Honorable Mentions from the Abyss #17: Pandemic/Iron Curtain/Aggressive Perfector/Savage Master

Hey brutal bangers,

in these Coronavirus times I'm working a lot for Timpani allo Spiedo 'zine. Hence, after some time from the last episode of "Honorable Mentions from the Abyss", I am going to present you today 4 bands belonging to the purest heavy metal with some speed and also thrash metal variations. Each of them deserves attention, so...

ENJOY THE ARTICLE and SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING BANDS!!!

Verano's Dogs - "Summoning the Hounds" (Metal Age Productions, 2018)

Band: Verano's Dogs
Title: Summoning the Hounds
Genre: Death/Grindcore
Time: 23.38 min
Release date: 15th June 2018
Vote: 85/100











And after many live reports about the Verano's Dogs and also after their inclusion in "Come on, burn my ears! #4", here you are the review about their debut album "Summoning the Hounds", that was released in 2018 only on CD version by a Slovakian label called Metal Age Productions. The Verano's Dogs have a very interesting moniker because, on a hand, the Campo Verano is a famous Roman cemetery and, on the other hand, the term "dogs" comes from their fascination towards all the different religions and ancient beliefs in which the dogs are the bringers of the dead in the afterworld. In addition, the band is composed of veterans of the extreme metal and also hardcore punk scene with past and/or current experiences in bands like Taste the Floor (Pompeo) and NIS (Ulderico) while Pablo (the original drummer of the band), now replaced by Valerio of Seventh Genocide's fame, plays in the thrashcore act Injury Broadcast. But now fuck all these infos and let's start to talk about "Summoning the Hounds", also because we need finally some fuckin' action!

Voidwatcher - "Voidwatcher I" (Self-released, 2020)

Band: Voidwatcher
Title: Voidwatcher I
Genre: Doom Metal with Thrash and Heavy Metal influences
Time: 19.24 min
Release date: 13th January 2020
Vote: 74/100












Lovecraft and heavy metal: the perfect wedding! This young band from Rome Caput Mundi, Voidwatcher, that I included in the third episode of “Come on, burn my ears!”, confirms again the success of this wedding with their debut EP "Voidwatcher I", that was self-released in the early days of this unlucky 2020. Be prepared for something really fit to celebrate the Ancient Ones!

Steinbock - "Till the Limit" (Art Gates Records, 2019)

Band: Steinbock
Title: Till the Limit
Genre: Heavy/Thrash Metal with Hard Rock influences
Time: 35.48 min
Release date: 1st November 2019
Vote: 79/100













Well well well, what do we have here? A band whose moniker means “capricorn” in German but whose nationality is Spanish. Plus, Steinbock played even two times in Rome during February 2020. I was supposed to see them at 360 when they played there on 21st February but, instead, I preferred to see the exhibition of Marta Rose with her absurd and experimental band Amikristi and the Bad Sisters (I remember I described them as a female version of the post-punk act DEVO) at the Largo Venue, attending a really fantastic night. But here the main theme is about Steinbock and their debut album “Till the Limit”, that I received in physical format directly from Art Gates Records, the label with the longest partnership with Timpani allo Spiedo ‘zine considering that we are collaborating with it since the now far 2012.

Sacrilege - "The Court of the Insane" (Pure Steel Records, 2019)

Band: Sacrilege
Title: The Court of the Insane
Genre: Heavy Metal/NWOBHM
Time: 55.12 min
Release date: 2nd August 2019
Vote: 82/100













Ladies and gentlemen, today I’ll talk you about a piece of NWOBHM history! In fact, today you have to read a nice review about Sacrilege, a quartet that, leaded since their foundation in 1982 by the singer/guitarplayer Bill Beadle (he is their only original member to be in their current line-up), was a part of the NWOBHM movement. But, as for many bands belonging to this movement, also Sacrilege faced an unlucky fate since they lasted for only 5 years between 1982 and 1987, managing in no ways to release a full-lenght album. Fortunately they were reformed in 2012 and, since then, they faced an incredible explosion of creativity because of 7 full-lenght albums released between 2011 and 2019 (yes, even though the band wasn't still officially reformed, it seem that they recorded two albums during the years 2009 and 2010). So, I received their last work, “The Court of the Insane”, through their Italian manager Valeria Campagnale, that runs also two heavy metal/hard rock websites called Rockers and Other Animals and Insane Voices Labyrinth. In return, she’ll review my ebook about proto-black metal entitled “Nel Segno del Marchio Nero”, that I released on 24th March 2019.

Frijgard - "Chapter Zero" (Art Gates Records, 2019)

Band: Frijgard

Title: Chapter Zero

Genre: Epic Heavy/Black Metal

Time: 48.33 min

Release date: 14th June 2019

Vote: 86/100

Some months ago I received a new physical pack from Art Gates Records. Among others, I found into that pack “Chapter Zero”, the third album by Frijgard, a very interesting band from the northern Switzerland whose moniker is a funny pun derived from Fricktal, the name of their region. In fact, reading from an interview on the Web (you can reach it through the following link: https://www.metalcentre.com/2019/11/frijgard-interview-with-sandro-vocal-bass/), “Frick” was the Swiss name’s variation for Frija, that is the wife of Odin. Instead, “-gard” is simply used in the Nordic mythology to indicate a world (i.e. Asgard). So, through this kind of moniker, one can imagine that Frijgard are into viking metal… but the reality is veeery different. Let’s see why and how!