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  • New releases from Kolkata

    Dec 29 • All Updates, Releases • 2176 Views

    Kolkata metallers scarface released their new single “The Improved Order Of Red Men”

    Lyrics:

    Consumated, all of your lies..
    Who gives a f*** for those buried alive..
    We tried to fight you but you brought us down..
    you thought we’re gone but we’ve come back around..
    We were, we are, we’ll be guardians of time..
    We were , we are and we’ll be the saviour of mankind..
    You thought that you had set us to a path that would bring us to a dead end..
    We took the road less travelled by, and we’ve come back as the improved order of redmen..
    The shackles of time bound you to empowerment, practise your tyranny in disguise..
    We solemnly resolve to uproot your government, because time changes lives..
    You had managed to chain down the flying eagle, put it to its death bed..
    The eye of providence has been watching your evil, and we are back from the dead..
    The hour is dark straight ahead. Our visions blurry. But the aim was always set.
    We will avenge all the blood shed..
    We are Redmen.. Behold the power.. Improved order..
    And justice will prevail.. The Great Spirit watches us.. In front of Him you all shall hail..
    We are redmen.. Behold the spirit.. Improved order..
    The reign of your terror shall come to an end..
    Victory to the people is what we’ll bring..
    Your sins shall be punished by the One above us..
    There’s no place to hide you cannot run for cover..
    Theres no place to run or hide.. The red men have arrived..
    The shackles of time bound you to empowerment, practised your tyranny in disguise..
    We solemnly resolved to uproot your government, ‘cuz time has always changed lives..
    Now the grim reaper beckons to your dying evil, the road leads to your grave..
    Justice will be brought to all of the people, there will be no suffering..
    The hour is dark straight ahead. Our visions blurry. But the aim was always set.
    We will avenge all the blood shed..
    We are Redmen.. Behold the power.. Improved order..
    And justice will prevail.. The Sons of Liberty will keep fighting on.. Until victory is availed..
    We are redmen.. Behold the spirit.. Improved order..
    “And Redmen administer no oaths binding you to any political or religious creed. They bind neither you
    nor your hands or your feet”
    Erase all your sins,
    And seek mercy from above us.
    Face all your fears,
    It’s time for your abomination.
    Erase all our sins,
    You’ll be judged by the One above us.
    Face all your fears.

    Also chronic xorn released their cover of led zeppelin’s stairway to heaven

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  • THE ENTMOOT: END YEAR RECOMMENDATIONS – PART II

    Dec 29 • News, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 3102 Views

    Final

    ENTMOOT – PART II

    Here is the second part of our list. Checkout the first part here.

    Note: The list is in no particular order and the numbering does ‘NOT’ signify ranking. Also as is subject to individual tastes, all of these albums need not fit the definition of ‘metal’.

    1. The Drip – A Presentation of Gruesome Poetics (Relapse Records)

    A great  modern  grind album   that    tends to push  boundaries, while   still staying true to their roots. A huge leap for the band.

    – Mohammad Kabeer

    2. The Dead – Deathsteps to Oblivion (Transcending Obscurity)

    This is death-sludge, think Ramesses meets Asphyx. The music here is primitive, unapologetically basic, really well-written and hard-hitting, apparently that’s all it takes to make an excellent album. Who knew?

    – Anoop Bhat

    3. Witch Mountain – Mobile of Angels  (Profound Lore Records)

    From the opening track “Psycho Animundi”to “Can’t Settle”and  “Your Corrupt Ways” this is a Uta Plotkin album all the way through. The wails, the pitch and the sense of doom add up to a terrific album.

    – Dinesh Raghavendra

    Say it ain’t so, Uta Plotkin. The magnificent, bluesy vocalist is quitting this veteran stoner doom squad – and her swan song with them is a doozy! Menacing, morose, introspective and downright hypnotic, Plotkin is a frontwoman par excellence leading a band that is in fine form.

    – Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    4. Death Vomit – Gutted by Horrors (Xtreem Music)

    A scary release which is closer to South American bestial death metal without tipping over the edge and into mediocrity. This really sounds threatening.

    – Dipankar Mohanty

    5. P.L.F – Ultimate Whirlwind of Incineration (Imperial Mind Engineering)

    P.L.F  returns this  year again  with another Brutal, album , adding some death metal  to their   staple sound of   Thrash and Grind  which just levels up the intensity!

    – Mohammad Kabeer

    6.Dread Sovereign – All Hell’s Martyrs (Van Records)

    Heady, atmospheric doom from the Primordial frontman, A.A. Nemtheanga, this album does display a certain repetition of devices, but when the songwriting is good, it’s brilliant. A rich, heavy sound, excellent musicianship and wonderfully consistent atmosphere of epic gloom, sometimes reminiscent of the more Conanesque sides of Gates Of Slumber’s sound,  ensure that this is an album that makes an impact.

    – Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    All Hell’s Martyrs: Doom metal that is truly full of despair. This album feels like a soundtrack tailor made for the dark side of mankind.

    – Dipankar Mohanty

    7. Ride for Revenge – Enter the Gauntlet (Bestial Burst)

    This latest album from the Finnish trio delivers heaviness, with some of the darkest riffs ever, mixed with thick, chaotic drumming of the highest order, all wound up into dirges that sounds half parts krautrock, half parts black metal and all in all terrifyingly good.

     – Dinesh Raghavendra

    8. Poil – Brossaklitt (Dur et doux)

    Extremely frantic and schizoid avant-prog with tendencies to lean towards both math rock and jazz. Oddly-timed rhythms bombard you from every possible corner while the non-stop, yet varied vocal delivery acts as an instrument in itself. It’s hard to pin-point where this band is coming from in terms of influences, but the end result is as comical as it is bizarre. Definitely one of the most underrated and interesting albums of 2014.

    – Rohit ChaojI

    9.Gridlink – Longhena (Selfmadegod Records)

    While I didn’t really like their previous albums all that much, this one hit the ball out of the park!   This effortlessly melds melodic  guitar playing  with grindcore’s ferocity!!  Something that very few albums manage to do! Not only  that it  mixes two things that I really love !! Grindcore and Anime!

    – Mohammad Kabeer

    10. Mantar – Death by Burning (Svart Records)

    Motorhead-y and Tragedy-ized doom? Absurd ? Maybe but this is so much fun.

    – Nishanth

    11. Earth – Primitive and Deadly (Southern Lord Recordings)

    Earth has been around for more than a decade and has experimented with everything from the keyboards, basses and cellos, each a variation on a unifying aesthetic. Primitive and Deadly sees them changing for the better and this might be the beginning of a new Earth. The Lanegan cameo doesn’t really do the trick but hey the compositions are gorgeous and the riffs are fat and thick. Sign me up for more.

     – Dinesh Raghavendra

    12. Monolord – Empress Rising (Riding Easy Records)

    Heavy, fuzzy, oozing with warmth, bass-heavy and so goddamn catchy. These Swedish debutants have mustered up the stoner/doom album of the year.

    – Anoop Bhat

    One of the best doom debuts of the year, this Sleep-induced band churns out long, crushing songs and deal in a massive sound. But they don’t just get by on sheer mass: the riffs are great and the vocals are catchy in a swimmy, hazy way.

    – Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

     13. Flvx Capacitor/ Captain Three Leg Split (Grindcore Karaoke)

    Flvx capacitor is what it’s all about over here!  They have a very  inventive sound  where the guitars are used to give a noise like texture to the sound, while the main  groove  is played on  the bass guitar, I have never  really heard anything like that in powerviolence(though  I am pretty  sure there might be a band which has done this before a shit ton of bands out there and its equally shit hard to keep count)

     – Mohammad Kabeer

    14. Trench Rot– Necronomic Warfare (Unspeakable Axe Records)

    This was a bit of a surprise. Out of nowhere came Trenchrot and bought with it a fantastic thrash infused death metal album in the form of Necronomic Warfare. Unrelenting from start to finish.

    – Dipankar

    Unspeakable Axe’s best release yet. A classy deathrash treat!

    – Nishanth

     15. Howls of Ebb – Vigils of the 3rd Eye (I,Voidhanger Records)

    Howls of Ebb is one of the most unusual death metal bands I’ve heard in years. They combine all the complex tricks in the book exceptional and unconventional composition, and atmosphere. Its not easy listening at times but it’s worth the effort for the album comes together quite unlike any other.

     – Dinesh Raghavendra

    16. Pallbearer – Foundations of Burden (Profound Lore Records)

    When they released Sorrow And Extinction in 2012 I had the always pleasurable experience of being the first person to turn a lot of my friends on to this band. This time around, they’re deservedly widely known in the doom community and their brand of melodic, yet gloomy doom metal sounds better than ever.

     – Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    17. Full of Hell and Merzbow (Profound Lore Records)

    Full of hell prove yet again that they are masters of their game., This right here is  some of their  most wrathful, most intense work  yet. The band along with Merzbow sounds menacing to say the least!

    – Mohammad Kabeer

    18. Wovenhand – Refractory Obdurate (Deathwish Inc)

    Although I personally prefer the country/folk side of Woven Hand, David Eugene Edwards does not disappoint with his gothic/psychedelic rock assault on Refractory Obdurate. The songs here are “heavy”, a couple of them even bordering on hardcore punk, but the folk/country roots are still evident. One of the most memorable albums of 2014 for me.

    – Rohit Chaoji

    19. Arctic Sleep – Passage of Gaia (Independent Release)

    New age Doom? Probably, and for that reason alone it might turn a large part of the traditional doom fans off. But it’d find love in the latter day Katatonia audience. Regardless, the atmosphere that this album gives off is truly its own.

    – Nishanth

    20. Phobocosm – Deprived (Dark Descent Records)

    Songs that Immolation and Incantation never wrote. Now that alone will turn a few heads, and yet that characterization alone is sort of an understatement for there is more than just that here.

    – Nishanth

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  • THE ENTMOOT: END YEAR RECOMMENDATIONS – PART I

    Dec 27 • International News, Most Popular, News, The Slumbering Ent • 3654 Views

    Final

    THE ENTMOOT – PART 1

    ‘Music Journalism’, as much an oxymoron as ‘God is great’, if it does exist is teetering on the brink of irrelevance. Living the ‘smug life’ of free passes, gig photography porn, “likes” hunting and “I’ve got the contacts”, it is at its base an inherently biased to the point of irrelevance, circle jerk carnival. The looming threat of the formation of a paparazzi in metal, ‘reviewing’ that leaves all sense of ideals at the door and openly resort to pandering to the basest of tastes, these mark the media these days. While we (TSE) ourselves are part of the problem, we’ve tried in our little way to steer clear of the said ‘ values’ and just pen down what we really feel about the music at hand, which comes first as always and as it should be.

    Let me just cut the rant short and get to the matter at hand.

    Yet another year has comes to a close(well almost). Old School, New School and Metalgate cribbings aside, this was indeed another year where several good to great records came out (of course with the usual yet intimidating amount of trash). Heavy metal, at least in our eyes has still hope left in it.

    As is the custom, we too jumped on the listmania bandwagon and compiled our own list of sorts. But this is by no means your definitive ‘best of 2014’, to the contrary these are what in our humble opinion served to reassure our faith in good music or so to speak. And as is right, warmly judge this as a list of recommendations from our motley crue of half assed writers here. The biggest half ass being the editor himself, who unfortunately is tasked with writing this excuse of an introduction.

    THE LIST

    The list is in fact a jumbling of  personal favorites supplied together by the 7 writers here. There are thus 65 albums which we’d want you to check out if you haven’t already, all of which will be unveiled in four installments of 15,20,15 and 15.

    NOTE: The list is not ranked at all so do not mistake the numbering with rank and not all albums are metal per se, but probably so in spirit. 

    So with that we start the first instalment:

     

    1. Hail Spirit Noir – Oi Magoi (Code666 Records)

    Bewilderingly multi-textured and eclectic, this band manages never to stray from the central ambit of all black metal: a chthonic heaviness that no other genre can match. I’m waiting for the day when this band is spoken of alongside other brilliant black metal experimentalists like Sigh and Blut aus Nord.

    –  Jayaprakash Satymurthy

    2. Merkabah – Moloch (Independent Release)

    Another band from Poland that chooses to play a unique mash-up of styles and manages to make it work wonders. This free jazz/avant-prog band uses heavy, sludgy and percussive guitars in an improvised fashion, which can end up sounding excessive or messy at times. However, it is more than made up by the Peter Brotzmann-ish saxophone playing and occasional bursts of Zeuhl in the form of repetitive, slowly evolving and textured rhythms.

    Rohit Chaoji

    3. Ea – A Etilla (Solitude Productions)

    Best Funeral Doom record of the year.

    Anoop Bhat

    4. Question – Doomed Passages (Chaos Records)

    The death metal high of the year. This is the complete package – old school death metal with a variety of soundscapes. Think a bit of Chasm and some Incantation in interplay with each other. A complete riff fest.

    – Dipankar Mohanty

    5. Voices – London (Candlelight Records)

    Born out of the ashes of the brilliant Akercocke and that bit of information is alone to turn your attention to this brilliant sophomore effort.

    – Nishanth

    6. Grand Magus – Triumph and Power (Nuclear Blast)

    Grand Magus are wildly uneven band, but this year they’ve delivered the best song yet about Elric – Steel Versus Steel – and that alone makes this album a must-have. They’ve drawn more on their classic metal leanings, churning out a sound that fans of Judas Priest and Cirith Ungol will love.

    Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    Shades of genius and the occasional original riff makes this one of the better heavy metal albums of the year. The riffs and the grooves are simple and the vocals kick ass all the way through. One of the finer offerings from the band since ‘Iron Will’ (which made me take notice of them the first time) this one is a keeper for the ages.

    – Dinesh Raghavendra

    7. Current 93 – I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell : A Channel

    Another unique album from the prolific David Tibet. On this album, Tibet collaborated with highly acclaimed musicians Nick Cave and John Zorn among other skilled musicians resulting in one of the most experimental and psychedelic folk albums of recent times.

    – Rohit Chaoji

    8. Snailking – Storm (ConSouling Sounds)

    Heavy and thundering – two words to sum up what goes on for the 50 odd minutes that this Storm lasts. This is a forward-thinking band who have delivered an important doom album that deserves every bit of your attention.

    – Anoop Bhat

    9. Domains – Sinister Ceremonies (The Sinister Flame)

    Another fantastic death metal with a very palatable old school vibe. This is not dirty and raw, but carefully crafted to keep it riff dominated. Plus, it borrows quite a bit from black metal in many places.

    – Dipankar Mohanty

     

    10. Nux Vomica – Nux Vomica (Relapse Records)

    At its heart a crusty punk record and yet taken adrift by leanings towards melodic death metal and black metal. Just 3 songs long and just about perfect in every way.

    – Nishanth

    11. Cardinal Wyrm – Black Hole Gods (Independent Release)

    Drummer/vocalist Pranjal Tiwari may have gone a bit overboard with the operatic vocals this time, but when the songs are given room to breathe, this Bay Area trio’s appeal is dark, seductive and hard to resist. Steeped in the occult and macabre, this band plays doom that’s slow, low and evil. Yummy!

    – Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    12. Have a Nice Life – The Unnatural World (The Flenser)

    After a wait of six years, Have a Nice Life released their second album. Although I had high expectations, which The Unnatural World did not exactly live up to, it is undoubtedly among the best post-punk/shoegaze albums of recent times as it manages to separate itself from the sea of endless uninspired releases that ape the same bands over and over again. This album is more bombastic and less on the emotional side compared to Deathconsciousness and that can be perceived either as a good or a bad thing.

    – Rohit Chaoji   

    13. Dead Congregation – Promulgation of the Fall (Martyrdoom Productions)

    These Grecian death metallers are bloody good at what they do and there is no stopping them.

    – Anoop Bhat

    14. Morbus Chron – Sweven (Century Media Records)

    The curveball (or an unreadable googly for Indian fans) of the year. This is not the old Morbus Chron but a new avatar altogether. Let’s say it’s a great metal record with lots of tasteful progressive melodies.

    – Dipankar Mohanty

    15. Herder – Gods (Reflections Records)

    Herder takes gets darker and heavier than ever before. The songs have more depth and there is a sinister feel that goes along with the in-your-face brutality the band became famous for. Featuring the incredible art of Mattias Frisk, this new album adds tons to the fucked up goodness to their output.

    -Dinesh Raghavendra

    Stoner Sludge with a bunch of Eastern musical leanings and gigantic riffs culminate in one of the best that the genre has to offer this year.

    -Nishanth

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  • Epica Live

    Epica takes the stage in two days

    Dec 26 • Events, Indian News, Interviews, News • 7564 Views

    Epica‘s going to hit India really soon ­and this is what they have to say about it! Epica’s about to touch ground at Mumbai in about 48 hours will take stage ,­and they have plenty to look forward to. Thousands of fans are making their way to that hallowed stage, and its guaranteed to be a memory­maker. And guess what? The Indian’s crowd’s reputation is pretty damn good. Just ask the band.” From stories we know that the crowd is wild, energetic, hot, and awesome!!!! ” ­ so they said.

    Epica to play on 28th December

    Epica to play on 28th December

    For Mumbai specifically, they have high hope. To quote them again , “We expect nothing less than a great party with lots of interaction between epics and metal fans!“. While its rather impossible that they will get anything less than what they expect ( Hello, this is one of Asia’s largest cultural festivals we’re talking about. ), let’s just see this is a heads­up to all you fans. Give the band a night to remember.

    They promise to play guaranteed hits from their older albums and well as newer creations, all of which share the characteristic individualism that underlines every miniscule aural particle of their sound. They explain the appeal of their music far better :
    We make music with our heart, I don’t mind what other bands do but we make exactly the music that we love to make and I have the feeling that those who make music like this will survive in the end. Because you can only play those songs day after day if you truly like them yourself. Besides that we work hard, care for our fans and give 100% for every album.

    Since they might consider doing a tour of India if all goes well this night ­ they admitted the possibility with a straightforward reply, “That would be great, we want to see how this first visit will go and take it further from there on.” ­ Indian metalheads need to be spiking their adrenaline levels, pump up on their Gatorades and other energy drinks ( Coffee, we meant coffee ) and give them what they came for.

    Oh, and they had this to say to our readers :
    Finally it’s gonna happen, we can’t wait to come over and rock the night with all of you!!! Keep the love coming!

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  • Horn of the Rhino – Summoning Deliverance

    Dec 17 • Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 3619 Views

    Dinesh Raghavendra reviews the new album from Horn of the Rhino titled Summoning Deliverance, released via Doomentia Records.

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    Artwork by Nick Keller

    Horn of the Rhino are a badass trio from the Basque. They have been active since 2010 and this is their fifth album. The band has been ridiculously prolific given their short history but there is not a single misstep so far. Almost every album has raised the bar higher than the previous one and I am seriously impressed with this talented group. They have a lot to offer and on this album they deliver their best.

    ‘Weight of the Coronation’ was easily one of my all-time favorites but with this one they have broken their benchmark. There are some huge riffs in here that redefine the idea of heavy music and I love the fuzz and the distortion that give this album such a good vibe. There is this basement tape feel to the production that gets the balance just right and I love this album for being so vividly different from almost all the other releases I have heard this year.

    Listening to Horn of the Rhino is a bit like being hit with a sledgehammer: there’s this raw, powerful impact, the aftershock and a breathlessness that follows the pounding.  Songs like ‘Builder of Carrion Effigies’ and ‘Exvenhstench’  grind and punch their way and their riffs smashing themselves into you. There is a lot of power packed in the vocals and the drumming is intense and huge. There is also the   Conan-esque doom heaviness here; songs that are slow, terrifying, and cruelly inhuman.  Check out ‘Their Tombs’ and feel yourself getting pounded into the gravel by the fists of the Ancient Gods.

    There are ten tracks with a secret number 11 that make a welcome addition to every metalhead’s collection.  ‘An Excess of Faith’ the tenth and final track has a riff that is unforgettable. These boys know how to play metal and they are masters of their craft. It is such a pleasure to listen to guitarist/vocalist Javier Gálvez, while bandmates Julen Gil and Sergio Robles back him up with bursting drumbeats and growling basslines respectively.  For me, ‘An Excess of Faith’ is the fitting climax to ‘Summoning Deliverance’s’ crushing movement.

    Thrash, doom, death, Horn of the Rhino offer you a solid cocktail with a mix of them all. There is definitely heavy chances of a hangover but fear not, this is one album that can make you feel all good in the head after the pounding (if you manage to make it to the end, that is) ‘Summoning Deliverance’ is a masterpiece of metal and its various sub-genres, the sound is hard and the lyrics are vicious.

    It’s hard to sit through these intense minutes of ‘doo-doo-doom doo-doo-doo-doom doom doo-doo-doom’, but just take a listen to it in headphones and I’ll be damned if you don’t remember the experience for eternity: the atmosphere is gripping and increasingly fascinating as they mount a mathematically precise ‘climactic’ tension that can only be compared to a similar ‘calculation’ in ‘Weight of the Coronation’.

    In short, just a good album. And hey, maybe it’s stupid to complain about the sound and the rough playing. That’s what you should be expecting from such a record, right? So it’s probably not their faults if they couldn’t get all their complex equipment to function correctly.  All in all, worth listening to and a valuable addition to your music library.

    RATING : 4/5

    This mighty tome will resurrect the dead, but it may not turn lead to gold

    Stream the entire album on bandcamp below

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