Defamer - Decrepit Rituals

Since their 2008 debut Chasm, Queensland death metallers Defamer have picked up the game on Decrepit Rituals. Taking an approach that does not follow any of the current trends of Swedish death metal or Incantation worship.A boiling  pot of the old school death metals savagery, Defamer craft a concoction that is comparable to Cardiac Arrest. 

Like a slimy wrecking ball of unique brutality Decrepit Rituals scrambles your brain with mid paced pummeling in the vein of Suffocation, blood soaked waltzes of Autopsy, Bolt Thrower’s marching rhythm, twisted compositions comparable to Demilich and scattered hints of black metal. The guitars lead the way zigzagging between tempos with a gruesome tone while the drumming follows no patterns, continuously changing  direction like the bowels of a sickening beast. Overall Defamer keep you guessing as to what crooked procession that will take next. The riffs on the other hand don’t always deliver as one would hope considering they are rather high in the mix and are a core component in Decrepit Rituals. Generally the slow paced moments are the most powerful, The End Is His slow heaving outro crushes you slowly like being caught under a steamroller. While occasionally rapid moments tend to become a bit uninspiring. The vocalist’s primary growls are rather powerful and reach sickening points of wetness as Mike Yee of psychedelic death dealer The Dead. Not as intense are his raspy cries, but never the less try to add variety

Taking a unique approach to death metal, Defamer still need to mold their musical clay, no doubt the tools are there to create something of monstrous proportions. Considering Decrepit Rituals an improvement on Chasm, Defamer is a band to keep an eye out  on for the future.       

7/10

Revenge – Scum. Collapse. Eradication

After four years and the loss of member Pete Helmkamp, Canada’s most barbaric have finally retuned with the fourth full length Scum. Collapse Eradication.  With such underground “kult” acts as Revenges progression is considered sacrilege, and are reveled for continuously spewing out the hostile foulness they are known for. Whilst   Scum… is very akin to previous full lengths, it leaves little to be sought.

The experience of your skull concaving is a practice Revenge has assisted in multiple releases and Scum… is no different, except  an axis is missing Revenge previously encompassed. The loss of Helmkamp sneers is noticeable. His vitriol is not there to add munitions to the assault of Reads screams and (if I dare say) variety. Nerveless his departure has not affected the song writing. With their take no prisoner policy as a tank slowly bulldozes the deceased and injured near a trench to be buried dead or alive, the Revenge war machines cogs start turning slowly. Opening track Us And Them (High Power) begins with a foreboding intro, through the slow rhythmic pounding of the drums and shrilled screams before letting loose all fire power in putrid anthem of blackened militant grind. Filthy pitch shifters rumble in 35 minutes of pure desolation along with a hammering guitar tone a venomous squawks that can be described as something more vile then the screams of hundreds of babies being dissovled in acid. J.Read's skin smashing is particularly insane, as if wielding dual mini guns relentlessly propelling lead and tearing the opposition into shreds with out mercy, ensuring all bow down to his carnivorous expertise.

Surges of doom take part in the in the blitzkrieg, as mentioned in the intro of Us And Them (High Power) and the slow build up of pitch shifters and violent commands in Banner Degradation (Exile Of Death). Regrettably they are minimal, but when they occur they are no less filthy then their putrid grind counterparts. Ranked third after Victory… and Infiltration…, Scum… offers nothing new to Revenges harsh barrier of grinding noise but will no doubt satisfy the most militant fanatics. 

8/10



Proclamation - Nether Tombs of Abaddon



The earth splits in twain; tidal waves of molten lava spill upon civilizations, demons rise from fumes of ash and sulfur only to rape and maim any survivors. A gruesome trail of decapitated heads on pikes and charred corpses nailed to crucifixes is all that’s left of humanity. Nether Tombs of Abandon would be the soundtrack to such apocalyptic event.

Continuing on bestial left hand path, Proclamation fourth full length is their strongest effort yet. The drumming is commanding and thunderous  but not to the point where it is overbearing as on Execration of Cruel Bestiality, and while that 2009 desecration had the guitars extremely low in the mix, this time around on Nether Tombs of Abandon it is much more audible and lends to be more punishing experience.Other than that Proclamation is essentially play the same formula they have been for last ten years: fast tempo that rarely changes, Kerry King esque solos, atmospheric intros and the whole bullet belt goat skull aesthetics. Obviously they take influence from Blasphemy, which is much more prelvent on earlier albums but on Nether Tombs of Abandon and even Execration of Cruel Bestiality Proclamation has broken those chains and taken that design to new violent heights

With such aggression and malevolence Proclamation are easily one of the strongest (if not the strongest) straight up bestial black metal acts around. Though all of the releases from these Spanish devil worshippers are of high caliber Nether Tombs of Abandon has to be their magnum opus so far.

8.5/10