Angry Metal Guy

Horrendous // The Chills
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Dreaming of Florida.
Label: Dark Descent Records
Websites: myspace.com/horrendousdeathmetal
Release Dates: US: 01.03.2011 | EU: 2011.02.17

In the last few years, old school death metal has seen a resurgence in the underground. Gone are the bands trying to blast their way into oblivion by copying the NYDM sound, no more does every death metal band in the scene want to sound like Origin or Hate Eternal. Instead, Entombed and Death have been come the ideals—and this revitalization has been welcome to these Angry Metal Ears. I find it distinctly more giving to listen to the crunchy riffs and the cavelike production values than what a lot of modern death metal has become. But as has been noted, like any trend these things start to get too saturated and the listener tends to cool a bit on the new material that’s coming out.  Continue reading

Vallenfyre // A Fragile King
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — In crust we trust
Label: Century Media Records
Websites: vallenfyre.co.uk | facebook.com/Vallenfyre
Release Dates: Out now!

2011 might as well be dubbed the year of Swedish Retro Death. Band after loathsome band has burst from the underground to pay rancid homage to genre legends like Entombed, Dismember and Grave. Despite the sheer volume of the stuff, Steel Druhm has remained supportive and for the most part, the trend hasn’t worn out its welcome. Now we get Vallenfyre‘s debut full length from a veritable death metal super group featuring members of Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Cradle of Filth. With such a pedigree, it shouldn’t be too surprising when A Fragile King has everything you would reasonably expect from a Swedish death album. It’s chunky, thick, nasty and vile. It’s an ode to all things Entombed with a sizeable injection of Celtic Frosty goodness as well. At times, its so much like the immortal Left Hand Path it’s uncanny, yet it also brings in plenty of dire dirges to shake things up. This MOFO was conceived in unholy sin, birthed in ungodly filth and raised on bloody carnage. There’s a guitar sound heavy enough to fracture your vertebrae and vocals so grisly they’ll disturb the deranged. But, you rightly ask, is it actually good? Oh yes, it’s really good! This is unapologetically retro and doesn’t strive for innovation but it nails home the tried-and-true Swedish sound with the subtlety of a Panzer division. How this will sit with you depends entirely on your tolerance for more Swedish death. If 2011 has fed you all the old-time death you can stomach, move along and I won’t think less of you. If not, belly up to the death buffet and chow down on this meatloaf of the damned. Continue reading

Black Sun Aeon // Blacklight Deliverance
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Three releases a year? Never fear.
Label: Cyclone Empire Records
Websites: blacksunaeon.com | myspace.com/aeonoftheblacksun
Release Dates: Out now!

Tuomas Saukkonen is clearly a man concerned with the dangers of idle hands. To stave them off, he’s forever toiling in various musical projects (Before the Dawn, Dawn of Solace, RoutaSielu) and his highly underrated Black Sun Aeon project. While primarily known for his work in  the excellent Before the Dawn, Tuomas has always used this project to explore more morose, gothic-tinged doomscapes while taking cues from fellow countrymen Insomnium and especially Rapture. As with the previous two Black Sun Aeon releases, Blacklight Deliverance is a compelling mix of death, doom and goth, with hauntingly beautiful melodies, ample heaviness and razor-sharp songwriting. It doesn’t break any new ground and at times veers very close to the aforementioned influences, but its a highly enjoyable journey nonetheless and has a few moments of absolute brilliance. It’s also a much more tightly focused work than 2010′s double album Routa and as a result, feels more immediate and accessible. Continue reading

Deus Otiosus // Murder
Rating: 3.0/5.0 — Old school but not old.
Label: FDA Rekotz (World) | American Line (South America)
Websites: facebook.com/deusotiosus.dk | myspace.com/deusotiosus
Release Dates: Out Worldwide
By: Fisting Andrew Golota

When you hear the phrase “old-school death metal,” you pretty much know what to expect. You can rattle off the usual list of influences (Death, Entombed, Autopsy, etc.) by heart, and you can envision the sound in your mind without hearing a single note. There’s about 9 thousand bands that are playing this style today, and neither you or I give a fuck about them because it was already done 20 years ago, and better. So when Danish band Deus Otiosus describes their debut full-length, Murderer, as “old-school death metal,” you know what you’re in for… right? Continue reading

Entrails // The Tomb Awaits
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Quality barbarism from beyond the grave
Label: F.D.A. Rekotz
Release Dates: Out Worldwide!
Author: Nemesis

This has been the year of death metal. Evidence is very much apparent if you look at the bulk of releases so far. Try to forget Morbid Angel and Decapitated for a moment. Quality albums from the likes of Hate Eternal, Vomitory, Supreme Pain, and Vader… even Autopsy – have made the genre stronger than ever in 2011. Sophomore album The Tomb Awaits is an attempt from these Swedish veterans of gritty old-school death metal to join those hallowed ranks. Continue reading

Morbus Chron // Sleepers in the Rift
Rating: 4.0/5.0 —Are you Morbus?
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: myspace.com  facebook.com
Release Dates:  EU: Out now!  US: 09.27.2011

As I listen to this unheralded piece of nasty, morbid, old school death, one word comes to mind: Spewage. That’s the best way to describe what you’ll be getting here. Morbus Chron is a Swedish band playing filthy death metal like Autopsy, Death and Massacre. This breaks the current trend of following in the footsteps of legendary countrymen Entombed, Dismember. It’s still plenty retro but not the typical Swedish retro. Basically, their raucous debut Sleepers in the Rift sounds like something spewing from the underground in the late 80′s and it’s wonderfully repellant, low-fi, non-techy and makes you feel like you need to be disinfected and vaccinated. It’s underproduced, muddy, discordant and vile all the way but somehow manages to be catchy. What more could one ask for? Nothing! Continue reading

Cryptborn // Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Crusty songs about rotting corpses = fun!
Label: Dark Descent Records
Websites: myspace.com/cryptborn
Release Dates:  EU: 15.09.2011 | US: 09.15.2011

My oh my, more rancid, raw and caustic Swedish retro death, this time by way of Finland. Into the Grasp of the Starving Dead is the debut EP by Cryptborn and as with any proper Swedish retro death, it sounds as if it should have come out in 1990 along with the big releases from their obvious influences Entombed and Grave. It has that classic unrelentingly raw, buzzing guitar tone and vocals so low and phlegmy they almost rattle your speakers off the stands. Both Angry Metal Guy and myself have been eating up this particular trend while wondering when we would start to grow weary of it. While I can’t speak for AMG on this, I’m still enjoying it fully and most of the bands currently involved in this retro Swedish death wave are quite good.  Now you can count Cryptborn among those doing it right and doing it crusty, rancid justice. Although its an EP, you still get seven tracks worth of face peeling, zombie attacking, brutal goodness and it packs everything you could want from this style (except originality since its retro). Continue reading

Here’s a seriously under the radar piece of nasty, blackened death that seems to have been widely overlooked since its May release (including by us sadly). Devastate is the debut by Finland’s Decaying and it’s a real work of grim badassery. Available through Hellthrasher Productions, it features a scant six songs of brutal death but its not a short album since four of the tracks are over ten minutes long. That’s right, you get some lengthy, epic death metal tuneage with one song over fourteen minutes in length! That’s longer than “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and brutal and ugly all the way through. Honestly, not many bands can write death metal that remains interesting over so long a period of time. The reason why this album is getting space here is because Decaying can and did just that. Despite the length of the tracks, the writing and energy keeps things engaging until the bitter end. Continue reading

Disma // Towards the Megalith
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Birthed in the land of garbage and swamps
Label: Profound Lore Records
Websites: myspace.com/dismadeathmetal
Release Dates: Out now!

At last, an album that’s the musical equivalent to falling face first into a cesspool. Crusty, endlessly filthy, unspeakably nasty and no amount of  showering will ever get you truly clean. That’s what you can expect when you press play on the debut by New Jersey’s toxic swamp denizens Disma. Towards the Megalith is eight grueling sojourns through the terrifying underbelly of old school death metal a la Autospy, Grave and Entombed. Featuring several members of the brutal death act Funebrarum, this is not the least bit “modern,” nor does it bear the slightest trace of “melo-death.” If you’re familiar with the level of corpse grinding heaviness Funebrarum delivers, then you have an idea where this is going, but this is even murkier and more corrosive. Yes, these songs are the dregs stuck to the bottom of the musical septic tank. Appealing to the current lust for old school Swedish and American death and joining acts like Entrails and Blood Mortized in the crusty scab sweepstakes, Disma shows just how raw and ugly things can get while still being thouroughly enjoyable, though this will be too much for many to digest (ewww). If you haven’t already gotten up to find this, kindly wait until you finish reading this stellar piece of prose. Continue reading

Necrovorous //Funeral for the Sane
Rating: 4.0/5.0 — Greek salad of death!! [You're stretchin' it there, buddy. - AMG]
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: myspace.com/necrovorous
Release Dates: Out Now!

Loyal readers of these Angry Metal Pages are  doubtlessly aware of my affinity for old school Swedish death metal (SDM) akin to the likes of old Entombed, Grave and Dismember (disloyal readers are to be shunned and publicly shamed). Those same readers will also be aware of my love for the retro movement in the genre spearheaded by the likes of Bloodbath, Entrails and Interment. Because the old school SDM style has such a grim, crusty and powerful vibe, it doesn’t bother me in the least when retro bands utilize the sound without much innovation, as long as its done well. Kindly add Necrovorous to the growing list of bands doing it really fucking well with their debut Funeral for the Sane. Hailing from Greece, these gents take the classic early ’90s sound of SDM and scrape in influences from primitive American acts as well as some grindcore. The results are ugly, scabby and about as nasty as shit on scrambled eggs. Continue reading