Webzines likes us usually pay a lot of attention to bands but not that much on labels, which is a shame if you ask me. After all, the people behind those labels often work very hard to get their releases to the fans and quite sometimes under pressure from bands with high expectations and demands. So when English label Sepulchral Silence contacted us about their releases, I decided that this was the perfect time to do something different with our 'brieview' series. Sepulchral Silence was founded at the end of 2015 and already has some interesting albums on their bandcamp page. Let's get into a nice overview, shall we?
Obscure Insania - Sodoma
doom metal
Stoner doom from Venezuela with Spanish vocals and fingerlicking riffing, I guess there are worse way to start this brieviews-series. The intro is promising, diving right into the fuzzed-out groove of the stoner doom scene, and the rest of the songs follow that example, highlighting in songs like 'Testigos de la Miseria' and 'Fragmentos de la Nada'. Yet, something I absolute love about this album are the apparent influences from grunge rock. At least one of the band members has spent the nineties listening to Alice In Chains and company. Also, at least one of them has been a sludge-fan, presumably the vocalist. In all, this is certainly a must-have for fans of groovy stoner doom.
Dystehist - Ad Divinvs Malvm Caro Factvm Est
blackened death metal
American horde Dystehist drags this review series into the extreme underground with their twisted but controlled chaos. Blending often industrial sounding death metal with some furious blast beats and strange, haunting musical passages, these guys created something mesmerizing and intense, something scary even. The tempo rarelyt stays the same for more than a few seconds. The thick, dissonant riffs punch, kick and gnaw and the deranged vocals bash on your conscience. Then there are the drums, which are fucking sick. For fans of technical death metal, this definitely is an excellent addition to their collection. For others, this will definitely destroy your nerves...
Sharked - Generalized Death Drive
death metal
This French horde wrote the perfect soundtrack for the lawnmower scene from the Braindead movie. What you get on this ep is nothing short of brutal annihilation, loaded with thrash riffs, a frenetic tempo and insane growls and screams. The intensity is suffocating, often balancing on the edge between death metal and grindcore. The songs are also quite short, resulting in a tremendous assault of death metal blitzkriegs. Finally, there are some electronics being used, perhaps to enhance the atmosphere of the record but they're always suppressed by the massive beatdowns of the rest of the music. Only recommended if you like your extremes extreme...
Malphas - Malphas
black metal
Right, on to that other extreme, black metal. The cover tells me that this is quite an atmospheric album but once the music kicks off, I'm engulfed in the old school of the genre. This act from Michigan, US, comes up with a sound that is quite similar to the glorious acts from back in the days. Inspired by the likes of Immortal, Lord Belial, 1349, Dimmu Borgir and Mayhem, this one-man act certainly impressed me. Although bleak, eerie and at times quite brutal, this album is well-varied (even in the vocals) and definitely worth banging your head to. My favorite track here is 'The Necromancer' but all tracks are well-written and highly varied. Certainly recommended stuff...
Aka Funeral - Stormy Tide
black metal
Brazilian bands sure know a thing or two about extreme metal, and with this ep they prove exactly that. No intro, no dreamy atmospheric elements, just bleak riffs, blast beats and haunting screams. However, it does feel like these guys have been listening to some ancient heavy metal bands as well, as they know quite well how to perform epic instrumental passages with brilliant guitar solos. Yes, I was quite surprised by that aspect, especially since most of the music here is fierce old school black metal. 'Faceless' is my absolute favorite here, a massive blackened anthem, ferocious, clawing, scratching. If you're a fan of black metal, you have to listen to this thing, for sure!!!
Axsem - La Tierra de los Sacrificios
death metal / grindcore
An unreadable bandname, skulls covered in blood and a title that doesn't predict a lot of pleasantries, we must be dealing with some brutal death metal here. And yes, this Argentinian quartet smashes some thick riffs, brutal growls and punishing drums through our throats, obviously inspired by acts like Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation and Obituary. The whole thing begins with quite disturbing samples before blasting out in an asphyxiating tempo. The vocals contain an array of growls, screams and pig squeals while the horrifying riffs beat you down quite effectively. Here and there you can find a bit of melody, but don't get distracted by that little bit of friendliness. This thing is out to destroy you. Consider this a warning...
The Last King - The Last King
death metal
The intensity never ends on this edition of brieviews, as we return to the US (Milton, NH to be exact) where we check out the untitled debut of melodic deathcore act The Last King. Now, on a personal note, I'm not really a fan of deathcore but I do respect the tremendous amount of vicious energy these guys produce. This has all the right elements to get the deathcore youngsters engaged in a sick, deviant moshpit. This is pure aggression, pure insanity and pure power. I'm going to stop listening to it because I'm slightly going mad. Yes, that is a compliment, I guess. I need a smoke now....
Koldkrypt - Fullmoon
black metal
Wow, this is something interesting, a one-man black metal act from France, coming up with somewhat melodic yet still raging black metal. Obviously, there are plenty of one-man black metal acts but for some reason this one stands out for me. The music is quite repetitive, but in a good way. It makes the whole thing pretty damn immersive, almost hypnotic at times. I always find it fascinating to see that one man can produce (mix, write, record...) such an epic album and for that Koldkrypt definitely earned my respect. So if you're in for bleak, minimal, somewhat melodic and atmospheric black metal, you have to give this a chance. You definitely won't regret it...
intermezzo
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Well, time for a little breather, a moment of peace and quiet, a relief from all the sonic violence I've already been through today. Because, my god, some of you people can make vicious music, how the hell can you keep up with all of that? Where does all that energy and aggression come from?
Not that I mind by the way. In fact, I kinda like doing this, which is why I am still writing even though there's currently no music playing. Only the sounds of birds, wind and an occasional passing car float through the air right now. It's alright, we'll get back to the madness soon...
Not that I mind by the way. In fact, I kinda like doing this, which is why I am still writing even though there's currently no music playing. Only the sounds of birds, wind and an occasional passing car float through the air right now. It's alright, we'll get back to the madness soon...
Magnitudo - Si Vis Pacem
sludge / post-metal
This one is probably my favorite release in this edition of 'brieviews', mainly because I'm a fan of everything slow and heavy. This album sure is slow and it sure is heavy. Massive riffing, efficient drums and harsh vocals make up the majority of this album. The rest consists of psychedelic passages and tiny little breathers. You might need those to keep up with the intense energy coming from the whole thing. Fans of acts like Conan, Yob or Dopethrone can't go wrong with this one. So yes, I urge you to dive into the thick, muddy and fuzzed-out sound of these Italians. After all, they're Italians and we all know that some of them have pure doom running through their veins...
Allaxull - Evangelio de Brujos
black metal
These Mexicans claim to create "possessed black metal" and, judging from what I hear on this bizarre piece of work, that might be spot-on. After a strange intro, the evil quartet treats us to some of the most chaotic, deranged and frightening pieces of black metal I've ever heard. They are influenced by everything between King Diamond, Sodom, Emperor and Darkthrone but what they make is harsh, noisy and ritualistic. "True black metal" as some may say, directly honoring the intensity of those old school releases. Even the production quality comes very close to those old, obscure albums with it's sharp and pungent sound. Recommended? Yes, but only for the true die-hards in the blackened scene.
Nostra Dementia - Vestiges...
black metal
I can't find a lot of information about this act and that's a bit of a shame because this album is a stunning piece of work. I've been a fan of atmospheric and depressive black metal back in the days but this album tops a lot of those old releases. From the very beginning, this act takes the listener on a journey through a strange, eerie world. I know, most depressive or suicidal black metal bands do that but they rarely sound as deeply emotional as this one. Besides, by dragging in elements from doom, punk sludge and post-metal, as well as coming up with original melodies and almost gothic orchestral arrangements, this act created their own identity, more varied, more haunting and bleaker than ever before.
Giger - Giger
sludge / stoner / doom
Nope, this is not the famous sculptor and painter, HR Giger, this is a torpid and sluggish doom band, coming up with three monolithic tracks. On this ep, they slam a decent amount of fuzzed-out, downtuned and immersive guitar riffs in your face, add an array of battery rams and top it of with harsh, rough vocals. That being said, the whole thing comes with enough variation to keep you balanced between stoned head nodding and fiercely headbanging. Finally, there seems to be some kind of garage rock attitude to the whole thing. I can't really grasp it, I don't know where it comes from but it definitely sounds like these guys had a lot of fun recording this...
Tzaak - Gjemt Ondskap
black metal
Again, we're facing an obscure but highly interesting black metal release, a one-man act from Norway this time. If you're a black metal fan, you absolutely need to check this one out. It's a awesome blend of depressive or suicidal black metal with the black 'n roll from bands like Khold or Abbath's I, topped off with some brilliant atmospheric passages. The long tracks on this album have an excellent drive. There's no need to lose himself in continuous blast-beats and that I quite admire. Besides, the level of variation is perfect, leaving plenty of room for hypnotic headbanging sessions. I have no favorite track here, as I'm nominating the whole thing to go into my best-of-2016 list...
Broken Brain - Broken Brain
death metal / thrash metal
Four guys from Valencia, Italy, who play a gore induced mix of death metal and hardcore, I'm not sure that this is going to be my cup of tea. On the other hand, I always quite enjoyed the aggressive, short outbursts of brutal death metal in the past and this album kinda reminds me of that era. True, the music is quite elementary, influenced by thrash metal but the old school feeling of the whole thing is highly enjoyable. Besides, I'm quite that songs like 'Day Of The Dead', 'Burn Away' or the punky 'hard times' are perfectly suited to start some moshpits, even in your living room if you're into that stuff. Perhaps I should just call this "party death metal".
Votan - At One With the Serpent
black metal
American acts often have a different approach to certain musical styles and black metal doesn't escape that trend. Hailing from Corpus Christi in Texas, Votan comes up with twisted, often chaotic black metal, interlaced with elements from pagan metal, thrash metal and death metal. The result is simply epic, constantly balancing on the edge between melodic and fierce and easily keeping the listener in its grasp. There's a certain greatness coming from this album, probably caused by the concurrence between the keyboards and the riffing. Yet, it still sounds somewhat experimental and that's a good thing. I surely want to see these guys in Europe soon...
