Dire Omen - Severing Soul from Flesh EP (2012)

One of the true highlights in this hobby of mine is to experience the positive growth of younger, underground acts as they develop into more mature, seasoned sounds; and Severing Soul from Flesh is the latest instance of this I've come across. I had a neutral reaction to the 2011 promo Dire Omen had sent me, but they've upped their ante this time around, with a considerably stronger sense of identity. Everything from the Tim Grieco (Antediluvian) artwork, to the punchier production, to the very atmospheric spin they place on centrally old school death metal motifs is advanced. I can't promise that the Canadians' new EP is wholly unique or consistent to the point where it's ready to march into the upper echelon of its newfound niche, but it's certainly a step up in the ranks.

The core strength I noticed in this set of songs (only one of which has been drafted from the previous promo) is their ability to balance out the simplest of old school death metal grooves with atonal tremolo passages or spikes of dissonant melody that immediately capture the ear with creepy precision. This is prevalent upon a piece like "Severing Soul from Flesh" itself, which alternates between airy, ominous simplicity to sequences of choppy, thrusting rhythms anchored by the drummer's double-bass footwork. To an extent, the EP services that same set of influences that most of the band's I've dubbed 'cavern core' seem to honor. You'll hear tufts of Autopsy, Obituary, Gorguts, and Incantation floating about the nihilistic nothingness, but I also heard traces of Bolt Thrower, old Sepultura (before they sucked) grooves, the slower works of Morbid Angel circa Blessed Are the Sick, even more recent acts like Sonne Adam or Nader Sadek. None of this is managed with any jumbled technicality or complexity, but dowsed in a pungent, wet guitar tone that sounds simply beautiful when the band picks up its pace for "Decaying Moral Scripture" or the title cut, like human organs being spun on a potter's wheel.

Add to this the ritualistic, unfeeling, languorous haze of the EP's opaque production, and you get this inky wall of impermeable darkness hovering just over your shoulder. Like the best atmospheric death metal, Dire Omen scares the shit out of you. There's a sense of 'wrongness' here, something so eerie and effective about what they conjure here that was almost entirely missing from the last release. I'm not just referring to the angry, aggressive Thelema chanting of the "Presence of Ra-Hoor-Khuit" intro, but the actual metal music throughout. I wouldn't want to run into these guys in some tomb or cellar after midnight, not unless I was armed and armored with holy water, crucifix, and plate mail to defend me against the sacrificial knives.  Partnered with the richness of the mix, gruffness of the occult guttural vocals and the overall pacing, this is something I'd easily recommend to those seeking new voices from the abyss, even if it's not entirely perfected or distinguishable from several of the other names I've dropped above. Well done.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/direomen

Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime II (2006)

Mindcrime II is the Hyde to the original's Jekyll. The Goliath to the original's David. Meatier and modern, but inferior in every plausible department. The songwriting sucks, the musicianship is nowhere near as impressive, and unlike its consistent and cohesive forerunner, the album feels more like an attempt to offer the more 'eclectic' Queensrÿche experience via 'open minded' and 'worldly' composition rather than a unified architecture. They might have gotten Pamela Moore to reprise her role as Mary for this, and the late Ronny James Dio to take over Dr. X, but neither can help compensate for the lack of Chris DeGarmo, and even mindless of the recent drama between Tate and the other members, through which it has been revealed that the band was not evenly invested in its creation (for this or the albums surrounding it). Worst of all, Operation: Mindcrime II reeks of some banal attempt for the band to execute a 180 back to the style that originally put them on the metal map...only this is, for the most part, manifest through the title alone.

Last weeks theoretical minutes from the meeting of a band that next to no one had cared about in a long time: Our star is long past rising, folks. In fact it's sinking faster than a ten ton turd in a swimming pool. How do we turn this around? Well, what's our best album? Empire, dude! *the band laughs, the management smirks* Well, then, Operation: Mindcrime, the rest of the members agreed in unison. Yeah, yeah, I dig it, claims the singer, stroking his chin while giving his best Sartre impersonation. I'm not really into that metal music bag anymore, but the kids seem to want it. I've a few ideas. We can make it even more 'street' than the original, and use real orchestration than just keyboards. We've got enough in the budget. But it can't sound like Tribe, say the rest. We need more metal elements again, like the old days. Yes, yes, the BRAND will rise again. We'll get some TV spots, and merchandise rolling pronto...lighters, headbands, and maybe even Dr. X tees. But, Geoff, you know we don't have Chris in the band now, right? Ah, shit, well let's just scrape it together, man. Pull it together. This is the Jesus Christ of undertakings. We are saved. Saved!

All supposition aside, though, it was really inevitable. I wouldn't have been surprised to discover that the band had thoughts of a Mindcrime II since shortly after the original. I'm sure they received countless fan requests for that very thing down through the years, the only question is why it didn't happen earlier? Very simply, because this band was more concerned with tapping into the commercial success of the original's followup, Empire, and took this imperative far beyond the reasonable, leaving us with a string of ineffectual refuse like Hear in the Now Frontier and Q2K. To their credit, the Queensrÿche of the 21st century does their utmost to make this a heavier effort than the 4-5 leading up to it. That's about as far as the album's successes take it: songs like "Re-arrange You", "I'm American" manage to evince more aggression than anything I can recall of Tribe or Q2K. The incorporation of the symphony also feels natural with the loud, abrasive production of the album, not unlike Judas Priest's weakly Nostradamus. Queensrÿche went big for this, pulling out all the stops, and attempting to conjure the grandeur they'd lacked for almost two decades.

Unfortunately, no one reminded the band that this effort would be entirely misspent without the great songs that defined the first Mindcrime, and what we've got is a fraction of mediocre rhythms buried in a hulking heap of underdeveloped feces. The riffs suck throughout, juvenile note progressions you'd hear from any rehearsal room anywhere in America where some axeslinger is just fucking around (not even planning to use them). The muddied guitar tone here lacks gravity and power beyond the visceral, and the band keep a lot of their alt rock and grunge influences patterns in play, a handful of tracks like "A Junkie's Blues" reminding me once more of something left on the cutting floor by the Stone Temple Pilots. Really, Mindcrime II seems to have no precise idea of what it wants to be. Some songs want to be rock, some metal, some rock opera ballads cashing in on the "Silent Lucidity" idea but falling well shy of that song's consistent catchiness. For example, the finale/duet "All the Promises", with Tate and Moore playing off one another in their respective characters, is laughable tripe; "If I Could Change It All" trying its hand at the spacious 80s Pink Floyd aesthetic (which Queensrÿche had used on the prior albums) and conjuring boring drama.

The whole album lacks the poignancy and domineering melody of the original, and instead feels like a group of festive old farts leaping around to a selection of raucous distorted rock riffs. Tate can still scream, he proves this in a few of the pieces like "Re-arrange You", or his duet with Dio in "The Chase", which is sadly supported by some of the most mediocre guitars on the record, but in general he seems like he's putting too much effect on his tracks to make up for a slightly diminished power to his delivery ("Signs Say Go", for example). That seamless clarity and pitch from Rage for Order and Mindcrime has unraveled, and beyond that, the melodies in his lines have little impact. There isn't a single chorus on Mindcrime II that I can say captured me whatsoever, never mind with the surge of urgency and emotion in a "Speak" or "Eyes of a Stranger". A lot of backup shouts are used in tracks like "Murderer?" to make up for the lack of a hook, but they just sound silly rather than the menace exuding from a lot of the tough guy gang core.

A few of the leads and melodies show a modicum of skill and harmony ("I'm American", "The Hands"), but they don't really jive with the rest of their surrounding tracks, and stand out like sore thumbs. Supposedly some of the guitars were re-tracked at the last minute by one of the assistant engineers on the records, so it's unclear exactly who is playing what throughout, and Stone and Wilton were clearly under utilized. I've also read that Scott Rockenfield was absent here. Regardless, whatever person is drumming here is hitting with the about the same strength under such a mire of creativity, but I actually didn't enjoy how loud he was compared to the guitars on much of the album. Jackson has some freedom here, and he does his best to ground the punch of the guitars and the dominance of the vocals, but really, there's no room for him to vastly improve on such a cruddy selection of note progressions.

Lyrically, though the first Mindcrime wasn't exactly poetry in motion, this still seems a step down, a tired series of cliches that one can experience in just about any rock or pop song. Again, a listener can displace most of the individual tracks from the concept and appreciate them for any personal relevance, but there were no clever phrases here that caught my attention. The story itself takes place nearly almost two decades after the first (equivocal with the gap between album releases), and it deals with the primary perspective character Nikki getting his revenge on Dr. X and struggling through a downward spiral that leads to conversation's with Mary's ghost and all this other typical nonsense. It never needed a sequel, the story as it plays out is all too predictable, and it might have been better just to leave the original alone, with a more ambiguous ending. Even if the sequel was fucking Faust-level Goethe quality, though, the music is middling garbage that did not deserve a release under this banner.

Operation: Mindcrime II is terrible, and even if I could muster no expectations towards it due to the band's record of mediocrity post-1994, it still arrived as a great disappointment. Because, really, that's that. This part of the saga is canonized, and it's never going away, like the memory of putting on vomit-soaked socks one hungover morning. It will stink forever and it will sting forever.

Verdict: Fail [2.25/10] (reasons are damned)

http://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial

Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

It would be remiss of me to think of Operation: Mindcrime as a mere album, because to me, personally, it has served more as an institution. Along with records like Port Royal and Somewhere in Time, both of which share a similar, airy eloquence in their production values (thank the 80s), this has become a monumental benchmark by which I've judged much melodic metal I've experienced since. In fact, if I myself was to be locked away in some remote gulag or asylum, stripped of my iPod, but allowed a mere car mirror CD visor worth of metal music to bring along, this would be guaranteed a slot. It's one of those rare cases of a record upon which I wouldn't propose a single alteration. If given the power to time travel and manipulate musical media, I wouldn't change a damned note on Operation: Mindcrime. It was, and remains in my estimation, flawless. Never broken. And never needing to be fixed. Or compromised by its own authors (but that, as they say, is 'another story').

However, despite its massive commercial success, and the endless landfill of praise and detraction that has been laid upon it through the ensuing decades, Operation: Mindcrime is not a record without some baggage, and this I would largely attest to conflicting perceptions of its conceptual merit. Queensrÿche's third full-length was not its first with a unified theme, but the first to really splay it out into a narrative rock opera involving brainwashing, political assassination, and a clear violation of doctor-patient confidence. The band hired on friends and actors to perform brief character roles, and they set it up with a number of briefer story vignettes to round out the metal tracks. For some listeners, this is a huge hurdle, but personally I rather enjoyed each of these pieces, not only for their value to the central theme, but also because of the clinical atmosphere and sense of gravity they lend to the story. They're also musical for the most part, with but one or two exceptions; for instance, "Anarchy-X" is a 90 second anthem with brazen guitars, dual leads and warlike drumming cadence that fully fits with the lengthier cuts. It's not like Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients, where the interludes seem to be incorporated just for the sheer whim of experimentation. No, these pieces actually seem to belong to their surroundings.

Of course, one of the joys of this album is that it can actually be listened to in two ways: straight through the story sequentially, or by skipping the central narrative and appreciating each of its regular length tracks for their individual values. Some might contain snippets of samples or story, but the lyrics behind a tune like "Eyes of a Stranger", "The Needle Lies", "I Don't Believe In Love" could hold some relevance for a listener whether or not he/she gives two shits about Sister Mary, Father William, or Dr. X. Nor would it take a high intellect to be able to make an 'abstraction' out of "Suite Sister Mary" or the title track. Much has been said of how 'genius' or 'brilliant' the album's concept was. I myself was incessantly exposed to such praise in high school to the point that I couldn't stand it, joyous that, for once, the hairspray-drugged Poison and Bon Jovi crowd, and the male students chasing their tails, had invested themselves in an album of quality. But let's be honest: Mindcrime's story is an average psychological thriller at best. It's not a Gravity's Rainbow, or Foucault's fucking Pendulum. It doesn't have the same pulse pounding action and intrigue as Robert Ludlum's Bourne series. The twists and turns are fairly obvious, and the lyrical diatribe used to convey the tale is hardly complex or inventive prose. That said, though, so what? Compared to most of the driven being spewed upon the radio to glam fans, or the same half dozen issues being beaten to the floor by the more serious metal acts of the 80s, Operation: Mindcrime was indeed something special. Different.

What's more, the music itself is superb. Bearing aside the standalone intro and interludes, which I've discussed above, the level of composition on this album is far beyond that of its predecessors, and needless to say any of the miserable albums since. Tate and DeGarmo, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield create this monstrous admixture of melody, harmony, atmosphere, power and drama through a riff-set that even for its day would hardly be considered complicated or technical, and yet its impact is timeless. After a few cycles of the ten 'core' tracks, I have never been able to get them out of my head. Aesthetically, this is an album which walks the line between the mainstream hard rock sounds of its day and a slightly more progressive metal inclination. The writing is similar to Rage for Order, but with an exponentially superior polish and level of refinement. I mean, for fuck's sake, I like every single (complete) song on this album more than Rage for Order in TOTAL, and sitting here a quarter century after its release I can't hear a single flake of rust on this whole spectacle. Sure, you could 'date' this to the 80s, but three decades later I find it all too rare that I pick up any album which covers so many bases as this.

All five of the musicians deserve top honors for this feat, but I suppose, to start at the top: Geoff Tate. There is a reason this man built a legacy which brought him in firing range of legends like a Halford or Dickinson. Some consider the guy the greatest vocalist in the field, and you're listening to exactly why. His timbre is impeccable. His range, perhaps not limitless, but so fully utilized that he's the equivalent of a living siren. Had the sailors of antiquity heard this voice through the maritime mists, and changed course to find a naked, German-born man calling them to their deaths from a rocky outcropping, they would have questioned their own sexuality before hull breach and drowning. Higher pitched, inspirational and unforgettable pre-chorus and chorus sequences litter this record like lemmings a cliff-side, and he structures every individual line with skill and quality. Where he hits those highs in "Speak", or "Revolution Calling", or the eternally pleasing chorus to "Eyes of a Stranger", all 6'2", 220 lbs of burly, bald-headed, linebacker-like, (nearly) middle-aged me wants to break down into tears; partly because of the sheer level of emotion inherent in the melodies, and partly because I know I could never sing that beautifully in my entire life, with or without computerized assistance...Tate even excels when it comes to adding a playful or maniacal component to the verses, and his lower range is cautionary, moody and eloquent where it appears.

Yet the chords, leads, and rhythm section support his crystalline delivery brick by brick. DeGarmo and Wilton weave the sorts of gracious, burning melodies over the lattice of backing guitars that I so loved about a song like the Scorpions' "No One Like You". I must have spent hours in my formative years with the instrument scratching out the chorus melody to "The Mission", or the Maiden-esque, opening volley of "Speak" which is probably better than anything those same Brits wrote at their own peak. But the MVP award here might go to the rhythm guitars, which are muscular and spacious, whether chugging or hanging on an open chord. DeGarmo earned a paycheck for the next century with these riffs. If I were to dissect all of the album's central songs, or even "Anarchy-X" measure for measure, remove the drums and bass, the beautiful vocals, the subtle but effective synthesizers, each of the guitar progressions would be enjoyable by its lonesome. That proves just how well-composed this is, and in fact I can barely understand how they were able to arrive at such impressive riffs and vocal lines individually, both so glorious in tandem. The leads, too, are all wonderful, though they've got their work cut out for them to even ATTEMPT to live up to the other riffs and choruses that lead into them.

Jackson and Rockenfield should not evade mention, either, for while the ears might remain affixed to Tate and the guitar harmonies throughout Mindcrime, their steady pummeling is part of the appeal. Jackson's tone is punchy and plodding, especially for a lot of the mid-paced numbers where he's repeated such simple note sequences below the workmanlike gait of the guitars (reference "Breaking the Silence" or "I Don't Believe in Love" for a prime example). Rockenfield doesn't overdo anything here, as usual he gives a mightier than typical approximation of the standard rock beat, but he earns his signature steel cage, and those snare hits really drive home the emotional wait of each mournful chord sequence and palm muted mugging. Nothing too technical, which would feel arbitrary in the universal grasp of these songs, but it sounds like it must have been quite fun to lay these out. James Barton and the rest of the engineers did a knockout job of fusing the varied elements together, none ever too loud that they drown out another, despite the 80s proclivity for setting the vocals so high in the mix. Like the satisfaction of finishing a puzzle, everything seems to snap into place, even the less pronounced components like airy synthesizers and the vocal acting used for the intros/interludes. I still have my original CD copy, and it sounds unbelievable cranked up.

In terms of individual songs, there are no personal favorites, or to be more accurate, they are ALL favorites. I could not choose one over another, since the consistency of quality is omnipresent. Even comparing two of the most 'contrasted' neighbors on the playlist, the 11 minute epic "Suite Sister Mary" with its ominous, operatic choirs, overcast clean guitars, and varied, almost frightening arrangement; to the succinct power metal pummeling of "The Needle Lies", there is no lapse in fulfillment. I suppose the songs that were made singles are sensible, like the soul searing, climactic finale "Eyes of a Stranger" or the hard rock pleaser "I Don't Believe in Love", but even the more unsung entities "Spreading the Disease" and "Breaking the Silence" are better than anything most bands ever concoct in their entire careers. Lyrically, while the album serves to follow its character perspectives with a blue-collar rage, its perfectly cast to the music, and there are a number of unforgettable phrases throughout. 'Twenty-five bucks a fuck and John's a happy man', 'People always turn away from the eyes of a stranger', all great stuff that most of us can relate to.

Like any masterpiece, there will be opposition to a record like this. Hell, even the most recognized chefs attract roaches to their kitchens. Crunch. Operation: Mindcrime is an indisputable, indispensible cornerstone of the progressive/power metal field, even if most bands in this niche seem to take more direct cues from the wonkier Rush-like expressions of an act like Dream Theater. It might not be jammy or improvisational, or as nerdy sounding as Rage for Order, but it was blessed with an accessible edge that somehow managed to blow the lid off the band's potential audience, while not insulting the more underground sensibilities of the serious metal fan. It 'speaks to all of us', if you'll pardon the phrase. While its far from the first rock concept album (the 60s and 70s had some pretty heady stuff), or even the best of its type in 1988 (Voivod's Dimension Hatröss was more interesting, if not musically superior), it set the bar for many to follow it. In fact, it set that goal so high that its own creators have failed to match it since, even with the greater mainstream success of its follow-up Empire. That's the one 'down side' to Mindcrime. It won't happen again. Perhaps the album's narrative saga is not the most brilliant of ideas, but the music didn't get that memo.

Oh, and as for my teary-eyed confession above, well... I never wrote that. Never happened. Forget it. I'm sending someone over. I've got a job for you. Time to make something of yourself. Take this number and welcome to: da-neh-na-neeeeh.

Verdict: Epic Nun [10/10] (we've got so much to do)

http://queensrycheofficial.com/home.cfm

Silencer - The Great Bear (2012)

Not to be mistaken for the suicidal Swedish black metal act of the same name, this Silencer has instead been kicking about the Colorado scene for well over a decade, sharpening and polishing its sound into an aggressive fusion of thrash and power, with smaller hints of groove and death metal for good measure. I've heard a few samplings of their past albums Death of Awe and Divisions, but never looked further into their material, an ignorance that The Great Bear will hopefully shake from not only myself, but many others. I wouldn't say that I was entirely amazed with this music, yet I can promise you that to experience Silencer is to experience something DIFFERENT, and that is more than I can say for the lion's share of new music I'm often sent for analysis.

Most impressive is the concept behind The Great Bear, which deals with the Soviet/US space rivalry in the 1950s and 60s, not necessarily a factual reenactment but more of a hypothetical alternative history. No, it's not about ursus arctos horribilis mauling nature enthusiasts in Alaska, but we can't win 'em all. Silencer has to my knowledge given us a 'first' here, and more than that, the music has the remarkable ability to actually transport the audience into the setting of its subject matter. Atmospheric, blazing and dynamic, the tracks here range from pure speed/heavy metal inflected semi-thrashers like "I Am Thunder!" with faster paced, intricate grooving licks reminiscent of bands like Megadeth, to storming, simpler walls of chords. The leads are endowed with a lot of bluesy, wild abandon, wah-wahs and such that remind me of guitar heroes like Slash if they were actually performing music with balls, and the band will occasionally even bust out a series of tremolo like, aggressive notes in tunes like "Great Bear" amidst the steadier trade metal riffs. There are even a handful of more grandiose, atmospheric overtures in the intro "Sacred War" or "Orders/Noble Sacrifice" which teeter along the precipice of glorious doom.

In other words, The Great Bear is not the easiest to pin down in terms of an exact style, but the Coloradans handle all of these components with a seasoned maturity, and none ever feel quite out of place. As to the quality of the riffing, there were highs and lows, places where the note progressions were kept harried and interesting, and others where they'd settle into a stock pattern or groove that never went anywhere exciting. Clearly a lot of work went into putting this together, and the album as a whole flows well through its brief 30 minute play-length (on the short side for such a great concept), but broken down into individual riffs it isn't quite so consistent. The drums sound sleek, and the bass is like an amplified Steve Harris in spots (intro to the song "Light", for example). The vocals have a lot of grime and gravity to them, inspired not only by the deeper end power metal growlers, but by vocalists like James Hetfield and Chuck Billy who have that natural grit to their timbres, or perhaps even the original Meliah Rage vocalist Mike Munro, and they fit well to the rather ominous atmosphere of the music, even if it's not the darkest or most despairing.

Seems to me that Silencer could find itself a widespread audience, whether amongst the usual US prog and power crowds who don't mind a more serious, aggressive subtext to the style (Savatage, for example). Or maybe fans of crushing Swedish stuff like Tad Morose or Morgana LeFay, or a less intense variation on thrash (like Testament's excellent and unsung offering The Ritual). The Great Bear is both modern and traditional, it's a work of depth, and it scratches a lot of itches. Beyond the concept, I cannot say that I was entirely blown over, largely because the choruses didn't exactly call out to me, and the riffs were about a 50/50 mesh of brilliance and banality, but make no mistake about it: Silencer is the sort of band that needs encouragement, because it's an act like this that will be capable of putting out one of those records we all wax nostalgic about 20 years later. This is not THAT record, to be sure, but I hear nothing but capability and genuine inspiration here, so we'd all better pay attention.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.silencer.cc/

Deserted Fear - My Empire (2012)

My Empire had me at 'hello', or rather the frightening, effective and simple swell of ambiance, low timpani and horns that set up "The Battalion of Insanities". I admit that when I first looked at the album, I felt as if I was in for yet another treatment in the tireless yet exhausted crusade of classic Swedish death worshipers. There is a hint of that, sure, but I was happy to hear that Deserted Fear had more of a Bolt Thrower angle to their style than I was expecting, if it was tempered in the more modern and potent sounds of bands like Hail of Bullets or Amon Amarth who know very well to weave a tight melody through an ample, crushing, headphone-storming tone.

The caveat here is that the Germans also incorporate a very abusive vocal tone that offers more emotional splatter than your average guttural grumbler. It's like Martin van Drunen, John Tardy, Chris Reifert and L-G Petrov thrown into a blender, the resulting viscera spattered all over the riffs; and with guitars this muscular, you really need that distinction to keep the music forceful, primal and aggressive. Drums and bass here are in general just enforcers for the guitar, but they're kept voluminous in the mix so that they're never drowned out, and overall Deserted Fear feels more taut and tempered than a tank. Ballistic and bred for war, this is, and while the actual construction of the riffs throughout My Empire might not feel incredibly original or distinct in this theater of combat, the pacing is very even throughout. The leads are sepulchral, spectral and constantly provide aesthetic elevation to the horde of fist-pumping zombie hymns beneath, and tracks like "The Black Incantation" have these incredible breakdowns that you can feel deep down in your gut. In fact, you should probably listen to this alone, because if another human being is in close proximity, you're likely to perform some unwelcome piledriver or body slam on them that gets you a night in a cell and a court date.

Fans of modern Asphyx, Hail of Bullets, or Fleshcrawl, or The IVth Crusade should be first in line for this record, because it maintains that same marriage of blustering studio clarity and ceaseless, pulverizing aggression that those bands honor; but it will also hold a lot of appeal for those into Swedish veterans Dismember, Grave and Unleashed. Topically, the lyrics don't seem all that interesting or unique, and the black/white cover art and logo feel typical, but My Empire is just one of those albums that succeeds on its volume and sincerity. Nothing reinvents the wheel, but where the riff structures often suffer from that sameness we all experience when deeply invested in decades of a musical genre, the Germans know how to create a journey that at least keeps the listener engaged throughout. Certainly huge sounding for a debut.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.facebook.com/desertedfear

Evil Entourage - The Opposition EP (2012)

Though my exposure to Mexican metal is admittedly far from complete, I've always had a tenuous interest in the bands there, probably because I've been disengaged by a number of the thrash and black metal acts I've heard from the region over the past few decades, and probably also because I'm just an asshole. Death metal is one area, though, in which the nation has held together a more consistent output, not only through cult albums from Cenotaph or The Chasm, but a more recent surge of extremity through the likes of Hacavitz and Denial. Despite already having two full-length albums under their belts over the last five years, Tamaupalis' own Evil Entourage is not a band I've crossed paths with, but while they don't necessarily engage the listener with the same levels of atmosphere or innovation as those others I just listed, they are nonetheless proficient at kicking in the door and then kicking in your face.

This is chop-heavy, 90s-influenced brutal death that draws often on the lurching, chugging squalor of greats like Morbid Angel and Deicide, with a few hints also of Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, and I also picked up a handful of older Sepultura vibes in a few of the grooves. But to take it a step further, Entourage have ingrained this truly rich, brash texture to their guitar tone so that the listener can suffer every single palm mute as if it were stepping on his spine. Where they pick up the pace with a blast beat (as in the opener "Insidious"), the material was redolent of modern Cannibal Corpse (Bloodthirst and beyond) or Severe Torture, where the grooves in other pieces smacked of Morbid Angel circa Blessed Are the Sick or Domination. Footwork and beats are all solid throughout, and I was satisfied that the drums held their own against the crush of that guitar mix. The bassist is quite good, swerving all over the place in Alex Webster fashion wherever he gets the chance to loosen up, and the vocals deliver a stolid, guttural bludgeon that has a bit of the expected Vincent, Tucker, Benton or Fischer inflection. Brief leads and tremolo breaks are spliced through the meat of the potent rhythm guitars, and though this is not a flashy or particularly technical band, they hit the spot more often than not (like the wild solo in "True Rejected").

Still, though the production is an adequate and laudable marriage of past and present, The Opposition really never takes itself beyond any of the myriad acts who have already explored this niche. I dug the synthesizer orchestration in "Oblitus Fidei" for its ominous, martial step, and cuts like "Insidious", "Swathe to Blind" and "True Rejected" are nothing to scoff at, but there were rarely any of those 'money shot' riffs that keep me continuously returning to songs in sweaty anticipation. Evil Entourage is balanced, and competent, and they mete out destruction with avid enthusiasm and fresh, repulsive tone, but there is no truly distinct characteristic that a listener couldn't find elsewhere. The writing is solid, varied enough for 20 minutes of testosterone and neck strain, but the songs just aren't so memorable. That said, if you're heavily into the group's influences and you are seeking more along the same lines, there's no reason to avoid checking this out.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

http://www.facebook.com/evilentourage

Hell United - Aura Damage (2012)

Hell United's 2008 debut HornoKracy was a total surprise for me when I first experienced it. I had never heard the band prior to that, but here was this visceral, bloodcurdling burst of black metal so fierce that it seemed to ignite your eardrums, burning you long after the music had passed. Along with several other acts in this scene, like Thunderbolt, Infernal War, Azarath or Stillborn (the last of which shares some members with this very band), there was this relentless punishment inherent in that album which embraced both its accelerated, flesh shearing outbreaks and slower, crushing sequences, and I've found myself going back to it numerous times in ensuing years when in a fix for unadulterated aggression, though I regret that I missed out on the band's intermittent EPs.

With Aura Damage, Hell United retain a lot of the core characteristics of the debut, but they've fleshed them out into a more prominent death metal aesthetic. Blasting and intense tremolo riff patterns are still prevalent in the composition, but there's this more charnel, grinding edge to the guitar tone that feels like they're rapidly tilling graveyard dirt and all the festered scraps of flesh buried within. The vocals here skew a bit more towards a guttural timbre than a rasp (though both styles have manifest on both albums). The riffs seem to run the gamut from a unswerving old school death hostility ("Apostle of Plague") to a convocation of gnarled, blackened thrash guitars as in "Aura Damage" itself which twist into sporadic bursts of lead or unnerving melodies that seem to shiver up the listener's spine. Like the latest Stillborn record, you get this constant hint of atonality, a slight stream of dissonance bled along the axis of the meatier guitar rhythms. Aura Damage is as fresh as a ripe corpse, its bones not yet stale beneath the earth; where HornoKracy had a more airy atmosphere about it due in part to the vocals.

Still, though this is an evolution, it's not such a huge departure as 1349's Revelation of the Black Flame, or Emptiness's Error, two albums that abandoned a more complex and structured extreme metal sound for a more atmospheric, but less appealing direction/aesthetic. Aura Damage is first and foremost brutal. Simpler atmospheric tints, like the intro to "Hinterland" or the drudging pacing of closer "Totality of I" always seem to go somewhere more important. In terms of the riffing involved, I believe I retain a slight preference for the first album's feral ferocity, but this is unquestionably a darker and moodier outlet which functions on several levels, both in its unbridled, churning force and ability to leave haunting scars upon the listener through eerier, sparse strikes on the higher strings. Never extremely catchy, but solid and dynamic, the 35 minute run time ensuring that there is no room for a listener to become bored. Despite the slight transformation in technique, Hell United still takes no prisoners, and Aura Damage still represents unsafe, volatile expression.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://www.hellunited.com/

Masachist - Scorned (2012)

It is my firm belief that Polish infants are raised in incubators with which they are fed audio samples of Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Cryptopsy, and their own national 'A-listers' Vader and Behemoth, alongside other forms of nutrition. How else could one explain how deep and wide the death metal scene over there has become, with even third and fourth tier bands show such a firm understanding of the genre's composition, married to their individual instrumental proficiencies and an incessant array of brutal chops and concepts that continually to floor me year in, year out? Masachist is another of the country's myriad living weapons, and while their sophomore Scorned might not seem like the most striking or unique in the field, it's unarguably a balanced, dynamic, atmospheric and effective dose of punishment from another act of near limitless capacity.

As we experience straightaway with "Drilling the Nerves", Masachist is well practiced at filling out a groove with mechanical exaction. Crawling, spider-like palm muted patterns are set to an ominous, low backing choir synthesizer while the garbled guttural vocals punctuate the nihilistic momentum. I admired the low tuned tone of the chugging here, you can really feel it wrenching your last few meals from your intestines, to the point that this might even please the 'slam' sect of the death metal fandom, though I didn't feel the Poles' influence was drawn so much from hardcore breakdowns as caustic, mechanistic concepts. However, while the band excels in this slower, surefooted tempo (also in "Straight and Narrow Path"), they also offer up a lot of tense, unbridled, dissonant bursts of acceleration that draw more on the inspiration of a Morbid Angel or Immolation ("Liberation" and "The Process of Elimination"), perhaps even a bit of Pestilence riff structures circa Testimony of the Ancients ("Opposing Normality"). The final 10 minutes of the album is devoted more to experimentation, with the abrasive ambiance of "Liberation Part II" morphing into the massive, lethargic grooves of "Inner Void" which evoked thoughts of a more muscular Vader.

Scorned has also been very well engineered, with poise and clarity enough to discern the slight complexities inherent to the riffing, but also a lot of punch to each of the low end guitar progressions. The listener will find either his (or her) physical or mental form flailing about violently through each varied act of punishment. Masachist is not a highly technical outlet, but there's a wealth of variation here to keep the ears from gluing to any one, predictable pattern, and with musicians like percussion paragon 'Daray' Brzozowski involved, who has performed in groups like Hunter, Vesania, Vader and even Dimmu Borgir (live), and others that played with Yattering, Azarath and Decapitated, you're in strong hands. They know when to erupt into fits of concussive clamor, and they know when to restrain themselves and let a riff settle, and they're not afraid to break up the morass of meticulous hostility with some simple, atmospheric ebullitions. There are leads present, but they're often quick and to the point, never flagellating themselves at the listener's expense.

Even if Scorned isn't the most memorable record of late in this niche, it's overall quite impressive, and trumps the 2009 debut Death March Fury with relative ease. Fans of USDM staples like Blessed Are the Sick, Gateways to Annihilation, Pierced from Within or Close to a World Below might be thrilled to hear their influence upgraded with traces of other Polish upstarts like Lost Soul, Trauma, and Calm Hatchery.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

http://www.masachist.pl/

Yellowtooth - Disgust (2012)

While I can't vouch that the band has adopted the most unique style in the history of sludge and doom, Indiana's Yellowtooth truly knows how to kick off an album with a mix of hilarity and crushing riffs that smash you mightily on the jaw, extracting the two teeth that they've placed in their logo. A relatively new band with a few demos to their name prior to this debut full-length, the ranks here nonetheless boast a number of old schoolers, most notably bassist/vocalist Peter Clemens who you've possibly heard in some other US acts like Invasion, Skullview and Nocturnal Torment. Stylistically and thematically, though, this is a pretty far cry from those other projects, more of a crude knuckle sandwich of beer swigging, bong hitting brutality borne of a simpler, stoner rock foundation.

Once the opening sample cedes to the massive, lumbering riffs of "Wizard Dust" you get a nice taste of the band's straight forward songwriting. The guitar patterns have a bit of an old school 70s rock feel to them, maybe something like Down or Black Label Society might pen, albeit more swollen and sinister in both intent and doomed delivery. The molasses-thick bass is just as prevalent as the guitar, both so enormous that at times they seem to almost drown a few of the drums, but what I found most impressive here was the use of the more filtered, gruff death metal style vocals. When the Neanderthal inflection collides with the weight of those chugging or grooving rhythms, it's like some unholy union of old Godflesh with the Black Keys, perhaps the most innovative component of this entire disc. They seem to draw more on the death metal influences of some of his other works, or perhaps their death & roll forebears like Entombed, than the nihilistic rasping or agony you'd expect out of a group like Bongzilla or Eyehategod, but the results are just as heavy.

A lot of the riff progressions remind one of usual suspects like Sabbath, Cathedral, Orange Goblin, or Trouble, often pretty minimalistic and predictable, but there's enough of a wailing verve and bluesy authenticity to them that the listener's still going to be slowly banging his head through "John Wilkes Booth" or "Prophetic Ramblings". Even though most of the 4-5 minute tunes only have a few dominant riffs, they are spun out with enough variation that they never feel tired or repetitious. Grueling, slower paced sequences are set against the more up-tempo barroom bravado, and Disgust feels pretty fresh and developed overall, though there are a handful of throwaway riffs. The raucous mix of the album is heavily guitar-oriented, and I wouldn't have minded a bit more cranking on the drums to balance it out. Also, the vocals, while themselves adequately churning and aggressive, would not suffer from more of a dynamic range. Otherwise, Yellowtooth has itself a decently fun debut here. The trio is well aware of its parameters, functions effectively within them, and has fun doing so. More than a few black eyes are just waiting to happen to this album.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yellowtooth/216048345074088

Tragic Death - Apocalyptic Metal (2012)

Tragic Death is the second group I've heard lately from the Madison, Wisconsin area, and like their neighbors Warseid, they approach the extreme metal aesthetic with a lot of ambition, albeit with a different set of rules. Their self-branded 'Apocalyptic Metal' style, which also serves as the title for this self-released debut, is a weighty amalgamation of the death, thrash and black genres, with the added implementation of some symphonic overtures via keyboards. While I'm not sure the invention of a new sub-genre is warranted to truly define this, since there have been scores if not hundreds of other bands down through the years to merge all these qualities, it's at least admirable that the band desires to celebrate and embrace the ambiguity that this fusion creates.

The trio creates a very bass heavy sound here, with a lot of low end, charging and pummeling riffs that seem like the bastard offspring of Amon Amarth's glorious Viking death (post-The Avenger) and Rotting Christ's propensity for mid-paced, brazen melodies (circa Triarchy of the Lost Lovers or Thy Mighty Contract), both of whom number among their influences. The driving double bass patterns serve as a concrete support for much of the forceful, deep chugging, but rather than just bludgeon the listener for moments on end they also break out a lot of melodic thrash riffs. The vocals range from a bloodied, Sakis Tolis rasp to a deeper, ominous guttural, and even the bass lines and clean guitars (as in "The Christian Disease" bridge) have a moribund sense about them. On the other hand, they'll often dispense with the gloomier aspects for this brighter, atmospheric edge created by the keys ("Empty Whore"), and I found myself slightly more attracted to this side of their sound, since there was more going on and the material retained the sweeping bombast mandatory to such a feat.

Pieces like "Leviathan" also reveal a tendency towards that more melodic, Swedish side of death metal made prevalent through Dissection, Dark Tranquillity, Hypocrisy or In Flames during the earlier through mid 90s, and here the pacing of the guitars expands to include vast swaths of tremolo picking harmonies, which make for a nice countermeasure towards the largely slower slugfest that runs through many of the songs. Unfortunately, at the same time it often creates the impression that the band might have bitten off mildly more than they can chew. Of the near hour of material, only a handful of the guitar riffs really stick on the memory, primarily as they hail from such affluent and familiar influences; and for such an early record in the band's development, some of this staggering amount of material have been sacrificed for a narrower focus on the rest. For instance, the ruddy death/thrashing intro "Khloros" with the Barack Obama samples could have been clipped, its better riffs mixed elsewhere with vocals; the outro "Promethean Skies" and its moody, dark classical guitars are more than enough instrumental for this album.

Elsewhere, there were other minor aesthetic hiccups. The cover art with logo felt a bit cheap and cluttered, especially the album title placement and the bird flying over the moniker. The production, while clear enough that you can make out all the vocals and instrumental lines, is still a bit muffled and underpolished. For instance, there are a few melodies in tracks like "Grave Years Past" that get drowned out by the vocals and rhythm track, and brighter tones overall would seem better suited to the majestic phrases where the guitars and keys clash. Despite these issues, though, Apocalyptic Metal is not a bad record, especially for anyone enamored to the black and death metal rosters of Nuclear Blast and Century Media in the 90s (before they succumbed to the tide of trendy metalcore garbage and 'rock stardom'). Tragic Death came up listening to a lot of good music, and they don't at all do a poor job of fusing it all together into something of their own. Not a lot of bands in the States sound quite like this, and with a little more work they may damn well hone their considerable weaponry to a fine, cutting edge.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] 

https://www.facebook.com/TragicDeath218