Review by Chris Pratl on June 19, 2019.

Italy's theater-doom legend Death SS is still alive and kicking after over 40-years on the scene. Often unfairly dubbed the Italian Mercyful Fate (the band actually predates its Danish counterparts by four years), Death SS takes its share of theatrics and stylish heavy metal to interesting and varying degrees. I managed to get my hands on a dubbed tape of the early recordings somewhere back in the mid-80's, and it was hell trying to track down their (at that point) minimal catalog of two demos and an EP. Thanks to the gods for the organic tape trading days and my wonderful Australian friend for sending me that tape! 

The latest effort here, Rock 'n' Roll Armageddon, was initially released last September, but due to almost no promotion or pushing it stalled. High Roller Records managed to give it another deserved breath of life, (hopefully) dropping it into more hands this July. Death SS  is a band that never quite got the vast following they deserve, being shadowed by he aforementioned King Diamond band and a bevy of other bands capitulating on the Italian masters' original brand of speedy doom. 

Well, here we have Rock 'n' Roll Armageddon, a solid collection of wondrous guitars, gruffly-accentuated vocals, and lyrically encompassing visuals. We have here a generous mixture of heavy metal, rock 'n' roll, and theatre macabre rolled into a pleasant package. The heaviness of Death SS is usually attributed to its storied mainman, Steve Sylvester, and rightfully so. He's an under-credited genius with arrangements and surreal visions, creating some of the most musically diverse epics in the elevated history of the metal underground. The overall flow of the album is one of small mini-soap operas in that each song is a story of its own, making up the cemented whole of the record. Anyone familiar with Steve Sylvester knows full well what he's capable of when creating the albums he offers; the tremendous circus feel of some songs joins ever-so-perfectly with the hard-edged, pure heavy metal pieces and manages to, somehow, expertly tell a larger story within smaller novellas. It's truly an experience to listen to Death SS. 

Heavier tracks like “Zombie Massacre,” “Hellish Knights,” and “Promised Land” display the awesome power of the band's vision and expert authorship when crafting these songs. You won't find blinding thrash speed or overtly pounding riffs that shake your stereo (I'm old school, so, yes, I have a component system), but you will find some really memorable guitar parts and vocals that will stay stuck in your head, ala “The Fourth Reich,” a truly heavy metal song in every conceivable facet (and before anyone gets their panties in a proverbial bunch, this has nothing to do with fascism). 

Even slight hints of industrial seep into the fray (“Witches' Dance,” a reworked classic) without ruining or diluting the listening experience. Steve Sylvester has toyed with the genre before, much to the misplaced dismay of some fans but the delight of others. He's taken chances here and there throughout his career, and yet he's always managed to remain true to the spirit of metal music. As I said, he's criminally underrated and underappreciated; hopefully this gets rectified soon. Coming near the close of the album, “Your Life is Now” begins rather (un)characteristically with a slower, harmonica-laced intro that segues nicely into an introspective, Dio-sounding classic, leaving a lasting impression with that underlying keyboard resonating in your head. There really isn't a weak track on this album, so color me not surprised. 

Overall, Rock 'n' Roll Armageddon offers a casual glimpse into a mad genius' head, as he allows you to take audience within his frame of theater-inspired heavy metal. With Death SS, the bar is usually set high enough to expect the unexpected, revel in the oft-Vaudevillian lyrical pictures, and get lost within the soundscapes of Italy's undervalued metal movement bent on putting your fantasies to music. 

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Review by Alex on July 1, 2019.

Get ready for 28 minutes of despicable black/death/thrash war metal grindcore. This mutating fungus of disturbance by Vomit Angel in the form of Imprint of Extinction loosens the screws of the filth tank to let the ugly gush out and onto the war metal territory. This is the first time ever hearing what Vomit Angel are about and to be honest it’s not bad at all (musically). I tend to stand clear of 1¹/2 length tracks as they usually are about just fucking around and shit with rarely any amount of seriousness existing in the music. I decided to give this one a chance primarily based on the fact Vomit Angel’s latest march in filth would be released through Iron Bonehead Productions; so, if they saw something redeemable in the music, samples of regurgitation and defecation, then perhaps I would too; so why the hell not give the material a listen. After a few spins, turns out the music is not too shabby at all, and even has some rather amusing elements present. 

Firstly, the production garnered positive feedback during the time spent, not overly ugly nor clean, secondly, within the recordings lay a jesting appeal that see Vomit Angel provoke the thoughts of the listener by doing little but meaningful and suggestive actions. The music is straightforward black/death war metal drumming with transitions towards punk metal and thrash metal. The track most appealing to me is ‘U.S.G’, it’s the one song that has less in common with the others when addressing the instrumentation; plus, its leading riff is similar to Goatpenis’ ‘Pleasant Atrocities March’, one of my favorite tracks off "Anesthetic Vapor". The incorporation of the cowbell is the most amusing and surprising element on Imprint of Extinction as it’s not traditionally apart of the war metal theme. Hearing it play an opening role on songs such as ‘Concussion’, ‘Hobo in the Woods’ and the ridiculously short ‘Hollow Earth’ made this effort all the more amusing. The amusement doesn't end there as a drunk and drowsy vocal show undermines the aggressive throats on ‘Vestyfen Classic’. 

Four of the songs featured on Vomit Angel’s Imprint of Extinction can be heard on a tape put out earlier in the year titled Ceremonium Promo 2019. I have not hard it but I am assuming those tracks were re-recorded for this occasion. 

Lyrically I don't know what it is about, and the vocals are not clear enough to be deciphered, however judging from the names of the songs Imprint of Extinction is a mixture of menace and mockery; it makes clear that Vomit Angel don’t take the genre too seriously.

Rating: 7 out of 10