Haiduk/Demonicon/2015 Full Length Review

  Haiduk  are  a  solo project  from  Calgary,  Alberta,  Canada  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  with  a  touch  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2015  album  "Demonicon".

  A  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  evolve  into  blast  beats  that  also dominate  throughout  the  recording  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  making  their  presence  known  in  the  songs  and  the  music  also  gets  very  brutal at  times.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  musical  fashion  and  some  of  the  riffs  also  mix  in  elements  of  thrash  and  the  whole  album  also remains  very  heavy  and  brutal  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  recording.

  Haiduk  creates  another  recording  that  is  in  the  blackened  death  metal  direction  while  also  getting  a  lot  more  brutal  this  time  around,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics cover  supernatural,  fantasy,  black  magick,  darkness  and  nature  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Haiduk  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nazon"  "Sarxas"  'Nergion"  and  "Xhadex".  8  out  of  10.   

http://www.youtube.com/haidukplague

  

Mithridatic/Miserable Miracle/Kaotoxin Records/2016 Full Length Review

  Mithridatic  are  a  band  from  France  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of death  metal  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2016  album  "Miserable  Miracle"  which  will  be  released  in  March by  Kaotoxin  Records.

  Dark  soundscapes  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  demonic  and  ritualistic  atmosphere  starts  off  the  album  and  you  can  also  hear  some  melodic  chants  in  the  background  before  adding  in  a  heavy  guitar  sound  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  melodies  as  well  as  some  grim  yet  high  pitched  black  metal  screams  making  their  presence  known  on  the recording.

  Once  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  brutal  blast  beats  can  be  heard  and  they  also  mix  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  that  are  very  easy  to  understand  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  a  very  chaotic  blackened  death  metal  style.

  Some  of  the  riffing  also  mixes  in  morbid  sounding  melodies  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  while  some songs  also bring  in  a  small  amount  of  spoken  word  parts  and  as  the  album progresses some of  the  leads  also  start  getting  more  technical  and  they  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  melodic  vocals  on  a  later  song  while  another  track  displays  more  of  a  grim  style  black  metal  vocals.

  Mithridatic  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  brutal  death  metal  while  also  mixing  in  a  great  amount  of  black  metal  elements  which  also  makes  the  music  sound  a  lot  more  dark,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  philosophical  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Mithridatic  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "For  Terror  And  The  Crowd"  "Hell  Compasses  Points"  and  "Vitrified  Desert".  8  out  of  10.

 https://youtu.be/1d_pCKRxSUs

Cemetery Whore/Nuclear Holocaust/Hell United/Necrosodomistical Slaughter/Infected By Old School/Defense Records/2016 4 Way Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  4  way  split  album  between  Poland's  Cemetery  Whore,  Nuclear  Holocaust,  Hell  United,  and  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  called  "Infected  By  Old  School"  which  was  released  by  Defense  Records  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Cemetery  Whore  a  band  that  plays  a very  old  school  form  of  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  heavy  yet  old  school  sound  along  with  some  chaotic  guitar  leads  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  vocals  are  done  in  a  death  metal  growling  fashion  and  after  awhile  the  music  speeds  up a   bit  and  also  adds  in  blast  beats  and  the  music  is  rooted  mostly  in  the  mid  80's  to  early  90's  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  also  always  remaining  heavy  and  they  close  their  side  of  the  split  with  a  cover  of  Celtic  Frost's  "Procreation  of  the  Wicked",  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  Occultism,  Death  and  Anti  Christian  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Cemetery  Whore  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of   the  split.   RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "The  Walking  Dead  of  Nazareth".

  Next  up  is  Nuclear  Holocaust  a  band  that  plays  a  very  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal  and  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  grindcore  style  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  they  also  add  in  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  a  few  seconds  later  and  you  can  also  hear  a  touch  of  crust  in  the  bands  musical  style  and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  while  most  of  the  songs  are  very  short  in  length  and  after  awhile  guitar  leads  are  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks and  some  songs  also  bring  in  a  brief  use  of  slow  riffs  while  the  main  focus  remains  on  a  very  fast  and  aggressive  sound,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  while  the  lyrics  cover nuclear  war,  death,  Armageddon  and  Satanism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Nuclear  Holocaust  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  mixture  of  death  metal  and  grindcore  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Church  Of  Nuclear  Satan".

  Next  up  is  Hell  united  a  band  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  an  old  school  style  of  blackened  death  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  fast  and  chaotic  blackened  death  metal  sound  that  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  grim  screams  and  the  music  is  mostly  rooted in  the  mid  90's  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  morbid  sounding  melodies  in the  bands  musical  style  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow, mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  vocals  also  use  a  decent  amount  of  growls,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  yet  powerful  at  the  same time  while  the  lyrics  cover  nihilism,  self  destruction  and  anti  religion  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Hell  United  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK" Rejection  From  Unity  With  Death".

  Closing  the  compilation  is  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  a  band  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  grindcore.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  horror  movie  samples  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  brutal  grindcore  direction  that  also  utilizes  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  as  well  as  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  high  pitched  screams  and  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sound  very  powerful  and  they  also  add  a  small  amount  of  melody  into  some  of  the  riffs  and  leads  and  the  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  early 90's  and  some  of  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  short in  length, the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the  lyrics  cover  gore  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Necrosodomistical  Slaughter  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  grindcore  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Modern  Violence".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  old  school  death,  black  metal  and grindcore.  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Hell_United_-_Nuclear_Holocaust_-_Cemetery_Whore_-_Necrosodomistical_Slaughter/Infected_by_Old_School/557374    

Scumripper/Self Titled/Caligari Records/2016 Demo Review

  Scumripper  are  a  band  from  Finland  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their self titled 2016  demo  which was  released by  Caligari  Records.

  A  very  heavy  old  school thrash  metal  sound  starts  off  the  demo  along  with  some  black  metal  screams  which  also  leads  up  to  blast  beats  and  morbid  sounding  melodies  being  added  onto t he  recording  and  the  vocals  also  bring  in  growls  that  have  more  of  an  80's  style  of  death  metal  to  them  and  the  music  also  brings  in  a  touch  of  grind  and  crust.

  Throughout  the  recording  you can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced and  fast  parts  and  the  music  is  more  rooted  in  the  80's  styles  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  as  well  as  bringing  back  the  more  darker  side  of  that  era  and  there is  only  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  or  leads  and  the  whole  demo  also  sticks  to a  very  heavy  musical  direction  from  beginning  to  ending of  the  recording  and  there  is  a  few  seconds   of  spoken  word  parts  and  samples.

  Scumripper  plays  a  music  style that  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  80's  styles  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and also  brings  back  a  lot  of  the  rawness  and  heaviness  of  that  era,  the  production  sounds  very  old  school  while  the lyrics  cover  violent  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sumripper  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black,  death  and  thrash  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Shit  Needle  Crown"  and  "Run  To  the  Pills".  8  out  of  10.  

https://caligarirecords.bandcamp.com/album/scumripper

Grosad/Confession For The Devil/Satanath Records/2012 EP Review

  Grosad  are  a  band  from  Belarus  that  plays  a  blackened  form  of  death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2012  ep "Confession  For  The  Devil"  which  was  released  by  Satanath  Records.

  A  dark  and  ritualistic  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  ep  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  old  school  death  metal  direction  along  with  some  blast  beats  and  growling  vocals  as  well  as  some  technical  guitar  leads  and  after  awhile  atmospheric  synths,  black  metal  screams,  back  up  shouts  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  in.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  most  of  the  songs  are  short  in  length  while  one  does  go  pass  the  5  minute  mark  and  some  riffs  also  bring  in  a  touch  of  thrash  while  the  music is  also perfectly  blanced  between  mid  80's  to  mid  80's  extreme  metal  influences  and  they  close  the  ep  with  a  cover  of  Death's  "Misanthrope".

  Grosad  plays  a  musical  style  that takes  the  keyboard  orientated  style  of  black  metal  from  the  90's  and  mixes  it  with  both  old  school  death  and  thrash  metal  to  create  a  style  of  their  own,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  violent  and  blasphemous  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Grosad  are  a  very  great  sounding  blackened  death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Confession  For  The  Devil"  and  "Red  Laughter  Of  the  War".  8  out of  10.

Cursus Bellum Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?


Cursus Bellum, spawned in the vast black soil of Lundaslätten, Sweden, is consisting of Jocke - drums / vocals and Anders Nyander - guitars / bass. After decade long co-operation in constellations such as Sgt.Carnage, along with the mutual metal-vinyl & beer consumption of biblical proportions, the musical and creative direction of Cursus Bellum first took its perverted form in 2013. Originally as a three piece, the blackened death metal that represents Cursus Bellum is now the result of the creative work and madness of the featured duo. The first official unveiling of the band will be in form of the recording "Accusing The Dead", to be unleashed upon mankind early 2016 on Downfall Records.


2.How would you describe your musical sound?


As pretty fast-paced death metal with some wierd/dark harmonics. We have been listening to this genre since we were kids so there probably can be found a lot of different influences, from the thrash-, death- and black metal bands from the 80´s all the way up to the current scene. Reflected in our music is probably that we both have a passion for the brutality of grind-based American DM, preferably combined with Canadian dissonance and Scandinavian chaos and darkness. Let's say Immolation meets 1349 and Dead Congregation to mention something. Or what do you think?



3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?


The title-track for the EP is linked to the cover concept, which is taken from an old painting by Jean-Paul Laurens that illustrastes the "Synodus Horrenda", where the rotting corpse of the pope Formosos was exhumed and put on trial in 897 a.d. by his successors for various accusations. A fantastic and true story from the fascinating lunacy of religious history. Hence the "Accusing the Dead" theme and lyrics. But put into a broader perspective one may say that coming generations in the same way, figuratively speaking, will judge us for our deeds and the ongoing madness we surround us with.

You could actually say that the lyrics on the other tracks are based on similar, semi-misantropic if you like - thoughts, but projected onto different contexts. You can find some dark humour and some litterary/other cultural connections in some of the lyrics.



4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cursus Bellum'?


Other than it sounds bad ass??? We had some different ideas for a band name, and it revolved somewhat around our interest in history as well as professionel skills in engineering. And the thought of manmade armageddon is a good theme for creating this kind of music. The name, which loosley translated from latin would mean ” Direction to war”, is maybe a pretty pessimistic view on how mankind (or rather nations/states/groups) is somehow leaning to hostility towards one another during frequent periods of time. You can get pretty depressed thinking or reading about that.

5.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you prefer to remain a duo?


Yeah, we would like to play live so we are certainly thinking about having more musicians. I am no Chris Reifert, so we would need a singer, bassplayer and a second guitarist. We started as a three-piece though. We have already new material and are working on a new recording, as a duo this time as well.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the deal you have signed with 'Downfall Records'?


It´s a one off deal, and they will print CD:s, cassetes and have digital distribution. Real easy to work with, good cooperation!

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?


As a new outfit, and the record not fully being released, there have not been super much feed back yet, but every feed back so far has been super positive. Keep´em coming!

8.Are any of the band members also involved with any other bands or musical projects these days?


Yeah, Jocke is drumming with Totenwelt, Ratad and Järnbörd. Anders is playing with some dudes in Malmö, more old school DM, but they have not named themselfves yet. Pretty prominent players from some different bands in that constellation.



9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?


As stated above we already are in process of recording new material. It´s fast material, sticking to some of the formulas we have, a lot of blasts, and there are some really ”out there” riffs.


10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?


We mentioned some of that above, but in my current rotation there is a lot of British DM like Lucifyre, Sarpantium as well as Rotting Christ – I have sort of re-discovered them and their later material. As always there is some oldies ranging from Judas Priest to Nuclear Assault, and some newer discoveries like Dim Mak. Anders listens to the same genres, but we somewhat different record collections, I know he is pretty content with the latest Hate eternal. I would guess he also listened to the first Deathrow and Vendetta records this week... He loves everything that NOISE put out in the 80`s.


11.Does Satanism or Occultism play any role in your music?


Not really, but religon is an interesting theme from different angles.


12.What are some of your non musical interests?


If you ask me it would be reading, travel, work -out, fishing and what not. If you asked Anders it would be cars (some racing and a lot of tinkering), craft beer and keep our rehearsal place safe from beeing flooded... He lives in the same building so you can say he´s pretty keen on keeping the water outside his property.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?


Thanx for the interview, be sure to play it loud MUTHAS!!!

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Throneum/CACOMethamorphosen/Witching Hour Productions/2015 EP Review

  Throneum  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  an  old  school  form  of  blackened death  metal  with  a  touch  of    thrash  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2015  ep  "CACOMethamorphosen"  which  was  released  by  Witching  Hour  Productions.

 A  very  dark,  raw  and  melodic  sound  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  high  pitched  screams  that  give  the  music  a  touch  of  black  metal  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  while  the  guitar  riffing  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  an  early  90's  style  of  death  metal.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  hear  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and  the  solos  and  leads  also  bring  in  more  of  an  old  school  extreme  metal  style  and you  can  also  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  and some  of  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  touch  of  thrash  and  first  wave  black  metal.

  Throneum  plays  a  style  of  old  school  death  metal  that  uses  more  of  a  black  metal  style  of  vocals  which  also  makes  the  music  stand  out a  bit  more,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  while  the  lyrics  have  a  concept  involving  metamorphosis.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from Throneum  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  blackened  death  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  ep.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Metamorpshe  II"  and  "Metamorpshe  II".  8  out  of  10.

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