Global Domination

Audio Autopsy - May 2013

01/05/13  ||  Global Domination

Hypocrisy: End of disclosure

8.0/10

Lord K: It’s not like good ol’ Tägto knows how to deliver shitty metal these days. Hypocrisy is a house hold name for quality and even if I was never the biggest fan there’s no denying this work-o-holic knows what he’s doing, be it death metal or more mainstream stuff like Pain. “End of disclosure” holds tons of great shit and the bass sound is killer. This album will keep the band at the high level they have been for the last 100 years. 8

Habakuk: You gotta give it to them that after ten seconds you know who’s playing. Never was a big fan though, but this had some cool tunes. 7

CadenZ: The balance is here, again. Finally after so many years, 15 to be exact, Tägtgren has again found the balance between melodic, harsh, catchy and epic material. Welcome back. 8

BamaHammer: I immensely enjoyed “Virus” and “Divinity”, and this one is no different. The reason, I believe, is the energy Horgh brings to the table. He fits this band perfectly, and this album is another fine piece of Swedish deliciousness. 9

Sokaris: Though the title track was kind of dull, fortunately this is Hypocrisy doing what they do best. Big-chorused, anthemic death metal with a melodic flair. Not exactly an “alien” approach for them, huh? Ehhh… 8

Rotting Christ: Kata ton daimona eaytoy – Do what thou wilt

7.8/10

Lord K: Rotting Christ’s moniker was always better than their music, but this piece here isn’t bad at all. Quite pretentious and atmospheric with a million of things to discover. I am surprised. This one will be a grower, mark my words. 7

Habakuk: I’ve never taken these guys seriously. I mean, metal from Greece? I stand forever corrected. This is some pretty epic shit. And there’s always Nuclear Winter (the band). 8

CadenZ: This album is as good example as any of the first rule of songwriting: it’s not what you do, it’s how you do it. No matter how cool a riff is, if not used properly, it will not fill its role in the big picture. Or, as manifested several times on this record, no matter how simple or banal your riff is, if you arrange it well, play on its advantages, and use it at the right time, you will bring out all of its potential and elevate the wholeness of the piece. Kudos to Rotting Christ and their mature composing. 8

BamaHammer: Not everything needs a sequel. Apparently the brothers Tolis felt like “AEALO” needed one. And this is it. 7

Sokaris: About 3,498 albums in and Rotting Christ show no signs of bucking their well-established trend of delivering quality dark, atmospheric metal. It dips a little towards the end but overall this is the album to beat so far in 2013. 9

Death Tyrant: Opus de tyranis

7.6/10

Lord K: Another new acquaintance from Sweden. The names implies full-on originality so that’s what I am expecting. Not. What Death Tyrant’s shitting out is death/black metal that holds up well in this edition of Audio Autopsy. Real well, even. I am definitely keeping an eye out for these fuckers coz they might be on to something. 7

Habakuk: Black metal, death metal, some cool melodies, you have everything I crave. Marry me, Death Tyrant! We’ll have our honeymoon in the paradise… of pain!, move to Niflheim and make sure the world never runs out of little tyrants. 8

CadenZ: Out of the ashes of Lord Belial rise…Lord Belial. If there ever was one genre to rule them all and in the darkness bind them, it was Swedish death/black with bleak melodies a la 1990’s, and Death Tyrant prove it once again. 8

BamaHammer: These guys are clearly off to a great start. This album is deathy black metal the way it’s meant to be. I hope they can keep it going. (Also, I hope they can keep the photos coming. Their Metal Archives photo is either an epic failure, or it wins the internet. I can’t decide.) 8

Sokaris: A tasty cocktail of extreme metal; dark, heavy, thrashy, etc. Nothing that will blow your mind but they’d probably serve as a great opener to better, bigger underground acts while you grab your first couple drinks. 7

Soilwork: The living infinite

7.6/10

Lord K: Read this for a longer breakdown of “The living infinite”. Soilwork’s accomplished the seemingly retarded task of releasing a double album and they did it in fucken style. Fans of modern, melodic metal pretty much got their masters right here. 8

Habakuk: These guys obviously know their craft, but there is a bit much going on for my tastes. And two discs of that is just way too much. 6

CadenZ: Great riffs. Great drumming. Great vocals. Great solos. Great songs. Great production. Great band. 8

BamaHammer: I’ve never been a huge fan of the melodic death metal sound, but I’ve always had a weird love for Soilwork’s last few albums back to “Stabbing ze drama” for whatever reason. With this one, the guys give you not one but TWO discs of excellent grooviness. 8

Sokaris: Soilwork and Children Of Bodom are both putting out decent music, did we go back in time twelve years? 8

Enforcer: Death by fire

7.0/10

Lord K: Sweden’s heavy metal machine Enforcer is a band I have heard about without actually hearing. Safe to say they are definitely living up to the old-school heavy metal tag media’s put on them. This sounds incredibly 80’s and they fucken do it well. If I didn’t know this was a band of the modern era I’d say it’s any decent band from an era long gone that I would have loved when I was a kid. That’s a huge compliment. 7

Habakuk: These guys love Exciter, but they do it well! If you still shed a manly tear for bands like Heavy Load and Virtue from time to time, this will be your thing. Modernization worked pretty damn well. 9

CadenZ: Energetic old school speed metal played without abandon. Hats off for going all the way. 7

BamaHammer: Sometimes I dig these Accept-on-crystal-meth bands. These guys are actually decent, but it’s nothing I’ll willingly come back to. 5

Sokaris: Yeah, these guys are just trying their asses off to sound like an 80’s speed metal band. But, damn, they do it well. Metallica’s “Kill ‘Em All” meets Di’Anno-era Maiden. 7

Thyrfing: De ödeslösa

6.6/10

Lord K: Viking metal (Thyrfing’s brand of it holds tons of keyboards for added effect) is getting older than the Vikings themselves now. I don’t care if they have been going since the mid-90’s, Thyrfing’s not for me. Amon Amarth gives me all I can handle with this genre. 5

Habakuk: I was able listen to exactly one song of this album, as the rest was not available to me. Should I still give it a rating? Suuuure: 6

CadenZ: As the longship’s prow broke the heaving waves, I gripped the railing and let the first rays of the dawn soak my face with their radiance. It was as if the gods were smiling. It was a good day. A good day to live, a good day to die. To the south the horizon was dark with the sails of our foes. The search was over, the end had come. Tonight we would meet our destiny. Except…we didn’t. (De ödeslösa = The fateless) 7

BamaHammer: I’ve never really gotten into Thyrfing’s stuff…until now. This is good. It’s Vikingy black metal without so much of the accordeon and tuba. I’m going to check out their back catalog too. 7

Sokaris: Thyrfing do Viking metal better than everyone whose name doesn’t end in ‘oonsorrow and “De Ödeslösa” proves that fings are looking up for the Swedes. If I were to nitpick (and I will) I’d say the album gets a bit bloated and could benefit from some sharper riffing to break things up. 8

Feared: Furor incarnatus

6.2/10

Lord K: I have been following guitarist Ola’s incredibly cool site for quite some time and I am happy to give the fucken guy some exposure here at GD. What he’s doing with Feared is some great fucken mixture of different metal styles and I advice you guys to check it out right away. I predict great things for this fucko down the road. 8

Habakuk: I don’t know how often I have heard this band before. The answer is NEVER, but it sure feels different. 4

CadenZ: Hm, hard to categorize, this. It’s like Nevermore’s evil big brother dabbling in bits of prog and death, and succeeding. 7

BamaHammer: Metalocalypse vokills aside, these guys aren’t half bad. The production sounds fake as David Vincent’s street cred, but the riffing and groove is definitely there. 7

Sokaris: Too middling, it seems like it wants to roar but it doesn’t. It seems like it wants to go in headier directions but it doesn’t. They should change their name to Concerned About. 5

Jungle Rot: Terror regime

6.2/10

Lord K: One of all these death metal bands that always surprise me when I hear the quality they offer but still I don’t listen to them on a regular basis. Guess you could call it being fed up with decent death metal, huh? Jungle Rot’s doing all good but nothing stands out. 7

Habakuk: I should like this, right? Death metal for death metal fans! Well Jungle Rot, if that’s your only selling point, I actually don’t like this. 5

CadenZ: I haven’t heard riffs this stupid since the last Jungle Rot album. 5

BamaHammer: These dudes make generic death metal and have zero fucks to give about how you feel about it. Too bad it’s boring. 6

Sokaris: This is one of those bands I’ve put off checking out for way too long, but this is some impressive stuff. Meat and potatoes death with ultra-manly vocals. I predict fairly comprehensive discographies of Bolt Thrower, Unleashed and Obituary in these guys’ collections. 8

Kvelertak: Meir

6.0/10

Lord K: One of the more hyped bands as of late. I never understood that said hype to be honest. Mixing rock and roll, black metal and punk rock makes for a quite unique sound, but it also leaves me a bit confused. Maybe I just need to dig deeper to understand what Kvelertak’s about? 5

Habakuk: These guys are cool. I don’t get the universal hype around them, but they sure do something right. 7

CadenZ: The 70s influences are stronger this time around, and I’m liking “Meir” a lot. The cocktail is especially tasty when they pull out their Clever Arrangement Hat and make use of the possibilities having three guitars in their line-up gives. Iron Maiden, take note. 8

BamaHammer: This is the best Norwegian black metal album ever. JK…velertak. See what I did there? I am genius. But seriously, it’s decent punky black metal. If that hoists your longboat mast, then by all means, have at it. 6

Sokaris: I sure do love black metal, I just wish it sounded really fucken happy. No one has ever said this. 4

Audrey Horne: Youngblood

5.4/10

Lord K: You all know that voluptuous Audrey Horne semi-slut from “Twin Peaks”. This is not quite as sexy, but the Norwegians sure pull of their hardrock/rock’n‘roll quite well and it’s far better than I expected it to be. Featuring some half-prominent black metal people in their ranks too, in case that is important to ya. Guess this is what they do when it’s boring to be too tr00 for school. 6

Habakuk: Get a band name that tells me what to expect, god damn. Anyway, with this slab of catchy, competent, good rock music I’m actually not happy about having only three songs to listen to. Damn you, Spotify. 7

CadenZ: Norwegian retro band influenced by Swedish retro bands (Hellacopters, Mustasch) influenced by 70s hard rock. And pretty good, at that. There’s definitely some radio potential here, but with Audrey’s Horney balls still intact. 7

BamaHammer: I didn’t know Wolfsbane changed their name. Neat. 4

Sokaris: I always suspected Ice Dale was kind of a cock-rocker, what with his perpetual shirtlessness and his Les Paul-slinging, monitor-stomping presence amidst Enslaved’s more artsy atmosphere. Not garbage but I hope this doesn’t detract from his much superior main gig. 3

Hardcore Superstar: C’mon take on me

4.4/10

Lord K: Vocalist Jocke once wanted my Torture Division beanie. He didn’t get it but I have dug these guys ever since. They do their party rock without flaws and I take quite a huge liking in what they do. Especially said guy’s vocals are fucken ace. 7

Habakuk: This is a fan of 80s rock speaking. You are not very good at it. 5

CadenZ: First I was like, what the fuck?! Then I was like, yeah, what the fuck. Then I kinda liked it. 5

BamaHammer: Does the world really need another band like this 20 years after it stopped needing bands like this? And every time I read that album title, I get angrier. 2

Sokaris: Take it. C’mon Me. 3

Illnath: 4 shades of me

4.4/10

Lord K: I’m not too familiar with Illnath but obviously they have a chick doing vocals on top of their melodic death metal. Sure, you can draw comparisons to Arch Enemy based on that and this style isn’t too far off from their heavier moments, to be honest. I kinda dig it, but I always had a hard time with chicks doing harsh vocals for metal bands. 7

Habakuk: Bla bla Metal with Black Metal vocals. 5

CadenZ: I haven’t heard riffs this stupid since the last Jungle Rot album. 4

BamaHammer: 50 shades of gay. 2

Sokaris: Take a shot every time someone mentions Arch Enemy for this one. 4

Lordi: To beast or not to beast

3.0/10

Lord K: It’s embarrassing that a band like Lordi actually get recognition. If it wasn’t for the over-the-top image no one would give a shit. Me? I give zero shits either way. At least you can laugh at it. 3

Habakuk: Listening to this right after Kvelertak is literally impossible to pull off. The small similarities only make it more obvious: balls-wise, the two bands are worlds apart. 3

CadenZ: DUN DUN Flaccid. DUN DUN Cock. DUN Hallelujah. 3

BamaHammer: Definitely not to beast. Thanks. 3

Sokaris: Aren’t these guys on their sixteenth minute yet? There’s not enough foam around for these guys and Gwar and guess who was here first? 3

Bon Jovi: What about now

2.2/10

Lord K: I used to absolutely love Bon Jovi when I was a kid. That was some time ago, to say the least. Jon and his fellow homos have been releasing quite a few albums in their career and everyone stopped giving a fuck after “New Jersey” (or possibly “Keep the faith”). This one is not going to re-establish their 80’s fame but it’s a decent rock recording and Jon’s vocals still hold up. 4

Habakuk: First of all, I guarantee you I’ll be forced to listen to the opener at the next Oktoberfest, so it’s personal.It’s hard to say what’s worst though – endless “Amen! AAAMEN!” crooning? “BABEEYY, BAABEEYY”? Using US Army slogans as a chorus? I don’t know, but I do know America doesn’t get uglier than this. Shut. The fuck. Up. 1

CadenZ: Jon Boner can sing. Why use auto-tune, then? ‘Cause it’s hip? Here’s a news flash for ya: it never was. Not even around 10-15 years ago when it was hip. Also, third tier Coldplay rip-off songwriting doesn’t help. 2

BamaHammer: “Slippery when wet” was 27 years ago. Think about that. The guy’s got enough money. Please don’t give him anymore of yours. 3

Sokaris: No. Never. 1

Bring Me The Horizon: Sempiternal

1.8/10

Lord K: BMTH is a fave band for us here at GD. We praised the fuck out of their previous record and now it’s time for another dose of incredibly talented “metal”. Yeah, you know I’m fucken kidding. BMTH is still absolute teenage garbage and I am throwing up a little with every second that passes while listening to this. There aren’t words that can justify how much I despise bands like this. 2

Habakuk: Bring me cyanide. 3

CadenZ: When adolescent penises clash in the moshpit of all that is gay, “Sempiternal” is born. 2

BamaHammer: Bring me Peter Pan. 1

Sokaris: I tried to listen to Bring Me The Hair-Iron’s new album Sempiternal but all I got was some mash-up recording of an infant weeping, a shitty drum software tutorial and some first year guitarist’s demo riffs played through weaksauce distortion. These assholes sell enough to show up on the fucking Billboard charts so surely they’re not this bad, right? 1