Toxemia-Planetary Devastation (2013)

These metalheads from Philippines really created a ripper of an album in Planetary Devastation. While somewhat hidden away compared to their other counterparts Pathogen, Toxemia splashed out 10 tracks of violent death/thrash which, while not always completely memorable or innovative, are really quite impressive, and definitely some of the most brutal.The album mostly consists of high-speed thrash tracks in the vein of Sodom's debut album, or perhaps Slayer and early Sepultura (morbid visions era). A good example of the consistent speed is the violent "Grave Desecrator" which features some of the most furious tempos I've heard in metal.The album closes with a bonus track "Soul Calibre" which once again shows an ever-so-slightly more mature approach to their sound, quite tight in contrast to the almost sloppy presentation on a few of the songs on the album. Vocals are surprisingly quite distinguishable for a Death/thrash band, sounding similar to Max Cavalera of Sepultura but in a slightly more abrasive manner. The song's 'verses' have a slightly unstructured feel vocally, as he seems to shout his lines in an almost "random" way. This seems to work the majority of the time, but there are moments in which it seems slightly off.The production is pretty rough, but clear enough. The chainsaw-like buzz of the guitars is at times over-powered by the drums, which tend to echo a fair bit. Apart from these factors it sounds fairly clean. This is a fast, abrasive and extreme band for sure.
toxemia.bravesites.com
the3rdinferno.blogspot.com
Review by Paul Caravasi

Usul-Flames And Blasphemy (2014)

This  is very hard to get into. If you like ambient black metal or stuff like that , you'll surely enjoy Usul from Philippines. But this Cd arrived in the wrong hands. Personally i'll pass on this one.
www.reverbnation.com/USUL
Review by Paul Caravasi

Blaspherian

Integrity and consistence. Blaspherian is probably a hard working band in the underground scene right now. So, has all that hard work paid off with theese three tracks Cd-R .Just one listen will convince fans old and new that this is a killer material, unholy death metal riffs, trudging doom metal sections, pummelling scissor blast beats, astounding finger played bass work, and vocals spewing forth blasphemy. Yup, everything one would expect to hear in an death metal band is here. Essentially what we have here is only 3 tracks , tracks 1-3 are from their 7". Track 2 is from the split with In League With Satan. Total ripping riffs that turn out to be really catchy. The production here is very fitting. Everything can be heard clear without being overdone at all. In fact, it sounds like the recording was relatively simple. No triggers, no bullshit, you know these guys played these songs with a lot of energy. A definite plus for sure. There is nothing that this band can do wrong. Good stuff !
www.facebook.com/blaspherian
Review by Paul Caravasi

Legium-Murder Insomnia (demo/cassette)

Legium has come to rely more upon traditional death metal elements in order to deliver an impression of darkness. The mix here is low-toned, with crushing riffs creating a doomy feeling while creating a classic death vibe that seethes with a brutal tonality. Legium have deliberately attempted to create different states of ambience, ranging from grooving grinding to dissonant brutal rhythms. If you’re a fan of Immolation, Autopsy and haven't heard this band, you should get a copy of this demo. A good band within the death metal community. Pure unholy death delivered with caliginous conviction!
www.facebook.com/legiumsweden
www.facebook.com/bloodsoakedrecords

Feral-Welcome To The Graveyard (Demo 2009)

Nowadays, old school Swedish death metal is a definite, “iconic” style to most extreme metal fans, thanks to the success of historical bands such as Carnage, Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Edge of Sanity, early Opeth, early At the Gates and some more recent retro acts such as Bloodbath and Feral. Obviously Feral isn’t certainly an unknown act, since they’re  considered as an important name, but some more recognition would be appreciated. "Welcome To The Graveyard" features the typical “chainsaw-like” guitar sound that's  common between tons of bands. The awesome artwork is already very inviting as well, and what you’re gonna find beyond isn’t certainly less worthy.The best thing I can say about this band is that  how all these ideas are mixed up together. Every song is a long, gloomy, mysterious gallery of different riffs, melodies and atmospheres, all perfectly concatenated together in a coherent way, through ambitious yet majestically successful constructions. When the first track opens the cassette, you know that something big is going on here, very original and remarkable riffs. On the other hand, the tremolo stuff is often rotten and ugly, in the classic death metal sense. However, it’s no coincidence if the riffage shines particularly when the band tends to experiment with typical old school Swedish melodies. In the end, “Welcome To The Graveyard” is an important piece of Swedish death metal, definitely essential if you want to understand the true nature of this genre. Death Metal rules!!
www.feral.se
www.facebook.com/feralswe
www.facebook.com/bloodsoakedrecords
Review by Paul Caravasi

Torturer-Call Of Madness (2014)

The Canadian Torturer takes the satanic lyrical content and evil growls of Venom, and slam them together with the riffs and speed of Motorhead, this is what you'll end up with..."Living Dead", this is fucking evil! this is only the seond track but it rocks just as well as the rest of the album. When I hear this, I am reminded of those cool riffs of Motorhead. Oh well, all I know is that this album is heavy and obscure as fuck. Only the legendary Venom and Motorhead can compare when it comes to speed metal. By the way, the highlight here is the blazing guitar solos ...in other words this fucking KILLS!
www.facebook.com/torturerdeathmetal
E-mail: torturer@hotmail.ca
Review by Paul Caravasi

Fetid Zombie-Grotesque Creation (Cassette-2015)

My taste in music is predominately hardcore, thrash, punk, death and grindcore. When the colossal groove of Fetid Zombie first emanated from my stereo, it was a revelation. This cassette is opening horizons of heaviness from which I drank deeply.Thanks to Mark Riddick "Grotesque Creation" is now in my hands and has grown on me over time, mainly headbanging grooves and crusty hardcore punk attacks that bordered on death metal without transgressing over. I find Fetid Zombie to be a reckless force of barbarian indifference, clearly don't give a fuck about you and what you think about what he does. Mark Riddick poured himself completely into every phase of his career. This cassette absolutely fuckin' slays! This whole record is basically psycho-addictive and I've become more hooked every day.A great level of individuated tracks: brutal death metal yes, this sound is different, 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. I know that maybe I hold a minority opinion on this. And that's cool with me, this the real underground. But I truly feel it can appeal to fans of everything from Heavy Metal to Autopsy and I cannot see how that is a bad thing. Narrow minded opinions and revisionist history don't appeal to me as much as the direct musical connection. And personally speaking, since discovering this project of Mark Riddick, I'll be listening to it pretty much non-stop and will forever do so. Sickeningly vicious, original and heavy as hell, "Grotesque Creation" tips the scale as a great and enduring metal record. The artwork is insane and the presentation of this tape is fkn old school. Killer job on this one Mark, cheers to that brother!
www.facebook.com/fetidzombie
fetidzombie.bandcamp.com
www.riddickart.com
Review by Paul Caravasi