Cemetery Dust/To Rule Them All/Metal Music Austria/2015 CD Review

  Cemetery  Dust  are  a  band  from  Austria  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2015  album  "To  Rule  Them  All"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Music  Austria.

  Acoustic  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  which  also  uses  a  great  mixture  of  both  finger  picking  and  full  chords  and  after  the  intro  the  music  adds  in  tremolo  picking  and  more  of  a  heavier  sound  as  well  as  adding  in  thrash  style  screaming  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to them.

  When  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  melodic  and  also  remain  true  to  an  old  school  metal  direction  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  elements  of  groove  metal  as  well  as  growls  that  are  very  close  to  the  more  technical  days  of  Death's  later  material  and  some  of  the  tracks  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Spoken  word  samples  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  their  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  acoustic  guitars  also  make  a  return  briefly  on  some  of  the  tracks  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  old  school  and  modern  influences.

  Cemetery  Dust  plays  a  very  melodic  and  progressive  musical  style  that  mixes  the  90's  genres  of  death  and  thrash  metal  together  along  with  a  touch  of  modern  groove  metal  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  war,  politics,  social  issues  and  inner  struggles.

  In  my  opinion  Cemetery  Dust  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Souls  Come  Undone"  "Cloak  Of  Blood"  and  "To  Rule  Them  All".  8  out  of  10.      

Entrails/Obliteration/Metal blade Records/2015 CD Review

  Sweden's  Entrails  have  returned  with  a  new  album  that  continues  the  old  school  death  metal  sound  of  previous  recordings  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Obliteration"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  Ritualistic  sounding  bells  start  off  the  album  before  adding  in  high  pitched  screams  and  an  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  sound  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  and  the  growls  are  also  very  easy  to  understand  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Melodies  are  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  they  are  used  quite  a  bit  in  the  riffs  and  also  dominate  the  solos  and  leads  and  while  the  musical  style  is  purely  played  in  the  90's  style  the  production  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  modern  day  feeling  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  a  small  amount  of  samples  and  the  whole  album  also  sticks  to  a  heavy  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  recording.

  Entrails  remains  true  to  the  old  school  Swedish  death  metal  sound  that  has  been  a  dominant  part  of  all  of  their  recordings  so  far,  the  production  sounds  very  professional while  the  lyrics  cover  suffering,  doom  and  the  undead.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Entrails  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "No  Cross  Left  Unturned"  "The  Grotesque"  "Midnight  Coffin"  and  "Abyss  Of  Corpses".  8  out  of  10.

  

Disloyal/Godless/Ghastly Music/2015 CD Review

  Disloyal  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Godless"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Ghastly  Music.

  Distorted  guitar  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  synths  in  the  background  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  going  into  more  of  a  brutal  death  metal  direction  along  with  a  great  amount  of  growling  vocals,  technical  guitar  leads  and  blast  beats  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  can  also  be  very  atmospheric  at  times  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  high  pitched  screams  while  some  of  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  songs  having  a  musical  style  that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  90's  style  of  death  metal  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  small  amount  of  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  songs  along  with  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  one  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  few  seconds  of  clean  singing  as  well  as  a  riff  bringing  in  more  of  a  modern  prog  metal  sound.

  Disloyal  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  brutal  but  in  a  mid  90's  to  early  2000's  style  and  also  add  in  a  small  amount  of  atmospheric  elements  and  technical  guitar  leads  to  make  their  music  stand  out  a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  society  and  personal  experiences.

  In  my  opinion  Disloyal  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "New  Enemy  Rising"  "Dybbuk"  "Corporate  Beasts"  and  "The  Chastener".  8  out  of  10.        

Prion/Uncertain Process/Comatose Music/2015 CD Review

  Prion  are  a  band  from  Argentina  that  plays  a  very  brutal  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Uncertain  Process"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Comatose  Music.

  A  very  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  melodies  at  times  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  some  of  the  tracks  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  progressive  and  technical  palying.

   You  can  hear  a  great  amount  of  Florida  death  metal  influence  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  the  songs  only  use  a  small  amount  of  solos  or  leads  to  focus  more  on  a  heavy  and  brutal  sound  as  well  as  adding  some  darker  elements  into  the  songs  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

   Prion  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  fast,  heavy  and  brutal  and  also  has  a  sound  that  is  in  between  old  school  and  modern,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death.  war  and  social  themes.    

  In  my  opinion  Prion  are  a  very  great  sounding  brutal  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Power  Obsessed"  "Anhedonist"  "End  Is  Near"  and  "Never  Let  Me  Down  Again".  8  out  of  10.    

Gruesome Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project? It’s a band called Gruesome and it’s a complete and utter homage to the original death metal band, Death, from Florida . Kind of like a tribute band but with original songs. The band features current and former members of Exhumed (Matt Harvey, guitar and vocals), Possessed (Daniel Gonzalez, guitars), Malevolent Creation (Gus Rios), and Derketa (Robin Mazen).

2.You have a new album coming out, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording? The music was written and produced to come as close as possible to what Death sounded like in the late 80s. In those days death metal was in it’s infancy and still retained much of the thrash metal influence, but then Death took it to another level with lower tuned guitars, more use of double bass drumming, guttural demonic vocals, and lyrics about horror, death, and gore.

3.On the album the music was more focused on the mid 80's style that Death played, are you more interested in this era of the band than you are with the 90's era where the music got more progressive? Yeah, both Matt and I who started the band really came together because of our mutual love and of course preference to that particular era of the band. The later and more progressive material I am definitely still a fan of, but that style which Chuck invented and eventually dubbed “technical death metal” is still currently being done and we wanted to hear more music from our youth. Death’s Leprosy album is still to this day my favorite death metal album ever and now it kind of feels like I’m in the band during that time period! And therein was the challenge…to come as close as possible to that sound and vibe.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music? Death metal to me was always like an audio version of a horror movie, and that’s primarily because that’s what Chuck Schuldiner created. The sound of the music had to be matched by the lyrical content in my opinion, and for us, like Death, included death, horror, and gore. And of course we can’t forget deadly diseases, human atrocities, etc!

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Gruesome'? Matt came up with it and I think its just kind of throwback to the late 80s. Again, in those days the genre was just starting to be defined and the pioneers were making it up as they went along. The more simple the name, the easier it was to be distinguished as a proper death metal band, and Death absolutely set the pace. You had Obituary, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, etc. All those bands had easily identifiable names and logos and you immediately knew what you were getting into. Today the lines are much more blurred and if we have used a more modern name like “Buried in the Ocean while sleeping” the entire effect would have been different and thus a failure. Gruesome is simple and to the point…you know exactly what we’re about just from the name.

6.Are there any plans on making this project a touring group or is this strictly a studio project? Due to the fact that everyone is in established bands, playing live will be limited, but we are all very excited to play the material live. We are definitely going to work out some limited tours and festival appearances for sure.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal? It has been overwhelmingly positive, thankfully! Our primary concern was to make sure that everyone involved with Death was ok with what we were setting out to do, and that includes the former members, management, and of course the fans. Gruesome is 100% a labor of love and comes from the deepest admiration and respect for a man and his band that greatly changed our lives. I cannot overstate that! And fortunately all parties seemed to immediately not only understand, but be genuinely excited about it. In fact we weren’t going to really move forward with this unless we received the blessing from Eric Greif, Death’s longtime manager, and he was and has been super supportive of everything that we’re doing. Even former members Terry Butler, Rick Rozz, and James Murphy (who also did a guest solo on the album) have given us the big thumbs up, and that’s huge for us! At this point we have sold out of a few limited edition pressings of the album so the fans have spoken and spoken LOUD! We are very appreciative of that and want to make sure that we are able to take the band out on the road and give them the live show that they are hopefully waiting to see as well!

8.What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are a part off? Exhumed just released their re-recording of their first album, toured with Napalm Death, and I’m sure will see more dates coming this year. Possessed is supposed to be writing new material, and Robin tours with I think every single metal band on earth at some point doing merch. I stay busy doing session work outside of metal actually, so I’m very ready to play some death metal live again!

9.Are there any plans for future albums or is this a one time thing? We signed a multi album deal and already have 3-4 songs written for the next album, so there’s plenty more Gruesome gore yet to come! There’s also still plenty of resource material from Death to explore and it’s just too much fun to not continue.

10.Besides Death are there any other musical influences  on the bands sound? Nope

11.What are some of your non musical interests? I recently started skateboarding again after a 25yr hiatus…not sure if that’s smart or not, but I’m NOT conceding to age that easily! All this late 80s –ness going on got me! Other than that, I love riding my motorcycle, nature photography and traveling with my wife when possible.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? Thank you for the interest and support. And a big thank you to all the fans! We hope to see you all soon! HAIL CHUCK!

Apontokation/Conquerors Beyond The Stars/2015 CD Review

  Apontokation  are  a  band  from  Spain  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2015  album  "Conquerors  Beyond  The  Stars".

  Classical  guitar  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  all  of  the  other m  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  music  starts  to  get  a  lot    more heavier  along  with  some  melodies,  growls  and  screams  and  when  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  very  dark  and  melodic.

  Blast  beats  can  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  along  with  a  good  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  spoken  word  samples  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  old  school  death  and  thrash  metal  influences  and  on  of  the  tracks  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  ethnic  sound s before  making  a  return  back  to  a  heavier  musical  direction.

  Apontokation  plays  an  old  school  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  that  goes  back  to t he  90's  but  also  mixes  in  a  modern  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  violent  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Apontokation  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "A  Wisp  Of  Misanthropy"  "Ancient  Vision"  "Human  Chaos"  and  "Absolution  Through  the  Mayhem".  8  out  of  10.    

Six Feet Under/Crypt Of The Devil/Metal Blade Records/2015 CD Review

  Six  Feet  Under  have  returned  with  a  new  album  that  sticks  to  their  groove  orientated  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  album  "Crypt  Of  The  Devil"  which  will  be  released  in  May  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  old  school  death  metal  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  growling  vocals  and  the music  also  brings  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  blast  beats  as  well  as  adding  blast  beats  and  morbid  sounding  melodies  into  the  songs  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  true  to  a  90's  style  of  death  metal.

  You  can  still  hear  a  great  amount  of groove  elements  in  the  bands  musical  style  while  they  have  brought  in  even  more  of  a  straightforward  death  metal  sound  over  the  years  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  a  small  amount  of  melody  onto  some  of  the  tracks.

  Six  feet  under  creates  another  death  metal  album  that  is  very  groove  orientated  yet  has  an  old  school  feeling  and  while  they  have  improved  over  the  years  the  music  is  not  as  brutal  as  most  band s of  this  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  serial  killer  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  decent  sounding  recording  from  Six  Feet  Under  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Gruesome"  "Break  The  Cross  In  Half"  "Stab"  and  "Eternal  Darkness".  7/5  out  of  10.