Suffocation - Despise the Sun (V)

Despise the Sun is something of a short masterpiece. Every song is effective, tight, brutal, heavy. The guitar tone is great, balanced and powerful without going too far in any direction. Vocals sit defiantly and confidently exactly where they belong. The kick is clear and defined. The lyrics are powerful. This album makes you want to pick up an instrument or a microphone and create something to reflect its perfection. There's no mistake that swarms of younger bands are constantly compared to Suffocation. Though their last couple of albums (as clichéd as this complaint is) don't live up to this EP, probably largely as a result of weaker, washier distortion and less pure violence, Despise the Sun is a set of perfect song after perfect song.

Yes, I'd probably put this on first thing for anyone I wanted to get into death metal, and I've done it before. This album, further, is a perfect reflection of Suffocation's live machine. It tears, uplifts, and smashes through all . . . 16 minutes. Every song on the EP is worth the effort to learn and play. And you'll never be ashamed of it. I don't want to know how many times I've listened to this CD, and every time I see them I scream for one track or another. Grab this, and see them. Really. And if you already have, see them again.

Devourment - 1.3.8 (V)

Devourment's 1.3.8 is something of a classic in the gore and death scene - originally formed in San Antonio in '95 with Chicagoan vocalist Wayne Knupp, Devourment wandered through the next 4 years with lineup changes, releasing a couple of demos and replacing Knupp with Ruben Rosas - as much as possible. Rosas recorded vocals on Devourment's 1999 release, Molesting the Decapitated, before being jailed, during which time Knupp rejoined the band and recorded the track "Babykiller," which saw release on the Southern Uprising compilation, and then the Devourment compilation 1.3.8, featuring that one track, three from the earlier Impaled demo with Wayne Knupp, and 8 with Rosas' vocals from Molesting the Decapitated.

Not confusing at all.

"Babykiller" is a classic track. Don't read the lyrics. Whatever you do, don't read the lyrics. But the track is the perfect slam-dancing beast, and Knupp's vocals are pure raw gurgle. Right down to the 24 or 25-second extension at the end of the track.

The next three tracks, from the Impaled demo, aren't as well-produced. And that's saying something; "Babykiller" is RAW. Incredibly scooped distortion and all. And the Impaled tracks are a few good notches muddier. The songs are great. The messy bits are perfectly messy, and the chugs are clear and heavy. Knupp's gurgling is as gory and indecipherable as ever.

That said, I tend to skip past the Impaled tracks to hear the better-recorded versions of the same songs from Molesting the Decapitated. Rosas' vocals don't have quite the same raw edge, but they're definitely in the right mold to fill the gaps, and the production is comparatively without blemish. The tracks have the traditional gore soundclips about murder and the like, but the whole album is filled with appealing dance grooves. This is happy music. In a gore-dripping, dark, hateful way. Get this stuff and enjoy it . . . unless it's too far below your artsy standards or the focus roils your gut, you will.

And Devourment's writing a new album - and don't forget to check out Butcher the Weak in the meantime.

Opeth - Watershed (J)

The past few years have been very rocky for Opeth: they lost two members, one an original member who was a necessity as far as songwriting goes. This was probably one of the most anticipated and simultaneously dreaded releases in the metal community this year. What with Martin Lopez being replaced by prolific death/thrash metal drummer Martin Axenrot and Peter Lindgren being replaced by Krux and ex-Arch Enemy shredder Frederik Akesson. According to speculation, this was going to be the disaster that would spell the end for Opeth.

Everyone was proved wrong. This is one of the strongest Opeth releases yet, rivaling such masterworks as "My Arms, Your Hearse" and even "Still Life." The musicianship is at its tightest in years and now Per Wiberg's keyboard presence isn't overbearing as it was on "Ghost Reveries." Since there is just so much going on in this release, I will be doing a *gasp* track by track review.

The disc starts off with "Coil" - a folk song. This song is driven by a jangly 12-string guitar and goes in immediately; there is no intro. The track's highlight is by far the female vocals, contributed by Swedish folk singer Nathalie Lorichs, who is, coincidentally, Martin Axenrot's fiancee. The first track then drones and slightly builds up to the monolithic dissonant chords that begin the epic "Heir Apparent," which is, by far, the most bizzarre song on the entire disc. This song is the most technical song Opeth has ever done, with fret-dancing riffs and even a tastefully done shreddy guitar solo, if that is indeed possible. Also, this song contains the fastest Opeth riff yet, a blistering death/thrash metal riff, more than likely written for or by Axenrot. Right when you think the song is over, there is a volume swell which segues into the traditional "Opeth part," slow, dirge-like guitars and drums with some sort of minimalistic guitar lead over the top, making a very epic atmosphere. Great song, this one is.

"The Lotus Eaters," when released as a single about a month before "Watershed" was released, confused a lot of people. Why? Two words: blast beats. Opeth has never ventured into this sort of progressiveness (or as an elitist would say: PHILISTINE BULLSHIT) before. And ontop of the bast beats, what do we have? None other than Mikael Akerfeldt's clean vocals, returning from their absence in "Heir Apparent." This song also brings back the traditional "Opeth beat," a 6/8 groove with the drums doing something like "do doDAdo do doDAdo." Essentially, this is a beefed up Still Life song. The high point of this song is definitely the blast beats, which are sure to catch listeners off guard.

Next comes "Burden." I like to think that the reason Opeth wrote this was because they went on a week-long Whitesnake bender and needed to write something extraordinarily cheesy. This is a ballad. A cheesy-clean-vocal-extended-keyboard-solo power ballad. Not that this is a bad thing, though, for this is Opeth's take on the traditional metal ballad. A solid, yet unexpected, song. "Porcelain Heart" follows suit. I find this to be the weakest song on the release. It sounds like it was written right after, if not during the "Ghost Reveries" sessions. Yet again, no growling from Mikael in this song. Not really much to say about this song. Track highlight: the baroque-sounding classical guitar part.

Now comes the 11-minute epic, "Hessian Peel." This song starts off with a rather old-school Opeth part, with an acoustic guitar underneath a rather melodic lead. This moves on for a while, venturing into some 70s progressive rock, when suddenly death metal rips through the song and punches you in the face. Yet again the guitarwork shines as Frederik's fingers dance around the fretboard in another finger-shredding guitar solo - normally I hate those, but there's something about Frederik's phrasing that is great. Probably the strongest and catchiest track on the release.

Now, finally, the end. "Hex Omega" immediately barges in with a "Blackwater Park" type riff which drops out leaving Mikael singing and keyboards. Suddenly everything gets rather Egyptian sounding and then returns to the "heavy" sound, if you would call it that. This is almost like if Opeth took a Damnation song and made it metal. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Yet again another guitar solo, though not as flashy. This track features some very cool mellotron work from Per Wiberg. The song has a very long outro, akin to the ending of "A Fair Judgment," though much more interesting as a result of the use of dual guitar harmonies and tribal drum work.

Overall, "Watershed" is a triumph from the Opeth camp; redemption from the slight disappointment that is "Ghost Reveries." The venturing into other genres help Opeth rebuild their trademark sound to escape the doom that is monotony.

Mythology - An Infernal Grave (T)

Hailing from the northernmost corners of New York in a small and desolate city known as Plattsburgh where metal is nothing more than scene kids trotting around in As I Lay dying or Trivium shirts, blackened death metal quartet Mythology represents a rising force of darkness, despair, and brutality. Closely resembling early black metal acts such as Mayhem, Emperor, Immortal, and Darkthrone as well as modern death metal like Nile, Deicide, and Vital Remains, Mythology has quickly risen to the top of the music scene and have become one of the most popular metal acts of the area.

With the release of the “An Infernal Grave EP” through local label Morgue House Records, Mythology entered the studio with their original drummer Narroth. The EP was released to celebrate their acceptance of playing alongside legendary death metallers, Vital Remains. Despite the fact that the EP only consisted of 4 tracks, it was an epic metal masterpiece nonetheless. Mythology entered the studio in hopes to improve the already amazing tracks that all appeared on the very first mythology album, “It Begins” and in my opinion succeeded. With the drumming abilities of Narroth and the ever improving guitar work of Gallows, and Skinny, and the pulsating rhythms produced by Lord Benicide DCLXVI as well as the hellish cries from Gallows' vocal chords, it’s no wonder Mythology has become so popular amongst the fans of metal in Plattsburgh and the surrounding area, including parts of Canada.

The EP opens with the title track, An Infernal Grave, which truthfully makes you feel like you are in hell being tortured by every demon in the wretched place. The riffs are fast and dark and the vocals on the chorus remind me of a banshee. The drums on this particular track are phenomenal. Narroth shows off his phenomenal talent on this track in particular though his abilities do not falter throughout the album. The following track is a local favorite known as Serpent Slayer which has many powerful riffs and a more death metal essence than the other tracks of the album. Shortly after comes The Fallen Have Risen. This track is a relatively simple yet epic tune that shows off Mythology’s talent as songwriters. The Final track is one of my favorite Mythology tunes known as In Dismay. This song has a powerful despairing atmosphere fueled by Gallows’ extreme misanthropy and cynicism towards humanity. The album is worth viewing by anyone interested in Metal of any sorts, except that kind that believes only in clean singing considering the vocals are completely black metal vocals.

Being a personal friend of the band, I wish Mythology the best of luck in their endeavors as musicians. For anyone interested in checking them out, Mythology can be found on Myspace at www.myspace.com/mythology where the EP can be listened to in full upon their music playlist. Until next time, Infernal hails!