Cerebral Extinction - Necro Parasite Anomaly

Artist: Cerebral Extinction
Release Title: Necro Parasite Anomaly
Year: 2017
Label: Amputated Vein Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Induced Transition
2. Logic and Conspiracy
3. Nemesis the City of Madness (Part I)
4. Collision Identity
5. Nemesis the City of Madness (Part II)
6. Obscure Portal
7. Necro Parasite Anomaly
8. Face to Face
9. The End of All Worlds

Focusing their intensity to the finest point, Italian brutal death metallers Cerebral Extinction have generated a solid amount of buzz around the scene for their initial offering several years ago and have spent the intervening years honing their skill-set into a lethal advantage. With the main two-piece joined by session drummer Il Kannibale and bassist Riccardo Rogari for the recordings, the sophomore full-length was released May 5, 2017 on Amputated Vein Records.

From the beginning here, the band is focused on featuring plenty of furious and utterly pummeling death metal rhythms that play out here. This one is based on utterly frantic and furious riffing that basically runs along at nonstop tempos throughout here, letting this one get awash in fevered patterns of tight, churning razorwire riff-work. Enabling this one to work at loud, ferocious tempos as the onslaught of unrelenting riffing featured here is balanced by the equally ferocious and blasting drumming that is on display from the very beginning, the end result is an utterly massive and pummeling wall of sound that brings about a great sense of fun throughout here. In a sense, though, that approach does end up being the albums’ somewhat singular downfall here. This one is so single-minded in its focus on blasting away with reckless abandon doesn’t really offer a whole lot of variety or diversity in their tracks. This ends up being so similar and familiar to each other that the tracks are basically distinguished only by their running times and it leaves this one feeling somewhat dragging despite the running time. Indeed, that’s an incredibly big factor against this one as well which is the short and overall brief running time which would’ve enabled some extra length here had this done a little experimentation in the rhythms. However, there’s still a lot of fun to be had here.

Despite a main flaw in managing to feature some rather one-note approach to its blast-heavy nature, there’s still a lot of fun here in the overall attack as the sheer relentlessness in flying headfirst into brutality makes this one a prominent choice for any fan of brutal death metal who are those who should come into this one.

Score: 87/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://cerebralextinction.bandcamp.com/album/necro-parasite-anomaly

Poppy Seed Grinder - Bleeding Civilization

Artist: Poppy Seed Grinder
Release Title: Bleeding Civilization
Year: 2016
Label: Amputated Vein Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Dominant Class of Animals
2. Humans Are Dead
3. Variety X
4. Cesspit of Demagoguery
5. Going Through
6. Blindead
7. Disfigured Face of the Earth
8. Reign of Fear
9. Bleeding Civilization
10. Oppressed Reality

From their inception in the late-90s, Czech Republic brutal death metallers Poppy Seed Grinder have been at the forefront of that country’s growing and impressive output of acts in that style. With mainman and guitarist Yarda the sole surviving member of a roster shake-up that sees new members Klabi on bass, Štěpán on drums and Eddie on vocals, this long-awaited third full-length is released August 12, 2016 on Amputated Vein Records.

As befitting the band’s age and experience, this here is a mostly savage and intense assault of short, deep riffing cutting into the strong series of churning riff-work on display here. This here is tight and chugging-filled rhythms that take full advantage of the different rhythms to generate a ferocious style of full-on brutality in conjunction with the series of tightly-wound riff-work featured here alongside the occasional burst of wailing pig-squealing and grinding patterns in the riff-work for an extra touch of brutality. Even without the grinding patterns featured here, there’s more than enough speed and ferocity in the rhythms to give this a devastating charge yet those extra little slices added to the riff-work adds immensely to the proceedings which makes for a much greater impact when it rips loose and begins generating the kind of intense rhythms that wallow in the speed-drenched up-tempo paces. Coming complete with a ravenous series of drumming blasts that work quite well in completing the grindcore feel within the riffing and a varied vocal approach to match the different rhythm assaults, it doesn’t really leave much wrong with it. There’s really one minor issue to be had, though, in the fact that the album’s blitzkrieg style attack doesn’t really leave much wrong within this one to let the material breathe much, as even within the confined patterns of the genre this one doesn’t really let the rhythms stay stuck in the listener’s head. This has a cool assortment of riff-work within the album at times, but it quickly abandons that in favor of another savage riff before going onto another, and the bewildering arrangements here makes for a general blur of a release at times, all the more so with the short track-lengths. Still, there’s a lot more this one gets right here.

Though it does get slightly undone by the fact that it’s brevity works against it in creating blurry and frantic arrangements, the fact that there’s still a lot to really like here with this one makes for a truly savage and brutal album that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of this style or those who go for the band’s past efforts.

Score: 88/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://amputatedveinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bleeding-civilization

Orphalis - The Birth of Infinity

Artist: Orphalis
Release Title: The Birth of Infinity
Year: 2016
Label: Amputated Vein Records
Genre: Brutal/Technical Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Awaiting Ascension
2. Encased in a Higher Intellect
3. Reshaping the Omnipresence
4. Ingrained Absurdism
5. Planetary Reinvention
6. The Atavistic Tide
7. Lay Bare the Loam
8. Hematemesis
9. Swarming
10. Vanished State of Divinity
11. Inferiority Absolved

From their beginning in 2010, German brutal/technical death metal machine Orphalis has been utilizing these methods to create brutal, pummeling material with plenty of ravenous energy and uncompromising technicality. With a new drummer and vocalist in Phillip and Thomas respectively from melodic death metal outfit Man Made Predator, the new outfit charges forth after a four-year gap with their second album released August 12, 2016 from new label Amputated Vein Records,

The main element present here in this one is the fact that there’s a just unrelenting and brutal onslaught of savage riffing present here, moving throughout the album with a dynamic precision managing to mix together the screeching, challenging technical patterns in league with a tightness and devastating series of deep, churning rhythms that makes for a completely devastating concoction. By keeping the material at a fever pitch, the technicality is far more present here which works for the better of the album as a whole with the strikingly complex and challenging arrangements manage to conjure a far more dynamic attack here as it manages to showcase both these challenging arrangements at frenzied patterns but also generates a few occasions of dexterous wankery that comes across as truly more engaging in these spurts. Still, the overbearing chug underlying the album as a whole and the frantic, blasting drumming here make for a truly pummeling workout of brutality that just meshes so well with the crushingly-complex technicality, and when given a spectacular sheen with the futuristic themes and running times it blows away a great deal of other acts here with the ability to construct a fantastic mixture of these styles while maintaining a superb amount of style and individuality without delving into too many cliches or unnecessary elements bogging the material down. There are a few occasions, especially on the second half where the deluge of material beforehand can make the album sound a tad repetitive and monotonous simply through overexposure with all the same-sounding material chugging away throughout here, but it’s a minor quibble compared to how effective and powerful this one strikes.

Though running into the minor element of being just a tad too samey-sounding as this wears on, the fact that this one is still for the most part a striking onslaught of brutality and overwhelming technicality makes this a wholly appropriate and worthwhile listen for any fan into either spectrum of this genre.

Score: 94/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://amputatedveinrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-birth-of-infinity