Laceratory - Extermination Of The Dissidents (2020)

 

Laceratory are quite frankly sick as fuck! Started in 2018 they were social distancing before it was mandated, with the band starting in Minneapolis and members all over the globe. Laceratory are a killer, brutal , death metal band that not only kicks you in the dick with sheer brutality, but the technical proficiency is on display as well. This album has that perfect combination of tuned down death metal nastiness and guttural vocals to please even the most discerning slam fan! Alternating between painfully slow chugging guitars and brain pummeling blast beats there are snippets of some serious technical skill that keeps this album from being just another brutal/ slam album. Laced with gore filled lyrics written with the blood off a butcher knife that was just used to slice a throat, I highly recommend giving Extermination of the Dissidents a listen to get your needed dose of gore, and brutality!

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Review by Shawn kline

Cadaver Putrefacto - La Maldicion del Zombi Errante (2017)

 

Having been in existence off and on since 2000, Argentina’s  Cadaver Putrefacto is made up of veterans of the Argentine death metal  scene. La Maldicion del Zombi Errante sound like something that could easily have come out of the Buffalo scene in the early 90’s, if not for the songs all being sung in Spanish. That’s not to say that the band or this album sound dated, but on the contrary it still sounds fresh and the band deliver a brutally refreshing album that is amazingly listenable no matter what language the lyrics are in. It’s a refreshing deaprture from the technical trend that death metal has taken in recent years. The overall sound is killer and while not being technical it’s not simplistic either. The perfect blend of brutality, gore, and just enough technicality to keep it from being boring. Look these guys up on Bandcamp and give your ears the abuse they deserve!

facebook.com/CadaverPutrefacto2016

Review by Shawn Kline

Aphotica - The Arrival (2019)

 

My initial impression on this album was that I was about to listen to an album full of Amon Amarth cover tunes, but I’m glad I was wrong. To say I was pleasantly surprised as the album progressed would be an understatement. The album definitely starts off on an Amon Amrarth’ish  but rapidly progresses into so much more. Elements of both symphonic black metal and old school black metal shine through as the album winds it way through the Edda’s and Saga’s of ancient Nordic belief. There’s not a lot to dislike about this band to be honest, and the skill shown on this sophomore release is killer with some beautiful female backing vocals to compliment the black metal vocals,  and I look forward to hearing what is coming next. If you’re a fan of any of the Pagan metal bands or even just black metal I would recommend you grab your sword, slaughter a sacrifice  to Odin, grab a horn of mead, and jam the fuck out of The Arrival.

facebook.com/AphoticaBand

Review by Shawn Kline

Funeral Bastard - Grave Cult Ascension ( Cassette 2018)

Nonstop catchy as hell riffing and Lemmy/Cronos-inspired thundering bass lines play the soundtrack to some form of dystopian nightmare full of booze, leather, spikes, Lucifer, and bar room brawls. I just got this release from 2018, holy hell, this is aggressive. Funeral Bastard basically sounds like an amalgamation of the fastest bits of Motörhead mixed with Venom's vitriol and the primitive, chest thumping of Hellhammer; all played to the tune of raging, speeding, punked-up heavy metal. Grave Cult Ascension offers nine tracks of pure savagery. The riffs are high energy, speeding heavy metal with a dash of punkened simplicity, sticking to the basics, which fits the band's style quite well. While the riffs are utterly fantastic, one of the highlights has to be the gravelly barked growls with pure filth and destruction. It would seem that Funeral Bastard is on fire at this point: when it comes to raging, speeding, filthy metal, this band are the ones. I hope to see these guys in concert soon. Play it Loud Damn It !!

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funeralbastard.bandcamp.com

Review by Paul Caravasi

Psychomancer - Shards Of The Hourglass (2019)

This is 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 going in the death metal style. In essence you could call this album an extreme thrash sound, with a technical edge. First off the songs themselves are mainly played at very high tempos and the solos are almost entirely played in a brutal style which is fast guitar picked distorted soloing that lasts for a short time. Swedish sound seems to be a big influence on Psychomancer’s style which uses a lot of swedish guitar tones techniques. Fortunately most of the songs are very entertaining and filler is almost non existent. Even when these guys slows down to more mid tempo 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 and brutal tempos. The vocals are awesome. The guitar work has a technical aspect to it. The drumming is nearly flawless and is very double kick bass driven with some absolutely pummeling rhythms. The bass guitar is there too. Shards Of The Hourglass is an instant classic that belongs in any thrash or death metal collector’s collection. The best songs for me are Hell's Venom and Red Poetry (which contains a kick ass intense vocals). I recommend this great album to any extreme metal fan who likes technically challenging death/thrash.

facebook.com/psychomancertheband

orchestratedmisery.net

Review by Paul Caravasi

Fetid Zombie - Death Covenant (2019)

Another sick release by Mark Riddick Project "Fetid Zombie". The violence here expressed by these musicians is an example for the generations to come. Everything here is so obscure, sick and brutal, starting from the bestial, animalistic vocals. The production is perfect for the rotten atmosphere. The beginning is the best with songs like “Swarm Of Filth” and “Necromanced From the Grave”: the up tempo parts and the mid paced, already morbid as fuck, breaks are perfectly balanced with killer solos and catchy lines. The screams in have something of inhuman while the violent drums parts tear my limbs apart, pure sickness. Great death metal songs with the up tempo sections are incredible for malevolence. What else can i say about this release? It's a massive death metal brutality.This is pure DEATH METAL. Period. Highly recommended for old school metal fans, and thrashers as well. A fundamental piece of extreme music. Relentless!

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fetidzombie.bandcamp.com

Review by Paul Caravasi

Unburied - From beyond The Grave (2020)

The doom elements are already in place in some seriously good riffing on this release. As the sound quality became a little louder, the instruments began to raise themselves out of the shallow graves. The guitar sound have a thicker projection and in turn give the songs more of a "crunch" to its rabid bite. A slower and more doom-like sound mixed with raw death metal. The growled voice still there, the drumming chops begin to expand by attempting to match some of the different tempo changes and as a result there's more capability to include varied fills to the overall mixture. Matt fleshed out dormant abilities of himself from his last recording. And I have to say within less than a year's time he gave a decent size "nudge" forward. I recommend this recording for followers of a mixture of death, thrash and hints of doom where each of the respected genres are capable of working together as a whole.  I actually really like the filthy, atmosphere on this album.

unburiedbandmerch@gmail.com

Review by Paul Caravasi

Unburied - Primitive, Raw, Underground (2019)

The riffs on this release have a driving maniacal feeling to them and are played with insane rawness. I'm not bashing the common style of playing it's just that this is sort of a shock when compared to other extreme forms of music . These songs are punishing, vocals are interesting  as he grimly pukes out lyrical contents of this album . A demented personality of the characters portrayed on this. A cold decaying feeling of murder and morbidity. The drums punishing the listener with all out assault on the senses . Even the slower breaks from the insane pace of the songs are well done and have a morbid sound. Whether it's the sick-in-the-head escaped mental patient feeling given off by the vocals, or the morbid guitar is what the underground scene is all about. A perfect mixture of mental morbidity and raw brutality by Matt Pike. YOU NEED TO OWN THIS PERIOD !!!!!!!

unburiedbandmerch@gmail.com

Review by Paul Caravasi