The team at 20 Buck Spin know a thing or two about having a finger on the pulse of all things rotten (in a good way, obviously) and.so bring you the latest from Laceration for your delicate ears. It's noted that this is both assured and vicious in its content (it is) and with a relatively short run time it promises to be a royal 30 minutes. Excised bursts into life following the intro piece that is Degradation and straight away I’m hit with a feeling that I am going to be at home with this. Vocals that hint at Morbid Angel, lead breaks that bridge emotion with technical ability and some riff building that feels welded to the drums makes for a top start.
Instead of going for ultra speed they take the time to allow the component parts to build, labyrinthine guitar lines that drop in before the lead break to provide that space which is exploited so well. There are definite nods back to the OSDM scene, but this is not a nostalgia fest as Sadistic Enthrallment rolls in following a sinister statement of intent. The blast beats are here, but are deployed to suit the right moment, joining when they need to emphasise an increase in tension.
Breaking it down, it’s not ground-breaking but the way they put the songs together and how they are executed gives it that special touch. This material could have been at home in the early 90’s in terms of how it captures that visceral thrill of extreme music. Vile Incarnate is the speedy one and in doing sounds like Morbid Angel around their Rapture phase and it is a great thing to hear, mixing up those trem pick guitar parts with bottom end goodness that has that satisfying chunk to it. Sounds great, especially with a good pair of headphones.
Dreams Of The Formless is the mid-break interlude, again my feelings on these are plain the actual music in this part was great except that it felt as though they had put the break on. Carcerality comes in strong, bouncing along well but it now has work to do to pick up the drop in energy caused by the interlude. Luckily it has that hard razor edge to drag you back into it. Possibly subconsciously knowing that the interlude would be felt as a reset, they have put their foot down firmly as Strangled By Hatred keeps that strong attack going, bringing the blast beats in firmly as they race to the end.
It is a form of controlled brutality that avoids repetition and manages to keep an eye on ensuring its arrangement keeps you firmly engaged whilst Impaling Sorrow is just a short blast which shows you don’t need a long time in order to get an aggressive point across and is just the sort of welcome track just before we get to the end. The title track, I Erode is a stand up cracker the tale of decomposition set to an immediate guitar that batters the hell out of it. It is the stand out on here, combining all of the good work into one spot bringing that OSDM flavour to the boil for one last time.
Overall its recommended that you sit and listen in one go and then go back to it see what you missed the first time around. It feels like once the intro is done then it becomes a rapid album where they just fly by. Even with the interlude... It is a great slice of death metal, and if you like death metal then you will love this. 8/10
Wraithfyre - Of Fells And Haunted Chasms (Naturmacht Productions) [GC]
Wraithfyre is Tom O’Dell’s (no not that one) one-man black metal project from Southampton and Of Fells And Haunted Chasms is his debut release, now we all know that black metal projects have a sketchy past and generally it’s not really something I get to involved with but today is a new day so let’s get going.
As seems to be the way with so many albums of late A Lunar Descent is just an intro so doesn’t really merit much attention as it doesn’t really tell you much, so we get started proper with Fallen Before Their Blazing Altar and it has all the black metal staples, buzzsaw riffs, atmospherics and thunderous drums all mixed together but there is also some nice mid paced breaks thrown in to pad out the sound and give a little more texture and the vocal delivery adds that little something needed to really add more savagery, then there is a more grandiose feel to Queen Of The Blighted Throne but we don’t loose any of the necessary speed and preciseness of the delivery and there is some lovely Maiden-esqe galloping sections here as well just to throw another style in the collective mixer and the use of more doomy rhythms helps the song breathe more.
Wraithfyre - Of Fells And Haunted Chasms (Naturmacht Productions) [GC]
Wraithfyre is Tom O’Dell’s (no not that one) one-man black metal project from Southampton and Of Fells And Haunted Chasms is his debut release, now we all know that black metal projects have a sketchy past and generally it’s not really something I get to involved with but today is a new day so let’s get going.
As seems to be the way with so many albums of late A Lunar Descent is just an intro so doesn’t really merit much attention as it doesn’t really tell you much, so we get started proper with Fallen Before Their Blazing Altar and it has all the black metal staples, buzzsaw riffs, atmospherics and thunderous drums all mixed together but there is also some nice mid paced breaks thrown in to pad out the sound and give a little more texture and the vocal delivery adds that little something needed to really add more savagery, then there is a more grandiose feel to Queen Of The Blighted Throne but we don’t loose any of the necessary speed and preciseness of the delivery and there is some lovely Maiden-esqe galloping sections here as well just to throw another style in the collective mixer and the use of more doomy rhythms helps the song breathe more.
Infernal Heresy is a bit of a weird one for me it sounds like it’s been heavily influenced by power metal at the beginning which kind of puts me off a bit at first and when it does kick in its a nicely worked death metal/black metal mix but the weird timing of the sections never really shakes the power metal feel and I just don’t connect with this song in a positive way but if you like over the top sounding heavied up power metal your in for a treat! Ablaze In Abyssal Frosts wins the award for most obvious black metal song title and its about as Norwegian sounding as it should be with that title its walls of big guitars and thunderous drumming all melded together with some more wonderful symphonic sounds and the separate sections of the song all tie together to create a good and fun track.
With Echoes Of A Forgotten Dream, we get more of the rich and full sounding savagery that has been present for most of the album so far and yet another almost too over the top sounding song but its all just held back enough to make it not sound ridiculous and it’s got a ruthless and breakneck pace throughout which just keeps going and going and its quiet the ride! Eternal Pyres From Beyond The Void then has some wonderful Sabbath sounds worked into the familiar black metal which manages to really up the doom influence.
But when it all gets going we then switch to a more thrashy death metal sound but with the nice doom feel always still present all the way and it’s really well done and an interesting track to listen to and on repeated listens you will always find something new to enjoy, and just like that it’s the final track Dark Souls Devoured and here we end with a big epic doomy death metal track that is slow and broody but dripping with heaviness this is possibly the slowest song on the album and to finish with this was a brave choice and one that ultimately worked really well and the risk paid off.
To think that one man created this album is wild, the skill on all instruments is to be applauded and the music he has created is a wonderful addition to the UK black metal scene, I hope that at some point he can get a band together and play this live as these songs deserve to be played in a live setting as they would sound epic, barring a couple of bits that I wasn’t sure about the vast majority of this record is wonderful and if your into symphonic heavy black metal you wont go far wrong with Of Fell Peaks And Haunted Chasms. 8/10
DD Verni – Dreadful Company (M-Theory Audio) [Paul Hutchings]
DD Verni, the low-end and founder member of New Jersey Thrashers Overkill for four decades, returns with his second solo album Dreadful Company. He’s enlisted bandmate and powerhouse drummer Jason Bittner as well as some other luminaries to join him. Expecting thrash in any shape or form and you’ll be disappointed, although DD has that energy flowing through his veins. Instead, he’s taken 11 songs that were written throughout the past few years, very much in a punk-infused vein and given them a slight metal edge. There’s a Ramones feel to the tracks, which all follow a similar pattern. They are raucous, vibrant songs with Verni delivering bass, guitar and vocals.
To think that one man created this album is wild, the skill on all instruments is to be applauded and the music he has created is a wonderful addition to the UK black metal scene, I hope that at some point he can get a band together and play this live as these songs deserve to be played in a live setting as they would sound epic, barring a couple of bits that I wasn’t sure about the vast majority of this record is wonderful and if your into symphonic heavy black metal you wont go far wrong with Of Fell Peaks And Haunted Chasms. 8/10
DD Verni – Dreadful Company (M-Theory Audio) [Paul Hutchings]
DD Verni, the low-end and founder member of New Jersey Thrashers Overkill for four decades, returns with his second solo album Dreadful Company. He’s enlisted bandmate and powerhouse drummer Jason Bittner as well as some other luminaries to join him. Expecting thrash in any shape or form and you’ll be disappointed, although DD has that energy flowing through his veins. Instead, he’s taken 11 songs that were written throughout the past few years, very much in a punk-infused vein and given them a slight metal edge. There’s a Ramones feel to the tracks, which all follow a similar pattern. They are raucous, vibrant songs with Verni delivering bass, guitar and vocals.
Opener Lunkhead features Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante adding a solo, whilst elsewhere Virus (Dope), Michael Romero (Symphony X) and Charlie Calv (Angel, The Bronx Casket Co.) also guest. The songs come at you quickly, with elements of Green Day to The Wildhearts evident. Not so much in influence, bit more in sound. I’m not a particularly big fan of this style, but there’s a catchy energy to songs like Cemetery Safari and The Whore With The See Thru Shoes that gets you nodding along. It may be the sheer infectious nature of the music, the energetic delivery or the sheer impressiveness of the musicianship, which is top notch throughout, but there’s something here that makes you smile.
Wild Horses, about halfway through the album changes the approach, with Verni singing over a rising riff, a brooding atmosphere building into a song that is filled with groove. It’s a soaring anthemic song that makes you glad you remained in the game. Thanks For The Memories brings back the wham bam approach, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, with Bittner showing that even without the double kick he’s a bit of a beast. Call Of The Highway takes a more measured approach, sharing memories of those 90s alt-punk rockers. It’s not for me, especially the hands aloft part as the choral backing.
Yeah, I’d go so far as to say it’s a bit ghastly overall. But you can’t like everything. There’s a surprise cover lurking towards the end. A punked up version of BTO’s Taking Care Of Business and it’s a fun cover indeed. Probably a routine one for musicians of this calibre, but Verni and co do it well. The album concludes with the feisty Victoria and it’s 45-minutes which I had no regrets spending on this album. As I said, it’s not my favoured genre, but it’s worth a listen. 7/10
Fading Echoes - Shadow Of Another (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
From Volos in Greece, Fading Echoes release their debut album Shadow Of Another, the main bulk of the record deals with the Stages Of Grief, which are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance, each getting a song dedicated to them and linked together musically to form a suite sin a similar way that Dream Theater or Seventh Wonder, the latter a definite influence on the emotive, conceptual, progressive metal of Fading Echoes.
From Volos in Greece, Fading Echoes release their debut album Shadow Of Another, the main bulk of the record deals with the Stages Of Grief, which are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance, each getting a song dedicated to them and linked together musically to form a suite sin a similar way that Dream Theater or Seventh Wonder, the latter a definite influence on the emotive, conceptual, progressive metal of Fading Echoes.
They also owe something to Evergrey on balladic Bargaining, piano and strings from Vasilis Sarou giving introspection before the metallic sounds come back. It's melody and metal fused, like most prog metal bands there's plenty of time to discover soemthing new, to shift the time signature, the pace etc.
Alongside Sarou the core of the band is guitarist Petros Printezis, bassist/vocalist Dimitris Stratikis with Jim Politis (guitars) and Nick Vell (drums) brought in a guest musicians. Another of their influences is Savatage, who's former vocalist Zak Stevens appears on Acceptance, unfortunately accentuating the one flaw with Fading Echoes. The vocals, Dimitris is a great bass player but he's not a singer, it's even more obvious when you compare them to the bands I've highlighted who have some of the genre's best vocalists.
I get this is a debut album and it is really strong musically but the vocals really let it down for me. Lots of potential though. 6/10
Alongside Sarou the core of the band is guitarist Petros Printezis, bassist/vocalist Dimitris Stratikis with Jim Politis (guitars) and Nick Vell (drums) brought in a guest musicians. Another of their influences is Savatage, who's former vocalist Zak Stevens appears on Acceptance, unfortunately accentuating the one flaw with Fading Echoes. The vocals, Dimitris is a great bass player but he's not a singer, it's even more obvious when you compare them to the bands I've highlighted who have some of the genre's best vocalists.
I get this is a debut album and it is really strong musically but the vocals really let it down for me. Lots of potential though. 6/10
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