Pessimist is a five piece band consisting of Kelly McLauchlin - Guitars, Chris Pernia - Drums, Kelly Conlon - Bass, William Hayden - Guitars, Ivan "The Evil One" - Vocals. Genre described as Death Metal. Band origin Baltimore, MD/ Los Angeles, CA. Slaughtering the Faithful (reissue) album released on October 31 2015 Obscure Musick. My initial thoughts, if you want guttural and abrasive then you come to the right place. This is a mammoth release featuring fourteen tracks. Four of those are live recordings from the radio show WNYU. Some are from a demo in 2000. These brutal and powerful hymns rattle my speakers in a good way. The raw energy that is output by this band is intense. In terms of production, the recording is very good. Solid guitar tone. Punchy bass rhythms. The drums could be slightly louder at times but that's just a minor observation. I like the low vocals. very demonic and crushing. The music stays at full throttle and is relentless in its aggression. I enjoyed listening to the majority of the this album but some of my favorite songs would have to be "Baptized in Blasphemy" and "Metempsychosis". In conclusion, extreme death metal fans will definitely not want to miss this one. The raw energy emanating from this recording will get your blood pumping. ~Artemortifica facebook-pessimist.metal
Human Desolation is a five piece band consisting of Vocals-Kristian Reunanen, Guitars-Fredrik Danielsson, Guitars-Fredrik Iggfors, Bass-Daniel Severinsson, Drums-Miika Hakomäki. Genre described as Melodic Death Metal. Band origin Stockholm, Sweden Mind Grind Paradigm album self released on September 11 2015. Distributed by Nordavind Records, Plastic Head. First thoughts, heavy and melodic. Good sounding guitars. Tight and heavy drums. Bass has good tone overall. Aggressive vocal style. Reaching some spine shaking highs as well as punishing lows. The release is twelve songs in its entirety. Some of my favorites include "Fear and Loathing", it reminds me of old At The Gates music. The track "Desolation", sticks in my mind. It is an instrumental and I really enjoyed the riffs and its subtle build up. I played this one many times. The song "Frost Bite", is another powerful composition. Strong chorus and killer verses. This particular song reminds me of Lamb of God.
In conclusion, the music does not break any new ground, but it is brutal and aggressive. ~Artemortifica facebook-humandesolation
Canyon of the Skull is a two piece band consisting of Erik Ogershok: Guitars, Bass, Adrian Voorhies: Drums, Percussion. Genre described as doom metal. Band origin; Austin, TX. Canyon of the Skull album self released on October 30th 2015. First impression, rhythms that could shake the walls down. This release is only two songs, but they are both long and powerful. Rooted in doom, you can hear the down tune strings rattle the speakers. "The Path" (Of Bear and Wolf) the opening song, goes for over fifteen minutes. In terms of production the sound is very good. Heavy riffs abound and drums sound natural and precise. Bass tone compliments all the long arrangements very well. Don't expect to hear vocals since there are none. This is an instrumental release but the music is interesting enough to keep your attention that you really don't need vocals. The self title track is also over fifteen minutes long. The short melody at the ending caught my ears. A well written opus. In conclusion, the music feels like a long journey through cavernous realms. A good and solid performance is delivered by these musicians. ~Artemortifica facebook-canyonoftheskull
Cryptopsy is a four piece band consisting of; Flo Mounier: Drums/Vocals, Chris Donaldson: Guitar, Matt McGachy: Lead Vocals, Olivier Pinard: Bass Guitar. Genre described as Extreme Technical Death Metal. Band origin Montréal, Québec. The Book of Suffering Tome 1 EP self released on October 30th 2015. My first thoughts, this new EP rips your skin apart, no doubt about it. A bit of history, back in 1994 when the first album Blasphemy Made Flesh reached my hands, I became an instant fan. I would play the shit out of it every chance I got. Then came "None So Vile", and it completely blew my mind. To be completely honest here, I stop listening to the band after those two albums, no real specific reason, I think that those two albums were plenty for me. I might have heard a song or two from the albums in between but nothing that really stayed with me. Fast forward to May 2015. I got an opportunity to see Cryptopsylivein concert. What an impressive set they played that night. The music was technical, fast, aggressive and just destroyed everything in its path. I felt just like I did back in the late 90s. This brand new EP touches back to those times. The raw brutality and complex arrangements that initially grabbed my attention are all represented here, but with an edge, a razor sharp edge. Creepy samples into blistering blast beats. I have always been a big fan of Lord Worm (Dan Greening) and I never really thought anyone could fill those shoes, but after seeing Matt McGachy live performance and listening to this recording I can say he fills those shoes and then some. The superior technical guitar work is crushing to say the least. Powerful rhythms and fast scale work. Olivier Pinard does a great job keeping all the madness ongoing with a killer bass tone and complimenting all those arrangements with perfect precision. The drumming is tight, with fast double kicks and interesting drum rolls at every turn. My only disappointment would be that it all ends quickly, at only four tracks. By far, all the songs kick ass but my favorite would have to be "Framed By Blood", it reminds me of all those tracks from the Blasphemy album. The vocals are insanely high and those lows are hard enough to punch you in the throat. In conclusion, the band continues to set the bar even higher with this release. Fans of their earlier work will want to lend their ears to this EP. For the new comers, they will be completely devastated by their brutality. ~Artemortifica facebook-CryptopsyMetal
Marasmus is a four piece band consisting of: Devon-Vocals, Andy-Guitar, Trynt-Drums, Brandon-Guitar. Genre described as Death Metal, Metal, Speed Metal. Band origin Kansas City. Conjuring Enormity album self-released 2 October 2015. My first impression, powerful death metal with atmospheric melodies. So, let me start by telling you, I am into paranormal subjects and the opening to this album is an audio sample of paranormal investigators capturing an EVP. My ears immediately perked upon listening to it and was curious to see what else was in store. The opening and title track "Conjuring Enormity", is brutal and gets straight to the heaviness. Strong double kick work and heavy guitar tones in true death metal projection. We can also hear some elaborate guitar riffing in the song "Direct Demonic Influence" with some complex scale work. There is a nice surprise at the end of this particular track that caught my ears. Its a clean melodic piece that is very haunting and leads perfectly into the next song. Some of the bands that come to mind when I listen to this opus would be, Sinister, Immolation, Krisium, Cryptopsy and Malevolent Creation. I really enjoyed listening to this release from beginning to end but my favorite track would have to be "Post Mortal Possession", the chorus is catchy and makes you want to pump your fist in the air. On top of all that chaos and madness the solos are coming at you lightning fast and punishing. It is for me the highlight from the entire album. In conclusion, an intense and haunting experience. Fans of extreme death metal will have to put their ears to this one. The crushing grinds, demonic vocals and catchy solos are on a top level. Metal heads both old and new make sure you add this to your collection. ~Artemortifica facebook-MarasmusKCDM
Otargos is a four piece band consisting of Urich Wegrich. Dagoth-Guitars & Vocals, John A-Drums, Hindrik A.S.-Guitars, M. Pliszke-Bass. Genre described as Dark Extreme Metal. Band origin France. Xeno Kaos album released on Kaotoxin Records 13 November 2015. My first thoughts, this is probably one of the heaviest albums of 2015. The music is both complex and brutal. The onslaught of devastation can be felt from the start. The drums hit you hard with sonic destruction. Full throttle blast beats and crushing double kicks. Guitar tones compliment all the powerful beats perfectly. This release has a total of eight songs. It was difficult finding a particular favorite since I really enjoyed pummeling my brain to each track. The opening song "Dominatrix" delivers a straight punch to the gut that any metal head cannot resist but to keep their ears glued to this opus. On top of the album being heavy and punishing, the band also adds some melodic parts such as in the song "Realm of the Dead". This one is not super fast composition but still heavy enough to melt your face. An easy one to jam to and creates some interesting melodic passages to make you bang your head. Now, if you want to run into the pit and smash things, then you should definitely hit play on the song "Dark Mechanicus", I found myself hitting the repeat button on this song many times. The overall vision is one of a maniacal future were technology has pulverize humanity and those who remain struggle to survive in this chaotic state. Well, at least that's what I envision while I listen to this awesome album.
In conclusion, the band manages to pummel your senses while adding subtle melodies that slowly creep into your mind. There is enough brutality to satisfied the taste of most extreme death metal listeners and to also devastate unsuspecting new comers to the underground. ~Artemortifica facebook-OTARGOSband
Very happy to introduce our readers to metal band Neuronia from Warszawa. This is their exclusive interview with us.
1- Hello, first off, thanks so much for participating in this interview. What are you guys currently up to? Tektur (vocals): Hello, thanks for taking your time to do the interview! Currently, we're about to release our third full-length album "Under the Same Sky" on December 14th. It took us three years of hard work to prepare and record this album, so we're hoping that it will make some waves with metal fans. We're also planning some local shows for next year to promote the album. 2- Could you tell our readers a short history of the band? Long story short, the band started in December 2013 as a jam-duo of Misiek (guitars) and Chief (drums). In the beginning, they were playing simple rock music. Some time later, Radek joined on bass and vocals and the band started playing live. In 2006, the band issued two demos: "Neuronia" and "Wedding Day", before parting ways with Radek, taking on two new members, Acid (vocals) and Domo (bass). In this line-up, Neuronia started to play straightforward metal music with a doom/death sound intertwined with thrash and hard rock. The EP "First Blood" (2007) and debut album "The Winter of My Heart" (2008) are a testimony to that era. In 2009, Thor became the new drummer, replacing Chief and adding a more edgy, thrashy feel to the music. The band started to play bigger shows, including the festival circuit. I joined in the fall of 2009 and played the first two gigs as a guitarist/singer, but stuck to vocals from then on. In 2010, we've released our sophomore album "Follow the White Mouse", which marked a more melodic and eclectic sound. We've played a lot of gigs in the next two years and had some line-up changes: in January 2011, Thor and Domo left the band. We've recruited Beton on bass and played the most of 2011 with Deviant on drums, but switched to Lukass at the end of the year. In this line-up, we've recorded the "Insanity Relapse" EP, where we added even more melody to our sound and put the main impact on thrash metal. We have spent the most of the last three years working on our third album and we were gigging sporadically. Now, the new album is coming and we can't wait to play and promote it!
3- How could you describe your sound? It's really hard. Thrash metal is surely the main element of our music, but it's intertwined with influences from heavy & melodic death metal, sludge and of course also classic rock. We're trying to keep it as eclectic as we can - in most of the cases, playing in one straightforward style can be a bit boring. 4- What are the band’s main musical influences? We have very diverse musical backgrounds. Misiek loves classic thrash in the vein of Metallica, Megadeth & Sepultura. Lewy is a very accomplished solo guitarist with a penchant for progressive playing, but he also likes thrash metal. Beton's main interest is in death metal and grindcore, but he also adores Pink Floyd. Lukass is also a death metal freak, but he really likes all kinds of good metal. I was a punk rocker in my teens and I still like to listen to this kind of music, but I'm really into all kinds of music from classical to black metal, putting the main accent on thrash/crossover though. 5- I have listened to the promo for the new album, sounds melodic and captivating, has the writing process become easier since the first release,"The Winter of My Heart" back in 2008? I haven't been there when the debut was recorded, but from what I know the process was for Misiek and Chief to write the most of the music back then and Acid to add the lyrics and vocal parts. Now, it's a more collective process, where we discuss the arrangements together and everyone has an influence on the final outcome. I write all the lyrics though. 6- Does your band have a strong fan base in your town? It would be a huge exaggeration to say that we have a cult following or a very strong fanbase here. We're one of tens - if not hundreds - bands in Warsaw. The people have a wide choice and they prefer to listen to many bands than just follow one very strongly. But yes, we do have quite a few big fans who have supported us for years - thanks guys! 7- How could you describe this upcoming album in just 3 words? Anger, force, melody.
8- How was the production process for your new release? It's been quite a long one, as we've recorded the drums in December 2014 (in JNS Studio, Warsaw) and closed up the final take on the vocals in the end of April this year. Apart from the drums, all the instrumentals have been recorded in Heinrich House, the studio of our producer and friend Filip "Heinrich" Hałucha of Vesania, Rootwater and Decapitated fame. The vocals were the hardest bit - we've recorded them in a span of a few weeks at Sonic Strike and Sound Division studios. Then, Heinrich took to mixing and mastering and in May we received the final master recording. 9- Is the band planning on doing any touring in support of the new music? Yes! We're very keen to promote the new album and plan on touring in the summer and spring here around Poland. We don't have any details yet, but we're starting to work on next year's options. 10 – Finally, what are you near-future plans? Promoting the record and touring as much as we can. The last album was a huge piece of work for us and we're not planning on recording anything new soon for sure. We also hope that the new album fares good abroad, maybe we can also do a few shows outside of Poland - that would be exciting.
11- Thanks so much for taking time to do this interview, any final thoughts? Thanks to you! To all the readers - support your local scene, you're the ones keeping it alive! facebook-Neuronia
