Interview with Despondent!

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Genre(s): Instrumental/Technical Death Metal

Location: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

PSAB: Where does the band name "Despondent" come from?

Despondent: I chose the name "Despondent" because it fits the underlining theme of the music that I write. I also did not want to go with the "verb the noun" approach. Not much significant meaning behind it. 

PSAB: Your album The Gallows is set to release on the 23rd of this month. Are you excited for the release? What can your fans expect from the album?

Despondent: Yes it is! I can't wait for you all to hear it! The EP will be Name Your Price on Bandcamp and streamed on Youtube.

PSAB: If you were given the choice to choose one musician to have featured on one of your songs. Which musician would that be?

Despondent: Cameron Argon of Disfiguring The Goddess doing guest vocals.  That would be fucking incredible!

PSAB: How's the metal scene in your area?

Despondent: The North East Ohio scene is awesome! There are a lot of talented bands in the area and we have some cool venues.

PSAB: You're a one-man band. Why did you choose that route instead of the traditional band route?

Despondent: I've always liked to do things by myself and at my own pace.  With Despondent, I can quickly release music and I have full creative control.  Things may change in the future, though. 

PSAB: Do you have any shout outs to give the readers out there? 

Despondent: Debut EP "The Gallows" releases on September 23rd! Keep an eye out for a Halloween split with some rad bands! If you like Despondent's logo and the cover art for "The Gallows" check out Brutal Disorder Logos!

Hideous Divinity Releases New Song "Sinister And Demented"

Roman based technical death metal band, Hideous Divinity, released a new song earlier this morning titled "Sinister And Demented." The song is taken from the band's upcoming album Cobra Verde. Which will be releasing on Oct 27 in the UK, Oct 28 for US, and Oct 31 for EU. You can pre-order Cobra Verde now through Indie Merch or Big Cartel!

Obscenium Recruits New Vocalist, Jamie Kay

Technical death metal band, Obscenium, announced earlier today that they have recruited a new vocalist. The new vocalist's name is Jamie Kay. Jamie is (or was) from another band called Inanimacy. The band announced this information via their Facebook page,

"Obscenium are beyond proud to announce our newest member and official full-time vocalist Jamie Kay to the family.  

 

Jamie is highly regarded for his work with Inanimacy, both locally and internationally, and brings both skill and experience to the table yet untapped, pushing us to be better than ever before.  

 

Our first show with Jamie will be at Æthereal ManiFEST (event link below) alongside many of Perth's finest acts.

 

  Photos by Joseph Varley of DarKSpiritPhotography; Awesome work as always!  

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/746966188647977/  

 

- Obscenium"

Isolated Releases New Song "Suffer"

South Australia based technical death metal/deathcore band, Isolated, released a new song earlier today titled "Suffer." This song is taken from their upcoming debut EP that is to release sometime this year. Isolated combines well down technical death metal with some aspects of deathcore, mostly deathcore-like breakdowns. If that sounds good to you, definitely check out the song below!

Cogntive - Cognitive [REVIEW]

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Genre(s): Technical Death Metal/Deathcore

New Jersey based technical death metal/deathcore act, Cognitive, has recently released their debut full length Cognitive through Pathologically Explicit. This album is the band's second release, the first being their EP, The Horrid Swarm back in 2012, which I reviewed as well. 

In a vague description, Cognitive is a combination of technical death metal with some deathcore aspects thrown in. But if you are to look deeper into the album, there is a lot more there. It is a very fast paced album, and if you are not paying attention, you may not even realize you listened to the entire thing. The combination of brutal sounding death metal and its "in your face" sound is prevalent in most of the album, like in "Cut The Fuck Up," "World's Beneath," and "Fire from the Sky." That's not all they have in this album as they provide well done melodies in some of the tracks, like in "Affliction Humanity," "Oceanic Erosion," and "Regurgitated Existence." But, that's not all, there is great sounding groove elements, like in the song "Blood Hungry."
 

If you are a fan of death metal and other sub-genres of metal; groove, technical, brutal death, melodic death, and deathcore. Then this album has everything you could possibly want out of an album. I definitely recommend this album to any fan of death metal. So! If this album sounds good to you, go pick it up from Pathologically Explicit's Big Cartel (linked above)!

Score: 5/5

Two new album streams you should check out from this week

Two new albums this week were released by their respective bands via stream. This allows the fans to listen to the whole album prior to picking it up. The first album this week is Archspire's new album The Lucid Collective. The band decided to stream it in its entirely via Stereokiller prior to its release on April 25, 2014 (which you can preorder here). This album is fast, extremely technical, and overall something death metal lovers should definitely purchase. You can click the image below for the stream (Blogger won't allow the code to work for the embedded stream...).

The second album that was put out as a stream was Austin Deathtrip's album How I Spanked Your Mother. Yes, I know, the album title isn't that great but don't that overlook this album. The band made this stream-able through Soundcloud via Metal.de's website (you can preorder the album here). How I Spanked Your Mother releases the same day as The Lucid Collective on April 25, 2014. This album combines elements of crushing deathcore, fast-paced death metal, and is something that deathcore and death metal fans alike should check out.

Hour of Penance releases new song "Desecrated Souls"

Technical death metal act, Hour of Penance, released a new song today titled "Desecrated Souls" from their upcoming album Regicide. The album is set to release May 13 in NA (May 12 in UK/EU; May 16 in Germany). This song is killer and makes me glad I pre-order my copy of Regicide. You can pre-order the album here: PREORDER

Hour of Penance announces new album Regicide

Hour of Penance announced earlier today that their new album is titled Regicide and is set to release May 13, 2014 in NA and May 12 in UK and May 16 in Germany. Here is the official announcement via Prosthetic Records,

" Italian death metallists Hour Of Penance have announced the title of their new album -- "Regicide" -- which will be released on May 13 in N. America (May 12 in UK/EU, May 16 in Germany) via Prosthetic Records! 

Guitarist Paolo Pieri commented, "'Regicide' revolves around the themes of destruction and rebirth and the killing of the king -- be he your own fears, prejudices or dogmas that you build inside yourself to cope with reality. Only by letting go of those illusions and tearing down the walls of ignorance and fear that society, religion and every form of dysfunctional authority you interjected during your life, can you start to rebuild your own path as a free man that has no need for a king." 

See HOUR OF PENANCE live at one of their upcoming shows: 3/8 Trondheim, NO - Trondheim Metal Fest 4/25 Brighton, UK - Green Door Store 4/26 Glasgow, UK - Stereo 4/27 Liverpool, UK - Lomax 4/28 Leeds, UK - The Library 4/30 Bristol, UK - The Exchange 5/1 London, UK - The Black Heart 5/3 Tilburg, NL - Neurotic Deathfest 2014 5/17 Trezzo Sull’adda Mi, IT- Metalitalia.comFestival 9/7 Valletta, MT - Malta Death FEST "

Ophidius - The Throat of the World [REVIEW]

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Genre(s): Instrumental / Technical Death Metal

Ophidius is a instrumental death metal band, which is inspired by the video game series Elder Scrolls. The album itself is inspired by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Their 2013 release, The Throat of the World is four tracks in length, and has about 25 minutes worth of listening materials. 

"Where To Hang Your Enemy's Head" is the third song off of this EP. The pace of the song is really upbeat and very fast, from the second you start the song you're bombarded with trash-like sounding technical death metal. The song varies between sounds, sometimes it is extremely technical and sounds similar to Rings of Saturn in some parts. But in other parts, it is melodic, and in others, just straight death metal with a lot of blast beats. Near the middle of the song, there is a progressive sounding breakdown as well.

The following song is "Discerning The Transmundane" and it is the final song on the album. The pace of this song, like the previous one, is really upbeat. It is a bit slower than the previous song as well, but in some parts it matches it in speed. Though the instrumentals in this song are similar in description than "Where To Hang Your Enemy's Head," the song sounds very different. They keep to their technical sounding instrumentals, with some exceptions for some melodic portions, deathcore portions, and some power metal parts here and there. 

The Throat of the World is an album that is had to describe because there is so much to describe about it. The entire album takes the listener on an adventure, similar to what Skyrim does for the player. Each song sounds different, and that is something I really like, because a lot of instrumental albums will keep the same sound throughout the entire album. This is not the case here. To sum it up, this album is fucking good and I recommend you giving it a listen. It's name your price on their Bandcamp page, so you have no reason not to download it.

Score: 4.5/5

Infinito in Torqueo - Warlord [REVIEW]

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Genre(s): Melodic/Technical Death Metal/Deathcore

Infinito in Torqueo's song "Warlord" is a five minute song and a mix of tech death metal, melodic death metal, and deathcore. The pace is slow for the first minute and a half, but it picks up afterwards into a faster pace. The faster pace stays for the remainder of the song. Instrumentals are what you hear in a death metal song, but there are some trash metal influences heard throughout the song. Also, near the end of the song, it sounds a bit more melodic. Vocally, it is sticks to low screams for majority of the song. The screams are very raw, brutal, and have a lot of power behind them. Overall, this sound is raw, fast, and good. I highly recommend if you're into melodic death metal or technical death metal.

Score: 4/5

Fuck You And Die releases new music video for "Security Through Obscurity"

Technical death metal band, Fuck You And Die, released a new music video for their track "Security Through Obscurity" earlier today. Fuck You And Die hail from Schramberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. They describe themselves are technical death metal with a mix of black metal. The song is taken from their currently untitled upcoming album, which doesn't have a release date as of this writing. 

I have been a fan of this band for quite some time, so I enjoyed their new song and this new music video and I look forward to their upcoming album. Give this a listen and a view!

Flesh of the Earth - Nature's Reign [REVIEW]

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Genre(s): Technical Death Metal

 Flesh of the Earth's album Nature's Reign was released in November of 2013. It has six songs and roughly 30 minutes worth of listening materials. This album is very fast going and very 'in your face.' It is really good technical death metal, and everything the band puts into this album works really well and brings the listener some great death metal.

The third track is "Flesh of the Earth." The pace of the song is upbeat and fast and the song doesn't let up at all. Instrumentally, it is very technical. There are a lot of guitar riffs, blast beats, a guitar solo or two, etc. to be heard in this song. Also, in some parts, it does sound kind of melodic. The vocals used are high screams and low screams. The high screams are the main type of scream used in this song, and they do sound like they have some black metal influence to them. But! This isn't a bad thing. Overall, this song is really well done and nothing is overdone or underdone, it all works perfectly together.

The last song is "Ash and Dust" and it is a bonus track. This song is very similar to the previous song talked about, as the pace, instrumentals, and vocals are mostly the same. However, the rhythm of the song is much different, as it sounds a bit more melodic, and makes you want to bop your head to the song more. It also has a lot more guitar shredding and a ton of more blast beats, which both can be clearly heard throughout the whole song. Overall, this song, though similar to the other, sounds a lot more "epic" when compared to "Flesh of the Earth."

Nature's Reign is a good death metal album. I am a big fan of technical death metal, so I really like this album. It does have some black metal influence with the vocals, and there are some parts that sound a bit melodic, but other than that, it is fucking great. I highly recommend this album to anyone who is a death metal fan, or a fan of any death metal sub-genre (tech, melodic, prog, etc). So! Check out Flesh of the Earth and their album Nature's Reign on their Bandcamp page now!

Score: 4/5

Abdomen Canvas, a death metal band, releases new music video for "Cannibal Manifestation"

Abdomen Canvas, a melodic technical death metal band, released a new music video for their track "Cannibal Manifestation" today. The band hails from Orlando, FL and from other bands coming out of Florida, you would know that state brings the heavy. This song is fucking good, like... really good. A lot of technical parts, melodic parts, and some pig squeals. So give it a listen!

Tech deathcore band, Cognizance, recruits new bassist!

Technical deathcore/death metal band, Cognizance, recruits Philip Archbold as their new bassist. Philip Archbold is also a guitarist for deathcore act XisForEyes. This was announced via a Facebook status from Cognizance's Facebook page. They also will be releasing a bass play through later tonight of their track "Deep Geological Disposal" to, I'm assuming, show off the bass work of Philip. 

"We're stoked to finally announce that our bro Philip Archbold has joined the band as our full time bass player. Phil has played guitar in XisForEyes since 2007 and brings a great deal of experience to the table. We're stoked to have him on board for what is going to be a BIG 2014 for the band. 

TONIGHT AT 9PM GMT 

We we will be uploading a bass play-through of our track 'Deep Geological Disposal'. Get curling those dumbells and get pumped for some speed metal!"

I am glad to see Philip joining Cognizance, because Cognizance is a phenomenal band that is very uknown. So, I am hoping with the addition oh Philip they will be able to get out there more, and possibly help speed up the process put out new material.

Aeon recruits Ronnie Bjornstorm as their new guitarist!

Technical death metal band, Aeon announced on their Facebook page today that they recruited Ronnie Bjornstorm as their new guitarist!

"We are pleased to announce that we have recruited a new guitar player and it is none less than Ronnie Björnström who produced our latest release, Aeons Black. We are all very exited about this and we say welcome to Ronnie. We’re looking forward to fans seeing us live with Ronnie and hope to be back to the US some point this year. 

Ronnie's own words, “Having worked with the band for over four years as their Front of House tech and producing their latest album, I know AEON is one of the best death metal bands out there. It is an honor for me to be sharing stage with the guys. See you all on the road! Cheers! “ 

Now....give Ronnie a big welcome!!"

Taken from their Facebook status welcoming Ronnie.