Tag Archives: scratchy

SKULL527

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SUCKING VOID, The Scavenger (2012, demo)

The skull:
The stupid logo is a dead giveaway that this is a modern release, but this art could otherwise totally have fronted some cult death metal demo from the late 80s, passed from trader to trader in increasingly rotten-sounding dubs, the cover getting more and more washed out as the Xerox generations pile up. Scratched, cracked, dripping, and covered in crawly things, not to mention stretched like a necro El Greco, this skull looks to be having an absolutely shitty afterlife, and we’re actually seeing him here in the prime of his digitally distributed glory. Sucking Void Skull, you don’t know how good you’ve got it!

The music:
The Scavenger sounds like Earache Records 1990, an even mix of Harmony Corruption, Symphonies of Sickness, and the faster moments on Warmaster, but with a modern production that surprisingly doesn’t deflate the oldschool vibe. The riffing is a little basic at times, and the vocals less than charismatic, but this kind of oldschool stuff really gets me off, and Sucking Void remain committed throughout to songcraft in a way that modern death metal rarely does. The playing is sharp and everything sounds really great here, much better than most death metal, in fact. I didn’t expect much from this short demo with a silly cover, but Sucking Void are surprisingly not to be fucked with. Highly recommended if you enjoy the aforementioned oldies.
— Friar Johnsen

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GAMMADION, The Fuse is Lit (2005, Strong Survive)

The skull:
Remember all those cool Dave McKean photocollage covers from the 90s, with random neat shit in antique boxes? You know, like the Disincarnate album or the first My Dying Bride full length? Well, this is kind of like that, but with just a single box, and crappy. And also not a collage. The best part is obviously the blocky skull pillow, though. I never thought about the needs of sleepy skulls before, but this cover has really brought the issue to my attention. It’s no wonder so many of the skulls we see look so cranky. Evidently they have to rest their heads on stepstools. I’d be a mess, too, if that was how I had to sleep.

The music:
Nazi true metal from Poland. Musically, it’s not terrible, kind of in the same vein as Atlantean Kodex, minus the doomy parts. Occasionally they drop into a blast beat, but it always feels out of place, as if they know that they’re putting on airs. The Polish-language speak-singing is pretty bad, though, and of course the lyrics are presumably about white supremacy and the master race and whatnot. “Gammadion” is the Greek work for “swastika,” so you know they’ve gone all-in on the NS bullshit. If the lyrics were about something a little less ridiculous, like unicorns or muscle cars, I would be tempted to say that maybe Gammadion are on to something, but I’m not about to endorse the work of racist thugs.
— Friar Johnsen