Entrench-Violent Procreation (2014)

"Violent Procreation" is Entrench's wicked sick thrashing metal explosion of rage, is their sharp as steel, honed to perfection exercise in precision aggression, one of the tightest yet most full barreled thrash metal assaults ever laid down in 2014. And as with other new albums, the song writing keeps pace with the savagery, the album being a nearly flawless run of memorably destructive music. "One With Agony" is perhaps the top of the heap, quality wise, but the entirety of the album is assured. The production, which captures every riff, every beat in sterling form. But the real achievement here is how Entrench have moved from a bunch of kids making the most ripping metal in their power, to a band writing some of the genre's most intense and flat our best music ever. If you own this album, Dark Angel's DARKNESS DESCENDS and Kreator's Pleasure To Kill, you can be assured that you are hearing thrash metal at it's best. It wouldn't hurt to also grab key releases by Whiplash, Sacrifice and Razor, but if you only want to hear the absolute best Thrash Metal album in 2014, Entrench's "Violent Procreation" is a must have. I bet Victor Holmström could be so proud of this album!
www.facebook.com/entrench
entrench.bandcamp.com
fullblastpr@gmail.com
Review  by Paul Caravasi

Venganza-Santo Maldito (Demo Cassette 2014)

Black metal and grindcore. Two of the most brutal genres of metal. Wait, what's that you say? There is a band which....COMBINES THESE???? Yes indeed, it is true. Venganza do just that on this Demo. And what a fucking take on the style do they pull off! This music is chaotic, raw, fast, unrelenting, and BRUTAL. Yes. Brutal. In every true sense of the word. No stupid moshcore riffs, no stupid pig squeals, no idiotic breakdowns. This is brutal as brutal is meant to be.Though this demo is fairly short, its sound and the conviction in the way songs are played makes it seem as if it were twice as long. The singer vomits lyrics in spanish as if he is puking out damned souls. Though the playing is not necessarily very tight, it makes up for that by being genuine and having an excellent assortment of riffs. Guitars grind along at breakneck speeds, and wail out solos which could raise the dead. Drumming is especially frantic, a frenetic sounding blast, though not being as overtly fast. The way all of the instruments mesh together makes the music sound barbaric, and it's interesting. What else is there to say? Personal favorite track is  "Sacrificio Guerrero".Enough of my rambling. If you are into grindcore, old school extreme metal, raw black metal, or anything of the sort, you need  this demo....Youre still here??? Get off your ass and get this Demo!
Band Contact: venganzabanda@hotmail.com
mercyfulhell@hotmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Death Invoker-Demo 2010 (Cassette)

Each Peruvian band has their own approach to the sound, but all had the same characteristics; brutal but simplistic riffing, relentless blast beats and haunting brutal metal howls. This demo begins with practically an explosion, with some of the scariest sounding vocals in metal and ugliest riffs. It's kind of like if old school death metal meets Bathory. The solo kicks in for about 20 seconds, and resembles your classic Jeff Hanneman chaos solo, and executed very well. Unfortunately every demo has its weakness, and for this demo from 2010 it's the indecipherable guitars drowned out by the drums and vocals. Though it creates a chaotic atmosphere for the album, it does eventually become a bit of a nuisance.  However this band has memorable riffs. Haunting bestial vocals that were unheard until 2010, great riffs and fantastic chaos solos throughout! I recommend Death Invoker to anyone who is a fan of black/Death metal in the old school way.
www.deathinvoker.weebly.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Morbid Macabre-Hell And Damnation

Here's the Debut album of Morbid Macabre leaded by the singer of Colombian legend MASACRE. The ambiguity that existed between death, black and thrash metal in the 80s pretty much goes here, well, this project offers  some of the most truly twisted and brutal material of this era, but we can't forget the masters on this style who were the pioneers, the one and only Sarcofago from Brazil.This release consists of long, epic, yet primative songs that embody the respective characteristics of Morbid Macabre To say that an album like this comes with a few minor flaws. For all the wild variation in tempo going on and the radically differing characteristics of each section which is loaded with hatred, the level of musicianship going on here is at least as advanced as anything that obscure death metal metal was dabbling coming with a healthy dose of complex riffing and wild shred fests, though it falls a little bit behind in terms of cohesiveness. If early Messiah, Possessed and Bathory are on the radar, Morbid Macabre definitely can be found at their border.
www.facebook.com/morbidmac
http://morbidmacabre.tk/
www.facebook.com/pages/Austral-Holocaust-Prods/250899061603703
Review by Paul Caravasi

Satanika-Satanikattack (2011)

This is nasty stuff! Satanika from Italy are quite possibly the dirtiest, rawest and blackest black/thrash band back today. This release  is a shock to the underground metal scene. This is dirty but well produced. Do I care? No! All of those factors contribute to this release's shine. There is an obvious Venom and early Sodom influences here. Satanikattack is obviously in the vein of those bands, and also it has its own little sense of originality, as with the rest of the songs on here.There are some really, really brutal songs to be found. "Atomic Curse" comes to mind first. It begins with a almost suspenseful strumming with some evil riffs over the top and then just breaks loose! With some fast blast-beats and possessed vocals, this is certainly a precursor to modern black/death metal. It's maybe the heaviest song of this release. "Morbid Priest" is also a killer. And has a similar structure for the beginning like Atomic Curse has.I don't even have any complaints for this. It's not the best release ever,but is pretty great especially for a band formed in 2009. Devastating!
www.facebook.com/satanikattack
http://satanika.bandcamp.com/
australholocaust@hotmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Profaner-Promo 2014

Profaner should really need no introduction by now, and that goes double for any death metal fan. Profaner's promo 2014 is one of the dirtier, more pugilistic death metal Peruvian band. This is an essential death metal band. The first of which, are the riffs. This promo features demos of 2008 and 2010, a virulent shit-storm of riffs, which caressed via an achingly low-ass tone splatters your innards across the wall. The bass is perfectly technical, low enough to rumble your bowels and of course highly beneficial to the music. The drummer really hits the nail on the head here. The vocals are quite obviously in the Chuck Schuldiner school of growling which is great, although I feel the vocalist sounds a little more manic and unsettling. The drums are really cool here, with a lot of obscure fills used, setting off more conventional beats, he controls tempo well and really leads everything forward, some of those double pedal crutching youngsters should take a leaf out of his book! Another of the more note-worthy elements displayed on Profaner is that the band aren't afraid to launch into brutal territory. As is normally the case with death metal the lead guitar work is explosive and relevant. On the whole Profaner stands as a disgusting, raw, and dirty ode to death metal. This is the kind of death metal sound that is actually horrifying, the production is their best friend resulting in a raw, festering, mucky sound. This gets my highest recommendation to death metal fans, but I feel this band has reasonable claim to a place in any serious metal fans collection. Essential!
Contact: profaner_deathmetal@hotmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Thanatos-Global Purification (2014)

Holy shit! This album is simply already a gem of death/thrash metal. Hardly any new albums by any metal artist can touch the intensity and greatness of this old school sound metal release. This is Thanatos doing real extreme music. It's heavy, fast, and intense, with just enough melody to hold together the depths of the evil overall sound. The album starts with a heavy mash of guitars, drums, and tortured death screams with "Global Purification".  Vocals are evil gravel growls which manage still to be intelligible, sometimes a lost art form in death metal. Well, they are the top layer of a wall of heavy, crunchy guitar sounds, with ridiculously good riffing. The riffs on this album are spectacular and probably one of my favorite things about this album and Thanatos in general. Every song has at least two major riff hooks that you will either hum or play on your guitar constantly out of habit and their cool sound. Don't mistake good riffing for melody-- there is no melodic wankery here, strictly old school-style death metal riffing that sounds like it's coming straight out of the dark of a cemetery. The very little melody that does exist is extremely subtle, but holds together the overall sound of the band quite well. However, the chugging, headbanging death metal riffs such as those in "The Murder Of Innocence" or "Infestation Of The Soul" give one a chance to bang your head around in mid-tempo death metal glory, right before the mid-tempo parts burst into blastbeats and vicious tremolo picked riffs from hell, the Thanatos  style of riffing is ridiculously catchy and great while still remaining artistic and containing an atmosphere rarely achieved by any metal bands, especially today. Get this album if you don't have it, what the fuck are you waiting for? This is a fucking awesome record. Thanatos rules !!
www.facebook.com/thanatos333
http://www.thanatos.info/
www.centurymedia.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

The Dead-End Alley Band-Odd Stories (2014)

An eclectic mix of diverse styles and influences, rock blues jazz mix, all of these aspects do reappear in places. Imagine a sunset, sitting alone looking out of a window as the world flows by. The musical mix is enhanced by piano, especially during the middle of songs.The keyboard and bass pounds, Definitely influenced by The Doors and Iron Butterfly, and this is certainly an album not for my taste. Next please!
www.facebook.com/deabperu
http://soundcloud.com/deabperu
Review by Paul Caravasi

Kalki-Almas Inmortales (2014)

The times are already changing. Metal music is changing as well, some for the better, some for the worst. Kalki from Peru comes out with their first album "Almas Inmortales", the album is decent, more like a Stoner sound with some touches of Death Metal vocals. In fact most of the songs have a semi-fast paced tempo. Most of the lyrics and themes for these songs have to deal with hallucinations and psychedelia.It's got a lot of cool riffs, and in fact the distortion on the guitar solos is very unique to their style. The drummer does a good job keeping the tempo, vocal performance is good. This isn't necessarily bad, but it makes the music sound repetitive at times. If you like Saint Vitus, Sabbath you'll like this album. If you are okay with metal bands trying to do something original, you should be fine with this album. Overall not bad, they have potential.
www.facebook.com/kalkiStoner
www.facebook.com/ToxikoProducciones
www.facebook.com/sonidoslatentes
Review by Paul Caravasi

Epilepsia-Assassin (Ep 2014)

This Ep marks a difference from every other Peruvian thrash record of this time. With this release, Epilepsia becomes, with all honours, one of the coolest and respected Thrash metal groups. They joined the first division of  thrash in 1998' and become more convincing and professional. They reached a high level, ready to achieve success and recognition among the rich Peruvian underground metal scene, which by this time, is plenty of young promising bands. If they want to survive and compete with the big of this genre, they already found their own sound, refusing to get stagnant in predictable cliches. That’s what they're doing!The music of Epilepsia evolved and developed into something more elaborated, skillful and fresh, compared to their primitive sound of the early records. The significative changes in the now more difficult arrangements, lenghtier instrumental passages and more solid riffs provide their sound of greater consistency. The song-structures are not incredibly complex, each composition avoids to focus on technique excessively, but the huge improvement is notable particularly the riffs and hooks are devastating and raw most of the time.They even attempted to increase the power and violence of these tracks by including faster loose tempos, which are defined immaculately by the raging double bass-drum beatings. Speed is constant, an essential characteristic of their new sound that give us the chance to headbang and break our necks.Frantic velocity, instrumental progression and huge killer riffing, that was the combination that couldn’t fail: The final result is a memorable masterpiece of Thrash Metal. We have here a splendid thrash masterpiece, memorable energy, attitude and passion of these 6 fierce tunes, then there’s no way you won’t enjoy them. With powerful stuff like this EP in their discography catalog, they'll reach the glory and splendor, anyway, for those who live in the past like me, for those old-school romantics that can’t find any pleasure on the modern dumb thrash sound , here you got a fucking brutal Thrash Metal band!!
www.facebook.com/EPILEPSIATHRASH
Press Contact: epilepsia_thrash@hotmail.com
www.australholocaust.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Decimation-Reign Of Ungodly Creation

The album is a must have. Let's begin with the technique, the riffs are out in full force, sheer insanity and pure creativity. For most bands on most albums, the bassist is simply an obligatory instrument which serves to fill the need for low end. It's worth mentioning that vocals performance on this album is incredible making it sound closer to the "old school" death metal vocalists like Frank Mullen. The next time you're cruising your friendly neighborhood record store, skip the tripe from the overhyped copycats of the day and buy this album, and you'll be listening to it for years after you forgot the name of that other band you were going to buy. Can't wait to hear what they can do with their next album !
www.facebook.com/DecimationTR
www.comatosemusic.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Septycal Gorge-Scourge Of The Formless Breed (2014)

As a genre, death metal is mostly appealing because of the combined concentration of technical prowess and unconventional songwriting tendencies. It’s easy to see how a number of people who are taken by the vile, atonal nightmare that is this form of extreme music might also have an affinity for obscure progressive metal or the inevitable hybrid of the two. For its time, it could be said that this band is dabbling in a progressive area, Septycal Gorge particularly cuts like a decrepit guttural ear drum assault, i considered brutal and technical by today’s standards. The inevitable changes in the definitions of terms used to describe metal music might confuse most who are looking to bands like Cryptopsy, Decrepit Birth or Necrophagist. This is much closer to what is now considered the archaic sound that is still pushed by Cannibal Corpse in the early days, although its much more potent and will probably hold some appeal for current fans of brutal death who have some appreciation for the roots of death metal. But categories aside, this is an intense listen, especially considering that its made by young metalheads. Everything about it, including the production, are endearing and only further add to an already hearty array of blood and guts. Forget about riding the haunted mansion ride at your nearby amusement park, forget about “House Of A Thousand Corpses”, just listen to this and see if you can avoid getting freaked out !
www.facebook.com/septycalgorge.official
www.comatosemusic.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Inferion-This Will Decay (2014)

Old school death metal. Start blasting away at full speed, and relies more on the impact, it's something that every old school death metal enthusiast should be familiar with, and something that might carry appeal to a younger crowd that craves the rabid brutal acts populating the scenes of late. Boasting some new blood on the altar, and here it works out just perfectly, added this satanic sermon voice to the Inferion experience. I must stress that the sound is in the beautifully disgust filled aural assault we all love. This young band delivers !
www.inferion.net
www.horrorpaingoredeath.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

TelochVovin-Rehearsal Promo I (2014)

Sometimes I have no real knowledge of Black metal bands , to me after the 90's they became 'tired, bored and monotonous', So I came to this band, a dependable brutal sound to pad my Metal Nights out even further. This rehearsal promo kicked my ass for my complacency with their tight-as-fuck riffage. Yup, tight, is the word. A band as chaotic as this would reek of sloppiness in the hands of a lesser band, but those guitars burn like a buzzsaw blade over the top of a drumkit being abused by a pillheaded octopus, the craziest blastbeating, double-bass driven beats, interspersed with enough shifts in gear to keep the rhythm fresh and no less evil. Everything leaps out of the speakers, and hopefully seeps through every wall in the house. I'll raise a glass to TelochVovin setting the standard for albums to come. i am not a black Metal fan but this band is fkn impressive, diverse and makes you listen the entire thing without getting bored. Good job!
www.facebook.com/TelochVovin333
Review by Paul Caravasi

Nervo Chaos-The Art Of Vengeance (2014)

This album is a must have for fans of thrash metal, death metal, or black metal. It seems nobody listens to any other Brazilian bands like the classic  Sarcófago other than their INRI album,Vulcano and all the others, especially this band goes unoticed., at least here in the states. This band has a few ups on their previous releases with a much better production quality but the music here is more technical. Every song on this album is different and every song is catchy. Think Obituary-Slowly We Rot style vocals with a little more grunt to them. Very good death/thrash style guitar work and some amazing drums. There is really no reason not to check this album out. It isn't repetative, so it doesn't get boring and the music is good (whether it is your style or not). Also the first pressing of the album includes a bonus Dvd featuring a documentation of the band's latest tour. It is enjoyable and furious!
www.nervochaos.com.br
pt-br.facebook.com/NervoChaos
www.greyhazerecords.com

Cropsy Maniac-Shear Terror (2014)

These crazy bastards execute extraordinary brutal music dedicated to the horror movie freaks, Cropsy Maniac have based an entire Ep on horror, if you ask me , i can tell their lyrics are based on the 70's and 80's stuff, slasher movies rules and this is a cool tribute to them. Metal and gore ufffffff the best.The music here is something to be appreciated. It has a very thrashy sound which reminds me of "Autopsy Torment' and 'Eaten Back to Life' era 'Cannibal Corpse'. 'Crospy' even utilizes solo's which is unorthodox for grind metal. This is an instrumental paradise. The music is catchy and is what you would come to expect if you enjoy this kind of bands like I do. Though lyrical content and vocals are the norm for death/grind I find it refreshing to actually base the songs on something that we all might relate to. I enjoy the production as it is murky and dark which helps to give the music texture and a scary aura that is befitting an outfit of the likes of 80's influenced death/grind. I hope that every listener has had the enjoyment that I have had while listening to 'Shear Terror' and appreciates it for its musical attributes and dedication from its creators. The world of the underground is upon the metal world,strong and vibrant constantly releasing surprise after surprise. The Ep also features a kick ass cover of Haemorrhage. For listeners of Impetigo, Macabre and Frightmare. Thanks to Mark Impetigo for let me know about this band and Aaron Whitsell for sending me a copy. This band is fkn awesome !
www.facebook.com/cropsymaniacgrind
www.deadbeatshop.net
Review by Paul Caravasi

Corsair-One Eyed Horse (2015)

Corsair is probably the best example of the merging of the Progressive musical approaches of bands such as Rush and the heavy metal genre as pioneered by the NWOBHM bands, their music is actually about as comparable as night and day, this group of musicians dealt mostly with mystical themes, although this album is a bit of a departure from that approach in favor of a more philosophical approach.In terms of the music, this is a kick ass release, particularly in terms of structure. Songs with all the hooks necessary to be awesome, still have highly catchy choruses and a very straight-forward structure. “One Eyed Horse”, which is my favorite track on this release, is almost a hold over of their early work, in how well it combines the sound of Iron Maiden with their own style, most fans of Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal will definitely eat this band up.It is also necessary to point out, just so that fans of more guitar driven metal aren’t overly disappointed if they choose to take this review as a recommendation to pick up this album. Corsair is not a band that is defined by their guitar solos. Although they do have rather well placed solos that are technical enough, they are in by no means the amazing technical displays that you get out of classic bands like Rush, Black Sabbath, Maiden, or Thin Lizzy. In conclusion, this is an album that is highly accessible to fans of metal outside of Progressive circles. Fans of more traditional metal will find things to like in here, and fans of melodic power metal whom don’t live and die by the cliché drum beats of the style alone might find some keepers on this gem. This comes highly recommended to all said parties. Corsair did it once again. This band is fkn cool !!
www.facebook.com/pages/corsair/179747970753?ref=br_tf
www.skykrakken.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Acid Age-Drone Shark Ethics (2014)

I got to know this band when the vocalist suggested I should listen to them. This young Crossover/Thrash Metal act was formed not so long ago and The underground Thrash Metal scene seems to be still united after all. Mike of The metal detector promotions were kind enough to send me the digital  album. Anyway, who could resist reviewing a relentless Thrash Metal album? These guys have managed to create a pretty interesting, yet totally old school mixture of iron forged Thrash Metal with Crossover touches and some fragments of old pure Hardcore/Punk music. There are times when their similarity with DRI is just amazing! The guitars are razor sharp, the pounding drumming kicks ass and the not so melodic gang vocals are bringing back memories of the old days, when Metal music was coming straight from each musician's heart and passion. That's all that has to be said, nothing more. If you are looking for some good DRI meets WEHRMACHT old school Metal manifesto, then these maniacs can surely do the work for you! The song "Hound Dog" features Felix Griffin on drums. Hold the flag of hate high you crazy motherfuckers! We are waiting for your next assault!
 www.facebook.com/acidagethrash
 http://acidage.bandcamp.com
themetaldetectorpromotions@gmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Cvinger-The Enthronement Ov Diabolical (2014)

Interesting,  to compare the music to prototypical death metal, as it is comparatively simple, brutally rhythmic, and extremely fast. Don't get me wrong: this isn't a 'typical' Black/death metal release, not by a long shot, as the music is not afraid to explore avenues left neglected by the mainstream death bands, and there is still enough of the cold black metal influence and they are trying to combine death metal with early Mayhem or Emperor. Cvinger have started something here that I think they would be well-advised to continue in the future - but neither is this truly ground-breaking or strikingly novel, also be aware that this is just the 'first strike' of their style, and I'm sure their next album will be more confident, and so far they have a fucking brutal sound !
www.cvinger.si
http://cvinger.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/Cvinger666
themetaldetectorpromotions@gmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Thrashtorno-Unearthed in the Disaster (2014)

Well known within the thrash community in Peru, but outside they are virtually unknown, which when compared to bands like Violator, seems quite silly. Few bands have stayed a true to the course as Thrashtorno have. The best part is, they stayed thrash, however, they're a standard thrash band, and this new album is the album where they play it enough, thrashing hard, and where they become something special. The album contains plenty of cool riffs, all of which are successes. It's hard to mention an Thrashtorno album and not talk about the drumming and riffs, vocals are what will either make you love or hate this band. The style of the singer is accessible, so if you're here because you've heard their successful album, you're in for a surprise.In my opinion, this is a well done album. The band delivers ferocious music that is supported by a great production job. If you want to get into Thrashtorno, this album will quickly grow on you. Good job Thrashers !
www.facebook.com/thrashtorno.peru.9?fref=ts
Review by Paul Caravasi

Vandal-Rehearsal 2013

The cover art here is wonderful. I'd also like to state that this may just be the finest hour for Vandal from Chile, this rehearsal is just so fast and fun, for the most part, quite intense, catchy riffs like a wilder, uncouth Metallica meets Destruction with wicked vocals. This band sounds as it should, razor sharp guitars playing quite fast through much of the material. Definitely a nice Southamerican alternative to the new days of Thrash Metal. Check this band out, you won't regret it. I can't wait to hear their full-lenght album soon. TOTAL MOSH !
www.facebook.com/pages/VANDAL-CHILE/211993425514768
Review by Paul Caravasi

The Black Moriah-Casket Prospects (2013)

This band featuring ex Absu member Zawicizuz can do no wrong, far as I can tell, bringing you thrash fucking metal with black metal styled vocals and plenty of headbanging in their blackened thrash. A thrash attack with an oddly timed riff that works really well and is still damn catchy, reminding you this isn't just any thrash band! A personal favorite of mine is track 3 , "Casket Prospects", which I insist is one of the greatest riffs of all time. Somewhat technical, downright evil, and pure fucking metal. Once you hear it, the horns go straight up. An intense and thrashtastic band to blast and headbang with. A band destined to become legendary, check them out right now. This album is mandatory !
www.theblackmoriah.com
www.facebook.com/Theblackmoriah
Review by Paul Caravasi

EgoKill-Destroying The Vibes (2013)

Hailing from New York, comes along this crossover band, a genre which started to take off around 85'-86'. Mixing  Accused, Minor Threat with Exodus, Slayer,and D.R.I. These young kids capture the intensity of hardcore and the aggression of thrash. Imagine the bastard love-child of "Bonded by Blood" and " The return of Marha Splatterhead" and you might have an idea what this sounds like. This album definitely got balls. The riffs are simple, catchy, and fast-paced, the drumming is typical punk. The lyrics range B-movie ultra violence to the Sickening stuff in life, a hell of a lot of fun, for some reason, I can't get enough of this. Don't expect complex songwriting or musical virtuosity. If you want to bang your head into oblivion, Attitude is what Egokill are all about. I have one major complaint about this album: I didn't get it in original format (just a CD-R). However, you owe it to yourself to check this one out: I promise you won't be disappointed !
www.facebook.com/egokillny
egokill.bandcamp.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Majesty In Ruin-All Light Shall Fade (Demo 2014)

There are very few traces of  aggression on this demo, voice is great...he does some singing here which includes some of the most haunting and heartbreaking moments in this band. His voice is stronger, his vibrato and range is cool, and vocal harmonies appear consistently, and he employs some interesting and highly memorable melodies, that is how good the vocalist is here. The music is equal parts excellent melodic guitar harmonies, convincing your typical doom sections which are very dark, and some great experimentation on a large protion of the songs and heavy riffs.There is also a noticeable change in the style of drumming at times,these three tracks are good and this is a band  staying true to their inherent sense of sorrowful doom. Absolutely fantastic stuff here, Doom is back!
www.facebook.com/majestyinruin
soundcloud.com/majesty-in-ruin

Review by Paul Caravasi

Edge Of Haze-Illumine (2014)

To get an idea of the mood of this album, just imagine you’re standing on a desolate plain by a very gloomy stormy night, looking in an old well filled with utterly dark water. Indeed, dark is the key word here,this sounds depressive and, the band has managed to take the best of traditional doom metal (I’m referring to early Paradise Lost) and gothic metal without forgetting the death metal touch to combine them into this unique piece of pure DESPAIR, this album so exceptional. Because this work shows an undeniable GOTHIC feeling – Almost every song begins with a lively (hell, for doom metal of course) guitar-driven verse which generally in the middle of the track turns into a very slow melodic and emotional (in the best way) part more or less interrupted by heavier growled passages. Song structures are indeed complex and exhibiting a single pattern for the whole album would be rather hard. Clean vocals (predominant), growls, short atmospheric interludes, straightforward death-metal parts, spoken passages sometimes and RIFFS alternate in the most perfect manner. Because yes, this album has riffs, both slow and raspy doom metal riffs which account for much in the melancholy of the work, and prevent it from falling into unstructured gothic/atmospheric garbage. Here might well be the secret of this genuine piece of art, the music itself being amongst the saddest you might ever imagine. Some may prefer the more direct, black-sabbath-ish doom metal of the 80’s doom bands, As far as I’m concerned I consider this album as a cool release. Check it out!
www.facebook.com/edgeofhaze
Promoter: Curtis Dewar: dewarpr@gmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Krow-Relentless Disease (Ep-2014)

These two songs absolutely fuckin' slays! headbangable riffage and a raw primal swagger that runs a gauntlet of styles and tones with ease -- the residual after-effect equivalent to several tons of pure cocaine, a straight-up adrenaline shot and one of my favorite musical experiences. Maybe I hold a minority opinion on this. And that there is an inherent generational bias in my abiding love for this Ep. But I truly feel it can appeal to fans of Entombed, and Autopsy and I cannot see how that is a bad thing.  And personally speaking, since i discovered this Brazilian band now, I've listened to it pretty much non-stop and will forever do so, sickeningly vicious, and heavy as hell, Krow tips the scale as a great and enduring metal band. Looking forward to hear their full lenght album soon!
www.facebook.com/krowmetalzone
Review by Paul Caravasi

Haemophagus-Atrocious (2014)

A mix between death and thrash metal, most of the riffs and leads are played more in a thrash manner while the drumming, vocals, and solos are more firmly in the death metal style. In essence you could call it an extreme thrash album, with a technical edge. First off the songs themselves are mainly played at very high tempos and the solos are almost entirely played in the Slayer style which is fast guitar picked distorted soloing that lasts for a short time, the songs are still very entertaining. The band’s playing is very tight which shows they are highly capable musicians who exhibit incredible skill since most of their songs are played at very high tempos. The vocals are quite brutal in death metal because they are bellowed in way that is easily decipherable to the listener. The guitar work has a technical aspect to it, the riff work is superb, The drumming is nearly flawless and is very double kick bass driven with some absolutely old school style. The bass guitar is almost inaudible which is far from unusual for either death or thrash metal. It belongs in any thrash or death metal collector’s collection. I recommend "Atrocious"  to any extreme metal fan who likes technically challenging death/thrash albums.
www.facebook.com/Haemophagus
haemophagus.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/razorbackrecordings
Review by Paul Caravasi

Imperial-Chaos

Unholy black metal from Francemixed with devastating thrash.The production here is very thin and high end. The drums favor the thrash style, but you will find plenty of blastbeats as well. The songs overall are a bit faster than your average thrash however. There are a couple gallop beats here and there as well, the drummer does a good job of keeping it fresh, yet staying aggressive throughout.The guitars are pure Hellish riffage. Sounding something like Venom. Comparable to Destroyer 666, but more intense - evil thrash and black riffage with just a hint of melody.The vocals are something of a throaty mid to low thrash styled yell with an occasional black metal scream over top.Though, there are a couple minor flaws. Overall these factors do not hold this album back. Like blackened thrash? Then get this.
www.facebook.com/ImperialOfficial
www.facebook.com/pages/Triumph-Ov-Death-records/133171970133853
E-mail: triumphovdeath@gmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Flesh Engine-Purging Existence (2014)

Not a lot of people have actually heard of Flesh Engine but they have been on the road for a while, "Purging Existence" is an example of mixing a fair amount of drumming, as Pantera and Machine Head styled riffs as well. Overall it's a good album but I think some of the greatness of this album has been lost because of the midtempos. I would say that the first three songs have a bit more of a melodic edge than the rest of the album and don't base themselves almost exclusively on heavy and fast tunes...thus making this a great start to the album as it creates a bit of variation, although not enough to make it a truly great disc. The rest of the album though prides itself almost exclusively on heavy groove riffs (although there are some hints of melody from the first three songs scattered through a couple songs). There two things that hurt this disc: 1. The aforementioned problem of many bands having this sound...especially nowadays which really doesn't make this album stand out today and 2. Not enough variety or atleast not enough defining pieces in each song. N
ot bad at all, but i prefer fast drumming and fast killer riffs than midtempos, I would certainly say that if you like bands like Pantera, Machine Head you will atleast like this disc,i could say these guys are good musicians and i'm sure they can do it better next time.
www.fleshengine.com
www.facebook.com/fleshengine
www.fleshengine.bandcamp.com
Review by Paul Caravasi