Posts by Goshuggist

Review: Saprogenic – The Wet Sound Of Flesh On Concrete

Posted by Goshuggist on May 7, 2012 in CD Reviews | 0 comments

SAPROGENIC
The Wet Sound Of Flesh On Concrete (2003)

USA, Deepsend Records, ‘Brutal’ ‘Technical’ Death Metal.

There’s absolutely no need to sugarcoat this; Saprogenic’s ‘The Wet Sound Of Flesh On Concrete’ is one of the most thoroughly mediocre, intentionally over-hyped and laughably lauded Death Metal releases I’ve ever heard. People have heaped praise onto this album as some sort of ‘Planisphærium’-esque ‘transcendence’ of Brutal Death Metal when in reality it’s a poorly produced cluster of wasted potential, horrible drumming and failed songwriting that while actively trying to be more than Brutal Death Metal ends up as something so bankrupt it’s actually a bit pathetic. Unlike other Brutal and Technical Death Metal overlaps/experimentation, Saprogenic has no clear understanding of either genre, their respective strengths and how exactly to play to those strengths while making their own distinctive mark. Someone had the balls to once say ‘She Lay Gutted worships at the altar of Saprogenic’. People who make statements like that IN A DREAM better wake up and apologize, especially if it’s in relation to an album like this, which for some reason or another hasn’t been entirely discarded and forgotten already. Allow me to explain exactly why that should be the case…

Review: Sentenced To Dissection – Between The Worlds

Posted by Goshuggist on May 7, 2012 in CD Reviews | 0 comments

SENTENCED TO DISSECTION
Between The Worlds (2012)

Russia, Self-released, Technical Death Metal/Deathcore.

Oh Russian Tech-Death, why must we continue to play this game? I know you’re capable of creating mind-blowing tech-death extravaganzas that give the very best a run for their money (Monumental Torment’s ‘Element Of Chaos’) but then you turn around and start fellating Beneath The Massacre, resulting in a series of bands that could be wonderful tech-death but instead squeal and breakdown like there’s no tomorrow in between constant weedily deedling that makes haters cream themselves for reinforcing their caricature of the genre. (Genocide Of Prescription, Sentenced To Dissection) Even Beneath The Massacre’s finally eased up on their wholehearted ‘wankery’ stereotype embrace, so there’s no excuse for this. Deathcore was never something to emulate in the first place (unless it’s Abiotic but that’s a completely different story) but releasing an album in 2012 as fond of the most commonly derelict, fundamentally broken version of the ‘genre’ as ‘Between The Worlds’ is so blatantly insulting it hurts.

Rings Of Saturn: Five Minutes Of New Album? Aliens.

Posted by Goshuggist on May 7, 2012 in Now Playing | 0 comments

Science save us!

Rings Of Saturn are back and they’re packing an even bigger whallop than their debut, which was already extremely impressive. Sure, it still doesn’t sound like they’ve done away with all of the unnecessary breakdowns and hell, their new vocalist got famous on Youtube thanks to Deathcore covers but by some twist, this is still lightyears beyond anything they’ve done until now. (No pun intended)

As a significant plus, Ron Casey of Flesh Consumed, Vaginal Discharge and Quantum Catastrophe era Brain Drill is now the drummer and already there’s an improvement, even on this five minute sampler. His blasts, fills and double bass work sound as crisp and bludgeoning as ever and in coordination with Joel Omans’ and Lucas Mann’s unfathomably talented shredding, I see amazing things in even the direct future for Rings Of Saturn. (Seeing them live in six days might have something to do with that) If the direction of this sample is to be believed, it might even possible for Rings Of Saturn to carve out a piece of the already crowded US technical supremacy for themselves.

Classic Tech Death Album: ‘Pierced From Within’ By Suffocation

Posted by Goshuggist on May 6, 2012 in Technical Classic | 2 comments

WHO: Arguably the single most important band in the development of modern Death Metal, Suffocation have influenced/inspired so many aspects of the genre taken for granted these days; death growling, slams, exploration of the blast beat, speed, intensity, the list goes on and on. Since 1990, Suffocation have simultaneously defined and revolutionized Death Metal with each release. However, many fans are split on the question of their very finest work. There is no such thing as a bad Suffocation album of course but deciding which of their downright mythological accomplishments is the most astounding takes time and lots of reflection. Having taken the time and reflected as much as I possibly could, I decided on ‘Pierced From Within’. Not only is it Suffocation’s finest release but it’s also Death Metal’s finest release. Yes, I wrote exactly what you think I just wrote; ‘Pierced From Within’ is the greatest Death Metal album of all time from the greatest Death Metal band of all time.

‘L’enfant Sauvage’: Bien joué messieurs, bien joué.

Posted by Goshuggist on May 3, 2012 in Now Playing | 2 comments

This really has been/is/will continue to be an amazing year for metal music. Spawn Of Possession, Meshuggah, Hour Of Penance and Gorod have all released albums that are either their pinnacle or their best in years and all signs point toward Dying Fetus and Suffocation having similar showings. So what of Gojira? The band’s last showing certainly astounded almost everyone who ever heard it here in the states and earned them a much larger following, which they’ve deserved since 2001′s ‘Terra Incognita’. However, in their native France, Gojira’s earned themselves quite a bit of trepidation. Some French metalheads (including my own brother) who have followed the band since their creation as Godzilla in 1996 fear that their sound has been ‘americanized’. My opinion of the demos certainly isn’t negative, but the band’s trademark sound was nowhere to be found. ‘Possessed’ for instance was really just a straight forward Brutal Death Metal release. Nothing wrong with that of course but for someone like me who listens to Brutal Death Metal as much as some people breath, it just fails to impact me even a tenth as much as their albums. The Godzilla demos are good, but not legendary. As far as I’m concerned ‘Terra Incognita’ is the beginning of my obsessive fandom.

Review: Dehumanized – Prophecies Foretold

Posted by Goshuggist on Apr 25, 2012 in CD Reviews | 1 comment

DEHUMANIZED
Prophecies Foretold (1998)

USA, Pathos Productions, Technical Death Metal

Among the many regional scenes of Death Metal, there exist just as many devotees of any one style. Above all other distinct regional styles, I’m of the steadfast belief that New York Death Metal as a whole has given extreme music its finest hours. Dehumanized’s ‘Prophecies Foretold’ represents everything I’ve ever loved from classic New York Death Metal and then some. This release is 36 minutes of uncompromising, untouchable and criminally under appreciated brutal bliss. Powerful growls, bludgeoning drums and brilliant guitar work with an emphasis on groove and brutality.

Cattle Decapitation: That band ain’t right, I tell you what…

Posted by Goshuggist on Apr 20, 2012 in Now Playing | 4 comments

I’ve been rather hesitant to discuss Cattle Decapitation for some time now. If there was ever a band that so singularly personified love/hate for me, it would be this Californian four piece. Across their releases since 2002′s ‘To Serve Man’, they’ve singlehandedly made historic strides for the entire genre of deathgrind, introducing progressive and even melodic elements in a genre that has always emphasized anything but. However, the band’s lyrical theme and overarching message unnerves me to no end. Not so much that every single one of their songs is a flowery way of saying ‎’All humans should die! Except us, of course.’ (which doesn’t help) but more to the harsh reality that whether their vegan message is simply hyperbolic or actually as narrow-minded as it first appears, it hasn’t inspired much of anyone to stop eating meat. In fact, reading the vast majority of their lyrics make me want to eat even MORE meat, then send a video tape of my feast directly to the band.

Classic Tech Death Album: ‘Cross Species Transmutation’ By Malignancy

Posted by Goshuggist on Apr 20, 2012 in Technical Classic | 0 comments

WHO: One of the most innovative and criminally underrated technical death metal bands of the modern era, Malignancy has been releasing material since April of 1993. Their first full length, ‘Intrauterine Cannibalism’ was indeed a fantastic debut and is still a recording to be reckoned with. However, it wasn’t until 2003 with the release of this EP that Malignancy fully defined their wholly original and utterly divisive modern sound. Many fans of  ’Intrauterine Cannibalism’ think of ‘Cross Species Transmutation’ as the moment Malignancy completely lost their mind, rendering them incapable of anything except pinch harmonic abuse. As someone who discovered their recent work first (‘Inhuman Grotesqueries’ to be exact) I can say without hesitation that ‘Cross Species Transmutation’ is entirely deserving of reverence, respect and canonization as an American Death Metal classic.