Wormhole - Genesis

Artist: Wormhole
Release Title: Genesis
Year: 2016
Label: Lacerated Enemy Records
Genre: Brutal/Slam Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Nurtured in a Poisoned Womb
2. Battle Logic Disrupted
3. Symbiotic Corpse Possession
4. Automated Distress Signal
5. Geoform 187
6. Gravity Manipulation Unit
7. Genesis Chamber
8. Existence Gap

Forged just in 2015, multinational brutal death metallers Wormhole have gathered an impressive roster of scene veterans together into a wholly technical, blistering compilation of all things brutal and heavy for one impressive and pummeling offering. Wasting no time unleashing their twisting, turning brand of attack, the group unleashes its full-length debut November 30, 2016 on Lacerated Enemy Records.

Given the stellar musicianship behind this one, it’s little surprise that this one manages to come across as brutal and pummeling as it does. It’s effortless how this can switch up from offering frenzied razor-wire churning riff-work filled with utterly dynamic, twisting technical patterns that are just as strong in concept as they are in execution when they’re bathed in these complex, challenging patterns that dominate the album. Coupled together with a more traditional series of churning riffing patterns as well as melodic accents alongside that stellar mixture of swirling technicality and a generous helping of ferocious slams within here, this one comes across with a more fully-formed and impressive mixture of brutal and technical elements than expected for a debut offering. Bringing out the mechanical technicality with the swarm of slams throughout this one makes for a thunderous, brutal offering which manages to work wonders for the atmosphere of this one, yet that also brings up the album’s one main detriment in that this one does manage to sound so clean and thunderous that it really loses a lot of its individuality in what’s going on in the album. There’s so much blasting and twisting, turning technical slamming featured here that it all comes off as rather routine and one-dimensional which really does hold this one down. Otherwise, there’s not much to dislike this one.

With some rather enjoyable elements throughout here and some minor flaws that strike this one down, this one is a rather nice and enjoyable debut effort that works nicely enough for fans of the members’ acts involved in this project or fans of the vicious, mechanical-sounding brutal death metal sound.

Score: 86/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
https://laceratedenemyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wormhole-genesis

Vulvodynia - Psychosadistic Design

Artist: Vulvodynia
Release Title: Psychosadistic Design
Year: 2016
Label: Lacerated Enemy Records
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Psychosadistic Design
2. Drowned in Vomit
3. King Emesis
4. Castration Mutilation
5. Flesh Tailor
6. Unparalleled Insubordination
7. Grotesque Schizophrenia
8. Lord of Plagues
9. Depraved Paraphilia
10. Forced Fecal Ingestion
11. Umthakathi
12. Bestial Insemination
13. Wall of Corpses

Having burst into the scene’s conscious, South African slammers Vulvodynia have managed to become one of the top acts in the style with their dynamic blend of brutal, heavy and inhumanely powerful sound which has turned them into a force to be reckoned with. Continuing to infuse more technicality into their slam, the group’s second full-length album was originally released June 30, 2016 on new-label Lacerated Enemy Records.

As has become the norm for the band, the whole exercise is built around the ultra-deep churning riffing bringing along wave after wave of pummeling slams. The ability of the band to wrap these slams around tight, squealing rhythms and deep, chugging breakdowns gives this one the stuttering, steady patterns featured commonly in deathcore-centered rhythms as the mid-tempo rhythms provide a sterling launching point to follow up on the overdose of slamming patterns. This slam-heavy approach is all given a brutal beatdown in the continued usage of frenzied, explosive technically-challenging riffing that was introduced in their last release and adds a strong dynamic to the bands’ approach by allowing the infusion of tight, frantic riffing that piles on the slams in the slower tempos while offering an alternative in the upper tempos that still manages to whip out plenty of high-impact brutality that goes along so well together. That really does leave this one with a rather enjoyable attack that’s ferocious, impactful and devastating while showcasing only a few minor issues here. They can cool it on the lame horror-film samples that nearly everyone uses in their intros and bring aboard a slightly more cohesive sense of spacing here with the album’s organization being a little shoddy, but overall there’s plenty to enjoy here.

Still quite evocative of their style and generally one of the more explosive and enjoyable efforts in the genre, there’s so much to really enjoy here that this one manages to get quite a large number of brutal death fans on it’s side as there’s plenty for those into the slam-heavy side or the more traditional practitioners alike.

Score: 94/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://laceratedenemyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/vulvodynia-psychosadistic-design

Vulvodynia - Finis Omnium Ignoratiam EP

Artist: Vulvodynia
Release Title: Finis Omnium Ignorantiam EP
Year: 2015 (2016 reissue)
Label: Vicious Instinct Records (Transcending Records re-issue)
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. New World Order
2. Superluminal Wormhole Divulgation
3. Paenuntius Descends
4. The Bilderberg Extermination
5. Consuming Thee Illuminatus
6. Genetically Reengineered Repugnance
7. Infinite Darkness
8. Raped, Pillaged & Gutted (Waking the Cadaver cover)

Wasting little time between releases, South African slammers Vulvodynia have taken the momentum gathered on their debut to quickly turn around into another stellar, stand-out release. Managing to fix the critical issue with the last album by trimming it down into a solid EP release, this was originally released July 31, 2015 on Vicious Instinct Records before a vinyl re-issue in September 2016 on Transcending Records.

Containing the same basic outline and formula as the last release, this is yet again another stellar and outstanding slam-filled release that contains the type of relentless approach that utterly overwhelms with the amount of slams it supports. Going into the same chug-filled approach in between the music and containing the kind of generally appealing deathcore-styled breakdowns wrapped alongside the stuttering rhythms throughout, the album is a dense, heavy and thickly-layered assault that’s pretty pummeling in it’s display and overall technically-improved output as that becomes the main selling point with this one in it’s overall growth of technical proficiency. The riffing is a lot more challenging and dexterous here with the enhanced running time of the tracks allowing for a more dynamic display of riffing present here and it’s quite an extremely impressive addition to their ravenous slam-based approach. Likewise, the trimming of the tracks down doesn’t affect this one all that much either as there’s plenty of fantastic moments spread throughout here that comes off as impactful as it does in accordance with the blasting slams featured here. There’s just so much to like with this one that it becomes far more enjoyable than the initial debut.

One of the better releases in the year overall and easily their finest work yet, this release fixes the minor problem from the past album while continuing to focus heavily on their sound going forward, managing to appeal wholly for the bands’ previous fans as well as brutal or slam death metal fans in general.

Score: 96/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.transcendingrecords.com/cgi-bin/productDetails.cgi?pid=9502&cid=

Vulvodynia - Cognizant Castigation

Artist: Vulvodynia
Release Title: Cognizant Castigation
Year: 2014 (2016 re-issue)
Label: Vicious Instinct Records (Transcending Records re-issue)
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Molecular Reconstruction
2. The Oppressor Unseen
3. Enslaved and Subservient
4. Monetary Malevolence
5. Unveiling the Abomination
6. Anti-machination
7. Tesla
8. High Frequency Active Auroral Research Engine [H.A.A.R.P]
9. Indoctrinated into the Void
10. Pathogen X
11. Diverge, Transmute, Alter.
12. Insurrection
13. Interdimensional Abnormality
14. Pollsmoor

Starting in early 2014, South African slammers Vulvodynia have quickly stormed that specific scene that allowed them to form their first releases in the calendar year with an EP released quickly before this first release. Still continuing the trend of including an instrumental version of the album alongside the regular release, the bands’ full-length debut was originally released in that manner October 31, 2014 before another release December 11, 2014 on Vicious Instinct Records that dropped the instrumental versions and is now ready for a vinyl re-issue in September 2016 on Transcending Records.

Offering up plenty of brutal moments, the dominant aspect to be found here is the high-impact slams that are featured throughout here which manage to generate a large amount of the work within the album here. The slow, heavy wave of riffing present here is rather impressive and dynamic, offering the kind of generous slam patterns to be featured heavily while weaving between the tight deathcore-styled breakdowns and the stylistic chugging that pops up here leading into the next wave of slams. That level of violence is kept up pretty consistently here with the vicious riffing holding the slam patterns up-front and center here which gives it the kind of room to maneuver throughout the main rhythms that also manages to feature much more traditional brutal death metal blasting in their attack with some stuttering syncopated riffing and tight choppy patterns that are incorporated incredibly well alongside the slams and chugging. Though all of this is quite fun and makes for a wholly enjoyable slam-based release, the fact that the album is just way too overlong and contains too many tracks is the main downfall here with this one seemingly going on somewhat past it’s useful point as it gets to a point of being yet another over-the-top beatdown with slams and chugging riffing that the album does feel incredibly overlong here with this many tracks here offering the same overall approach, and it would probably be utterly unbearable with the instrumental versions tacked on that also comes as a potential release variant.

While their main point of dissent here is merely the overanxious zeal of a debut with too many elements featured and feeling quite overcrowded, there’s more than enough here to really like about it that there’s plenty of appeal here for any kind of brutal or slam aficionado to really get into with this one.

Score: 85/100

Does it sound good? Order it from here:
http://www.transcendingrecords.com/cgi-bin/productDetails.cgi?pid=9501&cid=

Formless Devotion - Sparks of Separation

Artist: Formless Devotion
Release Title: Sparks of Separation
Year: 2016
Label: Cyclopean Eye Productions
Genre: Black Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Aeonik Devotion
2. Resonance
3. Prana Of The Drakon
4. Phosfire
5. Illuminate My Temple
6. Tunnels
7. Sparks Of Separation

The debut effort from South African black metallers Formless Devotion comes off as rather appealing for the most part and serves them as a potential band to watch for in the scene. Despite appearing for the most part as a rather traditional nature, there’s plenty to enjoy here with this set-up as there’s the usual tremolo riffing, furious brimstone-scented melodies and utterly blasting drumming that creates a veritable swarm of traditional black metal on display, serving as a great set-up to the uniquely enjoyable inclusion of localized tribal influences here. Many of the shorter interludes here uses this kind of tribal drumming and industrial noise collages to set up the upcoming track, which is a cool idea in principle but wears itself out when the idea of getting in tune with the release is instead shelved due to stopping the momentum in order to get to another set-up track for the song after it. This is a highly disappointing effect with the four true songs on here appearing so enjoyable that it does seem to ruin the energy built up here and really comes off with the idea that it should’ve been just one or two in select places rather than doing it for all the tracks.

The tracks here aren’t bad and come off rather fun. Intro ‘Aeonik Devotion’ features churning riffing and steady drumming along through the series of blackened tremolo riffing throughout the sprawling mid-sections with churning rhythms holding tight until the blasting drumming continuously blazing through the tremolo-soaked finale for an engaging and enjoyable opening effort. Instrumental interlude ‘Resonance’ features percussive tribal drumming and dissonant industrial noise together into a meaningless collage that interrupts the flow of the album as a whole before getting back to traditional tracks with ‘Prana Of The Drakon’ utilizing discordant drum-work and swirling riffing that tends to avoid the blasting patterns for the simplistic mid-tempo marches featuring bombastic blistering drumming and swirling brimstone-scented tremolo riffing that continually weaves through discordant patterns of varying tempos for the final half in a rather enjoyable effort overall. Another pointless interlude in ‘Phosfire’ again uses dissonant industrial noises and plodding rhythms that serves as a nice change into a minor flurry of tremolo riffing leading into proper track ‘Illuminate My Temple’ with plenty of light swirling riff-work and plodding drumming slowly working into a light pace with surging tremolo riffing turning into frantic blasting among the mid-tempo patterns leading into the series of start/stop tremolo riffing throughout the finale for an enjoyable effort. Again, the noise interlude ‘Tunnels’ features blaring industrial notes and trumpeting blasts sets up the epic album-closing title track which features light melodic notes that eventually turns into far more blasting and swirling traditional tremolo rhythms that takes on sprawling patterns with the charging atmosphere and intensity continues on throughout the final half for a fun if tad overlong effort to end this on a high note.

Though this one tends to rely quite a bit on the nature of featuring interludes for the main set-up here rather than letting the traditional songs seep through for it’s enjoyment, there’s still more than enough engaging black metal to satisfy fans of the style or those simply curious how it’ll appear when sprung forth from non-conventional arenas.

Score: 79/100

Does it sound good? Order from here:
https://www.facebook.com/formlessdevotion?fref=ts