Having had a bit of a break from the death metal grind, today I am back on the scene and have the second release from German death metal band APEP, Before Whom Evil Trembles a completely new name for me and a quick read up says that there is a technical style attached to their sound but that’s about as much as I have been given!
It starts with blistering force and beautiful chaos on Enslaving The Putrefied Remnants Of The Deceased which is a whirlwind of pummelling death metal that has no room for any nicety and instead just is just set to all-out attack, there is a slight slowing of pace midway that maybe dulls the overall force of the song slightly but it’s a good way to begin and carries forward into The Pillars Of Betrayal but it doesn’t take long for the speed to return and the familiar death metal racket is with us again and while there isn’t much originality on show the way they put it all out there with a bucket load of conviction, makes for a passionate and endearing song, much the same happens on Tombs Of Eternity which is full of technical and dexterous guitar work with a fantastic drum showing as has been the way from the start and while I can admire what I am listening to and enjoy it.
I just cant shake the feeling that I have heard it all before and that’s not trying to sound harsh because it seems like to me it does take a lot to stand out if you’re in death metal band and if you haven’t got that x-factor to really stand out above the crowd it really can feel like a case of death metal deja’vu at times. Wanderers In The Waste is a little eastern tinged interlude and then it hits me like a brick falling from a pyramid, the sound is rooted firmly in the Nile-like Middle Eastern mindset and it has the familiar sound patterns but so far doesn’t fully live up to that lofty comparison.
Then Goddess Of Carnage is unleashed, and it sounds just unbe-fucking-leavable!! and make you wonder why they have been waiting until now to show us what hey are really capable of playing, it is just an unrelenting and savage run though with not one note wasted and no slow parts it’s just a beautiful showing of how vital and invigorating death metal really can be and as the shortest track on the album so far really leaves its mark on you. The urgency continues with The Breath Of Kheti and will leave you slack jawed and slightly amazed that its taken this long for APEP to really open up and show there hand because if the first half of this record had sounded like this we could have been on course for an absolute worldie of a record and the Nile comparisons may have been actually considered, this is a breathless and savage, snarling assault on the ears in the best way and it is wonderfully relentless all the way to the end.
Then unfortunately we get the mammoth Swallowed By Silent Sands which clocks in at an unhealthily long and unnecessary 10:23 and with the marathon length we get back to the more paired back and slower sound which seems to go on, and on and on and on and just absolutely stunts the ferocity that has been building and feels like somewhat of a dissatisfying and annoying end to the album.
This album felt like a game of 2 halves for me and looking back now I can see that the first few tracks, while not really hitting as hard as I would have like they were building towards something furiously enjoyable but that burst of fantasticness didn’t last anywhere near long enough for my liking and also, for album that only lasts 7 songs to have an interlude/instrumental on it just seems lazy to me?? Anyway, a pretty decent listen overall that any death metal fan will no doubt enjoy but can’t see it troubling any AOTY lists or anything. 7/10
Victory – Circle Of Life (AFM Records) [Paul Hutchings]
I believe that Circle Of Life is Victory’s 11th studio album. We last encountered the German quintet in 2021 when they released Gods Of Tomorrow, their first album for a decade. It was described by Simon Black as “good but not great”, and I can see exactly why he said that at the time, for Victory don’t do anything that is mind-blowing but what they do produce is solid hard rock and heavy metal that could sit under the moniker of hundreds of other bands.
Then unfortunately we get the mammoth Swallowed By Silent Sands which clocks in at an unhealthily long and unnecessary 10:23 and with the marathon length we get back to the more paired back and slower sound which seems to go on, and on and on and on and just absolutely stunts the ferocity that has been building and feels like somewhat of a dissatisfying and annoying end to the album.
This album felt like a game of 2 halves for me and looking back now I can see that the first few tracks, while not really hitting as hard as I would have like they were building towards something furiously enjoyable but that burst of fantasticness didn’t last anywhere near long enough for my liking and also, for album that only lasts 7 songs to have an interlude/instrumental on it just seems lazy to me?? Anyway, a pretty decent listen overall that any death metal fan will no doubt enjoy but can’t see it troubling any AOTY lists or anything. 7/10
Victory – Circle Of Life (AFM Records) [Paul Hutchings]
I believe that Circle Of Life is Victory’s 11th studio album. We last encountered the German quintet in 2021 when they released Gods Of Tomorrow, their first album for a decade. It was described by Simon Black as “good but not great”, and I can see exactly why he said that at the time, for Victory don’t do anything that is mind-blowing but what they do produce is solid hard rock and heavy metal that could sit under the moniker of hundreds of other bands.
A football analogy? The steady dependable goalkeeper who rarely drops a bollock, whose presence behind the back line is reassuring, dependable, but who is missing the flamboyance and dynamism of the risk-taking peer. Think David Seeman rather than Bruce Grobbelaar, if you are of that vintage. If not, contact the Editor, and I’ll think of a modern equivalent!
Victory is, of course, the vehicle for German metal legend Herman Frank, the former Accept stalwart who has been the mainstay of the band since 1986. The current line-up appears to be settled, with Frank joined once more by singer Gianni Pontillo, Mike Pesin (guitar), Malte Frederik Burkert (bass) and drummer Michael Stein.
Ten songs of solid composition spread over 45-minutes. It’s not a chore by any stretch to listen to Circle of Life, but there is little to really spark the excitement. Tonight We Rock and American Girl, the duo that open the album, are reasonable if cliched. It’s all a bit one-paced, and on songs like Moonlit Sky the song just lumbers along with no real drive.
Musically I can’t fault it. The playing is impressive, Pontillo’s vocals are strong and powerful, and the guitar work weaves and winds its way through each song. One might call some of these songs anthemic. Falling is a posturing track that sounds just a little dated, a real 80s throwback, and whilst there is a polish here, it’s not holding the attention in any great manner. Money does have the riffs and hooks to draw you in, but it doesn’t really snare you in any great way.
That’s not to dismiss Frank’s lead work, which is a highlight, or the overall musicianship. But in a world of saturation, songs like Reason To Love, which is a rather drab semi-ballad, just fade into the ether. Sure, if you like melodic hard rock with harmonies and soaring choruses, then Circle Of Life might float your boat. Sadly, I’m sunk on the rocks, and although there is no danger of me drowning, I might not do much more than drift. 6/10
Bodysnatcher - Vile_Conduct (MNRK Heavy) Zak Skane
Ten songs of solid composition spread over 45-minutes. It’s not a chore by any stretch to listen to Circle of Life, but there is little to really spark the excitement. Tonight We Rock and American Girl, the duo that open the album, are reasonable if cliched. It’s all a bit one-paced, and on songs like Moonlit Sky the song just lumbers along with no real drive.
Musically I can’t fault it. The playing is impressive, Pontillo’s vocals are strong and powerful, and the guitar work weaves and winds its way through each song. One might call some of these songs anthemic. Falling is a posturing track that sounds just a little dated, a real 80s throwback, and whilst there is a polish here, it’s not holding the attention in any great manner. Money does have the riffs and hooks to draw you in, but it doesn’t really snare you in any great way.
That’s not to dismiss Frank’s lead work, which is a highlight, or the overall musicianship. But in a world of saturation, songs like Reason To Love, which is a rather drab semi-ballad, just fade into the ether. Sure, if you like melodic hard rock with harmonies and soaring choruses, then Circle Of Life might float your boat. Sadly, I’m sunk on the rocks, and although there is no danger of me drowning, I might not do much more than drift. 6/10
Bodysnatcher - Vile_Conduct (MNRK Heavy) Zak Skane
The brutal deathcore outfit that creates music that matches their grotesque imagery. The band has paved themselves away in the underground scene to be one of the brutal deathcore acts in the modern metal scene along side bands like Spite, Filth and Slaughter To Prevail. The band have got almost got ten years worth of brutality under their blood stained belts with releases like Abandonment, Death Of Me, This Heavy Void and Bleed Abide, whilst following their up and coming E.P, Vile Conduct.
Vile Conduct still comes with Bodysnatchers tried and tested formula of beatdown in cased Deathcore, but with Will Putney at the mixing and producing helm, the bands sound has become more refined than before. For example, the bands song writing has become more catchy as well as heavy on songs like Severed, which brings in the punches by taking us back with mid 2000’s influences with it’s pounding chugging patterns, tremolo lead playing and pumping breakdowns.
Vile Conduct still comes with Bodysnatchers tried and tested formula of beatdown in cased Deathcore, but with Will Putney at the mixing and producing helm, the bands sound has become more refined than before. For example, the bands song writing has become more catchy as well as heavy on songs like Severed, which brings in the punches by taking us back with mid 2000’s influences with it’s pounding chugging patterns, tremolo lead playing and pumping breakdowns.
Whilst also bringing this mainstream song structure approach that just gives this sweet and sharp catchiness whilst the closing track Say Goodbye brings in some rusted coated hooks. The quad tracked guitars that Will Putney engineers sound as crushing as ever before, especially on tracks like the opener Infested, which just hit you like a freight train from it pick digging tremolo sections to the colossal sounding beat downs. Another high light is the concrete slabbed riffs on the track Human Disdain, which the drummer and the guitarist create this brutal assault on the ear drums with those chugging kick drum patterns working in tandem, whilst the bass parts are wrapped in this crushing tone.
The vocal tracks sit a lot more cleaner in the mix in comparison to previous releases, which gives the vocalist more of a platform to spew out the bile and venom filled lyrics that the band have conjured together, whilst Will Putney ensures the vocalist still keeps the aggression consistent, especially on songs like the bioweapon like catchiness of Severed, the hardcore delivered tag team from Jamey Jasta guest appearances on Murder8 to the vindictive closer on Say Goodbye.
Even though the delivery is short, it doesn’t soften the audio assault that Vile Conduct is willing to give. Will Putneys collaboration to the bands sound basically lifted the lighting out of it’s existing bottle and amplified it by putting it into the electrical grid. The breakdowns sound more brutal but yet dynamic, whilst the drums and vocals sound a lot more polished in the mix whilst keeping it’s serrated edge. For fans of Spite, Filth and The Acacia Strain. 8/10.
The Blacktones - The Longest Year (Sleaszy Rider Records) [Rich Piva]
While the name The Blacktones sounds like a blackened ska band that Moon Ska or Asian Man Records would put out, alas, they are actually a sludge band from Italy. Instead of unleashing the horn section on you they are bringing the absolute heavy on their third record, The Longest Year. This is some good stuff, combining heavy riffs, clear and screamed vocals, and some serious musicianship for fifty minutes of some high-quality sludge that starts to lean more towards cleaner modern metal, but still executed very well.
What makes it so good? Well take the first full track opener, The Threshold. You get some very cool clean vocals, answered by that scream, with this dreamy Deftones type vibe over the track. Now I don’t love the Deftones, but I think you will get what I am saying when you hear this one. Like you know how the Deftones wish they were a shoegaze band? Then you get it. The Blacktones tower over you on The Longest Year, with case in point being that opener and a track like Noise Pattern, when the band rips you up with riffs but still maintain that shoegaze meets sludge vibe that I can only assume they were going for.
Even though the delivery is short, it doesn’t soften the audio assault that Vile Conduct is willing to give. Will Putneys collaboration to the bands sound basically lifted the lighting out of it’s existing bottle and amplified it by putting it into the electrical grid. The breakdowns sound more brutal but yet dynamic, whilst the drums and vocals sound a lot more polished in the mix whilst keeping it’s serrated edge. For fans of Spite, Filth and The Acacia Strain. 8/10.
The Blacktones - The Longest Year (Sleaszy Rider Records) [Rich Piva]
While the name The Blacktones sounds like a blackened ska band that Moon Ska or Asian Man Records would put out, alas, they are actually a sludge band from Italy. Instead of unleashing the horn section on you they are bringing the absolute heavy on their third record, The Longest Year. This is some good stuff, combining heavy riffs, clear and screamed vocals, and some serious musicianship for fifty minutes of some high-quality sludge that starts to lean more towards cleaner modern metal, but still executed very well.
What makes it so good? Well take the first full track opener, The Threshold. You get some very cool clean vocals, answered by that scream, with this dreamy Deftones type vibe over the track. Now I don’t love the Deftones, but I think you will get what I am saying when you hear this one. Like you know how the Deftones wish they were a shoegaze band? Then you get it. The Blacktones tower over you on The Longest Year, with case in point being that opener and a track like Noise Pattern, when the band rips you up with riffs but still maintain that shoegaze meets sludge vibe that I can only assume they were going for.
The band can thrash it up when they really want to also, check out about a minute into this one. There is a modern metal feel to The Blacktones as well, as Greenhouse sounds almost radio friendly, adding some synths to the mix with high quality results. A song like The Parade sounds more like Katatonia than anything remotely stoner, so I would use that as a reference point more than say, a band like Baroness or Mastodon, but either way this is some good stuff. The record may run a bit long and drag in some places, but overall, the third record from The Blacktones is big and heavy, a cleaner product but still sludgy, and worth your time. Check out The Longest Year. No horns necessary. 7/10
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