'Book Of Wyrms: Chapter One': A Conversaton with Sarah Moore Lindsey

By: Erik Sugg

Looking for a good, unsigned band who brings the heavy while also soothing your mind, body and soul? Richmond, Virginia’s Book of Wyrms may be the band for you. They describe their sound as “appalachian stoner rock” and “space metal.” Those tags alone may be enough to draw listeners into their heady realm of astral dreaming, but the band also claims a diverse set of interests ranging from the occult, to cheap beer, to Curtis Mayfield. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with these guys?

After listening to their three song, Garrett Morris-engineered demo, which consists of the hard-charging “Nightbong,” the eerie, Sleep-esque “Sourwolf,” and ends with the slow burning “King Mildew,” I knew instantly that Book of Wyrms wasn’t going to be just another stoner rock band who gets lost in an endless cloud of smoke. This is a group of young people who know how to work their volume and instrumentation, while leaving plenty of space for their fantastic vocals and melodies. I spoke to with the band’s singer, Sarah Moore Lindsay, to learn a little more about them.

SL): So Sarah, you guys are a relatively new band. A lot of us may not know a whole lot about you yet. Mind giving us a brief run-through of how Book of Wyrms came together as a band?

Sarah: Our story actually begins with my answering a Craigslist ad (in spring 2014) which was looking for a Stevie Nicks-like vocalist. I sang with Sematary for a few months before I got the boot, which hit me hard as it was the first band I’d been fired from. So my bassist husband, Jay Lindsey, said, “You don’t need those guys to do what you want to do. You found what makes you happy. I’ll play with you.” So he started writing a few heavy riffs and I came up with lyrics. We asked our buddy Chris DeHaven to play drums, and then we’ve gone through a few guitarists since the beginning. We’re stoked with the current line-up of our two guitarists, Ainsley Coudriet and Kyle Lewis. Those guys have been playing together for years so they have an incredible rapport already.

SL): The group is based out of Richmond, VA., a great town that I used to call my home as well. These days Richmond has quite the reputation for being a metal mecca. Would you agree there’s a lot of creative energy happening with heavy bands in Richmond these days?

Sarah: Yes, definitely. I was just referencing the Ted Talk, which Mike Bishop recently gave, which addressed the history of Richmond and how that influences things to this day, including the music scene. It’s not that all heavy bands sing about that stuff, but you’ve got some unrest going on. Richmond just has all these people who are so brilliant and passionate that it’s no wonder that the music scene is fairly dank and dark.

SL): Your sound ranges from upbeat, hard rockers to slow and low heaviness. Do you guys have a particular dynamic that you prefer, or do you just write your tunes and let the dynamics work themselves out?

Sarah: I think we like to vary our dynamics to make certain parts of the music more impactful and to keep things from getting boring. It’s pretty exciting to have those moments of pure upheaval when you come out of a quiet part. I think it’s a rush for us and the audience. 

SL): What’s up with a song title like “Nightbong?” Do we have a memorable experience from a late night stoner session, or is it your tongue planted firmly in your cheek?

Sarah: Haha, yeah that song title originally started out as a joke. One of Jay’s and my favorite activities is coming up with funny or epic band names, so it was just one that we said which sparked something in my imagination. Then it took on a whole personality, and this “nightbong” suddenly had magic powers which I thought were hilarious.  The first lines are “Green machine/It’s loaded it seems” – basically it’s a story of coming upon a magical bong which packs itself and takes you places, turning your brain inside out.

SL): Generally we all see gender as something that never really needs to be brought up in a conversation about music. However, that’s kind of difficult when there are so many gifted ladies, like yourself, singing for heavy bands these days. It’s really changed the whole landscape for metal and what metal can be. Who are some of the front ladies in this day in age that you enjoy?

Sarah: Well, I’ve got to first mention Dorthia Cottrell of Windhand, because I admire her so much but also identify with her in a lot of ways. But I also dig Alia O’Brien from Blood Ceremony, Jillian Taylor from Ruby the Hatchet, Myrkur, Chelsea Wolfe, and so many more.

SL): What’s on the horizon for Book of Wyrms?

Sarah: We have a few Richmond shows this fall, and we will be trying to hit the road to Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Raleigh, Philly, and Baltimore in the next 6 months or so. I would really like to record again soon but we will have to see how that goes. We’ve got some baseball tees coming out soon and maybe some more surprises.

SL): Anything else you’d like to add in closing?

Sarah: Thank you for asking me these questions! I’m really lucky to be involved with something I love so much. As cheesy as it sounds, it’s never too late to go for it.

Band info: bandcamp | facebook

Boss Keloid Unveil 'Herb Your Enthusiasm' Album Teaser

By: Phil Weller

The underground scene, especially regarding current stoner, sludge and doom movements, is in rude health right now. Boss Keloid is a band at the forefront of those waves, acting as flag bearers by writing filthy noise from their pulsating hearts.

                    

For those who weren’t at the recent Riff Fest in Bolton, it was an event that paid homage to all things heavy in the UK’s underground metal scene in a whirl of noise and booze.  Wigan’s Boss Keloid were without a doubt one of the best acts to grace the stages there. They utilised the occasion to air some brand new songs off their forthcoming record ‘Herb Your Enthusiasm’. 

Now they have compiled footage from that show to give fans a taste of the new album.

‘Axis Of Green’ is the first to grace your ears, it’s thick, hypnotic riffs leaning on Eastern tonalities alongside a more traditional Western aggressiveness a la Neurosis, Kyuss and Sleep. There’s a hint of early Soundgarden in the guitar work, the whole thing sounding earth-shakingly massive. ‘Haarleem Struggle’ is slower than public transport, with echoic, enchanting vocals bringing to mind some sort of evil religious cult. ‘Lung Mountain’ meanwhile is a ménage of jittering rhythms and barraging fuzz tones, frontman Alex Hurst roaring maniacally over the top.

If this teaser doesn’t get you excited then you have serious issues.

Says guitarist Paul Swarbrick: “Going into Skyhammer and working with Chris we had positive expectations, and they were exceeded without doubt. He is a really great guy to work with and completely understood what we wanted to achieve. He was willing to listen and incorporate our ideas, but also challenged and pushed to get the most out of us during tracking. Also, both Chris and Jon provided their vocal talents on a couple of tracks including ‘Lung Mountain’ which we were really grateful for.”

The record, which was recorded and mixed at Skyhammer Studios by Chris Fielding (Conan, Electric Wizard, Napalm Death), is set to be released in early 2016 with mastering credits going to James Plotkin (Khanate, Isis, Palms).

You can watch the video here:



Band info: facebook  | bandcamp

Kylesa - 'Exhausting Fire' (Album Review)

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/10/2015

Label: Season of Mist

“Exhausting Fire” will no doubt disappoint some who will not be happy with the move away from the band’s traditional style. For many though, this will represent another bold step forward for Kylesa – a pioneering band, once again at the forefront of forward-thinking heavy music.

‘Exhausting Fire’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Crusher
02. Inward Debate
03. Moving Day
04. Lost and Confused
05. Shaping The Southern Sky
06. Falling
07. Night Drive
08. Blood Moon
09. Growing Roots
10. Out Of My Mind
11. Paranoid (bonus track)

Kylesa is:

Philip Cope | guitar, vocals
Laura Pleasants | guitar, vocals
Carl McGinley | drums

The Review :

The weight of expectation lies heavy on “Exhausting Fire”. Kylesa honed their unique brand of epic crusty sludge to perfection on 2009’s monumental “Static Tensions”. Since then the Savannah band have released two albums (“Spiral Shadow” and “Ultraviolet”) that would be judged awesome by most bands’ standards. However in comparison to earlier releases they felt strangely unsatisfying. Although both records featured forays into poppier territory and an expansion of their psychedelic horizons, the majority of the material felt like it was happy to retread past glories. “Exhausting Fire”, however, feels like the triumphant next step in Kylesa’s sonic evolution.

Aptly titled opener, “Crusher” displays all of the elements that make this record great. Speed is

sacrificed for a crunching mid pace chug acting as the perfect backdrop for Laura Pleasants’ powerful vocals. This is the crucial difference from the Kylesa of old – there are virtually no harsh vocals on this album. Instead, Pleasants’ stronger-than-ever singing voice dominates and Phillip Cope provides an array of styles from semi-spoken-word to a tuneful bark. He even manages to cover this entire range in the space of one track on the bizarrely brilliant “Night Drive”.

The other key difference here is the melding of heaviness and melody. In the past, songs have either been pummelling onslaughts or more subdued experiments into calmer territory, but “Exhausting Fire” takes the approach of exploring both styles in the space of single songs. “Inward Debate”, “Lost and Confused” and “Out of My Mind” all meld trademark crushing riffs to a swirling US indie rock sounds, reminiscent of the likes of Built to Spill, for maximum impact. The band also push further into areas hinted at on previous releases. “Shaping the Southern Sky” is a slab of stoner classic rock complete with a proper, traditional guitar solo while “Moving Day” is a soaring, sky-scraping thunderous pop ballad in the style of Torche at their most stirring. This is possibly the album’s highlight with the other competitor for this title being “Growing Roots”. Starting with a spiky, angular riff that could’ve come straight from Mastodon’s “Remission”, the track builds into an anthemic refrain, ramping up the intensity until breaking point.

“Exhausting Fire” will no doubt disappoint some who will not be happy with the move away from the band’s traditional style. For many though, this will represent another bold step forward for Kylesa – a pioneering band, once again at the forefront of forward-thinking heavy music.

‘Exhausting Fire’ is available here

Band info: facebook

Instrumental Interpretations Part I: Scale The Summit - 'V' (Album Review)

By: Phil Weller

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 18/09/2015

Label: Prosthetic Records

Stacking twisting lead lines and a jolting rhythmic vigour atop a clean cut intro reminiscent of Dream Theater’s ‘On The Back’s Of Angels’, ‘Pontus Euxinus’ endures a split personality of Animals As Leaders esque, modern, instrumental progressive rock and jazz/lounge, swinging textures. ‘Trapped In Ice’ beholds a much faster clangour, Chris Letchford’s fingers getting to know the high end of his fretboard in a blur. The song as a whole seems to be both written for and gravitating around these passages of spotlight demanding lead guitar work, the closest thing we have to a singer and a voice per se. ‘Kestral,’ seemingly inspired from the creature from whence it got its name, soars high with floaty guitars and genteel acoustic playing.

‘V’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Odyssey
02. Atlas Novus
03. The Olive Tree
04. Narrow Salient
05. Oracle
06. Evergreen
07. The Dark Horse
08. Willow
09. Sabrosa
10. The Traveler

The Review

While aghast at the intrinsic musical complexity woven through this record’s veins, much of the insistent showboatery is lacking in that gouging, soul afflicting hook for me. In short, it’s bloody impressive stuff, but, for this writer at least, isn’t quite engaging enough  The talent that pieces ‘V’ together, like some grandiose and status affirming mosaic is insurmountable, overflowing, but from a personal standpoint, I find it more whimsical than I do evocative. But please, do not let that be a deterrent. There are so many out there who will fall head over heels for Scale The Summit’s veritable feast of technicality, of daunting arpeggios and flurrying chord progressions – for fans of the band, this is another effort in the same vein.

It all comes down to personal taste and perception. I have many friends who shed a sombre, silver tear at Titanic (Movie), at the tragic brutality of it, as it slowly but inevitably swallowed by the icy Atlantic Ocean, killing over 1,500 passengers in the process. But I also know lots of people – my sick self included – who chuckle at the scene where the ship bolts upright and those passengers with a merciful grip hurtle towards the water, knowing their time is up. It just looks like a massive slide to me. 

An instrumental band, I personally feel the lack of vocals and lyrics – one aesthetic that, with the right poetic conviction could unveil its beating heart to me – leaves these songs sounding empty. But for many musos out there who just want to get lost in some phenomenal playing that transcends time signatures like a spectre through walls of an old Victorian manor, will be left with the impression that a crooning or screaming frontman would ruin what this band has worked so deftly to produce. Personally, there’s nothing invigorating about these songs. It’s like when you pick up a book in a shop which, in theory is tailor made for your acquired tastes, but, as beautifully and sophisticatedly written as it is, the story doesn’t lure you in, the images provoked don’t conjure themselves as living, breathing entities in your imagination.

Stacking twisting lead lines and a jolting rhythmic vigour atop a clean cut intro reminiscent of Dream Theater’s ‘On The Back’s Of Angels’, ‘Pontus Euxinus’ endures a split personality of Animals As Leaders esque, modern, instrumental progressive rock and jazz/lounge, swinging textures. ‘Trapped In Ice’ beholds a much faster clangour, Chris Letchford’s fingers getting to know the high end of his fretboard in a blur. The song as a whole seems to be both written for and gravitating around these passages of spotlight demanding lead guitar work, the closest thing we have to a singer and a voice per se. ‘Kestral,’ seemingly inspired from the creature from whence it got its name, soars high with floaty guitars and genteel acoustic playing.

For me, though, it would work better as background music – like the crazy stuff Nintendo busted out in the 90s that would provide the soundtrack for traversing, breaking shit up or generally cutting a heroic figure in a virtual world. There, the music has a base, a reliability as, the more the game sucks you in, the more the sounds beneath it all, that genre bending underbelly becomes not just important, but integral to your enjoyment of the game. That’s the kind of purpose this music should have in my opinion. As a standalone product I just can’t submerge myself into it the way I really should – because these kind of rich and talented sonic tapestries are so often my calling.

But of course, opinions are like arseholes – you probably think I am one too – and I cannot stress enough that, while it isn’t a record that has won me over, there are legions of people that will bow down to ‘V’ and worship it for years to come. Hit play and be your own judge, jury and executioner, but from a personal standpoint, it’s that last role that is most poignant here.

‘V’ is available here

FFO: Dream Theater, Animals As Leader, The Contortionist, Meshuggah

Band info: facebook | bandcamp

With The Dead - 'With The Dead' (Album Review)

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 16/10/2015

Label: Rise Above Records

It's evident that Bagshaw has acquired a few new fuzz pedals since the last Serpentine Path album as opening track 'Crown Of Burning Stars' is so oppressive, fuzzy and dense that it made my teeth itch. After the backwards speaking samples, the crunch of the guitar is incredible. The vocals are classic Dorrian and the bands sound on a whole is somewhere between Serpentine Path, 'Dopethrone' era Electric Wizard, early Cathedral and 'Misanthropic Alchemy' era Ramesses.  This for me is an album of the year contender, the kind of thing you'd expect from 3 of the scene's most influential figures. All expectation has been lived up to. Prepare to be blown away.

‘With The Dead’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Crown of Burning Stars
02. The Cross
03. Nephthys
04. Living With The Dead
05. I Am The Virus
06. Screams From My Own Grave

With The Dead is:

Lee Dorrian | vocals

Tim Bagshaw | guitars, bass

Mark Greening | drums

The Review:

In life there are only a few certainties; death, taxes and Tim Bagshaw creating absolutely crushing riffs. When news of the formation of With The Dead hit, fans of sludge, doom and everything heavy had momentary cardiac arrest, understandably given the rich history of its members; Lee Dorrian, Mark Greening and the aforementioned Bagshaw. I jumped at the chance to review this, but is it any good? Absofuckinglutely.

It's evident that Bagshaw has acquired a few new fuzz pedals since the last Serpentine Path album as opening track 'Crown Of Burning Stars' is so oppressive, fuzzy and dense that it made my teeth itch. After the backwards speaking samples, the crunch of the guitar is incredible. The vocals are classic Dorrian and the bands sound on a whole is somewhere between Serpentine Path, 'Dopethrone' era Electric Wizard, early Cathedral and 'Misanthropic Alchemy' era Ramesses.

'The Cross' is equally punishing and terrifying, Greening's signature drum fills like body blows from heavyweight boxer Butterbean and the riffs crawl like a  snake through the speakers into your brain making the perfect foil for Dorrian's mighty vocals. 'Nephthys' is an atomic chunk of the weightiest DOOM. The guitars harmonise with a riff that channels early EW and it's not hard to see why their riffs got progressively worse after Bagshaw left. 'Living with The Dead' has a fairly simplistic riff but still feels like a battering ram to the face. Fragments of latter day Cathedral swing amongst the sea of anguish flooding from Bagshaw's strings and even some clean picking, still very dense atmospherically, reflects Ramesses' last effort 'Possessed By the Rites Of Magick'. It gets heavy again as some ethereal screams ring out and Greening's drums are notable for their sheer force.

Some classic Bagshaw swaggers out next with a riff that sits at the crossroads somewhere between ‘Dopethrone’, Rammeses' 'The Tomb' and 'Emanations' by Serpentine Path. Dorian's vocals are at their most snarling and twisted, spitting out the song's title between the equally potent verses. An element of the Hammer Horror series is injected into 'Screams From My Own Grave' with the torturous riffs suffocating and the vocals similar to Dorrian's efforts on the Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine album. It's an absolutely devastating track that crawls and scrapes along the floor of your mind, reaching for you to take it's blood soaked hand. The high pitched screams at the end and the wailing feedback noise cuts through the mire, the thing that crawls and scrapes has taken your mind hostage and with it the record concludes. 

This for me is an album of the year contender, the kind of thing you'd expect from 3 of the scene's most influential figures. All expectation has been lived up to. Prepare to be blown away.

‘With The Dead’ is available from 16/10/2015

FFO: Serpentine Path, Cathedral, Ramesses,

Band info: facebook



Wild Throne - 'Harvest of Darkness’ (Album Review)

By: Phil Weller

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/10/2015

Label: Roadrunner Records

Alongside the ingenuities and provocative pieces from ‘Blood Maker’ ‘I Of The Prism’ is another scintillating highlight. It’s brazen guitar work and searing vocal lines force a real sense of horripilation upon you, you don’t so much as listen to this as you do experience it. It’s structure is a labyrinth of crazed punk drumming, a really atmospheric but menacing ,reverb drenched instrumentation and enough melody to blind a unicorn.

‘Harvest of Darkness’ CD//DD track listing:

01 – “Harvest Of Darkness”
02 – “Shadow Deserts”
03 – “Fear Yourself”
04 – “Lone Lust”
05 – “Death Of A Star”
06 – “Blood Maker”
07 – “I Of The Prism”
08 – “War Is A Romance”
09 – “Born To Die”
10 – “The Wrecking Ball Unchained”
11 – “Trans”

The Review:

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. A road worn guitar, paint stripped and scratched, cocaine pocked in the rusted Seymour Duncan humbuckers, is placed into its casket and lowered into the ground. Tears fall too, slaves to gravity that congregate on the earth like a pack of wolves. Rock is dead.  Gene Simmons has spoken; a man who has drained every conceivable penny out of his ‘brand’ and is the embodiment of the genre’s industrialisation.

Adding fuel to the fire too – or should that be cremation? – is Germanic powerhouse and Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann. He states that he wouldn’t start a band in this contemporary climate, where bands are given little chance to reach the upper echelons of an ever aging and shrinking group of festival headliners and elite bands – his band being one of these Stonemasons.  In that sense then, the fairy tale happenings of Bellingham, Washington three piece Wild Throne shouldn’t exist, it should be exactly that – a fairy tale, an augmented take on reality where everything is hunky dory. There is no room for ascension when the royal court is a dilapidating mess, brought to ruin by the industrialisation of an art form once full of expression, passion and, ultimately, success through global notoriety and financial gain.

Yet, 16 months after releasing their three track debut EP, ‘Blood Maker’, a collection of dastardly pompous, outrageous but ultimately thrill seeking rock n’ roll, they’ve signed a deal with Roadrunner Records and are on the verge of releasing one of the best debut long players in years. They came, one of the biggest and most prolific labels and creators of champions and now they are poised to conquer. And fuck it, I’m gonna buy the t-shirt. They have my money. Wild Throne are everything messers Simmons and Lindemann said were paucity. Or perhaps they’re the last of a dying breed. Regardless, this is their moment to savour. 

To that effect, ‘Harvest of Darkness’ stands tall, proud and defiant, belying a transfixing modernity and artistic determination for their compositions to be like a skyline on Guy Fawkes Night: Full of explosions, bursts of light and vibrant colour and boasting a pure, illuminated majesty that is so wonderfully juxtaposed by the blackness it calls its canvas. The whole record flows reverently, it’s current gripping your ankles no matter how hard you may try to fight it. There’s a beating heartbeat which you can feel and hear throughout. Where there are changes in tempo, where passages are jagged and threatening or sweetly serene still that pulsating heartbeat sounds. The album is alive.

In many ways this album is the future. I mean, our elder statesmen are right really, bands don’t clamber up the league tables like they used to. It took Avenged Sevenfold 15 years of hard slog to be honoured with a headline slot at Donnington for instance – 14 for Slipknot – and even then there were the naysayers who questioned their stature and ability to handle such a task. But times are changing too. These days, albums and the bands that create them are single standing entities; there are few real movements that generate the momentum to make a collective cultural impact like the flower power movement of the 60s or the thrash invasion of the 1980s.  But it’s weird how, in a time where we seem to find offense in everything and anything, music never manages to truly shock us anymore, to never really inspire that emotive surge where we the people join together and make a band heroes. It’s all been done before as far as revolution and button pushing is concerned – the closet we’ve come to that in recent times is arguably dubstep. So yes, perhaps the true forcefulness of rock n’ roll is dead, we can’t spark anything overtly sensational through crunching guitars and well penned lyrics anymore but we can still appreciate a good album when it regurgitates down your lug’oles and ‘Harvest of Darkness’ is one of the best. You’ll struggle to hear a more rounded and exquisitely executed release this year.  Considering that this is a debut full length release that achievement only becomes more remarkable.

Alongside the ingenuities and provocative pieces from ‘Blood Maker’ which are included again on this release – and deservedly so, let the music do the talking with those – ‘I Of The Prism’ is another scintillating highlight. It’s brazen guitar work and searing vocal lines force a real sense of horripilation upon you, you don’t so much as listen to this as you do experience it. Its structure is a labyrinth of crazed punk drumming, a really atmospheric but menacing, reverb drenched instrumentation and enough melody to blind a unicorn. The maze then leads you straight to the heart of the emphatic, anthemic lead single ‘War Is A Romance’.

Across the track’s frenetic, as-chaotic-as-a-bouncy-ball-launched-into-a-tiny-rubber-lined-room length, you pass through so many dimensions, musical references, gorgeous, spine-tingling nuances and insatiable fury. It stops you dead in your tracks. From the Motörhead styled, foot-to-the-accelerator openings, to Mastodon like pummelling’s later on down the line, betwixt solos that twist and scream like one of Jack the Ripper’s vulnerable and squeamish victims, it’s a song that has more than affirmed my already well established love for this band. Their oeuvre is simply devastating. 

The bastard love child The Mars Volta, Glassjaw, Coheed & Cambria and Muse, while undertones of punk rock angst and power, it’s easy to see their standpoint from an ideological stance. Piecing the intricacies and nuances together however is a much trickier affair, but this is a release which basks in the bafflement it causes. Soaring choruses and vocal work – with many lyrical themes touching upon the human condition, its strengths and its weaknesses, its failings and its beauty – are the icing on the cake however. They give the bigger picture a much sweeter and addictive coating. ‘Lone Lust’ is delicate meanwhile. Quieter mostly, more experimental with the dynamic depth and diversity at their disposal, you cans see themselves pushing their creative aesthetic, feeling where the boundaries to their strengths and capabilities lie. There is, I must add, enough room to swing a tiger within those confines. 

It all ends with ‘Trans,’ a barrage of spasmodic rhythms, Josh Holland going hell for leather on his whammy pedal with it all coming across so vulgar and messy but in the best possible way. Their sound is huge, thanks in part to all that reverb, and there is a real depth to it which swallows you like a whale shark will to whichever poor creatures just so happen to cross its path at the wrong time.  So lay your flowers on the turf and wipe your cheek one last time. Hell, say a few sorrowful words if you have to. Rock is dead and this is its funeral. Question is; why does it sound so damn good?

‘Harvest of Darkness’ is available here

FFO: The Mars Volta, Glassjaw, Coheed & Cambria and Muse

Band info: official | facebook

Malevolent Creation - 'Dead Man's Path' (Album Review)

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 02/10/2015

Label: Century Media Records

‘Corporate Weaponry’ has blasts aplenty, along with some excellent lead work. It certainly ticks all the boxes: memorable title and thus chorus, breakdown section, time changes and a superb production. Fast and furious in the main, this is a fine example of where Malevolent Creation are at in 2015. Simply put, if you like any of the band's previous work, you will love this. If you enjoy death metal that is not too far into tech-territory, then this record is for you. Death metal, for death metal fans.

‘Dead Man's Path’ CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. Dead Man's Path

02. Soul Razer

03. Imperium (Kill Force Rising)

04. Corporate Weaponry

05. Blood Of The Fallen

06. Resistance Is Victory

07. 12th Prophecy

08. Extinction Personified

09. Fragmental Sanity

10. Face Your Fear

11. Carnivorous Misgivings *

12. Dominated Resurgency *

* (Bonus Tracks of the Digipak and the CD included in the LP-version,

re-recorded songs from the “Stillborn” album

Malevolent Creation is

Phil Fasciana | guitar

Bret Hoffmann | vocals

Jason Blachowicz | bass

Gio Geraca | guitar

Justin DiPinto | drums

The Review:

It would be no exaggeration to say that Malevolent Creation wrote ‘The Ten Commandments’ of death metal! Joking aside, that one album alone cements their status as a classic band. Sure, they are not usually included in most lists of “Obituary/Deicide/Morbid Angel/Cannibal Corpse” when discussing a death metal version of the Big Four, but if those bands are that, then Malevolent Creation must be not too far off...

The Florida (by way of Buffalo) veterans return with this dark and rumbling release. The title track is downbeat and doomy- not a blast beat to be found and spoken word vocals used. An interesting start. ‘Soul Razor’ finds the band on more familiar territory. 3,2,1... Blast Off! It's feral stuff; as sharp as the title implies but with a listenable quality that elevates them above most modern pretenders to the throne. ‘Imperium (Kill Force Rising)’ is an energetic romp that remains engaging throughout its six plus minutes.

‘Corporate Weaponry’ has blasts aplenty, along with some excellent lead work. It certainly ticks all the boxes: memorable title and thus chorus, breakdown section, time changes and a superb production. Fast and furious in the main, this is a fine example of where Malevolent Creation are at in 2015.

‘Blood of The Fallen’ continues this template- very speedy to start with new drummer Justin DiPinto acquitting himself very well throughout (the less said about the controversy surrounding the exit of former drummer Gus Rios, the better). Of course, the song slows for a spell and offers up some nicely chugging riffage.

The second half of the album is arguably even more brutal with the likes of ‘Resistance is Victory’ ruining your speakers. ‘The 12^th Prophecy’ has a brilliantly dramatic feel to the main riff and keeps things taut from thereon. Indeed, the album is focussed throughout; ‘Extinction Personifies’ rattles by at pace and ‘Fragmental Sanity’ has a really old school feel to the riffs and lyrics- great stuff. ‘Face Your Fear’ finishes off this strong release with a more groove based initial attack that would not be out of place on a Six Feet Under album. The pace picks up, of course, running the gamut of fast thrash beats, half times and turnarounds.

Simply put, if you like any of the band's previous work, you will love this. If you enjoy death metal that is not too far into tech-territory, then this record is for you. Death metal, for death metal fans.

‘Dead Man’s Path’ is available here

FFO: Deicide, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary

Band info: facebook

Organ - 'Tetro' EP (Review)

By: Chris Bull

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 09/09/2015

Label:  Independent

People have always said that on a map of the world, Italy resembles a boot, well; it would seem that lately that boot is stomping holes in motherfuckers,  because Organ’s music  translates crushing doom in the vein of Usnea, a sound reminiscent of French sludge/hardcore band Drawers and the swagger and snarl of early Electric Wizard. 

‘Tetro’ DD track listing:

1). Slave Ship

2). Witch House

3). Kholat Syakhi

4). Hal

5). Enuma Anu Enlil

Organ is:

Alessandro Del Pellegrin | bass

Guilio Fabbro | Drums

Luca Rizzardi | Guitars, vocals

Alessandro Brun | Guitars, vocals

The Review:

A rather pleasantly surprising release from Belluno, Italy's Organ. Not stoner, not sludge, not doom but a band forged in the furnace where all three genre's paths collide.

'Slave Ships' kick things off with some crushing doom in the vein of Usnea. The guitars clang and ring with a sound reminiscent of French sludge/hardcore band Drawers. They play the same riff virtually all the way through this 9 minutes opener but due to the swirling nature of the layers of reverbed guitar, it manages not to become repetitive. Second track 'Witch House' has the swagger and snarl of early Electric Wizard without it sounding like a blatant rip off. 'Kholat Syakhl' is a great song, the colossal riff and pounding drums make it sound like a giant ogre, trampling forests and crushing villages. 'Hal' is a killer atmospheric track that conjures images of ritual sacrifices. The drummer absolutely nails it keeping it minimalist. 'Enuma Anu Enlil' has got the 'Dopethrone' vibe down to a T, churning out the kind of riffs that Jus Oborn and Co should be doing right now. A nice clean section livens it up before some more punishing doom with added dark psychedelics flowing through. Nicely done!

Italy has been responsible for some brilliant heavy music as of late. Bands the likes of Grime and Ufommamut have been making waves (the latter for a good few years) and labels such as Argonauta are keeping the scene alive by investing their time and money into putting out awesome releases. People have always said that on a map of the world, Italy resembles a boot, well; it would seem that lately that boot is stomping holes in motherfuckers.

‘Tetro’ is available here

FFO: Usnea, Drawers, Electric Wizard

Band info: Bandcamp | facebook