Author Archives: Friar Wagner

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RAM, Death  (2012, Metal Blade)

The skull:
Friends of the (horned) skull, Ram, return with another album cover featuring a human skull with curly ram horns affixed to it. The look is deliberate ’80s kitsch, and it’s an ugly mess. I think they’re trying to impress us here at BDS, utilizing every single popular feature of your typical skull cover: horns, crosses, ruined city, blood, an ominous winged figure. You can imagine this as a video game. The background is static, except for the upward-moving blood streaks, which pulse with each hit of the player’s fire button. That button allows the player to shoot crosses into the eye sockets of the skull, which moves erratically, gaining speed and intensity as the player progresses to each new level. Once you shoot 1000 crosses into the skull’s eyes, you’re at the 10th level. The skull disappears as the winged figure at the back becomes animated, growing slowly in an attempt to overtake the player. The shooter needs to shoot 100 crosses each into the figures wings or lose the game in defeat. Naturally, Ram music plays in the background. It’s a whole lot better than that Journey video game, right?

The music:
How much you like this depends on how much you like Iron Maiden and don’t mind other bands sounding a lot like Iron Maiden. Since Maiden themselves hardly sound like this anymore, Ram is a sufficient analog for the galloping, energetic, double-guitar attack that the English legends patented and turned into a very profitable industry. Ram is a good band, with good riffs and an earnest approach that’s hard to dislike, but how much you like them will depend on how adventurous a listener you are. Do you go to a restaurant that offers a menu loaded with choices and order the same dish every time? Do you go to the exact same place every single year for vacation? Do you go to Baskin Robbins and order a double scoop of vanilla? Ram isn’t all Iron Maiden worship though. Sometimes you hear traces of Judas Priest.
— Friar Wagner

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DAY OF EXECUTION, Dead Burning to Ashes  (2012, Brewery Prod.)

The skull:
Here we have yet another album cover depicting some post-apocalyptic nonsense, a cover that’s probably supposed to look bad-ass but really looks sorta stupid. Whether or not the technical execution of the idea is good or not is a moot point when the concept you’re working with is artistically bankrupt. A skull chomping down on demolished skyscrapers — oh boy! He’s late to the party. The bomb, or wrecking ball, got here way before you, Mr. Skull — all you get are sloppy seconds.

The music:
These Bulgarians play simplistic death metal that seems to draw equal influence from Dying Fetus, Sinister and Bolt Thrower, but without any distinctive, distinguishing element of their own. While it certainly could be worse (their playing skills are decent), this has about as much appeal as that latest Massacre album. And if you’ve heard that, you know what I mean:  redundancy incarnate. I have a soft spot for the almost Psychotic Waltz-esque lead guitar tones, as heard to best effect in “Warriors of Uruk” — they’ve got the sound down, that vapory, cosmic, heavily chorused sort of thing. Unfortunately they don’t make as much out of it as Mssrs. Rock and McAlpin. These leads, though, keep Dead Burning to Ashes from feeling entirely vacant. Ultimately this band’s sound would have already sounded tired back in 1995…it certainly cannot hold much appeal here in 2014. Bonus points for the cover of Bolt Thrower’s “Cenotaph”? Nah, not really, but nice try anyway.
— Friar Wagner

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NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR, Nuclear Death Terror (2005, demo)

The skull:
There’s very little here we haven’t seen on a hundred other releases. An ultra-literal interpretation of the band name, featuring a radiation symbol, a biohazard symbol, and a skull representing death. Yawn.

The music:
There’s very little here we haven’t heard on a hundred other demos. Ultra-strict crusty grind/punk/death that resembles a merger of Discharge and early Extreme Noise Terror. Songs about political corruption and how life is very painful. Yawn.
— Friar Wagner

 

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SEPULTURA, Beneath the Remains  (1989, Roadrunner)

The skull:
When this album was released, it sat on record store shelves looking utterly innovative. The cover design may not seem so interesting nowadays, but back then it didn’t look like the rest. No big gaudy metal logo, the vertically-written album title with that curious red bar added arty nuance. The off-center picture surrounded by all that black lent a stark quality to the cover, and the skull itself was so surrealisticly adorned that the whole thing just looked remarkably different than your average death or thrash metal album cover of the era. The Michael Whelan skull is a beaut, its downcast gaze nearly falling off the edge of the album cover, carrying on its head roses, a wombat (I suppose), a graveyard, miscellaneous medallions, and a hole in its head that seeps wispy trails of smoke. This skull has a lot on its mind. Seriously, folks, this is one of the finest skull covers in the Skullection, at least as serious, non-humourous skull covers go.

The music:
After Sepultura’s deliciously crude early recordings and the transitional raw thrash of Schizophrenia, these Brazilians emerged as masters of the death/thrash craft with Beneath the Remains. Incredibly tight, frantic, semi-technical, dark and overflowing with top-notch riffs, there isn’t a finer example of the early merger of death and thrash metal than this. While it’s not perfect (“Sarcastic Existence” and “Lobotomy” don’t resonate with memorable highlights like the rest), it’s way better than most albums by most bands. Everything Schizophrenia attempted to reach and only got halfway toward is successfully achieved here. Sepultura had honed their sound into something with more definition and power than the band they had been prior to this. Beneath the Remains rightfully deserves its place as a classic. If songs such as the title track, “Inner Self,” “Mass Hypnosis” and “Slaves of Pain” aren’t immediately familiar, your metal diet is lacking in an essential, life-giving nutrient. There’s no need to review this masterpiece further. You either love it or you’re living a life of deprivation.
— Friar Wagner

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BURGERKILL, Venomous  (2011, Xenophobic)

The skull:
Technically this cover breaks the “no skulls” rule, but as the emblem on the forehead of the main skull looks like a temporary henna tattoo, we’ll let it slide. Too bad it’s there, though, because it’s a redundant little mark marring an otherwise impressive piece of artwork. While the art was likely computer generated, it looks like it could just as easily be painted on canvas. The jaw/teeth area being supplanted by a metallic, razor-like implement is a cool touch. There’s nothing hilarious I can say about this, because it’s actually a quality skull cover without any trace of irony or silliness.

The music:
This is not exactly lame, but it’s definitely not my cup of tea either. I’ll give credit to Burgerkill for their musical talent — super-tight rhythms and riffs, virtuosic solos, difficult transitions that flow and are made to sound easy — but it’s only recommended if you’re into stuff like Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Trivium and maybe even post-Liiva Arch Enemy. The vocals are typical of this sort of metalcore thing, generic barks that sound exactly like any of the other zillion guys that sing like this. The requisite emo/melodic vocals — because metalcore is, after all, totally about formula — are peripheral and fail at being memorable. For what it’s worth, these guys are probably better than the majority of others still slogging away in this regrettable sub-genre, but they’ll need a better name than Burgerkill to be taken seriously on the global level. They’re probably even the best Indonesian band I’ve ever heard, but then I can’t recall a single other Indonesian metal band off the top of my head, even though there are hundreds of them. My most lukewarm, uncommitted recommendation!
— Friar Wagner

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VORTECH, Infocalypse  (2010, self-released)

The skull:
One can safely assume this is meant to be the skull of a being from another planet, what with the huge cat-like eyeballs and perfectly triangular nasal cavity, as well as more nuanced oddities of this bony dome. Perhaps Vortech (great name) is casting into the future to show how the human skull will evolve after aeons of information influx noted in the EP’s title. Perhaps our eyes will become bigger and indeed more cat-like, perhaps we will find our nasal cavity shaping into an equilateral triangle, and perhaps our bones will evolve into a metallic alloy and be wired to silver something-or-others that resemble water-logged tampons. God knows why any of that would happen, but if this be the destiny of Infocalypse, whatever the hell Infocalypse is, then so be it.

The music:
IThough I’d never heard of these Finns before coming across their skull, some of their “on paper” components are promising:  the name evokes something futuristic, cosmic and technical, and they’re described on various sites as “progressive,” although the “industrial” tag worries. So does the fact of 7 self-released albums between 2006 and 2014, plus this EP. That sort of independent prolific output rarely bodes well in the metal world (one word: Senmuth). Before I venture inside the music itself, I’m already prepared for this band to sound like Mnemic and Fear Factory. Not good. And that’s why keeping your expectations low can sometimes be helpful. They’re slightly better than that! The music on this four-songer lacks its own identity, but it does well in recalling other, better bands: it has the oddball intensity of Alf Svensson’s brilliant Oxiplegatz, the focused drive of Australian futurists Alchemist, and when it gets fast, I swear I hear elements of yet another underrated band, Norway’s Solefald (that goes for some of the vocals too). They’re tight, but then the drums sound programmed more often than not. The guitarist plays with impressive versatility, and thankfully the vocals traverse quite a few different areas, although they’re nearly suffocated by the noisy, near-symphonic din of the music. Its that symphonic element I have trouble connecting with — it sounds more Dimmu Borgir than Emperor (and that’s bad), although whatever it reminds of, it indeed seems to be coming from a black metal influence than an actual classical music inspiration. And Vortech’s thrash is not of the Vektor standard, which I was kinda hoping for before actually listening. The overall vibe: this is nearly as ambitious as it seems on the surface, but it’s too cold, to derivative and too samey. Also, the hyper-digital, flimsy production cannot be covered up in the chaos of the actual performance. This band would likely emerge from a  real studio sounding much better, especially if they had a real producer. Lots of comparisons to other, mostly better bands here, which tells us that Vortech are aiming at a laudable target but are stealing other people’s arrows to do it. Maybe album #8 or 9 will finally find them emerging as a unique force.
— Friar Wagner

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LUNAR AURORA, Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres  (1999, Kettenhund)

The skull:
Never has an album with such a great title been sullied by such a silly album cover. If the color is supposed to look “bloodstained,” they failed. It’s more blood orange stained. And the skull? His teeth are redneck, his eyeballs black olives, and his look says “Oh my, you caught me doing naughty things to myself in the photo booth!!!” in a squeaky Mr. Bill voice.

The music:
Lunar Aurora is a highly regarded German band, and in 2012, after nine full-lengths, they called it quits. This is their third album. The basic description of Lunar Aurora could be “well-recorded epic and melancholy black metal,” but then we’ve heard that one before, and even this is too simplistic a definition. Their music has a swirling, hypnotic quality, and it doesn’t always take lightspeed tempos to achieve this — they work in moderately slow to medium paces, for the most part, yet their sense of invention and world-building keeps the songs from ever becoming dull. The technical level is high but never sinks down into arid complexity — they know how to channel their talents to create effective and affecting compositions. There’s a healthy degree of textural variety here, too, as heard on “Blutbaum” and instrumental track “Moorleiche.” As for the oboe solo — yes, oboe solo — in “Die Quelle im Wald,” it works much better in practice than in theory. This is how I always wished Summoning’s more traditional black metal passages sounded but didn’t. Of Stargates… is comprised of huge, escapist, captivating material, and the whole is satisfyingly overwhelming. I didn’t give the band much time over the years, but am sitting here feeling like I missed out on something special. I’ve already checked out more of their material, and their final album, Hoagascht, is pretty incredible. I assume I’m not the only one who missed out on these guys first time around. We’ve got some catching up to do!
— Friar Wagner

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MORDAX, Violence Fraud Treachery  (2012, Ultimhate)

The skull:
Psyched that an hourglass is served up with our skull here, as that enduring album cover motif is another favorite of both Friars. This still life shows three items sitting politely on a limestone slab, minding their own business. Which one represents violence? Which one fraud? Which one treachery? There seems to be no connection whatsoever between album title and cover art. But then Time Death Flower Pen doesn’t sound very bad-ass.

The music:
One of the most useless metal subgenres is a very specific one: Danish death/thrash. Most of these bands sound like Carnal Forge, who are themselves a few tiers down from the Haunted, who are themselves rather overrated. The Danish death/thrash scene is littered with bands that are copies of copies of copies… image and impact fade further with each generation removed from the root. And while Mordax are from Denmark, and certainly merge death and thrash, theirs is a slightly more interesting approach to the style. Of note is the abundance of slower tempos, edging toward doom but really having more of a Coroner thing happening, many of these riffs sounding like they could have been on some lost album between Mental Vortex and Grin. And the vocalist isn’t your typical barker, having a kind of strained, seething Ihsahn-esque edge to his gruff snarl. “Monarch of All” starts out in this mid- to slow-tempo mold, and it sounds promising at first but never goes anywhere. The tightness of “Trademark Strangulation” is on the Coroner level too, although it clangs and bands itself into redundancy too quickly; it suffers from veering into the usual boring Danish death/thrash mold. Something like “Acts of Aggression” edges toward Meshuggah territory, and quasi-progressive instrumental “Contrapasso,” the longest song on the album, shows there’s more to Mordax than your typical band of this ilk. Unfortunately there are too many moments where this band toes the line of your average death/thrash ho-hum hoedown. You can sorta see why Dan Swano mixed and endorsed this band, because there’s serious potential for growth here — the musicianship is excellent, and there are some fairly good ideas throughout — but in a time when most young bands play it totally safe and fail to evolve in any significant way, my hopes aren’t very high.
— Friar Wagner

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CTATYC, Я в покое, пока я мёртв (2006, demo)

The skull:
Sometimes a skull cover is so killer that reaching for any kind or smarmy, smart-ass commentary would be totally insincere, so I’m not even gonna try. This is a fine piece of art. Too bad about the extra pentagram in the upper right corner, which is redundant in light of the bright one marking the skull’s forehead. Otherwise: this is terrific. The skull’s features are made much more interesting by the candles:  the skull looks like it’s starting to drip, as molten wax, and at the same time it looks like an illusion or hallucination originating from the smoke and light of the flickering flames. Ponder a bit and you’ll see it. I’m going to assume this is some early 20th or late 19th century piece of artwork, and if so, good on them for finding it. If it’s something made exclusively for this ridiculously obscure demo, even better.

The music:
I couldn’t locate this exact demo, but from the other material I was able to find it was easy to surmise that this Russian band’s mid-paced thrash/black/death metal doesn’t measure up to the coolness of their album cover. Dull stuff that reminds of Non Serviam era Rotting Christ if it was played by 13-year-olds all wearing Amon Amarth shirts. The vibe is there, and they’re tight, but you don’t need it.
— Friar Wagner

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MALFEITOR, To Hell, Farewell (2011, Till You Fukkin Bleed)

The skull:
This guy barely qualifies for inclusion into the Skullection, as he’s not quite transformed from flesh to bone, but we’re giving him a pass. He’s clearly going through something pretty uncomfortable and his plight deserves recognition. We empathize with the fact that he’s dying from an overdose of moldy Ramen, which surge from his eye sockets and mouth. Probably a college kid whose wild night went a little too wild. He stumbled back to his dorm, warmed up the hot pot, and that’s when all hell broke loose. (The impaling stake probably hurts a little bit too.) Those circling vultures can’t wait to get a piece of this delicacy.

The music:
Consisting of members of Blood Mortized, Godhate and Excruciate, one can expect exactly what such a pedrigree portends: adequate but hardly innovative Swedish death metal. It is, in fact, too many generations removed from the original root to be all that impressive. Each of the demo’s six songs serve up typical Swedish brutality, complete with super-fat guitar tone, forbidding vocal bellows and a variety of tempo shifts. The solo/musical section before the last verse/chorus of “Beyond the Horrorizon” is seriously impressive, but other than that it’s pretty much par for the course. And, despite the obvious talents of each member, “adequate” or “par for the course” won’t be good enough to leap over the very high bar death metal’s best have set for the genre. Maybe a Tribulation or Morbus Chron-esque evolution is in their future, but I doubt it.
— Friar Wagner