Artist: Dominate (Col)
Release Title: Cálicem Serpente
Year: 2016
Label: Black Serpent Records
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Brave Warrior
2.Deserter
3.Cálicem Serpente
4.Evil
5.Imperial Army
6.Death Awaits
7.Unmerciful Holocaust
8.Cold Bloody Murder (Rare Version)
Formed back in 2008, the Colombian black/thrashers under the name Dominate took their time honing their cold, icy sound combining the concepts of paganism, occultism, world wars, philosophy, the return of man to his union with the universe and nature. Finally able to offer their first professional recording, the groups’ full-length debut was released in 2016 by Black Serpent Records.
From the onset, the group clearly favors the typically extreme end of the South American scene by offering everything that can be expected in such efforts. There’s plenty of traditional blackened thrash riff-work throughout here, taking up the raw end of the spectrum by going through the simplistic, straightforward paces with a reckless intensity that’s quite ferocious. Due to the rather simplistic manner the vast majority of the songs are an endless variation of fast, frantic and sloppy riff-work that blazes along at pretty consistent tempos as the only real variations found here is when it shifts into a solid mid-tempo chug following the rousing thrash-style efforts. This ends up exposing the rather sloppy and utterly simplistic matter of how the album is pretty much a showcase of one-gear songs that aren’t really technical standouts. The songs hit hard and viciously, but after awhile there’s not a whole lot to offer from this one with the sloppy and reckless play throughout here. As well, this is also hampered by being so obviously low-budget that the album does suffer from a weak production, filled with muddy guitars, weak drums and an utter lack of crisp sound ends up making this one much weaker than it should be by standing out quite obviously here. These here are what hold this one back.
While not a truly awful debut release, there’s quite a lot to like here with the infectious energy and rabid attack that’s much more prominent here that it does overcome enough of the flaws here to appeal to the fans of the South American extreme scene only while those looking for more quality in their efforts should heed caution.
Artist: War Legion
Release Title: Gran Satanás
Year: 2016
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Old-School Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Intro
2.Gran Satanás
3.Abismo mental
4.En nombre de Satán
5.Destroying the Enemy
6.Guerra y sodomía
7.La era del mal
Formed just in 2015, Colombian black metal power-trio War Legion wasted little time in bringing forth a brand of filth and old-school grime into the crowded scene as the band quickly brought forth a rather impressive style of attack. Quickly unleashing their ravenous assault on audiences, the groups’ self-released full-length debut was originally released November 12, 2016.
Bringing forth the ravenous old-school charm, the group manages to elicit plenty of filth and fury in their overall sound and presentation. Bolstered by that relentless style of tremolo riff-work prevalent in the scene, this bounces along through the somewhat sloppy yet still engaging attempts at frantic rhythms. Given that the sloppiness of the material is still present here, it simply adds to the ferocity and intensity as the riffing adopts a straightforward nature filled with plenty of tight, blistering riffing that adds an incredible fiery energy to the tracks when aided by the relentless pounding of the drumming throughout here. While this tends to be the case for the most part here, the fact that this one does seem incredibly short with the album’s running time and tracklisting making it seem like a demo or an EP effort rather than a full-length. This is certainly a case where it could’ve used more on here to build it up a little better since the attack is quite nice if formulaic of so many of the other genre entities which lowers this a little more as well. Still, this one has a lot to like overall.
While it does have a slight problem with the tracklisting keeping this one down somewhat, there’s still plenty of enjoyable elements to this one with their old-school ferocity that helps to raise this one up enough to be quite worthwhile for fans of extreme South American black metal or old-school black metal in general.
Artist: Revenge (Col)
Release Title: Metal Is: Addiction and Obsession
Year: 2011 (2017 reissue)
Label: Rata Mutante Records (EBM Records reissue)
Genre: Heavy/Speed Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Intro - Hell Avenger (Let's Go to Hell and There Hail to Satan)
2.Speed Metal to the Bone
3.Plague of Death
4.Metal Rules My Life
5.No Speed Limit for Destruction
6.Addiction and Obsession
7.Satan's Warriors
8.Fire Attack
Holding out strongly in their style, the Colombian speed/heavy metal group under the name Revenge have continually utilized their raging musicianship and boundless energy to become one of the more prominent names in the South American revivalist scene. Fully coming into their own with their full-on attack, the groups’ fourth full-length effort was originally released November 15, 2011 on Rata Mutante Records as well as a series of reissues later on including one February 28, 2017 on EBM Records.
Burning straight out of the gate, the group wastes little time offering more of what made them impressive as there’s a continuing of those elements once again. The basic approach is general traditional metal straight from the old-school glory days, brimming with a tight crunch, thunderous patterns and a solid blending of traditional steel and more melodic fire that bridges this one nicely. The fact that the album then decides to include far more frantic, vicious and downright blazing speed metal passages that are incorporated so well into the attack that there’s a varying dynamic taken here that makes for a rousing and wholly appreciated outcome. There’s a reckless and bombastic energetic presence on the album due to the blazing speed metal rhythms featured here, and its liveliness makes the album rush through in a heap of tight, thrashing sections that are given a great balance here by the more classy-sounding work on the traditional rhythms bouncing along to the tight, frantic speed metal blaring around in the background. Although it does come a little undone with the fact that so much of the album is played in such similar fashion it doesn’t really strike much of a variety between the tracks doesn’t really dilute this one in the slightest as this is so fast and frantic this is easily overlooked.
One of the more enjoyable and truly ferocious old-school homages in the scene in quite a while, this is a truly ripping album given a special boost with some solid bonus tracks in this particular edition to help highlight the fury within and make this a no-doubt inquiry for fans of raging old-school heavy metal or speed metal in general.
Artist: Guerra Total
Release Title: Nihilistic Malthusian Manifesto (The Ouroboros Cosmic Indifferentism)
Year: 2017
Label: Iron, Blood and Death Corporation
Genre: Black/Death/Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Overture- Endymion- Selene
2.Universal Misanthropolis
3.Nuclear Ancient Ritual
4.Nihil Malthusian Catastrophe
5.Interludium- Osario de Palonegro
6.Metaphysical Solipsism
7.Marching Towards the Beyond
8.Bethlehem Zombie God
9.Cthulhu’s Reign (Posesión III)
10.Nyarlathotep (The Black Pharaoh)
11.Postludium- Live Fast, Die Old
Still going strong after all these years, Colombian black/death/thrashers Guerra Total have offered plenty of traditional South American brutality including their style changeover on this album that settles into a less chaotic, more death metal-oriented take on their blackened thrash beginnings. Celebrating their twentieth anniversary in existence, the groups’ sixth full-length effort was released February 17, 2017 on Iron, Blood and Death Corporation.
Although the group does slightly shift their style, it’s hard to ignore the fact that their original sound is still very much evident throughout here. The riffing throughout here is the same utterly frantic, blistering volley of brimstone-soaked tremolo rhythms that offer forth a rather chaotic soundscape here as they’re quite adept at forging through blistering thrash tempos. The tight, furious speeds they’re played at allows this one to be utterly ferocious and dominating as it thrashes along to the razor-wire patterns in the majority of the tracks here, and once it carries these into that typically raw, blackened atmosphere in here this one gets even better with the raucous production style offering the chance for scores of sterling screaming leads and pounding rhythms to accent the blitzkrieg-style thrashing as well as serve as a base for the incorporation of the newfound death metal rhythm section throughout here. Despite the riffing being of a stellar series of thrashing madness, it still carries with it a deep, churning rhythm section that offers up plenty of depth and charging atmospheres to the music that provides a stronger, more dynamic offering throughout here. The fact that the album does tend to bleed together as the songs come off the same is still an issue within the music, and the strange influx of keyboards and theremins are quite odd, but overall this is still a pulsing, pounding offering.
Despite a few questionable elements and a rather tough-to-decipher tracklist, this is still full of the bands’ typically charging, explosive blackened thrash stylings which manages to make this one an easy choice for fans of their previous work or this frantic style in general.
Artist: Inquisition (Col)
Release Title: Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
Year: 2016
Label: Season of Mist
Genre: Old-School Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1.Intro: The Force Before Darkness
2.From Chaos They Came
3.Wings of Anu
4.Vortex from the Celestial Flying Throne of Storms
5.A Black Aeon Shall Cleanse
6.The Flames of Infinite Blackness Before Creation
7.Mystical Blood
8.Through the Divine Spirit of Satan a Glorious Universe Is Known
9.Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith
10.Power from the Center of the Cosmic Black Spiral
11.A Magnificent Crypt of Stars
12.Outro: The Invocation of the Absolute, the All, the Satan
13.Coda: Hymn to the Cosmic Zenith
Reaching the zenith of their sound, Colombian-by-way-of-Washington black metal legions Inquisition have become one of the more impressive and consistent groups in the genre with a vast, enjoyable discography that always manages to satisfy. With the two-man project offering a slight refining and honing in on their sound, their seventh full-length album was originally released August 26, 2016 on Season of Mist.
As was introduced in their last album, this one again carries a strong celestial vibe to the material while still containing that all-powerful and devastating Inquisition attack. This contains that deep, slow churning tremolo rhythm section with plenty of dynamic weaving through the arrangements to incorporate plenty of ravenous thrashing in the scorching up-tempo sections as well as the explosive dynamics within the tempos to go through these varied compositions with stunning and spectacular ease which creates a slew of prototypically savage tracks in their classic style. Alongside these are efforts which drop the savageness and rely more of a massive, majestic slow-tempoed sprawl throughout the rhythms which forsake the drilling speed for a more calculated, expressive approach that’s given a mood-enhancing boost with the use of the cosmic-styled melody patterns written here which drive them forward with plenty of atmosphere and power. Being able to conjure this variety with the music is simply jaw-dropping in approach and style that the album retains an epic vibe without really being an epic, overlong effort, and makes this one even more impressive with their trademark style being able to fit into the work so easily and effectively as there’s the savage unrelenting old-school attack melded alongside a majestic, celestially-influenced attack that’s epic within a confined soundscape. That allows for a near-flawless attack overall here with only the useless instrumental intro and outros to really be of any complaint to this.
Frankly, this is surely one of the bands’ most masterfully-crafted and enjoyable albums on the whole with barely anything really wrong featured and the power and aggression of their usual material melded alongside the epic melodies working into their sound that this is a must-have record for anyone remotely into black metal or extreme metal in general.
Artist: Reencarnación (Col)
Release Title: Reencarnación (reissue named 888 Metal)
Year: 1987 (reissued in 2015)
Label: Originally self-released/independent (reissue on Nuclear War Now! Productions)
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
Tracklisting:
Original release
1.Reencarnación (888 Metal)
2.Nexus Universalis
3.Armageddon
4.El Canto de los Sepulcros
5.Puta Religión
6.A la Diestra del Mesías
7.Funeral del Norte
8.Reencarnación (II Parte)
Reissue release:
1.Reencarnación (888 Metal)
2.Nexus Universalis
3.Armageddon
4.El Canto de los Sepulcros
5.Puta Religión
6.A la Diestra del Mesías
7.Funeral del Norte
8.Reencarnación (II Parte)
9.Reencarnación (III Parte)
10.Un Minuto de Vida y un Siglo de Muerte
11.Acompáñame a la Tumba
12.Reencarnación (888 Metal)
13.El Canto de los Sepulcros
14.Armageddon
15.Puta Religión
16.A la Diestra del Mesías
17.Funeral del Norte
18.Acompáñame a la Tumba
The debut full-length from Colombian black/thrashers Reencarnación is certainly an album more renown for it’s historical significance and importance rather than the actual content of the music within. Sloppy, discordant and simply amateurish riffing is the hallmark here all given a raw edge with the low production values in place that really gives the whole affair a ivibe of a garage-level demo recorded without professional equipment in place. There’s no real consistent arrangements on display regardless of how badly-produced it sounds, tending to alter the kind of patterns and paces here into discordant affairs with a choppy structure that radically starts and stops at various points throughout the tracks which makes it seem like they’re conceived right on the spot improvisationally. Other forms of discordant patterns emerge through the use of obscure arrangements and segments placed here that slow the material down into a series of sprawling tempos that are just lethargic and plodding or featuring unusual instrumentation with classical violin pieces from that are just out-of-place and wholly disjointed against the thrashing elsewhere. On the whole the music here is not that good being too sloppy or amateurish to really make an impression.
The first half here demonstrates what’s on display here nicely, even if the songs generally aren’t. Intro ‘Reencarnación (888 Metal)’ takes a stuttering series of start/stop riffing and pounding drum-work into a fine series of sloppy raging rhythms full of discordant riffing over clattering drumming and frequent tempo changes full of schizophrenic patterns raging along into the final half for a decent enough opener. ‘Nexus Universalis’ features a staggering, discordant series of riffing into a loose series of blackened thrashing with plenty of loose, sprawling riffing alongside the raging drumming taking along a steady mid-tempo attack featuring lethargic rhythms and discordant notes through the finale for an overall disappointing and bland effort. ‘Armageddon’ uses a stuttering series of discordant riffing with a series of bland plodding drumming over sampled effects dragging the pacing down with sprawling, droning riff-work leading into the series of frantic riff-work and urgent blasting drumming coming through the final half for a wasted first part yet enjoyable second part. ‘El Canto de los Sepulcros’ features a series of swirling riffing and clattering rhythms slowly galloping along into a series of discordant rhythms featuring wild schizophrenic patterns charging along with the swirling riffs churning throughout the extended thrashing of the final half makes this the album’s highlight without much difficulty.
The second half is again a rather weak and overall disappointing part of the album. The minute-long instrumental ‘Puta Religión’ features simple drumming and celestial keyboards creating a localized, haunting landscape over the tolling bell-strikes and monster growls for a totally useless mid-album breather. ‘A la Diestra del Mesías’ features stuttering and discordant riffing along with plenty of pounding drumming into a series of blasting drum-work and plenty of sloppy riffing thrashing through stuttering tempos littered with savage, choppy drumming leading into the final half for a decent-enough if rather problematic effort. ‘Funeral del Norte’ uses a sharp series of swirling thrashing riff-work and clattering drumming working through a series of stuttering tempos and discordant pattern riffing with the raw rhythms taking the chaotic energy along with more choppy, stuttering rhythms along through the finale for another somewhat enjoyable effort. Lastly, the epic album-closer ‘Reencarnación (II Parte)’ uses classical violins alongside rattling drumming and stuttering riffing with plenty of staggered rhythms and plodding paces that bring the utterly sloppy rhythms along through the violin pieces and the extended, sprawling tempos full of clattering rhythms for another disappointing effort that ends this on a rather disappointing note.
Even though it’s one of the most important and respected album in the South American extreme metal scene, there’s just not a whole lot on display here that’s really appealing and ends up leaving this one only for the most devout and impassioned fans of that style with this particular version of the release being the one to get should that be desired.
