Dauthuz/Destined For Death/WormHoleDeath Records/2017 CD Review

  Dauthuz  are  a  band  from  the  Netherlands  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Destined  For  Death"  which  was  released  by  WormHoleDeath  Records.

  A  sci-fi  orientated  atmosphere  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  musical  direction  which  also  introduces  melodic  guitar  leads  onto  the  recording  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Dark  sounding  melodies  can  be  heard  in  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  at  times  the  vocals  bring  in  screams  and  one  of  the  later  tracks  also  brings  in  quest  vocals  from the  singer  of  Izegrim  as  well  as  the  closing  track  bringing  in  a  brief  use  of  synths.


  Dauthuz  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is  very  old  school  and  traditional  in  the  early 90's  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  death  and  war  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Dauthuz  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Destined  For  Death"  "Made  In  Blood"  "Tormentor"  and  "Warmaster".  8  out  of  10. 

  

Desecrated Grounds Interview

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

The band was formed in 2014, so we are a pretty new band actually. All of us have of course have other bands/projects before DG. We have 5 members; Erno & Keijo guitars, Jere on the bass, Tapio is the drummer and Jussi, the vocalist. Keijo founded the band and he also composes the music, the majority of the lyrics are written by Jussi.

2.So far you have released a demo and a full length, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings?

The demo was more or less pretty much Thrash metal but our full length has much more death metal elements to it. We also released a new single (which is not on our album) on christmas eve this year and it is pretty much death metal all the way. So we would say that our music has evolved more towards death metal or more towards extreme metal in general.

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

The earlier stuff was pretty much the classical ”gore”- themed thing, but nowadays history, and especially the darker side of history inspires us a lot. So all the topics that we explore are connected with human suffering.

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

We don’t know that is there a more meaningful meaning behind it, we think that it simply fits to our music and the lyrical themes we cover.

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

We have played a lot of good shows, but the best shows we have probably played are the shows we played abroad and also our album release show in Helsinki.

We try to have an energetic and a dark atmosphere on stage, so we don’t use any colorful clothes or skating shoes (like some other bands may use), but we try to keep it minimalistic in a certain way. Our vocalist has a noose as a stage decoration around his neck, but that’s pretty much it.

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

Yes of course; we always try to play as much shows as possible. In our opinion playing live is the best way to share our music with people. The next shows that we play will be in february in Finland but we have also plans to play abroad next year, as much as possible. So if you want to see us live in your country, just send us a message and let’s try to make it happen.

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

Sure, we all open to all options. There has been some contacts, but nothing that would really interest us. If we are not able to get a decent record deal, we will probably continues releasing music ourselves.

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

Generally speaking really positive.

9.Are any of the band members currently involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?

Not at the moment.


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

Towards the more extreme and complex.

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?

Some of the bands that have inspired our music are Aborted, Pathology and few other brutal metal bands, then of course old school death- and thrash metal bands like Morbid Angel, Entombed, Sepultura and Sodom.  Generally speaking we are influenced by all types of music as long as the music is extreme and unique in some way.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

Some of us like art and photography and our drummer and vocalist are also into motorbikes.

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

Thank you for the interview, it is always a pleasure if someone is interested in our music. If you want to know the most recent news of Desecrated Grounds, please follow us on Facebook. There are all the upcoming shows, latest releases and news etc.

Thanks and take care!
Desecrated Grounds

Revenger/The New Mythology Volume One/2018 EP Review

  Revenger  are  a  band  from  Vancouver,  B,C  Canada  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  groove,  thrash  metal  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  ep "The  New  Mythology  Volume  One"  which  will  be  released  in  2018.

  A  very  heavy  thrash  influenced  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to them  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  done  in  a  groove  metal  style  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  bringing  in  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  great mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while the  riffs also  bring  in  a  decent amount  of  melody  along  with  the  guitar  leads  also  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  as  well  as  the  music  also  mixing  in  technical  playing  and  elements  of  metalcore  and  at  time s the  vocals  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  death  metal  growls  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  Revenger  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  it  with  metalcore  to  create  a  sound  of  heir  own,  the production  sound s very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  inspired  by  comic  books  and  how  today's  mythology  can  become  tomorrow's  dogma.

  In  my  opinion  Revenger  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  death,  groove,  thrash  metal  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Hex"  and  "The  Watcher".  7  out  of  10.     

  

Mercyless/Coloured Funeral/Xenocorp/2017 CD Re-Issue Review

  Mercyless  are  a  band  from  France  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  19993  album  "Coloured  Funeral"  which  was  re-issued  by  Xenocorp  in  2017.

  A  very  fast  and  aggressive  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  thrash  elements  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.

  A  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  bringing  in  a  very  melodic  yet  chaotic  style  of  death  metal  and  at  times  the  music  also  mixes  in  technical  and  progressive  structures  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts  ans  clean  playing  and  as  the  album  progresses  there  is  a  brief  classical  guitar  instrumental  before  returning  back  to  a  heavier  direction.

  On  this  recording  Mercyless  created  another  recording  that  remained  true to  their  mixture  of  death  and thrash  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  anti  Christianity  and  Political  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  was  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Mercyless  and  if you  are  a fan  of  death  and  thrash  metal,  you  should  check out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Spiral  Of  Flowers"  "Forgotten  Fragments"  "Serenades(Into  Your  Limbs)"  and  "Beyond  God".  8  out  of  10.

  

Blacklist Ltd./Still Limited/Kernkraftritter Records/2017 CD Review

  Blacklist  Ltd.  are  a  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  death,  groove,  thrash  metal  and  metalcore  and  this  is  a  review  of t heir  2017  album  "Still  Limited"  which  was  released  by  Kernkraftritter  Records.

  A  very  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  vocals  that  mix  death  metal  growls  with  some  groove  metal  screams  and  shouts  as  well  as  some  clean  singing  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  metalcore  elements  as  well  as  clean  guitars  also  being  used  at  times.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful sound  to t hem  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in a   great  amount  of  modern  thrash  metal  elements  and  as  the  album  progresses  spoken  word  parts  can  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  blast  beats  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up. 

  Blacklist  Ltd.  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  mixes  it  with  metalcore  to  create  a  sound  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  real  life  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Blacklist  Ltd.  are  a  very  decent  sounding  mixture  of  death,  thrash,  groove  metal  and  metalcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Preach  The  Faith"  "Ego"  "Delivery  On  Sunday"  and  "Black  Smoker".  8  out  of  10.  

Cavalera Conspiracy/Psychosis/Napalm Records/2017 CD Review

  Cavalera  Conspiracy  are  a  band  from  Phoenix,  Arizona  that  consists  of 2  brothers  and  former  members  of  Sepultura  that  play  a  mixture  of  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Psychosis"  which  was  released  by  Napalm  Records.

  A  very  heavy  thrash  influenced  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  done  in  more  of  a  death/thrash  direction  while t he  music  has  its  roots  in  the  90's  but  done  in  a  more  modern  fashion  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  more  melodic  style.

  Elements  of  groove  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  music  at  times  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  the  songs  also  mixing  samples  in  the  heavier  sections  of  the  songs  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  as  the  album  progresses  atmospheric  synths,  experimental  elements  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  a  later  track  also  brings  in  a  small  amount  of  clean  guitars on  an  instrumental.

  Cavelera  Conspiracy plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  death,  thrash  and  groove  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  an  album  that  is  a  lot  more  heavier  than  newer  Sepultura  or  Soulfly  material,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  society,  violence  and  war   themes. 

  In  my  opinion  Cavalera  Conspiracy  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  death,  groove  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Insane"  "Spectral  War"  "Judas  Pariah"  and  "Excruciating".  8  out  of 10. 

Rotheads/Sewer Fiends/Memento Mori/2018 CD Review

  Rotheads  are  a  band  from  Romania  that  plays  a  very  old  school  form  of  death metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  album  "Sewer  Fiends"  which  will  be  released  in  2018  by  Memento  Mori.

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  old  school  sound  starts  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  very  fast  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  and  screams  along  with  the  music  also  being  very heavily  rooted  on  the  90's  era.

  A  decent  amount  of  morbid sounding  melodies  can  be  heard  in  the  guitar  riffing  while  the  solos and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  dark  yet  melodic  fashion  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length,  clean  guitars  can  also  be  heard  briefly mixing  in  the  heavier  sections  of  the  music.

  Rotheads  plays  a  style  of  death  metal  that  is very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early  90's   era  of  the  genre,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  metaphysical  and  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Rotheads  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sewer  Fiends"  "Psychic  Leach"  and  "Dance  Of  The  Vermin".  8  out  of  10.