Diocletian

Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade Review

By Akerblogger on October 8, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 43 comments

“Antichrist Siege Machine paints the gates of metal with the blood of Christendom. Subtlety is not their strongest trait. Berserk and bludgeoning attacks, void of humanity, are at the core of this Virginian duo’s battering ram. Antichrist Siege Machine’s debut full-length, 2019’s Schism Perpetration, kick-started their brainless siege against nuance. The record is 28-minutes of celestial warfare fetishization. Blazing chariots rip through flesh, worshipers are disemboweled on altars, Satan opens up his fiery pit wherever he pleases, and a general state of empyrean slaughter is captured through deep, churning metal. The war against Christendom is unrelenting and Antichrist Siege Machine has spotted another chance for carnage.” Blade in full.

Vomit Ritual – Callous Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on July 14, 2021 in Reviews, Death Metal, 13 comments

“When I first read the name Vomit Ritual, three thoughts occurred to me. The first was that our tenured professor in all things vomit, Doktor Mark Z, should probably be reviewing this. The second was that Vomit Ritual is a rather funny band name in metal’s typical macabre and absurd sense of humor. What type of ritual involves vomit? Is the vomit procured beforehand, or do the participants need to vomit during the ritual? Who knows? Who cares? The third was reading Vomit Ritual in the phrasing of Death’s “Zombie Ritual,” which is rather amusing. Try it at home, the review will be here when you get back.” Ralph roundtables.

Vassafor – To the Death Review

By Dear Hollow on August 6, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 13 comments

“The band sport a Mitochondrion or Adversarial styled take on death/black metal with a thrashy assault-heavy relentlessness combined with eldritch melodies and passages of doomy ominousness. These New Zealanders laid it on thick with 2012’s double LP The Obsidian Codex, expertly balancing relentless blackened death with ritualistic atmosphere and dense doom to create an experience that felt far shorter than its immense hour-and-thirty-five-minute runtime suggested. Enter 2017’s Malediction, which wasn’t… that. While offering a “shorter” listen at fifty-four minutes, it never managed to truly escape the doomy drudgery and wallowed in uneventfulness for nearly an hour. Enter 2020’s To the Death.” Death be not quick.

Temple Nightside – Pillars of Damnation Review

By Mark Z. on August 5, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 35 comments

“Readers of this site will not find it surprising when I say that I love blackened death metal of the chaotic and brutal variety, with groups like Impiety, Archgoat, and Angelcorpse being some of my favorites. In the last decade, however, a new strain of blackened death metal came to prominence that seemed to prioritize atmosphere and uneasiness above all else. Some of the more notable bands in this category are Portal, Abyssal, and Teitanblood—groups whose work I respect, even if it doesn’t resonate with me as deeply. When I grabbed Pillars of Damnation, the fourth album by Australia’s Temple Nightside, I had no idea what strain of blackened death metal it would be.” Cavern kegger.

Hegemony – Enthroned by Persecution Review

By Mark Z. on May 7, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 8 comments

“I love it when a release has riffs and songs I can hum after first listen, but I also love the bludgeoning barbarity of acts like Abominator and Archgoat, where discernible ideas are often sacrificed at the altar of extremity. Hells Headbangers tend to be one of the most reliable peddlers of this sort of stuff, and this once again holds true with Alabama’s Hegemony.” Goats!

Antichrist Siege Machine – Schism Perpetration Review

By Mark Z. on August 25, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Krucyator Productions, Reviews, Stygian Black Hand, Black Metal, Death Metal, 21 comments

“Do you smell it? A smell like sulfur, sweaty leather, and burning corpses? That’s the smell of blackened fukkin death metal, and boy is it ever in season right now. August alone has seen new releases from Diocletian, Abysmal Lord, and Concrete Winds, with many more no doubt lurking in the darkest corners of Bandcamp and Spotify. Virginia duo Antichrist Siege Machine are the latest to join this infernal party and I’ve been looking forward to their arrival quite a bit.” Hot winds of wengeance.

Heresiarch – Death Ordinance Review

By Mark Z. on July 9, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, New Zealand Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 51 comments

“While I love the scorched-earth pummeling of bands like Revenge and Bestial Warlust, I’ll be the first to admit the genre isn’t exactly known for its variety and memorability. To me the style needs some musicality to balance out the brutality, otherwise, I’d just be blasting Tetragrammacide all day and sending my entire paycheck to Hells Headbangers. Fortunately, this was something New Zealand quartet Heresiarch understood pretty well.” Tuneful war.

Weregoat – Pestilential Rites of Infernal Fornication Review

By Mark Z. on July 5, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Parasitic Records, Reviews, Vault of Dried Bones, Black Metal, Death Metal, 47 comments

“What do you get when you cross a werewolf with a goat? If you guessed “39 minutes of barbaric blackened death metal,” congratulations and welcome to a world where the only thing more bestial than the music is the sexual activity it describes.” Animal husbandry.

Necroblood – Collapse of the Human Race Review

By Mark Z. on March 27, 2017 in 2017, Amor Fati Productions, Black Metal, Death Metal, French Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 18 comments

“No matter the genre, it’s always the same story: the vocals are good, the drums are good, but there’s only one thing we’re really listening for. “The riffs! The riffs!” we squeal, like starving kittens begging for milk, scrambling over each other for a chance to suckle from the Iommi teat. I admit that I, too, often find myself craving the Almighty Riff, desperately scouring the blogosphere in search of the satisfying crunch of a particularly well-crafted set of power chords. But there’s the occasional black day when I want something more. Something abusive. Bludgeoning. Something that will yank me into a dark room and beat me up, Hellraiser-style, until all I want is a Shamrock Shake and some Blood Command to ease me back into reality.” That’s gonna leave a mark.

Things You Might Have Missed 2011: Nader Sadek – In the Flesh

By Angry Metal Guy on January 10, 2012 in 2011, Death Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Things You Might Have Missed 2011, 4 comments

For me 2011 was a year devoid of a death metal record that really knocked it out of the park. While Vomitory produced a pretty damn solid album, and Diocletian and Ulcerate were really good, but they didn’t exactly get me writhing around on the ground in ecstasy like a lot of other people seemed to have experienced it. So when I was digging through my unopened promos, I stumbled upon Nader Sadek’s debut record which came out in 2011 from Season of Mist Records. And let me just say that I wasn’t even mildly prepared for what I was going to get. I’ll give you a hint though: it was 100% win.