YARGLA
Webzine muzikal eklektik
Tous nos articles sont (ou seront le plus rapidement possible) disponibles en anglais sur Yargland.
http://yargland.over-blog.com
Avis à tous les amateurs de la langue de Shakespeare et Phil Anselmo!
yargland
Vrykoblast productions/2008
Beware, THEY are back! Two years after their first album
called Atrocities That Birthed Abomination (reviewed in Yargla), warriors from Singapore Absence Of The Sacred are back with this second release
called Era Of The Apostate.The artwork made by Mike Priest (vocals and guitar) is really well done and the booklet is really great. At the first
listening of this album, it appears more brutal and more ‘straight to face’ than their first stuff. Especially in the riffs who are more aggressive. After line up changes (as you can read in the
interview we made in Yargla), their style is more death metal, still melodic including some heavy/thrash influences but don’t worry about it, this A.O.T.S. touch is still
here.
The massacre begins with an introduction with bells and gregorian chants in a dark atmosphere ironizing with this ‘religious beginning’ and introducing by what they fight against.
The first riffs of the song “Era Of The Apostate” pleased me as I enjoyed hearing that they still use keyboards and this beginning remind me of old Sigh stuff (another kickass band from Asia, Japan), after what they violently go on with this song. Thrash/death riffs, as violent as melodic surround Mike Priest vocals. ( I can notice little changes innit. Here, he sings in a more scorched way as he was more guttural in Atrocities...). Great. A really great song with an infernal guitar solo. Old school swedish death metal is still here, this song is a great moment.( and it’s the reason why I put it on my myspace profile some weeks ago, lol!). “Catalysts for cataclysms” also starts in the same line than the prvios track, still melodic and catchy, so headbangable, a break with jerky riffs in the middle of the track, and again, the melodies are as aggressive s catchy. “The Divine Failure” is the song that sounds the more heavy metal in the album. Just take the beginning riffs reminding great 80s heavy metal. Mixing thrash breaks with guttural voice and this old school melodic aspect will manage to make people who don’t like heavy metal being a bit more opened to this style.
“These Hollow Graves” or: the song I like the most in this album. A real masterpiece to me. The whole is really melancholic, the guitar riffs and especially the moments with violins/cellos reminding me a bit of old Celestial Season (as if Celestial Season would have played more death/black metal stuff). The atmosphere rendered here is really amazing. To focus on this melancholic aspect, they also include a part with piano. The main line of this song tends more to black metal. Dudes, let me congratulate you for this track that I must have been listening to 50 times now. “Elements Of Reprisal” begins in a gloomy mood, words claimed on a stressful piano melody, and is followed by another melodic death/thrash/black party with the devil. The riffs are as heavy as a huge hammer hammering the nail, and headbang is obligatory here again. “A Past Revived” instrumentally breaks the violence here. But not in a pejorative way, it appears as a real good bridge between tracks. Very progressive way, piano melodies, very present bass and undistorted guitars. An Opethlike side.
This bridge upon the Rubicon leads to “Empire Of The Fallen”, some cellos are back accompanying thrashy guitar melodies through which we can consider the great technicity of the members. Changes of rythms eliminates every annoying moment that would give a basic song. I am sure that this track have or would have hurt more than a metalhead who saw A.O.T.S. on stage. (I wish I could too one day!). A real great song too.
Unluckily, A.O.T.S. is about to finish its work for this album! Too bad! But they’re back for the curtain call to end this cd with an Atheist cover: “Unholy War” (from Piece Of Time). To come back with A.O.T.S.’s technicity, if they hadn’t been that good, this would have been easier to them to choose some Obituary song (I’m just dealing with a technical point of view), but they cover Atheist (really well known for their technical skills). The cover kicks ass in which A.O.T.S. manages to inject its touch, really well done.
A long review for this masterpiece that appeared to be something that really kicked my ass this year. I am still more and more addicted to this band. They are really cool guys and play really great stuff. A great moment spent with this cd, I really oblige you to go and check them, buy their albums and invite them to play in your place. For all Death/thrash/black freaks... and for others!
http://www.myspace.com/absenceovthesacred
http://www.myspace.com/vrykoblastproduction
Self released /2007
4 songs: 8 minutes
The Devil seems to strike worldwide. After our asian travel, we are back in South America. More precisely, in Chile with the band Blasart. Continuing on a same reviewing line, we have here a black metal band but contrary to the previous band who was more into pure black metal, here, Blasart uses death metal elements to its art in order to intensify their brutal aspect.
An orchestral overture starts the slaughter of holy angels in a gloomy and imperial mood. And all is said with the beginning of the first track “Bastard’s Jehova”. Blast beats, infernal melodies and alternation of a very guttural death metal voice and a black metal one, the whole in a fast tempo. The melodies perfectly follows each other and the whole is very well done. The name of Belphegor comes to my mind by hearing this demo (for this death and black metal mix) and the death metal vocals by moment remind me of Immolation. “Antichristian Schizophrenia” continues the feast with the same hellish ardour and the smell of burnt wings reaches our nose with this track and it’s hard not to fall in this “Antichristian Schizophrenia” as the riffs and the voices of this songs are a bit like hidden calls to destruction. Still the same and still violent, “Under The Hesperus’s Light” comes to eliminate the remaining survivors of the slaughter and this song appears to be my fave one. Reminding me a bit of Immortal sometimes, the shadow of Belphegor is also here, wandering in Blasart’s paths. Excellent track.
The listener will probably regret the demo might be short but everyone should admit that it is straight and efficient. A great dose of antichristian anger for all black/death metal freaks or also for every headbanging addicted people. A great moment coming right from Chile and i saw that they’re about to release an album soon. All we got to do is to wait to hear more, but I am so impatient with it...
Self Released/
2007
5 songs : 15 mins 17
Singapore’s forces of Evil strike back. After the very good Absence Of The Sacred, Zushakon is another horde from this country claiming war to all easy listening people. Pop music fans should go out and ran away before this demo reach their ears.
We have here one intro and four tracks of very good and hateful black metal. No concession is made here. The tracks are coming straight to our face, destroying in the same time our brain and sweeping away all wise thoughts out of ourselves. By hearing the tracks, what remains of your thoughts is to join them in their fight against weak pussies hahaha.
We can easily hear that this band takes its influences from Scandinavian old school black metal scene. As an anecdote, this demo is dedicated to Dissection and its deceased leader. And the freezing wind of Scandinavia flies over their tracks.
Blast beats, hellish melodies and hateful vomited vocals reminded me of a old Dodheimsgard touch in the track called “Vortex Of Devoured Souls” and its beginning melodies made me think a bit of Impiety, also coming from Singapore.
As to say again, a very good effort is made on the melodic point of view, these tracks seem to have been written in the beginning of the 90s. Darkthrone spirit is present in the track “Eye of The Destroyer” especially when the tempo became a bit wiser as to say mid tempo.
“Singawhore” continues the black mass here. The ghouls here still spit their venom. I really like this track, remind me a bit of the track “Total Death” from Isengard with all its devotion to The Beast. Anger feelings and satanic hate are still perceptible in their piece with the ending (but too short track) called “333”. Another back to good old black metal values with these “punkish” rythm ala Darkthrone. Catchy, really but as i told this track is really really too short.
To sum up, we have here a very good demo filled with hateful power, warpaints, old school spirit, the early 90s black metal fans should really appreciate what this asian band proposes to us here. We should mention that 2 of the members (Djinn and Armaros) are from Singapore and that the drummer is a session member: Radovan “Kunthammer” Draza comes from Serbia but nowadays, they took Absence Of The Sacred’s drummer : Serberuz Hammerfrost. Anyway i hope we could see them on stage someday.
http://www.myspace.com/zushakonblackmetal
Self
Released/ Feb. 2003
5 songs : 16 mins 24
Let’s continue ‘our globe trottour’ with Yargla in South America and after Impetus Malignum from Brasil and Sick Porky from Argentina, here we are in Mexico with Disgust: a death metal band that i knew once again thanks to Myspace.
This bands plays a very various death metal, not as fast as Speedy Gonzales but nevertheless as catchy as fuck and not monotonous for a second. This demo that i have been sent by their guitar player is not a new one as they released it in February 2003 before a break and their style has evolved a bit since. But let’s deal with what we have here, total death metal mixed with some other styles.
With the first track (eponymous of this demo) “Human Parasite”, the first feeling i have is to think about some less brutal Cannibal Corpse/Six Feet Under especially for the Chris Barnes voice like. Catchy riffs, binary rythm rather mid tempo, this song sounds like a mix between Six Feet Under and the french band Aiwass (previously reviewed in our pages). I am pretty sure that mister Regis Bassphematoire from Aiwass then would become a Disgust fan with this demo. ;)
“Shed of Blood” starts a bit more brutally and still so headbangable. Some guitar parts sound to me a bit Slayerlike and the voice still clones mister Barnes perfectly. I can easily imagine that more than a mexican lost his sombrero while headbanging on this song as more than a frenchman would lost his beret on it. Really good.
“Beyond The Sun” has a more heavy metal side. The whole is very melodic and sounds epic. There is an alternation of death and black metal vocals that remind me of Pleurisy (very good dutch melodic death metal band from the mid 90s).
“The Beast Lord” comes back to a way like “Shed of Blood” as to understand mid tempo death metal. I really like this one as it sounds a bit like a meeting between Chris Barnes and Deicide. The catchy melodies stay easily in mind , excellent track.
But i have to admit that the catchiest track is the one that ends this demo: “Tonight”. The riffs seem to have been heard hundreds of times before. It is as if I already listened to that song somewhere but i can’t remember exactly where and when. The whole is rather rock (I mean the melody), the vocals still Barnes like (nothing negative here) and to come back with Six Feet Under , this track seems to have been extracted from S.F.U.’s album Graveyard Classics.
I will end this review by telling you that if you want catchy songs, if you like songs that you always “sing in your head” all day long, if you like death metal without neverending blast beats, just simple but efficient, you sould have an ear on “Human Parasite”. The recent news about this band is that they are about to release an album called Crucifucked that includes a cover from Creedence Clearwater Revival “Up Around The Bends”... I am really impatient to hear this stuff. So don’t hesitate and contact this band who is currently looking for worldwide promotion:
http://www.myspace.com/disgustmetal