Chainsaw-Hill Of Crosses (2014)

Chainsaw is a great blend of Black Metal with Thrash Metal. The songs on Hill Of Crosses have the up-beat feeling of Thrash Metal and have the evil feeling of Black Metal. The vocals are harsh but there not exactly screamed. There almost a mix of Araya (from Slayer) and Culto (from Darkthrone). There also some catchy choruses layed out in the album. In "Maniac" the chorus is simply "Maniac-A sledgehammer pounding your corpse" and in "Born With Horns" the chorus is "Murder psychopath murder i want to stick your head in a blender...!" The drumming is simple. It's typical Thrash Metal drumming. The riffs are speedy and evil. Sure the guitars don't really pull of anything crazy but there are some pretty good solos. It is a good album. The speed is matained through out the album and there are no songs with slowed down parts, simple yet fun to listen to album. If you're interested in Black/Thrash Metal, get this right away!
www.facebook.com/pages/Chainsaw/1390503807865077
www.chainsawdistro.com
www.facebook.com/LanxDistro
Review by Paul Caravasi

Mandragora-First Attack 7" Ep (2014)

Interesting variation on the traditional Heavy metal sound with a fair share of Judas Priest, Accept and Warlock influences, concentrated upon the riff oriented style the previous mentioned bands . “First Attack” is sort of aggressive heavy metal, also you can hear bits and pieces of Dokken or Maiden, however, holds onto a good deal of the speed metal elements. The Ep opener “Lady In Black” has an evil low voice before launching into some solid speed metal with Fatima doing some powerful vocal work. “Snakebite” again has some Dokken qualities.This is enjoyable. Fatima’s vocals carry the performance on here, you can tell they love what they do, and it shows in every single note that she sings and the band plays. Cool stuff !
www.facebook.com/pages/MANDRAGORA/100570339997012
Manager/Band: luchitometal@hotmail.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Demencia-Todos Vamos A Morir (2010)

Quick, what do you get when you combine Crust Punk,Thrashcore, and old school Death Metal? You get classic Grindcore, that's what. And one of the best examples is Demencia from Peru. Pure chaos taking the form of the most extreme punk and metal combining. Something I love about this (which is true of most Grindcore I listen to) is that its hardcore punk roots are very evident- this has similar riffing and vocal styles to old British Crust Punks, it has the speed and blasting intensity of early American Thrashcore bands- and this also manages to use it's Death metal influence very well, injecting a lot of its atmosphere, while still not letting it overpower the Punk, like many later Grind bands seemed to do, this is one of the most important albums in the Grindcore Peruvian scene, beloved by metalheads and punks all over, blasting speed, Punk attitude and socially-political side of the injustice in Peru and all around the world..Its been a long time since an album literally grabbed me by by neck and pounded the flying shit out of me, but all has changed since i got this album. On the first spin i was all over the fucking place!!! The album just picked me up and slammed me against the wall.... how can you not get floored? this album is 11 tracks of pounding brutality (featuring a brutal cover of Desarme- Por Que?)... harsh Vocals, pounding fast as fuck Drums, a peculiar but awesome as hell Muddy Bass Sound, some great Guitar work..., good riffs, wherever there was a solo it was a good one. Overall, if you're a fan of Grindcore in general.... listen to it at its best and pick up Demencia 'Todos Vamos A Morir'.. you won't be disappointed!
www.facebook.com/demencia.crossover
Review by Paul Caravasi

BloodFreak-Squalor (2014)

Bloodfreak are already well known in the underground and most likely are known by the majority of those into underground mu-sick. This cd is full of grinding well thought out songs that grab hold of the listener and never let go for one second. Definitely this isn't music for people that don't enjoy the most morbid and demented of bands like Impetigo or Macabre,  the well known masters. The riffs on "Squalor" have a driving maniacal feeling to them and are played with blazing speed and precision which is not common for this kind of bands. These songs are punishing and grinding and effective, this great band obviously is into old great horror movies, serial killers and just plain oddly morbid stuff . Vocals are at their peak of perfection, demented with a grimacing over the top gleefulness as well, this my friends is what the underground scene is all about. This record is an underground sonic serial killer's orgasm that will always remain as one of the greatest albums I will ever own along with "Ultimo Mondo Cannibale" by Impetigo and "Gloom" by Macabre. A perfect mixture of macabre mental morbidity. YOU NEED TO OWN THIS PERIOD !!!!
www.facebook.com/BloodFreak
www.willowtip.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Tunjum-Sagrado Tiempo De Caos (2014)

This disc is DEATH FUCKING METAL. Not the mid-paced kind, not the Swedish kind, just straight brutal double-bass evil straight from the Peruvian lands. And while there are quite a few bands like this (early Immolation being fine examples), Tunjum do differentiate themselves from the pack.Clara Herrera drummer/vocalist sounds like she came straight from the pits of hell - really low, gurgling, rarely moving into a high-pitched screech. Like I said before, the drums are pretty much straight speedy double bass, and the bass is tuned low so that it often just mixes into the wall of sound Tunjum produce. The guitar seems to enmesh itself in this wall too - every instrument including vox just produces a deep, dark mass of sound. My favorite song on here is probably "Batalla Ritual" a doomy crusher with death metal speed thrown in here and there. Maybe it's just because the song is different that it really stands out. Not that this cd is extremely monotonous, and in fact I can listen to it the whole way through, but overall the rest of the tracks blend together. So, a good pickup if you like blasphemy and low-as-hell fast death.
E-mail: tunjum@hotmail.com
dark_recollections_prods@yahoo.com.mx
Review by Paul Caravasi

Almas Inmortales

Aside from the image on the album cover Almas Inmortales from peru did everything right with this record, classic Heavy Metal that kicks copious amounts of asses in the way that cheesy, over the top heavy metal is supposed to, they just wrote some catchy music. In the vein of bands like Omen, Attacker, Jag Panzer.A lot of the riffage on this record would be considered bland and generic by today's standards, but I shit on today's standards which is why the music on this album is that damn good. The opening riffs on "Creyentes De Una Sonrisa" or "Gitana" are complete and unashamed Judas Priest worship while the riffs on "Gitana" could have been transplanted from "Killers"(Iron Maiden) both feature relatively thrashy riffs that aren't too special, but with the eccentric vocals and the unbridled energy that is present, there is still plenty of substance, making these tracks that much more memorable. I'd also be a terrible liar if I said that I didn't headbang myself into near brain damage while listening to "Siervo De La Inmundicia", which features riffs that convey the title perfectly. The vocals here are high-pitched and at times quirky, but they do the trick. Another highlight on this album is definitely the soloing. Every solo is fantastic with it's miraculous blend of shredding and melody and they could easily get the listener to whip out their air guitar and solo manically on their imaginary axes. Almas Inmortales real strength is the way in that they play their music with such conviction and menacing precision that they're easily revered by fans, despite their lyrics and maybe not to sing about dragons and Giants,Still, this is a band that should not be passed up and is an incredibly fun listen that will have you coming back time and time again.
www.facebook.com/almasinmortales
Review by Paul Caravasi