REVIEW: Aseethe & Snow Burial, "Split"

By: Andre Almaraz

Album Type: Split Cassette

Date Released: 29/06/2018

Label: Hand of Death Records

With a sound that is as brutal and evocative as it is soothing and chaotic, this is a perfect pairing of two songs by two different bands joined together on one split.

“Split” CS//DD track listing:

1). Aseethe, “Wrong”

2). Snow Burial, “Sever The Bloodline”

The Review:

Coming soon on cassette tape and digital release by Hand Of Death Records is this split recording by two of the most impressive metal trios the midwestern United States has to offer; Iowa City’s Aseethe and Chicago’s Snow Burial.  The cassette will contain one song by each band on each side and is due to be released on 6/29/2018.

Aseethe’s contribution is a song titled “Wrong.”  Howling amplifier feedback fades in and then breaks into a classic four chord death march complete with guttural vocals right from the strum of the very first chord.  The primitive brutality is given a modern spin by the backbeat shuffle of the drummer which takes an otherwise straightforward part into the realm of something that feels slightly askew, as the band is known for doing.  The second riff builds chaos and suspense with a sinister blend of chords, chugs, and noise.  After a short rest, the backbeat death march returns but this time it’s with a howling vocal style which is a bit higher in pitch. This gives the part a more tortured and tormented feel than it had the first time around.  A pummeling third riff brings the track to another rest before a snare roll chimes in to lead the charge into the ending movement of the song;  a frenzied mesh of growls, howls, noise, and thunder.  On the subject of the split, the band states on their Facebook page that their song “is a bit different for us.”  If this is a new direction the band is currently experimenting with, I would highly encourage them to continue on this path because this is the most crushing Aseethe I’ve ever heard.

Now for Snow Burial’s contribution; a song they call “Sever The Bloodline.”  Huge guitar chords introduce the track before the other instruments kick in with a thunderous blast of brute force.  Once the vocals join the attack, you know instantly that this piece of music is seriously pissed off.  The mood teeters back and forth between sludge and post metal throughout the entire track and the inclusion of a laser sharp prog inspired middle section adds yet another precise dimension to the already devastating mixture.  The pristine subtlety of the drums makes the song shine brightly during this portion and lets you know that Snow Burial is purposefully on track to turn some heads in a big way.  Once the impressive middle movement morphs into the closing segment of the track, brutality and complexity coalesce in perfect horrifying harmony for a grand finale that assaults all the senses at once and without mercy.  The flawless interplay of the bass and drums combined with the guitar and vocals floating over the top throughout the entire song can be called nothing less than mastery of their craft as the differing levels of aggression build and break like ocean waves crashing against jagged rocks.

Each band here is extremely aggressive in their interpretation yet uniquely different in their delivery. Both outfits offer something that is sonically massive and each one produces an atmosphere that is recognizable to me as originating from the broad shoulders and clenched fists of the Midwestern United States. As a resident myself, I am proud to share a time zone with bands of this caliber.  With a sound that is as brutal and evocative as it is soothing and chaotic, this is a perfect pairing of two songs by two different bands joined together on one split. 

“Split”is available here

Band info: Aseethe|| Snow Burial

REVIEW: Iron Reagan & Gatecreeper, "Split"

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: EP

Date Released: 02/03/2018

Label: Relapse Records

“Split” CD//DD//LP track listing

1. Iron Reagan, “Warning”

2. Iron Reagan, “Paper Shredder”

3. Iron Reagan, “Take the Fall”

4. Iron Reagan, “Proudly Unaccountable”

5. Iron Reagan, “Burn for This”

6. Gatecreeper, “Daybreak” (Intro)

7. Gatecreeper, “Dead Inside”

8. Gatecreeper, “War Has Begun”

The Review:

               

Splits are regularly some of my favorite releases – so much so that in my yearly rundown I tried to highlight some of the real standouts in a growing field of collaborative metal albums.  With grind splits, you can end up with several bands spitting out double digit tracks and not break the twenty minute mark, or, in the case of Fister & CHRCH, you can have two sludge powerhouses spewing out 15-20 minute odes to suffering.  Maybe my favorites are those cross-subgenre cage matches, like the latest split between punky crossover thrashers Iron Reagan and decrepit death conjurers Gatecreeper.  Aside from rock solid production and rugged intensity, these two metal standouts have little in common.  But like a particularly memorable basement show, the disparity actually makes this brief hunk of aggression amount to more than its scant eighteen minutes would suggest.

               

Iron Reagan need no real introduction at this point – the members have been responsible for some of the best death, crossover, thrash and hardcore of the last few years.  The five cuts they contribute are like a little tour through classic hardcore punk and 80s thrash – opener “Warning” has a bright, SoCal hardcore tone that, at first listen, almost sounds like a massive Hammond organ.  Paper Shredder ups the LAxHC antics, with a tapped out intro lead, Anthraxindebted gang vocals, and palm muted builds to full on mosh breaks.  “Take the Fall” swaps coasts as the most classically Bay Area thrash metal cut on the record – the chugging rhythm work is the real standout, while the lead flourishes are pure Hammett worship.  “Proudly Unaccountable” is the briefest outing on the record (at a pummeling 45 seconds), but the strange rhythm changeups had me thinking of midperiod Black Flag with blast beats.  “Burn for This” may be my favorite cut on the record, a brutal little number that practically sounds like skatepunk.  I could certainly imagine it blasting behind a Bones Brigade tape.  The whammy bar work walks a thin line between Slayer divebombs and East Bay Ray surfer leads.  As a closer, it’s a rad sendoff that speaks volumes to how Iron Reaganis far more than a nostalgia act – these guys whip up a punky metal cocktail with their own signature on every riff, every breakdown, and every shouted lyric.

               

Gatecreeper somehow slipped under my radar until this split and, boy, am I ready to delve into their surprisingly large catalogue (especially for a band only formed in 2013!).  Vomiting out filthy, nihilistic death, the Arizona five-piece inserts the right amount of punk rhythm into their crushing metal riffs.  Drummer Matt Arrebollo slides just enough punk fury into his galloping double-kick attacks to keep things from ever getting repetitive.   Intro track “Daybreak” is a neat instrumental pummeling, but one-two punch of the abysmally downbeat “Dead Inside” and the apocalyptic “War Has Begun” made me crave a lot more of what Gatecreeper has to offer.  Wagner and Garrett’s occasional harmonic flourishes really had me hooked into their old school death metal, while the rhythm is gut churning in all the right ways.  If I had any complaints about the release, it’s that Gatecreeper didn’t have five tracks of death to counter the five bursts of enervating crossover thrash from Iron Reagan.  Like the best splits, this left me craving more… I suppose for now another spin of this excellent record will have to suffice.

“Split” is available here

Band info: Iron Reagan|| Gatecreeper

REVIEW: Bloodmoon & Trapped Within Burning Machinery - "Split"

By: Ernesto Aguilar

Album Type: Split

Date Released: 01/10/2017

Label: Midnite Collective |

Black Voodoo Records

“Bloodmoon | Trapped Within Burning Machinery” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. Bloodmoon, "Nothing is Special, Nobody Cares"

2. Trapped Within Burning Machinery, "Abysswalker"

The Review:

Literally hundreds of seven-inch singles come out every month. Extreme music acts in particular are quite prolific at this. So, why should another disc create any ripple at all?

In the doom landscape, Bloodmoon and Trapped Within Burning Machinery are perhaps two of the most emerging bands to enter the scene. In the case of Bloodmoon, whose doom metal is blended with some progressive and black metal influences, and Trapped Within Burning Machinery, they of doom with flashes of atmospheric metal and funeral doom, their sounds are rather divergent from one another yet oddly aligned in many respects. Both groups have received much praise for their work. It stands to reason that a double-barrel split like this – with the crews doing 11- and 17-minute cuts respectively – may keep expectant fans happy for the moment, if not hyped for future output.

When Bloodmoon debuted a few years ago with the divine “Orenda”, the California group received a lot of attention for its superlative progressive metal. It only ripened with 2013's “Voidbound”, soaking far deeper into the well of doom metal for music you do not hear every day. On the new split, Bloodmoon re-ups that doom faithfulness, along with paying homage to its progressive pedigree. “Nothing Is Special, Nobody Cares” is through this lens a strong return. Its pessimistic theme masks an optimistic one: that Bloodmoon is committed not to fame, but to doing the best music possible on its own terms. That idea is articulated often by bands, but you feel it here. You catch a more liberated group that delivers a song with its best musicianship yet. The production is well mixed, the guitars are technical without being mathcore-ish, and the rhythm section here provides a rich soundscape.

As you can guess, Trapped Within Burning Machinery has a high bar to reach. Fortunately enough, the group, known for its big concept recordings – 2015's “The Filth Element”was a tale based on the film, after all – is up for the challenge.

The California act's song, “Abysswalker,” offers more concept. It is based on the video game series Dark Souls. If you have never played the Dark Souls franchise, it is a fantasy in which the protagonist is, in so many words, a zombie cursed to resurrect again and again. An abysswalker are those who wield a special ability to walk into a plane of existence most cannot. The Abyss is occupied by darkwraiths, whose harness the Dark Soul within humanity. It is a gigantic theme for a song, just as is the Dark Souls universe.

If you are familiar with the Dark Souls mythology, it is a plus. However, the music is dazzlingly sharp all by itself. The guitars are immense. The vocals are monstrous, summoning imagery of darkwraiths and fearsomeness. Trapped Within Burning Machinery has long been a group that fully commits to a concept, like an esteemed actor throws her- or himself into a role. You get that turned up to 10 on "Abysswalker." The mood is dank with solitude. With the final notes, it is like you are pulled into the Abyss itself.

“Bloodmoon | Trapped Within Burning Machinery” is available here (CD//CS) and here (vinyl)

Band info: twbm|| bloodmoon

REVIEW: From the Hellmouth | Mutilatred (Split)

By: Mark Ambrose

Album Type: Split

Date Released: August 4, 2017

Label: Redefining Darkness |

Seeing Red Records

This release will satisfy fans who are craving some crushing death to usher in the autumn decay.

From The Hellmouth / Mutilatred Split CS//DD track listing

1. From The Hellmouth - Cast Into the Sea

2. From The Hellmouth - The Wolves Must Be Fed

3. From The Hellmouth - Campaign of Lies

4. Mutilatred - Crippled By Prescription

5. Mutilatred - Part of the Decay

6. Mutilatred - Split from Inside

7. Mutilatred - Prescribed Death

8. Mutilatred - While It Floods

The Review

               

There must be something putrid in the waters of Ohio.  As the coastal metropoles continue to offer sometimes thrilling, sometimes rote black metal hybrids, avant garde sludge experimentation, or crusty metallic anarcho-punk, the Buckeye State spews out death.  Cleveland’s From the Hellmouth and Toledo’s Mutilatred are the latest purveyors of nauseating toxicity, and offer up an unhealthy half hour on this untitled split EP.

               

From the Hellmouth skews toward melodic death, with harmonized guitar leads that recall At the Gates, The Black Dahlia Murder, and all the hardest parts of Castlevania.  Noah Buchanan’s vocals are surprisingly discernable for death metal, and the refrain of “Relentless attack!” on EP highlight “The Wolves Must Be Fed” makes me anxious for a full-length.  If they pump out more catchy, memorable riffs in this vein, they’ll garner a dedicated following, chanting along to every chorus.

               

If its traditional death filth you’re after, Mutilatred is death metal that could have come from Morrisound in the 80s heyday, albeit with some major experimentation.  McDonagh’svocals are pure guttural grunts, while the guitar tone is dirtier than Lake Erie.  Sometimes this is a bit of a drawback, as McDonagh and Meyers’ intricate guitar riffing can get lost in the mix, especially in the washed out midrange.  Regardless, Mutilatred’smusicians show some serious chops, especially drummer Clay Lowe, who is an absolute beast at the kit.  “Split from Inside” is a real standout, with ferocious thrash riffing and circle pit intensity, while “Prescribed Death”slips into a hypnotic, exhilarating groove.  With closing track “While It Floods”, noise manipulators Fakesand Meyers take center stage, with occasional spoken word from McDonagh.  I honestly was waiting for the full band to kick in and close out the split, but the track is pure noise.  If they manage to meld these elements in a future release, they’ll have a uniquely surreal formula in place.

               

Like most split EPs, this offering may not be featured as a “year’s best” or “major release” of the summer, but makes a solid case for both bands as up and comers in the US death scene.  If nothing else, it will satisfy your craving for some crushing death to usher in the autumn decay.

“From The Hellmouth / Mutilatred” is available here

Band info:

From The Hellmouth: facebook ||  bandcamp || Mutilatred: facebook || bandcamp

REVIEW: Whitehorse/Upyr - "Split"

By: Daniel Jackson

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 14/02/2017

Label: Vendetta Records

‘Split LP’//DD track listing:

1). Whitehorse - Settled Dust

2). Upyr - Rise of the Mighty Tyrant

3). Upyr - Webs of Sorrow

 

The Review:

Split albums are a difficult thing to do well. The issues you’re likely to run into with them are usually one of the following: either one band is obviously the better of the two, or the bands aren’t great counterparts stylistically. The split we’re discussing here, from Australia’s Whitehorse and Bulgaria’s Upyr, doesn’t suffer massively from either issue. Neither band is drastically better than the other either, but they are different enough that you’ll likely prefer one over the other. And really that’s what will either make or break this experience for you: are you able to enjoy the shift in styles from one band to the other over the course of the whole album? My short answer is yes, but with some caveats.

Whitehorse is a very stalwart, consistent death/doom band. They stay largely in their preferred lane, and take a more subtle and nuanced approach to evolving their lone, 19 minute track. The changes aren’t stark or abrupt, but measured and carefully considered. “Settled Dust” maintains a fairly uniform tempo throughout, and a pretty bleak and harsh tone, which carries things through the first half. It’s all about massive chords and downbeats. The drumming gets slightly busier at certain points, and there is some effective use of droning noise in the background for the sake of adding extra tension, but otherwise things continue on at a slow, steady pace.

At about half way through the song, the emotional vibe changes gears and the song becomes more melancholy and sorrowful. Accompanied by pensive strings, the song shifts its character, but remains tied to the music that leads up to it through its glacially slow tempo. The songs begins to dissipate, as layers are stripped away until the last bit of noise is snuffed out, like someone blowing out a candle. Preferences being what they are, Whitehorse’scontribution is less adventurous (as we’re about to get into), but ultimately more satisfying in my case.

Upyr’s material is a bit more out there. “Rise of the Mighty Tyrant” begins as something of a traditional 80s doom song. The riff is slow but buoyant, with something of straight up rock n’ roll personality. But after that, the songs vary between sludge and a southern-style variation of it, doom, and even black metal. To say that vocalist Brodnik tries around a dozen or so vocal styles over the course of the Upyr’s 21 minutes of album time would not be an exaggeration. That they pull all of this off reasonably well is pretty damned impressive, but also gets to the heart of why I prefer Whitehorse’s side of the album.

To put it bluntly: Upyr puts out a vibe that they’re more interested in trying things out for the sake of having fun than they are in putting together something that always plays to their strengths as musicians and performers. There’s nothing wrong with that mindset, but it also risks the end result being a hit or miss experience. That’s what this is. There’s a lot of cool shit going on here, but some of it falls short of what they were aiming for.

Upyr’s strong suit is as a heavy, rhythmically diverse black and doom metal band with a hint of mid-90s goth metal as they are towards the end of “Rise of the Mighty Tyrant” and again in the very early and then later half of “Webs of Sorrow”. Embracing those strengths going forward would give them plenty to occupy themselves with creatively, while focusing on what they’re best at when jumping from style to style.

When considered as a whole, there are a lot more that hits rather than misses, and the album rewards you throughout. There’s something to be said for contrasting a band so orthodox and sure of themselves against a band that with a partial identity crisis; though you could argue that Upyr’s constant genre hopping and vocal histrionics ARE its identity, which is fair. But between each band, there more than enough here to warrant a solid recommendation. There’s just too much that works overall to be denied.

“Whitehorse/Upyr”is available here

Band info: Whitehorse Facebook || Upyr Facebook

REVIEW: Thorr-Axe / Archarus - "The Hobbit" (Split)

By Jay Keche

Album Type: Split

Date Released: 13/03/2017

Label: Independent

From deep within the fires of Mt. Doomcomes one of the best releases of 2017 – a Tolkien-themed split from Indiana riff-smiths Archarus and Thorr-Axe.  It spans the whole spectrum that stoner/doom metal has to offer, with each track bringing a fresh sound to the table.

“The Hobbit - Split” CD//DD track listing:

1). Thorr-Axe– “Good Morning”

2). Thorr-Axe– “Dawn Take You All”

3). Archarus– “Foehammer”

4). Thorr-Axe– “Whispers in the Dark”

5). Archarus– “Flies & Spiders”

6). Archarus– “Erebor”

7). Thorr-Axe– “Battle of Five Armies”

The Review:

From deep within the fires of Mt. Doom comes one of the best releases of 2017 – a Tolkien-themed split from Indianariff-smiths Archarusand Thorr-Axe. This 40+ minute journey is a sonic retelling of the story of Bilbo Baggins and his adventure in The Hobbit.  The story features 4 chapters written by Thorr-Axe and 3 by Archarus and unlike most splits, the bands don’t take separate sides, but work together to form a cohesive quest with grooves that could slay the dragon Smaug.

Thorr-Axe opens the gates with “Good Morning” an acoustic piece that while peaceful, builds a sense of tension and urgency before smashing eardrums with “Dawn Take You All” – a chugging march across Middle Earth. For track three “Foehammer” they hand the mic to Archarusfor a full 7-minutes of hard rocking riffage reminiscent of Elderor Pallbearer.

The bands then go on the alternate tracks with Thorr-Axe providing an onslaught of the heaviest doom complete with tortured screams and blastbeats that fully immerse the listener in the hardships that Bilbo and the Dwarves suffered through.

Archarus’ long whimsical grooves and clean vocals provide welcome interludes between Thorr-Axe’sbrutally heavy brand of doom – which concludes the album after “The Battle of Five Armies,” a track as violent as its namesake.

This album is a perfect blend of old talent and new blood – this being Thorr-Axe’s4^th release while only being Archarus’ second. Overall this latest effort from two of the Midwest’s best metal bands is some of the most well written music I’ve ever heard. It spans the whole spectrum that stoner/doom metal has to offer, with each track bringing a fresh sound to the table.

“The Hobbit – Split” can be purchased here and here

Band info: thorr-axe.bandcamp|| facebookthorraxedoom || archarus.bandcamp || facebookArcharusTheBand

ALBUM STREAM: Instrumental riff juggenauts NASDAQ & Mothertrucker deliver “A Bulletin From The Department For Transport and Finance”

NASDAQ finally end the arduous wait for new material since the release of the “AGM/Fourth Quarter Slump” EP in 2011 with new track “Collateral (Damaged)”. The Manchesterinstrumental trio mark their seventh year with their heaviest offering yet. Moving through passages of crushing doom, hypnotic melody and wrist-breakingly complex riff attacks, “Collateral (Damaged)” takes everything this prodigiously talented unit has done before and makes it bigger and better. Imagine a band that somehow manages to sound like Earthless, Owls, Don Caballero, Iron Maidenand Kyussall in the space of one track and bring it all together to create a cohesive mind-altering, consciousness-expanding voyage to a higher plane. That band is NASDAQand “Collateral (Damaged)” is another step in their journey to the outer realms of instrumental rock.

The instrumental juggernaut that is Mothertruckermark their 13^th year of psychedelic riffcraft with 2 new tracks, the flip side of this mouth watering split release. Delivering a combination of Sabbath/Kyussstyle hard riffs and the quiet menace of Slint and Mogwai, these new compositions are a sweet hellride into the heart of oblivion. Thick distortion, menacing atmospherics, head nodding tempo changes and rewarding climaxes...there’s plenty to get lost in! Over the course of their existence, Mothertrucker have shared the stage with the likes of Boris, Baroness, Grails, Golden Void, OHHMS, Krugerand Thought Forms and look forward to spreading their heavy gospel to as many venues as possible in 2017.

This heavyweight split entitled “A Bulletin From The Department For Transport and Finance” is available to stream in full below and you can pick up a copy at the following outlets USA / ROW: DG Recordsand in the UK & Europe via Field Records& Superfi Records

Band info: mothertrucker.bandcamp|| nasdaq.bandcamp