Skelethal/Deathmanicvs Revelation/Caligari Records/2014 EP Review

  Skelethal  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2014  ep  "Deathmanicvs  Revelation"  which  was  released  by  Caligari  Records.

  Dark  and  evil  sounds  start  off  the  ep  along  with  some  keyboards  which  bring  a  horror  music  feeling  to  the  recording  and  after  the  intro  the music  goes  into  a  fast  and  raw  old  school  death  metal  sound  along  with  a  mixture  of  leads  and  riffs  which  also  lead  up  to  some  deep  growling  vocals  and  in  the  slower  sections  you  can  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  being  utilized.

  In  the  other  songs  blast  beats  are  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  music  starts  going  for  the  more  darker  and  raw  style  of  early  90's  death  metal  and  they  bring  in  the  heaviest  elements  of  the  Florida  and  Sweden  scenes  of  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  and  ignore  all  modern  trends  of  death  metal  and  on  the  last  track  synths  make  a  return  to  the  music  and  bring  an  epic  sound  to  the  recording  while  the  music  remains  in  a  heavier  direction.

  Skelethal  remain  true  to  an  old  school  death  metal  sound, remaining  in  the  same  direction  they  played  on  the  split,  along  with  a  heavy  and  old  school  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  death,  darkness,  horror  and  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Skelethal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Putrefacation"  and  "Curse  Of  the  Neverending".  8  out  of  10.    

Hannes Grossmann/The Radial Covenant/2014 CD Review

  Hannes  Grossmann  is  a  solo  artist from  Germany  better  known  for  his  work  with  Obscura  and  plays  a  very  progressive  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  on  this  recording  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2014  album  "The  Radial  Covenant".

  A  very  technical  and  heavy  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats,  heavy  bass  lines  and  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  as  well  as  a  good  amount  of  guitar  leads  and  there  is  also  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  being  utilized  and  the  music  also  gets  brutal  at  times.

  As  the  album  progresses  clean  singing  is  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  some  clean playing  and  progressive  parts  and  in  some  of  the  heavier  parts  combine  both  old  school  and  modern  death  metal  together  along  with  a  touch  of  djent  and  thrash  and  in  certain  sections synths  are  brought  in  and  bring  an  atmospheric  sound  to  the  recording.

  By  the  time  the  album  goes  into  the  3rd  track  acoustic  guitars  become  a  part  of  the  recording  while  the  main  focus  is  still  on  the  heavier  elements  and  as  time  goes  on  by  you  can  hear  prog  elements  coming  out  of  the  synths  in  a  couple  of  the  tracks  mixed  in  with  the  heavier  parts  and  towards  the  end  the  music  starts  adding  in  traces  of  classical  with  the  last  track  being  on  all  piannos.

  Hannes  Grossmann  shows  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  diversity  with  the  7  tracks  on  here  creating  some  original  sounding  progressive,  technical  death  metal,  along  with  a  professional  sounding  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  occult,  ufo,  scientific  and  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Hannes  Grossmann  is  a  very  great  sounding  progressive,  technical  death  metal  solos  artist  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Alien  Utopia"  "The  Sorcerer"  and  "The  Radial  Covenant".  8  out  of  10.

Bokluk/Taphonomy/Memento Mori/2014 CD Review

  Bokluk  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Taphonomy"  which  was  released  by  Memento  Mori.

  Dark  horror  movie  sounds  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  goes  into  a   fast,  brutal  and  heavy  old  school  death  metal  sound  along  with  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  which  also  use  some  screams  and  the  band  also b rings  in  a  mixture  of  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  small  amounts  of  melody.

  When  the  album  finds  its  sound  it  starts  sounding  like  a  mixture  between  both  old  school  U.S  and  Swedish  styles  of  death  metal  being  mixed  together  along  with  a  more  dark,  raw  and  brutal  take  of  the  genres  and  at  time s the  music  will  also  have  a  very  filthy  sound  in  some  of  the  really  heavy  sections  and  the  recording  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Bokluk  bring  back  some  of  their  more  darker,  filthy  and  raw  elements  that  a  lot  of  old  school  revival  death  metal bands  are  missing  along  with  the  forgotten  brutality  of  the  past  to  create  one  of  the  most  interesting  sounding  death  metal  elements  in  a  while  along  with  a  very  heavy  and  powerful  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  dark,  violent,  gore  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Bokluk  are  a  very  great  sounding  filthy,  raw,  and  brutal  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Psyche"  "Creed  of  Excruciation"  "the  Raw"  and  "Taphonomy".  8/5  out  of  10.

Pray For Locust/In The Shadow Of the Colossus/Discouraged Records/2014 CD Review

  Pray  For  Locust  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  plays  a  mixture  of  extreme  metal  and  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "In  The  Shadow  Of  The  Colossus"  which  was  released  by  Discouraged  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  metalcore/djent  sound  along  with  some  aggressive  screaming  vocals  along  with  some  groove  metal  elements  and  you  can  also  hear  a  good  amount  of  melody  in  the  recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  become  a  part  of  the  recording.

  When  the  album  finds  its  sound  it  is  more  close  to  a  thrash  meets  hardcore  while  also  having  a  good  amount  of  melody  and  the  heaviness  of  death  metal  along  with  the  growls  and  the  music  is  very  modern  sounding  while  the  metalcore  sounds  of  the  mid  90's  and  early  2000's  are  still  a  big  part  of  their  music  and  at  times  the  band  brings  clean  sections  into  certain  parts  of  the  recording  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Halfway  through  the  album  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  brought  in  briefly  and  they  add  more  traditional  metal  elements  to  the  sound  while  the  main  focus  is  still  on  metal  tinged  hardcore  as  well  as  spoken  word  samples  being  added into  a  few  of  the  tracks  and  while  blast  beats  are  absent  on  most  of   the  beginning  tracks  they  are  finally  brought  on  briefly  on  one  of  the  later  tracks.

  Pray  For  Locust  are  one  of  the  better  metalcore  bands  around  with  their  death  metal  influences  and  melody  which  make  them  sound  good  this  style  and  while  it  is  not  what  I regularly listen to, I can enjoy some of the effort  that  are  added  into  the  songs  and  the  album  has  a  very  professional  sounding  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  some  very  dark  topics.

  In  my  opinion  Pray  For  Locust  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  extreme  metal  and  hardcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Batcountry"  "Reap  What  you  Sow"  "God  Of  the  Underworld"  and  "Heroin  Eyes".  7/5  out  of  10.

Skinfather/None Will Mourn/Streetcleaner Records/2014 CD Review

  Skinfather  are  a  band  from  California  that  plays  an  updated  form of  old  school  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2014  album  "None  Will  Mourn"  which  will  be  released  by  Streetcleaner  Records.

  A  very  dark  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  old  school  style  of  death  metal  along  with  some  aggressive  style  vocals  and  growls  which  are  more  closer  to  "Wolverine  Blues"  era  Entombed  while  also  having  a  more  heavy  sound  and  the  band  also  brings  in  a  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  guitar  leads  are  heavily  rooted  in  1992  Swedish  death  metal.

  The album  really  starts  to  find  its  sound  after  awhile  taking  the  early  Swedish  sound  and  adding  in  more  of  a  modern  day  brutality  to  update  the  genre  for  2014  without  ever  losing  touch  with  the  melodic  side  if  the  genre  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  band  does  not  really  that   much  on  blast  beats.

  Skinfather  update  the  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  sound  with  their  music  making  it  sound  closer  to  the  present  than  most  bands  that  go  for  that  sound  along  with  a  very  professional  sounding  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  darkness,  gore  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Skinfather  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Ordeal  by  Fire"  "Hellish  Grave"  "Dead  Still"  and  "Impaled".  8  out  of  10.

  

Druknroll/Boiling Point/Metal Scrap Records/2014 CD Review

  Druknroll  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  that  plays  a  very  symphonic  form  of  metal  with  traces  of  thrash  and  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2014  album  "Boiling Point"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Scrap  Records.

  The  album  starts  out  with  clean  guitars  and  symphonic  sounds  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  then  thrash  style  vocals  and  back  ups  start  to  kick  in  along  with  some  melodic  singing  and  riffing  and  after  awhile  hard  rock  style  solos  become  a  part  of  the  recording.

  On  the  following  track  acoustic  guitars  are  brought  in  to  create  a  power  ballad  along  with  some  psychedelic  sounds  as  well  as  the  bass  guitars  adding  in  more  power  and  as  the  album  moves  on  there  is  a  brief  use  of  Japanese  folk  instruments  before  going  into  a  more  heavy  and  modern  thrash  direction  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  and  the  band  still  keep  the  melodic  vocals  and  symphonic  parts.

  As  the  album  progresses  the  music  starts  going  for  more  of  a  symphonic  hard  rock/metal  sound  along  with  the  heaviness  of  thrash  and  death  metal  as  well  as  bringing  a  modern  style  to  all  of  the  genres  they  combine  and  the  acoustic  guitars  and  psychedelic  sounds  also  make  their  return  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  towards  the  end  the  death  metal  elements  start  to  get  even  more  heavier  while  the  music  keeps  its  hard  and  melodic  sound  along  with  some  traces  of  alternative  rock  in  the  softer  parts.

  Druknroll  remain  true  to  their  symphonic  and  melodic  sound  with  this  recording  while  also  keeping  the  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  element s of  their  previous  release  as  well  as  bringing  in  small  amounts  of  psychedelic  and  alternative  rock  which  sounds  great  with  a  professional  sounding  production  and  lyrics  that  cover  everyday  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Druknroll  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  symphonic  and  melodic  metal  mixed  in  with  thrash  and  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rage"  "In  the  Power  Of  Depth"  "Tenth  Night"  and  "Saturation".  8  out  of  10.

  

Sabbatory Interview

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

 

Well, our debut album is almost out. It's called Endless Asphyxiating Gloom. We're playing a fest in Montreal this summer which we are all looking forward to. Besides that, writing new material and trying to link up with some other black and death bands.

2.Recently you have recorded a new album can you tell us a little bit more about the musical sound of the new recording and also how does it differ from the demo you had released in 2012?

The album is seven songs of pure death metal. There are fast parts, slow parts, melodic parts and every thing in between. I think there is something for everybody on it. We just went for an honest production where you could actually hear the riffs and what was going on with every instrument. Something which cannot be said for a lot of the so called "heavy" music out these days. The demo was recorded and mixed within about two hours and the album was recorded over several days and took over a year to get the way we wanted it, so you can probably see how they will differ in sound.

3.Can you tell us a little bit more about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the newer music?

The lyrics span a few different subjects. All dark, disturbing and extremely morbid of course. The album has a theme of misanthropy. I'll let you judge what they are about for yourselves, but definitely no tree hugging or political garbage that's for sure.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sabbatory'?

Nick came up with it. This was before I knew about that Abhorer record, though I think it was just a coincidental thing.

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

We have a great time every time we play. I guess our biggest show was opening for Napalm Death a couple years ago.  Playing live for me is all about playing riffs and head banging. You can't beat that feeling up on a stage.

6.DO you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Not much touring this summer except for Rrroooaaarrr in Montreal this August. We we going to play some shows along the way to and from that I believe.

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

We're really pleased with the reactions so far. Looking forward to having our album available for distribution so everyone can hear it.

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days that some of the band members are involved with?

Dan is involved in Archagathus and a hundred other things I couldn't even fit onto this page. Me and Marshal are involved in a couple of those those things as well. My main focus is of course on Sabbatory.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Well we are in the process of writing the next album and I can say for sure that the things you like about our first one will definitely still be there on the second one. We're spending a lot of time perfecting the most important parts (the riffs) before the songs are put together so it will be more intense and mature in my opinion. 

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

 I think it's obvious when you hear us - Unleashed, Cancer, Morgoth, Obituary and Merciless are all really big influences for sure. I try and channel old black metal like Ildjarn and Paragon Belial as well. Lately I have been listening to a lot of newer bands who are doing it right. Torture Rack, Warpvomit and Rude to name a few.

11.How would you describe your views on Occultism?

Without trying to seem like a total dickhead, I don't think that's something I want to discuss here.

12.What are some of your non musical interests? 

Well, we are all massive drinkers, so usually anything that can be encompassed in that. 

13.Before we wrap up this interview do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thank you for the interview and thanks to everyone for all the support, we are just getting started. SUPPORT REAL DEATH METAL

Sabbatory: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sabbatory/302276589803917

Unspeakable Axe: http://unspeakableaxerecords.com
Dark Descent: http://www.darkdescentrecords.com