Hostia - Carnivore Carnival

Review by Tobeastias:

Reviewed the Hostia, took me a year or more, but here it is... It has some cool moments and I enjoyed the few dissonant sections on songs like "Panzer Church". Unfortunately, there isn't anything truly remarkable about this release. It's not really their fault. You can only re-arrange that Terrorizer / Repulsion / Suffocation riff in so many ways (that's my way of saying there is a lack of creativity here).

I liked the aforementioned experimental sections.  They seem to pay some homage to the mid 90's Napalm Death albums such as Fear Emptiness Despair, and Inside the Torn Apart. The vocalist has an impressive range and is ultimately my least favorite component of the band because they at times give off 90's hardcore vibes and don't fit the music well. I can't really say anything bad about the instrumental musicianship otherwise. The vast majority of the fast / blast sections are unmemorable and there is some good usage of syncopation, but the breakdowns are similarly unmemorable and then re-used with slight variations on other tracks. I think my favorite track on this album by far is "God's Coffin'", it gives me Pungent Stench / Agathocles vibes, and the cowbell usage ultimately commands respect. 

I enjoy the fact that this isn't meant to be taken seriously. About half of the album bleeds together, with occasionally enjoyable parts and is thus transiently enjoyable overall. Innovation is hard and I can't really brutally ding the album and call it a viscerally offensive pile of excrement, but I also can in no way recommend purchasing this anywhere outside of a discount CD bin because this isn't something that deserves a repeat listen.

L.V.I. - Mentally Embalmed

Delving deep into the Arizona underground thrash scene of the late 1980's might reveal a little known entity known as Loud Verbal Insanity or L.V.I. Thrashback Records owner Eric Hoffman has already done that effort for you and, using source material directly from the band, re-pressed this obscure outfit's 1991 demo, Mentally Embalmed. Thrashback Records always does a good job with the layout, this time honoring the original release with an updated take on the original C.C. Delk artwork by Sidjimbe Art. The interior twelve page liner notes include a basic interview conducted by legendary NJ based Metal-Core Zine executor Chris Forbes. My only complaint is that there are not lyrics provided. 

The four song demo's thrashing tracks remind me of a mixture of Slayer, early Pestilence, and Megadeth with Teutonic intensity and grit. The mix indicates a wide-ranging input of styles and background interests. "Blind Ambitions" is a solid opener with a central riff that hearkens back to classics like "Wake Up Dead." Followed by "Voices", my personal favorite on the album with memorable headbanging riffs and pit-inducing energy. The clean guitar intro resets the ears to take in the twisting Grunted thrash vocals from Denny Martinez bark in the background. "Let Us Prey" is the shortest of the tracks at four minutes long matching the opening tracks with big rhythmic thrashing motifs. Final track "Menacing Prophecy" is the most Pestilence-esque in tone and production aligning with Malleus Maleficarum. 

The release is limited to 300 copies, evidence of the purely scholarly interest in L.V.I. and Mentally Embalmed. With members engaged in no noteworthy, notable, or even un-notable projects, there's no reason anyone would stumble on L.V.I. unless engaged in studious endeavors related to this specific area's thrash and death metal scene. The small quantity of audio material present here may be a turn off to those who desire something substantial in a physical release. I think the included interview and photos in the booklet are a commendable attempt to overcome the limited audio. Some rehearsal tracks or material that would have appeared on the mentioned first demo that was scrapped would have made this more stand out for me from an archival stand point. Still, this is a neat little release with solid thrash from the tail end of the genre's peak. 

Objective / Subjective Scoring

To appeal to my weird data-driven self - and for the fun/fuck of it, really - I am including with all reviews going forward a scoring methodology that combines an objective numerical score based on the qualities I believe are important and a subjective score based on a friend's bastardization of the universal pain assessment scale. 

The Subjective Scale:

A simple 6-rating subjective score based on the Universal Pain Assessment Tool in use by hospitals and healthcare clinics to determine a patient's pain level. In this case, we have adjusted the ratings to align with album enjoyability as an overall point of reference for how much we enjoy an album. Running Wild's Port Royal: Unforgettable. Metallica's ReLoad: Pain. That sort of simple summarization. 

The Objective Score:

A more rigorous scoring based on individually determined importance of factors. Tracks are assigned a total possible score based on the track length. Categories, selected by the reviewer for their importance for a particular genre are given weights and each track is judged based on those weights for a total percentage of possible points. The points are added and a numerical score out of 100% awarded. Bonus points are awarded which give additional points towards the total for each track. Bonus points awarded for the overall release reduce the total weight across all the songs, allowing for a great possibility of maximum scoring. 

Pazuzu - Oath of Unholy Sacrilege

Oath of Unholy Sacrilege, an assemblage of split tracks from Costa Ricans Pazuzu, basks this quartet in the deep red hue and demonic underbelly glow befitting a respectable Old School morbid Death Metal band. Harnessing the thick tonality of the Sunlight Studios classics, obvious influences and comparable lineage emerges such as Dismember, Autopsy, Entombed and Grave. To this point, Pazuzu include as the final track a cover of Nihilist's "Carnal Leftovers." Six tracks. Thirty Minutes. Death Metal. And, unfortunately, to that effect, there will be limited interest in the release. Pazuzu, although effective in their craft, do not bridge the threshold between commanding attention and falling in line with the rest of the troops.

The foursome's performances are all in line with the above sentiment as well with little stand out attention worthy of being called out. Keyrotten's drumming is often interesting rhythmically but heavy-handed with his cymbal usage, casting a brightness over the tracks which contrasts the sought-after darker doomier elements of songs like "Entrapment in Gloom". This over-usage is apparent in "Calamity And Death." Vocalist, Tomil has a strong low-gargle, mixed just under the often forward positioned guitars. It is effective, but not exemplary. Giovanni on guitars performs Pazuzu's death metal craft with care and attention, producing solid riffs that ooze and drip with rivulets of infected puss, however these riffs are simply not rancid enough to stick in my nostrils for an extended period of time nor are the melodies gangrenous enough to cause lasting tissue damage. Bassist Steven helps add to the mix on the low end and gets some time to stand-out in a few bass only sections in songs like "Calamity and Death" and "The Crawling Depths of Christendom and Abominations". Often times he follows the guitar too closely.  

This is fine while blasting through the speakers, but there's little come back to and subsequent listens render a casual verdict. While "Entrapment in Gloom" and "Ceremony in Inception" are the best Pazuzu offers on Oath of Unholy Sacrilege, these are just average. There are a lot of other bands doing this style more effectively, but if you just can't get enough dark, fetid, morbid Death Metal, you could also do a lot worse than Pazuzu's authentic take. Nihilistic Holocaust once again provides a fine layout for this tape release, with plenty of artwork and information to accompany Pazuzu's aesthetic.