Bear Mace - Charred Field of Slaughter

http://www.secret-face.com/

#PER CHI AMA: Death Old School

A strong Death influence circa 'Spiritual Healing' among others definitely are there too. These guys are Chicago natives with kick ass death metal! I believe this one should be at least a 72 rating because of the great follow-up that it is opposed to their debut. A 5-piece band showing what they can do musically and the vocals are atypical. There's sort-of an echo to them what makes the band unique on that front. The guitars are pretty killer riff-wise. They have quite brutal riffs with a lot of tremolo picking and unique frenzies. I think that the band has potential for a long sustainability. They not only have to compete with the Chicago scene (Cardiac Arrest, Cianide, Usurper, et al) but the world.

They need more of a fan base and they're not getting much press. A friend turned me onto them. This is definitely a strong follow-up musically and instrumentality. I did myself a favor and bought the CD. I ignored the low rating and liked it a lot!

Aside from the Death influence I felt that they had riffs that were in their own unique sort of vibe. The vocals have reverb on them and the music compliments the voice. Definitely came out a winner here. No downplaying here this was worth it!

The guitars are what did it for me. They had a strong sound with riffs that kicked ass and drums backing them up which were crushing. The production/mixing quality was top notch. There was nothing left out and the sound really killed it in terms of precision. Bear Mace was a step up the latter in death metal with this album which will have fans that hear this one in awe. They need to spread throughout the world because their music is really unique. Aside from their influences, they show much more maturity and variety. I feel like they showed a great progression from their debut. The music and vocals hit the spot for me! (Death8699)

(Self/Redefining Darkness Records - 2020/2022)
Score: 72

https://bearmace.bandcamp.com/album/charred-field-of-slaughter

Bloodstrike - In Death We Rot

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Swedish Death Metal

You wouldn't think that the vocalist is female, especially since it's wholly gutteral. I like the sound of her though, she compliments the music well. The music I liked the most. The album itself isn't very fast, there are a lot of songs that aren't quick but they're still good. The guitar riffs are pretty awesome and original. A lot of them utilize ultimate power chords and tremolo picking. A lot of the guitar compliments the vocals soundly. The production isn't too raw for a debut. It's actually pretty clean. I liked it. There is some aura to this album too. It's quite dark and depressing. That was mainly their goal for the album I'm sure.

Not too interested in the lyrical concepts as much as I am the music. I think that the fact that the songs are at least 4 minutes or more in length. It makes a solid release. It just seems though as the songs progress there are some vocals that were a tad bit overdone. That doesn't mean that they're bad, just sometimes they're a little overpowering. And an echo that goes around the sound. That makes it to be more atmospheric. I think that they're sampling sounds here. That isn't wrong, they are incorporating depressing vocals to a dark guitar melodies. And the drums are filled with double kicked frenzies.

The main thing to keep in mind here is that since the vocals are female there's a limit or possibly one to get totally gutteral. However, I've heard brutal death metal acts with females that are vocalists. It just seems that there can be a built in bias when putting a female voice to death metal music. In some respects, this vocalist sounds a little like Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), but not entirely. The bands music is strictly death metal though, no essence of melodicism in store here. These guys want to stay underground. And it's good the album is 45 minutes in length because you get the feel that they're not going to cheap out on their listeners.

I bought this CD a while ago and I'm just getting around to forming an opinion about it. I like it, and I like the band. I would encourage death metal lovers to give it a try. The music is pretty original and invigorating. At times too very dark. That's the whole point: BRUTAL MUSIC! The tempos aren't the fastest, they're just groove laden and intriguing. I liked all of the songs. They all have something special about them. They're incorporation of unique music to the song's structures make it the most interesting. They definitely show their influences not just Alissa of Arch Enemy, but darker bands in the death metal genre.

You don't have to be like me and get the CD right away if you're not convinced. Spotify has this one on there, not their latest. If you hear the digital version and don't enjoy the album, you don't have to buy the CD. It's just that the first few listens to have me hooked on the aura of the music. If you want to show the band support, buy the CD! I'm sure that the band is progressing as musicians. They put together one hell of a good debut. The music and vocals are the most interesting to me. But that's just me, I like the guitars. They really kick ass and the vocals are an acquired taste. Own this album! (Death8699)

(Redefining Darkness Records - 2015)
Score: 74

https://bloodstrike.bandcamp.com/album/in-death-we-rot

Horrid Apparition - Evil Reigns

#PER CHI AMA: Death/Thrash, Slayer

Spazio anche ai demo(tape) qui nel Pozzo dei Dannati visto che cosi tanto sono tornati di moda. Interessante innanzitutto notare come a fronte del ritorno della vecchia cassetta, anche la proposte musicali sembrano molto spesso essere tornate indietro nel tempo di quasi trent'anni. È il caso degli Horrid Apparition e del loro (breve) concentrato di thrash death incluso in questo due-pezzi edito dalla Redefining Darkness Records, che sembra evocare gli spettri di due album in particolare, 'Show no Mercy' degli Slayer e 'The Return......' dei Bathory. Tutto appare fin troppo chiaro già dall'opener "Baphomet" in cui il cantato richiama quello del buon Tom Araya e la musica riflette la proposta del gruppo americano, venata però di un che dei primi due lavori di Quorthon e compagni. Lo stesso dicasi della seconda traccia, "Evil Reigns", una bella cavalcata d'impatto con tanto di coro che si stampa nel cervello, che avrebbe fatto la sua porca figura su uno dei primi album degli Slayer. Per ora ci fermiamo qui con queste due tracce che auspico fungano da apripista per la band franco-olandese, che ben si presenta con questi due pezzi per i vecchi nostalgici degli anni '80. Attendiamo sviluppi. (Francesco Scarci)

(Redefining Darkness Records - 2019)
Voto: 65

https://horrid-apparition.bandcamp.com/album/evil-reigns

Caustic Vomit - Festering Odes to Deformity

#FOR FANS OF: Death/Doom, Disembowelment

Toning down what has already been a commonly slow pace in much of the early days of death metal, Caustic Vomit finds its sputum splattered all over the scene with an agonizing pace that finds its girth heaved around in short frenzied rushes throughout the three tracks comprising an exhaustive half hour in 'Festering Odes to Deformity'.

As putrid resonance pools around ears, the fumes of doom transfix a listener intoxicated by thunderous tuning that grimly grumbles in the bubbling mire. Then, without warning, the despondent desperation shakes itself out with roiling double bass and clanging cymbals, the grim filthy riff explodes after a shrill moment of feedback, and blasting begins. The song finds its swing in time for shrieking Slayer soloing to begin its rampage and the rancid glory, the fruit of this disgusting labor, is finally savored. Suddenly, we're back in the swamp again. However, the cycle has slightly sped up and “Immured in Devouring Rot” has its microbial movements multiplied, rolling around its raucous rhythm in slightly quicker fashion while still slogging back into its agonizing pace. Issuing forth another shrill riffing rejoinder to the bassy advance leaves the listener knowing that this cycle will continue, a horrific deterioration that exemplifies these 'Festering Odes to Deformity'.

What Caustic Vomit shows is an involvement in accenting its decrepit doom pace with the malodorous machinations of old school death metal crushes that lash out at the mushy meter like an unborn child writhing away at the confines of its amniotic sac. In this vein, “Churning Bowel Tunnels” carves caverns with the meaty relentlessness of Coffins in swings and stomps that made “Slaughter of Gods” crush as well as play with the disjointed filthy sound of chaos in it. The extra torsion of blasting helps to propel this machine's bore deeper into the depravity of these songs of sickness and drowns falling treble tremolos in an acidic soup of digestive putridity. The snare and cymbal combination cracks like an anvil, molding disfigurement from the guitars as they cry to escape the mutant tendrils of this deadly orgiastic ooze, but instead cell division ends up spurred by the secretions of the filth pit, a sludge pregnant with hate and spawning disgust.

Finally, after the infectious scourge erupts from the colonic cavern, comes “Once Coffined Malformities” with the excitement of an undead uprising and the contorted gait best adopted by decomposing hungries. Foreboding harmony flourishes in searing strings as this song illustrates the prowess of its creators in concocting an achingly sadistic structure on which to flay its prisoners. From its uncomfortably slow starts comes a strikingly sweet scent of decay as each song festers and mutates into its most monstrous form. The blasting segments are the energy fed from such morsels of flesh and horrific churns of digestion to become an all-too-graphic examination of the inner working of a death metal mutant, cross sectioned and framed behind plexiglass for the world to see, like the digestion machine offering art and eccentricity in its rawest form to the bewilderment of its unsuspecting audience. (Five_Nails)

(Redefining Darkness Records - 2018)
Score: 82

https://causticvomit.bandcamp.com/album/festering-odes-to-deformity