2018 TOP TEN (and one more)

Hey brutalbangers,
so, 2018 is dead and 2019 has already started its path. I have to say that 2018 has been a really nice year for this 'zine, and this for various reasons. Firstly, it's a honor that always more and more labels, bands and promoters send me regularly their productions, and this means thay my work is good. Secondly, I'm pushing to make more hardcore punk-oriented this 'zine, since I love HC punk and we don't forget that this instinctive music influenced a lot of extreme metal genres, so I don't understand why many metalheads don't still today appreciate to the HC punk. Thirdly, finally I published a bunch of live reports throughout 2018, and I have to say that I prefer the live side of the music in comparison with the studio side.
But, speaking about the studio side, 2018 has been a year with plenty of fantastic releases, so the following is my 2018 TOP TEN releases, that are in a RANDOM ORDER. Despite the 2017 TOP TEN, this new one is about many different genres in order to range from technical death metal to groove metal, but also from hardcore punk to end the list with a surprise that doesn't belongs to the classic extreme metal standards of this 'zine. And soon you will realize that that so-called "surprise" represent the extra release of this TOP TEN...
So, enjoy this article and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!


GODLESS ENTHROPIA - "TETRACYCLIC DOMINION" (Symbol of Domination/Hecatombe Rec)

Surely one of the most surprising debut albums from an Italian band, "Tetracyclic Dominion" is a true monument to the creativity! The so-called "Hybrid Death Metal" played by these Godless Enthropia strikes again and again the listeners through an innovative combination between immense technical skills, malice, labyrinthine structures and a constant will to surprise everybody also by showing a lot of bizarre solutions coming from jazz or post-rock. And the nicer thing is that this album lasts the beauty of 59 minutes per 14 songs without boring the listeners in any case!






HELLAVISTA - "ROBOLUTION" (Art Gates Records)

Outstanding debut album by this Austrian machine, "Robolution" show how to mix at their best the catchiness of the groove metal with the aggressiveness of the thrash metal. So, the tracklist is very balanced and various, seeing also amazing '70s rock tunes able to push your ass to move itself! And meantime, these funny guys, that I interviewed some months ago, have recently made an official video of "Dark Redeemer" taken during a show of them.









AMOCLEN - "DIAGNOSIS: GRINDCORE" (Defense Rec/Maximed Rec)

The title of this album already says a lot about it. But what is unsaid is that Amoclen destroys everything on their road by spewing forth a creative and ultra-intense grindcore with many death metal and hardcore punk influences, as well. All this is into 14 songs, including the absurd cover of a pop song that is a real touch of genius! The Czech Republic is literally full of grindcore bands but Amoclen is certainly one of the best! For this, I tried to suggest them for the next edition of Go! Fest but the organizers told me that the requests to play in that fest are too much, so, in some ways or another, I hope I'll manage to see them live.





TRUCHŁO STRZYGI - "PORA UMIERAĆ" (Godz ov War Productions)

You know, I love when the extreme metal is strongly mixed with hardcore punk (and viceversa), and I think that these 4 Polish maniacs united under the unpronunceable moniker of Truchło Strzygi are a stupendous example of this. Why? Simple: they play a raw, drunken but incredibly creative sort of '80s black metal mixed with many hardcore punk tunes, included some d-beat moments. In practice, Sarcofago and Anti-Cimex in a single lethal solution! In addition, the comical booklet of their "Pora umierać " is so nice to be truly unforgettable!






R.O.D. - "#SOCIETYKILL" (Defense Records)

Another great punkish metal slaughter from another great Polish band! R.O.D. is a rare beast able to fuck the ears through a killing death/thrash metal played with a monstrous ferocity, also due to intimidating hardcore punk vibes. A hateful singer, spastic guitar solos, a hammering drumming with very few decelerations, and 10 songs so short that this "#SocietyKill" lasts only 22 minutes! Believe me, so intense metal bands aren't so much out there! The only problem comes from socio-political lyrics with right-wing views but without being nazi. Fuck that, this is death/thrash metal as it should be!





SATANIC SURFERS - "BACK FROM HELL" (Mondo Macabre Records)

Literally "Back from Hell" after a loooong break! Satanic Surfers released a comeback album that show a furious, ultra-energetic, melodic, ruviud, technical and unpredictable hardcore/skate punk with some heavy metal influences. The years passes implacably for everybody but "Back from Hell" is a true fresh album as if it was released in the '90s! SKATE TO HELL OR DIE!!!










MEFITICA - "VESSAZIONE CRONICA" (Hellbones Records/Branco Suidae)

19 minutes circa of total earslaughtering massacre for this second album by the Italian trio Mefitica. For me, it's impossible to forget this 13-track album in which there is a crust/grindcore characterized by a hallucinating violence, a necro atmosphere, nihilistic and anarchist lyrics, and a vocal annihilation mostly divided between the impressive lacerating screams of the bassplayer Pam and the cavernous growls of the guitarist Antonio. I saw them live some months ago at the punk pub Malatempora but, unfortunately, they don't play a gig since September 2018, so I hope they'll restart their live activities as soon as possible.




WRATHRONE - "REFLECTIONS OF TORMENT" (Satanath Records/The Void Records)

Fuck, the old-school death metal is never dead, and this is perfectly shown by the second album of Wrathrone. Coming from the land with thousand lakes, Wrathrone spew forth an ancient death metal played with great versatility and fresh ideas (also taking inspiration from other metal genres, especially the thrash metal) but without losing anything in fact of wickedness, darkness and apocalyptic feelings. So, it's just true that the death metal is never dead and that is still able to be really fresh!







NIHILO - "DOOM" (Art Gates Records)

If you are still hungry for some old-school death metal, then these 5 maniacs from Switzerland known as Nihilo are fit for you! Their "Doom" is a slab of direct and violent death metal with an intimidating intensity and many influences from other extreme metal genres as well from hardcore punk. I can't wait to see them live when they'll play here in Rome on 8th February, along with talented Italian bands like Antropofagus, Gravestone and Thecodontion!









INJECTOR - "STONE PREVAILS" (Art Gates Records)

Another Art Gates' album here, and this "Stone Prevails" is strange because it starts badly with an uneffective mid-tempo opening track but, after that, everything is really fukken perfect! So, a lot of congratulations for this Spanish quartet, that created an album memorable for its technical thrash metal combining aggression, complexity and even catchy melodies full of a pure heavy metal touch. In brief, a triumph of creativity that mix Voivod, Metallica, Vektor and Iron Maiden.








AIRBORN - "LIZARD SECRET - PART ONE: LAND OF THE LIVING" (Fighter Records)

A power metal album in this list? FUCK YEEEAAAH!!! I couldn't resist the temptation to include also Airborn, considering that their fifth album represent a perfect and old-school synthesis between refined melodies, epic atmospheres, intensity, speed aggression and great songwriting abilities. But how can you not love a band that recently made an arcade videogame called Cosmic Rebels? And they recorded even their recent show at the power metal festival Born to Fly. Finally, it's trivia time: this year I realized I voted two bands with a very high 93 out of 100: Godless Enthropia and Airborn. Both comes from the Italian city of Turin...a coincidence?