Disastrous Murmur - Rhapsodies in Red (1992)

Another of the earlier Austrian death metal acts alongside Pungent Stench, I remember Disastrous Murmur largely for their hilarious, distinct band moniker as well as the gruesome and cheesy cover art on Rhapsodies in Red, their debut. These guys had a sound that, at the time, I found very UN-European. Sure, there were some parallels in that scene, like the earlier Atrocity records, but for the most part the sound developed here reminds me a little of Cannibal Corpse or Malevolent Creation evolving on a slightly separate path. Certainly more Florida or New York than Sweden, Finland, Holland or England. It's chuggy, ugly, and walks that borderline between the OSDM and brutality emerging through the 90s, with a guitar tone that sounds quite thrashy and choppy, and a few riffs to match, definitely giving off a slightly Eaten Back to Life vibe though I don't really think the bands honestly sound that close together.

This is very agile stuff with a lot of shifting tempos and gory, guttural vocals, but I find that the mix on this one has always detracted for me. In the way a lot of very archaic death metal records did, especially in the first half of the 90s. The guitar is sometimes too crunchy for its own good, and rarely is spitting out riff progressions that stick in my memory. The drum performance is good, but the levels feel off, with the kicks drowning out other stuff, making the guitars seem a little thinner. Also, while the vocals definitely have a pretty extreme sound, they weren't very distinct, just bludgeoning along with the dexterity of the death/thrashing rhythms and not leaving much more of an impression beyond their brutality. The bass here is audible, kind of bouncy and fat and blends in a lot with the lower drums, but I know there's always been a market for this style...I think Malignancy is an example where they took something similar to this and got a lot further with the creativity and songwriting.

I don't mean to sound totally down on this, because it definitely has some effort and intensity behind it and feels like a record that would have been more impressive for me had I been listening to it back when I first encountered Suffocation, Deicide, etc. Sometimes they get a rhythm guitar going which reminds me a bit of Death, Obituary or Pestilence and I dig those, but they will usually change it up too quickly before it can settle in. The occasional keyboards are kind of cool but they sometimes feel too obscure in the mix, except the intro to "Into the Dungeon" which rules. The lyrics are appropriately gross for the image that the band was conveying, and probably on the more shocking side for 1992, but musically this is an album I have to listen to more for its bludgeoning than the music value. It often sounds calamitous as if the young band was just trying to force rhythm after rhythm down your throat, and it just doesn't always stick the landing. But for 1992, it gets some lenience and is by no means bad.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://disastrousmurmur.bandcamp.com/

Candles and Wraiths - Candelabia (2019)

The first impression upon seeing this album, and perhaps the best case scenario, is that it's going to sound somewhere like a cross between King Diamond and Cradle of Filth. You've got the period piece séance, the graceful but haunting specter possessing several of the attendants, all the staples for some good Gothic or Victorian horror writ unto metal. In fact, it's definitely a lot more in the latter's direction, an Austrian CoF with only a few subtle differences, largely the ramping up of the pomp and symphonic components to a near constant, a little less of the death and thrash metal that the Brits often verve off into as complement to their black metal core, and vocals that aren't as over the top as Dani Filth, though they definitely cover the same alternation between the black rasps and death grunts, or a combination of both, with some ethereal female/choir in there and that decrepit, whispered narrative on a few of the verses.

I guess this actually comes across as if Cradle of Filth extracted about 75% of their fundamentals and then spun them into an even more Wagnerian direction. The symphonics and riffs are on full thrust for a good portion of the record, more majestic than creepy, and I'm not sure that it's the best fit for an album that is ostensibly about haunted castles and classic horror. That said, it's pretty competent and enjoyable, from the sweeping orchestrations implemented by Hannes Sandrini who has also contributed similar to some of the Obsidian Chamber albums, to the slick guitar theatrics of Jürgen Klier (also doubling in that same band), there is nary a moment here to ever grow bored, because they are piling on some agile exercise in symphonic black metal over the blasting beats. Although this album is mostly on 'attack' mode, don't be fooled, there are plenty of intricacies in the guitar work, there is zero monotony as they like to rile up the songwriting with these epic breaks where either the symph synths will blaze off or some percussive, choppy riffing and drumming.

There are loads of melodies across these 40 minutes, with a huge neo-classical leaning layered into them rather than an excess of masturbatory noodling. Occasionally, it takes on a bit of a carnival vibe as in "Wartorn Lovelorn" which has a bit of an aesthetic fit to the period horror influences, and is one of the more memorable pieces on Candelabia. But it's all tight, tidily produced as obviously a great deal of effort went into the performance and balance of the instruments. The bass isn't a strong point, there aren't a lot of highly catchy moments throughout; you won't find that amazing, diabolical poeticism in the lyrics that is the unsung hero of Cradle of Filth's discography, but this Austrian trio's execution is undeniable. The symphonic instrumentals make for a nice backdrop to accent the adventurism of the heavier elements, nothing overstays its welcome, and if you're looking for another, comparable disc to fill in time between Cradle of Filth or Carach Angren marathons, you've found it.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://candlesandwraithsofficial.bandcamp.com/album/candelabia

Transilvania - Of Sleep and Death (2021)

I'm a massive whore for blackened speed and thrash metal, and I make no apologies for that, nor should any be necessary, whether we're dealing with the most rudimentary Venom worship or bands that can elevate the sinister vibes of that hybrid to the next level. From all appearances, the Austrian act Transilvania seems to fall into this latter category, with some classical and classy-looking, creepy artwork which doesn't seem too typical for the niche, and a perhaps more varied approach to writing than those who usually blaze along with their (welcome) combinations of Seven Churches, Bathory, Welcome to Hell and Show No Mercy. The actual music here, upon experience, feels a little more like the purely traditional black metal once penned by Quorthon and his Scandinavian peers of the rawer persuasion decades ago, but there are a handful of more overtly thrash inserts here to keep it a fraction more diverse than it might have been.

Of Sleep and Death is certainly one for the conventional fan of vampiric, un-fucks-giving European black metal with its nasty edge and no sense of contrasted warmth or comfort. It's almost as if you devolved a band like Watain back a step to their earlier or mid-career material, but sent their mindset back a few centuries from its shock rock Satanism. And I mean that as a compliment to both parties, but you get the point...brash, dire melodic onslaughts of tremolo picked patterns or slightly dissonant chords that are accompanied by thundering kick-work and blasts that never border on the ridiculous, but ensure that there is this constant, oppressive sensation of being present at some East European war during the 15h century. The vocals are a nice, nasty rasp with some heft to it so it's a little deeper than the snarlier black metal bands, and he'll often throw in some manlier, hoarse shouts that help inflict some further personality. Once in awhile the way the bass roils around and some of the more playful melodies erupt in a tune such as "Hekateion", or the galloping title track, it's almost like a vicious take on a folksy influence, giving me a hint of the great Slovakians Malokarpatan, but this stuff is unremittingly savage in all cases.

Nowhere is this obscenely catchy or distinct, to be honest, since it stands so firm on the vile shoulders of its first wave black and thrash influences, but I think it benefits from the slightly unhinged production which prevents the drumming or the blood-drenched guitars from sounding too neutered or polished. I think fans of those first two Bathory albums who might seek such a style with a slight bit more focus and balanced mix will absolutely devour this one, but the ghoulish sincerity and belligerent mood might also sate fans of the Medieval black metal scene so strong in France, or really anyone who worships old Marduk, Dark Funeral, and their ilk. A keyboard or two is well implemented to help the listener meld into its cold castle walls of torture. There's a timelessness about it, much like some of its lyrical subject matter, which equally rewards with repeated listens, and it's something you could see as a modern cult classic to mirror the days in which this style sounded reckless and dangerous and totally malevolent to whoever it may concern.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/transilvaniaaustria/?fref=ts

Outrage - Brutal Human Bastard (2013)

The simplistic sort of death metal advocated through bands like Austria's Outrage is honestly pretty brave these days, when you consider that it's not a style many fans of the broader genre really go for. Groups like Six Feet Under and Jungle Rot received mixed at best reactions from an audience divided between the nostalgic saturation of old school, atmospheric, evil death metal aesthetics and the more flashy, athletic scene honed in more for precision, technicality and clinical production standards. So efforts like Brutal Human Bastard don't cross my path very often, and while that might be a good thing in general, these guys actually attack the genre from a slightly different angle than I'd expected from the cover. I won't go on record to say I'm the biggest fan, but this sophomore outing gets a little credit for having a few refreshing ideas, hit or miss, which define it.

The bedrock of the songwriting is slower, churning, accessible death metal circa Bolt Thrower or Six Feet Under which is heavily mosh-flavored; in fact the large majority of the time the material is pit ready at the cost of creativity. That's not to say the riffs don't work, especially in the clarity of the production which allows you to feel the weight of those rhythm guitars straight in the belly, but you won't often be surprised by the notes they choose, it's more a vehicle for the front man's broad yet monotonous gutturals. Where the band really shifts it up is in how they obviously take a big influence from rock and thrash metal, and come up with these pro lead guitars sequences through most of the tunes that are quite catchy, and even more impressive in that their contrast with the bulkier, brawling undertow doesn't come at the cost of the music's overall potency. I'm not going to call it 'melodeath', although certainly there are a lot of faster paced melodic death metal groups that place a similar emphasis on the consonant lead-work, harmonies, etc, but it definitely creates a warmer vibe than what you'd expect on Realm of Chaos or War Master.

The drumming is quite good on the album, a lot of steady, tribal, warlike rhythms to keep those simpler mute patterns more bombastic than they'd be otherwise, and although I'm not always the biggest fan of 'clean' mixes for my death metal records, this one services the style well. I did not get much out of the riffs, mostly just blander death/thrash patterns I've heard before, but sometimes they bust into a cooler tremolo picked passage or something that stands out from its surroundings, and the album doesn't really experience any lulls, it's consistent stuff throughout, for good or ill. Though the growls are pretty bog standard to the genre, they do throw some snarls over the top to give it a more Deicide vibe, and he can shift the guttural up to a slightly higher pitch for variety. For me, the main highlight was always the leads and melodies and how they combined with the rhythm section to create something seasoned and dynamic. Song titles, lyrics, even the album title were just a 'meh'. I can't give Brutal Human Bastard a glaring recommendation, I was lukewarm with this stuff at best, but those looking for some intro level death metal (and I don't mean that insultingly) which is honestly the polar opposite of trendy right now might dig it.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Varulv - Wolfszorn (2015)

Wolfszorn is not a record reared on subtlety or invention, it's what you'd call a 'textbook' example of the black metal genre which does not step outside the margins of that realm in any capacity. I was immediately taken by the rustic folk art, as I often am within this genre, especially because the werewolf central to the image appears to be carrying the Holy fucking Hand Grenade from Monty Python & the Holy Grail. And also whatever the hell else is going on in the image. Is the dude with the sword in the taking a piss? Are those witches strung from the gallows in the background? Is that laborer exhausted or did the lycanthrope push him or her to the ground. Does anyone even care that this man-beast is driving a pushcart of Papal corpses through their village? And what's with that thing in the background. Is that a building on fire or just a very unusual-shaped potted plant?

So many mysteries to unwind, except for Varulv's music itself, which pretty much just kicks you in the chin immediately for a swift takedown, and then spends the next 36 minutes eviscerating and playing around in your entrails with its direct, ghastly traditional black metal. This is not a record which dabbles around with nuance or atmosphere, the details are straight to the face and perfectly content with that attack plan. That's not to say they lack some degree of dynamic range...the riff patterns here swerve between glorious, melodically-engraved charges and slower, nastier grooves, both of which recalled the Darkthrone of the early 90s, but there is no ramp-up whatsoever. Do not expect acoustical, haunting segues, intros or interludes, synthesizer scapes cultivating the full moon light to catalyze the transformation of the Varulv. Nope, this thing is in full Crinos form, ripping down the village doors and dragging the women and children, or rather the clergymen, to their grisly feast by fang and claw.

Guitar tone is a major factor here, it's kind of huge and mid-range and has a solid texture in which you can hear every note of a chord shining along, but still vorpal sharp and hostile. The black metal rasp is super carnal, which suits the subject matter, but rather generic in its inflection and doesn't have much ability to catch you...it could honestly use a little more flawed inconsistency which would lend it a little charisma. As it stands, the only deviation you get is when some ominous, broader growl is used to double it up. Bass doesn't really seep through this album at all; you can faintly trace it in the slower moments, but it's mostly all six-string testosterone and intense drum battery and that can grow a little dull, although the Austrians handle it with a professional competence. And truly, if you are in the mood for just black metal of the most obvious format, the most direct distillation, then I think there are some sections of Wolfszorn that wouldn't disappoint, but I didn't find the album to have much character beyond the obvious, much horror lurking beneath the surface carnage. The debut was creepier, if less forceful, and the third record Sagenlieder is more well-rounded without losing the teeth.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/VarulVAustria/

Insanity Alert - Insanity Alert (2014)

You won't even need a second glance at the cover of this Austrian band's eponymous debut to know what they're all about. The D.R.I. shirt and vest, the bent up hat, the straightjacket, all of the violent moshing and tearing up the town... Clearly we've got a party thrash crossover band from overseas, forming at around the same time they'd be inspired just as much by other nostalgia-fueled acts like Municipal Waste as the originators of the style back in the 80s. Sure enough, Insanity Alert comes complete with goofy ass lyrics about zombies, weed, beer, skateboarding, and most importantly, THRASH ITSELF. Because honestly we wouldn't have had any idea otherwise that this is exactly the sort of music they intend to celebrate and rub your nose in repeatedly.

Now, to be fair, while I've often found this approach to thrash metal to be rather disposable and laconic whenever bands other than Tankard do it, Insanity Alert realizes the low bar of its thrash ambitions with a pretty hefty, exciting riff-set. Sure, if you've spent the last 30 years listening to groups like Nuclear Assault, Anthrax, Hirax, Exodus, Vio-Lence, Cryptic Slaughter, D.R.I. and so forth, or the more recent proxies of this sound like Iron Reagan, Gama Bomb and Municipal Waste, then this is nothing unexpected and a lot of the rhythm guitar patterns are predictable, but even with that in mind they are explosive enough with their hooks to have you smiling. The mix on the album is quite good, with clear, cutting guitars, peppy drums, and even some solid bass tones when that instrument is given some breath of its own, although generally it sits comfortably behind the rhythm guitars doing little to stand out. Vocally you know what to expect here, a bit of splatter thrash, some gang vocals, and a lot of lines that sound strikingly like John Connelly only with a little less of the genuine vitriol, but in general they move by so blazingly fast and frenzied that they get the job done and will satisfy what the diehards for this niche crave.

There's a little bit of an excess to the cheese here, literally on "Macaroni Maniac", not the first and not the last thrash anthem for the layman's comfort food (thanks Annihilator), and tunes about getting wasted and smoking up are a dime a dozen, but once in awhile they had a slightly more fun topic in there like "Arac Attack" about spiders, or "Flamethrower". I mean this is two topping pizza thrash and both of the toppings are cheese. The band make a good use of a few samples, especially as an intro to the album closer, their dorky cover of "Run to the Hills", which they have dubbed "Run to the Pit", because man you can't have thrash metal without talking about MOSHING, and THRASH METAL. M I Rite? Nevermind that the many of the greatest albums of the genre did neither and could be taken somewhat, or completely seriously...no, we've gotta keep those keywords in there lest our audience forget somehow that's what we were on about. A little bit too self-aware for me.

Regardless, the only song here I thought was actually dumb musically was "Blunt In/Blunt Out" for its dumb Southern heavy rock grooves that sound pretty weak alongside the Austrians' more frenetic fare. The rest are perfectly passable for the style, with "The Claw (Of All That is Evil)" actually being quite awesome, and others like the hardcore-infused "Shit for Brains" and "Crucified by Zombies" passing muster. The lyrics are beyond stupid, at one point I think they even paraphrased Snoop Dogg or whatever he's called now, but if you're listening to pizza thrash like this to garner some sort of important social message or intellectual stimulation you've come to the wrong place. Or maybe the right place. Either way, while Insanity Alert doesn't quite distinguish itself from better records by Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan, or their like, it's actually fun enough to recommend about 13 of the 15 brief, fast-paced tracks to those who live lives full of bong hits and mosh pits, or those of us who wish we could. Assuming you don't have Zombie Attack, Survive or Hazardous Mutation at the ready.

Verdict: Win [7/10] 

https://www.facebook.com/insanityalert

Bifröst - Schlachtklänge (2006)

Once the Spring arrives, and New England receives its inordinate amount of random, record-setting, deep summer temperature days, I find myself playing a game of 'beat the heat' within my listening habits, and thus I search for the most wintry, Nordic stuff lying around in the various plastic piles or on the dusty, forgotten drives on the periphery of my music collection. Having an insane May afternoon at 94 degrees Fahrenheit, I settled my ears on the debut from this relative unknown Austrian commodity, Bifröst, who certainly sound like an antidote for the sweating inferno outside and the two energetic children I spend so much of my time with. Or at least, it should seem that way on paper, but what I wound up with was only a means to amplify my discomfort...

Spoiler: having traveled to the future beyond 2006, and survived, I can assure you that once this group signed to Germany's Einheit Produktionen for their sophomore, they gradually improved to the point that I would call their fourth (and potentially final) record Mana Ewah a solid and entertaining entry into the burgeoning field of European pagan/folk metal, checking off all the right boxes for my ale binges and pretending I am from an Era I am not. For Schlachtklänge ('battle sounds?) that was just not the case, as it suffers from a number of 'rookie' shortcomings that render it ultimately forgettable, if not a complete heap of oxen leavings. Before even listening through the album, you can tell it doesn't look like much, with its muted tree photography, bland logo, but just enough of the right symbology and font to clue you in on what style of music this might be...or at least to point you in the right direction. Really, the middling production and values and appearance hint that this is more or less a demo in album-length, one which sets the ground game from which the band could later sprout some more competent and memorable ideas.

Listen to any record from Turisas and their ilk and you'll hear that they go with the bombastic, sweeping sort of intro which synthesized horns, a clarion call to the goofy warfare that ensues, but strangely the Austrians place a three-minute guitar instrumental, which is surprisingly the best produced piece on the record, but has a kind of bluesy, incidental feel that doesn't quite match up the rest of the material. But then it's off to some mediocre, shuffling, middle placed power chords that are dressed up with folk melodies, all of which would prove passable if the mix were a little more even. The vocal growls feel too muffled, and not even mic'd properly, as if the guy might be blaring the backing tracks and then recording it onto tape. In fact, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if this whole thing was done simultaneously live, it has that sort of boxy, jam-room aesthetic which just doesn't capture for me the frolicking brazenness of what this niche should be all about.

This process is repeated through much of the remainder, with the band struggling to shift up its pacing enough to give the album the variety it deserves. Certainly some of the harmonies, which pitch far over the dingy rhythm guitars, stick more than others, and they show a lot of influence from both the Finnish and Swedish ethnic and melodic death metal scenes, but the production and lack of deviation or risk truly fucks everything over from having a positive impact. To me it sounds like this debut was the product of some well-meaning blokes who heard a couple records by Amorphis and In Flames, but were really into their Finntroll, Ensiferum and Eluveite and felt like bridging these two paradigms into a whole, which they might have done under better studio conditions. Don't get me wrong, there are a half-dozen sailing guitar melodies over the 41 minutes which do take you that glorious inner castle, but the weak, slathering vocal mix and the pedestrian crunch of the rhythm guitar, paired with the submissive drumming and lack of interesting bass-lines, detract severely from its potential.

Again, I don't want to come across too harsh on Bifröst, because they took the right strides to become a better band on their subsequent releases and I'd count myself a fan of at least their last two (in 2013 and 2016). If you're new to the band or just looking for more of that festival folk metal you might enjoy off the European territories, I'd head straight to Mana Ewah and then trace their trajectory backwards for as far as you can stand it. The debut is no diamond in the rough, nor particularly majestic or wintry, desolate or mighty, but a rough template from which the group could throw out the scraps and then run with the strengths. Not totally awful, if you think of it as a demo, but nearly tragic in how some of its melodic components really nailed its vision more than everything supporting them.

Verdict: Fail [4.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/bifroestaustria/

Deathstorm - As Death Awakes (2013)

Derivation is an uncomfortable bedfellow, but when it comes to metal music, it is also the cliched sincerest form of flattery. While I think a lot of headbangers today are far too apathetic on their quest to sniff out nostalgia for a time they either experienced (or didn't, the circumstance of being 'born too late'), often to the point that they forget that what drew them to their favorite bands in the first place was that innovation and originality they seem to scoff at, I don't have much of a problem with a band which comes along and offers a further supply of something there was precious little of in the first place. In the case of Austria's violent thrashers Deathstorm, there is little to no doubt which well they are heavily sipping from: malicious Teutonic thrash of the mid 80s, with a few hints of Bay Area's most bloody artisans from around that same period.

Kreator was what I was thinking first, largely due to the uncouth flesh ripping vocals that are highly redolent of Mille Petrozza from the Endless Pain/Pleasure to Kill era. These are truly vicious and brash, with not even the faintest hint of concern for catchiness in either verse or chorus. The lightning riff sequences also have a similar structure of hyper-accelerated punk interspersed with pints of bright but unfriendly melody that evoke a surgical semblance to Terrible Certainty, Persecution Mania and Release from Agony, though these Austrians are a lot more rough around the edges. Obviously Slayer is a factor, as is Dark Angel, but I think the former was even true of the most successful German acts in the style. Deathstorm's riff choices could be defined as 'familiar but too bustling with rage and youth to give a god damn'. Rarely as well written as their influences, but nonetheless fun enough if you're just looking to blow off some testosterone, which I'm guessing is really the point of As Death Awakes. Thankfully, the band doesn't accomplish this through mere monotony, but they actually have some varied song structures like the cleaner tinge of the guitars that open "Nebelhexe" (with the raucous phased bass-lines that commit a total freakout!)

Production is a bit on the dry side, but that's likely because Deathstorm haven't any interest in giving their music a modern, glossy treatment, since it then might lack the authenticity of the popular old school. The rhythm guitars are a bit more brazen than, say, Terrible Certainty, and they tend to overpower the crisper, tinny snares and crash drums, with a bass kick that is almost inaudible except during slower sequences. The bass guitars are fine; this is a three-piece power-trio with a live-oriented sound, and what he's playing, while not always interesting, is strong enough to support the rhythm progressions while he's barking out his blood curdling rasps. There aren't a lot of money shot riffs here when taken individually, but the Sodom-like mid paced breakdowns make you wanna mosh like it was 1987, and the faster material is filthy and manic enough that it keeps the ears affixed through a sizable chunk of the content. Some of the lyrics feel as if they've just been lifted and rearranged from old Slayer, Destruction, Kreator, and so forth, but then a lot of these re-thrash groups don't exhibit much creativity in that department.

Overall, As Death Awakes is a bloody nose, a broken bone, a case of road rash that I found efficiently abusive enough to appreciate, and certainly something that chasers of sound-a-likes for Pleasure to Kill, Darkness Descends and other comparable records would find appropriate amidst their questing. But just don't go into it seeking something capable of a truly lasting impression/concussion, because a lot of growth is still necessary for Deathstorm to really make their mark on this already flooded scene of rehashes and loyalists. Also, really loved the cover art to this one, even though aesthetically it doesn't seem consistent with the music. But, hey, it beats another gas-masked pizza thrash mascot, pitchfork-wielding devil, grim reaper or wolf riding a motorcycle.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/damagewebsite

Aus Der Transzendenz - Breed of a Dying Sun (2012)

It might be more appropriate to think of Aus Der Transzendenz's debut Breed of a Dying Sun as an aural archway into the windswept depths of Pandemonium than a run of the mill black metal record. So intent is it on providing an airy, overwhelming evisceration of the audience's imagination and senses that it often sidetracks the core fundamentals of standout, memorable riffing intensity and variation to the point that it can come off stubborn and irascible. That's not to say that it never shifts gears as far as its underlying tempos, or that there are no rasps, blast beats and tremolo picked guitar lines in its actual songwriting structure. But the first and foremost component of the recording is the atmosphere. Breed of a Dying Sun has its flaws, yet I could never dispute that it's a torrent of wretched emotions: a flood given flesh.

The Austrian project, whose roster remains an enigma at this point in time, lays into the listener immediately with a wall of dissonance and feedback comprised of tortured, open rasping and streaming chords that quickly congest over the blasted undertow. At times it had me thinking of the heavier, guitar driven passages of The Angelic Process, due to the warmer, melodic tinge in the slower paced finale "The Secret Revealed". Or perhaps the cold floes of New Yorkers The Howling Wind, sort of an expansive post-rock aesthetic compressed into the harrowing frame of forceful, traditional black metal as experienced through "A Pathway to Rebirth" or the most frenzied track, "A Dream of Ghosts". There's not a lot of subtlety in these last few, the chords comprise a tortured vortex of light and shadow while the vocals howl across like their crest like desperate undead wolves, but for aural shock alone I feel the band stays pretty true to its modus operandi.

There is a sparse use of cleaner vocals here, especially in the last track "The Secret Revealed", which none would argue is its most beautiful moment, a dreamy if simple sequence of melodic, cleaner ringing notes applied to drifting, faster textures that feel more like a shoegazing experience than black metal. But the band is always quick to remind you that you stand on the precipice as the massive rasps return, and they permeate a rather night, if monotonous bridge sequence where the tones and pitch of the guitars become darker, almost as if the day were about to turn its back on the album as its closure. Alas, while I can appreciate the aesthetic intent to evolve beyond the borders of its genre's conventions, I did not get as much out of the actual music as I'd hope. Many of the riffs steer along predictable courses, rarely compelling enough that they stick out among the many millions that have been written for the style, and often the drums feel a bit cluttered (like the slower breaks in "A Dream of Ghosts"). Breed of a Dying Sun provides a 'rush', and its 33-34 minute brevity ensures that it does not overstay it's welcome. But not a rush I'm apt to take very often.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/570376955

Dornenreich - Flammentriebe (2011)

For their 7th full-length effort, Dornenreich continue to refine and hone in those elements that make them distinct from the vast and growing population of their folk-influenced peers. Razor spun, tight melodic riffing; passionate vocals that strafe both the harsh and clean territories with practiced ease; beautiful acoustic guitars that exist to more than a middling effect; gently curving bass; and the violin of Inve, seamlessly woven into the core metallic instrumentation as if it were always meant to be, perhaps the most fluid example of this in the entire genre. But more than any of this, the Austrians realize what it takes to propel a concept to its beautiful heights, and pace their album with wincing, weaving plots of variation that make it a pleasure to listen through.

Flammentriebe is all of these things, deviously transforming from elegant calms to glorious raids within the breadth of a few measures, with a guitar tone that is sheer, gleaming ice throughout the opener "Flammenmensch". "Der Wunde Trieb" brings Inve into full stride, his string work responsible for an excellent intro that crashes straight into the wavelike riffing patterns and air of solitude and tragedy. "Tief im Land" is more majestic still, with tearing guitars that collapse and emerge into the cleaner guitars and violin, as if an epic were being written out across the scrolls of history. "Wolfpuls" transforms from a cautionary gloom to the catchiest, punchiest riffs on the entire album, yet still carrying its melodies in tow; while "Wandel Geschehe" waltzes with loving despair, each moment of marvelous tranquility hanging at the edge of metallic eruption. I'd also point out the closer "Erst deine Träne löscht den Brand" as noteworthy, a near on 8 minutes epic of sailing violins and emotionally stirring, simple chord progressions that opens with a highly accessible acoustic component.

Flammentriebe is indeed a beautiful evocation, so carefully composed that it's obvious the past 15 years have been put to good use, molding this outfit through a wide wealth of exploration. There is something archaic here, some antiquity the band are able to generally touch upon that makes this the perfect accompaniment for historical fiction, although the 'flame' implied with the title seems more one of inspiration than elemental affinity, this to me is the music of vast open reaches of water or the gentle lick of tides against stone coastlines. My reaction to the band's prior efforts is mixed: some I found compelling, some consuming, some all too forgettable. You can file Flammentriebe somewhere between the first two categories. It's not perfect, but very often will take your breath away.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://www.dornenreich.com/

Artas - Riotology (2011)

I wasn't impressed by the Artas debut The Healing in 2008, but it was at least a competent exercise of modern death/thrash which probably leans a little bit in the 'melodeath' territory so prevalent in Sweden and Finland. Riotology boasts all the merits of that album, with the huge, clean production values and punchy if average riffs, and a rather enormous track list (about 16 tracks to the prior effort's 13), but it also falls short to many of the same flaws, and fails to distinguish itself among such a huge crowd of peers. To be blunt, there is nothing here you can't already get listening to Soilwork, Scar Symmetry, or any of a dozen other big names in this field.

No matter how huge, or dense the mix of the guitars is, the riffs being performed here all sound like they took mere moments to conceive. Tracks like "Fortress of No Hope" and "The Day the Books Will Burn Again" are choke with pedestrian, derivative groove riffs that have nothing to stand on other than the substantial foundation of the recording. There is very little musicality, each song seems to consist of a bludgeoning riff or two that transitions into the radio friendly clean vocal chorus that bands like In Flames, Soilwork and so forth built their careers on in the late 90s and the dawn of the 21st century, with a dash of that aggressive Pantera tough guy emotion. What's even stranger, the band starts to cycle through individual languages in the titles and lyrics of "Rassenhass", "No Pasaran", "Gipfelstürmer", and "Le Saboteur", in some crass attempt at diversifying themselves, but nothing sticks, nor do the hammy clean guitar/vocal pieces called "O5".

I'm not always opposed to modern groove metal elements if they're memorably written (like The Defaced from Sweden), but I swear I could not remember a note of this once I was finished listening through. Aside from the fact that there are songs in different languages, there is nothing but a mix of stock, phoned in riffs sauteed in massive studio sound, and flat falling emotional moments void of aspiration. Riotology doesn't even seem to hit the same mark as its predecessor, The Healing, which featured a cover of "Gangsta's Paradise" of all things. This sophomore, seems to exist on its own puerile testosterone, fleet and fading quickly, nearly 70 minutes of bludgeoning, refractory waste.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

http://www.myspace.com/artasmetal

Belphegor - Blood Magick Necromance (2011)

Perhaps it was titled in tribute to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, or perhaps not, but Austria's Belphegor have returned for yet another in a long line of diminishing returns, their 9th full-length album, Blood Magick Necromance, another celebration of ghoulish rituals, sadism and sensual deviance: black and death metal rolled up into one seamless being, dowsed in the slightly symphonic. But I often have to ask myself what happened to this band. Where did the terror of a Blutsabbath or a Necrodaemon Terrorsathan depart to? Their last album, Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwahn had its moments, but I've found this new album to be lacking in nearly every category aside from the production values.

Yes, Blood Magick Necromance is clean as a whistle, with the sort of professional polish that we've come to expect from higher budget artists like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth, yet the actual material here is just as vapid as anything the former have released in years. The three piece are just as technically fluent as ever: new drummer Martin Jovanović laids down sheer concrete, whether he's blasting or pacing himself at a warlike rock rhythm, and Helmuth and Serpenth both create thick, accessible tones through the guitars and bass, with some good bottom crunch to the mutes. The vocals are the same mix of guttural and rasp that the band have always maintained, yet they seem by this point to be almost entirely devoid of character, despite their fluency. But the real drawback is just the lack of having almost anything stand forth from the predictable miasma of the band's compositions.

They succeed in creating some versatility here, and you'll notice distinctions between the faster, blasted material like "Angeli Mortis de Profundis", "Sado Messiah" or "Possessed Burning Eyes" and the slower romps like the bludgeoning, spacious "Rise to Fall and Fall to Rise" or the often churning chug/squeal beast that is the title track. Most of the tracks are carefully enough plotted to offer variation within themselves, so there's no sense of endless repetition, but outside of perhaps the thrashing force of "Impaled Upon the Tongue of Sathan", which brings 1-2 decent riffs to bear, there's absolutely nothing here that has drawn my ears back repeatedly. It's almost a shame, because clearly Belphegor have all the weapons at their disposal to create classic for the ages: high profile label, Abyss Studios production, good musicians, etc.

I felt similar towards their prior album, but that at least had a few pieces of quality that brought it to at least the shoulder height of their beloved, anthropomorphic devil goats. I'm afraid Blood Magick Necromance never really escapes the navel level, and it had me pining for the exciting blasphemy splattered over their earlier albums in the late 90s. Granted, their style hasn't changed much, still veering to and from the same constituent genres, but there is something more soulless at play here, and half the tracks, despite their cohesion, feel as if the band might be bored in playing them. This is the least impressive, and easily the least interesting thing the Austrians have manifest to date. This isn't a bad album, per se, but a few too many trips to the hell well, and the menace and sacrilege seems to peel free like a layer of blood paint.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.belphegor.at/

Chaosreign - Spreading Death (2010)

Austria's not a nation I normally associate with a strong death metal scene, and to my knowledge they've never really developed a style to themselves, so then it's no wonder that Chaosreign channels good old Swedish brutality and a dash of early 90s USDM and grind for their debut Spreading Death. The question then becomes one of whether or not this band has the wiles and pure riffing ability to make their mark on a genre stuffed to the gills with overflow acts, and I'm not sure I can give the green light on this, since from a compositional perspective, I heard nothing here that I would remember even moments after the exposure.

They've got some nice aesthetic touches, I will grant them that. The cover art and logo are neat, and the guitars on the record are effectively crunchy and dark. The vocalist sounds a little like L-G Petrov, but with a higher, grating puke style mixed in, and the writing feels like a clash between Repulsion and Left Hand Path. All of this would be wonderful, only I just never got a feel for much of the riffing. Tracks like "Master of Fear" and "Fleshless Disease" rush forth with agonizing, hellish presence, pure death streams that writhe across the steady drumming like an abyssal river, but even in these cases, the songs suffer from a sense that you've already been to the well one too many times. When the band slows for a bouncier approach as with "Dawn Insane (Hey Bitch)", it feels like an unnecessary tribute to Entombed's death & roll material as on Clandestine or Wolverine Blues.

"Murder.Death.Kill" has one nice, ascending riff within its bowels, but even then, the title itself reminds one so much of Paganizer (another retro Swedish band actually from Sweden) who have a similar sound and an album called....wait for it...Murder Death Kill. I'm sure this was not some conscious decision by the Austrians to be thus derivative, but you just can't escape that feeling when listening through this record. They're certainly not bad at what they do, but unlike a Tormented or Revolting the songs do not resonate much beyond the idol worship. The bottom line is that if you admonish every single band to come along and perform in this much loved style, then you're not going to find a problem with Chaosreign. For a debut, this at least has a good mix going for it. Unfortunately, the songwriting is simply not up to snuff. It's certainly not unwelcome to perform death metal of this style, even though we've heard it a thousand times now, but you should at least come armed with some killer riffs that can upstage the next guy.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

http://www.myspace.com/deathbychaosreign

Ravenous - Book of Covetous Souls (1991)

One of the elements that has always stood out most about this album is the somewhat striking image of maternal mockery that graces its cover. Cheesy, perhaps, but it's also rather classic, allowing it to stand out among the hordes of gas-masked or skeletal figures that so often transformed thrash albums into an exposé for the cold war mentality. Fortunate then, that Ravenous turned out to be a fairly promising power thrash trio capable of 45 minutes of neck breaking riffs and aggressive entertainment. You wouldn't know it, of course, since 1991 was on the late end of the movement, most of its best sellers (outside of the 'big 4') come and gone, and very little room left in the hearts and minds of the average, wary thrasher, who had hung up his high tops for a pair of doc martins and started listening to Pearl Jam and The Jesus & Mary Chain.

Yeah, Ravenous were a three piece, and while they didn't have even a fraction of the musical proficiency of a band like Coroner, they still kicked ass on a few of the tracks here. Book of Covetous Souls is their sole album, but unlike most similar bands that flew in, took a squat in the studio and then had to hitch the next bus out (biting off more than they could chew), they left an enduring legacy of one finely produced album, somewhere between the brute force of Sepultura's Arise and a less adroit adaptation of Kreator's Coma of Souls. Though the album does seem to blow its wad early, using up most of its more aggressive stockpile of riffs, I still found myself willing and able to mosh through the remainder of its contents. Of note here would be the delivery of vocalist/guitarist Jo, who sounds like a Frankenstein molded from the flesh of Max Cavalera, Tom Angelripper and Protector's Olly Wiebel. There's enough brutality and character to his voice that he can transform even the most mundane segment of the album into a suitable head injury.

As hinted at, this Book of Covetous Souls reels the listener in strongly with its first few chapters. "Extreme Corruption" is powerful enough to inspire a street riot via what must have been a limited number of Austrian thrashers, with mace and baseball bats or billy clubs and deep in the sauce. Tight rhythms, whether they're infinitely memorable or not, a strong lead, and Jo's skull hammering vocals all lead to a pretty cool 'march' thrash near the close of the track, upon which another searing lead develops. This is a good song, the Kodak moment for this particular album, but not the only one. "Brutalistic Terror" is a laid back piledriver with a flair for melody and a few steps of escalating speed and tension, while "Psycho Trilogy" delivers a clinical, semi-tech feel through its cavorting axe momentum. "Sergeant B" kicks a load of buttocks while taking a tall draft from a Pilsner glass, and "H.O.G." is even more lethal, like a mixture of 80s Destruction and Sepultura. There are really no 'bad' tracks anywhere to be found, so you might also injure yourself to "Welcome Terrible" or the partial title track "Covetous Souls". The 10th, untitled track here is also quite good, reminding me of mid-paced Vendetta or Tankard.

Book of Covetous Souls is not the caliber of album that could ever challenge its vicious German neighbors or the explosive titans of the Bay Area, but I have to think it's somewhat of a lost classic as far as Austria. There were very few albums of its type from that country, and most of the others came far too late into the game. For this reason, any thrasher worth his/her salt should probably check it out. You won't visit its pages very often, but it's well produced and tight enough to enjoy when you are in the mood for this specific style. There's a pervading sense that you've heard much of its contents before, as with any band unfortunate to emerge onto the speed or thrash metal scene in the 90s, but Ravenous managed to wrangle those feelings into an effective measure of destruction that sparks only a positive memory several decades into its existence.

Highlights: Extreme Corruption, Brutalistic Terror, Psycho Trilogy, H.O.G.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

Abigor - Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint (2010)

Anyone caught dreaming that Abigor were going to suddenly shy away from the post-modern, experimental direction they took with 2007's Fractal Possession is in for quite a downspell, as Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint makes its predecessor seem almost 'accessible' by comparison. Never one to abide by trends or give a flying fuck about what some backwards fanbase expects of them, Abigor have cemented their commitment to a vivid exploration of sound, loosely rooted in the black and industrial hybrid of their last effort, but straining the boundaries of balance and sanity. The entire album is a 38 minute concept broken into two untitled sections, thus one is removed from even the benefit of labeling its individual tracks. It is meant to be taken in at a sitting, which can become quite a trial as its ever shifting landscape rarely decides to about face and tread the same terrains.

Progressive by the very definition, Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint is far beyond the constraint of simple idenfitication. There is metal here, and plenty of it, but it is almost always used as a percussive force or a titillating wall of melody that drives the narrative nature of this cerebral, paralytic story. Perhaps some of the most frenetic and insane fretwork occurs just beyond the 10:00 mark of "Part II", which sounds like earlier Cynic on crack, and P.K.'s bass is nearly as fragrant and volatile as his guitar. Yes, this is the type of album fans of Mr. Bungle, Ephel Duath or Dillinger Escape Plan might find themselves invested in, though they will be dealing with Arthur Rosar's debilitating, decrepit vocal candor which walks the fine line between a blacker aesthetic and the early adopted EBM torture of Skinny Puppy. But for the chaos present, there also rings a clarity, a penchant for moments of soothing and hypnotic scenery, like the clockwork that opens "Part I" (the more chaotic of the two presentations) or the haunting midsection of "Part II".

Though I found myself drawn in, fascinated by the band's currency of anarchic sonic architecture, I will admit there are points at which the album does stumble forward to evoking each new level of consciousness. You become so reverent towards the sheer effort of the sound's entropy, that individual rhythms do not often feel striking or catchy apart from the sum of the composition. The guitar tones are often quite thin, as if to counterpoint the fuzzy, plumbing bass tone, and though it will often rage forward into something resembling a black metal blast, this is an album more of subtleties than brazen riffing. The previous Fractal Possession had a lot more moments that would scream out inside my head, but this is still an interesting journey that should satisfy fans of the avant-garde and bizarre (Solefald, Ulver, and Fleurety all spring to mind as bands who walk a separate, but similar path of the outsider).

To make it even more fascinating, this album is part of a pseudo-set with the latest from France's Blacklodge, based around an Albert Einstein quote...not something you hear every day.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.abigor.at/

In Slumber - Arcane Divine Subspecies (2009)

In Slumber is an Austrian band who morphs black and death metal into a modern style, for better or worse. While the band is perfectly capable of carrying a good melody or providing an authentic moment of atmosphere where needed, Arcane Divine Subspecies is simply slathered in too many terrible breakdowns and overbearing snarls and growls that recall a lot of the less memorable melodic death metal from both Europe and the US. The band's sound actually compares with recent output from Sweden's Hypocrisy, in that it packs so much into a dense record, but that band doesn't need quite so many mosh pit rhythms to enforce its point.

I must not travel very far to make my point, for even the first track on the album displays this tendency. "Bleed in Vain" starts with a charge, the drums slamming and guitars blazing, before the big melodic hook arrives (similar to something Hypocrisy might do) and the band breaks into a more grooving rhythm. Then, even though the first half of the song isn't that bad, the band busts out an uninspired, shitty breakdown at around 2:30 which nearly put me into slumber. "Patchwork Masquerade" is another example, the song has some pretty good leads and I liked the scintillating acoustics in my ears, but the breakdown grooves make it feel more like a band of 13-year old metalcore kids than members of Thirdmoon and Eluveitie. Most of the songs follow this pattern, but unlike some similar albums, the complete effort does not entirely disintegrate as a result. "Fragile Synthetic Order" has some nice, mechanical rhythms which seem a fine bridge between the poles of Hypocrisy and Fear Factory, and "Hatepath Engine", "Razorblade Balance" and the electro enhanced "Pain Priority Injection" all have some moments of delivery.

Arcane Divine Subspecies has a modern, futurist mix which some might consider too polished and sterile, like a Soilwork album. But for this style of metal, it's a given. The guitars bounce, the synths are present but not too overbearing, and the melodies pierce through lovingly. The vocals here are a smorgasboard of death and black, but they don't really add much to the songs, since you've heard them a thousand times before. In Slumber does not suck, but the album left much to be desired, and these musicians are likely capable of better.

Highlights: Hatepath Engine, Fragile Synthetic Order

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www.inslumber.com/

Summoning - Nightshade Forests EP (1997)

Do not be fooled by the short play format of Nightshade Forests. It offers 33 minutes of music, across four tracks, three of which were culled from the Dol Guldur recordings; the fourth added for this release. Summoning should require little introduction to most readers, but if you are among the uninvited, they play an epic brand of black metal which centers on the use of sweeping synthesizers and fantastic drum programming to support its gnarled, rasping core. The few detractors of the band claim that the band's largely synthetic atmosphere is 'cheesy', but this is honestly what I love so much about their work. It's very imaginative, and truly epic. If you were to close your eyes and picture yourself in the band's focal point (all their music is conceptually structured around The Lord of the Rings), Middle-Earth, THESE are the sounds you would form within you: across the peaks of the Misty Mountains, through the depths of darkened Moria, and beyond.

Now as we are waiting in motherlike darkness
we reopen our history, that once belonged to them
oh, have you seen the end of the bard
never forgotten, the land of sleep,
the time before the birth of the worlds

The drums crack like thunder across the beautiful "Mirkwood", while the guitars blaze in melodic black patterns that serve only as a component to the band's melancholic tapestries of a fictional mythistory. Though this track nears the 10 minute length, I found myself bored not once through its various climates. "Kortirion Among the Trees" is slightly shorter (8:50), and a more lush landscape for its flute-like emulation and the simple, elegaic chords which resound therein, echoes of depth and structure the like of which few other bands can muster. "Flesh and Blood" evokes memories of glorious warfare and the loss of peoples, with a simple, tribal structure bathed in more of the programmed, percussive thunder. Though a pleasure (like any Summoning song) for several moments, it is the one track on this EP that I do not completely adore, as it does stretch beyond its welcome after the midpoint. Fortunately, "Habbanan Beneath the Stars" halts this descent into mediocrity with a delightful palatte of hypnotic drumming and layered ambiance, across the tormented garbling of Silenius.

Not night as ours, unhappy folk,
Where nigh the Earth in hazy bars,
A mist about the springing of the stars,
There trails a thin and wandering smoke
Obscuring with its veil half-seen
The great abysmal still Serene.

Summoning is one of the creative pinnacles in all of metal music, one of the very best at creating a thorough embodiment of concept, while maintaining the raw purity of the form in which they are rooted. It goes without saying that the discriminating listener should own all of their work, for its value exceeds the cash you'll pay by a thousandfold. Mesmeric, wandering and uncompromising.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (I will meet the winter here, and conquer you)

http://www.summoning.info/

Heidenreich - A Death Gate Cycle (1997)

Heidenreich was a project of Peter K (Abigor), which produced two albums in the late 90s and understandably met with little success. The first of these, A Death Gate Cycle must have sounded interesting on paper, and I do enjoy the symphonic/industrial infusion into the sound, but the black metal itself is rather unfortunate, with weak riffing that one could cut and paste from any other forgettable melodic black album of the period.

There are some moments where this mediocrity is completely avoided, like the orchestral piece "The Prophet's Sacrifice", the brief haunted castle pianos of "Todeswunsch", and the freakish battle samples and guitar strangling of "Memories of a Descending Moon". When "Frozen Tears" breaks from its black spasmic riffing to its more experimental electronics and the dulcet tones of the synth and gloomy male vocals, it starts to get interesting. But I derived no enjoyment from the title track or the caustic ribbing of "The Goat Shrine".

The album is mercifully short at 27 minutes, so it's not as if it was meant to bore you through its meagre compositions. Joining PK for this project were two former Abigor members, Thurisaz on vocals and his wife Lucia on keyboards. Experimentation can be a good thing, and the following album Trance of An Unholy Union was superior to this debut (though still suffered occasionally through its own riffing). Not recommended unless you are dead set on your curiosities for the side projects of the Austrian greats (Abigor, Summoning, etc).

Highlights: not really, maybe "The Prophet's Sacrifice"

Verdict: Indifference [5/10]

Hollenthon - Tyrants and Wraiths EP (2009)

After the excellent Domvs Mvndi and the monumental With Vilest Worms to Dwell, Hollenthon had blown the ailing Therion out of the water and established itself as the new standard for dark, symphonic metal. While it was no jumping of the proverbial shark, year's Opus Magnum took a few spins to get into, and even then did not live up to the greatness of its predecessors. As if in response, Martin Shirenc and his stalwarts have released a 4-track EP with some great new tracks.

Phantom crows brave the skies
Fallen squires branding the cross
In the wake of rebellion Lucifer's morning star
By the light of the ages the damage is done
Burying the laughter the bright light of darkness is undone

None of the material on Tyrants and Wraiths is as memorable as an "Y Draig Goch", but certainly a small step beyond what was accomplished on Opus Magnum. The production is as bold and bombastic as ever, and most of the tracks are straightforward black/death metal with slight embellishes of symphonic grace and chorals: "Tyrants and Wraiths" is heavy and effective, but not as strident and immediate as "Innocent Sin" or the mystical "Deathly Dirges". Closing track "Of Hollow Men" is the longest track and boasts some excellent choir work, dark and thriving like a ritual about to fall at the next eclipse, a sacrifice.

With luck, this is a teaser for what's to come when Shirenc drops his next full-length album. It's only 4 tracks and 20 minutes, but individually these were more exciting than most of the tracks on the last album. The EP also features two live videos from the 2008 Graspop Metal Meeting in Belgium.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (fractured tombs and catacombs of woe)

http://www.hollenthon.com/

Belphegor - Walpurgis Night - Hexenwahn (2009)

Belphegor has become one of those dependable bands to merge their black and death metal influences into a unified, concussive Satanic force, and this is not a band to mince words, quite blunt in their attitude. Basically, when a new Belphegor album arrives, you know you are getting your ass kicked. But how hard? And how far?

Walpurgis Night - Hexenwahn is the band's 8th full length album, and I'd rate it a steady boot to tenderize both buttocks, but not enough to launch you out of the park. First, you've got to get past the punishing but boring door charge that is "Walpurgis Night" before you run into any interesting characters. "Veneratio Diaboli - I Am Sin" opens with a far better riff, graceful yet sinister, and converts nicely into a thrashing mayhem. "Hail the New Flesh" is a stop/start blastoff that converts into some huge, lunging groove rhythms. "Reichswehr In Blood" is a similar blaster to the opening track, but the riff is superior and has a pretty punishing bridge. As for the remainder of the album, I rather fancied the pumping thrash of "Der Geistertreiber" with its crepitating bass and verse vocals, as well as the gloomy smut of "Enthralled Toxic Sabbath".

Being Belphegor, you know the record will sound quite cutting, and it does in fact possess tones the equal of most anything in their back catalog. Helmuth sounds as diabolical as ever, and the drums and guitars clash well to create a frightening, occult mix through which the melodies stream like molten rivers of Hell. Those of you who are diehard fans of this Austrian troupe will not be so let down, even if the album isn't among their strongest efforts.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10] (goats through the night)

http://www.belphegor.at/