Rocking Corpses/Rock'N'Rot/Abyss Records/2012 CD Review

  Rocking  Corpses  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  death  metal  with  a  rock'n'roll  edge  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Rock'N'Rot"  which  was  released  by  Abyss  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow  to  mid  paced  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from slow  to  mid  paced  riffs  that  combine  death  metal  with  rock'n'roll  with  some  riffing  having  a  blues  music  feeling  to  them  as  well  as  some  clean  playing,  while the  lead  guitars  are  classic  rock  style  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  mixed  in  with  some  clean  singing  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  high  pitched  screams  in  addition  there  are  some  spoken  word  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  gore  themes  with  a  sense  of  humor,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Rocking  Corpses  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  death  metal  and  rock  music  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Up  From  The  Grave"  "Life  For  A  Life"  "Necrophiliacs"  and  "Dead  End".  RECOMMENDED  BUY. 

Southwicked/Death's Crown/Abyss Records/2012 CD Review

  Southwicked  are  a  band  from  Florida  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Death's  Crown"  which  was  released  by  Abyss  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow, mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  only  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats,  while t he  bass  playing h as  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  heavy  death  metal  riffs  that  dominate  throughout  the  recording  with  a  southern  feeling  to  them.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  Florida  style  death  metal  riffs  that  dont  utilize  the  more  modern  or  technical  sound  of  the  newer  bands,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  old  school  death  metal  guitar  solos  or  leads  that  have  a  southern  rock  feeling  to  them  at  times.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  and  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  serial  killers  and  murder,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Southwicked  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style  of  music,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Death's  Crown"  "Killing  Spree"  "Charming  Karma"  and  "Green  River  Killings".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Hour Of Penance Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Giulio : At the moment we're practicing a lot for our next shows , we're confirmed to play at the Hellfest this June , which is pretty much the biggest festival in Europe and we're working on some tours..we keep ourselves always busy !

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases/

Giulio : As we did with the other albums so far we tried to improve and change things here and there by adding new elements to our music and fixing what had to be fixed and Sedition will be just the results of that kind of work..Of course having a new singer and a new drummer helped a lot with that. Changing “skin” through every album without compromising the band original sound is one of our strong point.  At the same time we kept embedding our influences in our music, staying “death metal” without exceeding in experimentations.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

Giulio : “Sedition” is a title that explains clearly what is the main theme of this work: rebellion against everything that stands in the way of knowledge, embodied by the serpent in the cover. We want to get back our future and regain the glory of our past, where Italy was the cradle of art, knowledge and power. The catholic church must be swept away for this to happen, since it has dumbed down every positive force in this country, and now we’re left with nothing. So every song tells the story of  a new holy war, from different point of views, to finally destroy the jew-christian ideology and establishment and be again free from all their lies.   

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Giulio : We had a ton of memorable shows.. one i will never forget is the Death feast open air 2007 where we had more than one hundred metalheads on stage moshing on stage with us during a song - that was fucking unbelievable. it was hilarious to see the next year a warning signs with "Please don't get people on stage with you - this goes to Hour of Penance especially" written on it.

We give our 100% on stage , it's very hard to play such a complex music and in the same time interact with people as well but i think we achieved that doing show after show.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Giulio : We're just returned from a very successful tour with The Black Dahlia Murder , Nile and Skeletonwitch.. that was our first tour in the U.s and we're planning to come back as soon as possible. Actually we have already a great option for this fall , we're keeping our finger crossed for that , it's gonna be a kick ass tour.

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your newer music by brutal death metal fans?

Giulio : Feedback from the fans is just great , i think we've satisfied our die hard fans as well as reached some new fans with our music. SEDITION received only but good reviews from the worldwide press. We were surprised to see good reviews even in some magazines that usually don't cover extreme metal , like Legacy mag. , and only two months passed since the release date.. so far so good !

8. What is going on with the side projects these days?

Giulio : Paolo is the only one who has a side project , his band Aborym , is probably one of the most innovative and crazy industrial black metal band that you can find out there.. they released an album on Season of Mist two years ago and now they're about to enter the studio to record the newer album.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Giulio : It's too early to talk about that , even if we have some ideas already.. We don't sit too much on the table and talk about what to change and what not about our music. I'm sure we will not change too much , we'll stay loyal to our fans without exceeding in some weird experimentations , that's the key behind every successful death metal album.. you got to keep it brutal!

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your newer material and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Giulio : I tried to stay away from death metal while i was writing SEDITION because i didn't wanted to be influenced by any death metal band to be honest so i also lost some of the releases that came out on the last year. I've managed to get a copy of Torture , the new cannibal corpse album , while we were playing with them in a show in the U.s , and i have to say that i'm literally in love with their new record. Chaos Inception is about to have their new album out , they're a killer death metal band , you should really check them out! 

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Giulio : Music keeps us busy for the most of the day , when we don't play music you can probably find us at the gym!

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Giulio : Thanks for having us onto these pages , be sure to check out our new album SEDITION and keep supporting DEATH METAL! 

 

___________

Master/The New Elite/Pulverised Records/2012 CD Review

 Master  are  a  band  from  Chicago,  Illinois  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  history  that  goes  back  30  years  and  one  of  the  original  death/thrash  metal  bands  and  this  is  a review  of  their  2012  album  "The  New  Elite"  which  was  released  by  Pulverised  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  heavy  riffs  that  dominate  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  death  metal  with  thrash  as  well  as  some  punk  influences,  while the  lead  guitars,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  raw  and  primitive  sounding  death/thrash  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death/thrash  screams  and  growls  along  with  some  more  traditional  death  metal  style  growls  in  addition  there  is  a  brief  spoken  word  part  on  the  last  song,  while the  lyrics  cover  hateful,  everyday  and  anti  religion  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  album  from  Master  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  one  as  well.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  New  Elite"  "Remove  The  Knife"  "Redirect  The  Evil"  and  "Souls  To  Dissuade".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.   

Binah Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?

Not many have heard of us, we have come out of nowhere, spawned forth from death metal's rancid and rotten womb to unleash floods of fetid grue. There was death before and death after, nothing else.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

Our sound is akin to being at the depths of a caldera, being gradually consumed by wave upon wave of nebulous, thick and bubbling viscera.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Death, spirituality, death, occultism and death.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Binah is the second of the sephiras in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. It symbolises processes of rational understanding as ingrained in the psyche of each individual, and is often visualised as a chamber of mirrors upon which the emerald-green light of knowledge is reflected and in turn multiplied as it is projected outwards. It is asociated to the feminine gender, as death and life themselves tend to be. 

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Our best shows have been on our tour of the Seventh circle of hell, that was a much better tour than our tour of the Eighth where attendance and merch sales were poor. The audiences were generally much more appreciative on the Seventh, and the onstage sound was better....we hope to tour there again. Our stage performance is best described as interesting.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the future?

We toured all the levels of hell apart from the Third so we want to go there. Of course we would like to revisit the Seventh as that is where most of our fans reside. Fuck the Eighth level bastards...fraudulent desperadoes!!

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal?

The worldwide reaction has been massive...almost global in its size!

8. Are there any other musical projects besides this one or is this band full time?

Life and death are our only full-time endeavour. Most activities, including this band, are just by-products designed to enhance and share the exhilaration of the experience.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases/

The direction of death.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Autopsy, Fairport Convention, Gil Evans, Lubricant, Vomit Drenched Mutilated Corpse, Vinnie Vincent and of course, Yes (80s output only).

11. How would you describe your views on Occultism?

It is a fundamental part of who and how are are as people and how we approach and perceive the experience of life. Much like sunlight, illness or wildlife, it is difficult to express an opinion on something that simply happens and is there.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Sitting in a corner of a room, eyes closed, contemplating life.

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Thanks for the great questions....death metal til death!

Offending Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Hi! Actually we have lot of work : prepare the release of the album, update websites, search gigs, put on line the new video clip... And also look after interviews and reviews obviously!

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

For this album, we wanted to go farther than the first and we have finally written something more brutal, sombre and also more technical songs I think. For Human Concept, we had some songs that we recorded from our demos but for Age of Perversion, everything is new and the band's level has gotten higher so it finally gave this album what it needed.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release?

All texts of Age of Perversion have the same subject: How the human became the slave of society, religion and everything around him. He doesn't live, think and do something by himself, but only by the strongest who tell him how he is supposed to live. It's very important for us to be aware of that but also to denounce that. When can the human  break his own chains and start living for himself?

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

I don't really know how this name have been chosen because It was decided by V.R (drummer) and G.P (guitarist) in 2002 and I came in the band only in 2007.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

For me our show in HellFest in 2009. It's the biggest in France and one of the biggest in Europe. It was really a dream to play on the same stage as Vader, Immolation and so many others. Offending's show? It's a brutal, intense and so "Death Metal" performance!

6.Do you have any touring plans for the future?

Not actually. We are contacted by people but not for a tour. But we would like to ! I would really like to play elsewhere and see new places and new fans!

7. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by brutal death metal fans?

We are really surprised about people's reactions : We usually receive posts on websites or email from guys who listen or buy albums and really like them. It's really nice to have listeners around the world who appreciate your work and motivate you to continue.

8. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

For my side, I have others bands, not as big as Offending, but I also play with them when I'm free. The other bands aren't Death Metal but Hard Rock.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

 

We'll continue to write and play what we really like and it's Death Metal! Songs could be different, like the difference between Human Concept and Age of Perversion, but it will be always Death Metal, Offending Death Metal !

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Unfortunately, I'm not really aware about releases. I follow my favourite bands (Cannibal Corpse, Vile, Vader, and others) but I don't like the way we do for "Core" Metal nowadays! Metal Core, Death Core... It's really too much and I have the feeling that all these bands do the same thing you know? I like Death Metal but not only that; I like Heavy and Prog Metal too.

11. How would you describe your views on Satanism, Occultism and Anti Christianity?

I don't want to say "Death Metal is Satan music" or "We play this style because we hate Jesus and God"... I see this religion like others : People identifie themselves with on some points and only believe in this truth. But like others, all is not right.

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I'm a big fan of comics, BD and mang ! When I don't play, I spend lot of time in stores buying new ones!

13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Thanks to you for this interview! Follow us and STAY BRUTAL!

Binah/Hallucinating In Ressurrecture/Dark Descent Records/2012 CD Review

  Binah  are  a  band  from  the  U.K  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Hallucinating  In  Ressurecture"  which  was  released  by  Dark  Descent  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid paced  to  fast  death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  heavy,  raw  and primitive  sounding  in  the  early  90's  tradition  with  some  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing  along  with  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  with  some  melodic  parts.

  Vocals  are  all  deep  death  metal  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  and  heavy  sound  to  it  capture  the  classic  death  metal  sound  of  the early  90's.

  In  my  opinion  Binah  are  a very  great  sounding  old  school  style  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a fan  of  this  musical  style,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  New  Rotten  Dawn"  "Eminance  of  The  Sombre"  and  "Crepuscaler  Trancesdence".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.