Lucifer's Children - Signs of Saturn

LUCIFER'S CHILDREN - Signs of Saturn (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2022)

I have a problem with this album. On one hand I have to say that I do enjoy some classic doom metal and from time to time I love to play stuff like Black Sabbath, Trouble, Candlemass, Cathedral... Who doesn't, right? So, I don't have a problem at all with style of music, which Lucifer's Children plays. Not at all. But somehow their music just cannot convince me at all. I tried to give it few spins, but it's still with the same effect - I am annoyed. With vocals mostly. I just don't like how Lidi Ramirez sounds. Yes, she does have quite a characteristic sound of voice, which you may get used to after a while. And occasionally her vocals are OK, but most of the time she sounds irritating, I just couldn't pass by this invisible barrier. Obviously a Swedish Lucifer can come to our mind, when listening to "Signs of Saturn" - and that resemblance comes from many aspects of Lucifer's Children music. Starting with the love for traditional doom metal through the occult, satanic imagery, up to the female vocalist. But let's be honest; there's a huge quality difference between both bands.

But I don't want to sound too harsh for this band (from Paraguay!). On the musical side, everything's fine. "Signs of Saturn" has the proper 70's riffs and the atmosphere. The production is also very organic and "archaic", with that nice bass clanging in the ears, so it's just very classic sounding stuff. And if we only talk about these aspects, I can't think of anything negative to say. I like that vibe, which "Signs of Saturn" has, that mesmerizing effect it has on the listener. Riffs like those from "Exiled Angels" are just excellent, I really do like them. The music is OK, even if towards the end it can sound a bit boring. But I keep having problems with vocals unfortunately and cannot jump over them. So... I sincerely recommend this album to all fans of traditional doom metal. Lucifer's Children presents some solid material on their second album and I am sure many will love it. I am somewhere in between.

Verdict: 65/100 

Trenchant - Commandoccult

TRENCHANT - Commandoccult (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

Let me tell you something - I just listened to one of the best albums of this year. I really did not expect it to be that good, but fuukkk, that CD has been in my stereo for two days now and I still have not enough. Actually, I want more and it doesn't look like I will let this album cool down that soon. Well, the band is called Trenchant - and it is a new name on the US death metal scene - although the line up consists members from some insanely respected bands. Which must be the whole secret of why it all sounds so incredibly good and why "Commandoccult" is such a standout. It couldn't come from greenhorns, right?

If I was going to describe the musical content briefly, then the easiest way would be just tell you it's "death metal". But damn, there's just more to it, in my opinion. First of all, Trenchant has that war-like, militarian sound, which makes me think of similarities with bands like Spearhead, Ares Kingdom or Pentacle, not to mention the good old Bolt Thrower. At the same time, "Commandoccult" has a bit thrashier, more vicious inclinations, where between the riffs and harsh vocals I could feel a strong resemblance to the great Aussie scene, with the likes of Gospel of the Horns or Destroyer 666. Yeah, you can guess how good it must be then. Every song is just a crushing death metal, bulldozer of razor sharp, fierce riffage and brute, aggressive force. And the best thing is, this music is memorable at the same time, some parts may even have that small dose of melody and even if it may feel a bit typical for the genre, it still kicks ass hard. Everything works like a war machine, precise and tight. Merciless and straight forward. And I also need to mention how great the production of "Commandoccult" is, I think this album sounds almost perfect for this sort of extreme metal. But I recommend that you get a copy and read Trenchant for yourself.I believe this is a very strong band and their debut album is absolutely a must have for all maniacs. Just brilliant stuff.

Standout tracks: "Trumpets of Jericho", "In the Fires of Night", "Burning Spires of Mercury", "Darkwater Graves"

Verdict: 85/100 

Soul Carrion - Infernal Agony

SOUL CARRION - Infernal Agony (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

Here's another new band, which is debuting on the infamous Godz ov War catalogue. Well, a "band" may be a bit too big word for Soul Carrion, as there are just two guys involved, so there are no proper "band activities" such as rehearsing or live performances... I suppose it is more like a bedroom thing, but who cares. Music is the most important thing, whoever it's coming from doesn't matter. But I am afraid that Soul Carrion debut album didn’t convince me so much. Obviously I tried to find as many positive aspects in that music as possible and generally I could agree that it is a solid piece of death metal. But the more I listen to it, the more I am convinced of how mediocre and just forgettable "Infernal Agony" is. And not much is working in favour for them..

Anyway, I suppose that the biggest problem here lies in the fact that it all sounds so much like a home-project, especially with the production quality. It does have that amateurish feel, something "artificial" if I can use this word for lack of another... I mean, it's that sound, which anyone could really achieve in home enviroment, but which lacks that organic, deep studio sound. For me, guitars sound weak and programmed drums are even worse. Such production would be OK for a demo, but "Infernal Agony" is an album, so as such it just doesn't work for me.

But even if I take the production weakness away and just focus on the music, there's still not much positive to tell. Songwriting of "Infernal Agony" is just nothing special. OK, it's brutal and nasty, mostly fast death metal, in the vein of European bands like Sinister or Houwitser. But it is just nothing special. Maybe Soul Carrion has some solid riffs, you could quite enjoy the ferociousness of these songs and how they combine fast tracks with some slower, more crushing parts and even some lunatic guitar leads. The vocals are also quite good. But the thing is, it's not enough for me. I demand more, especially in times, when so much amazing death metal is released.

And well, I don’t want to be a bad prophet, but this may be one of those releases, which will be quickly forgotten. It is for die hard collectors of everything what's death metal only. But do not expect anything spectacular here.

Verdict: 60/100

Megalith Levitation - Void Psalms

MEGALITH LEVITATION - Void Psalms (AESTHETIC DEATH - CD 2021)

A few months ago I had a chance to challenge myself with the split CD from Megalith Levitation and Dekonstructor. Now I have an opportunity to listen to another album from the Russian doom monsters Megalith Levitation, which is titled "Void Psalms". Well, after a few spins of this CD I have to admit that this was quite an intriguing and mystical journey for me and this album provided experiences, that I get from metal bands rather seldom. It's all for the fact that "Void Psalms" delivers ultimately hypnotizing and almost painfully uniform doom metal. Clearly Megalith Levitation doesn't even try to make the listener's life any easier nor do they walk outside of the circle, in which they comfortably placed their musical style. It is all just drone / doom metal.

From the very first riff, the band sets the atmosphere for incredibly psychedelic, dark, disturbing and trance-like. Riffs are slowly crawling, drilling with an almost torturing pace straight into the mind of the listener, giving him such a headache that it becomes a sadistic pleasure to experience it. It is just very rare when I hear such incredibly heavy, pounding sound and music, which would really have such a dark and disturbing effect. And it's not only because of their riffs - which even within its narrow style have enough textures to keep me interested. Vocals also do incredible work. They're even hard to describe, but I assume you could say that they're like ritualistic (mostly male) chanting, which perfectly fits that slow, monotonous riffage and emphasize the psychedelic, murky mood. "Void Psalms" is comprised of four very, very long anthems... and I challenge you to give them an attentive listen.

Yeah, Megalith Levitation is not a band for everyone. I believe that there's a very narrow circle of listeners of such music. Me too. I am far from being a great enthusiast, but I can certainly appreciate the work this Russian band did here. It's a really intriguing and certainly unique piece of music. I could hardly survive listening to such an album more than once every time I put it on my stereo... But I keep coming back to it, wanting to explore it further and further.

Verdict: 70/100 

Mondocane - Dvala

MONDOCANE - Dvala (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2021)

I just love such surprises. I got an album by a completely unknown band, which I doubt if I would ever hear if I didn't get a copy... I give it a listen and it blows my mind off. They say that you should never judge the book by its cover, but this is probably what I just did. But man, there's just an owl there, right? Ohhh bollocks. I know now that it would be a great mistake if I let this album pass me by. The bigger pleasure is then to give it a positive review.

But let's start from the beginning. This is Mondocane from Stockholm, Sweden, a new entity, I suppose, although I know absolutely nothing about them - I know no line up nor anything else. But"Dvala" is a great album for sure (honestly, it may be the best thing, which Fallen Temple has released so far).

The music combines the harshness and viciousness of Scandinavian black metal with a lot of melodies and a heathen atmosphere. It has that trademark Scandinavian feel, which you will recognise immediately. Songs are well diversified, with a good balance between fast, blasting black metal and slower, more epic stuff - there's always something fantastic going on, I love the riffs, harmonies, and how they sometimes have that mesmerizing feeling... And on top of it all, I love these dry, inhuman shrieks of the vocalist. These vocals remind me of two other vocalists - Andreas Nagy from Sear Bliss and Sanrabb from Gehenna... which is probably why I hear these bands in Mondocane music too (but without brass from Sear Bliss for instance). But just give a listen to "Blinding" for instance - I do think this song has a lot in common with the bands I just mentioned. And it's an amazing song too.

Basically, what makes "Dvala" so great is that the album is so complete. It has everything you desire and from start to finish this album never sounds boring or tiring. I'm not saying it is a perfect piece of music - I would never go that far... But damn, for sure it is one of the most impressive and exciting releases I have listened to recently. Oh, and did I mention how memorable and easily listenable (for black metal anyway) "Dvala" is? It's almost shocking how quickly it stacks in my head. And did I mention these more "experimental" tracks like "No Signal" or "Mythe"? I just love what Mondocane did here.

Standout tracks: "Blinding", "No Signal", "Daeth", "Mythe"

Verdict: 90/100 

Brutally Deceased - Satanic Corpse

BRUTALLY DECEASED - Satanic Corpse (DOOMENTIA - LP 2017)

I did a quick search on this blogspot and realized that I have not reviewed anything from Brutally Deceased yet! There is an interview I did with the band - from a few years back and it is a joined interview of Brutally Deceased and Heaving Earth - but no reviews! This is weird, because I truly think that this is one of the better XXI Century death metal bands infected with the Swedish sound virus. So, time to change that. I could pick any of three full albums from these Czech maniacs and each would get a similar, positive and flattering opinion. And I was listening to intensely all these records recently. All in all, I picked "Satanic Corpse" for no other reason than this is what was on the turntable this morning.

And what a great record it is. Of corpse for some moaners it will sound just like any other Swedish death metal, no better, no worse, but just typical - and they will probably say that it is better to listen to Dismember anyway! Ahhh, fuck that stupidity. I could never understand how narrow can some people be and stick to just old records, with their heads deep in their asses. Who cares anyway... Well, every song from Brutally Deceased screams "how great this band is!" and honestly, if "Satanic Corpse" was released back in the 90's it would be praised as another classic death metal record. Everything here, from start to finish, sounds great. The production is sweet, I love that energetic, full vicious intensity of it and fat, heavy guitar tuning. Songs nicely combine brutality with groove, harmony and dark, eerie horror atmosphere. Everything is highly catchy and memorable, in my opinion "Satanic Corpse" is the most melodic album in Brutally Deceased discography, yet it doesn't influence the aggression of death metal at all. You will find here as many blasting parts as the slower stuff, so there's just a good balance and diversity everywhere. "Satanic Corpse" has obviously many Dismember influences - in "At One With the Dead" it is maybe even too obvious haha - or Bloodbath, but there are even some At the Gates harmonies here and there too ("Hostile Earth"). All proper sources of influence, right guys? 

All in all, I think that "Satanic Corpse" is a superb album. Even if I may consider Brutally Deceased's debut LP as my favourite (because it has that raw, dark production, which I like the most), "Satanic Corpse" also deserves the most positive review too. There's just nothing that I wouldn't like. And that amazing Girardi artwork speaks for itself too. Highly, highly recommended piece of death metal!

Standout tracks: "The Art of Dying", "The Disclosure", "At One With the Dead", "Where No Gods Dare"

Verdict: 85/100 

Mortuus Cadaver - Cemetery Debauchery

MORTUUS CADAVER - Cemetery Debauchery (PRIOR SATANAE Production CD 2022)

Mortuus Cadaver is a new name on the Polish metal scene, but it is a project of Impure Declaration members - and this beast has crushed some skulls sufficiently already with stuff like "Mind Upheaval, Unclear Signs". Mortuus Cadaver has released two insanely limited tapes before this CD came out. And most of the songs are the same as on one of these tapes, but I don't know if they are exactly the same recordings or if they were re-recorded for "Cemetery Debauchery". It doesn't even matter, to be honest, more important is how good this shit is, in my opinion. Some adverts call it Neanderthal death metal - which is a term I also sometimes use if I hear a truly raw, ancient-sounding death metal. That is exactly what Mortuus Cadaver serves us in this half an hour-long obscure ritual.

Clearly, these guys worship the old scene and the early recordings from bands like Autopsy, Death's debut, Asphyx's "Embrace the Death", Cianide, with Hellhammer and other such mad cults. They deliver that simplistic, but crushing and insanely ferocious and infectious death metal with supermassive, heavy riffs, which work more like a hammer than a twisted, bizarre cannonade of sounds. This music is creating a dark, eerie atmosphere... which I always love to hear the most. 

The best song here is "Servants of Doom" for me, as it has such a great classic feel and the opening riff with its pure doomy heaviness is just sweet. Often Mortuus Cadaver speeds up (like in "Abhorrence"), but do not expect from them that modern ultra blastbeat. Neither you should expect to hear polished, fancy production, as it is all soaked in the stinking, moldy and wet basement. And it all suits me fine, especially that "Cemetery Debauchery" even has some black metal inclinations here and there. All in all, it's a great debut release, in my opinion. And I am looking forward to hearing more from these bastards.

Verdict: 75/100