Supreme Lord - Father Kaos

SUPREME LORD - Father Kaos (WITCHING HOUR - CD 2011)

Fuck, this Polish death metal commando appears out of the shadows every few years, break our necks with some cool music and then disappears again, never being able to get a larger number of casualties during their musical massacre. Sure, Supreme Lord is one of the oldest death metal crews in Poland at the present, they’ve been around since the early 90’s, released several recordings, mostly demos, etc, but every time they putted out something new they quickly vanished right afterwards. I guess it may mainly be a fault of the labels that were handling the releases of this band, like “X99.9 Kill Your Enemies” album, which was unleashed by a Conquer Records and this label may have promoted it well here in Poland, organized some gigs, etc, but in the end I think they’ve fucked a lot of things and so Supreme Lord never went anywhere further with this album and soon had to go back to recording a demo (which was “Legion of Doom” from 2007). So, looking now on the discography of Supreme Lord, one may realize it’s not an impressive number of releases, but luckily most of them hold the quality over the quantity. Besides, the fact that Reyash, leader of Supreme Lord, has been busy playing in dozens of other bands – Witchmaster, Christ Agony, plus he joined as a live member Vader and Incantation – it also didn’t help Supreme Lord in their fight for the deserved place in the death metal premier league. Time was running by quickly, but luckily a decent label got the band under their roster and so Witching Hour Productions unleashed “Father Kaos”! I’ve been waiting for this album to come for months.

Hmm, I was slightly unimpressed by this album in the beginning. First, it was the fact that there’s just about 25 minutes of music, which is not much for the band, which putted the previous album in 2004! Then I’ve found out that there are THREE covers on the CD plus some tracks from the demo! Hmm, one may have a feeling someone wants to fuck him in the ass, with such tracklist. It does make me think whether Reyash was not able to compose more new tracks for his band or maybe he was just too busy with his other bands and then if he was, why to bother releasing incomplete full length? Maybe it would make more sense waiting few months more and composing more new material for it? Anyway, this disappointment has quickly been erased by the music itself, which turned out to be just excellent and killer death metal. I just love the songs Supreme Lord putted here and what’s more, I even dare to say this probably is the best death metal release from Poland of the past 2-3 years. OK, the unusual number of covers may be annoying, but the rest of the material on “Father Kaos” is like a bulldozer, really. Of the covers, the one of Incantation is the only one that I really liked, to be honest, it’s a powerful version of “Profanation”, very close to the original and equally massive and brutal. The cover of Blasphemy’s “Ritual” is fine also, the production on it is slightly weak, more primitive, but it’s cool. And then there’s Witchmaster’s “Tormentor Infernal” and this cover I find as completely unnecessary, it doesn’t fit the style of the whole album and honestly, I don’t like it at all. I can easily skip it, as it’s the last track on the CD and I would rather listen to Supreme Lord’s songs than this.

And they’re really killer. It’s relentless, powerful and brutal death metal machine, which is hmm… supreme and of great value. It’s the best Supreme Lord recording definitely, I like every aspect of it, starting with great production (clean, but aggressive and energetic as hell) and ending with the riffs, which massacre like crazy maniac running around with an axe or chainsaw. Stylistically it’s very old styled riffing, you may find here many similarities to the likes of Deicide (from the “Serpents of the Light” album), Krisiun through to Damnation from “Coronation” or “Rebel Souls” LP. It’s mainly incredibly fast, technical and but not over complex and dull (which is good) and much more diverse than say Krisiun (listen to “Supreme Lord” for instance, which is the slowest track on the album). The songs I like most are I think “Massacration”, “Supreme Lord”, “Father Kaos”, “Legion of Doom”… all awesomely good and impressive, with many excellent riffs and vocals. There’s really nothing bad I can say about these songs, like them a lot and well… as I already said the only fault of this album is that it ends too soon and instead of crushing us completely it finished with those covers. I would probably be better to get two or three Supreme Lord tracks plus this awesome cover of Incantation. That would make more sense to me and be better. But “Father Kaos” is as it is, no one will change it and despite that I still must recommend it to every death metal maniac. Trust me, this is truly devastating death metal.

Final rate: 90/100 

Helrunar / Nachtmahr - Split

 

HELRUNAR / NACHTMAHR - Split CD (LUPUS LOUNGE - CD 2005)

And another split release, which features the German band called Nachtmahr, this time they’ve joined the forces with their countrymen, Helrunar… And man, just like in case of the split Sun of the Sleepless / Nachtmahr, also here I was eagerly waiting to purchase this CD, as Helrunar belongs to my favourite German black metal bands and their debut album “Frostnacht” is excellent. It did take me some time, before I managed to find this split though, as it was only pressed in 1000 limited copies and not many of them were available here in Poland, but man, now when having it, it just makes it even more special to me. And not only due to the music, but also due to the excellent packaging as the CD was released in a gatefold cover for 7” sized vinyl, which is very unusual, but looks excellent. Hmm, now when thinking about it, I probably would wish it to be the 7”EP actually, not CD, but who cares. The layout is pretty cool and I must say that all Lupus Lounge releases I have in my collection look just awesome, including this split CD.

Both bands play similar type of black metal, both are strongly influenced by the early Ulver and I mean their demos and the cult “Bergtatt” album, plus there are many similarities to the likes of early Satyricon, Darkthrone, Hades, even Dimmu Borgir’s “For All Tid” (which is fantastic album, in my opinion). I’m really amazed how well both bands managed to capture the essence of the Norwegian black metal cult of the mid 90’s. Both tracks (and there’s just one anthem from each band) have been strongly influenced I think by those type of bands and deliver similar style of riffing, which means majestic, epic, monumental, heathen, but also equally aggressive and harsh, with few more melodic parts and ranging from slow parts to this characteristic monotonous fast drumming of early black metal we all worship. Plus there are some acoustic parts in both songs, which only make the atmosphere even darker and more stunning, and both hordes even dared to incorporate some clean singing, which reminds me Hades (Almighty) a lot. Wow, fantastic really! I mean, if you’re a fan of the early Norwegian scene and those bands that I’ve mentioned above, trust me, Helrunar and Nachtmahr play very much in similar vein and the quality of their music isn’t far behind their Norwegian influences. I like both tracks from this split, maybe this time Nachtmahr won the game for better track, but man... this is just incredible piece of music and I would wish to get some more, but that’s just an EP, so 11 minutes go by very quickly. I press the “repeat” button then and enjoy it more and more, recommending this EP to every self respecting black metal maniac.

Final rate: 100/100

Decaying - Encirclement

DECAYING - Encirclement (HELLTHRASHER - CD 2011)

For many reasons I missed the debut CD from this Finnish death metal combo called Decaying and while I regret not having a chance to listen to it, I also know that it’s not really too late yet as this album is still pretty easily available and so I’m sure I’m going to purchase a copy sooner or later (sooner probably hehe). But when Hellthrasher announced the release of the second CD of Decaying I just decided to buy it as quickly as I could as I’ve heard a lot of good opinions on it and the overall information on the band and this full length were very promising. I just had a premonition this music is going to nail me down to the floor, so here it is then… The CD titled “Encirclement”.

Well, I must admit that at the first listen I was slightly confused and disappointed with this album, as musically it wasn’t really what I exactly expected. I felt like the music is not aggressive and straight forward enough, it’s too mellow, even too melodic and lacks the uncompromising brilliance of many other old styled death metal bands of nowadays (in song "Operation Citadel" mainly). But with every next listen I got more and more possessed with those sounds and now I can say that “Encirclement” is bloody great album and Decaying truly belongs to my favourite Finnish bands of this era. Well, to describe the musical aspects of “Encirclement” I must of course force myself to compare Decaying to some other, better known bands, so you can get the picture of what they’re like. Well, at doing so I have several legends in my mind and first one to come is… Bolt Thrower! Fuck yeah, is there anyone who doesn’t love those British heralds of world wars? Decaying not only reminds me this bands because of their lyrical aspects, but also due to some similar type of mid paced, catchy and headbanger’s friendly riffing and the rhythms like in such tracks as "From the Cradle to the Grave", “Battle of the Somme” and “Conclusion”.

Then there are many similarities to the likes of Benediction, “Consuming Impulse” era Pestilence and also Asphyx (listen to the melodic guitar lead in “Conclusion”, this might have easily been composed by Eric Daniels hehe) and Hail of Bullets (also for the lyrics) plus some necessary Finnish ingredients of Adramelech. The whole album is mainly mid paced, with this style of riffing, which would combine the bands I just mentioned. Anyway, after the feeling of the mentioned lack of aggression of this album, after few listens I really felt like the music grows in me and may not be the most brutal death metal ever, but has incredible feeling and atmosphere, which are in advantage of Decaying. The riffs are really great, there are also some cool melodies, of which the one from “On the Path of Subjugation” is the best one and belongs to my favourite parts of the whole CD. The song structures are well and wisely thought through, but it may really surprise you sometimes as the length of the songs range from 4 up to even 10 minutes (“The Rising Sun”), with the average about 6 minutes, but despite it and the fact that the whole album is basically focused on mid or slow, doomy tempos, it doesn’t bore me at all. Of course 66 minutes of music may be a bit too much and maybe if it was just 50 minutes the final effect could have been better, but I don’t mind and definitely do not regret any minute spent with “Encirclement”. It’s just well played and composed death metal.

Then there are cool vocals of Matias Nastolin, who delivers a wide range of growling, mostly close to Karl Willets’ raspy and harsh growls but also including those, which sound 100% like they were done by Martin van Drunen or Patrick Mamelli. Hmm, I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard someone growling in such similar way to those two guys and I like it a lot, as I think they’re great vocalists and such way of growls fits Decaying music perfectly. On top of all that I must also mention cool production of “Encirclement”. All instruments (except the drums) were recorded at home (!), but they do sound fantastic and not amateurish at all, and also thanks to this production Decaying is able to deliver such gigantic and destructive riffs and feeling as Bolt Thrower or Hail of Bullets.

Finally the lyrics… Well, I’ve been quite interested in world wars since the past years and World War I is equally interesting as the second one, but somehow it’s not present in the metal lyrics as often. There are some exceptions from time to time, God Dethroned’s “Passiondale” and “Under the Sign of the Iron Cross” for instance and Decaying also wrote some killer texts for their album about it, which I’ve found as very interesting. Actually I just been reading a book by German writer Ernst Jünger, “In Stahlgewitter”, who was a veteran of World War I and participated in the fights for Somme for instance, which is also described on “Encirclement” in “Battle of the Somme” and of course the title of the album I think may refer to the trenches in which the soldiers spend months and months. Also one of the lyrics of the album, “The Rising Sun”, tells about the Pacific fights during the Second World War, while "Operation Citadel" and “On the Path of Subjugation” refer to the second of great wars but in Europe (for the years 1939-43), but I like the fact that “Encirclement” focused not just on one historical event, but a few.

All in all, I can easily recommend this album to everyone and I can assure you that if you feel like Bolt Thrower belongs to your favourite bands, Decaying music will speak to you in similar language. The value of this music is great and far more than just mediocre, but mind that it may take few listens before you’ll get possessed by it. And if the length of “Encirclement” does not scare you, then give those Finns a chance and buy the CD before it’s too late.

Standout tracks: “On the Path of Subjugation”, “Battle of the Somme”

Final rate: 82 / 100

Maim - From the Womb to the Tomb

 

MAIM - From the Womb to the Tomb (SOULSELLER - LP 2010)

A disgusting stench of putrid is in the air and yet another tombstone has been crushed. The graveyard ground is shaking and horde of zombies are arising from their sleep in hunger of human flesh and mindless amok. As “Ascending From the Grave” says “…Army of the dead craving the brain, evil from hell strikes again… feasting at the cemetery, pounding the corpse… splice the torso, feast maggots…”. The horror image is well known to all of you by now I guess, and not only from the good old movies, but also from the countless of bands, which joined the wave of living dead worshippers and of old styled death metal. This may not be particularly original and unparalleled, but I still find a lot of fun and enjoy many of them and trust me, Maim is definitely one of the best bands around there! They came out of fuckin nowhere… OK, they’re from Sweden, but there were no demos or anything prior to their debut album 2009’s “From the Womb to the Tomb”, so I have no idea how have Soulseller Records found them, but anyway we should be grateful they went straight for the full length album.

The music on “From the Womb to the Tomb” pretty much walks the same path as that what bands like Bastard Priest, Death Breath and Bombs of Hades play. So it is punked death metal, with lots of crust influence, with huge dose of Autopsy and Repulsion worship plus of corpse there’s the traditional Swedish death metal ingredient. The whole riffing here is very simple, not technical at all, but rough and damn aggressive as hell, the harsh vocals are vomited with furious strength and the production is warm, analogue and fits this style of music perfectly. This album won’t be a thing for those, who like their death metal brutal, guttural and technical. But it will be loved by those fans, who like the bands and styles I mentioned above, especially that “From the Womb to the Tomb” also brings a certain quality with their sounds and are equally great as the three Swedish bands I’ve mentioned in the first sentence of this paragraph.

The song writing is perfect, the riffs excellent and so everything on “From the Womb to the Tomb” sounds great to my ears. There are absolutely killer tracks here, like “Smoldering Ashes”, “Ascending From the Grave” or “From the Womb to the Tomb”. In most parts the music is rather mid paced, Maim doesn’t spoil their music with blast beats or other such (sometimes unnecessary) additions, but they do play some faster tunes in tracks like “Carnal Feast”, which is another smashing tune, but this fast playing does not mean blasting with a formula one speed. Maim’s death metal is of corpse very vital, aggressive, it’s also sometimes amazingly doomy like in the first section of the title song, “From the Womb to the Tomb” for instance, which may be my favourite track on the album and sometimes it’s also slightly melodic in the classic Entombed way, like in the song I just mentioned, but also in the killer instrumental “The Beyond” (I love the atmosphere of this song, it would fit the zombie horror and cemetery gruesome pictures perfectly). And to make the album even more killer, there’s Autopsy’s “Ridden With Disease” for dessert and of corpse it sounds awesome, but you want meat and Maim offers nine bits of their own flesh all together plus this one cover, delivering 35 minutes long cannibalistic feast for every maniac’s pleasure. Awesome. I always recommend getting the vinyl copy of such killer albums and I do the same with “From the Womb to the Tomb” – get it if you ever have a chance! It was released as a gatefold in a limited edition of 500 copies and comes with a patch.

Standout tracks:“Smoldering Ashes”, “Ascending From the Grave”, “From the Womb to the Tomb”, "The Beyond"

Final rate: 90/100