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.