WOM Reviews – Lychgate / Schizophrenia / Miles to Perdition / Frogg / Aseptic / Ergodic / Wormhole / Abhomine
WOM Reviews – Lychgate / Schizophrenia / Miles to Perdition / Frogg / Aseptic / Ergodic / Wormhole / Abhomine
Lychgate – “Also Sprach Futura”
Debemur Morti
According to my metaphorical book, there are mainly three types of bands/albums: the good ones, the ones that aren’t yet good and the different ones (which can also be good or the other one, but the main thing is that they are special). That being said, Also Sprach Futura (something along the lines of “So Spoke Futura”) fits perfectly on the third group… with an evil twist. Lychgate, the English band responsible for said obscure work, was formed in 2011 and has, since then, released three albums, being the work here reviewed their first EP and most recent release (or yet to be released). So what to say about Also Sprach Futura? Well, it’s a work that finds its roots on an unusual but very enjoyable mix of black metal and doom, the first one being a bit out of the box as it is. The band dwells in some deep themes as can be seen by the name of this EP which is an adaptation of the (maybe) most relevant of work of Nietzsche “Also Sprach Zarathustra”, and their sound carries throughout this whole work a truly sinister vibe, that shifts between rhythms, has a cathedral-like atmosphere in its majority and that on the whole feels musically rich (I don’t even know what I mean by this, but it is how I felt it). Quick note on the last track, it mutates a bit on the formula adding a more epic feel to it which is, the once again metaphorical, cherry on the top.
Post-Review Comment: It’s coming out on a Friday 13th.
9.5/10
Matias Melim
Schizophrenia – “Voices”
Edição de Autor
Schizophrenia is a 4-member band that takes its chances in the creation of a high-quality fusion of death metal and thrash metal, and guess what, they completely annihilate it. Formed in 2016, but making their debut on the 31st of January of this year, with their coherently-named EP – “Voices”. According to their social media, they currently make Belgium their home; however the name of some of the members names just scream Italian heritage, so let’s leave the nationality of the band to our imagination. Moving on to “Voices”, this is an EP that from start to finish is going to put your head spinning. In its field, is damn near perfect in every aspect: well-timed and quick rhythms on which all the foundation of the sound lays, heavy aggression fueled by an invisible but indispensable bass, few solos that count for their “virtuosity” and the vocals that mostly dominate the EP. To describe anything else would be too subjective so to keep it short and simple: be on the lookout for when this album drops.
9.5/10
Matias Melim
Miles to Perdition – “2084”
Edição de Autor
When was the last time you started listening to an album and one of the first spoken sentences was “We will abolish the orgasm”? Probably never, right? Well, this will be a first one. Miles to Perdition is a band formed in 2008 in the not-so-often talked nation of Luxembourg. Their career started with a self-titled demo, and after it there were two other releases: an EP and a full length album. Now they aim to add another member to the family, an album by the name (number) of 2084. Contrary to the introduction of this review, 2084 is an album of serious themes: the future dystopia to which we are headed for and the contrast of the utopia we so often idealize, everything with a sci-fi twist (the band points to “1984” and “Brave New World” as some of the literary works that influenced their own sound). Miles to Perdition chooses the melodical death metal genre to present their work and while their style isn’t that melodical (there aren’t, for example, any memorable solos for me) and a bit repetitive, it’s definitely worth the listen. 2084 is an album that opts to focus on some interesting riffs always giving priority to the aggressiveness that stands out mainly in the vocals. However, and here comes my main turnoff regarding this album, the type of aggressiveness they display is one that lays on a more acute approach which isn’t of my personal taste(reminder that reviews are opinions which, of course, are never absolute). The bass seems very absent to cause any type of relevant impact, at least, any “mighty impact”. All in all, it’s a good album which will, in my opinion, please most of those that dedicate their time to this style, mainly those who like the more “extreme” of it, as this album is basically that: hard semi-melodical death metal. Good to see that Portugal and Luxembourg, share something besides the smaller national size: good metal.
7/10
Matias Melim
Frogg – “A Reptylian Dystopia”
Edição de Autor
Frogg is an American band (later I found out that they are a duo) that aims to release their debut EP on the 17th of January. The main objective of the band, as they point out in their bandcamp page, is to “create modern heavy music while striving to show off some originality in an often, over-processed genre” referring to technical death metal. So did they, with this new EP, manage to innovate this somewhat saturated style? Unfortunately, I’m of the opinion that they didn’t, however that doesn’t mean that this is a bad listen, actually it’s the opposite. Despite not being a fan of this genre, Frogg actually reminded me of my teen years when I actually adored tech-death. Nostalgia aside, A Reptilian Dystopia is a mixed combination of 4 tracks that are comprised of elements that move from the more aggressive sounds to the more melodical ones occasionally, in spite of the first ones being by far more prevalent. The aggressive part of the album is fairly standard dominated by quick tempos and aided by gruesome riffs, and the more “soft” side that distributes itself a bit by each track is built by the absence of drums, presence of melancholical solos and also heavy guitar distortion and distant, chorus-like vocal that fit in quite nicely on the overall structure of the final track. I dislike the sub-genre, like the EP and love the whole graphical aspect of the cover art. Plus the band dwells in some very interesting themes (for example, human evolution mixed with some more mystical themes), which is always refreshing. Just to conclude: my main problem with the style is that, as FROGG says, is “over-processed”; and my main problem with the band is that they still have too little information about themselves online, which is perfectly normal taking into account that they are very “recent” in their own existence.
7.5/10
Matias Melim
Aseptic – “Cascading Fluids”
Redefining Darkness Records
“Disgusting” is the first adjective that comes to mind when you start hearing Cascading Fluids. Positively disgusting, that is! For, what better way to start a death metal EP than the sound of someone/something going through very slimy guts next to a microphone?! Either that or something being birth from said guts. Anyways, Aseptic is an American duo (on this particular EP they are actually three) that has been around for 6 years. During these, they have released a healthy amount of music through 2 full length albums and 1 EP that now finds company with their most recent release: Cascading Fluids. So how does this EP fare on its own? First of all, it’s worth of note that this EP dwells on a type of death metal that intends on being ugly rather than being pretty with some degree of melodic solos. That being said, Cascading Fluids achieves that goal, a brutal and dry experience that envelops itself on the more aggressive side of the genre. It’s probably a better to go by this comment than by the final score I’ll be giving to this EP, since I’m not that given to these rawer experiences. This album is good and highly recommended for the fans of the genre, however it doesn’t completely works for me, maybe because of the imaginary mantle than kind of smothers the band’s sound and the lack of more dynamic sonority (it’s not repetitive per se, but it stays very still on the spectrum of unclean death metal). However, don’t take completely my word for it, give it a go yourselves!
7/10
Matias Melim
Ergodic – “Ergodic”
Edição de Autor
I’m not very picky regarding my death metal. As long as it is energizing, not repetitive and not more of the same mix, I consider it good. This is the case with Ergotic and their self-titled EP. Ergotic, the band, is an American group of technical death metal that does it share in spreading the quick and brutal gospel of the genre. This EP is packed with good melodic riffs (very beautifully displayed in memorable solos) and quick tempos that will shoot out your brain to the stratosphere before you can say Ergodic. The whole mix works, but for me the thing that really stands out is the impact of the drums: explosive enough to leave you blinded while walking through the crowds. As far as I can understand through their bandcamp (I can’t get along with the site’s display in any case) this is a first one for this group, so once again we in World of Metal find ourselves with an excellent first “kickoff” from a new band; a soon to be released EP that already paints the band in a very good way!
8/10
Matias Melim
Wormhole – “The Weakest Among Us”
Lacerated Enemy Records
Being international in their formation, Wormhole is a band formed in 2015 that has seen quite a bit of movement in their artists. Since 2015, the band has released just two albums, the debut in 2016 and the second one in January of this year with the name of “Weakest Among Us”. Their style is usually put under the tech slam tag, however I don’t have the slightest idea of what that means, so here’s a quick description to my fellow friends that don’t know what this is, too (Yes, all the three of you!); their sound is better described by the coexistence of complicated riffs, extreme brutality (oversized pig squeals and grunts included) and beautiful melodies in solos between the tougher and more extreme parts. Above all, I think it’s a very interesting combination that this band manages to balance perfectly, despite being allergic to the damned pig grunts that seem to follow me since I first heard this piece. I can’t fully enjoy the maximum exponent of brutality in this album; however everything else (around 80%) is highly enjoyable with catchy guitars (both standard riffs and solos sections) and with an equally complex drum work. This is one of those times where you’re better not overthinking about the work in itself and just enjoy it. Because if there are two things that this band manages to achieve, they are: creativity and high musical dexterity/complexity.
Ps: This pig is fucking disgusting! 8/10!
8/10
Matias Melim
Abhomine – “Proselyte Parasite Plague”
Osmose Productions / Hells Headbangers
This is one hard to characterize. Abhomine released its first album being a solo project by Pete Helmkamp and now, in its second release which will be analyzed here, it had the cooperation of Cazz Grant remaining unclear if Abhomine became a duo-project or not. But let’s leave that discussion for another time. As I’ve said, Proselyte Parasite Plague isn’t Abhomines’ first album, it’s the second one. One could say that this album stands with a foot in black metal (vocals) and with the other one in death metal, the latter bordering the grindcore. I’m going to keep it simple: this album is for those that enjoy their music more on the raw side, and I’m definitely not one of them. The sound is always on fast mode while sounding dry with the vocals that don’t seem to fully integrate themselves with the sonority but instead piling on top of it. Being someone that enjoys almost exclusively Napalm Death in this death-grindcore field, I think that what lacked in this album for me to enjoy it was a more explosive force in its delivery; but maybe the problem is mine by expecting them to go for a grind approach. It goes without saying that here on World of Metal we aren’t experts of music; just fans that decided to write these types of materials where “any” opinion counts, and even if we were to only praise the works we analyze, every work would end up being generically good for us (and if everything is good, nothing is good), so read our opinions always remembering that we don’t mean to bring down anyone. A person’s shack might be another person’s mansion, and we fully respect that.
3/10
Matias Melim