Cut Up – Forensic Nightmares

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Steve Tovey

“Not another Swedish death metal band!” I hear you cry. Surely a scene stuffed to the gills with those who worship at the putrid altars of Dismember and Entombed doesn’t need another body to distract attention and replicate clichés? Well you’d be dead wrong of course. Newbies Cut Up have actually been round the block several times, via the local graveyard and abattoir of course, in their previous incarnation as gore merchants Vomitory, who made a lot of noise in their lengthy career but won few hearts and minds. Do these seasoned veterans still have the bit between their teeth?

The answer is a resounding yes. Cut Up doesn’t so much have the bit between their gnashers as the leg of a freshly slain corpse. Debut album Forensic Nightmares (Metal Blade) is a full-blooded beast of a death metal album that while resolutely old-school in its approach, is possessed of its own, fierce identity and not interested in merely copying the greats of the genre.

No, Cut Up wants to brutally violate your eardrums with a barrage of lethal riffs, thick, serpentine grooves and some truly nasty guttural vocals. Every track served up here is cooked to bloody perfection, from the sickening gut-punch of brief opening tracks ‘Enter Hell’ and ‘Burial Time’ to the lurching filth of ‘Order of the Chainsaw’ and the raging violence of the title track.

The lyrics may deal with the usual blood n’ guts but what do you expect from a band called Cut Up? However, the real surprise is the thick, meaty production that truly gives each instrument some serious heft with the drums in particular sounding utterly devastating. So if the last Bloodbath album left you cold, check out Cut Up’s brand of shit-hot death metal and marvel at how sometimes shedding your skin and being reborn (in blasphemy, of course) is the best way to go.

8.0/10

JAMES CONWAY

Maryland Deathfest 13 Part II: Various Venues, Baltimore MD

Posted on June 2, 2015 by News Team

Merch tables at MDF 13, by Hillarie Jason Crowd shot at MDF 13, by Hillarie Jason Photography Vallenfyre, by Hillarie Jason Photography

After a quick breakfast at the hotel and going over merch purchased from the previous day, we made our way out to the main venue, The Edison Lot. The Edison Lot is the center of Maryland Deathfest for the second year in a row and I do not see this changing any time soon. The lot is located underneath the freeway in a parking lot of what appeared to be a storage unit facility. On opposite ends of the lot were both stages that alternate back and forth between one stage sound checking and the other stage having a band performing. Right next to both stages were conveniently placed stations to purchase beer, water, and other beverages. On the opposite side of the stages were food vendors, merch vendors, and a corner dedicated to Port-A-Potties. The food vendors, which were arguably on the expensive side, did offer great variety. The best food vendor was a toss-up between the taco stand and the BBQ truck. The taco stand had superb pork tacos with a slew of dressings on it (one of which was “pure evil”). A friend of mine got the goat tacos and those were reportedly amazing as well. The BBQ truck served a slew of different BBQ favorites, but I went with the pulled pork sandwich. On a table next to the truck were a small selection of different sauces. My favorite was the spiciest selection, “Fuck” Sauce. I feel the sauce earned this name for a multitude of reasons, all having to do with people saying “Fuck” after consuming this hellish sauce. As for the merch vendors, I felt as if I had died and gone to metal heaven. Literally an alley of tents was before me. Each tent contained various shirts, patches, hats, scarves, pins, vinyl, and so on and so forth. In fact, there was even a vendor that was selling, um, “glassware”. After raiding the alley and filling my messenger bag with merch, it was time to really turn my attention to some of the bands that were playing.

Aura Noir, by Hillarie Jason Photography

At this point, I had just enough time to get a great spot for Vallenfyre who were just coming off of the Decibel Magazine tour. Turnout for them was great which I was happy to see. Right after them, my group all ventured over to the Baltimore Soundstage to catch F.I.D. (Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation). The Japanese grindcore band ripped apart the Soundstage and had quite the turnout for mid-day. Right after this, I opted to return to Edison for the remained of the evening. Aura Noir, Suffocation, and Obituary all put on great sets with great pops from all in attendance. However, as good as these bands were, everyone at the Edison Lot was waiting for Bloodbath to make their US début. The Swedish super group delivered an amazing set ranging across their whole discography. Obviously the encore set opener, ‘Eaten’, got the biggest pop of the night. The walk back to the hotel felt almost victorious knowing I had just seen the only US appearance Bloodbath has ever made. After a quick switch of rooms at the hotel due to the lock mechanism in the door breaking, it was off to bed to rest up for another crazy day!

Lock Up, by Hillarie Jason Photography

Napalm Death, by Hillarie Jason Photography Suffocation, by Hillarie Jason Photography Bloodbath, by Hillarie Jason Photography

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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN

PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON PHOTOGRAPHY

Paradise Lost – The Plague Within

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Steve Tovey

The older you get, the more you realise that not only is “growing up” more complicated than you think, it sometimes looks like going back. In the mid-late 90s, bands were tripping over themselves to grow out of Metal – dropping the growled vocals, softening the sound and heading in a more self-consciously “mature” direction. Everything that lives, however, changes (apart from Lemmy), and the road ahead sometimes leads backwards.

When Nick Holmes announced last year that he was joining no-frills old school Death Metal revivalists Bloodbath it seemed to some people to have genuinely come out of nowhere, but the signs had been there if you knew where to look. My Dying Bride were very much ahead of the curve, reintroducing their Death Metal elements mere years after ditching them, but the others were catching up slowly – The King Is Blind, Vallenfyre (featuring PL’s own Gregor Mackintosh) and Bloodbath themselves all being formed by “mature” former Death/Doom Metal musicians. By the time that Paradise Lost – who had been steadily moving back to their heavier roots for the last several albums – announced that Holmes would be growling again on The Plague Within (Century Media), it can only have come as a surprise to people who’d stopped paying attention years ago.

That said, it’s important to start by understanding what The Plague Within is, and more importantly what it isn’t. Even in their demo days, Paradise Lost weren’t Morbid Angel, and this album should be best understood as a partial return to their roots. Ignoring the vocals for a second, the sound here is slick and melodic, the focus very much on big riffs and catchy choruses that most call to mind their Icon or Draconian Times (Music For Nations) periods. Songs explore the slower and faster ends of the mid-pace, but never really indulge in either. “Groovy” is a word that isn’t frequently used to describe Paradise Lost – and it certainly doesn’t fit every track on The Plague Within – but there are moments here where they almost attain mid-period Cathedral levels of swing.

Which is not to suggest that the rumours of their return have been overstated, just that they need to be put in context. The guitars are thicker and heavier than they’ve been in a very long time, and that adds a pleasing weight to even the catchiest of tracks. It’s not all catchy grooves, either – ‘Beneath Broken Earth’ captures the sort of forlorn True Doom grief-pride you’re more likely to associate with Warning or Solstice, and ‘Flesh From Bone’ has a genuine old-school Death Metal rumble that I genuinely never thought I’d hear from Paradise Lost again.

The vocals are the most instant point of focus, and they’re largely well done, shifting between mournful clean singing and the audible dry growl Holmes used so well on the recent Bloodbath.

It goes without saying, of course, that it’s not perfect. They’ve chosen to open proceedings with two of the weaker tracks, leaving the stronger ones to the end where the long running time means they’ve lost some of their impact. The vocals don’t always work – some of the clean singing sounds a little flat, and when Holmes isn’t pushing the full-on growl he sometimes settles for an awkward gruff-singing compromise that sits a little awkwardly. ‘Cry Out’ pushes the groovy-fun-party-Doom thing a little too hard and ends up sitting a little awkwardly on the album. Ultimately, however, The Plague Within is the kind of album that will stand or fall on the quality of the song-writing, and though it’s a bit of a mixed bag, overall they’ve done what they need to make it work.

Not a descent into the darkest bowels of harrowing Death-Doom, then, but expecting it to be would be rather silly. What The Plague Within offers is a sincere, heartfelt amalgam of older influences and current songwriting from a band who have always had the courage to follow their own muse where it leads them, even if it seems to lead them back.

7.5/10

Paradise Lost on Facebook

RICHIE HR

Neurotic Deathfest 12 Part II: Live at 013, Tilburg NL

Posted on April 28, 2015 by News Team

Sunday also started out very slowly, people were slow, I was slow, my friends were slow. This was hangover day and we were finding remedies for them. After trying milk, coffee and a good breakfast we were feeling more OK. And then we went up to see Internal Suffering. But once again we notice, this band was a victim of the bad sound. I hope this gets better when the 013 had its renovation. We left soon and spent more time waking up. It was hard to get on track this day and you noticed that the news that this was the last neurotic deathfest slightly put some sadness over some people. Imagine the old-school rockers that have been there all 12 editions. That must be a big loss for them. I have only been there four, and I even felt like I lost something.

All good things come to an end and we are going to listen to the last sounds of battering drums, shreiking guitars and grunts that almost make you sick in your stomach. The last few breaths of utter pain.

We went up to the smallest stage which is going to disappear after the renovation for the last time for Neuroma. These happy British guys know how to add in a good dose of humor. I still need to meet the singer’s grandma, he promised that from the stage. There we stood for a nice piece of brutal death, and we got a little bit of a comedy show too. This made this show even more enjoyable. The music was good! I think without the cunningness of their singer I wouldn’t have enjoyed them this much. It does count if you ask me.

Crowdsurfer at Neurotic Deathfest, by Susanne A. Maathuis

So been there, done that, got a t-shirt. We were really looking forward to seeing Immolation. But that still took a while and because it was such good weather we decided to go away from the festival and search out a nice little terrace. Just 30 meters from the 013 there is a long street with only bars and clubs. People who have been to NDF or Roadburn before must know about this street. In the south of The Netherlands we are used to quite a burgondic life and with that nice food and nice beers and wines go along with it. We don’t deal with shit. That is why you seldom see Heineken in this area. We are keen to Belgian beers and definitely Belgian special beers. Speaking about special beers, on the end of the street where you almost enter the city center you have a café called the “buitenbeentje”, which simply means “outsider”. This is a café with the cheapest beer in whole of Tilburg, and they also have a great variety of special beers and whiskeys. And you can go cheap, or even expensive if you feel like it.

Immolation, by Susanne A. Maathuis

We went back and head for Immolation, this time they were only with 3 members. One guitarist had a family emergency back home and stayed home. It was a little bit empty when Robert Vigna started playing his virtuous solo’s. He is always so much fun to watch, it always looks like he is having a party on his own on the stage with his happy face: “look mom! I make death metal”. I love it. Immolation did show that even when a member short, they can still put up some good old death metal! It was tight, but it sounded different. But that is more than logical if you ask me.

And then we got Obituary. This actually was the first time I’ve seen this band, so I was pretty excited about what to come. These guys are legendary and one of the founders of this genre. I somehow needed to see this band and I don’t get why I haven’t done that before.

Obituary, by Susanne. A. Maathuis

Obituary started to play and it immediately turned into a big pit of epileptic people in the front. It was notable that there were a lot of die-hard fans in the audience. They came with a sound that was unbreakable and the best sound I have heard on Neurotic up untill now! I enjoyed this. One song also got dedicated to the recently passed local “Fozz Bear” which gave me and a lot more Tilburgians quite some goosebumps. Obituary performed a great show with a lot of passion. And for that we thank them.

But now the unthinkable, Neurotic Deathfest was to an end, forever. The screens showed a huge “Thank you for 12 years of Death Metal” and all the posters of past editions. From the editions in the Baroeg in Rotterdam, to the Dynamo in Eindhoven, and the last years in the 013 in Tilburg.

Thank you Neurotic Deathfest for 4 years of death metal.

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WORDS BY KAAT VAN DOREMALEN

PHOTOS BY SUSANNE A. MAATHUIS

Neurotic Deathfest 12 Part I: Live at 013, Tilburg NL

Posted on April 27, 2015 by News Team

It was that time of the year! It was time for the annual festival full of Death, Grind and Slam metal. It was time for Neurotic Deathfest again. We were blessed with another year with extremely good weather and after drinking some beers at a local bar we strutted to the 013 venue. We are going to talk about the atmosphere, why do I always want to go to Neurotic Deathfest so bad, and I will highlight some bands.

The reason I love to go to Neurotic Deathfest is at first my love of death metal off course, but what also counts is that the 013 is comfortable. I live in the city of Tilburg, which means that I can sleep in my own bed and my whole group of buddys is headbanging or somewhere else in the city.

But this year was different. This year it was clear the atmosphere was different, ther was a cloud of astonishment hanging in the air. There was something going on, we were soon to find out. We hadn’t gone up to get a festival program, but when we did, we knew what was going on. This will be the last Neurotic Deathfest ever!

Farewell message from the Neurotic Deathfest Program

After hearing this news it kind of hit me like a bomb, Neurotic Deathfest was a statement for the city of Tilburg. Even Non-metalheads knew what was going on when this festival was in town again.

Dutch bands always represent on this festival and Koprse was one of them, the first pit is a fact and this venue was filled up. This was blasting to the max! We still had to warm up but we were ready for a party and Korpse made you feel like you wanted to party. So you got back from the venue with five extra beers in your stomach to go on to the next show.

Morgoth, by Susanne A. Maathuis

Morgoth was a band that had high expectations for us. The big venue was still a bit quiet. It was not crowded enough to get the party going and get the feeling of a crowded place. Morgoth started to play and we noticed that this is a band that means serious shit. Nice piece of death metal with a tight hard and a sound that filled up the whole place with a nagging feeling. This band made me think of Asphyx for a bit, not for all of the music but more about the kick this band gives in your nuts.

Entombed A.D., by Susanne A. Maathuis

Strutting around the venues there was a swirling mass of people, it got more crowded The more we got to the headliner Entombed A.D. the more people got excited.

Entombed A.D. for me the least interesting headliner. So I might have drifted away sometimes in the show. Though this band was dominant over the rest of the bands, they never stood on Neurotic Deathfest before but they rip this place apart. Front man LG Petrov shows that he enjoys doing this and isn’t afraid to show this to the audience. A golden shine rises from the stage and gets thrown upon the audience, they get wild. Entombed is a band from the first hour and the A.D. does add something to the name, but the music still stands tall. Good job guys, they definitely got me more interested into Entombed.

The Afterparty was headlined by the also Swedish band Tribulation. Tribulation and Entombed don’t have much in common though, but both bands do know how to show the audience some enthusiasm about their music.

Saturday

Day 2 started way more crowded than the Friday. We all had the idea that Friday was very low on visitors. We were still having fun but it did something with the overall atmosphere, the 013 is more built for crowded concerts but not that much for a calm party. Maybe it was time for the last edition, the line up was interesting though even I have seen most of these bands before. If you wanted to explore new bands, you had some chances but most of the bands everybody has seen multiple times. It were good bands, you wont hear me complain about that.

Talking about good bands, let’s start about Disavowed, there is no better wake up call than Disavowed. This dutch band is a band we have to keep in mind, it was amazing and this front man Robbe Kok really shows what enthusiasm is. You could see he was happy to open the Saturday of Neurotic Deathfest for bands as Benighted and Bloodbath. With a swing he drops himself in the audience and climbs in the barriers. This is energetic and a bulk of energy a lot of bands could learn from. This band does not fly on autopilot.

Disavowed almost had a full venue and they opened on the main stage, this was in great contrast with the Friday where the main stage wasn’t filled up until Entombed. This was good for the overall atmosphere and coziness amongst all metalheads. There was enough beer to give a 3rd world country and food your bowels got mad about. Today you knew you were at a festival.

Friday I spoke about looking for new bands, and this was one of the perfect examples of one of these bands that I didn’t know and got completely siked about! PerfeCitizen is the loudest, hardest most brutal stuff I heard in years! This got in my ears that it was pure sweet ear-rapement. Already after hitting the first chord, if it even was one this band shows its hardness, but also their tightness and know how to play. This is one of the bands where the drummer will make it or break it, but he definitely made it. You don’t hear it often that you hear a drummer go this fast and tight like him. Jarda Haž shows what drumming is all about and it gets clear why this is called “Blastcore”. Missed this band? To bad, for me they were one of the best bands of Neurotic Deathfest.

Dead Congregation, by Susanne A. Maathuis

One of my favorite genres is Deathdoom. Imagine a candle dripping slowly and oozing all over your table and drips on your toe to sometimes break open the gloomy feeling that came over you. One of these bands that perfectly know how to do this is Dead Congregation, it was time to throw some good old darkness into the audience. If it wasn’t for the soundguy, this band normally knows how to bring this feeling and make you feel naggy. This was just a shame, they became a victim of their own sound and this is why it didn’t really got to me this time.

Origin, by Susanne A. Maathuis

As we already discussed there is a big amount of old friends we have seen on Neurotic already. Origin is one of these bands. And I understand why they ask them back all the time. This is just an awesome tight Techdeath band brought with a great bunch of humor from the singer. Straight from Origin we started waiting for Bloodbath, we wanted a good spot we were siked for this show. There were a lot of chatter going on: is this a new singer for Bloodbath? Is this going to work? Doesn’t it affect the sound? How will this affect the audience because this Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) is a completely different kind of person than Mikael Akerfeldt.

Bloodbath, by Susanne A. Maathuis

We were waiting for what was going to come at us. The venue filled up. We had our beers already paid in front of our nose. You could hear the tension in the air. Bloodbath, not on an open-air festival and in such a setting. Then the venue went dark and we knew Bloodbath was gong to enter the stage and we would soon hear the first chords. This band is theatrical and sometimes maybe a bit plastic. It started as a tribute to old school Death Metal. The vocals were good. Actually very good! They went back to a more old-school sound. Though I am a big fan of Opeth and Mikael, and it is hard to admit for me, but I think I like Nick Holmes more in Bloodbath.

WORDS BY KAAT VAN DOREMALEN

PHOTOS BY SUSANNE A. MAATHUIS

Inferno Festival Part II – Various Venues, Oslo NO

Posted on April 27, 2015 by News Team

Oh no, there weren’t just two days of metal mayhem to be had this year at Inferno festival. The first two days were only half of this very professional and modern gathering of global metal fans. What follows is a brief summary of some of what took place during the two last days of the festival, what took place on stage, mind you.

My Dying Bride. by Kenneth Sporsheim

Friday

At the Quart festival in 2004 you could witness Enslaved open up for My Dying Bride during a slight drizzle, and with a gentle and warm summer breeze ushering in the salty smell of the sea right next to Odderøya outside Kristiansand. The very same year you could also catch My Dying Bride for the very first time gracing the Inferno mainstage. Fast forward to 2015, and it’s My Dying Bride opening for Enslaved, and this time at Inferno. It feels somewhat full circle-ish. This time, as in 2004, the Brits performed with a somewhat minimal stage show, for the most part letting the music speak for itself. The difference this time around was in the very setlist the band performed . It was comprised mainly of vintage material, and there was even room for an entirety of three songs off of ‘Turn Loose The Swans’: ‘The Songless Bird’, ‘Your River’, and the very title track. In addition they played two classics long out of their setlist, ‘The Thrash Of Naked Limbs’, and ‘The Cry Of Mankind’, which I’m sure many of us remember from the heavy rotation it had on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball back in the day. The biggest surprise, speaking of old school material, was probably that they for the first time ever performed ‘God Is Alone’ from their first EP, Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium. ‘When can My Dying Bride be seen again?’ is the question that arose in the wake of this year’s performance at Inferno. The sound was good, Calvin Robertshaw from the original lineup was back on guitar, and although Dan Mullins doesn’t play the china-fills in ‘She Is The Dark’ as recorded by Shaun Taylor-Steels, they still please a dedicated fan. I wonder who I’m speaking of, right? [You’re a dork, lay off the china symbols]

Enslaved, by Kenneth Sporsheim

At present there’s hardly a safer hand to play than the one with Enslaved in it. They just recently released a solid new album, they are really tight live, they have a long and well-crafted back catalogue to pick songs from, and they have so much stage experience by now that their performances are usually somewhat seamlessly executed. But I guess that isn’t the biggest news for those of you that have already caught them live on. Still, then you know just how enjoyable it is to be swept away by the norse quintet. The first part of their set was devoted to more recent material, including two songs from the fresh offering In Times (Nuclear Blast). Further into the set we were served nicety nice from most of their career. I mean, they have some thirteen albums under their belts, so an inclusion of material from all of them was a certain impossibility. But no need to complain when one gets ‘Convoys To Nothingness’, ‘Fenris’, and ‘As Fire Swept Clean The Earth’ flawlessly executed. Arve “Ice Dale” Isdahl was as usual shirtless and doing his entire repertoire of guitar hero poses. Ivar Bjørnson assumed his usual stoic stance, all covered by hair, resembling a mixture of his very own Family Guy tattoo and Cousin Itt from The Addams Family. center stage Grutle Kjellson took on full command, also as usual, being almost more at home on stage than anywhere else. The audience seemed more than happy with the state of affairs, and the atmosphere didn’t exactly die down as ‘ISA’ was played as the final song of the night. I’m assuming there were more people than just me who had their fingers crossed for more of the same, yet sadly to no avail.

Saturday

Kampfar, by Kenneth Sporsheim

The last day of the festival showcased a lot of promising acts, although it was all taken to a new level by Kampfar. From the very start of their show, kicking off with ‘Mylder’, there was no doubt of who was in command, as vocalist Dolk, encircled by pyrotechnics on the stage, went into a proper ‘Helvete!’ (translates: hell). If the band completely laid Karmøygeddon 2014 into ruins, this was somewhat raising a phoenix from those ashes, proving even further that Kampfar are a live force to be reckoned with. One could almost feel the after-party from the night before seep out through every pore of the body in the mixture of heat from the flames on stage and musical rapture. Seeing the band in Bergen already later this fall, during Blekkmetal (ten Norwegian bands from the 90’s, and a bunch of tattoo artists celebrating the black metal scene of yore), will surely be something to look forward to.

Up next was Dødheimsgard, and we were not sure what to anticipate from these avantgarde freaks of the black metal scene. Honestly I had never seen them do a single good live performance the times I’ve caught them since my first show seeing them, then as an opening act for Dimmu Borgir back in 1999, actually also at the Rockefeller venue. That show stood out as a great disappointment, especially since they at the time had just released what still stands as one of the best and most innovative black metal records, the mighty 666 International, failing to live up to the expectation set by that album. This time around the band took to the stage with an even more avantgarde, eclectic and chaotic puzzle fresh in their belts, the newly released opus dubbed A Umbra Omega. Did they manage to pull it off? The answer to that is nothing less than a roaring yes, and then some! The returned presence of vocalist Aldrahn together with the somewhat recent addition of drum virtuoso Sekaran, seems to have improved upon the band’s abilities in a live setting. With maestro and primus motor Vicotnik at the helm, the band churned out beautifully executed versions of ‘The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of’, ‘Ion Storm’ from the aforementioned 666 International, and a grand finale in the shape of ‘Traces Of Reality’. For the first time ever Dødheimsgard proved as good on stage as on album. “Touch the devilish one!” does indeed seem fitting, touched by the devilish ones, so to speak.

Bloodbath, by Kenneth Sporsheim

The highlight of the festival was surely the last band on the mainstage though, the mighty Bloodbath. An all-star band comprised of members from Katatonia, Opeth, and Paradise Lost, but a band that shares very little in common with them in musical expression. It was also Bloodbath’s very first time in Norway, and the very first time showcasing Nick Holmes as their vocalist. Old Nick, as they call him, has been facing up to a lot of criticism from fans for not being on par with the previous vocalists, Mike Åkerfeldt (Opeth) and Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Pain). Surely the critics have not been actively listening to Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville), an album honing old school death metal supreme. His deep growls are perfect for that particular kind of doomy old school death metal, and if one complains about how he sounds on the old songs from the band’s discography: well, what the fuck do you really expect? He’s a different vocalist. He did actually address this himself from the stage, asking the audience if there were anyone out there willing to complain now? That would have to be a really narrow-minded fan in the back, because the band were ripping everyone there a new one, delivering intense versions of classics like ‘Breeding Death’, ‘Cry My Name’, and the internet phenomenon ‘Eaten’. Not to mention that they left no head unbanged with their new pummeling masterpieces ‘Unite In Pain’ and ‘Mental Abortion’, the latter containing one of the most addictive guitar riffs of … Well, I guess it was released in 2014, but let’s just pretend it was this year. It sure as hell still kicks ass all over the place anyways, even if it’s sooo 2014.. The only thing close to an elegy that could be sung after witnessing this death metal onslaught, finally, after waiting for the chance to do so since 2000, would surely be: “I would do anything to be … Eaten! My one desire, my only wish is to be … Eaten!”

See you next year Inferno, you did great! A+, and some nice stickers in the marrow.

WORDS PÅL TEIGLAND LYSTRUP

PHOTOS BY KENNETH BALUBA SPORSHEIM (METAL HAMMER NORWAY)

Audio: Entrails – Midnight Coffin

Posted on April 22, 2015 by newsteam

Swedish death metallers Entrails (Birdflesh, General Surgery) is streaming “Midnight Coffin” off of their new album Obliteration, out May 19, 2015 via Metal Blade Records here.

The album was tracked by Jimmy Lundqvist at Bloodshed Studios and mixed and mastered by Dan Swanö (Edge Of Sanity, Bloodbath, Aeon, Hail Of Bullets etc.) at Unisound.

Inferno Festival Part I – Various Venues, Oslo NO

Posted on April 22, 2015 by News Team

Established back in 2001 as a one-off event, Inferno festival has since proven itself to attract extreme metal fans from all over the globe on an annual basis. 2015 marked their 15th anniversary, and as you’ll read, they really pulled off an exemplary festival this year. Maybe even one that ran more smoothly than in the early years that I attended, which now counts something like 8. Ghost Cult was also fortunate to have Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim of Metal Hammer Norway on hand to shoot the festivals many acts for us.

The first day of the four-day long festival has in recent years become a sort of label showcase. Spread out between various small club venues, the festival crowd gets a chance to taste a varied selection of different sub-genres and labels. Dark Essence records had four bands playing at Blå, Indie Recordings had three of their own at John Dee, Nidrosian black metal label Terratur Possession showcased three of their Icelandic signings at Pokalen, and so on.

We chose to start the evening checking out the latter trinity. Except for Svartidaudi claiming some attention with their Deathspell Omega-esque black metal, it was all more of a “The emperor’s new clothes” affair. Then again, it takes something special to draw attention to black metal after so many years of it. The emulators simply don’t manage to engage musically, and thus don’t really entertain on a level beyond being a backdrop for socializing and picking up with friends from near and afar.

Taake is something else completely. They demand your and everyone else’s attention.

Although the first songs of their set were spent queuing up outside of Blå, the band completely grabbed my attention when I was finally inside the venue. All of the classics were effortlessly and seamlessly offered to the audience who were packed in the club tight like sardines. ‘Umenneske’, ‘Hordalands Doedskvad 1’, ‘Nordbundet’, ‘Fra Vadested Til Vaandesmed’ … were all part of the performance, and as usual topped by frontman Hoest’s extraordinary stage presence and dark charisma. If you’re able to catch them on their first ever tour of the US this coming June, you’re surely in for a treat.

Execration, by Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim

Thursday ushered in the first day of postponing hangovers. That didn’t keep me from catching Execration, the first band out on the main stage. Fantastic sound production made this 2015 Norwegian Grammy-winning death metal band stand out as one of the festivals better performances. It was actually pretty impressive just how good they sounded and how tight they were playing. Not to mention that those old school death metal riffs beckon for headbanging extravaganza.

Septicflesh, by Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim

After catching the grand and somewhat pompous entity of Septicflesh pleasing all their fans with a stellar performance at the mainstage, the course was set for a smaller neighbouring venue where Virus and Vulture Industries were doing a special performance. The venue, Kulturhuset, was a hipster-ish meeting place more akin to something out of Brooklyn. Then again, Virus is probably one of those bands that could be embraced by connoisseur and hipsters alike. Their avant-garde and eclectic musical output is difficult to pigeonhole, but it builds on what the members once started with Ved Buens Ende in the outer spheres of the 90’s black metal scene. An intimate venue suited the band perfectly, but there wasn’t really a proper stage show put on until Vulture Industries were on. Then it all turned full-on theatrical, as they had collaborated with Romanian artist Costin Chioreanu, and the stage was somewhat turned into a scene from their ‘Lost Among Liars’ video. The band managed the feat of making the audience somewhat a part of an interactive experience too, with frontman Bjørnar at some point during the show running around in the room with lots of people in a line behind him. Although it was hard catching a glimpse of their drummer from where we were situated in the room, a mention of Vulture Industries’s skin thrasher seems relevant and in its place. He has become a solid and skilled backbone of the band.

1349, by Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim

Back at Rockefeller the stage was set for supersonic black metal in the shape of 1349. They played a set with all the classics, and the pyrotechnics were amazing. Although probably a bit more than planned for, since guesting guitarist Destructhor’s (Myrkskog/Morbid Angel) gear almost was lit aflame by all the explosions and flames.

Behemoth, by Kenneth Baluba Sporsheim

To finish off the night: Behemoth. And Behemoth is surely a fitting name for the Polish ensemble. As much as their show almost seems periodically well choreographed to be an extreme metal show, it works really well. The move with the two lateral Behemoth logos, and some stairs leading up to them, made for the illusion that when bass player Orion and guitarist Seth ascended said stairs they seemed to have wings on their backs. The set was a tour de force of the bands discography with an emphasis on the albums from 1999’s ‘Satanica’ and onwards. They actually included two songs from said ‘Satanica’, in my personal opinion one of their best albums, if not the best. Further, classics like ‘Christians To The Lions’, ‘As Above So Below’, ‘Demigod’, and ‘Slaves Shall Serve’ were all thrown at the lions in the audience. As an encore the band produced nothing less than an epic in the shape of ‘O Father O Satan O Sun!’, triumphantly marking an end to their performance, probably also leaving the crowd hungry for even more from the well-oiled Polish machine that is Behemoth in 2015.

WORDS PÅL TEIGLAND LYSTRUP

PHOTOS BY KENNETH BALUBA SPORSHEIM (METAL HAMMER NORWAY)

FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Neurotic Deathfest

Posted on April 17, 2015 by News Team

The biggest and certainly best indoor death metal extravaganza of the festival season kicks off today as Neurotic Deathfest gets underway at 013 Club in Tilburg, NL. Now in its 12^th year and still going strong, the 2015 NDF will feature 42 bands on three stages in total from all manner of death metal, grindcore and black metal greatness. Ghost Cult’s Dutch team will once again be on hand to bring our fans the review.

Friday has the benefit of a top band of the moment and a legendary name as the main headliners. Tribulation and Entombed A.D. will surely have the heads banging and drinks flowing. Tech death grind champs Devourment, the avant-garde minded Nader Sadek, and the back from the dead Morgoth are other can’t miss acts on Day 1. Soulburn and Sinister are two other choice names among others too.

Saturday reigns over nearly every fest in 2015 for the sheer murderers row of death metal royalty in a row with Obituary, Immolation, Broken Hope and Pyrexia. Whoa! Other good choices to get your brutal fix on for Day 2 include Internal Bleeding, Incinerate, Mass Infection and Bleeding Utopia. Stay hydrated my friends, this day will be a bumpy ride for the moshers!

To close the fest on Day 3 we are presented with a bit of old and a bit of new in the form of Bloodbath, Origin, Benighted, Dead Congregation and Gorod. Other worthy acts on this day also included Ingested, Jig-Al, Kronos, Acranius, and Slaughter to Prevail.

Origin, Morgoth, etc Added To Neurotic Deathfest 2015

Posted on March 29, 2015 by newsteam

Neurotic Deathfest 2015 has added Origin, Morgoth, Centurian and Korpse to this year’s lineup. Europe’s premier indoor extreme metal festival sets place on April 17-19 at 013 venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

All confirmed bands for Neurotic Deathfest 2015:

Bloodbath, Obituary, Entombed A.D., Immolation, Origin, Devourment, Nader Sadek, Broken Hope, Pyrexia, Tribulation, Internal Suffering, Benighted, Internal Bleeding, Morgoth, Dead Congregation, Sinister, Disavowed, Soulburn, Liquid Graveyard, Mass Infection, Gorod, Kronos, Centurian, Ingested, Holocausto Canibal, Jig-Ai, Nominon, Unfathomable Ruination, Acranius, Cardiac Arrest, Incinerate, Regurgitate Life, Hideous Divinity, Contrastic, Perfecitizen, The Walking Dead Orchestra, Near Death Condition, Korpse, Bleeding Utopia, Abhorrent Decimation, Neuroma and Slaughter To Prevail.

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