Fuckhammer "Scorched Earth Prophets" (Review)

Fuckhammer “Scorched Earth Prophets”

2024 Independent / CD

fuckhammer.bandcamp.com

BADASS SONG TITLES: Curse of the Crimson Altar

BADASS TRACKS: Crisis Generator, Irregularities (perhaps the best one), Unmerciful Sisters, Curse of the Crimson Altar

I was delighted to see this band does have a limited CD version of this album. Digital-only releases never made sense to me if you’re an active band. So many metalists buy physical formats still that you really need to have it available in some physical format if you’re a serious band. But on to the music.

Fuckhammer from Ireland and Northern Ireland plays a deft mix of sludge, crust, and death metal, but with their own unique sound and approach, perhaps a bit reminiscent of later Carcass in their more death metal moments. The vocals are mostly in a savage mid- to high-pitch growl, a bit like Jeff Walker. I also hear a bit of perhaps Amebix or Axegrinder in their sound. There are samples scattered about that really add to the record, as well. Each song is well-written and well-structured, and clearly they’ve spent quite some time together as a band honing their craft. All the sources I see say 2011 was their first release, with a full-length in 2013 and now this one in 2024, with plenty of singles and a split in between.

Interestingly, there is some almost psychedelic playing on display during the interlude of Curse of the Crimson Altar while the film sample is playing. A very nice touch, as was the doom-laden ending to the soon, using repetition to great effect. The album overall is a well-recorded performance with melody in some unexpected places, but not out of place. I liked the record, and I’ll be watching to see what they do next.

Aberration / Diabolic Oath "Divinations" Split (Review)

Aberration / Diabolic Oath “Divination”

2024 Sentient Ruin Laboratories / 7”

www.sentientruin.com

On this split we get one 6-minute track each from Aberration of Minneapolis and Diabolic Oath from Portland. It’s a nice split, suitably underground-looking, with cool logos and nice gray and black art. Dismembered skeletons hanging from chains are always rad. Each band uses the word “divinations” in their track title, with “Divinations of Flesh” from Aberration and the mighty “Divinations of Wrath” from Diabolic Oath.

Aberration gives us a track of solid death metal, very much in the vein of Incantation and doomier Autopsy perhaps, but with a haunting sound, for some reason reminding me of Von, of all bands. I have no idea why that is, but it does in fact remind me of the Satanic Blood demo. It’s not nearly as repetitious as that, but it might because of the cave-like recording (and that is not an insult – it gives the song its own personality). It’s more intricately played than that, of course. While good, it didn’t reach out and strangle me and I felt it could be shorter, but doom-influenced death metal tends to longer compositions, of course. I’ll be looking forward to hearing more from Aberration to see if they step up their attack, because I’m definitely going to pay attention to them, but I have to hear more to decide for sure if I’m a true fan.

Diabolic Oath gives us a real treat on the B side, and they have a bit more of a black/death inclination, especially in the way the drums come across. This is easily my favorite of the two tracks on this split. Parts of it made me wish I still had hair to windmill! Possibly due to the drum sound or the reverb on the vocals, it reminded me a little bit of Demolition’s portion of the Heralds of Oblivion compilation from 1993 (hunt that sumbitch down if you can, it’s worth it!). Early to mid-period Necrophobic also came to mind during some of the more black metal-styled riffs. Stylistically, of course it’s different than those two bands, with almost a war metal vibe in certain parts of the song where the snare pounds away and the vocals echo malevolently, but the general feel is there. The Gorguts-like (or even Blasphemy-like) grunt with reverb right around the 3 minute mark made me a fan immediately. Badass creative choice there, and it built the intensity of the riff to follow perfectly. I just can’t say enough positive things about this track – it’s a good song. It made me a fan, so I’ll be actively trying to track down their other material for sure.

The Dawn Razor "In Sublime Presence" (Review)

The Dawn Razor “In Sublime Presence”

2024 M&O Music / CD

www.m-o-music.com

I won’t pick this album apart like I normally do, due to it not being what I look for in a death metal record. It’s only tangentially a death metal record, having more in common with progressive metal and black metal than death metal in my estimation, other than some of the vocals and riffs. It’s marketed as black/death, and I don’t think that’s off-base. It makes sense. That said, I’ll explain why I don’t like it much. Let’s dig into this solo act from France.

First, the vocals. They’re passable, but not great. And the clean singing must go. Get rid of it. My heart just dropped during the first track when I heard the clean vocals. They’re not great, and they don’t fit with the aggression of the rest of the music. The last thing I want to hear on a death metal record is clean singing, with very few exceptions. That shit’s for metalcore acts, not real death metal. Thankfully the actual singing doesn’t make too much more of an appearance throughout the record, but just when it should not, it does. I also don’t like the subject material of the album. “Inspired by the ideas and paintings from the sublime movement of the romantic era” is a tag-line from the promo material, and it’s accurate, but this metalist sees that as pretentious pseudo-intellectualism. I don’t give a fuck about art. I want DEATH METAL. Death metal and black metal are ugly, disgusting, anti-art forms and ought to be kept that way. They should be unpleasant to the uninitiated. That’s what drew me to this style of music in the first place.

Those criticisms aside, the musicianship on display where the guitars are concerned is magnificent. Sylvain Spanu can fucking play. He’s a great guitarist. Nobody can dispute that, and his talents are highlighted very well here. I’d love to hear him play in a traditional metal band, since I have a feeling he can fuckin’ smoke many of the guitarists in that scene without breaking a sweat! Serious talent there. The rest of the instruments are ok, nothing insane on display, nothing terrible.

I wouldn’t go looking for this if you’re a serious deathmaniac like me, but if you’re a shred-head or a fan of progressive music, you might do worse than trying it. It’s just not what I want to hear at all when it comes to anything related to death metal.

Aberrance "Son of Dirt" (Review)

Aberrance "Son of Dirt"

2024 Silent Pendulum Records / LP

www.silentpendulumrecords.com

aberranceband.bandcamp.com

BADASS SONG TITLE: Kiss of the Rat

BADASS TRACKS: Pretty much all of them!

ONE-WORD BADASS DESCRIPTION: Omnivorous.

Aberrance, on their third record, is playing a mix of technical death metal and perhaps 1990s Florida-style death metal laced with tasteful grooved-up riffs and thrashing hardcore, and even a touch of black metal and deathcore here and there. These gentlemen are clearly metal omnivores, and it shows on their record. The songs are extremely well-written with lots of hooks and variation, showing off the band's musicianship and writing and arrangement skills. It really is a harmony of technicality and catchy songwriting.

"Flaying the Tyrant" starts the record with an almost Suffocation-like riff, until the dual high/low vocals hit and they begin to mix it up. The grooves hit hard, alternating with blasts, punctuated with those same strong high/low vocal tradeoffs. Then comes "Fish Hook," which leans into thrash immediately, and breaks down into an absolutely brutal hardcore-style (vocals and all) interlude, and then right back into the deaththrash. If you're going to sprinkle in hardcore and other genres into death metal, this is the way to do it, goddamn it. The third track, "The Silent Enemy," does something similar, but has an almost Gothenburg/Swedish melodic death metal styled structure and riff that ties the track together, but drops in another hardcore-style interlude. The songs are consistently the perfect length and leave me wanting more. That's the mark of good writing. Short, to the point, but leaving me hungry.

They slow things down in the fourth track, "In the Throes of Neuropathy," with a tinge of black metal influence. "Son of Dirt" keeps this slow-down going, but with a Forced Entry-style thrash riff that the song is built on before they introduce a bit more black metal-influenced riffing in the faster sections, which even infects the vocals here. You see here what I mean by metal omnivores. If these guys have an influence, they utilize it. I like that a lot. People may think I'm a death metal purist, and for the most part they're correct (my favorite band is Nunslaughter, after all), but when I hear a band utilize this many influences and still turn out a cohesive effort that sounds like it was played by the same band, I'll support it. These guys are clearly creative and talented musicians and songwriters. I'll be interested to check out their back catalog and future efforts, for sure.

Abductions "Failed Humanity" (Review)

Abductions “Failed Humanity”

2024 Acid Vicious / CD

acidviciousfanzine.wixsite.com/shop

BADASS SONG TITLE: Bastards to the Abyss

ONE-WORD BADASS DESCRIPTION: Swarming.

This Brazilian death metal band's debut album has some good moments, but also some serious flaws. I'll explain. After the requisite ominous intro, we're treated to an explosion of speed and blastbeats, reminding me a little of Angelcorpse, Krisiun, or perhaps Mental Horror. The guitar tone is nice and heavy, and the vocals are especially strong and vicious. Where this album falls apart is the drumming. I don't know if they had issues while recording, or if the drummer is new to the instrument, or what, but they seem off-time in many places in a lot of songs, like the drummer can't keep up or falls behind in transitions, especially on slower parts after the blasts slow down. I don't know what caused the issue, but the issue is clearly there. It affects the entire album, and the looseness there causes the entire record to wobble on its foundations. That being said, his blastbeats are fast!

Occasionally the songs get to be a bit repetitive, spending perhaps a bit too much time on each riff. However, there are some real standout moments, like the divebombing leads beginning "Manipulated," or the excellent heavy breakdown in the second track, that also has a badass name, "Bastards to the Abyss." The songwriting itself isn't bad, and some of the riffs are quite memorable. As I said, there are some excellent moments on here, but the flaws with the drums are a huge problem, especially with this style of death metal where they need to be tight as can be. I'd recommend this only if you're a Brazilian death metal completist that needs to hear every band. Otherwise, wait for their next effort and see how that goes.

Dead Earth "From the Ruins" (Review)

Dead Earth “From the Ruins”

2023 M&O Music / Pro-CDR Digipak

www.m-o-music.com

BADASS TRACKS: Never Forget, Blazed (Raging Fire), Evolution of Evil, Closer to the Grave, Hatred Is My Enemy, and The Hanged Man.

ONE-WORD BADASS DESCRIPTION: Merauderish (I know it’s not a word, fuckface).

Even though this is not a death metal record, I felt it deserves inclusion on this site because Dan Gates (formerly of the mighty fuckin’ wimpcrushers TON) lent his musical talent to this album. Immediately, some of the riffs reminded me of one of my favorite hardcore acts, Merauder. When I mentioned that to Dan he told me about their guitarist Ernesto Colon doing time in that very same band! Dead Earth plays a mixture of heavy-ass hardcore and thrash, with a few leanings toward more extreme types of metal. It should appeal to deathmaniacs the very same way Merauder does with their heavy grooves and mid-paced thrash.  This isn’t stupid “pizza thrash,” with the pretentious lyrical content that stuff usually contains. This has real-world-based lyrics and room-wrecking riffs, all channeled through the angry, hardcore-style shouted vocals and aggressive songwriting.

Physically, this pro-CDR comes as a sturdy-ass digipak, with some of the thickest cardboard I’ve ever encountered for a cover, with a glossy finish. The large writing on the spine makes it pop right out of my collection, and for old-ass metalists like me, that’s a plus. Other than that, the layout is no more or less than you’d want from a release. The record was recorded at Noah Buchanan’s Mercenary Studios, and I love his work – he always makes things sound almost analog, with none of the digitized sameness that a lot of records have today. There’s plenty of bottom end in the recording with its thick guitar tones and body-rumbling bass. When the bass drums start galloping during several of the songs, they hit like a machine gun without being clicky, and the toms sound deep, the snare heavy.

A few musical moments truly stood out in my first pass through the record. First, the heavy-ass riffs in the breakdowns of most of the songs (and they’re not the sad-sack breakdowns of modern hardcore – these are real breakdowns) adrenalized me and made me want to destroy the room and slam my head against the stage! Second, I was surprised toward the end of the record when some black metal-style riffs appeared in the song Evolution of Evil, especially the opening riff. They don’t sound out of place on this record at all, they fit. The album flows extremely well, also, and clear thought was given to the song order. I appreciate that. Dead Earth even pulled a classic metal move with their last song, “Burn with Me” (a slower, epically-riffed tune), much like Ripper Owens-era Judas Priest did with the final songs on those two records (I just listened to those, so it came to mind). I thoroughly enjoyed the record, and I’m sure I’ll spin it more than just this once. It’s nice to see that Cleveland can still turn out a band like this.

Mass Killings "The Coed Murders" (Review)

Mass Killings “The Coed Murders”

2024 Rotten Music / CD

2024 Deathstare Records / Cassette

www.rottenmusic.net

www.deathstarerecs.com

BADASS TRACKS: Relentless Clawhammer Bludgeoning, Maniacal Descent into Necrophilia, Leg Flesh Casserole, Scattered Disposal of Spirit Wives to Avoid Detection

ONE-WORD BADASS DESCRIPTION: Barbaric!

This two-man international project (one of these fellas lives in the UK, the other in Austria) caught my attention due to the subject matter – it’s a sort of biographical concept album all about the serial killer Ed Kemper, who interests me quite a bit. I’ve read several books on the sick fuck. As with most serial killers, he was basically an impotent douchebag who killed all kinds of women except the one he really wanted to kill, which was his abusive bitch of a mother (but he finally did, eventually, which helped to end his criminal career).

Musically, this is barbaric brutal death metal, in the vein of the old US Midwest scene, bringing to mind acts like Fleshgrind, sometimes Broken Hope, Brodequin, and Lividity. However, other influences from across the death metal spectrum can be picked out, which makes for an interesting listen. The instrumentation is more than adequate, being both polished and skilled, and they don’t over-rely on slam riffs like so many throwaway bands today. There is a nice balance here between speed and heaviness. The vocals are deep, guttural, and mostly unintelligible, with the occasional toad croak and pig squeal, but they’re varied enough to keep my interest. It’s not just one trick and done. There are clearly lyrics being sung and words being imparted. The drums are programmed, but skillfully done. I honestly wouldn’t have known if not for a few sections of Mortician-style ultra-blasts that sound mechanical. Other than that, they sound real enough, right down to good cymbal tones.

I can tell Mass Killing worked quite hard to make memorable songs here, and while hooks can easily be lost in brutal death metal, they preserved enough of them in their songwriting to create a standout record that positions itself at the head of the pack, having enough variation in tempo, riffs, and writing for the songs to worm their way into your brain. “Leg Flesh Casserole” is a good example of using mid-paced heaviness to create some variation on the record, with the slower parts having an almost Morbid Angel-like sludginess. The slam riffs, when they do happen, are completely barbaric, hair-windmilling affairs, owing in large part to the heavy-ass guitar sound and by not leaning on repeating them too often in the songs. I recommend this monster of a record to anyone who is sick of all the throwaway “bedroom slam” bands and wants to hear some real brutal death metal that’s properly played.