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Presenting up to date news, reviews & interviews for riff addicts around the world.
This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
🎧 In terms of this
week's listening, the variety of artists increased significantly despite total plays remaining
unchanged. Artist, album and track counts all climbed sharply, which highlighted a much broader listening week. Despite the wider spread of artists and sounds, Hippotraktor'sAnnihilist emerged
as my defining record of the week, topping the artist and album charts while Hippotraktoralso claimed all three top
track positions.
These
were the artists that defined my listening, and all bands offer something
genuinely unique. Hippotraktorand Sickmind were both new
discoveries for me. I’d definitely
recommend checking out all these bands, along with my curated playlist, which
this week also includes tracks from the classic Slayer album, Seasons in the
Abyss, which celebrated its 26 year anniversary. Also featured on my curated playlist were ambretta, Acausal Intrusion and a reentry for Nott, the latter two artists I was completing deep dive into their back catalogues
---
⚔️ Weekly Breakdown
📊 486 plays (0.0%) 🔱 14 artists
(+55.6%) 💿 19 albums (+58.3%)
(not full run-throughs) 🎧 149 tracks
(+65.6%) ⏱ 38 hrs (+35.7%) 📈 69 plays/day
(0.0%)
🔥 Peak: Oct 14 — 114
plays (-34.1%)
---
🔱 Top Artists
🔱Hippotraktor— 129 plays 🔱ACAUSAL INTRUSION— 70 plays 🔱Nott— 66 plays
---
💿 Top Albums
💿Hippotraktor— Annihilist (2026)
(129 plays) ↳ Equivalent to approx.
18.4 full album play-throughs 💿ambretta— Something Has to
Change (2026) (57 plays) ↳ Equivalent to approx.
7.1 full album play-throughs 💿Slayer— Seasons in the Abyss
(1990) (40 plays) ↳ Equivalent to approx.
4.0 full album play-throughs
“Rest in Violence” CD//DD//LP track listing: 1. Godgiven (04:13) 2. Suit Murderer (04:12) 3. Rest in Violence (03:49) 4. Je Suis Charlie (03:55) 5. The Rattle & The Snake (04:00) 6. No Cure for Life (4:40) 7. Where Silence Reverberates (05:14) 8. Galaxy M87 (04:52) 9. Arrival (03:52) 10. The Outer Rim (04:42)
The Review:
What is the current state of Thrash
Metal?Slayertook their
final bows late last year.Metallicaand Megadethhave risen
into the musical stratosphere leaving behind much of what made them the bands
they are today.The genre continues to grow
but seems to grow more and more unrecognizable with the growing influence of hardcore.
Who remains carrying the flame?Who can
return thrash to its classic roots?I
believe that Bondedis the band that is up to that task. On their 2020 album, “Rest
in Violence”, Bondedoffer up some of the best, pure, uncut thrash metal I've
heard in a very long time.
searing, burning, face melting
thrash.
This album burns quickly. With its
mile a minute tempos and infectious grooves keeping the listener laser focused,
it seems to be over almost as quickly as it begins. Don't get me wrong though,
this isn't a speed run. This album has a lot to offer in its diversity.While its title track works desperately to
break the sound barrier, tracks like “No Cure For Life” rest back on mid-tempo
beats without losing any of the intensity.Even when leaning off the gas, this album maintains that thrashy grit
and attitude that brought us to it.
The vocals on this album blended
perfectly with the band's breakneck pace give off a hint of a Motorheadvibe, while
sometimes even evoking Kind Diamondin their theatricality.Guitar harmonies rival the best of Iron Maiden'scatalog.
Drums hammer into the listener's skull, sometimes stealing the show
entirely.If you like drums and own a
car, you may want to invest in a steering wheel cover before giving this album
a listen. It's going to get a workout.
Lyrical themes on “Rest in
Violence” are a diverse mix. While all the genre's favorite themes are
present, Bondeddo not rest on the tried and true standards of war and
bloodshed.These songs often reach into
the realms of space for influence, creating a particularly interesting
atmosphere for thrash metal. One particular lyrical standout, “The Outer Rim”
offers up some sorrowful emotion that is all too often missing from thrash.
Bondedoffer up a masterpiece of thrash metal
on par with the best of anything the Big Four have offered in a very long time.
Break out your battle jacket for this one and get ready to headbang.
Castle remain unique and mix up the sounds and
approaches of many of your favourite bands to create a superlative heavy metal record
“Deal Thy Fate” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Can’t Escape the Evil
2). Skull in the Woods
3). Prelude
4). Hexenring
5). Wait For Dark
6). Deal Thy Fate
7). Haunted
8). Red Phantom
9). Firewind
The Review:
Castle have been on quite the
prolific run since 2011; this is their fourth full length. 2016's “Welcome To The Graveyard” was a great,
great album and my favourite of theirs to date. Is “Deal Thy Fate” a step forward, sideways or back? Either read on or
go and listen to it to find out...
The
band remain with a foot/other body part in several different camps. It's not
doom, it's not trad, it's not thrash, it's not rock. In fact, it's all those
things mixed together. The band have a spooky vibe and veer towards the doom
rock of Pentagram
at times, but there are many riffs here which lean towards, or even heavily on,
Slayer
for reference. From the opener of “Can't
Escape the Evil” and into“Skull in the Woods”, you can only
assume that Castle
have summoned Jeff Hanneman's spirit and he has communicated what he would have
played from beyond the grave, leading Mat Davis to oblige. That's not to take
away from the material, it's a fresh angle for the band and they work it well.
Over
the course of the eight tracks and one interlude here, Castle have added to their sound
and built solidly on their previous three records. “Hexenring” could have nestled very comfortably into “WTTGY” and the vocals of Liz Blackwell
are as stellar as ever. “Wait For Dark”
is dramatic and evil in delivery and riffage and shows the band have retained
an endearing rawness to their approach. My digitally provided copy has a few
glitches here and there- it is hard to ignore at times with a couple of jumps
in this track and others.
Digital
issues aside, the sound of the album and the title track are reassuringly
analogue. The evil and dark vibes continue and work really well with
Blackwell's schizophrenic vocals. Once again, Castle are hard to pigeon-hole;
the title track could be out of the Angel Witch NWOBHM play book, while “Haunted” goes much further towards hard
rock. There may be nothing as immediate as “Flash of the Pentagram” here, but the songs throughout are
uniformly strong and the production is perfect for the band.
The
melting pot of hard rock and Slayer-esque riffing continues with “Red Phantom” and it delivers a storming
and hard rocking penultimate track for this confident album. For the closing “Firewind”, Castle slow things down and
offer up a track which starts effectively as a maudlin ballad and then gets
heavier. Hey, if it's good enough for 70's era Priest... it's good enough for
anybody. Castle
deliver a surprisingly emotional final statement and close out the album with
strength and purpose. The band have progressed here, no doubt, and they have
set themselves up for a broader sound on their next album- should they wish to
deliver such a thing. Castle remain unique and mix up the sounds and
approaches of many of your favourite bands to create superlative heavy metal and
hard rock. Excellent.
Order “Deal Thy Fate”direct from
the band HERE and via Ripple Music HERE.
This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding and
with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly and
stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.
“Pestilent Death” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:
1.
Tremolation (04:19)
2. Roar of War (04:38)
3. Abracadabra (04:46)
4. Manic Oppression (03:48)
5. Tremendous Insane (05:40)
6. Pestilent Death (04:12)
7. Hells Butcher (04:29)
The Review:
Australia's
Vomitor plays a kind of death metal/thrash metal/black
metal hybrid. Noisy, tough and uncompromising about sums these boys up. This is
very much on the Venom-Bathory-Sodom continuum, use
that as a starting point and then modernise a bit...
The
band, having been plugging away since the 90s and are on vicious form here.
This is even better than “The Escalation”
album of a few years ago. Better songs, production and mix. Over the course of
seven tracks the band batters the listener very convincingly from the opening
maelstrom of “Tremolation” to the
slowed down and grinding “Road of War” and
into the noise fest of “Abracadabra”,
the band sets out their stall and invites you to leave if you don't like it.
You
can hear the influences here; early Slayer, Sodom and so on, but this is more extreme than any of the
bands mentioned above. The band has picked up the ball and run with it,
Aussie-rules style. The dramatic opening of “Manic Oppression” gives way to an all out thrash attack while the
album's epic centrepiece of “Tremendous
Insane” makes a truly unholy racket.
Of
the final two tracks, the title track is more blackened in approach while the
closing horror of “Hells Butcher” is
as beastly as the previous album's “Pitch
Black”. The record is unrelenting and makes for very uneasy listening
throughout. This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding
and with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly
and stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.
“Pestilent Death”
is available on Cassette (HERE), CD (HERE), and Vinyl (HERE).
When at their best, as on “The Gathering”, there
are few thrash bands who are their equal.
"Live At The Fillmore" (1995), "Demonic"
(1997), "The Gathering"
(1999) (remastered by Andy Sneap) "First Strike Still Deadly"
(2001), “Live At Eindhoven '87"
(2009)
The Review:
Testament's career is generally viewed
as being a little behind the pace of the Big Four, but not by too much. Cursed
with a late start via their debut of “The
Legacy”, they followed it up impressively with “The New Order”, got a little more catchy on “Practice What You Preach” and then... lost their way a little
chasing Metallica
and then Pantera's
coat tails. The records they released in the first half of the 90's were thus a
mixed bag- great moments, weaker moments, thrash, no thrash and so on.
These
welcome reissues, then, remind us of what a potent force Testament returned as via a shot
of more extreme metal and an iron will. These reissues cover a couple of live
albums- from 1987 and 1995 and then their studio output from 1997 into the new
millennium. Let's be clear, Testament at their lowest ebb were still one
of the best metal bands around, and so if “Live
at The Fillmore” catches them on tour after the release of the album “Low”, it cherry picks the best tracks
from their career to that time. It's a solid and punchy listen- if maybe
lacking the “lightning in a bottle” x-factor that, say, “No Sleep Til Hammersmith” has. It works as a fine live best of-
most of the best album tracks are represented. 1987's “Live at Eindhoven”
catches the band at the very start of their international career and the
performances are rough, ready, energetic and fiery. Both releases are really
for fans only. For me John Dette being on drums makes “Live at The Fillmore” superior for me. He is one of the very best
drummers in thrash. He played with Anthrax, filling in for the equally majestic
Charlie Benante and he absolutely blew Paul Bostaph away- who must have been having
an off night!
1997's
“Demonic” is a superb and
surprisingly extreme listen. Chuck Billy introduced some very extreme elements
to his vocals to excellent effect and the overall impression is of a band
revitalised and out-heavying the competition (Metallica and Megadeth
were at career low points musically at this point, Anthrax were effectively
inactive and Slayer
were coming off the back of their worst studio album). Eric Peterson was firmly
at the helm as usual, with Chuck ably upping his game and the mighty Gene
Hoglan stepping in on drums. While Alex Skolnick was not present, Greg Alvelais
proved a worthy replacement with Greg Ramirez rounding out the studio line up.
The death metal influence is strong and the record finds the band doing what
they want to do- trends be damned. Great performances all around and impressive
writing; what a great come-back record! It also sounds great- tight and clear
with lots of weight to the production.
However,
with “The Gathering” in 1999, the
band hit an all time high. Dave Lombardo delivers a masterclass in thrash metal
drumming (thanks Aaron!) and all the material is top notch. From the massive
opener “DNR” to “Hammer of The Gods”, this is a thrash
tour de force from a time when no-one was releasing such records. There are
some classic tunes on here- “Riding The
Snake”, “3 Days in Darkness”, “Legions of The Dead”. Every track is
prime Testament
and is right up there with “The Legacy”
and “The New Order”- with much better
production. The fact that it is, in my view, Testament's best makes it one of
the best thrash albums of all time. Chuck proves on this one that he is one of
the best and most versatile vocalists in metal, while the chemistry between
Peterson and Lombardo is sublime. Steve Digiorgio helping out on bass really
helps the cause too- metal royalty! As a final boost, Andy Sneap's production
is excellent.
“First Strike...Still
Deadly”
rounds out the studio releases and is one of my favourite Testament records. Whilst some
fans may moan about the band re-recording their earlier classics and the
clinical sound, I loved this at the time of release and still do. The sound is
excellent, the performances are uniformly good (John Tempesta on drums this
time around) and the song choices are stellar. Having Steve Zetro Souza come
back for a couple of very early compositions is a nice bonus and overall I
would recommend buying this over and above the first two studio albums! That
may well not be a popular view, but there it is.
The
verdict on this set of re-issues? Three essential releases and two live albums
of good to great quality. Testament are usually mentioned in the same
breath as Exodus
and Overkill
as being just outside the Big Four, but that is not to say that they don't
knock all of Anthrax's
work plus half of Slayer's, Megadeth's and Metallica's discography into a
neatly cocked hat. When at their best, as on “The Gathering”, there are few thrash bands who are their equal.
After an extended break while Chuck Billy dealt with cancer, Testament
returned and to date have released three great studio records from 2008
onwards. A classic band.
Mammoth Grinder
isn’t some newfangled blackened tech fusion melodic death metal. This is Neanderthal music, meant to crush,
rend, rip and destroy to. In less than
30 minutes, this Paleolithic power trio blast out 11 tunes that don’t reinvent
the wheel – they lay waste to anything so civilized as that nonsense.
“Cosmic
Crypt” CD//DD//LP track listing
1. Grimmenstein
2. Servant of the Most High
3. Blazing Burst
4. Divine Loss
5. Molotov
6. Superior Firepower
7. Human is Obsolete
8. Locust’s Nest
9. Mysticism
10. Rotting Robes
11. Cosmic Crypt
The Review:
Now that the true deep freeze of winter has
crept into the northeastern US, my daily soundtrack has mostly been the coldest
black metal I can find. Shrill, inhuman,
alienating dissonance with tracks lasting ten or twenty minutes transporting me
to a land of northern darkness as vast as a Lovecraftian planetscape. But this year, the muck and humidity has
burst through unexpectedly, like a deep rot thought excised. The stink of swamp gas behind my home bubbles
up at random intervals, reminding me that while the grim sterility of winter
reigns on the surface, there’s a limitless, festering putrescence ready to boil
through the icy cracks. How appropriate
that the long dormant Mammoth Grinder rises
from the tomb to unleash classic death metal in the midst of this strange, damp
season.
Mammoth Grinder isn’t some newfangled blackened tech fusion
melodic death metal. This is Neanderthal
music, meant to crush, rend, rip and destroy to. In less than 30 minutes, this Paleolithic
power trio blast out 11 tunes that don’t reinvent the wheel – they lay waste to
anything so civilized as that nonsense. From
the opening salvos of “Grimmenstein”,
the emphasis on filthy low end tones pairs perfectly with bassist-vocalist
Chris Ulsh’s cave troll vocals.
Throughout “Cosmic Crypt”,
Ulsh sounds like he’s bellowing from the deepest underground chambers, daring
you to come face the horrors within.
Drummer Ryan Parrish, meanwhile, alternates between hardcore influenced,
straightforward metal beats, complemented by precise, slick fills. Mark Bronzino is definitely copping from the
old school, post-thrash vanguard (a la Slayer and Possessed) of shrill, whammy bar throttling leads – but he
does it so damn good, who would complain?
Aspiring rhythm riffers would do well to study his no frills, catchy as
fuck style.
The standout tracks here are the most
frenetic: punky thrash death rager “Blazing
Burst”; “Divine Loss”, that
turns on a dime from 6/8 dirge to straightforward death (with some nice
rhythmic eccentricities smattered here and there); and “Human is Obsolete” – which trudges through a deliciously sludgy
intro and has a simple but hypnotic guitar solo. The final one-two punch of “Rotting Robes” and “Cosmic Crypt” is an excellent crescendo
of fury on an already solid record. “Rotting Robes” is your standard death
metal before throwing in this beautifully rude, swaggering riff, riding on the
excellent rhythm section. The titular,
final track is definitely elevated by Ulsh unleashing his most unhinged
vocals. Not to be outdone, Bronzino lays
down his most restrained, memorable solo.
It’s easy to see why, with an unmatched performance, Mammoth Grinder closes the eponymous record with this
mini-masterpiece. And before you know it, the seething decay has receded.
Mammoth Grinder doesn’t wear you out with any extended
bullshit. They come to unleash slaughter
and crawl back into whatever nightmare dungeons they lurk in when not
decimating unwitting victims. I hope to
hell we get more filthy death from this trio before 2023, but at least I know
they’re lurking at the edges, ready to erupt when the world seems sterile and just
too serene.
All
of the nuance and balance on this record really make it an experience that
never bogs the listener down. It is for these reasons, that Dead Quiet’s “Grand Rites” is one of the best
Canadian Metal records of the year.
“Grand Rites” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Moon Curser
2). Blood Lovers
3). Corpse Revival
4). Disgraced
5). Fucking Oath
6). Dear Demon
7). Old Hopeless
8). Spiritual Abuse
9). Grand Rites
The Review:
Dead Quiet’s second full length
“Grand Rites” sees the band fully
forming their blend of classic rock and stoner metal. What was merely a nod on
their self titled release is now fully integrated on “Grand Rites”. For
band leader Kevin Keegan, this is his best album to date. Following his progression
from the early riff-sandwich that was Barn
Burnerall the way to the more sophisticated Dead Quiet, it has been
great to see the progression in his voice. His voice has gone from being in the
background on previous releases, to being the main focal point of this album.
The vocal range and variety exhibited by Kevin Keegan on “Grand Rites” has come a long way since “Bangers”.
Most
notably on “Grand Rites”, Dead Quiethas
incorporated keyboards into their sound. The addition of former 3 Inches of Bloodguitarist
Justin Hagberg, the 70’s influence is now fully embraced by the band. This is
apparent on the albums early tracks like the Deep Purple infused “Moon
Cruiser” to the white room re-imagining of “Blood Lovers”. Elements of Creedence
Clearwater Revivalbecome apparent on “Corpse Revival” which morphs into an onslaught of Slayeroriented thrash
riffs.
Perhaps
what makes this album so enjoyable is its tasteful use of every element it
brings to the table. The amount of acoustic instruments featured on tracks like
“Dear Demon”, and “Ritual Abuse”, for example, really
make its heavy elements shine through. All of the nuance and balance on this
record really make it an experience that never bogs the listener down. It is
for these reasons, that Dead
Quiet’s“Grand Rites”
is one of the best Canadian Metal records of the year.
The Cambridge English
Dictionary defines Deity as ‘Godhead; the
Supreme Being; a fabulous god or goddess; a divinity.’ That
definition needs to be amended to include DEITY the band; who melds old-school metal through
a thoroughly unique intense influence of their own into music that is godlike
and divine!
Inspired by Suffocation, Emperor, Death,
Slayer and Immortal
and describing their music as ‘relentless,
powerful, intriguing, honest and revitalizing’, DEITY has produced a truly special album,
combining the fantastic progressive instrumentals of Metallica and Iced Earth with
crushing metal anthems.
With the completion of DEITY's self-titled
album, the extreme duo, Danny and John are looking forward to taking their
sound to live stages in Toronto, Montreal and more in both those cities
provinces and beyond. Watch this pair, because DEITY are a band that deserve to break out
of the studio into the live arena! Guitarist/vocalist Danny Alessandro had the following to say about
the album
“This album
has been a long time in the making and we are very proud of what we've created.
From start to finish we want to take the listener on a journey of different
emotions and feeling. As fans of metal we wanted to create something the
listener could play over several times without losing interest. Something with
a timeless feeling, and we feel like we've achieved this. Chaotic, aggressive
and melodic are the best words to describe this self titled release. We
hope the metal community digs the album cheers!!!”
With the album set
to hit the streets on Friday 2nd June, you can check out the album
in all its brutal splendour below. For
more info about this release as it becomes available, like and follow DEITY via facebook
below.
The production
is superb, the performances fantastic and Ice-T turns in a stellar vocal
performance.Is this album as real as it
gets? I have no idea, but it certainly seems convincing. Harrowing and
enjoyable at the same time.
“Bloodlust” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Civil War (ft Dave Mustaine)
2). The Ski Mask Way
3). This Is Why We Ride
4). All Love Is Lost (ft Max Cavalera)
5). Raining In Blood/Postmortem 2017
6). God, Please Believe Me
7). Walk With Me (ft Randy Blythe)
8). Here I Go Again
9). No Lives Matter
10). Bloodlust
11). Black Hoodie
The Review:
Body
Count are
very much a going concern again. “Manslaughter”
from acouple of years ago went way
beyond the tin-pot production values of earlier albums and delivered a muscular
set of hardcore infused metal anthems.
With “Blood
Lust”, Ice-T, Ernie C and side men are back in that groove again: the album
is sometimes fast, often furious and packed with social commentary. A track by
track is somewhat redundant here, so let's focus on the highlights and the
overall theme of the album. Dave Mustaine pops up on opener “Civil War”, Randy Blythe of Lamb of God
pops up for a vocal cameo later... all the tracks bristle with rage against
society, authority and anything else you can name, really.
It's a dark and violent listen; “The Ski Mask Way” puts you in the mind of
a violent criminal (and lists who tempts them), while Ice explains his
perspective on revenge elsewhere on the record. Of course, Ice-T as a former
soldier and very real gang member in South Central LA has more than a passing
acquaintance with violence- albeit that those experiences are most likely
decades in the rear view mirror- but it is that life experience that gives Body Count's
message some level of gravitas. While I have no idea about the rest of the
band's criminal past or hood credentials (Ernie C's most serious past crime is
still the production to Sabbath's “Forbidden”
in the mid 90's in my view!), this is Ice's show. There is not a dragon, a
dungeon or a noble quest within earshot. The premise is simple: the world is a
mess, poverty is the real demon, people are evil, violent, selfish and lacking
in loyalty and honour.
The explanation of Body Count prior to the, it has
to be said, masterful Slayer cover(s) sums up Body Count very well: the doom
sound of Sabbath,
the street style of Suicidal Tendencies (scary dudes for sure) and
the speed of Slayer.
Ice-T is not playing at doing metal; he really loves it. I've always been fond
of Body
Count and Ice's solo hip hop albums (particularly “Home Invasion”, if you are asking).
The final three tracks are an urban
dystopian nightmare; “No Lives Matter”
decries race, poverty and, more importantly, the elite in a coherent and
stinging manner. The title track is simply uncomfortable listening- and most
definitely not for pacifists- while the coup de grace of “Black Hoodie” gives good commentary about what exactly is going on
in America with the police and black people (according to Ice-T, at any rate).
The heroes and villains in Body Count's
world are often two sides of the same coin, it seems. Much like rooting for
Jason in the Friday 13th movies, you kind of want some people to
“get what they deserve”- such is the appeal of gangsta rap as well as this kind
of brutal metal. It's an exhausting listen and one that is a good deal more
horrific than any death metal album you can care to name. At the end of
listening to this record, I feel luckier than ever to live in the UK, that's for
sure.
The production is superb, the performances
fantastic and Ice-T turns in a vocal and lyrical performance that is a million
miles away from his cosier TV appearances and persona. As real as it gets? I
have no idea, but it certainly seems convincing. Harrowing and enjoyable at the
same time.
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