Getting Laid at Bandcamp: The Fourth of 2015
Welcome back, campers. It’s time to die all over again. I’m sure most of you have noticed my recent taking to War Metal and overall vile-sounding black metal. Personally, it’s been a rough month for me at work, having to deal with multiple fucked up issues and changes. I won’t go into details with the troubles, but I’ve found that savage, hateful metal is an effective coping mechanism for me. It’s managed to relieve quite a bit of my stress, especially when I’m at home. So, here are some bands that have helped me through another week of shit at work.
Unholy Crucifix – ORDO SERVORUM SATANAE (2012)
Hailing from Norway, Unholy Crucifix began as a one man black metal project created by Profanation of Deity back in 2004. The band has dropped over 20 impressive and unpleasant releases within an 11-year period, with out releasing a full length until 2012. In 2011 Profanation recruited California based drummer Sean Merriken to take over drum duty. Soon after, ORDO SERVORUM SATANAE was born from blackness into flames. This is a thrashy bestial black metal album taking old school black metal influences (Venom) and mixing them up with some old school war metal and death metal (Sarcófago, Possessed, and Blasphemy). It’s gritty and it brings the blasting fury, the thrash, and the groove. The guitar work is worth pointing out. The riffs are catchy and the leads are incredibly icy-sounding, with a nice cloak of reverb and an echo that chills listeners into a frostbitten coma. The vocals sound distant yet harsh, as if painfully screamed from the back of a cave. Be sure to check out the many other releases from the band on their Bandcamp page.
Favorite song: “Sin”
Black Fucking Cancer – Summoning Aural Hell (2011)
When it comes to demos, Summoning Aural Hell has to be one of the most savage things I’ve ever goddamn heard. These 3 heathens went into this demo knowing exactly what they wanted to achieve. This 31 minute hell monster comes running right at you, unrelentingly biting and tearing your flesh from your body. Normal cancer wants to take your life away by slowly deteriorating your body over time, but Black Fucking Cancer wants to violently crush your life away and provide you with the most agonizing pain there is by dragging you down to hell where you will suffer for eternity. These tracks pepper you with bricks. The ugliest sounding riffs you’ve ever heard blast away at your face like a Gatling gun. The vocals sound absolutely horrid, like a witch burning at the stake. This is an ugly demo, and there is no mercy whatsoever. So buy the ticket and take the horrid ride to hell, because this is total fucking pain and desecration worth experiencing. This demo came out three years ago, and it’s their only release. Hopefully very soon this disease will come back to kill us all once more.
Favorite Song: “Exit Wounds”
Caveman Cult – Rituals of Savagery (2015)
Rick Smith may not be a familiar name to you, but some of his bands may be. The man plays/played in Shitstorm, Torche, and Mehkago N.T. to name a few. Coming from such a grindy and crusty past, the man obviously knows how to play aggressively. But why just keep it grindy and crusty when you can blast out some of the most barbaric sounding war metal around? Rick did just that, and he did a mighty fine job at crushing skulls with his bare hands. This is highly similar to the Canadian style of war metal (plenty of Revenge and Conqueror influence to go around). My favorite part about this release are the really heavy, slower parts – something that is all too uncommon in war metal. Caveman Cult do a great job of switching up the pace from unrelentingly fast to face crushingly slow, which adds a killer dynamic to their overall sound. The drumming is magnificently tight and abrasive, following the menacing guitar riffs perfectly. Vocals are incredibly obscene, ranging from higher pitched barks to deeper growls very similar to Black Witchery and Revenge-styled vocals. This is a band to look out for here. Get crushed!
Favorite Song: “Tribal Slaughter”
Vidargängr – Vidargängr (2013)
This German hell army doesn’t fuck around when it comes to crafting their mean and filthy style of bestial black metal. Do I dare even call it crusty, as well? This is 40 minutes of nonstop war fury that doesn’t let up, and it’s fucking painfully delightful. For as long as these songs are, the overall speed is pretty much consistently fast, only leaving a small portion of time for slower sections and breathing room. Vidargängr‘s self titled full length reeks of dread and the grimmest of hate. This is like a 600 horsepower engine doused with the vilest, putrified swamp tar found from the deepest and nastiest depths of hell’s bile duct. This engine gets hotter and hotter the longer in runs, until it finally stops and you’re left in a silent black hole with no way out. The guitars and bass have a distinctly crusty tone that adds a certain captivating element to Vidargängr’s sound. The vocals, barked out in German, are violent as hell. If you want something dismal and depressing but still furious, Vidargängr is your new favorite band.
Favorite Song: “Suche für nichts”
Trepanation – Hideous Black Abyss (2013)
Do you like war metal? Do you also like crusty and grindy sounding shit? Combine all of that shit together and push blend and you’ll get the ugly yet brilliant Trepanation. This is a short but sweet disgusting demo from New Zealand, a place that has produced many of the prospering war/bestial/black metal metal bands in the scene (see: Diocletian, Witchrist, Vassafor, and Heresiarch). I’d call this demo a chaotic masterpiece injecting the savage sound of war metal and black metal into grindcore/crust punk structures. Drums are a mixture of blasts and d-beats, while guitars range from thrashy black metal styled tremolo picking to punky riffs. This is a great demo and the only release by them, so get on this and make sure to follow this band. I know Christian will.
Favorite Song: “Trepanation”
