“The Forbes Critique” August / September 2010

NECRODEMON/Reclamation Of The Stygian Throne (Reaper Records)

Prepare to be assaulted and prepare to be slayed, beaten, and crushed into submission. This is easily the best thing this band has done and is a crushing slab of old school death/black metal played with a fury, aggression and feeling. The singer screams and growls with a pure hate and evil that would make Satan proud. The production is raw, but it fits with what the band is doing and just has that old 80’s feeling about it like those old demos I used to get back in the day. The riffs on this just totally 80’s worship and this is pure evil and this is the way death/black is meant to be played. Just pure evil feeling at it’s core. Info:

www.myspace.com/necrodemon or www.metalcorefanzine.com/Necro

OPPRESSOR/The Solstice Of Agony And Corrosion (Mortal Music)

This is a re-issue of sorts as it features songs from the bands 3 releases which are now out of print. There is also a bonus DVD which has interviews and live footage as well. It is a great package for those unfamiliar with the band and for those like me who were a fan back in the day. 2 great covers of Motley Crue and Ozzy as well. This band played semi technical death metal with some thick heavy riffs and total growl vocals and were one killer pure death metal band back in the day and it is great that this stuff is seeing the light of day. Info:

www.mortal-music.com or www.mvdb2b.com

TAUNTED/Bleeding Black (Self Released)

Some very cool heavy metal with a touch of speed metal thrown in the mix. Very cool riffing going on here and I like the song structures and the singer has got a good solid voice and he fits the music well. Thank god no female vocals or tough guy or low and high pitched vocals on this puppy. This I would compare musicwise sort of like Judas Priest “Painkiller” era with some speed and double bass drumming which was fine by me. 10 bone crushing heavy metal tunes that will have you raising your fist to the sky. Good job on this one guys. Info:

www.tauntedmusic.com or www.myspace.com/taunted

PILLAR/Confessions (Essential Records)

This is some really good rock/metal stuff with some solid, catchy tunes and a singer who has a great voice and he sings the tunes on this disc with a lot of feeling and passion. The tunes are catchy numbers that had my feet tapping and this style of rock/metal is something that I am not a big fan of, but when the band deliver the goods, I stand up and notice and this band more than deliver the goods. This to me easily blows away stuff like Nickleback and bands of that nature. The production is solid and this is no doubt heavy and the band just crank out riff and melody and riff after melody with a singer with a set of balls to him. Excellent new modern rock/metal. Info:

www.skhmusic.com

AWAKEN DEMONS/The Mirror (Trustkill Records)

This is to me just another faceless jump metal band that sounds like every other band doing this style with the tough guy vocal thing and the breakdown parts and then some fast parts ever now and then. They also have some chanting vocal parts that every other band doing this does. This is just another faceless band doing something that has been done to death and then some. Info:

www.trustkill.com

INFINITUM OBSCURE/Sub Atris Caelis (Deathgasm Records)

This is some crushing old school death metal played with tons of feeling and power. The music just claws you in the face and never lets go unti the last note fades. The vocals are great as well as the singer belts out the lyrics with conviction and none of that generic tough guy crap. He actually reminds me of Bathory at times. The band mix up the slow and fast parts, but the music doesn’t go a million miles an hour and even the slower parts will have that next moving. The bottom line is this is a killer release that should be in everyone’s
collection period. Info:

www.deathgasm.com

NOMINON/Omen (Deathgasm Records)

4 tracks of some decent death metal eith some solid vocals. The band rip through the 4 tunes with plenty of power and I like the guitar sound the the singer has a good death metal style voice. The production allows everything to flow and I was playing air drums to more than a couple parts. The band also doesn’t sound like any band I can pick out right now and the last track was a live one which again didn’t sound bad to these ears at all. Will be looking forward to a full length that is for
sure. Info:

www.deathgasm.com

NINETAIL/Half Truths & Hand Grenades (Level Nine Entertainment)

This is another generic nu metal band with the breakdowns and tough guy vocals down to at. This is 100 times worse than earlier nu metal band I reviewed. This has been done to death by a million other bands and why would you want to sound like other bands. This is so beyond bad. The front of the CD has a guy with a gun to his mouth and if I was forced to listen to this crap over and over I’d consider doing just that. Beyond awful. Info:

www.ninetail.org

DEFAMER/Chasm (Self Released)

This wasn’t that bad excpet I feel the vocals are kinda buried in the mix a bit. The music is sort of in the vein of Cannibal Corpse and stuff, but that was cool with me as they song riffs were pretty rip roaring and they had my neck moving. The music is mostly fast, but not too fast, not that it is a bad thing. This is some solid death metal that has riffs that move ya and this is just ball crushing death metal that hits hard and fast. Info:

www.myspace.com/defamermetal

WOULD/Self Titled (Dire Brew Records)

This to me sounded like a very bad verison of Machine Head. They are not even in the same class as them. This is another nu metal band with some god awful riffs, bad singing and just terrible songs. This didn’t have my neck or foot moving and the vocals are so generic it isn’t funny. This didn’t do a thing for me and this is just pure crap in my eyes and ears. Info:

www.worldwidewould.com

LAST PLAGUE/Sex And Murder (Synthetic Entertainment)

This is yet another groove metal band however they have some really good tunes and this was quite a nice enjoyable CD to review. The riffs had my neck moving and they inject some melody and speed parts to the mix and I like the singer this band has as he fits the music rather well and the production is right on the money as well. This band just deliver the goods and I was buying what they were selling. Info:

www.syntheticsounds.ca

EMPYRIA/The Long Road Home (Nightmare Records)

Ah something I don’t get to review a lot of and that is a good old fashioned metal band. This was some awesome fists in the air pure heavy metal with some traces of power metal here and there. The singer has a great set of pipes and even though he sings in a clear voice he doesn’t overuse it and he sounds great with this band. The music is a just a pure heavy metal delight and no nu metal riffs and no over done blast beats, this is just straight forward no frills heavy metal and my ears loved every second of it. Info:

www.nightmare-records.com

NICK OLIVERI/Death Acoustic (MVD Audio)

This guy used to be in that band Kyuss who brought out a couple killer CDs a few years back and this is an all acoustic music CD. I don’t mind mellow music as I love jazz and stuff, but this pretty much bored me as I felt the songs were boring and having him sing in an aggressive style with only an acoustic guitar seemed big time out of place and just felt unusual. Some may like this, but it pretty much had me bored out of my skull by track 4. Info:

www.mvdb2b.com

CONDEMNED/Contorted And Rotting (Self Released)

5 tracks of Suffocation like death metal that has just been done to death. The tin can blast beats and the lower than low growl vocals, I mean come on I have heard 1000’s of bands that sound like this over the years of reviewing stuff. This band has the formula down with the vocals and song arragements. This just sounds like every other Suffocation clone band that I have heard for over 15 years now. Boring. Info:

www.condemned.ws

IMPERATIVE MUSIC COMPILATION/Various (Imperative Music)

19 bands on this and as with most comps you get the good and the bad. Metal X offers up some killer thrash while Backstabbing Bastard offer a horrible dose of nu metal with clean and death metal vocals…yuk. I can honestly say I listened to every band on this and they all sucked except for Metal X and Toxxic Toyz and Thundasteel who were terrific. All the other stuff was generic death metal or nu metal shit. Info:

www.myspace.com/imperativemusic

AVENGER/Feast Of Anger (Deathgasm Records)

Oh man this just totally blew me away. This death/black metal band nearly knocked me out of my chair when this first blasted through my stereo. I could just feel the heat and hate as the singer screamed out the lyrics. The music is a nice mix of fast death/black metal played with tons of feeling, power, anger and just plain aggression. The production is perfect and this also has a CD-ROM video as a bonus. This is the perfect blend of death/black metal and should not be missed. This is a pure perfection release. Info:

www.deathgasm.com

KULT OFENZIVY/Radikalni Ateismus-Tvurcum Nadcloveka (Deathgasm Records)

This is 100% pure black metal played in a raw and vicious way. The vocals are pure black metal too, but the singer has a unique voice and he is different and in that he almost speaks the words and lyrics, not screaming them. The one thing I hate on this as the tin can drum sound which really got on my nerves and also this was just too fast all the time. The band need to slow it down a bit and let you breath. But this band isn’t generic by any means and are good despite the thin drum sound, which some may even like. Info:

www.deathgasm.com

AZARATH/Praise The Beast (Deathgasm Records)

11 tracks of some heart pounding death metal with razor like riffs and pounding drums that will have you playing air drums in a few seconds. If you like Morbid Angel, you will love this as this is in that vein. The riffs will slice through you and the power and pain this band deliver is second to none. Great production too allows everything to flow with no problem. This simply crushes. Nuff said. Info:

www.deathgasm.com