I’m not wholly familiar with this merry band of maniacs from Great Britain, but I can safely state that Fleshrot‘s take on brutal death metal is pretty God damned, well, brutal. Pulling in influences from the likes of Disgorge and Devourment, the UK four piece lay down the law with bruising, moshing riffs, thundering rhythms and guttural vocals straight from the sewers.

Traumatic Reconfiguration isn’t just another skull on the brutal death metal mantle. The band’s blend of traditional elements with a more technical aspect gives them a bit more of a unique presence in the brutal realms of the more extreme and often perverse death metal spectrum. Delivering nine bludgeoning songs with a ferociousness that rivals many of the band’s peers, Fleshrot are sure to be a force in the future.

From The Abyss
“From The Abyss” starts the band’s Deepsend debut with technical riffing, pounding drums and deep, guttural vocals. The pace is fairly unrelenting and menacing. There are some nicely layered higher end screams which give the overall vocal delivery a nice bit of depth. I’m digging the rolling drums and catchy riffs around 2:25 right before the band shifts into breakdown mode. Not a bad start to the disc.

Essence Of Decay
I got nothing. I suck. Apparently, my promotional copy was either lacking this track or I fucked up and lost it on the computer. I’m sure it was a killer track though — if the rest of the songs are any indication that is.

Purging Impurity
Getting back on track, the third song on Traumatic Reconfiguration erupts out of the gate with vicious, layered vocals and skull pulverizing drum work. The guys hit a high paced groove about 30 seconds in with fairly memorable guitar work and some guttural destruction on the vocal front. There’s some technical riffing throughout the song that doesn’t get too cerebral. The first lead of the album (at least I don’t recall catching one on the opener) appears at 3:12 and shreds nicely.

Dispossessed
The opening few seconds of “Dispossessed” show that the guys know when to reel it in a bit and let riffage breathe instead of clobbering you over the head with a constant barrage that could become monotonous without a respite here or there. That said, the guys don’t waste much more time before exploding your orbital socket with a rust pipe in the form of slamming riffs, manic drums and growling vocals. Staggered tempos and rapid fire drums keep this one entertaining through to the end.

Expanding The Void
Fleshrot keep the blood flowing with this bestial song as it explodes out of the speakers right form the start. Technical riffs compounded with manic drum work and layered vocals make for a dense, active sound. Man, the vocal work right before the two minute mark is aggressive as hell. The guitars even take on a slight melodic touch at this point as well, but it’s nearly lost in the down tuned distortion. Another sick, technical lead can be found at the three minute mark.

Venatic Perversion
Frantic drums and quick fingers on the fret get this next song off to a pretty technical start. The trading vocals are a nice touch that give the track a more unique feel (instead of layering the growls/shrieks as the previous songs have done). “Venatic Perversion” is an unrelenting beast of a song with barbaric drums and technical guitar work. I’m also digging the mosh at 2:40. There’s nothing wrong with simply, brain cell pummeling head banging to get the night going.

Traumatic Reconfiguration
If you’re not paying attention the title track will sneak up on your like some back alley lurker. The song nearly transitions smoothly from the previous song. “Traumatic Reconfiguration” as a topic of discussion sounds like it would be a bit painful and not nearly as enjoyable as listening to this so named song. There are plenty of tempo shifts to keep the onslaught from stagnating in mediocrity. I don’t know if I’d call it the strongest song on the album, but it does have some seriously bruising riffs and rapid-fire drums (as seen around the 2:30 mark).

Inherent Perdition
A bit of a slower start breaks up the ferociousness of the pace the band has been setting. The riffs that get this one going are infectious (I’ve played the opening 20 seconds or so a couple of times now before actually letting the song progress — I’m a dork like that). Once the guys to get into the meat of the track there are some great outbursts from the rhythm section, gurgling growls and frantic guitars. There’s a slick lead around 1:48 that seems content on staying in the shadows.

Oblivion
The final track opens with a sweet riff that’s got a bit of Chaos AD-era Sepultura vibe to it, but it’s quickly overcome with grinding drums and layered, nasty vocals. This song is dense as fuck and carries a powerful overall feel. It’s also chock full of great opportunities for you to try and separate your head from your own shoulders. This was definitely one of the better songs on the disc and ends the album solidly.

www.deepsend.com

For some reason as of the last six months or so I’ve almost soley gone back to classic death metal, death/grind, crust, and keeping my doom and kraut roots. The best rationale is because of bands like: Death (all eras/albums), Obituary, Napalm Death, Coroner, Morbid Angel, Terrorizer, Discharge, Carcass, etc, always sought out the most extreme way of making a real statement and delivered it as heavily, brutal, melodic, rhythmic, at times technical, but unique and even intellectual at the same time. With Humangled I’m glad to say that new acts can still strive for and succeed to make equally promising and awesome metallic sounds.

This young Italian band left me pleased and gratefully confused as within the album, but also in each track they managed to combine “chugga chugga” steam engine diesel riffs with an almost Death or Coroner style prog rhythm, aggressive but still understandable vocals, and incredible virtuosity and melodic sense as do Morbid Angel/Obituary. The confusing part was that whenever I had thought that the track was heading fast and menacing in one direction they took an unexpected and equally amazing jolt into another direction.

Two things that remained constant though and became readily predictable was the skill level and smoothness. A current act that sounds perfectly at place in the 20+ year ago brutal metal scene when talent reigned and fans were loyal, real, and had the highest expectations in their music choices. Above all else folks: IT HAS TO KICK MASSIVE ASS!!!!!!!!!!

I challenge anyone out there with any similarities in my taste to deny this album and Humangled. Just listening to “Brutalize The Pedophile” instantly brought to my mind Coroner’s “Semtex Revolution”, but the entire album, Mental Vortex, is brought to mind for me in many moments throughout this album. If you honestly want something standard and generic like most stuff these days this is not for you, but if you are in fact interested in the brutal, melodic, and highly skilled I’d pick this one up in an instant.

www.officialabyssrecords.com

And the Blackened- Death metal conquest continues for total domination of the underground!!!!!!!!

This Australian beast of blasphemy and hatred is bringing to our hungry ears another piece of unadulterated filth and fury courtesy of Hells Headbangers Records. To me “World Cremation” is another perfect mutant hybrid of black metal, death metal, and thrash metal. You get the thrashy almost Hellhammer-like riffs and rhythm, but you get the low-end bomb blast rumble and aftershock of doom and destruction from the guitar tones along with the shredding “squeal like a fresh hog getting it’s throat slit” that harkens back to early Death metal days. As for being Black metal, which is a sort of glorious bastard child of thrash, shock value, and a need to vent and destroy anything unworthy, so this band fits into that box nicely.

This blackest thing about this band aside from their ideals is the soot of charred remains of things considered pure and sacred that they leave in their wake. This maelstrom has been around for close to a decade, gone through many line-up changes, released successful and promising sounds to wet our appetites for their future unveilings of diseased intentions, and has now finally grown into a mature sweltering heat wave of Hells force. As refreshing for myself as it is offensive and fear inducing to many naïve and weak sheep, this is yet another storm of death complete with winds of holocaust to further plague our lives this year. Worshippers of violent murder and the morally corroded rejoice and partake.

Fans of: Profanatica, Prosantus Inferi, Church Bizarre, Inquisition, Deathspell Omega, Dead Congregation, Bestial Mockery, The Royal arch Blaspheme, and Sacrilegious Impalement will be especially delighted with the sound of this one.

www.hellsheadbangers.com

Another eerie and skin tingling, teeth chattering, haunting atmospheric release from Frostscald comes this Swedish act, Svart. As with many acts on the label, Svart would appeal as much to fans of neo-folk/dark ambient/neo-classical/martial sounds of labels like Cold Spring UK, Ahnstern, Tesco, Soleil Moon. Here a spring release is as icy as the first breeze of a long winter.

The songs on “Forlorad” are lengthy and have a definite pagan, nostalgic, and even poetic/literary sense about them. It’s as if they are telling a tale through sound of the coming of spring as the snow and gloom of winter begins to fade and life and color returns once again return to the once hidden objects that became a blindingly white glare for what felt like an eternity. The modern, epic, folkloric sound of these tracks makes me think of artists like: Allerseelen, Ataraxia, Olen K, Ebonillumini. I’ve been slowly trying to go back to building up my collection of those labels and artists and with additions like Frostscald and their growing artist list and my newest collaboration with Cold Spring it should be happening really soon, so expect to hear and read more about these amazing sounds.

Fans of the mentioned acts and: Lik, Lifelover, Wolves in the Throne Room, Summoning, Minsk, Velvet Cacoon, Hellveto, Dead Can Dance, A Forest of Stars, Caina, Alcest, Gravsahl, and Blakagir.

www.frostscald.com

Review By: Mike Abominator

These death metal maniacs have been in the metal underground since 1993. And coming from the state of Kentucky, Abominant has been unleashing their brand of killer metal for years now. “Where Demons Dwell” is their 9th album. 9 ALBUMS! INSANE! It does seem like yesterday that I heard about a new band forming in the ashes of Sarcoma(the first death metal band that I remember from Kentucky) and members of the other long time death metal merchants Assisting Sorrow. With this album Abominant continues their reign of death metal. This album shall catapult them into legendary status now.

“Baptized By Steel” has the familiar war themed intro that this band uses and then here comes the death. The evil open riffs and drum rolls give way to the blasting fast part that kicks things off. Then the verse part/riff comes in, and back to the main riff, back to the chorus. KILLER arrangement! I’m reminded of prime Morbid Angel here with the riffs. So far, everything sounds very “Blessed Are The Sick”, which is GREAT! The slower part makes you want to bang your head clean off. Once the song gets fast again it shreds with a more black metal feel, then back to the fast main part/verse again. There is a bad ass slower tempo double bass part that kills to end the song. “Bloodland” starts off with a great guitar riff that is evil and melodic at the same time. Abominant have always been great at mixing melody and heaviness. Their melodic parts never sound lame or to “wussy” as some would say. This song is no different. It has an almost black metal feel to it. It is a total balls out fast banger that doesn’t let up until you are all bloodied on the floor in a daze. Oh no, Abominant isn’t killing you yet! Not quite! This is a slow process of beatings and torture! The blasting mixes well with the fast one/two beats. There is also a killer mid paced banging part that goes into a slower break, that if your head is still on your neck, good luck with keeping it this time! Then back to the fast banging! ARGHHHHH!!!!!! KILLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Firestorm” also starts with a killer riff and fast blasting. This song starts off almost total old school grind! The way the riffs are played. It is like Morbid Angel/Terrorizer. The break riff is amazing. It has a total evil vibe going on. Has quite a classic feel to it. It has that soul destroying style as well. Then the song ends with all kinds of fast banging going on. And the riffs that make up this tornado of death are all killer. “Rain Of Ash” blasts next. Again more of a black metal feel to it. The middle part of the song has a killer mid paced banging part. That is another thing that Abominant has always been good at, the thrashier elements thrown in that make it that much more catchy. It is a perfect break from all the ripping fast parts that have slaughtered everything so far. It then goes into a killer, almost Destruction part on speed that would make Destruction proud. And back to the fast banging main riff to end it. Abominant have some of the style of black thrash, but they also have more of a death metal feel to them that sets them apart.

“After The Fallout” begins the 2nd half of the album with a slow guitar part/drum build up. The beat kicks in and this song is defeinatley different! But it works great and kicks into a heavy as fuck slower/middle paced riff that has the vocals on it. Heavy fucking stuff here! This song has a doomy feel to it. The slow, prodding riffs creep along with abysmal pace. Then the fast part kicks in and has a couple of awesome fast banging riffs going on. It heads back into the slower, doomier stuff to finish the song. Reminds me of old Obituary here on this one! “The Wolves Of Hate” starts with killer riffs and drums rolls, then goes into my favorite riff of the album so far. It blast away with intensity and sadness at the same time. It is that perfect mixture of blackened death. One of those riffs that I wish I wrote! The mid/fast banging part that kicks into the one/two beat is also killer. It has another fast part that does the Morbid Angel style again, and then ends with the classic riff/arrangement. AWESOME!!!!!! “Blackened Earth” is next and it starts with the familiar blasting away again. It gets into a fast one/two beat and back and forth. There is a slow and melodic break that comes in that will be a sure headbanging part live. The song goes back into the fast banging from the beginning and ends. Another killer banger for sure! After a short intro of some eerie classical music the title track brings this album to a close. It has the fast banging blast parts. The riff is awesome and strong. A fast one/two part also comes in with the blasting for a change up like before. Once the black/death mid paced part kicks in to give you a break from the ripping fast madness, your head now has no hope(if it is still even on your head!) It will fly, clean off at this point. It gets back into the fast banging again, complete with insane guitar solo orgies of death. And the yet another mid paced banger of a riff that reminds me a bit of Bolt Thrower. What a killer song!

Abominant gets my respect for being from Kentucky. Bands that come from big cities take shit for granted and it’s easier for them to find places to play. There are also “scenes” there with plenty of people for support. A smaller town band, from a state not recognized for metal, has many obstacles to over come to get their music heard. PLUS Abominant have been doing it for YEARS now. Even MORE respect! And to top it all off, they have been putting out quality albums this whole time. Any metal head out there would enjoy this band, and any of their 8 albums. “Where Demons Dwell” might just be their best, and as I said, it should put them in the classic status that they deserve. They have a perfect mix of death metal and black metal on here, as well as the usual thrash elements. Fans of the older, less technical Morbid Angel will dig this album. And fans of black thrash mixed with American death metal will dig this as well! One thing Abominant never has a shortage of is good riffs! Riff after riffs is shredded on here. And vocalist Mike Barnes can growl and scream with the best of them! The guitar solos are done well and fit perfectly. And the production is strong and heavy. Great job guys! Keep putting out killer albums like this for another 20 years!!!!!!!!!

www.myspace.com/abominant

Hailing form the cold, dark nether regions of Poland, Blasphemy Rites erupt out of now where with their hellishly raw debut album. Hideous Lord bucks any new trends and tears through an angel’s ass (see “Sodomize Holy Angel”) with unrelenting, reckless abandon. The black/death metal these guys are spitting is venomous, violent and, for lack of a better word, blasphemous.

Blasphemy Rites invert your favorite deity for 32 minutes of utter and complete hell (12 original songs and 3 covers). Thrashing guitars are raw with just the right amount of distortion and the thundering and often times chaotic drumming pummels you senseless. And if you’re going to spew forth lyrics praising Satan and raping angelic beings then you better have one hell of a vocalist. And these guys do. The evil screams and growls that slither out of this disc fit the music perfectly.

So put down your Bible and kiss your ass good bye — Hideous Lord is here.

Bestial Necromancy Sex
It’s always good to let new listeners know exactly what you’re all about with your first song… but, uh, this might not be the best song subject matter-wise to start off with. At any rate, “Bestial Necromancy Sex” is a blasting song that takes almost a minute to get going, but when it does, it’s guttural and violent as hell. Clashing drums, rumbling bass and caustic riffs dominate the rest of the song. Not a bad album opener.

Genocide
This 19 second eruption of peace, love and understanding (yeah, right) has more in common with grind-core than black metal. I’ve played it several times in a row now and it never gets old. Hell yes!

Hideous Lord
The title track is chock full of rumbling bass, distortion and chaotic, blasting drum work. The production for this disc fits the evil music perfectly — it’s raw, a bit messy and downright sadistic. The deep guttural growls to higher end shrieks help keep the vocals from becoming stagnate amidst the whirlwind of riffs and crashing symbols. There’s almost a bit of a punk aesthetic to this song’s overall vibe.

Beergoat of Sodomy
What’s a beergoat and can I get one with stout instead of sodomy? “Beergoat of Sodomy” has a good deal of ambient noise over the first 30 seconds or so before the guys come in with dense, galloping rhythms. The pace is quickly ramped up to a blistering cadence as the tortured vocals come. This song feels like it’s constantly on the verge of losing whatever little control it may have over itself — teetering on sheer chaos.

Don’t Need Your Guts
More chaotic, pounding drums greet you at the onset of this next track as a brief, yet sick lead screams amongst the dense rumblings. I’m not sure that these guys can get any more aggressive with their delivery, but I’ll be damned if they haven’t ratcheted up the vehemence on this song. It’s just too bad that after a minute the track is gone.

Alcoholic Sabbath
“Alcoholic Sabbath” has a nice bit of drum work and rumbling bass to get it going before the vocals come shrieking in. Snarling and vicious, this track will leave you grinning maniacally for more. Man, that was a dark and dirty song.

Damned Bastard of Hell
Here’s another of those oh-too-short blasts of frenzied fury. “Damned Bastard of Hell” has a bit of a groove too it as the guys thrash their way through your skull with driving riffs, rollicking drums and thick, rumbling bass. This is the shit that gets me stoked on an album.

Apocalyptic War
Featuring a pretty standard black metal title, “Apocalyptic War” starts off slowly with some ambience and sound effects before finally exploding in your ears with crushing blasts of drumming menace as the snearing vocals spit vitriol. The guitars swirl and dive all over the place, adding more than enough dynamic layers to an already dense sounding song. The slow down before the two minute mark is a nice change of pace.

Sadistic Blacking Metal
Tortured wails and big rumbling bass open up this next track as a belching scream gets the rest of the guys into it with thick, chugging guitars and bludgeoning drums. This one isn’t as straightforward as the other tracks have been. There are some nice tempo shifts peppering it’s brief two minute span.

Drink The Poisoned Piss of Baphomet
This sounds like some sort of vile cocktail that’s served regularly at all the watering holes in Hell. Yeah, get me a Miller Lite and a couple of shots of Poisoned Piss of Baphomet. No thanks. As for the music on this track, it’s unholy as all get out. Pounding drums and slithering leads show up here and there amongst the chugging blackened thrash.

Sodomize Holy Angel
Man, this is as aggressive and as caustic a song as you can find anywhere this side of an inverted cross. It’s blasphemous, raw and without a doubt, a full on “fuck you” to all religions across the globe. The drums on this short track are blasting and, at times, a bit messy, but that’s what makes it so damned good. It’s all over the fucking place.

Atomic Discharge
I suppose atomic discharge is what happens at the climax of a good angel raping, but I could be wrong. At any rate, this one minute (and then some) track is actually 45 minutes of blistering blacked thrash and then plenty of static and reverb to end out the remaining moments. Next up, the cover songs.

Empty Chalice (Blasphemy cover)
I’m not entirely familiar with the orginal song, but Blasphemy Rites seem to be playing this mid-tempo chugging monster pretty well. It’s a bit slower than their original material, but still fits in nicely.

Satan Bless You (Sabbat cover)
Again, not another track I’m wholly familiar with, but I love the galloping cadence the song carries. Pretty damned good.

Dethroned Emperor (Celtic Frost cover)
Now, this one I do know. It’s been a good while since I last heard it, but it appears as though the guys are handling it well enough. It’s much slower a song than they have played so far on this impressive debut. It just goes to show that the band is capable of playing all sorts of malevolent styles.

http://www.paganrecords.com.pl

Two things are apparent when listening to “Old World Wanderer,” the latest album from ACROSS TUNDRAS. First, the Tanner Olson-led band sounds well traveled, as if their world weariness has educated them and given the fellows wisdom many bands that are their colleagues do not have. Second, taking in their music is a fitting moment for a cold ale, not because you’ve tired or frustrated, but because you can almost feel the deep parch in the narrator’s voice, the gritty film that lines the tonsils that can only be washed back by something chilled and relaxing.

Yes, the band has done its fair share of mileage, especially when it comes to the Midwestern United States (they now claim Nashville as homebase), and their music, which tends to be sludgy, noisy and psychedelic, also can make you feel like you do when you hear the barbed strains of CRAZY HORSE or even the folk threads of CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, and YOUNG (and yes, that version specifically). Dark prairies and stagecoach drama certainly can be part of the mix, yet so can nighttime stargazing and numb-chested slumber once those brews fully impact the bloodstream.

“Old World” also happens to be the finest piece of ACROSS TUNDRAS’ catalog, which contains a handful of efforts, many of them built from pieces of 2008’s “Western Sky Ride.” These seven cuts belong together and should be absorbed as such, meaning you’re not likely to find any break-off cuts for a mix, but that’s good because the world contains too many individual morsels. The journey begins on “Vanguard Battle Hymn,” which blends right into the hippie strains of “Fallin’ to the Nethers,” where Olson reasons, “Hope for no heaven, pray for no hell.”

“Stone Crazy Horse” has a bit of a rollicking country rock feel, so expect a dust up once that one hits; “Life on the Grain Belt” has some guitar chugging and hissing, like Neil Young gone doom; and closer “Rainmaker-Floodreaper” has a spiritual essence, with trippy, thick sitar built in, and what seems like a storm cloud swelling above. All of this serves well the quote on the album’s sleeve – “When your broken engine stalls on long deserted tracks, take a walk through a nameless town.” You do that here. You feel the old ghosts, hear the echoes of past standoffs, smell the aged gunpowder, and sense there’s so much more to understand than what the surface offers. It’ll make that beer taste all the better, while you escape in your horse-drawn easy chair and past the gates of an abandoned village with its own story to tell.

www.myspace.com/acrosstundras

Review By: Mike Abominator

Here we have some dirty and ugly black fucking metal the way that I like it! It’s necro and played in the original way. It reminds me of some of the better black metal that came out of Norway and Sweden back in the heyday. Psykho, formerly of longtime local black metallers Nokturne, leads the dark charge here. He is one sick fuck. If you have ever witnessed him live, he will scare you into leaving the show. I dare you to talk shit about a black metal band coming from Southern California! bahahahahaha.  I have always been impressed with him on stage as an imposing front man and is very intense.  He is not for the weak and Ritual Combat are not for wimps! He also brought Hrodwulf from Nokturne with him to play the guitar/axe of black death and play the murderous riffs that are on display here.

The errie “Sword And The Serpent” intro starts things off. “Infernal Wolfpack” then blasts away with ripping intensity. This song goes straight for the jugular! It doesn’t fuck around. And good black metal shouldn’t GODAMIT! That’s why these guys are here in this article, hahaha. This song is mainly a fast banger, that blasts away and takes no prisoners. Out of nowhere, an evil mid paced riff comes in. FUUUUCK! it is one of those riffs that I wish that I wrote. It sounds like the demons of hell are killing all that live! Psykho doesn’t fuck around with the vocals either. Pure hate and scorn can be felt. The song then blasts away again with the killer fast as fuck parts. The title track is next and has an epic type intro riff. The kind of dark, evil melody that when done well, is killer. The next riff is the same but even better. The pace is blazing fast with the blasting again. Psykho goes for an evil Dead/Mayhem type style on one part of this song which works well with it’s sick vomits. “Black War” blasts away and has a great fast riff. The song blurs through a break neck pace and has one break with what seems to be a different speed coming, but then blasts away again. The song ends with an almost Possessed, eerie type riff. Another good banger!

“Circle Of Nine” is next and this is where this album gets really good for me. This song has a MONSTROUS opening riff! I mean it is fucking total heavy duty, soul crushing type shit. It then blasts off with another killer fast riff. The stops before the next measure are fucking killer. It leaves you on the edge of your seat, wondering what is coming. Don’t be a pussy, keep listening! hahahaha. The death march, almost military/ snare battle cry part in the middle is fucking amazing. This leads into the same riff, and into that now famous Bathory esque mid paced banging style. Back to the battle cry and then back to the blasting. Fucking killer! “Black Mirror Eternity” starts off with a slower pace this time around, before it blasts off on the drums with the same riff. I dig how they did that. This song reminds me of the first couple of Immortal albums with it’s style and the way the riffs are played with the evil melodies. It goes back to the slower part again. KILLER!!!!!!!!!!!! “Division” brings the album to a close. All of the other songs have been quicker and around 4 minutes long. This one is longer at 7 minutes with the outro. It blasts away with the same fury as the other songs. The fast one/two beat that comes next is great. There is a break that slows things down and an acoustic part kicks in with the madness. It picks up to the one/two beat again and then blasts away. This song was a great way to close things out! This album rules and can be played from start to finish without taking it off. Even people who don’t think much of black metal can get into this because of the killer riffs!

Ritual Combat aren’t treading new ground here. But who gives a fuck right? I don’t look for music to do that in METAL. When it is done well and true like this, what is good is good. As far as the songs go, the black metal blasting isn’t so fast that you can’t hear what’s going on. That makes the attack all the more powerful. There are also some very memorable riffs on here! Shit that will be in your head for days and give you nightmares like good music should. Psykho’s vocals are sick, as they should be, and it sounds like he has been drinking razor blades and nails for breakfast. This is quite a fucking killer debut and Ritual Combat will be a force to be reckoned with! Turn off the lights, light some candles, and put this fucker on. If you like the early works of Immortal, Marduk, Gorgoroth and Dark Funeral, you will like Ritual Combat. They are fast, aggressive, ugly and dark as fuck. They are the real deal. This is the first release from local maniac Chris Hatewar. And this is a great way to start releasing albums! Let the slaughter of christians begin! And Ritual Combat are the LIONS!

www.myspace.com/ritualcombat

www.myspace.com/hatewarproductions

I just received this one last night and instantly had to introduce my curious mind to the sounds of a Mayan Black metal band (?). Yes, some of you might be stoned but you did read that right, Yaoti Mictlan are a ferocious and melodic Mayan themed band, and why the Hell not, we already have: Viking, Slavic, Celtic, Medieval, Victorian, Egyptian, Lovecraftian, and everything else themed bands in metal genres and it always makes some of the most powerful stuff imaginable?

Listening to this album brings to mind several bands: Bathory, Emperor, Drautran, Windir, Blut Aus Nord, and Helrunar, as those are my top melodic/pagan/warrior Black Metal bands (Emperor included more so for influence than actual themed content). With Yaoti Mictlan you get that dynamic and dramatic sense of war, bloodshed, and victory in these songs along with all of the things that you loved in the other acts mentioned kept intact here and a not so recognized heritage is simultaneously brought back to life in all it’s savagery and glory. It’s an accurate and intense portrayal of a lost culture rising from the ashes of European conquest and taking its existence back with each curse and stab wound.

If you thought that Vikings and European Barbarians were ferocious, man they don’t even compare to the atrocities committed by some of these tribes: Cannibalism, violent orgies, virgin sacrifice, massive ritual slaughter all in the name of war and progression and that’s only the tip of that blade. Okay, all the mentioned people did the same sick and fascinatingly cruel stuff to a certain extent, but they also all had strong societies and senses of individuality that don’t exist anymore. This review really is not about anthropological information, but it IS about a barbaric and savage band that is as unique and fresh as the sacrifices it’ll ritually slaughter to spread it’s message and ultimately survive. The lyrics are said to be in the Mayan language too, and the use of some tribal drums in parts really gives the feel of the rituals and supernatural powers being awakened and exchanged. Add in a flute intro, some sounds of gourds or maracas rattling, rain falling, and you are instantly transported back to that time. A Seriously fresh and sophisticated take on a solid sound, tribal Black Metal!!!!!!!

www.candlelightrecordsusa.com

As usual HHR and it’s legion of metal smut releases leave any deviant pervert addicted to the sound of blasphemy and obscenities that only the truly mentally-ill and un- ordained can appreciate. The US Black-Death horde of Profanatica deliver yet again a huge wad of Satan’s cum on the alter of decency and traditional black Metal.

For starters, the sound here is raw and distorted…. not the Burzumic clone type of band “raw”, but the real dirge, sludgy and low-end thundering guitar and bass that sounds like some sort of demonic diesel operated machine, sort of like other acts: Inquisition and Prosanctus Inferi; where they capture that ultimate in deep, low-end rumble and thunder that no one else seems to be able to pull off nearly as well. The weight of the riffs and atmosphere bears down on you like ton of lead as the rhythms manage to be almost catchy but break apart into somewhat more developed patterns just as you think something is becoming comfortable. That’s one more way these bastards get you hooked, you think that it’s just this aggressive and semi-standard listen for the style, then they go and show you that there’s a shit load (or cum-load) of deep and intense buried beneath the vulgar layers like a fungal infection festering among layers of putrid flesh. The drums appear as to pummel and bang out the pattern of a death march as the vocals vomit forth legitimate guttural hymns of pure depravity and hatred. Never underestimate

You can feel the classic Autopsy/Winter raw death metal sound fused with elements of monstrous doom weights within these tracks, but there is always a certain level of sophistication and evolution present as well. Over the two decades Profanatica has grown into a bulldozer of not only blasphemy but also incredible artistic force. They may be considered to belong amongst the grime and slime, but they definitely are the shit that floats to top of the muck pool. Not too many bands can or will ever pull-off what Profanatica has/does/will, and thankfully so. Brilliance in the face of filth and ferocity is what Profanatica brings forth yet again, so rot your soul with this release and may you be gratefully damned for doing so.

Along with “Disgusting Blasphemies Against God”, the awesome cassette label No Visible Scars also just put out “The Years of Pestilence”, a previously unreleased compilation of rehearsals and live tracks form 90/91 which are un-fucked with to maintain the original sound of that era, I’d like to say virgin form as they are un-remastered and just moderately edited, but Profanatica has nothing virgin or clean about them. The ultimate in depravity, perversion, blasphemy, and brutal low-end heaviness has arrived!!!!! Listen and prepare to have your brain warped by this band like a mature case of Syphilis would.

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