Corpsefucking Art - "Splatterphobia" (Comatose Music, 2018)

Band: Corpsefucking Art
Album: Splatterphobia
Genere: Brutal Death Metal
Durata: 33.57 min
Data di pubblicazione: 23 novembre 2018
Voto: 74/100













Lectern, Sudden Death, Whiskey & Funeral, Dr. Gore, Verano's Dogs...insomma, parecchi gruppi death metal di Roma e dintorni hanno quest'anno pubblicato degli album ma, fra di essi, ne mancava almeno uno: i Corpsefucking Art. Questi sono un nome storico della scena death metal della mia città visto che sono nati nell'ormai lontanissimo 1993 con il moniker di Enthralment. Da quel momento, hanno intrapreso una fruttuosa carriera musicale durante la quale hanno potuto suonare di supporto a gente come Cannibal Corpse e Immolation, fare il loro primo tour negli USA nel 2014, e partecipare a importanti festival internazionali. E quest'anno è arrivato il loro quinto album, "Splatterphobia", che, come di consueto, vede in copertina la simpaticissima mascotte dei Corpsefucking Art, Mr. Daisy, stavolta intento a maciullare per benino una delle sue tante vittime, fra l'altro indossando una maglia dei Mortician. Fra queste vittime si vede anche la testa del chitarrista Andrea "Corpse" Cipolla, co-fondatore del gruppo nonché boss della Despise the Sun Records e pure membro degli autopsiani Morbo, recensiti ormai ben due anni fa. Adesso però pochi cazzi e vediamo cosa hanno tirato fuori 'sti cinque pazzi!

Cronaxia - "Collapsing the Outer Structure" (Lusitanian Music, 2018)

Band: Cronaxia
Title: Collapsing the Outer Structure
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Time: 31.26 min
Release Date: 7th September 2018
Rating: 74/100













Fuck, the promotion agency Imperative PR is sending me a lot of albums for years, and only today I decided to review one of them! Precisely, I chose to review the debut album of a band from Lisbon, Portugal, whose story is a true anthem to the perseverance. In fact, Cronaxia was founded even in 1997 but, in eternal search for the right members to play their insane music and struggling with many line-up changes, they seriously started to write a full-lenght album only in 2010 after publishing an EP three years before. Despite this will to give life to this album, Cronaxia started to record it only in 2015 with a line-up that consist of three stable members (comprising the co-founder and guitarist Filipe) and two session musicians as well (that are the hyper-active drummer Rolando Barros, and the bassist Alexandre Ribeiro, both from the historical death/grind band Grog). And finally, that album became reality under the title of "Collapsing the Outer Structure", that has been released by the Portuguese label Lusitanian Music.

Nihilo - "Doom" (Art Gates Records, 2018)

Band: Nihilo
Title: Doom
Genre: Death Metal with various influences
Time: 30.43 min
Release Date: 26th October 2018
Rating: 88/100













Gonoreas, Kess'khtak, Lykhaeon: these are the bands from the land of Emmental that have been hosted on these pages during this now dying year. Today, I must add another band into that list since now we are going to talk about an old-school death metal act coming from Bern, the city that can be considered as the capital of Switzerland. Well, that band, born in 2003, is named Nihilo (is this moniker a homage to the pioneers of the Swedish death metal Nihilist?), and the here reviewed "Doom" is their third album, which has been released by the excellent Spanish label Art Gates Records. And let me say already that "Doom" is veeeery good!

Sepolcro+Verano's Dogs+Bedsore+Thecodontion (Rome, 13th December 2018)

Gruppi: Sepolcro/Verano's Dogs/Bedsore/Thecodontion
Locale: Trecentosessantagradi, Roma
Data: 13 dicembre 2018
Ingresso: 5 €



















Nonostante il lavoro, nonostante il giorno infrasettimanale, e nonostante quella cazzo di pioggia battente, giovedì 13 dicembre, come già anticipato sul live report del Grind Galà, sono andato lo stesso al 360 per farmi devastare i timpani con un bel po' di black/death metal devoto alla vecchia scuola. A organizzare 'sto delirio, ci hanno pensato il collettivo antifascista Metal Against Shit (di cui fa parte Ulderico dei Verano's Dogs) e la Sycamore Shows (di cui invece fanno parte membri dei Seventh Genocide), cioè due entità che hanno già collaborato in passato per organizzare delle serate che sono sempre di un certo interesse per i cultori del metal estremo underground invitando anche gruppi stranieri molto rispettati, come gli anarco-black metallers inglesi Dawn Ray'd. Stavolta, a dividere il palco con i Verano's Dogs, ci sono stati i grandissimi Sepolcro (che mi hanno gasato un casino, come leggerete fra poco), e due giovani leve romane al debutto live come i barbarici Thecodontion e gli psichedelici Bedsore, entrambi usciti quest'anno con delle cassettine che hanno ricevuto ottime critiche anche da siti molto quotati. Quindi, leggiamo cos'è successo in questa serata, e che si dia inizio allo sterminio sonoro!

Nomura/Nulla+ - "Impronte/Lacrime" (co-produzione fra varie etichette, 2018)

Gruppi: Nomura/Nulla+
Titolo: Impronte/Lacrime
Genere: Blackened Hardcore Punk
Data di pubblicazione: 27 giugno 2018
Durata: 18.38 min
Voto: 68













Sono passati ben sei fottuti mesi da quando Paolo Lombardi, bassista dei Nulla+, mi contattò per recensire il loro split condiviso con i Nomura. Ebbene, ho cominciato ad ascoltarlo solo pochi giorni fa, e da queste sessioni da ascoltatore compulsivo ne sono uscito abbastanza soddisfatto, anche visto il genere proposto, sempre di mio gradimento. Infatti, ci troviamo oggi alle prese con due giovani gruppi che presentano due approcci diametralmente opposti di concepire il cosiddetto blackened hardcore punk, genere ultimamente "di moda" su queste pagine (vedasi il progetto anglo-serbo Princip o i veneziani Discomfort, che ho visto live il 7 dicembre). Quindi, vediamo cos'ha da proporci codesto split, che vede 2 canzoni (ma  è solo una, a dir la verità) da parte dei Nomura e 3 dai Nulla+.

Panchrysia - "Dogma" (Satanath Records, 2018)

Band: Panchrysia
Title: Dogma
Genre: Black Metal
Time: 39.28 min
Release Date: 30th April 2018
Rating: 80/100













Some months ago I received a pack of 7 physical CDs from Satanath Records. The first album taken from that pack to be reviewed on these pages was the disappointing "Formador" by Panico al Miedo. Well, the last album coming from that pack to be reviewed here is the interesting "Dogma" by Panchrysia, a very experienced Belgian band existing since 1998 and that, thoughout the years, shared the stages with many relevant acts such as Impaled Nazarene, Cannibal Corpse, Vader, Belphegor etc. So, we are talking about a band that know what they're doing, and it isn't a case if their fifth album "Dogma" deserve good considerations from the black metal maniacs.

Grind Galà (Rome, 7th December 2018)

Gruppi: Discomfort/Neid/Onryō/Verano's Dogs/Mannaia
Locale: Trecentosessantagradi, Roma
Data: 7 dicembre 2018
Ingresso: 5 €



















Dopo il folle festival HC punk Marci su Roma, il 7 dicembre sono ritornato finalmente fra le mura amiche del 360 per la primissima edizione del Grind Galà. L'occasione era una di quelle imperdibili essendo il bill composto di gruppi oscillanti fra il death metal più putrido e il grindcore con qualche sempre ben accetta incursione in territori hardcore punk e derivati. Quindi, leggeremo qui le gesta dei seguenti gruppi, tutti italiani: Mannaia, Verano's Dogs, Onryō, Neid e Discomfort. E vi assicuro che non poteva esserci un bill migliore di questo per dare inizio a questo festival!

The story of the Proto-Speed/Thrash Metal - PART V

Hey brutal speedbangers,
finally this is the fifth and last part of this special focused on the history of the proto-speed/thrash metal, whose first episode was published even in August 2017! As you know, this fifth part is very connected with the fourth one because both are about the fastest metal albums released in 1983. But, when the 4th part was about the not Anglo-American bands (so to range from the Belgians Acid to the Swiss maniacs Hellhammer), this final part is about acts coming from places like Canada, England and USA. Obviously, within the US bands, you'll find also the thrash metal pioneers Metallica and Slayer.

Grind Galà vol. 1: ready for the death metal/grindcore massacre?

Hey brutalbangers,
Timpani allo Spiedo sarà presente alla primissima edizione del Grind Galà, una raffinatissima serata a base di death metal/grindcore che si terrà domani, 7 dicembre, a Roma al Trecentosessantagradi, che è già stato teatro di memorabili concerti qui recensiti (vedi Marci su Roma o Raw Power). E sarà recensita anche questa serata con un bel live report adatto per palati fini.

INTERVIEW TO MUD! (WITH ALDOHC)

Hey brutalbangers,
dopo tanto tempo, eccovi su questa grezzissima 'zine un articolo interamente scritto in italiano, a dispetto del titolo in inglese. Questo articolo non sarà un'eccezione visto che, in certi casi, riprenderò l'uso della lingua italiana. E quest'intervista è una perfetta occasione per riprendere l'italiano, anche perché, diciamoci la verità, tradurre un'intervista relativamente lunga in inglese è una vera palla al piede!
A parte queste comunicazioni di servizio, vi presento oggi l'intervista ai grandi MuD, un quartetto abruzzese hardcore punk che l'anno scorso ha tirato fuori il terzo album "The Sound of the Province". Dopo averlo recensito in maniera entusiastica, ho pensato bene di contattare Mauro Garbati aka AldoHC, cantante dei MuD, che conosco attraverso FB ormai da molti anni. Quello che ne è uscito fuori è stata un'intervista molto interessante e profonda, dalla quale si nota sicuramente l'anima combattiva di quattro ragazzi che si fanno veramente un mazzo così nonostante tutto e tutti. E come leggerete fra poco, oltre ad argomenti musicali che riguardano persino la scena HC di Roma (cioè la mia città), si parlerà anche di temi più spinosi come la condizione dei terremotati abruzzesi. Ma bando a 'ste stronzate, lasciamo parlare Mauro e...

BUONA LETTURA!!!

Godless Enthropia - "Tetracyclic Dominion" (Symbol of Domination Productions/Hecatombe Records, 2018)

Band: Godless Enthropia
Title: Tetracyclic Dominion
Genre: Technical and Progressive Death Metal
Time: 59.37 min
Release Date: 28th April 2018
Rating: 93/100













You know, I love to support the rawer and most-old-school forms of extreme metal but, sometimes, you can find on these pages bands with a more technical and modern approach. For example, this is the case of Spectral, an excellent trio from Romania whose debut album was reviewed here some months ago. And today it's the case of Godless Enthropia, a promising quintet from Italy that, after being founded in 2012 from the ashes of the death/thrash metal act Beyond the Unholy Truth, released this year their debut album "Tetracyclic Dominion" under the auspices of Symbol of Domination Productions along with Hecatombe Records. Coming from Turin (surely one of the most beautiful cities of my country!), Godless Enthropia were founded with the intentions to create something creative also taking inspirations from non-metal genres, so to surpass the classic borders of the extreme metal. Now let's start to see how those ambitious intentions became reality with this debut album!

Princip - "Fuck Your Empire" (Life as a Dream Records, 2017; JesBoliGaKurac Records, 2018)

Band: Princip
Title: Fuck Your Empire
Genre: Blackened Hardcore Punk
Time: 13.19 min
Release Date: 2018
Rating: 72/100













Just when I was searching for some hardcore punk bands to review on these 'zine, 6 months ago I received a request from a HC act called Princip. It is a one-man band based between London and Belgrade that was founded in 2015 by Damjan Stefanović, a very active British musician with Serbian origins that not only plays in various bands/projects (also with an illustrious artist like Sarah Jezebel Deva of Cradle of Filth's fame!) but runs even a young small label named Life as a Dream Records. Through it, he digitally released in 2017 the first two EPs performed under the moniker of Princip. Some months later that release, the Serbian label JesBoliGaKurac Records edited both the EPs in a single cassette tape called "Fuck Your Empire" (that's also the same title of the first EP). And only 6 months later I finally managed to listen to this compilation, but I think that all this waiting was worth it!

Vomitile - "Pure Eternal Hate" (Satanath Records/Hecatombe Records, 2018)

Band: Vomitile
Title: Pure Eternal Hate
Genre: Death Metal
Time: 36.46 min
Release Date: 18th April 2018
Rating: 77/100













After a black metal break with the French band Geisterfels, today there's new room for some death metal onslaught! Specifically, this is the review about the third album of a quartet coming from Cyprus, a nation surely not famous for its metal bands. If I remember well, these Vomitile are just the first band from Cyprus ever reviewed by me! And, as a first time into the realm of the so-called Cy metal, I must say I started very well since "Pure Eternal Hate" strikes as it should be. What labels released it? The Spanish Hecatombe Records along with Satanath Records, that now is a regular presence on these demented pages since the "far" December 2017.

Geisterfels - "La névrose de la pierre" (Six Raw Records, 2017)

Band: Geisterfels
Title: La névrose de la pierre
Genre: Black Metal
Time: 38.50 min
Release Date: 3rd November 2017
Rating: 60/100













At times, some bands sent me their own albums even though they were released one or more years ago. This allows to me to discover some real gems that I missed at the time of their release. Ultimately, this is happened with bands like the death/thrashers Last Rites or the hardcore punk maniacs MuD. Among the acts arrived on these pages relatively late with their albums, there is need to include also Geisterfels, a French band whose line-up is a bit strange. This because they consist of an instrumentalist (Aldébaran) as well a singer (Aharon) but every song of their debut album "La névrose de la pierre" (released under the auspices of the French label Six Raw Records) was entirely composed by their founder Nebel, that plays no instruments into the band. In addition, she is their lyricist and, for this album, she written an ambitious concept-story about a poet and his journey through the Rhine and Moselle valleys in Germany during the 19th Century, in search of the castles, now ruined but once majestic, of this area.

Draghkar - "The Endless Howling Abyss" (Craneo Negro Records, 2018)

Band: Draghkar
Title: The Endless Howling Abyss
Genre: Death Metal
Time: 19.15 min
Release Date: 27th July 2018
Rating: 75/100












As I promised into the review about their split with Desekryptor, Draghkar are back on these pages with their fantastic new EP "The Endless Howling Abyss"! Thanks to this release, there has been a real revolution into this band. In fact, they changed their logo (as you can already see through the cover artwork of the EP), shoot their first pic and even played their first gigs by shortly touring in the West Coast of California in August 2018. But what's about "The Endless Howling Abyss"?

Wrathrone - "Reflections of Torment" (Satanath Records/The Void Records, 2018)

Band: Wrathrone
Title: Reflections of Torment
Genre: Death Metal with some Thrash Metal elements
Time: 47.23 min
Release Date: 23rd April 2018
Rating: 90/100













Born in 2008, this Finnish quintet has a stable line-up even since 2009, and this is incredible within an extreme metal underground where the musicians are used to come and go continuously from most of the bands. So, you can already understand that you are in presence of a very compact and very tight-knit band that released some months ago an outstanding second album through the usual Satanath Records along with the Italian label The Void Records (that I didn't know before even though it's Italian!).

INTERVIEW TO LAST RITES!!! (WITH DAVE)

Hey brutalbangers,
after reviewing their excellent new album "Nemesis", I thought well to interview the Italian death/thrash metal band Last Rites. Dave, their singer/guitarist and leader, shown a great availability, so he replied to my call. Below you can read the result of this chat, so don't waste your time and...

ENJOY THE INTERVIEW!!!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #10: Morbid Messiah/Demonic Obedience/Fervent Hate

Hey brutalbangers,
after publishing in these last days two live reports (one about a doom metal night with Abysmal Grief, and the other about a HC punk festival called Marci su Roma), today I am back with the reviews' attack by talking about 3 death metal-oriented albums: 2 of them were released by the Russian prolific label Satanath Records, and the third one by the Spanish Memento Mori. So, let's start and...

ENJOY THESE FUKKEN REVIEWS!

Marci su Roma Fest (Rome, 3rd November 2018)

Festival name: Marci su Roma
Date: 3rd November 2018
Location: Trecentosessanta Gradi, Rome
Price: 6 €






The day after the doom metal night with Abysmal Grief, I changed completely musical genre in order to destroy my ears (AND MY BONES!) with a HC punk festival called "Marci su Roma", that was taken at the Trecentosessanta Gradi punk pub (also simply known as 360) in the area of Rome known as San Lorenzo. The occasion was very good for every HC maniac worthy of this name since 9 Italian bands (coming from Central to North Italy) were in the bill to offer a festival destined to last a lot of hours (a tenth band called Social Trauma was supposed to play but they didn't play). So, many people from every corner of the Nation came in my city, and I must say already that this festival has been fantastic also since it gave to all of us the impression of a Italian HC scene very united and full of solidarity. This also because, in these days, San Lorenzo, a historically antifascist area, is living a very critical socio-political period, as many of you knows. Without explaining the reasons, in San Lorenzo the atmosphere was (and still is) very hot, and it isn't a case if the slogan of the festival was "Gli unici stranieri: fasci e sbirri nei quartieri" ("the only foreigners: fascists and cops in the blocks"). Ended the description of the contextual conditions, it's time now to see who's who (Conflict, anyone?)!

Abysmal Grief/Night Gaunt/Suum (Rome, 2nd November 2018)

Bands: Abysmal Grief/Night Gaunt/Suum
Location: Defrag, Rome
Date: 2nd November 2018
Price: 7 €






On 2nd November 2018, at the cultural association called Defrag, there was a fantastic night in the sign of doom metal, with headliner a band of the calibre of Abysmal Grief that, as I hope you know, is recently promoting their last album "Blasphema Secta" (Terror from Hell Records, 2018). To support them, there were 2 very good bands from Rome, that offer two different but always effective ways to face this kind of metal: Suum and Night Gaunt.

Panico al Miedo - "Formador" (Symbol of Domination Prod/United by Chaos, 2018)

Band: Panico al Miedo
Title: Formador
Genre: Mid-tempo Thrash Metal with Death and Groove Metal influences
Time: 53.10 min
Release Date: 27th April 2018
Rating: 57/100












Recording and mixing by Juan Urteaga (already at work with bands of the calibre of Vile, Testament, Machine Head etc...), mastering by Jens Bogren (famous for his collaborations with Opeth, Amon Amarth, Paradise Lost etc...), a fantastic cover artwork full of absurd characters by nothing else than Ed J. Repka (do you know who he is or do you need an embarrassing refresh?), and the participation of some illustrious guitarplayers like James Murphy and Bobby Koelble, both ex-Death members. What an ambitious debut album for this Spanish quartet called Panico al Miedo! Is all this enough for a metal masterpiece? Not exactly...

Nova Era Booking: the birth of a new Italian booking agency + two bands sign with it!

5th November 2018 see the birth of a new Italian booking agency!

MuD - "The Sound of the Province" (THC DIY Productions, 2017)

Band: MuD
Title: The Sound of the Province
Genre: Hardcore Punk with Thrash Metal influences
Time: 22.16 min
Release Date: 11th November 2017
Rating: 89/100












After attending yesterday a fantastic doom metal night with the legendary Abysmal Grief as headliners (expect a nice live report about it in the next days to come!), today you'll read a very enthusiastic article about the third album by MuD! It was released by their label THC DIY Productions along with other many label like Italian Thrash Attack, a kind of cooperation usual for the HC punk albums. But what's more interesting is that Mauro Garbati (also known as AldoHC) sent me a pack with included not only the physical CD version of the album but also the stickers of the band along with the last issue (the 13th one, exactly, released in March 2011) of "10 anni di mucchi selvaggi e ossa rotte in Italia" (Italian for "10 years of  wild bunches and broken bones in Italy"). This was a well-written fanzine edited by the guys of the website lovehate80.it and focused on the '80s Italian hardcore punk whose issues had te only problem to be tooo short (only 4 pages) but, at least, the contents were really cool (the issue in my hands contains an interview to Indigesti).

Last Rites - "Nemesis" (MASD Records, 2017)

Band: Last Rites
Title: Nemesis
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Release Date: 23rd December 2017
Time: 32.43 min
Rating: 88/100













What can I suggest you today that is the day of the dead, otherwise known as Halloween? LAST RITES! Write this name down because we're taling about a veteran Italian band that realized an outstanding fourth album named "Nemesis"! Hailing from Savona, Ligury (North Italy), Last Rites started their path in 1997, so "Nemesis" represent a special release for the band because, through it, they celebrated their 20th anniversary. For this, you'll find, on two pages of the nice booklet of this album, some pics (also on stage) that cover the career of the band from the early days to the recent ones. In this range of time, the band has been always strongly leaded by the singer/guitarist Dave, the only current member remained of the original line-up. Another interesting thing to underline is that "Nemesis" has been dedicated to the memory of Vic Mazzoni, a talented metal musician died in 2016 at the age of 42 years old. Now, let's start to talk about this memorable piece of metal!

Gnida - "S.Y.F." (Self-released, 2012; Defense Records, 2017)

Band: Gnida
Title: S.Y.F.
Genre: Brutal Death Metal/Grindcore
Time: 14.54
Release Date: 22nd July 2012 (self-released)
                      November 2017 (Defense Records)
Rating: 62/100












After the reissue of that first black/thrashing demo by Ragehammer, this is another reissue and, made by Defense Records, it's about "S.Y.F." (that stands for "Sturdy Yawping Faeces"), the first album by Gnida (Polish for "scumbag"). Today we'll shortly talking about an album that lasts only almost 15 minutes per 15 songs!

Backjumper - "Scorpion Democracy" (DIY release along with some labels, 2018)

Band: Backjumper
Title: Scorpion Democracy
Genre: Hardcore Punk/Stoner with Thrash Metal and Noise influences
Time: 14.40 min
Release Date: 26th October 2018
Rating: 70/100












Sometimes they come back! And we're talking about a very welcome return! In fact, I received some weeks ago the EP here reviewed from an old acquaintance of this 'zine: Mauro Garbati. He is the singer of the hardcore punk band MuD (whose some releases were reviewed on these pages) and also one of the guys that runs the label THC DIY Productions. This one, along with other labels and with the same band, released "Scorpion Democracy", the new EP by Backjumper. Coming from Bari (South Italy) and born in 2003, Backjumper is a really experienced band that, throughout the years, had the honour to open the shows of famous acts like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sick Of It All, Municipal Waste and others, but without forgetting even their participation at the Wacken Open Air 2013 in an edition that saw on stage bands like Motörhead, Deep Purple and Rammstein. Ok, all this is truly nice but...the music?

Ragehammer - "War Hawks" (Mythrone Promotion, 2012; same label, 2018)

Band: Ragehammer
Title: War Hawks
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
Time: 18.54 min
Release Date: 21st December 2012 (Mythrone Promotion)
                      23rd July 2018 (same label)
Rating: 73/100












"Ragehammer would like to emphasize that no matter of your political or religious beliefs, skin color or nationality we do fucking hate you all. FUCK YOU ALL!"

Fetor - "No Poems Just Slam" (Mythrone Promotion/Infernum Media, 2018)

Band: Fetor
Title: No Poems Just Slam
Genre: Slamming Brutal Death Metal
Time: 26.39
Release Date: 19th May 2018
Rating: 60/100













Slamming brutal death metal...I confess: I never liked so much this sub-genre. Why? Because, for my broken ears, it has too slow parts and also too generic riffs, so, as a fan of the pure pure speed aggression, I think I'll always prefer the most violent and hysterical forms of brutal death metal. Unfortunately, this Polish band called Fetor, that recently released a live album which shows pure slam starting from its title, isn't an exception for me.

Chaos Synopsis - "Gods of Chaos" (Black Legion Productions, 2017; Defense Records, 2017)

Band: Chaos Synopsis
Title: Gods of Chaos
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Time: 41.57 min
Release Dates: 25th March 2017 (Black Legion Prod)
                      2017 (Defense Records)
Rating: 75/100











Very interesting is the lyrical concept behind "Gods of Chaos", the 4th album by the Brazilian quartet Chaos Synopsis. In fact, its songs are about chaos gods that belongs to different religions and mythologies, so the album ranges from the classic figure of Satan ("Raising Hell") to lesser known entities like Guabancex ("Storm of Chaos") or Unheegila ("Badlands Terror"). The nicer thing is that, in addition to the lyrics, on the booklet you can find short descriptions about each god. To say the truth, it isn't the first concept album by Chaos Synopsis since, for example, their second album "Art of Killing", that was completely about real serial killers (apart Dexter Morgan from the TV series "Dexter"), so we'll face today a band very attentive to the lyrical side of their songs.

Amoclen - "Diagnosis: Grindcore" (Defense Records/Maximed Records, 2018)

Band: Amoclen
Title: Diagnosis: Grindcore
Genre: Grindcore
Time: 20.52 min
Release Date: May 2018
Rating: 92/100













"Diagnosis: Grindcore": a title that says already very much about the second album of these 4 breackneck speed lovers called Amoclen. Coming from Czech Republic, Amoclen were born in 2006 and, two years later, had the honour to release a split along with Agathocles (a band whose absurd prolificity remain, for me, an absolute mistery!). Instead, in 2011 they managed to release their first album, "Cymbalta", and, after 7 years of discographic silence, they are back to infest our minds with a new auditory torture whose (new and old) tracks are (almost) all titled after a medicine. But it's a very very pleasant auditory torture, I must say!

Top Sekret - "Piggy Op" (Defense Records/Maximed Records, 2018)

Band: Top Sekret
Title: Piggy Op
Genre: Grindcore
Time: 20.12 min
Release Date: May 2018
Rating: 64/100












Graphically speaking, the third album called "Piggy Op" by Top Sekret is pure madness! Apart the fact to title an album in this way, its simple 4-page booklet (made by Lucka) without lyrics contains some very strange drawings (on an absurd white background) that are very rare to see on a release of this kind (as you can see below in the band pic)! Less rare is the noise played by these 3 masked lunatics from Czech Republic.

Dekapited - "Sin misericordia" (Suicide Records, 2017; Defense Records, 2018)

Band: Dekapited
Title: Sin misericordia
Genre: Thrash metal with some Black Metal influences
Time: 36.34 min
Year: 1st June 2017 (Suicide Records)
           2018 (Defense Records)
Rating: 72/100












After a long live report about a grindcore/power violence festival, today we'll back to talk about a thrash metal slaughter released by Defense Records. For the truth, "Sin misericordia", the new EP by Dekapited, was originally released in 2017 by the small Chilean label Suicide Records, and, then, reissued by other labels, included the same Defense Rec. Its version is a little bit special because it contains not only the original 6 tracks of the EP but also other 6 numbers taken from a 2017 show in which these 4 Chilean maniacs (whose singer/guitarist Camilo Pierattini plays also in the raw black/deathsters Invocation Spells, that belongs to the roster of the infamous Hells Headbangers Records) opened for nothing else than Slayer! I notice you already that there is a great difference in quality between the studio and the live tracks, as you'll see soon.

Go! Fest 8 (Rome, 29th September 2018)

Bands: Crisis Benoit/Dr. Gore/Igioia/Neid/Faršas/Riistetyt/Lugubrious Children/Reproach/Failure/Scheletro/Maxcarnage
Date: 29th September 2018
Location: CSOA Spartaco
Price: 7 €

















Do you remember that I mentioned in a live report of some months ago the 8th edition of Go! Fest, an International festival specialized on grindcore/power violence? Well, Go! Fest 8 was a fantastic experience and this is the live report about it! 12 bands on stage, plenty of wild moshing heads (included some also coming from USA!), good friends, a lot of mad moments, some distros with their own stuff, a nice sensation of unity between the attendants and the bands, and a sound engineer throughout the entire fest like Daniel Casari from Tibia and Onryo: this has been, in brief, Go! Fest 8! But now let's go to discover in the details what was happened during this festival in which the speed in its purest form reigns tyranically!

R.O.D. - "#Societykill" (Defense Records/Mythrone Promotion, 2018)

Band: R.O.D.
Title: #SocietyKill
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal with Hardcore Punk influences
Time: 22.16 min
Year: 4th May 2018
Rating: 90/100












What a tremendous slaughter! This second album by R.O.D. (acronym that stands for Razor of Death) is essentially a total slaughter from start to finish that leaves no fukken prisoners such is its violence! And we're talking about a violence not only musical but also lyrical since these 4 Polish maniacs love to face socio-political themes by taking them from positions able to be controversial, as you'll see soon. In addition, all this was released, in cooperation with Mythrone Promotion (that sent to me the physical version of this album), by a Polish label that now you might know very well considering it is a regular presence on these pages (as the same Mythrone): Defense Records.

Immense Decay - "Combat Thrash" (Defense Records, 2018)

Band: Immense Decay
Title: Combat Thrash
Genre: Thrash Metal
Time: 29:01 min
Year: 9th May 2018
Rating: 75/100













The Polish thrash squad Immense Decay have managed many years to release their "Combat Thrash". In fact, you have to think that it was recorded between May 2012 and December 2015 mostly in the band's private studio, but it seen the light of the day only some months ago through Defense Records. I would like to know the reasons about this delay but, for the moment, you must know that, even though this album isn't absolutely a masterpiece, we are in presence of thrashers that knows what they are doing.

Kruna: sophomore album released + official video for the song "Strenght Child"!

Hey brutalbangers,
I have recently received from the Italian agency Music-Alive a news about the release of the second album by Kruna, a melodic death metal band from Pordenone (Italy).

Lykhaeon - "Ominous Eradication of Anguished Souls" (Godz ov War Productions, 2018)

Band: Lykhaeon
Title: Ominous Eradication of Anguished Souls
Genre: Black/Doom Metal
Time: 26:17 min
Year: 22nd May 2018
Rating: 74/100













Impenetrable. Yes, I think that this word is perfect to describe "Ominous Eradication of Anguished Souls", the new EP by Lykhaeon, three Swiss energumens that are affiliated with the Helvetic Underground Committee, a sort of black metal sect that consist, among others, of Dakhma (whose debut album has been recently released by the infamous Iron Bonehead Prod). That EP is very impenetrable just starting from the artwork of its digipack; an artwork so dark that you have to do some incredible efforts to read even the credits to understand them! And, when you put on the Lykhaeon CD, it gets more impenetrable due to a really hostile and grim production. At this point, "Ominous..." is so impenetrable that it seem to be a shadowy cult only fit for some selected worshippers! Then, you realize that the better way to understand the music of Lykhaeon is a good pair of headphones, in order not only to discover the most hidden details but also because the two songs of this EP are so long that no kind of distraction is accepted, so the headphones are MANDATORY in every case! After this adjustment, you are destined to be possessed by a music that deserves a fuckin' lot!

Desekryptor/Draghkar - "Desekryptor/Draghkar split" (Blood Harvest Records, 2018)

Bands: Desekryptor/Draghkar
Title: Desekryptor/Draghkar split
Genre: Death Metal
Time: 7:44 min
Year: 20th April 2018
Rating: 70/100













After the melodic HC punk madness by Satanic Surfers, today it's the turn of a devastating split between two of the most exciting new death metal bands that are infesting nowadays this genre: Desekryptor and Draghkar, both from USA.

Satanic Surfers - "Back from Hell" (Mondo Macabre Records, 2018)

Band: Satanic Surfers
Title: Back from Hell
Genre: Melodic Hardcore Punk/Skate Punk
Time: 30 min
Year: 10th August 2018
Rating: 89/100













13 years! So many fuckin' years have passed since the Swedish skatepunkers Satanic Surfers released their last album "Taste the Poison" (Bad Taste Records, 2005) before ending their path in 10th February 2007. Fortunately, they were back stronger than never in December 2014 and, after many sold out shows especially through Germany, they have recently released a comeback under the auspices of Mondo Macabre Records, a sub-label of Regain/Blood Harvest Rec. Let me say already that we're talking about a comeback so devastating that Satanic Surfers seem to be again young and wild as in 1995 such is the intensity of their new hooks!

GraveCoven - "Coughing Blood" (Godz ov War Productions, 2018)

Band: GraveCoven
Title: Coughing Blood
Genre: Black/Doom Metal with Death Metal influences
Time: 20 min
Year:19th February 2018
Rating: 70/100











As I promised at the end of the review about Truchlo Strzygi, here is another Godz ov War's release. In fact, today we're talking about the EP "Coughing Blood" by GraveCoven, a duo from California, USA. To say the truth, this EP is a compilation because it contains both the two-song demos released so far by this band in 2015 and 2016 respectively under the titles of "Coughing Blood" and, with an incredible "imagination", "Coughing Blood 2". The band released in 2016 also a single with the only "Hades" by Bathory, and all this represent the scarce discography of GraveCoven.

Truchlo Strzygi - "Pora umierać" (Godz ov War Productions, 2018)

Band: Truchlo Strzygi
Title: Pora umierać
Genre: Black Metal with many HC Punk influences
Time: 41 min
Year: 22nd May 2018
Rating: 91/100












Truchlo Strzygi: behind this unpronunceable moniker, there is a Polish band that, after I listened again and again their debut album "Pora umierać", is now a TRVE CULT for me! Why? Firstly, because of the war metal look of these 4 demons, that wears gasmasks, bullet belts and also t-shirts of bands like the mighty Conqueror, and you know I adore this kind of look! Secondly, for their punkish "I DON'T GIVE A TOTAL FUCK"-attitude, that gives to the music a particular bestial energy to their music. Thirdly, for the booklet of the album; a booklet that, from the text (all the lyrics are present) to the drawings, is so totally hand-written that it bring you in the '80s, when the lyric sheets of the extreme metal and HC tapes were chaotic and, indeed, hand-written...and without forgetting that some of the drawings spews forth a black humour in a comic style also when the scenes represented are ultra-violent! And, last but  not least, for the music, which is incredibly surprising and creative.

Cripple Bastards/Sudden Death/Enemynside/One Day in Fukushima (Rome, 7th September 2018)

Bands: Cripple Bastards/Sudden Death/Enemynside/One Day in Fukushima
Date: 7th September 2018
Price: 10 €
Location: Traffic Live Club


















Cripple Bastards in Rome! A very good news for the fans of the "Italian godfathers of grindcore", that weren't on a Roman stage for years. So, they came back in the Eternal City on 7th September 2018 for a very intense gig in which, to support them, there were devastating bands like Sudden Death, Enemynside and One Day in Fukushima (as you see, this isn't the first time that mostly of them appears on these pages). But now enough this fukken chitchat and it's time to see what was combined during this fantastic show!

Tannoiser - "Alamut" (Leynir Booking and Productions, 2018)

Band: Tannoiser
Title: Alamut
Genre: Sludge/Doom Metal with some Black Metal influences
Time: 28 min
Year: 25th February 2018
Rating: 73/100












After Last Resistance, this is another review about an EP that Synth Agency sent to me some months ago. And this is another review about a style not so common on these pages, but, surely, it's more extreme than the melodic metalcore of Last Resistance.

INTERVIEW TO HELLAVISTA!!!

Hey brutal fukken bangers,
soon you'll read this nice interview to the Austrian groove/thrashers Hellavista, that, this year, released a debut album enthusiastically reviewed by me some months ago. This interview was born in a way a bit different than the usual because it was Ivan Magdalena, the boss of their label Art Gates Records, that asked me to interview Hellavista. So, here you a chat full of more or less original questions to Hellavista, that, at a certain point, becomes the...interviewers! But no spoiler, so...

ENJOY THIS INTERVIEW!!!

Last Resistance - "A World Painted Grey" (Self-released, 2017)

Band: Last Resistance
Title: A World Painted Grey
Genre: Melodic Metalcore with some Alternative Metal influences
Time: 19 min
Year: 9th November 2017
Rating: 72/100










Do you remember the period, between 2004 and 2007 circa, in which the metal magazines were literally invaded by an endless storm of so-called metalcore bands? They were the glorious years of Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Unearth, Caliban and others, all bands that, said generally, rediscovered the Swedish melodic death metal ala At the Gates to add into it a (often) slight touch of hardcore punk. And these Last Resistance, a young Italian band from Brindisi (South Italy) founded in 2013, is just mostly influenced by that kind of bands, as you can hear through their self-released EP "A World Painted Grey", that the Italian agency called Synth sent me some months ago in physical CD format.

Adragard - "From the Burning Mist" (Depressive Illusions Records/Perkun Records, 2018)

Band: Adragard
Title: From the Burning Mist
Genre: Black Metal with Doomish tunes
Time: 33 min
Year: 17th February 2018 (Depressive Illusions Rec) on tape
          18th May 2018 (Perkun Rec) on CD
Rating: 74/100











"As ravens on the ruins, we gaze upon an eternal plague." (from the last page of the booklet of this album)

WARNING FOR THE TRENDYHEADS:

this review is about a band that brings completely you in the golden (dark) period of black metal in which this music terrorized the world also through a freezing series of crime activities, so no complaints about the non-originality of Adragard are accepted in any fukken way!

Spectral - "Neural Correlates of Hate" (Loud Rage Music, 2018)

Band: Spectral
Title: Neural Correlates of Hate
Genre: Progressive Technical Death Metal
Time: 43 min
Year: 12th March 2018
Rating: 86/100












Incredible but true! Ciprian Martin, leader and guitarist/bassplayer of Spectral (founded in the now far 2004), written all the 9 songs of their debut album "Neural Correlates of Hate" in 2013 but, back then, he hadn't the right people to record it. After some years, those people were founded not only in the vocalist Andrei Calmuc (CodeRed, ex-Indian Fall) but even in a French session drummer that is nothing else than Romain Goulon, known to playing in the past in bands such as Necrophagist, Blasphemer (Italy), Benighted and many many others. So, "Neural Correlates of Hate" has been finally recorded and, then, released under the auspices of the Romanian label Loud Rage Music.

Lectern - "Deheadment for Betrayal" (Via Nocturna, 2018)

Band: Lectern
Title: Deheadment for Betrayal
Genre: Death Metal with Slamming Brutal Death influences
Time: 42 min
Year: 30th March 2018
Rating: 55/100












Hey brutalbangers, did you spend nice holidays? Yes or not, this is my first review after a week of holidays that I recently spent in Northern Italy. And this first review is about Lectern and their third album (in 4 prolific years since 2015!) "Deheadment for Betrayal"!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #9: Wømb/Systemik Viølence/Sodomic Baptism/Eigengrau/Malichor

Hey brutalbangers,
this is a long reviews' attack since it is about 5 bands that ranges from the raw black metal to the Satanic death metal, and this time there is even a little bit of punk/HC but played in a very special manner, as you'll understand very soon. In other words, there is a bunch to read today, so, let's start and...

ENJOY THESE REVIEWS!!!

INTERVIEW TO MASCHARAT!!!

Hey brutalbangers,
after the review about the debut album of the Italian black metal band Mascharat, I asked to them if they were available for an interview...and this is the result of the chat between me and them. This interview is very interesting not only for the themes here faced but also because I asked so many questions that you have to prepare to read a loooong interview. But it was interesting for me also for another reason: I translated from Italian to English all what you'll read within few seconds, so I hope I did a good job. But now stop to this intro and...

ENJOY THIS INTERVIEW!!!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #8: Sarinvomit/Liturgy of Desecration/Wargoat/Black Ceremonial Kult (Deathrune Records)

Hey brutalbangers,
today it's no joke! In fact, in this article you'll find the reviews of three productions dedicated to the most barbaric ways to conceive the extreme metal music. And this is obvious considering that each of them were released by the Spanish label Deathrune Records also in collaboration with Von Frost Rec and Godz ov War Productions, all labels that loves to wallow in the most "unlistenable" forms of our music.
So, I have warned you, then proceed at your own risk.

ENJOY THIS BRUTAL MASSACRE!!!

The story of the Proto-Speed/Thrash Metal PART IV

Hey brutalbangers,
after many many months from the third part of the proto-speed/thrash metal story, here you are finally the 4th part, where we'll face the gestures of the fastest bands that released their albums in 1983, that's the year in which the thrash metal genre was officially founded by Metallica and Slayer.

I advise you that this 4th part is a little bit particular because I have divided it in two articles. Additionally, every band will be faced in a faster way, in according to the more direct and shorter reviews that I am writing ultimately. The reason of all these decisions is that there are now a lot of bands around the world to talk about, otherwise this part could be an endless and boring mega-article.

So, I hope you liked also this part...and I hope I'll write the 5th one as soon as possible (FUCK, I started this story one year ago and I have still to finish it!)!

Airborn - "Lizards Secrets: Part One - Land of the Living" (Fighter Records, 2018)

Band: Airborn
Title: Lizard Secrets: Part One - Land of the Living
Genre: Power Metal
Time: 50 min
Year: 15th May 2018
Rating: 93/100












A power metal album on these pages? FUCK YEAAAH! This is undoubtedly the first power metal album ever reviewed on Timpani allo Spiedo, and for excellent reasons, as you'll see very soon. The first reason is surely the fact that Airborn are a veteran quartet coming from Turin, one of the most beautiful cities of my country. Another reason is that their 5th album "Lizard Secrets: Part One - Land of the Living", first of an albums' trilogy, was released under the auspices of Fighter Records, the heavy metal sub-label of the Dave Rotten's Xtreem Music, so we are talking about quality stuff. But the most important reason is about the music of Airborn!

REVIEWS' ATTACK #7: Awrizis/Purnama

Hey brutalbangers,
after one week of no activities due to my holiday in Munich (with also a visit to the concentratrion camp of Dachau), today there are some new reviews to read about two interesting bands. Both comes from Czech Republic and each of them have a completely different approach to conceive the death metal genre. Let me know what is your favorite approach but, surely, you will discover the mine only by reading these articles, so...


ENJOY THEM AND STAY TRVE!!!