Epicurean - News
BMR: Finland classicism (BEHERIT, ARCHGOAT, IMPALED NAZARENE)
Hello all.
First off, I would just like to apologize for my month-plus absence from MetalBite. As cheesy as it sounds, the death of Neil Peart hit me way harder than I thought possible. I've basically been in mourning and listening to all the Rush. (Studio albums, live albums, bootlegs, etc.) But, a few days ago, I sensed it was time to dive back into areas cold and misanthropic. So here we go.
My stepfather is Swedish, and highly Swedish at that. One thing that always fascinated me was whenever he would talk about the differences between Finland and all the other corners of Scandinavia. From cultural activities to the language itself, he always talked about how Finland sometimes seemed like its own civilization.
Although not quite as renowned or popular as the scenes in say, Norway or Sweden, Finland has birthed several classic black metal acts. And every band sounds unique. (You know how you can very easily pinpoint the "Swedish" sound? Or "TNBM?" Good luck trying that with Finland bands.)
Anyway, we are looking at early chapters from three different Finnish masters, the first of which is BEHERIT.
If you feel the need to subject yourself to a primitive, neanderthal-esque, blasphemous beating, look to BEHERIT; one of history's chief architects of primal black metal chaos. (Although I suppose I could very easily been talking about ARCHGOAT.) So it's back to 1990 for their legendary "The Oath of Black Blood". One thing that is especially cool to hear is that, even amidst the distorted, nonstop heretical hammering (which so frequently invites the ARCHGOAT comparisons)... you can hear the beginnings of the exploration of stranger soundscapes (electronic or otherwise) that would characterize the band as the decade progressed.
Speaking of ARCHGOAT...
Another Finnish founding father of unholy filth (you're welcome) would undoubtedly have to be ARCHGOAT. Formed in 1989, they were barely a whisper above the underground before they went on hiatus in 1993. Ever since reforming in 2004, they have been slowly building a fervent following, thanks in no small part to the tireless efforts of labels like Debemur Morti and Hells Headbangers.
I invite you to enjoy their debut EP, "Angelcunt (Tales of Desecration)". Released in 1993 (not long before the band disappeared), the black metal contained in these 14 minutes is not QUITE as primitive as one would expect. Does it just clobber you continuously for those 14 minutes? DUH. But there is some nice soloing in there, and an almost doom-metal feel at times. Honestly, it reminds me very much of Golgotha-era Incantation.
We will close out this installment with a band that was the first (and for many, still the best) Finland act that made themselves well-known on a worldwide scale...
France's Osmose Productions label, although continuing to spew forth black/death records from the underground, pretty much had a monopoly on BM bands in the early 1990s; bands that would go on to become classic artists from the genre's golden age. Immortal, Enslaved, Marduk and Absu are among the many bands that Osmose unleashed onto the world. (Other bands that have released albums on the label include Blasphemy, Thornspawn and Urgehal.)
So yes, we are going back to yet ANOTHER classic debut from the early 90s. This time it's IMPALED NAZARENE, with the mysteriously-titled "Tol Cormpt Zorz Norz Norz" (1992). (One metal site has it translated as "You Shall All Be Numbered Six Six Six," which is entirely possible.) And although they have enough "traditional" black metal elements to be labeled as such, they definitely made the sound their own. Their debut is this wonderfully chaotic clusterfuck of black metal, punk, and even some traditional hard rock passages. The band's confrontational, anti-everything, warped-sense-of-humor lyrical sensibilities were present from the get-go (song titles here include 'Impure Orgies,' 'Goat Perversion' and 'The Art of God (Symmetry of Penis).')
Thanks for reading. Hopefully the next break won't be nearly as long.
Jeff
Entered: 2/15/2020 6:35:33 PM
1.88k
AMORPHIS Unveil Lyric Video for First Single 'The Bee'
Finnish metallers AMORPHIS are about to unleash their latest offering entitled Queen Of Time on May 18th via Nuclear Blast. Today the time has come to present the first taster of the band's 13th studio album. Check out 'The Bee', the opening track below.
Guitarist Esa Holopainen commented: "This song is a very powerful opener and gives a nice picture of what the whole album is all about. You can already hear some new elements like choirs and orchestral arrangements in it."
Vocalist Tomi Joutsen added: "Of course, the lyrical inspiration is a bee, also in a metaphoric way. The tiniest thing can sometimes be the most important thing. A bee can bring life or if we destroy all the bees, life will stop here. It's a very beautiful animal, that's why you can find it on the album cover too. The track itself is a kind of progressive and I'm sure that it will surprise some fans in a positive way. We love it!"
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Amorphis - Queen Of Time |
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Entered: 3/23/2018 6:44:19 PM
1.07k
CANNABIS CORPSE premiere first track 'Cylinders of Madness'
Stoner death metal icons CANNABIS CORPSE will release their brand new album Nug So Vile on November 1st, 2019 via Season of Mist. In conjunction with this announcement the band premiere the gory, animated music video for the first single 'Cylinders of Madness'.
Phil Hall comments on the track: "My brother Hallhammer and I are excited to premiere the animated video for 'Cylinders of Madness!' This video is Hallhammer's very first foray into animation and marks the starting point for a lot of amazing content in the future. This medium opens up a whole new world of possibilities for insane content for Cannabis Corpse! Stay tuned!"
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Cannabis Corpse - Nug So Vile |
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Entered: 8/20/2019 12:29:10 PM
1.20k
EP Round-up: BLACK HOLE DEITY, EXISTENTIAL DISSIPATION, ABERRATION, DEMON KING
EPs get neglected in the greater scheme of things, since they lack the range of motion and depth a full-length typically provides, but that doesn't mean they're without merit. Often it's a quicker way for a new project to throw some ideas out to the public, or for a new band to demo a new band member or try experimenting with different material. That, and there's typically quality stuff in them that I pass over writing about. Here's a round-up of a few EPs worth your time that came out recently.
Nathan
Black Hole Deity - Lair Of Xenolich
Everlasting Spew is one of the harder working labels in metal as of late, putting out a realm of tasty albums: Serocs, Goratory, Void Rot, Fractal Generator, and now it seems the crew over there has unearthed a new gem in American death metal. Consisting of drum virtuoso Mike Heller (when John Longstreth has been your student, you know this guy's got chops), a couple dudes who used to play in Chaos Inception, and a young gun with a lot of energy in Alec Cordero, it's a supergroup full of guys you've never heard of.
Right off the bat, this has a really nice, full production job. Crisp without being too clinical, it's got the breathing room to make the lower-end fretwork come through but still has enough meat to punch you in the gut. The drumming is frantic, with the abundance of skill and technique Heller displays making any riff entertaining in an Azarath-styled maelstrom. Influences in the guitars seem to draw from a mix of oldschool and modern, arriving at a late 90s/early 2000s Hate Eternal/Krisiun styled battery with a bit more variety in the songwriting. The album strikes a good balance between covering enough ground to create their own identity and rarely easing off the gas pedal. I'm not sure if I'd be able to stomach a full album of this unless BLACK HOLE DEITY was to broaden their riff horizons a little bit, but Lair of Xenolich functions perfectly as an EP - it shows up, throws a bunch of tasty riffs in your face that could be taken in a variety of directions, and leaves you wondering what they'll do next.
7.7/10
Existential Dissipation - Unrelenting Barbarity
It's a short one at only 7 minutes, but Unrelenting Barbarity is easily some of the most dense material in this write-up. Snakey, mutating song structures make it a process to tell where one riff ends and the other begins, only for the music to eventually crumble into a pulverising downtempo slam with an off-kilter feel. Defeated Sanity and Pierced From Within-era Suffocation seem like reference points based on the smooth yet unpredictable flow of these two songs, with the surface feel of many of the riffs (and especially the vocals) taking cues from more primitive sadism such as Kraanium and Guttural Secrete
The lads have been kicking around the underbelly of the Ontario slam scene for a while, with their early 2020 full-length being a more brutish affair - the new EP shows more technical flourishes and moments of atonal complexity, likely due to the band bringing in a new drummer and guitarists. If you don't typically vibe to slam/brutal death this may not be particularly striking, but the attention to detail in these two songs is clear, and it would make sense that the band is looking to refine their sound further since they're putting out a split with Kraanium this year that plans to continue to in this direction.
7.5/10
Aberration - Aberration
Members of Void Rot and Suffering Hour together making meditative dissonance not unlike the more trudging moments of Mitochondrion and Phobocosm. Immediately the atmosphere is incredibly evocative and striking, and the band is capable of doing a lot with a little. What this is missing, and what I am hopefully going to hear on the upcoming full-length, are those big, slapping moments that rearrange your face and get your head banging. Sure, I understand that ABERRATION operates more along the speed of Void Rot/Vastum styled low-tempo auditory blueballing, but even those bands have a few moments that aren't couched in layers of discordant dread. Still, the way this band can create a vibe is worth keeping tabs on, and there are occasional moments, such as midway through the opening track, where things do go for the jugular and hint at something more to come.
7/10
Demon King - The Final Tyranny
If a typical Artisan Era release is like a four-course musical meal with riff salads and delicious atmospheric garnishes, DEMON KING is like having a pound of candy and a gram of cocaine for dinner. The blackened tech death thing that's going on here shouldn't be a new sound for anyone who's familiar with the parent bands in this supergroup, most notably Inferi and Enfold Darkness, but neither of those bands ever wrote what is basically the tech-death equivalent of a pop EP. The main theme here is fucking HOOKS. They immediately open 'Tyrannical Reign of the Deceiver' with a riff that would get stuck in your head for days if the riff they played after that wasn't even CATCHIER. Jack Blackburn has infinite stamina and appears to be able to play a blast beat over literally anything, and I always give props to a vocalist who can deliver busy, fast vocal lines while still offering the music the proper amount of restraint.
You might burn out of this quickly, but it's only because you'll be compelled to listen to it over and over again several times before it ends. There's four tracks on this album, and aside from a few necessary ambient moments to space things out, everything is a nonstop sugar rush of crazy Spawn of Possession-esque wanky verses, furious, super-melodic tremolo, or a wild guitar lead or solo. If you ever hear somebody complaining about a tech death band's inability to write something that sticks in your head, show them this. DEMON KING was a pretty good name, but The Crack Dahlia Murder would have been more appropriate.
8/10
Entered: 2/16/2021 7:42:39 PM
1.97k
The Week In Metal - Week Of May 20 - 26, 2019
Memorial Day weekend couldn't come in a better time. Last week was so prolific with quality releases that any extra free time to catch up with imposing and relentless heavy metal music industry is more than welcome. For those not in States I suggest taking a sick day, paid-time-off or simulate family's emergency to find the time for this new batch of blasphemy because whatever is stoking your fires there's enough fuel to burn the town or two.
Black metal maniacs can plunge into avant-garde Deathspell Omega, go through sludgy Kludde, thrashy Widower and round it all up with symphonic Stormlord and Kull or melodic Nihilisticon and Popioły.
On the bridge from black to death stands Esoctrilihum serving black acid to your death bed, Lvcifyre will drag you through the halls of hell and Nihility storms the scene with its blackened death debut. Symphonic death is back with new opus from revamped lineup of Fleshgod Apocalypse and Nocturnus AD returns with the follow up to almost 30 years old debut The Key.
And that's just the tip of the list! Thrash, progressive, heavy, doom, stoner and gothic are all well represented and worth your time with new thunderous albums from well known bands and scene newcomers. So without wasting any more of your free time...
Till next week...
Stoner, sludge metal from Italy: Hyperwülff - Addendum One (Independent)
Doom, stoner metal from France: Abrahma - In Time For The Last Rays Of Light (Small Stone Records)
Black, avant-garde metal from France: Deathspell Omega - The Furnaces Of Palingenesia (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
Progressive, metalcore from Italy: Destrage - The Chosen One (Metal Blade Records)
Doom metal from United States: Destroyer Of Light - Mors Aeterna (Argonauta Records)
Heavy, hard rock from United Kingdom: Diamond Head - The Coffin Train (Silver Lining Music)
Gothic, heavy metal from Portugal: Enchantya - On Light And Wrath (Inverse Records)
Black metal from France: Esoctrilihum - The Telluric Ashes Of The Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods (I, Voidhanger Records)
Death, symphonic metal from Italy: Fleshgod Apocalypse - Veleno (Nuclear Blast)
Heavy, speed, punk from Germany: Indian Nightmare - By Ancient Force (High Roller Records)
Black, sludge metal from Belgium: Kludde - In De Kwelm (Consouling Sounds)
Black, symphonic, epic metal from United Kingdom: Kull - Exile (Black Lion Records)
Black, death metal from United Kingdom: Lvcifyre - Sacrament (Dark Descent Records)
Black, death metal from Portugal: Nihility - Thus Spoke The Antichrist (Black Lion Records)
Death metal from United States: Nocturnus AD - Paradox (Profound Lore Records)
Progressive metal from United States: Odyssey - The Swarm (Independent)
Death metal from Germany: Reckless Manslaughter - Caverns Of Perdition (F.D.A. Rekords)
Power, heavy metal from Spain: Reveal - Overlord (WormHoleDeath Records)
Thrash metal from Israel: Shredhead - Live Unholy (Legend Recordings)
Black, power, symphonic metal from Italy: Stormlord - Far (Scarlet Records)
Black metal from United States: Thonian Horde - Downfall (Grimoire Records)
Thrash, black metal from United States: Widower - Cataclysmic Sorcery (Black Market Metal Label)
Progressive, stoner, sludge metal from United States: Atala - The Bearer Of Light (Salt Of The Earth Records)
Heavy metal from Italy: Circle Of Witches - Natural Born Sinners (Sliptrick Records)
Death metal from Brazil: Nervochaos - Ablaze (Hammerheart Records)
International melodic black metal band: Nihilisticon - Behind A Mask A Metaphor Is Written (Flowing Downward)
Black metal from Poland: Popioły - Per Aspera Ad Harenae (Independent)
Hyperwülff, Abrahma, Deathspell Omega, Destrage, Destroyer Of Light, Diamond Head, Enchantya, Esoctrilihum, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Indian Nightmare, Kludde, Kull, Lvcifyre, Nihility, Nocturnus AD, Odyssey, Reckless Manslaughter, Reveal, Shredhead, Stormlord, Thonian Horde, Widower, Atala, Circle Of Witches, Nervochaos, Nihilisticon, Popioły
Entered: 5/27/2019 8:08:09 PM
1.11k
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