Augury - Fragmentary Evidence

Augury's breakthrough debut album Concealed was so ferocious in its sound, that it could almost be described as unhuman. Appealing to extreme metal lovers all over Concealed was a solid technical death album, combining brutality with prog-leaning melodies. Now with their second album Fragmentary Evidence, Augury rains hell upon everything uninspiring and bland. And to keep themselves away from the dreadful pit filled with numerous monotonous sounding tech death bands that are rising alarmigly these days, Augury delves upon celestial themes to keep things alongwith their brutallly good music.

Additionally the overall tightness of the band since their previous work has increased, allowing them to push their abilities further and dig deeper to create complex yet perfect tracks. The music presented on this fine silver platter is amazing. Every single note appears to belong to the great whole, to the consistency of this album. Everything from Patrick's growls to Mathieu's killer riffs seem perfect. Moreover its the master skills of Dominic over the bass that gives he album a whole new technical dimension to place them upon. The basslines on Jupiter to Ignite and Oversee the Rebirth are some of the best you can come across in recent tech death albums.

Whereas tracks such as Simian Cattle and Orphans of Living, gives you a very strange fell but nevertheless the musicianship on these tracks are commendable. Besides theses vocally it goes from screams to death grunts and in Brownstone Landscapes bleak female vocals come around. But all these elements simply adds up to their terrific prowess and their music just wont allow you to nod in disapproval. Overall, the album is a curious, playful peak at the stars, a journey into the unknown, a metaphysical attempt to capture many different abstract feelings.

From Concealed to Fragmentary Evidence hasn't been a long journey but Augury have already started to prove themselves as the leaders of modern technical death scene. There's a certain indescribable appeal to the band that comes with them like no one else and yet not going ut of their way to be different. The album is so neat that it's likely to be the Traced in Air of this year but not recognised as such for years. Untill the next amazingly innovative sounding tech death album comes up amidst those many similar sounding mediocre bands, Augury's Fragmentary Evidence should keep you busy till then.

Most Brutal Moshpit Ever!

So you think these people are moshing? That too brutally?

Then check this video out. Probably the most brutal and dangerous moshpit ever, these metalheads can seriously give their peers moshing in Wacken a run for their balls!( Pun Intended!)

Zakk Wylde Goes On A Ranting Rampage About Ozzy

So Ozzy showed his lead guitarist Zakk Wylde the door, but our man here hasn't taken this too lightly. Staying relatively calm in the beginning about the news, Zakk finally explodes in the end, going on to say''You gonna fucking treat me like a dick? Fuck you.” while talking to a radio station about his expulsion.

Now if he has been expelled without getting contacted by Ozzy, then his frustration is totally understood. But with this recording now, there doesn't seem the slightest chance of Zakk going back to the band and guess he must be going back to his Black Label society days. And if things aren't worse already for Zakk, then have a say at this - Ozzy Osbourne is the godfather of Zakk's child!

Check out the conversation here.

Another reason to stay away from metalcore

Apparently the DJ in the above pic, DJ Troublemaker played a remix of Mastodong's Oblivion. Now thats' something disgraceful for a metal band, but if one's into mallcore stuff like that is bound to happen!

Head over to Metal Insider to listen to the remix and just try to headbang to it, if you can

Hail Of Bullets - Warsaw Rising EP

Its been just a year since Hail of Bullets came out with their debut album Of Frost and War, that they are back again with their latest piece of work Warsaw Rising EP. With Warsaw Rising, this Dutch death metal supergroup have delivered an EP in the same format favored by many established bands. Featuring two new tracks, a cover and three live recordings, Warsaw Rising is hardly an essential, but nevertheless it provides a solid headbanging experience amidst there terrific live prowesss.

With the guitarists from Thanatos, bassist from Houwitser, drummer from Gorefest and the indomitable Martin van Drunen (ex- Pestilence, Bolt Thrower) behind the mic; Hail of Bullets is completely in the likes of Autopsy and Bolt Thrower, churning out lofty war-themed death metal in the old school style. To be more precise, musically the band operates within mid-tempo confines, rolling out some major crunches on Warsaw Rising. However those looking forward to those moments of brilliance displayed in their debut album( in tracks like Ordered Eastward,Berlin) may be left disappointed on a high note.

Although Warsaw Rising features no such moment, their two new tracks Warsaw Rising and Liberators, both achieve par for Hail of Bullets' crater packed course. And eventhough both these tracks invokes the listener to headbanging and fist pumping action with their massive chug-along guitar tones, none of these tracks depict the fine majesty that characterises the band's finest tracks. On the other hand its the live recordings Nachthexen, Red Wolves of Stalin and The Crucial Offensive; that most effectively brings out the true atmosphere of the band's music by singing about war, soldier and weapons.

In fact these live tracks convey the band's on-stage energy so accurately, that you might feel like rushing onto the stage and getting your ears explode to their sounds yourself. The high expectations that followed Hail of Bullets post-Of Frost and War were not exactly fulfilled in this EP. With just two new tracks, more things are left to be desired from the band. HoweverWarsaw Rising is definitely worth your time if you are eager for some new down-tuned and crushing death metal.

Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles

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Most people are of the view that Italy is a highly unlikely place for death metal bands to originate and such bands only come from Scandinivia, England or Germany.And though Ephel Duath and Lacuna Coil might have come from Italy, they can hardly be said to have played death metal. But in the end Fleshgod Apocalypse simply squashed that notion with their high quality brutal death metal interspersed with classical orchestral elements in their songs, which simply leaves the listener in a sense of awe making him to desire more from the album. Oracles is a promising debut and solid first attempt by the band at combining brutal death elements with finer aspects of classical music. And doing so they have clearly steered past the risk of sounding unmemorable and avoided the trap of sounding like other mediocre bands in the genre.

On Oracles, the band plays intricate yet brutal form of death metal that many of the established bands of this genre have perfected and Fleshgod Apocalypse are certainly as good as other well known bands like Hour of Penance, Ulcerate, Obsura. But what sets them apart from these bands is the inclusion of more neo-classically inspired structures which creates a strange sense of anticipation to kick in. The introduction of these classical elements may seem like a musical gimmick to create their own niche in the genre. But as you progress deeper into the album, you soon realize that the classical elements are more than just a gimmick. In addition to the piano pieces used in various interludes, the songs are structured in a classical aspect , progressing in complete steps before peaking. The rest of the bands sound revolve around standard technical death riffs which are consistently backed by solid rhythm section of death metal drumming of rapid fire double bass and blastbeats. However the bass falls short on audibility and is rarely headr in few choice moments.

The combinatin of technical death influence with classical elements, mainly orchestral piano elements are best noted in As Tyrants Fall and Embodied Deception. With the latter featuring rapid piano run abruptly intervened by guitar riffs and brief spurts of audible bass work. Inspite of their all out classical approach to the album, there are moments of total sonic destruction with majestic overtones, like in Requiem in SJ Minore. Similar parts appear on other tracks as well, in the rest of the album, but most remarkable of them all is the title track. With a nearly two minute piano piece towards the end of the album, the track clearly speaks for everything the album had to say for itself. That being said the bulk of the material is still absolutely breathtaking, in both savagery and complexity and likely as good as anything you will ever hear.

Although the vocal delivery was getting monotonous towards the end, Fleshgod Apocalypse have marked a promising beginning with Oracles. Striking a nice balance between death and classical pieces, Fleshgod Apocalypse have shown that the combination of these two elements can strike a perfect chord.With enough variety to keep them interested for the full 40 minutes, as well as containing enough nuances and memorable parts to warrant decent replay value.

Destroyer 666 - Defiance

Six years after Terror Abraxas, black metallers from down under Destroyer 666 are back with a bang with their new album Defiance.The album is quite an accomplishment for the band, a defining slab of black metal that somewhat maintains the quality of previous records, not as good as some of their heralded material, but still packs a cruel punch to the gonads of Christianity.The epic feel of 2000’s Phoenix Rising and the urgency of the rousing 2002’s Cold Steel For an Iron Age are present but do not dominate, Defiance is a record to push on with their attack rather than reminisce about past glories.

Destroyer 666’s music has historically been best described as nihilistic, even to the point they’ve even been accused of conjuring up white supremacy issues in the past. However, Defiance somehow comes off far less shocking than any of Destroyer 666’s previous efforts and honestly, it is all to the good this time. Although the sounds of the album are gritty and raw, it's a lot more polished than the average black metal band due to the thrash and death influences the band have garnered. With Warslut's bellowing rasps and the random breakaway tempos set at vengeance’s pace—largely the album focuses more on finding proper grooves and dark melody to make it Destroyer 666’s most mature recording to date.

Agreed there's nothing mature to a guy named Warslut, but the way the band builds around Human All Too Human only shows the band's resolve to grow more artistic instead remaining downright dirty. Also the elegiac A Sermon To Dead is so epically structured, that Warslut's belching in those trancy doom tempo clearly depicts the band's biggest improvement till date.Having curtain-call guitar solos abound on this album courtesy of Shrapnel is even more exciting than the focused aggression of Weapons of Conquest or the alacrity assisting the snidely I Am Not Deceived.

There are countless moments on Defiance that remind you why you loved Destroyer 666 in the first place. Whether it be the delectable lead lines and squealing solos, or the sudden switch to groovy moshing thrash, the metallers of Oz have triumphed again. Defiance is also a testament to the power to overcome band problems in the interim between this and the last album that led Destroyer 666 to A Stand Defiant.