Death is June -Shed the Skin : "the Forbidden Arts"

Brutality is relative. I said I was not going to devote much time to the so called brutal side of death metal and look for bands doing something different. This is kind of a compromise.  These guys are good at what they do, due in part to the fact this band is comprised of guys from the likes of Incantation and Ringworm, these guys know what they are doing . This is evident on their 3rd album. Supposedly "satantic" death metal. Nothing feels darker or more ritualistic like the short lived title of occult death metal from 10 years ago. Very guttural and aggressive, brining to mind both Cannibal Corpse and Deicide. The vocals are at almost a gurgle. They still care about the songs, though what plagues them is their tendency to return to the same carcass to pillage. There are slower more death doom like passages in many of the songs. I am fine with this as long as they approach each differently. Yes the rule here is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make". They do have some cool riffs that are very convincing.

The second song was no the most memorable. Upon returning to it the vocals sound slightly crisper. Yes brutality does not mean to throw all aspirations of being catchy out the window. The guitars are clearly this album's strong suit. There is a more melodic heading toward the song's final moments. There is a more driven chug that is sure to induce neck snapping banging on "Trow of Trajedy". It is also the first song that I hear the keyboards come out of the dense mix. This one is put together really well and even the vocal have a purpose. "Master of  Thralls" finds the pace picking up. Four songs into a death metal album before they go racing off into a furious chug is an accomplishment. "Necormantic Wellspring" kinda falls into your run of the mill death metal. "Glorified in Bloodsmoke" makes me wonder once more what is Satanic about this ? Seems about as Satanic as a horror movie on Netflix.

At this point in the album the red crayon the songs are colored with begins to get boring so slowing things down into more of a death doom pace is a good idea along with the more fine tuned riffs that begin to kick in again. There is a creeping Slayer groove to "Black Bile of Ceres". The verse has a big triumphant sound and it is one of the album's best songs. When they slow down and give nuance to the darkness they are working to the best ability on "Veins of Perdition" . This is not a hard and fast rule as "Black Bile of Ceres' works off more of a groove. I will round this down to a 7.5. Comes out June 26th. If you are waiting for me to wrap my thoughts up I think I have made them pretty clear.

Haxxan : " Loch Ness Rising"

The vocals of former Necrophagia singer Killjoy DeSade help to set this album apart as they are pretty nasty . what I love about this is the fact these guys are evil sounding yet in the first song I have not heard a blast beat. Truth be told they hover around a more Celtic Frost like sound and the vicious vocals keep it from really copping too much from Tom Warrior and friends. This is not to say they are a color by numbers replication. Instead the add layers of dark melody by way the guitars. The pace picks up into a bigger death metal sound on "93". At this point it bears stating that this album is paying homage to Crowley and references  varied aspects of his thelemic works. The more straight forward second song is not as nuanced and to me doesn't come across as dark as the first song despite the moodier break past the mid way point.

The third song where they continue to chant the motto of "Love is the Law / Love Under Will" a fine statement to espouse, yet one of the more mainstream tenements that hardly requires much depth in the belief system to be aware of. This song however finds them closer to the kind of powerful writing that hooked me with their first song. "Babalon" breaks the five minute mark with it's mid tempo stomp, but like most of these songs is not an aimless wander hoping to break you down with it's drone. This song has the undulating pulse similar to Inquisition that makes it feel more black metal. They pick up things to a much more driving pace on "Disciples of the Silent" lyrically it is not as heavy handed in it's theme, to the point of straying from the more conceptual elements. Well played and punchy the bass tone is great , but it doesn't do as much to set them aside.

There is more of a groove to the onset of "Chemical Perversions" that gives my to something a little less inspired and at more of a death metal/ thrash pace. This song also has the first guitar solo that really makes it self known. The vocal become even more bestial on "Blackest Chasm" which has an oppressive lumber. It doesn't feel like this one is as tightly constructed as previous songs and the album begins to lose a little momentum. They come back stronger for "Beyond the Grace of God" this might be the album's strongest song after the opening and finds the band back in a more dense Inquisition like sound. Overall despite losing some of it's momentum in the latter portion of the album it's pretty strong so I'll give it an 8.5.

Hells Headbangers is releasing this beast February 17th.