Gorefest - La Muerte

GOREFEST - La Muerte (NUCLEAR BLAST - CD 2005)

When Gorefest called their comeback, I have to say I was very sceptical. In the 90's they belonged to my favourite death metal bands, all thanks to "False", which to this day is one of my all-time favourite death metal albums. I am also big fan of "Mindless", and in the 90's I also liked "Erase" a lot, even though this album is more melodic, less brutal and just more "listener - friendly". But the biggest problem with Gorefest is what they started to play later on. I just don't like their last two 90's albums; I think they are useless and boring and the style change was dramatic. Why then I should expect anything worthy from their comeback record, especially if the band members declared that they don't even like death metal anymore? If they record death metal album - which they did - does it mean they are posers? Well, why care with all this childish rumbling. What matter is whether "La Muerte" is any good or not. To my BIG surprise, it turned out that Gorefest came up with a great, great album. I really couldn't believe how good it is, when I first heard it. It made a huge impression on me and I was just happy to hear this band back in such a great form, with one of their best records. If they don't like death metal anymore - who cares, they certainly know how to play it! 

I think that the only problem with "La Muerte" is that it's a tiny bit too long. An hour of music can be a bit too much, not whole material is equally great, so maybe it they skipped two or three songs (like “Rogue State”) then "La Murte" would sound better as a whole. On the other hand, it is still way better than such "Soul Survivor"! Damn, I think it's even better than "Erase". Stylistically "La Murte" sounds like a mixture of "False" and "Erase", but closer to the latter. You could basically hear that it is Gorefest from the very first second, so characteristic is the style of their death metal. The production is obviously more modern, but the riffage is unmistakable, so are Jan-Chris de Koeijer's deep vocals. Riffs have a lot of that groove and aggression Gorefest had in the old days, luckily there's not much of that shitty death'n'roll or however you call it that they played at some point. "La Muerte" is less melodic and faster than "Erase", more powerful also. I was really surprised when I heard some blasts - have they ever had any blasts and real fast songs before? Obviously, majority of the album is mid paced or slow, so you could feel that heaviness of the music. Mostly these songs are also insanely memorable, which is always a weird aspect in a death metal music, but quite nice to hear anyway. The production is clear, modern, powerful - play this album loud and you will really feel like it crushes you relentlessly. 

Arrghhh, I could really speak in positive words about "La Muerte" only. There's a fantastic dose of killer death metal here, many great songs... OK, there are some fragments I like a bit less, but overall it is a damn good record. And it's just great to hear Gorefest back in form again. When I listen to songs like "For the Masses", it's just an instant headbanger and great feeling of hearing the right sound of Gorefest. it's memorable song, these riffs stick in your head and you just want more of that. All songs have something great to offer, some riffs or whatever... I love the drumming, Jan-Chris' vocals, guitar solos are amazing (as always in Gorefest)... You know, even slower and more melodic songs like “You Could Make Me Kill” are great, because Gorefest really thrashes here with no mercy and the quality is there also. So, this is a highly recommended album; a great surprise and a worthy addition to the Gorefest catalogue. Even the artwork is in “False” style, what else do you need then haha? 

Standout tracks: "For the Masses", “When the Dead Walk the Earth”, “The Call” 

Verdict: 80/100

Martwa Aura - Morbus Animus

MARTWA AURA - Morbus Animus (UNDER THE SIGN OF GARAZEL - CD 2020)

Here's a new album, which I am sure will get a deserved strong and positive feedback. I won't be different, I have to say that "Morbus Animus" made a huge impression on me and I certainly think that it's one of the best black metal offerings of recent months, not only here in Poland, but worldwide also. Martwa Aura are not new to me and I do like their previous recordings also, like the recent split with Odour of Death (also released by Under the Sign of Garazel, back in 2019). But with "Morbus Animus" Martwa Aura took another step forward, they again improved and got better, so now we deal with top quality black metal. 

I guess that "Morbus Animus" will be compared to Mgła a lot, and I can partially agree to that. But there's definitely that same feeling, which became common among some more Polish black metal bands of late, not just Mgła. We're speaking of the atmosphere and especially the vocals and the way they're performed and they sound. And obviously lyrics are also in Polish. Martwa Aura fits perfectly into that category, but let's just say they are not new to it anyway, since this is their second full album already. But since "Tenebrae Divine" they took a huge step forward and nowadays sound quite different. And better, not only when speaking of the production quality.  

The music itself is not your common black metal anymore, even though it's so strongly based on the traditions of the genre. But it's far from the primitivism and simplicity of this music, even from its harshness and primeval savagery. Songs are brilliantly composed, full of dynamics, different kind of riffs and moods. There's aggressive and vicious sounding fast stuff, but also a lot of melodic and often melancholic passages, which sound insanely great... Like in "Ostatnia gwiazda", which is such a memorable song, with some amazing harmonies, but also full of angry, ferocious parts, so this one song can become a nice summation of the whole album. The riffing in it almost mesmerizing, especially that very last part, which goes for nearly two minutes and even includes a little bit of clean vocals - it sounds amazing. But hey, the same I can say about such “Ślepowidzenie” for instance...  

All in all, there are five songs here and each is great on its own. I really enjoyed "Morbus Animus" in its every aspect, it’s one of those albums, which you start to listen to and then you play it several times in a row, because it’s just hard to stop. It's infectious, fascinating, it exceeded all my expectations and is just bloody awesome. And I can only recommend it, as certainly it’s gonna be one the most “must have” albums of this year. 

Standout tracks: "Ostatnia gwiazda", “Ślepowidzenie” 

Verdict: 85/100  

Dawn - Entrance to Malevolence

DAWN - Entrance to Malevolence (QUABALAH Productions - CD 1998)

I was introduced to Dawn a couple of years ago, when a friend recommended me their excellent demo "The Darkness Within". I even managed to find a good copy of this tape and it didn't cost me too much. Of course one great release made me hungry to seek for another two recordings, which Dawn did after the demo. And "Entrance to Malevolence", EP which they released in 1998, quickly ended up in my collection. This CD was released as cooperative work by Qabalah Productions and Revenge Productions; two small labels, which released some more interesting stuff of quite good death metal bands. Just to let you know that it could be worthy to check their old catalogues. 

Musically I have to say though that I don't like "Entrance to Malevolence" as much as I do "The Darkness Within". Dawn's style evolved into more brutal and fierce death metal, with that savage and truly bestial sound, which I could easily compare to the likes of Cannibal Corpse or Sinister. But with all respect for Dawn, "Entrance to Malevolence" is rather forgettable and mediocre piece. Sure, I cannot complain on that harsh sound quality, because it is fine. I cannot moan about the songwriting or technical skills also, because they're both OK. It's just the music is not catching my interest so much and definitely not as much as the awesome demo. It can hardly impress me with anything special, these chunky riffs are fine, sure, but the quality of the music doesn't put Dawn above the average underground brutal death metal. Some may say that the demo was also very typical, etc. Sure, but the songs were better and I prefer that style of death metal from "The Darkness Within" more. One which would remind you Morgoth, Fleshcrawl debut CD or Obscenity more. So... this EP is just 15 minutes short, so I usually play it few times in a row, but honestly I don't go back to it too often. 

Verdict: 65/100  

Gorephilia - Embodiment of Death

GOREPHILIA - Embodiment of Death (DARK DESCENT - CD 2012)

I'll say it straight away - "Embodiment of Death" is my favourite recording from Gorephilia and one of the best death metal albums from Suomi in this Century. This album is unbelievably good and everything about it sounds perfect to my old, rotten ears. The performance of all band members, the production, songwriting - everything here is top quality and even within this old school death metal niche it has impressed me a lot, offering much more than most of the other bands will ever be able to deliver and without sounding even a tiny bit dull. 

Obviously "Embodiment of Death" is not an album, which would serve us anything uncommon in the death metal sound. Nope, it's as intensely influenced by the likes of Incantation, Morbid Angel or Dead Congregation as possible, but Gorephilia doesn't really sound tired or repetitive, because their music sounds insanely powerful and the riffage is just excellent, so this albums storms through like crazy, killing with every bloody song. They achieved a perfect balance between the intensity and brutality of death metal with more crushing and slower, sometimes even melodic stuff, so the music is very dynamic. There's something great going on all the time, keeping my attention and forcing to bang my skull maniacally. Blasts have an insane force, they sound fierce and merciless like a savage bloodthirsty beast unleashed and impossible to stop. It can sometimes sound like a brutal wall of sound, which is due to that production. I love it, you should play it loud and it will really burn your speakers. Slower parts have heavier, groovy and more memorable feel, I love how sometimes they get that Morbid Angel-esque vibe, so mesmerizing and infectious, like in "Forget Mortality" or partially in "Saints Without Souls". Oh, there's just not a bad song on this album and frankly, I cannot imagine a death metal fan, who would not like "Embodiment of Death", unless he's a pussy. Then i can understand why he prefer melodic crap like Kataklysm or Amon Amarth. Ha! But here we have a near perfect album for me, I even like that artwork with fuck knows what it is there haha. 

Standout tracks: "Forget Mortality", “Pantheon in Flames”, "Saints Without Souls" 

Verdict: 85/100 

Godhate - Equal in the Eyes of Death

GODHATE - Equal in the Eyes of Death (METAL AGE Productions - CD 2009)

When Swedish Throneaeon split up, Godhate was quickly formed. But unfortunately, these guys did only one album under this moniker, "Equal in the Eyes of Death" in 2009. It's a shame, because both Throneaeon and Godhate were solid bands, which did stand out on the Swedish scene, mainly for not following the sound of majority of bands from their country. Yes, you could expect everything, but not another Dismember or Entombed clone here. 

It would be more fair to mention Aeon or Vomitory instead, so bands which had more brutal and vicious approach to death metal. There's a whole lot of influence from Deicide, Vader, Malevolent Creation, Vital Remains, Sinister... Slayer even! This is that evil sounding, dark, blasphemous, antichristian death metal, which is fierce, savage and very brutal, shredding with no mercy with sharp riffs and blasting drums. Godhate definitely came up with a good material, there are some awesome songs here like “Penance for the Wicked”, “Godhate” or “Alla Xul Kanpa”, full of slashing and really great, powerful riffs. But the riffs are quite memorable and surely will stick in your head, calling for skull banging. Obviously Godhate didn’t come up with anything exceptional or new, "Equal in the Eyes of Death" is a just classic, solid death metal album. And I like it that way, just pure death metal ferocity. Maybe this album can start to sound slightly tired after with spins in a row, I am also not the biggest fan of this style of vocals, which are here... But I can come back to this album once every few years and it doesn’t hurt. Solid stuff. 

Standout tracks: “Penance for the Wicked”, “In Praise of Sin”, “Alla Xul Kanpa” 

Verdict: 70/100