Deicide To Begin Working On New Album

Posted on December 28, 2014 by newsteam

Deicide is working on album number 12 and are expected to spent much of 2015 working on it. Drummer Steve Asheim said:

“We have a tour of Europe scheduled for December… Other than that, we got picked up for another record, so we’re gonna start working on some new stuff, which we’ve got a couple of songs kind of framed out already. So we’re gonna be busy again all through next year — next couple of years, it looks like. [We’re gonna work on] a record and [play] some more shows. It seems like they’re gonna happen, so [I’m] looking forward to all that.”

On Deicide’s longevity:

“It’s good to see that [the metal scene] is still going. It’s weird when you hear kids talk about the band: ‘We listened to you in high school.’ It’s like you hear that for years about how kids are listening to us in high school. So it’s, like, we’ve been an ever-lasting presence in high schools for twenty years now. So, as we become multi-generational, it’s, like, we have 50-year-old fans and then we still have 15-year-old fans that roll up [to see us play]. It’s like the thing that… When I was a kid, [what] BLACK SABBATH was, it’s, like, that’s what we’ve become — not in a selling sense, but in a how-people-think-about-your-band sense. I don’t know… It’s just a wild thing to have happen.”

Blakkheim’s All Time Death Metal Classics

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Steve Tovey

To celebrate the release of Bloodbath‘s excellent new album Grand Morbid Funeral (Peaceville) Anders Nystrom (aka Blakkheim) talked us through his ultimate all time Top 5 Death Metal albums (and couldn’t resist sneaking in a sixth…)

Entombed – Left Hand Path (Earache) “It features the guitar tone pedal called Boss HM-2 and that’s enough said. That pedal represents the ultimate guitar tone in the world so if you want to discover where that came from then this is the album to go to.”

Morbid Angel – Altars Of Madness (Earache) “Probably the classic Death Metal album of all time; where every band, directly or indirectly, draws their influence from. It’s pretty much what started the whole thing. I’m not saying it necessarily needs to be the best in their discography but it’s definitely the essential choice.”

Autopsy – Mental Funeral (Peaceville) “It represents a very morbid side of death metal; it’s sludgy, rotten to the bone and very dark. It also shows it’s not just about production values, you can also create magic with Death Metal by going more primitive and having imperfection as your guide.”

Dismember- Like An Ever Flowing Stream (Nuclear Blast) “This is pretty much up there with Left Hand Path. It’s a little bit more underrated, they always came under the shadow of Entombed, but the song writing on that album is amazing and the production is at its peak and represents Sunlight Studio in Stockholm at its very best. The whole album is very much worth buying just for the opening riff of the first track ‘Override Of The Overture’ that riff is one of my all-time favourites. If you could just bring one Death Metal riff into space for an alien to discover it would be that one.”

Deicide – Deicide (Roadrunner) “At this stage, there was no band as outrageous and controversial, they were outspoken Satanists and this album really shows it. It wasn’t just talk, they were living it. It’s a demonic album, it’s a very violent death metal album and it’s also representative of the whole Florida scene.”

Obituary – Slowly We Rot (Roadrunner) “This comes down as well to Obituary, again an album that is almost loose in a way, it also has a hilarious lack of lyrical tendency! A lot of the growls on this album are made up of just sounds, which was an insane idea to start with. It has a really big Celtic Frost influence, so is good for people to go back with.”

Bloodbath on Facebook

CHRIS TIPPELL

Hod – Book Of The Worm

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Steve Tovey

Combining the virulent strains of death and black metal shouldn’t be too much of a problem given how many traits they share, so it’s surprising how many bands make an utter balls-up of this endeavour; often sacrificing the quirks and intricacies of both genres in favour of jacking up the brutality and hoping it will cover the cracks. Thankfully Texas quartet Hod aren’t one of them, for their sophomore album Book of the Worm (Arctic Music Group) manages to be both mercilessly extreme and gripping enough to make this a match made in heaven (hell).

Propelled along by the seemingly endless array of face-melting riffs courtesy of guitarist Carl “Lord Necron” Snyder, Hod never risk losing the listener’s attention, especially seeing as the album only lasts a mere 34 minutes. Effortless shifting between scything black metal guitar workouts like on coruscating album opener ‘When the Ghouls Feed’ to the late 80s US grindcore vibes of ‘Den of Wolves’, the atmosphere never dips below aggressive as fuck, and the frequent nods to the origins of the genres where writing actual songs was a pre-requisite will stretch a grin across the face of anyone who likes their extreme metal to be both catchy and brutal.

The avalanche of grim grandeur that is ‘Through the Gates (They Come For Me)’ is the kind of pure Satanic violence that Deicide used to pen when they were still scary, while the simplistic blasting fury of ‘Under Tyranny’s Hammer’ will delight those who wear Black Witchery shirts and attend Nuclear War Now! Festival every year. Simply put, Book of the Worm has something for everyone and is an instantly enjoyable snapshot of the extreme metal underground in both the US and beyond.

8.0/10

Hod on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY

In The Minds of Evil Tour: Deicide and Septic Flesh: Live At The Webster Theater, Hartford CT.

Posted on November 5, 2014 by News Team

On October 8th, 2014, In the Minds of Evil North American tour featuring Carach Angren, Abysmal Dawn, Inquisition, Septic Flesh, and headliners, Deicide, took The Webster in Hartford, CT by storm. It is not often that a tour package truly puts together from to opener to headliner a bill where every band brings out excitement in the audience. This tour, however, defied those odds and had every fan in attendance wanting more after the final note ended.

First up is symphonic black metal three-piece, Carach Angren. Coming into this show, I had not heard a single peep about this band or what they were all about. Sure, some of you may think that is ignorant and I should listen to the band’s work first. I, however, love the element of surprise and this band surely had the upper hand on my ignorant ears. Most of the set was dedicated to the latest album, Where the Corpses Sink Forever, with half of the songs being from said album. Personally, my favorite track played, entitled ‘Bloodstains on the Captain’s Log’, is off of the previous album that is entirely about The Flying Dutchmen legend. Upon doing some research, I found that Carach Angren albums are all concept albums, each about a different folklore/legend. This band will certainly be making their way onto my iTunes library in no time.

Another new band to me was up next on the bill, Abysmal Dawn. Awkwardly enough, I confused this band for Amberian Dawn which is a vastly different band. In my opinion, I think I made off a lot better with Abysmal over Amberian. I unfortunately do not have any of the song titles that played, but I am certain we got one song off the yet to be released album entitled Obsolescence (Relapse). If that song was just a taste of things to come, I will be sure to pick up the next release without a doubt. Abysmal Dawn rocked The Webster hard throughout the whole set with their aggressive yet groovy death metal which certainly left me wanting to hear more of what the LA foursome had to offer.

The celestial black metal two piece known as Inquisition had the middle of the card to play (which I was extremely excited for as they have become one of my favorite black metal bands out today). I figured with a new album out last year and minimal North American tour exposure we would get a good chunk of new material and we did. The set opened up with ‘Force of the Floating Tomb’ (yes I chanted “raise the chalice” with Dagon) and saw other new favorites ‘Master of the Cosmological Black Cauldron’ as well as the closing song, ‘Infinite Interstellar Genocide’. The Hartford crowd also got older tracks such as ‘Those of the Night’, ‘Nefarious Dismal Orations’, and ‘Command of the Dark Crown’. Overall, Inquisition got to play 8 songs in total over a 40 minute span which actually seems like a lot, but of course I could really go for a headline tour at some point by the next album’s release. If you have not checked this band out yet, the new album, Obscure Verses for the Multiverse (Season of Mist), was one of the best albums to come out in 2013 and I highly recommend it.

What better way to follow up the band that released my favorite album in 2013 then to have the next band playing be the creators of my favorite album of 2011! Septicflesh, who may be the greatest extreme metal band out there today, brought their A game as per expected with the creepy sounds of the Prague Philharmonic playing over the PA. I may have mentioned how good The Great Mass (Season of Mist/Prosthetic) was in 2011, but Septicflesh’s newest release that came out this year, Titan, is also a larger than life release from these Greek geniuses. Ironically, only two new songs made the cut for the set. Even so, the two choices were excellent choices with ‘Order of Dracul’ and ‘Burn’. Staple songs such as opener ‘Vampire From Nazareth’, ‘Communion’, and ‘A Great Mass of Death’ kept the fans head’s banging and bodies colliding in the pit. Typically, I have seen Septicflesh close their sets with ‘Five Pointed Star’. This time around, I actually got to see one of my favorite SF tracks as the closer, ‘Anubis’. I am happy to report that I sang along with the Sotiris vocal recordings over the PA while others just started at me like I had six heads.

To close out the night, The Webster attendees were greeted to a lengthy set list from the death metal icons themselves, Deicide. The set list contained a couple of select tracks from the newest release (‘Beyond Salvation’, ‘End the Wrath of God’, ‘Thou Begone’, and the title track, ‘In the Minds of Evil’). However, most of the remainder of the set list brought a ton of classic Deicide for fans ranging from as young as 17 to as old as 48! Some of the classics played were: ‘Once Upon the Cross’, ‘They Are the Children of the Underworld’, ‘Dead by Dawn’, ‘Dead but Dreaming’, ‘Trifixion’, and the set closer, ‘Kill the Christian’. The moment that I got the most excited (along with a lot of other fans around me) is when album track ‘Scars of the Crucifix’ was played. Something about that song live just brings out the crazy side in people which I absolutely loved. Front man/bassist Glenn Benton was in his usual form. He even got a good laugh out of the audience when he flicked a bass pick over to a fan, the fan missed it, and he exclaimed “Nice catch, Fuck Face!” Overall, this showing by Deicide was the best I have seen them yet and I am looking forward to the next time they come around.

Even though I was coming right from my day job almost two hours away, had a hard time finding parking with no cash on hand, and was a little nervous for my interview with Christos from Septicflesh (coming soon) this journey was very much worth it! This was also my first show at The Webster in Hartford and I have to say I certainly enjoyed the venue. I will definitely be making a return to Connecticut for the next big tour that does not make it to Massachusetts for sure. For now, I am going to catch up on my Deicide and Inquisition while growing my music library with albums from Abysmal Dawn and Carach Angren.

Decide on Facebook

Septicflesh on Facebook

Inquisition on Facebook

Abysmal Dawn on Facebook

Carach Angren on Facebook

TIM LEDIN

Cannibal Corpse – Revocation – Aeon: Kentish Town Forum, London, UK

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Steve Tovey

For some reason, Halloween is exempt from the Prohibition Against Mainstream Fun that prevents Metal fans from publicly enjoying other festivals. Admit that you like Christmas and you’ll be ejected from The Hall faster than if you’d been seen wearing a Five Finger Death Punch t-shirt, but celebrating Halloween is not just permitted but actively encouraged. Clearly not even a Cannibal Corpse gig is enough to spoil the one Metal Approved religious festival in the calendar, and tonight the Forum is packed with Teletubbies, scary clowns, lazily-made-up-skeletons and a man dressed as a giant penis. The audience is absolutely wired from the off, moshing to silence and bellowing for walls of death before the first band even take to the stage.

Fortunately, their enthusiasm is not misplaced as openers Aeon, having apparently not been told that they’re just a support band, rip into their set as if they’re headlining. In a recent interview with Ghost Cult, Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster described Aeon as a personal favourite of his, and it’s instantly clear why. They’ve been given a rich, heavy sound far beyond most openers and they don’t waste it, delivering taut, commanding bursts of powerful, Deicide-esque Death Metal with utter confidence and control. The audience prove that a band who act like headliners get treated like it, with a crowd response extremely healthy for a band playing at 7.30 to a venue that still hasn’t filled up.

Next up, Boston’s Revocation betray their simplistic name with an ambitious mash-up of Death Metal, Thrash and Hardcore with more progressive elements. It’s a complex, often surprisingly subtle blend that eschews many of the more traditional trappings of Death Metal, with Hardcore-style shouted vocals (occasionally giving way to clean-sung choruses), jagged song-structures and frequently dissonant changes of mood and tempo within a track. On paper they’re an odd choice to support a band as orthodox as Cannibal Corpse, and some old school Death Metallers in the audience are visibly perplexed, but for most people here the sheer savagery of the performance and the band’s clear enthusiasm wins through, earning another hero’s welcome (not to mention a circle pit in which the man in the penis costume sticks out like the world’s sorest most misshapen thumb).

By the time Cannibal Corpse take to the stage the audience are so wired that they’d probably circle-pit to ‘Let’s Get Ready To Rumble’ (PJ and Duncan) on a loop, but the band don’t use that as an excuse to cut corners. By this point in their career, reviewing Cannibal Corpse almost seems pointless – if you’re reading this you know exactly what they sound like and whether you like them or not – but live the sheer, undeniable enormity of their performance simply overwhelms everything else. On record their familiarity can be almost comforting, but live they take repetition to the point of transcendence, one idea repeated so often and so powerfully that it annihilates everything else. The point of a Cannibal Corpse review is not to tell you what they sounded like, but to attempt to capture just how good it was.

The first thing you notice about Cannibal is that the flashy showmanship and theatrics employed by both support bands are entirely absent. With the exception of some endearingly awkward stage banter from George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher (challenging the audience to a headbanging contest; sincerely exhorting them to “keep supporting fucking Death Metal!”), there is almost zero communication between band and audience – they stand in a line, lock their feet in place and simply hammer out one song after another like there’s nothing else in the universe. It seems jarring after the usual Metal posturing, but is entirely fitting and consistent with the band’s aesthetic of unrelenting, no-nonsense Death Metal. The second thing is how utterly, terrifyingly tight and precise they are. Watching Alex’s fingers is dizzying in itself, a more fitting visual accompaniment to the musical assault than any amount of shape-throwing or play acting would have been, and it rapidly becomes clear that you are watching a band who – twenty six years and thirteen albums into their career – still rehearse every single day. The music is literally everything, and within the tight parameters they have set themselves, they have attained absolute mastery.

Every possible criticism of their performance – the lack of variety; the relentless, no-pause-for-breath pacing; the lack of showmanship – misses the point of what it is they do, and why. Those aren’t bugs, to steal a phrase from a different world entirely, those are FEATURES. Cannibal Corpse are essentially a machine, constructed solely for the purpose of musically punching the listener in the face as many times as they can until the lights go on – if that’s not for you, that’s through no failing of theirs.

In a genre as insular and niche-focussed as Death Metal bands who dare to put their heads above the parapet will often be derided as sell-outs, but Cannibal Corpse are not just the most successful band in Death Metal, they are its purest and most dedicated adherents, and are still at the very forefront of the genre after twenty-six years.

Cannibal Corpse Setlist

Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead

Fucked With a Knife

Stripped, Raped and Strangled

Kill or Become

Sadistic Embodiment

Icepick Lobotomy

Scourge of Iron

Demented Aggression

Evisceration Plague

Dormant Bodies Bursting

Addicted to Vaginal Skin

The Wretched Spawn

Pounded into Dust

I Cum Blood

Disposal of the Body

Make Them Suffer

A Skull Full of Maggots

Hammer Smashed Face

Devoured by Vermin

Cannibal Corpse on Facebook

Recovation on Facebook

Aeon on Facebook

RICHIE HR

Bloodsoaked – Religious Apocalypse

Posted on September 4, 2014 by News Team

Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Bloodsoaked is the vision of one Peter Hasselbrack, a scene veteran who handles all the instruments and songwriting himself, and as can be expected by his chosen band name, plays brutal death metal. New EP Religious Apocalypse (Comatose Music) is actually lengthier than all three of their previous full length outings, but instead of a whole set of new material, we are instead offered three new tracks, two covers and four live cuts. For an introduction to Bloodsoaked it serves a fine purpose. Unfortunately any new listeners are unlikely to hang around too long for there’s little worth seeing here.

As with most brutal death metal bands, there’s a strong emphasis on gore, trebly, low-end guitars and guttural vocals, although to his credit, Hasselbrack has decided to branch out slightly by attempting to imitate early Deicide in the new tracks on offer, especially on ‘Abomination’ and the title track. Opening number ‘Devouring’ features some hefty chugs and a satisfyingly thick bottom end, although the drumming and songwriting remain strictly average. Far better are the covers of ‘Shake Me’ by Cinderella and ‘You’re in Love’ by Ratt, which are fun in a goofy way, although it may be a case of smearing lipstick on a dead hooker as these songs were terrible to begin with. The live tracks are well recorded, but nothing special with even the cheers at the end sounding half-arsed.

With death metal in rude health, bands like Bloodsoaked really should be trying to raise their game rather than relying on standard formulas and silly covers. Existing fans may lap it up but for the band to rise above their current place in the also-rans, they will need to offer much more in future.

5/10

Bloodsoaked on Facebook

JAMES CONWAY

Black Magick Spells And Rituals- Helmuth of Belphegor

Posted on August 7, 2014 by News Team

Forming in 1992, Belphegor have been seen as an icon, as one of the most fearless projects within the black and death metal scene. After the grandiose Pestapokalypse VI in 2006, and the well-received Blood Magick Necromance, in 2011, the band returns once again at the top of their game with Conjuring The Dead (Nuclear Blast) Are you able to say Belphegor is at their best? Every band always says their latest album is the best they’ve ever done. In the following interview with co-evil overlord Helmuth, he goes to great length to discuss the shifting tastes and style of the band, how important experimentation is to him in writing, shred guitar, Classical music influences, utilizing guest stars on the album, and other topics of interest.

It seems death metal is more present than black metal nowadays. Is this the path Belphegor will continue to take?

Belphegor has always been a Death Metal band. Those familiar with our discography should be able to see that it is not a new path for us.Yes. This album is more Death Metal focused than the past few releases

This was not due to a trend. It was inspired by my actual dance with death and our need to raise the bar and experiment further with each album. The process to create this lasted ages. A lot of sweat, blood, and energy flow into Conjuring The Dead. I never worked so hard on another release. I always had in the back of my mind,and feared after my life threatening health issues, it could be the last Belphegor album. So I didn’t want to fukk around, I wanted do things absolutely right.

The press sometimes describes us as a Black Metal band, maybe because of our brutal stage rituals. I never understood the misconception as the Death elements clearly lead. If you turn the volume all the way up, it’s as if the band is in the same room with you. I guess people that want to hear extreme Musick will dig it and understand the Death Metal approach. Don’t want to end up as an epic or melodic band. It just was time to return to our roots and celebrate and glorify Death musick.

Belphegor’s lyrics are mostly embodied by obscene and sacrilegious themes against Christianity, but the single ‘Gasmak Terror’ leads into a nuclear holocaust. Is there any particular reason to write something like that in 2014?

No wonder why when we can see the world being destroyed right before our eyes more than ever. The blasting ‘Gasmask Terror’ doesn’t reflect all of the content or entire concept of the full album. I just wanted to do some war-related and downfall of humanity themed verses once again.

14 years ago, we did the first track entitled S.B.S.R with war-related lyrics on Necrodaemon Terrorsathan ( 2000 ).

We wanted to go for a fast, typical Belphegor track, that’s why we decided for ‘Gasmask Terror’ as first single. It has everything we stand for. The 2nd single will be the monstrous ‘Conjuring The Dead’, a double bass assault. Totally different than ‘Gasmask Terror’.

I dare say Belphegor’s riffs are the nearest to the powerful classical music, like that which was written by giants like Tchaikovsky – for instance. I recall the track ‘Chants for the Devil 1533’ from 2006 or ‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ off of the new album. When listening to songs like these I hear an entire orchestra in my mind.

Great man. Thank you for your appreciation, an honor.

For ‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ we added a lot classical tones in the guitar department. The title is taken from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s last composition, ‘Requiem’. He wrote it on his deathbed. He knew he would die soon. It shows how good artists can get when they feel threatened, or know their time is up! The song has influences by this composition when it comes to the intensity of the atmosphere. I have to be careful with such statements, I don’t want to be, as often as it happens, misinterpreted. I’m not a composer like Mozart, he was a genius. But this exalted, majestic track is exactly what I felt as I started creating ‘Rex Tremendae Majestatis’ and when I listen to ‘Requiem’.

We approached the music more maturely than ever before. All was very serious this time because of my health issues. You also hear a lot of tri-tones, dis-harmonic tones that were forbidden in middle ages by the church- they really feared those tones. Back then, these sounds were called the “Diabolus In Musica”.

The most known song, in my opinion, that is based on the tri-tones is the riff ( 3 tones/ including the octave) of the song by the name of its band, ‘Black Sabbath’.

‘The Eyes’ is an instrumental song with a very melodic guitar riff delivered by shredding. What’s the message you want to give by including such song in the album? What are The Eyes?

‘The Eyes’ is an intermezzo,classical guitar picking and a lead guitar.It calms everything down after the first five brutal sound collages. After ‘The Eyes’, starts the most complex and technical song on this LP, ‘Legions Of Destruction’. Brutal!!

Besides that track and the epic finale in ‘Gasmask Terror’, do you feel Conjuring The Dead is Belpeghor’s most extreme and less melodic album so far?

Yes, exactly. That was the master plan as I started this new project back in December 2011.

For the first time, you’ve decided to invite two heavyweight musicians: Deicide’s Glen Benton and Mayhem’s Attila Csihar. Do you feel those additions help the album to be more popular than you imagined?

I had this vision for a long time, wasn’t a marketing thing. It was just to please my ego, hahahrrr. Truly, it’s really cool to me. I respect what their work brought to the extreme Metal community.

I wanted to have those two guys, not just any dudes from some other bands. My plan was either them or fukk the plan. Thing is, Glen is my favorite Death Metal vocalist and Attila my favorite Avant-garde/Black Metal singer. I think I first asked Attila about it in 2007, as we recorded ‘Bondage Goat Zombie’. With Deicide we did two big tours, one in the US one we conquered and devastated Europe. And Glen liked the idea, which was awesome. There was always this schedule problem, they were on tour, or we were on tour, it was difficult, but finally it worked out. Both bands in the beginning were very important and inspiring to Belphegor.

This is an honor to me to have these two guys putting their magick on the track. The listeners can decide what impression it makes upon the entire album.

Belphegor on Facebook

DIOGO FERRIERA

Deicide – In The Minds Of Evil

Posted on January 23, 2014 by News Team

The death metal legends Deicide are back with their eleventh and newest album. Let’s cut the crap and go directly to the point: we never know what we will find with a new album of Deicide, since they have been so damn inconstant in these last twenty-five years of activity. Yeah, they have pure classics like the self-titled debut album and 1992’s Legion under their belt, but they’re also the creators of the horrendous 2001’s In Torment In Hell album. It has never been easy to be a fan of Deicide because you never know. Look at 2006’s The Stench of Redemption. In 2006 the band delivers a record that is fantastic, but before that they had released In Torment In Hell, and after it the not really solid and good albums, 2008’s Till Death Do Us Part and 2011’s To Hell With God.

So, what about this new one? Well, they worked hard and finally, seven years after The Stench of Redemption, they come up with a good and solid album. That’s it. In The Minds Of Evil (Century Media) is what the Deicide’s hardcore fans were waiting for. Opening with a Slayer-esque riff and an awesome vocal melody, on the title track, Deicide sent us in true evil trip where cool riffs and grooves hold hands. Yeah, like Glen Benton said, this new studio effort recaptures the vibe of their first album. Unfortunately it is far from being a classic like the 1990’s self-titled album. But in the end what matters is that Deicide has again created a good record, with the help of Jason Suecof. He’s responsible for the great production on album. Finally!

7.0/10

Deicide on Facebook

Tiago Moreira

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