The Mountain Man - Bloodlust (2016)

The Mountain Man isn't anything like it might sound, and those looking for modern death metal and core approaches will surely find something in this rather carnivorous offering. It is a groove-laden style of death metal, that occasionally djents and welcomes bits of melody, though it also pushes the vocals quite high in the mix, which overshadows everything else at times. Still, it's a bit more accessible than other acts. The recording is extremely thick and hugely warm, almost feeling like a post metal record at times. It doesn't really have a whole lot of real substance and does exactly what it came to do, which is to punch you in the fucking face. There are many breakdowns, a familiar harsh vocal approach and several of the things that I find will appeal a bit more to the current generation of metal listeners, rather than the older heads. The Mountain Man clearly know what kind of record to make, and there's undoubtedly an audience for it. It's just really not my kind of thing. I love groove-based death, but there's a lot of djent, breakdowns and “bro-core” vocals here that just rub me the wrong way. But if you're looking for something to pump you up before you get into a fight, or while you're doing exercises in the gym, this might just be what the doctor ordered. Maybe this should come with a coupon for a protein shake. All in all, I feel it's rather misleading to call the offering here any form of doom, as it is clearly not.

(5 Tracks, 21:00)

6/10

Lucifericon - Brimstone Altar (2016)

Lucifericon hitting us up with two tracks this time around and both of them are rather entertaining, especially if you like progressive/atmospheric black metal stuff. The first one we have is a dual piece entitled “Brimstone Altar/The Jaws Of Time” but it unfortunately doesn't really seem to move into that other piece. There are some short sections of atmosphere, flying solo sections and blasting drums, but nothing that really signifies to me, “Oh, this is a different song now.” It's still good black metal and wouldn't dare knock it by any means, but it could have been fine with just one title and I feel that two seem unnecessarily pretentious. The reason why write new songs, is so that we can give them new titles. As for the second cut (which is actually far longer, nearly heading into twelve minutes) it's entitled “Witch Of The Cosmic Grave” and begins with some rather spooky atmospherics. Musically it also seems to offer more atmosphere and doesn't sound as straight-forward as the prior cut did. There are scowls utilized, but they're not utilized in a fashion that involves verse/chorus or even verse/verse. It seems that they wanted to do something that more or less feels like a soundscape, and they achieved that. This is the kind of song where the vocal element really isn't all that necessary, and if you want me to be honest – it sounds more like a mix of black metal and threatening doom. I also like the fact that this piece in particular really shows the drummer doing something else besides blasting the hell out of the kit, and the piece truly requires much of his skill in order to keep that atmosphere. I don't think some black metal fans will like this, as it doesn't necessary come straight to the face with misanthropic madness, but I'll admit that I'd have been rather bored by this if the record had only featured two songs that sounded the exact fucking same. Let's give Lucifericon some proper recognition here, and commend them for doing something a little more interesting than some acts would offer on similar EP releases. I think this one is pretty solid, and I'd actually recommend you give it an ear. Not literally, of course.

(2 Tracks, 21:00)

8/10

Khanus - Rites Of Fire (2016)

These Finnish occult death metallers made this record rather short so that it could fit an EP and I think there's some Celtic Frost influence here just as much as there might be from occult black metal. The record seems to contain that dark and fearsome feeling that the black metal world is known for, but listening to “Orgone” reminds me so much of Celtic Frost's latter work that it's a bit pathetic. That being said, it's certainly not a bad note for the band either. They're obviously trying to mix ritual in with death metal, much like we've heard from their black metal counterparts, and a sort of growl is replaced with what might be a scowl in the French occult scene. It's a record that contains a lot of atmosphere, but doesn't necessarily break for atmospheric moments. Admittedly, some listeners who don't understand the whole ritualistic chanting ordeal might mistake the vocal approach for drunken muttering in places, and I can see how that might come off unintentionally comical. But we know that that wasn't the point of such an album, yet it feels very condensed and only seems to offer about half of what I think these guys are truly capable of. They're looking for a label to release their forthcoming debut on, which I hope will be a little bit better. Rites Of Fire is nothing bad, it's just not complete. It very much is an appetizer, but in their defense, it was made to fit on a vinyl record. I've still never understood the fascination with vinyls, as they cost more to make than CD's, are extremely overpriced and require several discs for one listen, which I feel is a literal waste of materials. I'd consider them outdated and they very much are, hence why the CD format became more popular. It was easier to produce and didn't require as much material usage. I wouldn't pick this one up and would rather wait until they release the full-length. If you can get a digital version from the band's Bandcamp, you may want to go that route as well. It has promise, but it's only a mere shade of what they can do.

(3 Tracks, 14:00)

6/10

Cadaveric Fumes - Dimensions Obscure (2016)

If you're into death metal that sounds maybe just a little bit otherworldly, then I think you're going to enjoy this short, but pretty promising release. We at The Grim Tower are no strangers to France's  Cadaveric Fumes and their interestingly grimy blend of cave-dwelling doom/death stuff, but this time the band have decided to maybe take things in a new, more atmospheric direction which I can only praise, especially after having listened to the entirety of this release and in particular, the final cut on the disc; “Where Darkness Reigns Pristine.” Such a piece literally stretches out to nearly fifteen minutes in length, where it observes a great deal of composition including that of some riff obscurities that are way out of character for these guys. It's also a little bit more melodic and rockin' (has some classic rock solos) than we might expect as well. There's still plenty of chunky death metal here, but we get so much more than that and I really hope they'll work on exploring this territory further. “Crepuscular Journey” and “Extatic Extirpation” are pretty much common-fare for the act, despite some segues in the form of what you'll hear on this finale, but the true meat of the record is this track, which in my opinion should have been the EP's title. Shit, maybe they should just take “When Darkness Reigns Pristine” and put it on the new record as the album's title. That would work for me, it's definitely one of the strongest cuts I've ever heard from them or any band similar. Which says a lot. If they'd just given me this cut by itself, I'd have given it a near-perfect score right out of the box. But you know, there are two other tracks here which sort of feel like appetizers and don't really accomplish anything new – at least compared to the aforementioned. Still, there's enough of a meal in the closer for the disc to retain such a high score. I'm not sure what kind of band Cadaveric Fumes are becoming, but I'm all for them crawling out of the whole Cavern Death Metal thing. More of this, please!

(3 Tracks, 25:00)

9/10

Bound By Fate - Steadfast (2016)

Ohio's Bound By Fate are an act that I would personally consider a bluesy type of southern fried stoner/doom and sludge metal that sounds a lot better on this sophomore than they did with the first time I heard it. I seem to recall passing on these guys the first time they were sent to me, but for some odd reason I really seem to dig it now. There's still some rough edges, like “Condemnation” which still has some harsh vocal issues. I understand he's going for a sort of death metal approach, but it seems like he might be killing his throat here. On the less vocal intensive cuts like “Broke Apart” and “Rebuild The Man” I'm reminded a bit more of Down and I think it suits both him and the rest of the band a bit better. I remember hearing “Crooked Blue” a while back and I did like it, but I'm hearing what I'd consider even better material on this debut record. Even though it's short, it shows you that these guys could really be something. I'll add that the entire solo on “Rebuild The Man” faded right into the background and needs to be raised (I literally couldn't hear it at all) but I'll be lenient as these guys do offer enough of a bite for people to take notice. Steadfast is a really thick and furious metal album that stands on it's own two feet pretty well, regardless of the fact that a few things might not have gone so well in the studio this first time around. There's no reason why a band like this shouldn't get some attention and I'm quite pleased with the amount of enraged vigor that I'm hearing here. I just don't think the growls on “Condemned” should be attempted again, as that just didn't fucking work at all. Other than that, I think it's a pretty decent record and I'd definitely recommend people looking for a hard-hitting shot of adrenal sludge to give it a listen. Bound By Fate certainly sound better here than on the last time I heard them, and hopefully they'll continue that trend on future albums. There's definitely promise here, especially if you're looking for a fist to the jaw.

(7 Tracks, 25:00)

7/10

Blood - O Agios Pethane (2016 Reissue)

More often than not, I review brand new releases. Yet every once in a while, I get something that many would consider a relic and this record from German death metal/grind legends Blood is exactly that. What we're getting stuffed down our gullet here is essentially a mix of death, thrash and grind that delivers exactly twenty songs at a little over half an hour. Though it isn't the kind of half an hour that you'll easily cast aside, especially if you love absolute carnage and chaos delivered in the same way that several similar acts in today's metal scene seem to think is something new. But these guys were playing this kind of shit since those guys were in diapers and a record like this one really shows where much of their style came from. Aside from the pounding drums and garbage-mouthed vocals, you're also getting some unexpected and rather necessary doom riffs, which tend to make the whole thing a little more foreboding. The very fact that this record doesn't stick to one damn tempo and only one damn tempo, makes it very interesting to me. These guys really could have gone out there in '93 and played the kind of record that many younger bands give us today, where every song goes a million miles an hour without any real thought to the performance other than to make it “brutal.” Although the disc is brutal and offers just as much speed I feel, but there's so much more to it than that. It's death with grooves, kind of like what you might find on the blunt object that these guys musically beat you to death with, yet it also has substance. You can actually discern the thick doom riffs, these terrifyingly evil leads that make such a classic performance work and sound anything but outdated even decades after it's release. The press release does mention solos, but there aren't so many of those as we might think and they're not the kind of really long solos that you might expect to hear with other bands. These guys prefered a more straight-forward to death, grind and groove, but there’s definitely some thrash and doom too. The press release tells me there’s some punk in here, but I’ve yet to hear it. Even though it sounds like a hodgepodge and most early grind was; it all manages to work well on this ancient release, which I'd definitely recommend. Maybe the production isn't amazing, but it was '93 and the technology wasn't quite like it is now. Even so, you'll still find it a real blast from the past in the form of death/grind's early years, which I still think were when it was at it's peak (at least compared to most of the stuff that I hear from the sub-genre today.)

(20 Tracks, 33:00)

8/10

Six Reasons To Kill - Rote Erde (2016)

Germany's Six Reasons To Kill craft what I'd consider a mix of melodic death and groove metal, which comes in like an absolute fist with the title track. The listener gets a literal earful of brass knuckles, which remind of hardcore acts the likes of Sworn Enemy and Hatebreed. But there's a little more here than that, as a tinge of melody sweeps into the main riff of the song and leads into a rather unexpected and full-bodied solo. It's definitely the kind of song that you'd listen to before going to kick someone's ass in a fighting tournament. Interestingly enough, Dismember's “Of Fire” is also covered here, to an obvious change in style and tempo. On this piece we're definitely hearing more melody (as expected) with a tinge towards what I'd consider an At The Gates, or Dismember style of playing (as it's obviously a cover track.) The track later incorporates an almost southern groove, which I'm not sure is a part of the original or not, but it works. I may not know as much about Dismember's early work as I should, but I do know that what I'm hearing is finely crafted melodic death metal with a lot more structure than the title cut and original focus of this piece. I'm sure that Six Reasons To Kill have a lot to offer, but when your original is overshadowed by your cover, I sense that there's a major problem. My challenge to the band is to offer something to me that sounds even better than the Dismember track featured here. A tall order, but it'll definitely separate the men from the boys. I need to note that this EP release follows no less than a total of five full-lengths, so there's a good chance that they've met my challenge and perhaps you should dig through their catalog to find out. It just didn't work for me this time, fellas. (The Grim Tower)

2.5/5