Xtreem Music

Coffinborn, Cadaveric Retribution (Xtreem 2023)

Wayne Edwards, , , , ,

The long-awaited debut album from death metal band Coffinborn has arrived: Cadaveric Retribution.

Coffinborn formed in Szeged, Hungary just over ten years ago. In 2014 they released a demo, Beneath the Cemetery, and went on to write a full-length album at about the same time. It is a little unclear what happened next, but history intervened and the music was not recorded when it was composed. Fast-forward a decade and the band finally has the opportunity to chisel the music into digital stone. Their approach is classic death metal, as in Death and Grave, say, and the execution is absolutely deadly. The stage names of the musicians are Blasphemy (drums, vocals), Churchburner (bass), and Disguster (guitar, vocals).

“Self-Mutilation of the Soul” lays it on with a wail and a chop, gutting at the mid-tempo then speeding up the percussion to gain a rush. Fantastic, killer instrumental opening. “Undead Ceremony” is next, cracking the earth with growling vocals, blast beats, and careening speed. The weight of the music is pulverizing, and the doom downshift in the middle is a thing of beauty. The blistering lead break is excellent as well, with a nod to the classic posture while working new angles. “Flesheater” takes a different approach, with a steady, persistent riff and warning vocals that signal the flesh eater is here. If these first three songs don’t grab your attention and hook you then you are not a death metal fan.

There are no low points on this record. “Infernal Entombment” is a stand-out track for me because of its crushing heaviness, and “Gruesome Fate” turned me around, too, with its penetrating drive. The sets wraps-up on the title track, “Cadaveric Retribution,” which is a malignant beast all its own, chewing and spitting and rending the terra. The album is exceptional all the way through, and I am glad it is seeing the light of day after ten years. Recommended.

Cadaveric Retribution is out on Thursday, February 23rd through Xtreem Music. In the US, Bandcamp is a great place to pick it up, and you can stream it in the usual spots.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/cadaveric-retribution

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/coffinborn

Xtreem Music, http://www.xtreemmusic.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Coffinborn, Cadaveric Retribution (Xtreem 2023)

Golgotha, Mors Diligentis (Xtreem Music 2022)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Golgotha renew their doom metal music on their fifth album, Mors Diligentis.

The roots of Golgotha stretch back to 1992 when the Spanish doom metal band was created by Vicente J. Payá. They started recording music within a year, and demos, EPs, and long-players followed, as did line-up changes. The band went on hiatus in 1998 and, after briefly reemerging in 2005, Golgotha returned with staying power in 2014, cracking out the well-regarded Erasing The Past album in 2019. Now we have another incarnation with a shake-up in the vocals. The band for Mors Diligentis is María J. Lladó (clean vocals), Miriam Vallés (guttural vocals), Vicente J. Payá (guitar), Andrew Spinosa (bass), and Tomeu Crespí (drums).

The new record has eight tracks, opening with “My Burden.” The pace is slow and deliberate, unhurried. The first vocals are melodic and crystal clear. Hard on the heels of the lyrical singing is the harsh vocalization that presses home the dire nature of the conveyed emotions. The voices alternate throughout the song in an obvious insistence on the duality of darkness and light – light, after all, casts a shadow behind anything it encounters. “Our Trust Betrayed” proceeds at a brighter clip, although its tone is more actively ominous than the lead song. It has the broad appeal of a single while maintaining the essential dreariness of doom and gothic music. Nicely done.

Every song on the album has heft, and there are a couple that are particularly heavy doom pieces, like “Farewell Humanity.” This one is my favorite of the set for its pace, length, and deliberateness. It matters that the guttural vocals begin the song while the clean vocals follow later. There are also great pieces that flash out at a charging pace, like “Waiting For My Death,” that serve to variegate and deepen the texture of the album. The music overall has a high level of polished production and, while striving to broadcast on the doom wavelength, effectively straddles adjacent pathways. Recommended.

Mors Diligentis is out now through Xtreem Music. Hit up the links below.

Links.

Golgotha website, http://www.golgothaofficial.com/

Bandcamp, https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/mors-diligentis

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/GolgothaOfficialBand/

Xtreem Music, http://www.xtreemmusic.com/

© Wayne Edwards

Golgotha, Mors Diligentis (Xtreem Music 2022)

Golgotha, Remembering the Past – Writing the Future (Xtreem Music 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Golgotha – the band from Spain – offers an extended abbreviated album to follow up on the success of the impressive Erasing The Past record from 2019.

This enterprise has had several incarnations. In the mid-1990s, they came together and released two full-length albums, a couple of EPs, and several demos. Taking a break at the end of the century, the band coalesced again for New Life in 2005, then had another hiatus. A couple years ago, resurgent energy was found again, and the musicians are creating new music. The band for Remembering the Past – Writing the Future is Amón López (vocals), Vicente Payá (guitar), Samuel Morales (guitar), Andrew Spinosa (bass), and Tomeu Crespí (drums).

“Don’t Waste Your Life” in some ways functions as the overture, presenting themes that will recur and showing the phases the guitars, vocals, and other instruments will vacillate between. “Helpless” is next, and it plows a neighboring field, establishing the low boundaries and the highs. “I Am Lost” has a forceful opening statement surrounded by sinister whispers and solemn melody. “Elemental Changes” begins softly and sweetly in the piano, strings, and voice, introducing strong, slow guitar riffs to set up the narrative vocal. The song goes toward loudness and never turns fully back.

“Lonely” is a long, dirge-like reminiscence that begins quietly and turns into savage growling in a caustic devolution. From doom to death you might say, and back again. A couple of times, in the manner of a sine wave. It is the longest piece on the album, and the anchor, but really all of the tracks have an insular oneness about them, and any of them could be the beginning or the end. I like the music for its mix of doom and death styles, and for the way beautiful, quiet melodies exist in and among the savagery. Recommended.

Remembering the Past – Writing the Future is out today, March 2nd, and you can get yours at the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://golgotha.bandcamp.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/GolgothaOfficialBand

Website, http://www.golgothaofficial.com/

Golgotha, Remembering the Past – Writing the Future (Xtreem Music 2021)

Tenebro, Liberaci dal Male (Xtreem Music 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

Italian death metal gets an extra horror crank with Tenebro on Liberaci dal Male.

The band appears to be a duo with Il Becchino on vocals and guitar and Il Beccamorto on bass and percussion. Previously, according to the Metal Archives, Il Becchino was the only credited musician on the first music released. It has been reported separately that there were a few issues in the lineup but some solidifying has occurred that allowed a second EP to be issued late last year.

The new CD release of Liberaci dal Male includes the three tracks from the cassette version that was released last year by Dismal Fate Records plus the songs on the Demo cassette released in 2019 by Desert Wasteland Productions (also three tracks), conveniently gathering them all together.

The demo tracks start with “Seppellendo i Morti” which has a great chunky, mid-tempo grinding plod accompanied by low growling vocals. The speed and urgency pick up in the guitars and drums as the song moves along. By the end we have settled into the groove and the energy is pulsing. “Nel Terrore” has even more distortion and deeper vocals with a rhythm progression that puts you a little off balance. “All’interno del Cimitero” offers the plainest expression of cinematic themes of the three tracks with dialogue clips from films that lead into the heavy guitars.

The Liberaci dal Male tracks start with a chainsaw effect on the first track, “Cannibalismo Sanguinario” – I don’t speak Italian but I think I can make out what this one is about. This song leans heavy on the doom and includes sporadic drum blasts and tempo shifts. “Arte Funeraria” positively drips with gloom. It is a feast for the decadent horror fans among us. On the third track, film dialogue returns with much screaming and distress on “Il Lamento dei Malati.” Here again the drear is laid on especially thick, and as a complement there are periodic episodes of blast beats and more horror dialogue.

I like the gloomy nature of the music throughout the compilation. Functionality takes center stage to move the ideas along and the death metal is drenched in a doom sensibility. Recommended.

The CD is out now from Xtreem Music. If you want a digital download, the two original releases can be had for free (Name Your Price) separately on Bandcamp.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://tenebro666.bandcamp.com

Label Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/xtreemmusic666

Tenebro, Liberaci dal Male (Xtreem Music 2021)

Unbounded Terror, Infernal Judgment (Xtreem Music 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

Early 1990s Spanish Death Metal band Unbounded Terror offers up a vigorous assault on your senses.

Thirty years ago the band came together in Mallorca, Spain. It was the early days of Death Metal there, and they quickly joined the ranks of well-regarded heavy bands. Nest Of Affliction came out in 1992, but the band parted ways shortly afterward due to musical differences. These things happen. The resurrection was last year with the well-received Faith In Chaos.

Infernal Judgment is a compilation that includes one new song, the title track released earlier as a single, three live recordings of songs from Faith In Chaos, and four re-recorded songs from the band’s debut album. It has been a little more than a calendar year since the re-entry album so it is nice to have this new material.

The single is the big news, and it is a thunderclap of ravaging menace. The signature sound is there, and we can take it as a sign of things to come. Fast and urgent, the melodic signatures are intermingle alongside the clever hooks and pummeling rhythm. The re-recorded songs are “Dreamlord,” “Fear,” “Slaves of Sufferage,” and “Sarcastic Souls.” A lot of metal bands are doing this, and the main advantage of re-tracking old songs is the improvement in recording technology and possibly cleaning up some odds and ends from the early originals. These new versions are definitely crisper than the initial recordings. The live tracks are “They Will Come From The Pain,” “Silent Soul,” and “Hated In Hell,” and they sound great. The presentations are consistent with the studio versions but with renewed energy and the magic and madness that live music creates.

The album is scheduled to be out now and is available in digital download, CD, cassette, and vinyl versions. Check out the band’s own website for more info on what they are up to, and buy the music and merch through Bandcamp. Recommended.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://xtreemmusic.bandcamp.com/album/infernal-judgment

Band website, http://www.unboundedterror.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/UnboundedTerror

Unbounded Terror, Infernal Judgment (Xtreem Music 2021)