2024 Godz ovWar Productions (CD / LP / Cassette)
godzovwar.com
BADASS TRACKS: Doorways in Crimson Red, Disobedience
BADASS SONG TITLES: Sacrificial Blood, Speculative Fall of the Human Race, Death in Communion
From the same French unit that brought us the almighty Artgore comes this newest effort. This is intense grinding death metal that is quite musical, with lots of repetition in the riffs and good songwriting. The vocals are almost a gurgling growl and remind me a lot of early Amorphis. There are quick changes, good riffs, and excellent drumming throughout this record. They somehow manage to be atmospheric while they blast away, I think due to some of the riffs that would normally be presented with a slower drum pattern by other bands. Their sound remains unique all these years later, especially the warm and well-recorded way it's presented.
2024 Coyote Records (CD)
www.coyoterecords.ru
From Brazil come Disrupting, and they're technical, brutal death metal with a lot of musicality. The vocals for some reason remind me of Disavowed - perhaps it's a tonality thing. It's not bad, but nothing that blew me completely away. I felt the songs could be a little bit more well-defined, but it may be just the style that is turning me off. There are a lot of dissonant riffs, and we all know how much I like those. It's almost an instant turn-off for me. Perhaps the tech-heads might disagree with me on this record, but that's just my tastes. I wouldn't turn the record off for any reason, but I won't be spinning it often. The cover art is badass, though. I love it.
2024 Lethal Scissor Records (CD)
www.lethalscissor.com
This is sold brutal death metal in the tried and true Indonesian style, with plenty of blasting and staccato riffs. The vocalist is excellent. His tones are quality, and his diction (read: understandability) is good. The songs don't stand out as much here, as they blend together a bit due to the style, but the brutal-heads will like this, I'm sure of it, since I am one, and I liked it. I just thought it could be just slightly better in the songwriting department - give me something to make the songs a bit more different from one another. I'll be on the lookout for what this band does next.
2023 Rapture Records
rapturerecords.com.br
BADASS SONG TITLES: Blood of the Inhuman Torture, Resurrection Absurd, Devourer of Flesh in Spirit
Brazil belches forth another brutal band! There is clearly some Krisiun influence here, and that is understandable. Not only are they death metal gods, but they hail from the same country. For some reason the vocals remind me of some of Severe Torture's material. I hear some Gorgasm in the riffing as well. This is pretty good stuff with decent song structure. The vocal performance is unique and unhinged, almost stream of consciousness in its delivery at times. The music is relentless and intense, and there are some great hooks hiding in these songs.
2024 Doomentia Records (CD)
doomentia.com
This is Czech death metal that sounds a bit Swedish, but encompasses a lot of different styles of death metal all at once, shifting from violent blasts to ripping melodic death thrash and back again. The musicianship is excellent, with great guitar solos and memorable riffs all throughout these songs. The vocals are very deep, sinister, and rhythmic in their delivery, just how I like them. Every song has great parts, and each is distinct. This is an excellent record and should be getting massive praise!
2024 Coyote Records (CD / Cassette)
From Russia comes this band of brutal metalists, with an impeccably recorded, slam-heavy record of death metal. I wouldn't qualify them as a slam band, but a straight death metal band that uses quite a few slam riffs. The slam breakdowns on this record are inventive and emphasize the violence of the music above all else. Comparisons to Kraanium or Analepsy might be made, but they have much more focus on evil-sounding riffs than those bands. This is a seriously heavy record with memorable songs, and it just well-written death metal all around. I recommend it!
2024 Independent (Digital)
rattorturevictim.bandcamp.com
God DAMN it, I wanted this to be good. The cover is awesome, the name is cool, all that good stuff. The are at least FIVE FUCKING BASS DROPS in the first song along. WHY?! Dead simple lackluster slam riffs abound, interspersed with stupid samples and even saxophone at one point. This is the furthest thing from jazz-infused metal, believe me. It's much more like beatdown hardcore than true slamming death metal. Oh yeah - pingy snare? Check. Nonstop pig squeal vocals? Check. Ugh. Moving on.
2024 Xtreem Music
shop.xtreemmusic.com
Christ Denied are back with this sick fuckin' record of satanic brutal death metal. Total Tomb of the Mutilated and old Cryptopsy worship abounds, but they of course do this so well that you won't even worry about it. Dave's vocals on this are completely badass, bringing several styles of gutturals to bear, and they're all SICK AS FUCK, especially the lowest pitch he uses. Good songwriting, good musicianship, good recording. It should keep brutalists and technical death-heads happy equally. The riffs are especially interesting to me, and they know how to break stuff down before it gets too complicated. The super fast rapid-fire vocals Dave pulls off all throughout the record are incredible. I lost my mind laughing at it until I realized just how fuckin' brutal that really is and how difficult it is to do. I would be hard pressed to imitate any of his styles here. He's that good. This one turned me into a fan for sure, since I hadn't heard their previous records, and I'll be hunting all that stuff down, for sure.
2024 Season of Mist
www.season-of-mist.com
Guttural blasting technical sickness abounds on this record, the new effort from Defeated Sanity. Everyone should know this band by now, although I feel they're still quite underrated. This is a band that I know I'm always going to dig when a new record arrives, and is one of the few bands playing at this level of technicality that I consistently enjoy. Their signature "sounds like everything is about to come apart but is tight as fuck" sound is still present. There are lots of stop-on-a-dime moments and excellent heavy-ass breakdowns, as well as jazzy interludes where their virtuosic playing can shine. They always know when to throw us a bone with a simple riff to keep it heavy and interesting. There is a ton of incredible playing on this record, but the drummer in particular shines. I have called them "the Hellwitch of brutal death metal," and I think that moniker stands to this day. They don't sound like them, but they're pushing the same envelope of speed and technicality that Hellwitch does. Standout tracks: Accelerating the Rot, A Patriarchy Perverse, Condemned to Vascular Famine.
2024 Soulseller Records
www.soulsellerrecords.com
Bands that immediately spring to mind: the mighty Autopsy, Death Breath, GG Allin, Eat My Fuk, Abscess. With that in mind, you know what you're getting here, but keep in mind it comes melded with the ancient Swedish style that we all love so much, right in between the two camps. I love it. I have to, don't I? I mean, this is Ominous Vomit, and they're called Repuked, and they even have a track (a standout, mind you) called "Rebel of Vomit." Hell yeah. VOMIT METAL. The fuzzy and buzzy production on the guitars and bass, and live-sounding drums, is quite nice, as is the reverb on the vocals to give it that extra-sleazy feel. Filthy headbanging riffs with a true death metal style with punk trimmings. I can't think of much that's better.
2024 Coyote Records (CD)
These Russians are back with their third release and full length, and it's a solid effort. It's very much a European sounding record, instantly making me think of the Swedish masters of the early 1990's, but also a bit of Bolt Thrower. Some of the solos are quite musical and melodic, and that's a nice change from this style and how it's typically performed. There are some good riffs that will get your air guitar revved up. Get this if you're into this style, for sure.
2024 Barbaric Brutality (Cassette)
This is slamming brutal death metal with a real fecal fetish, which makes me laugh, so points to them. Songs like Code Brown, Number 2 (the 2nd track no less), Fecal Apocalypse Response Team (F.A.R.T.), and Sentient Hemorrhoid tell you all you need to know about the lyrical content. The music has some seriously heavy slam riffs, with enough blasting sections to be not completely boring. These songs are short, which helps their case a lot. A handful of riffs and out. That's at least the way slam ought to be done. These songs have enough different riffs, so they hold my interest more than most slam-oriented bands. Some real death metal riffs are interspersed and make the songs different.
Retching Charming the Decomposed
2024 Independent (Digital)
This is some killer, badass death metal that blends styles into something interesting. I hear some Autopsy influence, as well as the early Swedish bands, but also the driving riffs of early Massacre, perhaps. I could be wrong, but that's what I'm hearing. This is evil-sounding, gore-fueled death metal that instantly grabs your attention and bangs your head with excellent riffs. There are quite a few sick samples relating to the songs, but they're not overly silly or off-topic, which is something that grates on me. The vocals are sick, a mix of raw-throated grunts and brutal death growls. This is really good shit, and if you're a death metal fan, you will not be disappointed. Go get this if you dig the sounds of the 1990's and even late 1980's.
Rapid Fire Reviews!!!
Sometimes when the review pile gets too big (like it is now), I'll set up a firing squad, and we'll knock down 5 or more records at once. How's that sound? Good? Fuck you if it doesn't. Here we go.
Man, I wanted this to be better than it was. I loved all the Tomb of the Mutilated style the guitars present from time to time, but there's also some wandering, widdly playing that I didn't care for at all. Nor did I really care for the songwriting, although the musicianship is fine. Sometimes it's just too slow for me, the doom-ish parts kind of bored me. Too often it sounded like a band tuning its instruments, with those riffs not really hitting home. I did, however, love the vocals, especially the deep guttural growl. The vocal work is stellar.
This is a bad motherfucker right here! Seriously fucking heavy brutal death metal that never relents, and it only slows down to smash your fuckin' skull to pieces before speeding up again. Some of the dissonant riffs on here I didn't like, but they disappear fast into the madness. The vocalist is an absolute BEAST. I'd like to see how loud he is live, whether those vocals emanate from the diaphragm or from the throat. He has an interesting style. This band does blasting brutality better than most bands that try it. I hear some Gorgasm influence, perhaps some Immolation as well. This is top shelf stuff.
I'm hoping a CD version of this comes soon, or even better: vinyl. Gutricyde is easily one of my favorite bands of the moment, with total brutality delivered with mid-paced groove almost entirely. It's heavy as fuck! The vocals are deep and punishing, and the double bass (programmed) drums pummel like a hammer without sounding artificial. This band writes catchy riffs that stick in your head and make you move. I instantly get "death metal face" when I hear them - you know what I mean! This is great, simplistic death metal, and you should check it out. They remind me slightly of Gutted from Toledo, OH but with more brutal vocals. That's another of my favorite bands, so that is indeed a compliment. The cover art is excellent also.
Edit: Since sending this to the band, they wrote back to me saying that CD, and 3 variations of vinyl are all available via their Bandcamp site. Guess what I'm ordering!!!
gutricyde.bandcamp.com
Incredible cover art, incredible vocals. I didn't like the riffing very much, unfortunately, as it dwells firmly in the dissonant camp, and tended to wander a lot. The musicianship is high-level here, however, so if you enjoy that aspect of death metal, definitely check this out. It is indeed unique-sounding with an original playing style, but I just couldn't get into it.
As far as I know this is a digital-only release, so I'd love to see it in CD form. It's something I'd buy to check it out. The cover art is 100% badass. The music itself is blazing, blasting brutality, and it's fairly well done even though it's been done before by a lot of bands. The pingy snare sound is a bit annoying since it's seeing heavy use with all the blast beats. I'd like to hear them develop their songs a bit more. Sometimes their riffs veer into the dissonant, which I didn't like, but they keep to straight brutal death metal more often than not.
