Best Demo's of 2013

One part of music I love is wading through bullshit to find treasure. Whether it be digging through used CD's, vinyl bins or sampling shit online, nothing quite matches that feeling of finding a bargain or finding the band you can attach yourself to as the guy who discovered them among your peers. Yea, I'm that guy. In 2013 I found quite a few that I'll be patiently awaiting more material. Now, I know this is "No Clean Singing" but I've included a couple awesome clean singing demos in here. Let's get to it. In no particular order...

Kêres - The Wanderer's Path Demo XX

This is their 3rd demo (according to Metal Archives) and I'm not sure how they haven't landed something with one of the underground Black Metal labels like Fallen Empire. Either way, I'm hoping past and future material becomes more readily available soon because it's on par with any other Black Metal band out there.

Throaat - Puke On Your Grave

New York is home to a few of my favorite bands. Villains, Negative Plane and now Throaat. Throaat play an amalgam of BlackDeathThrash n' Roll and even have some keyboards involved at times. Somehow they even manage to make it all catchy as hell. 2nd press of the cassette is still available on their Bandcamp, go support!

Panther - Speed Bitch Motor Fuck

As you can probably tell, Panther is Speed Metal, Punk n' Roll. They remind me of a band like Midnight without quite the songwriting chops. Lot's of this kind of stuff is coming out lately and I couldn't be happier about that. Grab the live version of their demo on cassette over at their Bandcamp or download the studio version for free.

Sangus Legio - Vengeful Brutality

Black Thrash with a Crust Punk flavor from Rhode Island. I've seen these guys live with bigger acts a couple of times and they eat their lunch every time. 2 free downloads over at their Bandcamp.

Stone Dagger - The Siege of Jerusalem

This is just classic traditional Heavy Metal by Brendan Radigan, vocalist extraordinaire with metal bands like Magic Circle, Hardcore bands like The Rival Mob, Oi! bands like Battle Ruins and about 75 other bands. Top quality song writing if you're into this kind of stuff.

Possession - His Best Deceit

Possession is a band who reminds me a bunch of Brazilian cult favorites Sarcofago, especially the wild eyed drum performance. This might be the most fully formed demo on my list despite the band only being together for a year or two. These guys are ready for a full length right now. If BlackDeathThrash is your thing than check it out.

Ranger - Combat Metal

Ranger has received big buzz as of late so I'm assuming a lot of you have heard this one. If not get ready because Exciter and Razor had a baby and it's coming to eat you're flesh. They also released an EP off the strength of the demo and it's great so pick that up also.

Arnaut Pavle - Arnaut Pavle

So your sick of inconsequential Darkthrone releases with inside metal references? What's that? You want old Darkthrone back? Well here you go.

Eternal Champion - The Last King of Pictdom

More clean singing for that ass. When I first heard Eternal Champion I could not stop listening. I'm generally not a fan of any genre with "epic" in the title but this is genuinely epic heavy metal. This might actually be my favorite demo this year.



Bones - Demo 2013

Bones is a band in the same category of Mold only slightly less...moldy. Just awesome old school Death Metal. It's a great mix of Hellhammer and Autopsy. Just listen to "Curative Conversion". Beautiful.



Mold - Cremated Alive

Moldy, rotted, cobweb covered old school Death Metal. Nothing new school about it. If I didn't know better I'd think this was a long lost demo from years past. If anybody can find a physical copy somewhere let me know in the comments because this shit kills.



Well that's it for me. Bandcamp has become a wonderful tool for metal. Whether it's bands, fans like myself or bloggers like the people here, it's hard to imagine some of this stuff getting recognized without it. So keeps your eyes peeled, you never when you'll stumble onto the next big thing.

Bandcamp Round-Up 12/3/13

Once a week from here on out I'll be doing a round up of stuff I discovered on Bandcamp every week. New or old it doesn't matter. If you know something up my alley, send me a link and maybe it'll end up on the site. Otherwise, read on and hopefully find some good shit that you can support.

CRYPT LURKER Baneful Magic, Death Worship and Necromancy Rites Archaic

To me this sounds like Sludge as much as it does Death Metal. Fuzzy riffs, ripping vocals and a great atmosphere. This one may actually end up on my year end list somewhere. Listen and buy the vinyl! Don't worry it comes with a digital download card!

 

SPEEDBOOZER Speedboozer

Another one of those Motorhead meets Speed Metal bands like Midnight, Speedwolf, Intoxicated, etc. that I can't seem to get enough of lately. Grab a bottle of whiskey, a cheap box of smokes and take a listen!

CARPE NOCTEM In Terra Profugus

If you enjoy the dissonance of French Black Metallers Deathspell Omega or Blut Aus Nord you'll be sure to like this. This one came out of nowhere and I wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up on a few year end lists. Buy the CD while you can or gran it digitally.

FEMACOFFIN Demo 2013

I heard about these guys earlier this year and loved it so I'm going to take the time to post about it here. Filthy, Crust Punk inspired Death Metal. Really not much more to say. Let your ears do the talking. I'm sure I'll end up grabbing this one. Oh and one of the things that appealed to me before I even heard the music was the band name. If you went to take a trip down the internet rabbit hole, go ahead and Google it.

 POSSESSION His Best Deceit

Iron Bonehead never ceases to amaze me with their ability to find these filthy as fuck bands out of the muck of the scene. They never fail. This demo here is one of the most fully realized demo's I've heard in quite some time. I'm pretty sure these guys have only been a band for about a year and they are ready to do a full length, right here, right now. I expect them to rise up the ranks pretty quickly and wouldn't be surprised to find them on year end lists for the demo and hopefully next year with a full length. Lots of this really reminds me of the venerable SARCOFAGO especially the hair on fire drumming. Essential purchase, at least for me.

FUOCO FATUO 2 EP's In One Tape

 Italian Doom with Black Metal elements. Need I say more? Think Sabbathian grooves with Black Metalish vocals and the added element of Mortuary Drape style atmosphere at points. Yeah.

The Resurrection of Death Metal Part II

In the first installment of this column I wrote about how the dam has broken in terms of good Death Metal this year. I gave some examples of some classic bands that made great albums and now it's time to transition into telling you about the many lesser known DM bands that put out great material in 2013. There's a lot so let's get moving.

PROSANCTUS INFERI Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night

Probably the most traditionally vicious of the bunch, Prosanctus Inferi has improved tremendously on their second album. They don't let you breath through their wall of sound for a second and those vocals, ooooh those throat ripping vocals!

 SACRIPHYX The Western Front

I've gushed about this band here before in my best of the first half of 2011 column so I'll just leave you to the music.

 KATECHON Man, God, Giant

Great mix of Death Metal, Black Metal and even some Hardcore.

LANTERN Below

Another album I've raved about here already. Listen.

IRKALLIAN ORACLE Grave Ekstasis

What happens when Diocletian and Teitanblood have a baby?

ABYSSAL Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius

The name says it all. Truly an abyss of sound.

BOLZER Aura [EP]

Only an EP but already qualified as Death Metal's Deathspell Omega.

HORRIFYING Euphoric Existence [EP]

Pure, well crafted, old school DM.

MOLD Cremated Alive [Demo]

  

See above.

COMING SOON...

P A R T    I I I

The Resurrection of Death Metal Part I

Long gone were the glory days of early 90's Death Metal. With each passing year there were less and less quality DM releases. The peak of DM dropped with the rise of Black Metal. Bands like Darkthrone, Burzum and Mayhem replaced names like Cannibal Corpse, Obituary and Carcass. The denim clad, sleeveless shirt wearing every man of DM was replaced with the demon looking, all black wearing, spiked, seemingly woods living heathens of Black Metal. Death Metal guys talked the talk, Black Metal guys walked the walk. The autopsy table stories of DM'ers coundn't compare to the BM'ers killing each other, killing homosexuals and burning churches. The surgical steel precision of DM musicians fell to the raw, sloppy, under produced sound of BM. Black Metal since the early 90's continues to be not only full of sloppy, raw, under produced music but also home to some of the most progressive, forward thinking, genre bending acts in Metal period. It's become the place to go to experiment. Death Metal on the other hand, tried to move on, tried to progress and  became less and less appealing.

In the past 5 or 6 years though, there's been a large group of young bands (and old favorites) looking back to the birth and early 90's peak of Death Metal and regressing back to those days. In my eyes, that regression has been progression. It's been termed OSDM or Old School Death Metal, but to these ears it's just plain ol' Death Metal. Each year this trend seems to grow and each year there's a few more quality Death Metal releases. In 2013 though, the dam has burst. In my opinion 2013 has been the resurrection of Death Metal.

Going into Carcasses Surgical Steel, I had ZERO expectations. After such a long layoff I didn't think they had it in them but thank god I was wrong. Surgical Steel may not surpass their best works but goddamn if it isn't close.

Autopsy has made a couple new records in the past few years that were just OK. Headless Ritual though, may be their best since Mental Funeral.

Exhumed never really stopped making solid records but Necrocracy may be their best.

Gorguts has also made a huge comeback with Colored Sands, their best album since Obscura. Seeing the trend yet?

While maybe not as widely known as the above classic bands, Portal has been dropping their own brand of Death Metal for a decade now. Maybe even more sinister than the rest. Check out a live version of "Awryeon" from the album "Vexovoid" to see the true vicious nature of Portal.

And that's that. In Part II of this post I'll be recommending 2013 albums from newer DM bands like Katechon, Lantern, Irkallian Oracle, Abyssal, Bolzer, Horrifying, Ogru Jihad, Prosanctus Inferi, Sacriphyx, Antidiluvian, Ulcerate and Tribulation. You're in for a long one, so get your headphones ready. They're coming to get you, Barbara!

Support Local Music

You never quite know what's lurking around your area. I've come upon quite a few RI/Mass bands lately who are right up my alley. I always thought the scene here was populated by more mainstream metal fare than anything but apparently there's a whole under the underground scene that I wasn't completely aware of and today I'll do a little profile of two of my favorites.

Hailing from Rhode Island, ETERNAL KHAN is a band I ignored for a bit without hearing the music. I heard the name, I saw the album cover and for some reason it screamed DEATHCORE to me, which I'm generally not a fan of. Earlier this year, another metal scribe whom I'm generally on the same page with gave them the thumbs up so I decided to give them a shot. Upon first listen I knew I had stumbled upon a gem. In 2012 my #1 album was FAUSTCOVEN Hellfire and Funeral Bells which combines Black Metal elements with the slow dirge of Doom to brilliant results. On their new EP A Primitive History ETERNAL KHAN, while certainly their own entity, blend the same elements together for similar results.



ETERNAL KHAN has quickly become my favorite local band. I'm looking forward to what they can do on a full length and hoping they create enough noise to get picked up by a decent label like Nuclear War Now! and get some decent distribution.

You can grab their CD at the great Armageddon Shop or listen to the EP and buy it direct from the band at their Bandcamp page.

At the other end of the spectrum is SANGUS LEGIO also from Rhode Island. A Black/Thrash/Crust outfit who has been stealing the show from known bands for a little while now. Their 1st demo Vengeful Brutality is just a raw, uncompromising mix of some of my favorite things. Instead of me fishing for a proper description, it's much better to let the music do the talking.


You can also check out more of SANGUS by purchasing the cassette from Armageddon Shop or at the above Bandcamp.

Something Old, Something New - Volume I

In "Something Old, Something New" I'll be giving you an old, underrated gem and a great new record from the last 2 or 3 years. So without further ado, let's get this ball rolling.

Today I'll be focusing on Death Metal. The old school Death Metal sound has made a resurgence over the last 3 or 4 years. It's a bit of a trend with younger band to sound like the classics of yore. Hey, no complaints here. I like nothing better than a band with old school aesthetics. Let's start with a sample of an album I consider to be an under looked genre classic.

How romantic.

Necromantic Love Songs by Antropomorphia was an EP that came out to little fanfare in 1993. I didn't come across them until 2012 after it was re-released on vinyl in 2011 by the venerable re-issue outfit, The Crypt. The Crypt specializes in finding long lost, underrated albums or demo's and giving them proper re-issues on the vinyl format and boy am I glad they're are around. This one happened to come with their Bowel Mutilation demo which is also great.

One major difference you'll hear is BASS. For whatever reason, Death Metal bands these days tend to mix their bass to be almost inaudible. It's a pet peeve of mine, especially when I hear something like this where the bass absolutely makes the song. Love the melodic intro also.

 BASS.

Because of the response to the old material Antropomorphia went on to reunite under the Metal Blade banner and drop a damn good album last year which you can sample here.

And now for something new. Morbus Chron is a young band who absolutely gets it. Their first full length, Sleepers In The Rift dropped in 2011 and sounded like old school Autopsy. That isn't the album I'm here to talk about though, so I'll let you decide that for yourself. And FUCK, check that album art out!

With the success of Sleepers In The Rift they were picked up in 2012 by Century Media and dropped an incredible EP called A Saunter Through The Shroud that not only showcased a progression in instrumental chops but also song writing. What started as Autopsy worship turned into a mixture of Autopsy, Death's more progressive leanings and Obituary's John Tardy style vocals. Here's the full EP to hear for yourself.

One unknown old band who is back almost 20 years later based off old metalheads like us digging up their old material and a young band who is poised to make a mark in the genre for years to come. 

SUPPORT OR DIE!

Top 5 Demo's of 2012

TARDIGRADA Widrstand

  

Not only the best demo but also in my top 5 this year in general. I've already broken this one down for you now just go support the band and the great Fallen Empire Records.

 http://fallenempire.bandcamp.com/album/widrstand

 WHITE MEDAL Yorkshire Steel

  

A UK band that is quickly becoming my go to for quality Black Metal.

  Order Yorkshire Steel at http://www.skullproductions.com/

B.C. Manifest

 NY Black Metal that doesn't sound like you probably think it does. Old school, dirty and raw Check it out at http://bcmetal.bandcamp.com/

TORTURE CHAIN Time is but a Doorway to the Incinerator

 

Massachusetts Black Metal that again, doesn't sound like you probably think it does.

Good luck finding a copy to buy but if so inclined, it's easy to track down as a download. In the mean time, Youtube has the full album up. Check above.

AMPUTORY Unclean Promo 2012

Finally something other than Black Metal. High quality Death Metal of the Swedish variety. Highly recommned their first demo from 2010 also. No idea where to track down a physical copy so, download it.

http://modernsoundsofdeath.blogspot.com/2012/12/amputory-finland-unclean-promo-2012.html