Category: Album Review

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SNOGG – Dan, ko jer vrag salo – REVIEW

Snogg’s offering to March’s subscribers is an epic 20 minute single track. The song, titled “Dan, ko je vrag vzel šalo,” translates to, “The Day the Devil Took the Joke.” Throughout the song listeners will be treated to several tempo and vocal changes. There are elements of experimental Black Metal, noise and general strangeness on this track. Despite the different styles included in this piece, it connects and flows well into each style without any jarring changes.

If you are looking for something to different and far from the norm, “Dan, ko je vrag vzel šalo,” is unquestionably worthy of your attention. With so many musical changes and styles coming at you, this track just begs for multiple listens. So pour yourself a cup of your favorite Trve Kvlt coffee, kick off your shoes and take a journey with Snogg.

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NO COFFIN – All Life Must End – REVIEW

No Coffin waste no time getting their point across in this short but brutal 4 song EP.  “.45” starts out the EP like a shot from a …well… It’s fast and ferocious but also slows the tempo a bit and adds some nice Doom elements as well “Fire is the Cleanser” is a killer thrash fest that instantly grabs you by the throat and doesn’t loosen its grip with a pummeling chorus, fast and dirty guitars and destructive drumming. “All Life Must End,” is a fitting selection for the title track with some great dual vocal work and throbbing guitars that smack you straight in the forehead. The last track gives you a moment to pick yourself off the floor. No Coffin slows things down to a crawl with a slow, sludgy cover of Portishead’s “Over.”

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KARMANJAKA – Gates of Muspel – REVIEW

 

Karmanjaka and their metal as fuck unreadable band logo come to us from the land of great melodic metal, Sweden. That Swedish influence of melodic, rocking and catchy riffs can be felt throughout the entirety of this recording. Black Metal is often seen as the grimmest of the grim but this album has an almost, “fun” feel to it. Listen to the standout track, “Sorcerer King,” and judge for yourself. With its outstanding guitars and howling vocals it feels like a mix of classic era heavy metal and black metal. With such a melodic approach to their sound Karmanjaka have put together a very accessible black metal listen to many who may not be a fan of the genre. In addition, the production on this album is slick and crisp making it even easier to pass it on to your friend who still hasn’t given a black metal band a fair listen. The themes on this album are still bleak, evil and pagan, so purists should night be scared off by Karmanjaka’s diverse sound. Easily one of the more engrossing and energetic black metal album to come out in some time. Highly recommended!

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CULTIC – High Command – Review

 

 

The production on Cultic’s, “High Command,” is as thick and murky as the material itself. The album starts out with “The Conqueror,” that plods along with raw riffs that perfectly blend in with the old school production on this album. This song sets the tone for the rest of your listen, so if you are looking for some sort of studio polished banger, you may want to skip this one. However, if you dig your doom raw and with all of the production values of an old school cassette recording from a friend’s basement, this one’s for you. The rawness of this recording, however works perfectly for the Doom and Sludge sound that Cultic are going for here. The primitive and early Celtic Frost vibe work both for and against what Cultic are trying to achieve here, as the album can tend to become a tad bit repetitive causing some of the songs to blend together. There still is plenty to enjoy here and is not a bad start for their first album.

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AUTOKRATOR – Persecution – REVIEW

Autokrator are  back and ready to rattle your eardrums with some intense dark, murky and plodding Doom Metal to get the new year started off on the right path. The vocals are low and inhuman matching perfectly with they muddled guitar tones present on this release. Tracks like “DCLXVI, ” and “The Great Persecution”pick up the pace and send the sound into more of Black/Death combo with punishing blast beats and haunting solos giving the album some more variety. “Caesar Nerva Traianus,” was the real stand out song for me. Starting out with an epically powerful march with some really cool battleground sound effects thrown in for good measure that sounds like it belongs on the score of a big budget movie. The droning guitar tones and eerie chanting vocals make a haunting and eerie listen. The album in full hits like a bulldozer thanks to how smooth the tracks blend into each other.  “Persecution,” is raw and punishing with enough mix of style to remain fresh and accessible to all fans of Extreme Metal.

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MYRDOD – The Mourning Hollow – REVIEW

The Pennsylvania duo unleash a portal into a dank a swampy void of Hell with their latest release, ” The Mourning Hollow.” Myrod provide plenty of thick Black Metal atmospheric chaos that warps the mind as they take you with them beyond this realm. The recording is just as thick and murky as any good ol’ classic Black Metal sound should be with echoing rasps and tortured screams oozing through each track. “Orb Weaver,” starts the album with a somber and eerie tone that gradually adds in blast beats drums and guitars like a rolling storm. “Drom,” is the standout song here with sick guitar riffs that make you want to put your fist through a wall, inhuman garbage disposal sounding lyrics  It’s a brutal assault on the senses that will leave you scrambling to pick your brains off of the floor. (Naturally, in a good way.)  “Diabolical Ancient Blessing,” closes things out with enough adrenaline and speed to leave you thirsty enough for another spin.

Myrod’s blending style of raw Black and touch of Death Metal is a brutal and spiritual assault that is as melancholy as it is savage. A must listen for this Holiday season.

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VHS – I Heard They Suck…Blood! – REVIEW

Canadian horror monsters, VHS are back from the crypt once again with more thrashy, trashy and blood splattered tracks based on films from the great video store era of the 80’s and 90’s. This time the band focuses its  theme on the most rocking creature of the night; vampires. VHS plays a killer style of death and roll that is part thrash, part death metal, part grind and so on. If you are a fan of Carcass, Midnight and Ghoul this is a can’t miss. Being a band of each of them, this album has already received heavy rotation in my collection. VHS even managed to snag a few guests on this album as well. Trevor Strnad and Dave Ingram lend their unholy howls to tracks, “Horror of Dracula,” and “Immortality Comes with a Price,” Not only is music here top notch the sound bites included are worth the price of admission alone. If you are a horror film fanatic, you’ll be impressed with some of the films that VHS include in their undying homage to bloodsuckers. From classics like “The Lost Boys” and “Near Dark” to cult classics “Martin” and “Monster Squad,” this release will make you want to go back in time and visit your local video store.

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MORTAL VISION – Mind Manipulation – REVIEW

 

 

Peep that cover. Dosen’t it just scream early 90’s Death Metal? Fuck yeah! I’m surprised the band’s name is Mortal Vision and not Morbid Vision with their similar sound to early Sepultura. This sounds like it could have been released right between “Schizophrenia” and “Beneath the Remains,” it’s that awesome! Comparisons aside, this Ukrainian quartet is here to kick your ass with stompable riffs, squealing solos and gnarled vocals. This isn’t quite “Death Metal,” or “Thrash,” by purist’s standards but who cares when it’s this much fun? It’s a rather short record with just over 30 minutes of run time that feel even shorter do to the high octane filled adrenaline rush that comes with the listen. If you are a fan of the early early days of Death Metal, back when the style was still new and developing, this is a must listen for you. I swear there must be a phone booth or DeLorean parked outside somewhere in the Ukraine that Mortal Vision are utilizing for the benefit of all old school Metal Heads everywhere.  This is 6.66 gigawatts of pure extreme Metal power!

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CRUCIFIED MORTALS – 20 Years Damned- REVIEW

 

Wow. There is a lot here in this release that’s 20 years in the making. Crucified Mortal’s latest offering, “20 Years Damned,” is a collection stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey ready to be devoured. Included is a collection of limited vinyl releases, EPs, splits and demos that the band has released over the years. Also included is an unreleased rehearsal from the legendary CBGB and a soundboard recording from a 2005 gig in Cincinnati.

Crucified Mortal’s style of extreme Thrash is high energy, speed driven, angry and completely addictive. Think early Slayer, Venom and Exodus and you’ll have an idea of what this Cleveland based band are doing. There are loads of speed driven killer riffs, reckless solos, pounding drums and angry vocals with the occasional growl. The horror movie audio clips that proceed a few of the tracks are a nice touch, other than that this is some pretty straight forward Thrash Metal here. That’s not a dig, Crucified Mortal don’t have to reinvent the wheel to be entertaining. This is some kick ass material that should satisfy even the most jaded Metal fan.

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TRYANNUS – It Taketh -REVIEW

“It Taketh,” is a three song Demo from the Scottish duo Tryannus. Included within is just a taste of what is to come when they release their debut album next year. “The Flood,” starts out with a frenzied Black Metal style with a haunting and icy crawl in the mid section. Title track, “It Taketh,” is filled with plenty of blast beats, buzzsaw guitars and sickened vocals. The demo ends with the eerie instrumental, ” Lake of the Undying,” that utilizes some great synth work merged with a softer guitars that paint a dreamlike sequence.

Tyrannus definitely fit the mold of Lovecraftian style they are looking to achieve and it will be interesting to see what they come up with when they release their full debut album next year.