Review: Beggar – Compelled to Repeat

First published here: http://www.thesleepingshaman.com/album-ep-reviews/review-beggar-compelled-to-repeat/

The debut full length from London’s Beggar has been a long time coming, and those of us who have barely sated their lust on their numerous EPs are ready for ‘Compelled to Repeat’ to destroy us. It is out in April through APF Records, whose back catalogue contains a number of lesser known gems of the UK underground.

The thunderous, knuckle dragging opener ‘Blood Moon’ possesses the kind of torturous groove that any self respecting sludge band is born with. Savage vocals compliment this expertly, and it is all going just as you’d expect before a quieter and almost soulful solo glides in. It is this juxtaposition of violence and stylistic shifts that characterises this often startling debut. ‘Anasthete’ feels like some orthodox black metal, dragged through tar heavy riffs. Those same riffs cascade through the dead valleys of ‘The Cadaver Speaks’, curling like black smoke within your lungs, suffocating, choking, miasmic in their intent.

‘Compelled to Repeat’ has so many different genre moments piled into the brew it is a miracle that this is even coherent, let alone the churning greatness that it is. Post metal, sludge, death metal, hardcore, black metal; Beggar flirt with them all and filter them all through some huge groove. For a glorious second you think ‘Trepanned Head Stares at the Sun’ is going to build into a vast soundscape and your dreams are shattered by visceral, death laden violence. I love the unpredictability that Beggar employ throughout. The only constant is an intense atmosphere of anger and rage.

From the sickening crunch of ‘Tenantless the Graves’ to the Louisianian groan of ‘Matryoshka Brain’, ‘Compelled to Repeat’ is an album of multiple levels where the idea of genre is pushed to its limits, and Beggar are a band whose hatred and bile for the universe is only just beginning to crystalise. A triumphant full length, and if this record doesn’t push Beggar towards a legacy of greatness then it’ll be a big surprise.

https://www.facebook.com/beggarband/

https://thusspokethebeggar.bandcamp.com/music

https://apfrecords.bigcartel.com/

Review: Euclidean – Quod Erat Faciendum

The debut full length from Swiss black metallers Euclidean is a couple of years old now, but I’ve been doing a lot of catching up on old music in my collection recently and ‘Quod Erat Faciendum’ caught my ear. Translating to ‘which was to be done’ in reference to geometrical constructs, you can tell that this is going to be a bit of a thinker.

The creeping, almost industrial ‘Increatus’ feels more like an introduction to this album, even at almost seven minutes long, and ‘Numbers Hold Sovereignty’ maintains the eerie vibe. The whole album has a cold, almost calculating feeling to it, clean guitar melodies skipping atonally over snarling vocals while other parts soak you in distortion drenched waves of riffing. More than half of this record is taken up by three tracks, but the ebb and flow is fascinating, and the hour and fifteen minutes flies in. You’ll be enthralled by the more melodic, haunting moments that lurk beneath the roar of more ferocious black metal traditionalism. Where Anaal Nathrakh weld black metal to grindcore and create chaos, Euclidean create cold, soulless beauty through elements of post metal and dark ambience.

By the time the clattering, furious majesty of ‘Numbers Held Soverignty’ comes to an end, you’ll have experienced a journey through music quite unlike any other. If you could imagine the soundtrack to Blade Runner was black metal, that’ll give you an idea as to what ‘Quod Erat Faciendum’ sounds like. Grimly futuristic and mesmerisingly dark, Euclidean have captured a sound that feels just different from everyone else. I’m so glad that I found this hiding away in my files, because it is fantastic.

https://www.facebook.com/euclidean.music/

https://euclidean.bandcamp.com/

Review: The Night Eternal – The Night Eternal

Germany’s The Night Eternal debuted their take on the classic heavy metal sound last year with their four track, self titled EP. As you can tell from the cover, it has all the classic cliches working for it immediately, but is it more than the sum of its influences? It is out now through Dying Victims Productions.

‘Eternal Night’ opens with a classic lead melody and a melancholic vocal before kicking it into a trad metal gallop, sprinkling 80s magic all over the place. This feels like a missing cut from a classic Angel Witch album, and there’s a certain gloom about each of the tracks. This isn’t your joyous celebration of everything great about 80s metal, but more of an ode to how good it used to be, back in the glory days. ‘Mark of Kain’ is a thing of grey beauty, while the infectious ‘Vindicta’ is absolutely an iconic track in the making. We even get an out-of-left-field pick Juda Priest cover, ‘Take These Chains’, which works very well with The Night Eternal’s gloomy aesthetic.

An almost perfect four track blast of heavy metal goodness, shot through with a sense of the melancholic and a little darkness too. The Night Eternal are ready to grasp heavy metal’s sceptre and take charge of its future. This is glorious.

https://www.facebook.com/thenighteternal/

https://thenighteternal.bigcartel.com/products

Review: Temptress – The Orb

Given the current horror pandemic sweeping the globe, and especially Italy, I thought I’d have a look through my enormous music pile and find some good news coming from our Italian metal brothers. And boy did I find heavy metal newcomers Temptress! Their debut 7″ is out now through Dying Victims Productions.

It’d be insane to contemplate arguing with an intro like ‘The Orb’, where spiralling solos give way to a killer 80s heavy metal riff. The production has a nice bit of classic fuzz to it, lending a bit of King Diamond moodiness to everything. This trio have draped both of these tracks in the cloaks of night, and somehow ‘Woman’ feels even more authentic. A galloping guitar seals the deal, while the vocals of M. Dee bring to mind Angel Witch or even the King himself (without the iconic shriek of course). If you are a fan of the likes of Night Demon, you’ll be drooling over the possibilities of a full length from these guys.

Despite only being two tracks, Temptress really caught my attention and I live for these bands who are keeping the spirit of classic heavy metal alive. ‘The Orb’ is definitely worth seeking out, and I’m looking forward to more of this.

https://www.facebook.com/temptresshm

https://shop.dying-victims.de/en/

 

Review: Verthebral – Abysmal Decay

Think of the awesome power that death metal, full on full force death metal possesses. Who are you thinking of, Deicide, Krisiun, Hate Eternal? Well, get ready to add Paraguayans Verthebral to that list, as their second record ‘Abysmal Decay’ is an exercise in the purest and most violent forms of riff based destruction. It is out now through Transcending Obscurity.

‘Ancient Legion’ is an eruption of chug; powered by a propulsive low end of double kicks there is a satisfying crunch to the guitars, while the vocals are suitably harsh but not indecipherable. This is a common thread throughout ‘Abysmal Decay’; a Morbid Angel-esque guitar tone dropping chunky riff after stabbing solo and each song overflows with a sense of savage melody. The title track is infested with a morbid gloom, while the churning low end of ‘Absence of a God’ brings to mind prime Bolt Thrower. A reference that is greatly appreciated by this site, as is the Obituary-esque thunder of ‘My Dark Existence’.

‘Abysmal Decay’ is a record that gives tribute to all the greats of death metal, but doesn’t feel derivative. Most of all, it plays with a true sense of power as you feel every riff coursing with barely restrained strength. With a guitar tone ready to snap necks and brutality seething from every pore, Verthebral feel like a band straining at the sinews to explode. Hopefully this beast of a record will make that a reality.

https://www.facebook.com/VerthebralOfficial/

https://verthebraldeath.bandcamp.com

https://transcendingobscurity.bandcamp.com/

Review: Aethyrick – Gnosis

I reviewed the debut of Finnish black metallers Aethyrick, ‘Praxis’, here last year, and found it to be a gloriously atmospheric piece of black metal. Their followup, ‘Gnosis’, looks to build on that strong foundation and skip that ‘difficult second album’ fear. It is out now through The Sinister Flame.

Opening track ‘Will Embodied’ starts strongly enough, with rampant riffing opening up onto a bleak and cold vista. Modern black metal tends to either soar above the blizzards or delve deep into the primordial murk. ‘Gnosis’ chooses the former and is all the better for it. The songwriting is ambitious without pretention, uplifting yet miserable, and the execution is flawless. Fiery riffing sparks across ‘Stellar Flesh’, while the glowing coals of ‘Golden Suffering’ keep us all warm in these cold winter nights. Fearsome and uncompromising, and yet equally fragile and ethereal, tracks like ‘Your Mysteries’ encapsulate an almost iconic Finnish melancholy seeping through every tortured riff and snarling growl.

There’s always been a suggestion that Finnish black metal has a little something extra to its other Scandinavian counterparts. Whatever it is, this intangible, ‘Gnosis’ has it in spades. ‘Gnosis’ may just top its predecessor as Aethyrick’s best work, but this is a band that are slowly becoming an essential part of my musical collection whatever the album. This is evocative, Finnish black metal at its best.

https://aethyrickfinland.bandcamp.com/album/gnosis

https://www.thesinisterflame.com/shop/

Review: Wormhole – The Weakest Among Us

The sprawling tech death of Wormhole’ latest opus, ‘The Weakest Among Us’ is at times mindbogglingly complex. But this isn’t necessarily a good thing, even in the guitarwanking competition that tech death has somewhat become. Do Wormhole avoid the pitfalls? ‘The Weakest Among Us’ is out now through Lacerated Enemy Records.

The opening title track sates most of those fears straight away, by establishing that Wormhole are capable of layering plenty of atmosphere into their pummelling approach. I mean, you still have brutality for days, but it is all coated in a morbid slime that makes everything seem thicker, murkier. Blastbeats struggle for air, while gurgling vocals and pig squealing choke through guitar riffs that chug relentlessly. The songs begin to merge together in one savage beating, but imagine this more in a Meshuggah ‘Catch 33’ way, rather than a ‘this all sounds the same way’. ‘D-S3’ plays with your expectations of slam, but ‘Wave Quake Generator Plasma Artillery Cannon’ brings you straight back down with a bloody reality-juddering thud.

After a 28 minute blast of inventive, entertaining and dare I say, almost unique sounding slam death, I’m exhausted. But ‘The Weakest Among Us’ is an invigorating listen, and stands tall above the usual ‘slam-chug-pigsqueal-repeat’ boredom that the genre often falls victim too. This slays.

https://www.facebook.com/wormholemetal/

https://laceratedenemy.bigcartel.com/

https://laceratedenemyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wormhole-the-weakest-among-us

https://wormholemetal.bigcartel.com/

Review: ADLM – Anges de la Mort

The debut cassette release from métal noir Québécois (I hope I got that right) newcomers Anges de la Mort (ADLM) is here to shroud our world in a particularly French Canadian bleakness. It is out now through Les Productions Hérétiques.

The opening title track is exactly as you’d expect from a more modern black metal band. There’s an innate rawness to the vocal performance and the riffing but the production is great and doesn’t feel tinny or thin. The snarling ‘Mangeurs de Cadavres’ has a delicious thrashy vibe, and the fact that this is mastered by Joel Grind of Toxic Holocaust fame probably answers why. It showcases many nice dynamic pace changes too, and leads into the fiery old school black metal of ‘Que Crève le Léviathan’. This is the centrepiece, flowing with that measured blaze that latter Satyricon nailed.

Closing with the cold acoustics of ‘Ode aux Esprits Vivants’, ADLM are a welcome addition to the world’s black metal scene. Whether this varied and interesting line up of songs will stretch to a full length is the next question, but they seem to have the ability to answer in the affirmative. I look forward to it

https://lesproductionsheretiques.com/

https://adlm.bandcamp.com/album/anges-de-la-mort

Review: Nex Carnis – Black Eternity

As a man who claims to try and find the best metal from the farthest reaches of our globe, I could not resist the ideal of a two track EP from a death metal band from Iran. I don’t think I’ve ever come across any bands from Iran on my pilgrimmages around the internet, so I am very intrigued by what Nex Carnis can bring to the table on ‘Black Eternity’. It is out now through Blood Harvest.

The churning oddness of the opening riffs of ‘Last Gleams of a Fallen Conscience’ immediately catch the ear, feeling like a bastard offspring of Portal and Suffocation. Vocals spew from chasms of darkness, while the riffs serpentine back and forth with an absolutely sickening guitar tone. ‘The Fathomless Caverns of Oblivion’ is, if anything, even better; a frantic exercise in technical death riffing and old school death atmosphere. ‘Black Eternity’ is far too short, and the mere concept of a full length of this miasmic, atonal aural carnage has me salivating. I’m now on the hunt for their 2015 debut ‘Obscure Visions of Dark’ if anyone can help me! Meanwhile, I’m going to enjoy this on constant repeat.

https://www.facebook.com/nexcarnis

https://bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com/album/black-eternity

http://www.bloodharvest.se/

Review: Sathamel – Horror Vacui

The return of Sathamel is, for me, long awaited. Their self titled EP haunts my CD collection, armed with savagery and blasphemy aplenty. But there’s only so much Satanic hunger that particular disc can sate. ‘Horror Vacui’ is out now, and looks to fulfil that promise that Sathamel inspired a mere five years ago.

Opener ‘Libera Me’ swells with regal ambience before riffs of supremity come chugging from my speakers. You can feel the influence of latter-day Behemoth strongly on this, but it would be lazy to just assume this is a band that are not capable of holding their own in the face of such comparisons. Sure, Nergal’s songwriting skills loom large over the likes of ‘Swit’ or ‘A New Age of Lycanthropy’, but you have the Marduk-esque blasting of ‘Raise Flame from Ash’, or even the regal, Rotting Christ-like ‘There Where is No Time’. Sathamel draw deep from the well of many, but combine that with excellent songwriting skills of their own. It’ll be difficult to find a more memorable composition of darkness this year then ‘Of Spilled Wine and Broken Glass’.

‘Horror Vacui’ may mean fear of empty space, but you’ll barely find a crack in the glistening, blasphemic armour that has been clad upon this band. Sathamel have not reinvented the wheel on ‘Horror Vacui’, but they’ve anointed it with sacred oils and cast it as a sacrifice to the dark lord. And that lord has blessed our pathetic souls with an absolute belter. Make the sign of the inverted cross and give in to the fear of the void.

https://www.facebook.com/sathamelofficial

https://sathamel.bigcartel.com/products

https://sathamel.bandcamp.com/