Xibalba/Hasta La Muerte/Southern Lord Records/2012 CD Review

  Xibalba  are  a  band  from  Southern  California  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  combines  hardcore,  thrash  and  death  metal  together  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Hasta  La  Muerte"  which  was  released  by  Southern  Lrd  Records.

  Drums  range  from  slow, mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  tribal  style  playing,  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  riffing  that  combines  hardcore,  thrash  and  death  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  while  the  lead  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  are  very  early  90's  sounding  death  metal  guitar  leads.

  Vocals  are  mostly  hardcore  style  growls  that  have  a  heavy  death  metal  feeling  to  them  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  clean  singing  female  vocals,  while  the lyrics  cover  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Xibalba  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Soledad"  "Sentenced"  "Mala  Mujer"  and  "Lijuria".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Monsterworks/Man :: Instincts/Mortal Music/2012 EP Review

  Monsterworks  are  a  band  from  New  Zealand  that h as  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical styles  that  mixes  death,  thrash  and  power  metal  together  and  this  is  a  review  of their  2012  ep  "Man  ::  Instincts"  which  was  released  by  mortal  Music.

  Drums  range from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  some  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music  at  times,  while  the  bass  playing h as  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  death,  thrash  and  power  metal  together  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  full  chords  and  finger  picking  to  add  more  variety  to  the  music.

  Vocals  range  from  deep  death  metal  growls,  thrash  style  yelling  and  clean  singing  power  metal  vocals,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  anti  religion  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can h ear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  recording  from  Monsterworks  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  their  last  album,  you  should  enjoy  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Free  Will".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Unconsecrated/Awakening In The Cemetery Grave/Chaos Records/Dark Blasphemies/2012 CD Review

  Unconsecrated  are  a  band  that  plays  death  metal  in  the  old  school  Swedish  vein  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  compilation  album  "Awakening  In  The  Cemetery  Grave"  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Chaos  Records  and  Dark  Blasphemies  and  contains  both  of  their  demos  and  seven  inches.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  as  for  the  synths  they  are  only  utilized  briefly  on  a  couple  of  songs  to  give  the  music  a  horror  film  feeling.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  old  school  Swedish  style  death  metal  riffs  with  a  good  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  when  they  are  utilized  they  use  finger  picking  to  enhance  the  darkness  that  is  coming  out  of  the  music.

  Vocals a re  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  mixed  in  with  some  high  pitched  screams,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  gore,  satanic,  anti  christian  and  occult  themes, as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark,  heavy,  raw  and  primitive  sound  in  the  early  90's  death  metal  vein.

  In  my  opinion  Unconsecrated  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  compilation  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Path  Of  The  Ancient  Gods"  "Temple  Of  Darkness"  "Tombs  of  Fallen  Angels"  and  "The Curse  Of  Evocation".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

  

Hell :On/Age Of Oblivion/Metal Scrap Records/2012 CD Review

  Hell : On  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  combines  death,  thrash  and groove  metal  together  with  their  older  material  but  go  for  more  of  a  straight  forward  thrash  sound  with  the  new  one  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Age  Of  Oblivion"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Scrap  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  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  heavy riffing  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording, a s  for  the  synths  which  are  only  used  on  one  song  they  bring  a  very  symphonic  and  evil  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  thrash  riffs  that  only  utilize  a  small  amount  of  death  and  groove  metal  influences  which  was  more  dominant  on  their  older  stuff,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  chaotic  sounding  thrash  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads  that  utilizing  some  melody.

  Vocals  are  all  thrash  screams,  growls  and  shouts  which  do  not  utilize  the  heavier  vocals  of  their  older  material  except  for  some  parts,  while  the  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  everyday  themes,  as  for t he  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  recording  from  Hell : On  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Disaster"  "Let  it  Feed"  "Emptiness"  and  "Satan".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.
  

Disciples Of Extremity/Vol 2/UKEM Records/2012 CD Compilation Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  compilation  called  "Disciples  Of  Extremity  Vol  2"  which  was  released  by  UKEM  Records  and  we  will  review  the  songs  one  by  one.

  Trifivion  brings  us  "Fucked  In The  Guttural  Vortex"  a  very  fast  and  brutal  sounding  death  metal  song  with  a  mixture  of  technical  parts,  deep  growls  and  high  pitched  screams.

  Next  up  is  Diamorphus  with  "Panopticon  Prison"  another  very  fast,  technical  and  brutal  sounding  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Regurgitate  Life  with  "The  Tempter"  a  death  metal  song  that  is  more  in  the  classic  brutal  early  90's  vein.

  Next  up is  Kyrophere  with  "Doll's  House  Part  1"  a  more  modern  day  sounding  technical  death  metal  song.

  Next  up is  Cultfinder  with  "The  Devil's  Whore"  a  song  that  is  more  in  the  black/thrash  metal  vein and  different  from t he  more  death  metal  orientated  stuff  on t his  compilation.

  Next  up  is  Mordid  Atrophy  with  "Pillow  Talk"  a  song  that  mixes  black  metal,  grindcore  and  death  metal.

  Next  up  is  Aghast  with  "We  Fear  Silence"  a  song  that  mixes  melodic  death  metal  with  thrash  and  groove  metal.

  Next  up  is  Ninkharsag  with  "The  Dawn  Of  The  Age  Of  Aquarius"  a  very  raw  and  primitive  sounding  black  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Fever  Sea  with  "Ruin"  another  black  metal  song  that  is  very  raw  and  primitive  sounding  with  some  melodies  and  clean  singing  being  added  to  the  song.

  Next  up  is  Blind  Spite  with  "Dethrone  The  Earth"  a  song  that  is  more  in  the  brutal  death  metal  vein.

  Next  up  is  Eradicated  with  "Human  Dismantlement"  a  song  that  mixes  brutal  death  metal  with  deathcore.

  Next  up  is  Living  With  Disfugurement  with  "Hellbent  On  Depravity"  a  more  death/grind  song  with  high  pitched  screams  and  deep  death  metal  growls.

  Next  up  is  Cachexic  with  "Succumbing  To  Disease"  a  very  brutal  sounding  song  that  is  more  in  the  grindcore  vein.

  Next  up  is  Scythian  with  "Pray  To War"  a  very  old  school  sounding  death  metal  song  with  deep  growls  and  high  pitched  screams.

  Next  up  is  Filial  Cannibalism  with  "Writhing  In  Carnivorous Lava"  a  very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  Flayed  Disciple  with  "Pig"  a  song  that  is  more  in  the  old  school  death  thrash  vein  with  some  classic  sounding  extreme  metal  guitar  solos.

  Next  up  is  Septic  Trauma  with  "Dajjal"   a  very  heavy  and  brutal  sounding  technical  death  metal  song.

  Next  up  is  The  Infernal  Sea  with  "Malevolence  Of  Our  Lord"  a  song  that  is  more  in  the  raw  and  primitive  black  metal  vein.

  Next  up is  Cryostorm  with  "Destroyer  Of  Ardor"  a  more  melodic  and  technical  sounding  death  metal  song.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  compilation  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  death  metal,  black  metal  and  grindcore,  you  should  be  able  to  find  something  that  is  to  your  interest.  RECOMMENDED  BUY.   

Sophicide/Perdition Of The Sublime/Willowtip/2012 CD Review

  Sophicide  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  very  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  with  a  melodic  edge  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  album  "Perdition  Of  The  Sublime"  which  was  released  by  Willowtip.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  great  amount  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  into  the  music,  while t he  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  with  heavy  riffing  that  dominates  throughout the  recording,  as  for  the  synths  they  are  only  utilized  on  one  song  and  bring  a  very  symphonic  sound  to  the  music.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  brutal  death  metal  riffs  that  are  very  technical  sounding  with  a  good  amount  of  melody  and  some  groove  metal  influences  being  thrown  into  the  riffing,  while the  lead  guitars  are  very  technical  and  melodic  sounding  death  metal  guitar  solos  and  leads,  as  for  the  acoustic  guitars  when  they  are  utilize  they  use  exotic  sounding  scales  to  add  more  variety  to  the  music.

  Vocals  are  mostly  deep  death  metal  growls  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  thrown  into t he  music  at  times  as  well  as  some  spoken  word  samples,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it h as  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  Sophicide  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal,  technical  death  metal  band  with  a  melodic  edge  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style  of  music,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "The  Art  Of  Atrocity'  "Of  Lust  And  Vengeance"  "Freedom  Of  Mind"  and  "Dawn  Of  A  New  Age".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.  

Rocking Corpses Interview

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

Rocking Corpses is a fairly new band and just now releasing debut album called Rock 'n' Rott through Abyss Records. The whole idea was to combine rock, death metal and various horror themes. The trio consists of Tony D.K., Leper Laze and Vile.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

I think the sound is a combination of the aggression and balls of death metal but also harmonies and groove of rock. Vocals have two main styles with low guttural death metal grunts and cleaner rock stylish vocals mainly in choruses. Also the gain in guitars have been toned down a bit to bring out the rocking side of the music.

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

The first album Rock 'n' Rott is a theme album telling the story of one zombie crawling out of it's grave and rocking out in a city. So the main theme is horror but black humour is also a big part of the lyrics as well. The first album is about zombies doing crazy rocking things but in the future there will be other horror themes also.

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

I think the band's name sums up pretty well what we are all about, rock, death, corpses, zombies, monsters, etc. It's also pretty funny name when you visualize some corpses rocking out but for me it's a strong and coarse name too.

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

So far we haven't done any live shows. In the studio I played all the instruments and we haven't rehearsed all the songs yet with our new drummer Vile, who btw did all the artwork for the album. All the guys have played many shows with different bands and I think it will be great to do shows with Rocking Corpses when we are ready. It will be energetic and crazy rockin' gigs.

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

No plans so far.

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

The album is going to be released on July 13th so there's not that much feedback yet. Maybe for rock fans the death metal side of our music may be too much but for a death metal fan, i'd think our stuff will be something new and exciting. A fresh breath of putrid air.

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

All the guys have different things going on too but Rocking Corpses is a solid unit and not just a side project. I also play in other bands but all my creative energy goes to Rocking Corpses.

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

Now with an amazing new drummer we can maybe explore into more extreme death metal also. Without forgetting the groovy rock, of corpse. Also the sound will certainly evolve with future releases as the drums will be real drums and not electronic like the ones I played on our debut. The lyrical themes will be more varied too and not concentrating only on zombies.

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

Maybe I'm getting old 'cause I find myself listening to so much blues and bluesy rock. Motörhead and AC/DC are some of my all time favourites but lately I've been listening a lot of stuff like Clutch, Joe Bonamassa and finnish band Viikate. I also got really excited when I found Ghoultown. Their latest album is just amazing. Also I've been excited about Autopsy coming back with a great album! Other favourites are Pungent Stench, Necrophagia, Rob Zombie, Macabre, Entombed.. So many.

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

It's pretty obvious in our music that I really love horror movies. Everything from classic black & white to new stuff. Laze has been riding motorcycles all his life but just lately I've been getting interested too. I bought my first bike last summer and now I've been thinking about buying a Harley. It's just too bad that the summers in Finland are so short..

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

Be sure to check out our debut album Rock 'n' Rott! Listen with full volume and a case full of beer. More info from www.rockingcorpses.comand www.officialabyssrecords.com - Horror & Gore!

-Tony D.K.