Diamonds in the Rough – January 2013

Mar 21 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2518 Views

Before our(this website’s) virtual annihilation by a few jobless hacker pricks late last year, i had this rather unique series running. Diamonds in the Rough. If any of our old readers could recall, Diamonds in the Rough was where i visited a few songs over the internet. Mind you, that all of those songs were off albums that saw release in a particular month. I embark on this rather exciting exercise towards the end of every month. This was also how i got to find some exciting new bands and releases myself. And here today, after the site has reincarnated itself, i am obliged to kickstart the series back again. and oh boy do i love doing this !

1. Revenge

Revenge – Hymns of Annihilation

Ever wondered how a band with a pure hardcore styled vocal delivery would sound with a rather metal, old school death to be precise, sound? Well here you have Revenge. Attached below is a song from their 2nd LP titled “Hymns of Annihilation” and unsurprisingly the song is titled “Annihilation”. With pure misanthropy, as depicted in the cover art above, as their motto i guarantee that this song will slaughter every soul in sight. Huge chunky riffs coupled with a vocal attack that is relentless yet typical of ‘straight in your face’ hardcore, you have a song that can well spur global obliteration on its own.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kchK1ex6sGc]

Follow them on Facebook

2.  Unburied

Unburied

My respect for Selfmadegod records, have quadrupled for they seem to sign the best of the brootz. Last year’s Masachist seemed like heaven sent. It was easily my favorite death metal album of 2012, yet still it never got the attention it deserved. Come 2013 and i guess i’ve found a likely replacement in Unburied, who were signed recently to Selfmadegod. These guys have been in the fray since 1994, the glory days of death metal, and that shows. Dabbling in the ever so unholy goregrind side of things, they seem fresh and instantly catchy. Attached below is a track which is probably from the entire album that has been uploaded on bandcamp. Due to personal preference, i happen to choose a track that is more death metal than grind. Make sure you  strap yourself to a chair before clicking the play button. Caution advised.

P.S. Although the bandcamp release date cites 17th Dec, 2012 the official pushed release date is Jan 8 2012.

Catch them on Facebook.

[bandcamp track=1094771772  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=090a0b size=venti]

3. Saille

Saille – Ritu

Think Dimmu Borgir, cut out all the excess cheese and fat, you have yourself  Saille. A brilliant symphonic black metal band, that seeks to explore the more darker side of metal although not with over the top imagery, but by its sheer auditory equivalent. With a penchant for utter destruction and the miasma of melancholy that soon follows, these guys will strip darkness to its finest thread. ‘Ritu’ their second outing via Code666 Records seeks to achieve just that and i am pretty sure they might as well accomplish it. Forgive my fanboyism, but i am sure as hell digging this.

 [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggCIKTNtrPY]

4. Ulcer

This band will have you hearken back to the Entombed era OSDM in a jiffy. The song starts with what sounds like the doors to hell opening and death being unleashed through them. The title track from the Ulcer’s new album ‘Grant us Death’  released via Pulverised Records is nothing short of crushing. The trademark edged guitar tone combined with an earth shattering groove, will leave you scampering for cover. The hellish vocal delivery further elevates the quality of the song.

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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwAFU0-RLV4]

5. Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult

And you here thought, that metal was sexist. Hell no! Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult is a female fronted black metal band from the pagan lands of Germany. Oneilar is one vocalist that will all other male black metal vocalists mere shadows of herself. This was a new find for me, and the music is as pure as it gets. The word ‘pure’ here refers to the direct influence that the band borrows from early Norwegian titans from Bergen, such as Darkthrone, Satyricon, early era Enslaved and the like. She belts out some of the most inhuman screams and rasps i’ve come across in a bloody long while!! And the song does not stick to the typical blast beat, tremolo line, it does include several clean passages later on in the song. Rightly titled ‘Necrocosmic vision’ , this will have you turning in your graves even after your inconsequential death. The track comes off their new album ‘Necrovision’

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OL6HTB1NTSs]

This was posted on Metal Spree on 2013/02/04.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Diamonds in the Rough – January 2013

Heavy Prescription: Man the Machetes, Disperse, Balescream

Mar 21 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 1835 Views

Yes another edition of Heavy Prescription and the internet is flooded with news regarding the leak/official leak of the new Killswitch Engage single. The track was brilliant and might as well signal a return to form for the melodic metalcore titans. Nonetheless, i do feel that there are a lot of less popular yet truly deserving the notice. Well here are a few of those tracks that i for one believe deserve a good listen.

Man the Machetes – IDIOKRATI

1. Man the Machetes

Catchiness has always been a relative feeling, but some songs just manage to inject potent quantities of it directly into the cranium. Kvelertak signed to the Norwegian label was one such band who were able to take single handedly take their brand music into infinitesimal levels of catchiness without sacrificing their hardcore roots that shine through. Now another band that has come to my attention is Man the Machetes. They are on the same label ‘Indie Recordings‘ that Kvelertak is on and seemingly so, sound musically more close to them as well. The track featured here is titled ‘Megaplask’ and quite obviously is in Norwegian.

The vibe that this track emanates will have you entranced in its melody and headbanging at the same moment. I wouldn’t call it metal by any means, but its easygoing and fun laden spirit, spurred me on to share this with you guys. Take a listen!

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Disperse – Artwork

2. Disperse

One can never be in doubt when it comes to metal in Poland. Housing heavyweights such as Behemoth, Vader and Decapitated, Poland is far from being non-metal. But they do have a thriving djent/tech metal scene, with its most immediate proponent in Jakub Zytecki(who is also featured in our compilation). Now heres a dude that has always been known to go entirely solo when it comes to music projects. Hes chosen to take up his joint venture, Disperse which seemed to be have been on the backburner all this long after Jakub himself, being one of its founding members and an album. Soon after signing with Season of Mist last year, they have been in top gear to produce their second album, ‘ Living Mirrors’ and luckily they’ve just released their first single off it, titled ‘Unbroken Shiver’.

Take Unbroken Shiver to be one epic tale, with grandiose characters, lush settings, nature etc. Yet it packs in quite the amount of groovy heaviness that the genre has always been known for. Catch them on Facebook.

Balescream

3. Balescream

Sometimes there is nothing better than melodic death metal with a fine splash of groove. Groove and melodeath dont usually go hand in hand, but these bunch of Australians, seem to do it rather far too fluidly. Balescream are a band from Newcastle, Australia and they have just about released their debut EP titled ‘Mark of the Revenant’. The titled track featured here starts off as an in-your-face groove metal tune to some fine soloing towards tend. The solo running almost the entire half of the song, is not any slogfest, but careful, planned and melodic. Check it here..

https://www.facebook.com/BalescreamBand

This was posted on Metal Spree on 2013/02/02.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Heavy Prescription: Man the Machetes, Disperse, Balescream

Dropkick Murphys – Signed and Sealed in Blood

Mar 21 • International News, Releases, Reviews, The Slumbering Ent • 2829 Views

Note: Our reviewer Dixit Sambyal thought it was time to put down that grim metal look for a moment and have some legit something non metal. Here he reviews the punk rock outfit Dropkick Murphys’ new album.

Dropkick Murphys – Signed and Sealed in Blood – Album Cover

Tracklist:

1. “The Boys Are Back” – 3:20
2. “Prisoner’s Song” – 2:37
3. “Rose Tattoo” – 5:06
4. “Burn” – 2:39
5. “Jimmy Collins’ Wake” (words written by Richard Johnson) – 2:59
6. “The Season’s Upon Us” – 4:02
7. “The Battle Rages On” – 2:17
8. “Don’t Tear Us Apart” – 3:01
9. “My Hero” – 3:10
10. “Out on the Town” – 3:02
11. “Out of our Heads” – 3:11
12. “End of the Night” – 5:17

“The Boys are back and they are looking for trouble” is what they say in the opening track and yeah the Boston based Celtic punks are backwith Accordions, tin whistles, bagpipes , banjo, mandolin and what not. No more political issues , no social causes to discuss and yeah, no story telling this time like they did on their last album “Going Out in Style”. Just some loud , fast(few mid tempo tunes too) and catchy tunes which are fun to sing along .

“Signed and Sealed in Blood” released on 8th January is bit different from band’s previous works as their music has evolved over the past few years.

Powerful vocals and a loud chorus gives a realistic feel to the 2nd track “Prisoner’s Song”, you can imagine the song, like the title suggested being sung out loud in a prison. Album’s lead single “Rose Tattoo” features Winston Marshall of Mumford  & Sons on banjo. It is the most remarkable track on the album . “Jimmy Collins’ Wake” is an eulogy/tribute to James Joseph Collins
(January 16, 1870 – March 6, 1943),a professional baseball player who was also the first manager of the Boston Red Sox , then known as the Boston Americans. He was the winning manager in the first-ever World Series.
“The Season’s Upon Us” is a funny Christmas song about a dysfunctional family and it is my personal favorite from the album.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xey1LnLRoT8]
“Out on the Town” came as surprise, it’s a funky and groovy track , makes you wanna move your feet to the tune. This track is something new from the band , something unexpected.

“Here we go, here we go,We’re out of our heads, and it’s starting to show  Here we go, here we go The roof is on fire and it’s ready to blow” is what they shout out loud in the track “Out of our Heads” which opens with the bagpipes and is another addition to their singalong tunes.

“End of the Night” is the perfect track to end the album, a slow track with lyrics which give a great ending to the album and slow tempo music which fades towards the end makes it more awesome. The album also offers some fast punk rock tracks like “The Battle Rages On” , “Burn” , “My Hero” .

Its a wonderful album, each track is different from the next and the production is top notch to say the least, you can hear each and every instrument making its presence felt throughout the album. Every song has a different emotional element ranging from aggression to melancholia and happiness to family love. The powerful vocals and strong choruses synchronized with the variety of instruments make this a great listening experience.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebsxyt4arZQ]

This was posted on Metal Spree on 2013/01/30.

Sanath Kumar • No Comments on Dropkick Murphys – Signed and Sealed in Blood