Desultor's Masters Of Hate - Murder Metal??!!

Over the past couple of years, Abyss Records have become one of Metal’s best underground suppliers of new bands. You know, the kind of label that will make you discover  unknown and interesting acts, no matter how much time you spend on reading underground 'zines. And as people seem to be fighting globalization, one must admit that in this particular case, it’s a blessing. What a pleasure to discover a new Stockholm-based band on an American label!

May seem like a detail, but this fine logo immediately made me want to hear that band. 

And obviously the pleasure is even more intense as Desultor are a very promising band. There are 2 guys presented as “permanent” band members here: Markus Joha handles guitars and vocals and Michael Ibrahim takes care of the drums. They describe their music as “Murder Metal”. Could someone please tell them that this label is already used by Macabre – the US funny -but not so good- Death Metal band??!!

Anyways, forget about the damn labels, since describing Desultor’s Metal is one nasty challenge. I often like to look around the web and read reviews for records I listen to; especially when a band is that difficult to characterize, I like to read about other reviewers opinions. 

In their case, Desultor are mostly described as prog’ or technical Death/Thrash Metal. Why not? The thing is, although they seem to be a pretty technical band, their songs are very catchy and built on a very “classic” extreme metal scheme. The best way to describe them is probably to mention 2 other bands: Nevermore and Into Eternity. From Nevermore, take the vocals; as they really remind me of Warrel Dane's style. There’s this intensity and the constant melancholy in the clear singing, and even though Markus doesn’t have Warrel Dane’s untouchable talent, he does a really great job transmitting dark emotions. They big “chunky” riffs also reminded me of Nevermore but the Extreme Metal (meaning very fast riffing and drums) mixed with the melodic singing; has to be credited to Into Eternity, one of the first bands, if not the very first one, to use clean and high-pitched vocals on insane blast-beats. 

However, make no mistake, this very young band has it’s own personality, and definitely displays a huge ambition and talent. There influences may seem obvious, but they really don’t sound like any of the bands cited above.

Masters Of Hate is a brilliant first record from a band that sure is going to shine in the near future. I’m not sure you understood what the music REALLY sounds like, which is a good thing, because it shows how original Desultor are. The best way to discover these guys and to fall for their charm is to click on this link and to listen to some songs online.

Cool cover that perfectly illustrates the music on the album

One last thing I need to mention: there seems to be a concept on Masters Of Hate, something complex and that nicely suits the cover artwork and the band’s image. Some of you guys probably already know how much I LOVE bands that kind of define their own universe or world to explore.

This is clearly the best song on the record & the easiest way to convince you that this band is brilliant.

Yath

ENTRENCH – INEVITABLE DECAY: Awesome Thrash from out of nowhere

It doesn’t really happen that often anymore; but receiving such an unexpected record from a totally unknown band is still one damn pleasure.

Entrench hail from Sweden, and they have an awesome name and an even cooler logo. Now that’s rare for a new band, as all the cool-sounding “Metal” names seem to have been taken.

Entrench was born in 2006, and after a few line-up changes and obscure demos, the band's just released it’s first album, called Inevitable Decay, through the US-based Abyss Records.

First observation: the cover of the CD is strange, absolutely not your usual Thrash Metal art (apparently done by bassist Joel Sundin). The rest of the artwork is more conventional with live pictures of the band and the lyrics. I also like the nice purple color on the back of the CD, really reminds me of those old Thrash CDs I used to buy back in the 90s.

Some might find this artwork horrible, I think it's just fantastic

Musically speaking, Entrench is a Thrash Metal band, or should I say a Scandinavian Thrash Metal band.

When it comes to Thrash Metal, we usually mention the American scene and the German scene. And that’s pretty unfair in my opinion as the Scandinavian scene’s contribution to Thrash Metal is equally as important. Some speak of Black/Thrash (we’ll discuss this soon with an interview of the band Nekromantheon) or Death/Thrash, but at the end of the day, it’s nothing else but pure Thrash Metal to me.

Entrench's audience: who needs anther proof that this is pure Thrash? 

The fact that Entrench come from Sweden means a lot though as it does influence their Thrash. In fact, the guys say it themselves: they play Thrash Metal with early Death Metal influences. And that’s absolutely correct, as listening to Inevitable Decay feels a little bit like listening to the first Swedish Death Metal bands. There is that particular feeling of emergency and insanity, just as if the musician’s lives were at stake. And that makes the music sometimes sound clumsy, particularly when it comes to leads. Now if you play in a Metal band, please do remember that sounding “clumsy” or not being technically sharp sounds nice when the music you’re composing is genuinely inspired, otherwise, you’ll just sound shitty.

Hey, that's a typical Death Metal Scenery! 

Entrench’s Thrash is very sharp, aggressive, hysterical, very epic and so nicely composed. Each song contains tons of variations, different riffs, and cool melodies; in one word: that album is extremely DYNAMIC. A little bit like early US thrash, particularly bands like Forbidden who also play a “clinical” and complex kind of thrash.

To this, of course, you need to add the screamed vocals and that “Scandinavian Touch” making the music more aggressive, and very dark, just like your early Death Metal used to sound like.

All the 8 songs on this album are very cool, but 2 of them really caught my attention: “Portrait Of A Phobia” and “Where Only Ruins Remain”. Maybe coz’ they’re even more epic than the other songs.

All you need to remember is that if you like Thrash, than I really think you should check this band out. Their Thrash is authentic, original, and therefore different from all those hyped retro-thrash bands the bigger labels are trying to make you believe in.

To Entrench means "To provide with a trench, for the purpose of fotifying or defending". Watch out guys, these warriors are here to stay, and they are heavily armed.

Easily one of my favorite albums this year!

YATH

http://www.reverbnation.com/entrench

http://www.officialabyssrecords.com/

Vektor – Thrash Metal from outer space

Clearly, these 4 guys from Arizona are insane. There are a lot of rumors about people from Arizona, but in terms of Metal, I’d never seen anything that crazy. My first encounter with Vektor was the cover of their first record Black Future (although some might say their Demo Nucleus is in fact the first LP).

That's one nasty cover!

My reaction was “what the hell is this going to sound like??”. And I wasn’t disappointed, as Black Future didn’t sound like anything I’d heard before. This young band genuinely sounded DIFFERENT, really, I had nothing to compare it to. I mean OK; there are some elements here and there. Some might speak about Voivod influences. Yeah, sure, the logos look alike, and they both have Sci-Fi themes. But musically, the comparison is not that obvious.

Needless to say one of the world's most extraordinary bands...

Vektor’s Thrash Metal is insane, full of technical madness, fast, furious, smart, epic, violent and also melodic. Just call it techno-thrash or progressive thrash. There are elements of prog’, black, death, symphonic Metal, can’t really say! And Black Future also contained the awesome & typical fury of a band that’s releasing its first record. Needless to say that that record remained my favorite that year, and I still listen to it regularly.

Now the second album has arrived, and the artwork is again fantastic albeit different from the previous one. This time it has colors and it’s not as dense. It’s rather open and “peaceful” in a way. Is this bad omen for the record? Is it going to contain less fury? Have Vektor gained some sort of sanity?

Another awesome artwork!

Well, to figure that out, you’ll just have to listen to the epic 10+mins opener “Cosmic Cortex”. Yes, these guys are nuts enough to place the longest and most epic song at the beginning of the record. And guess what; it works! That is one hell of a killer track, with lots of variations, awesome riffs and melodies. It’s like the entire force of Vektor brought down to this song, with speed, madness and headbanging power. All doubts are now gone, and the rest of the record is all about freakin’ pleasure.

Everyone will have it’s own favorite songs and features when it comes to Vektor. I personally mostly enjoy David Disanto’s singing. His screamed vocals sound like no other and that way he has of going heavy and acute is unbelievable. I also love the smart and groovy drumming, the insane bass lines and the crazy riffing. Yeah, I totally dig every bit of that band.

Now that is the Thrash Metal Dream Team! 

What’s also really cool with Vektor is that no matter how complex some songs might be, they still are easily memorized, and something special makes you want to listen to them again, and again… Those damn “listening layers” at their best. You can just enjoy the thrash riffing and headbang or listen carefully to distinguish the smart songwriting.

I already have some favorite songs on that one, like the INSANE “Tetrastructural Minds” (What the hell is that??). Just love the guitars on this one! And the opening scream is memorable! Again that track is so complex and somehow, you just want to sing along: amazing!

I also love other songs like “Venus Project” and the very strange “Fast Paced Society”. But you know, the more I listen to it, the more I appreciate the songs differently….

Bottom line is, this album RULES, and the first Vektor record was definetly no accident. This band is one of the best things that’s happened to Thrash Metal over the past 10 years. Yeah, you can quote this one. I already wrote that when the first record came out, and I’m glad these insane dudes from Arizona proved me right with Outer Isolation!

YATH

http://www.facebook.com/VektorOfficial

http://www.heavyartillery.us/

Pursuit Of Honor by Battlecross: More METAL than METAL itself

Now that's a cool Metal Band logo

This band is called “Battlecross” and they named their second album “Pursuit Of Honor”. Battle, Cross, Honor: 3 Metal keywords.

And then look at the cover of the album: there’s a sort of mutant (half muscle, half skeleton, how is this possible??) that is carrying a machinegun and it’s wearing bullet-belts. It’s also got a gasmask and there’s some sort of mutant army under his command. Wow. You’re thinking pure Metal Clichés right?

Who dares to say that Metal music is only about violence?

And the music is EXACTLY the same way: 100% Metal & Muscle, nothing else. There aren’t even hard-rock influences here, it’s like Battlecross has chosen to play a blend of Death, Thrash and Metalcore. It’s also obvious that he guys like both the American scene and the European Melodic Death Metal bands. They kind of mix the American natural groove with the European science for epic melodies. A guy who reviewed the album found some similarities with another cool band called The Absence, and that is signed on the same label (Metal Blade). The comparison is completely relevant as both bands are absolutely unoriginal but very talented, and they display an unbelievable amount of energy. Their sound is however pretty different as The Absence has no Metalcore influences at all. 

But let’s get back to Battlecross’ main strength: ENERGY. Their music is fast, groovy, powerful, everything we love about Metal. Bassist Don Slater also shows some impressive talent as his groovy lines really stand out. I also love the fact that the band has injected some very fast & brutal parts and cool guitar solos.

Pursuit Of Honour is short (hardly more than 36 mins) and full of clichés. It’s also unbelievably dense and it’s like an energy-shot that will give you that stupid yet fantastic feeling of "liquid metal flowing through your veins".

Push Pull Destroy's cool official video. Don't expect an arty black&white clip

Battlecross is an embodiment of everything you love about Metal. Metalcore has gone silly, some Metal bands like to add progressive influences and everybody’s crazy about hard-rock these days. Meanwhile Battlecross are still on the field, and they are defending the Metal Flag with impressive power, commitment and of course honor.

This is an easy [4/5].

Yath

PS: make sure you check’em out right here: http://battlecrossmetal.com/