Heaving Earth - Denouncing the Holy Throne

#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal, Morbid Angel, Destroying Divinity, Hate Eternal

As has been the case with a large amount of Eastern European Death Metal, the influence of American acts is pretty astounding to behold as not only is it stylistically similar in creation but also growing in enjoyment, which follows suit with this Prague-based act. Technical when it needs to be but much more often just blasting away with urgency and intent, there’s a lot at work here as the band shifts from the mid-tempo realms filled with those technically-proficient guitar rhythms popularized by Morbid Angel to the frantic, flesh-flaying full-throttle assaults whipping through numerous sections here which are much more prominent in the modern Death Metal scene. Coupled with the album’s approach of mixing that audio violence with an appropriately surging hellfire-inspired sound it just brings the riffs to life and makes for another outstanding piece to the puzzle found throughout here. The tight leads and the explosive drumming are all favorably aided by this and it truly makes for a much dynamic affair here that does seem more than able to cover up the lone flaw running through the album in having way too many instrumental interludes. In the second half, its split evenly with track-interlude-track-interlude into the finale and that leaves a slightly jarring effect against the rest of the album which didn’t have much. Knock off one or three of them and this would be even higher up than it already is, which is a testament to the rest of the tracks on the album. Opener ‘The Final Crowning’ gets this going nicely with a fine build-up into pounding drumming and hellfire-soaked rhythms blistering into a mid-tempo cacophony bristling with the technical nuances dripping through the guitar work along the extended final half to set the stage perfectly here. ‘Nailed to Perpetual Anguish’ goes slightly more technical in approach and as a consequence eases off the throttle slightly but still manages quite the impressive outing here, while ‘Doomed Before Inception’ continues featuring blazing-fast technically-proficient riffing and dynamic blasting drum-work that gives this a solid three-peat opening. The first instrumental, ‘And the Mighty Shall Fall’ offers stylized majesty melodies and growing atmospheric riffs gradually build to dark, heavy rhythms that segues into ‘Worms of Rusted Congregation’ that continues on with the majority of time offering those slow, dark and heavy rhythms while still maintaining a decidedly Death Metal edge while putting out some Doom influences in the only real section of the album. The next instrumental, ‘...into the Sea of Fire’ features trilling guitar riffs and ambient, dark atmospheric rhythms which is so short it’s questionable why it’s here altogether. Luckily, that’s all quelled with back-to-back quality efforts in ‘Forging Arcane Heresy’ and ‘I Am Nothing’ as the ripping riff-work, utterly explosive drum-blasts and raging tempo changes that sweep from technical thrashing to demonic tremolo-rhythms and mid-tempo blasting make for the album’s two-best overall highlight quality efforts. While not as explosive, ‘Into the Depths of Abomination’ does feature enough engaging rhythms, blasting drum-work and frantic energy to come off as enjoyable even with the odd track placement in the second half when it really reads more of what happened to the first half’s tracks. The next instrumental, ‘...Where the Purified Essence Descends Ablaze’ is so worthless it’s not worth mentioning, while the epic ‘Jesus Died’ offers up slow, sprawling rhythms and tremolo-picked melodies alongside a tight series of drum-blasts and the occasional frantic series of riff-work that really gives this a punch for a fine offering overall. The outro instrumental ‘Endless Procession of the Holy Martyrs / Final Termination’ continues that sprawling blast-work and tight rhythms before fading out into an extended collage of noise that makes for a fine conclusion and a well-placed interlude. If only it had cut back on the others this one might be even more impressive. (Don Anelli)

(Lavadome Productions - 2015)
Score: 85

https://www.facebook.com/heavingearth

Ad Nauseam - Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est

#PER CHI AMA: Black/Death, Deathspell Omega, Gorguts, Ulcerate

Avviso ai naviganti: 'Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est' non è l'album più semplice da digerire. Sicuramente agli amanti di sonorità alla Deathspell Omega, Ulcerate o, guardando in casa nostra, Ephel Duath, verrà l'acquolina in bocca nel sapere che i vicentini Ad Nauseam si rifanno alle band qui sopra citate, però ribadisco, nulla di cosi lineare da essere apprezzato al primo ascolto. Servono infatti parecchie sedute per entrare in contatto col mood cerebrale del debut album della band di Schio, che irrompe velenosa con "My Buried Dream", song che palesa fin da subito le malefiche intenzioni dell'act italico. Musicalmente vicini alle schizofrenie musicali degli artisti già citati, gli Ad Nauseam, ci investono con scorbutici riff di chitarra che si muovono zigzagando tra saliscendi impetuosi, rarefatte atmosfere, break acustici e chi ne ha più ne metta, in un isterico collage musicale, che non lascia scampo. Non finisce nemmeno il primo brano che è già incollato al suo culo "Key to Timeless Laws", traccia ancor più aspra e dissonante nella sua schizoide andatura, che delinea nelle sue note, una maggiore propensione verso il death metal più plumbeo (Immolation) e in cui la voce iniqua di Andrea P. diventa ancor più spaventosa. Per chi volesse trovare altri punti di contatto con la band nostrana, ecco che la furia tempestosa dei Portal o la delirante sublimazione degli Aevangelist, potrebbero essere utili a focalizzare ulteriormente la proposta degli Ad Nauseam. Band che prosegue col deliziarci con strazianti e taglienti riff di chitarra anche ne "La Maison Diev", song nervosa, altalenante, in cui l'arcobaleno di colori che ha da offrire, varia dal nero al grigio chiaro in un ventaglio bicolore, che trova, per lo meno in un paio di occasioni, alcuni inquietanti attimi di quiete e un paio di inebrianti assoli conclusivi, in cui la ritmica sembra addirittura evocare i Morbid Angel. Spaventosi, non c'è che dire. La matrice sonora su cui poggia il sound degli Ad Nauseam, delinea una abilità tecnica davvero notevole e anche una notevole creatività artistica, anche se non appare ancora un vero e proprio marchio di fabbrica; troppo concentrati i nostri a rivedere e rinverdire la musica delle band preferite. "Into the Void Eye" è una infernale cavalcata dal finale a sorpresa che la collega a "Terror Haze" che tra divergenti proprietà soniche e mefitiche ambientazioni, non si distanzia poi di molto dalle precedenti tracce, se non per tentare la strada del mid-tempo, grazie ad un incedere dall'aura malsana e un break centrale che strizza l'occhiolino anche a melmose sonorità sludge/post metal. Si va verso il finale e "Lost in the Antiverse" e "The Black Veil of Original Flaw" hanno il compito di intrattenerci prima del gran finale. Mentre la prima è una convulsa traccia che viaggia su ritmi sincopati, la seconda sembra essere la song più melodica del lotto, se cosi si può definire, o forse quella più accessibile, aprendosi ad altre stravaganti e stralunate soluzioni che a livello ritmico, chiamano in causa i Deathspell Omega. Dicevamo del gran finale, "Superimposing Mere Will and Sheer Need" è infatti un muro inerpicabile di 11 minuti che sintetizzano l'iper articolata proposta musicale degli Ad Nauseam, tra vorticose calate agli inferi, growling vocals, doom funereo, stridenti chitarre e soffocanti loop ipnotici, che ci consegnano una band già parecchio matura, che deve solo trovare il modo di trovare una strada propria da percorrere fino in fondo... (Francesco Scarci)

Voto: 75

Il moniker richiamante gli Ulcerate ("Ad Nauseam" è una delle tracce più famose della band neozelandese, contenuta in 'Of Fracture and Failure') presagisce quasi nella totalità ciò che dovremmo aspettarci. Il combo vicentino colpisce in modo più che positivo con questo debut album dopo il cambio di nome e relativo correttivo nel genere proposto. Colpisce subito l'occulto artwork di Manuel Tinemans (Necros Christos, Saturnalia Temple, Pentacle) stampato su un cartoncino ruvido su sfondo antracite, ma a far da padrone in questo 'Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est' è un altissimo livello tecnico che si impregna di sonorità cupe a tratti dissonanti, supportate da serrati blast beats, senza adombrare chirurgiche armonizzazioni di basso (“La Maison Diev”). La produzione, volutamente dinamica, rende le tracce opache e con una minore potenza sonora, ma a mio parere, questa scelta completamente homemade, rende il tutto più vivo e salva dalla goffa pesantezza e linearità di una produzione lucida e brillante. Questo lavoro degli Ad Nauseam, nonostante necessiti di ulteriore personalità, non è il techno death metal classico che cerca di emulare i grandi nomi del passato ma una evoluzione che segue la scia dei già sopracitati Ulcerate, aggiungendo una vena maligna riconducibile a gruppi come Deathspell Omega o Aosoth (“My Buried Dream”). Le tracce spiccano per il loro elevato livello compositivo, regalando una certa sorpresa per il risultato ottenuto per cui il gruppo riesce a regalare una nuova speranza nel nostro malvagio Paese in cui si arranca per sopravvivere musicalmente (e non). (Kent)

Voto: 80
(Lavadome Records - 2015)

https://www.facebook.com/adnauseamofficial

Perversity - Infamy Divine

#FOR FANS OF: Brutal Death Metal, Vile, Defeated Sanity

One of the forerunners to the brutal death metal scene in Eastern Europe, the Slovakian band under the name Perversity utilizes a lot of good marks on their new EP, but still don’t manage to place this as anything other than a rudimentary old-school sounding brutal death metal album. Avoided the sheer chaos, relentless blasting and stuck-like-a-squealing-pig vocal approach that so many of their originators seem to follow to up the stakes of sheer brutality, instead this is a lot cleaner-sounding and more organic-sounding effort with the brutality coming from the tightly-wounded riffing style and severe speed the band plays at, opting for more of a different vibe than the majority of such bands. The technicality is there but never really overwhelming to the point of ludicrous showboating for such sake, as there’s a noticeable effort to actually weave solid riffing structures into the rhythms throughout and not for the mere sake of being able to display the number of notes it’s possible to play in such a short time. Unfortunately, this lighter air doesn’t really make the album drip with the savage-ness and dripping-wet atmosphere that’s so prevalent in the scene, instead really robbing the band of it’s powerful drum attack and relentless chops that are on display don’t leave the same impact. This is also the fault of the dry production that keeps this from really running with its strong songwriting and different approach to brutality so the songs aren’t really the problem here, it’s more the way it sounds. Opener "Vermin" is pretty typical of the type of tracks here, with fierce blasting drumming and tight chugging throughout as the dexterous bass-lines and multiple soaring solo sections offer more of a cleaner atmosphere, a lot of which is repeated in "Goddess of Maggots" only that becomes a lot more enjoyable with an extra technical approach in some frantic bass-wanking and a pummeling drum attack. "Angel of Prostitution" is much the same way but played at a slower speed which inadvertently drops a lot of the brutal elements and comes across like mid-period Cannibal Corpse as the savage chops and technical proficiency keep this from really soaring up the brutality stakes with its mid-paced plodding rhythm overwhelming the rest of the song, though the classically-inspired piano outro does have some fine sense of humor. The album’s best track, the utterly infectious "Incest of Flesh" works quite well with a bouncy, memorable guitar riff and accompanied bass-work that adds more speed than most of the other songs before degenerating into relentless blasting that keeps running the same infectious riff throughout which keeps it’s chucky and heavy throughout. "Supreme Accusation" also manages to change things up with an extended melodic guitar intro and pounding drumming that turns into raging riffs and tight bass-work along the dexterous drums to get better as the eventual death metal feel gets worked into the song after the intro which does change things up quite nicely but doesn’t display the same impact as the rest of the song. Finally, the classical outro track "Infamous" offers a fine breather that signals the end of the bashing in earnest with a different feel than normal with a light, relaxing melody that really settles everything quite nicely. While the music itself isn’t the problem but more the way it sounds on this with the production being the cause, it’s more of a release for hardcore fans of the band or genre than anything else. (Don Anelli)

(Lavadome Productions - 2014)

Score: 60

http://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/infamy-divine

Destroying Divinity - Dark Future

BACK IN TIME:

#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal, Immolation, Morbid Angel, Sinister

A growing trend in the Czech Republic is to play early Morbid Angel/Immolation style death metal with doses of extreme creativity and uniqueness, which is what’s continued here in the third release from veterans Destroying Divinity. The third album in their decade-long career, delivered after a six-year layoff between releases, carries along their traditional stamp of quality, old-school Death Metal with their exuberant mix of both Morbid Angel and Immolation, namely the way Morbid Angel thrashes away with their technical-based rhythms while invoking the atmosphere and sense of dread in the imagery the way Immolation made a career out of, thusly delivering raging, up-tempo riffs with a slight technical bombast into brutal, tight formations that definitely offer up more of a sense of darkness and intensity than anything either band has done yet. Alongside such tight, intense tracks, the veteran sense of knowing when to throw in a melodic line or lead-work is mixed in, putting this in a rather fine league where it blasts away furiously before injecting a slower tempo or augmenting the intensity with a lighter mood through sparring use of a melodic tempo. Surprisingly, this results in somewhat bouncy and energetic rhythms than what would normally be considered in such a genre as befits such a scene here, as the typical impetus is to just blast away with reckless abandon and scald all those who stand in the way, whereas here those get distracted by the melodic tones before getting scalded into oblivion and, it generates a lot more favorable response when it doesn’t employ this every track through as the sporadic use makes it’s surprise appearance all the more fruitful and the devastating impact of the blistering drumming and raging, brutal guitar riffs seem all the more impactful. As a side bonus, the impact against the brutal, deep gorilla growls that populate this one makes the melody more striking against such straight-laced and intense brutality. Intro "To Live in the Gloom of Beyond" starts off with blisteringly brutal drumming and raging rhythms across bouncy guitar riffs, dynamic tempo variations and that swamp-ridden atmosphere so famous in the early MA catalog, just with those extra-deep gorilla growls courtesy of the Sinister influence and certainly sets things off on the right path. Follow-up "At War with Two Worlds" carries forth through a bigger blasting drum-attack and technical riff-work that remains one of the most ferocious and vicious on the album with its’ scathing intensity and eerie soloing that recalls its forbearers quite nicely as it slows down into a series of softer, melancholy melodies that show a far greater attention to songwriting craft than most really get credit for. "Birth of a Faceless Killer" carries on the melodic intro before turning into a typical intense raging track, while "Putrid Stench of Past" is more in line with the typically-intense work before it shows the melodies along the solo section. Ironically, it’s the straightforward and relentless "Undead in the Darkness" that scores the most here with its barbaric blasting, lack of subtlety in the riffing and reluctance to incorporate those melodic interludes and returns to the straight-up formula they work so well with here. That it leads into the blistering, intense "Cult" with the bouncy rhythms at work among the intensity makes it even more of a stand-out. That it ends with an epic near-seven-minute blast of scathing death metal is the capper on one of the most undervalued, overlooked bands in the scene and really doesn’t do a whole lot wrong beyond recycle a lot of the same riffing patterns and rhythms throughout. (Don Anelli)

(Lavadome Productions - 2010)
Score: 90

https://www.facebook.com/DestroyingDivinity

Chaos Inception - The Abrogation

#FOR FANS OF: Death Metal, Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal, Immolation

Alabama is usually not on the tops of too many lists when it comes to hotbeds for Death Metal, but if Chaos Inception is going to keep up with albums like this it won’t be long before the state starts moving up. Already two albums in, these scene vets, populated from acts Fleshtized, Blood Stained Dusk, Monstrosity and Quinta Essentia to name a few, offer forth one of the most relentless and harsh sonic attacks in the genre and create one of the more impressive efforts in an overcrowded yet prolific scene with their sound honed and refined much further than previous records showed. Rather than opting for that cavernous, sprawling landscape so often associated within the scene, this goes back to the start with a tight, ferocious sound that favors the guitars first and foremost with their unrelenting brutality that manages to make the songs far more ferocious due to the ravenous assaults in the riff-work as it adds a series of technical riff-work, sharp leads and a tight framework throughout that makes for a raging hellstorm that populates the landscape. Never a true brutal Death act nor a full-on technical one either, instead both form together with a traditional backbone created by the thunderous bass-lines, unrelenting and explosive drum-work to not only propel the songs forward at a devastating pace but also display a far greater sense of dynamics, mood variation and tempo changes than would normally be the case in either styles’ true by-products, leaving this to fall in as a traditionally-sounded death metal band with a brutal streak dominated by far more technicality than what is normally on hand, leaving this a solid, raging effort in the best tradition of the old-school giants. A rather notable but unnecessary highlight that this album is glossed in a crystal-perfect production that highlights every riff, every thunderous drum-blast and renders the vocals deep and growled to perfection is to be commended. If one is to find flaw in this one, which is nit-picking of the highest order, it’s that the band tends to employ the same rhythmic pattern throughout where the songs sound pretty close to one another throughout. The album-opening title track does strike a few nice chords with a bass-solo surprise, but the main rhythms and pace are copied throughout the majority of the tracks. "Phalanx (The Tip of the Spear)" includes some rather pleasing riff-work and a charging atmosphere, but the drum attack and solo section are repeated in here as well. The album’s best tracks, the threesome of "Lunatic Necromancy," "Pazuzu Eternal" and "Hammer of Infidel" do offer up minor chord differentials and pattern changes to distinguish them from the others, whether it be the unyielding guitar work of "Lunatic," a series of sharp bass-lines and frantic technicality through "Eternal" or the extreme brutality in "Infidel." Really, though, each of these songs does contain a number of repetitious patterns and riffs that doe make the whole effort sound remarkably similar to each other, but the sheer energy, aggression and unwavering technicality that moves through these brutally concise tracks makes them fun regardless of how similar they may be, and that alone is the bands’ best trick so far and really offers them great hope for the future. (Don Anelli)

(Lavadome Productions - 2014)
Score: 85

https://www.facebook.com/ChaosInception