Consumed (one-man TXDM) Demo Review

This dude contacted us out of the blue for a review, so I checked his Myspace and was pretty impressed at the quality for a one-man project! He sent me his newest demo, including three tracks in 10 and a half minutes of quality slamming deathgrind, so here's my verdict.

First track starts with a nice slam with pretty tight drum programming, then we get the huge "YUUUURRGH" vocal invocation and we're off to a fast and riffing start with some very Californian sounding technical riffery and blasting. Vocals are pushed back to showcase the riffs and drums, but eventually it slows down for another slam section with a weird and interesting rhythm; fuckin' catchy! Another breakdown occurs and tosses the listener into another swamp of gore with pure bludgeoning slams and quick, frenetic leadwork. The high vocals are a little off the mark and odd sounding, and the lower vocals clip too much to be totally successful, but overall I'm feeling this.

Next track begins with a sample, which I don't like unless they're evocative, which this doesn't really give to me (Texas Chainsaw Massacre thing, kind of predictable), but when it starts, the slams are abound though oddly rigid and not groovy or punishing enough. The time changes and shifts in the song's direction are pretty interesting and seem almost illogical, but the drum programming here is good enough to glue everything together, and there are some really nice sections of blasting Deeds of Flesh-isms complete with chaotic, fast tremolo. I would really like to hear a better kick drum sample, and, come to think of it, the snare is almost missing and/or drowned out by the crash cymbal, which sounds a little awkward.

"I...AM...PAIN"...now that sample was good, but didn't mesh well enough with the song. Still, once it starts, this is easily one of the best parts on the demo, with catchy and very well structured blasting slam grooves! Titled "Torture, Rape, Dismember", I can get a definite feeling for this, as a goregrind-like drum fill connects the first and second "parts" (like the title implies) of the track together. This is easily the best stuff on the demo, though the vocals are very ineffectual, which really brings this down. However, during the short slam section, they slightly redeem themselves with some good gurgling stuff in the vein of Ruben of our favorite Devourment, so that's alright. The song grinds until the very end with a fast and very nice sounding chromatic riff, and the previous breakdown reiterates again, leaving me with a good feeling for the future of this artist.

Check out his demo, contact him on Myspace, and listen to his songs. There aren't enough quality one-man slam/brutal death bands, so this is a welcome addition to my collection.

Sevared Open Wounds Comp 2008 Pt. 2

Sanatorium - In Capture Of Necrophile Visions: Sanatorium is a new signing for Barrett, and a pretty good choice at that. They feature very nice guttural vocals and a tight slam in this song, similar to popular Swedish and American bands including Soils of Fate and Aversion to Life. The production is weirdly flat and the bass is definitely lacking, but the songwriting is top-notch.

Flesh Consumed - Cast Into The Pit: See my review

Being Killed - Collapsing Society: I've actually never heard Being Killed, but I get the feeling this stuff works for goregrind freaks and digigrind-heads of all shapes and sizes as well as slam freaks. This is fine since I'm a grind fan myself, and the drum machine is very well done. Vocals are sub-par "bleeeehhhhh" style stuff but the production and style is done well enough to warrant repeat listens.

Sufferatory - Defective Mentality: I was looking forward to the Sufferatory song on this sampler more than most of the songs. Their new MCD seemed really good just from surface judgments on its themes, etc. but this is really punishing, heavy and interestingly well-done brutal death. If you like your slam with a side of intelligence a-la Ingurgitating Oblivion, then check this sick fucking band out!

Blaze Inside - Enormous Prodigious Sphere: Blaze Inside sounds like Internal Suffering gone absolutely batshit insane, at least on this song. Absolutely tiring, haranguing, unrelenting slamblast brutality, no holds barred and no strings attached. Couple that with the themes of cosmic chaos and physics and you've got a weird yet undeniably badass combination that works excellently.

Gortuary - Mutilation By Double Penetration: See my review

Yogth Sothoth - Endless Infernal Darkness: Yogth Sothoth is another upcoming band from Colombia that needs to be watched with a careful eye. This is borderline brutal death with a clear production and very good songwriting. Include with that a very Lovecraft-influenced concept and ex-members of Colombian stalwarts Planta Cadaver and...if you're not convinced, nothing will be able to convince you.

Human Mastication - Grotesque Mastication of Putrid Innards: HM is part of the NWOFDM scene currently on the rise in the brutal underground; Filipino style brutality is really making waves in America and Sevared is taking notes and releasing some of the best bands from the area. Asian brutality at its finest; sick vocals, straight-slamming guttural death metal. They just don't make 'em like this...interview with Gee (vocals) forthcoming!

Hideous Deformity - Winds Of Eradication: HD is one of the only Norwegian slam death bands currently doing anything on a label with a good international heading as far as Nick or I know, so this is an accomplishment in itself [Nick has informed me about Kraanium, who I forgot...also good stuff!]. These two guys, however, make quite the awesome racket with chugging and sick shifting riffs and rhythms abound. Kevin Talley is slated to drum on the new album, while this track/demo used a drum machine; BE AFRAID!

Soaking In Entrails - Drenched In Gasoline: Soaking In Entrails is a Dutch slam band who appear on here covering Putrid Pile's "Drenched In Gasoline." While the production is lacking, I can tell that these guys have a good idea of what they're doing from how they interpret this song. It'll be good to see them grow and develop, and this is a good first step. I never got into Putrid Pile but this cover is actually pretty damn good.

Cesspool Of Vermin - Parasitism: Cesspool Of Vermin also suffers from poor production and a less-than-good drum machine, but these guys know and admit the amateur sound, which makes them that much closer to being a great band in the long run. The groove section 45 seconds in kills everything in its path; fucking great stuff! I like this the more I listen to it even despite the poor production; there's something very good here.

Sevared Open Wounds Comp 2008 Pt. 1

The Open Wounds Comp 2008 is a limited edition compilation released by Sevared Records showcasing a bunch of past, present and future members of Sevared's roster. Andy and I will be reviewing this together with me handling the first 11 songs and Andy 12-22. Let's get started.

Exaltation - Human Body Bag: This band hails from Germany and have released one EP entitled Tales of Mental Sickness which has since been rereleased on Sevared. Exaltation play a chunky, deep vocaled style of brutal death that is decent but largely unimpressive. I liked the use of melody, but the song didn't flow and was not memorable.

Viral Load - Cockroach Cumrag: Viral Load is a pretty big name and is composed of scene giant Shawn Whitaker (Insidious Decrepancy, Grotesque Formation, Inexplicable Entrails, Braced for Nails, Uncleansed). This song actually impressed me a lot more than VR's previous material which I had never really cared for. Cockroach Cumrag features punishing TXDM slams alongside catchy tremolo riffs. Pretty good.

Septycal Gorge - Unidentified Corpses: This song from Italian brutal death masters Septycal Gorge is fantastic. This song is a few years old already and the band already has a new album in the works which I am definitely looking forward to. If you haven't heard the band before they utilize crushing and interestingly patterned slams and creative riffs to create a unique and brutal listening experience. Growing Seeds of Decay is mandatory for any brutal death fan, and since it's been rereleased by Sevared you have no excuse for not having it.

Putrefied - Visions of Treachery: Putrefied are a Dutch band who have just recently released their third full length Gore-ific on Sevared. They utilize very evil sounding tremolo riffs and good grooves to form their sound. There is definitely a touch of old-school death in here. The vocals however were not good and took away from the track. I thought it was decent and I can see others really liking it.

Artery Eruption - New Track: I'm going to be blunt-I don't like Artery Eruption at all. It surprises me that they are so well known in the scene, especially because this is not a hard genre to at least be decent at. They always seem to half ass everything. They couldn't even be bothered to come up with a name for their song. This song did nothing to change my mind. It's stupid, poorly played, poorly written, forgettable trash.

Inhuman Dissiliency - Dripping Vaginal Excrements: See my review

Vomitous - Asphyxiation by Ejaculation: See my review

Antracks - No Endless: This band apparently is from Indonesia although they are not on Metal Archives yet. If I didn't know any better I'd say they're from Colombia. "No Endless" features that same snare sound that you can find in Goretrade, Amputated Genitals and Ancient Necropsy. The rest of the song is a little scattershot, but I can hear a lot of good ideas and they even through in a cool guitar solo. I'm definitely intrigued.

Septicemia - D.O.M.: Another band from Indonesia (they are on an upcoming split with Antracks) Septicemia are a little more traditional than their countrymen although still interesting. Again they sound a little Colombian, but the riffs switch between fast slams and really slow slams, all with some tasteful guitar noodling over the top to make things interesting. The songwriting could be better, but once again I'm intrigued.

Eviscerated - Severed Foot Fuck Fetish: This Eviscerated come from San Antonio, Texas and unsurprisingly play TXDM. What is surprising is how well they play it. I've always thought the best TXDM sounded like a chugging train bearing down on you and this definitely feels like that. A little faster than fellow Texans Aversion to Life, based on this one song Eviscerated could be as good.

Down From the Wound - Infant Soaked in Baptismal Mutilation: See my review

Arsebreed - Munching The Rotten - 2005 - Neurotic Records

Well, it's taken me like...almost 4 years to hear this ONLY because the band's name is pretty horrible, and let's face it "munching" is basically the worst synonym for eating, devouring, etc. yet. I mean, even "masticating" is better. Excusing the terminology (fucking finally!), I entered this with an open mind and...well, I am pretty impressed, to an extent.

Essentially, this is the band that formed after Pyaemia's very sad breakup. Cerebral Cereal is an overall awesome slab of chunky yet catchy downtuned Suffo-worship on speed (with some great bass). This album honestly doesn't change too much. The vocals are a little different and, being on Neurotic, it is perhaps a bit techier in the rhythm department and has more wanky (if I can even call it that) guitar riffing. However, the overall feeling is relatively similar and I could say that if you're a fan of (old or new) Disavowed or Pyaemia, you'd be right at home with this one!

Now for a modern day connection: immediately upon beginning this to sit down for the review, I basically noticed that Human Filleted, new brutal deathers with a new album this year (actually a pretty good one marred by really stiff, lo-fi production but with very tight writing skills for such a young new band; review probably forthcoming[?]) are...trying to sound exactly like this. And I mean exactly...right down to the bass, which is loud but not all that "heavy" or low-end filled. It's chunky and slammy brutality that does not forget for a second that it is still death fucking metal and that it is supposed to be evil, groovy, and fast at times also. The quick changing rhythms are really good on both the HF album and this, and I can find myself appreciating the catchy vocalizations of both Joel and Robbe (ex-Pyaemia and Disavowed vocalists, respectively). This album does little wrong, and almost everything right. The production might be a LITTLE thin, but the songwriting and overall slammy brutality combined with fierce and technical catchiness are really satisfying together.

Also, I have to fucking mention that the lyrical approach is LITERALLY exactly what you would expect from a band with the aforementioned vocalists also writing lyrics in the contexts of the same songs! Philosophy meets gore, but never really fully combines...a stanza of gore, a stanza of random philosophy as only Disavowed could be known for. Hilarious, and strangely amazing.

Gortuary - Manic Thoughts of Perverse Mutilation - 2008 - Sevared Records

Barrett's at it again. Here's another slab of brutal as fuck death metal, this time from a Cali-slam band by the name of Gortuary. Formed a paltry year (+ a few months) ago, these guys have clearly demonstrated their worth, enough to make a label like Sevared snap them up for a great new release!

Right off the bat, the obligatory sample, this time a serial killer talking about the look in his victims' eyes as the knife penetrates their flesh...really evocative stuff, but then you're blasted with intensely fast slamming, twisting and turning with everchanging precision and technicality. Stylistically, this sounds Italian almost, with some sections being made up of pinch harmonics a-la Putridity, but the band is clearly American with their California-style technical melodic flourishes and random lead solo bits. A few of these could be seen as nods to Ancient Necropsy, particularly on his first album where he would stop in the middle of songs to randomly do a tapped lead or something else. It just sets the stuff apart.

The second song has a full solo over a chunky, odd-rhythm chord and just goes into wacky epileptic wankery (in a good sense) after the first well-composed seconds. It's funny, because that kind of stuff even reminds me of what the sample spoke of initially; a killer plans out his whole night, gets to that moment of murder, and just goes nuts with an intense mania and adrenaline rush. Very tight stuff there, A+ for originality, and even a well-deserved reference to the crazy solo styles of Necrotic Disgorgement's own Tony Tipton (and sometimes Ben Deskins!)

But enough about solos and the like, you want to hear about the meat-and-potatoes, the slamming breakdowns and utterly devastating groovy downtuned sludge that makes up this genre we worship at the altar of. The more I listen to it, the more I get the feeling that these guys really really like Necrotic Disgorgement, but the funny thing about ND is that there are no big slam breakdowns on Suffocated in Shrinkwrap that stand out to me, but I fucking love that album. As such, this might not be the Down From The Wound or Abominable Putridity kind of slam with ultra-chunky slam rhythms at sluggish paces, etc., but it's a solid slab of modern California-meets-TXDM-meets-originality brutal death metal, and it should be very easy to get since Barrett's got more than a few on hand. Snatch this one, ladies and gents!

Ancient Necropsy Rehearsal Video

Here's a video of Ivan from Ancient Necropsy playing the drums for the unreleased song "Altar of Fire". Sounds awesome

New Septycal Gorge, Fetal Mutilation tracks!

Italian slammers Septycal Gorge have a new song out entitled "Psychotic Redemption." The song sounds really fucking professional and well-done, with the trademark SG riffing and slamming. The vocal approach is equally impressive, featuring the no-holds-barred gutturals of vocalist Mariano. I would have to say that some of the dual-guitar work is really great too! Overall, a little more technical, but nothing at all bad...excellent job.

Meanwhile, over in that hotbed of slam, the Philippines...things are brewing as Fetal Mutilation ALMOST slipped under the radar with their new song "Kill Abegail Virus", an EPIC nearly 5 minute journey of excellent rhythmic transitioning and the band's uniquely complex slamming style. With almost subtly melodic and colorful riff/drum interplay, this band threatens to kill you at every corner with rabid, brutal vocals and shifting changes, and this song is no different. Even features an S-M coined "funeral slam" breakdown towards the end culminating in...well, just go listen to it. If you like slam and you like it raw and dirty, you'll dig this new one.

Until next post...

ChokingOnBile Demo Reviews

Here are two demo reviews straight from the underground, this time from France. ChokingOnBile (briefly called Bowling For Columbine) have two demos to date, Disgruntled from 2004 (the same songs are on an 05 split) and Bowling For Columbine which came out this year. I'll work my way chronologically through these.

Disgruntled is actually a fairly mature sounding release, considering it's a first demo and the songs are called "Growls", "Grunts", and "Screams". The sound is somewhere between the Californian and Texan styles. Deeds of Flesh-esque tremelo riffs trade off with rather typical grooves to produce a varied and decently enjoyable listening experience. You can get a better version of this from Human Filleted, but this is a demo after all. Overall a decent offering and above the typical myspace slam line (like the Mendoza Line but for slam bands). One thing I really didn't like about this was the samples. They were pretty retarded and took away from the whole experience. I don't mind humorous samples on principle, but they usually work better for bands like Torsofuck or Cumbeast who are actually established as good bands.

Bowling For Columbine is a recent release and shows a slightly different move for the band. The tremolo riffs are still there but the emphasis is more on the groovier side of things. I think for this demo the band took a little more time on riff writing and it shows. There are some legitimately good and memorable riffs here. A few times I felt that the riffs were disjointed, but the individual riffs were very good. If ChokingOnBile can keep the riff writing skills they showcase here and further hone their songwriting skills, I can see some sick stuff coming from this band. One more thing I liked from this demo is the weird fuzzed out production. I might not like it on a full album, but it was cool here.

Overall I think this band could do something good in the future. There are better prospects out there to be sure (MP5k!!!!!!) but this is decent stuff. Worth a listen.

New Sevared Releases

Sorry for the lack of recent posts. It's nearing the end of our school years and assignments/exams/laziness has been getting in the way. I just got this email from Sevared talking about all their new releases so I thought I'd post it up.

SEVARED RECORD'S NEW RELEASE'S OUT NOW!!!

SR-053) GORTUARY- Manic Thoughts Of Perverse Mutilation CD OUT NOW!!!

(SR-056) LACERATED DOMINION- Exterminate The Weaks CD OUT NOW!!! Only 200 copies!!

(SR-057) GORTUARY- Splatter Fecal Matter CD OUT NOW!!! Only 200 Copies!!!

(SR-051) SUFFERATORY- Pseudophilosophic MCD Brand New Material w/ Bonus Video!!!! OUT NOW!!!

HIDEOUS DEFORMITY- Brutal Norwegian Death Metal STICKERS OUT NOW!!!

VIRAL LOAD- Deepwoods Debauchery T-SHIRTS OUT NOW!!

HUMAN MASTICATION- Demo 2007 OUT NOW!!

DERANGED- A Razorblade Symphony.. Sevared Rec. EXCLUSIVE T-SHIRT OUT NOW!!

SEVARED RECORDS- Brutality Reigns T-SHIRT OUT NOW!!

(SR-055) SEVARED RECORDS- Open Wounds Comp. 2008 OUT NOW!

GOREINHALED- The Art Of Sickness OUT NOW!!

GET ALL OF THESE ULTRA BRUTAL RELEASES NOW, at HTTP://SEVARED.COM!!!

Sect of Execration/Godless Truth/Sarcolytic/Devourment - Limb Splitter - 2006 - Ossuary Industries

Now THIS is a split worth caring about! 4 bands, 30 or so minutes, 2 new (by 2006 standards) tracks each!

Sect of Execration starts off with "Lord of the Sick" which pummels through some fast tempos and good switches, and the second song "Blessed Be the Whores of God" even begins with a semi-thrash riff/rhythm before evolving into a very catchy and sick slam section. Some slick mixing work on this, everything sounds very good, and the snare has an AWESOME deep, rich tone that really makes the breakdowns sound great. I'm impressed that these guys haven't done more with this project, though each member is in a few other bands, including another band on this split, Sarcolytic, Jon Zig's brutal mythical death metal project. I'd definitely like to hear this band do more, as they have a very cool style and I'd like to hear how they work in a longer format.

Godless Truth, Czech's darling slammers are up next with their brand of almost awkward death metal. Weird basslines and uneven mixing make this band sound kind of cool in a way, with non-slam riffs melding with each other through the blasting sections. The technical riffs slither around and find centers during the short equally technical breakdown sections. Zdenek, master of excellent record label Lacerated Enemy, produces some good yet typical low vocals, and there are some interesting lead guitar sections that sound nice and break the (sometimes) monotonous blasting/breakdown pattern.

Sarcolytic are of course quite awesome, a soon-to-be legendary brutal TXDM band with the equally-good Zig on vocals. And he utters forth some really fucking good vocals, powerful and deep with a good demonic tone. The songwriting is fairly good with a couple recognizable sections that are repeated in each song, and the blasting is quite good (though the snare is nowhere as cool as on SOE's part!). There are some cool layered high-low vocals which work well with the aforementioned "demonic" stylings present here. A good bassline is heard a ways into "Arras Persecute", also, which is always cool; finding new and interesting ways to implement bass always gets you extra points in this genre. I wish the guitar tone was a LITTLE clearer because it gets lost in the shuffle at times, but overall the production quality is improved from their debut demo/EP. Catchy and very high quality stuff, looking forward to more!

Devourment...well, I'm sure this was cool for every big fan of the band out there, their first new material since Butcher the Weak if I'm not mistaken. And it's really intense stuff; beginning with a crushing riff and leading into some excellent syncopated snare-blasting/catchy rhythms and slam riffs, the song immediately launches into a very fun slam breakdown, the kind Devourment are really known for. The inter-breakdown drumming is GREAT, definitely. I'm a big fan of Eric's work on this material, some really fucking cool fills and tight double bass on call here. Chris nails the bass drops, and Majewski's vocals are as utterly brutal as ever, though less guttural and "sick" than the early couple vocalists. I think his vocals fit the semi-new direction Devourment is going for, with more extreme death metal songwriting and a little more variety + better production, so that is all well and good to me. The Cannibal Corpse cover is also good; though I am really no CC fan to be honest, this makes me want to jam the original to get a feeling for how well these guys did it. It's more "melodic"/steady than Devourment usually is, but they play it seemingly well, so I have no problems.

Overall a fun, short and brutal split. Thought everyone has heard this by now, if there are any stragglers out there...get it!