You’d have to look long and hard to find a more varied and unique grind/death band than Colorado’s Cephalic Carnage. From painfully deep mids to psychotically maniacal speed where choppy guitar riffs hack and saw with little care for conventional song structures, Cephalic’s bipolar stance on extremism may be hard for the average grind fan to consume, but one cannot deny the innovation found on Lucid Interval. Both sound and vocal samples intertwine with the swarming fuzz and Leonard’s vocal diversity commands the proceedings as if he is the only man understanding of the insanity enough to be considered “ring leader”. Tracks like “Pseudo” embrace the same level of impressive technical ability and weirdness to be considered in the same league as The Dillinger Escape Plan meets Pink Floyd, just mountainously heavier. Lucid Interval must have been created on drugs for the mayhem flows effortlessly and without boundaries out of the chemically expanded minds of this crippling quintet. You think it’s all studio tricks? See Cephalic live and be truly destroyed. – Marty
RELAPSE RECORDS
Cephalic Carnage – Lucid Interval
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a CommentAutumnblaze – The Mute Sessions
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I’d not heard this band before, and I suspect this is a bit of a pet project for them. I can’t find much info on this particular record, but it appears to be acoustic version of songs from past albums or something to that effect. The CD says “Original songs you can find on ‘Bleak’ and ‘Mute Boy Sad Girl” which are albums from 2000 and 2002 from the band. I don’t have the insight to compare them to the previous works so I will simply go with what’s here. The music features acoustic melodies and minimal percussion, and cleanly sung vocals. After some fairly unpleasant vocals on the opening track “Kiss My Fear Away” the second track features a very Radiohead like lilt to the crooning that works much better in the context of the music. This only remains in part through the disc, it’s difficult to describe, he’s not doing anything blatantly bad or wrong, it just doesn’t always work for some reason. I was expecting this to be in a more Neo-Folk vein than it is. Not sure why, but given the label and such, and the general trends of the scene it seemed a logical assumption. It really isn’t that at all. It’s an acoustic “unplugged” kind of thing more than adapting it to a folky style or something. I don’t have much to say about this I guess. There are tracks that work well, and have a nice melancholy lilt to them, there are others where the dramatic effect feels forced and others still that don’t do much of anything for me. I’m sure this is the kind of release that their existing fans will appreciate much more than someone like myself who hadn’t heard a note from them before I put this in. Meh. – Scott
PROPHECY PROD.
Centinex – Decadence – Prophecies of Cosmic Chaos
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
With or without a drum machine, Sweden’s Centinex have always been a mainstay of typical, but always well done death metal, bloated by the throes of melody often connected to their country’s metal scene. When the leadoff track, “Arrival of the Spectrum Obscure” erupted with an exacting back beat and overall melodic style that made “Slaughter of the Soul” so influential, I am instantly disappointed with Centinex’s plagiarism of At The Gates. Thankfully, as the album progresses, the ATG similarities die down (especially vocally) as Centinex try their hand at a more subdued, mid-paced delivery. Even though the guitar work is once again excellent as interesting riff struggle to strengthen each track, I can’t help but notice just how tired this band is beginning to sound. A lot of the ideas on this album are not their own and it is this infiltration of outside influences that have made “Decadence” yet another lifeless product from the country of Sweden. With track 7, “Mechanical Future”, the At The Gates-isms return and I can’t help but instantly want to yank this album out of the player. Bottom line… all the technically skilled riff ideas in the world can’t pull this album out of the boredom pile and this was really a surprising conclusion for me to arrive at in light of the quality lurking in Centinex’s catalog. – Marty
CANDLELIGHT
Celestia – Apparitia – Sumptuous Spectre
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Featuring Noktu of Drakkar/Gennocide Kommando on vocals, Celestia is a rather straight forward black metal entity that prefers mid-paced, double bass plodding progressions and a firestorm of burning melodic dissonance over the brutal killing machine onslaught performed by Noktu’s other band. When a quicker speed register kicks in, it is bloated by tremolo harmonies that provide a tense aura of destruction, further intensified by the throaty, but a bit too loud in the mix, shrieks from Noktu. The melodies do indicate an early 90’s Norwegian appreciation and Celestia spins their craft around the staples of the black metal genre to arrive at woodland atmosphere through apt solo work and airy riff structures. Gothic imagery/photography may put your typical elite grim soldier off the scent, but Apparitia is a solid strike of modern underground (cult) black metal that will stick out amongst the throngs of blind Darkthrone worshippers. – Marty
FULLMOON PRODUCTIONS
Cea Serin – The Surface of all Things
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
The Surface of all Things
A pretty adventurous mix of sounds here reinforced by a warm production give the jazz-like time signatures of Cea Serin even more room to expand and empower the traditional power metal influenced, though mellow nature of their music. The vocalist possesses a very rich voice that is clean and robust as he thankfully never soars into tornado warning siren capacity, rather keeping his delivery low key and emotive to accent the very passionate material he is strengthening. At times he reminds me of Geoff Tate. Odd time signatures eventually fade away into a smooth yet heavy crunch in the guitars and many interesting twists in the song structures to keep me trained to every note executed by Cea Serin. As the music intensifies and the riff work becomes more aggressive with note based fills, the vocalist matches the incoming tide with more of an abrasive scream. Colorful solo work and very tight drum lines keep each other in check as Cea Serin concentrates on the welfare of the song. It’s obvious the level of musicianship is high, but egos and masturbatory instrumentation are never an issue as each track flows along through ear grabbing, memorable content and originality to set this band leagues beyond so many others in this genre dedicated to stylistic plagiarism. And to think this band remains unsigned while others shit where they eat. One strike against the band… no contact address is provided on the CDR or the inner sleeve art. So as soon as said disc is separated from it’s one sheet, never to be seen again, how is an unorganized reviewer such as myself supposed to pass contact info down to the souls reading this review? Thankfully, the Internet once again provided this information. -Marty
CEA SERIN
147 Cockerham Rd.
Denham Springs, LA 70726 USA
http://www.angelfire.com/me/ceaserin/index.html
CeaSerin@aol.com
Catacombs – Echoes Through the Catacombs
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
With 2 monolithic tracks clocking in at nearly a half hours worth of sludge, the mastermind behind Hierophant (seek the reviews lurking in these very digital pages) has resurfaced with Catacombs, yet another bleak vision of life smothering funeral dirge doom. In a lot of ways, Catacombs is the perfect continuation of the Hierophant formula, but with surprisingly more melodious harmonies stretched over the plodding, down tuned power chord churn and the production is noticeably fuller/more engulfing. Fans of Disembowelment, Thergothon, Evoken and Skepticism will indeed swarm to the slug like delivery and heavy as an avalanche layering of sonic dread. Depressing and devoid of life… this is the realm where Catacombs rule. – Marty
ANTINOMIAN DEMO SERIES
Axone/Know – Night of Deliverance Split
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
This is a split CDR in nicely packaged DVD case. Axone I really don’t know anything about prior to this, Know contains a member of The Hollowing for those keeping track. Axone is up first with two tracks both over the 15 minutes mark. The focus ranges from Dark Ambient and creepy minimalism to borderline Power Noise, with slithering analog tones and distant pulses to straight Noise. There is a lot of atmosphere to the tracks and they prefer to work on you with subtlety rather than a lot of out front sonics, it all grows and recedes from the drift. They do build in substantial intensity and noise at time however, and obscured vocals and samples appear in there as well. I like the growth of these tracks, they breathe really well, and remain effective throughout their lengthy duration’s. Know are up next with four tracks… “Vacticidal Misonest” is first with a cacophonous mix of clattering junk noise percussive loops and off kilter melody that eventually breaks down into an all out Harsh Noise loops and textures, this then degrades into ambience and distant vocal loops before returning to the opening cacophony. This theory of organic loops, ambience and harshness runs through the remaining material balancing one off the other and building and subtracting to reach different ends. It comes off well, and with both of these projects the way the pieces develop is well conceived, there are a lot of competing types of sound being used and they surface naturally, and don’t seem tacked on at all. – Scott
SOMNAMBULANT CORPSE
Carpathian Forest – Fuck You All!!!!
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Other than yet another impressive vocal performance from the only remaining original member of Carpathian Forest, I felt that “Defending the Throne of Evil” was this bands first real disappointment (other than the departure of Nordavind). Keyboards on that album simply didn’t cut it. Being too loud in the mix highlighted the cheap sounding nature of the sounds they selected, gave C.F., for the first time in their lifespan, an undeniable commercial slant. It really didn’t sit well with me, nor the sound that this band stands for. I can honestly say that I had zero expectations for “Fuck you All!!!!” since I was left with the assumption that Nattefrost was taking this band in a direction that I dared not follow, leaving the fecal mess and sadistic musical hepatitis to exist within the solo project that shares his longstanding moniker. “Fuck you All!!!!” was a pleasant surprise. Riff work that is interesting, though not too perplexing is all over this album, falling into airy structures that embrace both the traditional Norwegian black metal aesthetic and more of a free punk looseness. Nattefrost’s vocals are once again demented and strange as he wretches and squeals his way through 10 tracks of sadistic and satanic musical torture. Keyboards are thankfully few and far between, infrequently stirring off in the background for sensible atmosphere only, rather than center stage. Nordavind even makes his glorious return as a guest musician on “…Everyday I must Suffer!” with its thrash fueled tremolo picking and acrobatic riff dives. “Fuck you All!!!!” is exactly what I wanted to hear out of Carpathian Forest, and even though this band will likely never rekindle the magic that is “Black Shining Leather”, I am completely satisfied with an entire album of hateful conviction and strong musical compositions that revel in the unsafe disgust that seeps from the core of Nattefrost’s being. You know what I mean… This is one of those bands that has the ability to create music that sounds… well… there’s the feeling in the back of your mind that if you keep listening, you just may catch some sort of scurvy from the unsanitary conditions corrupting the airwaves. – Marty
SEASON OF MIST
Carinou – Bound
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
For one, I cannot believe that this is in part created and performed by the same Fredrik Soderlund that gave us 3 pure and endlessly raw/hateful/evil Octinomos albums, but it evidently is. Carinou is basically mid 80’s influenced synth pop, or new wave with industrial influences, yet there are distorted guitars lurking beneath the smooth and danceable synth lines. Extreme minded lyrics are presented with a very English accent in a pitch singing delivery that instantly reminds me of The Pet Shop Boys mixed with newer New Order. Some good programming and catchy chorus… on this album makes it hard to hate it. In fact, my 80’s pop worshipping wife seems to really like “Bound.” Ranging from the upbeat tempo of “Vivid,” to more of a dark/depressive on “Purge” and “Whore,” “Bound” kept me listening and interested even though my instincts demanded that I should instantly hate this. Well I don’t hate it. Something this catchy and pop structured, yet maintaining enough of an organic, dare I say “metal” underlying vibe is hard to openly despise, unless you are hanging out with friends and trying to maintain a rugged metal exterior. That was a joke. Anyway, this is going in my wife’s collection and I can honestly say that I will enjoy Carinou the few times she chooses to spin it. – Marty
CODE666
Carcass – Choice Cuts
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Often imitated, but no one could ever come close to the innovative and influential greatness of Carcass. Even though this band streamlined their metal dynamics to evolve out of the goretastic grind destruction for more of a tasteful, if not mature frame of mind (which was in turn their creative downfall), their older works will always twist and chew within my mind and heart as being some of the most important and excellent grind/death ever created. Released with the full cooperation with the band, “Choice Cuts” is a best of collection featuring interviews with Ken Owen and archive material from the band themselves, along with both of their Peel Sessions radio shows (Recorded in 1989/90 respectively). The best of portion of the track listing is in chronological order so after “Exhume to Consume” you won’t become instantly retarded by an intensity shift with tracks like “R**K the Vote” or “This is your Life.” It has been some time since I have spun any Carcass material; so spinning “Choice Cuts” has reminded me how much of a part of the 90’s and my life this band used to be, inspiring a full on marathon of flailing bloody giblets and sonic disemboweling. Isn’t it strange how bands such as this get lost in the shuffle? Sure, I’ve never forgotten about them and will triumph Carcass till my dying day as being one of the best bands ever, but being inundated with so much new music and such little time to take it in along with the classics, the older and truly better stuff gets left behind as we strive to be good consumers and buy up everything with a pentagram or butchered whore on the cover. The older I get, the more I realize that there is nothing new under the sun and bands like Carcass can and will be ripped off, but the quality and conviction will never be the same. If you have all the Carcass material, “Choice Cuts” may be a bit redundant, but the song selections are indeed worthy of a best of compilation, both for putting a lot of rarities in one spot for those of you new to the genital grinder and also for this bands undeniable underground significance. This one makes a killer disc for a road trip. – Marty
EARACHE
Carcaricass – Killing Process
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
You can instantly tell that France’s 3 piece Carcariass really like their Cynic, Coroner and newer Death CDs and it’s a beautiful thing. The guitar work on “Killing Process” is very sharp with arpeggios that sweep in and out of interesting shifts in time signature. Even the guitar synth points to Cynic, but there is no denying a sense of self brewing in Carcariass’ music. As “Killing Process” forges on, the fret board work becomes more and more impressive. No matter how complex the rhythms get, this band digs in with a busy, though always sensible direction in their playing. Like Cynic, Death and Atheist, who all impressed with their dexterity, but created some memorable melodies within their riff storms, Carcariass have also achieved this perfect balance. The drummers skills are the weakest link and perhaps too simplistic as he holds down the timing with incessant double bass work for the bass and guitar players to leap off into any direction. I found myself missing more complex cymbal fills, or tension releasing tom rolls as the album played out. Certainly this is a small complaint up against a mighty release of finesse and creativity. Add a solid, mid-ranged snarl/rasp that is used sparingly due to the instrumental nature of this album and you will experience why Carcariass is one of Europe’s best kept secrets. “Killing Process” is an impressive achievement. – Marty
ADIPOCERE RECORDS
Calm Site – Deadweight
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
The unassuming artwork adorning “Deadweight” tells little about the music contained herein and since we are typically visual creatures, I have been sitting on this one for a while. In fact I had to force myself to listen to Calm Site. This Finnish quartet benefits from a powerful, down tuned tone and unleash the groove based movement in their riffage ala Entombed for that deathly rock presence. Petri’s hollowed out and cavernous death growl is often discernable (though a bit dry) and sits well with this very catchy material. No blast beats, just wave after wave of harmonious riff work and a standard rock influenced drum beat to capture the listener with simplicity. The memorable nature of this material is its only saving grace, for Calm Site are too lethargic in their delivery. This is one of those cases where a little tempo variation could go a long way. All 3 tracks are structured the same and have the exact same mood/tempo and begin to get very tired sounding. I can imagine that an entire albums worth of material would be incredibly boring. I wouldn’t go out of my way to obtain this 3 song demo, but fans of Finnish death rock may find some redeeming qualities. A decent vocal delivery just isn’t enough. – Marty
CALM SITE
Paivolantie 27 A 7,
11120 RMK
Finland
http://listen.to/calmsite
calmsite@hotmail.com
Cage – Darker than Black
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
Yes! Finally a band that chooses to uphold the traditional/power metal aesthetic that denies the painfully cheesy effeminate vocals currently bringing the European scene down with glam rock sensibilities. Not to mix words, Cage possess some mighty metal balls. Sean Peck is a tuneful crooner that has a lot of edge to his voice, offering a Halford level of power, while hurling a lot of intensity through his pipes in a similar manor as a mid 80’s David Wayne (Metal Church). The music is the perfect compliment to his performance, possessing a memorable but deadly strike of heavy metal that cultivates concrete hooks within mid paced tempos before striking out with driving double bass and searing solowork. Every song maintains it’s own personality and with poignant chorus’, make the entirety of “Darker Than Black” full of motion and fire, urging the listener to hit repeat on the CD player when in the mood for expertly scribed metal. Cage soars the middle finger in the air to all the Dream Evil and Sonata Arctica’s of the world with this excellent album. – Marty
FUGITIVE RECORDS
Cadaver – Necrosis
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
By taking 10 giant steps backwards, effortlessly leaping back 10 years in metal development, Norway’s Cadaver have re-embraced their roots to emerge from the self imposed turbo death affinity that was the “Discipline” CD that came out a few years ago. Yes, for that album they maintained their technical proficiency, but electrically charged every track with a hellish speed that seemed inhuman and an intensity that couldn’t be topped by any other band, and quite possibly even themselves. Honestly, after creating such a memorable album, even with a speed attack bordering on insanity, where does a band go next? Faster? Impossible. More technical? What’s the point when this style of music really needs to have some sort of structure and memorable riff work for the listener to come back to it? Cadaver did what I feel they had to do… they dug back into their past albums such as “In Pains…” and effectively tapped into that state of mind and feel that once made this form of music so exciting. “Necrosis” is an unashamed journey back to the old school. The speed factor has been sacrificed for mid tempo blasts and more of a thrash beat. With less of a dominant focus on percussion, the guitar rhythms carry this entire album with clever movement and interestingly technical hooks that easily stick in your head after only 2 listens. Apollyon’s vocals remain volatile in their mid-ranged rasp but his performance sounds a lot less “black metal” derived, rather adopting a more pissed off shout, which effectively makes his pronunciation even more discernable. The guitar sound comes off as very dry, but it somehow feeds the feeling of an older vibe that voraciously rips through this entire album. I really hope Cadaver obtain the push from their label that they deserve, for this is easily one of the best thrash/death/black metal albums I have heard in a long time. Support! -Marty
CANDLELIGHT
Bury the Pariah – Sociopathic Undergarment: The Metal Album
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
From the mind of Rory Heikkila, also known for his other ambitious, predominantly black metal-based band, Shroud Of Despondency, Bury The Pariah is a tech death metalheads wet dream. Fans of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Cephalic Carnage take note, for there are some amazingly disjointed and heavy riff ideas on this album that hammer away one after the other. Each track seems like it have 25 riff ideas per composition with interesting structures and even a lighthearted arsenal of vocal samples from Mr. T, to various cartoon characters. This adds to the overall “music should be fun” concept behind this album, which seems like quite the bold statement in a genre based on seriousness and “tough guy” posturing. I tend to greatly dislike humor in metal, yet I can see past all the tinkering and appreciate Rory’s obvious virtuoso level of guitar playing and definite vision for what he wants to accomplish with this album. The drum programming is noticeably synthetic, but programmed in a non-traditional way to perfectly decorate each guitar line with bizarre fills and cymbal panning to keep the listener agitated and tuned into the left of center attack. With layered vocals ranging from standard guttural death burpings, to more of a screamo wretching style, the diversity is further built upon by the multi-faceted vocals that intensify the complexity of this album. Even thought the whole body of “Sociopathic Undergarment…” is indeed open minded and entertaining, the disc is worth the price of admission alone for the amazing 3 part guitar harmony/solo during the breakdown on the impressive track, “Koko Blew it Up” and also, “New”. In all honesty, this is where Rory is really doing something new and exciting. I think he should tone down on the overall silliness (like including lengthy prank phone calls) and complexity of his compositions to focus on more memorable songwriting and tasty moments such as these 3 part harmonies. So few do this with any sort of effectiveness… not even the 3 pronged guitar attack of Maiden have successfully pulled this off. This CDR release is our first glimpse into the new musical direction of Rory H., love it or hate it, and as he leaves black metal far behind, it’s going to be interesting to see where his mind and drug experimentation will lead us next. – Marty
ACIDVICTIM RECORDS
Breath of Sorrows – Through Darkness to Battle I Ride
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
When I think back on the US black metal scene 5 years ago or more, there was a certain musical characteristic that came along with such contemplation… disjointed. Out of key. Brutal. Things have changed a lot over the years now that the US bands are discovering more the true feel of black metal, but elements of aggression are still a vibrant part of the US BM contingent. Breath of Sorrows falls under such a descriptive tag, for even though “Through Darkness to Battle I Ride” does encompass more of a European BM aesthetic in sharp guitar tone and overall dissonance, their music often maintains a cold sense of aggression and structuring style that could be found in modern death metal, with just more of a scathing presentation. For one thing, the drum machine is very much up in front on this albums mix and its synthetic tone reflects a completely triggered drum kit, often found on death metal albums these days. Add perplexing changes and a very maniacal vocal performance and you have an album built on attempting to make the listener suffer. I do like this style and found a lot of merit within the 12 tracks on this album, mainly in the variety in structure and interesting guitar ideas, but I tend to relate/connect on a much deeper level with atmosphere and depression in black metal than Breath of Sorrows brings to the table. Perhaps they could have achieved this by working in more layers within their compositions, for tracks like “Slow form of Suicide” and “Night of the Broken Glass” are very 2 dimensional and searing in their coldvoid attack. You hear drums, antagonistic guitar lines and excessively loud screams of torment… no bass lines, secondary guitar ideas or depth. As the album progresses, BOS tend to ease up on their attack an focus on more of a straight forward BM churn, even incorporate a bit of keyboard accompaniment as well, but the output remains solid, but very plain/unadventurous. “Through Darkness to Battle I Ride” is successfully abusive, though stylistically stunted black metal, which should appeal to the elite class of BM enthusiasts who scoff at progression in their scene. – Marty
WRAITH PRODUCTIONS
Bongzilla – Gateway
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
MASSIVE guitar tone. Plus the fact that Bongzilla sound like they tune down to an A, really beefs up the riff slabbage flowing from the stacks. “Gateway” is destructive 70’s riff rock with a harshly screamed vocal style that immediately reminds me of Grief (the band). Certainly not original, but Bongzilla have become more enjoyable over the years thanks to their evolution from crust to more of a “stoner rock” (marijuana samples litter this CD) affinity. The grooves will make your head nod along with the mighty beat. – Marty
RELAPSE
Blut Aus Nord – The Work Which Transforms God
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
This band is hands down one of the most fucked up and diseased sounding entities in the black metal world as they have developed into something truly unholy and perverse. The plodding and in-time pulse of the drum machine acts as the piece of driftwood that keeps you afloat during the flood as Blut Aus Nord send waves of nauseating riffs down upon you that sound like demonic screams from another dimension, or an air siren as I mentioned in the review of their last opus. I honestly don’t know how they play this stuff. The riffs sound down tuned and constantly bent/bled as the strings are sliced into a mayhemic ritual of destruction. This is definitely a bizarre and unique listening experience. To intensify the otherworldly greatness and open minded experimentation found on this album, reverb and other effects have been added to the programmed drum beats on occasion to give the rhythm that booming pulse of doom as agonizing screams layer over the top to suggest the feeling of having one’s fingernails ripped out in a bloodied fit of torture. No other band sounds Like Blut Aus Nord and this band is something to finally get truly excited about as their cancerous sound punishes all those that choose to step in front of the soul consuming onslaught of this album. “The Work Which Transforms God” is 2 parts Godflesh and 666 parts insane black metal experimentation created to truly share the suffering of its creators with the listener. They have indeed achieved greatness on this album. – Marty
CANDLELIGHT
Blut Aus Nord – The Mystical Beast of Rebellion
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
The French scene continues to explode with a form of hateful black metal that all the kids pay top dollar for on Ebay. “The Mystical Beast of Rebellion” is my first experience with Blut Aus Nord, and I must say that I can really connect with the blatant simplicity as this album scorches with black metal purity. The riffs center around a stripped down, play the same chord for one measure affinity that is made out to sound very diseased with the dissonance of well placed, and evil harmonies that scream over the top. This element sounds more like an air raid siren, than an actual guitar “riff”, which skillfully creates mental visions of an ancient, dark and dirty Europe, firing off a siren to warn the people of an air attack. Instead of bombs, filthy carrion drop corpses filled with plague on the now alerted souls that suffer and die below them. Even with the obvious direction BAN’s music follows, one can’t help but become entranced in the hypnotic wash of drum machine programmed mayhem, and dense guitar sound that is further uglified by a screaming style that mimics the intensity of torture. If you reject the technical flair that has seemingly infected the black metal scene, “The Mystical Beast of Rebellion” is a fatal wound in the side of commercialism, to drag this potent medium of malevolent expression back down where it belongs… far underground. Blut Aus Nord is about as bleak and hateful of an entity you will find, and I’m completely impressed with the light erasing brilliance that smolders from this album like a bubbling pit of tar. – Marty
OAKEN SHIELD
Bludgeon – Crucify the Priest
•January 3, 2009 • Leave a Comment
I guess if you are going to play brutal mosh metal with thrash influences that would have sounded tired even back in the mid 90’s, then I guess it’s good to have friends in higher places. Bludgeon is the first band signed to Manowar’s new Magic Circle Music label and “Crucify the Priest” was even produced by Joey DeMaio. This album goes to show how the Manowar chaps are even out of touch with the metal underground. One can’t help but notice a similar cheesy “metal” attitude that Bludgeon shares with their outspoken Velveeta lords. There are examples of this observation in the brief paragraphs describing each band member in the insert, but I will spare you all the laughable details. To their credit, Bludgeon have a heavy sounding effort here (recording wise) and stick to their guns with mighty power chord dominant rhythms that do unlock some nice riff harmonies. Sadly, the overall musical attack is too crunch dominant and painfully predictable. Dimensionless growls offset a gruff shouted/speaking voice and not to mention really bad cover art… Bludgeon are lost in the trash/death transition of the late 80’s/early 90’s where the labels of that time would snatch up ANY band that resembled the Bay area thrash sound to try and bleed a few more dollars out of a loyal fan base that was beginning to tire from buying too many redundant and uninspired albums. “Crucify the Priest” is un-enjoyable filler right down to its metallic core – Marty
MAGIC CIRCLE MUSIC/METAL BLADE
Worm Gear 