New Heavy Metal Album Reviews: April 1, 2014
){kind=link}
Human Cull - 'Stillborn Nation' (Wooaargh)
Genre: Grindcore
After several EPs and a couple splits, British grinders Human Cull unleash their first full-length, Stillborn. The nice thing about the album is that if you don't like a particular song, you only have to wait 30 seconds to a minute.
The 20 plus tracks blaze by in a storm of intensity. They are mostly bite sized chunks of anger and brutality. Human Cull do change things up from time to time, such as inserting some slower doom elements on the title track and throwing in some thrashy sections here and there.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
){kind=link}
Lost Society – 'Terror Hungry' (Nuclear Blast)
Genre: Thrash Metal
Finland’s Lost Society are a young thrash metal quartet with unbelievable chops and a penchant for writing tongue-in-cheek songs (think Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust). Their second full-length, TerrorHungry, proves the band is in top form.
The production was done by Nino Laurenne, who has handled albums by Amorphis and Lordi. Needless to say, it sounds great. If you like your thrash really fast, aggressive, and in-your-face, then Terror Hungry is for you. As the press bio says, “a record can hardly kick ass any harder!” Agreed.
Rating: 4
(JH Statts)
){kind=link}
Mass Infection – 'For I Am Genocide' (Comatose)
Genre: Death Metal
Almost immediately before sitting down with For I Am Genocide, the newest from Greece's Mass Infection, I was yelling at a co-worker til I was red in the face. Good thing. If I'd been listening to this blistering, adrenalized death metal beforehand, next level wrath would have ensued.
For I Am Genocide is 35 minutes of hyperspeed riffs, insane percussion and enough dark brutality to tear the world apart. Mass Infection obliterate with indiscriminate rage like a napalm strafing run scorching all to ashes. Technically dazzling without a sense of overreaching, this is the kind of death metal death was meant for.
Rating: 3.5
(Matt Hinch)
){kind=link}
Neige Et Noirceur - ‘Gouffre Onirique Et Abimes Cosmique’ (Sepulchral)
Genre: Black Metal
Dreamy, depressive black metal with cosmic themes is the bread and butter of French Canadian act Neige Et Noirceur. A genre staple of Sepulchral Productions (also from Quebec), depressive black metal isn’t particularly popular at the moment, having creatively tapped out with the demise of Xasthur; but, Neige Et Noirceur know their way around the genre, though, with plenty of dreamy soundscapes, thin guitars, a few blastbeats, and muted vocals.
Some interesting spoken word interludes in French spice things up a bit; albeit, with plenty of effects, and the songwriting is, overall, pretty good. Just don’t expect anything groundbreaking.
Rating: 3
(Dave Schalek)
){kind=link}
Nux Vomica - 'Nux Vomica' (Relapse)
Genre: Sludge/Death/Black Metal
Nux Vomica take their crusty sludge and expands it to stratospheric heights on their eponymous third album. Ruthless riffs transition into striking melodies over tracks that each go at least ten minutes. The three songs have their own individual highlights, from the abrasive opening section of “Sanity is for the Passive” to the fearful bass line planted in the middle of “Reeling.”
However, some songs are longer than required, like the plodding second half of “Choked at the Roots,” a common issue throughout the album. Some trimming would have helped get the most fertile material possible.
Rating: 3
(Dan Marsicano)
){kind=link}
Pilgrim – 'II: Void Worship' (Metal Blade)
Genre: Doom Metal
Pilgrim return with their second album and first for a major label with II: Void Worship; channeling old school doom vibes with their generally long and crushing play of the genre, sounding an awful lot like Reverend Bizarre.
The traditional vocals soar over the display of guitars that form the foundation for this band’s sound. However, doom aficionados may find that the band stumbles a bit with songs that top 8 minutes in length, but don’t really do much. If you want to hear the band at its best check out “The Paladin.” This young doom band is taking steps in the right direction.
Rating: 3.5
(Tom Campagna)
){kind=link}
Plebeian Grandstand – 'Lowgazers' (Throatruiner)
Genre: Chaotic Hardcore
Have you seen the incredibly violent & disturbing film “Ichi The Killer”? I can’t help but feel that Pleibian Grandstand'sLowgazers is what you’d hear if it was ever made into a musical directed by David Lynch. In short, it combines elements of black metal, hardcore, creativity, and who-has-any-idea-but-I’m-sure-it’s-not-good-for-you.
This album glories and revels in utter madness, and it’s oddly liberating to just go with it, not wholly unlike listening to a punkier Anaal Nathrakh. Great stuff, even if it’s difficult to explain why; “I just really enjoy being berated by distortion and angry French men for forty minutes”.
Rating: 4
(Sam Thornton)
){kind=link}
Pyrrhon - ‘The Mother of Virtues’ (Relapse)
Genre: Technical Death Metal
On their second release, “The Mother of Virtues,” New York’s Pyrrhon assault the listener like like a sudden, violent ice storm -- frigid, biting and raw. Though accurate, it’s rather simplistic to label them as technical death.
Like their sonic compatriots Gorguts, Ulcerate and Suffocation, Pyrrhon have little use for rules or genres, constructing their own deconstruction with lacerating discordant guitars, pummeling drums and a singer (Doug Moore) who truly sounds spawned from the depths of hell. Standout tracks include the ominously slow-building “White Flag” and the title track.
Rating: 4
(Karen A. Mann)
){kind=link}
Sargeist - ‘Feeding The Crawling Shadows’ (W.T.C.)
Genre: Black Metal
Finland’s Sargeist continue to hold the banner of the second wave of Norwegian black metal high. Unabashedly sticking to their roots over a fifteen year career, Sargeist firmly adhere to the playbook of the genre with thin guitars, lots of blastbeats, rasps and growls, and a rigid lyrical stance dedicated to the greater glories of Satan and misanthropy.
Sargeist always deliver the goods with solid albums reminiscent of Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, and other classic bands of the period. Feeding The Crawling Shadows does just that, indeed.
Rating: 3.5
(Dave Schalek)
){kind=link}
Shear - 'Katharsis' (Lifeforce)
Genre: Traditional/Power Metal
Katharsis is the second album from the Finnish band Shear. They combine soaring melodies with potent guitars and add in keyboards that provide atmosphere.
Vocalist Alexa Leroux is versatile, able to belt it out over the bombastic sections and dial it back when the music is mellower. There's no over the top operatic soprano, just a wide ranging and effective vocal performance. Shear mix in progressive elements as well that give the songs even more variety.
Rating: 3.5
(Chad Bowar)
Source...