Metal Briefs: Death Metal 1992

The Golden Era, Part 3

The golden era of death metal was in full swing in 1992, and the geographical/stylistic outgrowth continued. Death metal continued its path toward brutality, but also slowed down and developed death/doom.

Cenotaph: The Gloomy Reflection of Our Hidden Sorrows

Cenotaph hailed from Mexico City, the most densely populated city on the planet. It's home to rich culture as well as urban decay and poverty. Sound like New York city to you--especially New York circa 1992? So it should come as no surprise that they adopted a brutal, ultra-heavy death metal style similar to New York's Suffocation. The death growls are heard from deep within the catacombs, and the riffs are spawned there but can't be contained by stone and earth. They alternate between blasts and steamrolling riffs, including a couple breakdowns, plenty of chromatic solos, and some progressive tendencies on the longer tracks. This is devastating. I give The Gloomy Reflection of Our Hidden Sorrows 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The World. The Flesh. The Devil v. Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae

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Mercyful Fate is the greatest metal band, ever. Melissa and Don't Break the Oath are easily on par with Vol. 4 and Master of Puppets. Shermann and Denner have the most distinctive (and excellent) double-guitar riffing in the genre, and I recently named King Diamond as the greatest metal vocalist of all time. I defy you to find any issue of Decibel or Terrorizer that doesn't mention the glorious MF or KD. Try to argue with me, and you will come up with only four or five other bands that could possibly claim the title: Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and maybe Celtic Frost. But each and every one of those bands has bad albums to their name. Not so for the great Danes.

Two bands have recently been recommended as Mercyful Fate sound-alikes: In Solitude and Portrait. They have quite a bit in common with each other besides that comparison. Both are from Sweden. Both are on Metal Blade. Both released their debut albums in 2008. And both released their sophomore albums (with verbose titles) this May.

First, I'll take up In Solitude and The World. The Flesh. The Devil. There are plenty of Fate-isms here. Primarily you'll find it in the work of frontman Pelle Åhman, who, like King, is the only one in his band to wear face paint. The lyrics about evil, demons, and sacrifice could easily have been penned by King, and the vocal phrasing is distinctly similar. In terms of range, Åhman doesn't shoot for the falsettos, but sounds a lot like King's mid-range, and also does the occasional growl.

Novembers Doom: Aphotic (2011)

Review

My first exposure to Novembers Doom was in their very well-received The Novella Reservoir. I didn't hear the much less lauded Into Night's Requiem Infernal, but I had high hopes for the band's number eight.

Aphotic is instantly identifiable as a product of the Chicago death/doom band. It's a cleanly produced blend of mid-American death metal and English death/doom, complete with some excellent riffing and vocal work. In fact, the death growls are top-tier, while the baritone clean vocals (usually in harmonized layers) are equally powerful.

Metal Briefs: Bandcamp, Part 1

There are a lot of free or pay-what-you-want albums out there on Bandcamp, and a whole lot of them are garbage. But you know what? There are some hidden gems. So I've been slogging through them. Hopefully, I can save you some time.

Fiends at Feast: Shadows of Extinction (2011)

If you follow That's How Kids Die, there's no chance you missed some love for California blackened death metallers Fiends at Feast. This is aggressive, raw, and catchy. They throw in some Spanish acoustic stuff and what I think is cello, and put a lot of emphasis on the bass on the B-side, "Revelations ov Chaos". My only complaint is that I have to turn the volume way up to hear it. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars. What's available on their Bandcamp isn't technically the whole EP, which consists of five tracks, so consider this a review of the two-song single. They say the EP is available from them, but the Bandcamp doesn't explain how.

Dream Evil: "The Book of Heavy Metal"

After hearing it on the MetalCast, my 4-year-old has a new favorite song, the title track from Dream Evil's The Book of Heavy Metal. We sing along three times a day now.

Obscure Bands: Promiscuity

Israel's Promiscuity performs filthy, raw speed metal in the proudest and most disgusting tradition. Think Venom, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what they're doing. Their demo Infernal Rock N' Roll is for pay-what-you-want (or $5 cassette) on their Bandcamp page (link at the bottom of the interview). I had a chance to ask them a few questions about ugly metal in Israel.

FMA: Who is Promiscuity, and how did the band get started?

Werewolf: The lineup is Butcher (vocals+axe), Dekapitator (drums) and myself on bass. It started because of my urge to write some primitive and ugly riffs and lyrics and started to take real shape when Butcher joined forces with me.

The collaboration with Butcher was just inevitable - he is the only like-minded Metalhead I know within a radius of minimum 50km and I couldn't have any doubt about his great writing and playing skills after having heard his 1-man Death Metal project MORBID TENDENCY.

Once Dekapitator agreed to help us as a drummer, it didn't take long until "Infernal Rock N' Roll" was recorded. Dekapitator lives around half a country away from us (which is not really too far, but does make things more complicated) and plays in other bands, so he isn't involved in the writing process, but that works just perfectly for the 3 of us.

FMA: Some people have a hard time thinking about a band from Israel without letting politics get in the way. What do you have to say to them?

Werewolf: "Some people have a hard time thinking" - I couldn't agree more, this phenomenon is very common nowadays, which is very sad! But they aren't worth my time, just like I guess they think that I'm not worth theirs, eh?

Butcher: I would tell them - FOAD!

Sinister Realm: The Crystal Eye (2011)

Review

Shadow Kingdom's PR contacted me with a review copy of the sophomore release from Pennsylvania heavy metallers Sinister Realm.

Sinister Realm checks all the right boxes. At their normal mid-paced gallop, they sound very Iron Maiden. When they slow down, they sound like Candlemass. Comparisons don't get any better than that within the traditional metal camp. These dudes know how to write a riff or a solo, and more importantly, they know how to write hooks that are catchy as hell. I want to ride with them, "with swords held high".

Lo-Fi Photography as Album Art

Is lo-fi photography the next trend in metal album art?

With today's technology, any idiot can create a pristine, technically flawless recording. But it ends up feeling sterile. That's not the way we experience things in real life, so why would we want to experience a recording that way? Analog equipment forces the artist to slow down and carefully consider everything. It also allows the rawness of real life to come through.

The same goes for photography. The ease of creating a "perfect" image with a digital camera and Photoshop has led to a counter-movement of people embracing the quirkiness of film and cameras through techniques like redscale and double exposure. It's not only this, but also bad film, expired film, weird lenses, and really crappy cameras. The most iconic of these is the Holga, a Chinese-manufactured camera which is notorious for its cheap lenses and light leaks.

Cover art for Decapitated's Carnival Is Forever. It appears the photo was taken with a Holga or a similar camera. If even a tech-death band is using lo-fi photography, you know you'll see it a lot more in the near future.

Photography has not exactly had a storied history as metal album art. You're far more likely to find painted, drawn, or even computer-generated art on the cover of your favorite albums. But with the similarities of the lo-fi recording and lo-fi photography movements, I predict you'll see a lot more of it in coming days.

Loss: Despond (2011)

Review

Even among metalheads, funeral doom is not a genre with wide appeal. The reason is probably that most bands in the genre are content simply to plod along without doing anything interesting. Even some of the good ones are happy with atmosphere alone. Only a handful of great funeral doom bands create mood and melody.

Nashville's Loss is one of those great funeral doom bands. Despond is only their first full-length, but they already display such mastery of the genre that I have no qualms about declaring their greatness.

Metal Briefs: Death Metal 1991

The Golden Era, Part 2

In 1991, death metal exploded. More Swe-death bands were digging up through the Scandinavian permafrost, and the Florida swamps were still spawning new horrors. But the best new development was from the urban decay of New York.

Not only was it growing geographically, but also stylistically. The year saw death metal go progressive and technical, with Atheist jumping on the scene and Death recording the first of a magnificent four-album run in their more progressive style. But it also saw further exploration of evil atmosphere, as well as the rise of brutality.

It may be the single best year for death metal, and if I reviewed every album released that year, I'd probably end up with a dozen perfect or near-perfect scores just within that genre. But here are just three worth your attention.

Autopsy: Mental Funeral

California's Autopsy had a different view on death metal from the time they started. They took it slow. It's almost death/doom at times, but that pace allows the creepy atmosphere to take over. Throw in lots of tempo and riff changes and a handful of bizarre solos, and Mental Funeral was something unique at the time. The drumming is interesting and varied (check out the tribal stuff in "Destined to Fester") and the bass is a fully audible grounding to the sometimes strange lead guitar work. A few points must be taken off for a somewhat thin production, and the fact "Dead" seems less than fully-formed. Otherwise, this is a beast. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.