Eternal Storm - A Giant Bound to Fall

#FOR FANS OF: Prog/Melo Death

Three years ago, I was lucky enough to review Eternal Storm’s debut effort entitled 'Come the Tide', a genre refreshing first album which impressed me a lot. Created in Madrid back in 2009, although the band relocated to Scotland some time ago, Eternal Storm needed a few years to release a full-length album, but the wait was worth of the time. Firmly rooted in the melodic death metal genre, the Spaniards reached a great balance between aggression, atmosphere, and tasteful melodies. For this reason, I was reasonably hyped with the fact that the band is set to release its sophomore album 'A Giant Bound to Fall' this February, with the always reliable label Transcending Obscurity Records.

Surpassing a great debut always puts some pressure on the band and this new album needed to be something especial, at least, to continue carving a position in the scene for Eternal Storm. I can safely say that this new opus won’t disappoint the fans, even though I consider that it requires time to properly judge if it is better or not. The first impression is that the band has pushed the boundaries of the mixture they created in 'Come the Tide'. Its melodic death metal tinged with atmospheric and pure aggressive parts is still there, with renewed enthusiasm I would say. I can feel some stronger progressive touches through the album. This is immediately noticed in the lengthy album opener "An Abyss of Unreason". The complex structures, the ups and downs in the intensity, the variety in the riffing work, plus the great combination of clean and aggressive vocals make this initial song an outstanding piece of music. "Last Refuge" is another highlight of the album, although it is quite complicated to choose the best tracks as the whole work is wonderful. I choose this one as its melodies and initial furious part make it remarkably catchy and a good candidate to be played in the concerts quite often. I would like to praise the top-notch work with the guitars, the riffs are excellent and melodies absolutely tasteful and captivating. This is what one can expect from a melodic death metal band, but Eternal Storm undoubtedly reaches a level of excellence in this aspect. Another key aspect is that the aforementioned complexity and progressive influences don’t deprive of soul and emotion to the music of this album. This is something I truly appreciate, as I always expected some emotional moments regardless of the work behind the songs the bands create. "Lone Tree Domain" is another superb track which I would like to highlight. The contrast between the heaviest parts and the most atmospheric ones is masterfully built, and it shows the amount of work the band has done creating this album. I love when bands go back from the calmest to the most furious ones with a progression that doesn’t lack of emotion and beauty, and this track is an absolutely fine example of it. Last but not least, the production of 'A Giant Bound to Fall' also deserves some praise, and it is absolutely well-done. It’s clean but not overproduced, and it sounds heavy and crushing when needed. The balance between the instruments and vocals is perfect and permits the listener to fully enjoy the music.

In conclusion, Eternal Storm’s third opus 'A Giant Bound to Fall' breaths grandeur in its entirety. Albums like this are the perfect example of how a stagnated genre like melodic death metal can find a path to sound fresh and exciting again. Well-done guys.(Alain González Artola)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2024)
Score: 87

https://eternalstorm.bandcamp.com/album/a-giant-bound-to-fall-2

Officium Triste - The Death of Gaia

FOR FANS OF: Death/Doom, early Paradise Lost

The death-doom scene was rather prolific during the second half of the '90s and it has maintained a healthy level of quality during the first years of the current century. One of the most respected bands, founded in the '90s, is the Dutch project Officium Triste. Prior to the inception of Officium Triste, the original members played in a pure death metal band called Reincremated. However, it didn´t last too much as the project disappeared and the same members founded a new project, which was more influenced by the sound of early Paradise Lost, just to mention an obvious influence of the project, which evolves from standardized death metal to something darker and slower. Even though Officium Triste has had a long career, their discography is not particularly extensive, as the band has released six albums only during almost three decades of their existence. From the first line–up, almost half of the band still continues in the band, which it's a great example of their compromise with this project.

As already mentioned, the band hasn´t been particularly prolific with its releases, especially from the 2000s to onwards. Anyway, the quality has always been present and though the wait is usually long, as it has happened since ‘Mors Viri’, issued in 2013, the release of a new album is always a matter of excitement for the fans. Finally, and after six years of silence, Officium Triste released in 2019 their new opus ‘The Death of Gaia’. The band´s core sound is still present and, fortunately, with a bunch of quite inspired tunes. Officium Triste plays a classic death-doom full of sorrow and mid/slow paced compositions, where the melancholic feeling is present in every note. From the first track, "The End is Nigh", we can feel this sense of misery in every melody. The guitars sound powerful with slow paced riffs, always full of sad melodies, which are a pleasure for my ears. Pim’s vocals sound as strong and dramatic as always and the keyboards are present in many moments, but without being overused. They added an extra point of atmosphere to the compositions, like the fog wraps the mountains in an autumnal day. The pace is, as expected, quite slow but never sounding overwhelmingly monotonous. This is possible thanks to the excellent guitar work and the solid and well composed rhythmic base. Apart from the mentioned guitars and keys, the band tries to enrich its compositions with the use of classic instruments like the cello or violin in the opening track, or in songs like "The Guilt". This one is a marvellous piece of the best and most emotional death-doom you can imagine. Even though the tracks may have a similar structure due to the nature of the genre, each composition has always a distinctive melody, which is reasonably easy to keep in mind. The album maintains a very high level but I personally enjoy its second half with a particular brilliant song, the already mentioned "The Guilt", where the singer Mariska van der Krul shows us her great voice. The following "Just Smoke and Mirrors" and "Like a Flower in the Desert" complete a trilogy of impressive tracks, the true highlight of this excellent album. The first one has an awesome keyboard introduction and some outstanding guitars, making this song a little hypnotic, while the later has a more slightly vivid pace with some vicious riffs and a totally addictive melody.

At the end, Officium Triste is, thankfully, another fine example of how a veteran band can still deliver quality stuff after many years. ‘The Death of Gaia’ could be considered one of their finest releases, clearly indicating how good this work is. No doubts about it, this is a must for every fan of death-doom. (Alain González Artola)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2019)
Score: 89

https://officiumtriste.bandcamp.com/album/the-death-of-gaia-atmospheric-death-doom-metal

Eternal Storm - Come the Tide

#FOR FANS OF: Melo Death, Insomnium

As the melodic death metal scene collapsed after some years of success, it was clear that the surviving bands or the new ones were going to struggle to gain the same recognition. The positive aspect of this fall in disgrace was that the new projects were actually going to try to forge their own sound, without being obsessed to copy what the leading bands were doing at a certain moment. A fine example of one of these interesting projects is represented by the Spanish band Eternal Storm. This project was founded in 2009, though the band members have needed ten years to release their debut album. In this period of time the band has released an EP and a split album. Moreover, as often happens, the project suffered several line-up changes, which are always problematic. Anyway, the hard work has paid off and the band managed to catch the attention of the underground label Trascending Obscurity Records releasing in 2019 its first effort entitled ‘Come the Tide’.

Eternal Storm proposes a pretty elaborated form of melodic death metal with a strong atmospheric touch in the vein of bands like Insomnium, one of the finest examples of how melodic death can still be an interesting and touching genre. ‘Come the Tide’ is a long album clocking almost one hour of time, with songs around 6 minutes. This detail clearly shows that the band likes to compose songs with variety and interesting structures. The band´s compositions flow between the most aggressive sections, with fast drums, powerful riffs and remarkably strong growls performed by Kheyron, who sadly is no longer in the band, and calmer sections which are tastefully introduced. The high and lows in the song’s pace sound awesome and make the songs a very exciting experience. Technically speaking, the band members sound very skilled, as the guitar patterns have some elaboration and richness, fluctuating tough different ranges of riffing styles. We could say the same about the drums which sound technically impeccable and varied. One doesn´t need to seek deeply in the album to fine great examples of this technicality and quality, as the album opener itself, called "Through the Wall of Light Pt.I (The Strand)" shows the impressive potential of this band. The calmest sections can appear as a bridge between different heavier sections, commonly in the form of delicate guitar chords, or as an introduction of the song. This happens with the second track, where we can even listen to a saxophone, a surprising add which works fine in my opinion. In this as per other compositions, we can listen to some clean vocals, which are also pretty solidly performed. It seems that the band has used some guests in order to enrich vocally this album, complementing the aforementioned excellent growls, which nevertheless play a major role on this album. Even though I wouldn´t define this band as progressive, the clean vocals, some guitar chords, especially those we can listen to in certain tranquil sections, and looking how the songs evolve, it´s undeniable that the band has a progressive nature in its music. This progressive touch is present in the way how they try to create songs with an evolving and rich nature.

In conclusion, although Eternal Storm spent a long time to release this first opus, ‘Come the Tide’ is unquestionably an impressive first album due to its variety, quality and richness in its compositions, with a tasteful balance between a straightforward fury and a melodic and atmospheric mood. Therefore, this album should appeal not only all the melodic death metal fans, but all the metalheads who want to enjoy an inspired and excellent metal album. (Alain González Artola)

(Trascending Obscurity Records - 2019)
Score: 88

https://eternalstorm.bandcamp.com/album/come-the-tide-death-metal

Chalice of Suffering - Lost Eternally

#FOR FANS OF: Funeral Death Doom

Chalice of Suffering is a band coming from Minnesota, USA. The ensemble is certainly new as it was created in 2015 maintaining a quite stable line-up consisting of six different musicians. The only change was the departure of Robert Pollard in 2018. Almost all the members have a rich experience in other current or past projects, especially the guitarists Will Maravelas and Nikolay Velev, who play or have played in more than different 10 bands. Taking into account this, it’s not a surprise that the band managed to release its debut only one year after its foundation. The first release was called 'For You I Die', whose eye catching album cover was indicative of the subgenre the band was playing. Chalice of Suffering navigates between the thin borders of funeral doom and atmospheric doom/death metal. Though generally speaking, the pace is influenced by the former style, the music includes some aspects which inevitably remind some atmospheric doom/death metal bands.

Three years after the releasing of the debut, these guys come back with their sophomore work entitled 'Lost Eternally'. Although the album artwork could led us think that the band has gone to a more atmospheric black metal style, the core sound of Chalice of Suffering is still dominant. In fact, the band continues to mix the aforementioned styles, though the funeral doom influences are undeniably strong. Once again the songs are quite long, reaching in the whole album a full hour of duration. 'Lost Eternally' has 7 different pieces whose style is strongly atmospheric, something which I really appreciate in bands with such a slow pace. I wouldn’t say that keys play a main role, though their presence is noticeable and important through the whole record, being a nice example the third track “Forever Winter”, which has an evocating atmosphere. Vocally, the band tries to escape from the monotone vocals as the use of clean and narrated vocals add a welcoming variety. The narrated and whispered vocals, when they are used correctly, add a dramatic touch and the idea of an ongoing history. As it happens with the keys, the third track is able to show also how the band successfully used this resource, creating a typically doom metal song, but with some interesting characteristics and a healthy variety. The guitars are quite good, being as heavy as expected and playing with a very slow tempo. Thankfully, and though they have in many moments the characteristic monorithmic tone, they retain a melodic touch which enhances the cold yet dramatic atmosphere of the band´s compositions. In songs like the title track, the guitars play a major role accompanied by melancholic and sorrowful keys. This song is a fine example of how Chalice of Suffering is a purely funeral doom metal band, but still adding a slightly more melodic tone. Probably, the most intense track is “Miss me, But Let Me Go”, which includes some double bass sections and very interesting tempo changes, which make this song stylistically one of the most different and captivating of this album. The band has some Celtic influences considering that a band member who plays bagpipes. Strange enough, I can only recall the use of this instrument in the opening track “In The Mist of Once Was”, which I must say it’s my favourite track, thanks to the initial hypnotic and mysterious atmospheric introduction and the inclusion of the bagpipes themselves. This instrument fits surprisingly well with this genre, reminding me the positive debut of Downfall of Nur.

If I had to complain about this album, this would be the issue. The bagpipes should be used more frequently as they would give a higher touch of originality to the music by Chalice of Suffering. Apart from that, 'Lost Eternally' looks a very competent album able to satisfy every single doom maniac out there. (Alain González Artola)

(Transcending Obscurity - 2019)
Score: 75

https://chaliceofsuffering.bandcamp.com/album/lost-eternally-atmospheric-death-doom-metal

Eremit - Carrier of Weight

#FOR FANS OF: Sludge/Doom

True to doom form, a massive lumbering lead guitar inhales the smoke of dying civilizations as growling and hacking vocals heave their ways across the desolation of “Dry Land”. Eremit becomes its own beast of burden in 'Carrier of Weight' and stumbles through the sludge of its reverb in search of relief from this treacherous strand. A very John Tardy feel comes with the vocals as the gravely unhinged scream of Florida's sickest sound finds its mirror in Moritz Fabian's voice, making the guitar billow clouds of grain to choke away such anguish. The pacing throughout over twenty-three minutes of “Dry Land” is reminiscent of the Altar of Betelgeuze's 2017 album, 'Among the Ruins', without the final step into the rays of an expanding sun to melt you away. Instead, you slowly starve to death as this agonizing song saps you of your nutrients and leaves you to finally be washed away by the incoming tide.

“Froth is Beckoning” brings that deluge with a massage of strings, fingers that become the legs of spiders, curling around you like the tireless onslaught of a lunar tide. This grimy and enchanting sound follows you for a few minutes before tumbling deeper into a chasm of inescapable darkness.

Epic longitude through three tracks is difficult to pull off. Flowing in a thought provoking manner from movement to movement without compromising the integrity of a song to keep a listener's focus makes it difficult to negotiate the distances a song will trek and what baggage it is willing to carry with it along the journey. Where “Dry Land” lost its luster, the energy of “Froth is Beckoning” absolutely brought that power back and, in the tips of its second riff, left me wondering where the soar of Pelican may come swooping by or, in its lowest register, when the intensity of a blast would squeeze its way in. Instead, none of that expected release would loosen Eremit's grip on a my neck, choking the throat and refusing to let go with the release for which I was so hoping. Like the torture of hanging by a hook waiting for your captor to return, the walls start to close in with a slight kick that speeds up the riff and drumming to make for a sloshing flow.

Then comes the monstrous final portion of the album, dragged out into a half-hour epic. Where “Dry Land” flowed like the dirty water of a receding flood into “Froth is Beckoning”, “Cocoon of Soul” takes a cleaner approach in its first minutes with an echoing atmosphere humming across the register. It is a satisfying payoff after nearly thirty-five minutes of very samey droning to hear a song that moves and varies while it drowns in the despair of doom. Like the chrysalis to which its title refers, this song wraps you tightly in its ever more claustral walls of guitar, slowly evolving and savoring every mutating muting of a previously plodding pace before crystallizing in the scream of a soul to escape its confines and be reigned in again over long progressions that last minutes at a time.

Though the imposing entirety of this package aims to daunt the listener with its ever-thundering power, there are few drum fills and deviations from form to bend the structure. Instead, these three tracks come more like a soundtrack to one's interment in a prison, an engrossing experience transfixing the listener with its subtleties throughout such minimal variation. 'Carrier of Weight' sews itself into your sinews, like a cancer that cannot be removed without splitting the brain and sacrificing who you are. The cage becomes the Stockholm syndrome love that you cannot live without, until the tiniest crack in the seams is spied. For a moment there is a way out. All of your self-denial, the indoctrination and convincing and the lies that lighten the load dissipate as you plunge towards the crack, blasting and screaming, wailing and tearing in time to the instruments in the hope that such raucous fury can quake these confines. The heart leaps, fingernails bend and break in the thrashing at the wall, and finally the force of this eruption, the deluge so long desired, breaks the thickness of these walls to set you free. Eremit has finally found catharsis. (Five_Nails)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2019)
Score: 76

https://eremitdoom.bandcamp.com/album/carrier-of-weight-atmospheric-sludge-doom-metal

Sathanas - Necrohymns

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Death

It's nice to hear some black metal with a swing to it, creating a rhythm that's more than an atonal hammering behind impersonal screams. Pennsylvania's Sathanas, now releasing its tenth full-length album, treads this path with a sharp lead guitar over swift double bass and a beatdown hailing from the Florida school of death metal. Its initial impressions impossible to ignore, the impact of “Upon the Wings of Desecration” and “Sacramentum” bring an initial burst of momentum before changing pace so as to propel such a weighty vehicle to conquer the incredible heights for which the treble strives. Like thrusting an eighteen wheeler into its low hill-climbing gear after getting a good run at a rising mountain road, Sathanas ascends the walls of Hell and perches atop the pit, and atop its perch it will stay for this band, born in the uncertainty of extreme metal's early movements, seeks to hone and define its terse and blunt sound.

As many metals melt monuments into the mountains surrounding Hell's sea of fire, and more sophisticated constructs frame perdition with the stately accouterments of a thriving and growing megalopolis, Sathanas' structure stands as a relic hailing the imposing fortress-like brutalism of yesteryear's architectural aesthetic. Its signature ascending arpeggios, screaming through grain and choking on embers, bouncing beats battered by blistering bass, and a filthy snare rhythm joining the fury make “Harbinger of Death” grind bones to dust while digging chains into the wailing walls of souls entombed in the fearsome kingdom. The chaos of this dominion is denoted in the gratifying carnage of a solo springing up from “At the Left Hand of Satan”, the obscure coven in which “Witchcult” practices its damnable rites, and the condemnation of “Raise the Flag of Hell” ensure that the consistency of an aging band retains its potency in venomous vocals and raucous riffing.

Sathanas isn't out to bring a new definition to a genre, attempt to pay homage to the past with young blood and flagging creativity, or to ruin a prolific and lengthy career with an egregious about face. Sathanas instead is honing its craft and reveling in its longevity. While embracing the mass of its sound and preoccupied with expanding its waistline rather than its musical horizons, the band brings the stamina that carries such a heavy burden endlessly upwards and continues to etch finer details into its basic and brutalist building. Still solid under its doughier surroundings, Sathanas stands strong. (Five_Nails)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2018)
Score: 70

https://sathanas.bandcamp.com/album/necrohymns-black-death-thrash-metal

Arallu - Six

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Thrash, Melechesh

Hailing from the urban settlement called Ma'aleAdummim in Israel, Arallu is a five-piece devoted to black/death metal that has been around the metal underground for twenty years. The band got the name Arallu from the Mesopotamian mythology, as it was the name of the underworld kingdom ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and the god Nergal, where the dead are judged. Arallu's music revolves around the traditional ancient Middle Eastern melodies of fellow countrymen Melechesh, with the high-speed savagery of bands like Angelcorpse and Blasphemic Cruelty, and the atmospheric feel of legendary acts like Immolation and Incantation.

Last 2015 the band released a record called 'Geniewar', and that opus had solidified Arallu's already known talent to the underground extreme metal community. 'Six' is the band's sixth full-length studio album and overall their ninth material released. This release offers the listeners a very stunning infusion of occult black metal with the ancient Sumerian and Middle Eastern sound. The riffs found here will satisfy the listeners with its frenzy melodic tremolo picking that is intertwined with some eerie folk instrumentation. These elements in the guitar section, thrown in with a few folk instruments such as a saz and a darbuka, reveals how the band had successfully stripped metal down to its core adding a personal touch of their own special flair.

But that's not just what the guitars offer here as a labyrinth of aggressive and tormenting crisp guitar riffs also accompanies the songs in this offering. The evident and audible bass line gives a really pleasant mattress for the guitars as it supports them and it provides that extra punch and low-end heaviness to the overall outcome of Arallu's music. It basically lies steadily beneath the guitars as it backs them up with some thick lines that give a more deep feel to the strings and dispenses an ominous atmosphere to the tracks. The drum section also catches the audience's attention with a variety of destructive pummeling double bass blasting to some Middle Eastern tribal drumming that helps a lot in terms of keeping the atmosphere intact.

On the vocal department, the record is filled with some hale and hearty high-pitched piercing shrieks and screams which create a dark and raw soundscape. These vicious shrieks are sometimes jacked up with some uncanny backing vocals that tie together the brutality of extreme death and black metal music to the ancient Middle Eastern scales of the material. 'Six' also parades the band's strongest production to date in their twenty years of existence. Each track in this opus sounds more well-rounded and very lucid than their previous releases, but at the same time, they sound harsh and aggressive that it utterly satisfy the fans' desire to find a memorable black/death metal album.

Overall, although 'Six' may be a typical album from an extreme metal band coming out from Israel, its music takes a different direction on its’ way to epoch-making symmetry. Arallu had created a menacing and atmospheric beast in this style of metal with their release of this varmint offering. These Israelis had put out a savage album that is hardly comparable to its predecessors. If you fellas haven't gotten a copy of this record yet, then you better go and get yours now. (Felix Sale)

 

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2017)
Score: 75

https://arallu.bandcamp.com/album/six-folk-black-thrash-metal

Drug Honkey - Cloak of Skies

#FOR FANS OF: Psychedelic Death/Doom

Every evening cars pull up and park in front of my house, yet no one is here to visit. Instead, as the average societal drone prepares for a relaxing night, the twilight shift begins for the human excrement with which I have the misfortune of sharing a fence. Itchy, sniffling, pale-faced denizens of the darkest corners of this town descend upon a hapless sleepy street searching for their choice chemicals. Once in a while, in a fit of desperation through intense withdrawal, the neighbor's yard is invaded with screaming and the sounds of windows being pounded all around the property. This is but a taste of my front row seat to a reality that this band reflects as Drug Honkey directs its delirium through distortion, capturing the dragon and watching it decay in a pit of its own delusion.

'Cloak of Skies' aims to tackle the slow, undesirable, and unending delirium of falling into a drug addled demise. Where Black Sabbath overdosed on heroin in “Hand of Doom”, Drug Honkey has found an even more potent opiate concoction to nod off on. Laced with fentanyl, the band slings junk that is best left to an intimate album setting because “Pool of Failure” would make for a boring live show. Still, many may want to get their fix from the source, and “Outlet of Hatred” visits that skeevy squalid slum, like spending a night in a roach motel bordering an industrial park. Train horns blow by in frequent intervals, the interminable pounding of a headboard against a shared wall keeps generic paintings applauding the local prostitution economy, and the stench of pickup truck exhaust invades the gaps and cracks of the curtained window, intermixing with old cigarette smoke to remind you just how thin a building can be built while remaining within the engineering specifications of the municipality. The only stability one may have throughout Drug Honkey's journey is a knowledge that the possibilities are endless when it comes to scrounging up the cash for a fresh fix. Evenings are spent dining on mouthfuls of dick and ransacking humble homes to hock other peoples' possessions for far lower than an appreciable resale value. Yet with every fresh syringe of vein-pumping toxicity, “The Oblivion of an Opiate Nod” falls farther away as death creeps closer.

'Cloak of Skies' is a journey into damnation by way of self-destruction. The album is slow and dingy with growling vocals, psychedelic moments, and loud gravely guitar rhythms while leads scream in and out of each song in a kaleidoscope of synapses showering in endorphins. There is such a large swath of atmosphere and so much open delirious space that this band would probably not work well in a live setting, but on a recording comes across as addled and hopeless as hitting rock bottom, curled in a corner of a strange basement, and fading away into nothingness. So tie one off and join the epidemic, but don't expect to come back from this binge because Drug Honkey promises no NARCAN. (Five_Nails)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2017)
Score: 80

https://drughonkey.bandcamp.com/album/cloak-of-skies-atmospheric-death-doom-metal

Fragarak - A Spectral Oblivion

#FOR FANS OF: Techno Death

One of the things I really like from Internet, is the chance of discovering bands from unusual metal scenes. Back in time, it was almost impossible to find them, but nowadays, it’s great to be aware about bands coming from very far countries. Something I also realized is that quality doesn’t know about political or geographic limits, which is great. 

A good example of this fact is given by the Indians Fragarak. The band´s initial inception goes back to 2011, when two young musicians, called Karikeya and Ruben, co-founded Fragarak, deciding to express their musical ideas. The band didn’t become a complete entity until the arrival of Arpit and Supratim. From the very beginning, the aim was to create a very intense sound, technically and melodically complex. Ideas were flowing constantly so in less than one year, the act was capable of releasing a very solid debut entitled 'Crypts of Dissimulation'; it was 2013. Their first effort received very good reviews which strenghtened their ambition to push the sound forward. 

Two thousand and seventeen was the year of Fragarak comeback, with the release of their sophomore album called 'A Spectral Oblivion'. The improvement is clear since the very first moment, even the artwork looks more elaborated and complex. Another aspect which is clear as soon as you listen to the album, is that the guys had tons of ideas to propose, considering that the new Lp contains eleven long songs, lasting more than 80 minutes. I am not a huge fan of such a long albums, but I must admit that Fragarak is capable of maintaining a good level through the whole work, which is something very respectable. Musically speaking, the release is a more refined work, although their early ideas haven´t changed. Their offering is a technical death metal with progressive metal influences, very rich details and with a gloomy and an atmospheric touch. Each song has many changes of time and twists, which made this album a gem, though it requires several listens to be fully enjoyed. “This Chasing Masquerade” is a good example of what I am saying, being one of my favourite tracks: Supratim´s powerful and solid growls are accompanied by excellent and intricate riffs with great melodies. Those melodies change from time to time, from the most brutal and complex sections to the most melodic ones. Apart from that, the ensemble tries to enrich their songs with some good arrangements, like acoustic sections or some choirs with quite somber clean vocals, as in the opener, “In Rumination I-The Void”, or in the epic track “Of Ends Ethereal”, that could represent fine examples of this. I do enjoy those arrangements because they give an atmospheric touch to the album. Due to its length, I imagine as a part of the concept behind the music, the band includes some short interludes which look like moments of calm in the middle of an oceanic storm. Those tracks are mainly acoustic and sometimes include also female vocals (the closer “Ālūcinārī IV-The Fall”) with an interesting ethnic touch. It’s really nice when a band coming from a country with a very different culture tries to include in their music, a slice of their heritage. 

In conclusion, Fragarak´s sophomore album is a step forward in every aspect. Both musically and composition wise, this is a very elaborated and consistent work. Furthermore, the production, which is excellent, only enhances the strongest aspects of the band´s music. My only little complain is related to the album´s length which in my opinion is a little bit excessive, but who can complain if the level is very good from the beginning to end? (Alain González Artola)

(Transcending Obscurity India - 2017)

Score: 85

https://www.facebook.com/fragarak

Exalter - Persecution Automated

#FOR FANS OF: Thrash Old School, Sodom, Destruction

Bangladesh's thrash metal trio, Exalter, had put out their debut full-length album last December 28th, 2017, under Transcending Obscurity Asia since the band's creation in 2013. The debut aalbum is called 'Persecution Automated' and the opus is a pure thrash warfare from the beginning until the very last moments of the album. Before reviewing this release, I'd like to introduce the band to those of you who have not heard of them. Exalter plays a solid punch of old school influenced thrash metal in the vein of Sodom, Destruction, early Sepultura, early Kreator and early Exodus. Exalter had already released two EPs prior to this one. One in 2015, 'Democrasodomy' and one in 2016, 'Obituary for the Living'. Both those releases showcased the strong influences of the legendary bands mentioned above. And with 'Persecution Automated', Exalter continues to pay tribute to the forefathers of the genre.

The cd starts off with a 35-second intro which successively flows into an instrumental track called "Holocaust Ahead" that shows some straightforward aggression right from the beginning with its headbang-driven catchy riffs that brings back some early '90s thrash metal feel. After these two dramatic intro pieces, the first vicious track then appears in the form of "Reign of the Mafia State". This song holds some of the most intense riffs to come out of modern thrash with its monstrously heavy chugging riffing and mid-tempo groove. The drum work in this track also has the classic ferocious approach that we usually hear from early killer thrash records.

Three neck breaking songs then follows after "Reign of the Mafia State", starting with the fast and impulsive "World Under Curfew" which has that punishing riff barrage that gives the audiences that strong urge to commence synchronized headbanging and that evident appealing punkish drum assault. With "The Dreaded End", the listeners are battered with a ton of all-out in-your-face aggression that few thrash bands are able to deliver these days. In this track, the band showers the listeners with a bombardment of pissed off and simple but extremely catchy riffs with fucking violent drum work that never fails to get you to raise your fist up and down while screaming the word 'thrash' repeatedly.

"Slaughter Cleanse Repeat" comes next with its full throttle thrash traits just like the third track "Reign of the Mafia State". The song has some quality riffs that are amazingly powerful, and it even has some seriously furious and ballsier riffing in the slower moments of the tune. Listen to it and I assure you that it will certainly take you on a headbanging thrill ride where you just want to thrash around and mosh. "Incarceration", as "The Dreaded End", provides another crushing and devastating effect on the listeners' eardrums as it clobbers with a strapping guitar and drum section which keeps the level of aggression in the record intact.

The track number 8, called "Grip of Fear", is one of those modern orthodox thrash metal tunes that eulogizes the classic thrash albums of the late '80s and early '90s very well. There's that mettlesome punk-like energy in this song that is quite electrifying and that exuberance manages to compliment the rest of the band's music quite well. The last two songs in the album are "Pathology of Domination" and "Clandestine Drone Warfare". These two tunes sustain the eruption and the in-high-gear thrash dementia provided by songs 3, 4, and 6 as it comes forth and punishes the listeners with one crushing riff after another, smashing the audiences skull with the utter speed and intensity of Exalter's music.

The production of this debut album, as expected to a twenty-first-century extreme metal album, is intelligible, well-polished and smooth. But even with that glossy and clean production, the belligerency and combativeness of the whole record are still in full effect. The listeners can hear everything very well. All the instruments are evidently pounding and they are able to display all their utter power. I usually dig rough and raw production when it comes to my thrash metal albums, but this upright production works very well for me too because it's not that all sugary like other modern thrash releases where the clean production pulls the aggression of the offering down.

Overall, 'Persecution Automated' is a premier modern thrash metal offering that supplies fans and enthusiasts of the genre a full 35 minutes of aggressive and intense extreme music. With some absolutely crushing songs, utterly memorable riffs, stellar drumming on display, some fine and thick bass work, and violent muffled barked vocal delivery; this debut record is undeniably a modern magnum opus. Exalter might not have refined the genre with this opus, but they sure showed the rest of the pack the right manner to pay homage to the forebears of thrash metal. This is an exceptional album that deserves a place in every thrash metallers' collection rack. Go get your copy now!

As for the standout tracks, there aren't really bad songs here, as all of them have tons of riffs and memorability in them, but songs like "World Under Curfew", "The Dreaded End", "Slaughter Cleanse Repeat" and "Clandestine Drone Warfare" are the tracks that I find a little bit repetitive. (Felix Sale)

(Transcending Obscurity - 2017)
Score: 85

https://exalterthrash.bandcamp.com/album/persecution-automated-thrash-metal

Greytomb - Monumental Microcosm

#FOR FANS OF: Black/Doom

Black metal is not meant to be friendly and tame, as it demands to be wild and unpredictable. And that is what we totally get with this 2017 EP called 'Monumental Microcosm' from Australia's atmospheric black metal band Greytomb. The EP has those characteristics that fans of the black metal genre are looking for, but the thing is, even with all the evident strong BM traits that attract a wide number of fans in the extreme metal realm, it still lacks that impact that can separate it from the crowd of atmospheric black metal bands coming out these days.

The first listen I have with this EP, I already got the idea that this is gonna be one of those records where I am going to get caught in either loving it or hating it, so I gave the record a couple more spins to really get into their music. And after giving it a few more listen, I came to a conclusion that even with the number of positive elements found in this EP, it still is another garden variety record in the field of black metal music. What I do love about 'Monumental Microcosm' is its blasting drum section that it is close to the style of grindcore and that it is atmospheric yet it did not need the assistance of any keyboard to conjure the dense nihilistic undercurrent.

On the guitar section, the listeners are bound to adore the sheer heaviness of the doom riffs present here. These doomy guitar features will take you to a clandestine and cold place which is really satisfying for BM fans. This record is also loaded with stormy tremolo picking which gives each of the songs a more of a raw feeling and vibe into them. The guitar department also is surprisingly melodic even with that raw approach. Its melodies are very grim and menacing that it will evoke and stimulate the listeners with a feeling of going around in circles in a metaphysical sphere and otherworldly domain. These fervent yet melodic riffs are enthralling and it adds as a pleasing component to the competent side of the EP, but then again we can almost hear this in most records released under this genre.

The bass here is also in some measure audible and it certainly aids in generating that cloudy and profound atmosphere in the album, though it does nothing out of the ordinary. And yes, it does its job to beef up the whole resonance and it never really breaks out of the matrix. We now go to the pummeling and rapid-fire drumming that is one of the things that will attract attention to the audiences in the EP. It's insanely fast and the amount of blast beats found in here intelligibly brings a reminiscence of Greytomb's mastery in its former musical domain as Subterranean Drilling Machine.

Dysmorphic and obscure vocal delivery are what we would find when we talk about the vocal section in this album, with a variety of vocal techniques extending from low hair-splitting snarls to high pitched shrieks. This scornful vocal performance leaves an impression on some listeners, especially to those who are first timers in the black metal genre, but after a couple of spins, it will sound just like the platitude of vocal performances that we hear from the crowds of atmospheric black metal acts these days.

With all that said, Greytomb was able to deliver a capable and competent material with the release of their 2017 EP 'Monumental Microcosm'. However, even with some good and convincing factors present in the offering, the band wasn't able to turn the wheel and separate their music from the mundane horde of atmospheric black metal groups swarming both the underground and mainstream extreme music scene today. Yes, this album is good and at some point satisfying to the ears, but there is really nothing special and great about it. Maybe in future releases, Greytomb will finally get the ingredients right. (Felix Sale)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2017)
Score: 60

https://greytomb.bandcamp.com/releases

Norse - The Divine Light Of A New Sun

#FOR FANS OF: Black Metal, Deathspell Omega, Xasthur

Few bands are able to completely capture a truly unnerving and dangerous aesthetic, let alone hold to it long enough to conjure ghastly paranoid entities twixt the snares. Norse creates such destruction in the ears of this listener that it sneakily unhinges the screams of past pains carried by the now deceased that continue to haunt the house in which I still reside.

Norse is an example of an Australian band on an entirely separate level. This down under duo explores the truly disturbing in the raw and brutal black veins of Xasthur and Benighted in Sodom with a twist that calls forth the unique dissonance experienced in Demilich's 'Nespithe'. Through fantastic production that accentuates a deep bombastic bass center, Norse employs the raunchy four-stomp Immolation rhythm in a grim and primal, at times tribal, atmosphere of disorientation. Discordant squelching guitar notes touch the timbres of your ears and tumble into the lowest parts of the register, feeling as though being hooked through the cheek and dragged to Hell by your ripping face. “Supreme Vertical Ascent” immediately contorts its elements of evil into a machinery of punishment that never lets go as grainy melody in the second riff yearns to embrace its beauteous notation, but is left displaced to dissonance. This deprivation occurs frequently through the album, as when the captivating and unusual opening to “Drowned By Hope” spaghettifies the mind in a singularity's pull to its avant-garde evacuation in the center of a fresh star.

“Telum Vitae” swims through its bass groove as though Lamb of God donned corpse paint to create black metal with hardcore chest-pounding tenacity. Through the immense build comes a theatrical take on breakdown beating while the bass rejoinder in the song's second movement creates an unmistakable measure of satisfaction to compliment its insane release of aggression. The vocals crackle through the center, bass curves upward in a hulking groan, and guitars and drums drown in a swamp of blending set to endlessly intoxicate an audience with such shameless sin.

'The Divine Light of a New Sun' flows and ebbs like a rusty swing set at an abandoned school, irradiated with malice and haunted by terror. Despite its dissonant core, this calamitous black metal assault combines well with its powerful low end to sound like a full and heady extreme metal release, as displayed in the end of the title track, the Gothenburg aesthetic opening of “Synapses Spun As Silk”, and in the proximity that “Arriving in Peace, Pregnant with War” holds to grindcore. Norse takes an approach that refuses to confine itself to one genre. Instead, the music naturally and organically mutates as it searches for the boundaries of its own intensity and technicality.

It's been a long time since I have heard such a legitimately unnerving and disturbing album, something that makes a spine quiver and adrenaline pump due to such a genuinely heinous sound that diminishes and drives its deprivation so destructively downward. It truly is a pleasure to feel such evil enter your ears and undulate under your skin, an intoxicating venom that exudes omnipotence. Norse has created quite the concoction in 'The Divine Light of a New Sun' and is sure to crush you in its immense and inescapable gravity. (Five_Nails)

(Transcending Obscurity Records - 2017)
Score: 85

https://norsemetal.bandcamp.com/album/the-divine-light-of-a-new-sun-dissonant-black-metal