SHORT REVIEWS… collects upcoming releases from the forthcoming month and pursues each one in a paragraph (or two) format. An exercise in inclusivity, this’ll largely speak to records that were able to “sell” me on a second or third look beyond previews. The major goal here is to aid readers/listeners in making their own informed decisions and to discover releases I would otherwise likely not cover, or, have time to cover. Please note that a I’ve left out the “Best of the Month” worthy items because I plan to do full-sized longform reviews for them. Weekly reviews will persist otherwise. If you’d like your upcoming November release(s) to be considered for review next month please submit all materials by November 15th: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com
| ARTIST: | DEFUNTO |
| TITLE: | Defunto |
| TYPE: | Demo |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 1st |
| LABEL(S): | Self-Released |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
This self-titled debut demo from Costa Rican extreme doom metal quartet Defunto presents us with two imposing 9-10 minute pieces of gravel-scraped and dungeon borne death/doom metal which emphasizes raw and surreal ambiance. Formed this year and featuring fellowes from Pazuzu and Bloodsoaked Necrovoid this project echoes some of the sensibilities found in each of those ‘old school’ death metal bands yet ‘Defunto’ arrives upon an entirely separate sound. Fans of classic funeral death/doom tapes and the guttural extremes of both Rigor Sardonicus and Moss should appreciate the droning nature of these pieces, each of which are delivered with an unfaltering slug-dirging pace and hollow and sickly corpse-beaten atmosphere. Both songs impress here in terms of atmosphere, vocals, and the consistency of their presence. The only gripe I have with the listening experience comes with the spoke word samples used on each song, these add an extra layer of distraction that neither song needs.
| ARTIST: | DEADSPEAK |
| TITLE: | Dissolve the Dreams |
| TYPE: | EP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 5th |
| LABEL(S): | Raw Skull Recordz [CD] Into It Records [Cassette] |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Deadspeak are a fairly new trio out of Friesland, Netherlands and we can already assume their major purpose is ‘old school’ death metal worship since they’ve been presented to us via the undaunted hand of Raw Skull Recordz. ‘Dissolve the Dreams’ captures the band at a well-practiced point of precision, their sound is still a bit “green” and their riffcraft is fairly average to start but this ultimately makes for a satisfying amount of simpler groove-oriented pieces alongside a few brief thrash attacks. The cover of Death‘s ‘Evil Dead’ is a bit of an interruption early in the tracklist and doesn’t indicate the more sophisticated semi-melodic side of the band which reaches its most accomplished peak on “Gatling”. The vocals need some extra guts behind ’em and the riffs aren’t quite there for my own taste on this one but, I do see this band’s sound appealing to fans of early Illdisposed and Konkhra.
| ARTIST: | ALDA |
| TITLE: | A Distant Fire |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 8th |
| LABEL(S): | Eisenwald |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Having to whittle down a list of nearly two hundred promotional items to a little under thirty-five longform reviews meant some of the most compelling music of the month of October would simply slip through my fidgeting hands. This fourth full-length from Tacoma, Washington-based quartet Alda, ‘A Distant Fire’, is included up high on that list of accomplished, professional, and soul-enriched records which I’d simply not been able to budget time for. The first thing you’ll notice in trying to figure the thick-hanging mystique surrounding this band is that they’re notably influenced by the earthen instrumental prowess of prime Agalloch and the post-rock ebb of Wolves in the Throne Room yet they’re not so literal in translation as, say, Falls of Rauros are in terms of developing post-music atmospherics. Though their sound can be reasonably targeted towards “Cascadian black metal” fandom this should not suggest an eagle’s view of the landscape described within crescendo-core and modern rock drapery, what makes Alda distinct and arguably something special is the oddly sincere intimacy their works have insisted upon since ‘:Tahoma:’ (2011) served a general breakthrough. This recording most notably moves through a set of defined spaces which are all distinct, a journey which only occasionally rises above the canopy, embracing a curated approach that aims for movement over the balanced ten minute vignettes of ‘Passage’ (2015). For all of the excess and desperately commercial angles we’ve seen this distinct form of USBM take over the last decade it is refreshing to sit with such an earnest atmospheric black/folk metal record that is so capable of thriving within songcraft rather than cheapening flash or forced themes.
| ARTIST: | HEGEMON |
| TITLE: | Sidereus Nuncius |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 8th |
| LABEL(S): | Les Acteurs De L’Ombre |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
‘Sidereus Nuncius’ is the much anticipated fifth full-length album from Hegemon, an impressive late second wave black metal band whom had two well-received demo tapes in the late 90’s but are best remembered for their first two full-lengths in terms of the greater southern French underground black metal scenery of the early 2000’s. A couple of records with Season of Mist‘s “underground” sub-label came at irregular intervals later on and garnered some comparisons to Seth for an increasingly dramatic melodic black metal sound but they are perhaps less remembered due to extended breaks in between each. Past or present hardly apply here, though, all is one and with sheer consistency they persist as Hegemon have held together as a band quite well since the mid-90’s; The original spirit of their work as a whole is readily apparent as we dive into ‘Sidereus Nuncius’. My favorite record from this band is ‘By This I Conquer‘ (2002) and though the sort of regal circular dance of their melodies is traded for aggression beyond that point, the mark of the main songwriters yet persists stunningly here a couple of decades later. The bombast of this record is initially imposing, the recording is absolutely explosive and the compositions themselves are sentimental if not grand in the midst of their propulsive execution. A sense of intensifying purpose seeds itself early on but hits upon an incredible high as we reach “Shape Shifting Void” and “Ad Astra Per Obscura” on Side B. Though I did find myself wanting the sheer brutality of the drums to ease from time to time Hegemon resound with an appropriate level of seriousness because of it and I’d eventually relent and enjoy the severity of this album. Also, the album art from David Thiérrée here is one of my favorites of the month.
| ARTIST: | KRZTA |
| TITLE: | Żółć. Niszczenie. Zgliszcze |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 8th |
| LABEL(S): | Piranha Music |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
KRZTA are a sludge and noise rock influenced mathcore band from Olsztyn (northern Poland) who exist on the extremist edge of post-metallic modernity alongside bands like LLNN but without the full-on hardcore/metalcore bent in effect, opting for a sort of later Converge and early Isis influenced mania for distinction. ‘Żółć. Niszczenie. Zgliszcze’ leaves behind some (not all) of their Noise Trail Immersion-esque “blackened mathcore” sound for something a bit more patient and brooding, presenting a notable bout of growth following their well received self-titled release (‘KRZTA‘, 2017). Though I did miss the production values of their prior release the muddier menace of this album is well represented by the sound design herein, keeping things sludged-over and extreme but spaced enough that noise rock fans will appreciated the reeling, syncopated side of the band as well. Of particular note here for my taste is the surrealistic painting from Kamil Błażewicz on the cover, the polluted hues of the dystopian landscape perfectly suit ‘Żółć. Niszczenie. Zgliszcze’.
| ARTIST: | ORGREL |
| TITLE: | Red Dragon’s Invocation |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 15th |
| LABEL(S): | Iron Bonehead Productions |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Another stunning hand illustrated album cover (via Luciana Nedelea) and of course it houses a notable black metal album from Italian black metal trio Orgrel whom mark ‘Red Dragon’s Invocation’ as their debut full-length. The first impression I’d gotten when faced with this album was a mix of the sentimental melodicism from Finland, France and perhaps Germany of the last decade but in truth most of those ideas are refined from a core ideology which stretches back to early works from Bilskirnir, Horna, and Moonblood among others. Point being that this record is certainly of modern build but it seems their melodic influences are a bit more arcane than many contemporaries with longer riff statements and strong points of punctuation. The effect is less a warrior on horseback holding up a sword and more a warrior with a spear in his gut enjoying the sunset of the endtyme. I don’t find it all that interesting where in time and place Orgrel fit into the greater black metal headspace, instead finding the hypnotic cadence of these pieces interesting by their own merit. This is especially true as we hit upon a somewhat slower-paced and poisoned tone of the second half of the record, starting with “Gate of Eternal Life” and my favorite pairing, “Torn Flag” and “Fiery Dawn Cry”. At this moment nearby the final of the record we find the narrative strength of the band finally reaching the point of release. An inarguably strong initial statement which is certain to catch the right sort of ear.
| ARTIST: | CENOTAPH |
| TITLE: | Precognition to Eradicate |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 13th |
| LABEL(S): | Tentacles Industries |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
This is the seventh full-length from Ankara, Turkey death metal lifers Cenotaph, a project which is probably best known by most ‘old school’ death metal heads as either “the brutal one, not the Mexican one” or one of the first legit brutal death metal bands from the Middle East and for what its worth they are still one of the most extreme. Though ‘Precognition to Eradicate’ is still lead by the distinct guttural hoark of Batu Çetin the entire line-up has been replaced for the second time since longtime guitarist Cihan Akün (Burial Invocation) exited, re-entered and exited again after a string of excellent albums between 2002-2011; If you are missing that combination and missed Molested Divinity‘s second album ‘Unearthing the Void’ in 2020, jet over that way. Despite ‘Perverse Dehumanized Dysfunctions’ (2017) being a bit average a few years back the Cenotaph sound has always been pretty easy to appreciate and relatively consistent in terms of finding the most brutal path through 3-4 minute brutal death metal songs and this time around aiming for pure chaotic putridity above all else. That’d be what struck me most beyond Çetin‘s insane vocal skill, ‘Precognition to Eradicate’ is a portal to the horrifying extremism of circa 2002 brutal death metal which is then hyper-evolved to a chest-bursting state of mania circa 2021. I appreciate the Hell out of this band for pushing the limits to a ridiculous level of frenzy and keeping the raw brutality of the music far from anything trendy or art-metallic — This is “throw a newborn, still attached at the cord, into an overturned lawnmower revving at full speed” levels of brutality and I’m completely nuked by it every time I put it on.
| ARTIST: | LÄJÄ ÄIJÄLÄ & ALBERT WITCHFINDER |
| TITLE: | Centuries of Youth |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 15th |
| LABEL(S): | Svart Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Store |
An electronic body illness resulting from an alarming state of tension and surrealistic, not-so reality based confessionals, ‘Centuries of Youth’ is some manner of late 70’s electro-infused minimalist dementia shared between Läjä Äijälä of legendary Finnish hardcore punk band Terveet Kädet and Reverend Bizarre‘s Albert Witchfinder. Ear skinning power-electronics, goddamned shouting, and hypnotic machine pulses here are often akin to yelling a conversation at a co-worker over the din of factory work and pretending you’ve understood what was said (“Hassle”). We’re reading lips here and wincing under the oddly pleasurable collective scream of this record, delivered wide-eyed and angered in English, growled with a moderately thick Finnish accent. The real successes here for my own taste step away from the crooked smiling poetry of “Walk” and the not quite right exit of “Everything is a Dream” and instead find us walking into a state of emergency (“Hassle”, “Dominion”) where the body cannot help but react, empathetic or not. All things considered, I’d wanted more of these pieces to stand up to the stomped guitar wrangling and consistent pulses of “All Made-Up”, too perfect an introduction to what is nothing short of madness otherwise.
| ARTIST: | AEON |
| TITLE: | God Ends Here |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 15th |
| LABEL(S): | Metal Blade Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Having been a fan of their past life in Defaced Creation in the late 90’s, I guess I’m old enough to remember when the first EP from Aeon was released back in 2001 and the general consensus being that this offshoot of the Östersund, Sweden-based crew being decidedly compared to Deicide ad infinitum then and beyond. Their sound was (eventually) received as “modern” in the same way Blood Red Throne‘s was in the early 2000’s and, for what it is worth, each band have stuck to their guns since. Both acts return with quite long and imposing traditional death metal records this month and for my own taste Aeon have the edge simply because they’ve still got an exciting handle upon the riffs and retain some decent focus despite the ~50 minute runtime here. ‘God Ends Here’ is an iteration beyond ‘Aeons Black’ (2012) in terms of spreading about fifteen 2-4 minute death metal songs amidst several intermissions. Instead of just getting a few instrumental pieces to bookend certain chapters of the record we’re served five pieces which generally tie into the songs they precede, though the association is fairly vague. The listening experience is unfocused, overly long, and has a somewhat generic over-produced quality which loses some of the classic death metal flair of the band. The title track is particularly vexing as it incorporates some symphonic elements and takes up arms in a sort of late 2000’s Behemoth-esque display which lands a bit random in the mix. I’d often found myself shutting off the album instinctively around this point and then having to force myself to finish the full listen. I appreciate the consistency of Aeon‘s discography and long-standing fans of the band will be pleased by ‘God Ends Here’, I’d nonetheless found it plain, average.
| ARTIST: | MASSACRE |
| TITLE: | Resurgence |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 22nd |
| LABEL(S): | Nuclear Blast |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
From what I gather Kam Lee had shopped out the songwriting and performances of a Massacre “comeback” record to musicians Taylor Nordberg and Jeramie Kling of The Absence back in 2019 and after a not-so amicable break those two formed Inhuman Condition, eventually releasing that record as ‘Rat God’. It was a success, a tightly wound ripper worthy of Florida death metal’s most carnal thrashing attack in the late 80’s/early 90’s. As prophesied on my part, ‘Rat God’ is inarguably far, far better than the cobbled together and decidedly generic death metal we find on ‘Resurgence’, a muddy and hardcorish record which neither attempts to sound like Massacre or bother with any sort of songcraft beyond a couple of referential riffs. ‘Back From Beyond’ (2014) had nearly pulled it off but this record is just miles from its target and sounds like a generic ‘old school’ death metal record randomly grabbed off the line and slapped with a few thrash metal change-ups and whammy dives. I’m rarely so down on any record but this is particularly disappointing and disingenuous as an addition to the Massacre discography, I don’t understand how it is possible to so severely muddle what is such a simple, straight-forward legacy sound and style. Ah well, the Wes Benscoter painting rules at least.
| ARTIST: | EXSUL |
| TITLE: | Allegoresis |
| TYPE: | EP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 22nd |
| LABEL(S): | Caligari Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Tucson, Arizona-based death metal duo Exsul are back with a second EP and this one is even more horrifying than the first, amping up the guitar layers and breaking into opener “Noesis” with seriously imposing style. Their sound is pure filth, a sludged-over grind too nuked to form all but the simplest death/doom grooves and slurry-splattering noise otherwise. ‘Allegoresis’ embraces the mania of their sound design by way of enhanced extremes, the doom hits slower and the brutality hits harder and this ends up being far more of an event than the first tape. The first thing you’ll likely notice on the first spin through is a pair of loungy, off-center heroin rocked interludes (“Glaucon’s Dilemma”, “Pantagruelion”) which frame the oddly titled centerpiece of “How in the Land of Satin We Saw Hearsay, Who Kept a School of Vouching” which showcases both the grotesque strength of Exsul‘s sound as well as the limitation of their anxietous and tuneless songwriting. “Psychomacia” is the best of the ~5 minute pieces here, finding a notable progression to wield at the apex of the listening experience before… a cover of “Sweet Revenge”. I love Motörhead, especially the late 70’s ‘Bomber’ era stuff, and I will listen to the EP several more times but I’ll definitely skip that last bit.
| ARTIST: | SEXMAG |
| TITLE: | Sex Metal |
| TYPE: | EP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 8th |
| LABEL(S): | Dying Victims Productions |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Sexmag are a raw mid-80’s styled extreme thrash metal band from south-central Poland featuring members of upcoming extremists Black Hosts and Haunted Cenotaph. These guys are aiming for the grey area between late first wave black metal, nascent proto-death metal and raw death/thrash from the Eastern Bloc of that era. Beyond the obvious early German satanic speed metal bands and their influence upon Brazilian innovators we get a sort of kicking Slavic thrash vibe from this EP which is satisfying. Think along the lines of Tormentor (Hungary), early Sodom for basic attitude and forms but quickly veer towards the first albums from Debustrol and Kryptor to really hone in on what makes this sound special — The grit of that sort of late to the part post-Iron Curtain extreme thrash metal sound.
| ARTIST: | ORGANIC |
| TITLE: | Where Graves Abound |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 22nd |
| LABEL(S): | Testimony Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
This impressive HM-2 driven Italian death metal band are back for a second album just a few years beyond ‘Carved in Flesh’ and they sound doubly serious right out of the gates. I’m not often convinced by this ultra-juiced distortion driven form of death metal these days but the brutal energy of ‘Where Graves Abound’ doesn’t just kick off strong with “Ropedragger” but they’ve kept this level of burly, punched up violence throughout the ~40 minute run of the record. They’re not necessarily handing out awards to the loudest, most bombastically violent d-beaten HM-2 riff cannon these days but I’d at least suggest ‘Where Graves Abound’ stands up to the best of Entrails. The songwriting and sound design isn’t necessarily on the pro-level of a band like Feral (Sweden) but there is something to be said for the raw intensity of this release. The only criticisms I could launch toward the listening experience generally lies within the need for more variation in the vocals, around “Caged in a Tomb” we find the whole band kind of firing off with more skill than ever yet the vocalist offers a sort of yelping abrasion rather than brutality. Sometimes this approach works but I’d found the level of control wasn’t there and the result was hardcorish and mushing over any pointed enunciation, leaving a clever album with a blunted voice. That said, the faster crust/hardcore punk influenced songs on the second half (“Die Schwanzdirn”) do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of keeping my skull engaged with the beating of it all. Fantastic sound, brilliant album cover art, and an overall solid second record from Organic.
| ARTIST: | BEAST IN BLACK |
| TITLE: | Dark Connection |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 29th |
| LABEL(S): | Nuclear Blast |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Formed by guitarist, vocalist and key Battle Beast songwriter Anton Kabanen after leaving that band in 2015, Beast in Black have managed an differently anthemic and exuberant take on uber-modern Finnish melodic arena metal by comparison. Lead by shred-heavy power metal standards and juiced by super cheese (read: very good) keyboards and the charismatic wailing of Greek vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos ‘Dark Connection’ is certainly fun music for people looking for an over the top, endlessly party of a good time where the glitter rains from the sky 24/7. I’d rather die most of the time but, I enjoyed the couple of hours I’d spent with this hourlong record for the sake of the strong variation in keyboard voicing (not sure who is credited) and the vocalist admirably overselling every single line. Not something I’d normally pick up but I can’t think of a better, more instantly effective palate cleanser. The Manowar cover is solid enough but I dunno, the cover of Michael Jackson‘s “They Don’t Care About Us” was somehow more appropriate?
| ARTIST: | CONTRITION |
| TITLE: | Broken Mortal Coil |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 29th |
| LABEL(S): | Disorder Recordings |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Chicago-based extreme metalpunk band Contrition unites an interesting mix of characters who’ve made waves in Yakuza, Novembers Doom, Wolvhammer, and Usurper in the past and no doubt ‘Broken Mortal Coil’ won’t feel related to any of their past resumes in terms of the listening experience or general style of the release, which is a relentless and dirging form of death metal influenced music lead by straight forward d-beats, throaty effects-laiden vocals and trailing guitar riffs. The opening duo of “Diluted” and “Amped” hit the ear like a brick wall and hardly falter from the initial ~nine minute walking punch presented. I was put off by this to start as “Amped” really struggles to hold it all together and present something new but “Nihilistic Right” gives us something else to chew on for a bit. The noise interlude of “Desolation Star” is fitting enough as an intermission for the final two pieces, which are arguably the strongest on the album, but it is a bit long for such a short record. Finishing things off with a cover of Nirvana‘s “Tourettes” kicks into the right part of my brain but leaves me feeling like this is more of an EP experience and thier next record will have worked out some of the mechanical edges which stiffen up the vibe a bit along the way. All in all I’d like to hear something a bit more full-bodied, and I don’t mean a thicker brew but a full-on, arms flailing extreme event which I know they’re capable of.
| ARTIST: | HÄXKAPELL |
| TITLE: | Eldhymner |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 29th |
| LABEL(S): | Nordvis Produktionen |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Because I am such a fan of southwestern Swedish musician Oraklet‘s work in Sons of Crom it’d been difficult to shake this collusion out of mind and appreciate this debut from his solo project Häxkapell unperturbed by my own comparisons. Though the inspiration for this project is likewise rooted in various traditions of Swedish black metal we see the artist pulling from multiple disciplines and decades in creation of ‘Eldhymner’ wherein the grace of black/folk metal butts up against the sleek brutality of melodic black metal traditions. “Eldskapt” is perhaps when the attention paid to ‘Eldhymner’ went from a casual half-eared enjoyment to rapt attention, this piece is obviously more sophisticated than something like Månegarm‘s ‘Nordstjärnans Tidsålder’ but it does recall a certain impossible age of pre-‘Till fjälls’ black metal where the medium wasn’t yet so splintered between incredible riff ideas and pursuing uniquely Nordic folk infused voicing. “Solraviner” gets this combination of ideals particularly right, battering the ear with nostalgic violence as often as it presents a sort of rocking oddness which already speaks well to the amount of character and presence available here. This will be on my best of the month list and only wish I’d budgeted more time to delve into it. The highest recommendation of the bunch this time around.
https://haxkapell.bandcamp.com/album/eldhymner
| ARTIST: | BIZARRE |
| TITLE: | Invocation Codex |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 29th |
| LABEL(S): | Transcending Obscurity Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
Spanish death metal quartet Bizarre have finally arrived with their debut full-length and based on the literature their intent is something heavily influenced by classic Finnish death metal. Apart from frequent breaks into melodic death metal this style doesn’t line-up with anything out of Finland before I dunno, 2005. So, you’ll find a lot of very bad phoned-in reviews for this album suggesting they sound like Adramelech or Purtenance and whatnot but this is absolutely false, not even close. If anything their sound is closer to something like the dynamic of (early) Deserted Fear where the far-distant essence of Bolt Thrower and a bit of Sinister‘s everything-bagel of brutality factors in as well. Lots of chunked out triplets, plenty of keyboards, and constant semi-melodic movements keep things interesting. For a band featuring members of Onirophagous, Wormed and Aposento the greater presence of ‘Invocation Codex’ is a bit undecided in terms of signature and this leads to an awkward paradox of Bizarre‘s uniquely set sound and somewhat generic songwriting, it is the sort of record I really want to like but the guitar work is quite plain overall. “Souls of Formaldehyde” expresses this best, a song which throws all it can into the fray and features some interesting melodic devices and accoutrement that is let down by absolutely dry chugs that bumble around lifelessly. This is a bit of a shame since their 2016 EP ‘Inner Necropolis’ was quite a bit more distinct.
| ARTIST: | MORGAL |
| TITLE: | Nightmare Lord |
| TYPE: | LP |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 29th |
| LABEL(S): | Werewolf Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Store |
This eastern Finnish satanic black metal band have their middle fingers up and “no morals, no laws” banners at the ready on this surprisingly melodic and memorable debut full-length. Faced with a brilliant painting from Joe Petagno and crippling all souls with their crossover between first wave black metal and second wave brutality ‘Nightmare Lord’ allows me to be as literal as possible when describing Morgal as “satanic speed metal” without resembling the usual black/thrash metal shit. The mood goes from ‘Branded and Exiled’-sized riffs (“Golden Sun of Satan”) to Sargeist-esque phrasing (“Extermination / Death Penetration”) and beyond within just a few songs. If their musicianship wasn’t on point I’d say these guys were just having fun but no doubt the quality of this record as a whole will throw folks for a loop, especially when they kick into the real nun-burners like “Gateways of Flesh & Blood” where we hear the same kind of fire-branded attack their self-titled EP back in 2018. Add it to your “must hear” list of records for the month.
| ARTIST: | DECEASED |
| TITLE: | Thrash Times at Ridgemont High |
| TYPE: | Compilation |
| RELEASE DATE: | October 31st |
| LABEL(S): | Hell’s Headbangers Records |
| BUY/STREAM: | Bandcamp |
In the tradition of ‘Zombie Hymns’ and ‘Rotten to the Core’ we’ve gotten two covers albums from Deceased beyond 2018’s heralded ‘Ghostly White’, the first being ‘Rotten to the Core – Part II: The Nightmare Continues’ (2020), which branched out into some deeper 80’s hardcore punk cuts and now this record, which focuses on mostly ’85-’86 thrash metal covers and a few late 80’s outliers. A lot of these are pretty damned natural feats for Deceased‘s already existing style — I mean Whiplash, Rigor Mortis, and Sacrifice are the cloth from which they’ve always been cut so, I guess the weird choices are the ones that stuck with me most, like the opener from the first Stone (Finland) album, “Get Stoned” is maybe tenth on a short list of songs from that band I’d like to hear Deceased cut into but it -does- ultimately work. “Demon Preacher” is the exciting one for my own taste, Deathwish‘s second album being a favorite of mine and they’ve done a fine job of it. All killer stuff played without too much fuss or fiddle, I guess the only reason I’d consider Darkness‘ “Death Squad” filler boils down to not liking that album in the slightest. Couldn’t be happier with this one and I hope they do ten more.
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