The fact that this band is composed by young men (nowadays at the age of 20 or so) has more or less hindered them from having a wider recognition in the past. Most people seemed not to take their efforts seriously. However, after the release of the Cemeterial Gardens  demo in 1997, it became clear that the band were playing more than just standard, faithful-to-the-roots Death Metal. Decapitated’s nowadays almost consecrated status slowly gained its firm roots with the release of yet another demo (The Eye Of Horus) in 1998 and their debut album Winds of Creation through Earache‚Wicked World in 2000.

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

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Oh dear… this is one those albums thats hard as hell to review but oh so fun to listen to… if that doesn’t abode well for Car Bomb (nice name by the way… kinda appropriate) i don’t know what will, so Car Bomb is what i would call a Mathcore band, following the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Psyopus… so lets have a look see.

It all starts off with a bit of a bang with “Pieces of You”, you kinda get a picture right away of what this is all about, the music is a bit more cut and paste than The Dillinger Escape Plan, i mean they have smoother transitions, unlike Car Bomb were most of the time you see cuts between segments in the music, its not too bad cause the segments are pretty rockin, but still … cut and paste, “Gum Under The Table” comes next and a kind of fused death fuzzed metal groove going on into a electronic passage into a hardcorish kind of breakdown… and then… might i say a Meshuggah big wall of sound break… humm very nice.

Well i wont bore everyone by examining every track, suffice to say all of them seem and sound very fresh, they all follow this constant cutting and are very much founded into a more hardcore and harsh foundation, but again with loads of different stuff going around, maybe the most notable track for me is the very awkward “Best Intentions”, the rest is kind of a blazing blur of blasting and jazzing.

So… ok… is it good? txaaaa, i don’t know, like i said above this kind of music is difficult to give it a heads up or down, these boys have skill, but i do understand why a lot of people might not like it, its a bit too cut up, they barely capitalize on good grooves, i guess they seem to be in too much of a hurry to play something else, so yeah if you like weird technical metal maybe Car Bomb is just the right fit.

Official Site Car Bomb (great domain by the way)

Car Bomb – M^6
Car Bomb – His Eyes

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Oh Jesus… Behemoth has a new album, for anyone that weren’t paying attention Behemoth’s last album “Demigod” was actually the first review on Soundcult, so it’s my pleasure to again grace myself in the presence of awesomeness … heheh maybe yes, maybe no, there are big shoes to fill after “Demigod”, again it seems we are in the irreligious theme, so let’s see how good is “The Apostasy”.

Txx with “Rome 64 C.E.” it starts pretty slow, nonetheless it’s a nice march like intro, good build up to the next track “Slaying the Prophets Ov Isa” oh and this one even hurts me… damn this blasting and eerie guitar riffs, the vocals are better now, not so much distorted… its fast crushing and groovy, its a blast, the… chorus is kinda a slow down growling with gregorian vocals in the back, awesome… and then it all goes mind fuck with a solo guitar and crushing till the end…. what can i say… “Prometherion” starts again with a blast, it works and feels very much as the second part of “Slaying the Prophets Ov Isa”, it all feels very epic and brutal, nice, “At the Left Hand ov God” brings back a bit of that Middle Eastern vibe from the intro track, to build up to a slower shout blast, the slower pace just gives it more aggression and still it seems like a over-the-top requiem, very into the vibe of the album, awesome riffs.

“Kriegsphilosophie” brings it all back, blasting and growling at blazing speeds, half way through it goes into a change of speed and into a blasting/guitar combo, very nice to follow the guitar solo, all keeping it tight and fast, amazing, “Be without Fear” starts almost as a old school fear factory blast… that is until it changes tune to a more blasting growing, the difference is abysmal, extremely groovy and heavy as shit, it has a bit of a hardcore feel to it, not so much growling more shouting, nevertheless again a great track, “Arcana Hereticae” again blasting from hell, damn if its not well played out, not a moment of pause or monotonous movements, its all fucking tight and to the point, eerie as hell solos, makes a pause about 2/3 in… damn if it doesnt go into a groovy blast/guitar loop/guitar solo… sooo good

“Inner Sanctum” is next, with some blasting and sound off voice from guest vocal Warrel Dane from Nevermore (i checked…), it’s good, although somewhat toned down track, with piano, acoustic guitar and voice off, that is until half way they turn the guitars into groove metal mode and just kick it up, what can i say, again a fucking great track, catchy as hell, “Libertherme” start with the first electronical stuff i heard… and it doesn’t sound that bad, it helps build a slower more groovy track, not so much blasting, driving to a bunch of guitar solos through the track, still groovy, but i think it’s my least favorite, “Pazuzu” starts again with that march vibe, into full out blasting/growling/singing chorus, into full blasting growling, nice, it feels its just building up to the last track “Christgrinding Avenue”, were the all out blasting/guitar solo starts up, that grows into a groovy blast growl thing, that slows down into another groove from hell… dying out… what can i say epic flavored shit in 3 minutes… damn thats awesome.

I kinda see Behemoth as a band that re-invented themselfs into a technical death metal band from a black metal background, and that gave them that extra edge to not go overboard with the death metal, i think most death metal bands dont balance it very well, it tends to drag, to not have a point, when it should be brutal and deviant, and that’s … i guess its Behemoth’s formula, well this is a kick ass album, my congrats, incredibly atmospheric, the drumming and guitar and vocals, all excellent, pretty good production values and ohhh and i loved it… that should be enough, again…Behemoth, go fucking get the fucking album muahahah.

Official Site Behemoth.pl

Behemoth – Prometherion
Behemoth – Inner Sanctum

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From sea huntin to mountain tracking, what can i say, new album from Mastodon, incase you don’t know Mastodon, let me tell you, the name fits the music, their sound is like the prehistoric mammoth like animal, you know, big and hairy, scary tusks, well they play a kind of Technical Heavy Metal band, that mix loads of different genres and styles, from Progressive Rock/Metal to Thrash Metal, from Hardcore to Power Metal, from Sludge Metal to Southern Rock, with memorizing odd ball jazz like drumming (their best feature in a long list of excellent features) and complex heavy guitar riffing, so a new album is here “Blood Mountain”, I’m wondering how it will fare against their critically acclaimed (including myself) last album “Leviathan”.

Gee, like with a couple of other bands, it’s difficult to talk about every single track, since they are so diverse. but I’ll give a go, “The Wolf is Loose” starts things off, and actually sounds a bit like a track from their last album, fast paced thrashing, really catchy, yeah i should note that most Mastodon tracks are above all else really catchy, not because of lyrics or chorus, but because of the drumming and riffage, now back on track with “Crystal Skull”, now this is a bit different, but again very close to the sound of Leviathan, with that freaky astounding drumming from hell and the groovy guitar work, “Sleeping Giant” is something new, again a Mastodon like delivery, slow paced track beautifully carved from progressive metal, eerie…

“Capillarian Crest” is like a mix and mash of genres, never letting down always throwing new stuff in, always in that neat Mastodon technical package, mind blowing track, “Circle of Cysquatch” brings us back to more heavy stuff, drumming going all over the place and a really hookie riffage and a hardcore finisher, just bring it home, “Bladecatcher” is a pure instrumental track and it doesn’t fail, funky as shit, “Colony of Birchmen” is slower paced, with a freaky chorus, even though in parts sounds like a mixture between power metal and progressive rock, it’s actually again a very enticing track.

“Hunters of the Sky” is one of those “experimental groove” tracks, chorus is catchy as hell, “Hand of Stone” is an already a classical Mastodon delivery with loads of different things popping up everywhere “This Mortal Soil” has a bit of an intro into a what i can only describe as some kind of progressive rock, kinda weird, “Siberian Divide” continues with this end of the album eerie feeling, just now with a bit more bite, “Pendelous Skin” is the last track and again a instrumental, completely the opposite from the first one, this one sounds like the sound of the air rushing through the mountains, building up to a music resembling some distorted Soundgarden track, very eerie, sounds like the guy climbing the mountain got himself screwed or eaten by bears.

Mastodon is Mastodon, and as one can expect they delivered, changing to a major label doesn’t seem to affect them too much, also i might point that again like in the album “Leviathan”, “Blood Mountain” is a concept piece, with a back story, and therefore it all makes even more sense, great album, even better delivery, if you like good, strange, hard music, you have a obligation to check this out.

Official Site Mastodonrocks

Mastodon – The Wolf is Loose
Mastodon – Capillarian Crest
Mastodon – Colony of Birchmen

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Abelcain’s The Garden EP is a nice piece of industrial/metal inspired breakcore which has a certain goth/horror movie feel that sets it apart from other works in the genre. As such, it has a permanent mist of darkness which helps to contextualize the *cough* poetic vocal snippets that Abelcain sprinkles over his characteristic sound.

I would say the first song immediately demonstrates the rythmical intricacy of this album. The Garden starts with some soft legato strings followed by meticulously sequenced mid-paced breaks that quickly mutate into some evil distorted breakcore. After a brief pause, it picks up again with a grumpy bassline accompanied by some cutup distorted percussion. The music then proceeds into a few minutes of breakcore iterations (woohoo!), ending with the sound of cellos, which provides for a pleasent transition into Black Bone Orchid.

This second song begins with a really nice (albeit sad?) intro, performed by the string section, to which is added some slow breaks. After a while, the mood of the music kinda changes as a playful violin enters the party. Then, as always, the song swiftly changes again into jungle/breakcore mode with the addition of a wobbly distorted bass and some seriously mashed-up breaks.

The third “song” is quite amusing actually. Uhm.. I think i would classify Bitter Moon Blossom as a mixture of cut-up metal meets breakcore until halfway through, then proceeds into some creepy ambience and finishes off with some gabber mindfuck action.

This album wraps up with Danse Macabre. This song starts off with some subtle strings followed by a few bars of mid-paced breaks (which kinda remind me of Bogdan Raczynski and Datach’i). Then it takes a turn towards a more rude drum arrangement, as the string instruments increase in tension. The “trademark” of this song are the hyperactive harpsichord/clavichord staccato ramblings, masterfully interweaved with some seriously mashed-up breakcore action.

Abelcain – Bitter Moon Blossom

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Guess what?! The time has come to speak about one of the best kept secrets in death metal.
Yes, I’m talking about Dim Mak. Dim who? Mak. No, not the Chinese Death Touch. I mean… yes and no.

Let’s see. You know Morbid Angel right? So you must know Erik Rutan. Erik Rutan left Ripping Corpse to join Morbid Angel. Later he left Morbid Angel and assumed full-time Hate Eternal [he's side-project at the time]. So what happened to Ripping Corpse? The guys formed Dim Mak. Named after the Chinese Death Touch, this tech death metal band has as a lyrical theme martial arts and stuff. I know it sounds weird. Forget about that. Dim Mak rocks.

“Knives of Ice” is their third album. And shit, they are better then ever. If you know Hate Eternal [check out Soundcult's review] you’ll love this motherfucker.
By the way… Do you know Origin? [check out Soundcult's review] Well, John Longstreth from Origin joined forces with Dim Mak and hell yeah he thrashed that drum kit.

This is the most Hate Eternal’ish record of Dim Mak. Erik Rutan and the guys in Dim Mak have some elements in common, like some kind of riffs and the solos are pretty similar – you know that slow harmonies stuff.

I’m am not going to do a one-by-one review on this one. Consider this an informal review.
The album follows pretty much the same vein I described anyway. Expect killer riffs, amazing oriental melody hooks and shit.

I consider this Dim Mak album to be in level with the Hate Eternal ones. Do I need to say more? I can only imagine what this guys would sound with Erik in the band. Fuck yeah.
Check out “Intercepting Fist” and “Enter The Dragon” too, if you dig this album.

Dim Mak – Seeing Crows in Silver
Dim Mak – Incident at the Temple at Leng

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