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Published on June 2016 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 52 | Comments: 0 | Views: 884
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My first Deicide album!! I never imagined that The Stench of Redemption would embark me on a journey of such an epic band and also could not believe that how could I have ignored such a legend of death metal. I had my inhibitions when I first saw the album and even when I heard it but this album is everything that an outstanding death metal album should sound like, actually this should be referred to as a template by other bands on how to make an insanely crunching record.

The stench of redemption or as many call it TSOR has not only got excellent musical arrangements it has also got one of the best sound productions I have ever heard on a death metal album . All the instruments can be heard in different layers i.e. the vocals which are brutal and relentless do not dominate the guitar sound and similarly the ever pounding Steve ashiem does not go overboard with his sound either . Hence making the sonic experience something that you may not experience everyday.

Well who would have thought that Deicide would survive the debacle it suffered by the departing of the Hoffman brothers, even they themselves wouldn't have thought about it. But this album is a kick in the face to all those who thought the band had no where to go from here. They just did not come back , they showed how the things are supposed to be done to perfection.

The musicianship is also of the highest order and cannot be appreciated by any rank amateur on the street. The duo of Jack Owen and Ralph Santolla doesn't only add a spark to the album , they make it into a firestorm of riffs. Ralph's background gives the songs a melodic inclination which is very unusual for the band but it fits into the album flawlessly whereas Jack Owen has brought in his own signature sound thanks to his long career with the God Fathers of Death metal - Cannibal Corpse. Steve Ashiem's drumming is something that you just can't get over with. It does not sound as though there was a machine sitting behind the kit and going tik tik tik tik clack clack" which is so prevalent in a lot of upcoming bands these days. The drumming sounds very real and you can feel the physical strength that Steve would have put into drumming to these songs and personally for me that just takes the album to a whole new level. Glen might show some signs of ageing physically but who the hell can say that while listening to tracks such as "Homage for Satan", "The Lord's Sedition" and " Desecration" where his vocal passages can scare the daylights out of any one.

Lyrical references are still blasphemous and anti Christ but just a step above with more intelligence shown while planning on the song titles and that s why they don't sound cheesy. The song structure is not uniform and each song travels through a lot of melodic as well as groovy passages which serve as excellent breakdowns and keeps the album alive and kicking till the last song hence making it one of those albums where you wouldn't be pained to sit through its entirety.

There as such no weak tracks on the album but the outstanding tracks include "Desecration", "Homage for Satan , "Not of this Earth", "The Lord's Sedition", "Death to Jesus". Bloodbath unblessing the purity Bloodbath's new album!!! This news flashed in front of me on blabbermouth.net. I just had to get it in any which way possible thanks to the last three crushing albums streaming pure heart wrenching death metal. "Unblessing the Purity" just like all the previous Bloodbath's efforts is an evolution in the sound of the band with respect to its predecessor which a lot of people don't appreciate and slightly even I don't.

Follow-up to a powerhouse like "Nightmares made Flesh" would have never been easy and maybe to a certain extent the band could not top it but then they haven't let their fans down also. The only minus point for me was that this was not a full fledged EP which kind of leaves the listener begging for more in the end and does not feel satisfied.

With a few line up changes and induction of Mikael from Opeth once again the band sounds tight and gruesome. Mikael's vocals are merciless and they stand out on this album more than anything just proving further that he is one of the best in the business. The vocals style is a departure from the black/death metal shrieks of the great Peter Tagtgren.

Adding on to the brutality is none other than Opeth's Axe. His drumming is intense and crisp with a lot of variations through out all the four songs with both technicality and speed thrown in from every corner the drumming will knock your heads off. He just doesn't fail to impress on every record he does. Compared to "Nightmares made flesh" Renkse's bass hasn't been given as much weight age as on that album. He does have his own moments and the bass is pretty audible through out the LP but not like the last record where it had some or the other part in ever song, yet an outstanding effort from Renkse.

The new member on the fret board is Per 'Sodomizer' Eriksson whose inclusion kind of pushes the LP to be a brutal and technically top notch experience and well I don't want to complain about the band becoming all technical. Even though the band started out to be an old school death metal band and the head behind the whole idea Dan Swano is no longer with the band but with their latest effort I am satisfied because I am getting my dose of supreme death metal.

Almost all songs are par excellence but all of then have something special that stands out e.g. the first track has an amazing dose of blast beats that will rattle your brains out, Weak aside the second track is a very atmospheric track and has an aura of its own , thanks to the intricate guitar work.

P.S. - All those who love brutal, technical, avant-garde death metal should have this record and all those who want an introduction to the above mentioned genres can start from this album as a small offering.

Behemoth's ninth studio effort titled 'Evangelion' was the most anticipated release of the year for me but to be honest it let me down on some fronts. The album is epic sounding but not an outstanding by any measure. The rating that I have given here is a little more than what it should get solely based on the fact that I am a big fan of Behemoth. Technically the album is at the same level as the previous two efforts 'Demigod¶,¶ The Apostasy' and it could be safely said that they have come down on the technicality of drums and the guitar solos as well. As pointed out very well in the earlier review that Nergal seems to be running out of ideas for creating songs. The first thing that you will notice instantly in the songs is the variation which is missing like earlier albums. The songs continue keep going on a main riff unlike other albums. I have always loved solos on a behemoth album because they stand out from the song as an individual entity but it does not feel so in this album as the solos are not that effective. But now moving on to the positives of the album which help you grasp this album. Firstly the production on the album is crystal clear and what exactly you would want on a metal album making it possible to hear every single riff and cymbal, crash and toms being hit by Inferno. The vocals are more human like and raspy as compared to Demigod but not as aggressive or passionate as Zos Kia Cultus or Thelema.6.But a definitive change from all the other albums that songs also include long shrieks which were absent in almost all behemoth albums. The motive of Nergal and Co. seemed to make an album sound more epic than 'in your face¶ because there are lesser blast beats, more groove based song structures, more riff-age and songs that could be played in big arenas. The album starts with a very dynamic intro in the opening track 'Daimonos' which sets the stage for the epic feeling that goes on from the 1st second of the album to the last one. It is a fast song with an intense build up and brutal choruses which finally progress into a long solo which just gives it a perfect behemoth song and one of the best openers that Behemoth has had. Another stand out track is 'Ov fire and Void' which is by far one of the slowest songs by Behemoth but is an epic song and has a brooding feel which really hits you hard and makes you bang your head with a lot of intensity. The grooviest song to come out from the Behemoth camp is also in this album by the name of 'The Seed Ov I' which has one of the best breakdowns I have come across in a Behemoth album. Other stand out track would be 'Transmigrating Beyond Realms Ov Amenti' and 'Shemhamfarosh' which are typical blast beat affairs with the

Behemoth rage that makes them more enjoyable. Another high point of the album is as usual Inferno's drumming, he has shifted from blasting like a typical death metal drummer to one who includes intricate patterns between songs and add flavor to these brutal creations. There are much more drum rolls and better fills as compared to any drummer out there. If this is your first Behemoth album then I would suggest you to start with Demigod or Thelema.6 as they are one of their best pieces but this album is good nonetheless. Rudra's Brahmavidhya Transcendental is the fifth studio album from the Singapore death/thrash metallers who like to label themselves as Vedic Metal. This effort from them pushes in continuing the tradition of chanting vedic mythology based songs but that is the only constant they carry over from the past four albums and which is definitely a good thing.What has not been constant is the the technicality and producton of the music which has grown many folds compared to their last effort.

This release by Rudra accomplishes them as a metal band which should be recknoned with in the metal world.This album reflects the maturity of the band and how they have come of age to produce consistently good metal music defining new rules of fusing the east and the west.The aspects that really stand out are the drumming and the bass.The production on both of them is one of the best i have heard you will hear from the band.It makes up for the raw production and the amaeteur snare sound that they had it on the previous album.Also the bass sound is jus not over shadowing the guitar sounds like it was in the previous effort and engulfing with it the sounds of some good riffage.This time it compliemnts the guitars beautifully while holding its own and manages to be audible.

The music is along the lines of Morbid Angel, Behemoth, Carcass, Nile, and Vital Remains. Curious metalheads only have to try the intro "Bhagavadpada Namaskara" or the more visceral "Avidya Nivrtti" for proof of the band's uniqueness. But Rudra though being different in such aspects is still an extreme metal band because they know their metal and prove it on the album's first song, "Ravens of Paradise." It's melodic, cacophonous, evil sounding, and complex, a treat for every connoisseur whose musical tastes range from the brutal to the grandiose.The album is full of epic guitar solos, twisted growls, virtuoso musicianship, and contemplative interludes that guarantee there's something for everybody inside this concept-driven masterpiece.

Recommended tracks: Ravens of Paradise,Amrtasyaputra,Natural Born Ignorance,Immortality roars,Venerable Opposites Benighted's first release that i heard was 'Identisick' which I actually got by mistake while ordering for Behemoth's 'Demigod', but the grief of mixing up and not getting the required CD vanished as soon as I popped in that CD. Since that day i have been a huge fan of Benighted's music.

'Icon' was the band's fifth release and it had a lot to live up to coming in after 'Identisick' and to a great extent it did also while evolving the band's sound to a slightly more melodic approach which i guess at least i am not complaining about.

The band had a line-up change for this album in the form of drummer Kikou who replaced the immensely talented Fred Fayolle who almost formed the backbone of most compositions in 'Identisick'. This replacement automatically made this release with the new drummer to live up to certain standards of Fred but well i would like to give Kikou full credit for bringing a new dimension to the overall sound of the band.

The opening track of the album is one of the rare moments in my history of listening to metal where a metal album gives me goose bumps. 'Complete Exasanguination' is an intro where the track starts with fading in vocals with a haunting female voice which is soothing and frightening at the same point who says 'Why are you so brutal to me' and after that the band rips through into your ears with a brutal attack on your senses which gives you an imagination of a raged killer chopping up a beautiful girl in the back of a barn yard. This track flows into the first song 'Slut' which is a mash up of breakdowns, blast beats and sections where you just bang you freaking head off. The song structure keeps varying on tracks like 'Forsaken', 'Smile then Bleed' & 'Human Circles' which never makes the album boring and continues the relentless assault while maintaining the individuality of each song.

Julian Truchen continues to push the envelope of evolving into a better vocalist with a much fuller range hence always holding you by the throat and demanding your attention. He introduces a hardcore scream fused with pig growls accompanied with intense guttural vocals which just makes it a pleasure to hear with an intensity not really explored by a lot of singers.

Oliver and Liem on the fret boards who hold the full distinct sound of the band provide with such a unique blend of riffs that you cannot help but appreciate their talent on this record. Both of the guitarists play some really complex riffs but also have this knack of putting together hooks that really want to make you jump and break stuff. Also sometimes they just place normal riffs because they want to prove that you can make brutal music by not being overly technical and playing normal death metal. At no point could you say that the guitars or vocals or drums sounded out of place.

The highlights of the album for me would be the intro and the end part of the tracks Pledge of retaliation , Human Circles , the title track 'Icon' which starts with typical old school death metal and build up to this insane roller coaster ride throughout, Slut intro and bass solo & the vocals on Forsaken. These add stellar quality to an already intense album.

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