Hyperborea - "Umbra" (Art Gates Records, 2019)

Band: Hyperborea
Title: Umbra
Genre: Death Metal
Time: 42.39 min
Release date: 15th November 2019
Vote: 79/100













Do you believe that the band I am going to review today is the first one that, on these pages, comes from Bulgaria? Oh yeeeah, after 10 years of existence of this 'zine, Hyperborea is the first Bulgarian band to be features here! I've to say I started to know very well the Bulgarian metal scene because they kick a lot of fukken asses! Plus, we're talking about a band of pure veterans, if you think that they are out there since 1997, even though their "Umbra", released after the beauty of 12 years from the previous one, is the third album of their career. Well, I hope that they'll receive a better consideration with "Umbra", also because they are now into the roster of a very good Spanish label like Art Gates Records that, indeed, released it in the final days of 2019.

Come on, burn my ears! #4

Hey brutalbangers,
today there is a new episode of "Come on, burn my ears!", the playlist of the Timpani allo Spiedo 'zine, and now it has arrived, against every expectation, at its fourth appointment!

Serpents Athirst/Genocide Shrines/Trepanation/Heresiarch - "Scorn Coalescence" (Cyclopean Eye Productions, 2019)

Bands: Serpents Athirst/Genocide Shrines/Trepanation/Heresiarch
Title: Scorn Coalescence
Genre: Bestial Black/Death Metal
Time: 22.22 min
Release date: 26th July 2019
Vote: 75/100












There is a lot of war metal (Profane Order, Pig's Blood, Hatevömit) in these last times on Timpani allo Spiedo 'zine, and today I keep on reviewing releases of this kind with this fantastic 4-way split entitled "Scorn Coalescence" that I received through Qabar Extreme Music PR. Released by the Indian label Cyclopean Eye Productions, it see an unholy and destructive alliance between two entities coming from Sri Lanka (Serpents Athirst and Genocide Shrines) and other two coming instead from New Zealand (Trepanation and Heresiarch), a small country very known for these particular sonorities. Each of them presents here an exclusive track for this split, except for Genocide Shrines, whose "All and/or Nothing" was previously released in some recent live albums. And be sure that each of them is perfect to destroy completely your ears, and the nicer thing is that this split, as you'll see soon, becomes sicker song after song!

Pressure Pact - "Scared Off the Streets" (Wolves of Hades Records, 2019)

Band: Pressure Pact
Title: Scared Off the Streets
Genre: Hardcore Punk with many different influences
Time: 20.23 min
Release date: 6th December 2019
Vote: 80/100












Hey brutalbangers,
this is the new fantastic review of Marta Rose!
This time she had to do with "Scared Off the Streets", the debut album of a very interesting and also intense band from the Netherlands called Pressure Pact. Released by Wolves of Hades Records, a particular Dutch label that ranges from the most brutal black metal forms to post-punk, and sent me by the Italian promotion agency Anubi Press, "Scared Off the Streets" offers many surprises and it isn't a case if Marta enjoyed it a lot! In addition, some of its songs seem to homage bands of the past since one of them is curiously entitled as "Stark Raving Mad", as just one of the first fastcore acts of all times.
But now let's see what she has to say!

Metal in the Box #1: Mythrone Promotion/Defense Records

Hey brutalbangers,
"Metal in the Box" is a new column dedicated to the stuff that the promotion agencies/labels/bands send me in physical format via postal. So, this is its first episode, entirely focused on the new CDs that, sent me by Mythrone Promotion, have arrived me just yesterday.

Pig's Blood - "A Flock Slaughtered" (Godz ov War Productions, 2019)

Band: Pig's Blood
Title: A Flock Slaughtered
Genre: Bestial Black/Death Metal
Time: 32.27 min
Release date: 27th February 2019
Vote: 86/100













Pig's Blood are finally back on these pages... and they are back with the worst intentions! After their promising 2017 debut album (and also after that their drummer Drug Pervert Death Hammer debuted with Prezir in 2018), they thought well to terrorize us with a new dose of war and violence through "A Flock Slaughtered", that was released, as the previous one, by the fantastic Polish label Godz ov War Productions. With this new album, there were some changes into the line-up of Pig's Blood since Horrible Person is now only their singer while the bassplayer duties have been taken by their new entry Hideous Destruktor/Goat Tyrant, also guitarplayer. And I think that these changes created a really good effect on the sound of the band, as you'll see soon.

Hatevömit/Nunslaughter - "Hatevömit/Nunslaughter" (GrimmDistribution/Metal ör Die Records, 2019)

Bands: Hatevömit/Nunslaughter
Title: Hatevömit/Nunslaughter
Genre: Black/Death/Thrash Metal
Time: 11.05 min
Release date: 12th June 2019
Vote: 66/100













It was strange that a cult band of the calibre of Nunslaughter still had no places of their own on these putrid pages. So, today I thought well to review their split released in the now dead 2019 and shared with the Turkish/German horde Hatevömit. Each of them is presented through 2 tracks, so the total songs are 4. And, as usual for the Satanath Records and for its sublabels, also this split is a co-production of GrimmDistribution, this time along with the Hungarian label Metal ör Die Records.

Educated Scum - "Corrupt" (GrimmDistribution/More Hate Productions, 2019)

Band: Educated Scum
Title: Corrupt
Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore
Time: 30.01 min
Release date: 23rd June 2019
Vote: 82/100













What a surprise these Educated Scum! After even 8 years from their debut album "React", these 5 Moscow-based maniacs active since 2000, along with the session drummer Dmitriy "Fin" Fiskin (Ashen Light), released a new album called "Corrupt" under the auspices of a co-production between GrimmDistribution and More Hate Productions.

For Different Ways: a little preview for something that will be!

It's fuckin' notable that one of them wears a

Short Fuse's t-shirt!

Hey brutabangers,
For Different Ways, a melodic hardcore punk band from Sardinia, Italy, have recently released a new single called "By the River"!

Profane Order - "Slave Morality" (Sentient Ruin Laboratories/Krucyator Productions/Les Fleurs du Mal Productions, 2019)

Band: Profane Order
Title: Slave Morality
Genre: Bestial Black/Death Metal
Time: 33.47 min
Release date: 30th September 2019
Vote: 91/100













Profane Order are the living demonstration of force that the war metal still naturally belongs to Canada, and you can do anything about this fact! But they don't comes from the infamous Ross Bay but exactly from that particular region called Québec, that is ultimately better known for its black metal of the various Forteresse, Neige et Noirceur, etc. Despite this recent tradition, Profane Order shows also that Québec is even amazing at spewing forth tons of quality war metal, as perfectly exemplified by the here reviewed "Slave Morality", that has been released on various formats so to satisfy every kind of fan. This means that it is available on vinyl as well as digitally by Sentient Ruin Laboratories, on CD by Krucyator Productions, and on tape by Les Fleurs du Mal Productions.

THE MARTA'S HC PUNK TOP TEN OF ALL TIMES!

I've started listening to punk music when I was 12. I can literally say that punk has changed my life! What I most like about punk (or what it'd idyllically be eheh) is that there are no judgments and the reality is presented in all its harsh and brutal form. The only things that matter are the values and respect.
Although there are many subgenres, I personally feel bound to hardcore punk. I've always liked every punk subgenre and I do like punk 77, post-punk as well as all the bands that came before the movement and that in a certain way have inspired it, such as the Stooges, the MC5, the Velvet Underground.
But, in my opinion, hardcore punk is different. It's not only a matter of music, even if I really like its rough and fast sound, and its rhythm. In this case the key point is the mindset and attitude. “We got that attitude” said the Bad Brains in their song called “Attitude”. It's a positive mental state of mind that allows you to live and face your daily hassles as well as major problems with a new perspective, far from negativity. Positivity, energy and, of course, good attitude. To me it’s so important that within the punk scene and music there’s this kind of mentality, and I'm so happy when I see all this love, respect and fidelity to what you really are. It can really help you to stay true to yourself. No masks, no pretenses, it doesn’t matter how you look like (just think about a band like Hüsker Dü!). Stay true to yourself. This is a beautiful message. It goes straight to the core of your soul.
I've seen a few documentaries about hardcore punk but there’s no doubt that being able to see a concert and feel the energy is fundamental in order to feel this energy. I'm saying that because that’s what has occurred to me, in particular last July when I had the chance to see H2O live in London. There was magic in the air.
So, when Flavio asked me to write an article on my favorite hardcore punk albums (in no particular order), I was more than happy to "accomplish the task" hahah! BUT, I must admit that it’s really hard for me to make a top 10 since I love so many albums that I need a top 1000 (so that I could include Minor Threat, Fugazi, 7 Seconds, Terror and many other bands)!

So… let`s start… today!

Popiół - "Zabobony" (Godz ov War Productions, 2019)

Band: Popiół
Title: Zabobony
Genre: Pagan Black Metal
Time: 58.06 min
Release Date: 27th February 2019
Vote: 92/100













There are (too!) many albums released in 2019 I still must review (if I'll have time enough to review all them, mind you!), so, for a while, you'll mostly find 2019 releases in the upcoming days to come on these pages. Meanwhile, the first one of them is "Zabobony", the debut album of a Polish band called Popiół (very useful information: I discovered through a friend of mine that the letter "ł" must be pronounced like an "u"). They released it through Godz ov War Productions (a label, a guarantee) without producing anything else after their foundation in 2017. Releasing already an album in this way is often very dangerous, especially for the younger musicians but this isn't the case of Popiół, that, strong of a twenty-year experience as single musicians, produced a debut album of a rare magnificence. It's no coincidence that I used the term "magnificence" to synthetically describe "Zabobony", also because, if you remember well, I included Popiół in the third Timpani allo Spiedo's playlist... and without forgetting that I put the album in my 2019 TOP TEN! But why is "Zabobony" so magnificent? You'll discover it really soon!

INTERVIEW TO VIBRATACORE! (WITH FANGO)

Hey brutalbangers,
riospitare dopo tanto tempo su queste lerce pagine qualsiasi gruppo è sempre un piacere e, nel caso dei Vibratacore, lo è di più, non solo perché il loro "Resurgita" mi ha entusiasmato parecchio ma anche perché il nuovo EP è uscito dopo ben 8 anni dal precedente, presentandoci, quasi inevitabilmente, un gruppo diversissimo pure a livello di formazione.
Tutto ciò mi ha spinto non solo a includere il gruppo nella terza playlist della 'zine ma anche a chiedere al loro bassista Lorenzo di intervistarli. Ed eccovi quindi l'intervista, a cui ha risposto il loro storico chitarrista Fango, ora anche cantante. Vi aspetta da leggere un'intervista molto interessante che svela anche dei retroscena particolari riguardo la travagliata storia dei Vibratacore.
BUONA LETTURA!!!

2019 TOP TEN!

Hey brutalbangers,
so also 2019 has died and another year (and another decade) has opened its gates. I don't know how 2020 will be but, for sure, I can say that 2019 has been a really important year for Timpani allo Spiedo since the 'zine grown up a lot during these last 12 months.
Firstly, the 'zine received plenty of news/reviews requests like never before, so I started to collaborate with a new list of bands/labels/promoters while the relationship with the older ones has become stronger (as about the continuative collaborations, see the "Partners in Crime"' section). And, considering that the requests are really too many, I opened this year a column called "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss", in which I briefly tell about two or more bands in a single article.
Secondly, Timpani allo Spiedo is now a bit "professional" because I introduced the Google AdSense announcements on the 'zine, in the distant hope I could be rich with the shit I am used to publish here. Yeah, "in the distant hope" is the perfect expression...
Thirdly, an important feature I added in 2019 has been the Timpani allo Spiedo's playlist called "Come on, burn my ears!". With it, I present you my readers a monthly selection of 20 tracks coming from 20 different bands, ranging throughout the entire extreme spectrum covered by the 'zine, be it belonging to metal or to hardcore punk.
But the most beautiful news is that now the 'zine has a new collaborator: Marta Rose! She is coloring these putrid, metallic pages with a lot of punk rock, and the nicer thing is that she is full of initiatives (for example, the interview to Blatoidea was totally an idea of her!), so her work is really precious. Expect new tunes from her in the future days to come!
And now, even though with an incredible delay, here you are my 2019 TOP TEN, as usual in a random order! But this time there is a little innovation: you'll find also a short TOP FIVE of the 2018 releases that, for some reasons or another, I managed to listen to only in 2019.
So, enjoy all this and, above all, HAPPY NEW YEAR, brutalbangers!!!