As the awesomeness of summer sadly threatens to come to an end, I have decided to round up a good chunk of my favorite releases so far in 2015 in order to keep you hunters of all things gnarly caught up on the extremity. It wasn’t a big black metal year for me this year, as you’ll see below I spent a lot of my time getting brutal. Check out the blurbs on each band, listen to the song, buy the albums and support your worldwide scene! The bands will thank you!
A Loathing Requiem
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EngsdTl2ucA[/youtube]
Malcolm Pugh has returned with another mind bending solo offering showcasing his immense prowess in the tech death genre. While you may already be familiar with some of Malcolm’s playing if you’ve jammed tech-deathgrinders Diskreet or the criminally underappreciated Melodeath of Inferi; A Loathing Requiem is another beast altogether and can be sooner likened to Necrophagist. While Muhammed Suiçmez and the next Necrophagist album remain indefinitely frozen in carbonite, A Loathing Requiem is here to scratch the tech itch! Give it a spin and prepare to be dazzled!
More on Bandcamp
Anal Vomit – Peste negra, muerte negra
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL9aTfHvPYE[/youtube]
Peruvian hell masters return with a fine offering of bestial black/death madness to sate even the most voraciously debauched appetite. I was shocked to hear how clean they went with the production here after so much raw output; but it really works. Elitist skeptics, fear not, your Anal Vomit patch still belongs next to filth peddlers like Goat Semen and Black Witchery, but these guys aren’t content to settle for merely creating a violent noisy atmosphere, they also strive to bring you some big riffs that would be at home on an any Ares Kingdom album. Without further delay, press play, adjust your gas mask, and join the battle against a waning Christ!
Purchase here
Blasphemous Entrails Spilled Out in Chainsaw
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCMUdWhh34I[/youtube]
Wait! What’s this? Spilled out IN chainsaw? Haha! I love death metal with broken English, it’s like an added bonus of comic relief to break up the monotony. These dudes are like an Indonesian version of Cephalotripsy but with more of a focus on riffage as opposed to slamming the entire length of the song. Blasphemous are sloppy, underproduced, juvenile and strangely loveable.
Purchase here
Blurring – Blurring
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXCgIj66CU[/youtube]
These guys are totally warped! Feast your ears on ten jagged pieces of blackened and fucked up post-grindcore shrapnel; for weird vagrant bastards, by weird vagrant bastards. The awesomely named Blurring is home to a slew of familiar sleazoids from past greats such as Lethargy, Kalibas, and Brutal Truth, the pedigree of this phenomenal cannot be denied and should have any self-respecting grinder reaching for his/her wallet instinctively. This is the soundtrack to you up all night high on methamphetamines, frantically dismantling and rebuilding a toaster that wasn’t broken in the first place. Get weird!
Purchase here
Cadavoracity – Remnants of Chaotic Apogee
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcSnhdjevgY[/youtube]
In the post-Putridity wake of brutal death, a few bands are beginning to pop up taking many cues from the Italian sickos, and these young murderers are no exception. These Indonesians are absolutely depraved. Dirty, raw, rough, and fast as shit, this won’t be for everyone, I mean shit, it’s downright difficult to understand what the hell the guitars are even doing at times but the brutality meter is solidly planted in the red. You know when it’s under the sign of the Permeated records mark, it’s gonna be crushing to the max.
Purchase it here
Criminology – Capitalist Destroyer
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZLQUBpYVU[/youtube]
Indonesia is without a doubt one of the most overlooked death metal scenes in the world (and surely one of the most brutal). Criminology play a groove infested style of death metal reminiscent of Dying Fetus, Internal Bleeding and Skinless mixed with the more blast-happy stylings of Inveracity or Deeds Of Flesh. There’s a good bit of modern sounding (pro-tooled to the tits) blast passages but the song at the heart of it seems NYDM informed. Like their countless countrymen, Criminology have the snare volume cranked and the high-hat very subdued… I feel like this is a trait very prominent in Indonesian death metal. I don’t know if this is a by-product of being a country who treats Disgorge (CA) like The Beatles or what, I really can’t say. I know not much about this strange and mystical land of death, but I do find it intriguing with its dedication to brutality.
Purchase here
Deathrite – Revelation of Chaos
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7UPHhVBp_U[/youtube]
I know, I know… another HM-2 Entombed-core band you say? Lord help us! It could be said that this is something of an oversaturated sound right now, but these guys really rip it up. Deathrite play old school Swedish style death with a pinch of hardcore esthetic amounting to one ferocious package. If you get high blood pressure from Gatecreeper, Black Breath, and Skinfather or classics like the aforementioned Entombed or Interment, these guys are for you.
Purchase here
Delusional Parasitosis – Ingurgitating Intestinal Rot
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7WlSgvFfuQ[/youtube]
Delusional Parasitosis are an international Brutal Death metal outfit home to members from Michigan and Germany playing a raw style that will surely rip your face off. It’s part Brodequin blasting mayhem, part slamming beatdown, all relentlessness! I found myself laughing out loud a few times upon my initial listen… it’s so brutal that it’s downright shocking at times. Insane drumming talent Alex Mx (also of sickos Abhorrent Castigation and the newly reformed Despondency) puts on a double stroke clinic… this dude has got some ridiculous feet that are both fast and tight. His choice of high pingy snare may be a turn off to some (pussies) but I think it adds a lot to the mayhem. James Shuster (ex- Extremely Rotten, now also of Amputated Genitals) handles the gutturals and does it well, sounding like a human toilet monster on a rampage for blood… kudos for the well done tongue-trilling Predator vocals that spice things up here and there. There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most extreme albums in brutal death history… it’s just filthy! Do it now!
Purchase here
Embodied Torment – Liturgy of Ritual Execution
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYslYtBznwA[/youtube]
Sick ass ping snared brutal death metal from California taking influence from bands like Brodequin and Orchidectomy with a little darker Immolation style dissonance to spice things up. You can’t mention these brutes without giving a nod to their female drummer Cynthia Chaco, who is really the only girl in the brutal death drumming game that I’m aware of.
Purchase here
Encenethrakh – Encenethrakh
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3RqFs1K8W4[/youtube]
These elusive NYC madmen have created the ultimate unmusic, some of the most sanity dissolving brutality this side of lawless Columbia or long-defunct Arizonian’s Enmity I have ever had the masochistic pleasure of hearing. Although they were attempting to remain anonymous and veiled in mystery, it has been revealed that the band features some of New York’s premiere metal musicians in the forms of Mick and Colin (Krallice) and Weasel Walter (ex-7000 Dying Rats , ex-Behold The Arctopus) and fronted ever freakishly by Copremesis and Gath Šmânê madman and P2 records head Paulo Henri Paguntalan, Encenethrakh blasts, croaks and sputters it’s way to the upper echelon of absolute depravity. Raw, natural spazztic drums and endless labyrinthine atonal guitar madness decimate all within earshot… listening to this entire record in one try will literally exhaust you. Don’t say I didn’t warn your virgin ears… You simply cannot handle this.
Purchase here
Entheos – Primal
Here’s something new for you, insane modern technical wizards Entheos! Featuring the drumming talents of (ex-Animals As Leaders/ex-Animosity) protégé Navene Koperweis along with his former Animosity bandmates in Frank Costa (Guitar) and Evan Brewer (Bass, also ex- The Faceless). The playing and overall sound of the EP has a real professional aspect to it; these guys are all seasoned players who have a love for all things progressive and it definitely shows here… it’s glaringly obvious to the listener that they are wise beyond just the ways of metal. This isn’t some Dream Theater shit, these guys (and gal) offer up bruising heaviness and beatdown in spades while playing circles around anyone you’d dare call their peers. Each song is an exercise in monstrous Meshuggah-esque groove, blasting death and fusion inspired progressiveness; all mutated together into multifaceted modern beast. Traces of their former incarnation Animosity are heard in the most aggressive moments of Primal, but this brief EP is just flat out better…. Lightyears beyond its predecessor in terms of songwriting, structure, memorability; it all amounts to one crushing and refreshingly interesting package. Female vocalist Chaney Crabb does her part justice, exercising a lot of control and tenchnique; she’s firmly in the pocket and sounds brutal as fuck. Communicating their constantly contorting style into solid descriptive verbage would prove a difficult to task for any music journalist, just press play above. Get this now and grab ahold of the exciting future of modern metal.
Excoriation – Excoriation
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9yoebrgzYA[/youtube]
AAAAAAGGGGGHHH!!!!!! This album is fucking madness! Recalling the best elements of early Devourment and Brodequin mixed with a Colombian sounding raw savagery in the vein of Carnal or the first Goretrade album, Russia’s Excoriation is the definition of extreme. With a relentless pingy snare, wall of guitar noise and ultra-inhuman vocals that sound like monster from the bottom of a poop swamp, this record will bore a hole right through your skull and send the squeamish br00tal pretenders crying into a corner. Purchase here
Gorelust – We Are The Undead
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LssDTw3ggI[/youtube]
Newly reformed Canadian legends Gorelust are back with a new album to wreck your bedroom to. I would call their style brutal death, but it’s very old school at the same time. While not as excellent as 1995’s criminally overlooked Reign Of Lunacy, We Are The Undead is still a stand up album sure to please any gore hounds out there. Purchase here
Gouge – Beyond Death
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwVyxSOZdU0[/youtube]
These putrid Norwegian purveyors bring raw, buzzsawing, old school death metal straight from the depths of a forgotten, cob web filled grave. Beyond Death has a wild bass-driven energy to it that reminds me of the raucous Verminous (Sweden not Venezuela); with some Autopsy and a bit of blackened thrash thrown in for good measure… not the most innovative stuff here, but it rocks none the less. Speaking of Autopsy, the vocals are very Chris Reifert… pig snouted and slighty crazed, just the way I like it. This is one for the patch-clad vest wearing MDF going conglomerate… true death metal sure to please the elitist ear. I urge you to check out their label Hell’s Headbangers if you aren’t familiar… they are one of the finest pushers of black/death/thrash metal and everything in between for your devilish needs and a staple of Midwestern underground extremity.
Purchase here
Gruesome – Savage Land
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JOz0l-uL4I[/youtube]
How can you not love this album? I sure freakin’ do. Matt Harvey of Exhumed fame shows us what he learned while fronting the Death To All tribute band on their first trek across America… how to ape late Death Metal godfather Chuck Schuldiner’s vocal style and guitar riffing to a hair-raising T! Gruesome is unashamed Death worship of highest order… it’s what Harvey’s other band Exhumed is to Carcass… the most loving and enthusiastic of tributes. They successfully recall the Leprosy and Spiritual Healing era in particular… even the artwork was authentically handled by the legend Ed Repka. Nostalgic and awesome!
Heaving Earth – Denouncing the Holy Throne
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj9gAdAcSBQ[/youtube]
Darkened old school tinged death metal that is part Morbid Angel, part Immolation; all bad-fucking-ass. No bullshit here, these blackened necromancers engage the listener with expert level song craft, meat filled hooks and clever riffing. Heaving Earth is one of Czech death metal’s best kept secrets, and punctuate a kick ass line up over at Lavadome records. Fans of Dead Congregation, Altars, Drawn And Quartered, or Maveth should be all over these fellas.
Buy here
House Of Atreus – The Spear and the Ichor That Follows
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF9Y-x0-o6k[/youtube]
Are you constantly wrought with guilt for liking slave-whipping racists Arghoslent? Here is a band cut from a similar musical cloth that won’t have you wanting to wash your ears out with soap! House of Atreus bring forth an incredibly solid album of earthy melodic death metal that is part latter day Manilla Road and part Armoured Angel and far, far away from anything Gothenburg inspired. The Spear and the Ichor That Follows will lead you galloping into triumph with riffs for days! HoA lyrically deal with Roman and Greek history rather than America’s shameful and sordid past of inequality… we can all sleep more soundly at night thanks to Dark Descent records.
Purchase here
Imperial Triumphant – Abyssal Gods
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyToitx5oew[/youtube]
I’ve heard these guys called America’s own French black metal band, and with that I do concur… Imperial Triumphant (featuring members of death metal weirdos Pyrrhon) are far more original and artful than the bulk of their American peers. Abyssal Gods sees them moving away from total Deathspell Omega worship into a more raw and atonal territory… the music is bizarre, confrontational, and downright scary. Abyssal Gods is literally a mindfuck… the blown out sound and deconstructed riffing will peel the paint right off of your walls. I find myself terrified whilst listening to these guys… they are completely unearthly and unpredictable… it’s as if they could slit your throat at any minute. I have been following these guys for a couple years now and this is by far their most unhinged and dangerous offering. Abyssal Gods is in no way safe and standard Black Metal… smoke some crack and get into it.
Indecent Excision – Aberration
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEy9Nxaej60[/youtube]
What a goddamn freak show this album is! IE summon crushing post- Defeated Sanity brutal death metal that will dizzy you with its technicality and then smash your waiting teeth out. The vocals are an endless barrage of disgustingness… this guy is truly a master of his craft and you won’t make out a freakin’ word of it. This will undoubtedly appeal to fans of bands like Cenotaph, Disentomb, Guttural Secrete, and Cerebral Effusion. Get in there.
Purchase here
Iniquitous Deeds – Incessant Hallucinations
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4DS3hRp2Zc[/youtube]
This is one of my favorite brutal releases of the year. New Standard Elite is my absolute favorite label for brutality and I will buy anything and everything label head Dan Osbourne deems worthy of his attention, no questions asked! What we have here is a face smashing brand of Defeated Sanity informed brutal death… crushing, jazzy at times, guttural as fuck… Incessant Hallucinations will maim you and do it with style. I love the guitar work on this album, there are some really fresh sounding riffs and ideas here… the harmonic raking and all of the tasty little accents are very cool. The production is clean yet natural and upholds New Standard Elites ‘no quantizing, no sound replacement’ policy… this ain’t no shiny sheeny played-by-computers Unique Leader yawnfest, this is exciting, skull splitting brutal death metal in its purest form for 2015. I feel like these guys were slightly overshadowed by the Embodied Torment album that was released at the same time but don’t be fooled, this is the stronger album of the pair.
Purchase here
ISKRA – Ruins
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv8BsLWDI9E[/youtube]
Anarchistic Canadian black metallers deliver the crust covered goods on their new full length LP, the follow up to 2009s blazing blast festival Bureval. They’ve embraced an Immortal influence in some of the riffing on this one and even slowed things down a touch and to powerful effect… it’s not exclusive to Panzer Division era Marduk worship anymore. There is an underlying energy to this band that is certainly punk and hellaciously vitriolic. Ruins also marks a vast improvement in the vocal department… less crust punk and more authentically Black Metal. Check them out and join the fight!
Purchase here
Maggot Colony – Spewing The Violated Souls
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ8HjlWUj70[/youtube]
Here we have a brief EP of modern slick brutal death metal and the second release from Taiwanese deviants Maggot Colony. A nice variety of styles blending here, these guys know when to slam and do it well but that’s not their strongest suit. Maggot Colony’s strengths lie in their incessant groove that recalls fallen masters Vomit Remnants or Vomit The Soul and also their ability to incorporate a well-realized transition that separates them from their many mindless competitors. Driven home by a humongous sounding production, this EP is sure to please, although it’s slightly on the short side. I guess I’ll say that sometimes it’s better to be stuck wanting more than pushing away an overfilled plate. I love the artwork and the logo treatments… very colorful and refreshing… it screams Brutal Death Metal 2015. German label upstarts Rising Nemesis have been delivering the goods lately, I would recommend keeping an eye on them in the near future.
Purchase here
Parasitic Ejaculation – Echoes of Depravity
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvyQRGBvQRc[/youtube]
I love the shit out this album. This is how slamming brutal death should sound if you ask me… it’s well produced and has an irresistibly killer groove. The vocals are guttural as hell and utterly repulsive… I mean that in the best way. This was an early entry in 2015’s slam onslaught, and it’s still getting airtime from me. With a good variety of speed and structure throughout and a healthy pinch of modern technicality, Parasitic Ejaculation easily beat the piss out of most of their peers (who are giving it considerably less thought than they do). Ah, the overpopulated realm of slam. While I find that many of it’s albums tend to drag, this one rocks and stands high above the crowd.
Purchase here
Pedofagia – Torturando la infancia
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vMqVMIzh9M[/youtube]
Sickly monikered and out for pre-pubescent blood, Chileans Pedofagia offer up a crushing brutal death metal foray that has a lot of nods to the old school bands like Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse. The song names and lyrics are all in their native Spanish, but you can easily get the jist of the content (see “Fantasías de decapitación”). It also must be said that Torturando la infancia has the crunchiest guitar tone I’ve heard in a long time and will surely bang your head this year.
Purchase here
More picks on the next page…
