Morbid Flesh : "Rites of the Mangled"

Not matter the genre darkness is what I look for to make things heavy. I hear more Tampa in this Barcelona band's second album than Sweden. The end result is something dark and punishing. The vocals are a low , but powerful gurgle. The guitar solos fire out from the corners of the songs. While it is more rapid fire 'Burn the Entrails" doesn't stick to me as soundly as the opener. It becomes a wall of sound charging at me with not defined form to make it a song that I would return to. The slower turn it takes two minutes in is a wise choice.While it makes more sense than the previous song , " Banished to Oblivion" is still not as good as the opener , but is heading back in that direction.

"Heretics Hammer" finds them entrenched in the single minded aggression that characterizes death metal. The vocals are way forward in the mix. Everyone else has their foot to the gas as they accelerate this mean machine deeper into hell. The more melodic solo section really helps the song. There is a stormy drama to the intro of "Feeding Mallows" but it descends into the more typical death metal aggression. The double bass on this song cuts through the somewhat murky mix. The guitar solo section gets creepier for this one which elevates it above many of the other jack hammer riffs this album has offered. They lock into a more powerful chug and it shows that when they chose a more dynamic path it pays off for them.

"Incantation" sounds more like a darker vision of Cannibal Corpse than the band Incantation. This song kind of breezed past me on the first listen. On the second listen I noticed little flourishes of guitar. The accented growls that make the chorus do create more of a hook that your average death metal. There is more of a mainstream Cannibal Corpse like groove to "Evil Behind You" . This also makes the song stand out as one of the more thoughtful pieces on this album even when the brakes come off and it races away. This is a pretty solid death metal album even if it doesn't
  break any new ground I could just leave it one and let it play, so I will give it a 7.5.

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Belgrado : "Obraz"

These guys are now old pros at giving old goth a new spin. Right from the first song i can hear the production value has stepped up from their last album  released three years ago. This band from Barcelona sings in their native tongue which I am unsure translates over into this style of more melodic darker punk well. They skip into a more new wave direction, almost touching upon Madness like ska on the second song. I like this groove as it's different from every other wanna be post-punk band. It seems like they are trying harder on this album to fill the shoes bands like Bahaus and Siouxsie have left vacant.

The slinky bass lines and spider webs of guitar weave around these songs. Upbeat in the same manner as some of the Cure's older yet more dance friendly punk anthems, the x-factor that works for the Cure is not as firmly in place. It might be the vocals sometimes sound unsure of themselves. While this album is more upbeat and almost more dance punk, the song writing often fails to really snare me in. In the past I have talked about how the cultural current of many bands doesn't always lend itself to a particular genre of music. It seems like it worked better on their previous album, so was that a flux or are they just dialing it into the dance floor on this one?"Raz Dwa" has more to the guitar melody, but still feels like filler compared to the band's best work that lies behind them.

The songs begin to feel the same by the time we get to the 7th song on this album. The guitar sound has improved, it more taunt and jerks with a pulse similar to Gang of Four in place. A slight darker touch is added to " Na Ten Czas" making it one of the album's better songs. There a couple of songs that are actually more like interludes than actual songs. The album wraps up with a more melodic yet similarly upbeat number. The vocals are not any more inspired than any of the singers other performances on this album.I'll give this album a 7.5 and hold my breath for another Bellicose Minds or for Arctic Flowers to get their groove back.

Nesseria: "Fractures"

"Fractures is the Barcelona based band' second album. They are releasing a twelve inch vinyl on Throatruiner / Trendkill Records, the latter is releasing the CD with Swarm of Nails handling the tape release. So there is no lack of interest in getting this album out there. They start of with some really uniquely dark metal that has melody and mood, but no lack of balls to it that catches your ear from the get go, however when they step on the gas to launch into something more akin to chaotic hardcore the lose the cool feeling the band opened with. It's not that they are not capable and convincing enough to pull it off, it just sound like another band wanting to be a black metal version of Converge.Sure combining the two is bound to come up with some dark and heavy moments, but they are much better at weaving in this melodic dark fog over their songs to reduce themselves to taking the easy way out.

The hardcore element returns on "Cent Mille"it's not as spastic here and carries more of that late 90's thrash cross over element bands returned to.This still is not the most creative direction the band takes their sound. They do manage to tackle a blacker sound with the same kind of intensity they approach hard core with on "L'Incinde" that the following song kind of rides in on it's blur, but with less of an identity of it's own.They are still masters of chug and when brutally cramming some of these riffs down your throat like broken bottle they are deadly serious with their intent.

"Civitas" has a more explosive hardcore element. The drumming really drive the point home that is is whats driving this album despite the great guitar sound these guys have. The little death metal accents would sound right at home on a Dying Fetus album. They sound more natural in more of a black metal mode when they are playing fast than trying to do so in hardcore mode , which seems to serve the band better applied to accents of songs rather than dominating the song.

They play their cards right on the dark closing track "Omayra" and it makes me think that I would have like to have heard more of this on the rest of the album. I will give this album an 8.5 and let it simmer to see if it grows on me. The spazzy hard core parts I think dumb the album down at times and these guys have too much going for them creatively to take the route.