Em Ruínas - ... From the Speed Metal Graves

Em Ruínas are a speed metal band from Brazil who have been around since 2002 but only put out two demos and a full length so far. “… From the Speed Metal Graves” is their debut album, released this year on Mutilation Records.



These guys don’t fuck around and the album instantly kicks it up to high gear with the second track “Burn in Hell (The Self Damnation” after a brief intro. Expect ridiculously fast and heavy riffs, mid-high pitched vocals with a Lemmy-ish rough grittiness to them, punky drumming and reasonably audible bass. The production is a bit weird and jumps around in quality from song to song, but I didn’t find it effecting my listening experience in a negative way and grew accustomed to it pretty quickly.

My two favourite songs off this release are “Morbid Pits” which kicks off with a battle cry of “SPEEEEEEEEED MEEEEEEETAL” and proceeds to melt the listener’s face off and “Headbanger Race (Warriors of Tomorrow)” which is just a ridiculously fun song that kicks all kinds of arse. To be fair, though, stand-out tracks are going to differ from listener to listener as each song is a great example of old-school dirty and raw as fuck speed metal played the way it should be.
A
s I’ve often said in past reviews and will say again in future reviews; if you’re looking for something fresh, innovative and original… piss off!

4/5

Midnight - Satanic Royalty

I’ve been a massive fan of Ohio’s Midnight for a couple of years now, ever since I got my hands on the “Complete and Total Fucking Midnight” CD compilation. These rotten bastards have been putting out filthy Venom-worshipping black-speed metal demos, EPs and splits since 2003 like it ain’t nobody’s business. “Satanic Royalty” is their long awaited debut full length album… something that I have been eagerly awaiting for a while now.

So, one may ask, what can you expect of this album? How about appropriately produced simple and catchy tunes with a Venom, Motörhead or Tank metal/punk feel? There is a lot of variety to be found in the songs here, ranging from the ripping speed metal of “You Can’t Stop Steel” to the traditional “power-blues” metal of “Rip This Hell” to the almost doom metal feel of “Black Damnation” and the straight up punk burst of “Holocaustic Deafening”. There’s enough variety here that any “true hessian of the faith” or whatever you wish to call yourselves should be able to find something to enjoy about this album, and if not, well then it really is your loss.

This could very well be one of the best albums of 2011 depending on who you ask. Those who “get it” will worship “Satanic Royalty” in all its simplistic black rock’n’roll glory and those who don’t “get it” can seriously suck a fuck for all I care.

5/5 For true necromaniacs!

Eliminator - We Rule the Night

Eliminator is a metal band from Lancaster in the UK specializing in old-school NWOBHM worship. “We Rule the Night” is their debut, and while this release doesn’t try to do anything even remotely original, it kicks all kinds of arse!

This CD ticks all the boxes needed for some good old fashion ‘eavy fuckin’ metal: good but not-so-clean production, soaring air-raid siren vocals and straight forward songs full of ripper solos and great catchy riffage. If the opening track “The Warrior… of the Sky” doesn’t instantly grab your attention then you clearly just don’t like heavy metal… and if that’s the case, why are you even reading this?

Each one of the five songs on “We Rule the Night” is equally great and my favourite songs would have to be “Outlaws of the Highway”, the killer title track and the epic closer “Danger in the Skies”. I’m not going to break down any of the tracks as any fan of the NWOBHM should already have a rough idea what to expect. Put it this way: none of these songs disappoint.

All in all, this is a great classic metal EP that’s definitely worth checking out for a bit of fist pumping fun.

4.5/5

Arisen From the Crypt: Purtenance- Member of Immortal Damnation

In the heyday of the original wave of death metal, bands hailing from Stockholm, Sweden and Tampa, Florida were (and still are) the heavyweights of the genre. Absorbing the very modest commercial potential potential of death metal as well as dominating the very small amount of media attention available, these bands condemned scores of equally talented bands to toil in obscurity. Finland in particular had a tendency to produce quality death metal. From a scene nearly as prolific as that of neighboring Sweden, not one band ever received acclaim on the level of Morbid Angel and Entombed; the hidden gems of Finnish death metal have largely been the domain of obsessive die-hards.



One such gem is Purtenance; formed in 1990 as Purtenance Avulsion, they Shortened their name in '92 for the release of their first and only full length release, Member of Immortal Damnation. Featuring artwork by Chris Moyen of Blasphemy/Beherit/Archgoat Fame, an unusual full color death metal piece in the portfolio of an artist whose work is 99% black and white black metal art, Member of Immortal Damnation embodies the crawling, doom inflected approach that was the Finnish regional sound in the early 90's. I once heard Purtenance described as the Finnish Incantation, and while I don't think that's strictly true I can see where the comparison comes from. They're not really as suffocatingly cavernous production wise or structurally abstract but the eerie doominess and tremolo riffing are there. The overall sound is closest to Demigod and Convulse.

The album opens with an unsettling instrumental intro, and then a tolling bell segways into the first vicious track, Black Vision. This is one of the highlights of the album, evenly mincing slow doom riffs under deathly leads with tremolo picked blasbeat sections. The rest of the album has the same kind of flavor, but stays thoroughly entertaining throughout. The atmosphere is great, partially due to the fantastic production; old school Finnish production I have noticed, doesn't have the crushing American Morrisound feel to it or what we at Witching Metal like to call the Swedish "TURN THE HM-2 TO 10 GO FOR THE FUCKING THROAT D BEAT D BEAT D BEAT UUUUUUUUUGH". It's somewhere in between, not as clean as American production but not as bent on overkill as the Sunlight Studios sound. The drums and vocals are what you would expect, not really anything exemplary but they do EXACTLY what they're supposed to do and allow the riffs to do the heavy lifting. The bass, sadly but unsurprisingly, is mostly inaudible.

The bottom line is, if you already like old school Finnish death or are newer to the genre and want to hear something that doesn't sound like Entombed, Obituary, Grave, or Deicide, get ahold of this fucker by any means possible.

Blasphemous Noise Torment – Ancient Insignias

Blasphemous Noise Torment is a black/death metal band from Italy who formed in 2002. “Ancient Insignias is their debut full length, released way back in January this year.



The album starts off with a militant intro that features boots marching under a militant guitar riff in the form of the title track. This sets a mid-paced yet warlike vibe that remains consistent throughout the album. The overall sound is not something you would usually expect of a band called “Blasphemous Noise Torment”… I personally was expecting something in the realm of Blasphemophagher and Revenge’s all out grinding war assaults, but BNT tend to borrow a lot more from Bolt Thrower’s mid-paced war march sound and chuck in a bit of a gritty, punkier edge (Amebix and Axegrinder HAVE to have influenced this!), that’s not to say the album is devoid of blasting chaotic madness, though.

The production suits the sound in that it’s polished enough to hear everything that’s going on, but still has a raw and dirty edge to it. The vocals reminds me most of Nocturno Culto on Darkthrones newer albums, which was unexpected but certainly not unwelcome, they sound nasty as fuck! The guitars are distorted and evil sounding, complimented well by the equally distorted bass sound. The drumming is varied and keeps things interesting.

There’s not a bad track or boring moment to be found over the 40+ minutes “Ancient Insignias” runs for. If you’re after something different to your usual “war metal” sound, I’d highly recommend checking out Blasphemous Noise Torment, as they’re one of the most original bands I’ve heard in the genre and these Italian bastards really bring their own style to an overcrowded scene.

4/5

Bones - Bones

Bones are a crusty death metal group from Chicago consisting of a few “veterans” of the Chicago metal scene, all three of which are former members of the relatively well-known black/thrash outfit Usurper.



“Bones” is a consistently unrelenting album that bludgeons from start to finish. You can expect heavy, hard hitting riffs with a cool tone that lies somewhere between early Master and many straight up d-beat/crust bands. The vocals are more on the thrash/crust side of things, delivered in a shouty and aggressive manner. I find the drumming to be quite varied and not just relying on using the d-beat as a lot of bands who play in this style tend to do.

Don’t put this album and expect complex mind-bending metal, because that’s not what you’re gonna get. Bones are clearly influenced by bands such as Motörhead, Discharge and their legendary hometown heroes Master. These guys rely more on sheer volume and brutal force rather than catchy riffs and beats (although the songs are still catchy, in my opinion) to grab your attention. This album really is a case of “everything louder than everything else”, and it shows in the killer production job as well.

Every track on here is a pure bludgeoning representation of the term “death metal”, fast, loud and relentless. It’s difficult to choose a favourite track here, as I don’t feel the urge to skip through any of them and enjoy listening to the whole album in a single setting pretty regularly but the songs that I think stand out the most are the opener “March of the Dead”, “Bitch”, the Devastation (Chicago Devastation, not Texas) cover “Apocalyptic Warrior”, “Good Die Young” and “666”.

Get this album to fill that crusty, ugly and evil death metal void in your life.

5/5

Vomitory – Opus Mortis VIII

Can you expect an old-school Swedish death metal band that’s been pumping out consistently solid releases for around 20 years to disappoint? If you’re answer is “yes”, then stop reading, because you won’t find what you’re after here. If it’s “no”, read on my friend…



Vomitory haven’t really changed much at all since they began back in death metal’s early days, but they have been reasonably consistent over the years, and from what I’ve heard of their discography, you can put on just about any album and have a good ol’ time. “Opus Mortis VIII” is their eight studio album, and it’s one hell of a riff-fest!

Each song on “Opus” flows on from the last into the next rather seamlessly and is generally chock full of quality riffs, interesting Swedeath style breakdowns, ripping solos, pounding beats, heavy basslines and evil as fuck vocals. My favourite tracks would have to be the opener “Regorge in the Morgue”, which grabbed me by the short hairs instantly and got me into the groove, “The Dead Awaken”, which is a perfect example of a good Swedish-style death metal song done right, and “Hate in a Time of War” which is a more mid-paced and “epic” sounding number that stands out from the rest. I personally don’t think there are any filler tracks on here, either.

The production job is damn good, with a nice bass-heavy/muddy-guitar type mix that suits their sound perfectly. All in all, you can expect a well-mixed old-school death metal album that ticks all the boxes for your macabre needs.

4/5