Tag Archives: fangs

SKULL249

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THORIUM, Cast from Hell (2007, Prutten)

The skull:
A stock-photo skull (with cheesy fangs) is cheaply interwoven with an upside-down star in an image more than little suggestive of the Sisters of Mercy logo. The object of a casting is usually thrown down from its original location, so the title of this EP suggests a sub-hell heretofore unconsidered by mainstream Christian theology. Evidently it’s a black and white plane of inscrutable geometries that can be cheaply photocopied for maximum underground cred. Wicked.

The music:
Thorium is full of dudes from other bands, but the only one worth a damn was Withering Surface. They were one of the very best melodic death metal bands of all time, and I adored even in their slightly embarassing chasing-after-Soilwork groove phase. Sadly, while Withering Surface passed on, Thorium remains. Vocalist Michael Anderson was the main guy in Withering Surface, but let’s be honest: he was never a particularly noteworthy singer, and his low growls here are even less interesting than his higher-pitched rasp he used back when he was all about whorebrides and whatnot. Thorium’s music is fine, a sort of unspectacular Eurodeath that’s not exactly brutal but also isn’t making any effort to smooth over the rough patches. I rarely listen to this sort of thing because it all kind of sounds the same, but if you were into, I dunno, Vader, then maybe you’d enjoy Thorium. I’m not, so I don’t.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL184

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EGZEKUTHOR, Hateful Subconsciousness  (1990, demo)

The skull:
From top to bottom this artwork is fun. Try and figure out the logo and what their name means (a play on “executor”? Eggs + executive + Thor?) then work down. Is the skull separating itself from the logo, or crashing into it? Either way he’s got menace in his eyes and looks ready to kill his paintball competition. But he appears to be cracking, and the three paintball splats seem to have caused some of this grief. And he’s got to avoid the fire that burns below (there are a LOT of skull covers depicting fire burning below a skull). What this has to do with having a hateful subconscious is hard to tell, but that would be difficult to convey in a drawing, so the artist did the best he could.

The music:
With the muddy, blurry, echoey recording job, the awesomely named Egzekuthor manages to lend some atmosphere to their fairly standard compositions. This five song, 25-minute demo achieves something a bit above the norm in its class, although it’s yet another “in one ear, out the other” sort of effort. The music itself isn’t bad — there are enough tempo shifts and performance skill to chew on — it’s just that their enthusiasm is greater than their songwriting ability. Their core approach attempts to take what the Big Three of German Thrash Metal did in the ’80s and inject a bit more complexity without going fully “tech,” but not enough highlights emerge from the noisy din screaming “replay me!” In fact, there isn’t a single moment on this demo that does that. So…marvel at the cover and their crazy name and enjoy it for what it is: a barely consequential blip on the radar of Polish metal history.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL181

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ANTHARES, No Limite Da Força (1987, Devil Discos)

The skull:
An impressively mean looking, fanged skull with… tailpipes? Or something? He’s lording his magesterial size over a bunch of lowly skeletons, whose completeness, ironically, makes them the lesser bony creatures. Lightning sparks off the tips of a stony logo, but the big skull is unfazed. He knows he’s non-conductive.

The music:
Brazilian speed metal trying very hard to sound German. With the usual mid 80s Brazilian caveats that this is underproduced, a bit sloppy, and totally derivative, it’s not too bad, if Living Death and Exumer are your thing. Unlike a lot of bands from this time and place, Anthares don’t take themselves too seriously, and there’s a sense of humor evident here, even if I can’t understand a word of the Portugese lyrics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the band is still around (after a ten year break starting in the mid 90s) and still gigging, although they haven’t released anything in close to a decade. By singing in their native language, they’ll probably never catch on outside of Brazil, but eager students of mid 80s thrash could do worse than to save Anthares in their back pocket for an occasion to look really knowledgeable to their impressionable peers.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL170

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GODS OF FIRE, Wrath of the Gods  (2004, Black Thirteen)

The skull:
Man, this one whips up one magickal psychedelic visage of a skull! Look into those eyes…weird organic matter, like black lava swirling and cooling, with what looks like elaborately sculpted smoke whirling up the sides, with teeth that are not human and some pretty good looking gums, considering the advanced state of decay this person has gone through by this point. This person with the teeth of a badger. And then, yes, lots of fire burning below, a recurring theme for many a skull album cover. The skull itself almost gets lost in all this madness.

The music:
Gods Of Fire sounds influenced by King Diamond, Sanctuary, Iron Maiden and Manowar. Unfortunately, listening to these eight songs and 53 minutes is a chore. Their hearts are in the right place, but it’s pretty low-rent stuff. Too many ham-fisted stabs at grandiosity (“Promethus Unbound”), some flat-out bad notes (the guitar themes that open “Nectar of the Gods”), and vocals that try for a wide range but are dull and powerless at every turn. Sometimes the musicianship is pretty good, despite weak spots, but there’s this overall void running throughout that makes it feel like parody. The recording is far too dry, which doesn’t help their cause. It’s frustrating to listen to a band reaching for golden heights only to come back with greasy scraps. I cheer for them with part of my heart while my entire brain says, “No…please…no.” On a fun little note, their second album is called Hanukkah Gone Metal. I am not kidding. Here’s a lyric from “No Gelt, No Glory”: “No Gelt No Glory baby / I let it ride on Gimel must walk away a winner now / No Gelt No Glory baby / If you want to play then baby gimme a ‘HEI!'” The first line goes “With the dreidel in my hand I give it a lucky whirl.” It’s sure more interesting than the stock-mythology lyrics running throughout Wrath of the Gods.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL153

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PHONOMIK, Soul Creeper (2010, Nightmare)

The skull:
If I’m mistaken, this is a first for Big Dumb Skulls: an underwater skull. Yes, I joked that SKULL38 might be peering out of a submarine, but there’s no denying that this fella here is hanging out under the sea. Probably somewhere in the Caribbean, considering the clear turquoise water and white sands. Then again, I guess this might not even be a real skull, but one of those ceramic ones sold at pet shops to decorate your aquarium. It’s a niche accessory catering to the thin sliver of overlap in the Venn diagram of tropical fish and vampire enthusiasts.

The music:
I was really expecting shitty death metal when I started spinning Phonomik, so it was quite a surprise to find that they’re a quirky, kind of funky progressive metal band with a unique sound, good vocals, and catchy songs. Wonders never cease! Their sound is very modern, with downtuned guitar and a distinctly nu cadence to the vocals, inviting comparisons to both Evergrey and Fair to Midland. The singing is a bit nasal, but it still works for me, and with songs built around strong vocal hooks and an almost playful bouyancy from the keys, Phonomik have a winning formula on their hands. I would like a little more activity in the guitar riffing, but that risks looking the gift horse in the mouth, so I’ll just content myself with the unexpected small pleasures afforded me.
— Friar Johnsen

SKULL114

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MARTIRIO, Decadencia  (2009, demo)

The skull:
Ooooh, spooky. This skull would look utterly terrifying if it weren’t for the random baby crying for mama in the lower right portion of the artwork. Huh? Also, note the ghostly growth of a skull coming out the skull’s upper left cheek. Again I say, “Huh?” But those fangs are sharp and ready to rip. The foggy haze adds some atmosphere to this frightening/silly scene, and if that skull’s goin’ down, he’s gonna mangle a few baby heads doing it. Apparently.

The music:
If I didn’t have a band picture for reference, I’d say these guys were the sort of modern death/thrash band that takes influence from fourth generation bands like Carnal Forge. You know, Xerox copies of Xerox copies of Xerox copies until the original root is lost. It just has that stock sort of sound to it. It’s very capable stuff, musically, and the vocalist is strong if utterly interchangeable with hundreds of similar others who bark in that Anselmo-meets-Cavalera sorta way. But see, the guys are wearing Metallica and Slayer shirts, so I guess they do have a deeper understanding of thrash’s history than it sounds. Still, there’s really no reason you should seek out Martirio’s seven song demo since there’s so much more easily accessible stuff around that delivers exactly the same sort of thing. Unless you cannot get enough Carnal Forge or something.
— Friar Wagner

SKULL106

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VOETSEK, Voetsek  (2005, Deep Six)

The skull:
Looks like a raging troublemaker of a skull, this guy…horns, sharp fangs, wings. And he’s apparently laughing at YOU, cuz YOU are the one about to meet a horrible fate. This skull is gonna live forever. The lopsided eyes make this skull look that much more demented. The color is orange rust, not too far away from the color of dried blood. YOUR blood. Shit, even the band logo includes umlauts over the O and an upside down cross. Holy hell.

The music:
Amazingly, this EP is not all that metal in sound, despite the cover. At this stage Voetsek were more punk than metal, but their speed-freaked ferocity is something any fan of rabid thrash can get their teeth into. Eight songs blaze by in six minutes here, but it’s their later stuff that has a more metallic feel. This is their early Suicidal Tendencies to their later Cryptic Slaughter, if you know what I mean.
— Friar Wagner