Monsterworks/Black Swan Annihilation/Eat Lead & Die/2016 Full Length Review

  New  Zealand's  Monsterworks  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  that  continues  the  heavy,  thrash  and  death  metal  mixture  of  previous  recordings  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Black  Swan  Annihilation"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Eat  Lead  &  Die.

  A  very  hard  and  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  melodic guitar  leads  that  are  a  very  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  the  vocals  bring  in  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  along  with  some  power  metal  vocals  and  the  riffs  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and  all  of t he  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  At  times  the  music  can  be  very progressive  along  with  clean  playing  and  acoustic  guitars  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  both  modern  and  old  school  metal  influences  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  a  few  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Monsterworks  creates  another  recording  that  takes  heavy,  power,  thrash  and  death  metal  and  mixes  them  together  while  being  a  lot  more  progressive  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the lyrics  cover  the  rise  of  man  and  destruction  after  an  unpredictable  disaster.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Monsterworks  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE "To  Have  Done  What  Must  Be"  "Vanishing  Point"  and  "Archivo  Omnia".  8  out  of  10. 

Sewercide/Immortalized In Suffering/Unspeakable Axe Records/2016 CD Review

  Sewercide  are  a  band  from  Australia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Immortalized  In  Suffering"  which will  be  released  in  June  by  Unspeakable  Axe  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  which  are  also  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  old  school  death  metal  style  riffing  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  on  the  recording  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  growling  fashion  while  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's.

  Throughout  the  recording  there  is  a  great  mixture  of slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  while  the  music  is  rooted  in  the  past  the  production  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  modern  feeling  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  horror  movie  style  keyboards  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction  on  the  following  tracks.

  Sewercide  move  away  from  the  thrash  metal  roots  of  previous  recordings  and  have  evolved into  more  of  an  old  school  death  metal  band  on  this  album,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  and  horror  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Sewercide  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  old  school  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "For  those  About  To  Rot"  "Snares Of  Carnality"  and  "Megalithic  Tomb".  8  out  of  10. 

Deceptionist/Initializing Irreversable Process/Unique Leader/2016 CD Review

  Deceptionist  are  a  band  from  Rome,  Italy  that  plays  a  very  brutal  and  technical  form  of  death  metal  with  elements  of  industrial  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Initializing  Irreversible  Process"  which  will  be  released  in  June  by  Unique  Leader.

  Industrial  sounds  along  with  heavy  guitars  and  spoken  word  samples  start  off  the  album  and  after  the  intro  the  music  starts  getting  more  technical  while  also  adding  in  death  metal  growls  and  blast  beats  while  screams  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  remain  very  true  to  a  technical  style.

  Melodies  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  they  also  mix  both  the  industrial  and  heavy  parts  together  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  the  music  also  gets  very  brutal  at  times  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  use  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  spoken  word  samples  also  make  a  return  on  a  later  track.

  Deceptionist  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  the  more  brutal  and  technical  side  of  the  genre  while  the  industrial  elements  give  them  more  of  an  original  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  the  relationship  between  humans  and  machines  in  the  not  so  distant  future.

  In  my  opinion  Deceptionist  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  technical,  brutal  death  metal  and  industrial  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Through  The  Veil"  "When  Humans  Began  to  Be  Machines"  "Irreversible  Process"  and  "Operator  Nu.  3".  8  out  of  10. 

Last Rites/Unholy Puppets/Beyond Productions/Black Tears/2016 CD Review

  Last  Rites  are  a  band  from  Italy  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "Unholy  Puppets"  which  will  be  released  on  May  27th  as  a  joint  effort  between  Beyond  Productions  and  Black  Tears.

  War  samples  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  musical  direction t hat  also  uses   a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  as  well  as mixing  death  and  thrash  metal  together  along  with  some  aggressive  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing.

  When  solos  and  leads are  utilized  they  also  use  a  great  amount  of  melody  and the  music  can  also  be  very  technical  at  times  along  with  growls  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  mid  80's  and  early  90's  while  also  mixing  in  more  of  a  modern  touch  and  samples  can  also  be  heard  on  later  tracks  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a  heavy  musical  direction.

  Last  Rites  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  German  thrash  metal  and  mixes  it  with  death  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  literature,  death  and  madness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Last  Rites  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  "Children  Of  War"  "Waterwall"  "Realm  Of  Illusion"  and  "God's  Slave".  8  out  of 10.    

 

Macabra/To The Bone/Morbid Visions Music/Vonfrost Records/2016 CD Review

  Macabra  are  an  international  duo  with  one  member  from  the  united  States  and  another  one  from  Belgium  and  they  play  a  very  underground  and  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2016  album  "To  The  Bone"  which  will  be  released  in  July  as  a  joint  effort  between  Morbid  Visions  Music  and  Vonfrost  Records.

  A  melodic  guitar  lead  starts  off  the  album  and  they  are  a  very  huge  part  off  the  recording  before  adding  in  atmospheric  synths,  heavy  riffs  and  death  metal  growls and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  decent  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  can  be  heard.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  high  pitched  screams  are  also  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  the  guitar  leads  remain  true  to  an  old  school  style  of  death  metal  ad  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's  and  all  of the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.     

  Macabra  plays  a  style  of death  metal  that goes  for  the  more  underrated  atmospheric  sound  of  the  early  90's  which  also  did  not  get  much  exposure  in  that  time  period,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature  and  insanity  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Macabra  are  a  very  great  sounding  atmospheric  death  metal  band  and  if you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sadocrat"  "Royalties  On  Murder"  and  "Scars of  Dignity".  8  out  of  10.  

 

Psycho Scream Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We came from Reggio-Emilia and Mantova (Italy).

It's about ten years that we play around as a band. The band was founded by Pato (guitar), Claudio(guitar) and Bob (drums).We played before in different bands and so before being band mates we share the stage many times. In these years we had many line-up changes with bass and singer.



2.In April you had released your first full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

We play something in between thrash and death metal; almost all of us are old school fans and so we are probably influenced by classical thrash metal American and German bands (but we would like to mention also Necrodeath and Raw Power that are legendary bands from our country). Even if we know we cannot be neutral, we think also that the recording shows some variety between tracks and we like it.



3.You had a demo released in 2011 but waited until 2016 to release any new material, can you tell us a little bit more about what was going on during that time span?

After the 2011 demo we had some gigs around, but after a couple of years we split from our singer (that was bass player too) and so a quest for complete the line-up began. We don’t know how it works in other places...but bass and voice are the most difficult parts to be found when you have to complete a line up!! So we used that time to find out other band members, integrate them in our songs and also for composing new songs with these new guys (as the demo was a recording with only 4 songs).



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

Lyrics are really introspective and were 100% created by Matteo. They talk about feelings, states of mind, relationship with society and other people. We think he is very talented at that and so we let him have complete authority about lyrics.



5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Psycho Scream'?

That's not easy to remember after ten years ahah!! The movie scene that all of us know for sure was really iconic...so we thought to take that name.



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

A very nice show we remember was in a place that was a former psychiatric hospital; the stage was at the end of an aisle, and at one side of this aisle was possible to see all the abandoned rooms; that was a little disturbing, but we knew very funny guys there and we have to say that also the location seemed to be really conform to the band.



7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

At the moment we are trying to promote the record and if the answer is positive we will for sure do some touring or show. We have also some new ideas and riffs, and so we will begin to work on these too.



8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a a label or have received any interest?

At the moment we received some proposal from promotion agency for helping us to share our music through their channel, but at the moment we are trying to do that by ourselves. Let's see if in the future something more will be proposed. Unfortunately we also know that today there are a lot of incredible underground bands playing at very high level and so it's very difficult to catch attention on the label side. We could mention at least 20 underground unsigned bands that came from our district that are musically war machines.



9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback by fans of death and thrash metal?

For now feedbacks are good; we are going now to upload our music in some online platform in order to reach as many listeners as possible. We will see how it goes… anyway we know we will find also some disapproval …and that’s OK because that’s the game… we know that.



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

We do not know where we will be, but the really important thing for us is to have fun playing our music. If some great show or good feedback will came we will enjoy it and we will be glad to play for and with people.



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

For sure we must mention bands like Death, Slayer, Kreator, Pantera. We can say that these bands are common denominator; then some of us are also into listening black metal (Bob), hardcore (Cosimo) and a special mention for Pato...that really listen to everything that is louder than 70's rock (if you enter his home you will probably find more CD and tapes than bricks).



12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Bob deal with astronomy, Cosimo artworks and tattoos, Matteo astrology, Claudio tech stuff and Pato...Pato not musical interests are books, magazines, tv shows that speak about music (no way for him sorry...).



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

We would like to thank you and other guys that spend time and energy around underground music, as that's probably the real force that fuels this whole buried world.

We want also to thank Benny from B-side Music Lab that recorded "Gnosis"; we have stressed this guy a lot, but despite of that he put a lot of commitment and professionalism in doing that (probably more than we deserved).

Replicant/Worthless Desires/PRC Music/2016 CD Review

  Replicant  are  a  band  from  New  Jersey  that  plays  a  very  technical  and  unorthodox  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2016  ep  "Worthless  Desires"  which  was  released  by  PRC  Music.

  A  very  heavy  and  technical  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  melodic  riffing  and  you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and  after  awhile  death  metal  growls  make  their  presence  known  in  the  music  and  the  music  goes  for  more  of  a  modern approach  to  the  genre.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  the  solos  and  leads  add  in  a  touch  of  old  school  death  metal  to  the  bands  musical  style  while still  also  utilizing  some technical  elements  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  all  of  the  songs  stick  to  a very  heavy  musical  direction,

  Replicant  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  modern  and  technical  while  also  demonstrating  a  great  amount  of  talent  and  skill  as  musicians,  the production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  philosophical  themes.

 In  my  opinion  Replicant  are  a  very  great  sounding  technical  death  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shroud"  and  "Anti  Instinct".  8  out  of  10.