Alright readers, this is it. The final monthly issue of E-MetalSpace.
Reason being? Due to a gigantic shift in my schedule, (and a few suggestive letters from a few of you) I've decided to make a few necessary changes:
1) The blog is going to be posted on a daily to weekly basis.
2) The blog will contain a snazzy opening letter, an interview when I can find someone to interview, a (somewhat) insightful observation about something relevant to metal or metal-like and minimum of two reviews.
3) A numeric rating system. (ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!?!?!)
And now, a message to the bands: I will review material as it arrives, so nobody has to wait too terribly long to see their review posted.
SO SEND YOUR SHIT IN ASAP!!! Your Commander-In-Chief-In-Metal,
-Typhon-
E-MetalSpace Is:Typhon - Editor/Reviewer/Rageaholic
Rob - Sometimes Reviewer/Man-Bird
Albums:
Austrian Death Machine - Double BrutalMetal Blade - 2009
For those of you who thought that “Total Brutal” was going to be it for Austrian Death Machine, you were wrong. Just one short year after the release of “Total Brutal”, Tim Lambesis and Ahhnold present “Double Brutal”! This two disc album is pretty much more of what you experienced in their first album: songs set to themes that were inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, guest shredders, comedic interludes, Ed Repka cover art and the like. Stand out tracks like Let Of Some Stream Bennett (Commando) and It’s Simple, If It Jiggles It’s Fat (Pumping Iron) dominate the track list, so at least this time the songs are mostly catchy and fun, as apposed to it being half and half like last time. At least, that’s what the first disc is all about. The second disc features seven covers that somehow tie into a Schwarzenegger movie, like: Metallica’s Trapped Under Ice for Batman & Robin or Goretortue’s Tactically Dangerous for Commando (sucks that the use of a drum machine was needed for that one… the vocals what pretty awesome though!) Most of which are pretty decent. Others, such as the immortal classic Hell Bent For Leather (for T2, I’m sure you assumed), just don’t translate as well.
Overall: “Double Brutal” still isn’t bad for a guy that guy messing around in the studio. Unfortunately, “Double Brutal” isn’t going to wow anyone who wasn’t a fan of “Total Brutal”, but it’s definitely going to please the rabid Austrian Death Machine fans. Now I’m left to wonder if there’s a Hercules In New York single in the works… - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/austriandeathmachinewww.metalbladerecords.comThe Black Dahlia Murder - DeflorateMetal Blade Records - 2009
And “Deflorate” makes four…
Let me start off by say that I own the entire Black Dahlia Murder (full length) catalog and I can safely say that “Deflorate” is on par with the rest of the collection. The Black Dahlia Murder have found a system that works (high-pitched scream, guttural growl, melodic riffing here and there, hyperactive kicks ’n’ beats, nightmare educing lyrics and repeat) and refused to stray from it. Er, with the exception of the colorful album cover this time around… Yet, each album has the uncanny ability to make you want to listen to them over and over again, despite the overwhelming aural/style relativity. There really isn’t a whole lot else to add to that. If you’re a fan of the melo-death peddlers from Michigan, then you’re gonna love you some “Deflorate”.
This time around, they included a DVD with their feature! So let’s take a look… hmm… Don’t you get to see most of this type of thing on Majesty? Oh well. The DVD includes a couple of studio drum tracks and the lads of TBDM acting exactly as you’d think they would. Honestly, it’s pretty underwhelming unless you’re the type of person that likes watching somebody try to eat a bite sized wheel of cheese without taking the wax off first… (HA!)
Overall: “Deflorate” is more of the same (plus a superfluous DVD). And that’s not always a bad thing! Especially if you’re The Black Dahlia Murder. - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/theblackdahliamurderwww.metalbladerecords.comBlood Red Throne - Souls Of DamnationEarache Records - 2009
I still remember the first time I listened to Blood Red Throne. I went down to 2nd Ave.
Records in Portland looking for Bloodbath Nightmares Made Flesh, and
happened across Altered Genesis while thumbing the box containing bl.
Having heard many good things about the album I went ahead and got it
and when the train heading back into Hillsboro swung around I eagerly
popped the cd into my Discman. I was greeted with one of the best
albums of 2005, dissonant, and genuinely unsettling Altered Genesis
could have been the beginning of something new, different, and intense
within the genre of death metal; what the fuck happened? Come Death and
now Souls of Damnation have nothing of what made Altered such special
album. It’s like BRT became more concerned about the last thing any
good death metal band should be concerned with, being “brootal”. Even
the riffs that kind of sound cool are instantly ruined by the rest of
the uninspired slop that composes this album. The progressions are
predictable, the riffs are boring, and this album is unfortunately more
proof that this band might have already had their shining moment.
Here’s hoping for a new Green Carnation album. - :( Rob
Burial Ritual - Tower Of SilenceIndependent - 2009
Milwaukee based death metalers Burial Ritual have returned from the depths of hell and brought a little piece of it back with them! “Tower Of Silence” is a genre blending blur of an album! It takes all the fury of death metal and combines it with the speed of thrash and the purely evil tones of black metal in a way that feels soooo right! I know that other (re: lesser) bands have tried to do the same and failed miserably! Which is what made “Tower Of Silence” that much more fucking badass! The vocals run as the standard low-as-fuck George “Corpsegrinder” Fischer growl (especially during the song Fantasy Of Rape, which I had to check and see if it was a Cannibal Corpse song I‘ve never heard of), while the riffage fluctuates from speedy Destruction-equse notes to speedy Immortal-ish riffs and everything that is deathly and metaly runs in-between.
Overall: “Tower Of Silence” is molten metal! Check it out or may all of your Morbid Angel bootlegs turn into Fall Out Boy material! - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/burialritualbandCode Of Lies - Age Of DisgraceGrindhead Records - 2007
On many levels this band is well
on their way to have a rewarding career. Even before you put the disk
in the cover art evokes memories of Napalm Death and Terrorizer. Once
you actually get started you are treated to some extremely energetic
and chaotic modern grind. This band is really good at effectively using
melody accents without loosing the intensity of the song. A lot riffing
follows the same basic patterns, so each song is easily tied together
but with enough variation that the music does not stagnate throughout
the cd. The cd itself if pretty short which was slightly disappointing,
but it is straight to the point without any filler, other than the last
five minutes of the album which is kind of pointless. My one big
complaint is the production, and only with the drums. The snare sounds
so flat and weak that it’s completely out of place in the mix, guess
it’s more of a personal preference deal but still, what happened? As
long as these guys keep writing the same quality of songs, mix it up,
and get a better snare sound be expecting to hear amazing things from
Code of Lies. - :) Rob
Leaves' Eyes - We Came With The Northern Winds
Napalm Records - 2009
What
can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for hot chicks that can sing their ass
off and are backed by kick ass bands. This package is extremely well
done with enough material to keep any fan of this band entertained for
a while. First off there is the two hour documentary, pretty much has
everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Leaves’ Eyes and then some.
Also included on the documentary DVD are music videos, always a plus.
Then we get the main event, the live concert DVD featuring over and
hour’s worth of music with crystal clear sound and visuals. You know
that Leaves’ Eyes song from Vinland Saga that you absolutely love and
would like to hear back to back with that one song you love from Legend
land next to that one from Lovelorn? That’s pretty much what you got
here, a collection of the best this band has to offer in one place,
which makes it a hella lot easier than switching between multiple disks
when that female fronted metal bug bites your ass. And then of course
for when you’re on the go, we got the double cd of the aforementioned
live concert. So Napalm did us all a favor and made a nice ole package
for the suckers that love this stuff, do yourself a favor and buy it.
(good)
Pistons - We’re PistonsSuffering Jesus Productions - 2007
Mixing elements from Motorhead and Discharge, Pistons pull the rug right out from underneath you with this raw offering known as “We’re Pistons”. The old school heavy metal meets punk meets a slightly blackened feel (due to the low mixing quality) makes for one hell of a listening experience. The vocalist sounds like Mr. Lordi, minus the failed high notes… it took me a listen through to stop laughing. Once I got over that, his gruff yelling fit well with the punky riffs and the frantic drumming. The rough mixing and tracking was also a welcome touch to this gem. The only “meh”, factor to this album is the lackluster vocals that consist mainly of the vocalist screaming the name of the song over and over again as the chorus.
Overall: From title track and self-promoting opener, We’re Pistons (We’re number one!) to aptly speedy closer, Kings Of Speed, “We’re Pistons” is a twenty minute punk ‘n’ roll joyride for fans of energetic, in-your-face music. - :) Typhon
www.pistonsnumber1.comwww.myspace.com/pistnswww.sufferingjesus.info
Setback - Unfinished BusinessCrash Course Records - 2009
N.Y.H.C., eh? Well, it sounds the part! …sort of. This eighteen minute album delivers a attitude packed punch… that only grazes you. Fuck! This is hard. It feels like everything in this album is one part classic New York Hardcore, one part tough guy jockcore… unfortunately, the latter overpowers the former. Yet another band that saw an overcrowded/talent less genre and cried, “Us too! We can emulate Hatebreed‘s take on da ‘core, steal Even Seinfeld’s vocals and be almost completely unappealing like Madball!” Other than my bitchfest just now, the hooks ‘n’ melodies aren’t all that bad. Maybe I’m just old fashioned. Maybe I’m just jaded. I don’t know. But what I do know is that “Unfinished Business” is only going to sound good to a select few.
Overall: “Unfinished Business” has some potential here, but falters in so many ways. It’s “meh”, pure and simple. - :| Typhon
www.setbacknyhc.comwww.myspace.com/setbackdms357
Sound Of Detestation - Sound Of DetestationGrindhead Records - 2007
This Swedish grindcore outfit seem to be more “core” than “grind” (unless you count the less than two minute play time of all but one of the songs on this self-titled grind bit). Upon the first listen, I was lead to believe that I was listening to a bar brawl between Whitechapel and Nazum… and you won’t be hearing me complaining about that at all! The elements of each tend to play very well off of each other, so fans of each should be hunky-dory with Sound Of Detestation (hopefully). The vocalist bounces from an almost emocore-ish scream to an extremely brutal death metal growl, which is awesome since neither upset each other. The drummer starts off by making the jump to hyperspace and never slows down! In fact, I think he leaps to Ludicrous Speed before the album is over! Overall: Not a single detestable sound is to be found on this album! Now all that’s left is to sit and wait for Grindhead to send us Sound Of Detestation’s 2009 release, “Ge Fan I Vara Liv”… - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/detestationgrindcorewww.grindheadreocrds.com
Wodensthrone - LossBindrune Recordings - 2009
After two split 7” releases, these historic black metalers have finally released a full length album entitled “Loss”. A what a loss it could have been had I not received this demo for review or for you (the reader) for not stumbling upon this review, for I have such wonderful things to tell you! “Loss” harkens back to the days of yore, both in terms of style and in lyrical content. Style: Remember “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism“? Yeah. Place that here and add a hefty dose of melody, better production and sharper vocals and you might start to get an idea of what’s going on there. Lyrics: “Loss” is all about the darkest era of England’s past. A beautiful culture, fraught with war, disease and tyranny (oh my!). You start to develop a feeling of woe for the sick characters/gnarled landscapes that populate “Loss”. But then, the metal hits ya and you find new way of contorting your neck to the sinister riffs that are spilling out of you speakers! If you like feeling ravaged (in the only good way there is… umm… you fill in the blank there…) then pick up a copy of “Loss”.
Overall: Wodensthrone have unleashed one hell of an album here! “Loss” is just about as good as it gets when it comes to black metal… fuck, metal in general. - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/wodensthronewww.bindrunerecordings.com
EPs/Demos:Dimentianon - Live 2008 PromoParagon Records - 2008
I
don’t get much live material anymore since I stated that I’m not a huge
fan unless I’m there, getting my ass kicked in the pit when it’s
recorded. After listening to Dimentianon’s live promo, my feelings have
changed slightly. I’m thoroughly impressed with this promo’s
production! The clarity in which all of the songs lunge out at you with
is worthy of some sort of audio production award (“The Deven Townsie
Award” or something less gay sounding)! As for the performance that
Dimentianon dishes out: marvelous! You can tell that these vicious
fucks have a surplus of death metallic energy that flows from their
respective instruments, into the recorded crowd, out the speakers and
into your very fucking soul! Unfortunately, this promo is only five
songs long. (I never thought I’d complain about a live CD being too
short…) This shit is high octane death metal that’ll burn your face
clean off and command that you pick up the rest of this NYC bands
material. I ordered mine yesterday! - :) Typhon
www.paragonrecords.orgwww.myspace.com/paragon_records
My City Burning - White Lies | Black EyesIndependent - 2008
Sporting a Sick Of It All feel (in both style and in the literal meaning) to hardcore, My City Burning present an unbelievable debut offering here! I mean unbelievable in the way that you listen to “White Lies | Black Eyes” and there is no way that you’ll believe that this is the first time these guys teamed up to make some tunes. These guys have the dedication, drive and gumption of a band that has been farting around for a decade at least! Every angle of this album has been honed into a lethal weapon, from the vocalist’s savage bellowing, to the air tight drumming, to the hardcore riffing to the inspirational, yet murderously vicious lyrics. Especially awesome is the song Black Hearts Unite, which reveals the band’s stance on the underground music movement: A place where musicians can share ideas and not bash or judge others about how “cool” or “hip” they look. It’s all about the passion to spread the message! And that’s what My City Burning does! Now I can’t wait for the full-length album to come out. Don’t keep us waiting guys! - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/mycityburningwww.mycityburning.comSectioned - ElmeParagon Records - 2009
I was ready to write this promo off the second I saw that the first of it’s four tracks was a minute and a half intro (pet peeve number two for me!). But this midget of a promo bent me over and had it’s way with my back side until it was satisfied. It was like listening to the first three tracks of “Scream Bloody Gore” for the first time again! Do I really have to write more after that last line? The majority of you should be scrambling to find out where you can obtain “Elme” right fucking now! But for those of you that stuck around to finish this review, Sectioned is a side project of the fellas in Dimentianon (a band you hopefully read a review of earlier on this issue) that plays savage, pummeling death metal! I realize that this review was written backwards but hey, the point was (hopefully) clear.
Overall: “Elme” is a little short, but brutal enough to leave a lasting impact on your metal loving psyche! - :) Typhon
www.myspace.com/sectionedxwww.paragonrecords.orgwww.myspace.com/paragon_recordsWrench - DemoIndependent - 2009
I remember back, a looooong, long time ago when I was writing for E-Metal Reviews (remember that?), the first review I ever wrote was for a nu metal band called Something Beautiful. They were terrible. They were horrible. They were nu metal… ugh. Wrench and their six song demo (two tracks of which are less than a minute, filler tracks. Hello! It’s a fucking demo! Wow us!) reminded me of that band in almost every aspect: a vocalist who can’t do anything (sing, scream, shout, growl, NOTHING!!!), jumbled bass lines and schizophrenic (bad/really bad) riffs that don’t do shit to compliment the rest of the melody. The only thing that even kind of tickles a little bit of interest is the competent beats of Mike Palmeri (ex-Life Of Agony). But sadly, even he isn’t enough to save this band.
Look, I don’t care who’s in the band. I don’t care how many basses you have. This shit is terrible. If I wanted to listen to a heavily toned down nu metalish band, I’d listen to Motograter. And if I wanted to listen to Motograter, I’d listen to… no. No I wouldn’t… Long story short: This demo fails. - :( Typhon
www.myspace.com/wrenchnycAnd as always:
Would you like some *good publicity that's easy, quick, and free?
Then send your Demos/..EPs/..LPs/..Vinyl/PROMO MATERIAL (We don't care how old it is, we will review anything! We'll even wear/pimp your merch!) for review to:
E-MetalSpace
C/O Chase "Typhon" Smith
4807 SE Boardman Ave Apt 4
Milwaukie, OR 97267
*Any publicity is good publicity.
Be sure to add our partner site:
http:../../..www...funeralrain.net