Technical death squad, Eschaton – featuring current/former members of Obscura, Necrophagist, Inanimate Existence, Apogaen, Abyssalis, Deeds of Flesh, Arsis, and more – recently dropped their latest single, “Devour The Contrarian.” Accompanied by an official lyric video, it comes from their approaching album, Techtalitarian. The full-length, completed with artwork by Dave Melvin, is due out May 30th, via Transcending Obscurity Records. Check out the new track below.
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Tag Archives: Necrophagist
The Summer Slaughter Tour to Finally Return This Summer After Four Years
According to a report from our friends at Lambgoat.com, The Summer Slaughter Tour will return after a four-year absence in 2024! Their official Instagram shared an image stating “We Are Back!” as well as Sumerian Records, a regular sponsor of the tour and provider of bands and support! The tour will be from July-August and will take place in US and Canada. The post also featured the track “Dynasty” from Brand of Sacrifice, hinting that they may be a part of the tour lineup. The band was on The Summer Slaughter tour in 2019. First taking place in 2007 in the USA and expanding to Canada, and Europe, the tour was responsible for the growth of popularity, especially in the USA of such bands as Necrophagist, The Black Dahlia Murder, Decapitated, Job For A Cowboy, Suicide Silence, Between The Buried and Me, Animals As Leaders, Cattle Decapitation, The Faceless, Periphery, and more. See the post below. Continue reading
Watch Pro-Shot 4K Footage of Necrophagist Live from Summer Slaughter Tour 2007
Necrophagist is not just one of the best bands to ever do it, in terms of brilliance in Technical Death Metal, they live in our memories only since they have been defunct for so long. Now old, pro-shot 4k (and AI upscaled) footage has been uncovered from The Opera House at the Toronto stop at Summer Slaughter 2007, where they were the headliners of the tour. Thanks, Metal Injection for sharing this! Watch two songs and a drum solo below and revisit the good old days. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Bekor Qilish – Throes Of Death From The Dreamed Nihilism
As though transmitted from a parallel dimension, Throes Of Death From The Dreamed Nihilism (I, Voidhanger Records) – the debut record by Bekor Qilish – is a strange and magnificent avant-garde metal beast. The brainchild of Italian vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Bruzzone, Bekor Qilish is a solo project, aided by a smattering of key collaborators — who add colour to Bruzzone’s already mesmeric creation. Whether the term “extreme” or “avant-garde” fits better, Throes Of Death From The Dreamed Nihilism is a whirlwind of creativity and impressive technicality.
Relapse Records Releases 15th Anniversary Reissue of Necrophagist’s “Epitaph”
Relapse Records has released a fifteenth anniversary of the technical Death Metal legends Necrophagist’s album Epitaph. The band toured the world, played festivals and tour the US on The Summer Slaughter tour. Sadly, this was the bands’ final record as of now and the group has achieved mythical status in the underground. You can order new bundles from Relapse at the link below. Continue reading
MY FAVORITE CONCERT MEMORY: Joel Quartuccio of Being As An Ocean
Being As An Ocean just released their slamming new album Proxy: An A.N.I.M.O. Story! and are currently getting ready for a month of dates for their new European tour kicking off on November 1st. Joel Quartuccio has checked in with not one, but two of his favorite concert memories ever in a guest post for Ghost Cult! Continue reading
Hate Eternal – Upon Desolate Sands
Oh look, Hate Eternal has a new album on the way. Sweet, let’s see how long it takes before I run out of adjectives to describe brutal Death Metal. On Upon Desolate Sands (Season of Mist) I think I made it to ‘Portal of Myriad’ only to realize I was running on fumes. I’m not sure what kind of pact Erik Rutan struck up with Cthulu, but it’s given him access to enough pulverizing song ideas to power seven long-players and produce countless Death Metal standouts.Continue reading
Abysmal Torment – The Misanthrope
In case you were caught unawares, the “tech” in the tech death sub-genre of metal means technical. It’s an important distinction to make since death metal can be many things, not all of it deserves the lofty label. The earliest purveyors of the style might have been extreme, and well accomplished at playing their instruments, but not living up to the name. Later bands definitely upped the ante on what could be accomplished and now we are talking about an umbrella of bands that could mean Cannibal Corpse, Dying Fetus, Death, Beyond Creation, Gorguts, Neuraxis, Obscura, Cryptopsy, and many more. Hailing from the small island nation of Malta, comes Abysmal Torment, who want you to know in no uncertain terms they can carry the weight. Their new album The Misanthrope (Willowtip) is a brutal exploration of the style in every track.Continue reading
Howling Sycamore- Howling Sycamore
In contemporary terms when we think of Progressive Metal, often the first thought (and arguably nowadays the most prevalent style) is of the overtly technical, calculated and near mechanical sounding; that or the likes of Opeth with their marriage of extremity and growled vocals with progressive rock’s expansive structures and complex arrangements. Beforehand, years ago, progressive metal was arguably spearheaded by a vastly different type of beast; the likes of Queensryche with their thoughtful yet anthemic nature and armed with towering, often falsetto vocalists. Howling Sycamore certainly remembers this time well, as their self-titled début (Prosthetic) shows a love and influence from such time period as much as it marries with more modern stylings; creating a sound which in today’s progressive metal climate, actually stands out effectively.Continue reading
Albert Mudrian – Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore (Reissue)
Released twelve years ago, Albert Mudrian’s anthology of Death Metal has stood the test of time; an engaging read taking you on a loose zig-zag through the birth and, um, death of Death Metal. Unveiled through the eyes of its’ progenitors, there is method to the tale that begins in England, moves to Tampa, takes in Entombed and Scandinavia and reserves a special mention for the oft overlooked Dutch input of Gorefest and Pestilence.
Undertaking a task as complicated as trying to find the true source of the Nile (Karl Sanders – badoom tish!), Mudrian begins his tale by trying to uncover the birth of what became known as Death Metal, settling on Napalm Death and their 1985 era hybrid (Siege meets Discharge meets Celtic Frost) of hardcore punk, thrash and a desire to be harder, faster, sicker than everyone else. The book then focuses on the influence of their Scum release (Earache) on other vital artists, like Morbid Angel (via Pete Sandoval, then in Terrorizer) and the incestuous, small nature of the scene where, due to tape trading and pen palling, most of Death Metal’s predominant protagonists all knew and inspired each other.
As the tales unfurl, you find yourself swept up and wanting to revisiting all the classic albums that are mentioned – Possessed ‘s Seven Churches (Combat), Pestilence Consvming Impvlse (Roadrunner), Massacre From Beyond (the story of Massacre’s signing to Earache being another fun aside revealed in the book) and Master Master (Displeased) forming part of my own soundtrack while reading.
The re-issue picks things up as the roots of recovery were just sprouting through the top soil at the tail end of the 90’s, highlighting the rise of a new DM general in Nile. After touching on the diversification of Death Metal of this millennium, including the mind-sucking brilliance of Portal and their focus on eldritch, dark atmospheres, Mudrian covers the popularity of technical Death Metal (a section that introduced me to Necrophagist and Obscura as you can’t help but be enthused to check all the recommends as you go) over the last decade. The tome now concludes by covering the return to the scene of the apex predators with Carcass, At The Gates, Death (DTA) and others reforming to reap the benefits of their respective legacies and the rewards of the now lucrative and high profile festival market, and to satisfy an urge that, in the case of Bill Steer, they didn’t even know they had. If you read the original, the added content is an agreeable appendix.
Peppered with short anecdotes, but above all an informative and enjoyable potted history of Death Metal, all imparted with the enthusiastic love that a doting parent has for a child, Choosing Death is an affectionate, if whistlestop, walk through of the story of Death Metal to date. In the authors’ own words, he is “Just a fan. Just like you.” He just happens to be a damn good writer who has written The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore. And updated it.
8.5/10
STEVE TOVEY