Kill Your Scene

Undersave are no strangers to tribulation. Forming in 2002, it is only now that the band’s fresh blend of death metal has been captured in the context of a full-length release. Shrugging their shoulders at both the brutal/slam death metal movement and the regression to the old school, Undersave capture the true spirit of genres boundless possibilities, reminding us that classic death metal releases are anything but a dying breed.

Whilst calling the band innovative would perhaps be a bit of a stretch, that isn’t what the band is trying to achieve. Instead, the duo (now a three-piece) have crafted a unique sound by blending their varied death metal influences into one being. The band is heavily removed from a wall-of-sound approach, preferring to explore other ways to devise atmosphere. From the haunting intro snippet to the trudging riffs, the album oozes subversion over domination. That isn’t to say that the album doesn’t have its fair share of blasting, tremolo-picking moments, but they are just some of the elements amongst the tasteful dollops of grooves and interesting riffs that fill the album, as opposed to the primary factors. The boundaries of death metal have never been set in stone, and Undersave flirt with this notion without diving right in.

Lacking a second guitarist or bass player, vocalist Nuno Braz handles all stringed duties. Whilst he dominates on guitar, the pockets in which the bass is clearly audible also show off some interesting work, especially on Digging And Blocking The Exit To The Unwanted Freedom. However, the mix doesn’t accommodate for much low end overall, and as a result the album can feel thin at times. This is an unfortunate blow to an otherwise pretty impressive production job, with the savagery of the guitars and a punchy drum sound creating a morbid, brooding atmosphere.

Braz’s vocals remain an interesting part of the album. Abrasive and upfront in the mix, his voice – aside from a few more articulate shouts thrown in – have more in common with Frank Mullen than anyone else, and give the album a slight brutal death metal feeling, contrasting with the music. At first, the roaring vocals over the top of this style of death metal might seem a bit peculiar, but as the album draws on, it all starts to make sense.

The album rarely drags, with only a few moments on Assuming a Position…a way to Criticize one’s own Hypocrisy feeling a bit drawn out, whilst opener Now…Submit Your Flesh To The Master’s Imagination’s eight-minute length feeling entirely warranted. The album does contain a few shorter tracks, but for the most part, Undersave have chosen to take the risk, offering primarily long compositions with repeating structures.

It is not always the most innovative albums that are the most fun to listen to. Sometimes, all that is necessary for an album to become memorable is the revisiting of ideas and having a new take on it. This album certainly won’t redefine anyone’s view on death metal, nor is it going to tick all the boxes on an old school purist’s list. Instead, Now…Submit Your Flesh To The Master’s Imagination sits firmly within the established scope of death metal, whilst offering an interesting blend of some of the genre’s trademarks. This album doesn’t push the limits of melody or brutality – but it is certainly memorable.

On March 1st Greek Black Metal band Rotting Christ released their eleventh studio album since their 1987 inception to hordes of fans, followers, and Occultists alike. The Hellenic outfit are famed for being one of the first Black Metal bands from their part of the world, as well as one of the oldest in the genre itself.

I must confess I did a bit of a double take when I first listened to Rotting Christ. Firstly, the name Rotting Christ suggests blood, fury, and well decomposition. The music on this album is anything but decomposing. Rich with emotion and vocal melodies, Rotting Christ have produced Black Metal as it is intended. Full of Gothic undertones, and quintessential Metal/Hardcore growling and screaming, many of the tracks on ‘Kat Ton Daimona Eaytoy’ are accompanied by the necessary double-pedal madness, but it is not so overbearing as to take away from the end product. The chanting and ritualistic pace of ‘Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy’ allows for each track to be remembered individually, rather than by its cataclysmic whole.

Conjuring images of an alternate realm, where darkness overrules light by a means far above my own head, Rotting Christ have succeeded in creating Black Metal escapism. The album’s title ‘Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy’, meaning ‘Do What Thou Wilt’ is influenced by the work of English occultist Aleister Crowley, and according to the band’s biography delves ‘deep into the ancient secrets and myths from the Sumerians, Incas, Persians and other cultures.’

The first track ‘In Yumen – Xibalba’ introduces the listener to the band’s melodic yet savage world, and like many of the tracks on the album, it is accompanied by low chanting that will create a dull throb inside listeners’ veins. Tracks like ‘Iwa Voodoo’ and the Sumerian influenced ‘Gilgameš’ are fast, heavy and full of enough power chords to exorcise demons. Other tracks like ‘P’unchaw kachun – Tuta kachun’ – which is complete with excerpts from the Incan emperor Pachacutec, ‘Grandis Spiritus Diavolos’, and ‘XΞƩ 666’ will transport listeners into the darkest reaches of their own minds. Each track is laden with a subtle yet very deliberate force. Rotting Christ want their listeners to feel the weight of darkness overcoming their very souls, and by the end of this album they will.

As someone relatively new to Black Metal, I can safely say Rotting Christ have a new fan. What they do on this album is a pure pleasure to listen to. Listen to ‘Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy’ now. It will make your soul quiver with delight and fear at the same time.
Standout tracks include: ‘In Yumen – Xibalba’, ‘P’unchaw kachun – Tuta kachun’, ‘Cine iubeşte şi lasă’, ‘Iwa Voodoo’, and ‘XΞƩ (666)’.

When I started listening to the live stream of this album I felt guilty. Here I was listening to something that was created to help a punk rock legend, Tony Sly’s family after his sudden recent departure from this world, and I was listening for free. After fighting over this moral dilemma for the first song, I caved and spent the five dollars to purchase the album. Now with a clear conscious I can give you my honest opinion about this tribute album.

The first thing that took me by surprise it that it is an acoustic album. In saying this though, the acoustic element gives a sense of reminiscing and is truly inspiring. Stand out tracks are ‘Not Your Saviour’ – Billy Demos (Lost in Line), ‘Sleeping In’ – Cash No! and ‘51 Days’ – Heath Rowley (Wisheimer). The harmonies on ’51 Days’ are beautiful and give you a sense of passion for the song. ‘Sleeping In’ is one of the more upbeat songs on the tribute album. It is fun, something you can sing along to and it pulls you out of the sombre mood of the rest of the album.

While there are a few undesirable songs on this album that will make No Use For A Name fans cringe slightly while listening to them, I’m not going to name and shame. But in saying this, punk isn’t about having the best voice or being the best guitarist. In the words of Nick Lowe ‘When Punk Rock came along, the one thing you were not supposed to be was musical.’ The songs on this album aren’t merely just covers but it pays homage to a great punk rock legend.

Every musician on this album has contributed for one reason, to create an amazing tribute album for one of the great modern day punk rock heroes. They may have never met Tony Sly or ever talked to his family, but punk is a family, a really big family. And when someone needs help we do whatever we can to be the ones to help out. This is exactly what every person who contributed to this album, whether it is musically or the business side, has done. They have banded together to help Tony Sly’s family in this time of need.

Please go and buy this album. It will only cost you five dollars and help out one of the great punk rock heroes family get back on their feet. You won’t regret it.

http://killyourscene.info/australian-punk-bands-release-a-tribute-to-tony-sly/

Celtic folk punkers The Tossers have dropped their 14th long player (including several live albums) with “The Emerald City” a healthy slab of gold ol’ Irish folk with songs about whiskey and drinking and being in bars along with a tip of the hat to the Emerald Isle. The six piece play more along the lines of a Flogging Molly style than say the more rock n’ roll aspect to The Dropkick Murphys. There is more traditional Celtic instruments in fiddles and tin whistles and acoustic guitars. The songs are all strong, upbeat jigs that you’d expect to hear from a Irish pub in down town Dublin. ( despite the fact the band hail from Chicago)

Kicking the album off is a straight out of the pub ditty ‘The Rover’. A high paced jig that will get you doing your best Riverdance impersonation. There’s plenty of tracks suited to the bar and to the drink. ‘Here’s To A Drink With You’ is one for you and your mates to sing along to. ‘The Break Of Dawn’ which is about drinking whiskey and ‘Where The Beer And Whiskey Flow’, again about drinking at the pub.

The band also speak fondly of their home town of Chicago and of the States in the tracks ‘Emerald City’ and ‘USA’. And to tie in nicely with St Pats Day in a few weeks, ‘St Patricks Day’ should be played as the first Guinness is poured and drunk on the 17th of March.

The album as a whole is a fun little record with catchy tunes to suit the backdrop of good times and of beer and whiskey. In fact, if you don’t have a whiskey by your side or a pint as you listen to this record, then your doing yourself and the album a dis-justice.

The Swingin’ Utters are one of those bands that have come from the Fat Wreck Chords Stable that most punk fans would probably say they like the songs they hear from the band but probably never really got into their records. And that might sound harsh but they are just one of those bands that sit in the background of the roster on that label which you only remember they exist when they put out a sampler with a track of theirs on there. (a la the old Sampler compilation CDs or Live In A Dive series). The thing is though, there is some cleaver songs and probably deserve more attention. Will it come with the release of their 8th album, Poorly Formed? Sadly, probably not.

The record as a whole is quite enjoyable, but you know once you pick up the next album from some other band, this will get lost in the rest of your collection on your iPod or Spotify playlists. But the record has a great mix of styles and influences. There is that hint of folk that they’ve developed over the last decade or so. Straight out punk rock numbers and even a hint of TSOL in the track ‘Brains’ (with the great lyric ‘Come here I’ve got something to tell you/Make one wish for brains’) in fact I can’t say there is a bad song on here, it’s just they are not long term classics and I doubt they’ll win over too many new fans. Which, is a shame but to me it seems to be the place they are in.

Poorly Formed is the bands second record since returning from a hiatus three years ago and is the first record without long time band member and Me First singer Spike Slawson who stood down last year. It definitely needs a few listens before it sinks in and once it does, you start to find yourself singing along to tracks like the opener ‘The Librarians Are Hiding Something’ and ‘The Fake Rat Of Dave Narvarro’. (And I haven’t quite worked out if they are taking the piss out of Dave Narvarro or not on this track!) but it doesn’t have any longevity in the album. I doubt you will go back to it six months to play again.

In some corners of the heavy metal/hard rock world, there is quite the stigma attached to “traditional” heavy metal and its buddy power metal. It isn’t uncommon for the genre to be associated with “throwback” music, the horizons of melodic metal well and truly reached within its own boundaries. The common argument is that metal can only move forward by becoming more brutal, or taking on influences outside of the rock spectrum.

Every now and then, an album comes along that proves this to be total bullshit.

Unwilling to fall into the current power metal trends of drowning in Casios or writing 80s anthems, the Perth powerhouse Silent Knight have decided to forge their own path, with a blend of soaring, raw vocals, Teutonic riffs and war-marching drums on their debut album. Such a description could easily be applied to a record in the vein of Sodom or Destruction, but what is interesting is these sensibilities have been applied to power metal.

Although the five-piece maintain a solid vibe throughout the entirety of the record, this doesn’t mean there isn’t a fair bit of variance. The Curse of the Black Rose and Masterplan are both heavy hitting numbers that defy genre boundaries, whilst Pay your Dues feels very much like an homage to the band’s influence, but with a spin on it to avoid baring too close a resemblance to any of them.

What is great is that no song suffers from any re-treading of other artists, each finding its own identity as a fist-waving, heavy metal anthem. Vocalist Zoran Cunjak’s commanding tone glides through the melodic spider-webs created by guitarists Stu McGill’s and Cameron Nicholas’ harmonies, all the while tinged with a slight gravitas that isn’t all too common in the genre.

The album takes a few big turns as well, not the least of which is the album’s intro Prelude; Fear and Tyranny, one of the rare album-intros that manages to compliment and gel with the rest of the record. With When the Fallen Angel Flies, the band draws on a more hard rock influence, coupling it with galloping rhythms to create something wholly unique. Album-closer Dare to Dream straddles the melodic boundary more than any other track, littered with some tasteful classical guitar work.

For any self-respecting metalhead, it would be impossible to ignore the surge in heavy/power metal bands currently springing up across Australia. Many of these bands are offering new and fresh sounds to the genre, and Silent Knight are no different. Masterplan is set to become a benchmark for the genre – bounding between crushing riffs and epic harmonies with consistency, all wrapped up in a production job that turns this record into a sonic war-machine rolling into the fray.

Additionally, Silent Knight have posted the full album on Youtube for streaming, and are currently touring to promote the record, playing both Sydney and Melbourne.

Formed in 1991, Beheaded hail from Malta and chiseled out a name for themselves in their home music scene with their special blend of Brutal Death Metal. Taking it across borders in 1998, Beheaded have been well received by Death Metal fanatics across Europe and the US ever since with November 2012 seeing the release of the band’s fourth studio album ‘Never To Dawn’ to the screams and praise from their increasingly receptive fanbase.

After sleuthing the internet for some extra information on these harbingers of doom, I found out that aside from their newest instalment the band are second on the bill for the Castigating Europe tour with Pyrexia and Unfathomable Ruination – something that listeners will be well on the path to with ‘Never To Dawn’.

Described on their Facebook page as ‘Death Fucking Metal’, listeners can expect nothing but. The first track on Beheaded’s newest LP titled ‘Elapsed Into The Vortex of Extinction’. Quite frankly, when drummer Chris Brincat first slams his sticks down that’s exactly what I thought had happened. The introductory track opens a gate into the vast depths and voracious appetite of Death Metal and provides the perfect backdrop for what comes next.

Frank Calleja aka the man performing the intense vocals breathes fire and smoke throughout the entire LP. His is not a voice, but a real life death call. A sound that only occurs in the throes of Death Metal mania. Provided by Omar Grech, the guitars on ‘Never to Dawn’ are the perfect backing for Calleja’s malevolent growls along with David ‘Cejca’ Cachia on bass.

Tracks such as ‘Where Hours Etch Their Name’, and ‘Dead Silence’ are fast-paced, gritty, and full of the mirth that this particular type of Metal is known for. However, what really throws Beheaded’s latest LP into the molten pit of soul mutilating destruction is the hedonistic nuclear-like fallout of tracks such as ‘Lament of a Sordid God’, ‘Descent Into Sanguinary Seas’, topped off with the final track ‘The Ancient Acumen’.

A slick and necessary addition to any Death Metalhead’s collection, ‘Never To Dawn’ will leave listeners with a sensation what I can only imagine is similar to banging their head repeatedly against a wall while having a power drill inserted into the back of their neck. This album is pure destructive force.

Standout tracks include: ‘Lament of A Sordid God’, ‘Perished Into Inexistence’, ‘Dead Silence’, and Towards An Abducted Sun’.

Power Thrash at its fastest is the most accurate description available for Colombian Metalheads Nightmare. Originating from the city of Medellin in the Colombian Department of Antioquia, Nightmare are a shameless throwback to the Golden Age of Power Metal in the vein of bands such as Helloween and Swedish band Hammerfall. The band’s most recent LP ‘About To Explode’ originally only obtained Colombian release in 2010 through Dirty Sound Records, but due to popular demand it officially achieved worldwide release in 2012 via EBM Records.

Formed in 1999-2000, ‘About To Explode’ is Nightmare’s second full length studio release. Their first, ‘High Speed Venom’, was released in 2004 via Plasma Jam Productions. The band also released a demo CD back in 2001 themselves called ‘Gates of Hades’.

An absolute killer of an album, ‘About To Explode’ will make any Thrash lover happy and succeeds in putting the Colombian Thrash Metal scene on the map. Complete with power chords supplied by Edison Gil aka ‘Enforcer’ and Mario Uribe – aka B.A. Ripper, who also serves as the band’s ridiculously high pitched frontman, ‘About To Explode’ lives up to its name. Hide your crystal and barricade your windows folks, because Uribe has a vocal range that would require most grown men to attach power cables to their balls.

As for the tunes themselves, tracks such as ‘Black Blood Sands’, ‘Out Of Love’, and ‘Confess and Regret’ are instant classics and beg for listeners to roll down their windows, pump their stereos, and ride off into a wild and adventurous sunset. While these are – surprisingly – the more wistful tunes on the album, tracks like ‘About To Explode’ ‘Leather, Studs and Rock & Roll’, and ‘Crush The Bones’ showcase the instrumental talents of this fine band, and will evoke the most complicated air guitar mimickry.

Be warned folks, this shit might just bring back 80s Metal-Hair. An album worthy of Metal worship, listen to it in your best leather with a bottle of cold beer. Standout tracks include: ‘Black Blood Sands’, ‘Leather, Studs, And Rock & Roll’, ‘Invasion’, and ‘Crush The Bones’.