Deathrite (2018) Nightmares Reign 'Review'

Band: Deathrite
Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Grindcore / Death metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD Digipak Ltd. Edition

Length Approx.: 43:00 min.

Release Date: 11-09-2018

Release Label: Century Media Records

IR Classification: Moderate (2.6 / 5)

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Indeed! Nightmares Reign, it could not have been explained or titled better.

German band Deathrite brings their fourth record "Nightmares Reign" it comes with a very particular proposal, quite unique I would say, but that doesn't mean it's great, to be honest with you, forget what you previously listened back in 2015 "Revelation of Chaos" is far away and safe, "Nightmares Reign" ended up being a hard recording to go through because their sound is leaning towards a Death metal with scattered Grindcore parts along the album not very persuasive by the way the band opted to approach more to the d-beat sound with some slow riff nesting comfortably and uninspiringly into their sound. 

The major let down in this album is the infinite moments they are able to craft something great that you expect it to blow up anytime, but unfortunately, it never happens! you can feel that rush in your bloodstream and all the sudden that excitement gets lost in perplexity, sadly this formula repeats over and over along the whole album.

"When Nightmares Reign" kicks off with a muddy slow riff which manages to catch your attention for the speed and classic d-beat rhythm projected, rapidly and almost unnoticeable links to the next track "Appetite for Murder" it keeps the intensity acquired is here when you expect this track to reach another level; However, it leaves you stranded in the middle of nowhere with all that fire within you, then comes "Invoke Nocturnal Light" starting inoffensive and uninspiring it seems to pick up only when they go for those relentless d-beat riffs, "Demon Soul" is quite long enough for the few attractive riffs that contain the track, everything sounds generic the drumming needs that power infused in "Revelation of Chaos" or "Into Extinction", the next song is "Devil's Poison" besides the quick lame and boring start it really tries to reflect that heavy and dark ambiance well mixed with d-beat riffs and they did it great, "Bloodlust" seems out of place in this album, because is a straight discharge of old school metal with no mercy crushing riff and powerful drums are the key for this song, "Obscure Shades" re-takes those mid-paced riffs that have proven to be very ineffective to gain my attention, finally! but not over yet, we get to the last track "Temptation Calls" is the longest track they had ever recorded in their entire discography clocking at nine minutes and a half with not much to display, but if you are in the mood I can tell you, the eerie passages and that subliminal guitar solo that leads to an effusive and epic guitar work will save the end from a free fall.

To sum up briefly, Honestly, I have to say it, this is not the best work they have put out, musically it lacks vibrant and crushing ideas, the average time per song it is higher than usual and the prominent heavy and darker sound almost vanished giving a free path to an extense use of crust and d-beat elements blended with death metal to obtain their very particular sound, the production and mixing is accordingly to the rawness they wanted to project; So... is up to you to take a side, Me!? I will stick to their previous works for a while.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal…™

Track List:

01. When Nightmares Reign │ 02. Appetite for Murder │ 03. Invoke Nocturnal Light │ 04. Demon Soul │ 05. Devil's Poison │ 06. Bloodlust │ 07. Obscure Shades │ 08. Temptation Calls

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Grave Digger (2018) The Living Dead 'Review'

Band: Grave Digger

Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Heavy / Power Metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD Digipak
Length Approx.: 46:00 min.

Release Date: 09-14-2018

Release Label: Napalm Records

IR Classification: Moderate (3.0 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

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"The Living Dead" doesn't compile their best work.

Grave Digger is one of the few bands that have been hanging around for the last thirty-eight years and one of the most skilled at songwriting that we can recognize nowadays within the Heavy and Power metal genre, "The Living Dead" comes to be their nineteenth album in their career, not all the time has been fanfares for them and frankly, "The Living Dead" falls short especially when you met them at their maximum exponential point; Please, pull out any album from the nineties or early noughties, and you will understand what I'm talking about.

"The Living Dead" struggles to retain your attention, the opener song "Fear the Living Dead" seems weak to me, it lacks of that classic punch that characterizes the Teutonic, in fact the length end up killing this track, while "Blade of the Immortal" comes loose and the riff doesn't land properly, at least doesn't make the intended impact, "When Death Passes By" delivers a decent crushing riff with a stunning guitar solo, "The Power of Metal" is a beautiful song that pull off one of the best sing along choruses in the album and thrives to transmit the feeling of the power metal, "What War Left Behind" give us is a great initial thrash riff, with a solid rhythm section and a terrific guitar solo, but again, "Fist in Your Face" is exactly what it says it is and not for being grandiose, it totally loses a lot of emotion, the next track is "Zombie Dance" what can I tell you about this track? is a Folk experiment that caught me off-guard, in their defense I can say they are looking alternative to entertain their audience, adding new stuff to their long repertoire, the closing bonus track "Glory or Grave" is kind of OK, with a solid and powerful riff that melds pretty tightly well, at most gaining an average level.

At the end I got lost, I end up with doubts because since (2015) "Exhumation (The Early Years)" and (2017) "Healed by Metal" Grave Digger has not shown all that genius and power that backs them up and "The Living Dead" doesn't compile their best work, few tracks are redeemable, but that's it; So please do yourself a favor listen the whole album and make your own conclusions, because here I have nothing else to say.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal…

Track List:

01. Fear of the Living Dead │ 02. Blade of the Immortal │ 03. When Death Passes By │ 04. Shadow of the Warrior │ 05. The Power of Metal  │ 06. Hymn of the Damned │ 07. What War Left Behind │ 08. Fist in Your Face │ 09. Insane Pain │ 10. Zombie Dance │ 11. Glory or Grave

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Andras (2017) Reminiszenzen... 'Review'

Band: Andras

Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Epic Pagan Black metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD Digipak
Length Approx.: 01:07:00 min.

Release Date: 10-20-2017

Release Label: Einheit Producktionen

IR Classification: Good (4.0 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

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Mysticism and creativity as one

Andras released their seventh full length few weeks ago entitled "Reminiszenzen" containing thirteen tracks and lasting about one hour and seven minutes which is quite a lot to listen, the largest within their discography so far, it seems that Nightsky guitarist and the main composer has been pretty active as far as songwriting refers during the last seven years, Andras has opted to remain faithful to their own style making few incursions, adding more atmospheric sections resulting interesting.

Also we have to mention that Andras' line-up has been refreshed, Nightsky remains on guitar duties, Black Abyss has taken over bass, while Ghwerig takes care of the keyboard and last but not least Khenaz contributes with the vocals.

"Reminiszenzen" from beginning to end has plagued with a solid pagan black metal with an emphasis on ethereal melodies, with a powerful and harsh vocals to lead your soul to hell, the album opens with "Im Schatten der Flammen" which means "In the Shadow of the Flames" translated from German, the track is powerful and engage you right away with a brutality offered but softened with the right kind of melodies to linger for a while with yourself, "Black Rain" is very epic, the way they managed to shift back and forth the pace with complex structures that sound straightforward while the vocals delves into a nineties style screeching with backing vocals included into melodic sections, this album is full of good tracks "Phantasma" and "Zenit" this one appeals to be more oriented to the black metal sound, the works behind the keyboards is amazing and there are more songs to highlight as, "Altar der Finsternis" doesn't stop the torrent of heavy riffs that are overwhelming, or the track "Blessed in Sin" very alike Quorthon's style, creator of Bathory and forerunner of the same style Pagan metal, "Fergunna" comes with a ceremonial emphasis on the choirs, with a semi-slow rhythm that projects the double bass drum parts impeccably, let's jump to the last track "Das Portal (Outro)" which does exactly what an outro does, with a smooth ending begins with some piano notes which fade away, to give space to a heartbreaking and devastating guitar riff, nothing new but effective for such magnum opus.

To finish, I can say Andras has become such of an underground cult act of today with a clear idea of what it means to be a Pagan Black metal band and how to transfer the mysticism and creativity as one piece, the downside on this album is the length, it takes you sixty-seven minutes to listen and appreciate what they have done, but to put it simply, it doesn't work for me listen for so long to a single band; So there you have it, "Reminiszenzen" is an album that can't be ignored.

Stay True... Stay Metal... Stay Brutal...

Track List:

01. Im Schatten Der Flammen

02. Black Rain
03. Phantasma
04. Zenit
05. Die Tilgung
06. Der Blinde Mann
07. Altar Der Finsternis
08. Blessed in Sin
09. Anewand
10. Fergunna
11. Der Raubschütz 1
12. Der Raubschütz 2
13. Das Portal

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Endseeker (2017) Flesh Hammer Prophecy 'Review'

Band: Endseeker

Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Death metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD
Length Approx.: 42:00 min.

Release Date: 10-20-2017

Release Label: F.D.A. Records

IR Classification: Good (4.0 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

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Impressive death metal album debut

Endseeker is barely a new up and coming band from the underground, playing an unrelenting old school Death metal, formed in Hamburg, Germany during 2014 by former members of Buried in Black, Ben Liepelt (Guitars) and Torsten Eggert (Bass) both of them joined forces with the talented vocalist Lenny from (Devastator) recruiting former drummer and guitar player of Mephistopheles André Kummer and Jury Kowalczyk, respectively.

Soon they have ready five powerful tracks, they entered at Chemical Burn Studios in July 2015 to record their EP debut titled "Corrosive Revelation" released through F.D.A. Records, raising a good acceptation among the fans of the genre.

Few days ago, they just released their first full length titled "Flesh Hammer Prophecy" with ten tracks in the most pure vein of Death metal from yore, their sound appeals the attention of Bolt Thrower, Entombed and Morbid Angel fan bases, let's dig into the opening track, "Into the fire" works as an intro melding slower riffs, giving a free way to explode with the album's self-title track fast with very well pace, adding some interesting changes of rhythm, "Demon Spawn" just keep up with the intensity injected from the previous track, "Malicious Instinct" takes you right away to the "Left Hand Path" era, followed by "Worshipping the Bloodthirsty" kicking off with a subtle sludg-ish riff and delves with a groovy riff, "Feasting on the Decomposed" sounds very generic and for a brief moment gets me lost, "Shredding Your Graven Image" with a Swedish Gothemburg riff was able to hook me back into the recording, the bass sounds are pretty tight in the background, "Black Star Rising" makes a smooth transitional change of rhythm from the preceding track before breaks abruptly sickening, "Powder Burns" comes in a solid piece of well structured riff with merciless drums from the begining falling into a doomy passages, "Possessed by the Flame" ends the album almost at the same pace of the previous track, but somehow they manage to keep my attention, the subtle guitar solo along the song keeps coming at me over and over. 

I definitely believe that Endseeker has a promising future, of course they need to polish some details here and there, but for now they have shown with their effort and dedication that they are worthy of taking seriously, So! from now on I will be on the lookout of your next production.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal...

Track List:

01. Into the Fire
02. Flesh Hammer Prophecy
03. Demon Spawn
04. Malicious Instinct
05. Worshiping the Bloodthirsty
06. Feasting on the Decomposed
07. Shredding Your Graven Image
08. Black Star Rising
09. Powder Burns
10. Possessed by the Flame

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Protector (2016) Cursed and Coronated

Band: Protector

Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Thrash metal / Death metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD
Length Approx.: 51:00 min.

Release Date: 02-26-2016

Release Label: High Roller Records

IR Classification: Good (4.1 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

They still offering the same energy and unrelenting thrash death metal of yore

Legendary German band Protector came back with their sixth full length record entitled "Cursed and Coronated", this is their second album after reunited in 2011 and right away they started the songwriting process and by 2013 they released their fifth album titled "Reanimated Homunculus" which honestly knock down everyone around the world, because instead losing the energy and aggressivity they showed since the end of eighties were they put out two great albums "Golem" in 1998 and "Urm the Mad" a year later with their unrelenting thrash death metal, during the nineties was not easy however they were able to released another two albums "A Shedding of Skin" in 1991 and their last studio album by that time "The Heritage" during 1993 but; They were struggling for long time until finally they collapse in 2003, however the flame was not entirely off and Protector came alive more brutal and ruthless than ever.

If we had an extra place for “The Big Teutonic 4”, I would consider (5). And I will definitely put Protector as the fifth band, certainly! You might complaint about it because they haven't been consistent compared to Kreator, Sodom, Destruction or Tankard but Protector have what it takes to be there and their latest two albums can prove my words by itself, because they still offering the same energy and unrelenting thrash death metal of yore and that my friends... is what move the masses around the world.

Protector current lineup is lead by founder member vocalist Martin Missy, drummer Carl-Gustav Karlsson among others (Grief of Emerald and Mastema), guitarist Michael Karlsson also in (Mastema) and bassist, backing vocals Mathias Johansson he plays in (Suicidal Winds and Axis Powers), this formation have been steady since 2005 when they used to be called "Martin Missy and the Protectors".

The CD album "Cursed and Coronated" contains one intro and ten tracks plus three bonus tracks totaling almost fifty-one minutes, the album was recorded at Sunlight Studio in May 2015 by Tomas Skogsberg, mixed and mastered at Temple Of Disharmony by Patrick W. Engel, the cover artwork was designed by Kristian Wåhlin. Out of the ten track included, seven are novel, while the remaining three were previously released, the first of this tracks was "Terra Matter" included in their demo 2011 "The Return of Thrash and Madness", in 2012 the track "The Dirmholt" (which seems to me misspelled) it was released in a split 7 inches vinyl limited edition with the band Erazor and last of this tracks released in 2013 "Xenophobia" in another split 12 inches vinyl with the band Ungod.

The intro infuses some eerie ambiance, with cult drums and ceremonial whispering like invoking a deity, it links rapidly with "Xenophobia" is fast and heavy riffs own the track as the raspy and hellish voice of Missy appears, the drums sounds devastating, "Crosses in Carelia" is another track that sounds heavy and darker with unexpected pace changing, followed by the self-titled track, "Cursed and Coronated" with a simple structure falls into a medium pace but the riffing is sickening, whilst the rhythm section built sounds gloomy but enjoyable, "Six Hours in the Cross" it really contrasts with the previous track, frantic riffage and dispiteous blast beats, with cutthroat vocals, make of this cut a beast, I can clearly define this triplet as the essential core of the album, "The Dimholt" here the band continuous to deliver, the classic German thrash carved by bands like Kreator and Sodom, with exceptional riffs to culminate with a glorious guitar solo, "Terra Matter"  brings a malevolent pace and riffs to obliterate any pseudo-thrash metal from nowadays, "The Old Boil" sounds repulsive and is the last cut in the album, it doesn't feel like a good end, for a moment the bass lines catch me, however the rest goes unnoticed, the bonus tracks are "Intro-Misantrophy", "Sliced, Hacked and Grinded" and "Protector Of Death" all were recorded live at Dresden in 2013, capturing somehow the evil energy that only they are able to displace on stage.

After thirty years and a renewed Protector, still having the fury within them, pulling explosives riffs, strikingly drum pattern and crushing vocals, the production, mixing and mastering are undeniably amazing giving the proper space for each instrument, therefore the result will satisfy the most ardent followers of this Teutonic force and those beginners in the genre, please do not miss this opportunity.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal...

Track List:

01. Intro

02. Xenophobia

03. Selfdesdrugtion

04. Crosses in Carelia

05. Cursed and Coronated

06. Six Hours on the Cross

07. Base 104

08. The Dimholt

09. To Serve and Protect
10. Terra Mater
11. The Old Boil
12. Intro / Misanthropy (live)
13. Sliced, Hacked and Grinded (live)
14. Protector of Death (live)


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Obscura (2016) Akróasis

Band: Obscura

Country of Origin: Germany

Genre: Progressive Technical Death metal

Type: Full Length

Format: CD
Length Approx.: 58:00 min.

Release Date: 02-05-2016

Release Label: Relapse Records

IR Classification: Good (4.2 / 5)

Listen our review! (English)

Akróasis retains all the rhetorical and distinctive elements which makes their sound unmatched

Obscura the German progressive technical death metal band has come with their newest production titled "Akróasis" it took almost five years to put out a record to Obscura's mastermind guitarist and vocalist Steffen Kummerer, but it wasn't easy after a full reformation of the band, until he meets with fretless bassist Linus Klausenitzer, drummer Sebastian Lanser and guitarist Tom Geldschläger, who left the band after recording the album allowing the lead guitarist Rafael Trujillo took over duties, with this facts in mind, it’s hard to answer the question if they were able to top off their previous album "Omnivium" released in 2011, as soon as you listen to their new record, you will figure it out.

"Akróasis" retains all the rhetorical and distinctive elements which make their sound unmatched, versatility remains a key part, very well structures arpeggios supported by a classic jazzy fretless bass, while the drums keeps up its endeavor tracing paths of intricate precision and the balance of the album fumbles between the chaotic and melodious moments of "Cosmogenesis" and the rabid progressive speed of "Omnivium", without a doubt it's complex and unpredictable.

The album opens with "Sermon Of The Seven Suns" it release all the intensity towards the infinite power in a rampant ecstasy, the jazzy elements sprout out through the varied soundscape, the vocals fall in a Schuldiner-esque, while the drums got beaten with determination and precision, "The Monist" reveals some nuanced of the early Florida tech death (Atheist, Nocturnus), the vocals take care of the brutal side in the cut, "Akróasis" the album self-titled track set a state of mind unique with a broad and compulsive sound spectrum, mesmerizing how are they able to retain you with subtle disharmonies, "Ten Sepiroth" bursts with a delicate acoustic guitar which works perfectly before unleash a hell of fast riffing, freezing blast beats shake the ground and open the way to the magnificent "Ode to the Sun" a beautiful mid pace track full of malevolence, heavy and dense riffage, the orchestral percussion are impressive and almost at the end of the cut, a choral arrangements are integrated exceptionally, "Fractal Dimension" skillful guitar work followed by a ceaseless drum builds passages and walls of cosmic sounds converging in a masterful guitar solo that vanishes in eternity, "Perpetual Infinity" remain overwhelming with very creative riff delighting the listener, the bass works towards the song complementing but forgetting the jazzy interludes for a moment, "Weltseele" this track is a subtle display of talent that scales through various hues and mergers of elements, creating a superb songwriting where can appreciate genuine riff death metal, mixed with acoustic guitars, violins, cellos, and double bass as well as clean vocals in narrative form and of course snarling vocals, the drum section play an important role giving the support to lay the pace and moods to this utterly masterpiece within their entire repertoire, the last track is the instrumental "The Origin of Primal Expression" which works pretty good as an end, giving the sense of tranquility and peace.

It is true they took a long time to perform their fourth album "Akróasis", but it is also true that you will not be disappointed, however if you are expecting somehow they follow the steps of "Omnivium" I fear you might question this album because lies more on elements we hear in "Cosmogenesis" but still I cannot clearly defined as a progeny of it, due to the expansive work in their songwriting and arrangements as ever before, it is highly recommended for enthusiasts who likes to venture in the intricate of the subgenre progressive and technical.

Stay True… Stay Metal… Stay Brutal...

Track List:

01. Sermon Of The Seven Suns
02. The Monist
03. Akróasis
04. Ten Sepiroth
05. Ode To The Sun
06. Fractal Dimension
07. Perpetual Infinity
08. Weltseele
09. The Origin of Primal Expression 



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