If a band has split up and the members have gone on to do other things, and the new thing isn’t very good as is the case with members of God Complex, there will always be the inevitable talks of will we ever hear them again and if we do what will it sound like? Well, it looks like fans of God Complex are about to find out with their new EP He Watches In Silence about to be released.
Opening track Salt And Ash takes an absolute age to get started with a full 1.21 of fuzzy ambient noise and what I am listening to slowly starts to really annoy and grate on my patience until it all does finally kick off and fuck me, kick off is an understatement.
Opening track Salt And Ash takes an absolute age to get started with a full 1.21 of fuzzy ambient noise and what I am listening to slowly starts to really annoy and grate on my patience until it all does finally kick off and fuck me, kick off is an understatement.
We get a schizophrenic mix of blasting grindcore mixed with extreme hardcore punk and it absolutely decimates everything in its path, furious and rousing noise mixed with total violence? YES PLEASE!!
Depraved Idol goes straight for the jugular again and is another frantic mix of devastatingly thundering hardcore fury that is expertly mixed with insane blasts of madness, and it’s all worked together in a perfect way that one style never takes too much of the attention, absolutely unreal stuff!
Ba’al’s Trick is the longest track on the EP and its only 3:37 but in this time they throw absolutely everything they possibly can into the mix and create an unholy noise mixing death metal, hardcore, punk, grindcore and various elements of noisecore in as well and if this sounds mental, then let me assure you it is but in the best possible way!
The Judge clocks in at 59 seconds and as you would expect it is an unrelenting and feral noise that juts grates and picks away at you until you are almost glad it over but then you listen to it again as it was so good!
Now just like that and in the blink of an eye Flooded Lungs is one last kick in the teeth, full of crunching riffs and two step mosh sections that are to die for its just a fucking good time and this is essential listening for any fans of extreme metal.
It arrives kicks in the face and smashes your chest in then fucks of all and this in just over 12 minutes, and once you have recovered you will want to dust yourself off and go again! Absolutely fucking phenomenal stuff!!
Jesus H Christ, this was a shot in the arm! Not a single nano-second of this EP is wasted on things like subtlety, harmony, manners or anything that gets in the way of unrelenting savagery, the pure force that everything is delivered with is really something that should be studied because if every band could sound even a 10th as angry as this the world would be a much heavier and more fun place to be!
Jesus H Christ, this was a shot in the arm! Not a single nano-second of this EP is wasted on things like subtlety, harmony, manners or anything that gets in the way of unrelenting savagery, the pure force that everything is delivered with is really something that should be studied because if every band could sound even a 10th as angry as this the world would be a much heavier and more fun place to be!
Make no mistakes, you will struggle to hear a better EP all year!! 10/10
The Dead And Living – Damage (Rexius Records) [Simon Black]
Sweden’s Dead And Living are one of those bands who seem to think that the path to success lies in making sure that as little information about them as possible is made available on the internet, so as they probably intend, I am going to focus solely on what I can hear on this four track EP.
The Dead And Living – Damage (Rexius Records) [Simon Black]
Sweden’s Dead And Living are one of those bands who seem to think that the path to success lies in making sure that as little information about them as possible is made available on the internet, so as they probably intend, I am going to focus solely on what I can hear on this four track EP.
They’ve been around for over fifteen years but are not an act I had come across previously. They meld retro Gothic Rock with more Modern Metal sentiments and are nothing if not experts at mood and atmosphere and seem to have abandoned the more Punk and Folk elements of their earlier work.
For a start these songs have some really unusual rhythms and beats at their core – technically complex and quite experimental in a manner more common from the Progressive corner of the musical world, than the straight ahead 3/4- or 4/4-time signatures that so much of the genre favours.
For a start these songs have some really unusual rhythms and beats at their core – technically complex and quite experimental in a manner more common from the Progressive corner of the musical world, than the straight ahead 3/4- or 4/4-time signatures that so much of the genre favours.
With the instrumentals and melodies weaving in around these structures with technical brilliance whilst retaining catchiness, the end result is remarkably sophisticated.
The sound mix is still trying to make the drums sound like a retro drum machine from Andrew Eldritch’s loft, but this is not the simplistic repetitive stuff that often leaves this genre sounding unoriginal. Quite the opposite in fact.
This is dark and moody, but at times positively uplifting and expansive, which is clearly designed to compliment the mostly futuristic and spacey thematics going on in their lyrics. Damage is the heart of this, and definitely a well-polished piece.
This is dark and moody, but at times positively uplifting and expansive, which is clearly designed to compliment the mostly futuristic and spacey thematics going on in their lyrics. Damage is the heart of this, and definitely a well-polished piece.
But I also really found myself coming back to Demons Till I’m Dead, because the musicianship is simply top drawer. It’s short, it’s punchy and I find myself wanting more, which is just what you need on a cold day in February. 8/10
Nebula Nine - The Last Sky Piercer EP (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]
The Last Sky Piercer is a four track EP from Swedish proggers Nebula Nine. Their music has been compared to Anathema, King Crimson and Pink Floyd but personally I'd compare what they do to the early sounds of Von Hertzen Brothers playing with Porcupine Tree. This EP is conceptual dealing with the last of the Sky Piercers, the ships that are there to take us off a ruined planet.
The atmospheric music deals with anxiety, loss and hope for the future, moving from the melancholic moments of Sky Piercer to the more insistent style of Terminal, there's a groove in both the bass and keys of Hampus Pettersson, King Crimson-like Moogs and Mellotron full of dread and galactic hope. Simon Malm's vocals are dreamy and emotive, carrying these stories of hope and reflection.
His guitars are locked in with Robin Karlsson who bleeds into the music with expressive lead playing. Blood Red Eyes brings heavier riffs, Middle Eastern influences and some big percussion from drummer Linus Person. The four tracks end with Maroons, a magnificent prog rock closer that seals the deal on this 4 track EP, that has many influences from the prog world and makes me want to hear more of it. 7/10
Sublind - Metalmorphosis (Self Released) [Chris Tsintziras]
Sublind is a thrash metal band from Luxembourg which was founded in late 2005/early 2006 by four teenagers.
The Last Sky Piercer is a four track EP from Swedish proggers Nebula Nine. Their music has been compared to Anathema, King Crimson and Pink Floyd but personally I'd compare what they do to the early sounds of Von Hertzen Brothers playing with Porcupine Tree. This EP is conceptual dealing with the last of the Sky Piercers, the ships that are there to take us off a ruined planet.
The atmospheric music deals with anxiety, loss and hope for the future, moving from the melancholic moments of Sky Piercer to the more insistent style of Terminal, there's a groove in both the bass and keys of Hampus Pettersson, King Crimson-like Moogs and Mellotron full of dread and galactic hope. Simon Malm's vocals are dreamy and emotive, carrying these stories of hope and reflection.
His guitars are locked in with Robin Karlsson who bleeds into the music with expressive lead playing. Blood Red Eyes brings heavier riffs, Middle Eastern influences and some big percussion from drummer Linus Person. The four tracks end with Maroons, a magnificent prog rock closer that seals the deal on this 4 track EP, that has many influences from the prog world and makes me want to hear more of it. 7/10
Sublind - Metalmorphosis (Self Released) [Chris Tsintziras]
Sublind is a thrash metal band from Luxembourg which was founded in late 2005/early 2006 by four teenagers.
They have released two EP’s were released (The Beginning Of The End in 2007 and Thrash It! and two full length albums (Thrashing Delirium in 2014 and The Cenosillicaphobic Sessions in March 2023).
The Luxembourg thrash metallers, after extensive and sweaty shows, are planning to release their next child, Metalmorphosis in 2025.
Sublind continue to deliver merciless thrash metal energy! Despite the fact that it will be a studio album, the listener is able to fill the raw power which will be delivered accordingly when they play Metalmorphosis tracks live.
The Luxembourg thrash metallers, after extensive and sweaty shows, are planning to release their next child, Metalmorphosis in 2025.
Sublind continue to deliver merciless thrash metal energy! Despite the fact that it will be a studio album, the listener is able to fill the raw power which will be delivered accordingly when they play Metalmorphosis tracks live.
The EP consists of the following songs: Thrash It!, Revolution Execution, Metalmorphosis, Necromania, R.I.P - Reign In Pain and Thrashing Delirium.
The abscense of fillers is unquestionable, I listened to the whole EP in one take and then went back to do it again. It is a catchy, raw and filled with thrash anthems. 7/10
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