ALBUM REVIEW: Mourir, “Animal Bouffe Animal”

By: Josh McIntryre

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 21/02/2020

Label: Throatruiner 

“Animal Bouffe Animal” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Sentir Le Vide
2. Ton Univers Mental M’Épuise
3. Foutu Pour Foutu
4. La Gueule Ouverte
5. Parole De Hyène
6. Animal Bouffe Animal

The Review:

The comparisons to Plebeian Grandstand are inevitable given this initially being a project of that band’s bassist, Oliver L. That being said, Mourir stands out on its own and brings us an album that I fully expect to be one of 2020’s best in black metal.

This is more on the side of atmospheric black metal if we want to be picky but that doesn’t mean that Mourir stays in the background. The music isn’t exactly trance inducing. Instead, like Plebeian, Mourir is dark, dissonant, and downright aggressive. Its animalistic bite comes from the production as it is absolutely in-your-face the majority of the time whether blast-beats are pounding with a cranked snare (much louder than most black metal) or when they are pulled back for more crushing sections. Even the ambient sections feel threatening. In addition to this hell-inducing music the vocals are bestial, demonic. They sound like the core of someone’s inner being, with all of their existential anguish, lashing out onto the world.

Heavy metal has been inducing this kind of imagery for fifty years now so it is rare to find a band that stands out in its brutality. This, for me, rings even more true within the black metal genre, a culture filled with bands that try to be ‘dark and evil’ but just end up mellow and corny. It just sounds so personal with Mourir. It’s the difference between fantasy violence, like playing Mortal Kombat as a kid, and seeing actual blood from an actual person. It’s the nausea felt by Antoine Roquentin and the bitter ennui we’d expect from Sisyphus, even if he’s supposed to be happy. There’s a certain psychological realism at play that’s hard to explain but ultimately it’s our ability to relate that makes it all the more gruesome and yet so much more interesting.

“Animal Bouffe Animal “is supposed to sound like we’re being pulled into Hell (and reads like it from what I gather using Google to translate the French lyrics) yet it feels like the human id screaming at a world it is mismatched with, as if Hell is just a metaphor. Misþyrming and Blut Aus Nord stand out as other bands I’d liken Mourir to and this record is easily as good as the 2019 albums from both, respectively. When you want your black metal to be disgusting and aggressive this record is a must.

“Animal Bouffe Animal” is available HERE

Band info: Instagram || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Bonded, "Rest in Violence"

By: Peter Morsellino 

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/01/2020

Label: Century Media Records

“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?  Slayer took their final bows late last year.   Metallica and Megadeth have 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 Bonded is the band that is up to that task. On their 2020 album, “Rest in Violence”, Bonded offer 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 Motorhead vibe, while sometimes even evoking Kind Diamond in their theatricality.  Guitar harmonies rival the best of Iron Maiden's catalog. 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, Bonded do 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. 

Bonded offer 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. 

“Rest in Violence” is available HERE

Band info: facebook

6 NEW BANDS: THE SLUDGELORD's "666 Pack Review" (January 2020)

By: Nikos Mixas

Wow! The “666 Pack review” made it to a new decade and we can affirm without a doubt that 2020 is going to be even more heartless, demeaning and crass than the previous years. Why? Because THE SLUDGELORD has the testicular fortitude to say what other reviewers won’t!!!  If you suck, we’re not going to sugarcoat it.  If you rule, we’re going to make sure everyone knows about it.  And if you’re new to this, each and every month we handpick 6 review submissions and critique them by only using 6 words, then we rate them on a scale from 1 to 666!  Check out our there’s no hope for you this decade rating scale below: 

1 – You should go bye bye just like 2019 did…

2 – The good news is that you have a whole decade to get better, the bad news is that you probably won’t.  

3 – The 2010’s were above average as far as heavy music was concerned.  You can do better or take up a real hobby like review writing instead.

4 – Being one of the first bands reviewed for this decade, not too shabby so far.       

5 – We feel like you’re setting the bar higher for the new year.  Better than sucking.     

666 – THE SLUDGELORD believes you’ll be mentioned again during December’s best of 2020 write up, excellent job fuckers!

Caveat:  Even though the “666 Pack Review” is meant to offer humorous critique, there are no safe spaces here and your gripes will only make you sound like a bellyacher.  THE SLUDGELORD is a picky listener…and doesn’t care what you think of his opinions….

Astralborne “Eternity’s End” (Toledo, OH, U.S.A.)    Rating: 3

Possibly Dethklok’s 7^th somewhat talented cousin…. 

Lamassu “Into The Empty” (Melbourne, Australia)   Rating: 5

Dude has range like Chris Cornell…

Blasphematory “Depths of the Obscurity“ (New Jersey, U.S.A.)   Rating: 4

Crude old school ghoulish death metal.  

Lapsarian “Ruminant” (Washington, D.C., U.S.A.)   Rating: 4

Mostly for fans of “post” anything.

Psychocoven “Black Magic Rites” (Katowice, Poland)  Rating: 3

Bobby Liebling, are you in here?  

Imipolex “Order of The Epimethean Flame” (Portland, ME, U.S.A.)   Rating: 5

Chaotic, grindy blackened death, techy explosions.

ALBUM REVIEW: Coffin Curse, "Cease to Be"

By: Chris Markwell

Music is, at its heart, the joy of discovery.  There’s nothing quite like finding a new sound, a new band, that instantly sparks your imagination, or leaves you wanting to learn more.  

When I was handed Coffin Curse’s debut album “Ceased to Be”, I was intrigued.  Being released on 27 January 2020 through Memento Mori, this is classic, old-school death metal, with gut-punch riffery and haunting, reverb-soaked solos. 

This was a discovery.  I had to learn more.  

Information about the band itself, however, was quite difficult to find.  So, I went ahead and sent them a message through the aether of the internet, and was pleasantly surprised to find them more than happy to interact with this enamoured fan

Sludgelord) Hello there, please introduce yourselves

Hi Chris, first of all we want to thank you for your support and dissemination for this rotten death metal crusade. The band is called Coffin Curse, formed by Carlos Fuentes and Max Neira, in the over-polluted city of Santiago, the capital city of Chile, a country located in the far south of this planet. 

Sludgelord) How long has Coffin Curse been a band, and were you in any bands before this one? 

Coffin Curse was formed in 2012, primarily as an alternate project. Our main band until that moment was Inanna, a death metal horde that has remained uninterrupted since 2000. Between the two of us, we have participated in various metal outfits like Trimegisto, Death Smell, Perpetuum, Sol Sistere and others that this alcoholic memory does not allow me to remember now. 

Sludgelord) What is the metal scene like in Chile? 

If we put everything together as one scene, we can say that it has been very strong since 1983 approximately. The number of bands is almost overwhelming, and we could name a hundred excellent projects for more than 30 years of history. In each town starting at the north end to the bitter cold of the Magallanes region, it is full of hate and crap that is synthesized as metal music. Nowadays, is like A set of micro-scenes in a bag, nobody cares much about music at a national level, if not at a level at which each zone supports its own bands or friends, which it’s OK, I think. New generations have appeared and the bands multiply. In our particular case, we’re getting old and we are not very interested about social life and shit besides METAL.

Sludgelord) Do you have any tour dates lined up? 

Nothing apart from a visit planned for February 22 in the city of Santa Bárbara

located in the south of the country. 

Sludgelord) Where would you like to tour? 

Leaving aside our own country, we would be interested to know Perú, parts of Europe and the US. We hope that with the release of our first full-length a good & nasty tour can be realized, wherever.

I am very grateful to both Carlos Fuentes and Max Neira for taking the time and effort to respond to my questions, it’s very much appreciated.  

So, the Chilean two-piece have created this album with intent to destroy speakers worldwide.  And they should succeed: what they lack in band members, they more than make up for in musical texture.  Seriously, just two guys made this?? The riffs are rampant, the vocals are so guttural they could shred steel, and the drumming is the relentless pounding that quickens the heartbeat in excitement.  

Eight songs, two maniacs, no regrets.  My personal pick of the bunch is “Deep in Streams of Purifying Dirt”, which starts with this doomy, tolling intro, which then rips into this hacking, mauling terror, full of time changes and vicious vocals.  Imagine if “South of Heaven” era Slayer got into a bar fight with Necrophagist, and you may get the idea.  

Coffin Curse’s “Ceased to Be” is a statement of intent.  It’s a joy to listen to, and shows that Chilean death metal is definitely a worthwhile scene to experience.  It’s a hard-hitting debut release: put this on, crank it up, and feel the touch of death upon you.  

Band info: facebook  || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Sepultura, "Quadra"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 07/02/2020

Label: Nuclear Blast

“Quadra” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Isolation
2. Means To An End
3. Last Time
4. Capital Enslavement
5. Ali
6. Raging Void
7. Guardians Of Earth
8. The Pentagram
9. Autem
10. Quadra
11. Agony Of Defeat
12. Fear; Pain; Chaos; Suffering

The Review:

Fifteen albums in and Sepultura are still very much a creative force. Sepultura have been in a purple patch for some time now, certainly since the “Mediator...” album and arguably for a lot longer than that (“Kairos” and “A-Lex” were both excellent). If we attribute the fire to Eloy Casagrande behind the kit then, well, that is as solid argument as any. He is the best extreme metal drummer around today, in my view. Power, speed and technique without end. He's brought young fresh blood into a band which is now 35 years old.

If you are a Cavalera purest, I have no idea if “Quadra” will make you see the error of your ways or not. Suffice it to say that this is an album of four parts- hence the title. There are twelve tracks, so each side of vinyl (or trio of songs) follows a pattern to an extent.

First up is all out thrash metal. “Isolation” is ferocious as an opener and is catchy and frighteningly powerful. Casagrande puts in overtime on the kit. The music and vocals are fantastic. “Means To An End” follows with a groove thrash approach. Superb guitar work from Kisser as per and Derrick Green runs through a couple of vocal stylings; more on that later. As an opening pairing, they are akin to “Trauma of War” and “The Vatican” from the “Mediator...” record and thus there are not many better pairings of tracks in the band's career.

Jens Bogren is at the production helm again and he brings a fat and live sound, heavy on the low end with powerful but not machine like drums and very clear mixing through all instruments. The last of the thrash trio is “Last Time”, which opens with a very cool Kisser motif and then bullies its way into your ears. It has multiple time shifts, multiple riff sections and is an exercise in heaviness. The first quarter of the album is thus a roaring success and emphatically states that Sepultura are still amongst the best heavy bands on the planet.

The next three tracks are described in the press release as bringing back some of the groove and percussion of the “Roots” era. Fortunately, it's successful. “Capital Enslavement” has the rhythms but also the RIFFS and is guaranteed to get your head banging. With its stabs of strings and time changes, this is a banger for sure. The solo section is not short on adrenaline either.

The theme continues with “Ali”; a heavy-as-lead riff workout in which yet again Derrick Green excels. It's slower but grooves very effectively. “Raging Void” has more of a rolling groove feel, but again with proper riffs as well as chugging guitars. Green makes a compelling case for being man of the match for the album; his vocals are seemingly only getting better with age. They are precise and furious and over the album he offers up an impressive range of styles.

With that, we are into the second half of the album and the experimental sections of songs (as Andreas Kisser describes them). “Guardians of Earth” duly opens with a passage of acoustic guitar, expertly played and then the Latin percussion comes in. This is like Sepultura turning the clock back to 1993 again, but the choral voices and lush production are elements that would not have been considered back then. Just when you think its “Kaiowas “part 2, Green's roar jumps out of the speakers and then the time shifts as Kisser recreates the acoustic motif via electric amplification. It's adventurous and it works.

Next up is an instrumental- electric, not acoustic- in the shape (ha!) of “The Pentagram”. It's fleet of foot and is a great piece of music. All musicians operating at the top of their game. For me, it doesn't quite match “Iceberg Dances” from “Machine Messiah”, but that was an incredible track and remains a highlight of that record for me- I'm really splitting hairs. “The Pentagram” certainly has all out thrashing guitars, dynamic shifts and very clever changes and is thus an aural delight. “Autem” finishes the third quarter of this varied album in some style. It opts for a quiet loud dynamic, with Green once again using his voice in different styles. It's a blistering vocal performance and catchy in the choruses. “Autem” would actually fit in within the first part of the record- were it not for Green's excellent singing drifting away from the thrash template. It's a late album highlight and a stand out because of the experimentation the band has opted for.

The title track is up next up and is actually a rather pretty acoustic piece that runs under two minutes and bridges the record into the final two tracks. Via the acoustic melodies of the title track, the band allows the listener to prepare for a melodic ending to the album. If it starts ferociously, which it does, and carries on as a very heavy album, which it also does, then the final quarter is like a cool down workout to finish. “Agony of Defeat” is still pretty weighty with yet more stellar vocal work from Green and some choral additions that are not overused and it is a melodic yet heavy and varied track.

The record closes with “Fear; Pain; Chaos; Suffering”- four states of mind/being that are mirrored within the composition and structure of the track. There is a female voice to start which adds variety and colour to the song, with Green backing her and then coming in full pelt. As a track it's really a great piece of work. It would fit in on a  trip hop album by, say, Tricky, if it did not have the metal backing. Although experimentation is a term that has come up a lot in this review- or at least been referenced- then to think that the whole album is defined by this is not accurate. To be clear, this is a very metal and very heavy record. There is speed and weight across the whole thing and fans of any of the band's eras and line ups will find much to enjoy here.

It's an ambitious and successful record that continues Sepultura's winning streak and once again places them in the running as metal album of the year contenders. It's one of the best Green-era albums; hell, it's better than most Sepultura albums of any era. It's meticulously detailed, focused, ambitious and successful. An incredible record.

“Quadra” is available HERE

Band info: facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Ryte, "Ryte"

By: Peter Morsellino

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/01/2020

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

“Ryte” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). Raging Mammoth

2). Shaking Pyramid

3). Monolith

4). Invaders

The Review

Who's got the funk?  Ryte's got the funk.  And these fast rising stars of Psychedelia are willing to share it with you on their self titled debut.  With bone rattling grooves and an ear for the cosmos, Ryte is going on a trip and they're taking you with them.

Across the albums forty minute listening time, the thunderous grooves are prevalent.  Bass is the driving force behind this band. Psychedelic jams abound in a swirling sea of galactic jelly, drums shift from earth shaking to swinging, while that funky ass bass keeps you dancing.  Couple that with some of the best used gratuitous wah wah guitars this side of a porno, and you have some killer, trippy acid grooves.

Ryte begins its debut with the rumbling “Raging Mammoth”. With bouncy seventies style riffing and guitar licks to put a smile on any hippies face, this track quickly melds into an all out stoner romp. It’ll have you moving the whole time.

“Shaking Pyramid” starts off as a solid acid rock jam. The groove is good, beat is hard, good stuff. And then they take it in a whole new direction. That bass, those drums.  What am I listening to?  Whatever it is I'm happy to say I love it.

“Monolith” brings us right back to that hammering pace.  Stoner riffs abound as the drums and bass pound out that groove that Ryte just refuse to let go of.  Vocals are introduced into the mix as haunting cries from within the void, creating a surprising but very welcome effect.

We close things out with “Invaders”. A trippy trek through time and space.  Another great funky bass and drum combo kicks in while a hypnotic guitar tries to take complete control of the listener. Let it take you, dear reader, let it compel you to dance.

In a world progressively losing its mind, Ryte offers up some simple pleasures.  A chance to shed the weight of life and have some fun. This is a good time record, whether odds used to enhance them or start them up. Ryte being the funk and they bring it well.

“Ryte” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Acid Mammoth, "Under Acid Hoof"

By: Andrew Davie

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 24/01/2020

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

“Under Acid Hoof” CD//DD//LP track listing

1). Them!

2). Tree Of Woe

3). Tusks Of Doom

4). Jack The Riffer

5). Under Acid Hoof

The Review:

Acid Mammoth, from Greece, delivers with their sophomore release “Under Acid Hoof”. As the title implies, listeners will be bombarded with all of the standard hallmarks of excellent doom, stoner, and sludge metal in the form of thick distorted riffs.

While Acid Mammoth has managed to capitalize on the staples of the genre, at no point is it derivative. They establish themselves as a band that will help to define the genre in the future. The album only has five tracks, but the shortest song clocks in at almost four and a half minutes. The opening track “Them!” sets the scene for what will follow: a slow tempo assault with a melodic delivery of vocals and instruments creating a landscape incorporating all the elements fans have come to expect.

Acid Mammoth has constructed a stellar album with song titles such as “Tree of Woe”, “Tusks of Doom”, and “Jack The Riffer”, which set the scene for what to expect. Acid Mammoth demonstrates both playfulness with a pun on Jack The Ripper, as well as more straightforward doom titles in “Tree of Woe” which refers to a scene from the film Conan the Barbarian. Listening to the band, one gets the sonic experience of a wooly mammoth trapped in a tar pit, as it slowly sinks into extinction.

Acid Mammoth sets the bar high with this album. I’m looking forward to more from them in the future.

“Under Acid  Hoof” is available HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook