Death SS - Heavy Demons (1991)

There is some alternative universe in which Death SS would have found more international success. They fully embraced the shock rock thing from the beginning, with some cool cover images that caught the eyes even when I was younger, always giving me the impression they were some Italian parallel to KISS and King Diamond. But they never really seemed to latch on a particular style, evolving through the years to cover heavy metal, doom, thrash, and even some industrial metal stuff. Now, granted, the living god Alice Cooper explored a lot more territory over his lengthy career, but he had the benefit of massive radio hits early on in his time, where these guys were and are still a virtual unknown. That said, considering how huge the horror fandom is round the world, I think these guys can continue to expand an audience, even one day when it's posthumous, because Steve Sylvester and crew have a cult appeal that has survived since the 70s.

Heavy Demons might have been the record to break them, it's got some of the biggest production and accessible songwriting of their career. Big, fat, simple heavy metal riffs, sometimes with an almost thrash metal intensity. Leads that rip out exactly where they need to, although sometimes they have a lot more flash than feeling. Plenty of keys and sound effects, the creepy atmospheric parts like the intro, acoustic segments that thankfully never herald cheesy power ballads. Some of the tunes like "Peace of Mind", or "Baphomet" give me the impression of earlier Euro power metal with the drums and riffs, certainly you could place these songs alongside Gamma Ray of the time period. Part of "Inquisitor" even sounds like it could have appeared on Painkiller, and "All Souls' Day" has a rhythmic resemblance to King Diamond stuff. They even go back to their roots and mete out the atmospheric doom ("Way to Power"), one of my favorites here, which is almost the antithesis of some of its neighboring tracks, and ironically the closest they actually DO come to a cheesy power ballad in the chorus.

The instruments and production are quite good for its day, but I think the primary deterrent for many is going to be the vocal performance. Steve is a living legend, but he's got a very pinched, nasal edge to his voice which sounds almost like a mistake on some lines. Once you've gotten used to it, then it has a sleaziness about it which might have fit more on a lower tier glam rock cult classic, but I much prefer when he focuses in on some of the more powerful melodic lines where, or some of the shrieking, which does remind me slightly of King Diamond or Lizzy Borden (who were a similar shock rock/metal act), or some of the lower, harsher parts. He clearly has the pipes to do this, but I don't know if it's his accent or a stylistic choice which can tend to make some of the lines sound a little too cheesy in delivery, and I can understand why a lot of folks might have been turned off while listening to this. Otherwise, the stylistic content of the album also feels a little scattershot, not to 'dealbreaker' levels, it's clearly the same group of musicians but it lacks focus and good pacing in the track order.

Ultimately, I do like this album, in fact it's one of those I'm likely to spin first when I'm in the mood for Death SS, but it's clearly flawed, in some cases lovingly so, and probably best enjoyed by shock rock or theatric horror metal fans who want something that sounds slightly familiar but also a little quirky.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.deathss.com/deathssweb2/

Black Hole - Land of Mystery (1985)

Black Hole are one of the earlier bands to latch onto that Sabbath sound and then morph it into something new with a heavy dosing of 70s prog rock influences, and Land of Mystery is almost a singular piece of inspiration from that mid-80s period where bands were more about the glam or intensifying heaviness that was being ushered in through the thrash metal, crossover and proto-death. I say 'almost', because we did have the Death SS and Paul Chain stuff, but this band definitely had their own style to it which has grown on me over the last several decades since I first heard it. No, this wasn't a record I picked up on its first run, but even in the earlier days of the internet metal buzz I remember it being referred to on numerous occasions and ultimately got a listen in.

This is definitely a spooky one due to all the sound effects and experimentation they use, in fact it does parallel the fellow Italian band Goblin if you sort of mashed them together with some old Sabbath. The vocals of 'Mysterious Future' Robert definitely emulate an Ozzy-like inflection, with some of the syllabic patterns similar, but the melodies and accent in the voice differentiate it, and he also plays around with it a lot more in the upper register, as if voicing different characters; and gets a pretty wistful, wasted sounding middle range when it tapers off. What really keeps it fresh though is how the instruments play along with it, both the guitars and bass are pretty intricate, the synthesizers, organs and pedalboard also play a bigger factor then you'd think. They'll just jam out on these little breaks as in the title track where all those instruments get to shine beyond the heaviness, and these are the parts in which you truly feel like you're in some old forgotten 'giallo' film being pursued by the mysterious killer and/or revelations.

They do have plenty of more evil, 'doom' riffs here as in "All My Evil" or "Blind Men and Occult Forces" which all might have appeared as B-sides from the Iommi camp a decade earlier, but even here there are embellishments like the creeping organs, elevated choir-like chants and that bass playing which felt like no other at the time outside of the prog rock. Another band I'd liken this one too would be the Japanese Flower Travellin' Band, they are a little more cinematic and instrumental and gave me more Iron Butterfly vibes, but I think fans of one of these would enjoy checking out the other. In fact, if you've got some patience, some love of any of the other groups I've mentioned here, or just old Italo horror soundtracks in general, then I would highly recommend giving your chance to experience this album. The songs are all aired out well, all 6+ minutes long, with interesting rhythmic breaks that give the impression of turbulent cinematic scenes, and it's genius enough that, had the band stayed the course, might have developed into something monolithic. They did reunite for some albums in 2000 and 2017, and they weren't bad, but a case of too little, too late. Land of Mystery was simply transcendent, but transcendent into a gloomy nether-realm of graveyards, demons, and masked necromancers.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/blackholedarkdoom/

1782 - Clamor Luciferi (2023)

There's just so much 'right' about Italian bands performing horror themed metal, so much that it crosses most of the sub-genres, from the brutal bludgeoning of Fulci, to the cult blackening of Mortuary Drape, the shock rock/heavy metal of Death SS, escapist giallo doom of Paul Chain, or the funeral parlor sounds of Abysmal Grief. Sardinians 1783 definitely conform most to that final category, but they definitely eschew a lot of the atmospherics and cinema-reel creepiness to bludgeon you straight in the face with a sluggish brand of primitive stoner doom that borders heavily on the nihilistic sludge made popular by Eyehategod and Electric Wizard. The sort of 'bad high' or 'bad trip' which just beats on you repetitiously with dour guitar tone, fat evil bass, wanton and wastoid vocals, steady and simple drums, little else to distract you.

So the album title, the band name, the cover artwork, and the sinister/occult themes of the songs are all a win for me, but unfortunately, when you've got such a straightforward style, it relies so heavily on you getting those riff patterns that bore themselves into the listener's psyche. When you're working with such basic chord progressions, I think there's an impetus to play it safe and then just flood those ear canals with crushing ton, and Clamor Luciferi might partly wind up a victim of that. There are some moodier bits here like "Tumultus XIII", where the guitars rumble along at more of a dirge against the plodding bass, and you feel like the music is rising to some vaulted cathedral ceiling, but others like the minimally titled "Succubus" and "Demons" are almost TOO one-track, with nothing in there to really surprise or freak you out. The vocal mix is interesting, he has a sort or dirty chanted style which is almost entirely smothered by the guitar tone and bass, but at the very least it feels like someone is whispering you subliminal messages very close to the rhythm of the instruments.

Whenever the band stretches out of these samey patterns, it gets more interesting, even in "Devil's Blood" where it starts out sparser but emits the most threatening, basic doom riff on the album. The production is never the issue, that bass sounds fat enough to rupture your tires, and the guitars have a dirty fuzz to them which works in the format. Perhaps the vocals could be more pronounced, but really 1782 needs to take this stylistic concept and then broaden it out, with more atmospheres, organs, or maybe some unexpected, minor key harmonies, or more psychedelic guitars/blues, because it grows dull fast unless you are in this super specific mood for something so drawling. Clamor Luciferi album is by no means a terrible album, it's fine, but it just needs a lot more ambition; the organ intro "A Merciful Suffering" set me up for some further expeditions that never manifest.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://1782doom.bandcamp.com/album/clamor-luciferi

Tenebro - L'inizio di un incubo (2022)

Spawned forth from the same death metal primacy that brought us bands like Fulci or Scolopendra, Italy's Tenebro hope to pay tribute to their rich history of horror cinema, or horror themes at large, with some of the most repulsive tones and vocals they can muster. Another comparison might be Denmark's Undergang in that they stick with their native tongue for the lyrics, and have that utter, guttural sort of approach to the songwriting, though I found L'inizio di un incubo a little simpler and more thuggishly chugged out. Of course, I don't think you can avoid the semblance to Mortician, for the same reason, especially how they switch between the slower chugging and squeals to blasted grind parts in tracks like "Ultima Tomba"; this record occasionally musters more of an atmosphere than some of the NY legends' works, but the bottom end has much of the same disconcerting, unforgivingly brutal effect upon the listener.

The bass is so thick you could like a sewer full of syrup and other goo, and against that the guitars are flexed out with a grotesque tone that carves into the depths. Like their aforementioned counterparts from the Big Apple, they use drum programming here, and while it's good enough to give you an idea of how the tempos are supported, I found it fairly wimpy and completely overpowered by the other instruments and Il Becchino's monstrous gutturals that are almost impossible to trace beyond blunt syllables. The faster it goes, the more it gets lost to me, though there are a few places throughout, like the intro to "L'Imbalsamazione Dell'Amore" and it's weird, almost Godflesh atmosphere where they enter the attention span a little louder, almost like a tribal pacing before the roiling and spleen-rupturing. I'd also add that I enjoy this album more when they pack on some more layers, like higher pitched tremolo guitar lines to accompany the nasty murk. Samples and screams and such are placed in a few strategic places, sometimes effective and others not, and bits like the organ that opens the album are quite cool and I wouldn't mind more of them.

However, those atmospherics often contrast a little strongly against the revolting crush of the metal riffing, and the entire album suffers from an unevenness including the drum machine quips I had already mentioned. It's like the mix just can't carry it when the guitars and bass are fully liquifying your speakers. Some of the uglier atmospheric effects just become obnoxious rather than horrifying (such as the outro), and when it comes to the construction of rhythm guitar riffs, these don't exactly go anywhere interesting. And that might not be the point of L'inizio di un incubo, but I long to explore bands like this that can concoct some more evasive or compelling material that helps define and enrich the basic bludgeoning. That said, the Matt Carr artwork here is excellent, evocative and does somewhat prepare you for the sound, and if you're just seeking out extremity without regards for much form over function, a combination of the band's I compared them to, then this is for sure fucking ugly death metal that creates a foundation the Italians can expand much further, and spoiler alert: they do exactly that with some of their later EPs and superior sophomore full-length.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

https://tenebro666.bandcamp.com/

Children of Technology - Written Destiny (2020)

Italy's Children of Technology has always been a band I've wanted to like more than I do; their aesthetic blend of punk, thrash, speed metal, societal decay, mutant apocalypse leather and spikes has that inbred appeal to my inner child of the 70s and 80s, and they have always felt like what might have occurred had Voivod swerved their first few albums into a more Stateside crossover style. Now, I'm glad those Canadians did NOT do that, because they're the most amazing band ever and I've enjoyed just about every step of their journey...but I just mean to say that Children of Technology have that genuine 'cool 80s B-movie' vibe about them, and they've maintained it even through my mixed reactions to their full-length albums, of which Written Destiny is only the third...

And I'm happy to say, their best! 2010's It's Time to Face the Doomsday was fairly stylin', but their sophomore album didn't really further my appreciation. Written Destiny hit on all cylinders so fast for me that I purchased it almost instantly after giving it a test listen. There's a maturity here, a willingness to just settle into some great riffing blend of heavy/thrash metal which catches your attention right away and then holds it. I'm not saying that they've brought much nuance or invention to their niche, but straight up, the brazen metal crunch and wailing leads of "Soundtrack to No Future" set up their scythe-wielding, biker mutant aesthetic, and then the screaming and speed metal take you away to a far-flung land of radioactive bliss. Raw, nasty vocals, great gang shouts that resonate past them, and incendiary rhythm guitar tone just rattle every pleasure center in my being, and this one doesn't let up. There's DEFINITELY a huge nod to Voivod's War and Pain, and this almost sounds like a better mixed cousin to that, especially on the killer title track or the shuffling wasteland of "Desert City".

Granted, the vocals here have more of a mix of nasty nasal pinch to them than Snake's punked out pitch, but the use of the howled cleaner vocals also draws some comparisons, so they spice that up further with the occasional grunt and growl, and epic early Tom Araya screams. Riffs are very simple, like War and Pain filtered through some NWOBHM, a couple of the frillier riffs you'd expect from the blackened/speed sect so popular these recent years (for good reason). They writhe in some tremolo proto-death metal riffs here or there too, and it all gels together so well while maintaining a very down to earth, blue-collar feel to it. The riffs are never technical, not even original, but the album is simply a blast and everyone should own it, whether your jam is Manowar or Hellripper. Italy's got quite a good little scene of these bands, with Bunker 66 and Baphomet's Blood also whipping out some strong albums lately, and while Written Destiny definitely has more of the true heavy metal coursing through its nuclear bones, it's certainly one of the best in that scene to date.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/COTofficial

Scolopendra - Those of the Catacombs (2020)

Like most horror and OSDM fans would be, I was attracted to the cover art on Those of the Catatombs, which reminded me heavily of all that great old Italo creep cinema of past decades, like a potential period piece incarnation of the Fulci Zombi franchise. You can just envision all these putrid, horrific corpses popping at you from cellars, crypts and tombs, and to their credit, Scolopendra does their bloody best to match the morbid imagery with their crud-clad, almost minimalistic approach to extremity. In fact, their crude songwriting aesthetics mirror those of another Italian export, the great Barbarian, only where that band metes out a mix of primitive thrash, speed and epic heavy metal, this is more of a carnal hybrid of pure 80s death and thrash without any frills...

Chugging, hammering riffs that you've probably heard many times before in various forms, with a few lapses towards doomier, slower material. Lots of feedback in there, fresh and unpolished like a blend of Hellhammer and Venom, but never too noisy or clamorous that it disturbs the clarity of the recording. The raw rhythm guitar tone is balanced out by the simple bass lines and beats, and then both of the vocalists just slather on this raunchy, gruesome barks and roars which certainly remind one of Chris from Autopsy or the late Killjoy of Necrophagia. Some of the sustained vocals have a decay on them like a death metal toad roaring its dominion across a stagnant pond, and it's all total nasty and straight to the face. There's also a very 'live' vibe to this album, again it's not too disgustingly distant or crude, but as if you were getting this really intense, balanced, loud performance right in front of you.

They use a few little details like organs and such ("First-Class Coffin"), or the horror synthns of the interlude "The Smell of Cadavers" to spice things up so they don't become too monotonous, and a few individual guitar licks stray from expectations, but by and large this is very old sounding worship of the bands that stood at the forefront of extreme metal in numerous of its categories. There's nothing too nuanced or progressive about anything here, it's just a big, rolling, pounding bevy of death metal riffs that sound like the style was just then congealing on top of the corpse of thrash, and if you're into those first two Autopsy albums, Usurper, Impetigo, maybe some other bands like Cardiac Arrest, this is perhaps a band you're going to be into, and a lot more rudimentary than the members' other group Abhor. For myself, I really admired the artwork, the themes, the huge sound of the project and the attitude, but I did find a lot of the riffs direly predictable and it didn't exactly light my fire, there weren't many tunes I wanted to keep returning to beyond maybe the synth instrumental.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Damnation Gallery - Enter the Fog (2022)

Another of the myriad horror-themed Italian heavy metal acts, and a fairly recent one is Genoa's Damnation Gallery, who I hadn't heard until this third album. The cover art here isn't exactly evocative, but at the same time it's not an inaccurate representative for the dark and chunky feel of this album. Where I was expecting some creepy heavy metal, this is actually quite a bit heavier than, with a grotesque edge to the female vocals which aim at snarling cruelty rather than melody, and in fact it almost seems like an extreme metal vocal bleeding over into a more traditional sound. That said, the writing itself is rather ominous, with a distinct presence of thrash or proto-death metal rhythms that flavor the songwriting.

They'll still bust out a pure heavy/speed metal passage (the bridge of "An Instant"), but in general this is a meaner, knuckle dragging spin, not afraid to spread its bat-wings wherever it needs to take flight, I even caught a few fills or riffs where they was a slight black metal aesthetic, and certainly a Gothic mood is felt in the cleaner guitars or narrative. That said, I think I actually like the material best in tracks like "Your Will Shall Be Done" where it comes off like early, Slayer-flavored heavy metal, or perhaps with a slight earlier 80s Teutonic thrash feel, and the band feels more coherent. Enter the Fog has a pretty natural sound to it, with grooving, corpulent bass lines, driving drums and a deeper rhythm guitar tone that has a live feel to it. They also leave a lot of the vocalist's imperfections to tape, which actually benefits their style, and the whole thing seems like it could be pulled off very close on a stage, with plenty of capes, top hats and cheesy horror props to emphasize the subject matter. 

The songs themselves don't always blow me away, but they definitely engage you with a style you mightn't expect, and though you can't say she's got the best vocal style or range, she's quite committed to the insanity, with all manner of tortured, strained growls and snarls that had me convinced. Despite the spread of styles, they definitely come together to create a consistent atmosphere which feels pretty unique to the band. I was occasionally reminded of America's Crisis, but rather than having that groove or hardcore backbone, this is one borne from more pure 80s metal worship. I'd love to hear more evil leads, maybe even some more synth added in to give the horror elements a bit more bluster, but Enter the Fog definitely sounds better than it looks, and it walks (flies?) its own path to honor its themes.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://damnationgallery.bandcamp.com/album/enter-the-fog

Lord Vampyr - The Vampire's Legacy (2021)

Italians and their horror go hand in hand, from the classic zombie and giallo films to a broad range of metal engaged with the genre. From your Paul Chain doom to the theatrics of Death SS, to the occult haze of a Mortuary Drape, they've got you pretty much covered if you're into the classic traditions and macabre mysticism. Not all of it is great, in fact a lot of it can get pretty goofy, but when I see an album cover this fucking awesome I am quite hopeful on the former. I mean this is artwork you really need to live up to...it reminds me of the first two Necromantia records...you've got a grisly looking Dracula that you don't want to fuck with, and a trio of ghastly brides that you wouldn't want to fuck with even with someone else's appendages. Lord Vampyr himself, Alessandro, has a long history in horror-themed bands like Theatres des Vampires and Malamorte, and while I found some of them a little cheesy, others certainly held promise.

I haven't heard a lot of his solo albums, granted, but I know he flirted around with some industrial or Goth stuff, which The Vampire's Legacy only dabbles in occasionally. For the most part, this is full-on vampiric black metal which does sound like an aesthetic mesh of the Greek style of groups like Necromantia and Varathron with perhaps a bit of Cradle of Filth's haunted house stylings. The tremolo picked riffs are dowsed in an attempt at creepy atmosphere through the note placement, and they mix things up a lot with some slower grooves that might be channeling a bit more of the Goth metal influence, but this record did surprise me with some great pauses/breaks that erupt into these excellent, smothering black metal riffs, with intense drum batteries, non-intrusive synthesizers, decent bass lines, and ecstatic leads that rip out of the creepy castle countryside that this album explores to the bone. Top this all off with Lord Vampyr's charismatic, gnarly vocals, a blend of your typical Dani Filth rasps and more haughty shouting, and there's a wide enough variety here to fill the space and time.

For instance, "Mircalla" starts off with this drugged out, Celtic Frost vibe to it before erupting into the lurching, stuttering blast kicks, where "Wicked" fully embraces the Gothic/heavy metal thing without somehow interrupting the harsher, faster elements of the album, and "Blood Ballad" is a violent dip into its namesake without losing some degree of heaviness. It all feels like it should exist in the same place, that Lord Vampyr is simply pacing things out so the listener can catch a breath before going back into the symphonic black metal depths, a few of which are well orchestrated with clean vocal choirs ("Mater Vampirorum", "In My Tenebra"). Nothing here is truly amazing, granted, and sometimes it does come off a little over overly committed, but I was impressed that this stuff at least made an honest attempt to earn that killer cover art, and there's no question that it's legit horror metal through and through.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100041637623972

Mortuary Drape - Secret Sudaria (1997)

Although a number of the Italian black metal acts conformed quite heavily to the obvious Scandinavian influencers, there were a few exceptions to the rule which hinted at a unique approach to the genre that mirrors their Ionian fellows in Greece. Mortuary Drape is one of the primary among those, a group that has always thrived on both its formative horror influences as well as the 'first wave' of black and death metal rooted in the 80s, much like the Italians themselves. In the DNA of their sound, you can find a lot of the vile thrashing of Possessed, Slayer, Sepultura and Sarcofago, dealt with a bit of the gruff Hellhammer or Celtic Frost groove and vocal roughness. This is not a group thriving off blast beats and endless streams of tremolo picked notes or dissonant chords, but something primitive and malignant.

I remember when a friend first gifted me this CD, and though I was enraptured by the great, Satanic cover imagery, I didn't know what to make of it up front. I had heard of the band's earlier album and their name was whispered across the lips of the right people, but had not gotten around to experiencing them myself. At first, I wasn't entirely impressed beyond the cool packaging, for so much of this just sounding like a lot of dirty old black/thrash, but this one proved a 'grower' rather than a 'shower'; Secret Sudaria is for sure one of the band's most consistent, elaborate and evil works which transforms a lot of its own inspirations into something formidable. This sits right in the nexus between thrash, black and death metal as it once was, and offers a lot of barbaric riffing staples dowsed in great, organic guitar leads, with some fresh sounding drums, decent bass grooves, and a daunting vocal growl with is spiked with just the perfect amount of reverb so every line barks upon you like an occult preacher about to sacrifice your village's collective bones to the Prince of Darkness.

There are some really great, doomy sequences here too, like the climactic riff near the end of "Abbot", or the phased intro to "Evil Death" which almost sounds like it sets up an epic dark heavy metal track before it shifts into the Hellhammer-like Neanderthal black metal. Secret Sudaria is this brute of an album which sates both the first wave fanatic's desire for utter primacy and lack of compromise, and then those slight atmospheric touches which hint at so much more. Terrifying vocals, great lyrics that paint tales of black sorcery and supernatural entities, and one of those immortal production jobs which might not have blown me away back in the day, but really holds up when I listen to it now. This is almost always my go-to in Mortuary Drape's catalog; it's not entirely perfect, but its the summit of so many of the ideals I find from their unswerving approach to authentic black metal that remains loyal to its own forebears while tempering it with an Italo/cult horror aesthetic that made it stand out. You want the Mario fucking Bava of black metal? You've found it.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (Read his book of doom)

http://www.mortuary13drape.com/

Order ov Riven Cathedrals - Absolute (2022)

The intro to this record had a really unexpected flair to it, a mix of almost cinematic, mounting percussion, operatic background and ritualistic chants that kept me guessing on what to expect, being that this was my first exposure to Italians Order ov Riven Cathedrals. Right away, though, the band's moniker almost translates directly into their style, epic and grandiose death metal which has a certain Eastern, ethnic flair to it which I could only compare slightly to acts like Melechesh or Nile, and even that might not be fair, because while the sum 'package' of the duo's style fits snugly into the technical and brutal end of its genre, there are plenty of original riffing ideas permeating this throughout which show that it doesn't take anything more than a healthy, scant dose of influence from anyone.

In fact it even stands out against the band's countrymen like Hour of Penance, Hideous Divinity and Fleshgod Apocalypse, although fans of any of these would certainly be in for a treat checking this out, because it's written on the same level of claustrophobic ferocity and mechanical precision than any of those groups mete out. The production might have a similar level of bricked-out force, but the sole instrumentalist, '12', just flogs you with all of these intensely woven patterns of riffs that elevate above the punctual, pummeling substrate of the rhythm guitars. It's almost like you're listening to a classic late 90s brutal death record but with an added level of musicality cascading across its surface, bustling and busy and chop-heavy. The precision beats offer a stifling support for the rest of the insanity, but they're also packed with lots of fills and double-kick runs so that they can match the flexibility of the guitars, as in the chugging, awesome bridge of "Shameful Anthropic Principle" where they outpace the rhythm riffs until the sporadic splashes of filler notes that connect the moshing drudgery.

Perhaps the most anchored component of the material is the blunt vocal guttural of 'En Sabah Nur', but it's delivered at a volume where you can make out a little nuance and sincerity, even if the overall style does not distance itself from most in its genre. There is occasionally also a little bit of monotony to the overall pacing between songs, but the band hurls enough technical Cytotoxin-like flurries and melodies, and tricks through each of the compositions that it never becomes too much of a chore, and at an overall playtime of 32 there is simply no bloat in which it could wear out its welcome. The Order of Riven Cathedrals proves without a doubt (if they hadn't already) that they belong in consideration with some of the top shelf Italian death metal exports, if you want to be quickly and soundly destroyed by some no-frills tech pugilism then this is an easy go-to for the year.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Order-Ov-Riven-Cathedrals-105988268436621/

Fulci - Tropical Sun (2019)

When you're taking on the mantle of one of the grand masters of Italian horror, and you yourselves ARE an Italian band, I think that shoots the expectations for your music through the roof. Thankfully, while they can hardly be deemed a unique voice among the death metal hordes, Fulci delivers on most fronts an entertaining sophomore effort which taps back into the birth-throes of the brutal death metal genre, when it was more about ugly, knuckle-dragging primitive aggression than technical flash and inhuman instrumental exercises. Not to say that Tropical Sun ignores all the little quirks of its medium that have arrived since the mid 90s, but this is definitely not some New Standard Elite or contemporary Unique Leader style of release, it sounds like it's directly influenced by earlier Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation with a couple add-ons like the occasional deeper pig-squeal variant on the vocals.

If it's not obvious, this album is based on the 1979 film Zombi 2, and the excellent cover artwork via Chris 'Misanthropic Art' Kiesling perfectly captures that feel, an island vibe with the old school rotters lurching about. Steady wins the race, steady feeds your face. I remember being freaked out by the film for any of its flaws, and really appreciated the atmosphere its setting created since it just felt so different than the Romero zombie flicks I was accustomed to. These days we've had stuff like the Dead Island video game franchise to honor it, and I'm positive it's been lauded by a number of other death metal or goregrind bands in the past, but to have it as a central theme is really cool and earns the record some extra flesh-stripes. The theme is really only present through the lyrics, samples and synth pieces like the intro "Voodoo Gore Ritual", but it dresses up the brutality just enough to create a more fulfilling type of experience than your average, insanely illustrated BDM effort, and the overall package just stands out.

Musically, this is pummeling, groove-reliant death metal which is almost wholly pit-ready, with a lot of evil little trill riffs and zipping leads redolent of the Cannibal Corpse era I hinted at above, the first four records with possibly a bit more Corpsegrinder to some of the vocal patterns than Barnes. Though the riff construction largely feels as if you've heard it before, they manage to string enough catchy chops together that you feel like your back in the early days of the style. Chugging, bludgeoning, and lumbering forward at a generally casual pace, with an occasional death/thrash or OSDM outbreak that reminds me again of that aforementioned act in their younger years. You'll get some sparse surprises like the eerie clean guitars they toss onto "Splatter Fatality", or a bleak yet melodic guitar harmony in something like "Legion of the Resurrected" which had me thinking of vintage Bolt Thrower, or some un-intrusive synths, but on the whole the style between the tracks doesn't deviate all that much from its crushing, confident formula.

Production here is quite clean, but still packs a lot of punch because of the guitar tone. The beats are programmed to be effective and workmanlike, but they don't try to bite off more than they can chew and just do their job. The bass has a good volume and adds a little chunkiness to the rich saturation on the rhythm guitars, while the vocals are all broad, burly and well mixed whether they're switching or matching up the growls and snarls or the borderline toilet bowl gutturals they use sparsely. None of the tracks ever wear out their welcomes, and although they don't really experiment that much, there's just enough variety provided as they trade off between more melodic chords and chugging. It's a fun album, it'll take you right back, the lyrics are solid, the packaging awesome. As I'm pretty sure these guys' debut was at least partly devoted to Lucio Fulci's "Gates of Hell" movies like City of the Living Dead, I actually hope these guys will continue the trend going forward. Can you imagine a cool death metal record based solely on The New York Ripper? The Cat in the Brain? Don't Torture a Duckling? Hell, they wouldn't even have to stick with Fulci, numerous other cult directors could be visited.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/fulciband

Svirnath - Dalle rive del Curone (2019)

It would be dishonest to claim that Dalle rive del Curone entirely fixes the one glaring issue I had with the Svirnath debut, but I think to some extent the drums here have been dialed back just enough so they don't become some distracting focus of what's on the disc, and the whole package benefits from just this minor tweaking. There are a few other tangible differences from that prior work which also lend to this becoming the stronger of the two works, although stylistically it barks up the same general tree of naturalist, atmospheric black metal which goes for a broad and picturesque sense of glory and melancholy rather than the sinister and dissonant ethics of the earlier black metal tradition.

Acoustic guitars here are pretty much on the level of the first album, perhaps slightly richer, where the electrics are definitely more streamlined with higher production than the tinnier tones you'd have heard there. Riff-wise, I think this album focuses in more on stronger rhythm guitars with cooler inherent melodies rather than saucing over everything with the thinner little note-streams that were dominant on the debut. Not that they don't exist here, but there's a better balance. Another change is that the vocals sound less trebly and a little more tortured and verminous, partly because they are mixed in a little better among the instruments. The synths are still produced very well as a backdrop, often fully complementary to the guitars without stealing any of their sadness and grace. He uses some cleaner choir-like vocals, often in conjunction with the rasps, and I thought they worked out better than the few cleans from before, although still not perfect.

A lot of tempo stop/starts here with the rhythm guitars getting to set up the momentum, and it works well since the guy just makes likable chord progressions...not highly original, perhaps, but certainly evoking that sense of wonder the project strives for. And as I mentioned earlier, the drum beats are mixed in far more here, with more hi hats and splashes to offset the thundering lower impacts. Often he'll really take you by surprise with some harmonic thrust of guitars that erupts in the middle regions of a particular tune, and these tunes seem generally longer on the debut, there are less of them but they fill up that bulk quite well. Svirnath has plenty of room to still grow into, and Dalle rive del Curone is likely not the breakout album, but I found it superior to its predecessor on many fronts, kept me dreaming of foreign woodlands, streams and the long span of natural history that led to my own being, and I quite look forward to what Frans comes up with next.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://svirnath.bandcamp.com/

Svirnath - Il regno della natura (2016)

"Natura", the intro piece to Il regno della natura, is so quaint and inspiring that I almost felt bad for whatever Svirnath was going to hit us with afterwards. A lush, concise escalation of clean guitars, atmospheric synths and tinny electric melodies, it immediately casts the listener into the vast outdoorscapes that this one-man Italian act will be exploring through its black metal. Thankfully, for the most part the rest of the record evokes that same of wonder, but in doing so it has to make a few concessions that might turn off some of the potential listeners who might otherwise really enjoy this. I even found myself distracted by 1-2 of the elements as I found the rest of the effort quite excellent.

To paint this project in broader strokes, it dwells within that same, airy realm that groups like Horn, Summoning, Eldamar and Fen have made their abode. Granted, those are quite varied acts in of themselves, and Svirnath doesn't sound too close to any of them, but certainly the aspiration is the same: to cut its black metal into expansive, glorious swaths of expression that capture the sadness, isolation and majesty of the environment. This is performed through gnarled, harsh rasping and a flood of melodic, raw guitars, not raw in the sense that he's aiming for bad production, but more in the fact that they sound like they might be recorded with a slightly more amateur/bedroom set of gear than a band with a bigger budget. The acoustics are actually quite well produced, along with some of the synth pads, but the distorted guitars definitely don't sound quite so professional...a detriment to some of the album's audience, but I actually found this component to create an authentic level of charm that helps it stand out sonically from a lot of its more balanced, brickwalled peers.

What I wasn't so down with were the robotic drumming, which just sound far too mechanical to really complement the synths, vocals and guitars. It's not that the beats aren't fit to the various blasts or other tempos explored, but they just break up the naturalistic intentions of the piece. While it's true that keyboards don't feel like a natural product of some windy hillside forest, the sustained melodies being performed with them come at you like whirls of wind from above. The drums just sound like desperation to create a percussive skeleton to the rest, and they leech away from its more organic dreaminess. Sometimes this works, with bands who have a more nihilistic/industrial slant or go for something more otherwordly, but I think they could have been mixed a little better so they would have been less intrusive to what is actually a very promising album, with glinting melodies and a sincere longing for its subject matter. The clean vocals also sound mildly goofy, but this is far less annoying since they are scarce and well-meaning, just rough around the edges.

Ultimately, Il regno della natura is a good debut, pretty heavily marred by this invasive contrast of aesthetics, but still worth hearing for its strong sense of composure between calms and storms, and a great use of melodies that I never found too dragging or predictable. A solid signing for Naturmacht Productions.

Verdict: Win [7/10]
https://svirnath.bandcamp.com/

Sytry - Hunger of Cold Nights (2008)

Hunger of Cold Nights is an album with so many characteristics I admire that it's been hard to bring myself to the painful realization that it's only a hair above average in its impact. From the grim, hand drawn cover artwork all in shades of black and white, to the band's simple but memorable logo, the perfect packaging for newsprint toned black metal, eloquent if familiar lyrics, and an even-keeled, powerful, clear studio production that sounds fantastic bursting forth from my speakers. Sytry had all the ingredients here for a breakout underground black metal debut (or sophomore if you count the re-issue of the eponymous demo as an album), but it's hampered by the endless sameness of its composition style and for never truly embracing the sinister DNA from which its sprung.

Seriously, this thing 'sounds' great, but utterly fails to produce anything but repetitive, unmemorable midlist black metal which is competently crafted in execution, but lacking imagination. Streaming, semi-melancholic riffs play out in predictable, cyclic patterns, with nary a chord progression that can stand out on its own anywhere. The drums are flawlessly beaten, but so many of the tracks thunder along at the exact same speeds that the beats become mechanistic and indistinct. There's a decent swell of bass to support the airier production of the guitars, but it doesn't carve out creepy enough lines of its own to really add the depth and atmosphere the album could use. Lastly, the vocalist has a fairly sincere snarl going on here, broadcast loudly enough to stand at the fore of the instruments without ever weakening or drowning them out, but his own syllabic patterns just aren't tortured or passionate enough to enhance the riffing beyond its standard state. Creativity was just not a virtue for Sytry here, but rather adding yet another album to the endless canon of early 21st century black metal bands aping their predecessors and peers.

It's difficult to pinpoint the precise 'scene' where this Italian act fits in, because they don't particularly sound like their own countrymen, but more like a mashup of Swedish and Teutonic styles, or a kinship with the Greek bands that also went for a Scandinavian aesthetic to their writing, rather than the more regional, mid-paced melodic pacing. I'd liken them to some of Endstille's output, only they lack the ability to conjure up riffs nearly as hypnotic as those Germans, nor are they as violent. But they possess that same aim to throw those higher pitched chord-flows at you repeatedly. Hunger of Cold Nights is not an album I'll immediately boot from my collection, since I've got a soft spot for traditional black metal and really like how the thing looks, but it's just never one I'd reach for with so many proven options available to me. Recommended only to those most strict, non-picky adherents of the black metal genre who will appreciate anything with the right drums, vocals and guitar tone, but demand little more than that to sate their night-lust.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10] 

Deathless Legacy - Rituals of Black Magic (2018)

For a band that essentially started off as a loving paean to Italian countrymen Death SS, the similarly dubbed Deathless Legacy has certainly come a long way unto its own with this fourth album, an incredibly professional sounding effort which seamlessly integrates orchestration with simplistic, heavy guitars and a vocalist with a lot of character to drive home the occult horror themes which inspire them. It might be a little hard to pin down an exact style for this five-piece, it's a sleek, polished, modern approach which could service a cross-section of Gothic, heavy/power, shock rock and possibly even some groove metal audiences, and all the power to them for managing to land a firm identity, keeping their horizons open without ever coming off like some 'please everyone' hybrid that you find a lot in contemporary metal.

You'll instantly notice, upon first spinning the disc, how well the symphonics and choirs have been produced here, impressive since they're largely the work of a single keyboardist. Whether on their own or being used to decorate the straightforward, brutish rhythm guitars that populate most of the album, they feel so well-tuned and well-constructed that you really feel like you've spent a night at an opera which was crashed by some Ozzfest rejects, and I don't say that as an insult. As for the riffs themselves, they don't quite hit nu-metal levels of generic bounce, but there's not much to them other than serving as a foundation for all of those synthesizers, synth leads and the vocals, lower string chords most of the time with a few grooves and fills. Occasionally they'll infuse some higher pitched speed picking stuff that gives an impression of anthemic 21st century European power metal, but the majority of the time they are the element of the record that's striking the listener in the gut while the other trappings are more evocative of the imagination. Some slightly rave-like electronics are also incorporated into the harder riffs, so this isn't just some Gothic horror act living entirely in the past, even if the lyrics and overall imagery seem to point that way.

The real star of this morbid musical cinema, however, is Eleonora Steva Vaiana, who has a lower pitched, evil, wavering vocal style which so fluidly suits the punch of the music. At the cleanest of times she sounds like some sultry which summoning a hex, but she can also get even nastier with a near-rasp tone to accent a few of the lines, and kick in some power and sustain to the chorus lines. I'd liken her to an Agnete Kirkevaag of Madder Mortem, or perhaps Italy's occult scream queen herself, Cadaveria, but she totally makes this album, leveling out whatever elements you might find too overproduced or cheesy with a passionate and shadowy delivery that makes it difficult not to take seriously. Elsewhere, the band shines, with great drums, solid bass-lines, and a bevy of other instrumentation like the acoustics of "Vigor Mortis" that sound crystalline in execution. All of these are mixed in a beautiful balance that can go toe to toe with most 'modern' metal recordings in the fields of Gothic and power metal, without sounding too shallow or commercial.

It's not perfect, as some of the predictable guitars and symphonic melodies don't leave much in the way of a surprise lurking around any surface of this haunted opera. The music in general, while so painstakingly well produced, would not often be that memorable save for Steva's presence, but as an entire package it sounds great, and it casts such a potentially wide net that I could recommend it to fans of bands as varied as Nightwish, Benedictum, Ghost, Powerwolf, Cradle of Filth, Devilment, and of course their spiritual precursors Death SS. A good, solid album to pump out the speakers, not so much for metal seeking filthy, raw, flawed evil sounding material, but certainly could impress a lot of the squares and commercial metal receptacles who are more likely to let it find them than go out hunting themselves.

Horror-meter: Seven out of ten spectral orchestra pits.

Verdict: Win [8/10]
http://www.deathlesslegacy.it/

Abysmal Grief - The Samhain Feast EP (2009)

Abysmal Grief is one of those perfect bands to break out this time of year; its brand of horror occult doom metal generally satisfies on two levels, the genuine darkness and gloom you'd expect from its genre, and the slightlier campier vibe coming through the visuals and some of the sounds and samples they spruce up the guitar-driven doom with. From the onset you might expect a funereal vibe, which you do get through some of their costumes, all of the lyrical subject matter, and the consistent use of organs, but the music often has much more of a rocking nature to it which wouldn't be out of place for some US stoner metal bands. Italy actually has long had quite a thorough horror metal scene, so it's to Grief's credit that it manages to remain distinct from show-metallers Death SS, giallo fiends Mortuary Drape and Paul Chain's extensive repertoire of psychedelic purple excellence.

Having said that, The Samhain Feast is hardly the golden apple in this band's orchard of rotting sadness. With just two tracks that largely pursue the same style, it doesn't really offer up enough room for the band to really absorb you into its aesthetics. The thick riffs, cruising along with an almost Hellhammer-meets-Nebula guitar tone, are very bare-boned and predictable, in particular for the title track which has a chord progression similar to a dozen or so desert rock tracks you've already heard. Drums shuffle along at a simple pace, with just enough fire in them to support the heavier guitars, and the listener really has to lean on the haunted house organ lead aesthetics and the deep, wavering creep-out vocals of Labes C. Necrothytus to win the day. To give an accurate description of his style, think somewhere between Jari of Root and Lee Dorrian from Cathedral, those flawed but unforgettable lower cleans which care nothing for being perfect, but accurately casting the audience into its world of wraiths, specters, catacombs and coffins left slightly ajar.

Some riffs are better than others, and I'd say that "Grimorium Verum" is the superior of the offerings here, especially where the guitars hit that late bridge riff and the lead breaks out over it. That one also sounds a little more Hellhammer due to the riff makeup, thus automatically more evil! Production on the EP is appropriate, with a very dark, molasses-like consistency to the guitars, and a shadowy murk through which no light penetrates, even with the female near-whispered narrative and the brightness that the organ usually brings as an instrument. Both the tunes are acceptable rockers, without being particularly interesting or inventive, but I definitely don't think this is the sort of format in which these guys can really bring their inner pallbearers to bear upon the audience. Instead I'd make a recommendation that new listeners head straight over to one of their first two full-lengths, the s/t and Misfortune to get a better portrait of what this Italian underground staple is really all about.

Horror-meter: Five out of ten tarnished vestments.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

http://www.abysmalgrief.com/

Natrium - Vertigo of Abjection (2017)

This is only my first exposure to Italy's Natrium, but they strike me as the sort of medium weight brutal death which more accurately reflects where the sub-genre was headed in the late 90s or earlier 21st century, rather than where it's all ended up now with its clinical wank fests, mechanical deathcore breakdowns, etc. To be more specific, I was feeling some heavy influence from Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse, almost a median between Pierced from Within and Gore Obsessed, with a lot of faster barrages reminiscent of the heavier Floridian hitters, and an exercise in technicality that never sounds like it's simply being flashy or overly indulgent, just a group of guys that know how to play, know how to play hard, and will show you their chops when the writing warrants it.

Don't get me wrong, you can tell by the frenetic picking patterns implicit in tracks like "Vertigo of Abjection" itself that they're capable of some complexity, and they definitely have a lot of stop/start elements and clamorous riffing and percussion patterns that slightly break the formula of their influences, but you're not going to find cheap knuckle-dragging chug-offs, flamboyant and empty arpeggios flitting everywhere, or any cheap tricks whatsoever...this record is about as straightforward a beating as you're like to receive in its style, all punishment going straight through the punctuality and punch of the palm muted guitars, the truly intense dexterity of the drummer, and the deep and functional growls which reminds me quite a lot of Corpsegrinder's lower grunts in how he spits out syllables, as well as Frank Mullen's guttural depth and breadth. Bass is present at some moments more than others, especially when they go for a poppier, funky tone that stands out the most. I also noticed a little more of an interesting dissonance in the rhythm guitars than usual, not so much that it's in the majority of riffs, but enough to keep it a fraction more compelling.

The drawbacks here are few. Sometimes the vocals get monotonous. The riffs, while choppy, busy and varied enough across the eight tracks to keep you from getting bored, are rarely the sort that feel truly evil or threatening, more just a hyperactive, muscular flexing. The only atmosphere here is that of repeatedly taking a piledriver to your cranium, so you're dependent heavily on the tempos at which the guitars are pummeling along, or the busywork behind the kit which almost had my head spinning off, or the sample of Ripley from Alien Resurrection, which you'll find nestled deep at the end of "Inhuman Commodification". It's a truly blue collar, practical sort of brutal death which might lack some of the spastic, relentless, noodling ambition of a Brain Drill, or the jazzy cosmic escapism of a Decrepit Birth, but should pass muster if you've got a lot of fondness for bands like Severe Torture, Gorgasm, Deeds of Flesh, Prostitute Disfigurement, Horde Casket, and so on. Effective if not exemplary, Vertigo could certainly have gained from more leads or dissonant, higher pitched guitars, and some other means to create a creepier atmosphere, with more surprises waiting in ambush, but it's competent enough in terms of sheer concussive capacity.

Verdict: Win [7/10] 

https://www.facebook.com/NATRIUMBAND

Cadaveria - The Shadows' Madame (2002)

Opera IX was not a band with any real weak link back in its heyday, but if there were any member distinctive and striking enough to set off on her own solo career, it was frontwoman Raffaella, aka Cadaveria, whose gaunt, raven-haired presence and unusual vocals were a large part of the band's appeal. Not to take anything away from their overall style and songwriting, which was unique among the volleys of earlier European black metal, for its use of Gothic elements in ways not entirely mimicking peers such as Cradle of Filth, etc. But for whatever reasons now lie buried in the dust of indifference, a split took place after the Italians' third full length The Black Opera, and she and drummer Marcelo Santos parted with the rest, forming a new act around the singer's stage and studio persona.

They pursued a modified sound which is to most ears more accessible than the duo's alma mater, but not entirely rounding off the menacing, erotic striga edges of her past performances. The riffing and structure of these songs is a simpler and more familiar, perhaps a little less ambitious than they had worked with before, but not exactly mainstream in architecture. As the operatic intro to "Spell" dissolves, they lurch into these palm muted, chugging doom/thrash Candlemass riffs which work very effectively as Cadaveria shouts out an angry, vitriolic harpy tone similar to Nicole Lee of ZnöWhite obscurity or the late Dawn Crosby from Detente and Fear of God. However, there are also traces of black metal charge rhythms, and proto death metal tremolo riffing and a slight degree of classical note progressions woven through the material that keeps it fresh and expansive, and when she wants to turn up the heat she'll erupt into some blacker rasping vocal lines that seem like a more strained mutation on the higher pitched parts, although I have to admit I prefer those.

Elsewhere, The Shadows' Madame is a fairly well-balanced production with an appreciable level of proficiency, especially in Santos' drumming which retains a lot of the faster black/death metal components employed by the previous band. Bass lines are fairly average, but the rhythm guitar tone is rich enough to pop right out, and you get a lot of inflection to the chords, the climbing and falling patterns of the original guitarist Frank Booth. Leads aren't the most well-developed aspect of the band's sound, but they definitely bring enough frizzy and wailing rock & roll antics to offset some of their fatter supporting riffs. There's also this overall depth to the recording which makes them feel like a much larger band, yet they don't overdose on symphonic ingredients or other pompous aesthetics you might expect; this is a very pure, riff-driven record at its heart, with a subtle use of atmospherics or electronics and sound effects that serve only to underlie the grime and groove of the riffs. I can't promise that a lot of those riffs are individually very interesting, but combined with the subtle strangeness and Cadaveria's haunting angst they're lent a lot more personality than they might otherwise harbor.

For an album obviously meant to associate with the darkness and horror she'd long been working with, I can't say it really and truly delivers, at least not beyond the imagery evoked in the lyrics. It's much more of a straightforward, groove and burst of an extreme metal pastiche as opposed to an effort that can evoke the morbid fascinations and nostalgic rituals of bands like Mortuary Drape and Opera XI, nor the rich legacy of Italy's horror directors spanning back about 40 years before this. The Shadow's Madame is more of a vehicle for direct destruction, easier to digest without abandoning the extremity from which it was a borne, a hearse meant to spill its human cargo out on the red carpet of rock stardom rather than some desolate castle up in the hills where a psychotic nobleman waits to carve them up. As a post-Opera IX vehicle this album works well enough, it still sounds fresh and punchy behind the better vocal lines, and it's easily one of Cad's stronger works beyond the turn of the century.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (devoid of evening and morning)

http://www.cadaveria.com/

Baphomet's Blood - In Satan We Trust (2016)

In Satan We Trust is the culmination of everything I've ever wanted out of any of the prior Baphomet's Blood records, to the point that even if some of them are decent, I doubt I'd ever even listen to them again now that I have this in my possession. The Lords of Salem sample inaugurating this speed metal ritual is used more effectively here than it probably was in the movie, and though it might feel like bait for a lawsuit, the orchestration rolls right into the mid-paced, field leveling mosh rhythms before mutating back into the lethal genetics of Venom, Tank, Exciter and Motörhead that were clearly seeded into these members' brains at a vital age. With the obvious caveat that there is little to nothing among these riffs and lyrics that hasn't been done a thousand times in the past, this is thus far the Italians' opus of high speed, angry dirt.

Forceful rhythm guitar patterns here add a lot of meat to the bones of bluesy fills and leads, none of which are super exemplary or incendiary on their own, but all contribute to this roadworthy crusade of hellfire which simply sates that inner, pissed off teenager I was back in the 80s, listening to what tapes I could scrounge up and watching the horror selections available to me on my parents' cable when they thought I was in bed. Baphomet's Blood doesn't fuck around with a huge variety of tempos, in fact the majority of the songs seem to move at the same velocity entirely, so telling them apart becomes a tedious chore, but the pacing and flow of the music itself just becomes an addiction I want sated after the dust from each previous track clears. The rhythm tone is pretty much perfect, potent and fiery, but crisp clear enough to pick out the various tracks and slight nuances in each of their playing. Bass is bombing here, a good tone that is better fitted and more audible than what you'd hear on a lot of their older records. Drums are driven and passionate, and while Necrovomiterror's vocals certainly haven't 'evolved' over time, they just sound continuously more gruff and nasty and honest here...not giving a fuck. And that is to their benefit.

There are, to be honest, a number of generic riffing progressions on this album that are lifted from a gestalt of their influences, and occasionally they flirt with slightly more boring speed/punk phrases that should be thrown in a locker with no combination. But even these, when placed in the fingers of hands that want nothing more than to give the listener and honest, faux-Satanic drubbing which puts them into a sense of nostalgic unconsciousness, are effective enough to contribute. You have to be at rest with the fact that this is not the music of progression or new levels of extremity, but more or less a twisted mirror of the past, so many of these younger acts inserting themselves into a history that they only belonged to as spectators, and offering windows to very specific cross-blends of their forefathers that, frankly, I don't mind existing. I have a soft spot for this sort of unapologetic, grimy speed metal when performed properly, and even though these Italians don't count themselves among the most atmospherically throwback or inspired of the lot, they have continually improved upon each record to the point that I feel they're rock solid reliable and know what they're doing.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (forget your life, forget the light)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baphomets-Blood-official/116241875112834

Baphomet's Blood - Back from the Fire EP (2016)

The three original tracks on the Back from the Fire EP don't really advance Baphomet's Blood beyond the material from their third full-length Metal Damnation; in fact they feel like a step sideways and slightly backwards, embracing the cheesier aspects of their speed metal existence. While the band had been escalating its level of engagement and nastiness over the prior half-decade, this might be seen as a slight sign of some stagnation. But, that said, it's a fun enough little romp between proper records, and keeps the band's vital signs active and 'in the game' throughout the seven year gulf between those third and fourth albums.

Solid, if predictable riffs that generally run a similar course until they're cut up into slower, heavy metal pacing and lead sequences. The guitar tone here is roughly in league with Metal Damnation, that is to say superior to the first couple albums, but I found the construction of the rhythm patterns to be slightly less incendiary or exciting. Tunes like "Back from the Fire", with its dextrous opening lick, seem to speculate what it might have been like if Raven in their 80s prime were fronted by Algy Ward's workmanlike, gruff vocal presence, which manifests a lot in Necrovomiterror's timbre, rather than the screaming nasal vocals they were known for. That is certainly my favorite track of the three originals, but even then it's pretty much paint by numbers songwriting which pans out exactly like you think it will as soon as you've experienced the bridge into the first verse. The bass seems to have finally hit the right stride here, with a pluggy little tone always present on the underbelly of the guitar, and the drums sound as tight as ever.

I'm no expert on Italian heavy metal veterans Strana Officina, but I have actually heard a couple of their older releases, including "Metal Brigade", which Baphomet's Blood uses to close out this EP, using actual vocal contributions (i.e. unruly screams) from vocalist 'Bud' Ancillotti himself. The tune is simultaneously the sloppiest and most amusing on the record, with some production differences from the rest that only make it seem a fraction out of place. Still, it's nice that the band pays tribute to someone that most in the world have never heard of, but were certainly some kind of influence on the younger band and possibly the scene that shaped them and peers like Children of Technology. And thanks to the 'exclusivity' of the material on this release, which seems to be a lost art half the time with so many EPs stuffed with live cuts and re-recordings, I'd say that Back from the Fire is not going to disappoint those who know what to expect, and its overall quality is equivalent to at least the band's debut, and even a lot of material from Second Strike. But still a good half decade before they would finally stoke the braziers Satan uses for hookahs.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baphomets-Blood-official/116241875112834