Thirst Of Revenge- Annihilation Of Races

Thirst Of Revenge is a one man brutal death metal band from Spain. Some may be familiar with Carlos Mejias from the first two Human Mincer albums (on which he took on vocal duties). This is the second Thirst Of Revenge full-length since the projects inception back in 2006. Originally in 1999, the project was named Cerebral Torture but due to the other band Carlos was involved with no material ever surfaced. The album clocks in at around thirty minutes. Ultimately the perfect runtime for a brutal death metal album.

Essentially Annihilation Of Races is a concept album about the end of the world, or the human race that is. The story basically opens up with some mysterious sightings and it becomes evident the aliens are among us. They visit and begin experimenting on humans. Eventually they find a way to blend their blood with ours and form a hybrid alien to wipe-out the human race whilst going undetected to the untrained eye. The lyrics are very simple but the concept comes across well and it actually makes for an interesting story. Considering the fact that these lyrics were translated to English for the album it is fairly surprising that nothing got lost in translation.

The pace of the album is very fast for the most part. This makes certain sections start to blend together at times. Luckily this doesn't happen often enough to be a large detriment to the albums overall replay value. The riffs don't really come off as memorable but they have impact while listening. Tremolo riffs are dished out in large amounts along with pummeling grooves. Nothing overly technical but it is far from a constant chug-fest.

The vocals mainly consist of gutturals. An occasional scream in thrown in the mix to spice things up a bit, but the vocal approach is extremely primitive all around. The drum machine works much better on this release than it has in the past. They sound more convincing all around. On the previous EP they were far too high in the mix and almost made it a chore to listen to. Here, while they are still fast and intense they fade more into the background and it is easy to focus on the other aspects of the music.

Overall Annihilation Of Races is a decent record. There isn't really anything groundbreaking going on here but it is enough to keep ones interest. In terms of more recent brutal death metal releases this one falls somewhere near the top of the stack. There is plenty of room here for improvement, but considering the endless number of low rent, one man brutal death bands out there this is quite the breath of fresh air. Brutal death fans should give this one a listen, you're going to get what you expect. No frills, barbaric one man blasting brutality.

Regurgitation- Clitoraldectomy

Regurgitation is a brutal death metal band from Ohio. They formed back in 1994 but their amount of output would suggest otherwise. The band only has one full-length to this date. Clitoraldectomy is their last release since their 1999 album Tales Of Necrophilia. This was originally a demo but it didn't see an official release until Comatose got the chance to put it out this year. Clitoraldectomy consists of four brutal tracks along with a particularly badass Suffocation cover.

This release pummels the listener and never lets up in the slightest. The guitar playing is very precise and there are even a few killer solos thrown in for good measure. There are only a couple of really heavy "beatdown" moments featured on this release and for the most part it just goes full speed ahead. Really the fretwork here is fairly diverse and there are plenty of different techniques being used in the short runtime to keep the listener more than entertained. The bass can be made out a good portion of the time and we even get a brief bass solo during the title track.

The mixing on this release leaves a little bit to be desired. The drums overpower pretty much everything else and at times it can take its toll on the overall listening experience, nothing too serious though. The vocal styles used here range from deep gutturals to some rough sounding screams. The raspy vocals that were used frequently on the previous album also make a few appearances on this release along with some standard death metal growls. In the end Baxter shows a pretty solid range and holds down in the vocal department.

Overall if you are in search of straight up brutality Clitoraldectomy has more than enough to offer you. Regurgitation spent the time between the release of Tales Of Necrophilia and this tightening up their sound as much as possible and the end result is awesome. Fans of brutal death metal should check this one out as well as fans of the band's previous full-length. Fans of the previous full-length should be warned that the sound displayed here is alot cleaner than what was shown on Tales Of Necrophilia. A second full-length titled Cliterctomy is planned to be released in the future but whether it will released as a Regurgitation album or a Necrotic Disgorgement album is unsure.

Sikfuk- Shitfisted Superman... The Man Of Stool

Sikfuk is a one-man band that formed back in 2001. This is the third full-length from Nikfuk's sick little project. For those unaware, Sikfuk plays a very brutal style of music that is referred to as "tardgrind". A few demos and a split have been released by him too. Needless to say Nikfuk has been in the game for awhile now and has had his fair share of time to sculpt Sikfuk's vomit worthy sound. Just like any other Sikfuk release you will be bombarded with hilarious samples and gross song titles. Also the booklet for the album has a special piece of nastiness drawn up for each track.

The guitar playing is groovy as hell from start to finish as usual. For the most part the chaotic feel that Teabagged At Birth had is missing on this release, but the slams are just as catchy as before and match the rhythm of the vocals almost flawlessly. The guitar tone used on the album isn't as thick very thick. This kind of takes some of the impact out of the slams that are almost constant. It doesn't detract too much from the overall quality but it wouldn't hurt if the tone was beefed up more on the next release.

Nikfuk has some of the most vile sounding gutturals ever recorded. His vocals bring images of shit and other bodily fluids to mind almost immediately. The burps are delivered with an infectious rhythm. They just fit perfectly, I couldn't picture any other style being used here. As with most of the one-man brutal death bands out there Sikfuk does feature a drum machine. In this albums case it isn't a make or break situation, the drum programming is actually pretty believable and well done.

Overall this "oozing, dripping shit, spackeled piece of shit" is good in my book. A fair warning to people who have yet to experience Sikfuk, try before you buy, this isn't going to be everyones thing. In fact a good portion of people will probably find everything about this album completely repulsive, disgusting, and unlistenable. Fans of Sikfuk should have a good time with this though, with that being said this doesn't top their last album Teabagged At Birth. In all honesty in the end fans will get the same disgusting, scat inducing brutal death/tardgrind they have come to expect from Sikfuk.

Face of Oblivion- The Embers of Man

Face of Oblivion is a technical death metal band from Minnesota. The band formed in 2009, that same year they released a three song demo. Two years later (now) they are back to bring their brutality to the masses with their first full-length from Comatose Music. The record clocks in at thirty minutes total and the band shows no sign letting up throughout the entire listening experience. Right from the start it is easy to think that you are about to sit through another average slam record but about a minute in the track takes a turn into chaos and the first impression is set.

Both Hensley and Bohlman hold it down in terms of the fretwork featured here. The playing is water tight throughout and even with the crazy complex playing they know how to craft an actual song. At no point does this come off as an all out wankfest. These guys definitely have chops but they also have the ability to hold back and create something that is actually cohesive. One of the best things about this album is the bass. It is completely audible the entire time and if Cole Gunthers playing doesn't get your full attention, you're dead. The bass being so loud in the mix gives the album a very frantic feeling. This is extremely noticeable during the fast moments on the record. Each hit of bass hits you like an adrenaline rush when these sections show up.

The vocalist sticks to two styles for the most part. He has a very low guttural and some vicious highs. Neither approach is anything groundbreaking but he does his part and delivers the vocals with power. Being familiar with some of his work with other bands in the past though, I got what I expected, a badass, brutal performance. There are also a few awesome "chanty" moments on here, the first track is the most noteworthy. Ogar has a very interesting drumming approach on this album and refrains from the constant blasting you typically hear in the genre. A good portion of his playing is rather slow and then he hits with sudden bursts of speed. It makes the listening experience fresh and he most definitely deserves credit for not going the lazy route.

Many people complain that the technical brutal death style is very dull and boring, and a good portion of the time I would have to agree. On many of these releases the playing is amazing but after awhile it grows old and it seems they are just showing off rather than creating quality tracks. This is NOT the case with The Embers of Man. These tracks have ridiculous replay value, and even getting to the point where I know the album like the back of my hand I still find myself headbanging just as enthusiastically as I was the first time I gave it a listen.

Overall Face of Oblivion is dressed to impress on their debut. It wouldn't be a surprise at all to see these guys get a wide following soon, they have an excellent sound going here and I can't see any reason why fans of technical/brutal death metal wouldn't dig this. Highly recommended for fans of technical death metal and/or brutal death metal.

Disfigured- Amputated Gorewhore

Disfigured is a four piece death metal band from Texas. Amputated Gorewhore marks their second full-length since their formation back in 2003. Since their last album in 2008 it is obvious that they have upped the ante. Amputated Gorewhore is a vicious onslaught of gore soaked death metal that will please all gorehounds and metalheads alike. At just over thirty minutes heads will be crushed and lives will be lost.

The guitar playing here has a healthy amount of variation. Disfigured aren't strangers of a little thing called tremolo picking. The fretwork is handled with deadly precision from start to finish and it is clear that the man working the axe, Mike DeLeon has chops. Many of the riffs featured on the album are more infectious than a veteran hooker (that's pretty damn infectious!). When listening it is clear that Disfigured know how to write a solid song which is one task that many brutal bands fail to achieve. The vocals are fairly standard for the style. Very guttural and brutal to say the least, they fit what the band is churning out perfectly and are delivered with a respectable amount of power.

One thing that makes this album standout when compared to a slew of other death metal albums is the fact that the bass is very high in the mix. On top of that Adam DeLeon not only get's to be heard playing, a good portion of the time the basslines standout just as much as the guitars. Normally when a rare occurrence like this happens in metal the bassist is just following along with the riff but on Amputated Gorewhore a big chunk of the time he gets to stray away from the pack and do some pretty cool stuff. It would be ridiculous to say that you could take the bass out of this album and it would be just as good, because to put it simply, it plays a gigantic part in this album.

While at first glance the album very much consists of brutal death metal, Disfigured inject a decent amount of old school flavor into the overall sound. It would be an understatement to say Amputated Gorewhore packs a punch, because that is just the tip of the iceberg. The majority of the tracks featured on the album fall in between two or three minutes, and, like many other gore drenched albums like this a few of the tracks feature samples. Even with the short track lengths Disfigured lunge straight for the listeners throat and don't let go until they are drained of life.

Overall Disfigured show no signs of slowing. Amputated Gorewhore delivers exactly what one who is familiar with the band should expect, a nice and heavy slab of death metal. It is well written with near perfect execution. Fans of the style couldn't ask for much more. Keep an eye out for future pieces of brutality from Disfigured and until then pick this up. It will tide you over until the next tidal wave of blood clashes with your face.