For nearly twenty years, Singapore’s Impiety have been bringing their patented black/death hybrid to the metal masses with absolutely no signs of mellowing out or losing their barbaric ‘n’ brutal edge. Although their core sound has evolved little (if at all) over the years, they have managed to make each release even more violent and war-like than the last, and Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) is no exception to the rule.
Continue reading ‘Impiety – Terroreign: Apocalyptic Armageddon Command (Agonia, 2009)’
Deviant sex, hard drugs, assault weapons and an unhealthy obsession with Dr. Who. This sentence could just as easily sum up the depraved thoughts of the average mass murderer as it does the sound of Agorapocalypse, the latest album from East Coast grind-terrorists Agoraphobic Nosebleed. The intervening years since the band’s last proper full-length (2002’s A Frozen Corpse Stuffed with Dope) have seen ANb warp itself into an even sicker, more twisted and violent beast, resulting in one of the year’s most delightfully repellent listens.
Whereas the band’s prior releases were all about assaulting the senses with as much anti-PC power violence as possible in short, barbaric bursts, Agorapocalypse sees ANb stretching out and allowing their songs to breathe and develop. But don’t let that description fool you, the album is still chock full of skull-crushing grindcore powered by an overheated drum machine gun and lorded over by a snarling three-headed vocal hydra.
Continue reading ‘Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse (Relapse, 2009)’
Over the years, many have tried (and failed) to properly cross-pollinate black metal with industrial music. Sure, both styles can be cold and grim, but whereas industrial should be characterized by a stainless steel atmosphere of crushing machinery, black metal should be organic and earthy in its frostbitten attack. In spite of the best efforts of bands such as Aborym, And Oceans and others, the whole industrial black metal thing never really seemed to work for these reasons.
Enter Above, the latest album from Swiss metal chameleons Samael. Supposedly this album was meant to be a side-project, but the members were so pleased with the outcome they decided to release it under the Samael banner. In doing so, the band have released a lesson on what industrial-tinged black metal can and should sound like.
Continue reading ‘Samael – Above (Nuclear Blast, 2009)’
Prior to receiving a copy of their latest album Devotion to Unholy Creed, I was totally unfamilar with Greek black metal warlords Burial Hordes. The record has been one of the year’s most pleasant surprises, not to mention amongst the finest black metal releases you’re likely to hear in 2009. Sure, the band takes plenty of cues from the scene’s Scandinavian forebears, but they also aren’t afraid to slow the pace down to a doomed crawl, or imbue their ferocious assault with a punk rock-esque lethal injection of filth ‘n’ fury. Where so many black metal bands are content to hit you over the head with 10 tracks that sound exactly the same, Burial Hordes place emphasis on the song, making Devotion to Unholy Creed stand out from the pack not only because it oozes conviction, but because the band simply knows how to write compelling black metal.
Wanting to know more about Burial Hordes and gain some insight into their creative process, I got in touch with vocalist Cthonos for the following interrogation.
Continue reading ‘Interview: BURIAL HORDES’
I first discovered the Earth-worshipping drone druids of Sunn O))) just before the seminal Black One album was released in 2005. I was intrigued by articles sporting pictures of mysterious figures clothed in dark robes and brandishing guitars as if they were some sort of ritualistic diving rods. Then I began to hear rumblings about the collaborations taking place with black metal artists for the new album’s creation, specifically Leviathan and Xasthur, both of whom I was heavily into at the time. These factors combined to seal the deal, and I began delving into Sunn O)))’s back catalogue in preparation for the imminent release of Black One, beginning with White 1 and White 2, slowly working my way backwards to The Grimmrobe Demos. From their I was hooked. I was fortunate to be working as an assistant A&E editor at The Iowa State Daily at the time and received a promo copy of Black One, which I subsequently gave a stellar review.
Continue reading ‘Dethroned Emperor #21 (Behold the Drone Druids: Sunn O)))’s Monoliths and Dimensions decoded)’
Coming off like a bitchin’ brew of the finest ’70s hard rock and ’80s heavy metal, San Francisco’s Slough Feg might be heavily indebted to the bygone era of Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but that doesn’t mean that band leader Mike Scalzi and crew were born too late. The fact of the matter is, Slough Feg make tough-sounding, modern heavy metal the traditional way and do it so well that they put just about everyone else to shame, including some of the genre’s progenitors, as anyone who heard the the train-wreck that was Judas Priest’s last album can attest. Furthermore, while many purveyors of power metal cheese attempt to peddle their odious wares under the “traditional metal” banner, Slough Feg are the equivalent of a denim ‘n’ leather-clad fist to the face of all who dare to pose. Every note Scalzi elicits from the neck of his guitar is a “death to false metal!” battlecry, and Ape Uprising just might be the culmination of Slough Feg’s nearly 20 year crusade.
Continue reading ‘Slough Feg – Ape Uprising (Cruz Del Sur, 2009)’
For over 10 years, Sweden’s Nifelheim have been penultimate purveyors of filth-ridden, thrashing black metal of the highest order. But, for anyone just discovering the band’s gnarly brand of infernal overkill, trying to track down their first two classic albums has been next to impossible until now. Originally released on the now sadly-defunct Necropolis Records and seeing only a limited re-release on Nuclear War Now! Productions a few years back, Nifelheim and Devil’s Force have finally been officially re-released in 2009 with one bonus track each by the mighty Regain Records.
Continue reading ‘Feature: Classic Nifelheim albums reissued (Regain Records, 2009)’
For nearly twenty years, Singapore’s Impiety have been bringing their patented black/death hybrid to the metal masses with absolutely no signs of mellowing out or losing their barbaric ‘n’ brutal edge. Although their core sound has evolved little (if at all) over the years, they have managed to make each release even more violent and war-like than the last, and Terroreign (Apocalyptic Armageddon Command) is no exception to the rule.
