Amaltheia - Amaltheia

AMALTHEIA - Amaltheia (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

I am again impressed with a completely new band, whose debut album was recently released by the Godz ov War. This is Amaltheia with their debut self-titled CD and I have to say that it is a great piece of black metal. I have been spinning it a lot recently and it doesn't feel like I have enough of it. This album really is a fuckin winner for me!  

I haven't got much information about Amaltheia, to be honest, only that this is a band from UK. But these guys are completely anonymous to me, there's not even a band pic available... So, I won't be writing anything about the band itself. As for the album though, there's about 33 minutes of insanely good black metal on "Amaltheia". Stylistically, this is not your old, traditional black metal though. I would rather say that Amaltheia plays a sort of "modern" style of black metal, especially with all that dissonant riffage and general ambience of the music. I think that there's a lot of influence coming from the likes of Deathspell Omega and Kriegsmaschine in it, although Amaltheia's music is not as difficult to memorize nor it is as complex. But the vibe, some riffs and the profound, profane aura are quite alike. What works better for me, speaking of Amaltheia, is that their music has a more straight forward, uncompromising style and that despite some more progressive parts, it is just easier to get into. And above all, that it sounds powerful and is full of rage. I love that density of blasts, the viciousness that this music brings, but at the same time how well written it all seems, with a nice transformation from that fast-paced black metal to mid-paced stuff.  

Blasts do dominate over these 33 minutes of music, which gives a nice kick and a lot of energy, but I am not sure if I would put Amaltheia next to such Funeral Mist. But do we even “Amaltheia” need all these comparisons? All I want you to know is that there’s great music on this album, I love the riffs, vocals and that dark, eerie atmosphere surrounding it all. The production and musicianship are fantastic too (forget about unlistenable black metal primitiveness)… This album impressed me entirely. I have no idea then what else I can write other than it is a must to have. Favourite song? It may be “Dawn”, but they’re all equally good, to be honest and there’s no weak stuff on the album.  

Verdict: 85/100  

Epitaphe - II

EPITAPHE - II (AESTHETIC DEATH Productions - CD 2022)

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Epitaphe from France for the first time, when they released their debut album “I”. It was one of those albums which definitely made a huge impression on me... but you know what? Some time ago I received “II” and I can easily say that this new material is better than the debut in every aspect. What a great album this French band just released, it’s beyond me. Really. It surpassed all my expectations, if I even had any. And honestly, this is the best thing which came out from Aesthetic Death so far - believe my words. 

The beginning of the album is surprisingly quiet, almost in the sort of Opeth – like progressive way, but these three minutes of “Sycomore“ is not what you should expect from the rest of the album. Soon “Celestial” breaks the silence and rips with some killer blasting death metal. Well, speaking about the diversity and dynamics of music, it couldn’t be better, especially that every song on “II” is very diversified and full of rhythm or style swifts. The mentioned “Celestial” has it all – blasting wall of crushing death metal ferocity, epic, slower parts with clean vocals, more technical, progressive riffs with excellent complex drumming and such riffage... but it is all combined together so well that these changes are smooth and you do not feel distracted. You won’t feel like “What the hell is going on here?”, if you know what I mean. And that is a great aspect of “II”. Generally, I think that Epitaphe made a huge step forward, speaking of the songwriting and how interesting their compositions can be, while staying close to that more progressive and complex death metal. There's so much going on in every song, there are so many ideas and “textures” in them that while listening to this CD you stay focused on these sounds, treating them as a sort of voyage and discovering something new every time you put this CD on. I could describe each song, giving you an insight on what is exactly there, but I don’t think it is necessary. It is always better to listen to them yourself, words cannot give everything especially with my narrow English.  

And you know, Epitaphe came up with three songs, each being near twenty minutes long... That can already be a challenge - not only for the musicians, but also for listeners. Musicians will have to try hard to keep the listener interested in such long and exhausting songs. Listener will need to focus on the music and keep attention to what is going on, otherwise it makes no sense to listen to an album like “II”. Epitaphe definitely succeeded here and that’s a reason why I think that “II” is an absolutely brilliant album. Obviously, I can only speak on my behalf... but I think I have played “II” nearly twenty or even more times in the past weeks (more than anything else at that time) and I don't have enough. I am almost obsessed with this music, so possessing and impossible to stop it is. Which is almost weird, because I am mostly into more archaic forms of death metal and very few “progressive” bands could capture my attention so much. But Epitaphe music is a gold, I believe. “II” will be a strong candidate for the top of 2022 best albums, for sure!  

Verdict: 90/100  

Wan - Antichristian Douchebags

Wan - Antichristian Douchebags (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2022)

“Antichristian Douchebags” - what a title for an album haha! Not something you would expect from a black metal band, right? But on the other hand, there are some bands like Carpathian Forest, which love such vulgar and primitive, provocative also, titles and Wan actually fits this category of bands pretty damn well. What is this category of bands? Well, to call it as easily as possible, they are necro / obscure / filthy and simplistic black metal with raw, lo-fi production. As such, Wan obviously doesn’t reinvent the wheel nor they have anything what would put them above many similar bands. Their music is as obvious and tedious as one can imagine... But at the same time, it kicks ass hard and I find a lot of sadistic pleasure in giving this album a loud and repetitive listen. 

How come? Well, everything in there’s been done properly, nothing more to say. Songs on “Antichristian Douchebags”, despite their primitive and savage nature, have a lot to offer, from fast, vicious black metal to almost punkish, primitive stuff. Influences from Venom and Bathory through Darkthrone and Carpathian Forest are all over these songs and it just feels so damn nice to hear such music, especially since nowadays black metal sounds a lot different and not many bands really do that 80’s / early 90’s influenced pure black metal anymore. Even that garage harsh, primitive production doesn’t disturb, because it is selective and doesn’t give you a headache from the noise instruments create. Wan has some really killer riffs and vocals of Tsjud are also something noteworthy. 

So, “Antichristian Douchebags” is one of those albums, which I did not expect to impress me. But I was wrong, Wan did record a great material and I am sure I will be coming back to it often. And more so, this is Wan’s fourth album, I have no idea about the previous recordings though, if they were as good as this shit. One day I may wanna check them out though. 

Verdict: 75/100  

Reputdeath - Dissecting Goryfication

REPUTDEATH - Dissecting Goryfication (Demo 2022)

Wow, this is a very good demo from a Malaysian death metal band Reputdeath. I thought first that it is a newly formed project, meanwhile I found on Metal Archives that they already had several demos recorded since 2012. “Dissecting Goryfication” is their newest effort, and as I mentioned, it is great. Nothing new, nothing unremarkable, but just awesome old school death metal shit. Stylistically Reputdeath combines Swedish death metal (take the production of this demo as well as numerous riffs or harmonies spread through all songs) with the Finnish style (oh, these guttural beastly vocals, which sound like a giant hideous creature somewhere in deep below) and the almighty Autopsy – which is always a nice combination of influences. Especially if you like your death metal to sound dark, but also insanely sick and disgusting. 

Yeah, so this is Reputdeath. Songwriting is just more than solid, I love that sort of riffs, especially those doomy parts and harmonies sound so bloody well. The music is infectious, it is memorable, it is also eerie and vicious... It all sticks in the head quickly and just cannot leave it. From my point of view, these songs have everything what I love about such death metal style, really. The production is very good too, which is a nice surprise for me, because many Asian bands have problems with getting a proper production for their demos. Reputdeath demo sounds just as it should. So... I could go on and on and write super positive words about “Dissecting Goryfication”. But I don’t think there’s any point. I think this is a fantastic demo and I want to have it on physical format (because now I have listened to it for several times from YouTube). Excellent. 

Verdict: 85/100  

Sarmat - RS-28

SARMAT - RS-28 (Self financed CD 2021)

Pretty damn surprising album arrived from Sarmat – who are a band, which I had absolutely no idea about before I got this CD, although I do remember Puki Mahlu and Mortis Dei, which were previous bands to some of Sarmat members. Anyway, “RS-28” is Sarmat’s debut album and it was already released a year ago. I am quite happy then that I was given a chance to listen to it, because it is very solid and worthy piece of death / black metal, played that quite Polish way if I can call it like that – and yes, if I was going to compare Sarmat to another band, then among others I would use the examples of Behemoth or Hate as comparisons, but the biggest similarity is Lost Soul, I think, with the exception that Sarmat music is faster and more uncompromising and much less complex. 

And that ferocity and full-speed intensity of Sarmat music is what I like the most, I think. Obviously, they do remember to bring some diversity into their songs, like in the excellent “You Don't Live in My War” for example, so there’s enough dynamics to keep the music interesting and not boring. But damn, all that blasting death / black metal sounds great. I love how much energy and aggression it brings, which for me are the essence of that style of music. Especially that the whole album is about 33 minutes long only, so there’s no chance a listener would start to feel bored and fed up with the intensity of the music. I certainly didn’t have such thoughts. More so, I think that Sarmat balanced everything very well, especially that occasionally you will be treated even with some more melodic and almost bombastic parts (“Evilution”, “Blackout (Scenario for Tomorrow) Part II”). What else can I add... The production is selective, it’s also quite sterile and sort of “modern”, lacking even a tiny bit of harshness or dirt – which for some listeners will not be a problem, while the others would prefer it differently. I may not be the greatest fan of such production style, but at the same I have to say it fits Sarmat’s musical style a lot. All in all, this is extreme death / black metal, there’s no room for compromises. And damn, I like “RS-28” a lot. I am looking forward to hear more from Sarmat. 

Standout tracks: “Coldgrinder”, “You Don't Live in My War”, “Blackout (Scenario for Tomorrow) Part II” 

Verdict: 80/100  

Persecutory - Summoning the Lawless Legions

PERSECUTORY - Summoning the Lawless Legions (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

Persecutory hails from Turkey and “Summoning the Lawless Legions” is a second album from them. Honestly, I feel disappointed that I had not heard the previous CD “Towards the Ultimate Extinction”. Why? Because I think that this new effort sounds fantastic and I always like to have entire discographies of bands, which caught my attention as much as Persecutory did. Well, I am sure that I will catch up with their discography and get the debut asap. In the meantime, let’s play “Summoning the Lawless Legions”.  

In a brief introduction, I would say that Persecutory plays an insanely vicious and bestial death / black metal. Their music has no compromises, it is fast as hell, violent, it is morbid and ferocious. Persecutory found a great balance between the styles I mentioned above – having the intensity and evil aura of black metal with heaviness and crushing wall of sound of death metal. But you need to know that their music is also far from obvious and one-dimensional. They have seven to eight minutes long songs, so it obliged them to bring more interesting compositions, think about song structures, more varied ideas and stuff like that. You cannot blast for eternity, right? And here is where Persecutory succeeded the most. There are many ideas within every song, a lot of diversity, with tempo variations or riffage style... Damn, they even found enough space for some memorable harmonious leads and stuff like that. And all within the purity of the genre (no keyboards, no experiments, nothing like that). Any bands I would make a comparison to? Well, you can find a bit of Tsjuder for instance, while the vocals do remind me Necrosodom a lot (with a few cleaner sounding parts here and there - and they sound fantastic!).  

I find a lot of pleasure in listening to this album, I have to say. Especially when Persecutory blasts like a damn crazy maniac, they sound excellent and there’s absolutely nothing that I would not like about “Summoning the Lawless Legions”. If you check tracks like “Thou Abyssic Fire In Rebellion”, there’s a huge dose of powerful energy in it, so much fury and intensity... It’s just hard to resist. 

Standout tracks: “Thou Abyssic Fire In Rebellion” 

Verdict: 85/100  

The Dead Goats - Baptized in the Grave

THE DEAD GOATS - Baptized in the Grave (DEFORMEATHING - 7"EP 2019)

There are bands, which I can buy new releases from blindly. And I know I will not be disappointed. The Dead Goats are such band. I managed to grab all vinyl releases, which they did so far – all albums, splits, EPs... and I like them all equally. "Baptized in the Grave" came pretty late to me, but it’s better late than never. Especially that once again I can say that I really enjoyed this music and Goats filled all expectations, even if it’s just a seven inch release. 

Side A song called "Baptized in the Grave" is pretty much standard D-beat Swedish death metal song in the Entombed tradition, although rawer, definitely faster and maybe even more vicious. It is a killer song, especially with that high speed, which dominates through the first half of it... while the second half is a lovely "Halloween" theme played the death / doom metal way - which is another Entombed resemblance (if you remember what they did to "Phantasm" theme in "Left Hand Path"). Honestly? I think that this "Halloween" theme sounds fuckin amazing. I get goose-skin every time I hear it. Excellent stuff. 

Side B brings us two songs. The first one is called "Fancy Funeral" and well, it's obviously in the same vein as Side A track. But I cannot expect anything else, The Dead Goats does their job very well, they are better than the majority of so-called Swedish sounding death metal bands, in my opinion, maybe because it’s not always a pure death metal (huge crust and punk influence). Oh, just listen to that pounding bass, sick riffs and dirty production – what else do we need?? As for The Baboon Show cover „You Got a Problem Without Knowing It”, I have never heard of this band and do not know this song in its original version. So, I cannot compare it to this cover. But I think that this The Dead Goats recording sounds cool, for its punky death metal style. And it’s always nice to hear something different for the cover than your 244th version of “Supposed to Rot”, right? 

Verdict: 80/100  

Darvaza - The Silver Chalice

DARVAZA - The Silver Chalice (TERRATUR POSSESSIONS - 7"EP 2016)

Darvaza has been high and comfortable on the top of the list of my favorite Norwegian black metal bands (ever) and they confirm that they deserve this status with every recordings they do. Now, at the time of release of their debut full album, on contrary I decided to remind their shortest and most difficult to find seven inch vinyl EP, which is "The Silver Chalice". Obviously it was released on Terratur Possessions, I am not sure what was the limitation of this piece of black wax, but it is sold out and since then the price for this small vinyl has only been going higher and higher.

But let's check the content. "The Silver Chalice" is a pure, classic Norwegian black metal piece of filth. Just like bands such as Celestial Bloodshed, Koldbrann, Mare, Djevel or One Head, One Tail, Darvaza too takes full grasp of influence from the old black metal scene, but add that something "new", characteristic factor for the group of bands I just mentioned. And it is something what makes their music often sound even better than a lot of the classic Norwegian stuff. Yes, you’ve read it right. With all my love for early / mid 90's black metal from Norway, I feel like bands like Darvaza are often better. Maybe because they seem to treat the subject a bit more seriously? Or rather because their riffs are so damn good and the atmosphere is insanely morbid, cold and ritualistic? Also haunting vocals of Wraath do incredible work, this guy sounds possessed and maniac! Anyway, the song structure on both tracks is great. Darvaza puts an effort on creating the eerie, profound atmosphere, giving the music almost mesmerizing feel, there's nothing foreseeable and obvious about them. Especially the title track caught my attention, with its chanting choirs it is insanely impressive and unique song. But the whole EP sounds amazing, every time I put it on the turntable I keep playing it many times, so hard it is to resist to these sounds. Truly possessing and infectious music, and a real masterpiece in my opinion.

Verdict: 95/100