Digging Your Tomb - Demo(lition) [Demo] (2011, Self-released)

Slams all around! That's the feeling you get when you listen to Digging Your Tomb's 4th demo, the not-so-originally titled "Demo(lition)". The brutal Spanish trio delivers supreme guttural might on three masterfully crafted songs with more goresoaked vocals and slam riffs than you can shake a stick at.

Digging Your Tomb are pretty similar to the Norwegian butcherers in Kraanium in terms of the thugget-out-ness of their slams aswell as the way they build up their songs and the guttural style of the vocals. Like any good slam demo, Demo(lition) features cripling slams and breakdowns at both high and low tempoes, and compared to other upcoming bands of the genre they seem to have a little better understanding of song flow.

One thing about slamming brutal death metal bands though... I find it hard to be really enthusiastic about them, probably because there are so many of them. You wouldn't get excited over someone who had a nice ball-point pen either, would you? It's beginning to feel the same way with slam bands, even if Digging Your Tomb display an obvious expertice in the field.

All in all Digging Your Tomb isn't crazy technical, but one of the great things about this genre is that the music doesn't need to be blistering fast and hard to play. In a way I'd call Digging Your Tomb's demo the easy listening of slam. Though "brutal" is a descriptive term every scene kid and their dogs throws at every band who's lyrics are about gore or death I think that Demo(lition) is mighty brutal in every sense of the word! 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. 666 Deads
2. Inhuman Hostility
3. Weaponized
4. Outro

DIGGING YOUR TOMB official site
Listen for yourself HERE

Wendess - Nuée Noire [Full length] (2011, Self Mutilation Services)

Depressive and atmospheric black metal, often chriticized for being a way too "easy" genre that every babboon can play, is mostly seen in conjuction with lenghty black metal tunes with tortured vocals, a truckload of highly distorted tremolo riffs and drums that range from simple 4/4's to blistering blast beats.

Hailing from Canada Wendess is in all aspects a traditional atmospheric black metal band with some tendencies toward depressive themes. Already from the first of the five it's obvious that their focus lies with the melancholic feelings invoked by the pain-filled vocals and the foggy atmosphere occassionally created by the heavy ambiance and huge contrast between peaceful parts with clean guitars and the chaotic cacophony of the more traditional black metal parts.
Wendess is one of those bands that master the change from violent blast beats and aggressive tremolo-riffs in the spirit of true black metal to scenic soundscapes of a dovish nature that are so frequently associated with atmospheric bands. Just when you thought they had nothing more to add they come back with yet another detail or hitherto unseen part that makes for an overall enjoyable listening experience.

Nuée Noire offers just over one hour of sombre music for you to enjoy. The unending songs just keep going on and on and the production work is near perfection. There is just one thing, though... It's hard not to compare them to other bands of the rather crowded genre. One could compare them to both Shining, Silencer, Xasthur, Wedard aswell as newer bands like Ash Borer and Fell Voices. What purpose does this serve? Well it show that Wendess, good or not, haven't exactly invented the wheel per se. They do their thing well but unfortunately lie in the deep shadows of those who came before them.
I had a hard time choosing a rating for Wendess' 2011 album "Nuée Noire". I enjoyed the album very much, but then again they're not bringing anything new to the table. 7 or 8? The benefit of the doubt says 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Intro&Seroquel
2. Xanax
3. 8915
4. Lithium
5. Outro

WENDESS official site
Self Mutilation Services official site

Encephalopathy - Promo EP 2011 [EP] (2011, Self-released)

It seems like everybody and their grandmothers play in a slam band these days. Obviously this leads to a very large quantity of immensely mediocre bands, but every so often you stumble upon a shining gem... Encephalopathy is one such gem. Their tendency towards devastatingly heavy and crushing slam riffs combined with the inhuman pus-dripping vocal efforts of band frontman Matze makes for some effin' great slamming brutal death metal.

With chugs-a-plenty Encephalopathy is like an unstoppable train of low- and mid-tempoed brutal death metal. But as with any train it's just railroaded in one direction. The German three-man abomination against nature has very little variety on their three track demo, and while the few gore-soaked tracks are like little bits of chocolaty goodness they've limited themselves to a small niche of death metal by doing little more than the mandatory in regards of guitars, drumming and vocals.

It's not fair to say that they're completely unvaried. They don't fall in every stereotypical pit of slam, like ultra-slow breakdowns with below guttural growls, and every so often they sneak in a little blast beat or two. When listening to this demo EP you won't get bored and while Encephalopathy never reach lightspeed their sense of flow is remarkably good. Their compositions are truly a worthwhile listen. Only thing is that with the lack of speed also comes a certain lack of intensity which means most of their material sort of lacks a climax.
The lack of variety means I can only give them 7/10 guitars, but I will definitely be on the lookout for new material.

Tracklist:
1. Fetus Throatfuck
2. Cut Her Lips Off
3. The Sad Story About a Rotten Head in my Fridge

ENCEPHALOPATHY official site
Download and listen for yourself right HERE

Sapanakith - Promo [Demo] (2011, Self-released)

To most outsiders all brutal death metal bands sound completely alike. Even to seasoned fans of the genre it can be difficult to distinguish between the hordes of bands. Some differentiate themselves by having a certain style, and especially the South American scene has a certain sound to it that makes it fairly easy to recognize.

Sapanakith, a brutal three-man death band, hail from Laos in Asia. While they don't stand much out from the crowd they do what they do well. Their style is pretty close to many of the South Asian bands of the genre, which ultimately borrow many of their characteristics from the South American scene. To describe Sapanakith's sound I'll have to say they went for the all-in-one bargain which apparently contains pig squeels, saucepan snares, chuggy riffs and blast beats. While this is mostly tantamount to boredom the Laos trio have somehow managed to find just the right amount of each so that it doesn't become boring. Then again with just two tracks and a cover song on the demo it doesn't leave much room for experimentation or... Well anything really.

I've noticed a tendency among brutal death metal bands of releasing very short demos. I understand new bands want their material spread around as fast as possible, but honestly, how about putting just a little more work into it and making 4 or 5 songs? Since brutal death metal by nature is kinda brief a 2 or 3 song demo is almost over before it even began and the same goes for Sapanakith's 2011 demo. Just when you're getting into it and feeling the vibe it's over. You kinda get the feeling that Sapanakith don't really get to prove themselves. Another problem with short demos is that it doesn't really leave much to talk about...

As mentioned earlier the band play straight up brutal death metal with a few slamming parts once in a while. They're nothing special, but they play the genre better than many other bands. One thing: Their sound is great. Everything is perfectly balanced and completely audible, and that's a huge plus considering the amount of bands with a muddy, unintelligible sound. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Demerit Sanction
2. Immoral Corrupted Tyrants
3. Womb Full of Scabs (Disgorge Cover)

SAPANAKITH official site
Download the demo and listen for yourself HERE

Dissolution - Plague of Violence [Full length] (2010, Self-released)

Mostly a release has to grab my attention immediately for me to stay interested. First impressions are always immensely important.
The first 5 seconds of Thrash Hammer, the first song, I was afraid Dissolution's Plague of Violence wouldn't be as evil as it looked. Immediately thereafter my face was destroyed by an explosion of thrashing riffs and completely inhuman vocals.
Other than the obvious early thrash influences Dissolution's style features some minor death and black metal tendencies. One might even say they're much like Morbid Saint or early Kreator, though their particular style isn't quite as chaotic as Kreator's earlier albums.
Often you see unknown bands having maybe only one or two selling points, such as awesome riffs but shitty everything else, but the horrendous torrents of filth-laden vocals lain by singer and bassist Brett McKersey goes great with the well-defined thrash riffing and 80's soloing of the band's two guitarists Courtney Marr and Jake Skinner aswell as drummer Mike Tobin's flood of D- and blastbeats.

Let's get one thing straight: Dissolution's first album is completely straight forward fist-to-the-face-in-a-mosh-pit thrash metal. Like a muscle car overtaking on the inside they speed their way through the rush hour of mediocrity with their blistering solos and mostly fast-paced thrash fucking metal. I could've gone without the boring acoustic piece "Evil Belle", but I will admit that it does make the insane speed and ferocity of the next song "Necrowitch" even more ripping. The New Zealandean four-man monster will tear you a new one with an unrelenting sense of pace. This review is a bit shorter than what I usually do, but when there's little to complain about it just gets that way... 9/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Thrash Hammer
2. Two Fires
3. Plague of Violence
4. Winters Dawn
5. Evil Belle
6. Necrowitch
7. Vermin Song
8. Bi Polar
9. The Purging

DISSOLUTION official facebook
Download the album "Plague of Violence" for free and experience for yourself HERE