Interview with Grindcore band Tools Of The Trade!!

Here's the interview I promised in ages. It's a great pleasure for me to interview Tiong of TOTT. Great band, great beats. Enjoy the interview!!

TerenceBelieves: Okay, how did the band start in the first place? Was it because of music, money or fame? Where did you guys meet and everything else about the band

Tiong TODD: Ok this band actually started on my local hom

e town of Kluang Johor. The main cause of t his band started is because we are very lack of a new grindcore band on that time and of course, it came from our infatuation and essence to play a grindcore and bring out our idea into the lyrics and spread to everyone. For more details about TOTT bio check out our my space www.myspace.com/toolsgrind

.This band is not about money and fame. It’s a bout passion and ideas.

TerenceBelieves: Judging from your band's name, you guys probably worshipped Carcass. Were you guys aiming to be like them or something more? What are your other influences?

Tiong TODD: Yes. We are devotees of Carcass and we are a very fanatical w

ith them. The names of the band are 400% precisely taken from one the title song of Carcass. There is no crest of making your own band to be like your sway or favorites band 100%. Yeah Carcass is our influence. And our others influence such as like Pig Destroyer, Cryptopsy, Captain Clean Off, Nasum and Nausea.

TerenceBelieves: What do you think of today's grindcore scene and all the new "genres" sprouting out of it? Most people seem to have some resentment towards genres like Deathcore or Mathcore, do you have any (or any other members of your band)?

Tiong TODD: From an open face, I can say this is a constructive expansion for bring up a good composition and message from the band. This is what we call insurgency or mutiny of the mu

sic that might be have a contradiction forcibly and misapprehension that we need to think together outside and inside .My thought is simple. Bring up good music, be yourself, make your own band, be your own mind and be yours.

Kia has a new project band that will be playing deathcore. Hard for me to describe because this is his project band and it’s still new, fresh and steady. Watch out.*

TerenceBelieves: Do you think his contribution for drums in Tools of the Trades will put a huge influence into his new deathcore band? Surely, I'll be expecting blast beats from Kia. Another thing, if you are able to collaborate with any band in this world, which band would you pick? (I'm guessing it's Carcass)

Tiong TODD: Good question but hard for me to answer. I can’t say too much about this because everything on his hand. What I can say, he will definitely give 100% commitment and pledge for anything that he loves to do in this world. OF course we would like to collaborate with good bands like Pig Destroyer, Cephalic Carnage,324,Phobia,Ion Dissonance, Cold Worker, Disfear and 1000000 names to list out here.*laughs*

TerenceBelieves: When can we expect another release from TOTD? Will it have heavy technical influences (judging from the Cephalic Carnage influence you guys have)?

Tiong TODD: The latest coming project should be ready on September o

r October. That will be a split 7 inches with a mighty southern grindcore from Jb, Damokis. It just not a heavy, it will be a fuss on our new music constituent that we try to put in our arrangement to be more fresh, severe and technically grindcore.

TerenceBelieves: What made you guys to decide to do a split with Damokis? Is it because you guys admire the band so much? Well, the band is quite well known in Malaysia and probably in Indonesia/Singapore.

The main reason is because a friendship and amity that we have with them (Damokis) and it’s not just about a band it self, I’m personally know all the line up very well and we are very admire or esteem with them (Damokis) since TOTT haven’t exist on this earth. To have a chance for make a project with them is a good experience for us to gain a new exposure from metal elevation and let our music can be heed from other side because I’m personally currently we only focus in certain vicinity .

TerenceBelieves: Any thoughts of touring overseas? If the band does

so, please explain where.

Yeah .Of course we would love to go oversea, arrange for tour around 1-2 weeks and meet all friends and gain new experience. The place that we dream for is Japan and Sweden. But for a squat phrase, we are targeting to go around south East Asia country like Philippines or Indonesia.

TerenceBelieves: Who else in the band has a side project? What other music do the band members listen? (Guessing that power violence would be in the list)

Kia plays on Mass Separation and another death core band which I’m not sure what the name is. Our guitarist also plays in other band call Innards Decay where they play Brutal Death Grind. I also play another band call Kah-Roe-Shi which we are in part of Heavy Sludge Crust Core.

We prefer to listen on extreme and excessive music like grindcore, death metal and grind death. But who cares, we also listen a lot of type of music such as like d-beat, punk, rock, reggae, jazz and any of other good music that exists on this earth.

TerenceBelieves: Can you tell me and the readers about all the troubles you people have to go through. Troubles from the government, family support, society, financial problems, commitment. Tell us (me and the readers) all about it.

Other than that; we have no issue with the government; it’s just that they have recently increased the fuel and rice price which is obviously abusing their power to control the economy of our country. There will be other things increased as well in the future; we’ve to do our parts as society!

We’ve been through lots of issue since day one the band gets started. The issue that you have highlighted are apart of them. Mostly are related to individual issue for e.g. to further studies; to concentrate on the other main band and also the mental issue that one can’t fight for his own self!

In terms of family support; all our families and the loved ones support

s us in what we’re doing – music; live shows; traveling and tours! So we’re happy about it. Society? We’re apart of the society as well; what’s the big deal? Financial problems? Yes, we would admit that we’re having financial issue especially for getting those equipments as most of us are having other commitment apart from the band as well and working with so little money to live in this place.

TerenceBelieves: Any last words for the readers out there before we end this interview? Any words of wisdom for future upcoming bands especially the ones that are going into the extreme direction. (IE: Power Violence, Death Metal, Black Metal, Deathcore, Mathcore,

Hardcore etc)

We would like to thank you for the interview. And to all the friends out there who comes to our show, buy our stuffs / merchandise; contact us directly or indirectly. We thank you so much! Without you guys we're nobody! To all the new bands out there - keep up the good works and don't just stop half way; our journey is still far away to go!

TerenceBelieves: Hey dude, thanks for everything. You've been quite friendly. Thanks for helping out!

http://www.myspace.com/toolsgrind

Pay them a visit at their website!!

Interview with Grindcore band Magnicide!!

Recently I got the chance to interview Memeng of Magnicide. Here's that exclusive review and with some juicy details I was able to drag out of Memeng's mind, I'm sure you fans might enjoy. Enjoy reading this chat! Haha.

TerenceBelieves: Can you introduce the band?

Magnicide: The band started in early 2007. Just some friends decided to play fast. Jali & I (Memeng) used to play in Demisor. Then we hook up Iem from Hasrat to play Magnicide.

TerenceBelieves: Here are some clichéd questions I'm sure fans are eager to know too. What are the band's influences and why do you choose those particular bands to be on your influence roster? Any new bands that might be your current song writing muse?

Magnicide: Ok we love old & new grind bands of course. Bands we adore are assuck,324,terrorizer and bunch more...probably we love more of 324 style of song writing but we dig other genre as well...anything goes wit Magnicide style of song writing...no limit..

TerenceBelieves: You guys just played in Manila this year how was it? Was the crowd as energetic back in Singapore? How was the support there?

Magnicide: It was awesome. Great crowd, great support we loved it. The venue was simply great. Emman of Delusion of Terror helped us a lot. Cheers to him & his awesome family!

TerenceBelieves: I bet you guys want to play there again. Got any footage or pictures to share from the gigs you had at the Philippines?

Magnicide: *Laughs* yeah why not...we love too...to me personally we get both vacation & gig for us...it’s a win-win situation. *Laughs*sent me your email I’ll post u some pix...

TerenceBelieves: I'm sure the crowd headbanging or moshing would give addiction of playing on stage. You guys are planning a split with Noisear and Toxic Revolution, what can we expect from these splits? What do you think of the bands you guys are working with and why do you want to work with them? (That's a lengthy question, haha.)

Magnicide: True this kind of crowd gives us energy to grind more. It’s the best drug ever!! Wow you know yer stuff! Yeah we already record for both releases. Noisear split 7"ep out soon as we speak. Probably we gonna launch it for our gig here in S'pore. Also the Toxic Revolution split LP is in the works. Both bands are great & fast!! We love it!! Cheers to em'

TerenceBelieves: Haha, I'm a metal/internet nerd what can I say. Haha So far, which release of yours is probably the best thing that Magnicide has ever produced? Another question here, among the most influential grindcore classics out there, which one do you think influenced Magnicide's releases most in terms of energy, spirit, motivation, musicianship and lyrically.

Magnicide: Probably the best stuff for us is the split LP wit Toxic Revolution-Great songs & great production. But we are still learning & improving as time goes by. To me bands like Terrorizer, Assuck, Nasum are best describe as great grindcore example in terms of great song writing wit good lyrics. Not forgetting great production as well...enuff said!!

TerenceBelieves: I can see you guys do really love Terrorizer. Does the death of Jesse Pintado affect you guys in anyway? Well he did great jobs in Terrorizer, Lock Up and Napalm Death.

Magnicide: Yeah a great guy!! I met him when Napalm Death play in KL few yrs ago...it’s a loss for grindcore music. He is like the forefathers of grind!!! Life goes on...

TerenceBelieves: Yeah, too bad I never get to meet him. Ok, I'm going to mention some random bands from today's scene and tell me what you think of them

(Warning: Not all are metal!)

1) Tools of the Trades

2) Second Combat

3) Cephalic Carnage

4) Panic! At The Disco

5) Rator

6) Nidji

Magnicide:

1) Tools of Trade are awesome! What’s up Kia!! Yeah we gonna do split 7"ep wit em...

2) Second Combat are great too.

3) Cephalic Carnage are killers!

4) Panic! At The Disco never heard?? -Any good??

5) Rator old skool black metal!! Brutal!!

6) Nidji are good!! Great band!! Good songs!!

TerenceBelieves: For your information *coughs* Panic! At The Disco is an *coughs* emo/pop band. Never thought you give such a remark to Nidji. I kinda love them (I mean Nidji, not that awful Panic! At The Disco)

Magnicide: haha ok...yeah I am open to all kind of music...music are supposed to be a freedom of choice!! But then again some just suck big time!!

TerenceBelieves: Haha, some people are kind off close minded and only want to be elite. Closing that section up, what does the band think about today's scene, especially with the emergence of genres like Metalcore and Deathcore? (I enjoy some bands) Would you people work with such bands despite the genre differences?

Magnicide: Why not but some are just trendy rite?? So how we know if this band is for real?? We try to minimize & work with someone we know closely...

TerenceBelieves: I have to agree that some jump onto the trend bandwagon. Are there any specific Metalcore/Deathcore/Mathcore bands you can actually tolerate?

Magnicide: to tell u the truth I dun have any bands of the genre that I listen nowadays. Mostly I listen to easy listening stuff. Maybe here & there extreme music...kinda flexible guy...

TerenceBelieves: Hey, that kind of surprised me because you don't even know *coughs* Panic! At The Disco *coughs*. The cool thing is you still have the grind attitude in you. How long do you think the band will last? Would the band sort of "retire" once you guys reach a stage?

Magnicide: haha well I’m kinda different from all those brutal close minded grindheads...haha. Maybe the band will last till the end of time or sooner. Yup retire when we are tired of it. Haha

TerenceBelieves: Before we end the interview, any last words for the readers out there and bands trying to make it big?

Magnicide: ok just be true to yourself. Support real bands not some trendy 5yrs band. Bands trying to make it big well u can just dream on...Nothing beats a hardworking bands...check out Magnicide & love, peace!!

TerenceBelieves: Okay, over and out sir! I'll inform you when I put the interview on my blog. Thanks for the cooperation you gave and you were quite friendly. Thanks again.

*As soon I get the pictures from Memeng, I'll post them here! Fans from the Philippines, watch out, your pictures might be up there!

Whitechapel releases video for "This Is Exile"

Yep, you read that title right. Deathcore band Whitechapel recently released a single called "This Is Exile" and a video has been released for the single. (Why do I love repeating myself??) View the video below.

Whitechapel "This Is Exile"


What do I think about the video/song?

Video: For some reason (I don't know why), the video reminds me of Goatwhore's Alchemy. Probably because of the factory looks thing. Everything green and that's my favorite color! There are some hilarious stuff in the video I would love to share. During the last breakdown, the whole band headbangs in synch with the music. You might think there's nothing hilarious when you read this but why the fuck are they squating and getting up in synch with the breakdown. I mean, that's freaking obnoxious. Why can't they just headbang in synch, just like what Amon Amarth did in Runes To My Memory? I hope they won't repeat the same mistake in their next video.

Music: Now let's get into the important part and what everybody cares about. The music. The vocals, they are in death metal fashion and done properly. Quite amazing vocals imo, deep guttural vocals, reminding me of Behemoth and no, not at exaggeration. The drumming is at top class and closer to a death metal sound. However, the composition which has breakdown as it's main arsenal, takes a lot of points away. The extended breakdowns makes the track extremely boring towards the end. They should add guitar solos/shreds. Such composition makes me less anticipated for their upcoming album. Too bad for them. I have to say, this is something for people who think Job For A Cowboy are Gods. I hope Whitechapel can improve further. There are already good riffs everywhere but please, don't make your breakdown too long. You are making deathcore, not Hatebreed styled Hardcore. Wait, Deathcore is about the breakdown. Okay, at least make your extended breakdown interesting!

June, a month of coming soons! (Part 2)-(Metallica,Motorheand and Slipknot(??)

Many bands announce their next releases around this month. Here's some stuff:

1) Thrash Metal band (or at least ex-thrash metal band) Metallica announced the name of their next release to be Death Magnetic. Do you think they will return to their old thrash sound? Clips from http://www.missionmetallica.com/ gives us hopes. Solos are back but are they any good?

2) Another legendary band, Motorhead is expected to release their new album soon too!


I believe I see a Swedish coat of arms there. The logo looks old school and I hope they retain their old sound. More details here. *Lemmy has movie on himself coming soon, just wait from our favorite Granddad.

3) The third opus that was recently announced is from the scourge of all metal fans, *coughs* Slipknot. *coughs again* Did I say the dreaded S-word? Yep I did! You people might think, why would I bother to put it on my website. The thing is, according to leaks, they actually started to sound metal! There are guitar solos (at last you start to show your death metal talents Mick!), death metal styled drumming but the vocals are in hardcore fashion so you can't expect something purely metal orientated. Their past release, Vol 3 do have metal moments and this album is promised to have more metal instead of nu metal.

New cover?? Looks cool.

I can't post the leak sample here though due to copyright infringements. Leave a message on my myspace page if you are too desperate and you can't find it anywhere else. Then again, look it for yourself!

June, a month of coming soons! (Part 1)-(Tools of the Trade,Greezminh and Death Army{now Death Armada})

Did anyone realize that? For this month, there tons of coming soon news.

Let's start with something related to the blog (and me!):

1)Currently,I'm interviewing the grindcore band Tools of the Trade. Well, only with Guitarist/Vocalist Tiong actually.

Here's some juice I'm able to get, they're going to release a split album with Damokis this September. More details in the interview soon. Just wait!

2) I'm currently recording vocals for French Electronic/Hardcore Greezminh. I won't tell yet which track exactly but just wait guys! Meanwhile visit their myspace here. Just wait you extremist!
Past EPs are available for download on myspace (no vocals).

3) Death Army(Now Death Armada!) is going to reform. It's my band. So just wait. A track called Eradicate Me has already been planned.

Claustrum Burial-Serial Killer

Deathcore bands trying to act as grindcore bands seems to be popping out everywhere. They pop up in my own hometown, the United States, some random Asian country and this one, Claustrum Burial from Brazil. I don’t even know the meaning of the band’s name. I can’t even find the meaning in my dictionary. Enough with the introduction, let’s get to the music.


This EP starts off with a track with the biggest track intro to song ratio I’ve ever seen. Abyssum Invocat, which I believe is in Portuguese, starts off with sounds off bullets being fired off. The actual song only starts at 1:40 and comes in with pig squeals (yes you read that right, annoying pig squeals). Then the song transcends with grindcore edges. Okay, the first track sounds horrible right? Yet I continued listening to next track. What a miracle. The next track comes in with some snare beats and surprisingly, the track turns out to be a grindcore track! Raspy shrieking vocals made me feel as if I’m listening to a totally different band. Pig squeals are you used but not to an annoying extend. Guttural vocals also add up in the vocals direction. The third track, also in Portuguese sounds as if a death metal track done by pros. More raspy vocals and guttural execution, best of all, less pig squeals. No guitar solos but I see hope for them if they go in this formula. The riffs are in galloping format but I don’t see any problem with this. The next 2 tracks follow the same formula as the track Miseria. The track Serial Killer starts off with a speech by George Bush. Most probably the track is mocking him.

To sum all this up, the EP isn’t that bad. Starts off with your typical annoying Deathcore but it transcends to a grindcore EP. The second half sounds as if it’s a completely different band. The production sounds raw, like typical grindcore. I have no problem with that but I know some people who will only listen to whistle clean production. Recommending this to grindcore fans but avoid the annoying 1^st track. I give 65% out of 100 for this EP. Pig Squeals takes a lot of points away from this piece. There is one thing I have to say, there only a few breakdowns here. Hope they go into the grindcore direction.

Restaurant with Metal inspired menu!! \m/

Check this out people! In Chicago,Il, a restaurant by the name of Kuma's Corner created menus based on names of metal bands. How fucking kvlt is that!!!!

Here are some awesome menu samples(including ingredients):

PANTERA BURGER 10oz. burger served with Roasted Pablano Pepper, Bacon, Cheddar Cheese and Monetary Jack Cheese Ranchero Sauce and Tortilla Strips

DARK THRONE Chipotle Peppers, Goat Cheese, Fresh Pico de Gallo

MAYHEM Sliced Jalapenos, Pancetta, Pepper Jack, Gardinera Mayo

NEUROSIS Cheddar, Swiss, Sautéed Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, Horseradish Mayo

How awesome is that??? Extra grim/kvlt points for the Black Metal bands in the list!! Damn necro menu!

Visit here for info:
http://www.kumas-corner.com/food.html

Vortex-Colours Out From The Emptiness

The Japanese are, truly progressive!

Funny I found this band long after this album was released. Here's another old review I wrote for Encyclopaedia Metallum(yeah,I bet you guys are bored of me mentioning that site). Enjoy it! I gave the album full marks. \m/



When you ask a westerner about bands from Asia, you would normally get answers like Sigh, Chthonic, Anthelion, and Infernal Revulsion but you would rarely hear the name Vortex. I’m quite surprised that this band never got fame in the west. Not to mention the lack of reviews on the web. This band, Vortex is one of the craziest jazz death bands I’ve ever heard.


Why do I say this band is crazy? The high technicality of this band of course! The first track, Stigma comes blasting in with furious double pedals but comes in with a cheerful sounding jazz riff, all distorted. The jazz riff then gets overwhelmed by death metal riffing and vocals. A jazzy guitar solo is also thrown in the mix and makes you feel blurry and not sure whether are you listening to metal track or a jazz fusion track. The next track comes in with a punk rock riff. This track has a slight metalcore touch but there are no clean vocals here. The fast paced double pedals are intact. The third track then transcends into a cross of cheerful sounding death metal and again, jazz. The fourth track, “Blind Faith” probably has the craziest stop start drumming of all. Think Decapitated’s Sphere of Madness drumming as the chorus of this track whiles the vocalist growls out “Blind Faith” a couple of times.


As I make my way to the second half of this album. I noticed a track with the title called “My Love”. I wasn’t so optimistic about it and I realized that my “instincts” were wrong. There’s a voice sample here done by a lady by the name of Golnaz Bahmnyal. I don’t know who she is but when she says "The only way to escape from blue isolation is
to close my eyes and imagine me dying..." the whole song transcends into a sad aura. Clean vocals come in courtesy of another person by the name of Timothy Baldwin. I don’t know who he is but the vocal resembles Dream Theatre’s Kevin James. The next 2 tracks are medium paced jazz rock fusion songs topped with metal vocals. The concept here is very interesting in my opinion. Whilst all the other 7 tracks are death metal-jazz fusions, the last track “Quest for the Endless Martyrium” is a pure jazz fusion track. There are no growled vocals but there are clean vocals. Due to his accent, this last track takes time to get used to. Pianos are used too in this track. This track is just like the ending credits of a movie. After watching all the action throughout a movie, a slow track calms the person down as the person walks out of the theatre.


To sum all things up, this album should be listened as a whole. There is an intro, the climax and a happy calm ending. Think listening to this as watching an epic movie. Another thing, the movie may be Japanese but the languages used are in English and doses of German. Think how Jackie Chan had to speak English in his movies. His accent won’t kill you.

Sacrament-Kuching's New Breed Of Death Metal

According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, there are 27 band metal bands by the name of Sacrament. That is kind of obnoxious but the band I'm referring to in this article is from Kuching,Sarawak. The Land Of Headhunters. Born from the ex members of Vormit and Mentally Murdered, this band strikes the hearts of many metal fans throughout Malaysia with their crazy leadworks. The band used to go under the moniker "The End", probably referring to the apocalypse pictured in the book of Revelations. With one demo under their belt, this arsenal of pain is ready to attack the world with their Death Metal!!

Live@Lee Wah Hotel-23/3/2007

A live video recorded by me(More shameless self promotion,idiots!), uploaded by a friend(Vampiregrind isn't me!)

They Found Her In Pieces-2007 Demo

While the boys are busy putting out a good deathcore record for this year, here's an old review I wrote for Encyclopaedia Metallum concerning their debut demo.



This band considers them deathcore, a genre that has been blamed for creating havoc in the metal scene. Honestly, I have no problems with this genre no matter what people say. Before people start flaming this band, I have to say this band is amazing. “They Found Her in Pieces”; claims that they are deathcore but they are what I would call “blackened deathcore.” You might think this is a joke but this isn’t. This free for download demo comes in 4 tracks that are very catchy and easy to listen to.


The first track, Beyond the Wall of Sleep comes in with a drum roll intro and a melodic death/black metal riff comes in. The vocal comes in with a blackened feel. The riff comes in the form of heavy chunky breakdowns used in a good ways. It’s amazing how the vocalist can do both pig squeals and shrieks well and do not sound annoying. The track is extremely catchy and the snare beats are really consistent.

The next track, Kraken comes in a calming form and explodes into a blackened feel and transcends to a heavy breakdown. A voice sample is present in this song which is some sort works as an opening to the breakdown. There are good stop start lead works in this song and at times, stop start snare beats. Again, the versatile vocalist gives us doses of black metal styled vocals and death metal gurgles. The song fades out in the end.


The third track, The Wild Hunt starts off with a stop start riff and death metal vocals. After a tiny shriek, acoustic guitar comes in and interchanges with breakdowns a couple times. A guitar solo comes in and a “mosh part” comes in. This song has Gothenburg moments in some parts. The vocals again, interchange between gurgles and harsh vocals in the vein of Graveworm.


The last and fourth track starts off with an intense Gothenburg melodic death metal sound but gets disrupted with a tiny breakdown. Some good lead works enters to give it a much more melodic edge. Some good sounding tremolos are thrown into the mix. I don’t know why but this track reminds me of Crematory but with hardcore breakdowns. Maybe be it’s because the track is catchy. Impressive lead works but the breakdown towards the end really kills it.

To sum up, this band plays an interesting branch of deathcore. The breakdowns are not as dull as what you might compare to other hardcore bands. During breakdowns, lead works always save the song. Not to mention the band’s versatile vocalist. If you are curious how this band manages to combine blackened vocals into deathcore, just get it. It’s not brutal but catchy and fun. Well, metal is meant to be fun right?

Visit their myspace!!

EmptyS-Destroyed Holy Shrine(2008 Demo)

It’s rare to find good demos from areas like South East Asia and this demo is actually a good example of melodic black metal. Not actually 100% black metal but a mix of black and death. Something what a band like Hecate Enthroned would play. “Destroyed Holy Shrine” is one demo with a lack of hype which should have a huge hype.


The demo starts off with a fast paced song. The vocals spewed up are similar to Dimmu Borgir’s Shargrath. However compared to Shargrath, the vocals are almost undecipherable. This is probably due to the vocalist’s thick accent. What I don’t like about the first track, “Desember Maha Sadis” is that it starts ends suddenly. No outro or flow into the next track. The second track starts off with keyboards and a few strums and no drums, giving it an eerie feel. The speed of track changes dramatically when the drum comes in but the eerie feel is maintained. This track is much more melodic compared to the first track. The third track which is the title track is served with a slice of thrashy guitars and soon turned to a blackened feel. The tremolos in this track are well done and an amazing work of furious drumming is shown here with the help of double pedals. Lots of cymbal attacks are used in this title track compared to first 2 tracks. This track then falls into silence.


The fourth track, “Amarah” comes rampaging with an amazing bass line. Not so complex but easy to listen. The guitars are in typical black metal tremolo style. Despite the catchy bass line, it gets quite dull as the same bass line keeps repeating itself throughout the whole song. The fifth track, The Crushed Wisdom comes in with a blackened thrash sound. The song is very straight forward. No verses, no chorus just unbridled mayhem. The last track come starts off with a minute long orchestral piece with voice samples of a lady screaming in fear. The vocals in this song is the clearest so far but still harsh. I still can’t make out the vocalist is saying but at least I can hear the vocals instead of being overwhelmed by the instruments. The guitars in this song are very melodic and very catchy. Honestly, this is the best track in this demo.


As a conclusion, this demo gives a good first impression. As a fan of Hecate Enthroned, I recommend this to other Hecate Enthroned fan. The use of keyboards does not overpower other instruments in this demo. Be warned that there are no guitar solos here. The production is not so good but this is a demo and not an album so that could be forgiven. Horns up for these Indonesians.

Visit their website!! Unleash the evil in Indonesia!! http://www.myspace.com/emptys

Here's a video of them playing live!
Live @ Gresick Metal Fest

Death Army-Die Inferno(For download!)

Okay, this is a free download from my old raw black/death metal band, Death Army. We no longer exist but this raw and dirty demo still lurks. Download it now!!!

People without shame,click here!

Enjoy that raw stuff. Don't say i didn't warn you! Die Inferno!

Vormit-Life Is Your Enemy(2008)

Vormit (or Vomit if you insist), is a death/grind band from my hometown. This is their first album but the band is no rookie. The band has earned places in huge concerts like the annual “Rock the World” concert where they played to a crowd of 10,000.



Enough with the introduction, let’s get into their music. The first track, Universal Struggle starts off with an ambient intro but it gets torn apart with a grindcore entrance all stirred in a stew of death metal vocals and very audible bass. There’s guitar solo during a breakdown in this song with a couple of bends but no crazy shredding. However, after the breakdown/guitar solo part the riffs starts to become strikingly similar to Napalm Death’s Silence Is Deafening.



The second track (Reaching and Reclaimed Part 2) contains a lot of hammer-on. It starts of with a bass intro and reminds me of Napalm Death’s Greed Killing. Reminding me in good way it is. Again a solo is present here. There’s a little bit of shredding here and it could easily fit into a power metal song. The next track has a “sad” sounding aura to it. However the bluesy guitar solo gives a lot of power into it. The fourth track, Ill-Resolved is a 50 second track with interchangeable vocals of not-so-high throat shredding and death metal growls.



Throughout the album, their grindcore side is quite dominant. The lack of guitar solos in the latter half makes the album fall to a much grindcore side over death metal. However, don’t get me wrong, the whole album has a death metal structure instead of micro songs. The sound quality may not be the best but it still stands in the audible zone. I really recommend this album to the fans of Napalm Death and due to this band’s “moshcore” sound at some moments I recommend this to fans of Hatebreed who wants to get into grindcore.

Recommended tracks: Obliteration to Suppression

80/100

Incisor-2008 Demo

Incisor, a name you probably have never heard of before. That’s because the band’s very new. I went to school with 2 of the members of this band so I try not to be biased in this review but this demo is actually quite good. Cut with the introduction, let’s talk about the music.


The demo starts of a minute long intro. The intro is just some weird noises the vocalist does to mimic the sound of shaman doing a ritual. I can’t decipher what the vocalist is saying. Then the whole shaman thing gets torn apart with a furious blast of death metal. The riff sounds very catchy and drums start of a mid paced snare beats only to be torn apart with furious beats later on. Despite how great the statement above sounds the vocals seemed to be louder than the instruments. The vocals are not horrible but the vocal track being louder just annoys me quite a bit.


The next track, Chamber of Death starts of a snare drum intro. Nothing fancy, just a few hits. The song then explodes into a heavy and fast paced beat with a sweet bass line. This song is quite grindcore influenced. Be warned that there is no double pedaling here despite the brutal death sound this band is aiming for.


The last track which happens to be the longest track is probably the best track in the song. The song starts off with a few strums and minor beats. Suddenly a thrash metal riff comes in with simple fast paced snare and pedal beat. This track is very catchy and the least brutal track of all. Probably the exact track that you can use to convert your thrash/grindcore fanatic friends to get into death metal. There are some screams instead of growls in this song. Towards the end there is a melodic death part but not in a Gothenburg sense. The melodic death part has a simple punk rock drum beat only to be torn apart in a fast paced tremolo by the guitarist.


To sum it up, the whole demo is quite good for a first timer. There is much to improve. There are no guitar solos in this demo and that cost them a lot points in this review. The bass lines are not so impressive but this is their effort so I forgive them. Enjoyable but not the best demo out there.

Visit their myspace here!! http://www.myspace.com/incisorfordeath

75/100

Soul Embraced-Dead Alive(2008)

First post!!

Here's a review I wrote for Soul Embraced's Dead Alive.

Out of 100%, I'm giving it a 70%(That's a generous mark!)

I embraced this with my soul!!!


Crush all evil! Satan falls onto his knees as he bows onto Jesus! Yes, metalcore and Christianity seemed to be a match made in heaven (Doing that for the laughs). Soul Embraced truly is a Christian Metalcore band that stands out amongst their genre mates. Why do I say that? It’s because compared to many other Christian and metalcore this one is pure gold. Yet this album still does not surpass the standards of classic metal albums because of some bits of failure in the music. At least it’s not so bad.


How would I describe this band’s music? It’s different from most Metalcore bands out there. The music seems to a mixture of all kinds of genre. Think nu metal band Soulfly esque music, only with more talent but with black metal-ish vocals and topped up with good old Swedish metal. Yeah, you read that right, Soulfly esque music. I’m saying that because there are some stop start riffs mashed up with Swedish metal. Did I mention the Southern rock influences? Okay, they’re tiny but they do give nice bluesy touches during the solos.


The drums are pretty mallcore influenced which pretty much minuses a lot marks in this review. However, there is some good drumming when the double pedals kicks in. There are some bas attempts to sound scary (or maybe to sound sad, which still fails) when acoustic guitars and organs collide in the track “In Memory”. While most of the tracks do not have clean singing but the track Crawl, clean singing makes an appearance. Yes, you read that right. Clean vocals. The vocals sort of resembles Breaking Benjamin’s vocalist and I can’t believe I enjoyed it. This is probably because the vocal suits the atmosphere of the song.


As a conclusion, this album is a combination of the best elements of a dying genre (mallcore and metalcore) and succeeded in combining the idea of solos into their music. This whole thing makes them stand out of other metalcore bands. However, I do not recommend this to an elitist but to a metalhead would like to forgive the wrongdoings of metalcore; nice chunks of bluesy solos are waiting for you. Should I close this with a prayer?