Perpetual Demise - Arctic

Artist: Perpetual Demise
Release Title: Arctic
Year: 1996 (2016 reissue)
Label: DSFA Records (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Doom/Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Of Confusion and Brutality
2. The Lord Paramount
3. Arctic
4. The Observer
5. Pyramids
6. Fall
7. Triangle Eye
8. The Tower
9. Upon Dark Grounds
10. On the Edge
11. Denial & Faith

Reissue tracklisting:
1. Of Confusion and Brutality
2. The Lord Paramount
3. Arctic
4. The Observer
5. Pyramids
6. Fall
7. Triangle Eye
8. The Tower
9. Upon Dark Grounds
10. On the Edge
11. Denial & Faith
12. Where the Ancients Remain
13. Cynical Control
14. Scarred by Silence
15. Awaiting the Unexpected
16. Conspiracy of Fear
17. Massacre to Be

Founded back in 1989, disbanded Dutch doom/death metal band Perpetual Demise quickly rose through the ranks of the underground on the strength of several strong demos and finally got their debut release out before ultimately disbanding. Having gotten to the last stage of their set-up, the groups’ sole full-length album was originally released in 1996 before getting a remastered reissue with bonus tracks November 25, 2016 on Vic Records.

This here manages to come off rather nicely in being quite an impressive and frankly engaging aspect of merging old-school influenced doom and death metal. The riff-work here is the greatest aspect of this one, managing to keep this one going along quite nicely with plenty of tight, churning patterns here recalling the type of death metal elements prominent at the time while still maintaining the kind of backbone required to gallop along at a few rather random spots with the uptempo rhythms and plenty of pounding rhythms blaring away, yet the vast majority of this one still carries with it ravenous doom metal characteristics in the plodding, sprawling tempos and addictive atmosphere. Given that this is furthered augmented by the use of clean vocals during a few select passages to further enhance the melodic quotient of the material throughout here, and overall this one manages to contain quite a varied and wholly appreciative cross-section here with the variety. The main problem with all this though is that there’s not a great deal of interesting work done here as the album generally resorts to rather repetitive means here to generate the vast majority of its death metal leanings by carrying on the same style of churning patterns throughout here for the duration of those segments. This leaves the album feeling really familiar by the time it’s over by going through the same overly-familiar rhythms and feelings here which is only enhanced by the rather curious decision to include the stuttering melodic rhythms throughout here which are wholly out-of-place and just sound like discordant clanging without any definitive direction. These here tend to drag the score of this one down.

Though this may very well be the definite version of this release due to the greater artwork, the enhanced sound, and spectacular bonus tracks, the fact that the music, on the whole, doesn’t really stand out a great deal overall here makes this one solely for the most devout and hardcore followers of Dutch death metal or doom/death metal in general.

Score: 78/100

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Ceremony (Neth) - Tyranny from Above

Artist: Ceremony (Neth)
Release Title: Tyranny from Above
Year: 1993 (2016 reissue)
Label: Cyber Records (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
Original-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen

Reissue-
1. Inner Demon
2. Drowned in Terror
3. Solitary World
4. Ceremonial Resurrection
5. When Tears Are Falling
6. Humanity
7. Beyond the Boundaries of This World
8. Tribulation Foreseen
9. Essence of Alternation
10. Immortality of the Gods
11. Tyranny from Above
12. Humanity
13. Tribulation Foreseen

Formed in 1989 in South Holland, Dutch death metal legends Ceremony set out a path of destruction in their brief career with an absolutely astounding early release effort before disbanding for two decades and only reforming just recently. Still a stand-out album after all these years, the groups’ debut album was released in 1993 before a remastered reissue with bonus material September 16, 2016 on Vic Records.

At this stage of the genre’s evolution, it was quite obviously going to be a stylistically familiar assault to the American acts populating the scene, and that’s what becomes quite prominent here. The ravenous riff-work here comes through so clearly out of that primitive, dirty thrashing style while intertwined with churning, sprawling rhythms for that energetic burst of intensity and aggression typically found here while also formulating that anguished, churning sound. That this mixture can work well in either going through the varying tempos on display, as this one manages to go from the simplistic, straightforward sprawl that tackles the material at a slower crawl while letting the swirling rhythms take center stage, or blasting away quite viciously with a faster thrash-based series of rhythms that are given quite a prominent display here that makes for quite a stylized American bent to the material by tackling many of the various rhythms and patterns these approaches can bring out of their material. The rumbling charge present here due to these elements makes for a highly effective and enjoyable burst throughout here, yet the fact that it remains so vital and close-minded to the American structure at this stage is a tad disconcerting with there not really much variety here beyond the tempos as the display and attack is so focused on running through the American format that it becomes somewhat easy to forget their identity at times. That isn’t much of an issue here considering not only the time-frame of the release but also the sheer competency of the album in general, but it is something to take in consideration with this one.

Seeing as how this one doesn’t offer up much more than just a surprisingly competent and wholly enjoyable burst of old-school death metal the American way, that alone is more than enough to take this one into consideration here for stalwart fanatics of the genre with this here being quite easily the version of the album to get for those that do follow the genre as a whole.

Score: 93/100

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Detonation (Neth) - Reprisal

Artist: Detonation (Neth)
Release Title: Reprisal
Year: 2011
Label: Self-Released/Independent (Vic Records reissue)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Enslavement
2. There Is No Turning Back
3. Feeding on the Madness
4. Ruptured
5. Absentia Mentis
6. Washing Away the Blood
7. Falling Prey
8. Insults to My Heritage

Having returned from their hiatus, Dutch melodic death metallers Detonation have put their self-imposed break to use with a continuation of their tried and true style of melodic death and thrash metal accents together into a solid whole. Following a four-year gap between releases, the group originally releases their fourth full-length independently April 2, 2011 before a reissue September 16, 2016 on Vic Records.

For the most part here this one is a rather dynamic and impressive offering of their style which is still quite prominent even after the layoff. Dwelling in plenty of ravenous swirling riff-work and charging patterns that add a nice quality of energetic material to the proceedings, there’s a melodic bent to these rhythms by placing a series of lighter rhythms to the main patterns here. Dragging plenty of choppy thrash-style riffing along the way and using that to augment the rather prominent melodic dirges, there’s a solid energy present here which is all balanced out by the rather strong mid-tempo plodding paces featured here which manage to generate the kind of solid, workable features needed to accent the melodic firepower to it’s greatest degree by keeping the atmosphere at a consistent tone to be able to introduce it’s melodic accents at finely-chosen levels. This does result in the album feeling way too simplistic and one-dimensional at times, negating a lot of these positives in order to keep this one at a rather constant placing so that it can keep the melodic accents firmly in tune with the rest of the album’s rumbling rhythms. Likewise, there’s a lot of rather rudimentary riffing and simplistic patterns that are prominent in the first half here which are thankfully improved upon in the later half which are much more enjoyable overall with a better sense of dynamics, and these here hold this one back somewhat.

Though there’s a lot to really like overall here, there’s a couple of minor problematic issues which are found throughout this one which does lower this one enough here which causes this to come off mostly for the most devout proponent of melodic death metal or fans of the bands’ previous work as well.

Score: 78/100

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Johansson and Speckmann - Mask of the Treacherous

Artist: Johansson and Speckmann
Release Title: Mask of the Treacherous
Year: 2015
Label: Vic Records
Genre: Old-School Death Metal
Tracklisting:
1. Mask of the Treacherous
2. Inhuman Lust
3. Through the Filth and Riddled Ages
4. The Wicked Marches On
5. The Bringer of Pain
6. I'll End Your Rotten Life
7. Within Reach
8. Enslaved in Filth
9. A Grave for This World

Furthering their success from the previous album, International death metal collaboration Johansson and Speckmann are certainly putting their collective might together in this project that brings the two luminaries together once again for a spectacular assault of old-school death metal. Gaining in their abilities from the previous release, the project’s second full-length record was released February 23, 2015 on Vic Records.

As befits the status of the men involved here, this is their usually simplistic and overly primitive-styled mixture of straightforward death metal augmented with strong thrashing overtones. This utterly simplistic and not all that varied music within here allows it either to be a rather tight and ferocious charge swirling with mid-tempo agonized riffing and plodding paces or generates a crunchy thrash-laden series of rhythms that offer up some rather frantic and blistering efforts. It works quite well in keeping that nicely mixed with the attacks getting balanced incredibly well between the churning old-school riffing with the thrashing energy, and it really sounds like a full-on mixture of both artists’ main groups. Going for the mix of tight, churning thrash with the agonized sprawling rhythms really gives this the album’s greatest strength as there’s a slight variance between the styles in terms of the different approaches reaching a rather strong approach for the old-school tactics that are featured within here. While there’s plenty of rather enjoyable work here because of that, it tends to run itself into quite predictable realms because it’s all about letting their main bands come together in one area without much deviation and it does crop up as something within this one. The tracks really fall into either category and it does have a really simplistic attack that does really affect this one slightly. Still, it’s got plenty to really like here in other regards.

Though it does find itself losing a little bit in the overall set-up with the approach running itself too close to each other at times, this one still manages to effectively capture the old-school feeling from both members that this overcomes the flaws for the most part and becomes a wholly appealing choice for fans of either members’ projects or old-school death metal in general.

Score: 93/100

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http://vicrecords.com/shop/index.php?id_product=50&controller=product&search_query=johansson&results=7