Decomposed/Hope finally died/Candlelight Records/1993 CD Review

Decomposed where a doom/death metal from the U.K and this is a review of their 1993 album "Hope finally died..." which was released by Candlelight Records.

Drums are mostly slow beats with some midpaced to fast playing that contains some blast beats while the bass playing is all rhythm bass that sounds very powerful at times and follow the riffs coming out of the guitars, as for the e-bow bass when it is used gives the music an avant garde feel.

Rhythm guitars are mostly slow doom/death riffs with some faster death metal riffing that has a Swedish feel at times while the lead guitar has some very depressing and melodic guitar solos as for the acoustic guitars when they used utilize alot od open chords to give the music a darker feel with some classical guitar being used at times.

Vocals are all deep death metal growls that are very easy to understand with some spoken word passages while the lyrics dying and depression, as for the production on this recording which was recorded at Rhythm Studios during April of 1993 sounds very professional for it's time and you can hear all of the musical instruments that are present on this album.

In my opinion Decomposed where a very good and underrated doom/death metal band and if you are a fan of classic doom/death you should check this band out. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Taste The Dying" "At Rest" and "Procession (of the Undertakers". RECOMMENDED BUY

Anathema/Pentacost III/Fierce Records/1995 CD Review

Anathema are a band from England that I would describe as atmospheric doom/death metal and this is a review of their 1995 album "Pentacost III" which was released by Fierce Records.

Drums are mostly slow beats with no fast parts or blast beats while the bass playing sounds very dark and powerful with the slow riffs that have some influences from 70's metal, s for the keyboards when they utilized they have a very dark and evil feeling to them.

Rhythm guitars on this album are very melodic and only use slow doomy riffs with some midpaced parts and some soft playing is utilized at times while the lead guitars have a very melodic sound that is depressing with some wah wah pedal effects that have a 70's rock sound and some NWOBHM influences.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls that are very easy to understand with some ocassional clean singing as well as some spoken word parts, while the lyrics seem to be heavily influenced by m mythology, Goetic demonalogy, and are very poetic in a gnostic way, as for the production on this albumwhich was recorded at the Academy in Yorkshire, England sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Anathema where one of the best doom/death metal bands of the 90's and this album is a classic and if you are a fan of classic doom/death you should already have this album in your collection. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "We, The Gods" and "Memento Mori". RECOMMENDED BUY

Wolverine/Communication Lost/Candlelight Records/2010 CD Review

 Wolverine  are  a  band  from  Sweden  that  started  out  as  a  melodic  doom/death  metal  act  but  evolved  into  a  more  melodic  gothic/metal  band  over  the  years  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  album  "Communication  Lost"  which  was  released  by  Candlelight  Records.

  Drums  are  mostly  slow  drumming  with  not  much  in  the  way  of  fast  playing  or  blast  beats,  while  the  keyboars  are  very  atmospheric  and  symphonic  sounding  with  some  psychedelic  sounds  being  used  at  times  as  well  as  violin,  as for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  sound  very  powerful.

  Rhythm  guitars  are  very  slow  riffs  that  utilize  influences  from  both  doom  and  traditional  metal,  while  he  lead  guitars  are  very  melodic  sounding  guitar  solos,  as  for  the  classical  guitars  they  use  finger  picking  and  full  chords  to  add  a  dark  and  tragic  sound  to  the  music.

  Vocals  are  all  clean  singing  vocals  with  some  ocassional  spoken  word  passages  and  the  death  metal  growls  that  are  present  on  previous  releases  do  not  make  an  appearence  here,  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  depressive  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  sounds  very  powerful  and  professional sounding.

  In  my  opinion  while  this  album  fromm Wolverine  might  be  a  turn  off  to  some  of  their  more  hardcore  fans  I  still  feel  this  a  very  good  melodic  metal  album,  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Poison  Ivy"  "Your  Favorite  War"  "Embrace"  and  "Communication".  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Heartless Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have
never heard you before? Adam: We’re a 4 piece hardcore/punk band
called Heartless from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band started in
2009 and since then we have released the Blank Pages and Broken Glass
demo tape, a split 7” with The Blind from Ireland, a self titled 7”
and we have an LP entitled “Hell Is Other People” coming out soon via
Southern Lord Records.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?
Adam: I would say that we play abrasive hardcore punk. Some songs go
and some songs are slow. There’s lots of blasting and D-beat’s thrown
into the mix. I think you could find elements of almost any style of
extreme music in Heartless.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the music?
Cory: Without really getting into specifics, most lyrics are depressed
and reactionary. Most of it is written in light of something that had
probably happened recently, or that still weighs on me. I like it that
way, because I think that clumsy, passionate overreaction fits well
with the music these guys write.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Tom: The band name actually came from the His Hero Is Gone song
HEADLESS/HEARTLESS off of Monuments. HHIG is probably one of the most
influential bands for us as far as where we take our cues from
especially in the early stuff. We actually used to cover Anthem of the
Undesirables and that band is in constant rotation in the van.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
Tom: Man, we've played a lot of amazing shows in a lot of awesome
spaces with some of the most dedicated people in hardcore. It's hard
to think of specifics. I remember a show on our first tour in
Birmingham, Alabama that we hopped on last minute. Wes from Steel City
Booking let us jump on and has hooked us up with a show every time
we've been back since. I just remember when Legion played being
completely entranced in how intense they were. I don’t know why but
that show just sticks out.
Adam: Our live approach has always been to keep things short (our set
ranges from 15-20 minutes tops) while maintaining energy from the
first note to the last.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?
Adam: We just finished booking a 25 day tour covering most of the US
with our buds Full of Hell. We’re going to tour as much as possible.

7. Are there any side projects besides this band or is this a full
time line-up?
Adam plays bass in Masakari and Tom has some more experimental more
folk projects that he’s been working on.

8. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by hardcore/grind fans?
Adam: To be honest, I’m not quite sure how well we are received on a
worldwide level, at least not yet. So far the reviews of our LP have
been great and Southern Lord putting out our LP has already done
wonders for us (hence this interview). We’ve just recently been
getting a great deal of feedback from people in Europe and some other
places around the world. Working with Greg and the rest of SL dudes
has been an awesome experience and has really helped get our name out
there.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your
music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Tom: I think we take influence from a lot of different styles of heavy
music. I am particularly really stoked on what Texas has going on
right now with bands like Hatred Surge/Mammoth Grinder/Mindless.
Deconstruct from HS is probably one of the heavier records I own in
every way. The songs are super aggressive and the actual production is
unbelievable.
Adam: I feel that all of us have pretty eclectic tastes in music, but
punk, metal, and hardcore is what motivates us. This music and serves
as a great outlet for us.

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Rick: I don’t think we’re one of those bands that change drastically
with each release, but we try to take it up a notch each time. We
don’t really have a specific sound in mind when we write. We know when
we write something that isn’t “us” though.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Tom: We're all pretty into cycling/bikes. We go on Heartless night
rides as often as possible. 3/4 of us work with bikes for a living.
Music ends up taking most of our time/thoughts though. When were
sitting around hanging out the conversation usually ends up being
about how awesome some record is or what bands are coming through
Pittsburgh. Adam is a part of the Root of Evil Booking Collective so
he always has someone coming through and most of our friends we've
made through the Pittsburgh music scene. It's kind of hard to focus on
other things.

Hummingbird Of Death + Titanarum/Give Praise Records/2011 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  between  Boise, Idaho's  Hummingbird  Of  Death  and  Titanarum  from  California  which  was  released  by  Give  Praise  Records  in  2011  and  we  will  start  the  review  with  Hummingbird  Of  Death  that  plays  a  style  that  mixes  Powergrind/Crust core  and  punk  rock  together.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  midpaced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown  in,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  power  violence/grindcore  and  punk  rocjk  together,  while  the  lead  guitars  are  very  primitive  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  hardcore  style  shouting  and  deep  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound.

  In  my  opinion  Hummingbird  Of  Death  are  a  very  good  sounding  powerviolence/grindcore/opunk  rock  hybrid  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED TRACK  "The  Wold  Needs  This".  RECEMMONDED.

  Next  up  is  Titanarum  that  plays  a  mixture  of  crust/grindcore  mixed  in  with  some  punk.

  Drums  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  a  good  amount  of  blast  beats  being  thrown,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  dark  tone  with  riffs  that  follow  the  riffing  that  is  coming  out  of  the  guitars  and  at  times  they  have  a  powerful  sound.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  crust/grind  with  punk  rock  and  there  are  no  guitar  solos  present  on  their  side  of  the  recording.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  crustcore  shouts  and  growls  mixed  in  with  some  deep  growls,  while  the  lyrics  cover  and  hateful  thmes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  heavy  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Titanarum  are  a  very  good  crust/grindcore/punk  rock  hybrid  with  the  best  music  on this  split  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Jeckyll  And  Hyde"  and  "Why  Is  It".  RECEMMOND

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  good  split  album  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  crust,  grind  and  punk  rock,  you should  check  this  out.  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

The Afternoon Gentleman/Pissedography/Give Praise Records/2011 CD Compilation Review

  The  Afternoom  Gentlman  are  band  from  The  U.K  that  plays  a  very  brutal  combination  of  crust,  grindcore,  power  violence  and  thrashcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2011  Compilation  album  "Pissedography"  which  was  released  by  Give  Praise  Records.

  Drums  range  from slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  drumming  with  alot  of  brutal  sounding  blast  beats  being  thrown  in,  while  the  bass  playing  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  that  dominates  throughout  the  recording.

  Rhythm  guitars  range  from  slow,  mid  paced  to  fast  riffs  that  combine  crust,  power  violence,  grindcore  and  thrashcore  togethwer  to  create  their  own  sound  and  there  are no  guitar  solos  or  leads  present  on  this  recording.

  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  high  pitched  grindcore  screams  mixed  in  with  some  crustcore  style  yelling, deep  growls  and  a  good  amount  of  samples  are  thrown  in  between  alot  of  songs,  while  the  lyrics  cover  alcohul,  grind,  thrash  and  hateful  themes,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  sound  and  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  presented  on  the  recording.

  In  my  opinion  The  Afternoon  Gentleman  are  a  very  good  noisecore/crust/grinccore  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  style  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECEMMONDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Rusty  Axe  Through  Aaron  Turner's  Head"  "Mincegrind"  "Beer  For  Life"  and  "Booze  Has  Been  Spilt'.  RECEMMONDED  BUY.

Pyogenesis/Waves Of Eurotasia/Relapse Records/1994 CD Review

Pyogenesis are a band that started out as an atmospheric death/doom metal and later evolved into an alternative pop direction and this is a review of their 1994 album "Waves Od Eurotasia" which was released by Relapse Records.

Drums are mostly midpaced beats with some fast playing while the violin gives the music a very dark sound, as for the bass playing it sounds very powerful and at times takes the role of a lead bass.

Rhythm guitars have a very low tuning with some fast riffs that have a Swedish death metal sound mixed in with some slow playing that brings the doomy side to the music with a good amount of melody, as for the lead guitars they are mostly melodic guitar solos, as for the acoustic guitars when they are utilized they use alot of open chords with some fingerpicking and add alot of depression to the music.

Vocals are mostly deep death metal growls that are very easy to understand with some clean singing as well as some female vocals, while the lyrics touch on depressing themes, as for the production it sounds very professional and you can hear all of the musical instruments.

In my opinion Pyogenesis wher a great atmospheric doom/death metal band in the 90's and this was one of their best albums. If you are a fan of atmospheric doom/death metal you should add this album to your collection. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "In The End" and "Through The Flames. RECOMMENDED BUY.