Vomitory - Opus Mortis VIII - Album Review

2010 and 2011 have been host to some good Metal releases. Vomitory's eighth studio album titled Opus Mortis VIII is one of them. The album was highly awaited by fans of the band and Death Metal in general. Vomitory are known to be consistent as all their previous releases have the proper blend of brutality and old-school vibe. Even though their sound doesn't change much across albums, they manage to keep it fresh with newer riffs and energetic songs. I'd dare compare them to Bolt Thrower - they are consistent, rarely change their sound, but always deliver.

The album art kicks as much ass as the album

Opus Mortis VIII is slightly different from other Vomitory albums as here they concentrate more on mid-pace riffs and drumming rather than in-your-face brutality as seen in Terrorize, Brutalize, Sodomize. They do speed up at places, but the level of brutality doesn't quite reach high enough, and is as brutal is Blood Rapture at most. But that can be ignored as brutality is just an added element of their music. The highlights of the album are the riffs. They are all over the place and cannot go unnoticed. Each riff is catchy-as-fuck and headbangable. There are breakdowns too. Yes, breakdowns as in the ones usually present in Swedish Death Metal, more closely related to "Thrash Breaks" rather than -core breakdowns. Most of songs sound like a cross between Asphyx and Slayer, and the band has apparently cut down on blast-beats and super-fast riffs, which, even though present, are scattered across the album just in few places. The riffs on Forever Damned and Combat Psychosis are especially memorable. Just listen to the break in Combat Psychosis, and tell me you weren't imagining swinging an axe towards someone's neck. The whole album is full of such moments and it doesn't get stale.

The band's overall sound has remained largely unchanged with this album - the guitars sound muddy as always, the drums reek of brutality when they blast away. Each snare shot feels like a sledgehammer and in mid-paced section, they provide a sufficient groove. The bass drums pound away all the while like no tomorrow. Erik Rundqvist does a great job on vocals. He is guttural, yet comprehensible enough. Erik's vocals lack variety, but are consistently brutal and do the job well for a bassist-vocalist. The album is bass-heavy too. That combined with the muddy guitar sound is reminiscent of some late-90s Death Metal album. It goes without saying that a dirty guitar sound with heavy bass makes for a good album. In terms of sound there is a noticeable improvement from Carnage Euphoria. The wall of trebly distortion that made the album impossible to listen to with poor quality speakers/earphones is not a big problem here as the sound is rather thick and bass-heavy, so poor people like me, who lack good hardware can rejoice.

A great release by a rather consistent band. Being one of the bands that always put out similar-sounding albums, do not expect anything new from these guys, buy if you are a Death Metal fan, Vomitory will keep you coming back for more. Get it now! Get the whole discography an you will NOT be disappointed.

10 Finnish Death Metal Albums/Demos Recommended Listening

The Death Metal scene in Finland was one of the most active scenes in the early 90s. The bands had a distinct, atmospheric sound, which made them different from Swedish Death Metal bands.

I will list some bands and album (or demos) here that should be heard by any Death Metal fan.

1. Convulse - World Without God : The album is Finnish Death Metal at its very best - heavy, crushing, and catchy at the same time. The palm muted riffs accompanied by the drum grooves with the rather low-fi production, and an atmosphere that induces imagery similar to what the album cover depicts makes a good OSDM album.

2. Demigod - Slumber Of Sullen Eyes : A band that perfectly blends atmosphere with brutality. Each song is a relentless Death Metal assault with a feeling of being in a bog/swamp surrounded by crocs that will pull you down any time. No frills Death Metal that keeps a constant pace at all times.

3. Cartilage - The Fragile Concept Of Affection (Split with Altar) : Similar to Demigod in Nature, but only a little more mellow and atmospheric, and honestly, wrote songs that are more memorable. Especially the riff at the beginning of the song "The Altar" got stuck in my head for days.

4. Abhorrence - Abhorrence EP and Vulgar Necrolatry : Both demos are crushing Finnish Death Metal with a crypt-like atmosphere and mid-paced to slow songs, but fast sections are laden with evil-sounding tremolo riffs and blast-beats. The slower sections are some of the heaviest I have heard in Death Metal, especially the ones in Vulgar Necrolatry demo.

5. Depravity - Silence of the Centuries : One of my favourite bands from Finland. Rather than relying on Heavy, palm-muted riffing, Depravity rely more on tremolo-picked riffs and successfully create a dark sound unparalleled by any Death Metal band. No, it does not have any Black Metal elements in it, so it cannot be called Blackened Death Metal, yet, the band's sound it too dark and less heavy for Death Metal.

6. Rippikoulu -  Musta Seremonia : Easily one of the heaviest bands I have heard Rippikoulu's Musta Seremonia is the second demo by the band. Though I have not heard the first demo I have been told it is even heavier and had less Doom Metal in it. Yes. Musta Seremonia is essentially a Death/Doom metal demo. The guitar tone is distorted to an extent that it cannot be heard properly unless you have good speakers/earphones, yet the bass is quite audible and adds to the heaviness. The drums, when pounding away during the fast parts, completely crush everything it their way. Highly recommended!

7. Disgrace - First 2 Demos : Like their fellow Finns, Xysma, Disgrace changed their genre a number of times, playing all from Death Metal to Punk Rock. The first 2 demos - "Beyond The Immortalized Existence" and "Inside The Labyrinth Of Depression" are straight-up murky Death Metal with a typical Finnish sound. The low, Death/Doom-like vocals really suit the band's mid-paced (and occasionally slow or fast) music. An interesting thing about them is that they don't mind making their songs sound groovy at places. That makes them interesting. The recent split with Coffins is worth checking out too.


8. Adramelech - Psychostasia : Adramelech deviated from the typical Finnish Death Metal sound and adopts a rather fast, thrashy and slightly technical sound, but that doesn't stop them from being an important Death Metal band from Finland. Psychostasia is a very good record with fast songs and memorable riffs. Another good feature is the presence of memorable solos.


9. Purtenance - Member of Immortal Damnation : Getting back to a band with the typical sound. Purtenance are another Finn Death Metal band that incorporate muddy guitar sound while being generally slow or mid-paced, but never shying away from speed and blasting. If you have already heard Abhorrence or Rippikoulu or Disgrace, you might find this band rather unremarkable, but it still deserves a listen.


10. Preprophecy - Season Of Sorrow : The band made no break-through in Death Metal, even though some elements of their music are rather unusual. They place thrashy Death Metal, slowing down at most parts, but their overall sound is very gloomy - even the fast, thrashy riffs sound more gloomy than aggressive. They also had the audacity to include clean singing vocals here and there but it doesn't sound bad, even though amateur.

MAJOR ADDITION:
11. Demilich - Nespithe : I had not added this because I had not heard it, and I regret not having heard it till now. Demilich play Death Metal similar to Demigod in many ways, but their music is a lot more complex and technical. Crazy, spiralling riffs, lengthy song names and overall epic sound make them a special band. The vocals are especially different as they are extremely guttural. A MUST HAVE! DOWNLOAD IT, IT IS A FREE ALBUM!

A Brief Guide To NWOBHM (With Recommendations)

Every person into Heavy Metal knows what New Wave Of British Heavy Metal was. Even the less-informed know about it because of the movement's association with Iron Maiden. Needless to say, every person begins his/her journey to the ocean of bands and genres related to Metal with Iron Maiden.

NWOBHM is often associated with Diamond Head, Venom, Grim Reaper, Angel Witch, Raven, Motorhead, Tank and Saxon, apart from Iron Maiden, but this movement was as big as Swedish Death Metal scene in the 90s, and a lot of bands died unnoticed and are still probably unknown. I will now list some bands that you need to listen to, with a short description of their sound.

1. Tytan - My personal favourite from this movement. The band chose a less raw and aggressive sound, settling for a 70s Judas Priest-like sound, with a more Hard Rock-oriented sound than Punk-oriented, which most bands chose.

Album : Rough Justice

2. Wolf - Not to be confused with the Swedish heavy metal band with the same name. Wolf was formerly known as Black Axe and released a single called "Highway Rider". It was rough, it was raw and totally metal. Wolf's album Edge Of The World is just a follow-up, with more songs. Awesome band.

Album : Edge Of The World

3. Atomkraft - One of the earliest bands to have a much more aggressive sound. Their sound can be described as Speed/Thrash Metal, with songs like "Demolition" containing fast riffs and thrashy drumming.

Album : Anthology

4. Blind Fury - Closely Related to Satan and Angel Witch, the band was weaker compared to both the bands in terms of sound, but that doesn't change the face that they made really good Heavy Metal. Their songs are a standard fare, nothing unique, but still worth checking out.

Album : Out Of Reach

5. Tysondog - Speedy riffs akin to Raven and high register vocals. Though the band hardly qualifies as Speed Metal, it is still close to that. The drumming is continuous and not very notable, but still adds to the "fast" sound the band aims for.

Album : Beware of the Dog

I cannot think of more at the moment, but will keep updating this list.

Time Is Up - Havok - Album Review

Time is Up, by all American Thrash Metal outfit, Havok is a very nostalgic yet mad-mad release, people! Yes, where all the star bands sold out, Havok still sticks to its roots, you might call it a tribute band or a keeper of thrash metal. Not to forget, CHECK OUT that artwork, it's just MAD!
 
The album starts with 'Prepare For Attack', a hardcore thrash metal song with cutthroat riffs and solid solos, followed by 'Fatal Intervention' which has sufficient groove, pounding drums and hyperactive solos similar to the first track. You should totally check out that scream in the third track 'No Amnesty'(you'll know what I am talking about when you actually hear it!), thrashy as expected. The fourth track 'D.O.A' is comparatively melodic and it totally reminds me of Slayer, very catchy tune, and then Tom Araya's screams! Killer riffs. 'Covering Fire' is another track where you should totally check out the solos and the chops, the crispiness of the sounds followed by 'Killing Tendencies' which is very much on a similar note, layered vocals, razor sharp riffs and chops. It does sound very Iron Maiden or Slayer-ish though, but then that's how it is.The next track 'Scumbag In Disguise' is tilted a bit to power metal, with more instrumental sections in between and master solos! 'The Cleric' is the 8th track of the album, and is a very general thrash metal track, the melodies and leads are pretty predictable, it's not as speedy as the rest, chops are noticeably okay. 'Out Of My Way' makes you get hooked on to their music all over again, it's chuggy, it's aggressive, it's old-school like the way you want it to be, riff-crazed, it's the kind of track that gives you major adrenaline rush! The last track is the title track, 'Time is Up' which sums up the album, in-your-face kinda thrashy sounds, speedy percussion's overall, love it.

The album was thoroughly not a disappointment at all, they started out as a steel guardian as thrash and they are keeping that title to themselves, and 'Time Is Up' is one of their very mature releases with all the melting leads and exceptional solos, pummeling rhythms. I dare you to head-bang to this!
 

Black Autumn (Ger) - Rivers of Dead Leaves - Album Review

Combining Black and Doom metal has always been a challenge for musicians and the output is usually very interesting. The same applies to Michael Krall's solo project, Black Autumn. Even though Black Autumn was intended to sound something in the vein of Norwegian Black Metal, and the album preceding to Rivers of Dead Leaves, ie, Ecstasy, Nightmare, Doom had a thin sound and typical Depressive Black Metal atmosphere, this album shows a change in sound as Black Autumn takes a more Doom Metal-oriented sound.

The experience of listening to Rivers of Dead Leaves can be described as taking a walk along the coast in a cold, foggy morning. The sound of the album, rather than being outright depressing, or having a feeling of impending doom, has a serene and mellow feeling to it, despite its basic genre, which is a combination of Depressive Black Metal with layers of thick guitar sound akin to Doom Metal. Don't get me wrong, the riffs generally play a melancholic pattern in all but one song, and the lyrical themes, though atypical, do not deal with anything bright or shiny or colourful. Yet, its not the usual tremolo-picked riffs and high-pitched wails deal here. The vocals are rather drowned and rasped, or whispered. The drum machine never sounds annoying, even though it plays a rather repetitive pattern, thanks to the fact that it is mostly hidden beneath the bassy, thick guitar riffs so it doesn't grab any more attention than needed. The songs always maintain their pace, but the variations in the riffs are enough to keep a person listening to it and avoid redundancy. One of the few downs in the album is that certain songs are not very notable or memorable, but songs like the title song, A 1000 Years In The Water, Oath and Ophelia are highly memorable songs, which still brings us a good ratio of 4:6. Another down is that the album takes some time to grow into You might feel like skipping a few songs when they're halfway over, unless you take time to listen to each one carefully.

The album has it flaws, is not perfect, and its sound may not be what people expect from it, but from my side, Rivers of Dead Leaves is a great effort by Black Autumn and is definitely up there among my favourite Black Metal releases.

(No CD available at Amazon.com, and the title is sold out. Buy other Black Autumn titles from http://www.wrecked-up.net/blackautumn/distro/

If you like Black Autumn, check out Gris)

Dystopia - Human = Garbage - Album Review

They say Black Metal is the most hate-driven genre is music. They're wrong, and Dystopia is the reason why. Crust/Sludge giants Dystopia have released numerous EPs and Splits and one full-length throughout their career, but their 1994 compilation is the high point.

Human = Garbage consists of 12 hateful Crust Punk tracks taken from 2 of their earlier splits and the EP titled the same. The amount of misanthropy and hate filled in this release is evident from the first track itself, with an intro in which the vocalist recites his disgust with the modern society in a frustrated voice, and a straight-forward crust song follows. The band doesn't stick to the usual punk formula of writing a single riff and playing it through a 1-minute track, but instead varies the riffs and speed, occasionally slowing down and becoming sludgy. There are samples scattered throughout the songs, and used very well and fit the mood of the songs, especially songs like Sanctity and Love/Hate.

 

After track 6, the band gets into a full Crust Punk mode and all songs after that are much faster and aggressive, sometimes as brutal as Grindcore with blast-beats and super-fast riffs in Slaved Chain and Ruptured Silence. These songs explore the less sludgy sound of the band. Throughout the compilation, the vocals are the main feature of interest, as all 3 members of the band handle the vocals, and each one of them has a different vocal style, so there's a good amount of variety to them. The frustrated high-pitched vocals, and hardcore screams and angry growling, all perfectly suit the lyrical themes of the band. There is a slight drop in aggression level with like Green Destroyed and Weed of Wisdom have a catchy groove to them despite some grind parts while Broken Shell is a slower, sludgier song but still has a catchy sound to it. The relentless crust assault keeps going with the song Sleep, which is taken from their split with the Sludge band Grief, and work very well as a closing song due to the memorable acoustic passage accompanied by sludge riffs near the end of the song after 2 and half minutes of destructive crust punk assault.

The compilation is recommended for Metal and Punk fans alike, and Dystopia is undoubtedly one of the most hateful and aggressive band one would ever come across.

Nocturnal Breed - Fields of Rot - Album Review

Nocturnal Breed, a Black/Thrash Metal band from Norway have come up with really good releases in the past, efficiently combining Black and Speed/Thrash Metal to give their music a harsh, yet catchy and groovy sound. Fields of Rot, the band's 2007 album, is no different. Despite their ability to compose extremely memorable songs one can keep coming back to, Nocturnal Breed never got the attention they deserve.

To cut the review short, just try describing this album cover

Fields of Rot is the band's best effort so far. The album starts off with Wicked, Vicious and Violent and you know it is not the typical Desaster and Deströyer 666-style Black/Thrash, but rather old school Speed/Thrash with only a few Black Metal elements. The intensity of the vocalist and relentless Thrash drumming is continued through the album, but the band throws in variations everywhere. While Fields of Rot and Code of Conduct are straight-forward Thrash Metal songs with a great Black Metal vibe, In Sickness and In Hell has a groovy and catchy chorus, a memorable line in the first 1 and half minutes which says "When you fucked with us, and army was born", and a very simple yet memorable guitar solo. The riffs are intricate and the band carefully avoids single-note riffs or simple chords wherever possible, and yet, in each song make sure you have your head swaying and banging to them. A very good example of this would be the album opener and songs like Too Damned To Conquer and Scything Harrow. The vocals take some time to get into, as they're high-pitched, yet neither screamed, nor screeched or rasped nor sung. They're somewhere in between. The vocalist changes his style midway through certain songs and speaks in either a rather-evil voice or imitates Lemmy. Lemmy imitation is particularly notable in Iron Bitch, which is a Motörhead-worship song, with Motörhead written all over the riffs, vocals bass, and the overall song-writing. It is easy to mistake it for a cover. While most songs on the album have a traditional Speed/Thrash Metal approach, they maintain a dark, blackened sound, especially songs like Code of Conduct and Scything Harrow, trading the "fun" sound with a darker, more sinister sound.

The album, though short, is long enough to keep one entertained and sprain someone's neck due to furious headbanging induced by each track. Every track is a standout here with no specific weak point. The riffs and vocals make this release highly memorable, but the drums and bassline is not particularly notable and follow a standard formula seen in every Thrash record, which is the only shortcoming of this album.

Highly recommended for Black/Thrash or Speed/Thrash metal fans

9 out of 10.

 

Infester (USA) - To The Depths, In Degradation- Album Review

Time to review one of the albums mentioned in the Top 50 list. My personal choice, Infester.

Sonically, Infester is the opposite of melodic, beautiful music. This overlooked, under-appreciated gem of an album from one of the sickest bands gives the listener an audio experience of a dungeon right in the middle of the burning heat of hellfire.

To The Depths, In Degradation is not quite what you would expect from a Death Metal album from 1994. It explores the darkest corners of Death Metal music, bordering Black Metal a lot of times. This is one of the few, rare bands I would tag as "Atmospheric Death Metal", as they create a horrifying, genuinely scary atmosphere consistent throughout the album. The music has a sense of urgency, being involved in an escape from a demonic fiend chasing you through a labyrinth. One of the main reasons being the extensive use of tremolo riffs and underlying keyboard, which is neither dominant nor too underpowered to notice, and give the album a Black Metal feel to it. The drums are a sidelined component in the music though they blast away most of the time, but add to the already morbid atmosphere, slowing down when necessary, but avoid being repetitive will rolls and fill in the right places.

One very noticeable element of the music is the inclusion of a "slam" section in the songs. Those slams are very unlike what one would hear in a Brutal Death Metal song. They are surprisingly atmospheric and scary. The fast and "urgent" sense of music ends at this point - the demon has caught you and there is no escaping it now. The mentioned "slam" sections are especially prominent in the title song and songs like Chamber of Reunion and Braded Into Palsy.

The highlight of the album would be Jason Oliver's vocals. The vocals are like no other, and are the main reason this album isn't for the weak-hearted. The growls and especially the shrieks do not sound like they originate from a human larynx. There is no other way to describe the vocals, so I'll leave it to this, though I'll add a picture that perfectly describes the "thing" doing the vocals.

Yes, he is THAT badass.

Overall, this album is one of the best Death Metal releases of all time, and manages to be what Death Metal was all about in the first place - horror, morbidity, and brutality all encapsulated in the form of music, and this album perfectly fits all 3 descriptions.

Highlights: To The Depths (In Degradation), Braded Into Palsy, Chamber of Reunion, Excoriation Killz The Bliss

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwahn, Belphegor- Album Review

Walpurgis Rites - Hexenwahn, the 8th release by Austrian Blackened Death Outfit, Belphegor, our underground sweethearts. The album lives up to its trademark 'evil' and sexual profanity but I do admit, the album gives one a feeling that the band has run out of ideas, lack of inspiration.

The album contains 9 tracks in total starting with the title track consisting of some serious blast beats and layered growls, it starts of pretty intense and pretty much stays real forceful throughout.
Veneratio Diaboli - I Am Sin, the 2nd track is my personal favorite, because of its sense of uniqueness among all the other tracks. Haunting atmosphere, underlying melodies + raspy vocals are a win, the alternating guitar segments in the song merged pretty well even with slow tempos, its also the longest track but it's loaded with cataclysmic mayhem.
The 3rd track, Hail The New Flesh, okay, the name is pretty corny I felt. It's got a similar atmosphere but we've lost the riffs. Fierce drumrolls, crazy blastbeats. Brutal but kind of cheesy more than haunting.
Reichswehr In Blood is a bore. Why? Because it really has no special standout moments, its fast its demonic but very usual.
The Crosses Made Of Bone again has these very oldage riffs. Not much.
Der Geistertreiber is a little interesting, you'll either like it or hate it. Very bassy, gutteral vocals and an industrial feel, more like Rammstein * Death.Metal.
Destroyer Hekate leaves you breathless, it's another fav. I'd like to see someone headbanging to this piece of brutality.
Enthralled Toxic Sabbath retains that atmosphere that was evident in the starting of the album, killer drumming, raspy vocals. Doom riffs and a bit of an old school touch to it.
The last track of the album, Hexenwahn- Totenkult continues to have the doomy riffs, but the song seems to be very laid back, slow tempo-ed, except w\for the haunting intro, i didn't like much about it.
All-in-all, the album is aggressive, wicked vocals, groove and catchy riffs, lots of pummeling blasty parts, speedy drumming, good technicality. Lyrics were fairly okay, (I always do check out the lyrics of Belhphegor!) The entire album was very in-your-face with a sense of eroticism which is Belhphegor's signature style. But I'll say it again, lack of inspiration, not much experimentation except for a little melodic contest, Bondage Goat Zombie was a better one for me.

Blackfield- Welcome To My DNA- Album Review

Blackfield came into existence as a collaboration between Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson & Israeli progressive rock wiz, Aviv Geffen.They've done two albums namely Blackfield and Blackfield II and have gotten fans asking for more ever since. To begin with, I'll be honest here, I never took Blackfield seriously but then I heard their new album "Welcome to my DNA", I remember scrobbling the songs on last.fm and liking almost every one of them!
Summary: Melancholic feel-trippy-ambient-dreamy and pop rock-ish.

The album comprises of 11 songs starting with 'Glass House', a perfect start. It feels like a combo of Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree but not quite a derivative of either. Dreamy vocals and tunes.

'Go to Hell' is basically a 4-10 line composition. It's dichotomous, weird weird parody, but if you want me to be positive, I'd say i love the way it goes "Fuck you all*2" in that mocking tune (I'd love to sing it that way to someone's face). The song just contradicts the poised impression of the band.

'Rising of the tide' is okay. It gets monotonous when the album is on a loop but then you cant ignore certain harmonies that are very much alive throughout the song.

And here's my favorite 'Waving'. (Waving >> Glass House). I love the "lalalalalala li", it just fits in!! and the high harmonies, quite Porcupine Tree-ish though but something to be heard live! 

'Far Away' starts a wee bit like 'Behind Blue Eyes' by Limp Bizkit, the song is emotionally driven and all in all pretty.

'Dissolving with the night'- the lyrics and the harmonies are dark and mysteriously sad with really moody tunes but definitely not a favorite, this one.

'Blood' is more like a rock opera, it's the heaviest track in the entire album yet safely distant from Heavy metal, it's got a bit of Arabic influence and catchy riffs that obviously merge in well.

The 8th track 'On the Plane' is a daddy-love-baby type, not much to say about the track except a short and sweet guitar solo somewhere in between.

'Oxygen', probably the only song where i actually liked Geffen's vocals. It's an upbeat and the popppp-iest track, it's got a foot tapping feel to it with those noticeable uplifting vibes throughout.

The longest track 'Zigota' has this late night ambient feel but a kind of a rush to it with a tinge of progressive rock. It's something you can even listen to if you're in for a nice long nap, i can (I did). It's a favorite though it could have been the ending track for the album IMO.

And we have the last track 'DNA', the lyrics, the harmonies, the melodies-It's a winner.
This lilting, acoustic track is flawless, its a perfect song for Blackfield in the 21st century.

Over all it's something i would listen to on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Good production no doubt and the little flaws only make the album sound more realistic!

Album Review : Adversarial - Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation

When the world was crying about how modern sound was taking over and the 'old school' was lost, something happened. Many bands started an "Old-School" revival. A number that cannot be counted on fingers and might probably outnumber the pioneering bands. Everything, from Death, Thrash, Black was being revisited and worshiped by newer bands and that style being revived.

Though that caused the eruption of a large number of clone bands that are easily forgotten and ignored, bands like Adversarial chose their own sound while worshiping Old-school warriors at the same time.

Taking their sounds from likes of Incantation and Immolation, and even the likes of Archgoat and Black Witchery, Adversarial's style of Black/Death is very unlike the many worthless Blasphemy worship bands around and even surpass them in terms of brutality.

After a consistent, but badly mixed full-length in 2010, All Idols Fall Before The Hammer, Adversarial came out with an EP titled Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation this year, consisting of 3 songs from their demo, 2 new songs and 2 covers. The songs from the demo are the same in terms of production, mixing and mastering. The snare drums might still hurt and the guitars are fairly drowned in the background, but the drumming and vocals have enough variety to keep you hooked on and intent on listening to everything that is going on, and the record keeps getting interesting with each listen as you discover something new about the riffs and bass every time.

The two new songs are titled Prophetic Plain of Abyssal Revelation and Impending Eternal Blackness and take everything good and bad about the full-length, while doubling the intensity. The recording and mixing is still the same for the former track. The snare pounds away like a jackhammer while other elements of the songs manifest themselves when the drums are not in an "Infernal fucking Hyperblast" mode, and one can hear the super-fast Blackened Death Metal riffing hidden underneath the layers of brutality. The track "Impending Eternal Darkness", in comparison has a better sound quality, and you can actually hear everything else playing and the evil sound borrowed from likes of Incantation are audible near the end of the track. The vocals are similar to Archgoat and Incantation with low, rumbling grunts in the former track, while "Impending Eternal Darkness" has vocals similar to Teitanblood and Necros Christos. The band implements doomier sections in their music for the purpose of creating an atmosphere, and does it well, avoiding over-use.

The EP ends with a cover of Archgoat's Light Devouring Darkness and Incantation's Once Holy Throne. Both covers are well done, and there's nothing more to say about it except the fact that Adversarial did justice to the covers of their masters.

Overall, a good EP that suffers from the snare flaw like the Full-length, but the positive side to that element

being that it adds an air of mysteriousness to the release and will bring a listener back for more.   
All Idols Fall Before The Hammer Check it out.!

Top 50 Death Metal Albums

The following is a list of my personally favoured Death Metal albums. The list contains mostly Old School Death Metal. Most of these albums are a must-listen and each of them is very good and unique. I have included one album per band, though some bands have come up with more than one record eligible for this list.
Here is the list anyway:

50. Wombbath - Internal Caustic Torments

49. Vomitory - Blood Rapture

48. Master - On The Seventh Day God Created.... Master

47. Cannibal Corpse - Tomb of the Mutilated

46. Adramelech - Psychostasia

45. Caducity - Whirler of Fate

44. Death - Leprosy

43. Purtenance - Member of Immortal Damnation

42. Uncanny - Splenium For Nyktophobia

41. Cadaver - ...In Pains

40. Utumno - Across The Horizon

39. Demented Ted - Promises Impure

38. Immortalis - Indicium De Mortuis

37. Cancer - Death Shall Rise

36. Necrophobic - The Nocturnal Silence

35. Cryptopsy - None So Vile

34. Unleashed - Where No Life Dwells

33. Possessed - Seven Churches

32.  Tiamat - Sumerian Cry

31. Rottrevore - Ubiquitous

30. Burial - Relinquished Souls

29. Deicide - Legion

28. Excruciate - Passage of Life

27. Depravity - Silence of the Centuries

26. Obituary - Slowly We Rot

25. Baphomet - The Dead Shall Inherit

24. Jumpin Jesus - The Art of Crucifying

23. Darkthrone - Soulside Journey

22. Abhorrence - Abhorrence

21. Suffocation - Effigy of the Forgotten

20. Runemagick - The Supreme Force of Eternity

19. Eructation - 1992 Demo

18. God Macabre - The Winterlong

17. Carnage - Dark Recollections

16. Molested - Blod Draum

15. Entombed - Clandestine

14. Brutality - Screams of Anguish

13. Altar/Cartilage - Ex Oblivione/The Fragile Concept of Affection

12. Convulse - World Without God

11. Morpheus Descends - Chronicles of the Shadowed Ones

10. Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness

9. Demigod - Slumber of Sullen Eyes

8. Infester - To The Depths, In Degradation

7. Immolation - Close To A World Below

6. Autopsy - Severed Survival

5. Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade

4. Gorement - The Ending Quest

3. Asphyx - The Rack

2. Incantation - Onward to Golgotha

1. Dismember - Like An Ever Flowing Stream