Death Worship -- Extermination Mass (review)

Band: Death Worship
Album: Extermination Mass
Genre: war metal
Year: 2016
Label: Nuclear War Now! Productions

Alongside harsh noise and mincecore, war metal is one of the most primitive styles of music in existence.  Inspired by the relentless chaos of Sarcófago, Beherit, and Blasphemy, one would be hard-pressed to find a form of music more bestial in nature.
Hailing from Canada, Death Worship features Ryan Förster and James Read of the infamous Conqueror, but this project has a slightly different approach to war-making.  The album displays a certain level of restraint, particularly in the vocal department.  Förster's raspy growls are almost whispered over the constant blast beats.  They conjure a certain presence that can best be described as unsettling.  Needless to say, it seems the vocalist is the ghastly skeleton that graces the EP's cover art.
With the unique approach to vocals aside, the instrumentation is rather straightforward for this particular style of music, as expected.  Buzzing riffs and blast beats dominate the structures.  Occasionally the drums slow down just a bit, but Read always returns to pounding away at breakneck speed.  Blistering, chaotic guitar solos dot the tracks as if to remind the listener that this is, in fact, music.
If you are looking for a group that knows what war metal is all about but throws in a little (and I mean a little) something different, look no further than Death Worship.  This EP is sure to appease fans of this approach to black/death metal, and perhaps that is all it's good for.  Little variation across all six tracks means that this thing will probably grow stale over time; nonetheless, this EP is a savage beating.  You can listen to Extermination Mass on YouTube here.


Rating: 3 / 5
Top Tracks:
Evocation Chamber
Holocaust Altar

Pagoda Mast -- Musashi (review)

Band: Pagoda Mast
Album: Musashi
Genre: blackened harsh noise wall
Year: 2016
Label: independent

If you are looking for bleak, soulless 'music', look no further than Pagoda Mast.  This Imperial Japanese Navy-inspired noise project is the epitome of audio depravity.  The one-man project's fourth demo, Musashi, is named after the IJN battleship which sank in 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  The two-hour tribute to said vessel is nothing short of haunting.
The album begins with the track "Yamato."  The opening seems to be the sounds of the wind blowing over the deck of a ship.  This quickly gives way to an abrasive wall of noise.  The sound is thick and sharp.  No fragment of happiness or beauty can penetrate it.  The pattern shifts as the track progresses, but the aforementioned characteristics remain.  After a half-hour of wreaking audio havoc, the first track concludes only to be succeeded by "Untitled I."
The noise seems to come from a variety of sources aside from the usual noise 'instruments'.  Samples from documentaries about the Imperial Japanese Navy are amplified to ear-splitting volumes, and vocals seem to be employed at various points.  The vocals (if that's what it is, maybe I'm just hearing things) are piercing black metal shrieks.  In fact, this album has black metal written all over it.
The thirty-minute title track sounds like a black metal song drenched in noise to the point of being unrecognizable.  One can almost pick out a faint melody beneath the relentless chaos.  "Shinano" also feels like a gritty black metal tune, and "111" has a distinct, sorrowful melody and faint blast beats throughout.  The closing "A-150" features a heavy, mechanical beat reminiscent of industrial music.  Once the track clocks out, the listener is left with a sharp ringing in their ears.  That, my friend, is the sign of some grade-A harsh noise.
Pagoda Mast's Musashi is an unrelenting beast of an album.  From start to finish, there is no room to breathe and no way to cry for help.  Immerse yourself in this sickening noise wall, which can be found on Pagoda Mast's bandcamp here.


Rating: 4.5 / 5
Top Tracks:
Yamato
Musashi
111

Project Nefast -- Dogma (review)

Artist: Project Nefast
Album: Dogma
Genre: psychedelic black metal
Year: 2016
Label: independent

This review comes in anticipation of Project Nefast's forthcoming album, Sex Money Power.

Project Nefast hail from the Netherlands and deliver a hypnotic, droning form of black metal.  Their sophomore full-length, Dogma, is rather simple, yet the Dutch trio manages to drown the listener in a whirlwind of psychedelic noise.  The album consists of a single, 36-minute track titled "Obsession" which, according to the band, is subdivided into four distinct movements.
The first section consists of droning noise and light guitar feedback which creates a soothing atmosphere that is juxtaposed with the vocalist shouting an unintelligible phrase over and over.  The droning sounds very light and soft despite the fact that it is drowning out the vocalist, who is clearly shouting.
The second movement interrupts and takes the track in a different direction.  The drums provide a solid foundation for a methodical bassline, and the guitar takes center stage, building in intensity over time.  The drummer breaks out into a steady blast beat as the guitar riff becomes a wall of sound.  This passage seems to flow over the listener like the ocean tide.  The vocalist returns, seemingly distant amidst the shimmering atmosphere.
Out of nowhere, the band abruptly stops, snapping the listener out of their trance.  The guitar begins a new riff, this one much slower and more doom metal in nature.  Feedback fills in the gaps between each note, and the vocalist continues to wail as the drummer plays a slow, thumping beat.  The song takes on a heavy, oppressive nature.  It seems to weigh down on the listener, dragging them deeper into the depths.  Over time, the riff becomes a single droning note repeated ad nauseam until it fades, leaving only the bass and drums to steadily continue.
The final movement builds off of the beat and bassline of the previous one.  The focus is a hypnotizing guitar jam that is drenched in psychedelia.  The intensity builds and crashes repeatedly, like rolling waves, until the track finally comes to a close.
This release shows the band's ability to compose and execute lengthy, singular pieces.  The methodical nature of the music adds to the psychedelic atmosphere created by the guitars.  I am really looking forward to the band's work in the future!  Download this album for free from Project Nefast's bandcamp here.


Rating: 4 / 5