Hey extreme fuckin' metalbangers,
as I promised few days ago, here you are another episode of "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss" totally about the releases that I received ultimately in CD by Mythrone Promotion. This time you'll find albums mainly released by the sole Defense Records (Deathspawn, Incertus, Iscariota), also in co-operation with other labels like Voice Music (Hammathaz). But there is also an album edited under the auspices of Selfmadegod Records (Dira Mortis) while other 2 were self-released by the same bands (Ireful, Gnida).
HAMMATHAZ - "THE ONE"
Hammathaz (FB page): a strange moniker for a Brazilian quintet that exists since 2003 but only in 2020 has finally published its debut album "The One". "The One" is a 9-track album showing a nice and modern combination between death metal, thrash metal and groove metal, in a style prevalently focused on heavy and tough mid-tempos (but there are even blast-beats here and there) while very aggressive is the vocal performance of Thiago Pasqualini, now replaced by Fernando Xandre. Strong of a promotional video made for "New Blood" (a song against the religious fundamentalism), "The One" is a good reward after 17 years in the purest underground!
DIRA MORTIS - "ANCIENT BREATH OF A FORGOTTEN MISANTHROPY"
Third album by this Polish quartet called Dira Mortis (FB page), is a very interesting work that will surely like to the fans of Immolation. In fact, through the 7 tracks (intro and outro included) of "Ancient Breath of Forgotten Misanthropy", there is essentially a dark death metal played not only with very good technical skills but also with a good imagination. In addition, the songs are also very long, like the 9-minute tour de force "Worshipping the Terror of Madness". If all this wasn't enough, there are two guests: Elene Aladashvili on some vocals and, above all, Uappa Terror from Terrordome (recently reviewed on these pages) on a guitar solo. This is old-school death metal at its best!
IREFUL - "THE WALLS OF MADNESS"
And now it's the turn of a band coming from my country, Italy. More exactly, Ireful (FB page) come from Sicily, and there is need to say that one of their guitarists, M. Thunderbolt, is an old acquaintance of Timpani allo Spiedo because he used to play the drums in Lamiera, a thrash metal band that self-released a promised EP in the far 2010, and then it disappears, unfortunately. Well, also Ireful play thrash metal and always in the good old way, in according to the US masters of the genre, as exemplified by their EP "The Walls of Madness", self-released in March 2021. It consists of a thrash metal à la Exodus/Testament with amazing very aggressive vocals. A bit shame for the booklet, that are composed also of the lyrics but they are on a simple white background, without images of any type. Guys, don't do the same end of Lamiera and keep THRASHING!
DEATHSPAWN - "REVERENDUS"
I don't know why Resurrection changed their name in Deathspawn (FB page) but I imagine because there are so many Resurrection bands out there. In any case, Deathspawn released in 2020 their second album (the first one under the new moniker), "Reverendus". Throughout its 8 tracks, it spews forth a very furious and blasting death metal à la Morbid Angel/Hate Eternal with some slight black metal influences here and there (like in "Grace for Purpose", released as a single) and with awesome guitar solos. Plus, Deathspawn are also a little intellectual band, since, on the booklet, there is a quote taken from Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov". Strong of a clean production, "Reverendus" is another Polish death metal album that deserves attentions from the maniacs of the genre!
INCERTUS - "PREDESTINATION TO DAMNATION"
This Polish trio is a rebus. In fact, Incertus are described by Metal-Archives (and not only there) like a black/death metal band. But, when you are listening to their debut album "Predestination to Damnation", released in 2021, you realize that they play a sort of melodic black metal mainly focused on mid-tempos with death metal growls and with keyboards that gives a little elegance to the music. But that's not all! This because the album, that has a nice cover artwork taken from "Clyties of the Mist" by the British painter Herbert James Draper, is divided into two parts: the first one, consisting of 6 tracks (outro included), sees the style aforementioned. Instead, the second one is composed of two songs, in which Incertus seem to be another band because "The Devil Takes Me Away" is pure black/thrashing madness à la Bathory (it isn't a case if there is a cover of "The Return of Darkness and Evil" into the first part) while the last number, "To Hell with Us", is more death-oriented. In addition, the two parts (I must say that the first part is considered on the booklet like an EP called itself "Predestination to Damnation" while the last two songs represent a double single) have different production levels, since the second one is cleaner (and, for me, better), than the first one. So, the songs are surely good but I think Incertus are a bit confusing about their style.
ISCARIOTA - "LEGENDA"
Long is the story of Iscariota (FB page) since they started their career in 1990 under the name of Blasphemer. Throughout the years, they suffered many line-up changes and also changed drastically the sound, considering that they initially played a melodic death metal. Instead, with their 5th album "Legenda", released in 2020, they show a very good and melodic mixture between heavy and thrash metal with indecipherable (for me) vocals in Polish. The album has a particularity: each song has its own guest, usually on the guitar solos. So, you can find guests like Chris Hofler (Deathyard), Krzysztof Pistelok (Kat & Roman Kostrzewski) and others but also a guest on the vocals like Karolina Andrzejewska (Batalion D'Amour). Now, the booklet of "Legenda", at least for the lyrics, has the same flaw of Ireful's "The Walls of Madness". But this isn't a problem since the big quality of the music by Iscariota.
GNIDA - "R.A.K."
Do you remember that delicate duo called Gnida (FB page), whose I reviewed their debut album "S.Y.F."? Yes or not, Gnida, now a quartet, are back in 2020 with a self-released third album "dedicated to the dead": "R.A.K.", an acronym standing for "Rage Against Keef". Consisting of 15 songs, the style of Gnida is a bit changed since now they play an always destructive death/grind but made more dynamic and also more various because of many influences coming from black metal or crust punk, so, for me, this album is more intense than "S.Y.F.". In addition, there are sanguinary lyrics at times based on real stories, like "Fantomas", that is about the homonymous Polish serial killer active between the '70s and the '80s. In brief, if you live on bread, death/grind and sensitive themes, Gnida, that also this time made many promotional videos for their new album (sees, for example, "Cat the Pervert") are totally fit for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment