Dew of Nothing - The Hatehunger
This is two tracks cuts of somewhat Black Metal influenced Death Metal, along with 2 “bonus” songs taken from their previous album, Doubleweird. That’s not much to go on, but the new stuff seems to be incorporating quite a few different Metal styles, including some old Slayer-type solos.
(0) Comment(s)
Devilium - Pagan at War
I’ve listened to this brutal, but completely unmemorable, Death Metal album several times, trying in vain to find something to say about it. It’s certainly intense in all ways, and the recording is full, although I guess their sound could be heavier. But the instant it’s over, I forget it every time.
(0) Comment(s)
Deteriorot - In Ancient Beliefs
Pretty solid combination of modern Grind and Old School Death Metal. After sitting through fourteen tracks, this got a little monotonous, but enough cult riffage a la Sunlight era is unearthed to shut me the fuck up. Not bad at all. Favorite cut: “Unholy Return.”
(0) Comment(s)
Destruction - The Antichrist
This follow-up to All Hell Breaks Loose continues the course of kicked asses charted on that modern Thrasher. Of course The Antichrist doesn’t recapture the band’s ancient greatness, but honestly, what could? But, this new (old) Destruction is closing in on being just as good (evil) in their own way.
(0) Comment(s)
Destiny’s End - Transition
This band’s well-written and expertly played Power Metal would make Helloween proud, if not for just one small problem: their singer. Hell, I almost like this anyway, but this sissy squealing in 64-part harmonies in his best Rob Halford imitation is simply too much to bear. And that’s a real shame, since musically this is awesome, and would have certainly received a vastly higher rating as an instrumental album, but there are only a handful of people who can sing in this style and not sound completely goofy. To compound the problem, they start this thing off with some very ill-advised “computer voice” samples that stick around throughout the first song. There is a place for goofiness in music, of course, but only when it’s intentional. Please note that the indicated rating reflects the near-perfection of the music - that’s just how much the vocals bring this down.
(0) Comment(s)
Desiderii Marginis - Deadbeat
As with many of the Cold Meat artists, DM is Dark Ambient, and it really takes something special for me to really get excited about this genre. There are certainly moments of this album that are haunting and eerie, but I wouldn’t say that those feelings of desolation last for the duration.
(0) Comment(s)
Deride - Scars of Time
From the press release: “Watch out Fear Factory….watch out Slipknot…watch out Pantera…here comes Deride!” Let me assure you that although Deride would love that propaganda to be true, the aforementioned queens have nothing to worry about - from these trendy wannabes, anyway.
(0) Comment(s)
Depraved - Decadence & Lust
Simply saying that this album is brutal porno Death/Grind (although that description is accurate) misses out on a few important points, probably the most important of which is that Depraved belongs to the elite group of bands that can make this much intensity also memorable. Yet another great release from the unstoppable French label, Warpath (formerly Shock Wave).
(0) Comment(s)
Demon Sword - Demon Sword
When you see a CD with cover art like this, you get a sinking feeling in your gut that this is going to suck. The question you ask, then, is not does it suck or not, but how badly does it suck. Let me count the ways… First of all, the cover art does nothing to inspire me to want to take Demon Sword seriously. It looks like a third-grader took a clip-art sword and drew a pixilated goat head over the top of it. Yes, it looks that bad and yes, it looks as stupid as you’re imagining it would look right now. Next up in the mix is the music. Demon Sword sounds like bad Darkthrone worship with just enough chaos running rampant throughout the proceedings to qualify as Beherit / Bestial Summoning worship. About 10 years ago, I would have been more lenient on a one-man band but after Burzum, Judas Iscariot and Nargaroth proved that you could do everything yourself and still sound great, I’m just not that forgiving anymore. As you can imagine, the “Necro” and “Grim” stereotypes are all over this CD. The sound is so raw that if it were a steak, it would still be mooing. The obligatory Darkthrone cover barely registers because it sounds so much like the rest of the songs on this CD that you can easily not notice it. Not only that, but my copy of this CD skips - and it isn’t my CD player! The only redeeming feature Demon Sword has is that the lyrics are intelligent enough so that I don’t laugh myself to death while reading them. They actually read like someone with a high school education wrote them, unlike many bands who have lyrics like they wrote down the insane ramblings of a homeless crackhead that thinks he’s Satan. This band needs a lot of work. The truth be told, I would get some serious help in the musical department because Scorpius (no relation to Vampyr Scorpius of Crimson Moon) doesn’t have the talent to do everything by himself. Demon Sword also needs better sound and more quality control over the final product. If you enjoy getting ridiculed, releasing something this bad is fine, but I’d rather not be made a fool of like this.
(0) Comment(s)
Page 173 of 388 pages « First < 171 172 173 174 175 > Last »
