Your End -- Le sombre triomphe (review)

Band: Your End
Album: Le sombre triomphe
Genre: blackened death/grind/sludge
Year: 2017
Label: independent

Your End started out as an extreme metal duo in 2017, but they sound as if they've been honing there sound for at least half a decade.  Needless to say, these guys exist to deliver sludgy, HM-2-driven black/death.
The EP opens with my personal favorite track, "Endless Agony."  The sludgy riffing and crushing breakdown set the morbid tone for the hail of frantic blasts and dark melodies that follow.  When the band kicks it into high-gear, the songs sound as if they are on the verge of falling apart, like all the screws are loose and everything is violently rattling.  As a result, the music sounds urgent, as if Your End is trying to record the whole thing before they shatter into oblivion.  That may not sound so good on paper, but the EP benefits from this greatly.
The pacing of the music varies from frantic blast beats to slower sludge metal passages.  There are plenty of riffs and melodies to make each track stand out from the rest.  The vocals are very much a cross between black metal rasps and grindcore growls and grunts.  The track "Dead Before Dawn" even briefly features some more emotive vocals.
Overall, Le sombre triomphe is an excellent, raw debut release from this American extreme metal duo (now a trio).  I highly recommend procuring their full catalog.  You can download this EP (for free/name your price) on bandcamp.


Rating: 4 / 5
Top Tracks:
Endless Agony
Dead Before Dawn
Drain

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

Behemoth -- The Satanist (review)

Artist: Behemoth
Album: The Satanist
Genre: blackened death metal
Year: 2014
Label: Nuclear Blast Records

When Behemoth released their first album since frontman Nergal's successful battle with cancer, there was a massive uproar across the internet.  The Satanist scored pretty high on many peoples' year-end lists for 2014, but I chose to skip over this one.  I never have been a fan of Behemoth.  At the time, I was only familiar with the song "Slaves Shall Serve" and possibly the new single "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel."  Frankly, the Polish black/death giants just were not my cup of tea, but I have finally come around to listening to their latest effort -- three years later... and what an album it is!
The album opens with the aforementioned "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel," which easily has one of the greatest metal riffs ever written.  The song is a constant build-up of tension that finally explodes into a whirlwind of blast beats and guitar leads.  I really like how Behemoth incorporate horns into the composition, as they add a nice atmospheric touch.  "Furor divinus" is a straight blaster that closes with a bang, and "Messe noir" oscillates between atmospheric mid-tempo rumbles and controlled blast beat assaults.
"Ora pro nobis Lucifer" is dominated by rolling double bass drumming and has the most memorable chorus on the whole album.  The band delivers a crushing breakdown and killer guitar solo before transitioning into the next track.  Like "Furor divinus," "Amen" is filled to the brim with high-octane blast beats.  Despite the very straightforward nature of the album so far, the band manages to keep the formula interesting with occasional symphonic elements, a gripping atmosphere, and memorable riffs.
The album's second half sees the band moving in a whole new direction entirely.  The title track brings in stronger rock elements while maintaining the dark atmosphere and death metal intensity.  The guitar solo at the track's climax is easily one of my all-time favorites.  The entire song was clearly built around the solo, as the tension built up during the verses and chorus is finally released in a torrent of notes.  "Ben Sahar" also has a more rock-oriented feel to it, accompanied by choral arrangements that give the track an epic feel.
"In the Absence ov Light" at first seems to be a return to Behemoth's repertoire of blast beats and pure black/death riffage, but an abrupt spoken word passage throws the listener for a loop.  A saxophone and acoustic guitars provide a backdrop for Nergal's monologue, delivered in the Polish tongue.  The final passage of the song consists of a droning, melodic riff accompanied by a mechanical drum build-up.  An intense feeling of despair washes over the listener as the instruments fade into blackness and the final track billows through the speakers.  "O Father O Satan O Sun!" is one of the best album closers I have ever heard.  Nergal layers multiple vocal parts to create a powerful choral effect that melds perfectly with the intense instrumentation.  The final passage seals the package perfectly with another spoken passage.
The Satanist is a powerful composition which explores a number of different ideas over its 44-minute running time.  This record easily rests among the greatest death metal albums of all time.  I am anticipating their next studio effort, but until then you can give this masterpiece a listen on YouTube here.


Rating: 5 / 5
Top Tracks:
The Satanist
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
O Father O Satan O Sun!
Furor divinus

Implore -- Depopulation (review)

Artist: Implore
Album: Depopulation
Genre: blackened deathgrind
Year: 2015
Label: Pelagic Records

I am writing this review in anticipation of the Friday release of the band's sophomore album.

Implore are a relatively new trio from Germany, yet they sound as if they are veterans of the European metal scene.  The band's sound is a seamless mixture of crusty grindcore and HM-2 buzzsaw death metal (a la Dismember) with a blackened overtone.
The band rips through fourteen tracks in under thirty minutes like any good grindcore band would, but they manage to pack the record with diverse arrangements.  From short bursts like "Cadavers On Parade" to more drawn out numbers like "Hegelian Dialectic," Implore manage to weave together an aggressive masterpiece that not only pummels the listener but also provides more crushing sections.  "Ruthless Conspiracy" and the aforementioned "Hegelian Dialectic" both showcase the band's ability to slow down the tempo without losing steam.
Depopulation manages to stand as a single body of work as opposed to fourteen individual parts thrown together thoughtlessly.  Each song bleeds into the next by means of brief feedback interludes; therefore, the flow of the album is never broken by silence or a (often tasteless) track fade-out.  Samples are also used throughout the album, but the band does not use them as a crutch to spice up an otherwise boring album.  Rather, brief samples are woven into the compositions as a means of enhancing the dark atmosphere already conjured by the guitars.
Implore does not just ravage the listener with wave after wave of blast beats and riffs.  They also tastefully weave crushing breakdowns into their compositions.  Tracks such as "Sentenced" and "Bohemian Grove" prove to be excellent headbangers amongst the grinding chaos.  The album closer, "Inexorable Malignancy," contains one of the greatest breakdowns I have ever heard (and I've listened to a lot of slam...), and the band top it off with a powerful lead that I feel punctuates the album perfectly.
This is easily one of the best albums of 2015, and it's exciting to see that it is only Implore's first full-length.  Be sure to give this record a spin; you can stream it on YouTube here.


Rating: 4 / 5
Top Tracks:
Inexorable Malignancy
Epicyte / Parasite
Sentenced
Bohemian Grove