Defilementory - The Dismal Ascension [Full length] (2014, Torture Music Records)

After three long years it's time to revisit a prominent Danish death metal band. Finally, Defilementory have released their debut full length album, after having teased death metal fans with their 2-song EP "Infatuated with Deformity" from 2011. What made them stand out to me was the prominent bass work, and the fact that they so finely balanced elements from brutal, technical and "regular" death metal in a mix that was both impressive and extremely enjoyable. Needless to say, I've looked forward to this release.

Though the Danish band has always flirted with the more technical aspects of death metal, those elements have now become much more dominant on The Dismal Ascension, leaning closer to bands like Gorguts or even Deathspell Omega than ever before. In that regard their previous release, 2011's demo EP "Infatuated with Deformity", was more straightforward in its usage of technical passages. As an example, the track "Misanthropic Emancipation" features some fairly interesting use of sliding riffs and popping bass amidst ruthless slams. The Dismal Ascension has it all, and the four title-tracks that serve as the pièce de résistance more or less serve as a condensed presentation of everything the band is capable of. From raw quarries of primitive slams and structures that may at first sound like basic chug-a-chug diddley-diddley type affairs to sprawling deltas of blazing melodies and weirdly dishamornic themes, Defilementory's debut album is a release that both hails the greats of the genre and seeks new territory.

Where brutal death metal can often come off as clumsy and thuggish, Defilementory are deliberate and precise. Where technical death metal can become too intricate for its own good, the Danish band prove themselves as masters of flow. But - and there always is a "but" - there are a few scattered occurances where things tend to get a bit out of hand, with the usual groove and flow of the band being beaten down at the hands of overly atmospheric harmonies. The track "In Soullessness - Supremacy" is one such occurance. However, those brief moments are vastly outnumbered and outclassed by the much more memorable passages that make you wish for more. I'll be returning for more. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Misanthropic Emancipation
3. In Soullessness - Supremacy
4. The Mask of Anatomy
5. Endless Abjure
6. The Horrid Reflection
7. Abhorred Veracity
8. The Dismal Ascension - Vengeance
9. The Dismal Ascension - Despair
10. The Dismal Ascension - Sovereign
11. The Dismal Ascension - Departure

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Torture Music Records official site

Deus Otiosus - Rise [Full length] (2014, Deepsend Records)

Deus Otiosus represent the comet-like carreers of some contemporary death metal acts. Since the release of their first album, Murderer, in 2010 - only 4 years ago - the seasoned Danish group have toured extensively in Denmark and have signed with Deepsend Records. For those unfamiliar with Deus Otiosus their mission statement has always been returning to the roots of thrashy death metal through a more modern sound and production. The members' involvement in various other prolific Danish metal bands has previously meant a generally high quality of songwriting, valuing tormentingly ruthless content.

Long-time fans of the group will be pleased to find that Rise continues in much the same style and quality of the prior albums, Murderer and Godless. Newcomers should likewise easily be able to appreciate the dauntless riffs, the punishment of the drumkit, the powerfully booming bass and the hoarsely growled vocals which all make up the signature sound of Deus Otiosus. And this is exactly what the band is all about; While they are highly derivative of classic death metal their material never quite comes off as a complete rip off. Listening to tracks like Breeding Maggots or Iron Rule feels like greeting an old friend you forgot you had, sounding familiar while still adding various musical chunks giving it that modern aftertaste.

Staying in the spiritual neighbourhood of old school death metal means there's only so much you can do to experiment while still finding yourself within the frame of mind set by those standards. As such the third album sometimes feels unadventurous, often depending on the same elements and build-ups over and over again. That recipe is effective in live settings, providing ridiculous amounts of head-banging circle-pitting material, but when you've got the music all to yourself at home it has a habbit of making the listening experience a bit tedious over time.

Having early on adopted a way of enticing listeners with get-the-job-done lyrics like "Don't fuck with the dead, or the dead will fuck with you" the by now well known Danish band aren't exactly focusing on virtuosity or groundbreaking musicianship, and in that lies the very appeal of Deus Otiosus. They're not trying to be something they're not and they stick to what they know: Effective ass-kicking death metal. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Rising War
2. Iron Rule
3. Don't Fuck With the Dead
4. Breeding Maggots
5. Vultures
6. Walk the Shadows
7. Stand Up and Fight
8. Will and Fear
9. Fall of the West

Visit Deus Otiosus' official website
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Check out Deepsend Records

Eldjudnir - Angrboða [Full length] (2012, Schattenkult Produktionen)

Denmark has had a great recurrence of black metal in the latter years, some good and some bad. Bands like the very prominent Solbrud and the upcoming Arescet are taking a route mostly influenced by the tendencies of atmospheric black metal, and so too are Eldjudnir from their lair in the Capital-area.
Eldjudnir is primarily being the brainchild of Jakob Sture, who draws on the many other Danish musicians from other prominent metal bands such as the folk metal act Huldre and various death metal bands, but ultimately the band is entirely their own.

Eldjudnir draws inspiration from mid-90's black metal with hints toward a more modern with talented musicians and a more polished sound. On Angrboða, the band's album debut, the Danish band presents itself not as a band with innovative and groundbreaking ideas, but rather as a band that knows which elements to use and how to use them. The result is a greatly varied album with immersive songwriting and well-written compositions with the gritty, naturalistic riffs of early Satyricon, the ritualesque chants of Wardruna combined with the blasts and atmosphere of Wolves in the Throne Room.

It's hard to really put a finger on anything negative about Eldjudnir. If anything it's the lack of new thinking, but it is clearly evident on Angrboða that you don't need to think out of the box to create immersive metal. The entire album is only 38 minutes in length, which is highly appropriate for black metal of the atmospheric sort. It's short enough to keep things interesting for the duration of the release and long enough to make it a fulfilling listening experience. 9/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Angrboða
2. Jörmundgandr
3. Hel
4. Bundinn
5. Fenris

ELDJUDNIR on Facebook
ELDJUDNIR on Bandcamp
Schattenkult Produktionen's official website

Arescet - The Crackling of Embers [Demo] (2013, Self-released)

Some bands take years from their initial creation till they release anything. Arescet, a band formed in Denmark in 2012, have managed to release 26 minutes worth of atmospheric black metal on their first demo, The Crackling of Embers, in spite of them having had some unavoidable lineup changes early on in their carreer.
One might think that a demo released such a short time after the birth of a band would be indicative of something of a make-shift nature, or perhaps music that would be somehow lacking. But I found that Arescet are mighty potent in their songwriting, and though the demo only counts two tracks - "The Crackling of Embers" and "Extinguished" - these two tracks are displays of a fair amount of skill on the bands' behalf.

Getting down to basics with Arescet is pretty straightforward. The two tracks are more or less textbook examples of how to write good atmospheric black metal, meaning that the Danish band avoids the obvious pitfalls of writing songs that are too monotonous. While some bands of the genre favor this style I mostly find it to be mundane, tedious and downright boring. There are plenty of examples of bands that do it well, but ultimately this tendency is rather dreary. Arescet manage to write music in this style that has just enough variation to surprise the listener once in a while, and I found that the funeral doom-influenced passages that are strewn around the songs are more than adequate for that sole purpose.

This genre can be described with a bunch of adjectives such as droning, irksome, weary, insipid and dreary, but all these descriptors can be both positive and negative. As is the case with Arescet and their first demo. The music shows great promise and reveal a band that may well have more in store for us in the future, but the things that make Arescet's music great are the same things that ultimately make it a bit humdrum. I have often lauded Ash Borer as a band that succeeded in making atmospheric black metal catchy. Their music features plenty of what I'd almost call "hooks", and this is exactly what Arescet need. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their demo "The Crackling of Embers", but in the end it all seemed a bit nondescript and commonplace. The funeralesque break in The Crackling of Embers and the morose part permeated in melancholy in the second half of Extinguished are the closest things we come to making the demo truly distinguishable. As such I feel that Arescet's first demo is a release that bears a promise of better things to come and at the same time leaves me wanting more and looking forward to what they might come up with next. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. The Crackling of Embers
2. Extinguished

ARESCET official Facebook site

Eudaimonia - Hymn to a Dying World [Full length] (2012, Self-released)

The Danish one-man effort "Eudaimonia", while not entirely beyond categorization, is a project of highly diverse compositions. Once you think you get to know the band and the ambience-focused atmospheric pseudo-black metal sound he'll throw some flutes into the mix, forcing you to re-evaluate your opinion and thoughts of Eudaimonia. It is as such a band that is hard to pinpoint, and I have arrived at the conclusion that I have no idea what exactly it is Eudaimonia is trying to do. Through the predominantly cold and somewhat "natural" atmosphere shines something that I can't quite put my finger on. It is the level of experimentation that gets to me - Eudaimonia has 3 previous releases, none of which I have heard, so I really have no idea whether or not experimentation is the main deal of the band.

I found Hymn to the Dying World to be an album hard to get into and hard to listen to all in one sitting. Maybe I just don't "get" the music, but I do appreciate some of the tracks, namely Crepuscular Rays and As the World Dresses in Shades of Autumn which are actually some of the least metal tracks on the album. The esoteric disposition of the album is both it's main selling point and it's main weakness: I could imagine it would turn off a lot of people from listening to it more than once, but at the same time intriguing certain people to listen to it again and again.

Hymn to a Dying World offers an amount of different moods, such as the opening track "Mountains of the Sky" which is inclined to heavenly grandios themes instead of the desolate focus some of the other songs, A Song for the Sea and Her Sedctive Waves in particular, seem to have. I often find that albums like this work great as a whole, but with Eudaimonia I felt there was such a difference between the songs that I would probably be more inclined to listen to individual tracks depending on my mood rather than listening to the entire album.

It goes without saying that the Danish band surprised me. The cover art led me to believe that it would be straightforward atmospheric black metal, or perhaps something more in the vain of Agalloch. It is nothing so simple, though. While Hymn to a Dying World mostly isn't really my thing, I can definitely hear things of appeal. Especially the more drawn out tracks strike me as the best ones on the release. But ultimately I felt that the many different influences on the 7 songs were too sporadic and unrelated to form something of uniform charm, and it really didn't seem all that inviting to me. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Mountains of the Sky - Gaia Part I
2. Algiz Aflame
3. Crepuscular Rays - Gaia Part II
4. In Mist Forgotten
5. A Song for the Sea and Her Seductive Waves - Gaia Part III
6. As the World Dresses in Shades of Autumn
7. Swan Song

Check out the music for yourself and download it for free at Eudaimonia's official bandcamp profile

Defilementory - Infatuation with Deformity [Demo] (2011, Self-released)

Defilementory is a band that I knew a bit in advance. I had seen them a couple of years ago when they and another Danish death metal band called Castrensis opened for the one-man slam act Putrid Pile in Copenhagen. That particular performance was a night to remember - All the bands fit so well together and were so talented and put on a great performance. It wasn't until I listened to Infatuation with Deformity that I realized that Defilementory has a very precise way of conveying the delicate details of their music, though it seems weird to talk about delicate anything in terms of brutal death metal. It just so happens that Defilementory has a lot of technical elements and a bass section to die for, which is something I can really appreciate. Sure, great guitarists are always cool, but everyone has great guitarists these days. Good bassists are severely underappreciated, and the bassist of Defilementory, who also happens to be their lead singer, does an incredible job creating bass lines that are imperative to the recognizable sound of Defilementory.

I give the bass of Defilementory a lot of credit (and rightfully so), but even if you were to remove it and put in some "regular" basslines the music on Infatuation with Deformity has a lot of merrit in itself. Lots of brutal death metal acts are incredibly one-tracked and even monotonous, but this Danish band mix things up constantly while still maintaining their brutal death metal flavour. The malign clarity and gritty brutality of the two tracks that make up this demo is something that makes Defilementory seem like a band very serious about their music, and the demo showcases their vigorous enthusiasm in creating and playing some of Denmark's heaviest music.

If there is one thing that really stands out as a bit regrettable on the demo it's that fact that it's so short. Two tracks really isn't enough to stay entertained for very long, and even though the two tracks are pretty long for death metal it doesn't go a very long way. I read somewhere that there was supposed to be a third track, but that it was lost somehow, and this is really a terrible shame. I would've loved to hear that third track, but hopefully that song will be featured on their upcoming album.

To sum up Defilementory's second release "Infatuation with Deformity" from 2011 really would be nothing other than "great and pretty unique brutal death metal with a noticable flavour of technical aspects". Their bass-driven style makes for a lot of enjoyable listening minutes on my part, but in the end two tracks of this great music isn't enough to keep me satisfied and will mostly serve as a little something to listen to between other albums. Their upcoming album will hopefully feature everything that makes Defilementory's demo great, and then some. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Infatuation with Deformity
2. Vengeance

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Deus Otiosus - Godless [Full length] (2012, Deepsend Records)

On their previous album, the debut "Murderer", Deus Otiosus show, with a rather convincing effort, that they harbor immense potential for death metal. On their second album "Godless" the Danish band goes on in this continuety and displays an on going contempt for life as they celebrate the end of humanity and grim extermination of civilization.

Deus Otiosus know that death metal isn't necessarily all about being the heaviest, most brutal band in existence. While some of their new tracks certainly are made of the heaviest material, a song like Death Dance shows us that crushing brutallity isn't tantamount to monstrous death metal.

On Godless it sounds like Deus Otiosus have toned down the actual death metal in favor for equally fitting elements, yet still maintaining a solid core of old school death metal. It most definitely still is the Deus Otiosus we came to know on Murderer, and their songwriting still rivals that of Morbid Angel, Immolation and others. Songs like Snakes of the Low, the crushing album opener, is a clear statement that the Danish band means business.

As a whole Godless is a effort on par with certain albums from the late 80's that have since become classics, and it would be an understatement to say that Deus Otiosus is probably one of the strongest current Danish death metal bands. Godless is brimming with memorable riffs as well as classic songwriting. Most definitely a keeper. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Snakes of the Low
2. In Harms Way
3. New Dawn
4. Pest Grave
5. Surrounded by the Dead
6. Cast from Heaven
7. Face the Enemy
8. Death Dance

DEUS OTIOSUS official website
DEUS OTIOSUS official facebook
Deepsend Records official site

Denial of God - Death and the Beyond [Full length] (2012, Hells Headbangers)

Black metal is often, if not mostly, affiliated with satanism and anti-christianity, so believe me when I say I was surprised to find that Denial of God, despite their ungodly name, has very little focus on those subjects.
Denial of God is a Danish band that is locally well known. They've released one album and a slew of EPs prior to Death and the Beyond, but I never really got around to checking them out. For those unfamiliar with the Danish trio, they have surprisingly little in common with your typical, garden variety black metal band. They seem to be more inspired by King Diamon and Mercyful Fate than other bands in the genre, and their sound and structure certainly aren't as chaotic and tremolo-based as many others, and lyrically "Death and the Beyond" leans alot less on the typical satanic material as I had expected, especially because their previous album had satanic themes.

Death and the Beyond boasts a wide variety of material. Starting out with the mood-setting piano-piece Veni Spiritus and ending with the 15 minute black metal epic Pendulum Swings the 45 minutes in between features everything from the melancholically uplifting and almost ballad-like Behind the Coffin's Lid to more traditional black metal tracks like Black Dethe and The Cursed Chamber.
Of Denial of God's second album can generally be said that it relies heavily on holding single notes rather than shredding away at 200 BPMs aswell as atmospheres that can mostly be described as cemetary or crypt-like. Their focus on sombre melodies like in the tracks Funeral and Bones Turn to Dust makes for a truly alternate take on Scandinavian black metal in 2012.

In regards to musicianship it goes without saying that Denial of God may not be the most technical band around, but their particular style of black metal suits a more simple songwriting much better. Death and the Beyond is a simple and effective album and is easily one of the better black metal releases I've heard this year so far. Ustumallagam's sepulchral vocals in conjuction with the despairing guitars of Azter and the great drumtracks of Galheim makes up a recipe for brilliant and different black metal. What can I say, finally a black metal band that doesn't just ape everything their Norwegian counterparts do. 9/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Veni Spiritus
2. Funeral
3. Behind the Coffin's Lid
4. The Cursed Chamber
5. Bones turn to Dust
6. Black Dethe
7. Spectral Lights
8. Pendulum Swings

DENIAL OF GOD official site
Hells Headbangers official site

Deus Otiosus - Murderer [Full length] (2010, FDA Rekotz)

Death metal is by far one of the most popular metal genres in Denmark. The legends of the scene like Iniquity, Illdisposed, Dominus, Konkhra, Exmortem, Panzerchrist and Corpus Mortale were in more recent years followed up by equally prolific bands such as Hatesphere, Dawn of Demise and Thorium, and bands like Cerekloth and Undergang have given old school death metal a resurgeance in recent times.

Playing that very style we have another Danish band, which is more or less an allstar lineup. Featuring members from Church Bizarre, Cerekloth, Victimizer and Hideous Invasion the band DEUS OTIOSUS is by no means comprised of newbies, and their heritage from the other bands really shines through on this 2010 debut album. The album "Murderer" is an 8-song showcase of how you write fucking awesome old school death metal without shitty production.

There are catchy riffs aplenty when the primal roar of the first track sets the tone. Immediately Deus Otiosus make it clear what they're about: Death metal like our moms used to make it (well, not really, but you catch my drift) with a twist of thrash and a production that makes the music heavy as fuck but still has plenty of room for crystal clear sound. Only rarely have I heard a debut album with as good a flow as Deus Otiosus' Murderer. I admit it took me more than one listening to get into the album, but when I took the time to really listen I was rewarded with a beyond satisfying listening experience.

Production-wise every is as it should be. Audible and perfectly balanced, the vocals neatly binding it all together in a writhing mass of noxious death. Normally I would say 8 songs is a bit short for a death metal album, but the length of the tracks fully justify the small number of songs as most clock in at more than 5 minutes.
Despite all my praise, there is one thing Murderer lacks. I said there are plenty of catchy riffs, and I stand by that statement, but ultimately the album isn't as memorable as some of the albums that Deus Otiosus have likely listened to. But Murderer is an album that is so masterfully put together, so solid and so deserving of appraisal that I'm forced to give it an 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. I Have Seen Him Slay
2. Thousand Arms of the Dead
3. Wall of Violence
4. Ye Pigs of Little Faith
5. Whore Limbs
6. No Life
7. Ash World
8. Murderer

DEUS OTIOSUS official site
FDA Rekotz official site

Various Artists - 8 Way for Destroy the Music [Split] (2011, Shit Music for Shit People)

Music has become progressively more aggressive since the dawn of time, more or less. There will always be individuals who seek to push the boundaries. But with genres like powerviolence and grindcore is it even possible for music to be more extreme without seizing to be music, like the noise genre? The bands featured on this split are certainly pushing the limit with their individual mixes of grindcore, noise and droney industrial. It's something called noisecore and the title says it all.

It starts off with Culo from Chile. Culo delivers 18 songs coming in at almost 3 minutes. Their style is mostly headpounding noisecore with vocals screamed at the top of the lungs and saturated with inaudible guitars and blasttastic drums. The Chilean band sets the tone and grindmasters Disinterested Handjob from the land Down Under quickly follow with their 6 equally short bursts of rapidfire, though their general outlook is abit less noisy than Culo.
The Equadorean band Menso Noise offers a lengthy track mostly consisting of a guy talking in portuguese with concentrated blasts of grind. On the next quest to destroy music is the American band Gorgonized Dorks which is somewhat a surprise on this release as the music could probably best be described as industrial drony noise with occassional explosions of ear-tearing screams and distorted instrumentation. Quite apocalyptic, really.
Going in a different direction the Danish shit-themed grindcore band Fækal Omsorg (Fecal Care in English) are the only band on the release to have actual riffs and what could very well be actual song structures. The Danish toilet-warriors have a more well-defined sound and a much better vocal performance than most of the bands on the split.
Next comes Drongo, another Australian grind-mutant. Drongo's 11 cellphone mic-quality songs sort-of stand out from most of the music on this split by having parts that sounds predominantly black metalish. The last two bands, the Americans "Infecting the Dissected" and "Video Nasty", are more of the obvious Anal Cunt worship that's generally going on here on this split. Borderlining plain noise these two enemies of melody and harmony offer their cacophonous paroxysms of noise as a final prayer and sacrifice to the gods of noise.

The average song length on the split can't be much, and it would seem that this tendency to blink-of-an-eye lengthed tracks is an ongoing trend amongst noisy grindcore bands. The influences from Napalm Death's first album "Scum" and the noisecore legends Anal Cunt are numerous and obvious, ranging from the songs that are barely even music to the "micro-songs" that have become so fashionable in grind music.

I must say that rating and grading a split like this is a rather troublesome task. The music is utterly chaotic and mind-numbingly vile, but since this is most likely the goal it would seem that the bands of the release have succeeded. And then, if I give them a low grade like 3 or 4, would it be seen as a great compliment or a grievous insult?
For the most part I'd say that it was very difficult to enjoy this split. Perhaps that was intended. Be that as it may, I enjoyed Fækal Omsorg's part and I was rather surprised to find that I also enjoyed the one track by Gorgonized Dorks.
All in all I think this split deserves 3/10 guitars. Whether this is good or bad, I'll leave for the readers to decide.

Tracklist:
1. Culo -18 Songs
2. Disinterested Handjob - Vashta Nerada (Count the Shadows)
3. Disinterested Handjob - We're All Fucked Now
4. Disinterested Handjob - A Commentary on Reznor in the Late 90's
5. Disinterested Handjob - Tainted Meat
6. Disinterested Handjob - F, F, SF
7. Disinterested Handjob - Stop Hating on Pigs
8. Menso Noise - FUA!!!
9. Gorgonized Dorks - Untitled
10. Fækal Omsorg - Soup
11. Fækal Omsorg - Filter
12. Fækal Omsorg - Crap
13. Fækal Omsorg - Spinach Cunt
14. Fækal Omsorg - Puke-Bomb
15. Fækal Omsorg - Turd Explosion
16. Fækal Omsorg - Noise Lung
17. Drongo - 11 Songs
18. Infecting the Dissected - Swarm of Flies
19. Infecting the Dissected - Decomposing Entrails
20. Infecting the Dissected - Delayed Corrosion and Decay
21. Video Nasty - Secticide
22. Video Nasty - Impaled Hell
23. Video Nasty - Suicide Kult Kill
24. Video Nasty - Divine Art of Shit Sex
25. Video Nasty - Madness Made Machine
26. Video Nasty - Clan with a Plan
27. Video Nasty - MagiSick
28. Video Nasty - They Burn like Witches

SHIT MUSIC FOR SHIT PEOPLE official site