Throat Cutter - Speed Demon from Hell

Okay, so I figured it was time to finally give a listen to this cassette and i go through cycles of addiction to this band due to the heavy dissonant riffs and beefy drums and demented vocals, this is pure madness. The riffs are crazy here. They have a punk attitude to them, when you listen to Throat Cutter you'll understand what I'm talking about. Just put it on already and stare off into the badass band that would destroy your ears with savage metal.m This release is a fantastic insight into how much old school Thrash Metal bands has influenced the new generation. This deserve to be listened to as a celebration of the underground scene. This music perfectly captures the frenzied energy of the golden era. This frenzied music brings back the sound of my youthful rebellion. My advice? Give this a listen for yourself, then formulate your own opinion. This is what metal is all about damn it !!

hamaskrecords.storenvy.com

hamaskrecords@gmail.com

Review by Paul Caravasi

Mephisto - Pentafixion (2021)

Mephisto from Cuba. There is so many influences in this band's music that you cannot pin-point it more than simply extreme metal. This album Makes you feel as if you're trapped in a dark chamber in some medieval castle. It has some synthesized choirs, to which the drums and guitars play a bit. The vocal screech, the drums play some great headbangable beats! And to make it even more interesting, some melodic solos. Afterwards, the album is good.  When the tremolo picked guitars come in, along with the cool  drumming. vocals come in and growls a bit, and then the chaos start. It's like watching a horror movie with brutal orchestral  music in it. This album is pure epicness and has no words to be described. All in all, this was an amazing listen. If I were to recommend it to someone, I would recommend it to symphonic black metal fans. I feel like I've rambled on enough, yet I also feel like I've barely scratched the surface as to why I like this album. Oh well. Hope this was useful to someone and maybe even turned a few people on to an style that they may have previously overlooked. Good job !

www.wormholedeath.com

facebook.com/WormHoleDeath

Review by Paul Caravasi

Mara - Djavulstoner

Melodic death metal force by all?. First of all, production wise it sounds absolutely well done. Every instrument sounds full and crisp, whilst maintaining an organic warmth to them and not bending to the temptation of modern overly polished production. The vocals feels intense and lively, and spirited; alternating between the more shrieky cries (those can be a bit exaggerated) and the lower husky tones, with even double vocals in places; and there's more dynamism to the vocals on here to go along with the detailed sound of the album. Every single song on this album is catchy (however flawed and even tainted for a few) and immediately recognizable within the first seconds and the lead guitars are often used as main musical phrases. The album does contain a substantial amount of genuinely pleasant and at times even majestic melody. As far as I can tell, this is efficient. Even if you're someone who typically writes off melodeath as cheesy, "Djavulstoner" might still be something you can love. If anything, it's more of an extreme heavy metal album, so give it a shot.

facebook.com/WormHoleDeath

Review by Paul Caravasi

Bloody Corpse Dismemberment

Punk/ death grind from northern Arizona. The trick with grindcore is to submerge yourself into the music. If you successfully manage to do so, you'll be fine. I like to listen to grindcore if I’m in a very specific mood Basically.This Cd consisting of 33 tracks, each song will crush you as the album flies by at lightning speed. Everything is right to the point; each song blasts away a few different riffs, with the vocals sounding just as angry and blunt as everything else here. You’ll have already heard the d-beat punk influence in their songs, as well as the band’s tasteful use of breakdowns. Not chugga-chugga breakdowns, but ones that really act as a powerful counterpoint and build up. The production is certainly heavy and raw as hell here. Considering the band tunes, the guitar riffs are nasty but easy to catch, all the instruments sound fkn raw here. vocals are certainly effective. This album definitely is not for everyone which is good, not all metalheads like grindcore to be honest. But this is a cool Cd for my sick taste in extreme music.

lilpunkinrekkids@gmail.com

Review by Paul Caravasi

Psychic Pawn - Eulogy " The Complete Anthology" (2021)

Thrashback Records continue releasing underrated classics. Then I finally heard Psychic Pawn. Holy shit, what exactly happened to this band? This is a fantastic CD in pretty much every aspect. Considering this came out in 1994, This reissue features the recordings from 1991-'92' and 94'. This is fantastic, pure, full-on death metal. Sure, there is still some traces of thrash here.  Blasting speed, brutal slowdowns, and deranged solos that would define much of early-90’s death metal. But what really stands out about this release is how fundamentally catchy and well-written these tunes are.  This is pure old-school death metal at its absolute finest. The Demos 91'-'92 are more primitive (though still pretty damn technical) definitely works in the band’s favor. Drumming is insane and suit’s the riffs perfectly, and vocals are way catchier and more effective. Guitar and bass work are top-notch of course, and the production on this release is surprisingly good. Thanks Eric and Thrashback Records for bringing back all this kick ass gems. Psychic Pawn is a brilliant death metal band and this Cd is amazing. Its well played, well produced, brutal and catchy as fuck. And in old-school death metal, what else do you really need? A classic.

facebook.com/ThrashBackRecords

Review by Paul Caravasi

Nemesis - The War Is On (2020)

Nemesis is a Female band from Serbia. This record is filled with simple and catchy riffs, interesting strucures and some very cool lead playing. This album doesn't show off full on wankery, more like tasteful and skillfull playing. Here you will find intensity and authenticity, at least that appeals to me. The main riffs and leads are great and the rythm is pummeling and worthy of the horns. All tracks feature ferocious riffing mixed with a catchy as hell chorus that inspires my head to bang. The vocals are outstanding and fit the band's sound on this release. "The War Is On" certainly gets the job done. The drumming kicks ass. Several times the drums are given the main stage. As far as solos are concerned, I have no complaints. They don't go cheap on them. The riffs are pummeling throughout almost the entire album, not too fast, but heavy enough. At overall look, the album is pretty good!!

facebook.com/girldeathmetal

facebook.com/GROMRecords

Review by Paul Caravasi

Paganfire - Wreaking Fear and Death

This a raw thrash metal explosion that will simply destroy you. It's relentlessly unstoppable, utterly dirty, and completely endless. This is Paganfire from The Philippines. This was recorded in 2011-2012. Every Metalhead should know about this insanity of an album. It's pure thrash, never giving you room for a short breath in sight. You could say this is pretty comparable to what Whiplash did with "Power and Pain", the entire point of this album is just to simply kick your ass repeatedly song after song. Paganfire easily accomplishes this challenge if you're craving for a dose of nonstop thrash metal. The songs are generally quite short and they point directly to the core of extremism. There’s no melody or will to slow down. The band itself has inside an insane load of anger and madness. The power of the rhythmic guitars is unbelievable and during the palm muting riffage, it’s like being overwhelmed by truck at full speed. True old school thrashers, beware the impact of Paganfire!

paganfire13@yahoo.com

Review by Paul Caravasi