Suffer Yourself - Rip Tide

SUFFER YOURSELF - Rip Tide (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

Only recently I've finished the listening session of "Omniversal Existence" by Funeral Chasm, which was one of the very few occasions for me to spin some utterly slow and mournful doom metal. And now Suffer Yourself knocks the lid of the coffin with their album - also released by Aesthetic Death. The path of this band goes through three countries - Ukraine, Poland and Sweden - which is something quite unusual. And "Rip Tide" is Suffer Yourself's third album, but I have absolutely no knowledge of the band's past efforts. Not a problem. I can always listen to them on YouTube, right? I may even give them a chance, because "Rip Tide" is pretty interesting piece of funeral doom. 

Obviously Suffer Yourself don't turn the funeral doom metal genre upside down and you will find here many rather typical aspects of that music. Yes, the sorrowful, agonizing atmosphere with damn sloooow tempo and brute growl are all here. Yes, there is absolutely nothing positive nor happy in this music. It is as miserable as one can bare. But on the other hand, once or twice that slow pace is broken and more brutal riffage can appear. Which is cool, obviously, especially in the twenty minutes long monolith "Spit in the Chasm", which definitely asked for more variety and I am happy to find it in this song. Ha, there's even a violin in one fragment. Interestingly, on the other occasion, the music takes a bit more experimental and avantgarde road. Its nice to hear something different then. Another thing, which I like a lot is that "Rip Tide" is a little over thirty minutes long only. That way you will never get bored with the music. I sometimes hate to hear sixty minutes long doom albums, which are asking for a pillow and are just hard to get through in one take. Suffer Yourself music is more dynamic and is not tiring at all, which is just good. Yeah, even if it's not an outstanding album, I think it is very decent and interesting.

Verdict: 70/100

Profane Desecration - Abysmal Stillness

PROFANE DESECRATION - Abysmal Stillness (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

I have to say that Godz ov War is really good at digging through extreme metal abyss in search for some new, interesting bands. They don't concentrate on just one country, even on one genre, so you can expect everything. But yes, mostly it is metal of death. And here comes "Abysmal Stillness", a fury unleashed from American soil by Profane Desecration. What can we expect? Well, these guys play very intense and ferocious death / black metal. And I like it. 

First three songs don't leave any doubts that there's a great quality in this music. Profane Desecration rips with fast and very vicious, fast stuff with intensity and aggression which I think is very characteristic for both Americas especially. Here and there you will find a riff very alike to Immolation, other time the music reminds me the brute force of Angel Corpse, and then when it slows down, you can think of Mayhem and stuff like that. Yeah, what a nice combination, don't you think? Songs are mostly quite short, what only underlines the ferocious nature of this music and its crushing acuteness. You risk being bludgeoned to death here! Profane Desecration doesn't really waste time for unnecessary patterns, you won't hear melodies or stuff like that. It's straight forward and violent death / black metal from start to finish. "Abysmal Stillness" doesn't reinvent the wheel, neither it sounds like the most exceptional albums of the decade. But I can say that it is very solid and enjoyable effort. I don't know if it will get a huge recognition, especially in nowadays overcrowded scene. Especially that some of these newcomers have even greater quality. But if you like your metal raw and fast, intense and violent, "Abysmal Stillness" will be up your street. 

Verdict: 70/100

Funeral Chasm - Omniversal Existence

FUNERAL CHASM - Omniversal Existence (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

Funeral doom metal is not my most preferable among the extreme styles of music and to be honest, I listen to such stuff very, very little. There were few bands, which were able to catch my interest in the past (like Encoffination), but even for them I have to be in a mood, if I want to listen to such music. Too often that music is a challenge, with constantly same miserable tempo and riffs and even more dull vocals. Too often it is just boring to death. So, pardon me if I don’t sound like a big enthusiast of such albums as "Omniversal Existence" from the project called Funeral Chasm. I just cannot be. But I did give this CD few spins, as it did deserve my attention. 

Why? Very nice artwork and digipak presentation is one thing. And because it managed not to put me in coma is a second. But most of all, Funeral Chasm didn’t come with insanely long album – which is good. And they actually did diversify their music a little, even if "Omniversal Existence" is played in the slow tempo all the way through to its gloomy end. But there's a good balance between these crushing, heavy wall of doom guitar riffage and more melodic and sometimes calmer, quieter parts. Also, vocals can vary - from deep, bestial growl to wailing clean singing. They (clean vocals) also deserve attention, I think, for quite original sound. Really, I think that Funeral Chasm has done everything to stay in the funeral doom niche without ruining that miserable, sorrowful atmosphere, but managed to be creative and more interesting. If you check such “Sunrise Vertigo” then I am sure you will know what I meant. This album, if played in proper conditions, can really catch attention, I think. It is heavy, it is very atmospheric, it is depressing, but also insanely dark. I don’t know if such style of music is very popular nowadays or not, to be honest. People mostly listen to black or old school death metal, I believe. But if you would like to challenge yourself with something a bit different, then Funeral Chasm can be a good option. 

Verdict: 65/100

Codex Nero - The Great Harvest of Death

CODEX NERO - The Great Harvest of Death (LIBERKHAOS Productions - CD 2021)

I didn’t expect to find this CD in my mailbox, I never even had any info from Liberkhaos Productions that they’re sending me their newest release. But I’m not gonna lie to you – like everyone else, I also like such surprises a lot haha. Especially if I like the album a lot. With "The Great Harvest of Death" I can easily admit that it’s a very good album and a fantastic discovery. Sadly, I don't know anything about Codex Nero, except that this is the first album of this Polish band. I do believe though that with time we will find out more about them. 

As for now, let's enjoy this splendid release, shall we? Codex Nero is a black metal band, but their style is more unique and original than your typical and overplayed stuff. You could hear that all over this album, not only with the way the music has been arranged, but also with rather unique riffage. Codex Nero mostly avoids that straight forward black metal savagery, in favour of a bit more melodic and slower songs. What comes out of it has a deep dark, ritualistic and almost mesmerizing feel, which I do enjoy. There are obviously some faster parts too, especially "Spiritual Hibernation" is filled with them, having more uncompromising and vicious sound. Yet, even then that occult, morbid aura is present. That aside, I think that all songs gathered on “The Great Harvest...” have that same, high quality, the album never tends to sound tired or repetitive and is very captivating. That is despite having songs like “Misanthropy”, which may feel a little lacking the powerful, ferocious aspect and sound a bit monotonous – at least on the first listen.  

To me, everything here feels to be in the right place, have a precise and thought through meaning... And as I mentioned, Codex Nero seems to focus on the atmospheric side of black metal the most, and they do so with use of more original riffage and melodies. Even vocals are not your typical black metal savage shriek. Taking all these aspects together, I can say that “The Great Harvest...” is one of the most intriguing albums from the Polish black metal scene for sure. 

And you know what? When I listen to Codex Nero, I have a strong feeling like these guys would fit the World Terror Commitee roster, having quite alike approach to the music as some bands from that label - which is a compliment from me for Codex Nero. Yeahhhhh, I recommend to check this CD right now. 

Verdict: 80/100

Goat Tyrant - Towards the Threshold of Death

GOAT TYRANT - Towards the Threshold of Death (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2021)

"Into The Greater Chasm" by Goat Tyrant, which was released in August 2020, didn't make big impression on me. It bored rather than convinced me with its raw old school death / thrash metal. But there's no mercy for the wicked and "Towards the Threshold of Death" comes. This time it is an EP and for a reason I don't know, it speaks to me much more than the mentioned album.  

Not much, if anything, has changed from "Into the Greater Chasm", the music still sounds very harsh and you could say that it's primitive and slightly thrashing death metal, like some of the old demos from the late 80's and early 90's. It is music, which has its charm, of corpse, but it can also sound insanely archaic and thus dull. "Towards the Threshold of Death" is OK. I could still moan a bit on some aspects of the music, like these tired vocals and generally a bit powerless sound... But I also feel like there are some damn cool riffs here, the music is savage and aggressive and even the fact that songs are near five minutes long is something noteworthy. Style wise, Goat Tyrant reminds me Throneum the most, so here's your best reference point I could think of. All in all, a solid and pretty good EP, I can easily recommend this one to you all. 

Verdict: 70/100