Sectioned - Elme Promo (2007)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: United Kingdom
Year: 2007

1. Intro
2. Mirrors
3. My Love of Decay
4. Village of the Sun

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives Rating: 75% (2 reviews)
Last.fm

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Sectioned are a little-known band from Broadstairs, England. Fun fact: I actually misread their city name as Bloodstairs and was like "Oh man, this band is going to be awesome." Sadly, they are not from Bloodstairs, but their music is still awesome. The cover does have blood on it, which is fun, and helps describe the music inside. Also, my copy isn't color, like the MA picture I found... dunno what that's all about.

On to the music! I am particularly fond of this, considering it's just a promo. There's some damn fine quality present here, especially in the ambient interludes sprinkled throughout, helping to invoke contrast, giving the listener a break from time to time to enjoy those soundscapes.

It has that unpolished, crusty old school sound, nothing like your traditional modern Death Metal sound. Mid-paced tempo, sort of lumbering on, keeping up the assault at all costs. The vocals really stand out, ranging from the sputtering, lashing of a growling to lower gutturals, rounding out with hard-hitting riffing and an atmospheric vibe to it all. Even the solos sound eerily mystical; sorta reminds me of space or time or .

Can't wait to get my hands on their full-length!

Abysm - Demo 2007 (2007)

Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Country: Canada
Year: 2007

1. Self Indulgence
2. Suffer
3. Reek of a Scene

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives Rating: 77% (1 review)
Last.fm

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Abysm was a small trio coming out of Ottawa, Canada, and only managed to release this singular recording, limited to 10 copies, before splitting up on Christmas of '08.

They play a rather violent type of Death/Thrash with somewhat melodeathy vocals. Don't be put off by that, though, as this is some of the most furious and downright destructive deathrash out there. The riffing is through the roof completely, and in each of the three songs, we're hit with simple, but catchy hooks and leads, making for a very enjoyable demo. Short, under 10 minutes and consisting of three songs, there are plenty of blast beats to be heard, and you can tell that not a single member of this young band is slouching; they're all doing their part to make this very professional-sounding demo. The band also graciously allows for their music to be spread for free, so don't feel guilty about downloading this demo! Turns out I actually met they guy before this demo was released, and have been following him for a while, and kept pestering him about recording more, but unfortunately, shit happened, and they split up. Bummer; they were going places.

Not bad for a bunch of 16 year-olds! Not bad at all.

Moondark - The Shadowpath (1993)

Genre: Death Metal with Doom elements
Country: Sweden
Year: 1993 (first recording), 2007 (re-release)

1. The Shadowpath
2. Inside the Crypt
3. The Dawn for Our Race
4. Dimension of Dakness
5. Trespassing Into... The Abyss
6. Concealling the Dayligtht
7. World Devastator

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives Rating: 82% (2 reviews, 75% and 88%)
Last.fm

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Bone crushing. The first thought that popped into my head upon my first listen. This is one of those albums that's so unbearably brutal and overtly crushing, it's enough to make you cringe in your chair. The classic Swedish chainsaw riffs are there, but also downtuned ridiculously, giving "The Shadowpath" a very dark and twisted sound. Each and every riff is cold and deadly sinister, not to mention absolutely crushing (can't stress that word enough!). If I were getting ripped and torn to shreds by a meatgrinder on low speed or something, this is what would be playing as each limb were ripped off and squashed between the blades. The plodding, doom parts make this release all the more heavy and pronounced. Every riff and beat has meaning and you can feel each and every part of the song in your bones.

Enough about the instrumentation, what about the vocals? Pretty much the same deal. A very deep guttural, but once again, with that gritty, jagged sound, complementing the guitars quite nicely. One of my favorite vocal styles simply because of how much they affect me. I can really feel them, and it's impossible to glaze over and ignore them.

Carnage to the core.

Recommended.

Nerlich - Defabricated Process (2007)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Finland
Year: 2007

1. Defabricated Process
2. Substantial Alteration
3. Insane Creations/Inorganic Echoes
4. Entity of Sickness
5. Imminent Reprisal
6. Mask for the Faceless
7. Condemned
8. On Sarcastic Impact

Download at 4shared
Metal Archives Rating: 93% (2 reviews)
Last.fm

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Only recently split up in 2008, this is a band that's had its ups and downs over the years. I'm not going to post the entire discography because, frankly, some of it's not worth posting. This album, however, is spectacular and most definitely the high point of their short-lived career.

There is a much more modern sound on "Defabricated Process", and that gives way to a vast variety of different genres within Death Metal. The basis is old school, but here and there, we catch glimpses of some brutal and technical overtones, with perhaps the thrashy riff. Not a boring album at all. The production is very good with quite an audible bass, but still filthy enough to satisfy any OSDM fiend.

There are a decent amount of creative riffs and guitar leads, not to mention solos. I haven't been listening to much of anything with solos as of late, so this sort of stuck out to me and I was pleasantly surprised. Don't worry, you're not going to get any blasting 20 minute long solo full of unoriginality and stagnant staleness; the solos on this album are short and sweet, to the point. That's what makes them great. Overall a startlingly impressive effort.

Drowned - Viscera Terrae (2007)

Genre: Death Metal
Country: Germany
Year: 2007

1. Embrace The Beast
2. Key To The Lunar Waters
3. Abyssic Dead, They Sing For Me
4. Viscera Terræ

Download at Mediafire
Metal Archives Rating: 90% (1 review)
Last.fm

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Featuring the vocalist from Necros Christos, this band has made quite a splash with their latest demo/EP offering. They play down-and-dirty old school Death Metal, uncompromising, the way it's supposed to be played. As previously mentioned, the guy from Necros Christos grunts on this record, and if you've ever listened to NC, you know how evil-sounding this guy can be, which goes so far as to give this album a bit of a Black Metal feel to it, as I can see the similarities to NC here and there.

Tuned very low, this release has great tone and feel to it, while still being very clear in that no instruments are left out. At points, it can seem too simple, but there's nothing wrong with that if they do it right (which they do). This is your basic DM, nothing weird or experimental, no egomaniacal wankery or technicality, just gritty Death Metal. A fine release.