German Black metal troupe Verheerer return with their 3rd album of Teutonic darkness, an album with a concept truly horrifying. Never a band to use commone cliches in their art the 4-piece have always crafted deep, harrowing stories to compliment the equally horrific bararism they hammer out.
This particular album has a concept about one of the most dramatic time sin history; the First World War and all its horrors that created a dehumanization effect on all that participated in it. The loss of humanity that era demanded seeps though every aspect of this release, from the foreboding artwork, through the utterly desperate subject matter to the vicious Black Metal that engulfs you, smothering you with a darkness so thick you can taste it.
The heavily Germanic torrent that erupts when the title track bursts to life, after a little but harrowing intro, is palpable. You not only hear it you feel it deep in your soul, your very being is infected with this contagious torment that slowly eats away at you from the inside out, painfully.
The heavily Germanic torrent that erupts when the title track bursts to life, after a little but harrowing intro, is palpable. You not only hear it you feel it deep in your soul, your very being is infected with this contagious torment that slowly eats away at you from the inside out, painfully.
Then the following number Hail Mary takes it up a few notches, its almost hymnal presence coupled with a merciless feeling of loss that oozes forth on this medium paced barbaric riff, the agonizing guitar of SWN makes your bones ache and body shiver as he unfolds this utterly majestic song.
The beauty of Verheerer is the way they meld 2nd wave Black Metal aesthetics to a more polished modern sound not that far from what Panzerfaust dish out, the brutality is utterly barbaric while the slower more melodic elements bring you to your knees with emotionally charged misery.
Lungs has a Monotheist-era Celtic Frost feel about it, while Arsonist reverts back to that 2nd wave tremolo abuse, harking back to those early Darkthrone albums. Once again SWN astounds, unleashing caustic, savage guitar aligned with a melodic, heartfelt aura of complete blackened beauty.
Verheerer have crafted an album that combines intense Black Metal with a concept of true horror, the furious barrage suits the horrific subject matter perfectly. A fine album that grabs you by the face right from the off and doesn't let up until, it is finished with you, discarding you like the lifeless husk you are left with. Damn fine! 9/10
Tyrannosatan - Babylons Skräck (Jawbreaker Records) [Thomas Megill Jr]
Existence in this universe is inherently uncertain. There is no true metric that can be applied to predicting the future with certain infallibility. I believed this to be true until about 45 minutes ago when I spun Tyrannosatan's new E.P. , Babylons Skräck. I can assure to all who are reading this review, with utmost certainty, I will be yelling Astronomicon at random points, at the top of my lungs, every single day for at least the next week.
With a name like Tyrannosatan, there were only two options for this E.P. Either it would be a sensational display of Blackened Thrash Metal packed to the very last second with a divine offering true to the genres' creed, or it would be the aural equivalent of that vile stench of dog shit ambushing your nostrils on a sweltering summer afternoon. I'm happy to announce that this E.P. represents the former, and is indeed NOT a pile of metaphorical dog shit. Babylons Skräck is indeed an excellent display of Blackened Thrash Metal.
I must say, I love the imagery of Satan as a giant, red dinosaur. I hope there is no alternate meaning that has been lost on me, because imagining Tyrannosatan, the giant red dinosaur, struggling to play his fiddle with tiny arms and unleashing his frustration in firebreathing fury on the helpless prisoners of hell amuses me in ways I don't believe the greatest psychotherapists can comprehend, but I digress.
Tyrannosatan have delivered an excellent short record to the metal underground. Perfectly disturbing melodies indicative of black metal infused with crushing riffs and catchy choruses of thrash. The first 3 songs of this record pummel the listener with killer riffs. The melodic guitar lines are catchy themselves and at points have the ring of advertisement jingles and I love it. Astronomicon is a nice doom jam to end the record off and contains one of my favourite hooks I've heard in a while.
Babylons Skräck was an absolute pleasure to listen to and I can't wait to see what this trio does next. 8/10
Verheerer have crafted an album that combines intense Black Metal with a concept of true horror, the furious barrage suits the horrific subject matter perfectly. A fine album that grabs you by the face right from the off and doesn't let up until, it is finished with you, discarding you like the lifeless husk you are left with. Damn fine! 9/10
Iron Form - Cut From Cold Blood (Church Road Records) [Matt Bladen]
Two friends who have forged their careers in the metalcore/hardcore scene, make a band together that brings together the best parts of the metalcore they have been such a big part of.
Alex Heffernan and Mario Gambardella have made Iron Form to showcase their love of that early 2000's Victory Records metalcore sound where the slamming riffs, breakdowns and throat shredding vocals were so often still accompanied by melodic classic metal guitar harmonies.
A time where aggression didn't take too much of a hold like it did later as deathcore arrived. This is music that still has Post-Hardcore roots where there was still emotion and reverence was paid to the previous generation while paving the way for something new.
This is a concept EP that deals with pain, willpower and resilience, tracks such as Sprit Rain, Vengeance Prayer are influenced by Converge (of course) but also bands like Atreyu, Underoath and also Unearth while Become The Blade has echoes of early Trivium.
Two friends who have forged their careers in the metalcore/hardcore scene, make a band together that brings together the best parts of the metalcore they have been such a big part of.
Alex Heffernan and Mario Gambardella have made Iron Form to showcase their love of that early 2000's Victory Records metalcore sound where the slamming riffs, breakdowns and throat shredding vocals were so often still accompanied by melodic classic metal guitar harmonies.
A time where aggression didn't take too much of a hold like it did later as deathcore arrived. This is music that still has Post-Hardcore roots where there was still emotion and reverence was paid to the previous generation while paving the way for something new.
This is a concept EP that deals with pain, willpower and resilience, tracks such as Sprit Rain, Vengeance Prayer are influenced by Converge (of course) but also bands like Atreyu, Underoath and also Unearth while Become The Blade has echoes of early Trivium.
A new band, with veteran members and a throwback sound but treated with the right respect. 7/10
Tyrannosatan - Babylons Skräck (Jawbreaker Records) [Thomas Megill Jr]
Existence in this universe is inherently uncertain. There is no true metric that can be applied to predicting the future with certain infallibility. I believed this to be true until about 45 minutes ago when I spun Tyrannosatan's new E.P. , Babylons Skräck. I can assure to all who are reading this review, with utmost certainty, I will be yelling Astronomicon at random points, at the top of my lungs, every single day for at least the next week.
With a name like Tyrannosatan, there were only two options for this E.P. Either it would be a sensational display of Blackened Thrash Metal packed to the very last second with a divine offering true to the genres' creed, or it would be the aural equivalent of that vile stench of dog shit ambushing your nostrils on a sweltering summer afternoon. I'm happy to announce that this E.P. represents the former, and is indeed NOT a pile of metaphorical dog shit. Babylons Skräck is indeed an excellent display of Blackened Thrash Metal.
I must say, I love the imagery of Satan as a giant, red dinosaur. I hope there is no alternate meaning that has been lost on me, because imagining Tyrannosatan, the giant red dinosaur, struggling to play his fiddle with tiny arms and unleashing his frustration in firebreathing fury on the helpless prisoners of hell amuses me in ways I don't believe the greatest psychotherapists can comprehend, but I digress.
Tyrannosatan have delivered an excellent short record to the metal underground. Perfectly disturbing melodies indicative of black metal infused with crushing riffs and catchy choruses of thrash. The first 3 songs of this record pummel the listener with killer riffs. The melodic guitar lines are catchy themselves and at points have the ring of advertisement jingles and I love it. Astronomicon is a nice doom jam to end the record off and contains one of my favourite hooks I've heard in a while.
Babylons Skräck was an absolute pleasure to listen to and I can't wait to see what this trio does next. 8/10
Sicksense - Cross Me Twice (Earache Records) [Mark Young]
I was going to start this off with some biting commentary about the band being on Earache and then thought better of it. Cross Me Twice is the debut release from the Phoenix 5-piece and despite seeing some positive press about them, I came away from this feeling that I’d wasted 37 minutes of my life.
I was going to start this off with some biting commentary about the band being on Earache and then thought better of it. Cross Me Twice is the debut release from the Phoenix 5-piece and despite seeing some positive press about them, I came away from this feeling that I’d wasted 37 minutes of my life.
It mixes that dual vocals that see soaring cleans from Vicky Psarakis and growls from Robby J. Fonts and to be honest that vocal performance from Vicky is the highlight here. I treat every review the same way, from bands I admire to those I have never heard of before and something has to be truly dire in order for me to feel the way I feel about this.
It doesn’t resonate with me at all in any way. The way the songs are put together feel contrived and written with an age-group in mind (not mine) who will take this music as being the best thing. Ever.
It doesn’t resonate with me at all in any way. The way the songs are put together feel contrived and written with an age-group in mind (not mine) who will take this music as being the best thing. Ever.
Putting the two singing styles together isn’t new but on here they do not sit well at all. Throw in the nu-metal paint job and it immediately starts to irritate. The whole thing just feels forced and without any sort of merit. The songs just blend into each other without staying in the memory and I couldn’t wait for it to finish.
What I would say is this, they will either blow up and be everywhere in 6 months (if that is the case, then good luck to them) or just disappear from view. I think that they have an absolute powerhouse in Vicky P, and if they could shape the band around that voice then it could be a different proposition. 4/10
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