Macabre at Myspace

Macabre is a pretty unique band in the death metal scene. They formed in the mid-80s, and have survived to this day without a single lineup change. They aren’t too well known, though, possibly because their material’s a bit goofy and their vocalist, Corporate Death, has a piercing scream that’s kind of hard to deal with at first. They also haven’t released many albums, with just 4 full-lengths and a handful of EPs since their debut in 1989. Still, they’re highly revered among those versed in their work, and it’s not hard to see why.

Dahmer was released on Halloween in 2000. Like all of their work, it’s about a serial killer, but this album was a first for Macabre in that it’s a concept album, not a collection of songs about different serial killers. Dahmer isn’t strictly a metal album, as Macabre dips a bit into hardcore punk quite a bit. The lyrics are another example of Macabre’s great black humor, and most songs don’t stick around long enough to get stale, as there are 26 tracks in just 52 minutes. A few songs stick out as filler (the 20-second “Media Circus” in particular- I correctly guessed its tune just from the title), but most are fairly solid. I thought that “Blood Bank,” “Drill Bit Lobotomy,” “McDahmer’s,” “Scrub a Dub Dub” and “Christopher Scarver” were the catchiest tunes on the album.

Most of the songs are played quite fast, although they do slow it down a bit for “Scrub a Dub Dub”. The songwriting dips from the “gory nursery rhyme parody” one too many times for my tastes, but all the songs are over quickly so nothing really drags. The musicianship is pretty good, with Corporate Death’s guitars and Nefarious’ bass being strong throughout, but I thought Dennis the Menace’s drumming was pretty workmanlike (with the exception of a few tracks). The production is quite good; producer Neil Kernon knew how to make the songs sound gritty without being muddy, and contributes a solo to the song “Jeffrey Dahmer Blues”. This is my favorite album in Macabre’s all-too-small catalogue, and I would recommend it to people who enjoy comedic metal, as well as bands who mix punk elements into metal well.

Aeon at Myspace

Aeon. They’re the first band alphabetically in my library,  and a damn good one. Rise to Dominate continues their brand of brutal death metal started on their EP, Dark Order, and first full-length, Bleeding the False. First of all, I have to single out the lyrics as one of the high points. They are incredibly anti-Christian and incredibly silly, but that’s why I love them. They do slip into Engrish at times (or whatever you call bad English spoken by Swedes), but the lyrics are already silly so it doesn’t matter a lot. Also, Tommy Dahlstrom’s vocals are easy to understand.

It’s amazing how this album can be so catchy and so brutal at the same time, as evidenced in songs such as “You Pray to Nothing” and “House of Greed” (I especially love the latter’s hook of “BURN! THE! CHURCH! DOWN!”). Musically, the band is excellent; the songs tend to sound a little samey, but I thought the drums really stood out, and the guitars have those jagged edges I love in metal. I’m also glad that the band has abandoned the filler intros that were on Bleeding the False. This is a great brutal death metal album, and I hope to hear more from these guys in the future.

Mithras at Myspace

Mithras has to be one of my favourite recent finds. They actually managed to make their music sound otherworldly and unique, unlike so many other derivative death metal bands. At first, I thought that the album used synthesizers extensively, but after reading an interview with the band, I found out that they were only used during song intros. Guitarist Leon Macey creates some incredible sounds with his guitar that have to be heard to be believed. The band clearly takes more than a little inspiration from Morbid Angel, but still manage to have a sound that stands out among the death metal crowd. Rayner Coss’s vocals are pretty standard death metal fare, but they fit the material quite nicely.

I felt that this album’s only real weakness was the drums. I thought that they might be using a machine, as the blast beats sound awfully mechanical and the band has only two members, but it turns out that Macey plays the drums as well as the guitar. The band would do well to obtain a full-time drummer, but that’s the only real criticism I have. I highly recommend this album to Morbid Angel fans and anyone who enjoys unusual sounds in a death metal setting.

The Faceless at Myspace

The Faceless are sometimes wrongly dumped in with the Deathcore camp due to their touring partners, record label and a few breakdowns (which came from Death Metal anyway) that is to be founded littered in the sea of technical Melodic Death Metal. Stylistically nothing new is done here, but it’s done in one hell of an entertaining way. Think about a more melodically inclined Necrophagist mixed with Arsis and some of the Later The Crown material with at least one Grave/Bolt Thrower style breakdown and some nifty keyboards thrown into every song. The only black mark on the record is “Horizons of Chaos 2: Hypocrisy” which sounds like Necrophagist masturbating over On Broken Wings corpse and should have been taken off the record. The other 7 tracks are pretty much quality in the guilty Gothenburg wannabe pleasure stakes.

As previously stated its not exactly reinventing the wheel, but in these day and age finding any sort of new record with a melodic death element that isn’t absolute wank is quite an unusual event so this one can be filed along with Arsis, The Absence and Nightrage as nostalgic but not world shattering music for those of who got into heavier metal via discovering the melodic death metal sound by accident sometime in the early 00’s. I can’t be the only one who by somehow hearing an At the Gates or In Flames song realised there was more to metal than just the classics, and if you have had a similar introduction to metal, you might find some value in something that’s a pleasant trip down memory lane without listening to your nearly worn down copy of “Slaughter of the Soul” again.

Sickening Horror at Myspace

Sickening Horror Hail from Greece and at the time of this recorded had Nile drummer George Kolias in their ranks. This is quite an interesting death metal record that features black Metal and jazz elements and is certainly an album worth exploring if you like experimental death metal that retains most of all the atmosphere and hallmarks of the genre that we all know and love. “When Landscapes Bled Backwards” displays a discreet technical edge in that although these guys could if they wanted to spend their time pulling some Necrophagist style material off, they use their extremely proficient skills only when it suits the song itself allowing the groove of the tracks on display on here to flow admirably and naturally.

The death metal style on display mixes a more technical take on post-Chris Barnes Cannibal Corpse with a more bombastic and chaotic Morbid Angel circa “Blessed are the Sick” with just a pinch of Vader. Now if this was just what Sickening Horror were about alone they would be of interest to devoted fans of Death Metal at the very least, but the combination of Black Metal and Jazz influences makes this release rise above being something only of interested to genre devotee’s. Avant-Garde Black Metal bands such as Dodheimsgard and Ved Buens Verde are cited as influences and this can be seen in both the searing icy ‘almost BM, but not quite’ passages that punctuate the death metal segments at point and the industrial keyboard effects that add an unsettling ambience to certain tracks.

The jazz influence can mostly be seen in the rhythm section pairing of Kolias and bassist Ilias Daras, who bring a highly technical and novel approach to the concept of a Death Metal rhythm system whilst not forsaking any of the concepts and facets that Death Metal fans have come to expect. Daras’s performance on this album is highly impressive with his bass work being reminiscent of Steve DiGorgio’s work with Death with “Forsake my Bleeding” being a prime example. On the eighth track “Virus Detected” Sickening Horror do something a little difference and massively increase the Jazz elements of their sound to create an almost linear piece of work which sounds like Ephel Duath being beaten up at a death metal gig.

This is an experimental Death Metal album that dares to leap into the unknown but still has enough genre trademarks within it to appeal to traditionalists but crucially without isolating those who want something more on the edge. In conclusion it’s well worth a purchase.