SKULL485

NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR, Ceaseless Desolation (2008, self-released)

The skull:
I could be mistaken, but I think this is the first biohazard symbol admitted into the Skullection. At least, I can’t recall another one. Then again, for as cool as that symbol is, it has obviously been poisoned forever by bandana clad jumpmen from Brooklyn, so it’s not too surprising that most of the metal scene has steered wide of that iconography. In this case, you have to actually look pretty hard to even make it out, under the horns, spikes, sword and septagram. What, they couldn’t squeeze in a radiation symbol and a chaos star? It’s especially funny that a band called Nuclear Death Terror would opt for the biohazard symbol over the radiation symbol, but hey, these guys are anarchists and they do what they like!

The music:
This is straight-up Scandinavian d-beat, and while that’s not normally my thing, there’s something weirdly appealing about this. It sounds like Bolt Thrower doing Discharge covers, and the singer bears a more-than-slight vocal resemblance to the mighty Martin van Drunen. Sure, every song is pretty much the same, and that tiring d-beat beat dominates, but the guitar tone is sharp, the songs are intense, and at just over 10 minutes, this EP knows exactly how long it’s welcome. This is a long out of print demo CD, and while I could download the tunes from Bandcamp, I probably won’t, even though I enjoyed listening to them well enough, because I doubt this would have any staying power for me, but just the fact that this assignment wasn’t torture amounts to a ringing endorsement.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL484

SEPULTURA, Beneath the Remains  (1989, Roadrunner)

The skull:
When this album was released, it sat on record store shelves looking utterly innovative. The cover design may not seem so interesting nowadays, but back then it didn’t look like the rest. No big gaudy metal logo, the vertically-written album title with that curious red bar added arty nuance. The off-center picture surrounded by all that black lent a stark quality to the cover, and the skull itself was so surrealisticly adorned that the whole thing just looked remarkably different than your average death or thrash metal album cover of the era. The Michael Whelan skull is a beaut, its downcast gaze nearly falling off the edge of the album cover, carrying on its head roses, a wombat (I suppose), a graveyard, miscellaneous medallions, and a hole in its head that seeps wispy trails of smoke. This skull has a lot on its mind. Seriously, folks, this is one of the finest skull covers in the Skullection, at least as serious, non-humourous skull covers go.

The music:
After Sepultura’s deliciously crude early recordings and the transitional raw thrash of Schizophrenia, these Brazilians emerged as masters of the death/thrash craft with Beneath the Remains. Incredibly tight, frantic, semi-technical, dark and overflowing with top-notch riffs, there isn’t a finer example of the early merger of death and thrash metal than this. While it’s not perfect (“Sarcastic Existence” and “Lobotomy” don’t resonate with memorable highlights like the rest), it’s way better than most albums by most bands. Everything Schizophrenia attempted to reach and only got halfway toward is successfully achieved here. Sepultura had honed their sound into something with more definition and power than the band they had been prior to this. Beneath the Remains rightfully deserves its place as a classic. If songs such as the title track, “Inner Self,” “Mass Hypnosis” and “Slaves of Pain” aren’t immediately familiar, your metal diet is lacking in an essential, life-giving nutrient. There’s no need to review this masterpiece further. You either love it or you’re living a life of deprivation.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL483

ENEMY REIGN, Means to a Dead End (2008, self-released)

The skull:
The Soviet propaganda vibe here is a welcome change of pace from the everyday here at Skull HQ, and while I think this cover is overstuffed by maybe 25%, I think the concept basically works. Cramming two sickles into the skull’s mouth does wonders for the symmetry of the piece, although I wish the artist had included a hammer somewhere. Perhaps the double sickles are meant to force the viewer into contemplating the failed agricultural policies of the Stalin period. Or maybe the artist just couldn’t find a good royalty-free stock image of a hammer. The backwards “R”s are a bit much, but I imagine its easy to fall into that sort of trap when you’re doing a genre piece like this. And I suppose the United Nations logo somewhat buried behind the skull is meant as some kind of commentary, but I’m not sure it’s really worth unpacking. It’s probably as banal as it appears. For a cover with so much going on, there’s not really a lot being said. Fitting, I guess.

The music:
This sort of squealy, semi-groovy death metal, a la Misery Index, is not my thing at all, but I will grant that Enemy Reign do the style justice, coming off a whole lot better than I expected at least. They sound downright European, which I guess is as high a compliment as most American death metal bands can ask for. The playing is super tight and the production top notch, but as with basically everything in this genre, I find the utter lack of songcraft dismally boring. Riff after riff, blast after blast, with little cohesion or unifying vision. To be sure, there are occasionally some good riffs (the ascending thing in “Isolate,” particularly tickles me, and most of “Abuse” is good) but there’s little of interest in the rhythm department, and the vocals are of course of no help at all. If Aborted or Cephalic Carnage are your thing (especially if you won’t miss the technical flourishes of the latter), then by all means look into Enemy Reign. You’ll probably like them. Me, I can do without pretty much every band that sounds like this.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL482

BURGERKILL, Venomous  (2011, Xenophobic)

The skull:
Technically this cover breaks the “no skulls” rule, but as the emblem on the forehead of the main skull looks like a temporary henna tattoo, we’ll let it slide. Too bad it’s there, though, because it’s a redundant little mark marring an otherwise impressive piece of artwork. While the art was likely computer generated, it looks like it could just as easily be painted on canvas. The jaw/teeth area being supplanted by a metallic, razor-like implement is a cool touch. There’s nothing hilarious I can say about this, because it’s actually a quality skull cover without any trace of irony or silliness.

The music:
This is not exactly lame, but it’s definitely not my cup of tea either. I’ll give credit to Burgerkill for their musical talent — super-tight rhythms and riffs, virtuosic solos, difficult transitions that flow and are made to sound easy — but it’s only recommended if you’re into stuff like Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Trivium and maybe even post-Liiva Arch Enemy. The vocals are typical of this sort of metalcore thing, generic barks that sound exactly like any of the other zillion guys that sing like this. The requisite emo/melodic vocals — because metalcore is, after all, totally about formula — are peripheral and fail at being memorable. For what it’s worth, these guys are probably better than the majority of others still slogging away in this regrettable sub-genre, but they’ll need a better name than Burgerkill to be taken seriously on the global level. They’re probably even the best Indonesian band I’ve ever heard, but then I can’t recall a single other Indonesian metal band off the top of my head, even though there are hundreds of them. My most lukewarm, uncommitted recommendation!
— Friar Wagner

SKULL481

NARROW MIND, Lady Moonlight (2011, demo)

The skull:
The complete and total ugliness of this cover is impossible to deny. The skull (goofy eyes and all) appears to have been drawn in MS-Paint, and the title appears to be set in Comic Sans! The logo, meanwhile, is the sort of shiny 3D junk that was very common in the early/mid 90s when consumer-level modelling software started to become available. The whole affair seems to have been calculatedly crafted to cultivate the appearance of amateurishness, perhaps in some grand ironic display. And while I’m generally of a like mind with DEP on the subject of irony and the deadness of its scene, I admit that if this were in fact the intention of Narrow Mind, I’d have to applaud their dedication to the vision. But, as even a cursory listen will demonstrate, what we have here is not irony but idiocy.

The music:
These guys placed fourth in their high school battle of the bands in Zurich, which maybe doesn’t sound so bad, until you learn that only five bands entered the contest, and the fifth was obviously some kind of joke staged by that one weird kid who plays the accordian. Narrow Mind are generic enough that the best label for them is probably just “heavy metal” but this especially reminds me of the absolute worst indie European power metal of the mid 90s, bands I’d encounter only as singleton tracks somehow tacked on to fill in the extra time at the end of a blank 90 minute cassette, by a trader who thought, “Well, if he’s interested in the German Avalanche, he might like this as well.” And then, of course, I’d quickly discover that I didn’t actually like Avalanche, let alone the shitty filler band. And that band, still, would have been better than Narrow Mind. Bad playing, bad singing, bad songs. Just, bad
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL480

VORTECH, Infocalypse  (2010, self-released)

The skull:
One can safely assume this is meant to be the skull of a being from another planet, what with the huge cat-like eyeballs and perfectly triangular nasal cavity, as well as more nuanced oddities of this bony dome. Perhaps Vortech (great name) is casting into the future to show how the human skull will evolve after aeons of information influx noted in the EP’s title. Perhaps our eyes will become bigger and indeed more cat-like, perhaps we will find our nasal cavity shaping into an equilateral triangle, and perhaps our bones will evolve into a metallic alloy and be wired to silver something-or-others that resemble water-logged tampons. God knows why any of that would happen, but if this be the destiny of Infocalypse, whatever the hell Infocalypse is, then so be it.

The music:
IThough I’d never heard of these Finns before coming across their skull, some of their “on paper” components are promising:  the name evokes something futuristic, cosmic and technical, and they’re described on various sites as “progressive,” although the “industrial” tag worries. So does the fact of 7 self-released albums between 2006 and 2014, plus this EP. That sort of independent prolific output rarely bodes well in the metal world (one word: Senmuth). Before I venture inside the music itself, I’m already prepared for this band to sound like Mnemic and Fear Factory. Not good. And that’s why keeping your expectations low can sometimes be helpful. They’re slightly better than that! The music on this four-songer lacks its own identity, but it does well in recalling other, better bands: it has the oddball intensity of Alf Svensson’s brilliant Oxiplegatz, the focused drive of Australian futurists Alchemist, and when it gets fast, I swear I hear elements of yet another underrated band, Norway’s Solefald (that goes for some of the vocals too). They’re tight, but then the drums sound programmed more often than not. The guitarist plays with impressive versatility, and thankfully the vocals traverse quite a few different areas, although they’re nearly suffocated by the noisy, near-symphonic din of the music. Its that symphonic element I have trouble connecting with — it sounds more Dimmu Borgir than Emperor (and that’s bad), although whatever it reminds of, it indeed seems to be coming from a black metal influence than an actual classical music inspiration. And Vortech’s thrash is not of the Vektor standard, which I was kinda hoping for before actually listening. The overall vibe: this is nearly as ambitious as it seems on the surface, but it’s too cold, to derivative and too samey. Also, the hyper-digital, flimsy production cannot be covered up in the chaos of the actual performance. This band would likely emerge from a  real studio sounding much better, especially if they had a real producer. Lots of comparisons to other, mostly better bands here, which tells us that Vortech are aiming at a laudable target but are stealing other people’s arrows to do it. Maybe album #8 or 9 will finally find them emerging as a unique force.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL479

FILTHEATER/ISHIMURA,Rites of Contempt and Disgust (2011, Speed Ritual)

The skull:
This is at least the third time we’ve seen a skull by this artist. He also did SKULL143 and SKULL396, and this one is every bit as good as those. I love the detailed linework that somehow conveys real hopelessness and despair. No mean feat! The pile of handmeat is of course great (especially how the fingers suggest spider legs), but for me, the real clincher to this piece is the half-closed third eye. That eye is so jaded that no depravity is sufficiently titilating anymore, and I daresay that heavy-lidded ennui is perfectly suited to this particular collection of songs.

The music:
Filtheater scored a surprisingly good review from Friar Wagner when they last appeared in the Skullection, but an unconditional love for Nuclear Death is not a prerequisite in aspiring Friars, so while I owned Bride of Insect as a young man, and appreciated it for its shock value (which is still strong, I must admit), I never really liked their music, nor of course their sub-basement production values. And honestly, I don’t recall much about them, so I’m taking it on faith that Filtheater bear some similarity. I guess I can get behind the more angular and weird riffs on display here, but the blasty bits are a sloppy mess and the songs overall don’t seem to have any overarching raison d’etre. Grimy grindcore for horror crusties. And Ishimura is way, way fucking worse. Their drummer, when he blasts, seems to have no control over himself, and as such ends up seemingly out of time with the rest of the band, although maybe that’s by design. And for as shitty as Filtheater’s distorted growls are, the vocals on Ishimura’s half of this split are infinitely shittier. It’s also not clear to me that either band has a bass player, so thin and reedy is the sound on both halves. Friar Wagner can keep this stuff. What I need is some crappy 80s power metal. That’ll sort me out.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL478

LUNAR AURORA, Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres  (1999, Kettenhund)

The skull:
Never has an album with such a great title been sullied by such a silly album cover. If the color is supposed to look “bloodstained,” they failed. It’s more blood orange stained. And the skull? His teeth are redneck, his eyeballs black olives, and his look says “Oh my, you caught me doing naughty things to myself in the photo booth!!!” in a squeaky Mr. Bill voice.

The music:
Lunar Aurora is a highly regarded German band, and in 2012, after nine full-lengths, they called it quits. This is their third album. The basic description of Lunar Aurora could be “well-recorded epic and melancholy black metal,” but then we’ve heard that one before, and even this is too simplistic a definition. Their music has a swirling, hypnotic quality, and it doesn’t always take lightspeed tempos to achieve this — they work in moderately slow to medium paces, for the most part, yet their sense of invention and world-building keeps the songs from ever becoming dull. The technical level is high but never sinks down into arid complexity — they know how to channel their talents to create effective and affecting compositions. There’s a healthy degree of textural variety here, too, as heard on “Blutbaum” and instrumental track “Moorleiche.” As for the oboe solo — yes, oboe solo — in “Die Quelle im Wald,” it works much better in practice than in theory. This is how I always wished Summoning’s more traditional black metal passages sounded but didn’t. Of Stargates… is comprised of huge, escapist, captivating material, and the whole is satisfyingly overwhelming. I didn’t give the band much time over the years, but am sitting here feeling like I missed out on something special. I’ve already checked out more of their material, and their final album, Hoagascht, is pretty incredible. I assume I’m not the only one who missed out on these guys first time around. We’ve got some catching up to do!
— Friar Wagner

SKULL477

AS I LAY DYING, Decas (2011, Metal Blade)

The skull:
I bet the young metalheads fresh out of art school feel like they’ve landed the perfect job when they’re hired into the design department at Metal Blade Records. And maybe one of them, on learning that he would be doing the cover for As I Lay Dying’s latest release, pitched some elaborate collage piece inspired by Boccaccio’s Decameron before Brian Slagel came in and swatted the stylus out of his Cintas hand and yelled, “What are you fucking talking about, nerd? This is just some bullshit compilation, and we’re already losing like 24 cents per on mechanicals. Pull a fucking skull from the junk box, photocopy it a couple dozen times, and put the fucking title on it. This isn’t the god damned Louvre and you ain’t Andy shitloving Warhol. And don’t EVEN come back asking to expense some fucking font. Go to one of those Russian sites and get one for free and quit bothering the grown ups! Jesus, don’t they teach you idiots anything in school, or do you spend all day drawing your mommies with crayons?”

The music:
Remember how, the last time I discussed As I Lay Dying, I said, ” I can also kind of appreciate in retrospect is the looseness of the entire album; the drums are clearly not quantized or triggered, and Lambesis had to more or less get his shit in tune before the mass adoption of Autotune, which lends the entire affair an almost organic feel”? Well, in the 8 years separating that album from this one, the band ceded 100% of that organic feel. The clean vocals are mercilessly tuned (“From Shapeless To Breakable” is a master class in unnatural autotuning), the drums sampled and time-aligned, and all the tones compressed into a narrow band centered on the chug note of whatever their low string is. Which is just to say, there is literally no way to tell As I Lay Dying from the thousands of other metalcore bands that labored night and day to completely ruin metal in the aughts. This disc is not an all new collection of tunes, though: it’s a contract-fulfilling way for the band to cut loose and show us how oldschool and really metal they are, by covering past-their-prime Slayer tunes (“War Ensemble”), done-to-death Judas Priest tunes (“Hellion/Electic Eye”) and the obligatory “check out how how diverse and cool our tastes are” tunes (“Coffee Mug,” by Descendents). Also: a dubstep remix. For fucking real. This is the perfect music for a cover so haphazardly thrown together, the ultimate expression of “pointless.”
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL476

CARCARIASS, Killing Process (2002, Adipocere)

The skull:
Here is a clear case of a band having a vision for their album cover firmly in mind before they found the actual illustration. “We’ll call it Killing Process and put up some computery fonts and shit and it’ll be like Killing Technology and the Terminator all wrapped up in one, mes amis,” someone in the band probably said (in a haughty French accent, but not in French, for some reason), and everyone agreed that was an awesome idea, but then their artist friend showed up at the rehearsal space with a canvas, saying, “Here it is! Here is your cover!” and presented an admittedly badass skull. And then they were torn, because they all loved the futuristic dystopia angle, but they also thought the skull was totally manly and awesome, and heated discussions were had until the bassist suggested that they just merge the two concepts. “Like, maybe the computer robot guy shot a laser at this dude and fried off all his flesh and left a big hole in his head? We could have some numbers or something from the Terminator’s heads-up display on the side, like this is just some program he runs all the time, like his killing program,” and everyone stopped fighting and broke open a bottle of wine and rejoiced at the brilliance of this plan, which saved the skull AND the band.

The music:
This is one of the very, VERY few albums in the Skullection (particularly this deep) that this friar owns, but while I have long appreciated this standout slab of French melodic death metal, The Council prefers its Frankish metal to be the work of a lone, bearded, black metal loser in his bedroom, and as such must have overlooked this excellent release. How else can we explain its late position in the Skullection? Perhaps The Council’s thoughts on the matter were influenced by the rather low quality of Carcariass’s other releases, which are uniformly less good than this standout album. Killing Process is a mix of light melodic death metal (think Arch Enemy at the turn of the millennium), latter-day Death, and more complex fare, although it never rises to the level of, say, Theory In Practice for technical content. Compared to the particular strain of tech death that has arisen since the release of Necrophagist’s Epitaph, Killing Process might seem tame, but where it lacks in balls-to-the-wall displays of instrumental proficiency ( or for that matter, labored brutality), it compensates with generally memorable riff- and song-writing. The production is tight and clean, and although I’m fairly certain the drums are programmed (this despite a credit for a human drummer), the work is sufficiently well-done that I’m not bothered in the main by the artificiality of the percussion. The entire affair is undergird with that uniquely French weirdness that animates pretty much everything on labels like Adipocere and Holy. This is a no-brainer purchase for anyone with a predilection for left-of-center death metal.
— Friar Johnsen