Demonical - Darkness Unbound

 

DEMONICAL - Darkness Unbound (CYCLONE EMPIRE - LP 2013)

For me personally one of the most anticipated records of 2013 would definitely be Demonical’s “Darkness Unbound”. I became a great fan of this Swedish death metal band ever since they released their killer debut album “Servants of the Unlight” back in 2007 and then each next LP was only confirming how awesome this band is. Of corpse the debut album is still my favourite, but when reviewing each LP of Demonical I was giving them very, very positive opinions every time and so they just became one of my favourite bands of nowadays. So you can understand that I really, really wanted to hear “Darkness Unbound” as soon as it is released and the vinyl was just something what I had to have in my collection (just like all previous records – I have them all on vinyl). At some point I started to get slightly nervous about Demonical as they have changed the line up quite drastically, for instance Johan Jansson left to concentrate on Interment, also Ronnie Bergerståhl left due to his commitments to Grave, luckily Martin Schulman and Sverker Widgren are still on board… Finally before I even heard any sounds from “Darkness Unbound” I have heard some opinions that the album is quite mediocre and nothing really interesting… what I couldn’t believe, because it would be impossible for the band like Demonical to record a shitty album! But some seeds of doubt have been planted. I waited with my own opinion until I listened to the album several times and now I am happy to say that “Darkness Unbound” doesn’t disappoint and just as all the previous LPs, also this one is just a fuckin killer!

The recipe for death metal is on “Darkness Unbound” unchanged… it is still very similar to the previous LPs, with the same ingredients, so it is fairly fast and relentless, uncompromising Swedish death metal, with some more melodic riffs here and there, but mainly focused on the aggression and pure ferocity. Such songs as “The Order” are a great example for what the style of Demonical is like and if you’ll like this one song, then I can assure you that you’ll love the rest of the LP as well. I think I can say that there are no weak moments on “Darkness Unbound”, the whole album is just filled with excellent, insanely brilliant and merciless death metal, which in many parts is surprisingly catchy – I can dare you that some of these riffs, harmonies and vocal parts will stick in your head for long. Even in those fast as hell songs like “The Order”, “The Healing Control” or “Contempt and Conquest” the riffing is just possessing and makes the whole listening very easy.

It is almost impossible to pick up two or three favourite songs, as the whole album is just excellent and the songwriting here is great; nothing new maybe, but the old formula has been used perfectly. I like those fast songs, but also such “King of All”, which is way slower and kind of epic is also superb. And there are also several amazing songs on side B of the vinyl, with maybe slightly more dark and grim atmosphere with slower pace mostly in songs like “Hellfire Empire” and “The Great Praise”. Hmm, maybe I prefer side A over the side B, as the songs there are more aggressive and powerful, but as I mentioned before I hear no fillers on the album. “The Great Praise” is the song, which I like least I guess, but it is still pretty good I think, I especially like the second part of this track, which is just fuckin killer melodic theme, which would fit Dismember perfectly. And luckily the choice for the cover is better than the last time, when they’ve chosen Emperor’s “Night of the Graveless Souls” – that cover didn’t convince me at all. For “Darkness Unbound” the choice is Kreator’s “World Beyond” and it is a crusher and great finish of the whole record.

Standout tracks: “The Order”, “The Healing Control”, “King of All”

Final rate: 85/100

Sleipnir - Q & A

Months come and go and I still couldn't get Sleipnir's second album "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead" which is criminally delayed already. What is going on, I decided to ask Paul. Check out also my old interview with this guy and support his excellent band Sleipnir. Debut CD "Bloodbrothers" is killer epic viking metal, a must have, in my opinion! So, when will I listen to "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead" finally??

 

A long time has passed since you've recorded "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead", but the album remains unreleased. Tell me what happened that we have to wait for it so long? Gardarika Music is about to release it, but have you looked for some other labels before giving "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead" to them? I ask that because I feel like "Bloodbrothers" didn't receive the feedback it deserved and I am a little afraid that the same may happen to "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead"...
I'm afraid it comes down to money Marcin. We have been waiting for Gardarika to have the funds to finally release the album. They have finally requested the tracks in a .wav format and these have been sent. We have had confirmation from the label that the tracks have all transferred over ok and they have contacted the processing plant to arrange production of the album (November 13). We offered the album initially to Gardarika when it was completed, to see if they were interested and they were. We were happy with the work they did on “Bloodbrothers’. They carried out a fair bit of promotion work. We got plenty of reviews and a few interviews. I suppose it’s just tough to stand out in such a saturated market. We plan to use some of the copies we receive to help promote ourselves to some bigger labels and see what happens.

Would you mind explaining us the story behind "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead"? I mean, is it a conceptual album and if so, what the lyrics are about?
It’s not a concept album in the sense of a story (King Diamond) but as with “Bloodbrothers” there is a common theme running through the album. Some of the tracks continue the sagas of the Viking brothers, from the first album. Its just more of the same essentially, songs about Odin, swords and christian slaying

The artwork for "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead" is just bloody excellent, I really, really love it. Who's the author of it? How have you come up with something so eye-catching and brilliant, but simple?
The artwork was produced by Alex from the mayhem project (vk.com/mayhemdesign,  facebook.com/MayhemProjectArt ). Gardarika have used him for their last few releases. It is an excellent design and stands out from a lot of the other designs he has done. We are very happy with it.

You've played all the instruments on the album. Was this performance difficult for you? I mean you were responsible for quite large part of the album alone! And how does the composing process look like in band such as Sleipnir? How big is Tossell's work in this process?
It’s a fairly long drawn out process really Marcin. I usually tend to have a chorus melody in written first and then everything tends to go from there. With this album I recorded all the guitar tracks, choirs and vocals to a basic drum track and produced these as demo tracks. I then carried out some editing work, final drum programming and then recorded the   orchestration and FX. Finally when I feel happy with the track I carry out some final mixing. Its not too difficult, it just takes a long time to carry out, especially when I have to work and look after my two young daughters as well. Tossell only helps out on the lyrics as far as the creative side of the band goes.

Also I guess that to compose such long songs must not be easy, especially if you want to keep it as interesting as possible. What are then the biggest challenges for you, when composing such "Farewell to a Fallen Brother", which is 16 minutes long? Sleipnir is just a duo, so there are no problems with live performances, but even if it was a full band then I suppose this is just not a music for live presentation, don't you think? Especially with such complex vocal lines...
I write songs for myself and I've always had a passion for longer epic songs. I try and keep the songs interesting, I always try to have a fairly memorable chorus or two, but at the end of the day it comes down to people tastes. What one person loves the next will think is fucking shit. In that respect I only ever try to please myself when composing. Playing live is just not an option I'm afraid. To try and recreate the music live would surely be doomed to fail and disappoint. I've seen too many bands do similar things

Do you think that such album as "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead" demands some special conditions, in which it should be listened to? Taking only the wintery look of the layout for this album, one would probably never dare to play this CD in hot summer day hehe!
The only true way to listen to this album is loud and whilst quaffing a gallon of your favourite well hopped ale!!!

OK, Paul, what are your expectations with "Oaths Sworn in Blood & Mead"? I mean you've worked hard to get this album done, I hope it won't disappear in the flood of metal records... What aims do you put for this record and for the label, who I hope will do a better work this time!?
Hopefully this album will get us some more attention. We hope to build on what “Bloodbrothers” achieved. Some bigger label interest would be nice. Sound wise it’s a step up from “Bloodbrothers” and more varied in the music. It's more epic and the soundtrack feel has been greatly enhanced. I've started writing music for the next album and I'm also intending to remix and master “Bloodbrothers” with full orchestration. This we may release ourselves and then there will two versions of that album available. Thanks once again for your support and interest Marcin. It is people like yourself that makes this worth doing.

Bone Gnawer - Carved

BONE GNAWER - Carved (Metal Inquisition Records - CD 2012)

I wanted to get Bone Gnawer’s “Carved” EP for quite a while now, but somehow couldn’t find it in any of the distros, where I do my metal shopping. Finally I got a nice gift from Rogga Johansson himself, who kindly sent me a copy of “Carved”… and damn, I am happy like a kid, who just got his another toy hehe. But don’t blame me for feeling this way – Bone Gnawer is yet another awesome, awesome band, which this Swedish death metal master of gore is involved in and more so, here he’s been joined by a guy, who’s name must me known to every death metal freak – Mr. Kam Lee! Obviously these two have also one more band, called The Grotesquery and if I can be honest – I just cannot pick up which of these two would be my favourite. From one hand I just love the Lovecraftian, gruesome horror stories of The Grotesquery and “Tales of the Coffin Born” belongs to my favourite death metal records of the decade. But here we have Bone Gnawer, whose “Feast of Flesh” as well as the split CD with Bonesaw are also just truly, truly fantastic… So, if I would have to choose my favourite from these two, then it would be damn impossible choice.

Some moaners may actually say that both bands are very similar and they may even question the point of existence of them both. But I cannot agree with it. Sure, there are many similarities between both Bone Gnawer and The Grotesquery, but already the conceptual lyrical work of Kam Lee makes the difference, as in both bands the lyrics have enormous influence on the sound and the atmosphere of the music. More so, I feel like Bone Gnawer is even more old school than The Grotesquery, going with the music way back to the early 90’s and even late 80’s… and I not only mean death metal, but also a small dose of gore grind. Bone Gnawer perfectly resuscitates the classic death metal sound and playing. For me it could easily have been recorded 20 years ago and I am sure that if it was, then nowadays people would consider it as an eternal classic. Stylistically there are riffs, which remind me Bolt Thrower, Benediction, Pungent Stench, Obituary, Necrophagia, Master, Napalm Death, Grave… Most of that stuff is mid paced, speaking of the tempos, Bone Gnawer rather avoids fast, grinding speed, but for me if the music is slower like this then it is also catchier, more straight forward and totally into the headbanging.

“Carved” is quite special release, as it contains songs from two different recording sessions; first we have two brand new songs, which the band recorded recently and then we can listen to three songs, which were also released as an EP titled “Scissored” (released as a bonus to LP version of “Feast of Flesh”, limited to 99 copies only, so it is really awesome that the band re-released it on CD!). And I guess the only thing, which bothers me a little is a sound difference between both recordings. I mean these new songs don’t sound quite as good and strong as “Scissored” material, they’re kind of more quietly recorded, with more muffled sound, while “Scissored” has really awesome, powerful production similar to the one from “Feast of Flesh” LP. But that’s the only thing, which I don’t like about “Carved”, as musically I cannot say anything bad about any of these songs. They are killer death metal tunes, with some extremely awesome riffs, brilliant vocals of Kam Lee and with the creepy horror gore atmosphere. Sure, probably “Scissored” and “Leave Her to the Cleaver” are my favourite songs, but also “Back to the Butchery” is just fuckin awesome, so… absolutely recommended stuff here! Don’t miss it!

Standout tracks: “Scissored”, “Leave Her to the Cleaver”, “Back to the Butchery”

Final rate: 85/100

King Stench - Ungod

KING STENCH - Ungod (DEATH ROT - CD 2011)

I wasn’t familiar with King Stench until yesterday really, when I received their second full length CD “Ungod”. It was sent to me from Ohio, USA, where the band and their label Death Rot, reside. Well, I must say that this was yet another “damn, I have no idea what to expect from this” kind of release. Just by looking at the artwork for “Ungod” my expectations were mixed. I have read that it is supposed to be death metal band, but the photo on the cover is totally misleading. You know, I won’t blame you also if by looking at it you’ll think of pure, primitive black metal bands… A chap in full corpsepaint make up  - what else can that be, right? Funny is that personally I have two connotations when looking at it – first one is black metal, but second would be these monkeys from “Planet of the Apes” movies hehe. Ridiculous, I know, but that was one of my first impressions with the artwork of “Ungod”. Anyway, I wonder what aim King Stench had when taking this photo for the cover. Did they really wanted to mislead people or it has some different meaning, which I cannot see now?

Now speaking of the music… Well, I didn’t really know if there will be anything good about King Stench music at all, no expectations whatsoever, but I am happy to say that “Ungod” turned out to be really enjoyable album… and more so, there are some fragments on it, which are just killer. So definitely I can already say that this band is better than I hoped it will be. Obviously their music doesn’t bring anything new or extraordinary to the table, it is rather common type of death metal, spiced with some black metal ingredients here and there… But King Stench is not kind of band, which would combine with too many different styles or techniques, or with different than traditional instruments, so the music is pretty straight forward, aggressive and vicious death / black metal. But there’s quite lot diversity in this music. Couple of first songs, which are faster, with a mix of growled and shrieking vocals, sounds like death / black metal… Actually that first song titled “Ungod” – atmosphere wise as well as with that archaic, simple riffing and demonic vocals reminds me Dark Funeral’s cover of Von “Satanic Blood”. Later there are even more black metal accents spread through the whole album, like that fast opening riff in Marduk vein in “Hell Hounds” – by the way, what a killer song it is, very diverse and also melodic here and there. There are some more similarities to Marduk, but to their early LPs like “Dark Endless” and “Those of the Unlight”, in my opinion. From the other hand “Goat Lord” has a very old school riffing, which would even fit such thrash / black metal bands as Aura Noir and more so, the mighty Darkthrone. And among all that there’s brutal, aggressive death metal, sometimes with more harmonious patterns, but generally very dark and cold sounding music. Quite often it reminds me some of my favourite Acheron albums, like in the song called “The End”, which certainly is one of my favourites, with great riffs, vocals’ sound and arrangements… Its ending part, with melancholic, melodic riffs is just excellent. With this song, as well as such “False Prophet” you will realize how diverse, but also well composed, “Ungod” is. In the end I can just say then that I am quite impressed by King Stench. It’s totally unknown band, I bet not many of you have ever heard of them before, but it turned out that “Ungod” – which is their second album after 2009’s “Visions of Death” – is a solid and very good album. I recommend you getting it then, do not hesitate!

Standout tracks: “False Prophet”, “The End”, “Goat Lord”, “Hell Hounds”

Final rate: 70/100

Just kidding here, but cannot help it... hehe!

Severed Limbs - In Each Scenario You Die

SEVERED LIMBS - In Each Scenario You Die (SEVARED Records - CD 2013)

It is very easy to lose track on how many bands is Rogga Johansson involved in at the moment and what are his recent recordings. This guy is a living death metal phenomenon, being a part of over 20 death metal bands… Sometimes I wonder if he still remembers what bands he’s in and if he can remember and flawlessly play and growl songs from each of them hehe. Obviously we can hear many opinions that it is pointless to have so many bands, if half of them play similar type of music and is rather hard to distinguish and also that the quantity not necessarily goes in hand with quality. Personally I have no such problem, as I really fuckin enjoyed most of Rogga’s bands and already have a huge collection of his work. Sure, sometimes I wonder how he can know that riff or song he just came up with will fit Ribspreader and not Paganizer for instance, if it’s a matter of priorities he gives to certain band at the moment or what… Anyway, every year brings some new stuff, which Johansson is involved in and 2013 also brought us several new bands - Megascavenger, Dawn Among the Men, Johansson & Speckmann, Just Before Dawn… and also Severed Limbs. I haven’t heard about the last one, until Rogga has sent me CD of the first Severed Limbs album “In Each Scenario You Die”. It is funny, because until that day I haven’t even heard this band’s name, even Metal Archives didn’t have it in their “files”, so it was kind of unexpected surprise… As Rogga told me Severed Limbs was formed already back in 1999 with original Paganizer drummer Jocke Ringdahl (now in Sinners Burn), but was kind of put on ice quickly, with just one rehearsal demo from 1999 and another demo from 2005 recorded. It would probably never see the light of the day if Rogga wasn’t asked by the guy from Sevared Records if he has another project, which he could release. And the choice was Severed Limbs. New material has been composed and recorded, by Rogga solely and here is the final effect: “In Each Scenario You Die”, with nine new songs plus all four from the original 2005 demo.

You know why I like most of Rogga’s bands? Because most of them sounds just fuckin awesome. And here is new band, Severed Limbs, new album “In Each Scenario You Die” and all I can say is that this album is just an excellent death metal crusher. It is unbelievable that yet another band and yet another album come and this guy again manages to record some truly killer death metal tunes and really severed me hehe. And no, it isn’t an exaggeration, I really mean that “In Each Scenario You Die” is just one of his best works ever. It is more than just a solid and decent record, it is a fuckin crusher with some truly excellent riffs and memorable, gut ripping parts. Stylistically it may not differ so much from Bone Gnawer, Ribspreader, The Grotesquery or Paganizer, but the quality is here as well and I can honestly say that as overall “In Each Scenario You Die” is a must have for gore death metal freaks. The album has a great groove, a lot of awesome, almost catchy, headbanger’s friendly riffs and is just flawless in this type of death metal, you know? Obviously there are some faster songs (“Lunar Obscenity”) and those slower, mid paced tempo songs (“10 Ton Warhammer”)… but everything seems to be played just as it should be, with awesome as always growling vocals of Rogga, great production and even the drum machine sounds excellent – I bet no one would ever guess it is an inhuman drummer here. And with such songs as “Hollowed Out” (“…I cut you open, leaving a huge hole. I rip your guts out, you are now empty…” – these lyrics say it all!!!), “In Each Scenario You Die”, “Thirst for Human Liquids” this albums shreds totally.

Every song is a real blast in the face, crushing relentlessly, I am also surprised that some of these riffs are even kind of melodic like in “Where the Dead Still Walk”, what certainly is not common in gore death metal… and so it turns out that Rogga Johansson did it again – once more he recorded a death metal killer. “In Each Scenario You Die” is definitely a must have for all the fans of his work and death metal generally. I can assure you that if you’re into Grave, Facebreaker, Bloodbath then this is just a must have for you. In my opinion Severed Limbs on “In Each Scenario You Die” is walking the path, which Bloodbath was taking on their first (and their best) LPs such as “Resurrection Through Carnage” and is just as good as them. So, if you’re crazy for Bloodbath, then get Severed Limbs. And for the bonus we get Severed Limbs’ demo from 2004, which is a good addition to the whole album, even if the production of it as well as the songs are not quite as awesome as rest of “In Each Scenario You Die”. Any more doubts? No, this is obligatory stuff!

Standout tracks: “Hollowed Out”, “In Each Scenario You Die”, “Thirst for Human Liquids”, “Open Graves”

Final rate: 80/100