Disma - The Vault of Membros

From the US of A comes a magnificent slab of chunky old school death metal. This band is formed by well a really veteran crew, the vocalist is no less than Craig FUCKING Pillard! With that being said the quality of this demo is already known. That's not it though, the guitarists are from Incantation and Funebrarum, does it get any better than this? Well the drummer is also the current drummer of Funebrarum. A lot of people tend to say, I'm one of them, that metal bands formed by 'metal stars' don't tend to work, but this time is not the case. This is death metal in a really morbid, dark, and sinister way. The riffs are most of the time mid paced, but also slow paced which feel like a sledge hammer crushing one's skull time after time, again and again. The solos are also pretty fucking good. The drumming is extremely good, but that's something to expect. Craig Pillard like usual, delivers great vocals that can't be compared to anyone else. His growls are deep, evil, and extremely gassy. Enjoy this new release, and hopefully we shall write reviews more often.




















Disma - The Vault of Membros

Decrepitaph - Condemned Cathedral

"The book of Death gives the power to summon

From the graveyard they are beckoned to live again

Smell of rotting flesh is in the night air

Up from hell they rise to feast on your skin"

Decrepitaph are a US-based death metal band. They describe themselves as playing ancient, primitive dark death metal influenced by the old masters Incantation, Asphyx, Derketa, ... . They are part of the Razorback catalogue and as is custom with that label their lyrics take inspiration from old horror flicks. When Elektruktioner was asked wether they would ever write a song that doesn't involve zombies, he promptly replied "No!". Decrepitaph came to life in 2004 with their Grotesque Dwellings demo and by the time they released the Ancient Death Metal promo they managed to spark the interest of Billy from the Razorback label. I am personally not the biggest Razorback fan, but at least they support death metal in it's most ancient form and that's always a good thing.

On a band picture of Decrepitaph you can see Elektrokutioner supporting a Nortt shirt. That should give you somewhat of an indication, that Condemned Cathedral is going be pretty heavy. The guitar tone is incredibly distorted and very vile. The vocals are mostly deep guttural growls with some filthy snarls in between and the drums are interesting all the way through. Mostly venturing in mid-paced territory, sometimes a bit faster and at times devestatingly slow like on the closer track Crawling Out From The Crypt or the ending of A Burial In Hell. The slower moments make for a perfect template to add some really morbid riffs and leads and that's exactly what is being done, just listen to the ending of Crawling Out From The Crypt. Crushing heavy death metal while a morose guitar lead graces the background solemnly. Decrepitaph don't try to cram a thousand riffs into one song. They use repetition to their advantage, but still provide the necessary variety by throwing in particulary effective guitar leads and changing the paste frequently. Condemned Cathedral is heavy and doomy, but the whole album supports a sickening kind of groove (Worship The Dead), which makes it perfect for your headbanging pleasures. This is a blind purchase for anyone who likes their death metal ancient and primitive. And from what I gather, a new album is in the works and to be released soon!

Decrepitaph - Condemned Cathedral

Imindain - Monolithium

Imindain released their second demo a year prior to And The Living Shall Envy The Dead. The reason why I chose to review the demo instead of the full-length is because I prefer the somewhat rawer sound the demo has. Monolithium consits of three tracks. All tracks are also featured on the debut album. Now, Imindain are immediately the proof that to achieve a sick sound, you don't have to have a minimalistic or repetitive nature. Monolithium is quite melodious and relatively accessible. Vocally we have no less than four approaches. You will hear standard grunts and blackish screams both are executed very well. Now, the special thing about Imindain are the two other vocal styles. The cleaner ones are superb and it's amazing to find a vocalist in this kind of extreme doom that has such a good voice. Tastefully added are the super high screams. You will hear them seldomly, but that is a good thing, because in that way the effect they are supposed to create remains special. Now, as you might expect these sound quite insane and well...sick.

Monolithium is most of the time mid-paced with some speedier parts to be found here and there, as well as fairly headbangable moments woven into the anguish and gloom. This Empty Flesh starts just like that, up-tempo with clean vocals and generally solid memorable riffing. The first half of the song continues in the same fashion, some small differences in paste and good riffs that will linger in your head for quite some time. Some time in the second half of the song, things take a grim turn, as a melanholic clean breaks presents itself with anguished screams in the background. It sounds like this might be the climax to which the song builds, but you are mistaken. A gripping guitar lead comes into play when the most foul, anguished and insane screaming ever heard is coming from all sides in the background. Absolutely amazing! Black Water features great militaristic drumming and again top-notch vocal performances. A great, saddening riff enters the mix at around one minute, surely one of the headlights of Black Water, while again the venomous vocals spring forward. Towards the middle of the song you'll hear dual vocal action of the standard screams and the higher ones, followed again by a militaristic drumming style. Imindain have continued with their high quality doom on their debut. I urge everyone to purchase that one and be on the look out for the coming split with Ataraxie!

Imindain - Monolithium

Reverend Bizarre - In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend

In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend is a monumental chapter of doom and a lone highlight in the musical career of the Reverend. This is a mammoth of an album, that most of the times crawls forwards in a slow to extremely slow paste, almost funereal in its execution. The absolute focal point of Reverend Bizarre remains Albert - the man has a throat like no other and has an incredible range, going from softer more mellow parts to complete epicness in just a matter of time. His voice fits the music completely and takes it to unseen heights. I especially liked his vocal performance during Doomsower. But, of course, a good album needs more than just a really good vocalist. First of all, the drums, Earl of Void is a very competent drummer, his play is slow and crushing, that seldomly speeds up. The riffs are, however, what truly make this record a future classic - just listen to In the Rectory, a perfect build-up leads to more up-tempo part, where we see the guys rocking out, accompanied by a memorable riff evoking a rare moment of cheerfulness amidst the gloomy setting, but then, as a real tsunami, all joy is washed away, the rare moment of hope has completely faded and we're given one of the most memorable moments of the album, a very moving riff, sets the beginning for a short, but absolute haunting passage. Really, simply those couple of minutes alone, are reason enough to buy this album. It's difficult to put to into words, how it makes you feel, I can only suggest you give it a listen yourself.

Next to the excellent riffing, In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, is a highly bass-driven album, again a reference has to be made to In The Rectory, specifically to it's intro, but just the entire song does justice to the earth-shattering bass-lines. So far i've only been talking about In The Rectory, which only makes up for roughly 13 minutes of this album, while In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend has a play-time of almost 75 minutes and each minute is equally memorable as In The Rectory, wether it be the touching, saddening The Hour of Death or the hate-filled Burn In Hell and lets not forget the gigantic monster Cirith Ungol. In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend is an album that is consisent throughout, something which has been a bit of a problem for the Rev during their entire career. While the follow-up was by no means bad, it couldn't reach the same level of the debut. After that Reverend Bizarre quickly declined in quality and began releasing a lot of filler material with some occassional highlights, but moreover the material became inconsistent and too ambitious for it's own good. People who were amazed with Warning's second album, released and praised in 2007, might find solace with In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, although they are two seperate entities, they both manage to create a true, unsurpassed, blackness, that will crush even the most enduring souls out there! A good alternative for the now defunct Reverend Bizarre would be finnish Fall of the Idols, who have already beaten the Rev at their own game or British band The River, who released a superheavy doom album with Drawing Down The Sun that should definitely appeal to Rev supporters. In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend remains one of the best doom metal albums out there and a personal favorite. BUY IT NOW!

Reverend Bizarre - In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend

Fall Of The Idols - Womb Of The Earth

The River - Drawing Down The Sun

Dolorian - Dolorian

Dolorian, an obscure finnish act part of the italian Avantgarde Music label. Dolorian have always been somewhat of an enigma and this also reflects itself in the music. To classify Dolorian isn't an easy task. The music they produce on their self-titled album is again oppressive as fuck, a trait which also the two other albums share, but perhaps not as much or as clearly present as on this one. Looking at the lyrics and listening to the music require a certain ability to think in abstract forms and to think outside the traditional confinements that the doom or black metal genre generate. Describing the music of Dolorian is an impossible task due to it's abstract nature. To recommend this simply to anybody would be unwise, because in reality Dolorian haven't got the usual aspects of Heavy Metal that we have all come to love. This is some damn inaccessible metal and yet it's not that extreme at all. A band like Wormphlegm is inaccessible due to the extreme nature of it, but such is not the case with Dolorian. The thing with Dolorian is, you won't find any catchy choruses, riffs or melodies. There are no upbeat parts to be found and no singing whatsoever (there are vocals however). And yet words cannot describe just how awesome this is. Like on When All Laughter Has Gone they play a slow, dark and evil type of doom metal with mystifying keyboards; the blackish screams that were present on their debut have been replaced by haunting whispers, giving the music an oppressive sound that is unrivalled. Dolorian wave psychedelic soundscapes with complex and avantgarde song structures and slight ambient touches while never forgetting the heaviness. The result is a deranged and psychotic piece of music that has got the most evil vibe going on and will leave you empty, alone and inhuman. Many will be put off by the abstract and inaccessible nature of this beast, however...

"Therefore, it is recommended that you attempt to forget all the initial unconsious and conscious preconceptions that you might have – try to destroy the fixed patterns of your personality and eventually the material will reveal its ultimate form to you – the most primal and fundamental form." -an extract from a rare Dolorian interview with French Metallian magazine

Dolorian - Dolorian

Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos

This is a living proof that not everything that is old in metal rules! Cruciamentum is a band hailing from UK, and boy they deliver one of the best demos of black/death that I have listened to in recent years. This is not your typical modern black/death band that only talks about worshiping the devil and so on, these guys took a lot of time and effort to do this. This can be felt through their riffs, which deliver an atmosphere comparable of bands lie Dead Congregation's demo, it might not sound as evil as them, but sure as hell is good. Another interesting aspect of them is the use of synthesizer to create an even more haunting experience, the vocalist kicks ass, the growls are exactly the kind that I enjoy, long, deep, and "gassy." The music is pretty much mid paced, sometimes it gets very slow others extremely fast, this doesn't bother me, the tempo changes are always interesting, and it's always good to see how a band would sound and if the musicians can do it with no problem. The production is pretty flat, which is good for a demo, every instrument can be heard with no problem. I recommend to listen to this band with earphones, why? The reason for that is pretty simple, the atmosphere just gets better and better with them, with speakers there is too much space between the actual music and the listener. Enjoy and lets hope for a full length somewhere soon.











Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos

Marblebog - Forestheart

Marblebog are a relatively well-known and highly praised entity in the black metal underground scene. Active since 1998 and since then released 3 full lengths and a plentitude of splits and a lone demo in the beginning of their existence. Marblebog have achieved the creative peak during this album suitably titled Forestheart. The type of black metal they play is one that's rather repetitous (in a good way) and hypnotic, creating tremelo picked riffs that flow naturally into one another and will evoke images of lone forests and mountainous regions. Marblebog excel at using the repetitive nature of the music to their advantage and as a consequent of this Forestheart is very consistent, with little to no faults. What attracts many black metal fans to Forestheart are the excellent riffs that aren't out there to create a frostbitten, grim or cold atmosphere, but more one of solitude, nature and everything relating to introspective themes, almost sounding ambient-like at times especially during the longest track Closing where Marblebog make use of droning ambient backed up the gutwrenching vocals that reek of despair and hatred. Forestheart has an almost ritualistic feel to it, often making use of typical samples such as wind, birds, etc. that are tastefully added. To keep the entire hypnotic feel going, it's necessary for Marblebog to make frequent use of blast beats, therefore the drumming isn't technically much interesting, but sometimes it's better to sacrifice technical proficiency and to go for a certain element of your music that you feel like highlighting, in this case the entire feel of the record. Some slower moments are however present as well as for example during Flame Of Wisdom. I would recommend Marblebog to those who can appreciate a sound similar to Velvet Cacoon, but performed a lot more consistent and well...more interesting or to those who have enjoyed the shoegazing quality of one-man band Trancelike Void, who were also previously discussed here (july 2009).

Marblebog - Forestheart

Ocean - Pantheon Of The Lesser

Ocean have taken the sludge genre to extreme forms and have injected a heavy dose of doom in their sound. As you might expect Pantheon Of The Lesser starts off with quite a bit of feedback, making the listener slightly uneasy and wary of what is to come. Ocean may be a very heavy band (quite a statement), but they remain however interesting enough in the riff department. They break the earth-shattering heaviness with a strangely melodious approach that makes the music at least a bit pleasant to the ears and somewhat accessible. There's no doubt that Pantheon Of The Lesser is all about the atmosphere that the heaviness manages to create and puts the listener into a hypnotic state where repetition and well....heaviness form the main ingredients. This repetition gives the album a very ritualistic setting and to add to that the guys of Ocean have chosen to include Bloody Panda vocalist Yoshiko Ohara who also adds to the entire mystical religious feel. The percussion is as to be expected minimalistic and simple. At certain times you will get the impression that the drummer speeds up a tiny bit, but that will only last a couple of seconds. Then it's back to bashing your head into a bloody pulp. At certain times the massive distortion will make way for a cleanly played melody, providing for a nice variety and relieving the listener for a short while from the gutwrenching heavy guitars. Ocean manage to not exaggerate with the feedback during the entire playtime and tries to keep it to a tasteful minimum and instead focusses on perfecting the couple of riffs that are present here. As previously stated, don't expect a rifffest or just another headbang session, no, this is a record that should be played when you have the time to fully emerge yourself into a particular sound and atmosphere. Only then will Pantheon Of The Lesser fully reveal itself to you and prove what it's capable of.

Ocean - Pantheon Of The Lesser

Deadbird - Twilight Ritual

Deadbird are an off-spring from the established slugde masters Rwake. Deadbird is similar to Rwake because both of them can be placed under the sludge category and both of 'em are heavy. There ends the comparison. Deadbird has more similarities with bands like Thou or Minsk. It has the basic heavy-hitting sludge sound, but mixes it up with more introspective post-rockish melodies without coming across as homosexual in any way and the ocassional lonesome punk riff. What Deadbird seem to have mastered is a quality that is also shared by a band like Minsk; they produce songs that have a perfect and well thought out build-ups that reach epic climaxes that will blow your mind. Despite the ocassional post-rock influence, Deadbird remain a sludge band that is out there to help us get rid of any anger or frustration that may dwell in our heads and therefore remains aggressive to the core, which for me still remains the major appeal of the sludge genre. Like no other genre, it manages to bring across hatred, disgust and anger perfectly and this is also what Deadbird does. Another not so far off comparison would be Burning Witch. While Deadbird certainly doesn't reach the uncompromising heaviness of said band, they are pretty damn heavy nonetheless. Deadbird are clearly influenced by Eyehategod and obviously Rwake. What I appreciate about them is their straight-forward approach and skipping all the technical and at times experimental touches that Rwake have made part of their sound and as such created their own identity, one that is almost completely detached from Rwake and gives its own interpretation of the sludge genre.

Deadbird - Twilight Ritual

Nehëmah - Light Of A Dead Star

Nehemah are part of the established french scene and have been around since the early nineties. In 1995 they released the demo Light Of A Dead Star, which featured roughly everything present on this full length. The official debut album was then released 7 years later. If anyone wants an idea of what the french scene is capable of then continue reading. I'm fortunate enough to have seen these guys live at UTBS fest and together with Urfaust they were without a doubt the best bands of the entire weekend.

Nehemah are typical french black metal. This mysterious touch surrounds their music and was also present during their performance. They incorporate keyboards very tastefully in their sound, without going to far. This entire atmosphere is even further enhanced by some sections where the bass guitar shines. The guitar tone they use is incredibly vile and certainly one of the most vicious I have had the pleasure of hearing. Production-wise everything is almost perfect, raw, but not to the extent where some instruments simply become inaudible. A good variation is provided with the difference in paste, some songs have a slower approach to them, while others just furiously and unrelentlessly blast away like the opener Light Of A Dead Star. Nehemah are at their best when they incorporate both the slower as well as the faster aspects of their music in one song; slowly building-up to a climax that usually ends up with devestating blast beats blowing your brains out. Nehemah mostly excel at producing some eerie riffs that linger somewhere in mid-air and keep repeating itself. For some it might be a little repetitive, but that's the strongest aspect about this album. The constant repetition of certain riffs allows the music to fully develop and obtain a rich texture. At times the distortion makes way for a cleanly played guitar riff, such as during the intro of Nehëmah In Vulva Infernum, after which an incredibly thunderous, chaotic riff is played which immediately reminded me of the same memorable passage at the beginning of the song Akyr Zaman by Darkestrah. Definitely an album highlight.

Nehemah have also added some clear vocal lines to Light Of A Dead Star, they only appear twice and rather briefly. For a lot of black metal bands clear vocals are "not done", because they are either totally misplaced and just there for the sake of them being there or the band in question is too ambitious and uses the vocals constantly turning an entire album into a complete travesty, but luckily here we won't find the type of homosexual excesses you would find on an Agalloch album. No, the cleanly sung lines here are epic and incredibly gloomy. Nehemah are a band that are firmly rooted in the french scene and with Light Of A Dead Star they continue to help establish France as one of the best black metal countries out there.

Nehëmah - Light Of A Dead Star