Vagabond's Band of the Month: Church of Disgust

Band: Church of Disgust
Year of Formation: 2010
Country of Origin: USA
Genre: Death Metal
Church of Disgust is a 2-piece death metal band hailing from Texas but currently located in Tampa, Florida. Their style of death metal is very raw and very old-school.

So far they have released a demo and an EP, both on tape and both available digitally on Bandcamp. Church of Disgust have also recently been signed to Memento Mori Records, which I am hoping will lead to the band releasing a full length for our listening (dis)pleasure!

Contact: marchthehorde@gmail.com
Bandcamp: http://churchofdisgust.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/churchofdisgust
Webshop: http://churchofdisgust.bigcartel.com/

HELCARAXE - Children of YGG (Promethean Burn 2012)

Hailing from New Jersey; HELCARAXE has been spewing forth their brand of Viking Death Metal since the year 2003 –and seem to have built up a reputable name for themselves in the underground during the last couple of years. I said “Viking” and indeed –but don’t think for a second that this is in the same league as Amon Amarth –a band, who might as well be endorsed by Coca Cola or play concerts at Disney Land – rather; HELCARAXE draw its influences from the early 90’s Death Metal movement and refine it into a sound they can safely call their own. As an obvious reference point; I would say a very prominent UNLEASHED influence comes to the surface ... And rightly so; since they are long-time pioneers in the realms of viking metal, and HELCARAXE to carry forth the flag for this particular style. But don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day, its still pretty much just DEATH METAL, and fancy genre categorizations become irrelevant; it’s only coined as “Viking” when speaking about the band’s particular lyrical theme.  

The songs are superbly constructed, with riffs pacing along at crunchy ease, always maintaining a fresh and interesting tone; catchy and majestic hooks, and the occasional epic lead melody to make your heart explode. There’s a definite majestic feeling in the guitar playing, and the reason why the music is able to leave such a memorable impression. There’s a repeated usage of catchy, groove-laden passages (which are prominently executed), as well as some heavier, more darker-sounding riffs. Jesse Traynor, the vocalist, delivers an abrasive, sort of low-end growl, with some high screams added for range and good measure. Overall, they are very well executed, and the type of vocals I like to hear in my death metal. Occasionally, some epic backing vocals make itself present, adding some multiplicity to the atmosphere and keeping things interesting for the listener.

The musicianship has been honed to a tee, and when they shred, they shred hard. These guys know all about how to write splendid and memorable compositions without losing track of the genre’s essence. They manage to balance melody and brutality in such a fresh manner, and add to that some striking technique. While the music is intriguingly catchy, I wouldn’t quite call this ‘melodic death metal’ compared to today’s standards…think EUCHARIST or KALMAH (a bit more brutal, though), and you might just get a good idea of what to expect. The produced sound is very strong and clear without sounding too plastic and ostentatious; thus making the instruments heard more prominently – even the demo tracks are well recorded, but with a slightly more crispy sound.

An interesting verity regarding “Children of YGG” is that it comes off sounding like an album, but it’s actually a compilation featuring some re-recorded demo tracks and a few new songs composed in 2011. It’s a definite treat, and surprisingly addictive. I don’t have anything negative to say about it, and I’m being truthfully honest. By now, I’ve listened to it a few times, and gets better with each listen. “Children of YGG” have convinced me to dig up the band’s back catalogue which consist of numerous releases, including three full length albums…All in all, this is nothing but straight-up, old school Death Metal to the core, and should have no trouble at all appealing to fans of bands such as OBITUARY, MORBID ANGEL, GRAVE, UNLEASHED, EUCHARIST and the like… The compilation in question was released under PROMETHEAN BURN, and came with a very neatly designed layout, including lyrics and a magnificent, epic artwork done by Alan Lathwell. “Children of YGG” is excellent compilation of strong material and well worth investigating, especially for those new to the band.     



Written by James Goatfukk

BINAH - Hallucinating in Resurrecture (Dark Descent 2012)‏

When looking into the past, there’s absolutely no doubt that the United Kingdom has given birth to some of the very best Death Metal acts the genre has to offer – despite the fact that there weren’t as many death metal bands from the UK back then– they certainly made up for it with some of the finest, most widely regarded classics in the fathomless realms of Death Metal (quality over quantity). I feel obligated to mention, out of my humble opinion, that the UK has had a rather average Death Metal scene (even less for Black Metal) since its glorious heyday, with not much exciting bands popping up, whereas lately, it seems that things have improved vastly (and continue to) in the last ten years or so.  Great and exciting bands have turned up, who seemed to have spawned themselves from absolute nothingness, only to deliver an (un)healthy dose of morbid metal mayhem with the sadistic intention of thumping a hammer to your faggot face. Indeed, bands like CRUCIAMENTUM, ADORIOR, GRAVE MIASMA, LVCIFYRE, EVOKE, VALLENFYRE, ABYSSAL, SPEARHEAD, DIAMANTHIAN – all deliver what I can proudly call: DEATH METAL – and it fucking owns. Along comes BINAH …

BINAH storms forth from the deepest abyss and delivers an unholy slap of absolute dense, filthy, skin-crawling DEATH fucking METAL to make the nuns bleed from their assholes once more.
“Hallucinating In Resurrecture” is their debut opus and a finely crafted piece of morbid, Occult Metal. An aural sphere to the infinite realms of madness.
 
Speaking of the music; BINAH manage to come up with a sound that’s both fresh and conventional – and not a bad thing at all. There’s a definite (and very obvious) Swe-death influence concerning the axe-tone, which is ultra-heavy, distorted and rhythmically crushing. Concerning the above mentioned underlying element, it does not mean to say that BINAH is another retro Swe-death worship band, NO – “Hallucinating in Resurrecture” is more of a fusion between some good old murky Fin-Death, Incantation-like density, and the predominantly old era of Swedish Death Metal, all packed in one.
 
The album is introduced with the awesome ‘Into the Psychomantrum’ – a hellbending, haunting intro that brings to mind old horror movie soundtracks, especially from the Argento variety. ‘Morbid Obumbration’ is a seven minute + psycho-train into the hellish caves of darkness where all dreaded things await. The song takes about two minutes to kick itself into gear with a mammoth and skull-bludgeoning build-up riff. The solos throughout the album are, for the most part, fairly short and concise, but still pretty stellar. They definitely make their appearance at the right moment. The vocalist utilizes a type of mid-range growl that’s akin to that of Mors Dalos Ra, and most certainly worth a mention. 

“Hallucinating in Resurrecture” puts a strong emphasis on atmosphere due to the massively-layered guitar tone, and as a result, resonates a very dark mood that will captivate and raise the hair on the back of your neck. Despite the music being relatively atmospheric; it doesn’t quite operate in the same manner as bands like PORTAL or ABYSSAL – with the two aformentioned bands, a big part of their fundamental essence is focused greatly on creating a hypnotic ambiance (atmospheric Death Metal, anyone?).  
 
The cool thing about BINAH is that they display a great deal of technical capacity without sounding like a total wankfest. Deep, monstrous and demonic growls, dirge-like buzzsaw riffs and curvy, but well-executed guitar solos, are but few of the many, or ‘basic’ elements the listener will tread upon. I’ll say this though: if I was to choose only one stand-out element from BINAH’s music that I felt would define their sound, then I would say it’s their flawless ability to craft an atmosphere drenched in horrifying evil and the absolute cacophonous hell it manages to hassle upon the listener. In some sense, BINAH can almost be described as: GRAVE (first two albums) meets NECROS CHRISTOS. At least it does so for me. Most of the songs are of a lengthy variety –with a few notable exceptions such as ‘Absorption into the Unearthly’ clocking at a mere 3:09 – a short and furious beater that pummels you headfirst into the dirt. 
 
Initially, I will recommend this to anyone into bands such as AUTOPSY, IGNIVOMOUS to DEMONICAL and SONNE ADAM. This is killer Death Metal the way it should be played. No fancy bullshit.  
Expect nothing less than a warped and turbulent attack on the senses by the morbid auditory that is “Hallucinating in Resurrecture” which fervently promotes darkness, death and decay… Enter the temple of BINAH at own risk.



Review by James Goatfukk

Fondlecorpse Interview (2009) Conducted by Adrian Hanekom‏

1. Greetings Sly! Thanks for finding the time to do this interview! How are you
feeling today? Have you fed any posers to Krite lately?

I am good man, and oh we have to feed him a few everyday to keep him satisfied
you know how it goes. We expanded our Krite legion so we can easily stuff a
ton more posers down their gullets!

2. Please tell us what is your definition of death metal is, do you think
Fondlecorpse fits this description?

My idea was always wicked double bass and nice guttural vocals and loud and
brutal as fuck. To me death metal is anything like Autopsy, Impetigo, Carcass,
Morbid Angel, Bolt Thrower, Cannibal Corpse, Obituary. Sounds like that then
your talking death metal. I always consider us playing death metal from the 90’s
style wise partly because that is when I honed my own style.

3. Your lineup during your debut album didn’t include a drummer… what were the
reasons for you not being able to find someone?

The reason was pretty much nobody was to be found back then that could do a good
double bass or death metal style drums, at the time death metal was still
crawling back upon it’s own two feet and getting back to strength, so not many
people were to be found into the style we played if at all.

4. Holland is definitely a country that has had a lot of great death metal bands
(duh), what are your all time favorites? Are there any new upcoming bands that
the mutants reading this should know about?

My all time favorite would be Dissect and their album "Swallow Swouming Mass"
fucking killer album. Then you always have bands like Pestilence, Sinister, Old
Gorefest, some new bands that are cool Warmaster, Supreme Pain.

5. “Blood and Popcorn” was supposed to be a split between Frightmare and
Fondlecorpse, but with Frightmare pulling out, the split was released as a
Fondlecorpse EP… weren’t you disappointed with them pulling out, man?

Well it is in the past, I rather see it as it’s own release. We had recorded
the album they went on hiatus so we went ahead and released it as a Mini CD.
These things happen all the time. We had our stuff recorded and done so we went
ahead and put it out as a standalone release and I think it came out great. 
6. Even though Frightmare wasn’t part of “Blood and Popcorn”, I really love this
release. Great memorable songs with a variety of catchy, fuzzy, and brutal
riffs… what’s not awesome about that? Are you happy with the result? Looking
back, is there anything you would have changed?
Well after the split was cancelled we just turned it into it’s own release and
the split ceased to exist and we turned it into it’s own monster. Thanks, man,
glad you dug it. The release was a good learning experience, sound-wise it could
have been more defined but we learned from recording then and there, I think it
came out good but we perfected our sound more on the new album, each release we
try and top the last one. 
7. One thing I’ve always had trouble with Fondlecorpse, was deciphering your major
influences, as you guys really do add a unique personal touch to the music.
Which albums or bands have been the biggest influences on your songwriting?

Thanks man and that is the idea, bands influenced me but I never styled myself
after someone in particular. I would say the old bands influenced me stylistically
but sound-wise I always tried to keep it unique and my own style that does not
copy any other band out there. We might walk the beaten path but we walk it in
our own way. Two bands who influenced me were Autopsy for the sleaze and
Impetigo to how to run a band they are a big part of who we are but they
influence me more idea wise the feel of those bands the soul of the music which
is very important to me that every song radiates something special. 

8. Even though Razorback Records has released some landmark albums in the past…
lately, there has been a lot of talk about the bands being too “cheesy”, 
what do you have to say about this?

Cheesy is just a word, everybody has their opinions and it is pointless to fight about it. 
I make music that comes from the soul if people want to say it is cheesy then so be it,
 a lot of the great pioneers of the genre were also cheesy actually all the classics pretty much were 
cheesy which is something most forget. 
How do you survive if you take everything too seriously, life is hard enough as it is. 
Who isn’t to say that I just wrap my madness in a cheesy wrapper maybe what we do is a lot more
 fucked up than most bands hmmmmm could it be true? welcome to the twilight zone!
9. Over time I have come to find out that you’re a HUGE fan of cult horror movies,
which movie have you seen that is the most creepy, evil, morbid, that would be
a perfect movie to play Dismember’s “Like an Ever Flowing Stream” to?

For that album I would choose "Braindead" because of the everflowing stream of
blood in that movie, if you ask me for creepy morbid flicks......... I am hard
pressed to find an answer I am kinda jaded it takes a miracle to creep me out
or make something feel morbid. But one movie that creeped me out as a kid was
"The Entity" an invisible entity that keeps raping and molesting  a woman
and has an eerie voice when she goes back in the house she just fled from and
the entity says "welcome back bitch"  that gave me some creeps
at the time haha also because supposedly it was based on a true story and it
wasn't brought as a funny movie but serious. No idea if it still would this day
have to refind it and watch it. 
10. You guys have recently started playing live shows, are people “getting” what
you maniacs are all about? Do you have any insane live stories to tell us
about?

Yeah we are slowly setting up gigs and mini-tours, we didn't play a lot just yet
but so far the shows went great people dug it and understood what we are going
for, headbanging , fist pumping and pits have been witnessed so I would say,
mission accomplished. No insane stories yet, sorry.

11. Do you have any stories related to the Red Light District that you’d like
to share? Hehe

Sorry to dissapoint haha. I haven’t even seen it in person myself, mainly these
days it’s just a tourist attraction, with import hookers behind the windows,
not too special for us but I guess everywhere else in the world it’s a big
thing. I imagine its fun to see once in your life but I heard Amsterdam is
trying to clean it up and destroy it all like what happened to 42nd street in
New York replace it all with neat and tidy Disney stores and what not.

12. To be brutally honest Sly… I actually don’t own your latest “Creaturegore”
album yet… how is this album? How would you compare it to your previous
efforts?

The new Full length is our best release to date and people seem to all love it,
it combines all we learned during the former releases, it has better riffing
better structure better sound, we upped the ante on each and every facet of the
band. I still enjoy everything we did so far but this release is definitely the
best we did so far and the most insane. I would say it is a pinnacle release
for Fondlecorpse. We put a lot of time and effort into this album and it paid
off, it is everything we wanted it to be and we are very happy with it.

13. Can you give us an idea of what to expect from Fondlecorpse in the future? I’ve heard your working with a label called Oakking Records, am I correct? If so, what are planning on releasing through them?
 
We are slowly getting ready to start work on a follow up album trying to make it bigger better more insane. Expect us to always try and up the ante just a little bit more and push the boundaries of what we are able to achieve. That label is actually from a friend of ours who helped release the first seven inch records. We have not worked with them for ages and probably won’t anymore unless we some day wish to but there are no plans to do any releases with them in the near future.
 
14. Alright brother, that’s all for now. Take care mate, until we interview you again! The stage is yours to talk some shit or to let us know something that I left out in the interview!
 
Well thanx for the interview and good luck with your zine, and anybody interested in our sorry asses can head over to www.myspace.com/fondlecorpse and come check it out.