Has it only been 3 years since ‘Kill’? Seems like so much longer ago I first spun my opening taste of Cannibal Corpse, and suffered severe facial melting. You see, ‘Kill’ was the culmination of all that made Cannibal Corpse awesome in the first place; speed, brutality, gore and, most importantly, genuine technical chops that showed they were anything but a one trick pony. So how exactly would you follow up such a momentously good album? ‘Evisceration Plague’ is your answer.
As with all good Cannibal albums, ‘Evisceration Plague’ opens with a throat wrenching scream from George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher as the blasting ‘Priests of Sodom’ hurtles out of the starting blocks. Fisher’s vocal performance appears to have picked up a little more clarity, which was a highlight of ‘Kill’ for me; it’s nice to see an attempt to make death metal lyrics actually understandable now and again. It also contains some nice vocal layering, adding to the intensity. Musically, I wasn’t a fan of the blasting to start with; it seemed to be a bit of blast autopilot, but once that chugging riff broke through, all was forgiven. It is the same feeling I got when listening to ‘Five Nails Through the Neck’ from ‘Kill’, that you were in the company of masters. There is more of the fluid soloing that ‘Kill’ brought to the fore, but it never detracts from the brutality.
The short sharp shock of ‘Scalding Hail’ is second, and is possibly the best track on the record, outside the title track. It’s the shortest song the band have written in a while, and the beating your ears receive is relentless. There is no slower section; there’s no space for it amongst the unrelenting growl of Fisher and the speedy blast. If you enjoyed ‘Make Them Suffer’ from ‘Kill’, this is going to be a favourite for you. In fact, the album as a whole presents an amalgamation of all the highlights of Cannibal Corpse’s career, compressed into Erik Rutan’s crisp production and spat out with murderous intent. ‘To Decompose’ opens with a solid chug and then tears off with a howling solo to be brought back down with that awesome opening riff. It then proceeds to destroy the world with a ground shaking breakdown, perfect for the headbang, and then that riff comes back in. It could fit in well on ‘Gallery of Suicide’, and the spiralling solos that punctuate ‘Carrion Sculpted Entity’ and ‘Unnatural’ are an excellent progression from ‘Kill’.
There is also a fair share of slower paced material, which exchange relentless pace for measured brutality. The ominous ‘A Cauldron of Hate’, and the deathly rumble of the title track are great examples of this. In fact ‘Evisceration Plague’ boasts the same type of swaying riff that I enjoyed in ‘Infinite Misery’ from ‘Kill’, it comes across as very Immolation-esque. But it is the faster paced material that is to the fore, and guitarists Pat O’Brien and Rob Barrett seem to have taken it upon themselves to solo the band into oblivion later on. Which of course is fine when it is sandwiched between some of the best death metal riffage this side of Morbid Angel. There is something truly savage about ‘Evidence in the Furnace’ when it fully takes off, and the aptly entitled ‘Carnivorous Swarm’ sounds, if you’ll pardon the pun, waspish in its intensity.
If you enjoyed ‘Kill’, you’ll like this. It is as simple as that. But don’t be suckered into thinking that this is merely ‘Kill’ part 2, or an outtakes from the recording of it, because Cannibal Corpse possess one of those rare traits in the death metal world: the ability to write consistently familiar sounding and yet totally unique records. Everyone who enjoys extreme music knows their sound, and most of us love them for it. They don’t need to change, and I hope they don’t, because they’ve just consistently got better. For me, it doesn’t quite beat ‘Kill’, that’s been one of my favourite death metal records ever, but it’s damn sure close. Yet another refined, brutal gem.
‘Forged by Fire’ was one of the first proper power metal albums I got into, after forages into Blind Guardian and Lost Horizon as an impressionable 18 year old. I was never really into stuff outside Iron Maiden and Iced Earth at that point, I prefered harder stuff but this seemed like a great combination. I’d heard ‘Tyranny’ on the Century Media website, and was very impressed.
The first thing thing that really struck me about it was it was a lot heavier than previous power metal I’d heard before. A lot of it seemed rather light in its riffs and presentation, but Firewind don’t seem to have this problem. Shredder Gus G has obviously learned much from his stint in Dream Evil, and he brings to the fore a solid melodic approach backed up by excellent lead riffing and lightning solos. He also proves capable of changing it up, with ‘Kill to Live’ opening with Zakk Wylde style harmonics before tearing off into an 80s Ozzy style riff and some great vocals, ‘Tyranny’ boasting some classic power metal riffing and catchy vocal hooks similar to bands like Hammerfall, and the epic ballad ‘Land of Eternity’, a more down tempo piece leaning towards the Scorpions rather than Dream Evil
Another appeal of Firewind is that they lack the traditional wheelbarrows full of cheese that most power metal bands deliver us. ‘Land of Eternity’ is a passionate ode to the homeland of vocalist Chitty Somapala, Sri Lanka and its troubles. ‘Tyranny’ and ‘Perished in Flames’ deal with oppression and the regime of the Nazis. I am a fan of some fantasy power metal subjects; I’ve always been partial to the Tolkien adventures of Blind Guardian, but there are times where I feel the genre offers the perfect background for more than dungeons and dragons. Firewind’s base in human responsibilities and inner strength provides a nice change.
Where the album reaches its peak is the tearing solo off instrumental ‘Feast of the Savages’, where Gus G matches off with Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) in a deft contest of riffs. Friedman puts together some impressive work, his oriental style scales near the end are particularly awesome, but Gus’s emotional soloing is more than a match. There is also some great faster tracks like ‘Escape from Tomorrow’ and ‘Perished in Flames’, and the hard rock ‘Hate World Hero’ shows how the band can provide versatility in their music.
‘Forged by Fire’ is a great melodic metal album that’ll appeal to most power metal fans, and the album is heavy enough to tempt in some more traditional metal fans. Gus G is a great guitarist, and is the main draw here; his shredding and soloing are top notch. But the band he assembled around this album back him up superbly, and while it may not break any new ground, it doesn’t really need to. Excellent.
Technical death metal can be a bit of a minefield to get into. Of course there are some fantastic bands out there, Spawn of Possession, Psycroptic, Cryptopsy and Quo Vadis, but it is a genre littered with bands that try to outdo everything written before them. Attempting to dazzle with ludicrously displays of guitar complexity and drumming technicality is fine but many forget the songs; a well written and ‘difficult’ album is nothing without something that is memorable enough to bring listeners back. But, the good thing about Anata is that they do this, without compromising any of them power or technical abilities. 2006’s The Conductor’s Departure is the latest in a lineage of quality tech death albums from these Swedish boys. Their previous works have been lauded as great examples of how tech death can be done right, and their latest is no different. At once, you can hear the maturity in the writing, the confidence with which the songs are performed and the huge level of riff writing ability exerted in each track. It combines straightforward blast, some great Gothenberg-style melodies and excellent technical riffing.
Opening track ‘Downward Spiral into Madness’ blasts out of the gates with some great duelling guitars, spiralling in and out of each other’s paths, pursuing different agendas and yet somehow combining harmoniously to create a raging opener. Further examples of such hyper-technicality crop up all throughout the records, from the barrelling ‘Complete Demise’ to the wonderful combination of brutality and melody that comprises ‘The Great Juggler’. One of Anata’s strong points is riding that line of brutality and melody, regularly blurring it to create mind bending combinations. Usually, the norm with such bands is to sacrifice one for the other, with the blast subverting any attempt at melody or the more tuneful leads taking away from the intensity. But not for Anata this compromise; they twist these elements to their own gain, creating hurricanes of melodic technical death without losing the heaviest elements. When will bands learn this method?
But the speed and technicality is not the only weapon in the Anata armoury. Brooding doom/death rumbles beneath ‘I Would Dream ofBlood’, reminding the listener of slower Morbid Angel (e.g. God of Emptiness), ‘Children’s Laughter’ is a short, instrumental passage that adds menace and the title track cooks up all the best elements of the band in an 8 minute, twisting labyrinth of a song. But the highlight is the third track, ‘Better Grieved Than Fooled’, where the entire middle 3 minutes is an instrumental section that allows the strength of the band’s music to breathe without the afterthought of lyrics and vocals. Not that the lyrics are passable, they fit the music well with anti-Christian and philosophical elements.
Overall ‘The Conductor’s Departure’ is a proper example of how to do technical death metal properly without becoming boring or overpowering in its technical attack. Anata have pulled off yet another groundbreaking album to add to their other three masterpieces. Must be difficult maintaining this pattern, let’s look forward to their next release, reportedly for 2009.
This is the best Sepultura album, period. Seems a strange way to start a review, surely I should explain my decision in a well thought out argument that tells you all just why exactly this is the case. But I have listened to this album countless times over the past years, and have never got bored of it. ‘Roots’ was more tribal, ‘Arise’ may have been the pinnacle of the band’s death metal period, and ‘Schizophrenia’ the under produced thrash gem, but it is ‘Beneath the Remains’ that welds those two styles together in a way that has scarcely ever been equalled since.
The title track opens the album with acoustic picking that is eerily reminiscent of Metallica’s ‘Call of Ktulu’, but then explodes into a hyper-speed explosion of thrash that barrels onwards at a hundred miles an hour. Max Cavalera gives the vocal performance of his career on this album, his rabid growl perfectly suited the raw, primitive feeling of the album. Second track ‘Inner Self’ slows the tempo but at no point loses the power of the opener. The drumming of Ivor Cavalera is strong, punishing and relentless in its pursuit of the riffing. This is a thrash album that rarely slows to draw breath before exploding off in another direction.
‘Stronger Than Hate’ is probably my favourite song on the album, with its lightning pace, hooky refrains and technical passages. It is a gem amongst gems, only bettering the others by pure personal choice. The palm muting frenzy of ‘Mass Hypnosis’ follows, with some great stop start sections and the most face meltingly good solo on the records. It is also obscenely catchy, something that should not necessarily occur with such brutal, relentless music but yet they have pulled it off. Almost every track has that element about it, not just the ‘oh this is Sepultura’ recognition but the ‘this is ‘Sarcastic Existence’ motherfuckers, let’s go mosh!’. It is an album where the riff is king, and you can take your pick to the best, but the opening burst of ‘Mass Hypnosis’ is mine, closely followed by the chorus of ‘Slave of Pain’.
Cavalera’s vocals and lyrics provides the perfect soundtrack to such apocalyptic sounding music. Be it war, death and destruction on the title track, anger and isolation, vengeance or death and pain, Max’s bark captures such themes with intensity and emotion it is hard not to get swept up along with him. His answer to coming destruction is to brave the degeneration of societal values by self trust and self empowerment, and preaches over some of the most self affirming metal ever written. It is an album whose poorer tracks, (Hungry, Lobotomy) still wipe the floor with 95% of all other thrash bands. By poor, I meant in comparison to the rest of the album, they are still of a very high quality.
Sepultura may have left this style behind, and Soulfly sure as hell haven’t written anything this good, but this is by far and away the best album the band have ever produced. It’s their ‘Master of Puppets’, their ‘Reign in Blood’, and deservedly should be spoken in the same breath as those as a classic thrash work.
Pelican are one of many instrumental metal bands I really enjoy. I find that post metal, such as these guys, Isis or Cult of Luna, very relaxing music. Due to the sparse lyrical content for the majority of it (or all in instrumental Pelican’s case), you can project your own thoughts or emotions onto it, and each song can become something rather personal for you. Early Pelican was a lot heavier than the post rock/post hardcore band they have evolved into, see latest release ‘City of Echoes’. They possessed a lot more doom and sludge influences, and their self titled, self released debut EP perfectly captures the essence of their earlier sound. It is nothing less than crushing at all times. The band understand that, to play this kind of repetitive, rumbling riff game, that every element of their sound must harmonise with each other to become that perfect whole, rather than becoming a dull trudge. The guitar tone is clear, but murky, thick and dark, matching perfectly with the rumble of the bass and solid, binding drums. No one part of the band is clearer than the others, to which I thank a good production because there is nothing worse than an instrumental album where one instrument is more prominent.
Opening track ‘Pulse’ sets the standard, a slow, rumbling thunder lurking behind dark clouds. A slow, repeating riff opens up with an underlying melodic lead, pushing onwards, upwards through the clouds, free of the low end, soaring away from the cymbal crashes that follow in its wake. Then the bass crashes in, dragging the song back down, towards the sludge but yet never damaging the melody. Pelican understand heaviness. They create it without compromising the power of melody. Isis understand this method as well, see their magnum opus ‘In the Absence of Truth’.
And all at once it stops, over too quickly but straight into the devastating ‘Mammoth’, its deceptively clean intro leading into the heaviest moment on the EP. It is like being trampled by a herd, a relentless doom barrage from which you gradually are released into yet more prime riffage and that leaves in a wail of feedback. The band retain this power all through the EP; although nothing touches the depths of ‘Mammoth’, the subtle melodies that permeate the thick curtain of ‘The Woods’ and the faster paced ‘Forecast for Today’ change things up a bit. Once the slow burn epic ‘The Woods’ builds itself from its doomy, sinister opening to an explosive finish, teased out by quieter passages and the gradual build that post metal bands are trademarked by, you are left quite exhilarated and exhausted.
The lack of vocals is key to this work. Pelican’s ability to amaze and enthrall you comes from their ability to give you a piece to project on. The soaring ‘ Pulse’ gave me images of birds flying up and away from howling winds, thunder and rain, pushing towards the sky. ‘Forecast for Today’ could almost be a trek up a mountain, where you near the top during the rumbling bass drums during the last two minutes and finally achieve the peak with 47 seconds to go and stare out into nothingness. These songs are all about the image, the idea, and yet without vocals they are unique to every man, woman and child who hears them.
Pelican’s other work is equally as stunning, but I recommend this to new fans as a shorter, prime example of their work. After this, try ‘Australasia’. An evocative, windswept masterpiece.
Retro thrash, the new boom genre in metal. Its never been cooler to put on denims, bullet belts and thrash like its 1985 all over again, but is there actually substance in all this, or is it merely another flash in the pan? Well Earache have the cream of the new thrash pack in Municipal Waste, Gama Bomb, Evile, SSS and Bonded by Blood. Each band combines the speed of Slayer, the technicality of early Metallica and the ballsy attack of Testament and Exodus. Earache have released a joint pack of four of their best thrash albums for a special £12.99 on Play.com, and it is a pack like this that may save the CD yet. I will review them all in time, but my current favourite in the selection is Citizen Brain, the second full length release from Irish thrashers Gama Bomb.
Citizen Brain contains all the best parts of this thrash revival; the speed, the catchy riffing, the humour and the classic lyrical content of war, politics, beer, zombies and of course, being a thrasher! Almost all of the tracks are under three minutes; you blast in, get riffed out of your brain and battered by awesome soloing then spat out, smile on your face and a desire for more. It’s party metal plain and simple, they clearly don’t take themselves too seriously and I think that is key to the album’s appeal. As much as I love the power of more progressive and serious thrash (…And Justice for All still stands tall as the pinnacle of thrash for me), there is always room for less serious bands in any genre (see Darkthrone in black metal and Cannabis Corpse in death metal).
Musically the band are tight, whipping speed metal riffs and hyperactive leads and coupling them with vocalist Philly Byrne’s mix of power metal scream and classic thrash bark. Mixed with a crisp production, all the instrumentation sound great. The songs are punctuated by some great gang chant moments that add to the memorable hooks that get lodged in your brain for days. The robot vocals in ‘Return to the Technodrome’ sounds totally 80s, and the emphasis in ‘Thrashoholic’ on excessive consumption of alcohol helps you understand the general influences on this band; beer, 80s and thrash. There is also the key track on these new wave of thrash album; the song dedicated to the power of thrash. Gama Bomb manage to fit in ‘Bullet Belt’, an ode to the classic 1986 era of thrash, and how they’re bringing it back. Well they may not match up with the quality of the material of ‘86 (Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood), they certainly retain the energy levels and enthusaism.
In regards to their peers, they don’t quite have quite the level of energy of Municipal Waste or the technicality of Evile, but they offer up a great mix of humour and quality riffing, melodic solos and perfect lyrical content. It is never going to be considered the most intelligent of albums, but with lyrical content about zombies, thrashing and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Technodrome, what do you expect? Also, a song about Streets of Rage with a Tetris theme-aping solo? It’s almost too ridiculous to believe, but check out ‘Final Fight’ and wonder if it could be your new favourite daft metal song! Enjoyably dumb, headbangingly awesome.