Agony Divine - March of the Divine

Band: Agony Divine
Release Title: March of the Divine
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Year: 2015
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Tracklist:
1. Heaven's Hive
2. False Hope
3. March of the Divine
4. Streets of Terror
5. No Forgiveness
6. Denial
7. Manipulation
8. Stained With Grief
9. Wither
10. Bonus

The debut full-length from these North Carolina death metallers may not be the most enjoyable variation on the style but is a decent enough mixture of Death Metal and rocking, punk-ish Thrash that is enough to make for an entertaining diversion if necessary. The simplistic tone of the material here is quite apparent, usually relying on two or three rousing mid-tempo riffs with a lot of sprawling Grunge-sounding sections that just sound like directionless masses of chords and rhythms without really doing a whole lot to really align itself one way or another into either genre with plenty of consistent marks here as there’s a lot more alternative work throughout here with these sprawling, noisy sections and far more insistent use of clean vocals than either genre readily accompanies. The riffing is simple Death Metal-styled rhythms and patterns played at mid-tempo Thrash-like force while offering up sprawling sections that don’t really seem connected either way around which makes for a disjointed work here with these thrashy rhythms and hard-charging riffs being quite enjoyable only for the slower, plodding efforts to really make no sense and seem somewhat out-of-place here. Though nothing is really a detriment in itself, it’s really more the jarring way they come in that makes this somewhat stand-out, and against the simplistic nature of the rest of the material is really what makes it stick. Otherwise there’s a somewhat decent effort here.

The first half here does make for a rather straightfoward take of the album. Intro ‘Heaven's Hive’ is a nice little bit of cheerful singing and apocalyptic war-noises coming together to lead into ‘False Hope’ taking a raging riff with plenty of intense tremolo rhythms thrashing into the rather charging mid-tempo section which offers plenty of furious leads and dynamic rhythms that carries on throughout here for an impressive opener. The title track gets a droning intro with a stuttering start/stop rhythm that carries a rocking punkish feel to the loose rhythms and near spoken vocals that follow along a series of bland riff-work before kicking back into full throttle rhythms into the later half which is much more enjoyable than what came before. ‘Streets of Terror’ goes charging through a much more energetic pace with some punk-ish thrashing rhythms and a dynamic bit of drum-blasts that are fine enough for the diversionary riffing to again crop up that sounds quite out-of-place on the more thrashing material elsewhere here.

The second half here doesn't really change this up much. The blaring blasts of ‘No Forgiveness’ turn into a raucous thrashy mixture which is quite adept at holding the other elements at bay with the rather furious tempo kept up throughout here as the tempo shifts are off-set with the hard-charging riffs and pounding drumming that makes this one of the most consistent and enjoyable efforts. ‘Denial’ brings some intensity as well with a wieldy intro that delves into a solid mid-tempo crunch that manages to stay within the same pretty consistent approach elsewhere and doesn’t really stand out all that much from the others here. ‘Manipulation’ offers some impressive tremolo rhythms and rocking tempos bringing along some thoroughly rousing energy along the way with the most explosive riff and plenty of pounding drumming that makes for another fine highlight here. ‘Stained With Grief’ brings a rather mid-tempo choppy rhythms that settles out into another raucous series of rhythms that’s continued throughout here quite nicely with the additional running time here allowing this one to get more enjoyable as it carries on. ‘Wither’ offers a rather tired mid-tempo chug throughout the simplistic series of mid-range sprawling riffs that keep the charging riff-work confined to the second half with a sense of blandness that doesn’t overcome the first half which keeps this one down significantly. The ‘Bonus’ song here is a thoroughly confusing sing-a-long chant that doesn’t seem the slightest bit interesting on a Death Metal record and there’s little about it that’s appealing, leaving for a bad taste overall.

While this isn’t the greatest first impression made as this is just too flawed to be much better than this decent-enough tag it has, there’s certainly room for improvement here.

Score: 70/100

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Necroblaspheme - Belleville

Band: Necroblaspheme
Release Title: Belleville
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Year: 2015
Genre: Atmospheric Death/Black Metal
Tracklist:
1. Rempart
2. Le discours du bitume
3. How Did We Get There
4. Two Trees (DeadWood)
5. Hyperspace
6. Waiting to Exhale
7. Freed
8. The Grande Boars Haunting
9. Gouffre
10. Such a Lot

Album number three for French atmospheric deathsters Necroblaspheme, “Belleville”, manages to finally get the full use of their mixture of atmospheric chords and punishing death/black metal after toying with the sound in the previous EP release. Allowing for their past endeavors into pummeling old-school styled classic death metal, this new form isn’t as remarkable simply without the added punch that required here as instead this newfound form is lighter, more melodic and manages to come off quite a bit more relaxed in nature as the whole effort has more of a celestial-journey vibe as if the entire effort is traveling through the reaches of the cosmos. While there’s still more death metal elements abound here with the tight patterns and heavy riff-work at the forefront of many songs here before they descend into sprawling atmospheric jaunts, the lighter atmospheric work here is a little oddly placed alongside these tougher, more edgier samples makes for a disjointed work at times. It works far better here with the other addition of more black metal-influenced riff-work here as the tremolo-picked patterns are far more receptive to the sprawling celestial tone of these rhythms and manages to fit into the music on the whole much tighter and more coherently. Still, this can’t hide the fact that there’s three short instrumentals here where there really didn’t need so many, making this seem too sloppy and features too much of a start/stop feature in the middle of the album rather than the more cohesive builds at the front and back of the album and really should’ve been trimmed down or removed altogether.

On the whole, though, the songs are still rather good. Intro ‘Rempart’ uses a slow-building riff with an extended series of looping rhythms that finally turns into a sprawling series of riffs and double-bass blasts that urges forward in a rather long, monotonous repetition broken up by the dynamic drumming and swirling tremolo-picked rhythms for a fine opening blast that just takes too long to get going. ‘Le discours du bitume’ features one of the most groovy and consistently hard-hitting riffs swirling through rampant tremolo-picked series of riffs with a stylish series of choppy drumming, plodding rhythms and dynamic melodies that run throughout here for one of the most impressive efforts here. The first of the instrumentals, ‘How Did We Get There’ is easily the most skippable of them with nothing more than reverb-laden guitar squealing meant to suggest a mid-album breather but it’s too short to mean anything and the album’s only two songs in which means the need for a break is curious enough. ‘Two Trees (DeadWood)’ gets this back to normal with a tighter, sharper series of fiery riffs, blasting drumming and a more cohesive atmospheric section wandering through the middle of the track while the sprawling tempos are carried through the remainder here which makes it decent enough but still not entirely satisfying. The next instrumental, ‘Hyperspace’ shouldn’t even be here and would’ve been better served swapped with the previous instrumental and then left off altogether.

‘Waiting to Exhale’ offers forth a scalding series of tremolo-picked rhythms and blasting drumming whipping through some of the most extreme tempos on the album and mixing things up nicely with some sprawling atmospheric patterns and the occasional chug for an all-around more intensive effort. The last of the instrumentals, ‘Freed’ is the best with a haunting industrial tone and gradual build-up that makes for a fine impression overall here while segueing into ‘The Grande Boars Haunting’ with the same creepy atmospheric touch working alongside the gorgeously chilling riffs with plenty of sprawling atmospheric touches before blasting into devastating bursts of double-bass blasts and churning riff-work that makes this another fine highlight. ‘Gouffre’ is a little weird with its jangly intro, but turns into a worthwhile effort with some tight chugging, a fine series of atmospheric tremolo patterns flowing through a series of solid up-tempo melodies quite nicely that makes this a rather nice effort overall. Finale ‘Such a Lot’ offers more of the same here with a series of sprawling tremolo riff-work, blasting drumming and full-on churning rhythms here in the later half manages to pick up the intensity and urgency into the section as the pounding drumming and haunting chorus work into the finale bring this to a fine conclusion overall.

While there’s a few small pieces here and there that don’t quite hold up, there’s still some solid enough positives to really like here as they further refine and tinker with this newfound formula. It’s certainly worth a look for those into their past efforts or are completists of European extreme metal, though more ardent followers of their previous efforts should heed caution here.

Score: 75/100

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