ALBUM REVIEW: Whipstriker, "Merciless Artillery"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 09/03/2018

Label: Hells Headbangers Records

Gritty and uncompromising, Whipstriker truly are “Soldiers of Sodom” and will cast their “Warspell” on you if you get a hold of this feral beast of an album.

“Merciless Artillery” CD//DD track listing:

1). Merciless Artillery

2). Rape of Freedom

3). Calm after Destruction

4). Mantas ’Black Mass

5). Solider of Sodom

6). Warspell

7). Enemies Leather

8). Bestial Hurricane

The Review:

Brazil's Whipstrikerare back- again- in their prolific career since 2008 they have amassed no less than four albums and countless split singles and so on. If you haven't heard the band, I can sum things up for you: Venom. This band are the hellish spawn of Mantas, Abaddon and Cronos- ably assisted by Bathory, Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost.

That tells you exactly what you are getting. This is a dark and rough listen- echoing Venom'slegendary debut and Motorhead's attitude perfectly. The title track kicks things off in gritty style- have a listen and you will know instantly if this is for you or not. Over the course of eight tracks, you get Venom, Sodom, Motorhead, Frost, Hellhammer, Bathoryand so on all wrapped into an appealingly raw production. The band has gone for vibe and attitude, not sound replacements and perfection. This really is a warts and all recording- there are some imperfections here and there for sure! That is of absolutely of no issue to me, though. There is also a fair amount of very smooth playing and surprisingly melodic riffing. This music is supposed to be rough and ready and Whipstriker have delivered their own vision.

If you are after anything in the style of the bands mentioned above, this album is a must. Gritty and uncompromising, Whipstriker truly are “Soldiers of Sodom”and will cast their “Warspell” on you if you get a hold of this feral beast of an album.

“Merciless Artillery” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Vomitor, "Pestilent Death"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 20/04/2018

Label: Hells Headbangers Records

This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding and with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly and stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.

“Pestilent Death” CD//CS//DD//LP track listing:

1. Tremolation (04:19)
2. Roar of War (04:38)
3. Abracadabra (04:46)
4. Manic Oppression (03:48)
5. Tremendous Insane (05:40)
6. Pestilent Death (04:12)
7. Hells Butcher (04:29)

The Review:

Australia's Vomitor plays a kind of death metal/thrash metal/black metal hybrid. Noisy, tough and uncompromising about sums these boys up. This is very much on the Venom-Bathory-Sodom continuum, use that as a starting point and then modernise a bit...

The band, having been plugging away since the 90s and are on vicious form here. This is even better than “The Escalation”album of a few years ago. Better songs, production and mix. Over the course of seven tracks the band batters the listener very convincingly from the opening maelstrom of “Tremolation” to the slowed down and grinding “Road of War” and into the noise fest of “Abracadabra”, the band sets out their stall and invites you to leave if you don't like it.

You can hear the influences here; early Slayer, Sodom and so on, but this is more extreme than any of the bands mentioned above. The band has picked up the ball and run with it, Aussie-rules style. The dramatic opening of “Manic Oppression” gives way to an all out thrash attack while the album's epic centrepiece of “Tremendous Insane” makes a truly unholy racket.

Of the final two tracks, the title track is more blackened in approach while the closing horror of “Hells Butcher” is as beastly as the previous album's “Pitch Black”. The record is unrelenting and makes for very uneasy listening throughout. This is metal as it should be: balls to the wall, nasty sounding and with an evil undertone to it all. No wimps. No posers. Vomitor are ungodly and stand as a beacon of satanic light. Welcome to hell, again.

“Pestilent Death”is available on Cassette (HERE), CD (HERE), and Vinyl (HERE).

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Druid Lord - "Grotesque Offerings"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 19/01/2018

Label: Hells Headbangers Records

Fans of Hooded Menace, Serpentine Path and traditional Floridadeath metal like Obituary or Malevolent Creation can't go wrong here; this is a great example of the doom/death genre and surely one of the musically darkest albums you could pick to play out the winter.

“Grotesque Offerings” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1). House of Gripping Gore

2). Night Gallery

3). Spells of the Necromancer

4). Evil That Haunts This Ground

5). Black Candle Séance

6). Creature Feature

7). Into The Crypts

8). Murderous Mr Hyde

9). Last Drop of Blood

10). Final Resting Place

The Review:

More doom/death of the darkest order from these dwellers of deepest... Florida. Darkness does indeed drip forth from opener “House of Dripping Gore”, but that is not to say that the likes of “Night Gallery” don't swing fairly mightily. In amongst these seven minute epics, there are some sprightly interludes (“Spells of the Necromancer”, “Into The Crypts”, “Final Resting Place”), but for the most part it is a sprawling and pitch black listen.

The song titles really do say it all here; “Evil That Haunts This Ground”, “Black Candle Séance”- deathly and doomy stuff. It is not without humour- “Creature Feature” is a fine and flighty song title and the lyrics fit nicely- but how much more black can the music be? The answer is, of course, none! The tracks across the record are mostly slow and creep forward with purpose- great riffs, some superb lead work and even guitar melodies here and there. There are changes of pace here and there- “Last Drop of Blood” is pretty fast and furious (and superb), but for the most part there is more doom than death here, I think.

Fans of Hooded Menace, Serpentine Path and traditional Florida death metal like Obituaryor Malevolent Creation can't go wrong here; this is a great example of the doom/death genre and surely one of the musically darkest albums you could pick to play out the winter.

“Grotesque Offerings” is available here

Band info: bandcamp|| facebook