Eggs of Gomorrh - Wombspreader

EGGS OF GOMORRH - Wombspreader (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

I hate to admit it, but I am guilty of a great underestimation. Even though I have heard of Eggs of Gomorrh a few times before, I never bothered to check their music. I did not care, I guess. But now “Wombspreader” is crushing the speakers in my music room and I have to say it, I was wrong to skip this band before. My opinion on their new album is simple – it is a fuckin' killer. It may be one of the best releases from Godz ov War so far – which should be a good recommendation, if you know how much great music has been unleashed by this Polish label. I didn’t even expect that it will be so good, so it’s a nice, much welcomed surprise for me.  

If you’re looking for anything sophisticated, Eggs of Gomorrh will not be for you. This band opted for the most ferocious and insanely intense, straight forward bulldozing death / black metal one can imagine. Without wasting a second, they fire up with a cannonade of savage and slashing riffs, which can result in pure annihilation. They are furious, aggressive and bestial and do not sound soft or weak. Eggs of Gomorrh kind of creates a crushing wall of sound, which erupts right in your face and demands a loud, repetitive listening session.   

Stylistically, it may be a bastard child of Angel Corpse, early Morbid Angel, Diocletian, Infernal War, Impiety, Perdition Temple, Revenge, Azarath and that sort of bands. Put all their lethal energy, viciousness and barbarity into one cauldron and it will blow up in the form of Eggs of Gomorrh. A lot of the music on the album is insanely fast and brutal, which gives that erupting, chaotic feel. But I am glad that “Wombspreader” also contains some slower fragments, there are even small traces of shy melody here and there, which gives a nice diversity and more interesting results. So, as weird as it may sound, I take a lot of pleasure from this album. Its energy and dark atmosphere work perfectly well for my musical taste, I like these songs a lot and do not find anything what would not be right, really. “Wombspreader” is a brilliant album, so I can only recommend it to all crazy maniax out there. You will never see this band on Wacken, but damn, it kills 90% of bands from there, I am sure. 

Verdict: 85/100

Nauseant - ILN

NAUSEANT - ILN (Self financed promo 2009)

Sometimes I just don’t remember what hides among the stack of CDs or vinyl, there are always some items, which I completely forgot about and have not listened to in ages. Here's one such example of CDR demo I had in collection for years, I think I got it directly from the band at the time, when it was released and I was still running a printed fanzine. But after doing a review, I had to put it somewhere and forgot about it. And just yesterday I saw it all covered in dust and slime. Damn, I even had no idea I have such a great demo in my collection. The band is called Nauseant and this is a promo CDR copy of their "ILN" EP from 2009, limited to 30 copies only and pressed on a simple CDR with a xeroxed cover. 

And what the hell, this Swedish band wanted badly to be like Finnish monsters from Demilich!!!! Simple as that. There are so many similarities to "Nespithe" authors that it's almost striking. Just check these inhuman, deep monstrous growls. Someone may say that Antti Boman was one and only and who would dare to imitate him. Arghhh, lose your pants, it's just death metal! And Kalle Fagerberg does quite great job here. More so, the whole music also sounds very solid and interesting. Obviously, these riffs have that sick, weird sound, so similar to some of these Finnish lunatics like Demilich, Lubricant or Funebre, so yeah, I just have to looooveee it. Some crazy and bizarre arrangements, tempo changes, almost cacophonic parts here and there, obscure sound... It sounds wonderfully sick to my old ears! Actually, “ILN” has such a strong early 90’s vibe that it could be mistaken with some of these old demos or EPs. With the exception that the production here is a bit better. 

All in all, I feel just happy that I managed to find this CDR in my collection. Great discover, yes. And I will definitely try to grab a copy of the vinyl (released by No Posers Please! from Norway, a great label, which was run by a Diskord dude!). Hell yeah! 

Verdict: 80/100

Stillborn - Cultura de la muerte

STILLBORN - Cultura de la muerte (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

This brand-new black vomit from Stillborn is a real feast to my ears. I'm not even gonna pretend it’s any different, this album caught me in some sort of maniacal maelstrom – as a result, I couldn’t take it off the fuckin stereo for days. You can only imagine destruction it caused to my ears and how it pissed off my wife, who really had enough of this album hah! But extreme metal is not a vaniila ice cream, it has to be rough and be hostile hah! 

I have to say that I like that consistency, with which Stillborn records their music, how they stick to the best formulas for their style of death metal, without any compromises – and despite all lineup changes they suffered. But also, how they make the music sound even more dense, more intense and darker. Ohh, more blasphemous too, which is now underlined with the Polish lyrics on this new album. Although you may not understand much from these harsh, possessed screams of Killer, but there’s no doubt that lyrics for such “Gniew diabła” and “Profanacja i bluźnierstwo” are a big fuckin nail in the coffin of christianity, especially in such useless country as Poland. Anyway, going back to the music, there’s one more thing, which I personally like a lot. There are eight songs, compressed in nearly thirty minutes. This really underlines the brutality and ferocious intensity of “Cultura de la muerte” perfectly. Stillborn doesn’t waste time for some unnecessary intros, covers or whatever, but blast and crush with no remorse. With such a short album they don’t even need to diversify these songs much, it all seems to have one aim to fulfill – and Stillborn are there to do it! Total annihilation! 

Yeah, enough of that melodrama and stupidity. “Cultura de la muerte” is really damn great and worthy album, it may be the best Stillborn effort so far – but I would have to check some of their early stuff first, before giving a final verdict (it’s been years since I’ve listened to some of that stuff). But the truth is, I don’t remember any of their albums to have such an intensified and repeatable listening session as “Cultura de la muerte”. Which is why I really, I mean REALLY recommend this album a lot. Don't be a pussy, get it before it’s too late. 

Verdict: 85/100 

R.O.D. - HateSpeech

R.O.D. - HateSpeech (DEFENSE Records - CD 2021)

I'm not big expert on the Polish thrash metal, to be honest. I do know there’s quite a solid number of young bands out there, but I don’t really bother myself to check their albums or whatever they have to offer. There are very exceptions from that rule obviously (Excidium, Warfist and Bloodthirst among others)… but they are very few. And that takes us to R.O.D. and their third album “HateSpeech”. I don’t remember if I’ve ever heard them before, if I did then I completely erased that fact from my memory. I doubt also that “HateSpeech” will help R.O.D. become my favourite band of this year, but this album isn’t that bad. Actually, it is solid and listenable piece of thrash metal.  

There are few things, which I like about “HateSpeech”. One is that aggression and whiplashing riffs they have all the way through their album. R.O.D. doesn’t waste much time and really puts some fuel into the fire, getting that nice, energetic feel. Cool. Obviously, their riffs aren’t the most extraordinary thrash metal you will ever hear, but it’s OK if you want to simply listen to some thrash with a bit of crossover. Another good aspect of the album is that it’s just around 25 minutes long (or short), which helps a lot to avoid irritating feel of thrash overdose. A quick couple of spins are enough, the CD can go back to the shelf and wait for its another turn. Also, the production is pretty damn good. Are there any things I don’t like? Well, some vocal parts probably are not my favourite. But I deliberately decided to avoid reading lyrics, which I heard are quite idiotic here and there. I don’t care. Musically it is not so bad at all. 

Verdict: 70/100

Goatsmegma - Goat Separatist Movement

GOATSMEGMA - Goat Separatist Movement (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2022)

There's something utterly bizarre about bands like Goatsmegma. They have absolutely nothing new to offer, everything about them is typical and has been done to the most boring level already in this genre. Let's check, shall we? A name with the goat in it, check. Chains, gasmasks, balaclavas - they're here too, check. Nicknames like Commander of the Demonic Axe – they are here, checl. Oh, goats with machine guns and impaled nazarene scum - would you expect flowers on the artwork? Check. Music - it is following the path of Blasphemy, Revenge, Proclamation and many more... I'm even too lazy to mention more names, but yes - Goatsmegma music is also very, very typical and predictable. Check. This Estonian band doesn't even try to have at least one original aspect in their music. Someone would ask if there’s anyone who needs them at all? Well, here's what I think - Goatsmegma music is good enough to defend itself.  

First off, I am glad that the production on this album is not making the music sound like a terrible and unbearable wall of noise. You will be able to catch some great riffs there and the music has a good diversity - fast, violent music does dominate, but Goatsmegma includes many slower, more crushing parts too, for better and more interesting result. And it all is here waiting and ready to rape your ears with bloodthirsty perversity. And that’s the second thing, which makes “Goat Separatist Movement” a worthy record. While I am generally tired with this style of music, there are still some bands, which manage to convince me and I can listen to their albums with sadistic pleasure. Goatsmegma belongs to that category of bands. I think they are even better than Barbaric Horde, who’re sort of similar band from the Godz ov War catalogue. The ferocity of the music, pure savagery and blasphemy are what I like to here. If it’s unoriginal, well I can live with it. With songtitles such as “Drowning Into Goat Sperm”, “Sadistically Murdered by Goat Rebels” or “Goat Separatist Movement” you just know it ain’t gonna be a sweet lullaby. 

Verdict: 75/100

Bottlekopf - The Jokes Are Over

BOTTLEKOPF - The Jokes Are Over (WM PSYCHO - CD 2022)

Here’s a Polish band called Bottlekopf, whose debut album "Absolutely Nothing" was released back in 2014 – long time ago, I have to say. But if I can be honest, I always ignored this band and never had a chance to hear even a single song from them. It changed recently, when I got their second album "The Jokes Are Over". But I cannot say that it made me like them even a little. It didn’t. 

At least I tried. Believe me, I did. But this album is just not for me. Of course, I had to listen to it at least a few times, if only because of writing this review. But unfortunately, I did not get any pleasure from this listening session, after a while I was only driven by the need to finish a review... Kind of “listen and forget” thing – worst thing ever. Does this prove that it is so fatal material? It all depends what music you like. Bottlekopf have composed and recorded some simple and solid songs, from the technical point of view there’s nothing wrong with "The Jokes Are Over"… But I just don’t like it. 

I will say more, this is one of the most unbearable and annoying metal genres for me. It's that painfully groovy thrash on one side and death'n'roll or whatever on the other side, with many riffs which take me back to the mid 90's, when a lot of thrash and even death metal bands started to get those groove and hard-core influences with these stupid Pantera or whatever riffs, which have absolutely the most irritating sound. Daaamnnn, I cannot stand it. I can think of how Sepultura started to piss me off at some point, when they turned into such band. And yes, 90's Sepultura are one of the inspirations for Bottlekopf for sure. I could also add Entombed and Gorefest - both when they have dropped their original death metal style for some other crap. Call me narrowminded, but I just don’t care. It was and it still is a disappointment for me. Bottlekopf gives me no reason whatsoever to like their music at least a little bit. 

And as I mentioned, I believe that there's nothing wrong with "The Jokes Are Over" from its technical side. I am sure that the band had a lot of fun recording / playing these songs, as well as I am sure that there will be at least 136 fans, who will like this album - because this is probably how many copies will WM Psycho sell. I will pass though. I just find this style of music too irritating. 

Verdict: 55/100