Torchure - Beyond the Veil

 

First, let’s take a moment to stop laughing at the intro track’s classic shitty-spooky synth nonsense with bonus harpsichord silliness for that old haunted castle feeling. Once the muscles in your sides stop aching from laughter, it’s pretty clear right away that Torchure’s 1992 album is actually a decent death/doom metal album in the vein of Asphyx, with maybe slight touches of Samael’s contemporary releases in terms of the guitar tone and riffing. Torchure’s distinctive sound here comes from the thin but sharp-edged guitar tones that rely on the bass to fill the low-end, and everything has the mid-paced even tempo that is a hallmark of this particular vein of metal. While Asphyx’s flavor of death/doom wasn’t the most crowded branch of metal, the less prolific Torchure never rose to anywhere near to the same level of renown or popularity. There’s a good reason for this, “Beyond the Veil” is a passable album, but far from a forgotten gem. Overall, “Beyond the Veil” is a release to check out for people dedicated to this particular style, but otherwise not essential.

“Beyond the Veil” is one of those albums that you listen to and think “cool” but a week later you couldn’t praise a single specific thing about it. Mid-range vocals, mid-paced tempo, even pacing, all end up being more than just sub-genre markers, they are ingredients for forgetability. In this sense, Torchure can’t support the heaviness of their doom inclinations. The tempos are slow for death metal, and here this is too slow because the songs tend to languish on rather than strongly conveying any feeling. So, while overall mood and feel could be called tortured, the primary flavor is simply standard doom/death. Since death and doom metal are both pretty damn cool, and Asphyx is cool, Torchure manages to get through the unremarkable album with only a few hiccups. Even the oh so trite nod to Chopin’s Funeral March on the outro to “Resort to Mortality” is something that you can let slide with only a modest sigh or eye roll, because hey it’s not great but it’s not bad either.

Outside of the intro, two other parts of the album are not excusable. On this particular version, “Mortal at Last” and “Vortex of Thoughts” are “bonus” tracks that take a very liberal view of the word “bonus.” Both are unnecessary reprisals of the intro’s silly synth stuff in what is an obvious attempt at cheap variation and album length padding. It’s like calling a hat an “interlude vertebrae” and claiming that it makes you taller - but nothing real is beyond the veil. Just because a band member owns a keyboard it doesn’t mean that the laundry and paperwork covering it need to be removed so it can be used on the album. “Mortal at Last” at least has a clear display of how powerful vocals don’t necessarily mean screaming your lungs out of your body, but these vocals are really more enjoyable in the context of actual songs.

Despite the intro and these diversions, “Beyond the Veil” still has an overbearing sense of evenness. Although the tempo doesn’t strictly stay the same on the album, it may as well have in many places. Musical changes here are muted and fall into familiar patterns because even when things like tempo or vocals or rhythm change a tad, the overall sound never really varies. Many of the chord progressions stay well into the low range and have little variation between the kinds of chords used. The brooding atmosphere and slower tempos are fine and work in small doses, but become a drain when listening to the album as a whole because of this sameness. As a result, the album is overly long, even without the filler material that absolutely should have been cut.

Problems aside, there is plenty to like here and the moderate flavor also makes for moderate quality. The vocals in particular have really smooth transitions from the main style down to deep gutturals, even changing style within single syllables without any struggle. Some of the longer vocal notes resolve with lower growls, less distorted than the initial attack, creating a sense of power, even as the vocals are releasing the notes. This is a sign of the strength and confidence of someone well acquainted with their own voice, also made clear by the tastefully sparse amount of reverb. The drums similarly show a stripped down confidence and strength, using doublebass as an accent rather than a wall, which is entirely appropriate for the style.

The overall homogeneity leaves little reason to point out parts of the album that are high points (or low points aside from the synth nonsense), but generally the better parts are more varied structurally and rhythmically, which allows the band to let their heavier inclinations shine by using lighter contrasts. To reiterate, this album might be of interest for those into the style, or as a historical note, but Torchure’s music is the kind of stuff that would be more enjoyable as part of a playlist including several bands rather than as an album experience. “Beyond the Veil” is not bad, but it’s nothing special either.

Drugs of Faith and Crypter Live Tapes!

Contaminated Tones is proud to announce two new live tapes that will be available quite soon! 

The first will be a recording of Drugs of Faith's 2012 show at Tobacco Road in NYC. Killer Grind band who recently released "Architectural Failures" EP as well as a flexi with a cover of Sacrifice's Re-Animation. This should be out before the end of July...

The second live tape will be from Massachusetts' own Crypter, a recording of their Sidebar performance from Maryland Deathfest. Crypter released their debut full length on June 24th titled "Suffer The Hands Of Filth." Basically, a modern day Hellhammer...  

Mortalicum - Tears From The Grave

Some argue there is a total lack of good metal being put out and refuse to listen to anything beyond their frame of reference as to when "good metal" ended. They're undeniably wrong. How many people can you think of that refuse to listen to anything beyond 198? Luckily for me, Mortalicum, for their past two albums have been a beacon of quality in a now-saturated market of Doom Metal and Traditional Doom. While many bands barely manage a single good song on with a release, Mortalicum have been able to put out entire albums of powerful Doom and Heavy Metal without flinching. Their new album is no different. Tears From The Grave picks up at the same spot where The Endtime Prophecy left off. What is noticeable about Tears From The Grave is how Mortalicum have slowed down yet again. Much like the drop in speed between Progress Of Doom and The Endtime Prophecy, yet again the material slows down just a tad bit more. While there are a couple of faster tracks, for the majority of this albums run-time, we're moving at the speed of snail. It's not a problem though, in combination with the turndown in speed, there is a decisive jamminess and garage-rock feel to these songs. Songs like the title track move through long sessions of solos and instrumental parts like a garage band rehearsing riffs to find the perfect take. Opening the album we get a big ole "Yeah!" from guitarist / vocalist Henrik Högl.

I would put it like this: if The Endtime Prophecy were Pentagram, then Tears From The Grave would be Day of Reckoning. It's a different vibe, a more relaxed feel in sound and production. Perhaps Patrick Backlund's very noticeable bass on this record draws out that smoothness and fluidity. The clarity is excellent and the production and mixing are superbly done but Henrik's vocals can at times be pushed too far back in the mix and taking the backseat, especially in songs like "Spirits Of The Dead" and "The Passage." Even so, with the great separation between instruments, it's astounding how 'together' Mortalicum sound on this release. They fill in the record really well and something as minor and unnoticeable for most listeners won't affect the overall effect this album should have. Andreas Häggström's drums are very natural sounding, with little done their overall timbre. The kick drum is particularly massive and the cymbals are bright. The clarity is very noticeable during moments of harmony and leads. Each note can be the focus of attention.

Highlights for me are very definite, as they had been on Mortalicum's previous two albums. "The Endless Sacrifice" is a top-quality starter with a huge memorable intro riff and resounding  chorus. It's very similar as a starter on this album as "Guiding Star" was on Progress of Doom - starting us off very doomy and primes the album. "I Dream Of Dying," other than being another of those-cult-classic in the making tracks, shows Mortalicum sweeping through one of the grandest instrumental sections of their catalog yet. Both screaming leads, solos and a mellowed out Sabbathesque transitional section akin to the middle of "Damnation of the Soul" off Progress of Doom are expertly paired together like a fine wine and entrée. "I Am Sin" is also a huge track, though once again mid-tempo, moments impress a sense of urgency and energy. The verse riffs end with bluesy guitar runs. Sweeping choruses once again appear here also. In addition, the lyrics across the album are generally well written as well and worth some time. "The Passage"'s are particularly of interest to me, as we've all contemplated our own demise and the life beyond. The subject matter in the other songs is also similar but each song focuses on something a little different, the angles and perspectives shedding different light on death, dying, being dead, laying in coffins and other funerary interests. It's standard fare, yes. But it's done really well and with heart.

This is a strong album. Tears From The Grave is confident in itself and it's contents. While there are comparisons that can be made, it really doesn't need them to be enjoyable, or described and I'd expect less name-dropping of similar bands and groups from reviewers that take the time to listen deeply to this album. While The Endtime Prophecy may be a slightly better album overall, with Tears From The Grave, Mortalicum have honed their sound ever-so-slightly without losing ground with their penchant for excellently composed songs and memorable moments. It's easy to feel the weight of Mortalicum here both through the instrumental material as well as the subject matter. You can get the feeling that these are three guys from a down out in bumblefuck Sweden that live dark and morose lives but In reality, this is a band of three genuinely nice guys that can really pump out some quality heavy doom that is dark, thoughtful and engaging.

CTP - 015 - I: Maximum Oversatan - Satanic Invasion

Classic Heavy Metal churned and burned with the power to destroy alongside Satan! Motorhead and Venom are still huge influences here but Maximum Oversatan has incorporated a tint of Hard Rock and Thrash onto this release. Above all though, Satanic Invasion is still grimy and gritty and dirtier than a neglected beard.

CTP - 015 - I: 127 Copies. $6.00. 

Kings Destroy - A Time Of Hunting

I discovered Kings Destroy in the live arena. When my good friends in Clamfight had their album release party for I Vs The Glacier at Brooklyn's Union Pool on November 9th of 2012,  Kings Destroy provided a killer closing set to burn the night away. A year later, Kings Destroy once again teamed up with Clamfight for a show at St. Vitus bar and it was this time I was really impressed with their performance. They had played a handful of tracks off their then-recently released A Time Of Hunting. I bought the CD and almost immediately I lost it in my collection like I do so many other things. Only now have I come back to it and with favorable memories in tow, Kings Destroy once again destroyed me, this time however in the comfort of my own vehicle. I can't say which environ I prefer. Kings Destroy are royalty in both climates.


A Time Of Hunting, which originally was going to be titled Turul, follows closely to it's predecessor And the Rest Will Surely Perish, but is just so much stronger. Kings Destroy's sound is difficult to pinpoint but the foundation of Stoner Doom and spritzes of Sludge riffs mesh well as they almost always do. Kings Destroy pulls it a step further though. Comparisons have been made to a slew of bands but Kings Destroy's progressive edge should draw comparisons to Baltimore natives Revelation and similarities to their 1995 cult classic ...Yet So Far are in surplus. By connection the influence of Trouble is definite. Vocalist Stephen Murphy has a unique approach to his pronunciations and inflections as more often than not in verse sections he can be founding both crooning and slurring slightly while being much more discernible in chorus sections. Without a lyric sheet in the CD packaging, it can be difficult to sing along and grasp some of the lyrics, even if very often the listener will suffer from moments of deja-vu.  Later in the album's playtime during the title track as well as "Blood of Recompense" and "Shattered Pattern," I hear similarities to Alice In Chains even in Murphy's voice although with a tint of shyness compared to Layne Staley.

Integral to the Kings Destroy sound is the immaculate playing of bassist Aaron Bumpus, who happens to also have one of the bassiest of names since Geezer Butler. His playing is much in the same style, and he is a vast improvement over the less active playing of Ed Bocchino on the debut. The incorporation of perfectly felt fills and slides to fill out slower sections adds further complexity to the eight heavy tracks here. Rob Sefcik rounds out the rhythm section but in contrast usually underplays. I wouldn't say the drums on this record don't shine, but they also don't really add much, even with a big strong drum intro to opener "Stormbreak." The placement of the drums in the mix is behind most of the other instruments and guitars, forcing the listener to pay less attention to them. Consciously or unconsciously, this is one of the few qualms I have with A Time Of Hunting - this and the length of the album which might be one song too long in my opinion. This places the emphasize purely on the riffs which is a challenge which guitarists Carl Porcaro and Chris Skowronski are eager to undertake.

This album has riffs in big chunks and little chunks and all sorts of shaped and sized riffs in between, like an asteroid field of grooves and gruff. From the beginning "Stormbreak," one of my favorites on A Time Of Hunting, through the latter soakers like "Blood of Recompense," there is hardly a moment in which we aren't engaged with the guitar rhythms and interplay. "Casse-Tete" is also a huge favorite of mine on the album and probably the closest to what I would choose as a single. This is also one of the tracks I remember most from their live sets along with "The Mountie" off their debut. It's a mid-paced song, which doesn't have much of it's own personality on the instrumental side but the vocals add grit here, and Murphy may be at his most theatrical on this track. Instrumentally, even though it's quite simple and clean, the melodies are rich enough to support the simple premise. Even Rob Sefcik stands out with some excellent fills prior to the solo section.

Much like the rest of the album, it's Stoner Doom / Rock at it's best. Kings Destroy have a powerful album in A Time Of Hunting. Paired with a great live performance, this band will create some serious fans if they can burst out of the New York City scene and get to some other areas. There's a lot of awesome here.

Dead Earth Politics - The Queen of Steel

Dead Earth Politics is a heavy hitting groove / thrash band from Texas and sounds exactly like a what you would expect a band like that to sound like. They're not far off from Volbeat really, maybe a bit rougher around the edges, foregoing some of the rock moments for Killswitch Engage styled screams and whatnot. They're not bad for the style really, and they refuse to fall into a category. Halfway through opening track to their The Queen of Steel  EP, "Redneck Dragonslayer," we get some faster thrashy riffs, some double-timed drums and energetic solos and then the track ends with a standard breakdown beat sans the generic breakdown. You could sense that modern In Flames and other melodic death metal influences are at play. I'm sure these guys all enjoy Mastadon's debut album. The other two tracks also employ some of the same techniques and ride heavily on strong hooks in the choruses.

The performance of vocalist Ven Scott is quite impressive. Throaty harsh vocals and some strong and masculine clean vocals make his portion of the performance perfect for lurkers looking for something new but not too new or too challenging to taste. It's tough to determine if there is and who might be other stand outs for the band. Bassist Will Little is content to follow the guitars mostly and pick up the rhythm of drummer Mason Evans who, if I had to make a choice for another highlight, it would be some of his drum paterns such as those in the early moments of "Madness of the Wanderer," but not his drum patterns elsewhere in the song - heavy handed and overly groovy slams. Guitarists Tim Driscoll and Aaron Canady are quite good but hardly spectacular when it comes to the rhythm section but the leads in these tracks are unique. Neoclassical influence is obvious in the leads in all the songs and also in the bridges and transition parts of above mentioned "Madness."

 

My gripe with the EP, which is done very well, is that while the three songs here are just enough for me, especially with the obnoxious pounding rhythms in closing track. A full album of this type of material would really do me in for a tough long nightmare but I can see where others would relish in it. There is definitely a fan base for this material but I'm not that person. What I can applaud though is how this really sounds just like a few good friends getting together, knocking back some beers and jamming out. It's not jammy or garagey but it's hardly hokum either.

Paimonia - Disease Named Humanity

Paimonia’s “Disease Named Humanity” is a 2013 album that combines black metal dissonance to a Dissection styled approach to the genre. The crispness of the production and overall quality makes Naglfar a more likely comparison however, as the band suffers from problems of monotony and sterility. While the first song starts off fairly strong with a style of songwriting that is reminiscent of Mayhem’s “Chimera,” the album then immediately degrades fairly evenly with each track and by the last track the album commands no attention.

Homogeneous, samey riffs are a common problem on “Disease Named Humanity” and the major reason for this that the two-man band loses its drive by getting hung up on its own dissonance. A lot of minor second and diminished chords are interjected into more standard tremolo picking and arpeggiated chords.You’ll note that in the first track, low and high notes are quickly shuffled back and forth to create an effective pummeling that is really engaging because these two threads weave together. As the album passes along this becomes less true and the songs maintain this pattern but start sounding like the directionless buzzing of bees hovering around their disturbed nest. The guitars are more focused on dextrously dancing up and down their necks than creating songs, which makes the release very much a guitar player’s project - just one that isn’t laden with guitar solos or named after its author.

Much of the album has the disorienting feel that you get with diminished and dissonant melodies, but too much of that disorientation stems from a lack of songwriting focus. The album has some good moments and nothing on it is truly bad other than a few clumsy attempts at cheap variation. The problem is that the unfocused blur doesn’t leave any lasting impression as each riff starts to feel interchangeable, like hearing commentary on routine sports plays. Some higher chord is arpeggiated then some low notes shift before we hear a high part again, then cue tremolo riff and so on. While secondary to the guitar, the vocals echo this problem. While they could have been used to bring cohesion and direction to messy and directionless song structures they fall into their own narrow formula and never command much attention while the rest of the instrumentation commands even less. With the vocals, the issue is one that is all too common of a problem in death metal more so than black metal - very narrow melodic range and delivery. These elements are stifled by the same precise vocal approach that allows for some clarity and power while sacrificing the sense of energy. Think of a less awful version of latter-day Ihsahn mixed with standard modern melodic black metal vocals.

Classical guitar, awkward violin, and a massively directionless outro do nothing to resolve the album’s lack of focus and only serve to highlight the band’s lack of variation and direction. The instrumental outro in particular is completely unnecessary and so poorly integrated with the ideas from earlier in the album that it is hard to get through. The penultimate song, “Funeral Of Decaying World” already had a clear conclusion, so “Opus VII” comes across as padding and more guitar player unbuttoned-shirt-solo-project stuff. Thankfully, directionlessness isn’t the worst problem a band can have, especially when the band is clearly capable of good songwriting like we have some examples of here. This album is fine to listen to, just nothing that you’d routinely seek out. Recently, I had a slice of pizza. I like pizza, and that slice was good, but I won’t remember it a year from now. “Disease Named Humanity” is that slice, adequate, consumable, but devoid of a lasting sense of identity in a world filled with countless slices of melodic dissonant black pizz— I mean metal.

Arkona - Raw Years 1993-1995

This compilation of Arkona's early demo material and unreleased tracks from the recording of their second album, Zeta Reticuli, showcases how this Polish band was at it's heart a little goofy and yet still was capable of crafting interesting albeit slightly bizarre black metal. Arkona's Raw Years 1993-1995 captures what would become an important band in the Polish scene in their infancy. What is even more significant is the insight this release gives to what Eastern Europe's black metal scene began as. Arkona were one of the first Polish black metal bands and one of the earliest in the east. While most bands fizzled out relatively quickly, Arkona were able to tough out what must have been difficult early years and take a stab at putting out some material. The songs can come across as superfluous with the usage of keys and the drums add a level of pomp rarely scene in other scenes.

With that said this is a must have tape for anyone heavily invested and interested in Polish black metal, especially the formative years. The quantity of ideas here, even if their execution is of questionable quality, is enough to warrant thought and consideration. As mentioned, the drumming is particularly 'out there' and very atypical with strong triplet snare hits and a martial and authoritarian personality. Many of the guitar riffs are two part constructs which fluctuate between two main notes and root notes. The exception to these rules is the first track which is also from those Zeta Reticuli sessions forenamed. It's of a different quality - a better quality overall - but it's also the least interesting and most generic because of the lack of the characteristics of the other tracks.

The real meat of the album begins with second track "Victims of Gore." Kicking off several tracks from the unreleased The Unholy War demo, we are able to experience some of what makes this release a unique listen: back and forth melodies and weird militant drum beats. "The Unholy War," the demo's title track is superior in this style with excellent vocals spat out by Messiah. "Follow Me... And Be Amazed," other than having a title which Richard Simmonds should have used on one of his Jazzercize vhs tapes, is one of the more commanding tracks, once again making use of triplet drum patterns and marching percussion to create a military-like atmosphere. A music video should have been made for this in the style of "Call of the Wintermoon." Even a strong melody on guitar makes itself known. Somehow, this is my favorite track on the whole tape. From the very beginning it captures the imagination of these early black metal years, when everything was still new and a bit special from these parts of the world. The slight rhtyhms and muffled nostalgia here adds to the whole experience.

Keyboards appear for the first time on "Sacred Iced and Bloody Tears." They sound like a Fischer-Price kids toy. This silliness is followed by a cover of Mussorgsky's "Ice In My Heart." Not being able to find a version of the original but being able to find other material from In Harmony With The Universe, I can only say it's an interesting conundrum. Arkona here are covering a track which was essentially written by Arkona (Mussorgsky was made up almost entirely of Arkona members) but under a different band name. They are still officially calling it a cover though. As an educated guess, the original would be much more industrial sounding and contain no black metal influences at all.  The keys are also present on tracks seven and eight - different versions of songs from the An Eternal Curse of the Pagan Gods demo. These come across as somewhat generic black metal however the keys give "W Cieniu Umierających Wierzb" a creepy vibe. The faster "Barbarzyński Ogień Wichrowych Wzgórz" also has some keys though they are brief. This song is mainly notable for it's faster pace. Both tracks have windy and stormy atmospheres.

The release ends with a rehearsal track, "Przyszły Zdrajca Chrześcijańskiej Masy" which was originally on Arkona's debut Bogowie Zapomnienia demo as a proper track. The rehearsal here has two takes of the song. It's an unnecessary addition really though the addition of a live rehearsal of the band might be of interest to die-hards. Ultimately, the tape finishes a bit weak with these other tracks. The track from The Unholy War demo are the real gems here for their personality.

My writing - to know which side was what. The original tape is just a black shell.

Pendulous - Mirrored Confessions

When I listen to metal, I like to connect my audio system up to a lie detector machine to see whether bands truly feel their lyrics, or if it is all just an act for the sake of aesthetics. Pendulous’ “Mirrored Confessions” is my new standard for complete truth, because the heartfelt music on this EP is completely overflowing with genuine doomy sorrow. This feeling is primarily conveyed through the somber singing of E.R.M., but the entire band works well together to create an emotionally weighty release of slow and solemn metal.

This dirge of an EP essentially has two songs with the first being the most striking. There, E.R.M. belts out spectacular vocals that are morose and carry the dulness of muted emotions rather than a lack of musical inspiration. Having the listener feel that the music’s mood is suppressing emotion rather than emotion being absent from the performance is a fantastic achievement because the same approach could have easily resulted in vocals that appear disinterested. This contrasts Pendulous from much of metal’s “sad” music because the band effectively communicates that mood rather than trying only to embody its dullness. While this particular trad-doom clean vocal style is only one part of E.R.M.’s approach, its nasal and almost off-key style is so powerful that these parts unquestionably become the EP’s centerpoints.

Without that particular vocal style the band may not be as flashy, but is still good quality doom. Smooth oohs and aahs also contrast with death growls and the band matches these changes in intensity by dextrously switching between clean guitars ringing out single notes and crushing stretches of power chords. In pulling away from an utterly heavy wall of doom, the band controls both the pacing and mood through musical variety and tension. Importantly, a strong sense of continuity is pretty clear while the band makes these transitions. Note how the solo in “Reflections” mirrors the riff preceding it and how the melody on “Seeds” is preserved as the band switches from clean to distorted guitars. A less visible, but important, part of the band’s cohesion and doomy mood is J. Spitzer’s ability to drum with both variety and restraint. Making an easy rolling feel out of songs that are 9 ½ and 7 ½ minutes long isn’t easy, yet the percussion here doles out triplets at the ends of riffs over and over without getting boring. This pulsing, along with appropriates fills, combines with the more subdued beats to give the EP enough heft to carry the weight of its slow material.

As a closing note, the 20-something minute EP is bookended by what would seem on paper to be really bad ideas - two spoken word depressive monologues. These monologues are sparse with only light somber background tones/sounds in what is an otherwise unadorned approach. No cackling crows, distant thunder, or heavy vocal processing, just a sad story - and one that feels honest and true because of this straightforward delivery. Immediacy is reinforced in the outro by sounds of bells, clocks, and swishing liquid all to show the passing of time. This is incredibly refreshing where many bands, i.e. dsbm, romanticize negative emotions to the point where it is hard to believe they actually ever felt them. Negative emotions aren’t commodities or fun, they are awful and the band is great for tactfully capturing and communicating that awfulness. These genuine intro and outro tracks help to set the EP’s mood and are worth listening to despite not being particularly musical. Doomy context for an emotive and strong EP.

CTP - 004 - II: Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon Patches

Official Aeternus - Beyond The Wandering Moon artwork patches. 4" x 4".

$6 USA / $7 ROW. Postage Paid. Limited to 100 copies.

Venom - Cast In Stone

Venom is a band whose contributions to metal are so powerful that it is difficult to accept that they are also guilty of releasing “Cast In Stone.” The year was 1997, and with worm Castings on Stone the band released their first full-length album to showcase the Cronos-Abaddon-Mantas lineup since “Possessed” back in 1985. Reuniting with the same intensity, chemistry, and passion displayed by a divorced couple chatting while picking up their children from a neutral location, Venom offers definitive proof that an all star lineup can mean absolutely nothing. Sometimes people wonder how bad music can really be when everything is produced fine and everyone pretty much knows how to play their instruments - this is the answer. While production and performance traits are typically regarded as strengths, they only make things worse here by allowing Venom to more clearly convey how awful the album is. Don’t waste your time listening to this. Each one of the 14 songs is awful, each riff is awful, and each syllable gargling or growling out of Cronos’s mouth is awful. Ideas like “passion” and “feel” can be really intangible with music until you hear an album like this that is completely lacking in both. As the band goes through the motions of making music, everything becomes so predictable that you essentially suffer through the entire faux-Venom album just by hearing the first note. Similar to post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Venom probably reunited for around one hour and simply recorded the meeting because there couldn’t have been any premeditated thought behind writing these songs. This process would have meant that everyone was on the same page musically, so the band had to devolve into predictable, pathetic, and poppy song structures and rock pastiches. Now, no one can accuse Venom of having ever been a technical band. But, when you have endless pop-rock styled “hooks” in your songs and pandering choruses, it is a depressingly far cry from the band’s influential and edgier past. Compare the gang chants on the infantile song “Infectious” that stupidly spurt out each of the word’s syllables “In” “fec” “tous” every fifteen seconds, with the classic “Teacher’s Pet” where gang chants of drunken revelry create the sense of genuine juvenile lust and ribaldry. This album is a shamefully bald attempt to go in a more commercial route to become popular again. On each song you can tell which small bit of crap you are supposed to remember and shout to your headbanger friends. Interviews from around the time even show Abaddon citing Marilyn Manson as an influence. If that doesn’t make you reach for the nearest antacid to counteract the vomit in the back of your throat, then maybe this album is for you. But when you have shit like the two notes that make up half of “Domus Mundi” farting around until the sun explodes, it is hard to imagine anyone liking this. (That particular song also has an appearance of “shitty 90’s robot voice,” which for those too young to know, was a megaphone type vocal effect used to ruin songs before musical criminals adopted autotune.)

There is a rocky path for a band once on the extreme end of metal trying to become relevant again as quickly and effortlessly as possible. First, Venom starts ripping unrelated pages out of books like “stock rock riffs that people who hate metal think are heavy” and “song structure for the cognitively impaired” then throws these page into an ugly hat to write the next song. I challenge anyone not to become irritated after the 500th time that: Cronos says “You’re All Gonna Die,” Mantas plays the same pentatonic guitar solo again, or the band uses an obviously stock song idea. For examples of the default-setting nature of the album you don’t even need to look further than the song intros. Clean intro? Check, “Destroyed & Damned.” Drumroll intro? Check, “All Devils Eve.” Breathing intro? Check, some other shitty song. And there’s more to hate! Each one of these intros is completely uninspired and could have been taken from a small cheap sound library and pasted before the songs that also might themselves be compiled from a rotten sound library. This sense of automation is so strong in the songwriting that it would seem like the band was engaging in self-parody - that is if it weren’t so obviously poppy mainstream pandering. One interesting thing is how parts of the album manage to stick out as particularly musically repulsive in an album that has so little musical merit. In fact, the especially awful parts are the only thing clearly showing that the rest of the album is a step above worthlessness.

Even the cliched Eastern mood of the final outro serves as another wink to the listener that says “look at us, we are safe, please buy our album.” Imputing these kinds of selfish motivations onto a series of notes is completely justified here because of how enjoyably filthy Venom used to be. For those who haven’t suffered enough and need more proof, there is also a bonus CD metastization of re-recorded songs that really help to show how a band can destroy songs without playing any notes incorrectly or making productions mistakes. The intro to the second CD is also helpful as an obvious sign of the band’s attitude when they have a spooky voice announce “Ladies and Gentlemen, from the very depths of Hell, Venom!” A window into the band’s thoughtprocess “we are still relevant, look how 90’s tough we are, pay attention” and a stark contrast from the moody monologues from the band’s past. To be clear though, the band’s past doesn’t make this album any worse or better, Castings on Castings would still be an awful abomination of pop ethos imposed onto formulaic metal if an unknown band had released it. That would be fitting too, because this release deserves to be unknown. I’m going to bury this album at the bottom of a 10-pound vat of hemorrhoid cream. That way, if I ever get a hemorrhoid so severe that I need to use ten pounds of cream, I can make myself feel better by seeing Castings at the bottom, all creamy, and thinking: “hey, things could be worse.”

Severed Receptors - Severed Receptors

I never thought I would hear back from the Psychobliss crew after the Dreams of Dystopia incident. I reached out to Dan Stollings during that time to let him know we'd love to hear his next output and there were no hard feelings meant. I never actually expected to be contacted. There was a single new Psychobliss track after the EP that made it's way onto YouTube that actually seemed to indicate some progression in the right direction and then all went dark for a bit. Severed Receptors is the current incarnation of Psychobliss. The name change is appropriate, as the band sounds a whole lot different here. Severed Receptors, the self titled debut is a step in the right direction for the band sonically. However, it's weird. I actually found Psychobliss to be more entertaining, even if Severed Receptors is technically a much better effort. Psychobliss was a really weird textural presentation that failed with the force of a pumpkin being hurled into the air by a trebuchet and consequently coming to rest embedded in the car windshield of the siege device's operator. But at least it was weird. Severed Receptors is generic in many ways, even if it outwardly doesn't appear so. The melodies and rhythms are straight out of the early 00's wave of bands that had that groovy kind of Gothic and dark sound. Within Temptation, Leaves' Eyes... Tristania and Evanescence... the list runs on.

To touch on specific songs, "I Become The Night," has the most memorable intro, but it stands out from a lot of the other tracks in that there is nothing anywhere else on the release that is as memorable or even comes close to being as strong of a hook. It reminds me of some of the slower, catchier parts of Israthoum's Black Poison and Shared Wounds. Opening track "Nothing Remains" is the most black metal track here but the repetitiveness is a bit obnoxious. "Blood Descendants" is basically Evanescence with some screamed parts. Kyla's clean vocals are best on "Ruins of Eden" and she definitely sounds a lot stronger as a vocalist but there is still a sense of reservedness. In some moments, such as midway though this track where she more-than-less talks her way through the lyrics, her vocals can sound a bit amateurish. Her screamed vocals aren't exceptional in any way, can be a bit monotonous, lack inflection and be held back by the strict rhythmic patterns she presents. More flow would add some emotion and depth to what is essentially presented as the standout feature of the release. The music is generally a salad to feature her vocals. Dan Stollings once again offers some vocals, here in "Cold and Callous," which aren't too bad.  On Dreams... he sounded impish, sickly, shy and nasally all at once so it's a big improvement. Another standout aspect of Severed Receptors are some of the in between song ambiance and atmosphere, which is actually done really well but might be over-used. It cuts up the flow and pacing. Some tracks would be best to simply just launch into, like "I Become The Night."

If the Stollings and their now complete band can imbue some of the strange timbres and textures of the Psychobliss material, with the better production and the simple verse-chorus form evidenced in the Severed Receptors material and still somehow manage to incorporate some of the moodiness, they'd have a much more original and distinguishable sound. Still, I don't see this appealing to fans of black metal, or to anything particularly avantgarde, since the material isn't complex or inventive. It's really only going to be enjoyed by fans of the above mentioned bands that want something a little heavier but are too afraid to delve into the real underground. If Severed Receptors can find some sway with these listeners through radio or mainstream publications, their name might become a common utterance in the halls of middle schools and amongst teenagers sporting too-baggy black jeans, wallet chains and spiked chokers. To be fair though, I haven't seen anyone in a hot topic in years and, unfortunately, there is a possibility that Severed Receptors has missed their chance to cash in on this trend.

I was originally going to correlate the whole Stollings / Psychobliss / Severed Receptors saga to the classic 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein but I felt it was going to be too much of stretch to cast Dan Stollings as Dr. Frankenstein's Monster and Kyla as The Monster's Mate since I couldn't really figure out who Dr. Frankenstein would be played by. Abstractly, Dr. Frankenstein could be represented by Severed Receptors - the band as a single entity - and the band actually created the monsters out of two people who prior were normal. It was a humorous thought for me to think of it that way but because this was better than I expected, I can't really call the Stollings' monsters anymore. They're more like Harker and Mina of Dracula fame. Let's hope Van Helsing shows up at some point to remedy some of their musical woes.

Treeweaver - Spirit Worlds

After a brief intro consisting mostly of circusy laughter that may well have been sampled from an episode of the Goosebumps tv show, Treeweaver briefly unveils a wild jangling of riffing with fast paced, energetic, and off kilter notes. This demo could be described as psychedelic black metal. There is an odd and almost keyless melodic approach involving big jumps and exceptionally wide vibrato notes. Reinforcing this mood is how the percussion is clearly programmed, but comes across more like a drum machine. Fortunately, it gives the release a slight industrial edge more often than a cheap one. However, while “Spirit Worlds” has some interesting ideas, they are too sparse, disconnected, and also frontloaded (especially with how the first track is so much stronger than the others.) This scattered fourteenish minute long demo can easily be seen as an ill omen for the project’s future.

An infatuation with homogenized rhythm is a major problem here, and it cuts away the strength of the more intricate melodies. For example, there can only be so many constant eighth note snare or other percussion hits holding hands with changing guitar notes in a song before things get irritating, see “Silencing Void Dweller.” Treeweaver essentially takes a black metal approach in this sense, but isn’t quite black metal enough to build that familiar and imposing soundwall. The result is that the disjointed melodies don’t translate in the same satisfying way that you’d hear from a more heavily industrial black metal approach or a more tremolo oriented band pulling off the same kangaroo melodic jumps. Nightbringer is a better example of the latter. Treeweaver could also benefit from a more rhythmic approach as the melodies lend themselves to a more ample use of rests and varying note lengths.

A minor, but revealing issue is how the third track’s intro is not at all incorporated with rest of the song, and sits as a textural experiment included almost as an afterthought, like an awkward acquaintance that should have been cropped out of a photograph. In the more interesting pieces, the songs maintain energy while touching wild heights yet retaining a heavy low contrast. For example, in “Death Stares Back” this comes through by having eccentric riffs that sometime connect well together, and their high energy helps level out the natural aversion to the overly random chromatic flavor.

On the production end, each instrument eschews bass tones; the crows-stuck-in-a-sewer-drain vocals, guitars, and even the snare heavy kit. Treeweaver ought to throw some more toms into the beats and pour some Budweiser on the sickly bass because this demo desperately needs a thicker low end. Even the lower growling vocals feel thin in this way, which also adds to the industrial black metal feel but subtracts from the music.

Even though the melodies could be technically called dissonant, it is better to think of them as tangential, since that carries less musical connotations. The closest comparison may be something like Trey Azagthoth trying to emulate Furze or Brown Jenkins, especially given healthy population of feral guitar solos that help break up the more intractable riffs. These solos fit really well despite the fact that the riffs have little in common with Morbid Angel other than being metal.

Overall, “Spirit Worlds” is interesting, but this neutral demo’s flaws leave me skeptical. Sure, there is obvious creativity here but it is poorly executed to the point where there is little satisfying momentum to speak of.

Endsight - A Vicious Circle

Ensight are a metalcore/melodic death metal band, pretty much the epitome of the stuff that's called "Gothencore." While I don't normally cite the press quotes in a review, this band's style is characterized by how they fall short of their influences. They play some sort of streamlined metalcore following Killswitch Engage, but they lack the understanding of the function of the chorus - a recurring melodic hook that holds the song together from all sides. They also don't favor breakdowns, a simple groove element that holds together many of Killswitch's heavier songs. They hardly remind me of Darkest Hour - a cited influence and one of my favorite bands - they completely lack that sense of melody, keeping melody up mostly through some directionless string-skipped fragments and clean bits. Hardly a single melody is developed, never mind a sequence of them. That brings us to the primary influence of Gothencore, At the Gates. Despite being a relatively cookie cutter metalcore band, this band has none of the punkish energy necessary to drive the style. Yeah, they copy a few ATG riffs, but they feel more stale than the pure worship of Casketgarden. The plastic production really doesn't help the lack of energy, it's way too clean yet hardly forceful.

Endsight focuses on a lot of slightly atmospheric chordal riffs that are common in hardcore and metalcore to set the tone and build a feeling within a song, but they alternate them hastily with directionless and mismatched string skippers. Neither of those has much effect, there are a few moments when it feels like they might be getting on the right track, but they never get there. Part of it is that the band has little sense of dynamics - even if the drum speed is halved, they don't feel like they slow down. The production feels like an amateur tried to do something halfway between Devin Townsend's wall of noise on Undoing Ruin and Adam D's typical metalcore production and it doesn't hit the sweet spot of either. Worst of all, the vocalist is painfully monotonous.

Bottom line, it's bland metalcore and it doesn't even have the genuine feel of the real-deal American metalcore copycats who did this nearly a decade ago. At least it's not djent.

News!

Alright... So it's been a while since I updated the site and the lurkers of the underground with news about what's going on. Let's get right down to it with the two newest Contaminated Tones releases.

Last week the pre-order period for the Intolerant - Live Intolerance (CTP - 017 - L) tape ended and the tape was officially released. Thanks for all that pre-ordered the release. You already are enjoying some nasty raw black metal. Those that didn't pre-order the tape can pick it up now for $5.00.

What you CAN still get at preorder price of $3.00 is the brand new Clamfight - Thank You Delaware (CTP - 014 - L) tape. This tape features this foursome of New Jersey and Philly monsters hammering out tracks from both their 2010 debut, Vol. I as well as their recent second album I Vs The Glacier. Heavier than carrying a sack of ancient rocks around, Clamfight is an obelisk of monstrous doom and sludge. The tape will be two colors: a blue label and a standard black and white label. The blue labels are limited to the first 20 copies so if you're a collector and you need that limited edition... put one on hold now! Track off the tape below as well as the front cover artwork.

Also, the Midnite Hellion Live tape, Bitchin' At Champs! is of course available so grab a copy of that and their EP, Hour of the Wolf!

 Also on the docket are a few other merch items. I'll be revealing one of these at Maryland Deathfest so keep an eye out the week after for some of that stuff. Before that though, will be the long-awaited follow up to Maximum Oversatan's sold out Too Evil For Hell demo titled Satanic Invasion. Back and more over-the-top than ever, Maximum Oversatan is ready to speed into your soul and tear you apart from the inside out. The band is opening for the Mentors in July at The Paperbox in Brooklyn. Information on that show is available on the Show Listing and the official Facebook event page. Support Signature Riff, Maximum Oversatan and pure, unadulterated sin! For something closer, Tomorrow night the band plays in Philly. Flyer is below for that gig. Artwork for the demo will be revealed very soon.

Big things coming up later this year which I can't say yet since they are not set in stone but I have a feeling that once they are chiseled into certainty, there will be some seriously wide eyes out there. One thing that is certain is that there will be another Okketaehm release... when... I have no idea... but I was sent a half finished track sample from the band in the mail. I listened to it five times in a row in my car. Stones got a lot of great reviews but if the rest of this next release is as good as what I was sent, the release may make some best of 2014 or 2015 lists, depending on when the release comes out.

Also there will be plans for another pro-tape this year at some time from a band that Contaminated Tones has supported but not yet worked with professionally as far as the label side of things is concerned. In addition, any bands playing in the New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia region that wants their show listed on the show listing, let us know via email. Orion_metalhead@hotmail.com. I'm also looking for more bands interested in doing some live tapes. I've got some interest from a few places and with some known bands but I'm always looking for more stuff to do.

Along the same page, I've added wholesale prices to a lot of the CTP items. Also, Free Shipping in the USA if you buy three or more items. Wholesale on the live tapes is also available and it's mix-and-snatch so for $18 you can get five live tapes - just pick which ever you want. The more live tapes that get done, the more options to choose from! In the mean time, you can get an extra one for a friend or for trade or whatever. Something that might not be known about the live tapes but we actually pay the band for each copy sold a royalty that is equal to or greater than many contracts. The more copies of the live tapes sold, the more money that goes back to the artist.

Another thing, something I'm really proud of is that the Contaminated Tones Website is only 6000 views away from hitting 100,000 views. That's absolutely mind boggling for me. When I started this website in 2008, I never expected to have so many viewers from around the world reading the reviews, and interviews. Now, people are also buying stuff and Contaminated Tones continues to grow. I thank everyone that has helped in any way to make this successful. I receive about 15-30 promos a week for review digitally, I receive a handful of promos each week physically... Both Steve and Apteronotus have been a huge help the past year in helping create content and reviews for the site to keep our readers interested and up-to-date on some of the stuff coming out in the underground metal world. We will continue to honestly critique and review the material sent to us.

Thanks to the readers, metalheads and artists out there!

Hellgoat - End of Man

Hellgoat's End of Man EP is a super short release. It's only eight minutes long but for fans of war metal and more aggressive black metal, the two tracks will surely make you want to check out the rest of their discography. This American project has been pumping out throbbing blasts of vitriolic black metal since 2004 and have already built quite the discography. End of Man is more a single than an EP with "End of Man" seeming to be the focus of the release. It's shorter, and more emphasized. "Demonic Worship of the Horned Beast" is fronted by a long ambient intro and at the back door is another twenty second snippet of vocals. "End of Man" starts immediately. Closest comparisons I can give for Hellgoat would be Embrace of Thorns or Blasphemy with higher pitched vocals. The actual songs are quick and enjoyable though. Nasty and noisy bursts of speed with some slower doomy riffs mixed in and a sparse atmosphere. When you die, this is the music you want to accompany you to hell. You'll definitely make an entrance.

Murderbeast - A Call To Severed Arms

 

Murderbeast is another one of Armon Nicholson's projects. While Licrest and Yfel share some  similarities, the final vertex in his trifectum of musical projects sounds as if it could have  been written by a person in a far away land - especially the Phillipines where this kind of  second-rate gore-grind is such a massive export. Where Licrest and Yfel are married with their  blackened subtexts, Murderbeast is essentially a gore-grind-death metal-lite affair minus the  pseudo-shocking album art. It's like going to a bar and getting Miller Lite when you asked for  the bar's best beer. Yfel and, especially, Licrest are much better pours from Armon's tap. Fast  songs, down tuned guitars, brutal(ish) riffs with an element of groove and occasional screamed  accents are par for the course here and even though it's obvious how redundant the album ends  up, Armon performs admirably and respectfully on A Call To Severed Arms.

Chuck Norris Look-alike?

Six songs pass by in as many minutes and without any highlights. The first half of the twelve  song album - more like an EP in terms of run time - is found to be rather monotonous. Opening  track "Screaming Won't Stop The Torture" is less boring if only because it's the first morsel to  touch the tongue. The monotony continues for the second half of the release though two standouts  appear in at the ten and eleven spots. Tenth track "Morgue Feast" features some atonal  scratching techniques which separate the textural blandness of the previous tracks and it's  tailing track, "My Next Victim" features some similar riffing flourishes. I'm not entirely sure  these riffs weren't meant to actually be part of the same song at some point as they are the  only appearance of these techniques on the album.

Final track "Orgasm Through Vivisection" is a contender for the most-awkward-drum-beat-in-an- Armon-Nicholson-death-metal-album award. The verse riff, about as interesting as watching celery  suck up colored water in a third grade science project, is paired with attempted kick drum  variations that often run in contradiction to everything going on around them. I wouldn't say  for certain that they are technically out of time but if a Berkley Music Major told me they were  I wouldn't argue with them.

With an album cover that may have been a lost Jackson Pollock painting of a bloody sewer, groovy  death metal paired with a sludgy production and few highlights, Licrest and Yfel remain as  golden beacons in Armon's eclectic mix of projects. A Call To Severed Arms isn't a super witty  title and the music also isn't impressive. This will be tossed onto my shelf, collect dust, and  I don't see a need for removing it from it's cramped quarters anytime soon. Armon should focus  more attention on Licrest and, to a lesser extent, Yfel. Hopefully he got this out of his system  here.

CTP - 012 - L: Sacrificial Blood - Live At Sinclairs

 

 An hour of pissed off cruddy New Jersey Metal. Sacrificial Blood's mix of thrash, death metal and Heavy Metal is sure to light the fires of old school bangers and individuals with a taste for rebellion, aggression and unsavory attitudes. Contains fifteen tracks, three covers and just over an hour of unrefined energy. This is what happens when you send some guys from the Jersey Shore to Long Island. 

$5.00.

Sacrificial Blood Interview on new album Soul's For Sale as well as a bunch of other crap: Here

 

Agonised - Total Devastation

With Total Devastation, the 2013 demo from Agonised, listeners will be rewarded with proof positive of the still-existent love of Swedish death metal in this modern age. While the demo may seem short with only two original songs and a cover of Morgoth's "Sold Baptism," the two originals present are longer run-time than normal. Together clocking in at almost fourteen minutes, I don't feel ripped off time wise or quality wise with these tracks. They are of quite a high caliber. The efforts of lone Spaniard Bourbon Devastator, Agonised is poised to surprise death metal fans. Obviously there is a huge influence from bands like Grave and Entombed but also an eminent Asphyx flavor runs through the recording. Similarly, Bourbon shares more in common vocally with Van Drunen or John Tardy with his wretched slurred drawls slithering across riffs with ease. Released by Black Mass Records on cassette, this is surely a worthwhile demo to add to any collection, especially those with a love for the Swedish style. The guitar tone is classic, the riffs are memorable and defined and the performance of all instruments is well done. There is very little to complain about.

Opening the demo, an intro with some campy pitch shifted spoken vocals. "Putrid Thoughts" is the opening track really, then, and it starts out fast and with fervor mixing some tremolo riffs over faster thrash drum beats and thick HM2 drenched riffs. The song devolves into a crawl before long with some noise adding texture. At over five minutes long, it's a lengthy opening track but it remains interesting. A solo halfway into the track is reminiscent of Ashpyx. If a gripe exists, it's that the song remains slower too long. The demo's title track rounds out the originals nicely. It too is quite lengthy at eight minutes long but it retains a more mid-fast tempo longer. I might have preferred it as the opener on the demo but midway through the track a harmonized melody riff patiently drifts over long thick chords that end the original material quite nicely. I get a similar vibe with Agonised that I did with Deathevokation's debut demo, especially during these solo sections.

One noticeable aspect to the recording is that it is one-sided and might benefit from a second mind incorporating some different ideas into the songs. This is generic but in this case, it's not a bad thing since the tracks are strong and interesting. With a Morgoth cover rounding out the material, Total Devastation should turn a few heads that keep an eye out for these kind of releases. For those that don't, they're missing out on some great death metal with definite old school charm.