Saturnalia temple - To the other (2015)

To the other, Saturnalia temple's second full lenght is right now the album to beat this year in the dark psychedelic doom genre. It's a very impressive album, displaying a very potent combination of the epic might of heavy metal, the heaviness and ominous feel of doom and the weird trippy vibe of dark psychedelia. The overall impact and atmosphere of the album is great and there's also some very strong songs that stands out and really deserves by themselves a listen (I especially like the title track and black sea of power, but the other songs are also great). To the other is faultless and in my opinion it's a  strong contender for best doom album this year. If you like bands like Electric wizard or Nibiru this is a mandatroy listen.

The bandcamp page.

Dead neanderthals - Body horror (2013)

Dead neanderthals present themselves as part of a New wave of dutch heavy jazz. And why not? I don't really know about the dutch roots of their music, i'd say they follow musicians of the european free jazz scene like the german Peter Brotzmann or the swedish Mats Gustafsson. And they sure are heavy! Body horror is not their latest release but I especially like this tape (released by Utech records). On it they play as a soprano sax / drums duo (which is not unusual in a free jazz context). On twelve minutes track they drag you in their relentless trance of howling sax (but with a somewhat lyrical feel and a direction, not just bursts of noise) and non stop free jazz drumming driving the sax with its pulsating beat. If you're into freee jazz in it's most radical form you have to listen to it. And it's a very good start for any metalhead / punk curious and brave enough to try listening to some free jazz. Highly recommended!

The Bandcamp page

Cannabis corpse - From wisdom to baked (2014)

I'm not usually interested in joke / parody band. But Cannabis corpse, founded by Land Phil (also in Municipal waste) is a different shit. having Cannibal corpse as a main influence helps (I also love Cannibal corpse), and actually writing damn good death metal songs helps even more. There is the fun but with Cannabis corpse there is also the quality and probably that's why the band last and From wisdom to baked, released last year, is their fourth album. Full of early Cannibal corpse worship (up to The bleeding era) but not limited to it as the lead guitars are slightly more melodic, going also in a Carcass direction. Overall it's really a well done and enjoyable death-metal album.   

 The bandcamp page

Primitive man - Home is where the hatred is (EP 2015)

The Colorado monster is back! Primitive man, after Scorn, their terrific album in 2013, and some splits are back (still with Relapse records) with this four song EP  called Home is where the hatred is. And the beast is still as heavy and ugly for our pleasure. They play their own kind of death / doom where death is not only for the vocals but also for some blast beats parts and the additionnal "evilness" of the sound and atmosphere, and doom is for the bleak desperate feel, the slow parts and the absolute heaviness of the guitars (and drumming on the slow parts). The three long songs are fearsome masterpieces and the noisy instrumental outro makes sure the record ends on a bleak disturbing note. Excellent stuff once again from Primitive man!

The bandcamp page.

Landskap - II (2014)

Landskap, a new band from London (UK) managed last year to release not only their excellent first album (I) but also a second one (called II) which is just as good ! It's the second that I'll review here (but don't fail to check the first one as well!). What they do is super classy and well-crafted doom with a 70' rock touch, including a somewhat progressive element, with even jazzy breaks. The guitars are heavy and the songs are rocking and epic but it stays melodic with excellent solos, subtle keyboards parts and singing that reminds The Doors (I mean both the keys part and the singing), like a hazy meeting of Black sabbath and The Doors, with maybe a Deep purplesque something as well. The album is four long songs plus a nice short instrumental theme. Captivating from start to finish. It's so good, finely crafted and addictive that I don't understand why this new band has been so unnoticed despite releasing not one but two excellent albums last year. That's beyond me... but what is sure is that I'm very pleased to have discovered it. Now it's your turn!

Their bandcamp page

Feel nothing - st tape (2014)

Ready for a shot of hardcore? I got some, old school and with a fine Black flag taste. Feel nothing is a californian band and last year they released this excellent self titled tape. Pure old school hardcore with heavy mid tempo and wild fast parts. 6 songs in 8 minutes, with no filler. Hardcore is all about energy and impact and this tape is excactly that.

The BC page

Scab - Sounds from the sewer (2015)

Scab is an american very prolific grind duo. Since their formation in 2013 they already released 3 albums (including this one, called Sounds from the sewer, released this month) and 5 EPs. Yet the quality is there and they even show a good dose of creativity in their songwriting, with more diversity than the usual grind. What they play is strictly speaking grindcore, the whole range of grindcore with it's different elements. taking from the grindpunk side (D-beat, some hardcore crust like vocals) or from the deathgrind side (brutality, blast beats, some death / gore vocals). Another of their strong point, in addition to the diversity in their songs, is their good use of groovier parts to balance the more straight forward faster parts. they also have funny song titles. Don't fail to discover this excellent new grind band.

The BC page

Rectal hygienics - Ultimate purity (2015)

DIRTY. This album is dirty. Sounds like the band, a quartet from Chicago, is not called Rectal hygienics by chance. And the album name, Ultimate purity is the perfect sarcostic irony. Their first album, also nicely named Even the flies won't touch you, was already an excellent exercise in noisy sludge, and this one is really a worthy follow-up. The bass is still heavier than heavy and crushingly repetitive, the drowned in feedback riffs are oozing the dirty blues. the vocalist sounds sick. This is a lot better (with a more noise, nearly early Godflesh sound) than  the last Eyehategod. noise SLUDGE at it's finest.

get dirty ont he Soundcloud page. 

Sonny Simmons & Moksha Samnyasin - Nomadic (2014)

This album is one of the recent jazz related release by the always audacious Svart records. Sonny Simmons is an experimented saxophonist (the guy played with Eric Dolphy and Charlie Mingus) playing in a lyrical free jazz vein (closer to late Coltrane than to Peter Brotzmann). But it's also related to rock, the band featuring guys from Abrahama and Blaak heat shujaa. On the acid heavy, repetitive and psychedelic side of rock , producing a very good associaiton with Simmons sax playing. the sitar adding a nice oriental touch. an original, nicely trippy combination, as colourfull as the cover art. excellent stuff!

The bandcamp page

Khthoniiks cerviiks - Heptaedrone (2014)

Khthoniiks cerviiks is a german trio playing some twisted dark death metal. Heptaedrone, released last year, after some demos is excellent and really interesting, with a potent hypnotising effect. Their sound has a dark occult death / black metal flavour but with also a chaotic and somewhat experimental element to it. The weird dissonant guitar work is really good and original (it's more riff based than is the "occult death metal" scene. you can actually distinguish what the guitarist is playing!  It evoques sometimes the epic and otherworldly element in Morbid angel), the bass is buzzing nicely, but maybe it's their drumming that is the most striking, not a lot of blast beats but instead a chaotic and nearly "free" feel (although it's quite simple, very effective) that adds a lot to the songs and to the uniqueness of the band. Their  "power trio formation" help the impact  of each elements and the cohesiveness of the whole. The songwriting is creative and surprising. Khthoniiks cerviiks is my favourite recent discovery in death / black metal and I highly recommend that you give them a listen!


The BC page

Evil Invaders - Pulses of Pleasure (2015)

With their first album Pulses of Pleasure, the Belgian band Evil Invaders committed  the perfect old school metal album. The album sits in between Judas priest, Iron Maiden and the first Metallica and Slayer albums.
Fast and trashy riffing, good crazy soloing, high-pitched singing and screaming reminding a young Tom Araya, an excellent heavy / speed rhythm section (with a bass that you hear well in the mix),  but above all an excellent songwriting that put them easily above most thrash / speed metal revivalists. And they're equally good for the thrashier faster parts and for the more epic / melodic parts (often combining the two in one song). Pulses of pleasure is a very exiting and addictive album, doing an impressive good job of reviving in a spontaneous and fresh way the passion that fuelled the era of speed / heavy / thrash metal it draws its inspiration from.  Such an album will be hard to surpass!

Full of hell & Merzbow (2014)

At first this collaboration sounds awesome, one big name of the recent powerviolence scene (Full of hell) with one of the big name of the harsh noise japanese scene (Merzbow). wow. Then listening to it is a bit disappointing,  it sounds a lot like a good Full of hell record, with some noisy interludes and a bit of noise layers added. on the four track you even wonder where the hell is Merzbow. that still would be a good album. but a disapointing collaboration, a "waste" of a big potential... (well it's a Full of hell album with Merzbow, not exactly a full collaboration) And then you listen to the second CD and it makes a lot more sense even it comes as a "bonus". But in fact it's the main interest here. Merzbow is the main protagonist on this second CD called Sister fawn, but Full of hell, and especially it's drummer are a great addition to the tracks. So what you have is good Merzbow tracks, sometimes more pure noise oriented (quite harsh at times), sometimes with more beats and groove (but still very bleak and aggressive), and the live drumming from Full of hell bring more dynamism to the tracks, and a more organic / live feel, also a kind of tribal / ritualistic beat adding to the mesmerising effect of Merzbow noise. The result is very interesting and convincing. Slower but sonically more extreme than Full of hell (but it's quite different so you can't really compare) and adding with good effect another element to Merzbow, creating something even more powerfull. 

The BC page for first  CD (Full of hell dominated)

The BC page for second CD (Merzbow dominated)

Evisorax - Goodbye to the feast... Welcome to the famine (2015)

This 12'' called Goodbye to the feast...Welcome to the famine, is the best release by Evisorax so far. The english grinders are still more technical (in a chaotic and furious way) than your average grind but this time it sounds like they focused more on the impact than on the chaotic course and it's for the better. They deliver shorter, more compact songs, in a more "normal" grind format along with a five minute, slower and more "melodic" song, in a kinda neo-crust style. They also get a better production ont his one (raw and powerfull). They start their new association with Bones brigades records in the best way with this very good piece of grind.

Megaton leviathan - Past 21 beyond the arctic cell (2014)

With a name like Megaton leviathan you'd expect some brutally heavy music. But no, that's not what they do, but it's excellent anyway. Their music is more in the vein of bands like Earth, Arbouretum or maybe even The silver mount Zion orchestra. The tempo is slow, the mood is quiet, layers of droning guitars, subtle arrangements, clean solemn / ritualistic  male and female vocals, acoustic guitar parts, cello parts. What is more especific in their sound compared to the bands previously cited is their somewhat psychedelic melodies (trippy in a tone more spacey / mystical than flower power, and with a oriental like flavour in one of the songs especially) and especially the nice guitar solos (or soli).  their album released in 2014, Past 21 beyond the arctic cell, is really crafted with taste and makes an enjoyable sonic journey.

Their BC page