Corpus Mortale – FleshCraft

Jan10

FleshCraft the new album from Danish death metallers Corpus Mortale is quite simply a monster, a colossal beast of intensity, sound, and quality, and a release which could be a new defining signpost in Danish death metal if not extreme metal as a whole. The album clenches the listener firmly in its jaw throughout, each track a ravenous chewing and crushing of the senses which drains energy and lungs of fight and leaves the deepest rewards in the sonic charnel house installed. The band has built a fine and acclaimed reputation over the years but without doubt FleshCraft is easily their finest moment.

Formed in 1993 it was ten years later with the release of their debut album With Lewd Demeanor, supported by a 20 date European tour with fellow Danes Konkhra and Illnath, that a wider appreciation of the aggressive sounds of the band began growing to build on the already strong local following Corpus Mortale had drawn. Second album A New Species of Deviant elevated their strong underground stature further with its release in 200, powerfully followed up the following year by a successful European tour alongside Nile, Grave, Krisiun and Ulcerate. With line-up changes across the years the trio of vocalist/bassist Martin Rosendahl, guitarists Carlos Garcia Robles and Brian Eriksen wrote and recorded their third album across 2011. The Copenhagen based threesome evolved their sound into the destructive pleasure found on FleshCraft in this period taking to a mix of studios to record the album which was mastered and produced by sound engineer Jacob Olsen. Released via Deepsend Records, the towering creation leaves the listener a breathless and exhausted victim in the wake of its inventive devastation, but a grinning invigorated and thrilled victim.

The album brews its introduction through wastelands of sound and chilled atmosphere as opener Weakest Of The Weak emerges from its coarse ambience. In full view the track unleashes a tirade of barbaric rhythms and inciting guitar caresses before taking the cap off their energy and exploding into a furious storm of destructive intensity and accomplished aural violence. The ever immense and impressive vocals of Rosendahl spreads malice dripping guttural violation from within the fluctuating brooding and annihilatory surges of the , it is a direct and corrosive attack, low on complications but as skilled and focused in writing and delivery as you can imagine. Like a leering predator overseeing its prey before turning it to blood soaked devastation the track is an intensive force and outstanding start to the album.

The following carnivorous storms The Unwashed Horde and A Murderous Creed elevate and accelerate the pleasure and inspiring presence of the album further, the first a hungry canker of impressive drums and scarring guitar sonics speared by tumultuous riffs and verbal malevolence and its successor a brutal tsunami of rabid intensity and inhumane masterful sounds. Both tracks rip bigger fissures in the wounds left gaping by the first track with the second of the pair especially savage and compelling. The bass on A Murderous Creed is exceptional, a sadistic entity on its own venomous mission within the cancerous unforgiving breath of the song and thoroughly irresistible alongside the equally contagious insidious waspish sonic grooving.

Truthfully there is not a weakness on the album, the likes of the excellently truculent Scorn of the Earth and the brilliant Love Lies Bleeding equally irresistible aggressors to what come before and after them. The latter of the two opens with a rapidly emerging feast of organic bass growling and cagey rhythms which is sheer primal manna before twisting into a voracious unrelenting wall of intense creativity and nastiness. It is the best track from the album if it is possible to choose any over another and one powerful reasons out of ten as to why the album already is looking good for best of year heights.

If things were not impressive enough the album sets free further mountainous surges of defined and perfectly sculpted brutality in the unreserved gaits of the expressive Enthralled and the uncompromising rankle Tempt Not the Knife, just two more highlights in a release of nothing but pinnacles. Closing on a reworking of Seize the Moment of Murder, a track which was only previously available on a limited 7-inch vinyl, FleshCraft is a stunning and sensational start to the year for death and extreme metal. Corpus Mortale is a band you should and need to know about and their new album the perfect malefaction to begin the submission.

http://www.corpusmortale.net

RingMaster 10/01/2013

Reapers Riddle – A Touch Of Death

Jan10

Though the EP A Touch Of Death from Australian rockers Reapers Riddle has been out a while it might be like for us one which has slipped passed the radar upon release and through the subsequent months for many of you. It is though a release which is simply an uncomplicated and thrilling slab of rock n roll which we all should be aware of so time for a belated but required review. Fusing the best accessible elements of hard rock and metal, classic and current, the EP is an eager riot of devilment, energy, and compelling sounds to raise the spirit and stoke up the passions. It does not exactly offer anything ground breaking but does unleash sounds which are honest and irresistibly mischievous, the best kind of rock n roll.

Formed in 2008, Reapers Riddle has spent the following years building a strong reputation and ever increasing loyal fanbase in their home city of Perth and wider afield. Their live performances are renowned for insatiable energy and impressive quality something the EP easily points to, one imagining how thunderous live they should be from the bruising tracks on the release. A debut self-titled demo in 2009 gained good acclaim though it had a quality issue for the band leading to a lack of intense promotion and push country wide. Working on its follow up the band was slowed by a line-up change but eventually A Touch of Death emerged to grab strong attention and responses, something which is no surprise now finally having felt its boisterous might.

From a horror movie sample the release drops a resonating burst of sound, dramatic and intimidating, before opening up into a brawl of scavenging growls and scything riffs before thumping rhythms and hard rock melodies join the fine affray that is Zombified. Soon the vocals of fine Clayton Mitchell paint a visual picture whilst anthemic invitations through the chorus ensure the listener is soon joining the engaging and sinewy assault. The track is a red hot piece of irrepressible rock which makes no demands but rewards fully through easy going inventive metallic abrasions. It is an excellent start which arguably is not matched again, though each of the subsequent five tracks come close and leaves just as much satisfaction with their direct encounters.

The following Cursed continues the horror theme whilst again lining up infectious hard rock hooks alongside a thumping metal driven assault. The rhythms and basslines are as rampant as the guitars are fiery, the combination a rage of aural energy which is controlled yet left to spread its inciting provocation. It has an eighties lilt to its breath which adds to the contagious air of the song and like the opener it is a track you cannot help joining in on.

There is a shift to a less horror rock presence with the excellent Fall Away. It is a song which melds a classic rock and metal flavouring to create another anthemic treat whilst reaping its rewards from the heart for its catchy barbed hooks and melodic teasing. Like many of the songs on the EP, it is a track you feel you already know though it does not sound like any which spring to mind. The feeling is from the band assaulting tried and tested roads though such the compelling and infectious charm of the songs and their obvious quality, it is only a total positive.

No Strings Attached and Lost in Ink both pile on the pleasing and invigorating quality, the first a wanton sleaze coated tease with heavyweight riffs from guitar and bass over improper intent and melodic flames whilst the latter is a hungry grazing of heavy metal riffing and spiteful rhythms. The melodic aside midway in the second song is an inventive unexpected piece of imagination which gives extra pleasure, especially as it is a fluid and seamless addition to the raging surges of the song.

Completed by the emotive One Red Rose, a mesmeric ballad showing a further diversity to the songwriting and vocals of Mitchell, A Touch Of Death is an outstanding brawl of essential rock n roll and Reapers Riddle a band who know how to party right and hard.

http://www.reapersriddle.com/

RingMaster 10/01/2013

Downcast Art – Forbidden Memories

Jan10

A mesmeric blend of classical music and symphonic metal blended with passion and imagination, Forbidden Memories the debut album from Croatian band Downcast Art is a pleasing and warm treat. Evocative and finely crafted the album is a precise caress of sinewy energy and power wrapped in open imagination. Accomplished and elegantly presented the release may not reveal new directions or invention for the genre it openly adds quality to but still stands as a fresh and satisfying interpretation of previously discovered structures.

Formed by keyboardist Zdravko Smenderovac in 2005, Downcast Art spent its early years developing its own sound whilst playing covers of other metal bands. With a few line-up changes the band eventually arrived at the stable quintet of vocalist Jelena Mužar, guitarist Kristijan Radeka, bassist Davor Grdić, drummer Lukas Šomek, and Smenderovac, and with their own music and songs now the mainstay of their creativity recorded Forbidden Memories in 2011. Combining the golden elements of symphonic metal with an operatic breath through the glorious classically trained soprano talents of Mužar, the eleven songs which make up the release offer an emotional journey and visual inspiration which tows satisfaction and enjoyment alongside its gait.

Forbidden Memories is a complex yet fluid and organic engagement with a lush and rich breath which is defined and immediately accessible. As mentioned there are not many new avenues and corners discovered by the aural beacon within the release but makes for an enthralling and rewarding companion in its presence if not one which lingers and is deeply memorable away from its bountiful offerings. From the excellent opening instrumental Everlasting the music and songs are filled with heart and expression seemingly drawn from the souls of their creators and inspired by the world and its passion driven beauty. The piece of music to start things off is an atmospheric palate of mesmeric colours and vivid textures laid upon an emerging epic and triumphant canvas. It is a wonderful start which leads into the heart of the release gloriously whilst at the same time outshining some of the less towering moments ahead.

The following Bloodred Ink is a storm of aural thunder through riffs and rhythms permeated by the hypnotic keys of Smenderovac and gentle sunlight of the vocals from Mužar, her voice burnished sonic caresses tempering the rampant muscular intent of the track. With the additional vocals of Radeka to add a shadow to certain moments the song is a compelling and thrilling further step into the release.

The likes of the Croatian sung Miris Prošlosti with its great emotive piano strokes, the senses wrapping sonically heated Home of Silence, and the stirring title track bring more layers of warmth and enterprise to the ear. The third of the three is especially a standout song with the great dual vocals of Mužar and Radeka exchanging emotion and words irresistibly. Arguably the song is less symphonic than elsewhere on the album, its rock core a pleasing variety and break to the satisfying but overall constant symphonic wind.

Other notable highlights on the album come with the grand yet intimately persuasive Whisper of a Dying Rose, the metallic Innocence Never Dies with Desire, and the sensational Chants from the Deep. It is another instrumental unveiling further skill and invention of the musicians involved; an eager fusion of rock and metal which grabs heart and feet in a chorus of enthused union. Without implying any slight on the vocals, the two instrumentals are the best tracks on the album and a welcome aside to the impressive but dominating voice of Mužar.

Forbidden Memories is a very decent album which most symphonic metal fans will find rewarding, and one which could be the spark to take Downcast Art to a wider responsive audience.

http://www.downcastart.com/

RingMaster 10/01/2013

MESSiAHLATOR – Brain Killer

Jan10

The truth is we cannot tell you much about Canadian metal punk band MESSiAHLATOR such the surprising difficulty in googling the distinctive name and lack of info online with any successful search, but we can tell you their latest EP Brain Killer is a raging spiteful assault that all hardcore, punk, and extreme metallers should take time to investigate. A free download from the band’s Bandcamp profile and available in cassette form, the five track intensive abrasion is an uncompromising violent attack on the senses and very satisfying indeed.

Consisting of Pavs (bass, vocals) and Brett (guitars, vocals), and Eric (drums), the trio from Edmonton combine an unhealthy mix of death metal, hardcore punk, crust, and grindcore resulting in a very beneficial and inspiring corrosive confrontation. The first vicious grazing comes from opener Righteous Man. It is a torrent of corrosive riffs and pummelling rhythms forced further home by the caustic sprawling vocals. The reoccurring groove which switches off and on is a grinding tease which excites the ear within the merciless intensity. The song is a testing and exhausting aggressive rampage which is powerful in its simplicity and provoking in its nastiness.

The following Canada Dry chews the ear with the sonic jaws of a predator who knows its victim cannot escape, flinging its carcass around the limits of the bruising aural cage with glee and unbridled aggression. It is a brief bitch slap with little respect for mercy and with an unrelenting hunger, something which is echoed by Ride The Plague. The third song is a surge of metallic enterprise and the continual vehemence which pervades every track on the release. The song offers diversity too, the rolling avalanche of rhythms and scorched melodic guitar strikes new contagious lures within the tempest of intensity and ferocious annihilation. The fluid mix of destructive metal and hardcore malice is impressive throughout but on this song at its most formidable and enthralling.

Who Won’t Wear The Ribbon is a slower consumption compared to what came before though still a raging violating fury across its towering presence. The track is the least successful on the EP yet still captures the imagination through an inventive enterprise which sparks from within the caustic sensory trespass.

The release is completed by Sky Burial, the groove driven best track on Brain Killer. It is a sonic malefaction leaking infection from inside its tumultuous intense assail. It overwhelms the ear with a compulsive and appetising mix of flesh grinding riffs, taunting melodic hooked grooves, and rampaging energy. It is a discord wrapped ravishment and quite punishingly delicious.

Brain Killer is not a release for everyone but certainly extreme noise fiends will find a thrilling challenge and adversary from the EP and MESSiAHLATOR themselves. Go and stand before their violence is our recommendation after all it is free from the link below.

http://messiahlator.bandcamp.com/album/brain-killer

RingMaster 10/01/2013