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.

Brain Drill at Myspace

One thing that can be said about Brain Drill’s debut and perhaps only album “Apocalyptic Feasting” is although its not an album that will universally loved by all death metal fans, some devotees of the genre will find lots on offer here. Imagine Necrophagist’s technical wizardry/overkill (delete as appropriate in regards to your preferences) with the straight up chaotic brutality of King of all Kings/I Monarch era Hate Eternal and you’ve basically thought up Brain Drill. For those of you who loved the virtuoso performances of Mohammed Sucimez and co, you will be blown away by the level of technical ability exhibited all members of the band on this record. To be honest I think the “Apocalyptic Feasting” Brain Drill line-up probably just about beats the Necrophagist’s “Epitaph” line-up in terms of sheer musical skill.

There are people out there who aren’t really that fond of Necrophagist; they believe that concepts such as song-writing and atmosphere are jettisoned in pursuit of excessive and almost masturbatory technicality. Well don’t worry as that doesn’t necessarily mean that this is a record that you will automatically stay clear of. Brain Drill have superb song writing skills and their brutal death metal Influences ensure that the tracks are well rounded and natural flowing pieces of tech death metal.

For a debut album, this is about as good as it gets these days, and it has to be hoped that Brain Drill head honcho Dylan Ruskin can put together a new stable line up as although some death metal fans will regard “Apocalyptic Feasting as an abomination I’d love to see where these guys progress if they make another album.

Goretorture at Myspace

I wanted to like this album, I really did. I hoped that it would have the same sense of goofy fun that Arnocorps had and that Austrian Death Machine lacked. I mean, I love brutal death metal, so what could be better than a brutal death metal album where every song has an Arnold Schwarzenegger sample? Plenty, that’s what.

The production is absolutely abysmal, as if I was hearing a performance that went through YouTube levels of compression. Normally, I don’t put much emphasis on production, but this album is just insanely muddy. I could have looked past that if the material was good, but all aspects are mediocre at best. The vocals don’t really stand out much and aren’t especially good, the guitars are fairly generic, and the drum machine is so badly programmed that I had to double-check to make sure that Lars Ulrich hadn’t guested on some tracks. And the humorous samples don’t really add as much as I had hoped; one song has an excruciatingly long three-minute sample that takes up half of the track.

If you’re curious about what Mortician would sound sound like if they were obsessed with Arnold Schwarzenegger films instead of horror movies, you might want to check this out. Everyone else should stay far away.

Neoandertals at Myspace

Neoandertals is a two-piece brutal death metal band from Estonia. And when I say brutal, I mean it. There aren’t any guitars to be found here; just drums, bass, and what have to be some of the most amazing vocals I’ve ever heard. Remember the first time you heard a death metal song and wondered how anyone could manage to sound so inhuman? That’s how I felt when I heard this, and I’m a grizzled veteran of death growls.

The musicianship is quite good; the bass is heavily distorted and downtuned, and the drums are all over the place; both instruments have a bit of a jazzy feel that suggests that these songs were mostly improvised. If this album has one weakness, it’s that the songs all sound quite similar due to the limitations of the two-piece format. However, this is mitigated by the fact that at less than half an hour, the album doesn’t wear out its welcome. Highly recommended for brutal death metal fans.

Emeth at Myspace

Emeth (which, according to Wikipedia, is Hebrew for “truth-seeker” and is the name of a devil-worshipping character from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) are a death metal band just starting to dip their toes into more progressive, technical metal.  It’s no surprise, as their guitarists are total pros, and this album has some of the sickest metal drumming I’ve heard.

I usually don’t focus too much on drums, but it’s impossible not to notice them here.  There’s an assault of insanely fast beats throughout the album – seriously, this guy must have four arms and three feet!  If he’s not rocking the double-bass, he’s rolling on everything else; yet he always manages to back off to give a good riff a little breathing room.  (Usually, when a band constantly uses fast double-bass it drives me crazy because it’s intense but gets boring fast; this is some of the most tasteful double-bass I’ve heard.  Check out “Anochi Kofer” for an example of this.)

Everything else on the album falls into place – really, these guys are pros, and while the album isn’t especially brutal, it has some top-notch songs.  One of my favorite tracks is “Folly and Weakness”, which starts out as your standard chugger, but ends with some rockin’ harmonic flourishes, key changes, and even a switch to half the tempo that works so perfectly (and is used so sparingly) it puts every shitty hardcore breakdown to shame.  None of the (few) solos really stand out, but there are plenty of memorable riffs – and you’ll keep coming back for the insane drumming.