Decomposed - Decomposed

Decomposed - Decomposed (BLOOD HARVEST - CD 2012)

I absolutely love what some of these young death metal bands have to offer. Their music may not be groundbreaking, it does not reinvent the wheel or make you forget about early 90’s classic records. But they cover their 25 years late arrival with passion, enthusiasm and ability to pick up the right influences from the classic death metal scene. Swedish Decomposed is definitely one such band. Their music is not something what will shake the scene and turn it all upside down, but it is just fuckin cool enough to enjoy it and play it with big smile on your face. And as some sort die hard "old school death metal maniac", I do worship it, I can say it straight away. There's everything I like about this music on "Decomposed" and it's been done properly... I have nothing more to wish for.  

So, here is Decomposed's self titled debut album, released back in 2012 Blood Harvest. And what a fuckin awesome piece of death metal it is! From the first look at it, it speaks to me in my language. I like band's logo, I love the artwork a lot. The visual side is absolutely proper for this kind of music. And then I play the CD and it's all here. Everything I need from obscure, traditional, a bit Swedish sounding, death metal. Dark, creepy atmosphere. Aggressive, vicious riffage. Some great and impressive melodic parts, which give more diversity, but also make the music more memorable. D-beat. A bit of groove even. Doomy parts, faster stuff... Influences from Grave, Dismember, Entombed, early Hypocrisy, Carnage... This album sounds quite rough, it definitely isn't pretty, but it creates quite strong obscure, ghoulish feel. I like that sort of songwriting, even if it may feel a bit predictable. But Decomposed nailed it. This is just great album and one, which I can definitely recommend to all those, who're into this sort of death metal. I don’t have anything else to say. If you’re a fan of this so called old school death metal, you will love it. 

Standout tracks: "Ethereal Landscapes", “Macabre Vision”, “Voices from Beyond” 

Verdict: 80/100 

Erupted Evil - Ghoul

ERUPTED EVIL - Ghoul (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2019)

When I got Erupted Evil CD from Fallen Temple I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this band. I didn't know them before, I had no clue what music they could play or if it's good or rubbish. Now, after half a dozen of spins I am much smarter and I can start this review with one short sentence: Erupted Evil is fuckin awesome! Right from the first song I listened to, I knew it's gonna be something for me, my kind of music. And it is, "Ghoul" quickly became one of my personal favourites from this year when speaking of the Polish scene. 

What do we have here then? Well, this is actually second time I write this review (first one got accidentally deleted) and in the previous version I wrote some band names to give you an idea what Erupted Evil may sound like, so you could have a smart comparison. But fuck it, I'm not gonna do it again (even if their bandname is I think taken from an old 1989 demo from one Dutch band some of you may have heard of). Oh, just listen to the music, forget about comparisons. Of course "Ghoul" takes influences from the 80’s and 90's extreme metal records fully. But what I absolutely love is that they do not limit themselves to only one scene, one sound or style. There's equally as much of death metal as it is of doom and black metal. OK, maybe black metal is in advantage, generally the whole atmosphere of the music is very dark, obscure, creepy and sinister, very alike to some old black metal albums. Heavy riffage, good balance between slow paced parts (often accompanied by great keyboard sound, which even adds more of that ritualistic, eerie aura) and bestial, faster songs... Some very good ideas, awesome riffs and just good songwriting - this is what I can say about "Ghoul". Oh, the production is also perfect for that sort of music - not too clean, harsh enough, but nothing like a primitive black metal recorded in the shittiest bunker, where you have no clue what the band plays. And I think these are some of the best vocals I have heard from a Polish band in a while. Ghastly as fuck! Oh, this album is just great, not too long, not too short, without even a second of boredom and it even has a cover from one of my favourite American satanic bands. It is enough to give Erupted Evil support and recommend "Ghoul" to all maniacs.  

“Sleeping in the Coffin”, “Soul Snatcher”, “Kości” 

Verdict: 85/100 

Warfist / Excidium - Laws of Perversion & Filth

WARFIST / EXCIDIUM - Laws of Perversion & Filth (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2018)

I was very eager to get a copy of "Laws of Perversion & Filth" - split between Warfist and Excidium - and finally I managed to get a copy. I definitely support both bands, even though they play thrash metal, which is not my favourite style of extreme metal. But both these bands proved their worth more than once and so far I enjoyed most of the stuff that came from them. A split release between them was then a must to hear for me. Good bands come together, and this is a fine old school thrashing slaughter. 

So, starting with Warfist... I already wrote few reviews for these bastards’ music and in this review I won't write anything else from what I wrote before. Warfist plays this freakin' harsh and primeval thrashing shit, which is deeply influenced by the classics such as Sodom, Venom, Hellhammer, Nifelheim, Aura Noir and so on. So, not only the 80's classics, but also some newer bands, which obviously were equally influenced by these same classics haha. Warfist music is just fun to listen to, it's one of those bands, which give you a good mood, especially if you open a bottle of beer while listening to their stuff. They have plenty of cool riffs, good taste for this sort of old school thrash metal, I especially like how harsh and almost primitive it sounds, as it gives more aggression and obscurity to the music. Sincerely, I like some of their other recordings more from this split material, but these few songs are solid and worthy also, especially the song called "Debauchery (Dirty Little Bitch)". 

But to be honest, I like Excidium music more! This band appears very rarely, mostly on shorter formats like splits or demos and have yet to record a debut album. But all shit they have recorded so far is just killer, in my opinion. If compared to Warfist, their music is more aggressive, faster, more nasty and vicious - more like fuckin Kreator, which is probably why I like it so much. Damn, song called "Denial" is absolutely fantastic, so is the whole set of songs they prepared for "Laws of Perversion & Filth", including Impaled Nazarene cover. I absolutely love these razor sharp riffs they have, harsh vocals or that spotless production, which they achieved. I'm really, really surprised that we still have to wait for an album from this band. Hopefully not too long though. Come on you lazy bastards. 

Verdict: 75/100 

Haunted Cenotaph - Haunted Cenotaph

Haunted Cenotaph - Haunted Cenotaph (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2019)

It’s awesome to see Haunted Cenotaph back from the tomb so shortly after their first recording “Nightmares from Beyond”. This time they bring four anthems (with an intro to start it all) compiled on the EP simply called “Haunted Cenotaph”. And what can I write other than if you have listened to “Nightmares...” and liked it, then this new onslaught will definitely be up your street. It actually is even better than debut, what is exactly what I expected from this band - an improvement, even better songwriting, which at the same time would keep all the best aspects of the debut intact. Good work. 

Creepy intro as usually has to come first – and these are three minutes of the sounds from the deepest and darkest corners of catacombs. Intros are something what you either like or hate, some people dislike them for being something useless. I have different opinion and I think that intros are able to set up the proper mood for your entire album. There are actually albums, which I couldn’t imagine without their intros. It’s exactly that case here – these intros help you visualise the lyrical theme of Haunted Cenotaph’s music. But once “At the Gates of R'lyeh” is over, a fantastic doomy riffage come forth, sounding like a crawling, most horrid beast. It's heavy, nasty and damn vicious, savage monolith of death, crushing and massacring with no hesitation. All three “proper” songs from this EP present similar style and quality, of killer doom / death metal. Slow paced riffs, some mid paced parts to get a bit of diversity, ghoulish vocals, horror atmosphere... Actually “Into the Realm of Thanatos” is faster than anything this band has done so far and I’m glad to hear that Haunted Cenotaph sounds equally great in both slow and faster death metal. But slowest, doomiest death metal is the juice of this music, with the song “Rites of the Undead” shining on this EP the most. I could only moan that this CD is so short and three songs end up too early. But it gives an enormous appetite for Haunted Cenotaph’s next efforts. I am definitely looking forward to hear them. 

Standout track: “Rites of the Undead” 

Verdict: 85/100