Mourning Dawn - Dead End Euphoria

MOURNING DAWN - Dead End Euphoria (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

Among all these more experimental and challenging albums released by Aesthetic Death, this one feels like much more traditional death / doom metal piece of work. The band is called Mourning Dawn and the album it titled "Dead End Euphoria". I feel a little uninformed, when I listen to this CD, because Mourning Dawn has already quite a big discography they built for more than a decade, and this is their fifth album yet. I have not heard anything from them before, which means I cannot make any comparisons to their previous works nor have any expectations whatsoever.
But well, "Dead End Euphoria" defends itself easily, so who cares. I have practically one problem with this album and it is its length. It is just a bit too much music for me, because how can I be able to stay focused and listen to such music for seventy minutes? It's a bit overwhelming dose of death / doom, luckily though Mourning Dawn avoided any boredom at all. But you do need to spend some time and give several spins, before the whole album will unveil all its mysteries before you.
Mourning Dawn is a must for all those, who like that melancholic style of doom / death metal. The album is a nice mixture of heavy, crushing riffage and sorrowful melodies. It's kind of easily listenable music, it goes on slowly, balancing between the heaviness, aggression and extremity and many softer parts, all embraced in the dark, haunting, sombre atmosphere. Interestingly, vocals have almost a black metal tone, Laurent Chaulet doesn't spare his voice, screaming in a ferocious manner, which actually do fits well the depressive nature of this music. It surely adds more aggressive sound to it. I also like some clean vocals, which appear here and there. In "Conclusion" you will hear even some fast parts, which nicely complement the album with more aggressive emotions.
One song I need to mention separately here is "The Five Steps To Death", which is over twenty five minutes long monolith. At first I was thinking of it as a filler, too long to really catch my attention. But then, this song is so full of killer ideas and arrangements that it is the best fragment of the whole album! I love that sick, opening part, then the acoustic piece brings completely different vibe, before again a crushing doomy riff breaks the wall and even turns into fast, savage motif, for more pissed off, aggressive effect. And some great clean vocals are here as well. Damn, this song has everything and even more, I think it is the best part of the whole album and a perfect summation of what Mourning Dawn has to offer.
All in all, "Dead End Euphoria" is a great album. I had to get used to it a little and spend a lot of time, before I really started to appreciate it. After first couple of spins I rather felt bored than impressed. But the album is a grower. Now I think of it as one of best Aesthetic Death releases, surely right after that Epitaphe CD I had a pleasure to hear a couple of years ago.
Standout tracks: "The Five Steps To Death", “Dawn of Doom”
Verdict: 75/100

Farer - Monad

FARER - Monad (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2020)

When I first got this CD in my hand, I had to actually look for its title in the internet, as I had no idea what could that be. But now I know that the band is called Farer and this is their debut album titled "Monad". Well, after giving it few spins I need to say also that while it's not music, which I listen to often, I actually do enjoy this album a lot and Farer quite impressed me, mainly thanks to their ability to create a very dark, ominous and disturbing atmosphere.
And musically we deal here with sort of drone / noise / doom / post metal mixture. Imagine that the band has two bass players, but no guitarist. And they do use these two basses the way that they drill with that pounding sound into your head, almost making you squeeze your teeth in pain. Damn, that shit is heavy. It sounds perfectly, you don’t feel lack of guitars, not to mention lack of melodies or any traditional song structures. You just feel a pounding bass in the guts, nicely combined with sort of ambient / noise shattering patterns. And vocals... Screams, sometimes along with clean singing, do correspondent well with it all.
Farer offers here four long songs (circling for even fifteen minutes) and I can say that they all are very interesting, even if they are rather far from your typical musical patterns and definitely without the usual scheme of verse / chorus. It is intriguing that the music seems to have quite confined means, but it is fully captivating and you find yourself glued to the speakers, swallowing all these fat sounds and instrumental, ambient passages. It’s disturbing, it’s mesmerizing, it’s surprising, it's experimental… It’s something I cannot forget about quickly, because there’s something intriguing about Farer that I do not find in the bands I listen to daily. Good stuff, indeed. And I really like that aesthetic design of the digipak. That’s something really cool.
Standout track: "Asulon"
Verdict: 75/100 

Check out also this nice live footage

 

Abjection - Malignant Deviation

ABJECTION - Malignant Deviation (GODZ OV WAR Productions - CD 2021)

“Malignant Deviation” is a debut release from Canadian death metallers Abjection, who were lucky to get signed by Godz ov War. And would I surprise anyone if I say that it's another newcomer from this label, whose music I like a lot? Let's make things clear then right away - this is a great piece of murky death metal here. Quite unique as well, because Abjection is not one of those more typical sounding bands, where you could quickly spot similarities to band X or band Y or whatever. In that aspect “Malignant Deviation” is more challenging, more surprising album, despite their strong bond to the traditional death metal values. 

But with such production, rapid riffage, some malicious leads, ghoulish vocals and general obscure atmosphere, Abjection really is a treat. I can throw some similarities to bands like Morbid Angel, Incantation or Sadistic Intent here and there, but they won't really answer your question how do Abjection really sound. I think you should rather listen to them yourself. But damn, I like the riffs, how vicious and savage the music is, with a good balance between fast, aggressive stuff and more atmospheric, slower pieces. And how it sometimes can get dangerously close to black metal even. I like the songwriting, all dynamics and that raw, but cavernous and suffocating sound with a nice, pounding bass. It's all just been a nice, good listen. 

With five proper songs, Abjection definitely did impress me and I can say that they are not a band you could skip and forget about. Sure, “Malignant Deviation” is not perfect, there's still some work to be done. But for a debut EP, it is absolutely great. 

Standout track: "A Darkness Unutterable" 

Verdict: 75/100

Hallowed Butchery - Deathsongs from the Hymnal of the Church of the Final Pilgrimage

HALLOWED BUTCHERY - Deathsongs from the Hymnal of the Church of the Final Pilgrimage (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

Aesthetic Death Productions delivered CD of another their mysterious project. This time it's a Maine, US based one-man entity called Hallowed Butchery and the album titled "Deathsongs from the Hymnal of the Church of the Final Pilgrimage". Well, we all know that this label specializes in the most challenging and boundaries breaking music. There's never anything obvious and typical for them. It's no different with Hallowed Butchery. What Ryan Scott Fairfield, leader of HB, delivers under this moniker is a very intriguing funeral doom metal, played in quite experimental and varied way. 

It feels like his music never walks known paths. There are obviously characteristic for the genre crushing, heavy as hell riffs, there's melancholic, sorrowful atmosphere, as well as many great deep growls. But the album is full of surprises and diversity, so it often goes deep into very different musical styles, from folk, industrial to ambient. Same goes for different vocal styles used here. As a result, "Deathsongs..." is quite a journey, untypical, unforeseeable and so eerie and disturbing. It's one of those albums, where you can’t pick a single song to be a fair representative for the CD. You need to listen to it entirely, because none of its parts are the same. Although, I do have my favourite songs, like that freaking awesome opening riff for “Ever Gloom” so smoothly silencing and turning into very quiet and rock-ish motif. It blends fantastically well, which is also why “Ever Gloom” is my favourite song from the album. “There is no sun, there is only death!”, brilliant. I am not going to describe each song separately though, there’s no point in doing so. But believe me, all these different styles are combined into something unique, mysterious and fascinating. Doom metal is more present in the first part of the album though, while the second part is more experimental. Take such “On the Altar”for instance, which is acoustic neofolk piece alike to such Death In June, which I have absolutely nothing against, as I do listen to such music sometimes also. And it sounds great. 

I'm not sure where I've read it, but there was a note that this music is not for people, who like their metal to sound straight forward. Hmm, in many parts of the album, music is not metal at all. But there's just something truly luring about it, anyway. I guess that its dark, very vicious and almost ritualistic aura is what wins here for me. But musical aspects are also intriguing and I have to say that I really like how Hallowed Butchery sounds here. Maybe it's due to the fact that I don't really listen to such music often what makes it all so interesting for me. But I also think that it's because there are so many emotions included in this music. The concept, which did Fairfield create for "Deathsongs...", also seems to be something interesting, although I do admit that I had no time yet to read the lyrics from both booklets (yes, there are two booklets included to this CD). Just check what The Church of the Final Pilgrimage was, on https://hallowedbutchery.com there's a whole text about it. All in all, we have here a very intriguing and worthy release. 

Standout tracks: “Ever Gloom”, “The Altruist”, “On the Altar” 

Verdict: 70/100

Rotten Coffin - Suffering, Chaos and Death

ROTTEN COFFIN - Suffering, Chaos and Death (CARELESS DEMO Records - CD 2021)

Portugal is never my first choice country, if I want to search for some great extreme metal bands. There's hardly anything from there what I would really like. In death metal style I could definitely mention Festering and Archaic Tomb as two names, which caught my attention in the past few years. But other than that, there's not a lot interesting going on, if compared to some other European countries, I’m afraid. But I just received a freshly released demo "Suffering, Chaos and Death" of a band called Rotten Coffin. And yes, I could really say that this demo is a solid start and I really enjoyed music of this monster. 

What do we have here? Buzzsaw guitar tone straight from your favourite Dismember album, a lot of aggressive and vicious, but also few more melodic riffs, groove and heaviness well balanced with blasting stuff, great growls... Yeah, it is old school death metal to the bone. Obviously, it is nothing original, nothing utterly mind-blowing. But I won't say a bad word about this demo. It has everything I need from such music; and the songwriting and execution are precise and exactly as they should be. Rotten Coffin reminds me bands like Revel In Flesh, the quality and the style are very alike. As a fan, I cannot walk away from it carelessly. Don't blame me then for being relatively easy for such bands as Rotten Coffin. They perform one of my favourite styles of metal, so I am never very criticizing for them. But even without that, I think that "Suffering, Chaos and Death" is truly cool, so we should all look for more music from this band. This CD is limited to 100 copies only, be quick then. Or be dead. But support this awesome band. 

Standout track: “Embroidered in Suffering” 

Verdict: 75/100

Cult Graves - Strange Customs

CULT GRAVES - Strange Customs (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

Here is Cult Graves, yet another new name on the US death metal scene. This duo has just released their first official CD through Godz Ov War, which is titled "Strange Customs" and which contains their new 2020 demo along with an earlier 2018 demo. So, my knife is sharp, I am ready for another bloodshed. 

Well, one thing is certain, Cult Graves does not care for your good health or well-being. They rip the guts out with brutal death metal, which sounds quite essential for their native scene. This really is a ferocious and cavernous shit, with riffs that are like chaotic, bestial assault. Especially the newer demo sounds like maelstrom of insane savagery, with almost no general formula for the song structures. It is quite primeval, very brutal, with no trace of melody or memorable, catchy fragments at all. Cult Graves are here to cut your throat. And they are quite good at It. 

What it all lacks a bit is a better production, I think. It's not bad really on both demos, I like the 2018 demo sound more actually... but it's all really harsh, savage and noisy, lacking a bit of that powerful, clean and crispy crushing death metal tone you normally associate most of US death metal with. Also, that deep, vomiting growl sounds sometimes just boring, as it just feels emotionless and same over and over again. It makes all these 2020 songs sound irritatingly similar to each other. More diversity would be nice next time. Only few short sections of doomier stuff don’t do enough.  

This is why I cannot say that these demos caught my full attention, frankly speaking. They are all right and certainly it is a solid effort from Cult Graves. There are some strong riffs, some cool arrangements... It’s a good start and things can only get better from here. I am sure we will hear more interesting things from Cult Graves in the future, but for now it is mediocre.

Verdict: 70/100

Immolation - Shadows in the Light

IMMOLATION - Shadows in the Light (LISTENABLE - LP 2007)

There's no doubt that Immolation belongs to the best death metal bands in history. Already the fact that they've been active since 1988, so it's been now over 30 years of unstoppable death metal crusade, makes them one of the most unique and longest living bands. And through this time, they recorded ten fantastic albums, without one, which would bring them shame. No fillers, only killers - this is what I call a strong discography. Recently I was in a mood to give an intense listen to "Shadows in the Light", which is 2007's seventh Immolation album. I'm not sure how does this one stand in your Immolation ranking, but I think it's a fuckin excellent record. There are ten amazing songs, and I simply love the atmosphere of this music, its viciousness and kind of evil aura are supreme. 

First and foremost, I think we can say that "Shadows in the Light" is pretty easily listenable record. For death metal, it has fairly clean, but powerful as hell production. Everything sounds brutal and aggressive, but riffage, with some melodic lines makes these songs very memorable and instantly catchy. I absolutely love these riffs, so characteristic for Immolation. It feels quite mesmerizing, due to the riff style and how they loop over and over again, putting you into trance. And then there's commanding, savage voice of Ross Dolan - and it all works so perfectly! There are some faster, more brutal outburts, but most of the album is mid paced, there's even a bit of melodic patterns here and there, so the final balance between all this is absolutely perfect. You won't find even a second of boredom or fillers in these 40 minutes of music.  

Right from the opening song "Hate's Plague" we're hit by ferocious, brute energy, which comes from every sound of the music. Fast parts provide even more fierce power and the effect is simply crushing. You won't be able to sit motionlessly - you will play air drums and bang your skull like a freakin' maniac! As I mentioned, Immolation has very unique guitar riffage, which is mesmerizing, sinister, very tight and dynamic. Such songs like "World Agony", "Hate's Plague" or "Whispering Death" are a great summarise of what Immolation is about and how great quality is this music. I'm personally glad that they simplified it a little, especially when compared to such "Here in After". On "Shadows in the Light" the music feels more straight forward, more relentless and simply better. 

One last thing, which I always like to mention when speaking about Immolation, is how I love the technical aspect of their music. Obviously, this band has its own unique style, but how perfectly they arrange drums into the riffage, how tight it’s been played is beyond impressive. And guitar work is simply exceptional - amazing riffs, fantastic leads and everything played spotlessly. So, "Shadows in the Light" belongs to my favourite Immolation records, even though the competition in their discography is so tough. I cannot imagine a death metal fan, who hasn't got this album in his collection. 

“God will punish you, god will torture you, god will silence you, god will destroy you!” 

Standout tracks: "Hate's Plague", "Passion Kill", "World Agony", "Whispering Death" 

Verdict: 90/100

Dead Dog's Howl - Black Circle Transcendency

DEAD DOG'S HOWL - Black Circle Transcendency (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2021)

As far as I noticed, Dead Dog's Howl debut EP "Mausoleum of Confessed Thoughts" was getting very different and extreme reactions - it was one of those "love it or hate it" type of releases, opinions were never in between. Some people called it a useless noise, lame shit for the most part. Some other were seeing it as a manifestation of true black metal cult and feeling - whatever that means. Me? I was on the side of adversaries of the debut. I simply considered it as a joke.  

And now a second CD comes in, and Fallen Temple decided to send it to me, despite my negative opinion on the debut. Well, they clearly don't know what they're doing haha, but I was finally ready to take this challenge. And so "Black Circle Transcendency" entered. Has anything changed since "Mausoleum of Confessed Thoughts"? Can I finally say something positive about Dead Dog? Well, I can say that this is a better effort for sure, it didn’t push me away immediately. It is still very primitive music; it is also not your typical black metal.  

Hmm, but Dead Dog's Howl music is quite specific and you need to adapt to it first, before giving it a final verdict. It is sort of like old Necromantia, with the riffage played on bass guitar only. What can quickly give you a feeling of something equally archaic, primitive as well as atmospheric. Definitely the music can create that morbid and obscure aura. And that is probably the best aspect of this album. Because its musical attributes are rather very few. I can’t say that this album has much to offer to me. Somehow, I cannot dig it properly, I just prefer normal riffs, harsh guitar tone and ferocity more. Of course, I love old Necromantia, who don’t? But what they did in the early 90’s was something exceptional and insanely brave and they still had killer riffs, arrangements, all sort of amazing stuff was going on there (orchestrations, etc). While "Black Circle Transcendency" sounds mostly poor and miserable, there isn’t much interesting stuff going on, ideas are very basic, the whole performance is forgettable... So, even if this album can stand out as something different among the whole black metal scene, I cannot say I like it much. 

"Black Circle Transcendency" isn’t terrible, I feel like it definitely is better than the debut and, in many ways, Dead Dog’s Howl did manage to compose dark, eerie soundtrack, which can work quite well in some specific conditions. I am not going to be such a radical antagonist this time, I can see where is it all going. But I am still far from screaming in excitement after listening to this CD and I doubt I will be coming back to it too soon. Not terrible, that should be enough compliment from me this time. 

Verdict: 55/100

Grimcult - Revelations of Sinister Flame

GRIMCULT - Revelations of Sinister Flame (PUTRID CULT - CD 2020)

A short review this time... And another debut from the Polish black metal abyss, this time I can introduce you to Grimcult and "Revelations of Sinister Flame" EP, released near the end of 2020. Well, this one man project plays a very generic black metal, I have to say. It sounds just as traditional as it is foreseeable and played to death. Honestly, it is almost lame in some fragments, but at the same time I can admit that Grimcult music did catch my attention with some more memorable parts as well. For instance, I am quite surprised to hear some more melodic riffs. They do sound cool, especially if are accompanied by a keyboard background. Just as it is in the best song "Revelations of Sinister Flame", a song deeply rooted in the early 90's recordings. I also quite like the riffage from "Przymierze", which can almost be compared to some old Satyricon. But at the same time I have to say that vocals annoy me a bit more in this song, maybe due to Polish lyrics. But vocals generally sound a bit too dry on the whole EP for me, they lack a bit of emotions or simple ferocity.  

Grimcult delivers rather solid stuff, the atmosphere is properly grim and cold, it all stinks with the rotten basement, but at the same time the sound is as harsh as it remains clear, to allow you to get into the music better. There's nothing revolutionary not exceptional about that EP, I honestly cannot say that it won my full appreciation. But it is decent and I am sure there will be few maniacs, who will enjoy this effort more than I did? 

Verdict: 60/100