South African Metal

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend – Shun the Reptile Review

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend – Shun the Reptile Review

“Does anyone still give a shit about zombies? Apparently the creators of the next Resident Evil game are wondering how they’re going to “make zombies scary again,” and that concern is a direct reflection of the cultural over-saturation of zombies that’s occurred in the last decade or so. Thus, when I first saw the name of South African quintet Zombies Ate My Girlfriend, I rolled my eyes so hard I saw my brain. Yet when I actually listened to their 2015 debut Retrocide, I surprisingly didn’t hate it, although their brand of core-informed melodic death metal was still a little rough around the edges. Nonetheless the band’s animated riffing and general craziness made me intrigued and curious to hear what they’d spew out next.” Don’t squeeze the lizard.

Ruff Majik – Seasons Review

Ruff Majik – Seasons Review

“Located at the very tip of the African continent, South Africa may win the prize for ‘Most Accurate Country Name,’ challenged only by the uniformly low and flat Netherlands. Metal, however, is not what the nation is generally known for (apartheid and the guy who directed District 9 both rank higher, for instance.) In our extensive archives, only 9 articles bear a ‘South African Metal’ tag. Until today, that is, because Ruff Majik come forth from the shadows of Pretoria, the South African capital.” South Africa rising.

Crow Black Sky – Sidereal Light: Volume One Review

Crow Black Sky – Sidereal Light: Volume One Review

“A long time ago, on a website far, far away, I stumbled across a trve underground gem: Pantheion, the punishing debut of South Africa’s Crow Black Sky. Their take on blackened death was unique and impressive, and though the website was deemed a complete failure and ultimately collapsed into obscurity, I never lost interest in Crow Black Sky. Years passed, proper whore websites rose to power, and albums came and went, all without so much as some light clucking from the promising act. My tiny, blackened heart-thing spent many long nights petitioning a Crow-less sky, lifting its skinny metaphoric fists like antennas to Jørn and praying for the call of the bird. Eventually my hope went the way of common sense, gone and pretty much forgotten. So it goes, yo. Then on January 17, 2018, Jørn sent me a miracle.” Well, he is the Crow King.

Mad God – Tales of a Sightless City [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

Mad God – Tales of a Sightless City [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

“Due to either time constraints, tight deadlines, or this wonderful thing we all call life, I do miss an album or two to review in time. South Africa’s Mad God make a worthy addition to the year’s crop of doom with their self-released debut, Tales of a Sightless City.” God is mad, look sorry.

Ophiuchi – Bifurcaria Bifurcata Review

Ophiuchi – Bifurcaria Bifurcata Review

“I’m about as fluent in South African metal bands as I am in French. And that’s a goddamn shame (the SA band thing, not the French thing). But, even for my limited knowledge of SA scene, I’m happy to say I spend a lot of time with a couple of good ones (Vulvodynia and Wildernessking). So, when I received a promo from a little known South African outfit (from our own SA native, Madam X), I was more than a little excited. Especially when I hit ‘play.'” This springbok has sharp horns ov iron.

Vulvodynia – Psychosadistic Design Review

Vulvodynia – Psychosadistic Design Review

“Back in high school, metal fans, me ashamedly included, compared our chosen genre to classical in its proficiency and complexity, and laughed at the other “dumb” genres for their lack of “intelligent” lyrics and themes. What intolerable pricks were we. I can confidently say that, had I been in that woefully immature mindset currently, I would not have enjoyed anything about Vulvodynia. Their second full-length Psychosadistic Design is everything the intelligent pretentious types love to hate: it’s loud, it’s obnoxious, it’s hilariously over-the-top in its lyrical effrontery, and it chugs more than someone getting perpetually annihilated at beer pong. And honestly, I haven’t had this much fun with slamming brutal death metal in years.” Slam the torpedoes, full chug ahead!

Wildernessking – Mystical Future [Vinyl Review]

Wildernessking – Mystical Future [Vinyl Review]

South Africa’s Wildernessking is an atmospheric black metal band that has undergone a maturation before our very eyes. Starting as Heathens the band played an immediate (and still excellent) form of black n’ roll. The early material was reminiscent of Enslaved, but lacked the Norwegians’ progressive punch. The writing was concise and to the point, and the word “atmospheric” would never have crossed my keyboard in those days—until the release of the track “Morning” in 2011. In 2012, under the new moniker Wildernessking, these South African ex-heathens released The Writing of Gods in the Sand, which unfurled their sound into expansive, atmospheric territory. The record had a production that helped the band’s music to balance between a raw, heavy black metal feel and their growing interest for more airy writing. Mystical Future progresses Wildernessking’s journey, taking steps further away from the intensity and riff-driven black metal, toward a more expansive, atmospheric sound.

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend – Retrocide Review

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend – Retrocide Review

“I never got into the modern zombie craze. Maybe I just had too much of it when I was younger: in high school I played the Gamecube Resident Evil reboots with religious fervor and watched more George A. Romero movies than was probably healthy…thus, you can imagine my sentiments when assigned a promo from a South African band called Zombies Ate My Girlfriend. Not only is that moniker absolutely terrible, it blatantly panders to a trend that was stale two years ago – a trend that I never gave a shit about in the first place. However, as I learned with Calm Hatchery, a bad moniker doesn’t always equate to bad music.” Terrible name, terrible cover, but it’s the music that counts, you elitist snobs!

A Walk with the Wicked – Architects of Sadism Review

A Walk with the Wicked – Architects of Sadism Review

Old school death metal is making a comeback around the world and apparently South Africa is no exception to this rule. In fact, as I’ve already referenced, South Africa is an up-and-coming scene that seems to have little cohesive sound but still has a lot of talent in it. Because of that, whenever you get a demo from one of these bands it’s always a surprise, and this was an old school death metal surprise that came out in the form of A Walk with the Wicked’s debut disc Architects of Sadism. It was also a pleasant surprise, at that.

Crow Black Sky – Pantheion Review

Crow Black Sky – Pantheion Review

One of the things that people have been lamenting about the dawn of the Internet and how it will affect the future of music is that localized scenes no longer get localized sounds, and Crow Black Sky is definitely an example of this. Or more specifically, the South African metal scene seems to be a great example of this. See, Crow Black Sky is a melodic death metal band, whereas the other two bands that I’ve heard from South Africa (Heathens and A Walk with the Wicked) are black metal/black n’ roll and old school death metal. Due to access to music and information worldwide, it sorta kills that homogenization effect that gigging together, hanging out together and shopping at the same record store seemed to cause. Is it possible that the black metal scene from Oregon is the last cohesive scene we’re going to ever see? Well, that’s not actually relevant to this review. What is relevant to this review is that despite (or because of) the lack of homogeneity in the South African scene every single one of these bands that I’ve heard has been really very good. Crow Black Sky being no exception.