on both the painterly and writerly roots of its inspiration. It is sophisticated, complex and yet it, somehow, it is eminently accessible. It is a sort of roman-de-clef, but it does not seek to intimidate, browbeat or baffle the listener with fabricated dissonance or obfuscatory elitism. It invites the listener to enter its mysteries and get profoundly lost within them. Schammasch here effectively create auditory and lyrical topographies that bend the common conventions of compositional and narrative structure in surreal ways. I am using surreal here in the sense of Magritte and Dali, both of whom illustrated Lautreamont's “The Lay of Maldoror”; it is a bending of reality, a reconfiguration of the real through symbolic interpolation. The six songs following the prologue mirror the Canto division of Lautreamont's poetic novel, a glimpse into the fin-de-siecle madness that performed this superlative Dada-like twist on both the” Divine Comedy” and “Paradise Lost”.

“May His Illusion Last until Dawn's Awakening” and “Chimerical Hope” are perhaps the most immediately 'moving' of these tracks, but as with all things Schammasch, this album should be taken as a whole: in contemplation, in mindful inebriety. Get lost. It is worth your time to find a way out.

"I am the silence that is incomprehensible and the idea whose remembrance is frequent.
I am the voice whose sound is manifold and the word whose appearance is multiple.
I am the utterance of my name"The Thunder, Perfect Mind

“The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite” is available here

FFO: Behemoth, Secrets of the Moon, Deathspell Omega, Triptykon

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Bereft - "Lands"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 31/03/2017

Label: Prosthetic Records

There are other bands creating doom in a similar style to Bereft but few do it on such a grand scale. The Wisconsin quartet’s latest release comprises  of four epic journeys into the abyss with a massive production that matches their towering ambition.  “Lands” is a fine album that is sure to win Bereft a legion of new followers.

“Lands” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). We Wept

2). The Ritual

3). In Filth

4). Waning Light

The Review:

Bereft look set to make a big impact on the world of heaviness with new LP “Lands”. The Wisconsin quartet’s latest release comprises of four epic journeys into the abyss with a massive production that matches their towering ambition.

“We Wept” begins the album in impressive fashion. This thirteen minute monster establishes the bands captivating brand of earth-shaking expansive doom shot through with haunting melody. The track brings to mind a mix of Yob and Pallbearer making a foray into the world of post-metal.

Throughout “Lands” Bereft unleash icy blasts of black metal to further heighten the foreboding atmosphere. These urges are given full reign on “The Ritual” which demonstrates that the band are just as effective delivering raging fury as dispensing slabs of treacly riffage.

“Waning Light” brings proceedings to a close with a demonstration of the full range of Bereft’s powers. It begins with the band at their quietest, creating a sombre mood with layers of reverb and delay before their full distorted weight rears its head once more. The noise breaks down to a lone guitar and inventive, unpredictable drums that create a sombre mood that usher in the final cathartic climax.

There are other bands creating doom in a similar style to Bereft but few do it on such a grand scale. “Lands” is a fine album that is sure to win Bereft a legion of new followers.

“Lands” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Hour Of Penance - "Cast the First Stone"

By Theron Moore
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 27/01/2017
Label: Prosthetic Records

“Cast the First Stone” track listing:

1). XXI Century Imperial Crusade
2. Cast the First Stone
3. Burning Bright
4. Iron Fist
5. The Chains of Misdeed
6. Horn of Flies
7. Shroud of Ashes
8. Wall of Cohorts
9. Damnation Memoriae

The Review:

Hour of Penance is the Mount Everest of badass, circle pit, death / thrash third rock from the sun can offer.  In fact, if you look close enough, you’ll see a trail of dead and broken bodies they’ve left in their damaged path. Just follow the bones, the blood trails, they lead back to “Cast the First Stone.”

There’s not a bad song on this record, and this coming from a guy that’s super critical of everything I listen to.  I get tired of repetition, cut and paste.  I get tired of hollow, plastic, bullshit.  “Cast the First Stone” has heart and soul.  Hour of Penance scored a gem here, they nailed it.  You get that from the get-go with “Burning Bright” throwing fist to face till “Damnation Memoriae” ends the record in proper fashion, A-Bomb dropped, nuke missile launched, end times upon us. 

Nothin’ but good energy here.  And power.  You feel the power of the band firing on all cylinders, start to finish, on “Cast the First Stone.”  When a band knows how to craft songs, write music and fully grasp the mechanics of their genre, it’s a wonderful, special thing.  Not every band does that, can do that, that’s why bands often fall short and fail.  Not Hour of Penance.  And not their new record.  This thing is a head crusher.

HOP knows metal.  “Cast the First Stone” is a killer mix of death AND thrash, crossover, if you will, but fully realized and well executed.  I’ll drop the usual bullshit tags like “brutal,” “aggressive,” “cuts like a knife” – wait, that’s Bryan Adams, right?  Ah, hell with it.  Still sounds death metal.  Fact is, none of these generic statements come close to describing how truly heavy and ass kicking this record, this band, really is.

Every once in a while, you get a band who understands metal.  And they make a record.  And it kicks ass.  Hour of Penance’s “Cast the First Stone” IS THIS record.  It’s right up there with Havok’s “Conformicide,” which I got an advance listen to, which most likely will be the best record of the year.  My opinion?  Love Havok, but prefer Hour of Penance.  Any band that sinks as much heart, their soul, not to mention, integrity, into a record, you got my vote for band AND record of the year.  This is it.  Buy or die.

“Cast the First Stone” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Weltesser - "Crestfallen"

By:  Grim Trashcan

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 27/01/2016

Label: Prosthetic Records

Weltesser magnificently blends elements of old-school sludge/punk sensibilities and white hot riff-manipulation with the precise amount of drawn out feedback manipulation that more than harshes your fucking mellow - it pisses all over it.

“Crestfallen” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Regret

2). Guide

3). Living to Try

4). Terminal

5). Rats

6). Crestfallen

The Review:

Full disclosure folks: I pre-ordered the physical release of this album based off one preview track months ago. Let your assumptions fly and cast your cynical flavor over this entire review if you must. That being said, "Crestfallen" by Weltesser is such a fucking banger on so many crucial levels - subjective bias can be blindly removed from the equation. 

On to more important matters: Sour Diesel. The promo sticker on this record makes mention of it in a phrase stating "fueled by sour diesel and misery". Perfect in such non-ironic fashion. When I think of the many strains of cannabis and the resulting psychoactive effects of each specific phenotype, sativa stands out as the intellectual, introspective, active cerebral champion of creativity and focus. A cleansing, rejuvenating experience that sort of hits the reset button on the stagnation of couch-locked pain mitigation and life's daily aches and woes. I'm looking at you, Indica. Weed references aside, Weltesser magnificently blends elements of old-school sludge/punk sensibilities and white hot riff-manipulation with the precise amount of drawn out feedback manipulation that more than harshes your fucking mellow - it pisses all over it. 

Listening to this, I can draw some similarities to old -(16)- material, sort of. There's an aggression here that is apparent but it comes off more frustrated and finite as opposed to raw and unbridled. The guitar tone skirts the plane between caustic mid-ranged savagery within the riff dynamic and then it gets accompanied by what sounds like another guitar but is actually the bass providing bright swaths of feedback manipulation in breakdowns and transitions. Other times, the roles are cleverly reversed while the bass slams along on a trance inducing pattern and the guitar screams the complimentary sirens. The opposing dynamics offer pretty much the space and breathing room for the drummer to handle his role in perfectly understated and civilized fashion, sneaking in high-hat commas and periods on groove based sentences. Dynamics in dissonance. Emphasis on feel and timing. No more is that expressed in the title track at the very end of the record. As a complete listening experience - it seems like the relatively quickly moving tracks lead you to the final push that is "Crestfallen". 

The entire album tears along at such a perfect pace, with catch your breath moments that get growl-howled over like the stand out stretch that occurs early on in the track "Guide". Yelled melody with a deliverance that conveys more than anger- seemingly cathartic release. The transition from the ending of that song into "Living to Try" should be a case-study example for all aspiring sonic dark sorcerers in how to draw in pure shadow. This doesn't sound like misery and doom for the sake of being miserable and doomed. It sounds like an anxious spirit trying to navigate the crumbling, failing nature of existence and interaction within either itself or its surroundings. We've all been there. One too many edibles in a social setting and your soul literally shudders from its own presence. 

An overview at the lyric sheet/insert that accompanied this record revealed much more to me than I had expected. As sort of a mission statement or parameter setting series of phrases the group has decided to share some words of wisdom to the listener: "It is hard to desire consciousness. Watching people live their lives, fighting tirelessly for a home that has already been wasted. It's exhausting. Constantly checking myself, constantly working for a better stay, but it will never be better. The redundancy of our music, of our words, is to push this subject. It will never be better. You will always be working on yourself. You will always be anxious and alone. Your friends and family mean nothing. You'll amount to nothing. Remember that." 

Got it? In case you forget, you can get re-assured by the final and my favorite experience on this offering - the epic 8 minute title track.   From silence barks out pretty much the over-arcing theme and value of this record - dealing with life as it is presented to you. To literally live in your anxieties because ultimately you'll amount to nothing. Also on display during this last song is the bands talent at locking in those perfectly synchronized, sort of abstract feedback moments that if not handled properly or overdone by some could border on obnoxious or pretentious. Not so in this application at all.

This record is great and you should buy it. Not because I said so, but because you need to hear this. It's something new on so many levels and if it doesn't serve to help you question what this proposed genre is doing or can be capable of - then I feel bad for you. I'm glad this album exists. When it ends I literally take a deep breath and feel as if the band has helped me take it. A reset button on stagnation and couch-lock. 

“Crestfallen” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook