Mord’A’Stigmata - "Antimatter" Review

This Polish-based post black/avant garde metal band focus their songs primarily on misanthropy and spirituality. Formed in 2004, this is their second release after considerable changes in their 8 year history.

This album is very special, in that it uses the innovation of the avant garde not to detach itself from its fans, but to ingratiate itself deeper. The use of different vocal effects – such as slowing down the vocal, speeding it up, changing pitch, etc. all contribute to the uniqueness of this work. 

It’s a very hard listen first tine round, but it is on the second and subsequent listens that it becomes easier to take in and digest. It’s varied and technical, with solid work from each of the members. The instrumental is tight, with the odd guitar squeal over drums being a main element of their music. The lyrics are varied, as are the vocalist’s talents. It goes across his whole range from the screechy screamo, to the normal, and then into the deep dark depths vocally. 

It’s black metal roots shine through, in the way some of the songs are performed, but without the screechy unintelligible lyrics. This is a really nice diversion within the genre, and shows not only a black metal background, but the ability to twist and change what is heard, subverting expectations.

DECAPITATED – Carnival is Forever (Nuclear Blast Records)

Polish death metal band Decapitated is lucky to be intact. Actually, scratch that. We as listeners are lucky to have Decapitated in existence, offering up a crushing new tech masterpiece that’s deliriously good.

This band seemed headed down the right track when they signed on with Nuclear Blast a few years ago following their 2006 album “Organic Hallucinosis,” released by Earache, but tragedy struck afterward when they were involved in a traffic accident in October 2007 near Russia. That incident claimed the life of the band’s drummer Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka and severely wounded singer Adrian “Covan” Kowanek, leaving guitarist Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka not only dealing with Decapitated’s future but, more importantly, coping with the loss of his brother. Vogg took time away from performing, then started working in a music store before fellow Poles Vader asked him to fill in on guitar for their tour. Eventually, he started thinking about his own band again and whether a resurrection was possible and proper.

Vogg assembled a new lineup for the group’s comeback record “Carnival Is Forever,” and the results are stunning. Their fifth album is a punishing, mind-blowing tour-de-force that not only does the band’s reputation well, but also serves as a proper salute to Vitek. Surely Vogg’s heart will always hurt, as he lost a sibling and a musical partner he played with since they Kieltykas were young. But he should be proud of this triumph of a record that should catapult the band into the upper echelon of Nuclear Blast’s roster and the massive death metal heap.

http://www.myspace.com/decapitated

VADER - "Welcome to the morbid reich"

“Ultima Thule”

Никакви изненади – Vader обичат интротата, използваха ги в последните си три албума (композирани по една и съща формула) и ако е необходимо да се говори в числа, играят на сигурно девет (!) години. За щастие с “Welcome To The Morbid Reich” това е на път да се промени. За разлика от средния “Necropolis” от 2009, “Ultima Thule” е първото от само две интрота и още по–добре – и двете са адекватно ситуирани в плейлиста. Грандиозно, церемониално откриване, плавно преливащо в…

“Return to the Morbid Reich”

…която майсторски подчертава цялата симфонична помпозност, преди да се отърве от нея (поне за малко) с един от най–екстремните моменти в кариерата на полските ветерани. Могъщото ‘uuurgh’ на Piotr Wiwczarek задвижва силна комбинация от продухващ мозъка бластбийт и трашърска, приятно органична рифовка, която чудесно поставя началото на спорно най–добрия Vader албум от “Litany” насам.

“The Black Eye”

След това е време за класическия военен марш, какъвто “The Black Eye” определено е. С милитаристко темпо, незабравими рифове и запазените кратки, изкормващи и в същото време странно мелодични сола, готови да те свалят на колене и да ти отрежат главата… Веднага!

“Come and See my Sacrifice”

И докато Behemoth постоянно се развиваха, за да стигнат до етап, на който почти станаха мейнстрийм, но успяха да останат себе си, а Decapitated показаха как техничният дет наистина трябва да звучи, Vader винаги са били опората на традиционализма в полската метъл сцена. С песни като “Come And See My Sacrifice” бандата продължава да бъде такава, като това парче не е направено, за да бъде чуто, а за да се изживее.

“Only Hell Knows”

Нещата стават дори още по–страшни, когато номер 5 – бърза, грозна и безмилостна в своята олдскуул ярост, е изплюта от този чудовищен албум. Песента рядко достига промиваща мозъка скорост или черепотрошаща тежест, но е толкова брутална, колкото е необходимо. Измъчен отварящ риф и някои от най–разнообразните вокали, които Peter някога е призовавал. Това са Vader в тяхната най–гротескна форма.

“I am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul”

Един от най–епичните моменти в албума, “I am Who Feasts Upon Your Soul” започва с една почти Zimmer-ска симфонична интерлюдия и след брилянтен китарен мост (подобен на моста от обложката, но построен в музикална форма), бавно се превръща в звяра, който трябва да бъде. Среднотемпова дет метъл лудост с богата, обречена атмосфера и изключително соло.

“Don’t Rip the Beast’s Heart Out”…

…стартира директно от невероятен струнен дуел между Peter и Spider. Бомбастичен бластбийт добавя допълнителна тежест към солидния основен риф и вероятно прави Doc горд от неговите бивши колеги в кипящия му казан долу в подземния свят. Не се тревожи, Doc, песни като тази бетонират позициите на квартета в Ада. Скоро ще бъдат твоите нови съседи.

“I Had a Dream…”

Зловещ е тържественият начин, по който втората част на “Welcome To The Morbid Reich” продължава да звучи, като “I Had A Dream…” добавя още една епична нотка в албума, сякаш Vader в момента празнуват триумф на злото.

 

“Lord of Thorns”

“Lord Of Thorns” лесно обяснява защо бандата е често определяна като “дет-траш” метъл и, нека не пропускаме субективния елемент, субжанрът трябва да звучи точно така. За да сме ясни – повече дет, отколкото траш, и гордо обгръщайки принципа “колкото-се-може-повече”, що се касае до кормещите сола. Legion Of The Damned – взимайте си бележки, моля, или просто не се връщайте.

“Decapitated Saints”

Действително е трудно да се правят сравнения, когато качеството на определен запис е на това ниво, но “Decapitated Saints” е вероятно най–бруталното парче, не само в “Welcome To The Morbid Reich”, но и в цялата кариера на групата (особено имайки предвид факта, че това не е особено нова песен). От заглавието, през ужасяващата скорост, с която Peter изстрелва вокалите си, до финалния смразяващ кръвта призив.

“They Are Coming”

Втората интерлюдия и саундтракът към кошмарен сатанински ритуал.

“Black Velvet and Skulls of Steel”

Перфектен епитаф с най–бавния и най–мрачен номер в това дългосвирещо издание. Определено не е случайност, че всичко свършва с един единствен боен вик: “HELL!”. Изненада или не, това е един от най–силните албуми на Vader и неочаквано завръщане към форма.

  Автор: shogot ::  

                   web : http://www.vader.pl

  http://www.myspace.com/vader

Azarath - Blasphemers' Maledictions : Polish brutality raised

Long-running Polish death metal outfit Azarath has returned to bloody action with fifth album Blasphemers’ Maledictions. The sound may be quintessential Polish death metal, but Azarath plays it with an intensely occult black metal focus and atmosphere, and the venomous racket kicked up within can be nothing other than a group of musicians playing with a collective bellyful of hellfire. Azarath has frequently languished as little more than a footnote due to drummer and founding member Inferno also kicking the cans for certified megastars Behemoth. If there’s any justice in this world, Blasphemers’ Maledictions ought to see Azarath rocketing to the absolute top of the heap, as it’s more simultaneously unhinged and precise than anything Nergal and company have done since, say, Zos Kia Cultus.
 
Blasphemers’ Maledictions is Azarath’s first album with new vocalist and bassist Necrosodom, who spews a glorious variety of antifreeze-gargling tones with a manic intensity nearly rivaling Mortuus (of Funeral Mist/Marduk infamy). Inferno’s drumming is the stalwart anchor required by music this blisteringly intense, and his performance throughout the album is tremendous. Check out the driving swagger of “Crushing Hammer of the Antichrist,” the insane stop-start verse drumming of “Deathstorms Raid the Earth” or the relentless double-bass opening of “Behold the Satan’s Sword” for proof positive of the man’s limbs of rubber and steel. Sure, the snare is occasionally a bit clacky and the bass drum could stand a bit more punch and boom, but Inferno’s overwhelming and hugely diverse technique, coupled with the hugely upfront scything of frantic guitarwork means that really, if you find yourself folding your arms unpleasantly and nitpicking the drum sound instead of rocking the shit out you probably deserve to be slapped in the face with a ride cymbal and reminded that heavy metal is about JOY, you dour asshole. Particular mention has to go to the absolute show-stopper of a closer, “Harvester of Flames,” which stomps in with an attitude of pure, unbridled rock and roll fury before giving way to a witheringly melancholy chorus that sees the guitars letting loose with pinch harmonics that perfectly frame the unexpected melodic shifts. This is the kind of song that could (and by all rights should) bring the entire goddamn world together - the citizens of 200-odd nations hoisting armchairs over our heads and howling “WHO FUCKING WANTS SOME?” Extreme art, ever the salve for an extremely fucked world.

Still, perhaps the most impressive thing is that even in the midst of this relentless yet intelligently-constructed face-ripping death metal lurk gorgeous passages of dreamlike guitar leads that simultaneously temper and provoke the surrounding brutality (see the midsection of “Under the Will of the Lord,” the closing of “Deathstorms Raid the Earth,” “The Abjection”). Like a glacier placed in the center of an ocean of crackling fire, you know that any second it will melt and plunge you straight into the searing breath of flame, but its blue is bluer than any sky and twice as deep and from its fast-sublimating depths rises a heartsong of awe and terror. With all due apologies to Thralldom, this moment of startling beauty – singular, though it recurs throughout the album with different notes and different shapes – is the real shaman steering a vessel of vastness.

Although Azarath has long been a truly fierce band, Blasphemers’ Maledictions launches these Poles clear into the goddamn stratosphere, and positions itself effortlessly in a tight race with Mitochondrion and Nader Sadek for the most supremely twisted and ass-kicking death metal album of the year. With its rich golden cover art breaking the tradition of Azarath’s mostly crude black and white demonic depictions in order to give a blasphemous rendition of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, Blasphemers’ Maledictions is the kind of sophisticated turn from a veteran band that might just see the Sistine Chapel swallowed up in a crumbling of tectonic plates. Fire on the mountainside, a storm across the waters; praise the beast, indeed. If this uncompromisingly brilliant racket doesn’t set the same electricity flying through your body as the very first day you fell under the sway of the Riff and were born anew, you just might be lost to the cause of metal.

INFO : Azarath - Blasphemers' Maledictions    

Witching Hour Productions
Release Date: 6/29/2011


The official webhell : http://www.azarath.tcz.pl/
http://www.myspace.com/azarath666