Nocturnal Fear- Excessive Cruelty

Nocturnal Fear is a thrash band from Detroit, Michigan. The four piece formed back in 2000 and have been consistently mangling metalheads since. Excessive Cruelty is the band's fifth full-length and they still show no signs of fatigue. One glimpse at the song titles alone should give those who aren't familiar with the band a good idea of what they are all about. This is high class wartorn thrash of the highest degree that is sure to make every head in the area bang forcefully.

The guitar playing on the album is fairly memorable. There are many riffs here that will linger in your head long after the listening experience is over. There is also plenty of variation to go around, the slow epic section in "I Am War" is one of the first moments that comes to mind. The interesting songs structures and riffs manage to make this near 50 minute album fully engaging from start to finish. The bass is also audible for the most part, while it does do it's part beefing up the sound the majority of the time it just follows along with the guitar.

The drummer, Witchhammer, is a force to be reckoned with to say the least. The powerhouse of blasting showcased here without a doubt proves that the man has the stamina of a machine. The drumming here gives the album that extra push into excellence, it is certain that many other people behind the kit wouldn't fit quite as well. The vocals featured on this album are nothing to write home about. That being said, they do fit the harsh brand of thrash Nocturnal Fear plays perfectly. The lack of variation in this aspect of the album doesn't effect the overall experience much, Devastator delivers his nasty snarls with more than enough power and confidence to make them much more than adequate.

Overall Nocturnal Fear prove that they still reign supreme against most of the competition when it comes to the "thrash revival" trend. When one thinks about this album it is almost hard to consider this "thrash revival". Excessive Cruelty ups the ante in terms of brutality and is just a straight up, ass kicking thrash album, plain and simple. As usual it is very clear where the group draws influence from, but it is still an extremely solid onslaught of vicious thrash metal that will not disappoint. Fans of old school German thrash should have a good time with this release and fans of previous Nocturnal Fear albums will certainly not be letdown. The album finishes the way it starts, with all cylinders firing and still showing off that "pounce and kill" attitude. Give this one a look, it is worth many listens.

Psycho- Pain Addict Pigs

Psycho is a nasty extreme metal band from Singapore. The band blends a vile mix of death, thrash, and black metal with a punk attitude. Imagine if Toxic Holocaust, Horrific, and Hellhammer had a Circle Jerk and the aftermath was artificial inseminated into a female zombie, Psycho would be the little zombie child that would eat it's way out after nine months. Prepare yourself for some horror themed metal with a distinct that will make you fear for your life the second it hits.

Pain Addict Pigs is over thirty minutes of mosh worthy metal that will possess you to rip the spine out of the person nearest you and play air guitar with it. The aggressive bass will leave you with bruises after one mere listen but you can't help but come back for more. Psycho just maims, kills, and cremates the listener and gets rid of all the evidence by evaporating the ashes so they can continue their murderous ways. The sinister grooves that Psycho churns out are not only memorable, but backbreaking to boot. When the Bryan John isn't crushing you he is either shredding your face off or playing an amazing bluesy solo. The morbid sounds pour out of the amp until blood shoots out of the listens ears like a geyser.

As mentioned previously the bass plays a big part in the overall sound of Pain Addict Pigs. It's up high in the mix and adds some thickness to the aural assault that Psycho is dishing out. JY is able to get some time in the spotlight and show off his talent in tracks like "Mater Lachrymarum…Mother Of Tears". Great to hear some more audible bass in a band with a sound leaning toward the sick and extreme. The vocals on Pain Addict Pigs are insane. Imagine screams from the deepest pits of the underworld backed by the vicious barks of a hellhound and you should have a pretty good idea out of what to expect from this. The vocal style fits the music perfectly and doesn't just stick to the cookie cutter death growl that is used so often.

Overall this album is the perfect balance between old school metal and a more modern sound. The band plays mad professor and amputates elements from multiple genres and stitches it all together creating a brand new musical beast. Death has never been so damn fun. Highly recommended for all the metalheads with a craving of gore and for those looking for something different within the piles of uninspired metal albums that come out these days.

Haeresiarchs Of Dis- Denuntiatus Cinis

 Haeresiarchs Of Dis is a one man black metal project from the United States. Denuntiatus Cinis is the third piece of pure darkness that Cernunnos has released since the project started. This is blasphemy of the highest order and proves to be a frightening experience to even the most experienced metalheads in existence. Crammed with over an hour of haunting abuse Denuntiatus Cinis is certainly an album that will have the audience begging for more if they manage to make it to the end.

Cernunnos lets out the shrieks of a thousand tortured souls during Denuntiatus Cinis. Along with the shrieks of the damned he also incorporates some booming clean vocals filled with despair. Denuntiatus Cinis clocks in at nearly seventy minutes. Given the length a fair amount of diversity must be employed to hold the attention of the listener. The musical madness that is brought forth on this release has no trouble in doing so.

The album has two different styles intertwining throughout the playtime. There are plenty of tracks that feature pure black metal mastery but laced in between are instrumentals of cleanly displayed gloom and lost hope. The instrumentals set the tone for Denuntiatus Cinis in a big way and manage to tell a story with the sounds that linger out of the speakers. In many ways this album could've have been two separate releases, one for the black metal and one for the instrumental pieces and they would have both been able to hold up on their own. When the two are blending together the atmosphere is overwhelming making it one of the best releases to come to mind in quite some time.

Cernunnos creates some of the most horrifyingly filthy black metal tracks when given the chance. While the instrumentals are a bit of a step in a different direction the heavy tracks are just as grim as one would expect from the greats of the genre. In saying that there are still some wicked twists and turns spread throughout this sinister showing of all that is evil. If you find one person whose jaw doesn't drop in surprise when the folk tune "Bemoan the Fallen" hits then you must have someone with their jaw wired shut.

Overall Cernunnos has crafted one of the best metal albums in a fairly long time. Throughout the playtime of these dark and chaotic ride many epic moments are created but they quickly die a brutal death. All the bright, happy thoughts that filled the listeners head are torn to shreds and used to keep the fire that powers Haeresiarchs Of Dis's unforgettable musical torture going. Listening to this one would assume the creator lives in a cave somewhere, the last thought would be that it came from the golden state. Highly recommended to those looking for something to feed their morbid desires.