Sargatanas (Mex) - The Enlightenment

Artist: Sargatanas (Mex)
Release Title: The Enlightenment
Year: 1999 (2017 reissue)
Label: Conquistador Records (Old Temple reissue)
Genre: Old-School Black/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Eternal Darkness
2. Fear and Suffering
3. The Proclamation
4. Diatribe of the Occult
5. Ritual of the Advent
6. Satan's Curse (Possessed cover)
7. Satanist
8. Veneration of the Black Mark in the Ancestral Forest
9. Doom of Fire
10. Sargatanas
11. Blessed Are the Sons of the Black Flame
12. The Enlightenment

Formed back in 1986, long-running Mexican black/death legends Sargatanas have taken plenty of time to settle on their first professional output as the constant crop of musicians have halted their legacy until the mid-90s when their first demo releases were released. Now finally prepared for their first proper release, the groups’ debut full-length effort was released in 1999 by Conquistador Records before a reissue February 10, 2017 on Old Temple.

Churning out plenty of viciousness, the group display quite a profound and determined understanding of their sound right off the bat on this release. The vast majority of the album contains plenty of slow, lethargic riff-work utterly drowning in old-school tremolo style rhythms, letting this one evoke a truly chilling and darkened atmosphere by droning on through their patterns here. The agonizing patterns, featuring plenty of majestic rhythms and sprawling sections generate the kind of plodding pace that stands out here especially once the album kicks up slightly. These are mainly based on featuring the tremolo riff-work and pounding drum-work in a far more up-tempo and energetic series of patterns that offer a strong dynamic variety against the plodding rhythms here, and with the whole affair completely draped in that raw, churning atmosphere it works so well to its advantage. However, one of the biggest issues here is the fact that this one is just so overlong and bloated that it becomes somewhat of a chore to get through. There comes a point in the later half where it all starts blending into a blur of rather hard-edged but still repetitive tremolo riffing and churning rhythms that sound way too similar to stand-out. Given that this one contains way too many songs for its own good in that format is what ultimately ends up bringing this one down as well since there’s no real reason why it had to be this lengthy and could’ve cut out a few tracks to make it less obvious. Still, for a debut, this isn’t that bad.

While there are way too many repetitive moments here because it’s filled to bursting with too many elements it didn’t need from having so many tracks throughout here, the fact that for the most part it’s still a devastating and dynamic offering makes this a choice look for those that love that raw, old-school black/death metal style.

Score: 82/100

Grieving Mirth - Calamitosvs Omine EP

Artist: Grieving Mirth
Release Title: Calamitosvs Omine EP
Year: 2015
Label: Loud Rage Music
Genre: Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Malaugurio
2. Indelectatvs
3. Optio
4. Mille Facce
5. Abuso

Coming together in 2011, international post-black metal supergroup Grieving Mirth have brought their collective members’ experience together into a rather solid and enjoyable output of melodic and dreary atmospheric-tinged black metal. With the original recording done several years before vocals were utilized, the groups’ first EP was originally self-released March 18, 2015 before a re-release July 1, 2015 on Loud Rage Music.

By adopting this style of post-metal, the album comes off rather familiar and rudimentary quite easily here as it offers very few deviations for the style. For the most part, it’s basically a series of swirling tremolo riffing in a galloping mid-tempo push that gives this a style similar to a vast majority of the genre as it’s often paired with long-winded sections featuring the same buzzing tremolo riff repeating for some warm, rich melodies. While it’s paired nicely alongside blasting drumming and bombastic, epic keyboards for a generally massive sound throughout here, the simple fact that there’s not a whole lot else to really glean from this one does seem to hold it back somewhat as there’s only so much deviation done in these few tracks and it serves as effective and enjoyable if one-dimensional due to that. The chance to offer more tracks would push for some more deviation throughout here, but otherwise there’s not a whole lot else to find within this one.

Though there’s nothing that overtly wrong with what’s on display here, the fact that there’s room for more to work with in regards to their sound makes for quite an appealing effort only for the most devout atmospheric black metal aficionados or fans of the members’ other projects.

Score: 70/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://loudragemusic.bandcamp.com/album/grieving-mirth-calamitosvs-omine

Cryptic Realms - Enraptured by Horror

Artist: Cryptic Realms
Release Title: Enraptured by Horror
Year: 2016
Label: Death in Pieces Records/Iron, Blood and Death Records (co-release)
Genre: Retro Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Enraptured by Horror
2. Doomed Cathedrals
3. In Mortal Distress
4. Total Demise
5. Sinister Force Descends
6. Vulgar Exhumation
7. Begging to Be Dead
8. Act of Derangement

Formed just in 2015, international death metal supergroup Cryptic Realms wasted no time in paying homage to the classics of the genre with their first release coming quite early on in their history leading to a crushing split release that pushed the band further. Now finally able to offer their first proper release, the bands’ full-length debut was originally released November 28, 2016 in a co-release between Death in Fire Records and Iron, Blood and Death Corps.

As befits their chosen sound, the group is quite clearly adept at their old-school mannerisms with all manner of devices throughout here to showcase this style. This is filled with efforts that showcase plenty of tight, deep churning riffing that carries plenty of variations between their pacing as the album’s straightforward nature makes for a somewhat one-note approach. Essentially being there just to showcase the swirling riff-work in various approaches, the album descends into simplistic, rather light chugging that carries the churning riff-work through these simplistic patterns with very little deviation, being played as nothing more throughout here at all as the whole album is so strictly by-the-numbers in here makes for a really dull time. It really leans into that camp so often with its rhythms and approaches that it feels too caught up in itself too easily and manages to really lose itself quite easily here as it’s quite hard to tell tracks apart from each other. Being caught in too simplistic patterns and rhythms makes it hard to figure out what’s happening, and it does take awhile to get over this and get on with the rest of the album.

Being way too simplistic and rather one-note for its own good, this is lowered somewhat from the relatively crowded retro death metal scene due to that even though it does have enough positive elements about it to be worth a look for those who are fans of the members’ other acts or non-discerning revivalist aficionados.

Score: 75/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/enraptured-by-horror

Acrania (Mex) - Fearless

Artist: Acrania (Mex)
Release Title: Fearless
Year: 2015
Label: Self-Released/Independent
Genre: Experimental Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. People of the Blaze
2. Poverty Is in the Soul
3. I Was Never Dead
4. Blinded by Power
5. Overflow
6. En el puerto
7. Hypocritical Conflict
8. Man's Search for Nothing
9. Point of Collision

Honoring their commitment to their genre, Mexican experimental death metal explorers Acrania are continuing to fuse their extravagant Latin roots with charging death metal rhythms, and the group’s full potential is quite a unique experimental side. With their full compliment of musicians again providing this one with fantastic work all around, their third full-length album was independently released April 25, 2015.

As is to be expected here considering their origins, the band is really all about exploring the connection between their latin hometown and more traditional metal roots with a fiery display of mainly Latin percussion and rhythms in their arrangements as the dominant factor here. Offering up such non-traditional death metal instrumentation here from the trumpet, saxophone and other discordant jazz percussion amongst their rhythms with plenty of fiery death metal riff-work thrown into the mix, the result is incredibly dynamic and offers up plenty of strong dissonant and utterly schizoid arrangements that recall more of a freeform Latin-influenced jazz band than traditional death metal. The strongest point here is that this works for the bands’ favor as this bizarre mixture is strongly performed while giving them a truly unique and original voice in the genre by combining two seemingly disparate elements that shouldn’t come together at all sound quite fun together and even with the challenging nature of the arrangements it’s still a highly listenable and enjoyable effort with plenty of enjoyable elements about it. Though it does work quite often, it does stumble at times where it’s plodding Latin rhythms and percussion here end up causing this to slow down into samba or salsa-styled tempos that are so far from traditional metal-works that it might turn off fans here looking to see this infusion work as it reminds the avantgarde nature of this mixture too much. Still, there’s too much to really love about this one that it’s barely a detriment and not all that impactful all that much.

Graced with plenty to like here with a strong, unique voice with their strong and enjoyable mixture of work that’s truly one of the most dynamic attacks in this style, there’s plenty of enjoyable elements on display for fans of adventurous Latin-flavored metal music to get into this one or those inquiring about the potential of the fusion on display.

Score: 90/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://acraniaofficial.bandcamp.com/album/fearless

Slaves of Suffering - Advent of Despair

Artist: Slaves of Suffering
Release Title: Advent of Despair
Year: 2016
Label: Ungodly Ruins Productions
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Advent of Despair
2. Crown of Ignorance
3. Servants of Corruption
4. Imminent Demise
5. Dwell in Torment
6. Systematic Opression
7. Dismal Realm
8. Destructive Design
9. Vicious Cycle

Formed in May 2014, Mexican brutal death metal newcomers Slaves of Suffering have changed style from an old-school influenced death metal act before quickly adopting their more current brutal incarnation shortly afterward. Finally able to release their full-length debut, the crushing release was originally issued May 31, 2016 on Ungodly Ruins Productions.

What immediately becomes present with this one here is the fact that there’s a strong mixture of stylish old-school death metal within the brutal rhythms. Featuring the tight, deep churning riff-work with frenzied buzzing patterns alongside frantic blasting drumming throughout here, this one readily captures a frantic brutal vibe that brings along plenty of crushing rhythms and pummeling tempos to the forefront with the group opting to deliver these at mostly full-throttle paces. Swarming along throughout the rhythms here makes the riffing tend into a full-on blur of brutal riffing that comes off rather nicely if somewhat formulaic here, and with the band opting to go for some rather more sprawling sections to support the solo-work here it generates more of a fine old-school death metal vibe than what is usually found in the genre. Still, it’s hard to really overcome the formulaic and somewhat overly-familiar approach through this one which tends to cause this to come off as yet another band in a packed, crowded field in the genre as there’s numerous other bands packing that kind of choppy, feverish riffing and blasting drumming into their sound to let the band really stand out with any kind of voice or identity of their own. The old-school influences do this quite well, yet it’s not done often enough throughout here to really mean as much as it should’ve considering what’s a nice part of their sound is featured only sporadically which is what does cause this to slip down somewhat.

Though it’s somewhat slightly problematic with it’s lack of real originality and the mis-use of a potentially identifiable feature that could be harnessed to accomplish that, this being a debut causes these to slip by the wayside somewhat so that it does end up becoming a solid choice for the most fervent and undiscerning brutal death apologist or fan of extreme Latin American metal.

Score: 76/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://ungodlyruinsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/advent-of-despair

Valtikan - Exordium

Artist: Valtikan
Release Title: Exordium
Year: 2015
Label: Sepulchral Silence Records
Genre: Folk Power Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Exordium
2. A Warrior's Path
3. Eternal Flame of the Dragon
4. Moonrise
5. Skogmetsä pt. I
6. Skogmetsä pt. II
7. Alter Ego
8. War Cry
9. Victory
10. A New Dawn

Appearing first as DemonHeart in 2011, Mexican power metallers Valtikan soon adopted this new moniker in 2012 and have since appeared to hone their nice blend of folky rhythms and ripping power metal. Initially a July 10, 2015 release before getting a digital re-release June 24, 2016 on Sepulchral Silence, this fine debut starts the group off on a really impressive note and sets them up in the scene to carry on.

From the outset here it’s apparent the band is clearly influenced by the folkier end of power metal with the band clearly generating some rather impressive and enjoyable rhythms running throughout here with the main focus running throughout here being the ripping power metal riffing. Strong, energetic rhythms and relentless full-throttle drumming carrying the tightened speed-metal hallmarks of the genre to it’s normal running grounds, this part of the album is wholly enjoyable enough on it’s own before the band even attempts to introduce the folksier parts here with the nominal interjections of medieval rhythms and instrumentation throughout the tracks here. However, rather than dominating these tracks this one instead allows them to run through these elements in select spots in the music and then relying on their more traditional power metal arrangements to carry the rest of the load on the album, which is a wholly appreciative approach in that there’s still room for their medieval runs and rhythms while still packing a heavy-end blast, most notably on the band’s epic arrangements which allow for spirited sections of jaunty rhythms and localized patterns alongside the ripping sections to come through. For a debut this is quite nice and really manages quite a lot to like, making for even more to like here with only one minor element to creep in here which is the rather jumbled and crowded manner of their epics in that they cram in so much that it’s hard to breathe and really focus on anything as it’s quickly onto new sections and arrangements which gets a little overwhelming when they have a much easier time accomplishing this in their shorter tracks. Still, for a debut this is a highly impressive one.

Though it gets a little overlong for it’s own good at times, this is still a nicely enjoyable and impressive debut from this group which has enough elements at play to really appeal to those who prefer the heavier end of folk-influenced metal or appreciate the bands’ attempts to incorporate those elements together into enjoyable power metal.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://sepulchralsilencerecords.bandcamp.com/album/exordium

Allaxull - Evangelio de brujos

Artist: Allaxull
Release Title: Evangelio de brujos
Year: 2016
Label: Sepulchral Silence Records
Genre: Raw Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Introducción al ocultismo
2. Evangelio de brujos
3. Satanismo, locura y profanación
4. Ascenso del infierno
5. El último ángel
6. Cruzando el aqueronte
7. Ídem de Destrucción
8. Goecia
9. Noveno círculo

A rather long-running name in Mexican black metal, Allaxull is also one of the most enigmatic bands in the genre with very little activity and even less musical output in their career that spans back to the late 90s. The debut effort from the group, released July 3, 2016 from digital-label Sepulchral Silence, offers a steady dose of frantic and raw-sounding black metal.

From the onset here this one is made pretty much like a traditional old-school black metal effort. Short and to-the-point tremolo riffing is usually found here as the predominant style which is usually affixed with celestial noodling that offers up a stylish vibe over the raw compositions and ventures quite close to Middle Eastern melodies at times. That melodic influx also concerns the remaining rhythms of the music giving it a rather simple melodic pace that carries on for the majority of the tracks while also allowing it to generate a far more chaotic bent at times with the burst into frenzied chaotic riffing patterns that rumble along at pretty dexterous and dynamic patterns across the two distinct sections of the album. It’s a great sign of distinct and varied writing styles here in that there’s a clear set-up in the first half here to focus on quick and shorter tracks while the second half is much more involved with longer epics than before allowing for more involved and dexterous rhythms throughout which is especially enjoyable given the raw production edge to this. That in itself is the album’s single biggest stumbling block throughout here as there’s very little about the production of this one as it gives the appearance of being one level above a garage-rehearsal sound with weak drumming and buzzing guitars while the screechy vocals go over the top of it all. It’s enough that the album suffers a little from this, but not so much for the intensity of the writing.

Though there’s a somewhat detrimental flaw running along throughout here, there’s more than enough here to like elsewhere in the album that this lone flaw might not even matter all that much, making this a solid choice for fans of the gravelly undercooked style of raw black metal or the scene in general.

Score: 79.100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://sepulchralsilencerecords.bandcamp.com/album/evangelio-de-brujos

Grave Cross - Nothing But the Night EP

Artist: Grave Cross
Release Title: Nothing But the Night EP
Year: 2016
Label: Stormspell Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Nothing but the Night
2. Curse of the Witch
3. Grave Cross
4. The Devil's Skull

The new EP from Mexican heavy metallers Grave Cross isn’t terribly original or enjoyable but does have enough to make it worthwhile in the right mood. The general air of thumping, swirling riff-work full of occultish-styled rhythms and plodding drumming all wrapped together in a dark, murky vibe throughout this one, it leaves an impression of the old-school occult metal/rockers that permeated the 80s which becomes all the more prominent here due to the way the whole production on this one plays out. That alone is part of the appeal here in that this one has such a deep and moody atmosphere with the production leading through here being a particularly pleasing down-and-dirty type of darker occult vibe that comes off nicely for this type of muted music. The main issue here is the fact that this one really isn’t all that well-suited for the type of plodding and lifeless pacing that’s on display here which is pretty much the main issue with this one. It really should be a much more lively affair instead of the sluggish plodding that occurs here, and in the end it drains the life out of the material despite all atmospheric goodwill it causes. Maybe if they were more than four tracks here it might’ve gotten a little better but it’s really main issue here.

Though there’s some bright spots here, it’s not always present here. The opening title track uses the sampled intro that leads into a steady mid-tempo series of dull, thumping rhythms and light chugging riff-work that continues on through the light paces with the light melodies holding through the solo section into the final half for a decent if sluggish opener. ‘Curse of the Witch’ features thumping mid-tempo drumming and a strong series of mid-tempo rhythms with the thumping riff-work and the charging drumming working through the lively, extended solo section and continuing on through the rocking finale for an enjoyable highlight effort. ‘Grave Cross’ offers swirling riffing and pounding occultish drumming that works into a decent mid-tempo charge with plenty of tight rhythms keeping this moving along into the solo section and into the final half for a decent effort overall. Lastly, album-closer ‘The Devil's Skull’ uses sprawling swirling riffing and light, chugging rhythms offering sluggish tempos and rather lackadaisical patterns through the hazy riffing with the extended swirling riffing leading through the sluggish finale for an overall bland lasting impression here.

Though this one does have some rather prominent flawed moments on display, there’s enough to get an idea of what’s going to be an enjoyable time here that it makes for a rather solid if nonessential part of the revival heavy metal scene if they can ever fix them in the future as they continue.

Score: 60/100

Does it sound good? Order from here:
http://gravecross.bandcamp.com/