Obzen, is a shambled of an album … its not a “this doesn’t make sense” in a good way, its a “what the hell were they thinking”, i always expect new stuff or weird stuff from them, very little is ever normal and as such i find it very refreshing and enticing, but even in all the madness there was always something coherent, something that made sense, they were like Matryoshka Dolls, were each layer was different but it all fitted perfectly and therefore it made sense… now this “album” (if i should call it that) is like me getting tracks from their different albums and making a best of, sure there would be great tracks but it would all sound like shit together.

Well, I wont be talking a great deal about each track, no point really, the first 2 tracks, “Combustion” and “Electric Red” have nothing in common with the rest of the album, they sound like refreshed thrash metal, while “Bleed” (the single by the way… remember what i said about the 10000 Days single…) has nothing to with the rest of the album, its a mind blowing track with Tomas Haake doing a freakish double bass drum work that makes me lack the words to described it, it all sounds like white sound from a television… i would buy the album just for that track … but this inconsistencies go further, also the over abuse of “commercial” sounding ruses like slowing down or stopping a song to build it up again… cause i counted… they used it 7 times (that i noticed) almost in every single track, you know at some point that they will pause for some micro shitty interlude, I’ve got no problem with that, but it has to make sense… but overusing it is like Linkin Park making micro intros for every single shitty track they put out (sorry just went and saw one of their live shows and they sucked a bit).

“Lethargica” is next and the name fits the song, its kinda an OK track, with no big highlights it kinda drags on, now the title track “Obzen” is another beast, much more innovative and a bit of a headbanger with a more stop-goish groove going on with loads of highlights… “This Spiteful Snake” is an intricate groovy track, but still lacking, it doesn’t seem to go anywhere and ultimately it just feels self indulgent (trying to fit every single thing into it), “Pineal Gland Optics” we get a straight back to back speedier groove, again great quality and musicianship but with nothing else to add, “Pravus” is pushing again the silliness, its interesting, but not that audible, its a mishmash of musical techniques than music, we finish with “Dancers To A Discordant System”, that starts pretty mind blowing heavy and groovy (why didn’t they do this on some of the other tracks is beyond me), but then it gets into a certain pattern and although pretty good, it wasn’t nothing to call back home.

I know, maybe i expect too much, but like every Meshuggah album it takes a certain amount of time to really start understanding the music or a album, so i took that time, but after the 100th listen, these things still bug me like hell, i was expecting a lot of different things, i was expecting “Bleed”, but no, i get this best of (when their EP I, was the right way to do a Best Of) and then you join things like the freakishly moronic cover art that looks shitty and reminds me of the endogenous Marilyn Manson of Mechanical Animals, were at least he went over the top with it (in a good way), while with Meshuggah its just silly.

Ahh i wont drag this too long, they said in a interview that this was the first time they really had the time to make a album, and not be in a hurry, well then i hope for the next one, they’ll have to make it over a weekend, for sure we would get a masterpiece, this is above all a disappointment and will rarely fit my Meshuggah everyday playlist, don’t get me wrong, all this ranting should be taken with a touch of salt, the production is pretty much on the mark, and there are some really cool tracks (”Bleed” is Beyond Awesome), but i do expect a lot from this band, and I’m sorry to say but this time it feels, they over promised and under delivered, and that to me is a shame.

Official Site Meshuggah.net | Myspace Meshuggah | Vidcult Bleed Video

Meshuggah - Bleed

Now to Life, the first real contact I have had with INHUMATE (at long last). It took three or four years for the band to release something ‘new’ since the Growth album – in the meantime, they have been rather busy playing tens of shows all around Europe and releasing numerous split tapes, split EPs, compilations, etc. Back in 1996, INHUMATE set themselves for the development of a conceptual series of albums – an heptalogy based on the concept of Life and the Abolition of Time (how is that for a change?…). It all started in ’97 under the moniker Internal Life. This first part deals with a preoccupation with presenting an illustration of the antenatal life. Ex-Pulsion represents the moment of the birth, whereas Growth does not need much explanation. The present album Life is the middle album and attempts at portraying the maturity of a life form (perhaps of INHUMATE too). The future albums are the development of the heptalogy and should be titled The Fifth Season, Expulsed and External Life. According to the band, this last step ends life on Earth of all men and opens Mankind to infinity. Does it mean it will bring INHUMATE to an end too? We hope not.

I have been hearing all these good things about INHUMATE for the past years, but now I see they were founded. These French goresters appear to have developed their music to a different level – most songs are actually quite enticing, With many movement-impelling rhythms, grinding guitars and the occasional blast drums. And what is the more, the recording is not the kind of Underground thing which does not allow one to understand the instruments separately. Life was recorded, mixed & mastered at Down Town Studio and no vocal effects were used.

Apparently, INHUMATE keep up the tradition of three-second-long tracks in I Want to Kill Some… (Part IV). Let me guess what the three previous editions of the episode sound like… Favorite tracks are For Lust, N.D.S. (brilliant!), No Answer and A Trip. But INHUMATE do break with tradition in one aspect: Life features no sample of any kind – which is a fresh breeze on the scene, huh?

The Life/ Live feeling is very much present in the booklet’s artwork, which features tons of pictures of the band live, fliers and the likes of. Those who still have not seen INHUMATE live (like myself) may be curious to see/ hear the band live on stage. INHUMATE thought about it too, and as a result they included a number of live tracks. I was not at all disappointed by the tracks, though I must admit to finding it slightly awkward to hear such a violent band speaking French at intervals, haha. Somehow it does not seem to fit. Fortunately, you don’t get to understand that the lyrics to N.D.S. are written in French. Mean me.

By A Trip, I thought these guys sounded a bit like SIX FEET UNDER, but N.D.S. brought a distinct HATE ETERNAL feel to the music. None of these bands happen to be Grind, so it is not really an indicated way to give you a general overview on the music, is it? The best solution is quite simple actually: visit the band’s website siteinhumate.com and download songs and videos – then you will get to know INHUMATE. Or buy the fucking album!

Official Site Siteinhumate.com | Myspace Inhumate

Inhumate - Blasted

«Intense» is a good word to describe the album (although not quite as intense as they would have it), characteristically American in nature (and for once I mean this in a positive sense): technical, brutal and grunted through and through. Drums are good, guitars are now and then hypnotizing, and the songs sound well thought-out. There are breaks, dragged rhythms of chaos, but mostly Death Metal violence. For fans of DISGORGE, IMMOLATION, DISAVOWED or DYING FETUS.

Conceptually, DEBODIFIED are heavily war-inspired, and the cover artwork (by Jon Zig) reflects the album title – my view of Utopia in the eyes of a beast can also be illustrated by the war panzers, helicopters and related warfare, dictating the onslaught and mutilated, maimed and burning human corpses. The everlasting struggle against the Human scum – innocent or not. Or maybe the Beast is none other than the very person who holds a speech at the beginning of Terminated with Prejudice – Mr Adolf “Swine” Hitler.

Recorded October 2002 at the Soundlab Studio, produced by DEBODIFIED and engineered by Joey Rhyme, Utopia… features Jay Barnes (of LUST OF DECAY) on backing vocals (Instinct for Malevolence).

But I might as well have conjugated the verbs in the Past Tense – you see, DEBODIFIED was disbanded two months after the release of Utopia in the Eyes of a Beast, due to turmoil within the band. This is the band’s legacy. And it is a killer.

Myspace Debodified

Conceived and bred by the malignant mind of Jason Suecof (CAPHARNAUM), CROTCHDUSTER come up with a rare set of songs, also spasm-inducing for the weak-minded, as well as for the less attentive ones. The first song, True Nature of Williams, is an amalgamate of completely different sounds, and the parodying intention is immediately noticeable. The target is, of course, bands and songs of all genres, be it metal, pop or whatever. The moment I heard the first few seconds, I immediately wondered whether the right CD was in my stereo, and yes, it was. Even though CROTCHDUSTER did not at all seem like a band given to slow music, pop or semi-pop, that is exactly what you get from the first song. Add a unique impression of Holy Wars (MEGADETH), early SEPULTURA and BEE GEES with a Mask-like soundtrack, and your next step is Big Top Williams. It is inevitable to get into the spirit of the song and the band. Once there, there is no way in hell you can stop listening to Big Fat Box of Shit.

The most significant and perhaps the most representative song of the band is undoubtedly Mammal Sauce, a hilarious hymn to a substance who ingredients only Bill Williams (band member) and people from another dimension seem to know. The upsurge of Chinese diarrhea, in a THERION-like environment, followed by really squeaky and miserably frustrated power metal-like vocals carry on the concept behind Big Fat Box of Shit: to mock uncontrollably. Fornicus “Fuckmouth” McFlappy and Slippery Jim are supervised by their faithful producer and composer, a dog by the name of Cain, who may have been part of the inspiration for the Cher-like vocal effects. In all fairness, the vocals are just great and extremely versatile, regardless of genre. Now picture Barney – that mythical Simpsons character, singing the chorus a la Cher. The Mike Patton/ MR. BUNGLE influence stands out rather prominently, so if you are into both, you will probably also appreciate CROTCHDUSTER. And in the band’s own words: If you don’t like Mammal Sauce, you might as well be gay!

The image department also reflects the parody, and we are given certain Beavis & Butthead-like characters under an Africanised perspective, as well as some other hallucinogen-induced creatures. The booklet includes lyrics, product of a brilliant evil mind, centered on the spiritual, carnal and sensual world of Williamburgsland.

An album to watch out for, for the straight-forwardness and daring spirit, one of those truly unexpected moments which leave a sour taste in your mouth when a growl and grunt session is expected and, instead, we get to hear weird versions of some crazy old metal classics followed by BEE GEES or BLUR-inspired music and other related squeaks. Even though this may not be the usual 24/ 7 type of album, you might as well become severely addicted, for this is simultaneously one of the most original, uncompromised, satirical, competent and audible albums I have had the pleasure of listening to over the last few years. Ad as if all of the above were not enough, the album features special guests Richard Christy, James Murphy and John Tardy.

Big Fat Box of Shit finishes off with the band members reading aloud some hate mail and providing the writers with hilarious replies (Cain’s reply is naturally verbalized by fellow band members). Towards the end, we are also told of the latest Black Metal band, Hellspawned Warhammer of the Nordic Wind. Do not miss this album – buy it now!

Myspace Crotchduster | Encyclopaedia Metallum Crotchduster

So the album starts with the title track “Bleed The Fifth”, were you get a pretty tight death metal track with tight blasting and a kind of over simplistic guitar work (ahh what do you expect from Dino) and pretty much metalish vocals, still hard hitting and very by the book type of metal, hehehe im complaining just a bit, but overall it is still a pretty catching track, then we get the single “Failed Creation” were you get again a by the book hardcorish melodic death metal track, its ok but in comparison to the rest of the album its a bit too radio friendly and the chorus seems completely out of place like “… play death play death play … ohhh lets stop everything its time for the clean vocal chorus … play death play death play …”, still its not bad, its just not that great, then we get “This Threat Is Real” were you get like a 2 part thrash setup, that is until you enter into the “screaming tech metal part” that is actually pretty kick ass very groovy blasting, “Impossible Is Nothing” seems and feels more like Fear Factory, with tight drumming and guitar combo, ahhh how i missed it, then it goes more into death metal groove, still even when its not excellent its refreshing in their hit on this genre mix, that is until we get into the melodic part… i would cut that… its pretty awful, skip skip.

“Savior Self” ohhh snap hehe tech metal, awesome awesome, blasting away, then it goes into deathcore genre… until again… ahhh the painful melodic part, and then a OH MY FREAKIN HELL a “Body Hammer” hint damn… thats sweet (if you don’t know what i mean… fuck you hehehe) and thats all i have to say, “Rise Of The Scorned” starts out a bit like a melodic interlude, ahh the fuckers attached it to the begging of the song, noo it kind melds pretty well to the death metal track that blasts of screaming away, the rest is ok, i guess more into the metalcore, it ends pretty well merging with the beginning of the track, next up is “False Gospel” with a bit more deathcore meets metalcore with a much better groovy chorus with some in between licks from Dino’s guitar (i complain i know, but i like is over simplistic playing style), next is “Soul Decoded (Now And Forever)” ohh doesn’t that sound like a Fear Factory track name?, and wouldn’t you figure, it kinda sounds tech metalish, muahahah great and even better is the absence of Burton “everytime i get to a chorus i hit the sissy distortion mode” Bell, we even get a bit of a stop-go groovness, fuck it, its not awesome, but its pretty good, “Royal Blood Heresy” ohh a bit more tech metal, still pretty fucking groovy stuff, we even get a strange melodic blasting part that its actually not so bad, good job, then the album finishes up with “Closure” that although sounds like trademark Dino melodic stuff, the guy singing sounds a bit too Nickelback for my frail heart and so i pretend i didn’t listen to it.

Ahhh finished, so what would i expect from a band made of a tech/industrial metal guitar player, a death metal drummer and a hardcorish melodic metal singer… well exactly what i heard, it all seems so divided and broken apart, both trough the album and in the songs, its not a coherent sound in all aspects, its a broken down mess of different genres, hell just listen to the first and last track, its frightening, but in the end what did i think of this album?

In a perfect world Fear Factory wouldn’t have pseudo disbanded and wouldn’t be playing the fucking sissy contrived music they are playing now, hummm? did i called it music? i meant to say playing around with their instruments, but well enough about fear factory, what about divine heresy, well its a new band and as such its normal for the sound to be a work in progress, ill give them that, as well the fact that the bass player didn’t play a part working on this album, that and the fact that in the end this is a pretty nice album, makes me hope for a brighter future for Divine Heresy and as such i recommend everyone to at least give it a listen, hehehe.

Myspace Divine Heresy | Video for Failed Creation

Divine Heresy - Failed Creation
Divine Heresy - Savior Self

Humm we start things off with “Rebirth Of The Nemesis” and it starts off pretty well i do feell its black metal with the garish voice and slowburn, but this is one groovy track, combining blasting and more groove oriented passages with some pretty impressive guitar and drumming work, very fresh approach… finishing it up with a very black metalish with a all male chorus, great show, “Ladders To Sumeria” hummm i don’t know … starts off like humm dont know… pretty simple i guess… then onto black metal bashing, again with clean vocal chorus, it reminds me of the kind of ethnical trickery that SOAD does pretty well (even though sometimes to excess), but it does bring some fresheness to this weird track, sounds something between hardcore/metalcore and black metal, still a solid entertaining track, “Deluge Of Delusional Dreams” ok… maybe its me but another strange start… maybe im expecting black metal and getting something different, we get strange funky riffing that goes into a metalcorish groove, ok… its cool, then the black metal comes in, with the vocal and double bass and riffing, with again some clean vocal chorus, about 2/3 way it changes into something else… kinda another groove guitar blast combo, entirely more ethical riffing, well well although already pretty formolaic, still its a pretty good listening until now, above all else it has a lot of groove.

“Touching The Spheres Of Sephiroth” starts off diferently, much more by the book black metal, well and it goes all the way through, humm a much diferent beast than before, much more focused, “Gyroscope” starts with some guitar work, then bass, then into a cool almost etchnical riff, then drumming and now a fool blown ethnical riff, humm its pretty nice, it feels black metal but not quite there, pretty cool track, “Double Helixed Sceptre” again a slow start, then a more electric riff to a blast beat and … damn some weird riff drum combo…. that brings to the black metal, and again the weird riff drum combo, this is one hell of a track and we haven’t got half way, very original, humm with voice it slows down a bit… and again back to black metal and the clean vocal chorus, and about 2/3 it goes into full blow black metal again… humm very interesting track, “The Scribes Of Kur” is a clean middle eastern instruments interlude, “Leper Jerusalem” is going again a bit into the Metalcore/Hardcore camp, then if slows down into a groove and its pretty much that, still a solid tune.

“Sand Grain Universe” is a much speedier track, still into the same black metal groove, just speedier, i kinda like it a bit better than the normal… slower kinda hehehe… and this track does it credit, loads of blasting and etchnical riffing with some slower tempos to enphasise on the higher speed, nice balance and again nice groove, “Emissaries And The Mysterium Magnum” starts of into a bass guitar combo, then into a blasting riffing and a toolish muffered vocals in the background kind of thing, this all stops with the vocals into a cutted riffing style, pretty cool, still this track has a weird tempo, with a pretty sweet guitar solo (especially because if fits into the mood) and then finally it ends with the… kinda obvious ethnically infused instrumental only “Extemporized Ophtalmic Release”.

Someone said it was kinda like Nile, humm dont know about that, sure there is a over enthusiasm with the themes and the ethnical instruments, and that kinda drags it a bit down… i think a band never wants to be fixed into a planet, when they should be aiming for the universe… but oh well, to each its own, and dont get me wrong, this wasnt the first listen but i did went in thinking it was black metal/death metal kinda of a Nile thing, and it sure isnt, they are 2 diferent beasts, and although i do like Nile, seems Melechesh will have a place there as well, if not because of the grooviness and little tidbits everywhere of musicianship and originality that i do enjoy ever so much ^_^

Official Site Melechesh | Video for Genies, Sorcerers and Mesopotamian Nights

Melechesh - Rebirth Of The Nemesis

“Clenching The Fists Of Dissent” starts if off, and i’m impressed, solid thrash, it kind drags a bit on with 10min and it has a slowish middle… but i kinda get it, sort of “lets just make a freaking kick ass first track”… hell its long because it has a bit of everything, from slow burning trash, speed blasting, some Hatebreed public shouting, short burst guitar solos, hell even time to go for a clean vocal section nearing the end, breakdown head-banging end i mean… sweet ride, “Beautiful Mourning” starts pretty well, shouting and here we go, a bit of thrashing and then we get to some heavy rifting with slow singing, then we get a sweetish chorus with some blasting, ok… not so bad… sounds a bit swedish, but not in a “LETS STOP EVERYTHING AND SING LIKE A GIRL MOMENT”, plenty of hardcore breaks and again a smallish guitar solo, and thats pretty much it, again another pretty catchy track, moving on to “Aesthetics Of Hate” starts off pretty well with pure thrash, with a very big solo… all building up to a clean vocal and pretty old school breakdown… again great, now we get “Now I Lay Thee Down” humm a bit more metalcore i guess.. with clean vocal even trough the chorus, still pretty catchy and it kinda seems to be the softest until now, some guitar solos and it gets a bit heavier to the end… humm its ok.

“Slanderous” is a bit of the same with some groovy drum/guitar work to build up, but again more metalcore, some breakish moments, some guitar solos, ends with a clean vocal buildup to… a bit heavier chorus, ahhh its getting kinda formulaic, “Halo” gets us a groovy blast guitar squeal break moving trough the track, that drive us to (probably) the catchiest chorus yet, pretty sweet clean vocal/guitar work… driving again to the groovy riff, midway we get a sort of breakdown to the guitar solos and even these seem to fit well with the rest of the track and to finish it off … yeah you guessed it… again clean vocal to build up to the chorus, its great don’t get me wrong, pretty sweet, but still more than predictable… a hell yeah for this track, “Wolves” starts off like hardcore should, but then goes into metalcore mode again, and then back to more hardcorish riffs, humm it gets better as we move along, we get midway another characteristic break that then merges with the rest of the track, then we get back into thrash, guitar solo and then back to chorus for the end, and that bring us to the last track “A Farewell To Arms” were we get a slow burning guitar/vocal build to the hardcorish slow burn riffing, then again a clean vocal chorus… still catchy, after the second chorus you get the guitar solos, then we speed along to thrash and eventually it dies out… pretty solid end track.

So what did i think of “The Blackening”? well it seems the expression “time heals all”, does have a use heheheh, Machine Head did a fine album, its not groundbreaking, its a bit formulaic (kinda has always the same song structure and it kinda always revolves around thrash/hardcore/swedish melodic metal), it lacks consistency (starts heavy with loads of thrash and ends more near to metalcore), but in the end, its a pretty slick album, even the not so good tracks are solid and there are some very groovy and heavy tracks throughout, so… if you were a fan of Machine Head or you want to listen to some modern thrash, then give this one a go.

Official Site Machinehead1 | Vidcult Video Now I Lay Thee Down

Machine Head - Aesthetics Of Hate

Nihility is the second opus created by this four-member act. I believe all the expectation around the album is more than justifiable. They benefited greatly from the fact that they attend a music school, and as a proof, you have flawless, technical Death Metal at your availability, from the guitars to the drums.

Some obvious comparisons to Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel must be established, but it is not at all some sort of copy or plagiarism. It is only a proof that their sources of inspiration are very good. Decapitated also have their very own sense of mature morbidness and there does not lack the hypnotic riffing, allied to a very heavy production.

In a total playing time of 35:07 minutes, their 8 tracks are a sample of genuinely well played technical, inventive and progressive Brutal Death Metal. Favourite tracks are Mother War, Nihility (Anti-Human Manifesto) and Spheres of Madness. In Nihility you can actually feel Armageddon is coming nearer, in pieces, accompanied by gradual threats of annihilation. In Spheres O Madness (a slower-tempo song) you just go berzerk with the intro. The other tracks are Perfect Dehumanisation (The Answer), Eternity Too Short, Names, Babylon’s Pride and Symmetry Of Zero.

The more I listen to the album, the more addicting it becomes. All in all, it is a very refreshing release as it comes to well-played Death Metal. The fact that the musicians attend music schools does not prevent the true feeling from being there as, alas!, so often happens with (virtuoso) musicians.

Amongst so many Death Metal bands that arose after Vader, Decapitated seem to be THE honourable successors to Poland’s (maybe even Europe’s) Death Metal throne. You should be on your knees, begging for an opportunity to see them live. Well I have and am certainly awaiting future concerts!

Official Site Decapitatedband.net | Myspace Decapitated

Note from the Editor: The band had a van accident while touring in russia and Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka the drummer of the band, and one of the best kick ass drummers i have ever listen has died, if you want to help his and other bandmates families you can do so by going here, thank you… you will be missed… now freakin enjoy his awesome work on Spheres of Madness

Decapitated - Spheres Of Madness

Sacrifice for Satan begins with a Latin invocation (Gloria Causa Satani) and the full black and white layout adds to the atmosphere, bearing in mind the fact that the pictures include corpsepaint. Recorded at Cyber Studios, Poland, during January 2004, the result is an amalgamate of obscure melodies with hypnotizing rhythms, not necessarily raw and with the addition of a significant amount of atmospheric passages. All things considered, even though Besatt do not score on the originality or innovation department, they sum up rather nicely the trademark features of obscurer Black Metal.

The promo package includes a multimedia section where, amongst others, we are given the opportunity to watch a videoclip to the song Kingdom of Hatred, illustrating Death and Hatred towards Christian ideology and belief by means of the widely used concept of Christ carrying the cross. This Christ figure is, however, quite peculiar, for he does have a beer belly. And so is the image of Death, the Grim Reaper, with a nice goatee. Oh the sweet scent of modernity…

Official Site Besatt

Besatt - Time For Gathering

Humm the album starts with a small intro “Exordium” nice and slow building up for “Vanish Away” one thing is for sure, blasting and growling is what you get, cant say that this isn’t pretty tight, there is enough variation and musicianship, but it all seems like a generic track for this kind of music, “Final Warning” is different, at least that… (I’m kinda afraid cause there is a tendency for repetition…), pretty headbanging music… very thrashy Slayer like feel to it… just the vocals … they seem to be the least engaging part of the track for me, “That’s Why I Despise You” is a little more of the same, what starts to be a trend is the overwhelming speed… all the tracks seem to be in a hurry.

“The Fraud” humm well i might say its a bit of the same, “Into The Arms Of Misery” is again more of the same, i guess ill skip to some highlights of the rest of the album, “Contraddictions” is a pretty tight tune… probably one of my favorites, really sweet guitar work also “Retain The Scars” is quite brutal… again great guitar/drum work, hell seems the best is really towards the end.

Humm thrash… well i can say that Dew-Scented don’t take anything out, they actually put a lot in, but in my opinion, not enough to escape the too generic clause, its like going to a drive in cinema… its good clean fun, but if you go to a fucking IMAX with digital picture, digital sound that will melt your brain… yeah thats way more bang for the buck, so i guess is you like it raw with all the gritty messy brutal thrash… then what are you waiting for?

Official Site Dew-Scented

Dew-Scented - That’s Why I Despise You