Holycide - "Annihilate...Then Ask!" (Xtreem Music, 2017)

Band: Holycide
Title: Annihilate...Then Ask!
Genre: Thrash Metal
Year: 1st February 2017
Time: 42 min
Rating: 86/100













The story of the Spanish thrash metal band Holycide seems to be a novel! In fact, Holycide were born even in 2004 when Dave Rotten from Avulsed and the guitarist Vicente Paya decided to create together a very violent thrash metal project in a period where the horrible metalcore dominated the scene while the aggressive return of the thrash metal seemed to be a chimera. But unfortunately, Vicente wasn't the right person to realize the aforementioned thrash metal dreams due to his lack of commitment, so Dave stayed alone. From here, a very tormented story started also because Dave found the first stable members for his project only in 2012-2013 thanks to the guitarist Miguel Bárez and the bassist Dani Fernández, and both were very fundamental for the first official demo of Holycide titled "No Escape", a raw effort also due to the use of a drum-machine (and I HATE the drum-machine!) while these 3 guys dubbed their music as "Motherfucking Thrash Metal". But, during a nice day and since the desired return of the true thrash metal into the scene, Miguel launched the idea to change Holycide from a studio project to a real band with the result that they became in 2014 a classic quintet with the addition of the guitarist Salva Esteban and the (totally human!) drummer Jorge Utrera. Hence, here you are, after an endless story, the Holycide's debut album titled "Annihilate...Then Ask!", released via Xtreem Music (which is, as you know, the label of the same Dave Rotten) with a fantastic cover artwork made by the known Belarusian artist Andrei Bouzikov with his now very recognizable trademark.

Cryptic Brood - "Brain Eater" (Xtreem Music, 2017)

Band: Cryptic Brood
Title: Brain Eater
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Year: 1st March 2017
Time: 35 min
Rating: 78/100













Cryptic Brood, 3 putrid fanatics from Wolfsburg (Germany), are a very promising death metal band born in 2013 and discovered in 2015 by the known Spanish label Xtreem Music (managed by none other can Dave Rotten from Avulsed!) after a demo and a split in collaboration with Graveyard Ghoul. The first seed of this alliance of Cryptic Brood with the aforementioned label was the 2015 "Wormhead" EP, useful to these 3 guys to take their very first European tour playing also in Italy. Now, Cryptic Brood have wanted to capitalize all their efforts into their fantastic debut album "Brain Eater", released recently obviously via Xtreem Music with its mastering made by the same Dave Rotten while its splendidly blood-soaked cover artwork was given to the wise hands of the US artist Joe "Ravager" Romero. And let me say that "Brain Eater" keep completely what that it promises through its cover artwork and title!

Medico Peste - "Herzogian Darkness" (World Terror Committee, 2017)

Band: Medico Peste
Title: Herzogian Darkness
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 30th March 2017
Time: 25 min
Rating: 72/100













Here you are one of the very rare productions that I can miracolously to review before its release. "Herzogian Darkness", released by the excellent German label World Terror Committee, is the new effort of the Polish band Medico Peste after a long silence since their last production (the debut album titled "א: Tremendum et Fascinatio") was released even on 2012. Now a quartet due to the departure of the bassist The Priest, Medico Peste (two of them plays also in the live line-up of Mgla - specifically, I am talking about the bassist/drummer ShellShocked and the guitarist E.V.T.), strong of the participation at the guest vocals into a song of Mark of the Devil from Cultes de Ghoules, are back with this new 4 songs' EP which renews their curious way to intend the black metal genre.

The Nutries - "Nuova Vita" (Self-released, 2016)

Band: The Nutries
Title: Nuova Vita
Genre: Metallic Hardcore Punk
Time: 15 min
Year: 7th December 2016
Rating: 74/100













After Rejekts, here you are also the return on these blasphemous pages of The Nutries, 5 guys from Vicenza (Italy) yet reviewed by me 4 years ago in occasion of their first EP with the same name. This time we'll talk about "Nuova Vita" ("New Life" in Italian), the new EP of The Nutries preceded by a split in collaboration with the Argentinian fastcore band Talacactus released on September 2016. I have given a bunch of space to the "core" bands during this month (Rotten UK, Perikato, Rejekts and Força Macabra) and this series continues, indeed, with The Nutries, which dubs their music as "dirty hardcore punx". But, as you'll see very soon, this is just a definition.

Força Macabra - "25 Anos Na Estrada Mas por Favor Não Feche o Tùmulo Ainda" (Svart Records, 2016)

Band: Força Macabra
Title: 25 Anos Na Estrada Mas por Favor Não Feche o Tùmulo Ainda
Genre: Thrashcore
Time: 57 min
Year: 9th December 2016
Rating: 82/100












Once upon a time, few years ago, a Japanese punk/HC band named Isterismo that used to sing in...or better, pretended to sing in Italian with the terrible result to create involuntary non-sense lyrics, but this was only a tribute to seminal Italian bands like Wretched. A band with a similar attitude are the Finnish Força Macabra ("Macabre Force" in Portuguese), real veterans that were formed even in 1991 to honor the long tradition of the Brazilian crossover/thrash metal (also known as "thrashcore") in the vein of Ratos de Porão, Lobotomia, Armagedom and the likes, so Força Macabra sings (very well, I think) in Portuguese since their very early days realizing 3 full-lenght albums until now. But considering that they didn't release something new even since the 2008 album, these 4 guys have recently wanted to re-record many their old songs for a 57 minutes' compilation that represent a true sum of their long career with the addition of two new songs. In fact, "25 Anos Na Estrada Mas por Favor Não Feche o Tùmulo Ainda" (translatable as "25 years on the road but please don't still close the tomb"), originally conceived in 2011 to celebrate the first 20 years of the band, is comprised of old songs of Força Macabra, re-recorded for this occasion also to give to them a better production, even coming from their very first 1991 demo. Hence, here you are this good compilation released by the Finnish label Svart Records!

Rejekts - "Triratna" (Slaughterhouse Records, 2016)

Band: Rejekts
Title: Triratna
Genre: Grindcore/Black Metal with Post-Metal elements
Year: 6th December 2016
Time: 14 min circa
Rating: 76/100












It's been a while that Rejekts weren't present on these pages. In fact, they didn't released something new even since 2013, when they finally realized their debut album "UNO-" after many years into the ranks. This is strange because this band was very prolific between 2010 and 2013 and, systematically, every almost their production was reviewed by this 'zine with the result that Timpani allo Spiedo was cited into the booklet of "UNO-"! So, many things are changed after that first album, included the drummer of Rejekts because this role belongs now to the new entry Sdru. But, surely, the fidelity of Rejekts to the Underground cause of Timpani allo Spiedo hasn't changed since Black, their singer and leader, has recently send to me their new EP "Triratna", released by the young Italian label Slaughterhouse Records (not to be confound with the US label with the same name). And yet I have to say that this long silence of this band (from Milan, Italy) has not been in vain.

INTERVIEW TO SIASKEL!

As a big fan of the South American extreme metal, one month ago I haven't hesitated to contact via FB the Chilean black/death metallers Siaskel for an interview useful also to satisfy my many curiosities about the people of Selk'nam, the now defunct indigenous Patagonian tribe explored into the albums of the band. This explains why the interview, at a certain point, becomes almost an hystory lesson, and I think that the Selk'nam are worthy to be further deepened by everyone is interested to this kind of themes. So, enjoy this very long and good interview!

October 31 - "Metal Massacre 31" (Hells Headbangers Records, 2016)

Band: October 31
Title: Metal Massacre 31
Genre: Heavy Metal
Year: 25th November 2016
Time: 36 min
Rating: 70/100













You can read my review (in Italian) about "Bury the Hatchet" through the following link:

http://www.heavymetalwebzine.it/2015/03/13/october-31-bury-the-hatchet-2014/

After two articles about punk/HC bands, the only way to bring back this 'zine to an heavy metal direction was the review of a celebration, edited by Hells Headbangers Records, of the pure heavy metal of the '80s! In fact, the 5th album of October 31 is a bit strange: it's a covers album with no new songs. But what are these cover tracks? Yesss, this is a very fundamental question because we aren't talking about "normal" cover tracks! Specifically, October 31, guided since the early days by the singer King Fowley (also leader of the old-school Death metallers Deceased), this time have wanted to homage the fundamental series of Metal Massacre compilations edited by Metal Blade so to coverize tracks taken from the first 7 Metal Massacre volumes released between 1982 and 1986. That's why the album is titled "Metal Massacre 31"! As you know, the aforementioned 7 volumes were a very important showcase for the then emerging North American heavy metal scene destined to remove the decadent NWOBHM from his metal throne launching, towards the pantheon of the metal gods, young bands like Metallica and Slayer or foreigners ones like the Swiss Hellhammer but producing also many cult bands often never able to realize an album throughout their short and unlucky life. Just these last ones are the bands privileged by October 31 for this anthology comprised of little classics of the heavy metal music, and the most important of them are, surely, Omen, Hallow's Eve and Aloha (with a very young future-Megadeth member Marty Friedman before Aloha changed their moniker into the very absurd Hawaii in 1983).

Perikato - "Kuka hyötyy?" (Svart Records, 2016)

Band: Perikato
Title: Kuka hyötyy?
Genre: Brutal and noisy punk/HC
Year: 25th November 2016
Time: 14 min circa
Rating: 70/100













Perikato is Finnish for "ruin" or for "destruction" (if I am not mistaken). This is a moniker very fit to describe the ultra-extreme punk/HC of this Finnish quartet in official activity since 2011 with their first demo "Varman tuhom merkit". Now they have launched, through their compatriot label Svart Records, a very inexorable attack with "Kuka hyötyy?" ("who benefits?" if you want to translate it in English), an EP consisting of 18 socio-political songs that, surely, will leave you an atomic impression. 100% guaranteed!

Rotten UK - "That is Not Dead......" (Hells Headbangers, 2016)

Band: Rotten UK
Title: That is Not Dead Which Can Eternally Lie
Genre: Horror Punk Rock with Punk/HC influences
Year: 11th November 2016
Time: 28 min
Rating: 73/100












It's incredible but Rotten UK, although founded in 2011, looks to be a band totally coming from the British punk/HC of the '80s. You can realize this everything about them, even into their cover artworks characterised sometimes by the notice to the sellers to don't pay than 2.50 dollars (as for the first single of Rotten UK, "Bloody Hell!!", released in 2013), that was a convention adopted by the Anarcho-punk bands of the Old Britannia during the '80s (Crass in primis). But all this is ever more surprising if you think that Rotten UK aren't British but Americans! Precisely, these 4 guys comes from Rochester, New York and, after some 7'', EPs and even a live album in 2015, they have released their debut album "That is Not Dead Which Can Eternally Lie" during the previous year through, surprisingly (but, not too much, for the truth), Hells Headbangers Records, a label very known for its big passion about the metal/punk, a bit less for the pure punk rock.