World of Shit - Bleeding the Rats EP (2025)

World of Shit is a project which has existed in the shadows for over two decades, finally coming to full fruition with this new EP Bleeding the Rats that sees an escalation in volume and intensity. It's essentially death metal or death/grind adjacent, but not to be pigeonholed, the material has an industrial sheen to its backbone, and a lot of weird dissonance and rhythmic dynamism which wouldn't feel out of place in some extreme mathcore or industrial death metal outfit. The production is dense and suffocating, there's a lot going on between the beats and the riffs, and if that weren't enough, Morgue Supplier's Paul Gillis has been brought on board to saturate our ears with a gruesome exhibition of vocals that I'd place somewhere between Alain Jourgensen and Martin van Drunen, but also prone to grinding out into a higher, nastier pitch too. If you've heard Paul on his other projects, you'll know things are about to get very uncomfortable, and considering that he and one of this project's architects, Eric Bauer, have worked together in both Rabid Beast and Morgue Supplier before, you'll also know that you are about to be leveled by the aural artillery.

Strangely, as pummeling and rhythmic as this is, it's got a slight warmth to it created through the mix, or perhaps some of the more dissonant, noisy patches create this feeling in spite of themselves. It's so loud and larger than life, I was reminded of Strapping Young Lad if they were being flogged by Gorguts. A soundscape with something interesting happening in every corner, a really powerful guitar tone, brutal drum programming. Some of the riffs feel like you're implanting an intense post-hardcore dissonance straight into a vortex of chugging, churning grooves, and it's a really interesting hybrid. The 'leads' are more a thing of atmosphere, tremolo licks spitting melodies that are heavily dowsed in effects, but they are a perfect fit to the apocalyptic post-modernism of the rhythmic aesthetics. Sometimes it can grow a little TOO intense, but thankfully you're only being murdered for about 13 minutes with this. With a longer track list and some more variety to explore these dilapidated landscapes, with calmer calms, hints of melody more melodic, and more extreme extremes, connected through the tendons of such kinetic musicianship as this guy metes out, I think you could have a pretty frightening, unique voice for death metal here.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://worldofshit1.bandcamp.com/music

Macabre - Dahmer (2000)

Macabre's a band I never get around to revisiting often, but don't let that fool you, I think they're a fairly interesting and quietly influential act that had a pretty big impact on the deep-dive serial killer studies that other bands like Church of Misery have continued with. They also occupied a niche seemingly to themselves, where numerous genres combined, no one of the thrash, death metal, punk or grind really dominating the rest, and then the insertion of humorous elements into the music also transforms them into a carnival of Midwest extremity. The first four albums in particular have the most to offer, with these sprawling track lists, few ideas left on the cutting board, and though the tongue-in-cheek qualities can become distracting, they can mete out some mean fucking metal on your ass.

Dahmer is the band's exploration of its titular serial killer and it spends equal time tackling this topic, comprised of 26 tracks, most hovering around the 1-2 minute mark, a few beyond that, but that's where a lot of the grind aesthetic comes in here, because the band isn't always playing a million miles a minute with the splattering vocals and accelerated hardcore you'd expect. Many of them take a punk rock approach with gang shouts, accessible riffs, and then this is alternated with hyper-thrashing pieces that catapult themselves into the death metal spectrum. But they also delve a little deeper, with some more dissonant thrash riffing that even reminds me of Voivod, like in the opener "Dog Guts", and they'll bust out these solid leads that also seem pretty ambitious compared to the surface level of their style. So the idea that one could ever write Macabre as some group of gory goofballs would be misinformed. They are crazy motherfuckers who put an emphasis on exploring different sounds and then unifying them behind a chosen theme, which is conceptually impressive, even when it's something really zany like the thrashing surf rock of "Do the Dahmer" (something Ghoul might have picked up on).

Ironically, it's this variation that can both work FOR and AGAINST an album like Dahmer, because the shorter track lengths mean a lot of the stronger, evil riffing ideas will be broken up and you never quite get enough if you're digging them. Like the churning caveman death metal of "Hitchiker" ceding to the "In the Army Now" anthem, or the blasting, chaotic "Bath House" giving way for the "Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory" tune, which is essentially a twisted cover of the Oompa Loompa song from the old Gene Wilder film. However, by that same argument, every time I think I've gotten my laughs in and am about to phase out, they'll shift back into some more intense and interesting, so I can imagine that the scattershot inspirations and execution of this album might be an attempt to dive into the psyche of a character like its own subject. But I do think overall this might be an aspect of Macabre that has held them back from greater success, it's not like Mr. Bungle where the musical freakshow is the entire DNA of the writing, but something they swap on and off. It doesn't always land for me, either, but this and a few of their older full-lengths hit more often than not.

The vocals of Nefarious and Corporate Death are impressive in their versatility, from gutturals and sneers to higher pitched wails that you might not expect, and then the gang vocals I mentioned before. The guitars have a nice, organic tone to them which seems to work well across the constituent genres, frilly enough for the crisper thrashing riffs, fluid enough for the punk chords, and then some solid effects on some of the leads. The bass playing is quite busy and plunky, and this is a component which can even be highlighted within the sillier tunes, and I could say the same for the drums, these guys are just an overall, musically impressive act even if they only exhibit briefer bouts of technicality among the more simplistic, accessible writing. All told, there's not a lot I can really compare this with, or maybe just too MANY things to compare it with...some of the faster, thrash/death parts recall some Deceased of the same era, and there are obvious punk and hardcore references, but say what you will, Macabre is quite unique, and if you can pull yourself away from the Netflix documentaries, this is quite a bat-shit but well-rationed exploration of the infamous cannibal and necrophile.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://murdermetal.com/

Morgue Supplier - A Life Extinguished (2023)

A Life Extinguished is the second in a series of singles planned for 2023 by Chicago sickos Morgue Supplier, and like its predecessor, its focus is on further fleshing out and exploring the band's influences from death and grind, with a fraction more atmosphere and progression than you'd have expected from their earlier full-lengths. There's a clear line here from Inevitability, but I found this particular track to be one of the most interesting they've produced yet, and although it's just as demented and extreme as you'd believe, there are points where it was almost weirdly accessible, with these bouncing grooves and catchier guitars taking over from the blasted, more intense exhibitions of force. It also goes hyper weird at points, shifting numerous times between tempos where the dissonant guitar lines ring out and they almost sound mischievous or playful...

It's probably an insane comparison, but what if there were a band which adopted the grindier aspects of bands like Exit 13 or Cephalic Carnage and then twisted them with a bit of Primus and an organically rendered dissonant brand of industrial metal circa Godflesh? That's what I took away from this tune, and it's highly entertaining, and a little different, without betraying the expectations of Morgue Supplier fans over the past few albums. As usual, Paul Gillis doesn't just deliver his vocals with monotonous grunts or snarls, the guy's got all that going on, but he just slathers his lines over the riffing, as if someone had spit them out in gobs and then they were running down the walls of the song's framework like blood or puke. Add to that an awesome bass tone from Stephen Reichelt, which excels whether it's plunking out fat notes that pop from the incendiary guitars, or with its rawer, blustering tone, and a frenzied, formidable drum spot from Danny Walker (Intronaut, Exhumed, Phobia, and many others). "A Life Extinguished" is every bit as heavy and frightening as its title implies, and lyrically evocative and grotesque, but it's also a hell of a lot of fun.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075977500489

Morgue Supplier - Dead in Spirit (2023)

Coming off the frenetic Inevitability, Chicago's Morgue Supplier returns with something to further broaden its sound and scope, a track that balances off between a sense for melody and melancholy, and the spastic attacks the band has honed throughout 24 years of destruction. "Dead in Spirit" almost lulls you at first with its gently dissonant flow of chords, but Paul Gillis' savage slurries of rasped and guttural vocals, the ruptures of Stephen Reichelt's bass-lines and the crazy fills let one know that all is not right in paradise, and sure enough, the track swerves on and off the rails of sanity through fits of grinding intensity, tremolo picked death metal riffs and even further, spacy bouts with dissonance, even as a blanket that later covers the softer swerves. I'll mention again the effectiveness of the vocals and bass, the former sounding even more schizophrenic and gruesome over the calmer moments in the music, and the latter having a thick, hypnotic tone that would be fun to follow even if not for all the other band's weaponry firing off in tandem. There's quite a lot going on under the hood of this six-minute cut, perhaps more than what we're used to from many of the individual tracks off the full-lengths, and while I have no idea if there is more in this style coming, it's a good, singular excursion that keeps the palette of illness wet with some fresh ideas that fatten the band's sonic envelope.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100075977500489

Morgue Supplier - Inevitability (2022)

'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' is the popular expression, and had these Chicago deathgrind lunatics followed up their eponymous, excellent 2016 album with more of the same, I wouldn't have complained much. But Morgue Supplier LIKES to break it. They LIKE to shatter their style up against a concrete surface and then reorder the pieces, and thus Inevitability very quickly becomes their most fragmented, unhinged and challenging record to date, but one that doesn't leave its predecessors far behind in terms of stylistic foundation. If I described this to you as a hypothetical project in which members of Voivod and Godflesh teamed up to create a harrowing, grinding rival to Napalm Death, would you believe me? Because more than once in listening through this 38 minute frenzy of blasting and jerking, dissonant rhythms did such a comparison wrench itself into my brain.

Be ready. When you first spin this album you'll be presented with an immediate flurry of distorted bass and crazy tech grinding, almost enough to knock the wind out of you. I readily admit that when this band is going off the rails at full speed, it can become exhausting, but the real treat here is what lies in all the spaces between such spasms, where the material becomes more spacious, brooding and experimental, almost like the dissonant industrial apocalyptic landscapes that might surround the borders of what we see upon the late Marius Lewandowski's cover art. Loping, drudging Streetcleaner-grooves that split up the head-spinning violence, or airier guitar sections where the more open notes are allowed to ring out (as in the bridge of "Closing In") before they return to the tumultuous aggression. The drum programming is incredibly intense here, with all sorts of broken fills and patterns that feel like a claustrophobic puzzle you're trying to figure out, with each new track providing another painful peace. There are also these wild leads that erupt to keep you even further off-balance, and Stephen Reichelt's aforementioned buzzing bass-lines keep pace with the rest of the massacre.

The vocals of longstanding front man Paul Gillis are as sick as usual, trading primarily between a deep and resonant guttural and the impish snarling and rasping you might also recognize from his other projects Drug Honkey and Rabid Beast. It's a wild and hideous contrast that works very well against the razor-edged but scattered precision of the instrumentation, and you won't even get a chance to become bored of it as you'll constantly be questioning just what is this guy on!? Then, right near the center of the record you get hit with this instrumental, swelling, droning interlude which is just the perfect place to give your ears a rest while still feeling threatened. Some of Inevitability's best material actually comes through in the second half, "Existence Collapsed" with its wild riffing patterns, or the super clamorous and industrialized hell-scape that is "Thoughts of Only Darkness" which really hits that Godflesh/Treponem Pal feel but laced with the Voivod space-weirdness. The production is clear enough to convey the manic message of the death and grind aesthetics, but still malleable and raw.

Are there any chinks in the armor? Cracks in this already cracked mirror of an album? Not many. A few of the song structures feel a little overly random, spitting out idea after idea but sometimes forgetting to capitalize more on some of the better ones. And I think the more rapid-fire, spastic moments on the 2016 album hung around with me a bit longer, but Inevitability is a little more experimental, more deeply exploring other influences that weren't always as prominent before. Morgue Supplier is one of the better, more important grind or grind-adjacent bands out there because they don't rest on the dull laurels of the form...this isn't your garden variety collection of sped up four-chord hardcore rhythms, or a sample saturated gore-fetish platter; it's compulsive and cerebral and reminds us that this music can have a brain, even while it's hammering nails through yours. Put this alongside Poland's Antigama or some of the cooler, recent Napalm Death records as evidence that there's so much more to explore.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://morguesupplier.bandcamp.com/music

Rabid Beast - Rabid Beast EP (2020)

Rabid Beast is the metal passion project defined, a pairing of longtime thrash fans who have made their way in other styles, but could not forever resist the siren call of a prime inspiration, and thus decided to do something about it. In this case, it's the duo of Paul Gillis and Eric Bauer, who have played together before in Chicago's brutal Morgue Supplier, which might explain how they work in such lockstep across four of the most intense thrash tunes you're going to hear in 2020, and a pretty nifty cover to boot. The Rabid Beast EP presents us with around 24 minutes of what is sadly lacking in most of the re-thrash of the last few decades, or even the releases of many of the genre stalwarts, that is, the ability to sound and act absolutely psychotic and capture it on tape.

The foundation here is very meaty, mute-heavy, forceful thrashing which has a richness to it that reminds me slightly of another Chicago thrash act, the legendary ZnöWhite, in particular their criminally underrated 1998 album Act of God. But there are also traces of Devastation's Idolatry; or Destruction's muscular riffing, old and new, with a little bit of a clinical melodic edge ingrained in there that you might trace back to Release from Agony or Pestilence's death/thrash debut Malleus Maleficarum. Though the focus is on momentum and heaviness, there are some dynamic, textural, dissonant patterns which emerge from the more straightforward riffing to even remind me a bit of some of Voivod's later 80s experimentation. A lot of my favorite things, of course, and the riff set here is truly devastating, lots to hook you in tunes like "Decline into Disorder", "First Among Equals" and "Green Room is Red". I found the lead guitars a little less consistent, they're fast and furious, spastic and crazy, but while they really stood out in "Green Room is Red" or the great shredding in Infernal Majesty's "Overlord", I found them a bit flimsier in "Decline into Disorder" where they couldn't really match the intensity beneath.

In addition to that chopping, powerful rhythm guitar tone, the other standout here would be the vocal style of Mr. Gillis. Like in Morgue Supplier, or his other group Drug Honkey, he goes above and beyond to create something that is at once familiar and over-the-top unnerving. He uses both the force and frailty of intonation to manifest a tormented hybrid of splatter-thrash and Germanic precision, one that you can never get too comfortable with because he might hurl some crazy ass, unpredictable lines at you that go further out than even that description. The benefit here is that this is something YOU WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER. Cookie cutter thrash vokills from bands like Evile or Warbringer are competent enough, sure, but the reason I'm always going to turn towards a Rabid Beast, or Sweden's Antichrist, or Germany's Vulture instead, is because they sound absolutely sick today, they'll sound sick tomorrow, and they will sound sick in 20 years. It's the same reason vintage Tom Araya, Bruce Corbitt and Jeff Becerra still stand out now, they capitalize on and weaponize the flaws and imperfections of the human voice to create a sense of genuine danger.

The rhythm section here is as tight as necessary, and the lyrics range from thoughtful and relevant ("First Among Equals" or "Decline into Disorder") to outright hilarious ("Green Room is Red"). The cover track here is performed with more intensity than the original while managing to seamlessly absorb it into the Rabid Beast sound. Very little to criticize here, this is easily one of the better new thrash EPs I've heard this year alongside Voices by Belgium's Schizophrenia, vicious and sincere, and I highly recommend getting in on the ground for the whirlwind it will inevitably kick up.

Verdict: Win [8.5/10]

https://rabidbeast.bandcamp.com/releases

Impetigo - Horror of the Zombies (1992)

Horror of the Zombies is not much of an evolution upon its older sibling Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, which is to say that it remains the most basest of death metal songwriting, minimal riffing that would make even Autopsy of this period look more complicated. But as I said with the debut, it was never meant to be. Impetigo celebrated the crudeness of the form to a fault, far more obsessed with how they dress up their tracks with lavish serial killer samples than they are at crafting any sort of nuance within the rhythm progressions, drums or vocals. For a lot of their audience, nothing more was needed, and if I'm being honest, I feel much the same provided that the experience on the whole provides some memorable atmosphere or guitar parts, which Ultimo Mondo Cannibale didn't.

But this album does. Granted, this thing is dumber than a rock. The chord progressions all seem like the emergent British grindcore gods of the late 80s being strung out and slowed to a moderate hustle, or crawling along with the first few notes that come to mind. There's a little more to riffs like the one that opens "I Work for the Streetcleaner", which seems like it could have wound up on the Death or Obituary back-lot, but in general there are painful few here that stand out among others. What gives the record its charm are the frilly, weird leads that almost sound like insects approaching your ears when they appear, because you're just not expecting them. Or the blunt growls and garbled grind snarls of Stevo Dobbins. The bass guitar is thick, and buzzes you like the swill at the bottom of the communal coffee pot when nobody bothered to bring in any new filters for a new batch. The drums clang and thump along like an array of pots and pans in the background, not to say that they don't catch and anchor all the right grooves, which make up well over 50% of the album, these sodden, loping, knuckle-dragging bludgeons that well-represent the gaudy undead crew on the cover.

The samples are pretty good, if you're okay with bands using them so often, and they certainly set the tone that this band loves its cult horror, murder and exploitation, which is in my estimation their most influential aspect. You'll recognize direct film references like "Wizard of Gore" and "Trap Them and Kill Them", all of which would go on later to inspire (and even name) many other bands, so these Midwesterners had their shit together when it came to their taste in the obscene. I like when they go even more over the top with the atmosphere in something like "Cannibale Ballet", where the drums set the stage for some warped, freaky vocals that seem more like some emulation of a soundtrack rather than a metal tune. Frankly I'd listen to an entire album of Impetigo engaging in such absurdity because it suits them well. The lyrics are solid, simplistic but effectively written with some ghoulish imagery, and there are also a lot of grooves on the album that still sound perfectly moshable by today's standards.

Like Ultimo Mondo Cannibale, this is so primal that it just doesn't age, there is some gruesome impulse at the core of all of us which can appreciate how straightforward this is, and certainly if you haven't heard the band but enjoy records like Severed Survival, Cause of Death, To the Gory End or The Dying Truth then this is a decent, if not exceptional gibbet of gore slathered in that old Wild Rages Records cheese. If your battered VHS and DVD collection looks similar to the local butcher block, then its a given. I don't always break out Impetigo's records as much as their peers from that seminal period of death metal, but when I do, I prefer Horror of the Zombies.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (making love to the cadaverous whore)

Usurper - Lords of the Permafrost (2019)

If you had seen or experienced some of the crazy low temperatures these Chicagoans had experienced during the cold snap of 2018-19, then you'd be reassured they can lay claim to the title they chose for this reunion record. Of course, you could also translate it as a clever homage tracing back to that legendary Swiss band which influenced these guys since their inception, so it works on a number of levels. In any case, Usurper has produced its first new studio album in 14 years, and since the simplistic, iron pulsing blackened thrash style they perform in is not one that ever really goes out of style, Lords of the Permafrost doesn't sound like it's missed a single beat. In fact, I'll go beyond that to say that within just a few spins I've decided that I like this more than anything these dudes have put out since Skeletal Season back in 1999.

Without reinventing their formula, or really any formula, Usurper succeeds in sounding refreshed at what they've offered us all along, steady treading, fist pumping thrash metal with riffing progressions that don't sound advanced whatsoever from an 80s mentality, but remain convincing, entertaining and by their own measure, rather brutal. Hellhammer and Celtic Frost are the obvious starting point, but the band hits a lot harder in terms of percussion, and they shift into faster paced, moderate blasted parts which balance out the grooving, mosh-worthy ballast. The rhythm guitar tone on this record is fucking awesome, chunky and voluptuous and repeatedly fisting you in the abdomen while the thick bass lines reinforce it. A couple of riffs where this is most evident have an almost slower-paced vibe similar to Slayer in the late 80s, and the chord selections also have that same sort of chilling, evil feel, with maybe a little vintage Sepultura chucked in there. The leads are likewise great through the album, appearing exactly where they need to be, sounding frivolous and wild enough yet structured, and really round out the whole experience.

I think it's the vocals though that truly bind the album together, gut-fed, hostile paeans to the Tom G. Warrior syllabic crudeness but with more of a death metal, grumbling sustain to them, and then they are often backed up with some other growls or shouts, even some somber Goth-like cleans in the tune "Beyond the Walls of Ice" which honestly got me up out my chair circle pitting around my office/game room table like a denim & leather neanderthal, regardless of the fact that I'd heard these riffing patterns before probably a million times. Lords of the Permafrost is exactly that fun, it never tries to be anything more than an added spike in Usurper's blood-spattered epaulet, and there is just enough variety between the slower and faster sequences in the tracks to keep it engaging and not fall into some sodden, repetitive wreck. Nothing new for this band, sure, but I actually thought that, at least as far as the production quality, this was their best and most immediate sounding album, and I'll happily reach for this off the shelf as often as my previous favorites in their discography, Skeletal Season and Diabolosis... Ice crushing hesher mayhem.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/usurper.chicago

Energy Vampires - Energy Vampires (1991)

Energy Vampires are an interesting little obscurity from the Midwest who published an album-length demo back in 1991, to little or no fanfare. But knowing what vultures we have all become for such antiquities, Shadow Kingdom snapped this up for an 2008 reissue on CD and vinyl, and I think it's one that might have limited appeal to fans of classic US heavy metal or USPM of the variety you'd hear in the mid-80s from the Metal Blade roster. The band's frontman, John Stewart, who also fronted the heavier, comparable act Slauter Xstroyes, sadly passed away this summer, so I thought it was a good time to shine a little sunlight on these blood sucking hairspray addicts that might have damn well made bigger ripples than they did had the market not been so oversaturated by the time they arrived in it.

I'm assuming the band drew its name from the LaVeyan concept of a 'psychic' or 'energy' vampire, or perhaps the film Lifeforce or some other source I'm forgetting, but regardless, they played the sort of heavy/power metal with excessive vocals characteristic of the 80s US scene, which makes a lot of sense as a followup to Stewart's alma mater. From the 'official' pics of the band, they definitely had a glam look to them, and there's also a bit of a nasty hard rock feel coursing through the music, most reminding me of Mötley Crüe if they'd stuck to their guns and gone more pure heavy metal through the remainder of their career. However, this is largely the sort of driving, anthemic riffing you'd equate with other bands of that region like Shok Paris, Breaker or Destructor, predictable in terms of the chord patterns, but always just messy and unhinged enough due to the way Stewart threw his vocals up over the metal. This s/t can be a bit of a clamor, especially where it gets the most ambitious in a track like "Pull the Stake Out" where they slather in some organs and unruly leads while John is just pouring it on. I mean, if 'overacting' were a musical concept then I feel he'd a clear candidate, but that's not to take away that he has some angry damn pipes, shrieking howls and would have been an enormous star if he just had a great set of tunes to use them over.

You could also compare this to Lizzy Borden, not quite as shrill or consistent, in the vocals, but the music is far less eloquent, technical or effective. Energy Vampires throw you for a few loops, like the Meatloaf-ish opera "Rock 'N' Roll", over which Stewart STILL throws up some of those insane screams, creating an outlandish but amusing contrast, but I get the feeling that even for a demo, this stuff was in good need of a proper edit or a producer who knew how to take these ideas and ground them into phenomenal songs. The riffs are alright, but a little too standard for their style, and I don't know that I heard a catchy lead throughout, even though they are competent and atmospheric. The production is airy and era-appropriate, giving John a lot of space amid its vaunted ceilings to go ballistic, but every time I feel I get into a particular riff section it just sort of teeters out, almost like there's a drunken sheen to the whole affair, the undead authors tapping a few inebriated veins before heading into the studio. Tracks like "Different from the Rest" and the wailing bonus "On the Run" come pretty close to the quality I'd want, but overall it feels like it's all a VERY NEAR miss.

That said, I think if you want another example of what a potential weapon this guy was, Energy Vampires is no less of an exhibition than either of the Slauter XStroyes outings. I'm not saying in a world of Halfords, Udos, Dickinsons, Bordens, Danes, Dios or other screamers that Stewart brought a lot of novelty to the field, since there are a number of others with very similar characteristics to him, but this was a guy feeling around that upper air raid atmosphere, a caged animal that just isn't done service enough by the music, choruses, or lyrical line choices. With further development, meatier riffs, and hooks that got into the skin rather than deflected off of it, this could have been formidable.

Horror-meter: Four crouching banshees out of ten.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

Drug Honkey - Hail Satan (2005)

It's important to note that I'm coming at Hail Satan in reverse, having already been smitten with both of Drug Honkey's latest albums Cloak of Skies and Ghost in the Fire, and also digging the record Death Dub prior to those, though that one took me several spins to really start to appreciate. This is actually the sophomore for the Chicago narco-doom fiends, and naturally a lot more raw than the aesthetics they'll continue to develop as they progress. That's not to say this doesn't share traits in common, or that the later efforts lose the sense of repulsive primacy established on the earlier pieces, but here it's not simply a disparity in composition but also in the more primitive production being exhibited. With an impending re-release through Hohlraum records, however, it was actually cool to travel back and experience this with the knowledge of how it would develop.

Hail Satan might have an overt, provocative title, but in truth is not thematically abstracted from other Drug Honkey efforts. Subjects like drug abuse, depression, and institutional rebellion are legion, and often represented with extremely minimalist lyrical patterns that care about little more than getting their point across (i.e. "Reject Religion"). These actually work to the benefit of the songs, because Honkey Head's performance here is positively manic, the true driving force of the disc, and these succinct and straightforward lines becomes mantras that he can repeat over the dissonant mire of the instruments, altering his pitch between barks, growls,  nasally cleans, and other tones that head even further out into the deeps, stretching at the outer membranes of sanity. Slathered in reverb and other effects, they definitely become the most pronounced feature on the disc, possibly a little loud in the mix on some sequences, but critical to narrating the tempest of emotional turmoil that the album is created to deal with. I stress this because for some listeners, they'll prove the make or break factor for immersion into the album as a whole, never shying away from an overload of eccentricity.

Musically, the album is also really simple, with dingy and distorted guitars splayed out in largely patterns of open notes, thinner and buzzing rather than dense and choking, and sometimes striking some hideous and disturbing dissonance, which creates a contrast against the more predictable notes ringing out. Bass-lines are leaden, almost industrial grooves, and the drums limp along in a drugged, hypnotic certainty that allows all these conflicts to crash above them and alongside them. Add to this a bevy of electronics, ambiance and mix effects, and depth is created even where there is an utter lack of complexity. Some tunes are less structured than others, or creep along at a funereal doom pace not unlike an Esoteric, where others revel in an archaic industrial metal framework redolent of Godflesh or Treponem Pal. The deeper into the album, when you hit on a tune like "Silver Lining", affairs become even stranger, like layers of thick and angry skin have been peeled back and you're entering another level of confusion. The whole experience has a live, improvisational backbone, perhaps with a few initial directions that are then left to mutate into bedlam.

It's cool. It's not Cloak of Skies cool, nor Ghost in the Fire cool, because there are added layers of exhilaration and texture on those records. But, being forewarned about what sorts of ugly and hallucinogenic aural hues the Chicago quarter tend to choose to paint with, I certainly connected with the aggravation and despair that swells up in every single track here. The album feels like you're being slowly dragged, at some heightened level of intoxication, through the streets of a filthy urban sprawl, possibly by someone who just mugged or drugged you, listening to the sounds of abuse, addiction and anxiety being shouted from the higher story windows of dank alleys, occasionally being nudged by street refuse, manhole covers half-ajar, or splashed through the piss and rain and whatever the fuck else has mixed in with them. Exhausting, entropic and effective.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (I found them down in flames)

https://www.facebook.com/drughonkey

Cardiac Arrest - Cadaverous Presence (2008)

Cardiac Arrest is another of those hard working Midwestern acts which never seems to quite catch a break or generate a ton of buzz despite being capable at its craft. While they've never really put out anything that blew me away, records like Haven for the Insane and Vortex of Violence have been serviceable, competent and entertaining old school death metal platters that stand out to me mostly because they pursue a style that is simply not heard too often in the realm of brutastic boor-wankers, Dismember addicts, cavern core drillers and Floridian acolytes. Instead, they've got a sound strikingly reminiscent of English death and grind circa early Carcass and Bolt Thrower, perhaps with a little Repulsion in there and a whole lot of horror influence rather than songs about medical processes or Warhammer.

When I say 'reminiscent', I don't mean that they completely ape those bands' tones, but rather feel like a parallel, North American development to them, with some similarities in riff construction, chord choices, and pacing. For example, the instrumental intro, "The Inevitable" sounds a hell of a lot like something you'd hear Karl Willetts growling over, a slow and churning piece with groovier drums that almost can't support the fuzzed out rhythm guitar tone. The title track definitely has a couple of roiling riffs, as in the bridge breakdown, which would have fit right in on Symphonies of Sickness, though they also break out into a lot less distinct grinding and blasting, faster patterns that are in the Morbid Angel camp, and then some leads whipping their tendrils about that feel a bit aimless but not out of place. You can hear traces of a few other influences in here, like old Pestilence or maybe even the first Entombed record, but that constant grinding to grooving ratio evokes a whole lot of the Earache camp circa the late 80s or early 90s, which is surely a nostalgia trigger.

As for production standards, this is naturally a little weaker than the records to come after it, with the drums a little weak in the mix to support that excessively fuzzy guitar tone. Combined with the distortion levels on the bass, this is where part of the Repulsion comparison comes in, and you could make an argument that Cadaverous Presence is a more dynamic alternative to Horrified, those dynamics taking the form of the riffs and progressions which sound like the other bands I've brought up. This is ugly, hostile and ultimately punishing, with just barely enough polish to place it beyond the live or rehearsal category of recording. But, at the same time, that actually lends it some character and forces the listener into a more terrifying, grotesque dimension in which they've got to earn their appreciation a little more. The range of riffs, which aren't terribly catchy on an individual basis, is another strong point, since it's interesting and varied enough to prevent this from being some slog saved only by its disgusting tones.

Alas, that's not to say I think this is an album as good as those to follow it. The gutturals are rather monotonous and sound more like your average brutal death frontman, both in tone and the patterns of syllables being belched out. Half the riffs are exciting, the others are entirely forgettable, while the balance of the guitars and drums doesn't exactly allow them to properly complement one another. Apart from the sheer visceral nature of the music, the titles and artwork, there is very little here that rises above the horror level of your average slasher. That said, its truly fuzzy and abusive nature will certainly appeal to some that miss when death and grind bands reveled in raw production, and there are least the inklings and intentions of cool songwriting ideas buried across its twisted, fleshy canvas.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/CardiacArrestDeathMetal/

Nightshade - Autumnal Equinox (2008)

The biggest crime committed by Autumnal Equinox is that it's just so aesthetically scatterbrained, where from appearances alone it looks like it could have been a fun, campy Halloween metal romp which capitalized on the cheesiness of its themes. Essentially a one-off project by Rick Scythe, who you might know from the Midwest black death metal legends Usurper, and more recently the decent black thrash outfit of his namesake, Scythe; with a couple of his friends, and a drum machine, Nightshade seems like a primitive array of beats programmed to support over-saturated guitars and a mix of vocals that range from his nastier, familiar snarls to a deep Gothic timbre reminiscent of Andrew Eldritch and Peter Steele.

Stylistically it ranges from thrash to heavy metal, to punk riffs that recall The Misfits only clad in a heavier level of distortion and feeling too inorganic because of the drums. Although they lack the distinction that a few threads of Goth rock melody or unpredictable dissonance would give them, the rhythm guitars aren't written all that poorly, only configured into patterns you've heard before that aren't really enhanced or complemented by what's happening around them. The deep, clean vocals are effective enough for that style, but in several of the verse lines or choruses it almost seems like the band is letting us in on the joke, as they become increasingly goofy. Granted, there is no possibility a listener is bound to take Autumnal Equinox seriously. It's meant as a fun recording, but the lyrical content, samples, titles and so forth aren't actually that amusing or even sarcastically humorous, and the cleaner vocals come off like barely intelligible mumbling across half the songs.

It's a strange mix, and frankly if I didn't look at the date it was released out through Sempiternal Productions, I'd have thought it was some bizarre drunken bedroom reel from sometime in the 90s I had stumbled across, so it seems a little displaced from an era where it might actually feel like a lovably bad, sarcastic success. The song titles with subjects like "Midnight, Down in the Lab", "13 Spiders", "It Lives in the Lake" and "October's Scarecrow" all sound like they could be pretty entertaining if they adorned some fun horror punk songs, or even campy death metal like the sort put out by bands like Crypticus and Ghoul, but there's just not enough 'theme' dripping through them, despite the limited use of samples, haunted house keys, etc. The metal aspect of the record seems to be its driving force, but at best the riffs and drum machine make it sound like scraps from the cutting room floor of a Ministry or Rob Zombie record from nearly 20 years ago.

I can't hate on it all that much. It doesn't seem to be intended as anything more than an oddity, I've heard worse, and Rick Scythe seems like a genuine guy with some great material in Usurper and Scythe, just kind of screwing around here. Much of the disappointment for me comes by the aforementioned lack of focus, and because...just look at it. The crones on the cover with the dorky fonts look pretty entertaining, and the music that ends up on the album just isn't anywhere near that...imagine it were a fun Goth metal record with a huge kitschy influence from old punk and rockabilly, or just a really cheesy, awesome horror speed metal record from when they took cover photos like this.

Verdict: Fail [4.5/10]

Drug Honkey - Cloak of Skies (2017)

2012's Ghost in the Fire was such an overwhelming paean to human suffering that I doubted in advance there was any 'lower' plane onto which Chicago's Drug Honkey could drag its brand of drudging, urban, emotional doom. I wasn't necessarily wrong with that prediction, but where Cloak of Skies might not exceed its predecessor in some raw torture quotient, it more than compensates with a superior sense of direction, atmosphere and experimental minimalism that creates both a haunting and mesmerizing sonic trip that also had a surprisingly warm side to it, like that feel you get once an Oxycodone has finally hit peak plasma concentration and starts to spread over whatever ails or addiction forced you to pop it into your mouth in the first place.

On the surface, it seems simple, with monolithic, if familiar, slogging chord patterns that feel as if you're watching some rusted, moldering cityscape collapse in on itself, only the occasional flashes of melody created by higher-pitched droning guitars make it seem like the entire scene of decay is being bathed in a radiant, unforgiving sunlight that shines in through the shattered windows, missing bricks and girders on the building frames. Definitely some hints of acts like Godflesh and Jesu here, or on the heavier end of the spectrum the Australian Disembowelment and their highly regarded album Transcendence into the Peripheral. But these comparisons can offer only a starting point, because the specific noises and nuances Drug Honkey mixes into its aural amphetamine don't feel redundant to anything I've really encountered in the past, and I think the industrial, noise and drone influences only strengthen the overall package of this recording so that it crushes you like a hundred simultaneous dystopian nightmares, an album that anyone who survives deserves bragging rights to. There are even saxophones provided by Bruce Lamont which blend eerily well into the composition, as loose as that might seem, reinforcing its urban facade.

For all their minimalist structure and nature, the raw riff progressions here are quite excellent at how they tap into the primacy of the form, as in the depths of "Outlet of Hatred" where a few chords slice through the morass of guttural vocal sustains and other hallucinatory effects that drive the entire, ugly juggernaut forward. Ambiance and feedback are used as sweltering bookends to pieces like "(It's Not) The Way", where Head Honkey exchanges some of his wealth of snarls and gutturals for a clearer, deep, dreary vocal mantra that echoes over the spacious clamor. There are places at which the vocals completely steer and disgustingly define the stoic, sonic backdrop, as in "The Oblivion of an Opiate Nod" which is one of the most grueling and impressive pieces on the whole record. Guitars reach perfect levels of saturation on both the lower ends where they collide with the distorted bass scrawl, and the higher, dirty tones that waft out through the occasional smog-o-sphere. There is nothing clean about this album, it's like a warm bath in rank water, piss, and who knows what else, and yet's it's still a pretty comfortable use of your time.

I'm not completely convinced that the Justin Broadrick remix of "Pool of Failure" (the album's first track) is required to order to round it out as a complete experience, even if it serves as a sort of reprise. So you could cut Cloak of Skies off at at around 44 minutes and be none the worse. But that said, it's pretty fucking cool to have Broadrick himself hack away at one of your tracks, and he does succeed in making what is one of the record's more straightforward pieces a little weirder and more disheveled, while amping up the recognition of his own Godflesh aesthetics. In fact I might like this one slightly more than the original version, but I think it works better when you recognize it as a bonus track and not a core component. Otherwise, I think this is Drug Honkey's best material to date, already on par with Ghost in the Fire about midway through and then hitting that one-two knockout climax of "Opiate" and the title track and dialing it home. Also was impressed with Paolo Girardi's cover art, which seemed a little out of the ordinary for the Italian, but really captures the sounds on display very well. Then again, Drug Honkey is no ordinary client, and the weird, woeful atmosphere they create with just a sliver of ironic grace as well worth pursuing as the end of whatever substance binge you find yourself engulfed in.

Verdict: Epic Win [9.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/drughonkey

Morgue Supplier - Morgue Supplier (2016)

One of the reasons Morgue Supplier is one of the most exciting death/grindcore mutations to explode from the States in the 21st century is the sheer strength of the influences they bring. The acceleration and impact which so define the genre are present in spades, but where many comparable bands like fall a little flat is in the lack of ambition they weave into the songwriting. Sped up hardcore punk riffs I've heard a million times before just aren't going to cut it in 2015, and neither will sounding like a momentary testosterone spasm accompanied by vapid snarling and barking. Granted, this trend had started to shift in recent years with bands like Antigama and the late Gridlink expanding the field through more unique guitars and song structures, but these Chicago area psychopaths mete out a level of energy and disgust so furious and personal on their eponymous sophomore full-length that you feel as if you've actually been punished, something I've rarely attested to this niche since its late 80s birth.

If their name didn't give it away, Morgue Supplier lean more towards the 'death metal' side of that equation, upon a bedrock of Napalm Death-like blasting and chord grooves, only filtered through a more atonal, unusual note progressions, which at times reminds me of both the classic Voivod and perhaps even a little industrial filth redolent of an alt-universe hyperventilated Godflesh. There are all manner of individual riffs here which show roots in anything from tremolo picked OSDM to impious death/thrash to the whipping, dissonant frenzy of noisier American metalcore bands ala Converge or Dillinger Escape Plan, or the brickwork intensity of modern Cryptopsy; but they'll also lay into a death/doom groove or a more atmsopheric segue when it's best to let the audience take a chance to breathe. You get the feeling that absolutely nothing is off the table, provided that it's sick and feeds into this record's self-fulfilling paeans to murder, addiction and social disintegration; and to that extent the album is 14 tracks and 41 minutes of unforgiving hostility that will at the very least put you in stitches, if not a stretcher...which is kind of what the name implies. Polymaths of punishment, tirades of tempo shifting torture that never forgets the importance of having actual guitar riffs to reinforce the abuse.

Vocally Paul Gillis employs a number of attack schematics, from the sustained, grotesque guttural of a Martin van Drunen to the raspier snarls so often associated with this style. But what puts this over the top is the use of more robotic filters on several of the lines that just make it feel all the more angry and inhuman, dystopian and overwhelming. A bad battery acid trip. Mechanical malcontents. Rather than just rattling off syncopated, monotonous lyrical lines like sabers, there is an intense feeling of discomfort and personal pain captured in the ugliness of the expression. Teamed with the fat, pungent bass lines and a rich, bludgeoning guitar tone that measures off both the fury of the chords and the street light shine of the higher pitched, natural dissonance of the strings, there is just so much pressure being applied at almost any point on the album that you feel strangulated, but right when you're about to lose consciousness they'll switch to something a little simpler and let the senses of vertigo and suffocation subside. Anchored by some muscular drumming which coordinates simpler grooves effortlessly into extreme blasting and bass-rolling overdrive, this band sounds insanely driven, and sort of how Napalm Death's latest Apex Predator - Easy Meat kicked off 2015 with its death grinding excellence, Morgue Supplier has set an early benchmark for aggression in the new year. I'd warn you to wear a helmet, but all it would really do is keep the contents of your head contained once they explode.

Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

https://www.facebook.com/morguesupplier?fref=ts

Death Curse - Death Curse (2015)

On its surface, Death Curse really seemed like an album I was bound to enjoy. Razorback has, in my estimation, a pretty good ear for the splatter/thrash material it releases, bands like Ghoul and Frightmare providing many hours of enjoyment and camp with actual quality riffing and hellish energy to back it up. You've got the great R-rated comic book cover artwork, the obvious Friday the 13th slasher overtures in the logo, and some creepy swamp guy chasing down a stacked, naked woman in a swamp. How in the fuck of all fucks could anything really go wrong here? Well, I won't say that anything really DOES go wrong...it just doesn't go very right either, and I came away a little disappointed if not wholly turned off by this Illinois duo's debut.

The goal here is boxy, chuggy Possessed-like thrash with a few escalations into speed metal, and I think the album at least starts out strong enough in that direction, with a Friday the 13th sample and a half-decent if generic death/thrash lick reminiscent of Possessed and Razor. The rhythm guitar tone is pretty raw and rich, the bass booming, the drums splashy and primitive, and the leads maintain that frilly, cheese feel to them which matches their modus operandi. The vocals definitely have a poor man's Jeff Becerra feel to them, only grainier and at times a little more visceral and unpolished, and this is one facet of Death Curse which does not work against them. In fact, when this album is all coming together, I am reminded of what I liked so much about albums like the debuts of Hallows Eve and Indestroy, and wouldn't be terribly surprised if all those were influences too. Tracks are pretty varied too, shifting between faster, nastier licks, creepy flowing proto-death metal pieces and then a few mid-paced headbangers ala classic Sacred Reich or Hallow's Eve's "Lethal Tendencies". Where Death Curse just doesn't stick the landing for me is in conjuring up memorable moments which can rival their precursors, and so it comes across as just a nostalgia trip that is more likely to cause its listeners to flip through their old records and relive those moments than to keep spinning this one endlessly...

And, granted, you can argue that such catalysts are a good thing. Yet the riff patterns are almost always predictable, where a few minor changes or dissonant surprises could have fastened them to the memory, and the choruses just don't capitalize on the momentum leading into them. Not incompetent, by any means, but leaving me dry instead of blood-spattered. However, I DO like the grittier production style on this, it definitely shifts me back about 30 years to second tier formative death/thrashers of the mid to late 80s. The lyrics do a decent homage to the cult films the band worships. I appreciate the sandbox Death Curse is playing around in, but I'm going to cross my fingers that this will serve as a sort of jumping off point from which they can challenge themselves a little more. Ramp up the raw technicality of the riffing just slightly to increase the possibilities. Incorporate both more savagery, and more atmospheric breaks, samples, or whatnot, so that I really feel like my head is on the chopping block, and not that I'm watching some umpteenth slasher sequel which they practically have to pay the networks to air late at night during their Halloween marathons.

Verdict: Indifference [6.5/10] (I've got plans for this little town)

https://www.facebook.com/deathcursemetal/

Scythe - Subterranean Steel (2013)

Many readers will likely recall the Chicago tyrants Usurper, who were more or less a crushing 90s amalgamation of Celtic Frost and Venom vomiting vitriol straight from the Midwest, with a handful of cool records like Diabolosis and Skeletal Season. Scythe is essentially the direct continuation of the Rick Scythe persona from that era, embedded into a more uptempo speed/thrash chassis with death & black metal dressings. Subterranean Steel is the second album of this new trio, and I was taken aback at just how brutal and riff-driven this was. The cover art, while fun, doesn't do the music any favors, because you really don't get the impression that is some visual based gimmick act circa Goddess of Desire or Dethklock, but a more serious exhibition of spikes, leather and inferno...and some sharpened spikes indeed.

The guitar tone here is crisp and boisterous, the riffs generally built as harsh, hellish approximations of trad thrash, speed and heavy metal that can 'rise to the occasion' of Scythe's wrenching growls and snarls. This leaves a lot of room for variation, and indeed the track list across Subterranean Steel doesn't shy away from covering a lot of ground, from the slow and steady thrashing of "The Bray Beast" which reminds me of a more primitive 80s Testament, to "Nights of Terror" which is pure nasty speed metal lickin' that comes across like a more muscular alternative to early Megadeth or Metallica...to "Subterranean Steel" itself which is possibly my favorite on the disc, steady and unbridled chugging force with a nice build to a more atmospheric climax. Almost all of the riff construction is deviously simplistic through the record, but even though one can draw parallels to this or that band from the past, it still seems consistent and fresh and not so much of a ripoff as an homage, much like Usurper did. And for those seeking a little more extremity, the trio answers with pieces like "The Grunting Dead" or "Beyond the Northwoods" that channel bombastic old black metal like late 80s Bathory into the equation.

The album wouldn't succeed without its abrasive, punishing tones, and these extend beyond the growls and guitars to a potent drum mix in which you can hear each level snare strike and thundering kick that 'bulk' up the force of the riffing. The bass lines also pump along with some volume, although structurally they often seem to support the rhythms directly and thus can seem a little less noticeable until he swerves off into a groove during a change in patterns. The leads to tunes like "Thunder Hammer" are generally pretty basic and bluesy, and not all that interesting, but considering Rick's double duty as guitarist/front man I was hardly expecting Zakk Wylde. In fact, Subterranean Steel as a whole is just not a complex or frenetic experience. It's more about confidence, certainty, and crushing the listener's ear drums in with an extreme evolution of classic metal tropes, and the horror-borne lyrics fit right in with Scythe's later Usurper material. Ultimately, while its not unbelievably memorable or unique, this is just a fun record with some righteous head bangers. Like Usurper, Scythe keeps it heavy and honest, and that's why this impious Illinois institution is in no danger of closing its doors.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.scythe.us/index.html

Nocturne - Ave Noctem (2013)

Dan Klein is the sort of musician who pisses me off (in a good way), because the guy's a beast on just about every instrument he lays his paws on. Which is a good thing, since he's the sole member of the Chicagoan project Nocturne. Generally when I'm hearing the first official release from a one-man or 'bedroom' black metal outfit, I am not expecting the level of overall proficiency and attention to detail paid on Ave Noctem. Sure, a guy might be a great guitar player, keyboardist or rasper, but Klein absolutely manhandles the drums and bass guitar, keeping them busy enough that even the most simplistic or atmospheric of guitar chord progressions doesn't hold the songwriting back. I'm not implying that this is an incredibly memorable album or that all its components are necessarily interesting of their own accord, but nowhere is Ave Noctem 'phoned in', and if I were to grade music simply on effort, this would be at the head of the class, because you can just hear the hunger rolling off every riff, groove, and fill.

Aesthetically, the guitars remind me a lot of the Scandinavian camp, in particular some of Satyr's playing on the mid-era Satyricon releases. Or maybe a bit of Quorthon/Bathory's earlier Viking-era riffing, or later Immortal. However, Klein imbues a lot of gladiatorial atmosphere in his chord choices ("Anxiopath", etc), so you feel like you're witnessing the carnal festivities from the side street of a bullfight, or the bleachers of an arena soon to be slaked with blood. Lots of intricate, airy chords being slung around, he's not just interested in pure, unchecked savagery. That said, he also incorporates spurts of fairly technical, dextrous muted phrases that create a contrast against the more solemn, expressive black metal chords. The drums are simply fantastic throughout, whether he's laying out a full-on double bass barrage, blast or something rock-based. Bass lines are imbued with lots of melody that plays to the strength of the rhythm guitar without necessarily copying it, and this circles on back to what I was mentioning earlier about the sheer balance of the record. No one instrument really outshines the rest, which is a rarity for solo acts in this medium. As for the vocals, they're your typical deep retching snarls, but he'll occasionally use some understated, rustic cleans ("Rites of Contrition", "Pain of Purity") which remind me of other folk-influenced black metal acts like Enslaved.

In fact, 90s/00s Enslaved is a great comparison for Ave Noctem overall, even if this is less atmospheric, progressive or mind-blowing. Riffs are varied to prevent even the longest tracks from becoming boring, and melody and aggression are meticulously counter-weighted to keep the composition fresh. You definitely get an epic heavy metal undercurrent in some of the tunes that might remind you of I's Between Two Worlds or the last two Immortal discs. The writing is both glorious and hostile in equal measures, especially some of the faster runs in "The Prodigious Plight", and the album's got itself at least a good dozen riff patterns that stick in your thoughts well after listening. I'd like to hear some exciting, sticky leads in here, but the fact that he's already pulling quadruple duty sort of exempts their presence. There aren't a lot of heavily experimented touches that change styles, with the exception of the titular interlude "Ave Noctem", spacious but brief post-rock piece with drifting, cleaner guitars. Lyrics are actually a bit unusual for this genre, since they are deeply internal/personal and have a doom-like quality about them. But ultimately, to think that it's all just one person is pretty shocking, since you don't usually get such a complete package. We're not talking the intentionally under-polished, grimy atmospheric depressive BM like you'd expect out of Striborg or Xasthur. No, if someone told you this was a new four-piece from Norway, you'd be hard-pressed to disbelieve it. Klein is THAT seasoned, and this debut is an obvious labor of love, which I obviously liked.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/NocturneChicago

Morgue Supplier - Bringer of the End (Executioner Theme) (2013)

Executioner looks to be another of those ultra violent comedy 'toons in the vein of Metalocalypse, Superjail!, and the ill-fated Korgoth of Barbaria (which I really wish had gotten a full run beyond the pilot). With comedian Brian Posehn voicing the lead character in the gravelly, menacing tone you might expect, it definitely looks to prove entertaining for the cross-section of cartoon fans, extreme music junkies and stoners generally attracted to similar series, of which I probably must include myself, being a hardcore follower/DVD collector of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Sealab 2021, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and the Venture Bros. But what's really sweet about Executioner is that, being a slightly more underground production than those I've named, they've also gone with an underground band for the OP theme, specifically Morgue Supplier out of Chicago, who you might recall from their great 2009 EP Constant Negative.

I've watched the brief clip I was given of the song playing alongside the animation, and then listened to the track on its own a number of times, and I have to admit it's consistent in quality with the earlier material I've heard. Spastic, jerking death metal with parallels to grind and dissonant, mathematical metalcore (Burnt by the Sun, Coalesce, etc.) Dense, chugging chords are alternated with bursts of blasted intensity, while the chord progressions always have a highly textured, fulsome quality about them. Vocalist Paul Gillis uses a brute and primal death metal inflection redolent of Martin van Drunen, only with some extended growls and the accompaniment of venomous rasps as added viscera. The bass tone is swarthy, distorted and thick enough that, in combination with the shifting rhythm guitars, create a corpulent atmosphere unto themselves, which doesn't exactly require melody or lead guitar spurts to round it off, especially within the confines of the brief track length (about 2:40). Drums remain tight when varied through the blasted outbreaks and the loping, massive grooves, and in conjunction with the fat rhythm guitar chugging it's all quite forceful.

It's a digital single, released through Itunes and other sites, and unlikely to appear in its full incarnation once the episodes begin airing on YouTube soon through Rug Burn cartoons (who are also putting out animated clips of the Axe Cop comic). However, as a teaser for a hinted new Morgue Supplier full-length, this is certainly something to be excited over. It fits in seamlessly as a transition from the earlier material, and deals with a balance of older and contemporary influences that you don't hear all too often of late. I can't promise that this particular track is painfully memorable, but its abusive and concussive enough for fans of death and grind hybrids which think outside the box without seeming trendy or insincere (see also Flourishing). Well worth a listen, and hopefully the cartoon itself will not prove a hack job, and live up to the brutality..."Bringer of the End" ensures that Posehn and the animators have their work cut out for them...but enough of my bad puns, check out the tune.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

https://www.facebook.com/morguesupplier?fref=ts
http://www.youtube.com/user/Rugburn

Fleshgrind - Murder Without End (2003)

Had Fleshgrind delivered an album that improved upon The Seeds of Abysmal Torment as much as that had vaulted past Destined for Defilement, then we might have been looking at our first genuinely worthwhile experience. Instead, Murder Without End is rather a step in reverse, seeking instead to inhabit the aesthetic space between the first two albums. That this ultimately proved to be their swan song is not surprising, since the wells of inspiration seemingly suffered from drought conditions and the band were at best writing a mixture of half-decent riffs in the vein of their sophomore, or incredibly mediocre note progressions that went absolutely nowhere; emphasis on the latter! I can't pinpoint exactly why, but whenever I see this album I think back on all those moderately uninteresting discs that choke up the Malevolent Creation discography; Fleshgrind were writing at a similar level of abuse, albeit with a slightly more guttural relish.

The novelties or new ideas here are reduced to a few piano intros and outros, a few chord textures that I don't recall from the older works, and one very surprisingly melodic tremolo riff sequence that erupts in the middle of the track "Displayed Decay", which wouldn't have been out of place on a power metal or melodic death record. Otherwise, the most I can say for Murder Without End is that its got a more accessible, approachable mix than either of the other albums. The guitars are denser with a lot of punch, but are very often belting out 2-3 note patterns that leech any possible interest or inspiration from the listener, since any death metal band with even a modicum of experience could compose 150 such riffs in a few jamming hours without thinking twice. This was the one studio album with Derek Hoffman on drums (he had played on that Stabwound Intercourse EP circa Gorgasm), and he implements a lot more straight blasting and admittedly drives much of the energy and enthusiasm; but without good songs, it's all in vain. Guitar progressions vary between entirely forgettable chugs to faster, vapid blast parts with tremolo picking that remind me of some of Krisiun's least inspired tunes. Certainly a bit more of a Napalm Death 'grind' undercurrent, but that's nothing to write home about when its very originators can rarely make heads or tails of the style.

The bass is audible, carving out a cleaner tone not unlike that on the debut, but other than the occasional line of interest its not sticking its neck out very far. Rich's vocals were less interesting as well; a series of grunts that sound like Barney Greenway communicating with pigs, with a few raspy, snarling rodents occasionally chiming in when accidentally stepped on by the bacon aspirants. Again, this definitely all sounds fine and dandy if you're looking for generic brutal death band of the 'oughts #1,768, but significantly less 'brutal' and promising than the cuts I was hearing on The Seeds of Abysmal Torment. The composition is more athletic and aggressive than Destined for Defilement, to be sure, yet so is the gunning of most motorcycles. Sadly, while it remains almost as tightly knits as its predecessors (each album is expanding about 3 minutes), there is just too little value here, and 'meh' lyrics and boring grinders like "Pistolwhipped", "Enslaved to My Wrath" and an updated rendition of their 1993 demo track "Holy Pedophile" do their best to ensure that some of the less obnoxious efforts here get muddled down to oblivion. A handful of worthwhile riffs against a whole lotta derivative and mundane friction. The story of many brutal death metal acts' lives.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10] (forever choking)

Fleshgrind - The Seeds of Abysmal Torment (2000)

While it wasn't a dramatic improvement, and there was a pervasive reek of 'keeping up with the times' populating the album, The Seeds of Abysmal Torment was a much needed step forward for Chicago's Fleshgrind in three important categories: musicianship, composition, and of course, brutality. The writing was far denser, punishing, and though I wouldn't dub it adventurous, it was clearly exploring more of the latent potential within its constituents. Arguably, the sophomore could have been an entirely other band. The riffing, hostility, and even the vocals aren't quite like Destined for Defilement, but the deviation is not so broad that they couldn't interchange the songs in a set list. No, this is simply a hallmark of growth for the Midwest murderers, and in truth it's the strongest album of their catalog, even if it doesn't quite distinguish itself from its influences and peers.

From the top down, this was a case of evolution into a more tense and busy entity which could compete with a lot of the younger brutal and technical death acts coming out of both the US and Europe. Still very much redolent of Suffocation, but there's also running parallel to American stompers like Internal Bleeding and Dying Fetus. The guitar tone is more textured. Ruddy and pungent, from the grinding progressions to the unusual and interesting breakdowns. It feels both filthy and claustrophobic, but the acrobatic chugging of Steve Murray ensures that there' no shortage of tempo alternation. The drums likewise are more condensed, with the toms and bass drums far more energetic than the debut. Note sequences often shift between low end grooves, pinches and squeals to flights of very surgical sounding death/thrash ("Monarch of Misery", or the wonderfully and aptly titled "Hogtied and Hatefucked") that puts me in the same head space that I was on Pestilence's debut, Malleus Malifecarum. Nowhere near as catchy, mind you, but the very presence of these passages is enough to keep the music from quickly stagnating. The rate of hit to miss guitar riffs is quite higher than Destined for Defilement, though the album is almost equally concise in its overall length.

Bass is still not a dominant force, but it's definitely deeper and contributes more to the overall aesthetic, which in itself is far more low end and slamming amidst the more aerobic guitar work. You can feel it constantly brooding and bumping along in the muscular murk of the percussion. Rich Lipscomb's vocals are also changed: his lower guttural is comparable to the debut album, but he's alternating this with a sustained growl that sounds like a less ghoulish John Tardy; and in addition, there are a lot more petulant little snarls cast into the mix to create a morbid schizophrenia. The pacing is pretty interesting throughout the album, ranging from an all out clusterfuck assault on the listener's senses and sensibilities, to simpler patterns that emerge; thrashing breaks, chunky grooves. Certainly this is an album that serves as another precursor to the vastly saturated, international brutal and slam death scene we know today, and I wouldn't be surprised to find this in the collections of many of the Russian and Indonesian bands who have been churning out such works of late.

Another advancement was in the lyrical material; even the sadistic "Hogtied and Hatefucked" and "A Legion of Illusions" were better managed than most of the comparable tunes on the debut, and in general the messages and imagery here are more matured and better 'arranged'. They didn't just feel like another garden variety Cannibal Corpse knockoff. Obviously the three years between the debut and this, as the band signed to the (largely underwhelming) Olympic Recordings imprint, were well spent in refining their sound. The Seeds of Abysmal Torment might not be a memorable album, but it was headed in that direction, and anyone sporting a hard on for classic 90s Suffocation or Crytopsy's None So Vile might at least want to hit this up once.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (imagine such lunacy)