ANTIDEMON - APOCALYPSENOW

Antidemon’s latest release entitled ApocalypseNow is pure grinding death. Prior to this release I had not heard them before and now I’m wondering why I hadn’t. Solid production values and a sonic assault that will knock you into next week!

I’m not a big fan of relentless grindcore music. Most often it is poorly recorded and thinly produced, not to mention the pure mess of lyrical content I’ve often heard. Not a big fan. So when I was offered a chance to hear this release I thought, “Well if Steve Rowe likes them I’ll give them a spin and a chance.” Man I’m glad I took the opportunity.

Yes the vocals from Batista sound like someone gargling battery acid, but it’s the whole package. The sledgehammer riffs, the pure pounding drum assault (which isn’t all one speed) the battling bass which rounds it out. The best part here is that the songs actually have a melody, and with the various tempo changes it gives something very entertaining for the listener.

Juliana on the drums delivers a fabulous performance that is really amazing. Luis offers a tremendous guitar outing with a solid performance that will get you headbanging like no one’s business.

The tracks are well arranged and don’t fall into that ‘it all sounds the same syndrome.’ That impressed me, and impressed me enough to be excited about this album. I’m not a grindcore aficionado so who I would compare them with??? Haven’t a clue actually, but with a musical offering such as this it doesn’t matter. If you want full on hard grind here it is, and the lyrics are just as full on but from a God glorifying point of view. (It should be noted that Rowe Productions compare them with Morbid Angel and Suffocation if that gives you an idea of what to expect.)

As best as I can tell the vocals are in Portuguese but its grindcore, and the lyrics are translated into English for those of us who are too lazy to know two languages (thank you very much I’m a slacker). There are just 11 tracks of full on pounding grinding death, like being hit with a concrete slab. With tracks such as Hellward, Welcome to Death, King of Glory you get the idea.

Rowe Productions gets big thumbs up for this release and Antidemon gets an 8 axe review for this album of intense grind that glorifies Jesus Christ the One True and Living GOD!! ApocalypeNow indeed!

8 axes

VENGEANCE RISING - DESTRUCTION COMES

Vengeance Rising’s third album Destruction Comes has been reissued and remastered by Intense Millennium. They’ve even included the music video for the track Before the Time.

Destruction Comes, if you’re not familiar with it, is full on thrash/grind metal which is low on subtlety and long on bombast. Gone are many of the somewhat melodic elements of the first two Vengeance albums and what you have here is pure brain crushing ear splitting metal best heard at high volume.

You Can’t Stop It, Countless Corpses, Thanatos, Before the Time and the rest don’t allow you to breathe (well maybe part of Raegoul does…). Undoubtedly the even more brutal direction is due to the fact that only Roger Martinez remained from the original line-up.

The guitar tone on this album is much more processed which I thought the remastering might help clean up. Unfortunately that really didn’t occur, many of the tones are louder which adds to a bit fuller sound, but that also means that the guitar elements are just louder as well.

This is still a solid Vengeance album and I’ve read where some fans actually like this disc and the one that followed Unleashed Upon the Earth even better than the first two. Myself I’m glad to see Destruction Comes see the light of day in an updated format.

If you like things hard and heavy this is a must add to your collection.


7 axes

KRIG - NARCISSISTIC MECHANISM

Grinding their way out of South America are Brazilian grinders KRIG. With a blend of Death and Grindcore this quartet delivers a level of brutality that is rarely witnessed. Guttural growls, layers of crushing guitars and bombastic bass topped off with solid percussion, this is the proverbial 100 ton lead weight.

KRIG’s latest release is entitled Narcissistic Mechanism. This album is long on bombast and short on subtly. After opening with a rather progressive and melodic instrumental entitled ‘Folish Evildoers II,’ these merchants of metal push the pedal to 12 with ‘Dilacerated,’ ‘Mankind Dead Remains,’ ‘Not Being Hypocrite’ and several others. There are some elements of melody in ‘God is Alive’ and ‘End of Time’ but these compositions are more the exception than the rule.

The production values are quite good, as all the instruments are recorded well and mixed appropriately. Personally I could’ve used a little more bass guitar, but that is being nit picky. I must admit that this isn’t my favorite style of metal, but because of the production values I found this release to be extremely accessible. Please understand as I qualify this statement this is full on Grind/Death metal with elements of technical/Prog metal so don’t expect early Mortification. This release is more intense than that, perhaps more along the lines of I Built the Cross.

Mentioning the production values again, I can’t emphasize them enough, because of the quality I’m able to detect the direction and progressions that the music is going through. Since Daniel Corpse (vocalist) doesn’t screech/scream but uses the lower register to vocalize I just found that more pleasurable. Now someone will say ‘But Dagon uses that screaming style and you loved them!!’ well all I can say in my defense is that when you put out something the quality of Terraphobic it just pushes me to new limits.

I’ve also seen KRIG compared to Suffocation and Impending Doom. That might very well be the case but I will say this is one extreme disc that is done well. Fans of the genre will want pick this one up without delay. Narcissistic Mechanism is waiting for you.


8 AXES